Inko groaned as she rubbed at her head. Everything hurt, she looked down at herself only to frown as she couldn't really see all that well. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her cellphone and turned the screen on as she checked herself over quickly. She had a small cut on her ankle, it let out a dull throb of pain. She wasn't sure if she had sprained it, though now that she thought about it what happened?
Frowning a little, the young woman remembered that there was a villain attack. She had ran into a building to get away from the villain and from Toshinori- Eyes widening, she remembered that Toshinori rushed to her, but? "Toshinori?"
"Up here." His voice came to her, causing the green haired woman to look up and stare in shock. There stood Toshinori, his arms spread out as he held the ceiling up above her, sweat dripped down his forehead though he also looked like he was in some kind of pain. Slowly, her gaze fell to his leg as she saw a steel rod had gone through his calf, upon closer inspection she saw that his leg was trembling, as if he was putting a lot of strain on it. "Are you okay?" He asked, causing her green eyes to look back up into pools of blue.
Toshinori looked down at her, his teeth bared as his body was going through so much strain just to hold the roof above the two. Yet, seeing the concern in his eyes, Inko felt her own tears building up within her eyes. "Midoriya? Are you hurt?" He asked.
"Why?"
"Huh?" Toshinori frowned a little, letting out a grunt as he shifted his weight a little, only to hiss in pain. "Why what?" He asked, giving her a confused look on his face. It seemed that he didn't know what she was saying, though she couldn't blame her as she wasn't being specific to what she was trying to say.
"Why did you save me? Why did you try to protect me when you hate me?"
"Hate you? Midoriya, what reason would I have to hate you?" Toshinori said with a frown on his face.
"I dunno." She whispered, looking away with a frown on her face, before she looked up at the man. Tears still in her eyes. "Wasn't it because I tried to help you up after Gran Torino knocked you down?"
"No! That's normal, he always kicks my ass." Toshinori said with a small chuckle before hissing in pain. Inko gasped and checked her pockets for her handkerchief. Though it seems that she had forgotten it at home. "Check my pocket, can you also grab my cell for me and text a couple people." Toshinori said, causing Inko to blush a little. "My jacket pocket, I should also have a handkerchief in there if that's what you were looking for."
Inko nodded her head before reaching up and carefully slid her hand in his leather jacket's pocket, fishing around for a phone and cloth, only to frown as she only found the cloth. "Wait!" He shouted, only for Inko to pull it out and blinked in shock at the cloth. It was rather old, faded with age but still in good shape. It was decorated with sunflowers and bunnies, she knew this handkerchief. "Midoriya please wait!" Though she ignored him as she unraveled it and reached up to wipe at Toshinori's forehead, he grunted a little.
"Why do you have such a cute handkerchief? I remember having one like this when I was little but I gave it away… too… huh?" Inko frowned as she looked at the cloth and saw a name stitched into the corner. Tilting her head a little, the young woman looked down at the cloth and thought she would have seen Toshinori's name, but instead she saw… hers? "Huh?"
Looking up at the tall blonde, she just stared at him and saw a faint blush on his face. "I… I tried to thank you." Toshinori whispered, causing Inko to just stare at him in shock. "All of those incidents, the tripping, the food, those were failed attempts at trying to say 'thank you' for helping a small boy who believed that he was quirkless." Toshinori whispered, causing Inko to just keep staring at her. Toshinori looked away from her, seeming a little bashful.
"Toshinori?"
"I tried to go back, I tried to give it back to you. Yet, I never got that chance, never got the chance to say 'thank you' to you. I had to move away, my sister and I were forced away from our home but, that cloth made me keep hope within my heart of seeing you again so I could say six simple words to you."
"What are they?" Inko asked softly.
"Thank you, for being my hero."
Inko looked up at Toshinori as her tears finally spilled over her cheeks. "You don't hate me at all?" Inko said with a sniffle.
"Of course not, those were just really bad attempts at saying 'thank you'." Toshinori said with a sigh before grunting in pain. "Damn it." He grumbled.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, the heroes should be removing this soon, we'll know once we can see natural light instead from your phone-wait. Do you have Aizawa's number?"
"Yeah?"
"Text her, then grab my phone to get Hizashi to come and help."
Inko nodded and opened her messages and sent a text to Shouko. Telling her where she was and that she needed help. That she was trapped under a building with Toshinori before hitting send. After that, she grabbed his phone, which was in the other pocket and shot Hizashi a text, telling him the same thing that she had told Shouko. Though, Inko had no idea how long it would be until their friends arrived. Though she just hoped that Shouko would put aside her difference with Hizashi long enough to help the heroes to get the two out of there.
"Inko, may I ask something?" asked Toshinori.
"Sure."
"What were you doing before I came over to you?" asked the blonde with a frown on his face.
"I was on my way to see Shouko. We were gonna sit in the park and have snacks, just chatting really. I think she wanted to make plans on getting revenge for the things you did." Inko said with a frown.
"Great, she really was going to go on with her threat." Toshinori said with a sigh.
"Threat?"
"Yeah, she kinda made a threat to me when I broke your arm. By the way, I am so sorry about that. I never wanted to hurt you." Toshinori said with a sigh. Inko gave him a small smile, at least he was sorry but, one thing still bothered her about all of this. When they were children, he was quirkless, that much she knew for a fact but now he seemed to possess a quirk so how was it that he was able to do such a thing in the first place?
"How did you get a quirk anyway? You were quirkless when we were kids." Inko said with a frown on her face.
Blushing a little, he calmly said "Late bloomer I guess. Ever since that day though when you saved me… it made me want to be a hero. Didn't matter to me if I had a quirk or not, I wanted to help people. I wanted to be a hero to those in need, put a smile on their faces and be a pillar of support. A symbol of peace! That is my dream."
Inko couldn't help but smile a little at that. He had such an admirable dream yet, she only wanted to be a rescue hero. Looking down at her hands, the young woman calmly said "You know, that day you made me want to be a hero as well." Toshinori blinked at her as he tilted his head at her. Inko gave him a small smile as she started to explain herself. "Saving you, it made me feel happy to see just how helping those in need felt. Helping you made me happy to see that I could have made someone else happy."
Toshinori chuckled a little at that before shaking his head, only to hiss in pain. For a moment, Inko thought that it was from the weight, that he was about to cave in from all the weight that was building up on him. Toshinori grunted from pain and strain, which made her remember his leg. Looking down, she saw that the rod was still embedded in his leg, causing her to cover her mouth in shock. "I'm fine Midoriya, you don't have to worry about me. I'm trying to keep this off of you."
Inko frowned a little as she looked down at his leg, blood still oozed around the steel rod before she looked back up at the man. He just smiled down at her, sweat beaded down his forehead from the strain that he was putting his body through.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her handkerchief before reaching up and wiping his forehead. "Hold on Toshinori, I think I have something that could help make it a little easier…" Toshinori frowned a little at that, she just gave him a small smile before digging around in the basket. It seemed that he was a little confused as to what she was doing. Before he could even open his mouth, Inko pulled out a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap. "Think you can drink this?" asked Inko with a frown on her face.
"I can try." Toshinori said, Inko sat on her knees, unable to stand up properly though she had managed to get Toshinori to tilt his head back enough for him to drink some kind of water. He let out a soft sigh, feeling the cold refreshing water quenching his throat. "Thanks Midoriya."
Inko looked at Toshinori and frowned a little. He didn't seem to have a problem with her calling him by his first name so why does he refuse to call her by hers? It doesn't make any kind of sense to her unless it was because they still didn't know each other that well, even though he had tried for years to thank her for what she had done for him when they were children. "You okay?" He asked with a frown on his face.
"I'm fine, but… why don't you call me 'Inko'?" asked the green haired woman with a tilt of her head.
If it wasn't for the light on her phone, Inko would have missed the red tint to his cheeks as his blue eyes seemed to turn away from her. Did she somehow embarrass him? "Um… well, I thought that with how you first thought of me that um… it would be rather odd?" Toshinori said with a soft voice, it almost made her have to lean closer to him just to know what it was that he had said. "So, I thought it was proper to call you by your surname instead." Inko smiled a little before reaching up and placing her hand on his cheek as she giggled at the flustered look on his face. It was a little cute to see such a large man like this be so easily embarrassed.
"I have no trouble with you calling me Inko." She said softly before removing her hand. Why did she hear a small whine from him when she did that? Tilting her head a little, Inko wondered if he was even going to call her by her name. Maybe that was a little too soon for him as she had just learned that everything he had been trying to do was nothing more than a huge misunderstanding.
"Okay… Inko." Toshinori said, his face's red tint growing darker as he spoke her name. Why did her heart beat so quickly?
Just as she was about to speak his name, Inko swore that she felt the ground starting to shake and tremble. "Huh?"
"I think that's Hizashi's quirk."
"He can make the ground shake?"
"No, his quirk is voice. I'm amazed it can work since it can't travel through the ground."
"We're not underground Toshinori. There are still gaps that would allow us to breathe and have some kind of light just not enough of the light to see." Inko said with a giggle.
"True, so true."
"Yo! Toshi!" shouted Hizashi, Inko smiled a little hearing his voice.
"Down here Hizashi!" Shouted Toshinori, Inko couldn't help but look up at the tall blonde above her. IT seemed that it was starting to wear him down now. He was struggling to keep the ceiling off of her. "Hurry!" Shouted the blonde, he was struggling now, she could see his body trembling from the strain and it had her fearful for the blonde. If he couldn't keep it up any longer he'll get crushed!
"Hold on Toshi! Yo, is Inko down there too? Shouko is here!"
"I'm here!" Inko shouted.
"Hizashi hurry the fuck up damn it! This is getting heavier and heavier!" Toshinori said, his leg starting to give out on him as he soon bent down to one knee. Inko reached up and placed her hands on the blonde's cheeks, causing him to look down at him. "Inko?" He whispered softly, his voice filled with the strain his body was going through.
"Just hold on a little longer Toshinori, I believe in you." Inko said with a smile on her face. She felt the warmth under her hands as he looked down at her. Toshinori's eyes narrowed as he nodded to her. Grunting, he planted his foot back on the ground as he pushed the rubble higher off of them, his body almost seemed to glow for some reason. Inko wasn't sure what it was, but she almost felt his power radiating off of him.
Soon, she saw that his usual muscular body seemed to bulge, growing twice the size. His two long locks went from limp hair strands at the sides of his head to sweeping up into a V at his forehead, as for the rest of his hair almost looked like it had been gelled back in a professional way. His eyes darkened around his blue irises as he pushed himself to stand on his feet.
"Toshinori?" Inko whispered in shock and awe.
"Hold on, I have an idea. Wished I used it sooner but I wasn't sure if my leg would be able to support my transformation." Toshinori said, causing Inko to frown a little. "With my body's growth, I could have made the injury stretch itself, making it worse. But, I had to take that risk to do this Inko, heroes are always risking their lives!" He then held the roof above his head with one massive arm as he looked down at Inko. His bright blue eyes looking down at her as if telling her to hurry and grab onto him.
Nodding quickly, Inko latched onto Toshinori's leg as tightly as she could. "Ready? There will be a lot of air in here so take a deep breath on the count of three." Toshinori said, causing her to nod her head against his leg as she buried her face against the fabric of his jeans. "One, two, three! Detroit Smash!" Toshinori shouted, using his one hand to smash at the ground blow them.
Inko was so grateful that she had taken a deep breath when she did, as when Toshinori threw his fist at the ground, all the concrete remains of the building blew upward in a spiraling tornado. She couldn't help but notice that her own body was starting to lift off of the ground as the wind started to increase in power. Toshinori quickly grabbed onto her as he pulled her close to his chest and wrapped his arms around her in the hopes of keeping her safe.
God, it was so hard to hold her breath like this. She felt like if she tried to breathe with this wind pressure flying past them that it would only rob her of that breath. "Hold on!" Toshinori shouted over the wind, though she could hear faint traces of pain etching itself in his voice. Inko couldn't help but look up at the blonde man as he tightened his hold over her. "Close your eyes and keep your mouth shut Inko." He ordered. Inko nodded against his chest, tightly shutting her eyes and keeping her mouth closed. God, it felt as if all of the wind was biting at her skin, trying to tear her apart with the force of the air as it circled around the two of them.
Inko no longer felt the ground beneath her feet, had Toshinori jumped into the air once there was nothing else keeping them trapped. She couldn't believe that Toshinori had this much power within him. How could he possess so much power pent up within his body? Was that why he could change forms? Because his body wasn't able to contain such power that it had to shift in order to do so? She had no idea, but it was the only thing that made sense to her right now.
Soon, Inko found herself touching the ground once again. Feeling Toshinori's body shrinking in her grip before she found both of them on the ground. Toshinori's leg must have given out and bleeding far more than before. Opening her eyes, the young woman saw that the blonde's skin was a little pale, blood starting to pool around his leg as he tried to get back up. "Toshinori!" shouted a voice, causing Inko to look up in time to see Hizashi and Shouko rushing toward them. "Oh god, I didn't think you'd do that!" shouted Hizashi.
"Had too… I figured that the heroes would have kept everyone at bay. Then of course, knowing you, you would have heard me when I shouted my attack name to get everyone out." Toshinori said, starting to mumble under his breath about the calculations of how much time would be needed to get the heroes away from the buildings remains, and of course to make sure that everyone had taken cover. Though he wasn't sure if he had given all the heroes or even his own friend enough time to get away before he had used his attack.
He didn't stop his mumbling until Inko slapped him upside the head, causing him to yelp in shock and look over at the green haired woman with a frown. "What was that for?" He asked with a frown.
"You're mumbling and it's creepier than when I do it. So please stop." Inko said with a bland stare.
"Inko are you okay?" asked Shouko as she rushed to her friend.
"I'm fine, but we need to get Toshinori to a doctor. He's bleeding badly." Inko said with concern before holding up her phone and seeing that it was dead. Or the battery was knocked out from Toshinori's attack in order to get themselves out. Either way, she hoped that Shouko or even Hizashi had their phones fully charged in order to get Toshinori to the hospital.
"There's an ambulance there. They must have called it when they had heard there being people trapped in the building. Though it seems that the building itself was abandoned." Inko wanted to slap herself for that, of course of all the buildings that she had to run into, it had to be an abandoned one? There would have been a chance that no one would have known that they were trapped in there. Who knows how long they would have been stuck in there…
"Come on Inko, let's get this big blonde idiot to the ambulance." Shouko mumbled as she went to help Toshinori to the vehicle in waiting.
Inko shook her head. "If we move him we could make the wound worse than it already is. You and Hizashi go and get them to come and get Toshinori. I'll stay with him to keep an eye on him." Inko smiled, giving Toshinori a happy smile which only made him smile softly at her in return.
"Alright, we'll be right back. Come on Shouko." Hizashi said, dragging the complaining raven haired woman away.
"One of these days he's gonna have to tell her that he likes her." Inko said with a laugh.
"I don't know if he ever will." Toshinori whispered before trying to get up, only to freeze as he saw Inko glaring at him. "What?"
"Don't you dare move. You'll only make it worse, if I see you trying to move so help me I will make you stay on the ground do you understand me?!" Inko threatened as she narrowed her green eyes into slits. In fact, one would almost swear that her eyes glowed a dark pink before returning to their natural green. Toshinori just gave a nervous laugh as he looked away.
Things were going to be interesting from here on out, he was sure of that. As was Inko as she sat with the blonde, waiting for their friends to come back with help.
just a heads up, my step dad isn't doing so well right now, it's getting to the point that he is now at stage 4 cancer and we're going to lose him. I don't know when we'll lose him, but when that day comes I may not post for a while because of well, everything. Such as the furenal, the grieving and of course I'll be helping mom find a new house as I'll be living with her but of course with my own space in the basement. So, when it comes I may not even post anything for a while, let alone writing or even posting the chapters that I have already written up as I just wouldn't have the emotional/mental energy to even post anything... so when I don't post I am sorry to all my readers...