Monster

4 | A Heart-breaking Discovery

- THIRD PERSON POV -

"Lemillion!" Jirou called out, her earjacks attached to the floor. "Overhaul's down this hallway!"

Lemillion, also known as Mirio Togata, starting running down the hallway. "Thanks, Earphone Jack!"

Jirou smiled at him, a frown appearing not long after. "I hope we can find her."

Eraserhead, another hero on the mission, stood next to the purple-haired girl. "We will. Sir Nighteye has everything planned out. We will succeed in saving her."

The "her" in question was a little girl named Eri. She had run into Mirio, a hero-in-training, on his patrol during a work study. She was scared, covered in bandages and wounds no child should have.

Overhaul had appeared not long after, claiming the girl was his daughter. He had said she had a habit of running off, and the wounds were just results of her clumsiness. It didn't seem right though.

Apparently, Overhaul had been on the radar for a while, due to the increase of quirk-amplifying drugs and quirk-destroying drugs being sold. He was also the leader of a Yakuza base named the "Shie Hassaikai". Sir Nighteye had had his eye on the man for a while, always monitoring his possible bases and locations. They hadn't seen him outside of his base until that day when Eri escaped.

On the topic of Eri, during a meeting about the rescue mission, the heroes present speculated that Eri may be at the heart of this operation. They assumed she had some sort of erasure quirk, quite similar to Eraserhead's.

"Sir, are you sure? Overhaul's been off the radar for a while and we hadn't even known about Eri until last week. How are you so sure it will go okay?"

He placed a cautious hand on her shoulder. "I can't completely guarantee it will go how we want it to go. But, I trust Nighteye. He's planned this very carefully. The only thing we can do is trust him to figure this out."

She nodded hesitantly, still listening for any noise with her earjacks. With her quirk, she could hear further and clearer sounds than the average person. In a way, it was like her hearing had been enhanced.

For now, all she could hear was rushed footsteps, probably belonging to the heroes. There had been a lot of them, including the six U.A students they had brought along from work studies. Jirou had been allowed to join due to her training in rescue operations and her quirk which could help find Eri's location.

That was their only goal. Get Eri out of here safely, and if possible, lock Overhaul away in Tartarus. They hadn't been told about any other possible hostages, nor any other threats.

They hoped there wasn't anyone else.

"Problem child, is there anything alarming that you hear yet?" Aizawa asked.

Jirou shook her head. "It's all footsteps and thuds. I can't make out anything clearly."

"Relax. You're stressed." the man observed.

"I know.. I'm just worried." she admitted. "I feel like something bad's going to happen. I know that saying things like that could bring us bad luck but it's been on my mind the whole time."

He smiled softly at the girl. "It's fine if you feel like that. It won't bring us bad luck. It's normal to have those thoughts, especially on your first actual rescue mission."

"Are you sure, sir?" she questioned, uncertainty lingering in her voice.

He nodded. "I'm sure. We'll try our best to save her, I promise." he added.

Aizawa had his doubts, but he was sure they would save the girl. Sir Nighteye's plans always worked out without fault. That wasn't saying something wouldn't go wrong, but since his previous plans had worked out so well, he felt he could trust this one.

He was mostly worried about his students and the girl herself. His students hadn't been on a mission like this before, and with a threat this big, it was just screaming "danger" at him. He wanted to trust them, but he was also worried that they'd get severely injured. He couldn't let that happen. He would've failed as a mentor if he allowed that to happen.

And, the girl. Eri. Mirio had asked her a series of questions before Overhaul appeared, leading to the discovery of her name and age. And, god, she was young. So young she didn't even know how old she was herself. But from the descriptions of her appearance, Aizawa guessed she had some trauma from Overhaul himself. To have that many wounds and bandages at such a young age, it wasn't normal.

He hoped no one else was trapped here. It was cruel enough that Overhaul had imprisoned Eri here, but more children? That was simply inhumane.

"Sir, I hear something!"

He looked at the purple-haired girl who seemed to be following the sound somewhere in her mind, trying to pin-point its location. She seemed sad, as if the sound itself wasn't at all positive.

"What do you hear, Earphone Jack?" he questioned hesitantly.

She remained quiet for a moment, as if still processing what she was hearing. "It's like a child's crying.. but it's not Eri's. I can hear her and Mirio in another room."

"So, another child is here?"

She shook her head. "Not exactly. It sounds like there's another person there, talking. I can't make out what they're saying though."

"Alright. Can you tell me where they are?" he asked.

She focused. "It seems like they're.." she pointed down one of the hallways on the right, "down this hallway,"

Aizawa nodded, pulling up his goggles and tightening his hold on the capture weapon. Jirou stood up in tow, earphone jacks dangling from her ears now. She seemed worried, as if the sound was still playing on repeat in her ears. The sobs, as if the person wanted them to be quiet and never heard, were muffled by something. Maybe it was clothing, as she originally thought. But she wasn't at all sure.

They continued walking down the hallway, careful not to make much noise. If they were too loud, they could accidentally alarm some underlings that were guarding the room. If they did that, they could move the children to a more secure room. They couldn't let more children stay as hostages here.

That wasn't their job as heroes.

The hallway was long, doors finally appearing half-way through their trek. Jirou had said the crying was louder now, the sound close-by. It was definitely a child's, confirmed by the girl half-way through their trip.

But it sounded wrong.

The sobs sounded broken, muffled. As if they were breaking down after so long of bottling up their feelings. She guessed it was from the alarm which apparently no one had thought to turn off yet. She knew some people were sensitive to loud noises, she was herself due to her quirk.

They continued walking, Jirou attaching her earphone jack to the wall every few minutes to guess how far they were. She perked up, eyes wide. "Sir,"

"Hm?" He turned to the girl.

"They're really close. Like," she thought for a moment, "a few doors away, I think."

He smiled at her. "Great work. Do you think you can lead me to the room?"

She nodded, taking her jack from the wall and walking for a few moments before stopping in front of one of the doors. It was metal, a sliding door it seemed. It had a keypad, though it seemed to be burnt, if the burnt wires sticking out of the thing were anything to go by.

He took the chance, kicking the door a few times before it fell forward, making a loud banging noise when it landed. The floor seemed to be concrete, a cold breeze travelling past them.

In front of them, two children sat by the wall. One was a blue-haired teenager. He seemed to be the eldest, holding his hands over the younger child's ears as he whispered incoherent phrases. The younger one had green hair. He seemed to be a teenager too, though he couldn't tell all that well by how small he looked. He was the one crying, the quiet sobs now audible.

He walked forward, lowering his goggles. The blue-haired one looked up, noticing the two in the doorway. He seemed alarmed, picking up the younger one carefully in a sort of protective motion. He still had a hand over their ear, their head resting against his chest.

"Wh-Who are you?"