Chapter 3: Ground Zero

(Warning...suggestions of light bondage and rough sex. Rating changed to M for content related to Dabi and Furi's relationship.)

The door to the staff room opened and Principal Nezu made his way quietly to the head of the teacher meeting table, surveying the cast of somber faces as he prepared to start the faculty meeting.

"I wish I could say that I had some good news for you," he said sadly, "but despite our best efforts and those of the police search and rescue team, no sign of our missing student, Todoroki Shoto, has been found. Given that we know where Shoto entered the water after falling, as well as the location where the incident took place and the direction of the current, the only thing that the authorities can conclude at this time is that, barring the very remote chance that Shoto somehow left or was taken from the search area, our student was incapacitated or killed in the incident and his body was swept out to sea."

He paused for a moment, watching the crestfallen responses of the gathered teachers before continuing.

"Given the circumstances, the police are planning to make a public announcement soon. I have had counselors summoned to assist the 1A students and protective measures have been taken to ensure that no media will be allowed on the campus. I would like for all of you to…"

Nezu broke off, blinking and staring as the thumping footsteps sounded outside the room, then an angry male voice sounded.

"Get out of my way! I'm going in there. I am going to get to the bottom of what happened to my son!"

"Hmm," Nezu sighed, making no move to stop the flame hero's entrance as Endeavor swept into the room, flames roaring around his body.

"It's a good thing Aizawa's with All Might and his class right now," Midnight whispered to Present Mic, "I've seen that guy mad plenty of times, but I've never seen him like this."

"Where are they?" Endeavor demanded, "Aizawa and All Might? Why wasn't I allowed into the dormitory? My son is a student at this school and I should have been given immediate access to Shoto's room, his classmates who were involved and everyone here! This is outrageous and I demand answers!"

For a moment, the others in the room gave no response, igniting the flame hero's already burgeoning fury.

"Why are you all just sitting there?" Endeavor roared, his flames expanding menacingly, "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Principal Nezu looked up at him with a serious expression.

"I think what all of us have to say is that…we are, like you, shocked and heartbroken that Shoto appears to have been lost in the attack on the school. Every one of us here appreciates the extreme talent that has been lost, and we offer you our deepest sympathy Endeavor."

"DAMN IT, THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" the flame hero seethed, "I want to know why those children were out there in the first place. Where were their teachers? And why was that violent delinquent allowed to run rampant?"

"I assure you that proper procedures were followed," Snipe said sternly.

"He's right," Ectoplasm insisted, "Each team of students was within the search area near to a teacher, and Hound Dog, Snipe and I were also present to assist."

"Well, apparently, your efforts weren't anywhere near good enough, and you still haven't explained to me why that fool, Bakugo Katsuki was allowed to run wild! I've heard what happened there, and when the announcement is made, the rest of the world is going to know it too! It isn't just a villain attack on the school that appears to have killed my son. Bakugo's actions directly placed Shoto in the line of fire. His callous attitude and reckless behavior that have been a concern since he was allowed to attend this school have now done what everyone worried about from the beginning. It is public knowledge that Bakugo has acted out violently since day one! His behavior in the sports festival wasn't even the start of his pattern of behavior, but while all of you have defended allowing him to remain here as a student, none of you are willing to accept responsibility for what he's done!"

"Endeavor," Nezu said calmly, "we all understand your anger and upset. Every one of us here has had constant interaction with all of the students in this institution and we have watched over all of them. I assure you that first, all of our procedures, which are laid out by the heroes' safety commission, were followed to the letter. Teachers were present as expected, along with extra personal, given the nearby presence of known criminals. Each of the students present was placed in a team with compatible quirks and immediately upon realizing that there were powerful villains present, the teachers and security personnel acted swiftly to protect all of the children."

"Huh," Endeavor huffed, his fire flaring warningly, "I think it's clear that none of that was enough…and it wasn't enough because of that renegade boy. Now, I want access to the students involved right now. I want to speak to Midoriya and Bakugo about what happened. Even if my being Shoto's father isn't enough reason to be here demanding answers, I am the number one hero, and I will get to the bottom of this!"

"Of course we will work together to get the answers that we all need," Nezu assured him, "but right now, counselors are with all of the children. The police are about to make an important announcement, and I suspect we all know they are going to say that they are ending the official search and rescue mission and focusing on recovery of the fallen hero's body, if it is possible. As much as we all want answers, this announcement is going to be very difficult for students and staff alike, and we need that to be our focus. Once the announcement is made, we will make a decision as to the proper course of the investigation."

"I'm not sitting here for days while you coddle those kids and soothe your emotions, damn it!" Endeavor roared, "Shoto is out there! He's injured or worse, dead, and Bakugo Katsuki is the reason!"

"That has not yet been confirmed," Nezu argued, "All of the teachers' and students' actions in the incident are being investigated, both by the police and by our own security forces. Any decisions will be made only once those investigations have been concluded. I am sorry, Endeavor, but until we have seen to this, all access to the grounds and students involved in the incident are restricted."

"Like hell they're restricted from me," Endeavor hissed, his fire curling and spreading around him, "It doesn't matter what you say or how you protect that little demon. He may as well have murdered my son in cold blood, and one way or another, he is going to pay!"

Before anyone in the room could answer, Endeavor turned and stormed out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

All Might's usually smiling face wore a grim expression as he sat quietly beside the bed in Midoriya Izuku's dorm room. Izuku sat cross legged on the bed, tears still running in streams down his face, though his sobs had given way to occasional sniffs and distressed whimpers.

"I'm so sorry, kid," the former pro-hero said, bowing his head and closing his eyes for a moment before reorienting them on the young prodigy, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help you and young Todoroki when you needed me."

"It's not your fault," Izuku managed in a soft, muffled voice, "and…even though I know everybody looking at what was caught on the school cameras wants to blame Kacchan, it's really the fault of the villains that Sh-Shoto is…he's…"

"Yeah, I know. I'm not going to tell you not to cry over the loss of your friend."

Izuku sniffed again and fresh tears rolled down his flushed cheeks.

"Thank you, All Might, but…"

The former pro-hero gave him a questioning look as Izuku buried his face in his hands, sobbing again for several minutes before regaining some control. All Might leaned forward, lending him a shoulder that he grabbed onto tightly.

"I…feel even more awful," the younger hero confessed, "because Shoto was more than my f-friend."

All Might blinked in surprise, then a moment later, registered grim comprehension.

"I see."

"I was agonizing over not being able to be honest with him about One for All. I mean, I slipped and said what I did to Kacchan, so I knew it was even more important not to say it to Shoto since I didn't want to do anything to make things more dangerous for him. N-not that I didn't think he could take care of himself, I just…didn't want anything bad to happen to him because of me!"

A look of intense guilt radiated over All Might's shadowed face as his head bowed again.

"I had no idea you were struggling like that, kid. Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you tell me you were feeling like that?"

Izuku sniffed harder and wiped his eyes.

"I knew what you'd have to say if I told you something like that. I knew you'd tell me that being honest with Shoto about One for All would only increase the danger for him. I knew all of that, so I knew why I couldn't tell him. But even knowing doesn't make me feel any better, especially now! I didn't say anything because I wanted to protect him, but Shoto still…"

"Yeah, I know," All Might consoled him, hugging the youth tightly to his shoulder, "but you shouldn't feel guilty at all."

"But I lied to him and when he was in trouble, he looked at me and there was nothing at all that I could do to save him!"

"You did everything you could," All Might insisted, rubbing his back gently, "but I told you before. There are going to be people who you can't save. It's horrible that one of those people is someone you love, but you can't blame yourself. We're all sad about what happened to young Todoroki, but you also have to know that we all wish we could have saved him. Sometimes that's just not possible, and we have to accept it."

"Todoroki's just so strong. I want to think he survived, but I know that if he'd been conscious, he would have used his ice to stop himself from falling. He would have slowed himself down and made an icy surface on the water to keep himself from drowning. I know exactly how his powers work and how he would have used them if he could. He didn't do that, so I know he was unconscious when he fell."

"And that means that he didn't feel anything that happened after that," All Might finished, "I know it's not much of a comfort…"

"Don't worry about comforting me," Izuku sighed wearily, "I'm really sad, but I'm okay."

"How can you say you're okay?" the former pro asked, withdrawing slightly to give the youth a surprised look, "I don't think any of us are right now."

"I'm not saying I'm not in pain," Izuku explained, sniffing more softly and rubbing his eyes again, "I just mean that there's someone who you should be more worried about right now."

All Might's eyes widened, but he held back saying anything.

"We all feel like we did everything we could," the younger pro went on, "but Kacchan knows he made a big mistake by not taking more care to avoid hitting an ally. He says stupid, cruel things, but Kacchan would never hurt Shoto on purpose. Whatever anyone says, it was a mistake and no one is more aware of its consequences than Kacchan is. You should go and talk to him."

"I'm not leaving you alone."

"I'm going to go downstairs. There are others of our friends around. I'll stay with them."

"Aizawa is with young Bakugo."

Izuku shook his head firmly.

"You're the one Kacchan looks up to the most. He'll be more likely to listen if you tell him. He made a mistake and there are going to be consequences, but making a mistake doesn't mean this wasn't an accident. He needs to know that."

"Yeah," All Might said, standing and helping Izuku to his feet, "fine, I'll go and talk to him…as soon as I know you're not going to be alone."

XXXXXXXXXX

Aizawa led Bakugo into his dorm room and coaxed him into the chair by his desk. The erasure hero pulled up a second chair and sat down, facing him.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Aizawa said in a low, sad voice, "I've seen what the school's cameras and microphones picked up out there, and it's clear to me that you're in a lot of trouble. I think you know that too."

"Yeah."

A little chill flared in the older hero's insides at the ragged, tired sound of his student's voice and the fact that, despite Bakugo's normally explosive temper, he just seemed deflated.

"But…I also know that what happened out there was a mistake."

"What the hell does that matter?" Bakugo growled wearily, "My attack hit another hero, and now that guy is…probably dead."

"That's not certain."

"But you know he probably is dead," the explosion hero insisted, "because if he wasn't, he would have used his power to save himself. There would be some sign of him having done that. Todoroki is dead and even though Dabi hit him too, I'm just as guilty. I get that."

Aizawa's eyes narrowed and glared into Bakugo's meaningfully.

"Listen to me. I told you that I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you and I'm not going to let you lie to yourself. Dabi is the one who attacked you and Shoto. He meant to kill you both. You are a hero who made a decision that he was enough of a threat that he needed to be stopped and you fired that shot with the intent to stop him."

"But I didn't just stop him," Bakugo argued in that still lifeless tone, "I told that idiot to get out of the way and he should have been fast enough. I'm telling you from working with him a hundred billion times that Todoroki should have been faster."

"I know," Aizawa sighed, "I looked at the surveillance video. I saw everything. The billowing smoke obscured things, but I have the same perception that you do. He was capable of escaping that blast. For some reason, he just didn't. And when the smoke cleared, he fell. There's nothing that we can do about the facts of the situation, but we need to focus on the likely fallout."

"I'm gonna lose my hero license and I'll probably be expelled if I'm not just thrown in jail. I get it."

"You're not going to jail," Aizawa said firmly, "We're not going to allow that."

Bakugo gave him a petulant look.

"You really think that the morons out there, who have no damned battle experience are gonna look at the video and think I didn't intentionally kill Todoroki? I yelled for him to move or I'd hit him. Then, I hit him. It'll be plain as day to them that I purposely killed my classmate."

"We'll take care of making people see the reality."

"Who cares about the reality," Bakugo huffed shaking his head, "To them, I brutally killed another hero."

"It was a mistake."

"It doesn't look like one, even though it was," Bakugo persisted.

"Fine. So it'll be difficult," Aizawa snarled softly, narrowing his eyes warningly, "but you're going to say nothing at all. You're going to leave this to me and to the other staff, here at the school. We're your mentors and we know the truth of the situation. Did you make a mistake? Yes, a really big one that may have killed a classmate. But you are not a villain. You are a hero and we'll convince them to give you another chance. That's only going to work if you refuse to make any comments."

Aizawa paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Or maybe seclusion would be a better idea."

"I'm not gonna hide," Bakugo snapped softly.

He made a sound of surprise as Aizawa's binding cloth snaked its way around him and the erasure hero's eyes turned red and glowing.

"You will do exactly as you are told," he said sternly, "You may have the right to let yourself be taken down over this mistake, but you will not harm this school or anyone else. You be quiet and stay here on house arrest."

"What?" Bakugo yelped, staring, "I killed Todoroki and you're just going to lock me in my room and give me extra chores? What the fuck?"

"I'm afraid the fallout is going to be worse than that, but I won't let your bad behavior hurt anyone else. That, Bakugo, is a promise!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Shoto made a little sound of distress, nearly dropping the cup of water in his hand as he set it clumsily back on the tray beside his bed. Furi's silver eyes narrowed and they moved closer to the bed, curving a warm palm around the young hero's flushed cheek.

"Oh, that fever's flaring up again, isn't it, dear?" they said sympathetically, "You should try sleeping a bit more. Won't you?"

"Mmm, but…"

"But nothing, Sho-chan. You've been hurt and your body's not going to heal unless you take care of it. Trust me," Furi insisted, caressing his face comfortingly, "Get some more sleep. You'll feel better after and we can talk more. I promise."

"Y-yeah, okay."

Furi watched closely as the two-toned hero's mismatched eyes blinked slowly several times before remaining closed. The youth's chest began to rise and fall in a more relaxed fashion.

"Good boy," Furi chuckled, backing out of the room.

They made a sound of surprise and amusement as a pair of patchwork arms curled around from behind and Dabi's lips caressed the side of their slender, pale neck.

"You got the kid under control?" he asked, biting down.

"Mmmhmm, he'll be out for awhile. Why? You here to do more than check in?"

"As long as you assure me that the brat isn't going to be any trouble. It was a pain setting up that bait and switch."

"What do you mean?" Furi purred, sliding a hand down over the other villain's stitched flesh and seeking his already swollen erection, "There'll be nothing left of that copy that Twice made, nothing at all for the heroes to find, and my quirk has little Sho-chan completely spellbound. Nothing to do but wait for the right moment. I'll start working with Sho-chan in the morning. He's already convinced his father is a rabid dog that needs to be put down."

"Good," Dabi breathed, sliding a hand under his partner's silk shirt to find the already piqued nubs on their chest, "I can't wait for them both to die in front of me…with that bastard looking broken and helpless. I'm gettin' hard just thinkin' of it."

"Ooh, then let's not wait," Furi growled, nudging Dabi in the direction of their bedroom.

The two staggered through the door, not bothering to close it as they proceeded in ragged steps across the floor, shedding clothing all of the way.

"Don't you tear that shirt," Furi snickered, "It's my favorite."

"It's your favorite?" Dabi sneered, using the silken article to bind his smirking partner's wrists to the nearly hidden rail under the top part of the headboard, "Well then, let's use it to make some memories, 'kay?"

"Ooh! Ungh!" Furi panted, arching their back and spreading creamy thighs as Dabi bared them, "No complaints here."

"You sure about that?" Dabi laughed, biting down and sucking to leave a red marking on one pale inner thigh, then another, "It might not survive…and you might not either!"

He made a trail of biting kisses leading to their flushed and leaking penis, pausing to lick the tip teasingly.

"Ah," Furi moaned, pushing their hips upward as Dabi's mouth wrapped around and sank down, "I'll have to take the chance, I suppose."

"Right," Dabi purred, thrusting a hastily wetted finger into his partner's puckered entrance and pushing it in roughly, making Furi groan and pant wantonly, "You'd better hope that I don't have a little accident with my fire while we do this. You'll burn right up in front of me."

"Would you miss me, love?" Furi giggled, spreading their legs wider and pulling at their bound wrists until the pain made them flinch and a trickle of blood seeped into the fine, white silk.

"Fuck yeah, I would," Dabi laughed, adding another finger and pushing in deeper, working to loosen the other's entrance.

His chest heaved and his eyes narrowed and glinted as they watched Furi writhe and moan hungrily on the bed.

"Damn, that's hot!" he groaned, rising onto his knees and pumping his thick, wet cock as he mounted his partner's thrashing body and forced his way in.

Furi gasped at the rough entry and wrapped their legs tightly around Dabi's stitched torso, pushing up to meet each hard, grinding thrust.

"Ah-ahhhh! F-feels hot!"

"Try to melt that!" Dabi teased, thrusting harder and faster.

"D-deeper!"

"H-hah, that's as deep as it goes already. I'll break you in half."

"Then, break me!" Furi cried, squeezing with their legs.

"You want me to break you?" Dabi sneered playfully, pulling back and flipping the other onto their belly, tightening the bonds at their wrists and making Furi howl erotically as he re-entered from behind, "Be careful what you ask for!"

Furi's already loud moans rose into delighted howls and they raised their bottom, pushing back hard against each powerful thrust. Dabi slapped his partner's pretty, white ass hard and grabbed on with both hands, thrusting several more times before slowing and groaning loudly as he unleashed himself in long, hot spurts into Furi's shuddering body.

"F-fuck, I think I burned us both a little," Dabi laughed, falling down on Furi's back and kissing the back of a sweating shoulder more tenderly, "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Furi purred, meeting the patchwork villain for an over the shoulder kiss while his hands moved to release their bonds, "What good is love without a little blood and fire?"

Furi sat up on the bed as Dabi climbed to his feet.

"What? You got what you want and now you're going? Not even a little shower after?" they teased, winking.

"Okay, a shower then," Dabi said, smirking, "but I've gotta go before the kid wakes up. I don't want him seeing me too much or he might not trust you."

"Oh ho, you let me worry about little Sho-chan," Furi sneered softly, "I'll keep him eating the poison right out of my hand."

Their silvery eyes followed as Dabi headed for the master suite bathroom, then stole a furtive glance in the direction of the room where Shoto laid in drugged sleep.

Sorry, little one. He's very determined to kill you in the end…but who knows? Fate has a way of turning in directions we don't expect, right? We could all come out of this alive…couldn't we?

Eyes still solemn, Furi sighed, rose and headed for the bathroom, where the shower was already making a cloud of steam billow in the air.

Anything could happen.