It Takes a Village to Raise a Hero

Chapter Eight: The Six-Fingered Man

Notes: This chapter was a joy to write, I feel like these action scenes are where I have the most fun. The last scene is actually one that I've had visualized for a while and was the catalyst for me to write this fic. Yes the title of the chapter is a Princess Bride reference.

I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: Violence, panic attacks, Chekhov's knife (specifics in end notes), self-sacrificial tendencies stemming from thoughts of self-hatred (he doesn't want to die, but is willing)

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A hero who goes into a situation they know is a lost cause isn't brave, they're just stupid.

Shota wished he had the luxury of following his own advice. He wished All Might hadn't wasted all his time that morning fighting small-time villains when he could have been here protecting the kids. He wished he had followed his instincts to go on lockdown after the incident with the press.

Most of all, though, he wished his students would listen for once.

Between one moment and the next, over half his students had disappeared from the top of the stairs, and Thirteen was down. Part of Shota wanted to turn back and run up there to find out what happened, but the larger part knew it was best to continue his way through the fray toward the villain with the hands all over his body.

The one with the apparent warp quirk had managed to escape his line of sight long enough to scatter his students to who knows where, but it was obvious that Hands was in charge based on the way he lingered at the fountain beside the unmoving hulking beast.

Shota was not looking forward to finding out exactly what that thing was capable of.

—

As Izuku and Shuttou tumbled through the portal, he clung to her with his free arm and braced the hand holding the knife flat against his chest to keep it from cutting either of them. When they exited the portal, it was in a freefall toward water. Shuttou screamed and wrapped herself around him as Izuku did his best to orient their bodies so they entered the water head first.

They ended up sinking deeper down than he expected, and she made it difficult for him to get them moving back toward the surface of the water. Eventually, he was able to get both hands free to swim with Shuttou wrapped around him like a leach. Then, he caught sight of one of the villains swimming rapidly in their direction.

Izuku had seconds to think about what to do. If he threw the knife, it wouldn't go nearly as far in the water as it would on land, and he'd likely lose his only weapon. Close combat underwater would only deteriorate his air supply and result in failure on his end. He could send Shuttou to the surface on her own and try to take care of this villain, but the chances of there being more were high. She wouldn't be able to defend herself, and she might not even let go of Izuku long enough for him to do it.

He stopped swimming and pulled Shuttou around so that his body was in front of hers and brandished the knife. Thankfully, there ended up being no need to test his underwater fighting capabilities as the girl who had sat next to him on the bus appeared out of seemingly nowhere and kicked the villain away.

"Midoriya!" she called, mildly confusing Izuku since they were still underwater. The realization that it had something to do with her quirk got confirmed when her tongue shot out and wrapped around them as she rocketed to the surface of the water and flung them atop the ship.

Shuttou finally let go of him to tear off her soaked blazer and undo the first two buttons on her shirt as she loosened her tie as if it was choking her. After tossing his bag on the deck, he copied her and unbuttoned his cuffs to roll his sleeves up to his elbows.