He wasn't saying any of this to benefit Mina in any way.
He was saying this to himself.
He was going to have problems once this entire event was over and done with. A lot of things were about to be dropped onto him, and he was going to have to figure out how he was going to deal with those issues. Everything that this implied. Everything that had happened because he trusted this person blindly, that he trusted Bakugou over Mina. These were things that would be to be addressed, and even though there was a threat right in front of him, Kirishima couldn't stop himself from thinking about them right now, though he knew that he shouldn't be.
There were bigger issues to deal with.
"What've you done with Bakugou, you bastard?" He growled, hardening his skin even more around his fists, and feeling his power starting to stretch up his neck and over his cheeks. Frustration, anger, and raw emotion causing his Quirk to overexert across his body. He could even feel the roots of his hair turning rock solid, accompanied with the clinking noise his skin made when his power activated. Even in spite of everything right now, he was trying to be strong.
There wasn't any response given. Just a cold, answerless stare. No emotion. No meaning. No nothing as 'Bakugou' stared back at him, without response, without care.
"Where's Izuku?!" Heavy breathing accompanied Mina's loud demand, her entire being shaking with unrepressed rage and frustrated anger. Hopelessness and fear, desperation and simply hoping to God that she might be able to get some sort of answer, somehow, in some way, from this intruder. Her Quirk was causing her palms and arms to sweat and secrete her Acid at an uncontrollable rate, not that she was even trying to hold back at all. Her irises small, focused, and shaking within their sockets. Everything that she'd been told about Izuku could, for all she knew, be a complete and total fabrication.
He might still be okay - Quirk and all.
"Where is he?!"
To this, there was a small grin in response. What irritated Mina about that smug smirk was just how self-assured it was, and how totally confident to the point of condensation that it was. Wide, and showing a perfect set of white teeth that mimicked the foul-mouthed teenagers own to a perfect tee, and that voice, high pitched and feminine that contrasted with Bakugou's so much that it was eerie, yet somehow still seemed to replicate the aforementioned males tone of arrogance and superiority. "You won't - "
Suddenly, 'Bakugou', ceased talking, and rapidly clasped their hand over their mouth, almost as if it were to silence themselves altogether. Smugness seemed to rapidly disappear, replaced with concern. Whatever was going on, it wasn't part of their plan, and had caught them off guard.. Their eyes suddenly became much wider and more focused on themselves, looking at their own skin, on the hands, their arms, and their face.
As it began to melt.
That was what it looked like, at least, to the two Yuuei onlookers, rather unhinged by what they were suddenly seeing. Both became uneasy, neither relinquishing their guard, but still feeling rather queasy from the sight in front of them. Kirishima's eyebrows rose alongside his disturb and surprise at what was happening right in front of him. Mina's remained focused, though her eyes somehow became even wider. Was this to do with this impostors Quirk or something? It originated from the impact site where Kirishima had struck his target, which was where the sudden melting was the heaviest.
'Bakugou' growled and returned those yellow eyes back towards the pair of them. With the switchblade in their hand now destroyed, all that was left were a few metallic shards where the grip met the metal, but brought up to about chest height. Mina thought for a moment that they were still intent on trying to gut the pair of them open, and planned on charging in, even though it was now two on one.
Instead, what happened was, even though their skin was literally falling off of them into a pool on the ground, they sliced the nearby curtains up quickly, and dragged the fabric they manage to take along with them across their now completely melting body, prioritizing the chest and allowing the length of the material to cover up their waist. It would have been the perfect time to attack, while their opponent was vulnerable and focused on something else entirely, but both of the students were rooted to the ground, unable to move at all. Unwilling to, uncertainty fueling their actions. "No point in keeping up this disguise..."
Blond hair remained blond, although it became messier. Much more messy and haphazard, like there wasn't even a single day that this hair had been brushed, or even washed, kept up in two equally messy buns at either side of the head. Lots more skin seemed to just drop off of this person, but quickly was revealed to merely be covering up this person's real skin, hidden underneath layers of fake material that looked like flesh. Perfect teeth morphed and disappeared, a pair of vampire - like fangs began to reveal themselves.
A face emerged. One that sent shivers down Mina's spine, and made her feel numb in every single inch of her body, and made her feel like her body was churning up bile in the pit of her stomach. It was that girl. The one that she had encountered when she ran into Uraraka and Tsuyu, during the invasion. The final chunks of skin disappeared, and as they did so, the same crazed smile returned.
It was Toga, the psychotic girl from the League of Villains. The young, dangerous, knife wielding, chipper talking, constantly smiling and messy haired blonde homicidal maniac.
Her stance was off, the majority of her weight shifted onto her left leg, with a hip cocked out. Without her hand covering the area Kirishima had hit, it now dangled along with the rest of her arm just in front of her. And of course, to add everything up, that disturbing creepy smile, where her lips were wound up to reveal her gums as well as her teeth was on clear and wide display. With her back bent and head mostly facing the floor, her eyes rolled up past her eyelids, half covering them, but still allowing her to look directly at the Ashido girl.
"Hey Mina." Toga greeted, tilting her head slightly to the side. "How's your hand? Who's your friend? We've got lots to catch up on!"
"This girl?!" The words left Mina's mouth automatically, before she could even stop them. Her jaw tensed up and her teeth collided, grinding hard against one another.
"You know her?" Kirishima glanced towards her slightly, though his focus was primarily remaining on Toga, whom he felt a very clear intimidation from. His eyes didn't dare leave her person for more than a couple of split seconds at a time.
Their encounters had been very brief, but already she knew more than enough about this girl to at least know what sort of person she was. Mentally unstable and horrifying, and possibly with some kind of vendetta against Mina. That aside, she was still an unknown. "She was with the Villains." As she spat out the final word, Mina felt her right hand twitch and throb along her wound. "And the one who stabbed me through my hand."
The Acid Quirk user felt sweat run down her forehead. Her wound cried out in pain again, and her eyes narrowed even more. There was fear now. Especially of this girl. Suffering a wound like Mina had, anyone would be terrified of their attacker, and she was no exception to this rule. Her body was shaking, not just out of anger anymore, but out of that same fear of further pain. Knives now made her flinch, at least the sharp ones did. And she imagined that they might for a while now. That was a trauma that she knew she was going to have to overcome, or at least learn to live with, especially if she wanted to become a Hero someday.
Thanks to Kirishima though, Toga's weapon had been destroyed, snapping against his hardened body. Even without a knife though, Mina had no doubt that the few shards that she still had attached to the switchblades grip was going to be more than enough to let this girl kill someone if she wanted to. Her body, all of a sudden, just refused to move, to react to the commands that her brain was sending to the rest of her body.
Angry as she was, this girl...
She horrified Mina. She downright scared her half to death.
"You're shaking. You cold, Mina?" Toga's tone only served to freak out Mina more. She actually sounded like she was genuinely concerned about the mutated girl. Her unpredictable nature made Mina want to scream - Out of frustration, hatred, fury or terror, she didn't know herself. All she knew was that she couldn't move.
Something that wasn't suddenly amiss on the Hardening Quirk user. "Ashido, what's going on? You okay?"
This time, the words just couldn't escape her. Before, they just weren't able to be contained, and in the space of a few moments, they were now entrapped again. Just unable to move. She hadn't felt this sheer level of horror beforehand. She'd dealt with literal Villains beforehand, before she'd even entered Yuuei. She'd dealt with the horrors that came from facing fear, staring death right in the face. She'd been at USJ. She'd fought against Overgrow with Izuku. She'd fought against some of the most horrifying Villains out there. She'd done everything in her power to fight against those who attacked the lodge. She'd fought this girl and survived.
But now she was genuinely terrified.
What was she going to do?
What could she do?
"Ashido! Snap out of it! What's going on?!"
Even with her powerful Quirk, Mina hadn't been able to do anything to this girl, and had earned only a nasty wound for it. Nothing she had done had stopped this maniac. It hadn't changed anything. Izuku had still been kidnapped, and she had been powerless to stop it from happening. Even with her physical fitness, it hadn't done anything. Nothing had worked against this girl, and the result had always been the same.
Mina had been defeated.
So what would change this time?
She didn't have anything new. Only the same old tricks, and techniques, no additional training. The only new thing about her was her depression and lovesickness. Nothing she could use.
All of this, and she had nothing to lose… Yet she was still rooted to the spot in nothing but fear of this girl. She felt pathetic. She was pathetic. She was so pathetic that her brain was just screaming at her at how pathetic she was.
Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.
Pathetic!
"Ashido!" His voice wasn't getting through to her. Kirishima could see that, as well as her near broken state. Not daring to let his guard down for a second, he took a step forward, to put a bit of a distance between Toga and Mina, to try to protect her. His hands crossed over one another into an X shaped guard. His Quirk simply wasn't allowing him to reinforce himself any more than he already was, and it was causing him strain to keep it up like this. Sweat fell from his forehead, though he refused to even slightly back down. "Not this time." He quietly muttered to himself, trying to steady his breathing. Louder, he yelled his demand towards to Villain in front of him, in as sturdy a tone as possible. "What do you even want with us? Why come here pretending to be one of our classmates?" His voice broke slightly before he kept going. "You already took our friends from us… You're breaking the faith in Heroes…. Why?... What's the point of any of this?!"
"Cleanup." With the broken knife, she pointed behind Kirishima, and towards the frozen girl he was defending. Mina could swear she could feel her very soul being stabbed by them as they were aimed at her. "Izuku keeps talking about this girl when he thinks no one is listening. Mina this, Mina that, Mina the other thing… Even when he has me now, he keeps talking about this girl."
Kirishima gulped.
"Izuku and me are happy without this girl, but he keeps talking about her… All the time…" As she spoke, Toga looked like she was hurt, at least emotionally speaking.
A grin then spread across her lips, not showing off any teeth whatsoever. Somehow, it would have been less creepy if her teeth had been brought to bare.
"So I'ma get rid of the problem! And then Izuku and I can be happy without her being involved!" The cheerful logic of a serial killer was disturbing as it was always going to be. Devoid of emotion or any real common sense, but there it was, presented clear as day for everyone to hear, and spoken with such seriousness that it was honestly freaky. Signs of mental instability, if they weren't already obvious in this maniac before, certainly made themselves known right now.
The bizarre belief that Izuku and here were apparently in some sort of relationship, no matter how twisted and fucked up it was bound to be. This idea that Izuku, in his no doubt delirious and battered and broken state, was somehow going to be content with the situation that he was in. The insane logic that, again, only made sense in the mind of a homicidal maniac, that removing someone from the equation entirely would solve the issues that this girl had. That combined with her giggling and rapidly fluctuating mood showed her symptoms of mental instability even more. If every Villain in the League was like this, it was a miracle that any of the students had made it out alive full stop.
"So you chose to disguise yourself as Bakugou, why? Just to rub it in our faces?" Kirishima may have had the clear advantage when it came to the power of their Quirks, even if he wasn't as developed in the technique department as this girl probably was, she had nowhere to go. The floor they were on was so high up that jumping was unquestionably suicide, and the only exit was through him and Mina. He could charge and pin this girl down no problem, but that could leave her with an opening to escape. The goal was simply to aggravate her, to provoke her in some way into coming towards him. While she moved, he would have the advantage. She would need to focus on moving as well as throwing out an attack, while all he had to do was make sure that she didn't get past him.
Realistically, she had nowhere to go. As soon as she charged at him, she was finished. In the meantime, all there was to do was wait, and try to pry information out of this Toga girl. As much as possible, before he had to knock her out cold.
Toga suddenly stuck her tongue out at the mention of the Explosion Quirk user. "Blergh! His blood tasted yucky, even when he was all beaten up. Not my type at all." Shaking her head as she spoke, Toga kept her mouth open. "Way too angry all the time, and his blood tastes like dirt. I wanted to drink more of Izuku's blood, but Shigaraki said that it would throw the Heroes off more if I returned as the guy we were out to kidnap. Thought it might confuse you and make you all look like a bunch of morons!" She ended her sentence in a sing-song tone, like she was mocking the Hardening Quirk users question. Like a child, almost.
"Bastards!..." His words were slow and drawn out, himself on the verge of hissing outright. The strain of maintaining his transformation type power was starting to get to Kirishima, determined as he was to hold out. When his skin was hardened to be this tough, and for this long, he began to feel the wear and tear of his power, sort of like holding a dumbbell at arm's length for long, extended period of time. It became more and more difficult to maintain. It was why he needed Toga to attack him right now, while he was still able to maintain this. He scowled, and began to yell again. "You're such cowards that you won't even attack us head on? What kind of – "
"Kirishima, hang on."
Mina's voice suddenly coming back into the conversation made Kirishima jump slightly, himself feeling his Hardening weakening from the sudden surprise.
Looking towards the object of her fears directly, even though her entire body, her right hand in particular, was shaking uncontrollably, Mina found her voice, pushed onwards by hope at some of the wording that Toga had chosen. There was still a chance. A very slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.
"You…. So, Izuku's okay? He's not been injured too badly?" Nothing that he hadn't done to himself anyway, she thought to herself. "He's alive?... His Quirk hasn't been stolen?..."
"He's not yours anymore, you bitch!" Venomous shouting suddenly and violently were shot out from Toga's mouth, her pupils becoming smaller and more focused on the athletic pink girl on the other side of the room. Where this particular breed of anger came from was unclear, and just where the intensity of it came from was certainly due to the sick affection that she held for the green haired boy. Perhaps it was simply because she was furious at the boy's girlfriend for merely existing, or because she had, from her words, figured out that absolutely everything that had come out of her mouth on the subject was a complete and total lie. " He's mine! He doesn't need you anymore!"
Seconds passed.
In total silence.
Mina was, in spite of her own clear fear of this younger Villain, standing her ground, and refusing to turn around and run, or allow herself to be protected yet again by one of her friends.
She was sick of that. Being protected and defended. Her inability to fend for herself. Her inability to protect the people that she cared about, be them friend, family, or the boy she loved with all her heart. She was tired of not being able to be a Hero, to be what she wanted to be all along. She was tired of, despite having such a powerful Quirk, never being able to use it and defend people in the way that people like Izuku and Kirishima could. She was tired of not being able to do those things.
Not even able to protect the person she loved. Seriously, what sort of girlfriend even was she at this point?
With no reason to do so, Kirishima had ran here as quickly as he could, solely to help Mina because he thought that someone back here was in danger, and he was able to do something about it. He could have frozen up, like she had. He could have ignored it, or he could have run to get help from other people. Instead, here he was. Truly, he'd grown from the young boy she'd known beforehand. Were someone to ask her what she thought, Mina would answer truthfully – He had long since surpassed her. And here he was, continuing to do so.
It was time to repay that favor.
Holding up her hand and putting it in front of her classmate to block his way, Mina managed to step forward, and stop her shaking. Not that she had erased her fear of this girl. Not even close to it.
"Hang back, Kirishima." Her own voice was low, as was her head.
Her right hand flinched and stuttered, before quirking into a fist, as her left hand formed a claw like position with which to utilize her Quirk.
"She's mine." Darkly serious tones that sent a shudder throughout everyone in the room, even the killer right in front of them. Mina was terrified, yes, but she was acting in spite of it, refusing to give in a second longer.
Her body was back in her control. And she was ready to fight.
Toga's smile didn't change though. All she did was prepare herself into a better fighting stance.
"Are you nuts?!" Kirishima now looked directly at Mina, turning his head to face her completely in automatic response. "You're gonna end up getting yourself killed! My Quirk's better suited for this kind of thing! Do you wanna die?! If you're gonna fight, I - "
"You're making sure she doesn't escape." The determined girl now ordered sternly. "Block the door. Worst case scenario, if she managed to get me, she isn't going to get past you. Your Quirk makes sure of that." A small growl escaped her throat. "We know Izuku's okay now. We don't know exactly about his Quirk…. But he's okay. So Bakugou should be. I wanna run out of here and track them down right now… But this one's too dangerous. Plus, think about it. If she manages to get away, then the Villains are gonna know about our rescue plan."
Nothing she was saying didn't make sense. It was all perfectly logically sound, and she was right in everything that she was saying.
Additionally, Kirishima knew Mina. How strong she was. How brave she was.
"Besides." As she spoke, her Quirk activated within her left hand, now at full power. All hesitation was gone, and now all that remained was a powerful Hero in training ready to fight like hell against this Villain. "This girl's hurt Izuku… She knows exactly where he is. And she stabbed my hand." Her back hunched, as she got ready to charge. "I want some payback."
And he knew that trying to stop her was a lost cause. If he tried to stop her, she'd probably end up just charging right on ahead, or even using her Quirk on him to make him let go.
"….Okay." He responded, stepping back a few paced to block the doorframe. His X guard returned, though he allowed himself to loosen his durability just a small bit, so he could call upon it again if he needed it. "She's not getting past me, Ashido." His lips managed to curve up into a slight grin as he spoke, showing a few teeth. From somewhere in the pit of his stomach, his anxiety and worries were now evaporating, warming up and being replaced by faith and confidence, in both himself and in Ashido. They could take this girl, couldn't they? "Take her down. I've got your back."
Mina didn't need anything more than that.
The second Kirishima stopped talking, she lunged straight forward with her left hand, wasting not a single second. Her goal was simple – Inflict as much pain as possible onto Toga. Burn right through her arm with her Quirk if she had to. She was ready to use anything at her disposal – The environment, the items around her, her Quirk, her hands, her feet, her head and horns, her teeth and nails if that was what it was going to take. Taking risks with this girl was stupid and dangerous.
Holding back was going to get her killed.
She knew her opponent was someone who probably had a vast amount more combat experience, even if she was younger than her, and the sort of person that she was, Mina knew that she wasn't going to be shown and mercy. Toga wouldn't show a second's hesitation when it came to killing her opponents. She'd strike instantly.
So she had to match that, bit for bit. No mercy, no hesitation.
Just pure, unrepressed ferocity. That was the only way she was even going to stand a chance.
Though Toga seemed ready for it, like she'd guessed that Mina would react that way and reach that conclusion, and reacted accordingly. A quick couple of steps backward and one to the left allowed her to avoid the lunge and all the dangerous substances that came with it. Next, it allowed her to launch an attack of her own, using what was left of the knife to try to pierce her skin and cut her up. But just like Toga had managed to do, Mina was able to predict her moves, and skidded to the side, just out of the way of her opponents reach.
A fist was what Mina threw next, aiming straight for the jaw – The most susceptible part of the body. A strong enough hit there could knock someone clean unconscious. Her hand still flared up in agony whenever she attempted to utilize her Quirk from the right hand, as the wound was still fresh, to all she could do was rely on her physical strength to hopefully cause Toga to black out.
It didn't work though.
With surprising speed and reflexes that really shouldn't surprise Mina anymore, Toga managed to retract her head, and swing her left hand up to grab the Acid Quirk users extended arm.
And then swung her right hand up, and sliced the broken blade across Mina's wrists.
"Aaaaaaaaarrrh!" It was simply luck that Toga had managed to cut the top of the student's wrists, and not the weaker, fleshier and far more vulnerable bottom side. The metal, though broken, still had cut into Mina's skin and caused her yet more cuts along her right hand, but there only reached in a couple of centimeters. It was bearable pain. Something that she could deal with.
Had it been on the bottom side, her arteries would have been cut open, which would have been the end of her after a few minutes, without question.
"Ashido!"
"I'm fine!" As she yelled back, her right foot suddenly unleashed a kick with an enormous amount of force behind it. Reacting solely to the pain, she hadn't had the time to activate her Quirk to maximize the damage, but the strike hit, and it was a solid hit to the stomach. The sheer impact made her attacker let go. She felt it sink straight into Toga, and saw her stagger back. This time, her hit had bought her a little ground, enough to grant her the time to return her leg and get back onto two feet.
Next up, a left hook with her Acid secreting hand, aimed right for the left arm.
"On your right!"
Heeding Kirishima's warning, Mina's eyes darted to her side, to see the suddenly incoming broken blade once again. This time, she had the time to move out of its way, jumping back and giving up on her initial attack in order to preserve herself. She felt the wind that was pushed her way from Toga's movements hit her hair, but she was totally unharmed.
The Transformation Quirk user just growled. "Stay still!" She launched another series of swings towards Mina, trying to slide her in all the vulnerable regions that were within her reach. A downward, diagonal swipe, then a vertical upwards slash, then a downwards lunge. Mina managed to keep out of her reach by backing up and moving to the sides as each swing came, which gave her enough time to evade the next inevitable attempt on her life. Her advanced reflexes were helping her to survive here. Those were what she had to thank for her being able to pull this off. "Stay still and die!"
"Tell me where Izuku is!" Her right fist struck out, and slammed straight across Toga's left cheek. Mina quickly then pulled her hand just an inch away from her, opened her attacking hand, and then slammed her open palm once again against her opponent's face, fingers gripping across her face and nose, using her newfound leverage top push the Villain's face away from her, while also throwing her off guard. The automatic response was the pull back, which was just what Toga did.
Mina used this to her advantage, and pushed with all her strength against her enemy, slamming her against the windowsill and pushing her left forearm over her throat.
With that move, the pink girl had her target pinned. Any moves that Toga made would simply result in Mina being able to either crush her windpipe, knock the air right out of her, or, if she felt like it, straight up erode through her throat until she decapitated the psychotic blonde. She had nothing at her disposal except for a ruined knife, which she had dropped when she had been pinned against the wall, and had no allies, or a way out of this entire situation. There wasn't any sort of doubt at Mina's victory anymore.
She'd won. Simple as that.
If someone in her class was able to look at her in that moment, they wouldn't have recognized her, her face crumpled up and bitterly snarling as hers was. Teeth bare like fangs, and her eyebrows sharply burrowed downwards. Her breathing was incredibly heavy, loud inhales and exhales coming one after another. That fear was still there, but Mina refused to allow even a shred of it to be shown anymore. Making her voice as crisp and clear as possible, Mina slowly spelled out her question again.
"Where. Is. He?"
"You're not too bright, Mina." Toga cheerfully responded, not showing the slightest hint of fear in her situation. In fact, she almost seemed to be amused by it all. Her smile seemed all too cheerful still, and the way that she happily chirped her enemy's first name… "I think I see why Izuku liked you… But I'm still gonna stab you, you know. That hasn't changed a bit."
"I've had enough of your shit!"
Mina's voice bellowed as she yelled, as loud as she possibly could. Her hands were weak, and there was barely any energy in her body anymore.
Every single ounce of energy that she had left was going towards self-restraint. To stop herself from activating her Quirk and burning straight through Toga's throat.
The temptation was there, very real, and incredibly, so incredibly tempting. Mostly because, above everything else, Mina just didn't know what to do. She just had no idea. Toga was the only person, probably in the entire province, and for miles all around it. Any information that she could get from this girl was almost certainly going to be immeasurably valuable to rescuing Izuku. Those facts were not at all even slightly lost on the desperate young woman. In fact, they were screeching in her ears, like Present Mic's Quirk was blasting straight into her eardrums.
Yet she was broken. And she knew that she was. A broken shell of the person that she normally was. Everything that had happened in the last few days had just hit her. Hit her hard. Hit her over and over again, without even the slightest moment to regain her bearings. To rebuild herself up. To refortify herself and just let herself. It left her with a clouded mind. Like when she exposed Bakugou's bullying past. When she accidentally revealed Izuku's Quirkless past. Like when she downright dismissed Kirishima.
How she had gotten into this terrible situation in the first place.
Part of her wanted to just end Toga. Right here, right now. Scared as she was of Toga, fury equally waged within Mina. It wouldn't even be difficult to take Toga out. All she'd need to do was allow her Quirk to activate, and her Acid would do the rest. She wouldn't even Feel any real resistance, and could even justify some distance from her actions, since she herself wasn't going to feel the object of her hatred die.
Besides, Toga was one of the Villains who was responsible for the attacks. Responsible for so much of the pain and the guilt and the resentment that Mina, and everyone in Yuuei, now had to feel. Had been feeling, for the last couple of days now. All of it…. Toga had played a part in.
She was just as guilty as anyone in the League of Villains. And Mina almost wanted to just give up, and let her Quirk take her out. Would anyone blame her? Would Kirishima seriously think that she was being irrational and emotional? Would anyone? Wouldn't this be classed as self-defense anyway? There were so many ways to get away with this.
"Everything that's happened… Everything… You've been involved in it! Every single time!... You're just as responsible for this as that Warp Gate guy! I've had enough of your games! Just tell me where Izuku is, now!"
She could feel herself losing the willpower to hold her Quirk back.
Heroism be damned.
"Just give it up."
The sudden voice of Kirishima brought Mina from her internal thoughts. He took a couple of steps towards both of the girls, allowing himself to let down his guard. "You're outnumbered, our Quirks are stronger than yours is, and this hospital is full of people who are more than happy to stop you. You won't win this… So just give it up." His hand remained solid as a rock though. "Tell us what we want to know."
"You're not too smart, either." The trapped Villain pouted towards the red eyed teenager, and looked at him with unimpressed eyes of her own, scanning him over. "You know, if you were a bit beaten up, you might actually be kind of cute."
"Enough games." He responded flatly. Evidentially, he was just as tired, and held just as much remorse for everything that had gone down as Mina had. For the first time, Mina heard the pain as he spoke, how his throat seemed to make him croak out certain letters when he vocalized his speaking. "Tell us where Bakugou and Midoriya are. Now."
With how everything had affected her… Mina had honestly forgotten how Kirishima had to be feeling right now. No. That wasn't an entirely accurate statement. She hadn't even considered it. She had been so wrapped up in her own feelings, her own pain, and her own emotions… She hadn't even considered how anyone else was feeling.
Of course other people had to be hurting. Of course they were. She wasn't the only one who had suffered thanks to this entire affair. No way that was the case. For all the problems that she had with it, Kirishima did seem to consider Bakugou an actual friend. His concern did seem genuine, though that might be more to do with him just being the sort of person that he was. On the other end of the spectrum, Uraraka, Iida and Todoroki no question were suffering thanks to the loss of Izuku. But she just hadn't even really thought about that. At least not enough for someone who had thought herself to be empathetic to another person's pain.
That sudden display of sheer emotion from her old friend… It caught Mina off.
And that worried her.
"Hrm. So, you wanna know where Izuku is?"
Once Kirishima had stopped talking, Toga made her move, quick enough to avoid any sort or retaliation from either of the Yuuei students.
Her Quirk suddenly activated, causing her skin to suddenly melt and become more liquid and water like, which made holding a grip on her nearly impossible. It didn't take much for Toga to immediately slip out of Mina's hold, before she could do anything to prevent her escape.
"Gah! Hey!"
Staggering a couple of steps away from Mina, Toga allowed her back to arch once more, as her Quirk began to take effect, rapidly altering her appearance. Her face was turned away from the pink girl, and towards the boy with red hair dye. Unlike her previous de-transformation, her changing of appearance was nearly instant, bringing an entirely new face to the whole situation. A face that had been carefully chosen.
Because of just how much it would throw off Toga's enemies.
"I'm right here."
Izuku's face. And Izuku's voice.
Mina froze.
Absolutely nothing else in the room existed anymore. Not the doors, not the windows, not the knifes. Not even Kirishima.
Only the image of the boy Mina had so desperately, desperately wanted to see again.
It was a perfect replication of Izuku, in every single aspect, from the freckles on his face and their location, to the shades of green that were in his eyes. The scars on his right arm and hand, and the color of hair, black towards the roots, and dark green as it grew out further. His muscles and his proportions, height and width, all perfectly recreated right in front of her. Ever so slightly taller than her, and a bit broader to boot. A body less designed for athleticism, and more strength based, built to withstand the power that he housed inside of him. The smile that was now on 'his' face was the same one that she remembered seeing whenever he was happy, and he thought that she wasn't looking his way. Small, and adorable, with one corner curled up slightly. The voice too, a perfect mimic of the timid boy's pitch and tone.
That was honestly the worst, and the best part of it. Hearing that sweet voice again.
She'd missed this. Mina had missed this. Seeing him. In the flesh. In person.
Right in front of her.
There he was… So close, she could reach out and touch him…
"Mina? What's wrong?" That voice again. "You look kinda confused…" Soothing right now, and just what she had missed... It was truly amazing how much Mina had missed hearing it. How much she'd missed of absolutely everything Izuku. Nothing else even seemed to enter her entire universe. Kirishima was shouting something, something irrelevant and totally unimportant right now, so she just blocked it out. He was right in front of her…
But he also wasn't. Not even close.
That sad fact screamed out at Mina, over and over, louder and louder every time that she thought about it. She knew in her head that that wasn't Izuku who was standing in front of her. That the person who was right in front of her was Toga, The female Villain that she utterly despised. The one who was partially responsible for everything that had been going on for the last few days. The girl whom had given her such an injury… Mina knew that this was a trick. A way to psychologically batter her. A way to make her unwilling, or unable, to strike back against the one who wore the face of the person she loved. The way that 'Izuku' acted, the way he spoke, the words he used…. It was all Toga's way of breaking down her barriers. Of making her an easier target to finish off.
She knew all of this.
She knew it all perfectly well.
She knew that she shouldn't be letting this affect her. She knew that if she allowed this trick to work, then it was going to be the end of her. She had already escaped fate once today. She was growing concerned that she was running out of tokens or whatever to keep doing so. The last time had been pure luck, and thanks to Kirishima's timely arrival to protect her. Was he going to be able to do the same thing yet again? Would he even try? Even assuming the positive to both of these things… She couldn't just rely on that getting her out of here. She knew that if she wanted to survive, she was going to have to attack. To show no mercy.
She knew that…
She did…
But….Not with Izuku. "I'm sorry…." It wasn't Izuku… But it was probably the closest that she was going to get now, since she wasn't going to fight back anymore. "Izu… Ku… Izu… I'm…" Not even the words were going to come out.
Just how pathetic could one person be?
"Damn it, Ashido, no!"
"Die, die, die!"
"Mina?" 'Izuku's' voice again. This time louder. Closer. The gap between them was so small now….
… She couldn't.
She knew it wasn't Izuku. In fact, she was trying to focus on that single, simple fact. That this was a Transformation Type Quirk, and that it was quite literal in its name. This wasn't Izuku. It wasn't him. It was, it wasn't, it wasn't… She knew it….
But she just couldn't bring herself to get ready to attack. To even think about getting ready to strike against her enemy. Not while she looked like that. Not when she looked like Izuku. She just.
Couldn't.
Do it.
"Die!"
Not to him.
Not to her Izuku.
No matter how much her mind yelled at her, no matter how ridiculous it had to seem to anyone else…No matter how sharp the knife that Toga had somehow managed to acquire from the room somewhere – A hidden blade, hidden elsewhere in the room for emergencies like this, perhaps? - looked… She just couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to attack. All the strength in her body was gone. All of it. Every final drop. How she was even standing on two feet anymore… She just didn't know. She just didn't have the capacity anymore. Not to fight.
It was all a blur, once again. This time, to more permanent, dangerous effects.
Once again, Mina found herself rescued, her life preserved, by the quick thinking and speed of Kirishima, and the durability of his Quirk. This time, he had managed to grab hold of her shoulder, and had tugged her behind his body, though in doing so, his arm was then stabbed yet again, thankfully suffering no injury thanks to his rapid activation of Hardening ability. For the second time in the space of maybe five minutes, Kirishima had saved her life, at the risk to himself.
But something was different this time. This time, Kirishima's expression showed signs of pain, of impact, of actual physical response from the knife's effects. It hadn't managed to pierce his skin, but it seemed to have had some kind of effect on him. More like a punch than a slash, though she was able to see the slice along his hardened skin where it should have sliced open, like a chink in his armored body. One of his eyes was firmly shut, the other only half open, glaring in the cuts general direction. He was fortunate to have the kind of Quirk that he did in this situation. It was how he was managing to keep the pair of them alive.
Things began to move once again for Mina once she saw Toga - Izuku backing up, with a widening grin that didn't fit his face at all. What exactly the Villain had to grin about didn't hit Mina for a short while. Not until she actually looked at the situation, and considered a couple of things now.
And realized just how much she had truly screwed up.
All because of her inability to put reason before her heart and her own inabilities, Kirishima had needed to dart over to save her, shielding her with his body once again.
That meant that the door was now unguarded. Nothing to stop Toga from getting out of the room, and making a run for it.
Which was exactly what she did. The moment time started to return to the regular passage, the girl in the shape of Mina's boyfriend made a rapid charge straight through the door, speeding right through the doorframe and running at the absolute peak of her physical ability. For her natural size and body, she was deceptively fast – Did her Quirk grant her other people's physical abilities, or did she just have that herself? That question was, however, the last one that should be at the forefront of anyone's mind. She was escaping.
Toga was escaping! The Villain, the one who knew where Izuku was! But there was something much worse. Something that Mina hadn't even thought about until just this moment.
"Oh no…" She whispered. Toga knew.
She knew about the students plan to rescue Izuku! She understood the details – The others who were actually involved had no doubt briefed her on the mission and how they were going to do everything. She knew everything about their plan! Hell, she probably knew more about it than Mina did at this stage!
If she managed to get back to the other Villains…
"Crap!" Kirishima deactivated his Quirk and stepped away from Mina, dusting off the mark that now made itself at home on his skin and darting towards the door after Toga. Mina couldn't honestly tell if he was thinking about the same things that she was – For all she knew, he was just focused on the fact a Villain had managed to escape from the pair of them, and they now had to go and recapture her. Whatever his thinking was, his reasons were probably just as good as the ones Mina was thinking of within the grand scheme of things.
Her brain began to send the correct signals to her limbs again. She couldn't afford to sit here and just allow the Villain to escape. Picking herself up onto her feet, she utilized every single muscle that she had in her, and pushed one foot in front of the other, and ran straight out the door frame.
Chasing the girl who was mimicking her boyfriend.
"Todoroki, you can't be serious about this."
Looking up from the ground and his folded arms, Todoroki looked towards Kaminari, the same deadpanned expression in his eyes that he'd shown every single person who'd asked him that question.
"Yes, I am serious." He responded, for what felt like the five hundredth time since their plan had been revealed to everyone in 1A. He had repeated this same couple of sentences over and over to multiple people. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."
And there was that same look on his conversation partners face. That look of both bewilderment and disapproval at the decision. Of course, it wasn't just Kaminari who had looked at him this way. Ojiro, Fumikage, Aoyama, Sero and Tsuyu had all gone out of their way to make the same comments.
Uraraka had watched the same scene play out, different people, different variations of the same words, but the overall scene was all too familiar to her. Todoroki wasn't going to back down. She'd figured that out after watching him for maybe an hour or so, with a thousand thoughts of her own rushing through her brain. Seeing Todoroki actually getting emotionally worked up was just something she straight up wasn't used to. It was weird to watch him actually getting this worked up about things, since he normally carried himself in such a stoic manner, keeping himself calm and collected, and somewhat distant to everyone around him.
It was just proof he did care about friends.
And she wished that she could be as certain of herself. That she knew what it was that she wanted to do in this situation.
On the one hand, she absolutely understood everything that the others were saying. Going out on their own likes this, even if it was to rescue one of their classmates – Even if Bakugou was still being held hostage, making it a rescue of two people – They were still breaking so many laws that it wasn't even worth considering. No matter how Heroic the intent, the fact of the matter was that they were going to be more like Villains than they were like Heroes. Going off on their own without any sort of legal backing, it was like a complete slap in the face towards everything that Heroism was supposed to be, towards everything their superhero based society. The correct answer, at least from a societal perspective, was obvious and clear.
What Todoroki, Kirishima, Bakugou and Mina planned to do was right illegal.
It wasn't right, and no circumstances would honestly be able to justify it. It didn't matter who they were rescuing, or what the situation was. In the eyes of society, they would be Villainous in act. No question.
… In the eyes of the legal system, anyway.
This was Izuku they were talking about. The person in 1A that everyone at the very least respected, who kept surprising and inspiring people over and over again. The person who upheld everything that being a Hero was supposed to be. Who, out of everyone in their class, was probably the most determined to be a Hero. Who wanted to be a Hero for the most selfless reasons.
He was her friend. On top of that, he was practically a friend to nearly everyone in 1A, which was why it had hit everyone a lot harder than if it had just been Bakugou. It was why, even after their Explosive compatriot had been returned, the mood was still somber and damp for everyone who had been there. Bakugou being captured had affected everyone, certainly… But Izuku being lost had hit everyone that bit harder, due to his amicable personality. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. That was what was upsetting to most people.
That was what made the debate a much more complicated affair.
Because there were so many people who admired and respected Izuku, the thought of actually going to help him weighed heavily on their minds. Mina's words had cut them deep, but nothing that she had said had been wrong in any way. Izuku was the person – Possibly the only person in the entire class – That had literally no issues with anyone, and always tried to help no matter what. No matter the issue, no matter the person. He was just a good person all round, and the fact that they weren't doing anything to help him, someone who absolutely deserved it, did stand out to quite a number of them.
Many were still internally debating, only a select few having made up their minds.
The brunette girl sighed. She really didn't know what side the honestly resided on, because she saw both sides, and both sides made very good, strong arguments that could easily sway her if presented with a strong enough case. She had so much to consider in the debate, from her desperation to do something to help her best friend, to her own parents, and the reason that she wanted to be a Hero in the first place. While she wanted to help… Doing so could risk the very people that she wanted to be a Hero for. If she got kicked out of Yuuei, a very real risk for those who were going, then that meant that she wouldn't be able to get the money to help out her parents.
But if she didn't go, then she knew she'd be pressed with guilt for the longest, longest time, for doing nothing at all to help. She wished she could be like Mina; Unflinching and without hesitation, ready to go out and save Izuku, probably coming to her decision quicker than anyone had done. Then again, Izuku was her boyfriend. Uraraka couldn't blame her friend for making such a quick and hasty decision.
Impassioned choice too, there couldn't be any doubt about that. Would she hold it against those who did nothing to help? Normally she wouldn't, but these weren't normal circumstances.
"Uraraka." The Zero Gravity Quirk user looked up, and found herself greeted by her other friend, whom looked just as pained and conflicted as she herself was. It was Iida, looking down at the sat-down girl with folded arms, but an expression that just didn't suit the rest of his stance. "…What are you thinking about?"
She sighed, and looked up towards the Engine Quirk user, locking eyes with his blue ones. She answered honestly. "…About… Deku. I just… I don't know... What to do."
"Going after him would be illegal, you know."
"Yeah, I know…. But admit it, Iida. You're struggling to justify not doing anything yourself, aren't you?"
This time, it was Iida's turn to sigh, He didn't deny Uraraka's assessment, instead choosing to sit next to her. Coming from a renowned Hero family, and given his strict personality, it wasn't a surprise that he was trying to uphold the proper way of justice and law to his classmates. It was also clear though, that due to the fact that Izuku was his friend, and someone he held an immense respect for, he was seriously conflicted between right and wrong in this case. He was just as troubled at his brown-haired friend, unsure if what he was doing was the right thing to do at all, both morally and ethically.
"I… I admit, I am conflicted." He confessed, resting his head within his right hand.
A nod was all the agreement that he got from Uraraka, who patted him on the back softly. "I… I wish that I was like Ashido. I wish that… I had nothing I had to think about… I have my parents to consider… And you have your family to think about too." She felt hand hands turn into fists. "But Ashido… She doesn't need to think about stuff like that. She didn't even hesitate, I bet…"
"… Ashido and Midoriya are dating, after all." Iida reminded her, though he understood what his friend was trying to say. "It's…. Easy to compare our lack of action to hers… But our circumstances are entirely different."
"… Maybe." She sighed again, though her fists were still balled up. "But… Todoroki and Kirishima… They don't have that same reasoning. Even Bakugou is going… How are we supposed to justify doing nothing… Against that?..."
To this, Iida had no answer. Instead, he just looked towards the bi-hair colored student, still in discussion with Kaminari. Uraraka had a point… Once that he couldn't just dismiss or word his way out of.
No matter how he thought about it… His friend was right in that regard.
"… I – "
"Stop!"
The pair of teenagers suddenly felt their heads jerk to the side as the sudden, screaming – shout captured the attention of virtually everyone in their small group, originating from down a closed corridor at the far end of the reception they were all found at. What followed was a few seconds of silence, with various students looking between one another, and towards the source of the noise, listening to what sounded like a series of rapidly enclosing footsteps, heavy and loud. Followed by another.
And then another.
What came next, no one was prepared for, and made practically everyone's jaws drop.
What emerged from that corridor, was Izuku Midoriya, running as fast as his legs would allow him to move at.
He then suddenly skidded, looking towards everyone in the reception, like he was looking for someone he recognized, like he was looking at a room full of strangers.
The room full of his classmates however, all straight up stared at him, jaws ajar, eyes wide open, shock having hit them all at once. Uraraka and Iida had shot straight up onto their feet in sheer shock, their bodies moving before they could even stop them.
"Midorya?!"
"Deku?!"
They weren't alone either. Everyone in the hallway, Kaminari, Todoroki, Sero, Tsuyu and Mineta all suddenly were staring at the green haired boy, whom looked surprisingly in good shape given everything that had happened to him beforehand. No one really questioned that fact though, more focused on the fact that, despite everything, Izuku was, somehow, right in front of them.
"What the hell?!"
"Midoriya?!"
"Where the hell did you come from?!"
"Dude!" Kaminari was the first one who actually approached, breaking into a small job with a grin on his face as he did so. "Midoriya, where the hell – How'd you get away from the – "
Before he could finish any real sentence, Izuku suddenly, and out of nowhere, attacked.
From up his sleeve, fell a sharpened blade right into his hands, which he then suddenly used to lunge at the Electrification Quirk user, aiming for the chest, planning on using his weapon to impale the blond teenagers heart. The impact would kill him immediately, and Izuku had been so quickly, so swift, and the attack was so unexpected, that no one, not even Kaminari, who was barely even a meter away from the curly haired boy, was able to notice the drawing of the metal blade, nor the quick, precise aim.
Nor the rapid, accurate lunge. "Get out of my way!"
"Kaminari!" It was becoming a rapid routine for him, but that was because his power was the best suited for physical defense. Running out of the corridor, and activating his Quirk all across his back, Kirishima grabbed hold of his friend, and pushed the pair of them onto the ground to avoid the strike. This time, Kirishima had managed to avoid the attack altogether, neither one of them suffering from any sort of stabbing.
All at once, the yelling and shouting of questions and demands occurred.
"Midoriya?!"
"What the crap?!"
"What are you doing?!"
"Kirishima, what's going on?!"
"That isn't Izuku!"
Appearing from the same corridor at the red-haired student, everyone turned their heads to see the pink skinned girl, her hand still on the wall that she'd passed, glaring straight at the person whom looked like her boyfriend. Eyes shifted between the two of them, no one quite understanding what was going on in any way whatsoever. None of them had any idea what sort of Quirk that Toga was using.
Mina and Kirishima were the only two who got it.
"What're you talking about, Mina?" That sinister grin once again spreading across 'Izuku's' lips, gave him away automatically, even if she was using Izuku's voice. Though that was assuming that concealment was something that was being considered.
Tioga was mocking Mina, and she was more than aware of that fact. And that infuriated her. "Don't you dare use Izuku's voice! Don't you dare!"
A chuckle left 'Izuku', as the green eyes that were in his head scanned over the rest of the room. Leaving behind the full disguise, Toga allowed her Quirk to deactivate within the eye region, turning the green eyes of Class 1A's most respected student into the yellow, emotionless, murderous eyes of a serial killer. Hiding wasn't any use, she knew, so there was absolutely no downside to revealing herself whatsoever.
Besides, if none of the students saw her face, there wasn't much that could be done if they happened to see her out of transformation again.
The surprise and shock hit the other members of 1A yet again, though this time not from a place of joy or momentary hope, but out of suspense, and near terror. They'd figured out at this point that this was a Quirk that let someone disguise themselves as someone else somehow, and that they'd somehow infiltrated the building.
"It's one of the Villain from the lodge!" Kirishima yelled, pushing himself, and Kaminari backwards, out of the psychopaths wielding range. "She came in disguised as Bakugou! It wasn't him!"
"Awww, don't ruin the surprise!" 'Izuku' spoke, in the highly feminine tones that Toga possessed, almost in the sing song tone that a child would utilize. Her hands opened wide, as if that would somehow make her look more innocent, though she kept the knife between her index finger and thumb. "It's not as fun if you tell them all the details!"
That line irritated Kirishima. She saw this as some sort of game? He gritted his teeth and yelled, "Sero! Your Quirk!"
Though he had been just as caught off by the sudden appearance of this faux-Izuku, the Tape Quirk user reacted with speed and without any hesitation. As soon as her name was called, he was already in action, rolling up his right sleeve, and throwing his elbow up. He ejected his tape as fast as he was capable of doing so, aiming to tie up the fake classmate, to prevent them from harming anyone else.
Toga – Izuku however, easily managed to avoid this by ducking down. Her left hand then reached back up, and gripped hold of said tape, pulling on it, pulling the Tape Quirk user towards her, but also pulling her towards him. It would have been easy for her to slit his throat in doing so, but she decided against it the moment she was able to get a good look at his face. "Too plain." She said aloud, instead opting to plant both her feet into his stomach, and push off of him.
Landing her close to the hospital door.
"Todoroki, stop her!"
Needing no orders given, the Half-Cold-Half-Hot teenager was already moving, readying himself to create an icy call to prevent the fake from escaping from the hospital.
Although Toga wasn't having any of that either. With impressive aim, she threw her knife straight towards the hybrid Quirk user, launching it straight for his face. The sudden incoming projectile meant that a few precious seconds had to be wasted, by Todoroki needing to dodge the incoming attack. He threw himself onto the floor, and aimed to land on his right hand, activating the right side of his power the second he hit the ground. As he landed, the floor began to freeze, generating a pathway of ice between Toga and the door, aiming for her feet, and to freeze her in place.
Thanks to the few seconds she had bought herself though, Toga was able to jump over the ice without issue, as Todoroki hadn't managed to build up his ice enough. To block her way.
"Tsuyu! Sero!" Mina yelled as loud as she could at those who had some long-range capabilities. "Someone, grab her!" Her own Quirk wasn't any user anymore. Not at this distance.
Not with the distance Toga had already put between them.
It ended up being Tsuyu who reacted, launching her tongue as fast as she could launch it. But it just wasn't fast enough.
By the time the Frog Form Quirk user had extended her tongue as far as it was going to go, Toga had just managed to escape out of her maximum range, and was moving quickly out of sight.
Into the city. Towards the league, wherever they were hiding.
"No, no no!" Mina could only scream. Toga had escaped.
And she knew what that meant.
"What on Earth did I just miss?!"
Rapidly making her way over, the literally just discharged Yaoyorozu approached the group, looking at the scene in front of her in a mixture of abhorrence that Quirks had been used without express permission, and concern for those who may have suffered injuries. Without context as to what had just happened, she had no idea what had just gone down, and if this was a situation that required such a violation of the law.
"Yaoyorozu!" Getting onto his feet quickly, Kirishima managed to lock eyes with the Creation Quirk user. "We need that tracking device, now!" His voice was a loud louder than any normal level for him, though this wasn't intentional at all. It was just the adrenaline and the severity of the situation that was in front of them.
"What do you – I haven't decided – "
"The Villains were here!" Mina shrieked, this one being completely intentional. Everyone was going to hear this. They needed to hear it. "That person she was at the lodge when it was attacked! She has some Quirk that lets her disguise herself as other people! She was Bakugou the entire time! And then she made herself look like Izuku! They're both still being held!"
"And now they know all of our plans…" Kirishima spoke through his gritted teeth and clenched fists. As soon as he'd finished speaking, Todoroki was already at work melting the ice with the left side of his body, trying to make it safe to get over. "We can't wait anymore. We need to go – Right now!"
Students looked at one another. Those that were undecided in particular looked uneasy.
What did they do now?
"They know we're coming!" With everything that's he had, Mina yelled as loud as she could, not caring for who heard her. "What're they gonna do to Izuku and Bakugou if they know that we're coming to rescue them?!" Several people could be heard sharply intaking breath into their lungs. "If we don't go right now, then we're responsible for what happens to them! We need to go, now!"
Yaoyorozu hadn't decided on what it was that she was going to do yet. The only reason that she was even headed to the reception was to speak to Iida, and those who were there about said nighttime operation. That was out the window now.
Her choice had been made for her. Activating her Quirk, she created another tracking device, honed into the beacon that she'd had placed on the Nomu during the attack.
Turning to look towards Kirishima and Mina, she felt sweat run down from her forehead. "If we're leaving, it has to be now."
"No one is going anywhere."
Yet another voice joined into the fray – This time, a much deeper voice from behind all the students.
A heavy hand suddenly made its way onto the young woman's shoulder, suddenly freezing her in place. Her muscles suddenly ceased to move in any way that she commanded. The only things that would move were her eyes, suddenly wide in surprise and uncomfortable fear.
The culprit however, was someone that the students hadn't even thought about.
A Police-Officer. "What you're describing doing is an incredibly illegal action. In compliance with the laws of Japan, I'm going to have to ask you to place your hands above your head and not to resist your arrest."
Officers in Japan were usually restricted from using their Quirks as weapons, leaving that responsibility to the Heroes, people who were trained to use their powers to help people. That wasn't at all to say all policemen were Quirkless. Against a large number of students who were training to be Heroes, who all had powerful Quirks, it wasn't surprising that this officer was using their powers against them.
Some kind of muscle freezing Quirk that worked through skin contact. That must have been why the officer had grabbed Yaoyorozu's shoulder, exposed and bare thanks to the shirt that she was bearing. How long the effects lasted for was a question that would have to be answered later.
Mina didn't even bother holding back her anger at this officer. "Are you freaking kidding me?! Where were you twenty seconds ago when Kaminari was nearly freaking murdered!" Just doing his job, yes, that was true, but that didn't make what he was doing any less moronic and downright unfair.
"Your actions were about to place not only your own lives, but the lives of many at risk, regardless of if that was your intention or not." The officer simply stated, approaching Mina while leaving Yaoyorozu a frozen statue on the spot. "None of you are Heroes yet – You would only get in the way of the Professionals. I understand your frustration, but in accordance with the law, I'm taking all of you into the station until we can get in contact with officials at Yuuei to figure out what to do with you."
The pink girl stepped backwards a couple of times. What did she do? She didn't want to hurt this guy – He wasn't doing anything wrong.
But Izuku was in serious danger. They needed to get out of here – Right now.
"If you comply, I won't have to use my Quirk on you." The officer said, holding his hand up towards the girl, reaching to touch her skin.
"Ashido, run for it!" Kirishima yelled as loud as he could.
"Ashido!"
"Oof!" Suddenly, the officer lurched forwards like he'd just been struck in the stomach by a sledgehammer before he could even manage to touch Mina's skin, or any part of her for that matter. His brown eyes suddenly shot wide open in shock, and the wind was knocked out of him.
Before he was then thrown into the roof, and left to float there.
A direct result of Uraraka's Quirk.
"Uraraka?!" Mina couldn't do anything but loudly repeat the name of her savior, her black eyes wide open in surprise at the brown haired girls action.
Of everyone here, honestly, she hadn't expected such boldness from the Zero Gravity Quirk user.
With a sharp inhale, Uraraka looked at Mina. "We need to go, right now!" There was clear worry in her eyes about how this would come to affect her life, her position at Yuuei…. But she was still willing to join them now. "If it was just Bakugou or just Deku, that'd be one thing…. But both of them, and now they're in danger because we got tricked?!..."
"Uraraka, what are you doing?!" Iida loudly and, with surprise that mirror Mina's level, shouted her name. "Are you – "
"Iida!" She yelled back at him, with ferocity that she'd never even displayed before. "It's one thing to leave things to the Heroes! But we put Deku and Bakugou in danger! If we leave them… Then we aren't Heroes! It's that simple!" As she yelled, she ran towards Yaoyorozu, trying to help her move her arms again. After realizing that this wasn't going to happen, she activated her Quirk on the voluptuous young woman, opting to carry her as opposed to just dragging her along the ground.
"U - Uraraka!" Mina's voice this time only conveyed joy, happiness, and gratitude that Uraraka had finally made her choice to join the rescue operation.
Kirishima ran up towards the newly joined member, patting her on the back, and helping her to move their Class Vice President. "Thanks, Uraraka. Your Quirk is gonna be a huge help."
"I'm coming too."
Heads turned once more. This one being even more surprising than the surprisingly defiant Uraraka. "Tsuyu?!"
The Frog girl nodded her head, her large hands balling up into fists. "I know I said that if we went off on our own, we'd be no better than Villains… But Uraraka is right. We're responsible. Even if we disagreed with the plan, none of us took it on themselves to report the plan to the authorities… So we're all at fault." Her bluntness, yet accurate assessment, made everyone gulp with guilt. "If I don't do anything now… Then I'm just as guilty as the Villains."
Presented with all of this…. "… Very well then. To prevent you from getting into danger, take me with you." Iida relented. Though steadfast in his beliefs that the laws needed to be obeyed… " I'm the President of Class 1A. It's my job to make sure that you're all going to be acting within the realms of the law. And I'll be there to reign you in when need be."
"Iida, are you serious?"
"You're kidding me!"
Truth be told, Iida couldn't even fully believe it himself. A part of him, like Uraraka and Tsuyu, was yelling, screaming, not to do this. Not to potentially throw away his Hero career down the drain… Not to make the same mistake that he made when it came to the Hero Killer. Part of him simply did not want to repeat his mistakes…
But the Hero Killer incident was just what made him decide that he had to go.
Izuku had rescued him. He'd gone out of his way, and risked his chances at becoming a Hero, just to save his friend.
He needed to repay that favor.
"You people are freaking crazy, you know that"?
Sero's voice. When Mina turned to look at him though, he wasn't alone at all.
As they had all been talking, Sero had used his Quirk – To tie up the officer whom had been left to float by Uraraka, And Mineta had placed a few of his Pop – Off spheres on the wrapping points, to keep the officer secure.
"…But we'll keep this guy here, so he doesn't call more heat onto you guys."
"Are you nuts?!" Mina yelled, eyes wide open. "You're holding a policeman hostage?"
"Uraraka just used her Quirk on an officer, and at this point, we're all guilty by association." A small grin left Sero's lips. "You guys just go. Mineta, Kaminari and I'll keep everything on this end running." As he spoke, Mineta and Kaminari both gave the group thumbs up. For all their faults, the two of them were willing to risk their chances at Heroism for their friends. They were in hot water anyway.
What was one more degree?
"… Thank you." Was all the Acid Quirk user could say in response. Other words weren't eve going to come close to expressing how much gratitude she had for them all willing to stick their necks out like this.
'Thank you' was all that she had right now.
"If we're going, we need to leave before anything else happens." Todoroki told them all, making his own way out of the hospital front door, and breaking out into a light jog.
With a nod goodbye to the others, Mina followed. Followed by, Tsuyu, Iida, Kirishima and Uraraka, the latter of two both pulling Yaoyorozu along.
No matter how this whole mess ended…
It was going to end by the time the night was over.