A/N: Hey guys! I just updated all of the previous chapters and here is the one big change: I now have Kirishima and Mina married. I know that it is strange to go back and make such a big change, but it is hard to tell what you are going to do when you post one chapter at a time, you know? I had originally paired Kirishima up with a plain character to keep things simple, but as I've read ahead in the manga I've started shipping them. Hope you guys enjoy!
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"Alright Deku, there's the bastard..." Bakugo growled as they watched from a hill far from view. "I can see him walking past the windows, watching the area."
"Do you see Maru?" Deku whispered back, the sunlight slowly sinking in the sky.
"No, but I see that other kid talking to somebody. I bet my money that that's her."
"If they're talking then she must be alive!" Deku felt slight relief, "Let's go in there and get her!"
"Wait." For once, Bakugo held Deku back from a fight. "It's still daylight. If he gets suspicious there's no tellin' what he might do. If he sees us... that could put Maru in serious danger."
"Right. We need to go into stealth mode, which means we have to gear up." Nodding in agreement, Ground Zero growled,
"Yes. Our stealth gear—"
"Our sneaky suits."
"...Deku. I told you to stop calling it that."
"What's wrong with sneaky suits?"
"Ugh. Let's just rescue your daughter and get this over with..." Bakugo facepalmed as they walked away from their lookout.
## UA
Back at UA, Eiji was busily gathering his things with a face frozen in determination. He was going to save his friends, no matter the cost! But Tasen was not so sure this was a good idea.
"Eiji, look, I know you're worried, but have you thought even once that you might be adding a problem by throwing yourself into the equation?" He shook his head and pinched his brows.
"Last time I did what I thought was right, I saved my little bro, Kōkyō, and was able to catch a glimpse at the kidnapper. I know I can help." He said as he slid on his black hoodie.
"But you don't know what you're doing! We haven't even studied stealth missions yet! You don't even have gear!"
"I'm making my own sneaky suit. So don't worry about me." Eiji said as he pulled his hair back into a man-bun.
"No. Eiji. Look at me." Tasen forced Eiji to look him in the eyes, "If you go out there, I will tell Shinso-Sensei. I won't let you get yourself killed. Got it?"
Sighing, Eiji slowly stopped packing his bags and put it aside.
"I guess you're right. It would've been stupid for me to go. Thanks for caring about my wellbeing."
"Sure thing. Promise me you'll be smart?"
"Yeah man. I'll let the pros handle this..."
"Good. Now I'm gonna order pizza— you stay here." Dad-Iida demanded as he backed out of Eiji's dorm room.
Hopefully Eiji will have some common sense...
## The abandoned temple
"Still nobody trying to save you two punks." Chigawa chuckled as he looked through the old, glassless window. "You know I'm getting impatient, kid. Are you gonna tell me where your mother is or are you gonna let this bitch die?" He groaned as he yanked Maru around by her ropes. Meiwaku was incredibly stressed.
"I just... need to think..."
"Well I'm tired of you thinking!" Chigawa crossed his arms, "You wanna find a way outta this, and I'm done with this shit. I really am."
"I can't let Maru die, but I ain't gonna let you lay one finger on my mumma you disgusting, evil... VILLAIN!"
"Ugh! You need to quit playing hero!" Chigawa scoffed, "There is no 'good' or 'evil' or anything! We're born, we live, we die, and there is nothing else! I was just trying to have a good time, and some 'hero' puts me through eleven years of hell! I want to get what the universe owes me! So tell me- WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER?!"
"You're wrong!" Was all Meiwaku shouted.
"Huh?"
"Thanks to you, I knew there was evil long before I believed there was good! But... then I saw something you will never see!"
"Oh will you shut up already—"
"I saw mumma smile for the first time after you left. My hero came and visited me, he told me I'd be strong!"
"Well whoopidy doo! Do I look like I give a shit?!"
"...I got real friends. An' for the first time, I feel like I belong! All these people in my life- these real, *good* people- they show me that there IS good in the world! I see it!"
Maru smiled at Meiwaku. He really did have good hero bones.
"Right. You see 'good'? All I see is a world fallen to shit. The 'good' doesn't out way the shit."
"Well I see it! And something that I have is worth dying for."
"..." Chigawa cocked his head at the teenager who held firm to his morals. "Tell that to this chick, then." He grinned a disgusting grin at the shocked looks they gave. "Do you think other people deserve to die because of your morals? Seems selfish..."
Meiwaku wasn't sure what to do, but the fear in Maru's eyes got him sinking in submission.
"From the top, then... Where's your mother?"
## UA Dorms
After ordering pizza and waiting for their arrival at the gate, Tasen couldn't help but feel uneasy. Despite Eiji asserting his intensions, Tasen didn't feel confident that was his true plans. He was going to keep an eye on Eiji... And maybe it wouldn't hurt to get some help from the others either.
As he walked back into the dorms and set the pizzas on the table, he whispered to the few minglers,
"Guys, keep your eye on Eiji, I think he's trying to do something really stupid." Iida Tasen spoke slowly, his hands emphasizing the importance of what he had to say.
Candy and Koteki looked at each other with worrying looks. Whimpering, Koteki stuttered,
"W-What do you mean?"
"He thinks he knows where Meiwaku is, and he also thinks the police aren't going to do anything to save him."
"He left?!" Candy gasped.
"That's what I think he's planning, so keep an eye on— Wait, what do you mean he left?"
"Well he isn't here, and he's not in his room."
Tasen dashed down the hall and crashed into the dorm room. Eiji was gone.
"He's gone! Craaaaaap! He's going to the abandoned temple! We have to stop him!" Tasen yelled before dashing off in a puff of smoke, leaving the others in the dust!
"Wait! Mr. Skirt Skirt! Oooooh no this is bad! This is really really bad!" Panicked Candy, "Should we tell Shinso-Sensei?!"
"...I can't sit on the sidelines... if you know what is right then you must do it..." With conviction in his heart, Koteki Hoshi stood and gazed into the distance, "I am going to help my classmates!"
"What?! You too?!" Candy screeched, "Is nobody doing the smart thing here?!" He pulled at his curls. But Koteki couldn't reply. He was alright halfway across the field from Candy. "Oh come on! Eh?! Ah! Uh!? Eh!" Spinning around in a moral dilemma, Candy made his decision by grabbing a pizza box and dashing off in the direction of Koteki and Tasen. "If we get killed you won't hear the end of it! You hear me!"
## The abandoned temple
Two dark silhouettes sat on the peak of a mountain, keeping their predatory watch on the surroundings lands by the temple. The sun had almost set. Everything was in place...
Tightening his black armor and slim gauntlets, Bakugo pulled the hood over his poofy hair and growled,
"Alright, Deku. One of us needs to save the kids, and the other needs to fight that bastard."
"Yes..." Midoryia said with a nervous heart. "W-With my powers, it makes sense for me to fight him..."
"...You just wanna save Maru, don't you?" Katsuki stated with a knowing look.
"Hai. But I understand if the best thing to do is—"
"Lemme handle this asshole. I can win this. You can save the little snot rags."
With a surprised smile turned into a sly smirk, Deku formed a fist with determination. They were so going to beat this guy's ass.
"Let's get in there."
"Hai. Quietly, now."
Little did they know, the forest grounds were already being stalked. Eiji lay low to the ground, the cool winds covering his noise. With his hood pulled over and his head, he crouched under the undergrowth.
The building was dark except for a single flashlight pointed at the ceiling. He couldn't tell what was going on, but he could hear voices. Unsure as to what the situation was, he decided to get even closer...
Careful to not make a sound, Eiji sat underneath the window's lip and listened in, patiently. There he could clearly hear the conversation instead, and even poke a single eye over the edge.
Chigawa was pacing back and forth past the window. Meiwaku and Maru were separated.
"You've had plenty of time to think now." Chigawa growled at Meiwaku, "And it's been a whole day. I'm getting impatient. So tell me, where is your mother? I won't hurt her." His presence was predatory, giving Eiji shivers even from his hiding place.
"No. I know you will. It's all you do."
"God! Just tell me! You think I would've gone to ya if I had some other way of finding her?" Chigawa scoffed.
"If I'm your last chance of finding her then you better gimme a good argument as ta why I should tell ya!" Meiwaku shouted again.
"The math is simple, kid! Tell me where your mother is and you and the little girl go, no harm done!" The disgusting man said as he yank poor Maru around by her curls.
"I know you, you ain't that stupid. Just letting Maru an' I go so we can tell the authorities?! You'll hurt us one way or another, so why on earth would I tell you where mumma is at?!" Meiwaku shouted from across the room, shaking in his place.
"Smart kid." Chigawa sighed, "Tell you what, I'll compromise. Instead of killing this scrawny little thing, how about I just turn her hands inside out!? It'll take you a while to get her to a hospital!"
Meiwaku gasped as Chigawa grabbed Maru's wrists and dragged her to the window away from the teen.
"Wait!" Meiwaku shouted in fear and panic, "I... Don't! Don't hurt her!"
"Either you tell me where your mother is and this bitch loses her hands, or I kill her! You want me to kill her?! Huh?! Is that what you'd rather do?!"
"Stop! No! God, why?!" Meiwaku screamed as he clutched his ears.
"Make up your mind, kid!"
"Don't tell him, Meiwaku! I'll be fine! Don't do it!" Maru pleaded, putting on a brave face.
"You got fifteen seconds to make up your mind! Fifteen! Fourteen!"
Hyperventilating, Meiwaku looked between Maru and Chigawa, his eyes shaking in panic. He couldn't hear his own thoughts! His heartbeat drowned out the sound of the world.
If he told Chigawa where his mom was, then his mom might die... or worse...
But if he didn't, then Maru would die. And he knew his mom. She wouldn't want his classmate to die.
But if he told Chigawa where his mom was, Maru would lose her hands... along with her quirk... and her dream to become a hero...
"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
"Uhh! Uhh!" Meiwaku didn't know what to do! He pulled and twisted at his shirt with anxiety when suddenly...
He saw a face. Behind Chigawa. In the open window.
"Gasp!"
Chigawa turned around angrily and looked out the window.
But there was nothing there besides a leafy bush.
"You trying time buy more time, punk?! Well I'm done with this shit!"
"Okay!" Meiwaku stopped his kidnapper's sentence. "...I'll tell you where she is."
"No! Don't do it- ahh!" Maru's hair was yanked around harshly by Chigawa as he smiled something gruesome.
"Alright. Tell me."
"But..." Meiwaku looked at his own hands, "Don't hurt Maru. If you're looking to buy more time then... t-turn my hands inside out."
Chigawa shrugged.
"Works for me." He dropped Maru by the window, "So... where's your mother?"
Meiwaku gulped fearfully as his birth-dad approached, his shadow nearly engulfing the entire teen. He stalled, watching the window out of the corner of his eye. Silently, Eiji wrapped a hand around Maru's shocked face and dragged her outside the temple. And just like that, they were gone.
They were safe.
Meiwaku exhaled slowly. He might never get to be a hero, but if he was able to save his friends and family and keep them safe... then that was good enough for him.
"She's a flight attendant during the week... this week she was staying in Seoul, Korea. She's probably still there. In the hotel two blocks from the airport." He lied. But that was alright.
"Heh. Now was that so hard?" Chigawa chuckled.
Meiwaku closed his eyes as he held his hands out. He prepared himself for a pain he never wanted to feel again. But he's survived worse.
Chigawa grabbed Meiwaku's wrists and grinned,
"I'll tell your mother you said hi—"
*WHACK!*
"Gah!" Chigawa was knocked on the side of his head by a large stick. Taking his opportunity, Meiwaku dashed out from under him and ran two the two biggest idiots he had ever seen.
"What the cuss are you doing?! Get out of here! Go!" He tried to shoo Eiji and Maru, but they weren't going anywhere.
"Nuh-uh!" Maru exclaimed as she wrung her old rope between her fingers. "We can take him! I mean it!"
"No! Get out of here! Bak-Otaku! You rescued your friend now get her outta here!"
"You're my friend too, Meiwaku!" Eiji screamed at his former bully. Basuji wasn't sure what to say. This friendship continues to shock him.
Chigawa stood tall once more and pointed at the three upcoming heroes, yelling,
"You think you and your two friends are gonna stop me?!"
"He's not alone!" A shout came from outside. It shocked even Baachu.
"Huh? Gah!"
*BAM!*
Someone body slammed Chigawa across the room and through a paper wall! Panting, Tasen caught his breath in front of the three.
"You came!" Eiji laughed.
"I came to stop you from being an idiot!" Tasen declared as he poked Eiji in the chest.
"Me too!" Candy jumped in. Tasen gasped in horror.
"You came too?!"
"Yeah! Oh, and Koteki too! He's somewhere around here!"
"..."
"..."
"...Oh my God we're all idiots..." Tasen realized.
Suddenly, a very angry man came crashing back into the main room.
"I fucking HATE KIDS!"
"We stall him for ya!" Candy beamed, "But we really really need to get outta here— AHH!"
The floorboards under their feet split down the room, curling and crackling underneath them! Chigawa was turning the very ground they stood upon inside out!
"What's he doing?!" Tasen gasped as they all tried keeping their balance. Suddenly, the support beams began to sink into the floor, and the walls began to bulge! Meiwaku tried shoving his friends out the door, but it was incredibly difficult to stand.
"He's bringing the temple down on us! Get out before he kills us all!"
The smile on Chigawa's face was too sinister as he watched the struggling students try and leave the collapsing building. That is, until a rock hit his open eyeball.
"Ah! Fuck! Who the hell—"
Koteki stood there with his hand in his satchel and a courage in his chest.
"How many little shits am I gonna haveta kill- OOF! What the hell?" Chigawa flinched at the rocks Koteki was throwing.
"Takes these!" He threw his friends little bags, "Throw all the rocks you can grab!"
Chigawa swiped and swung at every rock thrown his way, turning each one inside out!
"The Void's outta rocks, Gatekeeper!" Eiji gasped as he dug deeper into his bag. But Meiwaku didn't care what he could grab ahold of.
"Just throw it all! Go go go!"
T-Shirts, socks, pants and coats were flung at their attacker. His quirk was useless against this ammo- every shirt he turned inside out still managed to hit his face.
"Haha! Take that!" Candy laughed as he tossed some dirty socks at the man. "If you didn't pick up crime you coulda been a great laundromat!"
"Grr..." Chigawa charged after the annoying squirt with his posture low and his hands out.
"Ahhh! Not meeeee!"
"Hyah!" Maru touched a dozen or so things in her bag and launched them like bullets at her kidnapper! But the villainous man grazed his fingertips against the flying projectiles.
"You think that shit can stop—"
The projectiles were batteries. And all of them turned inside out. It's burning liquids splashed against the skin of his hands, arms and face!
"AUGH!" He curled over and wiped as much off of himself as possible. But the skin had already blistered an boiled away. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Chigawa lurched out, his hand grasping for Maru's face.
Time seemed to slow for Eiji. He couldn't move as he watched Chigawa's fingertips come centimeters away from Maru's round, freckled cheeks when—
He stopped.
His eyes growing wide, Chigawa looked to see what had grabbed his wrist. The tall, muscular man sparked green.
And much to his absolute horror, the one and only number one hero stared back at him.
"Get your hands off my daughter." Deku barely had to flick his wrist to send Chigawa flying backwards out of the building. "Everyone, follow me!" Deku declared. Tasen, Candy and Koteki couldn't believe their eyes! The number one hero was rescuing them!
Deku picked up Maru and gently brushed his fingers through the dried blood in her hair.
"Maru! Are you alright?! How's your head?!"
"I'm fine... Actually, scratch that— I really don't feel good. My head really hurts."
"It's okay sweetheart, we're going to get you and your friends to safety! Come on! Don't delay!"
"Yessir!" They all followed when Chigawa came crawling back in. He spat some blood on the floor. Of course this wasn't going to be that easy...
"Everyone get behind me!"
The five children hid behind Deku as he held his daughter in his arms. He didn't look like he was prepared to fight. But they trusted him. He could protect them. ...Right?
Chigawa did not show one ounce of fear. The walk he strode gave him the aura didn't have anything else to lose. But Deku didn't move. He just stood there.
"Time to FUCKING die!" Chigawa lunged.
But a deep, rumbling sound shook the earth, and in a terrifying ball of flame and smoke, a figure crashed through the ceiling. Thick, black smog rolled across the floor of the abandoned temple, and from the ashes rose a silhouette of a man. The only thing prominent from his form was a single kitsune mask. Simple, piercing, ominous. With his hands sparking in anticipation, the voice growled from underneath,
"Yeah, fuck off."
And all hell broke loose.
"Time to go!" Deku effortlessly tossed Candy and Koteki over his shoulder and carried Tasen and Maru under his arms like luggage. "Come on! Let's go!" He demanded of Eiji and Meiwaku. Immediately they chased after the green flash of light! They weren't about to sit around and get in Ground Zero's way!
But somebody grabbed Meiwaku's collar before his escape.
"If you just told me where your mother was hours ago I wouldn't be in this shit! Now die!"
"Ack!" The terror in Meiwaku's eyes was evident.
"Meiwaku no!" Eiji sent a palm spike grazing against the convict's acid burn. "Don't touch him!"
"Rahh!" Ground Zero came in and kneed Chigawa, shoving him away from the petrified boys.
Their dads were fighting. It was so weird, but their dads were fighting to the death!
Bakugo sent a kick into Chigawa's side, sending him reeling back, and screamed to the two teenagers,
"Get out of here! And Eiji! What the hell are you doing?! I said stay with your class!"
"B-But Maru and Meiwaku are in my class, too! I couldn't just stand by and do nothing!" He complained as Bakugo kept fighting Chigawa.
"Eiji! I'm serious! I need you to stay back!"
"No!"
"This is NOT a time to argue!"
"I can't just sit here and do nothing while you and Meiwaku get hurt! I can't I—" Bakugo stopped his son with a loud explosion aimed at the villain and spoke,
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes, but—"
"Eiji."
"..." Baachu looked up at his dad, his whole body shaking with adrenaline and fear. But Katsuki was calm. He was collected. And he was quite as he spoke,
"Do you trust me?"
"..." With tremors quaking his body from the sick feeling in his stomach, Eiji swallowed it down and coughed, "I can."
"Because I need you to trust me. We're a team. Teams depend on trust."
"I... I will trust you."
"I know that's not easy. But you have to trust me."
"...I trust you."
With a smile behind his mask, Bakugo said,
"Then get you and your friend the fuck out of here."
"Ground Zero! Look out!" Meiwaku screamed at Eiji's dad.
"Don't turn your back on me!" The crazed villain reached out! And to Eiji's absolute horror, he grabbed Bakugo's face...
...But luckily, he was wearing that kitsune mask! It tore itself inside out, falling to the ground!
And the man behind the mask scared the straight piss out of Chigawa. Gasping, he stepped backwards.
"I-It's you!" He almost fell to the floor. "Y-You..."
"Huh? Remember me, bastard?" Bakugo smirked as he looked over the pathetic man. "Because I sure as hell don't remember you."
"You..." Chigawa's eyes had actual fear in them. It was the only time Meiwaku saw fear in them at all, and it gave him hope. Hope of safety again. "You did this to me! You put me through eleven years of hell—" Bakugo sucker punched him in the face.
"Hate to break it to you, fucker—" He grabbed his shirt collar and dagger him to his level, "—But you did this to yourself."
And he head butted Chigawa. And again. And again. And again. Until the man was barely keeping consciousness and his nose was broken in. But Bakugo just kept cracking his face open. Over. And over. And over. Until he there was no more shit leaving the villain's mouth. And he let him fall to the floor, a husk of his former self, whatever the former may be.
Like he did every time, Ground Zero won.
"D-Dad!" Eiji gasped and bumped Meiwaku's frozen body. "Dad! Are you okay?! You got him!"
"Huh?" Bakugo's brain was slightly scrambled, too. "I gotta thick skull. Like SOMEBODY else I know."
"Uncle Denki?" Eiji sheepishly joked. Katsuki groaned before flicking his stupid son between the eyes.
"Just be glad you aren't dead so that I don't have to kill you. Do you know how messed up I'd be if I let you get hurt?"
But unknowns to them, the fight was not yet won. Wobbling onto his feet, Chigawa stared at the two through the blood dripping down his face. His eyes locked on the back of Eiji's head.
"I'll kill you bastards!" His hands curled around Eiji's cranium. Baachu barely began to turn around, Katsuki could only start to move his son out of the way, but it wasn't going to be fast enough. Chigawa's fingers brushed past the shortest hairs on the fifteen-year-old's head.
His quirk was running through his fingers. And the very hairs that he brushed against split down the middle.
But something stopped him.
"No!" Meiwaku screamed.
And pressed his hands against Chigawa's wrists.
"Huh?" Chigawa gasped at the sudden realization that something wasn't right. "Get off me! Get off!"
But Meiwaku didn't pry his hands away. He fought and struggled against the larger man, who in his last attempt, was reaching out towards Meiwaku again.
Then... Chigawa's hands grew hot.
Hot from the inside out.
"Uh?! Eueh?! Ahh! Stop! Get off!" He screamed in actual horror as he tried to scratch his own son. But Meiwaku kept fighting against the man who tried to kill his friends. "Get off! Get- Oh FUCK!" Suddenly, his own fingers began concaving inward on themselves. "God! Ahh!"
*POP-PAP!*
Blood splattered across Meiwaku's face, and his hands cupped the hot flesh that was no longer attached to his attacker.
"GRAHHHH!" Chigawa screamed in absolute agony. The pain was so immense that his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell unconscious to the floor...
...Handless.
