Deep Red

64

Whatever the hell had happened to this building complex, it didn't look good. I was tagging along with Tsu (she had told me specifically to call her that) to go and find the others - Kirishima, Tamaki, Fatgum, Mirio... Shouta. The way this place looked made me worry more and more.

I followed Tsu around the place as she leapt forward quickly. She kept on glancing back at me, as if she was worried about how I was doing. I probably had the most panicked look on my face, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but worry about Shouta, especially when things had already gone wrong quite a bit and with the state this place was in. I knew he was good at what he did, but...

I just couldn't help but worry about him, as we moved through the labyrinth-like hallways and corridors. I had no idea where the hell we even were right now or how to get back out. I just hoped that Tsu had a better head on her shoulders than I did. Otherwise we'd never make it out alive.

I could see a few figures standing in the hallway - they were still far away and I couldn't really hear what exactly was going on. Were they on our side? Shit, I really hoped so, because stopping and waiting wasn't really an option. I saw Tsu glancing at me once again, as if she was waiting for me to tell her what to do. Of course she was. I was the hero, she was the student.

"Get ready to fight, in case they are villains. I sure hope they aren't, but we can't be sure." I told her.

"Of course, ribbit." she replied. I narrowed my eyes. Was that... was that someone wearing a police uniform...? It was! Thank God, they were on our side. I had no idea if I could have managed a full on fight with such a big group of villains. And there were some more people with them...

It looked like they were engaged in some sort of fight, but nothing that they couldn't handle. Tsu and I looked at each other and quickly rushed towards them. It was Tamaki with Mirio hanging onto his shoulder.

"Police! Freeze! Don't even think about resisting!" we heard the policemen standing there shouting.

"Senpai! You're a sight for sore eyes! Is Lemillion okay?" Tsu shouted, as we approached them.

"Ms. Ribbit, what's the situation?" Tamaki replied. His face looked covered in blood and he didn't look too hot himself. Mirio seemed to have passed out. Tamaki had his hand transformed to the shape of a marlin and it was extended into a room. I looked at what was going on and gasped.

"It's Deku...! Come with me!" Tsu shouted. I made my way into the room, as the police was rushing in.

"Shouta!" I called out. He seemed to have a stab wound on his shoulder and he was unable to move... or rather he was moving really, really slowly. The policemen were arresting the villain standing over Shouta, as I kneeled down beside him. He slowly turned his head towards me.

There was a bandage wrapped over his eyes and he seemed more concerned and panicked than I had ever seen him. Damn it. Of course, he relied on his eyes and not being able to see anything had to be one of the scariest experiences for him. I quickly took the bandages off his eyes.

"A-Akane..." he muttered, obviously in pain from his shoulder being stabbed. I ran my hand through his hair.

"Ssh, it'll be fine, it's alright. Come on, let's get you out of here." I said to him with a smile. God, I was so relieved to see that he was alive. Sure, he was hurt, but he was alive and breathing and he'd be able to pull through, most likely. We just had to get him back to the surface, so he could get treated.

"I-I can't..." he mumbled. I nodded quickly and looked over at Tsu, who was still standing there waiting for us.

"Froppy! Come over here and help me get him out of here. Are we going back to Ryukyu?" I asked here.

"Yeah, that was the plan. Is he... is he okay?" she asked, as she quickly made her way over to us.

"His shoulder is hurt, so we have to be careful and it seems like he's still somewhat affected by a Quirk..." I answered, as I saw him slipping in and out of consciousness. I brushed some of his hair out of his face.

"Okay, so we'll have to be careful of that, ribbit..." Tsu said. It didn't take us too long to have him hoisted up, so we could carry him relatively easy. My mind was still racing, but at least I knew that Shouta was okay. Shouta was okay. Shouta was okay. It took my brain a while to fully realize it.

It also took us a while to get everyone back to Ryukyu who was waiting for us in her dragon form, so she could take us outside again. Not that we'd be much safer out there, but... well, at least we weren't in danger of being buried under rubble. I was pretty sure that breaking through the road earlier was a terrible idea when it came to the structural integrity of the entire street.

I stuck to Shouta's side the entire time, because seeing him injured like that just made some motherly instinct inside me kick in. I wouldn't have been able to bear being separated from him again. And right now I couldn't care less about anyone seeing me like this and figuring out that we were in a relationship or whatever. That stuff suddenly was much, much less important.

"You care for him a lot, don't you, ribbit?" Tsu asked me as Ryukyu was on her way back up again, holding onto the opening in the street with her claws as she lifted all of us up in the air.

"I... I do..." I replied and nodded slowly, only now realizing that I had been crying. Shit, how did I not realize?

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Tsu said with a slight smile. I gulped and nodded again. She really was a great student. Shouta had nothing bad to say about her and that seemed to be a rare thing.

"Thank you, Tsu. I appreciate that and I'm sure Shou... Eraserhead does as well." I replied and smiled down at him.

"I thought you'd make a cute couple when I saw you walking home from school together that one time, ribbit."

I wasn't even able to answer anything to that, as we suddenly landed and all hell broke loose. The police officers were shouting, we had to get Shou down onto the ground, which seemed to be painful and... whatever the hell was going on with Deku. He did not seem okay.

"What's going on?!" Ryukyu shouted as she saw the scene that was unfolding in front of our eyes. I gulped and tried to talk to Shouta, to get him to see what was happening. Something was wrong with Deku, that much was clear, even before Uraraka gave us her update on the situation.

"Nighteye's back there! I told all the locals to evacuate, and Deku took down Chisaki! But something's still wrong!" she shouted, as we watched Deku writhing in pain with the little girl on his back, as if she was a backpack. It looked like both of them had their Quirks activated and the girl was having trouble controlling it. Shit, shit, shit. I needed to wake up Shouta right now.

"Shou, Shou, you need to wake up, please! It's Midoriya, something's wrong!" I said to him and tried to gently wake him up. It wasn't working too well, he just groaned in pain and his eyelids fluttered.

"Deku collapsed under the burden of his own extreme power and started writhing in pain!" Uraraka shouted in a panic.

I looked back at Shouta and he slowly started opening his eyes. His hand was twitching just a tiny bit and it seemed like it took him a few seconds to fully register what was happening, but then his eyes widened slightly.

"I'm sorry... Midoriya..." he mumbled, before activating his Quirk and erasing Eri's Quirk. Both her and Midoriya collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily and panting from exhaustion. That was it. It was over.