Chapter 45

I rushed onto the bus, pushing the kids out and towards the gates.

"RUN INSIDE AND LOCK THE DOORS. DO NOT COME OUT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!"

I turned back around. There had to be at least fifty of them, and there were only four of us. Myself, Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Mount Lady. The odds were against us, but we had to keep them away from the kids, by any means necessary. Even if it cost me my life, I would make sure that they made it out of this unscathed… or at least save as many as I could. They screeched running full speed at us. Mount lady grew, kicking a few of them back. Doing that would buy us some time. Stepping on another small group of them. She moved her foot back, revealing a puddle of blood, flesh, and bones.

"HOLD THE LINE!" Best Jeanist yelled.

He created a high webbed wall of strings behind us, blocking the entrance to the school. We were the only thing that stood between them and the students. I pulled my scarf from my pocket standing in front of the wall pulling my goggles from my pocket and placing them on. I would support them in whatever way they needed. I needed to make them defenseless so they would be easy to kill. Hawks took to the sky. His feathers rained down on them. Taking down a small handful of them. It was difficult, but it was going as well as it could in a situation like this. We were managing to hold them back. Or so we had thought. A Nomu had grown to the size of Mount Lady, charging at her. She locked hands with the creature trying to overpower it. She was preoccupied, meaning she could no longer help keep the smaller Nomu's at bay. More Nomus were running out from behind the buildings. They were pushing forward. If this kept up, we would lose. Just when we'd thought that all hope was lost. Tokoyami and Shoto flew over the wall. A wave of intense fire took out droves of them. Their charred bodies fell to the ground. At the same time, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow attacked the right flank. Slicing Nomu's in half. We had not failed yet. There was still hope. However, that small glimmer of hope was quickly ripped away from us. Mount Lady was overpowered by the Nomu. It knocked her back. The monster took its chance as she fell backward. Nomu shoved its hand through her chest. Her heart in its hand. It beat twice before it crushed it. The confusion on her face morphed into realization. Her eyes slowly closed as her body fell to the ground. Crushing the Nomu's under her. Her body reverted back to its original size.

"YU!"

We all paused for a moment, but that small millisecond was all we could spare. We had to keep pushing on. I ignored the pain in my eyes and kept on. Best jeanist was starting to wear out. Keeping the wall up and fighting Nomu's were taking a toll on him. Hawks' feathers were dwindling. We needed a miracle, and we needed it soon. Dark Shadow grew to the size of the Nomu. Engulfing it in darkness. Crushing it until its blood sprayed outward. Shoto created a ring of fire around us. Pushing it outward. Burning the Nomu and buildings around us. Only ash remained. There were only forty or so Nomu's left to deal with. Their numbers were dwindling but by no means did that mean we were in the clear. I stood my guard at the gate. Lending a hand where I could. I would be lying if there wasn't a part of me that felt useless. I was limited to this one spot. Unable to help in the way the others did. All I could do was watch. I noticed from the corner of my eye. A Nomu charing towards Tokayami.

"TOKOYAMI!"

It was no use. It was too late. The Nomu had gotten his hand on Tokoyamia. Grabbing him by both arms, pulling on them in the opposite directions. He screamed out in pain… all I could do was watch. His limbs were about to be ripped off. I had already broken the promise I'd made to myself; to keep them safe, protect them. Hawks came charging in, one of his fathers in hand. Landing on the back of the Nomu. He hooked his arm under its chin yanking its head back, using his feather to rip into its throat. The Nomu's arms flailed around, dropping Tokoyami to the ground. Hawks nearly took the things head off. He jumped off its back, its large body hitting the ground with a thud. He rushed to Tokoyami's side, helping him to his feet. His arms just dangled at his side. No doubt they were dislocated. He picked him up flying him back over the wall. Hawks returned just a few moments later rejoining the battle. The pro heroes seemed to be holding their own.

My eyes quickly scanned for Shoto. He was locked in battle with a Nomu his size, trading blow for blow. One fist of fire, the other of ice. I blinked at the Nomu, nullifying whatever quirk it had. Shoto would not last for much longer if this kept on. The Nomu swung at him, but he dodged it at the last second, only for the Nomu to latch onto his arm, swinging its other arm down from above and ripping off Shoto's arm. I couldn't believe the sight before me. Despite losing his arm; he did not stop. He shot out a flame from where his arm used to be, forming it into an arm. He grabbed the Nomu by the throat, setting the entire thing ablaze until there was nothing left but ash. The flame disappeared, and he dropped to the ground. I could not stand by. I rushed over to him, checking his wounds. It had been cauterized by his flame. I picked him up throwing him over my shoulder. Rushing him over to the gate.

"Best Jeanist let the wall down! I have to get him to safety!"

He continued to slice Nomu's to pieces, ignoring what I'd said.

"Tsunagu!" I called after him again.

"AIZAWA I CAN'T! I understand that he is important to you, but I can't risk the other children's lives just for this one!"

I looked over at Hawks, but he was on his last legs as well. We had finally put a dent in their numbers. Pulling Hawks away now would only work against us. I could not leave him here unattended.

"Sensei!" I heard someone call out.

I looked up and saw Jirou sitting at the top of the wall.

"Pass him to me Sensei, I can pull him up."

I wasted no time, pushing him up towards her. She wrapped her ears around him pulling him.

"Denki grab him." she'd said.

The moment she swung her leg over the wall. It was as if it was happening in slow motion. A Nomu had grabbed her by the ear. It jumped down, swinging her into the concrete so hard I heard her bones crack. I tackled it to the ground. I stabbed it repeatedly with my knife. I could feel its blood drenching me. Even then I still did not stop. I had lost count of how many times I had ripped into its flesh. I felt a hand grab my wrist. I slowly looked up. It was Best Jeanist.

"Aizawa, that is enough." he'd said softly.

I looked at the others. They all looked at me with concern. The battle had ended and I had not even realized. That is when I found her; Jirou. She was lying still. Her head was lying in a pool of blood. Her empty eyes stared back at me. We had won the battle. Yet we had still lost.