"You know, if you wanted to remain more anonymous, you should have probably added some sort of mask to your costume design," Gang Orca commented, legs crossed comfortably in the back of the largest luxury vehicle I'd ever been in. I sat in the parallel seat; there was no room anywhere else with his flippery black cape folded neatly beside him. The material seemed almost liquid, though several furtive brushes against it assured me it wasn't.
"I didn't know my doodled design would actually be made," I pointed out dryly. "Besides, I don't intend to ever be in any sort of spotlight. This is a covert operation, right?"
"Indeed."
When we'd arrived at his agency, I'd nearly toppled over with nerves. He was in Japan's top ten professional heroes- I knew that, obviously, but the sight of a sky-scraping building and dozens- dozens- of sidekicks running about, all bearing some semblance of his demeanor or appearance, really drummed the notion home: this was real. All of it. Not just a game, or a practice match in the safety of an arena.
Out here, there would be no mercy.
When we entered, I felt their eyes immediately. Assessing. Scrutinizing.
But unlike before, their expressions held something else- not the underestimation or coddling I'd spent most of my life swimming though. I'm sure standing alongside Gang Orca added to my respectability, but I couldn't help feel they were seeing me, too.
Have I really changed so much in these past weeks?
"There might be slight side effects from our time in the Paradox; be vigilant to your body's signals."
I hadn't noticed anything yet, though the Gemini twins did warn of vertigo and a quickened appetite.
"Yes sir."
"A strategy meeting was held between the highest-ranking heroes involved in this two-part operation. We- all of us- will be meeting now, to be prepped. Do not forget who you now are,"
"Right."
I'd already slipped up a handful of times, addressing him as Sakamata rather than Gang Orca. He would probably have quite a few raised eyebrows to deal with when he returned to his agency later.
Still. He'd sacrificed an entire month of his life to help me; through those long, grueling hours, we'd become more than master and pupil- I saw him as my friend.
My right hand rose to brush away the hair I'd forgotten I'd sleeked up into a high tail. "In public- especially during this- I'll be sure to refer to you as Gang Orca, but just know- I, er-" Spit it out, idiot. I lowered my hand with a relinquishing breath. "My name is Chiyo. I would be happy if you addressed me by my first name, outside of hero duties."
The car slid to a stop in front of the rendezvous point. I didn't make a move to get out, caught in the severity of Gang Orca's expression.
A slow, close-lipped smile turned my mentor's face.
For the first time, I could see how orca belonged to the friendly dolphin family.
"A pleasure, Chiyo. My name is Kugo."
Endeavor. Best Jeanist.
All Might.
The triumvirate of power would lead the ground activity, directing an assemblage of heroes and police alike into tonight's battle. Meanwhile, the UA instructors involved in the training camp, along with Principal Nezu, would divert attention and the League's suspicions elsewhere through a publicly-viewed press conference.
Kugo had been impressed with my cooled demeanor -honed through years of regulatory training- and I wielded it throughout everything leading up to this moment, even when a set of blue eyes caught sight of me and staggered.
This moment, seeing Shota Aizawa- my Shota, the person who probably hated the media more than anyone- dressed to the nines and appearing in front of a shiver of sharks, all hungry for his blood.
I wouldn't be surprised if every person in the room heard my heart ricochet against my ribs like a gun's recoil.
"Ah, you two are far more involved than I originally expected," Kugo murmured perceptively from one corner of his mouth. I tried to ignore his toothy little smirk and refocus on the speaking officer.
"There's definitely a mastermind behind the league...He's sly and leaves nothing to chance...We should start with Shigaraki's gang and then move quickly to apprehend this leader, too."
Kugo glanced down when I tensed, caught on this bit of information, but my eyes traveled to someone else.
Apprehend the leader.
He hadn't stopped looking at me since he realized who I was. Now, I held his gaze with just as much intensity.
The leader.
"We move at seventeen hundred hours. Dismissed."
All for One.
I met him halfway across the room, grabbed his arm and nodded in the direction of the door. If we looked odd I didn't care- this was a turn of events I hadn't expected.
All for One.
The Master. The one who nearly killed him before, when he was at full strength.
No one followed us. My neck nearly snapped to look up at his chiseled face nearly three feet higher than mine. "Toshinori, you can't-"
"Chiyo?"
I was thrown off by the hesitant way my name sounded from his lips.
"Yeah?"
He blinked, as if still unsure. I glanced down at my suit.
"Oh. Er, yeah- Well, Ku-Gang Orca put in the order for my suit and, actually, I got my provisional hero license, so I guess-"
"It's...It's not just the outfit that's different about you."
A shiver cut down my spine when he reached out, grazed one side of my face with his knuckles. The touch bled his heart into mine. With my every three beats his only seemed to drum once, like the great, massive heart of an elephant. This, for whatever reason, shook me painfully to life. I took his hand in mine with even more urgency.
"Toshinori, are we really pursuing him? All for One? You can't-" I bit my lip. Even after all of Gang Orca's blunt lessons, I couldn't bear to burn someone with such a hard truth. "I don't want to see you get hurt, Toshi. I don't want…"
I don't want to see you vanquished.
"The likelihood of him showing up is minimal, at best. Like we discussed, the coward won't show up if there's a chance of him being captured."
I wished that made me feel better. Toshinori's eyes blazed, engulfing me, warmer than his calloused fingers closing around mine.
"If he does I will not back down, Chiyo. It is my duty to take him down-"
"Are you insane?" I hissed, snatching my hand from his. "You're in no condition to take him on alone. We should-"
"Do you believe in me, Chiyo?"
This wasn't a question of belief. It was a question of life and death, of breaking beyond the point of recognition.
Fear, like venom, spreads through the blood. I inhaled a deadly mouthful.
"I won't- I won't stand by and watch you kill yourself, Toshinori. Because that's what you're going to do."
I'm scared. I love you. You're my closest friend. Please, please don't go.
"I'm sorry you feel that way."
In such a small hallway, All Might found a way to exit without so much as brushing against my shoulder.
Why do you fight? What's the point?
Maybe the Paradox really had changed me.
Because for all the grief I suddenly felt, I couldn't shed a single tear.
They- all of them- misconstrued Katsuki Bakugo like a cheap Van Gogh knock-off.
I knew Best Jeanist was familiar somehow; now I recalled Bakugo's training under the denim-clad man, and how an extra layer of pissed-off coated the boy's features for days after, like the gunked gel forced into his usually-explosive hair.
Apparently, neither had learned anything from the other.
"I invited Bakugo to my agency in hopes of reforming his behavior, but-" Jeanist lamented with a fatigued sigh. A few surrounding heroes gave him sympathetic looks and gestures, discussing the future for heroism with all the problems of the younger generations.
Gang Orca shot me a glance when an inelegant snort breathed out of my nose.
Best Jeanist was tall, certainly, but still stood nearly a foot shorter than the hero I'd trained beside for nearly five straight weeks. His glare felt like a bothersome fly in comparison.
"Did I say something funny, novice?"
Ooh, what a slam. I had to be careful, though; whatever I said might reflect poorly on Sakamata.
"As Bakugo's teacher, I suppose I take a little offense to your desire to reform his behavior."
I'd stupidly garnered the room's attention now. I didn't need this- any of this. I'd barely recuperated from my fight with Toshinori earlier. Too late now, I guess. Especially in the face of Jeanist's pompous glare. "Bakugo is headstrong, yes, and he's certainly rough around the edges, but his dedication to heroism- to being the best- can't be wavered by anyone- least of all a group of terrorist villains."
"So you thought his behavior at the Sports Festival was okay?" The heroine who Mineta was so terrified of- Mt. Woman?- asked. I kept my face neutral.
"Bakugo fights with everything he's got; if he feels his opponent holds back, he isn't satisfied." My shoulders gave a little shrug. "He's got a long way to go, but I believe in him. Which is why we have to succeed."
A nugget of guilt in my gut sprouted a sickly thistle. Would Shigaraki kill him, if Bakugo didn't agree to whatever he demanded? Did this have anything to do with Operation Submersion, when the Nomu attacked him and struck me down instead? Surely not; just because Tomura pushed me out of the way, saved me once, didn't mean he felt any real connection to me.
But the way he looked at me. The fear. And those stupid, dirty shoelaces.
The more I tried to shake off the lingering ghost fingers brushing against my conscience, the harder they seemed to cling. Why hadn't I remembered to ask Mom what she knew about him, and the nightmares?
"Regardless of our differences in behavioral correctness, you're right. We must succeed." Best Jeanist considered me for a moment before addressing the group. "Upon Tsukauichi's beckon, the operation will commence. Prepare yourselves."
A vibration tickled its way through my body. I flexed my fingers, trying to dispel the growing jitters. Even if the main league members weren't here, this was an entire building of Nomu. I needed to be calm, collected, and ready for combat.
But I couldn't stop replaying my idiotic words to Toshinori.
I won't stand by and watch you kill yourself.
Why hadn't I just told him how I felt? Why didn't I answer his question instead of abandoning him? In the moment he needed me the most, I'd let him walk away.
"Chiyonex?"
Answering to a new name would take a little getting used to. I looked up after a moment's delay. Gang Orca truly looked fierce in his full get-up, though the tongue-tie was a strange choice in my personal opinion. Because he becomes tongue-tied around civilians?
"It's almost time. I insist you stay by my side; while you've grown strong, this is a new world for you."
"Yes, sir."
Night fell quickly.
"How many do you sense?"
We moved silently, hovered behind one thin wall separating us from the monsters inside. I closed my eyes and focused.
"Thirteen. All stationary. There's a group of civilians nearby, it seems. Five in total."
"Don't worry about it. This is a seedy area- they're simply moving from a local bar, more than likely."
With the world's two strongest heroes outside the doors of Shigaraki's hideout, Bakugo should be saved in mere moments from now.
"On my signal. Three-"
We would take out the back-up and all be home before morning.
"Two-"
Every water molecule danced through my suit, ready.
"Go!"
The Nomu put up no struggle; clearly, they needed someone's activation first. We took them with ease after the giantess demolished the building with a truck she wore as a fucking shoe. What a quirk.
"Ew, are these things really alive?"
She and Best Jeanist began to bicker, but my focus drew elsewhere, back to those lingering presences only meters away from our location. I stepped closer, submersed into them once again.
They were young; five quick heartbeats.
Five heartbeats I knew.
"Chiyonex? What's-"
I didn't hear the rest of Gang Orca's question, lost to the wind I tore through.
They barely had time to register who I was before my quirk immobilized them in a fit of frightened rage.
No. No one is this stupid.
"What-" The clover-headed fool I expected- Todoroki and Kirishima a little less. But Momo and Iida?
Those five heartbeats, sewn into my own, broken free and loose, wandering into the lion's den. I could hardly hold back a snarl as I took in each and every one of my students' faces.
"What on earth were you thinking?"
Momo Yaoyorozu, who I believed to be so responsible, blinked in surprise. "Miss...T-Tsutomi-sensei?"
A quiet shaking rattled my bones; how could they be so foolish? I turned my glare to Midoriya, barely able to keep from drowning him on dry land.
"This- How could you do this? How could you endanger not only yourself, but others, as well?" Anger filled my veins like barbed wire. "You think yourself a hero, Midoriya? Is this heroic?"
"Tsutomi-sensei, it wasn't his-"
Kirishima's mouth went still when my hand slapped across his mouth, but not because of his pathetic excuse.
Another presence had brushed across submersion, making itself known.
"Ever since I was reduced to this, I haven't been able to stock up as many as before-"
No.
No, no, no.
Endless hours of thrashing, bone after bone broken. Recognize danger, or be eaten alive. To safety, or to flame. Kugo Sakamata had enhanced my senses with a new awareness, like a shaman predicting the rain seconds before the deluge.
Water burst from the veins of my suit, pulling the students towards me in an aquatic embrace.
All the while, my mind screamed.
It's him.
It's him.
It's him.
Every hair on my body rose like a thousand needles. Blood avalanched loud enough to drown out all other sounds and senses. Six heartbeats pounded so violently through my system I thought I would go into cardiac arrest. It's him.
One for All.
My mentor was nothing more than a slick oil spill under rubble; the others strewn across the destroyed area like fallen stars.
What do I do? What can I do?
We had to get out of here- I had to get the students out of here.
But how?
The water flowed back into my veins. My kids remained just as close, practically in my arms, frozen in fear at the sheer magnitude of All for One's visceral presence.
I couldn't take All for One head-on in a fight- I didn't even believe All Might could. Should we remain rooted in the spot in hopes he wouldn't take notice? We would be sitting ducks; all he'd need was one glance in our direction, knock the brick wall to rubble and obliterate us all. He'd taken every professional hero- Gang Orca- out in mere seconds.
"Your quirk isn't one that would suit Tomura."
I didn't have to look up to feel the blood burst from Best Jeanist's body like an exploded paint can.
Tar-like shadows were appearing, dropping villain after villain before the Master. Each one- from the crazy-eyed girl to the reptilian male- had been in Tsukauchi's briefing.
And then, another quick, familiar heartbeat, sputtering as air once again filled his lungs.
Midoriya gave a muted cry when I slammed him back against the crumbling brick wall, eyes deadly. Don't even think about it.
Katsuki Bakugo, still at the hands of the League, mere meters away from us.
And there, being offered a hand by All for One himself, was Tomura Shigaraki.
Slumped, defeated. His words arced across my memory like a freight train.
No one comes to save people like us.
Was that what All for One had been to him, his saving grace?
Bakugo. The students. Tomura. How can I save them all? How did I choose what to do, when the deadliest being alive stood less than half a kilometer away? Bile coated every organ in my body, suffocated my airways.
"I knew you'd come."
I tensed, prepared for the unveiling.
A flash of red, hair like the meteor hurtling from the sky.
All Might had arrived.
