Chapter Text
Alone in the darkness, Kagome sniffled, the fearless priestess feeling the coldness of the darkness. The jewel that caused her problems since she was born hummed and pulsed with power before her, pressuring more tears out of her. The silence was deafening to her ears and Kagome looked up at the jewel, the only source of light but it provided no comfort. The jewel thrumming with power was a reminder to her fate.
She had to get rid of it
Although sinister in nature, the jewel maintained an aura of neutrality, betraying nothing to its own desires. Over the course of several centuries, the proud and pure soul of Midoriko was beginning to weaken and wane in power. A new host was needed and found itself in one Kagome Higurashi. Nurturing the young girl in its own twisted way, the jewel was delighted to see that the purity of Kagome rivaled Midoriko's. Her innocence would strengthen her power and by proxy, her energy would feed and sustain the existence of the jewel for an eternity.
Before that happens, Kagome had to make a wish. The jewel cared not for the trapped soul of Naraku but the pesty hanyō traveling through the meidō is a threat. He can and will separate it from its host. Pulsing once more with more force, the shikon spoke with a distorted voice, "Kagome, what is your wish?"
Kagome shook her head, tears streaming down her face now as she curled into herself. The pressure of saving historical Japan on her shoulders never felt as heavy as before. One wrong wish and the cycle would be repeated–
"But the cycle will not be repeated, if you make the right wish"
Kagome's eyes widened at that and she unfurled herself to look up at the jewel. The jewel pulsed twice, its got her where it needed her, all it takes is one more push.
"Do you not want your family and friends to have a peaceful life? Their lives have been nothing but hardships and it will continue to be that way so long as I exist and they seek me out," with a more distorted voice, the jewel continued, "if you take on the duty as its true host since Midoriko, your friends will live in peace, their pain from constant loss erased with the arrival of peaceful times. This is a reality only if you make a wish."
Kagome looked down at the last line of the jewel. Thinking carefully about the legend of the Shikon Jewel that her grandpa always talked about, she racked her brain for the ending. Her hand pushed her hair back in anxiety and she fiddled with the loose bandages on the longbow of Mount Azusa. She closed her eyes and thought back to all the memories she had made on the quest to recover the lost jewel shards. She thought of Sango's fiery heart, Miroku's solemn acceptance of the world, Shippo's curiosity, Kirara's quiet companionship, and Inuyasha's brashness.
Closing her eyes, Kagome came to a decision and a defiant pout unconsciously took over her face. Head looking up, the jewel pulsed in anticipation, sparking once before stopping. Taking in a breath, Kagome made a wish.
"Shikon Jewel!"
Behind her fox mask, Kagome sighed softly, watching the dome structure from the top of an UA building. Kirara mewed from her shoulder, tails curling softly with the soft breezes of the wind.
"Watch over USJ Kagome," Kagome mocked, "It will be an easy mission he said, watching over the heroes and students in training he said." Kagome took a deep breath,
"WELL THERE IS NOTHING TO DO"
The sun shone brightly in the sky, the wind continued to blow gently, and birds flapped at the sound disturbance. Kirara's ears flicked back in annoyance at the loud noise and her claws extended and retracted. Kagome quietly murmured an apology to her companion and shifted to sit on the edge of the building she was on, her bow now on her lap so it would not break, her quiver sitting at her back, full and not being used. Kicking her feet in the air, Kagome hummed in enlightenment.
"Maybe this is a test of patience!" Kagome exclaimed, "I mean it has to be, he is always talking about how it was unbefitting for someone of your status and power to act with such brashness." Kirara mewed in amusement, rubbing her cheek against Kagome's, tails still flipping with a coy nature to them. She sighed and switched back into her normal voice, "You're right Kirara, I should not let this mission or that dog get to me." She fiddled with the purple beads around her neck, unable to stop fidgeting. It was her first mission without the dog general, it was only natural she was nervous.
It did not help that the students she was in charge of watching over were more or less her age and surrounded by pro heroes. So while this was Kagome's first mission, it seemed like a pointless mission.
Looking back at the domed structure, Kagome continued to swing her legs back and forth, her fox mask now on the side of her face so it did not get in her way. The wind stopped blowing and the fur on Kirara's back stood up. Feeling a chill, Kagome looked towards USJ again, 'Someone commanded a portal to open!'
Kirara leapt into the air and transformed at the unspoken command, beckoning her to get on. Propping herself to stand on the ledge, Kagome got on Kirara's back and they both flew to the domed structure.
"You really are a cool guy," Shigaraki turned to Aizawa, dry hand still nearing Tsuyu's face, "Eraserhead." Noumu put more pressure on Aizawa's head in response to the hero's actions. Izuku gasped, seeing that the attention was no longer on him, Tsuyu, or Mineta. Charging his arm with One for All and drawing it back, Izuku swung at Shigaraki. Shigaraki did not move and only gave out one command:
"Noumu"
"SMASH!" Landing the punch, dust flew up and created clouds, obscuring Izuku's vision of the enemies. Izuku's eyes widened, his arm not being broken for the first time, 'My arm isn't breaking?! Could it be? Have I unlocked the ability to adjust the power output at a time like this?'
Retracting his fist carefully in disbelief, Izuku grinned slowly, 'I did it' only to look up and see the open skulled monster staring blankly at him. Izuku's smile dropped and his fear came back ten-fold.
'It… didn't work?'
Shigaraki scoffed, slightly amused at Izuku's punch, "Nice punch there. You called it 'smash'… you a follower of All Might?" Izuku's blood ran ice cold when the Noumu firmly gripped his arms to the point of near breakage, restricting his movement. Worry and fear grew amongst the rest of Class 1A. Tsuyu's tongue stretched forward in an attempt to grab Izuku as the Noumu crossed the boy's arms, shaking with slight effort to combat Izuku's fighting efforts. Shigaraki also advanced, this time stretching both palms out, one to Tsuyu and one to Mineta.
Everything stopped at the doors slammed open and a sabertooth cat flew in with a girl dressed in red and white robes. She leapt off of the cat and pulled back an arrow on her bow, aiming at the Noumu. The arrow glowed pink before it was released and the Noumu released Izuku. The cat advanced towards Mineta, Tsuyu, and Izuku, snatching them up by their clothing with its teeth and flying to the entrance of the domed structure.
"Who the hell are you?!" Shigaraki growled out, "Where is All Might?!" Blue eyes glowed behind the fox mask and another arrow was notched onto the bow, glowing pink again. Izuku's fingers twitched, seeing and feeling the energy from the arrow.
"It doesn't matter who I am," the girl responded, voice muffled behind the mask hiding her identity, "What matters is my mission, and it is to protect UA." With that, the arrow was released, aiming at Shigaraki and a purple portal warped behind him, taking the villain out of harm's way before he was deposited some distance from the already battered up hero. The arrow whizzed past everyone and embedded itself into the ground, energy dissipating into nothing.
"Are you guys ok?"
Izuku snapped his head up to his savior, but she was still facing Shigaraki. Gulping his fear and anxiety away, he nodded, "Y-yes!" Tsuyu's tongue wrapped around Midoriya and pulled him closer to her and Mineta. Her frog-like eyes laser focused on the girl before her, "Who are you? You don't look like a villain but you don't seem like a hero either, ribbit." Mineta foamed at the mouth, conflicted between fearing for his life and admiring the body in front of him.
The masked face stared down at the three of them before it turned to stare at the angry gloved face. "You will know who I am soon, but for now," she tapped the three of them on the forehead, "Get to safety, Kirara guard them." Their eyes widened as they felt a wave of warmth pass through their bodies, healing the aches and pain from evading the villains. Izuku stared at his hands, the ache in the joints of his fingers faded slightly. The cat, who they now knew to call Kirara, circled around them, the flames on its paws and tails dying down slightly as it neared them. Just as their masked savior turned to Shigaraki, a booming voice came from the entrance of the stadium.
"Have no fear!" A silhouette stood at the entrance, "For I am here!" All Might stood proud, steam radiating from his body, announcing his presence with his catchphrase, but his face lacked his signature smile. Shigaraki breathed heavily at the appearance of All Might.
"I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach… so, I cut the principal's long story short and decided to come check on you all," tears of relief and joy were shed by the students of Class 1A, "I happened upon young Iida on my way here… and it was thanks to him, I heard the gist of what happened." Anger flowed through the veins of All Might, feeding One for All and enlarging his body.
"It's all right now," ripping the restricting tie off, "For I am here!" He repeated.
Shigaraki steadied himself with a deep breath, "We have been waiting for you, hero, or should I say, you hero trash." The Noumu stood tall behind him, ominously and looking aimlessly at All Might and nothing at the same time. Aizawa laid unconscious at their feet and despite having one hero down, the weaker villains shook at the sight of the Symbol of Peace.
"Holy shit! This is my first time seeing him in the flesh!"
"I'm sweating just looking at him…"
"Don't flinch now dumbass, we came here to kill him!"
The masked figure hummed, grabbing All Might's attention for a moment before he leapt forward towards the group of villains murmuring below the steps. Powering through them, the villains all fell with Aizawa in his grasp. Keeping his eyes on Shigaraki, All Might leapt back towards Izuku, Mineta, Tsuyu, and Kirara. The force of his retreat created a strong gust of wind, rustling the white and red robes and knocking the hand on Shigaraki's face onto the ground.
"Quickly, head to the entrance you three! I have to leave Aizawa with you, he's unconscious so hurry!" All Might gritted out, crouched in a defensive position. Mineta stuttered, eyes darting from where All Might was down the stairs a few moments ago, "Eh?! Huh?! So fast…"
Hearing orders for retreat, Kirara prepared herself, bending two of her legs so that the students could get on. Izuku darted his eyes from the large cat to All Might, worry swirling in his eyes when he saw staggered movement from the symbol of peace. The masked figure stepped forward and knelt near the unconscious Eraserhead.
"He is right, you three should go, take Kirara with you," hands reaching out to Eraserhead, a pink glow slowly began to emit from it, "I will do my best to heal him here before I join you in the fight." Izuku's eyes were drawn to the glow as were Mineta's and Tsuyu's. Before their eyes, they watched as Aizawa's hair hovered with concentrated energy and his flesh began to restitch itself into new unblemished skin. Snapping himself out of his trance, Izuku faced the quiet All Might.
"All Might, stay back! The villain with the brain matter," Midoriya exclaimed, "One for–I mean, when I punched him, it wasn't enough power to break my arm but he didn't even budge! He must be the one who…" the hero-in-training trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence in fear of it becoming reality. He looked down, sweat trailing down the side of his face and sullen.
"Midoriya my boy," Midoriya looked up, "It's all right!" All Might grinned widely at him. He turned his attention to the masked figure, still keeping his guard up towards Shigaraki and the Noumu. The villain was murmuring to himself, "Father… how could he hit you… wasn't as fast as I expected… could it be that our intel was true… weakening."
"Young heroine," the kitsune mask turned to him, "Who are you?"
Silence passed for a few moments as the masked figure pondered on the question. 'What would he allow?' she thought to herself, hands still glowing, dimming a bit as the strain of healing began to show itself, 'Well until further orders…'
"Higurashi," she introduced herself, "Four Souls' agency, it is nice to finally meet you, All Might."
All Might's brows raised in recognition at the name of the agency and grin widened. Izuku's brows furrowed at the name of the agency, having never heard of it before.
"If you will excuse me," All Might curled in on himself, crouching low, "I have some business to take care of!" And with that, he launched himself at the Noumu and Shigaraki, crossing his arms. Clouds of dust kicked up and Kirara stood in front of the group to soften the impact of the gust.
"Carolina…" Shigaraki showed no fear of the name of the attack from All Might, only letting out a quick, "Noumu", and the muscular beast stood in front of him, "SMASH!"
But the Noumu showed no reaction to the hit, only looking down at the Symbol of Peace before lunging forward. All Might bent backwards to avoid the arms of the Noumu and continued to punch at the monster, blow after blow causing the ground to shake from its impact.
"I can't believe it," All Might grunted out in between punches, a grin ever present on his face, "My blows aren't working at all!"
Shigaraki scoffed at the arrogance of All Might, "Look no further than the beast's amazing 'shock absorption' ability. If you want to deal Noumu any damage…" amusement bled into his tone, "It'd be more effective if you slowly and steadily scooped out his guts, but him letting you do that is a different story."
Hearing the gory details, Higurashi stopped healing, arms shaking slightly due to the ache from healing intensive internal bleeding. She turned to the three students, voice still muffled, "You should retreat quickly with Aizawa-san. Kirara will escort you three to the exit." Kirara growled in agreeance, crouched and ready to take on the weight of the bodies.
Midoriya stuttered out, "But what about you? You won't be coming with us?" Tsuyu and Mineta stopped in their tracks, unmounting from Kirara but still draping Aizawa over the feline. Higurashi stood up from her kneeling position and patted her red hakama.
"No, my mission is to protect UA and right now, I am doing a terrible job of it," she grabbed an arrow and lined it to her bow. Midoriya, Tsuyu, and Mineta took a step back at that and she laughed in response, waving them off, "Oh this is not for you! You aren't my enemy!" A breath of relief was released from the three of them, "Now go! Aizawa-san still needs a lot of medical attention!"
Tsuyu and Mineta nodded at that, mounted Kirara and looked at Midoriya and Higurashi, waiting for the former. Midoriya was still unsure of leaving and Higurashi grabbed his hands. The boy lightly flushed, 's-soft!'. Unaware of his turmoil, she reassured him, "Don't worry, I will keep an eye for Yagi-sama's transformation."
Midoriya's eyes widened at that but he was unable to say anything more as he was pushed to sit behind Mineta and in front of Tsuyu. Aizawa's body laid limp in the front where Mineta used his quirk so the body would not slip without taking others with him. Higurashi took a step from them and scratched the top of the feline, one-sided murmuring too quiet for him to hear but it didn't matter because Kirara roared and took off.
All Might's grin only grew at that new piece of information and seeing the retreat of his students, he grabbed the monster from behind, "Thanks for telling me! If that is all it takes, then don't worry!"
He bends backward, arms still around the Noumu, making the Noumu helpless in the air without stable ground and footing. "It'll be a cinch!"
A loud explosion resounded throughout the stadium, taking the attention of the fleeing trio on Kirara's back. Mineta turned back in a combination of horror and admiration, "Since when did backdrop slams become so explosive! All Might really really is a world away from us…"
Tsuyu dryly responded, "Though when it comes to teaching, he's still a beginner who needs to read off of cue cards." Midoriya nodded, half paying attention and half worrying about the fight that they were getting away from. 'I know they may have a scheme to kill him… but as we are now, we just can't do anything to help. If we tried, we'd just get taken as hostages and drag him down as kids in need of rescue,' feelings of uselessness and worry swirled in the boy but All Might's smile flashed in his brain as well as the comforting warmth of the fox heroine, 'Forget about speculating about the villain's plans… for now, we just need to believe in All Might!'
As Kirara drew closer to safety where the rest of the students were slowly gathering, Midoriya could not help but worry, only hearing Sato's distant "Awesome! Those bastards were just underestimating All Might from the get-go!" and Uraraka's worried, "And Deku and the others!" because of the close proximity. More cheering arose from the students as they watched their number one hero fight against the monster solo.
"Go, All Might! Aim for the crotch!"
"Maybe we were overthinking the situation… his strength is dumbfounding…" But Midoriya could not focus on any of that. Even as Kirara landed with a pleased growl and the trio slid off of her. Even as Aizawa groaned, gaining consciousness. All Midoriya could focus on was how the only one who knows All Might is weakening is, 'me'.
Flashes of All Might's crippling wound went off in his head, the number one hero's depressing state and dread filled Midoriya. 'When All Might didn't initially appear at USJ like he was supposed to…' realization dawned on Midoriya, 'That must be the signal that All Might already reached his daily limit. He's definitely running on fumes now'.
Red and white fluttered in the corner of his eye as another student was relocated with the rest of the class. A warm touch on Midoriya's shoulder snapped him out of his trance and he looked into blue eyes.
"Are you ok?" Closer to the masked heroine, Midoriya heard feminine undertones and his body flushed slightly against his will in spite of the high adrenaline situation.
"Yes… I will be," Midoriya turned his attention back to the fighting figures and Kirara curled around him, attempting to provide some sort of comfort for him, "Just… really worried."
Back with All Might, while other students may have heard the explosion and think the upper hand was with the hero, their distance obscured their vision of the Noumu's claws digging into the hero's sides. Blood spurted out from the corners of All Might's mouth as it dug into his already permanent wound.
Coughing out blood, All Might struggled to say, "So that's what you were thinking!" A purple warp had opened where the Noumu was supposed to be stuck in the ground, warping him to around All Might. Shigaraki calmly observed his monster carry out his purpose.
"You planned to drive him deep into the concrete and seal his movements right? But you wouldn't have been able to seal him for long anyway!" Shigaraki laughed out, "Noumu has the same power level as you! Isn't it great Kurogiri? He handed us the perfect chance on a silver platter!"
The purple mist known as Kurogiri concentrated on the open portals, yellow eyes glowing. Noumu's claws clenched, causing All Might to yelp in pain, 'What tremendous strength!' He gritted his teeth as the claws retracted and extended slightly, 'No, not there! Anywhere but there!'
"This was your first mistake! You'd better be ready for some pain!"
Kurogiri swayed as he floated above All Might and the Noumu, "I certainly do have blood and organs inside of me, so it will be a touch displeasurable, but…" the portal around All Might expanded before constricting around All Might's torso, "I'll gladly endure it if it's handed out by a man of your stature."
"It was Noumu's duty to restrain your dizzying speed so that I could open a gate while you were in that prone state. It is my duty to eviscerate you."
His words echoed in the stadium, reaching Midoriya's ears.
"He's really hanging in there for us…" Tsuyu muttered, tongue sticking out as a habit.
"Asu–Tsu… yu!" Tsuyu snapped to attention, hearing Midoriya call her by her first name, "What is it, Midoriya?" Taking Aizawa off of him and handing it to Tsuyu, he took off.
"Take care of Aizawa for me!"
'There's still so much I want you…' tears welled up in Midoriya's eyes, '... to teach me! There's still a mountain of stuff you need to teach me!'
"All Might!"
Dark purple mist swirled around the boy, "Fool!" and All Might's attention turned to his mentee, 'Midoriya my boy! Don't rush in like always–' he was promptly cut off as an explosion intercepted the purple mist covering the green haired boy.
"Outta the fucking way Deku!" A manic grin stretched from ear to ear on Bakugou's face. Bakugou leapt towards the black mist where a metal neck brace could be seen, grabbing it and slamming it to the ground. A heavy hand was placed around the brace threateningly.
"No funny business out of you, you shadow ass mobling!"
At the same time, ice covered one side of the Noumu, immobilizing further movement and Shouto showed up, one half of him covered in frost from overusing his quirk.
"I heard about you bastards' plans. About each of your roles in your scheme to kill All Might," a glare was directed at Shigaraki, "The Symbol of Peace won't go down as easily as you clowns."
Kirishima dropped from the sky, body hardening, intent on pinning down Shigaraki, but the villain dodged, causing a crater from Kirishima's impact. "Shit! I had him!"
Deku's tears stayed unshed, relieved at seeing his stronger classmates show up, "Kacchan! Everyone!"
"A freeze attack!" exclaimed All Might, as he now easily broke out of the Noumu's slackened grip, 'Was that young Todoroki? He has so much precision he was able to freeze him without catching me in it!' He grinned, dashing away from the Noumu, 'Thank you my boy!'
Shigaraki drawled out, "You pinned down our revolving door.." sucking in a breath, "Well now… this is quite the pinch." He turned to the three new additions to the fight.
Bakugou cackled, weight and hand still on Kurogiri, "Just as I thought, this prick was never all that sharp!" He thought back to when Kurogiri called his explosion 'perilous', "You gonna tell me that you don't use that warp-gate to hide your true body?! Huh?"
"If the shadow-mist were your true form, then why would you have called any attack 'dangerous'?!"
Kurogiri could only gurgle out in response, the weight on the back of his neck making it hard for him to respond. However, all Bakugou did in response was to put more weight on the villain, getting closer to where Kurogiri's eyes were, "Don't you move! The second you so much as twitch, I'll load you with a nice little explosion right here, right now!"
Kirishima sweated a bit from the side, turning to side eye Bakugou, "Not a very heroic line there buddy…"
"We've been cornered, and what's more, you're all nearly unscathed," attention returned back to Shhigraki, who now has his hands held together, "Man, I have to hand it to the kids these days… at this rate the Villain Alliance will be a laughing stock!"
"Noumu, go ahead and finish explosion boy over there, we're rescuing our escape plan."
At his command, Noumu snapped his frozen arm off, gaining the shock of Shouto the most. The hero and heroes-in-training watched as the Noumu broke its body and regenerated most of it, the stub where its arm used to be having fresh muscles developing.
Midoriya cried out in confusion and a little horror, "Wait, how is he moving… didn't half of his body snap away?!" All Might thrust out an arm, preventing Shouto, Kirishima, and Midoriya from moving forward any further.
"What the? Wasn't his quirk a 'shock absorption' quirk?! Stand back all of you!"
Shigaraki let out a small malicious smile behind the hand covering his face, "I never said that was the full extent of his abilities. As you can see, he's also got 'super regeneration'. Noumu is a human sandbag artificially crafted to the height of physical fitness in order to withstand your 100%."
Alarm ran through All Might as the Noumu launched itself to Bakugou. 'He's quick!' Bakugou was slow to react to the Noumu. Just as he turned, Noumu reached the young hero in training and he closed his eyes. The Noumu raised his fist and brought it down with force. Dust rose from where Bakugou was as the fist made contact.
"Kacchan?!" Midoriya shouted in worry only to turn and see Bakugou next to him, "Kacchan! Y-you dodged him? Wow…" But Bakugou only stared at what was ahead of him in shock. All Might had thrown him to the side, raising his forearms and taking the full brunt of Noumu's fist.
"...do you not know mercy?" There was a dark tone underneath the number one hero's question. A smile was no longer present on his face, a combination of steam and dust around him, and Shigaraki's eyes widened at the sight.
'So he took one for that brat, huh?'
He responded, "We had no choice. We had to save our ally, didn't we? And not long ago, one of your kids over there… ahhhh," he stretched out, "which one… the plain looking one. He tried to beat me up with all his strength, hear? And for whom do you think he mustered such touching acts of violence? Hmm, 'hero'?"
Shigaraki raised his arms halfway, as if inviting the hero in for a hug, "Now listen here All Might! I'm very ticked off! We're all categorized as either heroes or villains, but at the end of the day, violence is violence. And who gets to decide right and wrong? Society does!"
His voice grew more unstable as he continued on, "The 'Symbol of Peace'? Give me a break! You're nothing more than a bludgeon of oppression yourself! Violence only breeds more violence. And once we kill you, that'll be made known to the world!"
All Might could only calmly respond, a grin now returned to his face, "You're mad. You oughta keep your antisocial viewpoints to yourself."
"Besides, be straight with me. You just want to get in your kicks," red eyes glowed behind the hand covering Shigaraki's face, "You saw through me… so quickly…"
Shouto scoffed, disregarding Shigaraki's monologue, "It's 3 vs 5."
"6 actually!" Midoriya chimed in, "And Kacchan exposed the shadow guy's weak point!"
Kirishima got into a battle position, "These guys are outrageous but if we give All Might some support, then we'll send them packing no problem!"
They were interrupted by All Might's command, "No! Please escape!" The students protested.
"But if I hadn't come to support you earlier, it's have been bad." Shouto muttered, a borderline pout. Midoriya agreed readily.
"All Might, you've got blood! And shouldn't you already be out of time… ah!"
All Might only grinned, "Right you are Young Todoroki! Thanks a ton! But now I'll be okay! All you need to do is watch a pro show you how it's done!"
Shigaraki rolled his eyes, "Noumu, Kurogiri, do your thing. I'll deal with the kids." Shigaraki leapt forward, "Let's clear the same and return victorious!"
'It's certainly true– I don't have even a solitary minute left in me! The rate at which I'm weakening is also faster than I'd thought! I've got to end this!'
Blue eyes glowed from the shadows casted on his tanned face, 'For I am…'
His fist made contact with the Noumu's, impact sending the young students flying and Shigaraki back, 'The Symbol of Peace!'
"I can not watch this any longer."
An arrow whizzed by the students and lodged itself neatly on the Noumu's forearm. Everyone took a pause and looked to the source of the arrow. Midoriya's eyes widened, seeing the heroine from earlier, seated on Kirara's back and bow still outstretched from releasing the arrow a moment ago.
'It's her!'
All Might exclaimed, "Young Higurashi! Why are you back?! It is too dangerous!" But as he retracted his fist from the Noumu, he noticed the Noumu did not try to fight back, almost as if it was frozen or in shock. It cocked its head to the side shakily.
'What is it doing?'
The Noumu looked down to the arrow before it suddenly flared with pink energy and it began to screech, attempting to get rid of the source of its pain. All Might took a step back in surprise. The hero and students looked on with horror at the Noumu's screeches. The silence of the stadium made it harder for them to ignore the apparent pain the Noumu was in. The heroine jumped off of Kirara as it landed near Shouto, walking only a few feet further from the students. Another arrow was knocked, but this time aiming at Shigaraki.
"My mission is to protect UA High … and I will see to the end of it." Higurashi released the arrow but a warp formed underneath the shocked villain, taking him out of danger. Seeing the threat get further from them, Higurashi stepped closer to All Might, small hands touching his side gently, glowing lightly. Bow now thrown over her shoulder and quiver lacking a couple of arrows. All Might let out a breath of relief, a grin still on his face. 'Who the hell is she? Is she really the one the General trained?'
"What is wrong with it? Who the hell is she? He didn't tell us about her!" Shigaraki shouted, enraged at the presence of a new obstacle. While he was enraged, varying displays of horror and admiration were shown on the faces of the heroes in training.
Higurashi let out a strained breath, continuing her healing of the Symbol of Peace, preserving and regenerating his strength. Kirara stepped forward to Kagome, nipping at the white sleeve and pulling gently, worried for the girl's health. None seemed to notice the blood dripping down her chin as the Noumu disintegrated before their eyes, its brain and bulging eyes being the last to go. Its screeches of pain echoed in their eardrums and a chill went through them.
Their attention snapped back to the heroine when she dropped, exhaustion catching up to her and All Might took off her mask, only to see blood dripping from the girls' nose. Eyes widened in recognition of the girl's face and he finally identified her familiarity to him. He dashed to the students, leaving the girl in Midoriya's arms.
"Young Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou, Kirishima, please take this girl and get to safety! I'll be ok now!" All Might smiled brightly at them this time, 'More than ok actually, I haven't felt this much comfort in a long time!'
Shigaraki on the other hand was muttering and shaking in rage, "No… no! She was not supposed to show up. He didn't tell us who she was. She's not even a part of UA or a hero. No, no, no! After all this trouble, how could we fail to defeat the final boss?!"
Kirishima, Shoto and Bakugou began to move to take care of the other villains on All Might's request to retreat while Midoriya held onto the unconscious girl. But Midoriya was reluctant to part ways from his mentor, still deeply worried despite the wounds having healed by Higurashi.
'Even if his wounds are healed, it is only temporary and only I know about them… in terms of pure danger level, the shadow guy is the worst. All Might is teetering at the edge of his absolute limit! If he's taken at the mercy of the shadow guy, then he'll surely…'
His thoughts were cut off as purple mist loomed over him. Kurogiri's yellow eyes glowed in the abyss back at him when Midoriya looked up, arms around Higurashi tightening.
"Above any other consideration… we must avenge Noumu."
All Might turned back to the green haired boy and the girl, 'They're attacking! This is a 'holy shit' moment if ever there was one!'
The beads around Higuarashi's neck flashed before a blue barrier erected around the trio. The purple mist came in contact but Kurogiri hissed, parts of his 'body' fizzling and dissipating in the wind. He continued to put pressure on the barrier and the barrier shook. Shigaraki inserted his hand through the portal and touched the barrier, cracking and shattering their protection.
In response, Midoriya laid Higurashi gently on the ground before launching himself forward, using his quirk on his legs, causing them to break. Gritting his teeth in pain, Midoriya surged forward, 'I reached him! The part of his body he has concealed! If I can just hit him there, I can send him flying!'
"Young Midoriya!" "Let go of All Might!"
Tired of these shenanigans, Shigraaki retracted his arm and put it back into the mist so his hand would be right in front of the green haired boy.
"M-Midoriya!" shouted Kirishima in worry. Bakugou also looked back in worry.
Before Shigaraki's quirk could be activated, a bullet shot between his thumb and forefinger. The group looked up to find the source of the bullet and relief bled through the UA students and hero while anger flowed through Shigaraki.
"Sorry pardoners." Smoke came out of the gun from pro hero Snipe. "We're regrettably late."
Uraraka turned around with relief, hearing the voices of pro heroes from behind her, "Iida…"
"I came back with all the people I could scrape together!" Iida exclaimed, taking a deep breath before bellowing, "Class 1-A President Iida Tenya, reporting for duty!"
All Might looked behind him with relief as steam began to accumulate around him. Shigaraki grinded his molars, "Ah… they came. They came. It's our game over screen. Back to the drawing board eh Kurogiri?" Both of the villains tried to sneak away but the purple mist was too noticeable. One step and a rain of bullets pelted the duo but the mist expanded around Shigaraki, protecting the boy. A strong wind pulling them back confused the duo and they turned and looked to see pro-hero: Thirteen.
"That would be my doing!" she shouted, a hand acting as a suction for the purple mist emitted by Kurogiri. Kurogiri expanded his mist in response, sinking Shigaraki into its abyss as the young villain muttered a promise to All Might, standing not too far from him.
"For the time being, we've failed… but we'll get you next time, you and that girl, Symbol of Peace All Might!"
With that, the portal shrunk into a black star, winking out of existence. Midoriya groaned in pain on the floor, legs broken. Higurashi's body laid limp on the ground, blood dripping from the nose dried and mask broken in the midst of the chaos. Kirara made her way to Kagome, circling around her and nudging her with a whining growl. Midoriya's tears welled up, both from pain and from not being able to do anything.
'This is the realm where the pros go to battle… this is their world… and this was an experience none of us are ready for…' Midoriya sniffled, "I was… completely useless."
Steam emitted from All Might, "That's not true young one." It engulfed his large body and when Midoriya could see All Might again, he could see that it was his smaller form, less skinnier than before and more… healthy.
"If you hadn't given me those precious seconds, then my head would be rolling right now…," he smiled gently at Midoriya, beaming at him, "You've saved me once again, squirt."
This time, Midoriya shed his tears out of sheer happiness from being praised by his idol and mentor. He crossed an arm over his eyes, "I'm so happy… you're all right!"
The happy moment was interrupted by a loud roar from Kirara and the two jolted, turning to the loud sound and saw her dragging the limp heroine by the scruff of her clothing. In the distance, Snipe aimed his gun at the feline and unknown girl, ready to fire when steam engulfed the girl. He slackened his grip on his gun, 'So you know who this girl is All Might?'.
The steam and dust began to settle, allowing the pro heroes to see the mess left behind by Kurogiri and Shigaraki. Murmurs broke out in the group.
"What in tarnation…" Snipe mutters and Present Mic sighs, brows furrowing in slight irritation, "Man, they broke in so flashily and yet we still let them get away…"
Kan agreed and added, "They really hit us where our guard was down," letting down Nezu who responded to the discouraging mutters, "Nevermind that for now. We must tend to the students!"
Cementoss slowly got up from being crouched, "Not just them either…", and his eyes shifted down to a blond head that could be seen peeking from the steam. All Might jolted, a chill going through his body.
'This is bad…' All Might thought, now hyper aware of how exposed he is in his weakened state. A little further from them, Shouto, Bakugo, and Kirishima relaxed a bit seeing the pro heroes.
"Oh, the pros are here… if they all just came here, then that must mean the villains didn't attack the entire campus," Shouto noted. Kirishima turned to the clouds of steam where All Might, Midoriya, and Higurashi were.
"Hey! You alright?" He jogged to the trio, triggering Midoriya's panic.
"Kirishima!" Midroiya shouted, All Might was frozen as Kirishima got closer to them, 'Kirishima my boy! Your kind heroic spirit shines as brightly as ever but not now! Not now my boy!'
'Go back! You'll discover my secret–' and just as All Might and Midoriya come into view, a wall of wet cement separates Kirishima from the trio, hardening as it blocks the red haired boy's view and path. Kirishima turns to Cementoss, who walked up to the side of the wall, making eye contact with the pro hero.
"We want to check all of the students for injuries, so we'll have everyone gather in front of the gate," said Cementoss, "Leave the injured to the care of your senseis."
Kirishima clenched his fists and nodded eagerly, "Yeah, of course! Roger that!" He jogged back to where he previously came from, catching up with Shouto and Bakugou and walking to where the rest of the class was gathered at a normal pace. Cementoss waited for the three to get out of the vicinity before he looked over to All Might, who now sat on the ground, exhaustion catching up to him.
"Thanks, you really saved my hide Cementoss," All Might said, tension leaving his body. Cementoss held his hands together in a prayer motion, giving a closed eyed smile to the number one hero.
"I'm a fan of yours too, All Might, now let's keep your true form hidden and head towards the infirmary. But do try not to overdo it so much next time…"
(Cementoss | Quirk: Cement | He can manipulate any and all concrete he touches as though it were clay! He's scary strong in the concrete jungle that is the modern world!)
All Might wiped his face of sweat but only succeeded in smudging blood across his face, "I feel better than I usually do because someone else overexerted herself," he huffed, "And if I hadn't gone that far, I'd be a dead man. Besides, I feel better than I usually do because someone else overexerted herself. That's how formidable these new enemies are."
Somewhere else, a purple warp opened and Shigaraki was released on the ground, making contact with the hard floor painfully.
"Ow…" Shigaraki winced, "They shot both of my arms and legs… we were completely defeated." He laid flat on the ground, unwilling to get up, fingers not fully making contact with the ground to avoid activating his quirk.
"Even the Noumu was done in! Our underlings were defeated instantly… even the kids were strong," Shigaraki continued to say, "And the symbol of peace was none the worse for wear!"
One red pupil was visible, the eye was red slightly from being dry and it flicked upwards to a glowing computer screen, "You were totally wrong, sensei…" The computer screen flickers slightly but continues to glow green in the dim lighting.
"No I wasn't," the voice was distorted through the computer but heard clearly, having an authoritative undertone, "I was simply overly optimistic. But you know… it seems they underestimated us. I'm glad the villain alliance's name is so cheap. Incidentally…" the voice trailed off.
"What has become of that joint work of sensei's and mind? Has Noumu's body not been retrieved?"
Kurogiri spoke up, taking a step towards the computer, "I'm afraid he was killed brutally. All there was left of the Noumu were ashes and the impact of All Might's strength sent the ashes flying. I would not be able to gather all of him fully no matter how many times I warped. We just didn't have that kind of time."
"Ashes?" the voice took on a questioning tone now, "Even though I went as far as loading him up with the power to rival All Might's… the Noumu was reduced to ashes? Oh well… what a shame."
Shigaraki looked up at that, "It wasn't All Might that killed the Noumu, it was some girl on a large cat. And power like All Might's… reminds me, there was a kid whose speed was comparable to All Might's."
There was silence from the computer screen for some time before the voice questioned, "Oh?"
Shigaraki continued, "If they hadn't interfered, we could very well have killed All Might. It was that girl, that kid!"
The voice stopped Shigaraki's anger in its tracks, panic undetectable in its voice, "There's no use crying over it! After all, it's not as though today was entirely in vain. Let's gather a new group, hand-picked for efficiency! And let's take all the time we need!" Shigaraki glowered at that, impatient to see All Might's descent from his pedestal.
"Remember, we can't move freely! That's why a symbol like you is necessary. Shigaraki Tomura! Next time, you must show the world the true horror of your existence!" The voice calmed its manic tone from cementing the purpose of the villain's alliance.
"Now… describe the girl that killed the Noumu."