The only problem,' Bakugou thought ducking behind a corner and taking his second flight of stairs two at a time. 'was that he wouldn't be able to go to shitty hair since Aizawa -sensei was most certainly there now.'
Huffing lightly, he leapt over the last couple of steps and landed softly on his feet.
What to do now?
Before he could formulate a plan of action however, he spotted two kids probably no older than that training camp brat hiding underneath a fractured staircase. He screeched to a halt.
"Fuck," he though, turning around quickly and jogging in their direction. All the while being careful to avoid the rubble along the way and making sure he put the least amount of pressure on the cracked floor beneath him. Arriving in front of the brats relatively unscathed except for a couple of cuts on his left shoulder, he opened his mouth to snap at them to fucking get up and get moving-when something from his past hit him so hard he almost stumbled back on his feet.
He remembered walking down the street with Best Jeanist. Meeting a couple of kids. Making them cry. He remembered the hero being disappointed. "You can be better than that Katuski," he'd said shaking his head. Bakugou had snorted and told him he didn't need to tell him shit and to fucking leave him alone damn it. But-
Taking a deep breath, he lowered himself down until he was on a level ground with the little girl. He wasn't good at this type of shit. He hated it. Hated children, but-
"You ok kiddo?" he asked, voice coming out a bit gruff but much less hostile than usual. Unfortunately, the little girl teared up even more when she looked at him, ducking down and hiding her face in the other kid's shoulder. Her small frame slowly starting to shake.
With tears or with terror Bakugou couldn't tell, but something in his chest twisted up seeing her like this.
'She looked like Denki's baby sister.'
His heart twisted even more painfully at that comparison. The other kid met his gaze over the crying girl's head and glared murderously at him. There was clear evidence of dried tears in his red rimmed eyes, but the boy didn't seem to care, as he held what most likely was his sister even closer and narrowed his eyes further at Bakugou. Lips wobbling slightly, but frame as tense as someone preparing to fight tooth and nail for what they needed to protect.
Bakugou sighed. He didn't have time for this. But Jeanist-
Scooting himself a bit further from them, he sat down on the ground and tried to look as unthreatening as possible. "I'm not here to hurt you or the girl, kid," he said, tracing unrecognizable patterns on the floor, wondering when the ground would cave under them and swallow them whole. "I just need to get you out of here. You're not the only people in danger you know." Bakugou was trying hard not to meet the kid's eyes, knowing that his own red one's could come off as more threatening than reassuring at the best of times. "I'm a hero and I came to save you"
"You're a hero?"
That was the girl. Bakugou looked up meeting her eyes. As he caught her curious gaze, she squeaked like a mouse and ducked her head down again.
Bakugou looked away quickly. "Yeah," he shrugged. "I came with my teacher and he's probably in the west wing now saving a bunch of fu- a bunch of people. He's cool like that."
"Wow," the little girl breathed. Voice sounding awed and amazed, the previous fear coating it nowhere to be seen now.
Katsuki's lips twitched slightly to the side at that, but he still didn't dare to look up. "What's your hero name?"
That was the boy. He sounded suspicious. And Bakugou felt almost too tempted to look up and meet the suspicion head on, cuz of course he was a fucking hero why the fuck would he lie about that? But he refrained from doing something so utterly foolish. Shitty hair would've had his head for it. This was neither the time or place for such things. Besides, what would the uniform freak think if he picked a fight with fucking toddlers?
"My hero name?" he said slowly. Trying to not give away his tense energy.
"Yeah, your hero name. It's what I asked wasn't it?"
Bakugou almost snorted, biting his lip. Kid had some spunk. "It's-" he started, before feeling slightly stumped. He couldn't say that. It wouldn't sound like a hero name to these kids.
He bit his lip in thought. But then again, he could tell them. Just say his hero name and get it over with. Who cared what they thought of it? Who cared if the little girl was scared? Fuck em. He was trying to save their lives damn it.
He opened his mouth again, to hell with being nice. But then the tiny brunet's frightened eyes burst through his mind and before he knew it, he recklessly swerved to the left and let the first name that wasn't Ground Zero tumble past his lips. "It's Kacchan."
The boy snorted in surprise, amusement clear in his voice, but the girl cooed softly at his reluctant answer, arms coming up to cup her cheeks and the brightest of smiles blossoming on her lips. "That's so cute," she gushed, stepping slightly towards his direction almost unconsciously. "Your hero name is the cutest Kacchan!"
Deku.
She smiled like Deku.
"Yeah yeah," he muttered, arm coming up automatically to ruffle her hair lightly. The tiny brunette pouted at him for it, but she didn't move away.
Bakugou didn't know why that made him feel so unspeakable lighthearted.
"It's a dumb name Hatsue," the boy said, also now emerging from underneath the staircase slightly.
"It's not," she retorted sticking out her tongue. A childish annoyance around her frame.
"It's too," her brother snapped, and Bakugou found his lips widening even further.
'Dumb kids,' he thought in what almost felt like fondness.
And then the staircase caved. The structure too frail to hold its own weight any longer.
"No!" Bakugou screamed. Words being torn out of his throat as he threw himself towards the children in desperation. "Get down Now!"
And the world broke down in chaos. The last thing Katsuki saw was that innocent smile falling of Hatsue's face and being replaced by sheer terror.
'It couldn't end like this.'
The world went dark.