Chapter Text
The rooftops merged with the ink-black sky, the flat surfaces all blurring together when the moon hid behind the clouds. The stars above were the only guides, as they provided just enough light to illuminate the pools of water from past rain that dotted the flat rooftops and winding streets.
Shouta kneeled right at the edge of a roof, minding his footing and balance as he sat. He was right outside the downtown area now, where a lot of crime occurred in the late hour. It was always bustling enough to where several criminals could slip away unnoticed by novice heroes and police caught up in racing to reported locations of suspicious activity.
Scoping out the area from rooftops was one of his favorite parts of nighttime patrols; while alone, he could spot things happening between every building, even through the looming darkness. His trained, experienced eyes could scan a great deal of what transpired below, even when in unfamiliar areas such as this.
This was his first time on patrol in this area, although he had been there before with Hizashi during a few day trips to shops and restaurants. Being on the rooftops though, was an entirely different situation. The wind nipped at his face, the smell of rain hitting his nose once again in promise of a future shower. The entire week had been filled with storms, and there was clearly no sign of them stopping. It didn’t bother Shouta all that much, but the icy rain water he often stepped in along the rooftops seeped into his shoes and pants. The puddles were more of an annoyance than anything, the water leaving his steps with a squish, squish, squish everywhere he went, and the chill from it leaving his feet uncomfortably numb.
He stood and jumped to the next roof after making sure the area had no disturbances. It only had a short gap in between, so the jump wasn’t too taxing on his joints. His boots scuffed against the pavement as he landed, and continued to do so as he made his way to the edge of that rooftop as well. Dim clouds shrouded the moon again, limiting his vision, but he wasn’t worried. The alley below was undisturbed from what he could see, and the fronts of the buildings were clear. A few people gathered together in groups in front of the complex he was standing on top of, most likely friends on their way out to a club. That reminded him; he would have to call Nemuri and Tensei sometime to see if they wanted to hang out with him and Hizashi. It had been awhile after all, and it was nearing the holiday season.
When he made it halfway to the edge of the roof to leap off to the next one, a muffled scream resounded from the street below. He couldn’t help but think that it would have been a lot smarter to attack in the alleyway, rather than the sidewalk that was lit by the street lamp and the car headlights passing by, but what did he know? Leaning his head over the edge of the rooftop, he could see the commotion.
The group of friends from earlier had already left; they most likely called a cab to go to their destination while he was rechecking the alleyway. However, there was a tall, lean man clamping his hand over the face of another guy who looked around the same age, his eyes widened with terror. The attacker’s face was covered with a black bandana from the nose down, but Shouta took note of the light brown hair that shone white at the tips due to the street lamp. Thinking about the best way to apprehend the attacker, he perched on the edge of the building once more, this time facing the street. It was high enough to where he felt weary looking down as pure human instinct, but the fastest way to the ground was to use his capture weapon to scale down the side, and then fight the guy hand-to-hand after his Quirk was taken out of the equation.
He would question the victim later, but for now -
A strong gust of wind battered against him, throwing off his balance. He teetered back and forth within a second and was shoved off to the right where there was nothing but open air. There wasn’t a lot of time to panic, but a rising nausea and chill ran from the bottom of his stomach to the top of his face. He landed with a crack on the pavement, only four or five feet away from the two men. Pain exploded in bursts up and down his body, and settled on three places.
Breaths ceased to rise, and he gasped with a desperate need to feel air filling out his lungs. He knew something was broken, could feel the pain flowering in his chest, most likely a rib or two as he landed on his side, and his right leg was twisted in a sickening way with white bone peeking out.
“Fuck,” he gritted out as his lungs finally took in some oxygen. He was supposed to assess the situation, as the hero, but it was too late. A car pulled up to the deserted street, and the man shoved the victim into the backseat with a smirk on his face. It had to have been the man’s Quirk that caused the fall, no doubt one similar to Yoarashi’s.
It started to rain moments later after the car raced into the night, probably to some place downtown, or somewhere far away to where they couldn’t be traced. The crimson blood from his head mixed with the downpour, and drained into the rusted gutter a little ways down the road. He ground his teeth together, and attempted to move his better arm to his pants pocket.
The screen was cracked. Tiny shards of glass pricked his fingers, causing small drops of blood to bead up on the tips. He operated the phone with one hand, a plan of what he needed to do already on his mind.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“119, what’s your emergency?”
“A-Ambulance. Need an ambulance,” he choked, the plea stumbling out of his mouth. His location was already being tracked, so he let himself rest.
“You scared the hell out of me.”
“I know, Hizashi. I’m sorry.”
“Are you? You could’ve died!”
“But I didn’t. And to top it off, the guy got away. What does that make me?” His voice dropped off at the end, silence permeating their bedroom.
Recovery Girl was able to heal him in a flash, and he insisted on going home the same night. Hizashi had picked him up from the hospital, a frown present on his face the whole time. Now, it was all bubbling up to the surface, acid on each other’s words.
“It makes you a human. You can’t just parade around and expect to always come out with the villain caught. I’m surprised you didn’t try and get up to chase after him!”
“I thought about it,” he retorted.
“Well, either way, I can’t sit back and watch you suffer. Not when you mean everything to me. You do understand that, right?”
Shouta paused, mouth agape. Their alarm clock got caught up in his view, the red letters announcing that it was way past the point of a good night’s rest. It wasn’t even dark out anymore, the small light shining through the curtains indicating that.
“I do understand. I really am sorry. Truly,” he said with the strongest earnest he could muster. “All I want is to be useful. Not to myself, but -”
“Everyone else,” Hizashi finished, with a thoughtful gaze. “Just be careful next time, okay? For me?” He placed a hand around Shouta’s waist, and eased him closer.
Shouta wrapped his arms, no longer bleeding, around Hizashi’s torso. He stepped forward with his legs, no longer broken, toward him. He tucked his head, no longer concussed, in the crook of Hizashi’s neck.
“I will,” he mumbled, seemingly uncaring, but the words were genuine.