Twin Bombers.
Chapter 2: Owing Everything.
I woke up to see a beautiful sunrise. I knew it was the first day of school, and I was excited to go. I pulled on my bands and my uniform, making sure it was all in order. I grabbed my New Special Book, unfilled and blank, just waiting for drawings to fill its pages. I stepped out of my room. I saw my mom trying to wrangle Katsuki into wearing a tie.
"LEMME GO, YOU OLD HAG! I DON'T NEED A TIE!" Katsuki yelled as Mom fully restrained him and put on his tie. Katsuki didn't exactly struggle. He only relented because he knew he could take it off later.
"Mornin' kiddo! Are you excited?" Mom asked, a smile on her face. I nodded meekly. Sitting down and eating my breakfast quickly. Soon, Katsuki and I were ready to go, we were posing for a quick photo. (Katsuki was reluctantly smiling while I was smiling widely.)
"Alright, Mom! We're gonna go! Have a good day! C'mon Katsu!" I cried.
"Remember you two, I love you both more than life itself and the world is a scary place!" Mom called as we left the house. Katsuki sighed and I mirrored him. After the Exam, we waited with bated breath for the results. We both passed, but I only passed by a razor-thin margin. Still, I felt so accomplished. Mom was still worried about me and Katsuki fitting in with the 'Hoity-Toity Brats' as she liked to call them.
"Don't worry, Renaru, if anybody wants to split hairs with ya, jus' give me a holler! I'll kick their asses!" Katsuki assured. I grinned, secretly wishing to see that girl again, her quirk seemed odd... and I wanted to apologize for knocking her over. I didn't like that. I felt bad about it. I sat next to my brother on the train. Izuku lived closer to the school.
Katsuki and I, being more inner-city kids, had never really been ones to converse on trains. Or anywhere in public. We weren't in a bad area of the city, it was just a faux pas to talk unless you had somewhere to be. We saw the other boroughs of Mustafu flash by, seeing so many different houses and neighborhoods. It always gave me a small thrill whenever I took the train.
I always loved the little things in life. My bands, my smile, the sun. The feeling of the breeze. All of it was my favorite thing in the world. It told me that there was so much in the world. So many things, so little time. To me, I just took things day by day. The train chugged to a stop and Katsuki grabbed my hand.
"C'mon, Major Napalm..." he chided. He pulled me along behind him and we walked to the school, I saw the huge H-shaped building and smiled. I made it. We made it! Awesome! I felt more than ready. I've been working hard for this, and now it's time to work even harder! We looked down at our cards. Mine read like this...
Bakugou Renaru (15)
DOB: 4/20
Quirk: Explosion w/QP.
Class 1-A.
I peeked over at my brother's card, seeing 1-A there, too. I was relieved. The Bakugou Brothers were a package deal. I guess they knew about Katsuki and I being close and decided to keep us together? Katsuki removed his tie and mouthed, 'Don't tell Mom' at me. I nodded, smirking and following him into the school. He grabbed my hand and led me to the class, seeing all manner of people milling around and talking with their friends.
Katsuki was protective. I could understand that. I entered the class, seeing Izuku, his green hair bobbing a little, he stiffened and froze, seeing my brother. Katsuki winked at him and gave him a wide smile. I hated when Katsuki would mess with Izuku, but he mostly terrorized him when I wasn't around. I sighed and plunked myself down at my seat.
I closed my eyes, thinking. Thinking about the little things that made me happy. Then, I opened my eyes, seeing the girl from a few weeks ago sitting at the desk in front of me. I heard quiet muttering. It didn't sound like Izuku... who was muttering?
'I mean, he's right behind me, that boy that saved me... why did he just run off like that?' Wait... was that... the girl? I cleared my throat and the girl jumped a little, a small book fumbling out of her hands. It landed on the floor.
"Uhm... sorry! I'll get it!" I snapped, stooping and picking it up. What I saw, only for a moment, was my name. Wait... was she? Theorizing about what my quirk was? Or what my quirk did?
"Look, if y' wanted to know about my quirk, why didn't ya just ask?" I wondered. The girl looked away. She was quite pretty, with her black hair up in a spiky ponytail and her dark eyes averted towards the window, a light dusting of red colored her face after I said that.
"I didn't want to be rude, considering... your condition," she said, and that struck a nerve. Regardless of if she was pretty or not. NO ONE. EVER. Brings it up. Not unless we're close friends.
"What about my condition?" I asked, my voice gaining my brother's roughness. She shuddered a little and I snapped out of it.
"Oh! Oh man, I'm sorry! Crap... I didn't mean to scare you..." I mumbled, growing sheepish.
"We got off on the wrong foot, my name is Bakugou Renaru, and considering that you already know that... what's your name?" I asked.
"Yaoyorozu Momo, I apologize for my rudeness..." she sighed, her lips curled into a small smile.
"No, I should apologize, I shouldn't have scared ya and knocked ya over with my quirk... normally I'd calculate the blast radius and make sure nobody's in the strike zone... Didja get hurt 'cause of me?" I asked and Momo shook her head, smiling a bit wider.
"No, I did not," she said.
I sighed in relief. That was a close call, maybe the shockwave threw her off her balance only a little bit.
"See, when it comes to my blasts, I'm an expert at predicting how big they'll be and how forceful they get! Take for instance my Blaster Shell: It's not too big, used for melee and stirrin' up some flak! Then there's my baby, my pride n' joy... but it needs somethin' else..." I explained.
"How do you know how big the blast will be?" another person, one with black hair and tape dispensers for elbows asked.
"Well, Tape-Guy, I use my arms and legs! How much they jolt'll tell me how forceful it'll be, and then the heat that comes out will tell me how big the blast will be! But sometimes, it fizzles..." I sighed, remembering one time when I needed a small blast to get into my locker at the middle school because I forgot the combination... and the downstairs bathroom became a warzone.
"Sometimes... it'll just trigger without warning... that's my condition. Because everyone will get up in arms about it later, I guess it's better to let my peeve slide for once..." I reasoned. I noticed that a short kid with purple balls for hair was holding something faded and blue, with orange accents.
"HEY! That's mine! Put it back!" I yelled, the kid held it up for the others to see and I slammed my head down on my desk, I knew I shouldn't have brought him...
Mom came home, carrying a pair of bags with her, that was the day I got him. My little Endeavor plush... I remember being so excited. Katsuki got an All Might one. He still had it somewhere.
"Look what I got! Hah!" Mom gasped, pulling him out.
"NO WAAAYYYYY! I LOVE HIM!" I yelled, tackling her and hugging the plush tightly alongside her.
"I love you, Mommy!" I yelled, smiling.
I never let him go ever since. I loved him so much that he became my good luck charm. He's been by my side for years now. Being saved by the genuine guy only made my desire to be a hero stronger. He didn't just symbolize that, he symbolized that Mom, regardless of all her faults, loved me and Katsuki more than anything. He was always the person I thought of whenever my brother and I's dad came up, so...
"Leave my brother alone, y'little shit! An' put back his Endeavor or I swear to god I'mma wipe ya off the face of the Earth!" Katsuki interjected, the little purple guy put him back on my desk and I grabbed it, cuddling it and closing my eyes. I heard a chorus of 'Aws' from the girls and some of the guys, too.
I was so embarrassed, not only did I have my good-luck charm tainted, but I also got defended by Katsuki, he continued.
"An' all y'all quit gawkin' at him! My brother may be not as cool as me, but he's a close second! So mind your damn business!" Katsuki continued. Momo giggled a bit at my brother's defensiveness but turned to me. The guy with the tape dispensers sighed.
"That guy is a firecracker..." he sighed.
"Imagine living with him, Tape Guy..." I huffed. Remembering all the times Katsuki blew something up was instantaneous. Even if I had my quirk since I was a baby, I remember blowing up the house more than once, mostly just a wall or two.
"My name is Sero, and there's never a dull moment, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, never a dull moment, the name's Renaru," I drawled. Sero grinned.
"Looks like we got ourselves a trio here! Me, Renaru, and Momo!" he said, and I nodded. Momo just went back to fiddling with her book, I still wasn't sure why she had a page based on me. I wasn't that interesting, was I? Well, people with Quirk Palsy number barely in the hundreds. It's a new science. Quirk Disabilities were expected, but the habit of them going insane wasn't.
By insane I mean stopping, starting, harming the user, fizzling, and even triggering on its own. Not only does it affect quirks, but the human body, too. Mutations are deformed, Emitters are skiddish and pitching everywhere, and Transformations are painful. Being the only one in the class with it made me feel like I was in the zoo and being gawked at by greasy kids throwing peanuts at me.
Or some broken toy that the person loves too much, lookin' at you, Katsuki...
Sero, Momo, and I all sat close to each other. He sat in his chair backward, more and more people were trickling in. I noticed Ashido and she gave me a little wave. I pipped my hand up in greeting.
"So, Whaddya guys like to do in your free time?" he asked.
"Well, I draw... not that I'm any good..." I mumbled, pulling out what pages remained of my old Special Book. Sero and Momo peeked over and looked rather... surprised?
"Dude, holy shit..." Sero breathed. Momo took one and looked at it closer. It was a picture of me and my brother.
"Is it... lines? All of the strokes are tiny little lines..." she muttered. Mina was curious and came over to see what was up.
"Ooo! This is your art? Wow... she's right!" she gasped. I turned crimson and hid my face. God, I hated attention. I hated it with a fiery passion. Katsuki kept an eye on me, not that I needed it, but I wanted it regardless. At least I had him by my side no matter what. Once we were all together, we heard something slam into the floor. It was a yellow sleeping bag.
It wiggled around and revealed a tired-looking man with a protein pack hanging out of his mouth. He sucked it down and looked at all of us. He wiggled his way up, his eyes seeming to glare into us with soul-revealing gazes. Everyone was silent, not knowing what he'd do. He unzipped the sleeping bag and shrugged it off.
"Now that social hour is done, let's get started," he said, motioning with his hand for all of us to file out.
"But sir!" a deep voice interjected, "What about orientation?" The voice belonged to a boy named Tenya Iida, the younger brother of a hero. He was tall, with a square head and rectangular glasses, his blue hair was well combed.
"What ABOUT orientation?" he answered. Katsuki nudged me. He was grinning, and I knew what he was going to say, probably something about what he did to Izuku, or maybe something about getting revenge on the grape boy.
"I like 'im already!" he hissed at me. He was referring to our teacher. Apparently, according to Izuku, he was the Underground Hero: Eraserhead. His gaze lingered on me for longer than the others, mostly at my bands. They weren't in combat mode, which Mr. Shield told me to activate only when the opportunity arose. Eraserhead waited for us to change into our P.E. Uniforms, which were blue, red, and white with a giant UA on the front.
I shrugged on the pants and left my shirt off, putting my bands into combat mode, they'd tighten and stay on even when I used my strongest blasts! When we exited the locker room, I saw him beckon me over. I walked over slowly, trying not to seem too skiddish. I had to admit, I was nervous. I left my shirt off because I didn't want to burn it off.
Every time I used my quirk, my clothes would burn. My pants were fine as long as I don't direct a blast through my legs.
"Y-yes, sir?" I asked.
"Take those off, this is the hero course. Villains won't wait until your special gear is on to fight you," he instructed, motioning to my bands. I shook my head no. I couldn't walk well without my leg bands, and my explosions would be unbridled. Which meant there might not even be a UA by the time this is all done...
"With all due respect, sir, I can't... my quirk is too... well, strong," I reasoned.
"So? You want to be a hero, right? This is Plus Ultra, we're not here to socialize and I'm certainly not going to lug around dead weight," he said, his black eyes hardening and his serious expression stonewalling any arguments. I seethed and pulled off my bands, compressing them into a small cube to wear on my waist to decompress whenever.
If he wanted Plus Ultra, well, he was gonna get it.
"Alright, now all of you have seen these before. These are to help me discern the cream of the crop and the ones going home... because the one with the lowest score will be expelled," Eraserhead said. Before us were some standard middle school field day events. Sidesteps, Pole Vault, Long Jump, the works.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT?!" everyone except me, Momo, and Katsuki yelled. I clenched my shaking hands into fists. My center of balance was fragile, but I strode as confidently as I could forward.
"Renaru, here," he said, tossing a softball towards me. I caught it clumsily, my veins started to glow red-orange, showing my sutures from my surgeries on my arms and legs, my arm jolted mightily, growing numb, this was gonna be a huge blast! When my arms and legs jolt and then grow numb, they signaled that this would be about the same as an exploded gas tanker, but then my arm started to HURT.
Shit. That was bad. That was a ballistic missile kind of pain. I turned to the others on the bleachers...
"Hold onto something, guys!" I snapped, winding back and feeling the heat rush out, spreading to the sky, the ground would end up a gouged-out crater when the ball would land. The radius was mostly into the sky, but the gust was going to be hot and fast, harsh, too.
"HAHHHHH!" I yelled, tossing it hard, seeing it scream into the sky, before I threw it, I felt the explosion tear out of my hand. It burned me pretty badly.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!* a bright corona of flame and force pealed out, sending the ball into the sky, slamming back down fast and hard enough to gouge out a crater. My hand was burnt, and it shook like a leaf in the wind. Yet another round of burn scars... joy. I looked at Eraserhead, who looked down at his calculator and a small smirk was on his face.
"That's what I'd like to see out of all of you," he said, showing me my number. I felt my heart soar. It was so high! I wonder what the others will get! I watched with excitement, seeing my friends Sero and Momo go and get pretty high scores assured me that everything was gonna be okay. I placed pretty high in the ball toss, and next up was the dash.
I took my position, my hand was still burnt, but I bandaged it, it was a first-degree burn. My heat resistance wasn't that great, the worst I'd get is a second-degree burn. My legs shook gently and with a small pop, I was off to the races, my other hand blasted me faster, and in a heavy cloud of dust I skidded to a stop. My shoes were shredded again. Now all I had was my bare feet and the remains of my socks.
At this rate, I'm gonna end up naked... in front of everyone... especially the cute girl that I kind of like... I felt smoke hiss out of my mouth, and I swore I could hear a squee in the bleachers. I turned and Mina was squeeing like a fangirl. I turned crimson, maybe I should've worn my shirt... well, sometimes my sparks and blasts redirect to my back and chest, sometimes they go through my mouth.
There are times when they go through my legs, too. So... fewer clothes = less worry. Boom! Sidesteps were easy, I just blasted through my sides. I smiled and gathered up with the others. Waiting for the bomb to drop.
"I was lying about expelling the lowest scorer. It was a logical ruse," Mr. Aizawa (I finally learned his name.) said, making everybody minus me and my brother, Momo too, yell 'what?!' again.
"I should've told you all..." Momo sighed, Mina, dashed up to me.
"You were SO cool! I mean, seriously!" she gasped. Sero nodded.
"Seems like you got at least one fan..." Momo commented, Mina vigorously nodded and I blushed, looking away.
"G-glad I could be... of service..." I started to sway and my stomach started to beg for food. I fell and someone caught me. It was Momo, who was closest to me. My blasts took food and took my stamina. I just... needed to... rest my eyes...
When I woke up, I was in the infirmary with the nurse from the exam, she looked rather concerned.
"Oh, you're up, young man! Do you normally pass out from your quirk?" she asked, smiling. I liked her, she was cool. Her code name was Recovery Girl. I nodded sadly, I'm pretty sure Momo carried me back.
"Did Momo carry me back?" I asked.
"Yes," Recovery Girl said. Great, now I feel like I owe her even more apologies and more stuff... maybe she was okay with it? I'll have to ask her. Soon, I was let out, decompressing my bands and sliding them back on, heading to the lunchroom. It was big enough to contain everybody. I saw Mina and Sero waiting for me.
"Hey! We saved ya a seat!" Mina called. I came over with my plate stacked high with spicy stuff, seeing Momo sitting nearby, she looked at me and I didn't meet her gaze. I didn't want to impose. I already owed her a lot.
"Renaru," she said, and I glanced at her.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"You were very light, may I ask why?" she wondered.
"Well... if I get over a certain weight, then I can't walk... and my quirk'll be even worse than it already is," I explained.
I bowed, "Please forgive me for being a burden," I sighed. Momo cocked her head to the side, "A burden? You passed out, it's the least I could do for the boy who saved me from that robot, we're even," she reasoned. I looked back up at her, seeing her grin. I turned crimson and just focused on scarfing down my food. God, why did she have to be so pretty?
I mean, come on, she's pretty! Not just because of her body type or general looks, but the fact that she looked at me with such... awe when I saved her? I... I wanted to feel like a hero again. She made me feel like a hero. So... I liked her. She seemed to know what she was doing, too. I like girls like that. I sighed, eating halfheartedly. I was still a little tired, and the afternoon whizzed by with no other events, Katsuki and I were taking the last train of the day and were about to board when I realized that something was shoved into my pocket.
I rummaged and found something there, it was... a napkin? The hell? Wait, it's just a normal one... but something was wrapped in it. Wait... is this a ring? Who slipped it in? Was it... That little... that little SHIT! He must've snuck into the locker room to plant the ring there. It was so shiny that I could see my face in it. It was easily worth more than me. Way more. If I were to pawn this... this could cover a ton of Mom's bills for MONTHS!
Something about that choice though didn't seem right, it looked like a man's ring, really important, had some sorta... inscription on it. I couldn't read it, it was something in Latin...
"Muh? Did what'cha get? Is that a gift from Ponytail?" Katsuki asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
"That little shit Mineta somehow planted it... what's his game?" I snarled.
Katsuki started to laugh, and I sighed heavily, "Man, barely even a day in and you're already given the runaround?" he taunted. I blushed and looked away.
"Keep laughin', ass..." I huffed, we got home and I pocketed the ring to consider for later. I saw an address on the napkin. It seemed to be over in some place called, 'The Swanks' by most of the guys in our borough. It was where the hoity-toity families rubbed elbows with the Prime Minister. I resolved to deliver it.
"Hey, Mom! We're home!" I called, with that, Mom came out of the living room, grinning and hugging us.
"How was your day, you two?" she asked, seeing that Katsuki wasn't wearing his tie. She sighed a little but didn't bring it up.
"Welp, Renny's got a hidden talent..." Katsuki segued and Mom's grin widened. Oh no, Katsu, Don't! Whatever you do, don't!
"Oooh! What is it? C'mon, spill!" she urged, grabbing me and noogieing me vigorously.
"I HAVE A CRUSH ON A GIRL!" I yelled, my cheeks giving tomatoes a run for their money. It was obvious that I had a crush on Yaoyorozu- I mean, Momo. God, I can't even describe things right I'm so flustered... Mom froze, letting me go and getting... angry? Proud? Angry-Proud? Proudly Angry?
"Oh my god! My little Renny-pie's a Casanova!" she yelled, hugging me again.
"So, who's the lucky girl? Is she pretty? Someone, I know? C'mon, tell me!" Mom continued, her pride making it hard to respond.
"Her name is Momo Yaoyorozu, Mom... she's... she's pretty..." I admitted, finally calming down enough to say something. Mom looked like she had stars in her eyes, turning to dollar signs when she realized who I was talking about.
"She's loaded! Renaru, turn on the charm the next time you see her!" Mom encouraged.
"What? No! No, we're not there yet! I just... I just... AHHHHH!" I yelled, letting two small pops of sparks out of my hands. I was getting overwhelmed. Mom and Katsuki backed off when I get overwhelmed it ends badly for everyone. I panic and my quirk goes haywire. I had to stay calm and quiet to avoid turning the places I go into craters.
What a shit show...
Where is it? I could've sworn I just kept it in my pocket! Ugh, Mother is going to tear into me... I should've worn it. Father gave it to me for safekeeping. I swore to protect it, but... now it was gone. One of my mother and I's only pieces of him left. I got home later than usual, mostly due to my minor freakout. I was wondering who could've absconded with it and if it was in safe hands.
Whoever got it better give it back... My mind was also on Renaru. How shy he was, always averting his eyes and looking off into the distance. His brother and he were night and day, Katsuki was rough and loud, even insulting anyone who looked at Renaru and him funny. When he passed out, I never expected Renaru to be so light. For as much as he ate at lunch, I'd thought he'd be heavier.
Mother waited for me at the door, "There's my little girl! How was your day?" she asked. Mother was always hyper-involved in my life affairs. Father was too, but to a lesser extent before he passed. I took after my mother in regards to face shape, eye color, and proportions. My hair color and thickness, including the bang, came from my father.
"It was fine, Mother," I answered, my poker face unbeatable. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I lost father's ring, and I hope that whoever finds it gives it back.
"So, meet any new friends?" she asked.
"Well, there's one... he's interesting," I said.
"Ooo, interesting? That's a new one..." Mother sighed, guiding me to the living room, ever since Father died, we downsized to a much smaller house. We sat across from each other.
"Well... he does have Quirk Palsy," I reasoned.
"Ah, I see," Mother said stiffly.
"He's very shy, very fidgety and quiet sometimes," I described. Mother listened with rapt attention, almost too interested. I started to get embarrassed.
"He passed out and I carried him back to the infirmary..." I sighed and Mother looked like she was going to have a heart attack. I continued once she stopped having her little fantasy of me marrying Renaru. Not that it would be a bad move, but it was a little too early to tell if he was good or not.
"Wait... he's that boy that saved you during the exam, right?" Mother asked. I nodded and she nodded in turn. I just hope I get father's ring back.
"Seems like you two were drawn together by something..." Mother intoned cryptically.
"Mother!" I snapped.
"What? I'm just teasing!" she chided. Her teasing happened a lot. I just think that it was rather childish, she's the CEO of Yaoyorozu Electronics, there'd be no time for such base things. Father and I were the blunt ones, but... my mind kept on drifting back to Renaru's blushing face and quiet demeanor. How peaceful he looked in my arms, slightly singed from his own blasts.
Why was he so fragile and shy when he could destroy a city block with his quirk in just one blast? Why wouldn't he make eye contact with me sometimes? Why does he think that he's a burden and why does he keep apologizing? It made me want to poke and prod his brain for a little bit. He was more than just some cute face. There was something- Wait, did I just describe him as cute? A-anyway, there was something deeper. Something darker just lurking below the surface of his smile.
Renaru was quite the mystery... and I love mysterious people.