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Eri stumbled to a stop, blinking. She had almost reached the shoplifter—her hand had caught a fistfull of his shirt before he turned and shoved her—but now he was nowhere to be seen.
The street was the same, but where there had been a small crowd gathering and scattering around the evolving crime scene, now there was no one. The sunny day had gone cloudy, but the once-faded store signs were suddenly vibrant, even in the dim light. Had she gone crazy? Maybe these were the kinds of hallucinations Hitoshi had said would happen if she did not sleep enough. Rubbing at her forehead, she thought back over the last couple of nights. No, she had been going to bed on time.
Lost in thought, she did not register the approaching footfalls until too late. Something small and warm shot out of a nearby alley and slammed into her side. She tottered, but kept her footing. Her family life had prepared her for all forms of surprise attacks.
"I'm sorry!" the child blubbered. He had fallen back after hitting her. Now he sat on the ground, elbow braced against the concrete, staring up through thick curls. "I didn't see you!"
"That's alright!" Eri said, kneeling on the sidewalk beside him. "I didn't see you either. Are you alright?"
The boy nodded, slowly pushing himself to his feet. His knees were scraped.
"You hit the ground pretty hard," Eri said, "You must have been going really fast! What's your name?"
"I'm, um," he stuttered, drawing his arms together, "I can't talk to strangers."
Eri shrugged, pushed off the ground and stood up beside him. "That's smart. I'll leave you alone then. Can you get home by yourself? Are your parents— "
"There!" someone shouted. Eri turned to see three more boys rounding the corner of the alley, running up to the sidewalk where the two of them stood.
"I should go," the first child said. He stepped backward, but he was watching the newcomers, uncertain.
"Why were you running?" It was one of the three children, a boy with pale and wild hair. He had shouted, he had pointed. "Did you think you were faster than us—Deku?"
Eri felt the world go still. There was no noise in the background, no faint rustle of wind. No one had time to react, least of all herself. One moment she was standing innocuously at the edge of an alley, comprehension dawning, the next she had snatched Deku into her arms and was running down the street as fast as she could.
Shouts formed behind her, footsteps beating out a pursuit. It did not matter. Eri knew she would be faster than them. She could be faster than anything right now.
Deku squirmed suddenly in her grip and she dropped him. He landed on his feet, turned to make a run for it, but she spun and caught his arm. They stared at each other, shocked to stillness.
"Let go of me," Deku whispered. Now that she was really looking, she could see other marks, other tears in his clothes. It could not all have come from the fall he had taken.
Behind them, she heard the familiar pop of Kacchan's explosions. It was a smaller noise than she had grown to expect. She had never heard the details, but she knew there was some kind of history between him and Deku. It was too easy now to fill in the gaps. There was too much here that she understood.
"I want to save you," Eri said. She hated how raw her voice sounded. "I'm not a stranger. I promise that I—"
Deku twisted his arm, and it came out of her grip. She darted forward, made to grab him again, but her fingers found no purchase. They were intangible—what was happening to her?
Kacchan caught up to them, grabbed Deku's shoulder and yanked him back. "Leave us alone!"
"I know you!" Eri shouted, "Deku, I'll find you when—"
They were gone.
Eri stumbled forwards, blinking. Around her, civilians gathered, pointing towards the escaping shoplifter. He ran on, several yards in the opposite direction from her. He must have activated his quirk on her when she reached him before. Now she would never reach him in time.
Sinking to her knees, Eri cupped her face in her hands and cried.