a/n: please forgive me if i have any errors with the story details; it's been a while since i've worked on this story-- i'm so sorry to everyone who's had to wait, i've just been working on other things, namely my oneshot books-

"So you're telling me that as soon as you got to the market, you were ganged up on by two of Overhaul's stupid henchmen?!"

Tomura asked loudly, a hand nervously scratching the back of his other hand. This action caused thin, long red lines to form on the pale skin of his hand, and Touya quickly pulled the anxious male's hand away to prevent further damage. He swiftly lifted the raw-looking hand to his mouth, and placed gentle kisses combined with a massaging hand there, causing Tomura to freeze up in place.

"Don't do that to yourself, mop head. I hate it when you result to self-destructive ways when you're nervous. Anyways,"

Touya's icy-blue eyes were closed as he rested his cheek against the trembling hand of Tomura, and then they opened to peer at his boyfriend, then me.

"You really need to figure out what to do. Overhaul's really pissing me off at this point..."

Touya sighed, shrugging his shoulders slightly, body still hunched over to press against Tomura.

"Yeah, I'll figure something out..."

I mumbled softly, my head full of thoughts as I stared down at my hands. My answer was kind of subdued and Tomura noticed this. He swiveled his head around to watch me with careful crimson eyes.

"What're you thinking....?"

"...Nothing. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, guys."

I quickly said, looking up and plastering a smile on my face. I had already decided in my mind what I was going to do.

I was going to turn myself in. From the way things were going - if I decided to be selfish - I'd only end up harming the people who cared about me.

This was for the best.

"It's getting kind of dark outside, so you guys should go soon; probably when my mom's done with the cookies."

I said, gesturing to the curtains, where no light was attempting to stream through the colored fabric.

"Oh, okay. Well, I just wanted to say..."

Tomura started to say, but stopped when Touya squeezed his hand roughly, an unreadable gaze being shot towards the smaller male. The pale-haired male then merely just smiled awkwardly, looking away to focus his eyes on a trinket that I had placed on top of one of my bookcases.

"Nevermind. It's nothing, on second thought."

Tomura said with a soft smile and I return it, though I don't feel like it.

What I have to do later pains me.

-Time Skip-

As I got ready, my breathing was erratic. Uneven, shaky breaths filled the silence of my room as I threw on a simple hoodie - one that was big enough to cover my wings. I didn't bother bringing anything else with me; what was the point? I wasn't going to ever return.

It was difficult to sneak out of the house, since my parents were light sleepers, but I somehow managed to make it down the stairs without stepping on a creaky floorboard.

As soon as I walked out, I caught sight of Chrono, who was standing in front of my house - which was strange. It was almost as if he had been waiting for me.

When he caught sight of me, he dipped his head in my direction, a hand coming up to gesture me to where he was and I obliged, my head bowed.

"You decided, huh?"

Chrono said in a casual tone, as if this situation wasn't anything out of the ordinary as we began our trek to the distant palace. In response, I nodded meekly and Chrono hummed lightly. Silence then fell over us for a while.

Feeling slightly awkward and unnerved by the long silence, I decided to speak. There had been a certain question that had been hovering around in my mind for a while.

"I have a question... What's up with your hair?"

As if flustered by my question, Chrono coughed uncomfortably, his hand rubbing against his opposite arm. He was silent for a bit before he finally answered, his voice unsure.

"Well... It's my quirk..."

Before I could answer, Chrono hastily said, his hand swiping through the air in a overly-dramatic flourish to show off whatever we were in front of.

"Hey, we're here! Overhaul will be glad to see you."

I snapped my head up, eyes widening when I realized Chrono was indeed right. In front of me was the large palace that Overhaul built as soon as he rose to power; the building had cost a lot. When the palace was being built, taxes had skyrocketed in an attempt to cover the cost for the project.

Overhaul was a selfish man, to say the least.

"Come now, follow me."

Chrono said, motioning to me as he trudged up the elegant stairs that led up to the palace, and I hesitantly followed after him.

What was Overhaul going to do when I met him face to face?

a/n: next chapter finally has overhaul- can't wait to write for him 💞