Fire and Comfort.


There were hundreds of people out after work. You looked around the crowd for anyone suspicious, but so far there was nothing. The principal had assigned you and Aizawa to a problematic villain that had been plaguing the town. It was an added benefit that the heroes of UA do this sort of patrolling for the town... and good publicity. It was your first case, so Aizawa was told to accompany you.

An arsonist - most likely with the help of a flame type quirk - had burned down three buildings already. The first two had been abandoned, which was how they went unnoticed. But the last fire had been in an old and unpopular apartment complex. So far nobody had gotten hurt, but it would be pushing it to leave the villain unchecked. You weren't sure what to look for, just scanning the skies for smoke, maybe someone acting strangely. Aizawa was doing his own surveying by himself. Passing an alleyway, you caught a waft of something burning. The alley led to an open window of another apartment, this time much newer.

"Alright, one... two..." Utilizing your quirk you vaulted up to the second floor, then climbed through the window. Thin trails of smoke danced along the floors and disappeared as they rose into the air. A door slammed loudly as if announcing the figure that ran toward you, bringing about more smoke and embers. You felt a rough push and fell to the floor as you lost your balance. Your flesh singed where they had touched you. Ignoring the pain you scrambled to follow their trail of smoke and embers, but a weak cry of help stopped you.

"Someone's here!" You pressed a button on the small pin Aizawa had given you for the mission. It was meant to give him your location when you ran into trouble, a discreet gadget created by the support department. Feeling better knowing you wouldn't be doing this alone for long, you went to search for the voice.

The first door you tried was the one the villain had burst out from. Locked. Jiggling the handle, you heard the cries for help increase. You slammed the door once with your body, then again, this time with an [eject] to knock it down. Smoke filled your lungs instantly and you coughed, unable to breathe. You vaguely wished you had requested a visor that covered your mouth, even though it wouldn't have helped much outside this situation. Dropping low to avoid the smoke, you could see a fire was burning brightly to your left. You could hear coughing somewhere in the room, but using your quirk on the smoke without knowing who was in there was dangerous.

"Are you okay?" You called out as clearly as you could without choking on more smoke.

"We're here!" A weak voice answered to the right of you, and close to the floor. It was good enough. First was the smoke in the air. You threw out an [eject] to blast the smoke away, which cleared the room just enough to see a small child and a man at the far end. You rushed to them, hoping to deal with the small fire afterward. The man had gotten stuck under a heavy set of drawers. Grasping the edges you forced it off of him.

"I've got you." The man was frantic.

"Please, take my daughter first." You tried to calm him down.

"You both are safe. Are you two the only ones here?" You helped him prop himself up, then picked up the girl carefully. She was passed out, but alive.

"Yes. My wife went to the shop a while ago." Nodding, you turned to the thankfully small fire. Shifting the girl's weight to one side, you threw out one [eject] to smother it out.

"Can you move? Let's go." You made it to the door when an explosion went off from the direction you just left. You curled over the girl to shield her, the both of you tumbling forward from the force. A glance back was all it took to see the father was dead. You felt sick, but willed tears away as the villain came through their freshly made hole in the wall.

"You. Put. Out. My. Fire." It was a feminine voice that screeched at you, crazed and dangerous. Her body was hidden under a mix of ash and smoke, like she had been engulfed in flames. You swallowed down a wave of apprehension and held tight to the daughter. You wouldn't let her die too. The villain jumped at you with a high pitched scream. You swung your arm out with a strong [eject], slamming her into the wall. The place where your arm met hers sizzled with pain, you were too slow to push her away before she touched you. While she was down you ran out of the room. Without stopping you knocked down the front door by slamming into it. Smoke billowed out of the apartment, but the neighboring ones seemed untouched. You heard an angry scream. With a shudder you made your way down the stairs and to the bottom floor.

"Where is Aizawa?" He definitely got your GPS signal, but you desperately wished UA had provided a communication system instead. A figure plopped down in front of you, cracking the ground. You reared back, narrowly missing a swipe to your face. You could feel the heat singe the ends of your hair. Arms full, you tried kicking out, this time using [eject] before any part of you met hers. You fell to the ground, but she had flown back a few feet. Once more she got up to charge you. Holding a hand out, you got ready for another attack, gripping tightly to the unconscious girl with your other hand. But the villain never got close. Familiar strips of cloth shot out to restrain the woman. The quick and capable form of Eraserhead gracefully dropped down in front of you, quirk activated. With a swift hit he knocked her unconscious. You caught the last second of his eyes changing from red to black as he turned his head to make sure you were alright.

The police arrived on the scene not long after. An ambulance and a distraught mother came for the girl. You gave your statement about the father with the utmost regret, then left the police to their work, hiding yourself away from the fray. Squatting down, you try to make yourself as small as possible.

"Deep breaths." Your hands covered your face as you tried to get rid of the intense feelings from the battle. The face of the mother when she heard her husband had died. Your eyes were wet but you didn't want to cry. You were so focused on keeping calm that you didn't hear Aizawa walk up.

"You need to get your wounds checked." You jerked your head up at him in surprise and embarrassment. He wasn't supposed to see you like this. Quickly standing up, you covered the burn on your abdomen.

"I'm fine for now." He stepped closer to you to evaluate the burn on your arm. It was the worst of the two injuries. Taking your arm he pulled out an unlabeled cream and gauze from a pack on his hip.

"You saved a life today." You face turned into a pained expression at his words. You had also let a man die.

"I wasn't fast enough to save them both." His fingers trailed lightly as he wrapped your burn so it wouldn't get infected.

"The villain caused the situation. It wouldn't be logical to say it was your fault."

"You would have saved them both."

"I wasn't there. Because of you, someone was saved." He finished his treatment and let your arm go. His words made sense, but you still felt empty. You could see his eyes glaze slightly as he thought. Running his hand through his hair impatiently, he sighed in resignation.

"It was a more difficult case than planned. Since it can't be helped, I'll treat you to a drink. Hizashi would want to come too, and whoever else." He looked uncomfortable waiting for your response.

Kind. Aizawa was so kind, even when he didn't want to be. You smiled weakly.

"A drink sounds great."

Fire and Comfort end.