One in a Billion

Chapter Twenty Six - Desperation

Kumo walked down the corridors followed by half on the class. He was holding Shoji's hand, which surprised him when he was asked for it. Once they reached her hospital room, Mina knocked on the closed door. "Hina? Honey, we're here for you. Can we come in?" She asked, not receiving a response. She looked at the group who were as conflicted as she was. She bent down to Kumo. "Why don't you go in and see what's she's up to before we come in?" Kumo nodded as he entered the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. They waited outside for a few seconds until it opened again. But it wasn't Kumo at the door. "Can I help you?" Ibuki asked, peering through the door. "Oh, hello. We're Hina's classmates. We came to check up on her. And to drop off Kumo" Mina answered. "Thanks for that but she's in no mood for visitors." Ibuki said, going to close the door. "Wait." Kirishima cut in. "We were the class who was attacked at that camp. The same one Bakugou got taken from. We're all concerned and I'm, personally, not gonna leave a friend to deal with that weight by themselves." Ibuki looked at the red-head's face, thinking on her next move.

"Come in. But not all of you. She doesn't need a crowd of people. You two." She pointed at Mina and Kirishima. "We'll go back to Midoriya. You guys go." Kaminari said. They looked at each other and both made their way into the room. They saw another adult, on his knees in the corner of the room. Kumo was sat next to him. "C'mon Katsu. At least get onto the bed." Takashi begged. Hina was curled up in a ball, under her bedsheets, tucked into the corner. Kumo tugged onto the sheets, lightly. "Katsu, please. Wanna talk?" They couldn't see any of her under the sheets. The boys turned around to find her classmates, watching. "Who are they?" Takashi asked. Kumo turned to him. "They're Katsu's friends." Ibuki walked up to him. "They were a part of the class at the camp." He looked at them and got up. He walked up to them. "Hope you guys are okay. So, she was close to this Bakugou guy?" He whispered to them. "Yeah. Pretty close. They're kinda dating." Kirishima explained. Takashi got taken back by that statement. "Dating?" He asked. "He's been helping her, mentally, for a while now. If I'm being honest, close is an understatement." Mina said. Takashi looked back at her, eyes full of sympathy.

"That could explain it." Mina and Kirishima tilted their heads, in confusion. "I don't know if you know this but we lost our mother when she was only five. She normally does this kind of thing when she experiences some kind of loss and depression. She done this when mum died, when our family dog went missing, and now. Not to mention every time our father got to her." The pair looked at Hina, both not knowing what their next move should be. Before they could think of anything, Hina moved out of her position, removing the sheet from over her head. Her eyes were puffy and red and her hair was a deep blue. Kirishima and Takashi could see she wanted to get up so they ran over to her and helped her up. Once she was stood up, she waved them away from her. They took a step back, allowing her to walk over to her bed and sit on it. Her head was hung low and her body was slumped over. "Honey, please let us help you." Mina asked, sitting next to her. Hina slowly turned her head towards her. "Ok. But could I have a few minutes of privacy? Please." The people in the room looked at each other. "Of course. C'mon." Ibuki said, guiding everyone out of the room.

Once the door was closed, she grabbed her bag from the bed-side table and rummaged through it. She pulled out the phone she was given by Aizawa for her mission. The one with only one contact number on it. She went to that contact and rang it. She waited for a few seconds, then a voice emerged from the phone.

"Hey there. You had your surgery yet?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the League's bar. Why?"

"Who's there with you?"

"Um, the same guys you saw the other day and some other villains."

"Anyone you're missing out on?"

"Our mission objective."

"Who is that mission objective?"

There was a silence on Dabi's end. This made Hina more aggravated.

"Answer the question."

"One Katsuki Bakugou. Can I ask why you wanna know?"

"Let. Him. Go."

Confusion covered Dabi. He couldn't understand why she was so serious.

"I can't exactly do that. But why, if I may ask?"

"Please. Whatever you're planning to do to him, just let him go."

He could sense the sadness and fear in her voice.

"Hey, calm down. As long as he co-operates, he'll be fi-"

"Take me instead. Just leave him alone. I'll take his place."

"Huh? Where is this coming from?"

"Dabi, I love him!"

The word struck Dabi right in his heart. Just when he thought he'd lost all sense of emotion, heartbreak settled in.

"I'm begging you. I'll do anything."

He heard her sobbing turn into harsh crying. His heart shattered with every exclaim. He didn't know what he should do. He simply hung up the phone. Hina's face went pale. It was the first time, in a while, that she felt helpless. She lost grip of the phone, letting it fall onto the floor. She also seemed to lose all grip on herself. "...that's it." Takashi broke the silence in the group waiting outside her room. Ibuki threw her hand in front of him. "Wait, let's wait to see if she invites us back in. What if she isn't ready for us yet?" She tried to reason with her brother. He simply removed her hand from himself. "I'm done waiting."

He opened the door and marched in. Mina picked Kumo up as the rest of the group, reluctantly, walked in as well. They found her, seemingly, passed out on her bed. They rushed to her side. "Hina!" Kirishima exclaimed. "Is she okay? I'll get a doctor." Ibuki said, running out of the room. Takashi shifted her body so she was properly laying in her bed. Ibuki entered back into the room followed by a doctor. He examined her vitals and her monitor. Kumo hid himself in her shoulder. "Not to worry. She'll be fine." The doctor said, causing everyone to sigh in relief. "She seems to have just fainted. But, by the looks of it, it was triggered. Has anything happened recently that could've triggered this?" They all nodded. "Ok. If I'm honest, I feel like she might be slipping in and out of consciousness. At least, as long as she has the trigger on her mind. Let her rest for now. I'll have a nurse check on her in a while." Ibuki and Takashi bowed at the doctor. "Thank you so much!" He smiled at the action. "No worries. It's my job, after all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later that Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Takashi was sitting in a chair, scrolling through his phone, with Kumo sleeping in his arms. Ibuki pretty much kicked down the door whilst holding grocery bags of snacks. "Takashi! News channel!" He loudly shushed her, pointing to their two sleeping siblings. She flinched, apologetically. "Sorry" She whispered as she set down her bags. "Turn on the news channel. Quick." He hushed her again. He used his quirk to turn on the TV screen and a breaking news broadcast had started recording live. "All Might is currently fighting the villain who seems to be the cause of the blast!" The news reporter yelled down his microphone. They watched, anxiously as the cameras zoomed into a beaten All Might and All For One on their battlefield. The news station continued filming as the battle started up again. Ibuki and Takashi couldn't find any words, they simply watched in silence and terror. As the fight continued, they saw All Might get slightly weaker and disoriented. "C'mon, All Might." Ibuki whispered as she took a step towards the screen. As he tried to land hits on All For One, he simply couldn't get through his dodges and blocks. It looked like he wouldn't be able to do any damage to him.

But then, out of the ground, vines burst out and tangled themselves around All For One's limbs. As he struggled to release himself from the hold, All Might struck him. The vines curled back into the ground once he got the upper hand. "W-What was that? That didn't look like Kamui Woods' vines." Takashi stuttered out. "Yeah, those looked like-" Ibuki cut off her sentence and they both turned to Hina. Her eyes were half open and her head was struggling to stay straight. "hope that helped." She strained out before she fainted again. Ibuki and Takashi, not knowing what to do, simply went back to watching the broadcast. But they were still had one question on their mind.

"Did her quirk just...evolve?!"