UA's Gremlins

Lost Boy Spotted...It's Rescue Time...

Hitoshi yawned as he followed Mirio down the street.   He was not one for working so early in the morning on a Saturday, but he was just a first year work study student so he didn't get to make his schedule.   He listened to his taller, blond partner rambling about the joys of hero work and where he'd chosen his name.   Hitoshi could really care less as he was wavering between a couple of different ideas for his own name. 

Katsuki had suggested "Mind Fuck," but that was ruled out by all the staff.   Denki had suggested Mimic or Puppeteer, but those sounded too obvious.   Yaomomo thought Siren was cool, but it also sounded girly.   So the purple haired teen was at a loss for what to go with.  

"Hey man," Mirio called from a few steps ahead of him.  "You still awake?"

Before Hitoshi could respond, something hit him from the side.  Hitoshi landed on his hip with a grunt, his ears catching a soft whimper.   He turned his eyes towards the child now draped across his lap.

"Fuck," Hitoshi breathed.

"Hey!" Mirio scoleded.

"What?" Hitoshi spat as he tried to help the trembling little girl to sit up as she desperately clung to him.

"The cursing," Mirio hissed.

"Oh damn," Hitoshi sighed, then flinched.  "Crap.  Shit. Fuck!"

"Dude!" Mirio groaned. 

Hitoshi looked down at the little girl who was now staring up at him with wide eyes.  "Kid, don't say fuck."

"Dude!" Mirio wailed.

"What?  She's probably heard worse at school," Hitoshi said as he finally managed to get the girl settled on his lap so it wasn't as awkward.

Mirio just shook his head as he crouched down.  "Ignore him, sweetie.   Can you tell me why you were running like that?"

The child looked to me in a ratty t-shirt style dress with bandages on her arms and legs.   Her eyes were wide and teary even as she remained silent.

"It's okay to talk to us," Hitoshi said gently.   "We're heroes."

"H-Heroes?" the little girl whispered. 

Hitoshi nodded, trying his best to smile.   Mirio's smile made up for what his pathetic attempt lacked.  The child hesitated, fingers tugging on a long strand of her very clearly dirty hair.

A soft thud drew their attention to the entrance of the alley way she'd run out of.   Mirio tensed, as did Hitoshi, at the sight of a teen about Hitoshi's age crouched just in the shadows of the entrance.   They could tell he was in a similar state of "dirty" as the child in Hitoshi's arms.  The child looked sad.

"Big brother," she whispered sadly.

"Eri...come..." the teen said, offering a scarred hand to her.   The girl, Eri, shook her head.

"These are heroes, big brother," Eri pleaded.   "They can help.   He'll hurt you if we go back."

The two work study students looked at each other, both unnerved by the little girl's teary plea.  The teen twitched his fingers, a soft whistle wobbling from his lips.   Hitoshi tensed, eyes going wide.   There was no way...

Eri sniffled in his arms and Hitoshi stared at her 'big brother.'   The dust in his hair faded the color, but it was definitely green.   The eyes were hidden partially by the shag of the bangs, but Hitoshi was fairly certain they'd be green too.   So he took his chance...and whistled the same one he had done for Katsuki months ago in the dark cell.

Eyes flickered up to him and they were a definite green...but seemed dull.  The head tipped slightly, confused.  The teen whistled again, as if asking a question.