🖤💙𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕💙🖤

Hell of a Man's Man

POV TENKO

Eraserhead sprints into danger. I'm not sure why that surprised me. Just two days ago he ran into a burning building to save Dabi, and before that he was housing me, the leader of the League of Villains, in his home. He's a pro hero, trained to conquer the shadows. His line of work won't allow him to be afraid of the dark.

But it startles me, the way he cares little about his life. He could be throwing it all away, racing after his student who is more than likely dead. All For One attacked her minutes ago, and it's extremely rare for him to do something half-assed. 

Compress and Dabi follow Eraserhead, and I want to go, too, but Hawks stops me with a few of his feathers. "We need to get out of here," he tells me. What he really wants to communicate to me is left unsaid: you're the reason AFO is here. You are the one putting us in danger.

I clench my hands into fists and wrap my arms around my torso, maybe to keep myself from trembling so much. Hawks is right. This is all my fucking fault. What can I do to make it better other than leave? It's my only choice. 

I weakly push away from Hawks' hand on my shoulder and nudge past Kurogiri. He seems distant; his purple mist is flickering and faltering. I stop, feeling a little sick to my stomach as I tug on Kurogiri's sleeve. "Hawks says we need to leave," I tell him. Again, the true meaning is unsaid: I'm worried about you. I want everyone to be safe.

Kurogiri stammers a bit, then straightens his spine. His mist is thinning. "Take everyone and evacuate," Kurogiri instructs. "I'll deal with this."

"With Spinner?"

"With All For One. I'll hold him off and have Aizawa, Compress, and Dabi follow after you."

"You can't hold him off all by yourself, Mamagiri," Hawks says. "Plus, it'll be faster if we use your quirk and get out of here. We can hide out and regroup somewhere else."

Kurogiri shakes his head. "My quirk isn't working properly. Dr. Ujiko must've noticed my defiance and is weakening me." 

"He can do that?" Hawks blurts. "What's gonna happen to you? Can we stop him?"

"I'm afraid not," Kurogiri whispers. "I don't think I'll be killed, but I won't be of much use. My quirk will be completely deactivated in under an hour, and my mind will... slow down, per se. It's best if you leave without me."

"That's not fucking happening," I snap at him. "We've lost too many people. C'mon, we can take Recovery Girl's car and head to the mountains out west."

Hearing this, the old woman gently helps Twice to his feet. He seems dazed and pissed off, almost like he was drugged. But he lets Recovery Girl help him to the door. "My keys are in my bag," she says to Hawks. "Grab it for me, dear?"

"Yeah, of course," Hawks says, shooting a few feathers to grab the large purse. He uses a few more to help Twice shuffle to the door. "Do you want me to drive?" he asks.

"As long as you know where you're going," Recovery Girl answers. "Let's hurry. We don't know how long Shouta can hold that crazy man off."

Everyone piles into the car. Hawks is behind the wheel, Mamagiri beside him in the passenger seat, and Recovery Girl and Twice in the backseat. "C'mon, Tee, we gotta go," Hawks says. 

My hands and feet feel heavy. I'm nauseous. I'm underwater. I can't get into this car, not even if I wanted to. Because this is all my fault. AFO will be able to find them if I join, and this hellish cycle with just go on forever. As long as I'm with them, we'll all be the quarry, the hunter's blind prey. It's better if I let them leave without me.