Dabi kneels down next to me, just staring at me as I gasp for air, my throat itching and neck singed from his fire. Sweat drips down the side of my face, my heartbeat pounds in my ears, and my fingers crave to itch the burn.

"I hope you don't have a problem with fulfilling your duties as a member of the League of Villains, even if I personally don't agree with Shigiraki. In order to lure out the Bakugo kid and maybe even a few of your little friends, Toga and I were told to use you as bait. Does that explain everything?"

Swallowing, I can hardly focus on what Dabi's saying as tears peek from the corner of my eyes from the swelling and stinging pain lining my neck. I try to speak, but nothing comes out and the words just scratch the inside of my throat as Dabi groans.

"Are you kidding me? You had to breathe in the flames? That's your own fault. C'mon."

He grabs my arm and forces me to my feet, yanking harshly as he pulls me along to follow him.

"What, you're not using your quirk to stop me? Or maybe that's because you know you can't beat me. You could at least try."

Just shut up already! I need to get out of here fast and warn Bakugo. If he really is their target I need to get to him as soon as possible. I really need to listen when I say I'm not gonna let the U.S.J incident happen again!

I try to growl at him but it comes out as raspy and desperate rather than threatening.

"Are you even going to-"

Porcupine quills surge from my arm and stab into Dabi's arm as he shouts in pain.

"Damn it!"

He lets go and I take the chance to run as fast as I can away from him. I can't tell where I'm going and I can hear Dabi shouting behind me. Running from him is harder than I thought as I feel blood trickle from my neck and onto my hands, making me panic even more.

I've gotta find him. I have to...!

Hot air tingles my senses as I run, my head starting to feel heavy.

Damn it! Why does everything have to get in my way?!

From the corner of my eye I see a ready made path, and I make a run for it, hoping that if I follow the path I'll find Bakugo. As I get closer to the path, I make a realization.

That felt… Too easy to escape from him…And he mentioned Toga... Don't tell me she's after them too!

Stumbling on a tree root, I tumble as I hit the path hard. I cough aggressively as blood starts spurting from my mouth onto the ground and I struggle to stand up, using the collar of my shirt to wipe the blood from my face. Hearing footsteps behind me, I instantly turn around, fearing it's Dabi with my eyes wide. I curse a thousand times in my mind as I realize it's someone much worse.

"Tazuma-chan! There you are!"

Toga puts her knife back in it's sheath as she runs to me, arms and smile wide.

First Dabi and now Toga?! What the fuck do they want from me?!

I try to run, but she disappears from view and suddenly rams into my side at full speed, grabbing my neck with her hand and yanking my arms around as we tumble back into the forest. I cry out in pain as she laughs, my body pressed against the ground and her nails digging into my neck, greatly irritating my burn. She laughs, her weight pressed against me, keeping me on the ground.

"Looks to me that Dabi let you get away!"

She laughs again, sending chills up my spine as I glare at her with wide and angry eyes.

"That means it's my turn!"

She tightens her grip on my neck as I cry out again.

"I won't hurt you that badly, I promise! I just need to talk to you! There's nothing wrong with that right...?"

Her fingers feel like blades as I struggle to breathe even more, her hand partially blocking my windpipe. Her knee slides up the side of my leg as she leans down to my ear, giggling.

"I've wanted to pin you down and see what you look like when you're gasping for air ever since we met...! I want to do that to everyone I like. I know you wouldn't wanna hurt me. That's why you're not using your quirk right? Because you don't wanna hurt me?!"

She tightens her grip around my arms as I try to wiggle free, but it's much harder than I thought. Like she's done this many times before...

"Oh, right! You can't talk right now can you? Aww, that'll make my job so much harder! In case you're wondering, I need to make you scream! So loud that everyone will hear it! That way, we can get what we need! But first, I need you to drink this!"

She lets go of my neck for a moment, and I try to writhe from her hands again but she promptly and harshly elbows my neck, knocking the wind out of my throat and causing a hundred more things to hurt and feel like hell. This kind of torturous pain reminds me of my days with... Overhaul...

She sits up and pulls out a flask from her cardigan, and pops it open, forcing the tip to my mouth. Water crashes with my tongue and I drink up, craving for the cool liquid to wash down my throat. It feels refreshing beyond measure right now as water drips from the side of my mouth onto the ground. She then starts slowly pouring the water onto my burn, and it feels so much better as it moisturizes the skin and soothes the stinging pain. After about a minute of this, she tosses the flask aside, her hand quickly moving to the sheath of knives at her thigh.

"This will be over before you know it...!"

The sound of metal unsheathing rings in my ears as she brings the knife down near my shoulder, but in only a moment I use my leg to flip us over, and I bring all of my weight down on her as we hit the ground, causing her to gasp and cry out. She lets go of my arms and neck, and I snatch away two of her knives before I make a mad dash for the path. Breathing more heavily than before, I clutch the knives tightly in my hands, my muscles aching as I run on the path, hardly believing that I got away.

Either I'm way too lucky, or way to unlucky! Jesus fucking christ that was close! I guess I do have to thank her for the water though... My neck and throat feel much better...

Also remembering how she gripped my neck, I slowly touch it as I keep running, and I'm proven right as a mix of water and blood seeps onto my fingers.

Damn again... But forget about it for now, finding Bakugo and warning him is my top priority right now.

Suddenly, a surge crawls through my mind, and a voice that sounds far too much like Mandalay echoes in my brain as I come to a sudden halt.

"In the name of pro hero Eraserhead, everyone in class A and class B have been granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat, use your training and you may fight these villains!"

The ringling feeling disappears as I grumble.

I don't need anyone's permission to fight damn it!

Running faster, my eyes widen as I spot a villain in a dark full-body straight jacket in the air sending long blades from his teeth thundering towards Bakugo and Todoroki. I glare at the villain as wings spring from my back, ripping slits into the back of my shirt. But I don't even think twice as I launch into the air and wrap my arms around the neck of the villain, twisting around fiercely as I grapple him over my shoulder. I narrowly avoid a spur of blades as a few cut my shirt sleeves but thankfully miss my skin. My wings disappear and my hands turn to tiger claws, and gravity immediately causes me to plummet to the ground, using the villain as a shield. Silver blades disappear as I hear something from the creepy villain crack. My hands turn back to normal as I take deep breaths and get off of them, two of Toga's knives still in my hand. I nudge the villain with my foot, and they're still alive. Not moving, but alive.

Good. I didn't kill them.

Turning to a very surprised Bakugo and Todoroki, who I now notice is carrying someone on his back.

"Don't worry, the bastards not dead. Their arm probably just broke or something."

Todoroki shakes his head, most likely thinking about how I didn't hesitate to do something that could've killed a normal person, and approaches me as I step over the villain.

"Where were you? And what happened to you?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked."

I stare at them with a gloomy expression and sneer.

"I just came across two different villains, each restrained me and tried to kill me but I said hell no and decided that I'm not gonna die today, now I'm here. But I came here because Bakugo is their target and we need to get back to the camp now."

The surging feeling happens again, and it looks as though they felt it too.

"We've discovered one of the villains' targets! A student named Kacchan! Kacchan should try and avoid combat and stick to a group! I hope you can hear me!"

Todoroki walks past me and uses his ice to put the strange blade tooth villain in a cage of ice. He then turns back to me.

"How did you know they're target was Bakugo?"

"One of them told me. They said they wanted to hold someone hostage to try and lure him out and I was unlucky enough to be the first one they found. The first one's name is Dabi and he's got a flame quirk. The second one was called Toga and I don't know her quirk, but she had a lot of knives and she's really weird. You can put the pieces together and figure out that's how I got these."

I point to my still red and stinging neck with one hand, and hold up the knives with the other as Todoroki steps closer.

"I can help you with that."

"It's fine, I've gotten burns like this one before so whether it's treated or not I'll be fine."

Shrugging the offer off, I turn to Bakugo but Todoroki interrupts me and stares at me with a concerned look on his face.

"The fact that you've gotten burns as bad as that even if it's only first degree is very concerning, Oritsu. And that some have been treated and some haven't."

Fuuuck...! Two times now I've b-been reminded of him... O-overhaul would always p-put me back together when I got injured, so I don't have any scars from anything except the one on my shoulder because at that time h-he said I needed to learn that all my mistakes should leave scars so I'm always reminded of how much I fail...

I-I hate it... I hate th-thinking about that... I h-hate h-him...

"Oritsu. You're not answering me."

"Sorry, I was just... lost in thought. I was a stupid kid alright? It's not like my mom or dad were always around to help me."

"But for those types of things to go unnoticed by someone as important at that time as your dad is-"

"Well your one to talk about daddy issues aren't you?!"

I widen my eyes in shock at the sudden heat and tension from my own words as he turns his face to the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry, Todoroki, I didn't mean to go that far. I'm sorry..."

He looks up at me, although not looking me in the eye. I can't tell if it seriously hurt him, but I know it still hurt even if my apology was genuine. I want to say I'm sorry a million times over, but the guilt is already setting in just by looking at his hurt face.

"It's fine. You apologized."

He seems sympathetic as he stares at me with kind eyes, but it does hardly anything for my nerves. I turn around, trying to focus and bring things back to normal, but my mind is a mess. Not that I'll let either of them see it.

"We need to get you back to the main camp. I think if we just follow the path we'll get there. But I also want to find the others and round them all up so we can all get back safely, but that's easier said than done."

Todoroki nods then glances at the knives.

"What should we do with those?"

"I don't know. But now I guess we can use them. Although they probably won't be much help considering we each have good quirks. Actually, it would probably be better if I just got rid of them."

I drop the knives on the ground as Bakugo grumbles.

"So you consider your quirk decent now?"

I scowl and give him a side glare.

"Actually, yeah a little bit. Thanks for noticing. Anyway, which way should we go?"

Todoroki glances behind him.

"There's poison gas where we came from so we can't retreat that way. I think they're trying to drive us all into a corner."

"Sounds about right. At first I thought maybe we could go above the trees and get to camp that way but that would just draw attention to us and make us a bigger target and considering that you're carrying an unconscious person Todoroki, it would make things more difficult as well. To put it simply, we're screwed."

Bakugo scoffs as he turns and glares at me.

"If you keep talking like that we won't make it back! And stop trying to protect me god damn it, I don't need either of you!"

"The fact that you're a target is enough evidence that we're technically required to protect you and things would go much smoother if you just decided to shut the hell up for once."

I glare back at him with more intensity as he grumbles again and turns away.

"Thank you. Now I think we should start hurrying up."

Suddenly, a giant and weird-looking hand that reminds me of Tokoyami's dark shadow appears and crushes a wall of ice Todoroki made earlier. As it gets closer we realize it is dark shadow, but it's huge and out of control as a struggling Tokoyami tries to control him with no success. He shouts in desperation and an injured Shoji carries an even worsley injured Midoriya as they run towards us.

"Kacchan!"

Midoriya calls for Bakugo as his eye twitches in anger.

"Shoji and Midoriya...! And is that?"

"You bet your ass it's dark shadow! Midoriya, what the hell happened?!"

Dark shadow roars loudly and destroys another part of Todoroki's ice wall as Shoji shouts back an answer.

"We need some light now! He's out of control!"

Todoroki sets down the person he was carrying and steps beside me as he turns to Bakugo.

"He's attacking blindly, I'll use my fire!"

"Not so fast."

Bakugo dismisses him as we notice the tooth blade villain from earlier groaning and moaning as they try to slowly lift themselves with their crawling silver blades. It drags its feet as it slowly tries to stand up and mumbles unintelligible words. Blades shoots from it's mouth towards dark shadow at frightening speeds, but he effortlessly brings his giant clawed hand down on the villain, crushing it. Dark shadow's deep voice echoes as he slowly bends the blades, causing the villain to cry out in pain until the snap. Bakugo watches with an excited smirk.

"Now finish him!"

With a swift swing, dark shadow spins the villain through several trees until he throws them against one with a sickening crash as they fall to the ground. Dark shadow roars once more as he crashes down towards us, but Todoroki and Bakugo are ready. Flames burst from Todoroki's left hand and explosions erupt from Bakugo's palms, fending off dark shadow.

Jesus Tokoyami... I can't imagine what kind of hero you'll be in the future once you manage to control dark shadow like that...

Soon enough dark shadow disappears inside Tokoyami's stomach as he falls on his knees and breathes heavily. Bakugo glares at Tokoyami as his explosions disappear.

"Once again I'm a terrible match for you, bird boy."

Tokoyami sighs.

"Thanks. You saved me."

Todoroki turns and stares at the passed out figure of the blade villain.

"We could barely defend against that guy but you beat him instantly."

Shoji calmly approaches Tokoyami.

"My friend, are you okay? ...You did what we needed you to do."

"Shoji, I apologize. You too Midoriya. I'm still far too immature. My anger consumed me, and I let my quirk take over...!"

He glares at his hands as I stare down at him.

"Well, just imagine how good you'll be in the future. One day you'll be able to control that thing. Wouldn't that be something?"

He turns and stares back up at me.

"Yes... I-I suppose you do have a point."

"Oritsu, what happened to your neck? We all got nervous when you ran off towards the fire by yourself!"

Midoriya asks. I grumble as Todoroki stares at me.

"You went finding villains on purpose?"

"That's not-!"

I take a deep breath to calm myself as I glare at Todoroki then back at Midoriya.

"That's not what I was doing. I just wanted to know where the fire was coming from so I could help anyone who was still in the forest and because of that, I ran into a villain with a fire quirk named Dabi. He told me he needed someone to threaten so he could lure out Bakugo and a few other people so he attacked me. After I got away some creepy girl villain named Toga found me and after a scuffle, she pinned me down then tried to stab me but I got her off of me and ran away. But she said some really weird and unnerving things to me like how she always wants to see what the people she likes look like when they're bleeding out, and the way she threatened me made me think of what Shigiraki said to me back when we all went to that stupid mall... That's about how things went down for me."

There's a pause. I scowl, thinking it's my fault they all went silent.

"What?!"

"N-nothing..."

Midoriya mutters as he turns to Tokoyami.

"Tokoyami, I don't know if you heard Mandalay but the villains are after Kacchan."

"Bakugo? Are they trying to kill him? Why?"

Shoji asks as Midoriya shakes his head.

"I'm not sure. But we should get to camp. It's the safest place now, so long as Vlad King and Mister Aizawa have regrouped there."

Tokoyami nods.

"I understand. So our mission is to get Bakugo back to safety by serving as his protectors."

Midoriya goes on to explain his plan as I try to listen, but I'm distracted as I glance at the ground, my hand reaching to gently touch the burn on my neck. It feels better and I think the redness is almost completely gone. I still hate the fact that I have to thank Toga for it.

I should be thankful I got away from her and Dabi considering how different we are in terms of power... I should also be thankful that I didn't get hurt as badly as I could've been. Looking at Midoriya, it could've been way worse... At least I got to Bakugo and now we might be able to get back safely...

The thought of getting back to camp with everyone and forcing the League to retreat gives me a feeling of relief.

But in order for everyone to be safe and sound, this plan needs to work.

I focus back on Midoriya, eager to end the League's raid and determined to help everyone.

"Honestly, with a group like this, we could probably even go up against All Might!"

Midoriya's voice is hopeful as Bakugo shouts.

"I'd be fine by myself!"

"We'll surround you as we walk."

"I don't need any of your protection, damn it!"

We start walking, and I stand in the back, behind Todoroki and next to Tokoyami, with Bakugo in the center as he continues to complain, much to Shoji's annoyance.

"Let's go."

"Don't ignore me!"

"Just make sure you keep up."

"Don't tell me what to do, icy-hot!"

It's hard trying not to laugh as I listen to him make angry noises. He hears me and glares at me.

"Why are you laughing, smartass?!"

I smirk and pout at him as I speak in a mocking tone.

"Because you sound like a baby. And babies need to be protected, riiiight? You're just a widdle baby aren't you?"

He shouts in anger as explosions spark in his palms, but he resists fighting me as he marches along with the rest of us. Midoriya turns his head around and grins at me awkwardly.

"Maybe not agitate Kacchan too much while we're out here, please?"

I nod, smirking.

"Yeah, alright."

He's still a widdle stupid baby.

"Uraraka?!"

Shoji shouts as we come across and see Tsuyu, pinned to a tree by her hair and a lightly bleeding Ochaco on the ground, and worse, Toga about to run away. Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush at the sight of me.

"Tazuma-chan! There you are! I was looking for you everywhere! Why'd you have to go and escape from me? That wasn't very nice y'know..."

She stares at me with her head tilted down and her fangs gleaming as her fingers twitch. I feel the urge to take a step in front of Bakugo but I resist as I glare at her.

"I can't wait to make you bleed next time we meet! Buh-bye for now!"

"Get her!"

Ochaco shouts but Tsuyu stops her, having been freed from the tree.

"It's too dangerous! We have no idea what kind of quirk she has!"

Toga immediately runs and slips into the forest, already gone.

"Oritsu, is that the creepy girl villain you were talking about earlier? How did she know your name?"

Todoroki asks me as he and Shoji get closer to the two girls.

"Yeah. All I know about her is that she's obsessed with blood and her quirk most likely has something to do with it. Maybe like Stain's quirk."

He nods as Midoriya stares at Ochaco, full of concern.

"Uraraka, you're hurt!"

She sighs.

"It's not bad. I can still walk okay. You're the one who looks terrible!"

Suddenly, a light hand touches my shoulder, and I blackout. The only thing I can feel is a hard glass shell around me, and all I can hear is muffled speech.

My eyes open and I feel someone's hand on my back.

"Checkmate..."

Dabi's voice sends a shiver through my skin. A terrified Shoji, Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Todoroki all look back at me as Dabi's hand crawls up my spine. He pushes me outwards and I whip around in time to see his hand around Bakugo's neck as they slowly start to disappear into Kurogiri's portal. I desperately reach out at the last second, my mind racing, heart pounding in my ears, eyes wide and pleading. Bakugo stares back at me, his face a mix of rage, concern, and something else. My only thought is that I refuse to let him go, but my fingers just barely graze Bakugo's arm before they both disappear into the portal. Midoriya runs towards him, but he falls on his face. I breathe heavily as I immediately turn around but only to stare out at the spot where the portal was supposed to be, blue flames licking the trees in front of us. I can't think. It all happened so fast. One second I'm with the others, and the next Bakugo is...

T-they g-got h-him...

I start to tremble as Midoriya cries out. I want to do the same, but I can't muster any pain. All I get is a wave of rage as my hand twitches and I grit my teeth. I then fall onto my knees as I stare at the ground with wide eyes.

I don't... I did what I could... Right? ...No... This is all my fault... Everything that happened... It's all my fault... Midoriya's injured, Ochaco and Tsuyu are hurt, many more are probably hurt as well... A-and Bakugo's...

Something begins pounding behind my eyes, and I can already tell they're tears. Midoriya's shout keeps echoing as I allow a single tear to slip down my cheek and my lip starts quivering, even when I bite it to keep it still.

H-he's gone now... They got him... And it's all...

It's all my fault... I'm only a dead weight... I never do anything good... I've never done anything good... I always screw things up... This is all my fault...

...so it's my job to fix it...

Shortly after, emergency services arrived. While I was getting treated for my burn, Mina held my hand and kept trying to get me to say something, but I wouldn't budge. I was thinking too hard about what I was going to do next. No, what I had to do. If I didn't do it myself, I wouldn't be able to get rid of this guilt.

I'm going to rescue Bakugo, whether he likes it or not. It's only around 10 or 11 pm at night, and if I get home in about forty-five minutes to an hour, I'll still have plenty of time to change and sneak my way to the League's hideout. That's where they'll most likely be keeping him. I know for a fact that there's nothing to get in directly except through a door with a caged window, and since I've only ever gotten in with Kurogiri's portals, I'll have to find the hall that leads to that door specifically. When I find it, I'll sneak in through there, maneuvering my way to avoid being spotted, I'll prop the door open, then depending on where Bakugo is, I'll free him and we can escape from there. Just in case he's tied in rope or something stronger, I'll bring a knife. I could technically use my scales or something to break the rope, but I don't know exactly what they're going to use and scales would be too inefficient. Also in case the door is locked, I can either bring a selection of lock picks or create special quills that have a sharp curve to pick any locks and also make it easier to get in and out. After we get out, we should head to the nearest police station where we can stay until Mr. Aizawa or someone else from U.A gets there. I'm sure I'll get the scolding of my life, but it'll be worth it.

And if this fails, I don't know what I'll do.