Uraraka and Tsu had been paired together for the challenge tonight, and I was relieved to see both of them together still. They weren't alone, however, and the unfamiliar teenage girl smiled cheekily at me from behind her gas mask. In her hand was a knife, and I was highly concerned when I saw it already had blood smeared along the edge. Uraraka stood clutching her arm, giving me a good guess as to who's it was.
"Oh wow, a new friend!" the crazed-looking blonde girl said dreamily.
"Mei, be careful!" Uraraka warned.
"What kind of person slashes people out of nowhere?" Tsu said aghast, staring at the blonde. "Just who do you think you are?"
I circled around, keeping my eyes firmly locked on the young villain as I made my way closer to the students. My fingers itched with energy, and I was ready to ignite my quirk at a second's notice.
"I'm Toga!" the girl introduced herself cheerfully, brandishing her knife. "You girls are cute. Let's be friends!"
"Sorry, I've got enough friends already," I said cooly as I stepped in between the Yūei students and the villain, Toga. "But if you hurt the friends I do have, we could be enemies instead."
She giggled. "Uraraka, Asui, and Hara," she named, pointing at each of us in turn with her knife.
My blood turned cold as she named the girls behind me. Don't tell me they're on the list too... how many do they plan on taking?!
"Does she know us from the sports festival? We know nothing about her, so we're at a disadvantage," Tsu muttered behind me.
"The League of Villains is here to kidnap the students. Be on your guard," I hissed lowly, every fiber of my body on alert as I waited for the inevitable attack.
"W-wait?" Uraraka stuttered out fearfully.
"Ooh, someone knows too much," Toga said in a sing-song voice. "I think you need to bleed a little." She unhooked an attachment from the machine pack she had slung on her back. "Normally I'd just suck the blood straight from the cut to make it flow, but their's no time. Don't you worry though, girls, this machine will start pumping it out of you as soon as I stick you. I'll get my fill and move on - I'm not a part of the capture team," she explained with a psychotic gleam in her eyes. "Who's first?" she challenged and dove forward.
Tsu's reaction time was impressive as she grabbed Uraraka with her tongue, tossing her up in the air and away fro the attack. Simultaneously I kept forward, hands awash in violet flames and I darted around the girl, trying to land my blow on her back. If I could break this machine she seemed to be relying on, that would be a good start. Toga turned just as quickly though, swiping her knife at my midsection and I grunted as it sliced through my shirt. The cut was shallow, but even so I felt the warm, wet feeling of blood began to seep into my clothing. That was too close. Any deeper and I'd be spilling my entrails on the forest floor.
Behind me Tsu was yelling at Uraraka to get back to camp, and I hoped the frog girl would have the sense to run as well. I could hold this one off, and hopefully subdue her pretty quickly. The teen villain was fast, but not faster than me.
"Tsu, look out!" Uraraka yelled.
Toga leapt after the green haired girl as she was preparing to jump after her friend. The villain managed to graze her tongue with her blade right before my hand smashed her to the ground. She rolled and bounced back to her feet easily. "Oh, you are a tricky one," she snickered while side eyeing me more cautiously than before. "But, Tsu? What a cute nickname!" she giggled, attention back on the other girl. "I think I'll call you that too!"
"No you won't! Only my friends get to call me that!" she yelled back, leaping out of the way just in time to miss the girl's next attack. I took advantage of the distraction and aimed a fiery blast at the villain. Ranged flame attacks weren't my specialty, and when I employed them they were usually slow and weak. Saint Elmo's Fire was a slow, creeping blaze unlike Todoroki's powerful inferno. Despite that I took the shot anyway - I was concerned about getting too close to that knife again. Toga dodged and in the same movement had Tsu pinned against a tree. "That means we're friends then, right?!" she cheered. "And you, Mei, I think you and I are going to be really good friends too!"
"I'm coming!" I heard Uraraka yell, and internally I groaned.
"No, get out of here!" I instructed, but she paid me no heed. As the villain girl went for her next, a look of determination fell on the brunette's face. In awe I watched the deft movements as she stepped into the attack and grabbed Toga's knife arm. With one fluid motion she grabbed the back of the blonde's head and slammed her into the ground, holding her there. Instantly I was there too with my knee pressed in the small of her back and pulling her hands behind her to restrain the villain.
"Wow, that was amazing, Ochaco!" I said, staring at the small girl in awe. Uraraka grinned.
"Yes, you're delightful, Ochaco," Toga purred, voice muffled by the ground and yet you could still hear the smile in her voice. "You and Mei - you two are just like me, aren't you?" she said breathlessly, "You have the same smell as me... you both have a crush on someone, don't you?"
"Shut up," I hissed, pressing my knee into her back harder and she coughed out a laugh.
"I also have a crush on someone. Do you girls want to be just like your special someone too? Because I do." I glanced at Uraraka as she knelt frozen to the spot, still holding Toga's head down, but the smile from a moment ago was nowhere to be found. "How cute - us lovesick girls all hanging out together." Toga jerked suddenly and I wasn't quick enough to stop the small unexpected movement as she shifted the machine's needle point just enough that it sank into Uraraka's thigh. The young girl cried out, instinctively letting go of the villain's neck at the sharp sting of pain, and in that same moment Toga bucked her body. It threw me off balance just enough that the blonde girl managed to break free.
"Uraraka! Hara!" a voice yelled and I whipped my head around to see several other students running down the path towards us.
"Boo. There's too many people here now to keep playing," Toga pouted, standing up and letting her gaze flit between us and the other students approaching. Her hole demeanor changed in an instant, and suddenly she was serious, and almost seemed disappointed. "Toodles," she said regretfully before running off into the woods.
"Stop!" Uraraka yelled.
"No, don't go after her!" I said. "She never even used her quirk so we don't know what it does. We've all got to get back to camp now," I insisted. "How badly are you hurt?" I asked, kneeling next to the antigravity hero as the other students reached us.
"Not bad. It barely even hurts," she lied. I glanced up and my heart flip-flipped with first relief and then concern. Shoji was carrying Midoriya on his back, and while the mutation quirk teen dripped blood from what looked like a missing appendage, the teen he supported looked even worse off. But at least he was alive.
"Midoriya, thank god you're alive! I could fucking kill you myself," I seethed, standing up and approaching the group. "What were you thinking?!"
"Woah there, Hara, settle down," Shoji cautioned.
"I... I had to save Koda," the first injured boy replied. "I'm not sorry. He's fine now and he's with Mr. Aizawa, so I'm glad I did what I did." He looked past me, green eyes (one almost swollen shut from swelling) landed on Uraraka and his brow furrowed in concern. "You all are hurt. What happened?"
"Yeah, who was that girl?" Todoroki asked. He carried an injured student on his back too - it was one of the class 1B kids, but for the life of me right now I couldn't remember his name.
"One of the villains. She was crazy!" Tsu replied, voice betraying how shaken she was by the incident.
"Forget about her - we have to keep moving and get back. We're all in danger. The villains are here to kidnap some students," I informed the new arrivals.
"The villain I fought said something similar, and I know for sure they're after Kacchan at least," Midoriya replied. "Join our group you guys and we'll go back to camp together - we were protecting Kacchan since we know for sure he's a target. We could use your help."
"You are too, Midoriya. Didn't you hear Spinner earlier? And I think you probably are too, Todoroki," I replied and for some odd reason I had a horrible feeling I was missing something important.
"Wait, if you're protecting Bakugo, shouldn't he be standing here with you guys?" Tsu asked in confusion, cocking her head as she glanced around.
Oh no.
Much too late, I realized what I was missing. The group had consisted of six when they arrived - now there was only four.
"Nice trick, eh?" a smooth voice said smugly. "Shame you noticed already - few second more and your band would have been down another."
"They took Bakugo and Tokoyami!" Todoroki exclaimed with shocked anger.
"Yes - I call it my magic," the villain stood on a branch up in a tree a few meters away, lazily juggling a couple of small marble-like orbs. "It's a great stunt for capture."
"Give them back!" Midoriya yelled.
"Oh, are you volunteering to go next?" the villain leered from behind his mask.
"Not on your life," I growled as the flames at my fingertips roared to life, quickly climbing up my arms. "Release those boys now, our you'll regret it," I threatened while my heart pounded in my chest.
"What odd things you kids say. 'Give them back' and 'you'll regret it.' These boys don't belong to anyone, and threats aren't very heroic, are they dear?" he said cheekily.
"Good thing I'm not a hero yet then!" I yelled as I launched forward. I had to keep my eyes on those strange marbles - whatever his quirk was, it appeared to capture the students inside those blue pearls. Without knowing how his power worked though, I had no clue if it was an effect that would wear off on its own no or if he was the only one who could release him. If it was the latter, I had to be even more careful.
The showy villain dodged, leaping to another treetop, and I shot after him, aiming my blow at his chest. Again he dodged and I swore loudly as he retreated. "Apologies, but slight-of-hand and escapology are my specialties, not combat." He waved at me as he bound away, faster than I was expecting.
"Fuck!" I cursed again in desperation. My speed was suffering after training all day, and the blood loss from the gash in my stomach wasn't helping either. Still, I knew I had to go after him. Up ahead, I saw him press a hand to the side of his head like he was talking into an earpiece, but the wind snatched away his words. As I flew after him, clinging to my exhausted quirk with all the strength I had, I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a quick and indiscriminate prayer up to the sky that I would have signal out here. My heart almost dropped out of my chest with relief as it started ringing, and I gritted my teeth, still flying through tree tops as it rang. And rang.
And rang.
"Hello! I am here as a voicemail recording, because I can't come to the phone right now! Please leave a message!" a cheerful voice followed by a high-pitched beep sounded through the phone, and I screamed in frustration.
"Toshi! Shit, please answer the phone," I cried, "It's happening - they've got Bakugo and Tokoyami. Midoriya's hurt pretty fucking bad, and I've lost a good bit of blood myself. I'm going after the villain who captured the boys, but I don't know if the other villains have gotten anyone else. We haven't heard from the teachers again, so I have no clue how the pros are holding up." I paused, gasping for breath and ahead of me the villain still was steadily growing further and further away. "I... listen, I know there's a good chance I won't make it out of this alive... and I think you know that too, Toshi. If- if I never see you again, I just needed you to know-"
"Hara, behind you!" Midoriya yelled, and with shock I whipped around to see him, Todoroki, and Shoji flying through the air like human bullets. The kids had formed their own plan for rescue, it seemed. Todoroki reached out a hand to me and I grabbed it as they shot passed. The move added my momentum to theirs and we gained on the villain finally. In order to grab onto Todoroki, I'd had to drop my phone, and somewhere below the trees I was sure it was smashed on the ground. Tears stung at the corner of my eyes as I realized he'd never know now.
I'd never get to tell Toshinori I loved him.
But that was something I was going to have to face later. Right now I needed to focus on the present. We collided with the villain mid-air and sent him crashing to the ground.
"Woah, woah, woah! What's this?" a voice asked in confusion and with dread I realized we'd been unwittingly lead right to the villain's companions. I berated myself internally for being so stupid - that must have been who he was calling on his ear piece! Three villains starred us down (one of them was the psycho girl from earlier) and the one in a black suit and mask that reminded me of Deadpool somehow was the one speaking. He spoke in a disjointed, manic way as if he was two people deaths than one. "Hey, I know these kids!" he exclaimed, followed immediately by, "Who are they?"
The third villain looked like a real piece of work. His skin was like patchwork, and his piercing blue eyes looked almost bored. "How nice of you to bring so many with you, Compress," he said, eyeing each of us. "All but one of them are on the list, but I know you like to improvise. Get out of the way," he instructed and a volley of blue fire blasted from the young man's palm. I took the brunt of it, knowing that my body had a higher resistance to heat due to my quirk, but even still I felt like I was burning alive.
Which I guess technically I was.
The villain he called Compress vanished beneath us just before the attack, and the other two villains leapt at us from either side. The battle was a flurry of movement and I couldn't keep track of everyone as we fought. I dove back and forth between the attackers, protecting and aiding my classmates as best I could. Even with my experience though, I could feel my body failing the longer I fought - I was at my limit. My speed and attacks were suffering, and my movement handicapped my the gash that still bled too heavily. While at first I thought it had been shallow, I was now beginning to wonder if it hadn't sliced some of my abdominal muscles too.
The villain we'd been chasing reappeared as if our of nowhere, and I realized that he must have used his quirk on himself in order to dodge the fire guy's attack. I quickly weighted my options, planning on trying an attack while they were distracted, but was stopped when Shoji yelled, "You guys! We're done! He gave away his best trick. I'm not sure what your quirk is, but it had to do with those little marbles, right?" the multi-armed boy held up two small blue pearls and I almost wanted to cry with relief. We weren't out of the woods yet, but it was a start. "I'm guessing these are Tokoyami and Bakugo."
"You rescued them!" Midoriya gave an exhausted cheered.
Compress laughed. "We'll color me impressed - just what you'd expect from someone with so many hands. How splendid."
Before the villain had even finished his false congratulations we were already running, and I was glad Midoriya's legs seemed to be more intact then the rest of his body. As we neared the tree line though, a shuffling figure emerged from the shocked. With horror I realized we were staring straight in the zombie-like eyes of another Nomu.
"A Nomu!" Midoriya gasped.
"How many of these damn things are there?!" I gritted out, feeling panic rise again. We were out numbered, and I wasn't sure how we were going to all escape this, especially since we didn't know what this Nomu's quirks were yet.
A flash of dark mist sunk my spirits even further as another villain made an appearance, and this one I recognized too - it was the warp villain, Kurogiri. "We're running out of time. Grab the ones you can, and let's go, Dabi," he ordered.
"No!" I yelled and put every ounce of energy I had left in to my last attack - my special move, Mast Fire. Flames rolled off my body and skittered across the ground, naturally adhering to anything mildly cylindrical or with a pointed end... the villains' legs, trees, Todoroki's ice shards. Suddenly the world was ablaze in purple fire, and only the three students behind me were spared the electric fire. Toga and multiple-personality guy both shouted, and Kurogiri threw up portals for them to dive through as he seemed to be spared the flaming torrent with his plasma-like body. The patchwork villain, Dabi, also seemed rather unimpressed.
"We're not leaving without at least a couple of them," he growled. "We came this far."
Compress seemed to have lost his calm, entertainer's demeanor as he tried to extinguish the flames climbing his pants leg. "No, we've got two. See?" He pulled his mask aside and spat out two marble into his hand, and the truth came crushing down on me - he was a master of slight-of-hand, so of course he would misdirect the attention elsewhere. The ones they have are just ice shards, these are the two-"
I rocketed forward and slammed my fist into his jaw, making a grab for the orbs holding the students captive. The blow was enough to cause the villain to stumble, however, and the pearls went flying. "All of you, run!" I shouted, diving to grab one of the small marbles while several feet away I saw Shoji catch the other. I stumbled, ready to run too before I noticed where my trajectory had landed me. Dabi's hand closed around my throat, and I stared into his narrow blue eyes with wide, terrified ones.
"Thanks for grabbing him," he said, clamping his other hand over mine where I held onto the pearl. "I think we'll just take you too," his hand squeezed tighter, and already the edges of my vision were going hazy. Too much quirk use, too much blood loss, and too little oxygen. "Release them, Compress - just to be sure," Dabi ordered.
The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Bakugo's blonde hair beside me, and the last thing I heard was Midoriya's pained scream.
"You have one old message. First old message:" a robotic woman's voice floated through the phone speaker. The red cell phone laid on the coffee table amid a mess of papers, sketches, and maps. Beside it sat a cold mug of tea that hadn't been touched.
The next sound that came through the speaker was a garbled scream of frustration, muted by the rush of wind against the microphone. "Toshi! Shit, please answer the phone. It's happening - they've got Bakugo and Tokoyami. Midoriya's hurt-" static from a poor connection, only amplified by the air blowing against the receiver made it near impossible to distinguish what she said for a few words "- lost a good bit of blood myself. I'm going after the villain who captured-" more static interrupted her here as well, and it was a couple seconds before the recording resumed playing anything discernible as language, "I have no clue how the pros are holding up." It was obvious from her voice she was in pain and out of stamina, and the gasps for breath were harsh and labored. "I... listen, I know there's a good chance I won't make it out of this alive-" more static, "- I think you know that too, Toshi. If- if I never see you again, I just needed you to know-"
"Hara, behind you!" the voice of a boy yelled, much further away from the phone's receiver. Suddenly there was a cacophony of noise before the recording ended abruptly.
Toshinori sat on the couch in front of the phone with his head in his hands. He'd lost count at this point of how many times he'd replayed the message.
The first time he'd played it, he had just gotten out of the bath. It was rare he took actual baths instead of just showering, and the night had been calm and peaceful up until then. There was a lot on his mind, sure, but that's the main reason he was trying specifically to relax that night - he needed time to focus on his thoughts with no other distraction, and when Mei came home in a few days, he thought he finally knew what he would tell her.
He padded barefoot into his bedroom, scrubbing the towel through his hair, and frowned slightly when he saw the missed call icon flashing on his phone screen. Who would be calling him at this hour. Was there an emergency? He was out of time for the day, so even if there was he'd be useless. When he saw the caller ID showed Mei's name, he felt his heart sink. If she was at camp, there was no reason she'd call him unless something was seriously wrong. His pulse speed up slightly and he swallowed before pressing play on the voicemail.
The phone tumbled from his grip at the conclusion of the message, and it bounced a couple times, clatter muted by the rug covering the floor.
Toshinori felt numb.
The second time he played it hadn't been till hours later. The previous night had been a whirlwind of meetings, calls, and planning. There was so much to do, and so many people to talk to, it was no surprise he never actually went to bed that night.
The next day he was in a meeting with Nezu, Snipe, Midnight, and Present Mic. It was time to come clean, and he leaned his head against his steepled hands, almost in a pose of prayer as Nezu explained the truth to the table.
"So... Hara's like our spy then?" Present Mic asked in a voice much more subdued than normal.
"In a sense, yes. She's been our back up plan all along should the worse come to pass, and now it has," the principal said somberly. "She made sure that if our security measures failed, then at least there would be someone experienced to protect the kidnapped students - or in this case, student. I don't doubt that Hara did everything in her power to shield the others, and from the reports we've gotten from several of the students from 1A, she did manage to save Tokoyami from being taken as well."
"I think we need to talk more about the fact that there's a traitor at Yūei," Present Mic said darkly, and the other pro heroes looked at him intently.
"Stop it, Mic," Midnight said tersely.
"What's the problem?" he exclaimed, shoving his chair back as he stood. "We have to find who the leak is!"
"Could be you, for all we know," Snipe cut in. "Got any proof that you're one hundred percent innocent? Can we know that everyone in this room is an ally? If we start doubtin' each other, we'll destroy ourselves from the inside."
"What about Hara?" Present Mic said suddenly, and All Might jolted. "How do we really know she's on our side? Maybe she's a double agent or something!"
"No," the number one hero growled, causing the voice hero to fall silent. "She's given her all to protect the students - she's out there risking her life right now!"
"Yes, but she's not a hero, All Might. And Nezu said she's an ex-villain... we'd be remiss to count it out as a possibility," Midnight said softly, logically.
"No," he said again, standing now and clenching his fists. With all the chaos of the past few hours, Toshinori had committed absolutely zero time to analyzing what he actually felt about everything. Guilt? Sure. Concern? Obviously.
But right now, he realized he was also fucking livid.
He dug in his pocket and threw his phone down on the table, pressing play on the voicemail as he did so. The heroes in attendance starred at him wide eyed as the message played, frozen by the uncharacteristic display of anger. "Does that sound like acting to you?" he hissed. The recording was garbled and broken up, but there was no denying the pain and fear in the woman's voice alongside the determination and resolve. "She's prepared to die to protect the students, just as any hero is always prepared to lay down their life for the lives of those they protect. Pro hero or no, I completely trust her," he said, too upset to feel properly embarrassed by the way the message also betrayed a closer relationship between them.
"All Might, Present Mic, both of you please sit back down," Nezu said tiredly. "At the very least, I trust everyone sitting at this table, and All Might seems very confident in his trusting Miss Hara." Toshinori sat down in his chair again, clutching his hands in his lap to stop them from shaking. Already he regretted his outburst - he was more in control than that, usually. And yet he still couldn't erase the scowl that had settled over this countenance. "That being said, there's no way for me to prove to you all that I am innocent, just as none of you can prove you are too - nor can we prove Hara Mei is." The principle pressed his paws together in front of him thoughtfully. "For the moment, what we must do as a school is concentrate on guaranteeing the safety of our students."
The meeting went on from there, albeit it was cut short for Toshinori when he stepped outside to answer Tsukauchi's phone call. He thought he might pass out when his friend informed him they had a lead on the whereabouts of the League's hideout, and a strange sort of anxiety riddled relief settled in his mangled stomach like a lead weight.
Mei, I'll save you. You and Bakugo both, he vowed silently. I'll make them pay.
The third time he listened to the recording, the hero was back home finally, and pouring over all the notes and plans that were being pieced together for the rescue mission. It would be at least another twenty-four hours before they would have everything in place, and the longer this waiting game went on, the more insane Toshinori felt he was becoming. He was a man of action, after all - he was the one always swooping in to save the day - so all these spaces in between where there was nothing he could do to speed the process along made him feel absolutely worthless.
And Mei could already be dead, for all he knew.
He pulled out his phone and placed it on the coffee table next to the tea he'd poured himself, but had yet to even touch. In fact, Toshinori couldn't remember that last time he'd eaten anything either, now that he thought about it. The least he could manage was some tea, right?
But the cup remained where it was as he pressed play in the voicemail for the third time, and he let his head fall in his hands as he finally felt the despair he'd been trying to keep down start to gnaw at his insides.
The first time he heard the message he'd felt numb. The second time he'd been enraged. The third...
The third time, he'd cried.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed, or how many times he'd reached out to press the repeat button, but sometime in the earlier hours of the morning his exhaustion and lack of food took its toll. When he awoke on the couch, he was stiff and his phone battery was dead. Toshinori sighed.
Today was the day.
A/N:
Alright, so new life update - my husband and I bought a house! (And finding a house in this market was a bitch and a half, by the way, lemme tell ya) So next weekend I'm moving, and I'm not sure how quickly I'll get my computer set back up/ internet turned on at the new place, meaning there's a chance the next update might be delayed... If I don't manage to get a chapter out next week, I apologize in advance!
Love all y'all who are still keeping up with the story - hope you're enjoying this angst filled ride as much as I am! Our poor duo have a lot going against them at the moment, don't they? But in typical MHA fashion, everything has to get a fuck-ton more angsty before it gets better.
Cheers!
- Erin