"So, Void," Shigaraki started, unlocking the metal door and stepping into the confined space. Midoriya barely reacted to his words, but he was aware that the villain was here.

He heard Shigaraki step closer, and felt a hand reach out, slowly but surely disintegrating his shoulder.

"Do you think the heroes care about you?"

Midoriya paused at the question; he definitely hadn't been expecting that from the man. He had to be careful; Shigaraki was up to something for sure.

"I mean... I know it's not publicly known and all that you're quirkless... but do you think they'll come and save you? Even with that knowledge?"

Midoriya split his focus between his leg and Shigaraki's words. He needed to figure out what was going on. Shigaraki knows that he'll get out of his alive due to his quirk... so what on earth was he planning? Was he trying to make him lose faith in the heroes?

"I know that you know that you can't speak. You have a fucking muzzle." Shigaraki growled, "But you can fucking nod and shake your head. Answer me."

Midoriya weakly nodded his head. He knew that this event would probably be broadcasted all over Japan... and he knew for a fact that Nezu would want to save him. The other heroes... Midoriya wasn't too sure about. They'd probably do it for the publicity; that, and it would look bad on the hero society if they didn't save a student from one of the best schools in UA.

"Do you think they really want to do it? Do they really want to save a useless, quirkless child?"

If Shigaraki wanted him to lose faith in heroes... he was doing a pretty bad job at trying to hide his real intentions.

Which meant that Midoriya shouldn't agree with him. He'll just refuse to agree with everything Shigaraki said... piss him off... make him frustrated...

Use his emotions against him... cloud his mind...

If he made Shigaraki angry enough... maybe he'd find out more about their real intentions. Find out what they were planning.

That was the only way he could be useful; by knowing.

Midoriya nodded his head again.

"Well then... you're pretty stupid then." Shigaraki laughed, "But you'll learn, in time. Well, hope you're having fun."

Midoriya could feel that Shigaraki's quirk had sped up, disintegrating his muscles, eating away into his shoulder until he reached the bone. Blood was flowing profusely out of his arm, and Midoriya bit his lip to prevent himself from making a single sound.

You deserve it... don't you agree... you deserve to suffer... after all, you're just a worthless, pathetic child who can't do anything right... you deserve to die... but you can't even do that right...

Midoriya tried to block his own thoughts on his head, and focused on the fresh, metallic smell of blood in the air.

... no one really wants to save you...

"Hi, Izu-kun!" Midoriya heard Toga chirp, as the female villain stepped into his cell, "I hope you missed me!"

Midoriya didn't reply; he didn't want to, and he couldn't even if he had wanted to.

"You look so pretty, you know? All covered in blood… though it's a pity I can't see your cute face… Shiggy said that we can't remove that thing for safety reasons or something. I bet you're cute with all that blood on you..." He could feel her staring intently at him.

"Aww... pity it ain't fresh, though... except for your arm... Fresh blood is way better than dried up blood, don't you agree?" Toga cooed, and Midoriya heard her squat down in front of him.

He heard the sound of a knife being taken out of a sheath, and the rustling of Toga's sleeve, almost as if she were resting her elbow on her knee and bringing her head to rest on her hand.

Toga pressed the knife against his stomach, and pushed against it slightly, breaking the skin.

"Do you mind? Don't mind if I do -"

Midoriya couldn't stop himself from taking a sharp intake of breath as Toga sunk the knife into his gut and ripped it out harshly, tearing apart more of his flesh as she did so.

"Whoopsie! Fresh... red... blood... so tasty... Does quirkless blood taste different from other kinds of blood?" She laughed, and sank her knife into Midoriya's chest again.

"You should struggle a bit more... it's more fun!" She giggled hysterically.

Midoriya internally sighed. This girl was crazy. He probably wasn't going to be able to get anything out of her. He'd just sit back and wait it out.

"Sup, kid."

Midoriya shifted slightly. His entire body hurt; apparently the metal cell he was in was electrified, and Hikiishi had fun using her quirk on him and standing her ground from outside the cell, letting him slam into the cell bars and constantly get electrocuted.

Initially, the chains that connected his cuffs to the wall were short, and he could barely even stand up, but they were eventually elongated before Hikiishi came in.

"We, well, Spinner and I saw what Magne did to you, from the hideout. Shigaraki said we can do whatever we wanted with you."

Despite not being able to see anything, Midoriya blinked.

Security cameras?

He heard the cage door open, and Dabi walked into his cell, settling down to the left of the chained boy.

"And I don't feel like harming you. You cold, kid?" Dabi asked.

Midoriya seriously didn't know. He wasn't even sure if all his limbs were intact at this point; the electricity was numbing his senses and Toga had stabbed and slashed him all over the place.

Midoriya suddenly felt some warmth on his left, and Dabi chuckled.

"I can't remove the muzzle; Shigaraki might be watching. You hungry? I can try to convince Shigaraki to let you have a bite or two."

Midoriya wasn't hungry at all, and that wasn't surprising at all; he wasn't even sure his stomach was in one piece. His quirk had activated when he fought against Hikiishi; his back had snapped when she had shoved him into the ground with her gigantic magnet. And even though he was sure that he was supposed to be bleeding out, at the very least, his quirk wasn't doing anything to heal him. There was also blood leaking into his lungs from where his ribs had pierced them, and Midoriya was really not sure what was intact and what wasn't. He really didn't know what the heck his quirk was supposed to do; he just knew that it was as fucked up as he was.

He didn't want to respond; he knew Dabi was somewhat of a decent guy, but he didn't want to waste his energy.

Dabi chuckled, "You don't have to reply if you don't want to. I do know you're trying to conserve your energy. You gave Shigaraki a very good thwack on the head last night, I can tell you that."

The two of them continued to sit in silence, the only sound being the wind that was blowing from a few small cracks in the walls and blood dripping to the ground.

"I'm not sure if you remember me... six years is a long time, after all... you saved me from those thugs after I overused my quirk and burnt myself." Dabi gave a dry laugh, "I really thought they were going to kill me... You even went to a pharmacy and bought burn cream, trying to treat my self inflicted injuries, berating me about taking care of myself. You're the only people that... went out of their way to help me... and I'm grateful for that."

Dabi pat Midoriya on his undisintegrated shoulder, "The look in you eyes have changed since then... but I'm not going to ask about it. Don't lose hope, okay, kid? Those heroes better fucking bust you out of this hellhole, or Spinner and I will have to do it ourselves."

Iguchi sighed, as he kept an eye on the camera. Midoriya could actually walk around his cell when he actually had the strength and energy to do so, which was very rarely. Shigaraki, Hikiishi and Toga were constantly with him, and this was one of the rare times when they left him alone.

Sako had spent a couple hours with him in total, but all he did was just talk and talk, and then, talk some more, his dramatic flair getting the better of him. He even said that it was too dark in the room for him to put up a show, and asked Shigaraki if they could install a light, but Shigaraki vehemently refused. The same went for Bubaigawara; the man just kept talking and contradicting himself. Iguchi himself, as well as Dabi, usually just spent their time talking to the boy.

"How's the squirt?" Dabi asked, as Kurogiri poured him a glass of water and another for Iguchi.

"Moving a little. Probably regained some energy and is curious about his surroundings." Iguchi replied, taking the water, "Thanks."

Dabi drained his glass, "At the rate they're going... they're going to kill him before the press conference comes around. Heck, probably sooner. Shigaraki said he could take it without dying... but I'm not sure how he's going to do that without a quirk. Pure determination? Ha."

Iguchi sighed, "Shigaraki hates him, Toga likes blood, and Big Sis Magne is terrified of him after he beat Muscular to a pulp."

"Good. I never liked Muscular; that bastard deserved it." Dabi grumbled, eyeing the screen, "He stood up? I thought his legs were broken."

"They were broken." Iguchi winced at the memory, "Twice checked; he apparently had cloned this random guy with a x-ray quirk in his youth. The only bones that aren't broken is his spine and neck; heck, the kid's skull is cracked a bit here and there."

"Yeah..." Dabi watched the screen intently, "I think he's making it worse."

"Huh?" Iguchi frowned, before he turned to the screen and nearly fell off his chair, "Holy fuck. What is he doing?"

"Charging at the bars and getting electrocuted." Dabi dryly replied.

"I can see that." Iguchi growled, "I'm not blind. Should we stop him? He's going to die even faster."

Kurogiri frowned, and he put the glass he was wiping down, "I'll deal with it."

Minutes later, the security feed buzzed out.

Midoriya could hear the sound of a portal opening.

His entire body was numb and hurting at the same time, but he was too tired to care at this point. The chains, while long enough to let him move, weren't long enough to let his hands reach the bars. He charged against the metal bars again, bashing his head against the metal, ignoring the pain that flared down his spine. He heard electricity crackling, and he could feel the tingle running through his body.

Kurogiri watched helplessly as Midoriya desperately threw himself against the bars, again and again. He may be a villain, but he wasn't heartless.

At least, he wasn't as heartless as Sensei and Shigaraki.

"Stop." Kurogiri muttered. He knew that Midoriya had heard him, he had seen that small, miniscule, almost unnoticeable flinch from the boy, but the child merely ignored him and continued bashing himself against his cell, electricity racing through his body.

Kurogiri teleported into the cell, and quickly grabbed Midoriya's arms, pulling him away from the bars.

"You're not stupid. You know that's not going to help." Kurogiri berated, gently helping Midoriya to the ground.

Okay, so maybe he was slightly sorry for the boy, but who wouldn't be sorry, after seeing him so desperately trying to escape by using himself as a human hammer.

Kurogiri teleported back out of the cell. Midoriya seemed to have calmed down, or at least, had stopped throwing himself at the bars. Satisfied with his work, Kurogiri teleported back to the hideout.

Reiko sniffed the ground, before letting out a meow. Ryuto swooped down from the sky, landing next to the cat, before they looked around Kamino Ward, watching as people rushed to and fro, cars honking loudly in the busy streets.

They could finally start looking for their human.

Reiko had been on Yaoyorozu's bed when she had been interrogated by the officers, and had watched as Yaoyorozu created the receiver, and switched it on, just to make sure it was working, before passing it to the police. She managed to get a quick glimpse of the screen, and caught two words on the screen, Kamino Ward.

And as much as she didn't feel like it, she forced herself, and Ryuto, to finish all the food that Shinsou had set out for them.

They were going to get their human back; they were going to need the energy.

Reiko had a general idea of where to go; Midoriya had shown her a map of Japan a couple of times. Musutafu was located near Tokyo, and Yokohoma was to the southwest of Tokyo. She wasn't sure exactly how to get there, but she just followed that tingly feeling in her gut that got stronger when she was closer to Midoriya.

They had left UA in the middle of the night; Shinsou and Aizawa had been asleep, and while she hadn't figured out how to sneak out without anyone, especially Nezu, noticing, there had been a small blackout as Yamada had accidentally short circuited the the main generators, so that had solved that problem for them. Reiko and Ryuto had used the few minutes before the back-up generator kicked in to slip out of Midoriya's room and exit the premises.

The doors were the easiest part of the plan; actually getting to Kamino Ward was the hard part, and then they had to figure out how to get Midoriya out of the clutches of those stupid villains. They'd burn that bridge when they got to it; they had to get to Kamino first.

They had gotten lost in the messy placements of buildings a few times, and there were a few times where kids were chasing after them for being "cute", and they had been forced off track.

The only people who could call her cute was Midoriya and his friends, dammit. The only reason she didn't claw their eyes out was because it would just bring more attention to them, and it was more trouble than it was worth.

They had started seeing street signs with directions to Kamino Ward, and while Ryuto couldn't exactly read, he recognised the characters well enough for him to scout a straight path to their destination.

It had taken them around twelve hours in total for them to reach Kamino Ward, but now, they were finally here. They had left at around four in the morning, and now, it was afternoon; the sun was going to set soon, and they needed to find Midoriya before the evening rush hour started.

Reiko ducked into an alleyway, before nodding upwards. Ryuto immediately got the message, and shot into the sky. He couldn't fly for a very long time, or do complicated manoeuvres, but his elevated vantage point and keen eyesight would be vital in finding Midoriya quickly.

Reiko looked around, and closed her eyes, trying to block out all the loud sounds and nauseating smells, focusing on that small tingle that had gotten stronger since they had arrived. Nezu had suggested that it was a quirk, but Reiko didn't really care; quirk or no, she was finding her human no matter what and no one was going to stop her.

She turned her head, and tried to locate the direction where that tingle grew stronger. She let that feeling guide her, as she weaved between buildings, ducking behind trash cans and hiding behind bushes, making her way forwards. She knew that Ryuto could see that she was on the move, and was following her in the skies, flying smoothly and silently over buildings.

Slowly, the crowd thinned, and Reiko looked around in confusion. She eyed the dilapidated buildings around her warily; this was certainly not what she was expecting.

Ryuto let out a small squawk as he fluttered down beside her, but Reiko quickly pressed her paw against Ryuto's beak, shushing him immediately. She couldn't sense anyone malicious, but she wasn't going to take any chances, not when they were this close to finding their human.

Ryuto sniffed the air, and shrunk back, fluffing up his feathers. Reiko tilted her head; her sense of smell wasn't as acute as Ryuto's, and she wondered what happened to make her baby bird flinch like that. It didn't matter that the seven week old bird was bigger than her; he was still her baby.

Ryuto took another sniff, before he perked up, and started walking in one direction. Reiko followed behind him; they were close, very close, but she couldn't figure out which building Midoriya was being kept it. Ryuto slowly led her towards one building, and Reiko paused, picking up a very familiar smell in the air.

Blood.

It was Midoriya's blood, for sure. She had been around Midoriya long enough, and as much as she hated to admit it, she had smelt enough of his blood from his injuries, from villains and self inflicted, to recognise it immediately.

Ryuto turned to look at her, tilting his head slightly, and Reiko nodded, giving her confirmation that they were on the right track. They followed the metallic smell, reaching a broken, abandoned building, and paused. Ryuto fluttered up to the door, and tried to push the handle down, to no avail.

He looked down at the cat, and shook his head. He tapped a talon against the door, and gave a low purr.

Locked.

Reiko growled slightly, before surveying the building. There was a tinted window, but they couldn't just break it; they had no means of doing so, Ryuto would most definitely injure himself if he outrightly kamikaze-crashed into it, and they had to find a way in without doing any damage, or the villains would find out about their presence.

She walked around the building, sniffing the ground. It was an old, abandoned building; there had to be an opening somewhere. With all their hiding and sniffing about, it had taken them another few hours to figure out Midoriya's location, and the sun was setting.

There was the tiniest crack between the wall and the ground. It was smaller than Reiko herself, but cats are known for fitting into small, narrow spaces, after all. Ryuto wouldn't fit, though; he was too big, and the cracked wall could damage his flight feathers.

Ryuto fluttered down beside her, and Reiko pawed at the hole, before nuzzling Ryuto and placing her paw on the ground, telling him to stay put. They couldn't understand each other's native tongue; Reiko didn't speak bird and Ryuto didn't speak cat. But they understood each other; their body language, combined with their bond, allowed them to get the message across just fine, and it was the same with Midoriya.

The hawk waited patiently by the hole as Reiko squeezed herself through the miniscule hole, before quickly shaking herself all over, getting rid of all the dust and dirt on her fur. She looked up, and the metallic scent of blood hit her like a freight train; her sense of smell was being overwhelmed by all the blood.

Midoriya's blood.

Reiko quickly looked around the room, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was a vent in the room, on the ceiling, but they didn't have a screwdriver, and she couldn't reach it from her position on the ground anyways. The door wasn't barricaded, merely locked, but Reiko couldn't unlock reach the doorknob either, and there wasn't anything in the room that she could climb and jump from.

She heard a faint tap on another tinted window, one that was just above the whole she had slipped through, and she froze.

There was silence.

And then, another tap, followed by a chirp.

Reiko released the breath she was holding, and she let out a faint meow, letting Ryuto know that she was still there; there wasn't anyone around to hear them. There were a bunch of metal bars connecting the ceiling and the floor together, and she made her way over to investigate.

She went to sniff at a metal bar, but she stopped. She could sense something else in the metal bar, and she wasn't eager to find out what it was. She slipped through the metal bars, careful not to touch them, before spotting a figure lying against the wall lifelessly, barely breathing, sitting in a puddle of water.

Midoriya.

There was something over his eyes, and another thing, a muzzle, she noted, covering his mouth.

She took a step forward hesitantly, placing her paw in the puddle of water. She lifted her paw, and paused. It didn't feel like water at all; it was too sticky, and stuck to her fur uncomfortably.

Blood.

Reiko didn't like getting her fur dirty, but at this point, she didn't even care. She rushed up to Midoriya, not caring that blood was spilled all over the ground, not caring that she was making the blood splash around as she ran, ignoring the fact that she was getting more of it stuck to her fur.

She stopped when she reached Midoriya's arm, and sniffed it, getting nothing but that horrid metallic scent.

Reiko nudged his arm lightly, got no response.

His arm was cold.

Reiko looked up, and meowed, pushing his arm again, but slightly harder this time.

She heard the sound of metal hitting against each other, and she spotted the faint twitch of his finger. She looked upwards, seeing Midoriya move to look at her despite his vision being blocked. Reiko settled down by Midoriya's hand, and tried to think. She didn't know how much time she had spent thinking, but by the time she got up and made her way back outside, the sun had already set.

Reiko climbed out of the hole, and let out a meow. Ryuto had been perching on the window ledge, and he glided downwards. Reiko nudged her head towards the sky, and made a faint, rumble-like purr that sounded like an engine.

Ryuto blinked, before flapping his wings slightly, elevating himself a few centimeters off the ground, before landing. He fluffed up his feathers, and let out a high pitched screech, before tilting his head. Reiko nodded, and Ryuto let out an exhausted but determined chirp, flapping his wings and zooming into the sky; it didn't matter if they found Iida or Uraraka or Shinsou or Yamada or some other pro hero, they just had to find someone that could help Midoriya.

Reiko slipped through the hole again, before carefully climbing up onto Midoriya's lap, careful to avoid any injuries that he had, which wasn't easy; there was so much blood everywhere that she wasn't too sure where Midoriya was injured and where he wasn't.

She let out a faint purr, and stayed completely still.