Chapter Text
“I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone wrong here when 13 didn’t answer any of my calls.” All Might steps forward, his deep voice a soothing balm to the many scared students present, including one Izuku Midoriya himself. And to others? A warning. “So I hurried over, running into Young Iida along the way. He told me of the villainy at work here.” He raises his head high, taking off his tie as he snarls at the quaking villains before him. “Have no fear, students…BECAUSE I AM HERE!”
Mineta shakes, pure relief in his eyes. “W-we’re saved!” He exclaims, with Tsuyu even melting in relief as she lets out a ribbit. And normally Izuku would be right there with them.
“He’s here..All Might…” He sighs out, frowning as he catches what is so off to him about his Hero’s arrival. “And he’s not smiling…”
That.
That has to be what is off about this.
It has to be. He tries to assure himself, despite the sinking feeling in his gut.
Shigaraki smiles behind his mask, pleased with this turn of events. “Finally. After all this waiting…The Heroic piece of trash shows up.” He chuckles, his visible red eye shining in delight as he studies All Might. He sees All Might defeat the NPCs that he brought merely as a distraction and extra reinforcement. All low level thugs that can easily be as replaced as the next batch as his Master would say. He takes note of his surroundings, his gaze landing on the calm Kurogiri.
“Is everything ready?” He murmurs quietly, quiet enough that nobody can hear him apart from the man next to him. A nod is all he needs.
Though he is quickly distracted by All Might punching him and taking the stupid brats away.
Izuku himself is in awe over how fast his Mentor still is.
“Everybody, back to the entrance. Take Aizawa with you.” He orders, his voice stern. “He doesn’t have much time.”
Indeed, Mr Aizawa didn’t look good, with blood on his face, his exposed elbow baring muscles instead of skin, and the amount of dirt on him alone would make a medic panic about sepsis and diseases. But even as Mineta and Tsuyu grab Mr Aizawa, supporting his body, Izuku very well can’t leave things be.
“All Might wait!” He warns, seeing Shigaraki paw at the ground to pick up that gross hand.
“Hmm…” Said villain hums, far calmer than past behaviour would dictate. “Of course a government Hero would resort to violence. Heh…I wasn’t prepared.” As the villain mutters, Izuku takes the moment to warn All Might.
“You can’t! That brain villain, it took One…It took one of my punches, and didn’t break my arm this time. But it's strong! It wasn’t phased at all!” He licks his lips, trying to explain without sounding crazy. “But…I’m not sure if that brain…thing is all that he has up his sleeve. He seems pleased to see you, and is distracted like he’s waiting for something.”
“Young Midoriya!” All Might calls out. He smiles wide, striking a peace pose with his hand. “I got this!”
”I smile to hide the fear inside.” His voice whispers inside of Izuku when seeing that smile, green eyes wide and fearful. Are you afraid right now? But he doesn’t have much choice but to follow the others in getting Mr Aizawa out of the way. I really hope I’m wrong…
Even as the others cheered around him, Izuku was full of anxiety as he watched the fight happen. Which was a shame considering it was such a good fight, the type that would normally have him pulling out his notebook to write down what he sees, to break it down and analyse it. But his mind whirs, his fingers twitching as his mind only focuses on one thing.
All Might is getting weaker.
It’s possible they have a way to kill him. He acknowledges. But even if they do, there’s not really anything we can do to help him now. I warned him. That has to be enough. If we tried to interfere, we’d risk getting taken hostage. Which is so much worse than getting in his way. He pulls a face at that, looking around the area for anything that causes that same off feeling that is making his stomach curdle.
“Get that guy! Punch him in the balls!” Mineta cheers. Tsuyu just looks relieved, calm as she observes the fight.
“Maybe we were worried about these bad guys for nothing. All Might is unstoppable!”
Seems that way, but I know the truth. Izuku grimly thinks. I read the Hero News this morning on my way to school and saw the headlines about All Might. He thinks back to earlier with spotting Mr Aizawa and 13 talking. Then, when they were talking about why he wasn’t at training, 13 held up three fingers, probably to indicate that All Might was already at his limit. A sinking feeling in his stomach as he thinks it through. He must’ve been absent today because he used up too much of his power! I’m the only one who knows! He looks around at the hopeful faces of his classmates, and feels helpless knowing what he knows. He’s saving us, but at what cost? They’re cheering him on, but they don’t know what trouble he’s actually in!
Maybe if he wasn’t so caught up in his worries, he would have spotted someone waiting for the right moment. Waiting for the right moment to strike where it hurts.
But even as Izuku jumps back into the fight to protect his precious Hero and Mentor. Even as Kaachan, Kirishima and Todoroki got involved, helping All Might rally himself enough to protect them from the blue beast, nobody sees the silent shadow waiting in the wings. None except Shigaraki, who's starting to get annoyed.
“These are kids! And you didn’t hold back!” All Might accuses, standing to his full height, even as smoke begins to appear on his form.
“Didn’t have much of choice. He was threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels.” Shigaraki defends himself, grinning as he spots his other companion getting into position. Honestly such a pain. “That plain looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed out punch. What kind of Hero does that? You think you can get away with anything as long as it’s for the sake of others. Well, you know what? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide what violent acts are Heroic or Villainous? Casting judgement as to what’s good and what’s evil…You think you’re the Symbol of Peace?” He laughs, as he spots a beam hit All Might, causing him to grunt from the unexpected force of it, Kurogiri already making a portal to move their trump card somewhere else. “You barely even noticed that I was distracting you!”
“All Might! Are you okay?” The plain one asks, his voice grating to Shigaraki’s ears.
“I’m alright. I’m alright.” Said Hero glares at him. “What did you do?”
“You’ll see~” He teases, grinning madly. “Nomu, let’s finish this level and go home! Kill him. I’ll deal with the children.”
Already he knows Nomu will fail. But that’s fine. Just as long as he can complete his task, I’ll be happy. One way or the other, I will kill the Symbol of Peace!
He doesn’t get angry when Nomu is blown away. He doesn’t get angry when the Heroes reinforcements show up. He does get pissed about being shot at. But through the mist and smoke of the battle, through Kurogiri’s Warp Gate, he spots a shadowed figure touch All Might’s arm, brushing past it before jumping into a Gate, and he laughs as All Might starts to scream.
Izuku jumps as All Might screams, and it damn well brings tears into his eyes as he does so.
Then…
Reality…
👌︎☼︎☜︎✌︎😐︎💧︎