Flare

The grounds of U.A. High School were such that any attempt at an attack would be instantly defended against. Anyone walking onto school grounds without a student or employee pass would be automatically detected. And Izuku had no illusions about trying his previous trick of simply not taking his identification card. Security would be doubled or even tripled after his disappearance—there would be no dodging the cameras and guards this time.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

Wearing a dark hoodie he stole off a rooftop clothesline, he kept his head down as he slowly approached the main entrance. The gates were closed and locked—a handful of men in dark suits stood at the side, leaning against their cars as they smoked. Traffic was no longer allowed on either side of the gates, blocked off by concrete barriers, and the street ahead was completely deserted. No one wanted to do business in front of the school anymore.

Izuku took a deep breath and lowered his head. Hands in his pockets, he stepped off the sidewalk and headed directly toward the gate.

The small crowd of government men couldn't help but notice him. One by one, they stood straight, nudging each other and motioning at young man coming closer. One in front held up a hand as if to wave Izuku away, but when Izuku moved a little faster, there was no doubt. Guns appeared in their hands as they took aim and fired—

And then the bullets went backwards as Izuku punched as hard as he could. The shockwave barreled through the men, breaking them against the wall as metal and concrete broke and fell inwards. One of the cars smashed and exploded, sending up a fireball that momentarily warmed the winter air.

Izuku leaped through the smoke and began to sprint, taking huge vaulting leaps through the campus. In his mind, the clock began to tick down. He only had a handful of seconds to make it to the student dorms. The agents in the way were nothing—they couldn't keep up with him and a strong wave of his arm was all it took to send them flying—but the school's defenses and the teachers...

His strength suddenly vanished. He stumbled, rolled along the brown grass and came back up in a run.

Gloves, full length slacks, socks and shoes, long sleeve shirt. All of his skin was covered. So how had—?

The blast had blown his hood back without him realizing it. Izuku sighed in exasperation with himself, yanking the hood up again. His quirk rushed back as he leaped, using a tree to change the angle of his jump.

Aizawa's scarf snapped inches past his head, just missing his neck.

Izuku didn't stop. The teachers were the real threat, and no one would listen to him if he tried to explain. Had they recognized him? Would they realize who he was based on how he moved? On how his quirk manifested? Probably, after they analyzed the security footage. But right now they would only focus on bringing him down—

Yanking the hood farther down with one hand, he turned in midair and kicked, sending a shockwave behind him. He couldn't see the effect it had but he heard the sound of yelling and falling trees, heard a bullet ricochet somewhere in the distance. Snipe had taken a shot and his bullet had been blasted aside.

Izuku's luck was holding—he kept his jumps close to the ground, zigzagging so that his steps were impossible to predict. Aizawa was behind him, always missing by one inch, and Izuku winced as he passed through an impossibly high pitched soundwave. The shriek stopped almost as soon as it began, Present Mic not willing to risk hitting Aizawa, which told Izuku that his teacher was almost on top of him.

The ground rumbled.

Izuku grit his teeth. This was the attack he'd feared the most, the one Recovery Girl had once mentioned was the hardest to fight against.

The sidewalk ripped in half as a huge crack ran through the length of it, splitting the street and hurling up chunks as large as Izuku himself. He dodged twice but took a heavy slam on his side that sent him sprawling. He turned the fall into a somersault that put him back on his feet and sprinting again. This time when he felt the ground move, the rising piece of street became a springboard for him to push against.

In midair, Izuku's roundhouse kick sent anything in the air flying back toward the ground like so many dozens of stone missiles. He briefly spotted Aizawa falling back, gathering his scarf close to himself like a shield. His teacher's retreat gave Izuku a few desperate seconds to again kick, this time at the ground—it rippled and sent up several tons of clods of earth. In the chaos, he landed safely and rounded the bend past the park, finally arriving at the front door of the dorms.

The wall of ice that blasted toward him caught him by surprise. Only the aftershocks his kick saved him, sending Todoroki stumbling against the door so that the ice only trapped Izuku's outstretched arm.

His breath felt sucked away as the ice worked over his skin like blue veins. With a gasp, Izuku tore himself free and darted up the side of the building instead.

Stupid mistake, he scolded himself. I should have realized the students would join the fight.

Not risking going inside, he instead leaped up along the balconies, taking advantage of how few students and teachers would be able to follow. Cementoss wouldn't destroy the building and the teachers with area-effect powers wouldn't risk the students. And Aizawa—

Izuku frowned. Aizawa was nowhere to be seen. Moving through the dorm? Maybe he knew it was him, Izuku thought, and that was why he'd always missed. But Izuku couldn't waste time hoping. All he had to do now was break a window and—

A startled croak almost made him fall off the balcony. He put his arm up in front of his face, glancing over his hand at Tsuyu. In the doorway of her room, she was still in her pajamas, fresh bandages around one thigh and hip.

He reached into his hoodie's pocket and pulled out a sealed plastic bag, holding it toward her. She croaked again, stepping back, thinking he meant to attack.

Shouts and curses came from inside the dorms. There was no time. Izuku pulled back the hood. He didn't bother to explain, instead holding it out at her again.

She met his look, silent for a moment. Then her tongue flashed out and grasped the bag, pulling it back so that she swallowed it. She faced him with a small nod.

When the door burst open, the students found Tsuyu back in bed, sleepily blinking at them and asking what the noise was. She repeated the same question to the men in dark suits, cringing at the sight of their guns. And later in the day, she repeated the same to Aizawa, Present Mic and Nezu, all of whom shared a look and didn't press.

In the evening, with all of the students locked up "for their safety," she asked if they would come keep her company as she recovered from having her bone marrow extracted. And with them surrounding her, she coughed up the bag for them.

Dozens of tightly rolled papers unfurled before them, names and faces of students who wouldn't be coming back to class.