A bunch of heroes were seen running around the corner before spotting the four of them.

"OVER HERE", Masaki said, motioning for the others to follow him. They ran to the four of them before asking if they were alright.

"WAIT", Masaki said, looking at Stain, "Is that the hero killer", Masaki turned to Native, "Did you do this Native".

"I wish", Native said, never losing his grin. "These kids actually saved me from him, had they not shown up, I would be dead".

The heroes looked at the kid on his back stunned at the damage he had received. Trace was out cold at this point but no one could see that with his mask on.

"What happened to the kid", One hero asked in the back.

"He gave everything he had and fought the hero killer to a stand still, even defeating him... with help from these two of course", Native said motioning to Iida and Todoroki.

One of the heroes in the back pulled out a phone and began calling for an ambulance for trace. "4 injured, get here as soon as possible".

The heroes began further restraining Stain to ensure he stays detained.

"HEROES", A voice boomed from behind, "LOOK TO THE SKY". Everyone turned to see Endeavor running after a winged creature.

The creature swooped down causing multiple people to duck down, but Trace wasn't lucky enough, the creature grabbed his unconscious body and dug into his side and shoulder, hoisting him into the air, attempting to fly away.

"TRACE", Iida screamed, attempting to pursue the beast.

Endeavor created a spear of fire and prepared to throw it before the beast held Trace in the way. Endeavor grunted in frustration. If he threw the spear, he would hit Trace, but if he didn't the creature gets away. Endeavor was about to give up before he saw something. Trace used his fingers to make an x over his shoulder, signalling to Endeavor to throw it. Without Hesitation, Endeavor threw the spear with all his force, sending it through Trace's shoulder, but skewering the beast, throwing it to the ground with it's passenger.

They both hit hard with a thud, Trace finally freed from the beast's grip. Trace laid there in pain, conscious but in too much pain to move. He tried to move his arm to clutch his shoulder but he couldn't even accomplish that. He just laid there and groaned in pain.

"Are you okay boy", Endeavor said, holding up Trace's head.

"Can you *cough* remove the mask", Trace said weekly.

Endeavor nodded before carefully removing the mask. Revealing a bloody interior. Trace had blood running down his face from a couple cuts on his head, blood was slowly coming from his mouth, Eyes partially grey.

"That was a powerful shot, I nearly felt", Trace said, trying to lighten the mood.

"An ambulance is on the way to Trace, try to hang on till then", Endeavor said calmly.

"Tell them take as long as they want, I'll still be here, counting bruises, thinking about how we beat Stain, and wondering how I fought you to a stand still but fell unconscious to Stain", Trace said, trying to laugh, but coughing instead.

Right on cue, the ambulance appeared, and pulled up right next to Trace, The squad members hoisted Trace onto a gurney before putting him in the ambulance. Iida and Todoroki hopped in with Trace, determined to come with him.

The doctor though hesitant decided it would be better if he has friends there for him. "Just don't touch anything unless instructed to hand them to me".

Todoroki and Iida nodded sitting silently, watching their friends' eyes slowly return to their natural brown color.

(6 hours later)

Mina had run into the hospital, searching for the receptionist. After about a minute of running, she had found him.

"Excuse me", Mina said frantically.

"Are you alright mam", The receptionist looked at her with concern.

"My friend Trace Wilqs was put into the Hospital recently", Mina said, worried for her boyfriend.

"Trace wilqs is in room 236", The receptionist began, "I'm gonna call down the nurse to guide you there".

Mina nodded, excited she would be able to see him.

After a few minutes, the nurse showed up, Mina approached her.

"Hello there", The nurse began, "are you the one visiting Trace Wilqs".

Mina nodded quickly, "yeah, I need to see him".

"Right this way", The nurse motioned behind her before walking in that direction.

"May I ask your relation to Trace Wilqs", The nurse asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm… I'm his girlfriend", Mina said blushing.

"I see", The nurse cupped her chin with a hand. "How long?".

"This is the 5th month we've been together", Mina said honestly.

They walked in silence after that. The nurse motioned to room 236 and said, "Here you go, just stay quiet in case he's asleep", The nurse said calmly.

Mina nodded before quietly entering the room. The sight she saw chilled her to the core.Trace was laid in bed, his body covered in bandages, a small gash on his head covered with bandages, and a blood soaked shirt and hoodie on the ground nearby, as well as a fox mask.

Trace was awake, his eyes blue as the sea. Todoroki and Iida were sitting in beds of their own, Todoroki with less serious injuries but still bad enough they had to stitch him up. Iida's arm was in a sling as well as covered in bandages. Trace turned to see Mina. Trace began smiling.

"we really got to stop meeting like this", Trace said.

Mina carefully wrapped Trace in a hug being careful not to unravel any bandages. Trace soon returned the hug, happy to have her warmth there. "We really do", Mina said chuckling.

Trace began gently rubbing her hair and horns with one hand, causing Mina to purr lightly.

"It's so good to see you Mina", Trace said, happy to have this contact with her.

"I'm glad you're okay", Mina said, continuing to purr at her hair and horns being petted.

"I know I need to tone back the self sacrifice a little but I figured this one wouldn't hurt", Trace said before sarcastically saying, "but you know, this one kind of hurt a little". This incited laughter from Iida, Todoroki, and Mina, who kept it under control. A knock at the door ended their laughter.

The door slid open to reveal Gran Torino, Mazaki, and a man who had the head of a dog, but otherwise, was dressed in dress clothes.

"Hello there children" the dog said, "I'm sure most of you know me but for those who don't I am Kenji Tsuragamae, the chief of police".

Trace became wide eyed, before attempting to get out of his bed.

"No need for formalities kid, I know you were injured".

This made Trace stop before laying back down.

"Now I came here to give you a warning, you see none of you are licensed heroes, so none of you had any right to even hurt the villain, if not for your injuries you would have been tried for the illegal use of your quirks".

Trace was taken back by this before moving to sit up. "Hang on a second sir, you mean we're not allowed to use our quirks to defend ourselves", Trace asked angrily.

Kenji simply stared at the kid. "Stains injuries don't suggest self defense at all", Kenji said.

"Iida used his quirk to reach Stain but never used his quirk to harm stain, only to protect Native, I showed up to save Iida, but besides to keep Stain away from them I didn't use my quirk, Todoroki used his fire to separate Stain from us to try to let us run, but Stain was too fast so we were forced to defend ourselves, which meant defeating Stain", Trace said, conviction in his voice.

"So it's okay to break the law if it works out in the end", Kenji asked dead serious.

"SO SELF DEFENSE IS ILLEGAL", Trace screamed now standing on his own two feet.

"His wounds don't suggest self defense at all", Kenji again stated.

Sparks began appearing around Trace, "YOU WEREN'T THERE, NATIVE WOULD BE DEAD HAD IIDA NOT SHOWN UP, IF TODOROKI HADN'T SHOWED UP, THERE WOULD BE THREE DEAD BODIES IN THAT ALLEYWAY, WHAT, WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, SIT BACK AND GRAB A BAG OF POPCORN", kenji was taken aback by this. "IF SOMEONE IS IN DANGER, LICENSE OR NOT, I'M GOING TO HELP THEM BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT A HERO IS SUPPOSED TO DO, I CAN'T STAND BY AND WATCH ANOTHER LIVING PERSON DIE, I REFUSE TO SPECTATE A MURDER KENJI, I REFUSE TO WATCH AS ANOTHER LIFE IS TAKEN". Sparks were flying all around the room, trace's eyes were a golden color. "SO WHY SHOULDN'T I HAVE PROTECTED THEM, BECAUSE THE LAW PROHIBITS ME FROM SAVING OTHERS, THAT'S STUPID, I WON'T SIT BACK WHILE TWO OTHER PEOPLE ARE BEING SKEWERED". Trace began turning to Iida and todoroki when he noticed the sparks flying around his body, his eyes widened in horror. He quickly placed a barrier around his body before releasing all of his energy at once, Ensuring the barrier absorbs the energy. After a few seconds, the barrier dropped, and Trace fell to the ground, nearly unconscious.

Mina immediately picked him up and set him on the bed, looking into his eyes. Trace's eyes had turned blue now. "Are you there Trace", Mina said, tears in her eyes. Mina wrapped her arms around him, no longer worrying about his bandages.

Trace began quietly sobbing before managing to squeak out, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me".

Mina began rubbing his back, giving him a shoulder to cry into. After a few minutes, the room fell silent, with Trace finally calming down. "I'm sorry", Trace turned to Kenji who flinched slightly, "you see, I have a condition that heightens my anxiety which leads to me negative emotions being more powerful, that combined with my quirk, negative buff, it sometimes can be catastrophic if I don't keep it in check.

Kenji took a second to regain his composure before speaking. "I see, so you are prone to involuntary outburst, good to know". He then cleared his throat before continuing. "Anyway, that was what the police wanted me to tell you, I however have a different message, for you see there weren't any cameras to catch the fight, and no one actually saw you three fight stain so no one has to know you were ever there, in turn we could say Endeavor was the one who fought the hero killer, the burns on his body would support this statement greatly… you wouldn't gain any fame, but you wouldn't be hounded by the media", Kenji bowed down to the three, saying, "And as the chief of police, I speak for the entire police force when I say, thank you for your services today".

The room fell silent, before Todoroki spoke up, "You probably should have started with that".

Kenji began laughing, "Noted Young man, that probably could have averted Young Wilqs outburst".

Trace began blushing heavily from embarrassment, causing everyone in the room to begin laughing, only further embarrassing Trace.

After a few minutes of laughter, Kenji finally settled everyone. "Alright, that's enough, anyway, thank you for your services and I wish you a quick recovery. Kenji turned to leave, followed by Gran Torino, then by Mazaki.

The room dropped to four occupants. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Trace spoke up. I'm sorry for that guys, I should have just let him finish", Trace had his head hung low.

"There's no reason to be upset Trace", Todoroki spoke, "you have a condition that makes those more common, plus", Todoroki looked to the ground, "I was gonna do the same thing".

The four began to laugh, the mood finally lightened.

After a few minutes, the doctor came in and cleared Todoroki. Iida was soon cleared as his mother came to pick him up. That left only Trace, and Mina.

"So", Trace said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "what now".

Mina gained a sly smirk as she grabbed Trace's head and pulled him into a kiss, a very passionate kiss at that. Trace was surprised but quickly warmed into the kiss, allowing himself to relax. They sat like that for a full minute, only breaking away to take in a breath. "Wow", Trace said, Eyes a bright pink. "That was amazing Mina", he said in between breaths.

"I wanted you to know how much I love you Trace, I care about you", Mina said comfortingly.

"What would I do without you", Trace said, wrapping her in a hug, snuggling into her shoulder.

"You would be an anxious mess more often", Mina said jokingly.

"true ", Trace said laughing before a thought came to his head. "Wait, what are you gonna do about your internship Mina?" Trace asked.

Mina simply grinned before replying, "I told the agency you were my boyfriend and they let me go in a heartbeat, I called my parents to let them know I was coming to the hospital to see you, and they told me it would be easier to stay the night". Mina had climbed into the bed, laying right next to him. He covered her with the blanket.

"Comfortable", Trace asked lovingly.

Mina let out a soft mewl, "I'm comfy".

Trace kissed her on her forehead, "Goodnight Mina".

Mina smiled back, "Goodnight Trace".

With that, the only two people in the room fell asleep in each other's arms.