Helplessness And Ayaka’s Resolve

{Ayaka’s POV}

It is the second morning since Sekai was taken, and Midoriya has finally awoken. My classmates talked me into going to the hospital even though I feel like a hollow shell of a person without Sekai by my side. I arrive at the hospital with Sir Floof right by my side, and Midoriya says in a guilty tone for some reason, “I am sorry I couldn’t protect Sekai, Kubo.” Sir Floof hops up in bed with Midoriya and gently bonks him, and places his ribbons on him. Todoroki says, “You weren’t even awake, Midoriya, so what are you even talking about? If there is any blame to be had, it falls on me and the others who were unable to get her back from that villain in the mask.” I start sobbing, and Tsu and Hagakure are hugging me while wearing expressions of worry. Hagakure says, “I am awake right now because of Sekai’s quick action to save me. I am sure that the pro heroes and the police will rescue her.” 

Midoriya asks, “Is all of Class 1-A here?” Ida says, “Everyone except Yaoyorozu. She took a pretty hard hit to the head and is recuperating in her hospital room, but she should make a full recovery. I just learned that she woke up yesterday.” Midoriya says with tears in his eyes, “It is like Mr. Aizawa said, ‘I am worthless if all I can do is throw a single punch before breaking.’” The tears in his eyes fell, “My body couldn’t keep up with me. I couldn’t save Sekai, and she did so much for me last night. I was able to save Kota with her and Sir Floof’s help. I am not sure if I could have done it alone.” Todoroki then says in that same calm manner of his, “Then let’s go get her.” We gasp, and I perk up at the talk of saving her. But how? We don’t even know where she is.  Kirishima continues, “I was here yesterday and bumped into Todoroki on our way to visit you, Midoriya, when we heard Yaoyorozu talking with All Might and a police officer. She apparently was able to place a tracking device on one of the villains with the help of a student from class 1-B.”  

Ida says, “Does this mean you are going to have Yaoyorozu make another receiver?” Todoroki says calmly, “What would you do if we were?” Ida yells, “You should listen to All Might and leave it to the professionals! You are just idiots if you think about trying to save her. I expected more from you, Todoroki!” Todoroki says calmly, “She put everyone’s safety ahead of her own that night, and she was taken because we weren’t strong enough.I don’t want to leave her behind when she needs us.” I push Hagakure and Tsu off, and I hug Todoroki for saying the words I needed to hear, and say, “If you go, take me with you. If I see her, I can turn invisible and make her invisible, too, and take her to safety with stealth just like I did with Pixie-Bob.” Todoroki says, while awkwardly stiff because of the sudden contact, “See, we can rescue her and get out without fighting.” Hagakure says, “If we are talking stealth, then I should be there, too. As much as I want to leave this to the pros, Sekai is my friend and I want to be there to help her.” Since Todoroki is obviously uncomfortable, I stop hugging him, and Hagakure holds my hand in much-needed emotional support.

Bakugo, who has been silent in the back, wearing a scowl with his hands in his pockets, says, “Tsk. I want to rescue that extra, too.” Todoroki says calmly, “Not a chance, Bakugo. Not only are they after you as well, but you aren’t exactly the stealthiest person in class.” Bakugo yells, “SHUT IT, ICY HOT, NOBODY ASKED YOU!” Everybody in the class then nonverbally says, ‘Case and point’, and Bakugo smacks his teeth, “Tsk. Whatever… I can be quiet sometimes, too, fucking losers.” He mumbles that last part, but we all heard him, though we don’t really care since it is normal for him. Jiro, who was quiet until now, says while wearing a worried expression, “I can’t believe everything they are saying on the news about her. I can only imagine how she would feel if she saw it.” I stammer, “W-what exactly are they saying?” 

Ida says with a raised eyebrow while sighing and rubbing his head in mild frustration from his still heated emotions from our disagreement, “Of all the people here, I thought you would be in the know, Kubo.” I clutch my shirt by the chest and say, “I couldn’t bring myself to turn the news on. I am just so beside myself with worry that I can’t even eat.” Jiro then says, wearing a worried expression, “Maybe it’s best if you don’t see it then.” I shake my head, “No, now I feel I have to watch it for Sekai’s sake.” She pulls out her phone and pulls up the news loop that has been playing on repeat, and I sob and my knees buckle and say with a breaking voice, “This is her worst fear come to life, and I am not there by her side to comfort her.” Hagakure and Jiro both keep me from falling as I sob, and help me take a seat since I can’t trust my legs, “Sekai, must be hurting so much right now.” Tsu comes up beside the chair and rubs my back affectionately and asks, “When was the last time you ate, Ayaka?” 

I wipe my tears and respond, “That dinner before the test of courage.” Tsu says to the others with a hint of urgency in her voice, “Can someone get her something to eat?” Sato says, “On it!” and runs out of the room. I tell her, “I am not hungry.” Tsu scolds me, “You need to eat. Sekai would want you to eat and take care of yourself, right?” I nod. Tsu says, “Then eat for her.” I say with my voice breaking again, “I’ll try.” Garlic comes out and nuzzles me and whines, as does Sir Floof, who has left Midoriya’s side. After a few minutes, Sato returned with a vending machine cake and handed it to me, and said, “This is something that should be light, fluffy, and easy on the stomach.” 

I take it off his hands and open the plastic, and take a bite while crying. The sweet, creamy, fluffy texture hits my tongue, and it is now that I realize that I am starving. I continue eating as I am sobbing, and Sato leaves, saying, “Let me get you another.” He gets me another, and another after that. 

{Sekai’s POV}

This is turning into an extended nightmare for me. I can’t move just like back then, and now I can’t see. I hear All for One’s voice, “So, Sekai, where exactly did you get your furry, pink companion?” I’m sweating a cold sweat, feeling immersed in a constant nightmare, and I say back with an attitude, “Tsk. I rescued him abroad, now stop asking me fucking questions and get me out of this shit!” I flail inside my binds as if a fish out of water while my heart beats uncontrollably fast, and All for One says, “Due to your abilities, these precautions are necessary for the time being. The plan is for you to be completely free, Sekai. I don’t wish to keep you bound forever. I only desire to bring you into my flock.” I yell at them, “I already told you losers that there isn’t anything you can say or do to make me join your stupid club!” I start crying, “Please let me go.”

I feel a gentle touch on my face, and I jolt in surprise and hear Vampy’s voice, “Shhhhh.” All for One asks, “Is your companion the same as the brown furry thing from the sports festival?” I smack my teeth, “Tsk. So what if he is?” All for One chuckles, “How interesting. Why does it look so different?” I say, “None of your goddamn business!” Crazy Hands says, “Stop being so disrespectful to my Master, or I may have to make you.” All for One says, “Easy, Tomura. When I said it amused me earlier, I was quite genuine. It is a different change of pace as life can sometimes get… pedantic.” I am guessing by his use of that word that it must mean boring or something like that. 

I hear Crazy Hands say, “Still, Master, I don’t like how she talks to you.” All for One says, “That will probably change when she meets me in person, so let me enjoy it while it lasts.” I growl at him through my tears, “I’m not stupid enough to want to meet you in person.Just let me go already.” All for One chuckles, “She has quite a good head on her shoulders. I am liking her more and more the longer she is here. I will bring you into my fold, Sekai Mochizuki.” I snapped back as I cried under these binds, “Fat chance!” I hate this feeling of being surrounded by villains, blinded and bound like this, and I feel like I am losing my mind. I wonder if that is their plan, to make me lose my mind and become like these crazy freaks here.

{Ayaka’s POV}

I went with Todoroki to see Yaomomo, and she said that she would think about it. I am currently out front of the hospital with Todoroki and Hagakure as she holds my hand, awaiting to see if Yaomomo will help. Yaomomo comes out of the hospital with a partially healed Midoriya right behind her. I ask her, “So, are you going to help?” Yaomomo says, “I think-” “Hold on.” Ida interrupts her and continues, “Why did it have to be both of you?” He says with a grimace and a furrowed brow and keeps talking to Midoriya and Todoroki, “You were the ones who stopped me when I was the one being reckless. Receiving amnesty with me after Hosu… Now you are just trying to make the same mistakes I did. Have you learned nothing?”

Hagakure asks, “What are you talking about?” Ida says, shivering with passion as if about to cry, “We are just students and our school is already in a bad position. Our actions reflect directly on our school.” Midoriya says, “But we have to. I know you don’t like us breaking the rules, bu-” Ida punches Midoriya in the face and says with a breaking voice, “I am concerned and frustrated, too! Damnit, I am the class rep! I worry about all of us, not just Sekai! When I saw your injuries after the training camp, all I could think of was my brother when he was hospitalized. What if you become crippled like him, all because I didn’t step in? Please think of where I am coming from!”

 I interject as tears flow from my face with a breaking voice, “Ida, have you stopped to think of where I am coming from? Sekai is the person that I love more than life itself. I can’t imagine anything happening to her. I am not looking for revenge or anything. I just want her to return to her rightful place by my side. Not because her being my sidekick allows me to use my quirk freely. I couldn’t care less about that at this moment. I just miss her presence by my side. I understand all too well that actions have consequences; however, I also know that sometimes consequences are worth it in the end. I don’t care if I get in trouble as long as Sekai is safe and by my side again!” 

Todoroki says in that same calm tone of his, “Ida, you are acting like the Hosu incident and this situation are both the same when they aren’t. We know we can’t beat them in a fight, so we are going to avoid confrontation and stealthily rescue Sekai before the villains realize we are even there. If everything goes to plan, they won’t even know we were there at all and will think she just disappeared or teleported away.” Yaomomo says apprehensively, “I trust in Todoroki’s judgement, but things can still go wrong. So I will go with you. I will stand with my classmates.” Ida says, “We will never agree, so I will come with you as well. Someone has to make sure you don’t cross the line.”

We get on a train, and according to the tracker, the coordinates are in Kamino Ward in the Kanagawa Prefecture, which is a 2-hour train ride. The others are talking, and my thoughts keep drifting to Sekai and how much I miss her and want to comfort her right now. Hagakure hugs my arm and rests her head on my shoulder and says, “I am with you. We will get her back, ok?” Silent tears fall from my eyes as I squeeze Hagakure’s arm gently with my right hand in response. Sir Floof is with us and places his ribbons on me, and they feel like a warm hug. He is getting some stares from the other passengers, but Yaomomo tells them that he is just a dog with a quirk, and they stop murmuring as much, though they are taking pictures of the 'weird dog'. This is going to be the longest 2 hours of my life. 10 PM can’t come soon enough. 

{Sekai’s POV}

I heard Mr. Aizawa’s voice on the TV as he apologized and stood up for me, telling them about the students I saved during the training camp, and he also stood up for my character in the face of public slanderous speculation. After the broadcast, they turned off the TV. I hear Crazy Hands’ voice say, “They are turning on the heroes and treating them like villains. Don’t these modern-day heroes have it rough, Sekai?” I smack my teeth, “Tsk. Like I give a shit.” I hear the lizard dude’s voice, “Once a hero receives payment to protect someone, they aren’t a true hero, and Stain taught us that.” I scoff, “I learned that long before he came along.” Crazy Hands says, “Heroes today only care about money and glory. Since society buys into these stupid rules, anyone who is deemed unworthy is shoved aside just like you were. We don’t think that you are unworthy, Sekai.”

I smack my teeth, “Tsk. Just because we may agree on some key points doesn’t mean that I will change my mind. I won’t join your dumb group of villains.” Crazy Hands asks, “What is a villain? What is a hero? What is justice? Is our society truly fair? These are questions that soon everyone will be asking, and that is when we will win.” I chuckle nervously in my binds as I squirm a bit in my binds, “I have thought about those questions for so long, and something I learned through my travels abroad is that sometimes heroes can take the roles of villains and villains can take the roles of heroes.” I hear All for One’s voice in the background, chuckling, “No truer words have been spoken.” 

{Ayaka’s POV}

When we FINALLY arrive at Kamino Ward, Yaomomo had the idea that we buy disguises since the villains know our faces, which makes sense. We do just that…. But these disguises just make us stick out more since they are all too different. None look like they belong together. I say, “Isn’t the point of disguises to blend in? I think we should pick something a little less conspicuous.” They seemed to be in their own world, trying on things that they didn't seem to hear what I said, so I let out an exasperated sigh. Todoroki is wearing a wig and a button-up shirt with a vest, and Yaomomo is dressed like she could be his date. Midoriya is dressed like a delinquent, and Ida has a fake mustache and a bow tie, and suspenders, while Hagakure is wearing a kimono, a brown wig, with a mask disguising her invisible face. I decided to wear a kimono as well, with fake glasses to make Hagakure not seem out of place, and I put my hair up with a hairpin similar to when I was in Wano. This kind of feels wasteful since I have these things at home already.

Midoriya is practicing his delinquent speech in an obvious manner, while Ida is practicing pretending to be a red flag. Todoroki calls Yaomomo out, saying that she should have just made them, but then she goes off about how that wouldn’t stimulate the economy… aka she just wanted to go shopping. As we are walking down the street, our attention is caught by the street screen where Principal Nezu, Mr. Aizawa, and Mr. Vlad King are bowing for the cameras. Mr. Aizawa apologizes to the public, admitting to being ill-prepared for the training camp. As the crowd watched the screen, there were murmurs all around as people were turning against heroes.

We continue our mission and follow the tracker to a warehouse and hide in an alley, surveilling it at first. We know that Sekai might not be here, so we have to be very careful. Midoriya starts mumbling like he is trying to figure out what to do. We decide to pretend to browse the contents of a vending machine across the street while observing the warehouse, and we still haven’t seen any movement inside. Out of nowhere, some drunk guys start hitting on me, Yaomomo, and Hagakure. Some short dude says, “Hey, pretty ladies, why don’t you ditch these losers and play with us?” His friend smacks him in the head, “Hey, don’t you go picking fights.” Todoroki says, “Come on, let’s get out of here.” 

We get to an alley and talk about how we have to be careful and not draw attention to ourselves, and think about our next move, and we decide to go around the back of the warehouse. The gap between the buildings is really tight. As we strafe down this cramped alley, we see a window that we can use to peek inside the warehouse. Yaomomo makes a night vision scope, and Todoroki says, “I think it will be best if Hagakure is the scout.” We agree since she is invisible and she takes the scope, removes her wig and mask, and I help her up with my tentacles since it is a little too cramped to quirk-walk. Ida whispers, “What do you see, Hagakure?” She whispers, “It seems a mess, and I don’t really s- AH!” She loudly whispers at the end. Todoroki asks, “What is wrong?” Hagakure says in a panicked whisper, “There are loads of those Nomu things in tanks here.” We all gasp and lose the color in our faces.