Mind Boggled

Chapter 41

Third person pov

Harper and Dabi were in somewhat of a race. After coercing Aizawa into letting them leave a little earlier than everyone else, it was just a matter of getting Kurogiri to Hound Dog before sprinting to the teacher's lounge before Shoto could hunt them down. His thoughts were intent. The half-and-half teen was extremely focused on Dabi. He'd basically been inspecting the guy all morning. Dabi had only sat tensely in his seat, back straight and gaze trained forward as beads of sweat formed on his brow. He was freaking out. Todoroki was freaking out. Harper didn't have the energy to deal with it.

This whole thing was a colossal shit show in the making. Bringing Kurogiri to school was alright. Bringing Dabi... not the best idea, considering his past and his connection to Shoto. That being said, she would die before trying to get any other sort of bodyguard, even if it was just one for school hours. She'd managed to find someone tolerable. He was like the brother she no longer had. They just sort of clicked, and she'd gotten attached terrifyingly quick all things considered.

"Hurry." Harper hissed as they skidded down the hall, trying to keep it down. Though there was only one minute left in class, drawing attention to themselves would only end badly. Kurogiri seemed reluctant to see Hound Dog as the reality that he and Harper would be separated further set in, causing him to drag his feet. Dabi wasn't having it, spewing out quiet threats to him while Harper dragged him by his arm. The brunette felt more frazzled than she had in a long time. There was a lot to do today, between talking to Stain before they moved him to a more secure location and chatting with Sero. That, and they were going to bring her to Sero's old house. The one by the river. They'd properly swept it for evidence, and they'd gotten her cleared to come take a look.

"I don't know about this, Harper Rye. Will you be safe?" Kurogiri asked anxiously. It was weird to be able to see his facial expressions now that his fog was gone. His eyes darted about unsurely, and his dark hair looked tousled in a haphazard sort of way. He seemed paler than he had been before, but it was honestly hard to tell. Either way, it was pretty clear he was having second thoughts. "If she dies, I will die. The world as I know it will shatter beneath my very feet. I will spiral into a depressing black pit-"

"You know all that? What you just thought? Tell that to Hound Dog." Harper demanded, throwing the door to the guidance counselor's office open. The pro-hero's head snapped up immediately, his ears popping up and to attention as the tired girl shoved the warp gate user in as hard as she could. "I have Dabi with me, and he'll roast anyone or anything that tries to hurt me alive. Have fun. Sorry, Hound Dog."

"Don't worry about it, pup. I'll take care of this nervous dog for you." The man assured. "She looks stressed. I wonder if I could wrangle that pup into another session. She's always so reluctant. I know it makes her tail tuck, and I wouldn't want that."

Harper gave a forced smile before closing the door. Her expression dropped like a rock in a pond right after as she spun around to face Dabi, who looked just as grim as she did. They hadn't ever talked about him being Touya Todoroki. Dabi knew she knew, but had chosen not to address it. And Harper was fine with that. He was a functioning human being. A bitter one with some issues, but it wasn't extremely concerning like, say, Iida's depression. His nightmares had alleviated greatly since he began staying primarily with them and watching Kurogiri, so there was nothing to concern herself with there. Overall, she hadn't had any reason to touch the topic. So she didn't.

Harper wasn't sure how to deal with her classmates. She knew she'd have to. Bakugo still had anger issues of some kind, and she sort of wanted to help him out somehow. Endeavor was a dick wad. It was just a matter of talking to Shoto and somehow convincing him to talk to Tsukauchi. Nezu had looked into it, but until she got someone to step forward, all he could do was compile evidence. Which he had, apparently, been doing. But they had to make sure Shoto was on board and wouldn't simply deny the truth of it all if it came down to it.