The Tinker

Chapter 51 - Static

It was 6:00 AM in Japan and Todoroki was woken up by the blaring sound of his ringtone. 

Still dazed from sleep (and rather annoyed at how early it was), he reached for the device on his nightstand. He squinted at the blinding light, trying to let his eyes adjust, and when he saw who the caller was he sat up in surprise.

Why was Y/N calling him?

The two of them had only spoken a few times in passing, and even then it was dry conversation. Something was wrong.

He tapped the green answer icon and held the phone to his ear. "Y/N? What's going on?"

"I don't know if I have a lot of time--" Static feedback cut through her words, making it hard to decipher what she was saying. "Your dad and mom--" Static. "--organization that--" Static. "--quirk marriages--"

Todoroki hunched over and held the phone closer to his ear. "You're cutting out. Where are you?"

"I'm getting on the plane to--" Static. "--can you meet me at the airport?"

"What time does your flight get in?"

"8:00 PM."

"Yeah, I can come get you. What's going on?"

"I can explain--" Static. "--Endeavor--" Static. "--my parents got a--" Static. A few seconds later, the phone line went dead.

Todoroki was pretty sure that he'd never been more confused, but he had a bad feeling in his gut. Was it an emergency? Was she okay? It seemed that she was trying to ask him something about his family, but why?

He crawled out of bed and slipped a shirt on, exiting his room and heading down the hall to the common room. He dialed Y/N's number again, hoping to get her to answer and clarify what she had meant.

"Mornin, Todoroki! How'd you sleep?" Kirishima asked as he patted him on the back.

"I slept fine. Y/N just called me."

Bakugou, who was sitting on the couch, looked up at Todoroki with a glare. "What? Why the hell did she call you?" 

"I'm... not sure. She told me to pick her up at the airport at 8:00 PM. It sounded urgent, but service was bad, so I couldn't tell what she was saying really. Something about my parents."

Midoriya paused his cooking at the oven and turned around to give Todoroki a worried look. "Your parents? Why does Y/N want to know about your parents?"

"Something about an organization I think. She mentioned quirk marriages."

A heavy silence fell over the room. Kirishima sat down on the couch next to Bakugou, leaning on his knees and thinking hard. "That's... weird."

"Yeah," Todoroki said. "I just wish I could've understood her better. She sounded stressed." He lowered the phone from his ear in frustration. "She's not picking up. I think she's on her flight now."

"I'm coming with," Bakugou grunted. "To the airport."

"I'll come too," Midoriya added, turning back to his food on the stove. "Something about this feels worrisome."

Katsuki tried to ignore the worry that was growing in his chest. Later, he found himself pacing back and forth in his room. Anxiety wasn't an emotion that Bakugou usually dealt with, and never at this intensity; Something was wrong and he knew it. He checked his phone again, hoping that she'd texted back.

BAKUGOU: You okay Tinkerbell?

It had been two hours since his text with no response. Can you even text from a plane? Maybe he was overreacting. I should've texted her sooner, he thought. He was basically watching the hours pass, waiting anxiously for the time to roll around for them to go to the airport. Maybe he could just go early.