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Shoto stares down the broken remains of what used to be a commercial district. The buildings are still standing, but the windows are a mix of boarded over and shattered, the displays empty of wares, and completely desolate of the life that once surged through them.
After the failed strike on the MLA and Shigaraki, and the subsequent prison break from Tartarus, a lot of the country looks like this. Even back at UA, now converted into a mass shelter for civilians as well as being one of the heroes' strongholds, things are gray. Things feel gray. Even packed with survivors, even with family and friends, there's a gloom and anxiety hanging over all of it.
A gust of wind draws his eyes up just as Ryumi swoops down to join him. "Shoto, Anima says the rats are reporting activity in this block. I'm going to take the North side, you search here and we'll meet in the middle?"
"Yeah, got it." He nods to her, already walking toward the nearest structure.
"Stay in radio contact just in case, but I think this'll be a quick one." She says with a grin. "Maybe we can be home early enough to help with dinner."
"I really think we shouldn't have to help cook if we're already on patrol duty..." He mumbles with a sigh. "See you soon."
Ryumi leaves him with a kiss and a wink before a few beats of her wings carry her off to the far side of the search area.
This is the system they'd devised to impose some semblance of order in the lawless aftermath of the failed war. Cities divided into sectors, heroes and hero students assigned to regular patrols of the various sectors, with the ones nearest to UA being hit more frequently. Small teams, much smaller than they'd like, usually only two or three fighters and one recon specialist, everyone rotates days to allow enough recovery time, and they take down villains and attempt to relocate willing civilians to the shelter.
It's a brutal, endless grind. Often, it feels hopeless - fog, smoke, and heavy gray clouds shroud what was once the land of the rising sun, plunging it into perpetual twilight.
He takes a last breath of the ashen air and steps inside, hands held at the ready in case he finds anything dangerous. For several minutes there's nothing but the slight breeze that filters through the broken windows and down the halls, the crunch of glass and rubble under his boots, and the beating of his own heart.
As Shoto continues his slow creep through the structure, getting farther from the exterior walls, he thinks he can make out some rustling. Sounds of life.
"Anima, it's Shoto. Do you have any rats in the southernmost building?" He asks, pressing on the earpiece he's wearing.
The soft yet hurried voice of Koda crackles back over the line. "No, nothing right now. I'll send a couple over. I have crows circling overhead until then."
"Thanks. Let us know if they see anything." He says, tapping the mic again. So it's not one of his... could still be an animal.
Shoto shifts course, trying to home in on the location of the intermittent shuffling sounds. When they're near enough to be in the next room, the noises abruptly stop.
"Is someone there?" He asks the emptiness. "It's safe to come out, I'm a hero."
It's a well-practiced line, one he's said to open air more often than to a real audience. But the few people left living outside the shelters at this point are usually quite on edge, likely to attack out of fear if startled. It's safer to announce yourself.
Even if it means a villain can ambush you.
Rounding the corner, he sees a young woman tucked back behind an overturned desk. She peers at him cautiously, until recognition flickers across her face.
"Is that... really you? Endeavor's son...?"
Shoto has to focus to keep his reflexive sigh internal. Though he's gotten used to that over the years, especially after the whole dramatic reveal during the war, he still doesn't love being thought of only in relation to his old man.
"Yes. I'm with the UA shelter, and I'm here to help." He answers, trying to offer a reassuring smile. The effort always seems to come out awkward when Ryumi isn't with him, but he tries.
The woman staggers to her feet, hope beaming in her face. "Yes, yes! Please, I need you to come here!" She runs up and takes his hand, begging. "Please, follow me, it's this way!"
Before he can fully register the sudden change, she's trotting off down the hallway, pausing at the corner to make sure he doesn't lose sight of her.
"Please hurry!"
Shoto shakes off his hesitation and runs along behind. "Lead the way."
While he chases the woman through the maze of desolate halls in what used to be a shopping center, he taps his earpiece again. "Tempest, Anima. I've got one survivor here, same building. She needs help with something before evac... Can you have a truck ready for us?"
"One of my crows will contact basecamp."
"Thanks Anima - it's still all empty on the north side of the sector. Guess you're having all the fun today, Shoto."
"Something like that."
After a few minutes of running, the woman leads him into what used to be an interior plaza. She goes right up to the balcony and waves her arms to try and get attention from someone.
More survivors? Shoto wonders as he trots up beside her.
They're on the third floor now. Down below there's the dried up and cracked remains of a fountain and other debris scattered around it, while the balcony railing is covered in a suspicious amount of plant growth.
"Hey, hey he's here!" The woman points at Shoto, her voice a blend of fear and excitement. "It's Endeavor's son."
From the darkened space above them, something like a hammock made out of thorny vines descends, with a man lounging atop it. He sits up and peers down at Shoto, wearing a smirk that makes him nervous.
The man's suit is mostly red, with accents in black along the cuffs and dark boots, plus a pattern of floral filigree in a vibrant green. His long dark hair is tied back in a ponytail, held in place with the same sort of thorny vines he sits upon.
"See? It's him. I told you he patrols here often." The woman grabs onto the railing, apparently not caring about the thorn growth that pierces her palms, the blood dripping idly to the floor. "Now will you release my family...? Please..."
Shoto's eyes dart around, looking for the hostages. They have to be close by, probably where the villain was hiding. It's hard to make out but as he squints into the dark above, there's two figures hanging in tightly coiled vines.
"Release them? Hmm..." The man makes a show of considering the request. "I suppose."
The pair of captives are lowered by the vines just as the villain himself, but while he sits perfectly comfortable on them, these others are strung up with thorns pressing into their skin, streaks of dried blood running down their limbs and staining their clothes.
The smaller figure weakly opens his eyes and croaks out a desperate plea. "Mom...?"
"Yes, yes I'm here!" The woman cries back. Seeming to remember Shoto at this moment, she glances his way with tears in her eyes. "...I'm sorry, hero."
The villain chuckles to himself. With a snap of his fingers the vines abruptly retract, and for a horrifying second the boy and his still unconscious father start to plummet to the floor far below.
"No!"
"Not today." Shoto shifts his right foot forward, causing ice to surge out past the railing and under the falling captives.
Disappointment flashes across the villain's face, but only for a moment. Then the vines that had been quietly slithering up to Shoto lash out, gripping his ankles and his right arm.
While he struggles with the thorns biting into his flesh, the captives share a brief hug before fleeing the scene. With the risk of collateral damage gone, Shoto ignites his left side and focuses on the villain.
"You shouldn't have picked a fight with me."
"I don't think so."
The vines already holding him pull taut, dragging Shoto to the ground. The tough material of his costume keeps his legs from getting torn up by the act, but his exposed arm isn't so lucky. He grits his teeth, feeling the skin shredding in a dozen places as the thorns shift.
He tries to push himself back up, allowing the flames to take over his left side entirely. If that's how this villain is going to be, he'll teach him not to play with fire.
But something's wrong. The vines aren't burning, even as he pushes the temperature high enough to incinerate them, and the villain is laughing.
"Do you know who I am, child?"
"A villain. That's all I need to know." Shoto growls as he wedges his free arm under his chest to get more leverage to fight the vines, or failing that, be able to reach his earpiece and call for backup.
The man shakes his head. "The name's Rosey. Your father put me in Tartarus... and left me with this awful souvenir." He gestures to an ugly smear of ragged flesh on the side of his neck. "And since he's made himself scarce since my escape, you'll have to do."
Seeing them in more detail now as the vines continue to crawl along and surround him, they're not green like you'd expect, but a deep black.
Trigger. Of course. He recognizes the signs from what Ryumi told him, if only he'd noticed earlier.
"Ahh. Can't be having that." Rosey smirks again, as one of the vines plucks the earpiece from his ear, crushing it and leaving him bleeding. Those black thorns aren't merely unusually resilient, but razor sharp, slicing with the slightest touch.
Damnit. Well, if he won't burn, then maybe... He mentally reaches instead for his ice, trying to fight through the pain of the thorns.
"No, no." Rosey twists his hand and the vines tighten their grasp, pressing deeper into his arm.
Shoto gasps, he can feel the warm blood trickling out from around each tear, each puncture. Come on, focus!
As the man leans in closer, he gets an amused look on his face. "I see he left his mark on you too... but you still stand with them?" Another loose vine brushes across Shoto's cheek, close to his own scar. "Foolish boy."
Before he can catch his breath and settle his mind for another attempt, the shriek of shattering glass and twisting metal draws both his and Rosey's attention. A dark shape plummets from far above, wings shifting slightly to pull out of the dive and level out, crashing into the balcony and taking the villain with it.
"Wha... Argh!"
A low throaty rumble comes from the dragon as she straightens, holding Rosey pinned under her claws. Her gaze is at first fixed on the target, until her protective message has been conveyed and she's certain he's not about to escape. The vines make an effort to strike at her, but they seem to do little more than scratch her hardened scales - the payoff from months of hard training.
And then, her eyes flick to Shoto.
"Anima, you were right. Tell them we'll need shackles for a Tartarus escapee too." The familiar deep voice of her dragon form says, calm and in control.
"Right, I'm on it."
Though the vines are still holding him for the moment, Shoto feels like he can breathe again. Even through the still searing pain of the thorns burrowing into his arm, the hazy warmth of relief rises within him.
Ryumi came to save him. Like always.
It takes a few minutes for backup to come in and take the prisoner off Ryumi's claws, and longer to sever the vines and extract Shoto from them, but eventually the pair are riding in the evac van back to UA.
"Sorry I took so long." She says, taking out her first aid kit. "Traffic, you know."
An old joke, but the delivery is halfhearted.
Shoto shakes his head. "I should have called sooner. I was more worried about that woman and her family..." He sighs, wondering what became of them. It'd be hard for them to get far, with the man still barely alert enough to walk and being half carried away by his wife.
"A woman... Oh." Ryumi hums as she pulls out the disinfectant and grabs a couple towels from the cupboard in the van - it's not quite a full ambulance, but it has enough for a bit of field medicine on the way home. A feature she'd insisted on. "Anima found her, I'm not sure if they're going to the shelter or not."
His eyes brighten. "He did?"
"Mhm." Ryumi looks over the damage on his arm, carefully dabbing away the blood with one of the cloths to get a better view of the damage. "Anima already suspected that area because a few animals had gone missing around there. Guess we know why... But she also pointed us toward you."
"I hope she comes to UA. The condition the others were in..." His thought is cut off as he takes a sharp, hissing breath and squeezes his eyes shut, willing himself not to wrench his arm away from the disinfectant Ryumi has begun applying to his cuts.
"Sorry, sorry." She says softly, supporting his arm with her own. Her eyes never drift away from her work, darting from one cut to the next, to the next, to the next, and then to a spot where the thorns had ripped away a bit of skin in his struggle to escape.
Shoto holds his breath for a moment, then exhales slowly. "...Thought I'd be used to it by now." He watches her work, surprised by her relative silence, the lack of sassy comments. It's just a few cuts, after all - they've both suffered much worse before.
But even so, he can feel it in her demeanor, she's worried. Her wings are tucked tight to her back and tail tapping anxiously against the bench they're sitting on, lips pressed together, kind eyes fixed on the gentle action of her hands.
Finally, she reaches one particular wound, and after a brief hesitation puts voice to what's bothering her. "Any deeper here and it could have hit an artery."
Shoto freezes, his gaze wandering to her left arm, the cautery scars he'd given her to save her life. He remembers how much blood there was - so much blood - and how he shook with panic not only over her near death but over what he had to do to save her.
Ryumi's a practiced hand at medicine, so hers are steady even now, but he can see that she's shaking inside. Afraid of what might have been, if the wounds had been just a little more severe, if she'd been any later in coming to his rescue.
"Ryumi..."
She shakes her head, turning his arm to get the last couple wounds before setting the disinfectant aside for a roll of bandages. "You're alive, that's what matters."
"I should have called earlier." He repeats, not sure what else he could say.
She hands one end of the roll to him, and Shoto holds it in place while she passes the bandages around and around and around. They're probably not even halfway home, and the worst of it is covered.
"...Maybe we should petition for larger teams. As much as we've done, as hard as we've fought... Things are getting worse." Ryumi says, still with a certain amount of despondency in her voice. The disinfectant is back in her hand and she's reaching for his face, to get the last two cuts.
He grabs her wrist, stopping her short.
"Shoto?"
He takes a deep breath and puts on his best youngest-child pouty face. "If you're going to torture me with that, you can at least smile."
"I... What?" Ryumi blinks at him, stunned by his request.
"...I know things are bad, and I wasn't lying when I said I was ready to walk into hell." He begins to explain, releasing her arm.
"You know I was serious when I said I'd gladly follow you." She says, staring back into his eyes, not yet making a move to continue her work.
"Right, but..." He pokes at her nose. "I don't just want gloomy Ryumi at my side, I want my fearless dragon. The charming grin and bright cheerful eyes - I want the girl I love."
Now she's pausing for a deep breath.
"I don't want to give up." He continues, thinking about how she'd joked about him having all the fun when their patrol started. "I'm not giving up... But that playful spirit is what makes this all bearable."
She remains silent just long enough to worry him, for him to wonder if, in trying to cheer her and himself up, he might've gone too far.
And then the disinfectant wipe swipes quickly across his cheek and ear without warning, leaving him to recoil with an offended pout. "Wha--ow! Hey!"
But seeing her fangy grin, broad and on the edge of laughter at his reaction melts all that shock away.
She pulls out two more small bandages and gently pats them into place, then leans in to brush her lips against his cheek - the edge of his scar. "There, all better."
Shoto folds his arms in feigned indignation while she tucks the remaining supplies away, but even that facade falls away when she sits down and pulls him close for the remainder of the ride, tucked in under her wing.
"I'm allowed to worry about you, aren't I?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Good, because I'll do it anyway."
"I know you will."
"Gloomy Ryumi - that was pretty funny though." She grins at him.
And he smiles back, resting by her side.
"Do I still have to help with dinner?"
She chuckles. "Nah, I think you’ve earned the night off."
Shoto closes his eyes. He’s exactly where he's meant to be.