Flea

Chapter Nine

They got separated pretty quickly. As Todoroki powered down the slope with Maeve hanging on to her saplings and screaming obscenities, a villain with insect wings flew out of nowhere. They collided, and Maeve was catapulted over the half and half boy's head when he ducked to counterattack. She felt the plants snap in two and was flying. For a moment. They'd been on the steepest part of the rock slide near the bottom, so she landed and rolled at speed, her world a kaleidoscope of sky, ground, sky, ground. And pain.

Maeve finally came to a halt, wheezing and spluttering, at the bottom of the slope. She'd hit her head at some point, and she'd always scoffed at the saying 'seeing stars,' until now. As her sight flashed, she finally understood. It was awful, this was partly why she refused to become a hero. Not wanting injury and, well, the whole pacifism thing.

When her vision cleared enough to see in front of her, however, Maeve snapped back into focus. She got to her feet with purpose, and stumbled forwards, accelerating quickly into a hobbled sprint. As she ran, her fists clenched and unclenched in the pattern required to completely expose her hands and forearms. She had no plan whatsoever, didn't even bother to look behind her and try to find Todoroki. There wasn't time.

"Hey, Bird Brain!" She screamed, staggering into the central plaza. The Nomu was crouched over Aizawa, clutching the man's arm bend backwards in its hand. The beast turned its monstrous head towards her and squawked. Aizawa looked up, grimacing in pain, and sent her a very clear silent message.

Run.

"Oi, Facepalm, get your Nomu to pick on someone their own size," she called to the smaller villain, dragging her feet further into the fray. Maeve had no idea what she was doing, she just needed to stall for time and pray someone had thought of a way to get help. She avoided looking at her father, if she did she'd fall apart.

"Ahaha, if it isn't little Recovery Girl," the turquoise haired man said, spreading his arms dramatically in welcome. The hesitation at the fact she knew about Nomu was minimal. Aizawa's body tensed as he struggled against the beast's grip, desperately trying to get to Maeve. The stress he was putting his arm under must have been unbearable.

"If you want to die, I'm not going to stop you. I wonder, are you able to heal someone so well they die of health?" The man rasped, clearly enjoying playing with her. Maeve looked pathetically unthreatening. Still soaking wet, her hair had sprung from its usual bun to hang around her face in a shoulder length grey mop. Her entire frame was covered in mud. Maeve was pretty sure she had a gash on her forehead with congealed blood and she could barely stand. It was fair for him to assume the school nurse was just a mouse to be trodden on. The villain obviously just thought her quirk was healing. Fair enough. Not many people ever bothered to look deeper.

"You've had your fun with my father," she said, her voice cracking.

"Just let me heal him and then you can let your 'anti-symbol' kill me. I'm the substitute All Might, I'm the reason your plans have gone so awry. Take it out on me, not him or the students."

The villain stood for a moment, and then openly laughed at her, scratching his neck incessantly.

"You really are soft. It's refreshing. Aren't you supposed to be a natural genius? And yet you've been moulded into something so dumb... All by this hero society you drool over. I think I'm going to choose both options. Kill... And kill again."

He nodded, and Maeve heard a crunching sound. Time seemed to slow down, as she whipped her head around towards the noise. Her lips parted in a scream of horror, hands flying to cradle her chest.

"NO!"

The Nomu had just smashed Aizawa's head into the ground so hard it cracked the pavement.