Saving Private Eri!

Now that I had primed Nighteye into believing that I could potentially defeat AFO, I had two more things to do before the day's end.

I walked into my hotel room, and changed into a preset pair of clothes, before shapeshifting into a slightly taller man with a darker skin tone like that of Mirko's, my bones clacking, skin crawling into shape, and flesh aligning in all the right spots.

"Hmmm... looks about right." I said in a far smoother, deeper, chocolatey voice.

Exiting the hotel, I flew off into the distance, before arriving in front of a hospital.

I walked over to the the reception desk and inquired about a certain man. Tensei Iida.

Then using trance, I wiped the receptionist's memory of me ever entering.

Like a ghost, I tread the halls, towards his room.

Opening the door, I saw Iida sleeping on a chair beside his brother.

As I closed the door, behind me, Iida woke up, spotting me.

"Who are you? This is a private room. Only family and doctors are allowed here!" He said, alert.

I ignored him, walking closer to Tensei, who was also awoken by the noise.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Iida said, attempting to put a hand on my shoulder, only to be biokinetically pushed back.

He screamed in pain as his muscles cramped with a jolt.

Thankfully, I had put up a sound proofing telekinetic barrier around the room beforehand, so no one could hear him scream.

Ignoring Iida's screams, I placed a hand on Ingeniums forehead, as his body started healing an astonishing pace.

Scabs and scars disappeared as if they had never existed.

Bones put themselves together, nerves reconnected and tissues regenerated entire lost or damaged sections.

Tensei sat there, shocked into silence.

He could feel his legs again, the feeling of sore muscles, numb feet and wriggling toes.

He cried tears of joy, attempting to grab his benefactor's hands, only to cry out in pain as his hands cramped, just like Iida's.

Despite this he looked at the man with a deep grateful smile.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Iida noticed his brothers actions, and put two and two together.

"This, I can't,..... I don't know how to thank you, sir, whoever you are." Iida said.

"No need to thank me. I'm just here on a contract. Thank the person who bartered for my help. I believe you know him? A boy by the name of Haru Shikimori.

If anything, I should thank you!

Because of you, I get to have one of the strongest quirk users in my debt."

"W-what?" Iida stuttered.

"You have a good friend, boy. A very good friend. After all, my services don't come cheap. And my favors are always paid in blood." I said, with my best impression of a nasty b-grade tv drama villain, before disappearing into the hallways, the door closing behind me.

Man that was fun! I should do this more often.

With two of the Iida siblings now in my debt, I had another set of pawns on my side of the board.

Just one more thing left to do today.

I flew back to the suburbs of Tokyo, and opened a detailed map of Japan, alongside Laplace Junior.

Divining and eliminating locations, calculating probabilities.

Two hours later, I found it. In a small suburban neighbourhood not far from me.

I flew over, scanning the whole area with Red Reality.

There it was.

A massive underground compound and the exact people I was looking for.

And inside was the most adorable little muchkin in the series.

It was time to save Eri.

I extended a trance jack into the compound, layering webs upon webs of mental surveillance, until I reached a young mind, engrissed in an episode of some precure serial.

Then, I waited.

Soon the episode came to it's climax.

The magical girl used the power of friendship, dispelling the cursed miasma and destroying the villain with a heart shaped light beam.

Watching it, the girl's near dead eyes lit up for the briefest of moments, as if she wanted to cheer, but was reflexively holding back.

Oh this poor child!

Not knowing how to smile!

Ugh. Even my selfish dark hole of a heart can't bear to see this.

But I must endure! For the plan to succeed.

I waited, monitoring her thoughts, as moments passed.

Then at last, she said the magic words.

"I wish....."

Yes! Go on, say it!

"I wish..." she said, her eyes dulling again, as hopelessness took over.

"No, it won't happen..... I'm cursed..."

Damnit! Girl! Have some faith!

Fuck that shit.

I'm going in now.

I extended the trance jack to Eri and plunged it into her head.

"Why do you say that?" I said.

"Eep!" Eri cried out, before immediately putting her hands on her mouth.

"W-who are you?"

"I'm a friend!"

"A friend?" She asked cautiously.

She had had 'friends' over the past two years. All of them were liars. They worked for him. She knew it.

She had learnt not to trust them.

There were no 'friends' for someone like her. Someone who was cursed.

"You're not cursed." I said.

"But he says, my mother said,..."

"I don't care what anyone says.

You are not cursed. And I don't work for him." I said.

"That's what they always say. But , but.." she said, stuttering.

"Okay how about this? I will come and save you from them. But only if you want me to.

So tell me, do you want to be saved Eri?" I said.

"I'm imagining it. This isn't real." Eri muttered.

Ugh. Not this shit.

I telekinetically caressed Eri's cheek, ruffling her hair, gently.

"It's all real. And I'm here to save you." I said.

"Really?" Eri asked hesitantly.

"Yes." I assured.

"But you can't, he's too strong! He will .. he will hurt you. I don't want anyone to be hurt because of me anymore!" She cried, tearing up.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you or me. In fact, when I'm done with him, he won't hurt anyone anymore.

So tell me Eri, do you want to be saved?"

"Yesh!" She sniffled.

"I can't hear you. Can you speak up a bit louder?" I teased.

"Please save me!" She cried out loud.

"That's all you had to say, baby. Now just you wait and watch!" I said, patting the crying girl's head lovingly.

The sound awoke everyone in the mansion, as Overhaul went into full alert.

Immediately he checked Eri's cell, only to find it's door open. In fact, all the doors were open.

How did this happen, he wondered.

Meanwhile, I froze everyone in the mansion simultaneously and silently, as opened the doors wide, with a generous application of telekinetic force.

I had surrounded the mansion with a soundproof barrier once more. No one would be going in or getting out without my consent.

I strode in gallantly, as all security systems malfunctioned, doors and secret entrances opened up and like in the myth of Krishna, the jailors fell asleep.

Only unlike Vasudev, I wasn't breaking out of prison, I was breaking in.

But the objective was the same. To save an innocent child.

And while my current actions wouldn't be carved into myth, it certainly was the right thing to do.

Overhaul resisted the urge to sleep with herculean willpower, and failing that, with excruciating pain.

He used his own quirk to make his nerves more sensitive, and stabbed himself in the arm, twisting the knife, it's pain keeping him concious.

He stumbled out of his office, bleeding profusely and seething with rage.

Whoever was behind this wouldn't leave here alive, he thought.

I ignored him, immobilizing him with but a thought and a little biokinesis, just to make sure my identity remained safe.

His muscles cramped and tore apart, as Overhaul fell limply to the floor, like a broken doll.

I stood at the top of the stairs leading to the underground compound.

"Come Eri. Walk out of your room with your own two feet. Break your shackles and come!" I said, as Eri gingerly peeked out of her room seeing the guards collapsed in a heap.

Hesitantly, she put one step out, like a cat testing bath water, before putiing foot before foot and walking out, shaking like a chihuahua.

Slowly, she followed the invisible hand's lead and arrived at the base of the stairs, the same ones she descended that fateful day. The stairs she never thought she would ever see again.

Not in this way at least.

She looked up at the figure in the doorway, shrouded in a comforting silver-gold aura, motes of light dispersing off his back.

"Come!" I said, kneeling down and extending a hand to her.

She looked at me in fear, expecting retribution, backing away.

"Come on, I won't bite. Besides, didn't I say I was here to save you?" I assured.

"It was...you?" She questioned, still distrustful.

"Yup. Now come on. We don't have all day, or night!" I said, as Eri ran up the stairs and into my arms, as I picked her up and walked over to the main office.

At the door, Eri jerked and began to shiver at the sight of Overhaul.

"Shh..it's okay. He's not going to hurt you anymore. I took care of it." I said, patting her head, gently, as she buried her face in my collar.

"You..won't get away with this!" Overhaul mumbled from his mangled throat.

Eri pushed against me, her teeth clattering in fear.

"Eri, Eri! Look at him. So long as I'm here, he can't do anything to you! Okay?" I said, showing Eri his broken, decrepit form.

Eri nodded in understanding, before burying her face in my collar again, unable to look at her tormentor for long.

I ignored the man, and walked into the office, searching through the cabinets until I found the seal of the household.

Taking out the adoption papers I had prepared beforehand, I stamped them with the seal, before putting it back where it came from.

Now, taking out the adoption papers in Overhaul's drawer, I burnt them to a crisp.

"With this Eri, you are my daughter now!" I said, showing her the newly minted adoption papers.

Eri, nodded, not understanding what it meant.

But that's okay. As I said in Haruto's case. Baby steps. Just the baby steps.

With the papers dealt with, I wiped his and his subordinates memory of Eri, took his quirk suppression bullets and a crate or two of trigger, before leaving for home.

Under cover of night, I flew Eri over to the a four bedroom apartment I had bought in Hamamatsu with the money from my song deals.

Getting her settled, I made to leave only to be met by a concerned and shaking Eri.

She looked at me pleadingly, as if to say, please don't leave me all alone.

That was so cute!

Damnit! I need to get rid of my affection for cute things cuz this is an actual biohazard of cuteness!

"Fine." I said, as I led Eri to her bed, and gently patted her, singing her a lullaby until she fell asleep, in my arms.

And that's how my day ended, at 2:38 am on a Monday night, or should I say, Tuesday morning, nursing a traumatized little girl to sleep.