The emergency zone had grown into something resembling a small city of exhaustion.
Portable floodlights lit the area in harsh white beams, casting long shadows over rows of hastily erected tents. Stretchers lined the walkways. Scientists in lab coats sat wrapped in emergency blankets. Children clung to parents while drones hummed overhead, scanning for structural instability in nearby buildings.
For an island that believed itself untouchable, the medical infrastructure looked painfully thin now.
Doctors moved constantly—checking pulses, stitching wounds, stabilizing fractures. Many were specialists who had probably never expected to perform battlefield triage in their careers. Sweat soaked through their collars despite the cool ocean air.
Kuro and Todoroki arrived with the last group from the ruined restaurant, adding them to the hundreds already gathered.
Nearby, several pro heroes had begun coordinating evacuation routes while the remaining medics triaged patients by severity.
Todoroki observed the scene with quiet focus.
"Yaoyorozu seems capable during rescue operations now," he said after a moment. "I wonder how much she has eaten to sustain this level of supply production."
Kuro blinked at him.
"Hey," he muttered, leaning slightly closer. "Don't let her hear you say that. She's really sensitive about her weight."
Todoroki tilted his head.
"It should be fine. I already warned her she would inevitably grow fat one day."
Kuro stopped walking.
"You… what?"
"Yes," Todoroki continued calmly. "She listened carefully, nodded, and later said she would 'reflect on the matter.'"
Kuro stared at him.
Then slowly rubbed his temple.
"…I'm pretty sure that was the day she cancelled the study session because she was taking weight-loss pills."
Todoroki considered that.
"…Ah."
Neither of them elaborated further.
They passed through the busiest part of the medical camp, where Momo stood surrounded by empty supply crates and newly created equipment. Her expression was focused but visibly strained as she kept producing gauze, antiseptic kits, and splints whenever a doctor called for something missing.
Not far away, Jirou was still directing people through the loudspeaker.
Kuro gave a small approving nod as they passed.
Then the pair continued toward a cluster of larger tents where the rest of Class 1-A had gathered.
Inside one of the central tents—
Mina Ashido stood before a massive wall map of I-Island.
Except it barely looked like a map anymore.
Multicolored marker scribbles ran across the surface. Arrows pointed everywhere. Circles and notes cluttered nearly every district.
And in several places—
There were doodles.
A small crying face near the shopping mall.
A stick-figure hero triumphantly standing on top of a robot.
A cartoonish villain being kicked into the ocean.
"And in the mall I didn't even see anything…" Mina murmured thoughtfully, adding another mark before drawing a sad face beside it. "There! That feels right."
Behind her, Tsuyu Asui watched quietly with her hands clasped behind her back.
"…Don't you think we should maybe be a tad more serious about this?" Tsuyu asked.
Not accusing.
Just… stating a possibility.
"SHHHHH!" Mina whispered urgently without turning around. "They won't complain if nobody notices before I finish the map, Tsu!"
Tsuyu opened her mouth—
Then both girls paused.
Footsteps approached.
The tent flap rustled open.
Kurokami Tenshin walked in, half distracted, scanning the area as if searching for something extremely important.
"I swear my gi was around here somewhere…" he muttered to himself.
He took two more steps before noticing the girls.
"Ah! Hey! Have either of you seen my hero uniform? Black with grey accents? Matches me perfectly? I've been stuck in these prissy clothes for hours and it's getting old."
He tugged irritably at the remains of his formal outfit.
Tsuyu blinked slowly.
"You could try asking Mr. David Shield," she suggested. "He and his daughter are supervising a lot of the recovery work."
Then she raised a hand and pointed—very obviously—toward the map.
"But more importantly… don't you see anything you should address as class president?"
Mina straightened proudly in front of the chaotic masterpiece.
Tsuyu waited.
Kuro stared at the wall.
He squinted.
He leaned closer.
He placed a hand on his chin and thought very seriously about it.
Tsuyu's eyes showed the faintest spark of anticipation.
"...It's the map, right?" Kuro finally said.
Tsuyu nodded once.
"Yes. And how would you fix that?"
Kuro stepped forward confidently.
He grabbed a spare marker from the table.
Then began drawing over one of the existing lines.
"You see, markers are pretty bad for clarity," he explained casually. "But if you layer them like this, you get a stronger visual outline. Basic technique, really."
He added a second stroke.
Then a third.
Mina leaned in with growing fascination.
"Ohhh… I didn't think of that!"
Tsuyu slowly placed a hand over her face.
The faint sound of a facepalm echoed in the tent.
Kuro stepped back, satisfied.
"There! Much better contrast."
The map now had even more marker on it.
Mina nodded thoughtfully like a student receiving advanced instruction.
"That's actually genius…"
Tsuyu didn't move.
She simply stared at the floor for a moment as if reconsidering several life decisions.
Kuro capped the marker and stretched.
"Anyways," he said cheerfully, already walking toward the exit, "keep up the good work. I've got to find my stuff."
The tent flap closed behind him.
Silence lingered.
Tsuyu slowly looked up at the map.
Then at Mina.
"…I think," she said carefully, "we may need a different supervisor for this task."
Mina tilted her head.
"But the layering trick really did help."
Tsuyu stared at the wall again.
____________________________________________________________
[Auther: Another one done...another day.]