"Red Riot, you there?" Eijiro presses a finger to the bit of plastic in his ear where Fat Gum's voice had come from.
"Yep, reading ya loud and clear! What can I do for my favourite pro hero?" His best friend scoffs next to him, hiding a smirk as he walks a few feet ahead to give him some space in case it's something personal.
"Is Ground Zero with you?" At Fat Gum's tone, Eijiro's eyebrows lower in concern.
"Yes sir, is everything okay?"
"Not exactly. We need you to keep him away from the south side of town, can you do that?"
"But we're supposed to be patrolling that area." Eijiro's voice is full of confusion, knowing that the pro hero would not ask something of him so last minute without having a reason but unsure as to what the reason could be.
"Tell him we need you two elsewhere." The urgency in Fat Gum's voice has Eijiro stopping in his tracks.
"Sir, what's going on?" Fat Gum sighs on the other end of the line.
"Don't react," he instructs, not seeing the hero-in-training nod his head. "Sato Kanami has been taken hostage by the LoV." Eijiro's eyes widen at the news, instantly locking on his best friend's back as he walks farther and farther away. "We've managed to track her to a warehouse in the area and are working on a way to get her out, but if he finds out -"
"He'll go charging in without thinking," Eijiro finishes for him. "I'll take care of it."
"Thank you, Red Riot. Let me know if he gets wind of anything."
"Roger that." Eijiro stares at Katsuki, leaning against a building to wait for the redhead to catch up. They better get her soon, he thinks as he jogs over. I'm not a very good liar. The quirk of Katsuki's eyebrow asks a silent question. "Scheduling got messed up, apparently we're supposed to be over on the north side of town." Eijiro watches as both of Katsuki's brows lower, confusion evident in his expression.
"Who messed that up?" He asks, tone already irritated. Eijiro shrugs, hoping to every god he buys it. After a few moments, Katsuki scoffs and turns towards the train station. "Stupid extras, wasting my time," he grumbles. Eijiro sighs in relief and follows his friend. They reach the station waiting off to the side for the next route heading north when a particular conversation catches the two heroes attention.
"I know, I can't believe the league is being so active either! They've been practically radio silent for two years and now twice in a three times in under a month?"
"I heard it was one of the first years too," one of them informed the slowly growing crowd around them. Every muscle in Eijiro's body tensed as he watched his friend's head whip around in the speaker's direction.
"No way!" Someone else exclaims. The first nods his head, excitedly.
"Yeah, with the way they're all acting, I bet it's one of the ones that did really well in the games at the beginning of the year. That's when they started getting active again, it's gotta be one of them!" Eijiro flinches when Katsuki's eyes meet his, knowing exactly how guilty he looks. He has to look away when he notices his friends brows lower in accusation, betrayal glowing through his red eyes.
"Tell me it isn't," he demands, his voice bordering on pleading. "Tell me we were scheduled to be somewhere else and aren't being relocated because it's her." Knowing he won't be able to lie his way out of this, Eijiro turns guilty eyes to his friend, grimacing.
"Fat Gum said it would be better if you weren't around," he explains, but it falls on deaf ears as Katsuki is already halfway back down the stairs. "Dude, wait!" Eijiro chases after him, quickly catching up. "Listen, you gotta think this through. It wouldn't be very manly if you went down there and messed up their plan - "
"Screw their plan!" He yells, rounding the corner. "I should be there! I should be helping get her back!" Several people scream, jumping out of the angry, panicked teenager's way just in time as he breezes passed them, Eijiro calling out apologies over his shoulder as he struggles to keep pace with his long time friend.
"Bro, listen, they wanted us to stay out of the area," Eijiro tries to tell him.
"No, they wanted me out of the area," Katsuki corrects him. Eijiro winces again, knowing he's right. "I'm not gonna do anything that would risk her getting hurt, but I'm not gonna be on the other side of town when she needs me." Knowing he won't be able to convince Katsuki to turn around, Eijiro keeps pace with him while mentally practicing his apology to Fat Gum. A few blocks later and several more turns, a crowd of people comes into view, only encouraging the boys to run faster.
"Where is she?" Katsuki yells upon arriving at the warehouse. Heroes, officers, and heroes in training from their class are gathered around the block, each of them wearing a look of shock at his sudden arrival. All except for Kyouka, who glares at Katsuki with one ear plugged into the building. Meeting her with a glare of his own, he watches in anticipation as she listens to the goings on in the building for any sign of his girlfriend.
"Back door cracked, we don't need a key, we get in for free, no VIP sleaze," Kanami's voice echoes around the large room, despite the amount of people. "Drink that Kool Aid, follow my lead. Now you're one of us, you're coming with me." Why would she choose this song, Kyouka wonders as she listens. The others in the room sound like they're dancing, Could be Sato-chan giving us a distraction. "It's time to kill the lights and shut the DJ down. Tonight we're taking over, no one's getting out! This place's about to blow!" Kyouka gasps, facing the others with a slightly panicked expression.
"She's going to blow up the building!" Katsuki's eyes widen in fear, knowing full well that Kanami is capable of doing something like that but not protect herself at the same time. "She's got the whole league dancing, too distracted to realise, but I can hear the boilers heating up already."
"Alright men, now's our time to move," Fat Gum calls over his shoulder. "I want the students to stay here with the police in case any of them manage to escape -"
"Sir, that's not possible," Kyouka interrupts. "She's managed to open the back door, or it was left open, but if she's doing that, keeping the league distracted, and setting the boilers off, I don't know how literal she's having to go with her use of the lyrics -"
"Spit it out!" Katsuki bites, his anxiety and fear making him more impatient than usual. Kyouka fixes him with a pitying look.
"She said no one's getting out. I think people can go in through that back door but… I don't think they can come back out." Without a moment's hesitation, Katsuki sprints towards the back door of the warehouse. He ignores the shouts and orders being yelled behind him as he nearly rips the door from its hinges in his desperation to get to her. None of them can survive a blast that size, he thinks, following the sound of Kanami's voice. I'm her best option.
"This place's about to blow! Blow!" With each passing second, Katsuki can feel the heat rising in the building as the boilers at each corner of the large building get closer to reaching their limits. Two more hallways pass in a blur as he races towards the center of the building, shoving his way through dancing villains heading that direction. She's trying to minimise the damage, he realises. The closer to the center the blast is, the less ground it's likely to disturb on the outside. "Go insane, go insane, throw some glitter, make it rain," she sings, her voice sounding more strained than it had a few minutes ago. Katsuki passes a window and sees her, hands tied behind her back as she kicks one of Shigaraki's minions in the head when he gets too close. She's on the opposite end of the building on a makeshift stage of boxes. With a growl, Katsuki leaps through the window, unnoticed by the other villains in the crowd as they're too preoccupied attacking each other and dancing. Katsuki reaches the edge of the stage, close enough to see the tears streaming down her face as she backs away from the other villains around her. "This place's about to - "
"Kanami!" She looks at him in shock, the final word falling on deaf ears as he launches himself at her, wrapping himself protectively around her small frame to shield her from the explosion that's just set off around them. Kanami lands, painfully, on her shoulder, arms still restrained behind her, and quickly tucks her knees to her chest.
The blast is deafening, shaking her to her very core, but she barely feels the heat. Squinting her eyes open, she finds Katsuki braced over her. His breathing is laboured, his eyes frantic as he searches her for any injuries, and she feels her own eyes burn with tears. Glass shatters to her right and she flinches, eyes shut, as Katsuki angles himself to protect her from any flying shards. Gently, he rests his forehead against her's, their breaths mingling together as they wait out the blast. Katsuki winces against a particularly hot wave and lowers himself a bit more to avoid as much as he can of the intense heat.
Kanami turns her head to the side, coughing as smoke invades her lungs. Her throat burns with an intensity she's never known and new tears burn her eyes. As each cough wracks her body, the world seems to shift on its axis. She shakes her head in an attempt to clear it, only to find that it makes everything so much worse. Her lungs burn and her eyelids suddenly seem to weigh far too much to keep open. Katsuki notices and caresses her cheek.
"Key, Kana, come on, don't do that," he orders. She shakes her head, trying to answer him, but is only able to force out another coughing fit.
"Hurts," she rasps, eyes closing against the pain in her body.
"I know it hurts, but you gotta push through it." Truth be told, Katsuki doesn't know, not passed a textbook understanding. Growing up, his lungs adjusted to the smoke and debris that accompanied his quirk and built up a tolerance before he was able to experience any real discomfort from the aftermath of his explosions. She grimaces against the agony in her throat, feeling as though she were swallowing glass every time she coughs. It would be so much easier to sleep this off, she can't help but think. "Kana! Come on, stay with me! I'm gonna get you out of her," he promises. The panic in his voice makes her want to stay away more than anything, but it's just too hard. As he picks her up, the explosions subsiding enough that he feels it is safe enough to make their way back to the entrance, he feels her go limp in his arms. "Kana! Keep your eyes open, damn it!" He wastes no time stepping over bodies and making his way to the door he had come in through. "Sing something, talk to me, just do something!" A nerve pinches in her shoulder due to the awkward angle at which her arms are tied, sharp enough to rouse her. Katsuki nearly sighs in relief.
"Back… door," she whispers, her voice grating on her raw throat as another cough shocks her system.
"I know, I'm going now, we're getting you outta here." Her head rests against his chest as she tries to hold onto consciousness. Every step Katsuki takes tilts the world in a different direction and her eyes roll in the back of her head. "Fuck!" Katsuki's loud exclamation concerns her enough to open her eyes, just enough to find their exit blocked by a large beam from the ceiling. "Alright, I gotta set you down, just for a second." He carefully places her on the ground, propping her against the wall. "I just need you to hold on a little longer." Kanami manages to nod her head once before the room spins too much and she almost falls over. Katsuki catches her, making sure she's steady, before going to lift the beam out of the way.
Kanami turns her head as another cough pulls his way from the very depths of her diaphragm, everything inside of her burning in agony at the smoke filling each crevice in her body. Her head falls limp as she loses consciousness. Turning to check on her, Katsuki finds her limp form and another wave of adrenaline courses through him, allowing him to throw the beam down the hallway. He quickly makes his way over, gently picks her back up, and kicks the door open. The second he's outside, paramedics sprint to meet him halfway, taking Kanami from him to lay her out on a stretcher and rush her to the hospital. Katsuki is held back from going with her upon confirmation that he is fine and required to told to help gather survivors. The job proves to be nearly endless as, despite the size of the explosion, Kanami had somehow managed to contain it enough that there were no casualties, though several villains are unaccounted for, believed to have somehow escaped during the blast. On his way out to go to the hospital, Katsuki overhears several of the heroes talking about how incredible Kanami's control is.
He's forced to wait in the reception area while doctors continue running tests on her. He's still there when his friends arrive, hours later, to see how she's doing. They all wait with him. Katsuki keeps his eyes trained on the doors leading to the ER.