Class 1.A. stood together as a man half explained the task ahead whilst interjecting with complaints about how tired he was. Katsuki rolled his eyes at the lack of professionalism. Luckily, he managed to get the gist of the challenge, and it seemed easy enough.

Everyone was given three small circular disks to attach to themselves. Katsuki strategically placed his and helped members of his class place theirs if they were unsure of where to put them. The class stuck as a group as they prepared for the exam.

"We should all stay together." Izuku said after a while. "We'll be more of a force to reckon with that way. Plus, we can protect each other."

"You naive to think the other participants won't go after us." Katsuki countered. "They know our Quirks, and we're the best school in the country. I wouldn't be surprised if they all ganged up on us."

"All the more reason to stay together, there's safety in numbers."

"Not always. Why make it easy for them?" Katsuki asked. "If we split up and spread out we'll have more room to defend ourselves. I can't really use the full extent of my Quirk if I'm with you guys."

"But Kacchan—"

"He's right, Midoriya." Shouto said. "I have to go off on my own. My ice will slow all of you down, make it slippery. We have a better chance if I go off on my own."

"Look if you guys want to stay together, that's fine, you do that. But I'm not." Katsuki said.

"Okay, Kacchan, Shouto-kun. You do what you have to do. But the rest of us should stay together."

"Yeah, like one big team." Uraraka smiled, punching the air.

"Both of your logic seem sound." Iida said with a nod.

"Well, good luck everyone." Izuku said. "I hope we all make it through the first test."

"Oh yeah, Aizawa will definitely kill us if we fail. No matter what he said on the bus about doing our best." Mina said.

"I do not want to go through any more of his remedial training night classes." Sero shivered.

"They were horrible." Satou said in agreement.

"Let's do this then." Izuku smiled. "Go beyond." The class broke into smiles of their own before replying.

"Plus Ultra."

In reality, Katsuki should have expected people to follow him. Eijirou was a given, and Katsuki knew deep down that the redhead would never let him do this on his own. But Kaminari and Shinsou were wild cards.

His initial plan was just to blast some people unconscious and get them out that way. But now he had his technicolour followers to think about. A large blast would harm them, which had been the very situation he had wanted to avoid in the first place. He growled to himself as he ran.

"Why did you damn extras follow me?"

"I don't know. You just started running and I panicked." Kaminari frowned.

"Me too. I just followed Kaminari. Which probably isn't something anyone should do." Shinsou added.

"I was always going to come with you." Kirishima said.

"Uch, fine." Katsuki tutted. "Look, we need to get to higher ground, so we actually have an idea what's going on." As he spoke the ground vibrated, causing the four of them to stumble slightly. Kaminari fell into Kirishima but the redhead managed to keep them both steady.

"Fuck." Kirishima muttered. "Earthquake or someone's Quirk?"

"Quirk most likely." Shinsou said. "They would have stopped the exam or something otherwise."

"That's why we need to be high up. We'd be able to see."

"Alright Blasty, calm down." Kaminari said. "Let's just keep going north, we can find something there."

"Yeah, if we stay out of the big fight, let the other's tire themselves out a bit and then we can pick people off." Shinsou said.

"That doesn't sound very heroic." Kirishima frowned.

"This test isn't about being heroic. It's about winning." Katsuki said. "You don't get a second chance by playing nice. We have to take other student's out to pass."

"Exactly. As long as we don't actually hurt anyone, we'll be fine." Shinsou said.

The four boys continued to head north of the arena, they encountered a few other student's trying to do the same, but after firing a few explosions at them, they ran off. Katsuki briefly considered going after them, but there was only two people, not enough for him to pass, let alone all four of them.

Eventually, Kaminari pointed out a ladder leading up the top of a building. The four boys headed over to it, Katsuki climbing up first, followed closely by Kirishima and Kaminari, Shinsou bringing up the rear. The climb was tough and Kaminari complained the entire way, causing Katsuki to snap at him.

Katsuki would like to blame Kaminari for what happened next, but it was his own fault for being distracted. He shouldn't have emerged from the ladder without checking the area ahead. Numerous times Aizawa had warned them, told them to be spatially aware. But he hadn't listened.

Instead he stubbled headfirst into danger, and he hadn't even noticed. It wasn't until he had heard Eijirou shout out his name that he even knew something was wrong. And even then, it was his boyfriend calling his family name that got him, not the asshole coming to attack him.

Eijirou pushed Katsuki hard, making him stumble forwards and almost lose his balance. Kaminari yelled out in shock as Katsuki turned in time to see a large glob of flesh encompass Eijirou's body.

"Eijirou!" Katsuki called, taking a step forwards as Kirishima's body was rolled into a ball and taken away from the other boys. Katsuki's eyes locked onto the asshole responsible. Some Shiketsu prick, if his stupid hat was anything to go by.

He was talking. Katsuki could distantly hear him but he struggled to focus on anything but the mound of flesh that Kirishima had become. Was he going to be okay? Was this reversable? Was it his fault? He didn't know. Did it hurt? Was Eijirou hurt, because of him, because of his inability to pay attention to two things at once?

"U.A. High School." The boy said. "I respect the school. I take pride that we are counted as equals. However, you lot continuously act in ways that cause it's dignity to decline." The boy leant forwards as he spoke, putting his hands behind his back. There was a flash and it was like his fingers seemed to separate from him and grow, spreading out around his head in a poor imitation of a peacock's tail feathers.

"He's gonna do that thing again!" Kaminari shouted, grabbing onto Shinsou's arm. Katsuki growled turning back to face him. "That gross thing."

"Shut up." He turned to face their opponent. "Obligation? Dignity? You just won't stop talking…" Katsuki held out his hand, preparing to attack. "Show us with your actions, not your mouth, senpai." He spat.

"Especially you, Bakugou!" The shiketsu student shouted, leaping forwards to attack, the floating flesh following after him.

As quick as he could, Katsuki brought his other hand up, bringing them together in preparation before letting explosions build up on the palm of his hand. Taking a breath in he released a series of smaller blasts.

"AP Shot: Auto-Cannon." He shouted as he did. The explosions shot apart the mounds of flesh that were flying towards him, causing them to splatter everywhere. The Shiketsu student fell backwards slightly as Kaminari watched with wide eyes.

The electric boy had put his arm up as if to protect his head. Shinsou hadn't flinched, his expression was somewhat unreadable due to his mask, but one of his eyebrows was raised.

"I made it weaker to use against people, though." Katsuki said to the two of them. Jeanist had suggested weakening his explosions, just to see if he could create the same size explosion but with limited destruction.

"Man, everyone hates you for the same reason." Kaminari exclaimed next to him. Katsuki brushed it off. People hated him because of what the media said. They presented him as an arrogant, brash individual. And sure, he was all of those things, but he was also a hero, someone who could protect people and love them. He wasn't as villainous as he was made out to be.

"Damn it. I cannot believe I fell for it." The shiketsu student muttered as he drew back the piles of skin and muscle that had been distributed across the concrete.

"Those gross things scattered around… are they going back?" Kaminari asked as they did. Shinsou rolled his eyes.

"A mentality that reacts impulsively to a simple provocation… That is something that depends solely on how proud a person is." Katsuki snarled under his breath at the other's words. This had nothing to do with how proud he was. It had to do with the fact that this fucker had hurt his boyfriend. And Katsuki was going to make him pay. "In that case, I will break him myself and make him understand."

More, smaller balls of flesh came firing at the three U.A students. Once more causing Kaminari to yell out.

"Behaviour befitting the school one belongs to is what it means to be dignified." The other boy said.

"What's with this guy?" Kaminari whined.

"He talks too much." Katsuki growled, his arms visibly shaking with anger. His palms were sweaty and all he could see was red. He hadn't been this angry in a while. He leapt forwards, running at his opponent. "I'll kill him."

"Hey, wait! Don't forget that this is a test!" Kaminari shouted after him and unbeknownst to Katsuki, Shinsou nodded.

"That's why I'll kill him." Katsuki replied.

"Absurd!" the Shiketsu student yelled, firing off more flesh.

Katsuki leapt in the air, exploding each one as it got close. He knew Kaminari and Shinsou couldn't really defend against them. Kaminari was essentially out of commission in an area with so many people, and Katsuki doubted that this fucker would respond to Shinsou if he spoke. If he had knowledge of Katsuki, he must know who they are.

He dodged, narrowly as one glob of flesh got too close to his right flank. He had to manoeuvre out of the way before he could blast it. Behind him Kaminari got into a fighting stance.

"I'll finish this up fast." He said, firing off two orange disks from his pointer and shooter. The Shiketsu boy jumped back, allowing the disks to imbed themselves into the wall.

"Projectiles?" he muttered.

"Aw, crap!" Kaminari said, playing dumb. Katsuki smirked.

"You're an eyesore. Should I shape you into a ball first?"

Katsuki growled again, preparing another AP shot whilst the other boy was distracted by Kaminari's antics.

"Don't ignore me." He said, allowing his palm to burn with energy. He allowed the blast to move forwards, aiming to hit the other student in the chest. However, when the blinding light and smoke had cleared, Katsuki saw that the boy had made a wall of flesh, protecting him from the damage.

"I'm not, though." The Shiketsu prick said, and dread began to pool in Katsuki's stomach. Fuck. He'd done it again. Let anger blind him to the world around him.

He felt it before he saw it, cold skin on the back of his neck as the flesh seeped through his neck brace. It pulled him back slightly.

"Earlier, I had a piece of my flesh from under this elevated structure go around." He said. "You saw earlier with Kirishima, didn't you? If it touches you, that's the end."

The flesh encompassed his neck, cutting of his air in a way that was becoming unfortunately familiar. He couldn't breath and the flesh morphed into fingers, squeezing and rolling his body, making him choke on skin. Panic clawed at him as pressure began to build around his head.

"Bakugou!" he heard Kaminari and Shinsou shout.

He had to be strong. For them. Katsuki thought. Shinsou was no doubt overwhelmed. He'd never been in a combat situation before, outside of the Sport Festival. He was probably scared. And Kaminari… well. People often underestimated him. He was playful and jovial, but people often forget, that strategically, he was smart.

Katsuki had seen him set up his attack. He was ready, all he needed was for their opponent to step into range. If he did, Kaminari could knock him unconscious. Hopefully reverting the affects of his Quirk.

Katsuki clawed at his belt, pulling off one of the grenades he kept their, filled with his sweat. Fighting against the fingers that were remoulding his face he threw the grenade in the general vicinity of Kaminari.

"Hey, idiot, here." He gasped out. He heard a noise, that was hopefully Kaminari catching the grenade before he lost himself to pain. His body was rolled unnaturally in on itself. Bones seemed to dissolve against the pressure, making him feel light and gooey.

He couldn't breathe, but it didn't seem like his body needed to. He became somewhat vegetative, unable to move or speak, barely able to think cohesively. All he could do was blink and stay in a pile on the floor.

Kaminari and Shinsou took a step away from the carnage. Shinsou's eyes were wide and he was breathing fast. Kaminari gripped the grenade tightly in his hand, he swallowed heavily, knowing it was up to him now.

"Pathetic. You should start again from scratch." The Shiketsu student spat at the ball that was now Bakugou.

"No way…" Kaminari breathed, staring at Katsuki's pulsating body.

"This is a demonstration of power." Shishikura said. "This test has an unusually low passing rate. Since All Might has retired, and we have reached a turning point, wouldn't it normally be appropriate to increase the number of heroes? Namely, what this implies is that they are weeding out the riffraff."

"We can surmise that they are staring to be more selective in order to bring the profession of hero to a higher level. I wish to support that, so I am removing you folks now."

"You're ignoring the test to do that? That's strange" Kaminari asked, sharing a look with Shinsou who rolled his eyes and muttered.

"Bloody hero course students."

"What's strange is for ordinary people to grow apace in the world." Shishikura said, placing a food on Kirishima's body with a sickening squelch. Katsuki growled from his position. How dare that fucker hurt his boyfriend. Kirishima's mouth opened in a silent scream.

"By the way, their senses, including their sense of pain, will work as normal, even in this form." He said, grinding his foot into Kirishima. "So your electricity will hurt everyone, Kaminari Denki."

Kaminari put his hand to his head and sighed.

"You've pretty much just been slinging insults this whole time, huh?" Kaminari said quietly. "It hurts, so I wish you'd stop."

"That's because you have some self-awareness. I hope it will cause you to reflect on your actions." Shishikura said, flinging more flesh at the two remaining boys.

"I wasn't talking about myself." Kaminari said, flinging the grenade toward Shishikura. It exploded as soon as it hit the ground, blasting several clumps of flesh out of existence. The Shiketsu student jumped out of the way.

"An explosion. But I made Bakugou into a ball." He exclaimed in shock. "Bakugou's equipment?"

Kaminari ducked under a ball of flying flesh and Shinsou stepped to the left to avoid it.

"His sweat, he can put it into containers to make simple grenades." Kaminari said. "He told me about it angrily before, when I asked him if they were there for fashion."

"He's always thinking ahead." Kaminari's voice rang out across the concrete plain, causing the blond boy to frown. He wasn't speaking. "He's got a plan for everything, especially for what you're going to do next. Do you want to know what that is, senpai?"

"What?" Shishikura snapped. His body suddenly went stiff and his eyes glazed over white.

"You're going to take a step to the left." Shinsou said, his smirk hidden behind his mask. Kaminari gasped, his eyes widening.

"So that's what it does." He said as he let out a bolt of electricity. "What a nice place to stand, don't you think?" The electricity hit the orange disk imbedded into the wall, travelling through Shishikura. The boy screamed out in pain as he fell to the floor.

As soon as his grasp on his Quirk faded, Katsuki began to feel himself unfold. He slowly felt his arms and legs begin to form again as he was suddenly able to breath. He gasped for oxygen as he came to rest on his hands and knees. He could hear Eijirou doing the same behind him. Katsuki coughed, trying to clear the phantom burn in his lungs.

Eijirou recovered a lot more quickly than Katsuki did, getting to his feet a fraction of a second before Katsuki.

"Thanks Kaminari." Kirishima said, readying his fist. Katsuki struggled to copy his movement.

"What took you so long, you idiot?" He growled at Kaminari.

"Why are you so mean?" Kaminari whined.

Without another word Kirishima punched Shishikura in the face, followed by Katsuki flinging an explosion his way. The dwindling thread of consciousness Shishikura was clinging onto snapped and he fell backwards for the last time, succumbing to slumber.

"I'm sorry, I messed up." Shinsou said. "I should have been more help."

"You were great help, dude. You got him into position for me." Kaminari said. "I couldn't have got him if he was too far to the right."

"Yeah, you helped." Katsuki shrugged. He scanned the ledge they were on, counting the palls of flesh behind Shishikura's body. "There's enough here for us to pass." He said getting out the orange balls they had been given.

"Oh thank the Gods. I'm so tired." Kaminari said, doing the same.

The four of them went through the bodies of other students, tapping their disks until their own turned blue, telling them to return to the main building. Katsuki sighed in relief, at least this first part was over. He stretched his arms out in front of him before rolling his shoulders.

"Are you two okay, that looked horrible?" Kaminari said, on the way back to the building.

"It was horrible." Katsuki said.

"Yeah man, I need a shower and a massage after that." Kirishima said shaking out his body.

"I'm sure Bakugou will give you one later." Kaminari teased. Katsuki growled but made no move to hurt the other boy.

"Shut up." Kirishima said. "How are you two?"

"Fine." Kaminari shrugged.

"I don't know." Shinsou said. "I feel like I could have done more to help."

"It was a difficult situation." Kirishima replied. "Sometimes the best thing you can do is stay out of the way."

"Yeah. You acted when the moment called for it." Katsuki said. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Nice voice thing by the way. How'd you come up with that?" Eijirou asked.

"Oh, Aizawa. He said that it would quickly become obvious that I needed a response to take over someone's thoughts. He said if I could mimic people's voices I could trick people into talking to me."

"That's smart man." Kaminari said. "It was weird hearing it. Like, I hate hearing my voice recorded, I wasn't expecting it. It took a moment for me to realise it was me."

"Sorry. You were the one he was having a conversation with, it made sense to imitate you."

"Nah, nah. It was cool. You gotta be smart to use stuff like that." Kaminari laughed.

"I guess so." Shinsou shrugged. "It's not that difficult."

"Don't put yourself down." Katsuki said. "You've got to believe in yourself, if you don't why should anyone else?"

"Yeah, it's a lesson I had to learn." Eijirou said. "But until I started believing in myself, no one paid any attention to me. Then I started fighting to be heard and I got here."

"You believed you could get onto the hero course by doing well at the Sport's Festival. Find that belief in yourself again." Katsuki said.

"I guess you're right." Shinsou said.

"Of course I am. I'm Bakugou fucking Katsuki." Eijirou snorted at the comment.

"Yeah you are, Babe."

It took them a while to get back to the main building, they had gone further into the arena than they had expected. On the way back they met Izuku and the rest of his team. Kirishima and Kaminari joined in a little dance with other members of the class.

"What happened to the others?" Katsuki asked.

"We all got separated. You were right, the other schools ganged up on us." Izuku said.

"And Midoriya was alone with a naked girl." Sero added.

"What?" Kaminari yelled.

"You guys, it's not like that." Izuku said, panicked. "She was a shapeshifter or something. She had clothes on at the start."

"That's usually how it goes." Kaminari laughed and Midoriya squawked.

"It wasn't like that."

"Sure it wasn't." Kirishima laughed.

"Hey, you're one to talk. If anyone was getting naked with someone it would be you and Kacchan." Izuku snapped. Both Eijirou and Katsuki blushed deep crimson as Kaminari and Sero burst out laughing,

"This is fucking hilarious." Sero laughed.

"Shut up, 'Zuku." Katsuki snapped.

The now larger group headed inside the building and met the rest of their class inside. Katsuki found out that Shouto was the first out of them to pass, which was unsurprising considering his ability to stop people in their tracks.

They were given tools to take off their sensors and where provided refreshments as the second task was being set up. The class all stood together, some of them were occasionally approached by members of other schools, but mostly they were left alone.

One human hair ball approached Katsuki asking about the meatball but other than that Katsuki personally didn't have any interactions. The class spoke quietly amongst themselves, each snacking on food and drinking water.

"Kacchan." Izuku said, holding out another bottle of water. Katsuki took it with a mumbled thanks.

"Dude, that's like your third bottle of water." Kaminari said.

"My Quirk is sweat based, idiot. I need to drink water to make sweat." Katsuki said. "I don't know how much I'll need to use for the next task. So… three bottles of water."

"Just hope you don't really need to pee halfway through." Mina laughed.

"It doesn't work like that." Katsuki said with a shrug. "Most of the water I drink gets turned to sweat. I don't know how it works. It just does."

"Gross." Sero whined.

"Can we go see Aizawa-sensei?" Uraraka asked.

"I don't believe so." Iida said with a frown. "We must remain separated from our teachers in case they give us advice or banned items."

"Oh." Uraraka frowned.

"What's wrong Ochako? Why did you want to see him?" Hagakure asked.

"I don't know, I just thought it would be nice. You know, for moral support or something." The girl shrugged.

"We can do this." Iida said softly, placing a hand on Uraraka's shoulder. "We're class 1.A after all."

Katsuki sent a silent prayer of thanks to Hakamata when the next task was revealed. A rescue mission. He could only imagine the disaster that would have been his angry, selfish self doing this task. He could only assume it would have ended in him starting a fight with someone he was supposed to be saving.

This time the class agreed to split up, each deciding to head to and area in which their skills would be the most helpful. Katsuki was once again joined by Eijirou, Kaminari and Shinsou, and they all headed towards a large rocky area with multiple deep holes.

They checked each hole, cavern and cave they passed. Katsuki burnt an "X" into the rocks of each area they had search. Jeanist had taught him that it was standard procedure to mark searched buildings and areas as such, as it was a universal sign that an area was clear.

It took a while for them to come across any individuals that were in need of assistance. Katsuki adjusted his hearing aids, hoping to pick up any noises coming from any trapped individuals. Eventually, he picked up distant cries for help. Katsuki led the other three boys towards the sound.

They came across another large hole in the ground, two people were inside, a man and a woman. The woman was cradling her arm and the man appeared to be bleeding. Katsuki briefly assessed the hole and deeming it was safe he approached.

"Help! Help!" the pair called.

"We're here, stay calm." Katsuki said. "We're going to help you." He jumped down into the hole, Kaminari followed behind, Kirishima and Shinsou stayed above.

"Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" Kaminari asked.

"I'm bleeding quite a bit on my leg." The man replied.

"And I think my arm is broken." The woman said.

"Do you think you can walk?" Kaminari asked the man as Katsuki turned to Kirishima.

"Eiji, give me your cape thing, round your waist, so I can use it for bandages."

Without hesitating Kirishima unattached the material and threw it to his boyfriend. Katsuki moved to tear a thick strip of the fabric and handed it to Kaminari.

"Use it as a tourniquet." Katsuki said, before turning to the lady. "Are you comfortable with me making a temporary sling? Just until we can get you to the triage station." The woman nodded and Katsuki awkwardly tied the fabric in a way that would offer the woman some support on her arm.

"How are we going to get them out?" Kaminari asked quietly and Katsuki paused before saying.

"You keep them back out of the way, I'll blast some steps into the rock wall." Katsuki said. He moved over to the edge of the hole. Kaminari helped the two victims move back as Katsuki, with quick efficient movements he exploded parts of the rocks.

He then helped the woman up the steps and Kaminari carried the man. Kirishima steadied the woman, taking her good hand and leading her up.

"Hey, why don't I take these two to the triage station and you three go on looking for more people." Kaminari asked. "I can carry this guy and she can walk."

"Yeah, okay. As long as you can manage." Katsuki replied.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kaminari said. "Come on you two. Let's get going."

Kaminari began to walk back the way the group had come, whilst Katsuki, Eijirou and Shinsou carried on. Katsuki once again adjusted his hearing aids and had demanded that his companions walk in complete silence.

It didn't take long for Katsuki to pick up the distant cries for help. He froze in his steps, causing Eijirou and Shinsou to stumble to a stop. Katsuki turned, trying to pinpoint the direction in which the cries.

"That way, I think." Katsuki said, pointing east.

"You think?" Shinsou asked.

"It's quiet." Katsuki replied as he started walking at a brisk pace. Shinsou nodded and Eijirou followed without a word.

In the distance, Katsuki could see a large pile of boulders that were stacked perilously and as they got closer Katsuki could see that someone was wedged underneath. Kirishima and Shinsou must have seen her at the same time because all three of them broke into a run.

"Help!" the woman screamed. As they approached Katsuki could see that the woman was small and she was dressed in clothes clearly befitting of a child. Katsuki used his Quirk to blast himself forward, wincing slightly as the explosions hurt his ears due to his hearing aid setting.

"Help!" the woman called again.

"It's okay, we're here now." Katsuki said, rubbing just behind his ear in an attempt to relieve the pain.

"I want my mommy." The woman shouted. Katsuki looked at her for a moment. So she was supposed to be a child in this exercise?

"Hey there." Eijirou said. "It's okay, we'll get you to your mommy." He said. "My name's Red, what's yours?

"Mia." The girl said.

"Hi Mia. Don't worry, we'll get you out soon." Eijirou said. "Kats, I can pick up the biggest bolder, to get it off her but…"

"The little ones need moving first." Katsuki nodded. "Shinsou and I will move them. You stay with her. Talk to her and calm her down."

"On it." Red Riot said.

Katsuki and Shinsou got to work, pulling smaller rocks and boulders off of the pile. Katsuki could hear Kirishima trying to talk to the "girl" but he didn't seem to be doing well. He was maintaining his calm, joyful attitude, which Katsuki knew normally won kids over. But the trapped woman didn't seem to play along. She kept screaming and crying, refusing Kirishima's help.

"Hey no, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." Eijirou said suddenly. "Come on, it's okay, you've got to come to me."

"No. Stay away. I want my mommy."

"For fucks sake, what's wrong with this woman." Katsuki muttered under his breath.

"Kats, Shinsou." Eijirou called. "She's gone further under the boulder. We need to move quickly, or this thing could crush her."

"Shinsou, go use your Quirk on her or something. Make her stay still or come out a bit." Katsuki said.

"I can't use it on an innocent person." Shinsou said. "Using it in combat, sure. But not like this."

"What's the difference?" Katsuki said, moving more of the rocks away from the large boulder.

"It's a violation of free will. The ethics of a situation like this. I can't." Shinsou said.

"Even if it could save someone's life?" Katsuki said.

"I can't use it on people like that." Shinsou snapped back. "I'm not going to use it on normal people, I'm not a villain."

"Using your Quirk doesn't make you a villain. You used it on that meatball guy earlier."

"That was different." Shinsou shook his head, moving more rocks. "We were fighting him."

"Sometimes civilians get in the way. They freeze, or the run in the wrong direction. A Quirk like yours could save them." Katsuki said. "Please, use your Quirk to stop her moving. She could hurt herself even more."

Shinsou paused, a rock still in his hands.

"Swap with Eijirou, so he can pick up this big one." Katsuki said. Shinsou nodded, moving another rock and jumping down to where Kirishima was still trying to calm the girl down. Katsuki continued to move the last of the rocks so it was safe for Kirishima to move the largest one.

"Hey." Eijirou called as he came around the rock. "You ready?"

"Shinsou got the girl?"

"Yeah, he doesn't seem very happy about it, but he's ready to pull her out." Eijirou nodded.

"Okay." Katsuki nodded. "Well everything's been moved. Are you sure you can lift this up, it huge?"

"Yeah, if I harden it'll be fine." Kirishima nodded.

"Shinsou, on three, okay?" Katsuki called.

"Yeah." Shinsou called back. Eijirou got into position, getting a good grip of the rock.

"1, 2, 3." Katsuki said. As soon as the words left Katsuki's mouth Kirishima activated his Quirk and he lifted the rock. He groaned with effort and sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Got her." Shinsou shouted.

"Put it down, Ei." Katsuki said. The redhead did so slowly, making a pained noise as he bent down. As soon as the rock was on the ground he deactivated his Quirk and shook out his arms. He turned to Katsuki who smiled softly.

"I told you I could do it." Kirishima said.

"I knew you could." Katsuki smiled.

"Should I take her back to the first aid station." Shinsou asked as he came around the rocks. In his arms he held the girl, she was slumped against him, unconscious.

"Is she okay?" Eijirou asked.

"Her legs seem injured from being under the rocks. She passed out because of my Quirk. It happens sometimes. They just need a minute to come around." Shinsou said.

"Erm, yeah, she needs medical attention then." Katsuki said and Eijirou nodded in agreement. Shinsou opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a large bang.

The ground shook beneath their feet and in the distance, towards where they had come from, a large plume of smoke and orange fire seemed to emerge. Kirishima and Shinsou looked at Bakugou, who stared.

"What? It wasn't fucking me." He growled.

"Are you sure?" Shinsou asked.

"How the fuck would I create an explosion that far away, you idiot."

"Did you give Kaminari another grenade?"

"Attention." The voice of their instructor rang out across the arena. So far Katsuki had done his best in ignoring the asshole's drab commentary, but this time he turned to listen. "There has been a large-scale terrorist attack by villains."

"Really? Is this part of the test?" Kirishima asked.

"It must be." Katsuki said, "Come on, we should head over, see if we can help."

"If the villains are heading towards the first aid stand there could be trouble." Shinsou added.

"Villains have appeared and started their pursuit." The instructor called again as the group began to run towards the fight, Shinsou still carrying the unconscious woman. "Hero candidates at the scene should continue their rescue efforts while also suppressing the villains."

The three of them ran towards the direction of the explosion, only for the vibrating ground to force them to slow down, lest they fall.

"Could it be that earthquake guy from earlier?" Kirishima asked. Katsuki flinched as a sharp ringing sound filled his ears, high pitched and loud. "Katsuki?"

"I'm fine. Let's keep going, we need to get back." He growled. "The ground's stopped shaking. Let's move."

The three of them began to run again, Shinsou having to manoeuvre his grip on the woman to prevent him from dropping her. As they went the ringing noise returned again, like a wave of sound. Katsuki stumbled as his ears throbbed.

"Kats?"

"Can't you hear that?" Katsuki panted, trying to keep up.

"What?"

"The ringing?" Katsuki clarified.

"I can't hear anything?" Eijirou replied.

"Maybe it's like Tinnitus?" Shinsou asked.

"No. it hurts." Katsuki said.

Another wave of sound hit him, harder than the first two. The pain brought tears to Katsuki's eyes as he stumbled once again.

"Okay, do you want me to carry you?" Eijirou asked. "You can't run like this."

Katsuki brought his hand up to his left ear to rub at where it met his skull, to see if he could relieve the growing pressure.

"How can't you hear that?" Katsuki growled.

"Kats, your ear is bleeding." Kirishima said, concern evident on his face. Katsuki brought his hand away to see red staining his gloves.

"You really can't hear it?"

"My ears feel funny." Shinsou said. "Like I'm somewhere high or something. But I can't hear anything."

"Do you want me to carry you?" Eijirou said again.

"No, I can walk." Katsuki shook his head. "I can." He said as yet another blast of the ringing hit him. He whimpered but forced himself to carry on.

As they got closer to the first aid station, they could see the situation more clearly. Participants were running around wildly as Gang Orca stood surrounded by henchmen. Quirks of all natures were being activated and everyone was either fighting or trying to move people to safety.

"Is that Shouto?" Kirishima asked, pointing to the small blob in front of the whale hero.

"Could be." Katsuki mumbled, cradling his head.

Fire suddenly sprung from the blob's body, being picked up by another person's wind Quirk. It created a circle of rotating air and fire, not dissimilar to a fire spout. The flames built higher and higher as Katsuki, Kirishima and Shinsou finally reached the outskirts of the main area.

Katsuki could see members of his class fighting against black clothed henchmen with concrete spitting guns. His attention was briefly drawn by a bright green flash that had to have been Izuku. He smiled briefly to himself before it happened again.

This time the wave of hypersonic sound hit him like a tungsten wall. Blinding, white hot pain shot through his head as he felt his ears be ripped apart. He fell to his knees, crying out as blood rushed down his face. Tears ran from his eyes as a scream fell from his lips.

His hands instinctually covered his ears, in a too late attempt to protect them. The blistering pain made his vision swim as adrenaline tried to push him into awareness. His body was forced into fight or flight, perceiving him to be under attack. And he was Bakugou Fucking Katsuki, which one would he automatically choose?

The palms of his hands began to glow as an explosion built. The heat from them burnt against his cheeks, causing the blood on them to sizzle. He gagged as the scent of burning flesh hit his nose, but his body seemed too overwhelmed to figure out where the smell was coming from.

The distinctive whine of his building explosion was muffled, sounding much more far away than right against his ears. He screamed again as the pain only grew stronger. Sticky trails of blood oozed out from underneath his hands, dripping onto the floor.

Suddenly his hands were wrenched away from his face by sharp, rough things that cut through his gloves into the pads of his fingers. He was acutely aware of a hand on the back of his head, pressing him into something hard. He felt the skin on his forehead be sliced by something particularly pointed as the scent of coconut filled his nostrils.

He tried to pull away from the grip, but everything was happening so fast. It had barely been a second since the hypersonic wave had hit.

The building explosion finally released, igniting his palms in a vibrant orange. The nitro-glycerine like sweat burnt with a fury, spreading up his entire hands and wrists until they reached the filled gauntlets.

As soon as a spark hit them, they exploded like tanks full of petrol. Everything around Katsuki was consumed in flames of orange and white, the sizzling of flesh could be heard as shards of his gauntlets flew away from him.

Agony spread up his arms and he screamed again. The burning flesh was his. His vision blurred as blackness tried to claim him. The pain faded as his consciousness was pulled, like a rug from underneath him.

His body slumped forwards, covered in blood, against Kirishima's chest as a klaxon rang out across the arena.