Vigilant: Part 2 - An MHA AU Story

Chapter 3: Refugees

Ochako sat in the driver seat, watching with her car turned off, across the street.

On the other side, an older woman with light brown hair much like her own was walking, hand-in-hand with a little girl, with bluish white hair and a small horn on the right side of her head into the front doors of an elementary school.

Before entering, and disappearing from Ochako's line of sight, the little girl turning around and looked at the world outside, before sighing disappointedly and following the woman.

"One day, Eri. One day we'll walk you to school again. I promise." Ochako thought.

"Ochako. We should get outta here." A female voice suggested from one the back seat.

The young brunette turned around to see Kyoka Jiro tapping her watch.

"R-Right. On it." Ochako said, turning herself around and taking the wheel.

~~~~~~~

"I can't believe we have to just sit here and wait until Bakugo comes back. I haven't been outside in days!" Minoru complained as he sat across from Mezo in wooden chairs playing shogi.

"Do you even realize the....severity of our situation?!" Tsuyu hissed at him from behind. "All that time spent in the navy wasted!"

"Now is not the time to start turning on each other. We're a team now." Fumikage said.

"Tokoyami is right." Shoto added. "We've all left promising lives for this. But we all chose it. Tsu, you chose to abandon your post and chase after us."

She bowed her head and nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Though I don't blame you for losing your temper with Mineta." Shoto glared at the midget.

"What?" Minoru asked.

Mezo sat up in his chair and stretched out one of his arms, forming it into an ear. "Ochako and Jiro are back."

"Alright, guys. Let's start cooking dinner." Momo announced.

"That's right! Once the girls bring in the groceries, we need everyone to help!" Tenya added, booming his voice to the group.

"It's not the best life, but it's all we got for now." Rikido shrugged as he stood up to help.

At that moment, Kyoka and Ochako pulled the car inside the small warehouse via one of the old loading doors and unlocked the trunk.

The young ex-heroes all pitched in to carry groceries out while some with a little more cooking experience like Rikido and Momo carried some of the groceries toward a kitchen setup to start preparing a meal.

"You never truly stopped being a hero to me, Momo." Shoto said with a small smile. "Despite the laws changing, you never.... You never made my mistake and just hid away with your fortunes..."

He stood across from her, stoking flames at the bottom of a kettle to heat it up as she was placing ingredients inside.

"Shoto, I don't judge you for what you chose to do when those changes were made. I mean... What you believe is that you were created only to become a hero." Momo sighed.

"What do you mean 'what I believe?'" He asked.

Momo looked him in the eyes. "You have always been more than that to me. And to people like Midoriya and Iida."

Shoto stood in thought for a moment before nodding. "I see. Thank you."

Momo's face dropped down hopelessly.

"...Was it something I said?" He asked.

"N-No no! It's none of that!" She blushed.

"He's so oblivious!" She thought to herself silently.

Everyone else had a few conversations going, but otherwise the entire space they shared remained softer and quieter in tone.

They reminisced about the glory days of being heroes, free to express themselves freely with their Quirks, and the relationships they had with each other, and those not present.

Ochako for instance, remained silent as she ate, listening to the others talking but never really adding anything herself.

This troubled Tsuyu, who sat beside her on an old couch.

The frog-like girl knew her best friend had lost so much already. Her social status as a hero, her job to pay for her family, some of her good friends, her boyfriend, and since that same day, her ability to see her adopted "daughter" and walk her to school.

Tsuyu had used her lack of emotion to her advantage in the military, but having been discharged for abandoning her post in pursuit of vigilantes, she was once again thrown into the emotional roller coaster of a world that was her old classmates teaming up.

And it also meant she had to return to her duty as Ochako's closest friend, in Izuku's absence.

Nobody really mentioned it anymore even after Katsuki left to break him out. Everyone seemed to lose faith in even the greatest of them all who remained. They didn't think Katsuki was coming back.

Izuku was put in one of the world's top prisons, where only the most powerful and sinister villains were sent, where the death penalty was not enough of a punishment.

Having to stay off the grid, their connections to the news in which they could trust was also extremely limited.

Eijiro Kirishima was another one of them who remained more quiet than ever, which was against his character. He was always the hopeful and confident one, especially in Izuku and Katsuki and Mina. But of course, through the spiral of traumatizing events, even the strongest wills could shatter.

He barely touched his food. He loved Mina Ashido. He was going to confess it to her. He never got the chance.

Katsuki was his best friend. After a few weeks since Izuku's incarceration, the explosion-Quirk user announced what he was going to do. Everyone told him it was suicide and would only make things worse.

Eijiro would have either cheered him on or maybe convinced him to back down, but he remained silent, reaching a tipping point but not deciding where to fall. So he just watched as Katsuki ventured off, unsure of if he would return or not.

He and Ochako have always had mutual respect for each other, but each of them lost almost everything at the same time. Two of the most confident and leader-like of them all, and they were burnt out of hope. Just existing.

"Okay, for real. Does anyone here believe that Katsuki and Izuku will return?" Minoru asked the small table of people, away from where Ochako, Tsuyu, and Eijiro were sitting.

"It's been a few days now." Shoto pointed out.

Tenya froze in thought. "It's hard to tell. Bakugo and Midoriya are two of the strongest men I've ever known. I've seen them escape insurmountable odds before, but this feels different."

"Tartarus." Fumikage spoke out.

The mention of the prison's nickname sent a chill up everyone's spines.