Toshinori was late. He knew with absolute certainty that he was late, that he was making himself later by the second, and yet there was nothing that he could do about it. What was he supposed to do? Just walk passed people who needed help? Sure, there had been other heroes on duty in the area, but it wasn't in his nature to leave anyone who needed help unassisted. What if he had continued on his way and the situation had spiraled out of control? Of course, all of the incidents he had stopped to help had ended up being fairly cut and dry, but there was no way that he could have known that in the moment. Aizawa would understand. Or at least Toshinori hoped that he would. He would have to deal with that particular fire at a later date though. Maybe Midoriya would do something that would take the attention off of him for the moment during the exercise.
Was it a little childish for Toshinori to be hoping that the actions of a child would keep him out of trouble with his coworker? Absolutely. Toshinori readily admitted that to himself. Knowing Aizawa's young pupil though, the chance of him pulling off some stunning feat that Aizawa would inevitably lecture him about was almost a given. Not that Toshinori wanted young Midoriya to get in trouble, but Aizawa would be much more lenient with his student than he would be with Toshinori. While Aizawa had been a little less cold towards him since the confrontation with Nedzu, there was obviously still some resentment lingering from the way Toshinori had tried to take Midoriya for his own student.
Enough time had passed that Toshinori could acknowledge his mistakes in that regard. If he hadn't realized them on his own, then Inko certainly would have been more than happy to point them out for him. Having met Midoriya's mother, Toshinori could appreciate the landmine Aizawa had inadvertently saved Toshinori from stepping on by preventing him from training the boy without his mother's knowledge and explicit permission. He would really prefer "Symbol of Peace Murdered by Righteous Mother's Fury" to remain a headline in his nightmares only. That being said, Toshinori couldn't help but regret the opportunity that had been missed. What would have happened if he had been the one to discover Midoriya's potential and not Aizawa? Toshinori couldn't help but imagine the possibilities, useless as the endeavor was.
He had to accept that Midoriya would not be his successor after all. The boy had hinted that it was time for him to move on and continue his search enough times that it would be ridiculous if Toshinori put it off any longer. It wasn't as though Toshinori hadn't been considering other students before Nedzu dropped that tape of Midoriya into his lap. Now, looking back, Toshinori couldn't help but wonder if Nedzu hadn't been trying to start something between him and Aizawa by that action. Aizawa would have been training Midoriya for a while by that point. Nedzu would have known that Toshinori would have been impressed by the boy, and that Aizawa would not appreciate the intrusion. What Nedzu had to gain from interfering, Toshinori couldn't imagine, but then he had never been very good at seeing Nedzu's schemes until it was too late.
Which left Toshinori to consider his options. Originally, he had been considering several third years as possible successors. They had proven themselves over and over again with their own quirks, and it might be easier for them to adjust to the new ability granted to them by One for All if they already had mastery of their own quirk. The problem with this, Toshinori was coming to realize, was that they had already sort of made a name for themselves. People recognized them. Students at Yuuei looked up to them. If any of the Big Three, as they were coming to be called, suddenly gain a new ability or had their quirk change in a significant way there would be questions. Quirks didn't just do that. They didn't suddenly change or become more powerful overnight, and it wasn't the kind of thing they would be able to hide. While it wasn't like someone would immediately guess that they had been given a new quirk or that All Might was in any way involved, there would be questions the students wouldn't be able to answer and attention on them that would make it difficult for them to properly train without eventually getting caught.
So no, unfortunately, Toshinori couldn't choose one of the third years he had been looking at, and that left him in a bit of a situation. He needed to pick someone who could realistically be discovering new aspects of their quirk, and that meant a first year. Unfortunately, the only first year that Toshinori new reasonably well was Midoriya. The only student in the hero course that he couldn't pick.
Toshinori had thought about asking Aizawa for advice, but had ultimately decided against it. Choosing a successor was his responsibility. He couldn't push it off on Aizawa because it was difficult. He had hoped that teaching would give him a better insight into who to choose, but there had been so much to keep up with that he hadn't had as much time to devote to truly looking for someone who could take his place. Teaching was hard, and Toshinori had been unprepared. He had hoped that USJ would give him some hints at who to look at more closely. He wouldn't be able to put off his decision for much longer. If he ever got to Yuuei. He was so very, very late.
When he finally managed to reach the campus without being waylaid by some poor person caught in an unfortunate situation Toshinori bypassed the main office and headed straight to where he knew the students would be waiting for him. Had they already started? Toshinori knew he was late, but he didn't know exactly by how much. He didn't tend to wear a watch, and he hadn't been paying attention to the clocks as he passed, too focused on getting to campus as fast as he could. If they hadn't started, then that meant that he wasn't as late as he felt he was. Maybe Aizawa wouldn't kill him after all.
It was years of hero work that made Toshinori realize that something was terribly, horribly wrong before he even reached the facility. No alarms blared on the campus. No one was running around in a panic, but there was still an undercurrent of tension that Toshinori could feel. It wasn't as though this side of campus was usually bustling with activity. Students only came there when they had a purpose, and that purpose led them into the buildings not spread out across the grounds. It shouldn't have felt odd that Toshinori didn't see anyone once he got through the main buildings…and yet. Toshinori couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong, but he couldn't shake the feeling. After so many years, Toshinori knew when to trust his instincts, and as the USJ came into view, his instincts were screaming at him. Toshinori trusted his instincts. He didn't use the door. If this was an overreaction, then he could afford to pay Nedzu to fix the wall.
Unfortunately, it was not an overreaction.
Despite his experience and his training, when the dust finally settled all Toshinori could do was stare in horror at the sight before him. He had burst into the building near the front doors, and from that vantage point he could see an array of things that were very, very wrong indeed. He seemed to have missed much of what had happened, but his experience filled in the blanks for the events he hadn't witness. Several of the students huddled in the entrance to the building, guarded by a villain that looked like purple smoke. Thirteen was there, but they seemed to be frozen for some reason, crouching down on the ground where Toshinori could see some students lying, although he could tell who they were. It only took a second for his eyes to travel and see that the horror didn't end there. Aizawa was on the ground not far away. Villains surrounded him, and although none of them were touching him any longer, the ground around him had been displaced by something. Aizawa wasn't moving either, and Toshinori forced himself not to consider the possibilities of why.
Not far away from Aizawa stood Midoriya, facing off against a villain that Toshinori didn't recognize. That shouldn't have felt like the biggest shock of it all, but in the half second that Toshinori allowed himself to process the scene in front of him it was the thing his brain decided to keep on repeat. Maybe so that he didn't have to consider the fallout of what had happened. The damage that he would have been able to prevent if he hadn't been late. Because if all of this were actually happening, then it should have at least come from an enemy that Toshinori was aware he had.
Midoriya's face and next were a mess of blood and what looked like burns, and there were the scattered remains of smoldering metal on the ground around him. Behind Midoriya, Asui stood supporting Kaminari whose face also seemed a mess, although Toshinori couldn't make out what the cause might have been from a distance. For the villain's part, blood covered his shirt and his arms, dripping down onto the floor. As disgusted by the entire scene as he was, Toshinori could at least appreciate the fact that Midoriya apparently gave the villain a hard time while waiting for him to arrive. Toshinori would make sure that the effort the young boy had put in wouldn't be in vain.
What happened next though, Toshinori could not have anticipated. For all that the villain had been confronting Midoriya when he arrived, Toshinori expected him to turn his attention, focus on taking down All Might. The villain hesitated, considering doing just that it seemed, but Toshinori could see the rage twisting his expression from a distance. Whatever Midoriya had done, it had angered the villain enough that he was turning away from All Might. If he was planning on taking Midoriya down before attacking All Might, he had just made a grievous mistake. At least that was what Toshinori thought before the monster stepped into view, blocking the path between himself and when Midoriya was looking on with an expression of dawning horror that mirrored his own.
The monster didn't make a move towards him as Toshinori jumped down to the ground level of the facility, but from the way the villain facing Midoriya had turned away from him so completely Toshinori knew that he couldn't underestimate the situation that he had just walked into. If this villain had put so much effort into planning-and he must have by the sheer number of villains involved-then he would have known All Might was going to be there. Anyone with any sense should know that All Might himself shouldn't be underestimated either. Which meant that this villain either trusted that this monster to be able to fight him on even footing or at least expected him to be able to hold him off long enough for him to deal with Midoriya. Neither situation boded well for the young student.
A hulking monster like that might trade out speed for power though, Toshinori thought he might be able to slip around it and get to Midoriya first. As though the monster could sense what Toshinori was going to do, the monster moved before he had even had a chance to take his first step. It slammed into him, knocking him back, and it was only Toshinori's own reaction time that saved him from getting the monster's fist square in his face.
Had Toshinori been anyone else he wouldn't have been able to block the hit as affectively as he had, and the image of Aizawa on the ground in a circle of displaced dirt and concrete suddenly made a terrifying amount of sense. With one punch the purpose of this attack became quite clear to Toshinori, and the rage that had been burning under the surface since he realized what was going on sparked into a blaze that would not be easily exstinguished.
The villain was still approaching Midoriya though, his head outstretched towards the boy's face for some reason. Toshinori could just see them over the monster's shoulder, Asui and Kaminari still huddled behind him, looking lost at what they could possibly do to stop the tragedy that was unfolding right in front of them. While his mind raced to find a solution, the monster continued to beat against him. His crossed arms held the hits at bay, but that wouldn't last forever. Toshinori would need to fight back, and when he did he wouldn't be able to stop the villain from hurting Midoriya. Whatever his quirk was, it must be related to touch since he still had his had reaching towards the boy. Toshinori hoped it wasn't why Kaminari's face looked like such a wreck, but the odds were not appearing to work in his favor today.
Toshinori pushed back against the monster, still focused on getting to Midoriya, but his own hit didn't seem to do much against the behemoth. Had this thing been designed for him specifically? No one should have been able to take a direct hit like that and look so unfazed. In fact, the monster didn't seem to show any expression at all. Toshinori's fist collided with the creature's beak, it's head twisting on its neck at the impact, but the creature didn't react other than slowly turning its head to focus on Toshinori again. He could see the villain saying something to Midoriya now, but he couldn't make out the words through the sound of the monster's heavy breathing.
It took everything he had to force his attention away from Midoriya. The creature in front of him was nothing to scoff at, and if he wasn't careful then it might just get the better of him. Midoriya was in trouble, but there was nothing that Toshinori could do about it until he solved the problem at hand. The faster he got through this fight, the sooner he would be able to help Midoriya. He only hoped that he would be able to get there in time.
Kaminari had never stuck his face directly into a fire before, but if he were pressed to describe what he thought it might feel like all he would be able to saw was it was probably not as awful as what he was feeling the moment Shigaraki touched his face. It was pure agony the likes of which Kaminari had never felt before, and he hoped that he would never feel that level of pain for the rest of his pro hero career. It was hard to put into words what it felt like to feel your skin and muscles melt off of your bones, but he would gladly take that pain again if it meant that Asui was safe.
He was pretty sure that she didn't feel the same way considering the way she was cursing him under her breath as he held him up. She was stronger than Kaminari had thought, and he certainly wouldn't have imagined some of those words coming out of her mouth, but he probably deserved them for putting her through this. His grandmother was probably going to tell him things along those same lines as soon as she heard about the incident. If she didn't already realize something was happening that is. His grandmother might not have a quirk, but she did always have a sense for when he had gotten himself into some new level of bullshit considering it happened so often.
Not as much bullshit as Izuku it seemed, as Kaminari watched his gadgets explode leaving his friend covered in almost as much blood as he was himself. Kaminari lunged forward, trying to get to Izuku, but Asui held him back.
"Dummy," she said, pulling on his arm but making sure that she didn't brush his face. The pain had either started to die down, or Kaminari wasn't noticing it anymore. Neither option seemed like it would be a good thing in the long term, but he ignored that concern for now. Izuku was in trouble, and they couldn't let him continue facing that villain on his own. Not when he had already done so much damage. "If you jump in this fight now, you're going to get yourself killed."
"If we don't jump in this fight," Kaminari argued, "then Izuku is going to get himself killed. He's made that villain mad now, and I don't think he's going to be that willing to play along much longer."
Asui couldn't argue with that point, but she kept a firm grip on his arm anyway. Kaminari was about to see if he could wrench himself free when another explosion rang through the facility, bits of sheetrock and concrete raining down on them. All Might had finally arrived! Unfortunately, the relief that came at the sight of the number one hero didn't last as long as it should have. All Might had clearly taken in what had happened quickly, and had set his sights on Shigaraki. The moment he landed on ground level though, the monster approached him. The fight…it was like nothing Kaminari had ever seen before. They were trading blows so quickly that Kaminari could barely track them with his eyes, and all the while it seemed as though All Might's focus wasn't on the monster that he was fighting but on them. On Izuku still staring down Shigaraki and Kaminari and Asui still standing behind him, wanting to help but not sure what to do.
All Might really was amazing if could fight that monster that quickly and not even seem to notice that he was doing it. Kaminari supposed that he wasn't the number one hero for no reason. That still left a problem though, because while All Might was busy fighting the monster Shigaraki was advancing on Izuku, and it didn't look like they were going to have time to wait for All Might to finish what he was doing before helping them.
"You thought he was going to be able to save you, didn't you?" The villain asked, fake sympathy lacing his tone mockingly. "I'm afraid that he's going to be busy for quite some time. All Might's strengths are well known, and they were taken into account when designing the Nomu. It will toy with him for a little while. Make him think that he has a chance of beating it. Then it's going to smash him into the ground like a bug. It's going to be very entertaining to watch." The villain was moving closer, and Izuku shuffled his feet as though he were considering the best course of action. Kaminari could tell from the line of his shoulders that he must be in a ridiculous amount of pain too, but Izuku was pushing through it.
If he could push through it then Kaminari could too. He grabbed Asui's hand gently, pulling her until she finally released him. The pain in his face might have faded, but that didn't mean that he was one hundred percent okay. He was sure that if anything happened to jar him too roughly then the pain would erupt again. His legs shook under him as he stepped forward, but that was okay. He could still walk, and that was all that mattered in the moment. He stumbled to Izuku's side, Asui right there with him, making sure that he didn't hurt himself by face planting into the dirt. He had to hope that she wouldn't get hurt from what he was about to do, that Izuku wouldn't get hurt from this crazy, ridiculous plan of his. A few weeks ago he wouldn't have tried it. Not this close. But now?
As Shigaraki rushed towards them Kaminari raised his own hand in a position not unlike the one that the villain had held. The bolt of electricity that left his outstretched hand sizzled in the air, leaving behind the smell of ozone and smoke. The blast that hit Shigaraki squarely in the chest was the strongest that Kaminari had ever produced, the most controlled. It shouldn't kill him. Kaminari wasn't sure that he was ready for that, that he would ever be ready for that. But man, did he hope that it hurt.