When he got to his room, he locked the bedroom door and called Rouge on Facetime. Phone calls were impossible with him. He knew it was inconvenient, but he couldn't speak and so couldn't communicate over only audio.
"Hi baby! How'd it go?" she asked, voice kind but not sounding over enthusiastic. She knew him well, or she didn't expect much of him in the first place. No, she thought he had great things ahead of him. But all moms should think that, right?
I failed. Rouge looked shocked and then sad. She asked what happened. I couldn't talk. I couldn't reply, or be charismatic. I started to cry when I kept getting yelled at. I rescued a lot of the people. That was the test, to rescue paid actors that judged you. It was all cause I'm mute. Don't tell dad.
"He won't be upset with you, honey," his mom said kindly. "I'm sorry you got bad judges. You should have been judged by how many you saved. That was unfair and I am angry about that," she said in a firm voice. "It's not right."
Luffy really didn't want denial. He doubted he'd be reconsidered. He just wanted comfort. He wanted to hug his mom and couldn't even do that. He couldn't get the comfort he desperately needed. She asked him how other things were going. Changing the subject was appreciated. I had a flashback but Law helped me out of it again.
"He sounds like a very good person. I'm glad you have another friend," Rouge said honestly. She smiled at him when he nodded. They talked about other things. Luffy did mostly listening, wanting to hear about Sabo and Roger. What was happening with them other than work and villains.
Once the phone call was over, Luffy didn't feel any better. He was still ashamed and all. It was late by then. He heard a knock on the door and opened it, seeing Sanji there with dinner. There were three plates being held. Way too much for Luffy alone. But he and Zoro walked in and sat down on the carpet.
Law came in, too, looking a bit awkward. Like he didn't belong here. Luffy would have smiled at him if he could. "I'm sure you'll pass-" Luffy put his hand up to stop him.
I don't want to talk about it. "Okay," Zoro said, not sounding put off at all. Luffy mostly listened to them talking about more random topics. Zoro had ordered a video game. He had a game console in his room that he never used. He used to bring it to Luffy's house to play, but that was a while ago. They agreed to play it tomorrow. Now they had four people, the maximum amount of players you could have. Luffy actually thought it would be a good distraction and looked forward to it.
Luffy looked at Law and he looked back. Thank you for being there for me. "Of course," Law said back, cheeks pink in the darkness. Why did he do that? Luffy could not understand why, but he never asked. He had a feeling it would make his friend uncomfortable. He just would wait, and assumed Law would tell him some day.
There was a sleep over in his room that night, both Zoro and Sanji knowing that helped him out on hard, hard days. And this was a very hard day. No doubt about that. One full of defeat and misery and self doubt and self hatred. He didn't know when those feelings would go away, if they would. It hurt to be told and scored low on saving people.
Maybe he could make some sort of sign on his costume stating he couldn't speak. That might work next year.
Zoro slept on his bed, at the foot, half of his body hanging off of it. Sanji and Law slept on the floor. The room was very crowded, and the sounds of light snores echoed, but it was better than being all alone, even if he was the only one awake. He couldn't sleep. He got up to take a sleeping pill, since there was no class tomorrow and he could sleep in, but found that he didn't have any cups for water to take the pills.
He popped downstairs and got a glass before he saw a bright light through the window, over the nearest dorm building. It surrounded the whole building, which just faded away, as if it had never been there. Usually, he would think he was dreaming, but he knew he wasn't. Then the floor of their dorm started to glow, and Luffy knew something was seriously wrong.
He didn't care if he got in trouble, and teleported to his friends and sent them all to his house before instantaneously going to Ace and taking him. He was on the roof and shocked at the sight. Luffy got him away, and they hit the grassy ground at home. His two best friends were getting sick and Law was standing there in confusion.
"What was that for?" Law asked, though it wasn't in an accusing voice. Just confusion.
"Something happened at school," Ace said, voice sounding disturbed. "Let's get inside," he added hurriedly. The five of them ran inside, finding everyone else was asleep. They left the backdoor open? Why? Well, they'd worry about that later. Sanji and Zoro were feeling better, and Ace had somehow fought off the dizziness, even though his face was a light shade of green when they arrived.
"The dorms disappeared. It probably happened to your dorm, too," Ace said seriously. The three knew he wasn't joking or messing with them. "Luffy saved all of us." Thank god I was already awake. "All of our phones are there. But we have the landline." Ace walked to the phone on the granite countertop and called UA.
Nobody answered. Either they all disappeared or were too frantic to answer the calls. So he tried Shanks. He answered immediately. "Shanks, what the hell happened?!" Ace asked.
"I don't know! The dorms all just disappeared! The students are gone!" Shanks shouted frantically. The phone was on speakerphone, and the four students, the only ones who seemed to escape, gasped. Ace told Shanks that four of them and himself were able to get out. "Good… But it only targeted the students. The teacher dorms and the other buildings were not taken. Hang on."
There was the sound of rustling and then a loud curse. "What? What happened?" Zoro asked loudly. Shanks told them that Shiketsu alerted them to what had happened. The same happened to them. Their dorms are gone, all the students gone as well. Luffy knew the villains wanted them all in one place!
But were they dead? What happened to them? Ace asked if the other schools had it happen. "I don't know. I have to go, Ace. Don't come back yet. Don't bring the others back, it might not be safe," Shanks insisted. Ace agreed, and hung up. Then Roger and Rouge came out. Roger had his hands up, ready to use his quirk and knocked them all out if they were intruders.
"Ace, Luffy? What are you doing here?" Rouge asked in shock. Luffy hurried to her and hugged her. She hugged him back, though the two were very confused. Then Sabo hurried into the room and went to hug Luffy, too. Ace explained what had happened, what they knew, which was very little. Then Roger's phone went off, and he had to get to work, which was unsurprising. Thousands of students missing? Using some sort of quirk? He got dressed, but Sabo was told to stay there and help guard the teens in case the light came after them, too.
The six of them sat on the couches or carpet in front of the couches. Law sat next to Luffy, who was exhausted. He hadn't slept. His friends had, but Luffy hadn't. He'd been in bed but had not slept. He did fall asleep, leaning against Law's side. Nobody woke him up for a good five hours, just staying quiet. They didn't move Luffy to his room since Sabo and Ace were to guard them and staying in one place was their best bet.
Then the landline went off, since none of them had their phones. Ace's had been on the roof, since he'd been sitting down when the dorms started to disappear in light. Ace quickly picked it up and put it on speaker phone. Sabo gently woke his little brother, who sat upright, not even thinking twice about having been sleeping against Law.
Considering the situation, it was strange to see a content smile on Law's face until it disappeared. But it was there long enough for Luffy to be sure he wasn't imagining it. "The buildings are back," Shanks said, though he sounded solemn. Zoro asked if everybody was okay. "Yes and no." He sighed. "They're all alive and unharmed. But their quirks are all gone. Every single student is quirkless, and don't remember how they left."
-x-
The six of them were shocked. The four students immediately tested their quirks, which were all still there. If Luffy hadn't gotten them out of there, then they would be quirkless, too. But what would happen now? What would they do with the hero course if nobody had any quirks? How would things go now? Why and how were their quirks taken? He felt so sorry for every student.
Luffy knew he'd be upset to lose his quirk, so he couldn't imagine how upset people were who had always loved their quirks. Would a whole generation of students not be heroes? No new heroes for at least three more years? It was terrible and confusing.
"Do they remember anything?" Shanks replied that they didn't. They had no idea what had happened to them or where they went.
"What's strange is that only those in school had lost them. There had been a helper about your age in the general studies course's dorm, and when it disappeared, he was the only person left. They wanted all the students in one place so they could pull this off. It happened to the other hero schools and multiple places in Europe and China.
"Not all of the schools were targeted at once. Meaning that other countries can try and spread the students up so there is no mass kidnapping like what happened at UA and Shiketsu," Shanks explained. "We don't want the four to come back. Not for now," he added.
"Okay. Keep us updated, please," Ace replied. Shanks said he would. The phone was hung up, and Rouge came back with food, having left to get some comfort food for the stressed four students. When she came back and heard about the missing quirks, she was horrified and put the box of donuts on the counter.
She asked, "Y-You still all have your quirks, right?" They nodded, and Law said, "Thanks to Luffy. If he hadn't gotten us out of there in time, we'd be quirkless, too." The other two nodded. Luffy felt glad that he had been able to save them. That he hadn't panicked at that moment. Hadn't lost his cool and composure, or gotten distracted in wanting to see what the light was.
Sabo scowled. "They fail you on the exam and then you're the one to save some of the students, the only ones with quirks still. What cruel fate. The one who failed still has his powers and those who passed no longer have theirs." He looked at Luffy and said, "I'm so happy you're okay, Lu. I've missed you."
I missed you guys a lot, too. I'm happy to stay home for a bit. Do you think they should go to their homes? he asked, gesturing to his three friends. Sabo said they didn't have any heroes to protect them at their houses, and had no way to instantly escape with Luffy in case something else happened.
The four nodded in agreement of that statement. Zoro sat against the couch, and Sanji laid on the carpet, head on one of the couch pillows. "Can we sleep?" Sanji asked, as all four of them were tired, even after Luffy's long nap.
"Yeah, we'll keep watch," Ace said. He closed all of the curtains and locked every window in the house, making sure those curtains were drawn as well. He turned off the porch light, wanting to make it seem like nobody was home or they were all sleeping. Luffy was laying on the chaise lounge and Law was on the rest of the couch. Well, there was more room at the end for Sabo to fit.
They slept until Ace and Sabo woke them up later in the morning for breakfast that Rouge had made. She had slept on an air mattress on the floor. The teens were so deeply asleep that the noises made hadn't woken them up. The four numbly walked to the bar counter and sat down, all droopy and sad. They knew last night wasn't a nightmare. It was real, and their friends were quirkless and nothing would be the same at school.
They were the only four left. Would the others hate them? Hate Luffy for not saving all of them, too? Well, he didn't have time, and he valued his friends and brother more than his classmates. After breakfast, which was delicious but also tasted like ash, Luffy went to take a shower and change clothes.
None of his fit his friends, but Ace and Sabo's clothes did, so they were all in new outfits. The other three had showered in the guest bathroom, the master bathroom and Ace's bathroom. Their house was pretty big, so housing three more kids was easy. They would probably sleep in the bedrooms that night if everything went alright.
Or they'd sleep in Luffy's room again. They weren't allowed outside, so they did everything they could to distract themselves. Played video games, read books, watched TV, board games, anything. They couldn't even contact their friends. They didn't have their phones or their laptops. Ace didn't have their phones and you can be sure none of them memorized their phone numbers.
The day was bland, and uncomfortable. Roger hadn't come back. He was still at the agency, trying to figure out what to do next. How to get the kids their quirks back, if they even could. Luffy knew they wouldn't stop trying, though. The heroes would do all their best to get them back. Luffy knew that would involve going after the villains, where they didn't know they were staying. Their classmates might be quirkless for a while, if not forever.
He took his sleeves off, letting his damaged skin breathe. Law barely glanced at them. He'd seen them twice. Once was a brief view of his side and the others his limbs. He wasn't uncomfortable not hiding them with him, meaning Luffy trusted him deeply. To know he wouldn't judge or stare. Nobody stared at home. It felt nice.
Part of him was happy he didn't need to return to the dorms anytime soon. Though it would be nicer to be stuck at home for a different reason. After breakfast, they watched the news on the TV. It was covering what had happened, of course. The students reported no damage besides losing their quirks.
It had happened so fast that no videos had been captured besides CCTV cameras that only showed a bright light and then empty space where buildings used to be. And it was the same light for every school targeted, regardless of location. And it wasn't just the hero course like the villains made them to believe. Not that they treated the hero course kids any better than the others.
The mood in the house was depressed and in denial. How could something like this happen? What kind of overpowered quirk pulled this off? Luffy wished he could have his phone to message the others, hoping they weren't angry at Luffy saving himself and his loved ones over the others. They had to know why he'd do that or they were… stupid. Of course he prioritized his closest friends.
The Three Jis would have chosen each other. Well, he shouldn't worry about that. Who knew when they'd even see them again? It might be a while. They spent the rest of the day doing nothing, really. Nothing distracting enough to help.
After dinner during the long, empty day, both Luffy and Law couldn't sleep when the other two were awake. They didn't have the sleeping tea, it was still in the dorms. And it was getting stuffy inside. Luffy wanted to go outside. Sabo was still awake, Ace sleeping in his room. The four had decided to sleep in the living room again. But on air mattresses instead of on the floor.
Roger still hadn't come home. Luffy hoped he was taking care of himself. And he didn't have his phone to contact him. Since he couldn't call him, all he had was texting and Facetime, and he had neither of those. Well, he could use his brother's phone. Ace didn't have his, either. All they had was Rouge's and Sabo's.
Sabo? Can we go to the tree house? We don't have the sleepytime tea. Sabo looked hesitant. I'll come back immediately if something is wrong. He caved, but said he'd be watching from the window. They weren't allowed to go anywhere else. Luffy signed that of course they wouldn't. The two hurried across the yard and to the treehouse, a flashlight with them. The general public did not know where they lived, so it shouldn't be easy to find.
Most heroes' homes were undisclosed. Which was lucky and convenient to not have villains and fans attack you at home. They climbed inside, Luffy first and Law second. "This is pretty small." Luffy pointed up. There was a clean skylight. And without the house lights close, they could see all the stars. "This is pretty cool, though."
I helped build it. A year before I got kidnapped. I only carried the tools to dad, and Ace and Sabo helped him hammer the wood, even if they were still kids, too. This was one of my safe spaces. Along with the beanbag chair in my room.
"I see. It does seem really relaxing." The treehouse was very well built even if it was too small for him and his brothers to fit into comfortably. Luffy couldn't stand, but he could crouch. Roger later lamented making it so small. He tried to build more of it, but Luffy was unstable then and having things change was very stressful. So they kept it small.
I'm happy you are my friend. Law's face turned pink and he mumbled he was glad, too. Luffy finally asked him, feeling like it was the right moment. Why do you do that? Do I make you uncomfortable? And you turn red a lot. Law looked a little horrified, but Luffy did want to know, so he didn't take it back. You can tell me, I won't be upset.
Law looked uncomfortable, and Luffy wished he wasn't. He had a feeling Law wouldn't tell him. But… it wasn't Luffy's business, was it? It's just, Luffy had been so open and forthcoming with himself to Law. All the time. He wished he would return the favor this time. He didn't expect Law to repay him for being honest. He just wanted to know why he embarrassed his friend. But he sighed, and looked at his hands, pulling his knees up a bit. "I'll tell you. Just, don't hate me, okay?" I'd never hate you! "I… like you."
Luffy didn't understand.
"Like- like. As in… more than friends." Then it clicked. Law didn't like Luffy as a friend. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel. He didn't know what that kind of love felt like. Only family and friends. He didn't love himself, how could he love another? Law was looking at him with desperate eyes, and Luffy felt bad he didn't give any expression back.
I don't know how to feel that back, he signed honestly, worried he'd hurt Law. But he sighed in relief, surprising Luffy. "That's fine. You don't have to like me back like that. I'm just glad you don't hate me for it."
Luffy was surprised by the answer, thinking Law would want him to like him back. But it was a complete relief that he didn't expect that of Luffy. "I had a feeling you wouldn't feel the same way. That you might not be able to. You don't love yourself, how could you love somebody else like that? I think you should be happy for yourself, and not try to focus on anything other than the necessities. I'm happy to just be friends with you."
The mute teen had tears down his cheeks. He looked down and signed, Thank you. "Anytime. I like helping you. It makes me happy and makes you feel better. My experience wasn't as bad as yours, but I do dislike myself, too. I don't like how rude I can be. How closed off. I don't like that I glare at people I don't know.
"I said I was taken when I was ten. I pretty much wandered to them. I couldn't find my mom or dad. I was stupid and wandered into an alley way, somehow thinking they might be there. Mom was pregnant, so I thought that maybe she was sick, she might be there. She wasn't. The villains asked where I was going. I told them I wasn't with my mom or dad, which was a mistake.
"I was tied down with the strings from the villain. I didn't sustain external injuries. Apparently they were looking for somebody to test a drug on. So they tested on me. It made my quirk go out of control, and it hurt really bad. But I was still tied up. I managed to run when the main villain was hit by the lid of a trash can, and ran. The string was still tied around my arm, cutting off circulation until I found a broken piece of glass and managed to cut it. Then, I found my parents. The drug had worn off before I even got back to them.
"I never told the police or my parents. I was ashamed and didn't want anyone to worry. But then I started to hate myself for being stupid. I was scared someday that the drug would do something to me, but it's been five years, so hopefully it's completely gone. So, I wasn't tortured in the same way as you, but it was still traumatizing.
"I was happy more before that, and then I wasn't so much anymore. That's my story. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, you told me all of your stuff," Law finished. He let out another sigh of relief and smiled, a bigger smile than Luffy had ever seen.
We're insecurity-buddies. Law laughed. "I guess we are." They went back to the house, tired, and Luffy could tell that Law was happy. And he was glad his sort-of rejection hadn't ruined their friendship. And he felt closer now knowing his story. It was so tragic. He couldn't imagine how scary it must have been to be injected with some unknown drug. He was glad that didn't happen to him, but it had been three years difference. Maybe the villain changed his method of torture. Who knew? Luffy didn't really want to.