Notes: Oh, Kacchan, how I missed writing you so. It's been a hot minute! Eight chapters later and our boy has returned. I can't believe it's been that long. Hopefully this is a good one. It starts out quietly, but that's only because the next two chapters are going to be intense - or at least I hope so. I did write half of this with a headache, so if it seems like I lost some steam, that's because my head was pounding.

"I think all of us have a hero and villain in us."
- Anson Mount

Almost a full day had passed since the mini press conference outside of UA and not a word from the other side had been heard. Bakugou was at his wit's end. He had been certain that it would provoke Deku into flying off the handle and trying to attack him, but it appeared as if he was holding back. Either that or someone else was holding him back. They couldn't be for certain. After all, someone had kept him from showing his face to Uraraka for eleven months. Maybe they'd convinced him to bide his time now.

A few of the heroes wondered if perhaps Deku might not have seen it, but that was impossible. The interview had been broadcasted on multiple media outlets and was posted online everywhere. News pundits were talking about it and analyzing every word with excruciating detail. Already his professional relationship with Uravity was being brought up, along with questions about his personal relationship with Uraraka. He knew that Deku was soaking it all in and getting worked up about it.

He hadn't said much, just enough to taunt him, but of course Bakugou had been worried about how his words might affect Deku's treatment of and behavior towards Uraraka. No one had a clue about what was going on: if she and Todoroki were being held in separate places or together, if one or both of them was being subjected to whatever Deku had had done to him, if they were even alive.

But no, Bakugou knew that they were alive. Deku hadn't just spared them. He hadn't wanted Todoroki to die and he had been adamant about wanting to protect Uraraka. He loved her. He wouldn't hurt her. He'd keep her safe - or as safe as one could keep a hero surrounded by villains. Where everyone else questioned Deku and worried that he might hurt Uraraka, Bakugou didn't. It wasn't that he trusted Deku. He just...knew him. Bakugou knew the measure of Deku's love for Uraraka. He wouldn't hurt her no matter what.

He had to believe that. He refused to believe anything else. To think any differently meant that there was no saving Deku and he would not accept that.

Bakugou stood in the conference room at UA, glaring out the window with his arms folded across his chest, as a news channel went over the footage and the press conference for the hundredth time on a television behind him. "Where the hell are you, Deku?" he grumbled under his breath.

The fact that Deku hadn't shown his face was driving Bakugou mad. His only consolation was that, if someone was holding Deku back (and they had to be), then it was likely making Deku go crazy too. It was like they were two opposites ends of a magnet being drawn to one another until one of them was broken for good. Bakugou's hand and face were healed now, but he could still feel the cracks under his skin, like Deku had marked him permanently. One of them had to shatter for this to end. The difference was that he would try to help piece Deku back together again; he knew that he wouldn't be given such mercy if he was the one to break.

"You need to rest," a worn down voice said behind him.

Bakugou turned his head back to see All Might standing there. He had spoken to him, but his sunken eyes were also fixed on the horizon as the sun began to set. He'd looked ragged before all of this, a skeleton of the hero that had inspired Bakugou to become one himself, but now it appeared as if the wind might knock him over. He was a shell of his former self, made even more so by the recent events.

Guilt must have run deep within All Might's veins. He'd opened up to the other heroes about Deku's quirk so that they would know the extent of his strength and abilities. Almost everyone had been shocked. Talking about One for All had been extraordinarily difficult. It was a quirk that had not only been passed down through several generations but had been one of the most guarded secrets in history. The only reason Bakugou knew about it was because of Deku's inability to be anything but earnest and passionate in helping others grow, along with Todoroki's suspicions about there being a connection between Deku and All Might. Only a handful of people knew the truth.

If the villains knew as well...

There was a wonder why they simply hadn't compelled Deku to pass his quirk on or forced him to do it. After all, it didn't take much in the end to transfer One for All. Bakugou had a feeling that part of their plans had to do with Deku himself. What better way to cause mass hysteria in the public than to use a former hero? What better way to turn the public against heroes themselves? How could anyone trust them when Deku was out there breaking villains out of prison, killing people, and kidnapping his closest loved ones?

Sure, it would've been easier to pass the quirk onto someone who was already a villain, but it would've have had nearly the same effect. It wouldn't have stricken fear, panic, and grief nearly as well into the masses. Seeing Deku like this was certainly breaking Bakugou down piece by piece. If it was affecting him this much, he didn't want to know how the others were handling it.

Bakugou turned his gaze back out the window, although All Might's reflection remained in the corner of his eyes. "I don't have time for that."

"How long has it been since you've had a proper night's sleep?" All Might asked.

The night I slept on Uraraka's couch, Bakugou thought immediately.

"It doesn't matter," was what he said out loud.

Things had felt so simple back then. Complicated, as usual when it came to navigating the emotions that came from the loss of Deku, but he had been able to understand it then. It wasn't just Uraraka that was slowly beginning to move on. It had been Bakugou as well. He'd come to some realizations the days before Deku's birthday that he was holding himself back. As much as he'd thrown himself into his work, he'd grown restless and temperamental, like he had been in the days of his youth.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd failed so miserably that he would never be able to climb to the top. The spot that he'd sought after so hard… The number one hero position that he'd craved that Deku had taken from him… It could've been his. The hole needed to be filled after Deku's death.

Bakugou couldn't do it though. He sabotaged himself time and time again. He was supposed to open up his own pro hero agency this past year, but kept putting it off. All the reasons for it had been nothing but excuses to cover up his own shame for not being able to save Deku. How could he possibly become the number one hero when he hadn't even been able to save one person? When he'd been forced to stand on the sidelines as Deku sacrificed himself to save thousands of people and Uraraka had come mere seconds from death to save him?

Deku had saved so many people and then Uraraka and all Bakugou had been able to do in the end was drag her back to safety and keep her from throwing herself into the cold, black waters after him.

It was important. He knew that Uraraka's life was important. Deku could have possibly saved himself, but he had chosen to use his last bit of strength, his last moment as a hero, to save Uraraka instead.

That was why Bakugou had launched himself out there in the storm to pull her back to safety, even though his arms had screamed at him, even though he hadn't been able to use his quirk for two days without causing himself terrible pain from severely overexerting his quirk. It was why, when he had heard how Uraraka was shutting the world out, he trudged up to her apartment to drag her back out. The job wasn't done yet. There was still saving to be done, although Bakugou hadn't known what this kind would entail. All he'd known was that Deku had saved her so that she could continue to live and he owed it to the both of them to see it through.

The fact that, just maybe, he'd needed saving too in that respect… To think that she had saved him...

He had thought that they were out of the water. He'd thought they could both finally breathe. He had no idea what that might give them or where it would bring them, but he had been relieved. Making her breakfast that morning to help with her hangover, he'd found himself grinning almost the entire time. He'd forgotten that the world could be so light and easy.

All Might laid a hand on Bakugou's shoulder. "This does not rest solely on you."

He clenched his fists and said nothing. He knew that. It didn't make things any easier. But Bakugou couldn't fight the feeling that he was responsible. If he hadn't hesitated in throwing Uraraka in Deku's direction, if he hadn't overexerted himself in the fight, if he'd jumped to save Deku instead of letting his own weakness get the best of him - they wouldn't be in this position now. He should have taken care of Deku long before allowing Uraraka to sacrifice herself to save him.

Gods, he was so tired of being the one saved while everyone else around him tore themselves to the bone.

"Where is he?" Bakugou repeated, louder this time. "He should've shown his face by now. What are they hiding?"

"Perhaps he recognized what the interview was for," All Might said. "We can't anticipate their moves when we don't know their exact goals."

"But he can anticipate ours?" Bakugou countered, glaring at the older man's reflection.

All Might sighed and pulled his hand from Bakugou's shoulder. "It's not difficult to figure out what heroes want." He was right, of course. A villain's desires were more complex, especially when Deku was involved. "You want to save Uraraka and Todoroki, don't you?"

I want to save him.

Bakugou turned around to face his former teacher. "The chances of Todoroki or Uraraka suffering the same fate as Deku is high and we all know it. If we have to face either of them as well, what are we going to do then?" The mere thought made him sick to his stomach. He thought of Deku's eyes, how dead they had looked, how wrong they had been when the light finally returned. It was him, but not him. If he had to look into Uraraka's eyes and saw the same thing, he didn't know what he'd do. He was afraid that he'd truly break. "We have to save them or we risk losing this whole thing."

"Are you afraid of failing to save them or being forced to face them and your failures?" All Might asked.

"I'm not afraid of anything," Bakugou huffed irritably. "There isn't the time."

"There is always time to reflect on your own fears," All Might told him. "That's a part of being a hero. There is no such thing as being entirely fearless. We must acknowledge them and use that to our advantage."

It sounded just like what Bakugou would've expected to hear from All Might and he let out a "tch" and ground his teeth in response. Gods knew the former Symbol of Peace understood this better than anyone. One for All falling into the hands of the villains was the most dangerous outcome. This was his worst fear imagined. Not only was his old quirk being used by a villain, but the villain was his protege.

So what was Bakugou's fear?

Failing? Losing? Those had long been the root of his insecurities. He couldn't avoid them any longer. But he knew that they were more focused now. What if he failed Deku? If he failed All Might? Uraraka? Todoroki? Deku's mom? He'd changed clothes twice since then, but he still felt stained by Inko Midoriya's tears. What if he lost more than just the battle? What would he do if Todoroki was turned? How could he handle anything happening to Uraraka?

There were so many things to be afraid of that it made him feel like he might drown. It was all he could do to ignore them so he could think straight.

"I can't fail them," Bakugou said in a strained voice, his throat constricting. "Not again." He unfolded his arms and clenched his fists at his side as he bowed his head. "If I do, then how can I consider myself a hero?"

All Might sighed. "Heroes fail all the time. It's how they respond to that failure that makes them a hero."

"That's good and all," Bakugou replied, turning to face All Might, "except if we fail now, chances are a lot of people are going to die - Uraraka and Todoroki being high on that list." He hardened his expression. "I can't let that happen. I won't."

Not wanting to deal with any more lessons on being a hero, seeing as how he wasn't All Might's student any longer, Bakugou walked away and out of the room. Old habits died hard, he supposed. All Might would always see them as the students he'd helped mold into heroes. They had been his first class and, though he never said it, his most important one as well. They'd gone through so much together and now they were going through this. He wasn't good at this warm comforting thing though. That hadn't been his approach with Uraraka.

Not being allowed to leave anywhere on his own was frustrating. Bakugou knew that he could technically slip out on his own if he really wanted to, but causing undue stress to everyone else involved wasn't worth it. For now, they needed to keep a close eye on one another until this was ended. He hated the whole buddy system thing, but close and constant contact meant that they would know quickly if Deku or any of the other villains were to pop up. If they were going to win, the first offense had to be a good defense.

It still sucked.

His first thought had been to find Kirishima. He'd been at UA for a full day and he wanted to go home, even if it was just to shower and change. All Might would want him to sleep, but he didn't know if he could manage it. Kirishima would probably try to force it on him as well. However, after sending a text to him while walking though UA, he found out that Kirishima was an hour away on patrol duty. He came to a halt, groaning and rubbing his stubbled face in frustration.

The sound of squeaking sneakers to his right pulled at his attention and Bakugou looked down a hallway just in time to see Kota freeze and stare back at him at being seen. The kid had been wandering around UA like some sort of ghost since finding out the truth about Deku, stuck in some sort of daze, refusing to talk to anyone, not even his aunt. At least he wasn't wearing his pro hero Deku hat anymore, although his sneakers were still bright red. Kota glared at him though, reminding him of his own middle school days, and Bakugou glared back half-heartedly until the kid stomped away.

"Bakugou?"

When he looked straight ahead, Bakugou's worst fears were confirmed when he found himself face-to-face with Iida. Dealing with Asui and her straightforward emotional nitpicking had been one thing, but he didn't think he could handle Iida without snapping. There would be no stopping him if he saw even a hint of a crack in Bakugou's armor and quite frankly…

He wasn't certain if he had it in him right now.

"Is everything okay?" Iida asked.

Bakugou raised his eyes to give him a flat glower. "What do you think?"

"I think you're running yourself ragged and refusing to accept any help," Iida told him, "and if you're not careful, you're going to be useless to us."

All Bakugou could do was gawk at Iida in shock. He was so used to everyone treating him with kid gloves in case he exploded or got too upset and lashed out that Iida's words caught him off guard. This was only half of what he had been afraid of. Iida was intelligent enough to know what needed to be done, but he completely disregarded any sort of tact necessary to deal with Bakugou. It wasn't that he didn't care. He was just honest.

Finally, Bakugou scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Whatever." To be honest, he really was too tired to fight on an emotional level. Now, if Deku were to show up, he'd be rearing to go. This waiting game was starting to pick away at him. Deku probably knew that as well.

"Did you need a ride home?" Iida asked.

"Are you going to attempt to pry my emotions out of me the entire time?" Bakugou questioned.

"Are you going to keep ignoring them?"

Bakugou really didn't like the way he was so easy to read by his former classmates, even by the ones that he hadn't gotten along with. Still, he knew that when the time came to it, he and Iida could work well together to take an enemy down. He'd learned over the years at UA that he didn't have to like someone in order to work with them, but he didn't want to hang out them either.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Bakugou begrudgingly nodded his head and they started for the parking lot. Damn buddy system. He didn't want to hunt around for another ride, so he'd deal with Iida and get it over with as fast as possible. Iida was one of Uraraka's closest friends. She trusted him. She was probably concerned about him despite being held captive. The least Bakugou could do was not be a complete ass.

However, the second he sat in Iida's car and the doors slammed shut, Bakugou regretted the decision immediately. It was too small of a space to be stuck with Iida where he couldn't escape once they were moving. Iida had no intentions of letting him hide like everyone else did. Even Aizawa didn't try forcing his thoughts out of him, as if he knew that Bakugou needed the time to figure them out himself before he said anything. Except he didn't want to say anything. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to do something.

"I know this is very personal to you," Iida said as he pulled onto the road, "but it's not just affecting you." Bakugou didn't respond, hoping that he'd get the picture. He didn't. "I know that Uraraka is...important to you, but she is to me as well, along with Tsu, and Kirishima is worried about you." Of course he was. He'd probably been texting the others to make sure he wasn't off trying to hunt Deku down himself while he was gone. "We're all scared for Uraraka and Todoroki and want to bring them back home."

"I know that," Bakugou replied gruffly, staring out the window.

"Maybe you do," Iida continued, "but you're acting as if this entire thing rests of your shoulders alone and you're blocking us all out."

Bakugou snorted. "Deku's grudge seems pretty fucking focused on me." He flexed his left hand.

"It doesn't just hurt you though," Iida pointed out. "You weren't the only one that promised to keep Uraraka safe because it's what the Midoriya we remembered would've wanted." His grip on the steering wheel tightened, but his driving didn't become any more reckless. It was why Bakugou had allowed Iida to drive him home. He had known that his own driving would've concerned him even more. "I failed Uraraka and Todoroki. I wasn't around when they were taken. By the time I got Jirou to safety and returned, it was over and everything was destroyed."

"You did your job." Bakugou swallowed the anger and disappointment. "You saved the people you could and were able to arrest the villains left behind."

"You don't think I don't believe I could've done more?" Iida questioned him, looking over at him as the car sat still at a red light. "I wasn't even there when Midoriya…" He dropped his gaze. "Do you know what the last thing I said to him was?"

"No." Not that Bakugou cared, but this conversation wasn't going to stop any time soon.

Iida turned back to look ahead and drive when the light turned green. "I don't either. The last time I saw him was a month before he died on his birthday. A whole month in between and all we did was text. A few days before he died, I deleted all my texts to save some space on my phone. I considered him one of my closest friends and I didn't even take the time to see him more."

"We're pro heroes," Bakugou told him, feeling like his world was turning on its end. Was he actually trying to say something that would comfort Iida? Gods, maybe he had spent too much time with Uraraka. It was either that or Kirishima had finally rubbed off on him. "We don't have the same time as everyone else."

"I could've tried more," Iida said, the pain far too evident in his voice for Bakugou's comfort. "I could've reached out to him more often. Maybe then, I'd be able to do more now."

"Trust me; you don't want his focus."

They spent the next few minutes in silence as Iida drove and Bakugou watched the scenery pass them by. He'd driven this roads a hundred times. If he made a left here, he'd go to the pro hero agency that he should've left months ago. If he made a right up the road, he'd go to Uraraka's. He almost told Iida to turn, but he stayed silent. They'd been staking out her place in case Deku got any ideas about recreating their relationship in a more realistic setting. It had remained dark and silent.

"You're not in this alone, Bakugou," Iida told him as his apartment complex came into view. How long had it been since he had confronted Deku on the roof? "I want to save them just as much as you do, whether you believe it or not - we all do - so let us help you." He parked the car and turned to face him again. "You can't defeat him on your own."

Bakugou glowered at him sideways, but didn't snap. "You think I'm too weak?"

"I think we need to work as a team in order to end this," Iida said gently. It was much too gentle and it made Bakugou pull away from him further in the car. For his part, Iida didn't seem bothered by his reaction. He must have expected it. "Midoriya is stronger than us when we're alone, but together, maybe we can save him."

Closing his eyes, Bakugou took a breath and tried to steady himself. It was hard not to storm "You really we can save him?"

"I have to hope that we can," Iida said, half to himself. "Because if we can't…"

Then what kind of heroes were they? It was the same fear that Bakugou had voiced to All Might an hour ago. Luckily, for once, the two of them were on the same page and he didn't have to say it out loud for Iida to know that he understood what he hadn't said.

Iida leaned back in his seat. "Did you want to stay here or…?"

"No, just shower and change."

"You know," Iida said with a frown, "you really should get some rest." Bakugou rolled his eyes as he got out of the car. He'd known this was coming. "You'll be weaker in the long run if you keep burning the candle at both ends."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bakugou slammed the door shut and then paused, which Iida took as a sign to roll down his window. "Come back in like four hours."

It wasn't much, but it was just enough to get Iida off his back. No doubt he would report to Kirishima and anyone else who was keeping tabs on him (like All Might and Aizawa). Bakugou had to take what he could get. They were working this way because it was safer and smarter. He couldn't afford to be a lone wolf in this. As much as he hated it, Iida was right. He couldn't keep fighting and going after Deku like it was all up to him. It hadn't worked. Hadn't that been one of his first lessons learned alongside Deku when they'd been in learning to become heroes?

Once he was in his apartment, Bakugou took to washing away the day. He took a steaming hot shower until the water went cold, changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top, and then rummaged around his kitchen for something to eat. He'd needed to go grocery shopping before this whole mess started and now it was just pathetic. The idea of doing something as simple and inane as grocery shop though made him sick. He couldn't do something like that while knowing that Uraraka and Todoroki were locked up somewhere.

After eating enough to settle his stomach, he shuffled into his bedroom and collapsed on his bed without bothering to pull down the blanket. When he picked up his phone from the charger, he found a text from Kirishima telling him to get some shut eye and a notification from his social media account. Without thinking, he clicked on it and found a picture from their summer camp before their third year popped up on his screen. It was one of him, Uraraka, Kirishima, Mina, and Asui. The latter three were laughing, arms thrown around each other, while Asui held one of Uraraka's hands. Bakugou stood behind Uraraka with a smirk on his face, squishing her pink cheeks together while she had her head tilted back so she could glare up at him, though she was smiling.

Bakugou dropped his phone screen first on the bed and wrapped his arms around a pillow, burying his face in it. Shit like that was the last thing he wanted to see right now. Feeling worked up all over again, he didn't think that he'd ever be able to get to sleep, but his body had other ideas and, before he knew it, he was out.

"Wake up, Kacchan," a voice sings in his ear. "Did you miss me?"

Bakugou snaps his eyes open, but finds himself pushed down into his bed by multiple people. He bucks as hard as he can when he feels someone sit on top of his back, their knees pressed onto the mattress at his sides, pinning him in place. Before he can fire off a multitude of explosions, his hands and the whole front of his body go ice cold, effectively riding his palms of sweat. He twists his head to the right, only to connect eyes with a pair of mismatched ones, and his breath hitches in his chest.

"I can freeze your hand if you like," Todoroki offers in his typical mild tone. "It won't hurt as much that way."

"What the hell are you doing?" Bakugou demands, his breath turning into fog. His bed is so cold.

"What's it look like he's doing?" the person straddling him asks in a cheerful voice. Bakugou doesn't have to look up to know that it's Deku. He would recognize that voice anywhere. It sends a chill down his spine or maybe it's the ice that Todoroki has created. "He's helping me out, like any best friend would."

Bakugou swallows. "No, no, he wouldn't break that easily. He wouldn't turn so quickly."

Deku laughs. "It's not that hard to turn people against you, Kacchan. You're not exactly friendly." Something glints out of the corner of Bakugou's eye. His heart starts to race again. The knife in Deku's hand glimmers whenever it catches the glow of the moonlight coming in through his open window. "You didn't think I'd stay in hiding, did you? C'mon, you should've known that I'd come for you the second you let your guard down." He grins in the dark and leans down to get close to Bakugou's ear again. "Shall we finish what we started? I even brought an audience."

Using the knife, Deku points and Bakugou twists his head in the other direction to follow, landing on Uraraka, bound and gagged in a chair. There are tears streaming down her face as she jerks on the ropes and he can hear her muffled cries. Immediately, he begins to fight, thrashing and shoving, but Deku holds him down and the blanket is so cold that the ice causes his skin to stick and burn when he tries to pull away.

"She misses you and I just couldn't have that," Deku informs him, sitting upright and digging his fingers into Bakugou's hair to jerk on it hard. "I've gotta take you out of the equation, Kacchan. I have to show her that I'm serious about how much I want to be with her. You understand that, right?" He levels the knife against Bakugou's wrist. Uraraka's eyes are wide with terror as she fights against her bonds. Bakugou gnashes his teeth together so hard that it feels like his molars might break. "Let's see how you handle being quirkless."

When the knife starts digging into his skin, a buzzing sound erupts in Bakugou's ears and he's only able to bite back a scream for a few seconds before one is ripped out of him.

Bakugou bolted upright so fast in his bed that he flung his cell onto the ground. In between his heavy breathing, he could hear his phone vibrating on the floor. After wiping the sweat off his forehead, he leaned over the side of the bed to pick up his phone, only for it to stop vibrating the second he did. He must've missed the call then.

However, he never got the chance to see who is was when a piercing shriek echoed through his head, "GET TO UA NOW!"

Slamming a hand to the side of his head, Bakugou dropped back onto his bed and yelled out, "Fuck!" It had been a long time since he'd experienced Mandalay's telepathy quirk, but either she'd gotten stronger or that nightmare he'd had while sleeping restlessly had really done a number on him. He hadn't known that she could reach this far, but maybe it had something to do with the desperation in her voice. It sounded different from when he'd heard it during the attack on the summer training camp all those years ago.

He didn't need to be told twice though and he shot Iida a text before diving into getting changed into his hero costume. With a warning call like that, he knew better than to put on his civilian clothes. By the time he was out the door, Iida was pulling into the parking lot, driving a lot like he used his quirk.

As soon as he got in the car and Iida gunned it, Bakugou demanded, "Do you know what's going on?"

Iida shook his head. "I just heard the message and knew to come here first."

That wasn't comforting. It meant that she'd broadcasted it to everyone involved that she could reach. Everyone else would have to be contacted via phone. Who knew how many others had received her immediate call for back-up? Was U.A. being attacked? No, she would've said something about it. Had there been an important update on Deku or the League? Had they shown their faces finally? Was it something about Uraraka or Todoroki?

"Bakugou," Mandalay's voice rang out again in his head. He glanced over at Iida, who was tersely driving in silence. He hadn't heard. This was just for him. "Something went wrong. Something went really wrong." It was frustrating not to be able to talk back, so he stared out the window as the streetlamps flashed over them, trying not to show any reactions to the panicked hero's voice in his head. "I don't know where he is. I know he can hear me, but he's not responding. You have to save him."

Her words caused Bakugou's stomach to churn and he gripped the handle to open the door tightly. He had a feeling that he knew what she was talking about, a flash of something from earlier popping into his head, but he had to hope that it was something else. If it was what he thought it was, things were about to get really ugly on both ends and he didn't know what to do.

"You have to save Kota."

And Bakugou's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Fuck.

Once they were at UA, Bakugou and Iida hopped out of the car, immediately joined by Aizawa and Mandalay, the latter of whom looked even more frazzled than she had sounded in his mind. "What's the status?" Bakugou demanded as they rushed inside to meet up with everyone else gathered.

Mandalay answered, her words slipping out of her like she was falling down a muddy slope. "He was out of it all day - you saw him earlier - and he wouldn't open up to anyone. He couldn't even eat lunch or dinner. When he said he was going to bed early, I didn't think anything of it. He looked so worn down and lost. I didn't know what to say so I let him go without a fight." She stopped when they were outside the conference room door and held out a crumpled piece of paper that she'd clearly been clutching onto for dear life. "But when I went to check on him, he wasn't there and this was lying on the bed."

Bakugou took the paper from her and looked down to examine it. Torn from a notebook, there were two precise sentences written on it in a kid's scrawl so forceful that it looked like he might've broken his pencil writing it: I have to try to save him like he saved me. I can't let him be a villain.

"Damnit, kid," Bakugou growled. He should've known Kota would do something like this. The kid idolized Deku more than anything and, to be honest, for good reason. It was only because of Deku that Kota was alive and only because of Ddeku that Kota had begun to believe in heroes and use his quirk again. From what Mandalay had said earlier today, he'd gotten pretty damn strong with it too, considering that he'd ignored his quirk for a while.

But the idea that he could do anything to stop Deku or shake him out of whatever hold the villains hold on him was insane and impossible. It sounded just like something they would've done when they'd been at UA.

"What can we do?" Mandalay asked.

"I can start searching for him," Iida said. "How long since he said he was laying down?"

"He can't have more than three hours on us," Mandalay told him.

Bakugou waved the paper in his hand. "It's not like he can just walk around the city in hopes of bumping into Deku. He must have a destination in mind." He looked back up to Mandalay. "You said that you were monitoring him, right? In case Deku tried to contact him?"

Mandalay nodded and pulled out her phone. "Yes, but I didn't see anything suspicious." She pulled up the app that linked to Kota's emails and texts. "I know it's a complete invasion of privacy, but I told him in advance and I've never done this before. All I could think of was how to protect him and I…" Aizawa put a hand on her shoulder as Bakugou took the phone from her.

She was right. Nothing looked suspicious. This was all regular stuff from a preteen's phone.

And then Bakugou noticed something curious. It appeared as if Kota had responded a few times to junk mail, but there was nothing in his sent box connected to that mail in particular. He clicked on the junk mail. Nothing seemed off at first, just some dumb email about winning a prize from a hero magazine and where it could be picked up if the winner was interested. That was when Bakugou recognized the address.

"This is it," Bakugou said, pointing it out to them. "This is how he slipped past you."

"A contest?" Mandalay asked, taking her phone back.

"One that Kota signed up for a few hours after that press conference," Bakugou explained. He groaned and shook his head. "I should've fucking seen it. Deku was such a nerd about secret codes when we were kids. We did provoke them, but they struck right under our noses. Shit!"

"Do you know where he's going?" Aizawa asked.

Bakugou clenched his jaw. "Get everyone ready. We're going to the park." Their old childhood park by their primary school to be exact. From what he recalled, there was a lot of construction there now surrounding it as the neighborhood began to develop more. Of course Deku would bring Kota there. It made some sort of sick sense.

He would be the one to finish what they started. There was no question in Bakugou's mind about it.