#tsuyo

Toga Himiko. Her name had been Toga Himiko, and she had paraded around pretending to be Izuku Midoriya for the past sixteen days. And it had only taken five for Bakugou Katsuki to catch on. He felt restless in the few days between her arrest, his peers rocking between apologising profusely and being terrified for the whereabouts of their classmate. Round face and Four Eyes had taken it especially hard, the latter constantly having creases between his brow and Ochako becoming more resigned and quieter.

Bakugou’s social life had dipped, his group of friends, Kirishima, Kaminari, Denki, Sero, and Mina, all respectively leaving him to sulk, occasionally leaving hot tea and sliced fruit for him on his desk. But his thoughts were occupied by that Shitty Nerd. Deku, despite what he would have preferred, had made attempts to rescue him – unfortunately, he had done that multiple times. But the most profound was when Bakugou was in the hands of the league.

He leant against the wall, watching with silent acknowledgment of his classmates as they gathered around the living space, the majority taking a seat on the couches. As he let their quiet chatter fade into a buzz of hushed noise, he pondered the locations of his friend. He was ultimately sure that that they weren’t keeping him in the same location he himself was once kept, but all that did was fill him with the dreaded knowledge of knowing not a single other lair for those villainous assholes.

His phone buzzed, a message appearing at his screen. Shoto Todorki. ‘Meet us outside in one hour.’ Blunt, dry, and telling. And the word ‘us,’ felt bitter as he considered it. Eyes looking up to the group, and that half n’ half bastard was staring him dead in the eye, unfazed by catching the attention of their classmates. With a frustrated sigh falling from his lips, Bakugou nodded his head in understanding, taking note of the way Round Face and Glasses had seemingly watched his expression too.

Bakugou could not risk rejecting this meeting. So far, Aizawa had given little to no insight on the investigation, telling Bakugou directly that he should not interfere. Fuck that. Toga was currently being held in some secretive police station or some bull, to the Pro’s and cops that investigated her, Deku was the least of their interests, they wanted her information on the League. He recoiled with burning disgust; these heroes would let his friend’s body rot if it meant securing information on the enemy. Some teenage boy held no weight in that system, and the only ones who would truly push for his recovery would be his teacher and most probably All Might.

As the students finally began to make their move, Todoroki and Iida stayed in their seats, Ochako crouched by the couch with her eyes downcast, Yaoyorozu standing thin-lipped next to her. Icy Hot made one stern call of Kirishima’s name, beckoning the boy back despite the confused knitting of his eyebrows.

“Hitoshi, Shinshou, has the location of where the villain is,” Todoroki said, his eyes held a piercing gaze as they met Bakugou’s own.

That extra with the brainwashing quirk, in the general classes who was so close to besting Deku in the sports festival.

“Is this about Midoriya,” Kirishima asked, holding a look of grim stoicism.

Todoroki nodded, Iida doing that infamous chopping motion as he bagn to explain. “Although you have all right not to accept, we hoped you would help us since…” Four eyes needed not to finish that sentence; this was returning the favour. Probing both he and Kirishima to see if they would aid them with their friend since they helped save Bakugou’s own ass. He held back a scoff.

“We’ll do it, I’m not letting that Shitty Nerd die just yet,” Bakugou scoffed, folding his arms, and lifting an eyebrow at his friend. “Kirishima?”

“It was never a question; I have always considered Midoriya a friend.” There were nods between the group of students.

Yaoyorozu made a weak coughing noise into her fist, a grey tiredness sitting below her eyelids. “Shinsou is meeting us at the location,” she said, tapping in an address into her phone, flashing a small map to the collection of them. “We can go over more about what we plan to do once we find her.”

The location was not far, a relief to Bakugou, they were able to catch the train and leave only a short distance to walk. The compartment they found themselves in was mostly empty, aside from some wheezing elderly man, and a young couple. Ochako’s face had flushed a grim green, her fists clenched at her side ad Bakugou watching her. She was like Deku almost, with the way her eyes turned round, and sat unblinking and unmoving as they feel deep into upheavals of thought.

“Round Face,” he snarked quietly, pity rolling off of himself as he stared at the mess of a girl. “We will find that fucker, and that bitch is going to be locked up.” Yaoyorozu stared at him from her seat, a calculating expression. He sighed; his palm rested on Ochako’s shoulder. “No matter what, I would have never let her touch you,” his voice was a drop of a whisper, not meeting her gaze. She muffled sobs, and quietly thanked him, reaching out to grasp his hand – shaking it weakly before dropping it.

She fell into Iida’s robotic embrace, his stoniness melting away into softness as he let her cry into his shoulder. Yaoyorozu’s mouth pinched, Bakugou glaring at her sternly but she quickly dropped her focus, patting Ochako as the doors pulled open at their stop.

The sound of their footsteps is what kept Bakugou to this reality. Kirishima’s arm slung around his neck, a comfort in this mournful hour. It was not a street of houses, but of tall department stores, with the Police Station sitting at its end, the purple-headed figure standing outside of it.

He seemed to begin speaking before a greeting could be uttered. “Up there.” He pointed to the second floor, a barred window. “It is some type of isolated cell, because she actually is of some importance and not just another low life.”

Yaoyorozu rested a hand on her hip. “The police are obviously still in the building, but she is most likely been left to her own at this time,” she said. “We need to get up there from outside, too much risk to just burst inside.”

“I could blast my way up there,” Bakugou exclaimed, already craving to release the tension from his hands. Iida shook his head.

“Too much noise, Uraraka’s quirk could get us there quietly,” he considered, they all threw looks to their friend who nodded a tight painful agreement.

The general studies student stepped forward. “I need to go up, we need my quirk.” So he planned on getting answers through pure use of his quirk, despite the immorality of it, it sure got the job done quicker.

“How will you open it though?” Kirishima asked, frowning at the set of bars over the window that stood as a taunt.

“I’ll go up too - break it, then have Yaoyorozu replace it. She won’t go anywhere if she is brainwashed,” Bakugou affirmed, Yaoyorozu appearing utterly displeased but no new suggestion was breathed.

Yaoyorozu soon produced a thin rope, looping it tightly around their new teammate and himself as they prepared for Round Face’s quirk to be used on them. Round Faced performed her job with her new familiar silence, only stopping to recommend that they stay close to the wall. As they lifted up, they pressed their palms against the textured wall, slowing their movement. The both of them wrapped their hands around the metal bars. Bakugou hissed as he felt Iida’s grip tighten on the rope, preventing him from floating any higher.

“Lean back,” he snapped to Shinsou, pleased when the boy tipped his face away from the bars. Bakugou let his hands shoot out a few ripples of explosives, right against the bolts of the architecture. The bars hanging loose and crumbs of the building falling away. Gripping against the window’s edge, he leaned back before lurched forward, repeating the action until the glass pane of the window eventually shattered into a million forward, raining down onto the cell room floor.

“What-“ Toga’s estranged voice rung out from her corner of the room, thin eyes watching the two of them as they stepped into the room.

“Sorry about the mess,” Shinsou said, the darkness of the room shielding his face from recognition. Bakugou suppressed a grin.

“Yeah, right-“ her voice fell short, a stilled tension forming on her shoulder. Got Her.

As Shinsou stepped forward, preparing to interrogate her. Bakugou quickly busied himself with shoving the shards of glass out of the window. “Stay out of the view of the security camera,” he uttered, hearing a grunt of acknowledgement from the boy. He strained his ears as he listened in on the conversation.

“Tell me, where is Izuku Midoriya,” Shinsou asked and suddenly Bakugou felt his body go rigid as he listened.

That momentary silence was dreadful.

“Izuku Midoriya is in the backroom of the abandoned house three lefts from the UA dormitory,” her voice dragged on, no exact address, she had just thrown him in the most convenient spot no effort given. It was a twisting of the knife that was wedged in his chest.

“Tell me,” Shinsou implored, a new grit to his voice. “Is he alive?”

“Yes.” And it was like the aches of his body washed away leaving only tired numbness. “But they plan to kill him.” Fuck.

“Fuck this shit,” he shouted. “We don’t have time, lets find him now before that fucking League catches on.”

Wrapping their ends of the rope to the bars that hang by one end, the two made their jump to the ground. Spitting out their newly learnt information as Yaoyorozu floated up, placing awkward repairs to the window.

The way back in the direction of the dorms felt warm with urgency, pooling around the feet and reminding them of the unknown dangers. They passed the building, splitting up to work off the cryptic directions given as there was sudden debate between what ‘right’ meant.

Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Ochako, took to one trail whilst Todoroki, Kirishima, and Bakugou went the other. After a few turns, Bakugou breathed a sigh of relief at finding a line of houses, one sitting behind untamed grass and a broken ‘For Sale’ sign. Kirishima moved to notify the others but Todoroki instead began to rap his fingers against the wooden door. No sound. He twisted its handle, the door sliding open with a long croak.

Todoroki turned, gesturing for Kirishima to go around the side, confirming they would not all be walking into a trap.

Bakugou stepped inside the facility, Icy-hot moving to clear the floor. They each moved silently, the floorboards humming crooked songs with each step they took. Kirishima found a back entrance, and they sent silent nods.

There sat a backroom, with copper doorknob, and a rotted white-painted door. It was the only one locked, a metal lock clicked into it, the newest thing in the house. It was a pleasure to hold it in his grasp as he exploded it, the stinking metal falling to bits – the door falling open.

He sat there, hands cuffed to prevent usage of quirk, and a white shirt soiled with a river of blood. His head was lolled to his side, but as Todoroki slid to his knees – fingers pressed against his neck – he said those miracle words. “He’s alive.”

Kirishima pressed his water bottle to his friend’s lips, letting a few drops of water slide into his mouth.

All this waiting, all this searching. Bakugou broke, wretched sobs falling from him as he fell to the floor, blasting the cuffs from his friend’s hands. “Izuku,” he moaned. “Wake up, please, I found you. I knew you were gone – so fucking wake up.”

“Bro.” Kirishima’s voice was a cold whisper in the night air, unheard to Bakugou.

He chose not to hear his classmates’ words as they began to talk, encouraging him to step away. His friend shuffled in his grip, Izuku’s hand tightening before loosening, his face stiffening. His eyes fluttered, reeling back slightly as Bakugou pulled him into an embrace. “Izuku!” His exclamation sounding closer to an angered yell.

“Kacchan?” The boy must have rendered the other two. “Todoroki, Kirishima?”

Light returned to his eyes, and as Bakugou hid his sniffled, Deku gratefully drank more water. His jittering fingers tracing the marks left by the cuffs. “I thought she must have come back again, but it’s you guys,” he said it with barely a frown, his cheeks moving to make way for a wet grin. “I’m so happy.”

Bakugou shot up, loud running footsteps sounding. “Izuku,” Ochako cried, falling forward to encircle him into her embrace. Tears falling quickly from Izuku’s eyes as he seemed to watch all of his friends, Momo and Iida stepping into the room.

They chose to call Aizawa, accepting whatever punishment came their way now that their classmate had been returned to them. Aizawa took not long to appear, saying he had only called for medical services, soft smiles on Bakugou’s peers faces as the man said the police can wait.

“You problem child,” Aizawa said softly, watching as the tears fell hotly from the victim’s eyes. The teacher’s pinched expression fell, a hand falling onto Izuku’s head. He ruffled his hair. A warm moment that ended with the teacher glaring at Bakugou and the others, ‘do not tell anyone’ it seemed to say.