"First strike team! Target has been successfully collected!
I'm sorry to cut your fun short, but this concludes our mission!
As planned, you have five minutes to rendezvous at the 'collection point'"
The rest of the day went by in a flash.
Before you know it, Bakugo and Tokoyami have been captured by the villain, and the villain is moving away from them with surprising ease.
Todoroki instantly created an ice wall, but the masked villain avoided it like a juggler.
Ritsuka could only stand there, unable to comprehend what had happened.
"Like I'd let you! There's no way you're getting away!"
Todoroki's words brought her back to herself.
As if on cue, everyone ran after the villain.
Among them is Oryou-san, who is staring straight at Ritsuka.
Her eyes appealed to Ritsuka, asking her what she was going to do.
『Master, at this rate』
In her mind, Ryouma was also forcing her to make a decision.
There was no time to even think about it.
"...Oryou-san, Noble Phantasm"
"Oryou-san!"
Ritsuka's voice overlapped with that of someone else.
It was Midoriya.
"Can you fly me?! Can you carry me to that villain?!"
"I can't. It's not impossible to carry you, but at best you'll only float at knee level."
"...ugh"
Not in this form at least.
But I won't bother explaining it.
"Can't you just go after them alone?
You're fast enough, you can catch up."
Todoroki calls out to Oryou-san, who is flying above everyone alone.
"...The only person who can ask Oryou-san a favor is Master."
"...Master?"
Todoroki frowned a little at Oryou-san's words.
Ritsuka is the only one who can understand the meaning of her words.
Midoriya-kun, Ritsuka tried to call out to him.
But Midoriya did not stop.
"We can't... Give up! No...! I've got to catch up to him... and take them back!"
"But at this rate, the distance between us is only increasing."
It's just as shoji said, we were desperately trying to catch up with the villain, but the figure of the villain kept getting smaller and smaller and we couldn't catch up to him.
(We can catch up to him if I use my Noble Phantasm. I have to tell them...)
And yet, I still hesitate to do so.
My classmate is being taken away right in front of my eyes, but how self-centered am I? After all, I am the only person that I cared most in the world.
"Uraraka! Hurry make us float!"
"!"
Midoriya shouted
"and then Asui once we're floating, use your tongue to throw us with all your strength!
Throw us as hard as you can! We'll be able to fly towards him at high speed!
Shoji, you can use your arms to guide our trajectory. you'll pull us along!
We'll be okay as long as we're in Uraraka's field of vision, so estimate the distance to him...
And let off when the time is right!
If we still can't catch up..."
Midoriya looks up.
"Oryou-san, please!
If we can't reach him even with Uraraka's quirk, please push us! I don't care if you throw us or kick us,
As long as you can deliver us to the villain! Please help us!"
"I see... It's like a human rocket..."
"Hold on. Deku. Can you really move with injuries like those...?!"
"Stay put here... with that much pain you won't-"
"Right now, I don't know what pain is. I can still move... Hurry!"
Midoriya groans as he squeezes words out of his mouth, clearly frowning from the pain all over his body.
Then he looks up at Oryou-san with a pleading expression.
Even if Oryou-san does not agree, Midoriya will carry out the current strategy.
But in order to increase the probability of saving Bakugo even a little, Midoriya pleads.
"Help me get my friend back...! Ple─..."
"Please!"
Ritsuka shouted over Midoriya's words.
Everyone around her looked at Ritsuka with some surprise.
They hadn't realized that the loud voice coming from behind them was Ritsuka's voice, who had never spoken much before.
"It can't be helped"
Oryou-san nodded.
This action was taken to have been made possible by Midoriya and Ritsuka's pleas.
No one had the time to think deeply about the reason why she so easily approved.
"Can I get in the plan too?"
Ritsuka asked, looking Midoriya in the eye.
Midoriya nodded back.
"You have to save those two, okay?"
Asui's tongue wrapped around Ritsuka and the others.
They were thrown to the top of the forest with such force that it was hard to believe it was the tongue's power.
Such a tremendous speed.
From behind us, Oryou-san approaches at about the same speed.
"It's a special service. Rejoice"
Then Oryou-san went straight into a spinning kick in the air.
Her leg pushes the back of shoji that is catching all of them and makes them faster than ever.
The small villain's back is getting closer and closer.
The wind was so strong that she couldn't open her eyes properly and couldn't see their expressions.
But Ritsuka was worried.
I'm sure she's holding back, but still..., Oryou's kick on shoji must have hurt a lot.
Meanwhile, at the facility.
"Don't bother, Vlad."
Aizawa kicked the neck of the man who was being held down by his "blood manipulation" quirk with the intention of interogating him.
He tied him up with a captive cloth and kicked him mercilessly to the ground.
"Erasure hero, Aizawa-sensei!"
Kaminari shouted in admiration at the relentless attack.
"Just look, it's a fake. He was just here earlier too."
When he finally got to his feet, the man had vanished, leaving only the liquid that had melted into mush.
It was probably the quirk of a villain.
"Eraser, what have you been up to?"
Vlad, the homeroom teacher of class B, called out.
"Sorry. I was going to go and issue combat authorization, but I had to protect Kota first. Could you take care of him for me?
I'm going to the frontlines. in the meanwhile, I'm counting on you to protect this place, Vlad."
"Wait, Eraser! Who knows how many times they will come and attack this place again!"
"You all will be okay with just Vlad. Look at this fake.
Both times they just sent one... they just want to keep the pros occupied here.
It's a tactic they're employing to make up for their lack of numbers."
"If there are so few villains around, then let us..."
"Yeah! We'll have the numbers advantage!"
Kirishima and Ida close in on Aizawa.
"Absolutely not!
More than keeping us pros occupied, their true aim is the students.
Bakugo is just one of many they could be after.
In terms of information, we're at a complete disadvantage.
In any case... for us, ensuring everyone's safety is our victory condition."
After saying that much, Aizawa tried to go out again.
But he stopped himself from taking that step and looked back.
"──── Hey, is Fujimaru around?"
The students who are at the facility are gathered in the make-up class to confirm the number of students, as they are worried that the villain will attack the facility.
Ritsuka, who said she would not participate in the test of courage, should be at the facility.
But there was no sign of Ritsuka in the make-up class.
"Fujimaru-san ran out as soon as she was informed of the villain attack.
Sensei, haven't you met her...?"
Kirishima asked with a worried look on his face.
When Aizawa heard those words, he ran outside faster than he could answer.
An unpleasant premonition was crawling on his whole body.
Around the same time, Ritsuka and her group collided with the villain who had kidnapped bakugo from their backs.
"These brats! I know them! Who are they?!"
"Mr. dodge."
"Roger!"
"Fool! So cold!"
The villain who was supposed to be cornered by them turned himself into a small sphere and avoided them, and blue flames from the man's left hand attacked Midoriya and the others as he passed over them.
"Uwaah!"
"Gyaaa!"
Midoriya, Shoji, and Ritsuka are all hit by flames in their arms and legs.
A man in full-body tights approaches behind Todoroki, who narrowly avoids the flame, holding a measuring tape.
"Your faces were on Shigaraki's kill list! Both Mr. beat-up over there and you!
You both weren't on the list!"
"Shit!"
With no time to worry about his friends, Todoroki fights back.
In the background, Toga Himiko was attacking Midoriya.
"Hi! I'm Toga, my dear Izuku!"
She throws a knife and gets on Midoriya, who avoids it and loses his balance.
"I was just thinking about this, but I think you'd look even cooler if you were just bleeding a little more , my dear Izuku."
"Huh?!"
When Midoriya was about to be stabbed, Shoji hit Toga Himiko from the body and saved him.
While everyone was fighting, I crouch down and holds my right leg, which had been exposed to the flames.
There was no way to cool it down, and the burning stung my skin like a sting.
It hurts It hurts It hurts
The pain takes over my head.
"──────── Oi."
It came from the sky.
It was a quiet, yet compelling voice to everyone in the place.
"──⁉︎"
Everyone stopped moving and turned their heads in the direction of the voice.
There was something floating in the air, its eyes glowing red.
"Oryou-san?"
Those who knew finally noticed as Midoriya said it out loud.
Its appearance hadn't changed a bit from before, but for some reason it took them a while to understand.
That thing is not human.
It's something we can't understand.
"Who dares to injure Master?"
Her tone was calm and unruffled.
However, it clearly shows the anger of "Oryou-san".
That's what she had said earlier. Midoriya wondered who this "Master" was.
"Who the hell are you..."
A man full of patches – Dabi, shot blue flames at Oryou-san.
The unavoidable flames engulfed Oryou san's body.
"───! Stop!"
Midoriya shouts.
But when the blue flames stopped.
Oryou-san was still floating in the same place as before, as if she had not been affected by the flames at all.
Not a scratch on her, not a stain on her clothes, and more importantly, I don't think she even realized that she had just been engulfed in flames.
Everyone in the place was stunned by the inconceivable event before their eyes.
Then Midoriya noticed something.
Right underneath Oryou-san's gaze, there was.
"Fujimaru-san...?"
There was Ritsuka Fujimaru, crouched in pain.
He tried to run to her, but Midoriya's body was too intimidated to move, as if he was being stared at by a snake.
There is still no expression on Oryou's face and nobody knows what she is thinking.
.
Then
.
Is this girl concerned about Fujimaru-san's well-being?
Is the Master referring to Fujimaru-san?
One, likely possibility comes to Midoriya's mind.
"Fujimaru-san is Oryou-san's master...
Oryou-san is Fujimaru-san's quirk ...?"
"!?"
Even the villain looked astonished at Midoriya's words.
Midoriya thought that he had said something incomprehensible.
I believe Fujimaru's quirk is a projection.
I don't know the details, but it's a combat-type quirk that forms armaments.
I'm not sure if it's possible for a strong person to be a weapon, but Midoriya's idea is too absurd.
In the first place, Ritsuka is already holding a sword in her hand, which she probably formed with her "quirk".
It is absolutely impossible.
But when I said it out loud, the thought felt right for some reason.
What if that thing was not even a person?
What if Ritsuka's quirk is not just about forming weapons?
The pieces of this ridiculous puzzle seemed to be coming together noisily in my head.
When I think about it, it wasn't Midoriya's plea that she listens earlier, but rather Ritsuka's words of request.
Then a black liquid-like substance fell onto Ritsuka's body.
When I looked up again, I saw that Oryou's entire body had melted.
Oryou's whole body was literally "melting".
"Wha-..."
"Seems like you guys are getting too carried away..."
Her voice changed from a real voice to a voice that seemed to be echoing in the head.
Oryou-san's legs, arms, and face were slowly melting, and the liquid was creating a black puddle underneath.
.
『Don't think that you humans can get away after touching Oryou-san's possession』
.
Midoriya and the others just watched helplessly, unable to understand what was happening.
Before they knew it, the black puddle had grown to the waist of Midoriya and the others.
But their clothes didn't get wet, and they were just shimmering like shadows.
If this goes on the forest might drown.
At the same time someone thought that.
.
.
.
the last drop fell with a plop.
.
.
.
The next moment
the black liquid disappeared in an instant, and what emerged from it instead was a huge black dragon with red eyes, just like the Oryou-san.
『Master, we're in a bit of trouble.
Can you get up? 』
Sakamoto Ryouma's voice echoed from within me.
My leg burned and I felt nauseous.
A queasy feeling dominated my thoughts.
But I supported myself with my hands and forced myself to sit up.
It was only then that I realized what was happening in front of me.
"Oryou-san...?"
There was a black dragon that was so large that it lightly exceeded the trees in the forest.
It was roaring like Tokoyami's dark shadow, swinging its tail and reaping the trees.
Doesn't matter whether friend or foe, it attacks fiercely that both the villains and Midoriya and the others are struggling to avoid.
『Oryou-san is so angry she's lost her mind.
In other words, now is your chance. 』
At Ryouma's words, I looked around and saw that the masked man who had turned himself into a sphere with his quirk had returned to his original form.
"Owowow... I don't know what's going on, but this is a hell of a situation."
"Where's Bakugo?"
Dabi ask, While dodging out of the attack range of the rampaging Oryou-san.
"Of course. ...!?"
The masked man rummaged in his right pocket.
"All three of them are going to run away!"
Shoji shouted to Ritsuka and the others and said.
"Your actions just now have made it clear.
I don't know what your quirk is, but those things you were flaunting at us earlier..."
Then shoji shows the villain what he was holding in his left hand.
"In your right pocket.
These are Tokoyami and Bakugo, aren't they, entertainer?"
In his hands are two spheres.
"Shoji-kun!"
"──── Hoho! How did you do it in such a short time?
Well done, six-arms! You're quite good at groping about!"
"Allright he's done it!"
Todoroki starts to run.
"Yosh...!"
Ritsuka couldn't help but shout.
Unintentionally Oryou-san becomes a good distractions.
The only thing left to do now is run away.
I borrowed Todoroki's shoulders as he ran up to me and he gave my throbbing legs a cold air.
"You idiot..."
"No no, hold on."
Ritsuka heard a conversation between two villains behind her.
Ritsuka suddenly had a bad feeling and turned around.
At the same time, something that looked like black smoke appeared in front of Midoriya and the others.
"A warp..."
Midoriya's voice overflowed from his mouth.
But Ritsuka's attention was behind him.
"...? Something strange is going on here.
It's been five minutes since the signal.
Let's go, Dabi."
"I'm sorry, Deku-kun. See you later."
Black portals appeared one after another, and the villains entered to escape from Oryou-san.
"Wait, our objective..."
"Ahhh, that was... they just seemed so happy chasing after me I wanted to give them a present."
The masked man removes his own silk hat and mask.
That's when Ritsuka's bad feeling reached its peak.
She jumped from Todoroki's distracted shoulders in front of her and ran backwards.
"...Hey, Fujimaru?!"
"It's a bad habbit... you see, one of the fundamentals of magic is that you flaunt things..."
That's when Midoriya and the others finally noticed beside them.
"only when you have other things to hide."
"Huh?!"
The sphere that Shoji was holding turned into ice.
The man who took off his mask had two more spheres on his tongue.
"During your freezing attack, I had prepared some dummies...
And I put them in my right pocket. And then you happily ran after me when you noticed me putting them in there."
"Damn it!"
Midoriya shouted.
Ritsuka's bad premonition came true.
Although she were running as fast as she could, the masked man's body was becoming shrouded in the portals.
"Is that dragon your quirk?
I'm very curious, but... alas, time is over.
Now, if you'll excuse me..."
"Oryou-san!"
Ritsuka shouted.
Oryou's body, who had been rampaging without any thoughts, twitched and reacted.
Then she swung her tail as hard as she could.
"!?"
The tail accurately struck the man's mask and destroyed it.
The man's mouth spat out two sphere which could be both Tokoyami or Bakugo.
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
This is my last chance.
Todoroki reached for one, and Ritsuka for the other.
It's no good.
Ritsuka realized that.
It was simple. I'm not fast enough.
She would never make it.
No matter how hard she reached out with all her might, no matter how much she wished to help, she would never make it.
The masked man's hands were faster.
The pain in my legs, the agony in my whole body, and the wounds in my head are inevitably hinders me.
Surely one of them, other than me, could have reached him.
But I can't.
Even though I looked so slow, I was even slower than that.
.
.
.
.
.
.
So Ritsuka dropped her reasons (stopped thinking).
She made a promise on herself.
She made a promise: that he would be saved.
The promise that she don't need to be saved.
It was a way to atone for my earlier hesitation in using my Noble Phantasm called Oryou-san. If I hadn't hesitated at the time, we might all have been saved by now.
I dumped my weight completely forward and extended my right hand to the limit.
When I felt a sensation like a marble in my right hand, I just threw it back with all my might without thinking.
Ritsuka's consciousness was cut off when she saw the villain's hand in front of her, which was shrouded in darkness.
.
.
.
＊ ＊ ＊
.
.
.
"Oops!"
The man in the mask let go of the sphere, which was Tokoyami, and Ritsuka lost her balance and fell, hitting the masked man's hand.
Ritsuka disappears without a sound.
In fact, she didn't disappear, but was transformed into a sphere like Bakugo and Tokoyami by his quirk when she touched the man's hand. Shoji shouted as he realized what was happening..
"────! Fujimaru!"
"You got me...
It can't be helped, I'll take this young lady instead."
Beside him, Dabi had taken Bakugo from Todoroki by a split second.
"How sad, Todoroki Shoto."
The villain laughed, "If two students are taken, then U.A is nothing."
"Confirmed, Release it."
Midoriya forced his entire body to move and run.
As they were dragged into the portal with a click, the masked man snapped his fingers to release his quirk.
Bakugo, who was grabbed by the neck, regains his human form.
"No problem."
Dabi laughed.
"Ka-chan!"
Midoriya shouted.
"Stay back, Deku."
Just like that, Bakugo disappeared into the darkness.
Ritsuka could not even see his face.
Just for a moment, her orange hair like the sun appeared to be on the verge of being swallowed by the portal.
At the same time, Oryou-san disappeared in golden particles while screaming in anger.
The portals disappears completely.
"Ah..."
The wound began to tingle as he remembered, and a forgotten fatigue rushed through his body.
"────U,...gaaaaaahhhh!"
Midoriya smash his head on the ground and shouted like Oryou-san on the verge of disappearing.
It was an utter defeat.