Hello, everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Thank you guys so much for the response to this story! It's incredibly encouraging. Well, let's get on with it!

I do not own My Hero Academia.

Shouta's eyes might have been shut, but that didn't stop him from noticing a different sense of darkness threatening to engulf him. His nose and throat burned as water seeped through the cloth. His struggles became weaker, much against his wishes. He just needed to breathe.

Just when he thought he was about to lose consciousness, the towel over his face and the grip on his head disappeared. He leaned forward and coughed up water. The burning in his nose intensified as some of it dripped back out.

"The interrogation will only escalate from here."

Hizashi certainly hadn't been wrong about that. The erasure hero didn't even have time to think about how long they'd been at this already.

He heard the hose still running, finally opening his eyes and nearly glaring at the offending object. Dread nestled in his heaving chest when he realized they weren't done. Although, he had to think on the bright side of things.

If they can drag a working hose in here and have running water, this warehouse has to be in use. If I can find out the company that owns it, we might have a lead on who else is involved.

"Again, Yamada."

Shouta didn't even have a chance to react before Hizashi covered his nose and mouth with the towel and yanked his head back. Within seconds, he was doused with water yet again. He automatically shook his head, anything to escape the never-ending stream, but two strong hands grabbed him at the top of his head and under his chin. It didn't take long for the water to start soak through the cloth and fill his mouth. He sputtered and fought the grip on his head, but soon enough it started trickling down his throat.

They usually stop by now.

But the cold water kept forcing its way down his throat and up his nose. Sagging against the chair, he could practically feel consciousness receding each second he lacked air. He could vaguely hear voices around him, but it was like hearing someone speak underwater.

"That's enough! We need him awake!"

He'd hardly registered the words before the towel was removed. Summoning what little strength he had left, he managed to lean as far forward and as far to the side as his restraints allowed. He vomited all of the water he'd swallowed, barely hearing the splash it made as it joined the puddle surrounding the chair. He made retching sounds as he finished emptying his stomach, then he took a few shuddering breaths. Through his sopping wet clumps of hair, he could see one of Yasunari's men dragging the hose out of the room.

They must be on a tight deadline if they don't want me unconscious. Not that it would matter. They're not getting anything from me whether I'm awake or not.

He barely suppressed a shiver when the cold tip of a knife blade touched his wrist, just above the cuff, and was dragged up his arm to just below his shoulder. The cut didn't break skin, but it did rip the sleeve of his jumpsuit and expose his arm. He slowly sat back up and risked a glance over his shoulder.

Hizashi refused to meet his gaze.

The man instead cut into his forearm, starting from the crook of his elbow and slicing down to his wrist. He instinctively tried to pull his arm away when he felt the knife tip return to his elbow, but a bruising grip kept his arm in place.

"Stay still, Shouta."

The traitor had been eerily quiet once Yasunari officially started the interrogation. Come to think of it, the erasure hero wasn't sure if Hizashi had said anything since then.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the blade digging into his skin, deeper than the previous cut. A burning sensation followed the knife down his arm. He grit his teeth, but a groan still managed to escape him. Blood streamed from the cut and dripped down into the water puddle on the ground. It might have only been a few seconds, but his arm seemed to have been burning for an eternity.

And he realized Hizashi still wasn't done. Not even close, actually. He was only half way down the hero's forearm, making no move to pick up the agonizingly slow pace. Shouta forced himself to take a deep breath, then another. He let his eyes flutter shut. He had to block out the pain currently blossoming in his arm.

It was difficult to see through the slits in his bandages, but he didn't take his gaze off the two students in the circle. Again, Todoroki shot ice straight at Midoriya. The latter flicked another finger and he winced. Even from his position, he could see Midoriya's hand turning ugly shades of dark blue and purple.

But he was still standing. He was still fighting. That took an incredible amount of resolve that he couldn't help but respect.

Todoroki was forced to create a block of ice to catch himself from the impact of Midoriya's deflection. The two took a moment to catch their breaths. Todoroki moved in for another attack, but froze mid-step. He stared down Midoriya who was yelling at him, his eyes growing almost comically wide.

He and Hizashi had to turn away from the sudden flash.

When he looked back to his students, Todoroki's left side was ablaze.

"Damn…." he breathed.

He'd never seen Todoroki use his flames during any of their training. His student had seemed so adamant about not doing so, and he hadn't had his class long enough to investigate further into that issue. He shifted his gaze to Midoriya.

The kid was smiling.

Midoriya didn't look away. He didn't look scared despite the fact he knew he'd probably lose the fight at this point. He stood his ground. He looked his classmate in the eye and was smiling.

If he didn't have bandages covering the entirety of his face, he might have been smiling too.

Shouta let out an anguished cry when Hizashi gave the knife a sudden twist. Tears welled in his eyes, but he didn't dare let them fall. He kept his eyes tightly clenched shut.

He tensed in his seat while he looked down in the arena. He'd lost track of most of his students, but once the dust and rubble settled, he'd managed to locate a few. His tension didn't cease as more time passed and he still had students that hadn't passed the exam. His eyes wandered to Aoyama. Based on the way he was huddled against a rock and not moving, it looked as though the kid had given up.

Just as he started to shake his head, a familiar suit of armor reunited with Aoyama. He couldn't stop the burst of nostalgia that erupted within him every time he saw Iida's costume, but his brow furrowed when the two appeared to be talking.

"You don't have much time left…."

At this distance, he couldn't begin to make out what the two were saying to each other; however, once Aoyama finally stood up and joined his classmate, it didn't take long for him to figure it out.

He couldn't stop the slight upward quirk of his lips.

"You didn't leave your classmate behind, Tenya," he muttered to himself. "Tensei wouldn't either. He's going to be so proud of you."

"I know he's your friend, but I think you're letting him off a bit easy," Yasunari said as he walked back in the cell. "Are you trying to get him to pass out from blood loss? We can't interrogate him then. You know we don't have time for that."

Shouta took a few shuddering breaths when the knife finally stilled. He forced his eyes open. A frown tugged on the corner of the ring leader's lips. The moment Yasunari noticed his captive was looking at him, his confident demeanor returned while he shoved his cell phone back into his pocket, apparently having taken a call. If the erasure hero hadn't been paying attention, he might have missed it.

When did he leave? What the hell happened while he was gone?

Shouta couldn't stop his eyes from widening when he saw the two crowbars the man was carrying in his free hand.

"Wrap up his arm," he ordered. "Do you still think you're up for this, Yamada?"

There was no verbal response, so he assumed Hizashi had nodded. The former hero yanked the knife from his arm before using it to cut off the bits of his torn jumpsuit sleeve. Yasunari tossed one of the crow bars to the young man at his right while Hizashi wrapped the makeshift bandage around his arm. He could feel the traitor's breath ghosting over his ear as he finished wrapping up his arm.

"Any chance you've changed your mind?"

He could almost hear the rueful smile in Hizashi's voice. Yasunari chuckled at the erasure hero's silence. The man twirled the crowbar around in his hand before letting it come to a rest on his shoulder.

"You know, Eraser, we could really use someone like you. Your quirk would be perfect for the ring in terms of keeping the kids' quirks under control." Shouta inwardly perked up, the wheels already turning in his mind, but Yasunari was all too ready to dash the sliver of hope that had just been introduced to him. "Not for this order, of course. This one's a bit too personal for you, but I'm already getting calls for future orders and I'd love for you to join us. You'd be paid quite nicely for your services. I can tell you right now you'd get paid much more than you do for your hero work and teaching job." The hero had to crane his neck back when Yasunari approached until he was looming over his captive, inadvertently forcing him to lean back against Hizashi. "I can assure you that our clients are only looking to help these kids to reach their fullest potential with their quirks. That's what you want, isn't it? What do you say, Eraser?"

"Go to hell," Shouta quipped right back without a beat of hesitation.

Yasunari clicked his tongue.

"Such a shame," his captor muttered. "I'd been hoping you'd come to see reason after a little bit of persuasion, but it appears that's not the case. I guess we'll have to try harder."

He lashed out with the crowbar. Shouta barely saw the flash before letting out a grunt and hearing a sickening crack. His earlier thoughts echoed in his mind.

I just have to hold on.

He shifted against his restraints, his dislocated shoulder and newly broken rib screaming in protest. His bindings didn't budge. He didn't have another choice. As much as he hated it, he would have to wait for rescue.

I just have to hold on.

*break*

Hitoshi peeled his eyes open at the sound of a door slamming. Well, slammed might have been exaggerating, but that's how it sounded after he barely slept. While he would normally be annoyed by the fact something so small interrupted his sleep, this morning he could only take it as a sign to get up.

Not that he could've tried getting some more much needed sleep even if he wanted to.

He slowly sat up and buried his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes, practically feeling the dark shadows underneath them growing. Leaving the warmth of his bed, he got up and threw on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He entered the hallway and turned around when he heard another door softly close.

Fumikage walked down the hall toward the elevator, giving him a polite nod as he passed by. Hitoshi nodded in return and fell in step with his classmate. One thing he'd quickly come to appreciate about Fumikage was that he didn't feel the obligation to fill in the silence whenever the two were alone, which happened quite frequently considering they lived on the same floor. The two quietly entered the elevator and got off on the first floor.

He paused before following Fumikage, who was heading to the kitchen he'd just been in hours ago. He looked down the hall. The door to their homeroom teacher's apartment was shut.

I wonder if Aizawa-sensei ever made it back last night…he had to…he was just stuck at the police station like King-sensei said….

Unconsciously, he started down the hall, but stopped and rerouted himself toward the kitchen when he heard the ding of the elevator.

He's probably just asleep. I shouldn't make anyone else in the class worry when there's nothing to worry about…right?

Eager to escape the chatter that filled the common area the second those doors opened, he busied himself with making a bowl of cereal and silently praying whoever got off the elevator wouldn't come into the kitchen.

Hitoshi had no such luck.

Fumikage shot him a look that screamed "good luck" while he grabbed his toast out of the toaster and practically ran from the kitchen. The purple-haired teen couldn't blame his classmate for a second. While their class got along quite well most of the time, a handful of them didn't care to get chatty so early in the morning during the weekend.

Hitoshi was definitely one of them.

"Why doesn't Aizawa-sensei want us to have any fun?" Mina whined as she, Ochako, Kyouka, and Tsuyu walked into the kitchen.

Ochako sighed.

"I'm sure he had his—oh! Good morning, Shinsou!"

He turned to look at the group when Ochako finally acknowledged his presence. He took his bowl and started toward the common area.

"Morning," he muttered back.

The second he exited the kitchen, someone bumped into him and nearly caused him to spill his cereal and milk all over himself. Annoyance surged through him until he saw who it was.

"I'm so sorry, Shinsou!" Izuku apologized.

He paused when he got a good look at his classmate. Izuku was rubbing his eyes and looked like he'd hardly slept since they parted ways just hours previously.

"It's all right."

He sat down on one of the couches. He took one bite of cereal before setting the bowl down on the coffee table. Forcing himself to swallow what little he ate, a queasy pit formed in his stomach.

"Can't eat either?" Izuku didn't bother waiting for an invitation. He sat down next to Hitoshi, not even bothering to bring any food with him. "I looked in the fridge and I just couldn't get myself to eat anything."

Hitoshi merely hummed in response. He honestly had nothing to say.

Aizawa-sensei has to be okay….

"I mean what does he expect us to do on a Sunday?" Mina's continuous whining yanked him out of his thoughts. "We even got ahead on our homework! He never denies our requests off campus when we do. I wanted to spend my day off at the mall, not in the dorms."

Tsuyu croak could be heard even from the kitchen.

"Ochako's right, Mina. Aizawa-sensei probably had a reason—"

He has to be….

"He just didn't want us to have any fun!"

"That's it!" Hitoshi hissed to himself.

He got up and stalked out of the common area and down the hall, ignoring Izuku calling after him.

Aizawa-sensei might be annoyed, but I don't care. I have to check. I have to see that he's okay.

He stopped in front of his mentor's door and didn't hesitate to knock.

"Shinsou, what the hell are you doing? You know you can't wake up Aizawa-sensei on his day off! Are you trying to get us more homework?" Mina practically screeched, not caring that the volume of her voice would have definitely woken him up if Shinsou hadn't already.

She repeatedly pressed the button on the elevator, as if that would increase its velocity down to the first floor. She bolted inside as soon as the doors opened. Ochako and Tsuyu followed close behind her. Hitoshi knocked again.

No answer.

He has to be okay.

"Shinsou?"

He vaguely heard Izuku's voice over the sound of his fist pounding against the door.

"Aizawa-sensei!" he called as Izuku joined him.

The two waited. Hitoshi put his ear to the door, but didn't hear anything from within the room. He could only hear his heart pounding in his chest.

He would've answered the door by now…he wouldn't just ignore us if he thought we might need him….

He swallowed before lifting his hand and knocking one last time.

Nothing.

Dread pooled in his stomach while the two stood in silence. He glanced at Izuku out of the corner of his eye, his chest tightening at the lifeless look on his classmate's face.

Izuku was always so determined and full of life. While he could find it annoying at times, especially when he wasn't in the mood to talk, he admired that. But that life was gone. The green-haired teen crossed his arms and started back toward the common area. Hitoshi had to jog to catch up to his classmate.

"We need to find King-sensei," Izuku declared, determination slowly returning to his eyes. "Aizawa-sensei always comes home from patrol. Something's wrong."

"He never came back last night?"

The two froze, eyes widening when they realized Kyouka was sitting on one of the couches, apparently not following her friends back upstairs. Hitoshi looked to Izuku, and they both shook their head.

"King-sensei stopped by last night asking if we'd seen him," Izuku explained. "I guess Aizawa-sensei was supposed to call if he was going to be late, and he never heard from him."

Kyouka set her plate down on the coffee table and stood, leading the two out the front door of Heights Alliance.

"Mina asked why he denied our request to go off campus today, but he never gave us an explanation. He's never denied our requests before and he certainly wouldn't do so without giving us a reason. It can't just be a coincidence that he didn't come back last night."

The trio headed to Class 1-B's dormitory, hoping the blood hero could give them some answers.

*break*

Another thud. Another crack. Another grunt.

Shouta's teeth were clenched so tight he was surprised they hadn't shattered.

Is that six broken ribs now? Seven?

He honestly didn't know. He'd lost count. Agony permeated through him with every breath he took. He couldn't stop a flinch when Yasunari's subordinate swung the crowbar at him yet again. The air was knocked out of his lungs, but this time he felt his chair tilting back. He shut his eyes and braced himself to fall back onto his bound hands.

Suddenly, he jolted as someone caught the chair before he could hit the ground. He opened his eyes to see Hizashi looking down at him, blond hair falling around his face.

"Had enough, Sho'?"

Don't call me that.

Hizashi righted his chair, Yasunari's face just mere centimeters from his own. The hero could see the slightest waver in the man's usual confident demeanor, but the ring leader was definitely trying to hide it.

Something has to be wrong...did he think I would have given in by this point?

"Are you going to ignore your best friend, Eraser?" Yasunari poked and prodded at Shouta's ribs, relishing in the groan he elicited out of the hero. "Have you had enough? I wouldn't blame you if you had. I'll admit, I'm impressed that you've held out for so long, but even you have to know that you can only take so much. Now, how about you—"

A cell phone ringing interrupted him. With a low grumble, he took out his phone. Once he got a glimpse of the number calling, he turned to leave his captive's cell.

"Yamada, you're with me."

The blond didn't hesitate to follow the order. Once Yasunari opened the door, he gestured to someone Shouta couldn't see.

"Akane, Gima, he's yours for now. Do whatever you have to do to get him talking."

What little relief Shouta started to feel at the thought of his captor leaving completely diminished. The second Yasunari left with Hizashi, a man and a woman instantly took their places. He blinked at the two newcomers and willed his foggy mind to focus. If he had to guess, they looked to be just a few years older than him. They both had ink black hair, but the man's was cropped short while the woman's stopped just above her shoulders. She flashed him a brilliant smile, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the sharp, jagged teeth.

"We didn't think we'd ever get the chance to see you in person, Eraserhead. You've been the talk of the town for a while now, at least among our colleagues." She sauntered around to the back of his chair and placed her hands on his shoulders, laughing when he tensed at the contact. "You can't blame Gima and I for taking advantage of an opportunity like this, can you?"

Without any warning, she sunk her teeth into his dislocated shoulder. He knew he visibly paled when he felt her teeth moving closer together underneath his skin.

She's not actually….

Her teeth clamped together and she raised her head, but not without taking bits of his jumpsuit and a chunk of flesh with her. A scream tore its way out of his throat before he even had a chance to try to stop it. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths despite his aching ribs. Before he could turn and get a look at the damage, a silver flash whizzed by his head.

He finally turned his gaze to Gima. The man had pulled up his sleeve to reveal a stump instead of a hand. Shouta's eyebrows rose when he saw the tip of a blade emerging from the man's stump.

He must have been the one to shred my capture weapon.

He watched as the blade got longer and longer. He automatically activated his quirk and felt his damp hair starting to float.

"We can't have that," Akane whispered right next to his ear.

Her hands covered his eyes and his hair flopped back down around his shoulders. He hissed when the blade sliced across his chest. Just a heartbeat later, there was another.

And another.

He nearly flinched, expecting another slash, but there wasn't one. Instead, the tip of the blade dug into his chest. Gima slowly dragged it down all the way to his stomach, just as Hizashi had done to his arm. He bit his lip in a vain attempt to stifle another scream.

"Your devotion to your students is admirable," Akane said. "How long are you going to keep this up? It's completely up to you, you know. We've already been here a few hours. Will it take a few days? Weeks?"

Despite her being right next to his ear, Shouta barely heard her words over the squelch that resounded in his mind when the blade was finally removed from his stomach.

"We don't have that kind of time," Gima muttered.

The hands around his eyes were gone, but a stronger hand gripped his hair a second later and yanked his head back far enough for his neck to ache at the angle. Gima lifted his arm again, the blade now shorter than before.

The small weapon hovered over his left eye. The man grinned while he watched the realization hit him like a freight train.

No….

"I bet we can get him to talk sooner than that," he chuckled. "Akane, hold his head still."

No….

Akane was now back in his line of sight, blood speckled all over her face. She grabbed both sides of his face in a surprisingly iron grip. He couldn't turn his head.

No…no…no!

He activated his quirk again, neither of his captors making a move to cover his eyes and seeming to enjoy his pathetic attempt to stop them. Gima simply stepped out of his line of sight, gently placing the tip against his temple and dragging it teasingly to his target.

Shouta thought his heart would pound out of his chest when the hands on his face tightened their grip. He took in short, shallow breaths through clenched teeth.

"You know how to make this stop, Eraser," Akane simply reminded.

He swallowed thickly, the action being a bit more obvious in his prone position, but he still remained silent.

Then, his entire world flashed red when the blade started digging just beneath his eye.

And there's the third chapter! I hope you all enjoy it and are ready for the plot to thicken a little!

Ah, the thought of Aizawa's students caring and worrying about him absolutely melts my heart. That part was a little more difficult to write, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

As always, constructive criticism is absolutely welcome! Feel free to let me know what you thought!

Until next time!