It was getting warmer, and the cherry buds were blossoming around the schoolyard as they crossed it, petals falling off the trees just by the gentle touch of the breeze. "Give us a break!" Sora complained.
" Work study for the whole of spring break, that seems like too much indeed." Whisper agreed.
" Ochaco-chan, did you check Ryukyu's mail?" Sora asked the girl to her right.
" It says our work study this time is an expeditionary operation." The brunette responded.
" Oh, you're right," Asui affirmed.
" You guys, too? Seriously? Us, too!" Piped Kaminari.
" We're going on an expeditionary operation that day, too!" Added Midoriya.
" Why am I getting a déjà vu here?" Whisper murmured.
" It's Shie Hassaikai all over again." Sora pointed as more of them affirmed they've got the same mission as well. " This is no coincidence."
" So..." Yuu suddenly stopped making everyone look back at him. " Doesn't this mean, the heroes are planning some big raid like before."...
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So it seems. Sora uneasily looked up at the mountain. Endeavor's team was located there, ready to strike while they awaited their signal. Yuu, be careful...
" Sora-chan." Sora snapped back to herself and looked at Asui by her side. " Don't you worry. Seijin-chan will return as soon as they finish the evacuation there."
Sora nodded her head. Still, something didn't feel alright at all.
" Seijin-kun's brother works in that hospital too, right?" Midoriya asked and Sora realized he was trying to distract her from her thoughts.
" Oh, right. Yes, Yuusuke-san works there because his Quirk is more of a healing type," Sora answered.
" Even though, I've heard it's rather hard to get in that hospital. Seijin-kun's brother must be some prodigy," Midoriya murmured.
" He is. Well, at least that's how Yuu puts him. He says he's the type to get something right just from the first try," Sora told him.
" Ho! It sounds like a family of geniuses there! Seijin-kun and his brother!" Uraraka interjected while adjusting her wrist gauntlets.
" Yeah... kind of..." She looked back at the mountain.
" The front line's moving!" Sora snapped towards Burnin as she said that. " Let's go, too!" She yelled jumping off the cliff and so everyone followed after her.
Yuu... No. Sora shook her head as she chased after Burnin. Yuu will be alright. He is capable of handling himself. Right now, I have to do my work! I need to evacuate everyone to safety!
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" You're trembling." Whisper pointed out.
" Am I? ... I am..." Yuu heaved a deep sigh. " It's just... being here at the very front line..."
" It's alright, it won't take long," Aizawa told him as he walked over to the boy, looking down at him. " We expect some resistance from them, so we need to get the people out as soon as possible. We've got ambulances and all but, if it gets chaotic, we don't want them stuck in traffic jams or late to get away from here. The whole city is a danger zone."
" That's why you need Yuu. Thunderbird can take those vehicles and fly them to the evacuation area in a blink. Evacuating the patients won't take long with him." Aizawa nodded at Whisper's words.
" You will head back to everyone else as soon as the evacuation finishes. You leave the fighting to us," he said putting a hand on Yuu's shoulder and the boy narrowed his eyes, finding his resolution finally he nodded at his teacher. " Yosh! We're going in!"
And so, with Endeavor at the very front, they marched into the building. Yuu kept waiting at the very back. " Let's get it done," he said grabbing one of the three blue fires floating around him and it enlarged in form, shaping two great wings before it faded to reveal Thunderbird. " It has been a good break for me. But guess it's time to get working, right, master?"
Yuu nodded as he heard Mandalay's warning for everyone. Some of the heroes were dispatched to get as many patients as they could and the ambulances were brought over in front of the building.
" Well now, that's too much work after a long break." Thunderbird stretched his wings. " Better get started on them." He flapped his wings, floating a few feet above as he grasped two ambulances with his claws and flew them away. He disappeared in a flash of yellow lightning towards the outskirts of Jaku city.
" Seij- Reito! Has Thunderbird begun moving the patients away?" Ectoplasm asked as he carried a bed with his clone.
" Ho! He actually has arms!" Whisper noted. Yuu ignored him as he turned to his teacher.
" He had gone with the first ambulances. He will be back soon."
" Very well, we're prioritizing patients who need constant treatment to get on the ambulances," Ectoplasm mentioned as they put the bed down and his clone (or was it the real him?) added. " We will have the rest of them get on the police vans we brought with us."
" Roger that!" He stated before looking back at the sky, noticing a black dot heading their way. Moments later, Thunderbird landed down, covered in yellow sparks with a sound akin to thunder rumbling.
" Give me the next cargo!"
" They're humans, not cargo!" Yuu argued as he pointed at two other vehicles ready to be transported.
" The evacuation of the patients is going smoothly," Mandalay told him. " With your help, it will be over soon before-"
It was then that Nomus started coming from underground, breaking through to the lobby and engaging with the heroes. " What the heck! " Whisper cursed under his breath as he saw the heroes inside engaging with the Nomus. " This will put the people left inside in danger!"
The glass of the window rows above them broke, raining down on the people still around. The heroes tried their best to keep the patients safe which ended in them incurring serious injuries from the falling shreds of glass.
" The doctors and nurses are still in there too, helping with the evacuation." Yuu's eyes flung toward Tiger as he said that and bit his lip as he looked up at the building.
Think Yuu, think! How to get everyone safely from there! The lobby is no longer an option, it's in a chaotic state!
" Small fries keep coming out! How's the hospital evacuation?" Rock Lock's voice sounded through the comm.
" The ones left at the upper levels are still held captive there along with the staff," Mandalay told him. " It's too risky to get them out through the lobby anymore! Keep the fighting to the ground floor!"
" Aren't there heroes able to fly here?" Whisper twisted his body around as though hopping to glimpse one.
" Not much I'm afraid." Mandalay gritted her teeth.
Yuu looked up when an idea occurred to him. " Mandalay-san! Use your telepathy to tell the ones inside to head up to the roof!"
" Then what! We don't have enough heroes to bring them-"
" We can make them slide down," Yuu told her, eyes glistening in confidence. Mandalay then got his idea.
" Everyone listen up! The ground floor is blocked because of the Nomus attack! Please head up to the rooftop!"
" Oi, Mandalay! What're you thinking of?" Tiger questioned.
" What does it look like? We're trying to save as many people as we can! Pixiebob!"
" Right on it!" She said rushing back to the building and putting both hands on the ground. Large and long chunks of it rose up, propelled against the top of the building, awaiting people to descend from there. " This way, everyone should be able to get out!"
" Let's head up there to help those unable to move on their own," Tiger stated as he and several Ectoplasms climbed one of Pixiebob's slides.
" Come on... come on..." Yuu was staring up at the building as people began to huddle around, as though waiting for some sign there. But the person he was looking for didn't appear.
" You're... worried about your brother..." Whisper muttered as he saw the restless Yuu.
" I guess... I'm..." His eyes finally caught a certain brown-haired man helping evacuate the elderly patients and he unconsciously heaved a sigh of relief, Yuusuke was safe.
Thunderbird was yet flying back and forth between the evacuation area and the hospital, and the ambulances were decreasing slowly. Before he knew it, the patients up on the roof were all down and so were the staff who kept to their side. Soon, Yuu found himself side by side with Yuusuke, getting patients either to police vans or ambulances.
" Heroes will take care of the patients!" Mandalay shouted on top of her lungs. " Stuff members get to the vans quick!"
Yuu looked back at his brother who refused to leave, still helping the few left patients up the last of the ambulances. " Get out of here too!"
" Not before all of these people are safe and sound!" Yuusuke said crossly. " In the first place, shouldn't heroes warn us before conducting such a raid!"
" If they did so how do you think they would get Garaki!" Whisper argued.
" Garaki-sensei, is he still there?" He looked back at the hospital, horrified and seriously considering going back for him.
" Hold your horses there! The heroes are taking care of him!"
" Reito!" Yuu looked back at Mandalay. " All that is left are the two vans!"
Yuu nodded at her. " Thunderbird !"
" That's easy!" The bird said proudly as he clasped his claws around the black vans.
" You get on there too!" Yuu told Yuusuke.
" Not before you explain what you need from Garaki-sensei!"
" This is not the time for this, Nii-san!"
" Yuu! Something is happening back there!" Whisper pointed at the hospital as it began to crack and collapse.
" What is..." Mandalay was at a loss of words at the building crumbling down before her eyes.
" Let's get away! Quick!" Tiger yelled at them.
" Us too!" When he came to, Yuu realized he was mounting Kyubi. " We promised Aizawa to get you away as soon as things seem too bad!"
" Wait! Nii-san!" Yuusuke looked from Yuu to the building sinking in the rubble behind him.
" But... Garaki-sensei..." The cracks were spreading around the building too.
" There is no time!" He said pulling him by his t-shirt on Kyubi's back before the fox spun around and darted down the hill. Behind them, everything was breaking down and fading into dust. It was collapsing in an instant.
" No doubt about this. It's Shigaraki's Decay!" Whisper shouted.
" But it's different!" Yuu exclaimed looking over his shoulder. " Since when he could destroy a whole area!"
" Could this be the power-up they were talking about!" Kyubi didn't slow down, putting her all into getting them out. But the decay was catching up with them.
" Hurry up! Kyubi!" Whisper urged her, not daring to look away from the decaying happening behind them as though if he did it would catch up.
" I'm running as fast as I can with two people on my back!"
" Damn it! It's here!" Whisper yelled when the cracks on the road were an inch away from Kyubi. " Yuu-" And Kyubi's hind paw stepped on one of them.
It was then they heard the thunder rumbling above them. " I'm taking them! Kyubi!" And Thunderbird grasped both Yuu and Yuusuke in his claws and flew them up.
" Kyubi!" But Yuu could no longer see her as the collapsing caught up with her, she was buried in a cloud of dust and debris. " KYUBI!!"
From up above, the destruction was even worse. Yuusuke's eyes widened in fear when he saw not only the mountain broken down to nothingness, but the buildings down at the city, and the people on the road who weren't lucky enough to get away from there, both heroes and civilians alike, were shredded, and torn to small pieces.
Even Pixiebob's attempt at a shield dissipated away into smithereens. Yuu bit his lip in frustration at the sight underneath them, he could not help. He was unable to save those beneath him despite being so close.
Whisper's jaw dropped in disbelief at the amount of destruction happening before them. " You gotta be kidding me... how can a single person... cause all of this..." His eyes widened as a realization came to him. " How can he be defeated!?"
" The heroes are getting out as well!" Thunderbird pointed as he saw Ryukyu, Endeavor, and Gran Torino leaping out of the smoke.
The cloud of smoke covered more than half of the city, and it was still growing. Yuu's eyes fixed on where Sora and the rest were supposed to be conducting their evacuation. " Sora..."...
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Sora looked back with wide eyes to see nothing but destruction coming their way. A moment earlier, they were evacuating people out of their houses. Yet now, they were faced with death closing in on them.
" Make them all run!" Bakugo shouted as he felt the danger nearing them. Sora and the rest made to rush the civilians away while Midoriya attempted to stop the collapse with an airwave. It didn't work.
" It's... decaying..." Sora noted as she grabbed four people and flew ahead at full speed. " ... It can't be Shigaraki!"
Not even Todoroki's great wall of ice could hold the decaying still and in the end, all they could do was grab as many people as they could and drag them away before they all get killed off.
What was worrying was that no hero was answering their comm. " Yuu..." Sora looked over her shoulder but all she could see was the smoke and the dust. " What's happened there?!"
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When it all stopped at last and the smoke cleared, all that was left underneath was but a wasteland full of ruins of what moments ago were buildings sprouting proudly up.
" What... in the world..." Yuusuke couldn't find words to describe it. The only parts that survived the wave of annihilation were the suburbs further away from the mountain.
The wind swept away the cloud of smoke and Thunderbird hovered around for a few minutes before he deemed it finally safe to land. As his feet touched the ground, Yuu rushed over to the nearest clearing and looked at what was left of the mountain and the hospital where he minutes ago saw Endeavor's fire from the sky. His hands clutched tightly, wondering about the safety of those left behind. Wondering about the fate of his spirit friend. And then some kind of energy burst occurred.
" Watch out!" Thunderbird quickly wrapped his large wings around Yuu and his brother, protecting them from the strong airwave. Yuu winced when the comm attached to his ear frizzled.
" The communicator is taken down..." He said once the air attack stopped. " Do they intend on separating us?"
" Seems like the case to me," Whisper added, looking around fearfully as though expecting some attack to occur again.
" Yuu..." the boy looked to the side to see Kyubi trudging over to him from behind a falling building, shaking her whole body to get whatever dust or debris caught in her fur away.
" Kyubi!" He ran over to her and hugged her tightly. " I thought... I thought..."
" I know. I thought I was a goner too." Yuu let go of her and looked into her eyes. " At that moment, the decay certainly caught up with me. Everything else around me was destroyed. Only I didn't."
Yuu narrowed his eyes at that. " This confirms our speculations, Yuu." The boy nodded his head at the ghost.
" A lot of people died out there... I couldn't do anything to help..." She said lowering her head in shame.
" It's not your fault, Kyubi. More importantly..." He turned back to Thunderbird. " We should go back and make sure everyone is alright!"
" No," Thunderbird said firmly. " You should join Sora and the rest at the very back."
" But-"
" That was Aizawa's condition," Thunderbird insisted. " That if things were to go downhill, and they literally did, you're to be returned to the support team."
Yuu looked down and gritted his teeth in frustration at that. " Think about that carefully. What can you do right now? Where could you be of most help?"
" Shigaraki is still there!"
" And what can you do about it?"
" We could..." But Yuu found no answer.
" That's true. There is nothing you could do that the pro heroes there couldn't." Thunderbird lowered his head to him. " Leave the fighting to them, Yuu. They'll know what to do."
Yuu clutched his head tightly in his hands, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't think of anything he could contribute to Endeavor and the rest of them. " Fine." He finally agreed and his eyes fell on his brother. " We need to get Nii-san out of here too."
" Alright, grasp into my legs," Thunderbird said spreading his wings and stepping forward, ready to soar any moment now. " I'll take you there-"
It was then that he and Kyubi flinched and looked back in the direction of the hospital. " Something is coming," he said.
" And it doesn't smell good," Kyubi added...
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Sora's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. There it was again, the strange feeling she had at the camp. The presence of her father. But it felt slightly different.
Hesitantly she dared peek back into the area of destruction. She could feel the tug on her senses there. But could she make it? Could she slip through the pro heroes and go check like back at the camp? She doubted.
It wasn't long since Burnin and her team left to aid Endeavor and Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki left somewhere without explaining much. While needing as much help as they could with the evacuation, slipping away didn't seem like a good idea.
" Yuu... where are you? I need you."...
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" Oi! Everything was destroyed, right? Everything vanished into dust. Then why the heck are those things sound and safe!" Whisper yelled on top of his lungs, shaking Yuu by the collar without taking his eyes off the Nomus. All of different shapes and forms, some with wings some with fangs, only their black color unified them.
" That's what I want to know too!" Yuu stopped him. " They should have perished along with everything else!"
Yuusuke took a step back as the Nomus approached them. " What's happening here..."
" This is what Garaki has been doing under your noses for the whole time!" Whisper shouted, pointing at the crowd of black Nomus. " Creating these monsters from the Quirks of his patients!"
" Garaki-sensei wouldn't-"
" Reito-kun!" Yuu looked up just as Burnin flew over his head.
"Burnin-san!" The woman landed beside him.
" We were trying to head to Endeavor's aid, but seems this is a more pressing matter." She growled as she reached for her blazing green hair and snatched two balls of fire in her hands. " You take that civilian and join everyone at the rear!"
Burnin and her team embarked on the fight, yet what they didn't expect was to be outnumbered by the Nomus. Yuu bit his lip as some of them slipped past the pro heroes and made for them.
" Don't dare touch him!" Kyubi shouted as all her nine tails unleashed their fire upon the Nomu that lunged on them, forcing him back.
" Let's get you out-" But before he could finish his sentence a few of the flying Nomus soared above their head, one of them began shooting some ooze at them and Thunderbird had to cover Yuu and his brother with his wing. He winced in pain when the ooze burned him. " Damn it! It's hard to back off!"
Yuu looked back as some of the Nomus ran past them and to the yet intact part of the city. " That's bad!"
" Burnin and the rest have their hands full with here they can't chase after them!" Whisper groaned.
" It will be up to the evacuation team to deal with them!" Kyubi roared while still unleashing fire wave after the other, trying to keep the Nomus at bay.
Yuu bit his lip as he saw the pro heroes clashing against the Nomus. They were highly outnumbered and clearly, the Nomus were more powerful than what they seemed. More than once he had seen a hero face their end at the hand of a Nomu and blood froze in his veins. Those things were vicious. They were aiming to kill, it was obvious. No one could survive them if they were to get past the heroes.
If they get back to the evacuation area, all the civilians... Midoriya-san and the rest... And Sora! He didn't want to think what might happen. His eyes narrowed when the path before him became clearer.
" Nii-san! Run!" He yelled as he stepped forward beside Kyubi.
Yuusuke, who couldn't take his eyes off the body of a hero thrown nearby with a hole through the chest, snapped his head suddenly to his younger brother.
" Hurry up! Run! The heroes at the very back will take care of you!" He said before turning to Kyubi and Thunderbird, now standing by his sides. " Are you both ready?"
" We're when you're!" Kyubi said as Yuu's eyes glowed brightly in purple and so they felt his energy surging through their veins.
" Here it comes!" Thunderbird flung his large wings and a strong airwave resulted. "I'll take the sky!" He soared upwards, engaging with the flying Nomus. " Kyubi you keep Yuu safe!"
" I don't need you to tell me!" With a roar, she unleashed large waves of fire at the Nomus who backed, singed and burned from her fire. Still, their regeneration kept them going. " You're such a pain!" She growled lunging at one of them and slashing at its brain, only for it to mend itself in a moment. " Fast!"
" Get out of my sight!" Thunderbird roared as he crushed into as many Nomus as he could and struck them with his thunder, they flopped down but were soon up again. " Even if you keep coming up..." he shook his enormous black wings and thunderbolts shot upon them. " I will crush you time and time again!"
" With the Yokais' help, we can even this! Everyone, press on!" Burnin shouted.
" What are you waiting for?! Get away from here!" Yuu shouted at Yuusuke, but the man couldn't master the strength to even stand up, his knees gave in as he finally fell back, just taking in the raging battle before him. " Get up! Get going! Quick!"
" Yuu! Watch out!" Whisper turned at Kyubi's warning.
" Yuu! Oi Yuu! IT'S COMING FOR US!" A Nomu with rods in its head managed to slip past Kyubi and back to the two people at the very back of the battlefield. Its claws enlarged to shape swords as it extended them at Yuu. The boy turned around, taking in the danger at bay.
I'm not... Letting anyone get hurt because I'm slow again!
" Don't let yourself be cornered for you to draw your full strength."
I'm not... Acting recklessly again and hoping for a miracle!
I'm going to protect them properly!
Strips of his hair turned yellow in color, matching the ones on Thunderbird's body. His eyes set aglow, he drew his arms down in an X shape. And then, as though issuing from his fingertips, multiple whips of lightning crisscrossed to form a large web before him. " Lightning Net!"
The shield of thunder knocked back the assaulting Nomu. I will protect those behind me! I will protect what I hold dear!
A blue fire sparked at the end of his bang and with a swift motion, he unleashed a blue stream of flames at the Nomu. It backed, its hands blackened and charred. But they were slowly covered back in skin.
It's still painful. The boy winced. It still takes a toll on me, using the energy share in both directions with both of them. But... He pursed his lips as he drew himself to his full height, multiple whips of fire manifesting out of his fists. With this, I can fight!
" Get yourself together!" He yelled at his brother, flinging the whips at the Nomu, ensnaring it. They then enlarged into streams of flames and absorbed the whole creature into them, burning it to ashes. " You should leave! Now!"
Yuu alternated the lashes between lightning and fire, flailing them at the approaching enemies. Some were stuck with lightning, some were burned and scourged. They couldn't come near enough to him. " Move! While I'm able to hold them off!" He said directing a blast of blaze at a large Nomu sneaking behind them.
Yuusuke managed to untie his tongue. " Get out... and you?!"
" I'm a hero!" He shouted as he unleashed a surge of lightning at a Nomu that drilled his way to them and shot out from under the ground. " Protecting everyone is my duty!"
Yuusuke stared at Yuu's back. Emerging in the fight as he was, trying to keep the Nomus still and keep them from reaching his brother or any of his dear friends behind him, the man gritted his teeth. You were always right behind me...
" Whisper!" Yuu shouted when a Nomu ran past him.
" Right!" The ghost phased through Yuu's back and his eyes glowed once more. He used the whips to capture the running Nomu and with a single heave pulled him overhead and slammed him back on the ground.
" I will protect everyone! I won't let any of you past me!"
No one would know. Yuusuke's eyes didn't swerve away from his brother as he panted for air. But as a user of energy share myself I know, just how much burden you're putting on your body. Keeping multiple spirits around, and using the channel in both directions isn't an easy feat.
" Damn it get a move on already!" Yuu glared back at his brother. " Do you have a death wish!"
Yuusuke suddenly jolted. " Behind you!"
Yuu turned in time to see a multiple-armed Nomu behind him, and with one covered in metal, he hit the boy hard on the right side of his face. " Damn it!" But he quickly reacted by shooting several arches of lightning at it. The Nomu backed and Yuu used the chance to create a fire spear and transfix its brain which was singed to smithereens as soon as the flames burned larger.
Yuu panted heavily, wiping away the blood and sweat covering his face. " This is bad..." He could no longer open his right eye, it was stinging whenever he tried and burning painfully.
You were supposed to be always behind me. Thought Yuusuke as Yuu embarked on the fight again. Ever since we were kids, I was the smarter, I was the talented, I was the strongest, I was the loved one... I was the older one... And you clung to my back for protection, you who were tormented everywhere you went... So why... Why is it now...
Yuu snapped two lightning lashes and the Nomu with the large mouth on his abdomen had its head cut off. Why am I now standing behind you!?
Yuu spun around to face a bulky build one and Yuusuke sensed something off with his moves. He's lagging! Yuu resorted to summoning a wall of fire to separate them from the flooding monsters as he took a step back, panting even harder. The after-effects of overusing the energy share are showing up.
Damn it! Yuu's eyes flung at Thunderbird and Kyubi, they got separated while the waves of Nomus kept coming one after the other as though they had no end at all. They have their hands full there! If I pull them back here... He took one look at the heroes struggling out there too. What should I do?
A roar made him snap out of his thoughts and as he turned back, he saw a dog like Nomu jumping over his fire shield and lunging down at him. And he was late to react...