chapter 30

5 DAYS AFTER SHIMAMURA'S KIDNAPPING

The white haired girl no longer sat tied to a chair in the middle of a dark, cold warehouse room. Her pajamas were no longer torn or stained by blood that had dripped from the small cut the Wraith had given her. The metal cuffs had been removed and she stood free. She was as free as a bird in the brilliant blue sky, with matching irises of bright shades.

In fact, she now stood in a room with windows. And a door. A locked door, but a door nonetheless. Lights hung from the ceiling and chairs and tables littered all across the concrete facility. Metal counter tops were lined in rows in the widest part of the room, adorned with bronze and silver objects—no doubt old weapons and machinery from years past. There was rust that had collected on them and bugs and spiders had made their home in the nooks and cracks between the bolts and screws. The mechanical equipment that hung from the ceiling was being repurposed as clothes hanger lines. The warehouse in which Shimamura stood was no warehouse at all—it was a factory.

An abandoned one, to be more specific. The League of Villains had made their secret home here for a short while. Just to carry out their plan. They didn't need to stay long.

As far as the Wraith was concerned, they'd be leaving soon.

"Heads up."

Shimamura turned to see a full white grocery bag tossed her way. She effortlessly reached up and caught it, opening it up to see its contents. A light blue sweatshirt, a toothbrush... and a Mountain Dew. Shimamura glanced at the thrower, raising an eyebrow at them.

The Wraith—Miyazaki, as she requested Shimamura to call her—stood dressed down in a black romper and a blood red shrug. She still had on her usual thigh high, laced up, red boots and her mask covering her face. Shimamura wondered if she went out in public with the mask on or if she just put it back on when she was around Shimamura. She guessed the latter was the answer.

"What's this for?" Shimamura questioned.

Miyazaki put her hands up in surrender, sensing Shimamura's suspicion. She donned a smirk which Shimamura had gotten used to by now, visible even behind the concealing mask.

"The League of Villains isn't exactly... keen... on personal hygiene, let's say. And if they are, they keep it a secret from me."

"Mountain Dew doesn't exactly scream hygiene."

"No? But it does put a little Ya-Hoo in your life."

The student blinked at her. Miyazaki rolled her golden eyes and turned away. The villain had made a reference to the very first Mountain Dew slogan... but Shimamura apparently didn't get that. Miyazaki was in no way old. In actuality, classics just interested her. Classic drinks and slogans. Classic costumes. Classic villains.

Classic heroes.

Shimamura picked out the sweatshirt from the bag and set the rest down on a nearby table. She raised it against her form, examining the fitting. The perfect size. They had given her food and new clothes a day or two ago, but she hadn't accepted any of it till today. The need for survival was beginning to outweigh the need to rebel. But in all honesty, there wasn't much she was rebelling from.

They asked her for no information. No U.A. or hero secrets. Nothing about her friends or family. Not even a single query about who she was—although, she knew they probably had more than enough information on her if they chose her of all people to kidnap from U.A.

The only thing they did was keep her there. They didn't let her leave. If she needed food or water, Miyazaki or one of the other League members would go out and get it for her. More often than not, Miyazaki would be the one to head out. Shimamura couldn't understand why if Miyazaki was the one keeping her company all the time. Maybe she was her caretaker of sorts.

As far as Shimamura knew, they hadn't even announced any sort of ransom. But... it'd been so long already. 5 days to be exact. Didn't the school already know? Didn't her teachers and family know?

Did her friends even notice she was gone?

The same questions kept replaying again and again in her mind regardless what mental state she was in. The constant fear of being forgotten and abandoned irked her to her core. Shimamura clenched onto the sweatshirt, turning her palms white. The League was taking more care and interest in her than U.A. was.

They don't care about me anymore...

Flick

Shimamura glanced to the side, seeing Miyazaki lighting another cigarette with her metal lighter.

Flick flick

She turned the lighter off and on, the small flame finally illuminating on the third try. The small orange fire lit up her face and made her golden eyes glow. A dark scar etched along the bridge of her nose, curving in a diagonal across her face underneath her mask. It was the first time Shimamura had ever noticed it. But besides the scar... Miyazaki's face was relaxed. Her eyes were soft and tired.

Miyazaki looked up, catching Shimamura staring. She raised an amused eyebrow at the girl.

"123 hours and 37 minutes." Miyazaki murmured quietly.

Shimamura swallowed. She knew those numbers. That's how long she'd been here. It was the only way she could keep track of time when she was in the room with no windows.

It's how long she'd been gone.

"I know you've been counting, Tikki." Miyazaki let out a long, slow puff of smoke before turning back to Shimamura. "But have they?"

Shimamura froze. It was like Miyazaki knew exactly what vexed her. Like she could hear her inner thoughts. Shimamura knew she couldn't... but it still felt surreal how easily she could read her.

"No..." Shimamura hesitated. "They haven't..."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"A week..." Uchiha breathed, barely audible from where she sat on the couch.

Aizawa stood before his entire class, cupping his hands behind his back in the living room of the Class 1-A dorms. His students were either standing or sitting upright as straight as a board, all staring at him with wide eyes. Their mouths had fallen open. Their capacity to even think was gone.

He had just informed them of Shimamura's kidnapping.

"You're telling me," Uchiha spoke up again, louder this time. Her eyes blazed like a red sun as she glared up at Aizawa. "That my best friend has been gone a week and no one told me?! No... NO she's not just gone. She's been kidnapped! TAKEN!"

Uchiha bolted up to her feet. Yaoyorozu tried to reach for her to sit back down, to calm her, but it was no use. Uchiha rudely batted Yaoyorozu's hand away and stormed up to Aizawa. Her face was full of anger and rage... but her eyes told a different story.

Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall at any second. Her nose scrunched up and quivered as she tried not to cry. She stood directly in front of him and rose her fist to hit his chest. She didn't know what else to do with herself.

Aizawa swiftly moved his hands from his back and carefully grabbed onto her wrist. He didn't apply much pressure, but it was to stop her from doing anything rash. He saw the look in her eyes. He knew what this news might do to his students.

"The U.A. staff is handling the situation, Sayuri. Please, believe me," he pleaded with her calmly.

Uchiha's eyes lessened in their fiery rage as the tears finally fell. He released her wrist and her upper body collapsed into a heavy sob. Her arms retracted inwards on herself, feeling immeasurable sadness crashing through her body. Yaoyorozu quickly rushed to her side and cradled her in a hug, letting Uchiha sob quietly into her shoulder.

Aizawa pressed a reassuring hand to Uchiha's back before turning to the rest of the class. He knew how his students might react. He knew that after Bakugou's kidnapping over the summer, this would take a massive toll on everyone's conscious. The parents would be livid. The media would turn against U.A. for a second time. But most importantly, Shimamura's friends would attempt to act irrationally again. After all, the school did fail at protecting them yet again.

Knowing the consequences, he still believed his students had the right to know the truth.

Aizawa continued with his explanation, "The heroes have done a quiet, collective sweep of the cities. They've checked the League's usual hideouts, but the League's decided to act smart and pick a new location we hadn't seen before."

"But you know where they are now?" Ashido asked, clutching a pillow to her chest.

Aizawa nodded once. "We believe we know where they are. And most importantly, who they're working with."

Kirishima shook his head, biting on his thumb. "This doesn't make any sense..." He muttered to no one in particular. Bakugou, who stood next to him, glanced at his friend in the corner of his eye before staring back at the ground again. He held his tongue.

"The League of Villains doesn't have the skills to pull off such an elaborate kidnapping with a seamless cover up. We know that after their last attempt." Some of the students glanced at Bakugou and the few that went to rescue him, but no one said anything. "But we know of one villain that does have the specific skill set for such a job. They've recruited a villain known as 'the Wraith.'"

"The Wraith?" Iida piped up. Everyone turned to him. "I know her. She was one of the villains which the media prospected would replace Stain after his death. While Stain had a habit of slaying the most righteous heroes, the Wraith was known for converting them. They call her the Perfect Manipulator."

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, frowning. A gleam appeared against his glasses from the oncoming light. "If the League has recruited the Wraith... I can't help but fear for our odds."

Silence fell over the class again. Aizawa was slow to break such silence as he let them digest the information.

"The Wraith has been absent from crime for the last 3 months. Police thought she just dropped off the map or left Japan, but after this we now know exactly where she is. No one's actually spotted her, but a convenience store clerk has told police of a woman buying 12 packs of cigarettes in one trip. Description was pretty spot on, too."

Bakugou clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Aizawa cast him a look but continued.

"But why...?" Kaminari furrowed his brows, trying to fathom it all. "Why now? Why her?"

"The League is trying to make a statement. After their failure at converting Bakugou, they need a win. They need a victory. Why Tikki, I can't be sure. Convenience most likely. She was the only one alone in her room on Saturday night. The window was open. Opportunity just arose." Aizawa sighed.

"Game night... when she wasn't feeling well." Uraraka gasped.

Uchiha sniffled from Yaoyorozu's shoulder, finally picking her head up. "We all thought she was sick this entire time... yet you chose now to tell us?! We could've been helping! We should've known! You should have told us soon—"

"'Told us?' No one should have had to tell you anything."

Everyone turned to the harsh voice in the back of the room, standing behind the couch. The fiery blond stood glaring at Uchiha from across the room. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth pressed in a completely flat line. He showed anger but at the same time conveyed no emotion at all.

Uchiha stared at Bakugou with wide eyes. "Wha—?!"

He didn't give her the chance to talk.

"Shimamura has been gone for a week and none of you dirt bags could've even guessed. You had no clue. If you were her real friend, you would've figured it out." Bakugou crossed his arms across his chest, clenching his fists.

The entire class hung their heads down. Uchiha simply stared at him in shock. Her tears had dried up but a greater emotion festered inside of her. Disappointment. Bitterness. Shock and fear. The fear that she lost her best friend because she didn't even think to wonder where she'd gone.

"So you did know." Aizawa said to him.

"Yeah. I did." Bakugou shot back, bitter.

A tense air hung between the two. It filled the entire classroom. Everyone held back some sort of emotion, some sort of reaction, anything. Midoriya was the only one brave enough to cut through the suffocating tension.

"Why her, Mister Aizawa?"

Aizawa glanced at Midoriya. The student had his hands on his knees as he leaned forward, trying to conceptualize all this information. He had a hunch before, but now it all made sense.

"I already said, Midoriya—"

"Why is she different?" he pushed for an answer.

Aizawa's tired eyes widened slightly. "I don't understand the question."

"The pills. Her strange behavior. Her relationship to Miss Arima. Why is she different? Is she a drug addict? Do they take interest in her because of it? Why her?" Midoriya couldn't hold back.

He still fought for the truth. Even now. Because maybe, he thought, maybe the answers he needed would bring them closer to finding and saving Shimamura.

Aizawa's mouth opened, then closed, trying to formulate an answer. Then he shook his head and replied, "Your classmate is not a drug addict, Midoriya." His tone had turned critical, but still remained monotone with his students. "As I said before, the most likely reason for them kidnapping specifically her was out of convenience. Arima has nothing to do with it. Shimamura's lithium carbonate has nothing to do with it. It's just chance."

"Chance? You think it's by chance that one of your students gets kidnapped?" Uchiha almost laughed out of spite. Anger and sadness fueled her emotions.

Some more words were exchanged between Aizawa, Uchiha, and others... but Midoriya had tuned them out. His eyes shot open.

Lithium carbonate? What is...?

The pills. The pills Midoriya saw Shimamura taking were lithium carbonate medication. A fact he had overlooked and hadn't even realized. He wouldn't have known it either unless Aizawa told him. Aizawa wasn't just telling him to stop thinking his peer was an addict, but he's leading him down a different path. The right path.

If they wanted to help Shimamura, they needed to understand her first.

"So are you recruiting us to help?" Tokoyami asked.

Aizawa shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Why not?! If Kirishima and the others hadn't been there at Kamino, Bakugou might not have gotten out!" Sero argued, gesturing to the group that had rescued Bakugou that night.

Half the class agreed. Half the class didn't.

Tsuyu hung her head down sadly. "That was dangerous. If we go out there to help rescue Tikki, we risk more students being taken or hurt. Ribbit. It's just too big of a risk."

"Tsu's right, you guys." Uraraka put a hand on Tsuyu's shoulder. "Shimamura could get more hurt too. We don't want to put her in jeopardy either."

Miyata suddenly stood up from her seat. Her purple tendrils were a tangled mess behind her, braiding and unbraiding itself to cope with her stress. But it just made her more tense. "But we have our provisional licenses now—"

"Most of us," Todoroki corrected.

"—we can help!" Miyata argued.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that. For our rescue mission to succeed, the heroes require absolute stealth. No one can know. No media. No press conferences. No one. With more students involved, that isn't possible." Aizawa grumbled. "What happened in Bakugou's instance can't happen again."

The students slouched and some cried into their hands, unable to handle the stress of the situation. How could this have happened?

Bakugou clenched his fists so hard that his nails started embedding little crescent shapes into his palms. This wasn't fair. None of it. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind... something ringing an alarm.

Maybe... maybe if he hadn't been so mad at Shimamura; maybe if she hadn't had to step between him and Shinsou; maybe if he didn't blow up on her that night, maybe she would still be here. She wouldn't have gone up to her room. She wouldn't have left before everyone else.

Bakugou swallowed. A part of him truly started to believe that this was his fault.