ʜᴇʀᴏᴇs | ʙɴʜᴀ

↳ chapter 35

  The clash sent everyone tumbling backward. Bakugo and I got up immediately, not wanting to give the enemy the upper hand. We got into our fighting stances, glaring at the league. I swear to God if it was the last thing I was going to do, I was going to murder Shigiraki-

"We have to get out of the way, we might be blocking All Might, " Bakugo said under his breath so that only I could hear.

"I'll kill all of you!" he shouted at them.

  I raised an eyebrow at the sudden persona change. Either he was bipolar, or really smart. I was inclined to believe it was the former, but deep down knew it was the latter. I tried to whisper back to him, but in a matter of seconds, we were surrounded. Even though he was really smart, he was still the crazy arse from day 1.

"When I say 'die', run. Your quirk isn't working, "

  Damn. He really thought this out in the 29 seconds hat this whole situation outplayed.

"DIE!" he screeched, attacking them with his explosions.

  I immediately took the signal, running away. Dabi stopped me by enclosing me in a box of blue flames. Oh lord. I was about to be incinerated. I winced at the heat. It wasn't enough to kill me. I could feel my breathing getting heavier and heavier. I stayed low to the ground, not wanting to inhale to smoke. I couldn't run, I certainly couldn't do jack shit. I was stuck and useless, and about to be incinerated to ash.

  Then it ran through my mind. What if I did run through? If I did, it would definitely severe enough for me to get burnt. If my memory served me right, blue flames were about 2,600º F to 3,000º F. If I was lucky, I would survive with severe burns and scars. I shivered. Not today. I looked down at the concrete blocks beneath me, raising an eyebrow. I think I had an idea. Not the smartest on, per se, but it was still an idea.

•

  At this point, it was literally a Kaminari level idea. I sighed. It didn't hurt to try. I yeeted one of the concrete blocks into the fire. The 'clank' sound from the other side assured me that it would work. You know, this sucked when I had to actually stoop to Kaminari level to even think of an idea. I tried balancing two cement blocks in the middle of the firewall, and then setting a mother block on top of it. Slowly pulling the two blocks apart, I gasped in delight as there was a tiny crawl space in the middle. Maybe Kaminari level ideas weren't that bad. I crawled from underneath it, bolting for it.

  What I did not expect, was running into a certain group of people. Especially one with Izuku and Shoto in it. Even Yaoyorozu and Tenya were involved. I gave an exasperated sound. What the hell was going on today?

••

  Shoto outstretched his hand to catch the two blue pearls. He was so close. His heart was pounding in his ears. But someone was closer than him. A man with purple patchwork stitched onto his skin smirked, grabbing the two pearls and disappearing into the portal.

  Izuku, seeing Shoto's failure, ran towards the portal. His body ached like all the bones in his body had shattered, which they probably had. Still, if he used his quirk to get there, he could get there before they were taken away. He could stop them.

  The similarities between these two cases were so clear, even a blind person could see it. Shot and Izuku failed. They failed. Horribly. They had their shot, they shot it, and it teetered on the basketball rim and fell down, out of court. If they had aimed just 2cm to the right, it was a straight shot. If. But now, they bore the consequences, guilt overcoming them. They blamed themselves for the kidnapping.

  So when Shoto and Kirishima brought up the idea of getting them back, everyone immediately shot them down. Shoto and Izuku, especially, would risk their lives getting Bakugo and Sakura back. Everyone admitted that they were worried and missed them, but them interesting with the heroes work wouldn't help.

  Of course, they all slipped away to find the two teens together, putting all of their bet into the one place that Yaoyorozu had tracked. They waited, and what they saw was terrifying. They saw the brains used for the Nomus, they saw the fight between the heroes and All for One. They saw their friends teleported, fighting their way out of the mess. And yet they realized, in this situation, they were powerless. They had no authority to cross the laws, they didn't have permission to save them. So all they could do was watch from afar as their friends suffered. As All Might struggled. As Sakura was trapped in a blue-flame cage, quirkless in those moments. As Bakugo struggled to keep the villains at bay. All they could do was watch and plan. But the plan they had in mind could only save Bakugo, and Shoto sure as hell wasn't leaving Sakura behind.

  He didn't know what this feeling was. In his chest, his heart was screaming at him to help. He had an ice quirk, for God's sake. Why wasn't his body allowed to move? He wanted to help Sakura, to hold her in his arms, tell her that it was alright. He wanted her to ruffle his hair one more time, her laughter ringing in his ears like wind chimes. He wanted to help. He wanted to help her.

  His heart practically burst when he saw Sakura run out of the flames, running in their direction. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. When she stumbled upon them, Shoto's arms wrapped around the petite girl's body. She was stunned, to say the least. She tried to stay unfazed during the situation, but now that it all piled up on her, her reality crumbled before her.

  She wept and cried in his arms, telling him through sniffles what had happened. She was mentally strong, but she wasn't that strong. He rubbed circles into her back, reassured her that she was safe now. Because she was.

He wasn't going to let anything happen to her ever again.