We start to descend towards an empty lot near by. We hadn't really considered the landing component of this. I hold as tightly as I can onto Bakugo but I can feel myself starting to slip. Bakugo pulls his hand away from Kirishima so that he can hold me close to him as we land. I gasp as he sets off a small explosion below us.
Although the speed was reduced by Bakugo's explosions we still somewhat crash into the ground. I let go of Bakugo, rolling a few times as we land. I sit up, my head is spinning from the landing. Bakugo pushes himself to his feet. He stumbles forward over to me, reaching out his hand.
"Nakashima-chan, can you stand?" He asks. I mutter a vague 'yeah'. I take his hand and he pulls me up. I hear the other three boys move to their feet. Midoriya is looking at Bakugo like he's seen a ghost.
"What the fuck you staring at Deku?" he growls. I roll my eyes. I let go of Bakugo's hand and step over to the three boys, embracing each of them.
"Thank you so much. It was gonna be tough for us to get out of there," I say smiling. They smile back.
"I'm glad you're safe," Midoriya says warmly.
We exit the lot and head towards a busier street. Soon we become a part of a crowd of evacuated civilians. I watch Midoriya make a phone call. It's apparent he's talking to Todoroki who I learn is with Momo somewhere over the other side of the fight.
Heroes ushered us towards a train station where we became stuck in an even larger crowd. The trains aren't running. I see above the station a large screen. It's airing the fight between the pipe necked villain and All Might. I stood between Iida and Midoriya. Kirishima and Bakugo stand behind us.
It's brutal. All Might is going all out but it's like he can barely match the pipe necked villain's power. I've never seen anything like it. I look to my left at Midoriya. His face is pale. He looks terrified.
All Might defends against a huge shockwave. As we watch the fight on the screen we can also hear it in the distance. As the dust and debris settles gasps are heard consecutively amongst the crowd. I bring a hand to my mouth. On the screen is All Might. He's still standing but he appears sickly and deflated.
"N-no..." I hear Midoriya stutter. I turn to my friend, he's trembling.
"His secret..." he says. I grab his hand. I don't quite get it but Midoriya appears particularly distressed. His eyes stay glued to the screen. I can see tears forming.
"Midoriya-kun... I-it'll be okay," I say. My voice shakes, not convinced by my own words. I feel Midoriya's hand tighten around mine. The crowd stirs. Some shouting support, others quietly worrying.
"Win, All Might!" Midoriya and Bakugo shout in unison. I feel my own eyes begin to water. I look back up on the screen.
Suddenly more heroes appear: Kamui Woods, Endeavour, Edgeshot. They take control of the area around All Might.
I begin to feel overwhelmed. Midoriya is trembling next to me. There is moisture from my tears on my cheeks. My heart thumps in my chest. The air feels sharp in my lungs. The crowd begins to get progressively more agitated. It makes me feel claustrophobic somehow.
All Might lands one last tremendous punch in the pipe necked villain, slamming him down into the ground. The crowd cheers.
He's won.
Midoriya pulls his hand out of mine, wiping his tears.I look back to Bakugo and Kirishima. Kirishima is overjoyed but Bakugo's expression is stoic.
"He's won, Bakugo-kun," I say softly. I feel a range of emotions. Relief but also concern and guilt. All Might is in this state because he had to save us, right? I can't bring myself to smile.
"Yeah," he replied distantly. I don't know what to do.
I avert my gaze. I find myself unable to move. All Might won but at what cost? I feel myself begin to tremble. My heart feels heavy. I'm feeling light headed. All Might is ruined after this fight. It doesn't look like he's coming back from that. My breathing becomes uneven. I'm only bought back to my senses when I feel Bakugo's hand on my shoulder.
"Pull yourself together," he murmurs gruffly. I up at him and nod. I clench my fists.
"We need to let the heroes know you and Bakugo-kun are safe," Iida says. We begin to step away when All Mights now skeletal figure is once again captured on the screen. He points directly at the camera.
"You're next," he says. It's a powerful statement. The crowd cheers. Kirishima grins.
"He's amazing even like this," Kirishima exclaims. Calls of a similar sentiment can be heard from around us. There's only a few who aren't celebrating. Midoriya looks horribly upset, crying heavily. Bakugo watches him, showing no emotion. I feel heavy. My head hurts, it feels like it's pounding.
"Nakashima-kun... are you okay?" I hear Iida ask. I nod.
"Mmm. Let's go let them know we're safe," I say quietly. I don't have the energy to fake any excitement or joy.
The five of us walk to the police station. I feel numb. I can't even focus on what the police are saying as they direct us inside. At our arrival Midoriya, Iida and Kirishima are sent home.
Bakugo and I are directed to a room where we're seated on a couch. I get seen by a doctor for my neck. He cleans and bandages it. I'm told it will likely scar. They call Bakugo's parents and my brother. While we wait for them to arrive they ask us some general questions about what happened but otherwise let us rest. We sit in silence.
After sometime the door to the room opens. Accompanied by a police officer is Kenta and Bakugo's parents.
"Haruki!" Kenta cries. He flies over to me, embracing me. I wrap my arms around him.
"I'm okay, Kenta," I say, my voice muffled by his chest.
"I was so worried. I thought you were leaving me behind," he croaked through tears. He leans back to look at me, holding onto each of my shoulders.
"Never. It'll take more than that to get rid of me," I say softly. I muster a small smile. I look over to see Bakugo's mother fussing over him much to his displeasure. His father stood to the side quietly.
"Get the fuck off me, hag." He growls. I roll my eyes.
"Chill dude, she's your mother," I say. He glares at me. He never changes, does he? I manage a genuine laugh. Bakugo stops struggling as he watches me. Mitsuki wraps her arms around her son while also turning to look up at me.
"It's nice to see you again, Haruki-chan. I met your brother out in the foyer," She says, speaking to me familiarly. Kenta placed a hand on the top of my head.
"We learnt that we live close by so they're going to drive us home," he said. Bakugo scowls. I bow at Bakugo's parents.
"Thank you very much," I say.
After wrapping things up at the police station Bakugo, Kenta and I squeeze into the back seat of Mitsuki and Marasu's car. I sit in the middle between Bakugo and Kenta. My hand brushes against Bakugo's thigh as I do up my seatbelt. Bakugo glowers but says nothing.
"Sorry, Bakugo-kun," I say. I hear him 'tch'. I study his face. He looks exhausted. I suppose it's been a long time since he slept.
I rub my neck. It was stinging after the doctor had disinfected it. This scar will be a constant reminder to me of what happened tonight. My mind flashes back to All Mights skeletal form.
My stomach sinks. It occurs to me much of what had happened over the mast 24 hours could have been avoided if I had just been a little bit stronger or a little faster. If I had run the moment I got those orbs into my hands All Might wouldn't have had to rescue us. If I was stronger Bakugo wouldn't have had to protect me. This scar will be a mark of my weakness.
—
We were instructed to stay indoors if we could. I spoke to my classmates over the phone during this time: Mina, Midoroya, Uraraka, Iida. I even heard from Shroud who sent me a message wishing me a speedy recovery. I made a point to obtain Todoroki's phone number. I called both him and Momo to thank them for their help in my escape.
I sent messages to Bakugo but got no response. I tried not to take it personally but I did feel a little bit hurt. I had thought we were beginning to become close, especially after the way he'd defended me against those villains. I had wanted to thank him. My mind slipped back to the feeling of his arms around me. He'd felt warm and strong. He had told me to trust him and I did completely. Perhaps he thinks I'm pathetic. Perhaps he blames me for what happened.
While I was lost in my thoughts Kenta picked up our mail. He came back with one important letter in hand. We had received a letter from UA. He sat next to me on the couch.
"Hey they're saying they'd like you to come live on campus next term," Kenta says, reading the letter. I take the letter from his hands.
"I kind of like living here though," I say as I read it. Kenta rolled his eyes. I look up at him sadly.
"It's okay. You can still visit. It's not that far from here," he says. He pulls me into a hug. I feel like we'd developed such a good relationship recently. I didn't want to lose that again.
"I'm not abandoning you like I did last time," he whispers into my hair. I grin.
"You've indulged me too much Kenta. I've become comfortable here," I laugh sadly.
—
The teachers arranged to come by to discuss the move on campus. The day of the meeting arrives. I had helped Kenta clean up the house beforehand.
"I have to admit I'm kind of nervous about meeting the pro heroes. I wonder who they'll send?" Kenta says. I think about it.
"Mmm probably Aizawa-sensei," I say.
"He was the one on TV right?" Kenta asks. I nodded.
That afternoon we heard a knock on the door. I stand up to answer.
"That'll be them," I say. I watch Kenta's ears flick nervously. I smirk. I suppose for most people meeting pros is still like meeting a celebrity. I've become desensitised to it.
I open the door. Stood before me is Aizawa and All Might. I give them a small bow. I still wasn't used to All Might in this form. Something about it was throwing me.
"Good afternoon, Aizawa-sensei, All Might." I say loud enough for Kenta to hear. I hear him shift in the living room.
"Good afternoon, Nakashima-chan. You understand why we are here?" Aizawa asks.
"Yes, sensei. Please come in," I say. I lead them into our small apartment. Kenta stands up from the dining table and bows.
"Good afternoon," he says politely.
Before I knew it, Kenta and I were sat across from All Might and Aizawa at our dining table. Kenta's ears twitched.
"So what we wanted to discuss with you today is the possibility of Nakashima-chan coming to live on campus. We think it will be the safest decision given recent events," Aizawa explained. I raised a hand to my throat. My bandages had been removed but as predicted I had been left with a red scar across my neck.
"Sure thing. I don't have a problem with it," Kenta says outright.
"You're willing to comply?" Aizawa asks surprised at his quick acceptance. Kenta smiles, folding his hands in front of himself.
"Mm. I don't know how much of Haruki's situation you're aware of but I do think it would be best," he says.
"Situation?" All Might asks. I look up at Kenta.
"Kenta I don't think you need to bore my teachers with this," I say nervously. What the hell is he doing?!
"I think they should know. After all, they're going to be looking after you. You're aware that Haruki is living with me because she's an orphan?" He asks. Aizawa nodded.
"I have a loose understanding of the situation... from Shroud," Aizawa said, eying me closely. Wow, they'd both kept that from me. I scowl. Did those two know each other better than I thought?
"Well you should know that we're half siblings. Neither of us have our fathers around so when our mother died nearly 8 years ago we were left stranded. I couldn't look after Haruki so she's been on her own circling through different homes until she moved in with me this year," he says. I stayed silent. All Might looked between myself and Kenta.
"It's not really ideal though. This is a one bedroom apartment. She's spent most nights on the couch. What you're offering her with a dorm is a comfortable place to sleep, living with people she likes. I can't really oppose an opportunity with that," Kenta explains. All Might looks uncharacteristically grim.
"Kenta..." I whisper harshly. "You're making things uncomfortable."
"I'm just explaining what they should know," he says. He smiles at the two heroes. "I would appreciate you taking her away to some place better."
Aizawa watches me stoically as I frown. I disliked the transparency that had been established. It encouraged pity.
"Okay. If you have any questions the school's details are at the bottom of the letter. We'll contact you closer to the date to discuss specifics," Aizawa explains. I was grateful for him not pushing for any further details. He and All Might stand. Kenta and I bow again to them.
With that it was arranged I would live on campus.