Forever and Always - SHOTOXOC (Eng Ver.)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Shoto POV

Among the hardest things that happened in the following days, the worst thing was seeing Mei's parents.
Her father was devastated while her mother had not gotten out of bed for days.
Having two daughters missing because of villains was a hard blow to them.

I didn't take it any better than they did.
I haven't eaten or slept for days, and as soon as I close my eyes Mei's terrified face appears.
And I know it's my fault.
I should have protected her at the cost of my life and instead I failed.
I let them take her away from me.
And the thought that she is in the hands of the LoV and that they are twisting even a hair on her head makes my blood boil in my veins.

We stand in front of the door to Midoriya's hospital room.
When we enter, the boy looks at us with wide-eyed stares. Surely, having just woken up, he has yet to recover.
"Has the whole class come to visit me?" asks Midoriya looking around.
"No, Jirou and Hagakure are unconscious because of the criminal's gas, Yaoyorozu has a good head wound. Other than these three, we're all here." says Iida as we all stand still looking at each other.
"Mei and Bakugo are also missing," I say, breaking the silence that had just been created. I am well aware that I have voiced the thoughts of many in this room.

Midoriya is as if awakened at my words. He stays with his gaze in front of him and tears begin to form around his eyes.
"I should have saved them. That's what my specialty is for. But my body ... it wouldn't move," our classmate says through tears.
I understand this feeling well. It is what I have been feeling for days. Guilt. Frustration.
Knowing that I could have done something more to save her and avoid this suffering.
"This time we will save them." Kirishima says to the whole class.

"Todoroki and I were here yesterday, too." He continues to explain.
So he recounts what we discovered yesterday here in the hospital. The conversation between Yaoyorozu and All Might.
"All Might is right! We have to leave it to the professionals!" Iida begins to say after Kirishima finishes his story. "I know! But I can't just sit still and do nothing! We have a chance to save our friends! I know you are right, but...you agree with me, don't you Midoriya?" Kirishima says, turning toward the boy.

Deku looks at him without uttering a word.
Silence falls in the hospital room as our classmates weigh his words.
"Have you already decided then? Are you going to rescue Bakugo and Takeda?" Our representative asks us.
"They managed to capture them without a hair being harmed. For the time being they are still alive but we don't know for how long. And if anything should happen to Mei ... I-I can't allow that. Kirishima and I will go." I say looking at Iida and clenching my fists tightly.

"I understand your feelings and I understand that you most of all want to go Todoroki. But this is not something we can solve alone." Shoji says.
"Let's hear from All Might, he has permission to fight." Aoyama interjects.
"We're all shocked about Mei and Bakugo's kidnapping but if we break the rules, we won't be so different from those criminals." Says Asui shushing the rest of us.

EVENING

Yaoyorozu comes to meet us together with Midoriya, which leaves both Kirishima and me dumbfounded.
"What are you going to do?" The redhead asks as he approaches the girl.
"Wait!" Says a voice behind us.
Iida is selling toward us
"JUST THE TWO OF YOU! Why do you want to break the rules? Make the same mistake I did?" He continues his speech looking first at me and then at Deku.

"It's not that we think it's right to break the rules.." Midoriya does not have time to finish his sentence that Iida hits him with a punch in the middle of his face.
Surely none of us expected such a reaction from him!
We stand still looking at him not quite knowing what to do. "I'M PREOCCUPIED TOO. NOT ONLY FOR BAKUGO AND TAKEDA BUT FOR ALL OUR CLASSMATES!" Iida shouts as Midoriya recovers from his punch.

"Iida we don't intend to face them directly!" I say to calm him down.
"We will rescue them without a fight. It will be a covert rescue operation." Kirishima continues, explaining our intention. "I will go with you." Yaoyorozu affirms.
All of us boys turn to look at her, and the girl has tears in her eyes. "It was obvious that I would come. Mei is my first best friend. I never had any friends and she was always kind to me. She has had faith in me. I can't sit still knowing I can do something!" She continues as a tear runs down her face.

This is the effect Mei has on people.
"In that case, I'll join you too!" Iida says, leaving us speechless.

Meanwhile at LoV

Mei POV

I slowly open my eyes and feel my head heavy.
I focus on what is around me but do not recognize my surroundings.
My hands and feet are bound by chains and I try to remember what happened.
Around me are people I don't know, except for the black-haired boy with purple scars who kidnapped me.
My leg has been treated and bandaged, which seems strange to me.

So I was taken by the villains.... along with Bakugo!
Bakugo!
I look around and finally notice the chair next to me.
Katsuki is sitting beside me in the same situation as me. The same chains that I have also bind his hands and arms.
"Good. I see you've woken up." A voice catches my attention and a boy makes his entrance into the room.
It is Shigaraki.

"We've had to sedate you at least five times since you've been here. You even bit Toga." Says the boy with his hand to his face. "Yeah. That wasn't very nice of you." Says a blond-haired girl who I suppose, at this point, is Toga. I look at Bakugo again to see if he is hurt but the boy seems okay.
"Are you okay?" The blond asks without looking at me. "Yeah, more or less." I look around again and my attention is drawn to the black-haired villain.

Those blue eyes look...familiar.
The boy seems to have caught my gaze so he turns around.
"Now that you are both conscious..." Shigaraki takes the word, drawing our attention to himself.
"How about joining us?"