Injured or not, the Beast is swift when they put their mind to it, and as soon as they reach a few body length's distance into the woods Paul knows he'll lose their trail again. They scrabble in the loam, possessed by more stark mad panic than fury, and Paul should do something to prevent it.

He darts to Kaworu instead, nearly as stricken as Epsilon. The entire arcing journey had been spent staring at Kaworu entangled with the terrified, thrashing Beast, a lapse in situational awareness he'll reproach himself for later.

"Kaworu!" Paul is on him at once, touching his arms and his shoulders in a flurry of slight exploratory contact, even though he knows the wounds will already be closing over, knitting before his eyes. He doesn't need to check if Midoriya will join him. He is half-afraid to look at him at all, after the disaster he just triggered, and for nothing.