The city was on fire. I could barely make it more than a few feet before I was feeling the burning heat of a new bonfire, fueled by some stranger's home, business, or livelihood. There was a heavy pit in my gut as I followed Mister Aizawa through the tide of screaming, panicking civilians. What kind of person could do this? Who could be so cruel as to haphazardly wreck entire city blocks without any clear goal in mind?

Ducking under another person's wildly flailing arm, I sped up and tried to keep pace with my mentor. Mister Aizawa was running faster than I had ever seen him go, because our usual method of transportation, free-running, was limited by the burning and crumbling buildings around us.

Suddenly, there was a loud, inhuman roar, the pitch so ear-splitting and guttural that I knew it belonged to one of those monsters on television. The parallels of the beast called Noumu at the USJ. Mister Aizawa stopped, and I barely managed to screech to a halt without crashing into him.

"Hime-Hime, go help the other heroes with crowd control," Mister Aizawa ordered, and I gaped at him for a moment.

Instinctively, I wanted to protest, but I remembered the events of the USJ, and stopped myself. Mister Aizawa knew what he was doing better than I did, so I ducked my head, bit my tongue, and tried to keep my eyes from watering.

Mister Aizawa laid his hand on my head. "You're a good kid, but you aren't ready for this," he said. I nodded, but secretly I spread my quirk over to him through his hand on my head. Maybe I couldn't accompany Mister Aizawa, but I could still protect him to the best of my abilities.

"Yes sir," I agreed, meeting Mister Aizawa's steady gaze with my own determined eyes, before wheeling around and darting towards the heroes who were attempting to corral the chaotic mob of civilians towards safety. Spotting a hero with spiky hair in an orange suit nearby, I ran up to him. "Excuse me, sir! I'm here to help, anything I can do to assist?" I shouted over the screaming crowd and far off monsters' roars.

The hero glanced down at me, and I couldn't see his face behind his visor, but he still managed to look panicked. "You're just a kid!" He yelled. "Get with the evacuees!" He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me into the writhing mass of people, and for the millionth time I cursed my height.

Getting elbowed in the face by a random ongoer, I barely managed to extricate myself from the chaos, panting and stumbling over the curb. I ended up leaning against the wall inside a dark alley, the sounds of the mob muffled by my heart thumping in my ears. I felt momentarily thankful that my quirk was still activated from helping Mister Aizawa, or else that elbow to the eye would've hurt a lot worse.

A flash of glowing green zoomed over my head, breaking through the shadows of the alley, and my eyes shot up to the sky. I should have been surprised, but I was too relieved by the sight of my friend to act accordingly. "Izuku!" I shouted, hoping beyond hope I would catch his attention.

In a flash, Izuku was standing in front of me, green lightning still echoing in the air around him. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up from the static still lingering in the air. "We have to go!" Izuku barked urgently, hands clasping my shoulders tightly. "Tenya's found the Hero Killer!"

My heart stopped. I felt a chill run down my spine. Of all the times for Tenya to do something stupid, it was when Mister Aizawa wasn't here. I didn't have anyone to take orders from now, so only I could decide what was best. "Take me with you," I decided, twisting around Izuku's back and wrapping my legs around his waist. My hands clasped the back of his shoulders.

Normally, this would have created a puddle of embarrassed Izuku and Ichigo goo. Instead, Izuku just nodded, eyes glowing with pure power as he took off into the air. He bounced from wall to wall, rocketing through the alleyways searching for our friend. I tucked my face into his back, doing my best to keep my eyes from watering and blinding me. If I had known how quickly Izuku was capable of moving, I would've put my goggles on to protect my eyes from the wind.

"BINGO!" Izuku shouted, and instantly I knew that he had found Tenya. My quirk rippled as I shared it with him last second, releasing my grip on his back and falling to the concrete in a smooth roll. Izuku flew past me, and I watched in awe as his fist slammed into what could only be the Hero Killer's jaw.

I shook off my surprise, focusing on the immediate situation. I did a quick headcount, gathering as much data as I could. We were far away from the other heroes, there was no help coming. The Hero Killer was currently engaged in combat with Izuku, and I didn't know what his quirk was. There were three people capable of fighting in this alley, and only two of them were on my side, including me. The other two were grievously injured and likely the Hero Killer's future victims. In summary, I was in a dark alley, with two injured people that needed protection, and all that stood between them and an unknown murderer were two academy students.

"Tenya," Izuku said, taking a fighting stance in front of our fallen friend. "I've come to save you!" he announced. I grit my teeth, hoping he was right. I rushed through a series of plans and variables, wondering how I could extract the two injured people from the situation.

Tenya, meanwhile, decided to hold a conversation with Izuku. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" he demanded, and if he wasn't so badly injured, I would've wanted to slap him. That wasn't important right now!

"I saw it on a tabloid show on T.V. 60% of the Hero Killer's victims were found in deserted alley corners," Izuku explained, not taking his eyes off the immediate threat. I snuck forward as he spoke, assessing Tenya's injuries as best I could through the armor he was wearing. "So I moved from the center of the commotion through the alleys near the Normal Hero's Office, and found you here!"

I grabbed Tenya's shoulders in that moment, gripping his armor and turning his limp body over to face me. "Can you move?" I asked, noticing the heavily bleeding stab wound on his shoulder. I clenched my jaw, knowing that I'd have to heal him before he bled out. That also meant more pain on my part later. Spreading my quirk over to him, I heard Tenya sigh in relief as the pain of his injuries numbed. Steam floated into the air, and I made eye contact with the Hero Killer, who looked very interested by my actions.

"No, I can't move," Tenya bit out, before raising his voice so Izuku could hear. "I've been paralyzed ever since I got slashed! It must be his quirk!" He announced. Izuku nodded, attention still centered on the Hero Killer, who was simply looming over us ominously, allowing us to plan. I frowned, wondering what the twisted murderer was thinking. "Izuku, don't get involved. THIS HAS NOTHI-MMPH!" I slapped my hands over Tenya's mouth, silencing him. I noticed Izuku's shoulders tense, having apparently understood enough about what Tenya was trying to say, but I wasn't going to let him finish.

I leaned in, glaring at my friend heatedly. "Listen to me right now, Tenya Iida. We are your friends, and therefore will not leave you to die. So take whatever little revenge scheme you're planning and shove it," I glanced up at Izuku, ignoring the stunned and furious look on my fallen friend's face. "I've shared my quirk with you already. You're safe, just do your best to distract him," I flickered my eyes over to the disabled Pro Hero who was propped up against the alley wall. "We need to remove the injured people from the equation first."

"That's a nice line," the Hero Killer interrupted. I looked up at him, startled by the deep, gravelly voice. "'I've come here to save you' is a nice line, but if you stand in my way… I have a duty to kill the corrupted," the Hero Killer grinned, and his eyes flickered with madness. "If we clash, the weaker will be culled."

I wasn't sure what possessed me to step forward. I was looking death in the eyes, but then again, with a quirk like mine, death had never been something to be scared of. "There have been worse things to die for," I said confidently, and the Hero Killer looked so pleased by my words that I felt taken aback. Instead, I slid my feet into position. "Izuku, now!" I called, before jumping to the side.

Izuku lunged forward in a blur of movement, quickly closing the distance between himself and the Hero Killer. I caught sight of him sliding between the murderer's legs before I landed beside the fallen Pro Hero. With minimal concentration, I spread my quirk over to him, ignoring the burst of steam that stung my hands as I dragged the hero back by the shoulders towards Tenya. Laying the heavy body on the ground next to Tenya, I glanced back up at the Hero Killer and Izuku. My eyes widened in horror.

Izuku was on the ground, not visibly injured but still splayed out limply at the murderer's feet. His panicked green eyes met mine. "It's blood! He managed to bite me and get past your quirk!" Izuku shouted, and I inhaled sharply. The Hero Killer licked his lips, staring me down with dark amusement in his eyes.

I clenched my jaw, and reached into my tool belt. "You can't kill them. I'm sure you've figured that out," I said slowly, trying to buy time. My fingers gathered as many of the tiny spikes I needed as they could. I had teased Mister Aizawa, saying that if he wanted to be a ninja he was missing the shuriken, but now these things could save my life.

"Anyone is killable, even society's silly Pro Heroes," the Hero Killer sneered, drawing a long, jagged blade into his hand. "I have a duty to cleanse this world of filth and liars."

I grinned weakly. "Then come and get me," I challenged, and tossed the spiked weapons out in front of me. The spur-like tools stuck to the ground, the walls, and anywhere that could have been safe to step. I gripped my scarf in my hands as well, drawing the cloth taut in preparation. If the Hero Killer tried to attack me with his weapons, I knew multiple maneuvers to disarm him.

My eyes flickered over to Izuku. I needed a way to remove him from the situation too now, although it didn't look like the Hero Killer was targeting him. In the second that my eyes wandered, the Hero Killer lunged across the mine-field I'd created, and I stumbled backwards as I used my scarf to block the sword aimed at my face. Clenching my jaw, I pivoted on my heel, wrapping the carbon-fiber scarf around the sword and kicking my legs up. The blade snapped in half, and I landed my aerial a few feet back. I glared at the murderer furiously, trying to think of a way to draw in him away from Tenya and the Pro.

The Hero Killer licked his lips. "You're different from the other one," he observed. "Your eyes are colder. That's not a look befitting a hero," he said, and my blood ran cold. My mind scrambled to fit his words into my understanding of his psyche.

The Hero Killer said he "had a duty to kill the corrupted", and that my eyes didn't fit a hero. He clearly had a fixation on heroism. Did he see himself as a martyr? Was he trying to "purify" heroism? Corruption among Pro-Heroes wasn't unheard of. Could the Hero Killer's crimes be tied to that?

"I'd say just about anyone can become a hero these days," I pushed, and the murderer's eyes flashed angrily. I shrugged with forced nonchalance, knowing I'd hit jackpot. "Even if I don't look like a hero, I can still become one. We can't all be like All Might, after all," I said, slowly circling away from Tenya and the Pro, turning the Hero Killer's focus away from them and onto me. I had to be careful though, because with a single incorrect word, the Hero Killer would turn around and murder them before I could react. "Besides, I'm just in it for the money," I snorted, and had to stop my hands from shaking when the murderer started leaking bloodlust. I smiled shakily. "Do you know how much Pro-Heroes make these days? I'll be set for life!"

The Hero Killer snarled, eyes tearing into me hatefully. He drew a new set of knives from his belt, since I'd already broken his sword. "You're corrupted!" he hissed, at me. "I WILL CLEANSE ALL HEROES!"

I tripped backwards, surprised by the murderer's sudden burst of speed. My hands scrambled to position my scarf, but I knew it'd be too late. I shut my eyes instinctively, preparing for the knives about to stab into my head. I landed on the ground sloppily, but I never felt anything penetrate my skin. Instead, a wave of heat brushed along my body. I opened my eyes, and was stunned by the sight of Todoroki standing between Tenya and I, flames racing up his side and into the air.

"Midoriya, for something like this, you text me more information," Todoroki announced casually, pocketing his phone with the hand not covered in fire. He scanned the scene, Izuku staring at him with wide eyes, me gaping on the floor, and Tenya and the Pro facedown on the concrete. "Now, I'm late," he observed.

I shook my head, rushing to my feet. I glanced over my shoulder to see the Hero Killer standing in the mess of spikes I'd created earlier. He must've been forced to leap over me to dodge Todoroki's flames, I realized.

I looked up Todoroki, feeling relieved that there was now someone else around capable of moving. "Your timing is impeccable," I complimented. "Think you can move Izuku over here?"

"Yeah," Todoroki agreed, and in an instant an icy ramp was lifting Izuku up and sweeping him over next to Tenya. The ice vanished a moment later, instantly evaporated by Todoroki's flames. He glanced at me oddly. "So, you don't stutter anymore."

My eyes widened, and I shrugged. "It's a w-work in progress," I answered, and then mentally slapped myself. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Mister Aizawa echoed, "plus twenty" in my head. I clenched my fists, returning to business. "The Hero Killer's quirk allows him to paralyze you after consuming your blood. We don't know the limits of it yet." I grinned cheekily. "But I have managed to piss him off enough to cloud his thinking, so there's that."

The Hero Killer's eyes widened. "That was intentional?" He realized, and then he smiled as well, but his "grin" was all teeth and gums. It looked more like an animal baring its teeth. "Perhaps you aren't as unfit as I thought," he decided, before lunging forwards.

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, warding the murderer off with a burst of flame. "After getting Midoriya's message, I told my father," he said, and my eyes widened. "Pretty soon, even the pros will hit the scene."

I tensed at his words, following the Hero Killer's movements with my eyes. "Then we'll have to occupy him until the heroes show up," I said, moving to block the knives the Hero Killer sent flying towards Todoroki's left arm. The murderer narrowed his eyes at me, clearly realizing that I would defend Todoroki from any attacks, leaving the heterochromatic boy freedom to focus on long-range offense.

The Hero Killer jumped upwards, throwing a knife at Todoroki's chest while he was occupied using his flames. I moved forwards, turning to kick the knife out of the air. The murderer used that movement as an opening, lunging forwards to stab another pair of knives into my back, leaving the blades impaled in by my shoulder blades. He then leaped back to avoid the ice spike Todoroki made in my defense.

I grit my teeth, my arms hanging limply at my sides. He'd left the knives severing my tendons, so I couldn't use either of my arms. Todoroki was doing his best to attack the Hero Killer, using his flames and ice for long range attacks, but without my arms, I could defend him from anything. Like this, I was useless.

Using Todoroki's vulnerability, the Hero Killer snatched one of the pieces of his blade off of the ground, sending it soaring into the air. He jumped backwards shortly thereafter, and Todoroki followed him with a gust of flames. My eyes traced the path of the blade fragment into the air, before widening in horror. It was going to slam into Todoroki's skull.

I was moving before I could even finish thinking. I ran forwards, pushing off the ground and leaping into the air over Todoroki's head. I barely caught a glimpse of wide, blue and grey eyes before I felt something heavy slam into the back of my head. I flipped helplessly, slamming into the alley wall upside down, before plummeting towards the ground head-first. I looked down at the incoming concrete, body frozen. I hadn't thought I could die, with my quirk.

My eyes shut.

Answering Comments

Guest: yes, I post this story on Quotev as well. I actually originally started there before transferring this over, thank you for telling me though :) That is the only other place I've posted this story, so if you see it anywhere else it isn't me.

Birdy Ruskin: I actually agree with you, during the beginning of the story, I didn't do a good job explaining Ichigo's weaknesses so she does come across as a Mary Sue. This chapter is probably a good place to point some of them out. Firstly, I wouldn't say her weakness is "wanting to help people", its actually that her self-esteem is so shot that she doesn't consider not helping them despite the risks because she devalues herself and feels responsible. As she grows stronger as a person, that will change, and I'll try to make that more clear when I revise the story. Ichigo is also bad at creating strategies under pressure, something I haven't gotten a chance to showcase yet. In the Sports Festival Arc and Battle Trial Arcs, she was given free time without stress to brainstorm before fighting. When that doesn't happen, you get scenes like what just happened above because she switches from being proactive to reactive (aka Ichigo getting impaled in the head), along with some later incidents in the story. She is also very adept blowing things out of proportion and then holding grudges, which will be show-cased later on and was also seen with Izuku during the Sports Festival. I'm planning to rewrite the Quirk Apprehension Test/Battle Trial Arc and improve it soon, so I hope that those problems with the introduction and presentation of her character will be fixed. As for her intelligence and combat abilities: they're a way of evening out the stakes for her now, because her quirk lacks any offensive abilities. As the other characters become stronger, her advantage will grow lesser in comparison. She beats Shouto during the Battle Trial arc (and I'll try to make this more clear) because she knows about his quirk from the Quirk Apprehension Test and he doesn't know about hers. She wins because Shouto lacks information, and he does manage to subdue her with only a few hits when they clash. That's why Hagakure is the one that catches him. Thank you for your criticism of the story, I'll do my best to improve from here on!