I might have a sinus infection right now but that's not gonna stop me from posting hehe. Enjoy chapter 6 and see you Monday with the next chapter!

If Class 1-A was anything, it was restless.

As they were not allowed to leave the hotel, there wasn't much they could do besides talk amongst each other and play the few board games they'd found stuffed away in some of the hotel's cabinets. The worst part of it all was that it wasn't even mid-day yet. Ochako was brimming with boredom and nothing could satiate her worry for Izuku... and, of course, Todoroki! she reminded herself.

She talked a little more with All Might about the situation and was upset when she learned that all the phone lines were currently down which meant that they couldn't check to see how far away the helicopter was from arriving.

She just felt hopelessly… lost. This whole trip had truly taken a turn for the worst.

At the moment, the rest of the girls were trying to play a board game in the downstairs lobby, although the rules were hard to decipher as they were in Arabic. They'd managed to snag an unsuspecting hotel worker who knew some Japanese and were making him explain it to them, but the translation was muddled and far from accurate. However, Ochako had no interest in participating. Even though it'd be a good distraction, she didn't think she'd be able to concentrate on the game in the current state she was in.

Somehow, she found herself sitting alone on the outside deck of the hotel, which stretched out from the door and led down to stairs trailing to the ground. While she wasn't allowed to leave the premises, she could still go outside and enjoy some fresh air.

The town around her was bustling with people on their way to work or shopping with their families. All of them looked like they had something to do- everyone had a purpose. The sight calmed her down a little. Even though Izuku and Todoroki were missing, life was still moving.

It would all end okay… it just had to.

She barely heard the footsteps behind her before she heard a familiar voice say her name.

"Iida?" she asked as she recognized his voice, and she turned her head around to see her friend standing there.

Iida seemed uncomfortable. His thick brow was furrowed and his fingers drummed together in an uneven rhythm. "The cooks are preparing lunch for us now," he told her. "I thought I would inform you about it, although it took some time to find you."

"Oh… lunch. Right." She looked away, her gaze traveling back down to her lap. "No, I'm not really hungry." In fact, she was starting to feel nauseous just thinking about eating.

"I understand. I don't have much of an appetite either." After a minute of silence, his footsteps came a little closer to her. Gently, his hand squeezed her shoulder, offering comfort and support. "I'm worried about them, too."

Her eyes lifted again and focused on his face. So many emotions were swirling inside of her and suddenly she didn't know what to say. "I-Iida… I'm just so scared!" she blurted out. "Are we really going to find them? Or-or are they going to be stuck out there forever?"

"Mr. Aizawa and the others will find them," Iida insisted, and the confidence in his tone was assuring to hear. "There are many quirks in this town that Mr. Aizawa could find useful, and there's even a Pro-Hero Agency nearby. Maybe one of those heroes could help which would make it that much easier to find them."

Ochako's bottom lip trembled. "You… you really think so?"

"I do. It's not as if these kinds of situations haven't happened before. There are plenty of search and rescue hero teams and I'm certain that, with their help, they'll make it a successful mission!"

Ochako looked away in thought. What Iida said was true, and as much as she feared her friends would never be found, there was an equal chance that they would.

"Are you ready to come inside now?" Iida asked, and he stuck out his hand beside her.

Ochako blinked before she gave a nod. "Y-yeah. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Iida said gently. "Midoriya and Todoroki are your friends. It only makes sense that you're worried about them."

She gave a faint smile. "Iida… you've always been there for me and I-I just... you're a really good friend. Thanks for being you!"

Iida's face flushed red and he straightened his glasses with his free hand. "I-I strive to do my best! I'm pleased you're feeling better!"

"Yeah, I am!" She meant it.

After taking his hand, it wasn't long before he was pulling her up, and then she was standing right beside him. Her eyes met his and then she dropped her head. "We have to get them back, Iida," she said slowly. "We have to."

The lines on Iida's forehead deepened. "I know." A second later, his hand clasped onto her right shoulder before he began to guide her back into the hotel lobby. "Now let's get some lunch, shall we? The other will be wondering where we are."

"Yeah," Ochako agreed, but the sinking feeling was already returning to her stomach.

Todoroki and Izuku were still out there, alone, at this very moment. They weren't going to get any hotel-made lunch. They didn't have a nice room to sleep in. They didn't even have anyone else to talk to about being stranded. She clenched her fists and did her best to put on a brave face as she strode inside.

Time was running out. And if the heroes didn't find them soon, then her friends would be dead.

They had taken a short break after the One For All incident, but Izuku knew that they still needed to keep moving if they ever wanted to make it out of the desert. And so, Todoroki finally gave in agreeing that they would both start moving again, so long as they took it slow.

Izuku's arm was feeling much better than before, although a little sore, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He just wanted to find the quickest way out of this desert before anything else happened.

And after their break they were off once again, backpacks strapped to their backs (or in Izuku's case, his right shoulder. Todoroki had offered to carry his, but Izuku had declined) and canteens full of ice water. Izuku wasn't quite sure how long they planned to walk- after checking his phone, he saw that it was only one in the afternoon- but he figured they'd plan it out as they went.

"T-thanks for waiting for me," Izuku told Todoroki as they both started walking again. He was still embarrassed from before. "I'm sorry I held us up."

"I'm just glad you didn't do any serious damage to your arm." Todoroki's eyes lingered on his friend. "It's not hurting again, right?"

"No!" Izuku said a little too quickly.

Todoroki gave him a questioning look. "Well, if you say so."

Silence returned to the atmosphere once again.

Izuku swallowed and ducked his head. "So-so, do you think there's any chance our phones could get a signal out here? Maybe if we found a really tall dune and were close enough to town, then…"

Todoroki sighed. "I honestly don't think so. We'd have to save the battery to last until we got close enough to town, and they don't have much power left to begin with. Besides, I don't even know if the town has phone service. It's very poor."

That was also true. And thinking about their battery percentages, Todoroki's phone only had half left and Izuku's had barely twenty percent more. Could they really make them last until they got close enough to town?

It seemed that no matter what they tried, they came to a dead end.

"Do you have any other ideas on how to contact them?" Izuku pressed. "I can't think of anything else."

Todoroki took a few moments to think. His eyes narrowed, and finally, he shook his head. "No. Nothing that we could do, especially with our limited resources. It'd have to be on the others' end."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's say someone in that town had a quirk that allowed them to contact others that are far away from them. If Mr. Aizawa found out about this quirk, he'd use it to talk to us and we'd be able to tell them that we were all right and form a plan to be rescued." Todoroki rubbed his chin. "Or, someone with a quirk like Kaminari's could help service reach our cell phones and have us talk to them. Either way, it doesn't include us. It's up to the others to rescue us now."

Izuku looked down at his feet. That was a little disappointing to hear. As much as he wanted to be the hero in this situation, it seemed that the others would be the ones doing the rescuing.

He expected Todoroki to keep talking, but his friend had fallen silent again. It didn't seem like he wanted to keep the conversation going any longer and had already returned to his thoughts. Sighing, Izuku rubbed his throbbing temple. Oh, well. It was better than being stuck with Kacchan in the middle of the desert. He could only imagine the fights they'd get into. If the heat didn't kill him first, he was sure Kacchan would do it for him.

In the meantime, he'd have to focus on getting stronger. He was nothing more than a burden to Todoroki at the moment, but he was intent on changing that. His arm… well, his arm wasn't getting any better, but his attitude towards the pain could.

He nodded to himself. From now on, he wasn't going to complain at all about his injuries. Because Todoroki was hurt as well and he wasn't complaining, despite having to do the majority of the work. Setting up camp, making the water, deciding what to do next… Izuku felt guilty just thinking about it.

But it wasn't your fault you got so badly injured, he reminded himself. Haashim didn't have a good enough control over his quirk and I just managed to get more roughed up than Todoroki did.

He bit his lip. Even so, he still felt like he could help out more. Maybe he could hunt some kind of animal down for dinner tonight! But… were there even any animals out here to begin with? He'd read about desert foxes and rabbits but wasn't sure if they were this far out. And all the "animals" he'd seen so far were bugs.

Either way, they'd have to find something to eat. Granola bars weren't going to last much longer, and even as suppressed as their appetites were now, he knew they needed something to keep them going. So, there had to be something edible out here.

Briefly, he closed his weary eyes. He just wanted to go home already. Back to his mother, U.A., all of his friends… just out of this heat.

Todoroki was doing as much as he could to keep both of them cool- in fact, he'd even offered to make ice packs for both of them if they got too hot- but there was only so much he could do in the end. His powers had limits, same as Izuku's. He couldn't keep this up forever.

For the next half hour or so, they both continued walking in strained silence, taking a few short water breaks with the occasional ask from Todoroki if he needed to stop. Truthfully, Izuku did feel himself approaching his limit, but he told his friend that he was fine for now anyway.

I'll probably regret it later, but it's better than being a burden now, he thought.

However, a little after the hour had passed, Izuku noticed that something was a little… off with Todoroki. His footsteps were slowing and becoming uneven, and he took longer than usual to respond to any questions. He also kept rubbing his head when he thought Izuku wasn't looking, which furthered Izuku's concern. Head injuries were a serious thing. As much as Todoroki tried to hide it, it was still clear he was in some kind of pain.

Worried about his friend, Izuku decided to say something. They'd stopped earlier for himself, so why not for Todoroki now?

Opening his mouth to speak, he had only just gotten out his friend's name when suddenly Todoroki halted in his tracks. Izuku stopped a little behind him, eyes widening. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" he asked his friend.

Todoroki still didn't move his head, although it was clear his attention was fixated on the ground a few yards away. "Don't move," he whispered.

"What-" Izuku's eyes followed over to where Todoroki seemed to be looking, and he stiffened when he saw the culprit of his friend's attention.

It was a snake.

This snake was bigger than the ones Izuku had seen before, and he guessed that it was probably venomous as well. Its fist-shaped head only confirmed that, and he shivered when he realized that one bite could end it all for either of them. No wonder Todoroki had stopped- one wrong move would cost them their lives. Still, Todoroki had powers, as did Izuku. While Izuku's quirk was less effective now, Todoroki could kill the snake instantly with his. In fact, this shouldn't be much of a problem at all., Izuku silently waited for his friend to take action.

But… nothing happened. Todoroki continued standing there, almost as if still deciding what to do.

Izuku blinked in surprise. Why wasn't he using his quirk? He'd fought villains before- one desert snake was nothing to him "Todoroki," he said quietly. "What is it?"

"I…" Todoroki gave a quick rub to his forehead before he looked back at Izuku. "Just give me a minute."

Izuku's eyes widened. What was Todoroki doing? This wasn't like him at all. Usually, he was the one who took the initiative and didn't hesitate before blasting something away.

"Is… is it your head?" Izuku asked him. "It's hurting, isn't it?"

Todoroki gave a small grimace, which was enough of an answer for Izuku.

"Todoroki, why didn't you-"

Hissssss…

Head snapping back up, Izuku stared at the snake which seemed to have realized they were standing there. It had been bathing in the sun before, but now it was aware that strangers had approached and didn't seem to know how to react. Now that Izuku thought about it, it had probably never seen humans before. That at least gave them some time before it attacked.

"Just use your fire to kill it," Izuku said slowly. "Hurry, Todoroki!"

Izuku watched as Todoroki raised his left hand, but only a few sparks were lighting on his palm. It was like he didn't have control over his quirk. Meanwhile, the snake was sliding a little closer to check them out.

Izuku's heart was pounding in his chest. He could try using One For All to kill the snake, but there was a chance that he'd be bitten. With his broken arm and hurt ankle, his powers were not going to be at their best and he was already exhausted from walking so much today. Todoroki was their only sure chance of killing it.

But based on the way he was acting, could he even do it? Izuku's eyes darted between Todoroki and the snake on the ground. If his friend didn't act soon, then he'd have to be the one to kill it. It would be dangerous but it wasn't as if he had another choice.

The snake continued to slither towards them yet this time it was heading a little more to the right. It wanted to stay clear of them, still, it would be ready to attack if it needed to. However, Izuku didn't like how close Todoroki was letting it get. Todoroki's left hand was still raised as he attempted to make fire but to no avail. Frustrated, Todoroki pursed his lips and raised his right hand instead.

Izuku cocked his head. So, Todoroki was going to freeze it since his fire didn't seem to be working. Ice would work, but he also knew that his friend was trying to hold back using his right side as much as he could since they needed it for water.

The snake was edging even closer now, its black body squirming against the orange sand. With its tail raised, it was clear he was on guard of them both.

Finally, Todoroki whipped his right hand in the snake's direction and Izuku gaped as ice suddenly exploded and encased the creature in a tower of white. It went up nearly five feet in the air, and Izuku was a little alarmed at how much ice Todoroki had used for such a small snake.

Eyes traveling over to the other boy, he stiffened when he saw Todoroki panting from where he stood. No… this wasn't right. Todoroki could create a mountain of ice and fire without being out of breath in the slightest. Even in this heat, he shouldn't have looked so worn out. Something was definitely wrong.

"T-Todoroki?" Izuku stammered. "Is your head hurting?"

Todoroki let out a quick breath before wiping away the sweat on his brow. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Izuku didn't look away. "You're lying. It is hurting, isn't it?"

This time, Todoroki didn't respond.

Izuku grimaced. Okay, this was not good. With both of them injured like this in this weather, there wasn't much they could do to treat him. He ran a hand through his hair. "U-uh. Well, we should find a place to camp so that you can rest."

Todoroki shook his head wearily. "No, we have to keep walk-"

"No!" Izuku interrupted. "We don't. We shouldn't have even started walking today- I was stupid. We should have rested more and let our injuries heal. I'm sorry… I was being reckless."

Todoroki closed his mouth, his eyes lowering to stare at the ground.

"Right now, it's probably almost two," Izuku said. "It starts getting dark around seven so we have plenty of time to recuperate and find something to eat. There has to be some kind of animal to hunt around here."

Todoroki looked back up at him with a grimace. "I don't think I can hunt tonight, Midoriya," he told him. "Maybe tomorrow."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Not you! You need to rest. I was talking about me."

Todoroki blinked. "You."

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded. "With my quirk, I can probably find something. I can run and then capture-"

"No," Todoroki cut him off, looking a little angry. "Did you already forget what happened today? You've worsened your arm enough and I don't want you doing anything else to it!"

"And what about you?" Izuku argued back. "You're hurt, too! Head injuries are just as serious, if not more-"

"I'm not going to talk about this anymore," Todoroki snapped. "I'm perfectly fine. It's just a headache. And the sun isn't doing anything to help."

"Put some ice on it, then," Izuku suggested.

However, Todoroki shook his head. "I… I don't think I can."

"Wait, what?"

"My quirk doesn't seem to be working right now," Todoroki said quietly. "I think it has something to do with my head. I just can't seem to… concentrate."

Izuku getting more and more alarmed. It was no secret that Todoroki was injured but it was another thing to have him admit it. He needed to rest, except he refused to take a break. Which… left only one option. It was a card Izuku didn't want to play, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Staring back into his friend's eyes, he loosened his brow and let a pained expression overcome his face. "Um, my arm's actually hurting too," he said weakly.

It wasn't. Well, at least not that much.

"A rest would be good for the both of us."

Yes, this was his plan. Todoroki would never stop for himself, but for Izuku, he would certainly take a break. As long as Izuku kept his masquerade up, Todoroki would be forced into turning in for the day, allowing him time to heal.

Well, it's a better plan than pretending to pass out, he thought.

Todoroki looked concerned to hear this. "How badly does it hurt? You should've asked for us to take a break earlier!"

"Uh, just… average pain," Izuku lied. "It's more like a throbbing."

"A throbbing pain? So, it just feels like it's broken?"

"N-no! I mean…" Izuku laughed nervously. He was going to have to make his arm appear worse to convince Todoroki to sit the rest of the day out. "I have some hot flashes of pain here and there… just kind of forgot to tell you. You know me."

Todoroki's brow lifted. "Has it been getting worse? Let me see it."

"Later! We can check it later," Izuku promised. "But right now, I think we should camp soon. I know it's still light out but it's not like either of us can walk much further. Besides, we should take time to plan what we're going to do tomorrow anyway."

Todoroki contemplated this for a minute. "Well, if your arm's hurting…"

"And your head!"

"And I'm tired anyway," Todoroki continued, "then all right, we can find somewhere to camp. There has to be a larger dune nearby that we can stay behind. It's not much, but it would provide a little shade."

After nodding, Izuku's eyes swept across the scenery around him again. Orange and yellow sand covered the entire area, forming countless hills of sand around them. It was almost like a maze, with each dune being a wall they couldn't see behind unless they got to the top of it. As they'd been walking for the most part of the day, he had gotten used to what it looked like but now he realized how vast the desert truly was. It just looked so… dry, and so very, very dead.

The warmth of the air wasn't comforting at all but rather acted like a poison he could choke on. He shivered as he thought about how unlikely it was for them to be found out here. Right now, he could only hope that Todoroki's quirk would start working again and make traveling easier.

"Okay then, let's go up ahead and find something," he agreed. "And… are you all right to walk? We can take a short break if we need to."

"No," Todoroki said sharply, and he adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. "Let's just go. And say something if you need to stop, too."

Without waiting for an answer, he started to walk again and Izuku was left behind him once more. Sighing, he lowered his head before following his friend across the sand. Something was definitely wrong with Todoroki, and it wasn't just his head. The same thing that had been bothering him all this trip was bothering him now. He'd acted cold and distant for most of the time they'd been together, and it was like every time Izuku tried to get close to him, Todoroki pulled away.

Izuku shook his head. He just hoped his friend would tell him sooner or later what was going on. Because at this rate, there was no way they'd get out of the desert by working together.

"Goodnight."

Izuku was startled to hear Todoroki tell him this and turned his head to look at him. Sunset had only just passed and he hadn't figured they'd go to sleep this early. Todoroki must have been much more tired than he thought.

"Um, night!" Izuku said back, but Todoroki was already rolling over on his side and placing his head down on his bundled grey jacket.

Izuku sighed to himself, setting down his phone which he'd been fiddling with to see if he could somehow get service. Of course, it was to no avail. They could just simply not use them while they were so far out.

Briefly, he considered going to sleep as well but he knew he wasn't tired enough yet. A sudden pain in his arm reminded him that it was probably time to clean it, as it had been through a lot today.

Todoroki had left a bottle of water out for him that night (he'd managed to activate his quirk enough to make some for each of them) and Izuku scooted closer to his backpack where he'd left it inside. After grabbing it, he leaned back, put it beside him, and began to untie the sling around his neck which was fairly hard as he only had one hand to do it with.

Finally, the gritty black cloth unraveled around him and fell to his lap. He began to peel off the grey sleeve that covered his arm but hissed when the pain worsened. And… as the fabric fell away, he saw why.

In the light of the fire Todoroki had made, he saw red and purple streaks line up his arm in a flourish of color. Almost all the skin below his left elbow was swollen and looked infected. Everything about it screamed broken. Eyes widening, he snapped his head over to look at Todoroki to make sure the other boy was asleep and wouldn't see it. Based on the slight rise and fall of his side, he seemed to have already fallen asleep.

Izuku's shoulders relaxed. At least he wouldn't have to see this.

Looking back down at his broken arm, he grimaced and thought over what he should do next. It was clearly infected and in desperate need of medical attention, but out here with their limited supplies, that wasn't an option. For now, all he could do was keep it clean and pray they found help soon.

He picked up the water bottle and slowly unscrewed the cap. Shakily, he began to pour it over his arm and hissed when the liquid met his hot skin. After pouring an adequate amount out, he dried it with the inside of his sling before slipping it back on over his shoulder.

Okay, that was over with, at least. His arm still stung but he ignored it. It wasn't like there was anything he could do to make it feel better, anyway. With that done, he put the water bottle back inside his backpack. He glanced back over at Todoroki's sleeping form. His side still was rising and falling, and Izuku smiled, glad that his friend was finally getting some rest. Hopefully, his head would feel better in the morning.

After prying off his grey jacket (he would use it as a pillow) and slipping off his belt, he gently started to lower himself down on his blanket and winced when his arm protested. He just hoped that he would feel better tomorrow and that they would be able to travel more than they had today. He couldn't tell Todoroki about how bad his arm was getting because it'd only worry him. Plus, it wasn't like he could make it any better.

He just had to bury the pain away until they reached town.

After staring up into the dusty night sky for a while, his eyes began to grow heavy and he found that he couldn't keep them open any longer. As they closed, uneasiness filled him, and his arm seemed to throb more than before.

Keep it together.

His fist clenched at his side and he gritted his teeth.

Even if I don't make it out of here alive, I'm going to make sure Todoroki will.

With that promise made, he allowed himself to be taken away by sleep's cold fingers. And even if it was only for a little while, he felt calm.