~*𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆: 𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒄*~

*~chapter two: the party~*

Shouta stood in front of the fraternity house doors, his hands moving to nervously fumble with his scarf. He could hear the muffled sound of upbeat dance music coming from inside, and it seemed to shake the walls with its' volume.

Just thinking about going inside with all that noise gave him a pounding headache.

Shouta felt a lump form in his throat.

What the fuck was he doing here?!

This was crazy. No, he shouldn’t be here. He should turn around. Right now. He should turn around and go back to his dorm, before someone spotted him. He didn’t belong here.

He should have never made an attempt to socialize. No matter how enticing Hizashi had made it sound, it was still way out of his comfort zone. Underground heroes were not supposed to socialize.

“Hey, hey! Aizawa! Glad you could make it!”

Shouta turned to locate the sound of his name being called, when an arm slung around his neck. He let out a startled grunt, almost getting knocked off balance. He whipped his head around, and found himself face to face with Reikoku.

The taller boy had an ear to ear grin, that almost seemed real if you looked close enough. The smell of alcohol coming from him was like a slap in the face to Shouta, and he almost choked on the intoxicating scent.

“What’re you doin’ standing outside, huh? The party is inside, silly!” Reikoku playfully shook the ravenette by the shoulders, but Shouta carefully pulled away from the males grip, narrowing his eyes and dusting himself off with trembling hands.

“Um... Actually, I was just heading back to my dorm-”

“Come on, don’t be such a downer, Sho!” Reikoku heaved a slurred chuckle as he started nudging Shouta to the front doors. He bit back a snarl, shooting a fierce glare over to the brunette.

“Please don’t call me that,” he murmured quietly, his brow creased with anxiety as he was all but shoved into the fraternity house.

“Aww, lighten up, man! It’s all in good fun!” Shouta felt the others’ elbow prod his ribcage sharply, and he emitted a low growl, just quiet enough so Reikoku wouldn’t hear. He hadn’t even made it inside, and he was already uncomfortable.

But once he was shoved through the doors, he went from uncomfortable to overwhelmed.

There were a lot of people there, everyone either dancing to the booming music playing over speakers, drinking, or socializing. Shouta felt his stomach twist into a knot.

He felt like he was about to step into an uncharted jungle, filled with beasts and predators lurking in every corner, of which he was of no prowess to handle.

He wanted to turn around and leave right then, and run right back to his dorm, but Reikoku’s hand guiding him from his back into the sea of people proved that to be impossible.

A large poster caught Shouta's eye. Itwas hung up on the wall upon entry, and he only had enough time to catch a little bit of what it said.

“Rules: Don’t leave the party with any alcohol on your person.

Don’t engage in sexual or violent activities

No quirk usage allowed-

Before he could read the rest, he felt another sharp jab in his spine, and he huffed before continuing his walk through the crowd.

“U-Um, why are you still shoving me?” Shouta had to yell over the deafening music. His head felt like it was going to explode with the pressure.

“Cuz, buddy! I have somethin’ I wanna show you!” Reikoku’s voice was disturbingly cheerful. He didn’t know if it was because of the drunken state the brunette was in, or if it was something else. Nonetheless, Shouta didn’t like it.

He kept his eyes fixated straight ahead as he was forced to push past people. Several times, he felt other bodies brush up against his own, which didn’t make the setting any easier for the already overwhelmed male.

He was continuously pushed on until the amount of people started to thin out towards the back of the main hall. Shouta stopped at the corner of the room, in front of a door. But Reikoku continued to nudge him forwards.

He wanted him to go through the door?

There was nothing good that could come from this.

"Er... listen, I don't think-"

He turned to look at Reikoku, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Shouta squinted his eyes, his gaze darting around as he tried to search out the male, his head fogging over with the sensory overload of the party. The colored lights, the music, the smell of alcohol, it was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach.

But he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see the door open. Before he could take notice, a hand slapped over his mouth, yanking him inside the room and enveloping him in darkness once the door slammed shut.

He was totally blinded, and had no idea what was going on. All he could do was fight back, and struggle against the hands on him. He felt something tight being quickly tied around his wrists, and tried his best to pull away. Whatever it was, it was strong, and he couldn’t wriggle free.

“What the fuck is going on?! Who’s there?! Reikoku!” he yelled out in a panicked frustration once the hand was removed from over his mouth. His head whipped around in every direction in his frantic attempt to spot something, someone, amongst the darkness.

He suddenly felt a hand place firmly on his shoulder and pull him downward. Shouta’s legs gave out, and he felt himself land in a chair, his tied wrists crushed between the back of the chair and his lower back. He let out a groan of discomfort, but the secure hand on his shoulder kept him from shifting in his seat.

Finally, the lights were flipped on, and Shouta blinked rapidly to quickly adjust to the new light. Once his vision cleared, he realized that there were several other guys in the room, none of which he could recognize right away. None of them were Reikoku.

He tried to turn and look behind him, as he did, he felt a fist meet his face, socking him right in the eye. Shouta let out a yelp of shock mixed with pain, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head to shield his face out of instinct. His eye twitched painfully, and he could feel it begin to swell.

“Damn, that felt good!”

Shouta tensed up once he heard Reikoku’s voice from right behind him. He slightly lifted his head, and caught a glimpse through his bangs of the taller male as he circled around to Shouta’s front, cracking his knuckles and glaring down at the ravenette.

Immediately, Shouta tried to lash out.

“What the hell is going on?!” he demanded, planting his feet firmly to stand. But before he could, he felt a pair of strong hands grab his arms and force him down into his seat. Shouta tried to turn his head and see who was there, but another blow landed on his face, jerking his head back to face forwards.

His black eyes met with Reikoku’s white ones, and both glares were dripping with hate.

“I want you looking right at me for every second of this,” the brunette snarled, crouching down to level himself with the bound male. Shouta felt a twinge of drawback at the vague statement. What the fuck was this guy gonna do?

“Here he is, fellas! Here’s the little quirk stealer I told you all about.” Reikoku stood to his feet, his gaze sweeping around to the others in the room. Shouta’s brows furrowed in bewilderment, his mind racing.

Quirk stealer? But, I didn’t-

“This guy is dangerous. There’s no doubt about it,” the male continued, as a sly smirk spread across his face. “Why, someone with a quirk as powerful as his could be a threat to society, don’t you all agree?”

Murmurs of accord erupted from the others, and Shouta felt all of their demeaning glares boring into his skull.

“Now, how about we tell our guest of honor here what we heroes do to threats in our society, hm?”

“We kill them!” one guy shouted, and the rest howled in agreement.

“We get rid of them!”

“Render em’ immobile!”

“We fuck em’ up!”

Reikoku held his hand up, and everyone fell silent.

The bound male finally realized what the other was trying to do.

This guy was so full of shit. His ego was as big as his savings fund, Shouta thought to himself. And he was aiming to persuade these knuckleheads to side with him by using fancy wordplay.

But then again, this full-of-shit guy had him tied to a chair with a black eye. So he kept these thoughts to himself for now.

“Now, let’s be fair, guys. I wanna give him at least one chance to prove himself.” Reikoku turned back to face Shouta, and cast him an uneasy smile. Shouta just bared his teeth in response.

As the other had been talking, Shouta found the opportunity to feel the material he was tied up with, brushing his finger against it.

Synthetic fiber-

This was one of his scarves. Reikoku must have nabbed it the day Shouta had bound him with it. He had been so focused on getting the girl out of there that he hadn’t even noticed.

Now that he knew what he was tied with, Shouta felt a plan formulate in his head.

The brunette crouched down again, so they were eye level.

“I want you to do something for me, Sho.”

“Don’t fucking call me that,” he snarled breathily.

Reikoku’s eyes narrowed, but he ignored the loathing comment.

“If you can do me this one, teensy favor, then maybe I’ll forget all of this, and leave you be for the rest of the year.”

Shouta raised an eyebrow.

“You know that Hizashi guy?”

He felt his stomach twist into a knot. Hizashi? What did this nut job want with him?

“I want you to shut him up.”

Shouta felt uneasiness creep up his spine. He did not like the sound of this already.

“What do you mean by that?”

He noticed one of the guys step forward, holding out a hammer. He recognized him immediately- he was one of the guys kicked off campus last year for misdemeanor. What the hell was Reikoku doing, rebuilding the Mafia?

“I want you to destroy that damn directional speaker of his.” Reikoku snatched the hammer from the other guy, his eyes locked down onto it as he turned it in his hand with a smile.

“That freak is an accident waiting to happen. He’s one more burst eardrum away from pissing me off to the point of going crazy.” His snow white eyes flickered to Shouta.

“Destroy that speaker, and it’ll be like I never existed.”

Shouta found several things wrong with that sentence, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, his eyes went back and forth from the hammer, then back to the brunette looming over him.

This guy was as dumb as bricks if he thought Shouta was going to hurt Hizashi like that.

To the blonde, his speaker was like his firstborn child. He treasured it, and wore it around every chance he got. Except their dorm room, where Shouta strictly set down a firm "no hero gear in the dorms" rule.

He could understand why Reikoku was ticked off, though. The blonde could be incredibly irritating, especially when he had on his speaker.

But still, even though Hizashi could be annoying at times, Shouta could never bring himself to hurt him.

“No thanks.”

Reikoku did a double take at this, blinking back confusion.

“Excuse me- what?”

“I said, no thanks.” Shouta shrugged, his gaze slowly sliding past the brunette.

He had the door in his sights, keeping it in the corner of his good eye. Right when the time was right, he was going to make a run for it. He wasn’t planning on sticking around for whatever this weirdo had in mind for him.

He felt the others’ glassy eyes fix onto him, studying his face.

“Well. I honestly thought you were smarter than that,” he sighed, clicking his tongue in a sense of disappointment. “Guess that means we have to continue with our previous plans.”

Shouta felt his heart start to beat out of his chest. He took notice of the anticipation in the eyes of the other guys around him, and his gaze flickered to the door. It had to be now. Before they tried anything. It would probably be his only chance.

All of this felt like it was straight out of a movie. While some may find the thought amusing, Shouta did not in the slightest.

Reikoku stepped back, casting a glance over at the same guy who handed him the hammer, and Shouta soon felt that man’s eyes on him as well, and even more red flags went up for Shouta when he noticed the boys scattered around him begin to close in.

Now!

Before anyone could get too close to him, Shouta’s eyes flickered red. He felt the fabric around his wrists loosen at his will, and he ripped his wrists out of the hands of whoever was behind him with his scarf in hand.

Keeping his eyes set on the door, he shot forward, his senses blind to anything around him as he was set dead focused on getting to the door.

He reached a hand out to grab the doorknob. So far, so good. He was so close, all he had to do was open the door-

Shouta was in such a blind panic to get out that he didn’t sense Reikoku right behind him. He suddenly felt a hand grab at his arm, and before he knew it, he was thrown violently to the ground.

“Hey, woah! You aren’t going anywhere, Aizawa!” Reikoku chuckled as he stood above the ravenette.

Instinct kicked in, and Shouta shot upwards, willing his scarf forwards and swiftly binding the other with it, yanking tightly enough to cause him to fall to the ground. Now, Shouta knelt over him, keeping the scarf pulled back tight so the brunette couldn't struggle free.

It happened fast, so it was all a blur. But once he looked back at Reikoku and saw his expression, he felt a chill go up his spine.

His white eyes were full of an unsettling form of indignation, and Shouta was finally exposed to the entirety of the male’s instability.

He heard some shouts from a couple of the guys around him, and a few darted forward to pry Shouta away. The ravenette braced himself, his breath hitching with anxiety.

“STAY BACK!” Reikoku snarled, throwing glares to the others. They froze dead in their tracks, staring back in confusion. Shouta felt an uneasy disconcertion as well. Why didn’t Reikoku let them go after him?

He didn’t take his eyes off of the other as he pinned him down, his heart almost beating out of his chest as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

His eyes were met back with Reikoku’s wild ones.

“What are you gonna do, huh, Aizawa? Are you gonna take my quirk away from me, make the fight easier for you?!” the brunette challenged, a sadistic laugh sewn into his remark. Shouta suppressed a snarl, feeling a bead of sweat forming at his forehead. Reikoku had snapped.

“TAKE IT, YOU FREAK! TAKE MY QUIRK AWAY, DO IT!” the male under him howled in raucous laughter, his defiant grin laughing up at Shouta. "All it'll do is make you look WORSE in the long run!"

Shouta was taken aback by this sudden outburst, and he felt his body stiffen for a moment.

At his hesitation, Reikoku suddenly rammed his knee into Shouta’s chest, knocking him away. He heaved a sharp grunt as his spine hit the floor, and white spots dotted his vision. Reikoku tore out of the binding of the scarf, and staggered to his feet, swaying in delirium.

“GO ON! RENDER ME HELPLESS AND TAKE THE DAMN VICTORY FOR YOURSELF!” the male roared, moving to stand over the stunned Shouta.

The ravenette slowly made an effort to sit up, but he felt a hand enclose tightly around his neck and slam him back down onto his back, and the ravenette gasped as he choked on the sudden loss of air.

His eyes fluttered open to see Reikoku’s face close to his own, his pupils dilating as he got more and more worked up.

“COME ON! FIGHT BACK!” he demanded with a breathy snarl, tightening his grip on Shouta’s neck. The ravenette opened his mouth to cry out, but nothing came out as his lungs began to burn for air. He felt panic rise up in his chest- he was going to be choked to death. This guy wasn’t just out to get his way, he was trying to kill Shouta.

And the only way for him to have any chance at escape would be to give him the reaction he was looking for.

“YOU GOTTA BREATHE SOMETIME!” Reikoku let a bitter laugh escape his lips as he leered down at the male he was strangling. “DO IT! TAKE MY QUIRK AWAY AND BEAT ME! KNOCK ME DOWN TO AN INNOCENT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!”

Shouta clenched his teeth as pained tears pricked his eyes. He fucking hated this guy with everything in him.

He allowed his eyes to flash red, and the deadly grip on his neck immediately loosened. He gulped in a large amount of air as he raced to catch his bearings, making sure to stay wary of everyone in the room now that he was free.

“You’re no fucking innocent, quirk or no quirk,” Shouta huffed in a bitter gasp of breath as he stumbled to his feet. He then, with no more hesitation, quickly made his way to the door, forcing his legs to move despite his breathlessness.

He slung the door open, and was greeted with blaring music that made his ears ring, and the stench of alcohol that clung to the air. He scowled all the while as he shoved past people frantically, his eyes dead focused on the buildings’ exit.

As he pushed through the sea of bodies, he heard a yell erupt from behind him.

“EVERYONE, STAY AWAY FROM SHOUTA AIZAWA!”

Shouta felt himself blanch. Fuck. Was this guy serious?

“He’ll take your quirk from you, then take advantage of your weakness!” Reikoku cried out over the music, and Shouta kept his head down as he moved faster through the crowd. He had to get out of there. Now that the adrenaline from the fight started to wear off, it quickly turned into anxiety. The last thing Shouta needed right now was a panic attack.

“He’s a threat to all of us, he’s a ruthless bastard with no regard for others!”

Shouta rolled his eyes, his teeth clenched as his nerves shot through the roof. This guy was borderline nuts. But also a very convincing actor.

He was trying to get under Shouta's skin, and it was working. Humiliation was battering at the male like crazy, even though he knew nobody had seen he was there yet.

Several people who heard him had already begun to murmur amongst themselves, and some looked around to pinpoint the ravenette.

Luckily nobody seemed to notice him, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone spotted him. As he neared the door, the poster on the wall briefly caught his eye.

His eyes scanned over the first sentence, and he heaved a growl.

He would rather die than step foot in this place ever again. And he was gonna make it crystal clear.

Shouta whipped around to locate the table along the wall where all of the alcohol was. In a defiant spike, he stormed over, snatching an armful of cans before shoving open the frat house doors with his shoulder.

He left without turning to look back. Burning tears were pricking at his eyes, but he made no effort to wipe them away.

He could feel stares beginning to fix on him before the door shut behind him, but they were none of his concern now. Right now, Shouta was scathing. He was so damn mad, he didn’t care that he had just stolen 5 cans of beer from a party he should have never gone to in the first place.

Right now, the only thing on Shouta’s agenda was to find somewhere isolated and quiet so he could angrily get drunk in peace.

And he was gonna relish every damn second of it.