warnings: kidnapping, dealing with the fallout thereof, implied/referenced torture, AFO being a creepy bastard
"They're saying—over there!"
Shouta's following one of his students through a burning forest. The student in question happens to be one Kouda Kouji, his shyness forgotten in the rush of adrenaline and desperation of the night. They're followed by three more: Ojiro Mashirao, Monoma Neito carrying Izumi Kouta and a copied version of the boy's quirk, and Shiozaki Ibara, who refused to be left behind.
It's far from the ideal situation, but when the three students came running towards him, yelling that Midoriya needs help and that they can find him, there wasn't anything else he could do but let them help. Shouta has since then witnessed an astonishing number of owls fly by to speak with Kouda.
And, according to him, relaying the reports of the owls, they're almost to where Midoriya (and Shouji and Jirou) are fighting villains to retrieve their (Todoroki and Tokoyami) captured classmates.
And then, Shouta doesn't need Kouda's translations anymore, because he can hear the yelling. He reaches, finds just a little bit of something, and sprints forward with a speed he was sure he'd already exhausted that night.
He breaks into the clearing just in time to watch as Midoriya is dragged, kicking and screaming, through a portal he last saw at the USJ.
(Screaming, not so much, because the kid's voice was gone despite the words he was clearly forming with his mouth-)
"Izuku!" Ojiro bolts past him, overtaking even Tokoyami, who had just been reaching for Midoriya. He skids to a stop, right where the portal was, tail lashing as he looks around, head whipping back and forth.
"He—he. Shouji," that's Jirou, her jacks wrapping around each other as she climbs to her feet. She's covered in dirt, her hair tangled, and her face streaked with soot. "Shouji, did you hear that? Did—did you hear what he said?"
"He told us not to follow him," Shouji murmurs, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"No!"
That's Uraraka's scream as she runs forward. Asui follows, leaping forward, and nearby, Aoyama creeps out of a bush. He's pale and shaking and his hair is a mess and only getting worse as he runs his hands through it.
"No, not again!" Uraraka falls to her knees next to Ojiro, her hands reaching up to grab fistfuls of hair. "Fuck! Why?"
…
Shouta takes a deep breath. He can't afford to freak out here, not with so many students around—students he is responsible for.
"All of you," he snaps, a little harsher than he intends to. "We're going back to the lodge. Now."
"But—" Uraraka begins, freezing as Shouta briefly activates his quirk.
"There's nothing we can do here," he replies. "And all of you need medical attention. Emergency services are on their way."
"Even me?" Monoma asks, gesturing at the column of smoke. The flames, however, are no longer burning blue, instead faded into the standard orange of wood fires.
"Yes," Shouta replies.
Todoroki is the first one to move, standing with little effort. His face is bowed, his hair hanging like a curtain in front of it, but he moves towards Shouta. Shouji and Jirou are the next to move, the tallest student—the only word for it is scooping—up Tokoyami and carrying him along. Asui, who is carrying a Class B student—Tsuburaba? Shouta really should learn the names of Vlad's students, beyond Tokage, Honenuki, Monoma, and Kendou—walks over to Uraraka and shakes her shoulder.
"Come on, Ochako," she says. "Mr. Aizawa is right. There's nothing we can do for him here."
Uraraka breathes in, a gasp, and nods, taking Asui's hand and letting the other girl pull her to her feet. Aoyama follows them, still not speaking, wringing his hands in front of him as he walks while Monoma gives one last glance to the fire as he walks away. That leaves Ojiro, still standing there, his tail lashing back and forth and tears beginning to fall down his face.
"Shiozaki, start heading back to the lodge," Shouta orders, taking a step towards Ojiro.
"Yes, sir," she replies, and turns. He watches his students start walking, Shiozaki encouraging them forward with steadying hands on their backs.
He can't waste time here.
"Ojiro," he says, taking another step forward. "We need to go now."
Ojiro turns, his eyes wide, not really seeing.
"I—he—Mr. Aizawa," he gasps. "He—they took him."
"Yes," Shouta nods.
"They—they took Izuku."
"They did." He nods again.
"Why—why Izuku?" Ojiro asks, taking a step towards Shouta.
"We don't know yet," Shouta replies. "Come on, Ojiro. Let's get you back to the lodge."
Ojiro inhales. It looks like, for a moment, he wants to argue, but he does not. Instead, he walks forward, and Shouta turns, herding him back towards the rest of the group.
They catch up easily. Neither of them is injured, and Ojiro isn't particularly tired, not compared to others like Shiozaki, Uraraka, and Shouji. His students are all quiet, not speaking, just trudging forward, heads down. There's Uraraka and Asui, hand-in-hand, and Shouji is still carrying Tokoyami while Jirou and Todoroki walk alongside him. Kouda is leading the group with Monoma, while Shiozaki brings up the rear, her hand resting on Aoyama's back.
Shouta's group is still subdued by the time they reach the lodge. Emergency services aren't there yet, but he can hear the sirens echoing off the hills. Tiger and Mandalay are performing triage while Kan corrals the conscious, less-injured students—namely, the remedial students.
"Eraser!" Kan growls. "There you are." He's holding a clipboard. "Which students do you have with you?"
Shouta rattles off the list of names, finishing by gesturing at the 1-B student he doesn't know the name of. Vlad mutters a name, Tsuburaba, and marks all the students off on the clipboard.
"That's almost all of them," he says, louder. "Just Kendou, Tetsutetsu, Awase, Yaoyorozu, and Midoriya."
The students who were there freeze. Uraraka starts crying anew as Shouta strides over to Kan.
"Midoriya was taken," he hisses into the other teacher's ear. Shouji and Jirou are the only two with the hearing sharp enough to eavesdrop, and they were there. "I got there just in time to watch them take him through one of Kurogiri's portals."
Kan smothers his wince, marking something down on the clipboard.
"Okay," he says, matching Shouta's volume. "Ragdoll of the Pussycats is also missing."
Shouta blinks. Glances over the area. Sure enough, there's only three of the four Pussycats accounted for.
"The police will do a sweep of the forest," Kan adds, entirely unnecessarily.
What will they find in there, Shouta wonders.
He finds Detective Tsukauchi, snagging the elbow of the plain-looking man and startling him where he's overseeing the arrest of three villains, all of whom are unconscious.
"Whoever is being sent to Midoriya Inko," Aizawa says, "I'll go with them."
"That'll be me," Tsukauchi replies. "I was planning on leaving for hers as soon as everything was taken care of here. You can ride along with me."
Shouta nods and sends a quick text to Hizashi, letting his husband know that he doesn't need to rush to the campsite and that Shouta will be home… at some point.
Back by the lodge, all the students that don't need hospitalized are having their statements taken. And doesn't that smart: there are sixteen students who have been taken off in ambulances, and of those sixteen, not a single one was conscious as they left.
Shouta lingers, lurking in the shadows as he watches over the students. Kan is hovering over Awase, Kendou, Tetsutetsu, Kodai, and Monoma, the only five of his students who weren't sent to the hospital. Of them, Tetsutetsu is in the worst shape, but should be fine with rest and some food.
Shouta's students… well. Only one of them was sent to the hospital, which means he has seventeen scared and angry teenagers to take care of.
He manages, keeping Bakugou separated from Uraraka, who looks like she wants to smash the other's face in for some reason. Shiozaki, despite her extensive exhaustion, is hovering over Tokoyami, Shouji, Jirou, and Todoroki while Hagakure talks quietly at Aoyama.
This would be more manageable, he thinks as he translates Kouda's signed statement for the officer taking it, if his class had a Vice Rep. Yaoyorozu is missing, and no one is taking up the slack. The closest is Shiozaki, but she's hardly taking charge just because she's hovering over four students. He hasn't pushed the issue yet, since it hasn't been that long since Iida's death, but maybe he'll have to when they return to school.
It seems like hours before all the statements are taken, injuries are taken care of, and the remaining students are packed onto a bus and sent back to U.A. where they'll be picked up by parents. Vlad King is on the bus that he's watching drive away, taking charge of the combined students of both classes while Shouta waits for Tsukauchi.
He doesn't have to wait long for the detective to walk over, two cups of coffee in his hands. Tsukauchi holds one out, and Shouta takes it with a thank you and a cautious sip.
"You remember how I take my coffee," he says, glancing over at Tsukauchi through half-lidded eyes.
"I try my best to remember how the heroes I work with the most take their coffee. You underground types tend to be a lot better to work with if we keep you happy, after all," the detective explains, leading Shouta to a plain-looking sedan. He takes the driver's seat while Shouta slides in the passenger side, keeping the coffee nestled in his hands rather than setting it in the cup holder. He only needs one hand to put his seatbelt on, after all.
"I wasn't expecting you to request to personally help break the news," Tsukauchi says as he pulls out of the parking spot.
Shouta drums his fingers on the coffee cup. Tsukauchi is… as trustworthy as detectives get, so he's probably safe letting him know everything.
"I… happen to be close to the Midoriyas," he says. "I've been training Midoriya for a few years now. Since there's no point in lying to you, we've been telling people that I'm his uncle, to help explain his quirk. I haven't heard the full story, but his biological father is a piece of work that both Midoriyas have been hiding from for years."
Tsukauchi raises his eyebrows. "Winning the Sports Festival isn't hiding."
"No, it's not," Shouta agrees, taking a sip of his coffee. He doesn't add any more explanation. How is he supposed to narrow down the conversations that he's been a part of, the reasoning he's heard, the conversations he hasn't been there for into something that would fit into a handful of sentences?
Tsukauchi, thankfully, moves on. "Do you think his biological father could have anything to do with the League of Villains?"
Shouta shrugs. "Honestly? I have no idea. I don't know enough about the situation." And, honestly, he's kicking himself for that right now. He should've pressed the matter sooner. He's respected their rights to their secrets, but has he not proven himself trustworthy yet?
"Okay." Tsukauchi nods. "It's possible they may have targeted him because of the encounter he had with Shigaraki in Kiyashi Ward. Perhaps he wants to finish what he started."
Shouta doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to even entertain that possibility, not right now. He knows, more than anyone, that Midoriya may not come back, but he doesn't want to consider that yet.
So, instead he considers other things.
"Would he want him enough to instruct the Action Squad to sacrifice two other hostages for the chance to get Midoriya? I've been listening to my students give statements all night. They deliberately sacrificed the chance to kidnap Todoroki and Tokoyami just to grab Midoriya."
Tsukauchi clicks his tongue. "We don't know enough of his psychological profile to answer that. I want to say yes, but I can't guarantee it. It's also possible that Shigaraki's master has something to do with this. From his statement, after Kiyashi Ward, Midoriya mentioned that Shigaraki found their quirks—Midoriya and Shigaraki's master—to be similar." The quiet horror that begins to thread its way into Tsukauchi's tone has Shouta raising his eyebrows.
"You sound like you have an idea who Shigaraki's master is."
Tsukauchi chews on his lip for a moment before responding. "Have you heard of a man called All For One?"
Shouta almost drops his coffee, blinking rapidly as the words process and sink in and send a spear of terror through his heart.
"There's no one underground who hasn't," he hisses. "The man who can take and give, alive since the dawn of quirks? He's practically an urban legend…"
"Practically." Tsukauchi nods.
"No one's heard a whisper from him in years." Shouta shakes his head. His breathing is starting to come shallower, so he starts taking deeper breaths and holding them. "We'd hoped he'd died."
"We hoped that, too," Tsukauchi replies. "But with the existence of Noumu…"
Shouta exhales, breath hissing out through his clenched teeth. It makes sense—too much sense.
"But why." He pauses to take a sip of his coffee, and then another, before continuing. "Why would he target Midoriya?"
"For his quirk, maybe? You're the most familiar with him. How powerful is Negation?"
A building in a training ground enters his mind's eye.
"Very," he replies.
Tsukauchi winces. "There you go. Imagine that on his side."
Shouta doesn't want to imagine it, but he does anyways. How would it happen? All For One is known for taking quirks. Is that why Midoriya and Ragdoll were targeted? Both have useful quirks.
…That has to be the only option for Search. It's not something that's useful without intelligence behind it. But, Negation…
He shakes his head.
He does not want to go down that road, not right now.
"There… is another possibility," Tsukauchi says. "If Shigaraki mentioned a similarity between Midoriya and All For One's quirks… Is it possible that's the biological father they're running from?"
"If it is, then Midoriya Inko is a much more dangerous woman than we give her credit for," Shouta replies. "To go to ground so thoroughly that All For One can't find them for fourteen years?"
Tsukauchi nods. "That would be impressive."
They converse in fits and starts after that until they're pulling into a visitor spot at the Midoriyas' apartment complex. Tsukauchi shuts off the car, and they both sit there for a moment until Shouta opens the door and sets the ball rolling. It's almost 2300, and any sane person would be asleep, but Midoriya Inko is a trauma nurse who gets off at 2230 on Wednesday nights.
She'll still be awake.
They take the stairs, climbing to the fifth floor. Shouta takes the lead, stopping outside the correct door, and lets Tsukauchi do the knocking.
There's the sound of movement from inside, and he can hear Inko's voice getting louder as she gets closer.
"—and honestly, at this time of night." She opens the door, already glaring. "And what do you—Oh. Oh no. Something's gone wrong, hasn't it?" She takes a step back, leaving the door open. "Come on," she says, gesturing them inside. "There, there's no need to have this conversation, to have it out here."
The Midoriyas' apartment has always felt welcoming to Shouta, and even now, even in this circumstance, that feeling remains. Inko looks worn, which is to be expected after a shift, but a weight seems to settle around her shoulders just by adding the presence of Tsukauchi and Shouta.
It's not long before the two men are sitting at the dinner table while Inko puts tea on.
"Would either of you like any?" she asks. Tsukauchi looks like he's about to shake his head, but Shouta leans over.
"Just let her make the tea," he whispers.
"Shouta, the tea's not for you, it's for me," Inko replies. "But if either of you would like any, I will make some for you."
"I would appreciate that, as long as you're offering," Tsukauchi replies, and, oh, Shouta can understand the depths of Inko's sigh.
"I am offering, that is the point," she says. "Herbal tea fine for both of you?"
"Yes, of course," Tsukauchi agrees. He glances over at Shouta, an eyebrow raised. What does that mean, Tsukauchi, Shouta's not a mind reader.
The tea's ready within a couple minutes, and then the three of them are sitting there. Tsukauchi is staring into his tea like maybe it'll swallow him whole while Shouta wraps his hands around the cup, letting the warm sink into his bones.
"So. Detective. Shouta. What's happened?" Inko's voice is full of steel and her gaze drills holes into them.
…Shouta can completely see her standing up to a villain as legendary as All For One, honestly.
Tsukauchi is the one to answer. "This evening, the first years' training camp was attacked by members of the League of Villains."
"That's the group Shigaraki Tomura belongs to, right?" Inko asks, and Tsukauchi nods. The muscles in her jaw tense.
"As a result of this attack, your son was taken by the League of Villains."
Inko swallows. Once. Twice. She's blinking, and Shouta can see the tears building up in her eyes.
"Taken. Izuku was… taken. Kidnapped?" Her hands clench into fists, her nails scraping over the smooth surface of the table. "He's in the hands of the League of Villains?"
Shouta bows his head, guilt and regret and a deep thread of terror curling through him. "I apologize," he says. "It was my responsibility to watch over him, and I failed terribly."
"I—I—No, Shouta," Inko says, and he looks up to see her shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. "No. It's…" She swallows. "It might be my fault, too, because I should have been more honest with you."
"Wh—" his voice cuts out, and he swallows. "What do you mean?"
Inko takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. "Do you trust Detective Tsukauchi?"
"Yes," Shouta replies.
"With—Even—" she seems to be struggling for words, trying to find the best way to ask. Her eyes open, and Shouta finds himself watching as she pins Tsukauchi with her gaze. "Who do you answer to, Detective Tsukauchi?"
"I'm not sure what you're asking," Tsukauchi replies, leaning back, just a little, until his back hits the back of the chair.
"He's not one of the Commission's dogs," Shouta answers. He can almost taste his own intrigue. Where is Inko going with this?
"Okay." Inko nods. "Okay, that's good. Is he right, Detective? Who do you answer to, if not the Commission?"
"The people," Tsukauchi replies, and then purses his lips. "All Might, sometimes, but… he's hardly a Commission dog, himself."
Inko nods again. "Okay. I suppose it's time I told you about Izuku's father, then. But first, I think we should have this conversation somewhere else. If Izuku's been targeted, then I can't be far behind."
"Hizashi and I have a spare bedroom," Shouta replies.
Inko nods.
She rides in the back seat of Tsukauchi's car, only two bags with her. Shouta had offered the front seat to her, but she had declined. He texted Hizashi as she was packing, and with Inko's blessing, his husband was being included in the coming conversation.
This car ride isn't that long. This late at night, there's little traffic, so they're to Shouta and Hizashi's apartment in less than half an hour. The three of them walk upstairs together, and Hizashi's waiting with hot cocoa when they get there.
"You didn't have to," Inko begins to say.
"I wanted to," Hizashi replies, shoving a mug into her hands as soon as her bags are set down.
They settle in the living room. Shouta and Hizashi's ragged little three-legged ex-stray settles down next to Inko and begins purring like a freight train while Inko, like she's not even thinking about it, runs a hand over tortoiseshell fur.
"So," she says. "Izuku's biological father. I'm sure that you, Shouta, have heard of him. Detective, perhaps you have as well."
She takes a deep breath and then bites her lip. "It feels… wrong, to tell you without him. This may be my ex-fiancé, but, well, it doesn't feel right to tell you without Izuku." She takes a deep breath, and it's Shouta's turn to cut her off.
"No," he says, shaking his head. "You don't have to tell us now." He glances over at Tsukauchi, who nods. "I think we've already figured it out, ourselves."
Inko blinks. "No, I do. I should've talked to Izuku about telling you much, much sooner than now. That's a mistake I can't rectify, but I can take steps forward, and the first one is to tell you now. Izuku's biological father is the villain known as All For One."
Shouta presses his lips together while Tsukauchi reaches up and drags a hand down his face.
Meanwhile, Hizashi is completely lost. "Okay, I must be missing so much context for this! Who is All For One and how scared should I be?"
"Very," Shouta replies, while Inko takes a sip of her hot cocoa.
"He's been alive since the dawn of quirks," she says. "His quirk? The power to take quirks from others, to use for himself or to pass on at will."
"From the dawn of quirks?" Hizashi asks. "That… he has to be at least 200 years old!"
"He's stolen an immortality quirk or two in that time," Inko says. "And we suspect he may be behind the League of Villains, based on some things Izuku's told me about what Shigaraki said to him in that mall."
It's like a completely different woman has taken the place of Midoriya Inko. Yes, Shouta's known his fake sister has a spine of steel underneath the tears and outward shows of emotion, but this… this is something different.
"Yes, that fits with our theories, too," Tsukauchi agrees. "How much do you know about All For One?"
"More than I should and not enough to make a difference," she replies. She bites her lip, and the Inko Shouta's gotten to know returns. "I… realize this puts me in a bad light. I will admit that I knew I was getting into bed with a villain, but I had no idea what I was actually getting into." She shakes her head. "Izuku… he changed everything. You think you know how the world works, you think you know yourself, and then you have a child…" She shakes her head. "He looked at our child the same way he'd look at a particularly useful tool, or a favored weapon. And, eventually, I noticed that he… looked at me like that."
She swallows hard and looks down, into her mug of cocoa. "It took me two years to get us out. And, and now—now Izuku may be, may be back there, back with that… with him?" She reaches up, her hand covering half her face, her bangs hanging in front of her eyes. She bites her lip, and Hizashi's leaning over, putting a hand on her shoulder, which is starting to shake. She's trying to hold back sobs.
She fails.
Shouta stands and walks to the couch, crouching down in front of Inko. He can't move Monster, because that cat is still purring loud enough that the neighbors can probably hear her, and Hizashi has already taken up residence on Inko's other side.
So.
He crouches down and puts a hand on her knee.
"We're going to do everything in our power to get him back," he says. "If he is alive, we will get him out of there."
He knows better than to make those promises but hell. This is his fake half-sister who's had what's probably her worst nightmare come to life, right in front of her. If there is some comfort he can give her, then he will.
"You can't promise that," she says. "But—I appreciate it." She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you."
"Of course," Shouta replies. He stands back up and turns to see Tsukauchi still sitting in his chair, eyes wide and staring at nothing. "Detective?"
Tsukauchi startles. "Oh. Yes. We'll be compiling statements for a while. I'll let you know what sorts of leads we have."
"Go home and sleep, first," Shouta says. "We need you at your sharpest."
Tsukauchi dips his head. "Yes. Of course." He stands. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'll be in contact." And with that, he leaves.
"I think he's going to need a pretty big drink when this is all over," Hizashi says, and then pats Inko's shoulder. "Alright. It's late. We all need to get to sleep. I'm sure Nedzu will need Shouta and I early tomorrow."
Inko nods and stands. "Thank you for having me," she says. "I'll—oh, Hisashi. I need to, to let him know about, about Izuku…"
"Speaking of, what even is your relationship?" Hizashi asks, standing alongside her and bundling Monster into his arms.
"He was my best friend growing up," Inko replies. "We were… very similar and went in very different directions. He didn't hesitate to help us out. Izuku… he calls him my husband-friend."
Hizashi nods. "Makes sense. Would you like some privacy for that? I'll show you where the guest room is."
"Please," Inko replies. "Thank you so much."
"Of course! Anything for my fake sister-in-law," Hizashi grins and picks up Inko's bags before ushering her down the hall. Shouta watches them go and they seem to take his emotions with them. In a haze, he gets ready for bed. Fuck. What a fucking day it's been. Just this morning he was watching Midoriya frying a goddamn egg on Todoroki's skin, and now his student is missing, half his class is hurt, and, oh, his student is the biological son of one of the most terrifying villains in history.
What a great fucking week. Why did he think running the training camp with only six pros on-site was a good idea?
Before he even quite realizes it, he's curled up in his and Hizashi's bed, alone—for now. Because he can hear Hizashi moving around in the bathroom, the running of the water as he's brushing his teeth, and then the door's opening and sending a shaft of light falling across Shouta's eyes for just a moment as Hizashi enters, and then the door's closed again.
"How are you doing, Shou?" Hizashi asks as he slides into bed. Shouta just rolls over and grabs Hizashi's pajama shirt, grasping it tight in his hands and saying nothing. The clenching of his hands matches the clenching in his heart and Hizashi's arms come around him, pulling him close, eliminating the space between them until they're pressed together, Hizashi's shirt and Shouta's hands the only things between them.
Hizashi says nothing more, just holds him as he starts to shake, holds him as he falls apart in his husband's arms.
The heat around his wrist flares and Izuku cries out, his strangled vocal cords producing a volume he wasn't sure they still could reach. There's—there's sizzling, and that, that's his arm—
"Dabi," someone snaps.
The voice sends chills up Izuku's spine.
Shigaraki.
"Master wants that one alive."
"Alive doesn't mean unharmed, does it?" the villain holding him—Dabi—drawls. "I'm sure he won't mind it if his prize arrives a little… lightly roasted. I did have to trade my prize in to secure this one, after all."
"He will most certainly mind if his prize arrives… lightly roasted, as you say." That smooth voice is new, not one Izuku recognizes, and he lifts his head, glancing towards where it came from. Dabi is still holding him, one hand still wrapped around his neck in a mockery of the man in front of them, and the other one, still too warm, is slotted perfectly in place on the burn he just put there.
The new voice belongs to a man made of black mist. The black mist man is wearing a suit. That must be Kurogiri—Izuku's heard about him, about his role in the attack on the USJ.
"I dunno," oh god Toga, "I think maybe your Master would appreciate a little extra blood! I know that I do." She croons the last bit of her sentence, leaning in way too close. Dabi seems to agree, the villain dragging Izuku backwards.
"Toga," Dabi snaps. Toga just smiles at him.
"As much as I want to," Shigaraki speaks, pulling all their attention back to him. He's wearing… a hand. Over his face. Okay. Izuku's heard about this from Shiozaki and Tsuyu, but still. Okay. That's. That sure is a thing. "I know Master would prefer him in one piece."
"One piece doesn't mean unharmed," Dabi repeats his earlier reasoning.
"Oh, if we're doing torture," that's the grey-skinned woman who had attacked Pixie-Bob, Tiger, and Mandalay, pounding a fist into the palm of her hand, "then I want to take a crack."
"You'll get yours," Shigaraki spits. "Just be patient, Rarewater."
"Ah, Shigaraki, you know how I get." The grey-skinned woman grins, showing off sharp teeth reminiscent of Kirishima and Wakana's.
"No," Shigaraki hisses, and everyone in the bar freezes as static crackles from somewhere behind them.
"My student is right," a voice says, tinny over bad-quality speakers, and despite that, it's enough to freeze Izuku in place. He's starting to shake, and he feels Dabi's hand tighten around his neck. "I would prefer for Izuku to arrive without… extra harm. Kurogiri, if you would?"
"Of course," Kurogiri bows his head for a moment and holds up a hand, black mist flowing out from it to surround Izuku. It's—cold. He didn't realize the first time, but the portal, it's cold, it feels like he's being swallowed by a fogbank.
And then he's released, alone, the sudden lack of Dabi sending him off-balance and crashing to the floor. He barely catches himself with his left hand, the impact still jarring his broken arm. A whine builds in his throat and he bites it back with a vengeance as he clambers back to his feet.
He cannot show weakness.
Because, for the first time since he was two, he's in the presence of his father.
"Hello, Izuku," the man says, his voice… wrong. Like it's somehow… hollow, or echoing in a helmet.
That's because it is, he realizes, looking up to see a tall man in a suit, a dark blue helmet covering his head.
"I've been waiting so long to see you again. I see the Vanguard Action Squad was a little overzealous. I should have been more specific in my instructions, and for that, I apologize."
Izuku glares up at him. His throat burns, his arms hurt, his legs are shaking, and he's probably about to collapse any minute now.
That doesn't mean he's going to give this man any shade of compliance.
"Oh, come now." The man tuts. "Here. As a… peace offering, I will heal your injuries."
The man steps forward, and Izuku takes a step back.
"Don't touch me," he growls.
The man freezes, for just a moment.
"Oh, Izuku," he says, buckets and buckets of false sympathy tainting his voice sweeter than sugar. "I knew your brother did—"
"He's not my brother," Izuku snaps, taking another step back and bringing his left hand up, guarding his chest.
"There's no need for that." He—he sounds gentle, like a father chastising his young son.
Which, Izuku supposes, he must see himself as.
"Tomura is your brother, even if not by blood," the man continues. "You may have had some… disagreements… but I'm sure you'll come to get along with time."
Izuku shakes his head rather than reply verbally, taking another step back…
…. Right into a glass tank. He whirls around, eyes going wide as he catches sight of what's in said tank: a pale-skinned beast, easily twice as tall as him, with the folds of its brain exposed. He can't suppress the shudder.
"Ah, yes, my Noumu. I don't think you've had the pleasure of meeting any personally, yet. They're my greatest creations… Aside from you, of course."
"I'm not your creation," Izuku whips back around and finds himself stumbling back into the Noumu tank again because he's right there. Cold glass under his fingers, an unyielding curved surface at his back, and at his front…
"We'll speak more when you regain consciousness," his father says, a large, gentle hand cupping Izuku's cheek even as Izuku's breathing speeds up. The quirk he activates is a buzzing, growing, growing—
His eyes roll back in his head and his vision goes dark.
"17 scared and angry teenagers" is a nod to Come From Away, specifically the line about how many scared and angry people they have to take care of.
i may be slowing down updates. a lot of life stuff is happening at once- i'm training for a job (in sales, sold my soul to the sales industry, go me), i'm moving... it's just a lot lmao. if there's nothing up on the 22nd, then i'll be shooting for the 26th or earlier for an update, but don't be surprised if it ends up being something like two weeks before i post again.