Lightning Serenade

Chapter 89: Interrogation

TW: Discussion of plans for future suicide

Midoriya saw the villain emerge from the swirling vortex, and he was out of his chair, his face inches from the screen. He didn't realize he was holding his breath; the phantom feeling of Shigaraki's hand on the front of his throat was only there for a second, quickly receding behind the newer information he had learned about the villain, the newer experiences. It might not have come up in his mind at all if it hadn't been for Shigaraki wrapping his arm like that around Denki from behind. It also might not have gone away so quickly if Denki didn't just relax into it like that. He didn't even flinch or tense up before correcting himself, and Midoriya wondered where exactly Denki had been all night while the Commission was scouring the city looking for him. He didn't realize his tear ducts had stopped their overproduction, the wetness drying and leaving salt tracks on his freckled cheeks as he stared wide eyed at the pixels that only barely made sense because of how close he was to the screen.

Todoroki's hands were on him, but not to pull him back. One cool palm was pressed to the back of his neck, grounding fingers scratching lightly at his scalp. The other was on his hip, warm fingertips providing near-bruising pressure, keeping him steady on his feet as his mind whirred with mixing and swirling emotions and ideas. Most of his attention was on the screen, with only a bit of his consciousness reserved for making sure he wasn't muttering, giving anything away about the League or Denki that he should have no way of knowing.

When Denki was pulled through the warp gate, Midoriya didn't stick around to see what the conjecture was or listen to any commentary about what had just occurred. With a flutter of papers from him using his quirk to hasten his exit, he was gone.

"Endeavor—"

"Go," Endeavor heaved with a sigh. "There's nothing we can do for Chargebolt right now, and we sure as hell aren't volunteering to help the HPSC."

Endeavor was graced with one of Todoroki's rare smiles, and it was even more rare because it was directed at him. Endeavor just hoped that Todoroki could reign in Midoriya before he did anything stupid.

Todoroki calmly entered their apartment, not stopping his slow progression or speeding up when he heard a crash and a muttered curse coming from the library.

Of course, it was the library. He knew exactly where he'd find Midoriya as soon as he took off. Endeavor was tense, probably thinking that Midoriya was going to try to hunt down the League of Villains and wrestle Denki back from them no matter what it took, but Todoroki knew better. As soon as Denki was back with the heroes, he'd be at risk from the Hero Public Safety Commission trying to get their claws back into him. So, he knew Midoriya would be doing the next best thing.

Midoriya had his hero merch collections spread throughout their spacious apartment. The library is where the Chargebolt collection was kept.

"As you all know," Midoriya was saying into the camera, "I keep an extensive collection from my favorite heroes, including the one and only Chargebolt!"

"Are you doing a live broadcast?" Todoroki asked from the doorway as Midoriya panned over his collection that he had spread out along the floor and shelves for easier viewing via camera.

Midoriya verbally answered an affirmative while quickly signing as best as he could with one hand, 'the more positive publicity right now, the better.'

Todoroki hummed, stepping backwards from the room to go to the kitchen to help add to the narrative that Midoriya was trying to create to help bury the one that the Commission was surely trying to release.

"And this is the limited-edition poster that was only available during two weeks in December when it was Chargebolt's turn to be featured after our first sports festival," Midoriya was explaining when Todoroki came back in.