The supplier's veins bulge on his forehead, and his arms begin to swell as he convulses suspended in the air under Dark Shadow. The seams of his suit jacket begin to split, and his engorged arms burst free of them as you tumble indecorously to the ground with a thud next to Tokoyami.

"Shake him off, Dark Shadow!! Hurry!!!" Tokoyami shouts, trying to help you up from the gelid floor of the warehouse.

"Shit!!" You curse as salty tears prick your eyes and grab Tokoyami's hand, letting him pull you up. Not only are your arms throbbing horribly from the weight of controlling and lifting the tonnes of water, but a wicked pain sears your feet, and you're certain Recovery Girl will berate you when you get home. Now's not the time to focus on your bleeding soles or aching arms, though. Not when the target villain has just taken a quirk enhancing drug.

Dark Shadow tries desperately to shake the supplier off above the two of you, but the villain holds strong, jerking and convulsing as the drug takes effect. A pained growl escapes him, and his arms turn an ugly shade of reddish purple as though they're bruising with the force of the enhancement and swelling.

Grabbing ice with your quirk, you form it into sharp blades, aiming for the handle of the briefcase. They shoot through the air like lightning, nearly reaching the handle, but the man uses his free arm to shield it, causing the ice to embed within his swollen forearm. Blood splatters down as he howls, freezing into tiny droplets before it even reaches the ground, but he doesn't give up.

"Brats!! Damn heroes, using mere children for their cause!!! Damned, damned children!! I'll make you wish you didn't fall for their damned propaganda, you insufferable wretches!!!" He howls in fury. A crazed look fills his eyes, and you share an uneasy glance with Tokoyami.

"Watch out, you two!!" Hawks shouts as he knocks two gang members down. Hawks has knocked out most of the villains now, and he rushes towards you and Tokoyami. He wraps an arm around each of your waists to pull you both out of the way just in time as the villain manages to free the briefcase from Dark Shadow's grip, and he slams down into the icy ground where both of you had just been standing.

The ice cracks under the supplier's feet as he stands, his arms pulsing and twitching like something pulled directly from a horror movie. Almost all of Hawks' feathers surround the villain, and he sends a flurry of them down, but the villain uses his arms to protect himself as they slice away.

"Hydra, how's your quirk? Think you can freeze him?" Hawks asks quietly, calling his sidekicks to move in to your location for support on his phone without pulling it out.

"Yeah..." You wince, rubbing your arms. "Tsukuyomi, can you get Dark Shadow to pin him for me?"

"Let's hope..." Tokoyami nods. "Dark Shadow! Pin him down!"

"Right!" Dark Shadow shoots at the villain, trying to get ahold of him, but the supplier is quick to beat him back with his swollen arms. Not letting him have a moment to breathe, Hawks continues to send his feathers after him, trying to snag the briefcase without success. Puffs of hot air cloud out of the villain's mouth as he struggles to defend himself. With both of your teammates distracting the villain, you gather water from the ice coating the floor, and a shadow falls over the supplier as you raise the wave of water to consume him in ice.

"Damn you!!" The man curses once more. His face is so red, it's almost purple. His reaction to the drug seems to be much different than the previous villain. Perhaps he has an older product for self defense? It doesn't matter now, though, and the thoughts quickly leave your mind. It's time to focus.

As you hold the water above the villain, waiting just a moment for Hawks and Tokoyami to create an opening for you, the villain whips his head around, desperate for an escape.

"Sorry, but it's over now! There's nowhere to run! You're stuck in this frozen hell will us!" You shout, releasing the water.

But before it touches him, in a final attempt at defiance, the supplier uses his engorged arms to crush the briefcase as hard as he can against his chest. It crumples, and your water freezes over, encasing his body in ice, with the briefcase trapped and ruined inside.

.
.
.

An hour later, you sit on a bench on the port next to Tokoyami, kicking your feet underneath you. The villain ended up having a severe allergic reaction to the drug, which explains why he looked so grotesque. Hawks had to knock him out for the paramedics to even be able to administer medicine because he was so violent. Once you restored the warehouse to its previous condition and put the water back, you and Tokoyami were sent out to wait while Hawks' sidekicks and the police helped your mentor.

"Y/n, you shouldn't be swinging your legs around so much. The paramedics said you needed to keep your feet elevated to stop the blood flow." Tokoyami tells you.

"I know, I know... But it doesn't feel like they're bleeding that bad anymore." You sigh, pausing your kicking for only a moment. "You think any of the drugs are going to still be in one piece? He mangled that briefcase pretty bad... Looked like a car that got crushed between two semis."

"You're going to reopen them if you keep moving. The friction of your boots moving will disrupt the clotting." Tokoyami scolds, ignoring the rest of what you said. He's too concerned with you ruining your feet again to care about the drugs. He reaches down and gently wraps each hand around one of your ankles. "Turn towards me."

"Fine..." You sigh again, doing as he says and letting him lift your injured feet to rest in his lap. "Thanks, Tokoyami..."

"Of course. You're always trying to look out for everyone, Y/n. Let me look after you for once." Tokoyami says. The cold night air ruffles his feathers, and he runs his hand through them to adjust them. "And don't worry about the drugs. There was nothing you could have done. You were relying on Hawks and I to create an opening. If it was anyone's fault, it was ours for not being fast enough."

"I know it's not my fault, but it wasn't yours either, Tokoyami...! I can't believe he was willing to destroy the drugs to keep us from finding out what they're made of... Must be something pretty important, whatever it is..." You say, finding your eyes drifting up to the moon above. The clouds have all drifted away now, leaving the moon and stars shining in the black expanse of the night sky.

"Something sinister is afoot..." Tokoyami has a grave expression on his face when you look back at him. Although it's typical of him, you can't help but feel a sense of unease upon hearing his words.

"Hey now, don't be so pessimistic! I'm sure everything will be fine. I mean, look at how poorly that drug worked! We hardly had to fight that supplier compared to the weather guy, and he's working with the ones who made it!" You try to lighten the mood. "I mean, yeah, it was anaphylaxis, but he wasn't even moving around much! The heroes will have this stomped out before anyone gets seriously hurt."

"You're quite the optimist, Y/n. I admire that about you." Tokoyami says. "...I can't shake the feeling that there's more to this than we know. If they can make drugs capable of boosting quirks... What's next?"

"Ah, let's not think about that right now! Let the adults worry about that..." You sigh, leaning back on to the armrest of the bench. It's not very comfortable. "I just hope they can get something from the briefcase..."

"I hope so as well." Tokoyami nods, glancing up towards the bright moon. "By the way, Y/n... I've been thinking..."

"Yeah? What's up?" You hum, trying not to move your feet as they rest in Tokoyami's lap.

"We've become closer since starting our work here at Hawks' agency. If you'd like... You can call me by my first name..." Tokoyami fiddles with the edge of his cloak, trying his best to act nonchalant, and barely mustering enough strength to keep his hands from trembling.

"Really?? Haha, sweet! Fumikage it is from now on then!" You laugh, and Tokoyami can't help but chuckle alongside you, your endearing smile dissipating his anxiety with its warmth.

"Fumikage, it is."

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Hi everyone! As I'm sure you're already aware, this book will be out of available parts soon, and the last chapter in this book will be 190. I just posted the second book, Into the Maelstrom, to my profile, so make sure to save it to your libraries for update notifications once I start posting there instead!

I'll make sure the last part in this book points everyone where to go just in case you forget to save it, but this story isn't done so don't worry about that! It'll continue starting at chapter 191 and all of the chapters will continue from then on so it's less confusing about what comes first.

As always, thank you so much for reading, voting, and commenting! I appreciate you all and hope you're all doing fantastic!

https://www.wattpad.com/story/387945799