Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

40. Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia. Now, enjoy the second longest chapter so far!

Chapter 40:

On Tuesday morning, Zach woke up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He stretched his arms up over his head, looked around his red-tinted room, then he tapped on his head with his right hand while sticking his fingers back out of his glove. He slid them right back in while turning off Nightmare mode, something he still did not feel comfortable sleeping without. He got ready for the day and left his dorm in his school uniform, and he had on his usual black glove over his right hand.

Detention was pretty rough yesterday. Just two teachers and me. Guess if a lot of people know I have detention, they might be trying to make me feel safer by having both Aizawa and Present Mic in there, but it just kind of feels weird. Present Mic tried talking to me, and I just- I mean… I don't know why I have to act so weird around them. But I don't want to open up to them either. Why didn't they try to save me? Gah! Don't think about that kind of stuff this early in the morning. Keep a clear head for if villains attack and try to capture you, and just enjoy the rest. Or, look like your enjoying it, while you try to sniff out the real spy. I haven't gotten anywhere trying that though. Not that, I've really been trying. I've been avoiding talking to people, for that very reason. What if one of them is the spy?

Zach put both hands up behind his head and let out a long sigh as he walked down the road towards the school. He looked a little ahead of him and to the right where someone else was walking, and he recognized the spikes of bleached blond hair anywhere. His eyes darted away quick, then he frowned after he looked the other way as him. Why have I been like this around him? Zach stared towards Musutafu, then he glanced towards his school building again, and he saw the other boy out the corner of his eyes also with his head partially sideways and looking out the corners back his way. Bakugo's head snapped back straight forwards as the two of them looking out the corners of their eyes made eye contact for a split second.

Damn it, Zach thought, turning forward completely. He took a few deep breaths, feeling pretty nervous about what he was thinking about doing. He didn't come to my room on Sunday. Not that I expected him to- not that I expected anyone to! But, he didn't show up. I still, really haven't talked to him, those times he angrily confronted me aside. Zach started speeding up a little bit. And if I don't initiate it, we never will. He slowed right before catching up, and he thought, Do we need to? Bakugo started turning to the side as he heard Zach get up close, and Zach gulped before taking another few steps so he was closer to his classmate. "What?" Bakugo snapped while still walking, his hands down in his pockets and an annoyed look on his face.

"I just-" Zach started. He froze for a second, then he continued quick since they were still walking to class. This was going to be a short conversation anyway, but the longer he hesitated the shorter it would be and he might not get out what he wanted to say. "I guess, I'm sorry about Camino Ward."

Bakugo stopped for a second, and Zach kept walking so they were finally next to each other, then Zach kept walking since they did need to get to class, and since he did not want other people walking up to them after what he just said. "What are you talking about this-" Bakugo started, and he sped-walked forward while frowning at the shorter boy by a couple of inches. "Why are you sorry?" Bakugo grumbled, his tone annoyed still, though Zach figured that was just his normal voice.

"I thought, it was a smart move to try and trick the villains," Zach said. "And I didn't tell you what I was doing, and I just kind of assumed you would…" Zach started shaking his head, as he was the one trying to apologize here. "But yeah, I didn't explain it to you, so I know I must have looked like a real villain. That must have, sucked," Zach muttered. He imagined in his head how it would have felt to be sitting in that chair, with one of his classmates by the villains' sides. He thought about that a lot actually, every time he thought about what would happen when the traitor revealed themselves.

"Don't bring up stupid things," Bakugo said, and Zach opened his eyes a bit in surprise. "That's just, in the past now," Bakugo said. He got an even more annoyed look on his face, as it sounded like Zach was accusing him of being scared back then, but Zach never said those words so he couldn't snap about it. He just grimaced that Zach was bringing this up now, then he turned his head a little to the side and looked out the left corners of his eyes. Zach had a small relieved look on his face, like this went better than he was expecting, and that annoyed Bakugo a bit too. But he kept frowning for a different reason as they were nearing the school, and he said, "Did you-"

Zach turned back to him, losing his satisfied look that he finally said something to Bakugo. He got a confused expression on his face at Bakugo's which looked like he wanted to ask something. There were a lot of things Zach was nervous about Bakugo asking, but his eyes opened wide as the spiky-haired blond said, "Did you take down those villains this weekend?" Bakugo was deadly serious, and he stared straight at Zach's face to see his reaction.

Zach's eyes had shot open wide at the question. He stopped where he was, and Bakugo froze too with his own eyes widening. Then, Zach's lips pursed and the corners of them pulled up a bit, which just made Bakugo glare at him even more discerningly. "Pff, pf, sorry," Zach blew some wind between his pursed lips as if trying not to laugh, then he apologized quickly. Bakugo kept glaring at him for that reaction, then Zach said with a small smile like he was still trying to hold back laughter, "It's just, that's what Kaminari thought."

Katsuki Bakugo's eyes opened wide, and Zach tried hard not to make it look like he was still holding back laughter. Bakugo's face filled with anger though and he spun from Zach and started marching towards the building faster, "Shut up. I didn't think you actually did." Zach smirked for a brief second as Bakugo marched away, clearly feeling dumb for being compared to Kaminari. Zach figured saying that Kaminari expected the same thing was an easy way to get someone surprisingly smart like Bakugo to blow it off as a stupid conspiracy theory. He still let out a small breath of relief though as that was closer than he wanted to get to people figuring out what he had done.

He started walking towards the school again once Bakugo was pretty far ahead. He smiled a bit too as he looked towards Bakugo's back. Admittedly, he's another person I can trust completely. One of the only ones besides Midoriya and All Might. There are others- no, no don't just start canceling people out because they're your friends. Everyone could be the spy. Even the people you trust most… But, Bakugo is not. I heard what All For One and Shigaraki said to him. I know for a fact he's not actually with them. And, Kirishima got a hole blown in his chest. So he couldn't be, right? And, who else? Kaminari? Yaoyorozu? Jirou? Sero? Can I cross them off? "Hey Zach," a voice called out behind him.

Zach turned his head and looked towards a boy in a school uniform whose skin was completely black. What about Kuroiro? There's no way. He- why go through that QuirkBook fiasco, when he could have just called up Kurogiri and told him? That's the best reason I have? He came to save me at Camino Ward too, but so did a lot of them I can't be too sure about… "Hey Kuroiro," Zach said as his Class-B friend reached him. He had barely spoken to Kuroiro since he had gotten back, but Kuroiro was surprised as Zach actually waited for him to walk up this time instead of just heading inside so he would have to catch up. "How's it going?" Zach asked.

"Pretty, good," Kuroiro said, actually feeling better just from Zach's question alone. "You?" He asked, as Zach started walking forward towards the school again.

They walked side by side, and Zach replied with a sigh, "Not great. I got detention."

"You did?" Kuroiro asked. Zach nodded, and Shihai followed up with, "What for?"

"I-" Zach started. He turned to Kuroiro, then frowned for a second. If Shigaraki doesn't know already that I was out at the time, and the spy is in Class-B… "Don't tell anyone?" Zach asked. Kuroiro nodded, and Zach had just pretty much convinced himself that Kuroiro was not the spy anyway. "I snuck off campus," Zach replied. Kuroiro's narrow slanted eyes opened a little wider, and Zach continued after that surprised look, "Spent the whole weekend in Kyoto."

"Why?" Kuroiro asked. Kyoto? This weekend? Kyoto's close to Nagoya, and Ugina City… Probably not.

"Just needed a little vacation. Definitely should have asked for the time off though, instead of slipping out without my I.D." He paused and scratched the back of his head, before adding, "They're changing the system up a bit because of that."

Kuroiro shook his head at Zach's response. They kept walking through the halls they just entered, and Kuroiro said before they reached the classrooms, "My Grandma's health is better." Zach turned towards him in a little confusion, and Kuroiro continued while looking back, "It's better, than before you saved her." Zach blinked a few times, then he scrunched his face up in more confusion and came to a full stop.

"What, do you mean?" Zach asked.

Kuroiro stopped too, then he looked around at some other students walking by them. A lot of them looked at Zach, and a few looked at Kuroiro too remembering how he had called for help in the previous term, and how that masked figure had replied. Kuroiro paused after Zach's question, wondering if this was big news to the boy in front of him. "My Grandma had memory problems. Her mind was, deteriorating. After she overdosed though, and you brought her back to life…" Zach's eyes started growing wider, and then they shot down as he moved his right hand in front of him a little. "She was fine," Kuroiro finished. "She's back to her old self again. I don't know, if it's permanent," the darker boy continued. "But for a few months now, she's been doing great."

Zach took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down at what Kuroiro was telling him. "You okay?" Kuroiro asked.

"Y-Yeah," Zach said, and he nodded a few times. He turned and started for his classroom again, but he glanced over his shoulder and said, "I'm glad, she's doing alright- better! I'm really glad." Even though, that changes everything, Zach thought.

The two of them split off as they reached their classrooms. Zach headed into Class-A, and he walked right over to his seat with a semi-panicked look on his face that had some of his classmates wondering what was wrong. Bakugo watched Zach go and sit down, a look of confusion on his face as he had just seen Zach a few minutes ago looking like he was in a great mood. Zach sat down and he brought his left hand up to his mouth immediately, lowering his head and looking down in front of him as he thought faster than he could keep up with. I never wanted to bring back people who died of old age and diseases and such. I thought it would be going to far, like playing God! But it was beyond that. I figured if I brought them back, they might just die again soon anyway. It's why even saving Kuroiro's Grandma I was looking for reasons not to save old people. I thought saving her tired me out more than saving younger people, and maybe that was true, but maybe it wasn't because she was old! Maybe I was doing more than just reversing the overdose? Did I fix her brain problems? I fixed her memory, by bringing her back to life? How far does that extend?

If someone with no legs dies and I save them, would they regrow appendages? I saved a guy who had lost an arm before, but I put his cut-off arm close to his body, pressed them together while I brought him back. I could actually feel my left arm ripping off, and it hurt so much, but it reattached! If I didn't put it there, would it have grown back on its own? Would that have just caused me more pain?! If I bring back someone who was insane for their entire life, can I make them sane? And, if people were dying of terminal illnesses, and I was letting them die because I thought that disease would just kill them again, was I wrong?! How many more hundreds could I have saved going for more than just accidents?! I could save everyone? Can I?! I can't take that! Even if I could handle all that- I'd be making the human race immortal! No one would ever have to die again? Could I control life to that extent? Holy shit! Fuck! Do I have the right to do this? Stopping brutal, unexpected accidents, is one thing. But someone who gets the plug pulled on them because they're brain dead on life support- if I bring them back will they become a fully functioning human again?! I didn't want to test this to certain levels, because the control over life to this extent is too much. Death with a single touch, and the key to immortality! And Nightmare! It's too much. I can't do this. I can't even, help an out-of-control truck! I ran away, without even checking if anyone was dead. If they were- Not Lifebringer! Why do I still shout that in my own fucking head?! Shigaraki isn't here! I don't, have to be scared all the time. But I do! At any time- I can't! I have to be able to stop for a few minutes, put my face out in the open and save lives, even if the villains could get me! Is that what I was afraid for? Not just that the truck was set up, or someone could start recording the scene, but if I found a dead person and started healing them… I'd have to stay in that spot for as long as it takes! Hospitals would report that I'm there bringing dead patients back to life. That's why I haven't been going there when I get time away from school. I've been actively avoiding hospitals, even though I could save people there! That's not heroic!

Shota Aizawa started up homeroom a couple of minutes ago, but he was getting annoyed as he looked over towards Sazaki again to see him on the verge of mumbling, but not making any sound out that would give cause for scolding. His hand was in front of his mouth and he was looking forward like he was paying attention, but Aizawa could see him thinking so hard about something that it almost felt like he was the one interrupting Zach, not that his talking was stopping the boy from thinking his existential crisis.

Zach actually focused after another few seconds, Aizawa thought in part due to the fact that he started speaking a bit louder. Zach looked at Aizawa and pushed all those thoughts from his head for now. I'm in school. I wouldn't be safe at a hospital. Too much news would get around about what I'm doing again, and then everyone else would get mad that I'm not at their hospitals while they're dying. Having a portal user on my side really would be great. Someone better than Kurogiri- well, with a better Quirk. It's not hard to be better than that sack of shit shadow fuck. And Aizawa sweatdropped once again as the boy who started paying attention to him was suddenly glaring like he was looking at a villain, though at least Aizawa could tell the look was not really directed at him.

---

At lunch on Tuesday, Zach found himself lost in thought over what Kuroiro told him earlier. He was sitting at the edge of the table on Kaminari's left, across the table from Sero, with Mineta on Sero's left side. After a couple of minutes of lunch, Zach noticed it seemed a bit quiet around him and he lifted his gaze from his tray he had been staring at for two minutes straight now while in constant thought. "Whoa," Mineta said when Zach finally looked up. "I didn't know someone could have a staring contest with mashed potatoes."

Zach sweatdropped as he realized he had just been looking at his food nonstop since he got it. He lifted some mashed potatoes up and shoved them in his mouth as a response, as it proving that he won the contest and was eating his opponent as the victor. The attempt to make a joke out of it fell flat to the other three though, and Sero asked the boy across from him, a sweatdrop of his own on the side of his head. "What have you been thinking about all morning? You've been acting weird since you came into class."

"Weirder than usual," Kaminari added with a laugh, and Zach frowned in annoyance at him, which made Jirou elbow Kaminari from his other side.

Jirou looked in after she elbowed Kaminari though, and she said to Zach while looking past the hunched-over blond, "I noticed it too though. You okay?"

Zach looked around at them, then he sighed and nodded his head. "I just got, some medical news," he said. He twisted his lip again and frowned back at his food.

"Are you dying?" Kaminari asked in shock, which made Jirou hit him again, though she looked nervous too after doing so.

"No," Zach said, shaking his head but not looking up from his food like it was that shocking a question. "I just figured out, that my Quirk heals people." Mineta, Sero, Kaminari, Jirou, and Ojiro who sat across from Jirou all looked towards Zach in confusion.

"Well, yeah," Mineta started. "Didn't you already know-"

"No, I mean," Zach started, shaking his head again, before looking up as he figured he was not explaining this well. He was saying it like they all knew what he was thinking about, since he was way past just discovering it himself. He paused as he wondered what their reactions would be, but he also wanted some second opinions on it he realized. "Say I heal someone with heart disease. They had it for years, and they died after a long fight with it at like, fifty-five. Would that be okay?" Zach asked.

That was a deep, and kind of confusing question to the others around him. "Well, why not?" Jirou asked.

Zach opened his mouth, but Sero lifted a hand and scratched his chin while answering himself, "I don't know." His hesitant response made a few of the others look his way in surprise, and Sero continued, "Don't you think, maybe it would just be their time?"

"See, that's what I thought," Zach said, holding up his left hand and nodding in agreement. He frowned though, and he rose that left hand up to the side of his head and started scratching it. "But, now I learned… What if I bring them back, and they don't have heart disease anymore?" Sero's eyes widened, and he lowered his hand from his chin while staring at Zach with wide eyes as this was not really a hypothetical question at all Zach was asking.

"You can do that?" Mineta asked with big eyes.

Zach hesitated as he looked around and saw a bunch of big sets of eyes looking at him. He lowered the hand he was scratching his head with, and he responded with a slow nod, "I think so. I, might be wrong," he added on top. "But if I could do it," he continued, getting back to his reason for bringing it up in the first place. "Should I? Save old people too, I mean? If they died at sixty from a rare disease, but could have lived twenty more years?" He frowned and looked back at his food, and he started moving his fork around in his potatoes again. "It feels like I should," he whispered, "but then where do I draw the line?" His voice got softer, "How old do I cut it off? Or do I do a case by case decision? And if I do that, won't everyone get mad at me, when I choose to let their loved ones…" he lowered his fork and just stared at his potatoes again in such a serious way as this decision weighed down on him.

Suddenly that decision was weighing down on the five closest to him at the table too though, and they all sweatdropped as they tried to figure out a way to respond to this philosophical question. It would only ever be asked as a philosophical question normally, maybe something a philosophy teacher would ask in college if they had Zach's Quirk as a hypothetical. Actually having that Quirk and making the question real though, it made it a lot tougher to say what they would actually do.

"Well," Mineta began, and he scratched the back of his head. The others looked to him to see if he was actually going to pull the pin on this grenade, and Zach looked towards him too which made Mineta more nervous. He continued though, "How were you choosing who to save before?"

"I just, went wherever there was a fatal accident," Zach said. "But it was always an accident. Unpredictable. Mostly young people, before their time… Whenever that might be," he whispered the last part and lifted his left hand to rub his head again.

Ojiro looked at Zach with his bottom lip lowering farther. When is someone's "time," if he could save them from anything? That's, a scary thought, Ojiro shivered trying to imagine the implications of that.

Zach felt a buzz in his pocket, and he was glad to get an outlet from this conversation even if he had started it in the first place by bringing up something weird. Zach pulling out his phone relieved a few of the others who thought he might still want them to give him answers. Kaminari hummed though from Zach's right side, still scratching his chin as he thought about it himself. "I think," Kaminari said, and Jirou looked at him in annoyance for keeping it going when it seemed like Zach had given them an out of the conversation.

Zach glanced up from his phone with a small smile on his face, making Kaminari wonder what he had just been looking at. The blond with spikes of hair pointed down at the sides of his head and sticking up in the middle held up a hand and offered, "Why not, just save whoever you can?" Zach got a slightly confused look on his face, and Kaminari continued, "It's not like you can be everywhere at once. So you don't need to think about how you could save everyone everywhere, right? It's not like you have that portal guy to send you everywhere when people die now. You can only do it if you're there at the time."

A few of the others looked at Kaminari in surprise too, and Jirou gawked at the back of his head as this actually sounded like a good idea. Zach smiled after a few seconds though, and he nodded his head and said, "You're right. Guess I'm just a little nervous, learning more parts of my Quirk." He glanced down at his right hand holding his phone, and he turned his phone over to stare at the back of his glove. Mineta gulped as Zach stared at his hand like it was some crazy powerful weapon, then the short boy looked up towards the purple balls on top of his head. For once he was really glad he was not born with a super powerful Quirk, if these were the sort of philosophical questions those people had to ask themselves.

Zach turned his phone back over and let out a small laugh while shaking his head at how serious he had been all morning. The others felt relieved to see him smile for real for the first time all day, and they got back to their lunches while bringing up the afternoon training Cementoss mentioned before lunch. Zach had his phone open to QuirkBook though as the others across the table talked about class, and Kaminari leaned over and looked down at what Zach was looking at. "Hey, where's that?" Kaminari asked.

Zach reached forward and took a bite of his food while looking down and thinking nostalgically on the picture he had pulled up. He scrolled back up the picture so Kaminari could read the description, then Kaminari lifted his eyebrows and asked skeptically, "You went on vacation, and you went to go see a play?"

"It was really good," Zach countered, defending his choice of vacation activity since he knew it was not a very manly thing to do. He looked back and switched the topic back to why he was really smiling at the picture, "Those two recognized me, the girl really since she was sitting next to me."

Sero turned from Mineta, Ojiro, and Jirou and back to Zach who turned the phone a bit so he could see when he saw Sero look over. He turned it back after Sero looked at the selfie that had Zach in the middle of the couple who were smiling on either side with the girl holding her arm out in front of them to take the selfie. Zach stared at the picture he remembered so fondly, and he chuckled again at the description on top where the girl who posted it said they bumped into Lifebringer on Saturday night and where it was. I hope the teachers see this, Zach thought, just in case they still did not fully believe his alibi.

Kaminari frowned though as he read it, and he finally sighed and scratched the back of his head while leaning back. Zach gave him a confused look at that reaction, and Kaminari said, "I really thought you went to Ugina City."

Zach started laughing again and Sero joined in with him. Zach then turned his phone back as he stopped laughing, because he admittedly did not find it all that funny as well as he was acting like it was. He stared at the screen and scrolled down a bit, shaking his head at how many likes, comments, and shares the picture already had for being posted not long ago. His own account was private and he asked them not to tag him, but he did turn on notifications for if any of the people he met over the weekend posted something.

He looked down and watched as the likes continued going up, and more people shared it over and over. This is crazy, Zach thought. He had pulled out his phone soon after it was posted, and he was amazed at how many people were sharing. He read some of the comments and felt a little conflicted over what he was reading. "Is that really him?" "That does look like him!" "Why would Lifebringer be at a play?!" "Why was he there instead of bringing people back to life?" He scrolled past a few names in bold where people had tagged their friends to come look at this if they did not want to share it themselves, then he frowned at the next comment he saw. "Where'd he get those scars? I bet he got them while still with the villains. Who was he fighting? #Lifebringerisavillain" That's not cool. Zach lowered his phone a bit.

I never really liked social media, he thought, but he still lifted his phone back up and clicked a button that told him there were new comments farther up. Zach's eyes opened wide at a picture that had just been posted in the comment section and was getting a lot of likes to keep it near the top. "This is so crazy. I was eating dinner with the family at Steak Crew Bar-B-Q on that same night. I swore I saw Lifebringer, but my husband told me it wasn't him! This is the same person though!" Zach sweatdropped, and there was no denying that the person the woman had secretly taken a picture of was the same one in the picture above. And considering the picture above had a description that claimed he had talked to them and agreed for the pictures, and it looked close enough that it was pretty obviously him, it was clear the other picture was him too.

Can I go anywhere? Even if only a few people recognize me, once they say something everyone else will- Oh wait! Now it's not going to just be a few people. If these pictures start getting around, the media will show them too. Everyone's going to know what I look like now. Ugh, how am I going to get, around… Zach looked down beneath the second picture. He looked in the reply section of the picture comment that was getting the most likes fast, and there was a reply just under that second picture that was at the top because of the amount of times it had been liked now too.

Zach read the entire comment and then lowered the phone and lifted his left hand to his forehead. He started taking deep breaths, but his face scrunched up under his hand, and his eyes had to clench shut behind his arm. This is so frustrating, he thought, and he looked back down to his phone. Kaminari looked back over too. Zach had been reading to himself for a couple of minutes, and he read the comment that Zach was reading again himself. "Both of these things happened on Saturday night in Kyoto? At the same time, in the same city, only a short walk from Steak Crew Bar-B-Q, my wife was dying in the hospital. What was Lifebringer- no, Zach Sazaki, doing there when this was happening? In fact, why wasn't he at U.A. where the mass media told us he returned to without any proof? Is he still with the villains? If not, then why didn't he save her?! Zach Sazaki if you're reading this why didn't you save her?" Zach rubbed his forehead again, while Kaminari glanced up with some pity in his eyes at Zach's expression. Why, is it getting so many likes? Does that mean, everyone thinks the same? I should have saved her? I should have.

He shook his head around and looked back at his food. I don't even know the circumstances. Save, who I can save. Like Kaminari said, save people who I can… "Only a short walk from…" Damn it. Damn it damn it. I could have saved her, if I had just taken a quick detour to check if anyone had died- do I have to do that every thirty minutes? Zach closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, then he turned off his phone and shoved it into his pocket. That's enough QuirkBook for today.

---

On Wednesday afternoon, classes at U.A. had ended for the day, but Zach Sazaki was stuck in Class-A for the third day of his detention. He sat at his seat with his notes in front of him, figuring he'd do something productive while stuck in there until the hour was over. Aizawa and Present Mic sat in the room with him, and Mic had his shoulders slouched and his hands on his knees, tapping his fingers down impatiently as he checked the time again.

Aizawa just sat silently behind his desk and looked a lot more patient than his colleague who wanted to start talking or something to make this less awkward. Neither of the other two looked like they thought it was weird the room was quiet though, and it made sweat slid down the side of Yamada's face. The silence had gotten to him on the first day of Sazaki's detention too though, and the awkward conversation they wound up having when he tried talking to the student about Kyoto was too much for Present Mic to want to risk it again. "Kyoto huh?" "Yep." "I've spent a lot of time in Kyoto-" "Oh…" Mic grimaced at the idea of trying to start up another one-on-one talk with this kid, since Aizawa had been no help and would not join in.

Present Mic glanced up at the clock and his bottom lip dropped as he saw it was only fourteen minutes in, not even a quarter of the way through this boring punishment. So when the ground shook beneath them, Yamada shot up to his feet with a big smile on his face before quickly wiping it and exclaiming, "What was that?!"

Zach also jumped out of his seat, and Aizawa was out of his as well. They spun towards the windows but did not see anything outside, then they felt the ground shake beneath them again. "Maybe it's Mount Lady," Zach started, turning back to his teachers. Her agency was in the same city as the school after all, but then again, If she's in her big form. She must be fighting a villain, Zach thought.

"It sounds close to the school," Aizawa said, and he ran for the door. He turned his head sideways seeing Sazaki running towards him, and he frowned but did not say anything. He was supposed to watch over Sazaki for the hour after school ended, and if there was something distracting him from doing that, then there was a possibility that that was the purpose of the shaking in the first place. The three of them ran down the hall towards an intersection into a hallway lined with windows that had a better view out in front of the building. They ran into that hallway, and Zach's eyes grew wide at the two pillars of smoke rising from only what looked like two or three blocks from the school building.

"Should we go?" Present Mic muttered, turning to Aizawa to see what he thought.

"We don't know the current situation-" Aizawa began, and then his eyes that had remained at their normal size even when he saw the smoke started to widen. Mic spun back to the window while Zach's bottom lip lowered in shock, and they stared at the giant woman with long blonde hair who was falling backwards. She put her hands behind her and pressed them into buildings on the side of the one she was falling towards, so the one she hit only got a few broken windows. The ones she used for balance also got cracked walls and a few smashed windows, but Mt. Lady pushed herself back up and then turned her body sideways even in the big road she was standing in to prevent that happening again. She lifted up a huge foot to slam down, but the two teachers and the boy watching from U.A. could see the trail of blood coming out of her left nostril and the fact that she was missing one of the blue horns of her costume.

"But we have to go," Aizawa finished after seeing the state Mt. Lady was in. How many other heroes are there already? What's happening?

"Let me come too," Zach said. Aizawa and Present Mic both spun and looked down at the short boy standing there and looking out the windows. He spun to them with wide eyes, but his shaking lips stopped after a second and he said, "Someone might need my help."

"We'll be enough," Aizawa started.

"And what if someone's already died?" Zach asked, his eyes widening at his teacher's response and his fists clenching at his sides.

"We don't have time for this," Mic began, turning back and starting to run.

"You're currently in detention for leaving school and breaking the rules," Aizawa said, his eyes narrowing at the boy in front of him. They darted right as Mt. Lady stumbled backwards and made the ground shake a few more times, then he turned back and started to run while saying, "I'll leave you with-"

"Why do you get to decide?" Zach asked, glaring at Aizawa's back as he was starting to run. Aizawa stopped, and Zach pursed his lips at the tone he was taking with his teacher. He did not care if he got in more trouble right now though, and he continued in a loud voice, "If someone's dead out there already, what can you do about it? I'm not saying I can do anything against whatever villain's out there, but I am the only one who can save people who have already died." Aizawa turned his head, and Zach stared straight up into his eyes with a serious one in his own. "You know it's true. I don't know, if you have some moral standing on what I do bringing people back, or if you're for it or what, but if someone's dead out there then they have a family whose begging right now. They are begging that I run over there from U.A., they-"

"Let's go," Aizawa spun back around, an annoyed look on his face as he started running. Zach stopped arguing and sprinted right after him, while the teacher in black with a raggedy scarf around his neck glared ahead. If they're already dead, they're beyond saving. That's what, I used to think at least… "Why do you get to decide?" Aizawa grit his teeth more, He's right. He has a provisional license, and there are people who only he can save. If I knew more about the situation I could leave him behind, but that time limit of his. "Hmm-"

"Aizawa sensei!"

The two of them were just reaching the front of the school building, but the shout behind them made them stop and spin. Running their way was the boy who just shouted, who had curly green hair and his hero uniform on since he was just training. And behind him was another boy with half red hair and half white, also wearing his blue hero outfit. Midoriya and Todoroki left the after-school training they had just gotten started with, and they each stared at Zach in surprise for a few seconds seeing him in his school uniform about to run out after Present Mic who was now getting far ahead of them.

"Are you two going?" Todoroki asked. "Let us-"

Aizawa darted his gaze and saw Mic almost at the gate, and he knew whatever he said was going to receive complaints from the two behind him. Actually, this works better, "Are you two?" Aizawa questioned. The way the question was asked implied he was not telling them not to, and that made both of them sprint forward even as their eyes were huge at their teacher's response. Aizawa turned and ran out the door and Zach turned and ran out too, while Midoriya and Todoroki sprinted up behind them.

"What's going on?" Todoroki asked as he reached up behind Aizawa.

"We're about to find out," Aizawa replied. "Think of this as a class," he continued, and the other three looked towards him, while he reached up and put a pair of yellow goggles on over his head. His eyes darted to the side at Sazaki who was not wearing his hero uniform, then he turned his head a bit and looked back while saying, "Listen to what I say. Follow me. And don't fail. Sazaki, don't use your power to fight."

Zach grit his teeth but responded quickly, "I'll just use it to bring people back, if anyone's died."

Midoriya stared at Zach's back right in front of him, and after a second he smiled. It was a small smile and wiped fast as he returned to his serious look, but he thought about his classmate a week ago compared to now. Instead of running away, he's running towards it, Midoriya refocused and snapped his gaze up towards another pillar of black smoke as the ground shook again.

"Todoroki, work on putting out whatever fires there are," Aizawa said. He had just nodded at the man at the gate of U.A. who looked at Aizawa and around at the students, then specifically Sazaki. His eyes darted back to Aizawa, but the new security guard at the gate of the school did not say anything when the ground shook again and felt bigger that time. The reason it felt bigger was also the reason Aizawa closed his mouth and just started running faster, because they saw over the tops of buildings Mt. Lady falling backwards and vanishing from their eyesight.

"Someone's fighting at Mt. Lady's strength?" Zach said, his voice nervous even as he tried to keep calm and serious. Ganeshi? Did Shigaraki send Ganeshi here to drag me out?! Don't think about that! Midoriya, Todoroki, Aizawa sensei, other heroes around. And it's probably not even a kidnapping! Forget about that! It's paranoia at this point! There are other villains here, right now. Ones you're not imagining. Ones fighting Mt. Lady and destroying part of the city, and putting people's lives in danger!

Midoriya shook his head while they turned around a corner and kept running towards the scene. He did not just sprint ahead of Aizawa sensei since they did not know the situation, and he did not want to run in on the scene and get in the way if there was already a plan to take down the villain in action. Aizawa said to "follow me" so Midoriya kept behind the teacher and kept his thoughts on what they could do to help when they arrived instead of how he could arrive quicker. "It's not necessarily," Midoriya said. Todoroki looked to the side and Zach turned his head sideways from just in front of him to look back. Midoriya had a thoughtful look on his face, and he continued, "If the villain is strong enough to hurt her at all, but isn't a huge villain him or herself, then their best move would be to use the environment around her. Jumping back and forth inside of buildings or darting around using the city to their advantage."

"That's even worse than just a villain at her strength," Todoroki said in a low voice. He thought about running up and freezing a giant villain, but if the enemy had good mobility as well then that was a different and less simple scenario. Unfortunately, they had no more time to theorize. They turned the next corner, and they saw Mt. Lady up ahead with her palms on the ground at her sides as she pushed back up on the street. Higher up the street level on the fourth floor of the building on Mt. Lady's right, Kamui Woods was hanging off the side of the building with one arm of wooden branches attached to the wall and the other reaching inside.

Kamui Woods pulled out of the floor and had two people in his branches who started coughing loudly as he pulled them out. "Todoroki," Aizawa said as he kept running down the street.

Todoroki nodded and he ran towards the building, using his right side to create ice that he focused towards the third and fourth floors where there was a lot of smoke coming out of. Todoroki called up to Kamui Woods asking about other people inside, but he glanced out the left corners of his eyes at the other three who kept running ahead. I want to get over there fast, his head snapped back up as Kamui Woods responded about other people still inside as well as the ones on the upper floors that had smoke rising up into them too. The pro hero shouted back down that there was another fire as well though, and Todoroki spun towards where he saw the other plume of black smoke rising from back at the school when he and Midoriya first looked out into Musutafu.

Zach darted his gaze back and forth as they ran towards the giant woman who got back up on her feet just ahead of her now. Her huge body was blocking off most of what was going on, but once she stood they were able to see past her legs and the battleground just ahead. Zach and Midoriya's eyes opened wide at the sight of the street that both of them had been on many times before. It was chaos. There were two cars slammed into each other on one side with another upside-down on top of them crushed in the center so the sides were pushed up. There were holes and cracks in the street, scattered injured pro heroes, and two villains were unconscious near Backdraft who was dragging them backwards to get behind Mt. Lady who was at his side.

"What's the situation here?" Aizawa called out as he ran towards the hero whose uniform made him look like a fireman.

Backdraft spun his head and said, "Eraser Head! Good, this is getting out of control."

"It already looks out of control," Aizawa said as he came to a stop in between Mt. Lady's right leg and Backdraft. Aizawa looked down at the two villains who he assumed were such since he did not recognize them, they were wrapped up in Kamui Woods' branches, and they were wearing costumes that looked pretty menacing. Considering the expressions of the other heroes and how intense everyone still was, Aizawa asked the hero who put down the villains and lifted back up his arms that had red water taps on the ends of them, "What are the other villains' Quirks?"

"There's only one left," Backdraft said, while Mt. Lady picked up her right foot on their lefts and started running forward. The others all spun as her footsteps shook the ground and made wind fly towards them, then she stopped right before the next intersection that had some cars pushed to the sides, and cracked or broken windows up the sides of the buildings adjacent. She came to a stop because Death Arms came flying out of the right side of that intersection. His head was snapped back, and the street lamppost he was using as a weapon was bouncing on the ground below him in two pieces. Backdraft continued while Mt. Lady ran into the intersection and blocked the side Death Arms just came flying in from and the side where the wounded pro hero landed and skid to a stop. "He did not seem too much stronger than his 'brothers,' what he called these two. After the first two were captured though, he injected himself with something and went out of control."

Zach's eyes opened wide, and he said in shock, "Trigger."

Aizawa just opened his mouth to say the same thing, but instead he turned his head a bit and said, "What do you know of it?" Zach's face was nervous as he looked back at his teacher, and the boy actually gulped feeling less sure about this than he was earlier.

"That makes sense," Backdraft said, "but its effect was strange. The villain's Quirk seemed like a purely strength enhancing one, like these two. It must have been a composite though, activated by Trigger. He's, causing these explosions-"

At the same time as he said it, Mt. Lady swung her right fist down into the street in front of her. She started pushing her feet down behind her, and she ran down the intersecting street while yelling out and slamming her fist even harder down. The ground shook hard when her fist connected, but the ground shook much worse a second later and a blast erupted from around the corner. BA-DOOOM! A blast of flames threw Mt. Lady back into the intersection, but she bent her legs and slammed down her feet on the sides of the road, slamming a hand down in front of her too. It worked in slowing her down, but a few of the other pro heroes watching her sweatdropped at how much collateral damage she was doing fighting with her giant body like this. Those were problems for later though, and Aizawa started sprinting forward to reach that intersection.

"It has something to do with when he takes damage!" Backdraft shouted towards Eraser Head, but he turned and was running a different way. "I have to put out more of the fires! I only stopped to get the villains farther from their brother. At first he was trying to rescue them, even after he shot up for a little, but-"

"RRAAAAA!" The villain screamed. Mt. Lady stepped backwards, then she brought her leg she was pulling back forward in a hard punt. As her leg was crossing the intersection in front of where Aizawa was running though, a figure sprinting towards her did a quick sidestep to his right. He even shifted his head left first, then pulled right in a fast motion that even if she had tried shifting her leg's momentum, she would have done so in the opposite direction. The villain bent his knees and leapt off the ground, his rippling muscular right arm pulled back behind him.

Aizawa's eyes shot open and his pupils flashed red, then the villain slammed his pulled back right arm into Mt. Lady's stomach. She gasped and spat as her eyes bulged from the punch, and Aizawa grimaced but kept running forward. Is he that strong? I can most likely cancel out whatever explosions Backdraft mentioned, but his strength is no joke, and Midoriya's guess was right. He's got speed. Aizawa's bandages that were around his neck lifted up and he swung his arms forward. The villain snapped his head to the side and jumped backwards, swinging his arm out in front of him to try and smack the curling white cloths away. The villain's reaction was fast, but Aizawa's special cloths wrapped around as the villain's arm slammed into them, and then Aizawa tugged back the other way and changed the villain's momentum in midair.

At the same moment, Buster Hero: Air Jet came flying up in the air using a rocket on his back after just dropping two injured civilians off over at some police cars that had arrived and were setting up a perimeter. The pro hero wore an all white and red costume, and he lifted his white right arm with a cannon on it and called out, "Take this, villain!" He fired at the villain's head as Aizawa pulled forward through the air, and the explosion sent him swinging down even harder towards the ground as Aizawa slammed his arms down. Aizawa could feel the tug of the villain against him when he tried yanking through the air, and his feet were skidding forward from it showing the strength of the villain was still enough to do that even with no ground for using his whole weight.

The villain hit down hard though, but as he hit the ground, he slammed his other fist down with him and made the collision so much more forceful. He slammed through the pavement, blasted up a lot of dust with the debris, and Aizawa grimaced as he lost sight of the villain. Aizawa felt his bands pull tight right after he thought about how he could not see the villain anymore, and he tried unraveling them from his opponent fast. The villain yanked back though, and Aizawa flew into the dust while the villain lifted up and slammed his left hand forward. Aizawa came through the dust and debris and he tried canceling the villain's Quirk as quickly as he could, while also twisting his body to dodge the hit that would still be bone-crushing even without whatever explosion part of its Quirk he was still trying to erase. He did not twist his body very far, but then through the smoke on his left, a boy in a green costume shot out and slammed a kick into the villain's arm in mid-punch.

Aizawa collided with the arm that turned sideways, then Midoriya grabbed the back of his teacher's black shirt and jumped them both back and away from the villain swinging its other arm around now. Aizawa unwrapped his bandages fast as the villain swung his large black arm at them. The swing of the arm blew away a lot of the dust around him, and from thirty feet away Zach stared at the villain who Midoriya just appeared at in an instant despite having been standing just ahead of him a moment ago. They were keeping the villain in the middle of the intersection, and there were heroes on all sides as Air Jet flew down and landed on the side of the intersection opposite where Mt. Lady had gotten back up to a single knee after the punch to her gut. Midoriya and Aizawa leapt back after they landed to get back on the road Zach was on, a little farther ahead and to his left.

Zach grimaced as he looked over towards Aizawa, then around at the area in the middle of the city. He could see people gathered up near their windows and a lot of people on the first floors of buildings they had been rushed to off the road by heroes who were trying to keep the villain out in the open and away from the masses. Zach looked from Aizawa back to the villain, his fists clenching at his sides and his eyes narrowing. He was a tall figure at over eight feet, closer to nine, and he had long black hair coming off of his bulky black head. His muscles were tensed violently and looked to be straining against his skin with his veins showing, and his teeth were bared like an animal, yet he looked aware of his surroundings. The villain let out a low growl, his eyes bloodshot and his mouth open and panting but baring again as he let out that snarl and turned to glare at Mt. Lady who was back up on both feet now. His glare got more furious as he looked towards her, and Zach wondered if one or both of the man's "brothers" had been taken down by the female hero.

Should I go Nightmare? With everyone watching? Does that really matter?! No, what matters is that Aizawa told me not to use my Quirk offensively. I have to listen to what he said, not as a student, but as a less experienced hero. If he thinks I'm needed he'll ask. I'm sure the teachers all know how I took down the villains at VTS- "RRAAAARRRR!" The villain snapped his head back and opened his mouth, letting out a roar and scream of pain at the same time. His fists clenched at his sides hard, and blood dripped out between his fingers.

Zach started running forward and left a bit, and he said to Aizawa when he was five feet back, "There are new strains of Trigger out there. Some of them wind up being more potent than others. Instead of just making villains lose some reasoning, they lose their minds completely- even after the drug should have worn off." Midoriya glanced back at Zach while the villain ahead of them turned both directions on that street and then down towards the three of them. There was a tall building on his other side, but right inside that building's front doors leaning up against a wall was a woman just waiting for him to try and use that direction as the escape route. Midnight had a hand grabbing her white right sleeve ready to rip it off and release her knockout gas, but she was waiting for the right moment. Zach continued to the two closest to him, "But the ones who really do lose their minds, I only saw it twice, but the power gets way out of control. And it gets stronger over time."

Aizawa frowned deeper at the sound of that. "Either the out-of-control villain learns how to use it, has that much reasoning," he began. "Or the strain takes a longer effect with the peak coming at a certain point in time. Either way, we need to knock him out before his strength gets to be too much." Midoriya glanced in at his teacher, and Aizawa continued, "I doubt I'll be able to hold him with my cloths for long." Trigger. That drug is making too much of a reemergence. Weren't enough villains dumb enough to buy it in recent years. "Let's move," Aizawa said, as he saw the villain's body tensing at the shoulders and bulking up even. It was seeing the glow in the villain's large black right fist that made Aizawa say it was time to move.

Aizawa glared at that fist and the glow went away, and then Mt. Lady stepped forward and slammed a fist down towards the villain. "You've gone too far!" She yelled, her voice sounding angry and pained as it came out. The villain dodged to the left fast, and Mt. Lady's fist slammed into the ground and blew up dust and debris again. Aizawa frowned deeply as he swung his cloths forward to the spot the villain dodged to, because right as the dust was rising up, that villain glared both bloodshot eyes towards him and his black lips twisted apart to show him baring his teeth his way.

Using the dust for cover, the villain started running the direction of the least heroes, yet not towards the building now on his left. He ran towards the spot below where Air Jet flew up using his jetpack to get a better look on the ground, but as he ran out of the smoke there was another hero there who leaned towards him and shouted, "HEYYYYYY!" The villain's body snapped backwards and both hands reached up for his head.

Aizawa leapt backwards, his ears starting to ring, and others on the street around the villain all grabbed their ears. Present Mic stopped attacking after a few seconds, grimacing at the low usability of his power in this environment. He stopped the villain from running though, and Air Jet flew forward as Present Mic closed his mouth. Air Jet fired his arm cannon from closer to the villain this time since the blast's power had not been enough last time, but the villain snapped his arms down from his head right before Air Jet fired. The hero's jetpack pumped out more flames, but the villain leapt up in the air and slammed a fist into Air Jet's cannon right as it fired. The cannon bent back, Air Jet yelled in pain, then the villain's head snapped down and he glared at Present Mic who stepped back from that look and stopped opening his mouth to call to his fellow hero. "Uh oh- ahh!" Present Mic turned and dove, but Air Jet slammed into his side and the two of them rolled down the road over each other.

The villain punched his fist down and threw Air Jet out of the air, then right as his fist was at the end of its momentum, it was yanked by a cloth backwards behind his body. The villain started spinning its head again, only to lifted its other arm fast right before a leg slammed into him. "SMASH!" Midoriya yelled, spinning his kick into the villain's lifted free arm. The kick pushed the villain's arm back and to the side, Midoriya's leg hit the man in the side too, and then Aizawa directed the direction the villain flew off to into the sidewalk. The ground around where the villain hit cracked, and a few small rocks flew at the windows of the first floor of the building and smashed through them.

Screams came out of that building, and Aizawa tugged the other way to throw the villain back into the road. Present Mic was getting up on the other side of the villain, and he started dragging Air Jet back while yelling at the hero who got messed up by that last punch. Zach had run just to the edge of the intersection that was now getting farther from the fight, and he saw Present Mic shouting at Air Jet down the road. He started breathing faster, but he ran down the road towards the two of them, staying on the same sidewalk that Aizawa smashed the villain down onto a few seconds ago. The villain was back in the middle of the road though, and Midoriya shot towards him before changing directions with a quick kick down, lifting up over the fist slamming forward at him. Wind from both the boy's kick and the villain's punch flew down the road, then Aizawa tugged on the villain's arm he still had wrapped up and prevented it from lifting and blocking Midoriya's second kick which slammed the villain right on top of its head.

The dark villain slammed into the floor, and Zach heard the screams from before turn into cheers as he ran past a few broken windows on his right. He ran past the part of the middle of the road where the villain had just been slammed into the ground by one of Midoriya's strongest Smashes, and then Zach curved into the middle of the road and ran up to Present Mic. "Is he alright?!" Zach asked, running close as Present Mic finally laid the other hero down.

"I'm, fine," Air Jet said, and Zach stopped and felt a huge amount of relief. Air Jet started pushing his non-broken arm down on the ground next to him, and Present Mic stepped forward to block off the villain from going farther down the road. Present Mic did look over his shoulder though and told Air Jet to stay still or risk making his injury even worse. "This, is nothing," Air Jet said, his voice pained as he got back up to his feet, though his legs were shaking. "That villain, we need to stop him. Before he even injected himself with that drug, he was causing so much damage with his brothers. But after, he's become unstoppable."

"What are you talking about?" Zach asked quickly. The pro hero turned to the boy next to him in a school uniform, and he got a confused expression on his face wondering what the boy was doing there.

Then his eyes widened as he recognized who this was, but before he could say anything, he snapped his head back towards the middle of the road as a red glow came out the corners of his eyes from the dust that blew up after Midoriya's last attack. "Move back!" Air Jet shouted, flames shooting out the bottom of his jetpack while he reached forward and grabbed the student by his uniform. His jetpack managed not to get destroyed when the villain slammed him into Present Mic instead of the ground, but using it again shook something loose inside it, and after he shot him and Zach into the air and backwards, the jetpack failed.

"Whoa!" Zach yelled, as what he thought was about to be really cool suddenly turned into them plummeting fifteen feet towards the ground. Air Jet's arms wrapped around him though, and Zach's eyes grew even wider before he winced from the still-hard landing. At the same moment as their hard landing, the explosion went off behind them and the corners of Zach's vision filled with red right before he clenched them in pain as they skid across the ground. "Air Jet! Hey! Are you alright?!" Zach got up off the villain's stomach and he shook the man around a little but the guy's eyes were shut. Air Jet opened them up slowly after a second and again Zach felt the huge amount of relief seeing the hero alive. "What was that?" Zach asked, spinning while on his knees back in the direction of the explosion.

Air Jet started to respond but his voice was low and Zach lowered his head down over the hero's face to listen. "The damage he takes, it contributes, to the size of the explosion. Ack, aghhh," Air Jet groaned, while Zach lifted up a bit and stared back towards the simmering explosion and the huge cloud of black smoke rising up above it. Considering how hard Midoriya can hit… "It's why we can't stop him," Air Jet muttered, and he tried to push himself up only to cough and moan in pain as even his other arm seemed to be broken now after that rough landing. "Mt. Lady's punches, just get blasted back at her. I thought, Eraser Head might-"

Zach spun back to the hero as the man's voice cut off suddenly. He shook the hero around a few times, but Air Jet was out cold. Zach checked his pulse quick to make sure he was only unconscious, then he stood up and started dragging Air Jet to the side of the road and the building behind him. We need to knock him out. Could I do it? I should, try at least. Zach pulled Air Jet onto the sidewalk, then farther towards the front doors of an office building being opened up for him to bring the hero through.

Zach dropped him off and ignored the people around him who shouted at the kid in a school uniform not to go back out there. Zach sprinted onto the street and he started running towards where the explosion went off. He saw Present Mic staggering up to his feet across the road, some blood on his arms that had lost the black sleeves of his costume when he crossed them to block the explosion. Zach did not see Aizawa or Midoriya, but he suspected both of them were even closer to the explosion that Present Mic, though he hoped Midoriya had used his speed to get them away right before it went off. He was lifting up his right hand towards his own chest, when he heard a voice shout on his left and up ahead past the explosion, close to the intersection he came out of before.

"Zach!"

He looked down the sidewalk farther since he was about to cut into the road, and he saw Todoroki on the other side of the settling smoke. Shoto Todoroki started running the opposite direction that Zach was so they were both heading to the same spot, but Todoroki's pointed behind him and he yelled, "Back this way!"

Why would he call out my name and a different direction as the villain?! Zach did not run into the middle of the road where the explosion had happened. He sprinted past the side of it even faster, towards Todoroki and then past him while shouting, "Where?!"

"Kamui Woods said," Todoroki turned as Zach kept running without stopping next to him. "It's at the road where they started fighting-"

"Todoroki!" Zach shouted towards his classmate, having turned back since he was getting too far. Todoroki spun, and a huge ice wall shot out of the ground in front of him to protect. The wall cracked right as he started forming it, and the boy on the other side jumped backwards and crossed his arms to protect from the ice. Todoroki landed in front of Zach, and Zach did a double-take back towards the street they were fighting on, and then back towards the road Todoroki had pointed at. Do I fight, or go to save the person? This is-

"Lifebringer," a voice said behind him, and he spun and looked up high towards Mt. Lady. She had burn marks on a lot of the skin of her arms and legs, but her eyes were open wide as she recognized the boy down on the ground. She bent down far and she said to him in a rushed voice and a hopeful smile on her face, "Please, you have to save him."

"Where?!" Zach shouted. Hearing the plea from another hero made the decision a lot easier for him, especially since she was still up and able to fight this villain who was smashing through the ice Todoroki attacked with and dodging his flames.

Aizawa got up next to the building Midoriya had brought them over to in the instant of the giant explosion. He had even been a little confused for a second, but now he was looking down and to his left at the student who lost his entire right sleeve and pant leg to that explosion. "Don't be reckless," Aizawa scolded the student who could have escaped the explosion with less damage if he had just focused on getting himself out of there. "Stay back for a few seconds, catch your breath," Aizawa added to the boy who was trying to stand back on his burnt right leg right away. "That explosion," Aizawa started as he stepped forward. "How did he initiate it?"

Midoriya was close enough that he had seen through the smoke the villain's red glow, but he shook his head confusedly still not understanding how it blasted out that much power. Aizawa glared towards the center of the blast where the villain just leapt back into some smoke, leaving Todoroki to make a tough decision. Aizawa's gaze focused on the boy who used his ice to try and trap the villain in the smoke, but his eyes also darted to his right a couple of times as he saw a boy standing in front of Mt. Lady. The student he looked towards nodded after she told him something and he started sprinting away faster than ever. Aizawa narrowed his eyes, at the same time feeling anger, relief, and anxiety. He was angry as he knew what could cause Sazaki to run off like that, he was relieved because the boy was so close that he knew he must have been considering fighting the villain, but he was also anxious because Sazaki was leaving his sight.

What are the chances this was set up? There's no way they would know Sazaki would come out here, even if there was a casualty. But he's going off on his own now. This is not good. Aizawa's glare shifted back to the villain whose head was bowed in the center of the road where there was now a crater stretching almost to both sidewalks. He ripped both legs up and through the ice, then he pointed his right hand forward and it started glowing, but Aizawa noticed the red glow was lighter than what it was at the previous blast. It was still enough that the larger wave of ice shooting at him would have blasted apart, but the glow vanished in the final moment and the villain's eyes shot open wide again before darting Aizawa's way. Then Todoroki's ice overtook it and surrounded the entire villain in ice.

"Raa, RAAA!" The villain's head was not covered like the rest of its body, and he was roaring while trying to rip his body out of the ice.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Todoroki warned, walking forward and breathing out steam. The entire road between Todoroki and the villain was covered in ice, as was the entire crater in the center of the road, and there was an ice block sticking out of the ground twenty feet up with the villain stuck inside it. The villain was close to the bottom of the crater, so he was still just at Todoroki's eye level when the student in a blue costume stopped walking fifteen feet ahead of him.

Aizawa could not help but grin for a second as Todoroki stopped the villain in his tracks, without knocking him unconscious at that. He blinked and then snapped his eyes open again and continued to erase the still-conscious villain's Quirk before it could get off a blast. At a closer look, Aizawa grimaced at the sight of the villain's face now that the man was frozen in ice. His nose was messed up badly, and both of its bloodshot eyes were bruised up, and there were cuts on his face and a lot of his body. Aizawa grimaced because despite all those injuries, the drugged-up villain was struggling as hard as it could inside the ice and was tearing even more of its skin off.

Todoroki lost the calm look on his face after threatening the villain not to struggle, because his threat did not work. He was really just warning the villain not to move and risk hurting himself more, but the villain did not seem to care at all about the pain he was putting himself in. If this keeps up, Todoroki thought, and then he darted his gaze over towards Aizawa to see what he should do. "Just keep it up for a few more seconds Todoroki," a female voice called out, and Todoroki felt more relieved as he saw a woman running out of a building near Aizawa.

Midoriya relaxed as Midnight sensei ran out into the road and towards the ice the villain was trapped in. The villain struggled harder in the ice, baring its teeth and snapping its head towards her, ripping the ice around its neck off and making some long black hair rip off the top of its head as it was still trapped. Midnight had a smirk on her face as she was about to say something before releasing her gas, but blood splashed at her as the villain snapped his ravenous face in her direction. "Everyone move back," Midnight called out in a more serious tone, and she pulled off a lot more of her sleeve than she thought she was going to.

"Do it fast," Aizawa warned, as his eyes were feeling very dry and he had to blink them soon. Pinkish-purple knockout gas filled the air around Midnight and the villain, and Aizawa started running forward despite some pain in his legs. He held his breath and sprinted right up past Midnight, keeping his eyes on the villain. Midoriya and Todoroki stared towards them, as did Present Mic from farther away and Mt. Lady whose hands shook at her sides as she wanted to slam them down at the villain a lot. There was a lot of black smoke rising up around them, but Backdraft stopped putting out flames for a second and turned towards the middle of the road, and Kamui Woods lowered some more hurt civilians down behind a wall of yellow tape created by another pro hero a few feet away from him. They all looked towards the villain who had caused so much chaos in the city, and then the pinkish gas started to fade and Aizawa hopped backwards to get out of it early. The heroes and students relaxed, and Todoroki walked forward to defrost the unconscious villain for the police to take away.

As people started cheering and the heroes relaxed, two blocks away Zach Sazaki stood near a man laying in an indented part of the street. There were other citizens around the indent, some cops nearby, and Zach was breathing hard as he stared down at the figure. He could hear people around him talking, and he felt his heart pounding and aching as he looked at the guy's body. I can't- I can't do this. Zach's lips trembled as he stared at the man's body, looking crushed on the ground. There were other injured people around, some ambulances nearby and EMTs running around to help them, but this was the only fatality Zach heard of from the people gathered around with him.

"What was he thinking?"

"He was thinking, he could be a hero."

"Don't say it like that. He gave the others time to escape."

"His Quirk seemed strong too, but he wasn't a fighter."

"Still, to get crushed like that."

"He was in the heroes' way-"

"But Mt. Lady's hand… the villain was so strong all of a sudden. Knocking her back like that, only for her to…"

"That was so, fucked up."

Zach's fists clenched hard at his sides, but his eyes started darting around in worry. What if it's been enough time already? What if, his body is just too messed up? This is bad. People shouldn't even be looking at something this gruesome. His head, is intact though. But! Zach's arms shook so hard at his sides. As soon as I start, people are going to start recording. Where are the heroes? They're all fighting the villain! What if they come for me? Won't they?! I should wait- but the time limit! I already know it might have been too long- except this just happened! There wouldn't be so many people allowed to gather around like this, unless they're still having trouble getting control over the-

"Alright people, we need you to back up. We've set up a perimeter and it's behind the ambulances. I don't care if this is where you work, either get back inside your buildings or get behind the police tape."

The crowd around him started dispersing, but a few people were still staying close. He saw tears in their eyes, even as they could not get close. One of them had her hands over her mouth, and she kept gagging and looking away. Her friend had tears in her eyes too, but she was holding the other woman close and neither started moving when the cop trying to disperse the crowd got near. The officer turned to a boy near the indented part of the street with a few cracks in it, and he said to the short student, "You too. Move back with the others."

"I'm a," Zach whispered. He took a step forward, his breath picking up so he was panting. He took another step and the women on the other side of the indented part of street lifted their heads as the boy stepped within five feet of the man crushed on the ground. "I'm a," Zach repeated, his voice getting louder while the cop who just spoke to him started going wide-eyed. Then the two women looking at him lowered their arms and their faces filled with shock, as the boy they were staring at gulped and lifted up his right hand, removing his glove. "Stand back," he said, his voice quiet as his eyes focused on the body in front of him while other people started looking over and everyone started murmuring and getting louder. "I'm a, hero," he said, and he lowered down to his knees next to the man whose pulse Zach did not need to check.

Can I do this? Am I just getting their hopes up? And, what about the League of, the League… They're not here. They haven't been here, for a long time. I've been imagining it like they were still surrounding me, watching my every move, for so long. Zach lifted his shaking right hand and moved it closer to the man lying on the floor in front of him, flat on his back but with a few limbs bent or turned upside-down. There was a lot of blood below him too, and Zach started panting harder as he brought his hand down towards the man's chest, bringing his own knees up to the guy's side and hunching his body over him. I can do this though, because the villains aren't around me. I'm a hero. Saving people, is what I do. It's what I need to do. Zach's face started scrunching up more, his eyes getting wet as he lowered his right hand to the man's body. He pressed his palm on the guy's chest and he took in a deep breath, and then he gasped and winced in the pain that started. It's working, he thought, even as his entire arm started shaking. He took off his glove because of how messed up the guy was, so he figured he would get as much of his right hand's skin on him as possible. He put it over a part of the guy's shirt that was ripped too, and he pressed harder into the wound while his hand turned black.

Zach felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his clenched eyes shot open wide. "AhhHH!" He shouted. His right hand came off of the guy's body and his right arm shook so hard that he had to snap his left arm over and grab his shaking forearm. His whole body shook and his eyes trembled as he stared straight ahead of him. While his eyes were clenched, when he felt that pain in his chest, he felt a knife cutting across his chest. He could see it in his mind, and he saw Shigaraki laughing, and he heard screams in his head. He bit down hard though and he slammed his right hand back down, and this time he grabbed his arm with his left hand to force it down there. But when it turned black again, and Zach felt his body filling with pain in a dozen different places, he gasped out choked-breaths and his eyes bulged wide as he felt agony through his body.

I can't, do this, Zach's hand shook as he held it there, then he could not even force it down anymore as he heard in his head. "AAAAEEEEEE!" Zach lifted his right hand, and he was panting, and his eyes were bloodshot. What's happening? Why can't I, do this? Tears started spilling out of Zach's eyes as he clenched them shut and shook his head around. He moved his right hand back down for the guy's chest and held it there with his eyes closed, and he let out an agonized scream as his right hand turned black again, and he had to lift his hand again. I, I know it. His tears continued to spill, and this time he slammed his right hand down and pushed down with his left on that arm, but he also hunched farther over and put his entire torso's weight on his right arm to prevent it from lifting up. I know- I know there's a chance they come, but that wasn't the only reason! "AAHhh AH AHHH!" Zach screamed, but he kept his body weight on his arm and bit down, grinding his teeth back and forth to stop himself from pulling away.

I had to imagine the villains were going to take me, all the time! Not just because those fears are justified, but because if I stop thinking about it like I'm in a survival situation- And if I'm accepting, that I can save this guy even if people start recording, then I'm doing just that! I'm accepting, that I'm not in that situation. So if that's in the past, and I'm not currently, in danger. Not in danger, to stop me from thinking on what had happened like it's in the past. Zach yanked his body backwards, as he felt an agonizing pain in his left arm that reminded him of a scar he got five weeks ago. He ripped backwards, and he fell on his butt while snapping his eyes open and panting, and then his jaw dropped as he saw the man in the indent in front of him did not look any better. No, that's not true, Zach looked closer at the man's chest where his hand had been pressed into, and Zach did not see the external wound under his shirt anymore.

"Lifebringer, please!"

"Don't give up!"

Zach's head lifted and he stared at the two women at the edge of the indent who stepped closer to him. They were sobbing, and Zach pushed himself off his butt and scrambled back over the man in front of him. He panted, then he took in a huge breath and he brought his right hand forward and down on the man's body. This time, like the others, he saw it in his mind. He pursed his lips for an instant, then he opened his mouth and screamed.

"Do your best!"

"Don't give up!"

The officer at the side of the indent lifted his hand to try and saw something to the kid in front of him, tell him to stop since the man he was trying to save looked beyond recovery. Then the officer's eyes opened wide and his arm lowered back down, because the crushed man's left arm that looked snapped, suddenly straightened out. At that same moment, Zach Sazaki's right arm that was blackening up from his hand rippled so violently that the boy's scream caught in his throat, because the pain was so sharp that he almost lost consciousness.

DON'T! Zach screamed at himself, snapping his eyes back open and looking at the man below him, even as the blackness spread farther up his arm. It's not more painful- that much more painful- than any other time! Zach bit down harder and then he let out a scream, a scream that hurt his own throat at how loud it was. And his eyes spilled more water, because he felt a pain in his back, and it reminded him of a scar he got right above that spot. He could feel his ribs crushing inside his chest, and he felt more scars, and he remembered getting those scars. "AHHH! Ah ah AHH hah AHH AHHHHH AAAEEEHHHHAA!"

The cheers for Lifebringer to continue quieted down. Even the officer who was starting to feel some hope just leaned back from the boy whose screams started to fill with more than just physical agony. In Zach's mind he saw a girl screaming out his name. His eyes clenched, but that just made what he was seeing all the more clear. And he heard her screams as he screamed aloud, and then he felt a knife carving down his face from his nose to the side. "Don't you close your eyes!" "Will you do whatever I say?" "I don't believe you!" "TRAITOR!"

"AHH ahhh," Zach's right arm lifted again. He collapsed over the man below him, then he dragged his arm back up and he put it on the guy's chest, and he felt one of the sharpest pains he ever had in his spine. Why now? Why- AAhhh ah ah. "Zach! HELP ME! NO! AHHHHH…" "We're nakama now, right?" Dabi why? WHY?! Zach bent his head down, and he clenched his eyes even harder while he gagged and then let out another scream, because he felt like his eyes were popping inside his head. The crushed man's head had been turned to the side, and Zach felt an agonizing pain in his neck too while his eyes felt like they were un-popping. He choked on his own tongue, and then he saw Shigaraki holding up a knife. Then he saw Shigaraki lifting a lighter and some bug spray, and as he felt his left femur un-snapping, he saw a flamethrower against his thigh melting his skin.

"Aizawa sensei," Midoriya said, turning to the man next to him with a panicked look on his face. "We have to stop him."

Midoriya and Todoroki stood on Aizawa's left side, and Midnight stood next to Aizawa on his right. They rushed over to get to Zach Sazaki while the police and other heroes dealt with the unconscious villain, and the four of them were not far behind the boy hunched over and screaming at the top of his lungs in the middle of the road. Todoroki winced and pulled back as he saw something rip out on Zach's back, tearing through his uniform only for there not to be any injury under that rip. Zach's body was staying together, but his screams made it sound like he was tearing apart. "Midoriya's right," Todoroki agreed, turning to their teacher who had told them to stand back. "I've seen Zach's power bring someone back," he said, though he did not mention how it was Monoma who he saw use it. "This is going too far. He shouldn't be screaming, like that," Todoroki finished, wincing again and looking back towards the boy who everyone on the street was staring at in silence.

Even the women who seemed to know the crushed man were just staring down at the boy, even stepping back as he let out a more agonized scream and snapped his head back. The tears that were coming out of his eyes before were starting to come out red, ever since he felt his eyes popping like the crushed man on the floor's must have. Aizawa said as he saw that blood on the boy's face, "You're right. This is enough." He stepped forward, then Zach snapped his head down and shouted.

"I CAN DO THIS!" Aizawa froze where he was. The thought occurred to him to erase Sazaki's power, but the blackness on Zach's arm was rising higher. It started covering his sleeve instead of just moving up his skin beneath it, making black wisps come off of his whole right arm. The black color had moved up his skin all the way to his neck though, and everyone watching could see little branches of black breaking off up his neck and branching out towards his chin. Zach's eyes shot open, blood on the bottoms of his eyelids, and he screamed again but this time in fury and he leaned his body down on the dead man's even harder.

It had been minutes since he started, Zach did not know how many. He did not know how long the man had been dead for, as that was a factor in how hard it was along with how bad his condition was. Zach figured he had never healed anyone whose body was this badly destroyed before, a thought he tried distracting himself with only to lose that distraction in a few seconds. He coughed a couple of times, and blood splashed out of his mouth right as black lines curving up from his chin started touching his bottom lip. "I can do this," Zach muttered after those coughs, then he saw a knife moving towards his face and it filled with fear. He started panting, then he felt a pain inside his head and he screamed, "AAAHHH-agh, ack ack, AHHH!" He felt a knife carving down the middle of his torso, and a knife stabbing into his leg, and barbed wire ripping into his ankles.

SAVE HIM!

Zach's eyes snapped open again and he glared down while pressing his right hand even harder onto the man's corpse. His whole body trembled, while he saw the man's chest vibrating and bones on the inside fixing together. Zach let out pained gasps, shorter screams of agony since he was running out of breath. They're around you. Other heroes, who will protect you. I'm safe. I'm safe now, and I left that woman behind in Higucha. And I, I made the Akers targets. Dad killed himself, and mom… And JENNY! Zach's right arm steadied and he bit down as hard as he could, as those thoughts all rushed to his head and pushed the pain away. Even though it steadied a bit, that just meant his right was not shaking hard enough that his hand risked slipping off the guy's body anymore. Zach tried holding back his sobs, but he felt safe. He felt safe for one of the first times, in a long time. Even in Kyoto he had convinced himself that he was in hiding so that meant he was still in the middle of surviving, and he realized that as he sat there out in the open and screamed his lungs out. I made her into a target. I put a target on her, and she burned! She burned, because of me!

"I can't listen to this," Todoroki finally muttered after over five minutes. He could not say a thing about pulling Zach away anymore, not when he saw the dead guy's right leg turn back the right way on its own, not after the resolve he heard in Zach's voice. What he was hearing though, it was worse than the blood dripping out of Zach's eyes. They were not screams caused by pain, or any pain Todoroki could think of. He turned his head, but out the corner of his eyes he saw Zach's distressed, distraught face bow and a pained whisper to escape his lips.

"I'm so sorry," Zach gasped out, then he opened his mouth and screamed, "Ahhhhh." His voice was hoarse though, making his scream more a half-moan through a scratchy voice. "So, close," he whispered after stopping his scream, though he felt his body so weak as he said it. He bit down though, and he snapped his eyes open again. He took his left hand off of his right arm, then he slammed it back onto his forearm and pushed his right hand harder down. "I'll save you," he said, his voice stronger than it was a second ago. "I'll definitely, save you."

Farther back on the street behind Aizawa, Midnight, Midoriya, and Todoroki, another pro hero ran around a corner and looked towards them. Mt. Lady stood back behind them in her regular form already, her hands together in front of her chest and water in her eyes. Please, she thought, then she turned her head and her eyes opened wide as Kamui Woods moved forward next to her. Kamui Woods stared ahead towards Zach Sazaki and his eyes opened wide too as the boy tilted his head back and screamed, his voice coming out clearer for a few seconds before breaking.

Zach curled his legs in even harder to the man's body, while he lowered his head and let out a gasp. He stared at the man in front of him, and he gasped because he felt the moment. It was a moment he always felt, and his heart started racing, and his head pounding. The black color up his neck and covering the bottom of Zach's face started to recede. It lowered back to his right arm, and Zach felt the pain start to fade. He stared in shock at the man below him, the man whose chest was starting to move just the smallest bit up and down. The guy's eyes did not open at first, and Zach was a little worried, but as the black left the tips of his right hand's fingers, the man's eyes cracked open.

He tried leaning forward, but his eyes closed again right away and his head turned to the side. Zach lifted his shaking right hand from the man's body, then he pulled it back fast and fell backwards as the two women sprinted forward after seeing the no-longer-crushed man's eyes open for that short second. Zach sat on his butt, a shocked look on his face as he stared at the guy and his two friends or family or whatever they were to him. Zach scooted back a couple of feet, and then he lifted his right hand and stared at it over his lap as he sat there. His eyes filled with water, and they still had blood in them too, and he cried tears of blood while staring at his hand through that slightly red-tinted vision. I saved someone. I really, saved someone, he thought, his heart aching so hard. Everything he just thought about, the things that made him break down right there in the middle of the road, they were erased and replaced with that single thought.

It's been so, so long. I forgot, how this, he lifted his gaze to the women, one of whom turned to him and started shouting thanks at him. Zach just nodded and pulled his right hand away farther, but made sure not to touch his body with it. He heard talking behind him, and he saw one of the women hunched over the recently-brought-to-life guy look behind Zach and drop her jaw. She stared behind him, then back down at Zach and her face filled with fear and so much pity.

Zach turned his head sideways, and he looked behind him to see Aizawa standing there. He looked at Aizawa, who was standing there with his back to Zach. Zach looked to the left side of his teacher, and he saw Midnight with a hesitant look on her face, before she turned his way and they locked eyes with hers growing wide. He glanced the other way and saw Midoriya and Todoroki both looking at something in front of Aizawa. Zach started standing up, and he turned his body fully and stepped out of the indent on the ground and to Aizawa's right side. He kept his right hand lifted, grabbing it by the wrist and darting his eyes around to make sure no one got close.

Then Zach's eyes stopped darting around. They focused past Aizawa, and his teacher with long black hair turned and grimaced as Zach's bloody eyes were starting to grow wide. "Sazaki," Aizawa said, and he held an arm out in front of Zach. "You can't," Aizawa said.

Zach stared at Kamui Woods, and the figure who Kamui Woods was standing there holding. The hero lowered his wooden branches down and placed the figure down, a young woman who Zach wondered if she was even out of high school. She did not have on a school uniform, but school ended a while ago now. When did she… Zach started thinking, but he stepped forward anyway.

"Zach, hold on," Todoroki began, though he kept back as Zach's right hand was out in the open.

"Sazaki," Aizawa said firmly, and he turned to face the boy trying to walk past him. Zach turned his head slowly and faced Aizawa who shook his head at the look on the boy's face. "You can't do it," Aizawa repeated. Zach's wide eyes stared into Aizawa's, then they looked past him towards the girl Kamui Woods lowered to the street. "You're U.A.'s responsibility, and I took you out of school. So it's up to me, and I say you can't do it. It'll kill you."

"It won't," Zach said.

"It'll rip you apart," Aizawa said, and he did not think he was exaggerating that much after what he just saw. "You can barely stand," Aizawa repeated, as he saw the way Zach took that last step. "Any more of this and-"

"You don't," Zach started, and he looked towards the girl again as he continued, "get to decide, who lives, and who dies." Aizawa's eyes widened at the kid who started walking forward again, ignoring what he just told him. Zach stepped forward, and he focused on his walking to make himself look more steady on his feet. "I won't die. She will." The way Zach said it showed he did not consider her dead yet, and Aizawa frowned deeply while darting his eyes back to the girl, the young girl who Zach still believed he could save. Aizawa's arm started to lower, while Zach repeated, "You can't decide, something like that…" And you can? Aizawa thought, but he could not raise his arm and stop Zach anymore. He grit his teeth and just watched as the boy moved towards the body, putting his body on the line for this to a point Aizawa could not ignore.

Zach staggered forward, stumbling to his right a bit before shaking his head around and refocusing. He jogged forward as that shake of his head actually made things a little clearer, and he called out, "Move back," since Kamui Woods was still close.

"Kid, are you sure-" Kamui Woods started, and he was starting to regret bringing the second victim over towards where he heard Lifebringer was.

Zach dropped next to the girl and put his right hand on her, just above the top of her large breasts that were burnt like a lot of her body. He put it below her neck and above her breasts, and he closed his eyes as the pain started back up again. I can do this. I have to. Zach felt the pain bubbling up inside him, covering his skin and making him feel like he was completely enflamed. His staggered breathing picked up speed, and he felt the screams coming but held them back as long as he could. Because, I'm a hero! I won't let people die like this. I won't, let the villains win! I have to save her! I, have to… "AAAHHHHHH!"

---

A/N Thanks for reading. Intense chapter here at the end as Zach finally saves people again for the first time since before VTS. Hope you all enjoyed the fight scenes, as well as the new developments with Zach's Quirk in regards to Kuroiro's Grandma, and his acceptance that he's a little safer. Anyway, thanks again, and here are some review responses:

Crying Blitz chapter 39 . 16h ago

I absolutely love your writing style and flow keep it up!

Thanks a bunch! I will.

D-Koy24 chapter 39 . 15h ago

Hmmm I just noticed something... WHERE'S BAKUGO?! Come on!Even if he said something was stupid or threatening someone
~D-Koy, ONE PUNCH!

Haha, I saw this review and was like, "good thing how the next chapter starts." He missed out on the welcoming back of Zach, but Zach tries making up with him a little this chapter after getting closer with the rest of the class at the end of the last one. Thanks for reviewing!

CPU-BLANC-WHITE HEART chapter 39 . 10h ago

Man, Kaminari is mentioning Jenny way too much for Zachs sake, I feel he may snap on him

Yeah, Kaminari does tease him a bunch, though at least he kept from doing it this chapter when they were hanging at lunch. Maybe he got the message last time... though we can only hope. Thanks for the review!

LordOfTee chapter 39 . 3h ago

Oh yeah! Talk about making reconnections,this is the da good stuff.(nods head in appreciation of class companionship)

Zach finally opening back up to his class, at least enough that he showed them some emotions without trying to hide it. Glad you liked it, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Guest chapter 39 . 15h ago

The next chapter should be all the girls shopping with Zach because he grew several more inches and most of his clothes in the apartment burned in the fire.
He should be at least Bakugo to Iida's height at the rate he's growing.
Shigaraki attack at the mall like in the manga?

Not gonna say he's that tall... still actually pretty short. It's a pretty big growth spurt to go from 5 foot to 5'4" in less than a year though (April-February), and maybe it'll keep up. Though maybe he'll just be super short for the rest of his life! Hahahahaha... And Shigaraki did attack the mall. It was much earlier on, and Zach didn't see it since he was shopping with Kaminari and Hagakure. Happened right before the training camp chapters. Thanks for the review, hope y'all enjoyed the chapter!