The Wolf and The Rabbit

The Child

Not wanting someone else to get hurt, Eri pulled away from Izuku and ran back to Overhaul. "E-Eri.

"Done with your tantrum?" Eri silently nodded with the two walking off. "Sorry about the trouble." Once the two were out of hearing range, Mirio began speaking.

"We aren't perusing them."

"Mirio. You saw the girl. She was absolutely petrified. She had injuries that were without a doubt not from what he's saying. On what ground wouldn't we act as hero-"

"If we act now, it jeopardizes everything that Sir is trying to do. I don't like it either, but we have to let it go." Mirio gripped his fists in anger as Izuku glanced at his.

'Her hands. They held onto me with what strength she could. She was afraid to even say anything, but she spoke those words.' Izuku felt disgusted with himself. He had prided himself on trying to be a hero that can save those who were in a nightmare he was forced to live in as a child, but he couldn't at least save one girl that was literally in his arms begging him for help. He felt disgusted and hated himself. 'I had her, and I couldn't hold on.'

Later that evening

Izuku walked through the door to see Yui and Ibara talking among themselves. "Izuku. How was your Internship? I heard you had it with All Might's former sidekick."

Ibara heard this to smile. "With how much time you spend with him, this must be extremely exciting. Learning of stories back in our teacher's prime and learning what he had-" Ibara stopped when she noticed Izuku look like he was about to cry. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I just need a little time to myself is all." Yui glanced at Izuku to know exactly what was going on. For years, she's seen what he does when he's hiding a lot of pain. When he does, he refuses to look people in the eye thinking he doesn't deserve it. Right now, he was avoiding any form of eye contact.

"Izuku. Look at me." Yui walked up to try and get Izuku to look at her. "Look at me." She grabbed his head to look her in the eyes to get an answer. "What happened? You only act this way when you feel like you did something horrible that you don't want people to judge you for. I want to help, but I can't if you don't tell me what happened."

Izuku felt uneasy, but answered. "I...I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you the important bit. On patrol today, I ran into a little girl with Mirio. She was absolutely petrified. Bandages covered her with thinking back now, her weight was also a little unhealthy. I tried to help, but she seemed extremely afraid."

"But that's not the part that you're mad about, is it." Hearing this, Izuku slammed his fist into the wall, scaring Ibara and Yui.

"A man came claiming to be her parent and asked us to give her back. When we tried, she gripped my costume and practically squeaked out with whatever courage she had in her 'please, don't go'. I tried to pull her away from the man. I questioned him for her action and her bandages, but in the end...I....I..." He punched the wall again to show a large hole to scare Itsuka, Mina, Kinoko, Kyoka and Pony out of their rooms to see what was happening. "I couldn't keep her safe. She begged me for help and I couldn't do it. *hic* I failed her and it hurts. It hurts so much and I can't even do anything about it."

"Why can't you?"

"*Sniffle* Because. The guy we met was part of an investigation. Mirio and I couldn't persue him because it would put the case in jeoparday. She let go of me and willingly went back to the man tormenting her. I couldn't hold onto one little girl and keep her safe when she's grabbing me and in my arms begging for help. WHAT KIND OF HERO CAN'T EVEN DO SOMETHING SO STUPIDLY SIMPLE AS THAT!?" Izuku went down to his knees feeling utterly useless from his lack of action. Though he was not the direct cause of the girl's harm, he felt he didn't help at all either.

"Izuku. You didn't do anything wrong. You did what you could and unfortunately, sometimes everything you could do isn't good enough. I get you're frustrated, but this isn't the end."

Itsuka walked over and knelt down to Izuku's level. "Vlad told us that sometimes, we can't succeed. We will fail and the heroes won't always win. That's the sad truth that we do eventually face. But let me ask you this, Izuku. Did you willingly give up on her? Did she ever see you actually give up and pretend nothing is wrong or did you try and fight for her?"

"...I just wanted to help. She left because of something. I don't exactly know what, but she let go first."

"Then that means you did a good job. I don't know what made the girl let go of you, but you did something that we as heroes in training try to do. Instill in people like her hope. I can't guarantee your option to wait till later to save her was better or not because I don't know who the guy is she went back to or what you saw. But I know you tried to save her and that's what's going to stick out with you to her. You were willing to fight for her safety and possibly jeopardize everything just to help her. That stands out and that proves not everything is lost. When the time comes to act again and you can't afford to hesitate, you'll remember this and understand that this is now the time to act and make up for what you couldn't today."

Izuku gripped his fist before nodding. "You're right. If I screw up next time, that means it's really over. I wanna still kick myself for not doing anything right now, but I can't give up on Eri." Izuku stood up and hugged Yui and Itsuka. "Thanks. I needed that."

"You can lean on us if you need to. That's what it means to be close to someone. You share your pains and their pains." Yui patted Izuku's back while giving a soft smile. Once they finished Izuku walked over towards his room before grabbing his notebook and heading outside. "What are you up to?"

"I'm making certain when I face Eri next time, I'm not gonna let go and that I'm ready for a fight." He went out the door with the scene still fresh in everyone's mind.

"So, who's calling Cementos, shroom?" Kinoko asked while pointing to the large crack in the wall that looked like someone took a sledgehammer to it.

"I'll go find him." Momo spoke up while in the kitchen hearing what she just heard. 'No wonder the Work Studies were tame to the Internship. This is far more intense than anything any of us could've faced in them and our classes.'

In the Hassaikai base

Overhaul walked through the underground base with Eri being held by another man dressed in white with a similar mask to his own in hand extremely agitated. "I'm sorry, boss. I let her out of my sight for one second and-GYA!" The man responsible for watching Eri spoke up before Overhaul waved his hand over the man to make him become a blood stain on the greyish white corridor they were in.

"Somebody clean that up."

"Y-yes sir!" A member of the yakuza group panicked to begin cleaning before he was turned into another stain on the wall.

"Eri. You know you're very important to my plan. We can't have you running off now. What would've happened if those pros weren't so easy to give you up? Do you know how much trouble you could've caused for them?" Eri was afraid of the image knowing what Overhaul has done in the past to those who dared to stand against him. "Remember Eri, you're a cursed child that has everyone that tries to get too close to you die. Don't you remember what happened because your parents got too close? What about your grandfather? Don't worry though, your curse is going to be what helps us create a world that's for the better. but to do that, you need to work with us and stay with us. Do you understand?" Eri slowly nodded, accepting the fact she can't escape. "Good. Now, let's get onto today's work. Shall we?" The door to a dark room with a chair large enough to hold a small child in light with straps and several needles beside it was shown. The seat itself showed what looked like dried blood on the handles and where a child's legs could reach with Eri being walked to the chair.

As she was strapped in, a thought of Izuku's actions came to her mind. 'His hands...they felt...so warm...Like he was....happy to help me...'

And that finishes this chapter. See how Izuku's attempt to save Eri plays a big part next time. Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading.