Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The silent class turned to look at the source of the slow applause. Father was standing in the doorway, casually leaning up against the frame. He had a smile on his face.
"Very inspiring. A very good answer. Though you couldn't have done it without giving your poor uncle a heart attack?" I looked over to Toshi who looked quite pale. The burst of adrenaline wore off and I felt my cheeks heat up.
"I-I'm so sorry Uncle! I didn't mean to be so-" I started bowing, bobbing up and down like a drinking bird.
"Don't be silly. Your passion is refreshing. Just try to direct that... not in the middle of class." He gave a nervous chuckle but waved his hand at me dismissively.
"Anyway," Father walked over to the desk to properly address the class. "We've decided to give you a short day today to apologise for the disruption these sudden meetings have caused. You are free to go back to the dorms now." Everyone scrambled to pack up their books as quickly as they could as ecstatic energy filled the class. Kat walked off before anyone could catch up to him. Maybe he was annoyed about me snapping at him. As I went to run after him and apologise, Father stopped me.
"Hinami. Me and your dad need to discuss something with you."
"But Kat-"
"Your boyfriend can wait." I gingerly sat on the desk opposite him. We sat in silence. After a few moments, Dad burst in the door.
"Hello! Sorry about the wait." He panted. "Have you had a nice day sweetie?" I nodded. Something felt very off.
"So... About what we need to discuss with you." Father started. "It's..." He trailed off, struggling to find the words. He looked towards Dad.
"Well, you see..." I just looked at them expectantly. They glanced at each other again but made no attempt to carry on talking. Sighing heavily, I started standing up.
"What is it? If you can't tell me now, just tell me later because-"
"Zap is missing!" Dad blurted out. I froze.
"He left the police station without anybody knowing and now nobody can find him. It's possible that he's working with the League of Villains."
"He's been missing for four days..."
"Yes. But-"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I yelled, fear gripping my chest. "I was out all day yesterday! What if something happened to my friends because of me!"
"Sweetie-"
"Don't!" I slapped Dad's reaching hand away from me.
"Hinami," Father tried. "We didn't want to worry you."
"He tried to kill me! Of course I'd be worried!" He took a deep breath.
"That's completely understandable. But in UA, there's high security, teachers and pro-heroes everywhere. You'll be completely safe here."
"I was stolen from UA! From you!" He recoiled slightly. ""I was taken from right under your nose." My voice was bordering on shrill in my panicked state.
"Honey-" Dad put a hand on Father's shoulder.
"How is UA supposed to protect me when I can't even rely on my own parents to protect me?" I spat. They both visibly tensed up. The sharp feeling bubbling unpleasantly in my stomach left a sour taste in my mouth.
"That's not fair, Hinami." Father said, his quiet voice breaking slightly.
What had I done? I couldn't believe that I had just said that. I hadn't meant it. It just slipped out before I could stop it! I didn't mean it! My eyes stung looking at their hurt expressions. Zap was right. I'll just hurt everyone around me, whether I mean to or not.
"I-" I tried to say something. Anything. But my throat had closed up. So I simply grabbed my bag and ran.
They didn't call after me.
I burst into the common room, threw my bag on the floor and practically jumped into Katsuki's arms, not caring what the others thought.
"What's wrong?" His hand gently smoothed down my hair.
"I'm awful! I'm so fucking awful!" I cried into his chest. "I'm the worst daughter in the world. I-" He shushed me harshly.
"Don't be so ridiculous. Of course you aren't."
"What happened?" A quiet voice asked.
"Back off, Deku. I'm comforting her."
"It's not a competition, Kacchan! She's my friend too. We can both comfort her." I would have smiled if I wasn't so distraught.
"So what's happened babes?" Mina patted my shoulder sweetly.
"Zap escaped. Nobody knows where he is. I- I got mad because I was out with you guys yesterday and I... If anything happened to you because of me..." Kat lifted my head up so that our eyes were locked.
"Do you ever fucking listen to me?" Despite his sneer, he wiped my tears with the pads of his thumbs lovingly. "Nothing would happen to us, or you. Not while I'm by your side. And that's going to be forever." His voice was quiet, so that only I could hear him.
"Thank you..." I drew him back into a tight hug. "But I still got... I don't know. I was scared. And that made me feel angry. I said-" I remembered the hurt look on the faces of the two people that had loved me and cared for me all my life.
"I'm sure they'll understand." He muttered in my ear.
"What if they don't?"
"Listen, they-" Everyone went quiet and looked towards the source of a loud rumbling noise. It stopped after a few seconds before starting back up again, so loud that it shook the ground. Kat stumbled backwards, barely grabbing the arm of a chair in time to steady us. Mina shrieked and grabbed a hold of Kiri's arm.
"What's going on?" Jirou looked around frantically
"This doesn't seem like a regular earthquake." Yaomomo replied calmly, opening her phone to check the news.
"Keep a hold of me. I'll keep you safe." Kat said into my hair. I nodded, wiping the last of my tears away. Kami gasped and pointed out a nearby window.
"Shit!" He screamed. "The school!" Everyone rushed over to see what had caused the sudden change in the blonde's usually clean language.
It was a sight none of the students were prepared for.
The main UA building was on fire, with massive holes scattered about from the-
BOOM!
-Explosions...
"We're under attack!"
"Iida, what do we do?"
"Yaomomo!"
Everyone turned to our presidents. They whispered to each other for a second.
"We should evacuate. There could be bombs or villains anywhere." Iida eventually said, his voice slightly higher than usual, but still calm.
"We should-"
"No fighting, Bakugo." Yaomomo interrupted. "We have zero intel. It would be safest to escape and let the teachers deal with it this time." We all nodded solemnly, even Katsuki.
As we exited the dorm, smoke and ash hit us. The air was dry and scalding. Many students were clinging desperately to their best friends or other halves.
"Don't you fucking dare let go of me. Or I'll kill you myself." Kat growled in my ear. I met his concerned eyes.
"Right back at you." I gave a single, nervous laugh. He kissed my cheek before tugging my hand and leading us forward.
We silently trudged onwards, keeping to the walls and staying as out of sight as possible. There was a commotion going on not too far away. I heard my dad screaming - using his quirk - and breathed a sigh of relief. If he was alive and fighting, Father must be too. There wasn't much time to dwell. Things seemed to be getting louder. I could make out Father's voice.
"Where is it going?"
"I don't know!" Midnight replied somewhere. "I can't slow it down!" A low rumble that reverberated the earth beneath our feet made us all stop in our tracks.
"Come on, 1-A. Let's keep going." Iida ordered through gritted teeth.
"Is it just me, or can anyone else hear footsteps getting louder?" Jirou asked, her voice trembling slightly. We all strained our ears. She was right.
"It sounds big, whatever it is..." Sero's grip on Kami's arm got visibly tighter.
"Kids! Watch out!" Dad yelled. Suddenly, a massive creature burst into the courtyard. It was definitely a Nomu, it's exposed brain, beady eyes, and huge stature gave that away. But it was bigger than the one at the USJ. It had multiple arms and, when it opened its mouth in a sick almost-grin, it showed off two rows of bear-like teeth. Dad, Midnight, and Father stood in front of us.
"Dad-" I started. He held up his hand to silence me.
"Get out of here."
"We can help you fight it!" Katsuki yelled.
"Y-yeah! Let us help!" Mido piped up, starting to let go of Todoroki's hand. Todo pulled him back slightly.
"No! We're not letting you get hurt. I failed to keep you safe once already. I'm not letting it happen again!"
"Father..." I whispered, my eyes tearing up again.
The Nomu struck the ground, causing us all to almost topple over. Father barely dodged the thing's ginormous fists.
"Where's All Might?" Tsu asked.
"Fighting another one of these things. So just go!" Dad demanded. One of the Nomu's arms turned into a gooey, viscous liquid, and shot out, sticking to Midnight's leg. A gasp rippled through the class as it made its way up her body.
"What the-" She struggled against it to no avail. "Don't touch it!"
"But I might be able to melt it..." Mina's arm was outstretched. The goo rose towards her hand and Kirishima yanked her backwards, holding her protectively in his hardened arms.
"Leave it! Just go!"
"But-"
"That's it! One month's detention for the whole class unless you leave right now!" Father snapped, keeping his eyes trained on the beast.
We all looked to Iida and Yaomomo for guidance. They gave a sharp, singular nod in unison. As we hurried off in a group, I couldn't help but glance backwards.
The goo was up to Midnight's shoulders. Dad caught my gaze. I tried to give him an apologetic look, but I'm not sure if he got it. The Nomu shot out another stream of goo, catching my parents in one fell swoop.
"Dad!" I gasped.
"Just go!" He grabbed onto his husband, not caring about his already planted feet and the fact that the black tar-like substance was now creeping up his arms too. Father had been hit on the shoulders, and his mouth and nose were already almost completely covered. He was grappling with the goo, probably struggling to breathe. Hot tears ran down my face before I even realised I was crying yet again. Katsuki wasn't letting go of me.
"Remember what you promised me, Hinami! Go! And don't you forget what you promised!" Father choked out right before the goo completely covered his lower face.
"I-"
"I'm so proud of you. You're my entire world. Never forget that. Promise me you won't?"
"Of course I won't. Never."
"Hinami! The best thing you can do is get to safety! Don't be one more thing for them to worry about!"
"I need to go help them!"
"Hinami-" He pulled me back. "I swear if you don't-" Knowing that I was too frantic to think clearly, Katsuki picked me up, slung me over his shoulder, and sped off after the rest of the group. I kicked and thrashed against him.
"No! Let go! Get off of me! I need to go back! I can't- I can't leave it like that! I have to tell them! I have to say that I'm sorry!"
"They already know!"
"I have to tell them!"
By the time we were out of the school and away from the city, I had given up my fight. I hung limply over Katsuki's shoulder, my throat hoarse, my limbs sore, and my tears dried out.
"We're almost at the forest. Can you be trusted to walk now?" Kat asked me in a low voice. I hummed and he gently placed me back on my feet. Despite his annoyed expression, he kissed my cheek and laced his fingers with mine. "They love you, y'know? And they know how sorry you are." I pressed my lips together and nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. It looked like he wanted to say something else.
"We'll have to hurry if we want to get to the cabin before dark." Yaomomo announced from the front of the group. "There's only an hour and a half until sundown. If we cut through the forest, it should take a little over an hour. Let's just keep our pace up and try to stay out of trouble. Iida?"
"Yes?" Iida stood to attention.
"Can you run ahead and scout the path as well as the cabin?"
"Of course!" His engines growled and by the time I'd blinked, he was already sprinting off ahead.
"Okay. Is everyone else ready to move on?" After everyone agreed, Yaomomo turned on her heel and set off at a steady marching pace. I took a deep breath and followed, behind Kami and Sero, and next to Katsuki. Despite knowing that they wouldn't be there, I couldn't help but glance behind me every couple of yards. Just in case my parents had caught up to us or All Might came charging up to tell us that everything was alright and we could return to UA.
Katsuki didn't let go of my hand the entire time.
(A/N)
Oops, sorry it's a day late, guys! I lost track of the time!