After the meeting with the pros, you, your classmates, and the Big Three were all gathered in a lounge area and sat in silence at a table as you and Ryu had your heads hung low. No one said anything for the longest time until Midoriya spoke up.
"So that's what happened..." He said lowly.
"So frustrating..." Kirishima said through gritted teeth.
"Y/N-kun..." Uraraka stared at you in worry as your head was hung in regret.
"They didn't seem like the ones who would be so put down..." Amajiki said lowly.
Midoriya clenched hist fist tightly as he thought about the information that had just been presented to him.
"Eri-chan...Maybe...if I were there...?" He thought of how things could have turned out but shook his head realizing it wouldn't make a difference and that the same thing would have happened.
Ryu suddenly got up from the table and left as no one followed him in fear of making him go off. Everyone sat in silence once more before the sound of the elevator caught everyone's attention except for yours. Turning towards the doors, they all saw Aizawa stepped out.
"Are you guys holding a wake or something?" He asked with his hands in his pockets.
"Sensei!" Tsu said in surprise of his appearance.
"Ah, just call me Eraserhead outside of class please. Oh, however...I had originally planned to suspend all of your internships today..." He said to everyone's surprise.
"You can't...!" You said in desperation.
"What?! Why now, of all times!?" Kirishima asked in anger.
"You all heard there's a possibility the the League is involved. That changes things." He said as you got up and stared daggers at him. "But you know...Y/N...Midoriya...You still haven't restored my trust in you yet. And you both got in a fight with Bakugo and Ryu." He said as you clenched your fist tighter. "If you all would do me the favor of following established procedures and acting accordingly, I would very much appreciate it...And it would certainly go a long way towards restoring my trust." He said as he remembered the words you spoke in the meeting.
"We won't fail this time...We will rescue her no matter the costs... We will protect Eri. I swear my life on it." He remembered you say before approaching you both and squatting down to level with Midoriya as you stared at him.
"Unfortunately, I have every reason to believe that if I were to stop you two right now...you'd just jump out in the midst of things again. I'm watching you two. If you act again, we'll go by the formal procedures this time around, both of you." He said as he suddenly put a fist against Midoriya's tie and held out his other towards you as he stared at you now. "Let me tell you something...Those hands of yours and Ryu's that just barely missed rescuing her...I'll bet that she felt something other than despair. So keep looking forward and go on." He said as you stared at him in shock of his words.
You didn't know how to react from the words of encouragement he just gave you, and it moved your heart so much that tears welled in your eyes. You could only think about Eri and how she felt during the time that she met you.
"Something other...than despair..." You muttered.
"Do the best to your ability, Y/N. Go beyond. Plus Ultra." He said to you as you stared at your hand.
"The best...I can..." You thought before clenching your fist and wiping the tears that welled in your eyes. "Yes, sir!" You nodded to him as everyone gave a relieved and determined look at you.
Suddenly, you walked pass him and went towards the elevators as everyone stared at you.
"Onii-chan? Where are you going?" 21 called.
"To train..." You said as you got into the elevator and everyone watched as you faced them and the doors began to close. "Chisaki will have hell to pay." You said as the doors closed.
Meanwhile, With Eri, Play
Eri laid in her bed in a dark room trying to rest, but was interrupted when the door opened and light poured in. She shot up in fear and looked as someone who worked for Chisaki came in.
"Eri-chan..." The man said as he saw her in a defensive position. "It's okay! It's okay! I just wanted to check up on you." The man said as he looked around her bed and saw lots of toys that were still in their boxes. "You haven't touched any of your toys at all...After I went and bought them for you too!! Don't you think you could let your guard down, just a little bit?" He asked as Eri looked scared for her life. "If you don't, next time around I'm gonna be the one blown to bits, you brat~" He grinned at her sarcastically. "You're going to be the next mediator. Don't you dare think about running away." He sat at her bedside and patted her on the head gently as she flinched back every time his hand touched her.
He left her room and closed the door behind him as she curled back into a ball on her bed. She laid there in thought before she remembered the encounter she had with you, Ryu, and Vegeta.
"It was different..." She thought as she remembered running to Ryu and clinging to his leg as she gave a scared look to him.
"Be careful about what you say next. You might lose more than that dumb mask of yours." She remembered him saying in a defensive tone as he hid her behind his leg.
"Totally different...Up until now, not a single person...has ever touched me like that before." She thought.
She remembered there was a loud cracking sound as the cement under you cracked and your eyes turned teel as your body trembled with power and anger as a gold aura was slowly seeping out of you.
"What. Did. You. Do. To. Her." She remembered you demanding to know in a low tone.
She remembered especially when you and Ryu both took her hands and held them to try and calm her down. She could still feel the warmth that the two of you gave her as she stared at the hands that held both yours and Ryu's.
"Their hands..." She thought as she teared up.
"I won't let him take you..." She remembered him saying to her before she had jumped out of his arms.
"Were so kind..." Eri thought as she let tears run down her eyes and stain the pillow her head was on.
Meanwhile, With You
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" YOu yelled as you fired a kamehameha towards the ocean as you were at the beach, training.
You were breathing hard and sweating as the image of Eri seared into your brain. The sad, scared look in her eyes. The call for help she was giving. Your heart was racing and your muscles bulged.
"Somebody...!! Somebody...! Please, somebody...!! No...!!" You remembered her cries as your eyes shot open with tears.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" You screamed at the top of your lungs as you fired another blast towards the ocean, creating huge waves.
You grunted as you let your arms fall along with your tears.
"If only I had just followed my gut...and taken her with us..." You thought in despair.
"Put it simply, we're saying that they're prolly making the bullets out of her body." You remembered hearing in the meeting.
"If only..." You thought while clenching your fist.
Storm clouds began to form overhead as it began to suddenly rain. Your hair got soaked and went down as your gritted your teeth.
"Chisaki has a daughter...though one without a birth certificate, so the particulars aren't clear. When these two encountered her, her arms and legs were wrapped in a great many bandages." You remembered Nighteye describing her.
"If only I was smart enough to realize the situation she was in was wore...I COULD HAVE SAVED HER!!" You yelled as you transformed and reeled your arms back as a powerful blast began to charge and shake the beach up.
The waves were crashing against each other as your eyes were flashing constantly and your energy surged everywhere.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" You screamed as you fired a beam and split the waves apart for about 3 kilometers before the water came crashing against each other again.
You panted as you dropped to your knees and stared at the dark sky. You reached your hand out towards it as lightning struck around you.
"We're coming, Eri-chan...Just wait for us...!" You thought as your heart ached.
Meanwhile, Kirishima and the others had returned to the dorms and as they were relaxing in the communal area to try and calm down, they saw Ryu out in the courtyard staring up at the rain. The water that fell on him soaked his clothes and the others got up near the glass window to look at what he was doing.
"It's really taking a toll on him..." 21 said.
"I hope he'll be okay..." Uraraka said.
Ryu gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist so tight that blood began to trickle down his hand. He threw his arms and down and suddenly transformed in a rage.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He yelled as his power rose even more and his light blinded the others inside.
The storm clouds above him parted and created a vortex due to the force of his power as the rain above them suddenly lessened a great amount. He breathed heavily before returning to normal and closing his eyes.
"She happens to fall down a lot..." Ryu remembered Chisaki making up lies as he clenched his fist.
"The Eightfold...Chisaki..." He thought as he turned back and went inside, passing the others as they stared at him in worry. "...You're going to suffer for what you've done..." He thought as he entered the elevator and the doors closed behind him.
Play Song At Top
After the meetings and sleepless nights, you and your other classmates who were part of the investigation returned to U.A. to continue training. However, none of you were able to speak about what happened over the course of time during the internships. Aizawa had informed you beforehand that you and Ryu were probably going to be a necessary part of the investigation and that aside from the Big Three and Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, Tsu, and 21 were told that they weren't necessarily needed for the investigation. However, the four of them denied the ability of staying out of the investigation and wanted to help search for Eri as well to save her. Aizawa warned you all that even though the chance of the villain alliance and the yakuza organization being in the same place was low, that if they were in fact in the same place, that's where they would all stop and let the pros handle the situation, and you all agreed to it. Schools days were hard, you had to avoid everyone who was in the meeting. You had noticed the turmoil from the situation had begun to seep out of Midoriya's heart as he visually seemed disturbed by the situation. You were no different as instead of usually having your cheerful look, you had the face of someone who looked as if they were about to go to war, which you planned on doing. During the course of time, the pros were out searching for their base of operations. Night and day, hour by hour, they searched everywhere they could, trying to find any hint of their location. Then on one night as you were sat at your desk with your phone in front of you, you received a notification and grabbed your phone. Making your way to the communal area, you found everyone who knew of the investigation was there.
"You got it!?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah..." Midoriya said as you all came together and read off of Uraraka's phone.
"The day we carry out the plan...!" She said.
"Y/N..." Ryu called as you stared at him, along with everyone else. "I lost my father to the villains...I will not lose her to them..." He said as you saw the fire in his eyes. "Let's give 'em hell..." He demanded.
You walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder as you nodded.
"We will, best buddy..." You said as you looked at your friends and they gave you a nod. "We will..." You said.
After receiving the text, you all awaited the fated day to come and trained hard to prepare yourselves. Finally came the day as you were all getting ready. For the investigation, you decided to wear a purple gi with nothing under your sleeveless top so your chest was showing along with your arms. You wore red wristbands and a tied a red belt around your waist and wore red ankle braces that covered the top of your black shoes. You gathered with your friends who were also wearing their costumes and met up with the Big Three as Mirio was suddenly pumped up and angry at the same time as he wanted to save Eri. In the early morning, the ten of you gathered with Aizawa and Fat Gum as you stood outside of the police department where there were more than a hundred police officers and a lot of pro heroes waiting to proceed with the operation as they reviewed the list of quirks that they might encounter during the fight.
"If we get that settled now we can start early!" Kirishima said while adjusting his head gear.
"You've been eager to start since this morning..." Amajiki said.
"I'm starting to feel nervous..." Uraraka said.
"Doing all that detective work, cooperating side by side with the police...it's been nothing but stuff I'm unfamiliar with..." Tsu said.
"I totally get it! It's, like, so out there!" Hado said with a smile.
"Hey..." You walked up to Tsu as she looked up at you. "I might no be around to protect you during the operation, you stay safe, okay?" You said.
"Ribbit." She nodded as you leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"You know, they didn't go into detail about this kind of thing back when I was in school, so it really tripped me up in my rookie days." Ryukyu said to reassure Tsu.
"Yeah." Tsu nodded.
"The pros are being all cool and calm! Guess they're use to it, huh!" Kirishima said as he was in a state of nervousness.
"Y/N, 21." You heard someone call and turned to see your dad in his costume.
"What is it, Papa?" 21 asked before the two of you were suddenly embraced in a hug.
"I'm going ahead with Nighteye's group. You look after each other...keep each other safe..." He said to you both.
"We're gonna make it out of this, together, all of us." You said as you pulled away from the hug with 21.
Your dad smiled as he patted your shoulder and stared you up and down.
"You've really grown into the Symbol your mother always said you'd be. You give us hope, so keep fighting." He said as he turned around and walked away.
Then you all gathered with the pro heroes and the police as the chief of the operation spoke up to everyone.
"Hey, heroes. There's no helping it if it gets a little rough out there. If you see even the slightest hint of suspicious behavior or resistance, PLEASE deal with it immediately! Our opponents are yakuza types who, at the very least, survived long enough to see this day. So I want everyone of you fulfilling your roles to the utmost...without letting your guard down for a single second!" The chief spoke as you clenched your fist.
"It's time...Don't worry Eri, we're coming...!" You thought.
"NOW MOVE OUT!!!!!" The chief yelled as everyone scattered to get into position for the attack on the Eightfold Cleansers and possibly the villain alliance.
You, Ryu, and 21 powered up and flew to the sky as everyone dashed towards the hideout. You floated above the main entrance where the police force was stacked along with Fat Gum, Ryukyu, Aizawa, and your friends.
"The moment I'm finished reading the warrant, that's your cue to gallop in! Please be quick about it!" The chief said as he walked towards a buzzer with a speaker by the main gate.
"Keeps sayin' the same damn thin. What, he doesn't trust us?" The pro hero, Lockrock complained.
"C'mon Lockrock, let's concentrate." An officer said behind him.
"Don't be like that! He don't mean it that way." Fat Gum said to him as he scoffed. "Yakuza types are the types who've been livin' in the shadows, all this time. When they see heroes or coppers, they huddle together into a ball like you wouldn't expect." Fat Gum said.
Just as the chief was going to buzz in and speak, the gate was smashed open from the other side and made everyone jump back and a few officers were sent flying.
"Y/N!" Aizawa called.
"Catch them!" You yelled as you, 21 and Ryu caught the few officers that went flying.
You landed back down and sat the officer you caught on the curb as you checked him.
"You're all right! Take a breather!" You said as you jumped in front of the group.
As you got in front Ryu had landed in front of the person who punched open the gate. A large villain who towered over everyone and hard enormous, muscular arms and fist the size of a person. Their face covered by a mask and hist fist wore gloves that had metal on the knuckled to deliver a hard blow.
"Wait, wait, hold up! You're saying they caught wind of the operation!?" An officer yelled.
"Whatever people, just pin him down!" The chief yelled.
"I'm feeling a little more pumped...SO TELL MEEEE~!" The villain yelled as Ryu raised his hand towards him. "WHAT IS IT YOU WANT!?!?" He demanded while throwing his large fist at Ryu.
"I want the girl..." Ryu said as he fired his Big Bang Attack point blank at the villain.
A bright ball of energy blasted out from his palm as the villain was sent flying into the building, following a large explosion that sent more members inside flying.
"Ryu! What did I say!? Follow our lead and the plan!" Aizawa yelled.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!" Ryu shouted as everyone was shocked at his tone. "I WILL DEAL WITH THE WEAKLINGS YOU ALL FEAR, SO IN THE MEAN TIME WHILE I'M POUNDING THESE BUFFOONS INTO DUST, YOU WILL GET THE GIRL AND GET HER OUT OF HERE!" He yelled as he turned back towards the enemies.
"Ryu! Stop! Stick to what we've got!" You yelled.
"Enough! I am tired of playing around! I'm going to put an end to this thing once and for all!" Ryu yelled at you as he charged another Big Bang Attack.
Suddenly, Midoriya ran in front of him and stood in his way with his arms out.
"Ryu-kun! If you do this, you might kill her, too!" He tried to reason.
"SILENCE!" Ryu yelled as he aimed his blast towards Midoriya. "You heard the chief during the explanation! They've kept her hidden underground! I'll just level the entire building above and dig down to grab her safe and sound! Now you listen to me! What happens to these weakling criminals or any of these other weak bastards behind us is none of my concern! The strongest will find a way to survive and the weaklings shall perish! I will get in there and save the girl no matter how much blood I have to spill!" Ryu yelled.
Suddenly, he was struck from the back and knocked out completely as his energy died down. Everyone looked to see you had struck him in the back of the neck in your transformed state and grabbed him by the shirt before tossing him to a few of the police.
"If you do that, then I'm sorry but you won't be a hero like that." You said to Ryu as he laid unconscious. "All right, stick to the plan. Hado, Uravity, Froppy, stay here and provide support with Ryukyu. Mirio, Amajiki, Kirishima, Midoriya, 21, and everyone else, we find Eri-chan and bring down these bastards once and for all? Got it?" You asked everyone.
"Got it!" They all replied as you turned towards the main entrance that was lit aflame.
"All right, let's go!" You said as you ran inside with everyone following you.
After waiting patiently and finally receiving word of the day the operation was to commence, you and your hero friends have begun to attack against the Eightfold Cleansers and the Villain Alliance. In shock and having to be put out of commission, Ryu waits unconscious on the road due o his lash out and rage for what they have done to Eri. What will happen inside? Where will you find her? What villains await you and your challenge? Find out next time on, "The Symbol of Hope."
A/N: I'm getting too excited again and writing A LOT. By the time this is up I'll probably be starting the next chapter already! I hope you all enjoyed!