Freeze Frame

Chapter 130

Third person pov

Chad finally made contact, and Tsukauchi could've collapsed from the sheer relief he felt. Dabi practically did, dropping his face into his hands and taking a few deep breaths of relief. They were okay. Chad had dug a flip phone out of the center console of a car he'd stolen and put All Might on the line. You could hear gunfire in the background, but Chad's laughter assured them that all would probably be fine. Chad's control over the situation appeared chaotic, but it was most certainly present. Toshinori seemed relatively amused as well despite the precarious situation they were in. He reported rather earnestly that Chad had already unlocked One For All-- and with no drawbacks, no less! Dabi felt his soul leave his body at the news.

Toshinori managed to deduce their location from road signs. They were somewhere out by the countryside, driving towards no particular destination. Their main priority was going to be getting away from the Yakuza. Tsukauchi had no idea what to say. Toshinori had been incredibly distraught to find out Chad his quirk. Now, he seemed nothing short of completely ecstatic. Although quite obviously being shot at, he still managed to talk a mile a minute about the impromptu adventure he and his brand new successor had found themselves on. Tsukauchi was all but foaming at the mouth trying to figure out what to say.

He was glad Toshinori was able to smile and laugh after this. To find closure in something so tragic wasn't easy, but if anyone could draw that sort of thing out, it wasn't a surprise that it should be Chad who did so. The weight nestled deep in Tsukauchi's tired bones alleviated itself slightly, and he felt like he was able to breathe for the first time since they walked out of that stifling prison. Dabi looked like he could cry. It was to easy forget sometimes that he had married Chad. Times like these, it was apparent just how much the scarred man cared and loved his significant other. 

"How are they that far away? They haven't been missing that long." Dabi stressed, running a hand through his hair as the line finally went dead. Tsukauchi threw his phone down, wishing he had some Advil to combat the massive headache he had coming on. The relief almost made up for the pain, but not quite. 

"I don't know. The Yakuza is... complicated." Tsukauchi sighed, collapsing down on the other end of the sofa Dabi had been inhabiting for the past several hours. "I'm just glad they're alive and that they got away." 

"Chad's foot is still fucked." Dabi pointed out sharply. Tsukauchi sighed.

"Yeah, well, maybe his new quirk will take care of it." The detective shrugged. "Not that he needs it. I'm convinced you could chop both those man's arms off, and he'd still find a way to kick your ass and fire a gun." 

Dabi nodded solemnly. Vlad came hurtling through the luckily-open window to his left. Tsukauchi jumped slightly, but the scarred fire-quirk user didn't so much as flinch as the Nomu skid on the tile. Eri pushed her sunglasses up, hopping off of her perch on Vlad's shoulder. She looked tired, but she still stood with an unwavering confidence she'd sorely lacked when she first came into Chad's care. Tsukauchi couldn't help but smile at the sight of her tiny Hawaiian shirt and small, neon-pink crocs. He could easily see why Rei loved to babysit the girl. She looked as eccentric as Chad was. 

Dabi sat up from his slouched position like a dead man rising. It was funny to watch him switch from 'I want someone to beat me over the head with a frying pan until I fall into a coma that I'll never wake up' to 'I'm an attentive father who has sensed the presence of my children.' The switch wasn't immediate, but still fast enough that it was enjoyable to observe. Tsukauchi turned away and pretended to clear his throat to stop himself from laughing when Eri pointed a water gun at her scarred ward as though he were guilty of something. He didn't even look surprised.