I just want to thank everyone for reading my story, and for your kind and wonderful comments!
"You took everything from me Midoriya!"
The girls breath was hot, Midoriya could feel its heat as it rolled over his face. It had a metallic tang. It tasted like hatred.
He could barely breathe. The edges of his vision were fading to black as her fingers pressed into his neck, her nails breaking his skin, wisps of steam rising from where his blood met the snow.
Midoriya thought the guilt of Makan's death was behind him. He had tried so hard to believe that it wasn't his fault.
But he knew that it was.
Tears burned the edges of his eyes, running over his cold cheeks. "I'm sorry," he choked out. All the emotion he had suppressed, all of his shame and guilt was tumbling from him now, bubbling up from where he had buried it.
The girl laughed sharply. "Sorry? That's all you can say?!" She squeezed harder, roaring into his face.
Midoriya's survival instincts finally flared to life, triggered by her new snap of aggression. He brought his fist to bear, slamming it into her face, sending her flying into the underbrush.
Midoriya sputtered and sucked in a breath, coughing as his vision cleared. Trying to focus, he rolled on his side, looking for the girl in the snow. He knew had hit her hard, but with only five percent of One for All. She should be okay. He hoped so badly she wasn't hurt.
"Please," Midoriya coughed again, "I'm sorry."
After the incident at the fire, Midoriya had asked to speak to Makan's family. He had been told by the authorities that there was none.
But there had been someone, there was someone who cared about him. They were here in front of him. He had to try. He had to beg their forgiveness.
He spotted her curled beside a tree. Pulling himself forward, his guilty tears blurred his vision again and he wiped them away with the cold sleeve of his jacket.
"I didn't mean for anything to happen," he croaked as he crawled towards her. "Please I'm so sorry I hurt you. That I hurt him."
Midoriya's breath was coming in ragged sobs now, struggling to say words of any sort of apology that would ease his mistake. "I know you're angry. I deserve it." He laid his hand on her back, "Please," he begged as his tears melted the snow, "Tell me what I can do."
Under Midoriya's hand, the girl stirred. But there was something unnatural, so very wrong about the crawling sensation under his hand. Midoriya recoiled, his jaw slackening in horror as the girl got to her feet. Even under the heavy winter clothes he could see her muscles deforming and swelling, beginning to tear the fabric at the seams.
Her eyes bored into his, staring into him even as the skin of her face stretched and flexed. "If you're truly sorry Midoriya..."
She stepped towards the boy, who knelt on the ground, frozen with guilt and grief. She chuckled, the sound deforming in her mutated vocal chords.
"Then die quietly," she hissed.
Her arms shot towards Midoriya faster then he could react in his clouded state. She hit his legs first, snapping them instantly. Before Midoriya could even take a breath to scream, she moved to his arms, breaking them just as quickly.
Midoriya could barely see. He felt sick, and his vision swam and his body tried to make sense of the assault. He couldn't control his breathing, and his chest hurt from hyperventilating. Unable to support himself he collapsed, the snow stinging his cheek as it slammed into the ground.
The monster leaned down to him, the remnants of the girls mouth twisted into a mockery of a smile.
"You won't die a hero Midoriya," she whispered, her garbled words hard to understand, "But then again, you don't deserve to anyway."
Toshinori tore down the path.
He was an idiot.
An idiot!
He had just spoken to Tsukauchi. The detective had been right, it was too neat of a case. But Toshinori hadn't heeded the warning and he had allowed Midoriya to come out to the middle of nowhere.
Where there was no one to protect him.
"Shit," he spat, taking a corner hard. He could see the break in the trees now, and he raced toward it even though his legs burned. His lungs were screaming, growing raw as his heavy breath drew the freezing air deep into his chest.
He broke into the clearing at breakneck speed, his gaze snapping to the monster. Almost as tall as him, but three times as bulky, it was hard to miss. It was hunched, looking over a body. A mop of curly hair, barely visible in the bushes.
His foot crunched in the snow.
Please.
Toshinori threw himself forward, time slowing as he tore across the clearing.
I know you aren't mine anymore...
He gritted his teeth, balled his right hand into a fist.
But please. Just one more time...
He leapt at the monster.
Burn for me.
He cried out, and the monster paused, it's meaty fist inches from the boy's head. It turned its gaze upward and met Toshinori's eyes as he soared towards it.
One for All!
For a single shining moment, the long dormant quirk ignited, burning like star fire, lending Toshinori the strength of All Might just one more time.
For one more punch.
"Texas Smash!"
Toshinori's fist slammed into the monster, sending it crashing into tree line. The shock wave radiated through the entire clearing, throwing up a shower of snow and dirt.
Toshinori stood as All Might again, the tattered clothes hanging on his body by threads. But the quirk has nothing left to give and the hero dissipated in a cloud of smoke, coughing and spitting blood across the white.
Toshinori rushed to Midoriya, praying he had arrived quick enough. "Young Midoriya!" He picked up the boy in his arms, "Izuku!"
The boy lifted his head, looking up at Toshinori weakly. "Yagi?" Midoriya's voice was quavering, his eyes unbelieving that his hero had actually come to his rescue again.
Toshinori laughed in relief, cradling the boys head gently. "I've got you now," he whispered, "I'm here Izuku."
"Yagi..." Midoriya stammered, his eyes full of fear. "No! Yagi you have to run!"
"Not without you..." Toshinori trailed off as his eyes scanned the boy's form. His heart collapsed. He was almost certain all of Midoriya's limbs were broken.
Midoriya stirred in Toshinori's arms, "Please," the boy begged, his voice high pitched and tense, "Yagi put me down! You have to get away!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Toshinori spat. Using the last of his strength Toshinori pushed himself to his feet, balancing Midoriya on his shoulder. He gasped for breath as he struggled to stay upright. The boy was almost pure muscle now and heavy as hell.
Toshinori lurched forward, his feet sliding in the snow. He could see the path in the distance, and no doubt the heroes would be here soon.
He just had to make it.
Midoriya squirmed, trying to break free of Toshinori's hold. "Yagi you don't understand!" He begged, "It's her quirk!"
"Stop moving or I'll drop you!" Toshinori snapped, but the panic in the boy's voice made him worry.
"It's some kind of kinetic absorption, but she stores it in her body!" Midoriya wept, "She just wants me! Please." Toshinori could feel the boy shake as he cried, "Go get my mom and get out of here!"
Fear, colder than the snow, snaked its way up Toshinori's spine. The full realization of how much he had erred overwhelmed his senses, and the edges of his vision blurred with the sickening twists of his stomach.
Behind him, the sound of cracking branches and shattering ground echoed through the frozen air. Toshinori slowly looked over his shoulder, fear almost making him pass out as he saw what was emerging from the destruction.
It was a moving mountain of flesh. It's deathly white skin twisted and bubbled, reforming as it strode forward. It was over fifteen feet tall now, over twice the size it had been before, moving with a singular purpose of death.
Toshinori didn't take another moment to indulge his fear. He spun on his heels, adrenaline pushing him to the path.
But the older man was no match for the monsters speed. With its enormous strides it crossed the clearing in a fraction of the time, its thunderous steps warning Toshinori that it was gaining.
As it drew within striking distance it raised it arms, grinning wickedly before slamming them upon its target.
The hero's instincts Toshinori carried were still sharp, and he managed to throw himself and Midoriya to the side. Their faces stinging as dirt and snow were thrown by the violence of the impact.
Toshinori did his best to shield Midoriya from the fall. As he hit the dirt he tried to roll away instinctively, but white hot pain took over his vision, and he gasped for air.
The monster slowly stood, lifting its hands away from the crater. Toshinori could see his foot resting just inside the hole. He did his best to move it, but it was dead inside his boot. There would be no running now.
Toshinori felt pressure on his shoulder and he glanced down. Midoriya was pushing him away with his head, tears on his cheeks.
"Go," Midoriya whimpered, doing his best to sound angry. "Get away Yagi!"
Toshinori sighed, heavy with his failure. He hadn't kept Izuku safe.
He pulled the boy close, winding his arms around him. The memories of all their times they had together. The boys unabashed smile when he gazed upon his hero. How proud Izuku's growth had made him. They were some of the happiest times of his life.
"You know I can't do that Izuku..." he whispered with a chuckle as his eyes brimmed with tears.
Midoriya laughed too, burying his face in Toshinori's chest. "I know..." he said quietly, "I'm sorry Yagi."
Hachiko hadn't expected All Might of all things. Then again, how could she have? The man had been retired for a year.
She tried to shake off the fuzziness on the edges of her consciousness. The punch had rattled her to her core. Even through her monstrous shield, she could feel the spiderwebbing cracks in her skull, and the sections that would explode once her energy was expended.
It was over, after this she was dead.
She looked over the two forms sprawled out on the snow before her. Even now All Might has his form wrapped around the boy, pathetically attempting to shield him.
It had to be now. Her head was already starting to pound and she could feel the shards of bone wiggling through her flesh.
She chuckled as she reached for them. Maybe she would go down in history as the one who killed All Might.
The shriek that tore through the sky was something Toshinori had never heard. An unnatural mix of human and feral pain. It resonated in his skull and he covered Izuku's ears, trying to protect the boy from a sound that shook their teeth.
Toshinori rose to his elbow, trying to comprehend the situation. He had seen the creature reaching for them, then closed his eyes as he resigned himself that he and Izuku were dead.
He gasped. Standing between them and the monster, was Kenko.
She was striped to her underwear from the waste up, pressing her body to the monsters leg. Toshinori could see the familiar glow of her quirk, but this time it was different. Glowing threads of life force rushed from different parts of the monster, moving into Kenko's body. The movement of the treads was painful to watch, as if Kenko's quirk was forcibly ripping them from an unwilling grasp.
The monsters spasms became more violent and Kenko was thrown away, losing her grip and barely maintaining her balance. She worriedly glanced at the monster, abandoning it as it continued to writhe on the ground.
"Toshinori!" Kenko called, dropping to her knees as she reached them. "Oh god Izuku! Are you alright?"
Toshinori had never been so happy to see anyone in his life. He gripped Kenko's arm, "No. Izuku is hurt badly. He can't fight, he can't move."
Kenko nodded and glanced over her shoulder. Already the monster was beginning to recover, it's spasms calming. "We need to go," Kenko swallowed hard and looked over Izuku, "Can you carry him Toshinori?"
He shook his head. "No my foot is broken," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not going anywhere."
He squeezed Kenko's arm, meeting her eyes, pleading with every ounce of his being. "You need to take Izuku and get in out of here." He glared at the monster, who was now attempting to stand. He nodded towards it, his face resolute and resigned. "I'll do what I can to distract it."
Midoriya shook his head fiercely, "No Sakurai! She just wants me. If you take me she will just follow us back to Shioto and my mom!"
"Shut up Izuku," Toshinori snapped. He pulled Kenko closer, resting his hand on her face and touching his forehead to hers. "Please." Toshinori gave his best smile, trying to comfort the tears welling up in the eyes of the woman he loved. "You have to Kenko. Take Izuku and run."
Kenko searched his gaze, and Toshinori could see her wrestling wth herself. As the monster finally stood, shaking to its feet, her expression calmed and she pulled herself from Toshinori's arms.
"Kenko?" Toshinori tried to pull her back but she had already gone to far from him. She was stepping back slowly, not taking her eyes of Toshinori and Izuku. Tears were still running down her cheeks, and her steps were made against an unseen obstacle, as if she had to put all her effort into each one.
Panic settling in Toshinori's chest, "Kenko? What are you doing?"
"Inko phoned the police," Kenko said, just loud enough for him to hear. The monster was turning now, it's eyes falling upon the new attacker.
"Kenko don't be stupid!" Toshinori bellowed. He reached for her again, fruitlessly extending his hand for her to take. "You need to get out of here!"
Kenko paused, tears of terror still falling from her eyes. She took a slow, ragged breath. "Inko said the heroes were only five minutes away."
"Kenko," Toshinori hissed, "No!"
Kenko smiled then, but her body betrayed her fear as she shook from head to toe. "I just have to last five minutes."
"No!" Toshinori cried out as Kenko ran to the creature.
Hachiko's world was imploding.
It was wrong.
So wrong!
Like a needle scraping against the bone. An unholy hand in her brain, tearing into her very essences and ripping them from her.
Why was this happening?!
She had searched everywhere, in every possible file she could find. No where said this woman had this power.
Her head was spinning. She was starting to feel the individual cracks in her skull. Each one a tempest of pain.
She focused on Midoriya.
He had to die.
The monster launched itself at the boy with a wail, but Kenko cut it off, pressing herself to the monsters leg. The skin between them glowing fiercely as she tore tooth and nail at its life force. With a roar the monster tried swat her away, but Kenko saw it coming and threw herself to the side just in time.
Toshinori watched helplessly as Kenko dodged in and out of the monsters blows. The creature swung wildly, the pain of Kenko's power keeping it off balance. And Kenko was agile, her training in dance allowing her to predict and avoid the monstrous blows. Each time they touched, she would drain the monster and Toshinori could see it's flesh redistributing it's mass to maintain its shape. Each time seeming a little smaller.
It was shrinking. She was making ground.
But Kenko was no fighter, and each strike was only a near miss. She stuck herself to the monsters leg again and it bellowed in pain, sending a fist down at her. She leapt away, making it miss.
And leapt straight into the monsters other hand.
"Kenko!" Toshinori screamed.
The monster had Kenko by the arm, and she threw her body into it's massive fist, trying to draw out as much life force as possible. But the monster pushed through the pain enough to hold itself up. And began to squeeze.
The sickening crack of bone and Kenko's scream of pain were too much and Toshinori pushed his face into the snow, trying to block it out. He slammed the earth with his fist, trying to draw out the power of One for All again. But there was no response. The quirk stayed quiet. He raised his eyes just in time to see the monster lift Kenko above its head.
And slammed her into the ground.
Toshinori roared as Kenko's body went limp, letting himself collapse into the snow. He felt useless again. Laying here, with his broken foot and empty quirk, what could he do?
Beside him Toshinori heard Midoriya begin to cry, apologizing over and over. Toshinori gripping handfuls of snow in his fists.
He still had to try.
He turned to Midoriya, hooked the boy under the arms and began crawling towards the path. His fingers were already frozen, and each time he dragged himself forward icy fire would attack his senses. But he kept going.
He would not give up.
That woman.
That damn woman!
Hachiko didn't have time for this! She could taste blood now and she was now having to use her precious energy to keep herself conscious. She was running out of time.
The woman wasn't moving in the crater of her impact, her arm holding the shape of Hachiko's fist like an imprint.
Satisfied her quarry was down, Hachiko lurched to the others. Her eyes searched until she saw them a few feet from where she had left them. All Might was pathetically still trying to drag the boy away.
Rage fuelled Hachiko, pushing away the agony. It formed like a spear, guiding her forward.
She brought up her fist.
Toshinori heard the monsters thunderous steps by he refused to look back. He kept pulling ahead, leaving a trail of blood that dripped from his mouth with every breath. He heard the steps stop, no doubt as the monster raised its hand for the kill.
But the blow never came and as another roar of pain reached the sky, hope rose in Toshinori's heart. He chanced a look behind him.
The monster was writhing on the ground, one hand out, reaching for Midoriya. But standing resolute, holding the monsters other fist to her chest, was Kenko.
She roaring at the monster, in anger, fear, pain, Toshinori wasn't sure what. He wasn't even sure how she was standing. He could see the blood running down her back and her mutilated arm hung limply at her side. Yet whenever the monster struggled she shoved it down, forcing it to submit.
She placed her foot on the monster head, pushing it into the snow. "I won't let you touch them!" she bellowed.
The monster tried to throw Kenko off and she stumbled back a step, her foot landing beside Toshinori. But she did not relent and he could see her double down, drawing at the life force with even more ferocity.
The monster was growing weaker.
Kenko was winning.
No...
No.
NO!
Hachiko looked up at the woman
You...
You can't take this from me!
She balled her hand into a fist.
Fine if this is how it has to be.
You'll die first
It was subtle at first, and Toshinori almost thought he was seeing things. All over Kenko's body, she had begun to glow, as life force seeped into every one of her cells.
His eyes snapped to the monster. It was no longer shrinking as fast as before. He could see most of the mass shifting and moving, concentrating itself into the monsters free hand.
He looked back to Kenko, her teeth gritted in pain, and he realized,
She had hit her limit.
Across Kenko's cheek, a spot began to glow brightly, before her skin burst open. Blood began to pour down her face, but there was something else. A golden, glowing mist wafted from the wound, dissipating into the air. As Toshinori watched, more and more spots began to glow, ripping apart and spewing forth the overwhelming life force.
Kenko was literally coming apart at the seams.
Something about the glow stirred Toshinori's memories. For a moment, in his minds eye, he was back in Okinawa. Kenko stood before him, radiant and happy.
"It isn't being a sword or shield Toshinori."
He reached out, curled his fingers around Kenko's shattered arm.
"It's about walking through the fire together. Even if you burn up."
Toshinorisqueezedherhand
"You burn together."
With a fresh fired determination, Toshinori took a deep breath and cried out, "Kenko!"
The shockwave of the transfer boomed through the air, almost blowing Toshinori back, sending up fogs of dust and snow. The intense hit of life force stuttering his breath. His eyesight sharpened and his weary body focused everything on supporting Kenko.
But there was too much, and Toshinori winced when his own skin began to give way. The glowing spots bursting and staining what little was left of his clothes a dark crimson.
With an unholy wail, the face of a young woman emerged from the monster, as all the mutations concentrated into her body. She abandoned reaching for Midoriya, striking Kenko hard in the face as desperation and fear replaced her rage.
The blow snapped Kenko's neck back unnaturally, her head lolling forward after the hit, but her grip did not falter. Toshinori saw her squeeze he monster arm tighter.
But it wasn't enough. The monster, the girl, still had enough power to strike Kenko over and over, and even though she was still standing firm, Kenko could not last the onslaught much longer. Already blood was spraying over the snow and flowing down Kenkos torso like a waterfall, her legs shaking and threatening to buckle at any moment. She wasn't draining fast enough.
"Yagi."
Toshinori looked down at the gentle voice. Despite being broken, Midoriya had managed to lift his arm. He was reaching for Kenko.
"Help me," he whispered weakly.
Without hesitation Toshinori dragged the boy up, sitting him in his lap. And as Midoriya cried out in pain Toshinori pressing the boys hand to Kenko's with a final shout of defiance. Defiance against death. Defiance against anything that would rip him, and his family, apart.
The intensity of the shockwave tore its way through the clearing, blowing out the snow, leaving nothing but dark earth. Branches snapped and were thrown up, smashing into the forest with the cacophonous boom of the shaking ground.
And then, all was quiet. Toshinori did his best to catch his breath before looking to Kenko.
His heart sank.
She was still standing, but Toshinori could not see her face, so covered in blood and matted with her own hair. It dropped from her body, and already and large pool of blood was under her feet. Hooked in her elbow, was a young woman, pale as the snow.
The monster, the girl, was dead. Her lifeless eyes staring into Toshinori, blood dripping from her eyes and ears, face locked in a last expression of sorrowful agony.
Toshinori squeezed Kenko's hand. "Kenko..?" He whispered.
She collapsed then, falling into the dirt. Toshinori cried out, unable to stop her fall. She lay like a broken doll, intertwined with the monster she had beaten.
"Yagi check on her!" Midoriya whimpered, "Oh god is she alive?"
Toshinori lay the boy down and dragged himself to Kenko. His hands hovered over her unable to accept her shattered body. Delicately he lifted her head, pulling away the hair that stuck to her face, adhered to her skin by blood.
She was destroyed, her face obliterated by the onslaught. Toshinori couldnt speak, and each breath shook in his chest. Her forehead was cracked open, her face so swollen he couldn't see her eyes. Her nose was broken and crooked, barely recognizable and Kenko Sakurai. Toshinori whimpered and held her close.
And felt her breath.
He looked down. Golden wisps of mist floated from her mouth with each breath.
She was full of life force.
She still had a chance.
"They're over here!"
Toshinori looked it the tree line, where the heroes Gunhead and Aizawa were running towards them.
For some reason Toshinori looked at his watch.
It had been about five minutes.