Chapter Text
Ochaco lifted her head as the door opened. When none of them appeared any different from when they'd left, she dropped her view. Nothing new to add to their growing list except another failed location. What good was her warping if she couldn't find anyone with it?
"Okay, try warping again Uraraka. Maybe he was just too far for you to warp and you needed more strength?"
"All 8 times? Unlikely, but I'll give it a try. It's what he would do too."
Ochaco focused on the gravity signature he last had and tried to bring herself there. She didn't move. His gravity signature didn't appear to exist anymore than it had the last 8 times she tried. He had to have changed it somehow.
"Okay, either he gained a whole lot of weight or he lost a bunch because I still can't warp to him. If he doesn't weigh the same as when I last touched him, this won't work. I'm sorry."
"Okay, what about something on him? There's no way he's going around without a single notebook!"
"Well, the notebook he always had on him, was sent to us by mail order from an unknown PO box run by villains. Either he's captured, dead, or on the run."
"He's not dead. He sent us his notebook and he changed his weight. Dead people can't do that."
"Right, but it's been a month Kaminari. Anything can happen in a month."
"Right... Bakugo! We can cross off that mall you said we should check. The abandoned one, I mean."
"Oh... Yeah, okay. Did any of you get anything? The longer it takes to find him, the more trouble he could get in."
Ochaco turned towards Bakugo. He was feeling his loss stronger than everyone else. He was one of the ones with him since school started. He was right there when the villains captured him, much like her, Tsu, Shoto, Shoji, and Tokoyami.
But even more than all of that, he was always there for Bakugo. Shoto talked about how he was the only one who could calm him down or convince him to do something. Without the whole "don't tell me what to do." And he was as in love with him as Ochaco is.
"I'm sorry, did we agree to stick with his official fake name or are we calling him Midoriya? This is an important question and I've been in the dark for the entire month now. Please, please, tell me."
"Pikachu, I swear... just call him his real name."
"Oh, okay, cool. Um, Shoto? You know those things aren't edible, right?"
Ochaco flicked her eyes over. Shoto had a gum wrapper in his mouth. He looked completely unfazed by being caught like that.
"I'm just getting more flavor off of it."
"Carry on!"
"We need to focus! I get that's hard for your ADHD brains, but we need to find him, now!"
The common room became silent.
"Let's go over everything we have again."
"Alright, the last place anyone saw him was the training camp."
"Incorrect, his siblings were with him, and at least saw him at that bar."
"Why don't we try talking to them. Bakugo you have "Dabi's" number and Himiko gave her's to Uraraka!"
"That could work..."
"Fine... but he doesn't like me."
"Does he like anyone?" Was said at the same time as, "Does anyone like you?"
Bakugo glared at Kaminari and Sero.
He pressed call and the phone rang for a few moments before pick-up. The small hello on the phone was unfamiliar to Ochaco but it definitely wasn't who they were supposed to be calling.
"Eri? Can you please put someone older on the phone?"
"No, sorry. They're fighting again....... I can put Compress on the phone."
"Don't."
"Why are you there," Shoto asked, ignoring Bakugo's glare.
"Because Touya and Himiko said I couldn't be home alone."
"We can cross off his apartment..."
"Shush, Fumi. Eri why don't you tell me what they're arguing about?"
"I'm not sure. They won't tell me, said I'm too young to know. But I know Zu's in danger."
Silence as they try to figure out what zoo she meant.
"Did you mean a zoo or a person named Zu?"
"Oh, it's a nickname. He told me his real name a while ago..... I forget how long and said I should probably call him that. Himiko still calls him Kumo, though."
Looks like hope was back for another round in the ring.
"Is "Kumo" there with you? We'd like to talk to him."
Ochaco tried to keep the eagerness out of her voice as she spoke.
"Um, no. He's in the other room. I think they're arguing about him. I like Spinner, he's nice."
Eri has really disjointed conversations. They weren't even talking about everyone else. Bakugo and Hitoshi shared a look. Hitoshi spoke first.
"Eri, could you tell me who else you like in the league?"
"I like big sis Mag most days just not right now. Mustard is okay and he's generally non-confrontational. I think that's the word."
Eri sounded out each syllable of the word.
"That's correct, sweetie. You said that word perfectly."
"Thank you! I like Twice but he gets confusing. He's non-confrontational but picks both sides of an argument. I like Himiko and Touya. Compress is kind of a dad but he has no explicit opinion about the in-fighting. Kurogiri babysits when the others fight. He's making me a snack! I don't like Tomura, he's mean."
"Thank you, Eri. Last question, do you know where you are?"
"I think I'm near Sir. Nighteye. I wanna talk with him and Mirio. I asked if I could visit, I'm just waiting now. Are you guys okay? Zu's been worried."
"Of course he has... tell him we're fine. We are perfectly fine."
"Okay! Bye Toshi, bye Shoto, bye Kacchan, bye Fumi & Darkie! Bye Bye everyone else!"
A huge chorus of "Bye Eri" as they hang up. This new knowledge changed everything.
"This is what we got: They're debating whether to kill Izuku, Spinner, Dabi, and Himiko don't want him dead. Mr. Compress, Kurogiri, Mustard, and Twice aren't choosing sides. Magne and Shigaraki want him dead. They're near Nighteye's patrol route, I've been there before. We have limited time to find exactly where he is and save him because they seem to be on the verge of killing him. We don't have another month of this available. Did everyone hear?"
"How did you even? Where did half of that come from?"
"Because Eri and the 2 of us came up with a way to discreetly signal trouble. If she likes someone, they aren't troubling for now. In this case, liking someone means they're against killing Deku. I'm glad the two of them aren't the only ones, but I have to know why they haven't tried to get him out of there."
"Maybe they're worried about their safety if they even appear to betray Shigaraki? He can dust them with a touch."
"I wouldn't want to betray him either."
Ochaco stood behind Hitoshi as he pulled up Nighteye's patrol routes.
"Hey, isn't he the one you asked Togata about for work studies if they're approved that is?"
"He is. If I'm approved I could scope out the area, relatively undetected. Maybe I could get another one of you along?"
"Hado-senpai said she wants us to meet Ryukyu. We have a guaranteed hero agency."
"Right..."
Ochaco honestly wanted to find him and bring him back now. But the logical part of her knew they had to plan things out or he'd be gone forever. This last month had been crazy.
2 weeks ago
"I can't find him with my warping."
"Try harder."
"I can't just "try harder," either he's lost a lot of weight or gained a bunch. His gravitational pull isn't the same! He can't be found like this."
"We'll figure something out."
"We can't keep pushing ourselves like this. They didn't find a body, Bakugo! He's probably dead!"
"No! He's not dead! He's just missing."
"I wanted to believe that too, but there's been no sign of him for 2 weeks! There was too much blood at that fight! None of it was Endeavor's and All For One's remained mostly around his body. That was Deku's blood and you can't just ignore that fact!"
"Shut up! He's not dead!"
"You're pushing yourself so hard to find what? A corpse, a zombie with malnutrition. Someone who made peace with his death? Why can't you accept we won't find him?"
"Because I've already lost him once! I can't lose him again! Dammit! It's my fault I lost him this time... I can't... I need to find him. I can't rest until I do."
Present
Ochaco regretted her words. She'd given up hope too fast. Honestly, she was about to repeat what she said if the suggestion for the call hadn't been made. She needed to apologize for all of that.
"Bakugo, about what I said 2 weeks ago..... I'm so-"
"Shh, I know. You're sorry, that's fine, I was denying the fact he was dead, I didn't actually believe he was alive. I wanted to and I wanted to search all of Japan for a sign he wasn't dead but I had already given up hope. Now, I'm just running through the motions, but..... there is a chance we can save him, so we're taking it. Forget about apologizing for now and focus on a way to reach him before it's too late."
Ochaco nodded and set herself to training harder. She had to be ready to get him out of whatever situation he got himself in, no matter what.
Tomura glared at the brat. It wasn't at all unreasonable to want him dead. He was dangerously intelligent and he killed Sensei! What more did he need to convince them?
Spinner was completely obsessed with Stain's ideology and his dumb belief that this kid was a "true hero." What kind of hero can't save himself? And what kind of hero let himself get captured by the same people twice?
Coughing from the other side of the room. So the kid woke up again. God damn hero brat being the most annoying thing Tomura has to deal with besides Dabi. Probably because they lived together.
Tomura hated having to argue with his subordinates. Aren't leaders supposed to be listened to unquestionably? He could kick Spinner out but Tomura needed the manpower. He also needed someone to play video games with, but the world destruction plan first.
"Since you're awake, you should eat. Here."
Tomura put as much venom in his voice as possible. The brat made eye contact as he bit into his burnt toast. Tomura glared back as he finished the toast. That toast was basically charcoal, how did he eat that?
"Thanks for the food. It would be a lot easier if I could, you know, use two hands. But ahh, you wouldn't know considering you have 14 extra."
Tomura watched. The brat is panicking but still talking. In fact, he talked more when he panicked. Especially about topics, he didn't understand. His comfy shoes had nothing to do with being quirkless. He manifested his quirk and... actually, Tomura didn't remember. What happened?
Tomura racked his brain for answers but came up empty. His sister, Hana, crossed his mind. She always played with him and she would bake terrible play-doh cookies they would pretend to eat. They had fun together.
Why is he so angry at her again? What did she do? Oh, that's what. She lied and said Tenko wanted to go inside the office. Tenko didn't know. Tenko got in trouble.
It was always "Tenko, stop breaking the rules," or "Tenko, don't push your father." It was never "We should stop him from hitting Tenko."
Tomura scratched at his already raw neck and watched as the brat squirmed in his seat. Well, he's sitting on the floor. It still counts.
This was annoying. Tomura needed something to destroy. If they refused to let him destroy the brat then he could destroy him at video games. All that was left was figuring out how he would play with one hand.
"To go forward hold down on this button. To use an item hit that button. And then you rotate it like this. That turns your vehicle. Any questions?"
"Can I pick the map?"
"No."
"Can I have Rosalina?"
"I main Yoshi. Shigaraki mains Bowser, sometimes Dry-bone. Dabi uses Shy-guy or Toad. Himiko is the only one you should ask if you can have Rosalina because she's the only one who uses the princesses."
"I use Peach most! The babies are all yours, though!"
Izuku clicked on Rosalina. He had no idea why Shigaraki wanted him dead and then wanted to play video games with him. He has 5 controllers, he had 6 before he destroyed one with decay, so all 5 can play together. Eri is allowed to watch the game. They won't argue or discuss his death with her in the room.
"Hey, Eri... Rosalina is like Shoto."
"Really? How?"
"She's an ice Princess and she has light-colored hair, blue eyes, and looks like she could kill you but wouldn't actually kill you."
"More like Touya underneath his hair dye."
"That's fair, but he doesn't have ice."
"He would live in it though."
Eri had a point. Touya's body is built for the cold so he would prefer the cold. Shoto could be fine in the heat or the cold. Touya's hair is white and he has only blue eyes, unlike Shoto's Chimera appearance.
Shigaraki chose Rosalina's ice world as the first map, maybe to be nice.
Shigaraki and Dabi are both normally trash-talkers. Video games make their insults more frequent and worse. Spinner doesn't insult as much while normal but trash-talks on games quite a bit.
Himiko doesn't trash talk while playing games because she's just trying to enjoy herself. She'll discuss game things with Twice or Eri. Izuku does trash talk only when he's gotten comfortable with who he's playing with. He likely won't get comfortable with a death threat still looming above.
"3 times in a row! You said I would lose because I'm trash, well guess what? This piece of gold trash just beat you at your game!"
Tomura grumbled as Dabi gloated. He's not good at video games every other time they play. What did he do?
"Maybe Dabi won because 5 of us are playing."
"5 people play all of the time."
"True, but Dabi, Jin is always hitting you with things because he follows you on the game."
"Uhg, don't remind me."
"We'll settle this, Dabi vs me. No one else. Let's go."
Tomura raced against Dabi, and only because an NPC got a blue turtle shell at the last second, did he lose. He raced him again to prove Dabi's luck was running out but he lost again. Tomura did the third round and defeated him.
Tomura laughed as Dabi sunk his head low, in embarrassment or something. He looked up at Tomura and smiled.
"Guess it really was luck, oh well. You did good, boss."
Tomura felt unease at that. Dabi only called him mostly insulting nicknames. If he hears "Crusty Dusty" one more time he might actually kill Dabi. That name is annoying.
Tomura looks around. Toga, Spinner, and the brat aren't in the room. The small child, Tomura forgot her name, and Twice are playing patty-cake. Magne is chatting with Compress.
"Where did the 3 of them go?"
"Food," the child says.
Tomura nodded but still felt wrong. Would the brat try to poison his food? That didn't seem like a thing heroes would do but that kid didn't seem like a hero often.
"Hey, Eri! We're gonna go pick up some food. We can visit Nighteye on the way. Do you wanna come?"
"Sure!"
Tomura watched as Toga left with Spinner and Eri. Where was the brat now?
Eri held Zu's hand in the duffel bag. They were sneaking him out so they needed to hide him. Spinner carried the bag while Himiko checked behind them for any sign of suspicion from Tomura.
"Are we really getting food?"
"Well, we have to, you can get food once you're dropped off."
"Okay..."
Eri didn't like the idea of being away from Touya or Himiko but she knew it was because both of them were in danger there. At least she'd be able to stay with Zu. Since high school started, she hasn't had enough time with him. Oh, and Mirio goes to school too! She'll get to see him.
Eri attaches the Sun Fish head to the cat's body. It looks funny like this. They're almost there. Eri wonders what they're gonna do when Tomura asks where she is.
"Hey, Himiko?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you gonna do when Tomura asks about me? And what about with Nighteye? Are you sure he'll let us stay?"
"Well, we'll handle Tomura just fine, so don't worry. Nighteye will take you two to UA so you can be around Kacchan and Toshi!"
Eri accepted that.
"We're here."
Eri woke up as the car stopped moving. Izuku shifted himself so he could open the car door. UA's gates were closed, which made sense. It was very late at night and Izuku didn't have his school ID. Nighteye doesn't have a guest pass, he'll just have to wait for a teacher.
The window was tapped by someone in dark clothing. It's either Eraserhead or Midnight.
"What are you doing here so late, Nighteye?"
"I need to drop off a student and his sister. She can't stay at home alone."
"I'll discuss it with the principal. Although, I didn't know a student was out this late. Which one?"
"Hi, Miss. Midnight!"
Shota sat down as Nedzu gestured toward the seat. What could have him calling off his patrol an hour in? Did one of his students run off?
"I know what you're thinking, but it's not that. It's the opposite actually!"
"What are you talking about?"
There's a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
Kayama walks in buzzing. A younger girl Shota recognizes stands beside her. Why is Eri here?
"Hi, Mr. Eraser!"
"Hi, Eri. What's going on?"
"Me and Zu need to stay safe. The nurse lady said she'll take care of him. I'm not hurt like him."
Nedzu smiles at Eri.
"Why don't you go get settled in? I'm sure the girls in class 1-A wouldn't mind setting up a place for you to stay."
"Okay. Bye, Mr. Mouse, bye, Mr. Eraser!"
Eri and Kayama leave the office. Shota stares at Nedzu, searching his face for answers.
"I'm going to Recovery girl's office."
Nedzu let him go.
Shota entered the infirmary quietly. Recovery girl waved him over to her. A body lay unmoving in the bed beside her.
"He's just asleep. He's suffered several burns and bruises that weren't properly healed, he has a fractured ankle, he shows signs of a concussion that didn't properly heal, and..."
Recovery girl lifted the blanket on his right side.
"His entire right arm was blasted off."
Shota swallowed as realization sunk in. The boy in the bed, with bleached hair and green roots, missing an arm. Back at Kamino, a single freckled right arm was found at the scene nearby All For One's body. Too much blood everywhere.
After several blood tests, the DNA was traced back to Midoriya Izuku, someone listed as dead. After several minutes of accepting his fake name, Akatani Mikumo, didn't exist they unofficially decided that kid they know is Midoriya Izuku. Here's the confirmation laying in an infirmary bed after being missing for over a month.
Recovery girl said, "blasted off." All For One blasted his arm off. The burns are likely Endeavor, seeing as he was fighting there too. The bruises could've been anything more recent, bruises should heal within a week. The old concussion could have been from hitting a wall or the ground. The fractured ankle could be from running.
"I need to inform my students."
"Tell them in the morning. They all need rest."
"Bakugo wake up!"
"If he doesn't get up, I'm telling Eri he died."
"What the hell do you mean? How are you gonna call her if I'm dead?"
"Good, you're awake! Eri's downstairs."
Eri ate pancakes as she explained to Kaminari and Sero what living with a temperamental villain boss is like. Tomura had a habit of losing sight of the world around them when playing video games.
Kacchan came downstairs too. Currently, he is talking with Ochaco, Zu's girlfriend. They want to know what's going on. Eri didn't know if she could explain it.
Mr. Eraser enters the building not too long after. He looks tired but serious and pleased. He must be happy to have Zu back.
"For the 8 of you downstairs, Eri will be staying here for now. She doesn't have anyone at home right now. Give her a room to sleep in on the girl's side or she can sleep in her brother's room. Ask her first."
The 8 of them all share a single silent look.
"Moving on, last night Sir Nighteye drove up here with Eri and an injured teenager. This teen is currently in Recovery girl's office. They have multiple injuries and they should be awake soon. Please don't crowd them when you visit."
"Is it... is it Deku?"
"Midoriya Izuku was admitted to the infirmary at 11:46 pm."
Mr. Eraser leaves while all 8 teenagers burst with excitement. Toshi almost falls trying to pull his shoes on as he walks. Kacchan and Ochaco reach the door first.
"He's here and he's okay!"
"Aizawa-sensei said he's injured and resting. How is that okay?"
"It just is! Let's go!"
Ochaco grabs Shoto and Kacchan and runs with them. Toshi, Kaminari, and Sero follow behind. Iida and Tsu run behind as well, with a calmer attitude.
Ochaco is realizing how bad things must be as she enters the room. Of course, she couldn't warp to him on school grounds. She tried before she took off running with Shoto and Bakugo. His gravitational pull was still different from when she last touched him.
"Midoriya? Akatani? Egg??"
"Kaminari, we said to use his real name."
"I know, I'm sorry."
The boy in the bed was almost unrecognizable. His hair had green in it. They'd all seen him without the wigs and his hair was only ever white then. His eyes are open but they're so green. They aren't familiar with that. His face is covered in dirt and his freckles stand out more. Did he have freckles before? The scar on his face, Bakugo says it's his fault, stands out more.
The gap in his teeth is still the same. The mess of curls still falls the same. The "too tired to exist but my friends are here" smile is the same. His left arm, his chest, and his face have new minor burns. His right leg is propped up. Fractured ankle it seems.
The most confusing thing of all, answers the question Ochaco has had for a month now. His right arm isn't attached to his body. It's missing completely. Either it was cut off or just blasted. Maybe Shigaraki did it?
"Deku..."
"Morning... Sorry about not cleaning up... kinda was trying to not die. You guys look like you've seen a ghost. What have I missed so far?"
"That's him. That's definitely him."
"Sorry, I know I was worried about being accused of identity theft but I'm not stealing my own identity. I'm not sure I could do that."
"I missed you!"
Ochaco threw herself at Deku, it's a cute nickname in her opinion. He laughed at her reaction but still managed to hug her tight with one arm. Everyone else joined the hug slowly.
Shoto fell onto the bed and refused to let go of Deku, lest he left again. Bakugo dragged Deku into a chokehold kind of hug. Toshi laid on him. Tsu hugged him with her tongue. Iida pulled Deku into a hug. Kaminari cried into Deku's shoulder. Sero got dragged in by other huggers.
"I'm glad to see you all too. I heard you were doing okay. Did I miss any important class things?"
"Actually, yeah. We got our provisional licenses."
"Oh, cool! I thought that was a second-year thing. I'm proud of you guys. I'll have to wait until next year to get mine."
"Just join them at the remedial course. I don't think they would mind considering you'd been kidnapped."
"Remedial course? Alright, cool."
The 9 of them discuss all sorts of things that have been going on. Ashido discovered how to gel hair with her acid. Kaminari blew out the school's power by accident. Bakugo has ballet classes after Kaminari said he wasn't good enough at ballet to teach someone else. Shoto is learning ballet.
"Hey, Ochaco. We still need to go on a proper date."
"That might be a little difficult with your arm situation."
"Yeah... we'll work it out. I can still hold your hand at least."
Ochaco's face flushed. She heard snickering from 2/3 of the bakuboys.
"Uh, yeah, that's a positive. We can go...... is next week okay?"
"Yeah, next week is okay. How much classwork do I need to catch up on?"
"Not much, we're not too far into the second semester. I'll help you catch up if you want."
"Of course I want, you are helping me."
Ochaco blushed harder at his statement.
"That's enough visiting, for now, you all still have class and he needs his rest!"
Recovery girl kicked them out and the 8 of them hurried to get ready for class.