TW: kidnapping, starvation, depression, and other things that may be a trigger. You have been warned.
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Kaminari kept you as away from other people in the base as he could. It's been weeks; your face was probably all over Japan as a missing person. You refused to eat and hardly slept, keeping your eyes and ears open to any suspicious activity.
Locked in a room where quirk usage was impossible, you were currently sitting on the bed that Kaminari gave you, a plate of cold food to your right. You stared at the blank TV, the remote somewhere where you most likely didn't want to know. The door crept open, the noise slightly startling you and causing you to look over.
Kaminari's wedged boots clicked as he entered the room. "Did you eat?" He asked, his eyes glazed over with slight concern. You stayed silent as you picked up the plate and handed it to him. The blonde gave a disappointed sigh.
"(Name), starving yourself isn't going to help solve the problem," he said sternly. "I'm already wasting away sitting here; it's just speeding up the process," you replied. Kaminari kept quiet, taking the plate and tossing it in the empty garbage can.
"I have someone who wants to see you," he whispered. You met his gaze with your dead one, cocking an eyebrow. "If it's your dad, I don't wanna see him," you replied, staring back at the blank TV, almost robotically. Kaminari fought the urge to frown, stuck his hand out the door, and invited your visitor to your room.
The sound of heels clicked slowly against the floor as if the person was hesitant to see you. You moved your head back towards the door, shifting your body to get more comfortable. Your eyes widened as a melanin-enriched-skinned cat boy entered your vision.
Taiga's ears hung lowly against his head, his vision cast downwards. His tail flicked with anxiety, picking at his fingernails before moving to smooth out his slightly frilly pink skirt.
"Taiga?!" You shouted. The male flinched at your tone of voice, tears already pricking at his eyes. "I'm sorry, (Name)... I'm so so sorry..." he whispered. "I didn't want to... I didn't- I was so scared..." Panic and anxiety, along with guilt, jumbled together in his mind. His shoulders shook violently as silent, heavy sobs escaped his body. Kaminari immediately took the shorter boy into his arms to comfort him, placing his hands close to the small of his back and in between his shoulder blades. The blonde whispered soft, encouraging words and occasionally pressing his lips against the crown of his forehead.
Taiga's sobs slowly became softer and softer, resulting in nothing but sniffles and puffy eyes. You watched this go down, all in confusion.
How long has Taiga been associated with Kaminari?
How many others were there?
Is he good or bad?
Does anyone else know?
Is Eijirou coming soon?
Questions ran throughout your brain, eventually becoming more and more confused. "What the hell is going on?" you asked, now craving for answers.
Taiga took a long breath, attempting to get his shit together. "Why are you here?" You asked. "I'll tell you for him," Kaminari said.
"He joined my father for the money. He comes from a poor background, determined to take care of his parents and siblings. He had no idea what his job consisted of until shit started going down. He tried going against the thought of kidnapping you and had some that agreed with him. But my father insisted as you can tell. My father doesn't know how to take no for an answer." The last sentence seemed darker than it should be. It gave you the chills.
"Taiga being here is not his fault, but he decided out of hope for his family. And now, his family is dead. He can't leave unless he dies. Please understand that Taiga wanted nothing to do with this."
You looked over to Taiga, whose gaze was to the floor. "There's another thing, (Name)," he said. He looked up to meet your eyes, his brown ones showing truth and guilt. "Shinsou knows where you are. He's getting help."
You perked up at that. Kaminari nodded. "How does he know?" you asked. "I couldn't handle it anymore, keeping you being kidnapped by me a secret. I accidentally let it slip. I tried to keep quiet from then on, but his quirk got the best of me."
***
One week prior:
Shinsou noticed that Taiga was acting differently. He arrived at the Anteiku Cafe at around four. Taiga was already there, ready to greet him as his shift ended, but he seemed very off. His excitement to see Shinsou was there but seemed very forced. His ears were slightly down and, his tail flicking with anxiety. It worried the purple-haired male.
Taiga wasn't one to hide his emotions very easily, and Shinsou quickly picked up on it. Shinsou walked Taiga back to his apartment, stopping at a few locations such as a grocery store and Taiga's favorite dessert shop. The dark-skinned male wasn't as talkative as he usually was.
"Thank you for walking me home, as usual, Shinsou," Taiga muttered. Shinsou? Taiga always called him Hitoshi. "What's going on with you today?" He asked. Taiga seemed taken aback by his harsh tone.
"Wh-What do you mean? I'm fine," he said, trying to close the door on him. Shinsou thrust his arm up to prevent the door from closing, Taiga struggling to push it against the taller male's strength. "Bull shit," Shinsou snarled.
Taiga narrowed his green-brown eyes into a glare. "I think you need to leave," he growled. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."
"I wish I could, but I don't want you to get involved with..." Taiga's eyes wallowed up in slight fear, slapping a hand over his mouth. "You need to leave, now."
"Involved with what?" Shinsou pushed. "Nothing, it's nothing," the smaller male replied. "If it's nothing, then why don't you tell me?" "I'm not going to tell you."
"Tell me."
Taiga's eyes went white and his expression blank. "Let me in." Taiga moved aside to let Shinsou into his apartment, closing the door behind him. Taiga moved aside to let Shinsou into his apartment, closing the door behind him. "Come here."
Taiga stumbled robotically, walking to stand in front of Shinsou. The trance broke as Taiga's eye color and; emotions returned. He flinched at the close range between him and the taller male. Shinsou placed his hand on Taiga's middle back to keep him in place.
"What's going on?" He asked. Taiga clamped his lips shut and shook his head, trying to push away from the strong male, but to no avail. "Don't make me use my quirk again, Taiga."
"Please let me go," Taiga whispered meekly. Shinsou removed his hand but kept his close-range distance, moving forward whenever Taiga backed up, eventually into a wall. Shinsou's toned forearm slammed against the wall next to Taiga's head, his other hand guarding his waist.
"By the looks of things, I think you're flirting with me," Taiga joked. "That's for another time, don't change the subject," Shinsou replied sternly. "Now talk."
Taiga's eyes went blank again. "What can't you tell me?"
Thanks to Shinsou's quirk, Taiga told him everything. From the beginning of the mafia joining to the kidnapping. He explained how desperately he wanted freedom and how much he never wanted to hurt you. He explained he had a plan to get you out but needed people. He explained the reasons behind it all.
When Shinsou let him go, both were silent with eyes cast to the floor. Taiga spoke up first: "I'm sorry, I am... I never wanted to hurt them- or you..."
"I need to tell Kirishima," Shinsou whispered, pulling away from the wall and taking out his phone. He went for the door, sending a quick message to the redhead. "Hitoshi... wait-" Taiga reached for the tall male, but the door already slammed shut in his face.
Taiga's arm stayed seemingly floating in the air as Shinsou left him, as he was processing what happened. He sank to his knees onto his living room floor, tears bubbling up into his eyes which soon started pouring out. He silently cried out for his purple-haired friend, but he knew it was useless.
***
Three days later
A knock interrupted Taiga's depression meal and cheesy gay rom-com. He quickly shoved a lid onto his mint chip ice cream and threw it in the freezer, wiped his face of any tears, and angrily pressed the off button to his TV a million times before standing on his couch to successfully turn it off.
He turned on one of his lamps as another knock sounded. "Coming!" He shouted as cheerfully as he could muster. He opened the door and met the gaze of a purple insomniac.
"Hitoshi..?" He mumbled. The taller male stayed silent for a few moments before whispering: "May I come in?" Taiga didn't say anything as he moved aside to let Shinsou in, a thick, awkward silence filling the air.
"I'm sorry," Shinsou said suddenly. Before Taiga could speak, Shinsou continued. "I shouldn't have walked out on you like that after forcing information out of you. However, I need to thank you. With the information I got out of you, we found where (Name) is being kept. Kirishima and his father are working on it now. The school staff is helping. You will not have any charges pressed against you for kidnapping, seeing as how he blackmailed you into doing so." Shinsou looked up to meet Taiga's shocked eyes.
"We're getting you out of there."
Taiga didn't know what to do or say. All he could think of was launching himself at the taller male and throwing his arms around his neck. The sudden weight of the feline knocked Shinsou nearly off balance, having to catch himself on the coffee table. Shinsou smiled at the boy's actions, wrapping his arms around his waist into a tight hug. "Now that that's out of the way," he said.
"Were you watching 'Love, Simon' again?"