Flowers Can Make Even The Worst Situation Better

Allium

Shoto could say that he was in a great mood today. Just last night, he had his first date Izuku, and he was already ready for the second date. The garden near Kyoto sounded so lovely...

And of course, when he got back last night, his older brother wished him luck in the next one as well before debriefing him on the previous meeting. The opponent Rising Demon gang was creeping up again. Ryu has warned everybody to keep an eye out since they seemed to want to find any weaknesses in their group that they can exploit. When he heard the news, he felt a certain tug at his gut. He didn't think much of it until the next mornin*when he texted 'good morning' to Izuku.

He didn't get a response back which caused him to briefly freak out before waving it off as maybe Izuku wasn't up yet. But somehow the thought of something bad happening didn't leave Shoto.

So that's why he was currently on his way to Izuku's flower shop. As he spotted it in the distance away from him, he could immediately tell something was wrong from the smashed pot on the ground. He quickened his pace to find wilting Begonia petals strewn about on the sidewalk.

Shoto pulled on the front door to the shop only to notice it was still open even though his shop didn't open for another hour. "It's eight in the morning. Izuku usually gets up thirty minutes earlier than this." Shop mumbled to himself, trying to fight off the dread that was building in his stomach. He kept wanting to say everything was fine, but something was very off once he walked in.

It was deathly quiet. There was no humming from Izuku getting ready in the morning that he remembered from his time in recovery upstairs. None of the lights seemed to be on except for the one upstairs that Izuku never forgets to put out at night...

Shoto's eyes widened as he started connected dots together. "No, no, no. Izuku? Izuku? It's me, Shoto? Please tell me you are just sleeping..." he said loudly to himself as he rushed up the stairs to check.

He couldn't find him anywhere. There was no note or memo that could have given a clue about him rushing to the store in a hurry or anything like that. He wasn't in the bedroom, the bathroom was open, the kitchen was empty, and every other room he checked had no trace of Izuku in them. The table where they had their dinner had a vase of fresh Alliums that looked like they were placed not too long ago. If he had to guess, Izuku. probably placed them there before their date.

"The Rising Demons...they couldn't have..." Shoto whispered to himself as he hurriedly got out his phone. "I was the weak link... They must have gotten him after our date had ended."

He dialed his older brother's number and waited for his brother to pick him. Luckily, he only had to wait for two rings for Dabi to pick up. "Hello?"

"Dabi, I think they have Midoriya."

"Woah, what? Angel dude? The guy you went on a date with last night? How did you come to that conclusion?" Dabi questioned as Shoto heard a lot of noises in the background.

Shoto explained quickly, "He isn't anywhere in his shop. He isn't in his home upstairs. And I saw no evidence of him leaving the house. His inside shoes are still by the doorstep for goodness sake. There is a smashed flower pot outside that I know he couldn't have done. I think the Rising Demons must have taken him."

"I don't know for sure, but this is a very big hunch," Dabi stated.

Shoto sighed, bringing his hand up to the left side of his face in frustration, "Dabi, I wasn't vigilant at all last night. I was focusing on Izuku the whole night, trying to give him the best date I could do. They could have been watching us the entire night waiting for me to disappear from his side so they could strike... I should have stayed away, I didn't want this to happen to him..."

"Shoto, we won't know for sure until we get some sort of ransom from them. But right now, I'm going to tell the others to prepare for a fight on their territory. Look for more clues then come back to us. Okay?" Dabi asked only to receive nothing in response. He continued, "Shoto, stay with me. This isn't your fault."

"But..."

"But nothing. This isn't your fault, it was the Rising Demon's fault for messing with family. Now they are going to get what's coming to them soon. You got it?" Dabi responded back.

"Okay, Okay. Thanks, Dabi. I needed to hear that..."

Dabi chuckled, "Yes, I will be waiting for my 'best big bro in the entire world' trophy in the mail. Get back safe, alright? See you soon, Shoto."

"Thank you. See you later, Dabi," Shoto replied before ending the call.

Shoto began to look through the whole building to check to see if Rising Demons if they actually kidnapped him, left behind something for him. It wasn't until he was back in the flower shop that he noticed a note taped to the register. How could he have missed that?! He rushed forward to check the writing on the small note.

'We found you Kitsune! And we have your little fallen flower. Bring you and your little gang and let's talk about this whole territory thing, okay? And when we reach an agreement that benefits the Rising Demons, we will let your flower go. If you don't comply, your precious flower will wilt.

See you then Kitsune, R/D'
Shoto didn't realize that he was using his quirk until he watched the note get covered in a layer of ice. He looked down to see his right side had covered the whole desk with ice while his left side started to burn a bright red. A loud sound was heard as the sprinklers to the shop turned on, starting to soak his clothes.

He looked up to see the sprinklers raining down on him before walking out the shop with the desire to get Izuku back no matter what. No matter how many people he had to freeze or burn until they were nothing but ash. No matter what, he will get him back.

Shoto walked outside, eyes glued on the note that was covered in ice that he was trying to melt off carefully.

"Nice note, you got there. Have you seen Izuku by any chance, Kitsune?" A familiar deep voice asked him.

Shoto looked up quickly and replied, "What?"

Shinso stared right back into Todoroki's glazed-over eyes. "You are coming with me. You have a lot of things to explain when we get back to the station."

Shinso carefully led Shoto to his car, intent on taking him to the station. He knew he just had to wait until he showed his face again. He went to visit Midoriya that morning since he usually dropped off coffee for him sometimes on days like these, but all he found was nothing. It wasn't until he saw the note that he found out that Kitsune was behind this. And based on his suspicions, he knew that Kitsune might be Shoto which turned out to be right when he watched Shoto enter the shop while Shinso was surveying the scene in his car.

He doesn't know about Shoto's true intentions, but all he knows is that he is worried about his friend. And he is going to get the truth out of him even if it means calling up Tsukauchi to help. He needs to get to the bottom of this quickly before Izuku gets hurt.

*

Green eyes slowly opened to reveal nothing but darkness. Izuku blinked to try to adjust to the lighting in his dark cell. He noticed that his arms were tied in front of him with a thin rope and that he still had his apron on. He hurriedly felt his pockets to feel that they had taken his metal tool to help him with the plants. But light of hope was once again brought back to him when he felt that they hadn't taken the seeds.
Izuku silently smiled to himself as he tried to form a plan of his escape. He just had to wait for the perfect moment. His mind drifted off to his friends and Shoto...

Izuku would be strong for them, he wouldn't allow these strange guys to bring him down in any way.