No connection found.

That's funny.

No connection found?

No, like...that's really hilarious.

"WHAT THE FLYING FUCKITY FUCK!! FUCK!!" I screamed, aggressively pressing the red button on the device repeatedly.

My mind flashed back to my conversation with Keigo:

"You could be in the middle of the jungle, the desert, lost at sea...anywhere, and that thing would get a connection. You'll have no problem getting a connection in this room."

HFRA STATUS: NO CONNECTION FOUND.

"YOU ARE WORTHLESS, YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!....AND FUCK YOU TOO, DIANE!!" I screamed at no one in particular, realizing the HFRA I'd been given was faulty.

How is that even possible?

Continuing to mutter every profanity in the book, I angrily chucked the broken HFRA device across my charred room, trying to find my phone.

Yes! There it is! Lying on the floor-

CRASH!!!

In the next instant, my door was practically exploded off its hinges, already halfway eaten up by blue flames.

Dabi's here. My time is up.

I quickly grabbed my phone, desperately looking around for anything I could use as a weapon.

Not seeing anything menacing enough, I simply grabbed a desk lamp off the floor, sprinting full force at Dabi, who was standing in the doorway.

I can't let him corner me in my room again. I need to get back in the hallway.

I chucked the lamp at Dabi, watching him instinctively shield his face. I used this moment to body slam him out of the doorway, and take off down the hallway once more.

As much as I wanted to focus on the path ahead of me, I needed to call-

BAM!!

I felt someone's arms wrap around me from behind, as I harshly tumbled to the floor from the tackle.

"No!!" I yelled, as my phone slid across the floor.

"Ooo, you smell good! Very bloody!!" Toga giggled, trying to restrain me.

I began panicking now, as I felt my kicking feet being restrained by a Twice double-or the real Twice. I have no idea.

Toga almost had my upper body pinned to the ground as well.

"G-GET OFF!!" I screamed at her, going for a last resort headbutt right to her face.

OW!!!

Toga and I simultaneously cringed in pain from the force, as a new source of blood began brewing on both of our faces.

I quickly shoved her back into Twice, allowing me to get away.

I was about to start running again, when I saw Dabi blocking my path. He was starting to look a little desperate as well.

"This has gone on for way too long." He seethed lowly, outstretching his hand towards me.

"No shit!" I spat, grabbing the last dagger from my waistband.

Without warning, I chucked it at Dabi. I was going for a stab to his throat, but ended up missing due to the blinding light of his flames.

Instead, my knife grazed across his face....getting caught in his stitches and yanking a few of them out.

He gasped in pain, grabbing the side of his face...which was now bleeding profusely.

He slowly turned his gaze at me now, a new found fury darkening his blue eyes.

Ah shit. I'm fucked. Well, nice knowing ya-

All I saw was blue, before I felt myself crash through the windows in the hallway. I was flying through the night air now, realizing I'd been knocked out of the school.

I wasn't too high up. Only about five stories. Still, that doesn't mean this fall won't hurt-

BAM!!

I grunted in pain, as my body slammed into the pavement, realizing I had no energy left.

In the next instant, someone slammed down on top of me, making me groan out in defeat.

"What a pain in the ass you are." Dabi hissed, roughly forcing me onto my stomach, before pinning my arms behind my back. I saw a steady trail of blood dripping onto the pavement next to me, realizing it was from his face. I cut him pretty good.

A weight suddenly restricted my hands and wrists, and I realized my quirk was no longer able to work.

Quirk restricting handcuffs. Great.

"N-No. stop..." I mumbled in pain, realizing I'm about to be kidnapped.

Without a word, Dabi harshly yanked me to my feet. Although, I surprised us both when I collapsed back onto the floor from my injuries. I was completely spent.

He chuckled, before roughly throwing me over his shoulder.

"Well, at least you're suffering too, I guess." He retorted, before I felt a harsh knock to my temple.

Just like that, my eyes rolled back as black consumed my vision.

Just like that....I'd lost.

.......

HAWKS POV:

"Yooo, Spinner. I'm headin' out!" I exclaimed in mock cheerfulness, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

I wanted to text Ari and let her know I was on my way to her dorm. Hopefully, she didn't fall asleep. Although, guess that wouldn't be so bad either, cause then I'd have an excuse to cuddle up with her and go to sleep, too. Man, does that sound like heaven right now-

10 missed calls from: Eraserhead

I furrowed my brows in confusion, looking at the notifications. Eraserhead?

Waiting until I was flying in the sky, and a good distance away from the league of villains hideout, I quickly called Eraserhead back.

"Ayy, Eraser! My man. What's up-"

"Is Ari with you?" He stated firmly, though the immediate panic was very obvious in his voice. The sound of sirens filled his background noise.

Just with those few words he'd spoken...

My heart stopped.

I knew. I already knew. I just didn't want to believe it.

The inevitable. My biggest fear. Everything I've been trying to avoid.

"U-Uh, n-no. W-Why?-" I started to stutter raspily, before he quickly cut me off again.

"Get down to UA as soon as possible. Ari's been kidnapped. She's your intern, so I need you here to help with this." Eraserhead said, quickly hanging up the phone.

Fuck.

No.

Damn it.

I am so fucked. No-Ari is so fucked. Both of us are so fucked.

Why? Why did Dabi kidnap her?! That wasn't the plan!! I was supposed to do it. I was supposed to still have six days left to do so. Why didn't he tell me about this? Does he still not trust me? Is this supposed to be a secret he's keeping from me?

"This can't be happening..." I whispered out, quickly kicking my flight speed up into world record time.

.......

I sloppily landed in front of UA, hearing the reporters and onlookers a few feet away gasping in excitement at my appearance.

"No way, it's Hawks!!"

"Can I get an autograph!!"

"A few words, number two hero??"

Not even looking in their direction, I quickly made my way past the police barriers, assessing the outside of the school.

I already hated the sight in front of me, noticing a window on the fifth floor was completely shattered. A shit ton of blood was smeared onto the pavement directly below it, causing my stomach to twist.

W-Who's blood? Who's blood is that?

"Fuck..." I whispered, walking into the school.

The smell of charred ash immediately filled the air. Smells like Dabi flames. Police and heroes were running around the school, getting accounts from students and teachers.

I saw two of Ari's friends...Nejire Hado and Tamaki Amajiki, speaking with police. They both looked like they'd been fighting-

"Hawks." I heard from behind me, turning around to see Eraserhead. He looked incredibly stressed.

"Where is she?" I immediately asked, not caring to put up my happy, hero persona right now. Unfortunately, I knew exactly where she was.

"Police are trying to gather what happened from the school security cameras, as we speak. For now, come with me." He said, nodding for me to head towards the dormitories.

I followed him without a word, hating the sight of the crime scene markers that only increased the closer we got to Ari's dorm room.

The hallways still looked completely untouched. Hopefully she didn't get seriously hurt-

"Prepare yourself." Eraserhead sighed, as we finally neared another hallway.

I couldn't hold back the audible gasp as soon as we turned the corner.

The entire hallway was blackened with ash, smoke, and charred pieces. Fire fighters and water quirk heroes were still putting out patches of blue flames. Holes in the walls. Broken glass. Droplets of blood littering the hallway-and splatters of blood coated the walls.

I stopped walking, upon noticing a glint of something on the floor.

Going to pick it up, a police officer quickly scolded me.

"Don't touch the crime scene!!-"

"He's the number two hero! Let him do what he wants!! Apologies, Hawks!" The police chief exclaimed, quickly ushering the officer away.

I quickly reached into the rubble to pick up the dagger, rubbing the filth away from the hilt.

Eraserhead watched me, waiting for a verdict.

"A-Ari's-this is Ari's dagger. This is the brand she uses. I've seen it on her, when we patrol the areas in Kyushu together." I mumbled to him, weakly twirling the dagger between my fingers.

"If that's the case, then I'm assuming she fought back. After seeing the amount of damage and danger she was in, I don't know if fighting back was a good thing, in her case...or a bad thing." He sighed, absentmindedly looking at the dagger.

I pressed my lips together upon seeing the blade of the dagger coated with blood.

No.

I am so worried about her.

"Yeah. I'd say she definitely fought back." I whispered weakly, as we kept walking.

I took in everything around me as best I could, trying to piece together what happened here tonight. Leftover debris from Twice's doubles were still lying in random heaps, so it's safe to assume they used a specific strategy against Ari's quirk to overpower her.

Now, it all makes sense as to why Dabi was so interested in finding out all that information on Ari. Sure, I have no doubt he needed to give it to Dr. Ujiko. But, he probably did more research on his own to find out how to overpower her.

After all, she's already beat him before. I know that makes him mad, even if he won't admit it.

"This....is Ari's room. It's clear to see the villains were targeting her, specifically. I don't know why." Eraserhead muttered quietly, easily ripping away the caution tape that blocked the entrance.

I definitely know why.

It's because I basically told them to make her a Nomu.

The charred door had been ripped off the hinges, making me angry. I knew that was from Dabi.

My eyes widened at the sight of Ari's room.

The clean, cozy room I was just cuddling in the other day looked like a murder scene. Everything was broken and burned. Holes littered the walls.

I quickly gained my composure, trying to put the scene together in my head.

I brushed my gloved fingers along the charred spot on her bed, noticing the way Ari's sheets looked previously slept in.

Did that bastard really attack her when she was sleeping?

I want....to kill him.

Feeling my teeth grinding together in more anger, I looked around at the mess, kneeling down at the splintered, indented baseboard. Someone definitely got thrown into the wall...

My eyes trailed to the item next to the baseboard...noticing a very familiar device lying on the floor.

I picked up the HFRA device, inspecting it curiously.

Did she try to use this? Or did it just fall out-

"Clearly she was looking for something in here. Or someone was." Eraserhead muttered, picking up the broken drawer of Ari's desk off the floor.

That's the desk where she kept the HFRA device. I watched her put it in there.

But, did she use it? Once these devices are set up, they are automatically wired to every top hero's phone. Our phones will immediately start ringing if someone presses this.

But, mine didn't ring. Neither did Eraserhead's. And Endeavor is nowhere to be found...which is kind of annoying since I brought him to Musutafu for this purpose.

For shits and giggles, I pressed the red button...hearing the happy dinging sound of the device as it tried to gather a signal.

HFRA STATUS: NO CONNECTION FOUND.

Hm? How in the world is that-

"What the hell happened in here? I was at dinner with Shouto." Endeavor stated, barreling into Ari's room.

I remained quiet, continuing to scan the contents of the room as Eraserhead caught Endeavor up on the situation.

"I don't understand-Hawks, is this why you asked me to split my time between Musutafu and Kyushu? Did you know Ari was in danger? I need to know these things, so I can do my job effectively." Endeavor growled out in annoyance, causing Eraserhead to narrow his eyes at me suspiciously.

Oh, great. This day just keeps getting better and better-

"You knew one of my students was in danger and you didn't think to tell me-" Eraserhead started, before I quickly stepped in.

"No. No, I didn't know Ari was in danger, Eraserhead. I needed your help with something else, Endeavor-san. But....it's not really important anymore." I mumbled, running an anxious hand through my hair.

Eraserhead nodded in acknowledgment, before Endeavor spoke.

"I found this in the hallway. I apologize I was not there to protect one of your students, Eraserhead. Ari's a tough kid. She's got spirit and guts. We'll get her back." Endeavor said, handing Eraser a phone.

Endeavor? Apologizing? What is happening today...

Eraserhead sighed, looking at the phone Endeavor gave him. That was Ari's phone. I recognized the phone case.

Without a word, Eraserhead tossed me the phone, clearly wanting me to look at the screen.

I looked down at the phone, feeling my heart physically breaking at what I saw.

Ari's phone was navigated to the emergency contacts screen, and the person she was about to call was...

Me.

"Fuck." I sighed out for the countless time that night, closing my eyes in defeat

Tonight....I was too late.

And I know exactly what I need to do in order to fix this.

I know what I need to do to protect Ari.

What a mess I've made....and unfortunately, the only way to clean this mess is to dirty it up some more.

**************

A/N: Next chap will make you shit your pants. That is all.

Next chapter will be out tomorrow or Friday. I've got a big psych paper for college I've been procrastinating on, so it depends on that🤪😂