Chapter 36:

"I'm telling you, she really called me Chargebolt straight off the bat," Kaminari said while walking side-by-side with Zach down a hallway of U.A. They had just left their final class for the day, and Zach started laughing as Kaminari continued, "I don't think she actually knew my real name. She must have been from Osaka. I guess I did go by my hero name there, but I only really helped with one incident. I was so confused as to how she knew me, and then get this, she winks at me. Seriously!"

Zach grinned at the guy next to him skeptically, but Kaminari was giving him a totally serious look. "She winked?" Zach asked. Kaminari nodded quick as he could see Zach was starting to believe it. "Then, you must have gotten her number, yeah?" Zach asked in a skeptical tone.

Kaminari grinned big this time, and he whipped out his phone too fast for Zach to see. Zach snapped his head down in shock and watched as Kaminari pulled out the contact info like he had it ready to show off at any moment. "I'm telling you, it was awesome," Kaminari said while Zach looked back up. Zach started laughing after a second, and Kaminari joined in before pocketing his phone. "I'm going to hit her up on Thursday, give myself enough time to get a nice two hour pass for a date over the weekend."

"That bother you at all?" Zach asked.

"What do you mean?" Kaminari wondered. They turned left down a hall and could see the exit of the back of the school up ahead of them where a lot of other students were walking out of to head back towards their dorms. "The whole, getting a pass thing?" Kaminari asked, and Zach nodded his head with a small frown on his face. "I mean, it's a little annoying, but it's pretty obvious why we need a system like that, right?"

"Haha, I guess," Zach admitted. He was actually annoyed there for a second, but Kaminari's response made him grin and he turned to his spiky-haired blond friend. "Maybe if I didn't break in at VTS, it wouldn't be so strict." Kaminari's bottom lip dropped, then he started laughing hard as Zach made a joke about that.

Zach smiled at Kaminari's laughter. He was walking on the right side of the left side of the hall that he and Kaminari were walking on, with his blond friend on the left side of him closer to the wall. As he was walking though, someone bumped into Zach's right side and his eyes shot open huge, before he quickly remembered that his right hand was in a special glove and in his pocket. He still turned to the right in annoyance though at the person he swore moved farther to his side of the hall just to bump him.

"What's up?" Kaminari asked, leaning around Zach's side as the other boy stopped after getting bumped.

They both looked at the brown-haired boy who looked a little older than them. He was wearing a school uniform, but his looked a little disheveled and wrinkled. His expression was clearly upset, and he glared towards Zach with a deep frown on his face. Everyone moving in the hallway around them stopped. The three of them stopping cut off traffic, and it made everyone on both sides of the hall stare over at the second-year student who started glaring down Zach Sazaki. Zach wanted to just apologize for the bump at this point as the other guy was seemingly making a big deal out of it, and he was clearly dealing with something by the look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" The second-year snapped at Zach. Zach leaned his head back, then his eyes narrowed quickly as the guy in front of him who was a few inches taller continued, "Yesterday, my little cousin got hit by a drunk driver. She was only eleven years old," the guy snapped at Zach. Zach's eyes got darker, and he glared harder at the older boy while people all over the hall around them started to sweat at the confrontation.

"Hey hey," Kaminari started, stepping up on Zach's left side. "I'm sorry man but-"

Zach held his left arm up in front of Kaminari before he got any farther forward. Down the hall at the last intersection, Ashido and Hagakure leaned around some older girls to try and see what was going on, and their eyes opened wide as the boy in front of Zach said, "She died. You're Lifebringer, aren't you-"

Zach stepped closer to the guy in front of him. Not Lifebringer. "Do you," Zach started, looking up into the guy's eyes with ones that were emotionless despite what the other teen just said to him. "Think I could just magically save her life?" Zach questioned, glaring at the guy who was accusing him of, something, in front of a few dozen people. Zach glared harder at the teen whose face started sweating at the sight of the scar-faced, angry look. His eyes narrowed and he said in a low voice, stepping one more foot closer to the older teen, "I can't save everyone."

He turned away and kept walking for the back door of the school. The others ahead of him who had turned around to watch, all spun the other way and kept heading for the door out of the school, trying hard to avoid Lifebringer's eyes as he just scared the crap out of them, even if some of them understood where he was coming from.

"Hey, yo Zach wait up," Kaminari ran after his friend and then slowed once he got to Zach's side since Zach was still just walking. He turned in and said, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Zach replied, though his expression was dark and his fists clenched hard at his sides. "It just," he began, and his face scrunched up more. "An eleven year old girl, died," he whispered. Kaminari's eyes widened more, while Zach lifted his left arm as they stepped out the back doors of the school. Zach wiped his arm across his eyes quickly, while saying in just as hard a voice, "I know, if I was still with the villains they would probably have stopped me from saving people at all at this point. But there's a chance. A chance if I had just stayed…" Zach closed his eyes and bit down hard for a few seconds. "I- I can't save everyone, right?" He asked, his head turning and his eyes opening to look at the boy next to him.

"No one can," Kaminari assured him. "People, die sometimes," Kaminari said. "It sucks, but it happens."

"Yeah," Zach agreed, nodding along with him. His eyes lowered down though after he agreed. He stared at the floor, and he bit down on his bottom lip as he and Kaminari headed out onto the road behind the school. They were heading towards the dorms, and most other people around them headed off in different directions than them. "I can't save everyone," Zach whispered again. He turned towards Kaminari, and Kaminari looked back towards him only to open his eyes huge at the tears in Zach's eyes. Like I couldn't save them, Zach thought instead of saying it aloud like he almost just did. Mrs. Akers, he saw the woman screaming in her kitchen as the flames erupted around her. Mr. Akers, he saw the pillar of flames shooting out of the man's back after he had turned so strong Zach barely recognized him. Zach's lips trembled and tears came out of both eyes making him turn from Kaminari, Je-Jenny.

"Dude, you couldn't save her," Kaminari said.

Zach knew he meant the eleven year old girl the other student just told them about, but Zach couldn't hold it back anyway. He kept himself from thinking about them for so long, all the time, whenever he could. But his tears streamed down now even as he pursed his lips shut and clenched his teeth as hard as he could. Kaminari grit his teeth too as he saw the agony on Zach's face, and he reached his right arm out and put it over Zach's shoulders. "You'll be alright man."

It's not that Kaminari. Zach thought. Did he know Jenny? He talked to her at least, but he doesn't know. I- I don't want to tell him, tears streamed freely from Zach's eyes as the two of them walked back towards their dorm at Heights Alliance. Zach lifted his left hand and covered his eyes and the top of his face up with it as he walked. "Ah ahh ah," Zach tried to hold it back, but it came out in short gasps while he wiped hard over his eyes. "Zach! ZACH! HELP ME! AAAHAHHHH!" Zach grabbed his face so hard and he could hardly take it anymore. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking and his heart breaking inside as he thought hard about it for the first time in days, maybe weeks.

"Dude," Kaminari whispered, his own eyes getting wetter as Zach tried his best to hold himself together. "You can't save everyone," Kaminari whispered. He grabbed Zach's opposite shoulder tighter, and Zach nodded his head in agreement. He wiped his arm over his face harder this time, so hard it hurt but made him feel a bit better as it distracted him from the thoughts plaguing his mind.

"I know," Zach whispered. He pulled away from Kaminari a bit and the blond lowered his arm hesitantly, but Zach glanced at him and gave him a thankful nod after a second to show he appreciated it. Kaminari nodded back, even if he did not understand how Zach felt at the moment.

The two girls not far behind them who lagged behind farther just to avoid interrupting both found themselves tearing up as Zach turned his head sideways. They had both seen him wiping his arm over his face, and as far back as they were from them, they both heard what sounded like choked-off sobs from just up ahead. Ashido turned to Hagakure whose face she wished she could see right now, and the invisible girl shook that invisible head at her friend with a sad look on it that could only be told by her low hum.

Zach and Kaminari turned in towards their dorm building as they reached it. "Hey," Zach started, as they were walking up the path together. Kaminari glanced in, wondering if Zach was going to mention why that got to him so much back there. Zach just looked at him halfway with a small turn of his head though, and he said, "Thanks, for still being my friend. Even after everything."

"You mean after you went and saved a hundred people?" Kaminari asked, and Zach's eyes opened wide at the response to what was supposed to be his serious moment. Kaminari grinned at Zach's wide-eyed reaction though, and he said, "Dude, from that first time you saved that cop and that chick just downtown, when I knew you were still a hero despite going with those bastards, I always considered you my friend. Actually scratch that, I never stopped, 'cause I didn't even know you went through the portal yourself 'til Midoriya said it after VTS."

"He did?" Zach asked, a little hurt at the sound of that.

Kaminari could see that, and he held up both hands defensively for Midoriya's sake. "I think he thought you were dead at that point." Zach's eyes opened even wider, and Kaminari continued, "He was just, really messed up after letting you get taken a third time through the portals. He said the first two times you went through on your own, so we all just kind of realized it," Kaminari explained.

"Oh," Zach replied, and he lowered his gaze down right as they were reaching the door to the building. "Well, I'm going to apologize to him again. He still blames himself for letting me get caught," Zach added, shaking his head with a sad look on his face.

"Yeah, Midoriya tends to blame himself for a lot," Kaminari agreed. "Want to tell him together?"

Zach thought it would be a really serious moment between the two of them later, so he turned to Kaminari in surprise and confusion as they walked through the front door. Then, his lips curled up, as avoiding an awkward conversation like that sounded exactly like what he would prefer. "Sure," Zach replied. Having Kaminari there will make it easier to seem like I treat the whole thing like a joke. Even if he really did let met get- no, it's the teachers' faults if anything. Midoriya tried. I can't blame him for that. I never did. Even at those times, when I was at my worst. I kept my promise, didn't I? I didn't say a thing? I remember it all! Don't I? If I'm repressing any of those memories, harder than others… I really, really- No! I wouldn't have told them. Shigaraki didn't know. He would have rubbed my face in it if I had given up Midoriya's secrets, wouldn't he have?

Zach glanced behind him as the door was about to close, then he pulled it back open for the girls he saw walking up the path. "Hey," he said to them as they got close to the entrance. One look at their faces though, or at least at Ashido's, and Zach grimaced as he realized they were probably in the hallway back at the school building.

"That guy was such a jerk," Ashido said quickly as she saw the realization on Zach's face that showed she definitely was not doing a good job at hiding what she saw.

"Don't blame him," Zach said quickly. "Think about, if you were in his shoes," he added, a sad look on his face as he thought about that. He thought about his own younger cousin, and he wondered how he would react if he walked by someone who had the ability to bring people back to life and did not save her. Tsura, he thought about the girl he cut ties with, who he still loved despite it.

"Oh, oh yeah," Ashido said, agreeing and nodding at Zach whose expression she saw get so sad in the next few seconds, though he was thinking about how he had cut his ties with his family and not actually what he just said to her.

"Wouldn't it be great, if you got someone with a portal Quirk to be a sidekick for you in the future?" Hagakure asked, leaning towards Zach as she stepped inside. Zach leaned back in surprise, then he started smiling softly at the invisible girl whose face was right in front of his. "Instead of a nasty villain like that Kurogiri. And you know," she continued, her voice raising in pitch as if she suddenly had an idea. "Even though it's rare, I bet if someone has a portal Quirk right now and wants to be a hero, there's only one hero who they'd want to help out in the future!"

Zach's eyes shot open wide. He had always thought about how rare Kurogiri's Quirk was as an excuse for why he did not leave, or why he had joined in the first place, but what Hagakure just said made him drop his jaw. "Whoa," Ashido said, realizing it too and then spinning back to Zach. "That's totally right! If I had a portal or warp gate Quirk or something, I'd definitely join your agency. The two of you could do more than like, 90 percent of heroes combined!"

Zach looked at the two girls in front of him, then to the left at Kaminari who shrugged and grinned at the support he was getting. Zach turned back to the girls and he smiled genuinely at them, his eyes so soft as he whispered, "Thanks. I never, actually thought about that."

Hagakure's face lit up, not that anyone noticed. "I'm glad!" She exclaimed.

"Me too," Ashido agreed. "Even though I still think we should have done rock-paper-scissors to see who got to defuse the bomb first. You got me explodeded!" Ashido exclaimed, pointing a finger out at Zach who leaned back defensively.

Kaminari started laughing, then Zach laughed along with him. He laughed so hard that he forgot why it was his heart had been aching for minutes now. He smiled again when he opened his eyes, even though there were tears on the corners of them. Zach smiled at the two girls and he whispered, "Thank you."

On the sidewalks of Musutafu, a group of freshmen Class-A U.A. students were walking towards a shopping center their class representative was leading them towards. "The third term's really gonna go fast," Kirishima said, glancing back at the group behind him where he stood on Iida's right. "Only January, February, and March. It's feels like so much less than the others."

"Finals will be in April," Jirou reminded. "Break between end of this semester and the start of our second year isn't as long as I wish," she added, grimacing as she thought about the short break that would be around the length of their winter vacation.

"Do we really need to decorate the dorms for February?" Midoriya questioned Iida, stepping close to the class rep's side.

Iida pushed up on his glasses, and he said in a firm voice, "I believe it will be a source of unity and a morale boost to have everyone work together to decorate the dorm."

"February's big holiday is Valentine's though," Zach mentioned. "We really going to cover the halls in pink for a whole-"

"And what's wrong with pink?" Ashido said, spinning around and putting her hands on her hips while staring at the boy in the back of the group of six.

Zach got a sweatdrop on the side of his head and he replied quickly, "Nothing."

Midoriya looked back with a smile and a sweatdrop of his own on his face and Zach glanced his way for help. Ashido hummed at him for another second then spun still with her hands on her hips. "Good. Because the fourth floor is going to be su-uuuper pink!" She lifted her hands up in front of her and then spread them apart as if imagining the walls of the hallway on the other side of them. "We'll even paint-"

"Ashido-kun, there will be none of that," Iida stated harshly, Ashido flinched and she cracked a nervous smile as Iida turned his head to the side. "That would be considered vandalism of the school property! How could you even consider going so far? The teachers and faculty who built the dorms for our protection did so with care and-"

"Okay okay okay," Ashido waved her hands in front of her as Iida sounded like he would just keep going. "We could always paint it back afterwards," Ashido muttered, though she dropped her arms and let out a defeated sigh.

"Good thing Hagakure's not here," Jirou mentioned to the pink girl on her side who turned left to face her. "Decorating for Valentine's Day? She'd have us buying like hundreds of pink hearts to hang all over the place, girly stuff like that I have a feeling would go missing thanks to certain guys…"

Ashido's eyes widened in panic as she thought about a certain exploding boy on her own floor whose room she suddenly decided she would not be putting up any decorations near. She frowned for only a second thinking about Bakugo though, before she grinned at something else Jirou said. "I thought she definitely would have come, but I think she already had plans today with her Valentine," Ashido said, her voice getting a little quieter at the end. Jirou's face turned red and her eyes opened wide, and Ashido just kept smirking at her for a second before darting her eyes right and left. She looked ahead and did not see Iida or Kirishima looking at her, and when she looked back, Zach's head was turned towards the middle of the road and he looked like he was thinking on something. Ashido turned back and gave Jirou a wink while the girl with long earlobes shook her head around.

Zach stared into the road until he saw Ashido look forward again, then he turned and looked forward too at the others' backs. Her Valentine? I wonder if Hagakure and Ojiro are going out. It's not like they didn't hang out like that before… Wonder if Midoriya noticed? He turned his head at Midoriya who was only a bit in front of him and on the left. Midoriya looked to be thinking hard, just like Zach had pretended to be a minute ago to trick Ashido, but Zach was pretty sure Midoriya's thoughtful expression was serious.

"It is right up here," Iida said, motioning towards the shopping center ahead of them. There was a party-type store that the group was heading to for their decorations, and the others around Iida started getting more excited.

"Alright!" Ashido threw her arms up in the air. "I'm getting into this now!"

"Let's do it!" Kirishima said.

"Kirishima," Midoriya began in some surprise, looking over towards the red-haired teen. "I didn't think you'd be into this sort of thing."

"But that's why I had to come," Kirishima said, looking back at Midoriya with a look asking how Midoriya could not understand. "February? Valentine's Day? The whole dorm would be way too girly if someone did not come to stop it-"

"You can't stop it!" Ashido exclaimed, and she started running forward after hearing Kirishima's true reason for coming. "Our floor will be pink!"

"I'll settle for red," Kirishima called out loudly as he ran towards the building too.

"Compose yourselves in the manner fit for U.A. students…" Iida's head started turning left as he was speeding up to chase the others he was scolding.

It sped right past Zach, Midoriya, and Jirou. Their heads all spun left, then they turned to follow the truck moving way too fast for a city street like this. There were not a lot of cars on the road at all, but this truck was moving right down the middle. "Hey, isn't that dangerous-" Jirou's hand was lifting up towards the truck but her eyes shot open wide as she saw the front wheels turn right and left quickly, but the vehicle was not responding well to the attempts of the driver.

"It's out of control!" Midoriya shouted, and he started running forward.

What are the…

Kirishima and Ashido spun to their lefts, then they each pulled back farther onto the sidewalk as the front of the truck swung their way and then back across the street. Kirishima only stopped for a second, then he started running again and sprinted right past Ashido whose eyes opened wide at the determined look on the boy's face passing right in front of her. Then her eyes widened more as a taller teen with smoke shooting out the back of his calves, and another boy with green hair shot by in front of her too.

"Oh no," Jirou said, and she started running forward after the truck that just went over the curve across the end of the street in the intersection. It bounced up, the left tires came out from beneath it as it started leaning to one side in the parking lot, the driver trying one last effort to prevent from slamming into the shopping center ahead. Other cars in the parking lot got pushed out of the way, people screamed in that direction, and the truck fell on its side with a loud CRASH!

"Let's go help!" Ashido shouted, turning to Jirou who was running towards her. She looked a little farther back before she spun forward, then the girl with bright pink skin froze and she spun her head around again. "Uh, hey Zach!" She shouted.

It just happened to crash right in front of us? Zach thought, his heart rate skyrocketing and his head snapping side to side. His eyes were huge, his head pounding with the sound of his own heartbeat. What? Why? Is this for real? Is this, a trap?! No, people need help, he spun back forward and saw Ashido looking his way and calling out, and Jirou turned before yelling something at him and waving a hand after her too, then both girls turned and started running for the crashed truck.

Zach saw flames rising up from the parking lot though, and a lot of smoke, and he heard sirens in the distance. Even if it's not, Zach thought, his right foot trembling as he tried to pick it up. He finally did lift it, but instead of putting it forward, his foot came back behind him as his whole body leaned backwards. People are going to start recording! The news will show up, the media! They'll know exactly where I am! This IS just to get me?! IS IT?! Can I even help in this situation anyway? He took another step back, and his head spun around with his eyes huge, and he started sprinting away like the fire behind him was a villain fight. A few people on the sidewalks who saw the kid running and the scared look on his face spun around themselves and started running. They're going to come for me!

"I don't care," Kirishima said, his voice angry as he continued down the hallway after marching out of the stairwell. "How could he just run off like that?"

"M-Maybe he was just going to get help," Jirou suggested, before thinking back on the expression she saw when glancing back one more time as she had almost reached the truck, right before he spun and started running. Her lips curled into a frown herself and she slowed down a bit behind Kirishima, falling back to where Midoriya was speed-walking just a little slower than the others.

"It is unbefitting of a hero with a provisional license," Iida said, and he frowned as he thought about how Zach had mentioned getting his on his first day back in their class. "But he also disobeyed the rules and left the group to return to school on his own. He did not check in at the office and only used his I.D." Iida was saying these things like they mattered more to him, but he had as frustrated a look as Kirishima did on his face.

Ashido frowned from right behind and between the two of them. She thought back a few days to a conversation she and Hagakure had with Zach, and she frowned so much deeper as she thought about what he just did. Sure you can't save everyone, but you can't just run like…

The three at the front reached the door at the end of the hall and Iida lifted a hand to knock on it firmly. Kirishima beat him to it though, grabbing the doorknob without waiting for a knock and throwing the door right open. "Hey Zach-" Kirishima barged into the room on the right side of the door, Iida looked forward on the left, and Ashido stared between them. All three of them, after opening the door to Zach's room, froze in place and felt chills down their spines.

The room in front of them was dark. They had been caught up after the accident to clear things up with police, and they even got talked to by a reporter who showed up, so by the time they returned back to school it was already dark. The room before them had the blinds drawn, the lights were off, and only the light from the hall came into it when they opened the door. And with that light from the hallway, Iida, Kirishima, and Ashido all stared at the form that leapt up on its feet on the bed in the room's corner. He was covered head to toe in blackness, and his red eyes flared as he glared towards the door through tinted red vision.

Those red eyes started growing huge as he saw who it was who just barged through his door. He lowered the knife in his left hand, then he lifted his right hand quickly and pressed it against his chest. "Don't you knock?" Zach asked and hopped off the bed, his voice getting less deep through the sentence as the darkness faded from his body. He was wearing the same clothes he had on when they were out earlier, and he tossed the knife in his left hand over on top of his desk before turning and glaring back at his doorway.

Kirishima reached over and flipped the light on, then he marched into Zach's room with an annoyed look on his face. Ashido stepped in behind him, while Iida was still thinking about what he just saw for the first time and had him feeling unsettled. Jirou reached the doorway right as Kirishima kept going in, turning on the lights as he went. She glanced into the room as he moved forward, and Jirou's eyes widened a bit as she saw some black wisps disappearing over Zach's shoulders in the illuminated room. She thought it might be a trick of the eyes since it disappeared the same moment she looked in, but Iida's expression on her left made her feel like she was not just seeing things.

"Where did you go?" Kirishima asked, his voice harsh as he got right up in front of Zach only a couple of feet away.

"I came back here-" Zach started, his eyes narrowing at Kirishima, then behind him at the other four he had been out with who were all just inside his room or standing outside the door. He grimaced at the looks they were giving him, though Iida's went back to just a disappointed and disapproving one after another second.

"You ran off," Kirishima said, sounding even angrier while his fists clenched at his sides. "How could you just do that, while all of us ran over to help out?"

"My Quirk is Death," Zach replied, staring into Kirishima's eyes darkly. "How could I have helped out? I would, have just gotten in the way," he said.

"That's why you ran?" Ashido asked. Zach glanced her way, and his mouth opened and then closed again.

His face scrunched up and he opened his mouth again before turning back to Kirishima. "I- I couldn't have done anything-"

"And what if someone was killed?" Kirishima asked.

Zach clenched his eyes shut. He shook his head and whispered, "I checked the news. No one did-"

"But what if they had?" Ashido started.

"If- If someone had gotten a picture of me, and posted it," Zach started, spinning to the girl behind Kirishima. "Then people might have. The situation would have gotten so much worse," Zach said, shaking his head at her while speaking faster with the excuse.

"How?" Kirishima snapped. "How would that have-"

Zach leaned forward at Kirishima who was interrogating him from only a couple feet off. "I told you. I escaped," Zach said, his eyes narrowing even while he had to bite down so hard after saying it.

Ashido's eyes opened wide behind Kirishima, and Jirou stared into the room with her bottom lip lowered. She darted her gaze to her sides at Midoriya and Iida, and both of them were losing their disappointed ones which only made Jirou's eyes open wider. Escaped?

"They're looking for me," Zach said, turning back to Kirishima after darting his gaze around at the others. Kirishima had not moved his face back at all though, and Zach did after a couple more seconds. He pulled his face back and he said defensively, "If they knew I was there, they would have come. They would have come through portals, and they would have started something right there. They're still trying to get me!" Zach snapped at the boy in front of him who finally lifted his angry frown.

Kirishima kept looking frustrated though, even as he was getting less angry with Zach. He frowned deeper again after a second and started shaking his head. "No. No that doesn't make it- You don't know that!"

"I do!" Zach yelled. "Days before I came back to class, I was being hunted and chased and it didn't stop just because I got to this place!" Kirishima's eyes widened as Zach stared into them with shaky ones of his own. "They would have come as soon as they knew I was out there! They, they could come at any time," Zach said, making his voice firmer and angrier at his classmate for confronting him over this in the first place.

Ashido's wide eyes got even wider as she thought about how Zach looked when they opened the door. "Is that why you were using that form, even in your own room?" Ashido whispered. Kirishima spun towards her, then back to Zach who leaned away from him and bit down hard, wishing no one had seen that. He did not make it disappear as soon as they opened the door though, because he was too afraid of who else it could be.

Kirishima looked back at Zach's face while the shorter boy's gaze darted away and to the floor. Then Kirishima looked behind him and to the table that had a black-hilted knife on it with a sharp steel blade. It looked just like the one from Zach's hero costume, and Kirishima started to think that's exactly what it was. "You-" Kirishima started, but his face scrunched at the forehead and his lips pulled back again to bare his naturally sharp teeth. "You can't just use that as an excuse," Kirishima said.

Zach lifted his head back up and stared into Kirishima's eyes. Kirishima's fists were clenched hard at his sides, and he continued in a frustrated way, "People could have died. The driver was badly hurt." Zach bit down behind his lips and his face grew more frustrated while Kirishima's did too. Kirishima balled his fists up harder and said, "And if someone had died, then you could have saved them. Lifebringer could-"

"Not Lifebringer!" Zach shouted, snapping his head forward with his eyes snapping open huge.

Kirishima's bottom lip dropped and he leaned back at the look in Zach's huge eyes. Zach leaned back at Kirishima's reaction, and he brought his left hand up to the side of his head and grabbed it hard. "Sorry," Zach said, closing his eyes tightly, while Kirishima's fists unclenched at his sides. "I'm, glad no one was killed," Zach whispered.

Kirishima stared silently at Zach for a few seconds, then he turned and walked for door. Ashido turned and opened her mouth to say something to him as he walked past, but Kirishima's face was so frustrated that she could not think of anything to say. You saved my life. You're a… you're supposed to already be a… Kirishima ground his teeth harder as he marched out of the room and past the others. "Not Lifebringer!" What do you mean? Why aren't you- What did they do to you? After VTS. After, I didn't move…

Ashido stepped back from Zach, then she lowered her head as she did not know what to say to him either. She pursed her lips, then she turned away and walked for the door. Jirou watched Ashido come close to her, and she just glanced back into the room once more before turning and walking with her friend away from the room.

Tenya Iida opened his mouth at the door. He had a lot he was planning on saying to Zach after he got there, but Kirishima had been so intense from the start he knew he was going to wait for a minute to have a chance to speak. He froze though with his mouth open, and his eyes darted down to Zach's floor that the boy inside was staring at himself as his classmates all left. When he considered it not as Zach just running off on his own, but him running for his life, it made it so hard to scold him over it. He was just, afraid, Iida thought, glancing up one more time at the boy in the room, the boy with a scar under his right eye and a split ear, and so many more that Iida knew were hidden beneath his clothes.

Iida turned and he started walking away. Midoriya watched him go for a few seconds, then he looked back into the room at Zach. He opened his mouth, closed it, then he stepped into the room. Zach did not raise his head though he knew who the person still standing in front of me was. "I won't, try," Midoriya started. "To pretend like I know how you're feeling. But Zach," Midoriya stopped himself, wondering if he should say it. He thought about some of the conversations the two of them had had though in the brief three weeks Zach had been back. About the future, about being heroes, and Midoriya grit his teeth before continued, "But, will you ever feel like they've given up?"

Zach froze while staring at the floor, his eyes widening again and shaking at Midoriya's words. "And if you stay like this," he continued. Midoriya shook his head, but he wanted to help. I don't want you, to run. "How do you plan on being a hero, if you leave situations like that one?" He paused while Zach's breath caught in his throat, his heart racing even faster. "The essence of being a hero, is butting in even when people don't ask you to. To avoid- to actively run away-" Midoriya couldn't finish, he started shaking his head apologetically, as he could not say a meaningful ending to his speech without feeling like he was hurting his friend even more.

"You're right," Zach whispered. He lifted his head, his breathing steadying out but still heavy. His heart rate was fast, but he lifted as steady a gaze as he could to look at Midoriya with. "I know you're right. You're all right." But I- "And next time," Zach continued aloud, even as he shouted internally at himself not to. "I promise, I'll stay."

Midoriya hesitated, then he nodded his head at Zach's determined expression, as shaky as it looked. The green haired boy stepped back out the doorway and he closed the door with him, still with an apologetic look on his face though now it looked in part for how they barged in in the first place. The door closed, and Zach's right hand twitched. His fingers slid out of his glove, and he closed his eyes hard while letting out a gasp, as his immediate reaction was now to press his hand against his body and use his Nightmare form. How could I make that promise- how couldn't I? Midoriya's right. Kirishima, and Ashido too. All of them. They were mad at me for running away, and they were right to be!

Zach walked over to his bed and he dropped on his butt at the edge of it. He lifted both hands and started rubbing his forehead with the palms of them, keeping his skin looking normal for now as he did not touch his fingertips to his body. He rubbed and rubbed, while twisting his lip in so much self-doubt. If I had gone, maybe I would have helped someone. Even if I didn't have to bring anyone back, I could have made a difference. But it's not about this accident! If I, run away, Zach clenched his eyes shut harder behind his hands. That's so embarrassing. I can't believe I did that. I didn't stop until I got back. I just kept running, and I kept convincing myself it was the right move. But I was wrong. That's not something, a hero would do.

Zach let go of his head with his right hand, and he slid his left down his face. He put his elbows down on his knees and glared forward. His expression hardened, and he muttered, "I can't do that." He shook his head a few times. I'm not back at U.A. because I wanted a safe place to hide. That wasn't the reason. I- I even knew, it would be more dangerous when I made the decision. I was so sure of myself, so confident when I made that choice. Now I'm here though, and I'm living in constant fear? I didn't think it was that bad. I thought I was getting over it even, the more I talked with classmates and smiled and laughed with them. But I fell apart today! I can't do that. Even if I'm afraid, a hero has to stick it out and push forward anyway. Even if I'm scared, I have to smile like All Might- like, like All Might said to.

His lips that were flat as he readied himself, as he set his determination, started lifting up at the corners. Make that a fluke. Show them next time. I mean it when I say, I want to become a hero. No! A great hero! People think of me, they, they think of Lifebr- His smiling lips trembled for a second, then he shook his head around and narrowed his eyes in while smiling even harder. He forced it on his face, and he thought, People trust me. They believe in me. Kirishima, believes in me. That's why, he was so angry. I let him down. I let them all down. I can't do that. I won't. If I do, I'll never be a great hero. The next time the opportunity arises, I won't run!

Zach's phone buzzed on his desk in front of him. He looked towards it and his smile lowered down flat. He glared at the device that only buzzed once and then stopped. Zach stared at it and then he got up to his feet and started towards it instead of thinking harder on why he was staring at it in half-shock. Something told him to feel tense, but he ignored that feeling and confidently lifted his phone. He lifted it up, expecting a lot of different things. Maybe a text from a classmate asking about what happened if the others had not kept their mouths shut, or maybe a picture of him running away sent by a random number with a laughing emoji under it. The thought of Shigaraki fucking with him like that almost made Zach hesitate to pick up the phone, but he had just hardened his resolve and picked it up without delay.

He picked up the phone and stared at an unknown number on the screen. He did not panic though. Zach opened up his phone and he read the message that appeared on his screen. He read it over and over, then he sighed and lowered the phone. Zach put it back on the desk in front of him. Well, he thought. A bead of sweat rolled down the left side of his face. I didn't mean this… "Next time I send you a message, it will be to ask for your help. Not a meeting like this…" What to do. What to do. I was not, ready for this so soon. But, Zach's expression started to re-harden. He turned to his windows, the closed blinds, and walked up to them. Zach slid them open and stared out into the darkness through them.

I didn't know. I came to hero society again to stay within the rules, but acting in public makes me afraid of getting caught. I'll act next time I have the opportunity anyway, but does that mean I ignore it when it's not in public? No. I should take all of it. Use, all of it. "When you next receive a message, decide fast. If you ignore it, I will cease communications." He wants my reply now. It's time to decide. I can figure out a way to balance it. Balance everything. Use everything. Zach's fast breathing slowed down. He calmed himself. Today, I failed. Luckily no one got killed because of it. I won't be that lucky if I fail again. People will die. Good people. I have to be a hero. I have to do anything I can, and everything. Webb, wait for me. I'm on my way.

A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review below!