" Because I can stop you…"
It was an exaggeration, she knew.
She couldn't do what the pro heroes failed to.
But if anything else, even for a few moments, her Quirk allowed her to hold him back.
And she would do that to her last breath.
" Stop me… You say… Don't make me laugh!"
In a blink, he was before her again, hitting her hard. The girl brought her arms in an X shape to shield herself. All of her feathers hardened as she continued to receive punches left and right.
Still, she stood her ground. Bearing all of it.
Everyone… grew stronger…
Everyone surpassed me long ago…
Because I was afraid…
Because I couldn't accept who I was…
Shigaraki got her in the face, and the girl reeled, but quickly got back her balance.
Did I think I could walk along with them with only a fraction of my true strength?
How foolish of me…
His next punch got blocked as she grabbed his right fist, not letting go.
" I have… To catch up to everyone…"
" You!"
She stopped his gigantic hand as well, and they stayed in that pose, each pushing with all their might against the other as the ground cracked underneath them.
From beneath her bangs glistening with blood, her eyes widened. " I'm not letting you get past me! No matter what!"
She reared her head and slammed it as hard as she could on Shigaraki's forehead.
The boy staggered backwards, his eyes losing focus for a brief moment.
The girl panted heavily, eyes never leaving the villain.
He was getting angrier and angrier.
" Even if you can heal… The accumulated damage will eventually affect you…"
Sora gritted her teeth as she coughed up more blood.
True to his words, the damage she took from all those blows was taking longer to heal.
She wasn't exactly an immortal.
Still, she would stand to defend her friends to her very last breath.
Which seemed to be nearing with each attack the other boy launched on her. She managed to get some of her hits to land, but what could her strength do against that of Shigaraki?
All she could hope to do was disorient him and hold him back, for as long as she lived.
It was just like how All Might had defeated the Nomu from USJ.
Against her resilience, he had to beat her with perseverance.
Togata couldn't bear watching as Sora stood against Shigaraki's onslaughts, shedding blood, breaking bones, and healing them only to suffer the same again and again.
Until she could no more…
In the end, the girl's knees buckled under her. Body covered in wounds and blood, she dropped face-first to the ground, unable to move.
Shigaraki grabbed her head and raised her up.
" You said you would stop me… didn't you?"
With eyes half-focused, the girl couldn't help but curse at her own weakness inwardly.
If she had accepted her true form way earlier.
Could she have stood against him even for a little longer?
Could she have bought more time for her friends?
" Die…"
He was about to crush her head in his big hand, only for Jeanist's wire to yank her away and into Yuu's shield.
" I'm sorry…" she apologized as Jeanist's wire dropped her to the ground gently, not to worsen her injuries.
" You bought us more time than you could ever think." He assured her.
It was then that Mandalay's voice spoke in her head, which was unwelcome. Her head ached a lot to accept the intruding voice.
The same was for Yuu.
All she got was that they needed to hold Shigaraki for two more seconds.
She wished she could have done it herself.
But she could not move her pinky, let alone stand back up.
Jeansit was not in any better shape than she was.
All that was left was Togata.
Please… She begged. Stop him.
Before she sank into darkness.
________________
The events around him were a blur.
His head ached.
Not just from the effort of focusing his attention on Bakugo's state, but also from the extended use of his Take Over.
More than once, he was on the verge of losing himself.
Who was he?
What was he doing?
Who was the person before him?
Why was he saving him?
And why was he sad?
He managed to push through that haze with willpower alone. But he didn't know how long it would take before his mind gave in.
Sora got beaten protecting them.
He wanted to help her.
Wanted to run to her and support her.
But he couldn't.
Bakugo would die in his hands.
With Midoriya entering the battlefield, the scales finally tipped in their favor.
But the shock waves sent debris in their way, which Yuu had to stop with his shield.
" Someone is trying to save your friend here, so can you fight a little further, please!"
" Sorry!" Midoriya quickly retorted as he grabbed Shigaraki with his black whips and shot far from the rest so they wouldn't get caught in the fight.
Togata quickly moved around the battlefield, getting everyone to safety, while Jeanist rushed to check on how Bakugo was doing.
" Still, his heart is not responding." Yuu blurted as he wiped another stream of blood from his nose. " At this rate… Even Edge Shot…"
Just as it seemed Midoriya was about to win, that Shigaraki was about to meet his end for good. The unexpected happened…
________________
In Front of Central Hospital
Columns of smoke rose up from around the building as flames raged on.
From the top floor, Yuusuke could see everything, the mobs of angry heteromorphs crowding the streets and the heroes fighting to hold them back.
" It's like an apocalypse…" the man murmured to himself.
" Dr. Seijin." The man looked over his shoulder just as a young woman approached him from behind.
She was a nurse in training and had just graduated. And she found herself dragged into a war almost as soon as she got accepted into the hospital.
Her facial features were still youthful, her wide brown eyes didn't lose their light, and her short black hair was held back into a half ponytail, not to get in front of her as she worked.
" How are the patients?"
" We tried to assure them as best we could. But they're still fearful."
" Can't be helped." He sighed as he returned his gaze to the window and pushed up his glasses.
" I never thought things would get this far," The young woman blurted. " I always thought that as long as we have heroes, we would always live in peace."
" As long as there is light, there is shadow. You know that? The stronger the light, the darker the shadow. There is no such thing as a happily ever after."
" Still… I wanted to believe in that…" she looked down.
" Hm…" the man's eyes opened slightly. " You still can."
" Eh?" The young woman looked up at him.
" You still can believe… that what awaits you after this war, is a happily ever after."
The girl pondered his words for a moment, just as the gigantic lizard fighting a few blocks away flung his bundle of weapons, hitting someone midair.
" Will we be safe here?"
" What do you mean?" Yuusuke asked.
" I mean. Will the heroes be able to protect us? They had failed once, didn't they? It's not like they're perfect beings. They're humans as well, no different from us or the patients who need our help. Yet they shoulder such a weight."
Yuusuke's eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered the scene of his younger brother protecting him at Jaku.
He had wondered the same back then.
Could he bear that burden?
Could he really keep him safe?
Heroes always stood at the front, shielding them.
Just like how Yuu shielded him that day, bleeding and sweating to protect him.
He would probably do the same no matter who stood behind him.
He was a hero.
But Yuusuke was not able to see a hero back then.
He saw his brother.
The child who clung to him.
The child who needed his help getting everything done.
The child who crept into his bed whenever he was scared at night, seeking his protection.
He saw his younger brother getting his limb torn and still fought for him.
She was right.
Those people were not different from them.
They were humans.
They were precious families for someone else.
And yet, what made them different?
What made Yuu different from him?
His eyes widened as the answer flashed in his mind.
Just then, the huge red lizard screamed something that riled up everyone else, making them break through the barricades of the police.
What made him different…
Yuusuke's eyes opened as he turned away from the window and toward the elevator.
" Where are you going, Sir?"
Yuusuke looked back just as a ding announced the lift's arrival. " I'm doing what must be done."
And he got in, hitting the button of the bottom floor.
Once the doors closed on him, he leaned on them and laughed at himself.
" I see… It was really simple, wasn't it…"
The thing that made Yuu different from him.
Was as plain as the day's sky.
Because he took a step towards it.
Because he chose to act.
Because he chose to become the hero and step up to defend others.
It wasn't something hard, really.
Yuusuke realized as he walked out of the elevator and through the empty corridor, crossing the lobby to reach the entrance to the patients' wings.
Anyone could have done it.
Anyone could have stepped up to protect another.
Anyone could have become a hero to someone else.
With that, the man turned around, facing the entrance with his back to the corridor housing the rooms of the patients.
Maybe he was not like his brother.
But he, too, had a responsibility.
A weight on his shoulders.
Those patients and their lives.
And he would protect them.
As the noises from the outside got louder, a hand reached for Yuusuke's and held it tight.
He looked to his side to find the nurse from earlier standing beside him.
" One won't be enough… don't you think?"
It was clear from her shaking hand that she was afraid. Despite that, she smiled.
" And you think two are any better?" He chuckled.
" Frankly, I doubt all of us would be enough for that matter." A voice called from behind them, and they glanced back to see several of their colleagues stepping in as well.
" What? Seems we've all been thinking the same thing. And I thought I had the brightest epiphany." Yuusuke laughed.
" We've all been watching the heroes fight after all." A doctor with a mushroom growing out of his head stepped next to them and held Yuusuke's other hand. " If they're doing their best, we should do the same as well."
" It's not their responsibility alone." Another, who looked like a humanoid version of a dinosaur, joined them.
" It's ours as well."
One by one, they formed lines, holding hands, and ready to defend their patients to the very end. Even other staff members joined the barricades.
Something, or someone, crushed right through the entrance.
It was the large lizard.
They held their breaths, hands squeezed tight.
But he didn't spare them a single glance.
Rather, he bolted ahead into the depths of the hospital.
The heroes' protocol in that case was known.
If anyone barges in towards Kurogiri, let them be.
And that's what they did.
The flood of heteromorphs that followed after him, screaming, however, halted upon laying eyes on the doctors and nurses.
Yuusuke didn't think it would change a thing.
But before any of them could process it, the invaders dropped their weapons. Some even headed back to stop the ones still fighting outside.
One by one… they all retreated…
And Yuusuke let out a breath of relief. Only for him to get a slap on the back.
" It's not over yet." He looked back to find the dinosaur doctor standing behind him with a smile. " The heroes' role ends here. But the doctors' role starts right now. There are probably more people injured out there than this hospital could take at once."
Yuusuke's eyes widened slightly at that, and he gave a soft smile. " Right."...