Rescue // Shoto Todoroki x OC Fanfiction

Chapter Twelve

Deep breaths. 

In...

Out...

Katsumi counted backward in multiples of three--something that had been helping keep her sane. She knew it hadn't been that many days, but with Mind Maker's quirk, it felt so much longer. Everything was blurring together, and there was no stopping it. 

She was either chained up and her body incapacitated by that one guy's paralyzation quirk, or under Mind Maker's control. Every time he went inside her head and took control of her body, it felt as if a set of sharp talons had been dragged along the back of her head, scraping through her memories and thoughts as if they were nothing. 

When he took control of her, she was forced to think about and remember things she'd rather not. And as she lay on that damp, disgusting floor, she tried to recall some of her favorite memories, only to find that they'd been muddled and messed around. She didn't think Mind Maker could read her mind... but whatever he was doing inside her head wasn't gentle. the more times he did it, the worse everything got. 

After having been there so long, Katsumi tried to recall why she was there in the first place. 

She tried her damnest to remember why she was chained up against the wall. She tried to remember why she was being treated like this. 

She would start with the simple things. The things she could remember. 

"My name is Katsumi Ono," she whispered to herself. "I am a pro hero. I have been captured. My name is Katsumi Ono. My hero name is Fallen Angel. I was brought here because..."

And that's where the memories stopped. 

There was one thing that she could picture in her mind whenever she started trying to remember why she was in that warehouse, and it was a familiar face. Shoto Todoroki. In her mind, she could picture his cold eyes, and remember their feud. She remembered her old classmate and fellow hero vividly--but she didn't know what this meant. 

She assumed it somehow tied into why she was here. 

He wouldn't have betrayed her, or any hero for that matter. That was out of the question. Even if he was cold toward her, he wasn't a bad person. She didn't remember any of the events leading up to being here. Trying to remember only made her think of Todoroki, and she just couldn't for the life of her think of why she kept seeing him in her head. 

Suddenly, the door to her room opened up, and someone she'd yet to meet slid through the entrance and stalked toward her. 

It was a younger-looking girl, maybe high school age. She carried with her a tray of food, which she set down in front of Katsumi. Like every other time she'd been allowed to eat, the person bringing in the food fed it to her. 

They couldn't risk having her unparalyzed and unchained if she wasn't under Mind Maker's control. 

"He has plans for you, ya know," she grinned. Her voice was low and airy, and her eyes glowed with malice as she looked at Katsumi. "Big plans. We're not supposed to talk about it, but I don't see the harm, with you all chained up like this. You're definitely not going anywhere anytime soon." 

The girl pulled something from her pocket--a small piece of paper--and looked at it for a moment before showing Katsumi. It was a small picture cutout from a newspaper of the guy she couldn't get out of her head--Shoto Todoroki. 

"It's a shame, really," the girl said. "He was always my favorite hero, ever since his debut. So cute and strong... it's a shame that you're going to kill him." 

Katsumi's heart sank, but she didn't say anything or react. There was no point in reacting anymore. She knew where that got her, and she wanted Mind Maker to stay out of her head as much as possible. 

After the girl left, she thought about what she'd been told. With their leader's quirk, it was absolutely possible that this was their plan. They could use her to take out anyone they wanted. 

She'd been wondering why they hadn't moved her--why they'd kept her in the same place she'd been captured, and it all started to make even more sense. They were using her as bait, and they expected the heroes to come after her. 

And when they did... Katsumi would have to fulfill Mind Maker's last request, whatever that may be. 

She felt panicked and helpless, knowing that they would come after her. There was no way they weren't already trying to figure something out. They were planning a rescue, but Mind Maker was already several steps ahead of them. 

She hoped with all her heart that they would just leave her here, or that she could find a way to escape herself before she was given the order.