CHAPTER WARNINGS: Torture

~~~

All through the next week, the conversation you had with Kanamiya-san continued to worry you more and more. Was it too late to leave? Were you supposed to say no there? But then again, what could possibly happen? It is a hero agency after all and Kanamiya seemed so nice. Not to mention that Akunoda-sensei was the one who referred you to this agency after all and he was both a certified pro-hero and a teacher of a hero school, surely he'd know what he's referring his students to.

You had many worries, but you pushed all of them away and went about your week. The skies seemed greyer and even the air felt heavier as your worries continued to pile up. You would take a deep breath in and out whenever your mind got flooded with unwanted thoughts and worries.

I'll be alright.

~~~

Roughly a week later, you receive an email from the agency asking you to come over at 8 pm on the upcoming Tuesday. The fact that it was so late in the night started to worry you a little. You took another deep breath in and out as you repeated the words inside your head, I'll be alright.

You went to school like you always did and throughout the whole week, you couldn't help but feel terrified. Should I just not go or would that be a bigger risk? No, they might come and find me, they know where I live. Your thoughts must have showed on your face because Akunoda-sensei asked you if you were alright, later that day.

"Oh yes, I'm alright..." you told him. "Just a little nervous about my first shift."

"Alright. Do you think you'll have fun?" he asked softly.

"Um, about that... uh, is that place... safe...?" you asked slowly and carefully. It wasn't quite easy to ask considering the fact that he was the one who referred you over to the hero agency. You trusted him a lot and he was a very sweet teacher but you didn't know how to feel about this whole situation with the hero agency. There was something wrong with that agency— was he aware? Did he send you over aware of this situation or were you completely in the wrong place? Did he even know what was going on there?

"Hmm... did you meet a lady named Kanamiya?" he asked you.

Oh well there goes the idea that I'm at the wrong place.

"I did,"

"Alright, that makes more sense," he said. "Don't worry, she's just a worrywart it won't be as bad as she says it to be. I've known her for a while but she's just extra cautious about everything."

You let out a sigh of relief. So I'll be fine...

"Thank you so much," you said to him with a relaxed smile on your face. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"Please do," he said and you packed your stuff up to head home.

~~~

"Kirishima!" Kaminari yelled at Kirishima.

"Oh my gosh, stop screaming," he replied to Kaminari rather sternly.

"I wouldn't be yelling if you'd listen the first few times."

"Sorry, sorry. So?"

"Who was that? The girl you were talking to at the park?" Kaminari asked him.

"Oh, her... She's—," Kirishima started to say. (L/n). (L/n) (Y/n). He couldn't believe that he felt flustered from simply saying her name out loud. "(L/n)," he was finally able to say, but he turned his head away bashfully to hide how flustered he was. "I met her at the provincial license exam. Apparently she was starting a part-time job in an agency near that park and she was waiting."

"Boo, she's already taken?" Kaminari whined.

"She is??" Kirishima asked genuinely surprised.

"I mean," Kaminari said. "You like her, don't you?"

Kirishima's eyes widened, he did— he really did, but then again was that alright? He's met you exactly twice and the first time probably didn't even count. But he was in love and there was nothing he could do about it.

"I— I guess," he said with a little pout.

Kaminari sighed. "This is tragic."

"I'm a little worried though. 8 pm is awfully late for a hero agency to ask a high school first year to come to their agency for a job interview. It didn't seem like a huge one that's filled with offers either," Kirishima said.

"Wait, that's actually kind of sketchy," Kaminari replied.

"Right? I hope she's alright," Kirishima said.

"Yeah."

~~~

You carefully walk to the hero agency again. Tonight was a lot warmer than the previous night with little to no breeze— it was a quiet night. You were still quite worried regardless of what your teacher had told you so thoughts kept wandering your mind and by the time you noticed, you were already there.

The rusty old door creaked as you pushed it open and you gulped a little. I'll be alright, you continued to repeat to yourself. When you walked into the building, Kanamiya was already there, waiting for you in the dirty lounge.

"H-Hello!" you said and quickly walked over to her.

"Hey (L/n)," she said with a sad smile. "Do you want to get changed? You won't be doing anything real though, I'm just showing you around and—," her voice cracked a little, "and you'll see how we do it here."

"I'll get changed," you said quietly with your lips quivering a little. You ran over to the same change room you used last time and fear started to wash over you. This can't be alright, Kanamiya is way too worried for me. Can I trust what my teacher said? Either way, I can't go back now, I'll just have to hope it's not that bad.

You changed rather quickly and ran back to Kanamiya.

"I see you're ready. Let's go then," she said carefully. "Follow me."

You followed her down the hallway and down a few staircases. "Everything's downstairs," she explained. "Don't worry we'll be there soon."

As soon as you reached the bottom of the staircase, you were standing in front of a very large white door. Everything on this underground level looked so clean and nothing like the main floor. Kanamiya showed you around the whole level and the rooms you might need to visit for whatever job you're getting.

"Okay, that's it for this level. There's one more level downstairs and that's it," she said and you followed her down another staircase. "Sorry, remind me again, what was your quirk, (L/n)?"

"My quirk is Shadow Manipulation. I can connect to anyone's shadow and control them. The drawback is—," you said but immediately stopped after seeing the look on Kanamiya's face.

There was a look of pure horror on her face as she repeated your quirk, "control... them?"

That scared you but you quickly replied a yes and she put her hand over her mouth. The two of you reached the bottom of the staircase and she quickly checked the clock on the wall. 4 minutes until 8:30. She gulped a little and looked at you.

"We're starting soon," she said with a serious face. "I think I better show you once before you have to experience it for yourself. Follow me."

You followed her again and this time into a small, dark, room. The room was pitch black inside and you were getting quite worried but you soon felt a slender, slightly cold hand grip yours. It was Kanamiya's and you could tell she was trying to reassure you.

A loud buzzer started to ring and a faint light started to turn on. Kanamiya gripped your hand a little tighter as if to protect you. The light grew stronger and stronger and you were finally able to make out where you were. This was a little room with a window connecting to another one. As the inside of the larger room on the other side of the window became more clear, you were able to see a villain tied up in a chair.

"What's... that?" You asked with a look of horror in your eyes.

"This is what we do here," Kanamiya explained. "We torture the living daylights out of villains and get information."

A large man came into the room with a wooden bat and swung it right at the villain. There was a scream of pain and soon words that flowed out of the villain's mouth.

Kanamiya pulled you out of the little room and closed the door behind her. "You don't need to see the rest quite yet."

You were still starstruck, horror flooded your thoughts and you couldn't think straight. Why were you here? What could you do? Could you do anything? Could you leave? No. No, you could not. You understood that the moment you saw that sight.

There was nowhere for you to run.

"K-Kanamiya-san," you said with your eyes wide. "I—"

She pulled you into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry I can't do anything for you. You wanted to become a hero, didn't you? A normal pro-hero."

"Y-yes," you said, your lips quivering.

"Then, this is hell," she said softly. "Welcome to hell, (L/n)."

(A/N Hi! I'm so sorry I completely lost track of time so I'm posting this a day late, but I hope to be back on track for next week! Thank you so much for reading this part and I hope it didn't make anyone too uncomfortable. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to see you next time! PLUS ULTRA!!!!!)