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 seventeen: The emergency internship rounds
Bakugo, along with his classmates Izuku and Todoroki, were in their respective hero outfits as they followed Todoroki's father Enji, also known as the pro hero Endeavor, into the front lobby of an office building sort of business owned by Ryoga Yaoyorozu, the father of their classmate Momo. It was clear to all of the boys that Endeavor was walking with a sense of urgency as he led them into the office building.
"Boys," Endeavor began, "It is imperative that we complete our job here. We need to get to the bottom of the problems that have been plaguing Yaoyorozu Offices and bring all guilty parties that are involved to justice."
Bakugo nodded in a casual, mildly indifferent, manner. "…Well that goes without saying. It wouldn't look too good on us if we failed to re-"
"That is why we will NOT fail to resolve the case," Endeavor interrupted, never even bothering to turn around to face Bakugo as he spoke up to cut the ashy-haired boy off mid-sentence. The look of mild annoyance on Bakugo's face made it clear that he did not really like it all that much that he had been interrupted, especially since he was actually agreeing with Endeavor that it was not going to look good for them if they failed to resolve the case.
The Flame Hero got the attention of a man working at the office building to ask for whoever was the person in charge of running everything at Yaoyorozu Offices. As Endeavor and the company employee talked, Todoroki turned to look at his classmates, a sympathetic look on his face aimed at his explosive…associate. Either way, Todoroki regarded Bakugo with sympathy.
Shrugging, Todoroki said, "Sorry that my father cut you off, Bakugo. But then again, due to the Tentative Rankings List for pro heroes that the Commission televised last night, my father's been more keen on doing as much hero work as he can squeeze in. Tentative as the rankings list from last night may be, my father would really rather not see those rankings become real when the real rankings list comes out in a few months."
Bakugo, who still looked annoyed to have been cut off by the Flame Hero, begrudgingly acknowledged that Endeavor, who he knew had a thing for having as high a rank as possible, would be alarmed by the aired rankings from the previous night. Izuku, who had also seen the tentative pro hero rankings on TV last night, understood fully why Endeavor would be so keen on avoiding such predictions…
(FLASHBACK, PREVIOUS NIGHT)
The twenty-five students of U.A. High School's class 1-A were in the main area of their dorm building, all in the living room section as they all watched the TV, given that it was about to air a televised announcement of the tentative pro hero rankings out of the Hero Billboard Charts JP. The reason why this tentative list was coming out was due to how many pro heroes had fallen in the recent monster siege on the city; the loss of so many pros obviously meant that the rankings of those who still lived would change.
After a few minutes were spent by the people running the televised event going over the usual business one would expect out of a program with such a nature, the parading of the pro heroes in the tentative top ten began. At number ten was Best Jeanist, who fell multiple spots due to how he had been MIA for so long; in fact, a sidekick from Best Jeanist's agency came out in place of the now tentative number ten hero.
The pro hero who was tentatively number nine came as a bit of a surprise to many in 1-A, as it was the BMI Hero Fat Gum. Bakugo had no idea who Fat Gum was, and Kyoka explained to him that Fat Gum is the pro who Kirishima had interned under. Bakugo took pause, remaining silent as he turned his attention back to the TV. The explosive teen reflected upon his late friend, wondered how the crimson-haired boy would react to seeing the hero he interned under go up so many ranks, even if it's just a tentative ranking.
The reason stated by the Commission officials on why the BMI Hero had gone up so many ranks was due to how much effort he gave given during the monster siege, as well as his usual hero work and his efforts in leading the cause that he had been championing long before the siege on the city. Out of all of Japan's pro heroes, it was Fat Gum who was the leading forerunner in the efforts of eliminating hunger in the nation, helping to get food to the tables of families that would otherwise have much trouble in eating anything at all.
After Fat Gum at the number nine spot came, in an even bigger surprise, Mt. Lady at the number eight spot. Mt. Lady's quick rise into the top ten (tentative as it may be) was due to her work during the siege, where she fought alongside other pros in defeating as many of the evil monsters as possible, pushing along despite the tragic loss she and Edgeshot (more on him later) suffered when their fellow hero on Team Lurkers, Kamui Woods, had been killed in the siege. It also did a lot to help her that Mt. Lady was a popular hero among the citizenry of Japan.
Another pro hero who went up in ranks was Gang Orca, who rose to the number seven spot. He had dropped out of the top ten a while ago, and while his new rank was tentative, he still was back in the top ten as he had once been. Not much was available on Gang Orca, outside of how well he did in helping to fight off the monster siege, and the fact that he now worked a teaching position over at U.A. that was temporary until a more permanent solution could be found.
Yoroi Musha rose to the number six spot, but even less was available on the armored hero. Some of the class 1-A students thought that t he samurai-looking pro hero had a bit of an annoyed look on his face as he was walked and waved to the cheering crowds who were celebrating him; it was later confirmed that Yoroi was one of many pro heroes who found the announcement made back during the memorial service for the fallen pro heroes, the announcement about the tentative hero rankings coming out soon, to be in very bad taste, mostly due to the timing as well as where that announcement had been made.
To the surprise of pretty much all of 1-A, the pro hero Hawks had dropped to the number five spot on the tentative rankings list. This was due to how it was noticed that, during the siege, Hawks was very reluctant to kill any of the evil monsters, even though the pro heroes more or less had been given the orders to kill said monsters. That, and the performance of other pros who were going to be placed higher up on the tentative rankings list, ended up pushing the winged pro hero down a couple of spots.
Mirko ended up going up to the number four spot, a slight rank up for her. As Mirko walked out and greeted the cheering crowds, the 1-A kids who were watching the special on TV also noticed that the Rabbit Hero looked similarly as annoyed as Yoroi Musha had. A note was made that Mirko took out a good number of the evil monsters, as well as actively seek out to protect elderly citizens who reside at a retirement home that was in danger. Defeating many evil monsters as well as protecting innocent, helpless civilians did a lot to help Mirko's rank.
The previously mentioned Edgeshot, who also was noted to have taken a temporary teaching position over at U.A., went up to the number three spot. When a news reporter in the crowd that was cheering for the (tentative) number three hero, got his attention and tried to ask a few questions about how he and Mt. Lady were dealing with the loss of their teammate, Edgeshot had politely gave a 'no comment' type response as reasonable as he could; Edgeshot was also annoyed with the timing the Commission decided on to announce the tentative rankings list, and the death of Kamui Woods was still something that Edgeshot and Mt. Lady weren't really happy to go on about.
The tentative number two hero, to the shock of everyone in 1-A aside from Todoroki who proceeded to laugh his ass off when he saw it, was Endeavor. It was clear that Endeavor, even though his new ranking was only tentative until the real rankings list came out in a few months, was annoyed with how he was back at the number two spot after all that he had done to hold onto the number one spot after he got it by virtue of All Might's retirement.
"Wait a minute," Uraraka began as Endeavor greeted the cheering crowds on TV, "If Todoroki's father had dropped to the number two spot, then who ended up taking his place as number one?"
Shrugging, Tsuyu said, "I have no idea kero. But whoever it is must have done very well during the monster siege if they had been able to displace End-"
Tsuyu was cut off when the cheering of the crowds on TV reached a fever pitch, making her and everyone else in 1-A turn to look at the screen. "And now, good people of Japan," the person who was announcing the temporary rankings called out, "Let's hear it for our new number one, the Dragoon Hero Ryukyu!"
Everyone in class 1-A was shocked to see a nervous, mildly embarrassed Ryukyu wave to the cheering crowds as she walked onto the stage. There was also a hint in her expression that gave credence to the idea that she was not all that fond of the timing the Commission chose to make the announcement of the tentative hero rankings. Regardless of that, everyone cheered for the Dragoon Hero as she was celebrated at the (tentative) number one hero in Japan.
The 1-A students were very surprised to see Ryukyu celebrated. Uraraka and Tsuyu especially so, given that both of them intern under Ryukyu. The two girls figured that they had to let Nejiri-sempai from the Big Three know about this, as she's also one of Ryukyu's go-to interns. Ryukyu had seen the jump in her ranking due to two main factors; the sheer number of evil monsters that she had vanquished during the siege (over fifty percent more than Endeavor, the next leading pro in that regard) and the fact that she also sought to protect innocent helpless civilians.
After the (tentative) top ten were announced, more rankings for other pros soon followed; the only note of interest was how Manual, the pro who Tenya had interned under, was now at the number one-hundred and eleven spot, a serious jump from his previous rank of two-hundred and twenty-two. Izuku silently applauded for Manual in Tenya's place, as the glasses wearing boy was no longer here to do so himself. After the tentative rankings special was over, the TV was turned off and, after 1-A talked about how exciting a lot of the rankings were, they all decided to pack it in for the night.
(FLASHBACK OVER)
Bakugo, along with Izuku and Todoroki, watched as Endeavor talked to a man that they learned was the boss in charge of Yaoyorozu Offices, along with another employee who the boys were able to recognize as their classmate Tsuyu's father Ganma. Hiding behind the toad-like man was a boy who looked to be about ten years of age; the boy was also holding onto a pair of crutches, and he had a cast on one of his legs. The young boy also stole terrified glances at Endeavor at a couple of occasions.
Endeavor turned to the three heroes-in-training, gestured for them to come over. "Boys," said the Flame Hero when his interns got close enough, "This is Mr. Hojo, the man who called for hero help to look into why the company is in such danger." The man who was identified as the boss of the company nodded in a thankful manner to Endeavor's interns, glad that the company that he had been entrusted by Japan's wealthiest man to run was going to be saved. "He will explain to us what exactly is troubling Yaoyorozu Offices," Endeavor remarked, "I expect you to do all that you can to help solve what's going on."
Bakugo, Izuku and Todoroki all nodded in the affirmative, and after that Izuku's attention was caught by the boy hiding behind Ganma. "Oh, today is take your child to work day," Mr. Hojo explained, "And Ganma here brought his son Samidare."
"I'm…guessing that he's nervous to be at his father's place of work?" Izuku guessed more than anything else.
"Heh, actually," Ganma began with an embarrassed, mildly apologetic helpless smile, on his face, "The reason my son is acting so skittish is…" Gesturing a bit to Endeavor, Ganma said, "…Is because of Mr. Todoroki here." Facing the Flame Hero directly, Ganma said, "I'm very sorry, but my son is rather frightened of you."
To his credit, Endeavor looked ashamed that he was still a frightening presence to a lot of the younger generation, rubbing the back of his head. Bakugo looked a bit amused by how terrible the tentative number two is, and Todoroki was snorting back some laughter because of how funny the whole situation struck him. Only Izuku had the decency to not find amusement over Endeavor's inability to be approachable to a lot of children.
After things had been settled down, Mr. Hojo, who despite Bakugo's suspicions was not related to Kagura and Yuki Hojo from Vulcan High in the least, led Endeavor and the three interns to the top floor of the office building, where Mr. Hojo's office was located.
"Oh yes," Mr. Hojo said as the party walked and talked, "A lot of the men working here brought their kids, and most all of the kids are excited over the results of the tentative hero rankings that had been announced by the Commission last night." Giving Endeavor a sympathetic look, the boss of the office building said, "Sorry that the list saw you go down from the number one spot, Endeavor. However it is a tentative rankings list, so I'm certain that you can easily put in the effort to get back to number one on the actual list in a few months."
"Which I certainly aim to do," Endeavor remarked, the hint of determination that was in his tone setting off few, but very certain, alarms in the head of his youngest son. Shifting the subject a bit, the Flame Hero said, "But enough of that business for now." A hint of embarrassed shame came up in Endeavor's face as he said, "I…guess that boy with that Ganma fellow isn't my biggest fan in the world, huh?"
"Actually, sir," Izuku spoke up, getting Endeavor and Mr. Hojo to turn to face him, "I got it from me and the boys' classmate Tsuyu, who's Mr. Asui's daughter and Samidare's older sister, that her little brother's favorite pro hero is actually Ryukyu."
Perking up a bit, Mr. Hojo remarked, "Oh yeah! Ganma mentioned that to me!" With a bit of an amused chuckle, Mr. Hojo went on, "Yeah, before you heroes showed up, Ganma was telling me about how his family saw the rankings announcement last night, and how his son was excitedly cheering after Ryukyu was announced as the current number one." A hint of embarrassment had appeared in Mr. Hojo's face. "…Umm, sorry again, Endeavor."
Endeavor let out a resigned, understanding sigh. "…It's alright, Hojo. I still need to work on being approachable so that children aren't frightened of me. What kind of pro hero would I be if children were too scared of me to run up and ask me for an autograph or something else that civilians would do when they see a pro hero they're a fan of?"
Mr. Hojo nodded a few times in agreement as he and the group went on towards his office. "Oh yes. Anyway, I was told by my secretary that you actually turned down an offer that was made to you by Mr. Yaoyorozu himself." Stopping in the hallway that they were in, Mr. Hojo turned to face Endeavor, who had stopped along with Bakugo, Izuku and Todoroki. "Not very many out there would turn down an offer that Mr. Yaoyorozu made to them. In fact, if you don't mind me asking, what was the offer that you had turned down?"
The Flame Hero crossed his arms over his chest, gave a bit of an annoyed scowl. "Ryoga wanted to try and arrange a marriage between his daughter Momo and my son Shoto." What Endeavor had said caught the three interns, Todoroki especially so, by surprise. "Ryoga said that it would do a great deal of good for both, if my family was connected to his in such a fashion, as well as give his family a connection to one of Japan's top heroes."
"That…would make sense," Mr. Hojo replied.
Shrugging, Endeavor went on to say, "In fact, Ryoga contacted me earlier to repeat the offer, saying that my family being connected to his may help with boosting my reputation and help me better secure the number one spot when the actual rankings list from the Billboard Charts comes out in a few months."
"Well like hell I'll agree to go along with it!" Todoroki declared, making everyone turn to face him. The half-and-half boy looked like he was glaring daggers at his father. "…There is no way that I would agree to go along with being arranged to marry my classmate Momo. She and I are not even close enough to be actual friends, as we're more like acquaintances and classmates than straight up friends. Besides, I'm certain that I've made it clear that I'm in love with a completely different girl." Todoroki's brows furrowed a bit as he continued to look up at his dad. "Or have you forgotten about that, father?"
Endeavor let out a troubled, contemplative sigh. "…This is something that we will cover after we complete the case here, Shoto," Endeavor replied, before turning back around and continuing to go along with Mr. Hojo, prompting the heroes-in-training to tag along. As they followed along after Mr. Hojo and the Flame Hero, Bakugo and his classmates that were with him were a little on the worried side about what all Endeavor had on his mind. Todoroki was especially worried, as he felt that, given how his father reacted, Todoroki himself may not have too much of a choice in certain future events anyway.
As if there was a way to make the half-and-half boy hate his father even more.
While Endeavor and his interns met with Mr. Hojo in his office, the boss of the company explained that, for a little over twelve years, his company had been slowly hemorrhaging money, even though their yearly earnings in that time should have made that impossible. What's more is that they have in recent events been receiving threats from villains, and some of the employees under Mr. Hojo's umbrella were beginning to worry that the hemorrhaging and the threats from villains may be connected.
As Endeavor began to go over a few of what he and his interns could do to look into the matter, a company employee came in with a startling and surprising announcement; someone had just discovered a solid explanation for why the company had been hemorrhaging money for so long; as it turned out, two accountants had been fudging some numbers over the years, taking the money that they did not account for in their reports and funneling it all to an as of yet unknown source. Trusted men were currently going through all of the saved data to account for all of the unreported profits the company had made over twelve years of work.
What further surprised everyone was who it was that had discovered the discrepancies in the math that calculated the company's income and profits; it was Samidare Asui, the ten-year-old son of company employee Ganma. As it turned out, the sole Asui boy, after returning from using the bathroom, came across the room where the calculations were being done, as his ear was caught by all of the math talk that was going on inside. Turning out to be an incredible talent in the field of mathematics, Samidare wandered in when he saw that no one was in the room as he wanted to do some math work.
The first thing he noticed was that the completed math work that he saw was done incorrectly, so he first went about corrected it. When he was discovered doing the work, one of the trusted men who is now currently going through all the records saw that the work Samidare had found actually was done incorrectly, while the corrections Samidare made as well as what work the Asui boy had done himself was all correct. As such, Samidare was now actually helping all of the trusted men in going through all the records.
The story of the gifted child soon spread throughout the office building, of course grabbing Ganma's attention. With a chuckle, the toad-like man remarked that his son, who had been at home recuperating after he broke his leg, was itching to get back to school as he had a flare for doing schoolwork. Ganma was advised by many, Mr. Hojo included, to encourage Samidare's interest in his schoolwork. In fact, if Samidare kept up his skills in math, then he could easily get a job as an accountant at the company.
As the guys in the accounting room were handling the corrections and investigating their way through twelve years' worth of accounting records, Endeavor was alerted by an employee to the location of the two accountants who had been fudging the numbers; they were currently in an alleyway talking to a man identified as a known villain, Mr. Compress. Endeavor led his interns to go confront the villain.
Bakugo, who had been kidnapped a while ago partly due to the efforts of Mr. Compress, was very keen on giving the dapperly dressed villain a punch to the face.
…
Endeavor and his interns confronted the two accountants, who turned out to be secret villain agents who infiltrated the company in order to syphon funds to the cause of the League. They were in the middle of being chewed out by Mr. Compress because they allowed their twelve years of work to be undone, as well as how their slip-up resulting in their efforts being stripped of one of their main sources of income.
The Flame Hero and his interns tried to capture all three of the villains, but the two accountants, one having a generic strength quirk and the other having a generic speed quirk, ended up getting away. Mr. Compress likewise escaped, but Bakugo was able to disarm him in the literal sense, although the arm he took off with a well-placed shot ended up being a prosthetic limb that, as he ran away, Mr. Compress complained he would have to replace when he got to safety.
Despite how the villains had all managed to get away, Endeavor and his interns did technically complete their job, and as such they were able to count the case that they had completed as a success. A news crew soon came by to get the scoop on what all went on at Yaoyorozu Offices, and got to interview Endeavor over how he foiled the efforts of villains that he had rooted out of a good, honest company.
The news reporters also had an interest in interviewing Samidare when they heard that he was the one who had uncovered what the two villains were doing. Ganma, with Mr. Hojo agreeing with him, was able to keep the media from pestering his ten-year-old son, as Samidare was already a bit overwhelmed with all the excitement that had happened today; he needed to be taken home so he could relax, otherwise any further excitement might make him curl up into a fetal position while having a minor freak-out.
With their job done, Endeavor led his interns back over to his hero agency, given that he had been contacted by one of the male sidekicks at the agency that some other pro heroes came by with something that may be of interest to the Flame Hero, given the recently completed case.
Over at Endeavor's agency, the Flame Hero and his interns saw the pro heroes Fat Gum and Ryukyu, both escorting the two accountant villains from Yaoyorozu Offices. Waiting behind Fat Gum were Kinoko and Yosetsu from U.A.'s class 1-B, while waiting behind Ryukyu were Tsuyu, Uraraka and Eunice. The pros explained that, when they had caught the two villains and learned of their connection to the case Endeavor had solved, they and the police figured that Endeavor would want to have a hand in interrogating them, as well as help to see them off to the police station in the process.
Endeavor nodded in thanks to Fat Gum and Ryukyu, although the interns were able to pick up on a bit of strained courtesy that Endeavor had in his tone towards the Dragoon Hero. This did not surprise the interns, Todoroki most of all, because Endeavor, being a man who prided himself on being number one, was talking to the woman who, although tentatively, knocked him down from the spot he had struggled for so long to claim from the former Symbol of Peace.
While the U.A. students all talked while the pros handled all the business, some news reporters came by Endeavor's agency to get the scoop on the two accountant villains having been caught by Fat Gum and Ryukyu. The reporters seemed especially keen on getting a word from the Dragoon Hero, and even Uraraka, Tsuyu and Eunice, who were Ryukyu's interns, were also petered by the press for a few bits on the pro hero who employed them.
Eunice started panicking as the sudden and abundant attention was overwhelming her, Uraraka even called out to Izuku to come pull her out of there, and the press started to pester Tsuyu about Samidare when it was revealed that the boy who had saved Yaoyorozu offices was Tsuyu's little brother. Endeavor, when he saw that even Ryukyu's interns were hounded by the press more than he was at this point, was further reminded on how he had been knocked back to where he had been for so long. It served to inspire him all the more to do what all he could to reclaim the position of number one.
By any means that he could get his hands on.
A few days later over at U.A., Bakugo was talking to Izuku as they and some other boys went out to some tennis courts on school grounds to play tennis; the idea was Nezu's, as he figured that the students of the hero course classes needed to unwind, and figured that a good few rounds of tennis, a sport that Nezu himself liked and wanted to share his love of to the heroes-in-training that his school taught, would be just the ticket.
The 1-A and 1-B classes were separated by gender, with the boys of 1-A and 1-B getting a court while the girls of 1-A and 1-B got another. Aizawa supervised the boys while Edgeshot, who had taken Sekijiro's place as homeroom teacher for 1-B, supervised the girls. As the boys played, both Bakugo and Izuku noticed how utterly infuriated Todoroki looked. "…Umm, Todoroki?" Izuku said in a mildly worried and nervous manner, getting his half-and-half friend's attention.
"What do you want, Midoriya?" Todoroki scowled, surprising Izuku and Bakugo both with how hostile Todoroki was being towards who many knew was a good friend of his.
Hitting back a tennis ball that Monoma shot at him, Bakugo said, "Geez, IcyHot, the fuck crawled up your ass and died? It's not like you to snap like that at Deku, especially since he was clearly just trying to ask about your well-being."
Todoroki shot back a tennis ball that was shot at him by Kurama. Letting out a resigned sigh, the dual-natured quirk boy said as he turned to face Izuku, "Apologies, Midoriya. It's just that my father told me last night that I ought to stop trying to pursue Reiko."
"What?!" Izuku exclaimed, looking similarly as surprised as Bakugo. After returning a shot from Shihai, Izuku said to Todoroki, "Why would your father tell you to stop trying to appeal to the girl that he knows full well you're in love with?" Todoroki let out an annoyed sigh as he returned a shot fired at him by Togaru.
"…Because he told me that he wants me to start trying to get 'friendly' with Momo," Todoroki explained, "Which suggests to me that he's contemplating accepting Mr. Yaoyorozu's offer to arrange for Momo and I to be wed."
"You cannot be serious, IcyHot," Bakugo said as he fired a shot without looking, "That sounds like a total load of bulls-"
"AAAAHHHHHHH!"
Bakugo was cut off when he, as well as everyone else on the boys' tennis court looked over at Mineta, who had been the one to cry out in pain; as it turned out, the tennis ball that Bakugo had fired off ended up bouncing off of the ground and right in the appropriate direction to fly right into Mineta's holy land, scoring a serious critical hit than sent Mineta kneeling to the ground as he covered his wounded hidden treasure.
As some of the boys gathered around Mineta while the girls who saw what had happened began to point and laugh at the purple pervert, Aizawa came walking over to Bakugo, Todoroki and Izuku. "…Since you weren't looking and clearly weren't acting with malice, I won't hold you injuring Mineta against you," Aizawa said, "In fact, given that I had made the mistake of taking his side over yours back when I initially had you expelled, I figure that you striking Mineta in his tennis balls with a tennis ball might be some form of cosmic justice. All that I will do is ask that from here on out, when you hit a tennis ball make sure you're looking when you hit and aim."
"…Sorry, Aizawa-sensei," Bakugo apologized, "But IcyHot distracted me and Deku by telling us about how his dad is apparently agreeing with Ponytail's dad to have the two of them tie the knot at some point."
Aizawa threw his head back as he let out a troubled, resigned sigh. "…Yeah, I heard about that. I guess that would explain the heated argument I saw between Todoroki and Yaoyorozu earlier this morning before we all came out to play tennis."
"To her credit, she is just as opposed to what our respective fathers are arranging as I am," the dual-natured quirk boy remarked. It could be told that Todoroki was still a bit upset towards his wealthy classmate, though.
Looking down at the injured Mineta, Aizawa let out a resigned sigh. "…I guess that we'll have to end the game of tennis here so we can take Mineta inside for treatment." Aizawa turned around and called out to Edgeshot that they had to bring the students inside. Edgeshot, who got it from Aizawa what was going on, understood and proceeded to get all the girls to head back in so they could all pack it up.
To their credit, both Aizawa and Edgeshot sympathized with the girls, as they were enjoying themselves at tennis and didn't want to stop, especially for Mineta. Edgeshot especially wished that they didn't have to stop, as he similarly as Nezu liked the sport; he was wondering which side of the girls would win the game that they currently had going.
About an hour or so after the tennis game had to be ended, Bakugo, Izuku, Todoroki and some of the other boys heard that a ring that Uraraka left in her locker in the girls locker room had been stolen while everyone was out. Mina ended up leading a huge investigation to track down the missing/stolen ring. This saw the pink-skinned girl, dressed up like a classic detective, arrange multiple teams of 1-A and 1-B boys to search all the dorm rooms of 1-A and 1-B girls, as it was concluded that the thief had to be a girl from either first year class.
Bakugo, as well as Izuku and Todoroki, were on the same team that were sent to search Kinoko's dorm room. To their surprise, the room was surprisingly devoid of much sprucing up, but there were signs that there had recently been a lot of stuff set up to decorate the mushroom girl's room. When they asked about this, the boys got it from Itsuka, who was accompanying an embarrassed and mildly depressed Kinoko, that Kinoko had previously had a lot of Kirishima merchandise, all ordered from a section of merchandise in the Fat Gum agency merchandise catalogue, decorating her dorm room, due to how deeply in love with the crimson-haired boy she was.
But the merchandise, much like the boy that all of it was based off of, was now gone.
The boys ended up searching Kinoko's room anyway, and aside from finding the box Kinoko had put all of her Red Riot merch in, the boys found nothing of interest. It goes without saying that the mushroom girl had been cleared as a potential suspect in the theft of Uraraka's ring. Bakugo and the others checked Kinoko off the list and proceeded to check to see if any of the other groups needed help.
However, Bakugo stopped before he and the others left Kinoko and Itsuka. Turning around, the ashy-haired boy approached Kinoko, laid a hand on her shoulder. "…I'm very sorry, Shrooms," Bakugo said, somber regret and sympathetic understanding in his words. The girls, Kinoko most of all, were surprised by how sincerely sorry Bakugo was acting like. Similarly, Todoroki and Izuku were likewise surprised.
Bakugo left the two girls from 1-B and proceeded to move along with the boys that he was partnered with. A few hours later, the students of 1-A and 1-B were informed by Nemuri, who was guarding the girls' locker room to safeguard it from perverts, that she saw Uraraka herself go into the locker room, go to her locker, and take the ring out, then proceeded to ask the gravity girl when she was going to end this game.
Mina claimed that it was impossible for Uraraka to have done all of that, as she was with the 1-A and 1-B girls for too much of a timeframe to allow her to sneak back in. With the eighteen-only hero giving a 'what else can you do' kind of shrug before leaving the teens, everyone began to wonder aloud what, or rather who, might have been the one to have snuck in and taken Uraraka's special ring while everyone was out playing tennis.
The students later heard that Nezu and Edgeshot played a game of tennis against Nemuri and Snipe. Edgeshot and Nezu won by a landslide.
END, CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Author's notes;
This chapter adapts the events of a few chapters from the main story, focusing mainly on what all Bakugo was able to observe. The tentative hero rankings showed up in this chapter, and what they had stated will play a notable role in chapters to come. The tentative rankings are a further result of what all had happened way back in the first chapter of this story, and what will result from the results will make or break a lot of what's to come in this story's AU setting. But more on that later.
Anyway, the next chapter may actually take a while, as this story focuses mainly on what all Bakugo sees from his point of view, and it'll be a while before he shows up chronologically.
