Denki had spent the next few days trying to speak to any member of the League. The usernames Fri3ndlyFir3 and High5UrDead stayed dark, the 'last signed on' hours and days growing every time he checked.
Either Toga's phone was turned off, or she blocked his number. He didn't think he had done anything to warrant their hatred, so he guessed (and hoped) that they were really busy with some villainy that they didn't have time to answer him quite yet. When the incessant thoughts started to creep in that he must have somehow offended them (yes, the whole League of Villains, and something that he couldn't even pinpoint. He knew it was ridiculous, but sometimes the thoughts just popped up), he would spend more time with the soulmates, his boyfriends.
When the classes were put against one another once again, it was for rescue training. Rescue training is important because civilian lives would be at risk, so everything had to be done with the utmost care. However, that didn't mean that heroes could take all the time in the world to finish their tasks. Denki and Tetsutetsu knew that better than anyone, having been part of the rescue mission that the building had almost collapsed on them.
As luck would have it, Neito and Hitoshi were paired up during the random drawing.
"Fate really wants those two together," Kendou offered in defense as the rest of Class 2-B groaned.
As fate would have it, Denki and Bakugou were the other pair that was entering the rescue simulation at the same time.
"Tch. I'm using you as a distraction for your boyfriends. They'll expect it, and it will still work anyway," Bakugou warned as he stalked forward to the starting line. "Anything to add?"
"Nope," Denki answered easily. "We'll plan as we find out what's actually going on in there. No use in planning when that plan is probably not even going to be relevant."
Bakugou looked at Denki closely, and Denki returned his gaze.
"Better to be flexible than too rigid with the planning?" Denki tried.
"I know what you're saying, dunce face," Bakugou barked. "I just didn't expect our fighting—"
"Rescuing," Denki corrected automatically, trying to keep Bakugou in the right mindset for the training.
"—styles to match up so well."
The buzzer to start the training went off, and Denki rushed forward, Bakugou rushing through the doors to the building right behind him.
"And you didn't say 'they aren't my boyfriends' like you usually do," Bakugou muttered quietly as he gracefully darted past.
Denki stopped for just half a second before following Bakugou's lead as he rounded a corner, choosing a direction easily and not spending a second to hesitate or second-guess his choice. Despite the intensity of the dark atmosphere with the flickering fluorescent lights, Denki smiled.
True to his word, Bakugou had tracked him down after finding them in the gym that one, early morning. Denki didn't really know what to say; he never discussed with the soulmates if they were going to be a public thing or not, so he just reassured Bakugou that he was fine and that those two were super trustworthy so there was nothing to worry about. Though, Denki did thank Bakugou for worrying in the first place. It was nice to be reminded that others cared about him enough to notice things and follow up with him later.
Denki figured that Bakugou might figure it out eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. Bakugou wasn't top of the class for nothing!
And because it might actually break Denki's heart to deny that those two boys were his boyfriends, he just smiled at Bakugou, his answer clear in his eyes.
"Well, shit," Bakugou muttered under his breath as they made their way through the darkened hallways. "You don't have to make heart-eyes about it."
"Can't help it," Denki chirped easily with a shrug, not stumbling as he ran next to Bakugou, unable to wipe the smile off of his face.
After making another turn, both boys stopped I their tracks as they came face to face with their opponents.
"Any luck?" Hitoshi asked.
"None," Denki responded automatically.
Bakugou nudged him sharply in the side. "Well don't answer him, dipshit!"
"Hey, we're all rescuers here, aren't we?" Neito asked in a teasing tone.
Bakugou didn't dignify that with a response—just stalked forward, nudging his way past the Class 1-B students.
"What if we split up and let each other know what we find?" Denki asked in an effort to both keep things civil and get the rescue done as efficiently as possible.
Bakugou turned on his heel, fire in his eyes. "This is supposed to be a competitive training to see who can successfully rescue the dumb fucking victim that got stuck in this hellhole."
"We can get competitive after we locate the victim, yeah?" Hitoshi offered as a compromise, ever the peacemaker.
"If you don't want to—" Denki started, going to offer to do things Bakugou's way—they were teammates after all—before he was interrupted.
"Screw it," Bakugou sighed out, his fingers going up to tightly pinch the bridge of his nose, trying to fend off the incoming stress headache he felt coming on. "Knowing our teachers, there's probably some underhanded lesson in here about working together or some shit.
"That does make a lot of sense," Hitoshi offered. "That would explain why we weren't allowed to watch the first two groups and hear their results."
Bakugou grunted in agreement before extending his most sincere offer of working together. "Slow me down, and you die."
"So dramatic," Neito whispered with a smile ghosting his lips as Bakugou took the lead of the newly formed group of four.
Bakugou, not even bother to turn around, snapped, "you would be, too, if you were suddenly playing fourth wheel during what is supposed to be a training exercise."
The soulmates glanced at each other, surprised at the specific wording. They glanced over at Denki who gave them a shrug with a lopsided grin, and suddenly they were all on the same page, fully understanding one another, like always.
"Touché."
After a quick but thorough search of the first and second floors, the boys regrouped and wandered down to the basement level, Bakugou grumbling all the while about how it's always the basement and they should have started there in the first place.
"The time we do decide to start in the basement, they'll have the target on the top floor," Denki offered with a quiet snicker.
"HELP," the loud voice boomed, echoing off of the walls.
The boys looked around at each other, dread filling every ounce of their bodies as they all realized who exactly was playing their helpless victim.
"HEEEELP," the voice boomed again, the swelling rise and fall of the tremor of the quirk-laced voice shaking more dust from the cracking walls, further darkening the hallways that they explored.
The four heroes in training rushed forward, taking care to move quickly, smoothly, and quietly to get to the 'victim' as quickly as possible without causing further damage to the structural integrity of the building.
"Hi Present Mic," Denki whispered as he dropped down onto his knees. "Uh, I mean, hello there civilian. I'm Pro Hero Chargebolt. We're here to help, but first I need you to keep your voice quiet. Without shaking your head yes or no, tell me if you can do that for me."
"Sure, little listener!" Present Mic chirped.
"Great. What hurts right now?" Denki asked, getting down on his hands and knees to be on Present Mic's level as the others got to work inspecting the pile of rubble that Present Mic was 'stuck' under to make sure that there was nothing they might have to be careful of during extraction.
Denki was a great distraction to the 'civilian' and asked all the right questions.
"Nothing hurts. I'm feeling pretty good. I was just scared of being alone and I'm a little stuck," Present Mic informed.
The three boys who were busy inspecting made sure to listen actively to Present Mic's answers as they did so, so that no time was wasted repeating answers.
"Are there any others that were near you when the building collapsed?" Denki asked, looking around at all of his companions occasionally, looking for any signal that they were ready to move on to extraction.
"No. Everyone else was on lunch break. I was manning the phones when the building started shaking and came down around me," Present Mic answered.
"Hmm," Denki hummed in thought as he gave another quick look around the building.
He noticed that there were no phone lines among the rubble. The training organizers wouldn't overlook something like that.
"What floor do you work on?" Denki asked.
To a civilian, it would seem like he was just trying to keep them calm and distracted while the heroes worked. He had more than one motive, though.
"Here on this floor. Can you believe they stuck me in the basement?! After all these years of me giving my everything to this place, and they can't even give me an office above ground?! I thought that after Endeavor became number one that things might start changing around here. I don't think I'm asking for too much. Do you think I'm asking for too much?"
Denki realized that Present Mic wasn't just playing a civilian, but either a civilian who was so hurt that he was confused, or a villain who actually didn't belong there. Present Mic was oriented to time and space, as evidenced by his complaints about his expectations after Endeavor took the number one spot and his placement in the basement of the building. The 'victim' was oriented to time and space, but there were no phones on that floor. In fact, there were no phones allowed at all, according to the signs that were posted at every corner. Their 'victim' was also a villain.
"Is the exit out that way?" Denki asked as he pointed in the direction away from Hitoshi.
When Present Mic turned to see what Denki was pointing to, Denki quickly signed to Hitoshi to use his mask to mimic his voice to get Present Mic under his quirk.
"No, that's the way to the boiler room," Present Mic answered.
Before he could turn around, Hitoshi asked, using Denki's voice, "what allergies do you have?"
Present Mic turned back to answer, his mouth already forming his answer when his eyes turned blank, and he was under Hitoshi's control. The four heroes got to work pulling the rubble off of Present Mic as Denki explained that he thinks that Present Mic is playing not only their victim, but also a villain. The other four quickly agreed with Denki's assessment, and Neito supplied their plan of attack.
"He already confirmed that he's not hurt, so if we can get him out while keeping him under, then we should pass the training either way," Neito offered.
"If he's a civilian, he's no worse for wear, even if a little mad about how we went about it. If he's a villain, then we successfully extracted him without any casualties or collateral damage, got the villain out safely, and captured him all at the same time," Bakugou reasoned aloud.
All four looked around at each other to listen to any other scenarios that any other might have thought about. When no one objected or offered a better alternative, they nodded and got back to work, pulling the blank-faced Present Mic from the pile of rubble that still surrounded him.
"He said that the exit was not that way," Denki offered. "Though, he didn't know enough about the building to fake working here, so I doubt if he knew whether or not that really was the exit. Kacchan, which way do we go?"
While Denki was a master of memorizing the layouts and maps, Bakugou was the one with the infallible internal compass. If there was an exterior wall that was close by, Bakugou would know which direction it would be in.
Without hesitation, Bakugou pointed in the direction to the group's left, adjacent to where the 'villain' had told them was not the nearest exit. Without argument, the other three followed, Hitoshi commanding their possible villain to follow them quickly and with soft footsteps.
Bakugou hated these kinds of tactical trainings. In such closed spaces and with delicate infrastructure, he couldn't take advantage of his quirk. He would never admit it aloud but being with the three who counted on him for something other than the brute force of his strength was refreshing. He wasn't the number one student in Class 2-A for nothing, and all of these extras would be wise to remember that!
Denki loved these kinds of trainings because it reminded him of his internship with Thirteen. He felt more at ease than his peers might in that type of circumstance because he had already faced it out there and experienced how current heroes handle different situations. He felt valued amongst the group, immediately being allowed to take charge of the questioning, and his judgment of the situation being accepted so easily. He felt important and smart, but also nervous that someday he wouldn't live up to the expectations that he was building. This time, he knew they were making the right decision. But what about next time, when he's a rookie among seasoned pros who doubt his observations? When he has to argue and fight for his ideas to be used, and when the pressure is there that any failure would be solely on his shoulders? Would he be able to handle the pressure and still come out strong? Still demand to have a say? Still demand to do what is the right thing for that specific circumstance?
Every time Hitoshi used his quirk in a heroic sense without his peers freaking out about it, he felt great. Even when his classmates would make a big deal in a positive way about his quirk, it still made him feel other, but it was hard to put those feelings into words when he was supposed to be enjoying any morsel of positive attention thrown in his direction.
Neito was just relieved that Bakugou wasn't still on his ass about tying him up in a tree at the training camp.
When the boys plus their captive maybe-villain climbed some stairs to ground level only to reach a dead end instead of the expected emergency exit door, Denki insisted that it wasn't a dead end.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are we looking at the same wall?" Bakugou snapped.
"I don't know, are we?" Denki sassed. "Because, to me, it looks like these are newer bricks than the ones surrounding it."
Hitoshi whistled lowly. "Nice catch, Denks."
"So, we blast through," Bakugou snarled, stepping through the group to brace himself for the explosion.
"Wait!" Neito demanded, grabbing Bakugou's shoulder and pointing up at the ceiling. "It's a load bearing wall. You blast through, and this whole thing could come down."
"I don't think it would count against us in a collateral damage sense," Hitoshi offered. "The whole building would have to be demolished and rebuilt anyway."
"But if we get hurt or hurt this guy," Neito stated, gesturing wildly toward Present Mic, "that will definitely count against us."
"So one of us blasts from the front to get the wall out of the way, and the other blasts from behind to get us out of the way," Bakugou stated matter-of-factly, like they should have already been doing just that instead of just discussing it.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Neito chirped, holding out his hand to receive Bakugou's quirk.
Everyone was surprised when Bakugou was the one to suggest it, and everyone was even more surprised when Bakugou gifted Neito use of his quirk without further argument.
"I'll take the back," Bakugou volunteered. "It's easy to blast through a wall, but it takes finesse to use the explosions to maneuver a body… or five."
"Works for me," Neito agreed, getting into position in front of the group.
Hitoshi used his capture weapon to wrap it around the group to make it easier on Bakugou to get everyone out as quickly as possible, putting Present Mic in the middle in hopes of cushioning him enough to keep him under Hitoshi's quirk.
With two large blasts in quick succession, the group was on the outside of the building. The building groaned and shifted but didn't fall. Present Mic was still under Hitoshi's quirk. The group let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Finish line is over there," Neito pointed, shaking the dust from his hair as he helped Hitoshi untie the group from the capture weapon.
"Only one group can win," Bakugou muttered. "What happened to us splitting up once we found the victim, huh?"
"Hitoshi and Neito should take Present Mic over the finish line," Denki said, his gaze already determined.
Bakugou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "I get it, all right!" he snapped. "If Present Mic is actually a villain in this situation, and mindfuck lets go of him, then he could cause a lot of damage. It's either they win, or we all lose."
"You're not going to try to suggest that Denki electrocute him so you both can take him over the finish line?" Neito offered.
"Fuck no. You think I'm stupid or some shit?!" Bakugou snarled. "And what happens when it's revealed that we fucking electrocuted an innocent civilian who only looked like he might be a villain? Just fucking go before I change my mind and decide to fail us all by blowing all this shit up."
If Hitoshi thought that getting Bakugou to call him by his name was a success, he hadn't even ever considered the possibility of Bakugou agreeing that the win should go to any other team than his own.
"We think you did a great job, too, Bakugou," Hitoshi offered with a smile as they walked past, issuing his command for Present Mic to follow.
"Fuck you."
Aizawa greeted the group at the finish line.
"Present Mic and I together will give you your final evaluation scores," Aizawa informed. "If you could release him, Hitoshi."
With a lazy salute from Hitoshi, Present Mic regained control over himself.
"Present Mic will talk Shinsou and Monoma through their scores, while I'll take Kaminari and Bakugou," Aizawa instructed, beckoning the former two to follow him.
Aizawa led Bakugou and Denki into a high-tech building with multiple video screens, various parts of their rescue frozen in time.
"Why did you agree to work together?" Aizawa asked, his face blank and giving nothing away.
"We all decided that it would go faster if we worked together to locate the victim, then we just kind of never found a natural breaking point again after that until the finish line was right there," Denki explained.
"So you just hand over the win without a fight? That doesn't seem like you, Bakugou," Aizawa prompted, wanting to hear from his more explosive student.
"If Present Mic was a villain in that scenario, then he would have already found out that we were onto him," Bakugou grumbled. "He would have made a pitiful attempt to escape and could have taken others down with him, if given the chance. Dunce face could have electrocuted him, but if he was actually just a confused civilian and not a villain, that would have been terrible. Shinsou was the only one who could safely take Present Mic across the finish line, and that copy cat extra was just lucky enough to be on his team."
"Well, you passed," Aizawa answered with a shrug, starting to turn away.
"Wait! What?!" Denki screeched, rushing around to once again be in front of Aizawa as he had attempted to walk away.
"Rescue missions aren't about fame and glory. They're about getting people out in the safest way possible. And you did that. So you pass."
After making sure he was dismissed, Denki bolted from the room, running straight over to the soulmates who had just been released from their own evaluations.
"I passed!" Denki yelled as he got closer.
"You passed?!" Neito and Hitoshi yelled back, Denki's excitement easily transferring to the soulmates.
"I need a confetti quirk!" Neito shrieked into the sky.
Denki ran full speed into the soulmates, knocking them all over onto the ground in a heap of celebratory laughter. Bakugou trailed behind at a leisurely pace, slouched with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, but he couldn't quite get the normal scowl to rest on his face.
Neito was the first to hoist himself back up to standing, and with Hitoshi sprawled out on the grass, hands behind his head, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on his face and the company of his boyfriends, Neito offered his hand to Denki to help him up.
Denki took it, smiling, and it felt so natural when Neito hoisted him up so effortlessly that he continued forward until their lips collided. Neither was sure if that was his intention, the other's doing, or if it just happened so naturally that neither made a conscious effort.
The only thing that broke them apart in that moment was a gasp, followed by, "oh, shit!"