"I'm done with protesting," Bakugou spat out with a snarl, throwing his arms up to let out huge explosions. "Let's get sensei out, now." Shifting his body into a crouched position to propel himself into the air and over the gigantic gates, Katsuki tried to ignore the many voices behind and next to him. There were gathered in the hundreds for two weeks now, demanding for Aizawa to be released from Tartarus, and what had it brought them? Hoarse throats and nothing fucking else. The politicians and Hero Commission turned a blind eye on them, ignorant to the many pro heroes camping out and speaking up for one of their own.
Fallen Hero they had dared to call him, and hadn't Yamada-sensei decked that smooth-licked political suit fucker, Katsuki would have exploded him like many Nomu before him. Eraserhead was no fallen hero. He was the hero, the one who fulfilled what All Might started and nobody else had managed. He had eliminated the worst threat and for that they put him in chains.
Fucking Deku kept the chants and chorus going, motivating and pumping up the masses when exhaustion washed over them. Recovery Girl rolled through the crowd in her wheelchair, checking on everyone and sharing her gummies to keep everyone's energy levels high. Without that old bat the extras behind Bakugou would have long given up… probably… maybe… probably not.
Ground Zero was in the Top 10 with Shouto, Deku, Red Riot, and even that Copy Cat Bitch who proved a surprising level of usefulness by managing to copy different of Dust-Face's many quirks. All their classmates were there, that Support maniac handed out her 'babies' which amplified their voices, and she'd helped Present Mic with his own support items to double the volume of his quirk. Tartarus' gates were constantly vibrating from their voices alone, but the people in charge stayed unmoving, too intent on presenting themselves as the good guys.
Mind stuck in his own anger, Katsuki only noticed he was already half-way up the gates when Deku slammed himself into him mid-air to drag him back down, Soy Sauce Face pulled at them from the ground like a fisherman… or Aizawa when the man had gotten fed up with their antics and used his capture weapon to make sure nobody got themselves killed and- Bakugou could not deal with it anymore. He let out a scream of his outrage, fury, and wish to blast someone into the stratosphere just to finally find a proper outlet.
The door for visitors was opened and out stepped a man who screamed 'attorney'. Knowing about the close date to the court hearing, it didn't take a kindergartener to count one plus one together, and Suits got swarmed by the crowd with many questions.
"Did you see Aizawa-sensei?"
"How is he doing?"
"Is he hurt?"
"Does the brat get medical attention and three meals a day?" (Recovery Girl)
"What does he say?"
"You are going to win the trial, you shitty fucker, or I will personally end you!"
The man looked around with huge eyes as he tried to back away, but the closed gate cornered him in. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but no word was produced. Bakugou did not like this, so he stepped right into Suits' personal space to stare down at him with a glare.
"Listen, you dressed up piece of shit," his finger poked into the man's chest, hard, "if you don't grow a pair of balls to speak up around us, how do you think you defend sensei and win in court, hah?! You are a fucking lawyer, so act like it and answer the questions!"
"Kacchan, let him speak." Deku pulled at his shoulder to have him back off. The only reason Katsuki didn't stuff that idiot's face with his explosions was the seriousness in his voice. As much of a crybaby as he had been and still sometimes was, the little shit had matured, and Bakugou hated to admit that sometimes people felt more intimidated by the ever-fucking-smiling Deku's glare that Ground Zero's threats.
Suits cleared his throat a couple of times and corrected his stupid tie, his briefcase was pulled in front of him as if it could create a barrier against the flood of heroes and hero-hopefuls.
"I am Eraserhead-san's lawyer, and I am as much in debt to his deed as any of you," he started with only a slight tremor in his voice, the resolution in his eyes wavered and disappeared quickly, "but when I tried to work out our defence…" He looked downwards to the side taking a loud, shaking breath.
"Eraserhead-san does not plan to defend himself. He is aware of the consequences and what is going to happen, but he stands by his choices."
"Of fucking course, he does," Katsuki spat out, "we are talking about Aizawa, he breaths logic!"
"The consequences would be far worse if Sensei hadn't acted," Shitty Hair agreed loudly, and many others followed suit.
"His logic saved us all!"
"He is a hero!"
"Shouta doesn't plan to defend himself?" It was Yamada-sensei, his voice low but the amplifier had carried the whisper across the crowd, the heartbreak echoed off the prison walls, and devastation was open in his face. Suits shifted on the spot uncomfortably and he just nodded quietly.
Present Mic's expression shifted, his mouth fell agape, eyebrows lifted as the rest of his face went slack, and tears stared to well behind the sunglasses. His eyes were unfocussed as his gaze darted around, lowering to the ground, and his hands went to his head, fingers digging into his hair. A hard exhale made him waver, and Red Riot was quick to steady their former sensei. The hundreds of heroes and students had fallen into a suffocating silence, the small sounds of a man reaching his breakdown were deafening.
"N-no," Yamada pressed out hoarsely as if the many days of yelled protest finally caught up with him. The purple Aizawa mini-me appeared to support his other side, and Bakugou noticed how much worse his old classmate looked. Eyebags always looked tired and exhausted, but he'd never been this bad. Looking around the crowd of extras and former classmates, they all appeared closer to falling over than ever. The news of Aizawa not even planning to fight for his freedom had effectively drained them all, and even Katsuki felt lead pull in his limbs.
"No," Present Mic pressed out again from his hunched position, before he threw his head back and yelled up into the sky, "SHOOOUUUTAAAAAA!"
The gates shook with loud groaning, the ground and bridge moved as if earthquakes were sending tremors through them, even the waves close by got disrupted by the soundwaves, and everyone around Present Mic experienced acute hearing loss.
There was a numbness to Katsuki's senses, the shrill peeping was all he could hear. All around him, people cradled their ears and made movements as if groaning in pain, but they were all covered in silence. Present Mic opened his mouth again, and Bakugou swore he saw the soundwaves as they were all knocked off their feet.
The bridge swayed with the gates, the waves kept clashing against each other, and deep ripples were send through the ocean all around Tartarus, the gigantic prison that was shaking by one man's voice alone.
Katsuki had no idea how long Yamada had been yelling and screaming for his best friend – they all politely ignored the tears and how the man needed Red Riot and Siren to stay upright – but he kept screaming and having his voice be heard.
Far away at the shore, Bakugou was able to make out an odd line, and it took him a moment to realise it to be civilians, thousands of them. Mic's voice had to be loud enough to have everyone in the city hear him from five kilometres away. Sure, when all of them had demanded Aizawa's release, the people at the shore probably heard them as well, but with how powerful and out of control Voice was right now, there had to be no way people could ignore him.
Another soundwave was cut short, when Yamada choked and small dripples of blood tickled down his lower lip, but the hero didn't seem to notice. He coughed again, took another deep breath and let out another scream, his lips forming the same word over and over again, Shouta.
.
Recovery Girl kissed Yamada's throat three times throughout the afternoon and evening, and despite his exhaustion and bone deep tiredness, he kept going, screaming like he'd never allowed himself to scream around people. Because Shouta didn't care, because he didn't care anymore, because his best friend favoured logic and calculated how all of this would end, because Hizashi was not able to accept it.
His screaming only stopped when fatigue hit him, and Recovery Girl finally was able to kiss the huge crowd into fixing their hearing. They all would have been better off far away from the screaming man, but they had been temporarily deaf anyway, staying had been self-explanatory. They refused to leave Present Mic alone in his long moment of misery.
Midnight sat on the ground, cradling her blonde friend's head into her lap and combing fingers through his hair. Shinsou sat close and fiddled with Mic's amplifier to not have it constrict his breathing.
People gave them some space and the illusion of privacy, all mumbling about what the lawyer had told them. Night had come a couple of hours ago, and with a few Pro Heroes keeping watch, they sank onto the ground for a few hours of sleep. In the morning, their protest would go on. They would not give in to the politics and Hero Commission, because their friend, mentor, and sensei was a hero.