Canary

Chapter 33: Those Who Remain

Present Mic was forced to wait on the side-lines.

His segment on the radio show was cancelled when the ambush on the league of villains went south so quickly. Now, as the news reporters focused on All Might's fight, Yamada paced back and forth fiddling with the cuffs on his jacket as he waited for the news to break. He'd heard nothing about Midoriya.

He wasn't part of the action team for a reason. If he disappeared from the radio show to join the heroes out to rescue his star student, before the world knew they were planning on acting so quickly after the press conference that even Aizawa got to take part in, it would have been more than suspicious.

A guilt hung heavy in his heart because he wasn't there. Instead, he remained in his office on the very top floor of his hero agency, hoping, praying, that things would be ok.

He had been there when friends passed before. Heroes that tried their very best – but that best just wasn't enough. But this was different. This was a different kind of loss.

This was a terrifying, suffocating weight on his shoulders – one which he simply couldn't shift. It was something which stifled his every breath; which pulled at his heart strings relentlessly. The worst bit was the waiting. He simply didn't know if Midoriya was safe – or if he was still fighting – if he had stopped...

Now, he was sitting behind his desk, drumming his fingers against the wood as he waited... and waited... and waited...

All Might's fight came and went. The world's eyes were focused on the skeletal man – but not every pair were as fixated as perhaps they should have been. Present Mic's, for example, tried to stare behind the withered hero and into the background of the live feed he had on his phone. But Yamada could not locate Midoriya.

Perhaps this was a good thing! Maybe he'd gotten away before the fight truly began. Bakugo was nowhere to be seen either. It was likely that they were still together.

But Yamada was also aware that he would not be the first person the officials connected once the whereabouts of Midoriya were known. That honour would fall to his parents. Most probably, Present Mic wouldn't even be told by the police what happened, and he would have to wait alongside the rest of the world to discover the truth.

It was painful – having to wait like that.

And for hours, he did –

– But then his phone rang.

"Hello?!" Present Mic almost yelled into the receiver in his panic.

There was a heavy sniff from the other side, "Present Mic, Sir?" a woman's voice responded.

Yamada hesitated, he pulled the phone away from his ear briefly, glancing down at the contact details for whoever this caller was. He was so used to talking to people over the radio, that sometimes he forgot that he could tell who was calling him when using a phone, without having to ask.

It was Inko Midoriya.

"Mrs Midoriya? Is everything alright, can I help with something? Is this about Canary – Izuku?" Present Mic blurted out. It was probably too many questions at once, but they had fallen out of his mouth before his mind had the chance to catch up.

There was another great sob from the other end. "H-Have you heard a-anything?"

"No?" he replied, the hope he'd been hanging onto so desperately was beginning to slip from his grasp now. "Have you? Do you need me to help you chase the police up on it?"

"N-N-No," she stammered terribly. "I-I'm at the station now, not far from t-the radio s-station, actually..."

"Did you want me to come down?" Present Mic was already standing, ready to leave as soon as she said so.