*cries in no comments or votes*
==========================

      The news wasn't very good...

      Izuku sat in the newly built hospital's waiting room on campus, leaning lazily over his own lap. He was already asleep whenever Bakugo's quirk went out of control. So he didn't even hear about what had happened until morning came.

     Katsuki was conscious already, though, he refused to tell anyone why his arms were so fricked. The greenette couldn't help but get a little choked up, tears fogging his vision.

     This was all because of him, wasn't it? He knew his friend had a habit of obsessing about being the strongest and blaming himself for being too weak to fix certain problems. Izuku merely getting stronger must have pushed him off the edge... He should have talked to Bakugo about it more. Helped him find peace where he was at. But no, instead, Izuku was too busy training himself.

     He couldn't really blame himself for all of this, though. Though he certainly was in the habit of doing that... He knew this was Kachan's mistake at the end of the day... Izuku just wished he could have been there to stop him.

     The doctors debated whether the explosion hero's arms were even salvageable. For now, they remained tightly wrapped in thick casts.

     Too bad Eri's quirk was now gone. Maybe by this point, if she had stuck to training, she could have restored his arms to how they were before!

     "Young man." All Might stood with a slight lean at the teen's right, speaking softly to him. "I know this may not be the best time...but we need you."

     "Huh?" Izuku's head rose curiously.

     "Villains are attacking today. We need to formulate a plan."

     "Wait- but how do you--?"

     "That late class 1B student has a rather handy quirk... Unfortunately, even she's unsure if we can pull this off as we are... Guess I shouldn't be acting all gloomy right now, but, we're going to need all the help we can get."

     Izuku forgot how to breathe there for a moment.

     Villains...attacking...today....now..?

     What terrible timing...

----------

     Nezu's large office had been converted into a darkened meeting room, where the principle sat at the very end of a large table with a holographic, 3d map of the full campus on it.

     "Now that everyone is here. Zeya, do you mind going over the villains' attack for us?" Nezu asked politely. Pretty much every big name hero had gathered around the table, reliant on this shady girl with a criminal record for something of a lead.

     "Well, these guys don't really seem to have a plan..." Zeya crawled up onto the table where she could easily walk through and point around the big map of the campus. She used a small remote to make a few multicolored dots light up. "They seem to be moving sporadically, probably because they know I'm here." Zeya huffed, mentally exhausted to the point of near-boredom. "But, we're talking about some BIG players here.." She pointed out the following villains as she pointed to the different colored dots. "Shigaraki, Dabi, Twice, Shimazaki.. and, yes, even All For One." A few whispered gasps echoed around the room. "There's also a few nameless others, like the two women who keep targeting me personally. And, judging by how many of the same meetings with you all I've had already...it's looking pretty grim.."

     Izuku frowned in the back. Zeya really wasn't giving everyone much hope. He rose his hand.

     Zeya glanced the boy's way and answered before he could even ask. "Many of them have clear targets, yes. Dabi's main targets are Endeavor and his son. By the way, Endeavor. Listen to your son. Fail at that and it may just cost you your life." The scarred flame hero stared grimly at the white haired girl, debating whether he should take that advice to heart or not. "Shigaraki is mostly targeting the campus as a whole. And be careful. He has a few upgrades. His Decay quirk works like a chain reaction now."

     "Not to worry about that, Zeya. I've already had my suspicions his quirk might evolve that way, and so have already upgraded the campus to survive such an attack." Nezu.

     "Oh yeah? Well make it go faster then. Because Shigaraki has increased speed and strength even without his quirks."

     "Quirks?"
     "Quirks?"
     "Quirks?"

     "Ughh...." Zeya rubbed her forehead tiredly, a low ache building in her skull from simply dealing with this whole thing, which to her has been over a week long struggle! Mentally, she was at her limits. "He has like a bajillion of them or whatever. Don's ask me how. I don't know.." A few more short gasps were heard around the room.

     "Wait, wait, you said Shimazaki was among them?" One of the heroes asked.

     "Yes. And he has his quirk too. Shimazaki has no clear targets. He's just helping whoever needs his assistance. He seems most adamant on protecting All For One, who is most likely his new boss or master or whatever now."

     "You're kidding me."
     "How?!"
     ' 'That b####!' '
     "No way.."

     "I know it's not my place to tell you to shut up, but please be quiet." Zeya stood still in the center of the table, arms limp at her sides. Boy did she look like a wreck.. "..It's currently 8:30 AM. The villains are going to storm this place at exactly twelve o-clock... meaning we have less than four hours to prepare. I've already written everything down that I can remember... If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the cafeteria." Following that, the silver haired girl hopped down from the table and left the room. She already had a whole schedule planned out to force her mind to stay awake. The teen left a silent room behind.

     That's when Nezu took over, firmly placing his hands on the table. "Alright, four hours should be plenty of time to formulate a plan. We just need to remember to stay coordinated. Let's make sure Zeya won't have to stay awake another day! We'll get them this time for sure!"

     The crowd of heroes cheered. It was a tough morning to be sure, but, everyone was determined to press on.

---------- FOUR HOURS LATER ----------

     A distant explosion startled Bakugo awake. He sat up abruptly. "WHAT THE CRAP WAS THAT?!" However no one was in the hospital room to answer. A distant boom again thundered over the campus. Bakugo growled. He knew the sound of explosions all too well. Something was wrong.

     "Bakugo!! What are you doing out of your bed?!" A nervous nurse ran to the blond as he scoured the halls.

     "Where the h### is everybody?!"

     "They are all being evacuated as we speak! You are next on the list, so don't worry!"

     "Evacuated?! What the crap is going on?!"

     "You mean nobody told you?!"

     The teen grimaced at the woman. "Eh??"

...

BAM!

     "Bakugo Katsuki, please!! Let us escort you to Ketsubutsu Academy! You can't get involved in this!! The doctor says you won't be able to use your quirk anyways!!" The nurse tripped out the front door after the raging student, whose arms were still heavily wrapped in casts. He turned around just to glare at the woman to back off!

     "Does it look like I care?! Don't waste your time on me! Help the others evacuate!" The blond ran off, blocking out whatever else the woman had to say. Even if things seemed useless, even if this was the worst possible timing.. Bakugo wasn't going to quit.

     No matter what wire you cut there was no disarming this bomb!

----- one hour prior -----

     Alright, we need at least THREE heroes who haven't already been assigned missions to defend Zeya! Requirements are to have a strained or complicated relationship with your mother!!" The ring leader presently organizing everyone hollered.

     "Well," Leaving the white haired girl's side sadly, Mineta picked up his tray of food. "guess this is see you later." However she grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

     "Sit back down, idiot. You fit the bill perfectly."

     Mineta's eyes widened terribly so, both frightened and offended. "I- I do not!!" After a few minutes, Elyse and the hero known as Manual sat down across from the tired student.

     "Ay!" She barked at the water themed hero. "Get!. Aizawa's going to need you a lot more than me!"

     "Zeya!! Don't-" Elyse.

     "Ri-right, good idea." Manual left. Elyse huffed again as she turned back toward her niece, who was now scowling at her too.

     "Geez, what's with the mood?!"

     "Hey, it might seem like nothing for you, but I've been keeping myself awake for what feels like a week straight! And there's no point in wasting time anyways." Zeya agitatedly padded at the top of Mineta's head. "Besides, it hasn't exactly been fun watching you all die over and over again.. And can we get scream canceling earpieces or something?? I swear, I'm going to get sick if I hear that f###ing AFO crush someone into a pulp again!"

     ' 'You won't need one of those.' ' Mei emerged from the crowd of heroes. ' 'I think we'll work better together anyways.' '

     "Wait, so you have a terrible mom too..? Heh, honestly haven't worked with you before now, so this is a first." Zeya chuckled tiredly.

     ' 'And that must be the missing piece. I can communicate far more efficiently with everyone else, and you can essentially see the future. Together, we should be able to assist everyone and win this war.' '

     "Ts.. War? Sounds pretty cool, actually. I never really wanted to be in a war...but oh well.."

     "She's also Shimazaki's brother, which means she may be able to help us take him down." Elyse added.

     "Sweet!.. So how do we do that?"

     ' 'I'm sorry.. but I can't help out with that... To be honest, I wish to avoid him as much as possible.' '

     "Ack, well that's going to be a little hard now."

     Mei's brows furrowed as she stared Zeya in the eyes. ' 'How come?' '

     "Ohh, nothing, really. It's just...I may have a plan is all." Zeya leaned over the table slightly, resting on one arm. She smirked for once. Elyse squinted at her niece.

     "What?"
     ' 'What?' '

     "Sheeeeesh, you guys are intimidating! But you simply being here gave me an idea."

     ' 'You stressed you needed bodyguards with terrible mother/child relationships, didn't you?' '

     "And you just now mentioned Shimazaki's your brother~ eh~ eh~ am I right~? Which means you had the same trashy mom~?" As Zeya shrugged her arms up, the two elder women side eyed one another with a growing look of understanding. "Ight." Zeya fully leaned over the table now. "So there's gunna be the tall b#### after me, right? And with her she's gunna have some other h## who can control people's quirk by speaking gibberish. And, not far away~ is gunna be a deadly son of a b#### who's got some mommy issues! Ya see it all coming together?!" The two women nodded slowly.

     "Ohh, yeah, that's right! That ginger's the one who manipulates your emotions!"

     "Exactly! And from watching her fight, I've been able to deduce the average distance she needs to be from someone in order to affect them! All we need is to somehow lure Shimahookie close enough to tall b#### for the two to clash! In an effort to save her boss, h## will use her quirk on Shimahookie! We'll tackle Shimahookie first, tall b#### second, and h## third! It's almost perfect!"

     "Heyy, not bad, Z!" Elyse complimented, making the teen metaphorically glow warmly for the first time today.

     "But, guess that means we might just have to use you as bait or something." Zeya turned to Mei, who blushed a little at all the eyes suddenly on her with that same expecting look.

     ' '...Guess....I'll try... Just make sure to call it off if I keep getting killed, alright? I don't think my brother is going to be too thrilled to see me again..' '

     Zeya nodded. "Got it. Same goes for you, pipsqueak! I'm not lettin' you die either!" She turned to and rubbed the little Mineta's head.

     As you can imagine, it was very hard being the final decider over what outcome was best in the end. .. Knowing when to settle for less than perfect was a hard, but inevitable choice that Zeya would have to eventually make.

     Hopefully, at least this time, everyone would do their best.

----------

     A massive rupture broke a hole through the wall. The whole thing would have eroded if a section between what was disintegrating and what was not hadn't fallen away. Tomura Shigaraki led the band of villains through, an army of Nomu trailing behind them. The moment the expecting heroes met them upon entrance, the villains scattered all throughout the campus. Only Dabi and Tomura stayed behind. Dabi taking his father on for the second time while Shigaraki fought the rest.

     Zeya and her small group remained in the main, center building.

     Unfortunately, some people were still being evacuated from the hospital, so simply leaving wasn't exactly an option. Zeya had picked up a lot more than she could write down, too. She noticed AFO, who just loved to stand ominously in the sky above the whole thing, had his blood red eyes on the hunt for one thing and one thing only. That one thing was a small human Zeya could never identify. Their fights always took place too high up for her to identify those who fought up there, but whatever it was, it was inevitable that villain and small fighter find each other. Almost like fate.

     To be honest, Zeya had never actually seen this day through yet. She was presently trapped in a self-made time loop. Any time she died or was otherwise knocked out, she would wake up immediately after that very same morning like nothing had ever happened. It was an ability she rarely used because of the toll it had on her mental health. ... But of course she was willing to abuse it on exceptional days like this.

     Unfortunately, while she was in said time loop...she couldn't use her quirk like normal. Nope, she had to just go by memory from the previous go-arounds. Luckily, she was a great guesser by now.

     "Alright, everyone, follow me! To this side of the building!!" Zeya led her trusty crew of mother hating heroes. Already, she was disarmed, making it easier for her team to restrain her if and whenever Makima turned her against them. Makima's quirk was so annoying. No matter what you tried to convince yourself of, your emotions simply wouldn't let your body do anything to harm her! And it's not like such feelings could ever change either, especially if said mother was dead! That made this whole thing a doubly painful experience for Zeya! Having to suffer those same emotions again and again. She hated it, of course. 

     But she couldn't just abandon UA like this either! Not yet, at least! For the first time, she was needed, and somewhat even respected here now. That was something worth more to her than a stack of gold.

     The three women and Mineta waited in the large, glass-walled hallways of the main UA campus building, waiting for Makima and her subordinate to come to them.

     "Um... Zeya.." Elyse handed the girl her earpiece with a ghostly pale face. Zeya nervously grabbed the thing and equipped it.

     "Yeah? Who is this?"

     It was her own teacher, Vlad King! ""ZEYA! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT A NOMUAFIED KAI CHISAKI WOULD BE HERE!!!""

   Zeya's eyes watered. She'd forgotten how many times he'd already died in this fight. "I DIDN'T KNOW IT EVEN HAD A NAME!!!" She shouted back. "AND PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!" Even though her teacher had gone through all the trouble in the past, taking a DNA test to prove he wasn't her father, he was still a nice guy... A guy she hoped would make it through alive this time. She handed the earpiece back to her aunt, worrying all over again about those who kept getting injured or dying no matter what she said or did.

     There is only so much a girl like her can do...

     Mineta, seeing her discomfort immediately, grabbed his girlfriend's hand and held it tightly. Zeya's eyes watered even more, but she forced herself to smile. Mineta was always one of the first to die. Like the universe was set to get him or something. Hopefully, now that he was by her side, she could prevent that.

     It was the reason he was no longer so afraid, after all... He trusted that she had his back.

     While the team waited, they worked together as the primary means of communication. Mei would read people's minds from afar to get a read on what was going on, to which Zeya would give advice and orders to send back out.

     After a while of this, that tall b#### finally showed.

     Mei's head jerked up immediately. She pounced for the ginger, who casually approached from down the hall, the only remaining member of The Three at her side. Zeya caught Mei, fighting the woman back.

     ' 'Let..me..go!' '
          "N-no, forget our plan! Stay away from her!"

     Her quirk was already active. Elyse and Mineta were the only level headed ones, divided between instantly loving or hating this emotion manipulating villain. Together they tore the two extremes apart. Mineta pulled Zeya back and Elyse pulled Mei back. "Mei!" Elyse horses in the younger woman's ear. "If it's revenge you want, get your brother! He will handle it!" The brunette made sure things continued as planned. Mei never stopped glaring daggers at the approaching woman, but she relented and nodded stiffly.

     ' 'Kick her for me.. That b#### does not deserve to live!' ' Mei stormed off down the other hall to escape. Dang, she hated her mom that much?!

     Elyse was honestly impressed. She changed her attention to her poor niece, who was in the process of untying her shoes so that she'd be able to run to Makima -- her shoes stuck to the floor by Mineta's quirk. Zeya started to cry, an emotional wreck all over again! Mineta grabbed more of his hair balls to stick her legs to the ground, but that's when the h## started talking.

     "Leuconoe, giatí prospathíste" Mineta's ball-things no longer stuck to anything, releasing Zeya at once. Despite knowing the woman was evil in her mind, the teen ran up to Makima and hugged her tightly.

     "Hey, you--" Elyse stomped the woman's way.

     "na máthete"

     "Agh!" Elyse's whole body instantly slowed to an almost stop. A cutting pain tore through her head.

     "na máthete" Elyse instantly sped back up again, taking a tumble toward the ground. She clutched her head, groaning in pain. The two lady villains smirked. Makima had a far more crazed look in her eyes, possessively petting the teen girl's hair who hugged her so tightly.

     "That it?? You going to fight? I mean, come o-h-ohn! Is it even proper revenge if you're just going to roll around on the ground like that?!" If the stitch marks in her skin didn't make it obvious, this woman was broken. In more ways than one.

     Elyse rolled onto her stomach, the migraine so severe she thought she might vomit. But as she stared up at Makima, that self determined hatred was zapped. She merely felt a numbness toward the woman. Neither good nor bad.

     "Fun fact you might want to know~ I already KILLED the hero who finished off my brother, then all the villains, police, AND citizens who were involved!! You want a reason to kill me, right? Well THERE'S your excuse!!" Adding to it even more, Makima drew from her side pocket a knife, which she hovered loosely around the back of Zeya's neck. She grinned big and wide at the hero, hungry for revenge!

     Elyse gritted her teeth and tightened her fists. Oh, so this lady wanted a fight, did she?!

-----

     Mei was running so fast she slid around the corner. Her eyes stared out the wall of windows as she ran. The ground outside was absolutely covered in clones! Half of whom wore black and gray outfits, the other half looking like some completely normal dude in a white business casual shirt and dark pants! Occasionally among these masses of men were terribly strong Nomu, many of them requiring two or three heroes to fight them off!

     After a lot of running around, Mei spotted something in the sky. Some things in the sky. Was her.. was her brother fighting a child?!

     Mei slid to a stop, nearly fell over, and braced her palms against the glass. Sure enough, Ryo Shimazaki was in the sky fighting a little blond person. The two were really going at it too! Mei glared.

     ' 'Ryo, the f###?!. Stop fighting a child!!' ' The Esper proceeded to slam said child into the ground with a mighty stomp. "NOO!" Mei screamed. She was honestly reaching her limit with this guy. First he was her loving brother, than a terrible villain, then an easily pitiable man at the hospital, and now a ruthless killer again?! Mei could hear her brother's thoughts as he searched the area. He was looking for her! And his thoughts were of the vengeful kind, as she predicted. Mei slowly started to back away. Then she spun and booked it the way she came! Better get a head start now! After a bit of running, she got a little suspicious, so she turned again and ran back. Pressing her face against the same windows as before, the woman's eyes bulged.

     He was fighting someone ELSE now! The stranger was moving so fast she could barely follow his movements! And for some reason her brother acted like he couldn't SEE him either! The young woman herself could barely make out the stranger's white hair and dark clothing, but the fact that her brother was taking some good hits was an impressive sight.

     ' 'Um, guys?' ' She called back for Elyse, Mineta, and even Zeya. ' 'We have both good and bad news... Good news. Ryo's being taken care of. Bad news, uhh, this kind of ruins our plan.' '

     'S###! Come back quick!!' Elyse's responding thought was followed by a series of swears, cluing Mei in that they needed her NOW. She turned and ran off again.

PA-POW!

     A huge, rocketing sound tore through the sky! Mei spun around, spotting her brother falling through the sky. The white haired guy appeared underneath him, pointing up at the other man's back with a growing purple flame at the tip of his fingernail.

     ' 'LOOK OUT, HE'S UNDERNEATH YOU!!!' '

     Mei gasped once she had shared that info, hoping he wouldn't follow it...and also not. Why did she... Why did she still care about him?

     Ryo listened. He teleported a little to the side at the very last second. Mere milliseconds before the massive explosion of purple energy erupted throughout the sky!

     Mei turned and ran so that the two would no longer be in sight. She could neither risk helping nor hindering her brother now. She'd just have to leave this one to fate. Whether he lived or died, she'd just have to deal with it later.

-----

     Elyse was on the floor groaning, clutching her head and focusing on her breathing. This was bad. Really, really bad!

     "Hey! Hey! That's enough, Mother! Make her stop!!" Zeya was flying air punches the ash brunette's way, snarling and tugging against the ginger who held her back. Mineta tackled the gibberish-speaking woman, but without his quirk he got nothing but a few kicks in the face.

     Makima laughed as she held the teen in place. She stared at the suffering hero on the floor, slowly inching closer with the intent to end the woman herself. She trapped Zeya's neck between her arm and side, catching her in a choke hold so the girl couldn't fight back as she gripped her knife tightly.

     "Why are you..so...ungodly strong?!" Zeya huffed, simply unable to pry her head free.

     "You're just weak." Makima uttered.

     "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay?! But, why are you trying to hurt my aunt!? Trying to rule the world or something!?"

     "I don't want to rule the world!" The ginger hissed. Her eyes settled on Elyse again, an obvious stare of raw hatred in those eyes. "I just want those I hate to burn in Hell..." She dragged her feet closer to the hero.

     "You know, you really got me there!" A forced, agitated laugh from the villain.

     "I wasn't expecting to ever feel any emotions again!"
         "Leuconoe, giatí prospathíste!"

     "Yet YOU proved me wrong! I--"
         "tis moíras sou kai tis!

     "Would you STOP talking over me already?!? AA!" A man tackled the ginger from behind. A blond man. The blond man known most commonly as Reigen.

     Elyse lifted her dizzy head, the blurry but recognizable man still in his suit and tie bringing a smile to her face.

     Reigen tackled the one who looked like she was in charge from behind, wrapping one arm around her throat and and the other behind her neck, holding her in a guillotine choke. That startled the woman enough to release Zeya, who jumped right away into tackling the other woman. Reigen meanwhile jumped while Makima was still in his hold, wrapping his legs around her and forcing her to the ground. All the villain could do was try to stab him, but she failed to get in anything but a few minor scrapes through his skin.

     "RUN, ELYSE!!" Reigen gritted through his teeth. He didn't know why that other lady kept speaking in tongues at him, but it had no effect whatever it was. Elyse, however, looked like she was seriously hurt by that weird talk!

     Meanwhile both Zeya and Mineta had tackled the light haired ginger to the ground and were presently beating the s### out of her!! 

     Elyse crawled onto her hands and feet slowly. She was relieved, but also worried.

     "Reigen! Get out of here-!"

     Makima suddenly remembered she has a quirk and activated it at once. "Let go of me at once!!"

     Reigen did so immediately. He couldn't really understand why! It just..felt so wrong suddenly to restrain her like so. "M' sorry.." The man mumbled, crawling away from the woman. Makima sighed in relief, then smiled.

     "Hhhh, well then. You seem like a respectable gentleman.. Mind restraining that hero for me~?"

     "Wh- wha??! I'm sorry but I can't! She-she's my girlfriend!"

     "Oh~?" Makima turned, flashing the migraine endured hero a mischievous grin. "Girlfriend~?"

     "Mother of All, don't!" She didn't really know what this woman had in mind, but whatever it was wasn't good.

     "Ugh... Zeya, stop beating up my assistant already.."

     "But I can still feel her pulse!"

     Spinning around, "I said quit it!!! And make your little friend stop too!" Zeya reluctantly grabbed Mineta and picked the two of them up off of the woman. She pat the little one's rabid head to make him calm down. The woman laying on the floor was out cold. She wouldn't be of use anymore.

     That dealt with, Makima returned her attention to the hero on the ground. Her hands clasped behind her back as she slowly approached her.

     "My, what the fine little family you have here~? A niece~ a boyfriend~ plenty of friends to go around~ You must be super lucky~"

     "Luck?" Elyse spat on the ground, arms shaking under her weight as she lifted herself. "More like actually trying, sweet-cakes~ Unlike you, I don't have a quirk that forces people to respect me! Augh!" Elyse received a kick to the head. Then to the stomach while she was turned away to recover. "Let's be honest...you walked right into that one." Elyse clenched her jaw as she received her another kick to the ribs.

     "Hey! Stop it!" Reigen tugged Makima back, "She didn't do anything to you!"

     "Yes she did!! She killed my brother! The ONLY thing I ever cared about!!" It didn't take much for tears to enter into her eyes. Tears which Reigen saw.

     He gasped quietly. "...Elyse..? Is that true?"

     The hero hissed through her teeth. "He was a monster. A monster trying to kill people!" Though her defense made sense, whatever hurt his "mother's" feelings..hurt his too.

     "...Elyse...?"

     "Don't give me that crap."

     "See? And now she has shown her true colors... She's but a wolf in sheep's clothing. She never actually cared.." Makima placed her hand on Reigen's shoulder, a fake saddened look. "Help me contain her, and I promise I won't hurt her.. She will be taken to prison, where she will pay for her crimes properly."

     "Reigen...don't." But the man was so torn. In the end, he lowered his head, warm salty tears sliding down his own cheeks.

     "...Sounds fair enough..." Elyse's heart dropped. What a crushing pain it was to be so betrayed by someone she loved. Makima then used cuffs that were supposed to be for Zeya on Elyse, leaving the woman on the ground. Elyse herself could hardly concentrate on much. Her head still hurts so terribly! Reigen stared down at her with a hurt look, but he was too torn between the two to make a decision right now.

     "Zeya!" Makima stood abruptly from Elyse's side, whom she had no intention to actually take anywhere but the graveyard! She strode toward Zeya, who was still restraining Mineta on her arms. "Help me take your aunt out of here. Blond, you're coming too!"

     "Y-yes ma'am!"
     "Y-yes ma'am!"

     "Zeya, don't listen to the woman!! She's playing mind games on you!!" Mineta flailed as he spouted. Made himself quite the annoyance to carry around. Reigen helped Elyse onto her feet, encouraging her to lean against him for support. He wrapped an arm around her, apologizing softly as he led her down the large hall Makima was leading them. The villain completely discarded her now useless companion. Elyse would just have to wait a little longer until her migraines had subsided.

Pat-pat-pat-pat-pat

     Mei raced past the others and tackled Makima to the ground. The two fell into an on-the-ground, knife brawl.

     "He-hey, wait!!" Zeya dropped Mineta and pounced on top of Mei's back, grabbing her raised, knife-wielding arm.

     "Zeya, stop!!" Mineta grabbed ahold of Zeya, tugging her back. Reigen carefully let go of Elyse before running for the pile of madness and knives as well.

BOOM!
CRACK!

     Uh oh...

     The foundation of the buildings.. It was..sinking.

     Zeya gasped the loudest. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!" The girl screamed. As everyone leaned, starting to slide over the smooth, cool ground, there wasn't much else required to convince them.

     Zeya scrambled onto her feet, tugging the determined Mei off of the villain. Reigen ran back to help the wobbly Elyse.

     Zeya shoved Mei aside and wrapped Makima's arm over her shoulder, helping the woman stand and flee. Mei charged after, knife wielded and ready to stab anything that got in her way in a blind rage.

     Makima was the one who turned around, glaring over her shoulder at the Elyse who was struggling to follow. The ground broke out below, threatening to swallow both her and Reigen. Yet all Makima could do was grind her teeth, angry that she couldn't be the one to finish that hero off! Finally get that revenge she so desperately sought!

---

     " "Why is that all you can think about?" " An old, familiar voice echoed through the void. Makima blinked twice to be sure this was right. ... The hero.. the building... Everyone and everything...was gone.

     The woman stood. She looked around and patted herself to be sure she was actually there. There was nothing but a dark, black as black void all around. Some strange, unseen light shining brightly down upon her from above. Makima reached out to be sure this was no trick, rubbing her eyes and feeling around some more.

     This was...stranger than strange.

     " "You still haven't answered. Why??" " The same voice echoed again, sterner this time. Before she was even sure her ears were hearing right, Makima's eyes began to water. She spun around, fixating on a male now no taller than herself. He wore a simple middle school uniform, which was torn open with bullet holes. And, of course, that recognizable chainsaw for a head.

     It finally registered that she was asked something. "Wh?.. Sorry, I didn't hear you."

     " "Ughh, why the f### are you so obsessed with avenging me?" " He asked in a low tone, blade dipping toward the ground. Makima's eyes widened.

     "I- I, what do you mean?! You're my brother! I love you!"

     " "If you really did, then why did you turn my corpse into a monster and make it KILL PEOPLE?! You love me, huh?! Th! What a joke.." " The ghost of Denji turned his back on her. Then he lifted his head just a little, he spoke softly over his shoulder. " "...I wanted to be a hero and save people. .. I didn't want to be the reason for you to turn evil and kill others... I honestly don't give a #### about what you do next... Just leave me out of it. . You've desecrated my corpse enough. At least do me the favor of letting my memory die out peacefully... Don't let it be the excuse you use hurt others... Just let it rot.." " The late brother began to walk off. For some reason, Makima's feet were too heavy to follow. She reached out her hands, pleading for him to come back.

     But he didn't... He never did.

---

     Her glare suddenly vanished. Makima blinked again as she was suddenly again in the real world. Zeya was tugging on her to hurry up, but her feet were just so heavy. "Hurry, hurry! Mei, leave her alone!!"

     Mei was approaching quickly, about to stab Makima in the back when--

     Makima grabbed Zeya's arm and spun the girl around.

Sqch!

     Zeya gagged a gasp as the blade struck through her ribs, only narrowly dodging anything important!

     Mineta gasped from further behind. He'd run back to save Reigen and Elyse real quick before they could fall through the ground. That mission successful, he gasped as his own girlfriend took a hit.

     "NOO!" He ran towards the silver haired girl.

     Mei dropped her bloody knife, shocked by what she had done. But, her mind was overwhelmed with the same, continuous hatred. Never ceasing or calming. All that anger and hatred that had been swelling inside for SO long! The blaming of her mother for ALL the terrible things done to her brothers. The terrible lives they lived was all HER fault!

     The ground continued to shake, making everyone's footing unsteady.

     Mineta jumped in and used his quirk to stick Mei's treacherous hands together. Zeya stumbled back, bumping into Makima. Makima, in a blind rage as well, decided to simply end Zeya before she caused anymore problems. The woman grabbed her own knife and tripped the girl over. Zeya fell onto her back and clutched her head soon after it too slammed into the ground. The woman landed a knee on Zeya's chest, readying a finishing blow to her throat.

     Mineta grabbed the woman's hand, attempting to wrestle the knife out of her hand. But Makima's grip was strong. She threw her arm back, scratching the boy along the cheek, and pinned him to the ground on his belly.

     "Nu-no!!" Zeya sat up, but Makima had already stabbed his spine before she could even throw her first punch. Her punch landed, thankfully, striking Makima across the jaw. The woman fell away from the two. In fact, she just about gave up on everything right then. The moment she saw Elyse standing a little further off at least.

     The lights in the crumbling hallway flickered, spitting sparks on the lot of them. Elyse snarled. Now that she had her bearings enough to stand, she charged after the villain. Couldn't use her quirk, though, so it was just an old game of tag at that point. Makima raced away down the hall. Her only companion was probably dead by now thanks to that collapse! She had no one to care about but herself.

     "COME BACK YOU COWARD!" Elyse raced after the woman. Mei followed closely behind, her hands still trapped together.

     "Come on, Zeya!!" Reigen pulled on the teen, but she was stuck there, petrified as she inspected the sheer amount of blood along Mineta's back.

     "Just leave me, I'll be fine!!"

     "No, come ON, let's just go!" Reigen grabbed her shoulders and started to tug. "Just pick 'im up!"

     But the teen shrugged him off aggressively. "I grew up on the street eating nothing but Cheeto dust and rat-####. Trust me. If I say I'll be fine, I'll be fine!!" Reigen wasn't having this. The building could seriously collapse ay any second!

     "Ze.... Zey..." The boy croaked. Zeya's eyes brimmed with tears as she turned the littler boy over. Now that Makima was out of range, a new wave of emotions crashed against her. Regret for how she had acted, what she had done, and even how she felt.

     "Mini- Mini it's going to be okay, alright?! I won't let you die this time!!" She shouldn't have said that last part out loud. Mineta coughed, frightened as warm blood dripped from his mouth.

     "Wait, I- I died?! Ho-how many times?!"

     "Zeyahh." Reigen tugged on her shirt. "Just pick him up. The rest of the building could fall at any minute.." 

     "No-o, I- I- I can't!! If I just die now, then-then I'll be able to try again! And again, and again, and again! Until everyone is FINE and I- I can finally rest!"

     "You know that won't happen, don't you..?" Reigen knelt beside Zeya and rubbed her back, only then noticing all the blood leaking through her shirt. "Woah! You need to go to the hospital!"

     "NO, I DON'T! Just leave me ALONE!!" Zeya shoved the man away from her, but her attention returned to Mineta the moment he grabbed her hand.

     His breaths were raspy, voice hard to hear, and he was clearly in so much pain he had to endure. "..You told me you keep dying every time too.. right...?"

     Sniff. "Ye..?"

     "Then how about...? Doesn't matter what happens. If you survive this time...keep living. ... You'll find someone better than me... Heh, won't be that hard, actually.."

     Zeya shook her head vigorously. "But you're my best friend too..!"

     "...Find a better one." Smiling tiredly, Mineta forced a weak chuckle. "Someone...who can...protect you..too..." His muscles un-tensed. Falling limp as his eyes closed. Zeya's breath trembled at the sight, clenching his bloody hand even tighter with her own bloody one.

---------------

     It was a beautiful spring morning. Classes A and B were merging on their way to lunch.

     "Hehehe.." Zeya slid into the crowd.

Whap!!

     "Hey! What the crap?! Who did that!?" Bakugo screamed. The one time he decided to walk in a crowd he paid for it dearly. Zeya snuck back out of the mix of teenagers, crouching low beside Mineta, who giggled with her mischievously.

     "What does that make it now?"

     "Sixteen."

     "What?! No way! You promise you're not using your quirk, right?!"

     "Nope!"

     "Bruh! I only have, like, four!"

     "Hah! Get on my level, little man!" As if it were planned, Zeya shot up just in time to slap Mina's butt and book it out of there toward the lunch hall.

     "Ohhh, that is NOT cool!!" Mina barked.

     "Isn't that a girl?" Ochako mumbled beside her.

     Later at lunch, Zeya sat with Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero. They laughed about stupid stuff, showing one another memes they had on their phones.

     "Hey, Zeya, do you want to come over for dinner Saturday? My dad is making~"

     "-Sorry. My aunt said we have plans or something on Saturday.." Zeya slid another bite of food into her mouth.

     "Hey! You didn't even let me finish!"

     "Oop. Not like it changed anything, though. Maybe next Saturday though?"

     "Hhh, sure."

-----

     Turns out, Elyse and Reigen had plans to go camping that weekend! Just the three of them! Problem is that their preferred form of transport was a car, and........

     "Come on, Zeya, it's just a car!" 

     "NO!" Zeya screened from the top of a tree where neither adults could reach her. Even Reigen's new puppy wasn't as nervous!

     "Ugh, I swear, if you don't get down here this instant, we're going to leave you behind!... That means you'll be in charge of the chores."

     Zeya gasped. "You wouldn't dare!!"

     "Yes I wou-" That's when Reigen stopped her, little pooch in arms.

     "Lysie... Maybe she has a good reason for being scared..? Remember...? Her mother?" Elyse's eyes widened. She'd nearly forgotten about that.

     "Uhh, s-sorry about that!... Um.. When was the last time you rode in a car?!"

     "When my mom f###ing died! ..Thanks for asking!!"

     "Ugh.." Elyse rubbed her forehead, already tired from waking up at 5AM to pack for the long trip. "How... How..? Do you want to take a friend??"

-----

     Mineta ended up coming along. Not like his weekend was booked anyways. He sat in the middle seat of the back row. Zeya at his left and the curled up puppy in a little dog bed to the right.

     With every bump in the road the poor girl would shriek and curl up into a ball. She was too scared to look out any of the windows. Too preoccupied with fearing for the lives of her loved ones to talk.

     Mineta didn't know what to say, so he just grabbed her hand and held it tightly. By the time they at last arrived, he was sat on the girl's lap, her arms tightly snug around him holding him like a big teddy bear. He didn't mind this of course..

     Despite making it to the campsite safely, Zeya still vomited outside the car once she was freed, all that built up stress and anxiety overwhelming her once she was on solid land. ... It was around here that the severity of Zeya's trauma really set in for the hero and con-artist. They hadn't considered it a real problem before, since Zeya was so good about hiding it behind crude jokes and a reckless personality.

     Because of that losing of her lunch, she was EXTRA hungry when dinner came around! Everyone roasted hot dogs over the fire after the sun came around. Two tents were set up. One for the guys. One for the girls. Though Zeya kept declaring she wanted to sleep in a tree!

     Mineta offered one of his own hot dogs to his woman of choice, Zeya happily accepted it. All-the-while still teaching one another about mundane things and personality traits. Again, Reigen and Elyse were surprised. Impressed, even! They so clearly loved each other so much despite more than half of their conversations consisting of insulting one another.

     Ahhh, young love. What a mystery. 

-----

     "D###! There are so many stars in the sky!.. Look at all of them!!" Zeya marveled. While Reigen and Elyse were being the responsible ones by cleaning up the campsite before bed, Zeya and Mineta laid on the roof of the car side by side, pointing up at the sky on occasion.

     "I can't remember what that one was called, but my dad says it's a really important one to remember for way-finding!"

     "Wewy impwortant fow way findsind!"

     Mineta Elbowed Zeya. "Hey, stop teasing me about my lisp!"

     "Wisssp!"

     "Ohh, shut up!.." The boy laughed. "Your tattoos are glowing, by the way."

     "I know, right?! Aren't they cool?!"

     "You look like Sans from Undertale."

     "Psshhh! Take that back, punk!" The two playfully pushed each other, pretending like they were trying to shove each other off of the car.

     Reigen and Elyse watched from afar, chuckling. "...I'm honestly surprised they're still a thing." Elyse blurted to he man beside her. He both nodded and shrugged.

     "I'm honestly surprised they're together at all!"

    "Haha!"

     "Heh, they are still kids, after all. Probably just don't know the difference between romance and friendship.."

     Her arms crossed, Elyse turned to Reigen with a look. "...Do you know the difference between romance and friendship?"

     Reigen also turned to her with a look. "Would a friend kiss you like this-?"

     Elyse held out her hands and pushed back his chest. "-Hold up... M' still eating something." Blushing, Reigen bounced away.

     "Thanks for warning me."

     They continued to listen to the two squabbling teens as before.

     "Hey, why do you have glasses now, by the way?" Mineta gasped. "Is that because of your quirk?? Do you not need glasses when your eyes turn red??"

     "They're contacts, idiot!"

     "Oh.."

     The adults chuckled further away. Oh... What a character those two were..

---------------

     The walls and ceiling were starting to crumble now. The whole structure giving in.

     "ZEYA, COME ON!!!"

     But Zeya didn't want to go... She wanted to stay here, where the building would eventually crush her, allowing her a quick and easy death, as well as another chance to prevent all of this.

     She wanted all of this to just go away...

     But Mineta's words came again in her head. Again, and again, and again, and again. As though he had said them a hundred times before.

     ..."Then how about...? Doesn't matter what happens. If you survive this time...keep living."...

     With teary eyes, Zeya hugged the smaller one close to her. Warm wetness crawled down her cheeks.

     "Fine then..." Zeya growled. Slowly, she positioned herself to stand up, readjusting Mineta in her arms. "If you insist. ... I'll keep going.." Reigen helped Zeya to her feet, already starting to guide her away from the growing cracks. "But I'm not going to give up on YOU either... Not while you're still warm.."