Somewhere unknown...

Eri's POV

"Ri-chan! Ri-chan! Eri, wake up!"

My eyelashes fluttered open when I kept hearing someone calling for me panickally. I darted my crimson irises to a blur silhouette staring at me. I adjusted my blurry vision, eventually grasping a clear sight of the person. Turned out, it was Kouchan.

"Kouchan... What happen?" The question was the first thing came to my mind. I didn't remember the rest of the event after I passed out. I stared at my best friend. He inspected the surrounding with worried eyes. "I-I don't really know. We passed out suddenly. And the moment I woke up, we are already in this....unknown place."

Unknown place?

The realization hit my mind like a truck. I seated up myself and observed everything around us. We were no longer in the neighbourhood area. This was a completely different place we didn't recognize!

Oh no... Where are we?!

"Ri-chan, I think that ice-cream guy is a villain in disguise... We were tricked! Damn it!" Kouchan punched the ground furiously. The thought of the ice-cream seller made me shiver in fear. I rubbed my forearm, trying to calm myself down.

"...Ri-chan...." Kouchan pulled me into a tight hug. I gripped the back of his shirt, burying my face in his shoulder. I am scared. Terrified. Why things like this keep happening frequently lately?

Why villains can't let us be?

Third Person's POV

Kouta never planned to let Eri go until she really calmed down. He rubbed small circles on her back to comfort her. Eri crying right after she realized the situation was predictable. So he had prepared himself to appear strong and protective, to assure her they would be fine. He hoped this way would make her feel relief, even just a little bit.

"I will protect you with my life, I promise." Kouta whispered into her ear. Eri could sense the calmness in his voice. She was feeling slightly better than earlier.

"For now, we have to stay together and never get separated. Let's try to find our way out of this place." Upon untangling themselves from each other, the spiky hat-wearing boy mustered a small smile. The silvernette, still with tears in her Ruby eyes, nodded her head in agreement.

Kouta was about to speak up again when he spotted a black figure creeping up in an alleyway. The shadow of the future grew bigger as it approached them closer. Alerted, his smile dropped into a horrified expression.

"Kouchan?"

"Ri-chan, watch out!"

Kouta immediately shoved Eri out of the way with all his strength. She was hurled quite far from their current spot. Opening her eyes back, she was greeted with a gory view.

Kouta was bleeding badly.

There was a spike penetrating his stomach. Crimson liquid oozing out the moment the spike shattered into thousand pieces. Kouta coughed up blood and fell laying to the ground. Eri started shedding tears again. She rushed to the boy's side.

"Kouta! Kouta! Please answer me!"

Eri scooped his body into her arms shakily, eyes widened with extreme terror. Kouta weakly opened his eyes, half-lid, staring at her beautiful face. A weak smile tugged on his lip. "I...will...be fine... So don't cry... Eri..."
He assured.

"No... Don't say anything anymore! Hang in there! I will get help—"

"Help? Impossible... No one can help you, you little brat..."

A man chuckled deeply at Eri's statement that sounded funny to him. He came out of the alleyway, showing himself to the two children. The Rewind user gasped in bewilderment and surprise at him.

"W-who are you? What do you want from me?!"

"I want you... Dead."

His deep voice made Eri trembled in immense fear. Kouta continues to writhe in pain, barely clinging on life. He didn't know how long he would last. Hopefully, until hero came to save Eri...

"If you want me dead then why?! Why did you kill Kouta?! You can just kill me! Why get him involve in this?!"

Eri was furious and stressed out at this point. She glared dagger at the masked villain. His voice somehow sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember who it belonged to.

The adult man snickered at her response. "I was about to kill you. I was aiming for you but that foolish brat decided to protect you... Eri. Well, killing him won't change anything drastically. He would be dead anyway in the future." He shrugged his shoulders as if this was only a small matter.

Hearing his words, Eri shifted her attention back to Kouta. The blood wouldn't stop oozing out. He was getting paler as time passed. "No... No... Kouta...!!"

'Eri, use your Quirk! Please, please! You need to save him!!' Eri was arguing with herself. Using her Rewind had a dangerous risk. She could unintentionally Rewind him to nothing.

"... Come on... I will be fine. I won't leave you, I swear... E...ri...." His voice trailed off at the end. His eyes suddenly shut close, scaring Eri to death. The villain who attacked them smirked to himself. One hindrance down, he whispered.

"Kouta...?"

No answer.

"H-hey, don't do this to me..."

"Poor you. All alone again. Don't worry... You will see him soon too."

The villain walked nearer to the two children. Eri was too devastated to pay attention to him. She kept her gaze locked on her best friend, who seemed lifeless and motionless.

"Goodbye, you piece of trash."

The evil man mocked her before giant spikes charged toward them. Tears flowed down her face, falling on Kouta's cold face. She couldn't believe this truth. This couldn't be his fate. No,  no. She didn't want to believe...!

"KOUTAAAAA!!!!!!!"

Eri hugged Kouta's lifeless body close to hers, screaming hysterically from the top of her lungs. A ray of yellowish light was released from her horn, that suddenly grew bigger in such short time.

"What the, this power...!! No, stop this you little...!!!"

Before the villain could speak up more, the light surrounded the whole area, shining brightly in the midst of nowhere...

•••••

Meanwhile,
In the city...

Third Person's POV

KEN, Aiko and Ichiru darted their eyes to somewhere else. A massive amount of unknown light shone from somewhere far away from them. Seeing that light made them worried.

"What is that light...?" Ken asked in confusion. Aiko suddenly gasped. "That light is...!" She ran forward, observing the light at a much closer distance. "Aneki? What is wrong?" Ichiru was baffled by his big sister's action.

"You three! Hold onto me!"

A mysterious voice interrupted the siblings' serious conversation. The three of them all were pulled back and held by someone. Ken lifted his head up. He was flabbergasted to see the hooded person holding them tightly.

"Close your eyes!"

The person commanded solemnly. Not disobeying, the triplets from the future squeezed their eyes close, except for the hooded figure.

The yellowish light began to surround the whole city. The people walking around began to scream in fear.

'It has started...'

•••••

Back to Eri...

Eri continued to sob there, mourning for the loss of her best friend. her one and only friend that treated her like a human being. Why? Why people precious to her kept leaving her? First, her grandfather. Now, her childhood friend.

"K-Kouta..."

Eri hugged lifeless Kouta close to her body. Her tears wouldn't stop rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy from crying too much. Her condition was too heartbreaking.

"Please... Don't leave me..."

"....of course I won't leave you..."

Kouta's voice spoke up, spooking up Eri. Her eyes flew open. Kouta began to get up and seated up himself. Eri stared at him disbelief. "K-Kouta? Y-you are alive!"

"Yeah... That is a miracle... I thought I was dead--"

His sentence was cut off by Eri embracing him in relief. She cried her heart out. "I-I am glad!"

Kouta, who was still confused and bewildered, returned the hug. He looked around the area once again, and a sudden realization hit him.

"Hey...how long did I pass out?"

"H-huh? Not too long... Just a few minutes..."

"Then why is it morning right now?"

Eri untangled herself from Kouta. She looked up to the sky. The sun just started to rise!

"...w...what is happening...?"

"Eri, check this out!"

"W-what?"

Kouta showed to Eri his Deku theme watch. Eri stared at it, perplexed. "Look at the time!" He urged frantically. She did as she was told.

"Today is February 24... But on my watch said..." Kouta looked in her crimson eyes, letting her continued the rest of the words.

"..... February 23?"