"Hurt him. Huh… How badly, may I ask?"

She shrugs guiltily. "Pretty badly… I dunno… I'm sorry."

"What're you apologizing to me for?" Katsuki grunts, "Apologize to him."

"I can't!" Vampire Girl exclaims as she turns her head to meet his gaze, her grip on his arm tightening a fraction as her balance on the ground wavers, "Why would he ever accept me! Surely they all hate me! They'll send me to jail!"

Katsuki furrows his brows, "If you tell him you're sorry? I don't think it's illegal to be sorry."

She shakes her head, sighing sadly, "If I go back… You think they'll just let me leave scot-free?! No! They'll send me to prison or something…!"

"So you just ran away…?"

She smiles cheerfully back at him, "Yup!" The sudden change in mood brings back in him that nausea Izuku put inside of him in earlier. It trickles and leaves him tired and uninterested in continuing the conversation,

"I see. Hopefully you'll find a place that will accept you, or some shit…"

"Just unbothered." Kaminari shrugs. "That's a little more of the Bakugou we know!"

"Shouldn't he be inquiring her more about it?" Iida asks loudly, "It's irresponsible to ignore someone telling you they ran away from home!"

"Maybe he thinks she found a place to live?" Momo suggests, "He doesn't know much of the context of her situation, like us."

"And it's not really any of his business." Jirou adds. "He's not a hero yet, and making you do work when you're not looking for it – especially after an emotional occurrence – can be infuriating."

Mina chimes in with a raised head, "Yeah! Like, I love being a hero and all, but when I'm just trying to shop or something and then some crook just shows up outta nowhere, it's so frustrating! Can't you just do crime when I'm ready?"

"Bakugou will probably regret not asking for clarification later, then." Todoroki says. He's been entertained seeing his friend (And yes, Bakugou is his friend) onscreen for the past few weeks, but he has to admit that his decisions in these episodes were rather unpredictable and questionable. It's one of the reasons he refused to give Mei his DNA for Hatada's Quirk – if this machine would make him question himself more than he already is then Todoroki would be in a confusing lot of trouble. Though he guesses he can faintly see the logic behind Bakugou's actions, so seeing himself in that position wouldn't be all that different.

Still, all the other Todorkis deserve their privacy – even though apparently this Quirk sometimes lets you see things from other's perspectives, so that defeats that whole reasoning…

"Thank you, Katsuki! I think I actually found a place I'm thinking of joining! They're very accepting and don't judge you for your Quirk…" Vampire Girl continues to smile peacefully towards the sky, her words catching Katsuki's attention,

"She's talking about the league, isn't she?" Ojirou asks painstakingly.

"No girl, find a better community." Satou calls.

"If she found a less…" Midoriya hesitates, "The League of Villains place to take her in, she might have… been a better person, I'd say. There are actual good places and people you can talk to and join for these kinds of troubles."

"I guess that's the point of the multiverse," Yamada says nonchalantly, "To learn from our mistakes and know how to act in future situations."

Hagakure sighs whiningly, "But I don't know who has the potential to be a dangerous villain or not! I don't have the energy to keep track that everyone is staying out of trouble!"

"No," Kayama agrees, "Excuse my Shouta – but we have to be logical and realistic with our job. You're not expected to know the things you cannot possibly know, but if someone comes to you saying they need help in your off time, even if they're not asking it from you directly, it's your decision whether to help them or not – but you must also be aware of the consciences or refusing to assist." Every good hero – or any person, really – wishes they could save everyone in the world, but unfortunately they can't. All they can do is save as many as possible while still making sure that their own health is in check. If you can't save yourself then you cannot be expected to save others, a lesson the former number one hero seemed to forget in his long time of being the symbol of peace to Japan.

Hopefully Aizawa will be able to drill the importance of self-care and the concept that not being able to save everyone doesn't equal a bad hero in his class. There are some students they – as teachers – are sure will have a difficult time understanding but it would be an incompetent move for them as heroes and teachers to give up on them.

"Bakugou will have to get a pass here, since he isn't informed and is in a fragile mental state."

"That's good…" Katsuki murmurs as they walk. A place that is accepting of your Quirk… like a support group? Strangely enough, Katsuki had never considered joining one. He thinks the idea just never popped in his head – it's logical that there would be groups like this. He knows that there is a number of other people like them – it's partially why Katsuki wants to be a hero, after all. But he doesn't feel marginalized enough to need one. Yeah his school is very sucky about it – but the people who really matter to him love him nonetheless and he doubts bigotry is allowed in U.A. High anyways, so there's no reason for him to join a support group. But it does seem that Vampire Girl would benefit from one, and she seems happy about it.

"Wouldn't it be safer to go anyways? Better to be safe than sorry, and I doubt Bakugou's journey will get any easier."

"Do you visit someone, Yaomomo?" Aoyama asks.

"I do! I visit Mr. Hound Dog twice a week." she replies brightly.

"Ah," Aoyama simply says – he didn't expect her to actually have a response, but good for her. "Perhaps je will arrange some sessions with him as well."

"Oh, we all should!" Sero chirps, "It's way easier to go when I know all my friends are going too, haha." He blushes.

"Then let's go as a group!" Kirishima suggests, "Maybe it'll be easier if we go in clumps, and it might also make Mr. Hound Dog's job easier." He chuckles quite nervously.

Todoroki raises his hand, "I'd rather go alone, actually."

Shinsou runs the back of his neck, "Yeah, uhm. Me too…"

"Maybe U.A. should invest in therapists then?" Yamada suggests, "To be fair, we are the ones placing you in most of these difficult situations, so it would only make sense if we helped decrease the damage too!" He laughs while imagining the death glare that Aizawa would be sending him if he was there at that moment, "But I'll need to ask Nedzu… I'm sure he'll find it fascinating that kids are enthusiastic about seeing a therapist."

"Why don't we just make therapy a must if we're at it?" Kaminari grumbles into his chest.

Kayama nods earnestly, "That's a great idea, actually. We'll have to speak to Nedzu and Shouta and the rest of the staff about taking care of their mental wellbeing for the meantime, until they graduate." she directs towards the other teacher, "We'll make sure to let them experience what it's like in small portions before they enter more dangerous and impressionable situations that will require more work." She then turns to the students, "There's nothing wrong with seeing a therapist or any kind of health doctor – whether it's in a group or alone, everyone is different. Almost all heroes go see a therapist, even me. It makes your day to day life easier and it's completely natural – even to people who haven't gone through a traumatic event. Don't waste your youthful days with unnecessary negativity and annoying feelings! The sooner the better, kids!"

"But do we have to?" Kaminari gripes, "It's bad enough that we have to do homework but now we're wasting – no offence – more of our free time!"

Yamada sighs heavily, "We'll just have to see what Nedzu thinks, but I highly suggest going anyways, little listeners."

"Yeah Kami, don't be like that! We can go in as a group! Maybe they'll even let us draw and hand us candy!" Sero teases.

"I'm not a toddler!"

"You don't seem like the type to want to simply sit on a couch and talk about your feelings and worries – I feel like it will resort in you just complaining." Kirishima scoffs.

"Which is also okay!" Mina assures, "The whole point of therapy is that you can let your feeling out in any sort of way without judgment," She sends a seriously nasty glower towards the two other boys, who now are guiltily and shamefully looking away from the pink girl. "If you wanna complain about the dumbest stuff or play with toys or just, sit there and do nothing – it's all okay! But you'll never know until you try!"

Kaminari pouts with crossed arms, "Okay," he decides, "I'll try it out – but only with Mina!"

Mina cheers, ignoring the other two boys complaining.

"So how about you?" Vampire Girl asks as she happily skips, arm linked in Katsuki's. "How are you progressing in being a hero?" She suddenly covers her mouth with her previously swinging hand, "You're not still in trouble from last time, are you?"

Katsuki shakes his head. "I've gotten in big trouble with my teachers and parents but I'm fine. About my progress…" he trails off as he looks at the sidewalk, gaze jumping from the creases on the ground as he quickly passes each one. "I wasn't able to enter U.A.'s hero course, but I'll be in general education."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…"

Katsuki scoffs, crossing his arms defensively and raising his chin, making her cross her own arms for maximal comfort, "It's fine. That's not really why I'm mad in the first place. I'm just fucking pissed because my friend recently discovered he has a powerful Quirk and it feels like he betrayed me, a little." He immediately feels the tip of his ears heat and burn, realizing how stupid he sounds. He's mad at Izuku for being privileged and doing good things with that too. What a great friend Katsuki is, truly.

He lowers his head back down shamefully. He should apologize to Izuku, shouldn't he?

"He really is different there, huh?" Kirishima sighs. It seems that in this universe, Bakugou's much more in touch with his emotions, or at least it seems he's denying them less. It should be an improvement on the current Bakugou, but somehow Kirishima still thinks theirs better. He'd wish Bakugou would feel comfortable enough to express his feelings – but he's excited to see him grow into the person he'll be, instead of getting one that's 'better' and more empathetic in the first place. It's probably just because he's used to this Bakugou instead, who lashes out lightheartedly, already. But he just likes him more, is all.

"Well he's whole childhood had been flipped around, so can you blame him?" Yamada shrugs.

"Not that it's a bad thing!"

Vampire girl hums and scratches her chin. "That sucks, well. If it's anything, you're still my favorite all time hero, Katsuki! As long as you let me be your number one fan!"

He can't help but coyly smile at the ground, side eyeing her and doing his best to will his flush away. "Thanks, uh. What's your name…?"

"You don't remember?!"

"You never told me it!" he defends instinctively and is surprised by her sorry expression instead of another person laughing in his face again – though he definitely should have expected this,

"Whoops! My name is Himiko! Sorry, I forget sometimes."

"Well, you better remember this promise, so you can brag to everyone that you were my fan before I became famous!"

Midoriya clutches at his chest with a sound that can only be described as a dying cat. He's known Bakugou from birth, basically, and he honestly couldn't tell you the last time Bakugou had smiled at him like that. This is all just unfair. When's the last time Bakugou had smiled like that – period?

"This isn't fair." Kaminari states. "Whenever we compliment Bakubro he just blasts us away!"

"We live in a society." Sero simply says. Shinsou cringes.

Kirishima feels a tingly sensation prickle at his skin. Bakugou's smile sends his heart soaring, but knowing to whom it's aimed to gives him unpleasant goosebumps, and he wishes nothing more than to hide under Bakugou's blanket.

"I will!" She lets go of his hand and skips a step ahead, turning around and flashing him a smile before grabbing both his hands to inspect them while walking backwards, "Woah! So you got these healed?"

Katsuki frowns down at his scars, Himiko gently rubbing circles at the pinkish skin. "Uhm, yeah."

She plays with his hands, turning his palm this and way that, handling them with care and fascination meanwhile Katsuki does his best to not fuss at her for not looking at where she's going before she clamps his palms flatly against each other and holds them to her heart, "I love your Quirk, Katsuki!"

He scowls further, "My Quirk is evil and deserves to be sent to hell by its own."

Himiko throws her head back with laughter, "Oh, but it's so cute!" Katsuki furrows his brow. His Quirk is cute…? "I think blood is so so cute!" Oh. "The first time I met you and you were covered in it, I almost couldn't help myself from pouncing on you and eating you whole!" Katsuki simply nods, eyeing her giggling form and doing his best to determine how serious she's being.

"Probably pretty serious." Tokoyami shudders.

Again, Kirishima pouts. Every time Toga links her arm with Bakugou's, or holds his hands, a pang of jealousy agitates his chest and makes him shake his head. If you're in a situation where you envy a villain, then there's something that desperately needs fixing in your life, and Kirishima swears that he'll find a way to combat it.

"It makes moi sad that he thinks his Quirk is evil," Aoyama murmurs, "Useless things aren't inherently evil…"

Hagakure hums along, "Granted, it did put him in a lot of trouble. But it doesn't seem like he links his Quirk's… nature to himself."

"Just because your Quirk's kinda doo doo doesn't mean you are." Yamada recaps calmly and very maturely, thanks. "And lucky for you, all your Quirks are great anyway!" What a way to make a point – remarkable, truly.

"I think your Quirk is so beautiful," Himiko says finally, looking at his clasped hand like they're the only food left in a deserted island before gently dropping them, "And even without them I know you'll become such a good hero, Katsuki. Well, I was actually on my way somewhere so I have to leave," She changes the topic quickly, giving Katsuki no room to stop her or say anything on the matter, really. "I'll see you again! Bye, bye now, Katsuki angel!"

He sighs. "Bye, good luck. Or whatever."

"Thank you! Save me if I ever need any saving, will you?" And with that, she side steps him and skips to the direction Katsuki came from without a trace. Forgetting why he was upset earlier, the way to his home didn't seem all that long anymore.

Midoriya makes a small 'oh' sound and then a quiet 'hmm,' before leaning to write something in his notebook.

"What is it now, Mr. Scribble? What new and interesting information could you have possibly gathered from those few seconds of conversation?" Shinsou drags.

"No need to be so condescending, Shinsou!" Iida asserts, but the freckled boy just chuckles,

"It's fine. I was just… theorizing what the title of the universe could mean… 'Thorned Roses'…"

"I was thinking that they're gonna end up together, but she's gonna be toxic…" Mina says, "'Cause roses are romantic but the thorns are gonna hurt him… Or he will hurt her, maybe…"

"Oh no, that makes too much sense!" Sero complains, "Get outta there, Emperor Murder!"

Midoriya tilts his head thoughtfully, "That's actually not what I was thinking about at all…"

"What is it then?" Satou asks.

"Well… Toga calls Kacchan's Quirk beautiful, so I thought that his Quirk is supposed to be the hypothetical rose, and the thorns are the fact that his Quirk hurts him, like holding a thorned rose. It makes his palms bleed, but you might still find it beautiful."

"So you're smart and probably right, so what?" Shinsou scoffs, hiding his grin with a pout.

"That's oddly poetic." Tokoyami says.

"But she only likes it because it bleeds, does she not?" Momo clarifies, "So does she have ulterior motives?"

"Maybe she's trying to convince him that his Quirk is good so she can use more of his blood!" Kirishima deduces, dropping a fist into his other palm.

Kaminari frowns, only being able to hope that Toga won't do anything that will make him have to wake up in the crack of dawn and drag his feet to Bakugou's dorm's door again. He side-eyes the now less explosive teen just in case, and almost giggles at the way Bakugou is all sprawled on the bean bag, tangled with the blanket and Sero who's next to him. Seems that he's not that choosy with who gets to cuddle him when he sleeps after all.

"I for sure thought that something broke there!" Izuku exclaims, punching his fists in the air excitedly as they sit around the small outdoor table, "But no," He chuckles, "Only a few fingers and ribs…"

The way the immediate thought of 'the story of my life' ran through Midoriya has him aching and clutching at his notebook like a lifeline with an expression that is surely ugly and would make Uraraka say 'ew' out loud with no ill intent.

Aoyama pats his shoulder. "Don't worry, mon amie! That's how you became the hero you are, isn't it? Also, stop making that face. It looks stupide."

Or Aoyama…

"Maybe the secret to your Quirk is Bakugou!" Mina comments, clapping her hands once.

Midoriya chuckles, "In the scheme of things, the butterfly effect is a strong fighter…" He'll have to laugh at this over tea and cookies with All Might later.

The two heroics classes had just had their final exams and Izuku is telling him how he was assigned to try and beat All Might with some other kid. It's totally cool that Izuku was allowed to do all this kind of shit with the number one hero while Katsuki hadn't had the chance to even see him in person. It's fine. It's okay that every time Izuku tells him about how he kicked ass it just reminds him how close he got to transferring in the sports festival. They'll be fine.

Izuku had just finished telling him how his team almost failed the exercise because the other boy insisting on beating All Might instead of running away, which Katsuki can understand, but can also understand how stupid that is. To try and beat All Might. It's All Might.

"I wonder who was in Midoriya's team." Satou says.

"Someone who's too driven and probably also either has a too big ego or is plain stupid." Todoroki says.

"That's one way to make enemies." Jirou mumbles.

"Like me or hate me, I'm spitting straight facts." He snaps a finger.

Shinsou lowers his head and plants his fists in his messy hair. "What have I done." he stammers panickingly at his lap.

"It might also be someone from class 1-B," Iida reminds, "Since Bakugou is back to being in general education."

Kirishima coughs obnoxiously, "Excuse me." He clicks his tongue and takes a deep breath before shaking his arms, "Okay, okay, give me a moment."

Mina nods, "Get into it, girl."

"Take your time." Kaminari drawls.

He clears his throat. Silence, and then a sudden, "What do you mean back to general education, Four Eyes!?"

Iida raises his eyebrows, his arm slowly rising robotically in what can only be a natural response, "Ki—"

"I was never in general education and this stupid fake version of me is just a wimp that isn't working hard enough! I'll become the top, number one pro hero in any version of myself boom-boom blast I go to bed at eight-thirty and wake up before everyone even though I sleep the most out of anyone in the class and don't act like it!" He takes a deep breath, his friends clapping and nodding as if he had recited a great poem and not pretended to be his best friend. The curling of his fingers with his palms upward just came with the yelling as a packaged deal.

The rest of the class, though, thought of it as more funny than the true art the people in the Bakusquad truly saw it as. "Ki-Kirishima!" Iida exclaims, his arm chopping turned on to a level three (a two if you are from the Iida family) "Do not make fun of your classmates, it's quite rude!" He's not jealous that Bakugou wakes up before him! That would be such a silly thing… to be envious about…

"Yeah," Yamada snorts, badly masking his amusement behind a hand on his mouth, "Don't be mean, Kirishima!"

"I'm not mean! You're just wussies—!" Unfortunately, he isn't able to complete the sentence before he cracks up and laughs himself. Or maybe it is for the better, because one more sentence and Bkugou would convince himself to rise from the dead and crack an explosion at this shitty haired fool's face.

Katsuki hums and takes a sip from his tea, the mug hiding his lips as he mutters, "Izuku, don't look – but there's a boy to your left that has been staring at us since we sat here.

Very, very smoothly, Izuku places a hand on his forehead as if he's the one trying to not be seen and almost making Katsuki spill his drink on his lap from gawking. "Well, we're from U.A., Kacchan, this isn't the first time someone approached me after the sports festival."

Katsuki lowers his cup. "Awesome."

"When you become an icon, people will look up to you all the same!" Izuku tries to reassure, flailing his hands in what Katsuki assumes is a show of encouragement. "You'll be respected by more adults and you won't be in as much danger of getting targeted by hit-people!"

"Hit-people?"

"…I wanted to be inclusive."

"So is that another person Toga… attacked?" Kouja wonders quietly, "He seems young."

"We haven't seen that guy before had we?" Sero shrugs.

"I dunno. He seems familiar." Kayama tilts her head, "He does seem very small, though."

Someone the teachers recognize faintly but not any of the students? It might be just Kayama though – maybe a fellow hero fan that had perhaps asked her for an autograph or so, but if he approached her, why would he be hesitant to come up to two U.A. High students – one of them appearing in the sports festival? Maybe he's shy, but Midnight isn't a superhero people are usually very brave to go right up to and ask for attention – especially for young boys… Midoriya tilts his head and chews the inside of his cheek, why does he have to take such a small thing like looking at two U.A. students to the next level…?

Anyways – it might just be Toga again, but why would she be so hesitant to approach Bakugou – since she seemed friendly with him… Is it because Midoriya is there too? But she liked him… in the current universe, or is it because of what Bakugou said about him being a traitor—? But she doesn't know that's him – or maybe Bakugou won't recognize her – why would she be disguising herself as this boy anyway? Why did she last time—

A hand lands on his shoulder, a simple nod from a pale looking Iida and Midoriya smiles nervously. "Sorry,"