Test of Courage

8

"I want to thank you for freeing us," She said.

"Of course, no one deserves to be a slave," I responded. She caught me by surprise and kissed me on the cheek.

"Good bye," Then she went to help some of the other slaves. Bakugou then showed up with two horses. He looked angry, well angrier than usual.

"I got the horses. Lets. go," He fumed. I glanced at the others and they looked as confused as I felt. Why was he so angry? We left the mining camp and returned to where we left Midoriya. Iida lead one of the horses and Bakugou had the other. They were both saddled and had their brittle. Bakugou walked a distance behind the rest of us. A scowl was on his face. I slowed down until I was walking next to him.

"Whats the matter, Bakubro? You seem angrier than usual," I kept my tone down. I didn't think he wanted the other two to hear.

"What do you care?" He growled. He didn't look at me. Was I the reason he was mad?

"Did I do something wrong? If you tell me what it is I can try to make it up to you," I offered. He was quiet for a moment.

"I saw that girl kiss you," He grumbled. It was quiet and I almost didn't hear him. We've been dating for little over a month and I didn't realize he saw that little scene.

"That was purely out of gratitude," I said, "She was the first person we freed and she was just saying thank you." Even in the dark I could see a deep blush on his face.

"Oh." I giggled and kissed his check.

"I love you and only you," I said.

"I love you too, dumb hair," He said. We came up to where Midoriya was waiting for us in the grass. He was asleep, leaning on one of the backpacks. His sword was in one of his hands. Iida and I started to load our backpacks onto one of the horses. Todoroki went to wake up Midoriya. A moment later and the horses were ready.

"Guys, Midoriya isn't waking up," Todoroki sounded panicked. Iida and I went over to him. I noticed Midoriya was gripping the sword so tight, his knuckles were turning white. His eyebrows were furrowed and his face was coated in sweat. Todoroki shook his shoulder. "Midoriya! Wake up!"

Midoriya's POV
I sat in the grass with the backpacks. I watched Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Bakugou leave me behind. I never heard Todoroki use his status as an advantage, why was he so persistent that I stay behind? Then, a wave of dizziness came over me. It became overwhelming and everything went black.

All for One stood before me. Instead of a black void I was exactly where I passed out. I stood with everyone's backpacks in the middle of the grasslands. The ache in my ribs were gone.

"It isn't fair, is it?" He asked, "They want you to stay here because they think your helpless."

"That's not why they wanted me to stay behind. It's because of my injury," I argued.

"Really? And how did you get that injury?" He paused, letting me think, "You weren't able to defend yourself, even with my help. You wouldn't have been able to defeat the dragon had Todoroki not thrown you my sword. They think they have to take care of you now. They didn't want that burden while going through with their plan." His voice was calm but it gave me goosebumps.

"I-that's not true," I stammered.

"Is it? Then why did your friend, Todoroki, insist you stay, so much that he did something as uncharacteristic as using his status as an advantage?" All for One persisted. He's just trying to get in my head, I told myself, He's trying to manipulate me. "I sense your resistance to accept the truth. Doesn't it make sense? I can help you though. Let me go free and I with trust you and treat you as more than some burden."

"No."

"Trust me, Izuku Midoriya, free my soul and you won't regret it."

"NO!" I yelled and with a jolt I woke up. I sat up quickly, my heart pounding. I was shaking and covered in sweat. My fingers ached from my tight grip around the sword. Todoroki, Iida, and Kirishima were sitting around me with worried looks. Relief washed over Todoroki's face.

"Midoriya, are you okay? I couldn't wake you up!" Todoroki seemed worried but I couldn't get my conversation with All for One out of my head.

"I-All for One-," I couldn't figure out where to start or how to explain, my mind was jumbled.

"Calm down and you can explain later once you've calmed down," Iida said. I nodded. Todoroki helped me up and I felt a little dizzy again. He helped me onto a horse and our group quietly set off. They didn't want that burden. All for One's words echoed in my head and I shivered. I scanned the faces of my friends. Was that a bruise on Kirishima's arm or was it just the dark? Was Bakugou limping or was that how he usually walked? Guilt pooled in my stomach.