Smile for Me

Chapter 5: Questions

Aizawa POV

As he got down into the city, Aizawa saw that most of the damage was already done. All Might was here, so the public was smiling again.

Wait.

Someone told him in the briefing that Ms.Joke was supposed to extend her power and keep people's hopes up until All Might arrived. So why did everyone look so desolate?

She probably couldn't reach everyone. That big of an area to cover would be an overuse of her quirk... Maybe it was just too big to reach all at once.

It made sense. He lifted a large piece of rubble with his scarf while 13 and some other Hero's helped pull people out from under it. As Present Mic helped some of the civilians to the UA teachers First Aid outpost, he wondered where all the Ketsubutsu teachers were.

Probably on the other side of the city.

"Eraserhead!"

He turned around to see the Hero Ravager; the Lion Hero.

Haven't seen him in a while.

"Do you have a small team you could spare to help me? Most of Squad A from Ketsubutsu is trapped under a huge piece of a building. Some of the League of Villain's thugs saw the search and rescue team and blew up part of a building in an attempt to stop them. Those that we found are injured, but not too severely."

"Those that you found? Wait, you mean you haven't found all of the Squad yet?"

"Affirmative. We don't have enough man power on our end right now to find everyone. Could you spare a few people to help us?"

"Yeah, I think so. You can take Vlad, Midnight and I. That's about all we can spare right now, since most of the injured are around the area where All Might and the League of Villains are."

"Understood. We should get moving."

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When Ravager, Midnight, Vlad and Eraserhead got to the crash site, It honestly looked like an earthquake happened right on top of them.

He looked around, and surprisingly, didn't see the all-too-perky Smile Hero.

Huh. Weird...

"Split off into that area, and look for survivors. Bring them back to this point if you find any." Ravager yelled to the newly formed squad. Everyone nodded and ran headfirst into the wreckage.

Ducking through the rubble, being careful not to upset any debris, Aizawa searched for people. He managed to find a young couple huddling together in a corner. He brought them back to the meeting point, and still didn't see Ms.Joke.

Come on, Joke. People need you; where are you?

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After several hours of searching, Ms.Joke was the only hero not found among the wreckage.

All Might himself was brought in after the fight to look for her. In the end, no villains were captured, many were founded (both Hero and civilian) and they had a missing Hero.

At this point, the Erasure Hero was starting to get a little antsy.

"Anything?" Hizashi (Present Mic) asked Midnight nearby.

"Nothing. We can't track her locator either. It must have gotten smashed by the debris."

"GUYS!!"

The trio of Heroes turn towards the distressed voice.

"We found something!" 13 yells across the field of destruction.

They run towards her as she finishes sucking up all the rubble in a certain area.

Aizawa looks into the crevice and sees....red.

Blood soaks the concrete, and next to it lies Ms.Joke's belt and... a tape recorder?

Midnight's eye's widen, and she slides down into the concrete.

"Be careful!" 13 yells. "I don't think that area is entirely stable yet!"

Midnight picks up the tape recorder carefully and looks at the bottom and gasps, sobbing quietly.

The rest of the squad joins her. "What's that?" Hizashi asks.

Clutching her mouth to keep the sobs in, she turns the camera over to him and sees Joke's name written in blue marker with a scratched smiley face drawn next to it.

Hizashi's eyes widen, and Aizawa looks at him in confusion. "What is that?"

"Oh, that's right. You don't go out for drinks with us after collaboration patrols. This is Emi's Video Diary."

"It's not just that." Midnight chokes. "It contains her feelings, hopes, anxieties; everything. Including some other things, but I don't feel like I should say anything....at least not yet. I haven't given up hope yet."

"Mic, what is she talking about?" Aizawa asks.

"I knew about the first part, but she lost me at the end."

"It doesn't matter," Midnight said. "Just because her tape recorder is here doesn't mean she's...."

"Don't worry, Midnight," Mic consoles, "We'll find her...eventually."

Aizawa stares off into space.

Damn it Joke. You're getting us worried. Where are you?

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Oof. That's a bit of angst for ya. Get ready for more! uwu

-Sarah