Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Bakugo Expelled
Chapter twelve: Checking the war report
When Katsuki Bakugo woke up at about a quarter before seven in the morning, he saw that he was sitting in a plush leather armchair in the living room of the house where he lived with his father Masaru. There was a blanket covering him, an old but well-kept number that Bakugo recalled seeing in the linen closet once or twice. Standing up as he removed the blanket, Bakugo saw that he was still wearing his hero costume, minus his grenade gauntlets which he saw sitting on the floor together near the chair he work up in.
"Ah, Katsuki," Masaru called from the dining room area, "You're awake." The ashy-haired boy turned to face the appropriate direction, saw his father standing in the doorway that led to the dining room. The brown-haired man jerked his head a bit to gesture for his son to come oner. "I got breakfast made, son. Come on and come get something to eat." Bakugo was feeling a bit hungry, so he figured that he might as well get what his father had made for breakfast, the smell of which coming from the dining room had to be pancakes.
…
The men of the Bakugo family sat at the table, eating what Masaru had made for breakfast. Masaru saw the troubled look on his teenaged son's face as they ate, and it made him worry. He knew that his son had participated in the fighting yesterday where monsters-actual legit monsters like ghosts and goblins from childhood fairy tales-had attacked the city. The good monsters that worked to stop the ones that were laying siege to the city were helped by the pro heroes, as well as some special forces from outside both of their respective circles.
Masaru was visited by the pro hero and U.A. teacher Eraserhead after all of the fighting all over the city had finally come to an end. Bakugo's former homeroom teacher over at U.A. had told the brown-haired man that he gave Bakugo and two other Vulcan High students the okay to use their quirks to help with the fighting, so Masaru knew that his son had a pro-hero's backing in case anyone were to try to raise a stink about it.
…Masaru also knew that a good number of heroes had been killed during the city-wide fighting yesterday. He saw a few names mentioned on TV yesterday evening after Bakugo had passed out in the armchair, and earlier that morning before Bakugo woke up. The HPSC announced that they would be holding a mass memorial service to honor all pro heroes who were killed during the city-wide fighting to quell the monster siege and save all innocent persons; no doubt that it will end up as a televised affair, given that it involved a memorial service for many pro heroes, some of which were actually in the latest top ten from the Hero Billboard Chart JP.
Masaru, as he looked at his abnormally quiet son (Bakugo was seldom ever this quiet unless he was sleeping or had otherwise clocked out), looked a bit hesitant to speak up. But he hoped that some small talk would help him figure out how to better help his sone cope with all of what he had seen and done yesterday in order to do his heroic duty. "…Katsuki," Masaru began, "I can tell that you have a lot on your mind, so if there's any-"
"Two pro heroes who taught at U.A. were killed yesterday." Masaru was cut off by Bakugo's interruption, a quiet one that resonated with subdued somberness. Bakugo wasn't even looking up at his father as he spoke; the explosive teen was simply looking down at his pancakes. He let out a resigned sigh as he gently poked at his breakfast. "…My friends at Vulcan and I saw the bodies of both U.A. teachers who were killed yesterday."
Masaru relented a bit, keeping quiet as he thought about just what he could say. Yeah, he saw a bit on TV where a news reporter who stood outside of the front entry gate to U.A. was doing a live report that covered how two of the heroes that taught art Japan's top hero academy had been killed in the fighting. The same news report also mentioned that one U.A. student had also been killed during the monsters' siege on the city, and that another U.A. student, although she had survived, was horribly wounded but was expected to live according to the doctors working on her at the local hospital's ICU.
There were also some pro heroes noted in all of the breaking news reports who had survived the siege on the city but were injured; Selkie had lost his left eye when he was attacked by a monster and would now have a vertical scar crossing over his now forever closed left eye, and the pro hero Death Arms had been taken to the hospital for treatment since the left side of his collarbone was fractured/broken, but he was expected to recover soon enough.
The news report also said that both Selkie and Death Arms, due to surviving their efforts during the monsters' siege on the city but being injured/wounded in the process, had both seen a boost to their respective popularity among the populace of Japan, given that they had been hurt in service to save all who couldn't stand up themselves. It did not surprise Masaru all that much to see that Selkie and Death Arms were being exalted by a lot of the citizenry of Japan. Likewise, the other pro heroes who fought against the hordes of Hirajo and lived to tell the tale were also being celebrated all over.
…But it wasn't just the pro heroes who lived that were being celebrated. It wasn't all fun and games. Japan had also lost a good number of its champions of society, and as those who lived were being celebrated, those who had fallen were being mourned.
…
Danjuro Tobita, also known as the villain Gentle Criminal, was in a library for prisoners of the prison that he was sent to. Given that the Commission thought that he was nowhere near dangerous enough for a sentence in Tartarus, Danjuro was instead fitted with a pair of quirk-suppressing cuffs and sentenced to serve his time in a regular prison. The gentlemanly villain was in the process of checking out a historical fiction murder mystery book when a breaking news report on the TV in the prison library caught his attention.
"The HPSC is still trying to get a tally on all of the pro heroes who were killed yesterday, but right now the general public of Japan knows of twenty-four who were killed," the news reporter on TV said as Danjuro turned to face the TV. To his shock, the gentlemanly villain recognized one of the pro heroes being shown on TV who was confirmed to have been killed as Takeshita, his old classmate from way back in the day.
Danjuro, who saw confirmation that his old classmate had been killed, did not quite know what to think of it. Sure, Takeshita had completely forgotten who Danjuro was, and that did give him a bit of a chip on his shoulder. But being killed in the siege on the city yesterday…Danjuro gave a gentle shake of his head, one of resigned somberness. What had happened to Takeshita was not a fate that Danjuro would ever wish on anyone, hero or otherwise. He got the librarian's attention after coming back to reality, then he checked out the book he was trying to get.
The gentlemanly villain would then go on to worry that La Brava, his partner in crime back before his arrest, might have gotten killed during the siege on the city yesterday, but those fears were put to rest when La Brava, completely unharmed, ended up visiting him in prison later that day, bringing immeasurable relief to his heart.
Later after he had finished breakfast with his dad, Bakugo left the house, dressed in a casual outfit, because he got a text from his girlfriend Pony, asking him to meet her and a few of the other girls in U.A.'s class 1-B at the café that Bakugo and Izuku had previously taken Pony and Uraraka to. When the explosive teen got there, he saw that Pony was with her classmates Itsuka, Setsuna and Kinoko. All four 1-B girls looked upset.
The explosive teen gave them all a sympathetic look. "…I guess you all found out about what happened to your homeroom teacher, huh?" Pony gave a somber affirmative nod as Bakugo let out a resigned sigh. "Yeah, two of my classmates at Vulcan and I came across him while we were helping with the fighting yesterday after we went after him and Selkie to try and help them. We…we were too late to save him." He gave the four 1-B girls a somber, apologetic look. "I am so sorry about your loss."
"Stuff like this just…just happens during massive attacks like what happened yesterday, you know," Itsuka remarked in a somber 'can't help it' kind of tone, "At least Sekijiro-sensei went out like a real hero." Looking Bakugo right in the eyes, the class 1-B rep went on, "The girls and I also heard that Higari-sensei from the Support course was also killed." Itsuka gave a gentle shake of her head. "Mei Hatsume is going to be totally devastated when she hears about that."
Bakugo, who still had a few people at U.A. who he was close with, was hesitant to ask his next question, but he simply had to know. "…Do you girls know of anyone else from U.A. who was killed during the siege on the city yesterday?"
Setsuna gave an affirmative nod, getting Bakugo to turn to face her. "…Yeah. That one girl in class 3-G, Bibimi Kenranzaki, was killed during the siege yesterday. The girls and I heard that a girl in class 2-A by the name of Mawata Futa survived, but she had suffered a rather devastating injury to her right leg, with said injury going from the bottom half of her right thigh and all the way down to her right foot. Last I heard, there's a chance that the injured part of Mawata's right leg might have to be amputated in order to prevent a possibly fatal infection."
The ashy-haired teen was unsettled to hear that students from his former school had been injured and/or killed, with an especially amount of feeling unsettled being attributed to what Setsuna told him about that 2-A girl. Bakugo made a further inquiry about anyone from U.A. who might have been hurt or killed in the siege yesterday, but the girls had confirmed that all they knew about U.A.'s losses were the two slain teachers, the one slain third year girl, and the wounded but still alive second year girl.
Giving Bakugo a sympathetic look, Itsuka told him, "If we get any updates, we'll let you know. I already got it that Principal Nezu plans to hold a memorial assembly at U.A. to honor all of the teachers, students and other staff members who had lost their lives in the siege." Wincing a bit, the class 1-B rep added, "Sorry that you most likely will not be allowed to attend, given that you were expelled from U.A. and that you're now a Vulcan student."
Bakugo waved the apology off, saying that his not being allowed to attend the service is a non-factor. After Bakugo waved the apology off, Kinoko gave off a shocked gasp, prompting the others that were with her to all turn to look at her, seeing that she was looking at her smartphone with a shocked look on her face. "The Commission just released an official statement saying that the final death toll had just been confirmed. This news article I'm looking at also has a full list of the pro heroes who were killed, with sidekicks being placed in a separate list below the pros."
The ashy-haired boy and the other girls in 1-B all crowded around the mushroom expert to look at the news article that she had pulled up on her smartphone. The list had a lot of names of pro heroes, the number of names on the list in and of itself being a major shocker to Bakugo and the girls. What really rattled the lot of them about the list was that three pro heroes from the most recent top ten had been listed among those killed during the fighting; the numbers six, seven and eight heroes Crust, Kamui Woods and Wash had all been killed during the siege. Bakugo saw the U.A. teachers Power Loader and Vlad King also listed, and following them were a few other pros such as Takeshita, Shishido, Air Jet, Backdraft and Slugger.
The list of pro hero sidekicks who were killed, although also tragic, was thankfully brief as it only listed three names, those being Sirius, Enigma and Burnin. At the end of the list of heroes who were killed, the article said that the PHSC will hold a memorial service dedicated to honor those pro heroes who were killed. The article also mentioned that U.A. was indeed going to be holding a separate but similar service on their school grounds to honor Vlad King and Power Loader, along with others affiliated with U.A. who had lost their lives.
After the heroes-in-training had finished reading the article, Kinoko put her smartphone away. "I still can't believe that Sekijiro-sensei is really gone." The mushroom girl teared up a little bit as she reflected on the memories she and her classmates had with their late homeroom teacher. "He never even got to finish teaching the rest of the year." The other 1-B girls who were there all had looks on their faces similar to what Kinoko had.
Bakugo wish that he had something that he could say to Pony, something that he could say to all of the girls in front of him. But what can he say? He had little loyalty, if any at all, remaining for Japan's top hero academy after they had sided with Mineta over him and saw to his expulsion. It was a wounding injury to the explosive teen's heart that he had been discarded without a second thought by U.A. in favor of that unrepentant pervert who, by all accounts on the matter, has still yet to learn his lesson.
But it was clear to Bakugo that Pony, as well as the other 1-B girls in front of him, were all mourning their fallen homeroom teachers, as well as other staff and students from U.A. As he didn't want to appear unfeeling in front of them, he said the only thing he could think of. "If any of you need to hit up someone to talk to about this, you can send me a text. If you don't have my number, I'm sure Pony can provide it."
"Yeah, that's how I got your number," Itsuka remarked with a confirming nod. The explosive teen turned to look at Itsuka, having suspected all this time that she got his number from Pony, and her admitting it confirmed his suspicions. Still, now was nowhere near the time or place to grill the class 1-B rep on why she got his number from Pony a while ago. Instead, he merely said that if he doesn't respond right away, it means he's either busy or classes at Vulcan had returned.
With that having been said, Bakugo hung with the girls for a bit before he had to excuse himself.
Later, Bakugo went to visit a place that he was surprised he'd be willingly want to visit on his own time and accord, the Midoriya apartment. He was aiming to see Izuku (again, a surprise to Bakugo), because he wanted to ask the green-haired boy something. If he knew Izuku like he firmly believed he did, then Bakugo was betting that Izuku would be crying his eyes out over how many pro heroes had been killed during the siege on the city.
Being let in by Inko who was thankful to see that he as alive, Bakugo saw Izuku sitting on the couch in the living room. It was lucky for Bakugo that U.A. students were sent home from campus for a few days as the school got things ready for the memorial service. "Oi, Deku," Bakugo called out in a non-loud manner, making Izuku look up from his smartphone and turn to see that his childhood friend had come to see him.
"Kacchan?" the green-haired cinnamon roll said in a surprised tone, "What are you-"
"I heard about what you did during the field trip you and the rest of 1-A took to the States," Bakugo said, interrupting Izuku as he walked over and sat down next to him. Bakugo turned his head to properly address Izuku. "My classmate Akuma told me about a news article that said you defeated a pair of assassins that tried to kill one of the girls in your class, and that you helped to bring said assassins in."
Izuku stopped short, turned to look down at his lap where his smartphone laid. "…Yeah. I was out with Todoroki, Uraraka, Tsuyu and Hagakure when those assassins came in and tried to kill Uraraka for some-"
"Heh, I had a gut feeling that it was Round Face," Bakugo remarked, cracking the first smirk that he had cracked since before the monsters' siege on the city.
Izuku couldn't help but crack a smile, given that Bakugo clearly had him figured out. "Aizawa-sensei and Hizashi-sensei ended up working with a team of four local pro heroes to track down an info broker that lived locally in that town to see what they can get from him on the attempted assassination on Uraraka. I have no idea what info they got, but I could tell that they got at least one other bit of info."
Bakugo leaned back in his seat on the sofa. "…Heh, figures that they would get at least something that could help with finding out why those fuckers had wanted to kill Round Face."
"There's…something else, Kacchan," Izuku said, prompting the ashy-haired boy to turn his attention back to Izuku. The green-eyed boy gave a resigned sigh before he spoke. "The two assassins are both from Japan, meaning that the necessary paperwork to extradite them back here to Japan has to be filled out first. But after the two assassins were escorted away by the local law enforcement, Aizawa-sensei and Hizashi-sensei both ran out of the hotel we were staying at with some medics and other officers."
Scoffing, Bakugo remarked, "So those fuckers escaped, huh? Well that's fucking-"
"No."
Izuku turned to regard Bakugo, and told him the story of when he and everyone else in class 1-A thought that the reason why their teachers ran out with the medic and the officer was because the two assassins that were after Uraraka had somehow escaped. Izuku mentioned that as the others in class, Uraraka especially so, were freaking out over the assassins possibly having escaped from police custody, he swore that he would make the assassins regret ever leaving the safety of police custody. He repeated every word of the declaration he made, right down to his swearing to actually kill the assassins if he ever caught them after Uraraka again.
Bakugo, for his part, grew wide-eyed with surprised amazement as he listened to Izuku's story. By the time that the green-haired cinnamon roll was done, Bakugo gave a chuckle, patting Izuku on his right bicep. "…Well hot damn, Deku. Looks like you've finally become a man. Also, for some odd reason that I can't describe, I feel some need to help protect Round Face. Maybe put her in one of those Snuggly things or some shit like that."
Smiling in an appreciative manner, Izuku said, "Thanks, Kacchan. I'm glad to see that you still have some care for us over at U.A." Bakugo was about to ask what Izuku had meant when he said that the assassins did not escape police custody, that Aizawa and Hizashi had freaked out for some other reason as they both went with the medic and the officer to go see to something else. But as the explosive teen opened his mouth, he was interrupted by a text.
"Hold that thought, Deku," Bakugo said as he checked the text, saw that it was from his dad asking for him to come back home as there was actually a special visitor there asking for him. "Sorry, but I'll have to take a rain check here," Bakugo remarked as he got up and slipped his phone back into his front pants pocket. Turning to look at Izuku, Bakugo said, "I'll be wanting to ask you more about the whole assassins during your field trip thing later. Try to ask Aizawa or Present Mic for what further details that they got during their."
The green-eyed boy gave an affirmative nod to his childhood friend, especially since he himself was also curious about what further details his teachers got while questioning that info broker with four local heroes in that area. Inko saw Bakugo out, even giving him one last motherly hug before he left. Bakugo actually appreciated the hug; he could feel the warmth, the sincerity, the happiness for his well-being in that hug. It was the kind of hug that was able to break through all of Bakugo's worries and went on to reassure him that everything would be alright.
Bakugo, before he left the Midoriya apartment, found himself giving Inko a hug in return. The gesture surprised Inko a bit, but in a pleasantly surprised manner that made her smile that much more warmly. The explosive teen said some last-minute good-byes before he walked out of the door, closing it behind him before he took off for home.
It didn't take Bakugo all that long to make the trek from the Midoriya apartment to the house where he and his dad lived. However, Bakugo was a bit surprised to see a high-quality car, one of those sleek, shiny black numbers, sitting parked outside of his house. He also saw an insignia on the front hood of the car, a circle with a silhouette of a running person inside, and beneath that was 'Team Idaten', in sleek white decal same as the insignia.
Though not nearly as brushed up on the work of pro heroes as Izuku, Bakugo still recognized that insignia and name as that of the agency that Tenya Iida's older brother, Tensei, ran before he had to step down as a pro hero due to a brutal run-in with the Hero Killer. Bakguo's curiosity was piqued a bit by the appearance of the former Turbo Hero's, made him wonder if the former Ingenium was the 'special visitor' that his dad had texted him about.
Wasting no time, Bakugo walked quickly to cover the rest of the distance. Opening the front door and walking right in, the explosive teen was greeted by the sight of his father Masaru waiting for him in the living room with Tensei, who saw sitting in a wheelchair. Bakugo also saw that his friends Sero and Mina were there as well, the former looking somber and grim while the latter was silently crying, her face turned to look down at her lap.
Closing the door behind him, Bakugo said, "…Hey, everyone." Turning to look at Tensei, Bakugo said, "You're Glasses's older brother, right?"
"If by 'Glasses' you mean Tenya, yes," Tensei answered, his expression sad and downcast.
"I heard that one of the sidekicks who was killed in the siege yesterday came from the agency that you ran," Bakugo remarked, "If it helps, I'm sorry about the loss."
Tensei took in a somewhat shaky breath, the shakiness of which suggested that the retired pro hero was trying to keep it together. "…Yes, Enigma was one of my agency's sidekicks. I intend to make sure her family receives her hero pension as whatever form of compensation that I can offer them, although I know full well nothing can ever replace Enigma."
Masaru asked Bakugo to sit down for what all else Tensei had come to say. After the ashy-haired teen was seated in an armchair, the crippled hero let out a troubled sigh. "…I intend to go to both the memorial service that the HPSC plans to hold for the pro heroes who died, as well as the one that will be held at U.A. for their numbers that had fallen in the siege." Tensei turned his head to look at Bakugo, gave him a serious look that still showed how downcast and sad that he was. "If you would like, I was going to offer to bring you along with me to all three memorial services that I'll be going to."
"When Tensei here told me about the offer that he had just made you, dude," Sero began in a resigned, sad tone, "I asked Aizawa-sensei and Principal Nezu about it. They both said that it'll let you work around how you're generally not allowed on U.A. grounds, Bakugo. All that will happen is that you'll be given a guest pass to enter U.A."
Bakugo nodded in confirmation to Sero, before turning back to face Tensei. "…Yeah, I'd like to go with you so I can pay my respects to the fallen as well," Bakugo replied, "If necessary to get me time off from Vulcan assuming that classes there pick back up again before the services, can you talk to Principal Hojo about it so I can-" Bakugo suddenly stopped short, a look of having realized something on his face. The explosive teen's eyes narrowed a little bit as he continued to address Tensei.
"…You said that you're going to three memorial services. Yet I only counted the one at U.A. for their staff and students that were killed in the siege, and the one being held by the Commission for the pro heroes who were killed." Bakugo crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you say that you're going to three services, Mr. Iida?" The look on Tensei's face became more somber as he looked down to his lap. He took in a breath, trying to steady himself emotionally, before he turned to look back up at Bakugo.
"…U.A. is actually going to be holding two memorial services, Bakugo," Tensei began to explain, his tone sad and a bit lame. The crippled hero shuddered a bit, his breath shaking a bit to go along with it, as he spoke. "The first one is the aforementioned memorial service for the staff and students who had been killed during the siege on the city yesterday."
Bakugo nodded in understanding as Tensei spoke to him. "Yeah, I get that. But what the hell is the second memorial ser-"
"Dude." Bakugo stopped short, everyone in the room fell silent, as they all turned to look at Sero. There was a look of regret on his face, the kind that was a telltale sign that the tape-dispensing teen had no easy way to say what he had to say to his explosive friend. As such, Sero, as he was swallowing the lump that was in his throat, just went ahead and straight up told Bakugo the terrible news, holding nothing back.
"Tenya was killed."
The ashy-haired boy went wide-eyed with shock as he heard the news from Sero. Mina let out an emotionally pained sob as Sero spoke aloud about how one of their classmates had lost his life very recently. "No…no fucking way," Bakugo said after a tense, silent couple of seconds, "You mean to tell me that Glasses is dead?" The explosive teen didn't necessarily care all that much about Tenya mind you, but even so, hearing that class 1-A's rep had been killed still came to him as one hell of a surprising shock. Sero only gave a curt, somber nod in the affirmative.
Bakugo was beyond shocked to hear that one of his former classmates had been killed. It's a good thing that he was already sitting; the news probably would have floored him if he were standing. "What the hell happened to Glasses?" Bakugo asked, his voice going up just a smidge, "Was he killed during the siege yesterday by one of those monster fu-"
"No, Bakugo," Sero said, his tone remaining somber as Mina's soft crying persisted, "Tenya was killed during our class's recent field trip to the United States. Since Tenya's death happened due to different circumstances, U.A. decided to do a separate service for him." Sero let out another sigh. "As well as the others that are…were in our class who also got killed alongside Tenya back during our field trip that we returned from before the monster siege." Mina's crying increased in volume a little bit as Sero was explaining things.
"Glasses…" Bakugo said, shocked to hear what his friend was telling him. Gently shaking his head in total disbelief, the ashy-haired boy continued in barely more than a whisper, "…Glasses wasn't the only one who was killed during the field trip?" Bakugo's breath was a bit shaky as he shuddered a bit. "Who else had been killed?"
Sero looked lost, not sure how to proceed but knowing that he had to do so anyway. "…Well man, Ojiro and Tokoyami were also killed during the field trip. It's…it's part of why Hagakure and Tsuyu respectively are such emotional wrecks right now, given that at the time Hagakure had been dating Ojiro, and Tsuyu had been dating Tokoyami. But that's not all, although I wish that it was." Sero turned his head up so that he could look at the ceiling of the living room, letting out a somber, resigned sigh before he turned his head back down and looked at Bakugo before he told him news that made Mina's crying even louder as it was being given.
"Kirishima and Kaminari were killed as well."
END, CHAPTER TWELVE
Author's notes;
Well…the heroes have counted up all of their losses, and will be making arrangements to lay them to rest, with that business going down in the next chapter. There have also been other losses that U.A. will be mourning, as Tensei's visit to the Bakugo household at the tail end of this chapter had revealed. How Bakugo, as well as everyone else, will deal with the deaths of the students from U.A.'s class 1-A who had lost their lives during the field trip to the United States will be covered in detail in the next chapter as well.
