Chapter Text
It’s been four days since Bakugou Katsuki had been taken by the League of Villians.
The media has boomed within this short time span. Nearly all channels held hot debates and theory marathons speculating the current state of the missing Yuei student, not shying away from the subject of torture possibly being inflicted on the boy. And when that topic was thoroughly milked, they casually pushed aside anymore mention of the missing child and focused on dragging the names of Pro Heros and Yuei for allowing such events to unfold under their watch in the first place. And though Yuei and their staff admitted to their failures and went on to personally apologize to each of the parents of the students while balancing long meetings centering the future security of the high school, damages to their property, the continual search of the still missing student, and with the additional rise of crime from low-ranking villains taking advantage of the disarray, the media had the audacity to begin accusing any Hero - Pro or not - of being traitors based on shallow evidence such as villainous appearances or untasteful personalities.
The teachers within Yuei- weighed by the stress and the leering eyes of the public - had tried satisfying the masses enough with public statements reporting the disappointingly shallow updates for the search of Bakugou Katsuki and precautions they plan to implement into the school. However, a majority of these events ended just as they started, the longest having been seven minutes. Reporters and conspiracy theorists were prone to begin shouting out over each other for any juicy details. And in fear that there may be some casualties in the already tight room, the events were usually canceled.
The hype regarding the missing Yuei student has decreased significantly due to barely any updates being announced. The media had already given up interviewing the Bakugous. Police littered the exterior of the house and the boy’s mother threatened to kill any more reporters attempting to crawl through their windows.
Everyone seemingly had forgotten about Bakugou Katsuki.
“Dammit…”
Midoryia Izuku, with sullen eyes, could only watch as Kirishima clawed at his pajama shorts in an effort to ease his anger. He didn’t have the energy to comfort his friend, not when the talk show before them offhandedly addressed the possibility of the death of Bakugou at the hands of the villains before lightheartedly transitioning to their sponsors. The TV zipped to black, steering Izuku to face Todoroki standing behind him and the couch he sat upon, remote in hand.
The composed boy waited for Kirishima’s attention. The hardening boy avoided any eye contact as he rubbed at his puffy, red eyes. Izuku nor Todoroki judged.
“My father told me that they believe they’ve found the League’s real hideout." He continued. "They have a clear plan and everything if it is the case.”
Izuku wanted to smile at the news, but they were fed so much false hope before that it had lost its initial taste. It’s not that he didn’t believe the Pro Hero’s ability to track down the League, it was just at this point, victory didn’t feel the same.
No, victory would’ve felt great if they managed to find Kacchan then. But with the paranoia and neighboring hero-villain battles taking place in nearly all directions surrounding them, they didn’t want to risk getting caught or jeopardizing the Pro’s battles with a hostage situation. Sure, they managed to find one of the League’s hideouts containing nomus - and in addition the missing Hero, Ragdoll - which allowed the Pros to detain and secure the creatures and building (not after a good scolding of course), but they didn’t find Kacchan. And neither did the heroes.
Who knew what the League was doing with Kacchan in their grasp.
Izuku gritted his teeth as guilt crept up his spine. If only he reached Kacchan sooner.
“There’s a rock paper scissors competition in the kitchen," Todoroki adds. "Uraraka initially wanted me to ask you two to join.”
Ever since the school had forbidden any student from leaving Yuei and with lessons being temporarily on hold until the school and its staff were in order, entertainment for the students seemed to dissipate drastically with the registrations. If it came down to staring competitions, then it meant that activities the students would originally indulge themselves in were becoming too repetitive and dull. The boredom had them joining together to plot some sort of time-passing activity to fill the void.
This time, the green-haired boy smiled. It was a tired smile, but a wholesome one neither the less.
“Sure, that would be fun. What about you, Kirishima?”
Kirishima’s crimson eyes were stuck to the floor as he gave a slow nod. “No thanks.” He begrudgingly got to his feet. “I’m just gonna go sleep.”
-----
“I win again!”
"Come on!"
"That's like your tenth win, Hagakure!"
"What did I say? I'm a pro at this game!"
"This doesn't seem all that fair, considering Hagakure's quirk..."
"What are you insinuating, Yaoyorozu?"
“You're one to talk, Toru!"
"Yeah, how do you expect us to take your word? You could be lying about your moves and we'd never know!”
"Hey! I'm a very honest person!"
The group that had formed around the two 1-A students on the island table all let out exasperated sighs at the additional drawl. Through all the matches beforehand, Hagakure always seemed to restart the matches due to complications arising. The judges, Iida and Shoji, with no proof of whether Hagakure truly played her truthful move or not during the matches, decided that starting from the top would appease both sides. This led to the invisible girl ultimately questioning if she should stay out of the next round to try and finish the competition at least once.
Those that came the closest to reach the finals before Hagakure's turn would arise were typically Todoroki, Ashido, and Uraraka. However, during the middle of the fourth round, Todoroki went off to his room, so it would all fall down to Ashido and Uraraka fighting for a victor.
And without even saying it, the handful of class 1-A students in the room could all agree that this small competition wasn’t the same without the vigorous wrath of a determination student.
Izuku cringed when his stomach gave out a low growl. It would be best to put the staring competition on hold for now to prepare dinner. Since being stuck in their dorms with little to nothing to entertain themselves with, a majority of 1-A had taken to preparing dinner, lunch, and breakfast as a team. It wasn’t perfect, but it had somewhat strengthened their cooperation and teamwork skills. But actually deciding on what they would have for meals roughly took about twenty minutes or so to vote on, and it mattered whether they had the materials necessary to create it.
Kaminari and Sero volunteered to get Jiro and Koda who were cooped up with Sato in his room, and Mina was already making her way to Todoroki and Kirishima’s to a least try and drag her friend from bed. But before the three reached the stairs, Todoroki runs right into the kitchen in full sprint followed by a wide-eyed Kirishima with puffy, bagged eyes. Jiro, Koda, and Sato follow not too long after, though their expressions were hard to read.
"Miroryia!" Todoroki doesn't give the latter a moment to open his mouth as he screeches to a halt before him, phone in hand. "My father just called me. He said they found the hideout, but they were ambushed by nomus. Miroryia, All Might— it was on the news! All Might fought All For One, he won but, there were some casualties."
The room was silent. Izuku didn't know how the process this. All For One...the news? This was happening the whole time and they were playing a stupid staring contest?! Did— does everyone know about All Might's secret now?!
Wait.
"What about—"
"They found him, Miroryia." Todoroki solemnly answered. There was no relief or joy in his voice when he spoke. "They found Bakugou."