Welcome to my first MHA story, my peeps! I'm planning on this being a three/four-ish shot, so here we go!

PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT a manga reader. I literally heard about Deku, Bakugo, & Todoroki training with Endeavor at some point (?) and that's briefly mentioned, but since I haven't read the manga, I apologize if timelines and things don't fit perfectly. I just wanted this to happen sometime after Season 4. So, all of this shit mostly comes from the anime.

This is also just for funsies and the sake of angst, so boom.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy!

"I'm just sayin'! Half of everyone in the class is nearly topless in their costumes anyway, so I don't see what the problem is with me changing my shirt."

"The problem is that it would look so gaudy!" Ashido argued.

"Kaminari, if you get a deep V-neck tank for your costume, there's a good possibility I'll never speak to you again."

"Come on, Hagakure! At least let me try out my ideas before you bash them to pieces!" The lightning hero slumped down onto the couch, a sour pout on his face. All of Class A was hanging out in the downstairs common area, which was per usual these days, especially after a long day's worth of studying and training. Even though they spent their entire days together, unwinding as a group seemed like the only way to do it. Tonight was even more lively since Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki were back from their outside training. Along with the strange conversation happening in the living room, a pretty heated game of pseudo-poker or something was happening on the dining tables.

Speaking of Bakugo, Kirishima glanced at his friend sitting in the chair next to him. While he'd been expecting the blonde to make an outburst at Kaminari, he instead looked a bit spaced out, his eyes drooping as if he were about to fall asleep. Also, was it just him, or did he look a bit pale too…?

"Come on, Kirishima!" Denki broke the sturdy hero from his thoughts. "Help a dude out!"

"I don't really see the problem with it myself. I say do whatever," the red-head admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling a bit. "You might not want my advice in terms of fashion though."

"Yeah, you're definitely not one to talk, Mr. Leather Straps," Hagakure agreed.

"Your costume is literally just gloves!"

Kirishima ignored the ensuing argument between his friends, turning to Bakugo. "Hey man, you good? You seem out of it."

This seemed to snap the blonde boy back to the present, as he glanced briefly at Eijiro before blinking hard and putting a hand to his head. Looking irritated, he grumbled, "Whatever. First, I have to cover Deku and Icy-Hot's useless asses, and then I have to come back and listen to this dumbass conversation. I'm freakin' exhausted."

"Oh, yeah, I guess it is almost nine o'clock," Kaminari interrupted, having forgotten his argument for the opportunity to poke fun at his explosive friend. Smirking teasingly, he jabbed, "Guess it is past your bedtime, Kacchan."

"Shut the hell up. I'm too tired to deal with you." Still rubbing his head, Bakugo stood up, another far-off look appearing in his eyes. His words sounded more breathy than normal. "I'm going to my room."

As he walked away, Kirishima couldn't help but raise a judging eyebrow at his sarcastic friend. "Why do you feel the need to egg him on like that?"

"Come on, it's fun and you know it."

"That's not my - "

A huge thud suddenly broke their conversation, as well as that of the rest of their classmates. Whipping his head toward the sound, Kirishima's throat caught itself when he saw Bakugo crumpled on the floor just feet from the elevator.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leaping from his seat, Eijiro rushed over and knelt beside his friend. Turning the blonde over, it was clear that he was fully unconscious. "Hey man, you okay? Can you hear me?"

"What happened?" Iida's voice broke through the concerned mumbling of everyone else. The group who'd been playing cards and all the students from the living room began to herd toward them.

"I think he just passed out. He wasn't feeling too good a minute ago."

"He looks rather pale," Yaoyorozu worriedly pointed out, making her way over with her hand to her heart.

Koda briskly made his way to the door. "I'll go get Mr. Aizawa!"

"He probably overworked himself," Todoroki offered, not looking overly concerned. "It's quite possible his explosive, non-stop method is catching up to him."

"I don't know," Midoriya countered, pursing his lips. His eyes, in addition to being worried, indicated that his brain was doing its million-miles-per-second thing. "Sure, he was passionate about our training, but it didn't seem like he was going harder than he normally does. Not only that, but Kacchan takes pretty good care of himself - his diet, exercise, sleep schedule, everything. He wouldn't just let himself end up like this..."

"Yes, but even pure exhaustion can happen to the best of us," Tokoyami posited, arms crossed.

"Everyone chill out," Kirishima interrupted, letting out an exasperated sigh. "He just fainted. Now, come on, let's make him comfortable so that…."

"He's not breathing."

All eyes zoomed to Jiro, her earphone jack plugged into the floor beside them and her eyes wide with sudden fear. Kirishima suddenly felt cold, eyes also widening as he instinctively whipped around and put his fingers to his Bakugo's neck. It was now blaringly obvious how his chest didn't seem to be rising. Putting heavy pressure on the carotid artery, Ei desperately tried to feel anything resembling a pulse, the rest of the class looking on in horrific anticipation. He waited a long five seconds. Nothing.

"Damn it!" The redhead practically pounced on his friend's heart and began chest compressions. He could feel the air immediately fill with the fear and worry of his classmates, the various "Oh my god"s and such being drowned out by his fixation on what he was doing. What the hell was going on? Bakugo had been talking not two minutes ago, and now he was on the floor, his heart not beating. His badass of a friend, who'd he'd seen confidently face countless villains, had collapsed just like that, and if he couldn't get his heart to…

"Come on. Don't do this. Don't do this," Kirishima grunted, pressing his compressions harder into the blonde's chest.

"Here!" Yaomomo knelt at Bakugo's head, placing a CPR air mask over his nose and mouth. No doubt she'd made it with her quirk. "Kirishima, you're going too fast. Remember - the speed of your own heartbeat."

"Right." He remembered that from their rescue training, but his heart was racing and not being of much help right now. Still, he couldn't afford to do something wrong. Not right now. Not with him.

Resetting his brain and remembering all their training, he continued his CPR, this time counting aloud, "1-2-3-4-5…."

"Just keep going like that," Yaororozu encouraged. Though Kirishima didn't look at her, he could hear her voice cracking with emotion. "Kaminari, I'm going to give Bakugo two breaths after this set of compressions. After we do one more set of compressions and breaths, if he isn't breathing, you need to act as a defibrillator and shock him."

"Yeah. Gotcha." Denki answered quickly, though he still sounded completely dazed and shocked at what was unfolding. Kneeling on the other side of Bakugo from Kirishima, he softly pleaded, "Come on, Bakugo…"

"...27-28-29-30!" Kirishima briefly halted his compression to allow Momo to give two deep breaths with the bag, but he firmly held his position with his hands over Bakugo's heart. He stole a glance at his unconscious friend's face, but that only increased the sinking feeling in his stomach. The class had always joked about how Bakugo's peaceful expression while he slept made him look so much more approachable than when he was awake, but now Ei found himself silently praying for him to open his eyes and yell at all of them to back the hell off - peaceful look be damned. The blonde's deteriorating color didn't help matters either.

"Okay, Kirishima, keep going!"

Yaoyorozu's voice tore him from his troubling thoughts again, and he started his CPR back up. Don't think. Don't think about why. Don't think about ten minutes from now. Don't even think about ten seconds from now. Just do it.

"Come on, Kacchan..." Midoriya was clenching his fists so hard, Kirishima was afraid he would break his knuckles with his quirk. His face was so scrunched up with emotion that it was unclear if it was fear, sadness, anger, or a concoction of all of them. If two people could do chest compressions at once, Eijiro knew that the green-headed boy would've been going right along with him. He and Bakugo had known each other since they were kids after all, so just standing by unable to do anything had to be killing him.

Not just Midoriya either. As heroes in training, everyone else probably felt helpless watching from the sidelines as their classmate lay dying. Kirishima felt frustrated, and he was one of the ones helping. He couldn't imagine what they all must have felt like. Yet he could hear a chorus of shouts and encouraging words all around him.

"Come on, Bakugo! You have to wake up!" Uraraka.

"If you die like this, I swear you are so lame, dude!" Sero.

"Keep going, Kirishima! Don't let up!" Ashido.

"Yaoyorozu, what can we do?" Shoji.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing much to do," the creation hero sadly admitted, holding Bakugo's head steady.

"...29-30!" For the first time in what felt like forever, Kirishima lifted his hands off Bakugo's chest. "Kaminari!"

"It doesn't have to be a whole lot," Momo calmly reminded the other blonde while also administering some more breaths. "About five to six hundred volts should be enough."

"Right." The lightning hero had a hard, determined look in his eyes, which was quite the rarity for who many would call the class clown. As he put his hands to Bakugo's chest, Kirishima heard him whisper to himself, "Not a whole lot. Not a whole lot. Not a whole lot…"

The room seemed to charge up with just his vibe alone.

"Clear!"

With everyone out of the way, a small spark of electricity transferred from his hands into the explosion hero's chest, causing his whole body to convulse a little. Yaomomo quickly went to check his pulse, but after a few tense seconds, she gravely shook her head. "Nothing. Keep going."

His own chest feeling unbearably tight, Kirishima jumped back to doing compressions. "Come on, man. Now's not the time to be difficult!"

Outside of his counting and the beating of the compressions, the next round of CPR went by in complete, suspenseful silence, which only seemed to be making his deafening thoughts even louder. Come on. Yell at me. Tell me to get my hands off. Tell me I'm a dumbass. Call me Weird Hair. Call me Shitty Hair. I don't care. Just. Breathe!

"Everybody clear!" Denki shouted, administering another shock. The frustration of his face was more than obvious.

"Still no pulse." Momo's tone shook a bit.

Eijiro grit his teeth and went back to it. Bakugo's chest felt so soft now, so easy to just push in. No doubt the redhead had broken a rib or two in the process, but the ease of it all left an unnerving feeling in Ei's bones. It almost felt like he wasn't even doing anything anymore.

"What's going on!?" Despite everything, it was amazing how a familiar voice could fill the young hero with such relief.

"Ribbit! Mr. Aizawa!"

In his periphery, Kirishima saw his classmates part ways as the all-black figure of his homeroom teacher quickly made his way over and knelt beside them. Glancing over, he saw that the erasure hero looked just as concerned as he did during villain attacks, yet his appearance had left some kind of calming effect among the group. The effect that an adult had in a room full of children.

"How long have you been doing CPR?" Aizawa asked hurriedly.

"About four minutes, I think," Momo informed. God, had it really been that long? Or was Kirishima more shocked that it was only that? "Four sets of compressions, and Kaminari gave him two shocks."

"And no pulse?"

"No, sir."

"Alright…" The usual deepness of his voice now had a rather grim ornament to it. "What happened?"

"We were just sitting around, and I noticed he looked a bit out of it," Kirishima explained through his grunts and compressions. Just wake up, Katsuki! "He just said he was tired and that he was gonna turn in, but a few seconds later he just collapsed and his heart stopped. I don't know what happened."

"Did anybody else see anything?"

"We were all playing cards in the dining room. All we heard was him hitting the ground," Ochaco admitted, her eyes beginning to gloss over in tears.

"Those of us in the living area didn't notice anything either," Tokoyami added.

Their teacher nodded in understanding. "Koda, go back to the teachers' dorm and tell the rest of the faculty what's happening." Turning to the CPR group, he continued, "Eijiro, after this round, you and I are switching out for compressions."

Kirishima looked up in surprise, though he continued his work. Yes, it made sense that his teacher would have more experience with this, but...he didn't want to back off. Even if the blonde didn't acknowledge it or even feel the same way, Kirishima felt more connected with Bakugo than any of their other classmates or even most of the other friends he'd had in his life. He couldn't really explain why he was so drawn to him or why they'd grown close, but that was all the more reason why he couldn't back down. He couldn't just leave him. He had to keep going. He wanted to feel his heart begin to beat under his hands again. "But...!"

"You're getting tired, and your compressions are going to suffer because of it," Aizawa calmly, but sternly explained. "You won't be giving him the proper treatment, and that's not going to help any of us. I'll let you jump back in if we need you to."

Damn it. With that earnest and understanding look in his eyes, Ei knew he was right. Biting his lip and looking back down at his friend, he continued his last round. "Yes, sir."

Finishing out his set, the two of them quickly switched positions as Yaoyorozu squeezed the air bag again. As he sat there, now on standby, Kirishima suddenly became aware of how limp his arms felt - he really hadn't realized how exhausting the CPR had been for him or that he'd been running on adrenaline. Eraserhead continued the compressions for another set. Kaminari administered another shock. Still nothing.

Thirteen's words from their training suddenly echoed like a foreboding hymnal in the sturdy hero's head: Unfortunately, if you have to administer more than three shocks to someone and they still show no response, the chances of that person coming back are incredibly slim. Not only that, but their brain has been deprived of oxygen for awhile. While it's not impossible, it's typically a miracle for someone to wake up again.

The class had now fallen into a grim silence - no doubt remembering the same thing as they watched their teacher continue to work on their friend. At some point, Koda returned with some of the other pros. All Might, Midnight, Present Mic, Principal Nezu, and everyone else rushed in with mixed looks of dread and worry on their faces. Under normal circumstances, it would have been weird to see all of them in their pajamas and such, but obviously that wasn't everyone's main focus. Hell, all Kirishima could do was just stare at the blonde's face, his own body feeling heavier and heavier with the situation unfolding in front of him. Open your eyes. Take a breath. Say something. Please, Bakugo. Please, God. Please, SOMEBODY.

Even Aizawa's demeanor began to reflect what everyone seemed to be thinking. He continued with his set of chest compressions, but there was a finality to it. If this didn't work...If Bakugo didn't start breathing…

Eijiro gripped his own shirt in frustration. His heart was burning. It felt so twisted and marred that he wondered how he hadn't dropped dead yet. This couldn't be it. Not for Bakugo. It couldn't be…

"WAKE UP, YOU DUMBASS!" Everyone jumped at the sudden exclamation, everyone's heads whipping towards Midoriya. Izuku had tears streaming down his face, with a look of pure desperation and even a bit of anger. Fists still clenched with all his might, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "You're gonna be the number one hero, and you're dying like this!? Come on! Get up! I still haven't beaten you yet! You -" His voice caught ever so briefly, "YOU HAVE TO HELP ME GET STRONGER! PLEASE, KACCHAN!"

As Kirishima stared at his green-haired friend in shock, he heard a small "Young Midoriya…" come from All Might behind him, and beside Izuku, Uraraka looked at the boy in what was almost awe. "Deku…"

Just like that, the burning in Kirishima's chest was ablaze. Directing what must have been a fearsome gaze at his unconscious friend, he declared, "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US! You haven't seen it yet! My unbreakable wall! The one that will never waver!"

His debut fight while working with Fat Gum against that one drugged-up thug with the box cutter quirk - it had been Bakugo's words that had inspired him to forge Unbreakable that day. He'd been inspiring Kirishima from day one - he was one of the strongest people he had ever seen, he had all the confidence and brains he wished he could have, he faced any obstacle head-on, no matter how difficult. Sure, the guy couldn't hurt to put on a filter every once in a while, but no matter what he was the most determined person Ei had ever met. Bakugo never stopped. Never wavered. Eijiro wanted to be able to stand proudly beside someone like that. To be on equal footing with him. To prove that he could be there when things got tough. Please, Bakugo. I...I…

"I STILL HAVE TO SHOW YOU!"

After a few seconds of stunned silence, the whole class seemed to be filled with new determination.

"Don't you dare quit on us now, you jerk!"

"The sports festival! I'll give you a true fight this time! Both of us at our best! And I'll win!"

"Please, wake up, Bakugo!"

"You are not getting off with being my drummer only one time! We'll rock next year too! Come on!"

"Just wake up, damn it!"

The blonde obviously gave no answer, still pale and frightfully peaceful-looking. Who knows what he would have said if he'd been awake to hear his classmates' pleas.

"What's wrong with him?"A young girl's quiet, nervous voice broke the atmosphere. Again, heads turned to see Eri in her nightgown, clinging to Midnight's leg as she stared at the scene with concerned and uncertain eyes.

"Eri! Sweetie, what are you doing over here? You should be sleeping," the R-Rated hero inquired, kneeling next to her.

"I heard him say that something was wrong, and you all left really fast. I wanted to see if I could help any…" The girl looked down at the ground in slight embarrassment, before stealing another glance at Bakugo. With tears in her eyes, finally understanding the situation, she gravely muttered, "Is he dying?"

Kirishima pursed his lips. Young or not, Eri had been through too much to be as naive as other kids her age. That reminder, along with her terrifying words, brought his spirit back down to earth from its brief revival. It seemed short-lived with everyone else as well, with Eri's sobering words once again dispelling silence among the room.

Aizawa wasn't even counting aloud anymore. Kirishima counted in his head. 15-16-17-18...but the pro stopped. Everyone watched him in somber silence as he held his position for a few seconds before settling back to sit on his legs, staring at the ground.

The whole world could have been frozen. Teachers and students alike were unbearably still, and a pin could be heard falling from the top floor. Kirishima knew what the situation was. He knew what had happened. And yet, a voice inside him began to build, Why? Why did you stop? Keep going. Don't stop. He can't breathe. He needs to breathe. Don't stop. Don't stop. DON'T.

The redhead desperately lunged forward to start his compressions again, but Aizawa caught him. The teenager went to glare at his teacher but was met by only sad eyes and a more-than-understanding look. "Eijiro. That's enough."

He felt his anger slowly melt away, but it was being replaced with this unbearable heaviness. He stared at the pro hero for a second in shock, before turning to his...deceased friend on the floor. If he'd noticed Bakugo's state earlier, if he'd told him to go to the infirmary, if he'd started CPR sooner, if he'd done compressions better, if he'd...

"Damn it…" The stream of tears started to flow without warning. He practically collapsed into his teacher's arms, throwing his head down and screaming, "DAMN IT!"

"Deku!"

Uraraka called out through her own sobs as Midoriya fell to his knees, blankly staring at his childhood friend through a cascade of tears. The grief appeared so raw for him that he couldn't even muster a sound. The rest of the class broke down in suit, some wiping their tears furiously and openly sobbing, while others let the water flow freely and desperately tried to hold any sound in. Kaminari quietly sobbed through grit teeth as he stared at his shaking hands on the floor, muttering, "I'm sorry...God, I'm so sorry…"

The teachers stood by in a grim silence. They'd probably seen scenes like this too many times to count, some probably their own classmates, but Ei doubted that made the pain any easier. Only All Might seemed to openly show his tears, his fists clenched like Midoriya, quietly sobbing in a shaky voice. "Young Bakugo…"

"No…" The tiny voice was back. "No!"

Suddenly, the little white-haired girl appeared in front of Kirishima, throwing herself to the floor next to Bakugo, tearfully shaking his arm. "Come on! Rewind! You have to rewind!"

Aizawa gasped. "Eri!"

Within a split second, his hair flew up, signifying his erasure had been activated, and he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her away from the blonde boy. It looked like he was about to scold her, but before he even had the chance, she turned to him with a pleading look in her eyes. "Please! You have to let me try! I don't want everyone to be sad! He doesn't deserve to die!"

Her adoptive father took her words in, calming himself for a second and letting out a deep breath. Softly, he explained, "Eri, your quirk hasn't activated at all since you first came to us, much less when you want it to. Even if you could, you don't know how to use it and there's a lot of people around right now. We don't know…"

"But you can turn me off, right!? You can at least let me try, and if it doesn't stop, you can turn me off!"

"I'm afraid everyone has done all they can, my dear," Principal Nezu finally spoke. For the first time since they'd met him, his tail was droopy, dragging on the floor. "There are simply too many unknowns…"

"Please." The word escaped Kirishima's mouth before he could even think. He practically stared down Mr. Aizawa. "If Eri thinks she can do it, then I believe her. Please, Mr. Aizawa. Ple…" A lump formed in his throat that he had to choke back, but thankfully Momo picked up for him, her voice hoarse from crying.

"We know this might be a false hope, and we all understand the risks of her using it, but if she can help him…"

"We're not going to let it slip away," Kaminari weakly finished. Kirishima looked sadly at his two classmates - all three of them shared the burden of this absolute failure. Even if they had given their all, even if they did their best, the guilt was always going to be there no matter what.

Aizawa sighed in exasperation, clearly as devastated as everyone else. "Kids, believe me, I understand, but…"

"Mr. Aizawa." Eijiro's hair stood on end at the seriousness in Midoriya's voice. The hard, desperate glare in his eyes didn't help matters. "I know...you said we can't rely on Eri or her quirk right now. So...let's bet on it instead. Let's gamble on her this one time, and I'll accept the consequences myself if that's what it takes!"

The deafening silence that followed was only accented by the nineteen pairs of pupil eyes on the erasure hero. The man looked around at each of his students' faces, each of them unwavering, before looking down in heavy thought.

"Just let her do it, Shota," Present Mic finally pushed, his voice quieter than Kirishima ever thought it could go. "Chances are she won't even turn it on, so what's the harm in her trying? At the very best…"

"We could get Young Bakugo back," All Might firmly declared. His eyes were shining the same way they had at Camino.

Another nearly unbearable moment of silence passed. Aizawa gently held onto Eri in his lap, thinking as she still looked at him with those begging eyes. Pursing his lips, he sternly said, "Everyone has to stand a few feet back. We don't know how close you have to be in order for her quirk to affect you, so stay cautious." He looked at the little girl in front of him. "Listen, if you get scared or feel like something's not right, look at me and I'll erase your power. Got it?"

She gave a huge nod and practically leapt out of his arms back to Bakugo's side. As everyone moved out of the way, she gently placed her hands over his heart and closed her eyes. The sight was enough to make Kirishima's eyes begin to water again. "Eri…"

For whatever reason, he remembered back to the cultural festival:

"So much goddamn ice!" Bakugo placed his hands on the large chunk in the tub, melting it with his palms. "Where the hell is Todoroki!? He should be helping with this crap!"

"He's working with Shoji to take down the lights," Kirishima explained, chopping another large piece with his hardening. "You're the one who said we had to put on a killer performance, so this is what we had to do to do that."

The explosive blonde only grumbled in response, making his friend smile in amusement. He had to admit it was nice every once in a while to have Bakugo not come back with an argument.

"Excuse me!" The two boys turned their heads to see Eri, Midoriya, and Togata making their way toward them. Kirishima's good mood raised even higher when he saw the little girl had the biggest smile on her face.

"Hey, Eri! Long time, no see!" he called out. Turning to Bakugo, he elaborated, "This is that girl I was telling you about - from our work study."

Surprisingly, his friend didn't look completely uninterested. "Yeah?"

"Hey!" Eijiro greeted again once the three reached them. "Did you like the show?"

"Totes!" Togata confirmed. He did the rock out symbol with his hand and excitedly strummed an air guitar. "You guys completely jammed our socks off!"

"It was so amazing!" Eri added, bouncing jitterly. "All the lights and sounds were kind of scary at first, but then everyone was jumping around and shouting, and the music was so pretty, and the sparkles were pretty, and I got a bunch of bumps on my arm! Lemillion said it was because I got REALLY excited!"

It was then that she noticed Bakugo, whom she stared at curiously. "You played one of the instruments, right? And you made that huge scary boom at the beginning?"

"Oh, yeah, he was in practice during your first visit," Midoriya smiled, motioning toward his childhood friend. "Eri, this is Kacchan. He can make explosions with his hands. That's his quirk."

"Ka-cchan?"

Togata hit his fist to his palm in a lightbulb moment. "Oh, that's right! I didn't get to meet you with the rest of the class cause you were an extra problem child and had one more day of house arrest! You killed it, my man!"

Kirishima could practically see the vein popping in Bakugo's forehead at the problem child comment, but he surprisingly kept his cool. Instead, he glanced passively down at Eri, who was still observing him with her big eyes. Squatting down to her level, he held out his hand. A bunch of tiny explosions popped off his palm, looking like golden firecrackers. Eri's eyes and smile immediately widened at the sight. "Pretty…"

"I can do a lot more than big blasts, you know," the blonde contended. His voice wasn't exactly gentle, but it wasn't his normal gruffness either. Closing his hand and cutting off the sparks, his expression toward Eri became a bit more serious. "Listen, squirt. No matter what anyone tells you, you're a fighter. Got that?"

The young girl looked surprised by this sudden statement and, though she might not have known what it meant, nodded slightly. "Okay."

Meanwhile, while Togata was none the wiser, Kirishima and Midoriya looked on in wide-eyed shock at the entire gesture, neither really able to say anything. Eijiro felt his heart swell a bit. While he himself didn't know all the details with Eri, he talked quite a bit about the ordeal with Bakugo when their gag-order was lifted, so his friend knew at least the basics of what had happened with Overhaul and the yakuza. What he said to her just now…

"Hey, Eri, you wanted to play that fun crane game that Class 2D has, right? We should go and get all the good prizes before they're gone!" Togata suggested excitedly, changing the subject.

"Okay, Lemillion. Deku, are you coming?"

The green-haired boy broke out of his momentary shock, smiling at the little girl and nodding. "You bet. See you guys later!"

Kirishima was still looking at Bakugo though, who stood as the group walked away. It was strange. He was still just as confident, mouthy, and seemingly untouchable as when they'd first met at the beginning of the year, but so much had also changed about him since then too. He'd tried to cheer everyone up after what happened at Camino. He'd agreed to play in the band and took the rest of the school's feelings into account. He even hung out around the rest of the class a lot more than he used to. And now, what he'd just said to Eri...

The blonde registered his friend's gaze, throwing him a signature scowl, "What the hell's that stupid grin for?"

"Nothing." Truth be told, he hadn't even noticed he was smiling. Little by little, he was sure he was beginning to understand a bit more...

"Tsk. Whatever, moron. Let's just get rid of this damn ice."

Kirishima couldn't help but wonder if that memory was running through Eri's head at this moment too, or if it was a memory she even thought was worth it. Whatever the case, he could see how desperately she was trying to activate her quirk, quiet as she was.

Midnight leaned over and muttered to Aizawa. "We know her power only works on people, but...does it work on a dead person?"

"That's what we can find out here, I suppose." Though the man didn't look too confident in that.

"You're doing good, Eri," Izuku encouraged from the sidelines. Kirishima was glad to see both Uraraka and Iida at his side comforting him, Ochaco holding his hand and Tenya with a firm grip on his shoulder. Some of the other members of the class held each other for support too. Mina and Tsu were gripping each other's arms, Sato had a comforting hand on Sero's shoulder, and Kyoka was hugging Denki from behind. All of their eyes shared the same silent plea that was running through Eijiro's head.

"Come on. You can do it…"

A couple agonizing minutes passed. The hope was beginning to leak out of him again, but the prayer still echoed in his head. Please…

As if on cue, a bright golden flash erupted in front of him. Everyone in the room shouted in surprise, covering their eyes. When Kirishima's sight finally adjusted, he looked up to see a golden aura and sparks surrounding Eri and Bakugo. The young girl looked a little nervous, trembling a bit, but she still refused to take her hands off the teenager.

"It's so beautiful…" Ashido said in amazement, eyes transfixed on the scene.

"Truly brilliante," Aoyama agreed in wonder.

"More importantly, it's working!" Kaminari exclaimed, actually managing a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, she's activated her quirk, but whether it will actually work on Bakugo is the question," Shoji grimly pondered.

Please, Eri. Eijiro wouldn't dare plead to her out loud. He wouldn't want to do that to her, but…This has to work. It has to. It has to.

"Eri, are you alright?" Aizawa asked, raising his voice over the turbulent sounds of the sparks.

After a few tense seconds, she answered, "Yes. I think so…"

"Is it working or not? I can't tell," Mic pondered, looking at everyone to see if they were in consensus.

"She's never tried this before," All Might defended. "For all we know…"

Suddenly, the light surrounding the pair became more intense. It looked as if Eraser was about to activate his quirk on instinct, but then, nearly simultaneously, a huge gasp suddenly escaped from Bakugo's mouth, his body lifting a bit as he took in a huge amount of air.

Kirishima, Midoriya, and Kaminari were already half way to them before Aizawa even erased Eri's power. As soon as the light died down, the young girl slumped a little bit, Izuku catching her before she was fully on the ground. Her face was extremely red, and she seemed to be in a fitful sleep.

"It's just like in my fight with Chisaki," Midoriya informed as Aizawa rushed over. "She's passed out with a fever."

Meanwhile, all Ei could do was stare. Katsuki was still unconscious, but he was easily five shades darker, the blood having returned to his face. Not only that, but his chest subtly rose and fell in somewhat shallow breaths, and his eyes twitched as if he were dreaming. Hesitantly putting his fingers to the blonde's neck, the warmth of his skin and beating pulse underneath his fingertips made Eijiro's body feel so light he actually let out a small chuckle of relief.

"Holy crap…" Kaminari also muttered through a hysterical chuckle. "It worked...Guys, it actually worked!"

To say the class broke out in celebration is an understatement. Many burst out into tears again as others hugged, and some kind of just sat on the ground out of relief and exhaustion.

"Don't go celebrating just yet," Aizawa reminded them, stepping back into teacher mode as he held Eri close. "He's not out of the woods. We still don't know what caused him to collapse or how far Eri rewound him. Yaoyorozu, call an ambulance. We need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible. Everyone else - stay calm and wait for further instructions."

"Yes, sir!"

Kirishima looked back down at his unconscious friend with teary eyes, though his smile was more than obvious. "Asshole. Don't scare us like that again."

The stress is real, fam. Don't worry, we find out what happened next chapter. ;) Maybe more KiriBaku stuff?

Hope you guys are enjoying it! Please leave a review and let me know what you think - I love ze feedback! Preferably nothing too hateful though (nervous laughter ensues). Also, if you haven't already, please follow and/or favorite this story and/or me, and check out my other stories as well. I've done some FMA and Voltron shit.

I wish you all good health and happiness! Have a wonderful day!