Firework | A Tragic Tale of Two Siblings

08 | Lockdown

"CODE RED: Intruder alert! Commencing lockdown!"

Flashing red lights lit up the staff room. There was a surge of defensive instinct as the pro heroes stood from their chairs. Sachi jumped to her feet, a wave of adrenaline spiked through her veins.

"Present Mic! Eraser Head! Go to the front entrance and see what's going on!" Cementoss ordered. Mic nodded to his teammate and gave a quick salute to Sachi before sprinting out the staff room.

"Miss Bakugou!"

The blonde girl jolted and turned to Cementoss, who had a reassuring look on his blocky. "Go to Recovery Girl's office. I have a feeling she'll need some help!"

Sachi stood straight and nodded, watching the pro hero leave before grabbing her things and breaking into a sprint. However, when she entered the long hallway, chaos was everywhere.

Panicked students clamored into classrooms for safety, some cowered in corners, and others ran about in terror. They screamed, yelled, or cried, and Sachi's heart thumped in her ears as she dodged the flood of students. She was shoved, pushed, and tripped over several times, but she managed to navigate her way to the medical wing without injury, finally slipping into Recovery Girl's office, which sheltered students cowering in the seats that lined the office walls. A window looked out to U.A.'s courtyard and gardens, bright halogen lights illuminated the room, and Recovery Girl busied herself with pacifying the students.

"Thank god you made it here safely, Sachi! Now, help me calm down the children!" the senior ordered. With minor hesitation, Sachi quickly took action, making a beeline to the student closest to her, a distressing first year.

She quaked in her seat and she held herself tightly, eyes shut and whimpering. Trying a gentle approach, Sachi softly knelt down in front of the girl with her hand pressed against her shoulder, a warm smile shakily spread across her cheeks.

"Hey," Sachi starts, watching the first year flinch, "Don't worry! Everything's under control."

The first year looked up and glared. "H-How's 'everything under control'? U-U.A.'s never been attacked d-directly! H-How could anybody stay calm in this situation!" The girl hid her face in her hands, her shoulders shivering from the fear that coursed through her body.

Sachi pursed her lips and spoke with a sharp tone. "Hey. You're a U.A. student, being taught by some of the most well-trained heroes in the country! They know exactly what to do because they've been in this type of situation before! Don't you think that it's a bit ironic that a student being trained by professionals to act so cowardly?"

The rhetorical question shocked the girl enough to halt the tears.

"Listen," Sachi spoke a lot softer, "I know you're scared. So am I, but we need to stay strong and hold our heads high!"

The first year nodded. "Plus Ultra!"

Recovery Girl watched as Sachi moved from student to student, making sure that neither one of them were injured before lifting their spirits.

Just like a pro.

After Sachi finished her rounds on treating the students, she went to Recovery Girl for some closure. The school nurse sat in a chair at her desk, clicking through files and documents that flashed on the flat monitor.

"Do you know what happened, Recovery Girl? Why there was an alert?" Sachi questioned once she stood at the senior's side, her voice low in order to not gain the students' attention. The old nurse hummed, rubbing her chin as she glanced through the files.

"The front gates have been reduced to ash, but only the press from this morning as gotten in," Recovery Girl huffed quietly.

"The press? This morning?" Sachi asked bewildered, perplexed at the information and grew confused.

Recovery Girl said nothing, which only added to Sachi's confusion. Sachi looked down, her eyes searching the desk for some type of answer. She didn't see the press at all coming in. Have they driven away only to come back later?

Suddenly, the sound of light buzzing caught Sachi's attention. The girl flinched away and swatted her hand around her head, but the buzzing continued. She glanced around for the source of the noise and soon found it sailing over to the windows.

It was a bumblebee.

Sachi walked over the window and watched the striped insect bounce against the panes, trying to escape but to no avail.

"How'd you get in here, little guy?" Sachi asked the bug softly. It flew around in circles before taking a break on the sill. Confused, even more so, Sachi unlocked the window and watched the small yellow bug buzz out into the gardens. Strange...

Sachi spotted both Mic and Aizawa flights below her, standing guard at the school's main entrance. They were trying to push the crowd back to the gates, but the press were resisting in order to get answers to whatever questions they've got. After locking the window and taking a step back, she took a moment to sum up the turn of events.

This morning, she was forced out of bed by her mother, then she got a call from Principal Nezu, who requested a private meeting. She entered school grounds while classes were in session, met Principal Nezu and Recovery Girl, had a discussion about her future, then signed a contract without reading it. She got Mic pissed over her brother's recent actions, then there was the lockdown. Sachi calmed down panicked students in Recovery Girl's office and let out a stray bumblebee that somehow got inside the school.

Sounds about right.

Sachi hummed to herself, her chin caught between her thumb and forefinger. She began to mumble different scenarios to herself; her necklace beeped quietly. After a few minutes of contemplating, she gathered the common facts and focused on a common conclusion.

Whatever happened, whoever got in, they must've had a plan, but what was it? Who was it that broke through the main gates of U.A.? What was their motive?

Sachi took a second to scan the office and back outside where Mic and Aizawa rounded up the reporters and pushed them back to the non-existent gates. Then it dawned on her.

Was it...possibly...a distraction?