Cubicity

Chapter 7: Enter the Everything Heroine

But sadly not everything one hopes for comes true.

A lot had happened the week that followed the Hero Festival. But now wasn't the time to reminisce about the past. Izuku had more pressing things to be concerned about. Like where was Tenya, and was he okay? Midoriya's brief run-in with the murderous Hero Killer was over, and he was back at school. But for some reason, Tenya didn't show up for classes that Monday morning. Which concerned Midoriya because he had seen the tall teen on the school grounds before class. Ida didn't say much and only said he needed a minute to relax before going to class when Izuku asked if everything was alright. The shorter teen decided to give Tenya his space but was now kicking himself for not pressing him more.

At the moment Midoriya was trying to catch up to Uraraka. She was taking this the hardest and was frantically looking for Ida expecting the worst as she raced up flights of stairs. After the lunch bell had rung, Izuku told the zero-gravity heroine that he had seen Tenya before class. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as she immediately dashed out of the classroom in tears. Luckily he asked her to wait until the classroom had emptied before talking to her. Otherwise, that might have caused a scene. Midoriya finally caught up to her and grabbed her shoulders before saying, "Uraraka-san you need to calm down!"

The girl was a teary mess and didn't say anything. Izuku pleaded, "Look we need to think this through, okay?" Ochako nodded slowly. Raising his hands Midoriya continued, "Stay here, and I'll look for Ida-san on the roof." Another nod came from the girl, and he made his way to the roof, feeling nauseous. It pained Izuku that Ochako's first thought was that Tenya considered suicide. He was quite sure his tall friend would never consider the idea but to reassure her, and a small part of himself, he had to be sure. Midoriya saw no sign of anyone once he reached the top. Looking over the railing did give him the chills but after looking all over, he saw no sign of what Uraraka had feared.

As Izuku went back down the stairs to rejoin Ochako, he considered possible places Tenya could have gone. Drawing a blank, he instead thought of another classmate that might know of his location. As the zero-gravity heroine came into view, an idea hit him. Midoriya offered a hand to Uraraka and said, "He wasn't up there, and I couldn't see him on the school grounds. But I have an idea of someone who would know where Ida-san could be. Follow me."

As the pair made their way to the cafeteria Izuku thought back to the hospital on that horrible day. Tenya had been cold to both his and Shoto's attempts to cheer him up as they sat in their sick beds. Even Tokodori's realization that whenever he got involved with his classmates their hands got hurt, didn't get a reaction out of the tall teen. Ida had received possible permanent scars on his hand, just as Midoriya had when he fought at the Hero Festival. When he tried to push further he was met with silence. Izuku eventually figured that his friend just needed time and space to heal his body and mind but now all of this was happening. Should he have done more?

As they arrived in the cafeteria, Izuku began looking through the crowd. After a minute he finally saw her waiting in line for food. But before he could get there Tooru and Mashirao stepped in front of him and Ochako. Ojiro asked in a worried voice, "Woah Midoriya-san, what gives? What's with the rush you two? Has something happened?"

Tooru was quick to add, "Can we be of any help?"

"I don't know if you can but follow me," Izuku explained. The two then followed as he continued towards his target. After reaching her, Midoriya asked, "Yaoyorozu-san, we need your help."

The tall girl gave a puzzled look as she turned around to the group in front of her and asked, "What's the problem?"

Midoriya explained, "We can't find Ida-san. But he was definitely at school today before classes began, I saw and talked to him. We think he might be in trouble."