In the Shadow of Revenge

Chapter 5

*TW for violence and torture, ya'll take care of yourselves*

Recovery Girl arrived within the next fifteen minutes her face flushed as she clutched her cane.

"You can leave now dear, thank you so much for your help," Recovery Girl motioned to Kaminari as he nodded and walked quietly back out into the hall.

"What happened, Hatsume-dear?"

"He had a nightmare, I think," Mei replied in a hushed, yet panicked tone, "and then he, it was like he thought that he was somewhere else, that I was someone else. He kept talking about someone named Toga, and blood, and oh my gosh, his arms, something must have bit him, and then I tried to calm him down, and he just kept getting more scared, and I didn't want him to tear his stitches, but then he disconnected the IV thingy, and everything started beeping, and then I called you, and Kaminari got here, and..."

"That's enough, child, breathe, please, it's okay now."

Mei gasped and took in a breath, trying to rid herself of the panic still lodged in her lungs.

Recovery Girl walked over to Tenya's bed and continued, "I'm sorry, Hatsume, I thought that it would be too hard for you to hear the details of what happened to young Tenya, and by doing that I made it incredibly difficult for you to help." Recovery Girl paused and reconnected the IVs into Tenya's arm, before examining his torn stitches. "I'm afraid I'll be much too busy tonight to explain things to you fully, but I do still have access to some videos that the League sent us during Tenya's capture. Now, I should warn you they shouldn't be watched on a full stomach," she laughed bitterly.

Mei thought for a moment, she had promised to help Tenya, but how could she when she didn't understand why he was so afraid of her? "I-I'd like to see them,"Mei's voice wavered for a second, "If it will help him get better than I have too." she added with a touch more resolve.

Recovery Girl's eyes filled with sadness as she nodded, "I'll leave them for you in the morning, now please, child, go to bed now, I'll be right here."

—-

Sure enough, when Mei woke after a restless sleep in the undecorated room next to Tenya's, a stack of video tapes sat on the nightstand accompanied by a note.

Hatsume-dear,

I appreciate your bravery for choosing to watch these videos, and I will forever regret that you had to do so. Please feel free to stop at any time, and refrain from sharing these with the rest of 1-A, for Tenya's sake.

-RG

Mei frowned at the note for a second, she couldn't deny that she was scared of what she'd see when she slid the tapes into the TV, but she had to watch. She couldn't let what had happened last night happen again, she didn't want Tenya to be afraid of her anymore. With a somewhat shaky hand, Mei picked up the first tape and inserted it into the TV, watching the screen flicker to life.

A man's face instantly filled the screen, his skin green and scaly like that of a lizard. He wore a mask around his eyes and carried swords reminiscent of one truly feared man, the Hero Killer, Stain. His stare was fierce, angry, as he spoke "Hello,false heroes, my name is Spinner" he sneered, "I have something of yours, something pathetic."

A strangled moan rose up as Spinner raised his hand towards the camera, yanking Tenya's head by the hair as he did so. Tenya was only half-conscious, glasses nowhere to be seen. His skin was pale, and covered with sweat, one of his eyes was swollen shut and the other could only barely remain open as he stared vacantly off into the distance.

" Come on and say hello, little Ingenium," Spinner mocked. "Tell them what you did!"Spinner's eyes were wide with madness and unrestrained glee. Slowly, deliberately, Tenya opened his mouth and spat in Spinner's face.