-The day of the rescue-

A breeze causes the shadows to move and Tsunagu shifts alongside them. It's been a little over an hour since they've gathered outside the old abandoned hospital, but only minutes have passed since they've each gone into position. He's sitting crouched on a platform Skywalker created, one hand on the communication device in his ear while the other keeps the jittery young sidekick from accidentally falling off. A number of police officers stand silent behind them as they wait for orders.

"I'm ready," he hears Ingenium say, and he holds his breath.

"Very well," says Tsukauchi. "Present Mic?"

"Got it," he answers and Tsunagu can practically hear the grin in his voice even as he imagines the hard look in the Voice Hero's eyes. "Cover your ears, listeners!"

Tsunagu raises his hand sharply and everyone immediately slaps their hands over their ears. They're just in time, because less than a second later, there's a scream, high and incredibly loud, and every single window in the old abandoned hospital shatters into pieces. The glass is still falling, almost like stardust from the sky, when Tsunagu opens his mouth.

"Skywalker," he says and they rise to the third floor.

"I'm in," says Ingenium.

"Same here," says Gang Orca.

"I have entered the building!" says All Might.

"Moving in," says Fat Gum.

Tsunagu jumps off the platform, over the window sill. He turns to face the four villains that are writhing on the ground, blood dripping out of their ears.

"I'm in," he speaks into the comm, and his sleeves begin to unfurl.

After the initial shock wears off, the villains put up more of a fight - and seeing as there are many of them, it takes far too long to move from one room to the next.

No matter how many Tsunagu disarms, no matter how many he captures, there are two more villains to take the place of each he takes down. It's almost as if someone's bringing more and more to their area, and for a second he wonders-

A warp villain, he remembers Queen telling him after he told her they were going to bring Yuuto home. They create black portals that can teleport people from one place to another.

But no, if that villain were here, they wouldn't be teleporting villains into the hideout. They'd be teleporting them out.

And that's why the heroes are in such a hurry. It isn't the villains they're worried about. The villains, they can afford to lose.

The children are an entirely different matter.

He won't lose Yuuto again.

The building shakes and Skywalker lets out a startled yelp as he reaches forward to grab at Tsunagu's arm.

"Sorry!" the young man, barely more than a boy, squeaks before slamming his foot into a villain's stomach.

The villain goes tumbling back. Something long and silver snaps forward to wrap around Skywalker's neck and he freezes, but just before the chains can yank Tsunagu flicks his wrist and threads shoot out and grabs the snarling villain before throwing her into the wall. She falls, unconscious, and the chains tumble to the ground.

A woman screams as she lunges for the fallen villain but Tsunagu barely hears anything over the sound of incoherent shouting and things breaking.

Sometimes, raids are quick, organized, and methodological. Police secure the area. The heroes move in. They draw attention. The villains converge, and a hero with an area-based quirk like Midnight subdues them while the rest of the heroes take care of the few that managed to resist. For instances like this where the villains are scattered around in an enclosed space that's separated into floors and rooms, that isn't possible. When they know the villains most likely have a method of escape that they can't stop, it's even worse. And when there is an undetermined number of possible hostages - frankly speaking, it's easier to give up on the hope of things going smoothly entirely.

The building shakes again and Tsunagu bites back a curse as he places a hand on the wall to steady himself.

Ingenium has far less restraint and Tsunagu hears him swear vividly with a much larger variety of words than he thought the young hero knew.

"Someone tell All Might at this rate he's going to bring down the entire goddamn building!"

"Can't," says Gang Orca, "I think his earpiece fell out."

Tsunagu hears something explode, and for a second he thinks it's from Gang Orca's side, but then something slams into his back. He falls forward and the threads that automatically snap out to cushion his fall are the only reason why he doesn't break his nose.

"Sorry!" Skywalker says, and Tsunagu can see bits of concrete and metal fall against the invisible barrier the sidekick put up around them.

He doesn't bother to answer, but he does give the boy a quick pat on the arm in thanks before he pulls him up to his feet by his clothes.

"Can't Mic get a message to him?" asks Ingenium.

"Present Mic is busy fighting against a group of villains," Tsukauchi says, his voice curt. "I suggest you do the same."

"Almost done with the first floor," Fat Gum says and it's the first good news Tsunagu's heard since the raid began. "Will be moving onto the second in a couple of minutes. And you've got All Might to thank for that."

And that's a humbling thought. Tsunagu grimaces as he ties up two more villains before dumping them in front of a police officer. The number of villains he's faced so far is staggering, and yet he knows that it's barely a fraction of the number that has gone downstairs to face All Might.

It's almost ironic, really, how the situation is different from the norm. The villains manning the hideout aren't stupid. They know All Might is here to draw attention away from the other heroes searching through the hospital. They still go face him anyway.

Because they don't have a choice. They either face All Might knowing he's a distraction and let the other heroes roam free, or they leave All Might to do as he pleases and the number one Hero moves forward at breakneck speed. It's a lose-lose situation all around.

Just like how it usually is for the heroes on a time-sensitive matter. They either act on the little information they have and risk civilian casualties, or they wait to gather more information and almost certainly fail to save someone.

Tsunagu likes to think he isn't a vindictive sort of person, but he's glad that for once, it's the villains who are forced to make a choice.

Though unlike heroes, they do have a third option.

The villain he's facing - one of the two left - glances around the hallway. His eyes dart from Tsunagu, to the police circling around them, to the villain standing by his side, then back to Tsunagu again. Tsunagu sees the exact moment he breaks, the exact moment he stops thinking 'how do I win' and starts thinking 'how do I get out.' It's a subtle change, but he sees it in the way the villain's feet shift so his toes point outward and the way his eyes switch from watching Tsunagu's every move to looking at the windows.

He's a hero. It's his job to save people, and sometimes, that involves letting things go.

He deliberately lets his guard slip just a fraction, and the villain sees. He darts forward, ignoring Skywalker's shout of alarm, the other villain's snarl, and he jumps out of the window. Tsunagu doesn't check to see if he lands safely, and instead, the last of his left sleeve reaches out to wrap around the final villain.

"He's all yours," he tells a police officer before his eyes move to the next hallway.

It's always quicker to fight only one person than it is to fight two, after all.

"Are you sure this thing knows where the kid is?"

"Yes," says Tsunagu as he turns a corner. A large ball of what looks to be some kind of metal slams into the invisible barrier in front of him. Skywalker flinches and though Tsunagu can't help but think the boy is too twitchy to ever specialize in villain capture like he so very clearly wants to, he's glad Queen talked him into bringing him.

It's just two this time, so he decides to let Skywalker deal with it and focuses on the conversation instead. "Yuuto said his minions always know how to find him."

"But it's been over a week," Ingenium points out and the seed of doubt that lay dormant in Tsunagu's mind wriggles. "How do you know it hasn't lost whatever connection it had with the kid?"

He doesn't but, "Does it make a difference?" he asks instead of answering the question.

For a couple of seconds, there's silence on the other side of the comm. Skywalker manages to trap both villains under a barrier when Ingenium finally speaks.

"I'll keep looking," he says and Tsunagu's shoulders relax.

It's been almost half an hour since they've arrived at the hideout and they barely have anything to show for it. They haven't found the doctor's lab, haven't found any 'experiments,' haven't even found the villain that took Yuuto. It's almost as if they've come to the wrong hideout, and though he knows he's being irrational, he can't help but worry. What does it matter that this time, they're acting on information the villains don't know they have. They've been wrong before - why not again?

He's getting anxious and so is everyone else.

"Moving onto the east wing of the third floor," says Gang Orca. "Haven't found anything substantial on the second."

"Nothing?" demands Present Mic. He's out of breath and that makes him sound like he's irritated. Or perhaps he just is.

"No," says Gang Orca. "Nothing."

"Keep looking," says Tsukauchi. His tone brooks no argument and for that, Tsunagu's grateful.

"Jeanist?" says Skywalker. He's glancing around the hallway nervously. There's blood on his sleeves, Tsunagu notes. He wishes it wasn't the boy's but he sees the cuts in his shirt and gloves.

"Not the stairs," says Tsunagu when he realizes what Skywalker's trying to ask.

Skywalker nods and he holds out a hand. Just outside the window, the air shimmers and seems to ripple before it goes still. The sidekick pulls himself out of the building and literally steps onto thin air. Tsunagu follows with a slight grimace he hides behind his collar.

He's never going to get comfortable with the sensation of standing on what looks to be nothing.

A couple of police officers step onto the invisible platform as well, while the rest make a racket as they slowly go up the stairs. Skywalker lifts them up, and they rise to the fourth floor.

There are a few villains waiting in the hallway, their eyes fixed on the staircase as they hide around the corner. They don't last long. Before the police officers can arrive through the stairs, Tsunagu has the villains neatly tied and propped up against the wall.

"Should have been more aware of your surroundings," a police officer mutters viciously as she snaps a pair of quirk restraints around a villain's wrists.

"West wing of the fourth floor," says Tsunagu into the comm. "It appears to be mostly empty. Does anyone need assistance? I believe I can afford to send Skywalker down to help."

The sidekick shoots him a betrayed look, but Tsunagu ignores him. The boy's done well, but he's barely twenty. He deserves to rest, and more importantly, he deserves to stay safe. To do that, he needed to stay on the lower floors.

...

"Like a game", a bewildered Tsukauchi had said some time ago as he gathered information from both the heroes and the villains they've managed to capture. "The villains on the lower levels are greater in number but relatively easy to handle. As you go up, there're fewer villains but they're stronger."

"But what about the villains around All Might?" Fat Gum had asked. "They're like, a mix of strong and weak? And there's a lot?"

"That's because he's the boss," said Ingenium dryly. "Bosses are always the exception."

"I thought bosses were the bad guys in games?" said Gang Orca.

"Well yeah, but think of it from the villains' point of view. All Might's like the biggest bad."

"'The biggest bad,'" Tsukauchi repeated. His voice sounded muffled like he was holding a hand over his comm. "What are they, children?" Tsukauchi had muttered and Tsunagu was fairly certain he hadn't meant to be heard.

The adult part of Tsunagu agreed with Tsukauchi, but the part of him that's too used to raids gone wrong understood why the other heroes spoke that way. True, any hero knows better than to treat lives lightly, but sometimes it's easier to push forward when they purposely forget. It's easier to be brave when they can joke about a situation and focus on the little details.

...

"Does anyone need assistance?" he asks once more.

"I'm good," says Fat Gum. "Just a couple of small fry left to deal with."

"Present Mic's assisting All Might," says Tsukauchi. "They should be fine."

"Ingenium?" asks Tsunagu.

"Focusing on looking for the kids at the moment, so I'm running away from any villains I see. Don't need much help with that."

The only person who hasn't spoken up so far is Gang Orca, but Tsunagu knows the third floor is mostly cleared so he isn't much worried.

"Best Jeanist dealt with most of the villains on the third floor so there's only a handful left," says Gang Orca and that's a good thing. It's objectively a good thing.

But why does Gang Orca sound like he's hesitating?

"Including the villain with the liquifying quirk," he says, and Tsunagu remembers the villain with his blue eyes and grey hair, and he sees Blue Jay's body lying on the ground.

"I have my sidekicks with me," Gang Orca continues but Tsunagu isn't listening.

"Where are you," he asks. "Skywalker and I can help-"

"How?" Gang Orca interrupts and Tsunagu's mouth snaps shut. "Skywalker, maybe, but you can't catch liquid with fiber. All that'll happen is that your costume gets wet and your threads grow slower."

Tsunagu already knows. He's heard Queen describe how frustrating it was, trying to fight against an opponent that didn't have a solid form.

It was a bad match, she said, always clinical in her observations. It's impossible to cut something that's uncuttable. And in the same vein, she said as she levelled an unreadable look at Tsunagu, it's impossible to catch something that's uncatchable.

"I can still help," he insists. "At the very least I can act as a distraction."

"Don't be ridiculous," says Gang Orca. "You? The number four hero acting as a distraction? When you could be moving forward instead? Send Skywalker if you're really that worried, but if you try to come down here I'm kicking you out."

He's right. Tsunagu knows he's right but he can't- the villain's dangerous and Kugo's his friend. He's already killed Blue Jay and he has a quirk that's still mostly unidentified. What if it turns out that the villain's quirk was more than just turning into liquid? What if it turns out it was an even worse match for Kugo? Was it even possible to capture the villain? Should Kugo even be trying?

What if Kugo died because Tsunagu left him to deal with the villain on his own-

"I can handle him," Gang Orca says, his voice firm and steady. "Orcinus might actually be the best quirk to deal with a villain that can turn into liquid. You go save the kid - you promised, remember?"

The words of protest catch on the edge of his tongue and Tsunagu ducks his head down so most of his face is hidden behind his collar. He can feel Skywalker watch him uncertainly, the boy's hands wringing the end of his costume despite Tsunagu having told him over and over again that it was a bad habit, and the scar on his chin tingles.

There were many things he promised the child. He's already failed almost every single one of them but.

When he asked Yuuto to stay with him, he promised the child he'd try his best.

He hasn't failed that promise yet.

It's only after he feels the words slowly die down into nothing, that he opens his mouth. "Are you certain?" he asks.

"I'll be fine," says Gang Orca. "If I need help, I'll ask."

"I'll get Present Mic to stay on stand-by," Tsukauchi says, and it's only then that Tsunagu remembers everyone can listen to their conversation.

"Someone say my name?"

"Finished screaming?" Ingenium asks and Present Mic huffs.

"I was shouting not screaming," he says before his voice turns serious. "But really, is something wrong? Does anyone need help?"

"I might," says Gang Orca. "My sidekicks and I are dealing with a couple of villains and there's at least one that can't be brought down with most physical attacks."

"I'll get there as soon as I can," Present Mic promises easily, and Tsunagu doesn't know whether he wants to laugh or cry at the realization that the Voice Hero would be far more help than Tsunagu could ever be. "Fourth floor?"

"Third," Gang Orca corrects. "East wing."

"Got it," says Present Mic.

And just like that, the problem is solved. Not entirely - dozens of All Mights could have gone to help Gang Orca and Tsunagu would still worry - but he's rational enough to know that this is the best they can do at the moment.

Tsunagu hesitates for a moment before speaking into his comm. "I'm still sending Skywalker down to help."

All he can hear is a slight huff of breath through the comms, but he imagines Gang Orca is rolling his eyes.

"Skywalker," says Tsunagu and the boy perks up, "third floor, east wing. Go help Gang Orca as best as you can, but if things get dangerous, I want you to focus on getting people out."

Skywalker visibly deflates but Tsunagu doesn't budge. "It's your first time participating in a raid," he says instead. "You've done well, but safety, both others' and yours, is always your first priority. I want you to stay safe. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Skywalker mumbles. A couple of police officers follow the sidekick as he makes his way downstairs, while the rest wait for Tsunagu's instructions.

"What now?" a police officer asks, an eyebrow quirked as her hand settles on her hip. It sounds like a challenge, like she's questioning whether Tsunagu has a plan at all, and he pauses.

None of the rest of the five police officers outwardly react, but Tsunagu can feel the way their uniforms pull as they tense.

He knows what he's going to say - he knows they already know what he's going to say but he says it anyway because sometimes, speaking is a promise in itself.

"We keep searching," Tsunagu replies, looking the police officer straight in the eye, and he sees her lips pull up slowly into a smile, "until we find them."

A/N: again, I'm sorry about the late chapter. I'm having a bit of difficulty with writing lately - writing actual plot is annoyingly difficult - and I'm not particularly happy with this chapter. If anyone feels like there are any ways they think I can improve - such as if they feel like the plot's been dragging to much, the 'action's boring etc - please tell me and I'll keep it in mind for future chapters!

Also, replying to a guest reviewer!

It's nearly exam week(s) for me so I'll probably be busy for most of June, haha… I hope at least you finished your homework and have time to rest!

I'm pretty sure it was my writing that was unclear (I'm kind of lazy with editing so I might have just went, 'eh, it's not that important') but thank you for saying it wasn't me.

I really, really love your reviews and the last one really made my week! In fact, it's still making my week! I'm pretty sure I'm going to smile like a loon for the next month at the very least whenever I see your review, so really, thank you for that.

(also just in case and I might be worrying for nothing here, but - please don't feel like you have to leave a review. Don't get me wrong I'm happy that you did but even if you don't, I don't mind :))