Ellie's Flashback

Age 18

The further I got into the investigation of Pharmatech the shadier things seemed to get. The CEO was involved in something very illegal, I was finding Pharmatech crates in various criminal dens in various crime syndicates. My investigation led me to find a crooked cop in Pharmatech's pocket. Who tried to bust me on several false charges, luckily, I'd always managed to get a witness to back me up but I had a feeling my luck was going to start running out soon. I'd been a thorn in Pharmatech's side both the 'legitimate deals' and the criminal ones I'd destroyed several of their warehouses and a few of their criminal lairs and meeting places managing to keep a low profile.

"Tornado!" A familiar voice sounded from behind me as I was wondering atop the rooftops keeping a lookout for one of the Pharmatech's criminal goons who'd just disappeared inside a nearby building to make some kind of deal.

I turned with a groan to face Shota and his blonde-haired partner in the punk rock attire. "I'm pretty sure this constitutes as harassment, Senpai."

"What are you doing here?" Shota ignored my comment.

"Sightseeing." I lied and turned to leap from the roof to the lower landing roof below as I prepared to guide my fall with the wind I felt the familiar feeling of my quirk being erased and fell with a shriek. Landing flat on my back atop the tin roof of the lower landing, knocking the air from my lungs, and causing me to cough and sputter in an attempt to get my breathing back under control. Shakily I rolled onto all fours as Shota and his partner, Present Mic landed swiftly beside me. "That wasn't very nice."

Shota caught me roughly by the arm and wrenched me to my feet. "What are you doing here, Tornado? Looking for more buildings to destroy?"

"More? I don't know what you're talking about, Senpai and this is definitely harassment you don't have probable cause to arrest me or use force against me. I was merely fleeing from my stalker which I have every right to do-." He hit me in the gut and I doubled over in pain as he hit my still tender abdomen from where I'd been shot a few weeks ago.

"You're a suspect in the destruction of several properties-."

"That's hearsay, the police have no leads or suspects therefore you can't take me in." I choked as I regulated my breathing once more.

He placed some strange glove like handcuffs that covered my hands on me not seeming the least bit bothered by my struggle. Once the gloves were in place I felt like someone was sapping away my strength and nearly crumpled to the ground, they blocked my quirk and weakened me simultaneously. Shota kept a firm grip on my arm keeping me upright as his partner went to call the authorities.

The pair of them dragged me from the roof to the alley below. A few minutes later a cop cruiser pulled into the alley and I felt my heart plummet as I spotted a familiar face, it was the crooked cop in Pharmatech's pocket.

"No." I attempted to struggle against my bonds. "Shota, don't! He'll kill me!"

Shota looked over at me curiously, I'd never called him by name before I'd always called him by his last name or just addressed him as Senpai. "What? Don't be ridiculous, he'll take you in for questioning, if you've truly done nothing wrong you'll be released in a few hours."

"No, he's a crooked cop, he's going to kill me." I hissed at him under my breath. "I will confess to destroying those warehouses if you take me in yourself, do not leave me alone with him." My body shook as I saw a small glint of malice in the officer's eyes as he stepped out of his car and approached us.

"Great job boys. I'll take it from here." He wore a fake smile and had a forced jovial laugh.

Shota grabbed hold of my arm and led me forward.

"Shota. I mean it. Please...don't. He's going to kill me-."

"I'm not falling for any tricks." There was hesitation and uncertainty in his dark gaze. He was starting to second guess himself.

"Alright, but when they find my body dead in a ditch in a few weeks, that's on you." I hissed at him as he released his grip on my arm before shoving me toward the crooked cop.

The police officer gripped my arm in an iron grasp that immediately popped several blood vessels in my arm. Tears welled in my eyes as terror consumed me. With these stupid gloves I couldn't use my quirk and I was weaker, I was absolutely defenseless.

"Anything you want me to tell Eli for you? I'll be seeing him soon, I'm sure." I said dryly as I fought back tears and tried to shoot a dark look in Shota's direction.

In that moment I saw doubt cloud his face but it was too late, I was already in the monster's clutches. There was nothing he could do. I was roughly shoved into the back of the cruiser and after a few quick words to Shota and Present Mic, the officer returned to the cruiser and we took off.

My heart sank as we drove away. I was going to die. The CEO of Pharmatech most likely told his dog to kill me the first chance he got.

"You've gotten yourself into a fine mess, little lady." The officer chuckled as we drove away from the run-down part of the city toward some private docks, my burial ground.

"What else is new?" I scoffed as I continued struggling with my bonds trying to break loose. If I could access my quirk, I could get myself out of this.

"You've been making my boss really mad of late. He wants you to suffer, I tried to talk him into a quick death but you've cost him a lot of money, I couldn't talk him out of it. He told me about you. Your brother was testing out some of their new products, what he didn't know is he was getting the street quality ones, they're designed to get you addicted to the point where if you try to sober up and get it out of your system, it will kill you, guess your brother didn't continue taking them after the trial. Poor kid, I hear it's not pretty."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I raged and kicked the metal grate separating the front seat from the back seat.

"Good, you're a fighter. That means we'll have a lot of fun you and me." He laughed.

"Go to hell!" I continued kicking at the grate.

The car came to a screeching halt, the tires squealing on the asphalt and my face smashed into the grate. Blood gushed from my nose from the impact and I heard the officer swear loudly from the front seat.

"What the fuck are those idiots doing?" He growled and I looked up to see Shota and his partner blocking our path His window rolled down and he shouted at them, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"The precinct isn't in this direction, what are you doing?" Shota asked coolly.

"Listen here punks, once the authorities take the criminals in, its no longer your jurisdiction your job is done, now get lost before I report you to the board.

Shota looked to his partner and the blonde let out a wail of a yell that caused all the windows in the cruiser to shatter. I jumped into action and scrambled out the rear window and took off at a run as I heard the officer get out of his car. I didn't get more than a few steps before his strong hand caught me by the back of the neck and I was slammed into the ground. My heart stuttered in my chest as I felt the barrel of a gun press to the back of my skull.

"EVERYONE FREEZE!" The officer snarled and I managed to catch a glimpse of Shota and his partner a few feet away frozen in place as the officer threatened to shoot me. "Why don't you boys go sit in the back of the cruiser, if you do anything I don't tell you to or try to run for it, I'm blowing her brains out."

He turned to watch them do as he said, his grip on me loosened enough I was able to kick away. I sprinted toward the dock as fast as I could. I could hear him let out a roar of anger behind me and screamed as he opened fire.

"ELLIE!" Shota screamed.

I dove off the dock and winced as a bullet grazed my thigh before falling into the icy cold water. I got swept away in the currents of the channel and didn't bother to try and fight it to get as far away as I could. After I was sure I was far enough away I wasn't in any more danger I attempted to break from the currents and ended up washing onto some rich person's personal beach behind their ritzy mansion. I had no idea where the hell I'd ended up.

"Well I guess that idiot failed his job." Someone sighed nearby as I struggled to get onto all fours on the rocky beach, though it was proving to be difficult with my hands bound.

I chanced a glance upward to find who had spoke and felt my blood run cold as I met the cold eyes of Pharmatech's CEO. Scrambling to my feet I tried to run, I was defenseless, I was weak I didn't have my quirk, I couldn't do anything!

He caught up to me in no time and tackled me to the ground before pinning me beneath him and putting his hands around my neck. His grip tightened around my throat choking the life from me. "I guess if you want a job done right you have to do it yourself."

I kicked and flailed to no avail, I was too weak. In the back of my mind I could hear Eli's voice screaming at me telling me to fight, to hang on, that help would come.

"ELLIE!" A familiar boisterous voice bellowed from the sky and before I had a chance to register what was happening my assailant was flung away from me in what felt like a powerful blast of raging winds before strong arms encircled me.

I choked as I struggled to fill my oxygen depraved lungs with air. My body trembled from the shock of what had just happened and the cold from the frigid water I'd escaped from. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust and I blinked a few times before my rescuer's worry filled face came into focus, All Might.

"You saved me?" I asked with a wince as my neck, throat larynx and esophagus protested the action.

"I'll always save you, little Ellie." He smiled his blinding smile. How could someone be so radiant? It didn't seem possible. It was like he was born of sunlight, everything about him was dazzling and bright.

I dropped my head onto his shoulder as my body began to relax once I realized I was safe.

"What are you doing here?" The familiar voice of my childhood neighbor sounded from behind me startling me from my reminiscing.

I was dragged out of the apartment by Naomasa's younger sister, Makoto, to do some shopping she needed supplies for university and wanted me to get some stuff to decorate our apartment with since she'd said it was bland and boring. She'd run into some of her friends and was talking to them in the office supplies section while I'd gone to sit at one of the display couches in front of a wall of TV's that were currently screening a live interview with All Might.

"Senpai, I'm getting a sense of déjà vu are you stalking me again?"

Shota dropped onto the couch beside me and fixed me with a serious look, "I never stalked you."

"Well whatever you want to call it, it was harassment and this is starting to feel very harassment like." I smirked.

He rolled his eyes at this, "You're impossible." His gaze flicked to the TV screen, "Didn't peg you for an All Might fan."

"As I've said before, Senpai, you never really knew me at all. Besides, I don't have control over what this establishment plays on their TVs I'm merely sitting here because I find shopping a nuisance and my friend is quite chatty and bumped into some other friends."

Shota chuckled at this, "You really have changed. You'd have tried to attack me by now before."

It was my turn for an eyeroll.

"Now let's go to some live callers for some fan questions." The interviewer on the TV drew my attention back as they accepted their first call. "What is your question caller?"

"All Might, are you single?" A girlish squeal sounded from the other line.

Shota shook his head at this. He was more of a behind the scenes hero, he didn't like to be in the spotlight. His gaze fell on me as my hands instinctively clenched into fists in my lap and my back went slightly rigid.

That idiot better lie...I groaned inwardly he was incapable of lying. Then he better deflect or redirect it.

"Ah, actually I'm married." All Might's smile was as blinding as ever.

Everyone in the store around me that had been tuning in gasped, the interviewer looked about ready to fall out of her seat and the caller on the phone let out some kind of scream that sounded like a happy squeal and a heartbroken cry all at once.

"I had no idea he was married." Shota noted absently.

"Senpai, I'm starting to think you just don't know anything about anyone at this point. Your track record really sucks." I attempted to jab at him as I kept my focus on the TV.

"You're married?!" The interviewer regained her composure, "Well who's the lucky lady, why don't we know anything about her?"

All Might laughed nervously, "...She likes her privacy..." He tried to answer politely.

Makoto, a young woman of twenty-one with a smooth complexion and silken dark hair that she usually wore pulled back, pushed through the crowd of people that had gathered to hear about All Might's wife. She appeared before me panting and gasping for breath, "Hey, sorry that took so long, jeez it's crowded over here..." She cut off as she looked to the TV and her bright eyes lit up, "Is he talking about you?" She gushed.

I shot her a glare and she hurriedly shut her mouth. Shota looked over to me curiously and opened his mouth to question me. Hurriedly I cut him off as I got to my feet grabbed Makoto by the wrist and dragged her through the crowd of people.

Makoto didn't know whether to laugh at my sudden flustered appearance or be wary about my temper and settled on giggling quietly to herself, "Sorry, Ellie, I thought he was spilling the beans on TV."

"No, he wouldn't do that but he's still going to be in trouble for sharing as much as he did." I grumbled as we came to a stop near the housewares area. "Can we get this shopping thing over with? I'd like to go home."

Makoto laughed, "Can do." She scurried about the aisles picking up various décor pieces at random asking my opinion on the matter after she found a few things I didn't say negative things about we headed to the register.

We finished checking out and went our separate ways. As I was about to round the corner onto the street my apartment was on, Shota stepped onto my path nearly causing me to lose my grip on the bags in my hands.

"Senpai, this is definitely stalking!" I snapped at him in annoyance as he took the bags from my hands.

"What's your husband's name, Ellie?" He asked me curiously.

"None of your damn business, give those back."

"I insist on helping."

"Why?" I glowered.

"We're friends."

"Since when?" I scoffed, "You nearly got me killed, twice."

"You disappeared after that incident Ellie, you never gave me a chance to apologize." He said seriously as he fell in step beside me with my bags in his hands.

"I didn't want your apology. I still don't." I grumbled.

"Well I owe you one anyway whether you want it or not."

"First you force your presence on me, now you force your apologies on me, this isn't healthy, Senpai, I'm worried about you."

Shota chuckled at this.

I hesitated as we reached the apartment building, "You've successfully learned what building I live in, now can I please have my stuff back?"

"It's pretty heavy, why don't you let me help you carry it upstairs?" He smirked.

"You're really trying my patience." I growled and was about to lash out at him when a loud boisterous laugh sounded from behind me and before I could take a swing at Shota I found myself being picked up and slung over a bulky muscular shoulder.

"Well if it isn't Aizawa helping Ellie with her purchases." Toshinori announced dramatically as he subdued me and kept me from beating his peer to a bloody pulp.

Shota chuckled and I could just imagine the smug look of satisfaction on his face.

"Put me down! Idiot!" I snarled as my face flushed scarlet he was going to cause a scene he was too noticeable! "We're going to draw attention!"

Toshinori ignored my protests and turned his attention to Shota, "Perhaps you'd like to join us for a cup of tea?"

"Sure." Shota was still laughing.

Toshinori led the way into the apartment building keeping me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Shota was laughing silently as he followed along behind not seeming the least bit bothered by my scathing looks.

Once we reached the apartment Shota set the bags down on the table as Toshinori set me on my feet keeping a firm hand on my shoulder to keep me from attacking Shota. He knew me too well.

"I'll make tea." Toshinori offered before looking down at me, "No attacking the company?"

"If the company makes a stupid comment that pisses me off I have no control over what I do to him." I grumbled in annoyance.

Toshinori lightly pat me on the head before heading to the kitchen to make tea. How long had he been in his muscular form? How much longer did he have? Did Shota know that secret too? "You two were childhood friends, right?" He asked curiously once he realized neither I nor Shota was going to start the conversation because I was still fuming and Shota was walking on eggshells as he realized my anger wasn't playful.

"We were." Shota responded.

"We were never friends." I scoffed as I folded my arms across my chest, "Don't lie to him."

"We were next door neighbors." Shota amended watching me carefully as I grew steadily angrier. He'd forced himself into our secret, I didn't want anymore people to know our secret. There were too many loose ends as it was.

"Why the hell are you here?" I glowered, "You found out what you wanted to know, so why are you still here?"

"Is it hard to believe I just want to make sure you're alright, Ellie?"

"Yes. I do find that hard to believe as I reminded you earlier you nearly got me killed twice, you're always suspicious of me, and you've been harassing and stalking me since I was released from prison." I snarled.

"You didn't think I might have just been looking out for you making sure you were staying out of trouble?"

"You got me shot! And you turned me in to a crooked cop that I told you was going to kill me, please tell me how in the hell that was in my best interest?"

"Not my finest moments but you did turn into an incredibly skilled fighter after learning not to rely solely on your quirk." He smiled sheepishly.

"Toshinori, the company is pissing me off, if you don't want him thrown out the window to fall to his death, you deal with him." I grumbled as I retreated to the kitchen to take over making the tea.

Toshinori lightly rubbed my back as I stepped in front of him before bending forward to kiss the top of my head, "Aizawa won't tell anyone, you don't need to worry so muc-."

"You're not entirely off the hook either." I growled at him, "I saw the interview."

Toshinori fell silent, "Ah, about that, I couldn't help it, it's not like I could li-."

"Of course, you could have lied, idiot!" I lightly punched him in the chest,

He looked like he was about to protest, "Elli-."

I cut him off with a glare, "If the next words out of your mouth aren't Ellie, you're right, or Ellie, I'm sorry, you're right. You're also going flying out the window."

"Ellie, I love you." Toshinori smiled as my face reddened.

I hurriedly turned my attention back to the tea and hid behind my hair. All my anger dissipated at his words, like magic. "No fair."