Chapter 5
It is a quiet morning. At first glance, there is nothing extra special about it. Maybe with the exception of extra tiredness from the previous day. Shino is always the first one to get up, make breakfast and knock on Kota's door to make sure he is up and getting ready for the day.
She sighs, still tired.
"Kota? Are you ready yet?" No answer. "Do you need help with something?"
Still upset then. She couldn't blame him.
With a clank, she put down the bowl of cereal for him to eat.
Yesterday she reassured the boy that his friend was alright, though to be honest, she was not quite certain whether he believed her. Or whether Kingu was still wandering the streets aimlessly - or something else.
Once Kota was up and asleep, she called her colleagues to see whether there was some new info regarding the child. Maybe if only to reassure herself that she was not lying.
Nothing. No incidents, random meetings or reports of a way too young child being seen where they really shouldn't be. It was suggested to her again to bring Kota for questioning, but that idea was shot down immediately. Right at that moment, she was not willing to even discuss such a possibility, seeing his breakdown yesterday.
She knew that the boys were close, but it still surprised her how much.
An hour long conversation later, she put down the phone and sat down to finally rest.
The advice was to get a professional to talk with Kota, but seeing how unwilling he was to talk with anyone, she found it difficult to believe that he would be willing to talk with a stranger.
She was willing to do this when Kota first came into her house but after a short talk, the woman said that the boy seems to be coping rather well and left the final decision into Shinio. Not wanting to stress out Kota further and scared that his mood could turn around, she declined.
Thinking back, Recovery Girl seemed rather surprised, now Shino understood why - Kota already had a person to direct his energy at.
She sighed again.
Back then, Recovery Girl still gave her a list of people that were more specialized than her when it came to kids losing somebody close and she intended to make a couple of calls once she finds the time to do so.
"Kota! Food is ready!"
Nothing again.
Thinking about the plans for the day, she walked upstairs and knocked on his door. "Kota?" Suddenly, a bad feeling sank inside her stomach. "Kota?"
Taking a breath, she opened the door.
The small snack in Kota's hand disappeared as he wolfed it down for breakfast. Eyes went to the rest of his stash, but he stopped himself in time. "Not now." Instead of taking more, his hand went to the zip and closed the bag.
The bus drive was smooth, without issues. Kota attributed this to the sleep deprived driver whom probably haven't even mentioned him getting on before closing the door and driving away.
Thinking back, it probably was not the smartest of ideas to get on a bus, but then again, it is not exactly the smartest of ideas to go out and look for a friend in a middle of night with only a hutch as to where he could be.
Sea.
Kingu did not like people a whole lot, but he had this weird relationship with sea and nature in general. Especially sea. Back then, Kota teased him for talking like some sort of an old man. The conversation stirred elsewhere, mostly because Kingu put his nose up and did his 'It is not that I like it that much!' act, which to be honest, could be a little annoying at times. Would it kill him to be honest for once?
On a different occasion, the two pulled out some old map, Kingu wanted to see it, and spent the evening pointing out interesting sounding names, some of which did get stuck in Kota's mind so much that he scored close to max points during a test sometime later. Basic Japanese geography or something.
Before leaving, Kota marked places where his idiot friend could be. He kind of hoped that Kingu wouldn't choose some old forgotten mountain as his new residence.
Looking around, he found exactly the kind of place that Kingu would perhaps like. And had to pause. He had seen the sea before, one of the few occasions that his parents took him in a trip. Endless blue mass disappearing in distance, clouds rolling over it like some weird cover and the morning sun making everything sparkly and glittery. Salty and clean ocean air, devoid of the sometimes icky city smog being like the last touch - cherry on top.
Oh. So this is what Kingu was talking about. It is beautiful.
Kota took a few moments to realize that he is not there to gawk at the sea. He has a mission to do.
"Kota is missing?!"
"I- He must have ran away at night! I came into the room to check on him because he was not answering and he was nowhere! The window was open so I looked outside! I checked the yard three times, then I checked the street, used my quirk to see if I could reach him and nothing!"
Ryuko Tsuchikawa was originally having a slow morning. This was before her friend called her. As her teammate, she knew well what Shino was going through - she would often try to reach out for advice with all of her teammates
"I have already called the rest of the team and the police. They should be here in a minute. I.. I.."
"Shino-san. Deep breaths." The other end of the phone line became quiet for a moment. When Shino spoke again, she sounded much calmer.
"I am going to look around again."
"I am sure everything is going to be alright. Just don't panic." That sentence seemed to have done the trick. She could hear the loud sigh again. How many times did she hear this from her in the last few months? This time though, it seemed way more exhausted than before.
"We usually tell this to others, don't we?"
"Yeah. We do."
If Kingu can do it, so can he. Kota told himself for the thousandth time. Maybe this is why it was sometimes so hard to chase the jerk out of this bed.
Sleeping outside sucks. Sure, he had managed to pack a small cover to wrap around himself at night but the ground was too hard to comfortably sleep on. The small empty shack he picked to sleep in was not exactly a five star hotel either. Still better than sleeping outside.
After a whole day of searching, he had to give up for the day and admit that he needs to look elsewhere. Kingu always had a way to find him, presence detection or whatever.
Stalker. It did explain the weird itch on his back whenever he was in class. An itch he was not getting while walking around.
The day ended and Kingu is nowhere to be found. Kota fished up the map from his pocked and crossed out his current location, all the while looking at other spots that he marked.
If anything, the sea was really beautiful even as the day moved on. Maybe one day he could get his cousin to take him here for a vacation?
Oh. Right. His cousin.
Now that he thought about it, she must be panicking. Kota was not blind. At least, not as much as Kingu sometimes made it seem.
"She cares about you."
Still, he only started believing that after Kingu told him that repeatedly over and over again - being a hero and all, there was always his worry that she would get up and disappear on him, just like them. Their bond was not particularly strong, he barely knew her. Even now, thinking about it, he barely knows her.
A tiny voice whispered into his ear that he should perhaps be nicer to her the next time he meets her. He still has not even apologized for yelling at her the other day.
He is going to be real nice to her once he gets back to… that place.
Kota thought to himself as he fell asleep.
The weather is holding so Kota could count himself lucky in that aspect. Using a similar strategy from the previous day, he caught a different bus and moved on. Different beach different people.
"Excuse me, can I ask you something?"
Different empty beach to be more specific. This one was not as nice as the previous one with only a handful of old people, he assumed at least. The old man in question removed his not so clean glasses and glanced down his way. "Ask away."
"I am looking for someone, a friend of mine. Long green hair, about my age, looks a little like a girl. He likes the sea a lot."
The old man appeared to be thinking for a moment. "Green hair you said?"
"Yes! Have you…?"
"Sorry, not that I can recollect now."
Getting here was a pain in the behind, with so few people actually living there, the bus only went a part of the way before dropping him off and he had to walk the rest. He had high hopes.
For a moment, he thought that he felt something, someone observing him but when he turned around, there was nothing. Admittedly, it was not the same but it was a start. The same tiny voice from yesterday whispered that he should perhaps be more careful but the thought that he would meet his friend again made him too excited.
That excitement died when the old man apologized to him.
"Come on, young lad. Don't feel down, I am sure that you and your friend will find each other. Would you like to talk about it?"
After a short moment, Kota nodded. After getting all worked up like that, he has not even realized how tired he really is. The man turned around and made a guesture to make the boy follow him.
After a moment of walking, Kota arrived at a…. house. House was maybe a generous way to call it, it was old, weed growing all over and Kota honestly wondered if it was even livable. The man went inside while Kota looked around.
The surroundings looked much better. The house was surrounded by a garden, containing both flowers and vegetables alike. There was not a whole lot of time for the city kid to gawk at all the greenery, the man stepped outside and in his hands was a steaming hot cup of something. Soon enough, Kota found out that it is chocolate.
"He sounds like a troubled youth."
"You think so?"
"It is never good for anyone to be on their own, especially children."
Kota felt the jab and gave the man an evil, annoyed look. "I can look after myself!" Put his nose up, made a face and did his best to look as insulted as he felt. "I have turned 5 in decemter! So I am 5 and a half!"
Cue in the laugh. Cue Kota gulping down the remaining chocolate and thus making the cup empty. He is not a kid. He is not a kid!
"That is exactly where the issue lies actually." Kota looked around to glance at the man, still grimacing. He, the man, however just patiently sat in his old chair, sipping what Kota assumed to be a tea of some sort. Whatever remark Kota had on his tongue was forgotten when the man continued talking. "There are many people out there who say that, even those that are older than you. Sure they can buy their houses and pizzas and vacations, make a hole into the world. But let me tell you, all beings in existence carve a companionship of some sort. Just because you have these things, it does not mean that you should cut out those around you."
"That does not give any sense."
"I guess it does not. I mean, I have not realized this until much later into my life."
"Wh- how is this even related?" Are you purposely wasting my time?
"I can't speak for your friend, but I can tell that the journeys you had to undergo were vastly different from each other. But you still met and became friends."
"I still don't get it."
"You seem like a smart young lad." He laughed, again. "The fact that you are here meens that you still need him. And I think that Kingu also needs you."
Kota crossed his arms, deep in thought.
"I don't think I can force you to go back home, but would you at least consider giving your cousin a call?"
He… he really should do that.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
It is just a call, not like anything really bad can happen, right?
After finally managing to start up his phone and finding the right number, he tapped it very lightly. Accompanied by silent beeping, he waited for someone to pick up the phone. Kota looked around. The man left, likely to give him some privacy.
For a moment, he tohught that perhaps Kingu was somewhere close by again as he felt that itch on his back again, the one from earlier that day rather than the one in class.
"Kota?!"
He almost dropped the phone. Actually, he did drop it but by a stroke of luck, he caught it before it hit the ground. Good thing cause he is not sure whether he would be able to remember his cousin's phone name off top of his head. "H-hello?"
There was a long pause on the other side. He could head hushed voices somewhere in the background, Shino seemed out of breath. Guilt hit him full force as he tried to stumble over his words, trying to find some sort of apology for what he did, but all that came out was some barely understandable mess.
"I am sorry!" He sputtered eventually. "I, I really just… I am sorry!"
"Kota, where are you?" She sounded more tired than what he had ever heard her before, but other than that, it was really hard to read anything into that voice, the worry and panic that he heard previously not anywhere to be found.
Guilt hit him in full once again.
He really shouldn't have done this after all.
Kota lowered his head and told her.
Not all things always go smoothly. Sometimes things go from good to bad in an instant and all the good in the world is forgotten for a moment. Or maybe sometimes people are just really bad when it comes to reading cues that something not so good is about to happen.
Kota put the phone down, still in thought. It actually took him a moment to realize that the area is perhaps too quiet. "Old man? Hey!"
Maybe if he paid more attention to the strange itch he got earlier, he wouldn't be in that mess, so he told himself later. He went through all that remembering how to find out whether someone is watching him or not that it never occurred to him that someone else could watch him too.
There was no time to really react when someone grabbed him from behind. "Got him!"
Huh?
Kota's brain stopped for a moment, trying to process what was going on. Unfortunately that moment alone was enough of a window for the unknown person to put something over his mouth.
The world went dark and disappeared.
"This is the last time I am helping you trafic something that does not walk on four legs!"
"But you want the money, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be doing it with us." The woman grimaced before tossing the newest batch into their proper cages. "Are you absolutely certain that the newest kid was alright to pick? He was making a call when we arrived."
"Well, maybe if you went ahead and scooped him up sooner, he wouldn't be doing that call, would he?"
"Whatever."
"Talk with the man upstairs to get your cash."
"But what if..."
"Men. Upstairs. Cash. And if you as much as beep about what is happening here, you are coming down with us."
The woman made her displeasure with the situation known once more before walking away. The countless people, usually kids and women looked at her fearfully from behind their bard, pulling away, some pulling closer hoping that she would take pity on them and take them back.
The last kid was a lucky catch. How often do you get a kid wandering about without any decent adult in sight, away from all kinds of heroes and in an area with a population close to zero?
Part of the reason why it was so easy may also have been the fact that the men she had been working with were doing a good job keeping everything under wraps, targeting only those that seemingly nobody was going to miss, seeing wherer there was more value to them in comparison with the regular bulk (eg: seeing their quirks) before sticking a price tag on them and looking for buyers.
So far they were able to avoid most attention, especially the heroes, cause Kami forbid that those would go after them. Her friend did claim that they had some strong quirks on their side, but that is what all villains said, including those that are behind bars so she was not just going to sit comfortably and believe that there is not a single wrong in the world.
The last kid especially made her nervous. He really did not look like some kid chased away by his parents. His clothes were of a good quality, even had a phone on him and not the cheapest model either.
That was the main reason why she did not scoop him up the moment she saw him and did only so after a healthy dose of encouragement.
Honestly, she still was not comfortable knowing that the kid was there.
"I am going to take a break from this." She told the guy after handing her the money. Judging by his casual shake of shoulders, he did not care what so ever.
Her 'friend' was getting too greedy and if he was not going to calm down, he is going to eventually step on some hero's toes. Or in a worse case, some villain's - heroes usually prepare a nice and comfy cell for you to sit in. Villains like to use their hard earned cash in different ways.
Yeah, time to take a long break from these sorts of things.
Kota was not sure what woke him up, whether it was the stench or some kid crying. Likely it was the stench. He woke up and almost puked. By some luck, he managed to hold it down, but only barely.
"Quiet down there!"
If he was not fully awake before, he was now. Somewhere out there, some idiot decided that it would be a good idea to smash some something distinctively metaling against something that was also a metal. The result in such a small space, combined with children's voices was a cacophony of sounds that was somehow even worse than what his classmate likes to make for whatever reason.
"Where am I?" He asked out loud, hoping to get some sort of an answer. Unfortunatelly, the question disappeared in the horrible noise around him. Before he could ask again, a hand covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking.
Seeing as last time someone tried to do this, he lost his consciousness, his first instinct was to turn around and punch whoever was responsible. A second pair of hands grabbed him and pushed down.
"Are there any complaints?"
Finally, after a little scuffle, Kota stopped moving. A messy face was showed inches from his, giving him the biggest and most obvious silent 'shut up you idiot' look. They have remained like that for a little while.
Things have quieted down eventually, nobody dared to answer the man's question, especially when by the sound of it, he seemed to be a bit drunk.
"Don't get loud, do you want him to come over that badly?" Hissed a voice. Rather reluctantly, both pairs of hands went away and Kota remained quiet, sitting there in a quiet shock, still trying to figure out what has happend.
The place was dark with only a small light source somewhere in distance, it barely provided any light to see what was around him, but from what he gathered, it made Kota even more confused.
Kids most of which were a bit older than him and one teen girl, all looking like they have spent the last few days wearing the same very much worn out clothes. The stench told him that that is likely the case here. Something in his stomach turned again, it must have shown because someone made a quirk remark. "You throw up here and we are using you as a mop."
"Where am I? What is going on?" He asked, doing his best to keep his voice down.
"Kidnapped, scooped, borrowed off the streets, the same thing that has happened to all of us pretty much." Someone answered, looking around, he found out that it was the same kid that pushed him down - at least one of the two kids. "Better get used to this, cause nobody is coming."
"Wha-" His voice went up by quite a bit, only to someone slap his face again with a hiss.
"Great, we got some idiot five year old!"
"We can't exactly be picky, can we?"
"But why did it have to be a five year old?!"
"I am five and a half!"
The group became quiet and Kota felt their eyes on him before… "See! I told you it isa dumb five year old! Next thing we will know, he will start yelling for heroes to come and rescue him!"
Kota choked. "I-heroes are-"
"What? No heroes getting down here, so you'd better keep it in, or else." Kota moved back, away from the group, finally realizing that he is in a lot of trouble, way more trouble that just getting yelled out for disappearing for a day or two.
What is going on? It all happened too fast.
Curling into a ball, he hid his face from sight when he felt his eyes getting wet.
What is going on?
Shino. Sorry. I am sorry. I should have never left. Some of the older kids must have approached when he was not looking because he felt something touch his back, but did not raise his head in fear of what he would see.
Even the gesture was very much like what Shino used to calm him down.
Nobody is ever going to care about some orphans, that was the main idea behind their current business and it was going rather well. It is new so finding ways to sell the goods may be a little harder than usual was a thing but the men were optimistic after how good things went.
Before they used to specialize in drugs with some odd rarity to ship without anyone knowing. Some bloke once really wanted some exotic large cat once, so they shipped it. Then someone got the idea that they should try this so they tried and it worked.
It was pretty hilarious how easily the business went. For how idealistic the current hero society tends to be, they, in all of their magnificent glory and glitter tend to forget about people in the lowest of places, like orphans. One or two of them then turns out to have a decent quirk and a business is struck.
Several days have passed since the last kid came in. Not that it was a bad thing, their pockets were already bound to be full within the next month or so.
It was maybe for that reason that someone decided to buy a whole pack of beer. Someone followed on the idea and also brought some more. One thing led to another and suddenly there was a small drinking contest.
Kabuto drained another mug before he proceeded to laugh at some dumb joke from his friend. What was the joke about? Well, that was actually the joke. He did not know what so ever.
Then some idiot toppled over and crashed onto the ground with enough force to make it shake.
Seriously, he had no idea that the guy could do that. Cue more laughing. Then something fell from the ceiling and hit some guy one the head. "Hey! You should chill with that quirk, don't want the roof falling onto our heads!"
"Huh?"
"The roof you idiot, you are making your quirk to shake things around! Pretty neat though!"
The guy stood up, looking completely dumbfounded. "That was not me."
"Yes it was!"
"No, you don't get it, I don't have a quirk like that. And I am not drunk!" More laughing.
"No more beer for you!"
Overall, a great evening. At the time, it seemed that nothing could go wrong. Expect that they have forgotten that bad things do not suddenly happen only to good people. Sometimes there are hints and sometimes it comes unexpectedly in a form of something that nobody would expect.
"Disgusting."
This time, it came in a pretty form of a strange looking teen girl. Or at least, they assumed that it was a girl. The whole group looked around to see the newcomer and wow. Face perfect like a doll accompanied by that long green hair. Maybe around 16? She looked so small and… harmless. Admittedly, it could also be the beer messing with him. The first thought was that she could be one of their members, though the second thought was that she escaped from one of the cages below.
All that she wore was just some plain cloth with dried up blood on it and a lone black strap around the neck.
"Tell, me what is it that makes you different from wild beasts?"
"Kabuto! You idiot!" Great, now it is his fault that someone escaped. As far as he knew, there were no quirks to worry about!
"Unfortunately for you, I did not come here to have a chat with you." She said, clearly irritated. Kabuto was also getting irritated. "I'll consider letting you go if you release the children."
Some of the members gawked at her in pure bafflement. Release the kids? Is she serious?
"Kabuto!"
"Yes! I am going!"
He was about to stand up, but suddenly, there was no reason to actually stand up. It happened too fast and the only warning that something not so good for them is happening was lightning moving in between the men.
Kabuto was not sure what exactly snatched him but the next thing he knew, he was not sitting, but was suspended in the air. Only then he found out what it was that caught him. Chains. So many chains. Some of the men, quickly realizing that this is not a friendly visit, got up and tried to fight back. Key word: tried.
Someone threw a full beer bottle at the woman, but the bottle shattered before it ever reached as at one of the chains struck it while still in the air. Soon enough, everyone met the same fate.
How did this happen?
"It appears that there was a misunderstanding. That was not a request."
Suddenly, the teen did not seem as harmless. A dangerous glint settled in her eyes.
Last thing he felt were his bones breaking.
Two whole chapters in a week? Miracle!
Good thing I am good with most of my homework now, otherwise... well, not even a previous chapter would happen. This was very easy to write, not going to lie. Maybe a part of the reason why i made it so quickly is that i kind of want to move onto another part of the story.
Also, yeah.. Kingu is kida pissed. There you go, Kingu finally sweeping some trash. Enjoy it cause as far as my plans go, there is not a whole lot of it in the future.
Wait, no. Now I can't unsee Kingu beating up someone using a broom. Ideas to keep for future chapters I guess.
I re read some stuff and realized that I did not specify some things well. Kota's age to be specific. Kota's parents died when he was three, is introduced in the manga/anime when he is 5. In my story, Kota is 5 when his parents die and is going to be 7 when the BHA summer camp happens. After doing some simple math... there are still 2 or so extra years before Izuku starts attending UA. The story will eventually feature A1 students so that means 2 extra years to write about. I don't plan on writing about thise in detail but I won't be skipping them completely either. I am hoping that it is going to be like a seaon 2? Book 2? Anyway, book/season one is ending with the next chapter. I'll try to write it before the year ends.
I am fairly certain that in the show they said that Kota and Shino are distant cousins. Wiki says the same. The only thing I am changing is Kota's age, he is a bit older than in the show.
One more thing I wanted to add, thank you very much to everyone who sacrificed some of their time to read this story I write for fun. It means a lot to me. 200 favorites? Wow.
