Days in a Crucible [BakuIida]

Chapter 3

When the lights turn on the next morning, all of the water is gone.

Iida springs to his feet, amazed. It was almost like it had never existed to begin with - but not quite, he discovers, because there is still residue in the corners of the room and under the feet of his cot when he shifts it.

There is a new pile of things in the center of the room, but before he investigates it Iida goes to the bathroom and tests everything. The sink and toilet are running, but not the shower. Taped to it is a note:

THANKS TO YOUR LITTLE STUNT, YOU'VE LOST YOUR SHOWER PRIVILEGES!!!

It's written in black pen on plain printer paper, the handwriting neat and blocky, not offering much of a clue as to the writer's identity. Still, it feels significant to Iida: until this point, their captors have been wholly passive, not communicating with them in any meaningful way.

A second later the others join him in the bathroom. Bakugou takes the note down and reads it over, frowning. Iida's expecting him to tear it to pieces instantly, but instead he examines it, looking at it close up, peering at the ink and the tape like he might find a clue there. When he leaves the bathroom he carries it with him over to his cot.

There are new clothes at the center of the room, new food - and, best of all, new reading materials. There are books. Iida's almost taken aback by how joyful that makes him feel. He starts paging through them immediately after he divides up the food.

They're novels, mostly. Mass-market paperbacks, the kind of books you buy for dirt-cheap even when they're new, and these ones are years old - but Iida can't bring himself to care, because all of a sudden just having them is the best thing he can imagine. There's ten of them - more than even he can read in one day. He tries not to think too hard about why so many were provided.

But before Iida can let himself read, he wants to do something physical. He would run if he could, but the room's far to small for anything more dramatic than pacing. Instead he sits on the floor, facing away from Bakugou and Todoroki, and goes through his stretching routine, drawing it out as much as possible. The tight quarters and lack of activity have made him stiff, and it feels good to push himself nearly to the point of pain.

When finally he finishes stretching, he stands and turns, and sees the others are both stretching as well. Todoroki is looking in Iida's direction - maybe he was along with his stretches - but Bakugou is pointedly facing a wall, as if to make it look like it was his own idea. Iida smiles and shakes his head, then picks up a book and begins to read.

Iida loves reading. He always has. Even in this situation, he can't help but love it still. The book he chooses is a foreign thriller, fifteen or twenty years old and a little outdated, but Iida finds himself enthralled nonetheless. He can shut out everything around him and think of nothing but the small universe in his hands.

So that day, Iida is content. He eats when he's hungry - the salty, greasy food is hard on his stomach, but it's better than nothing - and reads until his eyes hurt. Then he takes a break and reads some more after. He reads until the lights go out.

Then, suddenly, he realizes he cannot sleep.

He lies awake in his cot, staring blankly up at the ceiling, feeling quite possibly more awake than he has the entire span of his captivity. He grabs his book and decides to go read in the bathroom - the light's dim, but it should be possible.

When he reaches the bathroom, though, he sees Bakugou is already there. He's is sitting on the floor in the small gap between the toilet and the shower. He is still wearing his original clothing, Iida notices, and there is a noticeable smell coming off of him. Iida supposes that last part isn't entirely Bakugou's fault, although not showering for the two days before their shower was turned off didn't help matters either.