The episode started with some narration explaining that the scene was happening just after Mandalay sent her telepathic message about Bakugo being kidnapped. Kirishima was arguing with Vlad King because the teacher wouldn't let him go out and look for Bakugo. Ashido tried to get him to stop arguing. Iida tried to argue that they should be allowed to fight because it would make sense to have as many combatants going against the villains as possible. Mineta asked if he was seriously thinking of fighting the villains.
"I'm beginning to wonder if your other selves remember that you're students still and not pros. You may have gone up against villains already, but that wasn't meant to happen yet." Aizawa reminded them.
Iida grimaced at that, remembering how much trouble he's caused by going after Stain on his own. He couldn't blame the teachers for not letting them leave, but that didn't mean that sitting there and doing nothing wouldn't grate on his morals.
"But you also gave us permission to fight, wouldn't that make it okay?" Kirishima asked.
"That's to make sure you don't get in trouble just for defending yourselves. If I see you or anyone else in that room try to break out and go fight I am going to be very disappointed." Aizawa warned. 'And will definitely be keeping a closer eye on you in the future.'
"Why do you sound so surprised and nervous about that?" Ashido asked, looking at Mienta. "I mean, we're trying to be heroes here, fighting villains is gonna be part of the gig."
"Of course I'm nervous! We're first years, it's not supposed to be 'part of the gig' yet! I was hoping the USJ would be the last time we'd have to worry about that, at least until we passed first year." Mineta argued back, then he seemed to deflate. He looked at the floor and mumbled. "We were supposed to have more time."
Aizawa fought the urge to sigh. Though his expression was strict, internally he regretted how things had progressed. First year students were never meant to be going up against villains like this. Even first year internships weren't supposed to have the students participating in major battles. The most intense it usually got was similar to what was shown of Jirou's internship, where she helped lead civilians to safety.
Kirishima tried to say that Aizawa had given them permission to fight, but Vlad agreed that had just been for self defense so that everyone could get back to camp more easily. The students that were there looked at the floor, upset that they couldn't do anything to help.
"It is admirable that you all wish to use your talents to help your classmates; that speaks to your conviction to be heroes. But there will be times where it is more helpful for you to hold back rather than go in and add to the chaos. Even those who work in rescue sometimes reach a point where they have to cease their efforts to avoid adding more victims to a disaster." Yagi said, trying to soothe the students.
They looked up when they heard someone in the hallway. The students thought it was Aizawa coming back, but Vlad was suspicious and stopped them from moving from the room. His suspicions were confirmed when the door blasted open and Dabi came in.
"What the- but we just saw Mr. Aizawa take care of the clone! And the real one was way out in the woods right? He couldn't have made it there so fast could he?" Sato asked.
"M-maybe there was another clone." Koda suggested.
"I see, one to assault our teacher, and another hiding in the shadows to infiltrate the building if the first was defeated. Though it is also possible they just sent another after the first failed." Tokoyami surmised.
Aizawa huffed, annoyed that he'd run off before seeing this other clone, if that's what he was. He hoped this was another clone, because that would mean that a few good hits would be enough to make it fall apart. In either case, he had faith that Ken would protect his students. He just hoped none of the kids did anything stupid.
Vlad shielded the students from the blast and debris. When the villain came fully into the room, Vlad punched him into a wall and used his quirk to hold him there. Vlad said that coming in there alone like that meant Dabi was underestimating them. Dabi said that everything was happening just as planned. After all, kids under the protection of both UA and All Might getting attacked again and again like this would shake societies trust in hero society. That was especially true if one of those kids got kidnapped. A few 1A students were shown to be very aggravated at the idea of Bakugo being taken.
"Hmm, I see. I was thinking that something like that may be one of their main goals." Nedzu admitted. "In that case, this attack is a smart move. Even if they were to be unsuccessful in their attempts to capture or kill anyone, the fact that the attack happened at all will begin to make people doubt in our ability to protect those under our care. That could very easily lead to people doubting heroes in general. Even if they fail, they will have gained some measure of success."
The expressions among the students ranged from shock to resignation, and from discomfort to aggravation. None of them liked that idea that, even if they got Bakugo and Tokoyami back, they'd still end up losing something.
Bakugo himself felt caught between being angry about what the villain was saying, and feeling...something at how quickly his classmates wanted to leap to his defense.
Vlad moved to punch Dabi again, but Aizawa suddenly came in and kicked the man instead. He wrapped the villain in his capture weapon, and told Vlad not to listen to Dabi because he was just trying to rile them up. Then Aizawa kicked him until he melted away just like the first one, showing that he was a fake to the students and Vlad. Kota stood in the doorway of the room.
1A cheered when Aizawa came in, and Aizawa would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy that a little. Still, at the moment he was more grateful to Ken. He'd done his job well, and Aizawa would have to find a way to thank him when they got back. Maybe he could even do something to help with the 1A and 1B bonding that the students kept talking about.
Vlad asked what Aizawa had been doing. Aizawa explained that he'd been going out to give the order for everyone to defend themselves, but ended up tasked with taking care of Kota. So now that Kota was in a safe place he was going to go fight on the front lines. Vlad called for him to wait, pointing out that they didn't know what all they were up against. Aizawa said he would be fine here on his own, because they just kept sending fakes here. He theorized they were trying to make up for their small numbers.
"Anyone else find it kinda ironic that Aizawa keeps going on about us staying back and safe and yet he doesn't miss an opportunity to go fight himself, even when there's another teacher there that could do that instead?" Jirou asked.
"I believe his reasoning for only one teacher staying is well founded given the circumstances, but I can see what you mean. Even if he has good reasons, it does give off a feeling of 'do as I say, not as I do'." Momo replied.
"It seems like their calling closing time on the whole attack now that one of their own confirmed he's captured Bakugo." Mic pointed out "I wonder if that means the clones sent here were a combination of distraction and information gathering. The villains might not have known exactly where Bakugo would be when they attacked, so it wouldn't surprise me if the fakes were supposed to find out if Bakugo was in the main building. Though, that may depend on whether or not that Twice guy actually gets all the memories of the fake once one is destroyed."
Kirishima and Iida tried to argue again that they should be allowed to go fight in order to overwhelm the villains with numbers. Aizawa refused them, saying it was clear the villains were after students and that Bakugo might not be their only target. The best way they could 'win' at this point was to keep everyone safe here.
"I understand your frustration at not being able to act, but it is for the best. If you students are the targets, then it's best not to give the villains anymore opportunities to hurt or capture you." Aizawa said.
Recovery Girl nodded. "Exactly. Bakugo got a capture order, but Midoriya had a kill order placed on him, and that Spinner fellow sounded like he'd be more than happy to kill Iida. While the rest of you might not be on the list, I don't think they'd hesitate to kill you if you got in the way. Add on the fact that none of you know where exactly Bakugo or anyone else is, and the best thing you can do at this point is to stay put an not add to the list those injured."
Some students frowned while others nodded along reluctantly. Though none of them were happy about it, their other selves just didn't have enough information to go about making a positive difference.
The scene changed back to the 'present' where Midoriya, Todoroki, and Shoji had just collided with Mr. Compress and crashed into the villains' meeting place. Twice freaked out again, and Dabi warned Compress to get out of the way. The villain beneath the students suddenly vanished, and Dabi sent a wave of fire at them. Todoroki managed to dodge, but Midoriya and Shoji got hit.
Midoriya shrieked and writhed as he felt intense heat sweep over the front of his body, adding to the ever present pain that his limbs had been in since the Muscular fight. He once again had a death grip on Uraraka's hand. She didn't flinch, and actually brought her other hand up to cover his more completely. He soon found his other hand gripping Iida's, while Tsuyu rested a grounding hand on his knee. All Might did the same for his shoulders, and Todoroki's hand came to rest on his bicep.
A little ways away, Shoji let out a strangled cry and clutched one half of his dupliarms to himself. He'd managed to deal with the pain of his lost hand when he came back on screen, but that burning blue fire pushed him over the edge. He'd tightly closed his eyes when the pain came, but opened them again when he felt something on his back. He opened his eyes and saw that Koda and come over and was patting him on the back in an attempt to comfort him. A moment later, something landed on his shoulder, which turned out to be Tokoyami's hand. Sato had approached as well, looking on in concern but clearly unsure of what to do. In the end he smiled ruefully and said.
"Heh, figures that the one kid in your group whose partially fire resistant is the only one not to get hit by that."
Shoji chuckled through the pain, his voice strained.
Some people wondered where exactly Mr. Compress had gone, but were too distracted by their classmates' predicaments to think about it too deeply.
While Todoroki escaped from the fire, he soon had Twice leaping at him. Twice yelled about how both Midoriya and Todoroki were on the kill list.
"I'm so honored." Todoroki intoned flatly, making Uraraka snort.
Iida wondered if Todoroki was on the list because he was powerful, or if it was something more personal, like what was implied between Shigaraki and Midoriya. But why would one of their number be against Todoroki? Did it have something to do with his father? With Stain?
Todoroki pushed Twice away with his ice. Toga was shown rushing at Midoriya, and forcing him onto the ground. She introduced herself, and gushed about how he'd look better if he bled more. She took out her knife and raised it to stab him, but was stopped by Shoji shoving her away.
People gasped when Toga raised the knife, then relaxed or cheered when Shoji stopped her.
"Nice save!" Sato said.
Through the haze of pain, the ever present voice of observation in Midoriya's head noted that maybe he should have brought Uraraka along. She'd been able to take Toga down earlier, even if she'd gotten hurt in the process. He hadn't been able to do anything thanks to him being busted up. He was beginning to appreciate Aizawa's point that first day of school.
Toga glared at Shoji once she recovered herself. She said that Shoji wasn't her type, but she'd cut him if he got in her way. Shoiji said she was crazy.
"I think that's one thing we can all agree on by now." Mineta said.
Todoroki continued to use his ice against Twice. The man kept dodging, and also used some thin, flexible blade he pulled from a device on his wrist to break up the ice.
Todoroki scowled at the screen. This reminded him of when Stain used his swords to cut down his ice, but at least that had felt somewhat satisfying. The ice had still stood as a barrier between the villain and his friends during that fight, but now he was just being distracted from protecting Midoriya and Shoji.
Mr. Compress reappeared, showing that he'd turned himself into a marble to dodge the flames. He complained about the students being overzealous in their attempts to chase him. Dabi asked where Bakugo was, and Compress dug around in his pocket, but then looked down in confusion. Shoji then called out to his classmates that they were going to run, and showed off to them and the villains that he'd managed to steal two marbles from Compress's pocket.
"Alright!"
"Go Shoji!"
"You're the MVP of this rescue!"
"What about Midoriya?"
"He was the MVP of the Kota rescue, and the second most MVP of this one."
"Thank you, my friend." Tokoyami said, his arm still on Shoji's shoulder. "It relieves me greatly to no longer be a possession of these villains."
"No need for thanks, your our friend." Shoji said.
Bakugo was still very annoyed at being a helpless object and needing to be saved like that, but he gave a nod of gratitude nonetheless.
"Retreating as soon as you rescued your classmates is a good choice." Aizawa said with a nod. "You didn't have to wait for them to realize their captives were missing though, or show off that you had them. If you left while they were distracted or confused, it could give you a head start, and you could buy a little more time if the villains don't know which of you has what they want."
"That's a good point sir, I'll remember that." Shoji said. He probably should have thought of that too, but maybe his other self was worried that his classmates wouldn't follow him if they didn't know for sure that he had grabbed the marbles. He probably should have tried to show the marbles to just them instead of everyone.
Mr. Compress praised Shoji for how quick he was. The three boys ran for it. Dabi moved to attack them, but Mr Compress signaled for him to stop. As the boys ran, they were cut off by the appearance of the Noumu. They changed direction, only to be cut off by Kurogiri.
The joyous atmosphere that had come over the watchers quickly vanished when they saw the boys being prevented from escaping.
"Guess we should have known it wouldn't be that easy." Jirou said. "But they'll find a way out of this, don't you think?" she asked, turning to Momo.
"Hopefully..." Momo trailed off uncertainly. She couldn't help but wonder why Mr. Compress was acting so calm, and why he stopped Dabi from going after them. Was it just because he'd seen the Noumu before Dabi did? It felt like they were missing something.
Kurogiri made some portals, saying it was time to leave. Toga and Twice were quick to go through them. Mr Compress started to leave too, but Dabi stopped him, saying the mission wasn't complete. Mr Compress refuted this, and took off his mask. He had another mask covering most of his face under it, and opened his mouth to reveal that he had stashed the marbles for Bakugo and Tokoyami there, not in his pocket.
"Huh?!"
"How did he-?"
"Son of a bitch!" Bakugo yelled.
Tokoyami shivered in disgust.
"Ewww! You guys are getting covered in villain spit!" Ashido wailed.
"We noticed Raccoon Eyes!"
"That's so wrong." Hagakure said. A part of her mind wondered if they'd be covered in saliva after they were put back to normal, but quickly stomped the thought back down. She didn't want to think about that.
A distressed whine came from Midoriya. Now not only was he in pain, but they hadn't actually saved Bakugo or Tokoyami!
"They aren't gone yet. There may still be a chance." Iida tried to soothe him, despite the grim expression he was wearing.
"And if they are successful, myself and the school will surely put all our resources into retrieving them." Yagi promised. 'Even if that is exactly what All for One wants. We could hardly do anything else.'
"Does this guy seriously wear a second mask under his other mask?" Kaminari asked.
"Talk about extra." Sero said. "Some of the others aren't wearing any masks at all."
'An interesting point. Is there a reason why Dabi and Toga are unafraid of being recognized?' Nedzu wondered.
Mr. Compress undid his quirk on the marbles Shoji held, revealing them to just be bits of ice that the villain had taken while being attacked and used as a decoy. The boys ran forward to try and stop the villain from leaving. Mr Compress stepped backward into the portal. He gave them a bow and started to say a final goodbye. He was cut off when a beam hit him across the face, blasting his outer mask off. Aoyama was revealed to be standing in the bushes not far away. The marbles fell out of the villain's mouth.
"Aoyama?!"
"Nice shot!"
"You did it! That was a perfect shot!" Ashido praised.
"You must have followed Dabi, even after he almost found you." Mineta said, sounding impressed.
"Hell yeah! That was manly!" Kirishima praised.
"That was very well aimed, and you made good use of your element of surprise." Aizawa agreed. Though he praised Aoyama his eyes were fixed on the screen, unwilling to look away until he knew for sure his students were safe.
Aoyama blushed under the praise, which hid how conflicted he was. He'd done something to help! He may have lead the villains there, but he also got them to drop his classmates! Did that make it any better? Did it balance things out somehow? And had he hidden it well enough? It looked like he'd fired from a place where the villains wouldn't be able to tell who had hit them, but would that be enough? Would either Dabi or Compress be able to report exactly what kind of quirk had been used?
Each of the boys leaped forward to catch the marbles. Midoriya hit something wrong, and ended up falling down. Shoji managed to grab one marble. Todoroki reached for the other, but Dabi snatched it up first. He gave the boy a sardonic grin. "That's sad...Todoroki Shoto."
"Dammit!"
"So close!"
"I mean, we got one of them back! That's better than losing both of them."
"That doesn't make losing someone any better!"
Midoriya was reduced to writhing again as his other self tumbled across the ground.
Students leaned forward, literally on the edge of their seats to figure out which student had been saved, and if the remaining one would be reclaimed.
A part of Todoroki's brain told him he should apologize for not being fast enough, but it was drowned out by the part that was fixating on Dabi's words. Every time he'd seen Dabi in these recent episodes he'd once again gotten that feeling of trying to recall a song and only coming up with the melody. Seeing the villain like this made him feel like the lyrics to that melody were on the tip of his tongue, yet he still couldn't remember anything. The look on Dabi's face, and the way he said his name, it felt more personal than the way he'd poked at the heroes earlier. Was it because those had been clones, or did Dabi have something against Shoto specifically? What did it mean? Was he reading too much into this?
Dabi ordered Mr Compress to revert the marbles so they could be sure the mission was complete. Compress did so before stepping through the portal. Tokoyami appeared above Shoji and Bakugo formed in front of Dabi. Dabi put his hand around his neck and walked backwards with him through the portal. Midoriya was back on his feet now, and desperately ran for Bakugo as he began to disappear. Bakugo said not to go after him, just before he was pulled all the way through. Midoriya leaped at the portal, but it vanished and he crashed into the ground.
The students stared at where the portal had been in shock and dismay. The villains were gone, and so was Bakugo.
Midoriya screamed in utter despair.
Midoriya's ragged breathing was the only sound in the room. His pain had spiked once again when his other self moved on screen, and then completely vanished when the scene ended. He'd gone boneless when it happened, his body no longer having the energy to do things now that the pain factor wasn't feeding him any stimuli. It took him a minute to realize there were tears streaming down his face, and he couldn't quite tell if they were from his body's condition, or his own despair at seeing Kacchan get kidnapped and not being able to stop it. The logical part of his brain knew that Kacchan was fine, he was right here in the room, but the emotional, exhausted part of his brain didn't feel up to listening. All it could think about was how, even when he'd finally learned to control the amazing quirk bestowed to him, he'd still been unable to save his childhood friend. If he had any energy left for it, Midoriya was sure he'd be screaming just like his other self.
Instead, the silence had a strangle hold over the room. Everyone else was staring off into space. Those that saw themselves there felt that same sense of failure, while others wished they hadn't listened to the teachers and gone to help, and others felt useless for not being there at all.
Despite the danger they'd been in or seen their classmates go through, this was a first. People had been injured, had come close to dying even, but no one had ever been lost to them like this before.
This...this failure was...
"Yeesh, it feels like someone died in here." Bakugo drawled.
Little noises of surprise and confusion broke the remaining silence in the room.
"Bakugo, bro, I'm-"
"Don't say something dumb like you're sorry or something Shitty Hair. You were doing what you were supposed to do, so it's not your fault. If you're gonna blame someone then blame the villains, since, you know they ACTUALLY did it." Bakugo glared around the room. "The hell is up with the attitude in here?! You think I'm down for the count just because some shitty villains got a hold of me? I'm captured, not dead! I'm gonna come out of this stronger and better than ever, just you wait! And I'll give those shitty villains a thrashing while I do it!"
"Y-yeah!" Kirishima cried, quickly recovering his energy. "Momo's got a tracker on that Noumu still, right? We'll track these suckers down before you know it and teach them a lesson for messing with us like this!"
"I hope by 'we' you mean all the pro heroes you can think of." Aizawa said.
"Uh, right, of course." Kirishima ducked his head sheepishly while Bakugo scoffed.
That little back and forth didn't quite recover the energy of the room, but it did break the spell that seemed to have overtaken it after the other Bakugo disappeared through the portal. The watchers were reminded that, while the situation was grim, not all hope was lost. There was still things they could do to recover from this.
Midoriya carefully removed the towel from his mouth, and Todoroki didn't stop him. He worked his jaw as Yagi brushed a hand threw his sweaty hair, and tears still ran down his face. Bakugo was right, he would make it out of this, Midoriya would make sure of it. He'd already failed Kacchan so badly, he couldn't allow any other outcome.
Scenes of the attacks aftermath started to play. Aizawa and various students were shown bringing in the injured. Tiger and Mandalay found that the yellow, bloody object left behind by the Noumu was Ragdoll's broken head gear. The kids at the main camp waited anxiously. Tsuyu and Uraraka found those who had gone after Bakugo. Midoriya's voice over said that those who were trying to be heroes completely lost that day.
"That is not true, my boy." Yagi said.
"What do you mean?" Midoriya asked despondantly. "We lost Kacchan, we couldn't save him." 'I couldn't save him.'
"But you did save young Kota. You also saved young Tokoyami from the villains, as well as from himself. The actions of yourself and others made it so the villains left with fewer in their number than they arrived with. Yes, we did lose young Bakugo, and we will not let that stand, but we must not let that overshadow the people that were saved. We also must remember that you've all made it out of this night alive. That itself is a victory. Living on to fight another day, that will always be a victory. Do not take it for granted."
Midoriya's tears had slowed to a trickle by the time All Might is done speaking. The warmth that started to return to him meant he couldn't quite stop crying, but now his feelings were more balanced between the positive and the negative.
"I'll try." Midoriya promised.
The chaos of the aftermath was shown. Vlad King had called emergency services, and they arrived to put out the fire and tend to the wounded. 15 students were unconscious from the gas and considered to be in serious condition. 11 others were injured, and only 13 students were completely uninjured. And, of course, one was missing.
Of the pro-heroes, one was in serious condition and one lost a lot of blood and went missing. Three villains were caught and arrested, though the others gotta away without a trace.
The students tried to keep things in perspective after what All Might said. It was hard to do as their own losses were listed off, but they maintained hope, especially after being reminded that the villains lost three of their number too. The League had few members compared to the number of pro heroes. So the loss of three people was more significant to them than the loss of a couple heroes on their side would be as far as strength went. That wouldn't make up for Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll of course, and it wouldn't get them Kacchan back, but they would take their small comforts where they could. Surely getting their captured classmate back would be easier now that three of the villains' were gone, right?
As Midoriya was taken away in an ambulance, his mind went back to how Shigaraki had said he'd likely kill him the next time they met. The summer training camp he'd looked forward too ended in the worst way.
That sentiment also made it harder to keep the positives in mind. They'd preserved much when it would have been too easy for lives to be lost, but why did they have to fight for those things in the first place? The summer training camp ending with death should never have been an option, and yet they'd had to fight so hard to make sure it didn't, and they didn't even know if they succeeded since some were still in critical condition. They hadn't been able to stop one of their own from being stolen away.
"Stupid villains ruining everything." Hagakure muttered under her breath.
Guilt twisted in Aoyama's stomach.
The next day, reporters were shown mobbing the main gate of UA. Inside, Nedzu and the teachers were having a meeting about what happened. Nedzu was saying it was naive of them to think the villains hadn't already started their war against the heroes. The teachers discussed the issue, and how they'd become complacent since All Might weeded out most organized crime.
"You make a good point, Yamada. All Might has done an excellent job as the symbol of peace, as a pillar of society. But even the strongest of pillars can break if too much weight is applied, or a force comes at it from the wrong angle." Nedzu said.
On screen, All Might lamented the fact that he'd been relaxing in the tub while the others were out fighting at the training camp.
"Oh, do not mistake me Yagi! I am in no way saying that this is your fault, or that your weakened state is responsible for this. Truly, it is the fault of heroes and society in general as well, for believing that one pillar would be capable of holding us up forever. Every structure needs a strong foundation and multiple supports if it has any hope of standing the tests of time. No one pillar should be responsible for keeping a building upright, that's simply asking for disaster."
"I see your point, sir." Yagi replied. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he still held some responsibility for the current state of affairs. Chiyo had once mocked him for his efforts to maintain his image as a 'natural born hero', and now he was thinking she may have been right to do so. He'd built himself up so much to become the pillar of society, to make himself seem untouchable and to keep villains from rising up. But that also had the affect of making him less approachable in many ways, less attainable. If he'd let himself be seen as more of a person and less of a symbol, if he'd let himself show how much work he had to put in to becoming the kind of hero he was, would that have changed the way people currently viewed heroes and quirks? Would less people believe that being born with the right or wrong quirk made someone inherently good or bad? If he hadn't made such a point of becoming a solitary pillar, would more pros be prepared to shoulder the burdens that would come when he eventually retired or died?
He knew he wasn't solely responsible for the kinds of views their society held about such things, of course he knew that. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd inadvertently contributed to it.
Snipe said that letting a student be kidnapped was UA's greatest failure, and that people were losing trust in UA as a result. Nedzu agreed, and showed articles criticizing UA as well as going on about Bakugo's violence at the Festival. Nedzu said that if Bakugo joined the villains, then UA was done for.
"There's no way I'm joining those shitty villains! The hell kind of person do you think I am?!" Bakugo yelled.
"We are not discussing what I think, young Bakugo, we are discussing what media and civilians think." Nedzu reminded him. "You've been told many times how important image is to a pro hero, and right now the image the media has of you is one of a violent loose canon. I will admit that we are partially at fault for that, since we forced you to be in front of the cameras in such a state during the Sports Festival. However, the current concern is that the media and civilians fear it would be easy to turn such a personality toward villainy. Which would make it all too easy for the League to take advantage of your image, whether you consent or not."
Bakugo narrowed his eyes. "The hell do you mean about my consent?"
"The villains will likely try to get you to join them willingly. However, if you are not willing, there are plenty of ways to use you to continue to attack hero society. With the wide range of quirks available due to the presence of All for One, you could be controlled into acting in ways you wouldn't normally. Things like illusions or shape shifting could also be used to make people think you had switched sides. Either way it would be devastating to you and us."
Bakugo felt his chest tighten. He hadn't considered those possibilities. He thought his other self would just have to resist until the heroes found their way to him. But if All for One got involved...
Mic brought up the idea of a traitor again, saying how the location of the camp being leaked proved that one existed, and demanded that they try and figure out who it was. Snipe argued that suspecting each other would just result in them tearing themselves apart, so they couldn't act hastily.
That was another thing the involvement of All for One made questionable. Did they really have a traitor? Or could there be a quirk AfO acquired that was allowing him to gain information another way? And if there was a traitor, how would they figure out who it was?
Aoyama could almost feel the others were thinking; it was an effort to keep his breathing even.
Nedzu said that he trusted all the teachers there at least, and that they should prioritize the students' safety above all else. He started to bring up an idea related to that, but was interrupted when All Might's phone rang. He grabbed it and made his way out of the room while the other teachers mocked him lightly.
Students and teachers alike snickered and giggled, either at All Might's ringtone or the way he was slinking out of the room. It was strangely comforting to see normal things like this still happen, despite all the crazy and terrible things that had been shown recently.
Once he was alone in the hallway, All Might muttered to himself, blaming himself for not being there to protect his own students.
"You weren't there, it's not your fault." Midoriya said softly. He'd sat up now that his other self had been shown getting medical attention, and looked over at All Might with concern. His mentor smiled wryly.
"As I'm sure you're aware, it is much easier to tell others that than it is to believe it yourself."
Midoriya nodded in understanding.
The person on the phone was Tsukauchki. He called to tell All Might that he'd gotten done taking statements from Aizawa and Vlad King.
'Ah, I was wondering why neither of us were at that meeting. I wish they could have waited for us to join them, especially if they were going to be discussing what measures to take to protect the students.' Aizawa thought. Then another thought struck him. Nedzu said he'd trusted the teachers there, but he and Vlad weren't present. Did Nedzu suspect one of them of leaking the information about the training camp? As much as he hated the thought, it would be logical to at least consider the idea that one of them had done it. They were on the short list of people who were told where it was taking place ahead of time.
The detective then revealed that there was a good chance they could find where the League was. Apparently someone had seen a person that looked like Dabi going into a building that had a little known bar in it. Once they found some more evidence, they could be on them right away!
"Oh my gosh, seriously?"
"Yes!"
"The police are already on to them?"
"I guess that's what happens when you have scars that distinctive and don't do anything to cover it up."
Kirishima smiled with relief. Bakugo breathed a little easier, thinking he wouldn't have to hold out for too long.
The majority of watchers were elated by the news. Some however, both students and teachers among them, felt a bit uneasy. After all the work they put into this attack, were the villains really so relaxed that they let their more conspicuous members just come and go like that? Or was it a trap? Dabi hadn't been trying to hide his features at all during the attack, so it was possible he really was just too cocky and they'd gotten lucky to find someone who saw him. Their luck hadn't been good recently though, so some couldn't help but feel wary about the new lead rather than joyful.
The detective said this information was top secret to others. He planned to ask many pro heroes for help, and wanted All Might to join in the mission as well. All Might activated his quirk to turn into his muscular form, and said he'd tell those villains "I am here...to counter attack!"
Those that had been relieved before now felt confident the rescue would be a success. Seeing All Might like that immediately made them feel like things would be okay. Even those that were uncertain about the lead felt themselves relax a little.
The scene went to several different places in the city, each showing different news programs talking about the attack on the training camp. The last one shown had an anchor saying something must be wrong with the management of UA, and how he wouldn't let his child enroll there. That screen suddenly cut out, and it was revealed that Shigaraki and his team were the ones watching it. He was delighted at the press coverage they were getting. He turned, and Bakugo was shown, strapped to a chair with a large metal case around both his hands. Shigaraki asked Bakugo what he thought. Bakugo just glared at him.
While most of the class was still feeling confident they would get Bakugo back, they still grit their teeth or scowled at the screen. The villains had still gotten what they wanted: people were doubting UA and its ability to care for its students. They could only hope a successful rescue would restore that trust.
"Well, you're alive, and it looks like they haven't beaten you up or anything. That's good to know." Sero said.
"Like I'd go down that easily." Bakugo scoffed, acting like he wasn't worried at all. Internally, he was seething. Seriously, what was it with people and tying him up like that? Those cuffs looked way to similar to the ones UA had put on him at the Sports Festival. And how dare they use him as a pawn in their dumbass schemes! He'd blow them to bits for it once he got out! He wasn't sure if he meant his other self or himself when he got out of here, but it was going to happen!
The scene changed to the next day. Midoriya's voice explained that he'd been taken to the nearest hospital, and had been in and out of consciousness for two days due to fever and convulsions. He'd been healed by Recovery Girl at one point, and the police visited, but he didn't remember it. He finally woke with a clear head, but blank eyes, and turned to see that his mother had left a plate of food for him on the side table. He suddenly remembered how stressed she'd been after his last run in with Shigaraki. He looked at the ceiling and wondered if Kota was okay.
Aizawa let out a sigh. 'What are we going to do with you, problem child?'
The little group that still surrounded Izuku felt their hearts break. After everything he'd gone through, all that pain, and his first clear thoughts after waking up were to worry about his mother and the one he'd fought to save.
They'd been braced for more pain when they first saw Midoriya come on screen given the excessive amounts of bandages on his arms. But Midoriya barely flinched when his other self awakened.
"I must be on some really good drugs." He said from his place between Uraraka and All Might. Iida had insisted All Might take a seat on the couch and took a spot on the floor himself, next to Todoroki. Tsuyu had decided to perch on the arm of the sofa next to Uraraka.
"Hope they don't affect your appetite, because the food looks good." Tsuyu said. "Not sure how you're going to eat it with your hands in a full cast though."
"I'm sure Mom would be up for helping with that after I call her. It would probably help her to be able to do something like that." His Mom always felt better when there was something she could actively do to help him, and it would help with his guilt. He wondered if part of his determination to help others was inherited from her, and if seeing him hurt made her feel the same guilt he felt when he worried her.
"I'm sure Kota's okay too. I mean, they would have shown it if something happened to him, right?" Uraraka said. Izuku nodded, trying to relax into her reassurance.
The door to Midoriya's hospital room opened. Kaminari looked inside and was excited to see him awake. He came in, followed by the majority of class 1A. Several people mentioned the recent media coverage. Mineta eagerly showed off the melon the class had got him together.
Izuku felt his eyes tearing up, but this time from joy rather than pain. Despite all he'd seen in this viewing, his own memory could only recall his mother taking care of him when he was sick or injured. He never had anyone from his previous classes come to see if he was okay. But now it looked like nearly the whole class had come to visit him! They were probably visiting other members of the class too, but they still all came to his room.
The rest of the students also felt better seeing so much of their class together, especially since some of those injured were already back on their feet. Shoji winced when he came on screen, his arms were still bandaged on screen, but they'd clearly been tended to well, so the pain wasn't nearly as bad as before.
Tokoyami apologized for causing Midoriya trouble. Midoriya just said he'd caused trouble too, then asked if the whole class was there. Iida explained that Jirou and Hagakure were still unconscious from the gas, and that Yoayorozu was in her own hospital room due to her head injury.
Jirou and Hagakure looked at the screen with wide eyes. Two whole days and the two of them hadn't woken up at all?
"I guess we really do owe Kendo and Tetsutetsu. If that Mustard guy hadn't been taken out, then even more people could be like that." Hagakure said.
"Definitely." Jirou agreed. She had moved a little closer to Momo when she heard she was still suffering from her head injury, and now Momo did the same. Both hoped that the others injury wouldn't have lasting affects.
"Oh! If YoaMomo's up, then she can tell the cops or heroes about the tracking device!" Ashido realized.
"That could be just the extra evidence they need to go after them!" Hagakure jumped onto the hype.
Jirou gave her friend a proud smile and Momo ducked her head bashfully. She hoped that it would be enough to get Bakugo back quickly.
Of course, after talking about who was still admitted to the hospital, they had to address the elephant in the room. Todoroki was the one to come out and say that Bakugo was gone. Midoriya's eyes cleared, and he remembered seeing Bakugo disappear through the portal.
Midoriya talked about how All Might had said he couldn't save those out of his reach. But Bakugo had been in his reach, and he still hadn't saved him. Tears ran down his face as he thought about how Aizawa was right, he'd been taken out early, saving Kota, and been unable to save others later.
"It's not your fault." Todoroki said firmly.
"But-"
"It's mine."
"Huh?" Midoriya stared at his friend, thoroughly confused. Todoroki looked him in the eye.
"If we're talking about saving those within reach, then I'm the one who failed the most when it comes to Bakugo's kidnapping. You had already broken yourself so badly, and kept pushing yourself so you could find a way to save our classmates. We wouldn't have been able to follow Mr. Compress fast enough if it wasn't for your idea. I was barely hurt at all. You and Aoyama gave me the perfect opportunity to save Bakugo, and I missed it. Dabi grabbed him first. If there is anyone to blame for the villains getting away with Bakugo, it is me."
"And me." Bakugo scowled down at the floor. "I'm the one that managed to get nabbed by a fucking kid's party magician, along with Bird Brain. Stop trying to make all of my shit about you."
"I...but if we'd paid closer attention-"
"Midoriya, enough." Aizawa said. He got up and went to stand in front of Midoriya. "You are right about this being an example of what I was worried about on your first day, but you're wrong in other ways. You've made great strides in learning how to control your quirk, to avoid being taken out by your own power, but Muscular backed you into a corner. Yes, you weren't able to keep yourself from getting hurt, and that hampered your ability to help later. However, you never should have been up against someone like Muscular or the others this early in the game. Not having the power to take on a villain like that without getting hurt isn't your fault. Muscular already killed a number of fully trained pros, so its frankly miraculous you were able to both save Kota and keep yourself alive. This is not your fault, nor is it the fault of any of your classmates. The ones at fault are the villains, for attacking in the first place, and myself and the other pros for not being able to defend you all. Do you understand?"
Midoriya looked up at his teacher with wide eyes. He heard his words, understood the logic of them, but his heart still rebelled against the notion. He'd been right there! How could he not share in the blame?
"Young Midoriya."
Izuku turned to look at All Might.
"It wasn't your fault. I want you to say that out loud."
"It...it wasn't...my fault."
"You too, young Todoroki and young Bakugo."
Both boys repeated the phrase, Todoroki dutifully while Bakugo seemed to force the words out.
"Good, thank you. Any time you see your on-screen selves blaming themselves for a situation like this, I want you to repeat that. As I said, I know how hard it is to believe that, but it is the truth, and like so many things it is easier to believe the more times you say it. So I want you to practice during those instances. Alright?"
After the boys nodded, All Might looked around at the rest of the class. "The same goes for all of you as well. Now, let us return to the viewing."
Kirishima spoke up then, saying they should save him now then. The others were surprised, and Kirishima went on to explain that he and Todoroki had met up at the hospital yesterday by chance. As they passed Momo's room, they heard her telling All Might and the police about her tracker and that she gave them a device to receive the signal from it.
Aizawa hadn't even made it back to his seat before he got the gist of what Kirishima was leading to and stopped. He turned the full force of his 'disapproving teacher glare' on the boy. "Kirishima. The attack was a situation forced on you all, not one you sought out. If you try to go out on your own and save Bakugo yourselves then it absolutely will be your fault if anything goes wrong."
Kirishima, either bravely or stupidly, started to protest, but Aizawa cut him off.
"You know the police have a tracker themselves. They and the other pros are planning a mission. Throwing yourselves into the mix, especially without telling anyone, will increase the chances of something in that plan going wrong. I know perfectly well how much it grates to be on the sidelines, but that is also part of being a hero. Sometimes the best thing you can do for everyone is to give yourself time to heal and stay out of the way." He looked around at the students, just like All Might did a moment before. "If any of you truly wish to help in this sort of situation, the best way to do it is to help your classmates through their own recovery. Any attempt to locate Bakugo now, or similar actions once we get back, will count as vigilantism. Is that understood?"
He only sat back down after he got some form of agreement from every student.
In the memory, All Might said that Aizawa had worried about Momo's ability to make quick decisions like this before. Making the tracker clearly showed how much she had improved! Momo said she felt frustrated that this was the only way she could help. All Might said that wanting to help more showed she was worthy of being a hero.
Momo felt deeply satisfied by All Might's praise. She didn't blame Aizawa for worrying about her abilities in this area, since her fight at the Sports Festival had been a spectacle of her being taken off guard. But with the final exam, and now this, she was feeling much more confident about her abilities. She may regret not being able to do more at the time, but she'd thought of the tracking devise while she had a head injury and couldn't even walk! That had to count for something. Her other self may not agree, but she saw this as a sign that she really was improving alongside her classmates.
Meanwhile, Aizawa was starting to get a bad feeling about all of this. He was proud of the quick thinking Yoayorozu did too of course, but her desire to contribute further was lining up a little too well with what Kirishima was talking about.
Back in the present, Iida demanded to know if they were planning to have Yoayorozu make another transceiver. When Todoroki implied they were, Iida remembered the aftermath of the fight with Stain. He yelled that they should listen to All Might, and leave this to the pros. This wasn't the place for them to act!
Aizawa desperately hoped the others would take Iida seriously and listen to him. He was also extremely grateful that the boy seemed to have truly learned his lesson after the incident with Stain. Hopefully that, and seeing this, would keep Iida and others from going rogue after they got back. Though, hopefully, with everything they learned through this, there wouldn't be a reason for any of them to try. Their teachers and other pros would be able to take care of things this time.
Midoriya and Todoroki didn't seem to have learned as much from the Stain incident, if their other selves reactions were anything to go by. Aizawa figured that made some sense though. Iida had always had respect and trust in authority figures before his brother was hurt, while Midoriya and Todoroki had various reasons not to trust them. Some of those issues were getting addressed during this viewing, so he hoped that continuing to do so once they got back would make both boys less inclined to try and fix everything themselves. Still, it would be a good idea to get Hound Dog to counsel them, assuming they were willing to talk to him.
Kirishima yelled that he knew that! But he couldn't do anything after he heard his friend was being targeted! If he didn't do anything now then he wouldn't be a hero or a man anymore!
"That is what I believed after Tensei was injured as well." Iida confessed. "When my other self first started to show signs of challenging Stain himself, a part of me thought that was right. Because how could I call myself a hero or a good brother if I let such actions go without retribution? But it wasn't right, and it almost resulted in myself and two of my friends being killed." He looked Kirishima in the eye. "I know how much it hurts to be able to do nothing when someone you care about has been wronged so deeply. I imagine it may hurt even more when you don't have the reassurance of being able to visit that person in a hospital. But please, Kirishima, learn from my mistakes."
Kaminari tried to get Kirishima to calm down and Tsuyu agreed with Iida. Kirishima admitted Iida was correct. Still, he reached his hand out to Midoriya, and told him that his own hand could still reach too. They could still go save him!
Kirishima nodded, slowly, shamefully. "I get what you're saying Iida. Like my other self keeps saying, I know your right. Maybe if I knew what you guys had really been through with Stain I might have made a different decision, or maybe it would just convince me more that we could take on the League members if we got the drop on them. I don't know...I probably just don't know what else to do with that feeling. But I guess that's the same as it was for you huh?"
Iida nodded grimly. Kirishima turned to Midoriya.
"I'm sorry about my other self pressuring you to join in our rescue mission, which will definitely be illegal if we actually go through with it. You've just woken up, and we're already bombarding you with this."
"I should apologize too." Todoroki said. "I was also at the Stain fight, and knew how badly it could have ended. Plus, I was the one to bring up Bakugo's kidnapping so soon after you recovered enough to speak to us properly. I should have given you more time."
"It's...it's okay. I probably would have remembered before too long anyway. And, well, I think I'd prefer to be surrounded by friends when that happened, rather than have it happen when I'm all alone." A part of Midoriya still marveled at that. Being in the hospital, and surrounded by friends. "And once my other self gets past the crying part, I'll probably be feeling pretty similar to you, Kirishima."
"I understand that feeling well, my boy." Yagi said, gently patting Midoriya's head. "But you also need time to recover too. We have the information we need to find an rescue young Bakugo. Please, trust in us to do so."
"I do. Here and now, I do. But...I can imagine how my other self must be feeling. It's so much harder to get past it when I was so close and missed being able to help him."
"I know, my boy, I know. Relying on others is something I need to learn to do myself, now that my injury is affecting me more. I suppose I'm pleading the same message as young Iida. Learn from my mistakes, don't try to take everything on yourself, especially when you're injured as you are."
Midoriya thought back to how Uraraka may have been able to help more than him during the confrontation where they officially lost Bakugo. "I'll do my best."
Bakugo watched, oddly quiet. It felt...strange to him. The idea that so much of their class was really that upset about him being captured. A part of him wanted to rage at the idea that they all seemed to think him weak enough to need a bunch of students to come save him. He'd spent some time grinding his teeth over it when Icy Hot and Shitty Hair started talking. It was bad enough that he had to have a whole group of police and pros going after his sorry ass, he didn't need the embarrassment of any of his classmates going rogue over it too. Another part of him got in the way of letting that out. It was a part of him that watched his classmates' sad expressions, and saw Kirishima's helplessness turn into resolve (and how easily Shitty Hair referred to him as a friend). He saw how none of them questioned if he'd switch sides, only whether or not they should try to go save him themselves. So he kept his confusing emotions in, not wanting to disrupt what was going on. Maybe if he watched and saw more of it, he'd understand better what some of these feelings were.
"Thanks for helping me out with Toga, Shoji." Midoriya said. Shoji had come over to visit with Midoriya and his entourage, wanting additional reassurance that the boy was alright after all the pain of the last episodes.
"No problem, really. I don't think her strength could hold a candle to mine."
Midoriya nodded, then sighed. Normally the same would be true of him, but that hadn't been the case in that future. "I really should have had Uraraka come with us, or go in my place."
"You mean when chasing after Mr. Compress?" the girl in question asked. Midoriya nodded.
"Yeah, I was taken down in a couple seconds by Toga, but you were able to pin her down earlier. Even with your injuries, you stood a better chance of doing it again than I did. Plus, I fell down when we tried to get the marbles back. If you'd been there, you could have used your Zero Gravity to move faster, maybe even fast enough to grab Kacchan before Dabi could. Or you could have used your quirk to throw something hard enough to slow the villains down and give the others more of a chance..."
"Maybe." Uraraka admitted. "But maybe not. If I'd gone with you, I would have been really nauseous from making myself float, so I could have messed up with Toga or missed the marble too."
"I mean, I could have grown one of my arms to try and catch Bakugo too, but I didn't think to do that." Shoji pointed out.
"We can't know what might have happened." Todoroki said. "No way to know if getting the marble in time would have really saved them, or us, since the villains would have stayed longer if we did."
"Precisely!" Iida said, chopping his hands through the air. "While it is possible that different decisions could have changed this outcome, we have no way of knowing for sure. So it is best not to dwell on what we cannot change. Instead, we must take in this information, and use it to better ourselves in the future."
Midoriya nodded along with his friend's words. He was right that they couldn't know any possible future, outside of the one they were being shown of course. Still, this could be taken as another example of how it would benefit him to learn to rely more on others, and why it was so important for him to get a jump start on learning to control his quirk once they got back.
Shoji left shortly after that, and then Iida and Uraraka went to get some food. All Might had gone to speak with the other teachers, so Todoroki took the opportunity to speak to Midoriya privately.
"I've been having strange feelings about that villain, Dabi." he said, without preamble.
"What kind of strange?" Midoriya asked without missing a beat.
"He seems oddly familiar. Like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't imagine that I would forget meeting someone that looked like him."
"His scars are pretty distinctive...but it's possible you might have met him before he got those. We don't know how old they are after all."
Todoroki hummed in acknowledgment.
"There's...also another possibility I can think of." Midoriya said slowly. "Fire quirks aren't especially rare, but ones that can produce blue flames like that aren't as common. Given how obsessed Endeavor is with creating a child with the perfect quirk for beating All Might, is it possible that he, um, might have tried with women other than your mother?" Midoriya winced when he finally got all that out.
Todoroki opened his mouth, then closed it again. He thought for a minute before saying "It's not impossible, I suppose. Dabi does seem several years older than me, but I can hardly say what my father might have gotten up to before marrying my mother, or even after."
Todoroki hadn't considered the idea that his father might have cheated on his mother, but it was possible. It would have been a scandal if anyone found out, especially if they found out by Endeavor deciding that the bastard child had the perfect quirk he was looking for, but he might have been willing to risk it if it meant attaining his goal.
The others arrived back at that time, so the conversation was dropped. Todoroki still thought about it of course, wondering if he had a half brother out there, or possibly other siblings.
At one point, he thought about one sibling he knew he'd had, but the memory and idea were quickly dismissed. After all, Toya was dead.