Ibara and Tokoyami heard a Chainsaw revving up before hearing three more of them rev up, followed by the sound of a spinning drill.
They weren't sure what they were more intimidated by; the sound of the buzzing chainsaws and the spinning drill, or the silhouette of a large figure that stood before them.
But what this silhouette was, would be revealed as the gas cleared.
Now they could clearly see what was in front of them.
They were looking up at a large, green Nomu that had six extra arms protruding from its back. Each arm had a tool attached to it, being four chainsaws, a drill, and a hammer. But on one of its primary arms, it was holding a blue and bloody headpiece that looked familiar to them.
Tokoyami recognized the headpiece as he felt a lump form in his throat. 'Is that Pixie-Bob's?'
The Nomu faced them without any movement or expression, as if it was just as scared and as confused as they were. It gave them hope that they could simply go around it without any need to fight.
But when Ibara took the first step, she stepped on a dry leaf, making the Nomu screech loudly before charging at her.
"Shiozaki, get back!" Tokoyami launched Dark Shadow at the Nomu.
Dark Shadow was back to the size he was before, being about half the size of the Nomu as he pushed the creature back. "Back, you freak of nature! You want your ass beat that badly?!"
The Nomu smacked Dark Shadow's head with a hammer before starting to wail on his head with the tool.
Dark Shadow tried to resist the pain in his head, still pushing the Nomu back. Once the Nomu was a fair distance from Tokoyami and Ibara, he delivered a strong right hook to the Nomu's head.
Vines erupted from the ground as Dark Shadow backed off. The vines started to wrap around the Nomu's entire body until it was encased like a cocoon.
The Nomu immediately sliced through the vines with its chainsaws and sliced through a tree before grabbing it and throwing it at Ibara.
Ibara managed to catch the tree in time with her vines before throwing it back at the creature.
But the Nomu sliced the tree in half, right through the middle, before Dark Shadow went back on the offensive. He constantly threw punches at the Nomu's body, but all the punches seemed to be doing was pushing the creature back. However, it did seem to block any punches headed toward its head.
So at least that told them that this Nomu isn't invincible.
"How powerful do you believe this abomination is?" Ibara asked as she took off her gas mask, slowly spreading her vines across the area.
"I'm not certain yet..." Tokoyami took his gas mask off as well and kept his eyes focused on the Nomu, while also trying to keep Dark Shadow in control as he panted. "Thankfully, this Nomu doesn't seem as deadly as the one my class encountered at the USJ. If it was, then we would have been dead already. But that doesn't mean we should let our guard down for a second."
"In perilous situations such as these, we have to keep faith that we will be guided to victory and survival." Ibara clasped her hands together, looking like she was about to perform another prayer.
"Shiozaki, no offense, but I don't think that now is the right time for-" But Tokoyami stopped himself as he saw more vines erupt from the ground, grabbing the Nomu's legs and starting to swing it around.
The Nomu let out a screech as it was about to slice the vines off, but before it could, its body was slammed against a tree.
Vines then shot out from that tree and other trees in the area, tightly wrapping around each and every one of its arms.
The Nomu was now suspended midair with its back against the tree, its two primary arms being outstretched while the six arms on its back were held above its head.
It looked as if the Nomu was crucified on the tree.
Tokoyami was stunned by what Ibara had just done to the Nomu, not knowing what to say as he glanced back and forth between her and the creature.
He knew she was strong with her absolute victory against Kaminari, but he was still very impressed by this show of skill and power.
After it finally processed in his brain, he cleared his throat. "Excellent work. Now that it's immobilized, we have the perfect opportunity to finish it off."
"May your soul be forgiven when you reach heaven's doors." Ibara prayed for the Nomu, still holding her hands together and looking at it. "It is time for you to repent."
Tokoyami approached the Nomu before looking at Dark Shadow. "I'm counting on you to finish it off with a single blow. We can't afford you attacking it and accidentally loosening it from its bindings."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Can it already." Dark Shadow groaned, sticking his tongue out at Tokoyami.
While Dark Shadow was distracted, the Nomu made its move.
The six arms on its back retracted back into its body before five of the arms protruded out of its sides.
"They can retract?" Ibara tried to have her vines wrap around those five arms, but she was too late as the Nomu used its chainsaws to slice the vines holding its primary arms before slicing the vines holding its legs.
The Nomu planted its legs on the tree behind it before kicking off of it, launching itself right toward Ibara. Suddenly, an extra arm protruded from its stomach, brandishing a spinning drill.
With virtually no time to think, Ibara acted on instinct and created a wall of vines in front of her, trying to make it as thick as she could.
But the drill began to penetrate through the vines with ease. She then tried to push the vines against the Nomu as she could hear the drill getting closer to her. But this push could only do so much, as the drill finally tore through the vines.
Its tip stabbed right into her left shoulder. Ibara screamed in pain as the drill rapidly spun in her shoulder, having never felt a pain so intense before in her life.
Before the Nomu could push the drill deeper into her, Dark Shadow tackled the Nomu with all of his might, knocking the Nomu away to a safe distance away from her.
The wall of vines became undone as she saw Tokoyami keeping Dark Shadow at bay as they both stared at her in horror.
Ibara stumbled back, grabbing onto her wounded shoulder and putting pressure on it to slow down the bleeding. Her back hit a tree, and she slowly slid down it until she was sitting on the ground with a weak smile. "I'm grateful, Tokoyami…"
"Shiozaki!" Tokoyami ran over to Ibara and crouched down, taking a look at her wound. His eyes then shifted to the Nomu, blood dripping from the tip of its drill. His eyes became filled with rage as he gripped onto his head. "How dare you!"
Most of Tokoyami's body began to be covered by Dark Shadow as he clenched his teeth and let out a strained scream.
Dark Shadow's body was now much larger than it was before, easily towering over the Nomu. His eyes were filled with a fiery rage, and he looked like some deadly monster from a folk tale.
He let out a thunderous roar, shaking the surrounding trees. The roar would be enough to strike fear into almost any person who heard it.
The Nomu leaped at Dark Shadow, ready to attack him with all of its tools, but it was quickly spiked back into the ground with a loud crash.
"You are nothing beneath me!" Dark Shadow shouted before he slammed the Nomu with his fist and continued to slam the Nomu over and over.
When he was done, the Nomu was left in a small crater, all of its tools completely destroyed and its limbs mangled. It started to slowly get back up, but it was assisted by Dark Shadow grabbing onto its shoulders.
But Dark Shadow didn't stop at helping the Nomu up, starting to lift it in the air. "I'll make you pay!"
The Nomu let out an ear-splitting screech as Dark Shadow started to pull it apart from its shoulders. Dark Shadow let out a roar before brutally splitting the Nomu in half.
Dark Shadow let go of the Nomu, letting its two halves drop to the ground with a splat. The Nomu's body twitched for a few seconds until it came to a complete standstill.
Dark Shadow let out another roar to declare himself the victor, as Ibara held in a gasp with her hand over her mouth. "Tokoyami?"
"Dark Shadow, please calm yourself! The enemy is defeated! You can stop!" Tokoyami pleaded, straining his body to try to hold Dark Shadow back, but it didn't seem to work as his partner turned to Ibara. "Shiozaki, run! He'll kill you!"
"But, I can't leave you like thi-"
"Just go!"
"It's not over until I'm the last one standing!" Dark Shadow roared out before starting to charge at Ibara.
Ibara knew she had no choice now as she started to run away as fast as she could, but as she ran, tears escaped her eyes.
It wasn't due to the pain in her shoulder or her fear of getting attacked by Dark Shadow.
Her tears were caused by the fact that she had to run away again, especially when a good person like Tokoyami was clearly in pain.
'A blessing will surely reach you, Tokoyami. It has to…'
Kyouka, Katsuki, and Shoto were running through the forest, cutting right through the middle of it.
Well, it's more like Katsuki and Kyouka were running while Shoto was using Katsuki as support, using only his right leg to run. And it was obvious that Katsuki was hating every second of this.
"Count yourself lucky I'm in a good mood after that victory." Katsuki growled at Shoto, making a weak attempt to shrug Shoto's hand off of his shoulder. "But I'm warnin' you not to get on my nerves. I will drop your ass right here."
"I don't plan on it." Shoto replied, having the feeling that Katsuki wouldn't drop him anyway.
Kyouka was holding her phone with the FMH app open, watching closely as her dot was steadily getting closer to Izuku's.
With her other hand, she had two fingers placed on her choker, feeling Izuku's rapid heartbeat. She was relieved to know that he is still okay, but she didn't like how fast his heart was beating.
She tried texting him ever since Muscular was defeated, but she hasn't gotten a single answer from him. So that must mean he's busy with something, which knowing him, that something is probably fighting a villain.
He'll be fine. He has to be fine by the time she reaches him.
While being lost in both her thoughts, the app, and Izuku's heartbeat, her shoulder accidentally bumped into Katsuki's, making his eyes flare up in rage. "Watch where you're running, moron!"
Kyouka responded with her own anger as she raised her earphone jack, pointing it at Katsuki. "You don't have to be a massive dick about it! It was an accident! Much like you were!"
"Say that again! I dare you!"
"I'll say it 100 times!"
The two started to have a shouting match that was scaring many small animals away from them.
Shoto ears were not having a good time with all the shouting next to him as he glanced at the two. It wouldn't be his first time being next to a man and a woman shouting at each other, but he'd rather not deal with it when he only has one good leg. "Please, you two…Can we focus on reaching Midoriya instead of bickering amongst each other?"
"Don't tell me what to do, Icy Hot!" Katsuki snapped.
"Hard not to bicker when you're next to a complete dumbass…" Kyouka mumbled.
Shoto sighed and decided to change the subject before Katsuki had time to continue arguing with Kyouka. "So Jirou, are you sure that killing Midoriya is the villains' only reason for invading the camp? It's not that I don't believe you, but this seems to be too much of an effort for killing a single student."
"Yeah…That's all the villain said…" Kyouka kept her eyes forward, not bothering to even glance at Shoto.
Earlier, Aizawa had arrived to check on them after hearing about Izuku and Katsuki escaping. He wanted to drag all three teens away with his scarf, but he knew that two of them were too stubborn for their own good and that they'd surely fight back.
Especially Kyouka.
With Izuku also being somewhere in the forest, erasing her quirk wouldn't do him much good. If the boy was with them, then he'd most likely be able to get the girl to peacefully comply.
But after knowing he wouldn't be able to take the teens away, he opted to take Kota with him back to camp, where he'll be safe. And that's when Kyouka told him that Izuku was on some kind of kill list. But that's all she mentioned to him in regard to what Muscular told her.
In truth, she didn't care enough to mention that they wanted Katsuki. Regarding to what Muscular said about having to keep her alive, she decided to keep that to herself.
It's not like she wanted to keep it a secret, but when she was about to mention it to Aizawa, something in her gut told her not to. Besides, it's better that all the focus is directed to Izuku anyway.
And it seemed like Kota was too scared to even hear what Muscular said about wanting Katsuki and keeping her alive. So, her statement to him went through flawlessly.
Shoto was looking at Kyouka, doing his best to read her face. He opened his mouth to say something to her until he was interrupted by a distant voice.
"Somebody, please help us!" A voice shouted from deeper into the forest. The three teens stopped running and narrowed their eyes to see a figure running towards them.
When the figure got closer, they all saw that it was Ibara, who had her hand on her bloody shoulder.
Kyouka and Shoto were about to call out to the girl, but Katsuki spoke up first. "What is that extra doing here?!"
Ibara's face quickly went from worried to shocked as her eyes went wide. "E-Extra?! That is no way to address another student! How awfully rude of you!"
"Shiozaki, what are you running from?!" Shoto asked, but he could hear that trees were falling down behind her, and he could also hear a roar from some kind of beast.
The beast then got closer, and Kyouka's eyes almost popped out of her skull as she got a good look at it. "Is that Dark Shadow?!"
Ibara nodded, finally catching up to them. "Tokoyami lost control of Dark Shadow! There must be a way to help him!"
"What are we supposed to do?!" Kyouka considered just running around Ibara and Dark Shadow.
With how out of control he seems, there's no use trying to help if she doesn't know what to do. Izuku is her only concern right now, and if Tokoyami can't be helped, then he can't be helped. If it was any consolation, she'll silently apologize to him and she'll hope that someone else can help him.
But Shoto was ready to help Tokoyami as he thought about everything he'd learned about his classmate's quirk. "Tokoyami mentioned that he's been training to keep Dark Shadow under control in darker areas. So, I think exposing him to light might return control to him."
"You had to take time to think about that? Seems obvious to me." Katsuki smirked, small explosions popping from his hand. "I'm always ready to take someone down a peg or two."
Dark Shadow let out a roar as he heard the sounds of the explosions, charging right at the teens at full force.
When Dark Shadow got close, Shoto separated himself from Katsuki and lit a large flame from his left hand. Meanwhile, Katsuki held out both hands, starting to release small yet bright explosions.
Dark Shadow winced from the light, his body rapidly shrinking down until he retreated into Tokoyami, who was about to fall forward until he was caught by Ibara. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you, Shiozaki…"
Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami, being back to his normal size with tears in his eyes. "Me too…"
Ibara shook her head, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder for now, as she used her free hand to pat Dark Shadow's head. "You two should know that there's nothing to apologize for. That only happened because you both were concerned for my safety. I give you my thanks. It seems that we were truly blessed today."
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow both smiled at Ibara before Tokoyami stood back up while his partner entered back into his body. "Shiozaki, I think it's best that you return to camp, so your shoulder can be treated. I'll accompany you." He looked at Shoto, seeing his injured state. "You should come too, Todoroki. No offense, but you don't look fit to run."
"I think he's right." Kyouka twirled around her earphone jack. "Your body is pretty messed up."
"You have a point there. I'd prefer not to leave the two of you to deal with any villains you may encounter, but I know I'd just slow you down." Shoto sighed with a small smile.
"Damn straight. Take Earlobes with you too. The less burdens I have, the better." Katsuki pointed at Kyouka with his thumb.
"Go to hell, Bakugo." Kyouka glared at him. "I'm not leaving unless Izuku is leaving with me."
Katsuki glared at her back. "That's too damn bad. I don't want to deal with a weakling."
"I think that's our cue to leave." Tokoyami whispered to Shoto and Ibara, while Kyouka and Katsuki were having their glaring contest.
Tokoyami grabbed Shoto's arm and gently threw it around his shoulder, starting to walk back to camp. Ibara walked right beside them, continuing to apply pressure to her shoulder wound.
"Jirou! Bakugo! Hey!" Kyouka and Katsuki looked to their right to see Itsuka running towards them and waving.
"Great! Another extra?!" Katsuki ground his teeth together.
"Oh, Kendo…" Kyouka tilted her head.
Itsuka panted as she planted her hand on her knees, finally reaching them. "Whoa, I think I've run enough to burn days worth of calories." She looked up to face Kyouka and Katsuki. "So, what'd I mis-"
Itsuka stopped short with her mouth agape, seeing that those two weren't in front of her anymore.
"…"
She slowly turned to see that Kyouka and Katsuki were running away and clearly ignoring her presence.
"HEY!" Itsuka's ponytail stood straight up from her shout before she ran after those two, soon catching up. "Why'd you up and abandon me like that?"
"Nothing personal. I'm just in a huge rush and I've already wasted enough time." Kyouka answered, not giving Itsuka a single glance.
"Oh, I see. It's about Midoriya being a target for the villains, isn't it? To tell the truth, I've also been looking for him, but I've been running around like a headless chicken this entire time."
Kyouka's head slowly turned to Itsuka, her eyes staring right into the other girl's soul. "Why were you looking for him?"
Itsuka felt as if an evil presence was hovering above her, as she could feel a heavy weight on her shoulder. "I…just want to make sure he's safe. Is it hard to believe that I want to see another student safe? To add to that, I feel like I have a kind of kinship with Midoriya, both of us being our respective class's president. Know what I mean?"
"...You get a pass for that. Mainly because I can't risk slowing down anymore." Kyouka continued to look forward but noted to herself to keep an eye on Itsuka when this was all over.
Setsuna was sitting on Mustard's unconscious body as she watched her leg slowly regenerate. She let out a sigh, resting her chin on her hand. "I always hate this part. It's so boring to wait for my limbs to regenerate."
Yui had returned the gun and gas mask to their regular size before she kicked them both to a corner.
"Yo, Yui." Setsuna called out. "Do me a favor and shrink that gas mask back again."
Yui just stared at her, clearly hesitating to do this favor.
"C'mon, just do it. I'll owe ya one." Setsuna held up a finger. "Whatever you want."
Yui still looked like she was hesitating, but she sighed before touching the gas mask, shrinking it down.
Before she could look at Setsuna, she saw a disembodied hand float toward the gas mask and swiped it.
She watched as the hand returned to Setsuna as the other girl held the mask.
Yui crossed her arms. "Why?"
Setsuna smirked, pocketing the gas mask. "A souvenir. I have to wait for my leg to regenerate cause of this douche." She flicked Mustard's forehead. "So, I think I deserve this as compensation."
Yui pinched the bridge of her nose but chose to not think about Setsuna's decision to keep a piece of a villain's gear to herself.
A headache wasn't what she wanted right now. Besides, at least Setsuna didn't want the gun. Then she would be very concerned.
Yui leaned her back against a tree and closed her eyes, lightly smacking the side of the tree with an enlarged branch.
But her eyes shot open when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. Yui gripped the branch with two of her hands and took in a deep breath.
Yui suddenly turned around and leaped at the source of the footsteps, swinging the branch down as hard as she could. But the branch snapped in half against a metal shield, making her eyes widen in fear for a split second.
When Yui took a step back, she could finally see what the source of the sound was. "Oh."
Setsuna's head and hands quickly floated to her. "Yui, what happened?!"
Yui only pointed to the person in front of her, who was Momo.
"Oh hey, Yaoyorozu." Setsuna waved at her.
Momo smiled at the two girls, lowering her shield, and letting down her guard. "Apologies for arriving so suspiciously. I had to be on my guard in case there was still a villain nearby, but it appears to me that you two have taken care of everything. Are you both alright?"
Yui nodded and Setsuna gave a thumbs up. "Hell yeah. Other than having to regenerate a few body parts, I'm 120% fine."
"That's good to hear. So, this person was the cause of the gas?" Momo looked at the unconscious body of Mustard, with the rest of Setsuna's body still sitting on it.
"That's right. I'm just chillin' on this villain. Well, he is kinda bony, so he's not the ideal chair." Setsuna furrowed her brows.
Momo sweatdropped, blinking at Setsuna. "I see…" She then cleared her throat and walked over to Mustard's body before creating a tiny device."
"What's that?" Setsuna's head followed Momo as she eyed the device.
"A tracking device. I have an idea that just might work. Unfortunately, I'll have to get my hands dirty…" Momo gulped and felt her entire body shudder before she created a pair of latex gloves.
Yui could only stare in astonishment as she watched Momo snap the gloves onto her hands before getting to work with the tracker.
"Wow."
Reiko was keeping Moonfish on the defensive, continuing to send the metal shards at him, but Moonfish flawlessly dodged each attack. It was as if his movements were autonomous, using his blades to move his body.
He'd even shoot his blades through the shards every so often, knocking them down to force Reiko to lift them back up.
"Fresh flesh…Tender…Tough…Juicy…" Moonfish groaned out, drooling at the teens in front of him.
But even though he was on the defensive, that didn't stop him from still shooting blades at Izuku whenever he had the chance.
At the same time, he kept his eye on Ochako in case she tried to perform another sneak attack on him like she did before.
"I can see now that I wouldn't have had a chance without you here, Yanagi." Izuku leaped at Moonfish, trying to land an attack, but blades were shot at him.
Luckily, Reiko stalled the blades with her shards while still sending another set of shards toward the villain, making him dodge again. "I don't buy that. We all saw your match with Todoroki at the festival. That power of yours is scary."
Izuku saw Reiko flash a smirk at him. "You're not inaccurate on the scary part. But I prefer not having to break my arm unless it's a last resort. To be honest, I probably would have by now, but Kyouka would never let me hear the end of it. I don't want her getting mad at me, especially this summer."
"Why? Are you plotting something nefarious for Jirou?" Reiko raised a brow. "And it's something you need her to be in a good mood for, hm? I see…What a terrifying man you are, Midoriya."
"C-Can we please focus on the battle?" Izuku's cheeks went red as he jumped straight up to dodge some blades and delivered an axe kick to them, shattering them to provide Reiko with more ammo.
"Fine…We can continue this talk about your intimate attachment for Jirou another time." Reiko went on the offensive again, but it was still the same routine as before, with Moonfish dodging and counterattacking.
Ochako was keeping on her toes, but she had a blank face as she looked between Izuku and Reiko. 'Rubbing salt in the wound, huh?'
'I'd rather we bury this talk…' Izuku sighed before glancing at his broken finger. 'Even after having those two assist me, we're still at a stalemate with Moonfish. Either we take too long in defeating him or we'll have to rely on somebody else arriving to assist us. I don't know if we can afford that though. I think I'll have to flick my finger again to give Yanagi and Uraraka another opening to attack, hopefully finishing this.'
Izuku got ready to flick his finger as he aimed at Moonfish. But before he could attack, he noticed a figure below Moonfish.
The figure jumped up and grabbed Moonfish's legs before attempting to slam the villain into the ground. But Moonfish was prepared this time and focused his blades on the ground to resist.
"Damn…That's unlucky…" Shoji groaned out, three of his arms holding onto Moonfish's legs before he let go.
"Shoji, dodge!" Aoyama shouted from the bushes as Shoji jumped out of the way, blades being shot to where he was just standing.
"You two are still here?!" Izuku's eyes became as wide as plates as he was absolutely stunned. "I thought you both left!"
"I tried to, but Shoji wouldn't leave with me…" Aoyama looked down at the ground in shame. "It would weigh on my conscience if I left my good friend behind."
Moonfish's attention was now completely drawn to Shoji, focusing on where he severed some of the boy's arms before. "That's mine…All mine…"
Luckily, Shoji was able to dodge most of the blades with Reiko assisting him. However, this wouldn't last forever as Shoji lost his footing after side-stepping away from a set of blades and one of his duplicate arms was sliced off. A pained grunt escaped Shoji's mouth, but he didn't plan on stopping now.
"Shoji!" Izuku glared at Moonfish as he prepared to leap at the villain while he was distracted to land a 20% smash. He wouldn't let Shoji's sacrifice be in vain.
But once again, Izuku was interrupted as Tenya ran right past him and leaped at the villain, pulling back his right leg. "Recipro Burst!"
Tenya's engine roared before he swung his leg with incredible speed and power, the kick colliding with Moonfish's face.
The villain's body was launched away from the kick, flying far into the path ahead. His body tumbled on the ground until he landed in some bushes.
Tenya landed on his feet, looking back at Izuku with a smile. "Why did I have a hunch that I would see you fighting a villain?"
Izuku gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can you really say you're surprised at this point?"
"Iida! Glad you could make it!" Ochako waved at him.
Reiko nodded. "Your arrival must mean that there aren't any more no more students in the gas."
"As a matter of fact, the gas disappeared from the air. But yes, most of the students are accounted for. The only ones I haven't encountered yet are Bakugo, Jirou, Kendo, Kodai, Shiozaki, Todoroki, Tokage, Tokoyami, and Yaoyorozu." Iida then walked over to Shoji. "Apologies, Shoji, but I'm afraid I'll have to take you back to camp so you can be treated."
Shoji slowly formed new arms to put pressure on all his wounds as he sighed. "I don't have the strength to fight back even if I wanted to…But I'm glad that I was able to create that opening for you…"
Tenya helped guide Shoji onto his back until he made sure that his classmate was fully secured as he grabbed onto him. "There you go." He then gave Izuku a bit of a stern look. "But I hope you know that when I return, you're going back next."
"That's fair…" Izuku's head dropped as he heard Tenya run off with Shoji.
Aoyama hesitatingly stepped out of the bushes, looking around the area. "Is it safe now?"
Reiko shrugged her shoulders. "At this moment, it may be. But we don't know what other villains may be lurking in the forest."
"Let's take a breather while we have the chance." Ochako leaned back against a tree.
Izuku wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Good idea, Uraraka."
He touched his pendant, feeling Kyouka's heartbeat at his fingertips. 'I wonder where she is right now…Oh right, I have the app.'
Izuku pulled out his phone and was about to check the app when he heard someone shout from the forest.
"Hey, Izuku!" The boy's eyes widened at hearing that familiar voice, before a wide smile formed on his face.
"Kyo-" Izuku turned to Kyouka, but she was already right in front of him, having the most relieved smile on her face.
What the…
He could've sworn that she just sounded further away, and he doesn't remember her being that fast.
Oh, well. It's not like that matters. He's just happy that he got to see her during this crisis.
But when he took a look at her, he noticed that her smile faded away as she examined his body with a concerned expression and let out a light gasp.
"I knew I should've seen this coming." Kyouka muttered to herself, looking at his broken finger and the cut on his leg.
'What villain cut him and forced him to use his finger? Whoever it is better hope that I don't find their unconscious body. An eye for a cut, as they say…' Kyouka pulled out her bandages and crouched down, grabbing a sturdy twig from the ground.
Kyouka began to wrap bandages around the cut on his leg. "I don't have my full kit on me right now, so I don't have any disinfectant. But we'll change these bandages once we get back to camp." She stood back up, gently taking hold of his hand with the broken finger.
Izuku just watched in silence as Kyouka used the twig as a splint, placing it next to his broken finger before slowly wrapping the bandages around his finger and the twig. He couldn't help but admire how gentle and beautiful she looked as she treated him. As much as he hated being a burden on her, at least there was the silver lining of being able to be treated by her. These were times when he let himself be selfish.
"Stop wastin' time!" Katsuki shouted as he and Itsuka finally arrived, making Kyouka slightly jump as she had just finished treating Izuku.
"Dammit, Bakugo! You could've messed me up if I didn't finish!" Kyouka turned to Katsuki, reaching down to grab another twig and threw it at him.
Katsuki effortlessly dodged the twig and Itsuka caught it, dropping it right away. "Jirou, how did you speed up so suddenly?"
"Speed up?" Kyouka pointed to herself. "I think you guys were just slowing down."
"Okay…" Itsuka crossed her arms. "Well, did you give everyone else any updates they might need?"
"Everyone else?" Kyouka started to scan the area, seeing Aoyama, Reiko, and…Ochako.
'Of course, she's here too. But she said she wouldn't make a move until the deadline, which is in three days. I can't say I trust her 100%, but she doesn't seem to be clinging to Izuku's arm like a harpy, so I'll act like everything's okay.'
"Sorry, Kendo. Guess, I had tunnel vision."
Itsuka sighed, placing her hand on her forehead. "I guess I'll handle it then. From what Jirou told me earlier, she left that Kota kid with Mr. Aizawa. She and Bakugo also separated with Shiozaki, Todoroki, and Tokoyami when they went back to camp."
Ochako poked her cheek. "So that only leaves Yaomomo, Tokage, and Kodai unaccounted for from what Iida told us."
"Actually, I can update you on those three too. But…I think I can give you a visual update rather than a verbal one." Itsuka pulled out her phone and presented a picture.
Everyone other than Katsuki grouped up to take a look at the picture, and they were both impressed and surprised by what they saw.
Setsuna took a selfie as she was sitting on a teenage boy's body, with Momo holding out her gloved hands like she was about to perform some kind of procedure. Yui was in the background of the picture, watching Momo with fascination.
"What is Yaomomo about to do?" Ochako spoke up.
"Perform surgery on him?" Reiko suggested.
Izuku glanced at Reiko. "I doubt that's what she's trying to do."
"Perhaps she's preparing to grab stinky cheese to interrogate him with." Aoyama snapped his fingers.
Kyouka gave Aoyama a judging look. "Why would she have stinky cheese? And is that enough to interrogate somebody?"
"You underestimate the power of cheese, mademoiselle." Aoyama smirked.
"Either way, I think we can trust those three to look out for each other and return safely to camp." Reiko commented.
"You all look like complete morons." Katsuki scoffed, but he admittedly was a little curious about the picture, but it wasn't worth grouping up with all of them.
Izuku backed up from the group and looked at his old friend with a serious expression. "Bakugo…Thank you for helping Kyouka and Kota."
"Don't thank me, you nerd. I only helped them out of circumstances." Katsuki avoided making eye contact with Izuku as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Are you going to do anything about that cut, Bakugo?" Ochako pointed at the cut on Katsuki's cheek. "Looks bad."
Katsuki turned away, so the cut wouldn't be visible to her or anyone else who would be nosy. "None of your business, Pink Cheeks."
"Jeez, a simple 'no' would be fine." Ochako stuck out her tongue at him.
"So, now that all of us are together, should we make our way to the camp with the heroes where it's safe?" Aoyama pointed at the path that led back to camp.
Kyouka put her hand on Izuku's shoulder, gripping it with a light amount of force. "I agree. Don't you Izuku?"
Izuku gulped, seeing her give him such a sweet smile. He knew that even if he disagreed, she would drag him back to camp herself.
But getting another look at her, he noticed that her left jack was bandaged and that there was a bit of blood on her right jack. There were also bandages wrapped around her arm and her ankle. "Kyouka, what happened to you back there? Your jacks too…"
"Oh, these?" Kyouka gave him a small smile as she shook her head. "Don't worry about them. The left one is just a bit banged up, and the right one got more action than it wanted. I'll be alright. I promise you that what I suffered today isn't close to the injuries you've gone through in the past."
"As long as you're more careful today, then it'll be fine." Izuku smiled back before looking down the path and seeing Tenya arrive on the scene.
"I have gotten confirmation of Shiozaki, Todoroki, and Tokoyami's safety at camp. I have also received a message from Yaoyorozu about the safety of Kodai and Tokage. So let us prepare to head off now." Tenya chopped his hand down the path and looked at Kyouka, Katsuki, and Itsuka. "I'm relieved to see that the three of you are alright. I'm sure you'll be accompanying us. Especially you, Bakugo."
Katsuki stomped over to Tenya, veins popping out on his forehead. "The hell's that supposed to mean, Four Eyes?!"
While Tenya tried to rationally explain to Katsuki despite being cut off every other word, everyone else decided to huddle up around Izuku.
Izuku tried to move, but everyone else moved with him in sync. "...Why are you five acting like the Secret Service?"
Reiko moved the clump of shards above Izuku's head to serve as a bulletproof umbrella. "Precaution. You are a target, after all."
"What she said. You're not leaving my sight until we're back at camp, Izuku." Kyouka kept her eyes sharp and prepared to use her earphone jack on any villain that might arrive. "You never know if there's a sniper watching us."
Aoyama nodded. "Oui. No such thing as being too careful."
Izuku blinked with a deadpanned look on his face. "I think this qualifies as too much…"
"I do agree, but I don't see the problem with this." Itsuka let out a small chuckle. "We can't have you getting picked off, Midoriya."
Ochako giggled. "It's also kinda fun. Iida, come join us! Try to get Bakugo to get in here too!"
Ochako popped her head out of the huddle to look at those two, but she didn't see them. Did they run off ahead to camp without everyone else?
No, Tenya wouldn't do that without consulting everyone first.
"Guys! Iida and Bakugo are missing!" Ochako alerted everyone, forcing the huddle to disband almost instantaneously, but Kyouka stayed by Izuku.
"Missing?" Izuku was on high alert now, trying to look around himself in hopes that Ochako just missed them. But he didn't see those two either. "Where are the-"
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! I'm very grateful to have such an audience! I am your lead performer today, Mr. Compress!" Everyone looked up at a nearby tree to see a man standing on a branch and holding a cane.
This man was wearing a yellow overcoat, a weird-looking mask, and a top hat with a feather sticking out of it.
He has to be another villain who invaded the camp. Izuku didn't recognize him at all, so this villain probably works under the radar.
The villain held two blue marbles in between his fingers. "Excuse me, but I've made the decision to commandeer. Bakugo. But please, don't think of it as a kidnapping, but more of a liberation. It's always a shame for youth with so much potential to be trapped in a birdcage. I'm merely opening it for him."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Itsuka clenched her fists, enlarging them. "And what did you do with Iida?!"
"Do you not believe that Bakugo's role is more suited for that of a villain? Because I certainly do." Compress rolled the marbles across his fingers. "As for your second inquiry, I can't allow you to have an easy chase with someone who has such speed. The more interesting the show, the better."
It started to make sense to Kyouka now. This must be why the villains want Katsuki. To recruit him as a villain. But the more she thought about it, the more she started to think that it wouldn't be so bad if the villains left with Katsuki.
He has always seemed like the villain type anyway, so why not actually fill in that role?
Compress' eyes shifted over to Reiko, who started to hold out her hands before he swiftly threw his cane at her, hitting her square on the forehead. The girl let out a yelp from pain as she placed her hands on her forehead.
"I'll be having none of that, young lady. I can't have you ruin the act so soon. For now, I'll bid you all adieu. Moonfish, I trust I can leave you to keep our audience entertained." Compress tipped his hat to Moonfish, who was limping toward the teens, his mask almost completely torn off now and one of his arms getting loose from the straight jacket as it hung down.
"How durable is this guy?" Ochako took a few steps back.
Aoyama tried to keep his legs from giving out as they uncontrollably shook from fear.
"Give them back!" Izuku demanded, keeping his eyes on Compress as green electricity surrounded his body, preparing to charge at the villain. "You can't take them!"
Compress bowed before he leaped away onto a treetop with impressive grace and speed. "Sorry, but I don't have time to fight! Besides, my specialty doesn't lie in combat! I'm much more efficient in escapology!"
Compress began to jump across the treetops while talking into an earpiece, and Izuku was about to go after him until he took notice of Moonfish approaching.
'Dammit, what do I do?! I can't leave them to deal with Moonfish alone! But no one here other than me has the speed to catch up to Mr. Compress!' Izuku ran his hand through his hair, his face being overtaken by the anxiety of thinking over this decision.
"Dekiru, go after that guy! We'll handle this villain here by ourselves!" Ochako gave Izuku a thumbs up while keeping her eyes on the villain.
Moonfish was still limping towards the teens, his eyes looking crazed and hungry as he was drooling more than ever before. "I need it…I need the flesh!"
The villain unleashed blades headed straight for everyone, until Reiko acted fast, using the shards to block the blades as she'd done before. But she noticed that Itsuka held out her enlarged hands as if she were ready to take in all the damage from those blades. "Kendo, get ready!" Reiko moved all the shards to Itsuka's hands, covering them to form some makeshift armor around her palms.
"Awesome, Yanagi!" Itsuka then blocked the blades with her newly armored hands but was being pushed back. "Go, Midoriya! We got this!"
Izuku nodded and used 20% to jump straight for Compress, strong throbbing pain coursing through both his legs, but it'll be worth it once he gets Tenya and Katsuki back.
Compress turned around, now jumping perfectly backward on the treetops, seeing Izuku closing in on him fast. "A volunteer? Why, I don't see why I can't have a third." He then readied his hand to capture the boy if he got too close.
"I got you!" Izuku reached out for the villain as he got closer and even more green electricity surrounded his body.
Time seemed to slow down for the boy as his hand was close to making contact with Compress. He could see that the villain's hand was about to touch his arm, but he didn't care right now.
Right now, he only has one goal.
To capture Compress and save his classmates.
Before any one of them could make contact, a mass of black energy exploded out of Izuku's right arm, instantly forming into multiple black tendrils that were going berserk.
"What the?" Compress' hand was slapped away by a tendril, filling his hand with a stinging sensation. "It seems I'm not the only one with tricks up my sleeve. You cheeky little hero."
Compress was about to start jumping across the treetops again, but his body was grabbed by a tendril before being thrown to the ground.
"What's happening to me?!" Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing come out of his arm.
Is this because of One For All? That doesn't matter right now. The villain's knocked down, and he has a chance to take him down now. But the tendrils were still going berserk, and he couldn't control them or make them stop.
"Let go of me!" Izuku punched his right arm to try to make it stop, but it kept releasing these tendrils. "Dammit!"
The tendrils forcefully pulled him to the ground, making him crash before dragging his body across the ground without any mercy.
"Izuku!" Kyouka couldn't even process this new power from Izuku right now. That wasn't as important as his safety. She tried to run after him, but Ochako held her arm out to block her.
"We can't do anything with this guy blocking our path." Ochako watched as Aoyama used his laser to destroy the blades that were pushing Itsuka back. But Moonfish extended one of his blades to shoot at the boy, making him help and dive into the bushes, where it was safe. The villain then continued his push on Itsuka. "I hate being stuck here too, but I don't think we have a choice."
"Dammit…" Kyouka knew that Ochako was right and that only frustrated her more.
It's not like she could do anything to help them either to finish off Moonfish faster. A single blade could cleave off her earphone jack like nothing.
'I'm coming for you the first chance I get, Izuku…'
Izuku found himself on the ground, panting as he looked at his arm. The tendrils stopped, but he could feel a surge of power within his right arm that felt like it was going to explode any moment now. "Don't…Don't do this right now…"
But his pleas were of no use, as dozens of tendrils exploded out of his arm, being longer and larger than they were before. But what was worse is that they seemed to be going even more berserk now.
The tendrils started to knock down some trees around him and far from him, even uprooting some of them.
Every single person in the area could see these tendrils, including those who were back at camp.
"What is happening? Is Midoriya doing this? He's even more frightening than I thought he was." Reiko kept her focus on keeping the shards around Itsuka's hands, but still couldn't help but watch the tendrils.
A tendril came by and swung at the ground, barely missing Moonfish, but knocking down a tree next to him. Another tendril arrived and uprooted a few other trees.
The two tendrils then left to wreak havoc somewhere else, and Ochako took a good look at the devastation they caused here. 'Wait, I know what I can do!'
Ochako noticed that Moonfish was distracted, still trying to break through Itsuka's defenses. However, it looked like Itsuka was getting tired from this, and a few shards were starting to break off, forcing Reiko to replace them right away. They couldn't keep this up forever.
Ochako dashed at the trees that were uprooted by the tendrils and touched all of them with her fingertips, making them weightless.
"Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up…" Ochako mumbled to herself as she felt nausea starting to hit her from all the trees being affected by her quirk at once.
The girl did her best to shake it off as she picked up one of the trees and closed her left eye to focus on Moonfish. "Hey, you! Catch!"
Ochako threw the tree as hard as she could, sending it hurdling right at Moonfish. The villain diverted his attention away from Itsuka for a moment, shooting his blades right at the tree and tearing right through it with ease.
But what he didn't expect was to see trees floating around him.
"I'm grateful for these, Uraraka." Reiko threw a tree at Moonfish, which was torn to shreds like the last one, but he didn't see that another tree was thrown at him from behind. She got a direct hit on his back, knocking him down to the ground as he dropped flat on his face.
"Jirou, you and Kendo should go check on Dekiru and try to save him if you can! Try to be fast about it too! We still have Iida and Bakugo to save!" Ochako pointed to where it looked like the tendrils were coming from. "Yanagi and I can handle the rest!"
Kyouka nodded at Ochako and ran straight toward Izuku's direction, with Itsuka following close behind. 'Thanks, Uraraka. I'll save Izuku no matter what! He's my only priority!'
Moonfish wheezed as he slowly lifted his head up. His face was all bruised and bloody, and he barely had any strength in his body anymore. But he felt no pain at all as he caught the sight of Kyouka and Itsuka's backs, running away from him. "They'll be mine!"
Moonfish shot out one last set of blades at the girls, hoping to get at least one kill today, before Aoyama left the bushes and destroyed the blades with his laser again.
Before Moonfish could shoot out more blades, Ochako came running with a weightless tree in hand before swinging it down on his head, slamming his face right into the ground.
Moonfish lost consciousness in an instant, his eyes going white and some of his teeth were broken off.
Ochako panted as she let go of the tree and touched her fingertips together. "R-Release…"
Reiko let the trees fall as they were too heavy for her now before walking over to Ochako with a small smile on her face. "We did it…How are you feeling, Urara-"
Ochako answered by throwing up all over the ground and making Reiko look away, so she wouldn't feel sick too.
Aoyama looked away as well, but the sounds alone were enough to make him feel ill. "So unrefined…"
Meanwhile, Kyouka and Itsuka were closing in on Izuku until they finally spotted him. He was kneeling on the ground, his arm being held up while the tendrils were going wild from it.
The tendrils had been barely missing the girls so far, but Kyouka tried testing her luck by speeding up and getting ahead of Itsuka. "Izuku, I'm coming!"
Izuku gasped at seeing them and tried to move his arm away from them in hopes that doing so would make the tendrils avoid them, but his arm wouldn't budge. "Get out of here! Just leave me! Go after Iida and Bakugo instead!"
"No offense, but we can't really do that when your tendrils are causing chaos everywhere in the forest!" Itsuka had to duck to avoid a tendril before jumping over another. "Saving you will make it easier as long as we're quick about it!"
Kyouka paid no attention to the tendrils, her eyes purely focusing on Izuku and Izuku alone. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to leave you behind! Also…There's something I need to tell yo-"
"Jirou, look out!" Itsuka warned, seeing one of the tendrils heading right for Kyouka. She tried to run at her in hopes of taking the blow herself, but she knew she couldn't run fast enough.
The tendril smacked Kyouka's arm, ripping her sleeve and tearing off the bandages. The girl seethed in pain, feeling her cut getting smacked with a lot of force. The wound was burning like crazy as it was forcefully opened up, and she could feel her warm blood seeping out of it.
But if anything, that only gave her more resolve for what she was about to do.
Kyouka grabbed onto the tendril before starting to get flung around like a rag doll.
Itsuka widened her eyes and tried to reach for Kyouka, enlarging her hand, but the tendril took her away. "What are you thinking?!"
"Let go, Kyouka!" Izuku strained out, tears exiting his eyes. "You'll get hurt if you keep holding on! I don't want that happening to you!"
"I don't care!" Kyouka shouted, only tightening her grip as the tendril kept dragging her around. "You're not alone in this Izuku! I won't ever let go, and you know why? Not because you're my classmate, not even because you're my best friend! None of that has to do with why I'm doing all this! I'm standing by your side until the very end of time because I-"
Kyouka's body was forcefully swung against a tree, making her cough out a bit of blood on impact, her entire body in agonizing pain. But the pain was nothing to her at this very moment. She had to say what she needed to say to her hero.
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, IZUKU!" Kyouka screamed at the top of her lungs, so loud that the entire forest could hear her. It even made her ears hurt a little, but it was worth it just to finally get it out in the open.
Ochako overheard the confession and let out a sigh as she wiped her mouth, yet a tired smile was plastered on her face. "I expected her to confess during camp, but not like this." She let out a gentle chuckle. "Good for her…"
Ochako felt herself drop to the ground as she was staring up at the starry sky.
Izuku could only stare at his best friend as the tendrils began to slow down and shrink in size.
The rage from Katsuki and Tenya being taken away, along with the fear of Kyouka getting hurt…They were all suppressed at this moment. And that was left in their place was a feeling of utter confusion and shock.
'SHE LOVES ME?!'
The tendrils began to rapidly return to his arm until it was just Izuku left on his knees. His vision began to darken as he saw the blurry images of Itsuka and Kyouka running toward him.
Until his eyes fully closed and saw nothing but darkness.
Izuku opened his eyes to find himself in the same place he was in his dream from last night. Like last time, only the top half of his head and right hand were accessible to him.
'Am I going to see another vestige again?' Izuku looked around to see this smokey mass of energy before seeing a serious-looking man emerge from the energy.
He was wearing leather clothes, a bandolier, and goggles on his forehead. If he saw him on the street, he would assume that this guy was some biker.
The man approached him, his face still serious as he radiated an aura of intimidation.
Even if Izuku could speak, he felt like he wouldn't want to anyway.
The man was now right in front of the boy before holding out his fist and smirking at him. "Ya got a confession from the girl you like! My man!"
'…Huh?'
A/N
Chapter 63 is done! I had a surprisingly good time writing this chapter. I even chose writing this over playing some video games on most days. Can't promise it'll be like for the next chapter, but who knows?
I thought I would dread writing the Ibara and Tokoyami fight scene with the Nomu, but I found that kinda fun. Maybe I just have more fun writing fights that are completely nonexistent in canon. If so, then future fights I have planned out could be a fun time.
Also, I finally had Kyouka confess after 63 chapters! 63 god damn chapters! But it's over with and I don't have to dread it anymore. I'm honestly not sure if the confession is any good or not, but it's definitely an improvement of how I originally wrote it since my beta reader helped make it better.
Now onto the reviews!
TOPCAT-59: They can all take a meditation class once school starts back up. A fun time for everyone.
Bucio: You know, that's actually a clever idea for Toga. Taking the form of Ojiro or Toru to infiltrate U.A, Too bad that idea conflicts with future plans of mine. And I have to say that the trio of Izuku, Ochako, and Reiko was a fun one to write.
Ability King KK: At least Dark Shadow still got a moment to shine here. Although, it was a tad on the brutal side compared to canon. Also, I can't say I've ever noticed Reiko having a thing for Izuku in canon.
Migetsu Newgate: Oh trust me, I'm excited for the whole Kamino thing. Mainly because of one specific thing I know I'll do there.
That's all for the reviews!
That's the end of this chapter! Feel free to leave a review!