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It's dark and cold, and Izuku struggles to remember why. He blinks, just to make sure his eyes are open, but any light around him does not seem to exist.
He only has a moment to take in that realisation, because in the next, he realises he is in a lot of pain.
The dark hardly matters right now, because suddenly all his senses are overtaken with a flash of white hot pain, a wave crashing throughout his entire body.
He clenches his teeth and breathes through it as best as he can, hoping there's an end to the flood. He'd curl up against the pain to try and protect himself, but any kind of movement only makes the wave rise further, and so he's forced to stay still and try and just breathe.
Finally, the wave abates, and the pain becomes manageable. Or rather, he's just getting used to it.
Trying to take stock of his body, he counts for a constant ache throughout his body, like Katsuki and Yagi have both decided to use him as a dummy in training — and maybe Kirishima has gotten some hits in too. Everything feels sore and tender and bruised beyond all belief.
His arms feel relatively okay, other than that. Unbroken, at least.
His legs—
There's definitely something wrong with his left leg. It doesn't feel like he's gone overboard with One for All, but the pain is eerily similar. Broken, possibly. Dislocated at best, by any means.
His head is aching, a piercing headache that's almost making him glad there's no sign of light. His chest hurts, too. If he breathes in a little too hard, it feels like he's being stabbed slowly and terribly between his ribcage. So that's not looking great either.
"Midoriya?" A voice says raspily. He tilts his head in the direction he thinks it comes from — somewhere close, to his left. Maybe just a few metres away from him.
He knows that voice. He definitely knows the person who's apparently close to him. But Izuku's thoughts are swimming, and most of his attention is stripped away from the pain radiating from his own body.
"Midoriya?" They say again, a little more desperately. "Was that you?"
"Todoroki," Izuku manages to say, finally able to piece together who the voice belongs to.
"Yes," he replies, and there's a clear sigh of relief.
"Where— what happened?" Izuku asks, because he's drawing a blank on his memories. He can remember something from breakfast, maybe, but it's hard to think with his head hurting like it is.
"What do you remember?" Shouto asks carefully, and Izuku grunts.
"Breakfast, maybe," Izuku responds, and Shouto sucks in a sharp breath.
"Did you sustain a wound to your head?"
"I think so," Izuku mutters, and he hears something shuffle, perhaps Shouto readjusting himself. He tries to focus on the sound of it, trying to figure out exactly what the surface of the ground is beneath them.
Concrete, maybe, he’d guess. Shouto stops moving before he can try and pin it down.
"Todoroki, are you okay?" Izuku asks, his mind suddenly flashing with visions of Shouto being gravely injured, bleeding and hurt and stuck, wherever the hell it is that they are.
Shouto gives a small hm. "I'm okay, no major injuries."
"Major?"
"I can still move, and I am not injured in a way that impedes my abilities," Shouto clarifies. "Just minor injuries."
Izuku breathes out in relief. He's still trying to remember what happened, but his mind is remaining frustratingly blank. He tries to clench his fingers down and feel the ground, but his hands are covered, as is the rest of his skin. He's in his hero costume, he recognises.
There's small tears in it, and Izuku can only tell because those sections exposed to the air feel a little colder. There's no wind or other movement that would otherwise help him.
This kind of cold is bitingly familiar, and he guesses that Shouto has used his ice, and it’s currently still frozen in the area that they’re in.
It's dark, the temperature is cold like Shouto has encased the room with ice, and he starts to suspect what has happened.
"We were evacuating a building," Shouto says, finally, before Izuku can think any further. "We got a tip that someone was trapped on one of the levels. The building collapsed much sooner than it should have."
"Did... did we get them?" Izuku asks.
Shouto is quiet for a moment.
"No," he says quietly. "No, we didn't. We couldn't find them."
Izuku lets out a frustrated, despairing breath. They couldn't save a civilian. And now they've gone from being the heroes saving people to being the people needing saving.
He feels frustratingly helpless, but there's very little he can do to fix it. He's too injured to move on his own right now.
"Is it just the two of us?" Izuku asks.
"No," Shouto says again. "Bakugou was with us."
Izuku tries to sit up, but immediately pain flattens him right back down. He grunts as he lands heavily, his chest only hurting so much worse for his efforts. His ears are ringing, and his head is pounding terribly, and his heart is clenched with wild terror.
"-doriya? Midoriya!" Shouto calls out, trying to get his attention.
Izuku manages a reply, though he knows it sounds garbled. He takes a few breaths, as deep as he can manage right now without setting his chest alight with pain, though every movement still sends a fiery wave through him.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," he finally manages to say coherently. "Where's Kacchan?"
"I can't see," Shouto replies, his voice taking a cold edge that's tinted by frustration. He's feeling the same type of frustrating helplessness that Izuku is. "But I can hear him breathing."
Izuku falls silent at that, trying to listen out for it. His ears still feel like they're ringing, blood still pounding through his ears, but eventually he manages to hear two people's breaths that are not his own. Shouto is to his left, while Katsuki is somewhere in between, closer to his feet rather than his head.
Shouto's breathing is a little louder, a little more steady. Katsuki's seems steady enough as well, no worrying signs of irregularities for now.
"He's not responding?" Izuku asks.
"No," Shouto responds. "Not yet. It's just collapsed, neither of you have been out for too long."
They miss the hitched breath, but they do not miss the pained, groaning inhale.
"Stop fuckin' talking about me," Katsuki grunts, and Izuku tries, desperately, to not let his pained, relieved laugh escape.
"Good, you're conscious," Shouto says, and Katsuki huffs.
The fact he doesn't respond by saying anything more is worrying. Izuku tries to sit up again, but any movement now with his chest just makes him wheeze, and so he elects to stay lying down for the moment.
"Do you remember what happened, Bakugou?" Shouto asks, once Izuku's breathing settles back into something less pained.
"Don't fucking tell me both you idiots knocked your heads?" Katsuki grunts, annoyed.
Katsuki remembers, then.
"Just Midoriya," Shouto replies. "Bakugou, are you injured?"
Yes, he is, Izuku thinks, even as Katsuki grunts and says: "'m fine."
"You were unconscious," Shouto points out.
"Yeah, and I'm fine now. Deku?"
Izuku bites down on his lip. "Less fine."
Katsuki swears, low and heavy.
"Half, how high is your ice?" Katsuki asks.
He must've gotten knocked out before the building came down entirely, Izuku realises. If he doesn't know how high or where Shouto's ice is, likely what he used to keep the debris from falling on top of all of them, then he must've gone down before Shouto used it.
Shouto hasn't used his fire yet, which means he's worried about oxygen consumption. It's a small space, then. And if the ice is the only thing keeping the building from falling on them, then Katsuki won't risk using his explosives to accidentally destroy the structure of it. They need some light, but not if it's at the cost of risking anything worsening.
Right now, then, it's only Shouto who has any indication about their predicament.
"It's... low. A little metre above us, maybe. You can kneel, but not stand. I was too far away from both of you," Shouto answers, clearly upset about it.
"You saved us," Izuku states firmly, because he will not let Shouto feel guilty about this when he's probably the only reason Izuku isn't any worse off.
"Save your breaths," Katsuki snaps, a warning and a reminder.
If the cavern is small enough that they can't stand, and there's no light coming in, then they're likely entirely sealed in a small pocket. They don't have oxygen to spare.
He hears some movement, and he thinks it's from Katsuki. Then, there's a crackle from that direction, a type of sound that, if Izuku is really listening for it, means Katsuki is about to set off an explosion.
He doesn't hear it much, anymore. He did, more as a kid, and more at the beginning of their training when Katsuki was firing up for a big, accumulative explosive. Katsuki's reaction time has increased to the point he can fire off any kind of explosion in that same split-second, so the crackle is now the same time as the bang.
Katsuki won't risk a big explosion, Izuku knows. He’s just using the sound as a warning for both of them to let them know what's about to happen.
Izuku braces himself, because he knows the brightness will be almost blinding in this kind of darkness. Katsuki is going to do something to just give them a bit of light, likely just enough to assess the cavern and judge how they can move in it, and Izuku wants to make sure he can see that too.
Katsuki sets off a couple of very small, contained explosions. More like sparks than anything.
Izuku notices a couple of things.
Katsuki is only using his left hand. He doesn't have a weaker side, but he does subconsciously stick to his right side when he's setting off these types of sparks for more mundane purposes. Just to get rid of some energy, usually.
It means that his right side is probably injured, enough to affect his carefully crafted control and enough that he doesn't want to risk using it in the cavern.
Shouto's information is accurate — the ceiling above is close, and covered in ice like an arc. They're covered entirely from above, but Izuku's side of the cavern has been entirely covered in ice, from the top of the cavern to the ground.
Shouto had likely thrown out his ice above Izuku, and curled it back around to get Izuku under the cover just in time. Judging by how low it is, and how close Izuku is to his side of the ice wall, Shouto probably only had a second to try and save them. Izuku is very, very thankful for just how fast Shouto can act.
The rest of the walls around them are just debris, walls and floors crumpled into pieces around them.
The ice will make it harder for Katsuki to really sweat, meaning they can't use any big explosions. And with his right arm injured, that's likely out of the equation anyway. But considering Katsuki hasn't offered it yet, and Shouto hasn't suggested it, means they probably have too many levels of building on top of them.
Izuku quickly glances around their cavern. Shouto is maybe three metres to his left, Katsuki about the same but on the other side of the cavern. Some debris has fallen under the sheet of ice, crumbling into their small cavern, but nothing substantial blocks their paths from each other.
Shouto is already moving the moment he gets a bit of light, crawling his way over to Izuku. The sparks subside, and they fall into darkness again.
He can hear Katsuki moving too, with small, bitten-back grunts accompanying his movements. Shouto reaches Izuku first, his hands carefully sweeping over the area before he hits Izuku's own arm. The small movement makes Izuku realise just how sore everything is.
Katsuki gets closer, and Shouto lets out a small pst once he's basically on top of them, trying to avoid getting collided into. Katsuki grunts, and his fingers brush against Izuku's leg as he tries to figure out exactly where they are.
Unfortunately, it's Izuku's bad leg, and the pain immediately washes over him with nauseating consequences. He thinks he hears Katsuki, maybe Shouto, swear, and he tries to use it to focus on anything other than the feeling of wanting to throw up, because that won't be of any help.
And if Izuku gets moved onto his side so that he doesn't choke, he doesn't know if he'll be able to remain conscious because of it. So he tries to focus on not throwing up, trying to focus on his breathing instead. Anything other than the pain.
Shouto's hand comes up to cover his forehead, and the cooling relief helps. He swallows down his nausea, knowing that he won't at least throw up this instant. When Izuku calms down, Shouto speaks again.
"Injuries?" He asks, though it's more of a demand for a report.
"Head. Chest. Leg," Izuku lists out the three worst areas.
At least, this time, it's not really his arms.
But his leg is worrying, because that means he's also unable to use his Quirk properly. He imagines he was using Shoot style to try and force some of the collapse upwards, but there would have been only so much he could've done.
There's a warning crackling again, and Izuku squints his eyes in preparation. It's a little worse, now that Katsuki is closer, but Izuku squints through it to try and take stock of his own body this time.
Katsuki has his hand close to Izuku's leg, and Izuku bites down on his cheek as he spots the blood darkening his costume and the ground beneath him. His leg is also angled in a way that definitely means it's broken.
Katsuki moves his hand over Izuku's body, checking over the rest of him. There's no visible signs of any injury on his chest, though Katsuki carefully looks it over to make sure. It’s probably his ribs, then.
Shouto's face twists as he lifts his hand from Izuku’s forehead, and Katsuki also notices the movement.
Katsuki's face is very carefully blank.
Probably because he knows that Izuku can read most of his expressions. Unfortunately for Katsuki, the decision to make his face blank tells a lot more than he probably ever wants to.
Katsuki reacted to his chest with suspicion. Izuku has also listed his head as a sore point, which means they know there's an injury there. Judging from their reactions this time, they can actually see the injury.
"Head wounds bleed worse than what they are," Izuku mutters, because he figures that's probably why Shouto and Katsuki are reacting in such a way.
"Shut up," Katsuki tells him, fingers twitching every few seconds with a spark to give them a brief flash of light.
Shouto reaches down for his utility belt, pulling off a few different capsules. He goes to hand one over to Katsuki but he pauses, looking at Katsuki's left hand which is their only source of light right now.
"Him first," Katsuki says, and Shouto's mouth twists but he seems to come to an agreement.
He makes the decision not to hand Katsuki one of the capsules, which means he's prioritising the use of light rather than an extra hand to help out with Izuku's injuries.
Shouto uncaps one of the capsules, breathing out an apology before he tilts some of the disinfectant it contains on Izuku's head wound.
And fuck, it hurts so badly.
There's definitely an open wound there, then.
He hisses through his teeth, and he feels Katsuki rest his elbow gently on his stomach. "Stop moving."
He tries to listen as best as he can, because he knows Katsuki is desperate for him to actually take heed if he's using words right now when he's being mindful of oxygen intake.
Shouto shuffles down, moving next to Izuku's leg. Katsuki has to brace his elbow, as well as use his right hand, to keep Izuku's thigh as still as possible as Shouto pours the disinfectant on an open wound there.
That's worse, and the disinfectant makes it feel like Shouto has instead just set his leg on fire. As well as being broken, he's definitely got some type of open wound there as well.
Recovery Girl is not going to be pleased about this. At least this time it's really, truly, not his fault.
He bites down on his lip hard enough he thinks he makes it bleed. Which, comparatively, is hardly anything to worry about.
Katsuki eases up once he's sure that Izuku won't squirm any further. His sparks are carefully angled closer to Shouto, giving him more light, and he's also trying to block Izuku's gaze to his own leg.
Once Shouto deals with that, he makes his way back up near Izuku's head. He holds up two capsules, and it takes Izuku a couple of moments to properly discern what they are.
Water in one. Pain medication in the other.
It's not an offer — he knows Shouto won't let him go without either of these things. It's just an explanation, a warning.
He gives a small nod, and Shouto uncaps both of the capsules and sets them by his side. With one hand, he carefully reaches under Izuku's head and lifts it from the ground, keeping his head tilted up.
With his other hand, he reaches down for one of the capsules, and he slowly tips it in Izuku's mouth. Pain medication, and Izuku swallows it down and tries not to succumb to the feeling of needing to cough.
He does, but only after the capsule has been lowered from his lips while Shouto reaches for the capsule with water. Shouto gives him a moment, making sure he's in the clear, before he gently tips the water down. He takes it slow, carefully only giving Izuku small sips at a time.
Shouto lowers the capsule down before he can finish it, rationing it.
There's three of them, after all, and it seems like the building has only just collapsed. It might take a while for anyone to find them.
Izuku's eyes drift up, looking up at the ceiling of ice. There's a chance that the building and rubble will shift, especially if the rescue team digs down. Shouto will be able to reinforce the ceiling, but they're not working with a lot of room, and doing anything to risk their oxygen supply will be a risk.
Sometimes rescue teams can take days to dig beneath the rubble, if there's no heroes available with abilities to help.
Izuku doesn't remember if this was the only building to fall. It might have been an earthquake, but most buildings are solidified a lot better than this in those instances. This seems like complete and utter destruction, a very large building on top of them, so it was likely something targeted.
And if all three of them were in the same building, then they were definitely just dealing with something in this one alone. If they were teamed up with anyone else, and there were more buildings, they likely wouldn't have split into this group to go together.
"Only this building?" Izuku asks, just to get confirmation, and he sees Shouto nod in the brief flash of light.
That's good, then. That shortens the time it'll take for this building to be searched through, and more resources directed just to this one. If it's only them in the rubble, and one last civilian, then the teams will hopefully be able to head directly to them.
"It was a set-up," Katsuki says, his voice as quiet as it ever gets. But it's more dangerous than ever.
Shouto's head whips around to stare at Katsuki. Katsuki inclines his head to Izuku.
"He figured," Katsuki explains.
Izuku, unfortunately, remembers making no such deduction. But it makes sense, from the information he has. A single, targeted building. Three of them heading in for one last civilian, tipped to have been trapped down in the bottom levels. All three of them move fast, and they would have split up to search different floors.
If they were so close, then it means they were likely meeting back up, or just about to split up.
Shouto told him earlier that the building collapsed before it should have. They likely knew it was crumbling, set to go down, but they all likely made the deduction that they had enough time to make the recovery.
Something must have changed. Something must have happened that they were unprepared for.
Shouto's expression is closed over and dangerous. Izuku is almost glad that Shouto is stuck here with them and unable to go after the person responsible — because from his look, right now, Shouto would definitely make them pay hell for it.
Shouto turns and holds up a capsule, focusing on Katsuki. Katsuki looks like he's about to challenge the help, but Shouto stares at Katsuki's hand.
Katsuki won't be able to properly manage his injury with only one hand, and with no light to help him. Katsuki glares, but he doesn't waste energy on verbally arguing.
Shouto moves a little closer, and Katsuki doesn't make a sound as Shouto inspects his wound. Shouto opens his last capsule of disinfectant, which means there's an open wound on Katsuki as well, but Katsuki still does not make a sound as it's applied. Izuku still can't see properly, because Shouto is blocking his view and Katsuki is also making sure Izuku isn't getting a glance either.
Eventually, Shouto leans back, and reaches for the capsule of water that Izuku had a drink from. He takes a small sip, then offers it to Katsuki.
Katsuki still glares, but the sparks of light stop as he snatches the capsule out of Shouto's hand. Everything feels still, for that moment, the darkness once again surrounding them, none of them speaking.
He doesn't have an ear-piece communication device settled in his ear. He'll have to wait for Katsuki to light up the cavern again to try and look, but he imagines that even if Katsuki or Shouto have one, then they're likely fried if they haven't already tried to use them to communicate.
But it doesn't matter if the communication is fried — as long as one of them has one, then they can be used as trackers. It means they were part of a mission, and someone on the other end of their communication devices can track them to a rough enough area under the debris.
Izuku still can't remember the scenario that led them into the building. He doesn't know who might have been around them — if Jirou was, then they can rely on being located soon enough. If not, then they'll have to deploy people that can help with searching and locating.
The rescue might take some time, but the sooner they're located, then the sooner teams can figure out how to get them out.
Izuku feels fingers carefully dance across his skin, trying to map out something. Their fingers trace up and then cup at his cheek, and then there's a very purposeful poke on his cheek.
Izuku makes a noise of confusion. Katsuki lights up the area for a moment, trying to judge what's happening. Izuku's taken off guard, but he waits for the next flash, staring at the place he thinks Shouto's ear is.
Katsuki keeps the sparks going, giving them a low light source for a few moments.
Firstly, Izuku notices that Shouto does not have an earpiece in.
Secondly, Shouto is the one that's poked him. Izuku focuses properly on him now, and watches as Shouto presses his palms together and angles them on the side of his face, and then shakes his head.
No sleeping.
Izuku gives him a thumbs-up.
Shouto looks at Katsuki, just to relay the same message, and Katsuki clearly rolls his eyes.
No shit.
Both of them look back at him, though, and it's clear who they're worrying about. Izuku can't blame them. His head is still pounding, and his body aches, and it sounds a hell of a lot easier to just slip unconscious so he doesn't have to deal with it all.
The painkillers don't have any drowsy side-effects, and Izuku knows this. Shouto wouldn't have risked giving them to him if they did. Still, he feels exhausted.
A building collapsing on top of you might do that, he supposes.
Maybe he's a little delirious. Definitely a little concussed.
No wonder Shouto doesn't want him to sleep.
He moves his arm a little, just enough to send a wave of pain through him. It works to wake him up slightly, and that's all he needs.
Katsuki's light goes out again. Saving it up, storing what he can. With the ice encasing them, it'll be difficult for Katsuki to get any sweat at all soon enough.
Izuku, faintly, just thinks he's glad that his pain tolerance is so high. If he started to go into shock now, with his injuries, and the ice, they'd have only one more problem to deal with.
Izuku starts to count, trying to keep track of the time. One, two, three, four-
Roughly five minutes on, Katsuki's fingers spark. He holds them just long enough to meet Izuku's eyes, and when he does, he stops.
Five minutes, again, Katsuki does the same.
Izuku takes to tapping at the ground every time his count reaches a minute. It keeps him focused, something to do, and it also reassures Shouto and Katsuki that he's awake.
Katsuki doesn't create any sparks when Izuku reaches his fifth tap.
Izuku keeps counting, but he's lost track of how many taps it's been. Katsuki or Shouto must be counting, though — there's little else to do, anyway. And Katsuki's fingers spark at some point, just enough to check on the state of everyone, before he snuffs it out again.
Maybe every twenty, thirty minutes now, Izuku guesses.
He's not too sure why Katsuki does it, though. Izuku is keeping time, but that hardly matters to any of them right now. Whether they keep track of the time or not, they can't control how long it'll take for the heroes to come rescue them.
Creating a source of light might help their sanity a little, maybe keep them all reassured they're all still actually with each other, and that's the only conclusion Izuku can come to.
Time passes slowly. Izuku listens to the sounds of Shouto and Katsuki breathing. Every once in a while, they shuffle slightly, changing positions or moving. Katsuki's shoulder clicks, at one point, and the sound of it echoes in the cavern.
Katsuki's sparks light up, marking a time that Izuku still hasn’t properly figured out.
Some time after that, Izuku's throat goes dry. His body temperature is starting to drop — his suit is well insulated, but those scratches in his suit are damning, and it's starting to feel like the slight chill is creeping and growing across his skin.
He starts to cough, and it's hell on his ribs.
His arm comes up reflectively, hand clutching at his chest like that's going to help. Shouto helps him lift his head carefully, and his other hand soothes over Izuku's chest, trying to find the place of injury. He does, only pressing slightly, and Izuku wants to scream.
Shouto apologises with a whisper and lifts his hand, and focuses on keeping Izuku as still as possible. When Izuku's breathing starts to level out, the lump in his throat finally clearing, Shouto lifts the capsule of water up and helps him slowly sip at it.
Katsuki keeps his sparks going for the duration of this.
Once Shouto has lowered him back down, Katsuki's sparks stop.
Distantly, Izuku realises he's lost track of time.
Something hits the ground, the same kind of cadence that's been echoing throughout the cavern for every minute, but it is not Izuku.
They hit it three times. And then, a minute later, they hit the ground again.
They poke Izuku. On his hand. He thinks it's Katsuki.
Izuku picks up counting again.
Katsuki's hand slaps down sooner than Izuku's count, and Izuku immediately rights his count again.
The next time, they tap the ground together.
The next tap, Izuku's hand is the only one to hit the ground.
He gets back into the rhythm of it.
He has to move his arm every few minutes, because the drowsiness is really starting to get to him now. He grunts in pain with one of the movements, overdoing it, and he feels someone's fingers encircle his wrist gently. Shouto, then.
He doesn't know if his eyes are open or closed anymore. He purposely scrunches his eyes together at one point, and then opens them, telling himself open. They are open.
He must close them again. His thoughts slow. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.
"Deku!" Two voices say together, and Izuku feels something tap against his cheek rapidly, panicked.
He groans, because he had a moment of relief, and now everything hurts and why the hell did they wake—
He fell asleep.
Immediately his stomach drops with realisation. He flings his eyes open, right at the same second Katsuki sets off sparks again. Too early, Izuku would guess.
He meets Shouto's eyes, which are wide and panicked. Katsuki is glaring at him, and Izuku can see the anger and annoyance and the worry there.
He gives them a small nod. Awake. I'm awake.
Katsuki's sparks take a bit more time to go out, this time.
A hand taps down again. Izuku starts to count, and meets them at the next tap.
He counts forcefully in his head. Thirty one. Thirty two. Awake. Thirty four. Awake.
A brush of air seems to come across his lips. Izuku's arm raises to meet it, and his hand accidentally knocks against someone else's. He's startled, and he bites back down on an instinctive apology. He just brushed against Shouto, he's guessing, judging by the angle of the hand.
Shouto's hand carefully sets down on his upper chest, near his collarbones, and his fingers slowly work up Izuku's body until they come to rest at his neck. He gets under Izuku's costume, and presses his fingers down on Izuku's pulse.
Izuku's lost count again.
Katsuki uses sparks again, just enough to see what's happening. They drop quickly, once he realises what's happening. Katsuki keeps the count, because his hand taps down.
Shouto's fingers lift from his neck. Izuku isn't too sure what Shouto comes to the assessment of — he can't really feel his own heartbeat, right now. Everything just hurts, different things pulsing with different waves of pain, and he has little hope of pinning that down to the movements of his heart.
Time passes.
Katsuki sparks light up twice more. Izuku counts his taps, and counts that Katsuki is doing it every thirty minutes.
Shouto checks his pulse once more, in that time.
They're approaching the next lot of sparks, Izuku currently at his twenty-fifth tap for this round, when there's the sound of something else, suddenly, in the cavern.
The only sounds, for this entire time, have just been from themselves.
It's coming from above them. It's a deep groaning, the sounds of debris shifting, small pieces of rubble tumbling. Katsuki's hands spark up.
There's the sound of something creaking, and then there's the sound of something cracking.
The ice.
As soon as they hear it, Shouto throws up another sheet of ice, reinforcing the one above their head. Katsuki's eyes flicker to something, and Shouto's eyes are moving at the same time as his ice, already sending out a sheet to block the rubble that's heading into their cavern from the sides.
The rumbling of the building continues above them. Izuku taps once, twice.
Shouto has to reinforce another sheet of ice. Katsuki keeps the sparks going, just to make sure none of the debris slips any further into the cabin.
One more time, Izuku taps.
Everything becomes still once more.
Katsuki lets his sparks flicker out, but they're all on high-alert now, listening out.
It seems to have stopped though, the movement above them ceasing.
Izuku taps. Katsuki sparks up.
It is getting colder.
He starts to shake, he thinks, at some point. His teeth start to chatter. In the cavern, the sound of it is noticeable.
There's nothing any of them can do. Shouto can't use his flames. Katsuki's sparks do not provide enough warmth to negate the cold — a good thing, for their current haven of ice, really, but not so much for their body temperatures.
Izuku taps, but he thinks he's perhaps a moment too slow, because Katsuki pokes him in the hip.
The movement is gentle, compared to Katsuki's usual handling of him, but considering that Izuku's pain is currently on the verge of unbearable, he figures Katsuki is at least being mindful of that.
He must know Izuku is awake from the teeth-chattering, which is why neither of them seem to panic too much at the fact Izuku seems to have missed the timing of a tap.
Again, Katsuki fixes his timing.
He has to fix it twice more before the next lot of small sparks.
When it happens, he sees Katsuki levelling a very particular expression at him. One he sees in training sometimes, when Izuku's head is a little too lost in the clouds and he loses sight of what's happening in front of him.
Pay attention, fuckin' Deku. Come on.
Izuku tries. He really, truly does.
But his thoughts are sluggish, as is the rest of his body, and he keeps losing the timing. His thoughts stray, and he keeps closing his eyes — and he knows, because Shouto has to tap his cheek when Izuku takes a little too long to tap down again.
Katsuki isn't using his sparks immediately now when Izuku takes a little too long either, mindful now of their enclosing space, most likely. Or he's also getting too cold to properly get his sparks going.
They can't do anything about the temperature. Katsuki can't move too much, either — his arm is likely causing him too much strife to try and do any exercise to get his sweat going.
He might, perhaps, if this situation gets desperate enough that they need some light. But right now, it's not something Katsuki is going to do.
His taps are inconsistent, but Katsuki still lets off sparks when Izuku thinks it is around the right time.
Izuku is worried he's going to fall asleep, and he's not sure if he'll be able to wake up next time. The pain hasn't gotten noticeably worse by most measures, but it's just becoming more unbearable to deal with.
Izuku doesn't have something to focus on, either, to push past his usual limit of pain. Katsuki and Shouto can handle themselves well enough — even with Katsuki's injury, he'll likely be able to manage just fine with his left side alone.
And there's nothing Izuku can quite do to blast their way out of here, not as injured as he is, and not without knowing the actual amount of debris above them. And there could be rescue teams there right now, right above them, and Izuku would not dare risk causing injury to them by sending any projectiles upwards.
They all require saving, down here, but right now — right now, it's Izuku that needs the most help. And there's nothing he can do to change that.
Just as he thinks maybe, maybe he'll just rest, maybe it won't be so bad if he's just asleep, for a little bit, the groaning above them starts again.
"Shit," he hears Katsuki say, mingling with his breath.
Izuku pulls himself back to awareness, because he doesn't want to fall asleep now when there's the possibility of more danger coming down upon them.
Katsuki's fingers spark, but they splutter and are weak. He's too cold, now, to properly ignite even a small amount.
Shouto has to reinforce the ice on another side, because there's too much movement and it threatens to shift into their cavern. Izuku can hear the sound of Katsuki rubbing his palm on the material of his clothes, trying to warm up his fingers again.
Izuku's thoughts are too bleary, too muddled. He can't make sense of things, and he can't remember much. Katsuki's hands sparked one, two, three, four-
But Katsuki sparked them at other points, when they needed light or when Izuku wasn't responding, not just the half hour marks. Izuku can't remember the difference anymore, all those moments blurring together.
It's been hours, he thinks. At least two, certainly.
The rubble shifting like this, after so long, doesn't make sense. Unless there's more tremors in the ground, or —
Or rescue teams are shifting the debris.
It feels like they're all waiting with bated breath, trying to figure out what's happening.
All of a sudden, for the first time since they've been trapped down here, there is a source of light that is not from Katsuki.
It comes from above, a few metres right of their position. Izuku isn't sure what time of day it is — he's not sure if it's early enough to still have the sun above them, but regardless, there is light shining down. Just a small beam, lighting up the debris so close to them.
"Here, here!" Shouto yells out, suddenly, when they hear the debris starting to shift more, and the light begins to expand.
The sound is almost frighteningly loud after so long of near-silence, only sounds from their bodies and whispers passing through. The sound, and the light, are starting to make Izuku's head pound even more.
He squints his eyes, and then eventually closes them against the light, turning his head away.
"No fucking sleeping," Katsuki warns him, hand gently slapping his cheek.
"Not sleepin'," Izuku mutters out, although god, it feels like a fight he's not sure he can win right now.
If he told Katsuki as much, though, Katsuki would actually probably punch him for ever insinuating that he's going to lose a fight against anyone, or anything, that isn't Katsuki himself.
So he doesn't say it. He doesn't really need to. Katsuki slaps his cheek, a little more forcefully this time.
"Awake, Deku," Katsuki snaps.
"They're almost here," Shouto says, words a little more comforting than Katsuki's own. "Just a little longer, Midoriya."
Izuku's palm turns up, and he's not entirely sure what he's asking for, but Shouto's fingers slip through his own and squeeze. Izuku squeezes back, and does it whenever he feels like he's about to slip back to sleep.
The debris keeps shifting. Every movement sends a piercing wave of pain through his head. The light is getting closer, more beams of light piercing through the debris around them.
And then, finally, the light shines down on the ice above them. Shouto's head is upturned, watching it carefully, making sure no cracks appear in their ceiling of safety.
Things move quickly, after that.
After hours in the darkness, with very little movement and very few changes, it's disorientating. That also just might be Izuku's head injury, though.
The debris above them is shifted, lifted up and away, the pressure lessening from the ice making it crackle.
Izuku can't keep his eyes open long, and even though he tries to look, the sheets of ice make it too hard to properly discern the people above them.
It's not the sun, Izuku realises faintly at one point. It's torches and spotlights, shining down on them.
Shouto waits until everything above the ice is cleared, a straight tunnel up to fresh air and the sky and actual solid, proper ground. Then, he presses his hand to the ceiling, and melts through the ice.
He takes it slowly, carefully. Mindful of the rubble around them, just in case anything decides to suddenly fall down onto them.
Fresh air finally reaches them, no longer leaving them with only the stagnated, dusty same air they've been trying to conserve. Izuku's throat is thankful for it, and the difference is noticeable.
There's voices, shouting down to them. Izuku winces, eyes squinting shut, and his hands come up to clasp around his ears, trying to soften the assault on his senses.
Katsuki tugs at his wrists, once it seems like the shouting has stopped.
"I can get us up there," Shouto says, head gesturing up to the open ground above them.
"Then what the fuck are you waiting for?" Katsuki snaps back.
Shouto looks over Izuku, and then he gives Katsuki a very particular look. Katsuki huffs.
"He'll be fine, let's just fucking get up there," Katsuki says, and Shouto nods.
The ground underneath them becomes sheathed with ice, and then they begin to rise. Izuku keeps his eyes open for just a moment, but the lights shining down on them are too bright and too much, and he has to shield his eyes. The pain is truly ricocheting through him now, every small jostle sending sharp stabs of pain throughout his body.
Katsuki is keeping him still, he notices, making sure that he doesn't slip. Shouto is keeping their ascent as smooth as he can — moving slowly, but there's definitely a hint of panic that feels like it's chasing at their heels, pushing them closer to the surface a little faster than Shouto probably means to.
Izuku keeps his eyes closed and bites down on his lip so hard that he feels a fresh wave of blood coat his tongue. It makes him gag, and Katsuki tilts his head to the side as Izuku starts to cough, trying to rid the taste from his mouth.
Voices, he hears. Katsuki's and Shouto's, both firm in their replies.
Him, first.
There's hands on his bodies, fingers gently pressing over wounds and his pulse points.
"Deku?" An unfamiliar voice says, and Izuku forces his eyes open. It takes him a moment to place that it's a paramedic above him, smiling kindly as his eyes meet Izuku's. "Great, great, you know what's going on?"
Izuku gives a small nod, and the paramedic's smile doesn't change, even though Izuku can feel his hands carefully feeling over his injuries. "Okay, that's great. We're just going to load you up in the ambulance, alright?"
Izuku does his best to nod again. He feels a neck brace gently slip around his neck, and his body is shifted. There is no longer ice under him.
There's a countdown, and then Izuku is carefully lifted on the stretcher they've gotten under him.
Distantly, he hears Katsuki's voice. "Fucking get in there with him, half 'n half!"
"Ah, I hear you'll be joining us," the paramedic's voice says, slightly amused. Izuku's teeth grind together as there's a small jostle as his stretcher is connected and lifted into the ambulance. "That's good, Hikaru can check you out while you're with us."
Izuku can't hear if Shouto replies. He can only hear blood rushing through his ears, and dimly, the sound of sirens piercing through the air.
A needle slips into his arm, and other things are wrapped around his skin. The paramedic who talked to Izuku, as well as another voice, talk quietly amongst themselves, relaying information.
"Deku?" The paramedic asks, and Izuku gives a small grunt of acknowledgement. He feels bad that he can't speak properly, but this is truly the best he can do. "Okay. My Quirk can allow you to sleep peacefully, if you'd like. Would you like to rest, now?"
Izuku's thinking of Shouto and Katsuki's orders to him, echoing throughout the cavern.
No sleeping.
"Your vitals are okay, Deku. I wouldn't offer this if I wasn't confident that it'd be safe to do so, and I can wake you at a moment's notice," the paramedic explains.
Izuku forces his eyes open, and he searches for Shouto.
Shouto's sitting down beside him, another paramedic wiping at his scratches and cleaning him up. He looks a little pale, but overall, he looks okay.
Shouto meets his eyes, and his hand reaches out to hold Izuku's.
Shouto nods, and Izuku feels his lips tilt up slightly in a smile.
"Please," he says. Though he is looking at Shouto, they know this is not a word meant for him.
The paramedic hums, hand swiping over Izuku's forehead, and Izuku's eyes close.
Just before he sleeps, he sees Shouto give him a reassuring, small smile.
Shouto's okay. Katsuki's okay.
Izuku lets his eyes fall closed, assured that everything will be just fine.