Notes: This is probably the first fight scene that I've written that I have actually liked. It pretty much came out as I pictured it in my head. Still I'm worried that it won't live up to the hype. Also, I love writing Villain!Deku because I get to the melodramatic little shit that is my internal thought process. You know our boy and his rambling. Also this was when I realized that Todoroki was going to have an even bigger part in this than I'd originally envisioned. In the words of Bakugou: LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO!
"Haven't you learned yet? Someone has to be the villain so everyone else can stay alive."
― Josephine Angelini, Firewalker
An unnatural fog or perhaps smoke rolled through the street, partially hiding Deku, but he simply stood in their way, his hands hanging at his side. Slowly, the fog began to fade away, only to reveal that Deku wasn't alone. Five other villains in equally horrifying costumes stood behind him, two on his left and three on his right. Knowing that they would have to face Deku sooner or later was one thing, but being confronted with six villains was something else.
It was the kind of thing villains did when they didn't want to leave anyone behind.
Todoroki gritted his teeth when he recognized one of them. "Dabi."
Uraraka's eyes latched onto the dark clad figure standing to the left of Deku. He was easily recognizable by the purple skin that hung from his jaw and below his eyes. There were more burns to him now, more scars, and he was thinner as well, probably from his time in prison, but it was him. The fact that Deku had brought him along was a direct slap to the face. After what he'd done to Bakugou, after what Todoroki had gone through to bring him down, and now he was back in their lives. She knew that he'd picked Dabi on purpose. Dabi was probably ecstatic that the boy who had desperately tried to save Bakugou from the League of Villains was now a part of them.
Tsu broke the tense silence and spoke what they were all thinking. "Todoroki, we cannot fight them."
"I don't think we have a choice," Todoroki responded, never once looking away from the five villains. Uraraka knew that he was trying to come up with a plan, calculate what he could possibly do to get them out of here. None of them wanted to just run away, but there was no way that they could get through them either. Todoroki was one of the strongest heroes she knew and she'd seen him take down multiple villains on his own even when they had been just students.
But so had Deku. He knew exactly how Todoroki worked and how to defeat him too.
As if he knew that Todoroki had come up with the same conclusion, Deku lifted a hand in the air and grinned.
Todoroki was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that he was almost shaking. "Tsu, call U.A. and alert them that we need reinforcements. They're the closest. Uraraka" - he eyes finally moved away from the villians and he caught hers in the rearview mirror - "call Bakugou. At least Iida might be able to arrive in time."
"In time for what?" Uraraka asked, even though she knew in her heart what his answer was.
"Before someone dies," Todoroki told her, focused on the villains again. He forced his body to relax, his arms going slack and his grip loosening. "I'll hold Deku and the others off for as long as I can."
"That's suicide!" Uraraka exclaimed, gripping the back of his seat.
"I'll go with you," Tsu said.
"No." Todoroki swung to look at Tsu. "I need you to stay with Uraraka. We don't know if they have backup. There could be more villains lurking."
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The villains were still waiting, giving them time to consider their situation. It wasn't good, no matter what way they looked at it. Todoroki was smart and strong, but there was only one of him and at least six of them, and they all knew how Deku worked. At least the Deku of old. She had a feeling this new Deku was different. He wouldn't be so cautious.
"I didn't want it to be this way…" Todoroki said under his breath. Tsu pulled out her phone and called U.A., her eyes flickering around them to get as much of an understanding of their situation as she could.
Uraraka sent their location to Bakugou's cell, but then leaned forward to put her hand on Todoroki's shoulder, causing him to open his eyes. "I know this is to protect me, but I'm here to protect you too. If it gets too much for you, I'm going in. Maybe… Maybe it'll stop Deku, if only for a moment." She hardened her resolve. "Don't forget; I'm a hero too."
A ghost of a smile crossed Todoroki's face, so faint and brief that she couldn't tell if it was there. "I know."
"Oy, Shoto!" Deku called out. "Are you going to come out to play or not?" He put his hands on his hips. "After all the trouble I went through to greet you properly too!"
Todoroki frowned. "At least he thinks highly of me still."
Right then, Bakugou called and Uraraka didn't get a single moment to say anything before he started in on her, anger lacing every single one of his words. "What the fuck, Uraraka? Is it Deku already?"
"And a few others, including Dabi," Uraraka told him, her eyes locked on Todoroki as he opened the door and slowly got out. She turned to watch Deku, who actually seemed happy. He even held his arms out like he was opening himself up for a hug. A wonderful reunion between two best friends.
Bakugou swore. "That bastard. I'll fucking kill him." She wasn't sure if he was talking about Deku or Dabi, probably both. "Hang tight. We're already on our way."
"Hurry," Uraraka said, though it didn't need to be said. She didn't know how long Todoroki could last. She hoped the entire time and then some. He was strong, she kept reminding herself. She just didn't know if he was strong enough. It didn't matter. He had to be. That was it.
"Shoto!" Deku greeted. "I missed you!"
Todoroki shut the car door and then walked around to stand in front of it, the headlights causing an unearthly glow around him. "I missed you as well." The two stared each other down. "I don't want to do this."
Deku shrugged his shoulders. "You're not giving me much of an option." He held up a finger and wagged it, shaming Todoroki like a child. "Trying to take Ochako and hide her away from me. What kind of friend does that? You're supposed to be supportive of our relationship."
And Todoroki had been supportive, more than anything. She could see him struggling now. It was a battle in itself facing Deku when he was like this. Seeing him again made Uraraka want to scream. She both wanted to jump out of the car and run to him and also get into the driver's seat and drive away. The two desires clashed so painfully that she ended up doing neither one of them.
"I'm protecting her," Todoroki said. "It's what you would've wanted."
The smile was dashed away from Deku's face, replaced by a horrible shadow as he clenched his fists and prepared himself for a fight. She'd seen that stance more than a hundred times. Before it had inspired her and let her know that everything was going to be alright. Now it instilled fear in her heart. "What I want," Deku began in a growl before raising his voice into a shout, "is Ochako and for you to leave us the hell alone! I want us to be happy!"
"You think she's happy that you're like this now?" Todoroki countered angrily, fissures appearing in his composure.
"She will be, she will be," Deku promised. Uraraka sunk into the backseat. She would never be happy seeing Deku like this. She wanted him back to normal. She wanted him home. The thought that she would rather him be still dead than become this devastated her. "They promised me that they would let her live, but I've got to cover my bases. She won't be fully safe unless she's at my side. I'm being the logical one here, Shoto. You all are putting her in danger. I'm trying to keep her alive."
"You're not making any sense," Todoroki told him. "You think she'd be safe around villains?"
"Well she's not safe around you or Kacchan," Deku scoffed, like it was obvious. "You two have to be killed. Orders are orders."
Todoroki slid his feet into a fighting stance. The time for talking was coming to an end. He'd done what he could to keep Deku talking for as long as possible. An easier feat than expected, seeing as how Deku still had a habit of going off on tangents and getting lost in his head. "Do you do everything you're told?"
Deku grabbed part of his mask hanging around his neck and said, "Only when they line up with what I want and, well, I should at least thank you for bringing her to me. You were always a good friend." He put on only the bottom half of his mask, locking it into place over his mouth, jaw, and nose. It made him look demonic with the red and green stitching against the black like a terrible grin. It made it so that his eyes glowed like lights and his hair stuck out on end.
Green lightning glowed from Deku's position as he launched himself forward faster than the light itself. Todoroki countered with an explosion of flames as large as the surrounding buildings, which he fluidly followed with an immense wall of ice to his left that blocked but was destroyed by Dabi's blue flames just as big as his orange ones. The result left the whole area shaking like an earthquake, windows shattering and the car rumbling dangerously. Uraraka had never seen anything like it before and she'd seen Todoroki's fights up close multiple times. This was something different though. This was on a level that very few could understand.
When the smoke cleared, Todoroki was gone from the front of the car, using the ice half of his quirk to skate along the walls of a building and counter Dabi's flames with his own. Deku slammed into the ice just a hair behind Todoroki, but it knocked him off balance and he fell to the ground. He rolled when he landed to minimize damage and then popped up to engage with another villain she didn't recognize. He snatched the villain with his left hand and ignited his flames, while he shifted his right foot and ice burst from him, coating the street and shooting up a wall of ice spikes towards Deku, who was standing in the hole of a building he'd just created. The one villain couldn't avoid Todoroki's flames, but Deku smashed through the ice and leaped to attack Todoroki from behind.
It was too much. Todoroki could've handled Deku on his own perhaps, but not like this. The other villains weren't on their level by a long shot, with Dabi as the exception, but they were distractions and that was just enough to give Deku the upperhand.
Todoroki threw the villain he had a hold of like a sandbag at Deku. Despite being on the same team, Deku knocked the villain out of his way so hard that his body flew towards the car and smashed into it, nearly knocking them on the side. When Tsu glanced down at him, she shook her head. He wasn't moving; Uraraka didn't think he would any time soon or at all. It had given Todoroki enough time to dodge Deku, using his ice to skate away again. Dabi used his quirk to force Todoroki to change course, putting him right in the way of a villain who began to crackle with a wild amount of electricity. Todoroki clapped his hands together just as an electric shock surged towards him, the combination of his quirks resulting in an huge burst of steam and smoke that covered the entire area.
Uraraka watched as green and red lightning streaked through the smoke, Deku's quirk a beacon of light and fear. "Are you hiding, Shoto?" Deku's disembodied voice demanded. "That's not like you!"
It wasn't. Todoroki was being overwhelmed and they all knew it. If he was hit even once, it would spell only doom for him. He was also using his quirk at near maximum every single time. They were forcing him to, pushing him to the brink of his quirk. Dabi only used his flames at their maximum temperature and Deku wasn't fooling around with only fifteen or twenty percent of his power. They were going to bring Todoroki to the edge of his limit and force him to lose control.
A shadow caught Uraraka's attention and she latched onto it as the smoke cleared around them. It was Todoroki. He was breathing heavily and had a hand on his side. His shirt looked singed. He must have been struck by part of the villain's electricity before being able to create the steam and dodge. Still, he didn't look even close to giving up, the resolve etched onto his face. One villain was already down.
He's going to fight until they kill him, Uraraka realized.
Todoroki let off another explosion of fire so bright that it blinded everyone and followed it with a slick of ice that erupted from the ground like a volcanic explosion underneath two of the villains' feet. The ice threw them in the air and caught them midway, encasing them within a wall of ice that was almost three meters thick so that there was no way they could move or get out. It was incredible, but left him no time to properly dodge Dabi's attack. Todoroki threw up a smaller wall of ice as he fell backwards, but Dabi's fire broke through it so hard that it knocked Todoroki off his feet and into the side of a building with enough force to knock someone unconscious.
It didn't him though, but it came close. Todoroki crumpled onto his hands and knees, gasping for air, as Deku casually walked up to him and pulled his mark down to hang around his neck, red light crackling around his right arm. Todoroki swung up his left arm, fire coming out even as he struggled to breathe, but Deku knocked his arm away and the flames died, reminding Uraraka of that moment they had come head-to-head in the cavalry battle their first sports festival. Snatching Todoroki by the front of his shirt, Deku slammed him against the wall, hard enough to break bones and a pained shout slipped out of Todoroki.
"No!" Uraraka screamed in the car, jerking the handle to kick the car door open.
"Ochako, you can't!" Tsu shouted, using her tongue to wrap around Uraraka and jerk her back.
Without thinking, Uraraka touched Tsu's tongue and activated her quirk. Tsu floated to the ceiling and, taken off guard, loosened her grip on Uraraka enough so that she could slip out of it and throw herself out of the car. "Stop it, Deku!"
Everyone stilled in the wake of her scream, the only movement coming from the smoke of Dabi's fire and the steam created when it had hit Todoroki's ice. Uraraka was practically shaking, whether from anger or fear, she wasn't for sure. All she knew was that she couldn't stand to see Todoroki hurt anymore. She couldn't watch as Deku hurt his best friend. She couldn't take it. She was a hero, damnit. She wasn't going to just hide in a car while she watched one of her closest friends die by the hands of the boy she loved.
Deku spun towards her slowly, like he was in a daze. His eyes, so empty and dead as he had fought, began to light up again once they landed on her. A smile even appeared, so dazzling it was like he standing in front of the sun and couldn't look away. As if he didn't even realize what he was doing, he let go of Todoroki, who fell face first into the ground without trying to soften his landing, and turned to face her completely.
"Ochako," Deku said softly, as if seeing her had taken his breath away and not the fight. "I knew you would come to me. They didn't believe me. But I knew you wouldn't let Shoto die on his own."
"Please," Uraraka begged, unable to move towards him. She couldn't move, as if her ankles had been frozen in place by Todoroki's ice. Deku had to see reason - he had to - she couldn't believe that he would go through with killing someone he'd loved before. "Don't do this, Deku. He's your best friend! Please!"
Deku blinked at her innocently. "I'd really rather not." He glanced back down at Todoroki's prone body, a slight frown on his face, like he was disappointed but there was nothing to be done about it. He didn't want to kill Todoroki, but he would because it had been deemed necessary. "I know he thinks that he's doing what's best, but he's not. Even then, he's too big of a risk for the League. Better to take him out early."
Uraraka forced all her tension into her fists to the point where her fingers ached. "I can't let you do that."
"Oh, Ochako," Deku sighed with a sad smile on his face. "I admire your strength - I always have - but what can you do that Shoto can't?"
"I don't know," Uraraka admitted.
Before he could respond, she took off running, directly for electricity villain, who seemed startled that she had targeted him instead of Deku though not displeased. A nasty grin split across his face as he aimed a hand at her and shot off a lighting bolt. Distantly, she heard Deku scream and maybe even Tsu too, but Uraraka ignored them both. She activated her quirk on herself and jumped, clearing the lightning like it was nothing, and then released it so that she slammed her foot right into the villain's chest. It knocked him to the ground and she followed him down and grabbed his arm, reactivating her quirk, and launched him with all her might, quickly releasing it again so that he slammed into a building with all his weight.
Even though it pissed her off sometimes, it came in handy when villains underestimated her. She might not be as powerful as Todoroki, Bakugou, or Deku and she might not have a quirk best suited for combat, but she knew how to fight and she would do so until the bitter end. She would never give up, not until she was out for the count.
However, a large ball of Dabi's blue flames from behind caught her off guard and she reacted too late. She spun around, moving to activate her quirk on herself again and try to leap out of the way, when something wrapped around her waist and jerked her out of the way of the flames so fast that it took her breath away. One second she had been staring wide-eyed into the flames and the next she found herself underneath a streetlamp, dazed and confused. For a brief second, she thought that Tsu had pulled her out of the way, but then familiar strong arms pulled away from her and she turned back around to look at who had saved her.
It was Deku.
She could feel the power of his quirk surging through his body, red and green light crackling in the air around them both. He was breathing heavily, a bit of sweat on his forehead, and there was a bit of smoke seeping out of the back of his uniform where the flames must have grazed him. His hair hung in his face so that she couldn't see his eyes and while his grip had loosened on her he hadn't let go, as if he didn't dare in fear that she'd fade away.
"Don't," Deku panted low under his breath, "don't do that."
Tentatively, scared that he might react poorly, Uraraka went to touch his face, but he snatched her by the wrist, much more careful this time. It still stung because of the bruises and she flinched. His eyes moved to where he was holding onto her and his face twisted into a pained one when he saw the bruises that he'd left. He bit his lip and rubbed a gentle thumb over them, like he could wash them away.
"Kacchan wasn't lying," he murmured to himself. Uraraka didn't dare say anything, worried that if she so much as breathed Bakugou's name, that terrifying jealous Deku would replace this tender one. "I'm sorry, Ochako. I'm not used to having to hold back anymore." He looked her in the eyes, deadly serious and filled with regret. "I'll make it up to you."
"Then don't do this," Uraraka pleaded. "Don't hurt your friends."
"Come with me," Deku said, almost sounding just as desperate as her.
"I can't do that," Uraraka told him in barely a whisper.
Instead of getting angry like Uraraka had expected, Deku only nodded his head and let go of her completely. "You're not ready yet. I understand." It wasn't that. She would never be ready for what Deku wanted. Even if she told him that though, she didn't think he'd believe her right now. "But I can't do what you want either."
"Boss?" Dabi drawled, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
Whatever softness that Deku was allowing to bleed out vanished in an instant. "Stay here," he told her, his voice so harsh that Uraraka could only nod her head. He jerked upright and snapped into the direction of Dabi, eyes glaring so viciously that they glowed. He looked and sounded like a completely different person from just seconds ago. "I'll deal with you later." The promise and heat in his voice made Uraraka want to shiver, even though it was directed at someone she loathed. "You try to hurt her again like that and I'll break you in half, Dabi, I swear."
Dabi shrugged his shoulders. "She was attacking. I responded out of instinct."
"You're lucky I don't kill you now," Deku snapped as he stomped in the direction of Todoroki, who was shakily pushing himself up with Tsu's help. Uraraka begged in her mind for them to get away. "I'm sorry you had to get involved in this, Tsu." There wasn't a hint of regret in his voice. There was nothing. He kept on walking towards them, getting stronger with every step he took. "If you step aside and return to Ochako, I'll spare you."
Tsu tightened her grip on Todoroki while he tried to push her away and grumbled, "G-Get out of here, Tsuyu." Despite the fear very evident on her face, Tsu shook her head and continued to help him. Uraraka felt paralyzed. She had to get up. She had to save them.
Deku tilted his head back and huffed. "You're making things much more difficult than they have to be." Even though he had told her to stay put (did he think he could scare her into listening?), Uraraka finally managed to convince her body to work and she scrambled to her feet. Deku must have heard her or expected her to disobey him because he snapped his fingers and pointed back at her without even looking. "Restrain her, please, anddo not harm her or you'll find out what it's like to have every single bone in your body broken."
Before she could react, a villain they hadn't seen phased out of the ground like the concrete was nothing but sand and snatched her by the arms so that she couldn't touch him. He knocked her legs out from underneath her before she could stomp on his foot and pressed her into the ground with a knee against her back. She would've been able to fight back if he hadn't activated his quirk and sunk her partially into the ground, leaving her to only watch in horror as Deku stopped in front of her friends.
"Dek-" Her shout was cut off short by the villain slapping a hand over her mouth.
Tsu held onto Todoroki and looked up into Deku's face. "Why are you doing this, Midoriya? This isn't you."
Deku bent down into a crouch so that he could gaze at them face-to-face and said, "You have no idea who I am. You never did. None of you."
"You were our friend," Tsu told him.
"Friends don't leave friends to die," Deku simply replied.
"W-we searched for y-you for weeks on end," Todoroki managed to ground out through the pain, his hands pressed against the sidewalk to hold himself up. How many bones had been broken? Fire licked the ground from his left hand while ice splintered from his right. "We did everything we could."
Deku considered them for a moment. "Maybe so. It wasn't good enough. You were too weak."
With a speed that they all knew wasn't even his top, he abruptly knocked Tsu to the side. She would've crashed into a parked car had she not been able to wrap her tongue around a pole and stop herself. Deku snagged Todoroki by his neck while Todoroki wrapped his hands around Deku's wrist and they both fell into a staring match.
Todoroki panted, as if he couldn't suck in enough air. "Don't make me do it, Izuku."
"Do what?" Deku asked, a smile curling onto his face. "I'm stronger than you - more than you'll ever know. It's sad. We made a great team, but you were never on my level."
Both of them moved to activate their quirks at the same time. Deku lifted Todoroki in the air by his neck with one hand while flames and ice wrapped around Deku's wrist, both ready to explode-
And then everything just went out like a light.
Deku blinked in surprise and squeezed Todoroki's neck almost experimentally, but whatever he'd wanted to happen didn't. He caught sight of the white bands shooting towards him at the last second, dropping Todoroki like a sack of potatoes and leaping out of the way just in time to avoid being caught. In the place where he'd stood just moments ago was Aizawa, his hair out of his face and his goggles on. With the pro hero Eraserhead now at his side, Todoroki pulled himself to his feet. He rubbed his throat with his right hand while flames appeared in his left.
"I figured you would call for backup," Deku said, "though I can't say that I'm not disappointed. I wanted this to stay between us."
"They're not the only ones," Todoroki told him.
Before Deku could respond, there was a series of loud explosions and Bakugou came barreling out of nowhere, using his quirk to fly at a high power speed, and screaming, "Get your hands off of her!" The villain holding onto her tried to escape, but one of Bakugou's outstretched hands grasped him by the face and he let out of a violent explosion that ripped both the villain and Uraraka out of the sand-like ground. All three of them went flying, but Uraraka activated her quirk on herself so that she didn't hit the ground and landed on her feet on the side of a building. Bakugou pushed through, still holding onto the villain and firing off explosions.
When they finally dropped to the ground, Bakugou landing on his feet and the villain with a thud, his red eyes swung from Uraraka to Deku, wild with rage. Uraraka kicked off from her spot on the wall and landed next to Bakugou, deactivating her quirk so that she'd stay on the ground.
Iida appeared at her side as well, skidding to a halt as he let his engines die. "Sorry it took us so long."
"You got here just in time," Uraraka told him. "That's all that matters."
Bakugou said nothing, just glared at Deku, who stared him down right back with an equally murderous gaze, both of them standing completely still. One thing Uraraka spotted though was that Deku's right fingers were beginning to twitch at his side, tapping against his leg in an erratic manner that he didn't seem to notice.
"Midoriya!" Dabi shouted warningly.
"I know!" Deku snapped, still not looking away from Bakugou. Finally, he took a deep breath and shook his head, his hair flopping in the wind. "This is a little too crowded for my taste." He glanced at Todoroki. "It was nice seeing you. I'm kind of glad you aren't dead yet." He turned back around and pointed a finger at Bakugou. It was shaking, as if it was taking everything in his power not to go ballistic and outright attack. His eyes kept flickering from Bakugou to Uraraka. "I'm stronger than you, Kacchan. Remember that. It'll be a pleasure killing you."
A warp gate appeared behind him, startling everyone.
"Kurogiri!" Iida shouted.
It had been so many years since he had been seen that everyone had thought he'd died. They all looked around, but only saw the gate and not his actual form. Aizawa had to see him and not just one of his warp gates in order to cancel out his quirk. Midnight, who had been hanging back, tore open the sleeve of her shirt to release her sleep inducing fumes, but then Dabi's flames blew them away. Bakugou shot forward with a roar, but it was too late. It was only a matter of seconds, but when the fire and fog cleared, the warp gate was gone, along with Deku and Dabi.
Bakugou's scream of "Damnit!" echoed through the streets, but other than that, no one moved, too shell-shocked over what had just transpired. It was only when Todoroki let his flames die and collapsed to one knee that people snapped out of it. Uraraka rushed over to him, even though Aizawa was already there to help him back up. She reached out to cup his face in her hands, feeling the ice splotches on his right side while his left was flushed and hot. It felt like she was the only thing holding him up.
"I told you to stay in the car," Todoroki huffed, clearly struggling to talk. He had one arm wrapped around his chest while the other hung limply at his side.
"And I told you that I wouldn't if things looked bad," Uraraka countered fiercely, tears forming in her eyes. He was standing, but he looked so rough. His feet shifted underneath him as he struggled to stay upright. "I'm a hero and I'm not going to let anyone else die for me. Got it?"
Todoroki hung his head, nodding it ever so slightly, and then slumped forward. He would've toppled on top of her had Aizawa not grabbed him from behind. "I've got him," Aizawa told her, looking more tired than she'd ever seen him despite the fact that he'd barely done any fighting. It was the type of exhaustion that came from grief. It was hard enough for Uraraka to see Deku like this; for Aizawa to know that his lessons were being put to use like this must have stung bitterly. "We'll take him to Recovery Girl."
With Present Mic's help, Aizawa all but carried Todoroki to their vehicle, leaving Uraraka standing by herself in the middle of the street. She looked around the area, taking in the damage. Almost all of it had been caused by Deku and Dabi, but there was still the large wall of ice that had captured two surviving villains, who Cementoss and Thirteen were slowly excavating. Midnight was taking care of the villain's body that was crumpled up against the side of Todoroki's car. Iida was checking over Tsu, who was bruised from Deku's hit but looked more annoyed by Iida's fussing than anything.
"What were you thinking, Round Face? Getting in the middle of the fight like that."
Uraraka turned and found Bakugou standing very close to her. The sleeve of his right shirt was torn and burnt from letting off multiple large explosions. She could ask him the same thing, considering she knew that he had two broken ribs and had still thought it was a good idea to launch himself like a missile at a villain. "I was thinking that I didn't want Todoroki to die."
"Deku could've hurt you," Bakugou said.
"He saved me," Uraraka shot back. Her words took Bakugou off guard for only a second, but it was enough to bleed the fight right out of her. She didn't have the energy to argue with Bakugou right now. She felt about as exhausted as Aizawa looked. Her head dropped and her shoulders slumped. "I would've been hit by Dabi's flames if Deku hadn't pulled me out of the way." She grimaced. "I wouldn't want to be Dabi right now. Deku was not happy."
Still, out of everyone that had been involved in the fight, Uraraka was the only one completely uninjured. When the one villain had restrained her, he hadn't actually hurt her, lest he wanted to suffer Deku's wrath. Turned out it hadn't mattered since he'd suffered Bakugou's in the end. Deku had even managed to get burned by Dabi when he had saved her. And the way he'd rubbed her wrist so gently, the regret in his voice so genuine… It reminded her painfully of those nights after a battle with a villain when Deku would count her bruises and kiss them.
He was in there. Her Deku was still in there.
It was way too much to take in for one night. Deku was still there, but he had tried to kill not one, but two of her friends, and he'd more or less declared war on Bakugou. Not to mention she'd barely slept these past two days. Uraraka's head fell forward against Bakugou's chest. She wasn't expecting him to do anything, but he wrapped a single arm around her loosely and pulled her against him. There were no tears from her this time. She only took a few deep shuddering breaths, taking in Bakugou's specific scent of nitroglycerin sweat and smoke.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," Bakugou said gruffly, pulling her towards his car where Kirishima was waiting. She glanced back at the destruction as others began to arrive. The police, reporters, a few civilians. Present Mic and Midnight were handling them now. A few turned to look her and Bakugou's way, but his scowl must have made them change their minds about approaching them. She was far too grateful. There was no way that she could face any questions right now. If the public found out that Deku had turned into a villain..
No, she couldn't think about that right now. It would happen eventually, especially since he'd admitted to being behind the prison break, but Uraraka wanted to keep the public's memory of Deku pure for just one more night.