Countdown to Reality
1. I wanted to write that chapter since the beginning! It is one of the first chapters I had in mind. I really hope you'll like it!
2. Short warning, this chapter and the next one have some fighting. Take care : )
3. My best (worst?) cliffhanger so far.
Day 3. Time for action movies. Countdown: 19: 12 : 01
Escaping the cinema was easy. Finding the correct train station was also easy. Kacchan was grumpy, but thankfully, he behaved like the future pro-hero he was. He only growled once when he had to swipe his ID to get on the train.
The last JR station was still a bit far from their destination. They had to take a regional bus to Shiromaru station and they spent half the trip fighting over what they should do next. Kacchan fortunately did not raise his voice during their argument and if a few passengers did stare at his hair more than they should have, nobody dared to say something. All in all, the first part of their rescue was uneventful.
Then, the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere, and they both set foot on a humid road. The driver closed the doors behind Izuku and when the engine noise disappeared in the distance, they were left alone with the silence.
They did not speak. They just started at the wooden post on the side and they left for the forest depths. They discreetly went past a few houses and by the time they reached the end of the road, they were utterly alone.
The indications given by Hagakure would not be very useful past this point. The forest was just in front of them, as an unexplored maze of leaves bristling in the wind.
"Let's find some viewpoint." Kacchan decided, setting foot on an almost invisible line of dirt between ferns. If it was a trail, it was not a man's work. "Police cars, patrols, soldiers and stuff are usually not invisible."
"As well as icebergs."
Kacchan said nothing, his eyes narrowing down as they went under the infinite mass of trees. There was a faint smell in the air, brought by the breeze along with the smoother scent of the pines. Izuku did not have to ask Kacchan if he smelled it too. It was unpleasantly surrounding them with its heavy presence.
Fire.
It scared Izuku as soon as he put that word on that scent, and not because they were in a pine forest. That element, in that place, in these circumstances was a bad omen. Todoroki was not stupid. Todoroki was not one to use fire in a pine forest. Yet, fire traces were everywhere and Todoroki was likely to be the cause of it.
He could have briefly lost control – it happened before – or he could have done it on purpose – he did that too in a forest before – but in both cases, Izuku feared the reason leading his friend to do such a thing was much worse. Fire was Todoroki's last weapon, the one he would use when panicking, when in real danger and…
"Fuck, stop mumbling!"
Izuku's mind came back to present time. The forest. The silence. The fire smell. Kacchan's burning black eyes ahead of him.
"Sorry, I was..."
"You were annoying! I noticed, thank you. Now get your ass over here and climb one of these pines. We should be far enough from the habitations now."
Izuku nodded. It felt as if they were plunged in a world where humans never set foot. Branches and thorns where everywhere and even the thin dirt trail had vanished under pine needles and tall bushes.
"Ok. Wait for me."
He jumped towards the closest branch and Kacchan – for obvious fire hazard reasons – stayed on the ground.
He climbed the tree fast, using his Full Cowling without restraint. He was just another blur of green in the mass of needles and leaves, and when he reached the top of the tree, he was briefly amazed by the emerald ocean extending in every direction.
It was breath taking, but sightseeing was not what he was in the forest for. He left the beauty of the trees for another time and looked for the fires.
He did not search for very long. Immense columns of black smoke were rising from the west, surrounded by enormous flies.
Helicopters. Not flies.
That was a good lead to start with. Izuku leaped from the tree and landed just near an unfazed Kacchan.
"That way."
Hagakure sat in the subway, hidden behind a trashcan to hide her visible phone from view. It was not the best hiding spot of her carrier (it was not even hygienic to sit there, butt-naked). On the other hand, no one would stare at a trashcan in a shadowy corner. It was not her worst choice either.
From: Midoriya-kun
We got to the Shiromaru station. I will keep you updated when I can.
From: Yao-Momo
Be careful. I am coming by car. Let your phone geolocation on, and track mine. I will try to get as close as I can, and still keep the car on a road we can use to escape.
From: Kaminari-kun
The cop driving in my police car is listening to the news
they speak about big fires in Tokyo western countryside
They did not say exactly where
But if they say more stuff I will tell you as well
Sorry
I feel bad not being with you
Hagakure tapped her nails on the trashcan. None of the people commuting even noticed. She felt bad about no coming to the forest as well… and she was in a subway station, only one stop away from a JR railway station…
From: Hagakure
Should I come as well? The more the merrier!
She waited for an answer. The first one to send something was Kaminari, saying he was not the one to ask. Unsurprisingly, Midoriya stayed silent. Then, Yao-Momo typed some words, but she did not send them. Hagakure waited a bit longer, and then, their class representative called her.
Hagakure did not answer straight away, as hard as she wanted to. She first looked around, checking the crowd. Then, she put a hand in front of her mouth as she accepted the incoming call.
"Hagakure-san?"
"Oh, Yao-Momo, I am so happy to hear from you! Should you pick me up with your car or should I just take the train… I don't have the money to buy a ticket right now but I can take the train once without one, don't you think? I'm so –"
"Hagakure-san." Yaoyorozu interrupted. "I need to ask you something."
Hagakure waited. She could hear some unsaid words behind that… like some: "I have something to ask, the kind of things I would rather no ask over the phone if I had the possibility to face you, but since it is still better than texting, here I go." – stuff.
"It sounds like a really bad thing you need me to do." Hagakure sourly whispered, as her friend was remaining silent after thirty seconds.
"O-Of course I would perfectly understand if you were to refuse… and you are free to, and the most important thing is your own safety, so if you have any inkling that it could put your life at any risk at all… you..."
Hagakure had a fairly good idea now of what it was Yao-Momo wanted to ask. She had thought about it herself, and she had known all along that it was actually the smartest course of action. It was probably the real reason why she was not yet on that JR train.
"You want me to go back, don't you?" She whispered. "I need to be the eyes and ears of the team."
On the phone, she could only hear the engine of her friend's car.
"I… I do Hagakure-san, but I am not in charge of anything, and I can't ask you to do it, it is so dangerous with the League and…"
"I will do it." Hagakure stopped her.
They were a team. They all had qualities. Defaults. Some were firepower, other were brain, and she needed to be the eyes and ears. It was as a team that they would save their friends; it was only as a team that it could work.
"Hagakure-san, are you sure?"
"Never been that sure, Yao-Momo! I am going to be a double-agent full time now."
"I know we can count on you… but it is the League we are talking about. Stay safe, okay?"
"Actually, they must have left for your position by now, so you, be careful. And stop using your phone while driving. It's forbidden! And dangerous!"
Yaoyorozu nervously giggled, and after a last goodbye, she hanged up. While they had been talking, Kaminari had been busy typing messages without anybody answering.
From: Kaminari-kun
Btw some news from Kirishima?
No, no one?
I am worried about him too you know, all alone
They say that they have to evacuate another village, fire is spreading
Todoroki is fighting I guess
Why not with the ice though
It sounds dangerous option to me
I am so sorry I am not with you guys, and Bakugo is not exactly the best choice either for a fight under things called "trees". Lightening is better
Anyway
No ice means a reason why no ice
Ooooorrrr
It is not Todoroki making fire
There is the other scar-face
Wait no, he can't be there yet
NO, wait, he CAN
Maybe?
Hey, Hagakure, was creepy portal-guy with you?
Hagakure had to go back to her boss and anyway she did have an appointment – a real one – with her boss later in the day. She had to go back to the building. She had to investigate more.
Hagakure rose from the very unhygienic ground and left for the tower.
'That way' was a long and fastidious way. There were no trails, but so many obstacles that fucking Deku would have leaped from tree to tree if Bakugo could have followed without loudly bombing his way through the branches. Since they had to stay stealthy and silent as much as possible, they stayed on the ground, and Bakugo refrained from using his Quirk… and from hitting his classmate.
He could tell Deku was thinking he'd be faster alone.
Fuck him.
Their progression was so slow it was infuriating. Bakugo's eyebrows got closer to one another as time passed. The forest was getting even thicker, its vegetation becoming harder to get through. He hated that fucking forest.
Grey snowflakes started to fall from the sky and they stuck to leaves and barks.
Ashes.
The smell was getting stronger. It got in his nose and lungs with each breath, sending warnings to his brain. He was already regretting his costume absence, because fight was in the air.
Their surroundings were quiet, except for the distant crackling of fire, when Deku suddenly stopped. He put a finger on his lips and pointed something in front of them.
Bakugo felt his heart speed up.
Shadows were dancing on the pine needles and ferns. Human shadows.
Deku crouched down and opened his backpack. He put on a scarf to hide is face, and gave another one to Bakugo. He did the same thing, also hiding his hair under his hood.
The fire was still crackling. It was casting shadows and lights through the thick smoke. They all looked like a blur, a very unwelcoming backdrop for the eyes, so fast…
So bright…
So dark…
Bakugo blinked, and not because of the smoke. He felt something nudge his consciousness; drag him, letting little options but opening and closing his eyes in the hope to chase it away.
Not now! He grabbed on reality as he had grabbed onto the windowsill, trying to resist it, because he couldn't afford to have another episode of invisible-neighbors-and-fucking-Aizawa-sensei. Flashes intensified.
Every flame flickered as flames should never flicker, every tree wavered and every waft of smoke became a hell of flashes and shadows.
It took him everything he had to stay in the moment. Every second was a silent fight, harder the previous one, but he was Bakugo fucking Katsuki, he was not going to be beaten by shitty lights.
Never.
"Kacchan?"
He opened his eyes.
When had he closed them?
When had Deku started to stare at him with that much concern on his face?
"Kacchan?"
"Fuck yo-"
"Shhh!" The nerd hushed, and before Bakugo had time to react, Deku grabbed him and lifted him up onto a high branch of the closest tree. Bakugo almost punched him for that, but his vision was swaying once again and he focused on not falling from the branch instead.
He slowly grabbed the trunk, and shook Deku off. His vision was still not stable. On the sides, he could still see several bushes and rocks flickering, temporarily stopping to exist.
That was not what he called an amelioration.
"There." Deku said.
He blinked. His arms were shaking, and these fucking ashes were flashing... But enough about him. Just beneath them, a column of armed men was running towards a faraway fire source.
"Ten people," Deku whispered. "Kacchan, this is not the League or just the local police. These are trained soldiers."
Bakugo stayed silent. Between two fucking flashes of shitty useless light, he saw the mud-colored uniforms, boots and helmets, but his eyes settled on the weapons. As Quirks became part of their world, firearms became old fashioned. Most police officers never even saw one in their lives, and the market had dropped to unprecedented levels worldwide.
It was why weapons were not much introduced in their hero courses.
Bakugo had no idea what those were named, had no idea how it fired, how many times, how far, how fast, but he knew the men under the trees had all the knowledge he lacked. They were professionals. Quirkless was not harmless. He should have known better.
"Fuck."
The moment he said that, one of them, the last one of the line, stopped. He rose a hand to his ear, and whistled. They all stopped. The man seemed to listen to some information and then, put his hand down.
"Team B just found them and engaged!" He yelled, waving to his group to start going the other way.
Deku looked at him, and Bakugo smiled back, despite the fact that the background was completely unsteady. They did not need words. Harmless or not, they had to deal with them. They could not have them arriving in their backs with all the ammunition they had, when they would be facing another squadron.
Besides, they needed to know where was fucking team B.
"Be caref-"
"STUN GRENADE!"
THAT was a flash, a real one.
Kacchan did not wait.
Not surprising, but still… he had been half-there with him a second ago, eyelids opening and closing fast, eyes unfocused. That was fast recovery. Izuku just hoped it was recovery. The light erupted from his opened palms and all the soldiers on the ground raised their chins to check who was yelling at them.
The light hit them right in the retina, accompanied with a muffled Boom.
Izuku jumped down, covered in green lights, grabbed the weapon of the first soldier, and broke it in half like a wooden stick. (Okay, it was a lot harder than a wooden stick, but with OFA, the result was the same.) The men screamed, but out of fear and reflex, they already had hands on the triggers… he tackled the next one onto the ground and jump on the rest of them. Kacchan's flash effect would only last a handful of short seconds… that he had to use to disarm ten people.
He also had to be careful. Knocking someone out, with the flames that close, was risking these soldiers' lives, and he was there to rescue. Not to harm, and definitely not to kill anyone. He just had to make sure they would not be able to shoot.
Kacchan jumped down in turn, cushioning himself with another loud Boom. He grabbed the closest soldier, grabbed his gun and threw it in Izuku's direction.
"WE ARE UNDER ATT…!"
Kacchan tackled him, punched him onto the ground, and the man gasped in pain. He grabbed him by his collar with one hand, and with the other, made loud explosions just centimeters away from his face.
"HEY! Team leader!" He called the last man of the line. "You heard that?! You are under attack! Tell us where are stupid Todoroki and dumb Pinky or I send that random subordinate of yours to an ugly plastic surgeon."
Izuku cringed. Even if that was just bluff, that was NOT hero like!
Wait... it was bluff, was it?
On the other hand, the team leader still had his gun, and he would be able to aim in a matter of seconds, so Izuku lost no time scolding his friend, and kicked the remaining weapons out of their hands.
Only two left, one left… the soldiers were not yet seeing anything and he was too fast for them. He reached the last man the moment Kacchan made more violent exploding noises, close enough to his victim to make him scream with fear, but far enough to avoid actually injuring him.
Izuku felt relieved. To have experienced first-hand Kacchan's explosions throughout his entire life, he knew perfectly how to differentiate them. These were loud, but not that hot, and the shock wave was inexistent. They were his "I-am-bullying-you-hard-but-I-won't-leave-a-fucking-scratch-on-you-so-my-record-stays-clean-and-you-can't-complain-to-the-teachers" ones.
"TELL US. NOW!"
"I …!"
Another noise, a gunshot noise, echoed through the forest. Everyone stilled.
That noise repeated itself, followed by something weird. A low, rambling and shattering noise, full of low cracks and high grindings. The soldiers looked even more scared and confused.
It was the noise ice did, when it moved.
Kacchan let go of his victim, wobbled a little, and designated the noise source.
"You've destroyed all their weapons? Great. Let's take off."
Izuku nodded, hesitating on how to proceed, because Kacchan could hardly use his explosions with that many pine needles on the ground… but he still skyrocketed himself off the floor, not lighting any of them alight. Kacchan had such a fine mastering of his Quirk…! Izuku smiled, let the man he had just punched fall down, and Full Cowled himself to follow his friend.
The forest once again extended under his feet, but he had eyes only for a small, blue pit above the trees. Helicopters were further away, chased by the smoke, and screams were coming from the area.
They were close, they were getting closer, and closer, hundreds of meters after hundreds meters. The pit was there! Todoroki had been somewhere around mare minutes ago! Izuku strained his eyes, jumping faster, looking at the ground, searching for soldiers and classmates…
"THERE!"
After all the explosions, Izuku thought it would be impossible to have his ears manhandled by anything else, but Kacchan's voice was terrific when too close.
He looked down, and caught sight of pink, red, and white hair. He whirled around, Kacchan launched himself down, and he opened fire on the ten military trying to find a good angle to kill their friends.
"AP SHOTS!"
A successive wave of explosions resounded between the trees. Kacchan's aim was incredible! Almost every shot reached their pursuers' weapons, rendering them unusable. Izuku landed on the next ones, hitting them with almost no restraint. The men stumbled and fell on the ground, to be welcomed by another, huge, stun grenade.
Todoroki had not stopped; he was already two or three hundred meters away from them. Izuku ran after him, letting the remaining soldiers in Kacchan's care. He heard screams, and a body hitting a tree after a particularly harsh explosion.
He felt his heart rate accelerate even more. Ashido-san was not running alongside Todoroki. She was on his back, and she looked unconscious.
"Wait!" He called, jumping and landing at arm reach.
Their eyes met half a second, and then, there was fire.
Hot, unforgiving, unhesitating fire.
Kacchan screamed something between "Watch out!" and "Stupid Deku!". There was another BANG, a flying teen and the fire was blown out like a candle by the explosion's shock wave.
The noise and light send all his senses awry for ten seconds, and then, the dark and burning forest reappeared.
"OI! Icy hot! What the fuck?!"
A line of fire and smoke separated them from each other. For the first time, Izuku could see his classmate's face close enough to tell his features.
He looked exhausted. His clothes, half burned, were tattered. His feet were hurt and there were long trails of blood on his only remaining sleeve. Ashido-san's head was on his shoulder, her hair so full of ashes that the pink was difficult to spot. He had iced her onto his own back, and she was obviously not conscious.
Kacchan took a step closer, waving to disperse the smoke. "If you fucking can't tell who is friend or foe you really should get your eyes checked. Let's get out of here, these guys will be on us in seconds. And what's up with Pin—"
He stopped. Todoroki had taken some steps back, and his left side was back to a low burning. Some flames were even flickering really close to Ashido's face.
Izuku could not move. The way he looked at them, it was not how he should have, and Kacchan just realized that as well.
"Oi, Oi, Oi, don't fucking tell me…" He took another step closer, at the very moment Izuku chose to also take one, and Todoroki reacted instantly.
Another, burning, terrible wave of fire drew a line between them. That time, though, it was not exactly meant to hurt. It just made a dent on the ground, a limit of charcoal and ashes looking like a border.
"Don't come closer." Todoroki warned them.
They had assumed the entire class would remember.
They had assumed wrong.
Todoroki, arms still covered in flames, stared at both of them.
"Who are you?" He rasped.