Bruised And Broken

Rain

Author's Note: Two chapters in one day! This to make up for the long wait. I'm really sorry!

Dabi set of into the cold dark streets as his breath puffed out in a cloud before him. It was freezing, and Dabi distantly wishes he had picked up his jacket before leaving the hideout.

But Shoto came first. Sweet Shoto, who had been Dabi- Touya's only light when he was stuck in the Todoroki household. Kind Shoto, who, at the age of 5, had studied how to properly care for injuries so he could help his eldest brother. And how had Touya paid him back? By running away?

This was Touya's chance to repay Shoto. And he was going to take it, even if it killed him.

~

Hizashi struggled to keep up with Aizawa's quick pace as the latter marched through the streets. Another occasional hero could be spotted wandering the through the city, anxious to find Shoto.

At this point, Enji had been named as a major threat to Shoto. Everyone knew how important it was to find the boy as quickly as possible.

Some tired-looking civilians stood at their garden gate, offering hot beverages to passing heroes. Hizashi excepted two coffees gratefully and nodded his thanks. He passed a steaming cup to Aizawa, who took a long drink.

A freezing cold shower of rain swept over the city in the span of 7 minutes, dampening hope significantly. Aizawa was soaked to the bone, and his nose was running but he continued. Hizashi struggled on by his side with desperate attempts at humour.

"H-Hey, Shouta." The blonde said through chattering teeth. "Remeber Haruto-Sensei from highschool. How he made us run 30 laps around the field in the rain because you feel asleep in class and I yelled at you to wake up and made everyone's ears bleed!"

"Unfortunately I do remeber." Aizawa admitted with a mock-glare at Hizashi. The energetic blonde just shot him a bright grin.

~

Dabi's immune system had never been good; he had been born thin and pale. This rain was certainly going to guarantee him a cold within a few hours, but he powered on.

'Shoto, shoto, shoto.' was going through his mind like a never-ending mantra as he scowered dark alleyways. 'Be okay, be okay, be okay.'

A stray cat hissed at the villain, making him jump before sighing. He continued his search, oblivious to the soreness of his throat and the blood trickling down from his staples. Too much physical activity put strain on his heavily damaged skin.

"Please be okay, Sho."

~

Blood trickled down his chin. His right eye was pressed firmly shut against a stream of crimson liquid pouring down a deep head wound. His one open eye was blurry from a concussion, and squinted because of the pain. His right wrist was snapped, broken viciously. His scar was throbbing from a bruise which blended in. The chains wrapped around his ankles were cutting into his skin and his quirk had been forced away with a few temporary quirk suppressants. Scattered across his torso were a series of deep cuts, dark bruises and whip marks. His hair was damp with blood and dirty with mud.

Shoto was certainly not okay.

~

Varying degrees of unrest could be seen throughout the 1-A common room.

Iida's glasses lay discarded on the coffee table and he sat with his head in his hands. Bakugou's usual shouts were absent as the blonde sat quiet and subdued. Ojiro had wrapped himself in his tail and retreated to the corner of a sofa. Mina and Hagakure were crying openly, while Momo sobbed delicately and Jirou comforted her. Mineta, instead of staring at any of the girls, was facing the floor. Kirishima was pacing, whispering about not being manly. Denki and Sero were pretending to look through games but were actually patting each other's shoulders comfortingly. Koda had brought his rabbit down and let people pet it. Aoyama's usual late-night habit on painting his nails was nowhere to be seen, and Tsuyu had brought down a bundle of blankets to wrap the teary Uraraka in.

Midoriya was still at his house, but the students knew he must also be in a state of despair.

~

"Shhh, shhh." Inko hugged Izuku with all the motherly love she could muster. Izuku had begun crying 20 minutes ago, and had not stopped since.

Inko always knew her son had a weakness to let tears escape, but he had only ever sobbed like this once before; when, at 5 years old, his dream of being a hero had been shattered. When he got into U.A., Inko had hoped she would never have to see Izuku cry like that again.

Inko didn't know what to do. But she did know one thing.

When this Shoto Todoroki was found, she was going to give him a great big hug.

~

It was late at night in the long term care ward at the hospital. Most patients were asleep, but light was still visible from one room, and noisy sobs could be heard.

Fuyumi and Natsuo were in Rei's hospital room, entangled in an incredibly emotional hug. Rei had seen the news, but she couldn't get out the hospital to help the search.

Natsuo and Fuyumi had previously being out searching, before coming here adorned in drenched raincoats and grim expressions. At the sight of their mother's watery eyes, they too had burst in tears.

They had all believed Shoto was free, and he had been improving according to Aizawa.

Enji just had to come and snatch it all away again.