"Who the fuck said you could just give up?" Bakugo's eyes were narrowed with judgement.

"B-Bakugo…" Uraraka whimpered, her eyes widened in surprise.

Bakugo had his arm wrapped around her waist as he landed successfully on the ground. He sneered at her mockingly, "B-b-b-bakugo! Shut the hell up and fuckin' get moving!" He released her with a sharp shove and observed the fight. Blood trickled down his forehead and he felt the sting of a cut. The urge to touch it was almost overwhelming.

Uraraka smothered the tears in her eyes with the backs of her hands. She felt overwhelmingly stupid for her pathetic surrender just a few moments earlier. She chided herself severely and she knew Bakugo was right; heros never give up!

When she readjusted to her fight-mode, she saw Kirishima blocking the blows to Iida by taking his place. With his hardening quirk, he was able to withstand the blows much easier than the rest of them. She raked her brain for a plan. They needed to get Tokoyami outside of this cave soon or they'd all be in trouble. What they really needed was some light.

The idea exploded into her mind and she ran to Bakugo's side, grabbing his arm before he could take off on her. "You need to light this place up!"

He snarled and shook her off of him but waited for her to continue.

"Tokoyami's shadow isn't as strong in the light, so you need to make as much light as you can!" Uraraka sputtered out the plan. She knew it might not work, but she didn't have much else. "I'll go in as soon as there is an opening and use my quirk on Tokoyami. Hopefully, we will be able to get him into the sun!"

She didn't have to say it again. Unlimited explosions? That was music to his ears. He sparked off a few pops in his palms, gearing up for a big one. Before he could begin setting them off, he felt Uraraka tug on him again. He threw her off roughly, "What the fuck is it?" He snapped at her behind him.

She pointed up at a crack in the ceiling of the cave, "You have to be careful or the roof might collapse in on us."

Bakugo followed her finger and grunted. He was getting really tired of cleaning up other people's shit. "I got it!" He barked ferociously. "Now shut the hell up and get a move on!"

With that, Bakugo was off. He catapulted himself into the air and yelled at the beast to pay attention to him before firing off an explosion into it's face. He noted that Uraraka was right about it's affinity to light, so he carried on. Blast after blast shook the growingly unstable room. The walls almost creaked in it's weakness.

However, their plan was still flawed. Every time Uraraka made a run for it, the shadow was on her case. It opened itself up to Bakugo in the meantime, but it knew that Uraraka was the one to fear. She was looking pretty beat up by her fourth attempt and her legs shook with weakness.

"This isn't working!" Uraraka called out to her classmates, her voice strained with the effort.

Bakugo broke his focus for a split second to glance at his exhausted classmate. She cupped her hands on her knees and fought for breath. Before he could insult her, the shadow swiped at him with the strength it was gaining since his last blast. It's clawed hand met it's mark on Bakugo's chest, effectively hurtling him backward and into the wall. He slumped for a moment before tumbling to the ground.

"Bakugo!" Both Kirishima and Uraraka shouted. The brunette sprinted his way, watching his decent to the floor. Just before he reached the dirt, she leaped and touched her fingertips on his arm. She breathed a sigh of relief when she caught him just in time. Thankfully, her quirk had kept their best contender in the game.

Bakugo groaned painfully, shaking the dust from his spiky hair. "I didn't need your help, round-face," He chided her.

"Not now, Bakugo," Uraraka urged. "We need a real plan."

"Uraraka!" Kirishima called and ran to her aid. "I think I have an idea."

He muttered it to the pair as quickly as he could, hoping they got the jist of it. They were running out of time. The walls were about to cave in. A limp Iida joined them a moment later and scooped Uraraka up in his arms as Kirishima acted as decoy to the beast. Bakugo stood up proudly, ignoring the pain in his back, and lit up a few more explosions to weaken it in the meantime. Before she knew it, Iida was racing to the finish line at the center of the shadow's core, his quirk boosting their speed considerably.

Tokoyami was hunched and unconscious as the monster within him had taken the wheel. Just as the shadow figured out their plan, Iida hurled her the final few feet to connect her hand with Tokoyami's chest. The towering shadow swiped mistakenly at Iida, slamming him to the ground. It whirled to face Uraraka but it was already too late. She had successfully activated her quirk.

The four students began their race out of the cave, Uraraka towing Tokoyami behind them with the use of her quirk, barely managing to dodge the attacks of the angry shadow. The walls trembled and groaned around them as they booked it out of there safely. The setting sun had just enough light left to offer in order to tame the beast and shrink it back down to a manageable size.

Uraraka sighed in utter relief as she slumped into the dirt. The other students saw their retreat into the sunlight and ran to their aid, ages too late in the eyes of the four battered students. As a bundle of students managed to awaken Tokoyami, allowing him to cage his shadow, everyone else hurriedly helped their beaten classmates.

Uraraka bleakly smiled as Midoriya helped her sit up, "Uraraka, are you alright?! What happened?"

She held a finger up, her mouth dry and dusty. "I really need some water, first."

Only she and Iida had suffered any serious injuries. Kirishima came out completely unscathed and Bakugo's back was sore. He also had a cut on his hairline from his first encounter with the shadow. However, all of them were absolutely filthy.

When the two supervising teachers emerged from the mess hall to see what the commotion was about, they felt like inadequate idiots for letting their guards down. Aizawa was quick to monotonously praise the four students for their bravery and heroism after being briefed on the events.

"You are amazing, Uraraka!" Midoriya gleefully praised her after he had learned what had happened.

She blushed lightly and shielded her face behind her bangs. "Thanks Deku! I only did what you would do!"

Bakugo sneered as he watched the pair a few yards from where he stood. It was disgusting how much she relied on Deku's approval. It's damn annoying!

"We saved the day, dude! Manly style!" Kirishima clapped Bakugo on the back proudly, causing the blonde to wince in pain. "Oh, sorry about that. I forgot about your back. How's it feelin'?

Just as Kirishima was apologizing, Uraraka wandered over, "Is your back feeling better, Bakugo?" She peered at him with large eyes. They flitted to his forehead, still creased with blood. "Let me look at that cut for you."

All this attention was beginning to freak him out. He hated being looked after. Bakugo scoffed everyone off, claiming he was fine and just wanted to be left alone. He stormed off into the trees, hoping for some peace and quiet.

Uraraka and Kirishima watched as he trudged away. The brunette looked sorrowful, "I really hope he's alright."

…

After dinner, Uraraka was feeling loads better. Her left eye was a little swollen and she ached all over, but it was manageable pain. On the contrary, Iida looked like he'd been hit by a train. Yaoyorozu and Jiro had offered to accompany her to the hot springs, but she declined. She really just needed some alone time. My, it had been a dramatic day, hadn't it?

It was completely dark by the time she was settled into the hot water. It felt amazing on her painful joints. When she had been invited to the summer camp, she had originally thought that it would be fun. Reflecting on the three pitiful days she had been here, she decided that it had been nothing but agonizing and frustrating.

Everything from her unsuccessful team-up with Bakugo to the argument they'd had yesterday was flat-out annoying. The incident with Tokoyami was just icing on her dandy little crap cake. She had thought she was going to die!

She pondered if she'd have to keep feeling like this for her next two years at UA High. It seemed like every week they were facing inevitable death and the looming Villain Alliance was a daunting thought that she could never seem to rid herself of. She wished she knew why they had such an infatuation with their class.

Maybe it was a bad idea for her to come to the hot springs alone after all. All she was doing was wallowing in self-pity and dread. Uraraka hated feeling like this and commanded herself to perk up. She was training to be a pro-hero, right? This sort of thing just comes with the job. She decided it was better that she learned that now rather than later down the line.

As her mind floated to her encounter with Tokoyami today, a mix of relief and pride swelled in her gut. Her plan had worked and helped save the day and her classmates. As much as her body hurt, she was glad with herself for being a part of the solution. 'I wonder if this is how Deku feels all the time...'

Her friend Deku... Yes, she did admire him. Whenever he was around, everything felt like it would work out. Being around Deku was always so easy going and fun. She applauded his desire to always do the right thing and to never give up. He was becoming her inspiration to work even harder. If she could just be more like him, then she too could bring peace of mind to the people around her.

'I have so much more room to improve!'

Her mind and body were weary as she exited the spring and changed into her pjs. She wrapped her pink towel around her hair before deciding to leave. The air was chillier in the mountains during the night. A soft breeze tickled her skin when she closed the bath house door behind her. As she turned to make her way back to her cabin, her eyes locked onto someone approaching.

Bakugo had seen her as she closed the bath house door but continued his way there, planning to ignore her. He hadn't shown up for dinner and had spent the last few hours alone, mulling over his day. He had waited until everyone had gone to bed before reappearing and deciding to finally clean himself up.

When she caught sight of him, her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, hey Bakugo! I didn't see you at dinner."

Bakugo was irritated by her voice but decided to engage her, "I didn't want you fuckin' around with me again."

She knew he was referring to her surprise visit to his lunch table. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry about that." She fiddled with a strand of her hair that had escaped her towel wrap.

Bakugo sneered disgracefully and went to pass her but she piped up again. "You're still all dirty from the fight… Oh! How's your cut? Actually no, how's your back?"

Bakugo seethed at her prodding. Did this girl ever shut up? "It's fuckin' fine! And why else would I be here? I'm fuckin' cleaning up now!"

She hid her eyes from him, guilt climbing into her chest. "Well, I just want to say thank you for what you did earlier."

Bakugo didn't know what she was referring to. "Eh?"

She twirled the stray hair around her finger a few more times. He was going to make her say it again? "Thank you for saving me, Bakugo."

Oh, that. "Fuck off, round-face! I don't need your shitty thanks. Save yourself next time!"

He was right. She finally turned back toward him, smiling fully. "I will."

Bakugo didn't know how to take that, so he just slammed the door to the bath house open. "Leave me the hell alone!"

With that, he disappeared behind the door and Uraraka was left alone in the cool night. She pondered over their conversation as she walked back to her cabin. He wasn't making a fuss about saving her earlier today and she had fully expected him to gloat about it. On top of the actual act of saving her, she decided that maybe Bakugo really wasn't all bad. It dawned on her that he might know more about what heroism is that she does.

…

Bakugo leaned into one of the mirrors of the locker room inside the bath house to examine the scrape on his forehead. It wasn't too bad, but the blood had matted into his ash blonde hair. His face and body were smudged with grime and he recalled being smacked down inside the cave. It fucking irritated him that he hadn't seen that shit coming.

His muscles were strained, his back ached, and his hands were cut up pretty good after all the roughhousing he had done all day. But his pride was fully intact and healthier than ever. He puffed out his chest to admire his reflection. All he was missing was a tattered hero costume. Yeah, he definitely looked like a badass. A haughty and satisfied grin blew up on his face.

"Like what you see?" A voice teased from the doorway.

Bakugo snapped his head in the direction of the voice and saw an amused Kirishima at the door. A smarmy grin was painted onto the redhead's features.

How had he not heard him coming in? Bakugo bore his teeth at the redhead, "Fuckin' say one more word, I dare you."

Kirishima waved dismissively at the blonde bastard before wandering in a few more steps. "I know, I know."

"What do you want?" Bakugo spat, infuriated that Kirishima had seen him like this.

Kirishima shrugged, "I was looking for you earlier, but I assumed you didn't want to be found. I saw you heading here from our cabin, so I decided to follow you."

Bakugo was severely unamused. "I asked you a fuckin' question."

Kirishima rolled his eyes and leaned against one of the lines of lockers, crossing his arms across his chest. "I was wondering if you were okay, but I already know the answer to that question."

"Then get lost!" Bakugo replied, his tone laced with loathing.

Kirishima ignored the unspoken threat and carried on, "I saw you talking to Uraraka. How was that?"

Bakugo fought to keep his cool. He'd been in enough fights today and the last thing he needed was to get into trouble with the teachers. "That dolt? She just wanted to kiss my ass and annoy me."

Kirishima blinked knowingly back, "Well saving her was super manly! I'd say you made quite an impression on her today."

Bakugo's ears perked curiously, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Kirishima left the blond guessing. "I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to go a little easier on her, you know? I can leave you alone now, if you want."

"Please do!" Bakugo seethed, his anger growing by the second.

Kirishima took his weight off the lockers he was leaning on and walked out of the locker room with a simple wave, leaving Bakugo to admire himself privately once again.

However, the blonde just didn't feel like it anymore. Kirishima had a fucking annoying habit of making him second guess himself. He glared himself down in the mirror, curious if his intensity alone could shatter the glass between himself and his reflection. What did that damned idiot mean when he said he'd made an impression on that round-face twit? Ever since he'd gotten to the camp, all that girl had done was give him grief. Why would he go easier on her now? He clenched a pissed off fist over the porcelain sink.

He thought about what do for a while to deal with the stupid girl and settled on finding her in the morning. He needed to tell her to leave him the fuck alone. Her annoying smile was getting on his final nerve and he wasn't going to sit around and take her shit anymore.

All he did was catch her before she hit the wall, right? It wasn't a fuckin' favor, it was an obligation. That's what heros do! She owed him for being too weak to fight and forcing him to do it on her behalf. That air-head was gonna get the earful she deserved tomorrow if it was the last damn thing he ever did.

He grunted at his menacing reflection before dismissing himself to bathe, his confidence back intact. Yeah, he's definitely a badass and everybody is going to realize it when he becomes the number one hero. He didn't care who he had to squash in order to get there.

Author's Note:

I just love writing Bakugo. He's so complex and it's fun to play around with his thoughts.

Sorry for not updating sooner! I intended to post up this chapter last night, but after reading through all of your reviews, I scrapped it and started over. It just wasn't quite up to my standards and I wanted to make sure you guys would be happy with it too. Hopefully, it turned out the way I wanted it to.

I so enjoyed reading your reviews and to those of you who are making requests, I hear you and I will see what I can do for you! :) Thank you to Clarissa Kirishima, sophrosine, and H.C.K.L for your super awesome responses! I really do appreciate them!

Thanks for reading! I'll update soon, I promise!

~NumberSixteen