Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Todoroki's POV

Chapter 1, How it happened

Shouto Todoroki was with his mother. That is to say, the hospital.

His morning went as it usually would, him waking up, going to his elementary school called “UA”, and finally visiting his mother with Fuyumi. Fuyumi was his older sister, she was incredibly good with kids, and a general kind soul.

It was around 5:40, he and his family where talking about how his grades were going. UA was a private school where the elite went regardless of social status.

The first thing he noticed that was different was the air. The air was hot, not humid at all, while the sky held dark thunder clouds. He first heard sizzling at his side, and realized the glass melted. He immediately moved from his spot by the window. When the lava-like mixture started falling from the sky he was panicking.

What do we do? What's going on? Where are we going? His outside demeanor was calm, however his mind was racing. His sister had been shaken and surprised, so it was his hospitalized mother who moved the three. They ran down the halls accompanied by multiple other patients, doctors and visitors alike.

The crowd was jostling Todoroki around, and if it wasn't for his mother tight grip on his hand he would have been swallowed by the crowd. The group moved as far underground as possible. The dark stairwells where lit up by multiple phones, however the only noise was the thudding of feet on the cement ground.

The wails where heard almost instantly as his family entered a huge rounded out store room. Those who had not passed after them where locked out once the doors were shut. With barely shining light and a panicked brain he remembered who else he knew was at the hospital. Pulling on his mother's arm he spoke with a wavering voice.

“Mom… Tensei and Tenya are at this hospital. Can we search for them?” Unable to say no to her child's fearfull yet hopefull gaze, they started looking. After a few minutes of chaos they found themselves in a corner. Two blue heads looked up when they came closer, and he watches as the two teens give each other reassuring hugs.

After that the hours flew by, barely reaching through to him in the chaos. People were screaming, crying, and emptying their stomachs on the floor. He somehow fell asleep, and was awoken by his mother. “The rain stopped.” As if it was rain. He thought bitterly. “-re moving us somewhere safer.” He found it hard to pay attention.

He barely remembered being pulled along by his mother, and barely remembered helping Tensei walk up the stairs. When he finally caught a glimpse of the outside world through the melted ceiling, his stomach plummeted. The world was steaming, the air smelled like smoke, and the ground was charred black.

There were pro heros everywhere, overseeing and guiding the people. He caught sight of something, and when he looked closer, wanted to empty his stomach. Is that a charred body? He felt sick. After awhile they came to a ‘safe house’, or a house that hadn't completely melted.

Most people ran off to find their family, however the Iida and Todoroki families stayed put. The rains started up again, with many others ending up dead.

The scene shifted, he remember the rains coming every twelve hours, then not at all for two months. It had been exactly one year, he had tracked down his friends and as many of their families as he could find and convinced them to start moving. They crossed the waters by fixing a broken boat, into the Americas.

They were lucky. After they had reached the Americas the temperature turned polar, in their area reaching 130°F at max during the day, while the lowest the temperature would drop at night turned out to be -70°F. The group traveled east for a year, slowly finding less and less food as well as more and more people.

The third year started right when they had found a suitable base, housing almost three hundred. Most of them acomidated to learning sign language, teaching others so they could also communicate. They were slowly dying, the old having gone long past. Their numbers diminished slowly until the remaining one hundred found enough food to sustain their members, creating a system to keep people alive.

He looked up at his friends smiling at him. He took in the smile of his crush, sister, and best friends. He saw a shape move in the corner of his eye, and before he could speak a wolf bite into the body of his sister. Hot rain poured for the sky, melting the flesh of their skin. Their screams were so loud they echoed in his brain, their pink-red flesh charred black made him sick.

He turned, as if looking for something, and spotted blue hair ripped to shreds. Everywhere he looked reaped destruction and despair, and when he thought nothing could get worse…

He

Woke

Up.

Chapter Text

Chapter 02

Honenuki Juuzou

Location: Somewhere in the Midwest

Juuzou was scared.

Actually, scared was an understatement.

The hunting group had gone out a few hours ago (judging by the position of the sun) and they hadn't come back yet. Shihai was a member of the hunting group; and Juuzou knew exactly what kind of dangers were out there in the woods. There were the predatory animals, like wolves, bears, and snakes. Juuzo remembers faintly how the world used to be, back when the animals were only so small, when, if you were hurt, you could go to a hospital and be fine. Small animals. Ha. The wolves were as big as horses now, and that was just the little ones. Snakes? A common gardner snake was big enough to wrap around a person's waist twice. The larger snakes? Could swallow a person whole very easily.

And then there were the plants. After the fire-rain from the first year, most plants had gotten used to absorbing the excess proteins and energy from all the dead bodies. While the large, towering flora offered shade and thus safety from the immense heat of the daytime, the many roots another plants were always blocking out light, so it was hard to see and easy to trip and get injured and be unable to move on the ground.  Once you were unable to move on the ground, the animals could get you and eat you. Wonderful.

Juuzou himself wasn't a member of the hunting group; he was one of the people who stayed at the main campus and helped sew together clothes or make other items, one of those who took the materials from the dead animals after the meat had been stripped off them and used the materials to make as many things as possible.

Those were the two main groups; the hunter-gatherers, and the crafters. There were some farmers, but most didn't try to farm as it took more dedication and ability to tell which plants were poisoned as an aftermath than most had.

“Hey, Honenuki. Are you okay?” Juuzou turned towards the person from where the voice had come from. The first thing he noticed was dark, shaggy hair; it was Kaibara, then. Kaibara was one of those more skilled with working on multiple things at once, like Juuzou was. To multitask you either needed to be good at moving around, smart, or able to focus well. Juuzo fell into the second category; Kaibara fell into the first. “Is it the hunter-gatherers?” Kaibara asked after Juuzou didn't reply. A nod, and then Juuzou went back to studying the treeline of the woods.

“They said they'd be back before dark.” Juuzou said, a few minutes later. Kaibara looked at him. Both of them knew who 'they’ were. “It's almost dark. They should be here by now.”

Juuzou may have said 'they’ in reference to the hunter-gatherers, but he was mostly worried about Shihai. Shihai had been his best friend back before the three year-purge that the world inflicted upon them, and after their parents had used themselves as human shields to protect he and Shihai, Juuzou only had the white-haired boy left. Juuzou didn't remember when exactly, but somewhere in the middle of the third year, Shihai confessed his feelings, feelings that Juuzou returned. That was when they became Juuzou and Shihai to each other, and not Honenuki and Kuroiro. That was about it. Juuzou loved Shihai, and Shihai loved him back. Which made Juuzou even more scared that the hunting party was still out there. Shihai was still out there. And Juuzou didn't want to lose Shihai, too.

“Honenuki! There!” Kibara said, pointing. Juuzou looked. A little bit east, and. . . Was it really them? Focus, Juuzou. . .  It was them! They were back!

Juuzou took off running towards the group, mentally counting them and going over their names. One, Todoroki. Two, Iida. Three, Tokage. Four, Shoji. Five, Kamakiri. Six, Uraraka, And. . . Seven, Shihai. Juuzou nodded to himself. Everyone's present. No one's injured. Oh, they have a deer. And. . . Are those geese? Where'd they find geese? It's not important. “Shihai!” Juuzou called as he reached the seven. “Do any of you need any help?”

Todoroki, Tokage, Uraraka, and Iida responded negative, but Shoji, Kamakiri, and Shihai said yes. Well, Shoji and Kamakiri said yes. Shihai just nodded. The three of them paused, and they shifted a bit to reveal that as well as a deer, they also were carrying a wolf. “We caught this guy after he tried to bite Uraraka’s arm off.” Kamakiri explained. “She made her float, and Tokage distracted the she-wolf while Shoji, Kuroiro, and I finished her. All I can say, is, we're going to have a feast tonight.”

Todoroki added in, “Midoriya will be worried. He'd rather Uraraka wasn't hurt.”

Juuzou looked at the heterochromiatic teen. “Well, then, I suppose we don't tell him? What do you think, Uraraka?”

He and Todoroki looked at the brunette, who set down the goose she was carrying and put her hands on her hips. “Do you really think I'm going to lie to him?” Anger glittered in her eyes. “It'd upset him even more if he was lied to, and no one wants an upset Deku.”

“Well then, what do you suggest?” Juuzou countered.

Unsurprisingly, Uraraka had an answer. “That's an easy question. We just downplay the severity of it. Tell him the she-wolf was only about to bite my arm and leave out how she was going to bite my arm off, and he won't think it's as bad because then I'd still have my arm.” Everyone nodded. Uraraka was a master at figuring out ways to downplay things in a believable way that wouldn't make Midoriya upset.

“It's almost dark. We need head up soon, or the animals will come out and we’ll be stuck here at the bottom of the mountain with no fire or warmth or survival.” Iida reminded them. Juuzou didn't usually interact with Iida as they boy usually focused on his brother and the three Todorokis whenever he wasn't out in the daytime, but Juuzou couldn't really blame him there as he himself usually focused on Shihai during the nightime hours. (According to Todoroki, Iida had been a lot more formal when they were all younger, but that formality partially disintegrated after the Three Years. Juuzou decided to just take his word for it.)

The eight of them present simultaneously picked up whatever animals they could (the buck and she-wolf were carried by Shoji, Kamakiri, Juuzou, Shihai, and Tokage, as they were the biggest animals. Everyone else held a goose each) and started back up the mountain. It took a few minutes but they were able to get there in time before the sun had fully set. Kaibara nodded to them and made sure they made it through the gate, before waving an arm at the sentry at the top of the iron fence that had been constructed to keep the animals out.

Today's sentry had been All Might, or Yagi as he was known to them now. The time of heroes had ended when the Three Years had started. The gate closed with a loud clunk, and Yagi climbed down in order to secure the locks on it, while the nine of them (there had been seven in the hunting party, and then Juuzou and Kaibara had joined them, which made nine) continued onwards down into the stone tunnels in what had been a volcano a few decades back. It was dormant now, but now for long enough that plants and animals could live there.

When the hundred or so humans still alive had arrived, those with the ability to do so carved out tunnels in the dead mountain, which quickly became their home. Aside from protecting them from most of the elements (they had the metal trapdoors made by Yaoyorozu to thank for that), they also protected them from the extreme temperatures. The tunnels kept to cooler air in during the daytime, and kept the warmer air in during the nighttime.

Aside from the tunnels which lead to however many different places, there were also large caverns that naturally were left after all the lava was gone. The largest cavern was the main one where they'd all meet if something important was going on, and was also the one closest to the top. The smaller caverns were used for things like mealtimes, or places for the crafters to do their thing. The second largest cavern was the nursery, which was always guarded by at least four people.

There were five children, currently. There was Todoroki Fyumi and Iida Tensei’s child, Iida Katako, Midoriya Inko and Yagi Toshinori’s child, Yagi Isamu, and Kayaba Nemuri and Kiyomori Dean's triplets, Kiyomori Ryu, Kiyomori Setsu, and Kiyomori Hakaru. Juuzou honestly didn't have much of an opinion on the children; they simply were. Some had a particularly strong like or dislike of them, but no hatred, and most people felt the same as he. That being said, Juuzou would willingly throw himself in harm's way to protect them. They were so young, and hadn't even lived yet; they needed to be protected.

The group of nine headed towards the cooking cavern, where the animals would be butchered and the like and then cooked with whatever heat or fire the crafters could get their hands on. That was usually when the others left, and Juuzou and the rest of the crafters got to work skinning the animals, separating the usable materials from the edible ones, and carefully placing the meat over a spit and letting nature and fire do its thing. Juuzou wasn't one to do much of the cooking itself; he helped with the butchering some, but mostly stuck to using the feathers, fur, bones, teeth, and whatever else to make usable items for the others.

Oh, these bones are nice and slender. Maybe one of the hunters can use this for a bow? Or I could make multiple and give one to Shihai. That was another one of the unspoken rules — so much had to be shared, but after that, whatever you hunted, cooked, gathered, or created was yours to keep and distribute. Juuzou and Shihai had a bit of an advantage there as Shihai provided the items to use while Juuzou was able to take those items and make something new for the two of them to use. Nah, I'll just make one now for Shihai. Shihai had been the one to strike the finishing blow on the wolf, so technically whatever portions of the meat and materials that weren't required went to him. Usually that meant about half the meat, and the same went for the materials. Technically the materials belong to whoever got their hands on them first, which was usually dictated by who was nearest the kills when the meat was separated from said materials. Juuzou was very good at taking things from what had been Shihai's kills. Juuzou would make the standard things out of the bits and pieces set aside to be made for anyone, and then the rest he would use to create whatever he felt like, really. These duck feathers are surprisingly soft. . .  Huh, maybe I could make like a cape or something for Shihai. I'm surprised he managed to take down two birds and finish off a wolf, but this is great luck.

A hand fell onto his shoulder, and Juuzou looked up. “Hello, Maijima. How goes the tunneling?”

Maijima shrugged. “About as well as it has been. I don't have much time to do much else other than dig, with what everyone's asking for. I barely have any time to eat, so I figured I'd come down and see how the rest of you are all doing, maybe build me something.” Maijima was the one who was really responsible for everything, in a way. He was the only one there who's quirk was really suited to digging, what with having metal claws, and he'd managed to connect the caverns and make the tunnels large enough for multiple people to walk in one while still making sure they didn't collapse on top of someone or be big enough for very many creatures to fit inside of them. And even without the tunneling, Maijima had taken it upon himself and taught others such as Juuzou how to make things — it really seemed that the former Support-Course teacher was good at teaching people how to make things out of stuff that wasn't sure and metal, too. And even after things had calmed down, Maijima was still digging, trying to help prepare for when there would be more people. Juuzou had to say that he had a lot of respect for the man.

“You'd better hurry, then. There's not going to be very much left soon.” As he spoke, Juuzou motioned to where the deer was being stripped of the meat, and all the people who were waiting to grab some parts. Maijima noticed this, and went over to where the almost done carcass was, waiting also. The others seemed to be in agreement of something, because they all let him through the crowd, and they all let him take the unclaimed deer bones, hide, hooves, and the antlers (which were very large and magnificent — anyone would want those). Juuzou didn't see quite where he went, but Juuzou didn't mind. The ginger needed a break, after all, and all the digging couldn't be very kind on his fingers, or the rest of him for that matter. So instead of bothering Maijima, Juuzou chose to take some string he had from a few days prior and set about turning this wolf’s femur into a bow suitable for Shihai to use. And also maybe he'd carve a knife or something out of the biggest tooth. Something useful.

Life was difficult now after the Three Years, but Juuzou did enjoy it, at times. He had Shihai, and he had something to do, and he had friends or at the very least allies who would share when needed, so what else was there to ask for? Juuzou had Shihai, and he had himself, and that's all he needed.

Chapter Text

Midnight/Nemuri Kayamas POV

Chapter 3, The Nursery incident

Now, normally she went by one of two names, Midnight or Nemuri.

Today, however, she was Mom.

Nemuri had decided to take a day to care for the three little brats she called hers. After once walking into the bland nursery she had decided to add a little color and flare to the room. After her request, there was a giant rug on the floor, as well as some paintings of heros that hung on the wall. She looked over to one corner of the room where multiple beds had been placed.

One of her children stirred, and pushed themselves up to stare at her. Her son Ryu was always the early riser, so she walked over to him and picked him up. “Good morning Ryu, how was your night?”

Her child mumbled incoherent words, until he grabbed her hand. He made a swishing noise as he pushed her hand away.

Nemuri started looking around for a bottle, and found the station near the door. Sighing, she saw there had been no milk made yet, seeing as she was alone in the dark room. A gurgle made her turn back to her child, who had locked eyes with a smiling Katako Iida. She walked over to the pink haired child and picked her up, whispering good morning to the happy child. She turned when the door opened again, and was relieved to see Shouto Todoroki.

“Good morning Todoroki, do you mind warming up the milk? Only Katako and Ryu are up currently, however I'll be waking the others soon.”

Todoroki nooded and set to work mixing and preparing the bottles. Nemuri walked over to an enclosed area before gently setting the two children down. When her child pulled on her pants and whimpered, she softly patted his head.

“I'll be back Ryu, don't worry.” she stepped out of the enclosement and walked over to Todoroki.

“Do you know who else will be joining me today?” Todoroki shook his head, before speaking only a few words.

“I heard Fuyumi was.” Understanding what he meant, Nemuri walked over to a blond-haired girl with a pink bunny in her arms. After slightly shaking the child awake, baby blue eyes stared up at her. The child yawned before stretching her arms up towards Nemuri.

“Good morning Isamu, how are you?” The blond haired child rubbed her baby blue eyes, and sleepilly smiled up at her. “Gwood mowning Nemuwy. ‘M goowd.” the child's face lit up when she looked over at the other two children. “‘Katochan!” Katako looked up at the Midoriya child and made a waving gesture.

“Come on Isamu, we have to wake Setsu and Hakaru before you can go play, ok?” Isamu looked disappointed, before nodding. Still holding the bunny plush, Nemuri picked her up and walked over to the last two beds. Nemuri gently shook and poked two black-haired children.

As the children were waking up, being the latest risers, Nemuri walked over to Todoroki who handed her a bottle. Isamu took the bottle from her hand and started drinking the warm liquid. Setting her down, Nemuri saw the ground shake slightly. She frowned, and eyed the ground suspiciously. Looking over at Todoroki, she asked a question.

“Is Maijima making a new cave?” Todoroki narrowed his eyes, while taking a while to answer.

“Not that I am aware. Ms. Midoriya will be here soon.” Todoroki walked over to the beds of Setsu and Hakaru, picking up the children before walking over to Nemuri.

“I have to help the morning patrol, if you need help the children might need to get some exercise.” while Todoroki placed down the children, Nemuri thought about his suggestion before deciding it wouldn't hurt. She called for the children, and ushered them out of the room.

As the four guards followed them, Nemuri called out to her eldest.“Come on Setsu, don't fall behind. Today we are going to go see Mr. Yagi.” after she said that, her black haired child's face lit up. “Kendou, could you please go inform Yagi and the others of our arrival? Oh, and please find Inko while your at it.” The girl nodded, before taking off ahead of them. Seeing the children become tired, Nemuri had the guards pick up one child, while Nemuri picked up Isamu and Katako.

A tremble behind them made Nemuri walk faster. After a few more minutes of walking, the group came to a wide open area filled with busy people. Looking around, Nemuri saw a green haired women hurrying towards them. “Inko, we thought we would see Yagi today.” Inko nodded, then responded saying she already knew.

After a small amount of walking, they reached a table in the corner where a very sickly man sat. He looked up at them and waved, ushering them to sit down. “The kids can go play in the corner, there isn't any dangerous equipment over there.” Nemuri set down the two children she was holding, smiling down at them. Yagi cleared his throat before speaking. “So, from what I have heard you came out here because you were concerned about the safety of the nursery.” Nemuri nodded, pleased Kendou had reached him intime.

“Yes, the ground was trembling. We were wondering if Majima was working on a new tunnel, do you know anything?” Yagi shook his head. Their conversation was cut short by a wail. Nemuri looked over to see Katako looking at her elbows, which had what looked like blades of ice on them.

“My awms! Thew gone! The ice took away my awms!” nemuri watched as the other children reacted. Ryu had run over and was hiding behind her legs, while the others were looking on in amazement. Izamu was slowly calming Katako down by talking to her. “Look! Youw awms awe still thewe, thewe just covewed up.”

While this scene was happening, the adults had stopped conversing long enough to know that katako was alright. Inko went over to talk with the children while the other adults and guards continued talking. A blond haired male named ‘Monoma’ spoke up.

“I do believe that Tokoyami has gone to collect some information on the matter at hand, so all we will have to do is sit here and wait. If it takes awhile for him to come back I could always go and ask Power Loader myself if necessary.” Nemuri just looked at him, and yagi awkwardly answered. “Yes, although i think Tokoyami is quite capable himself.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 03

Maijima Higari

Underground Tunnels of the Dormant Volcano

To say that things were not going to plan would be an understatement.

Of all the times to need more tunnels, it had to be when Higari had been planning to actually sleep for once.

“Goddammit, why now of all times?” He grumbled, clawing at the stone in front of him. “You'd think that letting the narcoleptic sleep for once would be allowed but no-o-o , they just had to need more tunnels here by the nursery and now instead of after I've rested. Fucking. . .” He slipped one of his claws between a crack in the stone, pulling until the smaller piece dislodged from the main mass. “Nevermind the fact that I'd like to do something other than just tunnel until I literally collapse in exhaustion to be found by anyone who happens by, but they just absolutely need me so of course I simply must help them.”

He dug a bit more, for once glad that he was alone down here. At least there was no one else there to hear his complaining. Continuing his rather annoying job at the moment, things were going fine, if not a bit boring, until he felt a sort of rumbling. Having experience with digging underground, he paused; better to find out where it was coming from first, so as to avoid causing the tunnel to collapse on itself and bury him alive. The rumbling seemed to be coming from. . .  Behind him. . .

 scrambled to get out if the tunnel before it was too late, but he wasn't quick enough. A section of stone over head fell apart and tumbled down into the tunnel, effectively sealing Higari off from the other side. Fuck ! How was he going to get out? There was too much stone in the way, and moving any of it risked even more stone falling, possibly onto him . Higari was stuck down here, alone, with limited air.

Well, this has turned out to be not so boring after all, at least. He thought to himself, in hopes of making light of the situation a bit. Who was he kidding? He was trapped, somewhere around a hundred feet underground, no food or water and dwindling breathable air. How was he supposed to make light of this situation?!

Calm down Higari, calm down. You'll just make things worse if you panic. He tried to even out his breath. How would Mei or Ryō react if they found you, only to find you dead? You've got to stay alive, you've got to stay alive for them. Oh, he was breathing normally again. Huh, I wonder what would happen if I were to fall asleep. It'd probably be for the better, since sleeping people breathe slower and all. Hey, if I sleep away most of my time down here, I wonder if I'd wake up to Mei or Ryō’s faces? Higari wondered. It probably would be for the best if he slept, if only because he already was so sleep-deprived.

The stone was cold, and hard, but what did that matter to a narcoleptic, who could sleep in the most random of conditions? True, the sleep wasn't usually by choice, but the point remained. Falling asleep was ridiculously easy. Just slow, even breaths, and close your eyes, and he just. . . Fell into sleep.

He. . . he was above ground again. What was that on the wall. . . ? A TV? Was he back in time or something? It’s not impossible, given what quirks there could be. I’ve not met all of the remaining other ninety-nine some humans left. Maybe we’ve all been sent back in time or something? No matter. Higari was sitting in a comfortable armchair, in a tucked away corner. . . oh, he was in the Café. His claws were a bit longer than they had been; working in the tunnels digging seemed to be a good way to sharpen them, but also a good way to chip away at them and naturally keep them from getting too long.

A man walked through one of the doors, in comfortable clothing consisting of a hoodie and leggings. Oh, it was Ryō. Higari was guessing that it was closing time, judging by the darkness outside, and the fact that the room was empty aside from Ryō and himself. Ryō looked at Higari with concern in his eyes. “Higari, are you alright? You seem more tired than normal.”

“I’m fine.” He answered. “Today’s been a bit busier than average, is all.” Higari stretched, before getting up out of the chair. Following Ryō, he exited the cafe and entered a small room behind it, in which there was a set of stairs. Walking up those stairs led to a small but cozy apartment. Higari couldn't help but smile softly; he was home again.

Ryō went into one of the bedrooms, presumably to get changed out of his clothes he was wearing and into pajamas. Higari went over to the other bedroom, quietly opening and closing the door. In a crib tucked into the corner was a fifteen-month-old Mei, fast asleep, what hair she had grown being bright pink. Higari scooped her up into his arms in a smooth motion, cradling her tiny self against his chest. She was adopted, but Mei was still he and Ryō’s daughter, and she was perfect in every way.

Higari eventually set her back down in the crib, tucking her blanket around her, before entering the bedroom that he and Ryō shared. Ryō was already changed; after getting into pajamas himself (which was really just boxers and a shirt he had stolen from Ryō), Higari got into bed beside his husband. Having Ryō as a husband had the benefit of having a husband who was kind, gentle, and very very warm when snuggling against on cold nights. Thus, Higari did the obvious thing and decided to hug Ryō while he fell asleep, if only because he didn't want to be any colder than he had to be.

When he woke the next morning, the bed was empty aside from him. Ryō had already gotten up, then. Higari got dressed, then went over to Mei’s room. Hey, he wanted to make sure she was fine. She was his only daughter, after all. Scooping her up and holding her against his chest much the same as he had done the previous night, Higari made his way down the stairs into the Cafe, where Ryō was sitting with a cup of coffee.

“Good morning, Higari. Did you sleep well?” Ryō asked as he offered the cup to Higari, who took said cup and responded with a nod, shifting Mei so that he was holding her with one arm instead of both.

Ryō was watching the news on the TV while Higari nursed his cup of coffee (it happened to be the strongest coffee that the Cafe had to offer, but don't tell anyone —). There wasn't anything really worth paying attention to, until the news switched to a scene of destruction.

“— authorities say that these attacks seemed to have been caused by quirk enhanced animals—”

Higari choked on his coffee. They're here?! Already?! Damnit, I thought there would be more time! He whirled around to face the door when there was the sound of something scratching on the glass, only to see several wolves and even a deer attempting to make their way into the store.

Ryō was the first to react. Discarding whatever he had been doing, the blond grabbed Higari (and, by extension, Mei), slung him over his shoulders, and ran towards the emergency exit, coffee and TV forgotten. Higari did his best to keep Mei from being crushed, wrapping his arms around her, and his legs around Ryō.

Their escape was a hurried one; there was no time to grab any of their belongings that they didn't have on them. The animals would have been on top of them in seconds had that happened. They could only run. The streets, when they got outside, were in chaos. Wolves, deer, even the birds were trying to kill anyone who moved, and those who didn't move. Ryō ran faster.

A few blocks ahead was one of the old bomb shelters from way back when quirks were first appearing and there had been threats of nuclear war. It was probably the only safe place anymore. If Higari, Ryō, and Mei could get there, they would be safe.

The wolves were fast, and though Ryō had gotten a head start, Ryō was still only human, and had the additional weight of Higari and Mei as he was carrying him. He didn't have much of a chance. The canines snapped at Ryō's ankles, biting and dragging, and Ryō fell. Then, the pack that had been following him pounced. Ryō did his best to shield Higari and Mei, and Higari had to watch as the giant beasts bit and tore, and the smell of blood filled the air. “Keep. . . Mei. . . Safe. . .” Ryō gasped out, and then the light left his eyes.

Ryō was dead. Ryō was dead. Higari’s husband. . . Was dead. Gone. Null and void. Unwillingly, tears streamed down Higari's face.

Higari made himself get up and start running. There wasn't anyone else around, and Ryō’s. . . Body. . . Would only protect them from the wolves for so long before they got to Higari and Mei. So, Higari ran. He was small and skinny, but he was fast. Mei wasn't as heavy as she might look (she was too light, he thought, but he wouldn't know; he had never had a child in his care before) and carrying her was surprisingly easy.

Of course, it wasn't that easy to just get away from the wolves. They still had four legs to run on, two more than Higari had. He had almost gotten to the shelter when they finally caught up to him. They bit at his ankles just as they had done to Ryō, and Higari fell much the same. As he fell, he lost grip of Mei, and she fell to the ground a few feet away from him. She started screaming, a tiny wail of fear that all babies seemed to have, and Higari felt pure fear and panic set into his bones, the shock from Ryō's death gone.

Seeming to realize that there was an easier target, the wolves diverted their attention to Mei. Higari tried to get them away from her, but there were too many. Mei’s screaming stopped suddenly, and Higari’s world shattered. She's dead. Mei’s dead. They're both dead, Mei and Ryō are dead I’m all alone—

Someone was screaming. (Distantly he thought that it might have been him.) The wolves, having finished their deer, turned on him, and Higari couldn't move . He felt someone pick him up and start moving towards where the shelter was, but Higari couldn't be sure. He didn't try to hold back the tears that streamed down his face even faster than before, his body unmoving in shock. His husband and daughter were dead.

“—Jima. Majima? Hey, Maijima, are you okay? You're not hurt? Come on, man, talk to me!” Higari blinked, and Retoka Yūrei’s face came into view. He was still in his hero outfit, as Ectoplasm. Oh. Of course it would be his best friend to carry him.

“. . . Retoka?” Higari mumbled, quietly. What was the point of words, now? Ryō and Mei were dead.

Quiet as it was, Retoka must have heard him, because his expression softened some, and the panic was reduced some. “Hey, you alright? Actually no, forget that. Come on, Maijima, the bomb shelter’s only a bit away, we'll be safe there.”

Higari couldn't move though. Retoka seemed to have noticed this, because he picked Higari up and slung Higari over his shoulder, and began moving forward. How long it was before the shelter was in view, Higari couldn't say. Time had no meaning anymore. There was shouting, something about how they needed to get in the shelter, as other faces came into view.

The sound of pawsteps and yapping signaled that the wolves were back. They did the same as they had done before, going for the ankles, and Retoka seemed to realize this. He threw Higari into the waiting arms of the others, who caught him, before Retoka was covered in wolves going for the kill.

If anything, this only made Higari's already fractured world shattered even more. Now, not only had his husband and daughter died, but his best friend had as well. There truly was nothing left for Higari, anymore. People were waving hands and lights in front of his face, trying to get him to respond, but Higari couldn't find the willpower to do so. Why should he? There was nothing left, nothing here for him . Everything is gone. Why am I here, still? Why did I get left behind to stay?

Higari woke up. At first he was confused, and he couldn't move— but then he realized that it was just sleep paralysis, the thing he'd had to deal with all his life. When he finally could move again, he sat up, glad that the space he was trapped in had that much room, at least. It was just a nightmare. It was all just a nightmare, Ryō and Mei and Retoka are fine. Calm down Higari. No use in panicking, you don't want to die and make them feel that same pain and sorrow as your dream self felt.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, as there was no light or anything to indicate a passing of time. The pile of rock blocking the exit of the tunnel was in the same position, so he could assume that no one had been able to find him yet. He sighed. I guess there's nothing to do but wait until I'm found. He closed his eyes (not that there was any difference), and tried to stay calm. Please, someone, find me. I don't want to die down here. I don't want to leave Ryō or Mei alone.

Chapter Text

Chapter 05

Inui-Maijima Ryou

The Lake

Ryou was getting agitated very quickly.

Why, you may ask? To put it simply, he had been trying for over thirty minutes to fish and so far had not caught a single creature. It was getting ridiculous. The fish in this Lake were huge, how had he not caught one yet?!

Maybe it was the fact that he was attempting to use his hands to catch the fish rather than anything else, but you couldn't really do otherwise; whatever you were using as a fishing pole would just snap whenever a fish for a bite. So, one needed to use their hands. Joy.

There was a feeling of something on his hands all of a sudden, and Ryou tried his best to grab whatever it was. The thing happened to be a forty-foot-long catfish. How the hell did a forty-foot-long catfish end up in the Lake? Even for the creatures now, this thing's huge! Resigning himself to his fate, Ryou attempted to kill the thing before dragging it out of the water. Killing it was actually somewhat easy; dragging it out of the water was most definitely not .

Thankfully for the blond, there were others around — Uraraka and her hunting party had elected to go with him while he fished, just in case. With a tap from Uraraka’s hand, the fish gently rose into the air, and Ryou began the one-kilometer back to the dormant volcano they all called home.

When they got there, Uraraka pressed her fingertips together, dropping this fish at the entrance. Ryou didn't blame her — the girl looked quite nauseous, for good reason; she'd used her quirk for the entire kilometers back, after all. Nodding as she and the rest of her group (Kuroiro Shihai, Todoroki Shouto, Tokage Setsuna, Kamakiri Togaru, Iida Tenya, Shouji Mezou) passed him, Ryou began dragging the catfish inside.

When he finally made it to the Crafter's Cavern, the large mass of people took one look at the fish, then immediately began cutting at it, scrambling to get the thing into smaller, more manageable chunks that they could cook. The scales were pried off as soon as possible, and Ryou left, knowing that the Crafters knew what they were doing.

Now he didn't know what to do. It was evident that the other hunting parties felt the same, as the three of them all lingered near the entrance, not needing to hunt as the catfish would likely keep the hundred of them all fed for at least two days or more, given that the Todoroki's had their ice quirks to keep the food from spoiling or going bad.

Deciding he'd go visit Mei, Higari, Touya, and Hitoshi, wherever they were, Ryou set off to find them (well, he set off to find Mei, Higari and Touya -- Hitoshi was in the hunting party with Tsunotori, Asui, Yanagi, and Sansa (it was a bit of shock at first, but when he thought about it, there was no reason why the former police officer shouldn't have some survival knowledge (despite the fact that he was older than most of the hunters), so he was right there to talk to and hug).

Finding Mei was a bit of a challenge; she was likely to be with the other crafters, but she was also likely to be with Uraraka’s hunting party, or with the other farmers, or in the mines helping to find coal, iron, and other metals. Unlike the others, who generally stuck with one thing, Mei liked to move around the rotation. (It went like this; there were the crafters, which everyone started out as, and then there were the farmers, the next step, which people went to as soon as they had enough experience with being a crafter, and after that were the hunters, who were at the top of the rotation simply because you needed more experience to become one. The miners were more of a subcategory of the rotation, like the fishers and the gatherers.)

Touya, however, happened to almost walk into Ryou as he searched for someone. “Oh, papa! Hey!” Touya exclaimed, obviously not expecting to meet one of his adopted fathers (the other being Higari, of course). “Have you seen Sansa anywhere?”

Oh, he was looking for Sansa, his boyfriend. “He was over with Hitoshi’s hunting part near the Crafter's Cavern the last I saw him.”

Touya's grin was almost blinding, the tips of his hair lighting with green fire as he bounced in place a bit. “Thanks papa!” The pink-haired man (despite his vehement denial of his hair turning pink, it was several shades lighter than it had been when Higari and Ryou had first taken the kid in, back before Todoroki Enji had realized his mistakes and decided to become a better person. Ryou wasn't entirely sure how Touya managed to deal with now having three father figures, but he was doing alright) skipped off, presumably in the direction Ryou had pointed him in.

Ryou once more set off in an attempt to find Mei, asking anyone he met about her whereabouts. When he finally found her, she was on the landscaped terraces that were the farming fields on the side of the mountain, her knees on the ground, wearing gloves and pulling up weeds. When Ryou approached, she looked up, her short pink hair having a fair bit of dirt in it. “Oh, papa! Hey, how're you doing?”

“I'm. . . Fine. . . Mei what are you doing?” Ryou asked nervously as Mei pulled something from her hood, aimed it at a bird which was approaching, and fired. It. . . Was a shotgun. Somehow, Mei had a shotgun. “Mei, why do you have a shotgun? How do you even know how to use a shotgun?”

She looked at him. “Hm? Oh, this? Touya taught me how to use one, and I built one out of scrap metal. I can see far away, so. . . “

Ryou gave her an incredulous look, before sighing and giving her a hug. “Just make sure not to shoot your eye out or something, okay?”

She smiled, and mock saluted. “Will do!”

The blonde stepped back. “Well, now that I know you're here, do you want to help me find your dad, or would you rather stay here with the plants?

Mei’s reaction was immediate. “I wanna help you find dad, if I can!”

Ryou nodded, and off they went. After a bit, they ran into Hitoshi, who, once informed of their “quest”, decided to join them. After another while, Touya and Sansa joined them as well, noticed but not saying anything to gather any initial attention.

It was roughly an hour or so before they realized that they couldn't find Higari. They had all checked everywhere they thought of, but still couldn't find the tiny ginger.

“Maybe we could split up and see if anyone knows where he is?” Mei suggested. Everyone else agreed that it was a reasonable plan, and Mei, Hitoshi, Ryou, and Touya and Sansa all went their different ways, Toya and Sansa being the only two who traveled together.

Ryou headed towards the nursery; Higari had been making a new tunnel near there recently, maybe someone there would know where he was? Yeah, he'd just have to ask around.

About three fourths of the way there, Ryou ran into a group of twelve people, including Todoroki Shoto, Kayama Nemuri, Yagi Toshinori, Midoriya Inko, Monoma Neito, and the five children that there currently were.

Kayama seemed a bit occupied when she saw Ryou. “Oh, Inui!” She said. “Would you happen to know where Maijima is?”

“No, actually. I was going to ask you if any of you had seen him.” He answered, growing concerned. “Mei, Hitoshi, Touya and Sansa are all out asking as well.”

Her brow furrowed, and she nervously glanced behind her, before leaning in some. “There was a bit of rumbling coming from around the nursery, so we left because we were worried about the cavern collapsing.” She whispered. “You don't think. . . ?”

Ryou looked her in the eyes, and they both came to the same, terrible realization. Looking to Midoriya and Yagi, the had that same look of panic, which was not yet shared by Monoma, Kendou, or the other guards who had yet to be filled in on everything going on. They all shared a look which went unnoticed by the others, and then Yagi was offering to take the children around outside with the guards, so that they may hopefully get a chance to see it for the first time? The guards agreed, all four of them once Tokoyami had rejoined them, and off they went.

“He was most likely tunneling when the cavern partially collapsed. It'd be best if we could find where the tunnel started at first.” Midoriya was the voice of reason, and Ryou needed someone like her right now, when all he could think about was Higari being crushed under who knew how many slabs of rock.

They all began searching for where the newest, yet-to-be-completed tunnel’s entrance was. Along the way, Mei and Hitoshi joined up with the group. The two were quickly filled in on their suspicions, and the group grew to five.

A shout drew their attention to where Touya and Sansa were waving their hands to gather their attention. “We found the tunnel entrance, you guys!” Touya hollered, making a “come here” motion, while Sansa was standing by a ominously dark opening.

Once they all had gotten there, they all entered the tunnel, relying on those with better night vision to help them find their way around. The normal tunnels usually weren't this dark, as they always had lanterns to light the way so no one would get lost navigating the otherwise pitch-dark tunnels; but now, the further they went into the tunnel, the harder it was to see, as the light from the lanterns of the completed tunnels slowly receded. Soon, Ryou was having to rely on his nose more than his eyes, until it got too dark to see at all.

“Hey, I have a question.” Hitoshi said, from where he was (somewhere behind Ryou, but in front of Kayama). “How come we don't light a torch, or maybe have Touya use his fire to light the way?”

“Because fire burns up oxygen, and if Dad is trapped under rocks and stuff, there'd probably be a limited air supply, yeah?” Touya reasoned.

“Yeah, but if we can't see to move the rocks and whatever and get him free, then he might just die down here.” Hitoshi countered.

Touya raised a finger and opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“Hitoshi has a point.” Ryou comenteded. “Touya, are you able to make flame that doesn't smoke so we'll be able to see better than using a torch?"

Touya nodded. “Yeah, most of my fire does that unless I really just don't care. Hey Sansa, you wanna bring up the rear? Since the fire’ll make it harder for me to focus on the surroundings because I gotta make sure it won't smoke, I'm counting on you to let us know if there's any chance of the tunnel collapsing, yeah?”

“I'll do my best.” The cat-headed man agreed, pressing a salute to his chest.

With that established, Touya moved to the front if the group, and soon an eerie green glow came from the fire on his palms as the pink-haired man lead the way, with Ryou behind him, and Sansa behind everyone else.

Ryou couldn't say how long that they walked, only that the tunnel slowly began to get narrower, and soon they could only travel with two people side-by-side, rather than before where they could fit three or four in the space. Suddenly, Touya stopped. “There's some broken rocks here, I think this is where the collapsed part starts.”

Everyone did their best to let everyone else see, and there was, in fact, rubble from broken pieces of rock. “Well,” Ryou started, “I suppose we should start trying to remove the rubble.”

The work was hard, and by the end of it, everyone was aching. There were countless bruises on everyone's arms and kegs from where they had dropped things or had fallen, and Ryou especially had some, but what they were working towards helped them ignore the pain.

Clearing away the last bits of the rubble, with Ryou, Mei, and Touya holding up the roof as best they could to stop it from caring in, Kayama found Higari, either unconscious or sleeping, and picked him up bridal style in her arms, calling back, “I've got him, we can leave now!” to the others.

Leave they did; after everyone else had already gone out of the area where the rock could still break, Ryou, Touya and Mei all let their arms drop and got out of there as fast as they could. Ominous rumbling followed them, as did the sound of stone breaking; but all of those when had entered the tunnel exited it. (When they were in the stable part of the tunnel, Kayama handed Higari back to Ryou, and Ryou carried his husband like he was cradling a chick; he didn't want Higari to get hurt anymore than he had.)

When they finally exited the tunnel, Touya let his green flames go out, and they all sighed in relief. Ryou looked at each of them, and they looked back at him.

“I think now would be a good time to go to the medics.” Hitoshi spoke up once more, causing Mei to snort.

“Oh, no, I thought we were supposed to go three years ago!!” She said, her voice series, but her face showing amusement.

The statement caused Touya to snort, and soon they all ended up giggling. I suppose near-death experiences make everything seem silly.  Ryou thought, and then he snorted as well, Mei having grabbed a bucket and pretending to be a crab who was chasing Hitoshi. Things would be okay; Higari was alive, they were all alive, and despite their setbacks, they were thriving. Life would continue; they were going to do whatever they could to survive, and that was what mattered,that everyone still had someone.