It's so warm...

Cracking my eyes open, I could see why. At some point after I had fallen asleep, Eri had crawled across the aisle, and she was squished tight between me and (Y/N). Both of them were kind of sprawled over me, and my half asleep brain quickly kicked itself into full function.

(Y/N)'s hand had somehow found mine during sleep, and her arm laid across my kid sister, beneath the blanket. It was an adorable sight, but my mind was screeching in both shock and excitement as I stared at our interlocked hands.

She is so out of my freaking league, but my god, she's holding my hand!

It was dark inside the store, but I could hear clanging and muttering coming from somewhere near the front, so I decided it would be best to go and investigate. Carefully, and oh-so slowly, I began to slide myself out from beneath the girls, maneuvering Eri along with the blanket so I wouldn't disturb either of them.

Once on my feet, I took a moment to capture the mental image of the two before heading towards the noises, the chill much sharper after having left the heat of the blanket.
"The hinges are all fuckin screwy!" One of the voices, and definitely the loudest, came from the military blond I had spotted earlier, and once I got closer, I realised why he seemed to familiar.

"Katsuki, that's as high as it tilts. You'll break it..." Uraraka scolded, batting his hands away from what looked to be an industrial floodlight. Bakugou Katsuki, a year older and a known name across town for his stinker of an attitude. It was kind of surprising to see him in uniform, especially considering the Military was such a disciplined force.

"I'm not an idiot, Cheeks!" He snapped back, but not as viciously as he had been with the light. "Tell the others to hurry up with the others so we can get some light up in this bitch." Before Uraraka could respond, she noticed me ambling towards them, waving me over.

"Shinso, Midoriya told me what happened! Are you alright?! What happened to Kaminari?!" The last thing I wanted was to relive the experience, but I owed her an answer. They had been friends too, after all.
"Something got him. I don't know what it was, but it's out there..." I glanced towards the dark storefront, the glass foggy and dripping with condensation.

"Probably just a rabid mongrel or something." Bakugou huffed, ruffling the brunette's hair as he passed by, carnelian eyes catching mine for a short moment. "I'm helping myself to food. Tell your ratty manager I'm not paying, either! He owes me for dragging that damn thing out here!"

Both of us sighed in unison as he stomped off, and the girl seemed to be silently apologising for his attitude with the look on her face.
"So, are we trying to get some light?" I questioned, even though it was rather obvious.
"Yeah, plus we might be able to see if it's clearing outside at all. This is some scary stuff..." Uraraka replied, fiddling with her nametag. "Takeyama, Ojiro, Nezu, Sato and Hagakure all left with Nishiya earlier, and now with Kaminari...people are getting nervous..."

I can't fucking blame them...

"Oh! How's Eri coping? The poor thing, hearing her cry before broke my heart." Uraraka and Eri had a good bond. Ever since she was a toddler, the bubbly girl had babysat her when I wasn't available to, and it felt good knowing there were others around that would help look out for her.

"She's been sleeping, for the most part. She's curled up with (Y/N) right now, but she's going to be scared when she wakes up..." I sighed, combing a hand through my hair. "So, Katsuki, huh? That's unexpected." Pink cheeks turning red, Uraraka glanced to the side, rocking on her heels.
"Uh...(Y/N), huh? First name basis, am I right?" She laughed awkwardly, which put us both in equally embarrassed states. Checkmate.

"What you're doing is pointless. There's no use trying to make things comfortable. The only way to truly live on is to repent for your sins!" With one chaotic blond gone, another chose to take his place. We turned to glare at Monoma, and his grossly superior expression.
"Nobody's stopping you, man." I replied curtly, trying to hold back from saying anything too offensive. I didn't want to bash anybody's religion, but boy, did he make it hard.

Puffing his chest out and swinging his arms wide open, the blue-eyed blond looked anything but welcoming. In fact, his pose was kind of creepy.
"You'll see! This is all in the great book! A rapture! Stain is judging us!" Honestly, prior to hearing the bastard preaching in the streets last summer, I had never even heard of this Stain guy he worshipped.

"Yeah, I'm judging you, too. Please be quiet, Monoma. People are trying to sleep." Uraraka snapped, wagging her finger towards him. Unphased, he was about to burst into another rant of holiness before someone started towards him. Metaphorical tail between his legs, the boy scurried away, likely to go pester somebody else.

Shrugging off the short encounter, Dabi, the tattooed miscreant, decided to sidle over to us instead.
"Last one's done." He grunted, rolling his neck around, his many piercings catching what little light was available. Clapping her hands together, Uraraka grinned, bopping up and down.
"Thank you, Dabi! I'll have to go find Midoriya and let him know we're all ready to go!"

Uncaring, the ruffian waved her off, hands slipping into the pockets of his scuffed leather jacket.
"No sweat. Here's hoping a little light'll stop the morons from losing it. Need anything else?" As intimidating as the man appeared at first glance, he seemed pretty decent. I had heard a lot of nasty rumours around town, about how he'd done time, among other, far more sinister things, but I tried not to judge by that.

"Maybe just stick close by? We wanted to hold a meeting really soon. If we're going to be here a while, we need to sort out rationing and other stuff!" Uraraka was already on her way towards the back of the store, leaving me with Dabi. We met eyes for a moment, and I cleared my throat.
"So, uh, this is pretty inconvenient, huh..?"

And that's on social anxiety.

"Damn straight it is. All I wanted was a pack of cigarettes. Now I'm stuck with a damn circus..." He muttered, shifting his weight from one booted foot to the other. "No offence. I mean the preacher and the other dregs. You ain't too bad, I guess. Saw you with that little girl before when the quake hit. Daughter?"

Shaking my head, I began feeling a little more at ease, my stance relaxing.
"Little sister, actually. She got a real scare..." I replied, recalling her loud, heavy sobs. "You probably heard about what happened out the back earlier..." Clicking his tongue, Dabi glanced around before his eyes settled back on me.

"Only about six different versions of it, though I'm gathering something killed the poor bastard." He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placing it between his teeth, but he didn't light it. "Don't go thinking I'm one of those conspiracy theorists, but I reckon it all has something to do with that Yuuei lot. There's been a lot more of the fuckers lurking around the last few weeks..."

He had a point. I wasn't usually one to stray from the property unless needed, but Aizawa had mentioned a stronger military presence a few times after picking Eri up from school. It was likely just a coincidence, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered.

"Hey, how are you two holding up?" I nearly leapt out of my skin when Kirishima popped out of nowhere, a hand patting against my back, but I quickly recovered.
"Coping, I suppose..." I murmured, realising that he was actually someone who would believe me. "Wait, Kirishima, right? Before, when the mist rolled in, what exactly did you see?"

Taken aback, but still holding that friendly expression, the redhead slotted himself into our slight huddle.
"To be honest, man, not too much...We were walking, then all of a sudden something yanked Amajiki backwards...I couldn't see anything, but I heard...screaming...and...snarling..."

The creature in the loading dock didn't snarl...

"Do you think that maybe-"
"Toshi..!" I nearly fell forward when I felt something collide with the back of my leg, but the moment I spotted those small arms wrap around it, I calmed. Turning, I lifted Eri into my arms, glancing up to spot (Y/N) approaching to join us, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Hey, squirt. Have a good sleep?" I asked my little sister, and she nodded in return, though her beautiful smile was non-existent. She was too busy staring at Dabi.

The man didn't seem to mind, but what surprised me was that he extended his hand, offering her a single finger to shake.
"Eri, is it? I'm Dabi. May look scary, but I really ain't." Hesitating, Eri glanced between me and Dabi's finger before finally giving it a shake, her other hand clutching the scoop of my shirt.
"Your skin looks pretty, Mr. Dabi."

Everyone in our circle openly chuckled at that, and honestly, Dabi himself looked pretty touched.
"Thanks, kid. So's your hair. Makes you look like a princess." I was glad she was distracted. The exchange was brightening her mood, and I really hoped it would stay that way.

When the light beside us buzzed to life, both Eri and (Y/N) pressed into me, and I did my absolute best not to jump too much.
"Could everybody please gather by the checkouts?! We're having a meeting!" Midoriya's voice echoed through the supermarket when he called out, and we all shared a glance before heading over.

I was hyper aware of the fact that (Y/N) was tightly holding onto my shirt as she tailed behind me, and I was really trying to not let it go to my head, but it was difficult. Teenaged me likely would have passed right out, but thankfully I was just the slightest bit more composed nowadays, even despite the circumstances.

"Alright, everyone, thank you so much for your patience and understanding! I'm sure this is a nerve wracking situation for you all!" Midoriya spoke clearly, standing on top of one of the check-out counters. "Now, while I'm sure this will all blow over quickly, just in case, we will be handing out rations! Aren't we lucky we got stuck in a supermarket, huh?!"

People murmured amongst themselves, but nobody really seemed to have an issue with the idea, and even if they did, they weren't stupid enough to say anything about it.
"BLOW OVER QUICKLY?! OH, HOW BLIND YOU ALL ARE! BLIND TO THE END OF DAYS!"

Never mind. One guy is stupid enough.

Monoma had taken the liberty of standing upon one of the other check-out counters, opposing Midoriya, and we all turned to glare.
"FORETOLD IN THE BOOK OF STAIN, THIS BE-ETH THE RAPTURE! THE SINS OF MAN-KIND SHALL BE WIPED CLEAN WITH BLOOD AND BRIMSTONE! IF YOU WISH TO PRESERVE YOUR VERY SOULS, THEN YOU MUST REPEN-"

"I'd like to wipe his sins away with my fist in his face." (Y/N) leaned in close to my ear as she whispered, and I struggled not to laugh. She was so incredibly close, and she remained there, switching her hold from my shirt to my arm.

"Monoma, please, I am all for freedom of speech and expression, but could you at least wait until I've finished speaking, thank you?" Midoriya spoke politely, sure, but I could see the irritation in his big eyes.
"DO YOU THINK THIS BURNING WRATH WILL WAIT?! WHAT A FOOL YOU ARE! THE LOT OF YOU! FOOLS! I-"

"CALL ME A FOOL ONE MORE TIME, YOU CULTIST CRACKPOT, I DARE YOU!" Bakugou lunged forward, only to be held back by his fellow squad-mates. Both the pink-haired woman and the ravonet man seemed quite used to reigning him in. I pitied them. If I were them, I would have just set him loose.

"YOU MUST ALL REPENT! FALL TO YOUR KNEES AND PRAY FOR SALVATION, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!" Monoma was only getting more riled up, and my teeth clenched together. I honestly wasn't too far off from lunging at him myself.

"Ugh...Toshi, make Mr. Cultist Crackpot stop shouting!" Eri whined loudly, which made everyone, besides Mr. Cultist Crackpot himself, begin to laugh. I smirked proudly, glad that her lack of a filter was coming in handy.
"You heard the little lady, man. Shut up." Dabi snickered, which sent Monoma into a fit of offended gasps and grunts.

"Uh, okay, well, anyway, back to what I was saying! We have organised ra-"

Before Midoriya could get another word out, a loud thud caused us all to nearly jump out of our skins, and I found myself quickly stepping between (Y/N) and the sound, handing Eri over to her quickly.

"Yo...What the hell is that..?" Kirishima murmured, taking a single step towards the illuminated windows. There was something large and black slowly making its way across the glass, and the sight of it made my skin crawl.

"Holy crap...is that..."

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***I've had the majority of this chapter written for like 2 years. Wowza. I've been busy with work, my kid, existential crises, lack of motivation for BNHA...the works.

Hopefully I can get back into the swing of this one, since horror has always been my genre of choice.

Next Time: Lamp***