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Shouta knew he could be walking into a trap as he had slipped into the old train yard. His instincts had led him there, following an individual who had been part of the case he had been working on. Thought he could follow them, see where they led him and hopefully get more intel or a location to report to investigate and raid.
The individual was a villain known as Greenscale, who worked for another villain that went by Ampere, who ran an illegal black market enterprise of stolen weapons and support items. Shouta had been part of the big bust a handful of weeks ago and they were still tying up loose ends. Mainly trying to track down Ampere and the few of his minions that were known to be still in the wind. Greenscale was known for being Ampere’s partner, lover, and right hand, making her the perfect target to follow.
Spotting Greenscale on his patrol felt too good to be true, even if she was attempting to hide her features in a baggy hoodie. Her snake skin was too distinguished to not notice, as she had bright green scales covering her. Perhaps he got lucky or they got sloppy in hiding.
Shouta thought if he could follow her, she’d lead him to where her boyfriend was hiding and make his job and life a little easier and allow him to finally get that much closer to getting Ampere put away and wrapping up the case.
Being in the train yard meant he had to be grounded, no way to really stay up high and out of sight as easily as he could be on rooftops. At least it was dark and he could slip through the stationary trains, using the dark shadows as cover. Traversing the train cars was not a very good option, as not all had tops and he wasn’t sure if the roofs would be any quieter to jump around on. Trying to move quiet proved difficult, with the loose gravel all over the place. But it also let him follow Greenscale moving about.
It was when he didn’t hear her that he stopped, trying to pin point the direction she had gone, hearing no footsteps. Stilling, he held his breath, hoping to hear something to give the direction he needed to go next before the train yard went eerily quiet with only the distant noise of the city.
A large shadow moved quicker than he expected from his peripheral that he barely was quick enough to duck from. It was a large and towering heteromorph that looked craggily with thick bark-like skin and fists the size of tree trunks. How someone that big moved so silently, he wasn’t sure. That distracted him enough that he didn’t see Greenscale pop from somewhere behind him and slashing down with a blade down his back, splitting open the back of his jumpsuit and a few layers of his skin. The pain distracting him enough to lose focus on his other opponent.
Realized too late that they had been laying in wait for him. He cursed his luck.
The bigger villain got right up in his personal space, moving much quicker than expected, bunching the front of his jumpsuit in one big fist, picking him up bodily and throwing him into the nearest train car. He slammed hard enough into it that it caused his head to bounce off the unforgiving surface, making his vision go spotty with black spots. Somehow manage to keep his footing, even when the ground seemed to roll under his feet. He braced himself against the train car, disoriented enough to lose his balance and needing the support.
Shouta barely had enough time to shake his head to try and get his bearings when that tree-like villain dragged him up by the scruff and manhandled like he weighed nothing, putting him into a chokehold. Struggling and gasping, Shouta try to kick his feet back to get the other to drop him, but it was no use as it was like trying to fight an actual tree. Felt himself grow weaker and vision going dark rapidly as his body was deprived of oxygen. Darkness was swift to swallow him whole.
~*~*~*~
Shouta came to in pain.
It took too many long moments for him to properly register everything, to try to catalogue all his injuries or figure out what situation he was in. That he even woke up at all, with his last fuzzy memories being choked out by a tree. His head throbbed and swam in a familiar concussion sort of way, his neck and throat ached. There was the tacky feeling of recently dried blood on his back from the slash he received in the earlier attack, making his back itch and burn from the cut. He could sort of block that out if he didn’t shift his shoulders and back much.
It was his arms that hurt the most, seeing as he was currently hanging from his wrists. Metal shackles bit into his flesh, unforgivingly tight. They were oddly coated in thick rubber, which he found odd in the moment. Unless he wanted to dislocate his thumbs and break other tiny bones in his hands, they wouldn’t be coming off easy. At six foot, his wrists were more likely two feet further up, the shackles hooked onto a thick chain that disappeared into the dark ceiling, stretching his arms and torso uncomfortably and making him bear his weight from them. It did not help that his feet barely touched the floor, they too were bound and shackled so that they were secured to the grate beneath him, making him fairly immobilized. There was a tile of what felt like thick rubber right under his feet, making it slightly less uncomfortable compared to what the grating would have had felt like. His feet were cold from being exposed to the cool air, adding another layer of discomfort on top of all of his body’s other pains. His comfort was not a priority to his captors.
He kept his movements subtle, barely keeping his dry eyes from fully opening, trying to gauge his surroundings without giving it away that he was conscious. It seemed industrial, with large pipes and machinery taking up a lot of the space in the large room. The machines looked older, in disuse. It was damp and cool, perhaps underground. There were no windows, the only light being given off by was the caged lightbulbs strung up that didn’t really put off much light to begin with. The musty air and smell of old rot maybe gave him a clue that wherever this place was possibly abandoned.
Shouta was thinking he was not even at the train yard anymore, or if he was, it was in a part no longer used. There wasn’t a lot of clues to work off of where he currently was.
Shouta already could tell they had taken all his hero gear. He could spot the pile of his things on a rickety table a few yards to the side. Capture weapon, goggles, utility belt and his boots tossed on the floor below. Keeping his gear had been foolish of them but worked in his favor. There was implanted tracking devices in his goggles, woven in the fabric of his utility belt and in the soles of his boots that could be activated by a third party. Three people had access to use the tracking system; Hizashi, Nemuri, and Tensei. It had been a compromise since he currently didn’t belong to an agency, being more freelance. If he didn’t report in on time after his patrol and they came up with dead ends in finding him by elimination, they’d be able to track him.
He had to hold hope they’d do so, yet didn’t expect a swift recovery. That could be for hours yet. He still had about few hours left on his patrol when he had been following Greenscale. Now he was uncertain how much time remained of his patrol after being knocked out. Reporting in after his patrol wasn’t always guaranteed set time, as a number of things could delay it. It’d take a bit longer than that for someone to start noticing him missing.
There wasn’t much he could do but wait, even if he knew the hours ahead of him were going to be very unpleasant from the looks of things.
“You awake, little hero?” A deep rumbling voice asked from the shadows. Shouta must have lost some of his edge from the earlier attack to miss the fact that anyone had been watching him. The knock to the head earlier messed up his situational awareness. From the following heavy footsteps, Shouta could place his company.
If Greenscale was Ampere’s right hand, Ironbark was his left. The big heteromorph towered over eight feet, body bulky and thick, skin rough and tough like bark. He was as much muscle as shield for Ampere. From the profiles built on the three villains, Ironbark was the brawn of the group, more an obedient and malleable tool to Ampere’s intelligence or Greenscale’s cunningness. He was known to be stubbornly loyal to his boss, to carry out tasks given to him without question. Even if Shouta could convince the big guy to do anything for him, it’d be immediately overturned the moment Ampere ordered otherwise.
No use in pretending, Shouta lifted his head to glare unimpressed at the craggy looking figure lumbering closer to him. Looked up at the dark shadowed pits where eyes might have been, feeling vulnerable with someone who could likely snap his spine in one punch looming over him. The other lifted one hand to poke a finger, which was as thick as a baseball bat, against Shouta’s chest, making him swing slightly from the chains he hanged from. The minor shift pulled on his arms and made him lose a bit of his stability on the balls of his feet. It made his arms and shoulders twinge in pain.
“Not so tough.” Ironbark lifted his other massive hand, which held a radio that looked tiny in his grasp, his voice a rumble. “He’s awake.”
There was no response from the radio though only moments later when the other two arrived, like they had come from another level of the building.
“Ah, Eraser Head! So glad you could join us.” Ampere, civilian name Tsukuda Kazuma, spoke jovially, like they were old pals. The sharp grin on his face was more threat than welcoming, the glint in his eyes gave away his dark intentions. Ampere looked a little frazzled, his clothing was once high end but worn out, like he wasn’t able to acquire new or do proper upkeep of what he had. Which made sense, as the man had been on the run and hiding for the past several weeks. He had average stature and a face that could be considered handsome, if not for the malicious smile he seemed to sport often. His dark hair with the forelock of white hair, was swept back messily, like he had been brushing it back in a stressful way.
Slinking along side him was Greenscale, civilian name Kimura Naoko. She still wore the hooded sweatshirt and torn at the knees jeans. Not her typical style, as photos and video surveillance had her more dressed in designer clothes, like a high end model. Perhaps it was too hard to get her usual taste in clothes when they were on the run and hiding from the law. Her slitted snake eyes glared at him from the shadow of the hood, covering what he knew was a slick head of scales instead of hair.
Shouta must have made an impression on Ampere to be targeted and captured. He kept his expression blank and unimpressed. “A pleasure.” He replied, sarcastically, while subtly trying to adjust his stance, the cold grate beneath his feet making his joints ache on top of everything else. Being forced to hold this position was becoming the wrong side of uncomfortable.
“A sarcastic hero. How long before you lose that snark, do you think?” Ampere questioned him, coming closer with purposeful steps, right up to Shouta’s personal space. Pretended to brush non existent lint off the black jumpsuit near his collarbones. Ampere’s hand shifted, moved around Shouta’s torso to reach behind him and took a handful of his hair, yanking his head back, making him strain to keep their stare down. It hurt but he didn’t flinch. With his ankles bound and feet secured to the grate under him, he couldn’t swing a kick to knock the asshole away from him like he wanted to.
“Your interference cost me, Eraser Head. Cost me my men, my product, my money. My empire. Now, it’s going to cost you.”
Ah yes, villain monologuing and a cliche revenge plot. Shouta kept his gaze on Ampere’s eyes, ignoring the fake charm the other exuded. It made sense, Shouta had played a big part of hunting down and helping bring down the mass black market scheme Ampere ran. A lot of his men were behind bars. His ‘products’ now held in evidence to be used against him. Probably lost a lot of money and connections from the bust as well, no other villain would want to make deals with him now. Ampere was really ruined in that regard. Not to mention that prison was in his future, no matter how this night panned out.
Shouta stilled further, trying to keep his heart rate from sky rocketing when Ampere pulled a knife from somewhere, tapping the flat of it against Shouta’s stretched neck. Wanted to so badly to pull and jerk away from the obvious threat, instead kept still between not wanting to have his neck carved into and the hand keeping his head immobile.
“How do you want to pay up, hmm, hero? Pain and suffering is a given. Bruised and broken? A pound of flesh? An eye?” With that, the knife was brought up to rest against Shouta’s cheekbone, below his left eye. “I’m not one for gore, but I would really like to see you bleed.”
So Shouta wasn’t captured for ransom and wasn’t about to be tortured for information, it just seemed like it was good old fashioned pay back. Where his drawn out pain was the end game. Perhaps even his death if rescue didn’t happen. Not how he imagined spending his time.
With a ‘tsk’ at not getting the reaction he wanted, Ampere pulled back and released his hold on Shouta’s hair. He wasn’t about to give the villain a reaction, even if his heartbeat had picked up when the blade had come into play too close to his eye.
“Though drawing blood is my sweetling’s speciality.” Ampere looked to Greenscale, somehow looking love sick at the woman who gave him a sickly sweet smile in return, like they weren’t plotting a man’s torture. Greenscale looked at Shouta with something akin to a predatory gaze, like she was sizing him up.
Shouta found it to be disturbing.
“She’ll be in charge of that. While I have my own ways.” There was a flicker of blue tendrils of light of electricity spiderwebbing across his fingers. Shouta recalled from the man’s file that his quirk was lightning or electricity based. And had been used in punishment against his own henchmen when they didn’t do what he wanted.
Realizing that Ampere intended to use his quirk on him, Shouta now understood the rubber coated shackles around his wrists and ankles, along with the little square of rubber tile beneath his feet. Wouldn’t do any good if he was outright electrocuted to death right off the bat from metal conductors. How considerate of his captors.
“Strip him down to the waist.” Was the given order, all the fake cordial from before gone from the other man’s voice. It was all business now.
Ampere stepped back as his partner moved forward, an all too eager gleam in her eyes as she wielded a stiletto knife. Shouta wanted badly to be able to move away from Greenscale, who made quick work of cutting away the sleeves of his jumpsuit followed by the remaining torso panels of it. Even though there was kevlar woven into it, it was sliced away with some trouble even by the obviously well sharpened blade. The undershirt went next, cut and ripped away easily as it was just a t-shirt. Instinct wanted him to move but he kept still, just because he wasn’t too crazy about his own blood letting. Even if her touch sent chills down his spine, the way her touch felt appraising.
Getting his jumpsuit replaced was going to be pain. It may look unimpressive, which was on purpose, yet it was a custom piece specifically made for his hero work. His jumpsuit had kevlar woven into it, along with a few bits of armor, as well as fireproof fabrics.
Now that his jumpsuit was ruined and cut away, parts of the butchered top still hanging off where it clung at his hips, he felt exposed and the dank air in this space chilled him. He was hyperaware of Greenscale circling him, coming up on his left side with a look that seemed blood thirsty. Shouta recalled that she had psychopathic tendencies, barely leashed by Ampere’s influence and control. Flinched when she took the knife and drew it across the tender bit of skin under his left armpit, along the ridges of his rib cage. It wasn’t a deep cut but blood welled quick. Shouta hissed when she made a quick slash, the sharp metal going deeper at the bottom of his ribs, making him want to cringe away from the sharp intrusion.
“Oh, he bleeds so nice.” She murmured, voice dripping with fascination, her free hand coming up to smear some of it across his skin.
Despite the pain he was receiving from one of them, Shouta knew he couldn’t stop keeping track of his other captors. Ampere was moving around, watching his lover at work and Ironbark was standing sentinel just in the shadows of Shouta’s peripheral.
Before his girlfriend could get too carried away, Ampere must have made some motion for her to step back as she moved out of range. Ampere himself was behind Shouta, out of sight. A moment later and Shouta felt two hands come up on his sides, fingertips snapping with bits of electricity as they made contact and making Shouta choke on a shout from the sudden jolt of electricity, body twisting to evade it without much luck.
Ampere started to trail his fingers over small spots on Shouta’s skin. Over his clavicle, down his sides, over his hip bones, up along one forearm and down the other. Then from just touching to sending jolts of his quirk into flesh. It was psychological, expecting pain at the man’s touch, not knowing when it’d come. Making Shouta flinch at those fingers caress without pain following and then turning around and giving him a good shock. He kept out of Shouta’s line of sight, having done his own homework and seemed to be aware of Erasure’s limits. He kept that up for long moments, his touch never consistent to brace against.
Without warning, a hand landed right between his shoulder blades and agony licked away under his skin like a cold heat. His body lurched and convulsed hard, chains rattling as a strangled scream slipped free from behind his teeth. As quick as it came, even if it felt like a lifetime later, the hand pulled back. It left Shouta panting and gasping for air, body shivering from aftershocks. Taking too long to regain his focus, his heart fluttering uncomfortably within his chest.
“There we go.” Ampere gloated, too smug in finally getting a reaction he wanted from Shouta. “You do scream.”
“Fuck…off.” Shouta half growled, half rasped out once he managed to get enough air to do so. He tried to glare, spitting blood from when he bit into his cheek onto the floor in front of Ampere’s feet. Stubbornly faced a future he knew was going to be unkind and agonizing. He wasn’t going down without being stubbornly defiant, letting one of his grins that he knew was unsettling to cross his lips, blood coating his teeth.
As if accepting the challenge, the two villains moved back into a trade-off pattern of torture.
~*~*~*~
Time blurred for him. It could have been hours as he was suspended and tortured. His world narrowed down to agony and pain. Whether it was inflicted in sharp bites from a blade or hands that sent burning shocks deep into his flesh, making his body jerk and spasm out of his control. His voice was wrecked, throat feeling raw from the screams that were pulled from him.
Shouta felt raw, like every nerve ending was alight. Knew he was covered in a mixture of sweat and his own blood. The tacky blood seemed to coat his torso in an uncomfortable layer. There was so many shallow cuts dotting over his torso, though they never got a chance to clot properly when Ampere’s quirk made Shouta jerk and reopen what little healing they tried to do. Nothing deep enough to worry about serious blood loss, still enough to coat his skin crimson. Knew he had spittle and bloody drool on his chin, just glad he hadn’t bitten his tongue off yet. He had a high pain tolerance and stamina, but even he had his limits and this was way beyond them.
Lost track of how many times he had blacked out. The last thing he could recall was Ampere taking his jaw in hand and lighting him up, surprised he hadn’t fried his brain yet. Didn’t know his teeth could feel like they were going to pop.
Shouta was very aware of how his heart fluttered and breath stuttered almost painfully. Probably afib, though Shouta wasn’t sure how it was suppose to feel like. It seemed like Ampere knew just the right amount of juice to output to cause harm but not outright kill him and send him into cardiac arrest. Though if his heart did stop, the bastard could likely use his quirk to restart it back up anyhow. Distantly wondered if that had happened and Shouta was unaware of it.
Shouta hung limply from his chains, his arms feeling like they were both numb and sharp with pain as he lost the ability to brace himself properly to hold his weight. His hands were cold and numb from poor circulation. Wondered if one of his shoulders was dislocated or just messed up nerves from when Greenscale had stabbed and dug into it. His knees felt weak, no longer able to hold steady. He was just coming to from his most recent forced black out, blearily aware.
Unsure if he had been there for hours or not, he started wondering if rescue was going to happen before Ampere decided he was done playing and just killed him. A part of him wanted it to end, as he wasn’t sure he could endure any more. Wasn’t sure how much more his heart could handle, certain he was suffering from some potentially deadly issue he didn’t know the medical term for.
He’d kill for a drink, at least to wet his parched throat and rid of the overwhelming copper aftertaste of his own blood from his mouth.
When he pried open his eyes, breathing ragged, he took note that it seemed like he was alone. Ampere nor Greenscale were there waiting to continue and he couldn’t tell to see if Ironbark’s hulking form was lingering somewhere nearby.
It was then that he started to register some commotion coming from somewhere. It was muffled, but it sounded like fighting, shouting. The shouting seemed familiar, the sort that could shake foundations. Then it got quiet.
From one slow blink to the next, Shouta was suddenly not alone. He watched through a blurred gaze as Hizashi in full hero gear came trotting out of the dark shadows into the area lit by the caged lights. Hizashi came right up to him and he saw the blood drain from his friend’s face as those familiar green eyes took in the sight of him. He must have been a mess, covered in blood and electrical burns, hung up like a piece of meat. He felt like a battered piece of meat. Shouta was struggling to remain conscious, the relief making it hard to not just give in and pass out now that Hizashi was there.
Then he watched as Hizashi raised his hand to tap at a comm link button on the side of his Hage headphones and speaking hurriedly to whoever else was with him all the while keeping his eyes on Shouta. “I- I found him! In the basement level! We need medical down here stat!” He stepped closer, concern radiating off him despite the forced calm all heroes took on in dire situations.
“Jesus..Fuck. Shou. Hang on, okay?” Hizashi’s voice stammered as he lifted his hands and fluttered them around like he wasn’t sure where he could touch. Shouta may or may not have made a humming noise in response, he wasn’t sure. Hizashi, with a stubborn look of determination, started looking up at the chains that Shouta hung from and then seeing that his ankles were bound too. He knelt to work the shackles free, weather he had a key or lock picked them, Shouta was vaguely aware when they fell free from him and clattered to the floor a moment later.
It was then that Nemuri came down and joined them, stalling only momentarily when she took in the sight and then moving forward to do whatever she needed to fix the wrongs before her. She was also dressed in hero gear, her sleeves of her outfit torn, likely having used Somnambulist at some point recently. Her blue eyes were focused even if they were a little shiny as she stepped up close and reached out to tentatively cup Shouta’s cheek. He couldn’t even bring himself to lift his head. Could barely keep his eyes open to look at her. Her touch was warm and the only comfort he had felt in what felt like too long.
“Sorry we took so long, Shouta. We’re going to get you free.” She murmured to him quietly, soothingly. There was a reassuring smile on her face, but it was tight at the corners in apology and sad regret. “This might not be pleasant but we have to get you down.”
Shouta was already hurting, body shivering and overwhelmed in sensory input from his nerves feeling raw. He understood what she meant, that them moving him was going to cause more pain. He’d handle it or blissfully pass out, as long as they got him the fuck out of this, he’d deal. He sighed, silently mourning her taking her hand from his cheek when she stepped back to assess things herself.
Hizashi moved to stand next to her, calculating what to do next. “Hey, hey. Shou, don’t fall asleep. Stay awake, okay bud? We’re going to get you out of here.”
Shouta hadn’t been aware of closing his eyes, the comfort of the two of them there lulling him with the relief of rescue. He was so tired, he hurt and all he really wanted to do at this point was sleep. He pried his eyes open, a herculean effort. He might have said ‘okay’, though wasn’t sure if his lips actually moved or not. He lost the ability of speech a bit ago.
“We need to get him down. I already got his feet free. Brace and catch him while I get these off him.” Hizashi continued, speaking to Nemuri. Seeing as he was taller, he could reach high enough to get the shackles at Shouta’s wrists. And Nemuri could easily handle his weight.
Nemuri moved in like she was going to embrace him, murmuring an apology before her arms came up around his sides, so that their fronts were flush. Hissed out a breath at the contact even when her warmth felt so good when he had been cold for too long. He breathed through it as Hizashi seemed to undo the bolt and latch of the shackles, trying to be quick and gentle at the same time.
Shouta couldn’t help the sharp cracked cry of anguish as his weight was dropped, his arms falling uselessly at his sides despite Hizashi trying to lower them carefully. His feet touched solid on the ground, his knees gave out the moment they did. Nearly blacked out with how bad his vision darkened, his whole body going limp, resting a bruised cheek on Nemuri’s shoulder. Perhaps did momentarily lost consciousness in that moment. Nemuri firmed her careful hold on him, keeping him upright. He could barely hear her apologizing repeatedly near his ear, clearly hating causing him more pain, as he gasped through it. Shouta couldn’t even get his arms to work to hang onto her, his one shoulder felt like a ball of agony, useless. It all caused him to make a wounded noise low in his throat as all his hurts and injuries demanded his attention.
He wished Nemuri would knock his ass out and put him out of his misery. Another part of him did realize that doing so could be risky without knowing the severity of his injuries.
Carefully they got him laying on the ground, Hizashi having taken off his leather jacket to put under Shouta’s torso so he wasn’t laying on the dirty cold ground. Awareness flickered, the room spun a bit and he felt nauseous from the pain. It was a small boon to feel himself laying horizontal and no longer dangling his full weight from his abused wrists. Couldn’t move nor stop the small shudders wracking his body.
The next minutes were blurry until Shouta was aware of others moving over him, speaking medical jargon that he couldn’t bother to understand. He felt hands touching him, assessing his injuries. Felt them inserting an IV and whatever they gave him quickly taking the edge off the pain that his body was currently made of. Barely conscious as they got him onto a gurney, someone wrapping a thick blanket over him before moving him out of the hell his life had become the last handful of hours.
Saw through dimming vision both Hizashi and Nemuri’s worried faces as they kept pace with the paramedics delivering him to the ambulance that was waiting. Shouta finally let himself slip into the blessed embrace of unconsciousness without worry.
~*~*~*~
When Shouta woke next, he found himself in a hospital bed, no longer hanging on a villain’s whim. At least he was warm and not hurting like before, though the latter might be from some medical grade pain relief now in his system. Either way, it was a vast improvement over what he had been dealing with before.
His left arm was restrained in what felt like a sling, keeping the limb close to his torso. Remembered that was the shoulder that had been stabbed. There was little itchy stinging spots all over, likely where he had been cut. He was sure he’d be feeling a lot worse without the pain killers they had him on. Idly wondered about the extra electrodes over his chest under the loose hospital top, seemed like there was more than usual. His mind was just the right level of floaty to not focus too hard on it.
Carefully opened his eyes to the dim lighting of the sterile hospital room. The all too familiar sounds of monitors filling the quiet. Confirmed that his left arm was indeed in a sling and there were extra wires coming up out of the top he wore.
Shouta didn’t wake up alone, which was a warm comfort.
He finally took in the two others in his room, both who were slumbering in uncomfortable looking positions. Nemuri was leaning over on the right side of his bed, head pillowed at his elbow, while one of her hands rested loosely beneath his so as to not disturb his IV port yet being able to hold his hand. Hizashi was on his left, a bit further down and had one forearm up against his leg and one hand laying on his shin, face half buried into the crook of his elbow. Wondered how long he’d been bed ridden, seeing as both were wearing civilian clothes.
Never ceased to amaze him that they never gave up on him, that their bond and loyalty was ironbound. They knew to come for him when they figured out he was missing and found him, saved him.
Shouta curled his fingers around Nemuri’s hand in an attempt to wake her without startling her. Felt her flex her hand in return before watching her sleepily raise her head to look up at him. Her blue eyes widening seeing him looking back at her.
“Hey you.” Nemuri greeted, looking tired but elated at seeing him awake. Her smile was soft as she stretched the kink out of her back before leaning against the bed, focus on him. Reached up with her free hand to tuck a strand of his hair back lightly, the gesture affectionate. “How are you feeling?”
“‘m beat.” Shouta manages to get out, feeling how heavy his body felt. Even if the pain was buried under whatever was floating in his blood stream, he was aware of it.
“I bet. They put you through the ringer.” Nemuri’s grip on his hand didn’t lessen, tightened a bit, like she was afraid to let go of him. “Gave us a scare, Shou.” Nemuri murmured, there was a noticeable glimmer of the worry and concern she had for him there in her gaze, even if she had a calm demeanor.
A frown furrowing his brows, he was’t sure if his condition had worsened while he was out, especially to merit that look. He wasn’t one to like to be fussed over, but knew it was futile when it came to her and Hizashi. “Sorry.” His voice was a wreck still, throat sore. He tried to clear it and winced.
“Here.” Nemuri helped get the bed up into a sitting position and hurried in getting him a drink from the water pitcher on the table by his bed. Grateful when his one functioning arm was too weak to hold it and she made sure he didn’t make a mess of it on himself. The water felt cool and refreshing on his raw throat, making him hum thankfully and closed his eyes to take a moment. Felt a little surreal still to wake up in a hospital bed when he had thought he’d die by Ampere’s hands not that long ago.
“Hizashi, get up. Our sleeping beauty is awake.” Nemuri stated as she reached over to lay her hand on Hizashi’s, which was still on Shouta’s shin. The blond startled up, pushing up and adjusting his civilian glasses that he fell asleep wearing like that, before looking at Shouta.
“There’s our favorite Energy Saver!” Hizashi quietly cheered with a beaming smile, relief seen in his expression. The worried creases that had built around the corner of the other man’s eyes lessening now that Shouta was awake.
“Could sleep more.” Shouta commented, voice raspy, throat still tender. He was feeling like he could sleep for a week. Being tortured really took it out of a person. “What happened to Ampere and company?”
“We got them. Nem knocked both the big guy and Ampere out and I had the displeasure of dealing with the girlfriend. Girl liked her knives, as you know.” He commented dryly, lifting one hand to show off badges wrapped around it. “But a short but sweet ‘yeah!’ and a good ol’ DJ punch fixed her tune.”
He wasn’t surprised, they were both capable heroes. Both had the ability to do swift and effective take downs. Driven by the need to get to him would have made them more ruthless.
“I’m just glad we got there in time.” Nemuri added.
Shouta was too, even if he had a moment where he nearly gave up from the agony of repetitive electrocution. He would be surprised if he hadn’t gone into cardiac arrest from it.
They filled him in further on when they noticed something wasn’t right. Hizashi noticed that Shouta hadn’t opened any of the subtle check in texts after a couple hours past his patrol time, usually Shouta at least put him on read if not sending a response. By noon, Nemuri’s picture of Sushi didn’t elicit a response also was a red flag. Led them to calling into the precinct Shouta had been working with and finding he hadn’t reported in, that they had a APB for a missing hero but no signs of Eraser Head. Nemuri had checked with some local hospitals with no luck and it was going on seven hours when they decided to use the locating app that Shouta had compromised using to track down where he was.
When they found the old factory that Ampere and the others were camping out in, they invested further to find him. Apparently they had been avoiding any property Ampere owned, as they were under surveillance and making it difficult for them to hide. Shouta filled them in that they had jumped him at the train yard twenty minutes from where they had found him, that it had been a trap he fell for.
Now that Ampere was behind bars, his black market days were over. And it was probably not the last time Shouta would be targeted by villains he’s helped take down.
Shouta shifted to try to get comfortable, wincing as he tried to adjust with one arm. His body felt stiff, reluctant to want to move very well or to obey his commands. The wires connected to all the machines added to the mild frustration of his current predicament. That’d get old fast, making him restless. He really did despise being bed bound.
Of course Nemuri noticed him grimacing. “Do you need me to get a nurse? I probably should let them know you are awake now.” Before he could stop her, she was up and out of the room. Hizashi got up to help Shouta change position, so he could sit up straight instead of lounging.
When a nurse came in, Hizashi and Nemuri left. The nurse checking his vitals and fussing over him for too many moments. Even aided him so he could use the bathroom, only because he didn’t trust himself to not to kiss the floor as soon as he stood and was attached to so many monitors. Just thankful that they didn’t use a catheter on him this time. Soon enough, the nurse had him back in bed with the promise of the doctor to visit. Shouta felt a mixture of pure exhaustion and the jittery need to move. He always got like that when in the hospital. Even if he knew logically he needed to stay to be treated, he rather go and heal in the peace of his own home.
Moments later the doctor came in just as Hizashi and Nemuri managed to return, which Shouta didn’t mind them being there, they were after all his emergency contacts.
The doctor, Dr. Sakamoto, who looked like she could have been a younger middle aged version of Recovery Girl, went over with him all of his injuries, as if he wasn’t partly aware of them from experience. Fractured wrists, though the right was worse. Dozens of cuts, some required stitching, likely the ones that Greenscale got a little too enthusiastic with. Damage to the left shoulder, from being stabbed, which was why it was being kept in a sling to limit movement. He had numerous electrical burns, some leaving behind what Dr. Sakamoto called Litchenberg figures, which was the fern-like scars she pointed out that were mixed in with the cuts on him. The figures and the nerve damage would get better over time. It was the damage to his heart and arrhythmia that they were concerned the most after what he had endured.
Shouta listened as he was told he was restricted to no strenuous activities, meaning no hero work, training, exercising, or intercourse for the next three to four weeks, depending on how his healing session with Recovery Girl would go. That they wanted him to wear a portable monitor for the next few days and he had to make an appointment to see a cardiologist for a follow up. Eraser Head was officially on medical leave for at least a month. It was a little daunting, even if she seemed optimistic of his recovery. They just didn’t want to risk anything when it came to his heart.
“Shuzenji-sensei will come by in the morning, as long as you get more rest and a meal in you, Aizawa-san.” Dr. Sakamoto told him, giving him a stern look, seeming to include the other two in the room as well. Making sure his two friends knew to not get Shouta wound up. For a woman who looked like she baked cookies with her kids, she had the stern doctor look down pat likely after years of experience. Perhaps she had read the complaints in his file, about how he wasn’t a very good patient.
At least come morning, a lot of his injuries would be healed up enough. Though he wasn’t sure how long Recovery Girl’s kiss would knock him out for. He was familiar with how draining her quirk could be depending on the severity of the injuries.
“Yes, ma’am.” Shouta responded, knowing better than to argue or put up a fight when it came to older women who weren’t intimidated by him, who in fact actually was a little scared of them. What was with petite grandmotherly doctors anyhow? He gave his thanks as she left the room.
“So sounds like you’re staying with one of us for a while.” Hizashi stated, firmly, like he was aware of the levels of stubbornness Shouta was capable of.
Shouta sent a half hearted glare at Hizashi. “No.”
“Shouta, you were just told you have to take it easy. We can look after you!”
“I’m not fragile.”
“Says the man hooked up to keep track of his heart!” Hizashi shot back, his concern palpable.
Nemuri stepped in then, realizing that Shouta was going to get worked up and be bull headed. “Not saying you are. You shouldn’t be left alone for a few days at least. Until your cardiologist check up.”
With a sigh, Shouta realized that he’d probably not win this argument, not when they teamed up against him. That even if he bullied his way back to his own apartment, one or both of them would stay with him, despite his tiny studio apartment not being big enough. Being alone when he wasn’t allowed to do anything would be pretty miserable and he knew logically he probably shouldn’t be alone until he got the all clear. “…fine.”
Ignored the two as they lightly cheered and high fived each other, like they won something instead of basically gaining the temporary custody of their very grumpy and injured friend while he recovered.
And if he was honest with himself, he didn’t really want to be alone after being held captive and tortured. Did not want to let his mind dwell on it and knew both of his friends would be good at distracting him.
Shouta relaxed back into the bed, letting Hizashi and Nemuri’s company wash over him while they debated sneaking in outside food in for Shouta’s dinner, completely ignoring his request for a jelly pouch as it was not ‘real food’. Rude.
Despite the circumstances, Shouta felt content with the warmth of Hizashi and Nemuri being there. As much as they exhausted him, Shouta did love them.