Chapter 37: stuck

Four days had passed since their escape. Hikari sat on the bed, staring out of the window. There was a green park in the inner courtyard of the hospital, where guests and patients alike strolled along the paths. How nice it must feel to be able to go outside whenever and wherever they wanted without fearing to be murdered any second.

The girl sighed and touched the patches over her nose. Despite being drugged up to the eyeballs with painkillers that made her fuzzy, breathing hurt, and she was still attached to that oxygen machine via tubes. They had declared her fit enough to start working on her injuries with quirks this morning though, meaning she would soon be back to full health.

A guest announced their presence by knocking. Hikari grimaced, until remembering that there was only one other person visiting her aside from the doctors and Aizawa-sensei.

"Come in."

"Hello, Hikari-chan," Inko Midoriya wobbled inside, first time without her crutch, "how are you doing today?"

Hikari liked her a lot. Inko was the epitome of a loving mother; nice, attentive, sympathetic, able to see through every lie. Which was the reason Hikari shrugged as an answer. "Okay, I guess. Better than yesterday."

The woman nodded and took a seat on the chair beside the girl's bed. "That's good to hear."

"What about you?"

Inko smiled. "My crutch is gone, as you can see, and the pain almost, too. They're going to keep me for a few more days until they know what to do with me, but I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

Hikari nodded understandingly. They couldn't let Inko off that easily. After what happened, Dragon would definitely try to get her again. Most likely, they were trying to find a safe place for Inko, a solution similar to keeping Hikari at U.A.

"I talked to Izuku yesterday. He tried to reassure me that everything is fine, but I can tell he has a hard time dealing with what happened."

"Oh," Hikari had no idea what to say, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Inko nodded. "I understand that means you haven't reached out to your friends yet?"

Hikari flinched again. She had gotten her phone back yesterday, which she left in the pocket of the jacket with the USB drive. The device lay on the other side of the room, fully charged. New messages were displayed on the screen, but it remained untouched. She knew the others had tried to reach out, but she couldn't find the heart to look at it. Not after what happened yesterday.

"Izuku asked me about you," Inko disclosed, "he and the rest of your class are worried. I can't and won't force you, but I really think you should contact them. At least let them know you're alive and that you got their messages. Everything else can wait. I'm sure they'll understand."

What was she supposed to say? The silence stretched for too long, it was nagging on her nerves, urging her to speak but her mind was blank- At last, salvation came in form of another knock. Hikari looked at the clock. Was it already time?

"Yes?"

One of the doctors frequently visiting entered. He was followed by a nurse, the grumpy quirk specialist and Aizawa-sensei. This could only mean one thing: They were going to make her activate that thing again. Hikari gulped, she clenched her fists around the bedsheet and tried her best not letting her expression betray her.

"Good afternoon, Shikogane-san. How are you feeling? We're here to check up on your quirk again."

The U.A. student only nodded, unable to find her voice. Something squeezed her hand. She turned to find Inko smiling at her encouragingly before bidding her goodbyes and leaving the room. Her sudden absence made Hikari uncomfortable. Her throat grew dry and she could feel cold sweat accumulating on her back. The air coming from the open window suddenly seemed humid, too warm for the season, as the sun tried to break through the thick layer of clouds, warning them of the approaching storm.

"I heard there are going to be lots of fun activities! There's food and games, more food, and a big firework at the end!" Uraraka's eyes were sparkling. It was fun to see how they all had their very own reasons to go that festival. Izuku sat back and listened. He couldn't join them, but it was fun to watch their excitement. From time to time he added a few things into his quirk analysis notebook or refined his drawings, whatever looked like it still needed work.

"Midoriya, are you okay with this?" Of course, Todoroki would be concerned. Izuku smiled as best as he could. "Yeah, I'm fine. Please go and enjoy it."

"Are you really, really sure, Deku-kun? We can stay here with you if you want. It's just a small festival, there surely will be another one in the future!"

"No, please go," he reassured Uraraka, "I'm happier if you go. You just promise me to have the double amount of fun, will you?"

She was not happy with how things were going, that was for sure. Uraraka promised none the less and added that they were going to bring him lots of food and other stuff. Izuku accepted and stayed for another twenty minutes before he had enough. The festival sounded fun and he didn't remember the last time he went to one. Not since Middle School started. It had been years before that, with his mom, when he had still been a child. There had been more since then, but he never had any friends who would have accompanied him.

Izuku collected his notebook and went to the kitchen for a sip of water. Sunken into deep thoughts he accidentally knocked the kettle from the stove. He caught the object before it reached the floor and placed it back, luckily without spilling too much water. Behind him, Yaoyorozu screamed, "Mi-Midoriya-san, watch out!"

"It's fine, it wasn't that hot!" He held up his palm to prove it, not noticing Yaoyorozu's wide eyes. Baffled, his classmate helped him clean up the mess before he retreated to his room.

Momo reached out. Her palm hovered just a bit above the teapot, she could feel the heat radiating from the ceramic. How did he…?

"Yaomomo-chan," Tsuyu joined her, "I think someone really wants to talk to you." The frog girl held up Momo's phone. "It's been ringing for the past fifteen minutes in your room…"

"Oh, I'm sorry for the disturbance!" The taller girl apologized. She didn't get a lot of calls, hence she mostly left it up in her room. Momo accepted the phone and checked the identity of the desperate caller. Confusion filled her mind. Why would Neko-san call her? Unless…

"Thanks, Tsuyu," she smiled at her friend, "please excuse me." She had trouble hiding the nervousness on her face. Momo quickly made her way out of the common area to get somewhere more private. As far as she knew, everyone not here was up in their rooms, so the hallway would do.

"About damn time," the familiar voice rang in her ear.

"Hello, Neko-san. What-"

"You're good friends with Hikari, right?" The Seishin student didn't let her finish.

Momo stuttered, "Y-yes, why? Is she alright?"

A huff came from the other side. "Maybe you're not that close, if you have to ask me. But no, not really. I actually wanted to ask you about it but seems like you're worse off than me."

"Wait," a shiver ran down Momo's spine, "what do you mean, no? Did she contact you? We've tried everything, but we haven't heard from her, and the teachers won't tell us anything-"

"Sorry, but if she hasn't talked to you, there's nothing for me to say. Is there anyone else in your class who might know more?"

The U.A. student had to ponder for a Moment. Hikari had grown closer to her and Kyouka over the past few weeks, she also seemed a bit more open to the rest of the class. But she didn't recall the girl talking to anyone about her problems or what troubled her, she was more the bottling-everything-up-type of person. She never told anyone about her family, Momo and Iida found out themselves and only went to Midoriya to confirm their suspicions-

Of course. Midoriya. He had known before anyone else. The two of them also happened to be together at the Onderon incident. And from what Momo could tell, they had been sharing some kind of bond ever since then. Momo never noticed before, but now that she was actively thinking about it, she was positive it was there. It was easy for the two of them to fall into a conversation, Momo had seen them sitting or walking together a few times. They seemed to spend quite a bit of time together, but thanks to their calm nature, it never attracted anyone's attention. Not unless someone was actively looking at it, like her in this very moment.

"Midoriya," Momo announced confidently, "if she told anyone, it's him."

The short silence that followed told the hero in training that Neko was at least as surprised by this development as she was herself.

"...Alright, thanks. See ya, little hero."

"Neko-san, wait-!" But it was too late. Neko had hung up, not waiting for an answer. Momo puffed her cheeks. If anything, she was even more worried than before. Plenty of 1-A had tried to reach Hikari, but they all came to the same conclusion: her phone had to be dead. Or broken. Lost, probably, and they had no way of contacting her.

Momo folded her arms. She needed to think. There was no way she would just sit around and wait, now that she knew something was up. Should she tell the others? She didn't want to unsettle her friends. Maybe she could ask Aizawa-sensei about it? She raised her fist to her chin. What could have happened? She considered calling back Neko, but the other girl was probably already bothering Midoriya with her too calm, almost bored tone. Momo almost accused her of being heartless, then again, Neko didn't seem to wear her heart on her sleeve. She had to be just as worried as everyone else, if not more.

The rapid tapping of feet alerted Momo of someone approaching. The U.A. student rose her head to find a wide eyed Midoriya storming out of the common area. Their eyes met and the boy froze in his step.

"Did Neko-san call you?" She guessed.

"Y-yeah," he verified her question, "I, uhm, I wanted to talk to Aizawa-sensei…"

"I'm coming with you."

It was far too late for anyone still working and yet, there was light coming from inside the teachers' office. If anyone was crazy enough to work at such an ungodly hour, it had to be their homeroom teacher. Momo exchanged a short nod with Midoriya, before the boy knocked. No answer came.

They waited for another few seconds before Momo tried, "Aizawa-sensei? It's Yaoyorozu and Midoriya. We… We would like to talk to you about something."

There was a sound reminiscent of a chair rolling. There were steps, and the door opened to reveal the black clad underground hero looking all but pleased.

"Do you know what time it is? Curfew is in five minutes."

"Sensei-," Midoriya began, but was cut off by their teacher. "If this is about Shikogane, I can't disclose any information. You understand why."

Midoriya's head fell. He clenched his fists. A gesture that urged Momo to speak up, "We know… But we're worried. A friend of Hikari, Neko, called us, and mentioned that Hikari isn't well… She didn't seem to know why herself, but it won't let us rest. I know you can't tell us anything, but," an idea sprung to her mind, "maybe there's another way? If you could let a few of our class visit, it would probably help-"

"I'm sorry, Yaoyorozu, but there's nothing I can do," Aizawa folded his arms "now, go back to the dorm, you have three more minutes. If I see you running around after that, there will be consequences." With that the teacher slammed the door into their faces.

"Sensei!" Midoriya called after his teacher disbelievingly, but Momo held him back. "Midoriya-kun, I don't think this will get us anywhere. Aizawa-sensei looks incredibly worn out. Pressuring him won't do us any favours. Let's ask him tomorrow, once he's rested. Maybe some of the others will come with us."

Momo could tell he was not happy with that, still, Midoriya nodded. She caught herself doubting her own words, aware that their teacher would not be any less tired the next day, but she had to believe.

Fire. Green.

Green had always been one of his favourite colours, aside from the vibrant blue, red and yellow of All Might's costume. Even his own costume sported the design by his own wish. But the more time passed, the more the uneasiness spread while looking at it.

Once again, Izuku woke drenched in sweat. Whatever vivid dream he had had, he didn't remember any details. Only that there had been more fire and something green. He shook his head and ripped the cover off his burning body. He felt incredibly hot, he had been feeling weird for days. The thermometer told him that his body temperature was above normal, but he didn't feel sick, just different, like his body had to acclimatise to some weird, new circumstances. The young hero in training told himself that it was probably a side effect of Eri's quirk or just the stress, but the more days he waited for it to cease, the harder it got to persuade himself.

Like every other morning since the Overhaul operation, he wrote his mother a good morning text, asked her how she felt and if she knew more about where she'd go after the hospital. She couldn't go back to the apartment, that was for sure.

Izuku put on his blazer because it was required at this time of the year but wore his short-sleeved dress shirt underneath. Maybe he should ask Recovery Girl about it.

It was a Friday like every other. He walked to class with Todoroki, where he was welcomed by Iida. Uraraka joined them for lunch, then school went on, they went to ground beta for hero training, which concluded classes. He somehow ended up walking back to the dorm with Uraraka and Aoyama. It got a bit awkward because his classmate was hinting at something Izuku didn't understand but Uraraka got embarrassed about the whole time. But the confusion disappeared instantly when his favourite ex hero tapped him on the shoulder.

"All Might!"

"Greetings, young Midoriya, young Aoyama, young Uraraka!" He raised his hands and waited for them to acknowledge his presence before asking, "Would you mind if I borrow young Midoriya for a while?"

Izuku's classmates exchanged a worried glance. All Might seemed to notice and added, "It's nothing serious! If you can keep a secret," he leaned closer to them, "he's going to see Eri-chan."

Aoyama had no idea what they were talking about, but Uraraka's expression changed immediately. She clapped into her hands. "Can I see Eri-chan, too?"

All Might leaned back. "I'm sorry, but more than one person would overwhelm her at the moment. She already knows young Midoriya, and it's best if she can slowly get used to the new environment."

Uraraka's eyes fell, but she nodded. "I see… But please tell her I say hi, All Might-sensei!"

The ex number one hero chuckled. "I will, young Uraraka."

Maybe Overhaul hadn't been as stupid as Dragon thought. There was some truth to his words and his plan on how to take over the underground was almost… Impressing. It lacked some in-detail planning, but the general idea wasn't bad.

And then there was the drug. Despite testing it over and over again, forcing the best scientists in Japan to work for him, they never found out what exactly caused the temporary quirk loss. Hence, they hadn't been able to reproduce it. Now, knowing that it in its final form was even able to completely erase a quirk, Dragon could feel the power radiating from the words alone. If only he could make that power his…

And there was that other detail his quirkless Seishin underling mentioned. Potentially, another variant of the drug could return those lost quirks. Oh, how many doors those possibilities opened.

Maybe his family wasn't lost yet. Maybe his son would finally open his eyes and see the truth if Dragon gave him back the quirk he had been born with. If his son joined him, his wife undoubtedly would as well. All of that while he also gained control of the underground by executing an improved version of Chisaki Kai's failed plan. And there was only one thing he needed to achieve this goal: A certain little girl with a very powerful quirk.