A blood-curdling screech filled the air as a figure clad in shadows stood atop a pool of blood.

'No, stop!'

The shadow raised its fist and plugged it into the beaten, broken young hero.

'Stop!'

More screeches followed as it pumped the helpless man, 'Why can't I move!? Move damn it!' And she was powerless to watch it.

Her thoughts turned cold as a pained cough left the bloody crater. 'Stop, you're going to die!'

Ragged and broken was a still-standing Kirishima, red with blood. He grinned and raised his fist to face the horror.

The shadow was not alone. An army of them plagued her view. The one at the front only raised its fist. 'Stop this!' she screamed to death's ears.

If Nomu was genetically made, then what would it be like if they made hundreds of thousands? What if instead of one, it was multiple that came to attack? How would they have survived?

Who was behind this and why? Thoughts disappeared as quickly as they came.

"I can do this all day!" Kirishima screamed like the knight he was and leapt into the darkness. Mina reached out to stop him. She grabbed nothing but darkness and fell in.

Mina woke with a jolt, panting lightly. She jumped, feeling strong arms wrap around her a bit tighter.

"Right," she said in a hushed voice, 'how did the villains get into UA?'

The thought had been swimming around her mind ever since the event. And she was sure to not be the only.

'I wonder if you've thought about it? Look at that stupid cute face!'

She giggled, not wanting to look away from Kirishima's face, his light snoring, his thumping heartbeat, and the fact he was holding her tightly so she wouldn't fall to the ground.

'How can you be so calm and so strong? Hihi, you even made a big deal of being afraid. Did you feel so bad being afraid?'

"I was afraid too," she whispered, "When I saw Nomu do that to you, bleeding and breaking. And I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry."

With a sobbing chuckle, she added, "I guess I now know how you felt when you saw me against that villain in middle school. No wonder you're working so hard now."

She leaned into the crook of his neck, her body trembling. Mina wanted to sleep this away, but that was until she felt a pat on her head.

A silence of understanding lingered between the two of them. Not long after Mina was the first to sleep, Kirishima, after planting a soft kiss on her head, followed right after.

'I can't feel that way ever again when I meet Gang Orca... I'm going to need him to push like there's no tomorrow.' He thought his mind was resolute.

He planned to go through hell if Gang Orca allowed it, and if he did and Eijiro survived, then he'd come out stronger than imagined.

But that's for the future. Right now, "I love you, Mina." He smiled, drifting to sleep.

…

The next day went as usual. With Kirishima being the first to wake up, he was careful not to disturb Mina and her cute snore. He made sure to take a picture of her face.

'Should I add a filter?' He shrugged and went with it.

"Alright, that's enough. Wake up, sleeping beauty," he said, pushing her gently.

Her face fluttered before she growled, stuffing herself further into the blanket.

"Don't make me force you up; we have to get an early run in."

"Can you please give me just five?"

'Five Minutes? That's alright, I guess.' He was about to agree.

"Years." She finished. Eijro's smile flattened, and he nodded, leaving the room and coming back with a bucket.

Finally, after waking her up and going for their morning run, the duo were making their way through the school gates, Kirishima with a smile and Mina with a frown.

"What were you going to do with that bucket?"

"Well, you got up before we could find out." He smiled.

'That's beside the point.' She thought, her pout growing. "That's it. No cuddling, hugs, or anything like that for a week."

She said those words before walking into class with a beaming smile. 'Not like it's going to matter, though we'll be too busy with our week-long field duty.'

He greeted everyone as he made his way to sit down: "So have you guys chosen your field of work?" I'm going to work with Gang Orca on Okuto Island."

"Damn," Kaminari said, "To Okuto Island? Must be nice. Like a mini vacation."

"Surrounded by all that water, what if something happens and you fall in?" Tsuyu said.

"I know how to swim and hold my breath for a while."

"I've heard the hotels there are so expensive and amazing," Ochako said like a faithful screen shopper. "I'm heading to learn under the bottle hero Gunhead! Hya! Just wait, when you see me, I'm going to be so different, I'll suplex you!"

Kirishima held in his laughter; it was a good choice for her. He went to chat with the others too, and Bakugo responded with the usual

"Fuck off! While you're learning under the Number 10, I'm learning under the Number 4!" He grinned.

'Right…' Kirishima held back a smirk and said, "Good luck, man!" He gave it a thumbs-up.

Once Aizawa walked in, the class began, and the day went on as usual, with nothing overly important other than Allmight coming to check on Midoriya and talking about Gran Torino.

The class went on without much to explore, and before they knew it, the first period had come to an end.

While everyone went off to lunch, Kirishima went in another direction. "Hm? Hey man, where are you heading?" It was Kaminari who called him.

"I'm heading to the support department; I've got an idea I want out of my head."

"Like hero gear? Mention if I tag along; I've also got something I want to ask."

"Let's go then."

The two began a conversation as they made their way to the support department.

"Hang on, you want to make clothes from your hair and harden it? But you harden your body; isn't that enough?"

"There's nothing wrong with extra armour, and I've been training so I can harden my hair even when it's separated from me; I can see it becoming useful in various ways."

'Going all out on defence, huh?" Kaminari thought.

It was then that they entered the door of the support department, and a waft of mechanical fumes entered their noses, causing them to reel back.

"Is that a fire?" Kaminari pointed at the burning robot, similar to the one they fought against at the entrance ceremony.

"Noo! My baby!" A pink-haired girl ran to the mech with a fire extinguisher.

An adult groan followed: "Mei, I told you to stop working and have your lunch."

The voice belonged to the Pro HeroPower Loader; he chastised Mei, the girl crying over her shared mech, before taking notice of Kirishima and Kaminari.

"What are you kids doing here? Honestly, does no one value lunch anymore?" He spoke tiredly.

Kaminari chuckled worriedly, and Kirishima couched, Actually, sir, we were wondering if we could get some support items made."

Mei jumped from her crouching position; all the sadness previously there was gone. "Crap," Power Loader muttered.

"Support Items!? You've come to the right place," she said, grabbing both boys' hands, her eyes gleaming with passion. "I'm Mei Hatsume! What kind of equipment do you need? Travel, Combat, Scouting, huh?"

She bombarded them with questions: "If you're looking to fight behind a well-guarded mechanical suit, then look no further than a beautiful baby!" She pointed to the broken mech.

"Yeah, you're not serious, right?" Kaminari asked.

"Of course! It may look like this but don't worry, I'll have it fixed up in a minute." As soon as she finished, the mech sparked as if it was going to blow, "maybe two minutes."

"We're getting off hand here," the power loader intervened, "what are your quirks, how do they work, and what are you after? Fill out these forms."

Kirishima and Kaminari grabbed the slip and handed it to them. "Normally we go through a process, but this is not every day students walk in asking for support equipment; write your needs and we'll have someone build for you."

"What about me? I can build whatever they need." Mei said.

"You are going on a break; how long has it been since you've eaten?"

"Who cares about food when my babies haven't been born yet?"

"I feel like this is getting out of hand," Kaminari whispered, earning a nod from Kirishima.

Filling out the sheet, Kirishima handed it to Mei and asked, "Can you help me make this?"

A cute gasp left her, and her face beamed. Power Loader was surprised but said nothing as Kaminari handed her his sheet as well.

"What you showed in the sports festival was pretty cool, and if you made those on your own then," Kaminari shrugged, "Our support Items are in good hands." He smiled, 'as long as nothing blows up.'

Mei beamed and smiled, saying, "You won't regret this! I'm going to start working right away!"

'And when I thought none of the students would recognise her talent or ask for her help,' Power Loader smiled as Mei went out of sight.

"Wait a minute! Go eat something!" He went after her.

"Man, those two are..." Kaminari was at a loss for words.

"Lively," Kirishima said.

"So something to direct your electricity? Why not some sort of suit that you can power yourself?" Kirishima asked.

"I thought about it, but Nah, maybe for rocket boots or something," Kaminari shrugged as they left the support department.

"Hey, Kirishima… How are you feeling after the whole villain's thing?"

"… I'm… Alright, I'm not going to say I'm great; hell, I was terrified. You saw Nomu, right?"

"I was just waiting for Allmight to come and save us, but he didn't, and I didn't know what else to do, so I just moved."

"Yeah, you were pretty metal; it still freaks me out how easily they got in U.A. Like they could appear at any moment," Kaminari said, looking out the windows of the hallway.

Kirishima patted his back and said, Well, if they ever do, then I'll be here. I'm stronger than last time, so I can probably take Nomu on my own!" He boasted, earning a chuckle from him.

Even though the atmosphere was laced with a layer of anxiousness, if they could appear at any moment, right now, would they be ready?

Both arrived at the cafeteria and sat down with the others.

"Where have you too been?" Jiro asked.

"Oh, we went to the support department for some new equipment. Man, you should've been there; there's this girl, Mei Hatsume." Kaminari began to retell their experience.

Kirishima sat next to Mina.

"Oh, the one with all the gears in the sports festival," Momo smiled. "I loved her equipment; I went to her to show me how they worked so I could make my own for my training if I needed to."

'Maybe I need support equipment?' Midoriya thought, "But what kind? Since we leave for our training next week, I guess if we need anything, we should do it now." He muttered.

"My quirks are on the simple side; I don't think I'll need a support piece," Sero said.

Just like that, a conversation grew from there.

"Like hell, Allmight needs a piece of equipment to help him. It'll just hold him back," Bakugo said.

"Why bother wearing extra gear when it'll get in the way of my dazzle?" Ayoyama added.

"Of course, that's your point of view on this," Mina said.

"You think I could get X-ray glasses?" Mineta said.

Everyone at the table glared at him and said, "Just kidding, haha."

Before they knew it, the rest of the day went by smoothly. "I'm pretty sure Mineta is on some sort of list," Mina said as she and Kirishima left the school gates.