Swan Dive

Chapter 9: Darkness

A/N: Hello everyone~! Hope you're ready for this! We're now getting into the bulk of the Kidnapping Arc of this story. It's only a few chapters long, but it is highly important for character development. Plenty of Dadzawa and Protective!Shouta to make up for the shit I'm putting them through, though. So please enjoy!

Chapter 9: Darkness

Shouta awoke slowly. His head throbbed in agony, and he knew a concussion when he felt it. He lay still, slowly letting his body adjust to his surroundings.

He wasn't in a hospital, he realized abruptly. The ground was too hard, the room too quiet, and he was in too much pain. He slowly peeled open his eyes, surveying his surroundings. He was in a small dark room with no windows and one door, which sat at the top of a rickety old staircase.

He didn't remember how he'd gotten there, though.

"There you are." A relieved voice whispered almost too quietly for Shouta to hear. It was familiar, and it tickled the back of his mind.

He looked at the sound of the voice. "Inko!" He whispered in realization as he recalled the previous night's events in a dawning horror.

They'd been attacked by Midoriya Hisashi. Shouta had been knocked out while trying to defend Inko and Izuku. They'd been kidnapped. "Where's Izuku?!" He whispered urgently, forcing himself to sit up, despite the rolling nausea that resulted from his actions. He braced himself against the floor as the room tilted alarmingly.

The sound of rattling chains made him glance down at his wrists, where metal shackles chafed painfully against his skin. His eyes followed the chain to where it was bolted to the wall. He had just enough leeway to nearly reach the middle of the room.

"He's over there." Inko pointed, her own chains rattling a little at the motion. She was chained to the wall on the left side of the room. He could reach her, if both of them met in the middle of their allotted space. She had about as much leeway as him.

He strained his tired eyes against the darkness, finding a small still figure laying by another wall. Izuku was still unconscious, also chained. Shouta internally cursed. This was a nightmare situation. One Civilian, one Hero, and one Hero-in-training—his own family—kidnapped. And he felt completely at fault for not being able to protect them.

If he'd only grabbed his Capture Weapon.

If he'd only grabbed his cell phone.

He mentally shook his head. Those kinds of thoughts were more than toxic in this kind of situation—they could be downright lethal. They were here, now, and Shouta had to keep his wits about him. He was their best chance at escape.

He carefully got onto his hands and knees—not trusting himself to walk with the way the room tilted in protest of his actions—and crawled in Izuku's direction. His chains pulled taut before he could reach him. If Izuku was a bit farther out, he could pull him closer and check him over for injuries, but he was too far away for Shouta to reach. He growled in frustration. Inko wouldn't be able to reach him, either, as she was on the opposite side of the room from Izuku. Shouta was chained in the middle of the two.

"Shouta?" Inko's small, frail voice made his heart break a little. She slid across the filthy wooden floor towards him, and he crawled back in her direction so she could reach him.

"How're you holding up?" He asked, voice rough. He tasted a bit of old blood in the back of his throat, and winced. He was thirsty, not that he expected that to be quenched any time soon.

"As well as can be expected, I guess..." She looked at him with a watery smile. "It looks like we can at least reach each other?" He saw her gaze shift worriedly towards Izuku, and he knew she'd tried before he'd woken up.