Ryuu stared at the hand extended toward him in the dim light.
Violet eyes. The same shade as his own. The same eyes he saw every morning in the mirror, inherited from a father who'd vanished when he was nothing but a little kid...
But that man was dead. Or gone. Or had never cared enough to stay.
Except he was standing here now, in a villain facility, claiming to have sabotaged the entire structure, offering escape like it was something simple.
"No." The word came out harsh. Ryuu's newly freed hands clenched into fists. "No, you don't get to do this. You don't get to show up after years and act like..."
His voice cracked. Emotions flooded through him faster than he could process. His Resonance, freed from the suppressors, was going haywire. Amplifying his own feelings until he couldn't tell rage from relief, betrayal from desperate hope.
"You left us," Ryuu said, and tears were streaming down his face without permission. "Mom cried every night for a year. I spent my entire childhood thinking I wasn't good enough for you to stay. And now you're here, dressed like one of them, telling me to trust you?"
Kenji's expression didn't change, because he swallowed down the pain he was feeling looking at this son's current state.
"You're right," Kenji said quietly. "I don't deserve your trust. I don't deserve anything from you. But we have four hours and fifty-three minutes before this facility collapses, and I need to get you out before that happens."
"Why?" Ryuu demanded. "Why now? Why didn't you come to us years ago? Why not before The Collector captured me in the first place?"
"Because I couldn't hide you forever." Kenji lowered his hand when it became clear Ryuu wouldn't take it. "And when hiding failed, the only option left was extraction."
"That's not an answer!"
"It's the only answer we have time for right now." Kenji moved toward the cell door, checking something on his tablet. "The guards outside think I'm conducting a psychological assessment. We have maybe fifteen minutes before they get suspicious and check on us. When we move, we move fast."
Ryuu didn't move from his corner. His body was shaking, in adrenaline and confusion.
"How do I know this isn't a trick?" His voice came out smaller than intended. "How do I know The Collector didn't send you to manipulate me?"
Kenji turned back to face him fully. In the tablet's dim light, Ryuu could see more details now. The sandy blonde hair that had probably been brighter once, dyed to a forgettable shade. The lean build that matched Ryuu's own frame. The tired lines around eyes that looked like they hadn't slept properly in years.
"You don't," Kenji admitted stretching out his left hand. "You have no reason to believe me. But your Resonance is active now. You can feel what I'm feeling. So tell me, Ryuu. Does this feel like manipulation?"He didn't fight the connection. Let Ryuu's quirk sense everything without barriers.
And Ryuu hesitate a bit before taking Kenji's hand...and he felt it all.
The guilt that had lived in Kenji's chest, growing heavier every day. The constant fear that something would go wrong, that the organization would discover his son before he could prevent it.
The desperate love of a father who'd watched from a distance, never able to reach out, hating himself more with each passing year.
And underneath everything else, a bone-deep determination. No matter what it cost, no matter what he had to sacrifice, Ryuu was getting out of this facility alive.
"I..." Ryuu's voice failed him. "I don't understand."
"I know." Kenji's expression softened slightly. "And I'll explain everything once we're safe. But right now, I need you to make a choice. Come with me and live, or stay here and face whatever The Collector has planned when morning comes."
It wasn't really a choice at all.
Ryuu pushed himself up from the corner, chains that had bound him now lying useless on the floor. His legs were unsteady from hours of sitting, but he forced them to work.
"If you're lying..." he started.
"Then you'll have every right to hate me even more than you already do," Kenji finished. "But I'm not lying, Ryuu. I've done a lot of terrible things to maintain my cover in this organization. But lying to you right now isn't one of them."
Ryuu took a shaky breath. "What do we do?"
"First, we deal with the guards. Then we get to the data center and ensure everything I've planted there actually destroys their research. Then we run." Kenji pulled something from his coat. A jacket. He tossed it to Ryuu. "Put this on. You're in prison clothes. We need you to look like a captured operative being moved, not a prisoner."
Ryuu caught the jacket. It was too big, but it would work.
As he shrugged it on, Kenji continued. "When we exit this cell, I'll be escorting you. Keep your head down, don't make eye contact with anyone. If shooting starts, stay behind me. Your quirk is back but you're exhausted and malnourished. You won't last in a real fight."
"I can handle myself."
"Not against the kind of people The Collector employs." Kenji's voice was firm. "This isn't UA training exercises. These are killers who won't hesitate because you're a teenager."
The words stung, but Ryuu knew they were true. He'd barely survived the festival attack. A direct assault on a villain stronghold was beyond him right now.
"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll follow your lead."