.
Deepin the forest…
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The teacher's prediction was true to a point. Bakugo was basically chomping at the bit to use his quirk to fight back against the crazy tooth-blade villain that was driving them back towards a cloud of gas. Todoroki had to continuously remind him not to use his quirk though, so they wouldn't light more of the trees on fire. The fact that they had to bring along the unconscious boy from the B class did slow their movement a bit, but the primary difficulty was that Todoroki's ice was only acting as a brief defense against the ever-changing blades being shot toward them. They did notice the loud crashing sounds that had sounded very distant were getting closer and closer, though, and that didn't bode well for them either. If they had a second villain show up, they were likely going to be quickly taken down.
Kirishima, on the other hand, was feeling absolutely useless, and overthinking was not helping. His eyes drifted around the classroom again, feeling eyes on him and even though they were meant to be concerned glances, all he saw were pitying looks that drove his anxiety even higher. Here he was, again, unable to do anything to help the people that were needing his help. It was even worse that the ones being targeted were his soulmates. His attention drifted down to his left hand, the bands around his finger to be specific, and when his vision started to waver and blur, he clenched his fist tightly, unconsciously activating his quirk along it while doing so. He was slipping back into his old, dark thoughts, telling himself that he was useless again when a soft hand wrapping around his own suddenly snapped him out of it. Eijiro's eyes darted up to meet watery, dark sclera and yellow irises for a few seconds only for Mina to crash into his chest, hugging him tightly as a small whine left her. Oh… It finally hit him, literally, that it wasn't just him that was worried. He let out a shaky sigh then hugged the pink girl back.
Vlad eyed the students for what felt like the 50th time in a few minutes before his eyes drifted to the windows that overlooked the forest. He could see trees falling or being thrown around like they were toys off in the distance straight out from the building, then to the left, he could see not only a strange purple cloud but also a large, blue fire engulfing the forest quickly. Like the students he was left in charge of, he wanted nothing more than to get out there and put an end to this attack, but… Again his eyes drifted over the students with him. Monoma looked concerned, but not nearly as much as two of class A's students. If he remembered correctly, Kirishima and Ashido were close friends with Aizawa's daughter, so their concern made sense. Then his mind drifted to Aizawa, would he be able to focus as he should since his daughter was one of the targets?
Back with Bakugo and Todoroki, things were not looking good, and they were quickly getting worn out and irritated with not only each other but also the situation that seemed to only get worse. Then, past the sounds of the metallic blade-teeth clashing with each other, the two boys heard a voice as well as a steady rumble. The crashing sounds were quickly nearing the clearing they were in until the two could see the urgent expression on their classmate's face.
"Bakugo! Todoroki! We need light from one of you! Hell, both of you would work at this point!" Shoji shouted desperately as he ran through the trees to get closer to the duo. The two were confused for all of ten seconds before the villain that had attacked them was suddenly crushed by a giant, dark hand made of quirk energy. They stared in a shocked state of confusion, only to hear Midoriya shout, "Kacchan!" Which seemed to snap them both out of it.
Shoji called out to them again, sounding even more frantic this time. "Tokoyami needs light, quickly! Dark Shadow is on a rampage!" Just after he spoke, a loud screeching cry filled the air as Tokoyami and Dark Shadow became fully visible. When Todoroki went to light up his left side, Bakugo held up a hand.
"Wait, idiot, and watch."
The villain that had been crushed managed to push himself back to standing with his blade-teeth, and started babbling about flesh and innards then shot blades rapidly at the giant shadow form. Dark Shadow barely turned his massive head before launching the villain through several large trees, snapping them like twigs and doing the same with the blade teeth that had been projected toward him. The students could only assume that the villain was down for the count because Dark Shadow groaned and then acted like he was about to go back into his rampage.
"Now!"
In a large, bright flash of fire and explosion, Dark Shadow shrank back down to normal size, letting out a small squeak, then retreating into Tokoyami's hoodie. Once Tokoyami had a moment to breathe, the group quickly got to work on planning how they were going to get back to the building.
While this all was happening, a certain crimson-haired girl was finally able to come back to her senses, but at what cost? Yukime's eyes darted around the ash-covered clearing that she was in, trying to piece together what had happened, only for it all to come rushing back to her moments later.
"N-no…Hana?" Her voice was hoarse, desperation fueling her as she stumbled up from the ground to a half-standing tree, leaning on it for a moment. "Hana! Damn it!" She felt hot tears roll down her cheeks only for them to freeze moments later.
How could she let her mind take over like that?! It was obvious that wasn't a real person, but her brain was out of commission at simply the thought of causing such harm to someone. Endeavor's face flickered through her mind, and she growled, blinking the image away. She was not that man, causing harm without care. She had to gather herself back together, then she had to find Hana. This was her own fault, and she would fix it. Ice was steadily crawling across the ground, but she paid it no mind as she took a steadying breath then ran towards the loud crashing sounds she could hear. There was no telling if that was where the two villains had gone, but at least she could maybe find some of her classmates. Teaming up against the villains would be better than being picked off one by one.
It took her a few minutes, but she finally started to see the trail of damage done by…something and followed the path as quickly as she could. Moments later, she managed to accidentally plow right into a strange scene.
"Who-? Ugh, not another fucking psycho villain," Yukime growled before rapidly forming a thin blade of ice that was promptly launched at the blonde girl who had pinned Tsu to a tree by…a syringe? The blonde managed to dodge but immediately went on the attack. A knife was in her hand when she lunged at Ochako, but apparently, she hadn't accounted for the speed at which the brunette was able to defend herself, pinning the villain to the ground with an arm behind her back. Yukime rushed over to start pulling at the syringe holding Tsu in place then huffed and made her own blade of ice to simply cut the tube connected to the villain.
"Hey, Tsuyu, can you get her hands with your tongue, or is it too hurt?" Ochako's voice made the two girls by the tree look over at her.
"I'm alright, just give me a little bit, ribbit," replied Tsu, and Yukime made a puff of snow in her hand.
"Want me to just freeze her in place instead? It'd be stronger-"
That's when they noticed the blonde smiling cruelly up at Ochako while she muttered something to the brunette. Seconds later, the blonde sunk another syringe into Ochako's thigh, making her flinch and Tsu cried out, trying to take a step forward only to realize she was still pinned to the tree. To add to the hysteria, a group of their classmates came barging out of the brush, and the blonde managed to escape.
As the others started talking, Yukime growled, yanking at her hair. "Ugh! I don't have time for this!" Shoto eyed his sister, concern filling him at how distressed she looked. "Has anyone seen a dude that looks like a hobo? He's got a long jacket, and bad scars."
Midoriya's face suddenly peaked over Shoji's shoulder, and Yukime would have laughed if she weren't so stressed out. It also didn't help that he was covered in dirt and blood, one of his eyes swollen halfway shut, and he seemed to be confined to Shoji's arms behind his back.
"No, I don't think any of us have," He said, and the others shook their heads, "We're guarding Kacchan on the way back to the camp."
Yukime froze, color draining from her face as her eyes took a glance behind his group, "Deku…He-He's not there. They have both of them." She choked out.
"Oh, so, now you children notice," Another voice drew their attention to the trees where a man in a trench coat, feathered top hat, and a mask stood on a branch leaning against a fancy cane while tossing two small blue marbles in his free hand. "I've taken him and the other boy with my magic!" He held up the two marbles so they glinted in the moonlight. "He was being held back on the heroes' side, unable to reach his full potential. We simply aim to show him a stage where he can shine brightly like the star he is!"
Deku was shaking, whether in fear or fury he didn't know. "Give him back!"
The man chuckled, "Oh? 'Give him back'? This boy does not belong to anyone, he is his own man!"
Deku just shouted for him to give Bakugo back again while the others were rapidly coming up with their own plans of what to do in this situation. Yukime however, was starting to pant, ice accumulating on her arms as her hands clenched and unclenched.
"Move!" Todoroki warned his classmates before launching a wave of ice along the ground then up the tree the villain was in. The man jumped away quick enough to avoid the attack, though.
"We only wish to show him that there are other ways to become great." The man said, sounding entirely too relaxed with this situation. "Today's kids have their values chosen for them, unable to make their own choices. It's sad, really."
"He didn't even need to talk to us like this," Todoroki's voice brought Yukime from her frustrated thoughts.
She glared hatefully at the man. "He's mocking us."
A chuckle filled the air as he started tossing the marbles again. "Ah, yes, well I am an entertainer at heart. About your other friend, he took down such a homicidal maniac like Moonfish with ease, so I thought why not take him, too!"
"You can't have them, you jerk!" Deku shouted, fury taking over his fear easily despite the fact that Shoji was telling him to calm down, trying his best to keep his hold on the greenette.
"Sho," Yukime's suddenly calm tone caught her twin's attention, but after a glance, he knew just what she wanted him to do.
"Uraraka, take this guy," He basically flung the unconscious boy at the girl who was confused but still caught him before he hit the ground. Once Todoroki was back beside his sister, the two of them both sent out a massive blast of ice in unison at the villain.
"Oop! Nice attack. My specialty is primarily deception, though I am fairly proficient in running away as well! Going toe-to-toe with you children is not on the list of things that I want to do." His hand reached up to tap at his ear, a hidden coms device apparently there for if he caught the targeted students. "Vanguard Action Squad, the second target has successfully been attained! Our mission has come to a close, be at the evacuation point within five minutes!"
The masked man then lept from tree to tree, steadily getting further and further away. Yukime didn't bother to hesitate before forming blades on her feet, creating an ice trail, then blasting herself forward like she had done in the Sports Festival.
"You're not getting away from us! Wait...Yukime!" Shoto shouted and rushed forward a few steps. Their group all looked at each other quickly before nodding. Ochako pressed her fingertips against the class B boy's arm, making him float along like a balloon behind her as they all took off after the masked man behind Yukime.
Speaking of the crimson-haired girl, she was absolutely overusing her quirk, considering it wasn't even just an ice path anymore. The path itself was spreading up the trees as she passed them, but she could only focus on her target, her vision tunneled completely on him. A sudden loud scream did catch her attention, but she didn't look to see what it was.
'Hana was taken…it was my fault. Now Bakugo is gone, too, and I was too weak…' Her thoughts were tunneling as well, but they felt like they were tearing into her insides the more they spiraled around in her mind. "I will not let him be right!" She snarled, another burst of ice forcing her forward faster as her legs pumped to skate along the ice on the ground as quickly as she possibly could.
The next moment, her target was rapidly dropping from the sky with what looked to be her brother and two of her classmates on his back. Yukime didn't stop though, because shortly after they landed, she caught sight of blue flames. Her ice seemed to focus itself just like she had, and she was shot forward like a bullet.
The boys had landed in a seemingly random clearing, only to look up and see a group of adults along with the blonde that had attacked Ochako. These had to be the villains that were after their classmates.
"Well, that was a hell of an entrance," A masked woman commented after letting out a whistle from her place near a large tree. The three students looked up at her for a moment, only to still at the sight of Hana's limp form propped against the tree, a serious burn along the side of her arm like she had lifted it in defense at some point.
.
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Back at Camp
The students still locked in the building were getting unruly, specifically Kirishima. Just when they thought that Mr. Aizawa had returned to the room, the door had been demolished by a burst of flames. Vlad had easily captured the villain, though, but the scarred man kept talking.
"You guys just keep screwing up, one mess after another. It's only a matter of time before society will lose faith in their careless heroes. I mean, just think, you guys aren't only failing society, you're failing these students, too. You couldn't even stop a group of criminals from abducting your students."
Kirishima couldn't think about the words that left the villain's mouth, he didn't want to. There was no way ! He could hear electricity crackling beside him as Kaminari threatened the villain, and then he noticed Mr. Aizawa leap into the room only to basically curb-stomp the villain until he turned into a pile of mud-looking stuff.
"He's not real, only sent to get us too worried to think." He then waved behind him, like he was telling someone else it was safe, and Mina leaned past Kaminari to see Kota standing in the doorway in a state of shock. She didn't blame him, her teacher had kind of looked crazy at that moment to her too.
"I had to get Kota to safety, so take care of him please, Vlad," Aizawa said with a small huff as he wrapped his scarf more securely around his neck and shoulders, then made eye contact with the larger man. Vlad took note of the haunted look in his eyes, mentally acknowledging that he could definitely focus on his job properly, even if it did hurt in the process.
"I'm going back out there. You keep track of these kids, and keep him here." His eyes were now trained on Kirishima, who spluttered.
"What!?" The redhead shouted in disbelief. "Mr. Aizawa, I can help! Please, let me help! I can't just sit here anymore! We should all be out there fighting back!"
"No! We don't have enough intel. We only know they are targeting students, two in particular. There may be more of them than we have seen."
"But, sir, Bakugo and Hana-" Kirishima started only to be interrupted.
"Kirishima, enough!" The sudden snap caused everyone in the room to freeze, most of the students looking on in shock. "They may be your soulmates, yes, but first and foremost you all are the kids that I am in charge of taking care of," He paused mid-turn as his eyes locked onto a huge blast of ice that had just formed deep in the forest. "I'm doing my best to make sure that everyone is safe."
.
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In the forest...
There was an eerie moment of pause, before the villain Yukime had asked her classmates about told the one with the top hat to move, barely waiting long enough for him to do so before an inferno was launched at the students. They all tried to dodge, but it was too little too late for Deku and Shoji, who both got an arm burnt while Todoroki was able to skate by just slightly. From there, the villains let loose a barrage of attacks, while the students defended themselves. Todoroki faced off against a man in a full-bodysuit costume, while Deku was attacked by the blonde girl they had seen earlier with Ochako and Tsu.
While they were distracted, the villain with the top hat strolled leisurely over to the villain with blue flames, who asked "You sure you have the right brat?"
The masked man chuckled. "Well, of cour-" his statement came to an abrupt stop as he felt in his pocket, finding nothing there.
"Midoriya, Todoroki, we need to go!" Shoji shouted, holding a hand out with two small blue marbles. "I don't know for sure, but since you're actions earlier and the fact that you looked in that specific pocket, I feel safe to say that these are somehow our friends."
"Oh? Well done sir! Fantastic deduction," the man cheered, sounding so casual that it had them worried suddenly. The flame quirk user scoffed, moving only a step forward before he was stopped by the other man's hand on his shoulder.
A large mist cloud formed between the two groups, yellow slit-like eyes staring down at the three boys. Multiple portals opened up, the other members of the group stepping through, while the one woman that was standing by Hana simply stood, observing the mayhem.
"Kurogiri, we're missing the primary target," the man in the dark coat informed the warp villain.
"Yes, one would think that. You students did so well, and looked so proud of yourselves…I had to give you at least a little hope. A bad habit of a magician is that we tend to flaunt a certain item, but the action of flaunting it is inevitably," The man removed his hat then his mask to open his mouth, showing two marbles between his teeth as he spoke around them. " part of the trick. "
Suddenly, the two marbles that Shoji was holding burst, revealing large chunks of ice, and the students were speechless.
"That lovely ice attack was an opportunity that I simply could not pass up! I created those decoys, and made a point to show you when I put them in my pocket for later." He chuckled as he placed the mask back on his face and tucked the marbles back under his tongue, stepping back into a new misty portal, "Of course, you would assume that those were the ones that your friends were in! Now, I bid you a good n-"
His sentence was cut short by a solid-ice-covered fist meeting his cheek hard enough that he spat the two marbles out. Yukime slid to a stop just past him, crouched low like she was ready to launch back into another attack. "Don't you dare take them!" she growled.
The boys behind her had immediately jumped forward to snatch up the marbles, Shoji easily catching one, while Todoroki was centimeters away from wrapping his own fingers around the other. In a flash, the woman stood before him instead, Hana tossed over her shoulder, and her clenched fist closed around the marble that Todoroki was a breath away from grabbing.
The fire villain chuckled from his place partially in the portal, "How sad for you, Shoto Todoroki."
Todoroki froze, confusion obvious on his face as he tried to figure out why he had been singled out. Yukime, however, did not hesitate, a shout leaving her as she flung herself at the two remaining villains. What she didn't account for was her quirk going haywire as she did so, rapidly spreading ice around her limbs and making its way along her abdomen, making her cry out in pain.
"Yukime!" Todoroki started to light his flames, but he was beaten to it by the blue flames that raged toward the girl, making his heart stutter in his fear. He was able to breathe a small sigh of relief, though, as the fire just barely missed, and the heat from the flames managed to thaw down a lot of the ice that had started backlashing on his sister.
Glowing turquoise locked onto furious gray-brown, and for a moment, Yukime thought she saw someone else standing before her, her fury changing to confusion in that split second. She was too delirious to think clearly, and had opened her mouth to say something only to be interrupted.
"Dabi! We have him." The woman's voice cut through the noise, and she tossed the orb at the dark-haired villain, making him look away from Yukime.
"Compress, may as well release them," Dabi lazily drawled after he caught the marble.
A loud pop sounded and Shoji was knocked over by Tokoyami's body suddenly falling onto his. Deku was still trying desperately to reach them. He had just stepped beside Yukime, who was facing the woman holding Hana now, as the marble that Dabi held burst open, and his hand wrapped around the back of Bakugo's neck.
Bakugo barely had time to take in the scene before him, before he heard a gravelly voice in his ear. "I wouldn't suggest trying to escape, think of the girl." Bakugo's eyes flickered around then, slowly, his head turned to see his soulmate hanging limply over another villain's shoulder.
"Kacchan!" This time, Bakugo looked back at Deku, his eyes wide.
"I am not losing anyone else!" Yukime cried, and, completely uncaring of the wounds along her body from her own ice, launched herself at the woman with tears blurring her vision. "Give them back!" Ice formed from her fingertips like long claws, easily sinking into the female villain's forearm as she turned to enter the portal as well.
The woman hissed at the pain, head turning to look at Yukime before she kicked her off with such force that the ice claws broke off in her arm and the teen went flying into her twin, knocking them both to the ground.
"This is getting annoying now," the woman grumbled, passing Bakugo and Dabi, then vanishing into the portal.
Bakugo's eyes again flickered to Hana just before the two vanished, then locked back on to Deku's, who was seconds away from landing in the portal too. "Stay back, Deku," He was able to quickly growl out, the portal suddenly closing around him, making him feel like he couldn't breathe.
Just like that, it was almost silent in the clearing…almost.
.
.
Everything after that was a blur to those that had been present when the villains vanished. Yukime had broken down into heartwrenching sobs in her twin's arms, while Deku was hunched down on his knees, limp arms at his sides, and his forehead on the ground as he screamed. Tsu and Uraraka had run up moments after the portal closed, and didn't know what to do, much like Shoji and Tokoyami, who were standing near Deku. After talking to each other to get a plan, they slowly gathered together to head to the camp. Shoji lifted Deku into his arms on his back as he had before, and Todoroki had easily lifted his sister, who was still sobbing, begging for both of her friends back.
Though they were fairly sure that the villains had left, they still kept their guard up, but the trip back to camp was thankfully calm. They managed to find the trail, and by the time they finally stepped out of the forest and into the actual camp area, Yukime had quieted, staring blankly at nothing. There were rescue workers on them in seconds, and the group was split up to go to different spots to have each of their wounds looked at. Uraraka and Tsu were a quick treatment due to the fact that they had minimal injuries. Tokoyami was also quickly looked over only to be sent off with the others in his class. Shoji and Deku were carefully looked over for their burns, but it was quickly decided that they needed more care than the emergency crews could take care of on scene.
Yukime was essentially a shell as her limbs were quickly treated for the frostbite, though it wouldn't do much good considering they were already badly damaged from it before. Shoto hovered over her protectively, answering any questions the workers had for her since she wouldn't respond.
"Himura."
Yukime hadn't moved on her own the whole time she was being looked over, but at the sound of their teacher, she flinched almost violently and seemed to shrink in on herself as more tears filled her eyes.
Aizawa saw her reaction and even though he knew the answer to the question he had yet to ask because he was terrified of the reply, he still tried to make himself voice it, "Himura, where is…" He couldn't do it. He couldn't breathe, but he couldn't let his students see him fall apart. How would they hold themselves together if even their teacher couldn't do the same?
Her gaze slowly lifted, eyes overflowing with tears and her body shook, "I-I'm so…I'm so sorry! I tried, but…I couldn't- I was too weak! I couldn't save anyone! It's my fault!'
A shaky breath left Aizawa, his stomach churning making him feel like he might vomit. So many thoughts were raging in his head, but he didn't even have time to focus on any single one. He was the one in charge, and now he had to make sure the students all either got home or to the hospital for treatment. Then he had to brief the school and likely prepare for a press conference. The thing he was dreading the most was facing Sayuri. Aizawa took a slow breath, looking at Todoroki then back at Yukime.
"It's not your fault," His voice quiet and deceivingly calm.
—-
The next day after the attack was a busy day for most everyone that was involved. The injured students were brought to the hospital, and while Recovery Girl was able to come to do healing work for them, Midoriya and Yukime's injuries required them to have an extended stay. The police visited every student, though some required an extensive interview. As Aizawa predicted, his schedule was basically filled once they returned to the city. His first visit was with the police, of course, and thankfully it was Tsukauchi that interviewed him and Vlad. It was hard for most people to tell, but Tsukauchi could hear it in the way that Aizawa spoke, he was not holding up as well as he led them to believe. His under-eye circles were a bit darker due to lack of sleep, but his tone made it obvious to the detective that the man was not only angry at the LOV but also at himself. He was taking this extremely seriously, and he was doing his best not to break.
"Aizawa," The man stopped, turning to see the detective closing the door to the interview room. "Have you been home at all yet?"
"There is too much needing to be done, I don't have time to stop and rest." In the back of his mind, Aizawa imagines the shell-shocked expression that those closest to him would have had they heard that sentence. Had it been any other time, he might have had a small mental chuckle at the thought.
Tsukauchi took a moment to think through his words. "Let me rephrase that, have you gone home to tell your wife?"
Aizawa clenched his fists in his pockets.
A small, understanding smile was given to the teacher before Tsukauchi clapped his hand down onto Aizawa's shoulder. "The interviews can wait for a little while. We have your statement and will relay it to Nezu for you. All the other students have been taken care of, whether they are at home or being taken care of at the hospital. Go home and be with your wife, Aizawa. We will be doing our best to get those two back, as you know, but we both also know that takes time, whether we like it or not."
The drive home felt like literal torture. His whole being was absolutely dreading walking through the front door. This time his mind was cruel to him by replaying the image of Hana getting back home shortly after he had returned from his hospital stay after the USJ attack, her arms wrapped around herself as she cried. She had almost seemed worried that he would disappear if she moved too quickly when she approached him.
'I…I was so…so scared…'
He blinked, realizing that he was standing at his front door for who knows how long, just…staring at the wood. How did he even get home? When had he gotten out of the car? Neither question had a reasonable answer. He never should have lost focus that much while driving.
"Oh, holy shit, Shota!" He blinked again, noticing Sayuri's breathy laughs and sheepish smile, and soaking them in desperately, hoping they could be permanently ingrained into his memory. She must have opened the door as he was berating himself for driving home while not being mentally present. "You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing home so early? Didn't you say the camp was going to last at least a week or something like that?" She asked absentmindedly as she reached around to set her bag back down before glancing around him for his bags that he had apparently forgotten in the car.
Her questions were met with silence, and though Sayuri was used to Shota being a quiet person, this silence quickly caught her attention. Her eyes met his for the first time since she had opened the door, and he jumped when he felt a cool touch against his cheek, his breathing suddenly starting to become irregular.
"Sho?" His wife's concern was obvious in her voice. "What's…" Then she noticed Hana wasn't there. Sayuri swallowed as something started filling her heart with dread for some reason. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, Hana had made friends and even met her soulmates, so her not being there wouldn't be too absurd now. "Where's Hana?"
"Y-Yuri…" When her husband's voice shook, Sayuri's stomach lurched.
"Shota," She barely got his name out before he was gently leading her into their house. Dread was overflowing from her heart and into the rest of her body, making it begin to become numb when he skipped the living room entirely. He normally would immediately want to lay down on the couch after a long trip, taking the first chance at a nap in his own space again. When he opened the door to their bedroom, she started pulling against his hold on her wrist.
"Sho…Shota!" Still no reply. "Shota Aizawa if you do not tell me where my little girl is I swear to all things holy I'll-" Her threat got caught in her throat when she heard it…a small, quiet sound that was followed by another shortly after. Her heart absolutely shattered when her husband turned back to look at her, an almost silent sob spilling from the normally stoic man as she finally noticed the fact that his hand was shaking. She hasn't seen him react like this since…
Just then her phone rang, and on instinct, she answered.
"Sayuri, doll, are you ok? Did Shota make it home?"
"Zashi…Zashi where is my baby?" She was barely holding onto herself, and Shota flinched at the sound of her voice, finally moving them both to their bed. "Shota won't…he won't say anything."
A quiet curse was heard through the phone as she barely felt her free hand being shakily moved through Shota's hair as he lay his head in her lap. It was different this time, though, his whole body was trembling, his movements jerky, his grip on her hand slightly too tight, and his hair was rough and tangled.
"Doll…are you-"
"You had better answer my goddamn question, Yamada!" She didn't really mean to snap at her blonde friend, but everything was falling apart in a matter of seconds.
She swore she could hear the man swallow down his nerves.
"She and Bakugo were targeted by the LOV. Yuri, there was nothing more that could've been done… The location was secure, and the list of people that knew was really small… I'm so sorry, Yuri." His voice was small, almost a whisper by the end.
He wanted to be there for his best friends, but he knew from experience that when dealing with grief, Shota was the only one that could help Sayuri and vice-versa. Hearing her broken sobs through the phone reminded him of high school, and he couldn't have stopped his own tears from falling if he had tried.
.