Author's Note: Ahhh, I'm so sorry this is so late. Grad school has been a literal punch to the throat this semester, so I haven't had as much free time to write.

(Do you know how excruciating it is to have all these ideas ricocheting in your head and not being able to write them? Well, probably about as painful as waiting for an update, amiright?)

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Aizawa bursts through the edge of the trees but immediately braces himself with a forearm over his face. He's buffeted by a strong, frigid gust, harsh enough to make his eyes water and branches snap. He hears his students groan and cry out in surprise behind him.

(He also thinks one of them might have been blown over, judging from the loud thud, but they're all up and standing again when he glances back at them.)

The moment the wind drops, he strides towards a shivering Midnight.

"Have the other students returned?"

She doesn't look at him, but she shakes her head numbly. She's too focused on the training field, brow furrowed as if she's searching for something. When he follows her gaze, his own eyes narrow at the sight.

"Is that what I think that is?" Present Mic appears beside them, letting loose an impressed whistle. "Todoroki's special technique sure is getting stronger. This one looks even bigger than the one from the Sports Festival."

"It might be, though look at the shape. It's nothing like his other ice walls. And the way he made it was different. It exploded out from the center instead of going in one direction," Midnight says, tilting her head.

"Really? That might explain those freaky sides. It looks like some kind of bowl or something."

Aizawa watches their breath swirl as they talk, wispy clouds of words and exhales. The chill from the blast of wind hasn't dissipated yet, lingering in the air.

We're at least a kilometer away from them. To feel the chill from this distance… This is nothing like what Todoroki's done in the past.

His lips tighten into a pucker. Compared to Midoriya or Bakugou, he wouldn't have considered Todoroki to be as prone to reckless overexertion (though after a year, he's fully aware of how low that bar is). He had always seemed like one of the more level-headed of his problem students, so the sheer size of the ice construct makes him uneasy.

"What happened before Todoroki created the ice?"

Aizawa remembers the column of fire that brought them racing back to the edge. Another worrisome problem to consider.

"Right after Ojiro came back to get Present Mic about the bomb, I called the school for reinforcements in case it was part of something bigger."

"Who answered the phone?"

She winces. "Toshinori."

Aizawa sighs. He can picture his coworker's frantic reaction in his head, trying to pump himself up through the pain to save their students. He can't blame him, but it would be easier trying to resolve this situation without a compromised Toshinori throwing himself into the fray.

Of all the teachers who could have answered, we reach the one who shouldn't get involved.

As if sensing her coworker's thoughts, Midnight quickly continues. "I told him that you and Hizashi had the bomb covered, but that he should still pass the message along to Principal Nezu. He didn't sound happy, but I told him he wasn't needed here."

He nods. "Good. Then what happened?"

"I was about to contact the police when Todoroki set off his flames. I couldn't see why from this distance. I don't even know if it had anything to do with the training exercise."

"Are you sure it was him?"

What happened? To make him swing between extremes like that, there must have been another reason.

"Had to be. Bakugou wasn't nearby and he's the only other one who could have created that much fire. Immediately afterwards, I saw him and the other students head towards the clearing." She nods towards the massive ice construct. "Then, that happened. It was all so fast. I couldn't get a good look before the ice blocked everything."

"The other pros from school should be here soon, but I don't know what caused that," she finishes. "I thought I saw smoke rise up from the center a minute ago, but that's the only thing I've noticed since."

Aizawa considers her story with a slow, thoughtful nod. If it had been a simple escalation of a training exercise, he wouldn't have hesitated to intervene and subdue quirks. However, the presence of the bomb was an unexpected complication and he's glad he heard the full story from Midnight, even if it cost him a few extra minutes and he didn't learn anything new.

Something must have interfered with their exercise.

Midnight and Present Mic exchange frowns while Aizawa surveys his students, noting their concerned, yet focused expressions.

"Stay here," he tells them, but it's a half-hearted order. He doesn't bother wasting the breath to tack on an extra warning, because he knows they're eager to help their classmates.

They're heroes in training, after all. Leaping into danger is what they do.

(Though, as proud as he is, he wishes they would listen to him at least once.)

Izuku's first breath is so sharp and crisp that for a moment he forgets to take a second one. His eyes fly open and all he can see is a foggy whiteness.

What…? Am I dea—?

The panic starts to set in when the cold seeps through his uniform, chilling him to the bone.

It's so, so cold… Why can't I move? Is this what it feels like to die?

He doesn't realize that he's on the verge of hyperventilating until the aching numbness in his chest from the dry, frigid air reminds him that dead people can't breathe. He forces his next exhale out as slowly as he can until he feels the panic drain from his body.

I'm not dead. Just… He tries to crane his neck and see if there's something more than this endless white surrounding him, but his shoulders bump against something hard and he can't turn anymore. He tries to stretch his arms and legs out, but they're tucked close to his chest.

Just trapped.

He can feel an icy cold leeching into his elbows when they graze against the hard wall keeping him in place. He can still move, so he isn't worried about escaping yet. His biggest concern is trying to remember what happened that led him to be encased in ice. He sluggishly churns through his fractured memories and he feels his eyelids droop.

Stop! Wake up! There's a jarring commotion in the back of his mind. He belatedly realizes it's his own thoughts screaming back at him, urging him to stay alert.

Something was wrong… What was it—wait, Radial Point! The bomb!

Izuku inhales another piercing gulp of air, but this time it clears away some of his lulling drowsiness. That's right. Todoroki must have done something to try to stop it. He must be the reason I'm still alive.

He shifts again, trying to maneuver himself into a more comfortable position, but he only manages to knee himself in the nose. He wrinkles his nose, eyes watering from the unexpected pain. He supposes he should be grateful that he can move, even if it's a few centimeters. He shudders when he imagines how cold it would be if he were completely trapped in ice.

(Though, he's been shivering since waking up, so it might have been a particularly nasty quake from the cold rather than apprehension.)

The way it is now, I might be able to get out. If I can focus…

Izuku closes his eyes and feels One for All buzz around his body. The energy is strangely calming and warm and he's tempted to keep it flowing for a few extra moments, but he decides he'd rather not risk rupturing his internal organs from extended exposure. He clenches his bicep before smashing his elbow as fast as he can against the icy wall imprisoning him. The sensation is jarring and he feels his fingertips go numb, but it's no different than when he bangs his elbow against the wall.

The ice explodes outwards. A swell of cool air streams through the hole, buffeting his hair and uniform. He groans and wriggles out of the hole, an undignified slither until he can extend his legs and push himself out the rest of the way.

Who cares what it looks like. I'm out now and that's what's important. Still, it's not something he's eager to repeat in a hurry. He rubs the stiffness at the back of his neck before snapping his head up, remembering that he's in the middle of a battlefield.

At least, it used to be.

He blinks a few times before he can recognize enough landmarks to reassure himself that he's still in the clearing. The ground around him is coated in ice, thick enough to obscure the dirt and grass below. He turns his head, seeing nothing but ice below him, around him, even above him.

Izuku feels like he's sitting at the base of a bowl, distant edges sloping upwards and surrounding him. He can only see the very tips of the tallest trees peeking over the lip of the ice. He knows he shouldn't be scared—at least, not of the ice, though the sheer size is intimidating—but it feels too confining for him to be at ease.

(Too much like the barriers he struggled against.)

He whips his head around. The others!

Scattered around him are various sized lumps of ice. He can't see through to the contents inside, but he fervently hopes they hold his classmates, safe and unharmed. He staggers towards them.

He doesn't have to wait long to find out. The pod nearest him rumbles and when Izuku squints he can see flares of red and orange bouncing within. He barely reacts in time, stumbling backwards as a chunk of ice flies up in the air, buoyed by a thick cloud of smoke. Izuku eyes where he last stood with a calm swallow, grateful he had escaped before Kacchan made his dramatic entrance.

"What the hell was that damn Half-n-half bastard thinking," Bakugou grumbles, rubbing his hands together rapidly and exhaling into his palms. His exposed shoulders and upper arms glow a rosy red and he seems more preoccupied with restoring feeling to his skin than shouting.

Izuku can hear sounds coming from the other pods. At the furthest back pod, there's the sound of clinking and scraping as Kirishima's hardened fist bursts through the ice. He breaks through completely with another well-timed punch.

"Sheesh," he says, gritting his teeth and glancing back at his pod. "I barely had enough room to move in there!"

Another pod sizzles and collapses, revealing Yaoyorozu and Ashido with acid dribbling from her splayed palms.

Yaoyorozu clutches her exposed torso, shuddering violently. "Th-th-this…" She clenches her teeth and shakes her head. "Redesigning," she manages to ground out with a disgusted shake of her head.

Kirishima nods, his skin relaxing to its normal softness. "Agreed," he says with a quick rub to his upper arms. "Seriously—now I know why all the pros wear sleeves."

A few meters away, a fourth pod rumbles before shattering and Jiro retracts her earplugs. She shrugs off her jacket and passes it to Yaoyorozu, who accepts it with a grateful smile before draping it over her shoulders.

Izuku watches on, smiling weakly. As each pod opens to reveal an uninjured classmate, some of the knots in his gut steadily loosen. They're rattled and shivering, but they're alive. Still, there's an overall uneasiness that keeps him on edge and he isn't sure why.

He takes stock of those gathered around him and notes that there are several pods sealed.

Who's missing? Let's see, from the other team there's—

Wait… What about—

Izuku pivots his upper body, taking a wide sweep of the clearing. He freezes when he looks back to where his pod was, lips parted in startled awe.

How did I miss that the first time?

"Holy—" Kirishima whispers, following Izuku's gaze. Yaoyorozu and Jiro cease their conversation midsentence. Even Bakugou's scowl momentarily slips.

A few meters from where Izuku's pod was, the ice slopes up sharply. A massive chunk of ice towers above them, casting half of the field in shadow. When Izuku squints upwards, he can't quite tell where the ice ends and the sky begins.

That's—that's where the bomb is.

He refocuses on the largest chunk in the center of the field, noting how shards of metal seem to be suspended at strange, haphazard angles within the ice. They look as if they were frozen in time, halted mid-flight before they could spiral outwards and destroy.

Oh…

Was, he amends his statement with a thick swallow. That's where the bomb was.

His brow furrows as he tries to reason through an explanation as to why they aren't in a million pieces. Did Todoroki freeze it? Or maybe he shattered the bomb before it could go off…?

Wait! Izuku's eyes widen and the once muted panic in his stomach resurges with a vengeance.

Todoroki! That's where Todoroki was too!

"T-Todoroki-kun is in there," he says, spinning around to face his classmates. "He was standing next to the bomb."

He feels a bit guilty that he hadn't searched for Todoroki immediately after escaping the ice, but like the others, he was justifiably awestruck by the frozen chaos around them.

"He hasn't gotten himself out yet?" Ashido asks with a worried frown. "With his quirk, he should have been the first one, right?"

"Something must be wrong," Yaoyorozu adds, pulling Jiro's jacket tighter around her shoulders. "We need to find him. Quickly."

"But how? That's a lot of ice."

Bakugou narrows his eyes, flexing the fingers of his right hand, curling them into a tight fist. "Are you all dumbasses or somethin'? Just blast the bastard out." He loosens his fist and a few contained explosions rumble in his palm.

Before Izuku can interrupt, Kirishima throws an arm around Bakugou's shoulder and steers him away from the towering column of ice. "We'll go help the others. You guys get Todoroki out, okay?"

"Hey! Get your hands off me, you shi—"

"Thanks, Kirishima-kun." Izuku sends Kirishima a grateful smile before he hauls a protesting Bakugou towards the other pods.

Izuku immediately refocuses his attention on the problem at hand, glancing around the loose semi-circle of his classmates. He notices with an uncomfortable blink that they're all staring at him.

Right… I was the one closest to the bomb when it happened. They don't even know about what happened with Radial Point.

He belatedly realizes that no one's brought up Radial Point since breaking through the ice. Izuku reluctantly adds Radial Point's name to their list of "things to worry about", but he makes sure it's at the bottom. Rescuing Todoroki is their top priority.

"Todoroki-kun should be somewhere near the center of the ice. That's where he was standing when—" Izuku pauses, unsure if the word "explosion" would work; after all, it feels like an explosion of some sort still rocked through them "—he used his quirk," he finishes with a safe nod.

He glances over his shoulder at the towering column of ice. "I'm not sure what creating this much ice might have done to his body, but hopefully he's trapped on the inside like we were."

(Izuku hopes Todoroki was as mindful of saving himself as he was about shielding each of them individually from the ice, but he's afraid of what they might find. He's dismally aware of Todoroki's selfless focus.)

"How should we get him out? Shattering the ice?"

"That would be the quickest way," Jiro adds.

Izuku shakes his head quickly. "That might put the rest of us in danger. Even a controlled blast might cause the whole thing to collapse. We need to focus on a small area. The spot where Todoroki-kun is."

"Izuku-kun is right," Yaoyorozu says. "Mina, you were able to get us out pretty quickly with your acid. Do you think you can use it again?"

"Yep!" Ashido nods, her light pink hair bouncing with the force of her agreement. She flexes her fingers, coaxing the acid out of her palm.

"I'll listen for sounds. Hopefully he's somewhere close so we can get him out faster."

"Good thinking."

Jiro steps forward and presses an ear jack to the ice. She furrows her brow, concentrating.

Izuku tries to remain still, but he can't help picking at his gloves.

How long has it been since we got out? At least five minutes? Surely something this big should have gotten Aizawa-sensei's attention by now.

He doesn't want to consider the alternative—that Radial Point's diversion had turned deadly for his other classmates.

Jiro's scowl deepens, dark irises darting to the side to accompany her search for sounds.

"I, uh, don't hear movement. I—I don't hear anything."

"What?"

"Wait—are you saying…?" Ashido bites her lip, glancing at Yaoyorozu with a quirked brow.

Jiro remains silent, the edge of her tongue slipping out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrates.

Izuku swallows thickly. She can't hear anything? Does that mean Todoroki is— Izuku tenses, feeling One for All's power buzz around his bent knees. Forget the consequences—if Jiro can't sense a heartbeat, then they can't risk waiting any longer.

She inhales sharply, eyes widening. "Wait! I think I just heard something." Her classmates hold their collective breath as she waits for the next sluggish thud.

Thud.

An agonizing pause.

Thud.

Another pause, far longer than she knows to be healthy.

Thud.

"It's there! Something's definitely there! It sounds like a heartbeat. It's slow though. Really slow." She retracts her ear jack with a frown and steps back.

"We need to get him out now."

"Ashido-san?"

"Got it!"

Ashido doesn't hesitate to take Jiro's place, smearing an acid-dripping palm against the cool surface. Instantly, several centimeters of ice slough off with a hiss of steam.

She works quickly, clearing several centimeters with each swipe, but Izuku can't help but feel that they're running out of time.

Hang on, Todoroki. We're almost there.

Bakugou watches Kirishima scamper around the remaining ice pods like an excitable dog. He shakes his head with a flick of his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Tch. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see who needs the most help first. We still have to find Kaminari and uh…? Who else was on your team?"

"How the fuck would I know?"

Kirishima gives him a painfully thin smile and scratches the edge of his cheek. "Uh, right. Why'd I even ask."

He hurries towards the closest pod, clearing away a layer of condensation with a forearm and squinting at the blurry shapes inside.

"Why's it our job to get them out anyway?" Bakugou continues, crossing his arms. "Huh?"

Kirishima doesn't offer an answer. Instead he chips at the ice, noting how it slices easier than expected, ice shards flying off with beads of water. When he clears a few centimeters, he catches a glimpse of distorted silver armor and gray smoke through the translucent ice layer

"Hey, I think I found the class prez!" Kirishima stands back, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Woooah, so cool! It looks like he's trying to melt himself out with his legs."

Bakugou maintains his scowl and crossed arms, but his curiosity wins out and he saunters towards Kirishima. They watch the pod for a second before Iida's left leg explodes through the pod's wall in a shower of ice flakes and a billow of thick, black smoke.

Kirishima coughs, bringing a curled fist to his mouth and nose to try to block out the worst of the exhaust.

"Augh, that must have been awful. You okay in there, Class Prez?" he calls, addressing the question to Iida's wriggling leg. There's a muffled response they can't quite make out.

Bakugou turns around and moves towards another pod.

"Hey, where are you going? We should help him get out—"

"He wants to be a hero, right? He ain't shit if he can't get out on his own."

"That's a bit harsh…" Kirishima frowns, glancing back at their struggling classmate. However, in the short span that they've looked away, Iida has already managed to get his other foot free.

"Besides, you said you wanted to look for the others, right? No point wasting time on him." Bakugou glances around the icy field with a scowl. "I haven't heard Sparky's annoying ass voice yet."

Kirishima's eyes widen before he nods. "Oh, right, of course. There are still a few pods left." He leans towards Iida's kicking feet for one more message.

"Yo, Class Prez. We're going to go help the others get out. If you're, uh... If you're good to get out on your own, stop kicking or something."

Iida's feet fall still for a moment. His muffled voice pours through the hole, distorted and incoherent.

"Great! Sounds good! See you soon, Class Prez!"

Kirishima makes a face and glances over at Bakugou. "Yeah, I don't know what he was saying," he confesses in a hushed tone. "Did you catch any of that?"

However, Bakugou's already moved towards the next pod, no longer paying attention. Kirishima offers one last shout of encouragement to Iida before hurrying towards Bakugou.

"I bet that's Kaminari," he says. Sporadic splashes of light explode from the inside, periodically illuminating a dark silhouette huddled inside. A large crack splits down the center of the pod, causing the hairs on the back of Kirishima's neck to prickle with the escaping electricity.

"And he looks pretty set too. Keep moving on?"

Bakugou grunts before moving towards the next clump of the ice mounds. Kirishima gives a reassuring knock against the ice before trailing after him.

"Let's see… Who else is there…" Kirishima mutters, tapping his chin as he runs through their class roster in his head.

"Frog girl," Bakugou says after another pause. He scans over the remaining pods, expression unconcerned for their missing classmate. "She's damn useless in the cold, so there's no way she's getting out on her own. You better go find her."

Kirishima waits until Bakugou's back is turned before he smiles.

Ah, so he did remember who was on his team after all?

While Ashido concentrates on slicking away the ice, a recently freed Kaminari cheers her on. Jiro keeps an ear jack pressed to the side of the ice chunk, monitoring their progress and straining to hear a heartbeat in the brief pauses between acid swipes.

Izuku can't watch their progress without fidgeting, so he turns to Iida and Yaoyorozu to discuss their next move. He knows someone should leave for help, but he isn't sure who's their best chance for scaling over the massive ice wall.

Maybe me. Kacchan could too. Still, he doesn't want to leave Todoroki's side and he knows Bakugou would loathe or straight-up refuse being sent on a messenger mission.

"If he's unconscious or injured, he might not be able to regulate his body temperature properly," Izuku begins, pinching the edge of his chin as his eyebrows knit together.

Iida hums in agreement. "We should do something to keep him stable until Sensei and the others arrive."

"I can try to create something that could hold in heat. It may take some time, but it might help."

"That would be great. Iida-kun, can you—"

"I think I see him!" Ashido's triumphant shout draws their attention back to their progress. While Yaoyorozu focuses on channeling her quirk, Iida and Izuku crowd around Ashido and the others.

After melting through nearly a meter of ice, Ashido lets the last of the acid drizzle from her palm. "I probably shouldn't go any further. I don't want to burn him too."

Izuku can see a glimpse of Todoroki's huddled body through the remaining few centimeters of ice. It almost reminds him of butterflies pressed behind glass, a little distorted and far too still. He shudders, passing it off as a residual chill rather than an uncomfortable tremor.

He didn't build an air pocket for himself like he did for us. He's completely encased.

"I'll melt the rest," Iida says as he angles his calves as close as he can to the indent in the ice.

"Good idea, Iida-kun," Izuku says, shifting from foot to foot. It takes another excruciating minute before Iida manages to thaw the remaining ice around Todoroki. No longer supported by ice, Todoroki's limp body sags and Izuku rushes forward to catch his shoulders before his lolling head can bang against the ground.

"Todoroki-kun!"

The worried shout bubbles from his lips before he can clamp them closed. He carefully maneuvers Todoroki out of the ice, keeping a tight grip on the undersides of his biceps as he tries to lower them both to the ground. Todoroki's extra centimeters in height and Izuku's mounting exhaustion disrupts his controlled descent and they both collapse. Izuku tries to keep Todoroki off the ice-covered ground, resulting in an awkward shuffle until Todoroki is balanced on his thighs.

"He's s-so c-cold," Izuku says with another shudder. If Jiro hadn't reassured him that Todoroki's heart was still beating, he would have thought he was holding a corpse. He repositions his grip around Todoroki's chest, wishing he could transfer more of his body heat to his friend as he holds him closer. He considers activating his quirk, but he doesn't want to accidentally harm Todoroki.

"Yaoyorozu-san?" he asks. Before he can turn his head in her direction, she wraps a thick, oversized blanket around his shoulders. Izuku reflexively tries to shrug it off, because really, Todoroki needs as much warmth as he can get and he doesn't want to steal any of it.

"Hu-uh?" he protests, trying to wriggle free.

"You're shivering too, Midoriya-kun," she explains as she wraps the blanket around him a second time, enveloping he and Todoroki in a tight cocoon.

"Your body heat will warm the blanket up faster," Jiro adds.

Izuku nods and mashes his lips together, focusing his gaze on the edge of Todoroki's collar. He can feel warmth radiate from his body, heating the inside of the blanket. His eyelids feel impossibly heavy, his muscles sluggish.

He feels the tension and pent-up adrenaline from their fight against Radial Point and the subsequent ice explosion drain from his body, leaving him utterly exhausted. He wants to sleep, but he knows he can't.

At least, not yet.

"Jeez, she's so cold. D'ya think she's supposed to be that cold?" Kirishima throws a worried glance in Bakugou's direction when he finally manages to chip Tsuyu's body out of the ice.

"Hell would I know?"

"I hope she's okay. She's breathing…slowly. But that's good, right? That she's breathing?"

Bakugou stares flatly at him. He doesn't bother repeating his question.

"Let's get her back to the others and warm her up. That's probably the best bet." Kirishima bundles Tsuyu close to his chest and hoists her in the air. She grumbles and twitches at the sudden motion, the first promising sign of life since they found her.

"Todoroki-kun!"

Kirishima's eyes widen and he bites his lip. "I think that was Midoriya. He sounds upset. That can't be a good sign."

They head back towards the cluster of their other classmates, huddled around the base of the ice tower. Kirishima immediately busies himself with trying to warm Tsuyu with Iida's help, holding her near his still-smoking calves. Bakugou takes a moment to scan the rest of the scene, trying to see what had happened while he was stuck rescuing his useless classmates.

At first, he notices the deep pit in the side of the ice tower. He recognizes it as the same spot where Deku and the others had been standing when he flew towards them before the ice explosion.

That's right—that damn nerd kept shouting about how this was where the bomb was or something. Half-n-half must have been standing at the center.

Bakugou takes a closer look at the gouge in the ice, noting how the sides are perfectly slick but inconsistently deep, as if someone had scrambled against the ice in a hurry with palms and fingers instead of fists.

I bet that was Raccoon Eyes. The others would have shattered the ice—not melted it.

He drags his gaze to the other students. Most are standing, their collective focus completely consumed by the two boys on the ground.

Deku and Todoroki.

Deku looks no different than usual. Sure, his eyes are a little wider and his mouth is parted in a deep frown, but he isn't dying, so Bakugou has no idea why he was acting so damn dramatic earlier.

(Then again, Bakugou always thinks Deku looks to be on the verge of tears.)

However, when he shifts his attention to Todoroki, Bakugou feels his lips twist into a wry frown.

Todoroki looks different, lifeless.

There aren't any marks or signs of serious injury, but Bakugou can see the difference in his deathly pale skin and blue-tinged lips. How his freaky two-tone eyes are hidden by eyelids and ice-crusted eyelashes.

Bakugou scowls.

It reminds him too much of how Todoroki looked at the Sports Festival, when he had refused to fight with his all. Unconscious and unresponsive against that slab of ice.

His fingers twitch when he remembers how they felt tangled up in Todoroki's collar.

What the hell, Half-n-half? Giving up now too?

Still, he knows Todoroki can't be dead. His overemotional classmates would have vastly different expressions.

(And he's positive Deku would be bawling if Half-n-half had bit the dust.)

He shakes his head and turns away, not wanting to look at Deku's pitiful expression or Todoroki's lack of expression for any longer than he has to. He surveys the icy landscape around them, grudgingly impressed with Todoroki's quirk.

He squints at the upwards lip of the icy bowl, wondering if he could soar over it in two or three explosions. He doesn't know when the others will arrive, but he isn't about to keep waiting.

However, just as he tenses his knees to blast off, he sees three blobs rise over the edge. He squints away the residual glare from the setting sun before realizing they shapes belong to two of his classmates and his teacher.

It's Round Face… and Tape Arms? The hell are they doing here?

Aizawa reaches the ground first, quickly retracting his capture tape before striding towards his students. His eyes dart from student to student, only sparing a second to check each of them for serious injury. Bakugou steps away to give him room and the shift in movement attracts attention from the others.

Various expressions flicker across their worried faces when they see their teacher. Most are relieved; a few are startled.

"Sensei!"

"Sensei!"

Izuku sucks in a sharp breath when he sees their homeroom teacher striding towards them. Aizawa's gaze studies him, then drops to the unconscious boy in his lap. It lingers a second longer on Todoroki, before jumping back to Izuku's other classmates.

Aizawa pauses for a second to kneel by Tsuyu and Kirishima. He listens impassively as Kirishima explains something and then points towards the furthest sloping edge of the ice. Kirishima nods uncertainly and starts to carry Tsuyu in that direction.

"Deku!" Uraraka shouts, running towards them. Sero trails behind a bit slower, wide eyes taking in the towering pillar of ice. Uraraka drops to her knees beside Izuku while Sero stops to stand with the rest of the students. She shakes his shoulder, but he can barely feel it through Yaoyorozu's thick comforter.

"Uraraka-san? Sero-kun? What—what are you doing here?"

"Aizawa-sensei wanted us to go over the wall right away in case anyone needed to be rescued before the pro heroes could get here. Is everyone okay?"

"I—I think so. Most of us are fine. Tsu-chan and Todoroki-kun though…" he trails off, glancing down at Todoroki's deceptively peaceful expression.

Uraraka looks around, eyes wide and lips pursed as she takes in her surroundings. "Oooh…"

"Seriously? Todoroki did all this?" Sero whispers, leaning towards a nearby Kaminari.

"Yeah, kinda scary, right?" He nods towards the pod he escaped from. "Now I know how you felt during the Sports Festival. That must have sucked, man."

"Yeah…" Sero nods and rubs the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle.

A harsh skritching sound comes from the opposite end of the field and Power Loader's metal claw bursts through the ice. He clears a jagged tunnel and dozens of pro heroes, students, and authorities stream through the hole. They split off, several racing towards the base of the ice chunk while others search the remaining pods.

Compared to the silence of the clearing before, Izuku's momentarily startled by the sudden flurry of noise and activity. He tightens his grip around Todoroki's warming chest, unable to summon up the energy to move much more than that. He's not even sure he can move; his legs and backside have been numb since collapsing.

"Deku!" Uraraka repeats, leaning over him until her face fills his immediate vision. He blinks and refocuses on her. "Did you hear me?"

"Uh, what?"

"We want to know what happened." Uraraka's scrunched-brow concern taints her forced smile. He glances around and sees that his other classmates surround them. They too seem uninjured.

Izuku allows himself a shaky exhale. Radial Point didn't hurt them either.

A shadow falls over them and Izuku starts when he realizes it belongs to their teacher.

"Aizawa-sensei!"

"What happened?"

"It was Radial Point." He hears his other classmates gasp, but he forces himself to maintain eye contact with his teacher. "He wanted to kill Todoroki-kun for revenge against Endeavor. His quirk—he used it to keep barriers up between us. He said he was going to detonate a bomb."

As he tells the story, Izuku feels like he's running along a crumbling edge. If he pauses for even the smallest breath, then everything will collapse underneath him.

It's okay. The pro heroes are here. Everything will be okay.

He forces himself to slow down and takes a few steady inhales before continuing.

"He separated us. Todoroki-kun fought him alone. He—he said he would kill Todoroki-kun if I went to get help. But then he was distracted by the fire and I must have disabled his quirk by smashing it. All the barriers—they disappeared, but then the bomb was still going to go off. Everyone was running towards us and then Todoroki…" Izuku shakes his head, still not sure how to describe what happened.

"He saved us," Izuku settles for. His classmates nod in agreement, finally able to contribute after listening in awe about their standoff with a villain.

"Izuku-kun is right," Yaoyorozu adds. "Todoroki-kun made sure we were all protected from the ice. We had to break ourselves out—"

"—but we had room to move and breathe," Ashido finishes.

"But I'm worried that Todoroki-kun might have pushed his quirk too far. He hasn't moved since we got him out of the ice and he's really cold."

Aizawa considers their story for a moment before sighing, though he doesn't look overly surprised.

"You've done well. All of you. The authorities will take care of the rest." Izuku nods weakly, feeling the relieved lump rise in his throat. Were they safe now? Could he finally relax?

A paramedic appears at Izuku's side, gently prying open the blanket cocoon. He reflexively resists before realizing that she's only trying to shift Todoroki to a motorized gurney. He stops resisting and lets the medics carefully move his friend's limp body. Izuku shivers, exposed to the frigid air again, but he untangles Yaoyorozu's blanket from his shoulders and drapes it over Todoroki.

The medics move away as Kirishima returns to their group, no longer holding Tsuyu and now wrapped in a shock blanket.

Aizawa turns to address his class. "Everyone involved in the training exercise will undergo an observation period at the hospital. You may feel fine now, but we don't want to miss any complications from the cold."

Bakugou scowls. "There's nothing wrong with me! Why do I have to go to a damn hospital?"

"Everyone will undergo an observation period," Aizawa repeats. He pretends not to hear the interruption, but Midnight lifts the hem of her sleeve with a pointed look in Bakugou's direction. He stands down with a grumble, his scowl deepening.

"And Midoriya?"

Izuku perks up. "Yes, Sensei?"

"The police will need a statement from you at the hospital. Remember to breathe next time you tell it."

Thanks for reading! Next chapter is the last chapter, but it's full of Class 1-A bonding and fluff, baby!