Detective Midoriya

Chapter 42

Chaos whirled around the room as Naomasa held his hands over Izuku's wound like it was the only thing keeping him alive – praying that it was actually keeping the boy alive. He wasn't aware of the arrests that were made, or the concern voiced for Midoriya in passing, it was just him and the boy he was begging to stay alive.

"-ide. Sir! We need you to step aside!" an EMT was saying, shaking his shoulder.

"Oh. Yes, of course," Naomasa said numbly, falling away from Midoriya. He was fairly sure he knew this EMT from somewhere, but he couldn't place it.

While the others strapped a pale Izuku to a stretcher, the first one looked back at the detective, torn. "Sir, would you like to ride in the ambulance with Midoriya?"

"Is he the kid's father?" another EMT asked.

The first one met his eyes before nodding. "They're family."

"He's losing blood fast, I don't know if he's going to make it to the hospital," another EMT said as they were loading the boy onto the vehicle. "I don't think we're going to be able to make due with just IV fluids, not at this rate. Do you know what blood type he is?"

"O positive," Tsukauchi said without thinking.

"Do you or any of your people have type O blood? We have everything we need."

"I don't – I don't know," Naomasa said.

"I have O negative," a voice behind them said. "I donated last month, and everything checked out just fine, here's my donor card."

Of all people, it was Mori who stepped up. If the stakes weren't so high, Naomasa could have laughed at the concern clear on the officer's face. Instead, he nodded at the officer before climbing in.

Seated in the ambulance, Naomasa did his best to rein in his emotions, but he couldn't do that while looking at Izuku. The only alternative he found was staring at his hands – his hands painted in the boy's blood.

"Can I have something to clean my hands? I need to make some calls," Naomasa said faintly.

"Of course," someone said before handing him some kind of antiseptic wipe. Naomasa cleaned his hands as best he could, but he knew that the stains would never leave. Those same useless hands dialed Inko's number, and they trembled as they held the phone up to his ear.

"Detective Tsukauchi? Could I call you back in a few minutes? I'm just about to—"

"It's an emergency, Inko," he said, voice hoarse. "You're going to need to come to the hospital as soon as possible. Izuku's been shot."

Her startled gasp nearly broke him, but even worse was her quivering voice. "Is he going to be okay?"

Naomasa closed his eyes. He'd had to tell families bad news before, but it wasn't the same, somehow. A million words ran through his mind, but none of them seemed enough – language was failing him. "They're going to try everything they can, but it doesn't look good. I'm in the ambulance with him now – we just got to the hospital. I'll keep my phone on me and keep you updated until you get here."

He hung up in the bustle of unloading Izuku. It was wrong seeing the boy so still and lifeless, but how Naomasa felt about the situation didn't matter at this point. He merely did as he was told, staying as close to the boy as he was allowed. He kept his eyes trained on Midoriya until the second he literally could not anymore. His stomach clenched as the stretcher Izuku was laid out on disappeared behind the doors that led to surgery. He stood and stared at those doors for what felt like an eternity until one of the janitors asked him to move. He had actually been looking for somewhere to sit when a frantic Inko tore through the front door.