Kirishima's POV
"How did you guys know to help us?" Todoroki asked Bakugou and I. We walked through the grass. The sun had nearly set, the dark sky would be a good cover.
"We heard about an execution so we decided to check it out. Bakugou thought of the smoke bombs though," I said.
"You two should have brought stuff to get yourselves out. Your lucky we showed up," Bakugou growled.
"I thought arenas like that were illegal," Midoriya said, "Where people are killed for entertainment."
"They must have made a deal with my father when he was still around and my mother didn't find out," Todoroki said. Enji Todoroki used to be king but a little over a year ago he got sick and passed away. He wasn't a great king or father and some of his rules weren't just. We came up on the mining camp Bakugou and I saw earlier. We were far enough away so no one would notice us.
"Midoriya will stay here and we can leave our bags with him," Iida ordered, "Todoroki, Kirishima, and I will focus on the slaves, Bakugou can get the horses."
"I'm coming too!" Midoriya protested, "I can still help."
"You are not coming in your condition," Iida said.
"But-"
"Midoriya, as the prince and your future king, I order you to stay here," Todoroki said firmly. Midoriya stared at him in disbelief. I was shocked too. Todoroki never used his royal status to get us to do anything. Midoriya's eyes darted to each of us to see if we would stand up for him. We stayed silent and he sat dejectedly.
"Now that matter has been situated I suggest we hurry, I didn't want to see how fast we can be discovered," Bakugou growled. We left our bags with Midoriya like Iida said made out way to the camp quietly. We split up and Iida, Todoroki, and I found the entrance to the mine. Two guards waited around it and I could faintly hear the pickaxes.
Todoroki and Iida stealthily moved around and knocked them out from behind. I ran to meet them and I grabbed the guards' swords. We followed Iida into the mine. It wasn't very deep yet and we soon found the slaves. Many tunnels branched off from the one we went down. The slaves wore only rags which were covered in dirt and grim, like their faces and hands. On their wrists were metal cuffs that were chained together. Each person had pickaxes that they swung at the mine's walls. A guard yelled when he saw us and Iida swiftly knocked him out. Todoroki grabbed the man's sword. Already more guards were coming. Some slaves stopped what they were doing to watch what we were doing, others, I'm sure, were too scared of the consequences.
I went up to the closest slave to me. She flinched away. "We're here to help. Hold out your hands and I'll break your chains." She hesitated but did it anyway. I broke the chains with my sword. "Can you use a sword?" She nodded, "Here, go help free the others." I handed her one of the guard's swords I collected. She took it, gave me a firm nod, and ran to the man next to her. Then I went to help some more slaves and hand out the rest of the guard's swords I had.
Iida and Todoroki fought the guards and occasionally threw me their sword. I finished helping the slaves in our area and I helped my two comrades. We finished off the guards in the mine and tons of slaves had already run out to the fresh air. We followed in case there were more guards outside. The slaves had taken charge. An fought off the rest of the guard themselves. The sun was gone and stars twinkled above us.
"Please spread the word, west of here is a town. It is less than a days travel and you can get help there. We wish we could escort you but we have other matters that need attending," Iida announced to the slaves. They began mumbling and talking to each other. The girl I saved earlier came up to me.
"I want to thank you for freeing us," She said.
"Of course, no one deserves to be a slave," I responded. She caught me by surprise and kissed me on the cheek.
"Good bye," Then she went to help some of the other slaves. Bakugou then showed up with two horses. He looked angry, well angrier than usual.
"I got the horses. Lets. go," He fumed. I glanced at the others and they looked as confused as I felt. Why was he so angry? We left the mining camp and returned to where we left Midoriya. Iida lead one of the horses and Bakugou had the other. They were both saddled and had their brittle. Bakugou walked a distance behind the rest of us. A scowl was on his face. I slowed down until I was walking next to him.
"Whats the matter, Bakubro? You seem angrier than usual," I kept my tone down. I didn't think he wanted the other two to hear.
"What do you care?" He growled. He didn't look at me. Was I the reason he was mad?
"Did I do something wrong? If you tell me what it is I can try to make it up to you," I offered. He was quiet for a moment.
"I saw that girl kiss you," He grumbled. It was quiet and I almost didn't hear him. We've been dating for little over a month and I didn't realize he saw that little scene.
"That was purely out of gratitude," I said, "She was the first person we freed and she was just saying thank you." Even in the dark I could see a deep blush on his face.
"Oh." I giggled and kissed his check.
"I love you and only you," I said.
"I love you too, dumb hair," He said. We came up to where Midoriya was waiting for us in the grass. He was asleep, leaning on one of the backpacks. His sword was in one of his hands. Iida and I started to load our backpacks onto one of the horses. Todoroki went to wake up Midoriya. A moment later and the horses were ready.
"Guys, Midoriya isn't waking up," Todoroki sounded panicked. Iida and I went over to him. I noticed Midoriya was gripping the sword so tight, his knuckles were turning white. His eyebrows were furrowed and his face was coated in sweat. Todoroki shook his shoulder. "Midoriya! Wake up!"
Midoriya's POV
I sat in the grass with the backpacks. I watched Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Bakugou leave me behind. I never heard Todoroki use his status as an advantage, why was he so persistent that I stay behind? Then, a wave of dizziness came over me. It became overwhelming and everything went black.
All for One stood before me. Instead of a black void I was exactly where I passed out. I stood with everyone's backpacks in the middle of the grasslands. The ache in my ribs were gone.
"It isn't fair, is it?" He asked, "They want you to stay here because they think your helpless."
"That's not why they wanted me to stay behind. It's because of my injury," I argued.
"Really? And how did you get that injury?" He paused, letting me think, "You weren't able to defend yourself, even with my help. You wouldn't have been able to defeat the dragon had Todoroki not thrown you my sword. They think they have to take care of you now. They didn't want that burden while going through with their plan." His voice was calm but it gave me goosebumps.
"I-that's not true," I stammered.
"Is it? Then why did your friend, Todoroki, insist you stay, so much that he did something as uncharacteristic as using his status as an advantage?" All for One persisted. He's just trying to get in my head, I told myself, He's trying to manipulate me. "I sense your resistance to accept the truth. Doesn't it make sense? I can help you though. Let me go free and I with trust you and treat you as more than some burden."
"No."
"Trust me, Izuku Midoriya, free my soul and you won't regret it."
"NO!" I yelled and with a jolt I woke up. I sat up quickly, my heart pounding. I was shaking and covered in sweat. My fingers ached from my tight grip around the sword. Todoroki, Iida, and Kirishima were sitting around me with worried looks. Relief washed over Todoroki's face.
"Midoriya, are you okay? I couldn't wake you up!" Todoroki seemed worried but I couldn't get my conversation with All for One out of my head.
"I-All for One-," I couldn't figure out where to start or how to explain, my mind was jumbled.
"Calm down and you can explain later once you've calmed down," Iida said. I nodded. Todoroki helped me up and I felt a little dizzy again. He helped me onto a horse and our group quietly set off. They didn't want that burden. All for One's words echoed in my head and I shivered. I scanned the faces of my friends. Was that a bruise on Kirishima's arm or was it just the dark? Was Bakugou limping or was that how he usually walked? Guilt pooled in my stomach.