She drifted through the haze in her mind, this darkness didn't terrify her. She felt safe, at peace, in these moments she could pretend everything was okay.
But...
There were times when the haze didn't shield her. Sometimes, she would become lucid, and the haze would show her things in those rare moments. This was one of those times.
Her eyes slowly opened to the sea of dark gray fog, its warmth comforting her despite the fear she felt deep inside at what she might see.
The haze shifted, taking on shapes around her. It was strange, normally it parted and she saw things through a window... As she continued to watch the swirling haze, the scene resolved itself into the shape of a flat platform area.
A vague outline of two people could be seen on opposite ends of this platform and every few seconds the outlines would suddenly shift to new positions as if the figures were moving and interacting. Then for the first time ever, the sound came from the haze, and she was shocked. Never before had the haze produced sound. Yet... it wasn't coming in clearly, she could only hear bits and pieces. Random words or sounds faded in and out as she watched the scene play out, curious what it was she was seeing.
The sound of steel meeting steel rang across the haze.
A grunt.
"It would ..... that I was the one .... in the ..."
A cry of alarm.
The sound of something slamming and a car alarm blared out.
The hazy scene ended there, collapsing in on itself, but before she could think about what she had seen, it reformed into a different scene.
It was similar to the one before but instead of a square platform, it was a long flat rectangle. It looked like a street, the surroundings clearer than the figures present in it. The figures were so hazy, indistinct, stretched, and close together that she couldn't tell if she was looking at one or six people.
" ..... with me! Don't leave..... I ... live ... you...."
Once more it collapsed and reformed, and this time she felt a tingling all over her body, and she was speaking. But... she wasn't speaking, the haze was, but she heard her own voice. The new scene showed a moderately sized room, with several people on one side, while a lone figure stood in front of hazy doors.
"Of course I love her... She has done so much for me, but I owe HIM a debt that I can never repay. This was not an easy choice, but he bid me stop you all. I won't kill any of you, but neither will I let you past me... I'm sorry..."
The scene faded once more and it dissolved into an odd configuration, the scene was very blurry but she could make out jagged points within the scene. Then from the center of the scene where a small flat area was located, a figure materialized, its fist raised high.
"You goddamn fool..."
The words were soft and she felt her heart hurt when she heard them. They echoed across the hazy expanse until they faded away...
Then that scene collapsed and she felt the haze calm, her lucidity faded and she welcomed the warm embrace once more. Her dreams were strange, this one especially.
__________________________________________________
Okimi went to her office door and hesitated. She looked down at herself but decided she looked disheveled enough as is and opened the door slowly. She poked her head into the room and saw Eri sleeping on her cot, curled into a ball and wrapped in a thin blanket.
She opened the door the rest of the way and slipped inside, closing it behind her. Not quietly enough apparently, as Eri's eyes shot open and she bolted upright. She looked around in a panic, then she saw Okimi and she gave a little shriek before she shuffled to the end of the cot and up against the wall. She kept the blanket wrapped tightly around her.
"Eri... it's okay. You're safe, I'm Okimi, remember?" she said softly.
The terror in Eri's eyes receded and her panicked breathing slowed as she slowly started to relax. Okimi took a few tentative steps toward the girl before sitting down on the edge of the cot.
She was about to say something when Eri rushed into her, latching onto her side and burying her face into Okimi's chest. Okimi gasped as she felt the girl's prominent horn stab into her, but she quickly healed the damage and wrapped her hands around the girl. She could feel the heat from Eri's horn, and while it was uncomfortable, it also felt nice. She stroked the back of the girl's head, and Okimi felt nostalgic.
She remembered her younger sister doing much the same thing after a big thunderstorm had caused her younger sister to run into her older sister's room in a panic. The memory caused her to hug Eri even more, and she felt her eyes watering. It had been a long time since her sister had died.
She dismissed the old memory and carefully separated herself from Eri, careful to ensure Eri didn't stab her breasts accidentally.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, I'm just having trouble see... ing..." Okimi said before trailing off.
She blinked and realized she couldn't see anything, she removed her black glasses and realized to her shock she could see normally. She even felt several hours' worth of exhaustion had just vanished from her body.
Eri looked up at her, then she went pale and backed away from her again. Another bout of terror seemed to seize the girl as she clambered off the cot and went to the corner. She put her hands over her head and started whimpering.
"Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to use my power without permission! I'm sorry, please don't hurt me! I'll be good I promise!" she begged while tears ran down her face.
Okimi felt a deep-seated sense of horror at the display.
"What the fuck did they do to her..." she thought. The things her mind conjured up made her sick and she immediately went to the girl and wrapped her arms around her again.
The whimpering and begging stopped and she heard the girl's breath stop.
"You don't have to apologize, Eri... It's okay. You don't need to be scared. Those people are gone and they aren't ever coming back. It's okay if you use your quirk accidentally, no one's going to hurt you if you use your quirk." She reassured the girl.
She continued to reassure her for another minute before the girl seemed to calm down. She picked the girl up in her arms and deposited her on the cot.
"I'm going to be working at my desk for a bit, don't be afraid to ask me something, okay?" Okimi asked.
Eri just nodded and wrapped herself in the blanket again.
________________________________________________________________________
"What's the casualty report looking like?" Naomasa asked as he looked over a recently made overhead map of the city.
Several key points were marked all across it, color-coded to represent different things. Several of these locations marked were civilian bunkers or were points where resistance still existed. Those specific locations were marked with numbers to indicate the priority.
"Well, given the extent of the damage, we're expecting at least a ballpark estimate of 5-15% of the civilian population to be dead. Hero and officer casualties are a bit easier to nail down, but it's significant, 40% at least. We're going to need the military to impose martial law if the civilians get out of control after we pull them from the bunkers. Part of the warehouse district was caught in the blast, and initial reports indicate we will be facing significant food shortages without aid from other cities and the government." the analyst said gravely, handing Naomasa the report.
He spent a few minutes reading over the more detailed aspects of the paper before grimacing and putting it aside.
"Set up perimeters around the civilian bunkers we have control of and begin work to excavate those trapped under debris. As we pull people out, start sorting out construction workers and any volunteers willing to help. Especially those with suitable quirks, we need to get those people trapped out ASAP." Naomasa said, circling several points on the map.
"Any word from the U.A. or responses to my emergency aid request?" He asked aloud.
"U.A. reports they have secured their grounds and will send out any heroes able to help, including senior students. As for your aid requests, we are working with them now. Initial supplies shouldn't be too far off, but we need to get specifics to them before they consider anything substantial." Someone called from the other side of the room.
"fucking bureaucrats..." Naomasa muttered, rubbing his temples.
_______________________________________________________________
Nezu looked over the students, assessing the prevailing mood. They had moved them all into the indoor auditorium, and Cementoss had reinforced and sealed the exits. Then he had made a ramp to the catwalks above, where teachers or others could go to leave without being obvious.
Nezu had gotten in contact with the police and had sent Cementoss and Hound Dog to help with rescue efforts, but he kept the remaining teachers at the school. He couldn't be sure there wouldn't be small squads of mercenaries still present, and that may attack rather than leave. Until such a time as he could be sure, he needed them here to help the students and secure all areas of the grounds.
"What do you think?" Aizawa asked, coming up alongside Nezu who was standing on the raised stage area.
"Naturally they are terrified, especially the younger students. The middle-classmen are scared but equally worried. The upperclassman that remained and we haven't sent out, are doing their best, but they are being pushed their mental limits trying not to show their own fear and worry while being surrounded by it. We must be careful that fear and anxiety do not turn into anger against us." Nezu said, eyeing a particular group that seemed to be behaving differently from the others. Dark looks, narrowed eyes, and clear body language indicated obvious anxiety and agitation.
"That group there, go talk with them," Nezu said, subtle gesturing to the group without looking at them.
It took Aizawa a moment but he saw the group and immediately left Nezu. Stopping and talking with other groups closest first, to help prevent feelings of being singled out.
Nezu kept a wary eye on the group but kept scanning the room. Just then he heard the flap of wings and he looked up to see Hawks coming from the catwalk toward him. Then he saw to his relief, Tsuyu Asui sliding down the ramp to the floor. Both of them converged on his location, Hawks alighting next to him. Nezu noted that Hawks was missing a substantial number of his feathers.
"What news from the outside?" Nezu asked.
"Things are looking up, looks like any remaining mercenaries have left the grounds. Unless some are hiding deep within some of the larger buildings but I think it is unlikely. It should be abundantly clear that their offensive has failed, so they should be prioritizing escape and regrouping." Hawks said, massaging a wing.
"Excellent. Ms. Asui, it's good to see you alive and well, but where have you been? Aizawa told me you went ahead to the school but when Snipe went to meet you, he reported he never saw you." Nezu asked, turning to face her and she leaped onto the stage with a loud clunk as her prosthetic slammed into the wood.
To his mild surprise, she hesitated and glanced at Hawks, who nodded to her before she continued.
"I... was in the labs," she said quietly.
"I see." was all Nezu said.
"She knows everything, I came in with Ochako basically dead and she followed me all the way to the chamber." Hawks said, just as quietly.
"We will need to talk about this later," Nezu said looking at Tsuyu.
"For the moment though, I want to help Aizawa and the others by soothing the students and preventing things from boiling over into anger. Things will be hard enough for the school after things calm down and I don't want to have to deal with angry and panicked parents on top of their children." Nezu said.
Tsuyu nodded and hopped off the stage, and walked over to Aizawa.
"As for you, if you think things here will be fine, then head to Naomasa to see what you can do to help him. He's coordinating everything from police headquarters." Nezu said, turning to Hawks.
Hawks nodded and decided to walk up the ramp rather than fly.
Several hours later, Nezu decided to head to the roof of the auditorium and survey things again. At least that was the excuse he gave, he needed at least a few minutes to think in silence. There was so much happening he hadn't had the time to just think.
Walking near the edge, he could see smoke lazily filling the sky. Much of the city had burned due to quirks and explosives, not to mention Yo Shindo's attack had caused severe damage city-wide. Gas leaks from damaged pipes had led to further explosions and further fires. If they hadn't had experience with much the same happening when the League launched their assault on Mufustafu, then the damage could have been far worse. As things stood though, he was satisfied with what damage they had managed to mitigate so far.
"Everything all right?" came Aizawa's voice from behind him.
Glancing back he saw Aizawa walking up next to him, taking in the same visage.
"Yes. I just needed a few moments to get my thoughts in order." Nezu said.
They stood there in silence for a time, just taking it all in and processing it.
"A red sun rises," Aizawa noted as the dawn light started to become visible. The light was an angry red-orange.
"Let us pray it is not a herald of worse things to come..." Nezu said quietly.
___________________________________________________________________
Tokoyami glided silently across the tree canopy, keeping eyes and ears open for any sign of Ochako or Bakugo. He had attached several flashlights to himself to act as a beacon as scouted the mountainside. It had been several hours and when they still hadn't heard anything from the two, several people had been sent out to scout the mountainside for them.
Things weren't looking good though, he'd covered a lot of ground, and given he was a flying flood light they should have seen him by now. This was assuming of course they'd managed to get out, which was dubious in and of itself. They had no idea if there was any way out for Ochako and Bakugo, and if there was, it was possible the collapse of portions of the base had blocked it off.
"Anybody find anything?" he asked in his comm.
There was a chorus of negatives in response and Tokoyami's hands clenched into fists. After another minute of flying, the comms came to life again.
"This is Takeshita, I've found a hole bored into the mountain that leads straight into the base. I think this is where Angel Six must have entered, and presumably exited. I'll check the interior for them, but keep up the search, they're probably somewhere on the mountainside near here." the hero Takeshita said.
Tokoyami felt a rush of hope and he felt a surge of energy through him. He checked Takeshita's location then swerved and started flying to where he was. He was halfway to Takeshita when he saw the gap in the treeline and the dark circle on the mountain that marked the entrance of the hole.
When he got close enough he stopped in mid-air and just looked the mountainside over for a moment; trying to think what path they might have taken. Their outpost was to the right of the hole, but they might have gotten confused in their exit and gone left without realizing it. He was about to swing right when he saw a brief flash of light in the trees to his left. He immediately swung left and flew to the spot with all the speed he could muster.
As he got closer he saw the flash again and he dove into the tree line directly as he got closer. He couldn't really see anything, but shortly after diving into the tree line, he heard a shout ahead of him. A few moments later he could see Bakugo standing in a small clearing with two figures on the ground next to him.
He alighted next to Bakugo and quickly turned off the several flashlights strapped to him when Bakugo shielded his eyes.
"Bakugo, thank god you are ali-" but Bakugo cut him off.
"You need to get these two to the outpost, Ochako passed out suddenly and we need to ensure Zeus doesn't die on us." he snapped.
Tokoyami looked down and saw Ochako on the ground and Zeus next to her. Immediately Dark Shadow grew to its largest size while still being able to fly and Tokoyami and Bakugo quickly put the two on top of him.
Tokoyami got ready to launch into the sky but waited as Bakugo made no immediate move to get on.
"I'll only slow you down, get going!" Bakugo snapped again.
"You're coming with us, get on Dark Shadow, it won't be a problem," Tokoyami said.
When Bakugo argued, he cut him off.
"I'm either dragging you with me by force, or you're climbing on with the others." He said, narrowing his eyes.
Bakugo growled in annoyance but he did climb up with the others. When he was secure, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow launched themselves into the sky and began their flight to the outpost.
"This is Tsukuyomi, I have them and I'm on my way back to base," he said in the comms.
After a chorus of acknowledgments, the comms fell silent.
"Bakugo, what happened?" He called over his shoulder to Bakugo.
When Bakugo didn't respond he heard a laugh from Dark Shadow.
"He's gone and fallen asleep!" Dark Shadow cackled.
Tokoyami gave a small laugh and contented himself with the flight knowing that they were alive.