Fɪɴᴅɪɴɢ Hᴏᴘᴇ [Bᴏᴏᴋ 1] | 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙞 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙤 𝙓 𝙊𝘾

24

We manage to catch up to the villain who took Tokoyami and Bakugou, Mr. Compress.

And found the spot where the villains are meeting up. And there, we see a clearer face of Kyryan from behind the mask. Her shines of eyes is completely gone, replaced with a dull, dead look. Dark circles around her eyes from lack of sleep. Her hair is a mess, so different from how she always keeps it neat and brushed. Her cheeks are hollow from lack of eating and wounds, bruises and cuts visible on her face and neck.

She stands beside a villain with jet black hair and scars and stitches all over his body. When everyone sees us making our grand entrance, they only gawk at us as they did not expect that.

"Todoroki!!!" She flings herself to me, her hand reaching out. I know all of her hopes of freedom are in that hand and I just need to grab her to make it a reality.

"Kyryan!!" I recover quickly from the fall and reach my hand out to her as well. It hurts that I can't extend my arm anymore, but then I feel her fingertips on mine and we are so close. If I could just-!

"You're not going anywhere!" Dabi kicks her, grabs her by the hair and plunge her into the warp gate.

"No! No! I don't wanna go in there!" Kyryan resists as much as she can. She's trying her best to fight back.

"Shut up!! You're so annoying!!" Dabi shot back. "Toga, Twice! Keep an eye on her!"

Toga and Twice casually walk in their warp gate that appeared beside them. He then pushes Kyryan in the portal and all we could hear was her last fading scream.

"Kyryan!!!" No time to cry, we'll get her back. Now, we have to save Bakugou.

-

We didn't make it.

We failed to save them.

Midoriya lost Bakugou in front of his own eyes because of me. Because I didn't manage to grab the pearl he was in.

And I lost Kyryan.

According to the report of the events, the ambulances and firetrucks arrived fifteen minutes after the villains left. Of the 40 students, 15 had lost consciousness and were in a critical state due to the gas. Thirteen were uninjured, eleven had injuries, ranging from minor to severe. One had gone missing.

Of the six professional heroes, one suffered a head injury and was in critical condition, and one that had left a heavy trail of blood had gone missing.

On the other hand, on the villains' side, three were immediately apprehended and arrested. The other villains who left them behind vanished without a trace.

Along with Kyryan.

And so, the forest training camp that we had been looking forward to came to an end, with the worst possible outcome.

Now, we're in the hospital. Some of my classmates are injured and the rest of us are here to visit. We went to Midoriya's room first. He is the most injured one among us. Having to fight off a supervillain all by himself is quite stressful.

"All Might was saying," Midoriya starts. "'You can't save people where your hands can't reach. So that's why you have to save anyone within your reach.' But I . . . I was in reach that time."

My head hangs low and frustration building up again. I know how that feels.

"I had to save him . . . ! My quirk," he continues. "The whole purpose of my quirk. It turned out exactly like Aizawa-sensei said it would. My body couldn't move!"

"Then this time around, let's save him," Kirishima spoke out of the blue.

"Huh?!" Most of us question.

"Actually, Todoroki and I were here yesterday too," Kirishima starts explaining about our slight plan, that we heard the conversation between All Might, the police and Yaoyorozu. After he finishes, Iida immediately bursts at us.

"It's exactly as All Might said! This is a matter that should be left to the professionals! This is not a situation for students like us to be meddling, you idiot!!"

"Damn it, man!!" Kirishima shot back. "I know that already! But still, I couldn't do anything! And hearing that our friend is being targeted . . . and I couldn't do anything about it! I didn't do anything about it!! If I don't do something about it here, then I won't be able to call myself a hero or a man!"

Kaminari then butted in, "Please, calm down, Kirishima. Your determination is good and all, but this time . . . We're in a hospital."

"Iida's right," says Tsuyu.

"Iida's right! Everybody's right! But even still!! Listen, Midoriya!! Your hands can still reach him!"

"Do you mean to go and rescue Bakugou yourselves?" The class president asks.

"Even though the villains marked us as murder targets," I speak. "They snitched Bakugou and K-uh, away without killing him. They may let him live, but I honestly can't be sure that they won't kill him. Kirishima and I will go."

Hell, I almost mentioned Kyryan. To them, they may see her as a mere villain but I'm still not sure if she's really part of them.

"Stop messing around!! You all are getting carried away!"

"Hold on. Calm down," says Shoji to Iida. Then he turns to us. "Kirishima's frustration of not being able to do anything . . . Todoroki's frustration of Bakugou getting snatched before his eyes . . . I know how it feels too. But this is not a decision one should make based on how they feel."

Kirishima and I didn't say anything. We just glance at him, knowing that he's right. Our classmates' words repeating in our head.

"Let's leave this to All Might. They rescinded our combat authorizations too," Aoyama speaks.

"I agree with Aoyama. I know I'm not in a position to be saying anything, having been saved over and over," Tokoyami decides.

Don't ask me to leave this to the pros. I've done that before and it hurts.

I clench my fist tightly, my nails digging deep into my skin.

"I know we're all still in shock from Bakugou's kidnapping. However, let's be level-headed about this. No matter just your feelings may be, if you engage in battle . . . if you break the rules like that, then your actions are no different from those of the villains," Tsuyu makes her point.

The atmosphere in the room is so intense no one dares to move. Sweat runs down our temples as our heads hung low, thinking of what she said.

That's when the doctor comes into the room, breaking the intense silence. He told us Midoriya needs his checkup so all of us left the room to visit the others. I notice Kirishima doesn't follow us. He waited for a moment to talk to Midoriya privately so I went ahead. I know what Kirishima wants to say to him. And I know Midoriya will not back down to the offer. They would do anything to save their friend.

I would do anything to save Kyryan.