Rule #24: Backup plans are the cornerstone of confidence

Racing through the maze of twisting corridors, Toru did her best to quickly and efficiently search through the lower levels of the mall in order to see if any more of her classmates remained there. Whilst she did this, Yaoyorozu was creating a long enough rope ladder to reach down the elevator shaft; leaving Asui and Ochako to scour through the upper levels of the mall for their peers.

All around her, the sound of the unstable building creaking and groaning set her nerves on edge and drove her to search the floors much faster than she would have liked, as she raced against the clock. That doesn't sound good. She worried her lip between her teeth as she raced around the corner and consequently straight into Midoriya. "Ack!" She yelped as the two tumbled to the floor, surprised by the other's sudden appearance.

"Ha—Hagakure?" Midoriya blushed when he discovered the position they had fallen into. Invisible limbs pushed themselves off of the green-haired boy with little effort as Toru regained her bearings, unaware of the thoughts rushing through her classmate's head.

"Ugh" Toru shook off the ache that accompanied her sudden headbutt against the greenette's chest. "Midoriya? Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" MIdoriya replied as Toru got off of him and offered him a gloved hand, up.

"Good, that's good"

"Wait! What are you doing here, Hagakure? It's too dangerous! You should go back!"

"I can't, the building's more unstable than before and I need to see if there's anyone else still in here"

"But—!"

"—Wait!" Toru cut through Midoriya's protest as the sound of roaring water met her ears. "Does that sound like water to you?"

"Oh no…" Midoriya breathed, his face paling as he turned towards the sound at the stairs leading down to the basement.

"Is there anyone still in here?" Toru prodded. "Midoriya?"

"Uh, Kaminari, Kirishima and Tokoyami went back to the surface and Kaachan stayed back with Todoroki"

"Dammit!"

"Hagakure?"

"We have to go"

"Go?"

"C'me on!" Toru took off down the corridor towards the basement and rushing water. "We have to hurry! If the water sounds like that up here, who knows how bad it is further down?"

"And no matter how amazing Todoroki's ice is, I can't imagine he'll be able to freeze evey drop of water that's gushing into the ground floor! He's probably only been able to freeze the top layer" Midoriya replied as he raced alongside the invisible girl; just as worried about their classmates as she.

"Which means that the water is still building up underneath it—the pressure beneath the ice must be incredible!"

"Worse case scenario: the whole underground mall will end up collapsing"

"Taking us along with it"

"Kaachan didn't leave because he wants to rescue Todoroki, which means he must have a plan!"

"But what could he do? Explosions won't do much against torrents of water—not unless he combines it with Todoroki's fire to fashion some sort of geyser. But that would likely bring the whole building down on us!"

"The chances of success are rather low with just the two of them"

"Then we better hurry!"

"Right!"

Soon enough the pair emerged out into the bottom-most level of the basement where Todoroki and Bakugou were stood off to the side, bickering over what to do. "Kaachan! Todoroki!" Midoriya called as he led the way.

"Midoriya" Todoroki greeted over Bakugou's shoulder. "Hagakure"

"AH GREAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, YA DAMN NERDS?!" Bakugou demanded.

"Hold on! I'll open a hole in the ice" Midoriya replied, ignoring Bakugou's rather loud exclamation.

"YOU LITTLE—!"

"Just be ready to freeze a platform for us to stand on—"

"—We can't!" Toru vehemently vetoed. "The others are still getting out and one wrong move could bring this whole place down on us!"

"So fly us outta here then!" Bakugou snapped, turning on the girl.

"I can't"

"You what?"

"I can't fly, not anymore"

"What? Did you just suddenly lose the ability to fly?!"

"I imploded Bakugou, some things are bound to be different"

"Guys, now's not the time!" Todoroki scolded.

"Yeah, yeah you're right" Toru nodded.

"STAY OUTTA THIS YOU ICY-HOT BASTARD!" Bakugou turned on Todoroki next.

"Kaachan!" Midoriya worried, but was ignored.

"Look, we might not have a choice" Todoroki warily eyed the rapidly rising water levels as his sheet of ice began to crack beneath the immense pressure.

"Right, Kaachan" Midoriya turned to Bakugou next as Toru stepped back with arms crossed, still a little wary about continuing on with such a risky plan. "Make sure you blast every ceiling"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Bakugou snarked irritably.

"Now's not the time, Baka!" Toru smacked him over the back of the head much to his irritation. But the action gave Midoriya enough of a distraction to launch a Quirk-powered kick towards the base of the ice sculpture on the floor below them. Water exploded upwards from the kick, engulfing Midoriya in the torrent as it raced up to meet them. "Oh, we're all about to get very wet…" She murmured as Todoroki leant over the ice platform he had created, and plucked Midoriya from the water as Bakugou set about blasting the ceilings to pieces.

"DIE CEILING!" Came Bakugou's war cry as Toru helped to haul Midoriya up onto the ice and not a moment too soon as debris rained down on them like hail. Falling into a crouched position, Toru all but dug her fingers into the ice as they rocketed skywards and silently prayed that the geyser would push them far enough out of danger.

"The next level!" Todoroki warned as the platform shot through the smokey cloud of falling debris and aftermath of Bakugou's controlled explosions.

Unfortunately, the next ceiling took a bit more than Bakugou's precise explosions to get it out of the way. A superpowered kick from Midoriya later (after he was once again hauled back onto the platform after slipping from the edge upon landing), found the quartet bursting through the last of the lower levels of the mall until sunlight had begun to stream in through the cracks. "LOOK OUT!" Toru cried, flinging her hand up and generating a small violet convex bubble above their heads just in time as larger shards of debris rained down on them. It was only due to her forcefield that the quartet was able to survive the heavy rain of dirt and smoke.

However, their good fortune barely lasted more than a few seconds as the raining debris quickly grew in quantity, growing far too much for the young heroine to handle as it obscured their vision. Unbeknownst to them, a single piece of rubble was headed straight for them; one that Toru was unable to deflect in time. One moment the quartet had been wildly riding the geyser up through the floors like they were heroes in a video game, and the next they were flying through the air, backhanded by the rubble that dislodged the ice platform from beneath their feet.

Even in her panic, Toru knew that their landings would not be easy and so squashing down the fear choking at her throat, she reached out with her feet to grab the closest person to her. It just so happened to be Bakugou. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!" Bakugou demanded, twisting as much as possible in her grip. "LEMME GO!"

"Quit struggling!" Toru fired back as she tightened her legs around his chest and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, throwing up a violet forcefield around them. Even with her eyes screwed shut, Toru knew the moment when they hit the ground because it felt like her bones were rattling and her breath wheezed as the wind was knocked out of her at the sudden contact. Sweat dripped down her brow and Bakugou was mercifully silent as she waited for the rain of debris to stop.

Laying on her back with arms locked above her head like she was lifting weights, Toru wearily blinked her eyes open so that she could assess the damage, to see if it was safe enough to drop the forcefield. "Well…" Toru panted as the last of the dust dissipated and she dropped the forcefield. "That…could've—achoo!—been…a lot…worse" Collapsing onto her back, she lay there for a moment just catching her breath, eyes following the little firefly-like bubbles of violet floating above her, that she had produced when she had sneezed. Curiously, though she hand't heard a peep from Bakugou since they'd landed, nor had she seen where Midoriya or Todoroki had landed. "Where could…they have gone?"

Propping herself up onto her elbows, violet eyes pierced the dark as Toru searched for her wayward peers. "Oh no…" Toru breathed when her gaze alighted upon the prone form of Bakugou lying not too far away from her. Thankfully, her forcefield had served its purpose well enough as the boy was framed by a section of debris that had been cleaved clean in two by the corrosive bubble. But worry still tugged at her heart as she rose to her feet and climbed over the rubble separating the pair. "Bakugou? Bakugou? Can you hear me?" She gently petted his face with one hand whilst the other dug under his collar in search of a pulse.

LA-DUB LA-DUB LA-DUB

"Phew, pulse is still there" She sighed in relief, "Bakugou? Wake up! Bakugou! Oh please don't hate me for this" She whispered reeling her arm back before she slapped him clean across the face, leaving a red hand print clear across his cheek. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick.

"Ugh…" Bakugou groaned, eyes blearing blinking open at the sudden wake-up call.

"Bakugou?" Toru leant back on her heels as he tried to sit up, only to lean forward to clutch at his head. "Are you all right?"

"Nn!" He groaned, clutching onto blonde locks with gentle fists and eyes clenched shut.

"Bakugou? What's wrong?" She hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder, and when he did not immediately shove her off she knew that something was wrong. "Bakugou? I need you to look at me"

"G'off!" He groused, lightly waving her away as she gripped his head between her hands and gently lifted his head to face her.

"Hm" Toru narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "Your head clearly hurts, about as irritable as normal…Do you remember what happened?"

"What are ya talking about Sunshine? We blasted through the ceiling!"

"Memories are still intact" Toru mused to herself as she assessed the blonde to the best of her abilities, absently backhanding one of the violet fireflies as she did so. Recovery Girl's compulsory lessons were really coming in handy right about now. Her eyes narrowed further as Bakugou winced at the small amount of light radiating from the persistent firefly and she sucked at her lip as her thoughts came together. "Sensitive to light…It's likely a concussion" She sat back on her heels once more, letting go of his head. "You must've hit your head pretty hard. Are you dizzy at all?"

"I'm fine!" Bakugou groused as his hands twitched in his lap, likely wanting to resume his earlier position.

"Mmhm" Toru hummed as she spared a glance over her shoulder in the hopes that the others would miraculously be there. "Right, just stay here for a moment. I'm going to see if the others are all right" Getting to her feet, Toru had barely made it a pace or two away before she spun on her heel and pointed a gloved finger towards the usually fiery blonde. "Stay. Here!"

"I'm not a dog!" Bakugou growled.

"Stay!" She eyeballed him for a moment before he slumped back against some rubble and turned his head away in reluctant defeat. "Good"

Scaling the rubble proved to be less difficult than she first thought, although she couldn't help but reminisce that it was similar to days when 3-E would run the mountain tracks during their PE lessons. Thankfully, Toru didn't have to go very far before she could hear both Midoriya and Todoroki's voices above her. "…felt like I got his by a truck, but I can still move alright"

"What floor did we land on?" Todoroki asked.

"We destroyed the ceiling three times, by my count…so we're probably on level B3?"

"That's good, we made it pretty far up. The water won't be able to catch us now. We're close to the surface"

"It's all thanks to you Todoroki and Kaachan's blasts—"

"—Oh thank goodness!" Toru exclaimed as she climbed over the top of the rubble, scrambling over to the two boys when she found them up and about.

"Hagakure!" Todoroki smiled, happy to see his classmate was well.

"Good, you two made it!" She jogged over to them, eyes scanning the two for any injuries they may have incurred.

"Hagakure!" Midoriya turned to the invisible girl as he gingerly clutched to his arm. "Where's—?"

"—Midoriya? Is your arm okay?" Toru retorted, cutting across his question as her eyes zoned in on the injury.

"Uh…it's fine! It's just a little sore!"

"Mm" She stepped forward despite the greenette's protests, to inspect the arm. "It looks dislocated"

"Dis-dislocated?" Midoriya paled, turning to look at the shoulder in question.

"Don't look! It always makes it worse when you look"

"Can you help him?" Todoroki peered over her shoulder as she gently took Midoriya's arm in her hands.

"Ah…Midoriya"

"Y-yes?"

"What's your favourite colour?"

"My favourite—?" Midoriya knotted his brows in confusion at the question that popped out of the blue.

POP!

"AH!" His eyes bulged as Toru quickly reset his shoulder, popping it back into place with quick and practised movements.

"I'm told it hurts less when you don't know it's coming" She replied, reaching down to pluck the green scrap of fabric at her feet (Midoriya's hood, if she had to hazard a guess) and set about fashioning it into a sling for the boy."Just one more thing…"

"What—what are you doing?" Midoriya stammered, face burning red as Toru pressed in close to tie off the sling.

"I'm nearly done" She promised. "There you go"

"Oh, th-thanks"

"Honestly, you're both idiots—alive—but still idiots" Toru shook her head in amusement.

"Both?" Todoroki turned to her with a look of confusion written on his features at the comment.

"Hagakure! Do you know where Kaachan is?!" Midoriya demanded, the question burning on his tongue for the passed for minutes.

"This way" Toru grimly waved them back the way she had come. "C'me on"

Sliding back down the rubble was much easier than it had been climbing up and the trio easily reached the fiery blonde where he remained slumped against the piled debris behind him. Knocking aside the annoying violet fireflies, Toru quickly followed after Midoriya who had raced ahead after seeing his childhood friend in such a condition. "Oh no! Kaachan!" Midoriya cried, dropping to his knees next to the blonde. "What's wrong?"

"Concussion" Toru supplied as she joined Todoroki and Midoriya by his side once more. "It's not too bad, but he should still see Recovery Girl when we get outta here"

"Right" Todoroki nodded. "Bakugou, lean on me and Hagakure so you can walk. We're almost out of here"

"This injury's nothing!" Bakugou stubbornly slapped away the hand offered to him; putting on a brave face to save his bruised ego. "I'm just fine on my own!"

"Don't push yourself"

"I can get out of here without anyone's help!"

"Kaachan! We don't have the time!" Midoriya piped up. "Please! We have to go!"

"NOT A CHANCE!"

"All right" Toru sighed defeatedly as she moved to stand over the defiant blonde. "Tough love time: DAMMIT MAN! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

"Hagakure…" Midoriya breathed, staring up at the invisible girl with wide eyes as she shouted at their stubborn classmate. Off to the side, Todoroki shuffled away just a step or two from the girl, looking a little wary as she exploded.

"HUH?!" Bakugou turned to face the girl, suddenly comparing the tough love from the girl, to that of his mother. It was an odd comparison.

"TAKE OUR HANDS OR SO HELP ME GOD, I'LL SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU'LL BE TASTING LEATHER! GOT IT?!"

"Scary…!" Midoriya murmured as he watched the exchange with wide eyes. Eyes that widened even further when the blonde reluctantly placed his hands in theirs and they heaved him upright, draping his form between the two.

"Good" Toru nodded once he was situated between herself and Todoroki. "Let's go"

"We're almost to the surface now" Todoroki agreed as they began to walk, Midoriya bringing up the rear.

Soon enough, the quartet were greeted by Ochako who stood illuminated by the evening sunlight, haloed like an angel. Toru felt a grin creep across her lips at the sudden blush creeping across Midoriya's face even as Bakugou yelled at him over something so insignificant. A glance to her right showed Todoroki, whose face bore an expression of relief at the sight of their classmates gathered above them.

They can build all the walls they want. Toru thought as Ochako stuck them in to zero gravity and lifted them out of the building. With both Bakugou and Midoriya handed off to Recovery Girl (who impressively cowered both boys with a single look), Toru let herself fall into the arms of her classmates as they surged forward in both worry and relief. As they chattered about their safe return, and begged for details on what had happened down there; she couldn't help but smile at what they had become. Looking at them now, she knew it to be true. We will break them down, overcome your boundaries to go beyond. Plus Ultra!