G H O S T [Shota Aizawa x OC]

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

In the second that Shota ordered for his students to retrieve Eri from the hospital and bring her to the battle that was unfolding, Sumire lashed out at him again.

He wasn't quick enough to dodge, so he crossed his arms in front of his face and dug his feet into the ground. The dark lacerations tore at his skin and ripped his flesh from the bloody tissue underneath.

He drew in another sharp breath with the physical agony.

Cementoss ran for the crumpled remains of the building that Sumire destroyed, and he touched a heap of ruined walls. They grew tall and wide, enclosing the horrifying creature that possessed the silver-haired woman in a prison of cement.

And in one pulse of darkness, the gray material dissolved under her black flames.

"Damnit! Sumire!" Shota shouted again. Nothing was working against her. She lashed a dark tendril at him again, which he dodged again. "I know you're in there! You're strong enough to beat this!"

Nothing would get through those beady, demonic red eyes that glared at him. Still, despite how much happened around her floating body, she was watching him and him alone. He wasn't scared of what this monster could do anymore. He was scared of what it was doing to Sumire. Of all the damage it had done on the outside, how much was it doing to her on the inside? His biggest fear was that he would never get her back.

"Sumire!" He called out again.

She seemed to grow angrier as she - or it - yelled back, "I'm not her!" and attacked him again.

"She's in there!" He protested back, dodging the flaming tendril. "Sumire! Listen to me and fight it!"

The flames diminished slightly for a mere moment, then grew even larger and more powerful with a guttural scream.

"Sumire!"

She screamed even louder.

"Sumire!" Shota shouted as loud as his voice would let him.

The creature became silent and dropped her head forward. Her silver hair fell from where it ominously floated around her head like she was underwater and hid her face from anyone. She gently dropped to the ground where she regained her earthly balance.

She hugged her body and slowly lifted her head and peered through her thick bangs. Blood began to dribble from her nose.

But she was looking at the battered hero before her with wide, horrified charcoal gray eyes.

"Sho...ta?" Her voice was hoarse as she forced his name from her mouth.

"Sumire." He gasped, seeing a tiny bit of a sign she was still there. When she stood there, trembling and more terrified than anyone he had ever seen, he started running towards her.

Tears started to stream down her cheeks that had been dusted with the dirt from the damage she had caused, which only made him run faster to cover the distance he had placed between him and her.

He reached out, just barely able to touch her cold skin...

And her eyes became black. A sinister smile stretched over her lips, wider than her mouth was naturally capable of. "Nice try." The malevolent and nightmarish voices were back.

Before he could dodge, a burst of the dark, mysterious flames exploded from her body, throwing him meters away from her. Burns covered the surface of his skin and deep bruises would surely emerge later.

The entity that possessed her ghostly body sent Sumire flying back into the air, floating above all of the heroes who didn't know how to deal with their opponent. Anything her flames touched disintegrated, and it wasn't a normal quirk that could be erased because it wasn't the living and human Sumire; it was something else, and it may have not even been a quirk at all.