Chapter 17: The Disappearance of Denki Kaminari
Less than a minute after Izuku Midoriya had left, a figure emerged from the shimmering, heat-distorted air in the distance. A man wearing a mask walked up to the still-gesturing Kaminari.
"I was originally planning to make my entrance halfway through the match, but I never expected you to give me such a pleasant surprise, Kaminari..." The man grabbed Denki Kaminari's clothes, pulling him to his feet. He then turned and walked away.
Like a puppet with drool trickling from his mouth, Kaminari obediently followed the masked man.
"Damn it, get out here!!" Bakugo's furious roars still echoed through the area.
The masked man paid no mind to the shouting or the trembling buildings, simply walking forward on his own. Then, at a corner, he vanished without a trace.
"And now, the time has come to test you, future heroes..."
Following Kaminari's directions, Midoriya ran forward. After a bit of searching, he stopped in front of a collapsed house.
"Help..."
Kaminari had given him a straight-line distance, but luckily, Izuku Midoriya had a strong sense of direction and quickly found the location he described. According to the rules, once the hiders had chosen a spot, they had to stay there. If they wished, they could make noise to reveal their position. Midoriya moved a loose pile of rocks and looked down, spotting a familiar green figure.
"I found you, Asui-san!"
Asui turned her head and saw Midoriya waving excitedly from the opening where light was streaming in. She wasn't surprised. "Midoriya-chan," she said, "call me Tsuyu-chan."
"As you can see, I'm trapped here." Tsuyu reached a hand up toward Midoriya, a gap of three or four meters between them. She pulled her hand back and said calmly, "It doesn't count as a point if you don't get me out, right?"
According to the rules Thirteen-sensei had laid out, discovering a victim was only the first step. As a Pro Hero, you had to get the civilian to a safe place for the rescue to be considered a success.
Midoriya knew this, of course, and couldn't help but point out, "Tsuyu-chan, with your Quirk, you could just stick to the walls and jump up, or use your tongue to grab onto something..."
"Midoriya-chan, it's for the sake of the scenario."
I know, I know... Midoriya looked around, searching for any tools he could use. Since Asui was supposed to be a civilian without a special Quirk, he needed to find something she could use... But speaking of which, didn't Thirteen-sensei give us any support items?
"...Thirteen, did you not give them the equipment you have at your feet?" on the edge of the collapsed zone, Shota Aizawa couldn't help but ask, noting that about eight minutes had already passed. "Some of these kids have Quirks that aren't very useful in this kind of environment, you know."
"Eh?! You didn't give it to them!?" Thirteen jumped in surprise, taking a step back. Only then did they notice a yellow bag at their feet. They said, embarrassed, "Sorry, sorry! My suit is a bit big, so I can't see what's below me. I thought you had already given it to them..."
In the face of Aizawa's silence, Thirteen clapped their hands and tried to force an explanation. "A-Actually, there's no need to worry! They are all very excellent students! They'll be able to solve a little problem like this on their own!"
"Let's hope so," Aizawa said, looking up at the sky, his voice cold. "In any case, even if they had the tools, they wouldn't be able to use them for long."
Midoriya found a length of rope. He tied one end tightly to a nearby stone pillar and wrapped the other around his hand. He leaned over the opening, braced his feet against the wall, and reached his hand down.
"Tsuyu-chan, can you grab on!?"
Tsuyu reached up. The moment she grabbed his hand, Midoriya grit his teeth and swung his arm upwards with all his might. "Hold on tight!"
Midoriya released his grip at the peak of the swing. Tsuyu, though slightly stunned, found her body automatically performing a 360-degree spin in mid-air, landing steadily on all fours.
Seeing that Tsuyu had been brought to the surface safely, Midoriya took a deep breath, kicked off the wall, and used the recoil to pull himself up and out of the hole with the rope.
Tsuyu looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Midoriya-chan, since when did you learn to treat a girl so roughly...?"
Honestly, she had been startled. She hadn't expected Midoriya to just recklessly fling her out like that. If it weren't for her "Frog" Quirk and her body's instinctive reaction, she probably would have landed flat on her back...
"Ah, s-sorry!" The moment Midoriya realized what he had just done, he bowed without hesitation. "I'm sorry, Tsuyu-chan! I was just thinking about getting you out, and I guess I just subconsciously assumed you'd be able to land safely..."
Midoriya was shocked at himself. His only thought had been to pull her out, but his subconscious had decided that since it was Asui, he could just throw her, and his body had acted on that impulse...
"I'm not mad. Besides, by doing that, you were actually showing that you trust me, right?" Tsuyu said, shaking her head. "But if this were a real disaster site next time, you can't do that, okay?"
Midoriya nodded vigorously. "Right!"
Tsuyu continued, "Also, you have to call me Tsuyu-chan."
"Right, Tsuyu-chan!" Midoriya said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
With Tsuyu rescued, Midoriya thought of the next location Kaminari had told him about. There were still about ten minutes left. He had to hurry.
"Tsuyu-chan," Midoriya said, taking a few steps forward before pausing and turning his head. "Do you want to come with me? To rescue the others."
"But I'm a survivor, you know?" Tsuyu said, already falling into step beside him. "Then again, it's not uncommon for a survivor to become a rescuer, right?"
"Yeah! Thank you, Tsuyu-chan!"
Just as Midoriya was celebrating, a somewhat cold voice suddenly boomed through the speakers installed on the facility's ceiling, echoing throughout the entire collapsed zone. "Hello, hello, can you all hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?"
What's going on? Is this a last-minute arrangement from Thirteen-sensei and Mr. Aizawa?
Midoriya and Asui stopped, listening intently to what the person would say.
"Izuku Midoriya of Hero Course Class 1-A, listen up. Your classmate, the one who shoots electricity, has been captured by me. I repeat, the classmate you left all alone on that rock has been captured by me."
Hearing his name, and the news that Kaminari had been captured, Midoriya shouted, "Who are you!? How do you know our names!?"
Midoriya believed him instantly. He had thought this was a safe area, so he had confidently left the incapacitated Kaminari behind. But now, some unknown person was claiming to have captured him.
"Are you a remnant of the League of Villains!? You're still here!?" Midoriya immediately thought of the possibility. Aside from Shigaraki and Kurogiri, all the other intruders had been left behind. It was possible that one or two had evaded the police!
"Oh, not bad. You figured that out?" The person on the speaker, who could apparently hear Midoriya, sounded surprised.
"Where is Kaminari-kun!? Let him go!" Midoriya yelled, already sprinting back the way he came, trying to find Kaminari.
Soon, he arrived at the spot where they had separated. The person who had been sitting there was gone. All that remained was a conspicuous butt-print on the large rock he'd been sitting on.
"Oh, you don't believe me?" the person on the speaker said in a meaningful tone. A moment later, Kaminari's blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the entire facility. "AAAAAHHHH—"
Kaminari-kun... was really captured? And it's my fault... Midoriya fell to his knees, utterly defeated.
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