Izuku made it to the front of the crowd before Izumina could and ran towards the villain, passing the line of police officers keeping the crowd a safe distance back. Pro heroes and citizens alike, including All Might, gasped as they noticed the boy running into danger.
Izumina made it to the front as Izuku sprinted into battle, a scared look on his face as he ran panting as fast as he could.
Izumina stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She looked around at the fire and broken glass. The sludge villain and her friends, one of which was running right into a fight against a villain she knew he couldn't beat on his own, and the other...
She ran after Izuku, but before she could make it to him an officer grabbed her by the arm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, kid?!" The officer screamed as she flailed to get away from him.
"No! Let me go! You have to let me go," Izumina insisted as she attempted to push the man away from her.
"Kids like you can't just run into battle! You could get hurt! You need to stay here!"
"You don't understand, sir. He's my friend. Those are my friends!" Izumina wriggled but the officer's grip was tight, and his hand was large enough to wrap fully around her bicep.
The officer stepped in front of her to further block her way. "I'm sorry, young lady, but you can't run after him. The safety line is here and any citizen who passes it is putting themself in danger!"
"No! Please, you have to let me go!" Izumina watched helplessly as Izuku came closer to the villain.
The pro hero, Death Arms held his arm out. "Idiot! Stop! Stop!"
Izumina tried to push past the officer yet again, but he'd pulled her behind him and blocked her way. Izuku ignored Death Arms and continued running, sweat dripping down his brow. He ran between the mini fires towards the villain.
Izumina knew he would get hurt. "Even the pros can't engage this guy," she thought as she continued to fight the officer's grip. She needed to get past. She had to. "I can't let Izuku do this by himself! I can't lose him... I can't lose Katsuki!"
Izumina watched helplessly as Izuku gained on the villain. "Why aren't the pros getting in there to help," the voice inside her head screamed.
Bakugou's eyes opened weakly as he heard the commotion around him, and locked eyes with the green-haired boy running towards him. "Deku...?"
Izumina gasped as Izuku neared the villain, who screamed, "Die in an explosion!"
"No! Don't you dare hurt them!" She screamed at the villain as she saw his form shift, preparing an attack.
Izuku ran with his arms frantically pumping beside him.
The villain growled as gross veins appeared in his massive eyes. His pupils dilated out of rage and his teeth clenched. "Brat!"
Izuku undoubtedly thought back to his notes about heroes. Everything he'd learned, and studied. Izumina recognized this as he spun and threw his backpack at the sludge. "Take that!" He yelled as the contents of his bag spilled over the villain's body, and his backpack hit the villain square in his disfigured face.
A pencil fell and poked the villain's eye, causing him to wretch in pain. The villain roared, which allowed Bakugou to pull his head out of the sludge once more.
The police officer kept a tight hold on Izumina's upper arm, but his attention faltered as he heard the sound of the villain yell. She took the chance to use her quirk and teleport herself into the square. In a flash, she appeared a couple of steps in front of the line of pros and police officers and took off running after her friends.
Katsuki coughed and gasped for air, as Izumina continued to run.
"Kacchan" Izuku cried in concern. He began grabbing at the villain's body in an attempt to peel away some of the sludge. He continued to claw away, not accomplishing much as the liquid state of the villain's body slipped through his fingers.
"Why are you here," Bakugou yelled angrily.
"My legs moved on their own!" Izuku cried through a clenched jaw. "I don't know why, though!"
Sludge tentacles pulled Bakugou back in a bit more, which caused him to grunt and close his eyes, preparing himself for suffocation once more. Izuku clawed at the sludge near Bakugou's face just as Izumina appeared next to him.
Izumina held out her hand and forced the sewer green liquid away from Bakugou's face. Bakugou broke out into a coughing fit as the villain moved, taking him with it. Izumina huffed as the goo flowed with free will. Although she pulled with all her might the sludge fell back over Bakugou's face before he could even open his eyes again.
"It's no use," she thought, a look of horror on her face. "The sludge is his body. His life force controls it. My powers have no effect."
Bakugou managed to open his eyes and meet Izumina's, his eyes widened as he realized she too had come to his aid. Then, he turned his attention towards Izuku.
Tears streamed down Izuku's cheeks as he watched Izumina's attempts fail. Noticing Bakugou's attention on him he spoke, "You looked like you were asking for help..."
Katsuki's eyes flickered with an unrecognizable emotion as the villain suffocated him more and more. "Stop it..." he thought as the villain continued to pull him in.
The villain wretched, his liquid swishing around Bakugou. "Just a little longer," he growled so the middle schoolers could hear. His gigantic eye opened as he raised a hand over Izuku. "Don't get in my way!" He hollered ready to crush the boy beneath his fist.
All the pro heroes rushed forward to save the kids. "They'll die in vain! Are they suicidal?!" They yelled knowing they wouldn't make it in time. They were too far away.
The villain brought his arm down.
Izumina, noticing this, stepped in front of Izuku and held her arms up in an attempt to hold back the sludge. She grunted as her attempt failed and the villain brought his arm down full force.
The impact of the villain's attack created a massive uproar of smoke and fire, which whipped up around the boy and girl, encasing them. Izuku grunted and covered his face. His eyes closed, preparing for death. The world slowed as Izumina glanced over her shoulder at her friends. As she did she thought to herself, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you two," and closed her eyes.
The attack would've killed them... But as the smoke cleared Izumina heard a voice. "I really am pathetic."
She opened her eyes to see All Might, more heroic than ever, standing over them. She heard a gasp behind her, undoubtedly from Izuku, as she stared up at the symbol of peace in awe as he held back the villain's massive fist.
"All Might..." Izuku mumbled in disbelief.
Izumina was at a loss for words.
"Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice!" All Might said through a strained smile as he continued to hold the villain back. Veins popped out of his forehead as he struggled to pull his arm away from the sludge. He raised his fist and broke the strings of sewage that had latched onto him.
"You saved us," Izumina whispered so quietly it was almost inaudible, but All Might heard and noticed her voice hung in mid-sentence. He knew what she meant. He knew she'd meant: "You saved us, even though you'd used up all your time already."
Izumina, Izuku, and even Bakugou from within the villain's bonds stared at All Might in utter admiration and shock. With one fist, All Might grabbed both the boy's wrists and nodded at Izumina as blood spewed from his mouth.
"Pros are always risking their lives!" He declared in response to Izumina's statement as he wound up a punch. Izumina's eyes widened as she realized what his nod had meant. She glanced at the side of the road and teleported away from the villain. In a split second, she reappeared next to a lamp post. Izuku and Bakugou were too absorbed with All Might to realize what she'd done. She reached out an arm and held onto a nearby lamp post.
The villain wound up his arm too, in a spiral of liquid. He screamed, "All Might!"
All Might shifted his weight, ready to attack, and screamed "Detroit..." He punched the villain with all his strength. "SMASH!" His attack was so powerful it blew the villain backwards in a strong gust of wind. The villain's body shattered as he was blown back by the sheer force of All Might's punch. The winds hit him so hard he couldn't keep a physical form. He turned to slush.
The gust of wind was so strong that everyone ducked for cover as it whipped around the street. Mt. Lady bent down and covered the crowd of people with her gigantic arms. The Pros held onto one another as they fought not to be blown away. Capes and Hair whipped around in the gust. It was so strong it even created a funnel of wind passersby could see from blocks away. Izumina closed her eyes as she gripped the lamp post tighter.
After a moment she felt the wind against her face die down. She opened her eyes to see the funnel of wind in the square beginning to dissipate. As the funnel vanished entirely she closed her eyes and leaned against the pole in an attempt to regain her balance. It took a few moments. Nobody spoke.
When Izumina felt like the world had stopped spinning she reopened her eyes and looked around. She recognized All Might's figure bent over in the middle of the square, his arm smoking as he huffed from the effort it had taken to beat the sludge villain. Izuku and Katsuki lay sprawled out on the road not too far from the hero. Izumina breathed a sigh of relief.
Citizens and heroes alike stood dumbfounded at the Symbol of peace as grey rain clouds moved in and began drizzling over the heads of them all.
"Rain?" a man asked as he stared up at the not so clear sky that had been earlier.
"Don't tell me it's from the wind pressure just now?"
"An updraft developed and..."
The crowd remained in awe, muttering observations in an attempt to figure out exactly what just happened. Clouds circled overhead as everybody continued to stand, stuck in a state of utter bewilderment.
Death Arms huffed, his eyes wide. "He made...clouds...!?"
All Might wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, before standing heroically and smiling at the crowd. Everybody smiled back. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" a man called, growing more and more excited, as the crowd erupted in cheers. "With just his right fist, he changed the weather," he finished.
Izumina clapped a hand over her mouth as she choked back happy sobs. In the square, Bakugou began to stir and weakly he sat up. Without thinking Izumina ran towards him.
Bakugou rubbed his head as he took in his surroundings. As he did, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see what it was. Before he could fully comprehend what was happening Izumina engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug.
With a surprised gasp, he stared, wide-eyed into the distance before bringing himself to look down at Izumina's figure; kneeling on the concrete ground in front of him, her golden brown hair a mess. He couldn't meet her eyes, as her face was nuzzled into his neck, but he could feel the warmth of her tears falling on the collar of his shirt. With noticeable hesitation, he brought his hands away from his sides and hugged back, clutching her shoulder blades. He closed his eyes and breathed in the comfort of having Izumina near.
Part of him screamed to push her away, but after everything he'd been through, he was far too tired, and far too relieved to do so. And thus, for a moment, he allowed himself to enjoy the embrace of his friend.
The crowd continued cheering as people hooted and hollered. "That's amazing!" "That's All Might for ya!"
All Might raised his fist in the air triumphantly, his balance wavering for a second but not enough for anyone to notice. Then, without turning his body he smiled back at Midoriya, who still lay sprawled out on the sidewalk behind him. He exhaled with a slight chuckle before turning his attention to Izumina, who had lifted her head to meet his attention. With her arms still wrapped around Bakugou's waist, she smiled and mouthed a silent "thank you."
All Might winked in return.
Bakugou, who had felt Izumina move, opened his eyes. He glanced at his side and noticed a certain head of green hair that was all too familiar. With sudden irritation, caused by Izuku's presence, Bakugou released his hold on Izumina. "Umm... What the fuck do you think you're doing, Aho?" Bakugou questioned as he tilted his head to growl in Izumina's ear.
Izumina flinched, upon hearing the abrasive tone of his voice. "Sorry, sorry," she chuckled as she awkwardly pulled away. "I'm just glad you're alright, Katsuki."
"Glad I'm alright?!" Bakugou repeated in a hushed tone so nobody but Izumina could hear him. "You looking down on me, Aho? I didn't need your help. Hell, I didn't need that damn Deku's help either! I had that guy! I could've handled it myself," Bakugou exclaimed in a whisper, as he was still quite drained from being suffocated. It didn't seem he was going to let the subject go, and in the state he was in, he would waste all of his remaining energy just to give Izumina an ear full.
"I know," Izumina agreed, which made Bakugou stop to look at her funny. He hadn't expected her to agree with him. "I'm sure that villain was far too weak for you to waste your time fighting," Izumina explained sarcastically as she smiled. "We weren't worried about you at all."
Bakugou furrowed his brows in an attempt to look angry when in actuality he was slightly grateful; however, his ego had been sorely bruised by the fact that Izuku had aided in his rescue. "Yeah well, whatever," he grumbled leaning back slightly to distance himself from Izumina, who sat on her knees in front of him.
Izumina laughed to herself as Bakugou rolled his eyes at her. Her ability to, in Izuku's words, 'defuse Kacchan like a bomb' seemed to have done its thing yet again. Her laughing stopped though when she heard Izuku groan.
Izumina turned to meet the gaze of her best friend, who had begun to wake up. "Izu," she exclaimed as she stood and shuffled to his side. She helped him to sit up before she embraced him too in a bone-crushing hug.
After this, the heroes collected the scattered sludge and safely delivered it to the police, who took it away in a van. The press surrounded All Might and began asking him questions, all the while snapping millions of pictures. Izuku and Izumina were scolded by the pro heroes.
"Jeez, there's a limit to how rash you can be," Kamui Woods exclaimed, his arms crossed.
"There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger," Death Arms added.
Izuku and Izumina sat on their knees, hands in their laps, at the side of the road. Izuku with his head down, and Izumina with her head up mumbling apologies as the heroes continued to scold them, veins popping out of their foreheads in annoyance. Izuku sweatdropped and slouched with an embarrassed and uncomfortable look on his face.
Meanwhile, Bakugou was praised by the pros. He sat on the sidewalk, staring at the ground, with his elbows resting on his knees. His hands dangled in front of him as he held a ticked off look on his face.
"That was amazing toughness!" A hero with a yellow cape, and bird-like mask, complemented. "And that quirk! Once you're a pro, please come to my agency! You'll definitely be an excellent sidekick!" Katsuki didn't acknowledge the hero, he just continued to glare at the ground as the heroes showered him with compliments. Katsuki glanced up at Izuku, who sat next to Izumina as the two of them were scolded, and his glare deepened.
~Later~
The whole event was already streaming on television by the time Izumina and Izuku had continued their walk home. People watched in store windows as a picture of Katsuki, then All Might flashed throughout the many screens.
Izumina kicked a pebble as she walked before saying, "Don't feel bad Izu, those heroes were just mad they got upstaged by the future number one hero." She turned her head to smile at Izuku. "Just be glad All Might showed up to deliver the finishing blow."
Izuku huffed, "I wanted to apologize to All Might, but he was still getting interviewed... I'll try sending him a message on his website when I get home." He stared at the ground sadly as he walked holding the straps of his backpack.
Izumina's smile fell as she turned her gaze back towards the ground. Silence filled the atmosphere between them as Izumina thought, "he still feels responsible for what happened...How can I help him? What should I do, Fleur." She tilted her head to look up at the sky, which was painted a beautiful red and orange by the setting sun and thought about the hero who had sat with her in that hospital waiting room, so many years ago.
"Deku!"
Izuku stood up straighter and turned around. Izumina mimicked his action to see Bakugou running towards them.
"Kacchan...? Izuku said, more to himself than anybody else.
Bakugou came to a stop in front of them, huffing as he had run to catch up. His grey backpack was slung over his left shoulder.
Izumina smiled in a friendly manner at him as he caught his breath.
Katsuki balled his hands into fists as he looked at the ground, letting his bangs fall over his eyes. "I never asked you for help!" he stated, shaking slightly.
Izumina frowned.
Bakugou lowered his arms to his sides stiffly before continuing, paying Izumina no attention. "And you didn't help me!" he insisted, his voice growing louder. He looked up and made eye contact with Izuku, clearly quite angry. "Got it?!" he yelled through slightly pursed lips and gritted teeth. "I was fine by myself." he continued in a quieter voice than before, though still threatening. "You're a quirkless failure playing without a full deck! Don't think you can look down on me! Are you trying to make me owe you?!" His irked expression turned into more of a glare. "Don't look down on me!"
Bakugou looked up and met Izuku's eyes, then he turned his gaze to meet another, though much more brilliant, pair of green eyes. Izumina fumed, her mouth hanging open as though she were about to say something when he stopped her by turning around abruptly, and stomping back down the street he had come, huffing as he did so. "You damn nerd!"
Izuku sweatdropped at Bakugou's behaviour as his silhouette disappeared down the street. "Toughness..." he sighed.
Izumina nodded, clearly quite frustrated at Bakugou's little speech. "No kidding."
"But..." Izuku continued gaining Izumina's attention.
"It's just as Kacchan said. It's not like I accomplished anything, or changed anything." He looked down with a fake smile on his face, and let his messy bangs cover his eyes. "But, I'm glad." He turned back the way he'd been walking without meeting Izumina's gaze. "Now I can think of a realistic future..."
"Izu," Izumina mumbled at a loss for words.
Izuku continued walking the direction he had been before but didn't get more than a few steps before a certain someone appeared before him.
"I am here!" All Might exclaimed as he rushed in front of him from a side street. A trail of dust followed behind him as he came to an abrupt stop.
Izuku gasped. "A-All Might?!" He questioned, leaning forwards with wide eyes. "Why are you here?"
Izumina stood a couple of paces behind Izuku with a similar look of surprise gracing her features.
Izuku peeked behind the massive musclehead of a man in front of him. "You were surrounded by reporters until just now..." he recalled turning his head back to face All Might.
"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA," All Might laughed, his voice booming. "Getting away from them was a piece of cake." He saluted with two fingers, then let them hover by his face. "Why?" He turned around so his back was to Izuku and Izumina, his head tilted so he could still see them. "Because I," He flexed his gigantic back muscles and arms before continuing. "am All Might--"
Suddenly he poofed back into his civilian form, blood erupting from his mouth. Izuku screamed.
"Goodness!" Izumina gasped as she fumbled for her pockets. She pulled out a pack of travel tissues rushed forward to hand one to All Might.
All Might nodded with his hand over his mouth and accepted the tissue with his other. He coughed quietly as he wiped his mouth. "Thank you, young Kimino," he said, addressing Izumina by her last name, which he recalled from earlier that day.
"No problem," she responded, tucking the pack back into her pocket.
"Young man. I come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion." All Might explained, addressing Izuku now.
Izuku still appeared shocked. "Huh?"
All Might continued, "I would have preferred to talk to you alone..." He tapped his chin in thought. "But, I have some things I would like to say to you as well, miss, so I guess I should just get on with it."
Izumina and Izuku stood side by side and waited for All Might to proceed.
"If you... both of you... hadn't been there... If you hadn't told me about your life... I would've turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. So thank you."
Izumina smiled before Izuku cut in "That can't be... It was my fault in the first place. I got in the way of your work..." Izuku turned to the side slightly. "And I said all those impertinent things even though I'm quirkless..."
Izumina opened her mouth to protest when All Might beat her to the punch.
"That's right," he interjected. "It was because it was none other than the timid, quirkless you at the scene that I was able to act."
Izuku looked up and turned towards All Might once more.
"Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common."
Izuku shifted and Izumina stared in bewilderment at All Might
"Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think."
Izumina's eyes widened as she recalled jumping at the sludge villain in the tunnel by their school, and Izuku's eyes widened as he remembered how he had run past the line of police officers to save Bakugou.
"Ah," Izuku mumbled to himself before looking down and sniffling. His whole body was tense as he tried to keep himself from crying.
Izumina looked at her friends as he clutched the fabric of his shirt, by his chest, and bent forward as tears began streaming down his face. It was enough to make tears well in her own eyes as well.
All Might looked down at Izuku's trembling form and asked, "That was true for you, too, wasn't it?"
Izuku gasped for air as he struggled to get out the words he wanted to through his tears. "Yeah..." He croaked, as he finally broke down entirely and doubled over into a ninety-degree angle to try and hide his face from All Might.
All Might made eye contact with Izumina and nodded slowly, insinuating that the question was meant for her too. She nodded as a tear escaped her eye.
Izumina took a step towards Izuku and placed a comforting hand on his back. He fell to his knees as he continued to sob.
The wind blew. All Might's side bangs and Izumina's loose ponytail swayed in the breeze.
"You can become a hero."
Izumina rubbed circles on Izuku's back as she kneeled next to him. The yellow and orange sunset streaked across the sky as sakura petals fell from the trees, just as they had earlier that morning.
Izuku cried, entirely bent over himself with his hand supporting his weight on the ground. His hair fell in his eyes but he didn't care enough to push it aside.
Izumina smiled up at All Might gratefully before turning to look at Izuku.
"See, Izuku," she said hopefully. "Dreams can become a reality."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note
Phew, finally finished with the first couple of episodes. I'll be honest the last couple of chapters took longer than expected. From now on I'll do my best to include only what's necessary to the plot of the story. It's gonna be a long haul I can tell you that for sure. Thank you again to all the people who've been reading, voting, and adding this story to reading lists. It truly means the world to me. ❤️
~Author