Trigger warnings for this chapter: slight injury detail/gore, drug/overdose imagery
TL;DR will be at the end of the chapter
The first half of this chapter is pretty mild, the warnings are for the second part.
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(Kirishima's POV)
Kirishima and Sero left the house they were at and walked across the street, Seven on Kirishima's back. The students had been instructed to go house to house and ask for witnesses. So far, no luck. Seven sighed again, slumping down on his guardians shoulders.
"You okay, Sev?" Kirishima asked, approaching the next house. Seven nodded sadly, unable to bring himself to talking anymore. He had known his friends for a week but wasn't ready to lose them. Sero gave him a concerned look but said nothing as he knocked on the door. A woman answered.
"Sorry, I'm not interested-" she said as she began to close the door.
"Oh, no, ma'am. We aren't trying to sell you something. We're looking for some missing children" Sero quickly corrected. The woman opened the door more, allowing them to continue.
"Did you notice a white van a few hours ago drive through here?" Kirishima asked. The woman thought before shaking her head slightly.
"No, I'm afraid not" she replied.
"Okay, did you see three children, 6 years old around this tall, nearby?" Sero said, measuring up to his hip. The woman glanced up to the small boy on one of the men's shoulders, noticing the similar height. She realised he and the missing kids must have known each other. She cast him a sad look and he stared at the floor.
"Maybe, the markets have brought lots of kids down around these parts" she stated, turning back to the teenagers.
"They would have been wearing raincoats or a brown coat" Seven quipped, hopefully. The woman thought again and her eyes lit up.
"I did see them! A while ago. They were running, I just thought they were playing" she gasped, upset that she hadn't done anything to save them. Sero and Kirishima lit up.
"Did you see which way they were going?" Sero asked. The woman nodded and pointed down the street. They bowed to her and thanked her repeatedly. Kirishima made sure not to drop Seven as he did, but the boy also thanked the woman. She smiled at them and they set off, calling in to the rest of the class and policemen to let them know the new information.
Using the direction the lady gave them, the students and Seven were able to follow it and got more and more witnesses. Some had said they saw Seven and his friends run by, others mentioned seeing the white van speeding past and one man even had cameras that he was able to show the footage from. The students had been relaying this information back to the police who were slowly closing the perimetre of possible Malakai locations. Seven was growing more hopeful every second. He might actually get to see his friends again. His hope was contagious as Sero and Kirishima headed to the next house.
A predictable conversation played out of the young man inside claimed to hear a commotion a few hours ago and saw a white van drive past. The students thanked him and left, calling in to tell the police of the new witness.
"How long will it take to find them?" Seven asked.
"Not long, but when we find their hideout, you'll have to stay with the police, okay?" Kirishima answered.
"Okay" Seven agreed but did a double take of Kirishima's words. Hideout? Like a hideaway? But they were supposed to be safe? Rooms that others had found and secured for anyone who might pass by in need of a break. Or 'breather' as Flashlight once put it. Seven didn't know what that meant but he didn't know lots of things Flashlight did. Determination filled him. He lost Flashlight, he wasn't going to lose any more friends!
(RG's POV)
RG couldn't believe what was happening. She was supposed to be safe. She was supposed to be home with her friends. But here she was, fighting monsters again. Were they people? RG didn't want to believe so. This world, so different from hers. No hideous creatures trying to catch her. All she could remember was monsters. The others all seemed reluctant to adapt to the new life they were given. She knew vaguely why and they had told her stories of what they'd seen on their adventures so it made sense. She made the assumption that if she could remember her past, she might have been the same. One of the few times she was thankful she didn't remember. She stayed quiet, hiding in the shadows. Toga was looking for her but she was struggling. Looking around at her friends. Six was fiercely using her quirk on the man who grabbed her. She was bleeding again and the bandage that RG had wrapped around her head had long since fallen off. Mono and been turned on his side by the other man had he seemed to be breathing better but still looked very sick. He was shaking and sweaty. RG backed up further, trying to think of something but her head was feeling light. She felt something brush up against her arm and back. RG turned to see an old TV, she guessed it was old because it looked nothing like the ones in the dorms. Suddenly a plan came to mind. Mono could use his quirk to get everyone out, that was if he could concentrate. Or even walk to her.
"Psst! Mono" she whispered in a hiss. Mono slowly looked up to her, visibly weak. She moved slightly to show him the TV, hoping he would get the idea. Mono's eyes widen a tiny bit and prompted himself up to crawl to her. A scream from Six distracted both of them. She and been caught again. Instinct took over RG and she leaped over to her friend. Exsposing herself to Toga but making it to Six first. Grabbing her friend and pulling her out of the man's grasp. It wouldn't be long before Six would be on the same level as Mono. RG refused to let that happen. She backed into a corner with Six behind her, the adults closing in around them. Fear and anger boiled under RG's skin.
"Leave us alone!" She yelled, raising her hands above her head. A wave of water arupted from them, strong enough to push the adults back, even causing them to cry out slightly. Exhaustion washed over RG. Her hands felt warm and she felt as if she would collapse if she didn't have something to drink soon. Only Six was able to tell that the water had been hot, any skin that had touched it was a pink, raw colour. She didn't know that RG could do that. It seemed that RG didn't know she could do that, either. The two girls made their move to dash back to Mono, the boy having laid down again.
"Mono!" Six cried, pulling her friend up slightly. "C'mon, get up, we gotta go!" She encouraged. Mono's eyes opened half way, his breathing was quiet and while RG didn't really know much about health, she could guess that wasn't supposed to happen. As if things weren't hard enough, the adults got back up again. Couldn't they catch a break?
"Mono, get to the TV, Six, cover him, I'll distract them" RG said and took off, not knowing how she'd come up with that plan but it probably had something to do with her fight-or-flight response going into overdrive. She didn't know it but RG was only still standing by pure adrenaline, without the training she would have been long dead or recaptured. That and some luck. Be it good for keeping her alive or bad for getting her into the situation in the first place.
RG rushed to face the adults, desperately thirsty and tired but she pushed on. If Tsu can fight bad monsters all day, then so can I! She told herself, ducking under a kick. She turned to see the purple-faced man and Toga advance on her friends. Predictably, the two-voice man stayed behind to face her. RG multitasked, facing her new enemy whilst firing two squirts of water at the other adults, successfully getting their attention back on her.
"Dabi, you get her, I'll handle these two" Toga said, ignoring her parnter's displeasure at being told what to do. Begrudgingly, he did so, settling his gaze on RG. RG could only hope that Six could keep Toga busy while Mono used his quirk. She attempted to keep an eye of each of the two that circled her like she was prey. It proved difficult when her vision got blurry and they strategically stayed equal lengths apart, making it near impossible to watch them at the same time. That didn't stop her from trying, however. She trusted that if she could hold them off, Mono could get them out of there and to safety, then she knew, she knew, that Tsu would find them and take them home.
Right?
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TL;DR
Kirishima and Seven work on finding Mono, Six and RG. They work with the police to locate Malakai's hideout and seem to be on the right track. RG takes charge in keeping her friends alive and comes up with a plan of escape. However the LoV aren't giving up easy.
Will Seven find his friends before it's too late?
Will RG manage to pull through and save her friends?
And is Dabi trying to save Mono or just delaying it?
Find out...
*pause for effect*
April! Or whenever the next chapter is up