Eraserhead and Scribe II

Eraserhead and Scribe II Chapter 6

Three days in a row was pushing it but the burner phone in Shigaraki's pocket would help him communicate with Eraser. All he had to do was leave it by Scribe's bedside if (hopefully) Eraser wasn't there yet. The only number in it was the one to the burner phone he planned to hold onto. Eraser was pretty smart for a hero. He'd figure it out.

As he'd expected, no one was in Scribe's room when he arrived. He looked around cautiously and closed the door carefully behind him. He paused by her bed, tilting his head and looking at her. "Hello, pretty." He sighed and sat down by her bed, reaching behind him to drop the phone on the table. "It's kind of a mess here without you, you know. You could fix a lot of stuff if you'd just come back." He picked up her hand, careful not to touch her with all five fingers. I can't hurt you.

"Eraser, man, he's a total mess. Never thought I'd see that man looking the way he is. It's not really rational." He smiled. "And then there's me." He lowered his head, leaning his forehead against her limp hand. "I'm not supposed to feel this way, you know. You're a hero, an enemy. Hell, woman, you've messed up every plan I've made in your radius. But all I can think about is fixing you. So...just save me some time and wake up already, huh? I'll wait."

How long he sat that way, he wasn't honestly sure. He heard the door open but he didn't move. He felt too heavy. He didn't care if it was Eraser or Dabi or All Might himself coming through the door. When he felt someone pause beside him, he looked up through bleary eyes to find Eraser looking at him with a strangely understanding expression on his face. He sighed. "I guess you've tried this, huh?"

"Every damn day." Eraser moved over to sit in the other chair. He looked better for some reason. Less haggard than he had the day before.

Shigaraki sat up straighter. "You shaved."

Eraser nodded, picking up the phone. "This for me?" He studied it, then stuck it into a pocket. "Thanks. It'll make getting in touch easier."

"And safer." Shigaraki set her hand gently on the bed. "But why did you shave? You got something to tell me?"

"She contacted me." Eraser met his eyes. "It was brief. She looked terrified. But she was there."

"There where?" Shigaraki spread his hands a little impatiently.

"The other side of my bathroom mirror?" Eraser shrugged. "I know how that sounds."

"Not real rational." Shigaraki stood and paced across the floor. He paused and looked at Eraser. "But then nothing about her is, is it?"

"Not terribly." Eraser paused. "I've been thinking...the whole Murder Hornet thing. He definitely attacked her. We found the marks. But his quirk isn't really strong enough for this. Definitely not for this."

"He has a daughter who might be strong enough, though."

"He has what?" Eraser's head jerked up.

"A daughter. In college. I've got someone checking it out."

Eraser frowned. "I didn't know about a daughter." He gave Shigaraki a narrow look. "When you say checking out, you mean...?"

"Observing, Eraser." Shigaraki held up both hands with a little smile. "Just figuring out what her quirk is. To see if she's strong enough."

"What if it's not what we thought, though?" Eraser leaned over the bed, looking at Scribe thoughtfully. "This morning, she looked like...like this, but terrified. What if someone has a way of capturing her consciousness and holding her hostage? What if they can torture her?"

Shigaraki stood. "Then that someone will wish very much that they hadn't chosen Scribe to practice that ability on."

Eraser looked up and Shigaraki saw the agreement in the other man's eyes. He nodded at Eraser's pocket. "Let me know if you...if she contacts you again. And if you can pull some strings to find out anything about Murder Hornet's daughter. Otherwise, I'll let you know what my operative discovers."

***

Scribe sat on the balcony in the sunlight with Tomura. It was one of her favorite things to do. There was so little black space in the sunlight. She could really relax a little, especially if he was nearby. She reached out for him and his fingers closed over hers. She closed her eyes.

She must have slept because she felt as if she were looking down at herself. But that couldn't be her because she was in a white room—a hospital room? And Tomura was sitting beside her, holding her hand against his face. Why did he look so sad? She frowned. And then another man entered and she wasn't hovering above them anymore, drawn to this man who stood beside Tomura.

She looked into his eyes curiously and her heart gave an extra painful beat in her chest. She gasped his name as if she'd been holding it inside for a long time. "Shota." This was who she'd been trying to remember. The secret that kept escaping her every time she almost grasped it.

But who was holding the secret from her? And how?

She opened her eyes in the bright sunlight. Tomura turned to her. He smiled. "Did you have a nice nap, pretty?"

She smiled back. "Yes. I think it was just what I needed."

But this isn't Tomura Shigaraki. Whatever he was, the man she suddenly realized she'd believed she was in love with for however long she'd been held in this false reality was not the same as the man she'd seen by the hospital bed with Shota. What is this? Why am I here? Who has me and what do they want?

And why do they want me to believe I'm in love with Tomura?