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Tokoyami could hear the sound of dripping water
Drip… drip… drip…
Somewhere, out there in the darkness, he could hear it echo amongst the rubble.
Drip… drip… drip…
It was the only sound he could hear besides crumbling concrete. There were no screams, no voices… nothing but the empty passing of time.
Dark Shadow drained far too much of my energy… His thoughts were murky as he tried to remain conscious, his legs numb from the pressure that had held him down since he awoke from a survival-driven attack upon his captors.
He didn’t know these villains, nor why they took him. But the moment they threatened to slice through his stomach and sever the umbilical connection he had with Dark Shadow, he couldn’t help himself. He completely snapped and his quirk tore through the building they had kept him locked in. They had even given him quirk-erasing drugs, but the rage and fear inside him burned away the toxin quicker than they had expected.
And now, he was completely trapped. His body both weighed down by exhaustion, and a thick concrete wall crushing everything from his waist downward.
His hands were soaked in blood, both of his own and the villain’s, his fingernails cracked from scrambling at the rubble around him. His throat burned from the dust he was breathing in, his lungs spewing dark matter with every cough. I must be bleeding internally. Medical assistance in this situation is vital. I must find a way to escape.
Light started to leak through the cracks of the wreckage around him, dawn slowly bringing a new day. The warmth of the sun radiated through his veins, and though he wanted to bask in the rays, Dark Shadow would only grow weaker with the light.
Drip… drip… drip…
Pain started radiating up his spine and into his chest, though it was hard to tell where it was coming from, exactly. His whole body throbbed from his constricted blood flow, his hands starting to grow cold.
I have to get out of here right now. Dark Shadow… Please… But attempting to conjure the quirk only weighed down his body and drained more of his energy.
Sleep. All he wanted was to sleep… His eyelids drooped and he could feel dark circles start to form. Was he… dying? No, he couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be bested by a simple concrete slab!
But what could he do?
Drip… drip… drip…
The waterdrops, the warmth, the almost comfortable numbness of his extremities. They were an almost perfect recipe for sleep. He had to focus on something, anything. Counting the seconds, listening to the concrete crumble, even counting all the shattered bits of blue tiles around him.
Were they once part of a kitchen? Or perhaps a restroom?
Drip… drip… drip…
Crash!
A sudden wave of sound assaulted his ears. “He’s under here!”
Creaking, crumbling, metal clanking against metal.
“Don’t you dare try to stop me!”
“He’s alive, and I’m getting him out!”
He knew that voice. It was his voice. He called out to him desperately, “Katsuki! I’m here!” And reached out his hand, his fingertips just breaching a sunlight-soaked crack in the rubble. “Katsuki!”
“Kagehane!”
He gasped as he felt warm fingers intertwine with his own. Katsuki told him, “I'm getting you the hell out of there!“ His grip tightened around his hand. “Just hold on. Rescue team’s coming.”
Time felt like it had stopped altogether as he soaked in Katsuki’s touch. He couldn’t see him, but he could imagine his face just a few feet above, holding on until the rubble could be cleared.
“Stay awake, Kagehane.” Katsuki encouraged him. “Don’t lose your damn grip.”
He must have felt how lifeless his hand was as he slipped in and out of consciousness. But he did his best to just stay awake. “Katsuki…” His lungs burned as more dust filled the air. Loud sounds of drilling and cracking all around him.
“I ain’t leaving.” He promised, “If I use my quirk on this damn rubble the whole thing could collapse. Can’t you use Dark Shadow to get out?” Katsuki’s voice echoed as he shouted over the loudness.
“I drained my energy in my attempt to escape.” Every word took far too much effort as darkness crowded the corners of his eyes. “Dark Shadow relies on my energy far too much.”
“Alright, fine.” Katsuki held on even tighter. “Think you can wait a little longer?”
“I’ll be fine.” Tokoyami squeezed back just a little, though even that much effort felt like a momentous rush of energy. “Just stay with me, Katsuki, and I will hold on as long as I can.”
Tokoyami didn’t know how long it took, but it felt like forever as he struggled to breathe and stay conscious before a large piece of wall was lifted and even more light shone down on his predicament.
Katsuki didn’t say anything when he looked down at Tokoyami’s crushed legs. He just rushed in to help Uravity and another hero Tokoyami didn’t recognize to lift the concrete from him.
With a rush and a throb throughout his whole body, he couldn’t hold on to wakefulness any longer. He slipped deeply into darkness as blood rushed to his head.
The next he woke, his hand was still in a tight, warm grip. His fingers grazed over familiar calluses and scars. The hospital room was far too bright, so he screwed his eyes shut again.
He listened to Katsuki’s snoring beside him with a swell in his chest. He must have stayed by his side this whole time, probably yelling at every doctor and nurse that tried to tear him away.
Tokoyami sank deeper into the bed and stilled his fingers, holding on tighter instead. For now, he’d let Katsuki rest. And when he woke, they’d face everything together, just like they always have.
The mystery of his kidnappers and their motives could wait. For now, he was safe and warm and holding Katsuki’s hand.
That’s all that really mattered, anyway.