Chapter 55: To Save

Recap:

Then she bit.

What is the instinctive human reaction when in pain? To get rid of it. And if it was coming from what he held in his clutch, then his subsequent action was... to release her.

She felt the howling wind rush through her ears as her body locked up, finally declaring her done.

She thought about the rest of the words she couldn't mouth out at the moment.

'Either you run out of breath or I fall to my death.'

An exchange, her life, or his win.

She didn't mean to apply such insidious methods, but this was truly her last card to winning the festival.

If they went higher and higher, his added mouths, which were already supplying him with extra oxygen, would promise him the win.

So she bet her life was the last thing she had.

The girl heard the sounds increase from below as her body was positioned to face the sky.

With her last thought, she looked at the image of a clear sky, and a yellow ball of energy illuminated everything.

An unimaginable warmth flooded her body as the yellow rays felt akin to a mother cradling her newborn child.

'How pretty.'

"_______ WINS!!!!!!"

____________________________________________________________________________

'WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! MOMMY, HE'S SCARY?!!!!!'

Scenes of how the mere presence of himself frightened children played on loop.

That day marked the last day he went out without wearing his mask.

Simultaneously, while he was recalling the scene like a film, his classmate released herself from the clutches of his hands.

Once free, since they were so high up in the air, she fell down, gravity whisking her away.

'No, she didn't fall; I...let go of her.'

Regardless of whether it's instinct or not, he was the reason she'd be hurt—because of him.

Mezo's darkest thoughts crept from their abyssal-like corner, snaking their way into his mind, tainting his normally pure self.

'If she dies, then another one of them is gone—those who hate us. Just like Suijin said all those months ago: "People with true mutant quirks are looked at as different from normal and out of place. Even in this society." Removing one of the 'others' would balance the scale.'

A dark chuckle echoed, though mysteriously enough, he didn't 'hear' it.

'Even out the playing field a little. No different from trying to rectify the situation from the past when all of 'Them' drove your family of three out of the village.'

He hated how those thoughts made him feel; he hated how a part of him actually thought that way and how he even considered agreeing with those notions.

Suijin wasn't like that; the spray-bottled boy thought differently, and a massive part of context was left out of that quote.

'Stop.'

He quelled his inner thoughts.

Shoji had been feared as a kid, even throughout middle school. Those who didn't bully him did so not out of respect but out of fear.

He was adamant about his dream of being a hero from a young age.

So many, believed it was out of hatred, they feared his vengeance once he grew old and wise.

'But I just want to save people!'

The boy thought so while free-falling towards the girl, thankful that her quirk's effects stopped due to her fainting.

He wanted to save Suijin from those dark ideals he used to shout, to be that exception, setting a precedent different from what he said and guiding Suijin on a better path.

He wanted to save his parents from constantly worrying about him; his mothers shaking hands whenever he got a bruise rattled his usually firm heart.

He wanted to save this society's messed-up views, as Suijin previously pointed out; that's why he's trying to elevate his position to one that could make decisions.

And most importantly, he wanted to save himself.

Save his fate from just being another name society threw in the trash—a miscreant who whined about how he was wronged by this world.

He wanted to be more; Shoji's desires to save were the reasons he was even here.

'Nobody will take that away from me!'

The boy dove down, making his body as thin as possible, while diving headfirst after the girl.

But first, he has to Save her!

'Or else Midoriya will be mad.'

He chuckled inwardly, imagining the heart attack the boy and the rest of his classmates must be having.

They were getting closer and closer to the ground, and with each second, Shoji started to hate the laws of science even more.

He desperately hoped to increase his falling speed, but even as she was completely facing the sky with her back to the ground,

By increasing the resistance of the air on her and slowing her descent, the initial distance between the two was just too large!

Hope seemed to be lost as the girl's fate appeared to be to meet the rough cement.

The crowd grew restless, and a series of faces gradually grew pale.

Those who could help had to wait for her to be in range, but due to her speed, they had to time it perfectly, so many had sweat dripping down their faces with anticipation.

"OCHACO!!!!!"

Her classmates shouted with worry as they watched the scene; some of the weaker-willed ones shut their eyes, not wanting to see the outcome.

Then, instantly, as if responding to outside factors, something acted.

In the future, many would debate whether her quirk activated on its own, fueling the theory that quirks were sentient.

Others would argue that her subconscious, even when knocked out, recognized her imminent peril; thus, that's what activated her quirk.

Regardless, the quirk Zero-Gravity, in that situation, activating, caused the girl to ascend rather than descend. It was barely for a moment—a second at maximum.

But it was enough.

Mezo seized the opportunity, reaching out his arms towards her while, underneath his mask, smiling.

The piece of cloth was doing its job in overdrive, covering up the majority of his face, yet the upturning of his mouth couldn't be hidden as it faltered just a bit.

'A smile?'

Suijin was captivated by the rare sight of him being able to see the silver-haired boy's faint smile, as were the Shoji and Shimizu families.

Smiling in the air, he spoke while grabbing her and bringing her into his clutches.

"I'M…HERE!!!!!"