Chapter 18: The Missing Girl Himiko 04: Escape [Missing Girl Finale]

They had marked him—Number Twenty.

That was his number. His "name"—but none of them ever used their names, never used his name.

He was there for a month. He kept track—counted the seconds, the minutes, the hours he spent in the dark, counted how long the needles stayed under his skin pouring liquid into his quirkless veins, how long the electricity tore through his body, tearing his muscles to shreds then how long it took to put him back together again with the sweet and burning taste of healing quirks, just to be put back in that glowy room full of lasers and shock equipment.

But he supposed it could be worse.

After all the tests, he was put inside a room with cage doors. He hated that room. There was only one bed against the wall and a toilet in the corner, and it was dark. Always dark. But he could always see the blank-faced people outside his room, watching him like a caged animal, studying him and taking notes on whatever it was they took notes on.

It took away his humanity, he felt. It grated on his nerves.

Then one day, he was told he would be moving stations, being introduced to… others like him. Other "borderline successes." To see if his influence would help speed up the process of their quirks manifesting and activating. They thought he would go without a fight, that his spirit was broken from the trauma they've shoved into his head, into his body.

They were wrong.

He screamed and kicked as he was dragged from one facility to the other, never letting up and trying so desperately to try and get away —the walls were white, so white like purity in its physical form, it blinded him. Finally, they dragged him to another room, similar to the shock room from the other facility, then he was gagged and everything went black as the vroom'ing started up and the electricity amped up tore him from the ground under.

---

He met the other kids a few days later—or was it the next day? Next week? He lost track—dammit, he lost track… He couldn't understand why they all were so adamant to talking to him, trying to pry . It grated on his nerves but he felt so drained, like his head was filled with smoke and he couldn't manage to speak much—not that he could, anyway… Or would. No, never.

He found it strikingly odd this place had a room for the kids—kids his age, and older too. Filled with books you'd find in the kids' section of a library, and dolls and toys—it all reminded him of a daycare center. It gave him the creepiest vibes, considering the situation he was in—for the last month and who knows how much longer.

He found an old All Might doll, one covered in dust and looking seriously worse for wear, something probably made in All Might's earlier years as a hero. The boy felt a spark of hope at the doll, grabbing it and holding it to his body. He stared at it, silently hoping that the doll could connect to the hero, find them, bring them home. Bring him home to his mom.

He missed his mom.

Tears sprung up in his eyes, hidden under his wild bangs. God, when was the last time he was allowed to shower? Clean his hair? He felt like a disgusting mess, Momma would be so disappointed he hadn't tried to keep his hygiene up. At least fight for it. The bumps on his head squirmed at the irritation bubbling just under the surface.

Then the nosy girl from before kept pestering him, but he pointedly ignored her until—

"You like heroes?"

He froze. Then nodded.

"Is All Might your favorite?"

He turned his head, a bright eye peering at the blonde girl intensely. Another nod. A rock in his throat. Of course he was his favorite—the kid was an All Might fanatic…

They spoke for a while more, and he learned their names and their favorite heroes. Tobiko liked Gang Orca and Selkie, while Himiko was a fan of Vlad King. Orchid's favorites were Moss and Midnight. Number Twenty would remember that.

What was perplexing was that they had asked for his name. They didn't just call him Number Twenty… They had asked… wanted to know it…

So he told them his name.

---

It wasn't two days later that an explosion had rung out in the Quirk Facility. The alarm that blared through the halls was almost deafening, painting the white halls an eerie pink.

Himiko was shot awake by it, then a pain had nearly paralyzed her to the bed, sharp like a knife and spreading like fire from the base of her neck throughout her shoulders and head. She gaped and choked, body spasming with an arch on the bed and then the pain subsided, leaving her breathless where she laid sprawled.

When she caught her breath, heart still pounding in her ears, a cacophony of whispers broke into her head, driving her attention everywhere. She brought her hands up to her head, her ears, clawing as the whispers grew louder and louder, drowning out the ear splitting wails of the alarm—she thought her head might split open, and open and open and open and open and andopen andop e n an d e op en an—

Her door swung open, Mr. Yanagisawa standing at the entrance, blood dripping from one side of his face, his hand covering one of his eyes. Some of the blood looked old and dry, and yet some still dripped from between his hands.

" You ," he hissed, rushing into the room and grabbing the blonde's arm roughly from her perch on her bed. "Come with me. Hurry! Don't dawdle!"

Himiko squeaked with the touch, the whispers turning to screaming, like claws on a chalkboard trying to create music, rattling her brain and threatening to stab it—and she screamed too, tearing herself from his grip and stumbling, covering her own bloody ears again. The scientist jumped, watching her in her panic before scowling as yells from down the hall began.

"I don't have time for this!" he shouted and grabbed her arm again, clamping over her skinny wrist tightly and yanking her forward into the hall with him. "Kurogiri! The portal! I have the girl!"

The black fog—the one who had taken her to this place in the beginning—appeared before them, golden eyes piercing. "And what of the boy? And the other children?"

"Too risky to try and find him. We don't have time to pry him away, and the others were failures anyway. Now let me in!"

Himiko tried to fight, struggling to pry her hand out from the man's death grip but it served as no use as he dragged himself into the portal and her with him—she screamed for him to let her go, bare heel pressing against the tile flooring, trying to stop him before she glanced down the hall and spotted the boy—

There was blood on the floor, cascading down the wall and down the boy's dark face. His eye pierced hers, and she felt paralyzed by the look of utter terror drowning his eyes. His feet took off to her, croaking voice screaming her name, then reached his hand out toward her, and she reached for him too, their hands so close before she was engulfed by the smokey black and the boy disappeared from sight.

---

When the alarm had sounded, the boy was startled and threw himself off the bed—huh, funny, this white-walled crazy center was more accommodating than the last place. That prison.

There were footsteps in the hallway, and he could see red pouring in from the little window in his room door. He ran to the door, peering out the window and watching in astonishment as numerous staff members stumbled through the halls, panicked. Then a booming voice: "I AM HERE!"

He almost had a heart attack at the utter relief that flooded his body, crashing down like a wave upon rocks and he felt tears running down his face, banging on the door and screaming for help.

This was it—his chance at escape—to go back home , get rid of this pain that laced his mind and brain, go back to his mother and live a normal life again—

There, he saw him: All Might, in the flesh. With his piercing smile. He let out a sob of joy, hand pressing against the window and smacking it again while jumping up and down, hoping to gain the hero's attention. Thankfully, he saw and rushed over.

"Are you alright?!" he heard his booming voice through the steel door, and through tears, the boy nodded. All Might seemed relieved before gesturing for the boy to move aside and he did while the hero reared his arm back and punched the door into the room, a loud slam bursting from its crash against the wall. Shrapnel flew from the hinges and the door itself, like a mini explosion that he had to brace for and the boy knew he was far too close to it when he was knocked to the ground and suddenly felt pain pull at his forehead and something wet dripping down the arch of his nose, and he hissed, knowing the smell of blood.

His hand pressed against his forehead to staunch the bleeding, before he pulled himself up just as All Might entered in then rushed to his side to help him up.

"Oh, crap, were you hurt?! I apologize, my boy! Sometimes, I don't know my own strength, haha!"

He felt like he was dreaming—he was actually… being saved by All Might. His prayers, his wishes, his desperate hopes—All Might was here…. Tears brushed down his cheeks and the hand that held All Might's tightened and he felt like breaking. All Might moved then, lifting the boy up and racing out the door and down the hall.

"W-wait—" his voice came out with a croak, weak and terrible from not speaking for so long. Air caught in his throat and he coughed, but forced his hand to grab All Might's white shirt and tug. He tried again. "W-wait, there's ss-s'more—others—"

All Might stopped, about to respond when a scream echoed down the hall, and the boy squirmed from the hero's arms, tumbling to the ground and racing toward the sound. There was blood everywhere—trailing along the hall floor and dragging against the wall and into another room after a T-hallway. Dread filled him as he slowed at the sight, freezing when he saw Himiko down the intersection on the other side of the hall, struggling from the grip of someone else.

She froze when she saw him, and he felt panicked at the position she was in, half-way through the black hole in the room, face painted in fear. Without another thought, his legs took off after her, vocal chords working double as he screeched her name, reached for her, and she reached back before the black hole consumed her and vanished into thin air.

He swallowed thickly, hands falling to his sides and feeling a sense of dread that he's never experienced before—almost like drowning, but there were shackles on his hands and no way to stay afloat. She was right there—and she slipped from his sight like sand through his fingers. All Might caught up rather quickly, a hand on his shoulder to shaking him out of the trance he put himself into, asking if he was alright.

The boy raised his hand and shifted on his feet, gesturing to the hall where the blood leaked toward, knowing All Might would see the door and he heard the hero take a sharp inhale—the warmth of the hero's hand on his shoulder disappeared and the sound of a door opened, another quiet gasp. The boy raised his hand and covered his eyes under his long bangs, taking deep breaths. She was right there. She was right there. They took her away—he felt his eyes pour again. The door closed.

All Might returned to his side, a hand on his shoulder again. "It's best we keep going. I've got to get you out of here, kiddo."

"...Th' o-others…"

"Hm?"

"T-two oth'rs…Innocent… down th' hall."

The hero's grip tightened just a bit on the boy and he nodded. "Don't worry, my boy. We'll look for them."

He was free. So was Orchid, and Tobiko—though the latter of the two had begun to lose himself in the night, but they were safe. They were home. But Himiko was gone. Declared missing. Without a trace. And he couldn't do anything. She was right there.

He cried terribly hard, caving into the embrace of Orchid in the hospital room, who wept with him for her missing friend and the other who had lost all recognition in his eyes.

He got to see his mom again—got to go to the doctor, got to disable his dangerous and painful quick, got to live in peace, got to keep in contact with Orchid and Tobiko.

Then three months later, with clean hair, a new haircut, and a brighter, healthier complexion, he met All Might again.