That day, I heard it from All Might.
The story about her.
The story about what she was getting caught up in.
All Might said it.
That he saw her character and recognized her as someone who could become a hero.
That he recommended her so she could take the general entrance exam and guided her to UA.
And that because of that, there was a high chance she'd been targeted by a villain who resented All Might.
Don't screw with me.
That's what I thought.
"Don't make her carry that burden!"
Those words I shouted back then came from my heart.
I've watched her from closer than anyone, so I know.
You can't—you absolutely can't make her do something like that.
She's an idiot.
A complete and utter idiot.
"Bakugo!"
While I was pulverizing enemies in frustration, Shitty Hair, who'd been transported to the same place, called out to me.
When I turned to check on him, I saw all the enemies I'd left to Shitty Hair lying on the ground.
"I'm done over here! You're good too, right? Alright, let's hurry and help everyone! Since we're here in the USJ, everyone else must be inside too! I'm worried about the guys without good offensive abilities!"
Shitty Hair's thinking is simple, but he's not stupid.
He's probably judging that the others are inside the USJ, considering what Mist Bastard said.
But I can't agree with those words.
"If you wanna go, go alone. I'm looking for her—"
"Huh?!"
I tried to ignore Shitty Hair and leave, but he grabbed my shoulder.
"That's impossible! I mean, I know you two are close, but running around this massive facility looking for one person isn't smart! It's better to help whoever's nearby first—"
"That'll be too slow!"
"Ah, r-right."
At that rate, it probably won't be in time.
Because she definitely won't run away.
Back then, before we got scattered by the black mist, there might've been a chance, but...
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and explained to Shitty Hair.
"Whether we can beat them isn't the issue. They came here to kill All Might from the start. So if Black Mist's role was to split us up, what about the others? The villains placed in each area are just fodder to occupy the students. Disposable pawns. Then what about the ones who appeared in the plaza? If they planned to encounter All Might there first, then the villains' strongest forces are definitely positioned there. Shitty Teacher's in the most dangerous place."
"Seriously?! Aizawa-sensei?! Wait. That 'her' you mentioned looking for earlier—that's Midoriya, right? Why'd the conversation turn to Aizawa-sensei?"
"Because that stupid girl's the kind of massive idiot who'd jump into a place like that."
"Seriously?"
She's always been like that. Terrible timing.
And she always sticks her nose into troublesome shit.
Making excuses, talking flippantly.
She's annoying as hell. That's the kind of person she is.
"Also—"
I grabbed the presence creeping up behind me, slammed it into the ground, and blasted it.
"If the small fry sent after us students is this level, she'll probably be fine."
After tossing aside the unconscious villain, I noticed Shitty Hair staring at me.
"Uh, yeah, was Bakugo always like this? Calm, or like... I thought you'd be more explosive, like 'I'll kill you!' or 'What'd you say?!' and all that."
"What'd you say, punk?! I'll blast you away, Shitty Hair!"
"Ah, there it is! That feels right."
Shitty Hair nodded like he was satisfied, which pissed me off.
Dealing with this guy throws off my rhythm.
Normal people try to keep their distance, but he tries to stay close—just like her.
"If you get it, then do what you want. I'm heading to the plaza where Shitty Teacher went."
"...No, I've decided. I'm coming with you, Bakugo! If the worst enemy's there, let's cooperate with Aizawa-sensei and take them down. I feel like that'd help everyone more!"
"Tch, do what you want."
I discarded my broken gauntlet and checked the condition of the remaining one.
I couldn't see any broken parts.
"...I can fire once."
That thing I test-fired during remedial training.
High firepower, but the long charge time and excessive preparation are drawbacks. But in continuous battles like this, it's a different story.
A true finishing blow.
I have to pick my moment carefully.
"I'm going full speed. If you can't keep up, I'm leaving you behind, Shitty Hair."
"Hell yeah! Let's go, Bakugo! To save the princess!"
"I'll kill you!"
"S-sorry!"
◇◇◇
"—se..."
"—cher..."
"Aizawa-sensei!"
My blurred vision cleared.
"What...?"
As I sat up with hazy consciousness, pain shot through me. I vaguely remembered fighting a villain before losing consciousness.
Familiar students surrounded me.
"Asui, Mineta. Are you two alright?"
They appeared uninjured from what I could see, but I couldn't let my guard down. The dirt and tears on their clothes made it clear they'd fought villains. Depending on the Quirk, even a scratch could be fatal.
"Ribbit. We're fine, Aizawa-sensei. Neither Mineta nor I are injured."
"More importantly! Sensei! Midoriya's—!"
Hearing that name brought back that scene.
I couldn't believe I'd managed to forget.
But there's no time to panic. If I lost consciousness, time has passed. For a significant amount of time, Midoriya's been dealing with them.
"Asui, calm down and talk. What's Midoriya doing now? How far are we from that location?"
"M-Midoriya is currently fighting the black villain who punched you and the white-haired villain. So far she's managing. The l-location is—"
"Past those bushes! She's in trouble! Midoriya is!"
I have most of the USJ's terrain memorized.
A quick look around made me immediately understand we weren't even fifty meters from the previous combat location.
I tried to move my right hand, but the response was sluggish.
My left hand moved properly, and my feet were fine. The faint pain running through my body and the lethargy were unavoidable, but I could still move.
The issue was consciousness.
To make my still-unclear head work, I'd force it to function.
"Aizawa-sensei?!"
"Whoa?!"
Intense pain shot through my broken right ring finger.
Thanks to that, my head cleared.
"Just waking myself up. Don't worry about it. Besides, it's an arm that won't move properly anyway."
I told the two worried students and lightly wrapped the broken finger with bandage cloth.
Proper treatment could wait until everything was settled. A makeshift solution was more than enough.
More importantly, there was something I had to do first.
I put strength into my legs and stood up, but it was heavier than expected.
I could run, but I understood that prolonged combat was essentially impossible.
And my left arm, which I thought would move.
When I moved it again, the discomfort was significant. I couldn't feel even half of my normal grip strength.
"This is... pathetic."
Go help?
Like this?
Impossible.
I understood it painfully well.
The pathetic reality that I couldn't even rush to help anymore.
At that moment, my eyes happened to fall on the two students.
I remembered their Quirks.
And thought of one possibility.
"...I have a favor to ask you two. This isn't mandatory—"
"I'll do it!"
"It's about Midoriya, right?! I'll do it! So, sensei!"
Seeing the tearful children pleading, I deeply regretted not being able to protect them completely. But now wasn't the time for sentimentality.
"Mineta, attach your black spheres to my capture weapon with your Quirk. As many as you possibly can."
"T-that's fine, but won't it stick to everything...?"
"Just the end section is fine. Your spheres don't stick to you, right? Then hold it so the cloth doesn't stick to itself as much as possible."
"As much as possible... O-okay!"
"Asui, your tongue is strong enough to throw people, right? How far could you throw me?"
"Ribbit. It's not that powerful. But with you, sensei, I think I could manage over ten meters. So you mean...?"
"Yeah. That's what I mean."
Asui's quick understanding was helpful.
"But sensei, your body..."
"Once you become a pro, situations like this happen all the time. Don't worry."
I said those words, but her face remained clouded.
I wished I knew comforting words, but unfortunately that's outside my expertise.
"...Well, anyway."
"Ribbit?"
"Saying 'don't worry' was unrealistic. It'd be worse if you felt no resistance sending an injured person out. But listen. I'm your senior as a hero and a teacher with the duty to show you the future. That teacher isn't working while students are. That's wrong, isn't it?"
"That's true. But..."
"Nothing about you is wrong. Asui, your conflict right now is correct. So with that in mind, I'm asking you. Let me save Midoriya. She's also one of the students I have to protect, just like you."
When I patted her head like that, Asui nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Asui."
She'll become a fine hero someday.
Having such conflict comes from being kind.
She might be too kind, but if she could still nod at my words, that's enough.
"Sensei! I'm done attaching them!"
Hearing from Mineta that preparations were complete, I looked at Asui.
What I saw were eyes filled with determination.
Excellent.
"Aizawa-sensei, here I go!"
My body was pulled.
"Mineta! Hold the capture weapon until the last moment! Got it?!"
"L-leave it to me!"
This kid changed a little too.
Just a little from a few days ago.
In a good direction.
Right after being pulled especially hard, I was thrown from Asui's tongue.
The speed wasn't that fast, but there was height instead.
A high position easily clearing the bushes. I caught sight of the black villain fighting Midoriya from a bird's-eye view.
Flying like this, I could probably close in about twenty meters. But I didn't plan to just fly leisurely. I saw Midoriya being sent flying by the black villain.
I put all my strength into my left hand and threw the capture weapon toward the black villain and the opposite direction. The extra stuff attached caused control deviation, but that was within margin of error.
The cloth I threw at its head attached to the black villain's body, while the tail end flew in the opposite direction and stuck to the ground.
I successfully pinned it to the ground, but restraints are useless against All Might-level strength. Mineta's Quirk's adhesion was stronger than expected, but the cloth's durability wouldn't hold.
The time I could buy was just a brief moment.
But that was enough.
I landed without killing my momentum and ran full speed toward Midoriya. The distance that would normally take one breath felt far.
I heard the sound of cloth tearing behind me.
At most, one more breath—
"Shitty Teacher!"
◇◇◇
When I rushed to the plaza, I saw that stupid girl collapsed and Shitty Teacher.
And the black brain-villain behind them.
I was about to call out to blow it away with my gauntlet's special move, but felt something off.
Shitty Teacher's capture weapon clinging to the black brain-villain's body was nearly torn apart.
The burned marks on that villain's pants—yet its body was uninjured.
The smell of burnt flesh piercing my nose.
And the suspicion born from combining all of those.
That stupid girl, Souko, is an utter idiot, but she's not a thoughtless idiot.
She sticks her nose into unnecessary things, but she absolutely won't fight battles she can't win.
Then there must've been a winning strategy.
Against this thing that could tear through capture cloth and be fine after taking Souko's flames.
"Bakugo! Too fast! Where's the enemy?!"
At the voice reaching my ears, I swept my gaze around.
I spotted them immediately.
Those bastards.
"Shitty Teacher!"
I raised my voice while positioning my gauntlet, and Shitty Teacher's eyes met mine.
And simultaneously, our gazes turned there.
"Hey, Bakugo! Not that way—"
"Shut up! Stay quiet!"
I positioned my gauntlet and pulled the pin.
Instantly, with an impact running through my shoulder, explosive flames roared forward.
"—!"
The blast raged.
Dust swirled up with the explosion, and smoke rose.
Where the dust cleared, there stood the black brain-villain, Black Mist bastard, and the weird white-haired guy.
The black brain-villain looked the most damaged. The two protected behind it—I could tell from their sluggish movements that they'd taken some damage.
Confirming their movements had dulled, I immediately called out to the guy who could act as a shield.
"Shitty Hair! Stand in front of that stupid girl!"
"Y-yeah! Also, you're not honest at all!"
Black Mist being there should've blocked it, but unfortunately for them, we had Shitty Teacher.
With his Quirk erased, there's no way to defend against that.
Even if a shield intervened, the explosive flames would damage the body. Serves them right.
While watching those villain bastards, my eyes met the white-haired guy's. A shit villain with eyes like a sewer.
"Are all kids like this these days...?"
His small voice was exhausting.
What a brat.
"Shut up, Shitty Hand Man! Just shut up and die, trash!"
"You guys seriously need to die...!"
You die first, bastard!
***
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