Ch.81
The next few days I don't come up with anything solid as I can't use my normal methods. Even when I tried to be in my civilian clothes, I found next to nothing in information that is helpful. Then finally Mirai called another meeting telling everyone that he has located the hideout. I head over to the meeting room once again, this time I sit next to Shota and Ryukyu who was here last time too.
"I'll make this quick. We have located the hideout's location and have gotten a warrant to search the premise. We move in an hour, is everyone ready for the mission?" Mirai says to us all once everyone arrives in the meeting room.
After everyone nods or states they are ready, Mirai nods his head and brings out the building schematics. At least what we know on paper, though we all suspect that there is more to the building underground due to the probable amount of supplies necessary for the organization. After going over a plan of attack, we all head over there. The main and first objective was to find Eri and secure her safety, then to take down all the organization's members. My role was to go from the known back door with a squad of police to make sure no one could escape through that known back door. Then I would push ahead by myself to search for Eri.
"It's time," Mirai says to everyone once we go over the plan one last time and then we all head over to the hideout's location.
As me and the small squad of police head to the known back door, we hear a small explosion and sounds of fighting from the front. We ignore it as I open the door and head inside with the police standing outside to secure the area. I start to slowly make my way through the complex and it is very quiet, unnaturally quiet. I ignore the eerie feeling that blossoms in my heart as I walk through this underground complex. Then as I'm walking I feel a familiar presence that I haven't felt since I met my brother Raphael, though it is much weaker, like the angelic presence is diluted.
I follow this familiar presence further into the underground complex, though I still search everyone room I pass by. Seems all the members here are dealing with the heroes that came in through the front. As I make my way closer to this feeling, I hear the sounds of fighting getting louder. I open the doors leading to this feeling and see Mirio heavily injured and protecting the girl Eri behind him, while three members of the Yakuza stand across from him. One of the members is the captain we have been searching for too.
"Kill him" Overhaul shouts as one of the other members goes to shoot Mirio.
My instincts take over as the diluted angelic feeling is coming from this girl, I rush to intercept the bullet. It flattens against my chest as Mirio looks stunned at my sudden appearance. Everyone goes quiet seeing my sudden entrance and how the bullet did not affect me. Then I turn to the little girl and she stares at me with a look of hope and awe. Seems she can sense the angelic nature I have as she gives me a look like she recognizes me. The few seconds of silence get interrupted as the man unloads all of his bullets into my back.
"I'm here now, you can rest," I say to Mirio as I look at the girl with a curious look under my mask. I ignore the idiots behind me as they are no threat to me.
Mirio falls unconscious as it seems he pushed himself to his limits. I can also see he has a bullet wound, so I blast him with my healing fire. When I turn around I see Shota, Midoriya, and Sir Nighteye enter the room. The villains seeing that have been surrounded seem very desperate, but right now I have to make sure Eri and Mirio make it out.
"I'm taking these two out!" I shout to the others who nod, as Overhaul goes to use his quirk but Shota stops him.
I grab Mirio who is healed now but still knocked out, and Eri who hugs my neck overwhelmed by the whole situation. Then I rush out the way I came quickly making my way out and over to the paramedics they had on standby.
"You're like me…different," Eri says in a whisper as she holds onto me and I take us away as the three fight the three yakuza members.
"Yeah, I get a familiar feeling from you too," I say to her and notice the horn like protrusion from her head.
I set her down for the paramedics to overlook her, since I healed Mirio he is just resting I leave them both there. I plan on going back inside to help eliminate the rest of the members.
"Wait! Can we talk again… when you are done?" Eri says to me seeing me leave with a nervous, sad, and hopeful look.
"We will," I say before turning back to the building.
As I rush back inside I come back to the room where I left the three, to fight the yakuza. As I enter I see all hell has broken loose since Ryukyu and her team come crashing through the ceiling with a huge muscled man. I then see that Overhaul is falling to the ground in pain for whatever reason, while Shota and Midoriya are heavily injured. Miria is extremely injured and on the verge of death it appears. I rush over to Miria and blast him with my fire healing his injuries, though he also remains unconscious. I then blast the other heroes healing them of all their injuries.
Just as I finish healing everyone, Overhaul seems to have done something crazy. As he changed into this monster form that is several stories tall and broke through the building. It seems Overhaul has lost his humanity as he lets out a bestial roar and goes to strike us all. I block the strike and it has some decent power behind it, everyone looks at me with thanks. I turn to the once man and now monster blasting it with my fire burning it to nothing.
"That was anti-climatic," Tsuyu the frog girl says seeing how easily I handled the villain even though they all had great difficulty against them.
"Always is with Rapture," Ryuko says with a happy chuckle and diverting to her normal form.
"Maybe you are all just too weak," I say with a teasing laugh back.
"No you're just a freak," Shota says with an amused smirk and lets out a sigh of relief now that it is over as I just shrug.
We all then head back outside with the remaining captured villains. Handing them over to the police, I head over to Eri and Mirio who is now awake. Mirio is consoling Eri who appears to be upset, though I can see the hidden pain in Mirio's eyes.
'Seems something happened before I came to save them,' I think to myself while walking over.
"Everything ok?" I ask once I stand by them. Eri just looks up slightly teary-eyed and Mirio just gives me a pained smile.
"Lemillion, lost his quirk saving me…." Eri says as I look at Mirio for confirmation and he just nods his head slightly.
"I see… did you try using it again? I healed you once I found you, maybe it helped you in that regard too," I say with a shrug since it might be possible.
He stands up and looks to be trying to use his quirk but nothing happens. He gives a small defeated sigh, before looking back up with a smile and determined look.
"It's fine Eri, this will not set me back! I will become a hero! One of the best too, just you watch!" Mirio says turning to Eri to cheer her up, she just nods her head, but I can see the guilt in her eyes.
"Mirio can you give Eri and me a moment, I just want to talk with her," I say to him and he turns to me nodding his head before leaving.
"It's not your fault. He made the choice to protect you," I say to her sitting down next to her in the back of the ambulance.
"If I wasn't so…weak. He'd not be hurt like he was," Eri says to me with a quiet and guilty voice.
"That…you are not wrong. Though it is not good to dwell in the past, I would know. All you can do is grow stronger from this, so next time you can be the one to save him or someone else," I say seeing her look, and instead of crushing her like I thought it would, she gives me a nod then a very determined look appears on her face. We sit there for a few seconds in silence before Eri speaks up.
"Why do you feel...like family?" Eri says to me looking up at me with a curious face.
"I cannot say much while we are here, but it seems like me your quirk comes from your… soul and not DNA," I say to her not sure how to explain it properly to a child. She gives me a confused look and turns her head to the side before nodding slowly.
"Do you have any family to go to?" I asked her to change the subject for now. This seems to have upset her slightly as she thinks about it and shakes her head no.
"I'm sorry," I say while putting my arm around her and giving her a hug. She stiffens up but then starts to cry in my arms before falling asleep from both mental and physical exhaustion. I sit there holding her in my arms as she sleeps with a peaceful look on her face.
"Rapture…oh sorry is she alright?" Shota says to me and notices Eri in my arms with Ryuko behind him, along with a police sergeant.
"Yeah she is just exhausted and fell asleep," I say quietly to them. They nod and then look back at me with serious expressions.
"We cleared the rest of the building and captured everyone involved. Seems Eri is the granddaughter of the head of the Yakuza. We obviously don't plan on handing her back, but she also can't go into foster care. So we were discussing what to do with her," Shota says quietly as the other two nod their heads.
"I'll take her in," I say looking down at Eri and already feeling a fatherly bond with her since her angelic aspect is influencing me. The three look at me in surprise.
"You sure, that your wife will be ok with that?" Shota says and Ryuko nods her head too.
"We've been trying for a kid for a while now. Not saying we are going to adopt Eri… though maybe if everyone wants that, I feel connected to her. She reminds me of myself when I was younger, though I was older when I went through something similar," I say to them as I look back down at Eri's peacefully sleeping face.
"Ok…then good luck," Shota says with a surprised face. Once we finish discussing everything else that took place they leave me with a still-sleeping Eri. I decided it would be good to call Rumi and tell her about me bringing home a little girl for the time being.
"Hey babe, so remember the mission that I joined…well it went successfully, but…" I say not sure how to go about this.
"But…what?" Rumi says she is off today and at home right now watching TV it sounds like.
"Well, there was this little girl who we found and recused, she has no family that can take her in. She also can't go into foster care due to her being involved in this mission…so I told them we'd look after her," I say to Rumi who goes silent for a few long feeling seconds.
"What?!" Rumi says to me in surprise and what sounds like a hint of excitement.