Third person pov

Shota Aizawa, known as Eraserhead to a majority of the public, had just taken All For One down with a single look. He was an underground hero. Never had he been one to revel in fame. Cameras repulsed him, and he'd die before doing any sort of interview. Were this scenario occurring under different circumstances, he would've run and hid immediately. Let the credit fall to someone else while he made his way home. That's just the kind of person he was. It was the type of person he would always be, he was sure. 

This time was different. There was no time to get away from it all or block out the deafening cheers and whoops that erupted around him like lava from a volcano. Everything was a blur. His eyes and stomach hurt more than they ever had in his entire life. His entire world seemed to spin as people jumped to restrain All For One, in case he wasn't completely dead. There was a faint wail of sirens in the distance. Overhead, the news helicopter descended to try finding a place to land. It was loud, and the gust generated by its propellers made Shota all the more dizzy. He couldn't think of a single time he'd been more disoriented. Not even at the USJ. Then, he'd been hurt, but not horribly dizzy or out of it. Just beaten down. Now... he wasn't sure what he felt, but it made him feel like he was spinning two different directions at once.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, drawing him from his daze somewhat. He came face to face with All Might himself, in his weakened form. His face was streaked with tears that had ripped through the layer of dust on his face, leaving clean tracks behind. Aizawa blinked at him, his throat feeling too raw to force words through. The side effects he felt seemed similar to those of Lillian's, though not entirely. The twisting pain in his stomach, the blurred vision, and drowsiness.

"Lillian..." The dark haired man breathed, blinking. Something in him clicked, and it all happened in an instant. Everything rushed back at him almost immediately at that. His ears popped, and nothing sounded as muffled as it had before. His vision cleared, the fog over his mind lifted, and he was thrust back into the clamor of reality all at once. His entire body seemed to shudder. The air here wasn't clean, but he still found himself inhaling deeply and not reacting much at all to the immense amount of dust that tickled his lungs. He pulled away from Toshinori, who seemed concerned and heartbroken by his successor's actions. "Lillian! Where's my daughter?!"

The same fear that had bubbled within him when he descended to find Lillian gripping Awase's limp body in her arms attacked him with fresh ferocity. His heart rate took off at a dead sprint and left him feeling dizzy all over again. He spun in a full circle, trying to catch sight of her. SHe wasn't where he'd left her. He'd be a little afraid if she were. People began to ask one another where Lillian had gone. That's one of the things that had driven them here in the first place. Her, and Eraserhead's determination to get to her. At first they'd thought it was just because he was her teacher. They could all see it ran deeper than that now. He was her father, and a good dad would go to any length to ensure the health and happiness of their child.

"Eraserhead, this way! She was taken to the healers!" Someone called, and he didn't hesitate to take off in the direction of the voice. People were swarming around, clearing paths for police and ambulances, carrying the injured that had been blown away by All For One's relentless air cannons, and just generally trying to recuperate. A ways away, the news copter finally landed. The reporters jumped out and offered it to the injured. It would be able to fly people in critical condition to the hospital. This would also clear space for other ambulances or police officers to arrive, or even another copter.

Running towards where Lillian had been taken was such a dreadful thing, because he wasn't sure what state he'd find her in. To nearly be shot after being kidnapped and taken into a battlefield was one thing. But to be almost shot by someone she trusted and considered to be a dear friend... It made Aizawa want to scream just thinking about it. His daughter didn't deserve this! None of his students did! Hadn't Shoto and Izuku been in a relationship? He had seen the half-and-half teen stumble by earlier, and it had been obvious he'd bore witness to what happened. It made him sick to his stomach. He wanted to be enraged at Izuku-- he was, to an extent-- but something stopped him from completely losing it. The realization that he still cared for his green-haired student, despite what he'd just done. He couldn't help it no matter how hard he tried.

Awase's body had been moved, but the gigantic puddle of blood staining the broken up concrete still made Shota flinch as he passed by it. An ambulance skidded out from between two buildings, bumping over rocks and debris, but Aizawa never once faltered as he ran towards the small medical camp made inside a torn open building. It was a one story place that seemed to have been vacant once. An entire wall had been ripped away from it, leaving it open and easy to carry people in and out of while still keeping a roof above them. Someone who's quirk made them glow sat in the center of the room, doing nothing but glowing to provide those present with the light they needed to help the injured.

Aizawa slowed to a stop as his eyes came to rest on his little girl. His eyes watered at the sight. She was sitting there on her knees, her and Shoto Todoroki wrapped in a tight embrace. Neither were saying anything. They only cried, sobbing so hard they shook in one another's grasp. Denki Kaminari sat off to the side, his head in his hands as a young man tended to him. Neito and Katsuki were the only two standing. The explosive blonde gazed at Lillian sadly, his fists clenched and his eyes teary. The undead one was arguing with a woman.

"I need to know where the fuck his body is!" He hissed at the woman, who was giving him a hard look. It wasn't harsh—just firm. She wasn't pitying him, but there was sympathy there. "You don't understand. I can bring him back! I can give them time!"

"There's a hole through his heart. We don't know what will happen if you try to wake him up, or what his family wants, even. His body has already been removed, dear. There's no use fretting over it." Despite the solidness of her look, her tone was soft and understanding. She could see that this was a distressed child, and she was responded appropriately. Aizawa's eyes flickered back to Lillian, and he took a step forward to go to her. He didn't expect to be stopped in his pursuit.

"Don't." Bakugo's voice was quiet in an almost weak way. Shota turned to him, but the blonde was still looking at Lillian. There was no fire in his crimson eyes, not any rage. Just a deep sense of grief and disappointed. His childhood friend had changed sides, and done something unspeakable. Someone he'd thought he knew, but hadn't. This had to be just as hard for him, if not harder. Aizawa was surprised he wasn't completely losing it and trying to kill Izuku. "Just... give them a moment."

So he did. He let himself brush past Bakugo, briefly putting a hand on his shoulder as he went. His head was still spinning, but he didn't have time for that. He went up to Kaminari. The blood from before was notably missing, though tears were now pouring from his eyes without much abandon. He looked nothing like his usual happy-go-lucky self. That sense of joking, friendly optimism that always surrounded him was no longer present. It broke Aizawa's heart to see him like this. No matter how annoying he got or how idiotic he acted at times, this was his student. He could scold him for breaking the rules later. He didn't need that right now.

Aizawa brought him in for a hug without asking, because he needed it. The blonde froze for a moment. He just stood there, stiff as a log and not sure how to react to the unexpected display of comfort. Aizawa gave his back a pat, and Kaminari choked out a audible sob he seemed to have been holding back. Shota took a deep breath as his electrified student broke down in his arms, feeling a vengeful amount of rage in him. Death would be too good for All For One. And for Izuku... he didn't know yet. He had no idea how to react. His brain wanted to feel a certain sort of emotion towards it, but he was so conflicted. He was sure everyone was.

"Mr. Aizawa, why did he do it?" Kaminari asked, his voice a mere croak. Aizawa didn't know what to say. He had no answer. He had no idea why Izuku did what he did, or how they hadn't realized he was in league with the villains to begin with. They'd been aware there was a traitor. Maybe if Aizawa had looked harder, he would've seen. He hadn't wanted to believe one of his students could be a villain. Yet here they were, with a student of Class 1-B dead and a student of 1-A frozen in ice. All Aizawa could do was give Kaminari a squeeze. It was answer enough. Aizawa didn't know. No one did. Only time would tell if they would ever get to the bottom of how Izuku was led down this path.

Lillian had thought she knew what it felt like to have your life fall apart and crumble around you. At the USJ, when she watched her father almost die, she had felt everything tumble away. Or that's what she'd assumed that feeling was. When she found out she'd been kidnapped by her not-mom and not-dad, she'd felt adrift in a sea that held no land for her to dock on. A planet made up of water, where she's float and float for the rest of her life. Lillian had been so sure there could be nothing worse than that. Nothing worse than getting kidnapped by the League, and then dragged off to a battlefield alongside a classmate she didn't know as well as she now wished she had. 

But no. Nothing could match this—not truly. She and Izuku had never been close. No one had really been all that close to him out of their friend group. Even Ochako and Tenya claimed they didn't hang out with him outside of school. Shoto was, arguably, the only one who could claim to really know him. By extension, Lillian could call him a good friend. He had always been nice to her. He'd come into Mihoko's home more than once, not ever staying long but still joking around with them and helping around the house. She hadn't even given it a second thought. He was her friend, and though she was a generally paranoid person, she'd had no reason to assume he'd try to shoot her in the back. Literally.

But here she was, hugging Shoto and crying out tears of shock, disbelief, and grief. Not only for the loss of Awase, but for the loss of Izuku as well. Shoto was doing the same. He'd seen the whole thing, and Lillian desperately wished he hadn't. She wished she could take it all away for him, because he hadn't needed to witness that. He'd been happy! He'd gotten away from his father, and was living a good life, and had been in what Lillian and everyone else had thought to be a healthy relationship. Hell, Hitoshi and Neito had been the ones to push them together in the first place. But now that all seemed like a lie. Izuku was not who he said he was in the least. He was clearly quite far from their friend. And that... that hurt. It hurt really bad.

She could hear Neito shouting. He wanted to know where Awase was. He wanted to bring him back to life long enough for them to fix him. Neito knew Awase the best out of all of them. They were in 1-B together, and had surely interacted on more than one occasion. He was enraged. Lillian could understand that, even if only vaguely through her own despair. She felt like she had no idea what was happening, all the while knowing far too much. She hadn't really known Awase, but he had protected her so surely. He had stayed with her when he easily could've tried saving himself instead. 

"I-It's okay, Shoto." She managed to choke out, her voice quiet but easily heard by him. "You're going t-t-to be o-okay."

"Wh-Why?" Was all Shoto managed to respond with. Lillian didn't know. It was the same question she she'd been asking herself since she got here. Since that God forsaken gunshot had went off to begin with. Lillian pulled away from her friend, gripping his upper arms and looking into his mismatched eyes. His face was blotchy from crying, and he gripped at her forearms like he'd get lost if he let go. Lillian took a deep breath. The air smelt like smoke and dirt. It felt like that was the only thing she'd ever smell. Like she'd never find fresh air again.

"I-I don't know, Sh-Shoto." Lillian said honestly. She had to get herself together. It was over now. What had happened had happened, but she needed to get herself and her friends out of here. The battle had ended. She could grieve when she and everyone else was somewhere safe enough to allow it. Shoto deserved more than the dirty floor of a broken apart, abandoned building. "B-But we'll find out, o-okay? We'll get a-answers. But we can't st-stay here, okay?"

His body jolted with hiccups, but he nodded. His trust in Lillian and his friends was not broken, and it was a miracle it wasn't. To have someone so close to you betray you in such a way would make any weary of the others around them, but Shoto seemed to still hold a world of faith in her. She took slow and deliberate breaths. Without having to tell him to, he copied. It would be fine. Everything could be fine! No need to have her third mental break of the day. She could have that later. It was probably around lunch time. She was just taking a break from panicking, that's all. Yes. That's how this worked. Totally. She hadn't just had someone die right in front of her. Nor was she covered in their blood. And it wasn't as though her friend had been aiming for her when they killed-- you know what, no. It was fine. This is fine.

Kaminari and Neito darted over as Lillian hauled Shoto to his feet. Lillian felt like she may be in denial, but tried to tell herself the denial was temporary. It's not like she thought maybe this was a mistake. Izuku had shot and killed Awase, cut and dry. It didn't matter if there was some other reason. Lillian didn't care. Her friend had just tried to kill her, and Awase had saved her life. She knew all this. However, even with how painful it was, it felt almost... grounding. She'd cried. Now, she could stand, and cry more later. And maybe vomit. She felt vaguely like vomiting. It occurred to her that she was the one who was supposed to die. Izuku had been aiming for her. Not Awase.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Neito still seemed distraught, but seemed to be handling things the best out of all of them. Bakugo shuffled over as well, moving forward so his shoulder bumped Lillians. Aizawa approached too, ready to escort them away as a police officer finished relaying information to him. The press was beginning to swarm the area as the injured were carted away. There were a pair of cop cars ready to drive them away from the scene as soon as they were ready. Izuku had already been taken away, and All For One had been removed the moment police could get their hands on the man. He was a biological phenomenon and an immense danger to human society as a whole, after all.

"I-I'm... I'm okay." Lillian breathed, tears still dripping from her eyes despite her feeling calmed down for the most part. Her gaze flew to Kaminari, who fidgeted, but met her look head on and with a hope that maybe she wouldn't bring up cranberry sprite for any reason. "Th-Thank you for coming. A-All of you."

Neito pulled her into a brief hug, pressing his face into the top of her head momentarily before pulling away and squeezing her shoulders. The blonde pulled Shoto into him next seeing as the half-and-half boy was shaking so hard he looked ready to fall over. Lillian reached out and grabbed Kaminari's hands to give them a squeeze. He gave a small squeeze back and offered a weak smile, looking incredibly tired. Lillian couldn't blame him. Of all the people she'd expected to come to her rescue, it hadn't been him, but she was impossibly thankful. She couldn't even begin to express it. She stepped back, looking to Bakugo. It was obvious he was trying to hold it together.

"Come on, you five. We need to get you to a hospital." Aizawa said, his tone back to the cool and bland state it usually rested in. "Kaminari, your parents are already on the way there as we speak. Bakugo, your mother is with Mihoko at the moment..."

The boy didn't say a word. He didn't glare, or even scoff. He just stood beside Lillian, close enough that they were touching. Lillian wiped at her face, feeling like she may break down again. Standing up was one thing. Walking? She hoped she'd manage, but that could just be wishful thinking on her part. The girl took a deep breath, closing her eyes carefully for a moment. She didn't know why Izuku would do what he'd done, but she couldn't think about it right now. Instead, she grabbed Bakugo's hand reassuringly. He gripped back, firm but not painful. 

"Let's go." Neito cracked his back. "Hitoshi is probably losing his shit, and Inko..."

Aizawa paled. Lillian looked to Bakugo with wide eyes to see he clearly hadn't realized either. They all seemed to look at each other for a moment. Even Kaminari looked startled, recognizing the name of Izuku's mother and clearly realizing the implications set. Determined to get out of here and maybe into some clean clothing, they all took off for the police cruisers. All Might was handling the press, announcing his retirement and trying to explain what his successor had done. Much like everyone else, he didn't have an explanation. 

Aizawa, Bakugo, and Lillian crowded into the back of one cruiser, while Neito, Kaminari, and Shoto piled into the second. People were respectful as they went. The press didn't approach, and no fans tried to cheer for Lillian or Eraserhead. Those who'd helped in the fight that were still present bowed their heads and gave respectful nods that Aizawa dutifully returned so his daughter wouldn't have to. He knew he owed the public, which was never something he thought he'd say. Without them, he wasn't sure what would've happened to Lillian. And that... it was something he didn't want to think about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inko was a woman who loved her son. He was the absolute light of her life, with aspirations just as big and bold as his smile. For as long as she could remember, he'd wanted to be a hero. She was so sure she knew him before now. Sure, he'd become distant during the year leading up to UA's entrance exam, but she assumed that was normal. He was busy training and trying to juggle... well, everything! He was a teenager. It was really a miracle he opened up to her as much as he did. She wasn't terribly positive what she'd do if he shut her out completely.

Learning that he'd gone missing after the summer camp had sent her spiralling into a state of absolute, utter panic. Even as Rei rubbed her back and assured her that everything would be okay, she couldn't seem to steady herself or erase her fears. Mihoko came to boldly reassure her, but it still hadn't been enough. She was just so... so scared. It was immediately guessed that he had been taken to, or run away from the hospital. Because he had been here at some point. With two broken arms, it wasn't as though he could get far.

 But then she watched on TV as the cameras zoomed in on an unruly head of wild green hair, and her heart stopped. A relief unlike anything she'd ever felt welled inside her. Of course he was there to save Lillian! It was just like her son to try and save everyone by himself, at his own expense. His arms seemed fine. She didn't know how that was possibly, but felt too overwhelmed by emotion to really sit and think about it. Rei gasped, pulling her into a sideways hug as they gazed with wide, round eyes at the screen. Tears poured down her face, and a broad smile overtook her face.

And then her son pulled out a gun, and there was a bang that made her smile drop and her blood run cold. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was Chad mad? No, of course not. He was pissed. 

He wasn't sure how he possibly could've missed such a thing. How could it be that Izuku Midoriya could slip through his fingers so easily? There was a lot Chad knew, but it wasn't enough. It never seemed like enough. At the end of the day, he was quirkless. He was useless, and unable to be counted on by those who needed him. A child had died today because he failed to find this piece of information. Had he know, this could've easily been stopped. He could've ended it before it even began! But now Lillian was covered in blood that wasn't hers, and there was a dead student weighing on his conscience.

"Whoa, hey. Amad, Plad, Skad, stop fighting." It hadn't been part of the plan to accidentally adopt three more Nomu, yet there were three in his backseat nonetheless. He was almost positive one of them was Neito's-- hence why he'd punched them all in the brain. Vlad was on top of the car, with Dabi in the passenger's seat. They'd been cleared to go. Not cleared to take three Nomu that probably should've been taken into custody, but again, here they were. Dabi didn't seem all that happy with the new development.

"Where are they going to stay? Vlad already takes up the entire couch." Dabi griped. The three Nomu in the backseat were all identical copies of the one from the USJ, except Amad was dull green, Plad was navy blue, and the Skad was a deep purple color. They were decidedly triplets, and Chad was determined to give them the life they deserved. And maybe figure out how to bring Neito back to life. They could worry about that later.

"Haven't you heard? Eri and Vlad are rich. They want me to buy a house with the funds they've gathered." Chad responded, glancing at him. "Speaking of which, are we dating? Do you want to move in?"

"We've been dating for four weeks, and we already share a bed!" Dabi all but shrieked at him, throwing his hands up in the air. He felt an undeniable amount of stress right now. Undeniable. The events of tonight had taken so many unexpected turns, he had whiplash from it all. And now apparently Chad hadn't been sure if they were dating or not. Typical. Did you see what he had to deal with on a day-to-day basis? Anarchy! Total fucking chaos! And yet he still stuck around. Count on him to put himself in dangerous situations that probably weren't good for his health. Not to mention he'd sworn to himself he'd never fall in love. And here he was--you guessed it-- in love anyway. Go figure.

"Oh, shit, that's a long time. Want to get married?" Chad turned to look at him, successfully taking his eyes off the road and offering them to death as a result. Dabi stared at him. Chad stared back, his sunglasses slipping down his nose slightly to reveal his alluring golden eyes. "Neito lied about his age on one of those sites and paid fifty dollars to become an officiant."

"Are... Are you proposing to me?" Dabi checked. Chad blinked at him, glancing at the road briefly before flicking on his blinker. Dabi really wanted to believe this was all fake, but it probably wasn't. Of course Chad would propose marriage in a moving, beat down car older than Eri was. Of course he would! And of course Dabi would say yes! With three Nomu to bear witness, no less. Fuck him in the ass. What sort of life was he living? "You know what? Sure. Let's get married. Why the fuck not? It's not like my life is ever going to be normal anyway."

"Gentleman, he said yes!" Chad hooted to the Nomu in the back. They all let out a squawking cheers that made Dabi regret agreeing in the first place.