Chapter 2

The Challenge

Iida knew that Izuku's door was unlocked even as he knocked, so when no answer responded to his question of entry, he pushed the door open anyway.

Izuku was lying on his bed, his eyes closed as he held a polaroid photo to his chest, his breathing still hitched and uneven as if he were still crying despite the lack of tears. Iida swallowed his own tears and looked back at Tsuyu, Tokoyami and Kirishima, who were waiting behind him for news. Iida nodded at them and the four of them filed into the room, closing the door carefully behind them.

The rest of the students had already gone back to their rooms, exhausted in the after effects of their adrenaline rushes caused by the panic of the situation. These four students had remained behind though, too worried about their friend to sleep.

Izuku did not stir for a while, someone looking in on him may have thought him to be sleeping, but his close friends knew better, he was lying awake, he was just trying to drown himself in sleep. When his four friends did not leave after a while of waiting, Izuku slowly opened his eyes and without turning his head, looked at them. His eyes were still a little watery but most of his tears had dried up. Kirishima sat on the floor while Tokoyami and Tsuyu found two chairs to sit in, pulling them to the center of the room on either side of Kirishima. Iida however, made his way over to Izuku's bed and sat down on the end of it, his eyes never leaving his friend.

Nobody said a word.

And then, in the dark silence, Izuku spoke so softly that if any sound at all had been in the room, his friends would not have heard it.

"It's my fault." He gulped. "I should have protected her. I should have gone in her place, or died for her rather than run for help. I'm so stupid."

Iida's eyes flashed. None of class 1-A knew what had happened but they had a pretty good idea, they just didn't know the details. That sentence alone confirmed their fears.

"Midoriya, please, tell us what happened. We want to help in any way possible." Tokoyami spoke up from his chair on the left side of Kirishima. Izuku gulped again, trying desperately (and failing) to keep more tears from sliding down his cheeks.

"I… I…" Izuku took a deep breath and sat up from his pillow, turning to look at his friends directly.

"I failed Ochako!" He cried out. "I let her get shot and taken by villains instead of protecting her! I can't even hold a candle to her, she saved my life and I acted like a coward not a hero!" He placed his face in his hands and sobbed into them, his shoulders heaving. Iida looked down at Izuku's lap to where the polaroid photo had fallen when he sat up. Iida's own tears surfaced and spilled down his cheeks as he stared at the photo of Izuku and Ochako laughing while floating in the air, Ochako spraying Izuku with water while he laughed and attempted to shield himself with his hands. Iida remembered that day because he had taken the photo for them.

Quickly rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, Iida stood from the end of the bed and sat beside Izuku, wrapping an arm around his shaking shoulders while he cried. Nobody spoke, they just listened as Izuku attempted to stifle his sobs, Iida holding him in his sturdy arms.

Suddenly, everyone in the room whipped around as the door to Izuku's door was blasted open, and everyone except Izuku frowned when Bakugo stepped into the room, his hand still smoking.

"Everyone clear out, I need to speak to Deku." He said, his arms crossed over his chest and his foot tapping impatiently on the floor of the bedroom.

Iida stood up sharply, his hand still resting comfortingly on Izuku's shoulder.

"Whatever you want to say can be said in front of us!" Iida snapped. Izuku had never heard him sound so angry before. "I don't trust you Bakugo, and we don't need you making the situation worse."

Bakugo's face scrunched into a snarl for a moment and then suddenly relaxed.

"Please, I need to speak to him alone."

Izuku looked up from the photo he had been miserably staring at and looked directly into Bakugo's face. He saw the determined flash in his eyes and made a decision.

"It's okay everyone, thanks for coming in but I want to hear what Kacchan has to say."

Iida's eyes searched Izuku's face before he closed them and nodded grimly.

"If he gives you any trouble just say the word, Midoriya." Iida said before stalking past Bakugo and out the door, Tsuyu and Tokoyami following him out.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Bakugo grabbed the chair that Tokoyami had been sitting in and dragged it to the side of the bed so that he was as close to Izuku as he was comfortable getting.

"I heard what happened." Bakugo said quietly after they had sat in an awkward silence together for a while. Izuku just closed his eyes and forced himself not to cry as the horrible memories replayed in his mind.

"I am only going to say this once, so listen carefully you damn nerd." Bakugo said, standing from his chair and pacing in front of the bed.

"You have a thing for Ochako, don't you?" Bakugo said, spinning to look Izuku straight in the eye. Izuku was flabbergasted and tried to search for the right words in a slight haze of panic.

"Kacchan! I… I… I…"

Bakugo held up a hand to silence him but did not break his gaze from Izuku's eyes.

"I said, you have a thing for Ochako don't you? Don't you?" Bakugo said with more assertion this time.

"Yes." Izuku gasped out, his shoulders slumping even more.

Bakugo nodded at him curtly and continued his pacing.

"Listen to me nerd, you are the cause of this issue, you tried to follow a course of action that did not have the best outcome. I know it was not for selfish reasons but that is what happened. As a result, Ochako was injured and kidnapped by a dangerous villain-"

"I already know what happened Kacchan!" Izuku snapped, cutting him off. "I don't understand your purpose in talking to me if you are just going to bury me further in shame."

Bakugo suddenly launched forward, placing both hands on Izuku's shoulders and pinning him to the back headboard of the bed.

"I am here because although you screwed up, you are the strongest person I know."

The compliment shocked Izuku so much that his mouth just hung, frozen open so that no words could come out.

"And despite the things I say about her, Round Cheeks is an amazing hero. She will raise through the ranks faster than a lot of out class will due to her kindness and loyalty but also her strive, determination and fighting spirit. We WILL get her back, and we Will destroy the villain that threatened my friends and your girlfriend.

Izuku blushed deeply at Bakugo's last remark but could not form the words to correct him.

"Kacchan-"

"Don't even try to correct me." Bakugo snapped, sitting up and releasing Izuku from the headboard.

"We will get her back if it is the last thing we do, Izuku."

Even through the haze of shock that swallowed Izuku at the fact that Bakugo had used his real name, he managed to nod, a look of fierce determination taking over his features. Bakugo thought he could even see a hint of love mixed in with that fury. Bakugo stood and walked over to the door, flinging it open so hard that it hit the wall and made a small dent.

"Let's go get her." Bakugo said.

"Right!" Izuku yelled, leaping up from his place on the bed. Izuku turned and placed the polaroid photo on his bedside table before following Bakugo out of his room.

"Go get dressed into your hero costume, we are going hunting." Bakugo said with a wicked smile, his hands popping as he created small sparks.

"Of course. I'll also go wake a few of the others, we will need their help." Izuku said, making his way to Iida's room while Bakugo walked over to Todoroki's, his hands still smoking.

Soon a small group of heroes in training were gathered in the main living space, their costumes on and their faces set as Izuku and Bakugo started to lead the charge. The group consisted of Todoroki, Iida, Tokoyami, Tsuyu, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Shoji, Bakugo and Izuku. The team made their way through the dorms and outside, walking quietly off of the path, veering instead through the forest to avoid detection. The night was chilly and deathly quiet but the group remained on high alert. Izuku led the group with Bakugo and Tsuyu at his side, trying to scrape a plan together as they walked. He would have liked to have been better prepared but he feared for Ochako's life, unsure if she would survive the night. He shook his head as he remembered Bakugo's words. She was strong, she would survive the night, and he would reach her no matter what.

With the normal sounds of the night the group might have missed it, but in the dead quiet of this night, they heard the soft shift of pine needles as someone approached them. The group froze as the sound grew louder. They were just about to scatter and hide when a slim figure dressed in black slipped through the trees behind them, and whispered so that they all jumped like frogs in surprise.

"Did you really think you could leave undetected?" Aizawa said, his voice a deadly whisper filled with suppressed venom.

The team whipped around their fists raised like scared dogs as they looked right at their angry teacher.

"What are you all thinking?" Aizawa snarled, his eyes glinting like red rubies, his hair raised above his head like hackles raised on a dog.

Bakugo stepped forward, meeting Aizawa's wrath with a furious snarl.

"It was my idea, but we are going to rescue our friend before she ends up looking like a string of ribbon."

"I said that the police are on the case!" Aizawa snapped.

"Fuck the police!" Bakugo snapped and everyone gasped. "They are too slow, the will resemble something like gum on the bottom of your boot if we do not do something now."

If Aizawa was shocked he did not reveal it, he just stared down Bakugo, his fury building like dragon fire. Finally, Aizawa spoke again.

"Do you even know where you are going?" Aizawa asked.

"We are going to the crime scene." Todoroki said. "We are going to go look for clues as to where the villain might have gone with Ochako."

Aizawa tilted his head.

"Not a bad place to start but you are not allowed at the crime scene. Going there can be identified as meddling with evidence, which is a punishable crime."

"Tsk." Bakugo closed his eyes and raised his head in frustration, his hair glowing a milky blonde in the moonlight.

"I guess you will need a pro to give you access through the police." Aizawa said. The students assembled looked up in surprise at what he was suggesting. Aizawa sighed and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose, his hair falling back into place and his eyes dimming in their fierceness.

"I understand how you feel and secretly, I agree." Aizawa said looking at them directly without blinking. The class was held in his gaze. "I should not condone this behavior, and I will not in the future, but I will help you."

The students released a breath and smiled at one another. Izuku looked directly at his teacher and saw him nod ever so slightly. Izuku nodded back and smiled a little so that Aizawa could see his gratitude. Aizawa didn't react, but Izuku could of sworn he saw the corners of his teacher's mouth twitch upwards.

"Let's go get Ochako back." Aizawa said, his eyes bright with unhidden sorrow and a fierce anger that swelled in his like a beast uncurling in his heart.

"Afterall, I can't let one of my flock be picked off by the wolves, otherwise more danger will come." Aizawa took a breath. "I must protect every single one of my children."

He said the last part so quietly that the students thought they had imagined it, but the shock written on the faces around them convinced them otherwise.

Izuku and Bakugo fell back behind Aizawa and they began to trudge through the forest.

Together.