Darkside (BkDK)

~~** Talk to you with my hands tied. **~~

Bakugo had been gone from the common room and the commotion of his classmates, teachers, and honorary Auntie for nearly an hour before a knock on the door brought him out of the stupor he'd unknowingly slipped into. The blonde sat dazed and spaced out at his (ex)-boyfriend's desk looking down at the letter the freckled teen left behind for him to find. Were the circumstances different, he would have been bragging at how he outsmarted the greenette by finding the hand scrawled note almost two weeks faster than its author anticipated. But now was not the time for hubris.

Blinking himself back to reality at the sound of another knock on the heavy door, the metaphorically broken boy took notice of the state of his letter. Some of the words on the page were so smudged by the salty drops that fell unbidden from crimson eyes that they were completely unreadable despite the paper being completely dry. His tears had stopped a while ago now. How long had he been sitting there staring at the white parchment and seeing nothing at all?

Having not heard anything inside the room, Inko and Hound Dog opened the door to look for the missing youth's blonde partner. The heaviness of a large semi-clawed hand on his shoulder finally got a reaction out of the heartbroken teen as he looked up to his Teacher and therapist. "He wants me to hear a song. He said it's the last one he would have given you if he had been going to classes or his sessions."

"Do you feel comfortable telling me what song it is?" Being the first time she actually heard the dog quirk Pro speak, Inko was temporarily taken aback by the man's gruff voice, but his caring nature settled her quickly.

"Yeah, but I don't know what it is. He said it's on his computer but it's dead. Give me a minute, I'll boot it up and find the file." Opening the bottom drawer on the desk the ruby-eyed boy pulled out a power cable and plugged in the slightly banged up device before switching it on and entering the greenette's password. As he worked, the emotionally (fragile) (vulnerable) overwhelmed teen failed to notice the tall Pro at his back was not alone.

"How do you know his password Katsuki?"

"A-auntie?!" Startled by the woman's presence, the shorter of the two blonds nearly toppled his chair onto the floor. Luckily the intimidating Hero behind him braced the teetering furniture with his large frame. "We would do our internship homework together and he told me what it was so I could start without him while he took a shower sometimes."

"Out of curiosity, might I ask what it is? There's a chance it could be relevant to helping us find him." Nodding in agreement, the seated male began searching for the music folder as he answered the looming man's question.

"April20"

"What an odd choice. Thank you. I don't see how that could be of use in locating Mr. Midoriya. Though I suppose it would be a rather secure password seeing as it's so innocuous."

Bakugo couldn't see the smile on the levitation quirk user's face, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear it in her voice when she explained the meaning to the perplexed therapist. "It's his birthday."

"Forgive me ma'am, but in that case I must say it is quite the opposite of what I thought. Choosing your own birthday is a rather poor choice of security. I would have thought Izuku knew that. "

"Oh, he does. Izuku's birthday is in July. April twentieth is Katsuki's birthday." Realization was quick to dawn on the tall man as he looked back to the screen. These two boys really were very special to one another, weren't they?

"Found it." Hoping neither of the adults in the room noticed the slight pink tint to his ears and cheeks, Dynamight opened the music file Deku named in his letter and played it for them all. 'Let Me Go' by NF.

As the lyrics registered for all three a new round of tears began to find their way to a mother's eyes and a set of explosive fists clenched tightly. By the end of the song it was clear why that specific track was selected by the missing teen for his partner. And it made Dynamight's blood boil.

"Would you feel comfortable sharing your letter with everyone, or perhaps just the teachers so we can pool it in with the others in search of clues to locating Mr. Midoriya?" Finding a blank paper and a pencil, Hound Dog jotted down a note about the song to share with Nemuri later while he waited for the youth to respond. After a few brief moments he noticed blonde spikes shaking in his peripherie declining his proposal.

"It's private, but he did say one thing I can share that I think might help. He said he was going to try being a vigilante since he doesn't think he can be a Hero. He said he feels a lot of rage and that's not how a Hero should feel. So I'm betting he took his Hero costume with him, though I wouldn't be surprised if he changed it somehow so nobody recognizes him. Might not even look like a stupid rabbit anymo-" A sudden thought struck the short-tempered youth as he all but jumped up from his seat, startling the other two.

Running the few short steps to the bed Bakugo began to move sheets and blankets searching for something. After removing everything from on top of the mattress he kneeled down and began searching under the bed. Another few quiet and rather confusing moments later it was Inko who spoke up.

"Katsuki, deer, what are you looking for?" Standing, the slightly panting teen addressed his missing friend's mother without answering her question.

"It's not here."

"What's not here son?"

"He took it with him. He had too. There's no way he'd lose it." A smile started to form at the corners of his mouth as he turned to face the still tearing woman.

"What are you talking about? What did he take with him? Will it help us find him?" Reaching out, the plump female gripped hands that could easily blast through walls with their quirk.

"The bunny. That stupid green bunny, Mr. Usagi." A short snorting laugh escaped his lips when the memory of the scraggly toy's given name.

"That horrible toy you won for him at the fair when you were children? You mean he STILL has it?!? He even brought it to his high school dorm?!? That silly boy of mine." It was the missing youth's mother's turn to smile at the odd knowledge of her 17-year-old son still clinging to a silly stuffed toy from when he was a mere toddler. "Do you know how many times I had to sew that ridiculous rabbit back up? He used to cry any time it needed to be washed. He was afraid it would drown. But I haven't seen that thing in years. How do you know he still has it? And why such a terrible name?"

Another small chuckle left the blonde as he squeezed the other's hands. "He said he named it when we were four and it was a great name, the Nerd. He said when I started being horrible to him the damn bunny was his friend so it helped him out a lot. He could never abandon a friend, even a cheap stuffed one. That damn rabbit has sat on his bed ever since we moved in last year. It's not here now so he must have taken it with him along with his Hero costume. I don't see any way for that to help us find him but for some reason it makes me feel a little better that at least he's not alone out there. That's dumb right?"

"Not at all. That is actually quite a healthy view, Bakugo. If you are ready, let us return to the group so we can let the others know what we have found out." It was still a little odd seeing the tall man NOT in his own Hero costume. For some reason it just never occurred to the feisty teen that this man owned jeans and tee-shirts like any normal person.

"Yeah." Picking up an armful of blankets and sheets the smaller blonde lifted them up to place them back on the disheveled bed but as he did, he heard a small thud on the floor by his feet. After releasing the bundle he looked down to see a phone. Picking it up he recognized the All Might case immediately. "Guess that's why he hasn't been reading messages or answering calls."

Handing the battery dead device over to its owner's mother, the three made their way out the door and back downstairs. As soon as they entered the commons all eyes were on them. It took only a few minutes to update the still gathered group with what little new information they managed to gather. By the end of it the room full of concerned classmates and Pros were either watching or participating in a rather unusual spectacle.

Seeing Uraraka and Momo tightly hugging a quietly weeping Inko was almost to be expected when the group heard the song her son had left for his now (ex)-boyfriend to hear. What they did NOT expect was to see wet streaks on their feisty Boom Boom's cheeks as he watched the woman break down for the third time that day.