'Well, that was quick', you remarked in your head as you shivered, clutching your arms in hopes to create heat within your soaked gym uniform. Despite that the bi-colored haired boy released you from your ice prison, it didn't really free you from the cold. You see, when ice melts, it turns to water-- and guess where that freezing water ended up on? That's right, your clothing. Now you look like a pitiful, cold, wet puppy.

Just right after Todoroki melted the ice off from your form, he then faced the newly-arrived villains, and wasted no time on freezing the them in their place. It was... an easy win, so to say. A moment ago, it was all just uneven rocks, and now the landslide area has to be relabeled as the glacier area. And to be drenched in such a zone would be hapless... Just as your luck would have it.

"Don't you have any mercy on kids? Pull yourselves together, you're grown-ups, aren't you?" The scarred boy rhetorically asked, as if he was mocking them.

"No mercy?! You didn't hesitate to freeze your own lil' friend over there!" You flinched as one of the villains' gaze fell onto you.

"Right. It was an honest mistake," Todoroki merely shrugged. Hngh, and just a minute ago he was narrating how your body would slowly die from extreme temperature. He doesn't even look like he regretted it! "You planned to scatter and kill us, huh? Sorry to say, but to me it looks like you're just a load of mooks who don't know their quirks from their rear ends."

'He's so confident of his capabilities', you thought, simply amazed of his fearless figure.

"That fucker..! The second I can move again, I'll... Is he really just a kid? Ow, ow, ow!" Now that you think about it, Todoroki seemed to be too mature for his age, but then again, his mother did mention he never experienced a normal childhood. That would inevitably make his view on some things different than the majority.

Slowly, you went by Todoroki's side, as you breathed out on your cupped hands to generate heat. You wanted to know Shigaraki's plan-- the reason why he's so confident on facing the Symbol of Peace head-on. He seems smart; so, he'd know that sheer numbers aren't enough to defeat All Might. There has to be something--a plan behind it.

"W-what's your plan to k-kill All Might..?" Todoroki's expression seemed indifferent, but was surprised to hear you speak up.

"Answer her question. At this rate, your bodies would succumb to necrosis unless I free you. But since I'm aiming to be a hero, I'd like to avoid doing horrifying shit like that as much as I can." Holy shit, he was serious on killing you earlier?! His personality... It's no longer related to his maturity. It was something else-- from experience. And

Knowing that the heterochromatic boy was grave serious, the villains gave up everything they know. But then you realized something-- you're mom! Is she okay?! Shucks, you've been here for too long, and to know the fact that her combat experience is quite low only made you worry for how long she was holding up.

"I'll go to the central plaza. I'll try to help out as much as I can, and you try to interrogate them of everything they know," You declared, preparing to sprint, as you absorbed the villains' stamina around you, careful to be a few feet away from Todoroki to not accidentally absorb his.

The bi-colored haired boy didn't like your commanding tone, specifically you telling him what to do. But it's not like he'd tell you that. Instead, he'll show you his displeasure passively.

"I thought you said not to split up." He reminded, making you curse yourself for letting him use your own words against you.

"It's an emergency." Your tone's monotony could easily rival Todoroki's, making him quiet as the villain talking paused his explanation.

Does he trust you? He's conflicted. But he surely doesn't trust you enough to go alone. It may or may not be for your safety. He was assured that what you answered him earlier was no lie-- with your eyes brimming with sincere tears, he was sure you were honest. Despite him being dense at social interactions, he's observant enough to know the body languages and the facial expressions of a liar.

But some small part of him told him that he shouldn't interfere with your upcoming intentions. A simple gut feeling. Usually, he listens to his rational head rather than a guess that has no basis, but for now? He'll let it slide. For now.

For you.

But that doesn't mean he likes you. He just tolerates you at best.

Sprinting as fast as you can, you definitely didn't even bother on hiding your worried expression. You wanted to show the world that you are distressed over the fact that you're not there to defend the only family you have left; that you were failing on reaching your goal-- the dream you have that only Katsuki knows of: To protect the ones you love.

In the end, you decided that your friends will be part of that dream.

~*~*~

"Shockwave!" You called out that had only fallen to deaf ears, as you saw her trying to fend for herself, her (h/c) hair was messy and all over her face, as sweat continued trailing down from her forehead to her chin. She looks so ruined. But when your eyes landed on the lying figure behind her, you registered that she was protecting someone. Continuing to run towards their direction, it became clear that the lying figure turned out to be your adviser, Aizawa-sensei.

God, if you described your mother to be ruined, how much more for the raven-haired teacher-- his arm was dislocated in a way that you never thought possible. Instead of a sweaty face like your mother's, his was splattered with his own blood. And it would seem that his whole life depended on Shockwave.

Looking at the said hero's opponent, it would seem to be a giant mass of muscles, covered with inky black skin, unlike its brain that was exposed for everyone to see. Its face resembled one's of a bird, but its crooked teeth definitely separated the similarities of the flying creature from... whatever that is. Next to it was the sickeningly familiar leader of this whole chaos, Shigaraki Tomura.

Suddenly, the bird-like creature grabbed your mother by her throat, and raised her high, depriving her of air.

"Hey, you!" Without warning, you pointed your index fingers at the creature, firing intense lasers for it to go through its skin to the other side, careful not to hit its victim at the process. Once you've made enough bullet holes, you stopped firing, trying to conserve your remaining energy.

'It's so cold...' You thought helplessly to yourself. One of your quirk's drawbacks was when it all depended on your body temperature. The more energy you release, the more heat you lose, thus weakening your immune system and prone to hypothermia-- and the freezing water that Todoroki burdened you with definitely did not help. Although, if you absorbed more than you can handle, your body would overheat, resulting for your nose to bleed, or in the worst case scenario, have heat stroke.

"It's no use..!" You heard Shigaraki comment, his eyes completely fixated on you, amused. "Noumu can regenerate," At the mention of the word 'regenerate', you quickly looked back at the monster, only to see it finish filling up the holes you've made with its own flesh.

Shit!

"Noumu, she looks lonely. Play with her for a while, but not enough for her to quit life," At the command, the Noumu threw your mother aside before heading towards you at full speed. It all seemed like slow motion, when its dull eyes neared yours, before its over-sized fist landed on your stomach, making you exhale a lot of air than intended.

Your stomach feels warm.

"(Y/n)-chan!" You heard a familiar voice exclaim.

Izu-kun..?

With your spine crashing on a boulder, your mouth only heaved out blood at the sudden contact, before you slowly peeled off from the landform, and drop down on the unforgiving soil. Coughing, you curled yourself into a ball, trying to lessen your abdomen's pain.

Meanwhile, Izuku had only been watching, unsure of what to do and how to approach. He was frozen, trying to think of plans to save you. He just got to shore along with Tsuyu and Mineta, and not much of a moment has passed, before he's already seeing you get pummeled, along with the remaining two heroes.

"(N-n/n)!" That was your mother. Slowly, she got back up, a wound evident on her head as blood dripped down her face, staining her (s/c) skin. Quickly, she tried to run towards her daughter, but her path was blocked by a dozen of villains.

What can Midoriya do? He can't fight without crippling himself, and if he does, he would only be an additional burden to the already-damaged fighters. Even if everything was against his luck, he chose to try and save you. He ran towards your direction, the same way when he tried to save the explosive blonde from the monstrous slime incident-- but this time, he can make a huge difference. He has a quirk now. And he's gonna use it to save you!

Letting out a battle cry, the greenette activated his quirk and landed a solid hit on the Noumu that was slowly approaching you. But nothing happened. It clearly wasn't fazed, even for just a bit. As a retaliation, the monstrous villain back-slapped Izuku away, making him land back to the waters for Tsuyu to rescue, trying to ensure that he wouldn't drown.

"I-Izuk--" You paused then gagged, letting your inner injuries bleed through your mouth.

"I said let me through!" A familiar wave of recoil resounded the area, but it didn't seem to startle the Noumu, although it was powerful enough to take down the villains that was surrounding your mother earlier.

"Bravo, bravo, Miss Shockwave," Shigaraki praised insincerely, a bored expression plastered on his face. "Noumu, finish the job." Your eyes widened at the given order, as you cried out against it.

As expected, the Noumu obeyed without fail, and aimed a punch towards the woman.

"Not this time," Shockwave muttered under her breath, as she aimed both her palms at the direction of the fist that was coming to collide with her body. And once its punch reached her palms, she absorbed its shockwaves, then formed a fist to recoil it back. "Have a punch right back!" You heard her exclaim, as she didn't hesitate to punch the creature, but like Izuku's attack, it was a mere attempt to make the monster flinch. It didn't work.

"F-forget it! Just k-kill it!" You knew your mother hadn't tried her special move yet, where she can transfer the absorbed shockwaves into an object then destroy it. Hearing your exclamation, she seemed to have complied, as she touched the Noumu's arm.

The Noumu expanded, its toned muscles stretching into an inflated balloon, its pressure having no escape. To resolve this, the inner explosion led its limbs, causing its arms and legs to explode.

"Y-you did it!" You exclaimed, finally standing, as your mother ran towards you, embracing you in a hug. But seeing Shigaraki's composed figure made you doubt that this was all over.

"Didn't you hear me? I said it can regenerate," You can hear an underlying tone of amusement in his voice, before the Noumu slowly stood up, its legs already regenerated, as its arms followed soon enough. "Now do as I tell you, and finish her off," Again, without fail, the Noumu complied, but its fist seemed to generate more energy than before-- you can feel that this punch would be different than the rest. It seemed too powerful for your mother to absorb.

It was a finishing blow!

"Wait--" The Noumu didn't even give you the chance to speak as it already charged forward. Letting your actions take over, you pushed your mother away from its trajectory, then formed your arms into an 'X' to prepare yourself before once again feeling the familiar pain of its strength.

"(Y/n)!" You heard your mother's blurred screech, before everything faded to black, your vision succumbing to darkness.

You can't be unconscious now! You still have yet to save her! You can't protect her while you're in a coma!

Move, (Y/n)! Move, dammit! Save her!

Wake up!

Don't fail her now or you can never live with yourself!

How can you be a hero if you can't even save your own mother's life?!

Go! Now..!

... Don't give up!

"I hope they're all okay..."

"I can't save her..."

Those voices-- the rest seemed like your own, but the remaining two... They sounded so familiar. Wanting them to speak again, you called out for them, but the only response you gained was a light shining through your darkness. Walking towards it, you can feel warmth. As you continued to trudge forward, you can feel your confidence grow within each second, finding a newfound strength.

You woke back up.

~*~*~

Cliffhangers are truly notorious. Also, if you're observant enough, you'd know whose voices those are. But then again, I gave too much hints at this point.

See ya til the next update!