"Where are the others?" Izuku sat on the edge of an ambulance while a head injury was bandaged and Hawks questioned him. "They are in the forbidden area. I tried to get to them, but there was no way. Everything collapsed." Hawks looked towards the building where overworked heroes were trying to secure something, not knowing where to start. "I'm sorry, I should have..." "No Izuku, there's nothing to apologise for. None of what happened is your fault. We're going to save them. I'm trying to find a way with my feathers right now, we'll do everything we can to save them." Izuku nodded as Hawks made his way to the other heroes. Finally, a little coordination was brought to the matter. Debris were carefully lifted and loaded away. When Kamui Woods arrived, things moved even faster. Hawks had the position of the two and prioritised the evacuation to that point. A huge piece of debris was lifted and Hawks' feathers supported it so that it was lifted straight. Bakugo lowered his hands. He was covered in sweat and the mark on his forehead flickered faintly. "Bakugo." Hawks looked down at him with relief. The relief vanished immediately when he saw the boy's expression. He thought Kaede had just fainted, but he was beginning to doubt it. With his feathers, he pulled Kaede out of the hole, then Bakugo. He glanced at Katsuki. "I didn't mean to, she has-" "I know, it's all right." In one bound, Hawks flew to the ambulance. Nothing was fine. Absolutely nothing was good at that moment. Her eyes were closed, her chest wasn't moving and not a heartbeat could be felt as he pressed her to his chest. "Please little bird, don't leave me." She was everything to him. She had been with him since childhood. She was the one person who was always there for him, who understood him, who knew him, she couldn't just leave. Not just die. Something inside him broke as he handed her over to the paramedics. He knew whose fault it was and he wouldn't forgive it.
...
Before entering the dormitory to reassure his students, Aizawa prepared himself internally. "We don't know if they are really in there, so stay calm." Well, he could save that speech. He entered the room and 13 cadaverous faces turned to him. "What's going on?" "Someone died." Tenya's voice was calm and collected, as if he was forcing himself to speak for the class. "A sixteen-year-old girl. How many 16 year old girls work in a lab like that?" Kyoka's voice was calculating, attacking. Tears ran down her cheeks. "You worry too much. Nothing is said for sure. Accidents like this happen all the time-" "So far, one dead, two other teenagers injured and one lab assistant injured. However, the heroes assume that there are more people buried under the rubble. The building collapsed 40 minutes ago and rescue efforts will be protracted. The cause of the collapse is unknown, but Dr Wagenyr, a master of earth science, has a theory related to the soft ground:" The professor began to speak. "I want us all to calm down, yes? It's no use-" Denki flicked through the channels, looking for more recordings. "Denki, please." "We saw quite clearly that Izuku is injured. So someone else is hurt and Mina or Kaede is dead. It's clear, Aizawa, don't lie to us." Aizawa felt as if he had been kicked in the head. "Turn off the television. I think there's one more thing I need to teach you." "And what is that?" "Don't cry until something is finalised. You're worried about a theory, I've seen it often enough in my hero days. The girl could be the daughter of one of the clerks, she could be a postwoman, a young genius, anything. You're wasting your tears. We'll wait until we have some information. Let us distract you." Aizawa's own heart ached, but he couldn't let it show. Seeing his students so sad made him feel they would break under the pressure of heroic work. Sometimes he wondered if it was right to let the children into such a terrible world. He had to reassure the students, it was his job.
...
Mina, Hanta and Fumikage took a taxi to the accident site shortly after Hawks flew off. However, it took them 20 minutes to get there. A crowd of people and many reporters stood behind barriers. With heaps of muttered apologies, they pushed their way through the crowd until they were at the front of the barrier. They saw Izuku sitting on the edge of the ambulance. "IZUKU!" They had to shout for a while before he saw them. He walked over to a policeman and pointed at them. They were then allowed through the barrier. "What happened? Where are Katsuki and Kaede?" Izuku shook his head. "I don't know." "Please don't tell me they're under there." Mina hoped for an answer, but Izuku remained silent. Desperately, she turned to the pile of rubble. "But the heroes are looking for them, you shouldn't worry." Hanta reassured her, but for the next few minutes Mina still kept looking at the heroes who just didn't seem to be making any progress. After 20 minutes, the heroes began to move. Hawk's figure flew to the other ambulance, only a few metres away. Mina stumbled in the same direction as the others. Kaede lay limp in Hawk's arms, who was just transferring her to a stretcher. "Take her to the hospital." "Heyyyy boy!" At the angry shouts, they turned to see Katsuki stumbling down the hill. He was white as a sheet and sweaty, his face covered in blood and a reddish mass clinging to his hair as well. Concerned, Mina asked, "What about Kaede? Is she all right?" Hawks did not answer. There was so much hectic in this situation. "Katsuki, you should take it easy, you're badly hurt too." The boy did not answer. His friends had never seen him so quiet. It was a deceptive silence, because in his head he was screaming and shouting. He cursed himself, he cursed the mission and he cursed Kaede for what she had done. Mina began to cry and shook katsuki. "Say something katsuki, what's wrong?" "She's dead." Mina flinched. The others also flinched as if a knife was being drawn across their bare skin. Mina turned to the ambulance, which was already leaving the square. "She can't be dead!" Izuku noticed a camera that had crept behind the barrier. He slowly stepped towards it. "If I see even a fraction of video footage, of my friends on TV, you will wish you hadn't been here today." His eyes glowed angrily. "Resign or live with the consequences, but don't you dare waste another moment of my time." As Izuku stepped back to the others, Katsuki looked at him with blank eyes. "That's what Kaede would have said." Izuku caught Katsuki as he stumbled back. "I... can't breathe." He began to hyperventilate, his gaze going back and forth around the room in panic, but he couldn't find anything to focus on. All he could hear were the voices around him. "About Kaede?" "Maybe an injury." "...Hospital..."
...
"She gave him her power, which means she's been dead since the evacuation began." "That means since 40 minutes?" Izuku met the stares of his friends. "Yes."