Savior (My Hero Academia: Todoroki x OC)

Chapter 66: How to Save Someone Who Doesn't Want to be Saved

A week and a half. That's how long we had to wait for Endeavor to answer Principal Nezu's summons. While we waited, all of class 1-A began to train with a new intensity. After Bakugo explained the full force of Midoriya's quirk, we held numerous strategy sessions on how to combat it, working with the assumption that Midoriya might not come back with us willingly. If we were going to fight alongside him, while he used multiple aspects of his quirk, all of us would have to work together as a team. But one thing was made clear during our planning, every single one of us had our lives impacted by Midoriya in one way or another. No one was doing this out of a sense of obligation; everyone valued him as a friend. Needless to say, it was all hands on deck to get him back.

Much to my chagrin, I found I wasn't at 100 percent yet, but I was working as much and as hard as my body allowed. It didn't seem fair, but it was reality...it took much less time for my body to waste away than it did to rebuild that lost strength. My muscles hadn't completely atrophied but my endurance was lacking and I was nowhere near as strong as I had been a month ago. One of the only good things to come out of having to wait on Endeavor, was that I was able to test my limits, pushing myself to the brink before letting my body recover. When we received news that Endeavor was finally coming in, I was almost back to perfect shape and in a much better position to take on Midoriya, if needed.

Now, I stood strong behind Shoto with the rest of my classmates and stared down an irritated-looking Endeavor. The principal sat behind his desk with a barely discernible smile hidden behind his teacup. Eventually, he set the cup down with a small clink and rested his chin in his paws.

"I heard the children out and determined that this meeting was warranted. Since I'm in education, I'm always open to change based on the facts."

Endeavor looked at Principal Nezu, clearly not amused, but he sighed and his face softened when Shoto began to speak.

"Why have you been ignoring me? I thought we were going to stop Toya together."

"Shoto," Endeavor said with another heavy sigh. "Your willingness alone means the world to me." The emotion and exhaustion in his voice was unmistakable, but that didn't mean Sho was going to let it slide.

"Well it doesn't mean much to me without action! Why is Midoriya the only one with a free pass? Let me guess, you've got Deku and All Might looking after each other right?"

Although Endeavor didn't answer the question, the guilty look on his face was enough of a response. And that caused an immediate shift in the atmosphere of the room as Bakugo began moving forward.

"Thought so," he spoke quietly as he stepped past Shoto. "In any other situation, it was the right move. But you missed something. You don't know the first thing about Deku." Bakugo's voice was slowly gaining volume and his hands clenched into fists. "If you did, you'd realize he can't be trusted out there. He's screwed up in the head. The guy never takes himself into account." The more Bakugo spoke, the more his frustrations, anger, and worry seeped out, apparent to everyone in the room. "He just says crap like "I'm fine." All Might became the symbol of peace with the same mindset. So he can't be trusted to stop Deku. Listen to me, Endeavor!" Bakugo was outright yelling now, eyes locked on the fiery man opposite. "Something terrible is going to happen! You can't leave those two alone with each other! Not them!"

Endeavor stood stiffly, his jaw tightening. Everyone could tell he wasn't dismissing what Bakugo was saying, which gave some hope that he would be on our side when all was said and done. With a look of resignation, he muttered a quiet, "Midoriya," while looking down at an electronic device he pulled from his pocket. 

"Does that thing have GPS tracking?"

As soon as the words left Sero's mouth, he, Mineta, Toru, and Koda were running at Endeavor, knocking the device from his hand. While the room erupted into chaos, the words everyone spoke rang with sincerity. Several of my classmates were trying to express and make Endeavor understand just what Midoriya meant to us and why we needed to find him and help him. I think it was Iida standing tall and unmovable who finally got through to Endeavor. I expected him to put up a fight and refuse to help, but I was surprised at how weak his resistance sounded.