"Oh... This place is isolated." A young detective mumbled, eyeing the sunny outside, and turned right to face the male who had yet to respond.
The male's grey eyes trained on the road looked at him once, his jet black hairs neatly concealed in his worn-out hat gently blowing in the warm breeze. The inexperienced detective grimaced, giving leeway for his thoughts.
Although he should have kept his mouth shut, he had an odd habit of provoking when the silence was too loud. He abruptly let out more strings of words intended for the stringent man.
"It would be very easy to kidnap someone here, and this area is vast, traces could be anywhere." He glanced at his senior.
"What kind of idiot would wander off by themselves, if you ask me, this could be a lost cause."
"Would you shut up and do as you're told, rookie, we do our jobs as assigned without 'this' or 'that'."
"Yeah. Sure." He pursued his lips, the hefty words of his elder sinking in, pleased to have earned his attention. He smiled, "I was just sharing my opinion, is all. Sorry, Mr Cameron."
The older man shoots a glare at him, saving his words for a better time. He turned to the road, and not long after, his eyes spotted a convenience store.
Instantly deciding it was a good idea to ask wherever they could. He looked over to the brunette and sternly mouthed instructions.
"You better keep your mouth shut while I'm questioning, don't let any vital information slip your mouth, teo."
The young man crankily gave a subtle nod, finalizing their coalition relatively peacefully.
The prowl car came to a halt in the desolated location, it seemed like no one liked to trek off to this part of town, and the inadequacy of crowds or people was slightly worrisome.
The two eventually stepped out and let themselves in, the shop owner appeared apprehensive, observing the men like a hawk and held the phone in his hands tighter when the duo started to speak.
"We are here to ask some questions about a case, recently, it was reported that someone had disappeared. We would like you to answer our questions." Cameron firmly stated without a hint of leniency, insinuating panic in the single occupant of the shop.
"I... Um, I haven't seen anyone out of the usual officers." He said, his eyes fixated on the two, attempting to maintain a calm posture, even though he had begun to sweat underneath his red shirt.
"I have not seen anything strange, my customers live around here somewhere, and they are influential people." He concludes with an uncertain nod of his head.
Cameron raised his eyebrows, taking in the unusual mannerisms of the owner, but he supposes an innocent one gets intimidated easier, he couldn't blame him. He quickly asked.
"The person supposedly vanished at the end of last month, at around 9 a call was made but the victim couldn't get anything in, we suspect it was a kidnapping. Have you seen anyone with violent traits?"
The man got to thinking, averting his gaze while he reminisced whatever his mind could compile at a tensed time like these. Shortly, he answered, "I may have? But I'm not sure." He carried on.
"Last month, during nighttime, one of the popular heroes nowadays, with... Uh, blonde hair and red eyes came to my shop. He purchased some mild sleeping pills, and then he was off. Until I saw him... Stomp down on something."
He resumed after stealing a peek.
"I couldn't tell what it was, and I think I saw someone in his car but I'm not entirely sure."
"Could you tell us the name of this hero you saw that day?" The detective implored, and the man responded.
"Ah- ground zero, zero ground or something. That's all I can tell you or... at least all I can think of."
Cameron peered down, furthering his statement with another question to trouble the panicked man, "where did you see it?"
Teo simply watched the man's expression fluctuate and contort, one thing was unmistakable, the man had seen something, which could be involved in the case they were currently working on something entirely different.
"Just outside the shop."
"I see, thank you for your time." Cameron politely acknowledged, walking out to inspect a potential abduction scene with haste.
"A pro-hero kidnapping an innocent civilian, now that's some controversial stuff. It'd be quite the drama."
Teo remarked as the two sauntered to the site, gaily grinning and envisioning the dispute it would incite, ensuring whatever remaining faith civilians have in the heroes faded.
Cameron's gaze hardened, his placid expression dissolving into a nasty scowl. He recklessly retorted.
"If you are going to badmouth the situation after being concerned in the first place, it would be best if you resign while you still have the chance."
"Woah! That's some threat, taking the side of the heroes I see, quite the dedication." Teo smugly replied, but the wise would know not to entertain more than needed.
That'd sure lead the taunter to resentment.
Teo settled his eyes elsewhere, enabling the other male to scour around for any evidence without distraction.
The patrol refill locale had been the usual, the extended land beyond the territory had plenty of trees and grass, closer inspection led to nothing but mud and thrown pieces of plastic with other manmade products buried into the land.
If there were any clues, they were days late to find them.
"When can she be discharged?" Katsuki pointed his sharp gaze at the medic.
Arms crossed and defensive posture held up, the blonde had rushed his words to indicate something was wrong, but the doctor hadn't noticed, so he answered without a second thought.
"In about two or three weeks."
Katsuki didn't say anything, checking on the girl while he stands tall and making sure the man isn't doing anything foul.
The doctor glanced at him, noticing the way he kept tapping his boots whilst he thought of something, staring at the girl laying on the bed. Dark circles underneath his eyes, and overall, the young hero didn't appear at his best.
"Are you okay? You know, pro-heroes need to rest as well. Don't worry, she will be alright." He reassured in hopes of clearing the blonde of doubts, however, it seems to have done the opposite.
"I would like to take her home next week. I don't care how much I have to pay for the treatment at home, I want her to be safe."
Something didn't feel right. Perhaps, it was his voice.
"Is there something bothering you?" Worry latching onto the man's voice, he consulted. It agitated him.
"No! Damn it, don't change the topic!!" He suddenly shouted, drawing his tired gaze from the girl and onto the doctor, "Sir, please keep your voice down, there are other patients around." Gently the medic urged, examining the girl for a moment, he walked towards the blonde.
He said. "While I might not know your circumstance, it is not possible at the moment, I can't guarantee she can be discharged next week."
"So then when?" Struggling to sustain his voice at a low pitch he sneered, the gap between his fingers closing, narrowing his eyes and thinning his lips.
"Please be patient. Nothing will happen to her in this facility, you can rest easy." He pats Katsuki on the arm, aiming to somewhat relieve him.
Katsuki shrugged the hand off his arm, steering his blood-red eyes of the doctor silently thinking about what to do.
If he goes on like this, he might just lose his mind, worrying for her, her safety, and if something is bound to happen to her.
Would he be able to live on?
•
"What are you doing?" Izuku innocently mumbled, eyeing the meek little girl who seemed giddy and wore a small smile. Her appearance was completely new to him, and it made his heart skip a beat.
"I'm playing dress-up dress-up with my sister!" She grinned, giving him a proper display of her transformation. The boy blushed.
"You look nice..." He shyly muttered, feeling too nervous to maintain eye contact. His lips were tightly pressed and his gaze wandered to the empty hallway.
"I thought you had something else to do today?" He quickly hid his hands behind his back, saying.
"O-oh! I did! Mom said it was okay if I didn't want to go..." He pulled his stare away from his feet, "So I came here to play with you instead."
"Ohh!!" It was now the girls to glow a hearty pink and dress on a sheepish expression, shifting to her left and thinking of a game to enjoy with her friend.
"So... Uh, let's play with my sister today! We both can play dress-up dress-up!!" She exclaimed, her cheeks were burning hot while she dragged the timid boy with him to the room she had run out of.
"Sis! Izuku is here!" She cheered, the high schooler faced the two kids and chuckled.
"How do you make his name sound cuter [Y/N]?"
"I don't! It's because it's already cute." She pouted, bringing the both of them closer to the oldest in the room, her hand still holding onto the boy's wrist stiffly standing behind her.
"Well look at you two! I'm cheering for you both, want me to tell mom and dad?" She playfully teased, lovingly attending to the young ones.
"No! Mom likes izuku anyway I'm sure she wouldn't mind me and him playing hide and seek!" Of course, she hadn't understood the meaning behind that statement when she had spoken.
"Wow, you already forgot about your sister huh?" She sighed in woe, inciting a giggle from the boy, mildly admiring the interaction between his friend and her sister.
He wanted the same type of relationship with his friend but mixed in with a little more, something he couldn't pinpoint inside his mind. A fluttery feeling in his stomach created a euphoric sensation, it was bizarre. It felt nice.
He could partly recall this sentiment when he had grabbed her hand for the first time.
Bringing her along with him, even after everyone disagreed.
She was his first crush.
When he was in middle school, he had seen her being pushed down for her to land on top of his former best friend, who didn't come off all that upset after seeing her face. Should he say, the blonde liked that?
Or when his companions would lock the both of them inside the classroom for them to spend some quality time together, he was there to witness and go out of his way to unlock the door.
And he was there to see them both kiss. The crowd's glees made his ears ring and that painful feeling had lasted, kacchan was her first kiss.
While he had done nothing to help her, letting himself be dragged back and threatened.
Perhaps he had gotten scared after seeing her in a different light, in his young years, he had never seen her be truly angered, but one day.
It all changed.
He had been sitting in class, awaiting his kindergarten teachers to arrive, his friend was in front of him, her face had been lowered and while he couldn't see her expression, he knew she was crying.
And then, kacchan had called her, walking up to her desk and peering down at her forlorn figure, whatever he had said built up more animosity. Until finally, he shoved her off the seat.
She stood up, no response given to amuse the blonde, and every kid had their attention directed towards them, blinking and whispering amongst themselves, he was uneasy but before he could confront them.
His friend vanished.
Nobody had seen her run out of the classroom, there was no sound, no talking, everything was still and calm.
Then came a loud thump, and everyone veered around to see the blonde on the ground, shocked, and confused, a book was thrown, and it startled everyone. They were slowly getting to know something they had not seen, and children are easily frightened.
A loud screech of the chair as it was picked up and tossed straight down to the boy made his classmates shriek, kacchan had managed to dodge, staring wide-eyed at the empty spot.
She tackled him to the ground.
The young girls in the back had cried out before all hell broke loose, they couldn't see her, but the students in the front would know why there was blood leaking out of the blonde's nose.
The sound of a fist hitting flesh caused everyone to panic and cry while they scrambled out of the door in a frenzy, there was a struggle as kacchan tried to defend himself, and wild sounds of chairs and desks being kicked back were the only sounds he had contrived to heed.
The sounds of children shouting and wailing had the teachers rush in, stopping the situation from escalating more than it had.
He remembers noticing kacchan with a bloody nose. It stuck to his brain. While his friend he had not been able to discern was screaming inside the room, it was a horrifying experience.
He wasn't sure how the teachers had made her calm down when he saw her come out of the room, her eyes were red, she was sobbing, and she looked so... Different. One moment of rage was all it took.
It was on that day, that her name got a new meaning.
It was also why her nickname would always remain with her, stuck to her like a leech, and why no one ever dared to call her real name.
That's why she was called 'loopy'.
"You okay, Mr. deku?"
He realised he had spaced out a little too late. He apologised, letting go of his prior thoughts to fully understand why he was here in the office with his manager.
"Anyway, we have noticed a slight decline in your performance today but it's nothing to worry about, you have been on top of the hero chart for a month, and your former classmate has seemed to have calmed down."
"Oh, kacchan? Yeah, he's busy with something else haha." Izuku gave the man a wide grin leaning forward.
"I brought you here to discuss any further romantic involvement with miss uravity, just to keep it safe, for the sake of your public image it would be best to announce anything."
Izuku quickly opened his eyes, lightly waving his hand and replying, "oh no, we are just very close friends, I'm not willing to put her in danger as being the symbol of peace attracts a lot of negative attention."
"I see your point. Just wanted to warn you."
Izuku laughed, standing up to shake the man's hand and depart from their small meeting, his smile dropping the moment he had stepped out, slowly he made his way out to open.
It was usually the time his mom would call. Or his close friends. Checking his phone, he skipped over to the messager app and found her contacts, her last texts, last seen, all there for him to view and ponder.
The last call phone call he had not received in the middle of a villain attack, he felt guilty.
Why did she call him? To tell him something? To ask him to help her out with a silly fact, or to tell him his childhood best friend was near.
He wanted to talk to her.
On cue, his phone rang, he picked it up without a second glance, it was uraraka.
"Hey deku, how was your day?" She happily uttered her usual pleasantries, izuku listened, remembering when he had first talked to a girl on his device.
"Yeah... It was good." He replied in his normal tone, strolling down the stairs to his agency, "mine was so funny, iida and kirishima fell on their faces while they were fighting!" She giggles, he could imagine her smiling.
"Really? Too bad I wasn't there to see it."
"You were busy so, how's your case going on, about the 'fanatics' that's what they're called right?"
"Yeah, so far all I found out was that the leader of this group had a girlfriend named 'Aoi', what about you?"
"I heard they got married or something. Guess the rumours are a little tricky and inconsistent?"
"Yeah can't trust much without clear evidence." He replied, stopping to say goodbye, "I gotta go, I'll text you when I reach home."
"Yeah, sure, be careful."
Izuku let out a sigh he couldn't hold in blankly staring at the street lights, he stood glued on the spot for a minute, fighting himself, whether he should gratify his current friend or his crush.
Electing it was best to speculate about his childhood crush when he was at home. He started to walk.
However, he knew if he saw her again.
His feelings would come surging back.