Consequences 2

When they got to the office, Star Skyline stiffened at the door, hearing a new mind behind it.

Hitoshi handed her vodka gummy bears and she popped one of them into her mouth, pocketing the rest. She knew she was friends with this man for a reason.

As they walked in, there was a member of the police force there that Star didn't recognize. His mind checked out on the surface, but it was still uncomfortable.

"I am Naomasa Tsukauchi, it's a pleasure to meet you-"

"Olivia." She cut him off, seeing where that sentence was going. It was even more uncomfortable he knew her real name, but it was a given seeing as he worked for the police. Midoriya being here meant she couldn't allow him to say it freely, especially with the guys extensive knowledge of superheroes.

"Right, Olivia. I'm a friend of All Mights, it's nice to finally meet you." He smiled, friendly. She nodded in return, smiling slightly. A thought from Hitoshi distracted her before she responded, though.

"Hitoshi?"

He looked at her irritated, and she frowned. Feeling bad, she popped two more gummies in her mouth. It wasn't their fault her quirk had evolved into this. She hated the lack of privacy it gave people. Back when it was only touch, everything was so much easier. But there was no going back to that since the incident.

Hitoshi seemed to be hesitating before telling her. He had been hoping she'd eat all the gummies first, apparently. "Do you mind if I go first?" He asked. The detective shook his head, and gestured for him to go ahead.

"The, um." Hitoshi didn't know how to start, and his thoughts got a little buzzier as the wine and gummy bear she had before started to kick in more. "Remember that hero who sold our information to the press, after the incident?"

Nodding, she scowled at the thought. She wasn't above using her quirk to her advantage, but she had crossed a line that time. Once their information had been sold, she had used her quirk to find and ensure the press didn't leak the information. It had taken two days of using her quirk, but she had managed it. Nothing was released, the reporter was silenced, and her and Hitoshi were safe.

She wasn't sure if she regretted it. Maybe she could've found a better way to do it, but there wasn't time. It was such a big story… It would've been international news, and she couldn't afford that. Not until she figured out why her parents stopped coming to Japan.

"The hero that leaked the information was killed, unfortunately." Hitoshi said casually, trying to distract her from the crime scene photos zipping through his mind. Due to her familiarity with his mind though, it wasn't enough. Star silently watched the images, sitting down in the office chair.

"Who killed him?" She asked quietly. She turned to the detective as his mind buzzed with thoughts about a 'hero killer'. Seven heros per city, some corrupt, some appearing to be innocent, but they weren't sure. Frowning, she spoke up before anyone could answer her last question.

"I lived in those cities. The last three, in that order. I moved around a lot whenever the press…" She didn't finish, but the detective nodded, seeming interested by that fact. Hitoshi glanced at her, not loving whatever connection she and the detective had just talked about.

"I'll write that down, just in case. I'm actually here to talk to you about something else though." The detective started, gesturing towards All Might.

"We were wondering if you two could tell us more about the man in the memory Olivia projected at the USJ." All Might spoke up. Hitoshi looked at her, alarm coloring his usually emotionless face, and she looked at everyone, confused.

"Wait, what?" She thought out loud, taken off guard by the statement. Of course though, Midoriya's thoughts were loud and clear as always.

She put a hand on his arm, just to ensure she saw everything, as he was recounting the scene in his head. He jumped, but allowed it, having already figured out this aspect of her quirk. Kid was smart, that's for sure. She watched as one of her worst memories was suddenly projected into Midoriya's mind at the USJ, taking over his senses and vision. She shuddered as the short scene played out in his memory, and saw as he came out of it. Everyone around him, even the villain, seemed to come out at the same time, and Midoryia watched as All Might sped Olivia's unconscious and bleeding body back to safety.

Letting go of his arm, she took a second to control her breathing, but wasn't fairing well. It had been a dulled version of it, since it was a third hand memory, but it was still as unpleasant as the day it happened.

"Us, Kirishima, Kacchan, Todoroki, and the villains saw it." Midoriya admitted, looking at her sadly. "I had no idea that it was an accident until you reacted just now… Is that why you still say you have a mind reading quirk?"

Star's own mind was whirling, and she let out a groan. Bakugo had seen it. He had seen it. Everyone had seen it! It wasn't even something she could control! She was already barely capable of controlling her quirk right now, she didn't need more on her plate. She buried her head in her hands, unconsciously feeling the scars around her ears under her hair. She could feel Hitoshi keeping an eye on her, monitoring her breathing and trembling, but she didn't care.

Looking up at him hesitantly, she weakly asked him, "You knew?"

She had seen the thoughts that had followed his alarmed expression.

"You…" He cleared his throat, avoiding her eyes. "It happened a few times. When you'd pass out. I already felt terrible that you had to experience everything I was feeling and thinking on top of what you were going through. So I didn't exactly mind dealing with it as well. We were both… going through a lot. I didn't want to add that to your plate." He looked at her expressionlessly, but Star knew better. She could feel the guilt and concern rolling off of him, the lingering fear from the memories he was avoiding at any cost.

She nodded weakly, and looked down. It was understandable, she couldn't blame him. What did this mean about her quirk, though? Maybe Momo was right when she mentioned it didn't sound like a simple mind reading quirk… She had never gotten her quirk tested either, in an attempt by her parents to keep it hidden… Breathing too fast and lips going numb, Star tried grounding herself.

Hitoshi spoke up from above her, but she didn't look up. She concentrated on identifying five things she could see.

"I can answer your questions. Olivia can help if required. I'm assuming you're talking about the scientist?" Hitoshi asked. She could see her running shoes.

"Was that the man in the mask?" All Might asked, a nervous element in his voice.

She could see the man in his mind and shuddered violently, having just seen the scene with him replayed through Midoriya.

She was about to lose it, teetering on the edge of her control over her reaction. She spoke up, "Yes. It's the man you're thinking of." She rested her arm so that it was touching Hitoshi as he stood.

She welcomed the giant expanse of his calming mind, and breathed deeply. He looked down at her, but stayed still. She could see a paper on the ground, she could see the legs of her chair.

"What quirks did he have?" All Might continued. She could see a paperclip, and the untied laces of Midoriya's shoes.

"Quirks? We only experienced one. It was some kind of forced quirk activation one. It made us use our quirks against our wills, and well past our limits." Hitoshi's voice wavered, and Star saw he was thinking about how his vocal cords were destroyed after the incident.

She continued working on grounding herself as she shivered from his memory. Four things she can touch. She can touch Hitoshi, she can touch the chair.

"Did he give anyone quirks?" The detective asked.

Hitoshi looked at them suspiciously. "Yes. Though, he gave them to…" He glanced at Star as he mentally skipped over the word, "…creatures. I believe Olivia mentioned you fought one yourself."

His eyes narrowed, and Olivia could feel him desperately trying not to think about what he had said. "It's obvious you seem to know about this guy, what are you not telling us?"

She could touch the floor, she could touch her burnt leggings. Three things she can hear, next. Her breathing wasn't slowing, though.

Everyone got quiet, and Star looked up. All Might and the detective were debating, and Midoriya was purposely trying not to think about it.

Finally, All Might spoke up, "All for One. The man in Olivia's memory was All for One. A hoarder of quirks, with the ability to give and take them. I'm assuming that was what was happening in your memory, Olivia. He was killing the people after he gave their quirks to the Nomu-" No, not that word-

Hitoshi's eyes widened in alarm and he attempted to pull away from Star's touch, but wasn't fast enough. Her own memory, and his memory that he was desperately avoiding, hit her at full force when they heard the word they never spoke.

She was at the lab.

=It was so cold. Her breathing quickened as=

"Star, answer me."

=Right, Hitoshi was next to her in the lab, chained up, weakly she cried out to him as the scientist approached him. "H-"=

Her mind went blank.

It was blissful. Her panic was gone, the flashback was gone. He had gotten good at the timing after handling it for two months, she knew that, but was still amazed.

Hitoshi's own breathing was labored, and he barely got out, "Talk to Tsuragamae if you have any more questions, we can't help you. Sorry." He pulled up Star and left, dialing a number on his phone. The people left behind in the room were too surprised to say a word, and let them go.

"Hey, sorry, can you come to the training arena?" Hitoshi asked breathlessly into the phone, before hanging it up.

His breathing got worse over the next few minutes, and suddenly Star was back, taking a breath of air. She looked around, seeing Aizawa next to her, and Mashirao talking quietly with his arms wrapped around Hitoshi, who was sitting with his head in his hands. Guilt washed over her, and she went to talk to him, but Aizawa stopped her.

"He's okay. We've been working on his guilt over using his quirk. It's what's getting in the way of him gaining control over his evolved quirk, similar to your panic and drinking. Going over would just make it worse for him."

"But-"

"I brought Ojiro for a reason. Give him time. Let's go, I'm already tired."

Star glanced at the purple haired man, suffering just as much as her, and felt her heart ache.

They had both been through so much, had both suffered greatly at the hands of quirks. She felt her heart clench and eyes sting as she forced herself to walk away and find Bakugo to finish training.

In a world where powers are praised and admired… No one ever seemed to talk about the consequences.