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Chapter Text

Shinsou Hitoshi

He pulled down the sleeves of the borrowed shirt. His hands disappeared into the long, gray fabric. He wrapped his arms around himself and picked up the pace, ensuring he didn’t fall too far behind the man in front of him. The two hadn’t said a word since they left his apartment.

“I’m sorry, that shirt’s probably too big for you.” The voice nearly made him jump. “I need to stop by the bank first. We’ll get you some new clothes and a phone after that.”

He looked up to see Shouta glancing at him over his shoulder. Relief flooded through his veins when he noticed the raging fire present in the man’s eyes just a few hours prior had died down. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Thanks for lending it to me, sensei.”

The hero waved a hand at that.

“There’s no need for that outside of school grounds, especially considering the circumstances. Feel free to just call me ‘Aizawa.’”

Hitoshi blinked and stopped in his tracks.

There’s no way I can just…but he’s right. Things are different now. I suppose it’s not fitting to call him ‘sensei’ all the time….

He shook his head, jogging until he caught up and was back at Shouta’s heels. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants and kept his gaze on the ground.

“I’m really sorry you have to—“

“Don’t even think about finishing that,” Shouta said, whipping around and looking him in the eye for the first time since that morning. “Nothing about this is your fault, Shinsou.”

Hitoshi couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

“Is ‘Shinsou’ really appropriate now?”

Shouta sighed before continuing on toward the bank with the kid only a step behind him. Hitoshi could’ve sworn he saw the hero’s lips quirk upward a tad.

“You might have a point, but we can discuss that later. You need more clothes, you need a phone, and you need to get settled in. Hizashi and Nemuri will be by later tonight with dinner. They offered to drop the food off if you’re not comfortable with them staying very long.”

Hitoshi tensed.

“They can stay if they want….” he trailed off.

“You don’t have to decide right now. They understand it’s been a rough few weeks for you and you might not want company tonight; however, they do insist on coming over after you’ve had time to adjust.”

Hitoshi nodded, and the two climbed the stone steps leading to the massive windows and glass door before them.

Midoriya Izuku

He grinned once he stepped out of the crowded train station, his face warming up as soon as he stepped out into the sun. He didn’t even pay any mind to the bumps from people rushing to catch their train.

Ding!

Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he looked over his shoulder and to find his mom pushing her way through the crowd. He glanced at his messages and his eyes widened at the next text to come through the group chat.

Todoroki: Did we ever agree on a place to meet up?

He couldn’t stop the wide smile from spreading across his face. His thumbs tapped rapidly on the keyboard.

Midoriya: WAIT TODOROKI YOU’RE ACTUALLY COMING?!?

Iida: I don’t believe so! How about the south entrance to the mall? Does that work for everyone?

Uraraka: Sounds great, but my train got delayed. I’ll be a little late!

Todoroki: It’s all right. I’m just now leaving.

Iida: No worries!

Midoriya: See you all soon!

Checking the time and seeing it was only one o’clock, he tucked his phone back in his pocket. He instantly straightened up and fell into step next to his mom while she started down the sidewalk.

“Aren’t you off to meet your friends?” she asked.

“A couple of them are running late, so I’ve got some time to kill. Want me to go to the bank with you?”

His mom beamed.

“Of course! I can’t remember the last time you had a chance to run errands with me!”

Izuku tried to ignore the brief pang in his chest and followed her down the street and around the corner. They walked up the stairs and entered the building. The roar outside dulled the second the heavy door swung shut; not that it mattered once he saw who was standing at the end of the nearest line. He grabbed his mom’s arm and took off running.

Aizawa Shouta

“Aizawa-sensei!”

The voice echoed throughout the previously quiet lobby, and all eyes in the room were on him. Grateful that his scarf hid most of his quickly reddening face, he turned around. Izuku rushed up to him with a short, black-haired woman in tow.

“Midoriya?”

He was greeted with a radiant smile. The boy gestured to the woman next to him.

“It’s great to see you! This is my mom. She’s been wanting to meet you since—Shinsou?” Izuku’s attention was quickly diverted once he caught sight of the purple-haired teen behind him. “I almost didn’t recognize you! It feels like it’s been forever since….”

Shouta almost felt sorry for Hitoshi once his student started rambling. He shifted his gaze back to the woman in front of him. She stared at him, seemingly forgetting to blink. He bowed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Midoriya-san.”

His voice shocked her out of her stupor, and she quickly bowed and clasped her hands together by the time he’d already straightened back up.

“Please, the honor is definitely mine. I’ve been hoping to speak with you for a while now!”

“I’m sorry for that. We—“

“There’s no reason to apologize, Aizawa-san. I understand it’s been quite a busy school year, and I know you’ve probably been preparing for finals.”

If only it were just finals….

Inko bit her lip and crossed her arms. She finally met his gaze.

“I’ve been wanting to thank you. Izuku’s told me so much about you…about everything you did to protect him and his classmates….”

Shouta fought the urge to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

“I appreciate it, but it’s my job to—“

“We both know it’s not,” Inko interrupted again, her cheeks slowly tinting red, “and I’m sorry. Izuku warned me you might say that if I ever got the chance to speak with you, but I don’t care. He said you jumped into a hoard of villains despite being outnumbered, and you didn’t quit fighting until you were nearly killed. You risked your life for my son and his friends, and I’ve been wanting to express my gratitude for quite some time. I’m sure there are other parents that feel the same way.”

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“Does your quirk have a time limit? Like do you know how long can you keep control of someone, and is there a range you need to be in?”

Much to his relief, that caught Inko’s attention. They turned to the two boys. She smiled once she got a look at her enthusiastic son and Hitoshi.

“How rude of me! I didn’t even introduce myself to your friend—wait, I remember you from the Sports Festival! You did very well! I have to say that quirk of yours is quite impressive….”

He nearly grinned when Inko rambled. Hitoshi’s eyes widened and his brows furrowed. He could imagine the beads of sweat forming from the attention.

But you deserve it, kid. You’ve worked so hard….

Bang!

He whipped around to see a limp woman fall to the ground, blood pooling around her head. A man stood with a pistol a few meters away.

Bang!

Another gunshot echoed from across the lobby. The screams came a second after, and the four were nearly trampled. He grabbed Hitoshi’s shoulders and pushed him toward Inko.

“Get Hitoshi out of here!”

“Wait, Aizawa—“

He barely saw her nod or registered Hitoshi’s words before running toward the closest assailant and throwing his capture weapon. It wrapped around the hand holding the gun.

Bang!

With a yank, he flung the man into the wall, and the pistol skidded across the ground. The din within the lobby roared, nearly drowning out the next gunshot. He wouldn’t have known if the bullet hadn’t whizzed by him. He activated his quirk, and his hair started to float. Five men stood next to three tellers. One fretted over the fourth teller that was slumped over the counter. Each had an Armalite rifle in hand.

Where the hell did they come from?

Shouta gripped his scarf.

Bang!

His blood ran cold.

None of those men pulled their triggers. How many of them are there?

Suddenly a green light danced across the walls and ceiling, like little lightning bolts. The walls and ceiling started to glow, as if they were being coated by the green light. Shouta slowly backed up. His back hit the wall, and electricity pulsed through him. His muscles locked, which sent him crashing to the ground. Planting his hands on the floor, he moved to push himself up, but covered his head when someone tripped over him. He looked up to see a crowd of people at the bank’s entrance. The walls and windows were glowing, and the crowd was slowly inching away and further back into the lobby.

Is this some sort of force field? Whatever it is, it seems we’re all trapped.

He clenched his teeth and forced himself up and off the ground. His legs were shaking, but he managed to keep his footing.

Bang!

More screams from the already terrified civilians rang through the lobby. A man in gray pants and a black short-sleeved shirt emerged from the crowd. He held a pistol above his head, smoke coming out of the barrel. He had short blond hair that stopped just below his chin and a bright smile that would easily rival Present Mic’s.

“If everyone could please remain calm, the rest of you won’t be harmed.”

His announcement fell on deaf ears. Shouta took a shaky step forward, but someone behind him grabbed his scarf. He swung an elbow back, hearing a satisfying grunt from his attacker, but the man didn’t let go. He winced when the capture weapon tightened around his neck. He reached behind him and grabbed one of the hands entangled in his scarf. He knelt down and tugged on the man’s wrist, flipping him over his shoulder. The second he righted himself, he narrowly dodged a fist aimed at his head. He pivoted and landed a kick to the man’s ribs.

They have guns…why didn’t they just….

He spotted a mess of purple hair in the crowd, and his heart sunk. Inko and Izuku were right by his side. The three were herded further into the lobby by the rest of the civilians, which hadn’t calmed in the slightest.

The blond man sighed and lowered his arm, finger on the trigger. Shouta’s eyes widened when he saw his target. Hitoshi seemed to notice, as well. The boy yanked the unsuspecting Inko behind him.

No.

He dashed and elbowed his way through the civilians. He lunged.

Bang!

Fire ripped through his right shoulder, and his vision flashed white.

Shinsou Hitoshi

“Get Hitoshi out of here!”

“Wait, Aizawa—“

A set of hands gripped his arms and stopped him from going after his mentor. The man disappeared in the crowd within seconds.

Bang!

Despite the din exploding in the lobby, he could clearly hear the voice next to him.

“Everything’s all right. I’ll get you out of here.”

Inko let go of one of his arms only to grab Izuku’s. She weaved them through the crowd with a speed that honestly surprised him. They raced toward the entrance, but slowed when they saw who was coming through the door.

Seven armed men now stood at the front of the bank. One of them raised a pistol.

Bang!

The man in front of them fell to the ground, wet gasps retching out of him a heartbeat later. Inko skidded to a complete stop, bracing both boys and preventing them from tripping over the body. Hitoshi’s stomach lurched at the blood pooling around the man’s neck. Everyone froze when the rest of the men raised their weapons. One of them came forward. He gripped the fallen man by the leg and dragged him to the door, red streaks staining the previously pristine white floor. He dumped the body outside, and it disappeared from view when it rolled down the stone steps.

I have to do something…but there’s so many of them. If I can’t get them all to respond….

A green light suddenly illuminated the ceiling and walls, entirely covering the front of the bank. An electric hum rang throughout the lobby.

“What the hell….” he muttered.

Screams from the terrorized civilians drowned it out when the armed men approached the crowd. Inko grabbed his arm again and pulled him and Izuku back through the crowd.

“There has to be a way out. I have to get them out.”

He wasn’t sure Inko even realized she said those words aloud. She might have been short, but she had no problem forcing her way through the crowd with two teenage boys in tow.

Bang!

Hitoshi didn’t miss her cringe at the next gun shot. He looked around, his eyes locking on a tall blond man holding a pistol above his head just a few meters from the trio. The people around him scrambled away, but they were running out of space. More armed men were stationed next to the tellers. His chest tightened.

We’re all trapped...where’s Aizawa….

“If everyone could please remain calm, the rest of you won’t be harmed,” the blond announced.

His words did nothing to ease the crowd’s fears, if many people heard him at all. Inko was desperately searching for some sort of way out. The man sighed and lowered his arm as he approached them. Hitoshi froze when he saw the gun level with Inko’s head.

Shit.

He shook himself out of his stupor and pulled her behind him. A dark blur barreled into him.

Bang!

Shouta’s scream came right next to his ear, and he collapsed on top of him and Inko. He let out a grunt when he fell on his back. His eyes widened when he felt something wet seeping onto his shirt.

“Ai-Aizawa….”

It was impossible to get up with the man’s dead weight on top of him, but he didn’t have to wait long. The blond man stepped closer, a brilliant and nearly blinding smile plastered on his face. He yanked Shouta up by his hair and dragged him off his body. Relief flooded through him when the action elicited a groan out of the hero.

He’s not dead.

“You’re lucky I’ve got quick reflexes!” the blond man laughed. “Killing the lone hero here would’ve easily ruined the opportunity so kindly presented to me.”

At that, the others trapped in the lobby started to quiet down, a few murmurs stopping the room from entering a petrified silence.

“He’s a hero? Why couldn’t he defeat these villains already?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. Maybe he’s new?”

“There’s no way that guy’s a hero.”

Why the hell does any of that matter? He tried to take them down and just got shot!

Hitoshi’s blood boiled. He pushed himself up, and Izuku helped his mom to her feet. The blond dropped Shouta and kicked him on to his back. He stomped down on his right shoulder, and the erasure hero couldn’t stop a scream from escaping his gritted teeth. He gripped the blond’s ankle and tried to shove him off, but the foot pinning him down didn’t budge.

“What are you doing?” Hitoshi demanded.

He didn’t realize he was stalking toward their assailants until Izuku grabbed his arms. The blond didn’t even act like he’d heard him. He motioned with his head, and one of the armed men knelt down and rifled through Shouta’s pockets. He handed the wallet and phone over. The blond pulled out a single card, and his smile brightened.

“It’s nice to formally meet you, Eraserhead. I thought I was hearing things when one of those kids called you ‘Aizawa-sensei.’ Then I saw your scarf and I couldn’t believe my luck!”

The two students tensed. Hitoshi could sense Izuku’s gaze on him, but he refused to look away from his mentor. Aizawa’s eyes bulged out of his skull when the blond shifted more weight onto his wound before taking his foot off. The man wasted no time yanking the capture weapon up and over his head. He froze when he heard a police siren, and everyone turned toward the bank’s entrance. The siren slowly grew louder.

“That didn’t take near as long as I expected,” the blond grumbled. He straightened up and addressed his men, pointing to Hitoshi and Izuku. “Get them ready, but put the cuffs on those two.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a few zip ties. “I’ll take care of Eraser. After all, he’s our most valuable hostage.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku

“I’ll take care of Eraser. After all, he’s our most valuable hostage.”

The words wouldn’t stop echoing in his brain. His hands tightened around Hitoshi’s arms.

I should’ve used One for All. Maybe I could’ve gotten all of us out of here, but I didn’t even try. Maybe Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t be in this position….

One of the armed men let his rifle hang across the front of his chest. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and approached him and Hitoshi. His eyes widened.

Those are quirk-suppression cuffs. Only the police should have them. How’d they get their hands on those?

The erasure hero groaned when he was flipped over onto his stomach. Hitoshi escaped his grip and took a few steps forward.

“What the hell are you doing? Let him—“

The man approaching them didn’t hesitate to strike Hitoshi in the face with the butt of his rifle. A few screams erupted from the crowd.

“Shinsou!” Izuku rushed forward and caught him before he could hit the ground, struggling under the unexpected weight. Hitoshi clutched his nose and screwed his eyes shut. He managed to get his feet under him so Izuku could help him completely right himself. “Are you….”

He trailed off once Hitoshi took his hands away from his face. Blood streamed from Hitoshi’s nose and covered his hands. Izuku’s gaze then locked on the massive red stain on his chest.

That’s Aizawa-sensei’s.

His eyes wandered back toward his teacher, and his blood ran cold. The blond man now held Aizawa up by his hair, forcing him to look at Hitoshi. His eyes were glowing, and his hair was floating. He clenched his teeth while he tried to loosen the blond’s grip. Izuku saw something that he’d hoped he’d never see in his teacher’s face: fear.

Then Izuku’s eyebrows rose.

Aizawa-sensei just got shot. He’s probably not in any position to use erasure, even if he wanted to. Unless….

“Get those cuffs on them. I can’t risk any of you answering the mind freak’s questions.”

Shouta’s bloodshot eyes twitched, but he never blinked. Hitoshi paled when the realization must have dawned on him as well.

He’s forcing Aizawa-sensei to use his quirk.

A pair of rough hands grabbed his own, and cold metal clamped down on his wrists. A hand dove into his front pocket and confiscated his phone. The man didn’t hesitate to cuff Hitoshi’s wrists in front of him as well, not even caring about his attempts to stop the blood still dripping from his nose. He was patted down a second later, but he didn’t appear to have anything else on him.

The blond finally let go of Shouta’s hair, and the hero collapsed.

“Don’t…touch them….” he gritted out.

Despite the gunshot wound, the man was trying to push himself up, his gaze set on the two boys. The blond only laughed and delivered a swift kick to his ribs.

“I’m afraid you’re not the one in the position to make demands. Although, it might give you peace of mind to know that as long as we have everyone’s full cooperation, no one else will get hurt. Hiroji,” the man that cuffed the two students perked up, “Kazuma, Tabito, hurry. The cops should be here any second.”

Hiroji didn’t hesitate to reach in his back pocket and pull out some zip-ties. He approached his mom next, instantly grabbing her wrists and wrapping the tie around them. He moved on to the father and daughter next to them. Another man came up behind Hiroji with a bag, and everyone’s phones were taken and dumped into it. Once the two had moved down to other hostages, his mom leaned past him and closer to Hitoshi.

“Are you all right?” she whispered.

“’m fine.”

The blood dribbling out of his mouth as he spoke said otherwise; unfortunately, they didn’t exactly have time to discuss it.

“Move it.”

Izuku turned his attention to the voice. Once the civilians were restrained, they were being herded to the front of the bank. He glanced back to the tellers. They were dumping money into another bag, but one was being led to the back of the bank.

There has to be at least thirty of us, and they seemed to be prepared. The leader must have recognized us from the Sports Festival if he wanted the quirk-suppression cuffs on us. He knows about Eraserhead. There’s no way this is just a simple bank robbery….

Strong hands clamped down on his shoulder and shook him out of his thoughts. They steered him toward the front of the bank before giving him a rough shove. Hitoshi bumped into him a second later. Despite the green glow and bright, jagged lines moving up and down the wall, he could still see flashing lights racing toward the bank. The sirens wailed even louder. The police were close, but it did nothing to ease the pit forming in his stomach.

Aizawa Shouta

Stars danced behind his closed eyelids when he was forced onto his stomach. He couldn’t stop a groan from escaping him.

“What the hell are you doing? Let him—“

Hitoshi.

A sickening crack echoed through the lobby.

“Shinsou!”

Ignoring the agony pulsing from his shoulder, he barely managed to raise his head and open his eyes. Hitoshi’s hands covered the lower half of his face, and he’d practically collapsed into Izuku’s arms. Blood seeped between his fingers. Before he could get his good arm under him, a hand fisted into his hair and yanked him up to his knees. His hair started floating around him, and a pressure intensified behind his eyes. He tried to shut them, but they remained wide open. His heart dropped into his stomach.

He’s forcing me to use my quirk.

He brought a hand up to grab at the man’s wrist and twisted, desperate to relinquish the hold and stop erasing Hitoshi’s quirk, but a strong grip on his jaw forced him to keep his gaze on the two boys.

“Don’t try fighting it. You’ll just be wasting your energy.” The leader straightened and addressed his men. “Get those cuffs on them. I can’t risk any of you answering the mind freak’s questions.”

As soon as the two students were restrained, the grip on his hair disappeared. He promptly flopped back down on the ground. Fire emanated from his shoulder, and his eyes burned, but he tried to push himself up anyway.

“Don’t…touch them….”

He could barely contain his rage when the blond laughed. A boot connected with his ribs. He sucked in a sharp breath, and his left side ached.

Shit….

“I’m afraid you’re not the one in the position to make demands. Although, it might give you peace of mind to know that as long as we have everyone’s full cooperation, no one else will get hurt. Hiroji, Kazuma, Tabito, hurry. The cops should be here any second.”

A knee descended on his back, his newly cracked ribs protesting the crushing weight. His arms were wrestled behind him. Two zip-ties were secured around his wrists and pulled so tight that they cut into the skin. He was promptly turned back over and pulled up into a sitting position. The blond motioned someone over before producing a knife from his pocket and cutting off a couple pieces from his capture weapon.

“Hold these,” he muttered, bunching up the cloth and pressing it against the entrance and exit wounds in his shoulder.

Black spots engulfed Shouta’s vision. He clenched his teeth, but was unable to bite back another pained groan. The two wrapped his capture weapon around his shoulders and arms to keep the cloth in place, also rendering his entire upper body immobile.

“The police are almost here,” the second man whispered. “Looks like Tsukauchi’s with them.”

Shouta’s eyes widened at that.

They have someone else on the outside….

The blond seemed to read mind. He leaned in, his breath ghosting over Shouta’s ear.

“These hostages now depend on your behavior and the cooperation of the police, Eraserhead. If you care about them, you’ll do your part and keep your mouth shut.”

“The police…won’t…negotiate with criminals.”

“With these civilians and one of their greatest underground allies is at risk, I think they’ll consider our demands.”

His capture weapon was wrapped around him one last time before getting cut and tied off. A pair of arms grabbed Shouta and yanked him to his feet, the throb in his shoulder and ache in his ribs intensifying at the movement. He scrambled to gain his footing as he was dragged toward the front of the bank. The hostages were lined up along the windows on either side of the massive glass doors. He caught a glimpse of Izuku and Inko just to the left of the bank entrance; however, his gaze lingered on Hitoshi. The kid’s eyes darkened when they met his own, and he was certain his did the same.

Hitoshi had managed to stop the bleeding, but dry blood caked down from his now crooked nose, over his lips, and down his chin. Red stains covered the sleeves of the borrowed shirt. He opened his mouth, but Izuku clutched at his arm with both hands. His student leaned in and muttered something, eyeing the two armed men pacing a couple meters behind him. Whatever he said caused Hitoshi to snap his mouth shut.

Thank you, Midoriya.

Shouta only had a moment of relief before the blond abruptly stopped in front of the doors, shifting to grip one of his arms while someone else grabbed the other. He swallowed thickly at the two bodies carelessly tossed out on the sidewalk. The sirens wailed at an almost deafening level as police cars swarmed the street, and the civilians that had gathered in front of the bank scattered.

Yamada Hizashi

He checked his phone again, fingers automatically clicking on the group messages.

Nemuri: What does Shinsou want for dinner?

Hizashi: Is there anything else I could pick up while I’m out? I’m about to head to the grocery store.

Still no response from Shouta. His lips quirked into a thin line as he pressed the home button. He tucked a long, blond strand of hair behind his ear and fell in line with the hoard of people entering the grocery store.

It’s not like Sho’ to ignore us for an hour—well, not when we actually need something, but it’s not like he’s not busy.

Just as he was about to put the phone back in his pocket, it vibrated. His eyebrows shot up when Nemuri’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hey Nem—“

“Have you heard from Shouta?” she cut him off.

He stopped at her tone. A few people bumped into him, and he stumbled a few steps before veering off into one of the aisles.

“Not since he left his place this morning,” he said, “but he and Shinsou are probably—“

“Gunshots have been reported coming from Shoko Chukin Bank. Tsukauchi just called, and I’m on my way.”

Hizashi’s eyes widened.

Shouta and Shinsou were heading that direction….

He bolted back down the aisle and out of the store.

“I’m just over a kilometer away. I’ll see you soon.”

He hung up, but immediately dialed Shouta’s number. No answer.

“Dammit, Sho’,” he grumbled under his breath and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

This can’t be good. He wouldn’t ignore my calls, especially not now. I can’t even call Shinsou.

He sprinted a couple blocks down the street before rounding a corner and skidding to a halt. Not a single car was on the road. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen this many civilians crowding the streets. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he paid it no mind. Red and blue lights flashed in the distance. Ignoring the name calling and curses thrown his direction, he elbowed his way through the crowd.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the blockade. A green glow covered the entire front of the bank. There was a slight curve, and he knew it had to cover the roof.

What the hell?

He barely even registered a cop walking up to him.

“Sir, I’m afraid you can’t—” He whipped out his hero license, never taking his eyes off the bank. A nervous chuckle came from the man. “I’m so sorry, Present Mic! I didn’t recognize you….”

The voice hero waved a hand as the cop let him through. He glanced down at his yellow t-shirt and loose black jacket, almost forgetting he actually wasn’t in his hero costume.

“It’s fine,” he muttered with a grin.

Once inside the blockade, a familiar voice shouted over the buzz of curious civilians.

“Mic!”

Nemuri, wearing a simple pair of jeans and purple sweater with her hair tied back in a ponytail, wasted no time grabbing his arm and dragging him into the brigade of police cars. He almost chuckled.

The cops probably stopped her, too.

He scanned through the cars and officers, but there was still no sign of Shouta. His phone was vibrating again, but it stopped as soon as Detective Tsukauchi caught sight of him and tucked his phone away. He approached the two heroes.

“I’m glad you’re here, Present Mic. I was hoping you were nearby.”

“I’m assuming we’ve got a hostage situation inside the bank?”

Naomasa frowned, but nodded.

“We were hoping you’d talk to the villains with us. In case they’re listening, hearing a familiar voice might calm the hostages down.”

Hizashi raised his eyebrows.

“And you want the villains to know heroes are coming to the scene?”

Again, the detective nodded. He motioned for Hizashi to follow him.

“All Might and Endeavor are on their way. We’re making more calls as we speak. The coroners should be here in a couple minutes to take care of the bodies. Normally, we’d wait for more heroes, but at least two civilians have been killed, and we need to know exactly what we’re dealing with now.”

Bodies….

He fought the urge to look away when the detective led him in front of the police cars, the two stopping at the cones set up in front of the stone steps. Blood trailed down the stairs until it pooled where the bodies had rolled to a stop on the sidewalk.

Shit.

“The villains have created some sort of force field around the building,” Naomasa continued. “They’ve also lined the hostages up at the front. If we have to force a way in, it’s going to be difficult.”

The transparent green glow allowed them to see the terrified faces of the hostages staring back at them through the window. Hizashi’s heart stopped when he spotted a mess of purple hair.

Shinsou...what’s on his shirt and face? Are those bloodstains—wait, is that Midoriya next to him?

He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze to the door.

If Shinsou’s trapped inside then….

Two men were holding Shouta up a few feet away from the bank’s entrance. He was slightly slumped over. His hands were restrained behind his back, and his capture weapon was wrapped around his chest.

Shit!

“They have Eraserhead,” Naomasa mumbled. He pulled out his phone. “Are you ready, Present Mic?”

He reluctantly tore his eyes away from his friend and nodded.

Chapter Text

Shinsou Hitoshi

He shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged out of the school. His shoulders slumped. He did his best to ignore the lively students around him, shifting his gaze to his feet as he continued on down the sidewalk.

“Shinsou Hitoshi?”

His entire body tensed, but he turned around. A man in a black jumpsuit with long, black hair jogged to catch up with him. His eyes widened at the scarf around the man’s neck and shoulders.

“There’s no way….” he mumbled.

The man slowed to a stop.

“I understand the school day’s over, but I was wondering if you had a few minutes to—“

“You’re Eraserhead,” he blurted, clapping a hand over his mouth a second later. Something flashed in the hero’s eyes, and his eyebrows furrowed. Hitoshi crossed his arms and shifted his weight, unable to stop a pit from forming in his stomach. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Shouta said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just you’re not the first student this year to recognize me. That’s something I’m not used to. Do you have a few minutes? I couldn’t find you after the entrance exam and I’d rather discuss this in person. If you’re heading to the train station, I could walk with you.”

He nodded, and the two continued on down the sidewalk.

“Five of the examinees spoke to Present Mic as soon as the exam was over. They ended the exam with a higher number of points than they anticipated. They claimed they blacked out, but waking up and continuing the exam. When the staff reviewed the footage, we noticed all of those students had one thing in common: they all talked to you during the exam.”

“Is that a problem, sir?” he asked.

“You scored zero points during the exam and failed miserably,” Shouta said, the bluntness of the statement making him cringe, “so I was curious. We have access to the basic information of all the examinees, including quirks.”

He froze, unable to get himself to even look toward the erasure hero.

“How much trouble am I in?”

“Why would you jump to the conclusion you’re in any sort of trouble?” That got him to look up and meet the man’s gaze. “I don’t see why you should be. Your quirk doesn’t work on robots, but you knew that going into the exam, didn’t you? So you also applied for the general studies department.”

He nodded.

“What…what happened those examinees?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Even deducting the points they claimed they didn’t earn, two of them were accepted into the heroics department and are currently in Class 1-B. The other three decided to attend a different school.”

His head drooped. Shouta took a step closer.

“I meant it when I said you aren’t in any trouble. That exam is designed to allow examinees to demonstrate their quirks, and you did just that. You did what everyone else did in the only way you could. I understand that exam isn’t fair to people with quirks like ours, so I have a proposition for you.”

He watched as the police barricaded the street. The sirens finally started to die down. From his view, he could see the civilians starting to crowd around the scene. A pained grunt caught his attention. Turning his head, his eyes darkened when the blond man dragged Shouta toward the front of the bank.

He’s injured. Why are they moving him?

He opened his mouth, but a grip on his sleeve stopped any words from coming out. Izuku leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“Don’t antagonize them. They’ll only take it out on you.”

The throbbing in his nose escalated at the words, reminding him that his mentor wasn’t the only one injured.

At least I wasn’t shot. I’m in better shape than he is, but Midoriya might have a point….

Hitoshi clenched his teeth, but remained silent. He faced the window, noting two people approaching the steps of the bank. They stopped just shy of the cones set up in front of the two bodies. His eyes widened when he saw a man with familiar long, blond hair.

“Mic-sensei….” he muttered under his breath.

Hizashi scanned the windows, his gaze lingering on him and Izuku for a brief moment before settling on the injured erasure hero. He glanced at Izuku, who mirrored his own expression.

“I almost didn’t recognize him. Do you think—”

The shrill ringing of a phone cut through the lobby. Every pair of eyes turned back toward the tellers. The blond man’s smile returned instantly.

“Would one of you be kind enough to bring me the phone? We really can’t keep the police waiting!”

What the hell is with the theatrics? Is this just some big production to him? He’s acting like his men didn’t just murder two innocent civilians.

One of his men came forward with the phone. He held his breath when the blond answered, and he was sure every other hostage did the same.

Aizawa Shouta

Hizashi…Tsukauchi….

He could sense the dread in the two standing in front of the bank. Naomasa pulled out his phone and held it between him and Hizashi. He barely registered the phone ringing a second later. He couldn’t get himself to break his friend’s gaze.

“Time to make yourself useful, Eraser.”

He fought the urge to flinch at the close proximity of the voice, feeling the man’s breath ghosting over his ear again. The phone rang a second time, but it was louder than the first. A set of footsteps crossed the lobby, followed by the third ring. The blond didn’t hesitate to answer the second the phone was in his grasp. The hand around his arm tightened, and his eyes were forced wide open. The aching in his eyes intensified as erasure activated.

“Hello?”

He tried to turn to look at the man to his right at the simple greeting, but a strong hand on the back of his neck kept him facing the doors. He could hear Naomasa on the other end.

“This is Detective Tsukauchi from the Musutafu police department. May I ask whom I’m speaking to?”

The blond’s ever-present smile turned almost predatory.

“I didn’t think the department would send such a large brigade so soon, but I’m absolutely honored! Please, detective, feel free to call me Kayo. Who’s your friend there?”

“The voice hero: Present Mic.”

“Present Mic!” Kayo exclaimed. Quiet mumbles dispersed amongst the hostages, but he didn’t seem to care. “I didn’t recognize you. You got called in on your day off, didn’t you? I can’t be too sorry about that since I’m actually quite a fan!”

“I’m flattered, listener—”

Relief surged through Shouta’s veins at his friend’s voice. For the briefest moment, he could ignore his eye strain. Unfortunately, Kayo was all too willing to cut that short.

“I guess there’s no point in the idle chatter. You wouldn’t call for the sole sake of exchanging pleasantries, would you?”

Hizashi flashed his trademark smile, but Shouta could see the force behind it. The phone was put on speaker.

“Kayo, all we want is to get those civilians out safe. I know you don’t want anyone else to get hurt either.”

The muttering grew louder the second Hizashi’s voice echoed through the lobby.

“Mom, it’s the voice from the radio!”

“It really is Present Mic!”

“Heroes must be coming to save—“

Kayo yanked his pistol out of the holster and fired a single shot in the air. Shouta’s ears rang, but he didn’t flinch. He couldn’t. The blond’s control over his quirk didn’t waver in the slightest. He didn’t even let Hizashi or Naomasa get a chance to speak.

“I’m very glad everyone could hear you say that, Present Mic! I know it has to ease their nerves. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, my friends and I are in a bit of a situation and could really use your assistance.”

“What do you need?” Naomasa asked.

“We need to get to Taiwan. We need a plane, a pilot, and guaranteed entry to the country with no interference from authorities.”

What the hell?

Shouta watched Hizashi’s shoulders hunch up closer to his ears. The voice hero crossed his arms and stared at Naomasa.

“I…we…even Chief Tsuragamae couldn’t guarantee that,” the detective started. “We’d need the prime minister to call the consulate in Taipei, and he’d have to make those arrangements. Realistically, it could take days to ensure your entry to the country.”

“I thought you cared about these civilians, or did Present Mic lie about that?”

“Of course we—“ Hizashi tried to interject.

“Then you’ll find a way to help us out, won’t you? Now, I’m aware I’m asking quite a bit from you, so I’ll give you thirty minutes to get the wheels in motion before I take any further action. I look forward to hearing from you then!”

“Wait!” Naomasa yelled, but Kayo had already hung up the phone.

The grip on the back of Shouta’s neck disappeared, and his head hung down toward his chest. He rapidly blinked to ease the burning in his eyes, but it barely helped. He raised his head back up to see Hizashi and Naomasa retreating into the brigade of police cars. The voice hero glanced over his shoulder, a frown etched onto his face. They met each other’s gaze one last time before he disappeared from sight.

Kayama Nemuri

She searched through each room one last time, the green glow from next door illuminating the building through the windows. She pressed the button on her ear piece.

“The top floor’s clear. Everyone else has already evacuated.”

“Thanks, Midnight,” Sansa’s voice answered. “We’ve cleared out the other buildings, so you can come back down.”

Nemuri didn’t waste a second before sprinting down four flights of stairs and out the door. Sansa waved her down and motioned her to follow. The officer led her through the cars and toward a van parked on the sidewalk across from the bank. Hizashi and Naomasa were waiting there, the latter off to the side on the phone.

“Everyone in the surrounding buildings have been evacuated,” Sansa announced. “So far, no one’s gotten past the barricade, but we’ve got reporters trying to get through.”

“Of course,” Hizashi muttered, rubbing a hand down his face.

Naomasa hung up the phone and joined the trio. He opened the door to the van. Monitors were set up along one side, and two officers typed frantically at the keyboards.

“Have you hacked into the bank’s security cameras?” he asked.

One of the officers sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“It looks like someone already has.” He moved to the side, granting the four a view of the monitors. “From what we can see, there’s five minutes of footage that keep repeating.” He rewound the footage, showing the same six civilians approaching the tellers over and over. “We’re doing everything we can, but I’m not sure if we can get the live feed.”

“Keep at it,” Naomasa ordered before turning to the two heroes. “We’ve got thirty-seven total hostages, but we don’t know how many villains we have. There are five stationed near the windows, but there could be more further within the bank. They’ve got Eraserhead and two Yuuei students inside. It’s imperative we don’t let that information leak out.”

Nemuri’s eyes widened, and Hizashi put a hand on her shoulder.

“Did you get ahold of the Chief?” the voice hero asked.

Naomasa nodded, but frowned.

“He’s calling the mayor right now, and they’re going to see if they can get someone from the prime minister’s office to answer. He didn’t sound very hopeful, though. We have no way to guarantee them a clear path to Taiwan.”

Nemuri’s eyebrows furrowed.

“That’s what they took hostages for?”

Again, the detective nodded.

“So it seems. All Might and Endeavor should be getting here any second. Last I heard, Hawks, Mount Lady, and Death Arms were on their way. Although, I’m not quite sure how effective they’ll all be if Eraserhead erases their quirks.”

“You know Sho-Eraser would never cooperate with—“ Nemuri couldn’t help raising her voice.

“I know,” Naomasa reassured. “I’m sure they threatened to harm the hostages if he didn’t use his quirk.”

“Something doesn’t seem quite right, Detective.” All eyes were on Hizashi. “Kayo said he didn’t recognize me, so they didn’t know heroes had even arrived on the scene, but Eraser activated his quirk before Kayo answered the phone and through our entire conversation.”

That shouldn’t be possible. I don’t think Sho’ could use erasure that long without blinking…and why would he be threatened to use it if the villains didn’t know heroes had arrived yet?

“Do you think one of the villains can force quirk activation?” she asked.

Naomasa’s eyebrows rose.

“That—“

He was cut off by his phone ringing. He stepped off to the side to take the call, and he motioned Sansa to follow. Nemuri stepped closer to Hizashi the second the two were gone.

“Who’s the other student?”

“Midoriya,” he answered solemnly.

She grimaced.

Of course it had to be someone from Class 1-A.

“You think Shouta was forced to activate his quirk before the villains knew we were here?”

“I know he was. His hair was floating before their leader answered the phone. I think he was erasing Tsukauchi’s quirk, specifically.”

The corners of her lips pulled down into a frown.

“Do you think they were lying about their demands?”

“I don’t know, but something isn’t right….”

“Because if they really wanted to escape the country, taking a bunch of hostages is the worst possible way if they wanted to avoid the attention,” she finished.

Hizashi nodded. He checked his phone.

“The villains gave us thirty minutes to make some progress on their demands,” he sighed. “We only have fifteen minutes left.”

“But Tsukauchi said more heroes were on their way.”

She stepped around the van and stared at the bank.

But if they can force Sho’ to use his quirk, I’m not sure how much they’ll be able to help.

Midoriya Inko

She tensed when the footsteps stopped right behind her, but they turned around and drifted away from her, Izuku, and Hitoshi. Bright flashes to her left caught her attention. A few officers were pushing people back and preventing him from jumping over the barricade. Her blood boiled when she saw the cameras and microphones.

The media’s here already? Is this really just another spectacle for them?

She looked to her son, who seemed to sense her eyes on him and met her gaze instantly. He smiled.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered.

Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?

She simply nodded. Her heart skipped a beat when two men walked back up to the steps of the bank.

The blond one…that’s Present Mic. If he’s here, more heroes have to be coming. They’ll get us all out, right?

“Back to work, Eraser!”

A groan caused the trio to whip their heads to the injured hero. Kayo had grabbed him under his arms and was trying to hoist him up from the spot he’d been carelessly thrown right after the first phone call. Inko fought back a wince as she remembered the crack that had followed.

He’s gotten shot. He’s been kicked in the ribs. He has to have a couple broken fingers now.

The phone ringing nearly made her jump. A hand fisted in Shouta’s hair, and it started floating. The man clenched his teeth as Kayo answered the phone and pressed a couple additional buttons.

“It’s good to hear from you, Detective Tsukauchi. Right on time, too! I hope you have some good news for me.”

“Chief Tsuragamae is working with the mayor as we speak, but they haven’t been able to get ahold of the prime minister or anyone at his office yet.”

Her breath hitched in her throat at the detective’s words. The footsteps slowly made their way back and stopped right behind her. Kayo sighed.

“I’m afraid that’s not good enough, detective. I don’t think you really understand that time is of the essence.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Inko couldn’t help but flinch as blood splattered on the side of her face and shoulder, and the man beside her slumped to the floor, unmoving.

“I’ll give you an additional thirty minutes, and now you’re aware of the consequences if I’m not happy with your progress.”

Chapter Text

Yagi Toshinori

The air rushed around him as he jumped from roof to roof, drawing closer to the green glow in the distance. He ignored the pit in his stomach that had been there since his call with Naomasa.

“It’s Tsukauchi. We’ve got a situation at Shoko Chukin Bank. It looks like some villains took hostages. Two civilians have been killed already. Are you…please tell me you’ll be able to help?”

A dull murmur reached his ears as he got closer, but he didn’t dare slow down. His eyebrows raised when he finally reached the building directly across the street from the bank. He dropped to a knee the second he landed, not that it would’ve mattered. It was nearly impossible to turn one’s gaze away from the green entity encasing the bank. He inched closer and peeked over the edge of the roof.

Civilians crowded the street, parted on either side of the bank by two barricades guarded by more policemen than he could count. More officers were dispersed amongst the vehicles parked between the two buildings. Two people emerged and walked toward the bank. They stopped just shy of the steps.

That jacket and hat…it has to be Tsukauchi, but who’s the other….

He squinted, but only for a second before his eyes flew wide open.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He wasted no time, jumping off the building and down unto the scene below.

Aizawa Shouta

His heart stopped after the first gunshot. If only it had ended there. He whipped to his left, unintentionally ripping his head out of Kayo’s grip. His hair flopped back down to his shoulders. He ignored his stinging eyes as he stared at the fallen man next to Inko.

“What the hell?” he yelled.

He automatically stepped toward the man, railing against the grip on his arm despite his injured shoulder and ribs. Kayo hung up the phone and dropped it to get a better hold on him.

“Calm yourself, Eraser.”

Blood slowly pooled around the man on the ground. Once it touched her shoes, Inko shook herself out of her stupor. She knelt down on the ground, bunching up the man’s shirt and pressing it against his wounds as best she could and completely ignoring the armed man behind her. Izuku joined her in an instant.

“Cut me free, now! I have to help—“

“For the last time, you’re not in the position to make demands.” Kayo wrapped his arms around Shouta’s waist and picked the struggling hero off the ground and carried him away from the civilians and further back into the lobby. “The police aren’t making the progress they need to be. They have to learn that there will be consequences for that. I understand it must be frustrating since you’ve held up your end of our deal.”

The blond stumbled when the ground shook, but he maintained his hold on Shouta.

“Th-that’s All Might!” someone stammered.

They both turned their heads toward the door. Even from their position, they could see the familiar red, white, and blue hero costume. The villain merely grunted before resuming the task at hand until he reached the bank teller windows. He set Shouta down only to sweep his legs out from under him, sending the hero crashing to the ground. Shouta bit back a groan as he landed on his left arm, grateful he’d managed to avoid landing on his hands again. Despite his aching ribs and shoulder, he managed to sit himself up and back against the wall. Kayo looked to the three men stationed there.

“Make sure he doesn’t waste his energy trying to play hero. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him and won’t be useful if he passes out.” He shifted his gaze to Shouta. “Take this opportunity to rest, Eraser. You’re going to need it.”

The blond turned away and walked back toward the front of the bank. Shouta grit his teeth, his eyes wandering back toward the fallen man. Izuku was now putting pressure on his wounds. Inko was hunched over and seemed to be speaking to him. He leaned forward, only to be pushed back against the wall by a boot on his injured shoulder. White spots danced across his vision as more pressure was added to the wound. His mouth opened in a noiseless scream of agony.

Kayo…sure wasn’t kidding. He doesn’t…want…me near those civilians….

He slowly breathed in through his nose. He rapidly blinked, desperate to clear his vision. Once he let out a shaky breath, he looked back to Inko and Izuku. His student had paled. Inko’s eyes were screwed shut, a grimace plastered across her face. She reluctantly pushed herself back up, and Izuku and Hitoshi helped her back to her feet.

Shouta’s heart sank, and he completely sagged against the wall. He shot a glare at the man with his foot on his shoulder.

“I…get it….” he huffed.

The pressure on the gunshot wound disappeared. His head lolled forward, and he forced himself to steady his breathing. Exhaustion seeped into his bones when the adrenaline started to fade away. He mustered up the energy to raise his head just enough to see Hitoshi looking back at him. The teen’s hands clenched into fists. He could practically feel Hitoshi’s fingernails digging into his palm.

I’m so…sorry, kid. I’ll…get you out. I promise….

Midoriya Izuku

“What the hell?”

Shouta’s enraged yell echoed through the lobby, and his blood ran cold. He’d never heard his teacher sound so angry. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the red pool slowly growing on the floor. Ignoring the blood, his mom knelt down and grappled at the man’s shirt, trying to bunch it up and staunch the blood flowing down his back. He instantly followed. Awkwardly maneuvering their bound hands, they managed to pile the cloth and press down on the three gunshot wounds.

“Is he still conscious?” he whispered.

Inko leaned down to get a better look at his face. She nodded.

“Hey, you’re going to be okay,” she told him. “More heroes are coming. They’ll get us out.”

She kept talking to him while Izuku shifted to keep pressure on the wounds as the man’s breathing became erratic. The blood completely soaked through the thin cloth of his shirt within minutes. He toppled over when the ground shook.

What the….

“Th-that’s All Might!”

A roar erupted from the civilians. He instantly pushed himself back up on his knees and back into position. Inko smiled at the man, but he could see tears welling in her eyes.

“Did you hear that? All Might’s here! Everything’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

She clutched one of his hands. The rise and fall of his back ceased. Izuku clenched the soaked fabric and took a shaky breath. Looking to his mom, his chest tightened at the grimace on her face. Her bottom lip trembled. He managed to stand on wobbly legs.

“I’m sorry, mom.”

He took a hold of her arm, Hitoshi coming around to grab the other. The two helped her to her feet, but she leaned heavily on Izuku. Moving his arms over her head, he brought her into a hug as best he could and guided her away from the body.

“H-he…he’s….” she couldn’t even get the words out.

Izuku’s heart broke. Tears slipped down his cheeks. His arms tightened around his mom when Kayo strode over to Hiroji, standing just behind them.

“Have they done anything?” he asked.

“Looks like they’re just briefing All Might on the situation.”

All Might….

His head jerked up and he looked out the window. That familiar, brilliant smile stood out amongst the sea of police cars and officers. The Symbol of Peace stood between Hizashi and Naomasa, eyes raking across the windows. The second Izuku met the hero’s gaze, his lips twitched, and he nearly let the smile falter. With a slight shake of his head, he seemed to return his attention back to the detective. Izuku swallowed.

I really hope you can help us, All Might.

Uraraka Ochako

The wind whipped through her hair as she ran down the sidewalk. Her smile widened when she saw Shouto and Tenya waiting on a bench near the mall entrance, the latter instantly standing and waving at her.

“Good to see you, Uraraka!”

She stopped next to the bench.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting! Have you guys been here long?”

“No need to apologize!” the class representative assured. “I’ve only been here ten minutes.”

Shouto finally stood up.

“I just got here. We’re still waiting on Midoriya anyway.”

She didn’t hesitate to whip out her phone.

“I thought he would’ve beat us all here. He might already be inside.”

“It’s a real shame Asui wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t join us….”

She tuned out Tenya’s rambling and opened their group chat. No new messages from Izuku. She tapped his contact and put the phone to her ear. Her eyebrows furrowed when he didn’t pick up. She dialed his number again.

No answer.

Ding!

A notification from her news app popped up, and she instantly swiped it away. She called again. She crossed her arms and held the phone against her ear.

“Guys!”

She looked to Shouto, who was staring wide-eyed at his phone. Tenya looked over his shoulder at the screen, his expression soon mirroring his classmate’s. She didn’t hesitate to join the two.

HOSTAGE SITUATION CURRENTLY UNDERWAY AT SHOKO CHUKIN BANK

She dropped her phone once she got a good look at the photo.

Yagi Toshinori

Naomasa stepped away as his phone rang for, seemingly, the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes, leaving him alone with the voice hero. He shifted his gaze back to the window, his eyes instantly spotting the green head of hair just visible in the window.

Young Midoriya….

“Was anyone going to tell me a Yuuei student was trapped inside?”

“Two students, actually,” Hizashi said, Toshinori noting the slight annoyance in his tone. “Shinsou Hitoshi is stuck in there, too. I’m very sorry we didn’t tell you. That was my decision. After the gunshots went off, I lost sight of Midoriya. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions and cloud your judgement.”

He sighed.

I suppose I can’t fault him for that. If anything had happened to him….

Whoosh!

Applause and cheers erupted from the civilians for the second time. He looked up and forced his smile to widen.

“That’s Hawks!”

“I never thought I’d get to see him in person!”

The number three hero landed just behind him. Hizashi wasted no time approaching him and speaking a mile a minute. Toshinori couldn’t help but stare at the shield surrounding the bank.

What the hell is that? Would a smash even have an effect on that? If it did, all those civilians are lined up at the windows….

A hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts.

“If you got out of Eraser’s range of vision, do you think you could destroy it?” Naomasa asked.

“I don’t know. I’m definitely not comfortable with the idea with all those civilians inside. I’m more than willing to give it a try if it comes down to it.”

The detective nodded.

“We really need to get an idea of the situation in there. We don’t even know how many villains there are.”

“Do you think we could ask him to release some of the hostages?” Hizashi asked, joining the two with Keigo in tow. “Or, at the very least, do you think Kayo might let us speak to Eraser? I don’t see any other way to get information.”

Naomasa glanced at his watch and pulled out his phone.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

Aizawa Shouta

He couldn’t stop the dread pooling in his stomach when Kayo sauntered back toward the bank teller windows. That infuriating smile still graced his features. He tensed when the blond knelt down next to him.

“I’m afraid break time’s over.”

Just when he grabbed Shouta’s arm, someone burst through the door just right of the last window.

“Shusaku we just heard from—“

Shusaku…there’s no way….

The man’s smile disappeared, and he glared daggers at the newcomer. Shouta’s eyes grew wide as the name registered in his mind, and Kayo sensed it. Before he could even open his mouth, the villain slammed his hand over it, knocking Shouta’s head back against the wall and causing him to let out a muffled grunt at the impact.

“You will not speak a word of this!” he hissed. “You’re not going tell any civilians my name. You’re not going to give any hints to the police. You’re simply going to stand there and make yourself useful.” He glanced over his shoulder before leaning closer. “If you don’t, you already know what the consequences are, and I can arrange for that purple-haired kid that walked in here with you to be next. Do you understand, Eraser?”

Shouta’s gaze automatically wandered to Hitoshi, and he nodded. Kayo relinquished the bruising grip on his mouth before heaving him up by his arm. His head ached, but he managed to get his legs under him as he was dragged back to the front of the lobby. The rest of the hostages were mostly silent, save for the occasional sniffle and quiet sob, but the phone ringing drowned that out instantly. One of Kayo’s men promptly handed him the phone before grabbing his other arm. Shouta could feel the atmosphere thicken when the villain put it on speaker.

“I certainly hope you were able to make some progress, Detective Tsukauchi,” he said as Shouta’s quirk activated.

His eyes stung, and there was nothing he could do to relieve it or tear his gaze away from Hizashi and Naomasa.

“The chief and mayor have made contact with prime minister’s office and are briefing him on the situation as we speak.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear!”

“Do you like it enough to release any of the hostages?” Hizashi asked.

Kayo laughed.

“I certainly can’t blame you for asking, but I’m afraid not, Present Mic. I do look forward to hearing from you in—“

“Can we speak to Eraserhead?”

There was no missing the slight desperation creeping into the voice hero’s question. Much to Shouta’s surprise, Kayo didn’t outright deny the request.

“Well…I don’t see the harm in that, but do keep in mind that I’ll end the conversation when I deem it necessary.” He held the phone closer to the hero. The hand gripping his arm snaked up to wrap around his throat, adding pressure, but not enough to restrict Shouta’s breathing. “Why don’t you say ‘hello,’ Eraser?”

Shouta took as deep of a breath as he could.

“Mic?”

“Eraser,” Hizashi sighed. “Can you give us an update on the hostages?”

“We have one casualty and one injury. Everyone else remains physically unharmed.”

“What about you?”

Shouta opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. He could see his friend cross his arms, unnerved by the lack of an answer. Someone prodded his injured shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to answer him?”

He couldn’t see Kayo, but he could imagine the smirk on the man’s face.

“Eraser, update us on your condition.”

“One gunshot wound, two broken fingers, and a few cracked ribs.”

Hizashi flinched. Naomasa grabbed the phone

“How many of them are there?”

Before Shouta could formulate a number, the grip around his throat tightened to the point it cut off his oxygen. The phone was instantly taken away.

“I’m afraid that’s all the time Eraser had for you. Now that I think about it, I do have a favor to ask.” There was a beat of silence from the other end, and Kayo took that as a sign to continue. “Is there any way you all could bring some water for these people? I don’t want them to get too uncomfortable. We may be here awhile.”

“S-sure,” Naomasa replied.

“Excellent! I look forward to seeing you and Present Mic soon! I see some more heroes have joined you, so feel free to recruit them to help you carry it all if you need to. Just give me a call when you’re ready!”

With that, he hung up the phone and finally released his grip on Shouta’s throat. The hero gasped for air while he was dragged away from the door and civilians.

What…is he doing? We should…all be…dead by now…what the hell…is Shusaku playing at?

Chapter Text

Shinsou Hitoshi

He leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. He checked his phone, relieved he still had another fifteen minutes until training started. He drew his knees up to his chest and laid his forehead on them. His eyes fluttered shut. Exhaustion from the roughest first week of classes he’d ever had seeped into his bones.

“Shinsou?”

A hand on his shoulder shook him awake. He jumped, quickly unraveling himself and clamoring to his feet. His brow furrowed at the man before him.

“Mic-sensei?”

The man’s vibrant smile was absent. His hair had been taken down from his usual style and pulled back into a ponytail. He donned a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt. If it hadn’t been for the sound of his voice, he probably wouldn’t have recognized the hero.

“Sorry if I startled you. I know you were expecting Eraser.”

“Why are you here?” he asked, flinching when realized how harsh the question came across. “I mean—“

The blond simply raised a hand.

“I wanted to tell you before you see the news or hear any rumors going around the school tomorrow. A group of villains attacked the USJ. Eraser and Thirteen were severely injured, but they’re both stable and expected to make a full physical recovery.”

His blood froze.

“When you say sensei’s stable….”

“From what his students have said, he held his ground against more villains than they could count, but one of them managed to take him down. He’s got two broken arms, broken ribs, and his entire orbital floor was shattered. It’s going to take several sessions with Recovery Girl over the next couple weeks, but he’ll recover.”

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He forced himself to ignore the tightness in his chest and take a deep breath.

“What about his quirk?” he asked next.

The voice hero frowned.

“I really wish I knew, kid, but we won’t have a definite answer on that until he wakes up. He can only have one visitor at a time, so Midnight’s staying with him for now and will let me know if anything changes. I’ll take her place once we’re done with your training for the day.”

His eyebrows shot up so high he thought they might’ve disappeared into his hairline.

“You…you know….”

For the first time, his English teacher grinned.

“I knew the second we reviewed that footage from the entrance exam that he’d take you under his wing, and I can’t blame him. You want to be a hero, but were faced with an unfair entrance exam for a quirk like yours. I’m guessing he told you the Sports Festival is going to be your best shot at getting noticed and transferred into the hero course?”

He nodded.

“I understand training will be hard, especially today, but we don’t have a lot of time. Today we’re just going to run around campus for an hour to really start building your endurance.” The hero’s grin widened when Hitoshi paled at the words. “I’ll be joining you. I’m sure you have more questions, but you should know Eraser is still going to train you. Midnight and I will help out until he’s completely recovered, as long as you’ll have us.”

He nodded again and bowed.

“Thank you, Mic-sensei.”

He sighed and his shoulders sagged when Kayo let go of Shouta’s throat. The erasure hero gasped for air while he was dragged away. Irritation bubbled within him.

Aizawa shouldn’t be using his quirk this much. Do they even understand what they’re doing to him? And why are they insisting on keeping him away from us?

He tried not flinch when he remembered the sickening thud Shouta’s head made when Kayo slammed it against the wall. The wide and fearful eyes staring straight at him. He couldn’t even begin to guess what the villain had said to him. Shouta was carelessly dumped back by the bank teller windows, the villain remaining by his side. He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze back out the windows. Hizashi and Naomasa had disappeared from view. Several officers were hustling around, a couple of them carrying cases of water.

Why does he care if we’re uncomfortable when he clearly won’t hesitate to shoot one of us if the police don’t make the progress he wants?

Izuku tightened his arms around his mom before pulling them back up and over her head. He could hear the shake with each breath the other student took. He leaned in closer.

“There wasn’t anything else you could do, Midoriya,” he whispered.

Izuku swallowed and nodded. He wiped off his hands on his pants, staining them a deep red.

“I know.”

Hitoshi wouldn’t mention the crack in Izuku’s voice. The two turned their gaze back out the window. Hizashi and Naomasa emerged, carrying two cases of water each. The detective set his down and reached into his pocket. Seconds later, the phone rang throughout the silent lobby, and Kayo smiled and didn’t hesitate to yank Shouta back up to his feet with an arm wrapped around his throat. The hero’s hair started to float.

Kayo can’t keep doing this….

Yamada Hizashi

“This should definitely be enough,” he said, staring at the four cases of water in front of him. He glanced at the detective. “Is everyone on board with just us two going?”

Naomasa nodded.

“All Might didn’t like the idea, and Endeavor about blew a fuse when I told him in the briefing. Hell, I honestly don’t want you to come with me, but Kayo’s expecting you. I’d rather not disappoint him again.”

They grabbed two cases of water each before approaching the bank, stopping just in front of the stairs. Naomasa set the water down before whipping his phone out of his pocket. Kayo answered after the third ring.

“Well, that didn’t take long.”

“We’re ready to come in whenever you are,” the detective promptly replied.

“Feel free to let yourselves in!”

The two glanced at each other before Naomasa hung up the phone and bent down to pick up the water. They started up the steps, but froze when the faint humming emanating from the force field coating the bank grew louder. In the blink of an eye, a gap the size of the front doors appeared before them, and Hizashi nearly gasped at the sight.

What the hell….

He snapped out of his daze when Naomasa continued up the steps, the hero now right on his heels. The detective glanced over his shoulder once he reached the door. Hizashi gave a single nod, plastering a smile on his face. Naomasa shifted his grip on the water and opened the door. The two entered, only to stop dead in their tracks the second the door closed behind them.

Hizashi stared straight down the barrel of a pistol. Based on the way Naomasa tensed beside him, he could guess the man was in a similar position.

“Now, there’s no need for that!” His grip tightened at Kayo’s voice. “That’s no way to welcome our guests, especially when they’re doing me a favor!”

The man in front of him lowered his weapon and took a few steps back, but he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to point it right back at him. The corners of his lips twitched when he looked toward the bank teller windows.

Kayo held Shouta up by an arm wrapped around his throat. The hair not caught in the hold floated above him. Even from this distance, he could see the red splotch staining the cloth on his right shoulder. Sweat dribbled down his face, and his teeth were clenched so tight the voice hero was surprised they didn’t shatter.

Oh, Shouta….

“Would you two mind giving out that water? I’d do it myself, but….”

Kayo’s smirk annoyed him to no end, but he smiled even wider.

“Not a problem, listener!”

He set the cases of water down and ripped the one on top open. He grabbed two bottles, instantly handing them to the civilians to his right.

“Thank you, Present Mic!” a young boy said with a small smile on his face.

He…he can’t be more than ten…how could anyone subject someone so young…hell, how could anyone do this at all?

He squatted down so he was eye-level with the kid.

“You’re welcome! Everything’s going to be—“

“I don’t remember giving you permission to speak to them, Present Mic. Besides, you shouldn’t be making promises you might not be able to keep.”

The voice hero forced his smile to remain intact while he grabbed another four bottles. He paused when he came face-to-face with Hitoshi. Remnants of dried blood ran down from his slightly crooked nose and over his lips. A quick glance to his shirt almost stopped his heart. Deep red spots stained the front of the borrowed shirt, and they nearly covered the entirety of the sleeves. Hitoshi reached out with his cuffed hands to accept the bottle. He handed it over, but not without quickly wrapping his fingers as much as he could around the kid’s hand and giving it a light squeeze. Hitoshi’s shoulders slightly relaxed at the touch.

He moved on to Izuku. The boy grinned at him, but it didn’t match his sad eyes and the dry tear tracks on his cheeks. The woman next to him was in a similar state, but she didn’t even bother trying to smile, nor took her gaze off the ground. She accepted the water with a quiet ‘thank you.’ He followed her gaze, his eyes widening at the puddle of blood surrounding the body.

Why the hell didn’t I notice sooner?

“Hurry up, Present Mic.”

He whipped his head toward the voice, noting it came from the man that had so kindly greeted him mere moments ago. The villain’s finger slowly started to move back on the trigger, so Hizashi didn’t hesitate to grab more bottles of water and hand them out.

I guess Tsukauchi and I were a bit preoccupied….

Naomasa met him back at the front door. They had a case and a half leftover, and the detective looked back toward Kayo and Shouta. As if he could read their minds, Kayo spoke up.

“Would one of you mind bringing some water back here? I’m sure Eraserhead would appreciate it.”

Hizashi tensed when the two closest villains raised their weapons.

“I’ll go,” Naomasa whispered.

He grabbed two bottles and walked further into the lobby, keeping himself between Shouta’s gaze and Hizashi. The weapons were trained on him, while a few stationed near the bank teller windows aimed theirs at the detective. He braced himself, eyes darting between the two guards at the front of the bank.

Would Kayo really order them to shoot us? Maybe he just doesn’t like the idea of one of us getting so close to Shouta….

Neither of them made a move.

“How kind of you, Detective!” Kayo said as Naomasa handed over the water. “Now, you two better head on out. I’m hoping Chief Tsuragamae has some news for you all.”

Naomasa simply nodded before joining Hizashi, heeding the man’s suggestion and practically dragging him out of the bank. The humming grew louder as the door swung shut. They paused halfway down the steps only to see that the hole in the shield had disappeared, consuming the front doors with that green glow yet again. Despite being out of the bank, the tension in his body didn’t alleviate in the slightest. He rubbed a hand down his face.

“How bad is he?” he asked.

Naomasa frowned.

“He’s in rough shape. I think you were on to something, though. I watched him the entire time we were in there, and he didn’t blink once. When I got a closer look at his eyes, they were beyond bloodshot. Considering his physical condition, I don’t see any other way for him to use his quirk that long except by force.”

“Have your officers had any luck with their search?”

“They confirmed that there’s no one named Kayo with a description that matches our villain, but they should be able to search through the registries for someone who can forcibly activate quirks.”

The man sounded hopeful, but he still frowned.

There’s no telling if we’ll find him in the quirk registries. There’s a chance we won’t have any additional information on him.

It’s been over an hour, and we may not have any more information than we started.

Midoriya Izuku

His heart sunk when he watched the voice hero and detective exit the bank and descend down the stairs; however, that only lasted a moment. The gap at the door surged up toward the ceiling and over toward the back of the lobby. He whipped his head back, but it had disappeared.

“Did you see that?” he breathed.

Apparently, he was just loud enough to get Hitoshi’s attention.

“Yeah. The gap closed.”

“It moved,” he corrected. “It didn’t close. It moved.”

Hitoshi’s eyes widened, but they both snapped their gazes back toward the bank teller windows when a pained grunt echoed through the lobby. Shouta had been roughly dropped on the ground on his side. His eyes were screwed shut, and he was biting his lip. Kayo crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“Better relax while you can. Detective Tsukauchi should be calling again soon!”

“He needs his eye drops.” Izuku’s breath hitched in his throat at Hitoshi’s words. Suddenly, every single pair of eyes in the lobby, except for the injured hero, were on the purple-haired teen. “You said you wanted us to be comfortable, right? If you’re going to keep using him, you need to take care of his eyes. At least let me do it if you won’t.”

The silence grew more and more tense with each passing second. Kayo’s ever-present smile twitched, but it grew wider and, somehow, even more infuriating.

“I suppose you’re right, kid, and I’ll actually take you up on your offer. Bring someone else with you if you think you’ll need help.”

Hitoshi didn’t even have to look at him.

“I’ll go with you,” he volunteered.

The two set down their water bottles and headed further into the lobby, Hitoshi striding ahead of him. He knelt down just behind the erasure hero. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, causing strands of hair to stick to his cheeks. Agony was etched into the creases around his eyes, and blood trickled down from where his teeth dug into his lip.

Kayo doesn’t care at all that he’s making Aizawa-sensei strain himself so much, does he?

“It’s just me,” Hitoshi said, his voice barely above a whisper.

He reached into the man’s left pocket, pulling out a small bottle. Shouta forced his eyes open, and Izuku’s stomach dropped at the sight. Hardly any white remained. He looked up to Izuku, then over his shoulder before clenching his eyes shut again.

“Midoriya…Hitoshi…what are you—“ he rasped out, only to get interrupted.

“Help me get him on his back.”

Izuku didn’t hesitate to follow the order. The two students gently pushed Shouta over and slowly lowered him completely on his back. Hitoshi uncapped the bottle.

“Can you hold his eyes open?”

Izuku nodded and scooted closer to Shouta’s head. He reached toward the man’s face.

“I’m sorry, sensei.”

Much to his surprise, Shouta didn’t turn his head away when he pried his eye open with his thumb and forefinger, but the tension in the hero’s jaw couldn’t go unnoticed. Hitoshi leaned over and squeezed the small bottle, three drops landing directly in Shouta’s eye. Izuku’s heart soared at the relieved sigh coming from his teacher. They repeated the process with the other eye. Shouta blinked a few times before his face started to relax. A single droplet escaped his tear duct, and Hitoshi didn’t hesitate to wipe it away.

“Do you need any more?” he asked.

Shouta shook his head.

“Thank you,” he breathed.

Hitoshi opened his mouth, but quickly shut it when Kayo took a few steps forward. Izuku wasn’t sure if he realized it, but the boy was inching even closer to the hero.

“You were right, kid. I do need to make sure Eraser’s eyes are at their best.” He bent down and plucked the bottle of eye drops out of Hitoshi’s hands. “I’ll definitely be calling on you two to do this again.”

That got Hitoshi to finally look away from Shouta and glare up at the villain.

“He needs water, too.”

Kayo only laughed.

“He’ll get it when I determine it’s necessary.”

Izuku could see the dangerous flash in Hitoshi’s eyes, but he kept his mouth shut. The two shifted their gaze back to the hero, Hitoshi reaching out and tucking away the hair that clung to Shouta’s face. Izuku didn’t even realize his hands had clenched into fists until his palms stung.

“He really needs it—“ he spoke up.

“His quirk is my primary concern.” Kayo squatted down, ensuring the two students were looking him in the eye. “Now, I think you two have done your job. Get back to your spots.”

Izuku swallowed and risked one more glance at Shouta, whose eyes were now boring into his own.

“Go,” he ordered.

Don’t make him angry with you two.

His teacher didn’t need to say it. He instantly understood. Reluctantly, he got to his feet.

“Let’s go, Shinsou.”

Hitoshi huffed, but also stood without any protest. They took their places next to his mom, right as the phone started to ring.

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shouta

“From what little intel we’ve gathered, we learned his name is Shusaku Akihiro,” Naomasa said, sliding a file across the table to him. “Unfortunately, we still don’t have any other information for a complete physical description. The guys you captured didn’t know anything about his quirk.”

He looked through the file, only a couple papers filling it. There wasn’t even a photo of the man.

“How the hell did these guys buy two bombs from him without even getting enough of a look for a sketch?”

“I don’t know, Eraser. They did tell us that Shusaku makes his living manufacturing and selling explosives. He’s even willing to set them up for the right price. One of them implied he was the one responsible for that train exploding in Yokohama a few weeks ago.”

His eyes darkened. That event had claimed the lives of seventeen civilians and injured dozens more. He couldn’t be sure that man wasn’t behind the bomb that went off at Sendagaya Elementary School in Tokyo. It was a miracle that whoever intended to blow up the school screwed up and detonated it hours before the students showed up for classes.

“So he’s essentially a terrorist for hire?”

“That’s one way to put it. I can’t thank you enough for capturing these men, but I’m afraid we’ll need much more help from you if we’re going to get more information or have any chance of catching him.”

The relief he’d been relishing in for only a few minutes completely diminished when the phone started ringing. A hand gripped his hair and dragged him across the floor, not even giving him a chance to get his feet under him. His broken fingers, stuck between him and the ground, were set ablaze. He desperately tried to shift his weight and situate his hands before—

Crack.

He grunted as another one broke. Shusaku hooked an arm under his and hauled him back up to his feet.

“You’ve had a nice break, Eraser. It shouldn’t be any trouble for you to get back to work, should it?”

He clamped his eyes shut, but they were forced back open and the pressure behind his eyes returned. The familiar burn plagued them instantly, but he couldn’t help but consider how much worse off they’d be if Hitoshi hadn’t spoken up for him.

That kid….

Someone grabbed his jaw and directed his gaze out the front door. Hizashi and Naomasa were back in position in front of the steps. He could see the top three heroes standing a meter behind them. The phone rang for the fourth time, and Kayo finally answered.

“Did Chief Tsuragamae make any progress?”

“We weren’t able to get ahold of him. He’s still speaking with the prime minister.”

Shusaku chuckled at the detective’s answer.

“He is aware of the consequences, is he not?”

“He is!” Naomasa practically shouted. “He’s briefing the prime minister on the situation and working as fast as he can to meet your demands.”

The villain sighed.

“I suppose I can’t be too angry. You and Present Mic did do me a favor. Unfortunately, a lack of progress still has consequences.”

The grip on Shouta’s jaw disappeared, and he found himself closing his eyes. His hair flopped down around his shoulders.

Why did he stop—

A kick to the back of his knees sent him crashing down with a thud. He didn’t even have a moment to register the pain in his knees when a rough shove on his back forced him down on his stomach. His teeth clacked when his chin hit the floor.

“What are you doing?” Hizashi’s worry was evident in his voice.

With a groan, Shouta managed to roll himself over just before a weight descended on his legs, rendering them immobile. He lifted his head enough to see Shusaku sitting on them. The villain handed the phone to one of his men and untied his left boot.

“What the hell are you doing?”

With a yank, Shusaku had removed his boot. His sock soon followed. The man with the phone squatted down by his head while Shusaku pulled out his pistol. Shouta’s eyes widened when he felt the cold metal against the skin at his ankle.

Yagi Toshinori

Bang!

He flinched at the agonized scream coming through the speaker. Naomasa glanced back at him, Enji, and Keigo, his face as white as a ghost. Hizashi grabbed the phone.

“Eraser!” he yelled. “Can you hear me? Please say something.”

“Relax, Present Mic. Your friend’s okay.”

“You just shot him—“

“And I won’t hesitate to do it again. You knew what the consequences would be, so you should be grateful. We’re just ensuring that Eraser will be out of commission for a while. I think that’s a small price to pay considering your lack of progress. I’m still in a generous mood, so call again in an hour. That should be more than enough time to get somewhere.”

Before Hizashi or Naomasa could utter another word, Kayo hung up the phone. The voice hero turned away from the bank and buried his face in his hands. Toshinori didn’t hesitate to approach his colleague and put a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll get him out, Mic—“

“If he’d done his job, he wouldn’t be in this position,” Enji muttered.

Hizashi tensed and slowly lifted his head up. He glared at the blazing man before him and took a step forward. Toshinori grabbed his other shoulder to keep him back. He forced a smile on to his face.

“Endeavor, we don’t know what events led to this situation, but I think it’s safe to say he did everything in his power to save those civilians. Eraserhead is an extraordinary hero. I know you’re aware of that, or do I need to remind you of all the occasions he’s saved your ass in a fight?”

Enji crossed his arms and followed Naomasa back through the officers toward the van stationed across the street, the uniformed men parting when the two approached. Hizashi’s shoulders relaxed under his grip.

“Thanks,” he muttered. Toshinori had never heard his colleague’s voice so restrained. His shoulders heaved as he calmed himself down. “How can he say that about….”

“I think he’s just frustrated that there isn’t anything he can do to take down the villains; however, that’s no excuse. We can’t waste time arguing with each other. That won’t do anything to help the situation.”

Hizashi nodded before heading toward the van. Toshinori glanced over his shoulder at the window. Izuku was holding onto the boy next to him by the arm. The woman on the opposite side of the kid doing the same.

That’s young Shinsou…I can’t even imagine how terrified those kids have to be…we’ll get them out.

His gaze wandered back to the front door in time to get a glance of Shouta before he was dragged out of sight.

We’ll get you out too, Aizawa. I promise. Just hang on.

He followed Hizashi across the street.

Shinsou Hitoshi

Bang!

His blood ran cold at the shriek that followed, resonating in his mind louder than any gunshot ever could. Slowly, he turned his head back toward his mentor. He clenched his jaw once he saw the puddle of blood pooling around the man’s ankle.

Haven’t they done enough to him?

“Eraser! Can you hear me? Please say something!”

“Relax, Present Mic,” Kayo chuckled. “Your friend’s okay.”

Like hell he is!

“You just shot him—“

“And I won’t hesitate to do it again.”

Get the hell away from him….

At the villain’s words, his entire body turned and started moving toward the erasure hero. Two hands clamped down on his arm.

“Shinsou, don’t!” Izuku hissed.

“You knew what the consequences would be, so you should be grateful. We’re just ensuring that Eraser will be out of commission for a while. I think that’s a small price to pay considering your lack of progress. I’m still in a generous mood, so call again in an hour. That should be more than enough time to get somewhere.”

“Shinsou, you need to calm down,” another voice whispered.

A pair of hands grabbed his other arm. Inko moved so he was sandwiched between her and Izuku. She kept a tight grip on his arm and looked him in the eyes.

“I know you care for him, but lashing out at them won’t save him.” She glanced over her shoulder at the guard behind them. “It’ll only get you hurt, or they might even take it out on him.”

He forced himself to relax.

She has a point. Aizawa’s suffered enough already, and if I can’t take care of him….

“You’re right,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”

He looked back to Shouta. Kayo grabbed him by his ankles and dragged him toward the back of the lobby and through the puddle of his own blood. He could feel Izuku’s nails digging into his arm when a cry of pain ripped its way out of the hero’s throat after Kayo dropped his legs. His head lolled to the side, and he met Hitoshi’s gaze. The villain stepped over him, walking off with one of his men to the door next to the bank teller windows. Shouta pointed his gaze down to his feet. Hitoshi’s eyebrows furrowed when his right foot gently tapped against the floor. It didn’t make a sound, and none of their captors seemed to notice. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the man’s foot, noting every single tap and pause.

Shouta froze when two more of the guards approached him, but they walked right by him. Kayo opened the door, motioning them through the door before shutting it behind them. The villain pulled out his own phone and put it to his ear. Hitoshi looked back to Shouta’s right foot. Once the hero repeated the same sequence of taps and pauses, he looked the hero in the eyes and gave a slight nod.

Who the hell is Shusaku?

Aizawa Shouta

Hitoshi sprawled out on the gym mat, sweat-soaked hair clinging to his forehead. Hizashi chuckled as he stood over the exhausted teen.

“I’ll let you rest for a couple minutes, but we still have a five kilometer run before we’re done for the day.”

He nearly laughed at the way the kid’s eyes bulged out of his skull. Hitoshi sat himself up, relying on his arms to keep him there. He tilted his head when he saw his finger tapping against the mat. His eyebrows rose behind the bandages when he stopped.

“I don’t think you’re dying, kid,” he said, “but if you are, we really need to work more on your stamina if you’re going to last in the Sports Festival. The hero course students do more than this during their normal school day, and many of them train before and after classes.”

Hitoshi whipped his head toward him.

“You understood….”

He trailed off when he realized how the question would’ve sounded to a veteran underground hero.

“I will say that it’s impressive you know Morse code already. That can really be useful during stealth missions.”

Hitoshi visibly perked up at the words. Hizashi squatted down to get eye-level with the kid.

“That’s awesome, Shinsou! Where’d you learn that?”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“My foster brother taught it to me it a couple years ago. He taught me to sign, too. We used both to talk after our curfew.” The boy got to his feet. “I guess we should get this run over with.”

Hizashi opened his mouth, but Hitoshi was already heading out of the gym. The blond looked at him, his lips quirking into a frown before he followed the kid out the door. He leaned back against the wall.

“Foster brother….”

He sighed when Hitoshi nodded at him before turning his gaze back out the windows; however, he now had nothing to distract him from the fire consuming his left ankle. He tried adjusting himself to take the weight off his broken fingers, but the sharp pain shooting up his leg resulted in him flopping right back down on the ground.

There’s no way I’m going anywhere anytime soon.

Shusaku loomed over him, nudging his injured ankle with his foot. A white flash consumed his vision, and he bit his lip to bite back another pained groan.

“Sorry about that, Eraser,” he said, crouching down next to his head. “but this might be a good thing. Maybe the police will work harder.”

“What…the hell are…you playing at?” Shouta growled.

Why are we not dead?

The villain completely ignored his question, his voice getting lower.

“I’m actually quite happy you were here today. I was hoping I’d get to meet the only hero that ever came close to tracking me down. Not only did I get to meet you, but you’re helping me teach a valuable lesson. As a thanks, I may even spare you.”

What the hell is he droning on about?

“Your fellow heroes have been here a while now, haven’t they?” he asked. “The top three heroes are here, yet they haven’t saved you or these civilians. I never thought I’d see the day where even All Might couldn’t help.”

Shusaku’s phone started vibrating. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small device. He straightened back up and rejoined the guard stationed by the door, leaving the hero alone.

Yamada Hizashi

“Mic!”

He ignored Nemuri’s voice. He stalked back through the police cars until he could see inside the windows of the bank again.

“You can’t find anything at all?”

“I’m sorry, Present Mic. There aren’t any results in the system for someone that can forcibly activate quirks. We still can’t hack into the bank’s security cameras either.”

He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. There isn’t any point in taking his frustrations out on the officers. Those men were doing their best with the information and technology they had. He Nemuri caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

“Please, Hizashi, I know you’re frustrated—“

“One of us should keep an eye on the hostages,” he said, crossing his arms. “We’ve got a while before we’re supposed to call again. If he was willing to kill one of his hostages and didn’t hesitate to shoot another, I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt someone else, especially if us heroes aren’t watching.”

His friend merely hummed and stood next to him.

“I’ll join you then. Two sets of eyes are better than one, right?”

She didn’t say anything else. He scanned the windows, eyes lingering on the two students. He met Hitoshi’s gaze. The purple-haired teen perking up when their eyes made contact. He glanced over his shoulder before leaning closer to Izuku, muttering something in the boy’s ear. He carefully lifted his bound hands. The movements were awkward and slow, but there was no missing each individual gesture. The blood drained from his face.

Shit….

“Hey, are you okay?” Nemuri asked.

He grabbed onto her arm to keep himself steady. Once he was sure he wouldn’t fall over, he headed back across the street.

Shit….

“I thought we were—“

“It’s Shusaku,” he cut her off. “He must be the one we’ve been talking to this whole time.”

“Wait…that’s the guy Sho’ was after….”

“And he never found? The one that’s evaded heroes and the police for years? Yeah, it’s him. Sho’ must’ve figured it out and gave the message to Shinsou. We have to tell Naomasa and get more heroes and officers on standby. I think this is just a distraction.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku

He closed his eyes, as if that would stop the gunshot from echoing in his mind. His grip on Hitoshi’s arm tightened for a brief moment before he finally let go. He inhaled deeply through his nose.

I need to focus. The opening in the shield moved. That means these guys must be drifting in and out of the bank. If we can find it and get the right timing, maybe we can sneak some of the civilians out. It’s going to be hard, though. If we got these cuffs off, Shinsou and I could get Aizawa-sensei out, but his condition will make it nearly impossible to go unnoticed—

Something brushing against his arm jolted him out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes to see Hitoshi glancing over his shoulder at the armed guard behind them. He leaned in closer.

“Tell me if he suspects anything,” he whispered.

“What….”

He trailed off when the other student slowly raised his hands, staring straight out the window. He followed Hitoshi’s gaze, noting that Hizashi was back in their line of sight with a black-haired woman. Squinting, he tried to get a better look at her.

Wait, is…is that Midnight?

The movement out of the corner of his eye instantly veered his attention back to Hitoshi. As discreetly as possible, the boy maneuvered his hands and fingers, all the while staring straight at the voice hero. He slightly turned his head, relieved when the threat behind them hadn’t moved. After a couple more gestures, his hands stopped moving. Hizashi visibly paled and he didn’t hesitate to grab Nemuri and disappear behind the officers.

Was that sign language? I mean, it had to be, but what did Shinsou have to tell him that would make him….

He flinched when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. His mom sucked in a harsh breath when Kayo leaned in between him and Hitoshi.

“Get your hands off of them!” she all but growled.

“Relax,” the villain chuckled, “I just wanted to see if these two would be interested in helping me out a bit? Eraser needs some patching up—“ Before he was even finished, Hitoshi shrugged the man’s hand off his shoulder and marched straight back to Shouta. The chuckle turned into a laugh. “Well, someone’s eager! I thought I could rely on you two. Although, he’s in pretty rough shape. I’m not sure if two kids can handle that on their own.”

Inko met his gaze and nodded, and they followed Hitoshi back to his injured teacher. He fought the urge to flinch when he saw the puddle of blood surrounding his ankle. Shouta’s face contorted in agony.

We’ll take care of you, Aizawa-sensei. Don’t worry.

He could only hope he’d follow his own advice.

Yamada Hizashi

“Are you absolutely sure, Mic?” Naomasa asked.

He nodded, fighting the annoyance growing in his mind while his lips quirked into a grim line.

“My best guess is Eraser told Shinsou when he and Midoriya disappeared. There’s no way he’d come up with that on his own. The kid must’ve known he needed to pass on the information.”

“Well, he was right,” Toshinori said. “So what do you propose we do?”

The detective looked to him. Only then did he realize all eyes were on him: Naomasa’s, Nemuri’s, Keigo’s, and even Enji’s.

“First of all, we need to understand that Kayo’s identity will remain among us, and us only. I don’t have any doubts he has someone somewhere in the crowds. He’ll know that we’re aware of who we’re actually dealing with and he might panic.” The only response he got was a couple nods. “Hawks, you and Midnight need to grab some officers and search the surrounding buildings again. Kayo isn’t the type of criminal to not leave himself a way out. We need to find a way to sneak into the bank. That’s the best chance the hostages have of surviving.”

The two heroes instantly followed the order. Enji gestured to Toshinori.

“Shouldn’t we join them?”

“He’ll definitely notice if you two are gone,” Naomasa interjected. “We can’t have him getting suspicious. He probably has some explosive set up inside the bank. I’d rather not give him a reason to detonate it.”

The number two hero huffed and crossed his arms, but didn’t complain much to everyone’s surprise. He grabbed Naomasa’s shoulder and pulled him off to the side.

“Do you think Chief Tsuragamae could shut down and evacuate the train stations?”

The detective’s eyes widened. He pulled out his phone.

“You think he’s going to blow up the trains?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “He has to be up to something, though, and I think that’s the best place to start searching. You and Eraser have been after him for a while, and he’s never shown his face until now. If he simply wanted to blow up the bank, he could’ve done it without this whole charade. He’s been forcing Eraser to use his quirk during our phone calls. I don’t see a reason for him to unless he had something else planned.”

Without another word, Naomasa stepped away to make the call. He looked back over his shoulder at the bank. The glowing shield encompassing it seemed to glow even brighter.

I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to pass along that message, Shouta. Thank you. We’re doing everything we can to get you out. We won’t let Shusaku get away either.

Aizawa Shouta

He gritted his teeth and did his best to suppress a pained groan when Shusaku nudged his injured ankle as he walked by. Black spots consumed his vision. He couldn’t begin to guess how much blood he’d lost. The villain hadn’t even bothered to patch up the gunshot wound. He tensed when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching him. Anticipating another jab at his shoulder or prod at his ankle, he’d automatically curled in on himself. Instead, he felt a presence at his back, and a set of gentle hands stroked his hair.

“It’s me again.”

Hitoshi.

His head leaned into the contact. Inhaling between clenched teeth, he opened his eyes and met Hitoshi’s. The kid’s hands moved down to his arm. He tensed once the boy’s finger started tapping. His eyebrows knitted together, concentrating on the series of taps and pauses.

I told Mic.

More footsteps approached him, but he relaxed and slowly started to uncurl from his current position. He inwardly grinned.

This kid. This damn kid….

“We’ll take care of you, okay?” Hitoshi whispered. Izuku and Inko now appeared in his line of sight. “We’ll need to wrap up his ankle, so we’ll need—“

“These?” Shusaku cut in, dangling the last remains of Shouta’s capture weapon as well as his eye drops. Hitoshi scowled and snatched them out of the villain’s hand, and Shusaku only laughed again. “No need to be so hostile, kid. Just be grateful that Detective Naomasa and Present Mic left me feeling generous. You know what? I think it’s about time he had some water, too.”

The man walked away, but returned instantly with a bottle of water and handed it to Izuku before one of his men pulled him off to the side. The boy instantly set it down and looked to Hitoshi.

“Wrap up his ankle first.”

Izuku didn’t need any other orders. Him and Inko scooted down toward his foot. He could hear his student gag. Hell, even he might have if he saw the wound. He didn’t want to think about the state of his ankle. Suddenly, Hitoshi slipped his hands in his own just as the sound of ripping cloth reached his ears.

“This is going to hurt,” Inko warned. “I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t stop the choked scream that came when his foot was lifted. Someone was wrapping the rest of his capture weapon around his ankle, and the unfortunately familiar white flash streaked across his vision. His hands clenched around Hitoshi’s. His nails dug into the boy’s skin, but he didn’t complain.

“They’re almost done. I promise.”

After what seemed to be an eternity, but in reality was probably only a few seconds, Inko and Izuku tied off the fabric and gently set his foot back down. His eyes were screwed shut, and his chest heaved as he concentrated on breathing through the agony. Slowly, he released his crushing grip on Hitoshi’s hands; only then did he realize it was a miracle he hadn’t broken one of the kid’s fingers. Hitoshi didn’t relinquish his own grip or speak again until Inko and Izuku had shuffled back around near his head.

“He needs his eye drops and water,” Izuku muttered.

He could sense someone shifting even closer to him. Whoever it was had to be right next to Hitoshi. A pair of hands grabbed his shoulder, pushing him over onto his back. His eyes flew back open. Before he could protest, two pairs of hands at his back gently lowered him until he was completely turned over, somehow hardly jostling him. His head was now resting in Inko’s lap. Izuku and Hitoshi loomed over him, the latter holding the eye drops and uncapping the bottle.

“Keep his eyes open,” Hitoshi ordered.

His student didn’t hesitate to lean over him. Two fingers pried his right eye open. A relieved sigh huffed out of him when a few drops landed in his burning eye. The other received the same treatment a second later. He blinked rapidly once Izuku disappeared from his line of sight. He heard a click, and the boy quickly returned with a bottle of water in his hands. He started to move the bottle closer, but suddenly stopped. Shouta could practically feel the uncertainty radiating off the kid.

I’m sorry, Midoriya. You and Hitoshi shouldn’t have to see me like this. You shouldn’t have to take care of a pro hero.

He met Izuku’s eyes and gave a single nod. His lips parted just enough for the boy to put the water bottle to them. The dryness and aching that he’d been able to ignore made itself known the second the water hit his throat. After a few gulps, Izuku took the bottle away and gave him a chance to breathe. Another set of hands stroked his hair, this time Inko’s. He looked up to the woman, noting her gaze was pointed toward the bank teller windows.

“Do you need more?” Izuku whispered.

He nodded again. Once he’d gotten enough water to soothe his throat, his student capped the bottle. The hands stroking through his hair ceased. He now followed Inko’s gaze, eyebrows raising at the sight. Near the far left window, broken ceramic pieces littered the floor. Pens and pencils scattered toward the wall. A couple metallic glints caught his eye.

Are those paperclips?

They slid across the floor.

What the hell?

He looked back up to Inko. Her eyebrows knitted in concentration, eyes wandering between the villains stationed at the back of the lobby. With a slight twitch of her hand, the paperclips slid closer. No one seemed to notice, including Hitoshi and Izuku.

She must be using her quirk. If she could get a hold of those….

The paperclips were close enough that he could see them levitate mere centimeters above the ground. Within seconds they floated straight into Inko’s hands. She tensed up as footsteps made their way over to the small group, and the way Hitoshi gripped his arm gave him a good idea of who it was.

“I think that’s enough.” Shusaku confiscated the eye drops and water bottle. “He should be more than okay for our next call. You three can go back to your spots.”

The grip on his arm tightened. He could feel Hitoshi seething.

“You can’t be serious—“

“Shinsou!” Izuku hissed.

“I’d be careful if I were you, kid. Eraser may not need his eye drops for a while.” Shusaku squatted down so he was face-to-face with Hitoshi, now also looming over Shouta. “Now, if your precious heroes and police have made more progress to meet my demands, we won’t be here for much longer and that won’t be a problem, but I have a sinking feeling that may not be the case.”

Hitoshi refused to look away from the villain, but his scowl deepened.

Kid, please, don’t argue with him. You don’t understand who he is.

As if the boy had read his thoughts, he released his arm.

“Fine. Thank you for being so generous with this opportunity.”

Despite the calmer tone in Hitoshi’s voice, no one could miss the venom in it. Both students eased Shouta off Inko’s lap and gently back onto the floor. He shifted his gaze to the villain that still loomed over him while they retreated back to the front of the bank. Shusaku stared after Hitoshi.

“I think I like that kid.” Shouta’s stomach dropped at the words. “I saw him during the Sports Festival. His performance was quite impressive for someone with no training. He’s still got a lot to learn, though, like not giving away your weaknesses.” He tilted his head slightly to the side. “Although, I probably shouldn’t criticize. It’s helped keep him relatively cooperative. I’d hate to kill anyone I don’t have to.”

“Since…when?” he rasped out, his voice less scratchy.

Shusaku laughed.

“I’m only here to teach a lesson. Everything I’ve done is for a purpose. I thought you of all heroes would’ve figured that out, Eraser.”

What the hell is he talking about?

Before he could inquire, another one of Shusaku’s men pulled him off to the side and closer to the door. Someone else cracked it open, whispering something the two villains. Shouta couldn’t even begin to make out what they were saying, but his brow furrowed.

Something has to be going on outside of the bank, and Shusaku has to have more people coming into the bank. That means there has to be a way out.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything he could do but wait until the next phone call.

Midoriya Izuku

He stared at the water bottle in his hands. He made no move to uncap it, or ask his mom or Hitoshi to.

“Izuku, you need it.”

He knew his mom was right, but the thought of drinking anything made his stomach lurch. The gaping hole in his teacher’s ankle wouldn’t get out of his mind. The bloody and mangled flesh on the edges of the wound nearly made him vomit.

Aizawa-sensei has to be in so much pain. There was so much blood. I couldn’t stop it…all I could do was help mom and Shinsou take care of his wound and eyes….

“Here,” Hitoshi said, twisting the cap off the bottle.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

He closed his eyes as he raised the bottle to his lips, feeling his mom’s concerned gaze. It took every fiber in his being not to gag. He managed to choke down a few gulps of water. Hitoshi capped the bottle and set it down next to his own.

“You’ve had a longer break than normal, so getting back to it shouldn’t be hard on you, Eraser!”

His shoulders hunched up toward his ears at the villain’s voice. Sure enough, he could make out Naomasa and Hizashi emerging out of the crowd. Toshinori and Enji stood just at the edge of the police cars.

How has it been an hour already? Aizawa-sensei needs more rest. He has to know that.

As if on cue, the phone rang. Kayo grabbed Shouta by his hair and dragged him back to the front door. He hoisted the erasure hero up to his knees. Izuku couldn’t help but be grateful the villain didn’t force Shouta to stand on his injured foot. Kayo answered after the second ring and put the phone on speaker. Shouta’s hair started floating.

“You’ve had plenty of time. I certainly hope you have some good news for me.”

“We’ve arranged a meeting with the consulate in Taipei,” Naomasa updated. “According to Chief Tsuragamae, that meeting with him and the prime minister will occur in the next hour. They should be able to start processing the necessary paperwork to ensure your entry into the country right after that.”

Kayo sighed.

“You’ve had an hour, and that’s all you were able to accomplish?”

Izuku could see both men tense. Somehow, Naomasa managed to keep his voice steady.

“It’s usually impossible to reach the consulate on such short notice. It took a lot work to arrange this meeting so soon. Normally, this process would take several days, but you should be granted safe entry into Taiwan by this evening.”

“With all due respect, Detective, I don’t care about how long this process would normally take. We don’t have that kind of time. I thought you understood the stakes, but perhaps I was mistaken.”

He whipped out his pistol, finger on the trigger.

Bang.

Izuku shut his eyes and flinched, as did the rest of the hostages. When he got the courage to crack an eye open, he saw the woman just to Kayo’s right crumpled to the floor, unmoving. Blood pooled around her head. The young girl next to her knelt down.

“Mommy?”

Izuku’s heart stopped.

She can’t be older than four-years-old…she can’t possibly understand what just happened…her mom has just been murdered right in front of her….

“Mommy? Why are you laying on the floor?”

“It would be a real shame for her to have to live without her mother, now wouldn’t it?” Kayo asked, lowering the gun to the girl’s head.

Bang.

Chapter Text

Shinsou Hitoshi

His hands flew to his mouth at the thump that followed the gunshot. Bile rose up in his throat, leaving a burning trail in its wake. He shut his eyes and forced himself to inhale deeply through his nose.

He didn’t…he didn’t just kill her…she couldn’t have been more than four years old. He can’t possibly be that cruel….

The stunned silence that filled the lobby should’ve answered that for him. Mustering up the courage, he slightly leaned forward and cracked an eye open. Another wave of nausea crashed over him the second he caught sight of the young girl slumped on the ground next to her mother. Blood pooled around her head. Wide and vacant eyes seemed to stare right at him. His legs weakened, and it took all the strength he had to keep himself standing.

“She’s a child! Why the hell did you—“

He looked to Shouta once he was cut off. His face was whiter than a ghost. Hitoshi had never seen the man so horrified. The villain had an arm wrapped around his throat and lifted him up enough to cut off his air.

“Despite being aware of the consequences, you failed to protect those civilians,” Kayo observed. “I’m honestly surprised, Detective Tsukauchi. You have the top two heroes in all of Japan with you. Present Mic is there. If I had to guess, you have more heroes that I can’t recognize in your midst. How can these people rely on you all now?”

Neither Naomasa or Hizashi said a word. Whipping his head toward the window, Hitoshi saw that the voice hero had turned away from the bank. From the looks of it, he was trying not to vomit. The detective opened his mouth, but couldn’t seem to speak. Not that it mattered. Kayo seemed more than happy to fill the silence.

“I hope you all get yourselves together in the next hour. You know there’s other kids in here. Are you going to fail them, or are you going to save them like they believe you will?”

He hung up the phone and tossed it to one of his men. He dropped Shouta to the ground. Grabbing the hero’s injured ankle, he dragged him away from the door and toward the bank teller windows. The combination of his groans and gasps for air was the only sound in the lobby. Hitoshi swallowed, but he felt as though his throat were filled with cotton.

I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like he and his men haven’t killed anyone before…but a child….

Fabric rustled next to him. Inko had gripped Izuku’s arm and pulled him as close as he could to her, the other boy’s eyes tightly clenched shut. He couldn’t miss the green tint to his face, and he wasn’t too sure his was fairing much better. Inko moved her hands down to Izuku’s and held them. Hitoshi watched as his eyes slowly opened and met his mom’s gaze. He gave a slight nod, and she gave his arm one last squeeze before she took a step away. Hitoshi’s eyebrows rose at the metallic glint he caught when Izuku opened his hand.

With a quick glance over his shoulder, the other boy started stretching out the paperclip.

Uraraka Ochako

Her heart pounded with each step she took, desperate to keep up with Tenya. Shouto was right on her heels. Her throat burned, but she pushed through it. The three hadn’t stopped running since leaving the mall. The amount of police swarming the train station did nothing to ease their worries and only forced them to take to the streets to get to the bank. The trio skidded to a stop when they rounded a corner to run into a crowd. Tenya stood up on the tips of his toes.

“I can’t see anything,” he updated. “There’s too many people crowding the next couple blocks. I can’t even see the police cars. We don’t stand a chance of getting through to the bank.”

“Then we go back.”

Before either she or Tenya could ask him any questions, Shouto had turned and weaved through the people that had already started gathering behind them. Tenya wasted no time elbowing his way through with several muttered apologies. Nearly tripping over a few civilians flocking to the crowd, Ochako managed to catch up with her two classmates.

“Where are we going?” she huffed.

“There’s no way we can get to the bank if we go down that street,” Shouto explained. “Going back a few blocks is our best chance of getting in.”

“You’re right, Todoroki, but we have to remember we can’t risk interfering with the police and heroes already on the scene….”

Ochako tuned out Iida’s rambling when they rounded a corner of a nearly abandoned street. The articles flashing across her phone etched in her mind.

HOSTAGE SITUATION UNDER WAY AT SHOKO CHUKIN BANK

ALL MIGHT ON THE SCENE

STILL NO HOSTAGES RELEASED DESPITE ARRIVAL OF TOP HEROES

Her lips quirked into a frown when she recalled the most recent headline.

We left the mall just over an hour ago, so this whole situation has had to be going on for a couple hours at least. How have none of the hostages made it out? All Might and Endeavor are there. Those stories were posted in the last hour, though, so they haven’t been there for long…but maybe something’s stopping them….

She skidded to a stop.

“Guys….”

Shouto and Tenya paid her no mind. They didn’t even seem to hear her, nor did they seem to notice the green glow illuminating over the tops of the buildings further down the street.

“Guys!”

The two suddenly stopped. They turned back to their classmate, who merely pointed up. It was impossible to miss the way the two boys tensed when they finally noticed the glow.

“What…what is that?” Shouto asked.

No one could answer him. A newfound tension grew amongst the three.

I don’t know. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.

Wordlessly, Ochako continued her sprint down the street, the other two right behind her.

Midoriya Izuku

“Here.”

He barely heard the meek words. He probably wouldn’t have at all if his mom hadn’t pulled him so close to her. He peeled his eyes open when he felt something in his palm, small and metallic. Carefully opening his hand, he stared at the paperclip.

Where…how did mom get this?

He didn’t have time to question it. Looking her in the eye, she simply nodded. Her hands returned to his arm, giving it a slight squeeze before she retracted her grip completely. He glanced over his shoulder. His fingers shook, but he managed to get a hold of one end of the paperclip and started straightening it out.

If I can just unlock these cuffs…but where will I go? One for All still doesn’t make me immune from a bullet…and if any of these civilians get hurt….

He shook his head, casting the thoughts out of his mind.

Just unlock the cuffs now. I can figure something else later.

He risked another glance behind him once he completely straightened out the small piece of metal. As subtly as he could, he felt along the cuffs for a small opening. He internally sighed when he finally felt a spot for a key. Twisting the paperclip around in his hand, he carefully inserted it into the hole. He spared a quick look to Hitoshi, the other boy shifting closer to him.

Come on! It isn’t this hard to unlock a pair of cuffs. Aizawa-sensei made us spend an entire class period learning how to do this. Why can’t I….

He didn’t even realize his hands were shaking until Hitoshi grabbed his forearm in a bruising grip. He leaned in even closer, closer than he ever thought brainwasher would be comfortable with.

“We’re going to be okay,” Hitoshi said, just slightly above a whisper. “All Might’s here. He’ll save us. You know that, right?”

Izuku forced himself to still. He took a deep breath. He closed his entire hand, hiding the paperclip. He slowly lowered his hands until they touched the top of his thigh. The grip on his forearm tightened while footsteps approached the two students. Izuku fought the urge to tense up while one of the villains wandered within their proximity.

Crap…hopefully no one noticed….

“You’re right, Shinsou. If anyone could figure something out, All Might can.”

Hitoshi winced when a hand slapped down and grabbed his shoulder.

“It’s really sweet of you to comfort your friend, kid.” Kayo’s voice made his skin crawl. “It warms my heart. I really would’ve thought someone like you would make it into the hero course.”

Kayo let go of Hitoshi’s shoulder. He motioned the armed man behind them to follow him back toward Shouta. Hitoshi slowly loosened his grip and sighed while the footsteps retreated, but kept it tight enough to steady Izuku’s arm. After a few more deep breaths, he wiped a hand off on his pants before grabbing the paperclip again.

I can’t afford to drop this. I can’t mess up this chance. I don’t have any idea how mom managed to get this for me. If I screw this up….

He briefly shut his eyes before taking one last deep breath.

There’s no “if.”

With careful fingers, he inserted the tip of the paperclip back into the lock. With now-steady hands and arms, he twisted the metal until he heard a very faint click. Hitoshi immediately clamped a hand down on the cuff, preventing it from clattering on the ground. The two students held their breath and stiffened. Inko cast a quick glance over her shoulder.

“You’re okay,” she whispered.

His shoulders sagged.

One down. One more to go.

With adrenaline pumping through him, he maneuvered the paperclip into his other hand. Hitoshi maintained his grip on his arm to ground him. It didn’t take near as much time to unlock the other cuff. One for All stirred within him, and he couldn’t stop the relieved grin from spreading across his face.

Izuku looked to his mom, who returned her own gaze to him with a grim smile. Somehow, only then did he noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks. She pulled him down so her lips were right next to his ear.

“I heard you earlier, and I think you’re right. There has to be a way out. I know you can find it, so when you get the chance, take Shinsou and get out of here.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold.

“But—“

“He’ll be more helpful to you. I’ll only slow you down if you take me, too. You can come back with the heroes and get us all out, okay?”

You know that’s not going to happen. Even if we get a chance to escape, I don’t think Kayo would hesitate to….

Tears welled in his eyes. He didn’t want to think about what the villain would do. He rapidly blinked, determined not to let the tears fall.

“It’s going to be all right, Izuku. I promise.”

You know you can’t promise that, but I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t know what’s changed, but nothing the heroes and police are doing now seem to be enough for Kayo. We’re pretty much waiting to see who gets shot next.

His hands clenched into fists.

“All right, mom.”

All of his muscles tensed. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

I have to be ready the second the opportunity presents itself. Unfortunately, it may not be the best plan, but it’s the best shot we have of any of us making it out of here.

He carefully moved his hands into Hitoshi’s and he slipped the paperclip into them.

Aizawa Shouta

His entire body shook, but the throbbing in his ankle was the only pain his mind could comprehend. He put all of his focus on it.

He just murdered a ch—Don’t think about it. You can’t. There are other civilians trapped here. They still need help. Don’t think about it.

He managed to shift his upper body just enough to get a look at the bandage. Miraculously, it was still in place. The edges of the cloth were a little frayed, and a red splotch started to seep through, but it remained relatively intact. He plopped back down on the ground and scanned the back of the lobby for Shusaku. The villain hadn’t paid him any mind since he dragged him back. The door next to the bank teller windows opened, and the villain emerged.

The corners of his mouth curved upward in a different manner than he’d seen since taking over the bank. Barely sparing the erasure hero a glance, he made his way toward the hostages. His heart pounded in his chest when he saw Hitoshi and Izuku freeze.

The paperclip…does one of the kids even have it? There’s no way Shusaku could’ve noticed, could he? One of his men surely would’ve raised the issue….

His breath hitched in his throat when the blond clapped a hand down on Hitoshi’s shoulder.

“It’s really sweet of you to comfort your friend, kid. It warms my heart. I really would’ve thought someone like you would make it into the hero course.”

Get away from him.

He turned over on his side, ignoring the agony flaring up from his ankle as he tried to sit himself up. Every bone in his body screamed with every move he made.

Get your hands off him.

He suddenly stilled when Shusaku let go of Hitoshi’s shoulder and motioned for the closest guard to them to follow him. He whispered to his subordinate while they approached the injured hero. Completely bypassing him, Shusaku continued on to the bank teller windows while the other set of footsteps paused just beside him. A foot came crashing down on his already sore ribs. He bit his lip, but he didn’t do anything to silence the grunt that escaped him.

What the hell is Shusaku doing….

Just as he felt another presence behind him, a piece of cloth was forced in between his teeth and tied around the back of his head. He could hear more footsteps approaching them. He tried to turn and look over his shoulder, but the foot on his side didn’t waver and kept him in place.

“Do you all remember my orders?” Shusaku asked.

Without a verbal response, Shouta could only assume they nodded. The weight on his ribs disappeared, and he let out a sigh of relief through his nose; however, it didn’t last long. A pair of strong arms under his back and legs hoisted him up. Another muffled grunt was ripped from him. His vision swam, and no amount of blinking seemed to clear it. Agony enveloped his entire body at the movement.

“You all are teaching a very valuable lesson. Your sacrifices will not be in vain. I promise you that. Our friend would be quite proud.”

His eyes screwed shut when the person holding him started moving. He heard a door opening. It quietly clicked shut before he attempted to open his eyes again. Shusaku loomed over him. A giggle bubbled out of him, and a maniac grin plastered itself across his face.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you go just yet, Eraserhead. Your assistance has been incredibly helpful, and I wish I could, but I can’t let this opportunity pass while I still have you. It won’t be much longer. We just need to ensure our escape. If it makes you feel any better, I did order my men to let those two boys go during the next phone call. I suppose it’s the least I can do.”

Before Shouta could even begin to comprehend the villain’s words, Shusaku disappeared from his line of sight. A creak broke through the silence now filling the room. He tried to adjust himself to get a look. The green glow from the force field illuminated the room. Pieces of concrete were scattered around the floor. His eyes widened when he noticed an opening just big enough to encompass a small door. Both men would have to stoop down a bit to get through it.

Is that a door? Who put that…where the hell does it go? Why is it here?

He screwed his eyes shut when the man carrying him moved again. Careful to step over the broken cement, the two maneuvered through the door, taking Shouta with them.

Midoriya Izuku

Hitoshi tensed up beside him. He turned to follow the other boy’s gaze. A few of the villains had converged on the injured hero. One had a foot on his side. He couldn’t help but wince.

Can’t they just leave him alone? He’s injured enough as it is.

Kayo knelt down behind Shouta, a piece cloth in hand. Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed when he forced it between Shouta’s teeth and tied it around his head. He risked a glance at Hitoshi. The boy’s chest rapidly rose and fell. His mouth quirked into a thin line. His eyes were ablaze when a muffled grunt echoed through the lobby.

“Where the hell are they taking him?” Hitoshi muttered.

Kayo’s subordinate carried Shouta through the door next to the bank teller windows, the villain followed right behind them.

This can’t be good….

Izuku looked around at the rest of the hostages. Everyone except for his mom and Hitoshi seemed oblivious to the fact that Kayo disappeared, taking the erasure hero with him. The small group that had gathered at the back of the lobby dispersed. Another armed man headed toward the trio to replace the guard that had just left. Both boys quickly turned to face the windows. After a few minutes of silence, a peeked back over his shoulder.

The door didn’t open, and his stomach flipped.

This can’t be good at all. Why would he leave? Why would he take Aizawa-sensei with him? I don’t feel good about this….

…but it does confirm there’s a way out of the bank.

A slight movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. His mom’s hands twitched. She shuffled a couple steps away from him, and her fingers moved again.

Is she using her quirk?

A small chunk of tile floated toward her. He noted a couple more pieces like it on the ground. He craned his neck back. Despite the green glow, he could see a couple holes in the ceiling.

That must be from the couple gunshots that went off before the villains manifested this shield….

The piece of tile was almost in her hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she opened them, the tile spun until sharpest point was angled toward her. With a flick of her wrist and a quick turn to the side, the piece of tile whizzed right past her and directly at the guard behind them, shooting up toward his face. If he would’ve blinked, he would’ve missed it.

How did she…I didn’t know she could do that….

The enraged scream that came a second later jolted him out of his thoughts. Their guard had a hand clamped over his left eye. Blood seeped between his fingers. He staggered away from the trio. A couple other guards rushed to his aide. Izuku looked up to his mom. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Go!

He broke his hands apart. The cuffs clattered to the floor, but it could barely be heard over the man’s screams. One for All coursed through his veins. He grabbed Hitoshi’s arm, the other boy’s own cuffs finally falling off when he leaped straight for the door. He managed to brace himself before the two hit the back wall. Hitoshi wasted no time throwing the door open and bolting through it. Izuku was right on his heels. He quickly shut the door, keeping his hand on the knob and leaning back against it for the briefest second. His heart hammered inside his chest.

The green glow decorated the ceiling and back wall of the small room. Hitoshi was running right for it, nearly tripping on the rubble scattered on the ground. Izuku’s eyes widened when he saw a gap in the force field.

“You were right, Midoriya,” Hitoshi said, slightly out of breath, but with the faintest hints of a grin on his face.

Izuku nodded and joined him. Hitoshi opened the door. Both boys froze when they could see a couple steps that descended into darkness.

“We have to go.”

He nodded again. Hitoshi bent down to get under the door frame and started down the stairs. Izuku followed suit, slamming the door shut behind them.

Chapter Text

Midoriya Inko

Her hair whipped around her face at the sudden rush of air. Izuku and Hitoshi were gone in the blink of an eye. Wincing at the metallic clatter that followed a second later, her shoulders hunched up by her ears. Thankfully, the screams and onslaught of rising voices seemed to cover up the noise, or at least made it less noticeable. She looked back at the door next to the bank teller windows. Her heart pounded harder in her chest with each passing second. When the boys didn’t emerge, and the guards remaining in the lobby made no move to follow them yet, her shoulders slowly relaxed. Biting her lip, she shifted her gaze to the injured villain.

He’d stumbled back toward the middle of the lobby, nearly tripping over his own feet until one of his comrades caught him. Both hands were clamped over his left eye. Her stomach churned at the blood slipping between his fingers. A couple of the other guards were trying to pry his hands away from his face, but he refused to let go.

“What the hell happened?”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong with your eye? That’s a lot of blood….”

“I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. Just hang on. Detective Tsukauchi should be calling in a few minutes. It’s all going to be over soon.”

It’s all going to be over soon…what’s that supposed to mean?

Someone bumped into her, forcing her to shuffle a bit to the right. She looked to the young woman next to her. She was looking over her head and nodding to the man to her right before leaning down, lips right next to Inko’s ear.

“Can you move a bit closer to him? It should take them some time to notice if we close up the space.”
She didn’t hesitate to take the last couple steps until she was standing next to the man, and the other hostages shifted a bit to conceal the empty space. The man next to her nudged the cuffs as quietly as he could, attempting to pile them together and hide them with his own body. It wasn’t perfect, but it should buy the boys enough time as long as the villains remained occupied for the moment.

“Those two kids are incredibly brave,” she whispered.

Inko couldn’t stop the pride from surging through her chest. A small grin spread across her face.

“They really are. If anyone can get us help, I know they can.”

She didn’t say another word. None of them did. All they could do was sit and wait for the next phone call and pray the detective had some good news.

Aizawa Shouta

He fought the nausea plaguing him with every step his captor took. He swayed back and forth while he was carried through the tunnel. The constant movement had flooded agony through his body ever since Shusaku took him out of the bank; however, he refused to let it completely take over his mind.

The door was on the north wall. We made a slight right once we got down the staircase, and we’ve been heading east ever since.

Based on the pace Shusaku and his subordinate had been running, they had to have passed the end of the crowd above ground. Taking a shaky breath, he slightly turned his head. Shusaku carried a single flashlight in his hand, that being the only source of light with the exception of a couple of lanterns spaced out along the tunnel. The blond abruptly stopped, causing his subordinate to bump into him and nearly drop the hero in his arms. Shouta let out a quiet grunt at the impact and stars danced in his vision. He clenched his eyes shut.

“Shh….” He heard.

He mentally perked up. Footsteps clamored around above them. Muffled voices broke through the silence of the tunnel, and he fought to make out what they were saying. He could only catch bits and pieces.

“We haven’t…yet….”

“Midnight’s still…have to keep searching….”

Is that Hawks? There must be heroes and cops searching the surrounding buildings for a way into the bank.

“Do you think they’ll find—“ the man carrying him whispered.

"I figured they’d be trying to get inside the bank. Just be quiet and hurry."

The blond swiftly continued down the tunnel for a couple more minutes before veering left, his subordinate right on his heels.

We’re heading north again…shit…how far have we gone?

He mentally kicked himself for not paying more attention. Although, given his state, he supposed it was logical he’d lose track at some point. The two villains picked up the pace. Despite his eyes being shut, another darkness was creeping up on him. He fought off the unconsciousness trying to claim him, but the agony coursing through him made giving in a tempting option.

No…I have to stay…awake….

He felt his entire body grow heavier by the second. The deadweight didn’t deter the villain carrying him in the slightest. A hand patting his cheek finally got him to open his eyes.

“Sorry, Eraser,” Shusaku apologized, looming over him. “We’ll need you awake for a little while longer. You’ll get to rest soon, though. That I can promise.”

The second the blond moved, Shouta squinted at the bright light assaulting his vision. After blinking a couple times, he noticed that they had reached another staircase.

When did we…how…where the hell am I?

He must have lost consciousness at some point during their journey through the tunnel. Shusaku ascended to the top of the staircase and put his hand on the door knob. He rammed his shoulder against the door. It took a few attempts for the door to finally open. A crash echoed into the tunnel. The familiar dizziness washed over Shouta as he was carried up the rest of the stairs and through the door. Shusaku kicked a couple boxes out of the way, clearing a path for them to enter the building. Shouta looked around as best he could, trying to ignore the sharp pain shooting through his head.

There are several boxes. There are some styrofoam and tea cups on the counter. This has to be a tea shop. Now where….

He racked his brain for where they could be, and his heart sunk when he realized they’d made it approximately three kilometers northeast of the bank.

How long was I out for?

He mentally shook the thought from his mind. It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on it. His eyes widened when he saw a black car waiting outside of the shop. The villain holding him paused for a brief moment while Shusaku peered out the window before kicking the front door open. He motioned for his subordinate to follow. Shouta immediately scanned the street the second he was outside.

The street was completely abandoned.

Considering the crowd outside of the bank, this shouldn’t be a surprise. It seems like Shusaku’s whole spectacle attracted most of the city.

He jolted when he heard a car door opening. Shusaku slid into the back seat, but left the door open.

“We have two cars heading his way in less than a minute,” came a voice from within the vehicle. “Mori said a bunch of cops are starting to search the area, too. Hurry up!”

Shouta looked back down the street. As if they’d heard the man’s words, he could see two lone figures emerging from an intersection a few blocks away. If the area hadn’t been so deserted, he probably never would’ve seen them. He couldn’t stop the relief surging through his veins.

Hitoshi did it…Tsukauchi understands who he’s actually dealing with. If he gets enough officers and heroes searching for him, there’s a chance—

He bit down harder on the cloth in his mouth when another pair of hands latched onto him and yanked him inside. A muffled scream was ripped out of him when his injured foot banged against the side of the car. None of the villains seemed to care. That was made obvious when Shusaku’s subordinate didn’t hesitate to grab his ankles and practically throw his legs all the way inside before slamming the door shut before jumping into the front seat. He could only hope the two officers had heard him. The blond adjusted him so he was lying across the back seat and propped his back up against his chest. Even if he had the energy to squirm out of the villain’s grasp, the cramped back seat wouldn’t provide him much room. If he had the energy, he probably could’ve gotten the attention of the two officers, but he couldn’t do anything as the car started down the street.

Kayama Nemuri

She looked around the closet one last time and crossed her arms.

We’ve searched the building that backs up to the bank. We’ve searched the two next to it. There’s no way Shusaku wouldn’t give himself a way out…but where the hell is it?

“I’m going next door,” Keigo announced, popping his head into the room. “Make one last sweep if you feel the need.”

She nodded, and he disappeared. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

We have to be missing something. I really wish you were here, Shouta. You’d know where to look. Hell, we’d probably already be in the bank right now.

She exited the closet and scanned around the cubicles. Making her way to the lobby, she paused at the door to the stairs.

The bank only has one floor. If there’s a way out, it probably wouldn’t lead up to the second story…but I guess there’s no harm in checking.

An officer opened the door to the building.

“Midnight, is everything—“

“Wait here,” she ordered.

She pushed the door open and sprinted up the stairs. Once on the second floor, she briefly stopped. Much like the first one, it had a bullpen layout. The silence was almost unnerving. She could almost imagine the people that must’ve been working before the hostage situation started and everyone was forced to evacuate. There was a window at the far right wall that had a green glow seeping through the blinds. She walked over to it and peeked outside.

She didn’t have much of a view, just the corner of the bank. She turned and looked across the floor, noting another window on the left wall of the bullpen. Hurrying through the cubicles, she took another peek and could see the alley between this office building and the electronics store next door. Her eyebrows furrowed.

Do we even have anyone checking the alleys? I should probably call Hizashi. We need more officers to station in them just in case….

Her thoughts trailed off when something moved in the back of the alley. A manhole cover slightly lifted before slamming back down.

Is someone trying to get back above ground? It has to be one of Shusaku’s men.

It moved again, this time completely lifting from its place and shifting away from the hole. Her heart leapt up into her throat when the person emerged. She bolted across the second floor and down the stairs. Paying no mind to the lone officer waiting for her in the lobby and trying to get her attention, she burst out of the building and sprinted around the corner into the alley. The boy whirled around, apparently having heard her footsteps. She could see the tension in his shoulders, but she didn’t care.

She threw her arms around Hitoshi, nearly toppling over with the kid.

Shinsou Hitoshi

He trailed a hand against the wall to keep him steady while he walked down the stairs. He blinked, as if that would help him see any better in the darkness shrouding the tunnel. Nearly slipping on the last step, he mentally sighed when he realized he’d made it to level ground. Dust and grime had built up on his hand, and he wiped it off on his pants.

How long has it been since anyone’s been down here?

He could hear Izuku right behind him. Only taking a couple steps forward, he caught a flicker in the corner of his eye. A ball of light glowed further down the tunnel to his right. He looked back straight ahead into the darkness. He started toward the light and could only hope that’s where the villains took Shouta. Once he was close enough, he picked up the lantern, noting that there wasn’t an actual fire inside. He gently shook it, and the flickering stopped.

This has to be electrical. If that flickering was any indication, it looks like it’s about to go out….

“We should hurry,” Izuku whispered, echoing his own thoughts.

He nodded, and the two continued down the tunnel. He had a hard time breathing, but he picked up the pace despite the way the tunnel narrowed and the darkness around them became even more suffocating. Izuku had actually pushed ahead of him.

“We’re getting your mom out, Midoriya.”

He could see the tension in the other student’s back, but he didn’t slow down.

“We will. We’ll get everyone out.”

Hitoshi wouldn’t mention the shaking in his voice. They continued on, coming to a stop when they reached yet another split in the tunnel. Izuku peered around the corner to their left, immediately flinching.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

His heart dropped into his stomach.

We need to run…but where? Midoriya’s quirk won’t do us any good if we reach a dead end. And from the look on his face, this guy must be armed. We can’t get ourselves trapped. Dammit, just think—

Footsteps echoed down the tunnel, rapidly approaching the two. Hitoshi grabbed Izuku away from the corner and shielded him.

“Don’t say anything!” he hissed over his shoulder. He whipped his head back toward the opening at their left, noting a glow getting closer and closer to them. He backed down the way they came and forced Izuku to go with him. “I’m s-s-sorry. W-we heard th-the gunshots and tried t-to hide.”

The man rounded the corner, and Hitoshi would be lying if he said he didn’t pale at the pistol in his hand. He flinched and threw his hands up, cowering behind them.

“Pl-please….” He continued backing up. “Please d-don’t…a-a-are you going to hurt us?”

“I—“

The man fell silent, and he focused all his attention on keeping control of the villain’s mind. He could’ve sworn he heard Izuku gasp behind him. His heart still hammered in his chest, but he allowed himself to breathe.

“Put down your gun,” he ordered. They watched as the man had no choice to do as he asked. “Lead us out of here.”

He turned and started back down the tunnel to their left. The two boys were silent as they followed the villain. One glance at Izuku told him he was thinking the same thing.

We better not run into any more of them down here.

Izuku glanced back over his shoulder every few seconds, but he gave no warning of them being followed. The only footsteps they could hear were their own. The villain suddenly stopped, and Hitoshi had to catch Izuku before he could bump into the man. His eyebrows furrowed.

This doesn’t look like an exit….

He looked around the walls.

I have to be missing something….

“Shinsou!” Midoriya whispered. Looking to the other student, he followed his gaze up to the top of the tunnel. A ring of light was visible right where the left wall met the ceiling. “Here!”

Izuku ran until he was just out of the glow of the lanterns and bent down. He returned instantly, dragging a ladder along the ground. He picked it up and leaned it against the wall. He nodded to Hitoshi, who didn’t hesitate to start climbing it while Izuku held it steady. Reaching the top, he saw that it was a manhole cover. He pushed up, grateful it only took two attempts for him to lift it and completely move it over. Light flooded into the dark tunnel. Putting his hands on either side of the ground above him, he lifted himself up and out into the alley. He looked around.

Where the hell are we?

Another set of footsteps were running straight for him. He tensed and turned around, but all that tension melted away when he saw it was Nemuri running at him; however, he didn’t expect her to throw her arms around him and nearly tackle him to the ground.

“You’re okay,” she breathed.

“Kayama, we—“

She pulled away and grabbed his shoulders.

“Shit, kid….”

He wasn’t sure she realized she said that aloud. Her hand moved and hovered near his face, as if she were afraid he’d break if she actually touched him there. He’d forgotten about the dry blood that trailed from his broken nose. He batted her hand away.

“It’s not as bad as it looks. Midoriya is still down there.”

That snapped Nemuri into action. She knelt down and leaned over so she could see into the tunnel.

“Midnight-sensei?”

There was a hope to his tone that Hitoshi was relieved to hear. He joined Nemuri and held out a hand to the other student, the somnambulist following suit. Izuku carefully climbed the ladder and took hold of both of their hands. They easily lifted him out of the tunnel.

“Midnight, what’s going on….”

The officer running down the alley slowed to a stop when he saw the two kids.

“These two managed to get out. It looks like there’s a tunnel down here that leads to the bank. Let Hawks know and get your officers ready to go in.”

Shit! If they arrest this guy already….

Without another word, the officer turned and ran out of the alley. Nemuri got up, but Hitoshi remained on the ground. He leaned back over the manhole.

“Shinsou, what are you—“ the heroine started, but he paid her no mind.

“Climb up the ladder,” he ordered.

Nemuri’s eyes widened when she looked back down into the tunnel to see a man climbing up the ladder and toward the trio. She rolled up her sleeve, but he grabbed her arm.

“Don’t.”

“I can take care of him. I don’t want you overusing your quirk—“

“Kayo left the bank.” That got Nemuri to whip her gaze away from the villain. “He took Aizawa with him. He’s the only one we ran into in the tunnel that might know where he is.”

The color drained from Nemuri’s face. She looked around the alley. Hitoshi saw her eyes lock on a door. She risked one more glance down the alley before rushing over to the door and kicking it open. Much to his relief, the villain had managed to climb up the ladder without it toppling over.

“Climb out of the tunnel,” he ordered next. Once the villain was out, he started toward the newly opened door. “Follow me.” He led the villain to the door, which must’ve been a side entrance for the office building on the right side of the alley. “Wait here.”

Once the man was inside, Nemuri slammed the door shut. Hitoshi’s shoulders sagged, especially when several officers rounded the corner and ran down the alley. Keigo swooped in over them. Izuku didn’t hesitate to approach the group giving directions to the bank. Keigo jumped down first, then one by one, the officers followed suit. Once the last one had dropped down into the tunnel, Nemuri faced the two students.

“You two need to tell me what’s going on, right now.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku

“You two need to tell me what’s going on right now,” Nemuri demanded.

He glanced at Hitoshi and bit his lip. He wouldn’t know where to begin. Much to his luck, the other student didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Kayo gathered with the other villains inside the bank. I don’t know what they were talking about, but one of his men picked up Aizawa and carried him out. They never came back.”

He didn’t like the way the somnambulist visibly paled at the news.

“Did anyone follow you?” she asked next.

Hitoshi shook his head.

“We didn’t hear anyone behind us in the tunnels, but they could’ve sent someone down there and they just never found us.”

Nemuri nodded. Suddenly, she touched her ear piece.

“Hawks, what—you can’t get into the bank?”

Izuku’s heart stopped in his chest.

They’ve definitely noticed we’re gone now. Whoever’s creating the force field must’ve moved the opening. This can’t be good….

“Mic’s already called the bomb squad.” The words jolted him out of his thoughts. “He’ll send them down. Search the rest of the tunnels. More of them might be down there. Knowing Shusaku, that’s not the only one. I’ll take care of the kids.”

She stalked over to the lone door in the alley and opened it.

“Deku?”

Izuku froze, as did Nemuri and Hitoshi. The three turned to the mouth of the alley to find Ochako, Shouto, and Tenya standing there. Ochako ran straight toward them.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” A relieved smile shone on her face. “We saw the news and—wait…Shinsou?”

The smile quickly disappeared, and her eyes widened. Tenya and Shouto stopped right behind her. All of their gazes locked onto the purple-haired teen, and Izuku couldn’t blame them. The remnants of dry blood on his face and massive red stains on his shirt still weren’t easy for him to look at.

“What are you three doing here?”

All eyes turned to Nemuri, and he could practically feel the newcomers tense when they processed who it was. If they were any other situation, he might’ve laughed.

I suppose it is a bit strange to see Midnight-sensei out of her hero costume.

“M-Midnight-sensei, we apologize for—“ Tenya started, but the heroine put a hand up.

Much to his surprise, she wasn’t angry. There was a slight crease in her brow, and her mouth quirked in a thin line, like a thousand thoughts were racing through her mind. She motioned to the door.

“Follow me,” she ordered.

There was no room for debate. Nemuri entered through the door, Hitoshi right on her heels. The door slammed shut while Izuku approached it, but he suddenly stopped and held his arms out, causing the three to come to an instant halt.

“Be careful,” he warned, glancing over his shoulder.

Before any of his friends could question him, he opened the door and stepped inside the building. They were met with a staircase and another door swinging shut just in front of them. Izuku followed, seeing Nemuri, Hitoshi, and their captured villain a few meters ahead. A hand gripped his shoulder, and he turned his head to meet Tenya’s wide eyes.

“Midoriya, is that….”

He trailed off, but he could practically feel the apprehension radiating from his classmates.

“It’s all right,” he assured. “Shinsou’s got him under his quirk. He’s the only one of them we ran into in the tunnel, so he’s the only one who can tell us how to get the heroes into the bank and where the villains have taken Aizawa-sensei.”

He heard the questions erupting behind him, but he kept walking further into the building and picking up the pace to catch up with Nemuri and Hitoshi. The latter brought his hands up to his head and massaged his temples. Nemuri turned around, muttering something to the boy that he couldn’t catch at this distance. His eyebrows rose.

I don’t know much about Shinsou’s quirk, but I know he didn’t have me brainwashed this long. He’s had to focus on keeping control of this guy for a while now. Does he get some sort of headache if he uses his quirk too long?

Based on the look on Nemuri’s face, he could only assume as much. She put a hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder only for him to shrug it off. The four caught up to them when they reached the lobby of the office building. Nemuri was already scouring through the front desk.

“There has to be one somewhere….” she muttered under her breath.

The villain stood frozen by the desk, eyes glazed over. Izuku did his best to suppress a shudder, remembering exactly what it was like being brainwashed at the Sports Festival.

Shinsou’s quirk is absolutely incredible, but how long can he keep—

Nemuri slammed a piece of paper on the desk and quickly unfolded it. She looked to Hitoshi.

“Are you absolutely sure about this, Shinsou?” she asked.

The purple-haired teen nodded. The rest of the students converged on the desk. A map of Musutafu was spread out on it.

“Come here,” he ordered. The villain had no other option than to obey. Hitoshi winced but, continued on. “Show us where the man creating the shield is hiding on the map.”

Izuku’s mouth dropped open when the man turned his gaze down to the map in front of him.

I didn’t know he could extract information like that from someone else….

The villain traced his finger from the bottom of the map all through the city, coming to a stop just shy of Shoko Chukin bank. Nemuri leaned in.

“Looks like they’re directly across from the bank.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “We searched and evacuated all of the buildings in the area.”

“Maybe they snuck in when the crowd started growing,” Izuku suggested. “If they saw you searching the buildings, I don’t see it being too unreasonable for them—Shinsou!”

Blood started dribbling out of Hitoshi’s nose, a couple drops hitting the map. His eyes were screwed shut, and he leaned heavily on the desk in front of him. Tenya grabbed some tissues and steadied the boy so he could staunch the blood flow. Nemuri grabbed his shoulder again.

“Kid, you really shouldn’t—“

Hitoshi’s eyes flew open. More blood soaked through the thin tissues and continued streaming down his face.

“Show us where they’re taking Eraserhead!” he managed to grit out between clenched teeth.

The group watched in awe while the man traced his finger directly east across the map and outside of the city limits. He stopped. Only a few buildings occupied the area. Izuku leaned in closer.

“It looks like some industrial area just outside of Musutafu,” he observed.

As soon as Nemuri got a good look at the area, she rolled up her sleeve. Seeing Hitoshi struggling to remain upright, Izuku grabbed him and yanked him away from the mist emanating from the somnambulist. The five students backed away while the villain crumpled to the floor. Hitoshi let out an audible sigh of relief when he released his quirk. Nemuri pulled out a pair of handcuffs from her back pocket and restrained the man. She then walked around the desk and faced the students, ensuring they all looked her in the eye.

“I don’t have a lot of time to explain, so I’m going to make this quick, but you will follow my instructions exactly, am I understood?” She was met with a nod from each student instantly. “The villain that called himself Kayo is actually a man named Shusaku Akihiro. He manufactures explosives and has eluded both the police and heroes for quite some time. I don’t know why he would show himself to the public now, and we don’t have time to question it. He’s set up a bomb under the bank that’s set to detonate in just over an hour, according to Hawks.

“In light of this discovery, the heroes and police have to prioritize the civilians still trapped inside and evacuating the area, but someone needs to trail Shusaku and see where he’s taking Eraser. I’m hoping they’re still heading east, but I’m concerned that could change considering the circumstances. I know Detective Tsukauchi has some officers to spare and are searching the area, but they don’t have quirks like yours, so here’s what I’m going to do.” Her eyes were ablaze with a fire Izuku had never seen from the hero. With a quick glance to his friends, he could see the tension within them. Hitoshi, who’d just managed to right himself, didn’t seem phased in the slightest. “I, as Pro Hero Midnight, give you all permission to use your quirks to track down Eraserhead and to defend yourselves if the need arises. However, you are not to engage with Shusaku. If you find him, you are to keep your distance, trail him, and nothing more.” She fished her phone out of her pocket and tossed it toward Izuku and Hitoshi, the latter actually catching it. “You’re to call Present Mic the second you spot him. Keep eyes on him until the pros arrive.”

Hitoshi put the phone in his pocket. Tenya handed him some extra tissues, and he wiped off the remaining blood on his face.

“Are you going after the guy creating the shield?” he asked.

Nemuri nodded.

“It doesn’t matter how, but he evaded our search the first time. If I can sneak in alone, I might be able to take him down. That should bring the shield down and give us access to the bank.” She walked back around the desk, hauling the villain up and over her shoulder. She looked to the students one last time. “Please, all of you, be careful.”

Izuku didn’t need anything else. One for All stirred within him and crackled to life. He looked to his friends, all of them nodding. He turned to Hitoshi and held out his hand. The boy blinked, but took a deep breath, clasped his hand, and took a step closer. He pulled Hitoshi behind him.

I have to go. The heroes are going to get mom out. Besides, it’s not like they’d let me help if I stayed here…I have to at least try to find Aizawa-sensei.

“Hold on,” he said.

Once he felt Hitoshi’s arms secure around his neck, he bolted out of the building and back into the alley.

Aizawa Shouta

“Have you decided what you’re going to do with him?”

He tensed at the voice coming from the driver’s seat, his injuries flaring up at the slight movement. None of the men in the vehicle had said a word since they’d taken off. Shusaku mindlessly stroked his hair, his other hand tightening his grip on the hero’s shoulder when he tried to avoid the contact.

“I think so,” the villain answered. “You should really be thanking me, Eraser. You’ll be staying with us for the next couple days. I really didn’t have to be so kind to you, especially since my men inside the bank are letting those two boys go. They’ll be all right. Although, I guess that’s not necessarily a guarantee, but I can’t possibly imagine they’ll be forced to return to classes on Monday after this ordeal.”

Alarm bells rang in his head. He slumped back against Shusaku.

There’s no way…he’s not going to…this whole thing was just a distraction….

A chuckle rumbled in the chest he was leaning against.

“I’m actually glad you were at the bank today. I’m not a huge fan of heroes, and neither are most of my associates. I used to love them as a kid, but a friend of mine helped me see the true fault of our society. Well, maybe friend isn’t quite the right word. You might’ve known him. I was fortunate enough to call him Chizome, but most simply knew him as Stain.” Shouta’s blood froze. “He taught me a lot. He helped me see that so many heroes aren’t genuine. Most of them are just in it for the fame and don’t actually care for the civilians they’re supposed to protect. Sure, there are some exceptions, you being one of them. I probably believed there were more exceptions to that claim than he did. While you might be a favorite of mine, I still couldn’t help but wonder why our society puts you and your colleagues up on such a high pedestal. I know you try your best to save all of the civilians you can, but when faced with true evil, your quirks can only help you so much.

“You can face a few attention-seeking villains with some flashy quirks without a problem, but no hero is immune from a bullet through the heart. Very few could survive and protect others from an explosion. Society as a whole doesn’t think too much about that, though. No one wants to think that there are people willing to kill them and will go to extreme matters to do so. They’d rather go about their lives believing heroes can protect them from anything. You can’t completely disagree with me. After all, you were there in the bank, and how many civilians died? Two before the police and heroes showed up, I believe.”

Shouta’s heart dropped into his stomach, and he winced at the villain’s words. Shusaku wrapped his arms around the hero and rested his chin on top of his head.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Eraser. A lone hero wasn’t meant to take on an attack like that, but that’s my point. Even when All Might showed up, more civilians died. Being an underground hero, I’m sure you understand that more than most. I wish more of society would get on board with that idea, though. It’s quite unfortunate that it’s come to this, but I’m afraid it’s necessary. If it makes you feel any better, Yuuei isn’t the only school I’ve targeted. The citizens of Musutafu really need to be taught a lesson and realize they can’t rely on heroes. I know it’s harsh, but maybe they’ll finally understand after they see what happens to their children. Maybe the rest of the world will see what happens here and understand they can’t keep putting their faith in people that can’t always protect them when it comes down to it. Once I set you free, you can even spread my message yourself—”

Shusaku cut off with a pained grunt when Shouta mustered up enough strength to fling his head back into his captor’s. Stars danced across his vision, and the back of his head ached. Something dripped into his hair.

“Are you—“ the driver started, but was interrupted in an instant.

“I’m fine!” Shusaku snapped. He moved one arm to wrap it around Shouta’s throat. “It was my fault, really. I thought you’d be a bit kinder to me considering the fact I’m sparing your life. Although, I shouldn’t be too surprised.” He tightened his arm, completely cutting off the hero’s air. “It must be hard to hear that your colleagues and students are going to wind up dead, no matter how necessary the cause might be, but you need to get one thing straight, Eraserhead.” A black fuzziness crept around the edges of his vision, and consciousness slowly started to fade with each second he lacked oxygen. “I can just as easily change my mind and end your life. I’d recommend being cooperative just a little longer.”

Kayama Nemuri

She found the house without any problems. Shouta’s directions couldn’t have been any clearer. Not a single light was on, which wasn’t surprising considering it was nearly midnight. She stopped once she was at the lamppost. Her stomach churned as she stared at the house.

It looked so normal.

Her chest tightened when she saw the window just a couple inches above the ground. It was practically hidden behind the bushes in front of the house.

“They can’t seriously make him live down there,” she muttered to herself.

She left the illumination of the streetlight and crept over to the bushes, knowing she practically blended in with the night. She was careful to avoid most of the thorns while she pinned herself against the wall and made her way to the window. She planted herself on the ground once she was close enough. Taking a deep breath, she gently tapped the glass, the tiny sound slicing through the silence. She held her breath when she heard footsteps approaching the window. Within seconds, she could see Hitoshi. His eyes widened at the sight of her. She grimly smiled at him. Putting her finger back on the glass, she started quietly tapping.

‘Aizawa asked me to keep watch for you.’ She paused. Once she didn’t hear any commotion inside the house, she continued. ‘He said he was sorry he could not be here tonight.’

Hitoshi put his own hand to the glass.

‘Thank you, sensei.’

It was impossible to miss the disappointment on his face, but her smile only widened.

‘He will be here in the morning to get you out of here.’

The boy’s shoulders slumped. He blinked at her. Her brow furrowed, assuming he’d misunderstood the message. She gently tapped it out again.

‘He will be here in the morning to get you out of here.’

‘Really?’

Hitoshi’s reply was immediate. Leaning in closer to the window, she could’ve sworn she saw a droplet trailing down the kid’s cheek. For his sake, she would ignore it.

‘Really. He will be here first thing tomorrow. Try to get some sleep.’

She watched as Izuku’s quirk crackled in bright, green flashes. Hitoshi hesitantly wrapped his arms around Izuku’s neck, and the duo dashed out of the building and into the alley. Tenya grabbed Ochako and Shouto and followed without any hesitation. She closed her eyes and ran a hand down her face.

Shouta’s going to kill me if he finds out about this...but we might not ever see him again…but I promised him I’d look out for Shinsou….

She shook herself out of her thoughts, knowing she couldn’t dwell on them any longer. She walked back over to the desk, crouching down and hefting the unconscious villain over her shoulder. She slowly rose and steadied him before sprinting out of the lobby and down the hall. Kicking the door open, she nearly ran into an officer climbing back out of the tunnel. She instantly dropped the villain and abandoned them both, running further into the alley.

“I caught him trying to hide in that office building!” She shouted over her shoulder. “Take him to Tsukauchi. He should be waking up any second and needs to be questioned immediately!”

She heard a vague response while she sprinted faster toward a four meter wall at the end of the alley. She jumped to her left, pushing off the side of the building and grabbing the top of the wall. It took her no effort to pull herself up to the top. She dropped down on the other side, the roar of the crowd suddenly erupting to a volume at which she almost had to cover her ears.

The officers must be trying to evacuate the entire block. It’s not going to be easy, especially with those damn reporters….

She flattened herself against the wall of the building next to her, keeping out of sight of the civilians and officers and creeping along until she reached a dumpster. She peeked around it. The seemingly infinite number of civilians were bumping into each other and tripping over their own feet as they were forced further down the street. She could barely make out the stern voices of the officers barking orders while they herded the civilians away from the bank. She waited until no one else walked by the mouth of the alley before emerging and running straight toward the barricades.

Hizashi and Naomasa were approaching the bank yet again. No one paid her any mind while she weaved through the cars and remaining officers toward them. She yanked Hizashi aside before they fully emerged from the cars.

“Nemuri, what the hell—“ Hizashi hissed.

“Shusaku’s gone.” The voice hero paled at the words. “He left the bank and he took Shouta with him.”

Hizashi swallowed.

“How…nevermind, do you know where they’re heading?”

“I think they’re heading east to an industrial park just outside of the city. When you get the chance, you need to send as many heroes and officers as you can that direction. Shinsou and Midoriya escaped and are trying to track them now.” The blond’s eyebrows rose up into his hairline. “He’ll call you if they find him.”

Before Hizashi could utter another word, Nemuri was already making her way across the street.

She slowed as she approached the building directly across from the bank, remembering how All Might had jumped down from there just a couple hours ago even though it seemed like an eternity. She stopped next to the van. The door was cracked open, and she could hear the frantic taps of the officers in there typing and clicking away.

They still haven’t hacked into the security cameras. We only know that Shusaku’s gone. There are still villains inside. If they realize Shinsou and Midoriya are gone….

She cast the thoughts from her mind.

We haven’t heard anymore gunshots. As far as we know, the rest of the hostages are all right.

She climbed up the steps just to her right and quietly slipped through the door. Carefully shutting it behind her, she glanced out the window, grateful that no one followed her or noticed she was missing. Her view was limited, but she caught a glimpse of Naomasa and Hizashi standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the bank.

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm her pounding heart, she backed away from the door. She managed to stop herself before she ran into a podium. She blinked trying to get a better look around the room with the limited sunlight filtering in through the windows. Several tables and chairs were set up around the room. Black table cloths were draped on top of the tables. There was a wide window between the dining room and kitchen along the back wall, and a staircase spiraled up from the ground to the next floor. She crouched and tip-toed through the tables, dashing under one when footsteps thundered over her head. They stopped, and she lifted one of the table cloths just enough for her to see, only to drop it when they descended down the staircase.

“There’s no one down here.”

The voice made nearly made her jump. She rolled up her sleeve as the footsteps got closer.

“I could’ve sworn I heard—“

“Check the kitchen then.”

One pair of footsteps ascended the staircase, but the other pair faded toward the kitchen. She heard a door swing open.

I imagine the one creating that shield is upstairs, so there’s at least three of them.

She took a deep breath before dashing under the next table, and then the next. She released her mist as the door swung back open. The footsteps came closer and stopped.

“What the hell?”

She could see the barrel of a gun appear under the table cloth and start to lift it, but she grabbed it and yanked it down. The strap around the rifle forced the villain to crash to the ground with a grunt. She instantly emerged from under the table and flipped him over on his back and sat on top of him, pinning his arms behind him. He opened his mouth, but his eyes began to droop. She didn’t move until she felt the man completely relax beneath her.

She crept over to the staircase and carefully ascended. A metallic clang rang through the silent restaurant when she was a few steps from the top. A gray blur came straight for her. She barely managed to deflect the barstool that was aimed directly at her head. She heard a click, eyes widening when she realized what was coming next. Grabbing the railing, she hoisted herself up and swung her legs. They connected with the barrel when the shot went off. Ignoring the ringing in her ears, she lunged at the man at the top of the staircase and knocked him into the barstools behind him. The two grappled for control of the weapon. She delivered a swift punch to the man’s solar plexus, grabbed the rifle in the brief second he was stunned, and bashed the butt of it against his head. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth, and three of his teeth were missing, but he was unconscious.

Nemuri grabbed the edge of the bar and brought herself back up to her feet while she caught her breath. For the first time, she actually got a look at the second floor. It was rather small, just a bar with only five barstools and a couple tables. The shelves were lined with glass bottles. She froze when she saw the door. Quietly leaping over the bar, she cracked it open.

It was a storage room. The green glow coming from the bank illuminated the tiny space. She spotted a couple extra tables and a broken chair leaning against the wall. A lone man with short, black hair stood in front of the window. He showed no sign he’d heard the commotion going on in the bar.

His quirk probably requires a lot of concentration.

Taking the opportunity, she undid the top buttons of her sweater and pushed her sleeves back up. She cracked the door open a little wider and released her quirk. It only took a minute for the mist to completely fill the room and the villain to collapse.

The glow faded in an instant.

Midoriya Inko

“Is it fixed?”

“I told you I already took care of it. They won’t be getting in.”

“We have to call him—“

“We can’t.”

“But—“

“We can’t risk him turning back. He has to make it out.”

Her hands clenched as the villains quarreled amongst themselves. Much to her relief, it had taken a while for them to realize Izuku and Hitoshi were gone.

Kayo must’ve been the only observant one of the bunch.

She nearly grinned at the thought. A slight uproar erupted from the crowd. Several officers were ushering the crowd further down the street, and the noise slowly began to dull.

What’s going on? Are the heroes going to try to break into the bank? I don’t see how….

She stiffened when Hizashi and Naomasa approached the bank. Within seconds, the phone rang. She slightly jumped at the noise, as did the other hostages around her. The arguing ceased for only a brief moment.

“Should we answer it?”

The phone rang again.

“They’ll know something’s wrong.”

“How much time—“

“Less than an hour. Just answer the damn phone.”

Less than an hour until what?

“But what do we do?”

After the third ring, one of the villains finally answered.

“I hope you’ve made some more progress.”

Hizashi and Naomasa looked to each other, unable to completely hide their surprise.

“Chief Tsuragamae just called to inform us that the meeting with the consulate will take place within the hour,” Naomasa’s voice came through the speaker. “He’s trying to arrange some transportation and a pilot for you as we speak.”

“It’s about time. I’m sure everyone here is quite relieved to hear that. Give me another update in half an hour.”

The villain didn’t give the voice hero or detective a chance to respond before hanging up the phone.

Bang!

Inko’s eyes widened. It was faint, but a gunshot nonetheless.

Every remaining officer and hero turned their heads to the building across the street. Hizashi sprinted through the cars and raced inside before anyone else dared to move. Dark green cracks flashed across the windows in front of her. Looking around the lobby, they sparked up across the walls and ceiling.

The shield coating the bank disappeared a heartbeat later.

“B-back away from the windows!”

Cold metal pressed into her back, and a hand grasped her shoulder. A slight tremble plagued the man’s hand when he started to pull her back further into the lobby.

They didn’t expect this.

She glanced around. Her fellow hostages seemed to have come to the same understanding.

There’s only six of them left. There’s at least thirty of us. We have a way out now. If we can catch them off guard….

The woman next to her lunged for the man’s weapon, knocking both him and Inko to the ground. She kicked the pistol away the second it clattered to the ground.

Bang!

She heard a grunt across the lobby. She pushed herself up and saw two men across the lobby wrestling one of their captors for his gun.

Bang!

Another shot rang out, but no accompanying thud as the bullet went straight through the ceiling. The woman pulled Inko to her feet. Four of the villains were on the ground and grappling for control of their weapons. The only two still standing ran for the door next to the bank teller windows.

They never expected us to fight back.

“Run!”

She couldn’t begin to guess where the voice came from, but no one hesitated. A man pushed his son toward the door and tackled one of the villains around the waist when he managed to get back to his feet, forcing another gunshot to miss its target. Inko grabbed the boy’s hand and rushed him out the door.

“Run to those officers,” she whispered.

She held the door open as the remaining hostages quickly filed out of the building. A boy that couldn’t be any older than Izuku grabbed her arm when he exited.

“There’s no one else,” he said, his voice cracking.

He pulled her down the steps, wiping his eyes while they ran.

“This way!” A gruff voice got her attention. She looked up to see Toshinori and Enji directing the hostages further down the street with some officers. “Hurry!”

While the number one hero’s trademark smile remained, she could see it was forced. None of the hostages objected and allowed themselves to be ushered away from the bank. She glanced over her shoulder to see a few officers approaching the bank with their guns drawn. She must’ve slowed down because the hero put a hand on her back to guide her along with the quickly fleeting hostages.

“It’s okay,” he assured. “You’re going to be all right. We’ve got it handled—“

He was cut off when an explosion shook the ground beneath them. The ground rushed to meet her face, but a pair of strong arms prevented her from completely hitting the concrete. Debris rained around them, but Toshinori took the brunt of it.

She barely got to peek out from under her shield in time to see the bank collapse.

Chapter Text

Yamada Hizashi

The gunshot resonated just as loud in his mind as it had happened mere moments ago. Without thinking, he weaved through the officers and cars and raced to the building across the street. He bounded up the steps. Once inside, he blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He tensed when he heard footsteps overhead.

Nemuri!

He crept through the tables to the staircase, tripping when he’d nearly reached the staircase. He looked behind him. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the unconscious villain sprawled out on the floor. His rifle lied next to him. He jumped back up to his feet when the footsteps descended the staircase. He opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, but snapped it shut when he recognized the shoes coming down the steps.

“Nem-Midnight?” he breathed.

“Mic!” Nemuri quickly finished her descent, carrying an unconscious man on each shoulder. She nodded to the one still on the floor. “Can you get—“

The ground shook beneath them, and an explosion rang throughout the air. The windows of the restaurant shattered. Nemuri dropped the two men she was carrying, and Hizashi barely managed to catch her in time when she toppled off the bottom step.

“What the hell was that?” he hissed.

The two heroes rushed to the windows, careful to mind the broken glass. Nemuri barely peeked her head out before she slowly backed away.

“The bank….”

She trailed off, eyes widening at the sight. Hizashi’s jaw dropped. Smoke poured from the building. They could barely see the structure caving in. Massive chunks of stone destroyed the cars closest to the bank. Three officers had been blown back by the force of the explosion. One laid on top of one of the cars, crushed under a piece of stone. The other two had landed close by, but neither of them even twitched.

The hostages….

He flung the door open and raced back out into the street. He looked to his right. A few officers struggled to their feet. He saw Toshinori on the ground several meters further down the street. He slowly got to his feet, revealing the short, black-haired woman he’d been shielding beneath him. Looking even further down the street, he could see more civilians with several officers before the adjusted barricade. He released the breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding.

From what I can see, it looks like quite a few made it out.

“Mic,” Nemuri’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts. “We need to get these guys to Tsukauchi.”

He raced back up the steps and into the restaurant. His friend had already flung one of the villains back over her shoulder. She settled for tucking the other one under her arm before running down the street. He didn’t hesitate to grab the remaining villain and follow suit.

Midoriya Izuku

He kept a tight grip on Hitoshi’s legs as they jumped from building to building. He didn’t miss the way Hitoshi’s arms had tightened around his neck when he’d catapulted himself between the walls in the alley and onto the roof. The other student was practically clinging to him for dear life. A blast of cold air hit him, but he refused to let it deter his pace. A quick glance to his left told him Shouto wasn’t far behind them. He was a couple blocks north and raced from rooftop to rooftop, using a combination of his ice to slide and propel himself forward and his fire to melt and erase the evidence.

He’s gotten used to using his fire now. This is quite an interesting application for his quirk. If I didn’t already know and if it weren’t for the wind blowing the cold air toward us, none would be the wiser he was even there….

He mentally shook himself out of his thoughts.

“Midoriya!”

He skidded to a halt at the voice right in his ear. Hitoshi jumped off his back and raced to the edge of the rooftop. A couple cars drove down the street below them, but even at this distance, he could see the black tire marks staining the previously pristine road. A red car had stopped just before them. Hitoshi pointed at the black car further down the road heading east.

“I think that’s him,” he said. “There’s hardly anyone else on the streets. There’s no reason for that car to swerve unless—“

“Aizawa-sensei made it?” Izuku finished.

Hitoshi nodded and whipped out the phone Nemuri had given him. He only tapped the screen a couple times before putting the phone to his ear.

“I hope I’m right. If I’m not…I just hope he’s not too far away.”

Izuku fished out his own phone.

“I’ll let Iida and Uraraka know. They can keep better eyes on them from the streets. I’ll tell Todoroki to move ahead in case we’re wrong.”

Izuku glanced back down the street, noting the car hadn’t made any turns yet. He quickly dialed Iida’s number. He bit his lip while the phone rang.

I really hope we’re right about this…for Aizawa-sensei’s sake.

Yagi Toshinori

He sat up on his knees once the last of the debris had fallen, allowing the black-haired woman under him to move. The zip ties still binding her hands made the movement awkward, so he wasted no time getting to his feet and helping her up. Debris surrounded them; the sight made him all the more aware of the ache radiating across his back.

At least I should’ve gotten the worst of it.

He looked back at the carnage, his stomach lurching when his eyes fell on three unmoving officers. He adjusted himself to shield the civilian from the view.

“Are you all right?” he asked. When she nodded, he gestured to her hands. “May I?”

She nodded again, and he snapped the plastic. She rubbed her wrists as he guided her away. He shifted when she tried to look back over her shoulder and kept her moving forward.

“Th-thank you,” she muttered.

He flashed his signature smile at her, but he kept his voice low.

“Of course. What’s your name?”

“Midoriya Inko.”

Toshinori stopped in his tracks, dread settling deep within his bones.

I should’ve known…she was standing next to young Midoriya…I didn’t see him or young Shinsou coming out of the bank….

Aizawa was still in there, too.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and forced himself to keep moving. His chest began to tighten, and he nearly had to gasp for air.

I probably just missed them. That’s it. They’ll be up ahead with the other hostages…but I shouldn’t have missed him….

“I’m sorry you had to get caught up in something like this. We’ll make sure each one of you gets looked over and receives the help you need.”

She never met his gaze.

“Thank you, All Might.”

The two approached the rest of the hostages and officers. Enji helped break them out of their zip ties. He scanned the crowd. His stomach knotted up when he didn’t see a familiar head of green hair. He put a hand on Inko’s shoulder.

“Where’s—“

“All Might!” Nemuri called. She ran straight past him, carrying a man on each shoulder. “We need you with us!”

Hizashi caught up to her a second later. The two heroes were heading straight to Naomasa. He glanced back down at Inko.

“Will you be all right?”

For the first time since she exited the bank, she grinned.

“Of course. Just promise me you’ll catch them and find Eraserhead.”

Aizawa….

He dashed after Hizashi and Nemuri. The two had dropped off the unconscious villains before Hizashi motioned him to follow. He didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t act like someone who had just lost her son. Midoriya and Shinsou had disappeared before…is there any chance they made it out of the bank?

Nemuri was on the phone, but she hung when she saw him approaching. She spoke the second he was within earshot.

“I’ve already told Mic, but Midoriya and Shinsou made it out of the bank,” she said. Toshinori’s shoulders slumped at the words, and he was finally able to take a proper breath. “Shusaku took Eraser and is heading east to an industrial park outside of the city.”

“Why are they taking him there?” he asked.

Nemuri crossed her arms.

“I don’t know. Shinsou and Midoriya escaped through a series of tunnels connecting to the bank. I know we had officers searching them, but no one found any sign of him or Eraser, so we can only assume they’re having to go through the streets to get there.”

“And you said those two are trying to track him, right?” Hizashi asked.

Toshinori stared hard at Nemuri.

Young Midoriya…he can’t go after someone like Shusaku. It’s too dangerous!

He fought the urge to run a hand down his face.

But this isn’t exactly the first time he’s done something like this.

“Before they took off, I gave Shinsou my phone. We can pinpoint their location and take over the chase from there. I gave them strict orders not to engage with Shusaku and to call us the second they think they’ve got eyes on him. I know the hostages are our priority, but since they’re out, we need as many heroes and officers that we can spare to head east. It’s the best chance we’ll get to catch him.”

Hizashi already whipped out his phone and frantically tapped at the screen. Toshinori couldn’t stop himself from taking a couple steps closer to his colleagues. Nemuri’s stance shifted, and her eyes stared daggers into the ground.

“Look, All Might, I know you’re worried about Mid—the students, but….”

She trailed off when she met his gaze. He grinned at her.

“It’s all right. Knowing them, nothing you said would’ve stopped them anyway.”

He was about to continue when Hizashi’s phone started vibrating and flashing. He answered instantly.

“Shinsou, are you—you found him?” Nemuri perked up. Hope surged through Toshinori’s chest. “Okay. We’ll be right there. Be careful, kid.”

After tapping the screen a couple more times, Hizashi held his phone out. Both he and Nemuri leaned in. His eyes zoned in on the red dot, taking note of the buildings surrounding it.

How has Shusaku made it so far from the bank already? And how the hell have they caught up to him?

He looked Hizashi in the eye.

“Are you coming?”

A single nod was all he needed to crouch down so the voice hero could climb onto his back. He looked to Nemuri next. Before he could even open his mouth, she started back toward Naomasa.

“I’ll meet you there with as many officers as I can bring with me.”

“See you soon, Midnight.”

He jumped, leaving a crowd of awestruck civilians and officers behind. The air rushed around the two blond heroes. He did the best to quell the dread building in his stomach.

Please, Izuku, don’t do anything rash. Follow Kayama’s advice. I’ll be right there.

Aizawa Shouta

His eyelids were heavy, as was the darkness clouding his mind. His throat ached with every breath he took. The urge to dive right back into unconsciousness tempted him, but the rise and fall at his back and the arms he felt wrapped around him were what stopped him. He forced himself to focus on the contact and his own injuries, hoping that would bring him further back into consciousness. With every bump they hit, fire flared through his ribs. Shusaku shifted behind him, unintentionally adding more pressure on his broken fingers. He groaned. He couldn’t even begin to guess how much time had passed when he finally managed to open his eyes.

Shusaku’s infuriating smile looking down on him made him want to clench them shut again; however, the black and blue bruises coloring the villain’s nose gave him a small pang of satisfaction.

“Welcome back, Eraser! I should’ve known that was a lot for you to process and should’ve anticipated some form of response from you. That really was an oversight on my part, and I shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me.” He tensed as the man’s fingers drifted up to his throat, tracing over bruises he didn’t even want to imagine. “I do apologize for that, but I think you’ve learned your lesson, haven’t you?”

Shouta couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped him when Shusaku moved his hand away from his throat. He glared at the villain above him. He shifted to get a better look out the window, ignoring the newfound agony shooting through his body at the movement. A little bit of the tension in his body released as he recognized the buildings around them.

I couldn’t have been out too long. If I had to guess, we’re roughly twenty kilometers away from the bank. There should be heroes close by. Maybe I could….

He turned his head to the side. Neither the driver nor passenger in the car paid him any mind. His limited view out the windshield told him there weren’t any other cars in the area. Very few civilians strode down the sidewalks. From his position, he could only see three.

This far away from the bank, I honestly thought we would see more people. It’s as if the entire city decided to head to the bank. We haven’t even come across another police car…but all officers available were probably ordered to head to the bank the second they were able. Shusaku has no doubt been counting on that.

He subtly shifted further against the villain behind him, trying to get a better look in the rearview mirror. Not a single car was out on the road with them.

No one even knows that I’m here. No one else knows that Shusaku….

He barely suppressed a shudder at the thought.

Who knows how many other men he has waiting for him? Once we’re out of the city, he’ll have more control over me. I have to do something…anything….

He glanced back into the rearview mirror. His heart nearly beat out of his chest when he saw a car slowly approaching them. Mentally bracing himself, he waited and relaxed back against Shusaku. The car steadily gained on them. He took as deep of a breath as he could before shifting all his weight onto his injured foot so he could lash out with the other toward the driver’s seat.

His vision flashed white. Agony rooted from the gunshot wound and shot straight up his leg, but he did everything in his power to ignore it when his foot collided with the driver’s head. Several swears erupted within the car as it veered to the side. The tires screeching echoed in his ears. Someone had managed to grab a hold of the steering wheel and straightened the car up.

“Hurry!” Shusaku hissed.

Shouta sat up as much as he could, much against his body’s protests, to see that the car had come to a dead stop behind them.

In an instant, sharp pain replaced the dull throbbing that previously occupied the back of his head when he crashed back against the car door. He blinked, desperate to clear the black spots and flashes consuming his vision. The fire shooting through his injured foot was what finally made him register that Shusaku had moved out from behind him.

“Are you all right?”

He could only assume the villain was talking to the driver. His vision cleared enough to see the villain on top of him, putting all his weight on his legs and practically rendering him immobile. The man peered out the back window.

“Do you need me to—” came from the man in the passenger seat, but he was cut off.

“I’m fine! It’s not like we can risk stopping, anyway.”

He turned his head back toward the front of the car. A little blood was smeared on the driver’s side window. He didn’t have time to further dwell on it when Shusaku yanked off the makeshift bandage on his ankle, nor did he have the time to mentally prepare himself before the villain dug his fingers into the gunshot wound. He clenched his eyes shut and bit down hard on the cloth between his teeth that barely muffled the scream the action forced out of him.

“I thought you were smarter than that, Eraser,” Shusaku said, his voice slightly wavering for the first time that day. He leaned forward and cruelly gripped the hero’s chin until Shouta met his gaze. “I really thought you learned your lesson, but I guess not. You’re insanely lucky you’re useful and we might have a need for you. I have half a mind to kill you as soon as we get out of the city, but we’ll see how forgiving I feel then. I’ll tell you one more time: it’s in your best interest to cooperate. Do you understand?”

At first, Shouta didn’t respond. Shusaku dug his fingers further into the wound, blood trickling out of it and down his foot. The villain tightened his already bruising grip on his chin.

“Do you understand?” he asked again.

This time, Shouta nodded. Shusaku relinquished the grip on his face and removed his bloody fingers from his ankle; however, he made no move to get off the hero and kept him pinned across the back seat. The weight on his legs did nothing to ease the pain radiating from his ankle. He only had a few minutes to try to regulate his breathing through the agony before the car suddenly swerved to the right.

“Shit!” the driver swore.

The tires screeched again. Shusaku completely fell on top of him. The villain didn’t have a chance to push himself up before they crashed.

Yagi Toshinori

The second time that day, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, his eyes scanning for any sign of Izuku or Hitoshi. He felt Hizashi shift on his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hizashi pulling out his phone.

“We’re almost there. They’re still heading east.”

He could barely hear his normally loud colleague with the wind rushing around them. His muscles started to ache. The urge to cough welled in his chest, but he ignored it. His energy was fading, he forced himself to breathe and keep going.

I’ve been holding this form for a while. I can do it a little longer. We need to find Izuku. The sooner we do, the sooner the kids can get out of here.

Green flashes a couple blocks ahead of them caught his attention.

“Hold on tight,” he warned the voice hero.

He crouched down and propelled them as high and as far as his legs were able. He watched Izuku running to jump to the next building with Hitoshi on his back. He descended, landing on the roof at the same time Izuku did, the boy almost tripping over his own two feet at the shock.

“All Might!” he exclaimed.

Hizashi jumped down from his back and approached the two students.

“Where is he?”

Izuku let go of Hitoshi’s legs. They led the two heroes to the edge of the roof, and Izuku pointed down to a black car driving along the street below them.

“That should be them. The car was swerving on the road earlier despite the lack of traffic….”

“And you think Eraser caused that?” Hizashi finished as he dropped down to the roof.

Both boys nodded. A frown tugged at the corners of Toshinori’s mouth.

Aizawa had gotten shot twice. With those injuries, I don’t know if he could….

He perked up when he faintly heard sirens in the distance. The police would be joining them soon, along with any other heroes Nemuri had recruited to join them. He looked back down at the street, noting the car continuing just ahead of them.

Who am I kidding? Aizawa wouldn’t let Shusaku take him anywhere without a fight.

“Todoroki, Iida, and Uraraka shouldn’t be too far behind us. They’re keeping eyes out on the ground for us just in case.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Hizashi, their wide eyes mirroring each other.

What the hell are they doing out here?

“Get a hold of them and tell them to leave the area,” Hizashi ordered. “All Might and I can handle him. All of you need to get as far away from here as you can.”

Toshinori nodded.

“Present Mic’s right. If you see any civilians, take them with you.”

“But—” Izuku tried to interject, but Toshinori put a stop to that.

“No, Midoriya!” He put a hand on both his and Hitoshi’s shoulders. “You two have done more than enough here. You are going to find your classmates, and all of you are going to run back down the street and wait for the police to arrive. Do I make myself clear?”

Izuku paled, and Toshinori couldn’t miss the fear briefly flashing through his eyes.

Please, Izuku, get out of here. I think you and young Shinsou are right, and if that really is Shusaku down in that car, I have no doubt he has an explosive ready to detonate the second he deems it necessary.

Izuku’s lips quirked into a grim line, but he nodded. He glanced to Hitoshi, who was staring down at the street below them, eyes never leaving the black car.

“Let’s go,” Izuku mumbled.

That snapped Hitoshi’s attention back to the other student before he shifted his gaze to the voice hero. Hizashi reached out and pulled him out of Toshinori’s hold and guided him away from the edge of the roof. He leaned in close to the kid and gripped his arms, whispering something to him Toshinori couldn’t even try to catch. Hitoshi reluctantly nodded and muttered something back. He held his head up and joined Izuku.

The two heroes watched as Hitoshi wrapped his arms around Izuku’s neck. Grabbing the other boy’s legs, Izuku walked back toward the roof they’d just come from. With one last glance over his shoulder, One for All sparked to life within him. He leaped, and Toshinori could hear the quiet thuds as Izuku jumped between the two buildings until they reached the ground.

“We should probably get going,” Hizashi said, “before they get too far ahead.”

Toshinori looked down the street, the black car only a couple blocks ahead of them. He crouched back down and let Hizashi climb onto his back again. The sirens started getting louder.

Or before the police show up. Shusaku might panic at that point. If he does have an explosive and it goes off…we can’t lose any more officers or heroes if we can keep from it.

“I’ll get you down to the street and drop you off. I’ll stop the car. Then I’ll take care of Shusaku and get Eraser out of there.”

“And I’ve got anyone else in the car that tries to get away.”

Toshinori smiled before leaping down from the roof.

You read my mind, Yamada.

He bounded down the sidewalk, quickly picking up speed and racing by a couple surprised civilians.

“Let go!” he ordered.

The arms wrapped around his neck released. A quick peek over his shoulder let him catch a glimpse of Hizashi straightening up and dusting himself off. All too soon, he felt the familiar ache in his body.

Shit.

He quickly gained on the black car. Ignoring the pain coursing through his body, he summoned all the energy he could muster and sprung.

I probably won’t have the energy to do this again. I need to try to wrap this up as soon as I can.

He soared over the car. He slid across the concrete when he landed but managed to remain upright. Tires screeching echoed along the quiet street. The car swerved—much to his horror—straight into a lamppost. Someone flew through the windshield, rolled across the hood of the car, and landed in a crumpled heap on the sidewalk. His heart stopped when the person didn’t get up.

Please tell me that wasn’t….

He took a couple hesitant steps to the side to get a better view of the figure at the front of the car, sighing when he didn’t see the familiar head of long, black hair. He ran toward the vehicle. The back door flung open. A familiar man with shoulder-length blond hair jumped out of the car and dashed across the street. Toshinori spun on his heel to go after him, but a single sound halted him in his tracks.

Beep!

His blood froze. His head slowly turned toward the car. Cautiously, he approached it, trying to get a view inside.

Beep!

The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, eyes closed and blood running down his face. The backseat was flipped up. A black box sat within it, several wires protruding from it and a yellow flash illuminating the car. Someone was trapped on the floorboards between the back seat and driver’s seat.

Shit…Aizawa….

Beep!

The erasure hero met his gaze and frantically shook his head. He glanced back down the street. Shusaku was heading straight toward a department store a couple buildings down from the wreck. He sucked in a deep breath.

“He’s yours, Mic!”

He thought he heard Shouta scream what was probably supposed to be ‘no,’ but he ignored his colleague. He quickly peeked inside the car. The box was installed under the seat. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the timer.

Beep!

Thirty seconds.

He reached out for the box, but briefly hesitated.

Will messing with any of the wires set it off early?

If the muffled yelling was anything to go by, Shouta was clearly thinking the same thing. He gripped the smaller hero under his bound arms and tried to pull him from the car, but the man hardly budged.

He’s really stuck.

“Run!” Shouta tried to order.

Beep!

Twenty seconds.

He ripped the driver’s side door off its hinges and yanked the villain out of the car. He shoved the seat forward until it crashed into the steering wheel.

“Not without you!” he grunted.

Beep!

Ten seconds.

Mumbling an apology, he managed to grab Shouta under his arms and pull him out of the car. He didn’t waste another second before hoisting him up into his arms and sprinting away from the car. His chest burned. His muscles ached. His energy was fading. Yet he mustered up all the remaining strength he had in him for one last jump.

A wave of heat rushed up behind him, and he tightened his grip around Shouta’s back and knees as the energy from the blast propelled them further through the air.

Shinsou Hitoshi

He watched the car driving along below them.

Aizawa’s so close. What if something goes wrong and All Might and Yamada can’t handle this? We could help them.

“Let’s go.”

Izuku’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Reluctantly, he took his gaze off the street.

He can’t be serious…he has to know we could help them….

Hizashi pulled him away from the edge of the roof, and Toshinori’s hand fell off his shoulder. The blond gripped his arms and leaned in closer to him.

“Shinsou, you and Midoriya have done enough. Aizawa would kill me if I let anything happen to you. Please, go with Midoriya. I promise we’ll save him.”

He sighed, but nodded, nonetheless.

“Thank you, Yamada,” he muttered.

He reluctantly joined the other student, who turned around so he could wrap his arms around his neck. Izuku approached the edge of the roof and briefly paused before grabbing Hitoshi’s legs. He descended swiftly, jumping between the walls of the two buildings until they reached the ground. He dashed out onto the sidewalk. The black car grew smaller as it continued down the street. A red and blue blur suddenly landed on the sidewalk and sprinted after the car. The streetlights hummed and flickered on. Only then did he realize how dark it was getting as the sun was starting to set. Izuku pulled out his phone and handed it to him.

“Call Uraraka and tell her and Iida to—”

Screeching tires followed by a crash interrupted the boy. Hitoshi pulled his legs out of Izuku’s grip before he let go of his neck.

“Shinsou!”

He didn’t pay him any mind as he raced down the street. It was silent except for the sound of his feet hitting the pavement. He slowed down when he saw Hizashi on the sidewalk just ahead of him, but the voice hero broke out into a run before he even had a chance to call out to him.

“He’s yours, Mic!” Toshinori bellowed.

Hizashi bolted across the street to the other sidewalk. He stopped completely when he caught a glimpse of Shusaku bounding up the steps to a department store a block ahead. Hizashi dashed in after him. He’d barely made a step to follow when someone wrapped their arms around his waist and practically dragged him across the street and down an alley.

“Sorry,” Izuku said as the rounded the back of the building and down another alley. “I figured this was our best chance of helping Mic-sensei. Shusaku’s probably going to escape through the back.”

They quickly approached the back of the department store, Hitoshi instantly noticing another set of doors on the opposite side of the building from the closest back exit. He glanced up at Izuku. If the look in his eyes was any indication, he was thinking the same thing. They reached the first set of double doors.

“Leave me here! Watch the other exit and call if you need help!”

“Right!”

The explosion rocked the ground the second Izuku let go of his waist and his feet hit the pavement. He stumbled when it shook beneath him and barely managed to catch himself on his hands and knees. His palms stung, but it was quite easy for him to ignore with the dread pooling in his stomach.

That sounds like it came from the car crash…no! All Might has it handled. Aizawa’s going to be fine. We have to help Yamada.

He lifted his head up to see Izuku had crumpled to the ground as well. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He grabbed Izuku under the arms and hauled him up.

“Go, Midoriya!”

The other boy muttered a ‘thanks’ over his shoulder as he rushed to guard the other exit. Hitoshi wiped the blood and gravel imbedded in his hands off on his pants and leaned against the back of the building. He briefly clenched his eyes shut.

Aizawa’s fine. He has to be.

He opened his eyes again, shifting his stance to the balls of his feet.

Shusaku had a head start on Yamada. He might be able to catch up…but I can only imagine it’d be easy to lose someone in a store this big.

He glanced further down the alley at Izuku, who mimicked his position. Even from the distance, he could see the boy suddenly tense.

Shit! He must be—

The door next to him flung open and banged against the wall, barely giving Shusaku enough time to run through it before slamming shut again. He paused mere steps away. Before the villain had time to turn around, Hitoshi pivoted on his left foot, sending his right straight into his back. Shusaku swore at the contact and turned around right as Hitoshi lunged. His arm was up so he could jam his elbow right in the man’s exposed stomach, but Shusaku had braced himself for the impact. Hitoshi only heard a slight grunt before a pair of arms wrapped around him and dragged him down to the ground. He could faintly hear Izuku call his name while the pair tumbled further down the alley until they came to a stop with Shusaku straddling him and pressing his forearm down on his throat. He clawed at the villain’s arm while he tried to get his feet under him to throw him off, but the man wouldn’t budge.

“Should’ve taken my chance while I had it,” he rasped, his chest heaving and sweat dripping down his face. He reached for his waist band, and Hitoshi’s eyes automatically wandered to the pistol. “Sorry, kid.”

A bang echoed in the alley as the door flung open yet again.

“Shinsou!”

Yamada!

He clamped his hands over his ears.

“YEAH!” Hizashi screamed.

He still winced at the noise. The ground vibrated beneath him. Shusaku’s arm was no longer crushing his throat. The villain had toppled to the ground next to him. Hizashi was on top of him a heartbeat later, kicking the gun out of his reach and flipping him over onto his stomach. Shusaku didn’t struggle as his arms were wrestled and bound behind his back. He couldn’t. Blood oozed out of the villain’s ears, and he blinked his eyes sluggishly.

Hitoshi coughed while he tried to catch his breath. Hizashi whipped his head toward him as he propped himself up on his elbows. Fighting the urge to recoil under his gaze, he met Hizashi’s eyes. The voice hero took a deep breath before finally speaking.

“Are you all right?”

Hitoshi nodded.

“I’m so—”

Hizashi put a hand up, instantly silencing him.

“We can talk about that later.”

Hitoshi nodded again. Hizashi opened his mouth to say more, but the police sirens grew louder. A shadow loomed over him. He looked up to find Izuku standing over him with a hand extended out to him. He grasped it and allowed the other boy to help him up to his feet. Hizashi hauled Shusaku over his shoulder and led the two students out of the alley. Red and blue flashes illuminated the street. Hitoshi froze when they emerged from the alley.

Even though he heard the explosion, nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight that awaited him.

Parts of the black car were scattered across the street. Three lampposts had been knocked over from the blast, and shattered glass and chunks of brick from the surrounding buildings littered the sidewalks. The police were already converged onto the scene. Several officers were running in and out of the surrounding buildings, a few carrying some civilians. The dread he’d been repressing surged throughout his body when he saw two more officers settling a tarp down over a body on the sidewalk.

“Aizawa….”

Izuku tugged on his sleeve.

“Shinsou, look!”

He was pointing down the street. Someone was sprawled out on the concrete, but slowly started to sit up. Hope fluttered within him when he recognized the hero costume. Hitoshi unconsciously ran toward the man, which he soon realized was two people when he got closer. Toshinori completely sat up, clutching Shouta against his chest. He tugged the cloth out of his mouth before undoing his bindings. Hitoshi forced his legs to move faster. Izuku was right behind him.

The two heroes perked up when they saw the boys running straight for them. Toshinori had just finished unwinding Shouta’s capture weapon from around his chest and shoulders. The erasure hero automatically moved to get up, seemingly forgetting his current state. Fortunately, Toshinori gently wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him still. That didn’t stop him from reaching out with his good arm the second Hitoshi landed on his knees next to them. Shouta’s hand came to rest on his cheek. He couldn’t help but grasp the hero’s wrist, as if Shouta would disappear if he didn’t. Hitoshi met Shouta’s gaze briefly before the man’s eyes scanned over his face, lingering on his broken nose.

“We need to get you to a hospital,” he muttered. He slightly turned his head to get a look at Izuku. “Are you all right, Midoriya?”

Hitoshi could practically feel the disbelief radiating off the other student. By the way Shouta relaxed, he could only assume Izuku had nodded.

“You should really be more concerned about yourself, Eraser,” Toshinori said.

“But we have to—

Hitoshi released his grip on Shouta’s wrist before carefully leaning in and embracing the hero.

“All Might’s right,” he whispered. “Yamada got Shusaku. Midoriya and I are okay. Please worry about yourself for once.”

He could feel Shouta gradually starting to relax. He leaned back just enough to look him in the eyes.

“He got Shusaku?”

When Hitoshi nodded, the man’s shoulders slumped completely, as if the confirmation had cut some invisible strings keeping him upright. He slowly started to lean back against Toshinori, his head coming to a rest on the bigger man’s shoulder with a pained groan. Hitoshi gripped his hand while his eyes drooped shut.

“Eraser!”

Nemuri and Hizashi joined the small group, the latter kneeling next to Hitoshi. Nemuri covered her mouth when she saw her friend’s condition. Wordlessly, she stepped aside and pulled out her phone. Shouta barely managed to open his eyes again. Hizashi scooted forward and took Shouta’s face in his hands.

“We’ve got him, Shouta. You can rest now.”

Shouta’s eyes closed again. His body went completely limp when he finally lost the battle to remain conscious, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. Nemuri returned with her cell phone next to her ear.

“Tsukauchi is sending an ambulance our way. We shouldn’t try to move him anymore until it gets here. He said Recovery Girl finally made it. She’s looking over and healing the hostages.”

Toshinori nodded, trying to suppress a cough as not to jar his colleague. Hitoshi whipped his head back to look at Izuku. The other boy’s eyes widened as he shifted his gaze between the three heroes. A faint siren could be heard in the distance, and it grew louder with every passing second.

“I don’t know if you two heard it, but a bomb went off under the bank,” Toshinori said. “Most of the hostages made it out, including your mother, Midoriya. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you earlier, but the police have been searching for Shusaku for quite some time. We had to take advantage of the opportunity to catch him.”

Izuku instantly nodded, a small grin spreading across his face.

“Midoriya!”

Everyone looked down the street to see Tenya walking toward them with Ochako and Shouto and waving at his classmate. Izuku ran to meet them. Nemuri and Hizashi followed just behind him. The siren grew even louder when the ambulance turned down the street. Hitoshi settled his eyes on the unconscious erasure hero. It wasn’t until he sat back on his heels and Shouta’s hand slipped from his grip that he realized he’d still been holding it. He winced when he got a better look at the black and purple bruises coloring his hand.

“You were very brave, young Shinsou.” The soft words got him to look up at Toshinori. “I’m sorry you got caught up in a hostage situation. I can’t imagine what you were feeling inside the bank. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling now. Even after what you went through, you and Midoriya went after Aizawa.”

Hitoshi shifted his gaze back down to the ground.

“It’s what anyone would do.”

A firm hand gripped his shoulder, and Hitoshi met Toshinori’s gaze once again. The man smiled at him, but it wasn’t the smile he’d come to associate with All Might.

“No, it isn’t. You’ve got the spirit of a hero. With the right training, I think you’d be great.”

Hitoshi couldn’t stop the slight upward quirk of his lips.

If only you knew….

Hizashi joined them as the ambulance slowed to a stop a few meters away.

“Midnight’s riding with Eraser to the hospital. I’m taking you and Midoriya to see Recovery Girl with the other hostages. I’ve already called and let Endeavor know Todoroki’s here, so he’ll be coming with us, too. Can you make sure Uraraka and Iida have an officer to escort them home?” he asked Toshinori.

“Of course.”

Hitoshi got to his feet, and Hizashi put a hand on his back and steered him toward the police cars. He couldn’t help but look over his shoulder while the paramedics loaded Shouta onto a stretcher, but the voice hero kept him moving.

“He’s going to be okay. We need to get you to Recovery Girl. Afterward, we’ll stop by my apartment and get you some clothes to change into before we meet Nemuri and Shouta at the hospital.” The hand at Hitoshi’s back slowly slid around to his arm and pulled him against Hizashi. “Later, All Might and I are going to have to have a talk with you and Midoriya. You two did technically disobey our orders….” Hitoshi stiffened, but Hizashi only hugged him tighter. “…but we probably wouldn’t have caught him if you hadn’t been in that alley. Midoriya couldn’t stop talking about the hits you landed on Shusaku before I got there. I’m genuinely surprised you managed that much against a villain like him. I’m proud of you, kid! I’m sure Shouta will be once we fill him in and calm him down about the fact you and one of his most troublesome students were hunting down a villain.”

Hitoshi couldn’t stop a snort from escaping him and he leaned into the embrace.

“Thanks, Yamada.”

Midoriya Inko

She lightly bounced on the balls of her feet. Her arms were crossed over her chest, tightly clenching the blanket she’d been given and keeping it wrapped around her. A medic had looked her over and was grateful to only bandage a couple scrapes on her knees and elbows. Some of the other hostages hadn’t been quite so lucky. One had already been rushed to the hospital from a gunshot wound to his stomach. New barricades had been set up to part the crowd for the ambulances to come through and for the departing police cars.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to stop some of the reporters from trying to jump over it and get statements from the heroes and officers.

“Are you sure you don’t want Recovery Girl to look at you?” the officer standing next to her asked.

She shook her head.

“It’s nothing that won’t heal in a couple days. I’m fine.”

The officer nodded before joining the others in keeping the reporters at bay. A roar erupted from the crowd of civilians as a police car drove back down the street. Her heart soared when she saw Hizashi in the front seat. She could see a few people sitting in the back seat.

Please….

The officer driving got out and opened the back of the car. She dropped her blanket and sprinted toward the car before the boy had completely gotten out of the vehicle. She flung her arms around her son.

“Izuku,” she breathed, tears welling in her eyes.

Izuku returned the hug with the same strength, burying his face into her shoulder. He paid no mind to the other two boys getting out of the car.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” he murmured. “We found Aizawa-sensei. He’s heading to the hospital now. He’s going to be okay.”

Her arms tightened around her son.

“That’s wonderful news.”

“Can we visit him?”

She grinned and pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“Of course! How’s Shinsou?”

At the sound of his name, the boy in question looked over his shoulder from where he stood with Hizashi and a few other officers. He fully turned when Inko and Izuku approached.

“It’s good to see you’re all right, Midoriya-san,” he said, slightly bowing. “I have to thank you for watching out for me while—"

“There’s no need for that, Shinsou. It’s the very least I could do after….” she trailed off and grimaced when she remembered the boy shielding her before Shouta had taken the bullet for them both. “I’m happy to see you. I’m sure you’ve heard Recovery Girl’s here.”

Hizashi turned around and clamped a hand down on his shoulder.

“Yep! We’re going to get you patched up.”

When Hitoshi shifted, the streetlight illuminated the light brown and yellow spots on his neck. Inko didn’t even want to imagine the bruises those would blossom into. Hizashi and Hitoshi only made it a few steps when an obnoxiously loud voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Hey, would one of you mind answering a few questions?”

They turned to see one of the reporters waving at a small group of the hostages. A man with a microphone was practically hanging over the barricade.

“He can’t seriously be asking them for an interview,” Hitoshi grumbled.

Rage flowed through Inko’s veins. Keigo was trying to talk to the reporter, but he just looked past the pro and kept waving to the traumatized civilians. Hizashi sighed and pinched the bridge of this nose. Izuku simply shook his head.

“How do you deal with reporters like that?” he asked.

“I won’t lie, listener, it’s pretty hard,” Hizashi chuckled. “Sometimes you want to deal with them like you would a villain, but you can’t. Heroes have a reputation to uphold, after all.”

“Well, I certainly don’t,” Inko huffed.

She marched right past the car and toward the reporter. She vaguely heard Izuku calling for her, but her mind was already made. She waved at the man. “I was in the bank. I’ll answer some questions for you.”

A few of the other reporters seemed to hear her. When she reached the barricade, she was suddenly faced with several cameras and microphones pointed right at her.

“What’s your name?” someone asked.

“Midoriya Inko.”

“Can you tell us what you’re feeling now that you’re out of the bank?”

“I’m honestly appalled that you all are so worried about your ratings that you would badger the heroes and officers working to take care of us and keep you all safe to answer your questions, and you didn’t even stop there! Some of you were willing to ask traumatized people for an interview just to get a good story. I’d seriously reevaluate your priorities the next time you think about asking a victim for an interview.”

She turned back to her son, leaving a high number of stunned reporters behind, some still holding out their microphones.

Midoriya Izuku

He clamped a hand over his mouth at his mom’s words. It barely stifled the laughter that followed when he saw the reporters’ faces. Hitoshi didn’t even bother hiding a smirk.

“Your mom’s pretty cool, Midoriya.”

He couldn’t help but nod at that. He turned to face the other boy just as he started walking away with the voice hero. His brow furrowed while he watched Hitoshi talking with the blond.

He seems to be comfortable with Mic-sensei…now that I think about it, he was this way with Midnight-sensei. I don’t think the general studies students see them outside of class. They don’t train with the heroes that way we do.

Aizawa-sensei called him ‘Hitoshi.’

“Hey, Shinsou.” Hitoshi stopped and turned back to him. “I was…I was just wondering, if you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing at the bank with Aizawa-sensei?”

Hitoshi glanced at Hizashi, who gave him a reassuring grin before giving the two boys some space.

“Can you keep this between us?” Izuku instantly nodded. Hitoshi took a deep breath. “If we’re getting technical, Midoriya, once the paperwork is processed, it’ll be ‘Aizawa.’” His eyes widened. Hitoshi tilted his head slightly. “Although, I guess I haven’t officially made a decision yet. I’ll probably keep my name.”

He beamed at the other student.

“Aizawa-sensei’s adopting you?”

Hitoshi nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

“We had some errands to run today. That’s why we were at the bank.”

He couldn’t miss the bitterness in Hitoshi’s tone.

I don’t think any of us that walked into that bank could’ve imagined what happened today….

Hitoshi turned to catch up with Hizashi. Izuku unconsciously followed him, quickly approaching the boy and grabbing his arm. Hitoshi raised his eyebrows, but stilled, nonetheless.

“For whatever it’s worth, I think Aizawa-sensei would be proud if you took his name.”

Hitoshi tensed for a moment, but his shoulders slowly started to sag. A genuine smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I’ll consider it.”

Izuku let go of his arm and watched while he and Hizashi disappeared in the crowd of officers and civilians.

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shouta

“He’s shivering. You said you had another blanket, right, Hizashi?”

The words pulled him further back into consciousness, but it was difficult to remain there with the numbness spreading throughout his body. Another voice sounded like it came from right beside him.

“It’s in the duffle bag. I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did. I offered to let him sleep at my apartment for a couple hours, but he refused.”

Hizashi?

A soft laugh echoed in the room.

“Sounds like someone else we know.”

Nemuri?

Gathering all the energy he could muster, he forced his eyes open and immediately squinted at the brightness. He grimaced and turned his head slightly to the side.

“Shouta?”

The brightness dimmed. He sensed a shadow looming over him. He opened his eyes again to find Hizashi leaning over his bed. The man’s smile nearly blinded him as much as the lights. Hizashi reached down and pressed a button. He found himself slowly being raised until he was partially sitting up. Looking down at his arms, he saw some tubes connecting an IV drip to his left elbow. His other hand clenched the white sheet settled over his legs.

I’m in a hospital….

His heart plummeted into his stomach. He desperately fought through the haze still clouding his brain.

Hitoshi said they got Shusaku, but where is he now? Do they know about the bombs? About Yuuei?

He tried to get up, despite Hizashi’s protests.

“You shouldn’t be moving!”

The blond firmly, yet gently, pushed him back down onto the bed, but Shouta was determined.

“Shusaku….” he rasped, finding his throat desert dry and aching. “You have to…get to the school….”

“We know. We’ve sent what’s left of the bomb squad to take care of it. Tsukauchi is interrogating Shusaku and his men to see how many more there are. The police are searching all the public areas they can to see if they can find any.”

Shouta’s breathing slowly started to even out, but it suddenly caught in his throat and his chest tightened.

Where’s Hitoshi?

“Where’s—” he started but was interrupted.

“Calm down, Shouta! Look.”

He stepped to the side, revealing a couch in the room. Hitoshi lied on it, curled up on his side. Shouta only got a brief glimpse of the yellow, long-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants before Nemuri settled a blanket over him. She gently lifted his head and slipped a pillow under it. He completely relaxed when his gaze settled on the Hitoshi’s face.

His nose wasn’t crooked. No remnants of dried blood remained.

He’s okay.

Hizashi waited a minute before removing his hands from Shouta’s shoulders. Once she had ensured the blanket covered Hitoshi’s feet, Nemuri joined the two.

“Are you in any pain?” she asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He shook his head. His eyes wandered down to the tubes. He followed them to the clear bags hanging by his bedside.

That certainly explains why I can’t feel anything.

Hizashi moved beside him, briefly turning away and coming back with a cup of water in his hands.

“I thought you might need this.”

Shouta automatically reached up with his good hand. Hizashi didn’t protest but did keep his hand clasped around Shouta’s to make sure he didn’t drop the cup. The water soothed his aching throat. He nearly sighed with relief. Once he finished, Hizashi took the cup away. He couldn’t help but look back to the sleeping boy on the couch.

“How’s Hitoshi doing?”

Both of his friends cracked a grin.

“He’s fine, Shouta,” the blond assured. “I’m sure you’re aware he had a broken nose, but Recovery Girl healed that for him. He’s got a few scrapes, and the bruises on his throat are pretty bad, but it’s nothing that won’t heal on its own in a few days.”

Shouta’s eyes widened, as did his friend’s when he realized what he said.

“What the hell happened to him?”

Nemuri tensed, and the grin quickly disappeared from her face. She glanced at Hizashi, who opened his mouth, but she put a hand up.

“I don’t know what Shusaku told you. Were you aware he planted a bomb under the bank?”

He shook his head.

“I figured as much, but he never told me that.”

“Hawks and I were searching for a way inside the bank with some of the officers. Shinsou and Midoriya managed to escape and I found them. I stayed with them while they directed Hawks and the others through the tunnels, but one of the villains must’ve realized they were gone because the exit was blocked. They found a bomb under the bank. Shinsou told me Shusaku had left and took you with him.” She grimaced. “I…I knew the civilians inside would be a priority….”

Shouta started to lift back up off the mattress. Anger bubbled within him.

“Nemuri, don’t tell me you sent Hitoshi and Midoriya after Shusaku.”

Nemuri swallowed and shifted her gaze down to her lap.

“They ran into a villain down in the tunnels. Shinsou had him under his quirk and forced him to show us where Shusaku was taking you. Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki found us just before that. I guess they’d seen the hostage situation on the news. One of the photographers managed to get a clear picture of the hostages, and they headed to the bank when they saw Midoriya. I ordered them not to engage with Shusaku if they thought they had found him, but I did give them permission to try to find you and to use their quirks if necessary.”

“What the hell were you—” he started, but Nemuri wouldn’t let him finish.

“What exactly was I supposed to do, Shouta?” she snapped. She whipped her head to Hitoshi, grateful that the boy was still sound asleep. She lowered her voice and finally looked at her friend. “You don’t understand…when Shinsou said you were gone…that Shusaku had taken you…I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again, and we still had to take care of the civilians still trapped inside the bank. Believe me, I never wanted your kid to go after him, but you might not even be here if he didn’t!”

Shouta’s mouth opened but clamped shut when he completely absorbed Nemuri’s words. None of the friends said a word for a few minutes. The silence was nearly suffocating, but it grew less tense with each passing second once Nemuri reached out and grabbed his hand. Hizashi finally found the courage to break it, keeping his voice soft.

“Shinsou and Midoriya were the reason we found you and caught Shusaku,” he added. “Shinsou called me the second they thought they had eyes on you. They followed Nemuri’s orders and only followed him until All Might and I got there. All Might tried to stop the car, but the driver swerved and wrecked it, as you know. Shusaku tried to escape, and I actually lost him while chasing him through a department store. We thought Midoriya and Shinsou had met up with the rest of your students and were waiting for the police, but they had seen Shusaku running and were waiting for him in the back alley behind the store. Shinsou slowed him down until I got there.” Hizashi ran a hand through his hair and smiled. “He landed a couple good hits before Shusaku got the upper hand. Midoriya was gushing to his friends about how much he looked like you.”

Shouta relaxed back against the mattress.

“Did Shusaku…how bad….” he trailed off, but Hizashi knew instantly what he was asking and shook his head.

“He was reaching for his gun when I found them, but I stopped him before he even grabbed it. I told you earlier, Shinsou just has some bruising. Recovery Girl offered to heal it after he gets some rest, but he wants it to heal on its own.”

He took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes. Nemuri brushed her thumb over the back of his hand. He opened his eyes to find her scooting closer to him. She bit her lip, and a pang of guilt burst through his chest.

I shouldn’t have yelled at her. This has been hard on all of us. Shusaku killed innocent civilians while ensuring none of us heroes could do anything to help.

He nearly shivered as he recalled the villain’s cruel words.

“I know you try your best to save all the civilians you can, but when faced with true evil, your quirks can only help you so much.”

He looked both of his friends in the eyes. Despite Hizashi’s smile, despite Nemuri’s comforting grip on his hand, neither of them could hide the weariness and sorrow present in them.

Shusaku wasn’t entirely wrong. He orchestrated everything just to prove his point.

“What happened at the bank?”

Nemuri’s grip tightened on his hand.

“I’m sure you figured out that one of the villains had a quirk that allowed him to create a force field around the bank. Shinsou used his quirk to get his location from the villain he’d captured.”

Shouta’s eyebrows rose and disappeared into his hairline.

I can’t imagine the concentration and energy it took for him to extract that information, especially if he also asked where Shusaku was taking me. I know we’ve experimented with it before, but I can’t believe he actually did it.

Nemuri continued.

“He was hiding in a restaurant across from the bank. I knocked him out, and the force field around the bank disappeared instantly.”

“Did the civilians all make it out?” he asked next.

Hizashi tensed, and his heart plummeted at the sight.

“Most of them did,” he began. “I guess Shusaku’s men were trying to herd them further back into the lobby and away from the doors and windows, but they put up a fight. Unfortunately, two of them were shot during the struggle, but Midoriya Inko led the rest out of the bank.”

Shouta took another deep breath. From his friend’s tone, he could sense there was more.

“Something else happened, right?” he ventured.

Hizashi nodded.

“Shusaku’s men panicked when the hostages escaped. The police were moving in to apprehend them, but they detonated the bomb. Two of the bomb squad members were found dead in the tunnels, so we assume the villains killed them before they set it off. Three officers were killed during the explosion.”

“All of Shusaku’s men that were in the bank died, as well,” Nemuri added. “All Might called earlier to update us on the interrogations. Every one of those villains were willing to die for Shusaku’s cause. I don’t even want to know how he managed to convince them to.”

Shouta winced.

From the sounds of it, Shusaku intended for everyone in that bank to die today. We’re fortunate that’s not what happened. Nemuri allowed most of the hostages to escape. Hizashi finally apprehended him. He and his men are being interrogated.

He cast his eyes down to his lap.

…but all those people still lost their lives today.

He looked up and met Nemuri’s gaze.

“Look, Nemuri, I’m sorry. I know you did what you thought was best. I shouldn’t have snapped….” he trailed off when he found a pair of gentle arms wrapping around him and his face burying into her shoulder.

“You have no reason to apologize. After all, you just got custody of Shinsou earlier today. It’s understandable that you’d be a bit overprotective.”

He could hear the smile in her words. He lifted his head enough to rest his chin on her shoulder, staring at Hitoshi still sound asleep on the couch. Hizashi followed his eyes, and a smile stretched across his face from ear-to-ear.

“He’s absolutely incredible, Shouta. His quirk is amazing, and the more he trains, he’ll get even better with it. He’s going to make a fine hero, especially with someone like you to look up to.”

He tensed in Nemuri’s arms, but she only hugged him tighter.

“Don’t you dare even think about saying otherwise,” she softly chastised. “You did everything you could to protect him.”

“I could’ve—”

“You took a bullet for him, Shouta.”

Nemuri pulled back and laid him back down on the bed, smirking when she knew he couldn’t deny it. Hizashi stepped closer and put a hand on his good shoulder.

“Shinsou told me all about how you were fighting off Shusaku’s men, how you held your own until you got shot. Even if you hadn’t, you were outnumbered. Most heroes wouldn’t be able to take on armed villains like that on their own.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Eraser. A lone hero wasn’t meant to take on an attack like that, but that’s my point.”

“Right,” he muttered.

He rubbed a hand down his face before looking back at Hitoshi.

I’m sorry, kid. I’m sorry you had to see true evil like you did today. No one should ever have to see that. That’s what heroes are supposed to shield you from….

He clutched the sheets covering him again, feeling what little strength he had suddenly flee.

…but we can’t let that discourage us. All we can do is move forward. All we can do is work together and build each other up, make each other stronger, so we can protect the civilians and each other as best we can.

“The doctor didn’t find any bullet fragments in your wounds,” Hizashi said, bringing him out of his thoughts and tuning him back in to the conversation. “You have three cracked ribs, and one’s completely broken. You also have three broken fingers and deep bruising on your chest and throat. You’ll probably get discharged after a couple sessions with Recovery Girl, so you’ll need your rest. You look exhausted.”

He nodded, shifting on the bed. He barely had the energy to fight his drooping eyelids. Nemuri stroked his hair and leaned in closer.

“Don’t worry, we’ll watch over Shinsou while you sleep.”

Those words were all he needed to give up his struggle to remain conscious. His closed his eyes. He could hear Hizashi’s footsteps leave his bedside briefly before returning and something warm settling over him. It didn’t take him long to drift back off to sleep.

Yagi Toshinori

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, pulling the material tighter around him. A lone bag hung on his wrist, its contents bumping against his leg while he made his way down the street. The ends of the scarf wrapped around his neck swung with each step he took. Several civilians walked along the sidewalks, but none of them paid him any mind. A siren pierced through the dull hum coming from the people around him. Red and blue flashes whirred by him a few seconds later as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital just a block ahead of him. He caught bits and pieces of the conversations around him as he continued toward the hospital.

“Did you hear the explosion?”

“I was only two blocks away! I could feel the ground shake!”

“I can’t believe all those heroes showed up and those villains still….”

He cringed, blocking out the words around him. He burrowed his face further into the scarf while he diverged onto the sidewalk leading up to the hospital.

That man has a point. Despite our presence, several civilians lost their lives today. Those reporters sure didn’t hesitate to broadcast everything they could. It’s going to be a while before the city recovers from this and everyone calms down….

…but it’s probably going to take the heroes and police present at the bank even longer.

He shook his head and walked through the automatic doors. He scanned the chairs in the waiting area, seeing no sign of Hizashi or Nemuri. Almost every chair was filled, and doctors and nurses rushed through the area. He pulled out his phone but stopped when he saw the two people at the desk before him. Inko was speaking to the woman at the computer, and Izuku was right by her side. The boy glanced over his shoulder at the new pair of footsteps entering the building. His eyes widened and he whirled around when he met Toshinori’s gaze. He whispered something to his mom before approaching him.

“Follow me,” Toshinori said, spinning on his heel and exiting the hospital just as quickly as he’d entered.

The chatter of the waiting area ceased when the doors closed behind them. He placed the bag down on the ground and grasped Izuku’s shoulders, pulling the boy closer to him. Izuku’s shoulders briefly tensed beneath his grip but relaxed a few seconds later. He clutched Toshinori’s wrists and looked up at him with a smile.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you after—"

“I completely understand. How are you doing? I bet you had to exert yourself a lot today….”

He couldn’t stop the smile that mirrored Izuku’s when the boy started rambling.

Of course, this kid would immediately ask about how I’m doing…as if he didn’t just….

His smile faltered slightly at the thought.

He’s okay. That’s what matters right now. He’ll get through this…but I really wish he didn’t have to.

“I’m fine, Midoriya,” he assured. “I just left the police station an hour ago. I wanted to bring some things for Aizawa, Kayama, and Shinsou. I won’t be staying long. I’ll be heading back home to get some rest soon. I’m assuming you wanted to see Aizawa, as well?”

Izuku nodded, shifting his gaze to the ground. His own smile started to fade.

“He…he was shot twice. He was forced to use his quirk so much. I…I c-can’t even imagine how much that hurt….”

He trailed off when Toshinori put a hand on the top of his head. He lifted his chin to look up at the hero.

“Aizawa is strong. He’ll recover. Nothing will stop him from getting back into class to teach you all, you know that, right?”

Izuku’s lips quirked into a grim line, but his smile soon returned.

“Right,” he said, but Toshinori could hear the worry and exhaustion in his tone.

His hand dropped down to Izuku’s back. He picked up the bag and ushered the boy through the doors. Inko was sitting in a chair on the far side of the waiting area. She perked up the second she saw her son.

“Will you call me tomorrow and let me know how you’re doing?” he asked.

Izuku nodded before veering off to join Inko.

“I got Aizawa-san’s room number,” he heard her say. “He’s got three visitors right now, so we’ll have to wait….”

Her voice faded while he continued past the elevators and down the hall. He paused, whipping out his phone and dialing Hizashi’s number. After a single ring, a door halfway down the hall opened and Hizashi emerged. He waved and greeted his colleague with a warm smile. He held out the bag.

“I’ve got some eyedrops for Aizawa. I picked up some snacks, too. I don’t know if any of you have even had a chance to eat anything since they got here.”

Hizashi gratefully took the bag before peeking back inside the room and handing it to Nemuri. He heard a faint ‘thank you’ before Hizashi shut the door.

“Sorry, Shouta and Shinsou are both sleeping, and they need the rest,” he explained. He motioned for Toshinori to follow him further down the hall to the door at the very end. “I know he’ll appreciate it, though. Thank you for stopping by.”

“It’s not a problem. Besides, I’m sure you want an update on the interrogations?”

Hizashi nodded and opened the door leading into the stairwell. He climbed a few steps and looked up, making sure they were alone. He leaned back against the railing.

“Have the police found any more bombs?” he asked.

Toshinori nodded.

“Some of Shusaku’s men have given the location of other explosives. Shinketsu High and Musutafa Private Middle School were targeted. Chief Tsuragamae has officers searching every school in Musutafu to make sure we didn’t miss any.”

The voice hero crossed his arms.

“Has Shusaku said anything?”

“I’m afraid not. I hope he does soon. Since he seemed to take an interest in Aizawa, I know Tsuragamae will want to get any information he can out of him, and Aizawa doesn’t need to be doing anything except recovering right now.” His colleague didn’t bother hiding his displeasure at the idea. He rubbed the back of his neck. “How is he?”

“He’s got two gunshot wounds, three broken fingers, and a few cracked and broken ribs. Even with Recovery Girl’s help, it’s going to take a couple weeks before he’s completely healed, especially since he’ll insist on going back to teaching as soon as possible. It’s going to be a miracle if Nezu can convince him to at least take one day off to rest.”

Toshinori cracked a grin at that.

“What about young Shinsou?”

“He hasn’t said much, but he’s also exhausted. Recovery Girl healed his broken nose. That took a lot out of him, but he refused to rest until we got here and could see Shouta.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Nezu let me know that both he and Midoriya will be excused from classes for the entire week if they need it. I think they need to take advantage of it….”

I completely agree, Yamada, but….

“But you don’t think they will, do you?” he assumed.

A bitter smile crossed Hizashi’s face while he shook his head. Toshinori took a deep breath, knowing his colleague was probably right, but his grin remained.

I don’t think they will either, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Midoriya and Shinsou do have some stubborn heroes to look up to….

…but I suppose we should be taking our own advice.

“Whether they do or not, we’ll be there for them,” he declared. “Whenever they need support and whenever they need to talk, we’ll be there for them, and for each other.”

We have to be.

Shinsou Hitoshi

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He looked up to see one of his classmates lingering in the locker room. He racked his brain for a name but couldn’t recall one. The boy kept talking. “That hero student threw you pretty hard. Maybe you should see Recovery Girl, after all.”

Mentally shoving the annoyance away, he finally stood and opened his locker.

“Really, I’m fine. Using my quirk can give me a headache sometimes. It’ll go away soon.”

That seemed to be enough for his classmate to leave. He sagged back down on the bench now that he was alone. He wrapped his arms around himself, gently massaging the tender bruises around his ribs. He closed his eyes, focusing on getting a deep enough breath. When he finally mustered up the strength to stand again, he couldn’t stop the groan that resulted. He took off his gym shirt and grabbed another t-shirt. The door slammed against the wall just as he’d gotten the shirt over his head and one arm through a sleeve.

“What the hell was that?”

Shouta’s footsteps echoed in the quiet locker room. He desperately maneuvered his arm through the other sleeve, ignoring the fire shooting through his ribs.

“I’ve taken the time to teach you how to fight, and you only threw a single punch against Midoriya. You relied on your quirk almost the whole tournament. Now, would you mind explaining to me….”

He grimaced when Shouta trailed off. Finally, he finished pulling down his shirt, covering the black and blue splotches decorating his back. He crossed his arms and stared into his locker, unable to turn around to face his mentor. The silence between them was deafening until he found the courage to speak.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, sensei,” he said.

For another minute, the erasure hero didn’t say a word. He could hear Shouta taking a couple more steps closer to him, but he still refused to turn around.

“Shinsou, you couldn’t have gotten those bruises today.”

He cringed.

“You saw Midoriya flip me over.”

“Not that hard. Even if he had, you wouldn’t have bruises that dark right now.”

He took a deep breath, grabbing his backpack and slamming his locker closed. He slowly turned around to face his mentor. Wide, bloodshot eyes stared at him through the slit in the bandages covering Shouta’s face. It was impossible to miss the concern seeping into his gaze.

“It’s nothing, sensei.”

“That sure doesn’t look like nothing,” Shouta quipped right back.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, doing his best to suppress a wince when it hit his back. He stalked around the bench and made a beeline toward the door, as fast as his aching body would allow him to.

“That’s why you relied on your quirk so much today, isn’t it?”

Shouta’s words brought him to a halt. Any signs of frustration and disappointment were long gone. He looked over his shoulder at Shouta, who was cautiously approaching him. He bit his lip and nodded. Shouta sighed and moved past him, pushing open the locker room door with his shoulder.

“Come with me to Recovery Girl’s office.”

Shouta’s tone didn’t give room for any protest. He followed the hero out of the locker room and into the nearly empty hallway. Neither of them spoke as they walked through the halls, and that only formed a pit in his stomach.

“Sensei, I….” he trailed off when Shouta stopped and turned to him.

“You said you didn’t want to talk about it, and I’m not going to force you to—” His shoulders sagged at the words. “—but I want to make sure you’re safe. I need you to know that you can come to me if you need help.”

He cast his eyes down to the ground. He took a deep breath, his ribs and back aching at the action. A single footstep echoed in the quiet hallway, and he looked up to see that Shouta had taken a step closer.

“Do you understand, Shinsou?”

He simply nodded, once again following the hero as he led him down the hall.

“We should get his nurse. His morphine drip looks like it’s getting a bit low.”

Something warm and soft was cocooned around him. He turned over onto his back and shivered when it slipped and exposed him to the cool air of the room. A pair of footsteps approached him and instantly covered him again. He tried to open his eyes, and a blurry form appeared above him before they closed again.

“Go back to sleep, Shinsou,” Nemuri whispered. “You’ve had a long day.”

He plunged back into unconsciousness.

He slowed down when he turned the street corner, causing Shouta and Hizashi to almost run into him. Neither hero mentioned the change of pace, instead choosing to match his stride as they followed him down the sidewalk.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” he muttered.

Shouta quickly walked in front of him and grabbed his shoulders, bringing him to a stop.

“It was incredibly brave of you to ask us to visit, Shinsou,” he said. “I understand that wasn’t easy, but we need to see your foster home.”

He nodded and continued down the sidewalk, Shouta by his side and still gripping his shoulders, and Hizashi just a couple steps behind them. The dread pooling in his stomach only got worse with every step. All too soon, the trio faced the front door. He hesitantly started toward the door, then turned to face his two teachers.

“You know how to sign, right, Mic-sensei?”

Hizashi’s eyes darkened at the question, but he nodded anyway.

“Why?”

He swallowed.

“I can’t…I don’t talk much when I’m at home.”

He moved to head into the house, but Shouta grabbed his arm and spun him around. His blood froze at the fire raging in his eyes. The erasure hero took a deep breath.

“You don’t talk much, or you’re not allowed to talk?” he calmly asked.

He fought the urge to shrink back from the hero, but he stood his ground.

“It’s fine—”

“No, it’s not,” Shouta declared. “Nothing about your situation is fine. I understand this is incredibly difficult, but you need to let us in. If your case worker won’t do anything, we can make sure you get a new one and get out of this house.”

His gaze flickered between the two teachers before finally landing on Shouta.

“You would do that for me?”

Much to his relief, neither hero mentioned the slight crack in his voice. Shouta tightened his grip on his arm before leaning in closer.

“Of course, Shinsou.”

He stirred when he heard a door creak open. Low voices cut through the otherwise silent room, and the door clicked shut. He opened his eyes to find bright white lights illuminating the room. His eyebrows furrowed when he realized a blanket was covering him. He shifted his head, noting the pillow placed beneath it. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

Aizawa!

He whipped his head toward the voice. Shouta’s bed had been raised, and it looked like he’d just woken up himself. Nemuri sat in a chair next to him. He threw the blanket off and slowly walked over to the two heroes.

I know I saw him when Yamada and I got here, but he’s awake now.

He’s okay.

He stopped next to Shouta’s bed.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” A slight smirk crossed Shouta’s face, and he found himself mirroring it. “Recovery Girl was kind enough to patch me up. I’m just a bit tired.”

Shouta nodded. The smirk disappeared.

“I imagine so. It’s been quite a week for you. I’m…I’m sorry you had to see what you did today.”

Hitoshi’s chest tightened. He cast his eyes down to the floor.

If Aizawa hadn’t needed to go to the bank, he wouldn’t be here. He would never have gotten shot. If my foster siblings hadn’t taken my things…if I hadn’t needed anything….

“I’m sorry we needed to—” he started, but Shouta was all too willing to interrupt him.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Hitoshi.” The tightness in his chest diminished at the use of his first name. “It’s not your fault your foster parents didn’t properly provide for you or watch their other foster children as they should have. As your new guardian, it’s my privilege to look after and take care of you. Getting the things you need isn’t optional, so I don’t want to hear any apologies.

“Besides, I should be thanking you. You were incredibly brave today. You stood up for me to Shusaku, and you and Midoriya took care of me while we were stuck inside the bank. You never should’ve been in that position, but you were and you handled yourself well.”

He bit his lip. The door suddenly opened again, and Hizashi peeked into the room.

“I ran into Midoriya and his mom in the waiting area,” the blond said. “They were hoping to see you, but if you’re not feeling up to it….”

Hitoshi turned back to Shouta when Hizashi trailed off. He looked even more exhausted at his friend’s words but didn’t deny the prospect of more visitors.

“They can come in for a few minutes,” he sighed.

Hizashi nodded and left. Nemuri stood up and grinned at Hitoshi.

“I can take you to the cafeteria if you’d like. All Might dropped off some snacks for us, but I have a feeling you’ll probably need more than that.”

As if on cue, his stomach growled. A nearly silent huff escaped Shouta.

“Get something to eat, kid,” he ordered with a slight upward quirk of his lips.

He merely raised an eyebrow while Nemuri led him to the door. He eyed the sack left in the newly vacated chair.

“I hope you’ll be doing the same.” He could hear Shouta completely slump back against the bed and grumble something under his breath. Nemuri chuckled as she shut the door behind them. He looked up at her as they started down the hall. “When will he get discharged?”

“Recovery Girl will stop by in the morning. If he eats and gets enough rest, he could leave as early as tomorrow afternoon. Hizashi and I decided it would be best if one of us stayed with you two until he’s completely healed, and I’m sorry for that. You have enough to adjust to already.”

Hitoshi crossed his arms.

“I can look after him. I don’t want to cause you two any trouble.”

Nemuri put a hand on his back.

“I know you can, but you shouldn’t have to. You’re a kid and you deserve to be one. Hizashi and I will always be there to help you when Shouta can’t.”

Before Hitoshi could even think of what to say, he perked up when he saw two people walking down the hall toward them. Izuku’s face lit up when he saw Hitoshi. He strode ahead of Inko while Hitoshi and Nemuri slowed to a stop.

“Glad to see you up and around, Shinsou!” he greeted. “Sometimes those sessions with Recovery Girl are really exhausting. I’m surprised you’re even awake right now.”

Hitoshi offered a small grin in return.

“It’s good to see you, too, Midoriya,” he said. He looked back at Nemuri, who simply gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We’re going to the cafeteria if you’d like to join us.”

If it were somehow possible, Izuku’s smile brightened even more.

“We’ll wait for you if you want to see Aizawa first,” Nemuri added.

“That’s very kind of you to offer,” Inko said, grabbing Izuku’s arm. “We won’t be long.”

Hitoshi watched as the two made their way down the hall and disappear into Shouta’s room. Nemuri nudged his shoulder.

“I thought Shouta said you didn’t like the idea of making friends?”

He rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the laugh erupting from the somnambulist.

I don’t…but maybe Midoriya isn’t so bad.