Mr. Compress.
Himiko Toga.
Dabi, Twice.
Spinner, Magne.
Mustard, Muscular, Moonfish.
A Nomu.
And... Ghost.
Those were the names of the villains who attacked the camp that were filed on the police report when emergency services finally arrived. Only three villains had been taken into custody.
On the Pro Heroes' side, one was in serious condition after a head injury. Another had lost a lot of blood and was missing.
Out of the 41 students... 15 were unconscious and in serious condition from the villains' toxic gas. Eleven had varying major or minor injuries. Only 14 were unharmed.
And one student... was missing.
After help had arrived, treating everyone's injuries and getting statements... Hitomi was lucky enough to go home after the incident, being one of the 14 with no real injuries to speak of.
Her family had all treated her like a fragile vase when she got home, afraid that if they'd pushed or prodded too much Hitomi would fall apart.
If she was being honest, she felt like she could break down at any minute.
She'd stupidly gone off on her own when there was an unknown amount of villains in the area, ignoring direct orders from a pro hero and allowing herself to come face-to-face with a villain. Allowing herself to get captured.
And then, when she was set free... all she could do was watch uselessly as Bakugou was taken away.
The villain's words rang in her mind.
"A quirk in the hands of another useless hero."
"A hero so useless... that they fail to protect the people they're supposed to."
Useless.
So completely, utterly, useless.
Hitomi collapsed onto her bed, choking back sobs as she smushed her face into her pillow.
What kind of "hero" am I?
I couldn't save Nari back then.
I couldn't save Bakugou during exams.
I couldn't even save him when he was three feet away from me.
I can never save anyone.
By now Hitomi was crying, her tears soaking into her pillow.
Face it, Hitomi.
No matter how hard you try, you will never be a hero.
All you are... is someone useless.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a soft knock was heard at her door.
"Go away," she immediately said.
Instead of hearing retreating footsteps, she heard her bedroom door creak open.
"Hitomi...?"
It was Nari.
Hitomi turned away from her best friend, not wanting to be seen in such a sorry state. She choked back more sobs, feeling her mattress dip as Nari took a seat by her feet.
The blonde's voice was soft as she spoke. Careful. "...I heard about what happened."
Hitomi only stayed silent.
"Hitomi, I really hope you're not blaming yourself for something again."
"...I should've never tried to be a hero."
Nari made a noise of surprise as Hitomi sat up.
"I ignored direct orders from someone who was trying to keep me safe. I stupidly ran off on my own trying to play the hero, ran into a villain, and I couldn't even stop him. All that I did... was get myself captured because of my stupid choices."
The words were spilling out of her mouth, and she couldn't stop now.
"I was absolutely useless during that entire incident, and then, when Bakugou was right in front of me, I couldn't do anything to keep him from getting kidnapped!" Her eyes burned and a suffocating pain filled her chest, making her grasp her shirt right above her heart. "Tell me Nari, is that what a hero is supposed to be?! Someone who always uselessly stands by when they can change the situation, yet they do nothing-"
Hitomi was cut off as Nari engulfed her in a hug.
"...I'm so sorry you have to go through this, Hitomi."
Hitomi sat still for a moment before burying her face into Nari's shoulder, tears soaking into the blonde's jacket as she continued to cry. Nari just let her, patting her friend's back as she hiccuped and wailed, letting Hitomi let all her tears out. When Hitomi's breaths finally started to even, Nari spoke up again.
"If I'm being honest, Hitomi, I frankly don't know what to tell you in this situation." She held Hitomi tightly in her arms, rubbing soothing, gentle circles into her friend's back. "... I can't exactly say things will be okay, because one of your classmates is still missing."
With a deep breath, Nari let go of the hug, gripping Hitomi by the shoulders and looking her in the eye.
"I will tell you this, though.
You need to stop blaming yourself."
Hitomi tried to protest, but Nari shushed her, tightening her grip on the bluenette's shoulders.
"This mindset of yours isn't healthy, Hitomi. If you keep blaming yourself for things like these, you'll end up falling apart someday. I know it's sad, but there are people you just won't be able to save. It's okay to grieve for them, but in your case, you let it eat away at you."
Hitomi looked down at her lap as Nari continued.
"The way you handle this really isn't good for you. If you let things that have happened to those you couldn't save chip away at you, how do you think it will affect the people you can save?"
Hitomi's eyes widened as she took in Nari's words.
"I'm sure you're not the only one who felt it was your fault when Bakugou was taken, Hitomi."
"You're right..." Hitomi mumbled. "If anyone's feeling the most frustrated of all, it's Midoriya..."
I can't even begin to imagine how he feels about all this.
Nari finally let go of her shoulders, getting up from the bed. "See, you're not the only one who feels this way.
You need to let go of the mindset that there's always something you alone could have done, Hitomi. You're not alone. Sometimes there's nothing that can be done, and that's okay. It doesn't mean it's your fault. Please... don't just let yourself get caught up in what you could've done. Focus on what you can do now."
Hitomi was silent as she stared at her hands in her lap.
Nari headed to the door, hoping she got through to her friend.
"I brought some boba for you from work; I need to head out now, but it's on the table for you downstairs for when you're feeling better."
Nari shot Hitomi one last glance before she left the room, the door quietly clicking shut.
Please remember what I've said, Hitomi.
----------
Class 1-A piled into Midoriya's hospital room, glad to see their classmate finally awake.
"Did everyone from Class A come?" Midoriya's voice came out weak, hoarse from a lack of use.
"No," Iida said. "Jirou-kun and Hagakure-kun are still unconscious from the villains' gas. And Yaoyorozu-kun also got hit hard on the head and is hospitalized here. Apparently she just regained consciousness yesterday. So everyone but those three came..."
"Sixteen of us..." Uraraka said.
"Because Bakugou's not here," Todoroki cut in.
Hitomi saw Midoriya's eyes begin to well up as the realization hit him his childhood friend had been taken away.
"All Might told me, 'I can't save the people I can't reach,'" Midoriya said as his voice cracked. "That's why he will always save those he can reach. I was in a place where I could reach... I had to save him. That's what my quirk is for... It's exactly like what Aizawa-sensei said to me."
Tears began to flow down the freckled boy's face. "My body... it wouldn't move. It was all I could do to save Kota. I couldn't save someone right in front of me..."
"Then let's save him this time," Kirishima suddenly said.
Hitomi turned to her friend in surprise.
"Actually, Todoroki and I were here yesterday, too," he continued. "On our way to your room, we saw All Might and a police officer talking to Yaoyorozu."
Kirishima described what he and Todoroki witnessed the day before, revealing that Yaoyorozu had placed a tracker on one of the villains.
"Does this mean you're going to have Yaoyorozu-kun make another receiver?" Iida questioned.
"What if it does?" Todoroki replied without hesitation.
Hitomi saw Iida's fists clench, before he suddenly shouted, "It's just as All Might said! This is something we should leave to the pros! This isn't the place for us to act, you idiots!"
"We know that!" Kirishima yelled back. "But, I couldn't do anything! After I heard my friend was being targeted! I couldn't do anything! I didn't do anything! If I don't do anything now, I won't be a hero or a man anymore!"
Kaminari tried to quiet Kirishima down before Tsuyu gave her opinion on the matter. "Iida is correct."
"Iida," Kirishima muttered, "all of you, you're all correct. I know that. But Midoriya," he said as he held his hand out to the curly-haired boy, "your hand can still reach! We can still save him!"
----------
Hitomi decided to leave the hospital during the late afternoon, the sight of her classmates hospitalized being too unbearable for her to stay any longer. As she watched the scenery pass by on the train, she remembered Kirishima's outburst that day.
She understood very well what he felt.
But now, he saw the chance to do something and he was taking it.
Nari's words rang in her mind.
"Focus on what you can do now."
She bit her lip, her hand clenching tightly into a fist. Her nails dug into her palm as she recalled the villain's words once again.
"A quirk left in the hands of another useless hero."
Her eyes narrowed.
She wouldn't be the useless hero he'd carelessly called her.
Making a decision, Hitomi pulled out her phone, shooting Kirishima a text.
I'm coming with you.
Hitomi saw the bubbles appear, showing that Kirishima was typing something in reply.
Meet us in front of the hospital tonight.
----------
A/N: I hope Nari isn't coming off as like, uncaring or dismissive or whatever, 'cause that's not what I was going for if it did.
Nari's speech to Hitomi was kinda supposed to be a character-developing moment for Hitomi, where she would let go of the mindset that everything is her fault and begin to slowly move past her self-blaming tendencies.
Because believe me, that's gonna be important later ;)