Essence of a True Hero

SOS - Why isn't anyone listening?!

Kon'nichiwa minna! Izuku Midoriya has been captured! Let us not forget that only Kota and now Aisawa know anything about it. Everyone else is busy trying to fight off poison gas and who knows what other unplanned horrors awaiting them within the Beast Forest.

Izumi Kota's P.O.V.

     Aisawa-san was looking the way I had come. A look of surprised recognition flitted over his face before he nodded and took my hand.

     "Let's go, Kota," he spoke as if he was bored out of his mind.

     I pulled away looking back as that scream echoed in my head and demanded, "Aren't you going to go get him?"

     Aisawa-san looked over his shoulder before looking at me, "I'll make sure you're safe first. Come on then."

     I looked back the way I had run, wishing that I had been able to save Midoriya. I let Aisawa-san pull me along. The more I thought about it, the more angry I became. I couldn't save Midoriya, and if he hadn't decided to play the hero, he wouldn't be in this mess. He wouldn't be bruised or taken by Muscular. He would be just fine along with all the other students who I was now seeing inside the camp common grounds. They were all shouting and asking if everyone was alright, and, arms folded, I didn't say a word. He could have stayed safe. We had already escaped Muscular, but noooo. Midoriya had to prove that he was the best against Muscular even though I had told him that we could get away. It was so infuriating.

     Aisawa-san had already done a head count and was walking over to me. He knelt down to me and said in the same drowsy voice, "Midoriya gave everything to make sure that you were safe. That's why he was captured. He could have escaped at any time given his high speed quirk," he stood up now looking towards to the door as he continued, "but he didn't," he looked back at me, "Now, stay here so that he didn't go through that for nothing."

     Having said that he left, and I realized slowly, as much as I didn't want to, that Aisawa-san was right. I remembered everything about Midoriya, everything he'd ever told me, and was certain that he couldn't have done it for show, just to show that he was better that Muscular. At least, that's what I wanted to believed. I stood in that corner and remembered hearing the resounding crack of bone against tree trunk, seeing blood dripping from a cut lip, hearing the blood curdling scream as he told me to escape so that I wouldn't get hurt by the villain. Who would go through so much effort, so much pain, just to show off, just to prove that he was stronger than some villain when he was clearly not? It wasn't a painless death either. It was closer to torture, and it didn't sound at all heroic, or whatever people called heroic: looking flashy and saving all of the people with one blow. Midoriya tried and failed, but why would he try at all? Why didn't he try to escape? I remembered what he told me back then: that he would distract the villain so that I could get away.

    I wanted to cry, but I had cried too much already. Those tears had done nothing to bring back my parents. I realized that, more than anything, I wanted to save Midoriya. I wanted at least to return the favour. Then we would be even, and I could go back to...

     I looked down at my drying hands. No, I wanted to save him!

     I held my hands up carefully trying not to draw attention to myself. It would do no good if I were to spray water all over people who would make fun of me for it later. I imagined that I was pushing the water through my hands to make sure that I had become one of them. All too quickly I saw water guzzle out and shoved my hands into my now soaking pockets to bury the evidence. I looked around seeing the students in a stiff group around the Class 1-B sensei. I would have to act soon if I was going to have any chance of saving Midoriya.