Inseparable Bonds

Chapter 31

The room stayed in silence for a while. The Villains just stared at each other, while Todoroki and Bakugo watched Midoriya. Every now and then, emotion would show in his eyes, and his mouth would mouth 'Help'. Both boys slowly started to fight against the restraints, and eventually, they were free.

"You're not getting away with it that easily." Kurogiri said, obviously not paying attention to anything.

Todoroki jolted his head toward Kurogiri. He just said that. He thought. He looked back at Midoriya, and saw the old Midoriya poking through the cold, dead eyes.

Bakugo nudged him with his elbows, as they watched Kurogiri use his quirk, teleporting Todoroki and Bakugo inside a big, energy draining cage, in the warehouse.

AFO walked over to the cage, as both boys sat down, too tired to continue standing. "Now, how did you get here?" he smirked.

Todoroki looked up, but immediately looked down again, his energy draining quickly. "Y... you... sh... should... kn... know." Todoroki gasped.

He didn't understand until now why it was so hard for Midoriya's conscience to speak. The cage was somehow draining his energy so quickly, that in minutes, he was barely able to speak.

He thought of his father, and how disappointed he would be in him. Shoto. Get up. You will beat him. You have no choice. That's why I created you. He heard his father say.

He lifted his head, and stood up. He was going to beat him. The cage wasn't going to stop him. He was going to get home. He was going to help his mother. He had to start here first. Giving up wasn't an option.

I beat it. You can too. He heard Midoriya say. Todoroki sat back down, much to AFO's delight. He puts his head down, exhausted. How? It's draining my energy very quickly. He thought, hoping for Midoriya's words to fill his head, and give him some WiSdOm.

It drains faster the more you give into it. Your father may be a poo head, but he taught you not to give up, right? Midoriya's voice rang in his ears. Almost like he was right there, whispering in his ears.

I... I can't do it. You managed to explode the cage, but when I did the exact same thing, nothing happened. It just got harder to deal with the weight. I ca-. His thoughts were interrupted by Bakugo's screaming.

"You should've tried when you got the chance... Shoto Todoroki." AFO growled, his hand latched onto Bakugo's wrist, slowly twisting it.

"I... I... kn... know. I... a... am... g... gon... na... do... th... that... n... now." Todoroki said, standing up slowly. Bakugo turned around - as much as he could at least - and tried to pull away from AFO, but was only met with more pain shooting up through his arm.

Suddenly, the cage burst open, sending AFO and Bakugo flying. I did it. But why now? Todoroki thought. He kept listening for Midoriya as he ran over to Bakugo.

He gasped in horror as he realized that AFO had a hold of both of Bakugo's arms, and was now twisting them so they were parallel with his shoulder blades.

"Let. Him. Go." Todoroki growled through his teeth. 

Bakugo may call him names, he may always be angry at him, he may not give a duck about him, but when it came down to it, they were classmates. And class 1-A is more of a pack than classmates. Siblings if you will. 

Bakugo screeched. AFO had turned his arm back too far, and it was hurting him more than before. The look on Bakugo's face reminded Todoroki of when he was younger.

Stop it. Midoriya showed up at the wrong time. The more AFO hurts Kacchan, the angrier you're getting. When you get angry, it shows in your quirk. Make it stop, without letting your emotions get the best of you.

Midoriya's words helped. A little. He looked at AFO in anger. He was letting his emotions get the best of him. He took a sharp breath in, and slowly exhaled. Are you ok? Last I saw, you were... Todoroki walked forward.

He placed his left hand on AFO's head. Bakugo looked at him, fear written all over his face. Todoroki lit AFO on fire, and watched in excitement as AFO recoiled at it. He let go of Bakugo, and flung himself toward the wall. AFO's mask was burning, and he hadn't gotten enough time to get a water quirk.

"Kurogiri. Take these two back." He called, remembering that he wasn't muted. He rolled on the ground, which the boys found quite funny.

The warp gate appeared, pulling both boys back to the bar. This time, they were given free rein, and the ability to use their quirks.

Why did that work? He should've been used to fire if he had a fire quirk. Todoroki thought, hoping Midoriya would answer. He liked hearing his voice again.

"IcyHot." Bakugo called, "Where's Deku?"

Todoroki glanced at the spot Midoriya was last seen. His body wasn't there. Todoroki couldn't believe it. He'd heard his voice, so where was he?

"He's doing something for me." Shigaraki said in his usually raspy voice. He tilted his head like usual, but this time, launched himself at Todoroki, grabbing his head with four fingers. "Don't try anything funny. He doesn't belong to anyone but me. It'd be in your best interest to allow that to happen."

Bakugo growled. Even if he couldn't stand Midoriya, he still drew a line between fighting, and torture. This, was torture. "What did Deku ever do to you?"

Everyone, including Todoroki, looked at Bakugo. From the performance at the Sports Festival, everyone knew the relationship between these three, yet these three were looking out for each other, just like Midoriya would've done.