Fractured Wings

The warehouse district. 

That was the direction I had led everyone. 

"And you're sure they will be somewhere here?" Miku asked, she still held a certain ire in her tone when she spoke to me. 

"Yeah, somewhere around here," 

"And why here and not the cliff area surrounding the place, or even the cave's below?" Nagant asked. 

It's not like I knew exactly, the reason why I was so sure we would find the Himemiya family today in this location was a secret that no one but me knows. My second quirk. Not even my family, or the people at the Eden Project know I have it. The former, well I didn't even know I had it until some time during the experiments in the project. 

It's a passive ability. Basically just a super strong intuition, more useful than it sounds too. 

"A gut feeling." 

Miku scoffed and Ren giggled. 

I placed my hands on my stomach as I said that. 

Arata came from behind and spoke. "Well we better hope we find them here, because this is the last day of searching we have here before we go back. The jet will be hovering above us soon to take us back home, so let's get started." 

We split up, Arata placed us in groups of two while he would search on his own. 

Nagant and Ren were placed together and moved in the opposite direction, Ren's loud voice was fading ever so slowly. And that only put me with Miku. 

She exhaled sharply, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck. "Great," she muttered, her tone was dripping with what I thought was sarcasm. "Let's just get this over with." 

I feel I should be saying that, but I digress. Miku's frustration with me had been simmering just under the surface, ever since I had met her, but she didn't look at Nagant in the same way, I wondered why. Maybe she just has a good read on people and know's that I won't be loyal. 

The warehouse district stretched out before us like a cold, industrial maze. Rows upon rows of identical gray buildings loomed against the fading light, we decided to wait until it got later in the day to search since there was much less movement. 

The air had the scent of oil and stagnant water, and the feint creaks of shifting metal echoed eerily in the quiet. Somewhere in the distance, a ship horn bellowed, low and almost mournful. 

I felt comfort in the feeling I received after hearing that sound. It was weird but the feeling just made me feel right. 

"Where do we even start?" Miku asked, her voice cutting through the silence. 

My gut tightened as I glanced around, scanning the buildings. "This way." I said, gesturing toward one of the larger warehouses near the center of the district. 

Miku raised an eyebrow, skeptical but not in the mood to argue. She followed a few steps behind as I led the way. When we reached the building, I stopped. 

The padlock on the door hung crooked, it's shackle warped and blackened like it had been melted. Scorch marks traced jagged lines around the frame. 

"This one." I said, my voice quieter now. 

Miku crossed her arms. "Is this still just your gut feeling?" 

"Yep," She rolled her eyes but stepped aside while I could feel her eyes digging into my skull. I opened the door. The metal screeched on it's hinges, the sound grating against my ears. 

The interior was dark, save for the dim, flickering light of a single hanging bulb. As our eyes adjusted, the sight before us came into focus. 

Traditional portraits lined the walls, that's what they looked like. Paintings, encased in elegant, dark frames that exuded sophistication. The subjects all had features so similar to the woman back at the base in Deika city. 

They were pictures of the Himemiya family. 

The mother, with her delicate features and somber expression, sat poised with her hands folded neatly in her lap. The father stood rigidly behind her, his face showed a look that portrayed unease. The son, ten years old Lyra said, he stared out with wide terrified eyes. 

"What type of family portrait is this?" Miku voiced out her frustration. 

I couldn't help but agree with how odd it all looked. They weren't the only one's too, there were other individuals or families all painted, wonderfully so and highly realistic. All of them looked worried, scared or even angry. 

It all looked so weird. 

But the meticulous detail of the portraits glow that seemed to seep from the edges of the frames like trapped starlight—the eyes. 

It was the eyes. Even before I fully stepped inside, I felt them. Their gazes were clinging to me, moving imperceptibly, tracking every shift, every step. 

I just realized it... "These aren't paintings." 

An audible gasp escaped Miku as she loudly let out a terrified yelp. I swallowed hard too. 

"Daigo Kiyoshi," I said, my voice was distant as everything was fitting together in my mind. "His quirk is really dangerous." 

"He already did it to you and Nagant when he sent you to those games, so is this even farfetched?" 

I nodded, there were over fifteen pictures here, some with families, some with individuals and even one in the back with what looked like a lineup of school children with their teacher off to the side in what I guessed was picture day. 

Before I didn't think all too much on Daigo Kiyoshi other than staying away from him until an opportunity arose to where he could be taken down, or out, quickly and quietly. But peace is not a sound method when going after a growing behemoth. 

"We should take all of them back then." Miku said, she lost the suspicious spark in her tone. 

"Yeah, but then how do you expect them to be released?" I asked, only Daigo Kiyoshi would know since he is the one who placed them there. 

"Well, we are the team searching for the bastard." Was the response I got back. 

I reached out to touch one of the pictures, and as my hand touched it, a pulse ran through the frame, like a heartbeat. The eyes moved and the lips twitch. I did not know what to expect as I tried to pick it up—a jolt, a scream, or just any kind of resistance—but the frame lifted easily, it was unnervingly light. The glow intensified and then dimmed, like a sigh of relief. 

I handed it to Miku, who took it reluctantly, cradling it as if it might crumble in her hands. 

"Right now we just need to—" 

A sudden shift in the air cut me off. 

It was subtle at first, a faint ripple of movement in the shadows. Then came the sound—a whisper of fabric against metal, too soft to be natural. My body tensed instinctively, my quirk thrumming at the edge of activation. 

"Miku," I said softly, not looking away from the darkened corner of the room. "Stay close," 

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice barely audible. 

Before I could answer, something shot out of the shadows—a flicker of motion, impossibly fast. I turned just in time to see Edgeshot materialize from the darkness, his body twisting into a sharp fluid line as he struck. 

The first attack missed me by inches, slicing through the air with deadly precision. I stumbled back, clutching the frames to my chest as Miku let out a startled cry. She managed to catch one of the frames before it hit the ground, her hands shaking. 

"Kobe!" she hissed, panic evident in her voice. 

I didn't have time to reply. From the opposite side of the room, Centipeder emerged, his towering form blocking the only exit. His many limbs moved in a synchronized wave, creating a living barrier between us and freedom. 

I wanted to call out on out reunion but Edgeshot's voice cut through before mine. "Put them down. Now!" 

Sheet's of paper erupted wrapping tightly around the frames in our possession like a cocoon. The one I was most concerned for of course was the Himemiya family. I stepped closer toward Miku, we edged toward the center of the room. 

"Back-to-back," I muttered. 

She obeyed without question, her breathing shallow and erratic as she pressed against me. 

Edgeshot advanced slowly, his form shifting like liquid steel. "You can't win this one Soryu," I could hear voices outside the building. "Surrender, and no one will be hurt." 

My jaw tightened, and my paper rustled in anticipation. "Yeah right." 

The tension in the room snapped like a bowstring as Edgeshot lunged again, his form twisting into an impossible blur of sharp lines. He aimed straight for me, his speed so blinding that I barely had time to react. 

With a flick of my wrist, sheets of paper shot out from my sleeves, layering in the air between us like a shield. His strike hit the paper wall with a metallic hiss, slicing clean through but slowing just enough for me to leap back. 

"Miku, keep moving!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the confined space. 

She didn't hesitate. Her stingray-like wings unfurled, catching the air with a sharp, fluid motion. She glided upward, the glow of her electric discharges crackling faintly around her. In her arms, she clutched the portrait of the Himemiya family like a lifeline, her grip unyielding. 

Centipeder charged in from the side, his many limbs extending and writhing toward her like a living net. Miku twisted midair, narrowly avoiding the grasping appendages, and fired off a small burst of electricity. The crackling arc struck one of Centipeder's limbs, causing him to recoil momentarily, but it wasn't enough to slow him down for long. 

Edgeshot shifted his attention back to me, his body reforming into a sleek, humanoid shape. "You're only making this harder on yourselves," he said, his voice calm but edged with authority. 

"So are you," I shot back, launching multiple paper knives in his direction. "We're not hurting anyone, we just admiring the paintings." 

He darted between the blades effortlessly, his movements so fluid they seemed to defy logic. I clenched my teeth, willing more paper to form around me. The sheets folded and twisted, taking the shape of long chains that coiled through the air like serpents. 

As I manoeuvred the chains toward him, Centipeder closed in again. His limbs lashed out, forcing me to split my focus. I swung one of the paper chains in his direction, wrapping it around two of his appendages and pulling hard. He stumbled slightly, but his sheer size made it impossible to topple him completely. 

"And I owe you one bug," I said louder. "You're the one that exposed my identity as Soryu to the media during the Overhaul raid." 

It wasn't hard to figure that one out. He was very irritated during our encounters, he probably felt that exposing me in such a way would make it easier to draw me out and reign me in. 

Well he failed, he failed big time. 

"Kobe!" Miku's voice rang out from above. 

I glanced up to see her swooping low, barely dodging a strike from Kamui woods who had entered the fray. His wooden tendrils snaked through the air, aiming to trap her in a cage of twisting branches. 

I gritted my teeth and sent a burst of paper upward, intercepting the tendrils before they could reach her. The paper folded into jagged spikes mid-flight, slamming into the wood and forcing Kamui to pull back. 

"Thanks!" She called out, her wings fluttering as she adjusted her trajectory. 

"No time for gratitude!" I snapped, my attention going back to Edgeshot, who had closed the distance between us. 

He struck again, his form morphing into a razor-sharp edge that sliced through my defenses like they were nothing. I barely managed to sidestep, the tip of his attacks grazing my arm. Pain flared, but it wasn't something that I'd dwell on. 

"You're good," Edgeshot said, his tone was almost admiring, like being proud of a student of his. "But your tyranny will come to an end." 

Before I could respond, another hero entered the room—a man I didn't recognize. He looked to be dressed in a military styled uniform, sleek and black, accented with silver, and he carried a long Obi belt coiled around his waist. With a flick of his wrist, the belt stiffened and extended, transforming into a gleaming blade. 

"Stand sharp Haruma," Edgeshot said without looking back. 

Haruma nodded, his expression focused. "Understood." 

He quickly moved, the obi was moved like a solid and sliced through the air. I ducked under the first strike and countered with a burst of paper shards, but he deflected them easily, his weapon moving like an extension of himself. 

"You're not bad," he said, his voice calm and measured. 

I shaped paper into a long and massive hammer. I swung it in a wide arc, forcing Haruma to leap back, but his retreat was calculated, leaving me exposed for just a moment. 

The moment was all Edgeshot needed. He darted in from the side, his blade-like form aiming for my shoulder. I twisted at the last second, the attack grazing me but missing it's mark. 

From above, Miku fired another burst of electricity, aiming to create an opening. The crackling discharge forced Centipeder to halt his advance but Kamui Woods quickly stepped in to fill the gap. 

"Miku, we have to go." I shouted, launching a flurry of paper constructs to create a smokescreen. 

I had guessed that Arata and the rest were probably outside by now. It has been long enough and there was enough noise being made in this quiet section of the city. 

"Miku," I said, I seen her nod in the direction of the door. Good. She gripped the painting tighter. 

We surfed through the paper, I could feel every bit of movement within the falling paper edges that I let fall around us. Edgeshot was moving soundlessly with speed and precision that would be hard for most people to follow. 

He was a hero in the top ten after all. 

Through some of the pieces of paper I created specific movements to slow him down and make bait him into thinking we were there. 

We had made it to the door and slipped out of the warehouse. I thought everything would be good, that I would just have to slip past a few more hits and then get out of here. 

But as soon as I stared in the eyes of the hero Nighteye, I froze. 

It wasn't out of fear, there was nothing about the man that was frightening, nothing about him that screamed power over me. I froze because something in me felt like it froze, and then switched off. 

It wasn't subtle. A sudden emptiness, like a muscle I didn't know I'd been flexing so much had gone slack. My instincts—sharpened to a razor edge by experience and something otherworldly—dulled in an instant. 

My second quirk, Intuition, had gone silent. 

"What the hell?" I whispered, my chest tightened as I began piecing together the reason. When I looked at Nighteye it looked like he had already landed on an answer. I barely even noticed that Ryukyu was beside him shielding him from Ren's punches. 

Nighteye, he must have some kind of powerful precognition quirk. 

I learned of this before, if two precog quirks come in contact with each other, then the likelihood that both will shut down is 100%. Like the quirk just disappeared. 

'Shit, now he knows I have another quirk.' Intuition was just that, a stronger and sharper intuition that was always on, I never would have classified it as a precog, but being able plan and guess things at a much higher level than most would almost work in such a way. 

Miku stepped up beside me, her wings twitching nervously. "What's the plan, Kobe?" she whispered. 

I didn't answer. My mind was racing, my usual clarity was muddied. 

But then, in the corner of my eye, I saw it—One of the paintings we'd carried was glowing softly, the digital surface rippling like water. Before I could say anything, the figure inside began to take shape, it was the mother of the Himemiya family. Her form emerged slowly, hesitantly, as if shaking off an invisible shroud. 

My breath caught. "They're turning back." 

"What?" Miku followed my gaze, her eyes widening. "Holy, how?" 

I looked around and it was clear to me, Intuition or not, I could put together whatever was necessary. 

"Once they were taken out of the warehouse they start turning back." So Daigo Kiyoshi must have done something to the building or with how he turned them all together. 

There, a solid distraction just showed itself. 

I slammed my palms together, summoning paper that was still in the building following Edgeshot and Haruma as they were making their way out of the warehouse. The papers formed into tendrils and wove through the space, seeking out the paintings. 

The paintings were like frames coming out of the warehouse on a conveyor belt. Each one started to shimmer as it crossed the threshold, the figures inside slowly regaining their true forms. 

It wasn't just individuals but many group portraits had come out to and were slowly crowding the place. 

"Where did they all come from?" Ryukyu muttered in a low groan. 

Nighteye wouldn't be able to figure out our next moves since he can't use his quirk. 

I tapped Miku's shoulder as we were crouched as the crowd around us was growing even more. "Go," 

With a flick, I shaped the remaining paper into a massive, intricate bird. A robin. It's wings unfurled with a deafening snap, and it lowered it's head, inviting us to climb on. 

I grabbed the family we had set out to get initially. My paper formed big hands and grabbed them. I slid through the crowd and got on board another bird I conjured and we took flight. Arata, Ren and Nagant were already in the air. 

The plane Arata had called in to take us home was already there waiting for us. 

Ryukyu roared, her dragon form lunging at us. 

This whole mission didn't take much out of me, considering two of the top ten heroes were our opponents. 

I raised my hand, a big paper fan formed and once I swung my hand down, the fan flapped and generated enough wind to hold her back until eventually she started falling back. Kamui Woods even tried to reach out for us, I could see his branches below were holding the civilians freed tight. 

With that I launched off into the air with the family in "hand", and the back of the jet opened up allowing me to glide into it and see Arata, Ren, Nagant and Miku who had just got in before me. 

"We did it." She said as I got on with the family. 

"Well done Kobe." Arata congratulated. "You just keep on coming in clutch." He slapped his hand on my shoulder as he welcomed me. 

I didn't want to be happy at the praise, there was no way I would become attached to these people. I don't align with their silly mission, I don't care how quirks are used in modern day society. 

Minus all that happened within the Eden Project, I've been doing completely fine. Even then, at the Eden Project I got skills that even though they hurt so badly to get, I wouldn't give them up, I got an education better than anyone else in the country too, that includes kids at UA. 

That place wasn't a home, I couldn't feel at home with my mother, and this place, Deika city with the Meta Liberation Army, that place is not my home either. 

I looked up to Arata and gave him a nod. "Thanks."