"Your attacks aren't working because of what I assume to be shock absorption!" Shirokage called out for All Might to hear. "Though, from the looks of it, it also has a regeneration quirk." The fire had been extinguished on the nomu, and it's arm had regenerated almost immediately. Unfortunately, she was still focusing a lot of energy on healing Aizawa, and it only got more difficult the further away he got. "Basically, you're going to have to push your limits if you want to defeat him!"

Though, Shirokage didn't exactly have the clearest of grasps of where those limits lay, especially with his weakened form. 

"Thanks for telling me that!" All Might had grabbed the nomu from behind. "If that's true, then it's easier for me."

The man bent backwards as he threw the Nomu into the ground headfirst causing a cloud of smoke to appear around them.

"Oi, oi..." Shigaraki muttered as Shirokage frowned. There's no way it would be that easy. If things got worse, she may have to temporarily redirect her energy completely into fighting. 

Maybe she should have had either Dabi or Toga join her.

Her eyes widened as she saw that Kurogiri had managed to save the nomu from any damage, but, in a way, this was a good chance for her to make a move while Kurogiri is distracted. 

"Is..." All Might started as the nomu grabbed onto him, exactly where his injury was. "Is that how it is?"

The nomu began to draw blood as Shirokage began to head over, but this time Shigaraki got in her way. Honestly, what was with people and getting in her way? Didn't they have anything better to do?

"Were you trying to keep him from moving by sticking him deep in the concrete?" Shigaraki questioned as though it was an incredulous idea. "You won't be able to stop him like that. Because Nomu is as strong as you are. This is good, Kurogiri. It's an unexpected opportunity."

All Might had let go of the nomu's waist as he instead tried to pry it's hands off of his own.

"This is your first offense?" All Might grit his teeth. "You'd better prepare yourselves..."

Shirokage wanted to go and help, but she knew that she couldn't rush in recklessly, especially with Shigaraki keeping an eye on her if she even so much as twitched. While All Might was the number one hero and she was the number one vigilante, they couldn't afford to underestimate these three villains.

"Kurogiri," Shigaraki gained the warp portal's attention.

"I do not want blood and guts overflowing within me," Kurogiri noted. "But I would be happy to take in someone as great as you. You are too fast to see with the human eye. Restraining you was Nomu's job. And then, when your body is halfway in, to close the gate... And tear you apart is my job."

"Ah..." Shirokage sweat dropped. "They're actually explaining their plan..."

What was with villains and doing that? Do they plan these monologues of theirs? Why do they feel the need to tell people what they're doing? It seems a bit counterproductive. Do they have to practice?

Oh great, now she was imagining them practicing their evil speeches to themselves in front of the mirror. 

She was just going to try and store that thought away for later. 

"All Might!" The vigilante's eyes widened as she saw Midoriya running towards All Might only to have his path blocked by Kurogiri.

"Oi!" Shirokage yelled as she sprinted and grabbed the kid just before he made contact with the warp gate. At the same time, a hot headed blonde attacked the purple blob.

"Move! You're in the way, Deku!" He yelled as he grabbed the metal piece that was the warp gate's weak point. "Take that!"

Shirokage looked on in slight surprise as another kid with red and white hair used his quirk to begin freezing Nomu.

"Young Todoroki!" All Might exclaimed in surprise.

"All I heard was that you all are here to kill All Might." The newly dubbed Todoroki stated calmly as he stared at the scene before him. Thanks to his actions, All Might finally gained the chance to get out of the nomu's grip.

"Um," The green haired boy that was still in Shirokage's arms earned her attention. "C-could you put m-me down now?"

"Hmm?" The vigilante looked down at him causing him to silently freak out. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

She had to hold in a chuckle at Midoriya’s panic and embarrassment. 

"All Might," The two watched as All Might got out of the nomu's grip with Midoriya looking with unshed tears in his eyes.

Meanwhile, a red headed boy known as Kirishima attacked Shigaraki while he was distracted but he still managed to dodge easily.

"Damn it, I didn't get to show off!" Yes, that was the red head's problem.

Shirokage honestly wasn't going to question it. 

"Stop acting so stuck-up, foggy nobody!" The blonde haired boy, known as Bakugo, grinned as he held down Kurogiri.

"The Symbol of Peace cannot be killed by the likes of you." Todoroki told the villains in his usual calm manner.

"Kacchan! Everyone!" Midoriya was surprised and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"Kurogiri, our exit and entrance, has been overcome." Shigaraki noted in a surprisingly calm voice. "We're in a pinch."

Shirokage looked on warily. It was a concern that Shigaraki wasn't throwing a temper tantrum like usual. 

"You careless bastard. You're just what I thought you'd be." Bakugo grinned almost arrogantly. "Only certain parts of you can turn into a misty warp gate. The fog gate covered your actual body, right? Back then... If you were completely made of mist and physical attacks couldn't touch you, then you wouldn't have said 'that was close.'"

Bakugo let a couple explosions come out of his hands as Kurogiri looked like he was going to move.

"Don't move!" He yelled. "If I feel like you're moving suspiciously, then I'll blow you up."

"Oi, kid!" Shirokage called out, getting the students' attention. "Try not to get so cocky in the middle of a fight! Only idiots underestimate their opponents..."

"Like you're one to talk." Midoriya jumped at the deep, new voice that was unfamiliar to him.

"Yes, but I have actual fighting experience." Shirokage barely glanced over to him as Dabi came walking up behind her. When he reached her side, she spoke to him in a low tone. "Are the other students safe?"

Dabi nodded. "Everything's under control," he told her. "Toga's taking care of the clean up."

Shirokage paused. She finally turned to Dabi with an unseen look of complete exasperation, and it only took that one moment for him to realize what was wrong with that sentence. 

"I didn't think that through, did I?" Dabi asked, a tinge of horror displayed on his face as he thought of the consequences of leaving Toga, of all people, to do cleanup. 

"No, no you did not."

Midoriya sent a curious look towards the pair and was about to ask something, only yo be interrupted by Bakugo who hadn't heard a single word since Shirokage had decided to scold him.

"I don't need to hear something like that from a worthless vigilante!" He snarled.

"In addition to capturing them, they're almost all uninjured." Shigaraki began speaking again. You know, Shirokage was starting to think that the monolguing may be purely for self benefit because it really didn't seem like the dude was paying attention to any of the other conversations going on around him. "Kids these days are amazing. They make the League of Villains look bad. Nomu."

The creature suddenly pulled itself through the warp gate as its frozen arm and leg broke off leaving the students with wide eyes.

"Even though his body's broken... He's still moving?" Midoriya questioned, forgetting any questions he may have had for the two next to him. 

"You see what I mean?" Shirokage sighed, readying her white fire in her palms as Dabi did the same.

"Get back, everyone!" All Might warned his students as the nomu's arm and leg began to regenerate. "What? His quirk wasn't shock absorption?"

"I didn't say that was all he had." Shigaraki sounded quite smug as though it was such a huge surprise.

"Nomu's have multiple quirks. While shock absorption is one of its quirks, it also has the quirk of regeneration." Shirokage informed them even though she had already mentioned the whole regeneration thing to the man. 

Dabi, who had missed the earlier conversation about the nomu's abilities,  raised a brow as he glanced at his friend. "Do I even want to know how you know that?"

"Probably not."

"Nomu has been modified to take you at 100%." Shigaraki told the hero, ignoring Shirokage's and Dabi's exchange which only proved the white haired vigilante's theory even further. "He's a super-efficient human sandbag."

Midoriya and Todoroki began to get into a fighting position as they stared at the now freed Nomu.

"First, we need to get our gate back. Go, Nomu." Shigaraki ordered, causing the creature to shoot towards Bakugo.

Kirishima, Midoriya, and Todoroki were almost blown back by the wind that was caused by the power behind the nomu's attack, but Shirokage managed to grab all of them before they went too far and threw them over for Dabi to catch.

As it was, the scarred up man scrambled as he tried not to lose his grip on any of them until the wind settled.

"K-Kacchan!" Midoriya shouted as he stared at the cloud of smoke that had appeared before he noticed the blonde beside them. "Kacchan?! You dodged? That's amazing!"

"He didn't dodge, kid," Dabi sighed and shook his head, trying not to sound too tense with his little brother only a few feet away from him. 

Honestly, he was kind of grateful that he hadn't run into him any sooner or else he may have given himself away. 

He'd definitely be giving Shirokage a talking to for not mentioning that the white and red haired boy would be there. 

"Shut up, scum!" Bakugo told Midoriya as he stared in surprise from where he sat on the ground.

"Then how...?" Kirishima asked the man.

"Why don't you look for yourself?" He gestured towards where the cloud of smoke was beginning to blow away.

"Then that was..."

"Shirokage and All Might!" Midoriya exclaimed, looking at the number one vigilante and hero in surprise. You see, in the few seconds it had taken for the blow to occur, All Might had thrown Bakugo in the direction of his classmates and had prepared to take the hit. However, also in those few seconds, Shirokage, after handing the other students over to Dabi, had managed to make it just in time so that she took the blow with fire reinforcing her crossed arms. 

All of them, barring Dabi, looked at Shirokage in surprise.

"Full strength without a second thought, huh?" Shirokage kept any pain from leaking into her voice. She had no doubt that her arms would definitely be bruised in the morning. 

She sighed as she remembered just how little control most nomu had over themselves as well as the reason for their existence in the first place. 

"How pitiable," she whispered. 

"It was to rescue my companions." Shigaraki drawled out. "I had no choice. I mean, earlier, that... that plain looking one. He was about to punch me with everything he had, you know. Violence for the sake of others makes it admirable. Isn't that right, heroes?" Shirokage's eyes narrowed when he seemed to include her with his usage of the word 'heroes.' "You know what, All Might? Shirokage? I'm angry. I'm angry at this world that categorizes the same violent acts as heroic or villainous, deciding what's good and what's bad. 'Symbol of Peace'? 'Symbol of Fear?' Ha. You're just devices to repress violence. Violence only breeds violence. The world will know this once we kill you!"

"That's preposterous." All Might frowned, speaking up from where he had previously been staring curiously at Shirokage.  He was starting to reach his limit, and from the way Shirokage protected him, it seemed as though she was somehow aware. Even ignoring that, there was something else. There was something about the speed and way in which she moved that seemed oddly familiar, and that definitely gained his attention. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly the time to think about such matters.  "The eyes of white-collar criminals like you burn silently. You just want to enjoy this yourself, don't you, you liar?"
 
Everybody's attention snapped over to Shirokage as she let out an unamused snort.

"So you finally understand?" She asked, a brow raised in question. The others stared at her curiously causing her to sigh. "Not all villains have clear and definitive reasons behind their actions, especially one so childish as Shigaraki. Some people just want to watch the world burn."

There was a silence as the hero and heroes-in-training took in her words. There was certainly a truth to them even if they still didn't understand how villains could be so evil just for the sake of being evil. In some ways, though, they supposed it didn't really matter. What mattered was that they're able to be there to stop that evil.

"...It's three against five." Todoroki finally spoke up, breaking the ice.

"Um, excuse me?" Shirokage looked at him in mock offense, any trace of seriousness seemed to vanish without a trace. "There are six of us!"

"You don't count."

Shirokage gasped, placing a hand over her heart. "Offense!" She shouted. "I feel offended!"

"Kacchan already exposed the fog's weakness!" Midoriya had ignored the vigilante's dramatics.

"These guys are crazy but if we back up All Might, we can push them back!" Kirishima readied his quirk.

"No!" All Might refused. "Run away." He turned to the girl in front of him. "Shirokage, make sure they get out safely."

"You would've been in trouble if I hadn't done anything earlier, right?" Todoroki noted while Shirokage seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of listening to the hero.

"That was a different story, Young Todoroki. Thanks." All Might told him. "But it's fine! Just watch as a pro gives it everything he's got."

"All Might, you're bleeding..." Midoriya looked at the hero with a concerned look. "Besides, time's--"

Nobody else seemed to notice his words, but Shirokage gave him a suspicious glance.

"Nomu, Kurogiri. Get him." Shigaraki ordered. "I'll deal with the children. Now, let's clear this and go home."

"Oi, we've gotta do this after all!" Kirishima began to get in a fighting position as Shigaraki ran towards the five just as Shirokage made her decision. 

Before the villain managed to get anywhere near the students, as well as Dabi who it would appear had been forgotten, he was blown back by the sheer force at which both Shirokage and All Might began to exchange blows with the nomu.

"A head-on fist fight?!" Midoriya exclaimed as he tried to avoid getting blown away.

"Wow!" Kirishima stared in amazement at the power of the blast.

"I-I can't get near them!" Kurogiri exclaimed.

All of them were struggling to maintain their balance as they watched the three. It was obvious to anyone watching that All Might and Shirokage were winning as they struck in speedy intervals. 

"Hey villain," All Might started. "Have you ever heard these words? Go beyond! Plus... Ultra...!"

Everybody stared in amazement as the nomu was sent flying through the roof of the building with a well timed punch and kick from both Shirokage and All Might.

"Is this a comic book or something?" Kirishima questioned incredulously. "It's like they nullified the shock absorption. Their brute strength is crazy."

"What insane power..." Bakugo noted begrudgingly. He had no problem admitting that All Might was strong, but the same didn't apply to Shirokage. "Does this mean they rushed at him so fast he couldn't regenerate?"

As both Shirokage and All Might caught their breath, the vigilante couldn't help the pity that welled up towards the nomu. She knew all too well what it was like to not have control over one's own body, and if things hadn't happened the way they had, she wouldn't have been surprised if she had become an existence very similar to a nomu.

She supposed she couldn't help but sympathize with the creature that would never again be able to think for itself. 

"I really have gotten weaker," All Might broke her train of thought as his figure was shown through the smoke that had appeared. "In my prime, five hits by myself would've been enough." Shirokage blanched. She wasn't really sure if she'd be able to manage that. Maybe if she wasn't focusing her healing on Aizawa…? "But it took more than 300 hits. Now, villains... I'm sure we'd all like to end this as soon as possible."

Shirokage raised a brow. Counting five to ten hits was one thing, but counting over three hundred? That seemed like way too much effort. 

"Weaker? No way." Shigaraki began to tremble in rage. "We've been completely overwhelmed. I can't believe he did that to my Nomu... Did he use a cheat?! What's going on...? He's not any weaker at all. Did that guy lie to me?!"

"What's wrong?" All Might questioned. "You're not coming? You said you'd 'clear' this or something, right? Come and get me if you can."

"All Might..."

"As expected, it looks like there is no need for us to fight."

"Midoriya!" Kirishima called out to his friend. "We should get out of here now! It'll be worse if we end up getting taken hostage instead!"

When Midoriya didn't answer, Shirokage glanced over and noticed the concerned look on his face. Normally, she would have reassured him that she'd take care of things, but she was a bit too far away to mention anything without seeming suspicious to any of the others around them. 

"Well? What's wrong?!" All Might continued his bluffing.

"If only I had Nomu..." Shigaraki complained as he started scratching himself once again. "That guy would've been able to go up against him without thinking about anything!"

"Shigaraki Tomura!" Kurogiri tried to calm him down. "Please calm yourself. Looking carefully, I see that he was definitely weakened from the damage of Nomu's attacks. Besides, the children appear to be frozen in fear. We still have underlings who can be used. There are likely only a few minutes left before reinforcements come. If you and I work together, we still have a chance of killing him."

"Yeah... Yeah, yeah..." Shigaraki finally began to calm down. "That's right... That's right... We have no choice but to do it. I mean, we have the last boss right in front of our eyes."

Shirokage was beginning to feel like chopped liver as he only seemed to have eyes for All Might 

"All Might will do something about the main bad guys." Kirishima spoke as villains who had previously been knocked out began to get up and surround them. "Let's go help the others!"

Yup, definitely chopped liver. 

"Midoriya?" Todoroki questioned as he saw the green haired boy still staring at All Might.

"This is revenge for Nomu!" Shigaraki exclaimed as he and Kurogiri ran towards All Might.

Before Shirokage could stop him, Midoriya had already leapt towards the fight to protect All Might.

"Oi, kid!" Shirokage called out in concern as she prepared to go after him.

"Get away from All Might!" Midoriya yelled as he readied a punch towards Kurogiri, but at the same time Shigaraki reached a hand towards the boy through the warp gate.

"I won't fall for that again!" Kurogiri proclaimed.

Just as Shigaraki was about to use his quirk on Midoriya, a shot rang out and hit his hand. And fortunately, Shirokage managed to catch the green haired boy before he went tumbling to the ground.

"Geez, you really are reckless." She scolded the boy as she narrowed her eyes at his now broken legs.

For someone with such a strong quirk, it was quite the drawback. Though, if she remembered correctly, he had used it earlier on without any consequence. 

"Are they here?" All Might looked towards the entrance only for them all to see multiple teachers who had finally arrived.

"Sorry, everyone!" The principal called out. "Sorry we're late! I gathered all who were immediately available."

"I, Tenya Iida, class 1-A representative, have now returned!" A young man with glasses declared as he stood with the heroes.

The underlings began to make their way towards the heroes but all their efforts were fruitless as they were knocked out one by one. Shirokage herself was quite displeased when Present Mic began using his quirk.

"That man is way too loud for my sensitive ears..." She muttered with a slight wince, gaining a curious look from the boy in her arms.

"Aw man, they're here." Shigaraki complained as he took a couple of steps back. "It's game over now. Shall we go home and try again later, Kurogir-?"

Shigaraki was interrupted as he was shot at once again before he was covered by Kurogiri, but the warp gate was beginning to get pulled in by Thirteen.

"I may have failed this time, but I will kill you next time... Symbol of Peace, All Might!" Shigaraki threatened as they finally managed to warp away.

"Hah! Good luck with that, ya' man child!" Shirokage called out, causing everyone to dead pan around her.

"I wasn't... Able to do anything..." Midoriya clenched his hands and grit his teeth as he looked down.

"That's not true." All Might reassured him, causing him to look up again. "If it weren't for those few seconds you bought me, I would've been killed. You saved me again."

"All Might..."

Tears began to gather in Midoriya's eyes as All Might gave him a smile.

"I'm... So glad you're okay...!"

"Um, as touching as this is and everything, you were still unnecessarily reckless!" Shirokage began scolding Midoriya, who was still in her arms. Both All Might and Midoriya looked at her in surprise as though they forgot she was there. That was honestly a them problem, though, so she wasn't going to comment on their surprise even though one of them was literally in her arms. "Seriously though! I swear, both of you are going to get yourselves killed one day with recklessness like that, and then what will you do?!"

The two sweat dropped as she continued her scolding. At this moment, she didn't seem like somebody who was actually the number one vigilante. She acted more like a nagging mother than anything else.

"Midoriya!" They three turned to see Kirishima running right towards them with Dabi following slowly behind him.

"Oh, Kirishima..." Midoriya noticed.

"Are you all right?!" The red head called out seeing that the boy was still in the vigilante's arms.

"K-Kirishima, wai--!" Midoriya began to call out as both him and All Might freaked out about All Might's current state. Luckily, Cementoss erected a wall dividing them before Kirishima could find out.

"We want to make sure that all the students are safe, so please gather in front of the gate." Cementoss explained. "We will deal with the injured here."

"That makes sense! Roger that!" Kirishima grinned as he ran off.

"Haha!" All Might and Midoriya stiffened as they heard Shirokage give a light laugh, just now realizing that she had seen All Might's true form. "The students here are so earnest! That's a quality I've missed seeing in people! But I guess I should probably take my leave now."

The vigilante gave an unnoticeable pout as she gently laid the green haired boy on the ground near All Might.

"Try not to be so reckless, okay?" She told Midoriya before turning to All Might. "And don't worry, I'll keep your secret. I understand what kind of situation you're in, so don't go overdoing it now."

And with that, she gave a small wave and an unseen smile before disappearing in a flash of white flames along with Dabi and Toga, who had been in an entirely different section of the building. 

"That Shirokage always manages to get away, doesn't she?" Cementoss walked towards the pair.

"She certainly does," All Might sighed. "Thanks for the cover. You saved me Cementoss."

"I am a fan of yours, too." The man admitted. "Let's get you to the nurse's office while keeping you hidden. But man, you act recklessly every time, huh?"

"If I didn't act recklessly, I would've been killed. That was how strong the enemy was." All Might looked off to the side as he wiped some blood off his face. "Besides, Shirokage has already scolded me. For a vigilante, she acts more like a mother hen!"

"Is that so?"

*****

4162 words excluding A/N's

I admit, I actually kept a fair bit of the original in this chapter.

Finished - September 24, 2021

Bye~