Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 76

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the two tiny boxes that Shigaraki held out before me and Toga. It was just the three of us in the massive room stocked to the brim with weapons - Dabi and Yuri had come to send us off around half an hour ago, and Shigaraki was making sure we knew what we were doing, along with giving us the gear he'd promised. Still, it was a little hard to believe that whatever was in the small box would be enough to help memorize the layout of an entire agency. I hesitantly plucked it from Shigaraki's hand, careful not to touch his skin, just as a precaution.

"Is this it? No offense, but when you said you'd give us equipment, I was expecting something a little more..." I trailed off, gently turning the box in my fingers to inspect it from all angles. 

"Boisterous? Dangerous?" Toga offered in her usual upbeat tone.

"Practical," I finished, which earned what seemed to be the millionth disappointed sigh from Shigaraki of today alone.

Shigaraki held his hand out expectantly, as if waiting for me to give the box back. "If you don't want the help, feel free to go without it."

"Sorry, sorry. I'll take it." At Shigaraki's raised eyebrow urging me to open the box, I lifted the lid, with Toga beside me doing the same. Inside it was a tiny case, one that held a typical set of contact lenses, and some eye drops. I looked from the case back to Shigaraki. "No offense, but, uh, how are contact lenses supposed to help me here?"

"They have built-in cameras that'll activate as soon as you put the lenses in. We'll be able to see everything you see from the security room."

"There's a security room in here?" I asked, frowning my bows in surprise. Over three months at the League, and I still didn't know all the twists and turns. Toga giggled as if my question was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"Of course there's a security room," Shigaraki drawled out in exasperation. "Your movement will be broadcasted to the rest of the League via projectors." I had to admit, I was more than surprised at the level of technology - lenses with built in cameras weren't exactly an easy thing to come by. My surprise was obviously evident, because Shigaraki scoffed. "What, you really thought I expected you to memorize the agency?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I kinda did."

Shigaraki pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed for the thousandth time today. "Just make sure to run through the entire agency, and the cameras will do the rest. And don't get sidetracked. Enter, gather the information, scan through the entire agency, and leave."

"Aye aye, Captain!" I grinned with an overexaggerated salute. Maybe Shigaraki wasn't that bad, especially not if he went to the lengths of getting high-level lenses like these to help the mission.

"Captain," Toga mused beside me, hand still firmly clutching the box. "I like that."

"Call me Captain again and I'll turn you into dust. Now get on with it. Put on the contacts and off you go. Kira, take one of the cars at the back."

"Sir, yes sir!" Another annoyed eye roll, but at least I didn't get threatened with death this time. Maybe it'd be better to stop with the nicknames. Then again, I wanted to see how far I could push Shigaraki before he completely snapped at me, so the nicknames would stay for now. 

I walked to one of the washrooms and stood awkwardly in front of the mirror - I'd worn contacts before for my missions as a hero, but the feeling would never stop being awkward. A few drops administered to both eyes were enough to make the uncomfortable process of putting the contact lenses on a little better, but it didn't change just how strange it felt to shove a tiny camera into my eye. I had to blink a few times before the lenses finally sat right, and I turned to Toga, who was doing her best not to get irritated with the task. Seeing a villain as capable as Toga struggle with something as common as putting in contact lenses definitely helped raise my spirit, and I watched with a grin as she finally managed to put them on, her nose wrinkling at the feeling. I couldn't exactly blame her for that, though.

After Shigaraki's all-clear that the cameras were working properly, I was followed by an overly excited Toga to the vast garage filled with cars of every model - truly an overkill, but Shigaraki thought it would be better to have several getaway vehicles so that they'd be harder to track, and I couldn't exactly argue with that logic. I opened the door of a sleek black car that I couldn't bother to identify the model of, glad to see the key dangling in the ignition the same way that it did in any of the other cars that belonged to the League, and Toga bounced into the passenger's seat. With one swift turn, the engine hummed to life, and we tore out of the garage as soon as the doors opened. 

I still hadn't ventured outside on my own, but I'd been on more than enough raids with Dabi to know my way out of the headquarters. Toga's energetic squeal combined with the fact that she didn't put on her seatbelt were definitely concerning, but I wasn't one to reprimand her on safety, especially not since I was the one flooring the gas pedal with an ecstatic grin. I wasn't in the position to complain about lack of freedom, since I was definitely given a fair amount of it considering just how unlikely my position was. I was allowed to go to the outside world as long as I had another villain with me, and in my case, that villain almost always was Dabi, and although I had nothing against him, it wasn't like he'd let me race through the narrow alleys at full speed the way I was now. 

I'd probably get scolded about it when we got back to the headquarters, especially since the entire League could see every movement clearly thanks to the contact lenses, but I decided to worry about that later. I pulled into a sharp stop in an abandoned alley and gave Toga one last grin before pulling on my mask and tugging my hair into a tight ponytail. After quickly glancing around to make sure everything was clear, I nodded towards the street that shone through the spaces in between towering buildings, and Toga dipped her head in understanding. Speaking any more than necessary was useless, especially since my voice was likely to be recognized, so we chose to go in silence instead.

We crept through the alley towards the empty street - students were still at school, and work hours were long before finished. Still, just in case, as soon as we approached the street, I activated my quirk to wipe Toga and me from existence to anyone and everyone that had the potential to see us -  a little trick that I'd managed to master during my time at the League when I realized altering the vision of individual people was much more tiring than painting the same picture and handing it to everyone within the radius. Even with the extra precautions, we moved quieter than mice, avoiding the rare pedestrian that was hustling down the street, surely off to take care of some important business.

If it weren't for the fact that I had two stealthy cameras that displayed everything I saw to the rest of the League, I would've taken this time to explore on my own and thoroughly enjoy at least a few hours of freedom before wreaking havoc on the agency. The wishful idea made me give a small sigh that Toga thankfully decided to ignore, and took to the more secluded sections of the streets - just because there wasn't anyone around to spot us and because I was using my quirk to keep us out of sight didn't mean that we shouldn't be careful. The going was a little slower than I wanted because of this, but it was better than accidentally running into the stray passer-by. A few times, I had to literally drag Toga back on track from getting distracted by a store or two that looked way too good to ignore, and I couldn't help but feel like a babysitter. An deadly babysitter armed with knives looking after an over energized deadly teenager also armed with knives. It was almost enough to make me laugh.

As we forged on, I noticed that the usual exhaustion that I felt from using my quirk on such a large area was nowhere to be found. Perhaps my time in the League really did make me stronger in more ways that just physically. Still, it didn't do enough to change the awe that came every time that I saw the Endeavor Agency building, tall and towering higher than any other construction in sight, with a bright red burning E emblazoned on the front. Damn, heroes are arrogant. An agency named "Endeavor". How creative. I glanced at Toga, who gave me a nod of confirmation, and together, we pushed forward.