No kill quite like overkill, they say. And from what Momo could make out in the haze of her consciousness slipping as Awase dragged her as best he could, this was definitely overkill.

How it had managed to sneak up behind them was beyond her – it was a Noumu, for crying out loud. They weren't exactly known for being subtle. Yet it seemed as though every time she would open her eyes, they would be met with the horrid sight of the creature, it's mouth drooling as it continuously snarled "'ittle kitty."

She was fortunate that Awase had chosen to stay with her and the unconscious Jirou, as if he hadn't… well, she dreaded to think of that outcome.

"Yaoyorozu!" He yelled, panic stricken, "You still alive?! Hey! You gotta run!" He paused for breath, ensuring that his quirk, which had fused both her own body and her unconscious classmate to his, hadn't failed out just yet before continuing. "They're after us!"

"I'm sorry… Awase…" Momo struggled, blood seeping down from her wound on her forehead, irritating the corner of her eyes. "I-I'm okay!"

From what she could see, Kyoka wasn't in the most helpful position, having had her right arm fused around Awase's neck, so his lack of breath was understandable. Unfortunately, they didn't have the luxury of rearranging their set up, as the Noumu attempted to slash at them over and over, the chainsaws on the end of its many appendages coming within mere centimetres of the trio.

"Crap!" The welding boy yelled, noticing the scream of the engines getting ever closer. "What's going on?! What the hell is all this?!"

Forcing her eyes open, Momo was convinced this was the last thing she'd see, as the roar of the machinery came ever closer.

Until it stopped.

The engines had stopped, its appendages retracted back into the creature as it turned, facing away from them. It's jaw scraping against the metal bar held within it's teeth, the Noumu once again snarled "'ittle kitty" as it wandered into the woods, seemingly holding no interest whatsoever in the trio it had just been chasing with everything it had.

"Uh…" The headband wearing boy muttered, watching as it left them as though nothing had happened.

'Did they accomplish their mission…?' Momo thought to herself before having the sudden realisation. 'That means Bakugou is…!'

She shook her head and clenched her fist, catching the attention of the boy currently carrying her. Now's not the time! Don't get caught up in relief!' Straining herself to the best of her ability, she began to utilise her quirk, desperately focusing to create the one thing that she knew would best help given the current situation.

"Awase!" She struggled, having finalised her creation. "Use your quirk on this! Put it on him!"

"What's this?" He replied, taking the object in his hands as he deactivated his own quirk, allowing Momo and Kyoka to fall gently to the ground. "A button?"

"Quickly!" Momo shouted, pushing herself up off the ground. "He's getting away!"

Nodding briefly, Awase turned, running up behind the monstrous being and quickly activating his quirk, instantly welding the device to it. If it had caused any pain, the Noumu didn't notice, as it continued to snarl as it mindlessly wandered away, deep into the woods.

"It's on him, okay?!" He cried, turning around to carry both the girls, with Momo being on the verge of losing consciousness. "Let's get out of here, this is too scary!"

"Good…" Momo managed before everything turned to black.

If it hadn't been for the burning sensation in her lungs, Kyoka would have probably still been completely unconscious. Stirring gently, she forced her eyes open slowly, taking in the sight around her, confusion setting into her mind.

A pristine white cover held her within the confines of what appeared to be a hospital bed, a gentle orange glow seeped into the room via the window to her right, enveloping the room in a comfortable radiance. Across from the earphone jack girl, a bed similar to her own was positioned, however it almost didn't look occupied – there were bulges indicating that someone was indeed there, but she couldn't see anyone. Glancing downward, she could also see that she'd had an IV drip inserted into her arm, with the contraption located on her left.

Slowly, she came to realise where she was located exactly – a hospital, or at the very least an infirmary. This revelation didn't exactly make her situation much clearer, however. They'd been at a training camp, right? Why was she suddenly here? Had she been injured and didn't remember?

Focusing to the best of her ability, which was admittedly hindered substantially by the constant feeling of agony from her chest, she tried to recall the events prior to this. She'd been training her quirk, then she'd been paired up with Momo for the Test of Courage, and then…

Oh.

Oh.

She didn't have all the details, but she figured out what happened well enough – villains had attacked and she'd fallen unconscious from the poisonous gas secreted by one of them.

Panic immediately settled in upon this realisation. She didn't care if it physically hurt her to breathe, she needed to find out whether Momo was okay. This was no time for her to by lying around when the girl in question could be suffering.

As if by some miracle, the door slid open, and there she was – concern etched on her face, wearing a pretty pink blouse and a skirt which really complemented her look with her ponytail standing gloriously, she rushed over to Kyoka, grabbing a hold of her hand as gently as she could. "Kyoka!"

"Mo-!" The punk girl rasped before breaking into a coughing fit, barely able to catch her breath as the creation hero in training held the girls' hand, trying to offer as much comfort as she could.

"I'm here, I'm here…" She repeated in an attempt to comfort the suffering girl, her heart really going out to the poor girl. It sounded like she was going through hell just trying to breathe.

"Wha…" Kyoka managed before another cough seized her.

"Don't speak, just relax…" Momo's voice was soothing to the girl, allowing her to relax into the comfort her hospital bed provided, their hands still entwined. "Everyone's okay, don't worry…"

Feeling her eyes fluttering to a close, the punk girl wanted to slap herself awake, but found herself lacking in the strength to do so.

"I'm sorry." Momo muttered so quietly it might not have been picked up by anyone else, but to Kyoka and her enhanced hearing, she heard it loud and clear. "It's my fault this happened to you…" The ponytailed girl continued to have her eyes downcast. "If I'd been able to do more, maybe they wouldn't have…" She trailed off, refusing to make eye contact.

Realising speaking probably wasn't the best idea, Kyoka realised the best thing she could do was to give her friend's hand a quick squeeze – enough to show she was supportive of her, but not so much to worry the girl that she was straining herself.

"But there's something I must do." Momo added, disentangling her hand from that of Kyoka's, much to the half-asleep girl's discontent. "I'm sorry, but I hope you can forgive me…" She muttered as she began moving towards the door, sparing a caring glance back at the bedridden girl.

"Where…" Was all that she could manage before the darkness of sleep overtook her.

With a pained expression, the ponytailed girl couldn't just leave her like that. She had to do something to show how much this hurt her to do, just leave her like that.

Quietly, she turned back towards the bedridden girl, and hesitating slightly, she lowered her head and planted a gentle kiss on the punk girl's forehead.

Blushing profusely, she turned on her heels and quickly made her way out the door, unaware that a pair of invisible eyes had watched the entire exchange.

Heading down to the foyer to meet with Todoroki and Kirishima, she bumped into Midoriya on the stairs down. Blushing slightly from recent events involving both him and Kyoka, she expected him to be in a similar state, given his track record.

Instead, she was met with the sight of an incredibly determined individual – a sight she was used to seeing from the freckled boy at a distance, but rarely up close like this.

Not that she could blame him. When all was said and done, he'd beaten himself up horribly during the entire encounter with the villains, both literally, where his arms had been shattered to the point where using them much more would result in him no longer being able to use them, and metaphorically.

After all, he'd been agonisingly close to saving Bakugo.

Of course, it wasn't his fault, Momo knew this, joining him as they headed towards the exit, but she couldn't find fault with how he had burdened it upon himself as to why his childhood friend had been kidnapped.

Opening the door first, Momo exited the building with Midoriya just behind her, greeted with the sight of both Todoroki and Kirishima, as they'd promised earlier.

"Whaddya say, Yaoyorozu?" Kirishima posed instantly. Both him and Todoroki had been the ones to suggest saving Bakugo, but she hadn't given them a solid answer. Now that she was here, however, she knew there was no turning back.

"I…" Momo started before getting cut off by another.

"Wait!" Iida called out, surprising all of them. Todoroki had guessed that, given his outburst when they'd suggested this plan to the others earlier, he would be the one to actively try and stop them from carrying out this endeavour. "Of all people, you guys should know better! Especially you two, who criticised me for my rash actions and, like me, had to receive a special pardon in the end!" He paused for a breath, "Why are you about to commit the same blunder I did?! This is foolish!"

"What are you talking about?" Kirishima piped up, unaware of the circumstances that both Todoroki and Midoriya were aware of.

"We're still under protection and U.A.'s already facing hard times as it is." He continued, refusing to make eye contact with those he was scrutinising. "Who do you think will take responsibility for your actions?!"

"That's not how it is, Iida." Midoriya spoke up, stepping forward. "Nobody said we're gonna break any laws…"

He was cut off midsentence by Iida swinging his fist straight into the young man's jaw, causing the boy to fall backwards. Momo cried out, running straight to his side to make sure he didn't injure his head further. Supporting him under the arms, she looked towards Iida, shocked that the president of their class would take such an action.

"I have regrets too! And of course I'm worried!" He yelled, "I'm your class president! Naturally I worry about my classmates! And not just Bakugo!"

He raised his eyes to look towards the others, "Seeing you all hurt earlier reminded me of my injured brother!" Looking back down to Izuku, being propped up by Momo, he continued. "What happens when your little vigilante act takes you somewhere you can never come back from, like my brother?" Staggering forward towards the green haired boy, he planted his arms firmly on his shoulders. "Are you saying you don't give a damn! Are you saying you don't care about how I feel here?!"

"Iida…" Midoriya muttered, unable to put into words what he wanted.

"Iida!" Todoroki called out. "You don't seriously think we're planning to smash down the door, guns blazing?"

"We're getting him back without fighting!" Kirishima added, "It's gonna be a covert mission! That's how we heroes in training can fight on the right side of the law!"

"I trust you Todoroki, but worse comes to worst, I should be there as backup…" Momo continued, "Which is why I'm coming too."

"I'm not really sure I get it, but…" Midoriya coughed, with Momo feeling the vibration of him doing so through his ribs, "the thought that we can still reach him… I just can't sit around doing nothing." He lifted himself up out of her arms, looking Iida dead in the eye. "I need to go save him!"

Boarding a train to Kamino Ward, the group of five, with Iida and Momo acting as "watchmen", took their seats as Todoroki unpacked a small pack of provisions for them. They couldn't work on an empty stomach, after all.

In front of Momo, on the shared table, was the tracking device that she'd produced, currently with a small flashing dot. Hopefully, assuming the tracker hadn't fallen off, the Noumu that she and Awase had tagged would still be there.

And hopefully, the others would be able to realise how much of a fruitless endeavour this 'rescue mission' was likely to be.

'A non-violent rescue…' Momo thought to herself, staring at the tracking device. 'It's not very realistic.' Glancing at the others, her mental track continued, 'They don't seem to realise that they're hardly used to acting calmly…'

Shaking her head briefly in an attempt to convince the pessimistic thoughts plaguing her mind to leave her alone, she began to tuck into the food that Todoroki was offering her. 'Once we arrive and assess the situation, they'll realise how hard this will be… how unrealistic… At least, I hope they will!'

"Uh…" Midoriya spoke up, "Did anyone tell the others the details of this mission?"

"Yeah, then they wasted time trying to stop us." Todoroki replied, not looking up from his food, completely unnoting of the train's sudden movement as it began to head towards their shared destination.

"Uraraka was really harsh about it, just to drive the point home." Kirishima added, pausing to take a quick drink. "Said something like 'Bakugo will consider it disgraceful to be rescued.'"

A pained expression crossed over Midoriya's face, as if he knew exactly what Kirishima, and to a greater extent Uraraka, was referring to.

"Lemme say this much…" Todoroki began, picking up a croquet with his chopsticks. "What we're about to do is a selfish thing that won't be accepted by anyone, even Bakugo. If you wanna turn back, there's still time." He finished, popping the croquet in his mouth.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't completely sure about this!" Kirishima answered, taking a bite into a rice ball. "Plus he's not the kind of dude to let any villain boss him around!"

"I…" The green haired teen began, clearly feeling some conflict about the situation. Momo looked towards the boy on her right, seeing that he was clearly struggling. For what reason, she didn't know, but all of that came to a half when he looked up again, clenching his fists, as he declared "There's no turning back now!"

The rational part of her mind wasn't overly happy with the choice that he'd made, but another part of her mind, a part she couldn't quite put her finger on, rather liked his determination.

Trying desperately to ignore that part of her, which she couldn't help but notice was overtly happy that she'd decided to join Midoriya on this mission, she settled herself in for the rest of the trip.

"The tracker points to this location." Momo declared upon arrival, looking up at the eerie building. Fittingly, it hadn't been placed in the most populated part of town, and much like the majority of the buildings surrounding it, it looked rather suitably abandoned. It was obvious that it wasn't a fresh addition to the area – the weather had clearly taken its toll on the building, with cracks being a frequent sight around the outside of the perimeter, including upon the wall that encompassed the facility itself. Weeds could also be seen around the edges of the gate that lead to the main shutter door of the building, showing that it hadn't been used in a while.

This did beg the question, however – if this was the villain's hideout, how was it that there were not even any of the subtle signs of people coming and going? Simple things, such as minor scuffmarks around an entrance, scratches on the metal bars of the main gate, a lack of weeds sprouting around what appeared to be the standard entrance to the desolate structure, none of these were present.

So, was this the hideout, or was it only a decoy?

"So this is their hideout?" Kirishima, now wearing a disguise so that he wouldn't look like a schoolboy in an area clearly not designed for children their age, piped up. "I'd believe that!"

It had been at Momo's suggestion that the five of them dressed themselves in such a way that they wouldn't be easily recognisable – they had had all of their faces broadcast on the news at the sports festival, after all, and the last thing they needed was someone ruining their operation by calling them out in the open.

Momo's outfit, a rather sparkly pink dress with a pair of large sunglasses, acted as the perfect cover for her – she'd never worn anything like this prior to this mission, so the chances of her being recognised were exceptionally slim.

Whilst she was confident she'd remain incognito, she couldn't help but notice how one of her accomplices in this endeavour, Midoriya, seemed to always be a tad red in the face whenever she caught a glance at him.

Whether this was because of nerve getting the better of him or because of her outfit, she had no idea. However, she couldn't help but think about events prior to the villain attack on the training camp… how much they'd seen of each other (though admittedly unintentionally) …

Shaking her head once again to push aside such degenerate thoughts, she continued with her explanation, "We can't be sure, but I've been checking, and the villains haven't moved from here all day." Glancing towards the others, she added, "Just because the villains are here, doesn't necessarily mean Bakugo is too. I need you all to realise that we're standing here now based on very limited information."

"None of us are suited for stealth missions, unlike Jirou or Hagakure." Iida followed up, taking his role as a monitor of the others very seriously, "So I'm stopping this at the first hint of danger because you're my friends, and I won't hesitate to notify the authorities."

"Thank you, Iida." Midoriya replied, placing his hand on his chin and getting lost in thought. "Just give me a moment to think… about what we can actually do…"

Beginning to mutter like a madman as he oft tended to do when overthinking, the others could do nothing but admire his ability to completely shut himself off and only think of the situation at hand. Momo was fully convinced that, when Deku, the hero in training, went into this trance, he was far more intelligent than herself, being able to come up with a seemingly massive number of options and theories within seconds.

"Oi!"

Snapping Midoriya out of his stupor, the group turned towards the source of the noise, hoping that a villain hadn't just caught them in the act of scoping out their hideout.

"You! Hostess!" A drunken man in a suit called out, waving his hand randomly. "What're you up to honey? Join us for a drink!"

"Knock it off, you idiot!" A similarly drunken man, evidently a co-worker or a friend, grabbed a hold the initial drunkard and started dragging him off, leaving the group on their own.

It hadn't gone unnoticed to Momo, however, that Midoriya had rushed in front of her almost instantly after the man first started shouting at them, and she felt her face heat up slightly as she took in the sight of him… protecting her.

Of course, Midoriya protecting someone wasn't unusual – what was unusual was how quickly he'd managed to get into such a position… it wasn't what she'd expected, far from it.

As the drunken duo backed off, Midoriya snapped back into his stupor, muttering something about how many people were now wandering around the area – evidently, a nearby bar had just closed and people were making their ways home.

"Let's go around back." Todoroki suggested. "I know we're in the dark here, but this is all we've got to go on."

Following his discretion, Momo led the way down a particularly narrow alleyway, between the wall that surrounded the warehouse hideout and the adjacent building. This proved to be a particular problem for the gifted girl, as she was acutely aware that her… assets were going to be an issue, as the narrow space meant that she would find herself brushing up against the walls very frequently.

"At least no one can spot us here…" Midoriya muttered, attempting to get the best view of the structure as he could. Momo turned to look at the boy, watching as his eyes scanned for any possible insight to what could be awaiting them. She found herself fascinated by his eyes for a moment, admiring his ability to completely focus on the task at hand. Such a supple shade of green, almost glowing in the gentle light of the streetlamps, she couldn't draw her eyes away from them.

Or rather, she didn't want to look away.

His eyes widened for a moment before he declared "There!", prompting Momo to snap out of her trance and look towards what he had spotted, attempting to ignore the feeling of heat rising in her cheeks.

"A window?" Todoroki responded, still looking towards the object in question. "Won't it be too dark to see anything?"

"I could produce some night vision equipment…" Momo suggested.

"No!" Kirishima interrupted, "I actually have something here…" He pulled out a night vision scope from his jacket, muttering something about how expensive it was online. "I could only afford one, but when I was thinking about what we could do, I thought this might come in handy…" He explained.

Shifting around to the best of their ability, Iida lifted Kirishima onto his shoulders as Todoroki did the same with Midoriya, allowing them to look straight into the building. Lifting the scope to his eyes, Kirishima mumbled to himself as he took analysed the building before him, slowly adjusting his gaze from right to left.

When his gaze reached the left, however, he reeled backwards, causing Iida to nearly lose his balance as he attempted to support the red-headed teen.

"What is it?" Todoroki questioned from below Midoriya, "What did you see?!"

Hunched over and using the wall as support, Kirishima glanced at Midoriya out of the corner of his eye, a blanch expression covering his face as he passed the scope.

"On the left…!" He spoke as though he was trying to keep his last meal down, his sharp teeth glinting in the streetlights. "Midoriya! Check the left side! In the back!"

Midoriya quickly grabbed the ocular device and did exactly as he was told. As his eyes adjusted to the equipment, he saw exactly what it was that caused Kirishima to react as he had.

"No way…" Midoriya muttered to himself. Momo noticed how his body tensed, his legs completely straight and his jaw clenched. "They're just sitting there like that?!"

"What is it?" Momo inquired, trying to keep her voice down in case they were discovered – a narrow alleyway would give them very limited options for both combat or escape.

Midoriya swallowed, letting his arms fall to his sides as he turned his head to look Momo in the eyes. She saw how his eyes seemed to have changed – the gentle shade of green was still present, but unlike before, now all she could see in his eyes was not the inquisitive and focused boy she'd known.

All she could see was fear.

"Those're all…" He began, swallowing back some bile. "Noumu!"

Before any of them could react to the horrifying news that they'd just received, a massive explosion completely shattered the front of the building, where the five of them had been standing just moments prior.

The sheer blast of wind that arose from the explosion caused all five of the vigilantes to fall on top of each other, much to their dismay – concrete wasn't a particularly soft thing to fall upon, after all.

Wincing slightly at the pain, Momo attempted to sit up, only to find herself effectively pinned down by Midoriya, causing a massive blush to erupt across her face.

"M-Midoriya!" She stuttered, trying to compose herself. "A-are you o-okay?"

Recognising the sound of his classmate, Midoriya propped his head up, seemingly unaware of his current location. "Y-yeah, what about you?"

"F-fine, b-but if y-you wouldn't m-mind…" She trailed off, struggling to maintain eye contact with the green-haired boy.

It took the hero in training a small second to realise his predicament before a shade of red, very similar to when he'd seen both Momo and Kyoka at the training camp, caused his face to glow vibrantly before he scrambled to get off the collapsed girl, blurting out apologies left and right.

"W-what happened, exactly?" Iida choked, rubbing his temple as he staggered to get up.

Making eye-contact with Midoriya, Momo nodded as she got up, heading towards him. The boy in question nodded in return, crouching down, getting ready to lift her on top of his shoulders so she could get a better look.

As Midoriya stoop up proper, Momo placed her hands on the wall for better balance, looking through the dust cloud that now stood between them and whatever had caused the explosion which rocked the neighbourhood. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see that Kirishima and Iida had followed suit, with Kirishima looking over the wall.

"They've got Mt. Lady, Gang Orca… even the number four hero, Best Jeanist!" He exclaimed, his eyes squinting through the debris.

"Tiger is down there too!" Momo declared, happy to see a familiar face.

Chatter could be heard emerging from the dust cloud, the voice of Mt. Lady booming over the rumble. Squinting her eyes, Momo could occasionally capture glances of the assorted heroes, her rapid heartbeat slowing to a comfortable pace as she continued to watch.

"See?" She could hear Iida speak up from behind the four students pressed up against the wall, turning her head towards him. "The pro heroes were able to take the necessary action faster than we could!"

Momo nodded, signalling to Midoriya to let her hop down from his shoulders, noting how Kirishima had already jumped down from his perch atop Todoroki's shoulders. Midoriya knelt down, allowing for a comfortable step down onto the concrete pavement below.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

As she touched down from her elevated spot, Momo could feel her ankle buckle upon landing, causing her to immediately fall into Midoriya's kneeling form. Gritting her teeth, she quickly grabbed hold of her ankle in a vague attempt to stop the constant throbbing pain that was currently inhabiting the region.

"Yaoyorozu!" Kirishima called out, his hand landing upon her back as she knelt, trying to keep as much weight off her injury as possible.

"A-are you okay?" Midoriya blushed slightly, still nervous from the unintentional contact the two of them had shared. He glanced down at her ankle, quickly taking in all the information that he could about the situation. His eyes, the same eyes that Momo found herself unable to look away from, immediately narrowed, their eyes meeting each other. For a moment, there was an indescribable warmth in the depths of his dark orbs, so much so that for that short moment, it felt as though all her worries ceased to exist.

"I'll lend you my shoulder." Midoriya declared, slinging his arm under her shoulders, lifting her up as he stood upright. Taking a moment to ensure that his hand was not only in a suitable position, and not anywhere which could cause… awkwardness between the two of them, he locked eyes with her, nodding before looking back towards their classmates.

Giving a nod of approval, Iida continued. "We should leave now." He turned, looking towards where the group of students knew the heroes were working. "There's nothing left for us to do!"

Stiffening, Midoriya raised his hand, indicating that he wanted them to stop.

"Midoriya?" Todoroki asked aloofly, tilting his head.

An eerie silence hung in the air, the only sounds being the occasional murmur between some unseen individuals behind the wall. Midoriya lifted his finger to his lips, indicating he wanted them to be silent.

While Iida and the others looked confused, Momo's eyes narrowed, looking upon the horror that slowly etched its way onto her supportive classmate's face. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper as a gleam of sweat glistened upon his ruffled forehead.

"Ever since I was reduced to this…" An ominous voice cut through the silence, the tension in the air becoming even thicker than it had been previously. "I haven't been able to stock up as many as before…"

The sound of Best Jeanist activating his quirk could be heard in the ruins of the derelict building, followed by the sounds of clothes tightening around someone's body.

But clearly, it was to no avail.

There were no words to describe what happened. One moment, it seemed like the heroes had the situation under control, taking the noumus into custody and sweeping the area for any other villains.

The next, a wasteland appeared in the middle of the suburbs.

"Tomura's only just begun to think for himself…" The voice monologued, the sounds of his footsteps travelling across the destroyed earth echoing into the ears of the students, still hiding behind the crumbling wall that they'd been sandwiched between previously. "…to carve his own path forward…"

None of the heroes in training dared to even take a breath. The sheer presence that this man, this thing, gave off was enough to fill each and every one of them with the complete and utter fear of death, as though the angel of death itself was only a few metres away from each of them.

"So, if possible, I'd like to keep anyone from interfering with that." He continued, speaking methodically.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, Momo found herself completely shocked at the expression currently donning Midoriya's face. Much like her own, it was completely covered in nothing but guttural fear of the man currently lurking within throwing distance.

Yet, through that, Momo could see that even in the depths of that terror, there was something else…

Realisation.

Recognition.

Something he couldn't believe he was experiencing.

"Well… Shall we begin?" All for One spoke softly, as if addressing someone no one else could see.

Well, this took a lot longer to write than I anticipated, but I promise the next update won't take anywhere near as long!

Until next time! Don't forget to review!