Tenya tried to get close enough to the villain to apprehend him, but ended up dodging back to avoid the spikes aimed at him. The villain just smiled at him and continued running down the street, stolen purse in hand. Tenya sighed as he pursued the man.

Just as he was about to grab him, the villain ducked into an alleyway. As Tenya followed him, he suddenly had to dodge to his right. The villain had used the momentary blind spot to unleash a volley of spikes from his forearms. Even with his quick reflexes, one of the spikes grazed his right shoulder.

He was surprised to feel a sharp pain, and when he looked at his shoulder, he realized that the spike had torn through his armor and grazed him. The wound was not deep, but the fact that the spikes were that sharp was concerning.

Shaking off his surprise, Tenya refocused his attention on the villain, grateful that he hadn't noticed his moment of distraction. The villain wasn't focused on him at all, instead he was staring at the wall in front of him. The alley was a dead end.

Tenya took a few steps forward before the villain spun around to face him. He smiled triumphantly, "You're cornered, villain. You should surrender now."

"Like hell I'm gonna just surrender to the likes of you!" Another couple of spikes shot towards Tenya, but he was able to easily dodge. Tenya's smile dropped when he realized that he wouldn't be able to get close enough to apprehend the villain, but at least the villain wouldn't be able to escape.

He was frustrated that he wouldn't be able to handle the situation on his own, but he knew that calling for backup would be the wisest move. Tenya activated the communicator that was built into his helmet, "Tanaka-kun, would you please contact a nearby hero and ask them to come to my location. I have the villain I was pursuing cornered, but I can't get close enough to apprehend him."

"Sure thing, boss man. It looks like Deku just finished up a fight a couple streets down. I'll give him a call, see if he wants to help." She replied. Tenya sighed at his intern's lack of respect, but he decided to wait to comment on it.

"Thank you." Realizing that his time was limited, the villain tried to rush past Tenya, but the hero moved to block his path. "You really should just give yourself up. You can't get out of this alley on your own."

Just then, one of the doors opened in between him and the villain. A waitress came out of it, carrying a bag of garbage. She looked at Tenya for a second before breaking into a smile, "Ingenium!"

"Go back inside, ma'am! I can handle this." Her smile froze at his words, and she slowly turned to look at the villain.

She gasped and turned to open the door, but it was locked. She started frantically pulling on the handle as the villain grinned, "Wanna bet, hero?" He said before shooting a volley of spikes at the woman from both arms.

Tenya sprinted towards the woman, aware that the villain was using the opportunity to escape, but knowing that the civilian was more important. He would catch the villain later. He reached the woman and grabbed her, running out of the path of the spikes. He heard them slam into the door not even a full second after he passed it.

Just in time!

"That was close. Are you okay, ma-" His words cut off as he looked down at the woman he was holding. There were three of the villain's spikes protruding from her skin. Two had lodged themselves in her chest, but the one that was making his blood run cold was the one stuck in her neck. She made a strangled, choking noise as she tried to gasp for breath.

As he kneeled down and laid her on his lap, one of her hands flew up to claw at her neck. Iida grabbed her hand away to keep her from causing more damage. Her sky blue eyes, filled with fear, roamed for a moment before they locked onto him. She seemed to be pleading for him to save her.

"Tanaka-san, call an ambulance." He instructed, praying that it would make it in time.

"Why? Are you hu-"

"Now!" He snapped, before taking off his helmet and laying it on the ground. He didn't have time to deal with Tanaka's questions.

"It's going to be alright." He comforted the woman. Now that she could look at his face without the distance of the mask, she seemed to relax a bit. "Just hold on."

He considered running her to the nearest hospital, but was worried that he would jostle her injuries too much. He knew that he needed to do something to help her, to save her, but he didn't know what. All he could do was hope the ambulance would get there soon.

"You're going to be ok." He stated with a confidence he didn't feel. The woman's eyes were still focused on him and she looked like she was trying to say something, but no words came out, just strangled breaths.

"I-I-" She managed to sound out before drawing in another breath. Before she could say anything else, she stilled and the hand that he had been holding went limp. Iida's heart dropped as he tried to process what that meant.

"No," He whispered as the spark in the woman's eyes faded. "No. Just-Just hold on. You're gonna be fine. Just-" His words were cut off by a strangled sob. She was gone. He hadn't been able to save her.

He didn't know how long he knelt there holding the woman and crying. He didn't hear the footsteps of someone approaching or the frantic calling of his name. The next thing he knew he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up in shock, he saw a familiar face.

"Midoriya? What are-" His words trailed off as he tried to focus on his friend, but his eyes were drawn back to the woman in his arms. "I-I tried to save her, but I was-I was too slow. I thought I made it, but-"

He heard Midoriya saying something but his brain wouldn't process it. All he could see was the corpse in front of him. The blood from her neck was soaking her chocolate brown hair, turning it a dark, almost black, color. Her face was frozen in a twisted expression of pain and terror as her eyes stared unseeingly up at him.

He tore his eyes away and turned to Midoriya in an attempt to focus on what he was saying but all he could hear were the choked gasps of the woman as she died and the bone-chilling silence that had followed. He knew that Midoriya was trying to talk to him, but for some reason his voice wasn't getting through the heavy silence.

He felt the woman move in his arms.

She's alive!

Iida took a deep breath as he realized that she could be saved. He could save her. Part of his mind was warning him that something was wrong, but he ignored those thoughts. He forced his eyes to focus on what was happening. Midoriya was pulling the woman from his lap.

"No!" Iida gasped, "I need-I need to get her to a hospital. I-I can save her." He looked down into her glassy, dull eyes. He knew that something wasn't right, but he couldn't listen to that now. He had to save her. "She's still alive! She's-"

"Tenya." He forced his eyes to focus on Midoriya. He was still holding the woman, but his eyes were locked onto Tenya, "You need to let her go," He said. Shaking his head, Iida started to argue. "Tenya, she's gone. Let her go." He looked down and saw Midoriya's hands on his, and watched as he pulled them off the woman. Part of him was screaming that he needed to do something, but he just kept watching as Midoriya picked up the woman and gently set her down a few steps away.

"We need to take her to a hospital. We need-" His sentence ended abruptly as a sob tore itself from his throat. He looked down and saw the pool of blood on his armor and on the ground. There was so much blood. More than he had ever seen.

She's gone.

She's gone. I couldn't save her.

I couldn't… I wasn't fast enough. I should have saved her, but I was too slow. She's gone. She's…

I should have been able to save her...

I'm a hero, aren't I? Why couldn't I save her? I was supposed to save her…

"-nya, Tenya." He looked up to see Midoriya kneeling in front of him. When had he moved? Iida tried to look at the woman again, but Midoriya was blocking her from his sight.

"Midoriya." His friend smiled sadly at him.

"Hey," Midoriya said looking over his armor. "Are you hurt?"

"I-" Was he hurt? He had been, hadn't he? He remembered bleeding. Had he been bleeding? She had been bleeding. She had been bleeding a lot. She had been bleeding and then she had been-

"Breathe, Tenya, breathe. Can you match my breathing?" He looked at Midoriya. He was breathing in and out deeply. He was also holding Iida's hand to his chest. When had he grabbed his hand? "In, out, in, out." Iida focused on the rhythm until his breathing leveled out.

"I-I was injured." He said, remembering Midoriya's earlier question, "But it was just a scratch. It wasn't like-"

"Where did you get scratched?" Midoriya cut him off. Where had he been scratched? He thought for a second.

"My shoulder." He replied, his hand reaching up to his right shoulder. Midoriya's hand followed his. "I-I remember being surprised that it cut through my armor." Midoriya nodded in agreement.

Midoriya's gaze landed on something behind Iida. Turning his head, he saw a vehicle parked on the street. He could see the flashing lights, but it wasn't until two people walked out of the back of it and started approaching them, that he realized what the vehicle was.

An ambulance! They're here. They can save her. That's why they came! They can-

No...

They can't…

They're too late…

Why are they…

"Thanks for coming. Ingenium isn't badly injured but he is in shock." Midoriya's words answered his question. They weren't there for the woman; they were there for him. He was in shock? Yes, he was. He could see the signs now, but knowing wasn't helping.

One of the paramedics approached him and helped him to his feet. Tenya tried to stand on his own, but his movements were too jerky and uncoordinated. Why couldn't he just make his body listen? Why was he taking this so hard?

"Can you go with them to the hospital, Tenya?" Iida took a moment to process the question before giving a jerky nod. "I'll come meet you there as soon as I catch this villain." He promised.

Wait, what?

No.

I should stop him. I need to stop him. It was my job, but I let him escape.

I let him…

His thought trailed off as he looked towards the woman again. All he saw was a sheet that someone had laid over her body.

I let him kill her.