Mind Boggled

Chapter 66

Third person pov

They were at the location, and Harper was not here. She wasn't here. She wasn't here, she wasn't here, she wasn't here. 

"Calm down, Hanta Sero." Kurogiri's cool voice cut through the tape-user's panic, effectively instilling him back into reality. He looked up, his fingers twitching and his eyes wide in a crazed sort of way that would have the cops locking him up in seconds if they saw it. Kirishima looked unnerved to see him this way. Though he obviously knew of the betrayal Sero carried out, he hadn't interacted with him firsthand since then. His last impression of the other teen was the one he'd built during their first weeks of school-- when Sero was acting in order to blend in effectively with the rest of Class 1-A.

Sero felt like he was starting to lose his mind all over again. He understood exactly why the villains had taken Harper. If he put himself in that mentality, he was sure he would've agreed with their decision back before he was incarcerated. She was a genuine threat to them and their organization. Already she'd taken out one of their main players, and before that she'd unearthed him-- their mole. She was digging through a hoard of shit that she didn't need to get stuck in. It was starting to catch up to her. The consequences came faster than she could work through it all, and now here they all were. Freaking the fuck out and wondering whether or not she was still breathing.

Kirishima could feel himself on the cusp of panic as well. They all had gathered in an alley and taken to the streets on foot for lack of any other options. The idea of perhaps trying to disguise themselves came up, but none of them felt like there was time. Honestly, they didn't care enough to try. Kurogiri didn't have any emotions aside from anger that seemed to fluctuate and flicker out at any given moment, Sero was probably going to get thrown into Tartarus for this, and for Stain, well, he was already in Tartarus to begin with. What was there to lose? He owed Harper Rye quite a bit for all she'd done for him despite his criminal position, and his son would be proud to see him out on the news going after her in hopes of aiding instead of killing those society deemed to be innocent. 

This was not where Harper was being held. There were, however, several different types of Nomu being manufactured at this desolate facility. The brunette was nowhere to be seen. The League clearly wasn't on the grounds either. Kirishima felt sick. Where was she? Where was Bakugo? And what about her cousin, Kota? He wanted them desperately to be okay. There was a persistent ache in his chest that was going to suffocate him at this rate. If she wasn't here, where else could they possibly be holding her? This had been their only lead! Kurogiri had checked all the other places he used to frequent, but they'd naturally moved everything around after he'd defected. They had nothing! No idea where she was or how to get to her.

Dabi was oddly quiet throughout this. You could see the tension and absolute stress painted across his face. You wouldn't assume it at first glance, but he cared about Harper more than he'd ever let on. She had stopped him from going down a path that probably wouldn't have ended in anything good. He'd been lost and struggling, and she'd taken time out of her night to reach out to him and give him the help he'd desperately needed at the time. She bantered with him and had given him friends and some new form of a family. He'd reconnected with his younger brother and gained a warm, bright home to come back to. He had people he could count on and laugh with. She was one of those people, and she'd just been taken away. She was in mortal danger, and he felt completely powerless against it.

"How are you going to tell me to calm down when she's somewhere out there, possibly dead?!" Sero barked it out with deadly amounts of venom in his tone. Dabi's gaze snapped to him, rage sparking in his eyes at the insinuation that she could be gone for good. Kirishima looked squeamish. "You know what these people are capable of! You were one of them, just like me."