"You shouldn't have swung at him Kacchan." Izuku said.
Izuku placed the small cold press against Kacchan's bruised cheek. The plan had been to distract the heroes long enough for Hatsume to access one of their tablets using B-Chan. It was an easy enough plan, but Kacchan's way of distraction had been to get into one of the heroes' faces and make a scene in the cafeteria.
Izuku wasn't sure what the hero had said to his friend, but at one point, Kacchan swung, landing a punch before three others joined and slammed Kacchan into the ground face first and restrained.
As they took him away, Izuku had tried to intervene, but Tsukauchi, who had been called in, had stopped him stating Kacchan would be put in isolation for a while until he calmed down.
Izuku had to stand back as they took the blonde kicking and screaming down the corridor and out of sight. He thought they would release him after a few hours, but when nightfall came, Izuku was left alone for the first time since all this began.
So Izuku moved to sleep in the training room that night and every night after that until Kacchan came back.
It took three days.
"Where did they take you?" Izuku asked.
Kacchan snatched the cold pack from Izuku, pressing it against his face with a slight wince. "Don't know, looked like a regular room they gutted out. They kept the suppressor cuffs on me though."
Izuku did a once over of his friend. Kacchan had showered and dressed into some clean clothes, but as angry as he looked, the exhaustion on his face was unmistakable. Izuku clenched his hands together, twisting his fingers to keep from brushing the prominent dark bags under Kacchan's eyes. They had grown worst, and he wondered if he had slept at all.
"Did they not give you a bed? You look ready to fall over." Izuku said.
Kacchan raised an eyebrow as he looked at Izuku.
"Look whose talking." He said.
Izuku looked away and instead moved over to the used notebook he had left open next to Hatsume's computer systems. The girl had carved out a corner of the training room for herself after everything had happened, although she stayed in her shed most of the time. She kept in constant contact with the boys.
"So, did it work?" Kacchan asked.
Izuku smiled as he began to write down the possible scenarios they could use.
"Yeah it worked." Izuku said.
"Did you find her?" Kacchan asked.
The whole point of accessing the tablet was to try and locate Izuku's mom. If they had access to the heroes in the hospital and their locations, they could identify where his mother was being kept.
"I'm still working through the systems, B-Chan's friends are working over time canvassing the nearby areas."
Hatsume's voice came through the small bug as it flew over Kacchan's head.
"Thanks Hatsume, don't forget to check in later." Izuku said.
"Roger!" Hatsume said.
The blonde blinked up at their spy as it flew away before looking at Izuku with a deadpan look on his face. "The bug talks now?"
"That's not B-Chan its one of the other spies Hatsume created. She's upgraded them with communicators so we can keep in touch. We've been slowly widening the their distance so we have them everywhere looking for mom." Izuku said.
"What about the big oaf, where's he?" Kacchan asked.
Izuku moved over to Hatsume's computers selecting the small list of spies. They had about twenty actively roaming around, but Izuku picked the one at the top named B-Chan.
"Inasa are you there?" Izuku asked.
The booming voice that Izuku was sure was supposed to be a whisper came through the speakers.
"I am here Midoriya! I heard that Bakugou has returned to us!" He said.
Izuku heard Kacchan scoff, no doubt irritated by the louder boy. Izku could make out the dark strands that had begun to grow from Inasa's head as B-Chan hid behind his shirt collar. Inasa had taken ownership of his new pet, so Hatsume reprogrammed B-Chan to stay close to Inasa for easier communication. Izuku was thankful since Inasa wasn't around as often as the others, and he couldn't risk anyone using that to their advantage.
"Yes, Kacchan is back with us and we should be able to move to our next stage soon. Have you finished up with todays rounds?" Izuku asked.
"Yes! The last of them have been placed with no issues!." Inasa said.
"Good, thank you for all your help Inasa." Izuku said.
"Anything for you Midoriya." Inasa said.
The line disconnected, and Izuku went to their supplies to make Kacchan something to eat. He wasn't sure that they had fed him while he was away.
"So the big oaf will do anything for you now huh." Kacchan said.
Izuku chuckled as he tossed Kacchan a bottle of water. As Kacchan took a sip, still eyeing him, Izuku warmed up some water in a small pot. They didn't have much, but Hatsume had fixed up a smaller burner to heat water for ramen.
"He thinks we're some righteous heroes for standing up to Tsukauchi." Izuku said.
"Well someone had to tell that douche bag off." Kacchan said.
Izuku can't say he blamed the detective entirely. The look on Tsukauchi's face that day, as if the world was crushing him, had left Izuku with a tiny bit of sympathy for the man. Izuku could admit that much; he didn't envy the responsibility placed on the detective, but even so, there was a right and a wrong, and he had chosen wrong by handing Chieko over.
Kacchan tucked into his ramen while Izuku looked over the plans. There was a slim chance they could get out without confronting the heroes, but as long as Tsukauchi kept quiet about what he knew, then they may have a moment when they'd all be too distracted, giving Izuku's group a chance to slip out unnoticed. Izuku couldn't say why Tsukauchi hadn't told the heroes about their plans, but he couldn't trust he would stay quiet for long, so Izuku wanted to be ready.
"The moment Hatsume is able to pinpoint moms location, we move forward with our plans and get out f here." Izuku said.
"You know there's a chance that we won't be able to escape with both of them right? We won't have any do overs if anything goes wrong." Kacchan said.
The truth of his words laid heavy between them, but Izuku didn't glance back to look at him.
"I'll just have to make sure nothing goes wrong." Izuku said.
His jaw ached from clenching his teeth at the possibility Kacchan had brought up. He had to make sure this worked. He couldn't fail again.
"But if it does…." Kacchan said.
The bang of Izuku's fist against the table drowned out any protest in the room. Even as it grew quiet, Izuku could still hear the echo as it bounced off the walls.
"This will work." Izuku said.
His voice broke as he forced the words out with as much conviction as he could muster inside himself. His eyes began to sting, but he clenched his eyes tight, refusing to let himself get overwhelmed again.
"It has to work. I can't lose anyone else." Izuku said.
There was a pause, and when Izuku finally calmed himself enough to look back at Kacchan, the boy was staring back at him with a firm frown.
"We won't. I'll make sure we won't." Kacchan promised.
Izuku believed him.
So they continued keeping their heads down. Kacchan wasn't allowed to return to the labor team, so he helped with the cooking in the kitchen, and Tsukauchi assigned Izuku to help with gardening where his men could keep a better eye on him.
This arrangement was fine. It kept the adults occupied watching over them and left Hatsume and Inasa to move about much more freely for the next stage.
Izuku stayed busy building his strength and even began using his injured arm for some light stretching. Kacchan disapproved, but he didn't voice his protest anymore as he pushed Izuku through the wringer. Izuku would say he was just as strict as All Might had been, if not worst, with all his barbed yells and light smacks when Izuku messed up.
"You can't rely on your arm right now! You need to use your feet and stop thinking so much!" Kacchan said.
"But All Might used his fists when he fought, shouldn't I use the same technique when controlling One for All?" Izuku said.
He didn't move from where Kacchan had body-slammed him into the ground. His chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath.
"What the hell does All Might have to do with this?" Kacchan yelled.
Izuku propped himself up on his elbows enough to look over at Kacchan, who was standing arms crossed as he glared down at him.
"Well even if I'm not using the quirk yet, shouldn't my fighting style go hand in hand with it?" Izuku asked.
"And is One for All only in your fists?" Kacchan asked.
"Well, no it feels more like it spreads through my whole body before it moves into my arms." Izuku admitted.
"Then you need to learn how to use it throughout your whole body. If you rely on your arms what will you do if they break again? You gotta have another way of fighting." Kacchan said.
Kacchan was right. Even now, with his arm broken, if they did have to fight the heroes, he'd be more of a burden than an asset to his friends if he couldn't at least defend himself.
"Alright then, now stand up so I can kick your ass again," Kacchan said.
Izuku huffed. "Okay, again then."
They worked and trained, Inasa would even join; although his size was an enormous disadvantage, Hatsume was able to help in pinpointing ways to overcome that without their quirks.
"Why don't you use your quirk when we train?" Inasa asked.
Kacchan panted as he eyed the larger boy, who had hardly built up a sweat after an hour of sparring. Izuku, who had tapped out after the third time being knocked down, eyed the two from the sidelines. He sat next to Hatsume, who was recording their fights for Izuku to analyze later.
Izuku had been wondering the same thing. He knew why he couldn't use his quirk, and Inasa had taken his excuse of it being too dangerous with stride, but he seemed to be itching to fight Kacchan with his explosion quirk.
"I know you have control of it, we could see who is stronger your explosions against my whirlwind." Inasa said.
The boy already looked excited eyed shining at the prospect of going all out against the blonde. Izuku didn't think the room could handle the destruction, but he was sure they could go to the open space to test out their quirks against each other. Hatsume had already identified most of the heroes in the area, so Izuku had come up with mock plans to fight against most of their quirks. Along with whose quirk to avoid. So if their sparring invited some of the heroes to join….maybe, Izuku could test some of his theories.
"Because my quirk makes me weak." Kacchan said.
The admission made Izuku stop mid-thought as he stared at Kacchan in surprise. Never had Izuku heard Kacchan say such a thing about his quirk. His explosions had always been a symbol of pride for Kacchan, and he had made sure everyone knew it. The thought of his quirk being weak was impossible.
"Kacchan..." Izuku said.
"But quirk makes one strong! And I heard your explosions are powerful!" Inasa said.
Even Hatsume had stopped what she was doing to listen in. Kacchan wasn't staring at anyone as he clenched his hand around his wrist.
"Yeah, its powerful and I'd kick your ass easyily if I used my quirk, but the moment that gets taken away I'm like a sitting duck waiting to be slaughtered!" Kacchan said.
The day Izuku found Kacchan fighting against the villain in his house came to mind. The frustration on Kacchan's face as the slime kept him from using his quirk. The struggle they both had when fighting one villain. They may have won against the villain, but only because Izuku had used One for All. If All Might hadn't passed down his quirk, Izuku wasn't sure if they would have survived that day.
"I'm already strong with my quirk, but I have to be strong without it too." Kacchan said.
"You're so plus ultra Bakugou! I'll help you become stronger!" Inasa yelled.
So they trained while Hatsume searched through the heroes' systems. They trained until Izuku finally removed his cast and slowly built One for All in his body. Though Kacchan never allowed him to try it out. Neither he nor Kacchan used their quirks while sparring.
It was quiet as four weeks came and went.
"I got it!" Hatsume yelled, the door banging open as she raced through, locking it behind her. The three boys startle from where they rested after their last training session.
"What is it Hastsume?" Inasa asked.
"I found her!" Hatsume yelled.