Me: This is my first fanfic in this fandom so don't expect too much from me!
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Normal POV!
Deku's left pinky is gone.
It was there hours before, Bakugou is sure, but now it's… gone.
Distantly, he can hear Round Face gasping in horror, Kaminari shrieking a panicked 'st–stiches!' as Iida frantically asks Ponytail for some medical supplies, but Bakugou barely acknowledges them all, instead opting to stare at his childhood-not-friend's missing finger.
Bakugou has seen Deku wounded before — hell, he'd inflicted most of them back when he was a young, snot-nosed brat who thought he was better than everyone. He'd seen him bruised, he'd seen him bleed. He'd seen him get pushed around and stand back up with fire in his eyes, but looking at those green eyes now… all he sees is panic and terror.
Bakugou is too numb to mirror those emotions.
"Momo! What are you doing?!" he hears Jirou hiss, barely tensing as he silently clenches his jaw. "We have to hurry before Midoriya loses too much blood!" she urges, half-turned back as she clenches a baseball bat near her chest, her quirk currently in use to listen outside for any approaching hostiles. She and Todoroki are blocking the door, guarding their temporary refuge, but Shouto is facing them now — face hardened and eyes stone-cold as he gazes at Midoriya thoughtfully.
Bakugou does not move.
Iida has long stopped his frantic attempt at tending to Deku's wounds, a solemn look on his face as he avoids looking at Uraraka's direction.
"Uh, guys…?" Shitty hair speaks up, Bakugou almost forgot he was there, silently guarding with Jirou by the barricaded door. "You might want to hurry up. The zombies should be gone soon and we gotta dash out of here as soon as the coast's clear." he says firmly, red eyes hardened by time.
"Well, we would if these two hadn't stopped moving!" Uraraka whispers harshly, eyes narrowed and angry because why did Iida stop? Izuku is bleeding and no one is doing anything. Even Yaoyorozou has stopped moving, hugging herself close as she looks away in shame.
"Round face…" Bakugou tries to placate, but caramel eyes swivel to him so fast he stops. Agitated, Uraraka impatiently stares him down, harried and too panic-stricken to see logic, glaring at Iida expectantly.
Glasses cautiously takes a step forward. "Uraraka-san…" his voice is strained, and Bakugou takes a step back, knowing Iida will be the best person to handle the distressed brunette. "We should… take into consideration that Midoriya may be infected…" his eyes fall into the bleeding appendage.
There is no mistaking how Deku lost his fingers. His assigned area was by the parking lot, to look for a functioning vehicle that will help them carry their loots. He could not have lost his finger from a car — anyone could see the teeth-shaped mark it left from where the pinky was severed.
Uraraka's face morphs into something horrified. "No." she lets out a trembling breath, eyes unfocused as her shoulders well. "No!" she shrills, her hands rushing up to cup her cheeks as she cries in anguish, taking an unconscious step back and bumping into Kaminari, who'd frozen in shock and numbly places his hand on the sobbing female's shoulder instinctively. Kirishima has closed in on himself, facing the walls in a daze. Jirou had stayed in position, eyes tearing up but not making a sound.
The z-virus can be transmitted through biological means: from getting a drop of blood from an infected towards an open wound, to ingesting something that came from its victims. Being bitten is a surefire way of turning into one of them — turning into a walking, flesh-eating, undead corpse.
This is not the first they've watched friends and family turn into a monster. They lost Asui that way, from letting a salivating zombie too close to her bleeding leg.
Once, they met Todoroki's mother, but by then it had already been too late. She was already gone when they encountered her —nothing but a mindless monster.
… Todoroki had no other choice but to kill her.
They swore to never let anyone get to that point since then.
"Bakugou." Kirishima breaks the silence, eyes resolute but fists visibly shaking. "They're gone."
Bakugou turns to the quiet Jirou, who'd fallen into a crouch but gave a sharp nod to confirm. Slowly, the blond turns to Todoroki.
The man straightens, turning to the two crying forms of Kaminari and Uraraka. "Iida, you and Momo lead the others out. Kirishima and Bakugou will be staying with me."
"No…" Uraraka jolts, turning to the ice and fire user with a stricken expression. "NO! You can't! There has to be another way –I –y–you can't, please, you–" she chokes off with a sob, turning to bury her face in Kaminari's chest, the latter crying silently as he rubs her quaking body.
Kirishima gently pats Kaminari as the blond leads the crying girl out, Jirou having been waiting outside to lead the group out. Momo tries to keep her tears at bay, but a few drops escape as she walks out, unable to look at the silent greenette. Iida stays, stiff but looking at Midoriya. When the shorter man refused to look at him, Iida's shoulders droop as he walks away with hesitant steps.
Then, there was silence.
"Bakugou," Icohot calls once the footsteps have faded, and Bakugou moves.
"K–Kacchan…" De –Izuku trembles, green eyes quivering as he tries to back away, but Bakugou has him by the shoulders and firmly pushed to the ground, crouching as he holds the weakly struggling teen on his back. "Kacchan, please..."
Bakugou does not react, but his lips tremble as he hears the telltale sounds of Todoroki using his ice quirk. He does not look up when he hears the other man approach. Instead, his eyes remain on the face of weeping emeralds. He sees the other fall into a crouch, a sharp ice shard on hand from his peripherals. He watches his childhood—once-friend's face contort in horror. And when Todoroki raises his arms, Bakugou could not stop himself from shutting his eyes.
A harsh shove, and Bakugou's grip slips from Izuku's shoulders. He hears Todoroki make a surprised grunt as he stumbles backwards into his rear. He darts up, ready to give chase, but Kirishima manages to grab Izuku by the back of his collar before he could run out of the door, red eyes resigned and shaking as he wraps his arm around the smaller one's neck, his other hand raising to cup the greenette's mouth and nose.
Bakugou stays frozen from his fallen position, Todoroki watching with a steely gaze as Kirishima tightens his hold, watching Izuku's struggles weaken until he lays limp in the redhead's hold.
For a moment, the room is silent, unmoving, before Todoroki stands. Kirishima silently adjusts Izuku gently into his arms, walking into the room and placing him down into a lying position. Bakugou stands and gives Kirishima room to place the unmoving body of his —of Izuku, as he and Shouto stand by the open door. Once the redhead finishes lacing the boy's hands together on top of his stomach, Kirishima stands somberly.
Together, they press their palms on each hand and perform a silent prayer. Before long, Todoroki is standing up and leaving the room, Kirishima following behind, leaving Bakugou wi —alone.
He takes one last look at the body before walking out with a heart as heavy as the rain fell when his parents died.
~•~
When the outbreak happened, there was only Class 1-A.
The past incidents of villain attacks had done them well, having no prior warning for what was about to happen. The heroes tried to fight, but knowing nothing about the spreading disease cost them their lives. Before they knew it, their class had become the only survivors, with a few students from other courses and only one adult.
Nezu had survived, having been immune to the disease for unknown reasons.
He decided to stay in U.A., waiting for other survivors to stumble into the school so he could direct them to somewhere safer, a place he and his classmates were searching for.
They could not stay in U.A.
They were young, but circumstances gave them experience — they were heroes in training, who had been attacked by villains unaware, who'd watched a classmate die before their eyes in their first year. Mineta Minerou was his name. As unpleasant as he was to be around, his fate was undeserved.
Under their teacher's watchful eye, they did well amidst the apocalypse — scouting, gathering, surviving, until one deviated.
There were four students in the General Course, scared and angry and pushed to the edge. They put their blame on Shinsou, a former classmate of theirs before he had been transferred into the Hero Course. They taunted him, cornered him, blamed him when he was alone during one of their missions, exclaiming: why can't you make your quirk useful for once?!
The screaming had attracted those monsters, and Aizawa had noticed. Luckily, he had been near the area and managed to save Shinsou just in time, but the four ran with their tails between their legs, scattering, yelling, attracting more zombies until they were picked off one by one.
Aizawa got infected.
Shinsou blamed himself, crying, and Aizawa had asked Yaoyorozou to make a poison for him to drink so he could die in his sleep.
Yaoyorozou stopped making them weapons that day.
Since then, they had to settle for things they picked up and only rely on her for emergencies.
Bakugou never imagined seeing Deku again during their quest to find a safer place. It never even crossed his mind that the boy was still alive. Quirkless as he was, he had no other way to protect himself. Somehow, he did.
Deku integrated himself into his class seamlessly.
The next thing they knew, he'd brought life into their group, giving hope in their darkest moments. In a dark, twisted way, it may have been because he was quirkless that the others become more hopeful. Midoriya had survived, alone and powerless. When they lost their teacher, all of them had resigned their lives to fate. But if someone who's defenseless and alone fought their way to survive, then who were they to give up?
When he was gone, the group lost that hope. Suddenly, there was a prominent hole in their world once again.
Uraraka had isolated herself, snapping at anyone who got close, unable to look Iida or Todoroki in the eye. She had been the closest to Midoriya, Asui's death having brought them even closer.
Yaoyorozou had stopped being active during meetings, having lost confidence and constantly beating herself up from those they failed.
Iida had tried to be strong, but his commanding voice had lost its power and become more monotonous the following days.
Kaminari had stuck to Kirishima's side, offering silent comfort, the usually joyful blond having lost energy.
Sometimes he'd see Kirishima looking at his hands like it wasn't his.
"I killed him, Bakugou! I–I did it with my bare hands!"
They hadn't talked since then.
Jirou had become a pillar of support for the rest.
Ashido, upon being informed of what happened, had broken down and started crying. She was not as close to Midoriya as Uraraka had been, but Bakugou remembers them having quiet discussions among themselves during silent nights while everyone slept.
Aoyama, Tokoyami, and Kouda had taken to wallowing in their sorrows together.
The rest would sometimes disappear on their own to grieve.
They always came back.
But they didn't give up, they couldn't. Because Midoriya wouldn't have wanted that. Aizawa, Nezu, and those who had died — they carry their will, and their hope on their shoulders.
And so, Class 1-A trudges forward.
~•~
When all is lost, hope comes in the most unexpected way. In this case, they meet Mellissa Shield.
Like the ray of hope itself, she guides them to a place they've been looking for. A fortress, with living people, and the safest place to be: I-Island.
They'd known of its existence. An artificial moving island, built to protect thousands of scientists researching quirks. Safe and secure, but they never thought it would remain untouched even during a pandemic.
They meet David Shield, they meet All Might, now known as Yagi Toshinori, who had disappeared off the map way before the outbreak. They find out that he'd been confined in the island, healing, recuperating — safe, Bakugou thinks bitterly.
They contact Nezu, and just like that, the mission is over (accomplished?).
~•~
It takes time to adjust.
For months, their group had been running around without destination, searching for some place that may or may not have existed, fighting to survive.
Now, they are in a safe place, with walls that ensure their safety, but find no reprieve from all the memories that plague them at night, dreams of what they lost.
One day, Melissa brings them into the cafeteria, her long, white, lab coat folded up to her elbows as she pulls them along, trying to be jovial but coming off flat from the melancholic air that surrounds them, when they see it.
Immediately, Todoroki is on alert, taking a sudden step back as the group pauses to look at him. Soon, their eyes are falling to the place the heterochromatic eyed teen is staring at intensely.
"What's wrong?" asks the blond scientist in concern, and Todoroki tenses up.
"You're bitten." he says, and Yaoyorozou stands at his side, hand on his arm as though to urge him to back away.
"O–oh, wait! This is—!"
"You're infected?!" Kaminari shrieks, and Melissa flinches back.
"You said this place was safe!" Ashido says, angry and scared.
"What is going on here?"
Their heads snap towards the newly arrived boy, a man who looks to be their age. Tawny brown hair pulled up by a red bandana and sunglasses on top, silver gray eyes staring at them with wariness.
"She's been bitten!" Iida hastily explains, hands moving quickly as he adds, "we need to inform the higher-ups before she—!"
"There will be no need for that."
The group quiets, watching as David Shield himself enters the hallway they are crowding. Turning to the unidentified boy, he says quietly, "go back there and continue your meal. I will handle this."
The boy only hesitates for a moment before turning around and leaving, but not before casting the blond girl a concerned look.
"W–what do you mean, 'no need'?!" Uraraka whispers, brows furrowing, suddenly getting angry. "Are you hiding this? You promised this place was safe! Are you seriously endangering us to keep your daughter—?!"
"Please," David interrupts, palms upwards in a placating manner as he cautiously approaches the tensed up group of teenagers, posed for a fight. "Let me explain."
Uraraka bristles, but Todoroki places a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to retreat.
"I promise you that Melissa is no danger to us."
"Bullshit." Bakugou growls. "She has an obvious bite mark on her wrist. How can you say that she's not—?!"
"Because that mark has been there for a year now," David stresses. "And she hasn't turned into a zombie, now has she?"
"... what?" someone breathes out in disbelief, Bakugou doesn't know who.
"What do you mean by that?" Todoroki snaps. "How…?"
"It's true." Melissa takes a hesitant step forward, eyes darting down as she fidgets with her sleeves, now pulled down to her palms. "My father and I were outside of the island when the outbreak first happened. I wasn't fast enough and got bitten." she gulps, taking a deep breath as she continues, "Dad confined me at first, if only to figure out a cure to save me. That's when we found out I was immune."
"How?" Yaoyorozou demands, softening her features once she noticed her harsh tone. "Why… you?"
"Because she's quirkless." David voices out, stepping closer as he explains, "I wasn't able to find a cure that day, but we found something else." he pauses. "The z-virus only attacks Plus Alpha cells —and that is how the virus is transmitted."
"Plus Alpha cells?" Yaoyorozou's eyes widen. "You mean—?!"
"The quirk factor." the taller man confirms, nodding as he continues. "The z-virus infects a person by attacking the genetic traits in the human body that make up our quirks, possibly recognizing it as a mutation, but nothing else in the body. So, technically speaking, the quirkless is immune."
Suddenly, the world stops moving.
And Bakugou couldn't breathe.
Distantly, he knows Uraraka has broken down from what she had built off of herself the past few months. Ashido is there with her, mourning, grieving. He doesn't have to look to see Kirishima running off somewhere, heart heavy with guilt, Kaminari following after him as he sobs. The rest has slumped down, quiet and sorrowful.
Bakugou falls on his ass.
And he mourns.
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Me: I plan to write more for this fandom but maybe nothing as intense as this, we'll see. Oh, and since I plan to be more active in writing, I have a discord server waiting and ready, but I won't be sending an invite link yet unless I actually do keep my promise and write a lot. If I only post like, once a year then I'd just lose readers immediately and the server would be dead before it even flourishes. So anyways, hope you enjoyed it! This is the one and only PhoenixNinja101 signing out!
Midoriya: Don't forget - the author now has a link to a discord server (tdNdHA9).
Me: Oh yeah, xD Uhm... please remember that it's NEW.
~~~CHAO!~~~
