Rejected Stones

For the Living

Beta'd and edited by Poliamida and kylekatarn77

70. For The Living

He who fights and runs away

May live to fight another day;

But he who is battle slain

Can never rise to fight again.

-Tactus

In the end, Stain was simply locked in a paddy wagon with two guards posted, as everyone was too tired to deal with him. Izuku ended up going back to sleep, dozing off in the conference room, still dressed in the Power Suit. He jerked awake after an hour so when the door opened. He blinked a few times, then smiled as Mei hurried over, setting down a plate of steaming eggs and rice in front of him.

"Thanks, Mei," Izuku said with a sigh, picking up the chopsticks and taking a bite. "You really are taking care of me now."

"I remember everything you helped me with, so now it is your turn! And you need to take a shower," Mei informed him. "And wash your hair, even if it is Tuesday."

"Is it?" Izuku asked, frowning to himself. He shrugged. "I guess it is. But I'll have to shower later. There's a lot that needs to happen."

Mei frowned, folding her arms over her chest. "Izuku, there are a lot of grownups here. I think they can manage not to do something too stupid while you take a shower."

As that was a point Izuku really couldn't argue with, he did take a short shower and wash his hair. After that, he met with Nezu and some of the pro heroes again to go over their plans to evacuate. Trucks, buses, and other vehicles were being gathered inside of the UA grounds, and already teams were working on loading supplies into them. It was heartbreaking to think that they were abandoning people to the PLF, but it would be catastrophic to fight them in the city, as that would not only lead to massive civilian casualties but also to the likely annihilation of the last of the heroes.

One bit of good news was that several more pro heroes had arrived to bolster their numbers, including the water rescue hero Selkie and his team, along with the well regarded Gang Orca. A few more minor heroes joined as well, but as Fat Gum and Rock Lock had warned, most of the pros were distancing themselves from UA. Several had outright refused to join, some because they saw the UA heroes as having violated the hero code, others for more selfish reasons.

"It brings our numbers up to about fifty pros, in addition to the remaining UA students. There are 52 left, though 14 are too seriously injured to be ready to fight any time soon," Nezu reported.

The losses made Izuku feel sick all over again, but he only nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually, some good news," Nezu said, smiling. "Aizawa had made contact. He'll be coming in later today, along with several of our teachers. It seems they managed to escape. He wasn't able to tell me much, it sounded as though they were on the run. Some of them are seriously wounded, but they should be here shortly."

"Really? That's good" Izuku said, feeling as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders. Then, he hesitated. Something was off. "Make sure to have a medical team on standby. And we need a reception squad. We'll need to check them over when they arrive."

"We can do that. They're out of contact for now, Aizawa said they were moving quickly and needed to keep transmissions to a minimum, but they'll be here right before the convoy is ready to depart," Nezu explained.

The rest of the last minute preparations were made, with families and support staff and students being loaded onto the vehicles. Many of the general studies students and support course students had departed with their families, with the logic that they hadn't signed up to fight in a war. Izuku was relieved and heartened to hear that none of the Hero Course students had willingly departed, though several had been so severely injured they had needed to be hospitalized and could not make the journey. Izuku only hoped they wouldn't be killed in their sick beds.