Bakugou found himself back on that cliff, where he'd found Madison. He didn't really like visiting, but Madison was still recovering back in their cave, and he needed a place to think. He'd only managed to avoid this most recent disaster by a hair's breadth, and it'd shaken him. It had almost ruined everything. He'd never show it, not in front of Madison or Sophia, but here, alone on this cliff, he didn't hold anything back.

It hadn't been all bad, he reflected. Madison was closer than ever to being his 'true friend', and that exhibit Sophia had made of herself the morning after was, well, telling. But, still… Fuck, he felt sick just thinking about it. He'd almost lost her. He'd almost let her die. All Might had never let anyone die. He would have saved her without breaking a sweat and without a second thought. God, even that shitstain Deku hadn't hesitated back when…

Back when…

Bakugou covered his mouth. He didn't like thinking about that day, but he made himself anyway. He forced himself to re-live the sensation, that cloying mud that stuck to his throat, the stench of it as it clung to his face. His own quirk, worse than useless, turned against him. Trapped, with no way out. In his mind's eye he saw it play in slow motion. Deku running, throwing his shitty bag full of his shitty notebooks.

All Might coming out of nowhere, raising his fist, his eyes gleaming the kind of blue you'd see on the blade of a sword, those words that struck as hard as his fist, Detroit-

Splash, and Bakugou was thrown to his back. A second wave struck soon after the first, and a third right after. It was on the third that Bakugou felt a weight land on his chest. The water drained away off the soft, slippery edges of the cliff, leaving Bakugou with whatever it was that the ocean had spit up.

It was kinda squishy. It was kinda soggy. It was kinda crying all over Bakugou, not that he could tell tears from ocean water. It was a little fish boy, maybe ten years old, looking at Bakugou like he was going to eat him.

Bakugou had no plans to eat the fish boy. He was more concerned with the fish boy's teeth that curled out of his mouth like coral. He clenched his hands, which was less than comfortable for the fish boy held therein. A fresh wave of tears followed, and Bakugou was suddenly at a loss.

How does one comfort a crying fish?

ooOOoo

Sophia was alone, more or less. She was at the cave, keeping an eye on Madison. She'd been asleep since the attack a few days ago. She was still breathing, and whenever Sophia poured water into her mouth she would swallow reflexively, but she hadn't made a sound or rolled around or anything. Sometimes Sophia would just stare, letting her eyes become unfocused, and Madison almost looked like she were dead, like she hadn't survived that attack.

And it made Sophia feel very, very alone, as she sat by herself and fed Madison some water every few hours.

Sophia hated how quiet it'd become. None of them had ever really been the chatty sorts, but there'd always been some kind of background noise. Bakugou's grumbling, or the stew pot bubbling, or Madison humming some inane tune. Now there was nothing, and it felt like even the island held its breath.

Maybe it was because she was alone in this way that she felt she could speak freely.

"It wasn't my fault." The words sounded hollow even to her.

"Being a predator doesn't mean being stupid." She lied. "Am I supposed to throw myself at certain death? Am I supposed to save every asshole who's retarded enough to attract monsters?" She crawled to where Madison lay, unmoving and silent. Sophia leaned over her, Madison's breath tickling her face.

"Did you think I would save you? Were you that carefree? Why? Why did you run off like that? Why didn't you just leave me alone? Why didn't you hide yourself better? Why are you so damn weak?" Madison didn't answer her. Sophia would have been surprised if she had, but that didn't stop her from wishing Madison would just wake up and make some dinner and Bakugou would stop sulking and being angry at her and she'd stop feeling so strange like she had a hole in her stomach and everything would just go back to the way it was.

But Madison didn't open her eyes, and the longer she stayed this way the stranger it made Sophia feel. Why was her head swirling around? Why did she feel like she was going to throw up? Why did her legs feel so weak?

She couldn't even begin to understand.

"The fuck?" Growled a voice from the entrance. Sophia jumped away from Madison and whipped around. She took one look, then blinked. She took another then furrowed her brow. She took one final look before replying,

"The fuck yourself? What's with the fish?"

Sophia was of course referring to the sniffling fish boy clutching Bakugou. He took one look at Sophia's scowling face before burying his face in Bakugou's shoulders, a fresh wave of tears falling. Bakugou scowled at Sophia. It'd taken the entire trip back for the fish boy to calm down, and then Sophia went and set him off again.

Bakugou peeled the boy from his back and set him down away from Sophia.

"Now listen kid, Sophia's a huge asshole and an even bigger bitch, but crying just cause she makes her bitch face at you makes you an even bigger bitch. Sorta. In a different sense. Get it kid? Quit being a shit wipe."

The boy didn't understand what Bakugou was saying, not because he couldn't understand English. He could. The way Bakugou talked was just mystifying to an innocent ten year old. But Bakugou had said it in a low and comforting enough tone that it reminded the boy of his own father, the memory of which was enough to calm him.

He quit his sniffling and Bakugou gave him a crooked smile before turning him around to Sophia. "I found him by the cliffs. Said he was looking for his parents."

Sophia gave him an appraising look. She took note of his hair like clipped seaweed, of silvery scales that glinted in the sunlight. She suppressed a chill and gave Bakugou a sharp look. He only gave her that crooked smile.

"I told him to fuck off, but he just started crying. Figured the racket should finally wake Madison up. Ain't no way she'd pass up the perfect chance to play house."

Sophia glanced at Madison's still form, unchanged since Bakugou and his tag-along had returned. Not likely, but since she didn't want him asking uncomfortable questions, she didn't contradict him. Ah, wait, shit, he was looking at Madison then back to Sophia. Shit. Shit, shit don't do it motherfucker, don't open your shitty damn mouth-

Bakugou looked down at the kid, who was tugging at him shirt. He said something Sophia couldn't hear, not whispering, just being damn quiet. Bakugou frowned, glancing at Madison again while blessedly glossing over Sophia. "I dunno kid, maybe I'd be more motivated if you weren't acting like such a fucking pussy though. Use your big boy voice next time."

Despite his rebuke, and despite the boy shrinking at it, Bakugou led him away, the boy scuttling after him. Bakugou stopped at the entrance, turning to toss Sophia one last quip.

"Kind of a bitch move, confessing when she ain't awake enough to reject you." Sophia gave him a blistering glare and a couple middle fingers, but said nothing as he walked away.

Bakugou chuckled as he left, but his heart wasn't in it. He glanced back at the kid, who shrunk from the look. The kid was a wimp, through and through. Jumped at every sound and burst into tears at the first sight of trouble. Kinda reminded Bakugou of Deku, only the kid was less of a shit wipe. Only a little bit though.

Bakugou felt his stomach roil. As soon as the kid had spelled out that he'd been looking for his parents Bakugou knew exactly who he was talking about. It'd be strange if Bakugou didn't, since he'd laid the both of them to rest. He'd wanted the kid to piss off, go somewhere else, anywhere else.

Bakugou didn't know if he had it in him to explain to the kid that his parents were gone.

But the kid only clung to him all the more. It pissed Bakugou off, but anytime he was about to punt the kid's sorry ass into the stratosphere, his stomach would drop and he'd forget the idea for at least a few more minutes. He had no intention on completing the set.

The two walked along the beach, Bakugou lost in thought while the kid kept a sharp eye out for anything edible. Bakugou knew that, the kid had told him he was hungry. Bakugou just hadn't quite registered the differences between the kid and your average Japanese ten year old. The first and most obvious difference being that when the kid spotted a starfish floundering in a shallow pool, he pulled it out and took a bite.

Bakugou heard the crunch and slurp and turned his head, watching in horrified fascination as this innocent child immolated the innocent invertebrate. It was cruel, it was disgusting, it was inhumane, it made Bakugou consider raising the kid as his own.

At a look from Bakugou, the kid offered the last arm of the starfish, albeit grudgingly. Bakugou hadn't been eating good food since the attack, so after seeing the kid gobble his discovery down with such gusto he was just desperate enough to try some.

Bakugou almost immediately spit it out, much to the kid's dismay.

Bakugou gave the raw lump a thoughtful look, disregarding the kid that was mourning the loss of a perfectly good snack. Maybe it he'd had some soy sauce…

In any case Bakugou turned away, making to follow the beach further east.

"Come on!" He called to the boy. He didn't turn to see if the boy was following, which was why he'd walked some distance before he noticed he was alone. At this he glanced over his shoulder to find the boy still sulking over the bit of starfish. Bakugou grimaced, his face contorted in the sort of look that wonders if the soggy kitten it had rescued from a box by the street was in fact retarded.

"Hey brat, I said come on." He snapped, loud enough that there wasn't any doubt that the kid had heard him. The boy shot him a glare through tear filled eyes. Bakugou groaned. He'd had just about enough of the water works, and was about to explain that to the kid with extreme prejudice, but the kid beat him to the punch.

The kid yelled. He screamed. He gesticulated vigorously, first at the desecrated snack, then at Bakugou, then at the sea that was starting to foam and roil. He finished his tantrum by pointing at Bakugou and yelling, in a more or less aggressive manner,

"You're a fucker!" Which, while accurate, stung Bakugou for a reason he couldn't identify. The boy spun on his heel and ran along the beach to the west. He didn't make it more than a few steps when a wave crashed into him, knocking him to the sand. It drug him out into the open water, tumbling head over heels. With a final middle finger the boy sank into the murky depths of the sea.

Bakugou just stood there, stunned, as the ocean once more calmed and became like glass. He clenched his fists tightly, a curl of smoke rising from each.

"Why does everything I touch turn to shit?"

ooOOoo

Sophia didn't see him again for several hours. When he did return he was dragging some kind of bird behind him. Sophia couldn't help but notice that not only were his hands burnt at the edges, the carcass appeared to be missing its head, too. Bakugou threw the catch at her.

"The fuck am I supposed to do with this?" Sophia asked as he trudged past.

"Cook it. Eat it. Or don't, I don't care."

"What happened to the fishstick?"

Bakugou lurched at the question, and Sophia swore she felt the cave get hotter. He turned just far enough to level a blistering glare at her.

"You didn't give a fuck when he showed up, don't go fucking pretending now that he's gone." With that he turned away and stalked to a more-or-less, (well, less.) isolated crevice in the corner of the cave.

Sophia stared at his back, thinking hard. Should she give him shit? Cause, he's pretty much begging for some shit. He looked like he was in a pretty bad mood though. Violent even, maybe. Buuut, wouldn't that be interesting? Fighting Bakugou when he's finally serious? On the other hand, she couldn't use her crossbows, not when she had to save them for hunting. Could she really beat him in unarmed combat? She really wanted to find out.

She rose, arms raised and ready to strike, when she heard something strange. Maybe an errant breeze, perhaps some animal out in the jungle, possibly even some rocks scraping and tumbling down the cliff face. Whatever it was, it sounded suspiciously like a sob.

Sophia relaxed her stance and grabbed the bird-thing by its tallowy legs, walking off, looking for the pit they used for compost. Sophia figured she could save their fight for a better day.