Hello again, everyone. Once again, I find myself floored by the tremendous readership numbers I've been receiving each day over these last two chapters, and I cannot express to you all enough, just how grateful I am for that. The ending of the most recent chapter seems to have gotten a good number of you understandably concerned and hesitant to see what happens next. Well, we all must eventually see what happens and gain some kind of closure. I hope it ultimately ends up meeting your expectations, all the same. I had a great deal of fun making what alterations I did to the Forest Training Camp Arc, but we always need a chapter or two in order to catch our breath after all the excitement we just went through, so hopefully that won't dissuade some of you from continuing to read.

I'd like to give a thankful shout out to former BNHA ASMRtist Aloe Vera for providing information for the dialogue of one particular scene in this chapter later on. Even if they aren't doing BNHA content anymore, they are still a very hard worker in their craft and deserve all the support possible.

I'd like to give another grateful shout out to my two beta readers, Mizu and Jonny. You are both infinitely awesome for all your help in helping me present these chapters as best as they can possibly be.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a result of their existence in this universe.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 46

Dust Settles

(Пыль Оседает)

Thursday, July 11th, Yuuei Academy

In the aftermath of the last of the League of Villains' Vanguard Action Squad fleeing the Forest Training Camp; everything else happened so fast, as did the flow of information that got back to the staff of Yuuei, as well as the general public.

The emergency rescue services and police that had been contacted at the onset of the Villains' attack ultimately arrived fifteen minutes after the emergency call had initially been made. Of the grand total of forty-one students that had been attending, fifteen had ultimately lost consciousness due to inhaling the gas that had filled a portion of the forest, and were considered to be in critical condition. Of the remaining twenty-six, fourteen students had received injuries ranging from minor to severe, while the rest had been unharmed. But worst of all, however, was that one of those listed severe injuries had very nearly ended up an actual casualty, and of the remaining twelve unharmed students…one had been kidnapped.

Of the six Pro Heroes that had been placed there to supervise the students, Pixie-Bob had received a head injury and was considered to be in critical condition, while another, Ragdoll, whom had left a considerable blood trail, had likewise gone missing.

On the other hand, in what normally should have been considered a major win, three of the Vanguard Actions Squads' members had been thoroughly apprehended and taken into police custody, while their comrades had simply left them behind, vanishing without a trace.

And it was with all of this information now out in the open, that the Yuuei students' long-awaited Forest Training Camp trip had come to a more-than-eventful end, in the worst possible way it could have from anyone's predictions. Even the knowledge that three Villains of considerable power and cruelty had been taken off the streets could do nothing to offset the remorse and pain of everything else that had happened, and it wasn't only the Pro Heroes and staff of Yuuei that were feeling this way.

The very next day after the attack, back in Musutafu City, many of the general public had already taken to organize outside the gates of Yuuei in protest, demanding the school and the Heroes that worked there take responsibility for not only failing to live up to their titles as Heroes, but for endangering the lives of their students, the lives of children. If only those people could have begun to understand just how much this immense failure actually tortured the Heroes inside Yuueis' walls as well.

The moment Tunguska had been informed over the phone of what had happened at the training camp, he had taken off like a bullet for Yuuei to try and convince the other teachers to mobilize so they could go and save the students and assist their fellow Pros. However, the fact that the situation had already been resolved, as well as the fact that they needed to discuss the ramifications of this incident, was the only thing that prevented them all from doing so.

In fact, considering what he had been told of what had nearly happened to Nikolay, some considerable initial physical restraint and professional reasoning from his fellow teachers, was ultimately the only thing to keep Tunguska himself from practically flying out the window for the hospital they had been informed the students were all being kept in until they recovered. From the sounds of it, the students were even going to be kept there after the fact, until the police had all the information they needed and officially cleared them to be returned home to Musutafu and Yuuei again.

All morning, Tunguska had kept thinking back to not only the incident itself and his own sons' condition, but also the protesters still out there, and despite his better judgment, he couldn't help but feel a very strong bitterness stirring about in the pit of his stomach. The fact these people were protesting against Heroes already, couldn't help but bring back some especially toxic memories of the first days of Russia's own Anti-Quirk demonstrations…and the overall societal purging that had ultimately followed from that.

However, he once again had to remind himself that there were more important, more urgent things here to discuss right now, as he and all the other Yuuei teachers found themselves in a very solemn contemplative silence in the faculty conference hall, with Nezu sitting professionally, yet also morosely, at the head of the U-shaped table.

"For a training camp meant to prepare students for combat with Villains to actually be attacked by Villains…it is shameful. 'Fear of Villain Activation'…we were all too naïve in recognizing the legitimacy of this threat. They have already begun the war...the war to destroy our Hero society." The school headmasters' blunt summary of just where they all now stood, and the undeniable presence and scale of the threat they now knew for a fact to be facing, left a very foreboding chill and heaviness in the air among the teachers.

Among their ranks, Midnight was the first one to speak up: "Even if we had recognized the threat, there's a question of if we could have done anything to defend against it. This was such a rapid set of developments. Ever since All Might, we had thought almost all organized crime and major Villain activity had been weeded out in this country."

Present Mic was almost immediate in his answer, but this time without his usual upbeat demeanor, but no less physical energy: "The main point is that without realizing it, the peace has made us grow soft. To even think that we had the time 'to prepare' for Villains, once we became aware of their threat."

Among them, Toshinori had been digging his thumbs into his forehead in thought and frustration, finally speaking up for the first time since the meeting had even begun, but still unable to look any of his fellow teachers in the eye: "My own worthlessness infuriates my entire being. While they were all desperately fighting, I was just…dilly-dallying around!"

To hear his most trusted friend among Japans' Pro Hero community beat himself down like this couldn't help but leave Tunguska retreating into his own self-abasing thoughts. Up until now he had been frantic in his silent concern for Nikolays' condition, for the condition of every single one of those students that had gotten caught in this attack. But now that Toshinori had finally let it out into the open, even he couldn't ignore what else had been running through the back of his mind any longer.

While Present Mic, and perhaps the rest of the Heroes here, could blame the period of peace that All Might had made for their not taking precautions, Tunguska couldn't help but place the blame solely on himself for having spent so much of Nikolays' lifetime focusing on their keeping their heads down and not using their Quirks at all. That life of hiding under a proverbial rock had ultimately dulled his once razor sharp sense of alertness for potential danger. 'Perhaps…perhaps if I hadn't been so adamant about us never using our Quirks, if I had let myself stay in practice, I would've actually thought to take this kind of instance into consideration. I could've told Nezu-san about it, and we could've had even better precautions put in place to dissuade the Villains from attacking.'

He wasn't about to be bold enough to even guess what any of the other Heroes around him were thinking, but Tunguska was silently making a solemn oath to himself now that the dust of this Villain attack had pretty much settled: 'No more wasting time. I've been studying for that damn Pro Hero license exam off and on for the last few months, but now it's time to put my nose to the grindstone for it. If my gaining a Pro Hero license can help get me back in the field, and give me the opportunity to take action and remain vigilant enough that I can help prevent something like this from happening again, then I'll work as hard as humanly possible to get it!'

Of course, Tunguska didn't think to actually express any of this, only repeating the sentiment in his head continuously, momentarily oblivious to the visibly unsettled looks in the eyes of his fellow teachers as they looked to him, not used to the normally talkative old Russian being this quiet for this long.

Listening to everything his fellow educators were saying, Nezus' normally upbeat expression expertly hid the maelstrom of worry going in his own head as he pulled out one of the many newspapers with Yuuei as the front page headline, as well as a similar article on his phone for the teachers to see. "Things like having the Sports Festival immediately after a Villain attack…we can no longer continue our 'undaunted' approach with these matters. A student abduction…this is Yuuei's greatest failure. They snatched away our credibility as Heroes along with Bakugo-kun.

"Right now, the media's in a frenzy with criticisms of Yuuei. Bakugo-kun likely became their target when he exhibited his wild nature at the Sports Festival. If he somehow is brought over to the side of the Villains, it could spell the end of Yuuei as an educational institution." None of the other teachers had wanted to say as much, but they could see it in each others' eyes as this dreadful fact now hung over their heads: they all knew it from the start. If something wasn't done about this, then not only would Yuuei be history, but the relationship between society and Heroes would be impossible to mend. For Tunguska, it almost felt like he was right back in those early days after the Siberian Flash, simply watching the cracks start to spread.

Suddenly, Present Mic sat straight up in his chair, a fairly serious glimmer in his eyes behind his sunglasses as he began scanning across the conference hall to his fellows; his typical wide grin nowhere to be seen. "We're already talking about credibility, so there's something I'd like to say…in light of recent events, it's undisputable that…among us, there is…A TRAITOR."

Every single person in the room could feel the air grow denser than a solid brick at this sudden shift in subject, something not one of them had ever wanted to consider. Seeing this visible dimming of an already grim mood spurred the Yuuei English teacher to carry on with his reasoning: "Only the teachers and the Pussycats knew the location of the training camp! That's not the only thing that's suspicious: if you use cellphone location data, even the students…!"

"Mic, cut it out." Midnight suddenly interjected, clearly having heard more than enough and being the only one among them brave enough to say so, but this only seemed to incense Present Mic that much more: "Cut what out? We're going to get to the bottom of this, now!"

Suddenly, the gas mask and cowboy-dressed Hero, Snipe, shifted in his seat while not lifting his gaze, finally indicating he was ready to say his own piece: "Can you even prove that you yourself are 100% innocent, Mic? Are you able to judge which of us is good? Are any one of us capable of that?"

This single question seemed to finally diffuse Present Mics' spark, as Snipe took that as the perfect cue to carry on, himself. "If we start jumping at shadows and suspecting everybody, it will tear us apart from the inside, and I have no doubt in my mind that's just another sick goal this League of Villains has in mind to accomplish. If we are to search for a traitor in our midst, we must do so calmly."

While Tunguska could especially appreciate and agree with Snipes' approach, he now couldn't help but feel the pressure of this knowledge already starting to set in. 'Present Mic has already unintentionally planted the seed. Nobody here is going to be 100% about each other from now on until we get to the bottom of this.'

Despite the new wave of tension in the air, Nezu was still somehow managing to come across as courteous and professional as ever, as if just to simply spite the gravity of what now hung over all the Heroes' heads. "At the very least, I can confidently say that I trust all the Heroes in this room right now. Yet, at the same time, I cannot myself guarantee my own lack of culpability. In any case, as a school, what we absolutely have to do is be able to guarantee the safety of our students. As for whether or not there's a traitor…I have something that I have been thinking about for some time. You see…"

"YOU'VE GOT…A CAAAAALL!"

A sudden boisterous, electric version of All Mights' voice pierced the overall atmosphere of the hall, as every single pair of eyes fell to a visibly surprised and embarrassed Toshinori, as he scrambled for his phone; his sunken eyes furrowing the way only those closest to him knew meant it was serious. "Sorry, sorry, I have to take this call."

Tunguska instinctively got up to follow him, while Present Mic was scolding Toshinori to turn his phone off ahead of time, but a sudden halting hand from Toshinori caught the large Russian Hero by surprise as Toshinori hurried out the door. "I'm sorry, Tunguska-san, but this time it's just for me. All of you please carry on. You can catch me up later."

With that, and a sideways comment from Midnight of how tacky his ringtone was, Toshinori left the conference hall in a new kind of awkward silence, before Nezu quickly cleared his throat and proceeded while Tunguska sank back into his seat, now somehow even tenser.

"Before we can carry on much further in terms of how we handle this League of Villains situation, there are two courses of action we must take to rectify the situation as far as where Yuuei stands with the public. First things first, we need to issue a formal public apology to the citizens. They need to be assured that Heroes do not consider themselves above accepting responsibility for their shortcomings. That kind of humility can go a long way towards repairing a damaged trust."

Many of the still-attending teachers looked to be in total agreement with this, especially Tunguska. This seemed to put Nezu in a considerably better mindset as he continued from there: "Right, now in regards to my previous statement of ensuring our students' safety: the Villains attacking a specifically chosen Hero training camp like this proves that their ranks are only growing stronger, and with that, they as an organization are growing bolder. If we are to ensure the security and safety of the students at all times from now on, then I regret to say that as of this moment, living outside of Yuuei grounds is no longer considered to be safe.

"The teachers of this school have already had on-campus living quarters built for them in the past just to ensure that all hands were on standby in case of emergency, but we've never faced the necessity for on-campus students dormitories before, so of course building a secure dormitory building for them is the first order of business. We will contract any number of Quirk-aided construction companies to aid Cementoss-san and Power Loader-san in the construction effort. We will contact the families of each student to inform them of this development as soon as the students themselves have been cleared by the police to depart the hospital and return to their homes in Musutafu. Until that point, I'm afraid there isn't much else we can discuss, so for now, I shall consider this meeting adjourned."

Thankfully for the Headmaster, none of the Heroes looked to be in particular disagreement for this course of action. No measure was too much when it came to protecting their students, after all.

So as they all finally left the conference hall, Tunguska stepped out into the hall, only to be surprised that Toshinori wasn't out here as he'd been expecting. The man never just left his foreign friend hanging like this. Whatever that phone call had been must've been even more important than he thought…which in these circumstances only left him feeling that much more anxious.

Anxious enough, in fact, that with nothing more needing to be said, Tunguska decided now was finally his chance to haul ass all the way to the hospital the students were being protected at. He already felt terrible enough as it was to not have rushed to Nikolays' side the moment he'd been informed of the attack, so he wasn't going to waste one more second than was necessary in order to get there and be with his boy.

Tunguskas' sense of urgency and anxiety made the train ride to the town the hospital holding the students was located at feel so much longer than it really was. And yet, when he finally found himself standing before the hospital itself, he felt as though his feet were being weighed down by Hero-adjusted cinder blocks.

Would he be able to keep his composure when he finally saw whatever state Nikolay was in? Would he be able to once he saw how roughed up any of those students had been? He didn't have the courage to give himself an answer, for far too many times had he witnessed instances where people said they could handle things with all the confidence in the world, only to go to pieces when the time actually came. This felt exactly like one of those moments for the Sun of Justice himself.

"Tunguska." The moment he had started to work up the courage to take the first step forward, Tunguska felt his whole body freeze at the sound of Aizawas' voice. Turning to where it came from, he wasn't remotely surprised to find Aizawa and Vlad King approaching down the sidewalk, both homeroom teachers looking at their sudden new arrival with unreadable intent. "We didn't expect to see anyone else from the school this soon; we were sure this would be the time Nezu and the others would be discussing things in terms of damage control."

Vlad Kings' explanation might as well have fallen on deaf ears, as Tunguska and Aizawa were once again locking eyes, before the black-haired teacher followed up: "I suppose it's pointless to ask why you came all the way out here already."

Regardless whether Aizawa knew it was pointless or not, Tunguska could still feel a flare up in his chest all the same. "Of course it is. We already had our meeting discussing what we should do about this. Public apologies and student dorms got thrown around, just so you both know. Now I'm here to see my boy and the rest of our students, just like I should've done the moment I was informed of the attack."

Aizawa furrowed his brow at the clearly building agitation in Tunguskas' tone as he began heading for the hospital entrance, even as Vlad King once again tried to fill the Quirk History teacher in: "Eraserhead and I have already given the police all the information we could about the attack and the Villains themselves. It won't be long before they'll give the students who weren't injured leave to head back to Musutafu. We'll be returning with them when that time comes. Recovery Girl likewise gave her best efforts for those injured, so they shouldn't take too much longer to be discharged as well."

"Tunguska, wait!" Aizawa stated with notable seriousness, bringing Tunguska to a stop. As the two homeroom teachers began to follow after him, the large Russian suddenly whipped his head back to meet their gazes. His normally kind blue eyes were razor sharp and intense in their gaze, actually managing to bring Aizawa and Vlad King to a mutual stop.

"What is it, Aizawa-san? Are you really about to reprimand a father for crawling up and down the walls at the news that his only child and family has been shot? At the news that nearly all the children who, need I remind you both, are just as much the responsibility of the rest of us as they are yours, almost got killed last night? At the news that one of them got flat-out kidnapped?!

"If that's the case, then just save it, alright? Knowing this happened while I've been trying to get myself back into the boots of a working Pro Hero is bad enough! I haven't felt this powerless and useless in thirteen years, not since that awful day! So the last thing I need right now is for you to start reprimanding me for letting an ounce of emotion out!"

Neither Aizawa nor Vlad King could come up with an immediate answer, not having seen their colleague this borderline frantic before. Unfortunately, their mutual silence gave Tunguska the idea to just keep going now that the last several hours of unbearable anxiety and stress kept pouring out: "You know, one of the other things we talked about at the meeting this morning was the possibility of there being a traitor among our ranks. Present Mic was the one to bring it up. It only makes sense, right? How else could the League of Villains have known where the camp was after we'd all tried to keep everything under wraps?

"I can imagine hearing that now must have plenty of suspicions brewing in both your heads, right? Hell, do I even need to ask who your prime suspect is? Never mind the fact that I'm the only foreigner in our ranks, as well as the newest teacher added. Vlad King-san, you've had no reason to develop any kind of meaningful trust for me; and Aizawa-san, you've only had nothing but resentment building up for me for years, haven't you? You've pretty much all but said so from the start, so who else could be a better suspect in either one of your heads?! The fact my own flesh and blood is lying in there right now shouldn't make any kind of difference to you two, right?! Next to whatever the Villains' damn goals are, everything else is secondary, right?!"

By this point, Tunguska had let the floodgates open, as he was now fully frantic and unfiltered in his frustration and anger, and this was all too clear to both Aizawa and Vlad King, as the large Russian continued to now continuously unload on them.

In fact, it was so clear to Aizawa especially, just how over the edge Tunguska now was (regardless how understandable his reasons), that the instant he saw an opening in his blind rambling, he suddenly stepped in, grabbed Tunguskas' collar, and met his Slavic colleague with a resounding SMACK across his haggard face, rendering him thankfully silent, to Vlad Kings' barely visible surprise.

"Dammit, Tunguska, how about you take a moment and get a hold of yourself! Do you even have an idea just what the hell you're saying right now?!" Now it was Tunguskas' turn to look at his fellow teacher in surprise, having never heard Shota Aizawa actually sound this genuinely angry before.

Vlad King took this time to add onto his peers' attempt to get through to him: "Make no mistake, Tunguska-san; we know exactly how you're feeling right now. How the hell could we feel otherwise? Regardless the class they're in, every one of those students in there are like our own children. The fact that those Villains hurt a single one of them like they did…it's taking every ounce of willpower in me to even stay this calm. And don't act like it's any different for you, either, Eraserhead."

Aizawa didn't loosen his grip on Tunguskas' costume collar as he forced the man to look him in the eyes. "Don't for a second think that either of us is any less worried about our injured students, including Bezpalov, than you are, Tunguska; understand? But lashing out at each other for any reason, and not being completely open with one another about the way things currently are, isn't going to help anyone, least of all them. We've seen the news coverage from outside of Yuuei; we know the Villains' attack has now driven a big wedge between Heroes and the society we all swore to protect. But I'll be damned if I'm going to allow their actions to end up doing the same to us as individuals. I'm not about to let us start turning against each other."

Tunguska immediately thought back to Snipes' identical reasoning barely an hour before. Now he felt totally ashamed for having gone back on his own agreement to that plan already, let alone for having let his emotions take his own rationality away from him like that. Aizawa was absolutely right, what he was doing was downright detrimental to what they all needed to be doing right now, to how they all had to be approaching the obstacles that were now standing before them as mutual Heroes.

Able to see that his and Vlad Kings' similar sentiments and concerns were managing to get through Tunguskas' thick head, Aizawa finally let go of his collar; the tension in his own body starting to loosen up. "The reason I was calling out to you before, was because…because I wanted to say something to you, finally; something very important.

"In light of everything that's happened since this year started: all the different times and means by which you put your life on the line for the sake of all the students, alongside the fact that, not only did Bezpalov end up in the condition he's in solely because he did what a Hero is ultimately supposed to do and act in a time of crisis to save everyone he could, but he even managed to personally save two of Vlads' students in the process, as well as many of both our students in the end. Taking all of those developments into account, I want to…I want to apologize, Tunguska, for how hostile I was to you and your son at the beginning of this year."

Neither Tunguska nor Vlad King could believe that they were actually bearing witness to Shota Aizawa, of all people, actually apologizing for his attitude towards anyone at all. He had long been proven to be a man that was very hard to sway from his initial opinions of people, even when they worked especially hard. Had it not been for the underlying anxiety of seeing his son, Tunguska would've felt honored that he was apparently one of the few ones fortunate enough to be the recipient of such a behavioral shift.

"You're not an unintelligent man, you'd figured why I was so firmly against having you teach at Yuuei from the start pretty quick, but at least let me get this all out there. When I first met you all those years ago when you first came to Yuuei as a guest speaker, I didn't say as such, but I was actually silently inspired by your example you told us of how a Hero should act; never giving up and always giving their all, even when things were at their hardest.

"So, after you had told us all that, and then the Siberian Flash happened shortly after, and you just disappeared off the face of the earth, I felt completely betrayed. I felt like you had utterly abandoned your own principles as a Hero, because you vanished at the one time when the people you were supposed to protect needed your help the most. So when you and your son just suddenly showed up out of the blue at All Mights' behest; even though Nezu-san and everyone else thought you'd fit right in, I just couldn't stop thinking about that betrayal I felt, and I let it convince me that as soon as things got tough, you both would turn tail and run when we needed your help most, again. I was sure that you had let your original defeat sap away the whole of your Heroes' spirit, and that your son had been tainted by that same toxic influence. When he tried to run away after that first week, I felt as though that resentment of mine had been vindicated.

"However, in the time since he ended up coming back, he hasn't backed down from anything I've thrown at him, and from everything I've seen and heard from everyone else, not only has your son come much farther than I thought he would in terms of strength, mind and spirit; like many of those students; but so have you. Time and again, not only have I seen you regain that old Heroic spirit of your own from all those years ago, but you've even somehow managed to grow even further from it, both as a teacher, as a Hero and as a man. Your devotion to teaching and watching after those students is as undeniable as all of ours, and I'm sorry for having doubted that about you before."

Aizawa remained quiet for a good minute after having poured all of this out for both Tunguska and Vlad King to witness. When he saw the mutual looks of surprise in their eyes, together with the fact that the Russian Hero himself still wasn't saying anything, the 1-A homeroom teacher let out an instinctive groan of aggravation. "Look, I'm not going to repeat myself if you're somehow not getting all of this, so listen: I'm trying to say that I'm sorry for my attitude towards you and Bezpalov at the start of this year, and that's that. Right now especially is a time when we all as Heroes need to stand and work together in order to save everyone, instead of tearing ourselves apart from each other, and I felt that you and I wouldn't be able to do that properly unless I finally let you know all of this.

"So long story short, despite my words at the start…I'm glad that we have you and your son in our ranks, as both teacher and student. Bezpalov; for his impulsiveness and tendency to let his emotions get the better of him at not the best times; is still a good kid and a gradually promising student…even if there is a thing or two he'll still need to answer for when all this is said and done."

At long last, Tunguskas' confusion shifted into a deeply touched smile at what Aizawas' ultimate point truly was. He was sure he probably would've even shed a tear if it weren't for the fact it would doubtless embarrass his black-haired colleague and make him want to take everything back. "Bolshoi spasibo, Aizawa-san. It…it really does mean more to me than you realize, what you just said. It really does my heart good to know I have more people than just All Might and Nezu-san to be able to trust and…well, maybe one day, even confide in. Depending how the future ultimately will look for us…perhaps one day we might even call each other friends."

Aizawa bowed his head, once again obscuring half his face behind the wrappings around his neck, mumbling incoherently to himself, before Vlad King suddenly stepped forward, extending a courteous professional handshake, even despite the constant scowl on his bulldog-like face. "I'd like to finally express my appreciation for you being with us in these difficult times as well, Tunguska-san. I may not know much of anything about you as a man, but I know that you've had a very positive influence on a number of my students, and it's played a great role in how they've handled the dangerous situations they've found themselves in thus far, namely Tetsutetsu and Tokage. They've come especially far because of your teachings, and you have my thanks for that.

"And I'm sure it probably wouldn't carry as much weight for your boy coming from me as it would if coming from Eraserhead, but I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Bezpalov-kun as well. Even despite the rivalry between our classes, he still went out of his way and risked his life to save two of my students, and I will not forget that."

Tunguska took Vlad Kings' handshake with especially powerful gusto, more than happy to have yet another colleague to call the closest thing to a potential friend as he could get right now, even going so far as to extend his hand in return to Aizawa, who once again simply grumbled disapprovingly while keeping his arms crossed.

Figuring that was simply the shorter Heroes' way of expressing comradery, Tunguska felt his spirits were especially higher now, as he looked both men in the eye with considerably more confidence and calm. "Thank you both for your kind words. And, depending how Kolya is soon, perhaps you can express the same sentiments you gave to me, to him as well. I know it'll do his heart tremendous good. I'm glad to be able to call you two my allies, just like All Might. As soon as the students are all healed up and cleared to return to Yuuei, I have absolute confidence we'll be able to come up with a truly solid plan on how to deal with the Villains responsible. But until then, if it's all the same to you both, I'd like to go in and see my son. Excuse me."

With that, with his head now being able to be held that much higher (although for how long, he couldn't say), Tunguska finally made his way into the hospital, bracing himself for whatever he would find inside.

As soon as Tunguska had shown his face a ways into the hospital (specifically the section for visitors, and in this case the students that weren't terribly hurt or were simply being held for police protection for the time being) he was immediately met with a cacophonous cheer of relief and surprise from a majority of the 1-A and 1-B students (whom he was quick to notice Mina wasn't here with) at his unannounced visit, with many of them rushing to him. "TUNGUSKA-SENSEI!"

Seeing the multitude of even tiny band-aids on a handful of the students, despite their relieved smiles, filled Tunguska with a twisting sensation in his gut, even as he tried to maintain the same inspiring smile he'd always given them before. Every single injury they received, no matter how small, was the result of the Pros being unable to protect them, and it was a weight they would all have to carry forever, no matter how insignificant.

"You kids have no idea how happy I am to see so many of you unharmed or recovering. From what I heard from your teachers, you all performed to the best of your abilities, even against tremendous odds, and not one of you ever backed down. You all fought with everything you had learned, and all to protect each other. I can't begin to express how proud I am of every last one of you."

Students like Eijirou, Ochako, the now fully regenerated Setsuna and Tenya looked especially happy to hear their teacher praise them for whatever actions they had respectively taken. However, even their smiles didn't last long, and neither did those of the rest of their schoolmates, once they could see that, even behind the smile on Tunguskas' face, his eyes were watering up. There wasn't a shred of doubt between them just what he had to be thinking right now, especially considering who wasn't here with them.

And the thought of that diffused the momentarily happy mood among them, as the thoughts of their most seriously injured and unconscious schoolmates came right back to mind. To think of what had happened (and for the likes of Eijirou, Denki, Rikido and Hanta, the thought that they could have potentially prevented any one of them) left the students now with barely restrained grimaces of sadness and regret of their own.

Eijirou and Ochako both looked like they were the closest to breaking out in tears, while Tsuyu, Tenya, Fumikage, Shoto, the (likewise) fully regenerated Mezo, Denki and Setsuna simply looked to the ground with deep regret.

As this grim silence hung heavy over their heads, punctuated by Tunguska involuntarily letting a choke out from his throat, Itsuka was the first to finally step forward, looking their Quirk History teacher in the eye with the faintest smile on her likewise saddened face. "Tunguska-sensei…I know this probably doesn't help you feel any better…but I-I just wanted you to know that…Bezpalov-kun, he…he ended up the way he did…by saving me and Tetsutetsu-kun. Knowing everything you helped teach us…I know you would be so proud of him if you'd seen the way he acted when things got dangerous. We won't forget what he did when he…when he wakes up."

This last detail jolted Tunguskas' head right back up, not even trying to hide the desperate need for confirmation in his eyes. Tenya immediately stepped forward, straightening his glasses with the closest he could get to a reassuring smile while maintaining his professional posture. "Kendo-san is not mistaken, Tunguska-sensei. The doctors confirmed with us and our teachers that all of our more severely injured and unconscious schoolmates will pull through, although Bezpalov-san, Jirou-san and Hagakure-san have not regained consciousness yet. Midoriya-san has been drifting in and out for the last few hours. Yaoyorozu-san has only recently regained consciousness, but the doctors want to wait until she's fully recuperated before allowing any of us to see her."

With that, Setsuna suddenly chimed in as well: "Yeah, after the end of the Villains' attack on the facility, Bezpalov-kun stopped breathing, but Mina-chan, Kirishima-kun, Kaminari-kun and Vlad King-sensei were able to revive him, just in time for the emergency services and police to show up. I'm confident the only reason he hasn't woken up yet is from the physical exhaustion caused by the blood loss. But Iida-san is right; the doctor did say he would recover just like everyone else."

Feeling a deep, silent sensation of reassurance at hearing so many of his students say this with such confidence, Tunguska took another deep, steadying breath. "Do you perhaps know which part of the hospital Kolya's being kept in? Surely they'd let me see him if they knew I'm his father."

As some of the students were visibly uncertain if their teacher was truly correct about being allowed in this soon after the fact of the battle, Eijirou immediately stepped forward, pointing down the nearest hall. "Kolya-san's being kept in the west wing on the fourth floor. Midoriya-san and the rest of our schoolmates that were really badly hurt are there, too…along with Ashido."

Tunguska immediately looked to his red-haired student with surprise, having not been informed that she had been seriously injured as well, but Eijirou was quick to clarify with no trace of embarrassment: "Oh, no, she's not hurt nearly as badly. No, Ashido's there because, even though her own wounds were already treated, she's refused to leave any one of us unattended that was that seriously injured. She's been going pretty much nonstop from the moment their wounds had been treated…especially Kolya-san, since he ultimately came the closest."

Tunguska, frankly, couldn't have been less surprised that Mina would be the kind of girl to selflessly attend to the needs of all her injured schoolmates without a hint of needing to be convinced into doing so. Of course, the thought of seeing her likewise devastated over the state of the others threatened to break his own emotional resolve as well, for as fragile as it already was. "I have to admit I'm surprised you're not up there helping the others right alongside her, malenkii Kirishima…or any one of you for that matter."

Many of the students had an especially downtrodden (in some cases even ashamed) look on their faces that he had pointed this out. However, Eijirou, while still trying to maintain his typical confident sharp-toothed grin, had a deeply emotional look in his red eyes as he answered: "I wanted to, Tunguska-sensei, honestly. I thought I'd be able to handle it, being there and trying to do whatever I could for them...but seeing just how many of us either haven't woken up from breathing in that gas, or how many of us got seriously hurt, or almost killed…all on top of Bakugo getting kidnapped, that's all hard enough as it is. But...seeing Ashido cry every single time she visits Kolya-sans' room and he doesn't wake up…I mean, don't misunderstand, I know seeing everyone else up there in the state they're in has been really hard for her too, but seeing him especially seems to be the hardest for her. I just…I don't know what I could possibly be able to say to try and make her feel even a little bit better, knowing that it's just as painful for me, for the rest of us, to see, too."

Even now, Tunguska could see that Eijirou, Ochako and Tsuyu looked the closest to starting to shed tears at the thought of their schoolmates still up there. He knew he was in no better a state, but by God, they needed their teacher to try and help lead them by example on how to process the indescribable trauma they had all been put through for being so young, and he wasn't about to shirk that inherent responsibility, as he placed a supportive hand on Eijirous' shoulder as he addressed all the students: "Nobody can blame any of you for not wanting to go up there and seeing your friends the way they are right now. It's a traumatizing thing you've all been put through, and the fact that so many of you got hurt, and malenkii Bakugo still got abducted for all your efforts, would weigh indescribably heavy on the hearts of anyone.

"It's a very real emotional process that you're all going through…oh hell, that we're all going through right now. I didn't think I could even feel something like this anywhere as strongly after the Siberian Flash…but life continues to find ways to surprise all of us. That's why I'm not going to insult the intelligence of all you young Heroes by saying that the pain of these experiences will eventually go away, because the truth is that it won't. All that really changes is that you all eventually find ways to make room for that pain, so that you can still grow from it, and still be able to live as best you can. That's all I can really think to impart onto all of you as of right now, and for that I apologize."

Despite the regretful look in Tunguskas' eyes at the self-perceived shortcoming of his attempt at reassuring his students, many of them still felt the heartfelt sentiment he was trying to give to them. It was honestly very inspiring, to know that even in the wake of reeling from the shock of his own son being shot, Tunguska was still steeling himself enough to try and help them all with dealing with their own shares of the trauma at the same time. In this moment, while still dealing with the aftershock of their overall battle the previous night, many of the students couldn't have been more grateful to have another of their teachers here with them right now.

Just as Tunguska had hoped, informing the presiding doctor and nurses that he was the father of one of the severely injured Yuuei students had allowed him access to the fourth floor west wing of the hospital.

Faced with the stark and empty hall lined with doors, the large Russian Hero had to take a moment to suck in a breath and steel his nerves for whatever he was going to see behind those door windows. Regardless whether the doctors had confirmed everyone would pull through or not, he still cared for these students just as much as he did for Nikolay, so seeing any one of them in the states he had feared wasn't going to be easy for him, and would no doubt go on to compound onto his already aching sense of guilt.

Finally finding the courage to keep walking forward, Tunguska instinctively leaned in to the first door, slowly peeking through the window to find a two-bed room, where Kyouka and Tooru were both still in a deep state of unconsciousness. Thankfully, even from here, neither of them looked to have been put through anything more, at least as far as he could tell for the Class A invisible girl.

The second door he looked through revealed the only semi-conscious form of Tetsutetsu, lying in his bed with his whole torso done up in a myriad of bandages. From the way Itsuka had described the sequence of events, his Iron Quirk had really saved his hide from the Villains' gun, but that did nothing to avoid the severe physical impact of the bullets themselves, so he had to imagine the silver-haired boy was dealing with extensive bruising something awful.

Through the window of the third door, he felt a warmth of relief when he saw that, just as Tenya had said, Momo looked to be in the process of recovering from the head injury she had bandages around her forehead for. There were a couple of nurses still attending to her, so he knew better than to potentially risk interrupting, but was still silently grateful that she seemed to be okay.

Through the fourth door, however, he was greeted by a far less encouraging sight, as lying all by himself in his own hospital bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling like a mental vegetable was Izuku, with both his arms and the majority of his torso almost entirely in casts, while his face was a patchwork of different bandages. Even after all the times Tunguska had seen his and All Mights' student get put through physical and mental hell in order to master his threshold of control over One For All, it didn't make seeing the boy in this kind of advanced state of injury any less heart-wrenching. The emptiness in his once vibrant eyes, which Tunguska could just barely make out even from this distance, did nothing to alleviate his anguish as a teacher and protector, either.

However, even for as torturous as seeing Izukus' condition was, it of course still paled in comparison to when Tunguska finally reached the door to the room next to his, the room he feared to look into the most. However, he knew he had to see the condition Nikolay was in with his own eyes, otherwise his guilt would only torment him that much more.

When he finally looked through the window, what he saw made his already shaken heart plummet into his stomach. Laid out on a single hospital bed was of course Nikolay, but the boys' face was an adornment of countless bandages and gauze, with a single plastic tube inserted into his nose to help him breathe. He couldn't make out the bandages all over his sons' chest under his hospital gown, but there were likewise numerous wires planted all over his head and chest, hooked up to numerous machines.

Nikolay well and truly looked like the definition of an irreversible coma patient, and that thought alone was already enough to break Tunguska, but the sight of Mina Ashido currently sitting at his bedside with her back to the door, saying something to him that Tunguska couldn't discern through the closed door, before her shoulders started trembling, and the silence was soon punctuated by the unmistakable sound of her weeping, pushed this overall terrible image beyond a point the burly Russian man could take.

As he stepped away from the door to his own sons' hospital room and retreated back down the way he came, Tunguskas' mind was a maelstrom of self-deprecation. 'You goddamned bloody coward! How can you not simply step in there and be by your sons' side?! You're supposed to be a brave, upstanding Hero, now go in there and be that for the boy, he needs it more than ever!'

But it couldn't possibly be so simple for him. No parent should have ever had to see their own child in that kind of state, but the knowledge that he could've been able to prevent it, and to see the results of him not doing so made that anguish so much worse. It didn't matter what anyone could tell him otherwise; as far as Tunguska was concerned, every single injury adorning Nikolays' body was entirely the fault of the Sun of Justice himself.

However, that still didn't change the fact that, even if he may not have been there to protect any of these kids, he wasn't the one to personally inflict these injuries upon them. No, the target for that blame was much clearer and simpler to deal with, so to speak. Knowing now what they did about their enemies, Tunguska stood outside the entrance to the hospital wing and began to clench his fists as tightly as they had been in over a decade, fighting the urge to start gritting his teeth with the silently raging anger now building up in his chest. 'The League of Villains…I don't give a damn how many of them there are, or how powerful their leader may be. They're going to pay for what they did to these children…for what they did to my Kolya. One way or another, they're going to pay.'

"Tunguska-san!" Tunguska was suddenly snapped from his increasingly red field of vision, to now suddenly find All Might and Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi approaching from up the stairwell he'd sequestered himself to. "I had come down here just after that phone call during the meeting, but I didn't expect to see you here so soon as well…although I honestly shouldn't be surprised."

After exchanging the typical pleasant greetings with All Might and Naomasa, Tunguska stepped back out into the entrance of the wing, with his two companions now by his side. "Yes, as soon as the meeting was adjourned, I raced down here to see how the rest of the students were holding up…and to see if Kolya had regained consciousness yet. But I…no matter how much I want to, I just can't go in there and see him like that. Even what little I was brave enough to see damn near broke me."

Tunguska sounded as ashamed as a man could possibly be as he collapsed into a nearby waiting room chair, burying his face in his hands so that he wouldn't discomfort either of the two men in case he finally started weeping. However, All Might was quick to sit right beside him, looking at the man with a gaze of complete understanding behind his typical smile. "I'm sorry, Tunguska-san. No parent should have to see something like that. But remember that you are far from alone in this.

"You heard me back in the meeting; the guilt has been tearing away at me, as well. I understand exactly what you're going through. Even now, I keep thinking about how I should've insisted on joining in supervising the trip, regardless of the risks, just like you no doubt have been, too. Maybe if we had both gone as well, then we might've been able to make a difference. But the fact that neither of us acted on it, and this is what it resulted in…it's without a doubt one of the most painful things Heroes can go through."

All Might fell uncharacteristically silent from there, allowing both veteran Heroes to let these sentiments sink in, in the hopes it may have somehow helped them both through their respective grief, while Detective Naomasa remained respectfully silent and patient with the two, knowing just how much the two had to be reeling from what had happened to the students they were supposed to look out for.

Tunguska clasped his hands together into a tight ball, deep in regretful contemplation. "I don't know how else to describe it, All Might. I just don't…I don't feel like I have the right to be in there with him, knowing I failed to protect him. At least not until he either regains consciousness, or until the League of Villains has been put behind bars where they belong. Right now, the only thing keeping me grounded is the fact that none of the students got killed…and the fact that all of them, even the ones who didn't even get hurt, are still sticking around here for each other, helping with all their respective physical and emotional healing. That kind of loyalty to each other…it's a rare but profound thing to see."

As this sudden turn in subject seem to dim Tunguskas' despair, All Mights' own regret likewise began to lift with the desire to voice his own approval of the strength of those children's collective spirit. "It truly is, Tunguska-san. This was one of the greatest challenges they've faced yet, and they all did everything they could to help each other through it, even after the dust has settled. The doctors even took the liberty of filling me in on the current status of the more injured students, and I understand that Ashido-shoujo has actually been volunteering to help them all, even though she's likewise been cleared of any outstanding injury herself. That kind of selflessness, compassion and loyalty to everyone; that's the heart of a real future Hero if I've ever seen one, just like in Midoriya-shonen, Bezpalov-shonen and all those other brave students down there."

Tunguska could feel the pride in their students just radiating off of All Mights' words. Of course he could, for it was the same kind of pride the Russian Hero likewise felt in all of them. However, even though the Hero beside him was trying to lift his spirits further, Tunguska was in far too sensitive a state to let anything on his mind go unsaid. "I know you're right about all of that…but I can't help but think there's more to malenkaya Ashido pushing herself to keep caring for all of them when she doesn't even have to…and not all of it may be as positive as we want to think."

All Might had to take a moment to think what he could potentially say to such a train of thought, but Detective Naomasa briefly cleared his throat to grab the Symbol of Peaces' attention. "I'm sorry for the interruption, All Might, but we do still have business to attend to here. Since you're already here, Tunguska-san, I suppose it's only fair that you now be filled in on everything as well."

Hearing the detective he knew most say this, perked Tunguskas' curiosity. "That's right, what did suddenly bring you all the way out here, All Might? And please don't tell me it was only to check on the students. What was that phone call before all about? Normally you had me included in anything involving you and Tsukauchi-san."

Realizing there really was no point in hiding the truth any longer; All Might stood up and beckoned Tunguska to walk with him and Naomasa back down the hall. "Yes, and I apologize for having kept you out of the loop even for that long, Tunguska-san. Had it not been for the fact Tsukauchi specifically texted me that our conversation only be held between the two of us back then, I would've gladly filled you in right there."

Deciding to try and take even a tiny bit of the heat off of All Mights' shoulders, Naomasa likewise decided to chime in: "I apologize for the secrecy as well, Tunguska-san. Having filled you in with All Might on every development in this case thus far, I know it must've seemed more than a touch unfair. But you need to understand, given your personal stake in the aftermath of the Villains' attack on the training camp, I was afraid you would let your emotions completely take control of your reasoning, and you would be liable to do something reckless with the information I had."

Tunguska, while admittedly still a touch hurt by Naomasas' reasoning, ultimately let out a regretful sigh. Of course Naomasa was right to think that. How could any parent, in the heat of something like this, completely detach themselves from their emotions when faced with a potential solution on how to deal with the Villains responsible? "I understand, Tsukauchi-san. Really, I do. It's really damn hard, but I'm trying to remain as objective and level in the grand scheme of things as I can be. So, please, what have you learned that you told All Might before?"

The detective took a deep breath to prepare before finally repeating everything he had told the Symbol of Peace between them but an hour before. "This morning, while Eraserhead and Vlad King were giving me their accounts of the events last night, a surprising development came to my attention. I am of the personal belief that we may have, in fact, found the whereabouts of the League of Villains."

Tunguska came to such an abrupt halt, it was almost as if his perception of time had shattered, looking to the detective to make sure he wasn't misunderstanding, or being messed with. This was about the reaction Naomasa had been expecting from either one of these Heroes, and thus continued unperturbed: "Two weeks ago, one of my subordinates was conducting a separate investigation. We learned of an incident involving a man with a patched face who was occupying a building at the time, where there were supposedly no tenants.

"The man in question looked as though he were in his early twenties. We fished through records of past criminals for notable characters but turned up nothing. When we checked with the buildings' owner, he mentioned there was a hideout-like bar inside the building. We decided, at the time, that the incident was unrelated to our ongoing investigation, but based on the descriptions of the Villains that escaped the scene of the attack last night from some of the students; one of the people who kidnapped the one missing student matches the description of the man we had been investigating before. That's the current situation. Once we verify the details, we'll bust in there. This is all top secret, mind you. I'm only telling you this because All Might trusts you, and you've both been more than fairly involved in this entire League of Villains situation as it is. I wanted to wait until you'd had the proper amount of time to process through your personal feelings before asking, but for this rescue and mopping up operation, we could use the strength of both of you Heroes."

Tunguska looked as though he were the recipient of a bona fide miracle to now know the police had already found a potentially big break towards finding those Villains. All Might, having received this same news before, was thankfully able to have gone through his own intense emotions, and thus was much more outwardly calm than his Slavic partner, while Naomasa was clearly gauging Tunguskas' immediate reaction to see if he really was in the right frame of mind for this task the detective was inviting them both into.

Tunguska loosened his fists at his sides and took a steadying breath; an exceptional softness in his eyes again. "I appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me this, Tsukauchi-san. It's good to know that someone here trusts me nearly as much as All Might does. I do understand why you were reluctant to tell me this at first, and I'll admit, I probably wouldn't have taken it nearly this calmly if you had. But I promise you both that I'm alright now, and I want…no, I need to be a part of this operation. Malenkii Bakugo is just as much my student as he is All Mights' and Eraserheads,' and I'm not going to stand by and do nothing if there's any chance at all we can rescue him and bring those Villains the proper form of justice they deserve."

Both Naomasa and All Might seemed to radiate the same kind of approval at Tunguskas' combined willingness and calm at all this information, and the Symbol of Peace was more than happy to sling a friendly arm over his shoulders. "I'm glad to hear you say all this, Tunguska-san. Perhaps our running into each other out here was more fated than I had originally thought, because since Naomasa wants you to be a part of this mission alongside me, that means you can take part in what's about to happen here. You see, we came here from the police station, because we'd been informed that Yaoyorozu-shoujo not only regained consciousness, but has also asked to speak with the authorities and any acting Pro Heroes in the investigation about something important."

Tunguska looked even more fired up already, having already seen the Class A vice president conscious and all right, and if she had anything at all to provide them that could make their upcoming mission any easier, than he was more than ready to find out. And so; all of them united towards the same goal; the two Heroes and their trusted detective ally made the rest of their way down the hall towards the room Momo was staying in.

"Good morning, Yaoyorozu-san. We're glad to hear that your injuries are on the fast track towards healing in light of the incident." Naomasa immediately greeted Momo upon their stepping through the doorway. Momo looked just as calmly pleased to see the police and Heroes she had requested already, but the moment her eyes landed on Tunguska and All Might, her mature demeanor actually broke.

"All Might-sensei, Tunguska-sensei…please forgive me, I-I tried as hard as I could to save as many students as possible, but…I-I still wasn't able to prevent—"Please, you have nothing to apologize to us for, malenkaya Yaoyorozu. What happened to your schoolmates that were injured is no fault of yours." Tunguska was quick to try and diffuse Momos' upcoming spell of self-blame for her own sake, but also because the last thing he wanted was to start cracking emotionally in front of one of his and All Mights' students again.

Following his example, All Might likewise tried to reassure the downtrodden black-haired girl: "Absolutely right, Yaoyorozu-shoujo! You did everything you possibly could to save everyone you could, just as you said, and that's more than enough; don't try to convince yourself otherwise. All anyone can ask of Heroes in times of danger is to do what they can; don't ever forget that. The important thing for you to know right now is that everyone is going to recover from this, and you're just as much to thank for making that possible as everyone else who gave their all. Wear that knowledge with pride, because you've more than earned it."

Momo still looked deeply heartbroken to know that any of her classmates and Class B fellows had gotten hurt at all, but even with her lips trembling, she was still able to form a deeply thankful smile for her two teachers' reassurance, wiping away the beginning of a tear from her eye. With this, Naomasa stepped forward: "I apologize if I'm rushing you, Yaoyorozu-san, but I understand you have something important you wanted to share with us?"

The detectives' intervention thankfully set Momo back into her more serious mindset as she thought back to the events of the previous night. "Yes. During the attack, after we had made sure the students from our classes nearest us had gotten somewhere safe, Awase-san from Class B and I teamed up. We were able to plant a transmitter on one of the Villains when it had started to retreat from attacking us."

All three men nearly jolted with surprise at this out-of-nowhere goldmine of potential information, especially when Momo suddenly began to focus the way both her teachers had come to recognize, and quickly created a small handheld device from her palm that almost resembled a satellite phone, handing it to Naomasa. "Here's a device that tracks the signal from that same transmitter. Please use it for your investigation."

Naomasa handed the device to All Might, whom alongside Tunguska, looked from it to Momo with incomparable approval and admiration. "Before all this, Aizawa-san had judged that you were lacking the ability to make quick judgments, at least entirely on your own, considering how you performed during the final exams with the support of every one of your classmates. But with this, and that last-second plan…you've grown spectacularly! Thank you, Yaoyorozu-shoujo!"

However, even as the Symbol of Peace himself was praising her for her ingenuity, Momo still looked as ashamed as before, unable to meet any of the three adults in the eye. "Even if you both say I did what I could…I still can't help but feel that it wasn't nearly enough; not nearly close to all that I could've done. I just can't stop thinking about the fact that when my own schoolmates were all in danger…this was all I could do. Compared to others, it feels like practically nothing, especially when considering there were those that have been hurt I might've been able to save if I'd just been stronger or faster or even smarter. It's all just so…so frustrating."

A single warm and fatherly hand on her shoulder from Tunguska made the young class vice president jolt with surprise, looking utterly childlike as she saw the warm and grateful smile on his bearded face. "Malenkii Yaoyorozu, neither All Might nor I say anything about how much you've grown without meaning every word of it from the bottom of our hearts. Your ability to come up with plans at the last moment that actually carry through is an incredibly rare trait in one as young as you, and rest assured of this as well: those feelings that you have right now, as painful as they may be, they are proof that not only are you more than worthy of your future title of Hero, but that you still have the untapped potential to grow even more than you already have. Take the experiences you've gained from this, learn from them, and you'll find yourself more prepared and able to take on any challenge than ever before. Be proud of what you've accomplished here, because you deserve it."

Momo almost looked as though she were about to start crying out of both sadness and gratitude for both her teachers' words alike, but still managed to keep herself composed as All Might stood tall and proud as ever before. "Go ahead and continue to rest up, Yaoyorozu-shoujo. It shouldn't be too long until the doctors will clear you and the rest of your classmates that were unharmed to leave for Yuuei again. The more injured students are to remain here for the time being until they regain consciousness. I can understand the emotions between you and the rest of your classmates are running quite high, but I implore all of you to please, leave the rescue of Bakugo-shonen to myself, Tunguska-san, all the other volunteering Pro Heroes and the police. You've all placed yourself in harms' way more than enough. Now's the time for you all to recuperate and return to where we all know you'll be safe."

While Momo looked to be taking All Mights' and the police's instructions to heart, Tunguska couldn't help but feel that gut instinctive sensation that one received when they felt they were being watched. Without a word, he headed out the door into the hall, but either way he looked, there wasn't a sign of anyone else. He ultimately ended up chalking it to a growing sense of paranoia, in the wake of what had happened to the students thanks to his confidence in their safety before.

As All Might and Naomasa decided they had all the information they needed to officially take their leave with Tunguska included, the large Russian Hero looked back down the hall to the final door, coming to a stop before reaching the stairwell. "I'm sorry, but would you both be willing to just wait for me in the lobby for a minute? There's…there's something I need to do before anything else."

All Might and Naomasa both looked like they already knew just what their foreign comrade was thinking, and thus gave him a mutually approving nod of permission. Without another word, Tunguska finally made his way for the door to Nikolays' hospital room. His hand hovered over the handle for a few moments as his heartbeat began to intensify, as though his body were automatically bracing itself for the emotional weight of what was waiting on the other side.

Opening the door, he heard a surprised yelp out of Mina, who was still sitting at Nikolays' bedside, and clearly not expecting anyone else to come in here so suddenly. In record time upon seeing her teacher in his familiar white, gold and red costume in the flesh, Minas' surprise went to pleasant relief, and then almost instantly into watery-eyed and trembling-lipped, devastated sadness.

"Oh…oh, T-Tunguska-sensei, I…I-I…I-I'M SO SORRY! I-I should've done something; I should've been faster going after Kolya-kun! B-but everything happened…everything happened so fast, and w-when we *sniffle* when we ran into Tetsutetsu-san and Itsu-chan, he was already—!"

Minas' borderline hysterical choking sobs, mixed with her attempts to speak, were swiftly silenced as Tunguska knelt down to meet her overflowing eyes, giving her no choice but to meet his firm yet compassionate gaze. "Malenkaya Ashido…please…just stop. I just know there'll be a part of you that wants to argue against this, but I don't blame you for what happened to Kolya for a second, and neither should you. None of your classmates or either of the teachers do…and I know Kolya doesn't, either."

Mina was trying and failing to get her tears under control, and just as Tunguska had guessed, his words weren't getting through to her nearly as easily as the other students, as she was already balling her pink hands into trembling fists; her whole body growing so much more stubbornly tense. "B-but Sensei….I-I promised Kolya-kun I would be there to protect and fight with him from now on…and when the Villains attacked, I wasn't there with him! It's because he was worried about me and the others that he ran into those woods! I followed the sound of his blasts in case he ran into trouble, but I didn't go as fast as I know I could've, because I was afraid of getting Urara-chan and Tsu-chan in danger in case we ran into a Villain on the way…and that's exactly what happened! We all got hurt because of that, and because I didn't go as fast as I could, Kolya-kun got shot! No matter what I thought was the smart thing to do, so many of my friends got hurt, and I don't know if Kolya-kun will ever even wake up so I can apologize for not being there!"

This time, Tunguska planted both his hands on her shaking shoulders, holding the sobbing pink Hero steady as they once again locked eyes. "That's enough, malenkaya-Ashido. Enough. If you keep blaming yourself for the injuries sustained in battles you had no means of getting to and intervening in; if you blame yourself for everything that happens that you had no control over, you'll only end up destroying yourself, and I know that's the last thing any of your classmates and friends would ever, ever want you to do. Instead of blaming yourself for the people you weren't able to save from getting hurt, take this chance to think about and remember all those you were able to save from being killed altogether! There's no telling what could've happened to malenkie Uraraka and Asui if you hadn't been there to support them. Even if they were hurt, the fact is that they owe their lives to you, just as much as you owe your life to them.

"The important thing to take out of everything that's happened is that you all fought with everything you had for each other, and you're all going to come out of this okay in the end. The doctors have already confirmed that for everyone, including Kolya, so don't torment yourself with thoughts that he'll never wake up, because he will. And I'm almost certain that the moment he does, your smiling face will be one of the first things he'll want to see, just so he can know that you're all right. So please, take what I'm saying to heart and don't torture yourself over him."

Mina, at last, seemed to be trying to follow her teachers' advice, as she kept wiping away her tears and swallowing her choking sobs, still unable to take her eyes off of Nikolays' unconscious form. Her voice was still continuously cracking from pure emotion as she spoke: "Even if you say all that, Sensei, I just…I feel so damn useless right now. I've been trying to help Kolya-kun, Kyouka-chan and Tooru-chan to wake up, but none of them have yet. There's nothing I can do for Midori-kun or Tetsutetsu-sans' injuries either, and I hate feeling like I can't do anything. Even when I was fighting that crazy Villain that attacked us, I was still so scared the whole time, and I can't stop thinking if I would've kept Urara-chan and Tsu-chan from getting hurt if I wasn't."

Tunguska by now found himself likewise looking upon his son, and swallowing an emotional lump of his own, he could just feel the best words coming from his chest: "That fear you felt is undoubtedly the reason you're all still alive. Fear is what allows you to recognize when a situation is at its most dangerous, and keeps you from being reckless. It won't always keep you from getting hurt, but it'll keep you from getting yourself killed. And don't you dare say that you're not able to do anything, because simply by being here and giving your best efforts towards helping and supporting your injured friends, you're already doing a lot more than most ordinary people would.

"And I'm not the only one who recognizes that, either, malenkaya Ashido. The rest of your uninjured and treated classmates and friends are all still down in the lobby, and they all know the hard work you've been putting in nonstop to try and make things even the slightest bit easier for the others, and they all appreciate that more than words can describe, and even if they can't say so right now, I know that even the rest of the students resting up here do as well, including Kolya.

"And maybe keep this in mind as well, just so you know beyond a shadow of a doubt how much you've truly done through all this time…if the roles had been switched, and it was you lying in this bed right now, there isn't a doubt in my mind that Kolya wouldn't be doing a single thing different from what you're doing right now. You inspired the return of that kind of heart in him, so don't ever think that you're useless or unable to do anything, because with every bit of advice or emotional support or even just plain friendship that you give to the others around you, you're doing something truly great and worthy of you being called a Hero. Please, please, keep all of this in mind, and let this be the end of this moment of self-punishment for you, because you don't deserve one bit of it. Just ask any of your classmates downstairs and they'll all undoubtedly tell you the same."

The breath Mina took as she finally seemed to ride out the last of her most devastated tears was shaky and heavy as could be, but she at least seemed to be slowly getting back to some semblance of her normal self as she clutched the hems of her shorts with silent frustration and regret.

"This sucks so much, Sensei. For all the fighting we all did, and for how many of us got hurt…I can't be the only one who can't stop thinking about how it didn't make a difference in what happened to Bakugo. As much as I know we're all sad about what happened to everyone here, I can imagine that somehow feels even worse for them…because I know it actually feels worse for me. Even with Kolya-kun being the way he is right now, at least there's the comfort in knowing he's actually here where I can see him. But there's no telling what could be going on with Bakugo right now, and that somehow feels even worse, all because none of us were able to do anything to stop it.

"Yeah, I'll admit; out of everyone in class, Bakugo was probably the one I was closest to actually disliking, thanks to his crappy attitude and the way he talked to all of us, especially Kolya-kun. That doesn't mean I ever would've wanted something like that to happen to him, though. Even for as brutally as they both fought, I can't imagine Kolya-kun would've wanted it, either. Honestly, it's just because of the fact they both fought…that I can't stop worrying about how Kolya-kun's going to take it when he wakes up, knowing Bakugo got taken. I don't want him to start blaming himself for it…even if I can't help but blame myself, too; for whatever difference I possibly could've made."

For once, Tunguskas' answer wasn't immediate, instead thinking now of all the students still waiting patiently to be allowed to leave by the police. With that thought came the spark of another, smaller idea as he saw Mina bowing her head in regret where she still sat.

"Why don't you go downstairs, get some food in your stomach, and talk to the rest of your schoolmates, malenkaya Ashido? I spoke to them all briefly when I first got here, and they're all just as worried about you and the others as you are about them. You should be with them, at least for a little bit, and share some of what you've told me with them. You shouldn't be up here essentially by yourself to begin with. This is a time when you should all be together to help each other heal, even if just a little bit."

Mina actually looked to the door and the hall outside it, clearly considering what Tunguska was suggesting, just as he had hoped. However, there was still a great deal of conflict in her eyes as she looked back to Nikolay. "I don't know if I should, though, Sensei. I want to be here in case Kolya-kun wakes up. He could be confused at first, and I could be able to help calm him down so he doesn't hurt himself even worse."

To this, Tunguska finally rose back to his feet, and this time began gently guiding Mina off her chair and to the door; all the reassurance in the world in his smile. "I promise, if Kolya does wake up, you and the rest of the students will be the first ones to know. I'm not asking you to leave him indefinitely, just for a couple of minutes so you can be with the others."

This assurance seemed to finally convince her, albeit with still great reluctance, to at last step back out into the hall, and take her leave to reunite with the rest of her classmates. At long last, Tunguska now found himself all alone with Nikolay, with only the repetitive beeping of his heart rate monitor and the rhythmic hissing of oxygen to break the silence.

Every footstep felt increasingly heavier as he approached his sons' bedside, looking at all the bandages adorning his face. Given what Mina had said, he had to imagine a number (if not all) of them were the result of this apparent fight Nikolay had gotten into with Bakugo. That was what made his blue eyes finally drift down to the wired chest of his son.

It took more willpower than he had ever expected of himself to reach out and move one flap of his hospital gown to finally get a look at just where his only child had been shot. When he finally gripped the fabric and pulled it aside, and at last saw the heavy gauze taped to the left side of his chest, Tunguska felt his heart catch in his throat.

Nikolay had been apparently shot close to his heart. If things had played out even slightly differently, he could've been looking not at an empty hospital bed, but a casket. That realization of just how close his Nikolay had come, with him being absent to stop it, finally broke the Sun of Justice as he collapsed to his knees at his sons' bedside, gripping the iron bar lining the bed so tight, that it began to bend and warp in his gloved hands.

[[I'm so, so, so sorry, Kolya. I should've been there…I should've been able to stop it. I don't know if you can even hear me or not…but I only hope and pray you can forgive me. Oh, Lyuda, please forgive me…I never meant for something like this to happen to our boy. I thought I was back in my proper shape to be able to handle things like this…but I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I'm so sorry.]]

As he let his tears fall to the floor for a good few minutes, Tunguska was eventually able to suck in his sobs through his teeth, pulling himself back up to his feet as though he were scaling an insurmountable peak, and looked back down upon the peaceful form of his son, still visibly breathing, and thereby proving that Tunguskas' self-perceived failure hadn't taken everything he still had left in this life. With that realization came an ignition of determination he hadn't felt so intensely since his earliest days of donning the costume.

The beams of the sunlight coming in through the window and shining upon the towering Russian standing next to that bed almost felt downright poetic, as Tunguska clenched his right fist in a solemn vow. [[You're going to be all right, Kolya…you and all of your friends…you're all going to be okay. I promise you that. Your pain isn't going to be for nothing. I hope you can hear me and be able to rest easy knowing that. All Might, the police and I, we're going to make sure the Villains that had the gall to attack you kids like that will pay properly for their actions. I won't let my emotions take away my sense of right and wrong. I won't let myself tarnish the image of Heroes that you've built for yourself to work towards like that. I'm going to see that this is done right, so that when you wake up, you and your friends can step back out into a world where real justice prevails. All of this, I swear to all of you. I love you, son.]]

From there, Tunguskas' timing couldn't have been more perfect, as Mina had picked that moment to finally return, thankfully looking the slightest bit better, having gotten the chance to share some of her thoughts and feelings with her classmates and friends. Tunguska had no doubt she had noticed the warped metal bar lining Nikolays' bed when he had finally decided it was time for him to go, but bless her heart she didn't bother to ask why. It was the most obvious answer there was.

With many more heartfelt goodbyes and expressions of pride and support from and for the rest of his students still in the lobby, Tunguska finally departed from the hospital alongside All Might and Naomasa, a whole new fire of pure, unlimited personal drive burning in his heart. Today was going to be the beginning of the end for the League of Villains, and the Sun of Justice, the Symbol of Peace, and the Japanese Metropolitan Police together were going to see to all of that personally.

Friday, July 12th

There was no telling just how long Nikolay had been wandering aimlessly through this endless haze of mist and light that expanded on and on no matter which direction he went. He wasn't even confused as to just where he was. That lack of awareness of ones' surroundings tended to muddle ones' sense of time, and with it, the confusion of how he got there.

All was silent, but for some reason, none of that bothered him. No, the only thing he had ever truly focused on since he'd gotten here, however that was, was to follow this strange warm light that always seemed to be ahead of him, and yet no matter how much he walked or ran or tried to launch himself toward it, he never seemed to get any closer. He didn't even know just what it was he was heading towards, it was just like some invisible set of strings was gently guiding him along to it, no matter how much it eluded him.

However, with nearly no forewarning of any sort, this once impenetrable mist had actually started to clear, and he could actually start to make out just how big this warm light that had been steadily drawing him in, actually was. Of course, that realization was almost immediately offset by the fact he could actually make out a comparatively smaller silhouette of a person standing patiently just before that light.

It was hard for Nikolay to make out just who exactly it was that was waiting for him here. They were standing so still, they more resembled a statue than an actual person. Just as he had finally found the wherewithal to try and speak and ask who this person was or where he even was to begin with, the silhouetted figure actually started to turn, having been keeping their back to him, and were now actually proceeding to face him, even if the light was still obscuring their features.

All Nikolay could tell as he came closer with each step was that this person before him was clearly female in figure, with the longest flowing hair he had ever seen. It was an average picture to say the least, until this female figure began to slowly raise her arms towards him, as one would when beckoning someone in for a loving hug. Before his eyes, the biggest and most beautiful pair of dark blue wings began to expand and open from the lengths of her arms, and Nikolay now found himself being looked upon by a radiant pair of beautiful, amber-colored eyes.

This was all punctuated by the once distant, yet now crystal clear echo of a soft and accented female voice speaking out from the air itself to the now frozen Russian boy; a voice he couldn't recall hearing, and yet was so instinctively familiar that he could never mistake it for anyone else on this earth: [[Kolya…oh, my sweet baby Kolya…just look at how much you've truly grown.]]

[[…Mom?]]

[[It's time for you to wake up now, Kolya. There's a world full of people you love and whom love you back that need you now. But don't worry; I'll always be here with you.]]

Before Nikolay could even try to reach out to the figure he now recognized as his mother, Gamayun; the light behind her began to glow brighter and brighter, before ultimately engulfing the entirety of the space around him, as if it were trying to swallow Nikolay himself, until all of his senses left him, and he was now simply floating formless in this endless ocean of pure light.

Beep…Beep…Beep…Hsss…Beep…Beep…Beep…Hss…

All of a sudden, all Nikolay could hear was this continuous beeping and hissing, accompanied by the feeling of cold air being forced into his nostrils. For what felt like the first time in ages, he could actually feel physical sensation again, as his face instinctively grimaced as he did when waking up from a very deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, the light that flooded in was all but blinding, as he had to shut his eyes right back closed in order to try and get his eyesight back.

As he repeatedly fluttered his eyes to try and adjust to the light, he found it noticeably more difficult to try and move his fingers and arms, as if he hadn't moved them for days and was now working his way through the joint stiffness.

There was an exceptional draft across his body that he could feel, immediately explained when he looked to find himself in clothes he didn't recognize; hospital clothes from the look and feel of it. Of course, he couldn't even process all of that for long before actually realizing that not only was he in what was clearly a hospital bed in a hospital room, but that he could feel a multitude of bandages all over his face, and there were several pads with wires stuck to his chest and head, hence why he was finding it so difficult to move.

Nikolay found himself awash with confusion. How did he get here, how long had he been in here, what the hell happened for him to even end up here to begin with? He felt like he knew the answers to those questions, but try as he might, everything before this moment of waking up was still such a blur to him.

As Nikolay stirred about in his bed, he failed to notice the unmistakable head of pink hair and two little yellow horns likewise resting on the edge of his bed, now being stirred back to consciousness right along with him.

Mina let out a tired moan of her own as she lifted her head up, likewise at first not recognizing where she was, only for the memories of the last day and a half to come back much quicker for her than it did for Nikolay.

Speaking of whom, the moment she felt the mattress of the hospital bed shifting from something other than her, she naturally turned to see, and when she saw Nikolay trying to sit up in his bed with his eyes now wide open, for the shortest time, she thought it was her stress and sadness-addled mind deciding to finally play tricks on her.

Of course, the moment she finished rubbing the remaining sleep from her eyes and looked again, only to see the Russian boy before her was still conscious and moving, all of that confusion went flying right out the window, but the first words to come out of Minas' mouth at the sight of her dear Russian friend awake at last, didn't ring with the excitement anyone would've long since expected from her.

No, instead, even Minas' words were spoken with the kind of desperate softness one spoke with when trying to make sure, once and for all, that they weren't seeing things: "K…Ko-Kolya-kun…you're…you're awake?"

The moment Nikolay heard the sweet softness of Minas' voice coming from right beside him, he finally turned to see, to incalculable relief, the sight of his best friend sitting at his bedside, completely unharmed, but looking at him like a ghost. He was immediately overwhelmed with a desire to prove to her this wasn't some kind of dream, as he finally spoke the first words in nearly two days, with a dry crack in his voice to match: "Good morning, Mina."

All at once did Minas' quiet confusion finally collapse, as her black gold eyes immediately began to run with tears; for the first time not of despairing grief, but of incomparable joy, as her voice trembled and shook with every word between her sobs. "Oh, Kolya-kun…KOLYA-KUN! OH, THANK GOD! THANK GOD, YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Minas' cheer could've echoed through the shut door and down the halls for how loud the emotionally raw happiness in her voice was, as she nearly threw herself over the rail to Nikolays' bed, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him close and tight for everything she was worth. Even with the aching pain in his chest, and pretty much all over the rest of his body to boot, Nikolays' first instinct was likewise to try and hug Mina in return, but his assortment of bandages and wires made that more than a little difficult.

All the while, Mina never loosened her hold on him as she continued to cry into his shoulder from countless emotions all at once, but in the end simply overwhelmed with happiness that Nikolay was back with her, alive and (for the most part) well. "I was so worried about you, Kolya-kun!"

As she continued to cry, Nikolay found himself slowly starting to remember: the training camp, the Villains attacking in the night, all culminating in an unbelievable pain in his chest before everything had just shut off for him. For Mina to be reacting this extremely to his waking up; there was no question what had happened to him was worse than he could imagine. "M-Mina…what…what exactly happened? I remember…I remember a bunch of Villains attacking us at the camp…and I…I went looking for you and…and Uraraka-san and Tsuyu-san…and anyone else still in those woods. But the rest is a blank."

Minas' surprise was only momentary, as it only made sense. After the physical trauma Nikolay had just gone through, of course he would be having trouble remembering everything at first. That didn't mean having to revisit this was going to be any easier, but she was simply too overjoyed that he was back here with her to let that stop her.

"Urara-chan, Tsu-chan and I…we…we heard the sound of your blasts coming from the woods, right along the path after Mandalay-sensei gave the order to return to the facility. We were worried you'd run into trouble, so we decided to chase after you…but we ended up running into a Villain; a girl. We managed to fight her off, and she ran away when Midori-kun, Shouji-san, Setsuna-chan and Todoroki-kun showed up. They were guiding Bakugo back to the facility, but he and Tokoyami-kun got taken by another Villain. We were all going to chase after him, but then Itsu-chan and Tetsutetsu-san showed up…with you."

At first, Nikolay found himself feeling like a complete and total idiot. The entire time he had been searching for her and her friends, he had completely overshot them, and inadvertently forced them to divert from getting to safety. Hell, if he had simply stayed put, so much trouble could've been avoided for all of them.

Of course, the moment Mina mentioned the two Class B students, Nikolays' eyes widened with sudden remembrance, and he almost jolted upright in his bed, only to wince with serious pain and collapse right back, with Mina immediately checking him over. "Please try not to move so suddenly, Kolya-kun! You…y-you got shot, trying to save them." It physically hurt for her to have to say it out loud, and especially to see the shock of that realization register in his green eyes as he remained silent for a good few moments.

However, when he finally spoke, it wasn't even about his own wounds: "Kendo-san and Tetsutetsu-san…are they all right?"

Mina couldn't even be mad that his first thought was of the well-being of others besides himself. This had pretty much become his go-to mentality when things got rough, all too perfectly fitting for an aspiring Hero like him, like every single one of them. The fact that, even after having come as close to death as he had, that this was his first question, couldn't help but get a deeply grateful brief chuckle out of Mina as she wiped the beginnings of more tears from her eyes.

"They're both A-OK, Kolya-kun. You saved them both…and you helped them beat the Villain that had spread all this gas across the woods. When they showed us what happened to you, me and Setsuna-chan helped them get you back to the facility so Vlad King-sensei could try and patch you up. We ended up getting attacked by another Villain when we got there…or, I guess, the clone of one, from what Aizawa-sensei said. He tried to burn us out of the facility, and even had us in his sights…but Tsu-chan jumped in, and when he still tried to attack, you…I don't know how else to say it, you just out of nowhere got your hand up and blew him away. You saved all of us at the last second, Kolya-kun. But…after that, you…"

Mina was already starting to choke on her continuing sobs, but now Nikolay couldn't hear that same relief anymore. Now there was only an all-consuming, bottomless sadness to it, only punctuated by the same relief that he was still here. When Mina looked him in the eyes with tears glistening in her own, she was looking at him like he was truly something irreplaceable and precious to her, even more so than any words she had said in all their time before could convey.

"You…you'd stopped breathing, Kolya-kun! Nobody…nobody could feel your pulse! I…I-I thought you were dead!" Minas' composure finally broke as she bowed her head and started sobbing inconsolably; every teardrop falling from her face to the floor glistening in the sunlight like diamonds.

Nikolay couldn't believe what he was hearing right now; to know that he'd actually crossed that immortal threshold, and yet somehow was still here; it was the kind of thing no human being should've ever had to find themselves trying to comprehend, and yet here he now was, having to listen to the sound of his dearest friends' heart shattering all over again.

Eventually, though, even as the tears refused to stop, Mina was finally able to lift her head back up, fighting through her sobs and sniffles to try and keep filling him in on everything. "We…I-I mean…Vlad King-sensei, Kiri, Kaminari and I….w-we were able to get your heart beating again. But you…you still wouldn't wake up. When we got to the hospital, the…t-the doctors were finally able to get the bullet out of you and get you all taken care of. They said you would be okay, but even then, we…we were all afraid that you…we were all afraid, because we didn't know when you would wake up, even though the doctors said you would eventually."

By this point, even Nikolay found himself on the verge of crying right along with her, knowing that she and so many of his friends had been suffering such sadness and worry over him. Sensing what was coming to his mouth next, Mina was still trying to rebuild her resolve as she continued further: "You've…you've been in a coma for almost two days now. Almost…two whole days."

For her to say this so certainly, Nikolay instantly asked in his attempt to put the pieces together: "Mina…have you been here this whole time?"

Mina sat up straight and serious in her chair, clutching onto her shorts again as she looked him in the eye, all the seriousness in the world reflected in her golden irises. "Yes I have. The students who didn't get hurt were cleared by the police to go back to Yuuei. But...even if they hadn't given us a choice, there was no way I was going to leave your side; yours or anyone else's. Not after what we'd all just gone through. It wasn't gonna happen. They would've had to drag me out, and even then, that would've been a big maybe."

However, even for as stoic as she was trying so hard to come across as, it was all for naught, as every time she really looked at Nikolay, her heart just took the reins over and over again; her vision once more blurring with tears anew. "I didn't want to leave, because…because I wanted to be here when you woke up; because I would refuse to believe that you weren't going to wake up, and I didn't want to—to risk not being here when you woke up, confused and scared, with no one to be there for you."

As the bangs of her pink hair now hung over her eyes as she wept, Mina suddenly reached forward and grabbed onto Nikolays' hands, holding them so softly, and yet with all the heartfelt intensity she could muster, as though she were hoping this could somehow help convey just how serious she truly was. As she looked him in the eye once more, the trembling smile on her tear-streaked face was unlike anything Nikolay had ever seen from Mina Ashido before. "And…and you're awake now. You're okay."

Nikolay could already feel so many different ways of apologizing coming up his throat for making Mina and everyone else worry over him so much. Even for as relieved as they both now were that he had finally woken up, Nikolay could still feel that instinctive guilty sensation in his gut amid the soreness. He was already beginning to open his mouth to tell Mina how sorry he was for being so reckless and making her this sad when—

Chyuu, chyuu, chyuu, chyuu

Nikolay had become so immediately embroiled in his own head, he hadn't even realized that, through her joyous tears and emotionally fragile sniffles, Mina had suddenly, yet gently, cupped his bandaged face in both her warm, soft hands, and planted four especially soft yet infinitely heartfelt and tear-wetted kisses on both his cheeks and forehead. Even while his face had already started burning with flustered adolescent heat, and the heart rate monitor next to his bed began beeping off the charts, Mina herself didn't look the slightest bit as flustered. If anything, the look on her face told him she knew exactly what she'd just done, and she meant every last second of it, no matter where it was coming from.

Of course, mere seconds later, she was right back to her affectionate and attentive self, as she hurriedly proceeded to fluff his pillow upon realizing he was still suffering from considerable soreness all around, and then immediately following up with providing him a glass of water when hearing how dry his throat actually was. "Sorry about that, Kolya-kun. I didn't mean to upset anything; I'm just…I'm just so happy you're okay."

Creeeak

"Holy crap, Kolya-san, you're awake!" "Oh, thank God, we were so worried!" "You able to move much yet, man? Even Midoriya wasn't in a straight up coma!" "Keep your voice down, Kaminari-san; he probably only just woke up-kero."

It had immediately become clear that Mina was far from the only one, as the door to Nikolays' hospital room suddenly burst open, and the two now found themselves being joined by an all-around immensely relieved gathering of nearly all their friends and classmates, with especially emotional or animated examples being Eijirou, Ochako, Tsuyu, Denki and Tenya, while Shoto simply looked as silently happy to see Nikolay conscious again as he could be.

Nikolay was finding himself once again getting considerably choked up with relief to see so many of his friends again; just as much as they were, as Tenya, Eijirou and Denki couldn't help but likewise regale him with the experience of him nearly dying on them after his unconscious last minute rescue at the facility.

"Seriously, no joke, dude; when Ashido said you weren't breathing, I could legit feel my heart drop in my stomach. I always thought that was just an exaggeration, but no, that's for real." Eijirou explained as he and Denki had gotten especially animated, recounting their group revival attempt alongside Mina and Vlad King, while Tenya of course chose to be the most professional in summing it up:

"You'd no doubt be proud to see how well they all worked together under Vlad King-sensei's instruction, though, Bezpalov-san. Even as the rest of us had been admittedly overwhelmed from the experiences we'd just endured; with his and Kirishima-san's combined efforts at compressions, Kaminari-san's use of his Quirk as a human defibrillator, and Ashido-sans' timely CPR, they were able to bring you back. Regardless of the fact you hadn't actually regained full consciousness, they had all been able to revive you. Seeing their combined efforts pay off in this way, in the end, fills me with more relief than I can properly convey."

On one hand, for their normally rigid class president to express such heartfelt sentiment, while trying to maintain his outwardly robotic demeanor and posture, was funnier than usual, while at the same time really touching, as everyone present could swear they were actually seeing a single trace of an emotional tear starting to form in one of his eyes behind his glasses.

On the other hand, after what Mina had just done to him to convey how deep her own happiness was; to know that she had actually performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him while he had been unconscious, had poor Nikolays' face flaring up with that flustered heat all over again. Thankfully, the bandages made it harder for the rest of his classmates to notice, so thankfully no one felt the urge to rib him about it.

However, even this much of an uptick in mood couldn't last, as Nikolay remembered what Mina had mentioned, regarding Bakugo, when catching him up on everything. Now with so many other students here, especially Shoto, he couldn't go further without an answer. "Mina said that Bakugo got taken by a Villain, and you, Midoriya-san and Shouji-san chased after him. What…what happened with that?"

The silence that fell over the whole hospital room was heavy, and the way everyone's expressions sank with palpable regret made it so much worse. Nikolays' own eyes slowly fell downward along with his head as the truth became all too clear.

They could all soon see his hands slowly clenching into fists as Nikolay nearly started gritting his teeth in a futile attempt to try and keep his own emotions straight. "Chyort voz'mi (Dammit)…goddammit…it's my fault. Ato vse moya vina (It's all my fault). Why did I have to keep picking that damn fight with him? He'd have been in perfect shape if I hadn't; nobody would've been able to take him away if he were."

"We don't know that for sure, so don't even start blaming yourself, Kolya-san!" Eijirou suddenly exclaimed with exceptional seriousness, as he and Mina alike both came in to try and talk him back up from this instant low he was bringing himself into. However, even though the two were already on the move to try and reassure their friend, Tsuyu was the one to suddenly speak up: "Kirishima-san's right, Kolya-san. Ochako, Mina and I heard and saw it ourselves; Bakugo got snatched away by this Villain without anyone around him even realizing, so that has to mean it was the same for him-kero. Against a Villain like that, I don't think Bakugo would've been able to keep from getting taken, no matter what shape he was in, so please don't blame yourself for this. There's been enough of that among the class already."

Nikolay, even though he was trying to fight tears of his own regret, deeply appreciated so many of his friends trying to be here for him alongside everyone else who, just as Tsuyu said, all had looks of their own regret to boot. However, when Tenya finally stood up tall again, there was an actual glimmer of optimism in his eyes. "All may not be lost in regards to Bakugo as well, Bezpalov-san. Before we found you had finally woken up, we had actually come up to see if Midoriya-san was responsive yet, because we had some news we wanted to share with both of you. If you think you're able to walk, you should come with us." As he explained this, there was a similar glimmer of anticipation in Eijirous' eyes as well, though it was subtle enough that nobody had noticed it yet.

Nikolay couldn't imagine only two days of not moving would've rendered his legs unusable, and the moment he could confirm, Minoru was the first one out the door, being the closest. "I'll go get a doctor, see if they can okay you moving around out of bed yet!"

The process all happened thankfully quite fast, as the doctor that had been attending to Nikolay the last two days was quick and thorough in making sure all of Nikolays' vitals were stable, and that his legs were in good enough condition for him to move around, as were the injuries on the rest of his body.

In no less than a half hour, Nikolay was finally unhooked and back on his feet with a pair of crutches to help him along, just in time to finally join the majority of his classmates in moving to the next room over, with Izukus' name on the small placard on the wall; officially introduced by Denki being the first one to step in: "Ah, Midoriya! You're awake now!"

Soon, everyone was pouring in. As Nikolay hobbled in on his crutches, he was met with the sight of Izuku alone in his bed, with bandages wrapped around his forehead and a patch on his right cheek, but the most noticeable thing was the large casts over both his arms, and the unsettlingly empty look in his once vibrant eyes. It was almost as though, even if he was conscious, not all of Izuku Midoriya was in there.

Even as the other students tried to extend their greetings and well wishes, or simply tried to talk to him; whether it was Denki asking if Izuku had been watching the TV in regards to Yuuei (which definitely got Nikolays' attention) or Minoru insistently trying to point out a large muskmelon the class had all chipped in to getting for him, Izuku still had that same vacant look in his eyes, even though he was still perfectly responsive, especially when seeing the single Russian among them, being clearly the second most injured out of everyone in the room. "I'm glad you're back on your feet, Kolya-san. We were all really worried when we saw you'd gotten shot, and when we'd heard about what happened at the training facility. I'm really glad all of you are okay."

Even though it worried Nikolay likewise to see Izuku like this, he was at least relieved that the boy wasn't a vegetable like he'd apparently been. "I'm glad you seem to be getting better as well, Midoriya-san. What exactly happened to you?"

Izuku laid himself flat on his bed, staring lifelessly up at the ceiling. "One of the Villains tried to attack Kota-kun…and I saved him. I was practically unable to move after that, but I saved him nonetheless…and also…I think that finally got through to him, what we'd both been trying to tell him."

Nikolay knew this was neither the time nor place to clarify that for the rest of their classmates, who were all still simply just caught up in the relief that he and Izuku were both conscious and responsive again, even though the lingering sadness among them was still unmistakable. But still, Nikolay wasn't going to let that take away from the relief he also felt, knowing that one of them had finally managed to help that little boy Kota come around again.

As everyone took their turns to express their mutual relief for Izukus' visible recovery, others like Mashirao, Rikido and Hanta likewise took the chance to finally fill Nikolay in on the rest of the gaps in what had been going on the last couple of days, specifically regarding Fumikages' momentary rampage on Izuku and Mezo (brought up when the crow-headed boy apologized for his only adding to the difficulties during the attack), Ragdoll going missing alongside Bakugo, and more importantly, the fact that the general public was protesting outside of Yuuei for their perceived negligence for the second day in a row now.

Those last two pieces of news hit Nikolay hard, both for the fact that now a second Hero was in who-knew how much danger, and for the fact that the idea of the public protesting Heroes drudged up some very painful distant memories; memories he couldn't even begin to question were going through his dads' head as well, wherever he might have been right now. It had only been mere minutes since Mina had explained to him that Tunguska had come to visit the previous day, and had last been seen leaving alongside All Might and the same detective that had questioned both their teachers before. Apparently, after that, the students had all then been informed by both homeroom teachers that Tunguska and All Might were going to be directly aiding in the ensuing police investigation for the League of Villains' hideout.

This news left Nikolay with a twisting nervousness in his chest. Even if Tunguska was somehow going to be involved with someone like All Might and the police in potentially dealing with the Villains, wherever they were, that didn't change the fact that a lot of these Villains this time around were especially tough. Unless they had a good number of Pro Heroes to work alongside, Nikolay couldn't imagine how his father could be able to get through such a potential confrontation unscathed, no matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise.

"I'm grateful you're all here and okay. It's still kind of difficult for me to move, but…is everyone from Class A here?" Izuku suddenly asked, and all at once did Nikolay realize that, out of their whole class, Kyouka, Momo and Tooru were nowhere to be seen. All at once did he remember that Mina had mentioned there being other injured students here besides him and Izuku. He had simply been so swept up in one overwhelming emotion to the next that he hadn't taken the few seconds to actually realize who was and wasn't here to express their gratitude and relief for both boys' ongoing recovery. Had there not been so much else going through his head right now, he would've wanted to scold himself as utterly negligent of even three of his friends.

Unfortunately, that very question dimmed the already weakened sense of relief among the class, as they all knew it was now time to start approaching the one detail they all, but Nikolay for now, knew to be the most painful detail for Izuku specifically. As their president, Tenya was of course the one to answer: "Unfortunately, no. Jirou-san and Hagakure-san still haven't regained consciousness from the Villains' gas…and Yaoyorozu-san suffered a serious head injury, so she's also been hospitalized. She fortunately regained consciousness just yesterday, though. Anyway, those three currently aren't here, so…"

"…so that means there's only seventeen of us." Ochako finally finished, leaving the room silent with that same universal regret, while Shoto bowed his head in especially bitter pain of his own. "Yes, since Bakugo is gone, after all."

"H-hey, Todoroki-kun…" Mina immediately began to try and steer Shoto away from going any further, especially when she and many of the other students saw the mention of Bakugos' name trigger a change in Izukus' once vacant eyes. Now, that once familiar light in his green eyes was starting to come back…the light that quickly turned into welling and overflowing tears that ran down his freckled face, as the suffocating silence broke with the sound of his increasingly anguished sobs.

Even despite the reassurances of his friends from only minutes before, now Nikolay couldn't help but feel his own tears of regret come right back alongside Izukus' as the green-haired boy spoke out: "All Might was once saying to me…that you can't save people where your hands can't reach. So that's why you have to save anyone you can who is within your reach. But I…I was within reach that time…I had to save him…! My Quirk…the whole purpose of my Quirk…it turned out exactly like Aizawa-sensei said it would. 'If you go on trying to just save someone by yourself, you'll end up no better than a fool.' My body…couldn't move…!"

In all the times Nikolay had seen Izuku struggle and fall into his lowest points, he had never seen or heard his freckled friend display such incredible sadness and depression all at once. Izukus' face was taut with the strain of trying to stop an uncontainable onslaught of tears of regret and self-blame, much like the Russian boy himself now did, unable to stop blaming himself for his part in all of it as well. It didn't ultimately matter what anyone else here could say; unless he heard otherwise from Bakugo himself, Nikolay would always be blaming himself for hurting Bakugo and leaving him unable to fight at his best when he needed to.

"Then this time around, let's all save him." The resoluteness in Eijirous' voice shattered the melancholy in the entire hospital room, as everyone immediately turned to the serious-looking red-haired boy, looking upon Izukus' crying form with complete focus. Not even Nikolay had the instinctive thought of having simply been hearing things. There wasn't a doubt in his mind what Eijirou was actually suggesting, as he proceeded to look to Shoto in silent communication, before proceeding to look everyone else in the eye.

"Yesterday, after All Might and that detective showed up and Todoroki-san and I had left for a couple minutes, we actually wanted to check and see if anyone else besides Yaoyorozu-san had regained consciousness yet. When we did, we ended up chancing upon a conversation between her, the police, All Might and Tunguska-sensei. She was talking about how she and that kid from Class B, Awase-san, actually put a transmitter on one of the Villains when they started leaving. She even made a device for them so that they could follow that transmitter to the Villains' hideout."

Sensing that Eijirous' anxiousness was about to start making him get more careless with his wording, Shoto finished up succinctly: "We didn't say anything to you all at first, because we both agreed we needed the night to think it over, but this morning, we both came to the same conclusion as to what we should do…what we should all do about the Bakugo situation."

Nikolay immediately realized where his two friends were going with this, and even he could begin to feel the same kind of motivation for it that they no doubt did; especially Eijirou. He could clearly see the concern and contemplation in the eyes of every single one of his classmates as well, while Izuku looked like he was simply trying to see how many would actually bite at the opportunity being provided to them.

"In other words, that tracking device…you mean to suggest, Yaoyorozu-san could make us one as well?" The moment Tenya asked, the air grew so tense and cold, all the other students could genuinely feel a shiver go up their spines. The bespectacled class president looked to be in considerably deep thought, as though thinking back to something nobody else could begin to understand but him.

Nobody dared ask just what he was thinking. If they had, they would've immediately regretted it, as Tenya suddenly clenched his hands into fists and threw his head up, staring directly at Eijirou with exceptional anger written all over his tensed up face: "IT'S EXACTLY AS ALL MIGHT AND TUNGUSKA-SENSEI SAID BEFORE! THIS IS A MATTER THAT SHOULD BE LEFT TO THE PROFESSIONALS! THIS IS NOT A SITUATION FOR US STUDENTS TO BE MEDDLING IN, YOU IDIOT! JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO SO MANY OF US THE LAST TIME WE ACTUALLY CHOSE TO FIGHT BACK!"

Before anyone could even think of trying to calm Tenya down, Eijirou likewise exploded with a deeply simmering anger of his own, the first time any of Class A had seen the normally jovial sharp-toothed boy do so: "DAMMIT MAN, I KNOW THAT ALREADY! BUT STILL! I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR HIM! HEARING THAT OUR FRIEND WAS BEING TARGETED…AND I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! I COULD'VE FOUGHT AND ARGUED TILL MY FACE WAS BLUE, OR EVEN FORCED MYSELF OUT THERE, BUT I DIDN'T! DAMMIT, IF IT HAD ONLY BEEN ME THERE AFTER THAT LAST VILLAIN ATTACK, I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE KOLYA-SAN HERE; HE'D BE DEAD IF IT WERE JUST ME! EVEN WHEN GIVEN A CHANCE, I COULDN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING!

"BUT NOW I ACTUALLY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS AND ACTUALLY SAVE BAKUGO! IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT HERE, THEN I WON'T BE ABLE TO CALL MYSELF A HERO OR A MAN!"

Eijirous' voice was practically bouncing from wall to wall with the power of his impassioned echo; his voice the very razors' edge between his manly determination, and genuine heartbroken regret for his own perceived lack of action. Tenya looked utterly incensed that, even when faced with perfectly sound logic, Eijirou was still actively choosing the most insane course of action.

Before either of the two boys could carry this argument any further, Tsuyu and Denki were already trying to inject themselves between them, all of them and everyone else fearful that this could very well come to physical blows before long. "Please calm down, Kirishima! Your determination is good and all, but this time, maybe try dialing it down a touch?" "Iida-san's right, Kirishima-san-kero."

Just as Eijirou was about to whip his whole body around to try and carry the argument on further, Mina suddenly threw herself into the verbal fray, both her arms extended at her sides to keep Eijirou and Tenya from nearing each other. "You guys, please, are you seriously going to do this right now?! We're all supposed to be friends here, and you're both really going to destroy that when talking about trying to save one of our own?! Isn't that one of the few things we should all be able to agree on?! Hasn't everyone here gone through enough already?!"

The raw sentimentality in the pink young girls' plea thankfully seemed to be enough to diffuse the more aggressive edge of both Eijirou and Tenyas' temper. However, this still did nothing to stop the red-haired young man to turn his attention to Izuku and Nikolay at the very least. "Look, I understand, okay? Of course Iida-san's right, everybody's right! But even still! Listen, Midoriya-san, your hands can still reach Bakugo! And Kolya-san, if you really still think you're at all to blame for him being taken, wouldn't you wanna take the chance to get him back and make it right in your own eyes? If nothing else…wouldn't you want an opportunity to finally make him see with his own eyes how strong you really are?"

Nikolay couldn't even begin to come up with an answer for the, at best, questionable reasoning Eijirou was trying to use to convince him, before Mina suddenly pinched onto Eijirous' ear, pulling him around so that he now had no choice but to see the mutual worry and disapproval on her own emotionally distraught face. "Kiri, what the heck are you trying to do here?! Just because you were one of the ones lucky enough to not get hurt in the attack, doesn't mean everyone else could turn out the same way if you go through with this; not even you! Those Villains this time were seriously no joke, there's no telling what else would be waiting for you, Todoroki-kun or anyone else! That's bad enough, but after we just got Midori-kun and Kolya-kun back, you're seriously going to try pulling them along, and with such a dumb reason for Kolya-kun in particular to boot?!"

Admittedly, to hear Mina throw the convincing reasons Eijirou had been building up in his head right back in his face, the red-haired boy now looked admittedly embarrassed and ashamed for his own thoughtlessness, especially considering just who he was trying to convince and what they had just gone through. To see the reckless fire die down in his red eyes, Mina seemed convinced that she was at least getting him to think about his plans more.

"I want to go with Kirishima-san and Todoroki-san, though." Nikolays' admittance of this fact was so soft-spoken, as though he were more trying to convince himself than anyone else, but it still drew every pair of eyes in the room towards the sole Russian student, before he finally lifted his head to look them all in the eye, while trying to avoid the shocked and increasingly concerned expression on Minas' face especially.

"I want to help you both save Bakugo…and not for some stupid reason like getting the last word in some pointless feud…and not even just to make myself feel less guilty. Whether his getting captured is partially my fault, or the fault of anyone or no one in this room…and no matter how much I'll just flat-out admit I don't like Bakugo…the fact remains that, in the end, he's still our classmate, still something resembling a friend to some of us…and still one of us in general. And no matter who it is, I can't…I won't just sit back and do nothing when one of us is in danger; especially if there's a chance we might be able to save them.

"We're all still trying to become Heroes, and no matter how many different lessons or philosophies any one of us learns along the way as to just what being a Hero means, or what the best approach is to becoming the best kind of Hero we can be, the one detail that's never changed is that when a situation arises, Heroes need to act, and that's exactly what I intend to do. Whatever the plan is, no matter what kind of shape I'm in right now…you can count me in, Kirishima-san, Todoroki-san."

Eijirou looked downright ecstatic, almost as though he were about to start shedding tears of gratitude, while Shotos' faint smile radiated a particularly grateful warmth as he gave Nikolay a single approving nod. Everyone else, however, looked absolutely torn on what to say or do in light of Nikolay and Eijirous' combined reasoning; especially Mina, who looked like she was in a complete state of mental tug-of-war with herself.

And all the while, Izuku looked between his three proactive classmates, his once defeated green eyes now likewise reflecting an impenetrable depth of contemplation on what the best possible choice was to make.

Both Nikolay and Izuku found themselves silently giving Tenya pleading looks of their own; not as aggressive and frustrated as Eijirou, but no less heartfelt. That fact made the frustration on their presidents' face; not just at their actually considering such a heinous plan, but at the entirety of the situation as a whole; so much more palpable. "Do any one of you even realize just what it is you'd be risking if you went through with this? Of course all our lives are paramount, but think about what would be waiting if you somehow managed to pull this off. Midoriya-san, Todoroki-san, this wouldn't be like when we fought the Hero Killer, simply having our names removed from the news. No, this time, the consequences would be much more severe. If any one of you agreed to do this and saw it through, you could be looking at complete expulsion from Yuuei, perhaps even getting tried for breaking the law as vigilantes! Are you all really considering throwing the futures you've all been working towards away for such a reckless plan?"

His own reasoning seemed to diffuse those of the students that seemed to be coming around to Eijirou and Shotos' plan, but not all of them, as Nikolay briefly cleared his throat so he could speak: "You're right, Iida-san. We would be risking far more than any of us can really think if we went through with this. But this isn't the first time I considered this very same question. It's exactly why I went into those woods to try and save who I could to begin with."

Nikolay knew he couldn't possibly stop there when he saw the imploring looks on many of his classmates' faces, anxious to hear his thoughts after what he'd gone through alongside them all.

"After that damn fight with Bakugo, I was pretty much convinced that, once the trip was over and we returned to Yuuei, I was just about as good as expelled. So when the Villain attack started, and I realized so many of you were still out there with the Class B students and in danger, it didn't take me long to decide that if I was going to kiss my own future as a Pro Hero goodbye…then I could at least live with that fact, knowing I went out doing what a Hero has to do, and saved whoever I could. And that's the same decision I've come to right now as well.

"I'm not telling any of you this to try and change your minds, whatever they may be deciding on. I just know that, like Kirishima-san and Midoriya-san, I can at least live knowing I did one last Heroic act for someone that needed it before I was kicked back out into the world. I can at least call myself a Hero in that regard. So go ahead and do with that sentiment whatever you will. My decision's already been made."

Nikolay didn't say another word after that, because he knew he didn't need to. His point had been made just as much as his decision, as he could see the deep contemplation in everyone's eyes; even in Tenyas' through the frustrated grimace on his face. Eijirou, Izuku and Shoto all looked to their once so-meek Russian classmate and friend with silent approval, and even a touch of admiration on Eijirous' part, to hear him state something so selfless. It sounded exactly like the kind of thing Tunguska would say. Nikolay, likewise, didn't hesitate to express his own appreciation for their support with a sentimental smile of his own on that bandaged-up face of his.

Nikolay couldn't blame any one of his friends and classmates if they decided not to go through with it, and simply leave it to him, Eijirou and Shoto, if Izuku somehow chose not to go with them. They had all been put through something they never should've had to experience this early into their Hero education; he knew that far too well. They didn't deserve to have their entire life's work thrown away for a reckless plan like this. But, by god, he had gone through the hell of getting shot, nearly dying and being resuscitated for a reason, and Eijirou and Shoto had given him the only reason he could feasibly think of in the heat of this moment.

To do anything else but take it into his hands, and fight with everything he'd gained to make right what he still felt he'd done wrong, would've been an insult to his goal of becoming a Hero. As far as he was concerned, this was his final step towards at least achieving that goal in his own eyes. Now it was just a matter of seeing if anyone else was as willing to reach that same goal for themselves, even if it meant no longer becoming Heroes in the eyes of society.

And there is the new chapter for the week, and the end of my take on the Forest Training Camp Arc. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I'm especially excited for you all to see what I was able to do, no matter how big or small, with the following Hideout Raid Arc!

If you all liked what you read here today, feel free to share your thoughts. That and the loyal readership are both their own treasures.

Have a nice rest of your week in preparation for a most likely quiet Halloween in the next couple of weeks, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 10/23!