I know it's not Friday, but think of this as an early Christmas gift. ^_~ Also, expect a 'surprise' update for Christmas Eve, too~! Please enjoy~!
*Rushes off to work*
Chapter 11: Rescue
Shouta had never felt more useless. Hours blurred into days, and while he tried to keep track of time, he honestly wasn't sure how long it'd been. Every now and then, Hisashi would come down and drag Shouta up to his torture chamber where he'd be gagged and forced to watch as the Villain tortured Izuku, who always refused to scream.
He'd be forced to sit there and watch as his son thrashed about in mindless agony. Shouta's wrists were now as bloody as Izuku's. Hisashi never did more than the serum, though. Whether that was a good thing or not, Shouta didn't know.
Whenever he'd torture Izuku, he always had this look of intrigue on his face, and he'd start asking Shouta questions about All For One, most of which he had no idea how to answer. If anything, he gained more information from Hisashi than the man gained from Shouta.
Aside from that, they were left alone. No food, minimal water. Shouta and Izuku were grateful for small blessings.
Sometimes, when the lantern was bright enough, they'd talk in sign, as Izuku's jaw caused him some problems from time-to-time, now.
Other times, the lantern was so dim they could hardly make out their own hands, and spoke in soft, quiet tones. Izuku always seemed calmer when Shouta spoke, and would lean against his chest as he talked about whatever came to mind. He usually told him stories about his time at U.A., or his countless missions as a hero—both good and bad. He told him about his old friend, Shirakumo, who died in his Second Year of U.A., and how guilty Shouta still felt about it. How he thought he'd heard his friend and partner yelling encouragement to him throughout the entire battle, only to find out that he'd been dead the entire time.
He'd never told anyone about Shirakumo. Only Nemuri and Hizashi knew about him, because they'd been there.
They were trauma bonding, and while Shouta knew it would only cause more harm than good further down the road, he couldn't find it in himself to deny Izuku anything after he literally went through hell so Shouta didn't have to.
And that guilt ate away at him like nothing he'd ever experienced. Izuku constantly reminded him that he shouldn't feel guilty, and Shouta knew this. It wasn't his fault; it was Hisashi's for putting them in this godforsaken nightmare. But that still didn't make the crushing guilt any lighter. He still found himself wondering if they'd still be there if he'd only remembered to grab his Capture Weapon or cell phone that night. Maybe Inko would still be alive.
Shouta noted that their dynamic had shifted. Yes, they were still father and son, but... there was a deeper level of trust, now. Shouta felt comfortable opening up to Izuku about things that even Hizashi didn't know. Izuku returned the favor easily.
"Do you still want to be a hero, after all this?" Shouta found himself asking one 'night' after Izuku regained coherence from his latest torture.
"If anything, Dad... this makes me want to be a hero more." Shouta blinked in surprise. "I mean... How many people have to go through this? Maybe... no, I will save someone from this one day. I'll make sure that at least one kid doesn't have to lose their mom like... like me."
"Damn, kid. Most people—even pros—would break under what you're going through. Under what you've gone through. And here you are turning trauma into fuel for your dreams." Shouta gave a deep, dry laugh. "Are you still glad I caught you that day?"
Izuku looked up into his eyes, startled at the question. "Every day. I'm grateful for you saving my life. Because it brought you into my life. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, dad... I don't need a Quirk. I just need you."
"Zuzu, you're going to make me cry, damnit. I'm dehydrated enough." Shouta gave a small smile.
"And maybe that's my evil plan? Cry you to death." Izuku shot back.
Yeah, maybe the trauma was still affecting them, but Shouta thought they were holding up rather well, all things considered.
They'd gotten used to a sort-of schedule, now. In the mornings (at least Shouta assumed it was morning), Hisashi would leave two cups of water and then leave the house—for that's where they were, a house—for an indeterminable amount of time.
During their morning, Shouta and Izuku would banter and talk until they fell into a comfortable silence. On occasion, Hisashi would throw a half a loaf of bread down the stairs around what Shouta assumed would've been a late lunchtime. Shouta always insisted Izuku get most of it (he wouldn't eat all of it, so Shouta forced the dry tasteless substance down his already parched throat).
Then, around what felt like late afternoon, Hisashi would come in and gather them for their daily torture (Shouta emotionally and Izuku physically) and interrogation. This would go on for what Shouta assumed was about three hours or so, with the man questioning Shouta about this mysterious 'All For One', before the two were chained back up in the basement for the night. There, they'd sign or cry or simply take comfort in one another's presence. The fact that they were alive.
And if there's one thing they've learned, it's that the two had a very unhealthy attachment to one another. Just being in a different room could send them both into blinding panic attacks until they found one another again.
They both knew that was something that they'd need to work on if—when—they escaped.
His rough calculations landed them at around five to seven days since being kidnapped. It didn't seem long, when put into perspective, but it felt like months.
Once, three days ago (or, at least, three sessions ago), Hisashi had dragged Izuku out of the room without Shouta. It'd been in the morning, and threw off their schedule so badly that the two were jumpy and on-edge even now.
That was the first time they realized how badly attached to one another they were. Shouta still had open wounds on his wrists from how hard he pulled at his chains. And those damn Quirk Suppressant Cuffs constantly made both their wrists bleed. They'd likely scar. Lovely.
That was also the only time that Hisashi had used something other than the serum. He'd apparently tortured Izuku with knives, and that information made Shouta nearly blind with protective rage. Even still, his little hero didn't scream once. He was simultaneously proud—even most pros couldn't handle torture like this without screaming—and rightly horrified—he's not even in high school!
When Hisashi had brought Izuku back down those stairs, kid weakly struggling against the firm scorching hand in his hair, Shouta knew something was wrong. And when he'd chained him back up—out of Shouta's reach, of course, Izuku would have to crawl back over to him—he'd caught sight of the blood on his son, and Shouta saw red. He'd lashed out at the man, intent on causing some kind of damage, but the man had been carefully beyond the reach of Shouta's chains.
"Maybe I'd lighten up on him if you'd just tell me about All For One." The man had taunted, smirking at Shouta.
"All For One is a myth."
All For One... Shouta had done a lot of undercover missions in the criminal underworld. He was very good at keeping himself under the radar, so whenever they needed someone reliable, they'd ask him. As such, he'd heard the rumors.
All For One was some godlike person that was rumored to be immortal and all knowing. He was a name that kept the criminal underworld chained to a certain set of morals, and anyone who deviated from those morals (no matter how fucked up and twisted they were) vanished, and was never seen again. Shouta thought that All For One was some kind of group, honestly, but everyone seemed to think it was one man. A man that Hisashi was convinced had some kind of connection to Izuku.
"Or so you say." Hisashi hummed. "But little Izuku is proof of his existence." Shouta stared blankly at him. "Oh, don't pretend that Inko didn't tell you. Then again..." He mused, tapping his chin. "Inko didn't tell me either. Almost like she was ashamed. I wonder why? To have a man like that as a father is such an honor. I have little doubt that his grandson's Quirk is amazing, especially if it combined with my own."
What? This man was delirious. Not that Shouta thought he was sane in the first place, but to think that Izuku was the grandson of this All For One character? Preposterous! Even if he was one person, and actually real, and Inko had been his daughter, why would the guy leave any kind of trail that this man could pick up? Illogical.
Shouta disregarded the man's theory as the words of a madman. That had been three days ago.
The screaming of the hinges made Shouta jump out of his light dozing. This wasn't how the schedule went. This was different. That meant Izuku would face the serum and the knives. Without Shouta. Izuku clung to him and whimpered pitifully.
"Please don't let him take me, dad." Shouta felt an inferno flare to life within him. He was hit suddenly by the overwhelming need to protect Izuku. Not that he hadn't felt it before, but now it was insanely strong.
The man chuckled as Shouta crouched protectively in front of his son. He bared his teeth and snarled, feeling more animal than human. Like he was some kind of mother tiger and this was his cub. A growl rumbled in his chest as the man stepped closer.
"My, my. How scary. You really do look feral, you know that?"
"Don't touch my cub!" He snarled, lashing out towards the man as he went to grab Izuku's chains. Of course, Shouta's own chains prevented him from reaching the bastard.
But then Izuku gave a cry as the chains dragged him back to the wall, and that man reached out and took hold of his hair. Shouta waited for a brief moment. Perhaps he truly was like a wildcat right now. He could feel his slightly elongated canines, an up till now dormant holdover from his father's cat Quirk, which had given him the features of a panther.
So the moment that Hisashi made the mistake of stepping into Shouta's range, the man lashed out. Of course, his hands couldn't reach the man, but his teeth could. He sank his fangs into the man's arm, eliciting a cry of pain—which was much more satisfying than Shouta ever thought it'd be. He refused to let go. Izuku's terrified green eyes were wide with awe in that moment, and Shouta bit down harder, feeling his teeth scrape bone.
When the man finally freed himself enough to pull away, Shouta pulled a nice chuck of arm with him. Hisashi glared at him before giving him a hard punch to the head. He then took Izuku away again, only to return a few minutes later.
Shouta was still stunned by the blow to the head—which likely only worsened his somewhat-healing concussion. He still heard the familiar scream of the hinges. He was ready, practically chomping at the bit to sink his fangs into this man again. The taste of blood rolled over his tongue as he licked his lips. No, it didn't taste good, but it felt good to finally fight back somehow.
"That wasn't very nice." Hisashi glared. "More feral than you look. I can fix that." He held up a syringe. Though it was dark, and Shouta couldn't really see the contents—even if his night vision was better than most—he just knew it was the Serum.
"Since the brat refuses to scream, which is admittedly quite entertaining, I'll do this where he can't see. Please do try to be quiet—I don't want him accusing me of going back on my word."
Shouta lunged for him again, but the man punched him in the head, dazing him long enough for the man to stick him with the syringe.
It was only a bit—insignificant in comparison to the amount that he saw the monster pump into Izuku—but the pain was more than ten times what Shouta had expected.
He'd barely kept himself from screaming as he was entirely blindsided by the agony. He'd been a pro for a long time, and faced some abuse in his home life as a child, but nothing had fully prepared him for this. And this pain did not play nice with his concussion at all.
How the hell had Izuku been holding out under more than twice this amount all week? If Shouta had any doubts about Izuku being able to become a hero, this certainly dashed many of them. He wasn't sure that there was a single active hero right now that had a pain tolerance and iron will that could match his son.
The pain made him check out, and for a while the only thing that he knew was the agony. He couldn't think.
When he came to, he panicked, because Izuku was gone and he was alone, and WHERE WAS HIS SON?!
Izuku had been unceremoniously dumped down the stairs and chained back up not ten minutes after Shouta had come out of his pain induced haze. His son was bleeding again, and had several new lacerations and burns.
He bit back his satisfaction when he saw Hisashi's bandaged arm, and the way he flinched when Shouta snarled as he lunged against his restraints.
The man was quick to leave after he made sure Izuku was properly chained, skirting well out of Shouta's range, a shine of healthy fear in his eyes. Good. Be a fucking fraid, bitch. Next time, it'll be your goddamned neck. He mentally promised, before he made himself calm down.
Shouta, now that he was calmer and had Izuku in his arms again, took a moment to run his tongue over his teeth. His canines were still slightly elongated, but they weren't as long as they had been earlier. Interesting...
"You looked scary, earlier." Izuku whispered. "But cool. What's with the fangs?"
"My father's Quirk was Panther. He was a shape shifter." Shouta explained. "There are some cases where a parent's Quirk lays dormant in their children, even if the kids develop a completely different Quirk. In times of great stress, parts of that Quirk can come out. I suppose that's what's happened to me. But since it was a shifter Quirk, it doesn't stay." He smiled at Izuku, showing his now normal teeth.
"Your eyes were like a cat's, too." Izuku smiled lightly. "It looked cool." He paused for a moment. "But the cuffs?"
"That's probably why it was only my teeth. My emotions overwhelmed the drug in my system. It's rare, but it has been known to happen—usually with the cheaper Quirk Suppressants like this."
Izuku hummed in response as he sat back against Shouta's chest. He felt the child's trembling slowly subside as the last bits of the serum wore down. He wondered, for a brief moment, if this meant that he now wielded two Quirks. If he did, though, it wasn't something he'd probably be able to use very well.
"Hey, dad?" Izuku spoke up quietly, snapping the older man out of his thoughts.
"What is it, Zuzu?"
"Don't... erm... Don't freak out, okay?" Izuku carefully pulled out a small knife from his trousers. He'd somehow snuck a weapon out of his torture chamber, and Shouta couldn't be more proud.
Until he carefully severed the toe next to his big toe. Izuku didn't cry out, and he only barely winced as he did so. Shouta would've been rightly horrified if he hadn't been through what he'd been through this last week. Instead he just raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Izuku smiled as he removed muscle and sinew from his severed toe. No it is not obvious, Problem Child! "I'm making our way out."
It only took Shouta a moment more to understand what he meant—brain still muddled from the pain drug earlier and his newly re-obtained concussion. "A lock pick."
"Yep." Izuku grinned in victory when he finished, and he carefully inserted the bone into the keyhole on his cuffs. After a few breathless minutes listening for any sign of the monster's return (though Shouta was pretty sure he'd left the house earlier), a soft click was heard.
Shouta's heart stopped for a moment as a loud clatter echoed. Izuku's wrists now only bore the Quirk Suppression Cuffs. He was no longer chained to the wall. He shared a grin with Shouta before coming over and gifting him with that same relief.
The feeling of those cuffs dropping away was heaven. The feeling of the Quirk Suppression Cuffs falling away, while painful, was euphoria.
He gasped as he felt the low-grade migraine he'd slowly grown used to start to ebb away (though he still had a killer migraine from the concussion). Cheap Quirk Suppressants were notorious for wearing off in minutes, no matter the dosage.
He could feel his Quirk rearing up like a protective mother, and wrap around him like a warm blanket. He briefly felt his hair lift off his shoulders and Izuku gave a small gasp. "It's back." He smiled, looking at Shouta.
"Yeah." Shouta smiled back. "It's back." He could feel strength welling up in him, partially from the return of his Quirk (and absence of the drug) and partially from the exhilaration. Though it was entirely possible that it was also strength from his newly unlocked Quirk Aspects as well.
He helped Izuku remove his own Quirk Suppression Cuffs, which fell away to the floor, crusted in blood, a moment later.
If Shouta never saw another drop of Izuku's blood again, it'd be too soon.
He carefully stood, staggering slightly, as he walked over to the lamp. He turned it up, brightening their surroundings enough that they could—for the first time since their imprisonment—see what was really around them, and each other.
The basement had quite a few items in storage, and the wooden floor was grimy, filthy, and now covered in a nice layer of both fresh and dried blood. He refused to look at the bloody corner that Inko had once occupied. He also didn't look into the other corner that the two had been using as their impromptu bathroom.
Izuku was covered in dirt, blood, grime, and sweat. His once soft green pajamas that he'd been wearing when he was kidnapped were brown and smeared with red. They were torn and beyond repair. His hair was matted with sweat and blood, and it stuck up at unnatural angles. His face was pale and gaunt, and his eyes held a wary haunted look that he'd only ever seen in other pros before.
Shouta knew he didn't look much better, in his once-white t-shirt and sweatpants. Both of their wrists were raw and bloodied (both fresh and dried), and the bleeding bracelet of puncture wounds from the Quirk Suppressant Cuffs had only just started to slow.
Shouta had mostly recovered from the worst of his concussion, before Hisashi had given him a new one. The lack of proper sleep, food, water, and safety had all but robbed either of them of any sort of rehabilitation. At the very least, he could still walk in a straight line without risk of falling on his face.
He fell into a loose fighting stance and gave a few kicks to test his balance and reaction time. He stumbled a bit, but it would have to do. He wasn't about to knock himself out if he had to fight, so that was more than he could've asked for a couple of days ago. His concussion must not have been as bad as when he'd knocked him out with the crowbar.
Shouta grinned when he caught sight of a dagger hung up on the wall behind the staircase. He immediately snatched it, feeling much more at ease with some kind of weapon in hand.
'We need to treat your foot. I don't want us to pull this off just to have him follow a blood trail.' Shouta signed, to which Izuku nodded.
It wasn't the most sanitary thing, and Shouta wouldn't have used it if there were any better option, but he tore off a part of a nearby sheet he'd found in some storage bin and securely wrapped it around Izuku's missing toe. He then tore the rest up into strips and wrapped them around their wrists, where the Quirk Suppression Cuffs had been.
They finished tending to the injuries they could. With a nod, the two made their way up the stairs for the first time under their own power. The staircase was narrow, and there were no blind spots. If they were attacked there, it'd be over before they could even fight back. Shouta shifted nervously as Izuku inserted his white lock pick into the keyhole and got to work.
A moment later, there was a soft click, and the two shared a brief look of astonished excitement.
Until they heard the front door, freezing them both in place. They heard hurried footsteps, and the two retreated to their usual spot, Shouta standing protectively in front of Izuku. Shouta dimmed the lamp. They couldn't fight him head-on, not in their current physical state. They'd need to catch him off-guard.
When the monster came in to gather Izuku for his daily torture, Shouta would stab him. The man would likely stick to the usual dodge-Shouta's-range tactic, and believe himself safe so long as he stayed out of reach of his teeth. Shouta would prove him wrong. With the light dimmed, the man would only see the two standing, not the fact that they were no longer chained.
That was the plan, anyways. But when the footsteps approached the door, they stiffened. This wasn't normal. Those footsteps weren't controlled and deliberate like they always were. Today would be different (well even more than it already had been, with morning torture added to the mix), and that set Shouta on overdrive. Well, more so than he normally was these days.
The sound of the hinges screaming made Izuku cower and whimper behind him. That sound, the sound of his son whimpering—even if for just a moment—the silent plea on his young lips for the pain to stop...
It sent Shouta into one of his frenzied protective episodes. He felt his canines grow again, forming sharp deadly points. Abruptly, the room came into a sharp focus, and even the darker shadows looked like daytime. This was his cub. And this man would not hurt him any more. Shouta didn't care if it fucking killed him this time, Izuku would be safe.
He crouched low in a battle stance as he shielded Izuku; knife held out before him, lips curled back into an animalistic snarl as he bared his teeth. It was primal, mindless, instinctive. A giant signal to stay the fuck away. He felt a familiar growl rumble in his chest as he gripped the knife in a white-knuckled fist. His tongue darted over bloodied teeth, still stained from his earlier strike.
The man stopped partway on the stairs, a light gasp escaping his lips as he caught sight of them. But there was something different. Something familiar...
"Shouta?"
Shouta blinked. He knew that voice. His growling died down.
"Shou, i-it's me. It's Hizashi."
"Z-Zashi?" He blinked, eyes finally connecting with his muddled brain as he recognized his husband standing six feet away from him. He nearly dropped the knife in relief. "Zuzu..." He called quietly, and Izuku's head lifted.
"Papa Zashi?" Izuku looked up in awe, like he was seeing the sun for the first time. In a way, they sort of were.
"God, Shouta. Izuku... I-I'm so sorry it took us so long!" Hizashi had tears running down his face as he cautiously took a step towards them, staring in horror at their prison. He saw the discarded crimson-stained cuffs and shackles. He saw the injuries and blood that adorned them both.
Izuku stared, looking lost and somewhat scared. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but he couldn't seem to find the words.
"We can go home, now, cub." Shouta said, knowing exactly what Izuku was trying to say. He felt his fangs shrinking again, as the shadows grew darker once more.
"Promise, dad?" He looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "No more Serum?"
"No." Shouta quickly pulled Izuku into a fierce hug, calming what he could sense was an oncoming attack, even as he felt his own fear spike at the mention of the horrible nightmare substance. "No, no, no... No more serum. No more serum."
Hizashi looked unnerved at their reactions, but Shouta really didn't give a fuck right now. "We need to get going. Your injuries are bad, we need to get you to a hospital."
Shouta froze at the word. So did Izuku. Hospital meant needles and syringes and separating them from each other and— "No." Shouta's voice left no room for argument, even as he finally allowed his husband to embrace him. And God Hizashi's arms felt safe and for the first time since this entire nightmare began, he finally felt like it could really be over.
"N-No?! Shou, we can't just not treat those injuries!" Hizashi objected as he also gave Izuku a hug before carefully picking him up and leading Shouta up the stairs. "Nemuri's waiting outside, keeping an eye out for your kidnapper. We weren't even sure if you were here, but we've been searching like you wouldn't believe." He stopped for a moment as they stepped out into the hallway, looking around. "Where's Inko?"
Shouta and Izuku flinched.
"Mom's gone, Zashi. He killed her." Izuku's voice was uncharacteristically soft, and he saw the look of grief and devastation flash across his husband's face as he registered that information. He didn't miss the guilt that flashed there, either.
"Call Recovery Girl, then." Shouta said, bringing the conversation back on track. He couldn't handle processing Inko's death and being around Zashi again. It was already nearly too much just to process being out of that room without the all-too familiar feel of a rough hot hand in his hair. Hizashi led them to the front door and outside.
Shouta winced and staggered, his concussion protesting loudly against sunlight. He stood there for a moment, ignoring the stabbing pain in his skull as he stared in awe at the sky. He burned that moment into his soul. He vowed to never take the absolute vastness of the sky for granted again, because it reminded him of just how free he was. The stabbing pain eventually caused him to look away with a grimace.
"Maybe my concussion is a little worse than I thought." He gasped.
"Which is why you need to go to a hospital, Shou." Zashi tried again.
"Papa... Please..." Izuku whispered, tears running down his face. "I just wanna go home. Can't Recovery Girl just treat us? I... I can't go somewhere new again... I can't. No more."
For a moment Hizashi looked between the two, stunned. Shouta knew he was probably just now realizing how fucked up they both were, but he really couldn't find it in himself to care much at that moment. "Please, Zashi?" Shouta begged, a thin stream of tears running down his cheeks.
He heard his husband gasp in surprise. Shouta never cried. "A-all right. Let's get you two home, then. Yuki's missed you." Hizashi let out a shaky breath as Shouta and Izuku finally relaxed.
"Shouta! Izuku!" Nemuri ran out to meet them, tears running down her face. She looked exhausted, with dark bags under her eyes and hair flying all over the place.
Shouta abruptly realized that Hizashi also looked like crap; with bags that rivaled Shouta's own daily ones. His usual healthy glow was pale and he looked like he'd skipped several meals. He found himself questioning the lack of police in the area.
"We were so worried when we found the apartment, and then a note saying that if we contacted anyone you'd be killed!" She cried. Well, that explains that. Shouta stiffened when she looked around. "W-where's Inko?"
Hizashi looked Nemuri in the eye and shook his head sadly. "N-no... You can't mean."
"We need to get these two home." Hizashi cut in coarsely, causing the woman to flinch.
"D-don't you mean a hospital?"
"No. I'll call Recovery Girl." Hizashi's tone left no room for argument.
Shouta and Izuku were herded into the backseat of the car carefully as Hizashi slid into the driver's seat and Nemuri into the passenger seat.
Shouta pulled Izuku into his lap, wrapping protective arms tightly around the small shivering form.
"We're really going home, dad?"
"Yeah, Little Hero." He smiled as Izuku smiled softly at his nickname. "We're going home."