An Unlikely Partnership~Tododeku

12~ Mastermind Lies

Midoriya walked down the stairs into the kitchen. The moment he entered, the room fell silent, and all eyes turned upon him.

"So Deku. Mind telling us where you were last night? Not telling us when you got back? We thought you'd been kidnapped for god's sake!"

Bakugou seemed very upset and angry. His red eyes were a shade darker than usual and the way he held his posture was slumped and defeated.

"I-... I'm sorry everyone... After I left Uraraka-san and Iida-kun and Melissa-san at the cafe, I went to this hideout I used to have. I fell asleep there and woke up at midnight, then came back here."

Todoroki chose that moment to enter the room, putting his hand on Midoriya's shoulder and turning the shorter boy around. "That doesn't explain why you ignored our messages when you woke up, didn't even tell us you came back and kept us up until three in the morning. Heroes need sleep too, you know."

Midoriya took a step back and stared at the ground, Todoroki's hand falling to the side. "I... I don't know what I was thinking... I don't know... Honestly..."

Bakugou frowned and sighed. "Alright. Let's stop interrogating Deku and get on with breakfast. He doesn't seem like he wants to talk so let's leave it there. The important thing is that we're all here, alright and alive."

Midoriya gave the blonde a small smile which the other returned. He was glad that the issue had been dropped. They shouldn't know why he had ignored them. It didn't even make sense to him and his real explanation didn't seem realistic. He didn't just disappear because of a boy.

He sat down at the table with Uraraka and Iida. "You know... Deku-kun... Todoroki-kun was really worried... Probably more than any of us, I mean... He was the only one that went looking for you because the others believed that you would come back by yourself. He made a slight scene and left but came back really sad." Iida looked at her and the exchanged silent words. "He cares about you Izuku... He really does."

Midoriya's eyes widened, and his heart started to beat faster. "I thought.... I- Nevermind..." He looked back down to his bowl of cereal which suddenly didn't look as appetising anymore.

Standing up, he left the table silently and headed over to the room where Bakugou had kept the newest clue. He read over it again. eyes scanning the piece of paper for any sort of lead.

Don't fight over it or there will be hate,

Your lucky numbers are:

One, Twenty-Two, Four, Twelve, Seven and Eighty-Eight.

Look ahead, but not too far,

Or you'll be the one used as the bait.

This power is more powerful than a star,

But nothing you do can change your fate.

There was nothing that stood out about the clue on the surface. The numbers were probably come sort of code. The last two lines were probably some information about whatever this power was. The first line seemed like a litter warning. That left 'Look ahead but not too far, Or you'll be the one used as bait' as the only clue.

What does it mean by 'not too far'? I can't think of anything that could mean that. Does it mean into time or from some sort of place? Wait-? TIME?! I'm going to look at the previous line again. One. Twenty-Two. Four. Twelve. Seven. Eighty-Eight. 1.22.4.12.7.88. Hmm... 122.4.12788... A date? It seems too far into the future.. They did say don't look too far. What if I try it backwards? 8.8.7124221. That's even further.... Let's rewind a little. 1.22.4127... That could be a date... If it was MM/DD/YYYY... But what would I do with this? And how would I be bait if I looked too far? And... What would the eighty-eight do?

Midoriya groaned in annoyance. He thought he had a lead, any sort of lead but it turned out it was a dead end. But he may have been on the right track with putting the numbers together, maybe if he'd used them another way, he might've been onto something.

Todoroki chose that moment to walk into the room. "Midoriya...? I didn't expect to see you here- I mean, I would've thought you went to your room?"

The green haired boy shook his head. "Nah, I came here to study the clue. I thought it was a date at first, but then I reconsidered. It did say don't look too far and I took that as don't look into the future."

"I AM HERE!"

The pair jumped and Midoriya smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... Let me take this call..."

The boy with the red and white hair nodded, turning to the clue.

"Hey All Might! Sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Todoroki's attention was fully on the clue. He had a sudden idea. 122412788... A phone number... It was definitely an old one, as phone numbers now had twelve digits, but this definitely seemed like a phone number. He dashed out of the room and up the stairs, grabbing Bakugou and Kirishima by their arms and dragging them to the room with him, leaving the rest of the heroes who were having breakfast in shock and utter confusion.

"Huh? I wonder what Todoroki needs that's so urgent..."

Yaoyorozu shrugged slightly, "I guess he'll tell us? At some point..." She pulled a face. "He's... Pretty secretive on information he has until he's sure it's right. I guess that's a good thing..."

Sounds of agreement spread through the room, though they were muted. It seemed like everyone was interested about what was so urgent and why Bakugou and Kirishima had been dragged out of the room like that.

"I guess we'll have to wait... Right, everyone?" Uraraka smiled encouragingly. "If it's important, I'm sure they'll tell us in their own time. Don't worry! I'm sure we can count on it".

She wasn't so sure herself that he would tell them though. If what they found was important, then everyone could be seen as an enemy and they couldn't be trusted. She hoped that it wasn't that important, but it still made a lead on the BWO.

I hope everything's going to be fine after this whole thing is over... I really hope...