Yes, Denki was grateful that no heroes had shown up yet as he got to work on Shigaraki. What Denki didn't know, however, is that there were already students there.
Did Hitoshi, Neito, Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, Iida, Momo, and Uraraka know that the heroes were doing everything in their power to get Denki back safe? Yeah, sure they did.
Did that stop them from taking matters into their own hands and finding out one of the League's hot spots? Not in the slightest!
When they first arrived, decked out in disguises, they were disappointed to find no sign of anyone. They figured they must have gotten it wrong somehow and hoped that the pro heroes were having better luck than they were.
It was Kirishima who noticed that where there were people there whereas seconds before there were not. He silently drew everyone's attention back to the area with the helpful sign language that they had all learned and continued to practice religiously.
Bakugou could have sworn and maybe even exploded something in frustration if it wouldn't have given them all away. It was unlucky that the tuft of blonde hair was on the opposite side from them, and it only made matters worse that there were two villains near him, and it seemed like the others who had appeared spread out were also making their way in that direction.
Neito's and Hitoshi's eyes locked on Denki, grateful that he was still alive and desperate to see what his current condition was. Mentally, they braced themselves, like they had been doing for the past two days since Denki had been captured and taken by the League of Villains. They were expecting the worst, and simultaneously hoping for the best. From what they could tell from the distance, Denki was okay. He was still moving and showed no signs of favoring any of his limbs over another, so physically, he seemed fine. That didn't bring much relief as they wondered about what his mental state might have suffered if the League of Villains didn't resort to physical torture. Once again, they hoped that Denki's social skills had played a huge part and that he would come out of this relatively unscathed, but until they confirmed that, they would tread carefully.
It was automatic for Denki. And to think he despised going through the motions of CPR and first aid over and over again, believing that it was pointless and maybe even a punishment from Aizawa from something the class must have done wrong. Later, Denki would realize that the muscle memory of going through the steps over and over again in class helped him to not freeze up and panic in the moment. Even as his mind felt blank, his body moved and got started, giving his mind time to catch up and actually start paying attention to exactly what he was doing and what was going on around him.
Dabi had just stumbled over when the ground shook, dropping to his knees on the other side of Shigaraki. A quick look over his shoulder, and Denki could have sworn as he saw All Might standing there in all his glory. It made Denki feel special that they were pulling out all the stops to get him back, but it could not have been worse timing during a damn medical emergency that his long-term online gaming friend was experiencing, villain or not.
Denki would feel bad about it later, but he was happy in the moment that the big, scary villain that he had yet to meet seemed to be like a challenging match to All Might. That gave him time and room to help Shigaraki before he was dragged away, back to safety, leaving his friends to deal with the aftermath of a fight with someone as strong as All Might. The dread sat heavy in his stomach.
"He's not breathing and doesn't have a pulse," Denki declared, fighting the panic crawling up his throat.
Looking at Dabi, Denki knew that he was going to have to take charge in this situation. Dabi was already out of it from the probable concussion after being knocked out by Gran Torino. With someone he loved dearly in a perilous state added to that, Dabi wouldn't be much more use than blindly following Denki's orders.
Dabi heaved, but immediately pushed his feelings and nausea back to take his place at Shigaraki's side, starting compressions on Denki's orders, and praying to gods that he did not believe in for Shigaraki's life.
Denki quickly looked around to find others rushing toward them: Toga, Twice, Spinner… They were avoiding the middle of the area, avoiding getting to close to the fight between two very strong beings, not wanting to get caught in the cross fire.
There were no phones in sight to call for emergency medical help, not that any would be willing to come save the perceived leader of the League of Villains. There was no AED to attach to Shigaraki's chest to shock his heart back into rhythm. But there was Denki.
Denki hadn't even realized the tears dripping from his own eyes as he demanded Dabi back off. Dabi, who had just pulled away from giving Shigaraki two rescue breaths, had opened his mouth to argue, eyes wide with panic; however, he was present enough to understand that Denki was going to do what was best for Shigaraki. He had to believe that, and so he backed off like Denki said.
"Don't touch him," Denki threw out his warning loudly and to no one in particular, just trying to reach the ears of the approaching villains who got closer with every second.
Toga got to them first, dropping down beside Dabi and reaching out toward Shigaraki before pulling back when she saw the electricity leap across Denki's fingers and hands as he tried to regulate himself to 3,000 volts. It was a lot less than he was used to using, but when he got to it, it felt right. It was muscle memory once again that he swore and cursed during training at UA. He knew he would have to thank Aizawa profusely and never question his teaching methods ever again.
Denki put his left hand down on the right of Shigaraki's chest, not bothering to remove his clothes first like he would have to with an AED. His electricity would go through the clothes no problem, not having to worry about sticking pads directly onto the skin to keep in place. His right hand went into place on the left side of Shigaraki's rib cage, putting his heart in the center of the path that the electricity would travel through. Denki didn't hesitate to give himself time to think, knowing that no amount of thinking would change the current situation. He just send a pulse through Shigaraki's chest, biting down on his tongue and not bothering to wipe away the tears that pushed from his eyes when Shigaraki's body tensed up and then relaxed once again.
Toga joined in the rescue effort then, fingers against Shigaraki's chest and face above his own, checking for his pulse and breathing. When she shook her head, Twice dropped down next to Denki, nudging him out of the way, and quickly starting on compressions before Dabi had a chance to, giving Dabi a much needed break.
His head was killing him, but he would fight through it if it meant Shigaraki had even a fraction of a percent more chance of surviving. He was grateful that Twice took over compressions, going at exactly 110 beats per minute.
Spinner took his place at lookout near the group, ready to alert them if the fight got too close to them as they worked on Shigaraki. He shot them worried glances every once in a while. Even though Shigaraki sometimes scared the shit out of him, he would rather have Shigaraki than start over with someone knew. At least with Shigaraki, he knew the rules. At least, he had thought he did, until Denki and Dabi showed him that Shigaraki might not be as impulsive and blood thirsty as he had initially thought. Spinner never thought he'd see the day, and a week ago he would have called someone crazy if they said that Spinner would actually start to enjoy Shigaraki's presence instead of chronically wishing that he'd just go hide away in his room like he normally did.
Toga remained in her position above Shigaraki's head, keeping his head tilted back and his airway open. She had tried to scoot around to give Shigaraki breaths after Twice had given 30 perfect compressions, but Dabi was there and refused to move, leaning over to seal his mouth around Shigaraki's, pinching his nose and forcing air into his lungs. Everyone knew better than to tell Dabi to back off because they were worried about his concussion. Everyone knew how Dabi must have been feeling, and they pictured how they would feel if they were being ushered away from a loved one who needed help. No one even suggested that Dabi move away. No one wasted any time arguing with Dabi that should have rightly gone to giving Shigaraki the best care possible.
Izuku quickly worked out a plan from the other side of the field, changing aspects when he saw even more villains surrounding Denki that he had moments previously, and accepting different ideas from the group to make the best plan possible on such short notice.
Everyone had just wanted to rush in, so they were lucky that Izuku was there to make a realistic plan that might actually work. They knew that the other heroes had to be on their way, but who knew how long that would take for them to arrive? With All Might's hands full with the creepy, masked villain, the students knew that they had to act to save their friend.
Bakugou had wanted to go in, palms blazing. Neito was ready to copy more quirks; he already knew how to use Toga's and Twice's quirks. Hitoshi wanted to brainwash as many villains as he could and get them to release Denki.
"I bet they know about you," Midoriya warned Hitoshi. "They were after Kacchan specifically. I bet that is because they watched the sports festival. If I'm right, I bet you stood out to them, too."
Hitoshi had deflated. He had finally been ready and willing to use his quirk at full force in a proactive way, regardless of if anyone who saw might become scared of him because getting Denki back safely was more important than any of that.
"Monoma," Midoriya started, grabbing the blonde's attention immediately. "Can you copy Uraraka's quirk?"
Uraraka immediately held out her hand to Neito as an offering of her quirk, and Neito didn't hesitate to take it. Neito had experimentally touched a small piece of pipe that was disconnected from the ruins that surrounded the hero students. Even Bakugou was impressed that he made it work so quickly when he had never used hers before. Momo knew that he had correctly copied her own complex quirk when making masks for the student body, so she was not surprised in the least. Hitoshi had seen Neito succeed over and over again with every quirk he ever got his hands on, so there was no surprise on his end either. There was no time for anyone else to dwell on Neito's skill because there was an electric, blonde, social genius to save.
Everyone gathered around for the final plan, and not even Bakugou found it in him to argue. With no counter strategies offered, they put their hastily made plan into action.
When two minutes of CPR had passed, Twice quickly jumped out of the way, allowing Denki back in who had already calibrated his electricity to 3,000 volts as the others took care of the other aspects of CPR.
Denki once again sent a pulse through Shigaraki's chest. Denki didn't have time to check to see if it worked when the familiar fabric of Aizawa's capture weapon had wrapped around him, abruptly yanking him upwards into the air, leaving the villains behind.
At the other end of the scarf, though, was not Aizawa, but Hitoshi. And he wasn't alone. The mishmash of students all interconnected together, flying quickly through the air with the help of Iida's engines and Bakugou's explosions to propel them forward and away as quickly as possible. Denki might have taken the time to be thoroughly impressed if he wasn't so worried about the unfinished task he had just been yanked away from.
Denki looked over his shoulder to see the villains quickly recovering from his abrupt absence and gathering quickly around Shigaraki, Toga once again checking for his breathing and pulse as Denki lost sight of them as the group propelled away, Denki's view quickly being blocked as they moved forward, refusing to let up on any speed even as they finally had Denki back in their grasp. Instead of relief, Denki's anxiety only spiked higher when he saw the pro heroes arriving on scene, ready to jump into the mix and probably pull Shigaraki's help away from him and into a fight that they did not have time to waste on.
Hitoshi was shaking. The pressure of only having one chance to get his aim right to get Denki up and away before the villains could notice and retaliate was incredibly heavy, and the adrenaline and anxiety didn't go away immediately just because he had succeeded. Hitoshi figured that Denki was shaking for a similar reason, and that the relief of being rescued just hadn't reached his nervous system so quickly.
But it wasn't relief that Hitoshi saw when he finally got the chance to grab onto Denki's face, turning his head to look at him straight on. Denki's breathing was shallow, like he was trying to contain his building anxiety, and tears had gathered in his eyes, even as the tear tracks of his previously shed tears were still evident in the dirt, dust, and grime on his face from being transported to the ruins after the demolition of the base.
Neito saw Hitoshi's face lose its color and quickly turned Denki's head to look at him, seeing the same building anxiety that Hitoshi had seen.
Denki had opened his mouth to beg to be taken back, to beg to save Shigaraki's life, to explain that they didn't hurt him, and he didn't even really believe they were the enemy anymore, but the words wouldn't' come out of his throat. Denki realized that Force Majeure's quirk, the very thing meant to protect himself and the League of Villains, might have just killed Shigaraki.
The feeling of dread settled in the soulmates' stomachs as they shared a concerned look. The soulmates thought that the heavy feeling might have been enough to send the flying group crashing to the ground, but between Uraraka and Neito erasing their gravity, the group didn't even falter, and no one else had noticed the lack of Denki's relief upon being rescued.