Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia.

Well, well, well! I've returned! Sorry for my absence, I recently got a job in the medical field and my learning curve has been rather steep. Not to mention a typical shift is about 12 hours, and I don't know about you guys, but going to school and working 12 hours a night is pretty rough on the body. Thankfully, hockey season isn't in, so I haven't had to suit up, too. Otherwise, I might be on the receiving end of some care for a change.

Focusing on the story, there seems to be a lot of attention for this story, and that's awesome! We'll be jumping into explanations here, and my primary focus for this story is to really involve a lot of the characters and give them some time to shine. Of course, certain characters will get more screen-time, but don't expect the focus to be all Bakugou and Todoroki, or all Uraraka. Gotta shake it up.

Remember, this is a darker story and this will definitely have some emotion to it, so beware if you're not ready.

Enjoy chapter 2!

Tsuyu had been shopping at the local market when she'd gotten the call.

It was a Saturday, and that meant class was out- and after the semester they'd been having, there wasn't a single student in Class 1-A that wasn't relieved to another weekend to simply breathe. Lately, there'd been a thick tension in the room, one that seemingly smothered the interactions between classmates, and even choked the energy that was normally present. A few of the less observant students just chalked it up to the type of first year the class had experienced.

Those that paid attention to everything knew better. Tsuyu knew better.

The Villain Invasion at the USJ was what added the weight to everyone's back, and it was the first time any of the students had been exposed to the reality that superheroes lived in. It was one thing to see them, but another to actually be in their shoes, and face the same enemies that they stopped on a daily basis. For some, it showed they weren't ready yet.

If Asui were as bold as she was honest, she might have told Mineta that he might be at the wrong school. His quirk was helpful, and his use of it was good, but overall, his demeanor and overall capabilities in combative situations, both physical and mental, were suffocating. If it hadn't been for Midoriya...

She wouldn't have survived.

Which brought her to where she noticed the void of emotion: Midoriya's disappearance.

Honestly, it surprised her that a few of her classmates played dumb about it. Mineta, for one, began to freak out incessantly when it was revealed he was missing, three days after he was mysteriously absent. Of course, this did absolutely nothing to help the situation, and it took Aizawa having to use his restraints to silence those that were being overly vocal about the situation. But once it had settled in, certain people such as Mineta pretended nothing happened, opting to live in their fantasy that everything was okay. Hagakure was overly optimistic, though, Tsuyu hardly held that against her. It was natural to be positive- Midoriya was strong.

Kirishima kept up a positive facade, but when no one was looking, she could see his skin hardening and his jaw clench, as he was forced to sit through lectures. She knew he wanted- no, needed, to go out and look for Izuku. Kaminari, to his credit, was always a bit of a spaz and often lost his cool in tense situations... but he, too, was dead-set on finding his missing classmate, and she'd overheard him talking to Jirou about searching places after school. Even though she though he was a bit of a scatterbrain, and continuously told him his plan would never work, she would typically be found accompanying him away from the school-grounds, her ear jacks actively plugging into nearby structures to listen for a certain someone's voice.

Which brought up resident asshole, Bakugou. He, for one, was rather silent about the whole thing, and everyone knew better than to press on his buttons, not knowing what was boiling beneath the surface. It was a week that had passed, before Uraraka snapped at him and completely tore him apart with her words of scorn. Nobody exactly expected it; although she'd been a mess between crying and fuming, unable to do much of anything in her predicament. To everyone's surprise, he didn't lash back... with his explosives, that is. He simply let her scream and yell, before challenging her into a fight, where he eventually put her down, with some difficulty.

Though Asui wouldn't admit it aloud to him, she saw through his guise, and knew his actual intention was to get her to simmer down and release the pent up anger and emotion. While there were other ways of doing it, it seemed to do the trick, and Bakugou himself seemed a little looser after blowing off some steam, too. Iida, to his credit, was much more composed, though he was often found scouting the city during his time off, only to come up empty handed every time. Still, no one could ignore the close eye Aizawa kept on the engine-hero, knowing his honorable intentions could be masked by his search for vengeance, as his gaze turned dark whenever he thought no one was watching.

Todoroki did little, though he kept a close ear on his father's agency lines, hoping someone would anonymously report some sort of helpful tidbit that could be used to track down the resident ball of timid energy.

Everyone else did what they could, but in the end, limitations were just not meant to be overcome. Until now.

Aizawa, stern and strict as he could be, was also an understanding man. He knew his students had large hearts, and Tsuyu recognized his dedication for his students back at the SJW when the Villain Invasion occurred. Despite his iron-clad facade, he was actually quite sympathetic, and he gave his students plenty of wiggle room to operate under then radar, despite the fact that they weren't technically allowed to join in on hero-based search parties. He'd allowed them the right to search, but not the right to a combative situation, and demanded should the event arise, they were only to protect themselves, and they needed to alert a faculty member or nearby hero as soon as possible.

And with his emergency number saved in her phone, Tsuyu began her limited searches, often taking her siblings to the park to run about, where she'd keep a sharp eye out for any shady behavior that might somehow be linked back to her missing friend. Of course, it was a far-stretch in her imagination to find anyone, and she refused to get her hopes up, but that didn't stop her from trying at the very least.

The second her phone lit up with an emergency mass text message, Asui was dropping the grocery list and heading to the UA Nursery as fast as she could humanly move.

Her phone, still clutched in her hand, displayed the simple message: 'He's been found. Now at UA.'

Arriving at UA, Tsuyu was surprised to see that a good majority of the class was already congregated outside of one of the nursery rooms, though the door was firmly closed, and there weren't any faculty members in sight. A few of her classmates were mumbling softly to one another, exchanging worried looks and hypothesizing what had happened. Uraraka was sitting closest to the door, her hands folded tightly in her lap, and she was looked down, refusing to contribute to any conversation. It didn't take a genius to see the fear plastered on her face, although, there was determination that glinted in her down-turned eyes, as she likely tried to think positive.

Iida, strangely enough, wasn't present yet, even with his engine quirk. Bakugou and Todoroki were also missing, though, that didn't surprise Tsuyu as much. While Bakugou had his moments of not being a complete jerk, he still was centered on the fact that he was superior to everyone, and because of that, she wasn't really sure if he actually cared about Midoriya, despite his occasional good deed. Todoroki, on the other hand, was likely training at home, or somewhere else... the location being beyond Tsuyu's knowledge. He kept to himself far too much to be someone she kept tabs on.

Mineta, too, was missing, though his reason couldn't be good.

Ashido, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Ojiro, Sero and Shoji were all standing around, with Ashido taking notice of Tsuyu's arrival. The pink girl offered a weak smile and beckoned the frog-like girl over, to which she obliged.

"Tsuyu, you made it!" Mina said, a bit too happily for anyone else's taste as they grimaced. It wasn't that anyone could despise her peppy-state... there was just so much tension in the air, it could be cut with a knife. Mina's smile, however, faded and her voice lost its step as she glanced toward the still-closed door. "Y-you haven't missed anything, yet. We've all gotten here pretty recently."

Shoji, a man of few words, spoke quietly. "So far, no one's said anything. I was the first here that I know of."

"Has anyone seen Mr. Aizawa?" Tsuyu asked.

Nobody spoke up, and Tsuyu sighed; it seemed the darkness that clouded their knowledge would continue for a little longer.

The group continued to make small talk, hoping to get their minds from the matter at hand, as a few more classmates arrived, Aoyama and Sato showing up just a few minutes after Asui, although Aoyama's overly enthusiastic fascination for sparkling was what ended up cutting from the conversation, if only for a little bit until he relinquished his self-centered viewpoint. Nobody had anything against the blond-haired teen... he just needed to ease off the narcissism for a little.

When the door opened, everyone's voices went silent, and all eyes turned toward the doorway. From the room emerged Kaminari and Jirou, though their looks were far from focused on their classmates in front of them. Kaminari's usually vibrant eyes were dulled, and he looked like he'd seen a ghost. His blank look was almost as similar as the look he would give when he'd reached his quirk's upper limits, although he still typically retained spacial awareness. Here... he was just moving forward without a single thought.

Jirou, on the other hand, was biting her lip, and refused to meet the gaze of anyone. Her ear jacks hung from her ear lobes, completely emotionless and dull, as if her energy had been sucked from her body. From a glance, there were even some unshed tears that shone brightly in her eyes, although knowing the punk-rock sound quirk-user, they might not fall until she was away from everyone.

Nobody had the courage to ask what was inside the room. Thankfully, no one needed to, as the door opened again, and from inside, emerged Mr. Aizawa. Judging from the dark bags under his eyes, and the tired look in his typically dry eyes, Tsuyu knew the news was far from good.

"Alright; listen up... I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely. I don't want any questions until I'm done." He paused, allowing everyone time to digest the rules. "We have found Midoriya."

A collective sharp intake of breath followed those words, and judging from the daring look on Aizawa's face, he was waiting for someone to break his rules. But, as it stood, no one dared speak, and so, he continued.

"He is in critical condition. As for how bad... he will live. Once we know more, we'll inform you at his consent, but for now, all you need to know is that he is going to survive." Once more, a collective noise rippled through the room, this time, it was a round of sighs, all in relief. Uraraka looked as if her world had been turned right-side up once again, and plenty of the students looked a million times happier. But, Aizawa wasn't finished yet.

"However, he isn't in good shape. He's malnourished, dehydrated, fatigued... and non-coherant." Aizawa's eyes darkened as he spoke. Tsuyu, with her observant eyes, noticed the slight slouch in his posture as he spoke, and how he almost seemed... sad. How bad, she wondered, was his mind that he couldn't recognize anything? Aizawa continued, "he doesn't recognize anyone, right now. We don't know if this is permanent. He is suffering from memory loss... amnesia, as it were."

He let out a sigh. "We have no idea when, or if, he'll get his memory back. So for now, we're keeping visitors to a minimum. For now, we're not letting him have any, with the exception of Kaminari and Jirou."

"What?! W-why?!" Despite the dangerous glare Aizawa shot Kirishima, the battle-loving red-head refused to back down, looking at his teacher with shock and surprise. "We all care about Midoriya! Why can't we see him?"

Tsuyu saw the mulling look in her teacher's face as he thought about punished the red-head, but as his expression lightened ever-so briefly, she realized he had an excellent point, even if it was going against Aizawa's only rule. He sighed, and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Because those two are the ones that found him. They had to subdue him by force... and we're trying to convince him nobody is around to hurt him. Introducing too many people will only scare him, and that's no way to assist anyone. Part of being a hero is knowing what is appropriate... and what is not." Aizawa's look turned hard again. "Interrupting your superiors is not."

Kirishima winced. "S-sorry, sir."

He continued on, as if nothing happened. "We'll let you know when you can visit... but right now, he's not well, and because of that, we're keeping visitors out. Now then... I need to get some juice..."

A clear path was made for their shaggy-haired teacher as he calmly walked through his students, and around the corner, disappearing from site. Everyone's breath was held, waiting for him to pop back around, but after a moment, and no reappearance, everyone turned and swarmed Kaminari and Jirou.

"W-what happened?!" Hagakure nearly shouted.

"Are you all alright?" Sero asked.

"Kaminari." The yellowed haired teen looked up at Kirshima's stern voice. "What happened?"

"H-he... he was hurt. So hurt..." Kaminari mumbled. "He tried to fight, but he couldn't even move. And... I hurt him, more..."

"Stop." Jirou suddenly demanded, her voice wavering with the weight of misery hanging on her words. "You didn't know."

"B-but I..."

Once again, he was cut off by the earjack hero. "I would've done it if you hadn't. Neither of us... k-knew."

Tsuyu could see the raw emotions swimming in Kyoka's eyes, something she rarely saw out of the typically stoic teenager. Whilst she had her spurts of playfulness or cynical sarcasm, she was never... like this... even after the Villain's Invasion, she was relatively stable. Now, however, she was... broken for lack of a better word.

It took all the frog-girl's strength to remain straight-faced.

Kaminari took a deep, shaky breath, looked everyone in the eye at least once, and spoke once more. "His eyes were so scared... like, he was afraid we'd kill him or somethin'. But that's not the worst part. H-he..."

Jirou stepped in when Kaminari couldn't finish. "He didn't know who we were. And when he finally stopped fighting us, all we could see was the look of someone... w-who'd been..."

"...tortured..." Kaminari whispered, though he may have well yelled it with how quiet the hallway was.

He couldn't have been tortured... it was impossible, Tsuyu wanted to say. But yet... deep down, she knew it was a very possible outcome. Heroes were kidnapped, it happened from time to time, and when it did, it was typically never good. Those that went missing would always turn up... it was whether or not they appeared alive that was a toss-up.

To think that sweet, innocent, plain-looking Midoriya had been the one exposed to such heinous acts... she was fuming with rage and was tempted to search for the people that did this and give them the beating they deserved.

But she couldn't.

Not only was she too young... not only was she not yet a hero... not only did she not know who did this, let alone where they were hiding...

But she wasn't strong enough.

"F-fucking scum..." Kirishima shook with rage as his head hung, his fist clenched tightly and his quirk reinforcing his skin. Asui couldn't agree more with his statement, feeling her typically reserved temper boil at the thought of someone even touching her friend, let alone striking him. He was hardly a romantic interest, but she'd lie to no one when she'd tell them she'd fight anyone on his behalf- simply because, she knew that he'd do the same if he needed to.

His willingness to take on the monstrosity that attacked her without hesitance, even after the man had caused Mr. Aizawa's elbow to rot away, played fresh in her mind as she digested the steep words that her two classmates spoke solemnly. She cast a sideways glance toward the door that separated the injured and scared Izuku from her and the rest of the class, and couldn't decide if she was thankful for its presence, or if she should loathe its existence. In all honesty... she wasn't sure if she could face the her plain-looking friend with that state he was supposedly in.

Seeing him physically damaged was nothing new- she'd been in the room after Izuku fought with Todoroki in the Sports Festival, which now seemed so long ago. But seeing him mentally broken... she wasn't sure if she could do that.

Her heart almost skipped a beat as she recalled the last time she'd seen him was at the Sports Festival award ceremony... after the school had given the student's a few days to rest and recuperate, he'd gone missing... and just like that, the whole ordeal had begun. The last time she'd seen him... he was smiling brightly, soaking up the experience and limelight that came with such a prestigious event, tears shimmering happily in his eyes. His eyes... his eyes were so full of life and energy, it had been hard to ignore his infectious joy that seemed to leak from his body like water from a cracked cup.

Now, though... she swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the budding negative thoughts in her mind.

Well, now they might never see that joy again.

And she wasn't sure if there was a way to prepare herself for that.