"Midoriya? We need to get going. " Inasa said.
Izuku lifted his head to look at the little bee that had been floating around their heads. Izuku nodded. The two bodies still lay silent.
"Can you walk?" Izuku asked.
"I can walk, but what is going on?" Chieko asked.
"We're getting out of here tonight. Do you have your things with you?" Izuku asked.
He did a once over of the space, but the room was bare with nothing but a simple bed posted against the far wall. Nothing that showed Chieko had been staying here all this time.
"No, they took my bag on the first day, but it was nothing important, so no big." Chieko said.
Izuku looked her over; even if the weather was warmer, the basic hospital gown was not enough for Chieko, and the lack of shoes would be problematic. There wasn't much they could do now, but he made a note to do a quick run for her essentials once they were out. He hoped Hatsume could share some of her clothes in the meantime.
"Stick close to me and try not to make too much noise." Izuku said.
"Inasa, is the exit route ready?" Izuku asked.
Inasa's voice came through bright and clear.
"Yes sir! Hatsume is on standby. Once you reach the closest exit, you'll have about a thirty-second window to get out. " Inasa said.
Izuku tried to smile at Chieko, who was giving him a confused look. She couldn't hear Inasa, but she must have sensed the tension coming off him as her brows pinched tight as she looked up at him. The pressure felt tighter around Izuku now that they were so close to the finish line.
"Okay, easy enough. We'll meet you at Hatsume's in thirty minutes.
They reached Hatsume's place in less time than they expected.
The added time helped in letting them prepare. Hatsume grabbed any last-minute equipment she deemed ready to take while Chieko dressed behind the divider they had created to give her some privacy from the others. Izuku pinked a bit at the idea of her dressing in the same room as them, but he didn't say anything, doing his best to focus on the map they had marked up for their route tonight.
Chieko came out after a moment, holding up the far too large pants Izuku had given her once Hatsume's pants were deemed too small for her.
"Do you have a belt I can use?" Chieko asked.
Izuku didn't register what she said; his eyes focused on the rest of her. She had on a simple black tank top that was too small for her, and the old bandages that she had wrapped were gone. Her arms and midriff showed the thousands of scars she had gained during her time away from them. Burns, stab wounds, even small chunks of skin overlapped each other in different stages of healing. Izuku's thoughts wouldn't stop as he considered the limits of her quirk and what she must have gone through to reach those limits.
Izuku clenched his teeth; his fist tightened their hold, threatening to tear their flimsy map. Chieko noticed his lack of response, and seeing where he was looking, she moved back a bit to hide most of herself behind the divider.
"Umm, a belt?" Chieko asked.
Izuku stuttered, guilt jabbing at him for making her feel self-conscious. He moved closer to handing over the nylon cord Hatsume had cut up for them to use, just in case.
"Sorry," Izuku said.
"It's fine," Chieko said.
"Miya..." Izuku said.
"Can you ask Hatsume to come help me wrap the bandages?..." Chieko said.
Izuku paused; Chieko didn't want to talk about it. That was clear, and he couldn't bring himself to push back at this point, so Izuku agreed and left the small shed to call for Hatsume as his friend had asked.
After getting Hatsume to go back inside, Izuku decided to stay outside with Inasa to wait for them.
"Is she okay?" Inasa asked.
Izuku sighed. How should he even answer that kind of question when he wasn't sure himself?
"She will be." Izuku reassured.
He glanced at the time; even ahead of schedule, they needed to start heading out. Thoughts of reuniting with his mom and Kacchan made him impatient to rush them forward.
"Have we heard anything from Kacchan?" Izuku asked.
Inasa rubbed the back of his head. His lips puckered as he had to think about it. It was pretty comical when Izuku thought about it. Inasa was all muscles and hard edges. At times he could look rather scary, and yet he was more like a kid, too innocent for his good, with a touch of naive optimism.
"I think Hatsume checked right before you got here. But yeah, it is all quiet on that side, so it must be going well. " Inasa said.
"I hope so." Izuku said.
When the girls came out, Izuku could see most of Chieko's skin covered back up in fresh bandages. It was almost excessive as they left nothing uncovered but her face, but this time Izuku avoided staring for any longer than a glance as they packed up and headed out.
Hatsume took the lead, guiding them to the opening she had hidden a distance away and covered with loose wooden blanks and cement sacks. They had kept it away from the shed to keep any suspicions from Hatsume should it have been found out, but it had gone unnoticed by anyone.
Izuku and Inasa worked on moving the items out of the way, doing their best to stay quiet while the girls kept watch, but the soft padding of footsteps made them all tense in place. Izuku glanced around, but darkness surrounded them, making them blind to whoever was out there. There were loud pops that went off four times before being washed in a bright light aimed towards them.
Izuku covered his eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. Inasa and the girls squinted, shielding their faces.
"Don't move."
Izuku looked past the lights to see heroes surrounded them. He could count ten, but he couldn't be sure that some weren't hiding nearby. A few police officers were behind the heroes, but Izuku didn't see the detective among them. Izuku didn't know if they could take all of them on, even though it was Inasa's quirk, so he tried to reason with them.
"Please, we just want to leave." Izuku said.
Hatsume and Chieko move back as Inasa and Izuku move forward to stand in front of them. Izuku takes a step closer, and something shoots forward. Izuku lifts his arms to protect himself when his world is jerked down to the side by Inasa's wind as it pulls him back closer to Inasa.
Izuku takes a gasping breath, his balance out of sorts as he tries to right himself.
"You would attack him without reason!" Inasa shouts.
Inasa's jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists at his sides as he glared at one of the male heroes that had been closest to Izuku.
Izuku looked at where he had been standing. They looked like spiked crystals that had dug into the dirt. The thought of what would have happened had that spike hit its mark brought a chill down his spine, and he took a step back. They made their intentions known.
Everything happened at once as they charged from every angle. Inasa takes the first wave, using his whirlwind to push the heroes back, some shooting up into the air.
"Hatsume, you and Miyahara, stay back!" Izuku said.
Izuku had enough time to focus one for all through his body as he dodged one of the heroes. It was some form of body augmentation, his shoulders doubling in size. Izuku remembered him from the list of heroes. He was strong but slow, which gave Izuku the advantage as he avoided another punch aimed at his head. Izuku took the chance to use the hero's outstretched arm to propel himself over, putting a bit more strength into his legs as he kicked the hero back a few feet away, only to be replaced by another hero his hands encased in bone.
The second wave pushed them back as the heroes covered more ground. Inasa handled the majority, doing his best not to injure them as he sent them flying, while Izuku took care of any who had broken through the barricade of wind Inasa had created.
"You two go!" Izuku cried.
The girls moved back to escape when one of the heroes barreled past him and towards Chieko. He didn't think as he shot forward and punched the hero, their cheeks caving in as Izuku used too much force. They fell to the side, unconscious.
"Just let us go please!" Izuku cried.
Izuku noticed some of the civilians had come out of their curious forms, staying at a distance as they watched.
"Midoriya!"
"What?" Izuku asks.
He has enough time to turn to the voice, a vision of purple hair coming into view before everything in his body stops.
The sensation of no longer having control of his body as he stared forward unmoving.
"Walk towards me."
Izuku turns to stare at the purple-haired boy who had ordered him to move. His mind twisted, and he cried out as he tried to stop himself, but he was trapped, his feet taking mindless steps towards the boy who looked to be no older than Izuku.
A red-headed hero stood next to the boy, his smirk proud as he held a set of suppression cuffs in his hands.
"Good job on capturing the villain, young man." He said.
"Anything to help." The boy said.
"Midoriya!" Chieko cried.
Izuku couldn't look back to see if she was okay, but he could hear the fear in her voice, and the thought of having her made his body numb. He couldn't let them retake her. Izuku felt one for all rush through him, and everything went dark.
Izuku glanced around him. It was like he was standing in a void of nothing, but eight shadowed figures were standing in a circle around him. All their forms were hazy, all but one who stood in front of Izuku, smiling down at him. Izuku's eyes widen, his jaw going slack as he saw the one person he had thought was lost to him forever.
"…..All..Might." Izuku said.
It was like a dam broke inside Izuku, and one for all surged, forcing its way out from every pore of his body. Everything near him was blasted away as the floor beneath him cracked open and caved into a massive crater around him.
The pain is excruciating as his body tries to keep itself together under one for all at full power. Through the white haze of pain, Izuku forces the energy out through his arms as they shatter, but it's enough to keep them in one piece as one for all settles back, dormant again.
Izuku stumbles a bit but stays on his feet. His eyes are heavy-lidded as he glances up at the boy who had tried to control him. Izuku's breathing was rough, the effort to take a breath past the pain of cracked, possibly bruised ribs, but he refused to back down.
"I…I just….want…. to save my friend." Izuku said.
The boy's eyes widen as he stared at him in horror and confusion.
"Midoriya." Inasa said.
Inasa lifts Izuku only inches from the ground. It was his wind that moved him back to the tight circle they had formed around Chieko. Izuku took one last look at the purple-haired boy before checking on Chieko, who moved closer to him. He flinches as she tries to help him stay upright, but he smiles down at her, glad that she was okay.
Inasa looked tired, his chest heaving and beads of sweat sliding down the side of his face. Although he seemed uninjured for the most part, Izuku knew his quirk was getting to its limit of overuse.
There was a pause as the heroes regrouped. Izuku glanced back at Hatsume, who was working on moving the last debris from their escape. They had to try to escape while the heroes were otherwise distracted.
Izuku leaned down closer to Chieko's ear so as not to be overheard.
"We can't keep this up, so when Hatsume's ready, I want you and her to run, understand?" Izuku asked.
"No! I'm not leaving you here. " Chieko said.
"He's right, Miyahara, Midoriya and I have this covered and I'm sure we'll win and meet you later." Inasa said.
Izuku and Inasa both agreed with the plan, and he knew that Inasa knew they were not getting out of this, but as long as the girls escaped, they did win in their own way.
The heroes advanced, and Izuku stood up straighter, ready to push Chieko back behind him when the comforting sounds of an explosion sounded around them. In the next second, the field between them and the heroes became engulfed in flames as explosion after explosion go off in front of them, forcing the heroes to fall back or risk burning.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO BREAK ANYTHING!" Kacchan shouted.