Controlee

16. Boom Town

Rule 16: Just don't ever lose the centre-ness.

How hard could it possibly be to find the commentator's box? She could literally hear Yamada and Aizawa talking through the speakers, she just couldn't figure out how the hell to get there herself. This was getting bad, really bad.

There wasn't time to get her far enough from the stadium to save these people (she didn't even know how far would be safe enough), assuming she even managed to find a way out. Her only chance was getting to Aizawa and Yamada. All the heroes in this stadium, there had to be someone with a set of a quirk-inhibiting cuffs. Aizawa and Yamada would know what to do, how to get a cuff. She was sure of it.

She was frustrated and panicking and the gaps between pain spikes were only getting shorter. Otsuka wasn't far off just walking into the nearest area of the stands she found and firing off a spurt of her quirk that would be easy enough to see, screw how it would affect her episode, she just needed help now.

She stopped herself. Yes, she was wasting precious time but her quirk had the tendency to react to her emotional state so she needed to centre herself and quash her fear. Placing her hand against the wall for balance, she closed her eyes and took planned breaths, letting herself sink into her mind.

There was her pond, the normally peaceful waters of her mind unsettled with a quiet storm below the surface, while the pebbles below showed coarse stone and dagger-like edges. The soil was churned up by the undercurrents, showing the physical strain of the first two rounds of the festival, while her soul— the reflection— was tinged in a bloody red.

As she focused on calming, the waters stilled, they were still murky with the broken grains of earth but even that was settling as she brought herself to tranquility. Now, all that was out of ordinary were the stones and reflection, but that was normal when coming up to an episode.

She pulled herself out of that place of safety with a deep inhale that filled her to her feet. She could only spare another moment to breathe before she had to move.

Time to get to work. First things first, she needed to know where she was. The next time she saw a corridor filled with sunlight, she ran straight towards it, assuming it would lead her into the stadium stands. Then her eyes adjusted and she realised she was staring into trees and open ground.

That was the first plan gone horribly wrong.

Or it was until Kamui Woods— one of the many heroes patrolling the perimeter of the stadium to make sure it was secure— rounded the corner. She knew for a fact she didn't have his autograph, but damn she didn't have her book with her! She'd seen him recently in the news, he was a pretty recent hero but he was doing really well. And that really wasn't the problem at hand.

"You alright there, Miss? Are you lost?" the new hero asked her, probably mistaking her for someone older. Only, then his eyes found the familiar UA PE kit she was wearing. She could practically see him recalibrating to label her as a wayward student.

"Yes." Unfortunately, Kamui Woods wasn't a UA teacher which meant he wouldn't know a thing about Otsuka or her quirk and there wasn't time to explain. "I need to speak to Mr Aizawa, Eraserhead, urgently."

The hero's brow dipped into a frown, back straightening. "What's wrong?"

Seriously? Otsuka was trying to skip this bit. "I can't say, but I need to talk to him, right now."

Uncertain, the newly-debuted hero nodded and began to lead the way through the stadium up to the commentator's box where Aizawa would be waiting.

Crippling pain rocketed up Otsuka's spine and her whole body curled into an awkward shape as it succumbed to the breathtaking wave. Her ears rang for a few moments as her head collided with the floor, Kamui Woods only realising there was an issue when he heard her body thunk against the ground.