extreme // villain!midoriya izuku

23) sense of unease.

"I've got this," you breathed unsteadily behind your mask. Everyone looked so cool standing atop the cliff, looking down at the students. Everyone looked... so... cool.....

Except for you. You were on the brink of a panic attack. You were so nervous you couldn't even stand still, so you paced around the entire area while Dabi and Twice looked at the forest.

"Huh."

Spinner fiddled with the edge of his ribbon-mask. You took a glance at him at lowered your head slightly. He was definitely in no mood to fight the kids after hearing Stain's name plastered all over the news. 'Hero killer Stain strikes at a UA student!' 'Hero killer still on the loose!'

You sighed inwardly. Despite being so distracted by the news, he still continued with the plan instead of withdrawing. You swallowed and rubbed your forearm in a mixture of shame and embarassment.

Mustard -bless that middle schooler- awkwardly patted your shoulder as encouragement. You weren't sent out to the front lines, but you were still equally as important- if not more. You clutched the paper in your hands.

"We'll be back on your signal. You'll be safe," Dabi nods towards you. You took a big gulp and rubbed your jaw with the bottom of your palm.

"Yeah, yeah! Don't fret, (Name)-pon! We'll come back if you need help, but you already have... it... with you. It'll follow Dabi's commands to the very end," Toga happily tackled you into a hug, licking your cheek. You wiped her saliva away, rubbing it onto your pants.

"Thanks Toga, I'll take that to heart," you chuckled, turning your attention back towards the forest in front of you. Your job was simple- use your plants to know the layout of the area and positions of the people, then relay the messages. They would only use you for offense as a last resort- they didn't want to reveal you just yet.

"(Name), start," Mr. Compress twirled his cane and tapped the ground impatiently. Muscular hooted in agreement. You placed the piece of paper on the ground, scanning the instructions one last time, before plunging your roots into the earth. You could feel them speeding through the ground, pushing aside dirt, cutting through burrows and ant nests, until you detected footsteps.

You halted to a stop, but your hands still remain planted onto the ground. Sweat beads formed along your forehead.

"A pair of students... walking through the forest alone... no, there's a group, but they are hidden among the bushes... spread out over a range... the footsteps are shaky, as if they're scared..." You tried to make sense of the information. There was no way another group was going to attack UA instead of you guys.

You pushed your luck and barely surfaced your roots, hoping to get in a clue on what was exactly going on by sensing the vibrations.

"I...da can't jo...n us," You frowned and strained your ears. You've never had to listen in on conversations from such a far distance before. Your dominant hand pulled away from the earth and reached into your pocket, pulling out a pen.

"Shame, n...ght walk is so f...n," your hands fumbled to write down what you were hearing. 'Iida can't join, nightwalk?'

"Ah, I know! They're doing a walk of bravery- one of the classes must be trying to scare the other class!" Mustard lifted up his gas mask. He smiled and tilted his head down. "We did that before during school camps too!"

You turned your attention back to what you were sensing. With the context in mind, the pieces slowly fell together.

"Roughly 5 students inside the building, 20 or more outside. 5 pro heroes out as well, no, 6? And one pro hero in the centre. I sense very distant footsteps," you gritted your teeth and pressed your hand harder into the earth, while your other hand continue to write down the rough layout and what was happening.