Chapter 28

Hotaru's P.o.V

(There's a bit of gore here. I personally don't think it's that bad but if you want to skip it, scroll down to Later... Or just go to the next chapter if you feel you won't miss too much.)

"What the hell?!"

My eyes shot open and my body went stiff.

'Katsuki...!' I screamed inside my mind. I tried to escape my chains, writhing around as much as my fatigued and tired body would allow. I wanted to call out to Katsuki but I knew that he couldn't hear me. Nobody could.

"You have failed again, huh, Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki was there, too...

"No matter. You will simply try again. You can try as many times as needed. I even brought back your team," All For One said.

The whole League of Villains...They were all there...Just by listening in on that quick conversation, I could tell how dire the situation was. Katsuki versus all of the villains wouldn't even be a fight.

"So you're the boss?" Katsuki asked. I could barely pick up All For One's chuckle.

"Indeed, I am," he said. After a moment of silence, I heard Katsuki speak once again. His voice was a low, deep, growl.

"Where is she?"

"She's not too far," All For One answered. I heard what sounded like Katsuki clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He must have been unsatisfied with All For One's cryptic answer. I bowed my head again, tears forming in my eyes. I was so close yet so far from freedom. I didn't even get excited when I heard All Might crash into the scene and take on All For One. At this point, I simply wanted to be left in the dark quiet...

Then, everything went black.

I had coughed up a black liquid that quickly consumed my body. Everything had gone black for a bit but once I could see again, I immediately noticed I was in between All For One and All Might.

"You'd really go so low as to use a child as a human shield?" All Might asked through his clenched teeth.

"No. I simply want to prove a point," All For One said as he grabbed me by my throat. I widened my eyes, yelping as I was pulled off my feet. Bakugou flinched as if he wanted to run, but he simply narrowed his eyes and looked to the ground. I silently thanked him for not getting involved.

"It took this girl to make me realize how stubborn the next generation is," the large villain that held me had said. I tried to bite, scratch, and kick the man as he tightened his grip on me. I gasped for air, All For One's grip restricting my airflow.

"That's enough," All Might said with a deadly tone. All For One loosened his grip on me but didn't let me go. As soon as I could breathe again, I began to cough and take in as much air as I could.

"Let her go," All Might demanded. All For One paused.

"You seem to not get the message..." a small chuckle could be heard through his mask.

"You cannot save everyone. That's the flaw in heroes. They raise their status and make themselves look big when all you are is small," he said. My eyes widened as I realized what was about to happen.

"Now, I want you to watch one of your own helplessly die right before you."

"NO!" it hurt for me to shout, but I felt I had to.

"I have acquired a quirk that can disable a person in a matter of minutes. It drains the nervous system until you're left with no mobile abilities," All For One said. Tears streamed down my face.

"I don't want to die," I squeaked out in a hushed voice.

"Time to fulfil your purpose. This is why I kept you around," All For One whispered into my ear. I began to dig my nails into his arm. I was sure that my neck would be bruised but that was the least of my worries. He tightened his grip...

He didn't stop.

Third P.o.V

Bakugou flinched as a bone-chilling crunch came from Hotaru's body. She stopped struggling and went silent. She was completely still. Bakugou's felt a pain inside of his chest.

"Lizard Girl..." he mumbled. Hotaru's eyes grew wide as blood trickled out of her mouth. All For One threw her to the side, her body lying motionless on the ground. Everything was quiet. Bakugou stared at Hotaru with large eyes. A puddle made of her blood began to grow around her. All For One reached his hand out and forced an unconscious Kurogiri to use his quirk, a warp gate opening up soon after.

"Now, go," he ordered.

"But what about you-" Shigaraki was cut off when All Might rushed at his master. All For One began to levitate as All Might drew closer. With a simple raise of his arm, he countered All Might's attack.

"Shigaraki! While that pipe mask is holding All Might back, grab your pieces!" Compress said. Bakugou clenched his fist and jaw as he looked at the villains surrounding him.

"What a pain..." he grumbled.

"Young Bakugou!" All Might called. He tried to head towards him and help but All For One stopped him. He was stuck in the battle.

Bakugou was forced to face the league alone. He side-stepped, dodging Toga and Twice's attack at the same time. Then, he used an explosion to throw himself up and over Compress. He knew that the situation had changed and the villains would use force, now. That point was made very clear by All For One when he discarded Hotaru like she was nothing.

For a split second, Bakugou's eyes moved to the girl. She was still bloody and was clearly very weak. She was past her limit. Her hair was falling over her face, a single scarlet eye peeping through. Bakugou saw more emotion in that fiery orb than he had ever seen in her before.

Desperation, determination, anger, fear, and despair.

At least, that's all Bakugou saw before a brilliant, blue, flame burst to life. It started out in front of Hotaru then travelled all the way to the villains, growing once it reached them. It was a wall.

"Thanks, Lizard Girl," Bakugou smirked. Hotaru flashed him a weak smile before collapsing onto the ground. The blonde ran towards her, throwing caution to the wind. Her breathing was shallow and a small gurgle could be heard, presumably caused by the blood.

"You'll be fine, Damn it," Bakugou didn't know if his words would turn out to be true or not. Hotaru didn't respond. She reached her hand and touched the ground, using what little strength she had to engrave her words onto the ground.

'Run,' she spelt. Bakugou frowned.

"Idiot. I'm not leaving you," he said. Hotaru narrowed her eyes. The blonde boy watched her as she began to write again.

'Own fault. Liability.'

"Shut the hell up," Bakugou spat. Hotaru grabbed his hand. She gave him a pained smile. Suddenly, she widened her eyes. It wasn't a horrified look, but one of shock. Bakugou turned around to see what she was looking at and found that a large spike of ice had appeared. At the top, a familiar green light could be seen. It was obviously Midoriya and his quirk.

"Come on!" a voice yelled. Bakugou looked harder at the moving object in the sky. Kirishima was there, too. Bakugou quickly assessed the situation. He looked down at Hotaru, pulling her up to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her waist and narrowed his eyes.

"Hold on."

With a single blast from Bakugou's quirk, the two were up in the sky. Within seconds, they were flying through the air with Midoriya, Kirishima, and Iida. The villains tried to follow but the heroes Mt. Lady and Gran Torino stopped them. Bakugou kept Hotaru close to him with one hand and held on to Kirishima with the other. He was saving the former while the latter saved him.

'Hang in there...' he thought. Kirishima looked at the two teens with concern-filled eyes.

Later...

Bakugou, Kirishima, and the others landed on the ground and made their way through the streets. Midoriya had just gotten off the phone with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, who had helped in the retrieval of their classmates.

"The police are working on evacuations. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu made it out safely," Midoriya sighed with relief. Iida nodded.

"We need to get Hotaru to a hospital," Kirishima urged. Bakugou clutched the unconscious girl tightly.

"On it," he turned to leave but was stopped by Iida grabbing his arm.

"Take Kirishima with you. It should be safe for us to split up, but we shouldn't take chances," he said. Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows but nodded. Together, the red-head and the blonde took Hotaru to the hospital.

There weren't many people waiting, so the trio got a room quickly. Bakugou's stubbornness and constant insisting that Hotaru be taken in played some part in the process. He practically forced the weak girl into the doctor's hands.

The two boys were told to wait outside while the doctors worked on the young teen and called any family they had on file. Bakugou knew that wouldn't go well. His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sense of urgency in the room. Many nurses came rushing through, the words 'code blue' being repeated over the intercom the whole time. It only made Bakugou worry more. Kirishima walked up to the front desk.

"What does code blue mean?" he asked the woman.

"It means there is a medical emergency in the hospital," she replied with a smile from behind the desk.

"What room?" Bakugou asked, appearing next to Kirishima. Up until this point, he had gone unnoticed.

"Three-o-six," the lady told them. Bakugou and Kirishima froze.

"Lizard Girl," Bakugou mumbled. They spun on their heels and rushed to Hotaru's room. They would have entered, but a doctor stopped them. She wore dark, emerald green, scrubs, a white coat, and had her brown hair tied up into a tight bun.

"You can't be in here," she said.

"Can you at least tell us what's wrong?" Kirishima pleaded. The doctor sighed. She flipped over the paper that was on her clipboard then turned it around so the boys could see. It showed them a diagram with certain parts circled red.

"The patient suffers from a fractured rib and a collapsed trachea. There was internal bleeding but we're working on clearing it up," the brunette pointed the neck of the human on the paper.

"English," Bakugou grumbled. The doctor shuffled the papers on her clipboard once again. When she turned it back around, the boys were met with two x-rays.

"The one on the right is a normal x-ray-how a normal person's neck area would look if not damaged," she explained, running her pen over the picture.

"Now...the one on the right is of the patient's neck. See all the cracks and breaks?" she looked up to the boys after showing them Hotaru's x-ray. Kirishima had wide, sad, eyes that shifted over to Bakugou. He wondered what his friend was thinking and how he was feeling. If he thought it was his fault, it wasn't.

Bakugou's narrowed eyes never left the x-ray. He stayed silent as he stared at the photo. A few moments later, he looked up at the doctor, his expression serious.

"Will she be okay?" he asked gruffly. The doctor looked back to the room, the blinds stopped her from seeing anything. She nodded.

"I believe that she will. If we stop the internal bleeding, it'll be easier to treat everything else. Most of the remaining injuries can be covered with some prescriptions and therapy," she said with a tinge of hope in her voice. Kirishima smiled at the good news. Bakugou sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet with the girl's immediate family."

Bakugou's eyes shot open. Meet with the family? Her mother was here? Oh, this would be fun.

...

Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows as Anzai Satomi, Hotaru's mother, talked with the brown-haired-blue-eyed doctor that was working on Hotaru. He knew the look of worry on the mother's face was fake and sat close enough so he could hear the conversation but keep Kirishima oblivious to his plan.

"Has she had any severe injuries in the past? Cuts, burns?" the doctor asked. Satomi shook her head.

"No, she's always been safe with me," she said. Bakugou grit his teeth together at her answer. Like hell was he going to sit there and listen to the bullshit coming out of that crazy woman's mouth.

"Doctor Watanabe, we need you," a male nurse walked up to the doctor. She sighed before turning to Satomi.

"I'll be right back," she said. Satomi nodded as she walked the woman walk away. She sighed, massaging her temples.

"What did that little shit do to herself this time?" she grumbled. Bakugou couldn't stop himself from approaching her after her comment. Kirishima gave him a confused look but once he saw where his friend was going, he widened his eyes.

"What are you-" "Why the hell are you here?" Bakugou didn't listen to the redhead. Satomi raised an eyebrow.

"I remember you. You're that kid who said I treat my daughter like garbage," she stood up and crossed her arms. She and Bakugou glared at each other with an intensity that rivalled an electric current.

"It's because you do! You think that I don't notice the burns and scars on her?" Bakugou lowered his voice at the last part. Satomi scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know what you're implying-" "Quit acting like you're oblivious to this. You're only here because people know you have a daughter, now," Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows, his glare never wavering. Satomi raised an eyebrow.

"I seem to remember her pushing you away. She never asked for your help, correct?" she asked. Bakugou got uncharacteristically quiet

"You are simply another object she is using. She'll feed off your affection and attention until there is nothing left. You'll end up in pain and she will be back at square one," Satomi said before walking towards the front doors of the hospital. Bakugou sighed and Kirishima stared at him with confusion-filled eyes. He was about to start speaking when the doctor approached them. Bakugou held his breath when he saw the woman walked up.

"You two are friends with the girl in room three-o-six?" she asked. Both boys nodded.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that her condition has stabilized, for now. She still needs surgery but, at the moment, she's doing fine," the doctor said with a warm smile. Kirishima smirked, holding back his pleased laughter, and Bakugou sighed.

"Is she awake?" he asked. The doctor nodded.

"Sadly, no. She's still feeling effects from the sedatives we gave her," she said, trying to warn Bakugou and Kirishima. They didn't listen and just ran to her room. Bakugou took a deep breath before entering.

"Lizard Girl?" he called, walking in. He immediately stopped. His eyes narrowed. Hotaru looked terrible. The purple-haired girl had shallow breathing, many tubes hooked up to her, and very pale skin. She was asleep but Bakugou didn't seem to care. He walked to her bedside and looked down at her with sad and angry eyes.

"Her trachea was badly damaged and her spinal cord suffered some, too. I'm afraid she won't be able to speak or have complete control over the lower half of her body for a while," a different doctor had walked in. He had black hair, dark eyes, and a beard that was just starting to grow. Bakugou stared at him for a minute.

"Will she be okay?" he asked grimly. The doctor knew what he was implying. He nodded.

"She will need some surgery from a doctor that will have to be flown in from the United States. She'll also need therapy-" "I didn't ask for that! I asked if she'd be okay, damn it!" Bakugou shouted. He had grabbed the doctor by the collar of his shirt, pinning him up against the wall. The raven-haired man kept his calm and endured it.

"Sir, I understand where you're coming from but please calm down," he said. Bakugou sighed. He stepped back and ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"Sorry," he grumbled. The doctor straightened out his coat.

"It's alright. You're only one of many boyfriends to make a scene," he said, adjusting his glasses. Bakugou froze. Kirishima widened his eyes as he watched Bakugou process the words just spoken. The blonde clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and scoffed before sprinting out of the room. Kirishima turned to face Hotaru who, thankfully, didn't see what happened. The red-head sighed.

"Excuse me," he said to the doctor before leaving the room to look for his friend. After a few minutes of searching, Kirishima had found Bakugou sitting on a wooden bench outside the hospital doors. He had his head held in his hands. Kirishima sighed before sitting next to him.

"What's got you all worked up?" he asked. Bakugou shook his head.

"I don't know," he mumbled. Kirishima paused.

"You left after the boyfriend comment," he had noticed. Bakugou froze. It was silent for a moment, both friends unsure of what to say. After a few minutes, Kirishima decided to speak up.

"Dude, if you like her, go for it," he said. Bakugou closed his eyes. He let his arms fall down as he lowered his head.

"It's not that easy..."

"She already has enough shit happening to her. She doesn't need me fucking it up even more," Bakugou's frown deepened. Kirishima put a hand on his shoulder.

"None of what's happening is your fault. I know you think it is but-" "She wouldn't be in the hospital if it wasn't for me!" Bakugou shoved Kirishima off him. The red-head was shocked by his sudden outburst but he knew it was in his nature to do something like that. Bakugou stood up and glared at his friend.

"We never talked about any of this," he said before walking away. Kirishima shook his head, filled with disappointment. He had called it.

Hey, everyone. I just made a bit of a change here to better fit the flow of the story. Also reposting so I can tell you guys how sorry I am that I made the mistake of saying my story was completed. I guess I accidentally clicked it. My apologies.

Also, the next chapter will probably be the last. Fear not, for I am only making this a two-part story. There will be another story that continues Hotaru's adventure.

Thanks again, Loves.

Special Thanks To...

Lady Kato

ShyFox1337

Yael Anarly