It Started With A Project (Kamijiro)

Chapter Nine: Torn Apart

Kaminari stayed in his dorm, unknowing to the action on the ground floor. He checked his phone, it was only 8:15. Sero had texted him earlier asking if hed come, Kaminari didn't feel like it. He heard yelling from somewhere out in the hall, it sounded familiar. It sounded like it was coming from Koda's dorm next-door.

"We need everyone on the upper floors," Kaminari heard Jirou's voice speak frantically through the walls.

Why did she sound afraid?

"I'll take the top floors, just grab everyone in here," Koda replied softly. A few moments later a series of knocks got him up out of his bed.

"Kamina-" Jirou suddenly ducked and shoved him into his dorm.

"What's going on?!" Kaminari glanced at Jirou, who was rubbing her head.

"Villain, avoid the spikes, we need to warn Iida," Jirou glanced back. Neither of them noticed Iida was already out of his dorm, wondering what the noise was.

"Jirou! Whats happening?!" Iida stood jaw dropped watching as a suited villain with spikes covering his lower arms advanced into their hallway, with Yaomomo and Todoroki walking at his side. Both of them had the yellow glowing irises.

"It's like that guy with the zombie quirk we fought!" Kaminari yelled.

"We need to move," Jirou fled down the hallway to loop around back to the elevators.

"Why would you want to leave? Wouldn't you like to join your friends?" The villain had a raspy voice that sounded like bees were constantly buzzing in their ears.

"We don't know the extent of this person's quirk," Iida said as they all tramped out of his sight. "I can easily outrun his spikes, I'll notify the other students, will you be fine?" The two nodded as Iida jet off toward the elevators.

"Awe, he seemed like a nice piece to have for my new generation of villains, a quick one isn't he?" The insect-like figure said pacing patiently forward. "So you haven't heard of the villain Hivemind? How distasteful."

"We need to get out of here," Kaminari grabbed Jirou's arm, narrowly avoiding an ice blast from Todoroki.

They turned the corner and arrived on the girls side of the dorms, finding a wandering Sato and Sero with the same threatening yellow eyes. They caught the two and advanced like programmed robots. Kaminari whipped his head around, seeing the glow of Hivemind's student 'soldiers'. He glanced outside a window, gaining an idea, he kicked the glass until it shattered. He then found a small closet where they normally kept some cleaning supplies, yanking Jirou in by her arm and shutting the door.

They stood face to face. Well, face to chest. Jirou was far shorter.

"My my, looks like we lost two, I never got to see what their quirks were," Hivemind said solemnly.

Kaminari could feel Jirou's body tense as the sound of his shoes slowly tapped past. It felt like forever.

"Check the upper floors, there are more students," he commanded, hearing their friends footsteps traverse toward the elevator.

Their hearts raced, and not just from the villain, but from being so close to one another. It was a small closet, even smaller with all the cleaning supplies, so they were pressed up against each others bodies tightly, with Jirou's hands balled into fists on Kaminaris chest. Both of their heads were turned toward the door, waiting in anticipation for them to leave. It was dead silent in the dorms, the only thing they heard were each others shaky panting. Jirou could feel her face heating up, though the hallway lights were all off so it was difficult to tell. They didn't move a muscle, waiting for the 'ding' of the elevator door until they could finally breathe.

"Do you think he's gone?" Jirou said in a hushed way, squinting out through the shutters of the closet door.

"I dont know," Kaminari whispered. "What's his quirk?"

"We dont know for sure, but the spikes are similar to bee stingers used to mind control people," Jirou replied quietly. "I saw Hagakure fall right beside me. Their eyes glow yellow. It was terrible," Jirou finished finally unfurling her fists to lay her hands flat on his chest.

Their breathes eventually calmed down and returned to them, and with that so did their awareness. Kaminari felt his face grow hot as he bit his lip and looked away. Jirou made a solemn facial expression, slipping an earphone jack through one of the shutters and plugging it into the floor.

"There's people on the 4th floor," Jirou said worried. "And everyone else is downstairs," she brought the jack back to herself, reaching to open the doors.

"We need to get out of the building and figure out a way to save our friends," Kaminari waited for Jirou to slip out first.

Jirou quietly wandered down the hall, moonlight illuminated the place in a dim cascade of blue light. She looked like a pale goddess, floating through the silence.

"KAMINARI," she suddenly screamed, outstretching a hand toward him. "HE'S STI-" she abruptly fell silent as Kaminari stumbled from the closet, hearing her scream. He watched her choke on her words, with her eyes rolling to the back of her head, she collapsed onto the floor.

"JIROU?!" He ran over before pausing in his tracks. She stood back up like an automated machine, cracking her neck and knuckles.

She opened her eyes to reveal a dead, pale yellow, where a thick outline of black surrounded her previous purple pupils. All emotion fled her face, leaving her a blank slate of pure, ominous,  determination and undying loyalty.

"Jirou? Its me, c'mon," Kaminari took a step back as she stood still with a slight tilt to her head. His hands shook, he wanted to grab her and hold her in his arms, make her normal again, make her his.

"I thought you'd still be here, I didn't believe you'd jump out of a 3rd story window," Hivemind's voice echoed from down the hallway, drawing closer. "So I sent my soldiers to go play with the new toys upstairs while I stayed behind," a shadow on the wall seemed to grow behind Jirou as the villain stepped closer.

She shot out an earphone cord, wrapping it around his neck like a boa constrictor, constricting his airways.

Tighter.

Tighter.

Ever so tighter.

Kaminari noticed the little toothpick sized stinger lodged in her arm, eyeing the hall behind her as it illuminated an intense gold. He gasped for air, feeling weak on his feet from the lack of oxygen, grabbing at Jirou's cord to loosen her grip. She didn't speak a single word, and only tightened her hold. He didn't want to hurt her, because in the end she was still the same Jirou.

"Oh goodie, I knew once I found one of you I'd find the other. There's something I like about fleeing couples, it's fun to see them torn apart," Hivemind turned the corner. His eyes glowed just as piercingly as Jirou's.

He slowly plucked a spike from his arm, standing next to the weakened Kaminari.

"I would ask if you had any last words, but you can't right now," Hivemind chortled a laugh.

Kaminari glanced up, ignoring the villain, gazing at Jirou's mind-controlled eyes.