Dsiclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or its characters.

It had been a trap.

Bakugo's ears were ringing. His insides felt like mush and someone had left his brain on vibrate. Propping himself up on his elbows, grenadiers digging into the hard, concrete floor, he managed to lift his head up through the nausea and look around. The villain's layer was destroyed - a distinct smell of ozone lingered in the air, the walls were crumbling, and the ceiling was likewise in pieces. Groaning as he sat up, Bakugo quickly tried to piece together the scattered shards of his mind. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. All he knew was that explosions were supposed to be his thing, and it angered him to no end to think that the shitty Villain Alliance thought they could use one against him. Luckily, he seemed to be okay. There was a nasty gash in his thigh and he was covered with small cuts and scrapes, but that seemed to be the worst of the damage. Nothing major was broken, and aside from being shaken up, he could move just fine. That was a miracle in itself.

Except it wasn't a miracle. Someone had saved him.

"Fuck." Bakugo coughed out as he peered through the dusty air, searching the rubble. Finally, his eyes spotted her light pink helmet. Cursing as he stumbled his way over to her, hot emotions of anger and panic bubbled up in his chest. Dammit, why the fuck had she been following him? What the hell had she been thinking? As he rolled heavy stones off of her body, Bakugo scanned her for serious injuries. Thankfully, like him, she seemed relatively unharmed aside from cuts and scrapes. She was even awake, her eyes staring at something a thousand miles off in the distance through the cracked visor of her helmet. Bakugo, becoming more alert by the second, tapped her cheek and tried to get a response out of her. The smell in the air was starting to raise some red flags in his mind. They weren't safe yet. Whatever kind of bomb those bastards of the Villain Alliance had manufactured... it had done something more than just explode. Concern formed a heavy knot in his stomach, causing him to work hastily.

"Hey, Pink Cheeks." His voice was raspy, tongue tasting like ash. "Fucking look at me, dammit!"

And she did. But Uraraka's eyes weren't seeing him. She probably couldn't hear a single word he had said. Bakugo cursed. She was shell shocked. Perfect. A small twinge of worry for her somewhere behind his heart made him pause and consider what to do next. Knowing that he couldn't wait around for her to regain herself, Bakugo worked his hands underneath her neck and knees. They needed to get the hell out of there. Scooping her up into his arms, Bakugo hoisted her up onto his grenadiers and gracelessly flopped her head up over his shoulder. Her breaths - short, shallow, and laced with a small whine - puffed against his neck.

Bakugo felt sick, and he wasn't sure if it was her pain or the atmosphere that was the cause. Standing on shaky legs, he took a couple of unsteady steps forward before picking up his pace. If Uraraka was uncomfortable as she bounced against him, she didn't say anything. As he trotted through the wrecked halls of the compound as fast as his weary legs could carry him, Bakugo's eyes drifted to down to her cracked visor. Uraraka was not the kind of girl to stray too far from her team, not like him. She didn't go off on her own. So why? Why had she been there? Where were the rest of their classmates? Prior to the explosion, Bakugo had heard the ambient echoes of skirmish drifting through the walls, battles of U.A. against the weak underlings that the League of Villains had managed to dig up. Now, however, it was eerily quiet, and the only sounds was the scraping of his boots over the floor.

Wait, those weren't his boots...

Before Bakugo could slip back into fight-mode, Deku rounded a corner up ahead of him. He frantically looked down both ends of of the hallway, freezing when he spotted his classmates.

"Kacchan! Uraraka!" He rushed towards them, eyes wide with worry. The girl in Bakugo's arms finally reacted to the voice of her friend, lifting her chin from his shoulder. Bakugo, despite his relief, instinctively flinched back. A sudden memory of something he had read about regarding hazardous catastrophes flashed through his mind. What if whatever was in that bomb was contagious?

"Stay back, you damn nerd!" He shouted as he clutched Uraraka tighter. Deku skidded to a halt a couple yards away, just as the last of Bakugo's strength slipped away. His knees gave out on him, and he tumbled to the floor with a growl, holding tight to Uraraka. She was beginning to move a little. Her breaths came ragged, like his, and small groans escaped her. Eyelids feeling heavy, Bakugo looked up at Deku. The stupid look of confusion and worry on the other boy's face was pissing him off. But he knew he needed to explain what had happened if he wanted to get out. It was already hard to talk without Uraraka's weight compressing his lungs even more.

"There was... a trap, in the last god damn room. Fucking bomb, I think. I don't know... feels like I got hit by a goddamn nuclear reactor..."

The more he spoke, the more winded he became. Deku's mouth dropped open as his eyes widened, swirling with shock and concern. But he broke himself out of it and put a finger to his ear, speaking quickly to the people on the other end of the piece. Bakugo looked down to the girl in his arms. She seemed to be regaining awareness of her surroundings. Her arms were wrapped around Bakugo, the soft pads of her fingers ghosting over his back. Her face was pale and pinched, eyebrows drawn together and bottom lip tucked between her teeth. His heart clenched at the sight. She wasn't supposed to cry. The strongest girl he knew wasn't supposed to be crying. Why the hell was she crying?

"After you went charging off by yourself, Kacchan," Deku started, capturing his attention once again. "We learned that Tomura Shigaraki wasn't here. Uraraka... she went off to find you, to tell you that... that something wasn't right." Despite the shake in his voice, Midorya's eyes were fiercely boring into Bakugo's, flaring with something that Bakugo had only seen when directed at someone else - rage.

Suddenly it made sense. He had taken out his ear piece, because he didn't need somebody in his head telling him who to punch. If anybody was going to find Shigaraki in this damn maze of halls and rooms, it was going to be him. At some point, he thought he had heard someone calling his name... but he had simply ignored it. Bakugo gritted his teeth, hands unconsciously gripping her tighter. If he had taken one or two more steps into that room, if he had been any closer to that fucking bomb, if she hadn't yanked him back...no, if he had just fucking listened, then this wouldn't have happened. Instead, she got caught up in his massive mistake.

"If Uraraka's hurt in anyway, I... I..." Deku trembled as he spoke, but it wasn't from fear.

He didn't need to finish. Bakugo couldn't find it in himself to admit that he would blame himself, too. Guilt settled like a heavy blanket across his shoulders.

Men in hazmat suites finally arrived, and Bakugo was escorted out of the building, his arms still full with Uraraka. Too shaken to stand, Uraraka tightened her grip on Bakugo's shirt and pressed her mouth into his shoulder. He didn't mind. Carrying her was the least he could do - his burning arms were just going to have to deal with it. Deku followed at a nearly safe distance, his eyes never leaving the silent girl who clutched onto Bakugo like a lifeline. It was only when they were finally outside that Deku was forced to stay behind along with their other classmates. They all watched as Bakugo and Uraraka disappeared inside a small blue plastic tent.

Once inside the tent, Bakugo twisted his head toward Uraraka's, and spoke in a low voice. "I've got to put you down now."

He hadn't been expecting a response, so when she nodded against his neck, part of him felt immensely relieved.

Gently setting her down, Bakugo kept one arm behind her back for support. Uraraka was a little wobbly, but steadied herself against his shoulder. She still hadn't said a word, and kept her eyes fixed down to the floor. Uraraka looked about as sick as Bakugo felt, but she stood straight and refused to let her pain show on her face. Someone swept a Geiger counter over their bodies, the rapid clicking loud enough for all to hear. Uraraka flinched at the sound, and Bakugo could hear her breathing quicken. They were hot, someone said, but they wouldn't know if they were in danger until they got them back to the facility. Bakugo carefully watched Uraraka as they spoke, unconcerned by the implications of those words. He was gauging all of her reactions, looking for a sign that she was okay. She never took her hand off of his shoulder.

They were showered in cold water, scrubbed with stiff brushes through their clothes for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time. Then they loaded into a van and taken to the nearest decontamination facility. Huddled next to each other, Uraraka shivered against Bakugo. Water dripped from her hair and face. Her helmet rested in her lap, arms wrapping around the thing tightly. Her face was pale - even those cheeks that he always gave her crap for seemed sallow and thin. Bakugo found himself staring at her, a stone of remorse in his heart. She was trying so hard to be strong right now, and he couldn't help but admire her for that. But she was trapped in her mind with dark thoughts, thoughts that might have been doing more damage than any bomb could. He frowned, not sure what he could do, how he could ever begin to make up for his own incompetence. It left a sour taste in his mouth. But he wanted to do something, anything to try to bring back the bubbly girl that he liked best.

Lifting his arm, Bakugo laid it across her shoulders. He was wet, too, but at least he was slightly warmer. For once, Bakugo was thankful to have the internal temperature of a volcano. Uraraka looked up at his touch, meeting his eyes and truly seeing him for the first time since the explosion. Her brown eyes sparkled, and she was so close to him that he could count the fibers of her irises. The smell of her damp hair wafted up to his nostrils - sweet, like mountain air, even after everything. He didn't know what his own face was doing, but he sure hoped he looked stronger than he felt. Uraraka's mouth parted slightly, but no words came out. Her face tensed, eyebrows pinching together. Small, almost unnoticeable tears glistened quietly in the corners of her eyes, but she dipped her head back down before he could see them fall. Bakugo thought that was all he was going to get from her, until she shifted closer to him, pressing her hip against his and leaning into the crook of his armpit. Settling her head onto his shoulder, Uraraka stopped shivering and huffed a content breath. His hand drifted down to her forearm, his thumb rubbing comforting circles into her costume.

Her closeness made Bakugo's guilt worse - he didn't deserve her trust, her faith, or her forgiveness. But since his uncanny gesture of kindness helped her feel better, he said nothing. Turning his head towards her, Bakugo's lips brushed her hair and he closed his eyes.

This was good, Bakugo thought to himself. This was helping. It didn't change the fact, however, that they were only in this situation because of him.

The rare moment of tenderness didn't last long. They arrived at the facility, and were quickly rushed to the decontamination area, which turned out to be nothing more than a line of showers and observation rooms. A doctor quickly gave them the low-down; they needed to take another shower, this time with their clothes off, and place their garments in plastic bags. After the shower, they would be separated and observed for 24-hours. If neither of them showed any sign of radiation poisoning, then they would be let go. Their costumes, unfortunately, would have to be burned. The school would make sure they got new ones in a timely manner.

Being in that decontamination unit made the situation starkly real. Uraraka and Bakugo had gotten out by the skin of their teeth. And they weren't out of the woods yet. It was deeply unsettling to know that they almost didn't make it.

The doctors, nurses, and other personnel all left to give them a semblance of privacy. There were three showers, the stalls separated with steel walls. The plastic bags along with a set of scrubs for each of them were laid out on the bench next to them. As much as it pissed Bakugo off that his costume would be destroyed, he already knew that his grenadiers were useless after the first shower. With a sigh, he took a step forward - but was stopped by a tug on his shirt. Uraraka's hand loosely held the fabric, her posture closed and submissive. She didn't look at him, but he could see her intentions in her eyes. His heart fluttered, unsure he if he was capable of being the person she needed. But he had to try. The young man turned to her, feeling her fingers trace over his abdomen as he did. Huffing a sigh through his nose, Bakugo took her hand.

"Come on, Uraraka." He gave her a gentle tug. "Let's get this over with."

Leading her towards the showers, Bakugo turned on the center shower to as hot as it would go, then turned it down just a tad. Uraraka wandered over to sit on the bench next to the plastic bags and the scrubs. Her shoulders quivered as she clutched her helmet. Bakugo knew that she couldn't last much longer. She was breaking down, and fast. Now that they were alone, just the two of them, it was harder for her to keep up the brave face. He couldn't blame her for being scared; what they had experienced was no small ordeal. It was just Bakugo's luck that he dealt with similar situation on a daily basis. He would deal with his own trauma in his own way at a later time - probably But seeing her like this, hanging on to her strength and dignity by her fingertips, was hurting his heart. She was trying so hard not to fall apart, to not be the fragile girl that he already knew she wasn't, and it was damaging her even more.

He had done this to her. This was his fault. They were here because of him. He needed to do something. But he knew that nothing he did would ever be enough to make up for what had happened. Not in a million years.

Kneeling in front of her, Bakugo gently laid his gloved hands over hers. She flinched at his touch, but refused to let her tears fall. Delicately, he pried the helmet from her and placed it on the floor.

"We need to get undressed, okay Pink Cheeks?" Bakugo asked in as gentle of a tone as he could muster, but his voice still came out rough. Uraraka gave a slight nod and began fingering off her gloves.

Without really thinking about it, he began working on her boots, unzipping them and sliding them off of her feet along with her socks. Her small toes tapped lightly against the floor. Moving up, he deftly undid the belt around her waist, letting it clink unceremoniously on top of her boots. Uraraka had managed to get one of her gauntlets off, but her hands were shaking so bad, and her fingers fumbled clumsily at the other one. Bakugo intervened, brushing her hands aside and pulling it the rest of the way off, adding those and her gloves to the pile on the floor. His hands moved up slowly towards her face. Fingers sliding around her neck, he unclasped the collar meant to protect her spine and added that to the pile as well. She was left only in her torn spandex suit, trembling and starting to whimper. The small sounds tore him apart. Figuring she could take off the suit herself, Bakugo stood up straight and held his hands out to her. She took them, and he pulled her to her feet.

"Okay, great. You're doing great. Now come on." His words sounded silly to him, but Uraraka wasn't laughing.

The water might have been a little cool for his liking, but that probably meant it was perfect for her. With a gentle nudge, Bakugo ushered her under the stream of water. The shower heads were the kind that hung straight overhead, allowing the water to fall down over the girl like heavy rain. She let go of his hand, inhaling sharply as the water cascaded over her. Closing her eyes, Uraraka stepped into the stream, letting the water stream through her dirty brown hair. Bakugo watched her, watched as the water made her suit cling tighter to her body, watched as small trickles of red and brown drained down her ankles from numerous scraps and cuts. Bakugo stared at the blood, unsure what he hated more about this situation; that he had almost gotten Uraraka killed, or that she might be permanently traumatized because of his actions. If Bakugo alone had been caught in the explosion, that would have been one thing. But to have someone else be dragged into it with him was something completely different. Especially when that someone was Uraraka - another log to add to the fire. Bakugo's lips pulled back into a snarl as cold, unrelenting anger at himself cut through his chest because holy fuck had he messed up big time. But he wasn't willing or prepared to deal with that right now. She couldn't see him breaking down, not now. Spinning away from her, Bakugo sat down on the bench and began removing his boots.

When he was down to just his shirt and pants, and had already put both his and Uraraka's gear in bags, he turned towards the showers, making his way towards the one to the left of Uraraka's. He felt like he was sleepwalking, his mind fogged with exhaustion and limbs heavy. Bakugo sneered. He shouldn't be this tired...

"Bakugo..."

Her voice was so small, competing with the sound of running water, that he almost didn't hear her. For the first time since the explosion, Uraraka finally spoke to him and he could hardly recognize her strained voice. It made his breath hitch in his chest. He froze, refusing to look at her, deathly afraid of what he might see. Did she blame him, too? Did she hate him now? Bakugo was used to people hating him, but her... if she never spoke to him again, never smiled at him when she caught him staring at her, he didn't think he would be able to take it. He couldn't say that he would blame her, though. He was responsible for their predicament. But when he looked up at her, to the water dripping down her face that very well could have been tears, and the small smile on the corners of her lips, Bakugo just knew that her forgiveness would be so much worse.

"We... we almost died," She whispered. Her hands trembled as they gripped at the waist of her suit. Her chin dipped, bottom lip trembling. "I... you... almost didn't make it... I was so scared..."

"Uraraka..." Her name felt like a swear word to him - a name that he had no right to call her after what had happened. A vice gripped his heart, making it impossible for him to breath.

"I... I don't know... mmhhh..." She choked back a sob, despite the smile on her face. "I don't know... what I would have done... if I had lost you..."

His body moved before he could think. Stepping into the streaming water beside her, Bakugo quickly wrapped his arms around her, one hand pushing the back of her head into his shoulder. That was enough for Uraraka to finally slip over the edge, and she openly bawled into his chest, her hands grasping the back of his shirt. He could feel how much she was shaking, and gently eased her to the tile floor of the shower with his legs underneath her for support. As the hot water drenched his body, all the little cuts and scrapes began to sting as they were cleansed. Their blood mixed together in the water as it went down the drain. She leaned heavily against him, and Bakugo found himself whispering small phrases to her as she wept.

"It's okay now," he breathed out to her. "I'm here." Those two phrases tumbled out of his mouth ad nauseam. His heart hammered against hers, impossibly loud in his ears as they clung to each other.

How... how could he ever even hope to call himself a hero if he couldn't even protect the people that were trying to help him? How could he be number one if he put others in danger? How could he bare to live with himself... if he hurt the people he cared about? First it was All Might, and now...

"I'm so glad..." Uraraka mumbled against his chest. "That you're alive, Bakugo."

Her words, though kind, were like a knife through his heart. Gritting his teeth against the roiling emotions in his chest, Bakugo allowed himself a small comfort by burying his face into the crook of Uraraka's neck. He didn't deserve this. Far from it. She should be mad at him, screaming and kicking and trying to tear him a new one for being the piece of shit that he was. For endangering her life so carelessly. But Uraraka was holding him close, her lips pressed to the curve of his jaw as she continued to cry out her woes. It became unclear who was comforting who. Was he crying now, as well? It was hard to tell with all the water running down his face. All he did know was that neither of them could pretend to be strong any longer.

It was here, under the hot water of the shower in the decontamination unit, where Bakugo and Uraraka held each other as the terror, guilt, and sorrow was cleansed from their bodies along with the hazardous materials that had almost killed them. Here, where Bakugo realized how much farther he had yet to go, how much more he had to learn - about being a hero, and about himself. Comforted with resolve but still heavy-hearted with regret, Bakugo closed his eyes and wrapped his arms a little tighter around Uraraka, feeling the hot water trickle over his body and wash his dark feelings away in the sanctuary of her presence, while Uraraka grinned into his neck, beyond relieved to have this boy here with her instead of in a morgue. The color returned to her cheeks the same moment that Bakugo fully acknowledged what she meant to him.

It wasn't much, but it was enough. They were alive, both of them. That was all they could ever ask for.

A/N: Here, have some Kacchako angst because I'm so deep in this stupid ship that it's driving me nuts and this is the only way I can keep myself sane. I'm supposed to be working on my Fairy Tail story but this wouldn't leave me alone. I wrote this when I was a little drunk on wine, so I'm not super satisfied with the ending or some of the details. Sorry in advance .

EDIT: This has been edited for content.

As always, read, reveiw, and enjoy!