Chapter 23

The second Katsuki woke up, he felt panicked and uneasy. There was no other way to describe his mood than instant dread settling deep down in his stomach. It was even stronger than what he had been feeling last night, most likely due to the realization of what was bound to happen.

To be honest, some of the panic that made his chest tight came as a result of not immediately seeing Deku when he woke up. The boy had become such a staple in his life that it took Katsuki a few moments to realize that his best friend was on watch in case a secret strike was mounted while everyone was sleeping. Despite the importance of that mission, Katsuki selfishly wished he was there, in the same room as him.

It wouldn't cost them the entire thing if Deku was here with him, would it? If something had occurred over the night, Deku was sure to be there right when Katsuki woke up, telling him all that he needed to know. Since he wasn't here, wasn't pressing Katsuki into action or alarming him to some issue, there was no reason they should have separated in the first place.

There was no use considering it now. Katsuki knew he was just being petty and frustrated.

Leaving his strange sleeping bag, he carried on like it was a regular morning. He brushed his teeth, contemplated the lack of his best friend a little more, and left their housing area to go make breakfast.

Although, if there was one thing that was for sure, it was that Katsuki had no appetite. Something he might regret later with all the training they were going to do, but he couldn't bring himself to even be motivated enough to help prepare breakfast. Even the sight of an egg was sure to put a bad taste in his mouth.

As he had looked around while getting up, he noticed that he wasn't the only early riser in their group. But sadly, out of all of them, he was the most capable one in the kitchen. That was to say that after getting ready with the remaining unease, he headed right over to the tented area full of ingredients. Because while he was singly worried about the upcoming attack, his mind had not let him forget that he was on breakfast duty. It was a good distraction. However, not good enough as the bitter feeling stuck with him.

It made part of him desperate for the attack to happen, a thought which he would never share aloud for fear of being judged for it. He couldn't help his nerves, or else there's no doubt he'd allow himself to properly hold a knife without shaking in the moment.

Instead of tackling intensive cook work that required focus, he moved to getting out all ingredients that would be needed. When more students from Class 1-A drifted in and took over, he could leave it to them.

From there, he allowed himself to get lost in his own head, giving just enough attention to the food he was preparing. His thoughts floated to concerns over Deku, relief in the lack of attack that first night, and even questions on what he was going to do next. Importantly, he didn't bother to notice when more students filtered in and picked up their own tasks. If he cracked a few eggs, a job that didn't involve potential harm, he found them used within moments.

It was as though they were a team. At least, they would be a functional team if Katsuki didn't count the occasional yelling in the background as some idiot fucked up. It had no bearing on him, which he was grateful for, but served as a welcome distraction to make him chuckle and roll his eyes.

Because of that, it was time to eat before he knew it.

Each student carries out a different plate or platter of food to two tables. Of which Katsuki hadn't even seen was set for Class 1-A, Katsuki, and Eyebags. Speaking of Eyebags, Katsuki was not surprised to see him drift out from the sleeping dorms, his eyebags pulling down his tired eyes as he yawned.

He didn't say a single word until he was face to face with Katsuki, "Got coffee?"

Katsuki shrugged, he hadn't been paying close enough attention. Eyebags only groaned in response before scratching his head and making his way around, trying to locate any coffee.

Finding a seat at the very end so he could avoid sitting near any annoying fuckers, Katsuki sat down. He began to serve himself food, putting little scraps of everything he knew Deku would nag him to get on his plate. Although he had no intention of eating a single bite of it.

Eventually, everyone in the class had found their way to a seat on one of the tables. Katsuki couldn't help but notice that Eyebags had gotten his coffee, yawning from his seat one person away from Katsuki. With a simple meal prayer, all of the students dived into their food.

Excitable conversations burst around the table, many about what could be upcoming in the activities of the day. And yet that was the furthest from Katsuki's mind, far more worried for more concrete things than their upcoming training. Yet, there was one thing that nagged at him from the moment all the students of Class 1-A had started eating their breakfast. That was the feeling that someone was watching him, that eyes were tracking everything he was doing.

Katsuki tried to ignore it at first, thinking that it was nothing. Then he thought it might be a villain watching from the shadows or maybe even Deku, coming back to check in on him or report what he had found. Alas, as Katsuki attempted to subtly look around, he found the culprit.

It was one he had not been expecting in the slightest.

The fucking half and half bastard, unabashedly sharing at him as he slipped food into his mouth.

Turning his gaze to him, Katsuki found it suspicious that the bastard decided to obviously avert his eyes. As bad as Katsuki was at determining the meaning of social cues, he was pretty fucking sure that the damn half-hot and half-cold bastard before him was avoiding him in a way more evident than ever before.

He had the subtlety of his quirk, which was to say none at all.

But why? He didn't have a single clue or a moment to worry about the other's fragile feelings. Still, it didn't help to stabilize Katsuki in any way, worsening the tension that was cutting into his muscles.

Had something happened that he didn't know about? Was it related to the villain attack that he had knowledge of, or was it some bullshit he wasn't even involved in?

There was no way of telling, even a confrontation wouldn't be likely to get this weirdo to spill without having Katsuki reveal himself in turn. Whatever it was, the longer that the half-hot and half-cold bastard stared at him, the more anxious he felt.

"What you lookin' at?" He finally growled out to the boy. Weirdly enough, his eyes widened ever-so-slightly as though he thought he was being subtle or some shit.

"You."

Katsuki's eyes widened as he heard a choking sound near him. He turned, confused by the timing, only to see Eyebags coughing with his coffee cup held close to his mouth. Thanks for that, Katsuki thought as he rolled his eyes.

Still, he was not expecting the blunt answer. What kind of shithead admitting to staring at someone? And why was he even starting to begin with?

"Cut it out, creep."

He didn't wait for a response before looking down at the few scraps of food on his plate. They didn't look any more appetizing than they did a few minutes ago.

He forced himself to eat a few bites now that he knew all eyes would be on him. The distance between Katsuki and the half and half creep was not very far, but his voice carried quite a bit. Eventually, everyone lost interest and went back to their previous conversations. Katsuki paid none of them any mind, choosing instead to slowly chew the food in his mouth and consider his options after breakfast was done. There was no doubt he would be roped into whatever exercise Double Eyebags wanted him and Eyebags at the camp for. It was only a matter of how long it would take and if it would be helpful or not.

All day was fine. Bleeding into the night would cause some problems for his plan. Katsuki clutched his chopsticks tightly in his hand. He needed to see Deku again to discuss what they were going to do. There were a few details that had unexpectedly popped up, details important enough to talk about with his best friend.

"Hey man, how's it going?" A calm voice next to him interrupted, sliding into the seat next to him. Katsuki hadn't even noticed that it had been vacated until then, much less who decided it would be a good idea to fill it. Upon turning his head, Katsuki found it to belong to one of the boys who hung around Knock-Off Pikachu and Shitty Hair. The weird black mullet guy with weird elbows.

Katsuki didn't spare him a moment, looking away without responding. He had no time for the weird, insistent group of friends and their bothersome digs at him.

"Alright, I get it. Silence works too." Elbows Guy responded, getting far more comfortable in the seat than Katsuki would have liked.

There were a few more tries to get him to talk by other members of their strange little friend group, all of which went ignored. Katsuki only really noticed the attempt of an intense glare angled at him by Knock-Off Pikachu. But even then, it didn't get him to do much other than scoff at the ridiculousness of it. He didn't know what the other boy had against him, not that he cared enough to really find out anyway.

Clearly noticing that Katsuki wasn't in the mood, all conversation with him stopped. He was not here to make friends, he was here to catch villains. And train, of course.

Eventually everyone had finished their breakfast and had begun to clean everything up. Plates, chopsticks, and bowls were sorted, washed, and dried. All in all, it didn't take that much time before it was truly time to begin.

At least, that's what Katsuki thought. He didn't realize they had to meet up with Class 1-B, who had eaten breakfast in another area, in order to get the same instructions for the day. And weirdly enough, as Katsuki waited, he could still feel eyes on him. The same exact eyes that had been watching him before, unabashedly following his every move.

Fucking weird ass stalker bastard, that's who it was.

Katsuki gave him no attention, he didn't deserve that much.

And soon enough the Wild Wild Pussys came, so Katsuki's focus drifted to them completely.

Katsuki tried to listen while the Pussycats sped through their explanation of the training which was to take place throughout the day. Each person was to do something different, with some grouped together with complimentary quirks, and push themselves to the limit. Something that Katsuki had plenty of practice in.

If only the annoying students around him wouldn't gasp and murmur as though they've never done something like it before. Here he thought they were supposed to be heroes in training, not completely inexperienced. Katsuki might have gotten a little lost in his head berating Class 1-A and Class 1-B so that he didn't have to face the reality of what they would have to do.

Despite how fast it seemed they explained the training, Katsuki was not at all prepared for learning about who he had been matched up with. Truth be told, he nearly missed it the first time they announced it, mind far too focused on condemning the classes to pay attention. Of course, considering who his training partner was, there was no way he could ever escape without knowing.

"BRO!" Shitty Hair exclaimed in an overly-cheerful manner, "Can't believe we'll be training together! That quirk of yours is super manly."

Katsuki subtly breathed in and out to center himself. It would take everything in him to restrain himself from doing anything drastic. Not that he'd ever be able to use his quirk on a person, not after what happened, but he had other tools at his disposal.

He turned toward the boy with red spiked hair toacknowledge his presence. "Great."

If Shitty Hair noticed the complete lack of enthusiasm in his voice, which was extremely hard to miss, he didn't comment on it. He only smiled brightly at Katsuki, who remained unsure about what to make of him. They didn't speak another word to each other as they were directed to a mountainside by one of the Wild Wild Pussycats, Katsui hadn't cared enough to even give them nicknames. Apparently, Shitty Hair was to harden his body and chip away at the mountain, while Katsuki blasted whatever rocks that fell. It was a matter of endurance and precision. After a certain amount of time, Katsuki would start blasting at the mountainside and Shitty Hair would harden his body against all the rocks that were to fall on him. They were doing the same exact thing but trading off.

Katsuki only wished he could do it alone, in silence, so as to be with his rampaging thoughts.

Sadly, things would not go so easily for him.

"You ready for this, bro?" Shitty Hair decided to attempt to engage him in conversation once again, as they made their way from the tents and roughly built facilities to the mountainside.

And once again, Katsuki would shut him down. "Come on."

The only difference was that this time, the red haired boy didn't take the hint. "I can't believe we're training with the Wild Wild Pussycats. I heard about how cool they were yesterday." Typical for an idiot like him to only learn about who he's training with at the last minute. Even if that very same logic could apply to Katsuki himself, he wouldn't dwell on it.

This time, he didn't bother offering a single word. But Shitty Hair was just fine with that, blabbering for the entire duration of their trek. Katsuki was only lucky that he had learned how to tune out Deku's rants early on, he never did it anymore because he knew better, but it made Shitty Hair's unrelenting voice easily fade into the background.

Spacing out, he hadn't noticed they had arrived at their destination until Katsuki almost walked into a tree.

"Woah, watch it there, buddy." Shitty Hair warned after he had gained his senses. Katsuki just shot him a withering glare, instead scanning the tall mountainside before them. Well, the tall mountainside that was after the tree before them.

Katsuki breathed deeply, preparing himself for how much he was about to be using his quirk. He really didn't want to waste any time, Deku had wanted him to get better so there was no point delaying the inevitable. "We should start now."

Even as he said it, he couldn't believe in the truth of his words. He didn't want to start now. He didn't ever want to start, to be exact, but found he had no choice in the matter. "If you don't mind, I'll start on the mountain."

Shitty Hair almost looked like he was afraid of Katsuki's opinion. As though the worst thing he could do wouldn't only be to say no. In reality, Katsuki didn't care for the order, knowing he'd have to use his quirk regardless. He guessed that there was one positive to be found, because of the lack of direct supervision on them, they had freedom of choice in the small things. And only the small things.

Katsuki nodded his head and made his way towards the mountainside. He was unsure how Shitty Hair was going to get to a good height for their exercise to work. Alas, it wasn't really Katsuki's problem to be worrying about so he didn't pay it very much mind. He was far more worried about his performance. He had used his quirk far more than expected the day before, but now that he had more time to think about it, now that Deku wasn't there, he wasn't sure how to feel or what to do.

All he could do was what Deku would've wanted from him. He didn't go any deeper into it, only needing a simple reason to urge him into action.

He breathed deeply, holding his hand out. He willed small sparks to appear there and... They didn't.

Trying to keep his breathing steady, he tried again as he continued walking. Once more, not a single thing happened.

Fuck.

His quirk worked when he wanted it to and failed when he didn't? Seriously?

Soon enough rocks were going to come falling down that mountain. He had to blast them away or else be endangered himself. And if he got hurt, there was no point in even showing up to this training camp because when the villains attacked, he would have no way to protect anyone.

He would be letting Deku down if he got injured now, so he couldn't.

The only thing that gave him the slightest solace was that Shitty Hair would take a bit of time climbing up the mountain to reach the top. Still, it was not a particularly tall cliff side and Katsuki's time was running out.

He breathed in and out deeply, trying to center himself or whatever bullshit people told him would help. He tried again, expecting to see even the smallest spark jump off his palm, but once again there was nothing.

As Katsuki reached the exact location he was supposed to be at for Shitty Hair to begin, he began to panic. There was no way his quirk wasn't working. What if he needed it later? What would happen in a life or death situation? Could it just switch on and off whenever it pleases? Questions raced through his mind. And as he became more frantic, he kept trying to light a spark, to see an explosion burst out from his palm and fingertips. The one time... The one time he wanted to use it and nothing.

His breathing became erratic. This couldn't be happening to him. This wouldn't happen to him, right?

Fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen.

He didn't know what to do.

He needed Deku to be here. He was sure everything would work if Deku was here.

Katsuki's mind was tied between spotting the villains and being supported right here, in this moment. Was it selfish of him to want Deku to abandon his other responsibilities?

Or even wish that they didn't exist in the first place. That made it seem as though he wished the villains never decided to bother him and this class, which was certainly true. He clung to that reasoning, making himself sound far less conceited and egotistical than he probably was.

But none of that brought his quirk back.

There was a time when he would have loved what was happening to him now, but the threat of being crushed by a rock was very real. And most likely painful from what Katsuki could imagine. So at that moment, he needed his quirk more than ever. This was still a test of sorts and he didn't think he could afford to fail it.

Placing his palm out again, he compiled himself and tried again.

Only the air tickled his fingers.

That was it.

Something welled up within him, and it wasn't his explosive power. It was pure frustration and contempt. Would his wishes ever be respected? Would he ever be listened to? At this moment, it seemed as though everything he had been training for, aiming for, was crashing down around him.

Even issues which held no relation to his quirk functioning properly seemed to surface. It didn't matter if it was a slight from a week ago or the harm he had done, all of it threatened to rush at him.

He had no time for this.

"READY?" Shitty Hair yelled out from the top of the cliff face, clearly having no sense of good timing.

So much was happening too quickly that Katsuki couldn't even begin attempting to react to any of it. His brain hadn't sorted it all into neat piles so that he could shove it away.

If he couldn't use his quirk... Was he useless?

The overarching question finally emerged.

Mere months ago his concern was over him being able to do too much, now it was over him not being able to do anything at all. He had turned from a roaring fire into a dying ember within a matter of hours with no clue how to stop it.

There must be something within him that was preventing him from accessing his quirk. But why? Why now? Of all times, just as he was getting better with it, just as he felt he truly needed it, it vanished. Maybe it was some kind of internal retribution, a way to prove that he wasn't cut out for this hero course and all that came with it.

Proof that he was as useless as he once thought Deku was. And he didn't even have the same brain to even it out.

He had nothing. He was nothing.

There wasn't anything for him to say against that. No one would come to his defense, he was alone and stressed and couldn't get anything to work out for him. All that meant was that there was no way that any form of good-intention was going to jump start his quirk. Especially not with all the doubt that had already built and was building up inside of him. But that was fine. He could do this. All the negatives he had spewed at himself, the overwhelmingness of it all, even his frustration at his missing best friend, he channeled all of it. Focusing all of that pure loathing into one place, into his hands as he closed his eyes and allowed it to all amplify within him.

It began as a tickle in his fingers, traveling down to his fingertips before a small popping noise could be heard. Bright, sporadic lights quickly followed. Katsuki's eyes widened in amazement as he stared at his hands as they sparkled with subtle light.

He had actually started a spark.

A sense of relief ran through him, momentarily battling back all the unwanted emotions he unburied to feel it.

All there was left to do was turn that single spark into a huge explosion. A little voice at the back of his head told him that whatever source he had just drawn upon was not going to be reliable. It couldn't work for the long term, no matter how desperate he was to make it. Good thing he ignored this voice, reason wasn't something he needed right now. Katsuki just wanted everything to work.

"BRO I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!" Shitty Hair called out even louder than before, "YOU READY?" Katsuki wasn't sure how long he had left the other boy waiting, but he was sure that his impatience was growing.

"WAIT" Katsuki yelled back up, probably not easing any possible concerns Shitty Hair might have held about them getting started. The only thing the blonde haired boy was worried about at that moment was his quirk working, their training be damned.

"WAS THAT A YES?" Shitty Hair had clearly not heard the simple word Katsuki had given him. "NO."

He wouldn't be able to focus if this fool kept bothering him with things that didn't matter. Training was not more important than allowing Katsuki to understand, and hopefully work toward, controlling his quirk.

"OKAY!" Katsuki thought that would be the end of it, but it seemed as though Shitty Hair had more he wanted to say. "JUST LET ME KNOW."

It wasn't as though he was going to start using his quirk with no warning, or expect the same from the spiky-haired redhead. This whole working in teams thing was really getting annoying. Would annoyance fuel his quirk? Were his emotions even remotely tied to his quirk or was he just putting up some kind of mental block on himself?

The questions would never end and the answers would never make themselves known.

Katsuki sighed.

He was fucked.

He just needed one thing to go right and then he could go wild.

Trying again, he put all of his mental effort into trying to cause an explosion, a massive one that could alert Deku to his location no matter where he might be. He would be using his quirk as an aid, a guide, a helper, not to hurt anyone.

Maybe if he thought of it that way. His quirk being a gift that Katsuki, in all of his uselessness, had to take full advantage of to maximize how much he could help others. Wasn't that the whole point of this? To help and be a hero?

It seemed like a ridiculous notion to Katsuki. A weird kind of burden that he was placing on himself only to get his quirk to work. And the best part was, not a single explosion burst from his hands. His spirited attempt at progress was stunted.

But he wouldn't give up now. He saw that he could create a spark. It was no use giving up now, maybe earlier he could've gotten away with it, but Deku would just be ashamed of him if he refused to even try.

Katsuki slowly breathed in and out. He could do this.

He pictured himself breaking through a wall. Using all of his thoughts and emotions, whether good to bad, he turned them into a hammer. A hammer that at first only fractured the wall. But as he swung again and again, thinking of Deku and all that he had to prove, huge cracks emerged. From those cracks, with one final swing, the wall came crashing down.

Light lit up in Katsuki's hands, the sound of his explosions going off were quick to follow.

At that moment, training was the furthest thing from Katsuki's head. All he could think about was how... He was actually excited. It worked. In a way, it felt like he had proven himself. As if there wasn't anything he couldn't do at this very moment. He was at the top of it all!

"READY NOW?"

Shit.

How could he have forgotten that he wasn't free to do as he wished. There were expectations of him he had to fulfill.

"YEAH."

It was time to let the training begin. Katsuki smirked slightly as he awaited the rocks he knew would be falling toward him soon as the noises of something, or someone, slamming down on the cliffside grew louder and louder.

Even though Deku had told him to enjoy the training, Katsuki had a hard time focusing on anything besides what was to come. Well, that and wondering when Deku was going to be coming back. He felt strangely bare, openly exposed to all those around him for the first time. It wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling, nor one he wanted to put up with for another moment.

He was stuck and now he was unstuck, but all the tools he had used to get himself unstuck hadn't been put away yet. They were all still on the ground, noticeable by any who would decide to walk near him.

He was right when he thought that there was no time for this.

And as a result of all these burdens resting on his mind, Katsuki found himself blasting the rocks vigorously, his explosive power spreading to the mountain itself, ignorant to Shitty Hair's exclamations as he shook the very cliff. It was as though each action wasn't his own, despite him having complete control over his body.

When before his explosions wouldn't come at all, now they came to him too easily.

It was a strange switch in tempo, but almost on-brand for someone like Katsuki.

"Take it easy!" Shitty Hair yelled out at him, burdened by the large rocks pummeling down at him.

All Katsuki could think about was if he was doing enough, pushing himself enough, proving himself as enough. His mind was not taking in anything else, only that he had to keep going. At this point he couldn't even see or hear the explosions as they erupted from his palms.

"Stop. Hey, Bakugou! Stop it!" Were there any rocks left? Katsuki couldn't tell and it didn't hold him back either, allowing him to throw attack after attack onto the ciff's surface. He was acting on autopilot now, disconnected from his body and unable to utilize his senses.

Even then, something was able to cut through, right into his awareness.

"STOP!"

Katsuki's body went still. Something about the way that the words were desperately yelled sent him back to a past memory. It was so unpleasant that Katsuki couldn't even think before stopping in his tracks. He finally realized the pain in his eyes and ears, hurting from the white light and strain of the explosions on his body. If he had the capabilities to see that which was around him, he would notice small piles of rubble and rock. Some pieces were huge while others were small and crumbled. But that was not the only thing he did not notice, he wasn't aware of Shitty Hair's presence in the slightest. Or that he had fallen onto his knees on the ground.

None of this sunk in until he felt a hand at his shoulder, causing him to immediately smack it away as though it were a fly. He deserved no fake comforts or false sympathies. Shitty Hair seemed as though he understood as he didn't try it again, instead keeling next to Katsuki and saying, "Wow. Ye okay?"

Katsuki wanted to scream his answer from the rooftops, wax poetry about how he was doing awful and that he needed Deku soon. To convey all of this, he settled for a single word, "Fine."

Shitty Hair frowned, not believing his words for a single moment. Considering all that just happened, no one would believe that Katsuki was just fine. "Hey man, it's alright if you don't wanna talk about it."

Katsuki sent him a half-hearted glare, he didn't care much for the pleasantries and attempts to calm him down. Shitty Hair didn't understand, would never understand what was going on inside of his head at the moment. But clearly, he didn't get the memo. "Alright, you can deal with whatever you need to, but don't take it on the battlefield. That kind of stuff is dangerous." He warned as if Katsuki didn't know that already. But clearly, knowing and doing something were vastly different. So, he took a chance in Shitty Hair, "How?"

A grin surfaced on the red headed boy's face. "Follow my voice!" It was interesting advice to give.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, confused by what he was talking about. He shouldn't have expected much, seeing as he didn't receive much.

The only voice he had ever pledged to follow was his own. Or maybe Deku's, depending on whatever the fuck Shitty Hair was talking about.

"Let's just head back." Katsui scoffed, already walking fast enough so that he'd be ahead of Shitty Hair by a few paces. He was just lucky enough that the other boy didn't say anything about his lack of a response.

And they carried on in silence, making their way back to the facilities that they were supposed to meet up at after training. After all, Katsuki had gotten more than his fill of training. He was done.

Katsuki would never say it out loud or admit it to himself again, but he was glad for Shitty Hair's company as they made their way down. He had managed to get Katsuki to stop thinking about Deku for a few hours and instead immerse himself in training and getting better. Now that he realized it, the panic he felt from earlier relit in his gut, but at least he had been able to live without it for a time. It seemed that the only way to truly quell the anxiousness inside of him was for Deku's plan to be a success and for no one to be harmed in the inevitable villain attack.

Even as he said that now, would it really work? Or would he be spending the rest of his life setting goals to ease his pain and getting disappointed each time it didn't happen? It was impossible to tell if his promise would end up empty or fulfilled.

"Bakugou... BAKUGOU!" By the time his name was called a second time, Katsuki whipped his head to whoever had spoken. It was Shitty Hair, standing before him with a concerned look on his face. "You seriously okay?"

"..." Katsuki said nothing, blinking at Shitty Hair with a confused look on his face, not realizing how deeply he had been absorbed in his thoughts. "Oh. Yeah, sorry." He hadn't even noticed that he had stopped walking long ago, letting his thoughts guide him more than his feet. What was wrong with him, truly?

The fact that this had happened again was a little alarming. At least this time, no one's life had been at stake because of his spacing out.

Wisely, Shitty Hair dropped it. It would be funny, how irregular the boy's abilities were to pick up on the atmosphere and body language, if it wasn't so annoying. One moment he let him be alone in silence and the next he chattered away like a screeching, obnoxiously red, bird.

And the fact that he wasn't the only colorful and obnoxious bird in Class 1-A was saying something. Katsuki only hoped that Eyebags, with whomever he had been paired up with, was not suffering nearly as bad as he was. Now that he thought about it, as he regretfully had forgotten about his acquaintance's match-up, he was probably stuck with someone with a nonphysical quirk. Even worse, he might have to repeatedly brainwash someone in order to test its limits.

This was a situation where it would be great to have a quirk like Plant Girl's. one that caused no inherent damage. One that didn't get immediate judgement. Katsuki couldn't help the stab of jealousy through him as he put more thought into it.

Unlike his earlier space out, he made sure to keep a workable focus as he spent far more time thinking about Eyebags and Plant Girl than he should have. During that time, he made his way down the mountain with Shitty Hair at a moderate pace.

He didn't know if the training exercise they had just done could be considered a failure. He didn't even know if anyone was watching them, although he would bet that they were. All Katsuki knew was that if he had to do any more training similar to what Shitty Hair and him had just done, he didn't want to do it.

It was no use trying to get him to blast at a mountain when he was afraid to go against any human being. Katsuki didn't want to hurt anyone, he already had his fill on it, and yet something told him that if he truly wanted to become a hero, he needed to get used to the idea of causing harm.

Katsuki grimaced at the thought.

He just wanted it all to be over.

Insofar, Shouto couldn't complain much about how training was going.

None of it had been as intense as what he had gone through with his... Father. And for the most part, it was purely frustrating that he could not yet master using both of his quirks at once. And although it took some time for Shouto to even begin calling them his own quirks in his mind, he would consider that the greatest progress.

One thing that was useful about training was that it gave Shouto enough time to think about Bakugou. The other boy had helped him with his quirk, yes. But he also posed a threat to the rest of his classmates in a blindly obvious way. Shouto was not the best at picking up on that kind of thing, but even now he had grown to see what the blond was trying to hide. After all, if someone like Yaoyorozu could agree that he was hiding something, then Shouto was on the right path.

He still wasn't sure why Bakugou had even tried to help him with his quirk if he truly was a villain, but he wasn't about to ask about it. His bluntness would betray his position.

Regardless of what he thought, there were very few chances throughout the day, after breakfast, to investigate anything. And while dinner posed another opportunity, Shouto was too caught up in his own training to fully take advantage of it. That meant that Shouto's only opportunity came later that night.

It was when the Wild Wild Pussycats announced their last game for the day.

Both Class 1-A and Class 1-B were gathered before the entrance to the forest surrounding the facilities.

"So, cuties!" Pixie Bob clapped her hands together to get the attention of both classes, "Your last activity for the day is going to be a scary hide and seek."

Shouto had no idea what any of that meant.

Mandalay continued, "What she means is that we'll send one class at a time into the forest. They have to scare the other class using whatever tools, just be safe." She went into a bit more detail about the rules of the game and certain boundaries to prevent any injuries from occurring.

"Whatever class scares the other one the most wins!" Ragdoll added on, bouncing up and down in excitement.

A quiet murmur spread throughout the students. It was clear that some were excited about the activity. Shouto didn't have many experiences with these types of games, but it seemed pretty straight forward. He just had to walk around and not get scared, then scare Class 1-B when it was his turn. It didn't sound like the most fun, but he wasn't experienced enough to truly judge that.

As some of his classmates around him began to cheer at the prospects of competing with another class, he opened his mind up a bit more. Maybe it would be as fun as they were enthusiastic.

Or maybe that was just the prospect of being able to compete directly with Class 1-B. He wouldn't be able to tell either way.

Of course, as that thought entered his mind, someone had to speak their thoughts on it.

"It's time for us to prove that Class 1-B is better than 1-A!" The pale blonde boy began to laugh, crazed. Shouto couldn't be sure, but he believed his name to be Monoma or something similar. "They won't see us coming... I will-"

A large hand hit him in the back of his neck, knocking him out cold. The girl connected to it smiled sheepishly and apologized for the boy's outlandish behavior. Shouto didn't see the point in her actions, it wasn't her that was responsible for him. A majority of his classmates appeared grateful though, so he remained silent.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Pixie-Bob, the strange hero, exclaimed as she suddenly clapped her hands together. "All those who failed their exams will not be able to participate in this activity. Sorry cuties! Go see your homeroom teachers."

A collective groan rang out, from Class 1-A and Class 1-B alike. A few students protested, but in the end, all those who had failed their exams slumped away towards the buildings they had come from. The number wasn't significant, but Shouto was sure they had been looking forward to the prospect of scaring the other class. It didn't make sense to him why they would feel joy in the suffering of others, weren't they all training to be heroes?

Well, except for Bakugou and the other boy with the purple hair. Both of whom he noticed did not withdraw to the buildings behind them.

"Now that we've taken care of that, we'll assign you your roles." Ragdoll proclaimed with the same excitement the rest of her hero team had displayed. "Class 1-B will be first in scaring Class 1-A, so you all can head into the forest now and get ready! Class 1-A will stay in the meantime."

Murmurs broke out between those in Class 1-B, but the Wild Wild Pussycats weren't having it.

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

It didn't take much coaxing after that to get the remaining members of Class 1-B to head into the dark forest where they'd begin their planning. Shouto, along with everyone else, awaited the next instructions.

"We will now announce the pairs." Tiger shouted out so all could hear. The excitement that had lit up the classes was not dissipated as they awaited their future. Shouto was in no particular rush to hear his name, finding their activity somewhat interesting but not suited to his tastes. "... Todoroki and Bakugou."

His interest slightly peaked after that. While his face remained blank and expressionless, many ideas were circulating around in his mind.

Shouto knew that the perfect opportunity had just presented itself. He could watch Bakugou from up close. Despite already knowing that he was a villain, or had connections with villains, the closer eye Shouto could keep on him, the better.

Even if Yaoyorozu was a far better candidate for this position with her ability to read people, Shouto knew he would prove adequate. Right now, from his observation, he could tell that Bakugou was very displeased with their current situation. He probably had so much to hide that he didn't want anyone else to find out about. It was the first time that Shouto could be proud of his presence as a nuisance.

Although, that statement wasn't entirely true. Shouto was convinced that his suspicions were not overly obvious, hopefully making him seem like another, random classmate through Bakugou's eyes. An invisible nuance, so to speak.

At that point, not all of the instructions were given about their somewhat strange activity. And Shouto wouldn't risk a misunderstanding for his scheming thoughts, so he paid attention to the next words uttered by the Wild Wild Pussycats.

"Each pair will go two minutes after the first one." Mandalay explained to all those in Class 1-A, including the others. "This will avoid all of you being clumped together in one group, but make sure you stay with your partner. Any questions?"

After a few beats of silence, Iida rose his hand sharply.

"Yes?"

"You did not yet tell us who will be entering first." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Ah, right! Enter in the order you were assigned to your pair."

It didn't take long for Shouto to realize that they were not going to be the first to enter the darkening forest, and not even close to it for that matter. That worried Shouto the slightest bit. He knew his classmates were capable, but they were unaware of what was truly going on. He couldn't lose concentration on the issue at hand for even a moment. Or else something disastrous could happen, a plot created between Bakugou and his mysterious partner. It was no use dwelling on that he couldn't change.

Shouto glanced in Bakugou's direction and took note of how he reacted to each and everything that happened between the announcement of their entry and the occurrence itself. It was a daunting, unhelpful task that didn't tell him much of anything.

Eventually, it was their turn to enter the darkened forest.

"Good luck, cuties!" Pixie-Bob called out to Bakugou and Shouto as they began to walk toward the treeline, receiving no reply.

As they entered the darkened forest, Shouto couldn't help but feel a certain unease within. He rationalized it as a consequence of being near Bakugou, who was a loose cannon in his eyes, but even then it situated itself without budging. He anxiously looked around, noticing Bakugou do the same while keeping his face neutral to not betray his emotion. He had plenty of practice doing so, it would not take much for him to effectively fool Bakugou. Part of the worry that was eating away at him may as well have been the presence of Class 1-B, whose attempts to scare his class would not do his investigation any good.

He never thought of himself as someone who would be scared that easily. Nearly all of his fears had already occurred and affected his life, with the others being vastly unlikely while at the remote location that they were. However, Shouto could not vouch for Bakugou's tolerance for being scared. Maybe, just maybe, he would be too afraid to engage in whatever plan he had mapped out while Shouto had been watching him. It seemed like a silly hope to cling on to, but he couldn't completely erase the possibility.

On the other hand, a certified villain getting scared at small pranks? The idea of that seemed less believable than Bakugou's innocence.

As they walked down the path, not much happened. Once or twice a student from Class 1-B popped out in the hopes of scaring the duo, but quickly realized it was a lost cause with Shouto's lack of expression and Bakugou's perpetual anger. This usually ended in the student cursing them and hiding back in the forest with whatever trick they were using.

The only thing that brought even true alarm during this time was a scream. It penetrated the odd silence of the forest and made every muscle in Shouto's body grow tense. He didn't know what to make of it, not until Bakugou opened his mouth.

"Scaredy-cats." He scoffed and continued walking.

Shouto didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. It didn't seem to be particularly productive to call Bakugou out on his insults. Although it was reassuring that he thought the scream was Class 1-B's doing and not something else. At the same time, wouldn't Bakugou want to trick Shouto into believing that?

If he couldn't trust Bakugou with anything, he had to make all of the necessary judgments on his own.

Considering that the single scream was not followed by any others or even a cry for help, Shouto assumed that meant it was part of the activity and not anything remotely alarming. Because if he was wrong, then everything would get thrown off and he couldn't let that happen.

So both him and Bakugou carried on as usual. Along the way one or two members from Class 1-B stuck their heads out, or leapt out wildly with some special effect, in an attempt to scare the duo. The only reaction they received was two straight faces.

"Damn it!"

"Seriously?"

The members of Class 1-B were unappreciative of the lack of reaction from the two and reset themselves. Shouto would even go as far as to say that their total efforts had been unyielding, but there was an occasional shriek coming from his classmates.

It took a minute or so after they had walked away from the last attempt at being scared that Shouto sensed something had changed. And it wasn't in a good way. The atmosphere had grown remarkably more tense and a strange smell began to permeate. At first, he couldn't put his finger on what it was, despite it being familiar to him. He found himself slowing down, trying to take in his surroundings as he noticed that even Bakugou seemed unsure of what was happening.

The longer they waited, the stronger the smell got until Shouto realized what it was.

It was the smell of smoke.

And where there was smoke, there was bound to be fire.

Not even moments later, light began to flicker throughout the forest and in the trees. At that point, both Shouto and Bakugou had stopped moving completely and were now whipping their heads around to figure out the source of the strange hue casting itself upon the nature surrounding them.

Until Shouto saw the fire.

Blue flames licked at the treetops, completely engulfing them within mere moments before spreading onto others. It was like an infectious disease, only damaging far quicker than one could ever hope to. Seeing so much fire before him put a sense of hopelessness into Shouto. There was no way that he would be able to quell it all... Even more unlikely was his ability to deal with it while keeping an eye on Bakugou. Part of his struggle in becoming a hero was learning how to depend on others. He was qualified and knew his limits, it didn't seem to make any sense as to why he should trust those whose limits he truly does not know.

Bakugou's friends were running around out there and he was essentially stuck on babysitting duty.

Now that he thought about them, Shouto's eyes roamed around the treetops in case one of Bakugou's villain friends was coming to retrieve him. All he could see was an overwhelming amount of bright blue as it invaded his pupils. That same homelessness that lit the forest on fire was lighting up his veins. Was burning down a forest truly the blond boy's style? Shouto couldn't say, he didn't know Bakugou well enough and didn't plan on getting to know him anytime soon.

As the fire continued to paralyze Shouto, a nasty realization struck him. The second he had spotted the perilous blue flames in the forest, he had taken his eyes off of Bakugou. From there, they hadn't returned to him a single time. Now, as his eyes widened and whipped backward, to where Bakugou was supposed to be glaring in awe at the flames, he could only see green trees unaffected by the damaging fire. Panicked, Shouto turned his head around in circles, trying to find any clue of where his main suspect had disappeared.

It didn't take as much effort as he thought it would. As he glanced down the path they had been walking on, he noticed an oval in the distance. Squinting his eyes allowed the oval to reveal itself as a spiky blond-haired boy to Shouto.

Without a moment's hesitation, he began to run after Bakugou. His mind couldn't even slow down to realize that if Bakugou wanted to run away from him, he would not pick the wide-open path for his escape path. Too much was going on to be as logical, as was probably needed.

Shouto kept Bakugou in his sight as he attempted to catch up to him, which was difficult when they were going at a relatively same pace. Interestingly enough, the landscape around them kept on changing. The fire persisted, but in some areas, Shouto found a yellow-ish gas had been added to it. Luckily, he stayed far away from it as something inside him deemed that it would be bad news.

The next change came mere moments after he acknowledged the gas clouds.

It was an emotionally-fuelled scream that put real fear into Shouto. And Bakugou, it seemed, as he had completely stopped running. Since Shouto was so driven to reach the other boy, he didn't stop for a moment, but the scream weighed on his conscience.

"... What was that?" Bakugou said it slowly, arms outstretched into a fighting position, but with his fingers splayed and palms up, in case a fight was called for.

Shouto didn't understand. What was he talking about? Didn't he know exactly what caused that scream? It could be none other than the villains he was working for, at least that was the only explanation that made sense. His immediate fighting position was somewhat telling, along with his reaction to this scream compared to the previous one. There was no reason to do what he just did if he wasn't expecting some kind of fight to result.

There was no indicator that anything outside of the normal was happening, Shouto probably wouldn't even know if anything was off were it not for what he already knew.

Immediately Bakugou affixed him with a strange look that Shouto could not decipher. Had he said any of that aloud by accident or was it something else that drew suspicion to him? The blond boy opened his mouth to speak but was thrown into a coughing fit at that moment. Shouto frowned slightly, confusion written on his face before he smelled it.

It was more potent than he was used to, but he would remember that smell from anywhere.

Smoke.

It rose from the fire and spread throughout the forest, its mist-like qualities overtaking the empty and clean air.

He couldn't breathe and couldn't see. That was probably the reason that the figure in black got so close to them before they realized he was there. After looking around vigilantly, Shouto had prepared himself for a fight while Bakugou bent to the occasional cough. Despite their different circumstances, they had both spotted the hooded figure in an all-black jumpsuit. He was looking down and immediately Shouto knew that whoever this was, he meant bad news. Shouto watched as the figure drew closer and closer to the two boys, maintaining his stance.

It didn't seem as though Bakugou recognized whoever was approaching, there was a certain tenseness in his stance that sent doubt into Shouto's mind. But, it was just as likely that Bakugou could not determine the identity of the figure until they advanced closer and he was waiting for that moment. Shouto wished that he couldn't give Bakugou the chance, but as a hero, it would be wrong to attack someone who had yet to do any harm of any kind. Being cloaked by smoke and entrenched in darkness was not a crime.

After the figure was a few meters away, he lifted his head slowly. Shouto did not know what he was expecting, but it was certainly not an entire face covered by black cloth, except for a gruesome mouth that looked to be forced open with metal attachments. There was no way to know if the figure before them had grinned, but Shouto got the impression he meant to as metal blades came rushing at the two boys mere moments later.

There was just barely enough time for Shouto to throw up an ice wall, momentarily protecting both him and Bakugou before more blades stabbed through. A peal of ugly laughter followed them, piercing through the air as the thin and deadly sharp blades came at both of them from above in long tendrils of silver. Shouto didn't have time to do anything but dodge out of the way and hope that Bakugou was doing the same. The extra thought threw him somewhat off balance and caused one of the blades to skim his arm, cutting his shirt and drawing blood.

He grimaced, but didn't say a single word as he was too busy occupied with the strange villain attacking him and Bakugou... Or maybe just attacking him, not Bakugou. It was difficult to tell and he didn't have time to ponder it. For the most part, he was concerned about finding the villain whose whereabouts were shrouded in the smoke treetops. But as the blue flames spread, so would the light that exposed whatever dark patches the villain was hiding in. It was only a matter of using his flames, which were far brighter, by comparison, so he didn't have to rely on the burning of a forest to catch a man who was attempting to kill him.

"Watch it!" A body slammed into him, sending him tumbling onto the dirt path with a grunt. He didn't even have to guess to know who had shoved him, but what did surprise him as he looked up to address the suspected villain was the huge blade sticking out of the ground right where he had been standing.

Bakugou had just saved him from being stabbed.

...

Bakugou had saved him?

He didn't understand what kind of benefit the boy would receive from such an action and struggled to wrap his head around the concept of the idea. Unfortunately, this wasn't the time or the place for Shouto to be considering such things. Already his inability to sort through the complicated mess that was Bakugou had prevented him from being able to fight effectively, he couldn't allow it to happen again as a hero-in-training.

Despite all that had suddenly happened, he resolved to determine its true meaning later and focus on what was immediately in front of him. Villain or not, Bakugou didn't seem antagonistic toward him at this moment and that was all that he needed to watch out for. Shouto would not let Bakugou upstage him so easily.

Rolling to his feet, Shouto mustered all the confidence that he could and set his arm on fire, hurdling a ball toward the air as fast as he could. As predicted, he missed, but it lit up the sky and exposed the position of the strange villain. From there, Shouto could once again see his grisly teeth, which he found out were the source of his blades. It was unnerving, but he didn't have time to question it as ore blades came at him.

Instinctually, he threw up another ice wall. He and Bakugou would only be safe for mere moments, but it gave them time to plan things out. However, at that time, Shouto's attention was completely drawn away from the villain and affixed to an entirely different entity.

As blades tore through the wall of ice, he could only hear the patter of heavy steps and crashing trees.

Many different ideas ran through his mind of what could be on the other side of the few remaining trees. But he was more concerned about avoiding certain death, so Shouto's attention found its way back to the strange, toothy, villain.

If there was any upside to the large figure toppling down the forest, it was that Shouto and Bakugou weren't the only ones thrown off guard. The villain's ice piercing bladed attack had every opportunity to pierce Shouto, but it only nicked him instead.

Still, the small pain warned him not to let the villain get too close. Shouto wouldn't allow the same injury to occur a second time, deciding to put up a thicker wall of ice in the hopes that it would hold for longer. Despite that, he couldn't ignore that his combat skills were not well suited against the current opponent. Of whom had been staying purely on the offensive, while Shouto could barely keep up with his defense. Even those with the most basic training knew that wasn't good. With Endeavor's training, he knew he would be dead unless he turned the tables quickly.

Not wasting a single second, he boosted himself up with a jagged block of ice before blasting a torrent of fire in the villain's direction. It was uncoordinated and messy, unlike his usual tactics which were effective and precise, causing himself to melt part of the ice wall he had created.

That opened up an opportunity for the villain, who had easily been able to dodge the fire and take to the air, with his sturdy blades lifting himself up. Now they were vulnerable to air attacks, making Shouto's ice wall completely useless in many ways.

There was no point to him creating an ice dome, which would effectively trap them together. All of the training he had ever received told him not to create such a perilous situation. He was stuck creating partially effective ice walls and sending easily escapable torrents of flame. It was better than whatever Bakugou was trying to do, planting his feet in one place and hurling explosions at the airborne villain until Shouto was forced to put an ice wall between them to save Bakugou's life. His carelessness had begun to inhibit Shouto's ability to ward off the villain.

During this time, his focus was completely limited to the villain before him, not even taking a moment to ponder the threat crashing through the trees.

As much as his father would be disappointed to hear, he could only truly handle one huge crisis at a time.

Even if his idea of handling was not quite efficient.

More blades came hurtling at Shouto and all thoughts, except those urging him to dodge, were shoved out of his mind. More ice went up, only lasting for a few moments. However, it seemed that Bakugou only needed a few moments before he blasted upwards and let loose multiple explosions toward the villain.

Shouto had no time to ponder what attacking the villain could mean, as Bakugou fell to the ground. Moments later, the ice wall was ripped apart and followed by maniacal laughter. Laughter that soon got drowned out by the heavy thud of trees falling prey to some invisible giant. Only it wasn't invisible now. As the sound got closer, the trees to the left of Shouto and Bakugou were uprooted, slamming down on the floor. But it had no time to echo, as behind it a familiar sight emerged.

A scream permeated the air, but Shout knew it wasn't coming from him.

It was coming from Tokoyami.

If Shouto did not know Tokoyami, he would be terrified by the display that emerged before him. A huge, shadowy bird tore through the forest wrapped around a hidden individual.

Dark Shadow had been given complete control.

Whether accidentally or purposefully, Shouto didn't know, but it shocked him enough to freeze him in place. There were several things Dark Shadow might do from walking away to involving himself in the small fight on the ground, hopefully against the strange, toothy figure. What mattered was that whatever he was going to do, he'd be doing it in the next few seconds.

After tearing his eyes away to secure a safe route in case of the worst situation, Shouto's eyes caught onto Bakugou. He was staring up in unadulterated shock at Dark Shadow as he continued to advance toward them.

Shouto couldn't help but feel some sort of pride internally. Didn't see that coming, eh? It only went to prove the lack of research the boy had done in their class. Then again, reading a file and seeing something in person was very different. Particularly in this case where it was unusual to see Dark Shadow break free of Tokoyami's control and start rampaging. Even Shouto himself wasn't sure what to do, finding himself watching as Dark Shadow made his way closer and closer to where they were standing.

Later, he would curse himself for doing nothing at the moment because there were about a dozen things he could've done. The excuse that he was watching Bakugou's moves would not work in this case, but at least his inaction led to a somewhat positive result.

Similar to Shouto and Bakugou, the villain they had been fighting was shocked by the entrance of a giant, shadowy bird and stood stagnant on the ground away from the two of them. However, unpredictably, Dark Shadow came into arms reach, he grabbed the villain in hand and violently shook him. Of course, that got him to react with a cascade of blades, useless against the shadow that was his captor. It was clear he did not know of Tokoyami's control from inside of the shadow. If he did ever figure it out, it was far too late as Dark Shadow didn't waste a single moment slamming the villain down on the ground, almost certainly knocking him out, and then throwing him aside.

While disappointed that he wasn't ultimately the one to defeat the villain, Shouto was still glad that he was taken care of. His presence was a burden on a far more important mission that could determine how the villains had found them in the first place. However, these thoughts were far too naive as he soon realized that Dark Shadow was not going away. He did not start to walk off in the other direction to deal with more villains but instead kept his glowing eyes trained on Shouto and Bakugou below him.

"R... RUN!" A pained voice screamed out from the sky. There was no doubt about it, it was Tokoyami.

But Shouto didn't run and neither did Bakugou. They stood their ground. From all that he had witnessed, Shouto was sure of a method to keep Dark Shadow at bay. He could only assume that Bakugou might know that same information or else he would look far more terrified than he did. Maybe that was an unfair assumption considering his reactions until now, but it was one that Shouto was willing to risk for Tokoyami.

Speaking of the boy, he cried out once more in desperation, saying something barely perceptible. Even straining his ears, he couldn't understand his words and the purpose behind them.

"LIGHT?" Bakugou yelled in what seemed to be a random moment, but Shouto presumed it was related to what had been said by Tokoyami. He couldn't be completely sure. Alas, he didn't have to dwell much on it as he was able to see, moments later, the importance of it.

As Shouto was distracted by everything happening around him, the yelling and squawking, in addition to the villain that was attacking and the potential threat in Dark Shadow, he didn't notice as Bakugou finally seemed to understand what was needed of him.

In a burst of sound and light, the spiky-haired blond flew upwards toward the shadowy bird.

Shouto's eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to yell out, to tell him to come back, anything. But, he couldn't bring himself to it. He didn't know what he would say even if he could say something - anything. A million thoughts and ideas ran through his head. They ranged from extremities over concern for what Bakugou might do to what might happen to him as he got closer and closer to the ravenous Dark Shadow.

It was a very dangerous game he was playing, one Shouto didn't want to be responsible for.

He supposed it was lucky then that Bakugou acted quickly, not prolonging any of Shouto's lingering thoughts.

He directed a large explosion right into Dark Shadow's face.

An explosion of light.

Now Shouto understood exactly what their interaction and the following actions had meant. He was such a fool not to see it before.

The light was about Dark Shadow's one weakness. And probably Tokoyami's insistence that someone use it to keep him at bay. As Dark Shadow roared in frustration, he seemed to shrink back away from the intense light source caused by Bakugou's explosion.

Still, it was not enough. Shouto's position made it easiest to realize this, the explosion made him cower and begin to hide but wouldn't give Tokoyami full control. To do that, Dark Shadow needed to be put in his place, there needed to be more light.

As he had been learning throughout the entire night, Shouto couldn't expect Bakugou to do what he wanted. Instead, Shouto himself had to act.

He would have to use his father's fire. No, not his father's fire... But his fire.

"My fire." He murmured to himself quietly. Oddly enough, it provided the amount of relief he needed in the stressful situation to set half of his body ablaze. With a wave of the arm, a burst of fire was sent toward Dark Shadow, who luckily hadn't been given enough time to regenerate.

If he did regenerate at all. Shouto couldn't speak to the truth of that. All that mattered was the inhuman shriek let out by Dark Shadow as his form began to dwindle. Within moments, his weakened state completely crumpled, leaving only Tokoyami.

But, the issues didn't stop there. While Dark Shadow might have receded, Tokoyami was still suspended in the air for a short time before beginning to free-fall. Eyes widening slightly, Shouto's instincts didn't work fast enough. His feet wouldn't move, despite him urging them to. He couldn't do anything but watch.

Luckily enough, he didn't have to do anything.

Bakugou let out twin explosions from his hand and crashed into Tokoyami mid-fall. There was nothing pleasant about it, other than the knowledge that Tokoyami would be somewhat safe. As Bakugou's hand lit up once more to rocket them both to the ground, Shouto finally took a breath. For now, he would not dwell on his inaction in the seconds that preceded, but he knew it would be something that would come back to haunt him.

Regardless, Shouto felt the relief of someone who had endured a rough battle. But as blue flames burned behind him and purple mist scattered in a clump, dread crept into him.

It wasn't over yet. Not even close.

Katsuki was so fucking confused. He realized that the villains had attacked, he had been stuck with some weird half and half snob-bastard, and got attacked by a villain who was then destroyed by a giant shadowy bird. The bird called out to him for light and Katsuki, assuming it was a weird shadow since it was, complied and blasted away at it. That wasn't enough though because stupid half and the half bastard had to step in with his fire to reveal that the giant shadowy bird was hiding a UA student.

Of course he had to save him from falling, but that didn't erase the ultimate truth. If the giant shadowy bird was really a UA student this whole time, then he had just thrown a huge explosion at a fellow student. Something he had sworn he would never use his quirk for, harming people, particularly those who didn't deserve it.
It was especially pathetic after he had a whole meltdown over it while being forced to train with Shitty Hair. The only thing that made this any worse than it already was was the fact that Deku had given him absolutely no warning. No warning meant no reason for him to be absent for such a long fucking time. Which meant that everything he had to go through, all the doubts, all the worries over Deku's absence were for nothing. Katsuki didn't know who to be angry with anymore. Assuming that it even mattered at this point. If it weren't for the ongoing villain attack, Katsuki would be ready to bury his head inside the ground. Panic had lent him the strength to fire an explosion at the shadowy bird, but guilt and fear now ate at him like he was the bird's prey.

Why did he have to do that?

Katsuki was so wrapped up in his own ongoing issues that he paid no attention to the student who he had caught out of the air. Not that it was easy to dismiss a boy with a bird's head and beak, but there were more important things going on than acknowledging his appearance.

Still, as the bird person student started speaking to him, he was drawn into the present moment.

"Your starry aim is much appreciated." The non-shadow bird person slightly bowed his head to Katsuki.

He was slightly shocked to hear those words... But the meaning stuck with him and he clung to it greedily. This student was thanking him. Whatever harm he caused didn't matter to the weird bird in front of him. Katsuki wouldn't pretend as though the words made any more sense than the situation, but it seemed as though the non-shadow bird person was extending his gratitude. "Yeah, whatever." He played it off, quelling the bits of pride inside him.

He wondered why it was so easy for a stranger to curb the anxious thoughts that crept away in his mind when Deku couldn't do the same.

A thought for another time.

There was still an entire villain attack they had to help fend off... That he had to fend off. Fending off an attack when you're the only one who knows anything is not easy and is made harder when your partner in crime disappears the second you need him. Katsuki was going to go crazy without Deku at his side, everything was swirling around him way too fast. It was overwhelming and there wasn't enough time for him to get his bearings, much less follow their care plan to a tee.

Not to mention that throughout their entire time, Katsuki had been feeling uncomfortable around the half and half bastard. He had been staring at Katsuki several times, which only got weird when being attacked by a villain. It was hard to focus when you knew that someone was watching your every step.

Was he missing something so important?

Katsuki shook his head in the hopes that it would bring him back to his senses. All of his complaints were ones he had to overcome if he truly wanted to become a hero. Annoying teammates, pressure, lengthy plans, surveillance, he might as well have started now rather than later.

"We ain't the only ones attacked by villains." He spoke frankly to the two students in front of him, trying his best to ignore any strange looks he received. "No use waiting here like pussies, let's go."

He didn't know where they were going to go... There was probably something about that in the plan.

Fuck it.

There was so much occurring all around him that he still couldn't wrap his head around it. How could he expect the weird bird guy to become a giant bird guy and then proceed to attack everything in sight? It was useful until it wasn't and if Katsuki hadn't heard Weird Bird Guy call out to him, he might have been a goner.

Still, he had to keep moving. No matter what else would happen to him, he needed to keep things moving.

As much as Deku prioritized thinking, Katsuki was a person of action. As proven by his insistence to start walking toward the thick of the forest right where the smoke dulled, but the fire still roared.

Were he to stick to the plan, he might have ran to get to where he needed to go. Instead, he observed his surroundings as he walked at a relatively fast pace. The purple smoke from that condiment ass boy and the blue flame from burnt toast man were the most noticeable. There was no doubt that heroes were focused on hunting down the villains that caused such events.

Fine. That meant Katsuki was heading in the right direction, where some would have an easy time of hiding and preying on his peers.

"Wait."

He couldn't say he wasn't expecting for half and half bastard and Weird Bird Guy to react slowly to everything going on. As much as Katsuki was a fast thinker, he was not sprinting into the forest or anything quite like that, at least not yet.

"What." He didn't bother phrasing it as a question.

"We best put our efforts together."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. It was unsurprising that the Weird Bird Guy had asked such a question. The half and half bastard knew him enough to know he wasn't interested in working with others, especially on matters of such importance to him. He was the only one with the intel, being slowed down by idiots was not in his interest.

At the same time... Katsuki knew what Deku would say. He'd lecture him on the importance of teamwork, which Katsuki would always ignore. But he would also, most likely, mention how their plan only functions if they aren't the ones taking the whole burden. Katsuki wouldn't be able to take on the amount of villains scattered about the forest and protect students at the same time. Although he saw it as the same thing, it altered his response to the offered statement.

"If you can keep up." He didn't turn around to address them, only continuing his descent further into the chaos of the forest. If he initially walked at a somewhat moderate pace until he was sure he heard footsteps behind him, that was no one else's business but his own.

Katsuki didn't know exactly what he was going to do, if he could trust his quirk, or even the classmates around him. But he did know that he couldn't... No, he wouldn't let the villains get away with whatever they planned. He wouldn't be a hero if he didn't stop them.

Izuku panicked.

He was vastly under-prepared for what was currently happening. It was as though he knew the villains were going to attack, but he didn't really know.

For the past few hours, he had been wandering around the forest and picking up on snippets of conversation between students and teachers alike. None of it told him anything of importance. There was no sign that anything devious was going to happen.

But then nightfall hit. And the villains came out of their hiding.

It started with the purple smoke and the blue fire.

Izuku kicked himself for not being able to look at all the villains at once, to get a count on them, or even warn Kacchan before it happened. That was his job, wasn't it? But that didn't matter now.

His mind couldn't help but think back to what Nana mentioned. That Kacchan was at risk. Why did he ever decide to leave him on his own? Doubts about his capabilities ran through Izuku's mind as he tried to find Kacchan. It seemed that even when he was in a critical, risky situation he couldn't help but doubt himself.

He felt like there was so much more that could have been done to avoid the attack being carried out exactly as it had been so far.

But there was one thought that comforted the panicked boy. If Izuku had stayed with Kacchan, then he wouldn't have seen something very important. Something that served as the reason why he was now racing through the forest and trying to find the blond-haired boy.

It had become much more of a priority than Izuku's failed task of notifying Kacchan ahead of time. Now his message had to reach the other boy soon, or else.

He raced through the forest, hoping he would be able to make it in time, and uttering quiet prayers that by the time he reached Kacchan, if he reached Kacchan, it wouldn't be too late.

Izuku ignored all his doubts about the possibility of finding where Kacchan was. He just hoped the other boy would use his quirk at some point. If he did, maybe it would be easier to find him, but among all of the noises of the forest, it was difficult to know whether Izuku would truly be successful in his search or not. And from what he had seen, he needed to be fast. As fast as possible for his current state.

The only thing driving him to keep moving was the sight he saw on the cliffside. A defenseless boy against a massive, muscle-y villain with the most wicked grin.

Izuku pressed on, eyes probably crazed and focused. His mind was repeating the same name, and each time it got more urgent than the last.

"Kacchan."

He couldn't let the boy die. Kacchan wouldn't let the boy die.