Okay just breathe. You got this.
"Vermillion?" Goliath addressed you by your hero name. You were now both walking around in the city, just patrolling the area to make sure that everything was alright in the neighborhood. It was quite obvious how nervous you were with how stiff you were walking. "You okay, kid?"
"Who, me? Yeah, totally fine, heh," you chuckled anxiously.
You readjusted the mask that covered your mouth. At least your face wasn't completely visible. No one would know that it was you walking through the streets. Still, every time a civilian glanced your way you felt like running and hiding.
"Who's that guy?" a woman whispered to her friend. "He looks kinda cute huh?"
Unbeknownst to him, Goliath was acting as the perfect distraction.
"I know," her friend whispered back. "Who do you think the kid is? Never seen her before..."
You began to pick up the pace, Goliath taking a few extra steps to catch up with you. You didn't like overhearing others trying to piece together who you were. Because you had missed out on the UA sports festival, the news focused on reporting more on your classmates rather than you. Something that you wanted to keep that way.
Then there was the added factor that no one had seen you in your new hero costume. Just Todoroki, Goliath, and Eiko. So for now, your identity was safe.
"Kid, relax. We're just doing some light patrolling. There's no guarantee that something bad is going to happen today," Goliath pointed out.
"You don't know that," you muttered. "And it's not like I'm nervous about facing another villain. I'm getting quite used to it actually since they kinda pity me because of my mom?"
"Right...your mom," Goliath murmured to himself. "So what are you scared of anyways?"
"People," you answered with a shudder. "All these civilians want a hero right? They want to feel safe. But will they feel so safe when they know it's me that's patrolling these streets? I have good reason to suspect that they won't."
"I know at your school they put emphasis on the people and to always smile for them, but sometimes, they don't even know what they want. As long as you do your best to save the day, you're already a good hero in my book."
Whatever you say.
You stayed silent, focusing on the road ahead. At least it was a nice sunny day and you could look forward to seeing Todoroki later. You were just getting comfortable walking around the city with Goliath until a loud explosion was heard down the block.
Countless of panicked civilians screamed in fear and began running away. Goliath looked at you momentarily before sprinting to action, with you not too far behind. Your heart was pounding in your chest. Could it be another League attack? Or another Nomu attack? You weren't sure but you knew that you just needed to help in any way that you could.
When you turned the corner, you were surprised to see an office building with the top floor on fire. There were several civilians on the sidelines already alerting the authorities however, who knows how long that would take.
Goliath approached an office worker who looked quite overwhelmed. Tears streamed down her soot covered cheeks and her friend was doing her best to comfort her.
"M'am, what happened?" Goliath asked.
"I-I don't know!" she wailed. "There was just this big explosion on the top floor and we all rushed out as fast as we could. Please sir, you have to find my friend, Yui. I can't find her anywhere!"
"We're on it," Goliath reassured. He turned to you. "Vermillion, I need you to stick by me okay? Now let's go."
Goliath ran towards the burning building without hesitation. There was a high chance that there were more civilians trapped inside. You were glad your costume came equipped with a face mask. When you entered the building, you were met with clouds of smoke that made your eyes water and burn. The fire was spreading was fast and even now, there were still some workers leaving the building.
Goliath did a quick sweep of the first floor and upon finding nobody, dashed towards the stair case. You ran right behind him, glad that you took extra training lessons in running. Each floor that you passed got hotter and hotter. The flames at the top floor had no doubt doubled in size at this point.
Finally, you arrived at the top floor. Goliath went in first, calling out to anyone who might need help.
"Yui!" you called. "Yui are you there!"
There was a faint shout in the distance followed by a few dry coughs. "I'm...over here...!" Judging by the female voice, it had to be Yui herself.
The ceiling was falling apart little by little due to all the flames. Within any given moment the whole floor could collapse. Which meant you needed to move fast in order to save any other trapped civilians. Goliath marched on forward, moving aside any desks that had caught on fire. You were stuck to him like glue. You had participated in many trainings that simulated fires but it was nothing compared to the real thing.
Real lives are at stake here, (Y/N). We can't mess up.
The whole time you had your hand positioned over the knife on your holster. You never knew when you might need to use your quirk. Goliath managed to find Yui who was being crushed by piles of dry plaster and bits from the ceiling. Goliath effortlessly tossed the rubble off of her.
"T-Thank you," Yui whispered.
She had most likely inhaled too much smoke.
"Don't worry m'am, we'll get you out of here," Goliath reassured. "I hope you don't mind if I do this."
He scooped Yui up in her arms that way it would be easier to escape the burning building. Your eyes scanned the surrounding area for more civilians.
She clung onto his shirt. "Oh, not at all," she said.
In the farthest corner, you could see an elderly man who had most likely collapsed from all the smoke.
"Goliath, over there!" you pointed.
"I'm on it!" he declared. "Watch my back kid."
He shifted Yui to one side while he carefully maneuvered his way towards the unconscious man. You kept a lookout and made sure the flames wouldn't disturb him. You moved to help to prop the man up. Goliath was able to pick him up easily like he had done with Yui. Outside, you could hear the familiar sound of fire engines approaching the building. You felt more at ease because of this.
Goliath took the lead and started heading back towards the staircase. Upon opening the door, you saw how badly the fire had spread. The stair case was beginning to get engulfed in flames. Smoke kept on accumulating in the tight space, making you cough repeatedly into your sleeve. You both needed to be extremely careful in order to make sure the two people Goliath carried didn't get hurt.
As you descended down the flights of stairs, you came across more people who needed help. Goliath threw two more people over his broad shoulders. You wished you could do more to help but you weren't strong enough to carry so many people like he could. Instead, you focused on clearing the path in front of him and making sure that the surrounding environment was safe. It was the least you could do to help out. You were just a few flights away from the first floor until you saw that the exit was blocked by bright orange flames.
"There's another staircase across this floor," Yui piped up. "We can try and use that one."
You looked at Goliath, unsure. Sweat was dripping down his temples and his auburn hair was covered in soot. "Okay, Vermillion, check to see if it's okay."
"Got it."
You pressed your palm against the door. It was warm. Chances were that the fire wasn't too bad on the other side. You stepped aside to let Goliath kick the door down. It turned out that you were semi right. The fire wasn't as bad compared to the top floor, but it was slowly growing worse with each passing minute.
"We gotta move fast, kid! Let's go!" he shouted over the roaring fire.
He charged full speed ahead towards the other staircase. Your eyes darted left and right to see if there were another other trapped workers. Your eyes landed on a petite woman who was crouching underneath her desk. Her eyes were shut tight in fear and she held her shirt over her mouth in an attempt to filter out the fumes. You grabbed your dagger and made a precise cut on your shoulder, a long tentacle soon forming from your blood.
The tentacle wrapped around the woman's waist and pulled her close to you.
"Oh my goodness, thank you!" she cried.
"Are you okay to walk?" you asked.
"Yes, yes!" she nodded. "I'll be right behind you."
"Good job, kid," Goliath said. "Now let's get a move on."
He adjusted the people who were thrown over his shoulder before breaking out into a sprint yet again. You and the woman you had just rescued ran close by. You were so close to reaching the exit. Just a few more steps and you would make it to safety.
But then, you heard a sudden cracking sound up above and your eyes widened when you realized that the ceiling was close to caving in. You would all be crushed before you even reached the door.
"Goliath, wait-!"
He hadn't heard your warning in time and you panicked. Before you even realized what you were doing, your blood had shot out and created a shield that covered all of your heads.
"Well, that's new," you said in surprise.
Goliath looked at you taken aback, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I don't know how or what you just did, but keep doing it. We're almost there!"
It felt like it took forever, but you finally emerged into the fresh air of the city. Paramedics and fire fighters rushed over to the two of you, taking the citizens you had brought into their care. A paramedic guided you and Goliath to a nearby ambulance to check on your vitals. You took your face mask off to put on the oxygen mask they provided.
"Oh, Goliath!" The woman from earlier came rushing over. "Thank you so much for saving my friend Yui. And thank you, miss, for helping as well. A kid that's a whole lot younger than me did more than I could ever do."
You looked at her surprised. You didn't think she would thank you too. "N-No, it's no problem. I'm just glad she's safe."
She bowed respectively to you and Goliath before rushing back to her friend. Goliath sat next to you in the ambulance, his head resting against the wall of the vehicle while he took slow, deep breaths. He cracked open one eye and smiled at you.
"How was your first day on the job, hero?"
"I would say I'm far from a hero," you scoffed. "But, I have to admit that was a lot. I'm glad that everyone is safe. You really did most of the heavy lifting though."
"Yeah, I did," he nodded with a smug smirk. "But don't discredit yourself. We worked well as a team. That shield thing you did was pretty badass. Did you just learn that?"
"More like just discovered it. I didn't know I could do it either."
"Interesting....Well, we'll have to incorporate it into your new trainings. I think it's something that could be very useful to you."
"I think so too," you agreed.
You felt a buzzing on your side and fished out your cellphone. It had been a text from Todoroki.
Shoto💞: I just saw the news.
Shoto💞: Are you okay??
You: I'm okay !!
You: Mind picking me up at the hospital instead? 😅
Shoto💞: Of course not. I'm on my way.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
"Shoto?"
"(Y/N), there you are."
Your boyfriend rushed over to you as soon as he locked eyes on you. You had been sitting in the waiting room after being cleared out. Goliath was busy submitting his report to what had happened to the police. You got up as soon as you saw Todoroki, your boyfriend then wrapping his arms around your waist for a tight hug.
"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," you smiled. "No lung damage here. Whatcha got there?"
You noticed he was a carrying a plastic bag. "Oh this? Well I figured you might need a change of clothes so I asked my sister if she had anything to spare. I hope this is okay."
"Are you kidding? This is more than okay. Seriously, thanks Shoto."
"It's no problem," he smiled.
He handed the bag of clothes to you and you quickly excused yourself to go get changed in the bathroom. You peeled off your figure hugging suit, using some wet napkins to help clean off the excess dirt that still clung to your skin. You badly needed a shower soon. You slipped on the casual white t-shirt Fuyumi had let you borrow and a pair of blue denim shorts. You made a mental note to thank her later for saving you with fresh clothes.
You did your best to freshen yourself up before meeting Todoroki back outside.
"Thanks for the clothes again. This feels way better then being stuck in a catsuit."
He reached forward to grasp your free hand, making you blush. "It's no problem. Are you still okay to hang out?"
"I'm a little tired," you admitted sheepishly. "But I'm okay with grabbing a bite to eat. I'm starving."
"There's a pizza place a few blocks away from here, let's go."
You happily followed his lead, eager to spend more time with him yet again.
You both walked through the hospital doors only to get bombarded by a swarm of reporters and flashing lights.
"Look there she is!"
"She's here! She's here!"
They rushed over towards you, shoving their microphones and cameras into your face. You could feel your heart began to race at the sight of them. You gripped Todoroki's hand tightly, your feet glued to the ground due to your anxiety. What did they want from you? How'd they even know you were here?
"Is that your new boyfriend?"
"W-What? N-No," you stammered nervously. "We're just fri-"
"Is it true you contributed to the fire?"
"What!" you gasped. "No, I didn't! Where'd you even-?"
Todoroki pulled you over to the side. He had created a wall of ice to separate you from the reporters. You felt so overwhelmed from all their burning questions. Did they really think you were the reason for starting that fire? Even after you did your best to help out Goliath?
Just how stupid are these people.
"(Y/N), follow me," Todoroki instructed.
He led you past the sea of reporters that had gathered in front of the hospital. Security soon stepped out and were doing their best to remove the pesky reporters since it was a violation of safety. You couldn't believe this was happening to you. Your first patrol had gone well and now it was ruined because the news just had to find someone to pin the blame on.
Todoroki pulled you into a nearby alley, poking his head out to make sure you hadn't been followed. You leaned back against the brick wall, your hands covering your eyes that threatened to leak tears at any given moment. Todoroki gently grabbed your wrists to pull your hands away from your face.
"Are you okay, (Y/N)?" he asked softly.
"No," you blubbered. "No, I'm not. I was just trying to do a good thing Todo. So why the fuck did they have to come along and ruin it?"
He sighed, bringing you closer so that you could rest your head on his shoulder. "Don't let those vultures get to you. You did do a good thing, (Y/N). That's all that matters."
"I just wish they could see that..."
"Cheer up, (Y/N). I know you'll prove everyone wrong who had a bad opinion about you."
You looked into his blue-green eyes. "You think so?"
He wiped away a stray tear from the corner of your eye. "I know so. Hey, I have an idea. Wanna get some taiyaki ice cream?"
Your face lit up at the sound of that. "Um yes, you don't even have to ask."
A/N: Whoooaaa 80K reads? Omg. Thank you guys so much for enjoying this story, all the lovely comments, and the favorites. I'm so surprised this story picked up traction but so happy at the same time 😭
See you guys in the next chapter 💜