The boy's heart...
Had been pierced...
The world seemed to stop.
The voices seemed to fade.
As only that knowledge sank in.
Bakugo's heart had been pierced.
And there was not a single healing Quirk around to help patch him up.
One might think that with Shigaraki as their opponent, they would have taken such measures.
To, at the very least, have a health care team stationed in the flying coffin.
But it wasn't the case.
None of the heroes fancied endangering civilians.
Those with healing Quirks were meant to help the innocent and defenseless people.
Not the heroes.
So none was on board.
And with that.
Only one fate awaited Bakugo.
This can't happen!
Shigaraki laughed, gloating about what he had just done.
That enraged the heroes further, who immediately stood up to face him again and retaliate.
All except for one.
While Komainu took off to support Sora as she tried to cut her way towards Shigaraki, fueled by rage, Yuu stepped up towards Bakugo.
" It's not late..."
Best Jeanist looked up at the boy's face.
It was unreadable.
But all the same, resolute.
" His soul... Is still there..."
A golden flame...
So weak and faint...
Yet still burning...
" There is no pulse," Jeanist told him. " His heart is already..."
Despite that, the man was already stitching the wound using his threads.
Yuu knelt on the other side of Bakugo, his eyes glowing. " So what? Many a patient had their heart stop before. We can resuscitate him."
He adjusted Bakugo's head and frowned. Suddenly, the boy's chest began to rise and fall rhythmically, almost like breathing.
But it wasn't.
He is forcing air into his lungs... Jeansit realized.
With his ability to control air, it was not a hard feat. Nor, for that matter, was circling the boy's blood, apparently, through his body.
Despite the fact that the gaping wound was still there, the bleeding had stopped, much to the man's surprise.
" It's still a liquid," Yuu mumbled. " With Seiryuu's power, I can keep it circulating and prevent the bleeding by holding its shape."
Seiryuu might have been associated with water, but the spirit's strength stopped not at that.
Blood was nothing but a liquid as well.
The blue dragon's head manifested right beside the boy. Only the head, though.
" Such a clever way to exploit my ability." He hummed approvingly.
" Still. Moving the blood without even seeing the veins. How..."
" I have a mother and a brother in the healthcare industry. I've seen diagrams of the inner mechanism of the human body until I've grown tired of it."
Despite that, it was clear the boy was focusing hard to keep both breathing and the blood cycle going.
" This will only delay his death. Unless his heart starts beating again, it will be for nothing."
Even Yuu wasn't sure how long he could hold Bakugo's life like that.
Jeanist had already sealed the wound the best he could.
It's all or nothing.
The boy placed his hands on his classmate's chest, eyes glowing brighter. " Don't you dare die on us now, Bakugo-san! You still have to graduate and become the number one hero!"
With that, a spark of yellow lightning coursed from Yuu's hands, and Bakugo thrashed, his body convulsing.
He's simulating a defibrillator!
Jeanist's eyes widened while Yuu waited for a moment before delivering another shock.
Still... With such a wound... Even I couldn't patch it properly...
Someone else was watching and, seemingly, had realized the problem as well...
________________
The block was dark, and the only lights going around were of the small screens where people were following the news of the fight, holding their breath.
No one knew what would await them by the end of the day, and there was nothing they could do but cheer for the heroes from behind the screen.
Yui was no different, though she found no news of her granddaughter. She prayed that the girl and her friend were alive and well.
Suddenly, a shiver ran down her spine, and she flinched.
She looked around, searching for the cause, for the reason her instinct alerted her to a potential danger, when she suddenly caught it.
Among the crowd, she could distinguish a few auras that seemed off.
While everyone else was fearful and tense, those seemed rather calm and...
Dark...
________________
Yuu didn't look up at all when he felt someone approach him from behind.
He couldn't afford to break his focus, for Bakugo's life depended on him.
" I'm the Ninja Hero..." The voice above Yuu's head said, " I can sneak into anything. I have gone many times into people's bodies, so I am familiar with them."
From the corner of his eyes, Yuu caught sight of the glowing red threads that made the Quirk of Edge Shot, and quickly grasped his intentions.
" Miroko! Struggle! Even if all that is left is your head! Bite him to death!"
Their resolve was palpable.
None of the heroes was going to let Shigaraki get away while alive.
Without even blinking, a small orb of water manifested beside Yuu.
" You probably know this, but you shouldn't enter his body like that. This spiritual water will cleanse the threads."
Those words were followed by another electric shock, which again failed to bring Bakugo's heart back.
" Thanks. I will replace and fix him from the inside. I will make it move if I have to."
" Kamihara... you might not come back."
" That's why I'm leaving the rest to you, Club President Hakamada."
With that, the red threads phased through the bubble of water one by one before penetrating into the wound through the small gaps left by Jeanist.
" Ninpo: Thousands Sheet Pierce...Zenith!"
As the spider silk-like lines faded within Bakugo's chest, Yuu could finally drop one task.
With Edge Shot fixing the internal damage, he had no obligation to hold the blood flow where the wounds were to prevent internal bleeding, so all he had to do was keep it moving.
" That's... One that I already destroyed." Jeanist looked back at Shigaraki as he approached them, having mostly incapacitated the others.
Jeanist stood up, ready to defend them.
But he didn't have to.
As Yuu's mind dropped one task, he could switch to focus on another.
Shigaraki's enormous fingers hit a purple dome that had surrounded them, made of glowing hexagons.
An energy shield.
" Reito!" Jeansit turned back to Yuu, only for his eyes to widen as he saw his nose bleeding. His eyes were focused, yet red in color as blood was streaking down like tears.
It was probably a burden, using four powers together, and with that level of precision.
Yet he didn't waver.
" I'm not... Losing anyone else anymore!"
" Would it hold against All Might's strength!" Shigaraki attempted to approach and break the shield himself.
It was then that Miroko managed to free herself from his fingers and hit him hard on the face.
A mouth grabbed her right arm, preventing her from advancing, but she did what Miroko would do.
She sacrificed her limb to get her kick across.
Shigaraki stood up, but he staggered.
He actually staggered.
The demon lord staggered.
Yuu let out a weak chuckle. " Even All Might has to budge against that strength of Bakugo-san..."
With her stump secured by Jeanist, Miroko proceeded to attack, running on all four.
Shigaraki flung his gigantic arm at her, but Togata covered his eyes, making him unable to see her attack and thus making it hit.
However, something odd happened after that.
The fingers that were wriggling everywhere wrapped around his body, his chest, face, and legs, turning into a shield for him.
Even his body grew larger, and if his left arm looked monstrous before, it became hideous with several faces sprouting out of the large fingers.
" He continues to evolve like a Digimon..." Yuu cursed under his breath, struggling to stifle his nosebleed, to no avail. It felt as if his brain was leaking out, and yet, he couldn't afford to let go.
Not until Bakugo's heart beat on its own.
Not until he took in a breath again.
Miroko shot towards the villain, but she had no chance against his overwhelming strength.
Togata tried to get to her, but he was late.
A similar fate awaited Amajiki and Hado.
Again and again, Togata could not reach in time.
The boy was devastated at the sight before him as his comrades fell one after the other.
" You little!" Komainu bolted at him, a whirlwind entrapping the two as he tried to claw and tear at his callus fingers, but to no avail.
All the Yokai managed to do was earn more injuries before he was flung away like a helpless puppy.
" Sorry... Kyubi..."
Shigaraki then, ignoring Togata, headed towards the dome of energy.
With that form, Yuu's shield would be shattered like glass in a few hits.
But another gigantic form stood in the way.
Sora.
" Fight someone of your size," the girl said, taking a fighting pose. " Bullying those smaller than you won't get you anywhere."
" You think you can stand against me?"
" Try me." The red eyes that met him were resolute.
Shigaraki pulled back his huge hand and punched, but Sora managed to block it, a smirk escaping her. " You're not the only one who can do that."
Shigaraki's eyes widened as he saw that two of her wings had wrapped around her chest and hardened, turning into an armor much like his fingers.
" Now that you took that simple form, I can fight you!" Sora dashed ahead, slamming her palms hard against the boy's abdomen, which knocked him back.
Shigaraki dug his feet in the ground not to get blown, only for Sora to appear before him with a beat of her wings.
" This is for Bakugo!" She swung her left arm, the side wing protruding from it cutting his face like a knife.
" And this is for our Senpais!" She spun around, kicking him in the abdomen.
The fingers shielded him, but the force still knocked him.
" And this is for Aizawa-sensei!" A fist collided with his chin, sending him flying up.
But the girl was not done yet.
There was a lot trapped in her chest that she needed to get out.
She flew up, overtaking him, and dropping her leg in an axe kick on his head. " And this is for Aoyama!"
The boy fell to the ground, creating a huge crater.
Sora landed before Yuu's shield, panting heavily.
Shigaraki stood up to his feet, veins stretching across his forehead and neck.
He was enraged.
" Why do you insist on getting in my way, you extras!"
His scream alone cracked the ground, and the girl couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by his dark aura.
It felt like being dragged into a black ooze, pulling her down and denying her air to breathe.
It was that unparalleled hatred that caught her off guard, which was why she could not block off his next punch. It sent her flying and cracked several of her bones.
Sora coughed up blood as she felt her ribcage cave under his force, and her mind clouded for a moment.
" Sora!"
But she couldn't let her friends down.
Not again.
" I'm... fine..." She struggled to her feet, her broken bones cracking as they rearranged themselves.
" Beat me... as long as you want..." the girl panted, flinging her arms to the side to shield Yuu and Jeanist behind her. " In this form... my healing speeds up. No matter how many times you kill me... I'll stand up again... that's why... they put me here, Shigaraki..."
The red eyes narrowed, their glimmer never dying. " Because I can stop you..."