Insomnia [Shota Aizawa x Reader] (Rewritten Version)

Chapter 43

Shota was tired.

Three villains and a Nomu arrested and captured, but at the cost of one student kidnapped and a hero missing, possibly kidnapped as well. And all the casualties weren't even all counted.

He had no idea where you were, either. Midoriya had only sputtered a few words of information about the villains' target and something about more villains and a Nomu you were fighting, before throwing a child at him and running off. Shota had only barely managed to pass the message of quirk usage to him.

No one was supposed to know the location of the camp except the teachers. A rare knot formed in his stomach. Did you leak it to the villains?

He worriedly did another headcount of the students as many of them were being carted or sent to the hospital, trying not to think of that possibility.

He trusted you. You couldn't have done that, right? Of course not.

When he had the chat with you about the students and their trust in you, he had told you the students wouldn't want you to leave despite what you did. He didn't want you to leave, either.

"Eraserhead." An officer reported to him. "There's another five casualties and a Nomu off to the western part of the forest."

Shota adjusted his capture weapon around his neck. You should be among them. The officer drove him there, as his concern rapidly grew.

As they approached, he saw an ambulance parked near and a few police cars. A pile of fallen trees was nearby. It didn't seem possible that there could be this many trees, as there was barely a clearing for space and there was only one visible stump.

As he came closer, he saw familiar faces.

Katsumi and Aiko, currently being handcuffed by an officer. Miki, on a stretcher and barely conscious. Ethan, standing by with his tail curling and uncurling. And you, unconscious under a fallen tree as some officers and workers were trying to get you out. Your head was bleeding, and your body stuck under the trees was not a good sign.

A Nomu was also under the trees, but it was at the bottom, with much more weight on it. It didn't seem to move, instead staring unblinkingly into space.

"What happened?" Shota demanded, at the officers and Ethan. Their eyes widened at him, not expecting the sudden anger. He felt his hair rise and then fall, and if his eyes had flashed red, he wouldn't be surprised.

"He was here when we arrived," one of the officers said, nodding at the chameleon man. They looked expectantly at him.

"The Nomu was rampaging," Ethan explained quickly, voice uneven and shaking. "[Y/N] was able to crash it down into the ground and Katsumi cloned a bunch of trees on top of it to keep it down." He and Shota stepped back as a few emergency workers moved in front of him, carrying you on a stretcher. "The rest turned themselves in." He turned to Katsumi, Aiko, and Miki.

"What?" Shota said in disbelief. He watched as you were carried away into the ambulance. Why?"

Ethan shrugged. "I guess they regret what they did," he said shortly. Shota couldn't tell if he was lying or holding something back. Fucking chameleon.

"How did you know to come here?"

"Miki knew Katsumi was coming here because he asked for a portal to here a few days ago. He and Aiko were worried and I came along because I was worried as well." He pursed his lips, then gave him a forced smile, trying to call himself down. "Takes a traitor to know a traitor, I suppose."

He left him at that, tail completely curled up now. Shota nodded, then headed towards the handcuffed villains. He turned to the officers with them. "I'll take it from here." He dismissed the officers, then turned to the villains. "What happened?"

His voice was more stable now, being able to get more information, but he was still stressed and concerned for you.

"I made a mistake," Katsumi said briefly, turning away. His lips were in a thin line, eyes downcast.

That didn't answer anything. Shota turned to Aiko with a raised eyebrow and she sighed. "I was unconscious for most of it but...." Looking to Katsumi, her eyes flashed pink and a moment later, the man raised his head up again to look at Shota, with a much calmer look in his eyes but still very much distressed inside.

"I brought the Nomu here to test it. It's much stronger than the others and more intelligent." He glanced at the Nomu under the tree. "Though that started deteriorating quickly. It started rampaging and attacking without orders. [L/N] and I brought it down, but I don't know if it will stay down." His voice started to shake, Aiko's quirk not strong enough to keep his fear down. "They must have hit their head on the way down, and I accidentally cloned a tree on top of them."

Shota got a closer look at you as you were being carried to the ambulance, and you did not look good. Your head was bleeding and the weight of the trees must have injured, if not completely crushed, your legs. You also had a nasty stab wound at your waist, as the workers tried to apply pressure to it best they could. Healing quirks wouldn't work on you, and he wasn't sure if you'd recover quickly, if at all. He took a deep breath as he returned his attention to the captured villains and considered the situation.

"I'm sorry," Katsumi murmured. "It's my fault. I didn't intend for this to happen. I didn't want to hurt any of them." He fell to his knees, arms covering his head, still handcuffed. "I didn't want to hurt...." His words faded into intelligible mumbles.

Aiko dropped down next to him and tried to hug him best she could with the cuffs. She turned to Shota. "We.... We tried to stop. And [Y/N] tried to stop us. I'm sorry."

Shota cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have even thought that you were a traitor. You were a good person and you did your best to stop them. To change them.

"We'll discuss this later," he finally said. He took a final glance at the ambulance you were in as it drove away before he started walking them to a police car.

He caught Aiko's eyes flash pink, and she gave him a faint smile. "You care for them."

He stared back at her and said nothing. He knew they should be under quirk restraints, but he had a feeling they wouldn't try anything, and at the moment, he did not care.

After putting them in, he sighed. "You could be right," he mumbled.