Shiozaki awoke the next morning feeling a vague compulsion to act. She did not feel tired as she climbed out of her sleeping bag and got ready to report for training, despite the hour being barely past daybreak. She paid very little attention to everything around her, as though the world were passing by on a different, slower plane of existence. Despite this, her mind was awake and alert, reciting everything she planned on telling Kendo later for roughly the fifteenth time since last night.
When she stepped outside the cabin, she noticed that Kendo had dawdled silently by the door, only joining her outside when a few more girls had gone out between them - Shiozaki wondered if she was deliberately avoiding her.
No matter. She would resolve this whole mess by nightfall.
Training that day felt exceptionally slow. It was remarkable to her how a single hour could feel more like five, despite not having a moment's reprieve from crushing, splitting, and throwing boulders with her vines. A long time later, a telepathic broadcast from Mandalay announced the end of training.
The students gathered at the middle of the campsite one hour afterwards to commence the test of courage. The teachers led Class 1-A off behind the cabins to wait, while Class 1-B was given several minutes to discuss and come up with ideas.
The air was soon filled with loud and excitable chatter. Everybody seemed too absorbed in their own discussions to pay much attention to their surroundings. Shiozaki performed a quick sweep of the area, making doubly sure nobody had their eyes on her.
Here's my chance...
She spotted Kendo standing in a corner, in the middle of a conversation with Juzo Honenuki and Yui Kodai.
Shiozaki approached her from behind, finding it strangely hard to breathe. With a rigid hand, she reached out and tapped her friend on the shoulder. She quickly turned around.
"Kendo, can I join your group?" she asked. "There's something we need to talk-"
"Only if you want to," Kendo said quickly.
"Excuse me?" Shiozaki said, puzzled by her answer.
Kendo seemed to realise she had skipped a few steps in their conversation. She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, then looked back up.
"Okay, look - I'm sorry about what happened yesterday," she said. "I figured you probably feel like you need to explain yourself to me, so I want to make this clear - I'm not pressuring you to do anything. If you don't feel like talking about...whatever that was, I won't ask you about it. Ever. I refuse to act like that just to sate my curiosity."
Kendo had clearly thought a lot about what she wanted to say as well. Somehow, just knowing this made Shiozaki feel far less anxious about the whole ordeal. Breathing suddenly felt much easier too.
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but this is something I have to do," Shiozaki said. "If we are to continue being friends, I don't think I can keep secrets any longer - otherwise, how can I say that I trust you?"
Shiozaki looked around to make sure she wasn't being overheard. Kodai was still talking to Honenuki - though their conversation seemed very one-sided.
She turned back to Kendo. "Before the test of courage, when we're done setting up - is that okay with you?"
"Works for me."
From her cautious smile, Shiozaki could tell that Kendo felt more apprehensive than she wanted to show. Shiozaki didn't let this dishearten her - now that she had made the first move, her only choice was to see it through to the end.
At that moment, she heard Mandalay's voice coming from inside her head, announcing that it was time for the groups to enter the forest.
There was a mad scramble for the entrance as Shiozaki's classmates rushed to set up their traps. Deciding to lighten the mood, Shiozaki flashed Kendo a small smile, which she returned. The two of them then dashed into the forest, with Kodai and Honenuki closely in tow.
Their group began setting up their trap near the entrance of the forest, in between a clump of bushes and a tall weathered tree. Shiozaki and Kendo made sure to finish their preparations swiftly so that they would have time to talk. As Honenuki kept himself busy softening the ground under Kodai's watch, the two girls gathered underneath the tree.
"Alright, what is it you wanted to tell me?" asked Kendo.
Shiozaki felt like she had just sat down for some long, unpleasant interview. She stalled for as long as she could to organise her thoughts - then, she spoke.
"Do you remember the start of the year, when Tokage asked us why we wanted to become heroes, and I didn't give her an answer?"
Shiozaki spoke into dead silence for several minutes. As she spoke, she did her best not to look Kendo in the eye - she feared that if she saw the slightest hint of discomfort in her friend's eyes, it would make her lose her nerve.
"...the reason I didn't tell you or anyone about this was because I didn't want a repeat of the last two years. You and the others...you're my friends and I cherish what we have together - I didn't want to risk it for anything."
With that, Shiozaki concluded her recount. Her mouth was parched, and her throat felt uncomfortably dry. She stole a glance at Kendo - she was looking at her silently, her face pale, like she was about to be sick.
Shiozaki felt a terrible knot of dread forming inside her stomach - then, with visible effort, Kendo broke into a feeble but genuine smile.
"So that's how it is...alright. I understand. If I had to go through that, I'd feel miserable too. Anyway, I'm glad you finally decided to open up about this, Ibara."
The knot in her stomach loosened, though just barely - many of her old friends used to spout similar words too, but they were superficial and empty. She stared hopefully at Kendo, as if asking for affirmation that her words were genuine. Kendo's smile did not waver, and she gave Shiozaki a curt nod which she understood to mean, "You can trust me."
Shiozaki's eyes suddenly felt rather damp, and she found it difficult to speak again.
"Thank...thank you," she finally said in a quavering voice. "I was so worried the two of us wouldn't be the same again after this..."
"Hey, don't forget, I'm your class president," Kendo said. "It's my job to understand my classmates as well as I can. And...well, I won't deny that I'm pretty shocked by the things you said, but I know full well that you're still the same girl I hang out with every day. I'm not going to shun you just because I know a little more about you now."
Shiozaki gave a small smile and a nod, but it quickly faded.
"Goodness, why'd it have to be this way?" she said. "I thought I could get away with not ever talking about this, or at least do it on my own once I'd mustered up the courage...in the end, I had to give you a rushed confession because you saw my scars..."
"Hey, better sooner than later," Kendo said brightly. "And don't worry, I'll be sure to knock next time."
Shiozaki let out a tiny laugh despite herself.
"Though...I do want to ask you something," Kendo said. She leaned forward and brushed her ponytail out of her face, giving Shiozaki a rather serious look.
"Am I the only one you intend to talk to about this? It's just...well, I don't think you can hide this forever, and if the others are going to find out, don't you think they should hear it from you first?"
Shiozaki didn't answer immediately. She stared across the path at Honenuki and Kodai, who were already lying in wait for Class 1-A behind the bushes.
Frankly, she agreed with Kendo. Her friend's judgment was rarely wrong, and this time was no exception. She had been foolish to think she could go all of three years without her classmates realising she was hiding something. And what if they went on to work at the same agency? Was she going to keep it a secret for another three years? Five? Ten?
And yet, every time she considered just biting the bullet and coming clean, her fear that her friends would ostracise her bared its fangs from the back of her mind, draining her of all courage. That fear tussled endlessly with her guilt for not trusting her friends, making her head feel like a warzone...
Finally, she said, "...I think everyone deserves to know eventually. But for now, I'm just going to tell the other girls - and maybe Shishida and Tetsutetsu. I think I can trust them with that."
Kendo nodded. "Does Mr Vlad King know about this?"
"My injury was listed in my medical record when I enrolled here, so he should know."
"I see. Well, I wish you luck," Kendo said brightly. "Now - what say we forget about all this for now and see how bad we can make these guys scream?"
"This fucking sucks..." Bakugo grumbled as he trudged down the forest path, keeping a firm distance from Shoto Todoroki. "Can we hurry this up?"
"What's the matter? Are you scared?" asked Todoroki.
"Hell no, I just don't want to be stuck in here with you!"
"I see."
The ground in front of them started to ripple. Kodai's face suddenly burst out of the mud, making them stop in their tracks.
"Oh."
They heard a faint snickering coming from the bushes as Kodai lowered herself back underground.
"That was honestly pretty good," said Todoroki, staring down at the spot where Kodai had been.
"Hah, don't tell me that was enough to scare you?" Bakugo sneered as he walked on ahead. "How weak can you get?"
A loud cracking noise next to his ear made him jump.
"Whuh-?!"
He whirled around, taking several steps backwards. He just barely caught a glimpse of a broken twig suspended in mid-air by two vines, before he slipped on a patch of softened ground and fell in a great splatter of mud.
The light snickering in the bushes turned into full-blown shrieking laughter. Bakugo sat upright, furiously wiping mud out of his eyes. As his vision cleared, he saw Shiozaki leaping down from a wizened tree with a panicked look on her face.
"I'm - I'm so sorry!" she said as she hurried over to him. "I just wanted to make you jump a little, I didn't think you'd fall!"
She reached his side just as he got to his feet, his face burning a brilliant red.
"Are you hurt?" she squeaked with her hands pressed over her mouth.
"On the outside - no," Bakugo said irritably as Honenuki's laughter continued to ring through the area.
"I really didn't mean-"
"Seriously, it's fine."
He suddenly brought a hand down on her shoulder and leaned forward so that his lips were right next to her ear. She drew a sharp breath-
"I'll get you back for that later, you jerk."
He released her and took a step back. For a moment he observed Shiozaki's frightened expression with a satisfied look, the sides of his mouth curling into an evil grin.
His usual frown soon returned as Todoroki walked on ahead of him.
"Come on Bakugo, didn't you say you wanted to finish this quickly?"
He turned to follow him. "Do me a favour and go eat dirt."
After Kyoka Jiro and Toru Hagakure passed under the old tree, screaming like rats at the exact same prank the last three pairs fell for, the four kids from Class B finally grew tired of their routine. With a few minutes to spare, they emerged from their hiding spots to engage in idle chatter. Honenuki staggered over to the group with some difficulty, still snickering at Bakugo's reaction from fifteen minutes ago.
"First that 'oh' noise - kaff...and then when he slipped in the - oh man!" he wheezed, clutching his sides. "I don't think anyone is going to top that tonight - kaff..."
Kodai stared at him with a blank look on her face, her head tilted to one side as though she was mildly intrigued by his behaviour. Behind them, Shiozaki and Kendo were once again left with each other for company.
"You know, that reminds me," Kendo said. "You and Bakugo are pretty close, right?"
"I...guess so?" Shiozaki said, unsure of what Kendo was getting at.
"So do you ever plan on telling him? Your secret, I mean."
"Oh - actually, he's the first one I told," Shiozaki said. For some reason, she felt a little abashed saying this.
Kendo stared at her. "Are you for real?"
"Why so surprised?"
"Sorry, that sounded awful," Kendo said quickly. "I was just afraid he wouldn't take it very well. I always felt like he was the kind of guy who wouldn't care for other people's sob stories."
"Well...you're not exactly wrong. He said it didn't matter whatever happened in my past, and that it didn't mean I was weak. I'm really glad he said that..."
She looked at Kendo, and noticed that she was staring at her with a very peculiar expression. It was as if she couldn't decide whether to smile or not-
"Hey, uh - guys?" came Honenuki's voice. "Is it just me, or do you smell something burning?"
At this, Shiozaki and Kendo glanced around the clearing, and indeed saw a light purple mist wafting slowly into the area.
"Well, now that you mention it..." Kendo muttered.
Honenuki snickered. "Heh, maybe Bakugo and Todoroki got so scared that they fired off their...Quirks..."
He suddenly keeled over and crashed to the floor, his face contorted into a stunned look of pain.
"Honenuki?!"
Shiozaki felt herself tense up. Everything seemed to slow down as Kendo's shouts were drowned out. She looked around wildly, and saw more wisps of smoke drifting into the area, twisting and turning like ghostly violet serpents.
She realised what was happening almost immediately. A split second later, Kendo's enlarged hand came slamming down on her, pinning her to the ground. She heard a second slam, followed by a muffled gasp from Kodai.
"Ibara, Yui, don't breathe it in! It's poison!"
"Everyone! We are under attack by two villains! There are possibly more! If you can move, return to camp immediately! Do not engage in battle!"
Mandalay's telepathic message sounded loudly in Shiozaki's mind as she, Kendo and Kodai dashed through the forest. As they ran, Shiozaki couldn't help but shake the harrowing feeling that no matter where they turned, they encountered the purple gas everywhere. They were quickly running out of air, and the weight of Honenuki's limp body was costing them time and stamina...
It was by sheer luck that they ran into Tetsutetsu a few minutes later, who was carrying an unconscious Hiryu Rin in his arms. They were both wearing gas masks.
"Here, take a bunch. We have loads..."
"Tha...thanks!"
Shiozaki quickly grabbed a mask and threw it on. She took a great, shuddering breath, and the rush of fresh air quickly soothed her burning lungs. But they still hurt too much to speak, and for more than a minute all she could do was kneel down next to Rin and Honenuki, gasping and wheezing.
Somewhere beside her, Kendo and Tetsutetsu were having a full-blown argument.
"I'm going to fight and you can't stop me! Stay here and look after the others!"
"You heard what they said, it's too dangerous!"
Shiozaki felt a stab of annoyance as she listened to their tirade. Every second they spent standing in this dingy clearing was putting them further in danger...
She was just about to march over and take Kendo's side in the argument, when a set of cold fingers seized her wrist feebly.
"该...该死..."
She looked round in shock. Rin was awake, beads of sweat streaming down his face behind his mask. His chest was rising and falling violently, and his eyelids were flickering in erratic patterns. He looked like he was using an enormous amount of effort just to stay awake. Shiozaki bent over him and grasped his freezing hand, staring at his face in concern.
"Saw him in the trees..." he muttered weakly. "...appeared out of nowhere. Got us all, even Class A..."
Shiozaki's heart skipped a beat.
"What?" she breathed.
Rin took a rasping breath, as though he wanted to say something else. But then his eyes drooped shut, and his head rolled onto its side. His hand grew limp and slipped out of Shiozaki's grasp.
"Rin? Rin!"
But he was unconscious.
Shiozaki stood up very slowly. The noise of Kendo and Tetsutetsu arguing sounded very far away now, as if a thick veil of mist had mixed in with the fumes and was separating them from her. She stared down at the ground without looking, her thoughts overlapping with one another...
"Tetsutetsu," she said quietly.
Tetsutetsu abruptly ceased his shouting and whirled around furiously.
"What?!" he roared.
"The gas - how far has it spread by now?"
"Huh? It's already covered the first half of the track and everything around it! Awase and Yaoyorozu went back to help everyone who breathed it in!"
Shiozaki didn't answer. The first half of the track - it was supposed to take one person thirty minutes to walk the whole length back to the camp. And she had only seen Bakugo fifteen minutes ago...
Tetsutetsu had already gone back to shouting at Kendo.
"Don't try to stop me, Kendo! If our class doesn't step up now, then when will we?! We need to do this or-"
"I agree."
Tetsutetsu stopped mid-sentence. He and Kendo turned to stare at Shiozaki, as if they weren't entirely sure if she had said those words. It took everything Shiozaki had to keep looking them in the eyes.
"Ibara," Kendo breathed, her voice quivering with anger. "Say that again."
Shiozaki nearly flinched under her hostile stare. "We're...we're training to be heroes too, right?" she said. "This is our chance...to prove that we're capable..."
Tetsutetsu gazed at her, a spark of wonder in his eyes.
"See?! She gets it, too!" he roared, turning back to Kendo. "I was damn sure she'd take your side, but hell!"
But Kendo was not as impressed. The look of irritation on her face made it clear that she knew what Shiozaki was trying to do - she was only agreeing with Tetsutetsu so that she could go look for Bakugo.
And yes, she admitted it - had it not been for Rin's grim message, she would already be next to Kendo helping her drag Tetsutetsu back to the campsite. But if there was a possibility that Bakugo was now lying in the dirt, unconscious or struggling to move like Rin...she could not accept that.
Kendo looked back and forth between her friends' determined faces, a pleading look in her eyes asking them to desist. Neither of them wavered. Finally, her shoulders sagged and she let out a defeated groan.
"Yui, can you stay and look after these two?"
"Mm."
Tetsutetsu's eyes narrowed. "Wait, does that mean-"
Kendo raised a hand to her forehead and said exasperatedly, "Yes, I'm coming with you! At least I'll be able to help if anything happens to you!"
She shot Shiozaki another filthy look.
Tetsutetsu pumped his fist into the air and yelled, "Hell yes! Now let's go find whoever did this and beat their ass!"
He immediately turned and sprinted off into the trees.
"Wait, Tetsutetsu!" Kendo cried out. "Urgh, does he even know where he's going? Come on, let's go after him before he gets himself killed."
She dashed forth in his wake, and Shiozaki followed closely behind, worry weighing down heavily on her heart.
"Damn it!"
"Is this gas from a villain's doing?" Todoroki muttered, carrying an unconscious boy on his back. "Well, I don't like it, but we need to head directly back to camp - let's leave the others to Ragdoll."
Bakugo growled, "Don't tell me what to do, you-"
He stopped short as he looked down the path ahead of them. There was a human figure, kneeling on the ground...
...and something else.
"Hey...Half-and-Half?" he whispered. "Who was ahead of us just now?"
"Tokoyami and...Shoji..."
The kneeling figure looked back at them.
A manic leer spread across Bakugo's face as he felt blood rushing into his head.
"'Don't fight', they said...?"
Had this been back at USJ, his fighting instincts would have already kicked in. He would have already been gearing up to dodge a hit or throw a right hook, all the while devising at least four different follow-up attacks in his head.
But now - even as a fusillade of blades rained down upon him, even as the deadly metal missed him by an inch, screeching horribly against Todoroki's ice wall - a different thought was the first to surface in his mind.
Ibara...where the hell are you right now?!
At that same moment, Shiozaki, Kendo, and Tetsutetsu were still forcing their way through the purple smoke. Their vision impeded by the thickening gas, they had not spotted any sign of other individuals for a very long time - so when another telepathic broadcast sounded in their heads, they nearly jumped in fright.
"Everyone!" came Mandalay's voice.
"What the-?!" Tetsutetsu yelled.
"We have learned one of the villains' targets! They want a student nicknamed 'Kacchan'! 'Kacchan' should avoid combat at all costs and return here immediately! Understood?!"
"Huh? Who the hell is that?!"
"Beats me..." muttered Kendo.
But Shiozaki felt uneasy. Although the memory was foggy, she was certain she had heard that nickname before. And she felt like she needed to be worried...
And then, it hit her with a terrible shock - over a month ago, at the cafe near the school...
"Deku, you little shit! What the fuck do you want from me?!"
"K-Kacchan? Sorry! I think I called you by accident!"
Her blood ran cold, and she gasped.
"Katsuki?!"
She came to an abrupt halt, her soles grating against the dirt. Kendo, who had heard her gasp, stopped and turned to look at her. Tetsutetsu only did the same a few seconds later, after the girls' footsteps had ceased.
"Hey! What's going on?!"
He began shouting something else, but Shiozaki couldn't hear him. Every other thought wiped from her mind. The only thing she wanted to know was why the villains were after Bakugo.
Money, perhaps...? His family seemed quite wealthy - but if that were so, wouldn't they have gone after Yaoyorozu or Shishida? Or were they trying to make a statement by hunting down one of the school's top students...?
She shook her head aggressively. None of that mattered right now. If the enemy was actively trying to hunt him down, then the gas user was probably only present for crowd control - in that case, every second she spent trying to find them...
She looked desperately at Kendo, as though asking her for permission to act.
Kendo's face was hard to make out behind her mask, but she looked like she was struggling to make a decision. Then, clearly going against her better judgment, she gave Shiozaki the tiniest of nods.
That was all she needed. She turned around-
"Wait."
Kendo suddenly stepped over to her. She pulled something out of her pocket, and placed it in Shiozaki's hand. She looked down and saw two flat, dark metal cylinders.
"What-?"
"Emergency oxygen canisters," said Kendo. "They were on Rin's body. If you find yourself in trouble with the gas, just stick them onto your mask's filters, and - they should buy you enough time to get out."
Shiozaki nodded. She pocketed the canisters, and immediately turned and ran back towards the main path, not sparing any time to respond to Tetsutetsu's bewildered yells.
Shiozaki continued running until the gas around her started to thin out. Eventually, the last traces of purple gave way to a long stretch of green. She would have found the sight welcoming if she weren't so sick with worry.
She stopped and looked around. She was back on the dirt path, surrounded by trees on both ends, the air free of poison. The clear air told her that she was standing on the second half of the path - perfect. Following it backwards should lead her straight to Bakugo.
She tore off her mask and strapped it to her waist using a vine, then pressed onwards. She felt slightly better now, knowing that she was getting closer, but at the same time there was guilt gnawing at her heart for deserting Kendo and Tetsutetsu...
She heard a bang in the distance like a gunshot. It ricocheted off something that sounded horribly like steel.
Resolving to not waste any time, she doubled her pace. Her footsteps pounded loudly against the dirt.
Too loudly.
Danger signals went off in her mind. Someone else was running down the path behind her, lagging behind by at most a few dozen metres. Their footsteps were erratic and inhumanly fast, and they were drawing closer.
Acting swiftly, she dived sideways into the bushes. There, she turned and peered out from between the leaves, her vines poised. The other person was going to run past her in seconds...
A flash of green lit up the area. She sent her vines flying out, and the individual reacted, lunging at her with a vicious whirl that ripped right through her vines-
She let out a sharp gasp.
"Midoriya?!"
Izuku Midoriya froze mid-attack. His leg, pulsating with bright green energy, was raised just inches away from Shiozaki's face. He stared at her in shock for a moment before hastily lowering his leg.
"Shiozaki...?" he said weakly. "What are you - where's everyone else-?"
Shiozaki didn't respond to his stutters. She could only stare at him with her mouth agape, unable to speak out of horror - not because he had nearly kicked her with enough force to pulverise a skyscraper, but because she was positively alarmed by the state he was in. Cuts and bruises covered his entire body...and was that a swollen eye? And his arms - shrivelled and bloody and hanging by his sides - just the sight of them made her want to gag.
"Are...are you insane?!" she exclaimed, the moment she had found her voice. "Coming out here with those injuries - how are you even standing? Why on earth aren't you back at...?"
But then she realised there was only one reason why Midoriya would drag himself into the forest in this broken state.
"You're looking for Bakugo too, aren't you...?"
Midoriya gave her a surprised look.
"Y-yeah, why?" His good eye glinted hopefully. "Do you know where he is?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but no - I was just hoping I could come with you."
"I...what? Do you know each other-?"
"That doesn't matter right now, can I come with you or not?" Shiozaki said, losing her patience. "We're wasting time!"
Several more gunshots sounded from far away. Midoriya quickly straightened up, a hardened look on his face.
"Alright - let's go."
At once, they set off down the path again. Shiozaki quickly noticed that Midoriya was not running as fast as before - he was slowing down so that she could keep up. She felt something twisting in her stomach. What if her presence was just wasting even more time?
She was forced back to reality as a giant shadow-like hand lashed out at them from the darkness.
Bakugo launched himself backwards with his explosions, flying in between the erratically cascading blades. He snarled angrily as he dodged, feeling like an insect trying to evade a net. He landed just as Todoroki advanced, shattering several blades with his ice.
Bakugo glared angrily at him. "Tell me again why I shouldn't just torch this whole freaking place?!"
"Because you'll set the trees on fire!"
"Just put them out with your ice, why don't you?!"
Todoroki opened his mouth and yelled something - but his voice was drowned out by a monstrous roar from the trees.
The two boys turned their heads.
"What the-?"
There was an earth-shaking tremor beneath their feet. Then, a gigantic black beast burst out from the trees, writhing and bellowing in rage. Even more to the two boys' surprise, three figures then emerged from near the beast's underbelly, leading it straight towards them.
Leading the group was Shiozaki, her expression frantic and her eyes fixed on Bakugo. She was followed closely by Mezo Shoji. And on Shoji's back was-
"Kacchan!" Midoriya cried out.
Suddenly, Bakugo felt an inexplicable rage rising up within him. He didn't know where this feeling was coming from. He couldn't tell if he was angry at Midoriya for coming to save him, or furious at Shiozaki for not retreating to safety, or exasperated at all of them for bringing the creature here...
"You two! Make some light!" Shoji yelled. "Tokoyami's gone berserk!"
Bakugo and Todoroki looked back up at the creature, and they understood.
"Got it," said Todoroki, raising his left arm. "I'll use my flames-"
"Wait, idiot."
It all happened in an instant.
The villain lay defeated, totally motionless in a pile of leaves and splintered wood. The last of the bright flames dissipated from the area, and Fumikage Tokoyami collapsed to the ground, sweating and shivering violently.
As Midoriya, Todoroki, and Shoji hurried to comfort their friend, Shiozaki rushed over to Bakugo's side. She reached him just before she completely caved, falling halfway forward and dropping her hands onto her knees. She struggled to breathe, all the while trying to ignore a searing pain in her sides.
"Oh...oh, thank God..." she said in between breaths. "Oh, you're safe..."
Bakugo didn't tell her not to worry, or even ask her if she was alright. Instead, he scowled with fury as he demanded, "Angel, why the hell did you come here?!"
Shiozaki's gasping abruptly stopped. She drew herself up to full height, glaring at Bakugo with a mixture of bewilderment and anger.
"Excuse me? Am I not allowed to be concerned about you?" she said. "These people could be trying to kill you!"
"So?! You should have gone back to camp if you were still awake!"
"Is this about you wanting to win again? Why can't you just accept help from other people?"
"That's not-"
"You're always like this when it comes to fighting! Could you put aside your pride and stop thinking about yourself for one second?"
Bakugo's face turned a violent shade of red.
"'Thinking about myself?!'" he roared. "I was worried about you!"
At this point, Shoji turned towards them.
"Be quiet, you two!" he yelled. "There could be more enemies around here!"
They both promptly fell silent. After a moment, the angry flare faded from Bakugo's eyes.
"Sorry. I take back what I said."
Shiozaki shook her head. "Don't apologise - I misunderstood."
Shoji turned towards Bakugo.
"Anyway, we need to escort you back to camp before anything else happens," he said. "Midoriya's already devised a formation that'll keep you safe. If you're okay with it, we're leaving immediately."
Bakugo glared at him and spat, "I'm not doing anything Deku thinks is-"
"Please just go with it," Shiozaki whispered hastily. She surprised herself with how strained her voice sounded. The sooner they got back, the better...
Bakugo looked at her for a few seconds, then back towards Shoji.
"Fine. Let's go."
Hi, Imma just give it to you straight - I'll be putting this story on hiatus for the next few months. Hell, possibly even until November, depending on how hard life decides to **** me this year.
However, that doesn't mean I'm going to disappear without a trace again. Real life is boring and I need an outlet, so until I get Chapter 15 of this story ready, I'll (probably) be making short Genshin Impact fics from time to time. They'll be centred mainly around friendship and romantic couples, so any Travellers who happen to like that stuff (who am I kidding, we're in the BnHA fandom) are free to see what I got. There's a platonic Diluc & Noelle story I'm really looking forward to making...
Also, you might have noticed that I've gone back to earlier chapters and erased Ibara's father from existence. I've got some stuff planned later on involving her family, and I think portraying any more than two characters there would just make them dead weight. Therefore, I gave him the delete.
That's all from me for now. Thanks for reading.