The first thing that happened was that the earth shook. It was a silent vibration, then a low hum that slowly developed into a strong shaking. Then it became warm, infinitely hot, like in a volcano. The air moved out of the room as if it were slowly being consumed. Then came the headache. Everyone in the room had this headache and the only way was to leave the room. Kaede was still lying in the middle, surrendering to her Quirk. She hung weakly in the chains until they melted and burned her wrists. The building was about to collapse when Kaede held her breath. The effect of the Quirk was cancelled. Kaede felt as if she were floating on a lake, drifting straight ahead with gentle movements, for anything that used more power than that was putting her under. She had never held her breath for so long. When the villains ran back into the room, she dodged them and kept running without really noticing anything. It was probably the drug. Everything seemed so blurred, it was easy not to breathe. But the more she thought about it, the more her lungs burned. She breathed from behind a tree, but stopped. She knew perfectly well that if she sat down now, she would not get up again. So she picked herself up. She didn't know where she was and she was in terrible pain, but she was alive and for the first, time that was enough for her.
Chaos had also broken out at the UA. Bakugo, who had been put to sleep by Midnight before they confronted Toga, had woken up again. When he heard that Toga had disappeared without a clue, he raged. "And you idiots didn't stop her?!" "Kacchan-" "Shut the fuck up Deku. You say you're so strong, but you couldn't even stop a girl who was standing right in front of you? You are weak. Every single one of you is the dumbest weakling I've ever seen. If Kaede dies-" The room became oppressively quiet after the slap reverberated. Mina's hand still hovered in the air. "YOU shut up now. We are not the ones who always have to act, because we are not greatest. We are young and inexperienced. Midnight and Snipe were here, and they are clarifying the rescue at this moment. Kaede will not die." "Midnight and Snipe have failed. The villains have her, and they have her blood. How do you think they got the blood? They don't need to kill her, they can do so many other things-" "You shut up, I don't want to hear it!" "It's the fucking reality!" "Calm down please." Momo patted Mina's shoulder. "This is UA, one of the best schools. They won't just abandon a student like that. They will get her back." Toru's heart beat faster than normal. "Are you okay?" Kyoka moved closer, but the invisible girl backed away. "It's my fault." The girl's voice failed as all eyes turned to her. "It's not your fault Toru. In fact, it's good that you stayed so calm, you did great." Mashirao gave a thumbs up. The next encouraging words came from someone no one expected it from, "We're all to blame." "Huh?" Questioningly, the class looked at Bakugo. "None of us questioned the signs until it was too late. The villainess was imitating Kaede perfectly and as her friends we should still have noticed something. But we didn't." A shiver ran down Katsuki's spine as he remembered Kaede coming into his room three hours ago. Of Himiko Toga who had kissed him. Disgust gripped him as he continued to speak. "We're all to blame if we can't save her in time."
Kaede dragged herself through the forest with a single thought. At least, she tried to think only of that single thought. Her whole body ached and her wrists and ankles burned in agony. But she couldn't turn off her feelings if she wanted to get back home. So she accepted the pain, and shuffled on. Sadly, the drug she was given was not a painkiller. The pain sharpened all her senses and yet she did not avoid the roots on the ground that she tripped over and she did not duck under the branches that were above her. It was quite dark, probably past midnight, and she couldn't see anything, but she kept walking. She wished Toga was still at the UA because then the others wouldn't worry. But after surviving the villains, it would be embarrassing if she died in the forest. Katsuki would yell at her if she died on that dirty ground. At first she tried to feel her way along, but the pressure did her hands no good. She let herself sink against a tree. Her injuries were not deadly. Well, there was still the bullet wound, which was probably already infected, but as long as she could make it to Recovery girl... She had to keep going. She felt hopeless. Who knows where she was, how big this forest was, if she would ever get out of here. She tried to use her Quirk to make light, but she couldn't, it was causing her more pain. She kept stumbling through the forest, even though she was exhausted, even though she didn't know where to go and even though she didn't know if she would make it. Kaede would fight until the last step.
"You should be asleep." "Mr Aizawa!" With a sad smile, the teacher tousled Mina's hair. "But-" "I know kids, it will be all right. But you must be well rested. Kaede wouldn't want your dark circles to be bigger than mine." "Weren't you on a mission?" Katsuki stuck his head through the kitchen window. "Hawks gave the Hero Commission a choice: They provide UA personnel to help with the search or he aborts the mission. They refused, so here I am. It's clear the LoV has her, but we will free her, the UA is not facing this alone, Kaede is not alone."
Kaede woke up. She was still alone in the forest, but it was just dawn. She struggled to get up and continued walking. Every tree she passed looked like the one before, she didn't feel like she was making any progress. She felt her Quirk again and looked for signs of life nearby, but apparently she was neither being followed nor was anyone looking for her. "Why should they look for me here? In some forest in the middle of nowhere. I'm lucky if there are any clues." She had considered leaving cloth nets, but a trail for heroes would also be a trail for villains. So she walked through the forest. She found mushrooms. Kaede had never been interested in plants in nature and the question of which mushrooms were poisonous and which were not, but she was hungry. Not hungry enough yet to take that risk, but she pocketed the mushrooms anyway. After a few more hours, Kaede decided to look on the bright side of the situation. She went for a beautiful walk in the forest, without people to disturb her. And even though her whole body ached, her eyes hurt the most, because if she saw only green any longer, she would get sick.
"It almost seems like we should never go shopping again." "The villains don't want us to spend our money, we should be grateful to them."
It was getting dark again. Kaede had neither drunk nor eaten anything, and her body was complaining. To get rid of this shitty feeling, she bit at tree bark until she felt really sick. She lay on her side and watched ants running up and down in front of her nose until she fell asleep. She would not have been surprised if she had not woken up again. Her body was completely drained, it needed strength to heal her wounds and Kaede had none of that. Nevertheless, she woke up again. Needles pricked her head and drove her on. She picked herself up and kept running. It took her a while to realise that instead of a forest of leafy trees, she was now in a forest of conifers. And for the first time in what felt like ages, she had to smile. From her previous estimates, she could tell how big the forest must be. And since leaf and coniferous trees flowed into each other, only a few forests came into question. She hoped it was the forest at the foot of the UA, but she knew she was not so lucky. There was only one other forest near the city, and it ended at a lake with a holiday paradise. Otherwise, she could be in a wad far away. In the end, her information got her nowhere. She kept walking.