Take Down Chapter 13: LINK START

“Yes, there are.” He said with another grin, “come on, let me show you the gear you’ll need for RFO.”

He stepped around you and led you to where the RFO game isle was, pointing out different things as he went.

You picked up the nervegear head set and a few other things, balancing them in your arms as you turned and headed for the counter.

“Hey, hey!” Mirio chuckled, “let me take those, I’m not saying you couldn’t handle them but what kind of man would I be if I didn’t carry the items for a lady.” He added with a wink.

You could feel those butterflies coming back.

“Fuck, honestly, what is wrong with me? I’ve never been like this before?!” You berated yourself internally.

You let him take the items from you and meekly followed him to the counter, watching while he put all the things down for the clerk to scan.

“I’ve got this one, Mirio, the lab is paying for this.” You said quickly as you reached out and placed your hand on his forearm to stop him from getting his wallet.

His arm was so toned under your palm and you couldn’t help but look at where your hand was placed, immediately noticing the scarring on his lower forearms.

You tilted your head curiously as you ran your fingers over the marred lines subtly and Mirio cleared his throat.

“O-okay, uh, I’ll hand over to you then.” He said as he pretended to hold a microphone out to your mouth.

“Thanks.” You said quickly as you removed your hand from his arm, leaning in towards his hand as if speaking into his imaginary microphone.

Immediately a bright smile took over his face as he beamed from ear to ear, overjoyed that you had gone along with his little joke, and you smiled at seeing him light up so quickly.

After buying the equipment you both started heading back to the lab.

“Hey Mirio?” You asked curiously, “I noticed the uh…”

“Scars on my arms?” He asked.

“Yeah.” You said sheepishly, “I’m curious as to how you got them, but if you don’t want to tell me that’s fine, I understand.”

“I don’t mind.” He said with a smile as he carried the bags. “They’re from when I was trying to perfect using my quirk.”

“Oh!” You replied, “what is your quirk?”

“Ahh well… I’d show you but I’d end up naked.” He said with a ridiculously large grin.

You looked at him mortified.

“Is this the part where he reveals himself as a perverted stalker type and tries to kill me?!” You thought as you stared at him.

“Sorry.” He laughed sheepishly, “I probably should explain, my quirk isn’t ‘stunned by nakedness’.”

You let out a confused laugh.

“Well what is it then?” You asked as you continued to look at him with furrowed brows.

“My quirk is called permeation.” Mirio said with a smile as he looked down at you, “it’s an almost impossible quirk to control but with hard work and perseverance I did it.” He said, smile still plastered on his face as he raised his hand and gave you a thumbs up; bag still in his strong grip.

“Permeation?” You mused, “so you can move through items?”

“Yes! Basically.” He replied, “while my quirk is in use I can pass through any tangible matter. walls, ground, and even people!” He said proudly.

“Wow.” You said, impressed, “that’s a really handy quirk, I can see how it would be difficult to control though.”

As you were thinking about his quirk Mirio ran ahead a bit and ducked behind a stop sign before slamming his face through the metal panel using his quirk, his face popping through the ‘O’of the stop written on the sign.

“It’s a show STOPPING quirk.” He said with a giant grin.

“You jumped in surprise and put an arm up in shock as if to shield yourself as you stood there staring at him.

“I put the O in stOp.” He said again, goofy grin still on his face.

“What on earth?!” You said with a bewildered chuckle.

“This guy is such goofball? How is he a hero in training? I thought heroes were supposed to be serious?” You thought as you watched him pull his face back out of the stop sign.

“While my quirk is active I can’t see, hear, or breathe.” Mirio added as he walked back to you. “So I need to calculate everything before I activate.”

“Ahhhh, so THAT’S what makes him a cut above the rest then.” You thought with a smile.

………………………….

You made it back to the lab with Mirio and the RFO gear, and met Hansu in your lab.

“Hi kids, have fun?” Hansu asked cheekily as he walked around the office setting things up.

“We got the gear.” You said proudly, “ready to dive.”

“Ohhh! You know the terms already?!” Mirio said with an impressed smile as he walked past you and handed the gear to Hansu then took a headset out for himself, “want to go in game?”

“Umm, ok?” You replied, slightly hesitant that you might come face to face with Goha the minute you entered.

Hansu felt your unease and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Goha isn’t on level one.” He said, “As I was about to head to the RFO headquarters they rang me and told me the RFO technics are working on poinpointing Goha’s location in game but it appears that your AI is hiding on a higher level.”

“Oh… ok thanks.” You said as you watched Mirio set out his gear.

“Ready when you are, Y/N.” The spritely hero said with a thumbs up.

You set your face with determination and walked over to one of the examination beds.

Hansu helped you up onto it and you lay down while he put the headset on you.

Don’t worry.” He said in a soft, reassuring voice as he patted your shoulder.

You gave him a weak smile in return.

Mirio hopped up on another exam table nearby and lay down, putting the headset on himself then settling back.

“You’ll need to set your character up first, Y/N.” He called across to you as Hansu attached leads to him to monitor his condition while in game.

“Ok.” You called back.

“And you need to say ‘link start’ to g—.”

Suddenly Mirio when quiet as his head gear whirred to life and he was transported inside the game.

Hansu laughed.

“He didn’t think that through very well did he?” He commented to you, “he said the start command and it took him in before he could finish his sentence.”

You forced another smile at Hansu.

“Would you stop worrying?” Your grey haired assistant said with an aggressive sigh, when he saw the look on your face, “I’m right here.” He added as he put leads on you, “I won’t let anything happen to you, ok?”

You nodded and looked up at the ceiling.

“LINK START!” You called loudly.

<<< Take Down Chapter 12: Literal Sunshine

Take Down Chapter 14: Level 53 >>>