A hot pain flared in my arm and I quickly jumped away, using my free hand to apply pressure to my wound. Blood seeped through my fingers as my arm continued to throb in pain.

They shot me! Son of a bitch!

Kitsune jumped away as the man transformed into some large, blue, beast, slamming his fist on the counter where she was at.

So he has a transformation type Quirk. Whatever. I went to make a sword, but my hair didn't move. What the? I tried again, but nothing happened.

My Quirk . . .

Beast-like laughter filled my ears and he turned to face me. He has teeth protruding from his lower lip upwards. His dark eyes zeroed in on me, an arrogant smirk on his ugly face. "Afraid you won't be able to use your Quirk anymore."

What the hell did he do to me? He began to walk towards me and another henchman lunged at Kitsune. "You're vulnerable without a Quirk now, sweetheart!"

He went to hit me and I went under and wrapped my arms and legs around his large arm and twisted, throwing him to the side before landing on my feet again. "Bold of you to assume I need a Quirk."

Although my Quirk is very valuable to me, I was trained never to rely too heavily on it.

I can fight just fine without, but it doesn't mean I'm not worried.

Could it be a Quirk like Aizawa? Oh, wait. There was a sharp sting to my neck before. I reached back and felt my neck, my fingers brushing across something. What is this?

With little effort, I plucked the object from my neck and saw it was a weird, red, dart like bullet. Is this the cause?

The man appeared in front of me with a primal growl. However his henchman was thrown into him and the two flew off to the side. "What are you doing? Focus!" Kitsune hissed, coming to my side.

I grit my teeth and tore a part of my shirt and wrapped it around the bullet wound in my arm. Luckily I moved so it only hit my arm, but it was aimed at my head.

As the two got up, I handed her the weird dart-like bullet. "They shot me with this before, and now I cant use my Quirk."

Shock was written across her face and she attentively took the bullet and placed it in her pocket.

"We'll figure that out later. Right now, we need to take care of these guys. Think you can do it?" I nodded, taking a stance as the two turned towards us.

"Yeah. You want the big guy?" She merely nodded and the two of us rushed at our opponent. The henchman's fingers moved and shot out, almost like thorns. However dodging them was rather easy even as I got closer.

I turned and swung my leg up and then down on him, slamming my foot into his head. His head snapped down, but he shot out his thorn appendages and it nicked my arm and leg before I jumped away to avoid it.

Okay, that's not going to work as easily as anticipated. If I had a weapon it'd be easier, but that doesn't mean I can't.

I'm a highly trained assassin. Or at least trained. Hand to hand combat is something that I succeed in. You don't need super strength to kick some ass.

You must be as deadly without your Quirk as you are with it.

That was his teachings.

I glanced around before grabbing a bar stool and hurtling it at my opponent. It broke apart on impact with my target and I was in front of him and slammed my arm harshly against his windpipe.

He fell to the floor with a strangling sound and grabbed at his throat. Before he could recover, I straddled him and punched him with great force to his face. His eyes rolled back into his head and his broken nose spewed blood.

He's out. Whoa! I jumped away as a man with a knife swung at me.

There's another one on my other side, fists up, some type of crystals coating his knuckles.

There are only two left. And Kitsune is still dealing with the big one. The one with the knife lunged at me, his blade glinting at the action.

As soon as it neared I smacked my palm against his arm and changed the direction of the blade before bringing my hands to the mans head and moving it down as I brought my knee up three times before throwing him harshly onto the ground.

Just as I did, the other man punched, but I moved my head back to avoid. He kept on throwing some pretty serious blows, my guess is he fights for a living.

People like the big guy tend to hire professional fighters to work for them. Huh? I ducked, avoiding the knife from the first one who attacked from behind.

Without any hesitation I swung my leg across the ground, knocking down the guy with the crystal fists before springing up and punching the knife guy underneath his chin before turning quickly and kicking him straight into a table, breaking it apart.

Quickly turning I lunged over and went to punch the crystal fist guy while he was down. He moved his head and my fist hit the ground.

The guy moved his hands to my shoulders and kicked his legs up, throwing me over and away. I landed on my back harshly, grunting slightly.

Okay. Didn't think he had it in him. Placing my hands behind my head I flipped myself onto my feet and turned quickly and brought my arms up to block his punch.

Those crystals are freaking sharp. Still, I didn't let it slow me down and brought my leg up to his head, which he blocked. So I jumped off my other and slammed my foot into the side of his head. But before he could fall I closed them together and twisted, flipping him harshly and sending him flying.

I landed on one knee and lunged again, moving my body around him and putting him in the choke hold.

He struggled madly against me, but I didn't let up. I just tightened my grip and locked my legs around his torso.

His hands had grown more crystals and stabbed into my skin as he tried to pry my arms from his neck, but it wasn't working.

There's no way I'll be letting go. I could feel him losing energy to fight. He's slowly blacking out. In a last desperate attempt to be free, his hand moved up before he dug a finger into the bullet wound in my arm.

My teeth clenched together and I shut my eyes tight. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. Never show your weakness! So despite the terrible pain, I held true.

And soon he finally passed out.

I released him and looked over to see Kitsune still fighting the big guy, but she's winning. Alright. Last one.

I slowly stood, ignoring the pain in my arm. I ran forward and jumped up, both feet hitting the big guy in the back of the head, snapping it down.

Down to where Kitsune slammed a bo staff harshly into his face. He tilted a bit before crashing down.

About time.

Kitsune looked over at me briefly before crouching over the man, putting cuffs on him. "We'll need to take him in to interrogate."

She glanced back at me and my injured arm. "How bad is it?" She finally asked. Well, it hurts, but it's not the first time I've been shot and it won't be the last.

"I'll live. We need to leave though. There'll be more coming soon." The bartender ran as soon as the fighting stopped. He won't be going to the police since he launders for this piece of trash. No He'll go to the others.

And they will be back here with more guns and whatever the hell they did to my Quirk.

Kitsune nodded and I threw the man over my shoulder before rushing out with her before anyone could get us.

~

"Try it again." I almost groaned at Midnight's demand. She was waiting for us at Kitsune's creepy 'Claude' room, arms crossed. "Could you keep it down?" Kitsune grumbled as she stood in front of the semi conscious man.

Midnight turned quickly and shot her friend a nasty glare. "This is your fault. How could you put her in this situation?!" She shouted.

Upon seeing us and my gun wound, she grilled me for everything that happened, Quirk included. She patched me up while I told her about the strange dart-like bullet. I've been trying to use my Quirk, but nothing's happening.

It's like my connection is gone.

"She'll be fine. Now either help me get some information, or leave. She's my student at the moment and we have work to do." She retorted.

Midnight glowered at her and stormed over to her. "You went without any clearance from the Commision. You took an underage student, alone, to a known gang affiliated bar. And you got her shot with a bullet and a drug that had done something to her Quirk. She could have died Reina!" She shouted.

She's really worked up. I know she worries about me, but I think she's overreacting.

Being shot at is very normal for me. "She's fine. And look. We got the guy. We get info from him then we can finally find Claude. Y'know. The guy who ruined Kanako! Don't you want to put him away?!" She screamed.

"Not if it means hurting Kiriya!" Midnight screamed right back.

The air went tense and I couldn't say anything. How could I? Midnight practically took me in when I was young. She, much like Kitsune, adored my mother. And no matter how many calls she got about me, she'd stick up for me.

And Kitsune . . . well, look at her office. A woman obsessed with the past and can't let go. Opposite of Midnight. She's moved on. Something her friend can't do.

"C'mon, we're going to the hospital." Midnight turned and grabbed my bag, heading towards the door. Kitsune clicked her tongue and turned back to the man.

I can't just leave her. It's partly my fault that her beloved Senpai is gone. And . . . I need to do this. Not because I pitied her. Because if I help her and she succeeds . . . I can stay here.

I can keep this life that I've made. With Izu and Kacchan. With those dumbasses in my class. In that stupid school. I like it there. I don't want it to end.

So I can't go. Not if I want to stay with them. "I'm fine Nemuri. Really. I'm staying." Midnight turned back at me with such a strange look. In fact, she looked rather sad. But not because I hurt her feelings. It's like she's sad for me.

And that just made me feel even worse.

Besides, my Quirk's gone. That son of a bitch took a cheap shot and stole something of mine. I'm not going to let him off the hook so easily.

As if on cue, he began to chuckle. "I didn't realize Heroes have their own drama show." Oh, so now he wants to talk. Kitsune scowled at him before backhanding him harshly across his face. None of us flinched at the loud sound it made.

Let's see. How are we going to do this? No, more importantly, how far will Kitsune take it. Is it going to be interrogation or torture?

The contents of this room gives me a feeling though. But despite this specific job, Kitsune is a Hero. Torture isn't her thing. But it may be the only thing that'll work.

The man looked back, eyes wild with excitement, he looked like a kid on halloween with how his eyes twinkled. His eyes went from Kitsune to me and he grinned. Blood staining his teeth.

"You're gonna wish that bullet stuck you right between the eyes instead of your arm. A young Hero, huh? Good luck becoming a Hero without a Quirk. That's a new drug sweetheart!" He began to howl with laughter, making me press my lips into a firm line.

Kitsune shouldn't do this. But I can.

As I began to walk over towards him, Kitsune took a step back to give me room. With swift movement my hand snatched his hair tightly and I pulled, forcing him to look up at me.

My other hand reached into a hidden pocket and I pulled out a butterfly knife, pressing the tip harshly into his cheek to the point blood began to draw.

This is fine. This is alright. If it means I can keep this life for even a little bit longer, I don't mind it. After all . . .

"I'm not a Hero."

My hand moved, and the blade soon followed.