Mind Boggled

Chapter 57

Third person pov

Muscular was much more terrifying in person. Harper managed to scramble her way up to the ledge they were on and was met by the horrifyingly grotesque sight that was his quirk. Harper held her breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible as she pulled herself up just behind him. Bakugo and Midoriya were posted in front of her trembling cousin, who noticed her immediately. A flash of relief flew through his eyes, and Harper nodded back, hardening her expression. She didn't want to make this any scarier for him. That meant staying calm. If she could even handle that. She felt like she'd just been thrown through a million loops and given no time to recover. But really, hadn't all of them?

Harper's luck really was ass in a can at this point. Her life had been painfully peaceful before all this. She lived a fairly normal life. Some would even call it boring! But at least she wasn't on the verge of fucking dying almost every day. The girl didn't know how yet, but this was definitely Nezu's fault somehow. What wasn't his fault these days? He was the one who'd, in a roundabout way, gotten her into this mess! Chewing him out as soon as they were out of this mess was going to be the highlight of her life. More therapeutic than talking to any professional could ever be.

"Well I'll be damned! I recognize both of you. You're both on the list. What luck!" Muscular laughed heartily. Harper stood slowly, her feet planted firm on the ground. If she made any noise and got herself noticed she was going to be punted off to god knows where. She had to do this right. But which way was that? Was there even a way to handle this that wouldn't result in her getting ripped apart? "Greenie is the one that Shigaraki fella carries a picture of around, and the blonde is the one I'm supposed to take. Too bad the little lady he wants captured isn't around. Oh well. Two is better than none, I suppose. Come to think of it, that blonde one looks a lot like Johnny..." 

Harper assessed the information. First of all, who was Johnny? This was information she could probably use. If this Johnny character was dead, that was even better. Dead people always hit sore spots. Harper would know. Next and more importantly, this was predictably an attack by the League of Villains, which she had already guessed. Whether Shigaraki was here or not remained to be seen. Harper wasn't sure if he wanted him to be here or not. On one hand, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her classmates. On the other, he could get captured. And on the other-- seeing as Shigaraki was a freak and carried around extras for some reason or another-- this could lead to them getting more information about the League and how to take them down. 

The topic of Shigaraki led them swiftly into their next issue. Why the fuck was Shigaraki carrying a picture of Izuku around with him? Did Harper want to know? Probably not. She'd look deeper into that at a later date. It seemed like more and more future issues were piling themselves onto her plate by the second. Harper breathed out slow. She just had to stay calm. She wanted coffee and a nap right now, but that wasn't accessible. Or it wouldn't be until she dealt with this. That was assuming she even made it out of this situation alive. The mere idea of relaxation and caffeine was enough was incentive enough to keep her ass in gear.

Harper wasn't sure why they wanted to take Bakugo. As far as she knew, he hadn't done much of anything to provoke... well, anyone. Unless being a fucking asshole counted. Though if she thought about it, an outsider looking in might see him as villain material. Izuku was close with All Might and didn't do a good job at hiding that fact. Wanting to take or kill him would make complete sense. Bakugo, though... yeah, no. He was far from a villain. She'd never seen anyone who wanted to be a hero so badly. And as for the "little lady"... let's just say Harper had a sinking feeling she knew exactly who that was. 

"Stay back unless you want your face blasted off, fucker!" Bakugo hissed, sounding like he was channeling a rabid cat into his voice. Harper stepped to the side slightly, placing herself further behind Muscular. Kota's eyes switched rapidly between her and the villain, fear stricken across his face. Izuku and Bakugo had noticed her, but they were careful not to look at her. Harper swallowed, eyes steely. Where did she go from here? "What the hell is Deku doing here? And who's this giant block of meat anyway? Dumbass haircut looks like the bootleg version of mine!"