Once Shinobi, Now Hero

Chapter 15: Battle Damage

Every step Stain got closer, Todoroki's heart beats faster and faster. At this point, it was like a drum in his ear. He was anxious, waiting for him to anything besides walk. Even then, he wondered what he was going to do if Stain continued to walk. Truthfully, compared to his comrades, he was quite fresh. But Stain hadn't seem to have any injuries at all as well. They were on a level playing field, but he somehow still felt he was at the disadvantage. It was probably because of Tenya and Burnin. They were still alive and obvious targets for anyone to want to go after. If he made it obvious that he was protecting them, he would probably go after him but it was more likely he'd just do it anyone, to give himself the advantage.

That meant he needed to keep Stain at bay. At least until backup arrived. But the constant tremors told him that, even with Midoriya, finishing Blade would take a while. And that meant he was on his own.

"Todoroki, you have to get away." He heard Tenya mutter. Not an option. Plain and simple.

"He'll just follow after us-"

"I meant just you! Go! This is my fight!"

Todoroki had wanted to argue back, but seeing Stain's full body after he finally stepped past the shadows silenced them both. Todoroki could finally see a small bit of damage had been dealt by Midoriya earlier. Still, it wasn't much. A frustrating thought, to say the least.

Suddenly, wind breaks through the area and forces him to cover up. He notices that it's coming from the direction Midoriya had went and sees a huge cloud of dust covering the sky. The sky? Then he remembers. The helicopter! They were broadcasting the whole thing, weren't they? That meant more heroes had to be on their way. But how long they were taking, he honestly wondered what would need to happen in order for them to appear. Two heroes had been killed, Tenya and Midoriya had nearly died. He had nearly died. Burnin nearly died and used a final attack that should've honestly been a beacon to anyone that something big was going down, and that had failed. Then Kakashi appeared out of thin air, as quick as lightning, and supposedly had killed Blade until, well, he didn't. Todoroki honestly wasn't sure what was happening anymore with those two, and once he started to see Kakashi use fire and water, he practically gave up entirely.

He knew Kakashi was hiding things, but damn. Nothing like this ever came to mind.

It was when Stain stopped moving entirely that Todoroki finally tensed up and crouched down. If he was going to attack, he was going to be ready.

But Stain doesn't attack. His attention had switched to the lone helicopter up above, watching them. Slowly, he backs away, as if shrinking into the shadows. It looked like he was trying to get away.

Todoroki didn't want to let him, but he had Tenya to watch after as well as an unconscious Burnin. Besides, Stain was stronger than him. It wasn't like he could take on and beat the man on his own, even if he was a little bit injured. It wasn't smart.

"...huh!"

He turns, confused as he hear the sound of an engine reeving. He has to cover himself from the amount of debris that had been kicked up when a blur raced past him. He hadn't even been able to turn fully and see what it was. But he was sure it was Tenya. He could finally move.

As Tenya raced forward, memories flooded into him. He could see the unmoving forms of Native and Manual. He remembered the visit of his brother. They way he looked on that bed. They way it made him feel. Then he remembered Stain's speech to him and his own failure as the hero he was trying to become.

'I was blind. Blinded by fury and hate.'

"Fool! Still you charge full of hatred! I'll see you dead before I leave!" Stain bellows, sending the rest of his throwing knives.