From Distant Lands - Juro's Return

Chapter Twenty-Two

The next half hour of my life seems to go on forever, but I know one thing for certain by the end of it... Bakugo is no longer on our side.

"Kiri! Can you keep going?" I demand, gasping as the five of us manage to make it underneath a bridge leading to the main road. Kirishima pauses, doubling over and clutching his abdomen as he catches his breath.

"I'm fine" he insists, panting.

"We can't stop! We have to keep moving!" Shiori commands, grabbing Deku's arm as he turns around to stare in the direction we came. My head is pounding, heart racing and body screaming with pain. I took a few nasty hits, but even I didn't get the worst of it.

"Kaa-chan... it doesn't seem real..." Deku breathes and Shiori tugs on his arm again.

"Come on!" she urges and we all start running again, out of breath and out of options.

"Whatever it is... that's not Bakugo anymore" Kaminari huffs, a skittish look in his eyes that wasn't there before. I swallow hard, a lump forming in my throat. I didn't want it to be true... but I knew that something was wrong before. We were supposed to save him... scratch that, I was supposed to save him, but from the moment Bakugo knew we were there, everything went south.

Shiori and Kaminari brought up their side and Deku and Kirishima followed suit, but Bakugo met me right as I rounded the corner and stopped me there. Juro didn't even have to make an appearance. Bakugo went on the offensive instantly and sent me flying. When the rest of my friends finally caught up, I was barely holding my own and they didn't do much better. Kirishima took two devastating blows to his abdomen, one of which cracked and chipped away at his rocky exterior, Deku was distracted effectively as soon as Bakugo sent Shiori flying into him, and Kaminari didn't last long against him hand to hand. I tried to intervene, tried to get him to see somehow, but as our energy was depleting, he only seemed to be getting stronger. The final blast sent us all flying and as we each struggled to stand, all of us overcome by the horror of seeing Bakugo that way, Shiori was able to subdue him with her voice for just long enough to give us a fighting chance. Now, the five of us are fighting just to run away, all of us with our own injuries.

I stumble over my own feet, cursing and wheezing as I try to right myself. Bakugo easily broke maybe two of my ribs in the last blast and I can feel the blood in the back of my mouth from where he knocked my head into the side of the house.

"Kaida! You okay?" Shiori demands, and I nod, forcing myself to keep running.

"We have to get back" I huff. All five of us look like we were in a bad train accident, but that doesn't matter now. We have to regroup... we have to tell the others...

"Did someone call the association? Do they know where we are?" Deku asks, grabbing Kirishima's arm and pulling it over his shoulders. Kirishima winces, tucking his arm against his side.

"I called Hawks... they should be..." Shiori's voice trails off when we're suddenly stopped by two vans, the side doors flying open as Hawks and Endeavor both step out accompanied by various police officers. I feel like collapsing with relief, feeling like we've been running for an eternity.

"Here" Shiori breathes and I can tell she feels the same way I do. Finally... they're here. We're safe.

"Kaida!" Shoto shouts, getting out of the van and rushing towards me. Suddenly, everything around me disappears and I don't care how hurt I am. I don't care that I failed or that I don't know my next move. I don't care that the last thing I should be doing is finding comfort in his arms. I stumble towards him urgently, relief flooding through me as he catches me against him and hugs me close. I close my eyes tightly, breathing in his familiar scent and feeling like I'm suddenly home.