"Pity you missed out on the hot springs, Midoriya." Kaminari laughed, as he tried to dry his hair with his towel, "It was really nice and warm. You would have liked it."
Midoriya was also trying to rub the water out of his hair. He had taken a cold shower, and he could feel the chill seeping into his bones, washing the tiredness away.
Something was definitely wrong. He had to keep his guard up. He couldn't afford to be distracted.
He remained quiet, listening to the aimless chatter of his classmates as they arranged their futons. Midoriya waited as his classmates argued over who took which spot, until there was only one futon left available.
It happened to be right next to the window, the one spot that no one wanted to take due to the wind that came in.
Midoriya didn't mind too much. He wanted the spot by the window anyways.
He laid down on his futon, trying to calm his beating heart and slow his breathing. The lights were switched off, and the chattering slowly died down into silence. He waited for the last of his peers to fall asleep before he creeped out of the window, Reiko in his hood and Ryuto on his shoulder. He made his way to the edge of the cliff, before climbing up a tree.
From his vantage point, he could see all that land that was the Pussycats' territory. He pulled out his notebook, and began to sketch.
Something was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon.
He needed to be as prepared as possible, and in order to do so, he had to know his surroundings inside out.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we will begin the training camp to increase your strength in earnest. The goal in this training camp is to increase everyone's strength, and with that, for everyone to obtain their provisional licenses. It is to prepare all of you to face threats that are becoming more real by the minute. Proceed carefully." Aizawa ordered.
He kept a close eye on Midoriya. Midoriya had been up long before the others had woken up. Aizawa had found him in the common room at four in the morning with a cup of coffee, scribbling in his notebook. Ryuto and Reiko had been curled up in his lap, sleeping.
His eye bags even more prominent than usual, and Aizawa wasn't even sure that the boy had slept.
And once again, the boy had barely eaten anything for breakfast; he just had some reheated leftover rice from the previous night, and the only reason it was hot was because Aizawa insisted he do so in case of insects and bacteria.
Aizawa and Kan quickly told the students how they were supposed to train their quirks, before turning their attention to Midoriya.
"Midoriya, you don't have a quirk, so here's what you're going to do." Aizawa started, as 1-A and 1-B watched on curiously, "I want you to explore. Every nook and cranny about this place. That should help with your analysis skills. If you can, make a map of the area as well."
Midoriya merely fished his notebook out of his pocket, flipping a few pages, before presenting it to Aizawa.
Aizawa blinked. In his hands, was a complete, hand drawn map of the Pussycat's territory, with details like the stream all in place, as well as a legend.
He mentally facepalmed.
"Alright, then, can you analyse the Pussycats' quirks? They will be working with the students, so you can -"
Aizawa was cut off as Midoriya flipped a few more pages, revealing twenty full pages of notes about the Wild Wild Pussycats as a whole, their individual quirks, personalities, as well as pros and cons.
Shiretoko doubled over in laughter, "The pup's prepared, got to hand it to him!"
The students were also laughing as Aizawa attempted to find something for Midoriya to do.
"Well... since we'll be busy managing forty students, he can help take care of Kota." Sosaki suggested, and the black haired boy snapped, "I don't need a baby sitter!"
Midoriya turned to face Kota, and Kota merely growled, "Get away from me. Leave me alone!"
He stomped away from the group, and Midoriya watched as Kota moved further and further away from them.
Midoriya turned to look at Aizawa, and Aizawa nodded, "Go after him. But come back at around noon."
The green haired boy nodded, and gave a sharp whistle. Reiko and Ryuto were in one of the trees that surrounded the students, and the hawk immediately burst out of the foliage, landing on Midoriya's shoulder. Reiko leapt down from the branch she was on, landing gracefully, before running up to Midoriya's side.
Midoriya picked Reiko up, before heading in the direction that Kota had gone in.
"So... you've noticed, too." Aizawa grunted, watching as Midoriya easily picked his way through the forest as if he had lived there his whole life.
"They're both curious about each other, for some reason." Sosaki muttered, "This is the first time I've seen Kota take an interest in someone."
"Well, what are you guys looking at?" Kan turned to face the students, "Get training!"
Kota made his way to his secret hideout, and plopped down on the ground. It was quite a distance from where the students were training, so there was no way that the green haired boy that his aunt had told to babysit him would follow him all the way here, right?
He heard footsteps behind him, and sighed.
Midoriya had actually followed him all the way up here.
He knew who the boy was; he had watched the UA Sports Festival on television because he was bored, and his name had been mentioned several times by the students and the heroes.
But he did not know that Midoriya didn't have a quirk.
Kota turned away as Midoriya walked up to him, pretending not to notice as the greenette sat down beside him, hanging his legs off the edge of the cliff. A white cat curled up on his lap, and the bird on his shoulder started nibbling on Midoriya's earlobe affectionately.
It took an hour of both of them sitting there silently, with the only sounds being the meowing and the chirping from the two animals, before Kota lost his patience.
"What do you want?! Aren't you going to say anything?!" Kota growled, turning to look at the green haired boy, "Why are you just sitting there and not doing anything!?"
Midoriya looked at Kota from the corner of his eye, before he went back to looking at the trees beneath their feet.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Kota blinked, confused, "What?"
Midoriya didn't even turn to face the Kota.
"Losing your parents. I'm sorry."
Kota snapped, "What are you even talking about!? You don't know anything about me at all! Who are you to say "sorry" like that would help anything!? It's not like you've lost anything too!"
Midoriya turned to look at Kota, right in the eye, and Kota flinched.
That was why he was so familiar.
Kota stared right back into Midoriya's empty, emerald orbs.
He understood.
Kota settled back down beside Midoriya, watching as the cat eyed him curiously. It sniffed his arm, before crawling into his lap and laying down there.
"Is it your cat?"
Midoriya nodded, "She. Not it. Reiko."
Kota looked back down at Reiko, and touched her head curiously. Reiko purred, patiently letting the small boy pat her all over.
The hawk fluttered off Midoriya's shoulder to his leg, and looked at Kota. Kota reached his hand out cautiously at the bird, and watching as the hawk leaned forward, lightly nibbling at his finger.
"Ryuto."
Kota turned to face Midoriya, "His name?"
The greenette nodded once again.
"Cool."
Kota didn't know why, but he felt oddly at ease. Finally, someone wasn't praising his parents for being heroic or that kind of bullshit. Everyone else just said that he should be proud to have heroes as parents, praising them like heroes were the most perfect beings ever. There was absolutely nothing heroic about dying and leaving a three year old kid orphaned.
For once, someone understood how he felt.
How it felt to lose the only people that they loved.
"Midoriya." Aizawa greeted, as the green haired boy walked over to him. He had requested that the boy come back at around noon, and it was currently half past eleven. Kota was sitting on a bench, Reiko and Ryuto sitting beside him.
"I think it would be okay for you to have a small fight, but be careful." Aizawa said, before calling Chatora over, "Hey, Tiger. Give him a shot."
Chatora grinned, and cracked his knuckles. He did notice that Midoriya seemed to have something around his neck, a collar of some sort. But who was he to judge? He was a fully grown macho man rocking a mini-skirt, the pup could wear whatever he wanted.
Midoriya eyed the tired forms of his peers scattered all over the training field.
"Alright, guys, go get some water."
"Ah, he's fighting Midoriya?" Kaibara panted, pushing himself up, "Come on, guys."
"I don't wanna move." Kamakiri grumbled, but Kaibara just pulled him up.
"So... I saw the Sports Festival. You're not too bad, kid." Chatora smiled, eyeing the green haired boy. He certainly didn't look like much, given his small stature, but Chatora knew that this boy wasn't to be underestimated.
Chatora shifted into a fighting stance.
"Throw a punch."
Midoriya eyed Chatora suspiciously, but the pro hero merely laughed, "Come on, you can make the first move."
Confused, Midoriya did as he was told, barely putting any power into his punch. Chatora caught his fist, with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm serious, Midoriya. You're going to have to do better than that."
Midoriya blinked, still confused, and signed, "Why would you let the enemy hit first? That's illogical."
Chatora blinked, before internally facepalming.
"Kid, it's just training, okay?" Chatora sighed, "Just sparring. I need to see what you're capable of before I can tell you what to improve on, got it?"
Midoriya nodded, before shifting into a proper fighting stance, and lashed out. He dished out a punch, eyeing Chatora as he used his quirk in order to dodge the attack.
Midoriya quickly changed the trajectory of his punch, shocking the hero as he hastily moved out of the way.
Chatora delivered a punch of his own, as Midoriya jumped out of the way, dodging.
"You're not that bad, pup, but there's more to come." Chatora grinned.
He delivered a volley of punches, but Midoriya dodged them all, before jumping up onto a nearby tree to create some distance between them.
Chatora elegantly leapt after him, but Midoriya just jumped to the next tree. Midoriya grabbed the branch and swung around, aiming a kick at Chatora's chest, but the hero just grabbed his foot at threw him to the ground.
Midoriya rolled, and got up almost immediately, and Chatora jumped down from his perch on the tree.
Suddenly, he felt the air shift, ever so slightly, and he turned, looking into the forest.
Chatora lunged forward, and Midoriya continuously danced around Chatora's endless assault of attacks, weaving in and out of Chatora's fists as the hero tried to hit the agile boy.
And suddenly, the hero stopped, and frowned, as Midoriya's movements dulled.
"You're distracted."
Midoriya didn't seem to register that Chatora was talking to him, and continued looking into the forest.
"Hey, hey, kid?" Chatora walked over to Midoriya, waving his hand in front of his face. Midoriya blinked, before he turned to face the taller man.
"What's going on?" Chatora asked.
"Something's going to happen."
Chatora blinked, quickly deciphering the boy's signing, "You sure?"
He quickly called Tsuchikawa over, "Hey, can you make more earth beasts to patrol the area? The pup thinks that something bad is going to happen."
Tsuchikawa merely shrugged, "Alright. But we're all safe here. No one knows you're here, and we're pretty out of the way. I really think he's just paranoid."
"Why do they keep calling Midoriya a pup?" Yanagi asked, "I know they're based on cats... but it's not like baby cats are called pups."
"Can you really imagine anyone calling Midoriya a kitten?" Kendo sweatdropped.
"Well... he's as fluffy as one." Kodai muttered.
They found that Midoriya could not cook.
Sure, he could cut up the vegetables and meat in record time, but he refused to go anywhere near the stove.
The students were okay with just letting Midoriya deal with cutting. They had more than enough people to man the stoves, after all, and the last time they tried to coax Midoriya into cooking, he had immediately charred the wok they were using.
Which shouldn't happen at all.
It didn't take too long for the curry and the vegetables to be cooked, and pretty soon, and students were happily eating and talking about their day.
"Eat!"
Sosaki looked up, only to see Kota shoving a plate in Midoriya's face.
"You need to eat more than that! That's why you're so short and scrawny compared to everyone else!" Kota growled.
Midoriya did not look impressed at all, just staring as the small boy continued ranting on why he needed to eat proper food.
"Even Reiko eats more than you." Kota snapped, "And you didn't even eat breakfast! I saw! Don't try to deny it."
Everyone watched as Kota climbed up onto the bench Midoriya was sitting on, and stuck his finger in his chest, "You want to be a hero, don't you!? Then eat!"
"Okay... what is going on?" Tsuchikawa blinked, "Is Kota actually talking to him?"
"Err... yes?" Chatora replied, watching as Midoriya just continued staring at the little boy who was ranting on how short Midoriya was, "Look! You're like, shorter than everyone! Except the grape kid and the bird-headed one!"
Mineta immediately took offence that Kota didn't remember his name, and Tokoyami merely snorted in amusement. Shinsou and Uraraka were trying their best to cover their mouths to prevent them from laughing out loud.
Probably to satisfy the black haired boy, Midoriya grabbed his chopsticks and reluctantly picked a small piece of broccoli out of one of the plates, and put it in his mouth.
Kota just stared at him.
"That's cannibalism."
Kaminari and Sero could not hold back their laughter, and promptly fell out of their seats, roaring with laughter. Kirishima was smacking the table as he laughed, and even Iida had a small smile on his face as they processed what Kota meant.
Midoriya merely stared at Kota, before looking at the rest of his classmates, chewing on his piece of broccoli in confusion.
Aizawa was the only one who managed to keep a straight face. Kan had choked on his rice from laughing too much.
Midoriya quickly signed, "What's so funny?"
"Oh, Kota just called you a broccoli." Shinsou replied, finally calming down from his laughing fit.
He saw the slightest hint of a frown on the boy's face.
"But I'm not a vegetable."
"You're hair, Midoriya." Iida replied, taking another spoonful of curry, "It's green and fluffy."
Midoriya was very bored.
1-B was stationed in the forest, and they were supposed to scare the 1-A students who were supposed to go into the forest, grab some tags with their names on it and return back to the group.
It was supposed to have some bonding exercise, or something, but it seemed more like a hide and scare game in a dark forest; one of the very games that Midoriya hated.
Hide and Seek was bad enough, but the version where they were supposed to scare others on purpose?
Not fun at all.
Still, it wasn't like he could complain. The others seemed hyped about it, and the Pussycats were the ones who suggested the game, on their territory. He didn't have the right to complain.
Kota was probably on his own, sitting by the edge of the cliff. Midoriya wanted to tell Sosaki about Kota's so-called "secret hideout", but that would be an invasion of Kota's privacy, and Midoriya didn't want to do that.
Aizawa and Kan were back in the common room, probably working on more plans for the students.
They had an odd number of people, so one of the groups ended up having three people instead of two. Midoriya just so happened to end up with Shinsou again, somehow, and Sero. Bakugou was unlucky to end up with Todoroki, and Mineta had been paired up with Shoji, much to the relief of the other girls.
Yaoyorozu and Jiro were grouped together, and they had just set off into the forest. Asui, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Shoji, Bakugou, and Todoroki had set off before them.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Sero laughed, jumping around excitedly, "We've got Midoriya, we're so going to win!"
Midoriya looked around cautiously.
The wind direction was different. The leaves were rustling more violently than before. There was a weird smell in the air, but Midoriya could not place his finger on it.
Something had changed.
Kota stood by the cliff, before plopping himself onto the ground.
He didn't like heroes, never liked them, really, but there had been a time when he had loved and admired heroes like any other kid his age.
When his parents were alive, he thought they were the best people ever. They never made it to the top ten, but they were well within the top two hundred.
He loved them, admired them, wanted to be a hero just like them. His father could create water, and his mother could control it, making them the perfect duo for any mission, dousing their opponents with water with ease.
His quirk had manifested a few days after their death; the ability to shoot water from his palms and control it at will.
He hated his quirk.
It reminded him too much of his parents.
Then there was Midoriya, who was quirkless.
He wondered what Midoriya's parents were like, before they died. When did they die? When did they leave Midoriya alone? Were they heroes as well, like Water Hose? Or were they just normal civilians?
Kota was lost in his own thoughts, when the forest burst into flames. He staggered up, watching as cyan flames slowly consumed the forest, when the ground rumbled.
He quickly whirled around, a voice echoing in his head that he distinctly recognised as Sosaki's, "I'm sorry! I don't know where you usually go off to! I'm sorry, Kota! I can't go save you!"
A figure dressed in a black cloak and a white face mask appeared in front of him.
"I tried searching somewhere with a nice view, and I ended up finding a face not on our list. Hey, by the way, nice hat, kid. Trade with me for this lame mask. They made me wear this since I'm new, saying they couldn't get the shipment in time or something."
Kota stepped away from the cloaked figure, and turned around, trying to run away, but the masked man merely jumped in front of him, blocking the exit, and whipped off his masked. Muscle fibres erupted from under his skin, enveloping his arms, and Kota found the face of his parents' killer staring back at him, "Let me get a shot in to cheer up."
Muscular punched the ground right in front of Kota, grinning as Kota tumbled backwards, yelping in terror.
He aimed a punch at Kota again, purposely missing, and he laughed maniacally as Kota shrieked, trying to get as far away from the villain as his legs could carry him.
"I love it when they scream!" Muscular cackled, "Scream for help! Yell for your little heroes! Shout louder!"
"You know, on second thought, maybe I'll just take you with me!" Muscular laughed, picking Kota up in his hand and jumping off the cliff, ignoring Kota's attempts to get out of his grasp, "It will be much more fun to kill you in front of those other kids, won't it? Watch them scream and cry! Killing is so much fun!"
"Everyone! We're being attacked by two villains, but it's possible that there are more! Pixie Bob's down! Everyone who can move, get back to camp immediately! If you come across the enemy, don't attack and just retreat!"
"Villains? Why are there villains here?" Kan asked, standing up.
"Stay here, Vlad King. The students will most likely be coming back here, I'm leaving his place to you." Aizawa ordered, and Kan nodded in acknowledgement.
Aizawa rushed out of the room, out into the open, only to find thick black smoke filling the air above.
"Is your worry taking precedence?" A man with black hair asked, grinning, before shoving his hand into Aizawa's face, blue fire erupting from his palm.
Aizawa quickly leapt into the air, lashing on to the roof with his capture weapon and dodged the fire, before jumping down and wrapping his capture weapon around the intruder. The Erasure hero smacked his face into his knee, before smashing the villain into the ground.
"Tell me your purpose, numbers, and positions." Aizawa ordered
"Why?" The villain sneered.
"Otherwise, this would happen." Aizawa harshly twisted the man's arm, and a loud crack was heard as his shoulder was dislocated. "You're other arm's next. Let's do this logically. Breaking your legs would just make transport more annoying."
"Are ya in a hurry, Eraser Head?" The man taunted. "Are your students important?"
Aizawa growled, and kicked him again, only for the man to melt into brown goop.
"I hope you can protect them to the end."
"Fuck... A clone..." Aizawa cursed, as he surveyed the smoke that was emerging from the forest, the sky alight with cyan flames.
He ran into the forest.
Mineta shrieked in terror.
Tsuchikawa had glowed red for some reason, before flying backwards, a sickening crunch ringing out as she was bashed into the ground by a long, thick staff held by a person with long red hair and sunglasses, alongside a person with green skin and purple hair.
Koda was hugging both Reiko and Ryuto, as Midoriya turned to see who the villains were.
He didn't recognise the green skinned man, but he did recognise Hikiishi. She had committed nine armed robberies, three murders, and twenty attempted murders, at the very least, and her Magnetism quirk was going to be a pain to deal with, given how many students there were.
Hikiishi laughed, "How are you this evening, UA High School?"
"We're the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!" Iguchi yelled.
"The League? What are they doing here?" Ojiro hissed.
"Should I crush her face?" Hikiishi mocked, placing a foot on Tsuchikawa's body, as Sosaki's claws emerged, "Don't you dare!"
"Like we'd let you!" Chatora growled.
"Wait up, Big Sis Magne. You too, Tiger. Calm down. Don't be hasty. It just depends on whether having power over life and death follows Stain's tenets or not." Iguchi pulled Hikiishi back slightly.
"You're the ones his ideology brought!?" Iida demanded, but Kirishima pulled him back before he could attack.
"Oh yeah! You! With the glasses!" Iguchi grinned, taking out his weapon, which looked like a multitude of blades tied together, "You were the one that helped bring about Stain's end in Hosu City, along with Endeavor's kid! I apologise for the late introduction, but I'm Spinner! The one who spins his dreams into reality!"
Midoriya pushed his way to the front of the group, just as Iguchi's eyes trailed over to the green haired boy, his eyes widening.
"Void. Or should I say, Midoriya Izuku." Iguchi bowed slightly, "Stain called you a true hero, and it's an honour to meet you, finally, face to face."
Sosaki was shocked that Midoriya was the infamous vigilante than almost all the heroes were talking about, but she pushed it to the back of her mind; she had more important things to think about at this point of time.
"Get out of here." Sosaki ordered, "I sent out instructions. Vlad King and Eraser are back at camp, and Ragdoll should be helping 1-B and the others in the forest. Don't fight. Class Rep, you're in charge! Go now!"
"Yes ma'am!" Iida nodded, "1-A! Let's go!"
Midoriya looked like he wanted to fight the two villains, but he still followed Sosaki's orders.
Suddenly, something shot through the air, and Midoriya pushed Kaminari and Ashido out of the way before it collided with the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Ohh, look what we have here." A voice rang out, as the dust faded, revealing Muscular, "Look, all of your little friends!"
Sosaki whirled around, sparing a glance at Muscular, before she eyed the small figure in the hero's grasp, "Kota!"
Midoriya's eyes zeroed in on the boy, struggling in the villain's grip.
Muscular is going to be much more of a problem than Magne.
"Let's see how loud you can scream when I do this!" Muscular laughed, dropping Kota on the ground, before raising his arm, ready to attack.
Midoriya rushed in as Muscular pulled his punch, scooping Kota up in time and skidding out of harm's way. He deposited Kota on the ground, before he whipped a knife out of his pocket and threw it at Muscular, cutting through several muscle fibres.
"Midoriya! Get away!" Ashido yelled.
Before Midoriya couldn't even register what he had done, he swerved to the left, narrowly dodging another punch that Muscular had thrown at him.
"Ah! A face on our list." Muscular muttered, as more muscle fibres popped out to replace the ones that Midoriya had cut, "You don't look too interesting though. Pity. That Bakugou kid seemed like more fun."
Midoriya tried to dodge the next hit, but sadly, Muscular was too fast. He smashed his fist into Midoriya's body, sending him smacking into a tree, before leaping after the downed boy. Sero quickly used his quirk to lash Kota towards the group, out of the way of the fight.
Midoriya coughed out some blood. He tried to bring his arms up to block Muscular's attack, but Muscular was just too strong, easily pushing past Midoriya's defence and smashing him into the ground, a cracking sound ringing out through the air.
"Midoriya! We've got Kota! Just retreat, you can't beat him!" Kaminari yelled.
This was was starting to remind him of the fight that Midoriya had with the Nomu.
Muscular was way out of his league. He was too strong, too fast, and with Midoriya's quirkless status, there was no way he could outspeed or overpower the villain.
Midoriya just bared his teeth, before what Muscular said registered in his mind.
He was on the list.
They villains came because the League of Villains wanted him.
Kota was hurt because of him.
A spark of anger erupted from the depths of his very being.
His mind was racing.
Robotic eye.
More muscles, more nerves, more pain.
He's a villain! Hurt him like they all hurt to you. HURT HIM! MAKE HIM HURT! HE DESERVES IT -
Midoriya pushed himself up, and spat the blood out of his mouth, growling, glaring at the villain.
"Ready to take more?" Muscular grinned, "That's really cute."
Midoriya dodged the incoming punch, ignoring the pain that flared through his arm.
It was broken, so what?
Midoriya whipped out another knife, twirling it between his fingers, before he dodged another attack. He slashed at Muscular's muscle fibres, before taking out another knife and jabbing it into Muscular's shoulder, giving him some leverage, and pulled himself up to slash at Muscular's face.
"Midoriya, stop!" Chatora growled, as he dodged an attack by Hikiishi, "Just retreat! We'll cover for you!"
Muscular turned around to punch him, but Midoriya merely dislodged the knife and dropped to the ground, taking a few steps back to create some distance between them.
Midoriya merely lunged again, aiming a slash at Muscular's side that the villain caught. The green haired boy just used that distraction to yanked out another knife and flung it at Muscular, the blade embedding itself in the villain's robotic eye.
The eye sparked, before it exploded, Midoriya jumping away as Muscular roared in pain at the device exploding in his skull.
"Now... now you've done it." Muscular hissed, glaring at Midoriya with his lone good eye, "I'll get you for that."
Before Midoriya could even react, Muscular had grabbed onto his broken arm, crushing it with his bare hands. He threw Midoriya to the ground, before stepping on his leg, snapping it almost instantly. He picked the boy up, and Midoriya hissed as Muscular tightened his grip, putting more and more pressure on his ribs until they snapped. He threw Midoriya to the ground, before punching his other leg, and kicking the boy into a tree.
"Oi! Muscular! Don't hurt him!" Iguchi snapped, but Muscular just flipped the lizard man off, his empty socket smoking from the explosion, "I do what I want! I want to hurt him! I'm going to kill him! I want to kill, it's fun, so I kill!"
And that fire in his stomach roared to life.
Fun?
It's fun?
Killing is fun?
Inflicting pain on others is fun?
Muscular had killed Water Hose, and many other heroes, but Water Hose's death was the most notable. Midoriya knew that the female hero of Water Hose was related to Sosaki, there were many pictures of them together in their youth that Midoriya managed to find from digging through the archives.
Which meant -
His mind connected the dots.
The two members of Water Hose were Kota's parents.
Muscular had killed Kota's parents.
Midoriya had never liked Muscular; the man seemed to have fun killing others, something that Midoriya couldn't tolerate at all.
But something about seeing Kota, trapped in the villain's grasp, and knowing that Muscular was the one that made Kota so cynical, the one who hurt him by killing his parents?
"… please… get out of here, hurry… "
Midoriya felt his anger boiling over, erupting into a burning inferno.
Muscular turned his attention away from the broken boy, and advanced on the group of students, before he froze. A menacing aura had erupted out of nowhere, putting so much pressure in the air that he could barely breathe.
"I hate... people like you..."
Muscular slowly turned around, seeing the green haired boy pushing himself to his feet, despite his broken body. Every fibre in his very being was screaming at him to run.
1-A slowly took a few steps back from the fight; they recognised that aura anywhere, and this was so much stronger than the last time Midoriya unleashed it.
"You just... hurt others... for the fun of it..."
Midoriya ignored the pain running through his entire body.
He had something more important to deal with.
Midoriya lifted his head, his emerald orbs meeting Muscular's, locking the blonde villain in place.
"I'm so sorry, Zuku… there's no time..."
"What... what are you?!" Muscular breathed, wanting to tear his gaze away from this monster that was standing in front of him, but he couldn't find it in him to do so.
"You... hurt him... Kota..."
Midoriya took a step forward, and Muscular took a step back unconsciously, snapping, "How are you still standing!? I broke your bones!"
Heroes and villains alike didn't faze him at all. He just easily crushed them with his overwhelming strength; there was no reason to be afraid.
So why was he so scared of this scrawny, little green haired boy who was barely half his size? Why was fear seeping into his very being, clouding his mind and body?
Midoriya bared his teeth, roaring, "I won't let you get away with it! You'll pay for that!"
His parents were dead, as were Kota's. But the villain that had done the deed was still alive, standing right in front of him, and he was only here because they wanted Midoriya. He couldn't make his parents murders' pay for their crime, but he could do it for Kota.
He won't let Kota get hurt anymore.
He wouldn't let Kota break.
He wouldn't let Kota turn out like him.
He lunged at the larger villain. Muscular barely registered that Midoriya moved, and sloppily dodged as Midoriya appeared in his face and slashed with his knife.
Sosaki and Iguchi had stopped their brawl when they felt the intense pressure hanging into the air, trying to figure out what was going on, before their eyes landed on the green haired boy who seemed to be getting faster as he landed on a tree, immediately jumping off and slashing apart the muscle fibres on Muscular's arm.
"Woah..." Iguchi breathed, "He's really awesome."
Sosaki could only watch in awe as Midoriya smoothly twirled around Muscular's sluggish attempts to hit him, skidding under Muscular's arm before bringing his leg up to knee the villain in the gut.
He flicked one of his knives that had fallen to the ground into the air, before kicking it towards Muscular. The blade rocketed through the air, stabbing into his side. Muscular stumbled backwards, bringing his arms up to defend as Midoriya shot forward, stabbing his knife with so much force into Muscular's unprotected hand that it broke, but not before the blade was embedded in the villain's hand, penetrating the metacarpals.
Muscular clutched his hand in agony, as Midoriya threw the handle of the now-useless knife at Muscular, the handle hitting the villain's head.
The villain turning around desperately to find the boy, before Midoriya made an odd movement and he felt himself falling to the ground. Midoriya sped up even more, and lunged, flipping himself over and smashing his foot into Muscular's unprotected face, breaking the villain's nose.
For good measure, Midoriya brought his leg up, and kicked one of the trees that Muscular had partially destroyed, completely knocking it over. It crashed into the villain, pushing the knife that was embedded in Muscular's side further into his gut.
"You won't die. That would be too much of a mercy for someone like you."
Muscular tried to push himself up, but was met with a foot to the face, and passed out.
The green haired boy lowered his foot, before turning his head to the side to spit out more blood, as he surveyed his handiwork. He had kicked Muscular in the face one more time, and it seemed like that was more that enough to knock him out. The villain as strong, but he was hella stupid; the face was one of the more delicate and weaker parts of the body, and he hadn't bothered to defend it.
What an idiot.
Midoriya closed his eyes and exhaled, feeling the rush of adrenaline seep away, and the fire that was pooling in his stomach simmered down to nothingness in satisfaction.
He turned to his classmates, eyeing them carefully. None of them seemed injured, so that was good, at least.
His eyes landed on Kirishima, holding onto Kota tightly, and the black haired boy teared up.
Kirishima was openly gaping as Midoriya mercilessly assaulted the villain.
He was pissed, that was for sure, and it was scary to see the normally calm boy continuously attacking so viciously.
He finally heaved an internal sigh of relief as Muscular finally fell, and Midoriya reeled that terrifying aura back in, panting.
He watched as Midoriya's eyes skimmed over them, almost like he was checking them for any injuries. Midoriya's hoodie had been completely ripped to shreds, as were the bandages that were wrapped all over his body. There was blood running down the left side of his face, and all over his body, and his arms and legs were distinctively broken.
That was really manly and all, but how the hell was he still standing?
The two green eyes settled on him.
Kirishima heard a sniff, before Kota broke out of his grip and ran towards Midoriya, wrapping his arms around the injured green haired boy, not even caring that there was blood all over the place.
"Why... why did you do so much..."
"Kota, about your mother and father… Water Hose… It's true they ended up leaving you behind… But there were definitely lives saved because of what happened to them. I'm sure that someday, you'll meet someone, and then you'll understand. Someone who'll risk their life to save you, someone who'll be your hero."
Midoriya just stood there, motionless, panting, not even seeming to what the smaller boy was doing.
"Crap... he beat Muscular..." Hikiishi muttered, "I don't think we can get him. Spinner, let's go and just focus on Todoroki and Bakugou."
"Got it." Iguchi nodded, as they both turned to run into the forest.
"Crap." Sosaki hissed, before activating her quirk, "They're after Todoroki and Bakugou, and they're in the forest. Ragdoll? Ragdoll?"
She turned to Chatora, "Something's wrong. Ragdoll hasn't replied."
Midoriya had heard what Hikiishi had said, and he lifted his broken arm, patting Kota on the shoulder, muttering, "Stay with them... There's something... I have... to do..."
"You're injured! What else can you do in that state!?" Kota shouted, but Midoriya gently pried himself out of Kota's grip. He shot a look at Reiko and Ryuto, before running into the forest. Both of them were trying to get out of Koda's grip, but one look from Midoriya stopped them, and they could only look on helplessly as Midoriya disappeared into the forest.
"Hey! Hey! Midoriya! Come back!" Chatora shouted, as Shinsou ran after Midoriya.
"I'm not a target, I'll be fine!" Shinsou yelled over his shoulder, "Iida, bring the others and Kota back to camp, and get Aizawa-sensei."
"Tiger, follow the pup." Sosaki ordered, "I'll go with them."
"Got it! I won't disappoint you!" Iida nodded, before herding the rest of the class away from the clearing, towards the camp.