Lightning Serenade

Chapter 38: League of Villains IX

Yes, Denki was grateful that no heroes had shown up yet as he got to work on Shigaraki. What Denki didn't know, however, is that there were already students there.

Did Hitoshi, Neito, Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka know that the heroes were doing everything in their power to get Denki back safe? Yeah, sure they did.

Did that stop them from taking matters into their own hands and finding out one of the League's hot spots? Not in the slightest!

When they first arrived, decked out in disguises, they were disappointed to find no sign of anyone. They figured they must have gotten it wrong somehow and hoped that the Pro Heroes were having better luck than they were.

It was Kirishima who noticed that where there were people there whereas seconds before there were not. He silently drew everyone's attention back to the area with the helpful sign language that they had all learned and continued to practice religiously.

Bakugou could have sworn and maybe even exploded something in frustration if it wouldn't have given them all away. It was unlucky that the tuft of blonde hair was on the opposite side from them, and it only made matters worse that there were two villains near him, and it seemed like the others who had appeared spread out were also making their way in that direction.

Neito's and Hitoshi's eyes locked on Denki, grateful that he was still alive and desperate to see what his current condition was. Mentally, they braced themselves, like they had been doing for the two days since Denki had been captured and taken by the League of Villains. They were expecting the worst, and simultaneously hoping for the best.

From what they could tell from the distance, Denki was okay. He was still moving and showed no signs of favoring any of his limbs over another, so physically, he seemed fine. That didn't bring much relief as they wondered about what his mental state might have suffered if the League of Villains didn't resort to physical torture. Once again, they hoped that Denki's social skills had played a huge part and that he would come out of this relatively unscathed, but until they confirmed that, they would have to tread carefully.

It was automatic for Denki. And to think he despised going through the motions of CPR and first aid over and over again, believing that it was pointless and maybe even a punishment from Aizawa for something the class must have done wrong. Later, Denki would realize that the muscle memory of going through the steps over and over again in class helped him to not freeze up and panic in the moment. Even as his mind felt blank, his body moved and got started, giving his mind time to catch up and actually start paying attention to exactly what he was doing and what was going on around him.

Dabi had just stumbled over when the ground shook, dropping to his knees on the other side of Shigaraki. A quick look over his shoulder, and Denki could have sworn as he saw All Might standing there in all his glory. It made Denki feel special that they were pulling out all the stops to get him back, but it could not have been worse timing during a damn medical emergency that his long-term online gaming friend was experiencing, villain or not.

Denki would feel bad about it later, but he was happy in the moment that the big, scary villain that he had yet to meet seemed to be like a challenging match to All Might. That gave him time and room to help Shigaraki before he was dragged away, back to safety, leaving his friends to deal with the aftermath of a fight with someone as strong as All Might. The dread sat heavy in his stomach.

"He's not breathing and doesn't have a pulse," Denki declared, fighting the panic crawling up his throat down, knowing that he needed to communicate clearly so that everyone knew exactly what the situation was.

Looking at Dabi, Denki knew that he was going to have to take charge in this situation. Dabi was already out of it from the probable concussion after being knocked out by Gran Torino. With someone he loved dearly in a perilous state added to that, Dabi wouldn't be much more use than blindly following Denki's orders.