Humming to herself, and finding herself wondering just where the hell Izuku was anymore, Mina sat on a bench on her own, kicking her feet back and forth in an in vain effort to find some kind of amusement in her total boredom. Izuku had been gone for quite a while now, and Ida, Kaminari and Hagakure had already moved along. Though they asked if she wanted to join them, Mina declined in order to wait for her boyfriend.
Who was certainly taking his sweet time. Where had he even run off to? It wasn't like the mall was lacking in places to acquire drinks. Had he gotten lost? How had he even managed to do that? It wasn't like he had a particularly bad sense of direction. If anything, he was more focused than the average person.
She'd sent him a few text messages, but it seemed like his phone was set to go to silent or vibrate mode whenever he received a text. Normally he would answer rather quickly to any messages that he received, since he checked it regularly enough to get updates on the various updates regarding Heroes in the media. But apparently he just wasn't checking his phone right now. Had it died? Unlikely. Izuku was the type of person to make certain that his phone was good to go before heading out, making it seem improbable that that was the case. Maybe he'd just forgotten to charge it?
Mina found herself absentmindedly browsing through her social media on her mobile device, liking a few posts by some of her old friends from middle school, responding to a couple of comments by some of those same friends who still couldn't quite get over the fact Mina had been in the Sports Festival, and a few that wanted to see this cute boy she kept mentioning in their chats. In truth, she was really just killing time until Izuku finally showed up.
Instead, when someone did actually call her name out, it wasn't even close to being Izuku's voice.
"Ashido?" When Mina looked who was calling her name, she saw that Uraraka had approached her, a plastic bag in her left hand that she made sure not to hit with every one of her finger pads in case her Quirk activated, and a look that seemed to border both curiosity and a certain sort of pity. "What's up? Why you sat here alone?"
"Oh, hey Ochako." Mina greeted, putting a smile on her face. Lowering her phone to her lap, she decided that engaging in conversation with the brunette in front of her was going to be far more entertaining than just browsing through her phone. "You on your own as well?"
Awkwardly laughing lightly, Uraraka nodded, her rosy cheeks reddening up just a bit. "Everyone rushed off before I could join a group. Everyone seemed to have their own ideas on what they wanted to get. I just went and got some bug spray and some drinks."
"Hey, you could hang with me and Izuku." Mina cheerfully offered with a huge smile on her face. "Once he gets back, anyway..."
"Back?"
"He said he was gonna get us some drinks like, ten minutes ago but he's still not shown up. I wouldn't mind but I can see literally three vending machines from here." She held up her phone, switched onto standby to help punctuate her next sentence. "I've tried his phone and everything, but either he's not getting a signal or his phones dead. I'm just waiting for him is all."
"Ah." Taking the open seat next to her classmate, Uraraka placed her carrying bag on her lap, and her rucksack on the floor by her feet. She offered Mina a polite smile and spoke with equal softness. "I was gonna say, you and Deku are pretty joined at the hip these days. I was surprised that he wasn't with you. You did kinda drag him along earlier."
"He still hangs with you and Iida, doesn't he?"
"Yeah. He's a lot more sociable with people now." Realising the tone that she was using, the Zero Gravity user held up her hands, rapidly waving them from side to side as if defend against incoming projectiles. "I-I'm not trying to sound like I'm trying to accuse you of something or anything! It makes perfect sense, you two are dating after all! It wouldn't be too good if you barely even spoke!"
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it." Mina shook her head with a smile. "I know you didn't mean to sound like that." The two of them were on fairly good terms, and they could even say that they were friends, despite not having really interacted in any meaningful way for a few weeks. In spite of that, Mina knew Uraraka and her personality well. She wasn't the type of person to try and start a fight for no reason, or to come up and try to accuse someone of something they clearly weren't doing. "And besides, even if you did mean it like that, you two were friends first. You kinda have a right to be a bit annoyed with me for stealing him away from you guys, y'know."
"But you two're dating. That means he should be giving your priority. It's a good thing that he does."
"I guess." Mina conceded, leaning back in her seat, and placing her palms against the cool metallic surface she sat on. On this abnormally warm day, the coldness of the metal felt good against her skin. "I'm kinda surprised you're cool with me and him going out if I'm honest with you."
This sentence seemed to cause Uraraka some distress, causing her to suddenly start blushing and to look towards Mina like she'd just been uncovered with a deposit of hard-core drugs in her purse that she had planned on selling. "W-Why?"
"I was certain you had a crush on him after the Sports Festival. Like, totally convinced."
The girls brown eyes seemed to widen for a second, before she smiled gently and looked forward, watching people pass by for a moment. Calming down rapidly, her blush faded within a couple of seconds, cooling off her quick and overzealous reaction rapidly. She reached into her plastic bag, and pulled out a soft drink of her own, a plastic bottle as opposed to a metallic can that Mina normally drunk from. "Wanna drink?"
"Sure."
After twisting off the cap and releasing the built up carbonated gas that the drink gave off, Uraraka handed the bottle to Mina, whom took it and ingested several large gulps from the liquid. She was utterly parched after running around all day, the earlier jogging sprees from running from store to store were now catching up to her, coupled with the heat, leaving her totally dehydrated.
"Ahhhh..." She finally sighed, handing the bottle back to its owner, about half empty. "Thanks." When she noticed just how much she'd drunk as her friend took back her bottle, Mina felt a small wave of guilt wash over her. Routing in her pockets for some coins, she apologised. "Oh, geez, sorry about that, I'll pay for it. Does three hundred yen sound about right?"
"No, no need to do that." Insisted Uraraka, shaking her head rapidly and smiling. She then took a drink herself, and afterwards, sealed the bottle with the cap again. A few moments passed by in silence, before she spoke up again. "E-Even if I did like Deku... He likes you more, so... I can't really complain, or say anything about it... Aside from the fact I'm really happy for the both of you."
Uraraka was a nice person, Mina remembered, giving her friend a warm smile again. She still was certain that had she and Izuku not started dating beforehand, Uraraka and he would have started dating. That much she was certain of, and she was so glad that it hadn't played out that way. She loved her relationship with Izuku, and loved him just as much, making it hard to even begin to imagine a world without him, or her life without their relationship. If Uraraka had opposed them, she would have still stayed with Izuku anyway, but she was happy that she didn't have to cut off a friendship to do that.
"Thanks, Ochako. That means a lot, and I know it means a lot to Izuku too. Speaking of which..." Tapping the screen of her phone multiple time, Mina attempted calling him again, but with the exact same results as last time reoccurring. "God damn it, what's going on..."
A part of her was actually starting to get worried about him. It wasn't like him. She was beginning to think that something bad had happened to him, something that was preventing him from checking in with her. Was it just misplaced paranoia?
It was difficult to explain, but there was something niggling at Mina's brain that something wasn't right. Like there was something going on that just couldn't be explained rationally, just a vague feeling of impending danger. No matter how much she put it down to her just overthinking things in a way that would make Izuku's anxiety proud, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on.
Instincts were ruling over common sense. It just wasn't explainable.
"Maybe we should try looking for him." Uraraka suggested, standing back onto her feet. She slid the plastic bottle into the bag of the same material and began to look around at the crowds. "We could be here all day waiting for him otherwise."
Nodding, Mina rose to her feet too. "Yeah, good idea." Any longer, and Mina felt like she was going to go a little crazy waiting for her Izuku to show up. Slinging her bag over her shoulders, she glanced around the place, checking to see if she could catch a glimpse of him beforehand. "You check the foyer, and I'll look around here, yeah? You've got my phone number, I'll let you know if I find him."
"You've seen both of us in action... So you tell me... What do you think the difference is between me and the Hero Killer? At the end of it all, didn't we both just destroy stuff we didn't like?"
His voice truly was one that sent shivers down Izuku's spine. Every word he uttered felt like Ice, quiet and filled with a murderous intent that Izuku hadn't felt since Stain. This guy was terrifying in his own right. Unlike Stain though, he lacked any sense of honour whatsoever.
He was going to be more than happy to kill everyone here on a whim. And he had Izuku hostage, and so many lives, including his own, rested on the answer of one question...
What did Izuku think the difference was between Stain and the League of Villains...
Between the Hero killer, and Shigaraki Tomura?
While he was fully aware that his life was in the hands, quite literally, of said leagues leader, said Villain, Izuku could think of very few answers that he could give that would be valid, to give this psychopath the answer that he was looking for. Even lying wasn't going to satisfy this madman. He was smarter than he looked, as evidenced by the fact that he'd managed to get Izuku into this position in the first place, completely in public, and put his life in direct danger without anyone noticing.
Lying was a sure-fire way to get a death sentence, and Izuku would prefer to avoid that at whatever cost. At the same time, it wasn't truly just him that was the hostage here. Everyone around him was at risk too. Mina... Mina was at risk.
There wasn't any genuine reason to suspect that Shigaraki would go out of his way to kill Mina. Izuku would be dead by then, so the message would be totally wasted. Then again, if Izuku was killed, then there would be nothing whatsoever to save the Disintegration Quirk user from the Heroes. He might kill her just to send a message to the rest of Yuuei. And what sort of cell could even hold a person who destroyed things by touching them?...
His thoughts instantly turned towards Mina, and he wondered if the last time he had seen her was truly going to be the last time. That he was going to die here and be nothing but dust. That there wouldn't even be a body for her to mourn over. The pain he felt when he envisioned a situation where Mina was taken from him... It wasn't even describable. Like a knife made of shattered glass had been taken to his heart, his stomach, and his lungs, leaving him broken, unable to breath and wanting to vomit.
Was he about to subject her to the same pain by getting killed here?
His thoughts then went over to his mother, his family, his friends... Would they all feel the same if he died?
And on a more personal level... He was living the life he'd dreamed of all his life. He was finally learning to become a Hero. He had a Quirk, and he was able to dedicate himself to helping people.
Was... Was it was going to all be cut short like this?
"What do I..." What did he do? What did he say? What answer could he give that could satisfy Shigaraki?
When he thought about it... Was there any real guarantee that the Villain would even let him go after this? As far as he was concerned, Izuku was a pain in his side. A Hero in Training that had foiled him once before, and was on his way to become the very thing that Shigaraki despised the most. What reason did he even have to let him walk away from this?
To escape the Heroes, perhaps... But this was the man who had launched an attack on the USJ, so he clearly wasn't afraid of Heroes. There was nothing to say that he didn't have the person with the Warp Gate Quirk nearby to make a quick escape.
Making a struggle or scene was totally pointless... He'd be killed instantly. And if he was serious about his threat...
He was... Truly stuck. With no real way to get out of this situation... All he could do was go along with the terms Shigaraki had handed out.
"...What do I think... The difference between you is?..." His voice was clearly shaky, betraying the clear fear Izuku had, yet in spite of it, he spoke boldly, not taking his glare away from the blood red eyes of his captor. "You... You're both Villains. I don't accept either of you... And you use you Quirks and violence to get whatever it is you want..."
The answer so far only seemed to serve in agitating the Villain, and from his neck, Izuku felt his fingers and uneven, chewed nails dig deeper into his flesh. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed to increase as he stared at the young Hero, his intent to kill clearer than ever before.
Not the answer he wanted to hear. There was something, some sort of clear desire to hear that he was different to the Hero Killer in some way, some distinct way. Given how closely the League had been tied to the Hero Killer, and this obvious hatred Shigaraki felt towards him, he wanted confirmation that he was different. That he wasn't like Stain.
But to Izuku... He was worse.
"But... I can at least understand Stain's ideals." He declared, his opinions and bravery increasing as the situation unfolded. Speaking became easier, like he was growing used to the danger of his precarious predicament. "I don't understand... Or accept you whatsoever... But the Hero Killer... I think that Stain had an idea on how he felt that the world needed to change for the better... And when I was there... I could feel his conviction." In one act of defiance, one he well and truly felt could be his last, he made sure Shigaraki looked him right in the eye. "And he didn't give up so easily. The Hero Killer might have gone about it the wrong way... But he stayed true to his beliefs and tried to make things better. That's what I think the difference is between you two."
For the briefest of moments, nothing happened, and Izuku was just waiting, with teeth clenched and his breath cut as he awaited the final digit from his holders hand to touch his skin and end his life. Sweat was soaking into his clothes as he awaited the final tap that would cause his skin to start decaying.
And then suddenly, it was like a lightning bolt struck the crazed Villain, and he jolted in one quick, unexpected movement that took Izuku by surprise. For a second, he thought that Shigaraki had followed through with his threat and activated his Quirk against him, but after a sharp intake, he realised that wasn't the case.
Instead, the young man was smiling.
"Ah... I think I get it now..." With his free hand, excluding his pinkie finger, he grabbed hold of his forehead like he was massaging it, his wrist covering up the majority of his wrinkled face in doing so. He seemed unaware, but his grip on Izuku tightened. "It all makes sense now... Like everything just connected in my head... Why I hate that Hero Killer bastard... And why you piss me off." He smiled at Izuku suddenly, showing off his wrinkled, scars, cracks and everything else. "It's all because of All Might."
Still increasing his death grip around Izuku's throat, his middle finger seemed to hover ever so closer towards the skin of the Yuuei student, threatening to reduce him to dust. Izuku leaned as far back as he could go, finding himself trapped by the previously mentioned death grip, which just kept digging deeper into his neck.
"No matter what the issue is... All Might always seems to be the cause of it... Ahhhh... I don't know why I was ever upset. And you... You're like him, way, way too much..."
In this moment, Izuku knew it was literally do or die. Shigaraki was lost in his own head, no longer concerning himself with what was happening in reality. He wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, and even if it was accidental now, he was going to wind up killing Izuku.
So Izuku struggled. With a quick motion, he grabbed hold of his captor's wrist and began to tug at the pale skin, praying that his natural physical strength was going to be enough to force the Villain off of him, to no avail. Shigaraki had a few years on him, and he was deceptively stronger than he looked. His clutch onto Izuku was deep, nails practically underneath his skin at this point. He could feel the blood escaping his body, but it was of little to absolutely no concern to him. He kept trying to pry off his wrists, to gain a shot at freedom.
"Stop struggling!" Shigaraki suddenly hissed. "Didn't I warn you what would happen?.."
The laws be damned - Izuku bit his lip, and got ready to activate One For All. He might have a slight chance if he used his Quirk to -
"Izuku?"
Izuku's blood ran cold. 'No.' He thought to himself again and again and again. 'For the love of God, please, not her.'
"Izuku? What the - What the hell?"
The altercation stopped for a second as soon as Mina came into view, with the clearest look of confusion on her face. A smile was imprinted onto her lips, clearly happy to have found the boy, but her eyes showed that she understood what was going on now, and that she was in disbelief at what she was seeing, all in one.
Why was she here? Izuku quickly figured out that she had come looking for him - He had been gone for a while, after all. She was worried about him. She couldn't know what she'd done - She'd put herself in far more danger than she could even begin to understand. Every sense Izuku had screamed at him to get her away from this situation.
"M-Mina, it's okay! Don't come any closer, I'm fine! Just - Just go!"
It wasn't clear though, if Mina even heard him. She didn't react to what he'd said, and seemed to be doing to total opposite, taking a step closer towards the hostage and his captor. Instead of turning around and running away, without a trace of intimidation or fear, she looked at Shigaraki, though she probably had no idea who he even was, and made a tight fist with her right hand, what looked like sweat running down her knuckles.
Izuku knew that it was something very different to sweat, and he wanted to yell at her to stop, and to just get out of here before Shigaraki hurt her, but a clench in his throat left him unable to speak again as Shigaraki prepared to do something. A second later, Mina's hand reopened, a pool of Acid dripping from her skin, dripping through her fingers and creating droplets on the floor below her, a sizzling sound emitting from the reaction.
She glared right at the Villain and spoke with gritted teeth. "Let him go."
"Sorry!" Throwing his hands in the air and laughing as he did so, Shigaraki instantly let go of Izuku, and stood up at the same time, an action that caused Izuku to get knocked onto the ground, away from the Disintegration Quirk user. "I didn't realise he was here with people! I'll get going now!"
"The hell you are." Declared the Acid Quirk user, her Quirk activating along her whole arm as she got ready to strike this person. She didn't have the first clue who he was, but he wasn't going to get away with trying to do what he was going to do to Izuku!
"M-Mina!"
Her attention was quickly caught by a coughing Izuku, whom had his hand firmly gripped around his pained neck. She could seem small trails of crimson running down his hands from the wounds in his neck. Struggling for breath, but forcing himself to speak, he managed to wheeze out a single word towards her.
"Don't..."
The activation of her Quirk had caught the attention of multiple passers-by, stopping and staring at the blatant disregard for the law. Izuku was the only person who was capable of understanding the danger that this posed, but if Mina kept calling attention to his captor... Then all their lives were at risk.
Mina couldn't know this. All she had seen was her boyfriend in trouble. Of course she would react this way. But this couldn't be a worse time for her to do so. He had to make sure she didn't push this any further...
"Please..." He looked at her, pleading with his eyes. "Don't do it..."
"Smart turn, Midoriya Izuku..." Shigaraki muttered, making his way through a part of the crowd that wasn't quite staring at him like they'd figured out who he was yet.
Although she still wasn't sure what was going on, Mina trusted Izuku, and stopped using her Quirk. Quickly, she ran over to her sputtering boyfriend, helping him sit upright, and trying to help him feel more comfort in whatever way possible. "What the hell Izuku, are you okay?!"
Though he felt like he'd just been choked with barbed wire, Izuku was fine, if a bit uneasy. With his right hand, he gave her a weak thumbs up to indicate that he was fine, relatively speaking. Breathing was hard, his throat dry as sand, leaving his windpipe feeling like he'd swallowed a mouthful of gravel, not to mention the fact that he was drenched in a cold sweat, but he was alright.
"Take it easy, Izuku, take it easy." Mina fumbled for her phone with her left hand to make a call to someone, while trying to keep Izuku upright with her right. Located on her collarbone, she attempted to sooth his wounds with gentle contact, hoping that it would do something to help ease the pain. A bead of sweat was running down her own forehead. Her answers would have to wait.
"Shiga... Raki..." Forcing out words, Izuku managed to choke out the name of his captor, far more meekly and quieter than he had intended for it to be. He struggled for a moment, trying to regain his voice by clearing his throat before trying again. "Tomura... Shigaraki."
"Izuku?"
Staggering into his feet, and moving his girlfriend's hand away from his collarbone, the One for All holder found his voice. With a loud yell, one final outburst, Izuku yelled at his retreating attacker. "What's All For One planning, Shigaraki?!"
"Don't know." Was the simple answer. As he walked into the crowd, no one there seeming to notice, or even hear him as he spoke. "But the next time that I see you... It'll be because I decided to kill you."
"This is bullshit!" Mina yelled for probably the fifth time during this interrogation. She threw herself back into her seat and glared at the officer, a policeman with the head of a cat whom went by the name of Tamakawa, who had been ordered to lecture and interrogate her on what had happened.
The explanation as to what she had seen had been very simple, and had been done within ten minutes, as Mina complied and answered every question that she was asked in detail and in full. That had all been fine. From it, and Izuku, she'd learned that it had been the Villain Shigaraki Tomura, the leader of the League of Villains, that had taken him hostage. She'd also learned about the threat that he'd made to Izuku, that he'd kill everyone around him if Izuku made any efforts to escape.
That was all fine, and Mina understood all of that perfectly well.
What she couldn't even begin to comprehend right now was the lecture that she was getting because she'd activated her Quirk in public. "My boyfriend was being held hostage, what did you want me to do?! Sing him a song until he submitted and gave up?!"
"You're going to need to calm down." Tamakawa repeated, scratching behind one of his feline ears while he waited for the young girl to calm herself down. "As I said, the use of Quirks is illegal because if everyone was allowed to use their Quirks – "
"Then the world would become lawless and people would use their powers to do whatever they want, yeah, I already know that." Mina cut off the officer. Normally, she had more patience and was able to be more rational about this sort of thing, but today had become an absolute disaster, and her worry for Izuku was far more overpowering than anything else. She was at the point where she couldn't care less about the laws regarding Quirks as long as he was okay. "I know all about Provisional Licenses and Hero exception for Quirks. But what's even the point if I can't use my Quirk to protect someone? That isn't against the law!"
"Appropriate use of your Quirk is lawful, like appropriate use of force against someone who is assaulting you. The same if you're acting in the defence of someone else." The cat-like person explained. "Your Quirk is one that could have caused a lot of damage to both property and the civilians around you. The situation was volatile and you…" In that moment, the sentence began to trail off, and Sana let out a long winded sigh. "You know, I do actually agree with you. In your situation, I would have done the exact same thing with my own Quirk. Police aren't supposed to use Quirks when we deal with Villains and crooks, so we're kind of in the same boat as you civilians are, but there's been a bunch of times when I've come close to using my powers in the line of duty. It's not like I don't get where you're coming from."
Upon hearing those words, Mina sighed herself, and sat back down in the seat she had been provided with, resting her forehead in her hands and letting herself take a few long, steady breaths, to try to calm herself down. Deep down she knew the reasons why she was being lectured about using her Quirk. Acid allowed her to generate the aforementioned liquid at will from any part in her body, but it didn't grant her the ability to manipulate it. She just sort of threw it as her targets and hoped for the best. Had she been careless, she could have easily given someone a hydrofluoric burn.
But when she'd seen Izuku in that position… She couldn't stop herself.
She'd thought that she was going to lose him in that moment… that he was just going to go from her life just as everything had started going awesome. She hadn't ever been happier in her life than when she was with Izuku… And it might have been selfish of her, but she didn't want those times to ever stop. Using her Quirk against that Villain… She'd been aware that she'd have to suffer the consequences for doing so… But in the moment… They hadn't mattered one bit.
"…How… Is Izuku?" She dared ask, not able to look the officer in the eyes, a mixture of shame and fear of the answer preventing her from being able to turn exchange glances with him.
The officer smiled and assured her gently. "Don't worry, as soon as his questioning is over, he'll be free to go. Other than his spook, he's absolutely fine. The Villain who had hold of him didn't seem to use any sort of Quirk or device or anything of the sort against him in any way."
Allowing herself to let out a long sigh of pure relief, Mina felt herself coming close to letting tears of gratitude go to whatever deities existed in this universe that Izuku was okay. "Thank God… Can I see him?"
"Once he's finished being questioned. He shouldn't be much longer now. Right, I should go over all this stuff with you… But I think we both know that you already knew this." The policemen said, tapping his papers against the desk to neatly align them up, before placing them on the edge of the table. "Do you have any relatives you can call to come pick you up, or do you need an officer to transport you home?"
"I'll manage… Thanks." Mina said, standing up and bowing before she exited the interrogation room, leaving Tamakawa in there to do whatever jobs he had to do while he remained there.
It was late, so late that the sun had fallen behind the buildings and left night in its wake. From the large, open windows of the police station, Mina was able to see this, and wondered just how long it had been since she and Izuku had been brought to the station. Mina hadn't been required to go, but she had insisted, whereupon she had been reprimanded when many of the officers figured about that she had used her Quirk. The fact that she was a Yuuei student apparently hadn't been enough to prove her non-malicious intent anyone that hadn't been her target.
She'd never had an issue with it before, but this just felt petty almost. It was just so immeasurably frustrating that overrode any common sense that she had regarding the subject. All things considered, she's gotten off fairly lightly. She struggled to decide if that was a blessing or not. Wasn't one of the perks of becoming a Hero the ability to use ones Quirk in public? It had been a huge incentive for Mina to become one. With a power like hers, without a Hero licence she may never have gotten the opportunity to use her Quirk freely. It was one of the many things that had made her sign up for the Hero Course.
Deciding that allowing herself to become frustrated with things wasn't going to solve anything, she let out a long winded sigh and allowed the thoughts to exit her mind. Instead she decided to just worry about Izuku, and await for his release.
Everyone else from their class had already gone home after the shopping mall had to be shut down due to the altercation, so Mina had spent a fair amount of time texting her classmates and assuring them all that they were okay. Even Todoroki heard the news from their classmates and attempted to reach Izuku. When he didn't answer, the Half-Cold-Half-Hot boy had inquired with Mina. How he got her number, she had no idea, but she decided that she'd blame Yaoyarozu since she was the only person that she knew who had both their numbers. With the exception of Bakugou, who unsurprisingly didn't give a damn, Mina had gone out of her way to message everyone in their entire class. It spoke a lot about how they all saw her and Izuku.
As she debated checking her phone again in case someone had asked her for a few more details, she made her way towards the waiting room. Since it was next to the exit, or at least one of the exits anyway, Izuku would probably make his way through here when he was released from questioning. At this late time, there weren't too many people here, everyone who was there though, had evidentially come alone, as no one was sat even close to another waiter.
When Mina glanced around looking for a place where she could sit down, she spotted a rather chubby woman with green hair sat in one of the corners of the waiting room. It took her about three seconds to recognise the woman as Inko, Izuku's mother. Mina recalled meeting her when she had visited Izuku's home, and remembered his mother being rather jolly and kind. Right now though, she looked utterly devastated, with a pile of used tissues on the floor by her feet. She was worried sick, which was so clear that Mina absentmindedly forgot to even acknowledge it. Weary on her feet, Mina made her way over to the older woman, with the intent of trying to cheer her up if she could manage that.
After a moment's hesitation, during which she briefly considered letting her cry out however much she needed to, she spoke to get Inko's attention. "Mrs. Midoriya?"
When Inko looked over towards Mina, she seemed surprised that she was here. While Inko had been made aware that Izuku was going out with the majority of his class today, which wordlessly included Mina, she had assumed that the pink girlfriend of her son had already been sent home. She stopped her crying for a moment to stare at the Acid Quirk user, and attempted to weakly smile. "O-Oh, Ashido-san. I didn't see you there. I-I thought that you'd already be sent home."
"It's still just Mina." Smiled Mina, trying to lighten the mood. "I just got let out of interrogation… They had to give me a lecture about Quirk usage."
"Qu-Quirk usage?"
"…I may have come close to throwing Acid at the person who had hold of Izuku." Admitted the teenage girl, slightly meekly, despite the fact she was proud that she'd jumped right to her boyfriend's defence. "Only really stopped because Izuku asked me to."
Inko made a gesture for Mina to sit down next to her, which the pink girl accepted. Using yet another tissue to wipe the tears that were rapidly felling from her eyes, Inko sniffled upon hearing all of this.
"Geez, I see where Izuku gets it from…" Muttered Mina, before quickly realizing her unintentional rudeness. "Sorry, I didn't – "
"It's quite okay. My husband says the same thing." Inko sniffed again. "I didn't… Hear anything a-about Quirks being used. Was – Was Izuku… In real danger?"
"…It wasn't exactly clear if I'm honest." Sighed the Acid Quirk user. Truth be told, all she had gotten from that situation was that Izuku was very clearly not with that person, that Shigaraki, of his own free will. If the police had an idea of what his Quirk was, they hadn't told Mina, since she was apparently on some kind of need to know basis. "I don't know what that guy's Quirk was… But Izuku wasn't there willingly. I know that for certain… So… I got ready to use mine… I didn't get to use it though. I showed up way too late to be any use."
Despite what she'd done, Mina felt… Completely helpless in that situation. Everything had happened so quickly, that she'd barley had the time to recognize what was going on before it had escalated beyond the point of reason. It made sense for Izuku not to use his Quirk. He'd either break a bone, or destroy half of the ward, never mind just the shopping centre. So she'd done it…
But she'd been way, way too late. She'd spent the majority of the time that Izuku had spent brushing with death complaining to Uraraka about how long he was taking to bring drinks over. Izuku had the equivalent of a knife to his jugular, and she was just wondering where her Orange flavoured drink was. She couldn't feel more horrible about this fact. She had no way of knowing… But it still felt like she could have done something…. Just something while he was in that danger…
In the end, she hadn't really done anything, and that was what had her frustrated, upset, and depressed to an extent too. Maybe getting lectured over using her Quirk wouldn't have been so bad if she'd managed to burn one of Shigaraki's hands off and freed Izuku. At least then she'd know that she'd done right.
As it stood… She'd done next to nothing.
"…Thank you, Mina." Inko's teary voice suddenly cut through Mina's thoughts, blasting her out of whatever thoughts that she was having. Perhaps she'd seen the despair in Mina's black eyes, but still…
"'Thank you'?" She repeated, blankly staring at Izuku's mother like she'd just spouted some nonsensical nonsense at her, which she very well might have just done. It made no sense to thank her for having been able to do nothing in this situation. "I-I didn't do anything though!"
With a soft smile, Inko nodded, affirming that she both knew and understood the thoughts and feelings that Mina was having right now. That she was aware of how little Mina had actually done in that situation, but also that she didn't seem to resent that fact at all. Mina didn't get it. She didn't know what she was being thanked for at all. For being ready to fight? For not confirming anything? She had no idea…
"Thank you for being so concerned about Izuku. It's… Very reassuring to know that his girlfriend is… Such a kind and considerate person who thinks about him… And was willing to use her Quirk to protect him."
Mina just blinked, her jaw dropping very slightly, not sure if she should be blushing or not, and having a small debate inside herself if it would be appropriate to with Izuku still in questioning.
For the moment though, it appeared that Inko was able to keep her tear ducts under control, and let her worries about her son subside, for just a short while whilst she had a small talk with his girlfriend. "I'm sure you know… What Izuku can be like. I-I'm sure he gets a lot of his more… Apparent ticks from me… And from being… Quirkless for such a long time. Ever since his Quirk showed up he's been getting better but… I was happy…. And really scared about him when he brought you home."
Suddenly, Mina nodded, and closed her ajar jaw. She understood now.
"I… I thought that if his heart got broken, he might just… Shut down… But… It's so clear you aren't going to hurt him like that… You care about Izuku, don't you?.."
Of course Mina never planned on hurting Izuku. That was never going to happen, she was determined about that fact. Of everything that Mina was, of everything that she displayed and felt about the world and her boyfriend… Hurting him, the person that made her feel so happy every single day… She couldn't do that. Ever.
She just couldn't.
"Izuku… He makes me happy." Mina confessed, blushing lightly. "There isn't really anything else to it. I love him."
"Thank you for loving him so much." Inko smiled, still weak from her anxiety. "Izuku adores you. He barely talks about anything else other than Heroes, Quirks, and you. I know he has a hard time showing it… But he thinks the world of you. I've never seen him so happy…"
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Before Mina could give a response to Inko, a police officer that neither of them had spotted walking up towards them addressed the older woman. "If you'll follow me – your child has been released from his questioning. He's free to go."
What All Might was doing there, Mina had absolutely no idea. He seemed to show up whenever Izuku got involved in something, though since he was effectively the mentor of the green haired boy. Mina hadn't spoken to All Might personally a lot, which she had actually expected to since she had learned of his origins and the truth about his Quirk, but it just hadn't happened yet. She did have a few questions for him…
But they could wait.
As soon as she saw Izuku, she didn't hesitate, and ran straight over towards him, with absolutely no regard for anyone around, looking at the two of them, or whatever it was.
When he saw her, Izuku smiled lightly, and tried to reassure her with just an expression that he was alright. He didn't even manage to get a word in before Mina ran into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crashing her lips into her own, giving him the single biggest kiss that he'd ever received in his entire life. Unprepared for such a force of affection, Izuku's eyes shot wide open and for a moment, he had no balance whatsoever, totally thrown off by his girlfriend's sudden display of affections. All around him, his teacher, his mother, and a few of the officers had their own reactions to it happening, universally either amused or happy with the display.
After a few seconds though, Izuku decided that he didn't want to fight against the kiss in any way whatsoever, so he closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and returned her kiss. They didn't need to say anything between the two of them, their kiss explaining everything that they needed to know about one another's feelings in this entire escapade.
Once they separated, Mina looked at Izuku fondly and smiled, expressing a huge amount of relief that he was okay. "You have gotta be the most high-maintenance boyfriend on the planet, you know that right Izuku?"
Mina didn't go back to her family's house that night, instead at the request of Izuku, she stayed at his place, with him. He claimed that after the day that he'd had, he wanted to be around her, to be near her. Which she accepted, very happily and quite willing to do so.
He fell asleep very quickly after returning home. As soon as he'd set up a futon for Mina and changed into more comfortable clothes, he fell asleep virtually instantly, the second his head hit the pillow.
For a short while, Mina just sat up and watched him sleep. It wasn't even a slight wonder that he was so exhausted. After the day he'd had, it wasn't shocking in the least. Mina felt like she could pass out like she'd been hit in the back of the head with a rock herself, and Izuku had been the one in the thick of it, not her.
Danger always seemed to follow Izuku around unjustly. He never did anything that warranted this sort of amount of danger being thrown at him, but he seemed to attract it like metal to a magnet. His entire life was basically one long drama, and Mina knew that with his inherited powers, he wasn't going to be free from that drama for long. With Villain attacks becoming more frequent, and this All For One person that he mentioned still on the prowl, it wasn't possible that he'd always have moments like this.
Calm, quiet moments that just let him rest and recharge.
What was it that he thought of, she wondered. What was it that he dreamed about when he had these moments of clarity and calm to himself? When he wasn't trying his best to become a Hero, or taking notes on Heroes, or admitting Heroes in all their various aspects?...
…Probably about Heroes. He did have a one track mind, after all.
Without really thinking, Mina climbed into his bed, and laid next to him, without waking him up. He was out like a light, and it was going to take either an alarm clock, some serious shaking, or a grenade to make this exhausted boy wake up. He was cute when he slept though, and Mina felt absolutely no impulse to wake him up any time soon.
Before she decided to fall asleep, she turned around and reached for the desk next to Izuku's bed, groping around for his digital alarm clock. After a few moments of messing around with buttons, she managed to find a way to turn it off entirely. They could afford one day off, and Izuku wasn't going to be performing at his best anyway.
She'd get the information from Aizawa-sensei that they needed, or she'd get someone to text them what they missed.
It didn't matter whatsoever. Izuku needed his rest, or he was going to be dead to the world tomorrow.
Returning to her boyfriend, Mina wrapped her arms around him, gently holding him close as he slept. He didn't say the words 'I love you.' To her, the words she felt that she needed to hear… But she was willing to wait to hear them. Whenever he was ready.
In his dreamy head though, Izuku reflected on the day gone by… How much he valued these moments of peace before the chaos… And how much he loved the comfort Mina gave him… And how much… Just how much he wanted to keep those feelings.
And he didn't want to even come close to risking them. The doubts from his middle school days came flying back, reminding him of what happened when he expressed his dreams and desires…
In this case, it was his love… If he told Mina he loved her…
Would she go?
…After today… Izuku didn't want to risk it.