Chapter Text
In hindsight, this training session should've been easy.
Or at least easier than it turned out to be.
It was similar to the mission they'd had earlier in the year, where the class were split into two groups, and tasked with locating and rescuing a citizen trapped at the bottom of a collapsing mall.
Today's premise was the same, except their resources were spread far thinner.
To start, their groups had been made smaller, with only five students on each team. And secondly, there were more civilians. Three to be exact. Albeit they were in slightly more reachable places than at the deepest reaches of a mall, though in their current predicament, that particular detail didn't really matter.
Things had been going well, in Sero's opinion.
The five of them had separated into two teams: Himself, Todoroki, and Jirou began searching the lower levels of the building, while Kirishima and Aoyama remained within the areas closer to the surface.
It had been decided that Jirou and Sero's quirks especially would be useful underground, where Jirou could pick up noise even in the blocked and soundproofed areas, and Sero could use his tape to lift heavy debris out of the way without having to smash through it and potentially cause a cave in.
Kirishima, of course, had opted himself to go to the lower levels, but quickly realised after looking at the briefing of the building, that his quirk was only likely to cause more damage.
Unlike last time, the debris couldn't just be smashed. A vast amount of the building had already collapsed on the inside, and if they weren't careful enough, then it would send the whole thing tumbling to the ground, and crushing them with it.
Kirishima knew well enough that his quirk was the opposite of careful, and agreed to remain above.
They were aware that Todoroki's quirk might not be particularly useful for moving debris either, considering he wasn't exactly in control of the shapes his ice would be, and his fire would have to be used sparingly so as to not use all of their oxygen.
But it was deemed that out of the three remaining members of the team without a current placement, that he would be the most useful down below.
After all, if things did end up going awry and the ceiling did collapse, then he might be able to protect the three of them with his ice. He wasn't able to make shapes specific enough to move debris, but he would be able to save them from being crushed, should the need arise.
Aoyama and Kirishima had agreed without a fuss (the former hadn't wanted to go down to the lower levels anyway, Sero suspected), and it wasn't long before they were on their way and searching.
No one on their team were known as outstanding strategisers within their class.
Not like Midoriya or Iida.
But there wasn't much planning that could be done in this situation. They just had to select who to send where by their skill level and their quirk, and hope for the best. Things so far had been going well. Then again, 'going well' only really meant that no one had been hurt or killed yet.
Needless to say, Sero hadn't been particularly confident.
Jirou echoed the sentiment.
"I don't think there's much to worry about," Todoroki had said, his voice monotone as ever while a flame no larger than that of a candle flickered on his fingertip, "as long as we all stick to the plan, and are as careful as possible, then we'll be fine."
He and Jirou shared a nervous glance.
Like Aoyama, it was clear Jirou didn't want to be down here either. After all, her quirk would provide her no protection from a collapsing building. The deeper they got, the more Sero found himself feeling a similar way. Even without enhanced hearing or complete visibility, it wasn't difficult to notice the cracking of the walls or the roof above them.
"There wasn't exactly much of a plan to begin with," Jirou replied, her voice lacking the disinterested tone it usually had, instead appearing slightly more afraid.
Todoroki hummed, remaining a few steps ahead and lighting the way as best he could with such a small flame. They each had flashlights on their person, but they'd decided they weren't to use them unless the situation became urgent. For now, the fire was their only source of light.
The bicolour boy glanced both ways as they came to a crossroad, silently deliberating which direction to go, before frowning and turning to his team mates.
"I can feel a breeze coming from that way," he pointed left, "so it likely leads back up."
Sero flitted his eyes to the fire, and found it flowing right, confirming Todoroki's suspicions.
They stared into the black expanse of the corridor awaiting them at their side, fallen rocks and rubble already visible at it's mouth.
"I guess we're heading this way then," Sero mumbled, eyes wide as they tried to take in as much light as possible.
"Looks that way," Jirou responded, her voice just as thick with nervousness as his own.
Neither made a move to start walking.
The taller boy saw Todoroki glance at them from the corner of his eye, before he stepped forward.
"I can keep leading the way," he spoke. It was clear it was an offering, having sensed the pair's uneasiness, "I may have to make the flame smaller as we walk, though. And depending on how much rubble there is, we'll probably have to start going single file, eventually."
The statement didn't provide him with much comfort, but he was glad Todoroki was trying. He knew sociability didn't come naturally to the guy, let alone trying to ease people's fears.
Sero put on a shaky grin, "sounds good, Todobro. Lead the way."
Needless to say, Todoroki was right.
The path became narrower and narrower, until they were forced to walk single file, and sometimes when it came to the larger blockages, the had to clamber over them. It was at this point they chose to finally bring out one of the flashlights, and the flame was snuffed out.
Oxygen was precious now.
"As long as it's not damaged, then we'll be fine," Sero reasoned aloud from the back of their line.
"Yeah, and the chances of it being damaged in here are kinda high, if you haven't noticed," the ravenette answered impatiently, glancing backwards for a moment to face him.
"We have others, if it does end up breaking," Todoroki stated, still taking up the front, his flashlight being the one in use, "you two still have yours. We just need to stay together."
"Well I don't think we have to worry about any of us wandering off. There's no way I'm going anywhere," Sero attempted to joke.
To his relief, Jirou huffed a laugh, "I second that."
Surprisingly, Todoroki hummed too, in what Sero could only assume was his version of a laugh, "that's good to hear, then."
They pressed on in the same manner for what must have been at least half an hour, turning corners and heading down the occasional staircase. Sometimes they would stop to let Jirou stick her jacks into the wall or floor, listening for what was the safest route to travel. Stops to move larger debris with his tape quickly became common too.
Though Sero knew they hadn't exactly been successful yet, he was honestly just glad that neither he, nor his two team mates had been injured.
Going into the mission, he'd assumed it would be inevitable that at least someone would be hurt, though, he was surprised to find it hadn't occurred yet.
Most of the surrounding area didn't even look like a mall anymore. It was just rocks, rocks and more rocks. Unstable rocks. And they were beginning to appear more and more dangerous the further they went.
Walking became hiking, as the terrain transformed to be uneven, hazardous and dusty.
With every step one of them stumbled, tripping over something unexpected. He started to curse his earlier thoughts of no one being injured when Jirou took a nasty tumble, not only scraping her knees, but also twisting her ankle slightly. She insisted she was fine, even when they stopped to make her a brace with Todoroki's few medical supplies.
The dummies were supposed to be in more accessible places this time, so what the hell was happening? In Sero's humble opinion, this was far from accessible.
It was only when Todoroki started coughing that he called it.
"Okay, that's enough," he spoke up, his hand still rested on the shorter boy's back as he came down from a coughing fit, "this is ridiculous. The dummies were supposed to be easier to find than last time."
"We could've missed them," Jirou sighed, "we've been walking for ages, and we haven't exactly been searching too thoroughly."
Sero sighed, removing his hand as Todoroki waved him away, "If the teachers knew it would get hard to breathe, surely they should've at least given us the proper materials. Gas masks or something."
"We're supposed to do this on our own," Sero winced as Todoroki choked out the words. His voice sounded as if he'd had sandpaper scraped up and down his throat.
"Yeah, we were. But we can barely breathe down here, and Jirou's injured. If this was a real rescue situation, we'd be no use to anyone," the ravenette replied.
Todoroki glared at the floor as he pondered.
"It's just a dummy, Todoroki," Jirou assured, "the most that'll happen is we fail the exercise. And I'd prefer that to getting stuck down here."
Finally, the boy let out a slow exhale and nodded his head, "okay. Let's head back out."
"Are you still good to take up the lead?" Sero asked, and received a nod in response, "okay, Jirou, I'm gonna carry you on my back."
Her eyes widened, "you're gonna what?"
"It's not that I don't think you're capable or anything, because believe me, I do. I just don't want you to be any more hurt than you already are, just in case we have to run at any point. Or if somehow me and Todoroki get hurt, and you have to leave to get help."
Somehow, her eyes widened even more at the implication. She gave in fairly easily.
Once again, they were off, Todoroki still leading- albeit less confidently this time, his body wracked with a coughing fit every few minutes- and Jirou and Sero taking up the rear, one carefully placed on the other's back. Of course, she was still forced to climb in places, where spaces became too tight for the width of two people, but alas, it was still better than nothing.
Sero knew they were going to fail the mission, but for once, he didn't care.
Whether it was a mistake or not, he knew that they should've been given supplies. Sure, the people on Yaoyorozu's team would be fine. He bet they were in wonderful condition. But everyone else would not be able to carry out this mission without help. It was rare for Aizawa to be so careless though.
Perhaps this in itself was a test. Maybe he was finding out whether his students had the self preservation skills, or the common sense to not rush into situations such as this one.
He wondered how Midoriya was doing with his team.
Eventually, Todoroki's coughing slowed, and the rubble around them lessened. Sero had to hold back a sigh of relief as he realised they were nearly out.
Reaching one of the halls- presumably what was once a food hall- they slowed, taking a minute break.
He decided to share his thoughts from earlier, "maybe this was a test."
Jirou raised an eyebrow while Todoroki stared at him, confused.
"Duh," she replied, "you hit your head or something? I thought that was kinda obvious."
He groaned, "not that. I mean the 'going back' thing. Maybe this was about admitting when your quirk or skills aren't suited for certain missions."
Todoroki tilted his head in thought, "that certainly seems more plausible than Sensei just forgetting to give us the proper equipment."
Jirou nodded contemplatively, "well, I'll suppose we'll find out when we get back outside."
"Are you both still uninjured and able to walk? Would you still like to be carried, Jirou?" Todoroki enquired politely.
Jirou patted his back gently, a soft smile on her lips, "I'm all good, I think I should be fine to walk by myself from here."
The bicolour boy nodded.
They fell into a silence, appreciating every breath they took after finally getting back to a level with sufficient oxygen.
Eventually, Sero stood, "alright, we should probably get moving again. The longer we spend in here, the more we're risking getting-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, as the cacophony of cracking stone echoed through the hall.
He yanked Jirou to her feet, and wasted no time in searching for the nearest exit. It didn't take long for the dust and smaller pieces of rubble to begin showering down, each of them whipping their heads around looking for a way out.
Finally, "there!" Jirou pointed. And they ran.
When the larger rocks started falling, that was when the injured girl started lagging behind. Sero glanced backwards and twisted his body, carrying out a manoeuvre he was more than used to by now, and shot his tape towards her, before throwing himself back around and flinging Jirou to the doorway, as out of harms way as she could currently get.
Sero spared a moment to check at his side, and thank god Todoroki was still there.
Side by side, the remaining pair dodged and weaved between rocks, getting bigger and bigger every time one fell.
This was were things got worse.
In the blink of an eye, Jirou and the doorway were gone from Sero's sights, replaced by dust and the jagged grey of stone. He turned back to his side, frantically searching for his other team mate, with the plan of grabbing him into his arms and taking to the sky in hopes of finding an exit.
Instead of red and white though, he was met with a sea of blue charging in his direction.
The next thing he knew, he was encased in darkness.
Darkness and cold.