'Think Katsuki,' he told himself, clenching his fists hard. 'Think damn it.'

He knew he couldn't take them all on his own. With quirks unknown and with their numbers they definitely had the advantage over him and Bakugou knew he couldn't afford to lose here, so what to do? It's not like he could let these fuckers just walk out of the hospital with their fucking prize either.

'Think Katsuki. Think.'

Body shaking from head to toe with a nervous mixture of pain and adrenaline, he tried his damnest to clear his mind and see the best path to a successful mission. He didn't need to get out of this with his body intact, he just needed to get out of it alive. Every other worry could wait till he saved the uniform freak.

'Ok,' he told himself, eyes still focused on the band of villains lurking in the hallway. 'Send a quick text to Aizawa-sensei first. Wait till the last moment to give the heroes as much time to get here as possible and then attack and hold them back till backup arrives.'

The plan sounded decent enough, and if Bakugou was careful, maybe he could even pull it off, but fuck it felt like he was jumping into a non-survivable situation. Lips twitching at the corners, he found himself grinning widely.'Then why the fuck did he feel giddy about it?'

'Fuck, I'm insane,' he though, almost snorting in amusement as he reached into his left pocket to fish out his phone. Aizawa-sensei was going to lose his shit.

Still, Bakugou knew his punishment would be a small price to pay for saving Jeanist's life and his own to be fair. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone, but Bakugou wasn't as stupid as to think he could win this on his own. Maybe if he knew about their quirks, maybe if he wasn't already injured, but he didn't have that luxury, and honestly, he didn't care. Real heroes didn't back down. He hadn't before, and he wouldn't today.

Taking his eyes away from the villains for a split second, he quickly turned on the phone before focusing back on them.

He stilled.

Fuck.

Eyes jumping frantically amongst the villains, he drew in a short breath. Heart thumping harshly against his chest.

Bakugou could only count five of them now. Which meant-

"Shit," he hissed, unimaginable pain bursting through his side as he twisted to the left just a second too late to avoid the glinting metal and almost throwing up from putting too much weight on his injured leg. Biting it all back, he forced his eyes and met those of his attacker. There was no time to linger on old injuries, not when real villains had just discovered his location and taken him by surprise.

"Fuck," Bakugou muttered, a shaking hand coming up to rest gingerly on his side atop of what was most likely at least a couple of cracked ribs.

Coughing lightly, he winced internally, eyes refusing to move away from the large boulder of a man hulking by the wall he'd been hiding behind just a moment ago.

Well shit, now there was really no backing out.

"Well well well," the high-pitched voice belonging to his assailant tutted as the man licked his lips, eyes tracing Bakugou's body up and down. "Who do we have here?" In his thick hand he was holding what looked to be a giant silver hammer, which he threw to his other hand and back and forth he kept it up, not minding the imbalance or the weight. He almost made it look graceful. The sickening smile was still directed at Bakugou, making the teenager tense. This was bad. Really really bad.

Lifting himself slowly to his full height, the blonde snarled at the taller man. He wasn't going to lose.

Katsuki saw the action coming just a second before it did-

Jumping back quickly, he stumbled into the wall. Jarring his injured side badly. Vision blurring, he bit his tongue and held back a pained whimper. Not here. Never here, but thankfully, although his injuries had flared up like a bitch, he'd avoided the hit of the hammer.

A hammer that came crashing down on his spot, cracking the marble floor and breaking it into tiny little pieces as if it was made of glass.

"You're quick pretty one," the man sing-songed.

When he attacked again, Bakugou was ready. His ribs were protesting vehemently at this point against any slight inch of movement. Fighting him tooth and nail for the right to just stand still for a second.

"Well too fucking bad," Bakugou growled, shifting to the balls of his feet, putting the hand not supporting his side on the floor and using it to flip himself over into a quick summersault that simultaneously let him get away from his enemy, while also letting him land a swift and hard kick under the man's chin. He almost threw up at the blinding pain that greeted him on his landing but bit it back with sheer determination

Burly howled in pain, stepping back and gripping his face in pain. Dropping the hammer out of sheer reaction to the pain. Bakugou grinned savagely. Flipping over again and putting even more distance between them. He knew the others had noticed him by now and were either waiting for burly to get rid of him or taking their time to come to his aid. Either way, Bakugou needed to finish this one off fast before the situation got even more complicated.

'Hold on Katsuki,' he told himself. 'Hold on just a little bit longer. You can do this. You know you can. Just hold on. Don't be a fucking coward.'

…Fight...

...Fight...

…Fight Katsuki...

Be a fucking hero

"Oi," he called out. Barely keeping his voice from wavering. "The fuck you uglies want with the uniform freak anyways?"

Burly had recovered some of his bearings by then, for he only smiled his creepy smile again, and leaned down to pick up the hammer he had dropped.

Served him right. The bitch.

"You shouldn't be here beautiful," the man said. A bloody smile matching the mania in his eyes. Wagging his finger at Bakugou, he put the hammer against his hip and cocked his head to the side. Silver hair falling into waving curls around his shoulder. "Nicolas doesn't belong to the hero society. We're here to bring him home."

Katsuki scowled. "Fuck you."

The bleached villain bit his lip and fluttered his eyes at those words, making Bakugou swallow down the bile rising up his throat. "You're sick."

The man just burst into guffawing laughter at that. "No, just interested."

Bakugou hissed at him in answer. Arm still protectively curling around his waist. He wasn't about to underestimate this man, but God he wanted to bash his face in and feel his bones crush under his fist like glass.

Still-

Burley had managed to get behind him and strike him down without Bakugou even sensing him move. He was most definitely dangerous, and he needed to be fucking careful around this lunatic.

…Breathe Bakugou...

Think.

How was Nicolas Best Jeanist?

Was it even important?

Don't think about that.

What did he mean Jeanist didn't belong to the hero society?

What the fuck did these people know about him?

You have bigger things to worry about.

Why were they here?

Did Jeanist know them?

Focus.

You need to focus.

...Fight...

You can do this.

...Breathe...

"Hey, that's the brat who wouldn't let me put Nicky under!"

Eyes snapping into a steeling determination, Bakugou shifted his feet slightly without turning his back to Burly. Eyeing psycho-mouse from where he was standing, he contemplated her childish pout while desperately scanning burly for any sign of weakness as he had temporarily turned his gaze towards the woman.

"He came to visit him early today," she continued, pointing an accusing finger at Bakugou. She was frowning from the opposite end of the corridor flanked by her companions, and fuck-

They'd already started loading uniform freak into the elevator while he was distracted by the creep.

Fuck no!

"Give him back," Bakugou barked, heckles rising and muscles tensing even further. This wasn't about being outnumbered anymore. Bakugou wasn't just gonna stand back and watch them swipe his hero under his nose. Over his dead fucking carcass.

Psycho-mouse scowled. "He's not yours to begin with brat." Then her eyes flickered to the briefest of moments to her right.

To Bakugou's left.

It wasn't much, but for a guy with his reflexes it was a blessing.

Without a second to think it through, Bakugou swung back hard, before bringing his arm forward with all the strength of a fucking bull and let his explosions fly freely to cover his left side.

Right in the fucking face of burly who had been trying to do the subtle sneak attack on him again. Not this time.

"Nice try fucker," he snarled, pulling back on reflex as psycho-mouse suddenly flung herself at him. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he glared with everything he had. Removing his other hand from his side and letting them both dance with explosions. A savage grin finding its way home on his lips.

'Ignore the pain,' he told himself. 'Ignore the fear. Ignore the loneliness. Ignore the hopelessness. Ignore the explosions jolting your injuries. Ignore everything. It's just you now. Jeanist needs you, so fight Katsuki. Fight.'

Planting his feet, he laughed. Mocking bleach head as best as he could. And from the way the other man's sick smile turned into an ugly frown he managed it pretty well.

He grinned.

"Try harder and I might actually start breaking a sweat!"

Jumping two steps back to put even more of a distance between them, he let his eyes slide over his opponents. The nurse didn't look that strong, and so far, hadn't posed much threat. And burly-

His face looked like shit. Bakugou smirked at him. That was gonna scar for sure. From the way the silver haired man contorted his mouth and eyes, he must have known it too. And damn, it probably had hurt like a bitch too.

That's what he got for being a fucking creep.

Still-

Bakugou's situation hasn't changed much. It was still dire as fuck. He couldn't feel his phone in the back of his pocket anymore. Most have lost it during the fight, which meant calling for backup was out of the question for now.

Two villains were also standing between him and the hero currently being wheeled over to the elevator by the red-haired leader followed by lanky black lady, short-fat who looked nervous and some shadowy figure that reminded Bakugou of the gate dude.

His skin crawled.

He needed to get to them at all cost. Anything less wasn't acceptable.

The lanky black lady had broken away from the others and made her way over to the ongoing fight, however.

Shit.

That raised the enemy numbers Bakugou had to face from two to three. Her whole body was crackling with electrical sparks similar to the one of dunce face.

Bakugou scowled. 'Knock off-Pikachu.'

Focusing back on the obstacles standing in front of him, Bakugou choked back all the pain, fear, and suffering and narrowed his eyes.

"I don't have time for you lot," he said. Voice even and face carved out of pure hatred and frustration. "So get the fuck out of my way."

"You scared pipsqueak?" second rate dunce face purred.

Bakugou crouched down and spread his arms wide.

... Aizawa-sensei was never gonna let him leave the dorms ever again...

Letting his palms crackle with familiar matching explosions. He took the perfect attacking position.

...He hoped Aizawa-sensei would get the chance to do that...

...He hoped he could see him again...

Smiling widely at both villains he tilted his head to one side. A clear invitation to get the fuck on with it. He was going to rain hell down on them and attract the attention of all the other heroes with their screams alone.

"Come at me fuckers."

He hoped he saw shitty-hair again too.

"I'll take you all on!"