Chapter Text
“What are we doing here?” Bakugou questioned, kicking over a piece of debris, which created a small avalanche of more wreckage.
“This is where he was last seen.” Todoroki replied, climbing on top of one of the less damaged buildings. Bakugou followed after him.
“You heard what your old man said, they used a warp gate. There’s no way we can track him from here.” Bakugou said.
“I know that.” Todoroki replied, glancing around at the buildings. Bakugou tried to figure out what Todoroki was looking for, but when he found nothing, he just grew annoyed.
“Then what are we doing here?” Bakugou asked again.
“Be quiet and help me.” Todoroki said. Bakugou narrowed his eyes and prepared to give the other a piece of his mind, but before he could open his mouth, Todoroki placed a hand on his shoulder. “Okay look here.” Todoroki said, pointing at the roof beneath them. “These are scorch marks, they fought here. But it doesn’t look like this was their main arena. I’m trying to figure out where the main fight took place.”
Bakugou shrugged Todoroki’s hand off and glanced around. He couldn’t understand why Todoroki wanted to be here of all places, scouting the grounds of where the big fight had taken place, but he looked around regardless.
“I’d assume it’s one of the more damaged buildings.” Bakugou said. “Let’s get up on the clock tower, we’ll have better view there.”
“Won’t it fall?” Todoroki asked, turning to the building in question. Bakugou stared at it for a moment before scowling.
“Use your ice, genius.” He said, using his explosions to get to the building faster. Todoroki made a few support structures with his ice, but he didn’t know how long it would last. With both of their weights, the building would probably collapse regardless.
Once they were both on top of the clock tower, they looked down at the ruins of the city. They stood at the same place Dabi and Midoriya had stood before causing such destruction, overlooking what was left of the place.
“That’s, without question, where they fought.” Bakugou said, pointing at another roof. Most of it was missing, taking a wrong step would result in them falling inside the building, but what wasn’t missing was covered in soot and ashes.
Todoroki nodded and dropped down on the building.
“Careful, IcyHot, I ain’t saving you if you fall.” Bakugou said, dropping down beside him. Todoroki didn’t reply, which again send a spark of annoyance down Bakugou’s spine. They had without a doubt gotten closer since Midoriya’s disappearance, to the point of mutual respect and tolerance, but that did not mean that Bakugou wanted to hang out with him for more than needed. Now that they only had each other’s company, every little thing annoyed him.
“Okay so he was fighting on that side.” Todoroki said, pointing to the opposite end of the roof. “Meaning the villain must have been fighting from where we are standing.”
“He must have taken one hell of a hit.” Bakugou muttered. Todoroki glanced at him in question, which prompted him to point to the building behind them. The wall was broken, debris all over the place. Todoroki stared at the place.
“Yea, he must have gotten blasted to that wall…” He scrunched up his eyebrows in concentration. “And Midoriya must have helped him.”
“How can you tell?” Bakugou questioned.
“The villain must have been under the debris. Had he gotten out by himself, it would have just fallen back down in no particular pattern, but you can see that there is debris thrown back, all in the same direction. Someone must have dug him out.” Todoroki said, pointing at a pile of debris a distance from the destruction. “Look at the blood, the villain got up and joined the fight again. He walked back to where we’re standing. And if he was injured…”
“Then this is where it happened…” Bakugou realized. “We’re standing right where it happened. Your old man must have attacked the villain-”
“And the villain was injured and dazed from the hit, so he wasn’t able to do anything against the attack-” Todoroki continued.
“And Deku jumped in the way and got blasted.” Bakugou finished.
“Help me figure out where he landed.” Todoroki said, looking at the surrounding buildings. “If we can find where he landed, we might be able to tell whether he lived or not.”
“How?” Bakugou asked.
“We know Midoriya doesn’t give up, not when someone he cares about is in danger. And we also know that the death was supposedly instantaneous.” Todoroki glanced at Bakugou. “If we can find any sort of proof that Midoriya moved after he landed, then we know he’s alive. We know the death wasn’t instantaneous and we know he tried to get back in the fight.”
Bakugou’s face remained neutral. “That’s very superficial. He could have only been unconscious and not been able to move. Or he could have moved only to die minutes later.”
“But at least we’ll have a clue.” Todoroki insisted.
Bakugou sighed and looked around. “That way.” He said. “If he was here when he got hit, he must have been thrown back somewhere within that radius. All the buildings are destroyed, but you can tell they were hit on purpose. These were hit with the goal of causing structural damage, meaning the villain and Deku were responsible for it. So where he landed is currently out of sight. We have to get down on the street.”
Together, both of them dropped down from the roof to the street below. Todoroki glanced at Bakugou, who began to walk, looking at the buildings. “It must have been somewhere in this street, maybe across the block…” He muttered, walking down the street. Todoroki followed. “Here.” Bakugou said, jogging up to yet another destroyed building. Todoroki couldn’t tell what looked different about these ruins, but he decided to just trust Bakugou and study the debris.
“You’re right.” Todoroki noted. Bakugou smiled in satisfaction and pride. “He landed here; this debris must have been on top of him…” Todoroki grabbed pieces of bricks, stained with blood. He stayed silent, staring at the place. Midoriya very clearly landed there, but there was nothing to indicate that he had moved from the place. At least not before he was retrieved.
“He didn’t move.” Bakugou said. “Your old man was right, it was instantaneous.”
Todoroki lowered his head and shut his eyes for a moment.
“What are you doing?” Bakugou questioned.
“Quiet.” Todoroki said in response. “We have to check hospitals.”
“Todoroki, he’s-”
“Stop it, Bakugou. We need to check the hospitals, there might be something we’re missing.”
Bakugou stared at Todoroki for a moment.
“Okay lets say he did live.” Bakugou said carefully. “What makes you think he would be at a hospital? If I were a villain, I’d avoid places of the sort.”
“Because they can’t take care of his wounds themselves. Burns like that, at such huge scale…” Todoroki replied. “They had to have taken him, or else he would have died.”
“What makes you think they would risk going to a hospital for him?” Bakugou asked. “They’re villains, they don’t care about him enough to take such big risks.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Todoroki said, finally standing and facing Bakugou. “The only reason we only had to fight Midoriya back at the store was because the villains trusted him enough to let him take care of it. Had it been up to them, they would have stayed and tried to kill us, but because of Midoriya’s personal feelings, they left it to him. You heard what Uraraka said, Midoriya told them to leave, and they listened.”
“Trust does not equal-”
“I’m not finished.” Todoroki calmly interrupted. “You remember when those villains attacked, when they took you.” Bakugou stared at him. “And before that when they attacked back at USJ. They didn’t care about killing a couple of kids, and even outside of that, they kill as they please. Do you not find it odd that there were absolutely no casualties in this city? Had it only been Midoriya here, it would have been understandable, after all he did save that kid back at the store… But that other villain was here. Which means Midoriya must have convinced him to avoid civilians. They do care about him and what he thinks. Is it really that hard to believe? Hero- Villain or whatever he is, he’s still Midoriya.”
Bakugou remained silent.
“We need to check hospitals. Even if the villains found a way to disguise themselves, it would be hard to disguise Midoriya. If they did take him to a hospital, there is sure to be something going on.” Todoroki said.
“The two nearest hospitals are at the same distance.” Bakugou said. “He could be at either.”
“You’re right, but I think I know where we have a bigger chance of finding him.” Todoroki said, pulling out his phone from his pocket. He tapped on it for a moment before stepping beside Bakugou and showing him a map. “We’re here. The store we last saw him, is over here. I’m assuming Midoriya was staying somewhere near that store, probably even somewhere between the store and this place.”
“And the hospital nearest to that… You think he might be there.” Bakugou said.
“It’s worth a try.” Todoroki said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Bakugou nodded.
“I still think it’s a waste of time, but we don’t have any other leads so... Let's go.”