"Bakugo… you there, man?" A cautious whisper flowed into the soundless dome. Kirishima could only hear the faint breathing in his beating chest.
He never noticed how quiet things were, without his sight. Now that he couldn't see, there weren't any sights to act as a distraction from the silence.
"…Ye-yeah." The voice of Bakugo came from only a few feet away. That was strange. Kirishima had only known the blond for a couple days, but he didn't take him for someone to stutter.
"You alright?" Kirishima asked.
"Of course I am." Bakugo curtly responded, offended that anyone would think he was hurt. "I just… just got a bad feeling." He called it basic instinct when he felt his body stiffen upon feeling a dreadful presence, emitted from somewhere within the darkness.
But that was about a minute ago. The feeling was gone, along with the sense of being watched, leaving Bakugo with only his hidden fear.
"Alright, let's get out of here then. I'm sure more of our friends have gathered at the entrance." Kirishima sounded resolved in his suggestion. He turned his foot against the ground, giving off a noise to alert Bakugo.
The blond teen let out a short sigh while going over the options in his head. He had to agree with Kirishima that going back to the front doors of the USJ was most likely the best decision.
"Yeah… let's go." Bakugo finally said before taking his first step towards the entrance's light.
"And, Bakugo?" The other boy sounded reluctant in getting the other's attention.
"What?" Bakugo snapped at his classmate.
"…What do you think happened to Midoriya? Do you think he's alright?" Kirishima had every right to be concerned. The things that one villain had said and the dripping blood on that Nomu thing's hand greatly disturbed the redhead.
"Shitty hair." Bakugo said in the dark with a sternness. "I wouldn't worry about that nerd if I were you. He's a lot tougher than he looks." It would have sounded like Bakugo was actually complimenting Izuku. But the truth was that he said so with the recollection of their 'fight' behind the school so many months ago.
Those daunting eyes easily persuaded Bakugo to go back. Better retreat than to try to find something that could possibly want to kill him.
Because Bakugo didn't know just how close to death he really was.
..............................
"Finally." Todoroki mumbled as he heard the falling glass atop his icy roof slowly subside. It had gone on for several seconds. Which only made the boy question just how much glass was used to construct the lighting of this place.
While he was glad for the rain of glass shards to stop, he wasn't pleased that he was no longer able to see. A vast darkness met any of his attempts to find a guiding light. These attempts were all in vain except for one source of light. A yellow beam that glowed in the far distance.
It was coming from the entrance of the USJ. That meant Todoroki had something to direct him. Hopefully, he wouldn't come across whatever monster released that horrible roar.
"Whew. Good thinking, Todoroki." The voice of Toru spoke up from the boy's left. "I barely managed to hold together from that screech. I don't know what I would have done from the falling glass. Thanks." She gave her gratitude in her usual chipper tone, which echoed slightly in the small structure of ice that surrounded them.
Todoroki had actually had no idea she was here to begin with, but saying so was a waste of time, nor was he going to waste any more time here.
"Let's go." Todoroki gave a curt response that hardly acknowledged the girl's thanks, before beginning to walk towards the front entrance. He heard a few shuffles on the ground from behind him where he figured Toru to be.
"W-wait, what? We're going already?" Toru sounded nervous at the thought of travelling across this dark structure. Todoroki didn't bother with a reply and kept moving forward. The sound of his footsteps on the ground was the only indication of his presence. "Hold on, wait for- ".
*Thud*
Toru didn't get to finish her sentence before it was cut off from an impact, followed by the sound of some scattered pebbles. Todoroki stopped in place, spinning around to locate what could have caused the noise. However, the empty darkness that gave him nothing was still there.
"Toru?" Todoroki spoke into the lightless void. A single hiss met his ears. Thankfully, it wasn't anything along the lines of a snake or a beast of some sort, but rather a hiss of pain that he was familiar with.
"O-ow." Toru's voice finally came back from her short absence. It was strained and easily described the single word she uttered.
"What happened?" Todoroki took a careful step towards the girl, still unsure of the situation.
"I tripped on a loose rock. I hit my knee really hard." Now that Todoroki realized it, her voice seemed to be coming from a lower angle than before. That would certainly explain the thud he heard.
"How bad? Can you still walk?" There was a pause after his question. A couple seconds later, another hiss of pain came from Toru in front of him. "Guess not."
"S-sorry." She apologized. Not that anyone could see her because of the darkness and the fact that she was invisible, but her head was bowed in shame and embarrassment.
"It's fine. Just give me your hand." Todoroki dismissed the girl's apology and extended a hand to where he deduced Toru to be. For some time, he was crouched down while waving his hand through the air, searching for where he would hopefully find Toru's hand meeting his own.
This attempt went on until he finally found something that wasn't air or the ground. Firstly, it was warm and soft, so he had found her, but it most definitely wasn't a hand. Whatever it was, it had alighted a small squeak from the girl.
"T-Todoroki, th-that's my thigh." There wasn't even a second of hesitation as Todoroki jerked his hand away the moment the last word left Toru's mouth. If the situation couldn't have gotten awkward enough, there was another pause between them.
The difference this time was that both knew that the other was less than a few feet away.
"Just… take my hand." The flustered boy commanded as he held his arm out. He was not making any second attempt to go reaching, only for him to grab something that could possibly be much more inappropriate. There was another sound of faint shuffling before he felt a pressure nudge against his arm. It wrapped around him, which let him know the object was a hand.
He took hold of it with his other hand and pulled the girl up. Toru let out a small grunt, her injured knee hurting with the movement, but soon found a secure spot along the side of Todoroki's body.
With her right arm going over the shoulders of the boy and her bad leg hovering above the ground, Toru was up on one foot with Todoroki providing support. From what he had been taught, he would normally wrap his left arm around the other person's waist, but he would prefer not to do that. Having a completely naked girl pressed up against him was enough as was.
"Alright. You have a good hold?" Todoroki asked as he nudged the girl's hand on his shoulder while holding it down.
"Yeah, but we're not going to try and get back like this, are we?" Toru answered. She was obviously nervous about the trek back to the front of the USJ.
"Would you prefer to stay here?" Todoroki was rhetorical in his question.
"No... But look at what happened to me after taking just a few steps. We need some kind of light." Toru strongly suggested. Todoroki had to agree with her on that. They were teleported to the landslide zone. The terrain was unstable and rocky. If they weren't careful, then they could get injuries far worse than a scraped knee. "Why don't you use your fire?"
Todoroki was brought out of his thoughts. He couldn't see, but that didn't stop him from jerking his head towards where he heard the curious voice of Toru. Just as he did, the boy looked straight forward with a hardened stare.
"No." That was all he had to say.
"What? Why? We don't have any flashlights that I know of and I certainly don't have any way of guiding us to the exit." Toru urged on, giving a reassuring squeeze with her hand on his shoulder.
"I refuse to use my flames." Todoroki's words were just as cold as his ice. He could feel Toru shy away from him. He figured that would have been the end of that, but apparently, she wasn't done.
"Todoroki, listen. There is no way we'll be able to get all the way to the front entrance, let alone out of this zone if you don't use your fire to make some light. All we need is to be able to see a few feet in front of us. Please." Toru sounded hopeful in her plea. The pain in her knee was enough to convince her that trying to navigate across the USJ was a bad idea. She didn't want either of them to get any more injuries in such a dangerous environment.
Unfortunately, it seemed that her attempt was in vain. Todoroki didn't even bother to answer her this time. Toru had no idea that the #2 Hero's son was so stubborn. He made no move to suggest him complying nor have they even moved ever since the lights went out.
Standing under this canopy of ice was starting to create a cold spot that sent chills down Toru's bare skin. She was about to try again to persuade him, but something stopped her just before the first word left her tongue.
A small little dot of bright orange lit up just a foot in front of them. Its glow was just as small as its insignificance. Hardly bigger than the size of a large ember. It flickered before the two.
Ever so slowly, it began to grow.
It expanded until it was the size of a lick of fire you would see on a candle. The glow it gave off now had a bigger radius, revealing the hand that it hovered above. It was the same hand that had refused to take hold of Toru's waist. It reached around her side, giving home to the little inferno.
"Yeah, see? It isn't so bad. But it needs to be quite a bit bigger if we want to get out of here." Toru inwardly cheered for the progress they were finally making. Todoroki replied with a reluctant hum, but the small flame began to grow even more.
It shined like a tiny star, spreading a warm orange glow across the details of the boy's hand and slowly up his arm. It was now large enough for Toru to feel its warmth, fighting off the cold. It also helped that she was pressed up against his left side, which she discovered to be warm.
Just as the light enveloped them both in an orange hue, the flame stopped. The growth of the fire had been halted without a second thought.
Toru didn't complain about the development, because she had also seen it.
From the midst of the darkness, the shimmer of a blade emerged just inches away from Todoroki's neck.
"Either of you try anything and this blade goes straight through your neck." A deep and scratchy voice came from just beyond the light's reach. However, they didn't have to wait long for the owner of the voice to reveal themself.
From next to the sword, a face was painted by the same orange light as Todoroki. Blond hair was oddly matched with brown eyes and a wide nose. The man before them had a triumphant grin that mocked the two who were at the other end of the lethal weapon.
"You think you can just leave with your life after humiliating my comrades like that?" The man breathed heavily with excitement as the blade moved around with his pronunciations.
"I don't remember fighting you among the others." Todoroki kept his cool among the villain. He managed to keep a straight face but the bead of sweat trailing down his head betrayed him. Meanwhile, he could feel Toru's shaking body against his own. The tight grip of her hand on his shoulder was one of fear.
"No. I was just supposed to be a scout; make sure that there are no little shits like yourselves hiding about. But it would appear that you were more trouble than we anticipated. I watched from the sideline as you took out everyone in our squad. I'm here to get payback for them." The villain continued to smile evilly at them. His sword inched dangerously close to the base of Todoroki's neck.
"So, you're not only scum, but also a coward for hiding." The boy glared back at the swordsman. The villain obviously didn't like that comment as he growled while jerking the weapon even closer to the teen. Todoroki instinctively inched back to avoid the tip of the blade poking into his neck.
"I would watch what you say, fucker " The man growled with a scowl that had replaced his grin. The tense moment lasted between them. It ended when the villain regained his lost smile as he seemed to realize something. "Guess it doesn't really matter. You're going to die anyway."
Both Todoroki and Toru's eyes widened as the villain's grip on the blade tightened.
He was preparing to lunge it forward. The boy knew he needed to do something fast. There was no way he could use his fire. Even if his promise to never use it to fight someone didn't exist, Toru was too close to not get burned too.
He also wasn't sure if his ice could go faster than the blade that was mere inches from piercing his throat.
He was out of time.
Todoroki saw the killing intent in the villain's eyes, only a fraction of a second away from thrusting the blade forward.
A bristling wave of cold air rushed past them.
It wasn't enough to knock them off their feet. It was barely able to flutter the clothes on their bodies, the flames in Todoroki's hand danced with the wind. Something all three of them noticed was that it was coming from behind the villain.
The second thing they noticed was the nauseating smell it brought. The puff of chilled air smelt thick of blood. So much that they could taste it.
Finally, the last thing they discovered was the small hiss that accompanied this sudden gust.
Sadly, this was not the same kind of hiss that Todoroki had heard from his classmate after she fell.
This was the kind of hiss you would hear only in the darkest of nights.
The kind of hiss that a child would swear hear coming from under their bed or in the deepest depths of their closet.
The kind of hiss that would make anyone cower under the overwhelming sensation of insignificance.
Fear bared down on them much more than gravity ever could.
It pooled into their eyes. Invisible tears ran down Toru's cheeks. She was no longer the only one shaking as both teens prayed for their lives.
Todoroki and the villain stared at one another with shared looks. The sword that was once so eager to cut into flesh wobbled in the man's shaking grip. His eyes were so wide you would think they were about to pop out of his head. His agape lips wobbled with uncontrollable terror.
With whatever courage, or stupidity, the villain had, he slowly turned.
His neck inched to his right. Todoroki could see the villain's body almost outright refusing to move. His joints stuttered and his breaths were laboured.
The two teens were too far behind him in his horrified state.
The villain had now completely looked behind him into the empty darkness. The light of the boy's fire barely reached the villain any more.
Whatever that may lay behind was hidden in the abyss.
There was no movement.
No sound.
No indication of the presence of a fourth.
But they knew.
They knew.
…
It happened so fast.
Faster than they could blink.
…
The villain was gone.
And in his place, the sword he wielded clattered on the rocky ground.
Its shiny surface reflected the orange light of the fire.
Still, there was no noise.
Whatever had taken the villain did so too fast for him to be able to scream.
Trembling fingers closed inward. They acted as cages around the shrinking fire.
Soon enough, the fire was extinguished.
And so, the two were plunged into darkness once more.
..............................…
"What on earth?" Ojiro huffed with disbelief. He peered carefully upwards through the broken window of the building, up to the roof of the miniature dome.
Just as he thought. All the lights and anything else made of glass shattered into thousands of tiny shards. They covered the ground in front of him like countless shiny diamonds. Thankfully, the lights weren't even on to begin with, so their destruction from the thunderous scream did little to hinder his vision.
That was the only thing good about him being in the middle of a faux city lit on fire. Other than that, there were plenty of problems to keep him occupied for the time being.
"Crap." Ojiro quietly hissed as he ducked back into the building he had taken cover in. It was one of the few that weren't completely set ablaze. Surprisingly, it actually provided a decent amount of shelter and protection from what had caused him to hide in the first place.
"Where the hell did that bastard go?!" A woman growled out with frustration. She was somewhere out on the main road from what Ojiro could tell, and based on the multiple sets of crunching glass, she was followed by a party.
"You're seriously still set on finding the kid? You're not at all worried about what the hell caused all this?" A man said this time, asking with noticeable caution. Ojiro could tell what he was talking about after hearing a kick of the shards on the ground.
"I couldn't give a flying fuck about the stupid annoying screech or whatever it was! All I care about is getting back at the fucking brat for blindsiding me earlier!" With that announcement, Ojiro realized who this woman was.
Before the roar, he had managed to ambush a few villains. One of them was a woman who had managed to brace in time to keep herself from being knocked out. It was just after that she alerted the others and quickly gave chase as Ojiro fled the scene.
Guess they were still hot on his trail.
Bad Ojiro. Now wasn't the time for puns.
"Well, I don't see him anywhere. Let's keep moving." Another villain said from within the group. They were given a growl from the woman as a response, but the collection of footsteps indicated that they had begun to head further down the road.
The student peaked out the same window of the building to see the group of around eight people running with their backs turned toward him. A sigh of relief felt cool on his lips against the hot atmosphere. It was a reminder of his true goal, that he needed to find a way out of here before he was met with any other surprises.
Ojiro carefully vaulted through the window, avoiding cutting his hand on the glass, and landed on the outside as lightly as he could. The fires around him easily masked the sound of glass crunching beneath his boots. With a quick decision, he turned the opposite direction of the villains and started to run.
He couldn't even make it one step before a gasp shot from his lungs.
Just a few feet away from him was a lone villain who looked just as surprised as he was. She looked younger than most but had a feeling of experience due to the scars on her face.
Without another second of hesitation, she brought up her hand to her mouth, her fingers forming a certain formation. That was when Ojiro realized what she was doing.
Putting two fingers into the pursed lips of her mouth, she blew out a loud whistle that rang far and wide.
Ojiro leaped into action; literally. The use of his tail sprung him forwards and gave him a good opportunity to launch a strong roundhouse kick to the side of her head to silence her. Much to his dismay, she managed to dodge with apparent ease by ducking. With her other hand, she reached behind her where she pulled a knife from her belt and swung it for his extended leg.
Once again using his tail, Ojiro smacked it against the ground to fling him to the left where he was able to evade the pointed end of the weapon.
There was a short distance covered between them. He used this small window of time to spin his head back towards where he last saw the group of villains.
The pit in his stomach grew as he could see their silhouetted figures in the distance heading back towards them.
"Just my luck." Ojiro grunted before turning back to the villain who was already charging forward with a sturdy thrust of her knife. Again, he just barely managed to dodge to the right this time as the blade sailed past his chest.
But then, the knife wasn't there.
A stab of pain shot across his waist, as he was forced to fall backwards to prevent the knife in the woman's hand from going deeper into his flesh. A roll allowed him to get enough distance to keep her from attempting another attack.
Settling an attentive eye on the villain showed Ojiro that her knife was no longer in her right hand but now in her left. She had somehow managed to switch hands without him even seeing it happen. Must be her quirk.
Either way, he couldn't stay there any longer. The wound in his waist wasn't deep, but was perfectly capable of staining his white costume a crimson red. Not to mention the group of villains that would be catching up any second now.
So, Ojiro did what he thought to be the best option.
Run.
A spring of his tail rocketed him down the road where he originally intended to go before encountering the villain.
He leapt over obstacles and used any means of getting the upper hand to keep himself ahead, hopefully escaping without a trace. Looking back, that hope was out of reach, just as he was out of reach of the knife-wielding villain. She was able to stay within fifteen feet of him as they both raced across the flaming desolated ruins of the streets.
Whoever this woman was, she was much more skilled than the rest of the villains Ojiro had taken out so far. He knew he was in danger from the villains, but he actually feared for his life against this one individual.
A throb of pain strung from his only injury. The stab in his waist was just enough to make him tense up and misplace his footing. The small pile of debris that he was going to jump over clipped his foot by an inch.
But it was more than enough to completely trip him up and send him tumbling into the ground. He knew how close the villain already was. There was no way he would be able to dodge this time. All he could do was flip over and shield himself with the hope that the attack wouldn't instantly kill him.
Ojiro braced for the pain to come.
…
But it never did.
He slowly brought his arms down to reveal the empty scene. There was the fire, the broken buildings, the debris that littered the streets, including the one that tripped him, but there was no villain.
The dangerous eyes that were ready to end his life in an instant were nowhere to be seen. What just happened?
"There!"
A call further away from where Ojiro had run from reached his ears. Looking to its source, he could see the same group of villains advancing on him at a rapid pace.
Ojiro clicked his tongue at his misfortune as he forced himself to get up and continue running. The pain in his waist was much more noticeable and progressively became a hindrance in his escape.
He realized that he wouldn't be able to simply outrun them. Ojiro would have to hide somewhere until this all blew over. The problem was that hiding places were limited as almost everything was either on fire, blocked, or filled entirely with smoke.
There.
An opening past a building. He could use it to cut off their line of sight long enough for him to get somewhere safe.
Ojiro rushed as fast as he could for his target. The building he darted around revealed the smokey pathway he had chosen between the two structures. He couldn't see the end, but that would only help in his escape.
Or so he thought.
Ojiro managed to pivot himself just in time to hit the wall with his shoulder instead of his face. It still hurt like hell as he bounced off and fell to the ground with a thud. His clothing was just thick enough to keep the glass from piercing his skin. The same couldn't be said for his tail, which he had used to help soften the landing.
His pain was voiced through clenched teeth as he shifted to raise his fifth limb from the ground and away from the sharp pieces of glass.
Just getting up from his vulnerable position was beginning to be a chore. His tail was stinging all over the place and had blood already trickling down several spots. The original wound on his waist was being remembered every time he breathed. So much that he needed to keep a hand over it just for comfort.
But that honestly was the least of his worries at the moment. Looking back to the wall he had run into, he fearfully realized that he had come into a dead-end.
"You've got to be kidding me." Of course something like this would happen. Why wouldn't it? This was the scene in every movie where the one being chased would end up in the exact same position as he was in. In those movies, just before the bad guys would get them, the hero would swoop in and save the day.
But this was real life. There would be no hero this time. Ojiro was actually trapped. Maybe he would have been able to climb up to the top, but that was impossible with the higher floors being engulfed with flames.
Maybe he still had time before the villains would show up. If he could just make it out of the alley, then he could find somewhere else to hide.
Ojiro spun on his heel and ran as fast as he could back the other way. The smoke that he had just exited from was now his only way out.
Guess he couldn't have that either.
The dark silhouette of something rapidly closing in was his only warning. It was also his only chance to make it out with his life as he narrowly ducked beneath the fist that grazed his hair. Ojiro instinctively jumped backwards into a stumble that almost sent him back to the ground.
From the thick cloud of smoke, the same woman that led the group of villains appeared with a wicked smile.
"Well, well, well, looks to me that the little monkey got himself cornered." She mocked with sinister intent. Her short orange hair matched the flames that danced around them, and her black eyes perfectly portrayed the evil that lurked within.
Her fist, the one she had attempted to strike Ojiro with, was covered in a disgusting, purplish, meaty glove that had yellow markings all over it. Without a doubt, it was her quirk. And without a doubt, she had every reason to use it to kill Ojiro in just seconds.
Especially considering the bruise on her cheek, where he vividly remembers hitting her during his ambush.
"Not so tough now, are ya?" The question was rhetorical, but still had the same effect as it was spat from the villain's mouth. Ojiro was threatened, yes. He was afraid for his life
But… he just couldn't help his curiosity.
"Where is the rest of your group? That had been his only question ever since he had seen the villain emerge from the smoke.
"Psh, I would be more worried about me than th-" She cut herself off as she turned around to see no one else other than herself and Ojiro.
She was completely alone.
"The fuck!?" The woman shouted with confusion as she turned to eyeball the empty space between her and the cloud of smoke. "What the hell are you dumbasses doing!? Get the hell in here!"
There was no response to her commands. Not a single sign of any other villains could be seen coming through, nor that they were even there to begin with.
The lone villain growled with anger at having her companions ditch her. She would deal with them later. Right now, she had a brat to kill.
Just as she turned back around to do just that, she was met with a surprise.
A foot to the face… again.
Her cry of pain mixed with the thud of Ojiro's sole crashing into the villain's cheek. The force sent her flying back into the dark cloud that obscured her form until she was no longer visible. He quickly heard the sound of the woman slamming into the ground with the glass shards trickling about.
Ojiro couldn't relish in his surprise attack as another stab of pain ripped through him that caused the boy to drop to one knee. His wound was getting significantly worse with how much he was moving around. Not to mention that he was losing a considerable amount of blood. The knife that one villain used must have been designed to inflict heavy lacerations.
"Gah! God damn it!" An aggravated shout resonated from within the smoke. Obviously, it was from the woman. He could hear her scurrying off the ground as more glass was thrown around. Ojiro tensed as he prepared to fend her off once she came back. "I'm gonna kill you, you little piece of-"
…
…
"… Hello?" Ojiro didn't know why he said that, but something about her being suddenly cut off like that was highly unnerving.
Many seconds of silence followed his little call into the smoke. Nothing came back to answer him.
Ojiro didn't spend any longer dwelling on the thought as he realized this was his chance to slip by. He took a steadying breath to prepare his venture back into the cloud. With one step beginning his short trek, he entered through the smoke.
On careful steps, he made his way through. He hated how his boots crunched against the glass, but there was no helping it. However, it seemed that there was nothing reacting to his obvious presence. Ojiro couldn't see two feet in front of him, but it was as if he was alone in this alley.
Something wasn't right about this situation.
The end of the smokescreen was disturbed as Ojiro broke through to the other end. He had made it without any kind of problems. While he was thankful, it only increased his worry that there was something he was missing.
Even so, Ojiro didn't think sticking around to find out was a good idea. He didn't stop moving. The alleyway's end was nearing. All he had to do was get out, keep a low profile, and find someone that didn't want to kill him.
He made it to the end. Only one step made its way past between the two buildings he was previously trapped in.
Inside this dome of blazing hot fire, Ojiro went cold with fear.
Bodies.
They were everywhere.
Ripped into pieces.
Laying in puddles of blood.
Crushed upon recognition.
Boiling in the flames, which thrived on their unmoving corpses.
It sent an absolutely sickening smell in the air that made Ojiro gag uncontrollably. Even if these were the bodies of the villains that were previously trying to kill him, seeing them spread around in such horrible conditions was about enough to make him hurl the contents of his stomach.
The only thing that prevented him from doing so was the lack of enough light to reveal the truest details of their deaths. He made every effort he could to ignore the disfigured villains and the severed limbs.
*Thud*
Ojiro nearly lost his footing as he jumped with fright. The impactful sound came from his left and sounded heavy. His wide eyes settled on the figure that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. Its shape was lit up by a nearby fire that exposed its identity.
Ojiro spun to his side and let everything pour out of his mouth onto the ground. His vomit added to the putrid smell of the air, leaving a sour taste in his mouth.
Things just seemed to keep getting worse.
Before Ojiro could even give the chance of getting another unwanted surprise, he took a deep breath and ran.
Leaving behind the body of the orange haired woman as her lifeless eyes stared into nothingness. The majority of her expression looked as if she had screamed before her death, or at least tried to.
It was hard to tell as she had no bottom jaw to examine
..............................…
"Anything?" His voice came uneasy and shaken up. His single-worded question was left unanswered for a few seconds of eerie silence.
"… No. I don't hear anything. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know. But we should do everything we can to not draw attention to ourselves, so stay quiet " She hissed the last part to accentuate what she told the boy earlier. She didn't hear any response aside from the barely audible whimper, but she did see his apologetic smile as he raised his arms in submission.
Her sigh was hardly loud enough to disturb the air around her mouth as she settled back into the small circle that had been formed out of the three of them.
…
"H-hey, Yaoyorozu-"
"Kaminari, I told you-"
" I know , I know. I'm sorry. It's just…" Kaminari broke eye-contact as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "There really is nothing we can do?" The boy sounded sorrowful in his tone. Even more so as he gently whispered into the dull light.
Yaoyorozu sighed once more, but this time with less annoyance and more understanding of Kaminari's concern. She looked down to the ground where she sat with a mind full of ideas. There was a second of this before she turned to see the third member of their little party.
Jiro still hadn't woken up ever since she passed out from the screech. She was covered in a blanket that Yaoyorozu made, as well as a pillow for her head against the hard ground. The sides of the girl's head were bandaged, but that was all that could be done for now. Yaoyorozu couldn't access the internet to look up any remedies or ointments for Jiro's condition, neither could she remember any of them.
Right now, Jiro was completely out for the count. Trying to transport her out of here would be tough enough as was, even with light. But in this darkness, trying to trek the mountain zone would be impossible.
Sure, Kaminari could just charge the singular lightbulb she made, but he was already running low on energy and still recovering from the side effects of his previous quirk overuse.
"No, I don't think so." Yaoyorozu concluded with a whisper. "There are just too many possibilities that could attract unwanted attention. It'll be for the best that we just stay here and wait for the pros to show up." She said once more to the blond. Kaminari gave a hum that didn't sound too thrilled about the idea of just sitting here and hiding.
That was how it's been for the last twenty minutes.
Yaoyorozu used the same insulation blanket that she used to protect her and Jiro from Kaminari's electric attack to shield them from the falling glass just after the destruction of every light in the USJ. Right now, it was being used to make their makeshift tent that was propped up on the metal staff Yaoyorozu had made earlier to fight the villains. She needed to conserve as many lipids as possible in this given situation. She was already running low from everything she'd created so far.
That was including the additional blanket strung up to prevent any light from leaking through and giving away their position. On the outside, they were completely invisible to anyone without any light that they had themselves. It also helped to keep their volume muffled and silent, but Yaoyorozu didn't want to take any chances in case one of the villains nearby had a hearing quirk like Jiro.
Overall, from how Yaoyorozu saw it, they were basically stuck. She didn't like it, but there didn't seem to be any better options.
And so, they sat in the small tent in silence, with only a single source of light.
Speaking of, the lightbulb in Kaminari's hand flickered again. It drew the black-haired girl's attention, seeing him blink back into focus and sit up straighter, the lightbulb settling back into a fixed brightness.
"You don't have to keep doing that. I only needed you to give us some light while I helped Jiro." Yaoyorozu said to Kaminari. She had said so as she was helping the other girl but found that he insisted to keep it going even after everything had settled down.
"Nah, I'm good. I can at least do this much." Kaminari reassured her that he was fine in his role of giving them light.
"But all you're doing is wasting energy." Yaoyorozu countered with more concern, noticing that the blond was looking drained from using his quirk so much. His only immediate response was to look at her for a second. His gaze slowly fell onto the little bulb that lit up the tent.
"Yeah… but it's really no different than to what I usually do." There was a noticeable change in the attitude of the boy.
"What?" She asked gently. She recognized the doubtful look in his face as he looked back up to meet her eyes.
"Most of the time, it's all I'm good for. Blasting off everything in one go, but at the cost of making myself a completely helpless dunce afterwards." Yaoyorozu blinked at the way he said it, with such a sense of shame. "I see everyone else here has such a strong grasp on their quirk and how it works. Sure, I can activate it and stun an entire room in less than a second, but I know that's not gonna work in the long run. Especially you. You have this crazy control of your quirk that lets you use an exact amount of lipids to get the exact results you want. Your quirk's so versatile, while mine is only good for one thing." Kaminari had long since turned away from Yaoyorozu again as he explained what he thought about himself. Instead, he opted to train his half-lidded eyes on the bulb that slowly sapped his electricity. "Just wasting energy."
"…Kaminari… you don't really think that, do you?" Yaoyorozu was thoroughly surprised that she was being told all this. She knew she wasn't at all the best person to help people in that way, but she couldn't just say nothing.
But again, he didn't answer right away. The lightbulb in his hand flickered once more.
"… It's kinda hard not to when I'm put in a class with all these amazing people. I'm in the same class as Endeavor's son for crying out loud. How am I supposed to compete with that?" Kaminari gave a good point. Yaoyorozu thought the exact same thing when she saw Todoroki in the recommendation exam.
And then there were the other few students who seemed to be powerful as well. The Bakugo kid with the explosions. From what she could tell, it was such a simple quirk, but deadly and beyond strong. There was even another legacy student here. Iida came from a family full of heroes. Although it was sort of scary and hard to look at, she couldn't deny the strength and utility of Midoriya's strange bone quirk.
Their class was full of amazing students. No wonder some of the others felt overwhelmed.
"Well, you're in UA, aren't you?" Yaoyorozu asked with a certain tone. It drew Kaminari's attention well enough to look at her. "If you want to get stronger, then you're in the right place. Well, maybe not this place, but you know what I mean." She corrected herself, but Yaoyorozu thought she got her point across.
Kaminari gave a very soft chuckle at her answer; his gloomy expression going away for the time being.
"Yeah, you're right about that. I just hope this school can help me fix my dumbass." Kaminari mumbled with some humour. It was definitely better than his previous attitude.
"You know…" Yaoyorozu paused in her words, but she already had Kaminari's curious look. There was no going back now. "If you ever need help with schoolwork, or just using your quirk in general, you could ask me for help." Yaoyorozu gave her offer. And honestly, the surprised look the blond gave her said that she made the right choice.
"Wow, that's one hell of an offer. Thanks, Yaoyor-"
" Shhh " Yaoyorozu quickly silenced the boy with a finger hovering above his lips. He looked taken aback by this which caused him to miss the look the girl was giving him.
"What? I can't say than-"
" Kaminari " Yaoyorozu hissed in a silencing tone as she lunged forward and plucked the lightbulb out of his hand. In an instant, the small tent went completely dark.
Kaminari finally got the hint that Yaoyorozu was shutting him up for a good reason. However, for a long while, he couldn't see or hear what that reason could be.
It was quiet.
Even though he couldn't see her, he somehow knew that Yaoyorozu was on high alert. Had she heard something that he didn't? Was it a villain or a hero? Was it even anything to be worried about?
He didn't know.
Yaoyorozu on the other hand, she had clearly heard something from somewhere behind her. It must have been because of Kaminari's dazed state that he was unable to pick the sound of what sounded like cracking only about thirty feet away from them.
But now, both were on edge and intent on using their senses to find whatever may be nearby.
Then…
*Thud*
Something fell to the ground.
Yaoyorozu was certain of her previous estimate of the noise being 30 feet away, but she had no idea what was causing it. What she also wanted to know was why it was a different sound than what she thought to have heard moments before.
Kaminari, who had inched closer to the well of the tent, definitely heard it this time. The sudden noise made him jump in place and nearly fall over. But he stood his ground and continued to listen next to the girl.
…
*Cr-C-Cra- CRACK *
Basic human instinct took over their minds.
They stood ever so still.
Shallow breaths barely rose their chests as their eyes stared hopelessly into the darkness; only using their ears to listen for the next dreadful sound to send chills down their bodies.
There was no way they could have known, but the sound that they just heard was at the top of their minds, plaguing them with unknown fear.
The noise couldn't be compared to anything else other than the classic sound you would hear when someone broke a bone in movies.
That snapping sound of marrow as it's helplessly broken or shattered.
This in itself was one thing, but it was the fact that each crack of whatever it was that lingered outside their tent was accompanied by a mosh of wet tearing.
*Thud*
There it was again. A heavy and especially wet smack on the ground from something they were yet to identify.
Both teens had an idea, but neither of them liked it, nor did they want to take the chance of voicing it to the other.
*Cra-Crac-C- CRACK *
Kaminari felt his body repulse at the sound as it invaded his ears. It grated against him like nails against a chalkboard.
*Thud*
Yet another drop of something that left a quick splash of some sort of liquid. Yaoyorozu could feel her stomach tighten as if trying to cope with how utterly disgusting the sound was.
*Thud*
And it only kept on going.
Over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
To the point where Yaoyorozu had backed away from the wall of the tent to hold her head with both hands as if trying to defend herself against the chorus of dry cracks and wet splotches of both liquid and solids. It was such a horrible noise that she could feel herself being sick just from listening to it.
Kaminari had not moved ever since he heard the first sound. At least not from his spot in the tent. Truth be told, his entire body was shaking. The sensation was simply too much. He felt like, but in no way did he think he could move even if he wanted to. Actually, it wasn't really a feeling of lightness, but rather numbness.
He did not understand it.
How could a mere sound do so much? How could he feel so defeated before even seeing what was truly happening?
Without warning, it stopped.
There was no transition, no progression, nothing new to give any sort of indication to a change.
It just… stopped.
Kaminari couldn't tell what was worse.
The sickening rhythmic sound, or the total absence of it, knowing that the cause was still just outside their tent.
Because if whatever it was wasn't occupied with making its awful noises, then what was it doing?
Alas, he finally got his answer.
For this sound was new and brought more questions.
Was that… digging?
Yes, it had to be.
Rock could be heard breaking apart and being shoved aside. Along with it, the small tinks of glass sounded like coins in a treasure box. But Kaminari knew that who or whatever it was wasn't digging for treasure.
The scoops of dirt and rock were large and quick in pace. Whoever the digger may be was not wasting any time in their search.
And in doing so, they found what they were looking for.
"Kah! What the hell!?"
Both Kaminari and Yaoyorozu tensed when they heard the unfamiliar voice of a man. He started with what sounded like a cough of surprise. It quickly turned into a shout of anger and confusion.
Was the digger that they had heard, been making those terrible noises? If so, then why was he finally speaking after such a long period of silence? Why was he digging here of all places and what could he possibly hope to find.
Why did he sound so shocked in the darkness?
"Who the fuck is that, and why is it so damn dark!? How did you-"
*Cr-cra-cra*
"Kghyaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! What the fuck!? Aaaughahhhhh!"
*CRACK*
…
*Thud*
…
It was known that in rare occasions that fear alone was capable of killing someone. If the right conditions are met, a shock of realization can cause a person's heart to simply stop from the amount of dread that would overwhelm it.
A heart attack.
For years to come, both Yaoyorozu and Kaminari would question how close they were to this happening to them.
For their heart to die in their chest, and for their bodies to join the many others that they now realized surrounded them.
Those… gut-wrenching noises from before that man's screams matched perfectly to the moment the unknown man was silenced.
Each 'crack' was of the villains in the area being killed and broken in a calm order of murder.
Each 'thud' was them hearing the bodies of those villains falling lifelessly to the ground, their own blood pooling beneath into thick puddles.
It felt like a dream.
No.
A nightmare.
Who or what on god's earth could just… do this?
To take lives as if it were nothing. Without even giving the victims a chance? Sure, they were villains, but surely, they didn't deserve such a fate at the hands of this murderer.
Were these questions even necessary?
In the end, Kaminari only prayed that they were not found.
"Gnnn, what the hell is going on?"
Of course.
Both teens felt their hearts plummet even further into pits as they heard the groggy and confused voice of Jiro stir next to them.
And it was much louder than the low whisper that the other two had been restraining themselves to.
At the exact same time, Kaminari and Yaoyorozu hushed the awakening girl in their most quiet and demanding way possible.
Thankfully, she seemed to get the message as not another word came from her.
There was not another sound at all.
All three students listened intently.
Yaoyorozu and Kaminari knew exactly what they were listening for. Jiro, who had only just awakened, was confused and dazed as her head still throbbed. But if the command to shush wasn't clear enough, she too remained as quiet as a mouse.
However, she could not hear a thing. It may have been because her head was wrapped in bandages or because of her injury, but either way, she didn't hear a thing before all three tensed at the same time.
The sound of a drop of liquid.
The sound of many drops.
All progressively coming closer to the tent. By the time they first heard it, it was already within just a few feet of them.
The texture of the sound changed when it got close enough. Instead of a liquid falling onto the rock they stood on, it began to spill onto the spread-out blanket of their tent.
Their ears homed in on the exact spot of where the wet noises were coming from. Firstly, falling onto the base, then inching higher up until it got to the very tip of the cloth structure. Whatever it was that was looming over them, it either had the power of flight, or it was tall enough to tower directly above them.
The hair on the back of their necks all stood on end, a feeling of coldness seeped into their skin. A horrid smell flooded their noses that curled their tongues in disgust.
This presence… this atmosphere… was nothing short of death itself.
This tent held no safety to them.
They might as well be as defenseless as the unconscious villains that were sprung about. Well, they weren't unconscious anymore.
And just like that…
The presence was gone.
..............................…
Tokoyami stopped in place.
It could easily have been the rain that caused it, but a strange cold sensation rushed over him.
With his flashlight in hand and Koda just next to him, they continued on through the Storm Zone.