After introductions were over, the groups stayed at opposite ends of the room, wary of the other. It was a waiting game to see who would break the tense silence that had manifested around them.
Chieko gave in, and Izuku was grateful for it as the family seemed more at ease with her presence than his and Kacchan.
"So are you three headed to the safety area?" She asked.
Chieko didn't move from Izuku's side, her hand still gripping his shirt tight, betraying her fear. Uraraka's father was the one to speak for their group as he smiled at Chieko.
"Yes, or well we planned to but we ran into some trouble and I hurt my leg in the process." He admitted.
The girl, Uraraka, sat by her father's side, an angry pout on her face. It made her cheeks look rounder, but she didn't say anything as her father continued.
There was a tension in the girl's body that Izuku found familiar because it was the same frustration he felt.
The feeling of being useless.
"After that my daughter here has been using her quirk to make the travel easier on me, but unfortunately she ran out of energy before we could reach U.A." He said.
Izuku perked up at the mention of the hero school. He had assumed they were headed in the same direction. The hospital being closer to their general area, but he hadn't known that the school was another safety area. It made sense now that he thought it over. The school housed many facilities, heroes, and heroes in training; even if it had been attacked, it could have somehow survived.
"Could it have really survived the attack?" He asked.
Uraraka spoke up to answer in place of her father. "Yes, before the internet shut off the news had announced U.A. as one of the safe zones in the rea." There was no doubt in her words that U.A. had survived.
"Why not the hospital since its closer?" Izuku asked.
"Ochako had planned to take the entrance exam to U.A. before all this had happened. She insists thats the safest place right now." He said.
Izuku sat down, Chieko following close by as he propped back against the far wall. His hand rested against his chin, already deep in thought as he went over the new information. If the school had withstood the attack, were there heroes who could teach Izuku how to use his quirk? They could protect Chieko while he and Kacchan trained. It gave better options than the hospital, at least. Still, it was a higher probability that his mother was at the hospital since she would have been much closer to the area during the attack. No matter what, Izuku had to go there first to find his mom, but after they could try traveling to the school.
"Deku." Kacchan said.
Izuku paused in his thoughts as he looked up at Kacchan, who was standing over him, arms crossed, and his usual annoyed frown plastered on his face.
"Yes, Kacchan?" He asked.
"Your muttering is freaking the extras out." He said.
Izuku looked up and noticed the way Uraraka and her parents were eyeing him. They clearly couldn't make out what he had been saying, but Izuku knew his habit of talking out loud could make those around him uncomfortable, so he apologized.
"I was just considering the other safety areas, but we're searching for my mom so we have to go to the hospital first." He said.
Mrs. Uraraka looked at him with concern as she sat at her husbands' side. She was an older version of her daughter with the same short bob hair and distinct round, pink cheeks.
"Oh, were you separated during the attack?" She asked.
"We weren't together when it happened, but my neighbor said she had gone out to run errands so I'm hoping that she had gone to the hospital since it would have been closet area to her." Izuku said.
His mother was such a cry baby like himself, so he knew she was somewhere now, crying her eyes out, worried for him. Izuku wanted to get to her as soon as possible to make sure that she didn't worry any more than she needed to.
"I'm sure you will be able to reunite with her soon." She said.
Izuku nodded in agreement, thanking her for her kindness. Finally, the Uraraka family seemed to relax some, or at least enough to begin preparing for bed. The deal for their stay had been for their family to rest while Izuku's group watched over them through the night.
So the Uraraka family laid down for the night, their voices a low hum as they spoke amongst themselves.
Izuku wished he could ask about their quirks, curious about how Uraraka had moved her injured father. It was also a good idea to know as a precaution, but he was worried they would then ask about his own, and he wasn't comfortable telling them about One for All.
Chieko shifted beside him, and he glanced down at his new companion to see that she was staring at Uraraka's father.
Izuku glanced over at the older man who rested against the far wall opposite Izuku; a light blanket covered his outstretched legs. He didn't look injured in any way, so the injury they mentioned might have been one of his legs or internal. Izuku wasn't sure, and he knew nothing of the parent's quirks, but they had been pretty hospitable given the situation. He couldn't find any reason for Chieko to be fixated on him.
Izuku leaned closer to his friend, his voice low so only she could hear him. "You okay?"
Chieko glanced up at him and something passed over her light green eyes before she turned away. She brushed off Izuku's question with a shrug before sliding over to lay down on the grown.
"Miyahara.." He said.
"I'm going to bed." She said.
He didn't want to leave things as it was, but Izuku didn't think he had any right to make her tell him anything she didn't want to, so he left it alone.
"Good night then." He said, but she didn't respond.
Kacchan slid down to sit by him; his eyes looked tired, but Izuku wasn't surprised by that. Kacchan had always gone to bed earlier than most.
"Go to sleep Kacchan, you need your rest." He said.
Kacchan's glare over at him, fiery red meeting soft viridian green, but Izuku didn't turn away as he would have in the past.
"You need to sleep too." Kacchan said.
Izuku smiled at him; there was a warm flutter against his ribs at the thought of Kacchan worrying for him. The blonde had been protective of Izuku just like this when they were kids before Kacchan had manifested his quirk. He never thought he'd get to see this side of him again.
"Don't worry, I'll rest tomorrow when we reach the hospital, you need the rest more." Izuku said.
"Whose worried!?" Kacchan yelled.
Izuku tried to quiet him, but the Uraraka family glanced over at the boys anyways, so Izuku waved them off with an awkward apology and a promise to keep it down.
"Kacchan, everyone is trying to sleep, please." He said.
The blonde huffed, irritated, but eventually, when Izuku refused to give up, Kacchan laid down his back toward Izuku. "Wake me up if there's trouble, got it?"
"Of course." Izuku promised.
When Kacchan's breathing evened out, Izuku let his head fall back against the wall with a sigh. They didn't have any blankets, but the many candles around the room created a bit of warmth, and the three laid close enough to each other to share their body heat. He noticed Uraraka's family did the same.
It was the end of the second day since the attacks, and it still didn't feel real to Izuku. They had already lost three people within that span. Uncle. Auntie. And All Might. They would forever be etched into his Izuku's soul as the people he had been unable to save. A dull ache spread through Izuku like poison at the thought that his mother may be the fourth one on that list.
They would reach the hospital by tomorrow, so as long as there were no interruptions in that time, they could make it by mid-day.
"Aren't you tired? The whisper of Uraraka's question reached Izuku's ears, and he turned to look over at the other girl.
Tired was an understatement. Izuku felt the fatigue deep-seated inside him. But what he needed to sleep was his bed surrounded by his All Might merch and his analysis books. He wanted to lay his head on his warm pillow and hear his mother bid him good night as he fell into a deep sleep.
Izuku wanted his brain to shut off, but he couldn't stop thinking over everything. His room full of his favorite things was crushed under the ton of weight of his destroyed apartment building, and his mother was missing.
"Yes, but I promised to watch over everyone." He offered a smile to the girl. "You should try to get some sleep too."
"I can't sleep." She watched over her parents; her father curled close against his wife as they attempted to share the small blanket. "All I want to do is protect them, but with my quirk, I don't know how. Not against all of this."
Izuku understood what she meant. He could see the weight on her shoulders that matched his own. The need to keep those closest to you safe so strong it kept them both up at night. Izuku glanced down to either side of him. He wanted to protect his companions, but he felt more of a burden than a protector with this new quirk.
"But your friend there, he's strong right?" She asked.
Izuku nodded; yes, Kacchan was strong; he knew that better than anyone. The girl continued, but there was a hesitancy to what she was about to say that had Izuku curious and worried.
"My quirk isn't that best for offense, but Bakugou's quirk is. I don't know what type of quirk you or Miyahara have, but if they are strong too..." She paused as if considering her words. She glanced over to her parents again before looking back at Izuku with a determined set to her brown eyes. "I can't protect my parents on my own, but if Bakugou came with us, I know they'd be safe."
The room seemed to go off-kilter at her words. Izuku stared back at her, unblinking as her words began to register. Was she asking him to allow Kacchan to leave with them?
Izuku wanted to say that it was Kacchan's decision. He had no say in what Kacchan did, and nothing was holding him to their small group.
That realization made him pause.
Nothing was keeping Kacchan tied to him. In some ways going to U.A. may benefit Kacchan more because that had been where he had wanted to be his whole life. He had trained for that moment. There was nothing at the hospital for Kacchan. The only reason he was going was that they had only known of that safety area. Now that wasn't the case. And it was Izuku who needed to go there to find his mom, not Kacchan.
Izuku almost told her no. Some part of him at that moment wanted to lie. To say he was quirkless, go so far as to say that Chieko was quirkless too and that they needed Kacchan to come with them. The fabricated lies almost spilled out of his mouth, but he bit down on his tongue before they could escape. Izuku clenched his injured hand into a fist, letting the added pain sparking the sense back into him before he said something he would regret. The guilt to have even considered lying to the poor girl pooling in his belly making him sick.
"He can't?" Uraraka asked after Izuku had yet to say anything.
Izuku smiled through the pain of his arm, his lips shaky, and his eyes stung with unshed tears. "I can't say for Chieko and my quirk isn't very useful right now, but it's Kacchan's choice. You can ask him in the morning, I won't decide for him."
Uraraka nodded, a bit of hope coming to her eyes as she thanked him. Izuku didn't let go of his smile, hating himself for resenting her just a bit. Uraraka could lay down to sleep now, the weight on her shoulders a fraction lighter while Izuku's grew heavier at the newfound possibilities.
"Good night Midoriya." She said, her voice heavy with sleep.
"Good night Uraraka." He said.
When he was sure she had fallen back to sleep, Izuku glanced down at Kacchan. The chance that he would be separated from him had never crossed his mind. Their friendship was only now starting to mend, and already they could be going their separate ways.
Izuku's throat tightened; he hadn't cried since All Might's death, a silent promise to himself to be stronger, but Izuku didn't think he could do this without Kacchan. As he listened to his friends even breathing, Izuku moved his hand across the ground until his fingertips were only an inch away from a spiked strand of blond hair. It wouldn't take much to reach out, but Izuku didn't dare do that. He didn't know if Kacchan was still as heavy a sleeper as he had been as a kid, and Izuku didn't want to risk finding out now. The warmth of his friend alive and here with Izuku for however long that would be was enough for now as he waited out the night in silence.