"Shit!" Inasa and I yell at the same time as the Nomu hit the building, both of us using our wind to protect ourselves and our dad.
"Inasa! Irisa!" Our dad yells out, standing up once the initial explosion caused by the Nomu stops. "We need to evacuate and help the citizens out of the building! Inasa, you're with me, Irisa, help from outside!"
"Chickadee!" I hear Hawks's voice from outside the shattered window, turning to face him to see him sending out feathers to likely help the citizens too. I know he's fast, but I wonder how he got here so quickly. "You're licensed to help, so come with me!"
I don't hesitate to jump out of the window, my wind carrying me to his side as I assess the situation. I see people screaming on the lower levels as the building starts to crumble all around them. I go floor by floor, taking the people out of the shattered windows and helping them down safely to the street below, where I instruct them to head away from the building and to guide anyone else they see away as well. Between myself and Hawks, we manage to get the building evacuated just in time before it completely crashes down to the ground. My dad and Inasa were the last two to leave the building, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw those two leading the citizens away to safety.
I couldn't relax for long though since several smaller Nomus were spit out of the larger one and started to the flood the area and attack the survivors. I immediately jumped into battle with one while Hawks took on another. I could see Inasa being held back by our dad, the desperation to help in his eyes. I know why our dad is holding him back though, Inasa doesn't have a license and as stupid as it is, he could get in trouble for attacking the Nomus. He's allowed to defend himself in an emergency situation, all citizens are, but he's not allowed to attack. At least I know if a Nomu goes near them, my brother will handle it.
"I'm not suited to fighting these things, we need to think of a new plan. And Endeavor needs help too!" Hawks says, panting as his wings barely have any feathers and he wields one of his larger feathers that's sharpened into a blade. I didn't realize Endeavor was here, but now that I look around I can see him fighting the original large Nomu that crashed into the building.
"I can handle these for now, go and help him and I'll join when backup arrives!" I yell to my mentor, proving my point as I cross my arms in front of me and fling them back open quickly, sending a powerful slice of wind and killing a Nomu in one hit. These Nomus are much weaker than the ones I've seen in the past, but they're still strong and destructive. "Go! I've got this!" I add in a confident tone, seeing Hawks looking uncertain about leaving me alone. He nods in understanding and goes to help Endeavor in the bigger fight.
"We're here to help, leave these to us!" Several heroes from Hawks's agency arrive after only a moment longer of me fighting alone, taking on the remaining two Nomus. I had just taken out a second one when they arrived, but I paused to make sure they could handle the weaker Nomus on their own. They seemed to be doing just fine, so I left them to it and returned to Hawks's side, finding him in the air near the black Nomu and Endeavor.
"Hawks! Endeavor!" I call out, sending a wind slice at the Nomu as it was about to hit Hawks and giving an opening for Endeavor to land a flaming punch.
"You're in the way." The Nomu says to me as it regenerates almost instantly, making me gulp nervously and realize I'm no match for this thing. And since the heck could a Nomu talk? "You're weak."
"Rude." I deadpan at it as I form a tornado punch, irritated that this creature just called me weak. "Endeavor, send a blast at him!" I order to the number one Pro Hero, ignoring the fact that I just tried to order someone so powerful but knowing what my attack can do. I've worked on joint attacks with Todoroki for months, I know how to work with the flames.
"You don't tell me what to do!" Endeavor yells back at me, but sends a blast all the same since the Nomu was about to attack me. I use the wind to grab some of his flames and use them to enhance the tornado punch I send at the Nomu. Sadly, I underestimated just how hot Endeavor's flames really got, and I felt my fist and wrist burning from the punch. at the very least though, the punch was effective, and the Nomu was knocked far away and a lot of him was burned.
I landed on a nearby roof, my hand burned and myself panting with over excursion from fighting the other Nomus and rescuing people, then the high powered attack just now.
"Can you do that again?" Endeavor calls down to me, realizing that attack just now was very effective.
"No, I can't handle that again." I call back weakly, making him look down and see my bleeding and burned hand. "But I can help you do that from here."
"I've got one attack left, but I need height and speed." Endeavor says, a serious look on his face as the Nomu races back to him.
"We can help with that!" Hawks says confidently, landing at my side. I look at his wings and see he only has a few feathers left, but he sends all of them towards Endeavor to help him out.
I send a strong whirlwind to Endeavor's back, working with the feathers to push him up as he holds the Nomu by it's long neck. I notice him gathering fire all around him, so I enhance it with my wind as best I can. Once Endeavor is very high above the city, he unleashes all the heat onto the Nomu, disintegrating it almost entirely.
"Oh crap, he's not slowing down." I yelp as I watch the flame hero fall from the sky after his attack. He's still surrounded by his own fire so I can't physically catch him, but I can still help. I soar down to his side as he falls, sending a whirlwind to cushion his fall and also to douse the flames around him. I land hard near him, my control wavering with my own fatigue, the remains of the Nomu cratering into the ground behind him seconds after.
I worry for a second because Endeavor isn't moving, but then again he's not collapsing to the ground either. He's just standing there, looking like he's going to crumble forward at any moment. Until finally, he raises a shaky fist into the sky, signaling his victory of the battle. He looks just like All Might did in Kamino. He's showing the world right now that he's enough to fill the role of the number one hero.
"Good job, chickadee." Hawks says once he lands down after us, all three of us panting heavily. Endeavor was being supported by me now since I caught him before he collapsed, but Hawks quickly helped me set him down on the ground to rest. "And way to go, Number One."
"Thank you, both of you." Endeavor says quietly after a moment of catching his breath. It's then that I take a good look at him. He's super beat up, his face has a huge cut through his left eye, and all his flames are out. His whole body is extremely hot, I can feel the heat radiating off of him.
"Your eye... Can you still see out of it?" I ask quietly, seeing the familiar looking damage and wondering how deep it goes.
"I'm not sure, I can't open it right now." Endeavor answers, blood still heavily covering the scar over the left side of his face. My breath catches worriedly, not wanting to wish my handicap on anyone, especially not on one of my favorite heroes.
"Well I wasn't expecting to find you all here." We all hear from a nearby alley, seeing a figure approach us. Before any of us can identify who it is, the man launches blue flames out to surround us all.
"The League of Villains." Endeavor growls out, shifting to his knees as he glares at the newcomer.
"Dabi." I add needlessly and nervously. I look all around him though, trying to see if he's alone or if a certain other League member will be joining him.
Endeavor and Dabi start yelling at each other about the hero named Snatch that the League killed after the Hassaikai raid. My mind is still worried about Miyoshi though, and I'm starting to panic. I'm exhausted, my hand is burned and bleeding, and I ache everywhere and my lungs are burning from the smoke. I'm in no condition to fight anyone right now, let alone Dabi or anyone else from the League.
Just as Dabi goes in to fight against Hawks, who is also in no condition to fight at all, Mirko appears out of nowhere and kicks away the flames of Dabi's attacks. She had such a badass entry into the fight! Dabi must have decided he was outnumbered, because he spoke into his collar and suddenly a very familiar black gunk was spewing out of his mouth. He must have gotten used to that awful mode of transportation, because he was still able to leave a final remark for us.
"See you later, Number One." Dabi says as the teleportation goo spreads around him. "I'm sure we'll have time for a heart to heart someday. I look forward to it! Until then, try not to disappoint." He glares coldly at Endeavor before rage takes over his face and he starts screaming. "AND DON'T YOU DARE GET KILLED BEFORE THAT, ENJI TODOROKI!!"
Mirko tries to kick Dabi before he vanishes, but she's too late and there's only the goo left. I feel myself start to cough in memory of that stuff. I try to stop coughing, but unfortunately there's fire and smoke everywhere around us, so I can't stop coughing. Thankfully, the blue flames all dissipated after Dabi left, but the city is still covered in smoldering flames from Endeavor's fight.
"Chickadee?" Hawks asks worriedly as he approaches me as I collapse to my knees, coughs still ripping through my damaged lungs and burning my throat. "Irisa, you ok?!"
"She needs to get away from the smoke." Endeavor says, looking guiltily at me as I try and control my breathing. "Mirko, get her to a hospital, quickly." He adds to the bunny hero, who immediately walks to my side and lifts me up easily into her very muscular arms.
"Got it! Don't worry, Easy Breezy, I'll hop you over there in two shakes." Mirko grins at me, but I'm still looking at Endeavor. I try to tell him that it's not his fault, that I'm ok, but I can't speak right now anymore.
"I'll find your family and tell them what's going on." Hawks adds to me as Mirko launches up into the sky with me. His words add a fresh layer of worry in my mind. I left them alone during a city attack. I know they're not exactly defenseless, but still, I don't know if they're safe. And they don't know what happened with me. They're not going to be happy to hear I'm heading back to a hospital yet again.
~ Eijiro POV during attack ~
About half of class 1-A was lounging together in the living room, relaxing after another day of training and doing homework. The TV was quietly playing a comedy show that some of the girls were watching as they gossiped and chatted with each other, several of the guys in class chatting on the next sofa over. The Billboards had ended just a bit ago, and most of us just kept hanging out together down here at the TV after it.
I went to sit with Midoriya and them on the couch to hang out. Usually right about now is when Irisa and I can have a little bit of alone time, but since she's out tonight I wanted to hang out with the rest of the class. I was chatting with the guys and occasionally the girls as well when all of a sudden, an emergency news broadcast interrupted the show that was on the TV. Asui turned it up so we could all hear, and immediately all idle chatter in the room fell deadly silent.
A Nomu was attacking Kyushu. And not just any Nomu, a far bigger and stronger one was attacking. This one looked even stronger than the one that attacked the USJ. And now, this new Nomu was attacking Endeavor. Todoroki, who had joined the room only a few seconds before the broadcast began, watched with wide eyes as his father was starting to lose the fight.
"Oh my god, is that Irisa?!" Uraraka suddenly yells, pointing at the screen and drawing all our attention to a figure flying in the background of the fight near a collapsing building.
"No, NO!!" I scream once I see it is my girlfriend. She's carrying people to safety alongside Hawks, her beautiful red dress flowing behind her as rubble falls and starts to tear it apart. "Get out of there!" I yell once more as she then joins Hawks in fighting several smaller Nomus that started to attack the survivors.
"Wait, she's doing really well, Kirishima. Look at her." Midoriya says quietly and comfortingly, putting a hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down. And he's right, she's doing amazing. She took down one Nomu in a single attack like it was nothing, helping Hawks take down the second.
More heroes arrived to help her, and I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief, but then the news coverage went back to Endeavor's fight again, so I couldn't see her anymore. Endeavor had taken a lot of damage, especially a very worrisome looking cut to his face.
"Ri-Ri, no, what are you doing?!" Ojiro yells loudly, shocking us all by yelling for one of the first times ever, breaking his normally calm nature. There's only one thing that can make him break like that, and it's his best friend. Sure enough, there she is, soaring into the fight with the huge Nomu and landing a punch. "Get out of that fight, you idiot!!"
I want to yell to agree with him, but I can't form words anymore. Not even a few seconds after her joining the main fight, she did a powered up punch together with Endeavor, but something must have gone wrong. We couldn't hear it, but I could see she screamed in pain from the hit. As she backed away from the fight, I silently begged for the cameras to show her again, to let me know she was ok.
I collapsed to my knees when finally the camera did show her. She was panting heavily, she was scraped up and exhausted looking, but worst of all, her hand was burned and bleeding. I was at least thankful that Hawks was by her side again, but she was still too close to the Nomu for me to relax. We could see her and Endeavor yelling to each other, both with looks of determination on their faces as the Nomu came in for another attack on the flame hero.
"Endeavor." Several of my classmates all whispered in awe as the new Number One, with what looks like help from both Hawks and Irisa, powered up a giant final attack. He flew straight up, and then we couldn't see anything beyond a bright flash of light that shook the camera that was filming the fight.
Just as Endeavor looked like he was going to crater into the ground from his fall from the great height his attack had taken place in, there once more was Irisa, swooping in to save the day. She caught him just enough to avoid him falling at full speed. They both landed a little roughly, but they both were alive.
When Endeavor stood on his own with his fist held high, signaling the end of the fight, Todoroki collapsed behind me. I too dropped to my knees, a shaky breath leaving me as several hands touched my back to support me. Katsuki was one of the hands on my shoulder, his eyes still glued to the screen, but his slightly shaking hand let me know that his stoic expression right now was a front. He was just as worried for Irisa as I was.
I glanced behind me and spotted Midoriya and a few others helping Todoroki, who had tears in his eyes that matched my own. He caught my gaze and gave me a shaky nod, expressing his mutual relief. I looked to the sofa and spotted Ojiro, his head in his hands as his shoulders shook very slightly. I took the hand that Katsuki offered to me and stood back up, clapping him on the shoulder in thanks and in understanding. I walked over to my girlfriend's best friend, taking the seat next to him.
"She just loves to find new ways to give us heart attacks, doesn't she?" Ojiro says after a moment, not raising his head quite yet but slowly doing so now, his gaze going back to the TV which was showing more after coverage of the attack.
"She seriously has a talent of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." I agree with him, wiping my face of the tears I didn't even realize had fallen. "She's going to be ok, right?"
"She's damn near indestructible, she'll be just fine." He says, though it sounds like he's trying to reassure himself as well as me.
He and I waited in comfortable silence in the living room for almost two hours before both our phones finally got a text. All our calls and messages were going unread and unanswered by Irisa, and we both assumed she had lost her phone in the attack. Her brother, or really Irisa using her brother's phone, finally let us know she was ok but spending the night in the hospital, and that she would be back tomorrow to tell us more. Ojiro and I both breathed a final sigh of relief before we parted ways and went to bed.
I know that our lives as heroes are going to be like this often, watching our friends and partners on TV getting injured and attacked, but this was a first for me. I hope it gets easier, because right now as I lay in bed unable to sleep, this feels like a nightmare. I hate watching the girl I love be hurt, but I'm also so proud of the amazing hero she is and how kick ass she was during the extremely dangerous fight today.
~ Irisa POV ~
I was hooked up to a breathing machine before I even knew it. Mirko may actually be even faster than Hawks, which is insane to think about. Nonetheless, I'm in a hospital bed currently, a mask over my face forcing oxygen into my lungs as a doctor is cleaning and wrapping my burned hand.
"Well, your hand should heal just fine, Ms. Yoarashi, though maybe with a few burn scars. You broke three fingers, but with rest those will heal quickly, especially once you see Recovery Girl tomorrow. We'll know more about the burn scarring as it heals, but it won't be too bad, I promise." The doctor says as he finishes wrapping me up. "The rest of your cuts on your body are minor as well, so no scarring and you can remove the bandages on them in a few days. The worrying part is your lungs. We need to take an x-ray of them once your breathing regulates again. Rest for now and we can look at them in a bit, ok?" I nod to him, unable to speak still.
It's not even two minutes later than my dad and Inasa run into my room. Both are covered in dust and other stuff, both have rips in their tux's, but both of them look unharmed. I feel an invisible weight lift off my shoulders at seeing them both alive and well, even if they both look like they're going to have a heart attack at the sight of me. I wave with my good hand at them with a sheepish smile on my masked face.
'I'm ok, I promise. Just my lungs, we're waiting on x-rays.' I sign one handed to them, hoping between the two of them they might know what I'm saying. I know I've taught Inasa some sign language, and Dad's a Pro so maybe he knows some. Their confused faces aren't giving me much hope though.
"You're being attacked by water balloons?" Inasa asks in confusion, scratching the back of his head as I giggle mutely and sign my sentence again.
"You're going to stop a bomb?" Our dad asks, his face mirroring my twin's and making me laugh more, which makes me abruptly stop as I start to cough again. "Oh! You're waiting on your lungs to be checked?" He gets it as I point to my chest and slow my breathing down to stop my horrible sounding coughs.
I then point at each of them with a worried expression, hoping they will understand I want to know what happened to them during the attack. Thankfully, my twin is wonderful and this time he understood exactly what I meant.
"Well, dad and I worked to guide the people who hadn't been picked up by you or Hawks, basically everyone who was in the safer parts of the building, and we got everyone evacuated." Inasa launches into his story. "Then when we got out and those smaller Nomus were attacking, I tried to join you in fighting, but dad reminded me I don't have a license and that we still needed to protect the civilians. So we left the fighting to you, but then those other heroes showed up, and you went off with Hawks and Flame Face." I chuckle mutely at my brother's name for Endeavor. He still hates him, even if he's calmed down about his hatred for him. "Then one of the Nomus slipped past the local heroes and came at us, and it was a good thing I was still guiding them, because I got to take it down. Since it was attacking us, it was self defense, plus Dad here explained that to the police when they arrived so I'm all safe there."
"I wish you could speak, I would like to know what happened to you after you left." Our dad says quietly to us, a melancholy tone as he looks at us, but there's also a spark of pride as he listened to Inasa's story.
"I can fill you in." Hawks says just then, entering into the doorway with a few bandages on his face and his wings still almost entirely gone, but otherwise looking better than before. "Gale Storm, it's a pleasure to see you. I'm sorry for stealing away my intern back there, but her help was immeasurable." He smiles softly and without his usual cocky smirk as he bows slightly to my dad before turning to Inasa. "Ah, you must be the twin. Maybe next year I can get the full set of you two at my agency, Male Jet Stream." I chuckle once again as Inasa immediately launches into a ramble to the Number Two hero about what his actual hero name is and what an honor it would be to work with him.
Hawks and our dad stepped out into the lobby, likely to talk about what happened to me during the attack and what role I played. Inasa stayed behind and went into more detail on what happened with them. He bragged for a full five minutes about how even though our dad was quirkless and only just recovered, he still managed to knock down that stray Nomu with a single punch, even if it was just for a moment before Inasa finished it off.
I had lost my phone during the attack, likely gone forever in the rubble of the destroyed building we had been having dinner in. Inasa thankfully still had his, and I was able to message Eijiro and Mashirao at least that I was ok and would be back at the dorms in the morning. They both replied instantly saying they watched the whole fight on TV, and that everyone in the class was very worried about me. I'm sure I worried those two the most, and I'm sure Todoroki is worried about his dad, so I hope I can fill everyone in on what happened in the morning. In order to do that, I need my voice back and the OK from the doc.