Birds of a Feather

You two stay here.

          Karasu kept a tight hold of Kirishima as he helped move her off to the side of the rotunda. "I don't think I could take another one of Shinda's attacks."

"We'll keep the both of you safe from her." Kirishima said seriously. "Hawks has Shoto protected, so I'm gonna focus on you until we have an opening to get out- okay?"

Karasu looked over at her boyfriend and nodded, clutching her staff tightly. I need to make sure he's okay. It was my fault she got Shoto too, if I had been more careful- been better, it wouldn't have happened.

Hawks used his feather to get Shinda pinned by her left leg, but she just kicked off of the wall.

"Red Riot!" Hawks shouted an order at him. "Take Raven and go that way-" he pointed with a feather. "If we keep all of you separated from your partners, it keeps her focus split!"

Kirishima nodded and scooped Karasu into his arms to start jogging off in the opposite direction.

"It just keeps getting more humiliating." She sighed, hanging onto her classmate loosely.

"Better humiliated than you guys dead," he pointed out.

"Fair." Karasu half smiled. "I think I'm getting some of my stamina back. Let me try and fly myself up somewhere."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Kirishima brought himself to a stop, giving her a questioning look.

"Absolutely sure," she confirmed.

Once Kirishima had set her down, she kicked up into the sky to land on one of the light fixtures. Just before she reached, a horrifyingly familiar sensation came over her. She let out a cough and saw a puff of Shinda's smoke before she started tumbling through the air back towards the ground.

"Raven!" Amajiki swooped in, using a pair of wings he had sprouted to catch her and land next to Kirishima.

"Sh- Shoto-" she barely choked out. This is really really bad- it doesn't take long for this stuff to knock someone out. Hawks, please- She gasped loudly as the smoke cleared from her lungs just as quickly, leaning forward as she coughed and tried to catch her breath. "Suneater, Shoto is with Hawks. Near the food court. Please go find them- that means she hit Shoto, and between the two of us that's the second time on this mission. I think a third would kill us too quickly for anyone to react."

Amajiki glanced at Kirishima who nodded.

"Okay. You two stay here. You've got a good distance but you're in a spot that's easy to find. Don't try to fly up like that again in case she hits him again."

Karasu nodded, looking up at him. "I won't. I don't feel like almost falling to my death again."

Suneater nodded and ran off towards the food court. He saw Hawks standing over Todoroki as the semi-pro coughed roughly, his whole body shaking.

"Suneater!" Hawks called, glancing back at Shinda who was dodging around his feathers. "Stay on her. Find Fatgum. I'll get Shoto moved."

Suneater nodded and rushed after the villain.

"Okay. We're gonna go find Raven and Red Riot. Keeping you two separate obviously didn't work out very well so we're just gonna focus on keeping you two moving to keep ahead of her." Hawks helped him stand and started in the direction that Kirishima had taken his sister.

They walked silently, Todoroki still trying to catch his breath as they moved.

"Raven's- alright, right? After I got hit?" Todoroki asked quietly.

"She's pretty tough. I don't think that second hit would've done her in." Hawks assured him. "We should probably avoid either of you getting hit again, though. Don't push your luck, you know."