When the door had slammed behind her, Kaede had tried to hold on to the bedpost, but she had slipped. Now she not only had a pain in her heart, but her knee was also throbbing. She didn't know where to look, what to do, because slowly her control slipped away. She tried not to think about what she was feeling to keep the air from vibrating even more, but it was getting worse. Without really knowing what she was doing, she hurried to the window. Did she just want to gasp for air? She put one foot on the window ledge and was about to pull herself up when the door opened. She didn't turn around, she just wanted to... Kaede heard a voice. It was soft and clear and sang a beautiful song. Suddenly, the only feeling Kaede had left was the longing for that song. She turned and stared into the beautiful green eyes of Shiryn, who was singing. She waited until Kaede was with her, still singing, she moved Kaede to a chair and closed the window, then the singing died away. Kaede looked around lost, the girl came to her, "Were you about to jump?" Panic dominated the voice, but also genuine concern. "I lost control of my Quirk, I had to lose consciousness somehow." She looked around again. "Did you control my consciousness?" A weight seemed to fall off the girl as a normal conversation now began. "I did, I'm so sorry." Kaede stared at Shiryn in surprise. Tears formed in her eyes. "It's all right." Kaede stroked her cheek without knowing what she was apologising for in the first place. Then she knew again. A lump formed in her throat, thinking of Katsuki. Was she that dependent on him? She hated that feeling, but she didn't want to lose control again. "Let me explain-" "It's okay, I don't need explanations. It's okay, I can live with it." She was pretty sure she couldn't live with it, didn't want to. With this hole in her heart that she denied. She cursed herself for giving Katsuki so much space in her heart so that it hurt so much now that it was empty. "No, please, listen to me." Kaede sighed and let the girl speak. After all, she was all upset and tense herself, Kaede was doing it more for her than for herself. "He... He didn't kiss me because he wanted to. He got into the radius of my Quirk by mistake, and sometimes it has a strange effect. It was never his free will to do it, really." Even if she knew it was a misunderstanding, the thought of it burned through her skull. On the one hand, she hadn't trusted Katsuki. She had believed all that and not talked to him, it was her fault. On the other hand, she couldn't forget the feeling. It had felt like she was losing the ground under her feet, like she had been dropped. Again. As if this cycle would repeat itself again and again, never ending, always leaving her broken, on the verge of losing her mind. She sat thoughtfully in the chair and did not respond when Shiryn said her name. The girl panicked again and disappeared from her sight. Then someone else appeared. Katsuki knelt in front of her and gently took her hand. His gaze seemed somewhat pained and reserved. Kaede did not want to cry. She hated herself for having to bite her lip to suppress the tears that were making their way out of her eyes. She didn't want to be weak, she hated herself so much for letting a tear roll and tensed up. "I'm sorry." When Katsuki's words reached her, she let go of his hands and slumped to the floor, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stroked her back. "It's okay." She said nothing. She didn't know if she could speak at all. She felt her reaction was exaggerated and even with Katsuki assuring her all the time that everything was okay, doubt was written all over her face.
...
It was different from before. It was difficult to get back to normal anyway when Kaede couldn't even look Katsuki in the eye at first. It was strange that such a short moment could destroy so much. But Kaede had no time to be unsettled, because after seven days in the remote place, terrible news reached the students. It was a day like any other and in fact no one noticed anything suspicious until there was a commotion in the corridors. Someone shouted. "Stop him!" Kaede and Kyoka had sprinted to the hallway, but when they saw what had upset the crowd, a flash of green had brought the situation under control. Izuku pushed a boy to the floor who had come from the support section. He lay motionless on the floor as Kaede stepped closer. "What's going on?" Izuku didn't quite seem to know it himself. "Someone shouted for me to hold him, so I did." "I'm innocent, let me go!" Many looks were directed questioningly at Kaede. "Find the one who called out in the corridors. Izuku, we'll bring him down." Even as they were taking the boy to one of the common rooms, someone else came running after them. "We found the one who was calling! He has a stab wound in his side that is being treated. He said his friend is not who we think he is, he has a different identity." Kaede and Izuku stared at the same time at the boy between them, who was now sighing loudly. "Well, I guess I got caught, I guess I should have stabbed again." A naked Himiko Toga had taken the spot. Izuku let go in shock and averted his eyes from the naked body, but Kaede snapped at him, "Izuku, don't let go!".
Toga sat tied up in a chair while Izuku and Kaede watched her. "Where is the one whose blood you stole?" "Oh, he's Maybe he's dead." She said it as if it were nothing. "How did you catch him?" Now she looked a little offended. "Unfortunately, we didn't catch him at all. I had just enough time to sneak here when he spotted me and I had to act. He's probably still in the broom closet I pushed him into." "Thank you for your candour." Toga tilted her head. "I'm only talking because I'm bored." Izuku stepped up beside Kaede. "How do you know of our location?" Toga exhaled in annoyance. "It doesn't matter, one of us figured it out. Can we get this over with quickly? They will come and they will kill you all, because only then can we make a mark on society. We've made sure you can't send messages, you're trapped." "And why are you telling us all this?" "You are interrogating me, aren't you?" Kaede couldn't quite figure out Toga. Izuku and she left the room where everyone had gathered, waiting to see what would happen next. Izuku looked at her and she sighed before speaking. "We are in for a villain attack. We have yet to try and find out how many there are, but it will come." Before the students could recover from the shock and do something stupid, she continued speaking. "But we are heroes, we will fight. Nezu didn't declare me leader for nothing. I have a plan." She looked around the crowd, searching for the faces she needed. "Aiko Koroshi?" "Yes?" "I would ask you to make a list of all the A and B students and also the students from general who are confident to fight. I would like each of the 10 students from the management department to market one student from A and one from B for Areza to heal. Understood?" "Yes." Kaede nodded in a pleased manner. "All those fighting will work together, we need comms for that. Momo, for now, do as many as you can without overexerting yourself, yeah? Save your strength." Momo nodded. "Tenya? Can you divide up groups to cover the area?" "Of course, already on it!" "Mei Hatsume?" "Yes, here!" "Please consult with the others in your department and figure out how we can monitor the compound without using students." "Will do!" "Good. Everyone, don't worry, we'll manage."