A/N: Last chapter, Hitomi ran off on her own! Is she going to find Midoriya like she hopes?
I kept flipping back and forth between if I wanted to make a GIF out of the picture I drew for this chapter, but I decided not to because it would just be a looping shot of a camera pan. [8/26/21 EDIT]: Lol who cares about the GIF when I added more art to this chapter XD
Art -
[Complete Gallery] Add /21axlkt3bolc to the DeviantArt Stash URL.
[Ch. 34] Add /23oo0o94ld3 to the DeviantArt Stash URL.
Hitomi felt the ground rumble as she navigated through the forest, following the direction the noise seemed to originate from.
Please be okay, Midoriya!
She only planned to find him and protect him if need be. If Midoriya was fine, she'd head back to the campsite so she wouldn't worry Iida and the others anymore.
Hitomi sped up as she finally saw a clearing up ahead.
Stepping out of the foliage, she glanced up at the large cliff in front of her.
If Midoriya's up there, help him.
If no one is there, go back to camp.
Climbing onto the rocks, she made small force fields beneath her feet, lifting herself up as she began to scale the cliff.
When she was near the top, she heard Mandalay's voice ring through her head.
"Everyone in Class A and Class B! In the name of the pro hero, Eraser Head, you are granted permission to engage in combat!"
Hitomi clenched her jaw, worried over her other classmates.
Mandalay repeated the message as Hitomi swung her leg onto the ledge, followed by the rest of her body.
Hopefully Midoriya's not unconscious or anything…
She stayed on the ground for a moment, letting herself breathe from her climb before she noticed her friend's phone on the ground.
She picked it up, seeing it was completely destroyed before setting it down and getting up.
The sight in front of her made her breath hitch.
A large man's unconscious body was in front of her, stuck in a gaping hole in the side of the cliff.
Hitomi stepped back, trying to be as silent as possible in fear of waking up the man.
That had to be the villain Midoriya was probably fighting. Oh god, I hope Midoriya's okay-
Because she wasn't paying attention, her foot slipped as she was nearing the edge of the cliff, causing her to fall to the ground below.
Hitomi screamed as she felt the wind rush through her ears, making a force field around herself as she approached the ground.
She felt the force field dissipate as it hit the earth, her body rolling into the bushes.
A bit disoriented, she steadied herself on a tree trunk before she realized the mistake she'd stupidly made.
"Oh, fuck."
I don't know how to get back to camp.
...
Still a little dizzy, Hitomi left the clearing, trying to find any signs that could help lead her back to camp safely.
She cradled her head as she made her way through the trees and shrubbery, cursing to herself on her own stupidity.
Mandalay's voice rang through her head again, one more message left to tell everyone.
"We have discovered one of the villains' targets. It's one of the students—'Kacchan'!"
Bakugou?!
Hitomi fumbled on a tree root as Mandalay continued her message, nearly falling face first into the bushes.
Bakugou's in trouble. What if he-
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thought before it went any further. She regretted that choice as soon as it made her head throb, making her try to steady herself on another tree trunk.
She'd already decided. She promised herself she'd go back to Iida and the others. They were probably worried sick about what had happened to her, and she had to make sure she got back.
She had to. Bakugou was strong. He could handle himself. Todoroki was with him anyway. He'd be fi-
Without warning, she felt a hand on her shoulder and her vision went white.
"Who was that woman just now?" Todoroki asked as he, Shouji, and Midoriya neared Tsuyu and Uraraka.
"A villain," Tsuyu replied. "A crazy one"
"Uraraka-san, you're injured!" Midoriya cried out from his place on Shouji's back.
"I'm fine," the brunette replied as she held her shoulder, eyeing the freckled boy's broken arms. "I can still walk. Anyway, you're the one that-"
"This isn't the time to stand around and talk," Shouji interjected. "Let's go, quickly!"
"I'm just glad you're okay," Midoriya told Uraraka. "I know!" he suddenly said. "Come with us! Right now, we're protecting Kacchan as we head back to camp."
"You're protecting Bakugou?" Tsuyu asked, confused. She and Uraraka looked at each other for a moment before she said, "Where is Bakugou?"
"What are you saying?" Midoriya said as he craned his neck to check behind him. "Kacchan is right behind-"
The path was empty behind them.
"The boy you're talking about," a voice sounded above them, "I took him with my magic."
The group looked up in the trees to find a villain flaunting a marble up above.
"This talent isn't someone who should be on the hero side. We'll take him to a stage where he can shine more."
"Give him back!" Midoriya yelled.
"'Give him back?'" the villain asked. "That's a strange thing to say. Bakugou doesn't belong to anyone. He's his own person, you egoist."
"Give him back!" Midoriya yelled again.
"Move!" Todoroki said, pushing Midoriya and Shouji to the side as he used his ice.
The villain simply jumped out of the way, dodging the ice as he landed on the trees on the other side of the path.
Shouji glanced behind him, noticing another from their group had also gone missing.
"It's not just Bakugou!" he told the others. "Tokoyami's not here, either!"
Todoroki turned to the villain in anger. "To go out of your way to talk to us…
You're underestimating us."
"I was originally an entertainer, you know," the villain replied, continuing to flaunt the marble. "It's a bad habit of mine."
He turned the marble over in his hand, twisting his hand to reveal another. "Taking Tokoyami was an improvisation on my part."
Uraraka clenched her jaw as he continued.
"Moonfish… the man with 'Blade-Tooth'... he may not look it, but he's a cutthroat on death row who's appeal was dismissed. With a violent nature that trampled that cutthroat one-sidedly, I decided that he was good, too…"
He turned his hand over one more time, revealing a third marble. "...not to mention there was this girl with lovely blue hair I happened to pass by."
The students' eyes all widened in horror as they realized who he was talking about.
Out of all of Class A and Class B, there was only one girl with bright blue hair.
"HE TOOK HITOMI!" Uraraka shouted, distraught.
"You know," he started, "force field quirks are already pretty hard to come by."
He continued to fiddle with the three marbles in his hand, holding one between each of his fingers. "But one like her's, that doesn't just stay contained around the user alone…
Yes, Kanetsukabe's quirk is quite useful as well."
"You bastard!" Midoriya screamed. "Don't take them!"
Shouji and Todoroki lunged forward as the marbles flew out of Compress's mouth.
Shouji grabbed two of the marbles thanks to his Dupli-Arms quirk, leaving it to Todoroki to catch the last one. Before he could close his hands around it, another caught it, leaving Todoroki to simply look on in anguish.
"That's sad…" the villain said to Todoroki's face. "Shouto… Todoroki…"
The dual-haired boy tumbled to the ground as the villain had Compress confirm it, Compress snapping his fingers.
Tokoyami and Hitomi appeared out of Shouji's fingers, the two falling to the ground on top of him.
Unbelievably confused, Hitomi looked up to see Bakugou taken hostage by a villain disappearing into a warp gate.
What's going on?!
"Kacchan!" Midoriya ran past her, lunging for the gate.
"KACCHAN!"
Through her confusion, she heard Bakugou utter three words as he disappeared.
"Don't come, Deku."
Midoriya fell to the ground as the gate disappeared, looking back only to stare at the forest fire left behind. Hitomi ran to his side as he let out a painful scream.
