Deep Red

62

The day of the raid came faster than I would have anticipated. It was nerve-wracking. At first it was only all this detective work and whatnot, but all of a sudden, it was a full on mission with a raid and I started to be glad I had been training with Shinsou, otherwise I'd be terribly out of shape.

Shouta and I barely talked the morning of the raid. It was like we were both just in our own little worlds. And I felt like talking would make it that much harder to accept that... well... either of us could die at any given moment during this. Or that pretty much anything terrible could happen. And at the same time I just wanted to tell him everything that was on my mind, in case something did happen to either of us. Because it would hurt too much not to have said it.

But we just kept quiet and ate out breakfast and got ready, both in our black hero costumes and with a few back up weapons stashed away safely. We only as much as exchanged glances before we got going. Not even on the way to the meeting point did we really talk. It just didn't feel right.

It was only when we arrived and saw the crowds of policemen and heroes at the scene, that we felt the need to say anything to each other. I had no idea what it was that prompted it or why we suddenly had things to say to each other, but the sight of all these people just got me scared as hell. If they had that many people here, they had to expect something bad to happen...

"Shou... Are we going to be okay?" I asked quietly, as we were almost there. We'd soon have to get out of the car and I was dying to just get whatever affection I could from him, before... well, before maybe it would be too late.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. I hope so." he replied and looked at me. There was something in his eyes that just got to me and I leaned over and pulled him close, pressing a long and intimate kiss to his lips.

"I love you, Shou." I told him in a shaky voice. He smiled sadly and cupped my cheek in his hand.

"I love you, too. We'll be fine. Let's do this, okay?" he answered. I nodded and got out of the car with him. We were already a little late and they had started doing the briefing already. We quickly headed up to where everyone was. There were handouts with information on all the targets, too - well, whatever the police had been able to find out. Not like it was easy to get that sort of information.

"We know where we're headed, but it could still be a slog if they're any good with their Quirks. On that note... We've got a list going around with these Hassaikai punks' registered Quirks. As many as we could figure out, anyway. Drill them into your heads! Don't give them time to take her away! We're hoping to capture every lowlife there as quickly as possible." the officer that led the operation said.

I grabbed one of the papers they were handing out and skimmed over it. There was a lot of information already on them. Shit, hopefully this thing would go down smoothly and not end in absolute chaos.

"I better go and check on Midoriya. In case, we don't see each other before this starts... Stay safe, okay?" Shouta said to me. I nodded and smiled at him.

"You, too." I replied, as I watched him walk over to Midoriya and talk to him for a while. I slowly made my way over to the rest of the heroes. Most of the work study students seemed rather excited.

"Heroes. They're probably gonna put up a fight, y'know. So if you spot any of them resisting or trying anything funny... I'm counting on you guys to deal with it. We're up against a mafia group that's somehow survived until now, so don't let your guards down for a second. Get in there and do what you've gotta do. Move out!" the officer said. The whole group set in motion.

I knew the complex we would be raiding was literally just around the corner, but moving this many people kind of took a good while. But time went by much faster than I anticipated and we were soon standing right at their doorstep. Shit was about to get real and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Once I read off the warrant, things are gonna start moving. Let's try to end this quickly." the leading officer added and moved up to the door. He had his finger hovering over the doorbell, as if he was psyching himself up for something. Some of the heroes were bickering, but I couldn't make out what they were saying, when suddenly the doors to the traditional Japanese house bust open and one huge creature came out, catapulting two officers high up in the air.

"What's going on?" the huge guy roared and came running at anyone who was unfortunate enough to stand in the front. I was pretty glad I had decided to stay a little further back for once.

"It's kinda early for so many guests..." big guy roared again, as he crashed through a supporting beam of the house and swung his fist, as if it didn't even hurt him. Holy shit. This was the guy they brought out first?

"Help them!" Shouta yelled at the people around him and threw out his capture weapon to catch some of the police officers in mid-air, before they had a rather rough landing. I made my way further up, so I could see if there were any injuries I could check for or take care of, for now at least.

Midoriya had also jumped up in the air to catch one of the officers. He managed to bring him down gently, while Shouta wasn't quite as lucky. It was a rough fall for all three of them, when they all tumbled to the ground. I ran up to them and knelt down between the group of three.

"Are you alright? Anyone need any first aid?" I asked them. Shouta shook his head and pointed towards the two officers who were still groaning from the impact of the fall. I quickly nodded and pulled them towards the sidelines, out of the way of the ongoing battle. Shouta had already gotten back up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up! They're already onto us!" someone shouted in surprise. I checked with the two officers for any injuries that needed some immediate treatment, but they seemed alright, mostly.

"So what? Let's just pin him down!" someone else replied. Just pin him down? Had this guy seen what they were up against? How was he planning to just pin him down? This was insane. How had they known? I made my way back towards the house to see if there was any way I could help out.

"You've got me all worked up... Ohhhh man..." the big guy complained, as if it was a huge chore for him to beat them all into oblivion. Which, maybe, it was. Who knew. Maybe he just wanted that peaceful mafia life. Well, he wasn't going to get it now, if they had any kind of luck today.

"Get back!" Ryukyu barked at the police officers behind her as she started to transform. I was basically trapped behind her and couldn't get any further. Shit, I needed to get back to the rest of them! I needed to get back to Shouta, to make sure he was alright throughout all this.

"What do you people want?!" the big guy yelled again, sounding fairly annoyed, as he swung his fist at Ryukyu, who caught it in one of her huge claws, effectively stopping this giant. And I still couldn't get through.

"For now... There's no sense in splitting up the group any more than we have to!" she announced, huffing while she was still holding the villain's hand. Everyone was looking to her to hear what she was suggesting.

"The Ryukyu Agency will deal with this one, so go and finish the job!" she shouted. Everyone seemed quite unsure on whether to listen to her and leave her alone with this or whether to do what she said. I was still stuck behind a wall of policemen and was trying to get back to the group.

"Go now!" she yelled at them again. And then everyone started moving forward and I was still stuck behind Ryukyu and couldn't manage to get through to the rest of the group. Shit. Well, it looked like I was helping out here instead. Damn it. I scanned the crowd of policemen and heroes frantically.

And then I saw Shouta and we looked at each other one last time, before he was gone with everyone else.