Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia
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It only took an hour for the teachers of UA High to congregate together with the school's principal in the brightly lit conference room. No one was thrilled to have their summer plans cut short before they even began. Most of the teachers sat around the long, wooden table feeling both overly tired and unenthusiastic. Summer wasn't just a break for the students after all. It was supposed to be a time for the overworked teachers to recharge as well. Of the seven adults in the room, All Might was the only one truly on edge as his concern for Young Midoriya's safety overrode his conscience.
"Alright everyone" Principal Nezu began cheerfully. "We all know why we are here, so let's begin." He glanced over to Shouto, nodding his furry, white head in the man's direction. "Do we know which students were still in the building when it vanished?"
Aizawa sighed, breathing heavily through his mouth as he massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. More than anything he just wanted to return to his sleeping bag and take an overdue nap. "There were thirteen students in the building. Ashido, Asui, Bakugou, Iida, Jiro, Kaminari, Kirishima, Midoriya, Mineta, Sero, Todoroki, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu. We have confirmed the remaining seven students have returned safely to their homes."
"Did the security footage reveal anything at all?" Midnight asked.
"Nothing" Cementoss replied, confused. Whoever did this, planned it out to a "T."
"Okay and-"
Nezu was cut off by a frail hand pounding on top of the table, a loud thud sounding from the impact. "We must save them!" Toshinori shouted, voice lit with worry.
"I understand you are upset about this. We are all troubled by these events. Not only are our students missing but someone broke through our security measures to do it" Cementoss stated as he looked sympathetically over to the frazzled man.
"We're also going to need to be mindful of the press. After the year we've had, I'm not sure we should let this get out if we can avoid it" Midnight added.
Ectoplasm looked skeptically at Midnight, not necessarily agreeing with her statement. "If we keep this out of the press and they find out anyway we'll get twice the blowback for trying to cover it up."
"You both have valid points. What do you think, Nezu?" Present Mic saw the reasoning on both ends but ultimately it was up to the Principal.
All eyes turned to Nezu, waiting patiently as he took a sip from his cup of earl grey tea.
XXX
One by one the students filed back into the dormitory with Shogi and Iida taking up the rear. Visibility was limited, only the soft glow of a few flashlights offered tunnels of light throughout the room. Everything else was cast in semidarkness, the furniture arrangement reduced to mere silhouettes and anything below eye level transformed into future toe stubbing material. The end tables felt like they were hiding and playing a demented game to see which one could fuck up more students' shins. Ochaco went down with a hollow thud and a groan of annoyance and pain. Jiro quickly followed landing on Ochaco in a mass of limbs further exacerbating Ochaco's suffering. When Ochaco attempted to rise she hit her head on the edge of the same goddamn end table she had collided with in the first place. Tsu rushed to the scene, narrowly missing the culprit end table to help the pair back to their feet. Their classmates watched the scene unfold, both dumbstruck and amused.
Sero snickered as he held his hands in front of his body, two thumbs sticking up while swinging his arms back and forth and groaning "yay." The rest of the students lost it, laughing loudly at his interpretation of Kaminari while Shogi eyed him with serious concern.
"Um… is he okay? Is that boy having a stroke?"
Iida, being the only one not cackling like a hyena at Sero's insensitive display, shook his head with disappointment. "He's fine. Completely lacking any empathy, but fine."
While wiping an errant tear from his eye, Kirishima being the ray of sunshine that he is, attempted to stifle his mirth at Kaminari's expense. "Iida's right guys. Kaminari made a sacrifice for us and its not very manly for any of us to be laughing at him." Despite his words, a huge shit eating grin remained firmly in place.
"Who is calamari?" Shogi asked as they entered the common area. Another uproar of laughter bounced off the walls, everyone was laughing so hard their sides hurt.
"That would be dunce face over there" Katsuki answered as he pointed to where Kaminari was standing by the TV. He was slouched over, his mouth hung open slightly and he had his thumbs up in the same way Sero had done. Mineta was sitting by his feet looking completely stressed out.
Shogi eyed the spikey blond-haired boy skeptically, noticing he was doing the same thing Sero had done but with a much more vacant expression. Mineta stood next to his friend, his expression tossing between relief and irritation.
"Its about time you guys came back!" He jerked a tiny thumb to where Kaminari stood behind him. "He keeps trying to run outside."
With a sigh, Sero walked over to the pair and began the process of taping the spaced-out teen to the wall. "There, that should do it" he said with a pleased smirk while dusting his hands off.
"That… that seems a bit extreme." Mineta was all for a little bondage but not with another dude and not like that!
"Trust me, if you saw what's out there you wouldn't be saying that." His elusive reply was the only thing Shoto had to offer on the subject. The half n half teen shrugged nonchalantly and made his way to the kitchen.
"What do you mean 'if I saw what's out there?' Its just the school grounds ri-" Finally having noticed their guest, Mineta stopped midsentence, frowning at the tall, dirt covered man. "Who is that? Please tell me he's an electrician or something. We can't have another man here, there already aren't enough babes to go around…"
Ignoring the last part of Mineta's question, Momo proceeded to explain what was happening, with the rest of the class filling in any holes as she went. When she finally finished filling the grape pervert in, he stood rooted to the spot and was for the first time in his life, speechless. Needless to say, it didn't last long.
"Oh my Gosh! How are we going to get home? Those monsters are going to eat me. I mean, look at me! You can plainly see what a tasty snack I am! Why is this happening to me?" Tears poured from Mineta's beady little eyes as he waved his arms around dramatically.
"Please, you are the least appetizing thing on this menu" Mina said while once again eyeing Shogi aggressively. Shogi tried to act as if he hadn't noticed her blatant ogling as he picked at an invisible piece of lint from his torn shirt.
Meanwhile, Shoto had thirteen blue, porcelain bowls placed on the breakfast counter and was carefully portioning food into each dish. Seeing this, Tsu walked back to the kitchen to help him by grabbing chopsticks for everyone. "That looks yummy, ribbit. What'd you make?"
"Cold soba" he said simply.
A collective groan sounded around them as his classmates walked back to the kitchen to grab a bowl of the cold noodles. Iida carefully guided Shogi to one of the tables and helped him take a seat before fetching them two bowls.
"Thank you for the food!" Ochaco said as she took a seat between Jiro and Deku.
Katsuki stared at his bowl, unimpressed. "You could have warmed everyone else's up you know" he grumbled as he dumped some of his favorite ghost pepper hot sauce into his noodles. He stirred his food with his chopsticks until everything was tinted red.
"You're right. I could have." Another shrug and Shoto was happily eating his favorite food while enjoying the warm ambience from a candle he had lit.
The next hour was spent in relative silence as the students ate their food all the while trying to forget about their current circumstances. They agreed it would be best to rest for the remainder of the night and worry about preparing for their adventure that upcoming morning. When everyone was finished with their food, they stacked their bowls in the sink. They realized, too late, that they had no easy way to wash them and instead headed upstairs to bed. Before going to his own bed, Iida made up one of the couches for Shogi and handed him a pillow and fleece blanket. He also helped the scientist clean up his injuries and offered him a pair of clean pajamas and a change of clothing for the next day.
While most of his classmates slumbered the rest of the night away, Izuku was still wide awake. He tried to go to sleep but his brain was running a mile a minute as he laid on his back with his hands behind his head. He stared at the All Might poster hanging above his bed, wondering what he would do if he was in their situation.
He's always so calm and rational. Even when he's really scared, he does what he needs to and with a smile on his face.
That's what I need to do too.
Izuku plastered a huge smile on his face, trying to replicate All Might's. He nodded his head resolutely, feeling certain he was on the right track. He rolled over to reach in the drawer beneath his bed, fumbling blindly for a moment before pulling out an untouched, grey journal. He opened it and flipped through the pages, inhaling the new book scent. He grabbed a black sharpie from under his pillow and scribbled "Bestiary" on the front cover. In this foreign place, surrounded by who knows what, Izuku felt it made sense to log the varying wildlife they would come across.
I'll have to get Shogi to show me his notes so I can update mine. Then we can share our notes and experiences as we go!
Izuku chewed on the black cap of his marker as he wondered what kind of beasts and other challenges they would come across while searching for Shogi's device. As he was considering what he should pack for the next day, a light knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.
Wonder who that is?
He rolled out of his bed and slowly made his way to his door, quickening his pace a little when another set of knocks sounded against the wood, but much louder this time. "Just give me a minute!" He said as he grabbed the flashlight Momo made for him and opened the door.
"Oi! Get that damn light out of my eyes Deku!" Katsuki stood at his doorway, hand shielding his eyes from the quivering light pointed at his face.
"Oh, sorry" whispered Izuku as he pointed the light lower. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" Kacchan didn't usually come to his room in the middle of the night like this. It was something that really only started a few months ago. Kacchan had stormed over to his room to scream at him for losing their match earlier that day and lecture him on how he needed to take OFA more seriously. But then somehow, the negative energy dissipated, and they slipped into comfortable conversation. Ever since then, he'd stop over sometimes, and they'd talk or play video games. It almost felt normal. Of course, as soon as the next day came around, he'd regress back to acting like an asshole as usual.
Kacchan sighed, not entirely sure why he was in the nerd's room but resigning himself to it just the same. Although Deku gave him a migraine to end all migraines and pissed him off beyond any thread of rationality, he also knew him better than anyone else. Even though they still bickered and fought like a couple of delinquent children, they also made a lot of progress this past year. He watched as Deku tilted his head, perhaps thinking something similar before the green haired teen turned to sit on top of his All Might comforter. He folded his scarred hands neatly in his lap and waited patiently for him to speak.
"Do you… do you remember the secret forest?"
"Of course, Kacchan. How could I forget? That was one of the best make-believe adventures we had together as kids." Izuku quieted, thinking for a moment. "You know, this is kinda like that isn't' it? We're lost in a forest and its up to us and our friends to find our way out." Izuku's eyes crinkled as he fondly remembered exploring the 'secret forest' with his Kacchan. If he remembered correctly, they were searching for a pretend item that would grant them the most amazing quirks. They were out searching until late that night, worrying their parents considerably.
"Most of those fucking extras aren't going to be a lot of help" Kacchan returned with a cocky smile. "It's not like I need those fuckups anyway. I'll be the one to get us out of this mess."
"I will too Kacchan. And I think they have more to offer then you give them credit for."
For the briefest moment, Izuku could have sworn he saw a glimmer of softness set in Kacchan's usually sour expression. It was fleeting but still there. Just as quickly, he transitioned back to his usual pissy attitude, giving Izuku emotional whiplash.
"If anyone gets in my way, he's a dead man" he yelled as he took a seat next to Izuku.
"Are you worried?" Izuku asked carefully, his doe eyes conveying just enough concern to piss Kacchan off even more.
"The fuck would I be worried about?" he spat back as he leaned back against the wall.
"I don't know. I just thought maybe… Never mind." Izuku leaned back against the wall next to Kacchan, placing his hands by his sides. His pinky unintentionally brushed against the blond's. Izuku realized it right away, his body stiffening at the contact. If Kacchan noticed anything he didn't react, leaving Izuku to awkwardly wonder if he would bring more attention to it if he moved or if stayed as he was. Either way, Kacchan was sure to notice and would probably react violently.
"Settle down nerd. You're mumbling again" Kacchan whispered as he closed his eyes.
A surprised squeak escaped from Izuku as he clasped his other hand over his mouth, praying the blond hadn't overheard too much. He warily glanced over to the teen next to him and was surprised to see he was relaxed with his eyes closed. Emerald eyes darted between Kacchan's peaceful face and their touching hands. He felt like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. On one hand, this was kind of nice but on the other… it was weird for them.
"If you don't stop fucking squirming, I'll blast you" the blond said sleepily. Izuku looked at him, unsure before forcing himself to relax and close his eyes too.
I'm not going to overthink this. It really is nice though….
XXX
The next morning Mina and Kirishima entered the common area to find Kaminari still taped to the wall. A snot bubble inflated and deflated from his nose as he lightly snored while Mineta was curled in a ball, sleeping by his feet.
"Pfft. I need to get a picture of this." Mina reached into the back pocket of her very short jean shorts and held her phone up to snap a quick picture. As soon as the picture took, the screen fuzzed over leaving her with a photo of imperceptible blobs. "No! I need proof of this for later!" she wailed.
"What's wrong Mina?" Kirishima asked as he amused himself by watching the snot bubble get bigger and smaller. He longed to reach out and pop it but stopped short when Mina interrupted him.
"My picture didn't take for some reason." She held her glittery, purple phone out to show him.
Kirishima took the phone and tilted his head as he tried to make out what was in the picture. He handed her phone back to her and pulled out his own from inside his pocket. He held it above his head and flashed his signature smile with a thumbs up sign. "Huh, would you look at that. My phone's pictures aren't coming out either. Weird."
"That's just great" Mina ground out as she stomped toward the kitchen, Kirishima following closely behind.
Everyone else soon followed suit, packing their backpacks with various essential items such as extra clothing, flashlights, food, and first aid kits. They all gathered together for a quick breakfast consisting mainly of fruit and cereal. Izuku and Katsuki were the last two to join the group waiting by the door.
Iida cleared his throat to get his classmate's attention. "Listen up everyone! Shogi will be joining us as we search for his device. He does not have any combat training and will need our protection so let's all work together so we can get everyone back home." With that he pushed the large double doors open, allowing sunlight to spill into the darkened foyer. The atmosphere was brimming with excitement as the students took that first step toward finding their way back home, not realizing they had forgotten something very important back in the dormitory.
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A/N: Alright my lovely readers. Starting next chapter, I'll be serving you all some adventure, seasoned to taste with violence and emotional drama! Will there be some saucy smut? Probably not yet, but who knows?