Yagi Toshinori could tell his bad days with a lot more ease than most people. Mostly because they started with an incredible amount of pain centered at the age old wound on his stomach and spreading without mercy every inch of his limbs. It varied from the feeling of hundreds of knives, burning hot, sticking into him all at once, the scar on his stomach a target for them to aim for, to a heavy, consistent ache like something was settled on top of him, unwilling to move. And though the latter was a lot more bearable, should it continue for the entire course of the day, that too, could prove so much to bear.
Nevertheless, he got himself out of bed and got to his job, not wanting to neglect his responsibilities, though he would no doubt be visiting Recovery Girl at some point during the day.
He struggled through the one class he had to teach that day, only to find out he wasn't the only one who wasn't having the best of days. After Midoriya had looked far too forlorn for the entirety of their lesson, even if the content of which was one surely to excite his favourite student, Toshinori couldn't resist going over to him to figure out what was wrong. Even more surprising than the boy's lack of excitement however, was the way he waved off his concerns, with a stammered ramble about it being nothing really! And everything's fine! And just a little more paranoid than I'm used to.
And that was that because even if in different circumstances, he may have tried harder to pry it out of the boy, that day, when the pain still made itself known, refusing to spare him even a short break, he couldn't bring himself to remain in the presence of his students like this for any longer. Minutes later he would crash into the couch at the teacher's room, prepared to spend the rest of the day there if it meant he wouldn't have to move any more.
Which was why he hadn't realized how much time had passed when he felt his phone ring in his pocket. Which was why, even if people hardly called him, he didn't immediately worry before picking it up.
"Hello?" he all but groaned at the phone, head tilted back against the couch. He hadn't bothered to check the caller ID. When a feminine voice replied, he wished he had.
"A-All-Might?" His name sounded like a high-pitched squeak from the other side of the line, hesitant and almost in awe at having to say that name on the phone.
And although he had personally told the owner of that voice that she was free to call him whenever she needed anything, the sound of her voice stirred a feeling of foreboding that worsened his day more than his pain did.
It took him a moment to reply, for his brain to grasp what was happening. "Midoriya… san?"
He thought he could hear her nodding. "Ah, yes, yes! I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion-"
"No apology necessary…" he mumbled, still in shock from the unexpected phone call. "Is something wrong?"
She paused and Toshinori sat up in his spot, a hand automatically coming to clench the wound on his stomach. "Midoriya-san?"
"Is Izuku with you?"
His breath caught in his throat, his mind went back to the troubled look his young student wore on that day. With his own pain and the boy's wish to return to home rather soon today, they had decided to skip their lesson. Therefore, not only was Izuku not with him but he was definitely supposed to be home by now.
"Has he not returned home yet?" He knew the answer already, but he needed to hear it. He needed to make sure there's trouble before he went looking for a way to solve it.
When Inko's voice sounded again, she had understood already that her son wasn't with his mentor after all. The shakiness had increased and if Toshinori was really quiet he could hear her holding back a sob. "He-he hasn't returned- or called! I-I tried calling him but he won't answer. I thought he might have been with you, but- but if you haven't seen him…" she trailed off, a sniffle replacing the rest of the sentence.
Toshinori looked at the clock on the wall. Young Midoriya was late indeed.
This didn't sit right with him. He was supposed to return earlier that day, he was supposed to be home, he was supposed to-
Just a little more paranoid than I'm used to.
He rubbed a hand over his face. Did you know it, my boy? Did you know something was wrong? Slowly, he got up, closing his eyes against the pain all over his body. There were more important things to be done and he'd be damned if he let it stop him from helping his student in need. Why didn't you say anything?
"Midoriya-san, I'll call his classmates, see if anyone might know where he is. Maybe he just forgot to call home." Even as he said it, he knew Midoriya would not do that to his mother. "I'll call back as soon as possible. Please let me know if he shows up."
"Of- Of course! Thank you, All Might, thank you so much!"
The raw gratitude he heard made his heart ache. With that they said their goodbyes and Toshinori went off in search of Aizawa. As the homeroom teacher, he would no doubt have a student roster. Plus he could use the help. There were a lot of phone calls to be made.
"Hello? Bakugou residence. Who is this?"
Toshinori bit back a sigh at the sound of Bakugou Mitsuki. It had to be the first call to be made, what with the two boys living so near each other in spite of their bad relationship. If Midoriya had at least attempted to go straight home, Bakugou Katsuki would be the most likely one to have seen him.
"Bakugou-san, this is All Might. Pardon the intrusion-"
"All Might?" she called in surprise, followed by a sound in the background he couldn't place. "Why are you- What did he do?!"
Oh dear.
"No, no, Bakugou-san, your son hasn't done anything wrong, but is it possible for me to speak to him?"
Mitsuki did not sound convinced. "Oh, didn't he? Then what is this about?" Voices still came from the background, the noise getting louder. He briefly thought he heard a yell or two but it was impossible to make out the words.
"I was wondering if young Bakugou had seen Midoriya on his way home from school today? Or if he knew where he might be?"
He regretted not asking Katsuki directly when Mitsuki's yell pierced his ears even from the phone. "Katsuki! Do you know where Izuku is?!"
This time the reply from the background was unmistakeable.
"THE FUCK SHOULD I CARE?"
"Your teacher's asking, you little shit!"
There was a lot of grumbling, yelling, complaining and something that was louder than a thump but not loud enough to imply something was broken. Less than a minute later, the phone was obviously switched from mother to son and an entirely different voice answered.
"What?"
Toshinori rubbed at his eyes. "Bakugou, my boy, hello. This is All Might. Is there any chance you've seen Midoriya at all today?"
"Only at school," he replied, but the tension in his tone seemed to be replaced by a quiet curiosity.
"You didn't return home together?"
"No." The word was sharp and brimming with annoyance but when he spoke again it had all but vanished. "What's this about?"
It hurt to admit it out loud, the words stuck in the tip of his tongue, refusing to be spoken. Saying it, admitting that none of them knew where Midoriya was, that Izuku was essentially missing made the whole situation a lot more real. And a lot more scary. "Midoriya's mother called a little while ago. It seems he has yet to return from school. Any idea where he might be?"
"No fucking clue. That shitty little fuck will probably show up sooner or later, apologizing like a moron."
Toshinori hoped more than anything then that foul language aside, Bakugou was right about this. "Even so, do inform me if you hear anything. Or even if you get an idea of where he could have gone."
The boy's grunt was good enough of a response.
Aizawa looked over his shoulder as he crossed yet another name off his list. So far all of the boy's classmates had been concerned yet clueless. And time passed, uncaring of their predicament.
"Any luck?" his colleague asked, even if he could tell that no real progress was made.
Toshinori leaned back on his chair, exhaustion radiating off of him. "So far young Iida was the last one who might have seen him. He went to the train station with him but they took different trains so he has no way of knowing if he ever boarded his."
Aizawa nodded, brows furrowed in thought. "Who's next on your list?"
"Todoroki Shouto." He paused for a moment before he asked the question he had been dreading since he had offered Midoriya Inko to call her son's classmates for her. "What are we going to do if nobody has seen him?"
"Check the train station for one thing. Now make the call."
"Todoroki residence. This is Fuyumi speaking."
"Good evening, Todoroki-san. This is All Might. Excuse the intrusion, but would it be possible for me to speak to young Todoroki?"
At the surprised chortle the woman made, Toshinori wondered if perhaps him calling Endeavor's son on his home phone wasn't the best of ideas. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now.
Fuyumi promptly called for her younger brother and soon a soft, quiet voice broke the silence. "Hello?"
He smiled a little at the gentle tone. Todoroki was really changing. "Todoroki, my boy, hello. Forgive me for the late hour. I was wondering if you had seen young Midoriya today?"
It could have been just static but he thought he heard the boy's breath catch. "Midoriya…?" A deep breath that sounded forced came before his next words did, stilted, falsely calm. "Did something happen? Is he all right?"
Toshinori narrowed his eyes at the response. Todoroki had been more instantly concerned than the rest of his classmates as if he had expected something bad to happen in the first place. He wasn't certain if him knowing something in that context however was a good or a bad thing.
"Young Midoriya has yet to return home. His mother is very worried about him. When did you last see him, my boy?"
There was a pause on the other line, one that lasted far too long for such a simple question. Heavy breathing as though someone was trying to compose oneself was the only sound going through. "Todoroki?" he called out again.
"I saw him as we left school…" came the cold reply whose emotionless posterior cracked with every word. "I wanted to- I should have…" He trailed off, halting his speech entirely until he was certain he wouldn't ramble. "Find him."
Toshinori startled at the seriousness of that request, confused by the earlier turmoil. That boy was usually not so expressive. "Todoroki my boy… Is there something you're not telling me?"
Todoroki hesitated. "Just… Find him. Something's wrong. I know it. He… he knew it too."
Blood run cold in his veins as his student's words from earlier that day echoed once again in his mind, what was once a dismissal now a terrible irony. Just a little more paranoid than usual. He should have been. And one could only hope that paranoia had kept him safe but as more and more people claimed to have no idea where he was and time passed on it was increasingly unlikely that it had been enough for prevent things. Whatever those things may have been.
He bid the boy goodbye and hung up the phone. For a moment, a long, stretched bout of silence that lasted far too little to give him any peace of mind, he remained still, quiet, contemplating. Toshinori had saved a lot of people. Fighting villains with his quirk was second nature to him. The worst cases were cases like this. Where the villain, if there was one, remained hidden, unseen and the only thing he could face was a heavy, suffocating unknown that threatened to hurt the very people he had vowed to protect. When those people happened to be his student, his successor, Izuku of all the possibilities, then things had gotten the ugliest of turns yet.
Suddenly the phone calls just didn't seem good enough.
The train station wasn't insufferably busy this late in the day, yet it still proved hard to bother the employees long enough to get some of the information they needed. After a lot of redirecting, running around and testing Aizawa's fleeting patience they were able to get most of the names of those working at the approximate Midoriya Izuku should have attempted to take the train that day. More phone calls were to be made and with every vague yeah, I think I saw him earlier, or I don't really remember faces, or any other reply that led them no further than they already were, the photo of the young boy Toshinori held in his hand felt like it was burning his fingertips in accusation to their complete and utter uselessness. The piece of paper itself was kindly provided by the boy's mother who had to be informed of the fact that none of her son's classmates had any idea where he could be.
The shock, the denial, the grief painted all over her features would haunt Toshinori for years.
Especially if they failed to soothe it.
But he couldn't let himself think about that.
Aizawa had just informed him that they were finally allowed to check the security cameras, even if apparently Midoriya was not considered 'missing' quite yet- a protocol that served only to infuriate both of them- when the sensation of someone watching them paused him in his step. He looked over at his colleague and noticed that he too was scrutinizing the area around them.
With slow, steady steps he headed over to where he thought he had seen a shadow move before. They were, of course, still many people going about with their business but Toshinori was certain he had seen someone hiding.
What he saw was something he didn't expect but perhaps he should have seen it coming regardless.
"Young Todoroki?"
Todoroki Shouto had the decency to look disheartened at having been caught there at such a late time, his gaze cast on the ground in dejection. The pillars holding and adorning the station would provide good cover under normal circumstances and it was almost nothing but sheer luck and timing that had given away the boy's position. The boy who made no attempt to explain his presence here.
"Todoroki, my boy, what are you doing here at this hour?" Toshinori tried again. Aizawa had joined the both of them and he looked like he was once again wondering where he had gone wrong -or right- with the definition of recklessness that was Class 1-A.
Though he probably wished it possible, Todoroki couldn't ignore the question when it was asked directly to his face. "I wanted to help him," he admitted. "He's my friend. I should have- Earlier, I-" He changed his mind on whatever he intended to say and trailed off, awaiting the teachers' reaction to his behavior.
Toshinori ran a hand through his face, the stress and the pain of that day coming around in waves of exhaustion that could have shaken him where he stood. Even so he had a student to face and a student to find, so tired -scared, pained- though he may have been he wouldn't give up so easily. "Todoroki, that was very reckless of you."
"He would have done the same for me."
He would. Of course he would. Midoriya himself could probably match the recklessness of his entire class by himself. "Noble though that may be, perhaps young Midoriya's behavior isn't one that should be copied in this manner."
"What did you find?" Todoroki asked instead of responding.
Aizawa sighed. "Nothing of importance. He was here all right. What happened afterwards however, where he went, if he left in the first place, is still a mystery."
The boy nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly, fists clenched at his sides. "So what now?"
Toshinori decided it wouldn't hurt too much to let the boy come along to watch the security videos with them. Three heads are better than two, or something of that logic. Still, as they walked to the security room of the station, the kid asked the one question neither of them wanted to think about just yet.
"Why Midoriya?"
He wanted to protest. He wanted to insist that the kid was most likely just lost, or he got a little hurt and was stuck somewhere he couldn't return home from in his condition and they would find him soon enough and scold him for failing to inform anyone of his predicament. Midoriya Izuku would be fine, because somehow he always was.
Instead he remained quiet, his heart clenching so tightly in his chest he couldn't breathe.
A/N: Not sure how to All Might. Very not sure how to Bakugou. Ah, well. Hope you liked it. This took a bit longer to upload than expected. Hope it was worth the wait! Also Merry Christmas! Give your friendly author a present and leave them a review! Thanks!