Shoot Your Shot - MHA College AU

Scene 21: Paper Planes

{ Scene 21: Paper Planes }

The moment was short lived with the shake of the ground beneath your feet. The booming collapse of the residence balcony rained down on the entry path, now free of the bursting crowd. Erupting into smoke, the remaining students scrambled from the dust and debris and out into the street.

Kirishima slung your arm over his shoulder, holding you firm against his side without a second thought. You could only roll your eyes at the irony of being attached at the hip yet again in the same night.

"You need to catch your breath. Let's get you somewhere safe for now," he muttered into your shoulder, searching in the crowd.

Coughing out the blood and mucus settling in your trachea, you hobbled to a concrete block, hidden away from the people in the street. Every breath was an effort, your diaphragm wobbling over your ribcage with each rise and fall of your chest. Holding back that large of a crowd was a weight you'd been expecting, but not exactly prepared for. Like trying to carry a refrigerator on your own. But bodies recovered from pain; flesh healed. You were able to come back to your senses, letting each breath steady the dizziness in your head.

Once the fogginess had cleared, your eyes fell on the scene ahead. As if the background noise hadn't already painted a clear enough picture of the struggle and suffering. Bodies hunched over, coughing and retching. Friends sought each other in the chaos, and stragglers grouped together in solace. These were peers, fellow students. You were all adults with hearts of children. And no matter how many times you stood in the face of villains, handling the pain of the aftermath was never easy.

Your school was crumbling away. Bakugo's wet look of horror came to mind, watching All Might's statue slowly engulfed with flickering tongues. The campus fires still raged on brightly in the distance. Shouldn't there be more firetrucks by now?

Something odd glistened behind the flames and smoke in the air. A shiny surface revealed itself across the night sky above. Squinting your eyes didn't seem to bring about any answers, only more questions.

"We should focus on evacuating the students. Better the street than the res building, but even then, it's not safe here," he said.

"I don't think we can do it all at once. There're just too many people, and only two of us right now..."

Kirishima sighed, bringing a hand to your back. His palm felt warm, even through the layers of your jacket.

"He'll be okay. We'll find Bakugo after everyone's safe."

The residence building groaned under the rumble of water, cycling around in irregular circles.  Only the balcony had fallen victim to the dark, liquid mass. But who was to say that the support structure wasn't already beginning to cave?

"H-He's up there, on the roof, isn't he?" Your neck craned upwards, worried eyes searching for him.

"I don't think so, but I'd have to guess he's on his way. We haven't heard any explosions yet."

You bit the side of your cheek, eyes strained on the refracted edge of the roof, looming above. The villain was lurking somewhere too.

"So he's either choosing not to fight, or he can't fight right now... What if he's been captured, or hurt?"

"This is Bakugo we're talking about, remember? If I challenged him to a duel on his deathbed, he'd probably still find a way to pummel me to ground, y'know," Kirishima chuckled.

You could only find to strength to muster a small smile. The worry was eating you away again.

The boy sighed. "...I'm worried for him too. But time and time again, I've watched him overcome obstacles and situations that would seem impossible, and yet he treats them as just another challenge. It always blows my mind, I swear... We'll get him back. I promise. But in the meantime, we've got to keep trusting him. As a hero, remember?"