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"Everyone, please line up along the side of the bus so that Mr. Aizawa can split our class into groups for the museum tour!" Iida shouted.
The students of class 1-A found themselves standing outside of Japan's hero museum. Inside the halls of the building was the history of hero society as they had come to know it. They were here in correlation with a project they had for their history class. Their teacher wanted them to pick an exhibit and write about it, and the easiest way to make sure everyone had a chance to visit the museum was to plan a field trip.
So that was how the class found their way here.
"I can't wait to see what's inside." Midoriya said as he bobbed on his tip toes. He was clutching his notebook to his chest, a look of excitement etched on his face.
"Have you really never been here before Deku?" Uraraka asked.
"No. I had a chance to go in elementary school, but I was sick when that field trip happened so I didn't get to go." Midoriya admitted. "My mom never really had the time to take me after that either." He added.
"I've never been here either." Todoroki stated, gazing up at the building. The museum was roughly three stories tall, each floor dedicated to different time periods in hero society.
"Really? I would've thought you would've been here before." Uraraka said.
"The school I went to before UA wasn't big on field trips, and I never really wanted to visit this place growing up." Todoroki admitted with a shrug.
"Well now you have the chance." Iida stated as he stepped into line beside the three students.
Aizawa finally emerged from the bus, fatigue ever present in his gaze as he moved to eye all the students.
"Alright, listen up because I'm only saying this once. You'll be split up into five groups for the tours. You'll have three hours for the tour, and any individual looking around. I expect all of you to be back to the bus at 4 o'clock sharp or else you will be expelled." Aizawa explained.
Todoroki sighed at the threat. He figured that last part was coming as it was a common threat he made towards the class. It was something many of them were used to, but none of them were brave enough to test if he was telling the truth.
A hand landed on Todoroki's shoulder drawing him out of his thoughts. He looked over to find that it was Midoriya. Iida and Uraraka were standing behind him with smiles on their faces.
"Todoroki, you should join our group." Midoriya suggested. "We just need one more person to make four." He explained.
"Oh... Ok." Todoroki said.
He considered the three of them to be friends at this point, so it would hopefully be fun to tour the museum with them.
Little did he know of what was to come.
---
The tour itself was pretty simple, taking only an hour total. This left the group of four with two hours to roam the museum on their own, and decide which exhibit they wanted to do their project on.
Midoriya had already decided to do his on the early years of All Might, which was no surprise to the group. Both Uraraka and Iida were both still trying to figure out what they wanted to do their project on.
Todoroki was in the same boat as them. He had no idea what exhibit to do his project on. He had hoped the tour would give him an idea, but he had come up with nothing.
This was going to suck.
"Have you figured out what you want your project to be on yet Todoroki?" Iida asked as he turned to face him.
"Not really." Todoroki admitted with a shrug. "Nothing really caught my eye." He explained.
"We could walk around the exhibits again. Maybe looking around on our own will help more then the tour." Uraraka suggested.
"Isn't Midoriya still looking around here though?" Todoroki asked.
"I'm sure we can get him to take a break to walk around again." Uraraka said as she began to look around for him. "I'll go find him. You two wait here." She said before wandering off to find Midoriya.
"What about you?" Todoroki asked. "Did you figure out your project yet?"
"I have a few idea's, but I wanted to look over the exhibits again before deciding." Iida explained. "I could give you some suggestions for your project if that would help." He added.
"That would be great." Todoroki said.
The two of them approached one of the smaller exhibits in this part of the museum, still waiting for Uraraka and Midoriya to catch up. The exhibit was about one of the earliest hero agencies. There were small statues of the pro hero's who had come together to form the agency, each one of them with a nameplate before them. Todoroki could recognize a few of the names from the history classes they had taken, while others were a little more obscure.
"It's amazing to think that what we're working towards started with these people." Iida commented as he looked over a plaque set up in front of the exhibit.
"It is." Todoroki admitted, his eyes lifting to the TV mounted on the wall inside the exhibit. There was video footage of these hero's doing their job in the field, and interviews with the people they had rescued during their time. It was all pretty interesting to him to say the least.
Todoroki moved to get a look at the plaque that Iida was still reading over, curious to see what information was there. During their tour they had not had much time to really look over the information with the exhibits, so now that he had a chance he was going to take advantage of it.
Suddenly, a loud crackling sound filled the air around him.
Todoroki and Iida both turned towards the sound as a woman nearby cried out in fear.
There was a man standing in the middle of the large room, a sinister look on his face as red tendrils began to sprout from his back. The tendrils were shooting out in all directions, aiming for people who were standing around the man. The tendrils wrapped around people, holding them high in the air as they screamed in fear.
"It's a villain attack." Iida stated in horror.
The man turned to face the two of them. A strange look passed his face, and then there were tendrils flying in their direction. Todoroki acted fast, stamping a foot against the ground to produce a wall of ice between the tendrils, and himself and Iida. He could hear the ice creaking from the force of the attack. It would not hold forever.
"We can't stay here." Todoroki stated. "We've got to-"
Todoroki did not get a chance to finish before something dark sprung out of the floor where his ice had been casting a shadow. It was aiming right for himself and Iida. He knew without a doubt that it was the use of someone's quirk.
The shadow began to wrap around Todoroki's body, pinning his arms at his side. He was lifted into the air much like the victims of the other quirk user. A quick glance revealed that Iida was in a similar situation, fighting desperately to free himself. His pants had been burned away where his engines were located, a sign that he had tried to use his quirk to escape but had failed.
"Look's like I caught a few strays." A voice spoke.
Todoroki looked down to find a figure emerging from the shadow of his ice wall. It was another quirk user, a woman dressed in black and red. She had a face mask on, making it hard to discern just how old she really was. Both of her arms were turned into shadowy tendrils which connected to the ones that were holding himself and Iida up. He had heard about quirks like this before. People could merge with shadows and control them using their own bodies.
"They're just students. They won't have any money." The man with the tendrils yelled from across the room. He had managed to grab roughly ten people in his attack, and had pulled them all together in a cluster while still holding them down with his quirk.
"Hold on a second." A third voice stated.
Todoroki looked down to find a third figure approaching the shadowy girl. He was a middle aged man with black eyes that seemed to gaze right through him. The sight alone unnerved him. There was something up with this guy.
"Oh... I don't think these two are just students." The man said. "Get a closer look at them." He stated.
The shadow girl brought the two of them closer. Todoroki kept his face as blank as he could, but inside he was concerned. There was no way these people did not know who he was. His face had been on TV thanks to the sports festival, and he was the son of the current number one hero. Iida may be safe, but there was no way he was.
"Oh my god... This is Endeavors kid." The shadow girl whispered before a sinister smile passed her lips. "Which means we've struck gold."
"Exactly." The man said as he stepped closer to Todoroki. "We need to switch up tactics this time around. This isn't just a robbery anymore."
Todoroki glared at the man as he came to a stop. The man eyed him up and down for a moment before reaching out. He grabbed a handful of Todoroki's hair, forcing him to look at the man.
"I wonder how much money we could get for him?" The man mumbled.
"Get your hands off me." Todoroki seethed, flames dancing across the left side of his face. the flames quickly overtook the mans hand, forcing him to release his hair. The man cried out in pain as he waved his hand around to try and put the flames out. A smirk passed Todoroki's face at the sight.
Eventually the flames were put out, and the man glared at Todoroki.
"You damn brat!" The man sneered before raising his uninjured fist. He rushed forward, punching Todoroki hard in the face. The force of the blow caused Todoroki's head to snap to the side. He felt something pop in his nose.
Did this guy break his nose?
"Todoroki!" Iida cried out in horror.
Todoroki would not deny that the blow hurt, but he had dealt with much worse before. This was nothing. He raised his gaze to glare at the man once again despite the blood that dripped from his nose.
"A feisty one. I like that." The shadow girl said.
"Don't let go of either of them." The man stated. "And bring them over here to the others. I have an idea." He added.
A sinking feeling flooded Todoroki at those words.
What did this guy have planned for them?
---
It was the woman's shout that had caught Midoriya's attention.
Uraraka had been beside him, trying to get him to step away from the exhibit he was looking over. He was so enthralled that he missed the first half of the attack.
But when the woman screamed he knew that something was wrong.
Midriya turned towards the sound in time to find large red tendrils emerging from a mans back. They were whipping around in the air, snatching anyone who came to close to them.
"W-What the-"
"WE have to go Deku!" Uraraka snapped, grabbing his hand before he could protest.
In the process he dropped his notebook on the floor. It was left open to the page about his project on All Might's early years.
Uraraka dragged Midoriya towards a side hallway where they would have some cover. Once they were out of sight of the villain the two of them stopped, Uraraka finally releasing her hold on Uraraka.
"What was that?" Midoriya asked.
"I'm not sure. That guy was grabbing people with his quirk, so I was more focused on getting away." Uraraka stated, a sheepish look on her face.
Suddenly, that sheepish look morphed into fear as she spun around to face the direction they had come from. She moved to peak around the corner, and a quiet gasp escaped her throat.
"What is it?" Midoriya asked.
Uraraka looked back to Midoriya with horror on her face.
"I-Iida and Todoroki. They were still in there." Uraraka stated in a hushed tone.
Midoriya stepped forward at this point, wanting to see for himself what Uraraka was talking about. He peaked around the corner, being careful to stay as out of sight as he could.
He was met with the sight of Iida and Todoroki being held up in the air by a woman who's arms had turned into shadowy tendrils. There was a third man there, looking to be older then the other two quirk users. He was saying something to them, but Midoriya could not hear what was being said from this distance.
Midoriya and Uraraka watched with bated breath as the older man approached Todoroki, and grabbed a fistful of his hair. Uraraka gasped once again, her hand trembling where it rested on Midoriya's shoulder.
If this were any other situation Midoriya would be freaking out from her touch alone.
But this was something different. Two of his friends were in the clutches of villains.
They watched as the left side of Todoroki's face lit up with flames, burning the hand that had gripped his hair. The man stepped away in clear pain, the flesh on his hand blistered and red.
Then without warning he punched Todoroki hard enough to cause his head to snap to the side. They heard Iida shout, and then the man was giving orders to the shadow girl.
Midoriya grabbed Uraraka, ducking behind their cover once again.
"This is bad." He whispered.
"What are we going to do? If we go in there alone we could just make things worse." Uraraka said, fear in her tone.
Midoriya did not answer Uraraka, instead reaching for his cellphone. The class as a whole had created a group chat to help keep in touch during events like this, and for when they needed help during situations such as the one they were in now. Midoriya's thumbs ran across the keyboard faster then even he thought possible, finally pressing the send button.
"Trouble. Second level, first exhibition hall. Villain attack. Todoroki and Iida are being held hostage."
Once he had sent the first message to the group chat he copied it, sending it to Aizawa as well so that he understood the situation at hand. Uraraka's phone buzzed in her pocket, alerting her to the sent message.
"We're going to wait here, and keep an eye on things until the others arrive." Midoriya stated. "Let's just hope these guys aren't going to hurt anyone."
"I hope you're right." Uraraka said.
---
Todoroki found himself leaned up against one of the displays beside Iida.
Shortly after being punched in the face the man had revealed his quirk to both students and the other hostages. His quirk involved his eyes, much like Aizawa's. When activated his eyes would turn black, the iris's a bright orange color, and he could freeze people in place for an undetermined amount of time. The experience of it was quite terrifying, as Todoroki had no control over his body as he was dragged towards the other hostages. He was bound with ropes that had been in a duffel bag the shadow girl was carrying, and gagged for good measure.
Todoroki had tried to use his quirk to free himself, no matter how hard he tried he could not summon his fire or his ice. It had to be because of the mans quirk.
Iida was in the same situation as he was, bound and gagged. The look of horror on his face said all that he needed to know. This mans quirk was far to similar to that of Stain. This entire experience was likely drudging up bad memories of that event.
Todoroki's gaze shifted towards the man. He was standing in the middle of the room with a cellphone held to his ear. The other two villains, who he had learned were siblings, were standing beside him. They were keeping an eye on all the hostages, not wanting anyone to get away.
"I suggest you listen to what I have to say if you want to keep these people safe." The man said into the phone. "I have twelve people hostage here, one of which being the number one hero's son. If you want any of them back in one piece, I suggest you hand over 1 billion yen, and a clean get away. Do that, and I won't kill any of these people. You have an hour to get back to me." And then he hung up the phone.
"Do you think they got the message?" The girl asked.
"Oh, I'm sure they got the message. You would not believe the silence on the other end when I mentioned Endeavors son." The man stated as he turned to face him.
Todoroki glared at the man. If he could move he would have frozen this man to the spot. He hated being helpless like this. It reminded him of how he felt as a child when he would be dragged to the training room by his father against his will.
"I'm sure the pro's won't let an up and coming hero be killed. They will listen to what I said, and then we will be free." He stated.
"As if." Todoroki thought. "I'm sure they will catch you within minutes of supposedly giving you what you want."
"Maybe we should send them a message to show how serious we are." The boy suggested.
"No. Not until it becomes necessary." The man said. "I don't want to get my hands dirty unless I have to." He stated.
Todoroki glanced back over to Iida. He was looking back, concern written all over his face.
This was bad.
---
It was not long before Midoriya heard approaching footsteps.
He turned where he sat to find Aizawa approaching, followed closely by Bakugou's group which consisted of Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, bakugou himself, and surprisingly Hagakure.
"What's the situation Midoriya?" Aizawa asked in a hushed tone. The last thing they needed was to be discovered by the villains.
"They've got 12 hostages total, including Todoroki and Iida." Midoriya stated.
"Their leader made demands on his phone. If he doesn't get what he wants in an hour he's going to start killing hostages." Uraraka added in a worried tone.
Aizawa moved to get a look at the situation.
He could see the leader talking to the girl and boy in the middle of the room. The hostages were being held against the far wall, all of them tied and gagged. However, both Todoroki and Iida had been separated from the other hostages. They were leaded against a separate wall, both of them bound and gagged. Their eyes were open, so they were still conscious.
Suddenly Todoroki's eyes met Aizawa's.
There was concern and fear in his bicolored eyes, something that he had never seen before.
Aizawa ducked back, not wanting to chance getting caught by the villains.
"Something else is going on here." Aizawa stated.
"Of course it is. Icyhot and four eyes got themselves taken hostage." Bakugou hissed in annoyance.
"No. Todoroki should have been able to burn through those restraints to free himself, but he hasn't" Aizawa explained. He turned to face Midoriya. "Did you see what their leaders quirk was problem child?" Aizawa asked.
"Uh... No. I don't think he's used one." MIdoriya explained. "At least, I haven't noticed anything."
"I didn't see anything either." Uraraka said in a guilty tone.
"You did what you could given the situation. Don't worry about that." Aizawa said.
"So what the hell are we waiting for? We need to get the villains." Bakugou stated in as hushed a tone as he could manage.
"Kacchan, we can't just go rushing in like that." Midoriya stated. "If we don't know what that guys quirk is then we could easily be taken hostage as well." He added.
"We don't have time for-"
"Enough." Aizawa hissed, quickly silencing the students.
He took one last peek around the corner, watching as the leader approached his captive students. Both Iida and Todoroki were glaring at the man as he grew closer. The man seemed to ignore Iida, moving closer to Todoroki. He reached down, grabbing a handful of his bicolored hair before forcing him to look up.
"I know your old man is loaded given his position. He better pay up if you want these people to survive." The man stated. His gaze shifted over to Iida. "If not, then he's the first to go." He stated.
Aizawa turned back to his students, noting the concern on all of their faces. They must have heard what the man said.
"We can't let them hurt Iida like that. We have to do something." Kaminari stated.
"But how. If we just barge in there then they will go ahead and hurt them both." Ashido pointed out.
"Then what are we going to do?" Hagakure asked in a hushed tone.
Midoriya chanced a glance from their cover. The man was no longer standing in front of his classmates.
Todoroki's gaze was fixed in his direction, but he could not tell if he could see himself.
That's when he noticed something.
Todoroki was blinking.
Midoriya squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. The blinking was not him fighting to keep his eyes open. It was deliberate, the space between blinks either short or long.
Midoriya's eyes went wide at the sight, and he quickly whipped out his phone.
Todoroki was trying to tell him something.
"Midoriya, what are you doing?" Uraraka asked.
"Todoroki is trying to tell me something." Midoriya stated as he began to type something into his notes app on his phone. He wished he still had his notebook, but it was still sitting near the All Might exhibit, so his phone would have to do.
"Are you that stupid Deku? He can't speak with that gag in his mouth." Bakugou hissed in annoyance.
"He's not using words." Midoriya stated, not taking his eyes off his friend. He continued to type until Todoroki stopped blinking, fixing him with a glare. He got the message, and moved so he was behind cover again. "Todoroki told me once that he learned Morse code when he was in middle school. He was trying to tell me what he knows through blinking in Morse code." He explained, pulling up a chart to decipher what he had been told. It took him a few minutes to decipher the message. Everyone was watching him with concern and hope.
"Ok, I think I've got it." Midoriya said.
"Let me see." Aizawa said, holding a hand out for the phone. MIdoriya handed it over without question.
Paralyzed. Can't use my quirk. It's his eyes. Don't look him in the eyes.
"Not good." Aizawa mumbled as he handed the phone back to Midoriya.
"What are we going to do sensei?" Midoriya asked.
"I may have an idea." Aizawa said.
---
It had been roughly twenty minutes since Todoroki had sent the message to Midoriya.
It was a miracle that he had even noticed Midoriya peeking around the corner, but when he did he knew he had to try something. He had learned Morse code when he was in middle school both because it was interesting to him, and because his father said it would be a good tool in the field.
He could still blink on command, so he did his best to get his message across that way. He ran through it twice before Midoriya finally seemed to catch on to what he was saying, and then he disappeared from sight.
If anyone could figure out what he was trying to say it would be Midoriya.
But would he be fast enough?
Todoroki was pulled from his thoughts by a shrill ringtone filling the air. He lifted his gaze towards the leader to find that it was his cellphone.
"Looks like they've got an answer for you." The shadow girl said.
"It would appear so." He said, hitting the answer button. "Hello? Did you get what I wanted?"
Something cold brushed against his arm.
Todoroki's eyes shot to his right in search of the source of the cold touch. He could not see anything there.
"Shh." A voice whispered.
Todoroki froze.
Was that Hagakure?
"I'm going to untie you. I know you can't move." She whispered. "Mr.Aizawa has a plan. When you are able to move again you and Iida need to help the other hostages get out." She said.
Todoroki felt the ropes around his wrists loosen, allowing feeling to return to his fingers. Hagakure was careful to leave his hands in a position that appeared like he was still tied up. Once she was finished with him she did the same to Iida.
"Don't worry. It's going to be ok." Hagakure said before presumably leaving them.
Todoroki turned his gaze towards the leader once again, noting that he was still on the phone. He had not noticed Hagakure near them, which was a good sign.
"No negotiations. Send someone up here with the items, and then I will think about releasing some hostages." He stated before hanging up the phone. He turned towards the other two villains. "Watch all the entrances and exits. I don't want another hero coming in here." He stated.
"Yes sir." They responded before moving towards the hallways that branched off. from the room.
That was when all hell broke loose.
Todoroki caught sight of Aizawa's capture scarf as it shot out from behind the wall, quickly wrapping around the shadow girl before she could escape. When he stepped out from behind cover he had his goggles on, and his hair was standing on end. He rushed forward to strike the girl in the head, quickly rendering her unconscious. Once she was taken care of he lifted his gaze towards the leader.
That's when Todoroki found he was able to move his fingers again.
He was free of the leaders quirk.
Todoroki shot to his feet, ripping the gag out of his mouth. Iida was not far behind him, his attention already turned towards the other hostages.
"We have to hurry." Iida stated.
"Right."
The two of them turned at the same time to approach the other hostages, but as they did the other villain suddenly appeared before them. The red tendrils exploded from his back flying in their direction.
Todoroki acted before Iida ever had the chance. He shoved his classmate out of harms way while also summoning fire in his left hand. Once Iida was at a safe distance he sent a wave of fire in the direction of the tendrils. It appeared to work, the attack stopping.
Until two more shot through the smoke to grab him.
Todoroki heard a shout as the tendril wrapped around his neck. The tendril tightened before he could get a hand underneath it, quickly cutting off his airway. He was lifted up until his feet could not touch the floor anymore, leaving him to hang from his neck.
"Let him go!" Aizawa demanded, his eyes still trained on the leader.
"Or you could use your quirk to do so." The leader said. "But if you did that, then you're at risk of falling under my paralysis."
Todoroki pulled at the tendril around his neck with desperation. His chest was starting to ache from the lack of oxygen, and his vision was going fuzzy. He tried to use his fire to dislodge the tendril, but it did not work. This guy had a tight hold, and he was not letting him go any time soon.
"Release my friend!" Iida shouted in anger, quickly rushing the boy.
"Nope." He said before another tendril flew out at him.
Iida was quickly grabbed by the tendril, thankfully not by his neck. He was lifted into the air where he could not do any harm.
"What will you do EraserHead? I don't think your student there can last for long." The leader stated.
Todoroki tried once again to free himself with his quirk, this time using his ice side to try and freeze this guy out. Sadly, just like his fire, it did no good. His vision was starting to go black at the edges, his movements sluggish.
Was this how he was going to die?
Suddenly a flash of green filled his vision, and the tendril was falling away from his neck.
A choked gasp escaped Todoroki's throat as he began to fall, crumbling like a marionette with its strings cut. He hit the floor hard, falling onto his side in a heap. He coughed harshly into the floor, his body shaking from the effort of trying to get oxygen into his lungs. There were hands on him, helping him to sit up. Someone was asking him if he was ok, but he was unable to respond. His throat hurt to bad to speak.
His vision cleared enough that he looked to see who it was that was holding him up.
It was Midoriya.
He and Iida were at his side, worry painted all over their faces.
"Are you ok?" Midoriya asked.
"I... I'll be ok." Todoroki croaked, his voice hoarse.
There was a thud from nearby which drew everyone's attention. They looked up to find that Aizawa had finally put the leader down on the ground, his capture scarf carefully wrapped around his eyes so that he could not activate his quirk again.
"Are you two ok?" Aizawa asked, keeping his knee firmly planted in the villains back.
"We're ok." Iida answered so that Todoroki did not have to speak.
Todoroki leaned heavily against Midoriya's shoulder, his eyes dropping to the floor.
That was intense.
---
After being seen to by paramedics both Iida and Todoroki were cleared to leave the scene.
Iida had managed to get out without any injuries other then some bruising on his wrists from the bindings. Todoorki had not been as lucky. His face was bruised from where his nose was broken, and his throat was wrapped in bruises. The paramedics had told him to keep ice in the bruises and then released him to his teacher.
The two of them approached the bus they would be riding home. The other students were all gathered outside, clearly shaken by the experience. Aizawa had Midoriya pulled off to the side, likely reprimanding him for stepping in when he was legally not supposed to. However, their teachers demeanor told them that he was not angry about the outcome.
A far cry to the way he had reacted to their stunt during the Hosu incident.
"Are you guys ok?" Uraraka asked, approaching them.
"We'll be ok." Iida said.
"Man, that doesn't look good." Kaminari said as he pointed to Todoroki's nose.
"It's broken. I'll see Recovery Girl about it." Todoroki explained.
"That had to have been scary. Midoriya told us what happened to you guys." Asui said.
"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time." Iida said. "But we're alive, and relatively unharmed." He added.
"It could have been much worse." Todoroki said.
A heavy silence fell over the students as Aizawa approached the group, Midroriya taking his place amongst his class.
"Alright. It's been a long day. We're going back to UA now." Aizawa said.
The students boarded the bus quietly.
Todoroki found himself seated beside Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka seated just behind them.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Midoriya asked.
"I will be." Todoroki assured.
The bus began to move, the whirl of the engine a comfort.
"I have to thank you Midoriya." Todoroki said.
"What?" Midoriya questioned.
"You saved my life. If you hadn't stepped in then Mr. Aizawa would have had to switch who's quirk he was erasing, and that could have ended badly for all of us." Todoroki explained.
"I have to thank you to." Iida spoke up as he leaned forward in his seat. "I couldn't do anything to help from where I was. You really saved Todoroki's life today." He said.
Midoriya's cheeks went bright red as he ducked his gaze. He mumbled you're welcome, followed by his rambling about what he did being nothing special.
A soft smile crossed Todoroki's face as he leaned back in his seat.