Test of Courage

16

Midoriya's POV
"I'm still a little confused," Kirishima said, "How did you two get hurt?" Bakugou, Kirishima, Iida, and I were walking to Uraraka and Tsu's home again to visit Todoroki. This morning Bakugou and Kirishima were both wondering why Iida and I were injured, though I gave them a very brief summary. After talking to Iida and having time to think I felt ashamed that I tried to leave my friends behind. They came all this way for me and I was going to ditch them.

"Midoriya tried leaving to keep the rest of us safe and I tried stop him but we encountered a titan bear," Iida explained for me. He made my attempt sound more noble than it was in reality, I blushed. Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"Idiot," He smacked the back of my head. The way he looked away made me think in some strange way I think he was telling me that he was here to help.

"We just want to help our friend," Kirishima added.

"Thanks," I smiled, "For everything." The walk to the cottage was relatively quiet and I felt excited when we arrived. I hadn't seen Todoroki since the day before and I hoped he showed some sign of recovery. I could hear voices from inside before any of us knocked.

"You should be resting," A feminine voice scolded. I believed it was Uraraka's. "You just woke up and your in no condition to be walking around." Iida knocked on the door and her scolding ended. She was quick to answer the door. She smiled when she saw us.

"Good news!" She exclaimed and opened the door for us to come in. Todoroki stood next to the door of the medical room. Relief washed over me, seeing him awake and on his feet. He smiled when he saw the four of us.

"Your awake!" I exclaimed. I didn't hesitate in running over and giving him a hug. He returned it and I could hear the others coming over. I let go of him with a grin. Iida patted his shoulder.

"Good to see you on you feet," He said formally.

"Thanks," Todoroki gave him a nod.

"We were all pretty worried, even Katsuki," Kirishima said rested a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. Bakugou's cheeks turned pink.

"Like hell I was!" He yelled before crossing his arms like a moody kid. Todoroki laughed.

"Sure, babe," Kirishima chuckled.

"Finally!" Todoroki yelled, startling all of us. "Took you two long enough." Both Kirishima and Bakugou blushed a dark red. Iida and I chuckled. Uraraka scolded Todoroki for being up and so the six of us settled into chairs in the living space. Soon enough Tsu joined us too.

"Where is Mina and the others?" Uraraka asked.

"Kaminari said something about spending sometime with his girlfriend before he had to leave to help us and Sero and Mina said they had some things to do before accompanying us with our journey," Iida explained. Uraraka nodded.

"So when can Todoroki travel again? I want to leave soon," I say fidgeting with my fingers.

"Well, I want him to stay here tonight so he can rest some more and I want to see how he's doing tomorrow. I can judge whether he needs to spend another night or not," Uraraka said, "After that he can go to the village but I want to have one more day of rest before any long journeys." I nodded. I didn't want to wait that long but it's best Todoroki heals fully before we leave.

We fell into small conversation and Iida and I had to explain to Todoroki how we got hurt. Eventually Uraraka told us to leave so Todoroki could rest. Iida, Kirishima, Bakugou, and I returned to town.

Bakugou's POV
Uraraka decided she wanted Todoroki to say at her cottage for two nights, and I could tell Midoriya was getting impatient. The second day the stone wolves, Lupis Lapis, showed up at the town but with help of some of the villagers they were easy to get rid of. Todoroki then came to stay with us in the inn for one more day of rest.

"Are you ready?" Kirishima asked. We were packing anything we might have taken out of our bags in our room. Were supposed to leave the next morning at sunrise.

"Yeah," I said, dropping my bag by the door. He put his bag by mine and then gave me a hug. I returned it and asked, "Ei? Are you okay?"

"Yeah but I think tonight is the last night we will be alone for a while," He said. I nodded and took in the moment. Some how Kirishima managed to make quiet moments like this amazing even though we were just standing here in each other's arms. Our moment was ruined but yelling outside. We separated in alarm.

"What was that?!" Kirishima asked. There were some screams.

"Let's go check," I say grabbing my sword. We ran into the hall and apparently Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki had the same idea. They had their swords in their hands and they were already running through the hall. We followed and we came into the cool night air outside the inn. In front of us was chaos.

Villagers were running around frantically. They were grabbing weapons like spears, swords, bows. There were mothers leading their kids to safe places. Warriors were yelling orders. At the other end of town I could see light cast a blue glow on houses and the mountain side. I grabbed a villager by the arm.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"Soldiers from Chester!" They said, "They're attacking us." Then the villager ran off with a sword in their hand.

"They found us!" Midoriya cried, "We have to help." Todoroki nodded and the five of us ran toward the commotion. As we got closer I got a better look at Chester's people. They came prepared with metal armor and plenty of swords and bows. There was no way I could mistake Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga, leading the soldiers. Homes were destroyed. Some were scorched and burnt, others were crumbled to dust. Aizawa commanded his own people, yelling orders and directing them.

Something caught my attention from the corner of my eye and I pushed Kirishima to the ground. An arrow flew through the air where he was just standing. We got back up quickly.

"Turn over the sword or we will destroy your home and kill everyone here!" Shigaraki demanded. Aizawa noticed us and ran over to us.

"He's here for me! I'm so sorry," Midoriya cried, his eyes scanned to battle in front of us.

"He means your sword, correct?" Aizawa ignored Midoriya's apology. Midoriya nodded hesitantly. "We'll hold them off. You guys get your guides and get out of here."

"What-why?" Iida asked dumbfounded.

"I know about your sword and it's origin. If your taking it where I think you are, I can't let the fools from Chester stop you," He explained.

"Thank you," Midoriya smiled gratefully.

"Go!" Aizawa yelled before running to aid the villagers.

"Bakugou, Kirishima, and I can get our belongings," Iida said, "Midoriya and Todoroki. Go find Mina, Sero, and Kaminari. We'll meet in the middle of town." The five of us split up. Normally I would argue with Iida or do my own thing but I knew this wasn't a good time. I grasped Kirishima's hand as we ran through town. The last thing I wanted was to lose him in the chaos.

We burst into the inn and I noticed Kayama wasn't behind the counter anymore. Kirishima and I ran to our room where we left our bags. I swung mine onto my back and went back into the hall with Kirishima following close behind. Iida was in the hall too with three bags. Kirishima took one from him. I grabbed Kirishima's hand again.

We got to the stone stage in the middle of town and the others were already waiting for us. Midoriya and Todoroki took their belongings from Iida and Kirishima. Then Mina, Sero, and Kaminari led us through town, away from the fighting and commotion.