Igarashi Masata had no idea that Aizawa-sensei had already successfully reached Yaoyorozu Momo and Chacha.
To him, it felt like time was running out.
He rushed back to the camp like an arrow leaving its bowstring.
In reality, the two girls had already been rescued and were resting safely.
The moment Masata learned they were in the dormitory, he hurried over and pushed open the door without hesitation.
"Thank goodness… you're not seriously injured!"
He blurted out the moment he entered.
Yaoyorozu, who had been sitting quietly on the bed, froze for a second when she saw him burst in so suddenly. Then she quickly recovered and gave a small smile.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. Just some minor scrapes."
"Chacha is the same. I helped her bandage her wounds, and she went back to her room to rest."
"What about the villains?" she asked softly.
"Were they driven away?"
Given Masata's personality, the fact that he was standing here meant everything was basically over. Yaoyorozu quickly guessed the situation.
"Yeah. The League of Villains retreated…"
Masata paused.
"But Bakugo was taken."
His voice dropped slightly.
Because of TWICE's sudden interference and Mr. Compress's escape, he hadn't been able to stop everything in time. That failure weighed heavily on him.
Yaoyorozu felt a little uncomfortable when she heard that.
After all, Bakugo was still their classmate. Even though he had a terrible temper and cursed people all the time, he wasn't a bad person at heart.
She looked at Masata's dusty, exhausted figure and hesitated for a moment.
"Um… Masata…"
"Hm?"
He looked at her in confusion.
"Could you… take off your shirt?"
"?!"
Masata froze.
His mind went blank for a second.
Take off… his clothes?
Wasn't he here to check on her injuries?
Why did it suddenly turn into this?
"Uh… isn't that a bit inappropriate…?!"
It felt like carefully raising a cabbage for sixteen years only for someone to suddenly harvest it.
"If you don't take it off, how am I supposed to apply medicine?"
Yaoyorozu explained calmly.
"Look at you. You're covered in bruises and small cuts. If you don't treat them properly, they might leave scars."
"…Oh."
So that was it.
He had overthought things.
It was just medical treatment.
After all, medical technology in this world was incredibly advanced. With special healing ointment, even skin injuries could recover in a few days without leaving marks. It was a blessing for anyone who cared about their appearance.
Masata did have quite a few wounds.
He couldn't stay fully elementalized all the time, so small injuries were unavoidable. And when he fought Nomu, he had suffered serious internal damage.
He hadn't noticed it before.
Now that he had calmed down, the long-forgotten pain slowly surfaced.
He tore off what was barely holding together as "clothes" and leaned forward slightly.
At that moment, Yaoyorozu suddenly spoke.
"Ahem… I'm a little thirsty."
Masata cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to ease the atmosphere.
"I-I'll get you some water."
Yaoyorozu let out a quiet sigh of relief, stood up, and quickly left the room.
The revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades must continue to work hard.
Masata lay back slightly.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but the bruising on his abdomen already seemed to be fading. Even the dull pain had eased a little.
The room fell silent.
With the tension gone, the exhaustion from all the previous battles surged over him at once.
His body and mind were both completely drained.
Without caring about the dust and dirt still clinging to him, Masata collapsed onto the soft bed.
His eyes slowly closed.
And within seconds, he fell asleep.