Bakugou hadn't come to school for a few days now. No one really knew why. Whispers has floated between the elementary school students as they all theorized what had happened to him. Some thought he was simply ill with some summer bug, while others insisted he must have gotten himself hurt.

Izuku had blocked those conversations out of his mind. He sat next to the window in his classroom, blankly staring outwards as the drops of rain pelted the glass. He didn't care about what that blonde idiot was doing. He would rather be with Tomura, or at the very least at home playing with his handheld. He was too afraid of bringing it out of his house, too scared that it would break or get stolen. Video games had become his obsession as of late. He really enjoyed playing with Tomura, but that teen was in a league of his own.

It was at that point, before class had begun, that the gasps of the other students brought him out of his thoughts. Turning over, he saw the familiar face of Katsuki. However, a nasty black eye and a cast on his arm told the green-haired kid that perhaps the other students were right about the blonde injuring himself.

Izuku stared blankly at the other boy. They locked eyes for a moment, before Bakugou... just huffed. He walked to his desk, avoiding Izuku's gazing face while he sat down. He refused to speak to the other students who were prodding him with questions about his injuries.

Of course he wouldn't. He's too proud to talk about getting his ass beaten.

Izuku rolled his eyes, returning his gaze to the window. He heard Bakugou click his tongue in anger. Immediately, the blonde stood from his seat, sauntering over to Midoriya's desk.

"Deku." He hissed. "After school. Playground."

Izuku nodded, looking away. As much as he disliked him, the green-haired kid knew he couldn't ignore the other's demands without taking some form of physical injury.

Class passed by with little significance. The teacher's words blurred and mixed together into the background noise. All Izuku could think about was returning to Tomura's side. He was getting better at Mortal Kombat. He felt hopeful that today might be the day that he could win a round against the older boy.

Once the bell rang and everyone was dismissed, he began to pack up to go home. Bakugou bumped into him roughly, catching his attention. Neither said anything, though the blonde's red eyes conveyed everything they needed to. Playground. Right.

The rain had cleared not long ago, leaving a humid thickness to the air. As Izuku stepped onto the mulch of the playground, he could feel himself sink slightly into the damp wood chips. The other boy was standing there, glowering at him.

"Kacchan?"

Bakugou stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time, boring a hole through Izuku. At last, he spoke. "Do you know how I got hurt, Deku?"

Midoriya shook his head.

"I was walking home Tuesday, and I was attacked by someone with a baseball bat. Don't know who it was." He began shaking with rage. "That freaking monster kicked me over and kept hitting my arm until he heard it crack. He started laughing. Then he punched me in the face while I was down."

"...Why are you telling me this?"

Bakugou had been taken aback by Izuku's rather lackluster reaction. He quickly regained his composure. At first, his anger manifested in sparks coming off of his injured hand, but it made him visibly wince in pain as he tried to calm himself down. "When I heard you had changed, I didn't believe it. But you really did. What happened to 'poor Kacchan, are you okay?'"

Izuku looked annoyed. "You started burning me for doing that."

Bakugou winced. "And why are you so calm? You're always a nervous wreck."

"You started burning me for doing that, too."

The blonde gritted his teeth. Using his free hand, he grabbed Izuku's collar and pulled him forward, their faces inches from each other. Izuku didn't look impressed. After realizing that the green-haired kid didn't flinch at all, Bakugou shoved him back. "Whatever. You're not worth my time anyway. I've gotta find the bastard that did this to me."

Izuku turned and left, earning another annoyed grunt from the blonde. What did he expect was going to happen?

He texted his mom to tell her he would be hanging out with friends. Once he received her blessing to stay out, he headed straight for the train station. He stayed on until he saw the familiar neighborhood that Kurogiri's bar was on. The street itself was worse for the wear, but Izuku wasn't worried. Everyone in the area knew there was a kid who walked through the area frequently.

They also knew that if they didn't want to end up in a ditch that they shouldn't touch that kid.

Eventually he made it into the bar. Kurogiri was polishing glasses again, despite the lack of patrons. Shigaraki was sitting in the last bar stool, playing some fantasy game Izuku didn't recognize. He saw that the teen was again holding the controller in a weird fashion, so that he wouldn't accidentally disintegrate it. Some ideas began to run around in Izuku's head, about how to fix this issue. He'd have to have Tomura test out his ideas later.

"Welcome back, Midoriya." Kurogiri stated.

Izuku bowed out of courtesy. The black misted man always made him feel like he should be as polite as he could.

He walked his way to the stool next to Tomura, plopping himself down and watching the boy play. The teen was lost in his game, and Izuku hated interrupting him to speak. The boy looked around the bar, until he noticed something that wasn't there last time that he came.

A baseball bat was slumped in the corner between the back door's frame and the wall. It didn't look used, but...

Eventually Izuku decided to speak up.

"Bakugou came back to school today." He stated.

Immediately, Tomura paused the game. He looked over at the boy. "What did he do?"

"Nothing really, just told me about how he got hurt and that I changed."

The teen gestured to the bat on the floor. "I'm guessing you know who did it, then."

Izuku nodded.

Tomura continued. "Are you angry?"

Izuku thought about that for a while. "I don't know."

"Do you know why I did it?"

Izuku shook his head.

Tomura resumed, "It's because I saw what he did to you that day. I saw when they all started kicking you in the gut while you were on the ground."

"I... I remember now." Izuku looked down. He still didn't know what to make of it. "But..."

"Did he hit you again today? Don't lie."

Izuku looked back up, waving his hands. "No! No, he just got mad and calmed himself down."

"So would you say going after him with a bat is more effective than smiling and trying to help him?"

Izuku stared at the ground again, before nodding his head. "You're right, Tomura-san."

"You know, when someone tries to go against you, there's nothing wrong with fighting them. Plus, if any of them try to take a swipe at them" he growled. "They'll have to get through me."

Midoriya paused a moment, before vigorously nodding his head. Tomura responded by patting Izuku's head and rubbing his hair back and forth a little.

"Now come on, I've got this awesome game I want to see you play." The teen smiled.

A/N: Hey, how has everyone been doing? I'm heavily sleep deprived so I hope the quality of the chapter isn't too bad.

Go ahead and leave a review telling me what you liked and disliked. And thank you for reading, everyone!