WARNING: There are triggering topics in this chapter involving child abduction, child endangerment, violence towards children, and violence in general.

-Kuri-

She looked up at the people that had captured her as they approached; one of them aggressively ripped off the piece of duct tape covering her mouth. The tearing of the tape pulled her skin, causing it to get red and some areas around her mouth began to bleed and bruise from the quick removal. Kuri's lip quivered as her eyes darted around the room. The man who had kidnapped her snatched her jaw in his hand, a whimper escaping the girl from the extremely recent abrasions. "W-why…?" She asked, voice trembling.

"You don't mess with the Yakuza and not expect anything in return," he explained.

"Ya- what?"

A frustrated grunt escaped the man as he squeezed harder, making the little girl squeak in pain. The other figure in the room, seemingly a woman, grabbed his hand and pulled it away. "You don't damage the bargaining chip, dumbass!" She spat.

Their attention turned back to the kid when a sniffle escaped her, "I-I wanna go home…" Her breath was becoming ragged as she allowed herself to openly weep. "I want my Mama and Daddy! I wanna go home," she was shouting before she got smacked.

"Shut up before I really give you a reason to cry!"

If she were able to move freely, Kuri would have shrunk as far back as she possibly could have in the harsh metal folding chair.

-Fatgum & Hina-

Taishiro held his wife as the police began briefing the heroes in the room about their plan. Ever since the image of Kuri had come in, everyone was on high alert. He could feel her shaking; whether it was from rage or fear, he couldn't tell, but he knew he at least felt some of what was running through her mind. Aside from assisting with the search, comforting his wife was the least he could do.

Unfortunately, comforting Hina would be pointless. She was seeing red. Her daughter, HER BABY, was now in danger and she hadn't been able to protect her from it. She was furious with the culprits and with herself. It felt like the incident all over again. If something happened to Kuri, Hina would never be able to forgive herself. Her thoughts were interrupted as Fatgum's work study students ran in, panting and still in their school uniforms.

"What happened?!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"A-as soon as we got out of class, Fatgum sent us a message saying to meet here as soon as possible!" Tamaki explained.

Fatgum swallowed the nonexistent spit in his mouth, "Kuri got kidnapped." There was pain behind his voice and a tremble, "the bastards were dumb enough to send a picture s-so hopefully…"

Both Tamaki and Kirishima looked fearful as they saw their usually confident mentor now so unsure and scared. He rightfully was, but he was the foundation to their whole team dynamic. As they were going to continue their conversation, an officer popped up. "We've got a ping on where that message came from," she exclaimed, "it's one of the abandoned warehouses in Kamino ward. Around the area where Allmight fought All for One."

Kirishima's eyes widened while all three of the older heroes seemed confused, "I know exactly where that is… That's where Bakugou was! Where me and the guys sav-!" He quickly shut himself up, remembering the issues that had arisen from their little rescue mission, "I know exactly where she is!"

Taishiro and Hina's eyes lit up at Eijirou's revelation. "You do?"

"Yeah! There were a whole bunch of buildings in that area, but the damages done definitely narrow it down! We'll find her in no time!" He offered a toothy grin to the couple.

Tamaki sighed, "I-I hate to be the negative one, but what if they did something to her after the picture and then-... K-ki-"

"Don't talk like that, man! They're already upset!" Kirishima smacked Tamaki's shoulder, making him turn away to mutter indistinguishably to himself.

Hina looked between the boys and rolled her eyes before looking back at Kirishima. "Are you sure you know that area?" Eijirou nodded. "Then we're leaving as soon as possible." Without another word, she stormed out of the building to get going.

-Kuri-

Watching the two bicker, Kuri squirmed in the seat. As a little kid, this also meant she had a little bladder. She looked between the two awkwardly before speaking, "i-is there a bathroom?"

The man choked on his own spit, "the hell you mean?! You think we're gonna let you go just because you've gotta take a-! What the hell was that for?!" He demanded after getting smacked by his accomplice.

"She's a kid! Of course she was gonna have to go at some pointI Did you not think this through?" She shouted before going to undo the ties, "I'm gonna take her to the bathroom and then we'll tie her back up. There's only one door so she can't get out." The woman offered her hand to the girl, which she took.

As Kuri was led to the bathroom, she took in her surroundings. It was a big building. Or it would be. It looked partially built, or partially destroyed. It was hard to tell as the daylight began to vanish, but she was brought to a door that led into the restroom. Kuri rushed in and closed the door behind her, hitting the little lock button on the handle. Looking around the room, there was a small window above the toilet that was slightly open. Now, she had never tried to stretch herself that thin, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Carefully climbing atop the toilet tank, Kuri stretched herself to be as thick as a second-grade level chapter book and gripped the sill. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself up and made it through… unfortunately, it seemed that she was up on the second floor. If she didn't act quickly, the mean lady would come in, but she couldn't stretch enough to reach the ground either! She froze up when she heard the door handle start moving. Kuri's grip slipped and she fell from the window, falling on her left arm. She bit her lip as she saw her wrist bent unnaturally and swelling. Biting her lip, she stood and quietly hobbled towards the lights on the street.

Hearing the thud, the woman checked the bathroom and shouted, "she got out!" The man ran outside with a growl… and a knife drawn. He saw the girl trying to run and sprinted before practically tackling Kuri. Unfortunately for the villain, he hadn't noticed the flashing lights approaching the area.

-Hina & Taishiro-

The ride over to Kamino Ward had been silent, only breathing and the low police radio could be heard. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Hina's eyes darted about the streets, desperately looking for any sign of her child. No one dared to speak a word.

A voice came over the police radio, "we've got sights on an adult male holding a female child at knife point. We're attempting to deescalate the situation." Taishiro listened for the address and sped there as quickly as possible. His heart raced. He was sure he broke at least 17 traffic laws trying to get to his little girl.

When they arrived, Hina basically jumped out to go and see what was happening. The police stood in a formation that somewhat resembled a firing squad for an execution. At the center stood a grown man with HER little girl in his arms, his knife dangerously close to slicing the child. "Kuri!" Her name just erupted from her, and she quickly covered her mouth.

The little girl heard her mother's voice and squirmed in the man's arms, "Mama!" A shriek escaped her as the blade glided across her skin as if it were softened butter.

"Anyone gets close and it'll be a lot more lethal than a little papercut on the cheek, ya hear me?!" The villain shouted.

Hearing the officers cock their pistols, Hina turned to them. "If one of those bullets hits her…" she glowered.

Taishiro watched on in horror at the scene and felt entirely helpless. What was he supposed to do in this situation?! There really was nothing he could do… and Hina already made her presence known. He was trying to assess the situation when flashes of red and purple blew past after some indistinguishable chatter. His heart dropped. What if their brash moves got Kuri killed?

Tamaki had grown tentacles from his hands that wrapped around Kuri's waist. As Suneater pulled Red Riot ran in and tackled the fiend to the ground, but Kuri was not pulled away quickly enough to avoid a deep gash on her neck. Pulling the girl close, Tamaki cradled her and pressed a hand on the gash to slow the bleeding, but damage to that area was dangerous. Amajiki was shaking and breathing as if he had been pulled from the ocean, carrying Kuri close to himself. Kirishima wrestled with the foe for a matter of seconds, hardened to protect himself from the blade and punched the man into unconsciousness. Once he was out, police swarmed and arrested the man, taking him into custody.

Hina ran to Tamaki and grabbed Kuri's uninjured hand as the little girl wailed. "I-I'm too scared to let go with her hurt like that…" Tamaki explained. Her mother nodded as she stayed by their side. To see her child hurt like this made her feel like such a failure. She was supposed to protect her and she now had a broken or at least sprained wrist and several cuts and bruises.

"M-Mama? Tama-ki?" Kuri called quietly as she started to quiet down. She held her mother's hand as her vision began to get fuzzy again. Her head really hurt and she was starting to feel cold.

Taishiro made his way to the group and paled before heralding over paramedics. After seeing so much, especially recently, he could recognize that his child was going into shock. Time felt as if it meant nothing and crawled at a snail's pace. It was an out-of-body experience as he watched the paramedics take the girl from Amajiki. He was acutely aware of Hina getting into the ambulance as he stared at his student covered in his daughter's blood. He had to take a step back to steady himself before falling to his knees. His hearing went distant as his breathing picked up. His heart was racing. Why did it feel like he couldn't breathe enough? He couldn't tell how long he'd been sitting there when he snapped out of it, both Kirishima and Amajiki looking at him full of concern.

"Finally you snapped out of it! Miss Hina's been blowing up everyone's phones!" Eijirou exclaimed.

Taishiro was too scared to look.