Chapter Text
Yang saw the flash of light out of the corner of her eye before anyone else did.
Cinder’s flames danced off of the blade of Neo’s unsheathed parasol, a glint of silver against the gold of the pathways.
Yang would know it anywhere.
Ruby’s eyes were still fixed on Cinder, watching her as she gloated. Preparing for an attack, but only from one direction.
The seconds slowed to a crawl.
Ruby wouldn’t see Neo. Yang didn’t have time to warn her.
Yang moved on instinct.
She had to protect her sister.
Her legs moved, and a scream wrenched itself from her throat in the shape of her sister’s name as she threw herself into Neo’s path, a hair’s breadth from Ruby.
Pain exploded through Yang’s body as Neo’s blade sliced through her, shattering her aura with a single blow. She cried out as her legs were pulled out from underneath her, the force of Neo’s blow sending her tumbling toward the edge of the platform.
It was only then that Ruby moved, so slowly that it was as if she was underwater.
Yang caught the look of surprise on her face as it morphed into wide-eyed terror.
She kept tumbling, her shoulders and the back of her head slamming into the platform, her full weight hitting the platform without her aura to soften the blow.
Dark spots clouded her vision, and for a moment everything became a golden blur.
She forced her eyes open again, as she felt her body fall. The golden platform shined so tauntingly, just out of her reach, as she fell further. The wind whistled in her ears, so loud that even her own thudding heartbeat was obscured.
And then Blake was there, her face contorted in terror, her teeth gritted as she threw Gambol Shroud at Yang.
They had done this move so many times before.
Yang was always supposed to catch it.
Her movements felt sluggish, her vision starting to blur. She wanted to reach for it. She had to reach for it.
She couldn’t reach for it, the edge of the weapon stopping just beneath her feet as she continued to plummet, Blake’s face getting smaller and smaller.
She heard her own name, the deafening cry echoing in her ears.
And then it was replaced by the sound of the wind whipping past her ears.
The golden light danced in her vision.
She closed her eyes, consciousness fading.
And then the light was gone, and there was nothing but darkness.
Izuku bent over, panting. Class 1-A had been doing a rather intense quirk training class today, and he was thoroughly exhausted from pushing One For All as far as he could. His classmates looked equally drained, most of their movements slowed and sluggish. Uraraka had her eyes closed and a hand clamped over her mouth, clearly trying to push down the nausea that she always felt when overusing her quirk.
Izuku sighed, taking a breath. At least the weather was nice, he thought, scanning the bright blue sky. The sun was shining, and there was scarcely a cloud in the sky.
There was, however, an odd-looking spec against the blue expanse, which seemed to be getting bigger as he stared at it. He blinked, shaking his head. It looked way too big to be a bird.
“What’s that?” Asked Jiro, her earphones plugged into the dirt as she practiced her sonic amplification, “I hear something,” She pointed to the sky, face scrunched up in confusion.
Izuku kept his eyes trained on the spec, trying to make out what it was.
Whatever it was, it was definitely falling.
He blinked again. It looked almost like a person.
No one else was looking, having shrugged off Jiro’s warning. If that was a person, he was on his own.
Izuku felt his feet moving underneath him before he had even decided what to do. He pushed his quirk through his feet, letting the power flow through his muscles as he moved as fast as he could. He jumped, using the momentum to launch himself into the sky.
As his momentum started to decrease, he pushed more power through his fingers, creating a blast of air that propelled him even higher, lightning dancing across his skin.
As he got closer to the plummeting figure, he realized that it was, in fact, a person.
He collided into them, their body slamming into him with a massive amount of force as he caught them in his arms. He spun in the air, trying to use his own momentum to keep their body from absorbing the impact of the fall.
They slumped against him as he crashed into the dirt, forcing himself into a roll so that the shock didn’t reverberate through his legs.
He stood, observing the person that was gathered in his arms. They had a long mane of bright blonde hair, what appeared to be a prosthetic arm, and clothes that seemed far too warm for the climate.
More importantly, they were also very much unconscious.
He shook his head, trying to think through his confusion.
Right. He’d figure out why they were falling from the sky later, right now they looked like they might need medical attention.
He pushed his quirk into his legs again, despite his exhaustion. He forced himself into a sprint, bounding back to the training area in a moment.
“Mr. Aizawa!” He called, “I think I found someone who needs help!”