Getting his provisional license was the single best thing to ever happen to him.
Bakugou couldn't help the wild grin that spread across his face, an almost child-like bounce in his heels as his teacher stared down at him in exasperation. To his right, Half n' Half looked little more than intrigued, his head tilted in curiosity and anticipation. "And I'm assuming this was by recommendation from my father?"
"Endeavor did have a hand in this, yes," Aizawa confirmed, his eyes lingering over to where Present Mic had a shit-eating grin on his face. "Though All Might and I sent them in first, along with recommendations for two other classmates of yours. He simply supported our decision with you two. Whether or not you will participate is up to you, but I'm assuming that you are both interested."
"Hell yeah."
"Correct."
Present Mic smirked. Aizawa rolled his eyes. "We will give you a proper debriefing of the mission over the weekend. Best-case scenario, you will be out of school for only a few days, but you will receive full credit from this experience and won't fall behind in your studies. Also, do not speak of this information with anyone other than your teammates. That is all. You are dismissed."
Turning on his heel, Bakugou marched out of the office with confidence, his grin never leaving his face as Todoroki fell into step alongside him. At first, he hadn't been sure what to expect when Aizawa had called the two of them to the teachers' office so late in the evening, but in the end, it couldn't have possibly been a better scenario. He knew a little bit about the secret raid with Fatgum and Sir Nighteye from bits and pieces that Kirishima had slipped and Bakugou had been forced to swallow his jealousy and his own feelings of failure in the face of Kirishima's achievements (because the guy honestly deserved the world, as far as he was concerned), but now that it was his turn, there was no way that he'd allow himself to fall behind. He'd caught back up. No setback could hold him down forever.
He was Bakugou fucking Katsuki and the universe could suck his dick. He's gonna be the number one hero and he's gonna live to see that day.
"Well, you seem uncharacteristically cheery." Todoroki spoke up absentmindedly.
Bakugou turned to him sharply, a signature glare boring into heterochromatic eyes. "Don't you dare jinx me, you over saturated Indonesian flag."
Todoroki blinked at the new insult before tilting his head. "I'm not sure what you mean?"
"Not sure-" he pointed at him accusingly. "Anytime someone says that, or something like that, it's just begging for something stupid to happen, okay? I'm having a fucking fantastic day right now and I don't want you screwing it up with your knock-on-wood happenstance bullshit."
Another moment of silence before Todoroki just shrugged at him, pushing through the doors that led to the common room. As it was evening time, the dorms were bustling with life, not-so-nameless faces scurrying about for whatever dumb reason they might have at the moment. The scent of freshly baked cookies was wafting through the room while the muffled chatter of a news reporter could be heard from the television, where several of his classmates were huddled around discussing whatever his weirdo classmates talked about. They may not be completely unimportant extras, but that didn't mean he had the time or patience to worry about their problems.
Bakugou's eyes scanned the familiar sea of faces, instantly noticing the lack of ear-splitting howls of laughter or general uncontrollable chaos. He huffed to himself, rubbing his face in a tired motion. "Right. Those idiots were doing the grocery shopping today."
He and 'the squad' or whatever they called themselves were supposed to do the shopping for the dorms this weekend, but being called to the teacher's office in advance, he'd had to let the four brainless dickheads go off on their own. Round Face had volunteered to go with them, so that was a little bit more reassuring, and at least Sero wasn't entirely crazy, but that still wasn't a surefire deal that they weren't gonna do something completely idiotic.
And of course, he was ninety-nine percent sure that that meant they were just gonna go to a fast food joint for dinner and then crash tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, no. Not on his watch. If any of them think that they can get away with not taking care of themselves and not challenging him with their absolute best as a result, then they've got another thing coming, Space Case included.
That's how he rationalized it, anyway.
He heard Earlobes snort behind him as he pushed past Big Lips and into the kitchen. "Dude's just checked in and I can already smell a feast."
"Can it, Nickelback!" he yelled through the doorway, eyes zeroing in on the now snarling purple-haired girl lounging on the couch. Next to her, Ponytail was fiddling with a Rubik's cube. "I don't wanna hear your shit, capiche?"
"Hmm, not sure what happened to 'cheery'." Todoroki mused out loud over the sound of pots and pans being thrown around and an occasional surprised squawk from Sugar Guy.
Bakugou didn't really pay attention to his company after that, choosing to focus on making a decent stew rather than rage at the idiots he was forever surrounded by. He found himself slamming things around a little too hard without meaning to or his fingers shaking a little more from exertion than usual, but he managed to not drop anything in a fit of clumsiness or accidentally toss something across the room, so that's a good sign.
He wasn't sure what came over him, but he found himself almost messing up more and more as time went on, even as he stirred the pot and almost lost his grip on the damn spoon. His eyes were constantly glancing back at the clock as time moved on without so much as an apology, and for some unexplainable reason, that only agitated him even more.
So you better believe he was pissed when the straw that broke the camel's back was launching a ruler across the room after being startled by fucking Deku calling him.
"I- S-sorry, Kacchan!" he stammered, immediately rushing over to pick it up.
"Don't touch it." Bakugou growled, Deku freezing mid-step with a sheepish look in his eyes. On closer inspection, he looked pale. "What the hell do you even want?"
"I- Right, um-..." He pressed his hands together, fidgeting slightly as his mouth moved without making any sound.
"Speak up!"
"I-! D-do you... Do you feel-?"
Wait. Oh.
He almost kicked himself for his own ignorance at the realization, glancing down at his violently tingling fingers, almost numb from the strain and turning pale. He clutched his hands together in frustration, almost as an attempt to force them to stop shaking like a scared little weakling. It was like the hero sense was screaming at him now, not with unbridled terror, but still with an urgency that wouldn't allow itself to be ignored. With a snarl at no one in particular, he glanced back up at Deku, the nerd's expression a mutant cross between fear and determination.
"I'll call Uraraka." Deku stated mostly to himself, sprinting out of the kitchen and almost tripping over the carpet in his attempt to yank his phone out of his pocket. Bakugou peered out into the common room after him, rubbing his hands together to try and soothe them and not accidentally blow up the kitchen. He didn't miss Todoroki's staring, nor did he miss the way his left hand in particular was also twitching.
The front door slammed open.
Deku shrieked, sending his phone hurdling into the ceiling before shrinking into himself in embarrassment, his face beet red. Todoroki was on his feet instantly, eyes wide and gaze quickly switching between the dumb nerd and the door like a sideways bobblehead. Everyone else in the common room snapped to attention, all eyes on the Heights Alliance entrance.
Had he not been paying attention, Bakugou would have missed Kirishima entirely, ducking his head and disappearing like a blur of red lost in the mess of colors around him. Kaminari wasn't nearly as quick, covered in dirt and his hair a wild mess, his eyes scanning the sea of faces boring into his very soul with a grimace before he ducked away. Bakugou barely noticed Jirou staring at him, lost in his own thoughts as he tried to piece everything he was seeing together and pull some understanding from what was in front of him and what he was feeling.
The sound of stumbling boots caught his attention, and Bakugou tried his hardest to swallow the nauseating pressure in his chest when Ashido wobbled in, seemingly dazed and tears running down her cheeks. She was also coated in dust and soot, but scrapes and scratches were littering her body and turning her unnaturally pale pink skin into an ugly faded purple. Looks of dawning horror spread across the crowd of students as they all surrounded the sobbing acid quirk user.
"Ashido?!"
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
"Are you guys okay?"
And Bakugou could do nothing but stand there in the kitchen doorway and watch, completely at a loss as to what he was supposed to do. His eyes eventually found Earlobes, swimming through the crowd towards the stairs where Kaminari had disappeared to, and he wondered for a moment if maybe it would be best if he followed her example and went after Kirishima.
"Kacchan." Deku whispered harshly, having somehow materialized next to him. Bakugou refused to allow the idiot to surprise him again. Green eyes were swimming with concern. "I can't find Uraraka and she won't answer her phone. You don't think that-."
Bakugou's attention snapped to him. "Do you feel sick?"
Deku blinked. "I- I mean, I did. Not as much now, but-"
"Then she's fine."
Deku blinked owlishly at him, mouth slightly agape as the rusty cogs in his brain slowly began to scrape against each other before he shook his head. "I- No, but I did feel sick earlier, and I still do, kind of, which means something bad happened, and if something happened to her, then...I... Y-You can't be sure of it!"
"Look, if something that bad happened to Round Face, then you'd be projectile vomiting all over the place. That, and Half n' Half would probably be where you are right now." He didn't dare mention that he'd also likely have his own face shoved into a trashcan or toilet at that rate. "I ain't saying that nothing happened, 'cause clearly some shit went down, but at least we can confirm that she's not dead, or dying, or in any immediate danger. She's fine."
Deku continued to stare at him, eyes wide as he processed the words just hurled at him. He looked down at his hands, still fidgeting wildly, but not like the violent convulsions they'd been much earlier. His raised shoulders slowly began to relax, the look of worry in his eyes no longer completely clouding them. He nodded to himself, a new resolve overcoming him as he took a long breath. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I just..."
Bakugou shook his head, glancing back over to the crowd of classmates by the door. The ugly feeling in his chest was still there, intensified by the way Ashido gasped for air, not even trying to clean her face as tears continued to freely flow. Uniform attempted to do so for her, using a handkerchief from Ponytail to wipe away the salt and snot smearing her makeup. Rubbing at his face in exasperation, Bakugou allowed his gaze to fall back on the nerd next to him.
Deku's eyes were blown wide, seemingly staring off into space and outside of their known reality. For a moment that Bakugou would forever erase from his memory, he wondered if he was actually okay.
"The hell are you looking at?" Bakugou barked. Deku didn't even spare him a glance, only pointing towards the TV, still broadcasting the evening news at such a low volume that he couldn't understand a single word that the reporter was saying.
He didn't have to, though.
DETONATION IN APARTMENT COMPLEX, CAUSE UNKNOWN
9 DEAD, 22 HOSPITALIZED, DOZENS HOMELESS
Ashido was gone, having disappeared from the group to escape the attention, and Bakugou used the opportunity to swipe the remote from one of the couches and turn up the volume.
The scene they were looking at was grisly, half of the complex completely obliterated as emergency crews worked on the last of the cleanup and heroes swarmed the rubble in search of any last stragglers and clues as to what actually happened. From the time stamp, it seemed that the worst of it happened a while ago, and Bakugou immediately recognized the street as the one where the class regularly did their grocery shopping. In fact, he could see the store in frame.
Police are searching for a cause. Suspected villain activity. Families mourning. Children killed. Injured include three heroes, two sidekicks, two firefighters, an intern, and a student.
Dammit, Uraraka.
"Fifty yen says that's her." Bakugou grumbled to himself. Deku nodded next to him before whipping around and sprinting towards the door, catching Four Eyes's arm on the way out. The idiot probably knew every hospital in the area by now, so he'd find his way to the right one in no time flat.
Even as the front door slammed shut, Bakugou couldn't help but linger on the stairs, where Weird Hair had run off.
Children killed.
Something horrific and painful twisted in his stomach.
He needed to see Kirishima now.
Just as he turned to leave, his eyes locked with Icyhot's, wide but not hysteric. He rubbed at his left hand, ice crystals beginning to form on his arm and steam rolling off of him as he did so. For a moment, an unsettling sort of understanding passed between them.
Then, without breaking eye contact, Todoroki rapped his knuckles against a wooden coffee table.
"I hate you." Bakugou hissed dangerously as he turned on his heel and hopped onto the elevator.
Throughout the entire ordeal downstairs, Bakugou had somehow completely missed Sero, the tall, forever grinning idiot flying past his radar without so much as a hint of his presence. Stepping off the elevator, Bakugou hadn't even realized this until he somehow managed to intercept him on the fourth floor.
"The stairs, huh?" Bakugou asked incredulously, ignoring the wide, wary eyes staring back at him. "I'm pretty sure that last I checked, you and Pikachu in particular were allergic to stairs. You literally climbed to your balcony with your tape last week."
Sero looked like a deer in the headlights, blinking at him stupidly with his mouth agape before his brain caught up with him and his current situation. He laughed half-heartedly, and Bakugou didn't miss the way his eyes shifted to the side. "Yeah, well I... Yeah, um..."
Sero turned to him apologetically, still refusing to hold eye contact for more than a second at a time. "To be honest, I was trying to avoid..." He gestured his hands between them, as if trying to invoke a meaning. "...This."
There was a crease in Sero's eyebrows that Bakugou didn't like, emphasizing the shiftiness of his gaze and the way his hands were fidgeting, clutching his elbows as he bit his lip and looked pointedly away. As the quiet stretched on, if Bakugou watched close enough, he could see the way that the tape quirk user's posture continued to slouch and curl in on itself. After about three and a half seconds, it just got awkward.
Bakugou huffed. "The hell happened out there, anyway-?"
"I don't want to hear it from you." Sero snapped coldly, shoving past the blonde back towards the stairs.
It was Bakugou's turn to blink. "What? What do you mean, from me?"
The tape quirk user turned to him sharply. "Look, we've had a rough night. Just leave us alone for now and save the 'tough love' for later."
"I wasn't-" He paused, suddenly at a loss for words. Was he? What was he even planning to say?
To suck it up? Do better next time? Stop being wimps and soldier through like real heroes?
That's what his mom would tell him.
By the time he shook himself out of his unscheduled existential crisis, Sero had already disappeared up the stairs. Bakugou stared after him for a minute too long, contemplating stubbornly following after him, but he ultimately decided against it. After all the complaining he's done over the past several months about the four idiots invading his personal space, the least he could do was set an example.
He immediately backtracked on that thought when his eyes shifted to Kirishima's door.
It irked him, how much he was second-guessing himself, especially when he didn't have the whole story as to what was going on, but in his defense, this was new territory for him. He could see it now, the absolute stunned disbelief that would have painted his old followers' faces if he'd ever even thought of offering an ounce of comfort to any of them. They weren't his friends. He didn't care about them. Thus, he'd never needed to worry about being anything close to approachable.
And now it was coming back to bite him, because despite his best efforts, he'd somehow ended up with a group of actual friends that he didn't dislike and he hated it. He loathed it. Despised it. And yet, at this point, he'd gone too deep. Going back and ditching them now would be more trouble than it's worth.
Maybe he should have paid more attention to his dad's way of doing things growing up.
Steeling himself, he took his first step towards unfamiliar territory, eying the shut door incredulously. Considering how many times Kirishima had crashed in his room when the blonde was having a rough time, despite all his efforts to chase him away, maybe he could just consider this payback. The thought made him feel just the smallest bit lighter.
The next thing he knew, the door was looming over him, almost mocking him and his uncertainty. Damn, Kirishima made this seem so easy. Bakugou shook his head, glaring daggers at nothing in particular and steeling himself. Even if this was unfamiliar territory, the least he could do was trek through it with confidence.
He slammed his fist against the door.
Seconds passed in complete silence. He knocked harder. "Oi, Weird Hair. It's me."
He mentally slapped himself. "Not Wei-, Kirishima. Open the door. We need to talk."
Silence. Bakugou's patience was wearing thin. He resisted the urge to blast the door down and tried to knock softer. "Kir-"
"What?" The response from behind the door was wet and harsh, earning a slight jolt of surprise from the ash blonde.
He hadn't even heard him approach, the redhead's footsteps silent and forced. It was almost as if he wasn't actually there, like his presence was gone and Bakugou was only talking to a figment of his imagination. His voice sounded hoarse, as if he'd been screaming for hours, and there was a wetness to it that the heart of the entire world itself seemed to break for.
And for the first time since he could remember, Bakugou was left speechless.
He had no idea what the fuck he was doing.
"You good?" he asked dumbly, desperately grasping at straws as to what the hell he was supposed to say.
Silence met him.
Bakugou sighed for the umpteenth time that night. "Kiri," he started. "What happened out there? Whatever it was-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Bakugou let out a humorless laugh. "How many times have I told you that?"
Silence again. Bakugou leaned against the door, staring off at nothing. "Normally, I'd give you space but...unfortunately, I know you, so..."
A wet laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that."
"What?"
"Shouldn't have ever bothered you in the first place. I kinda strong-armed you into being my friend back then, but you don't deserve to be held back."
Bakugou gawked. "The fuck? What are you even talking about? That's not what I meant at all!"
"Then what do you mean?!"
He tried to swallow his temper, but frustration was beginning to boil in his veins. "What I mean is that I know you! And I know that you're gonna pointlessly beat yourself up about whatever this is and I don't have the whole story!"
He clenched his fists. "And dammit, Kiri, if I don't know the whole story, then I can't do anything! So just...talk to me."
Another bout of silence, before a long sigh escaped Kirishima's lips. "I appreciate it, man, but...I really don't want to deal with your judgment right now."
"My judgment?!"
"Wouldn't want to slow you down!" he yelled hysterically. Mockingly. "After all, I'm nothing but a pebble on your path to victory, yeah? A failure to look down on and laugh at! At least you can look at yourself in the mirror and go, 'you know what, at least I'm not that guy!'"
"Where in the fuck is this even coming from?! You know that's not true!" he snarled. "Tch. Do you even realize who you sound like right now?!"
"An irredeemable asshole with no friends?!"
Bakugou blinked, caught off guard by such an aggressive tone. The bite behind it was so harsh, it sounded desperate.
Not that he was particularly hurt, but... How was he supposed to respond to that? Should he be stern or try to dial it back? Knock some sense into the idiot or make an attempt at comfort?
Who would be better equipped for this? His old man or the hag? He doesn't know.
Dammit, he's already screwing everything up.
A shuddering breath pulled him out of his thoughts. "I... That wasn't..."
The sob that followed spoke of greater heartbreak than Bakugou had ever faced. There was a thud, a body sliding down against the door, and suddenly, the explosion quirk user was completely at a loss.
"I'm sorry..." The barely decipherable words tumbled from Kirishima's trembling lips as he finally broke down into sobs, fighting tooth and nail to not devolve into broken wailing. His hand against the door, Bakugou's fingers curled inwards, his nails bending painfully against the wooden surface.
"I'm still here."
His words fell on deaf ears, separated by a barrier not of his own making, and suddenly, he felt like a weak little child, a bystander, unable to do anything but watch from the sidelines.
Useless, useless, useless.
With a curse under his breath, Bakugou briskly strode into his own dorm room and slammed the door behind him. This was worse than he thought.
It had been a family of three.
The common room was quiet that morning, everyone taking their sweet ass time to start the day. The only sounds he could hear were his own clattering in the kitchen, preparing a meal for one for the first time in a while. As relaxing as it was, it was also aggravatingly disconcerting.
Deku and the class rep had left long before the sun rose, fully intent on spending as much time with Round Face at the hospital as possible. Meanwhile, Icyhot and Frogger left around the time that he'd woken up, leaving campus in a rush as Bakugou had watched from his window.
He'd been right about one thing, at least. Uraraka was fine. A bit banged up, but she could take it. Apparently, when a section of the building began to collapse on a large group of people, she'd just barely caught it with her quirk. Considering how heavy a chunk of a building can be, it was agony for her, but she held it long enough to allow rescue workers to escort everyone away from the danger. Just as the last person escaped, Uraraka couldn't take it anymore and released on reflex. The resulting rain of debris brained her and nearly crushed her arm. Cuts and bruises were a given.
Thanks to healing quirks, she was already better, and would probably be back in school after the weekend. That didn't stop the nerd squad from rising out of their graves at the ass crack of dawn to visit her, though. He didn't know whether or not she was all that pleasant in the morning (well, she was never pleasant, but that was just him), but what did he care, anyway?
What he did begrudgingly care about was the bombshell that got dropped on him.
"They were literally walking out of the store when the explosion happened." Deku explained, his annoying voice scratching against his eardrum. Bakugou pressed his cellphone between his ear and shoulder as he dug around the lower cabinets for a decent pan that was actually clean. And people call him the barbarian.
"They were the first responders on the scene," he continued. "And they ended up separating in order to cover more ground. Uraraka had been with Kirishima when it happened."
A single mother with her father and daughter. The old man seemed able enough, in his seventies and still maintaining his driver's license. The girl couldn't have been any older than five.
"He entered the apartment alone while Uraraka was searching next door. She was helping a guy and his dog get out safely when she heard the ceiling collapsing."
There was a long pause, as if Deku couldn't find the right words. He swallowed thickly. "She told me... When she looked in the room, ...Kirishima was on his knees, frozen in place..."
Nine dead.
"She saw...a huge hole, where the floor had collapsed, just a bit of rubble that hadn't fallen... And... And..."
A small severed arm, still curled around a teddy bear.
Bakugou had been able to piece the rest together easy enough. He wasn't surprised that Kirishima hadn't spoken to anyone after that.
"You seem oddly melancholy."
Bakugou hated himself for startling, the pan in his hands flipping out of his grasp and clattering loudly against the floor. Putting on his best scowl, he peeked over his shoulder and glowered dangerously up at the smuggest look that Todoroki had ever given him. "Hmm, jumpy, aren't we?"
"Shut your trap, you bipedal Polish flag!"
"Wait, why am I Polish now?"
"Oh what, you'd rather be a different one? Malta? Monaco? Vienna? I take requests."
"Did you make a list or something?"
"I'd call you the flag of Dubai, but even I'm not that much of a dick."
"I... Okay?"
Aggressively picking up the stupid pan, Bakugou shoved it under the faucet and began to violently scrub it. "Why are you even here, anyway? I thought you were visiting Round Face."
"I was." Todoroki shrugged. "She's doing fine, so I thought it would be best to return now. If I may be completely honest, I'm glad I did."
Bakugou rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Todoroki's attempt at a grin. "How fucking delightful."
"You seem agitated."
"Oh, REALLY!?"
Todoroki was completely unaffected by his outburst. "I imagine it has to do with the other four's subdued behavior?"
Bakugou gave him a hard stare at that, a sharp denial sitting at the tip of his tongue. And yet, the sound of Kirishima's voice in the back of his head held it back like a ball and chain. He grimaced, turning his back to the Icyhot bastard and slamming the frying pan onto the stove with a heavy clang.
Todoroki was quiet for several seconds. "...I'll take that as a ye-"
"The fuck do you want?" Bakugou bit out in annoyance.
"Hmm, a house, my mom to be happy, some cold soba-"
"You are the most aggravating human being on the fucking planet."
"You asked."
Bakugou took a long, deep breath through his nose, counting to ten in his head like how Kirishima told him before turning to the dual quirk user with a steely glare and his arms crossed. "Half n' Half, I'm serious. You have a point, so get to it."
Todoroki stared back at him in silence, the two of them practically in a staring contest for who knows how long while Icyhot seemed to brush the cobwebs out of the gears in his head. He looked away first, his heterochromatic gaze falling to his bare feet. Bakugou snarled, turning away. "If you're just here to waste my time-"
"It involves the mission."
Bakugou glanced back at him, an eyebrow raised. Todoroki seemed to take the hint and continued. "First off, I overheard that we'll be working with Jirou and Yaoyorozu. Uraraka was originally going to join us, but as you know, circumstances changed. Yaoyorozu is her replacement."
"Okay?"
"I've also confirmed that this mission is a raid. Part of a trafficking ring of some kind, mostly dealing with illegal equipment, and our job is to confiscate said contraband. According to some sources, there are vague connections to the League."
Bakugou suppressed a shudder, blurry images of a rundown bar flashing through his mind. He stomped them down immediately. "And the source of this information?"
"Partially from Jirou, partially from my father. Some was told, some was through eavesdropping."
"Right."
"And speaking of Jirou..." Todoroki continued, suddenly looking at his shoes again. "She wanted me to ask you something."
"Do NOT tell me you're just now getting to your point!"
"Is Kaminari okay?"
Bakugou was completely blindsided, left grasping for some kind of response to the unexpected inquiry, leaving them both in awkward silence. Was Kaminari okay? He'd had completely vanished since last night. Bakugou himself hadn't seen him once since that whole fiasco, so how the fuck was he supposed to know?
Why was he even the go-to guy to ask?
"Why the hell does she think I'd even care?" he eventually spat.
Todoroki just stared at him expectantly. Apparently, that wasn't gonna work on him. Wonderful. "I haven't seen him, so I couldn't tell you." he finally snarled.
Todoroki nodded in understanding. "I see."
Another bout of silence came over them, Bakugou's hands hot and itching with anticipation. This was one of the things he hated most about Half n' Half, this awkward silence that would fall over them for no reason whatsoever and for who knows how long and it was the most grating silence in the history of mankind-.
"You're friends with them, right? If you could do something to help them, it would be appreciated. One less thing to distract us while we're out."
Slamming his fist against the counter, Bakugou had a scathing comment ready to fire, but Todoroki had already left by the time he'd whirled around, turning on his heel and meandering out of the kitchen like a lost child who didn't even know up from down. With a low growl, Bakugou threw the pan against the counter with an ear-splitting bang and violently rummaged around for a quick meal. He wasn't in the mood to cook anymore.
Kirishima didn't come to school that day.
"That can't be a good sign." Earlobes muttered absentmindedly, twirling one of her ear jacks.
Bakugou stayed silent, despite the sneaking suspicion that the comment had been directed at him. With a tch, he glared through where Uniform's head should be and at the wall in front of him, pointedly ignoring the way the invisible girl shuddered.
"Got nothing to say?" Earlobes questioned, confirming his suspicions.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Right." Earlobes huffed in annoyance. "'Cause you couldn't care less, yeah?"
Bakugou frowned deeply at that. On one hand, he wanted that to be true, he really did, but on the other, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the dull ache in his chest whenever he glanced over at a certain four empty desks in the room and suddenly realized just how quiet the classroom was that day.
It was annoying.
"Shut up."
"Mhmm."
He snarled lowly, rhythmically drumming his fingers on his desk and averting his dangerous glare to the wall next to him. He could feel Earlobes's eyes boring into him, and though he was in no mood to check, he was pretty sure that the nerd was staring holes into the back of his skull. Deku better consider it his lucky day that he didn't feel like retaliating. Same to Uniform, who thought she was real sneaky just because he couldn't see her head, but that did not mean that the explosive blonde didn't notice the way the collar of her shirt and the shoulders of her jacket were twisting around.
Even without the world's most irritating entourage, he was perpetually surrounded by idiots.
The classroom door slid open. With a heavy, tired sigh, Bakugou's eyes traveled back towards the entrance, expecting to be greeted by his teacher.
What he found was the tired, dead-eyed faces of Ashido and Sero, heavy shadows under their eyes as if they hadn't slept in weeks.
Bakugou fought to not straighten at their sudden appearances, his eyes widening just a fraction. Ashido locked eyes with him first, immediately looking away with unshed tears before she ducked forward to her desk.
Sero, however, with a painfully apologetic look marring his features, met his gaze and seemed to focus only on him, fighting to not meet the pitying stares of all of his other classmates scattered around the room. Even as he sat down, an upside down grin on his face and exhaustion radiating around him like an aura, he held eye contact.
"Can we talk after class?" Sero asked carefully, making a poor attempt at a smile.
Bakugou had to fight just as hard to not look at anyone else, feeling their stares itching at his skin. Any other day, he would have blown up half the classroom by now, because everyone else should know to mind their own fucking business.
But the almost defeated look in Sero's eyes made him feel sick.
Everything about this made him feel sick.
He could feel it, this aching, anxious and fidgety feeling crawling up his skin all through the night and well into the morning. It was bothersome, but ignorable. He could just move on with his day easily. He didn't have to care what this moron was going through. It wasn't his problem.
But he nodded anyway.
Because caring was stupid.
Kindness was pointless.
Friends were a nuisance.
But the look of relief on the tape quirk user's face almost felt like a victory.
And if there was one thing he loved more than anything else, it was winning.
He never signed up for this bullshit.
"If you're planning on apologizing for last night, you can shove it. We both know that I'm shit at anything even remotely resembling comfort, so I'd have just rubbed salt in the wounds."
Sero had verbally and physically stumbled at that, left speechless and grasping for some kind of human-esque sound that could be mistaken for a recognizable language. Bakugou smirked to himself, trying and failing to remember the last time he'd truly caught the guy off guard like that.
It seemed like he nailed it on the first shot as well. Maybe he really was getting better at this whole 'people' thing. Exposure therapy or whatever it was.
"I, right." Sero finally forced out. "Yeah, good. I was worried I might've struck a nerve or something."
"Yeah, well, just drop it. I've been told worse." Not that that 'worse' had thrown him into a poor man's existential crisis, but Tape Face didn't need to know that.
The rest of their walk to the cafeteria had been relatively quiet, Sero making a habit of avoiding eye contact with any of the extras passing by. Bakugou did not miss the fact that Ashido decided to stay with Aoyama in the classroom for lunch, which struck him as extremely odd and out of character, given her ridiculously annoying social butterfly tendencies and extroverted personality.
Why did he even notice or care what was out of character for anyone?
Why was he even humoring Soy Sauce over here right now?
And why in the ever-loving fuck did he seem so eager to do so?
Good lord, what was his life becoming?
"So, uh," Sero started. "I...thought about some stuff for a long time last night, and I decided that...you know, if I try to talk about things, then maybe that will help."
How ominously vague.
"So, you..." he gestured in a general direction. "Could we, like, eat somewhere isolated, maybe?"
At the time, when Bakugou had ultimately agreed, he'd rationalized that the excuse to stay in a less crowded area for his lunch was a really appealing thought. He convinced himself that his reasoning was almost entirely selfish, because that was what he'd always been.
That, and Sero had helped him out (without his asking) in the past, so he might as well avoid owing him anything.
He had not been mentally prepared for this conversation.
He had expected a trip to the roof, such a cliche location for sentimentality. He had expected long bouts of awkward silence. He had expected the possibility of a couple of tears.
He had not been prepared at all.
"Nine dead." Sero said numbly, staring through his bento and into an uncaring void. "An elderly gentleman and three young children were in those statistics."
He weakly shrugged. "There was also a teenager there. Thirteen or fourteen, I think." His tone was deadpan, completely devoid of emotion. His eyes were blank. "He and his mother. They were trapped on the top floor."
Another bout of silence. The raven-haired boy was seeing ghosts. "I tried to save them both... I really did."
Bakugou felt something possibly resembling a heart sink. Sero took the shakiest breath he'd ever heard in his life.
"But I dropped him."
You could have heard a pin drop from the other side of Musutafu in the silence that followed. It really, truly, honestly felt as if Icyhot had frozen him over, and he didn't know what to think of it.
For a moment, he didn't know what to think of anything.
"He was panicking. Wasn't in his right mind. Didn't know where he was. Didn't know how high we were."
He actually sobbed, and Bakugou pretended as if chills were not currently screaming up and down his spine, because Sero was always the stable one. "Ashido... Man, she tried. She tried to reach him in time. To catch him. She tried to salvage my fuck up."
There were images flashing through his mind's eye, but Bakugou couldn't see them. "And Kaminari... We'd been fooling around before... He'd burnt himself out... Couldn't do... Didn't expect..."
Anything.
Breaths were coming quicker. Sero's fingers curled around his black locks and gripped harshly. His voice was barely a whisper. "We all fucked up. We fucked up so bad."
And Bakugou didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to do.
Because he knew what it was like. He knew what it was like to watch the world around him crumble. He knew what it was like to drown in self-blame.
He knew what failure tasted like.
Bitter. Acrid. Burning, breaking you until you shatter like glass.
And maybe, if you're lucky, there's someone there to pick up the pieces.
But how do you remove broken glass without cutting anything?
Was it even worth going out of your way to try?
Why should he?
Why did he care?
Why did he care?
Why did he care?
Because they're the ones who gave him a heart-
"Sero."
He was breathing fast, tears forming, fighting to keep himself together, but Sero was always the stable one. Bakugou ended up crouched right in front of him, the tape quirk user seeing right through him.
He was supposed to be the stable one.
"Sero."
But he supposed everyone had a breaking point.
He'd be lying if he claimed he hadn't lost it after Kamino, even if his breakdown was a long time coming.
"Breathe, Sero." he said, fighting to keep a less aggressive tone. "In two, out four. Understand?"
One hand on his classmate's shoulder and the other on his phone, he texted the first number he saw that wasn't one of the idiot squad. He didn't even care that it was Deku.
He hadn't been prepared for this. Even as Deku came storming up to the roof with Aizawa in tow, he didn't know how he was supposed to react to all of this. How he was supposed to feel about it. Because he was reaching this point where how he thought he felt, how he thought he should feel, and how he actually felt were completely indiscernible.
It was confusing.
It was stupid.
So now, after the longest hero class he's ever had to slog through and a tidal wave of worried extras hounding him all the way to his dorm room, he felt like the world was throwing everything including the kitchen sink straight onto his shoulders all over again.
He didn't know how long he'd laid there, but it was dark out by the time he regained awareness. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he sure felt that telltale grogginess as he rolled out of bed.
He blearily noticed that he'd left his lights on and his desk was a mess of drafts for homework assignments and notes he'd been compiling for possible upgrades to his gauntlets. His laptop was left open, dust very inconspicuously beginning to build on its screen, and without a clear purpose, he booted it up. It wasn't a bad idea to work on any of next week's homework he could get his hands on. Just because he'd be out on a mission didn't mean that he'd take the freebie to get out of schoolwork. He would not fall behind.
Even as he pulled up his search engine for research, breaking news caught his eye.
A tenth person had died in the hospital.
Bakugou's eyes shot briefly to the wall adjacent to Kirishima's room, brows furrowed with an emotion he couldn't quite place. Something foreign burrowed its way into his heart.
He didn't like it.
Tapping his finger against the hard wooden surface of his desk, Bakugou contemplated his research. He knew he could get things done quickly if he put it off for now, though he'd never been one to procrastinate. It was, however, the better thing to do with his time. It would be better for him to do his own work, focus on himself, and not bother with this whole 'social' thing.
And yet, the video clips of the incident were right there, displayed before him, standing as open books with answers he might not even know he needed hiding just in between the lines. He shouldn't be bothered. He shouldn't care.
But he still clicked play.
He still went through every recording he could find, both from civilians and news stations. He listed them, replayed them, analyzed them, until he could tell the entire story by heart. The few news articles floating around that weren't painfully and ignorantly biased glued the rest of the pieces together.
He saw the building explode. He saw the injured. He saw the few unlucky souls who didn't even feel the impact.
He saw the apartment room cave in when the foundation gave way without warning. No one without a hero sense or super speed could have reacted in time, even if they were a few feet away.
He saw the boy fall. He looked young, but was still big. Could easily wrestle his way out of a strong grip, especially when that person was scrawnier, holding someone else, and being yanked around by his elbows.
He also saw heroes, pro heroes, ultimately helpless in the face of the aftermath, when there were no villains to fight and the damage had already been done. He saw Uraraka, amidst it all, making her best attempt to save as many people as she could, lifting more above her head than she should ever have been able to handle. He saw her when she finally reached her limit. He saw her fall.
He saw Kaminari fight tooth and nail through his fried state, pulling two twin children out of the rubble and calling emergency workers for their trapped parents before he was completely gone. There should have been repercussions to that. He shouldn't have been able to push through that.
He saw Sero rushing through the upper levels, ferrying people down the collapsing building like a human pulley system. He saw him pull entire families out from the mess of rubble threatening to collapse and swallow all of them with it. He saw him, tired, sore, his elbows red and raw, as he alone saved dozens.
He saw Ashido catch people jumping out of their apartment windows, running alongside heroes and personnel to beat the clock and evacuate as many as they could in as little time as possible. He saw her digging and burning through rubble with such delicate precision and stoic patience that he questioned whether or not this was the same person.
He saw Kirishima lift boulders, chunks of concrete so heavy that his skin would crack under the weight. He saw him hold up entire walls and floors as civilians and heroes alike ran for cover. He saw him stand strong, cracking, but never breaking.
He saw heroes, working to save as many people as possible, pushing on even after tragedy struck and failures occurred. He saw people like him, with potential and skill and hopes and dreams.
He saw-
He heard-
He heard Kirishima scream.
His head shot up like a rocket, eyes flickering to the time and widening at the AM sign glaring back at him. Had he really gotten that absorbed? The thud in the other room pulled his attention back, fighting off the sudden exhaustion that fell over him. Even if there was no school tomorrow, he should be in bed by now.
But he didn't even bother questioning himself as he stood up and walked out the door.
The dorms were eerily quiet for a Friday night, the only hints of life being U.A.'s lights shimmering through the windows. Bakugou basked in the silence, appreciated it in its rarity, and stopped and stared at the closed door in front of him. A part of him shivered at the eyeball staring at him from the doorway at the other side of the hall, but it was gone a moment later. If there was one thing he could say about Tentacles, it was that he knew when to mind his own business.
In the moment of quiet stillness, he could hear Kirishima's breathing, counting the seconds as he searched for a steady rhythm to calm himself down. A nightmare, no doubt. Bakugou himself was definitely familiar with this song and dance.
He knocked. His voice was low. "Kirishima."
He heard a breath hitch. All sound canceled out, as if the room was devoid of life. The seconds ticked by as nothing happened, and for a moment, Bakugou considered knocking harder.
Because that's what his mom would do.
He frowned harshly. That approach wouldn't work here. He'd figured out that much.
He also knew that he couldn't comfort people. Just one more item on his little list of things he can't do.
So he stands there for a moment, just thinking. He doesn't want to yell and hurt Kirishima further, but he doesn't know what to say, either. He's never worried about having nice things to say, so there was nothing to pull from.
So he does neither.
With a long, tired sigh, he pressed his back against the door and slid down to the floor, leaning back and staring at the ceiling blankly. Lazily, he reached up and rapped his knuckles against the door. "Come sit by the door."
More silence followed, a sound of confusion only audible through the complete quiet surrounding them. "Just sit down."
There was a pregnant pause before tentative footsteps could be heard, the redhead unsure of what was happening. In all honesty, Bakugou wasn't sure either, but this felt right.
A thud on the other side of the door. "I don't feel like talking."
"Shut up." Bakugou responded, staring down the quiet hallway almost in a daze. "No talking. Just...being here."
He huffed, bordering frustration. "I can do that much."
They were quiet for a long time after that, two teenagers fighting through an unforgiving world that would happily just keep on turning without them. It was so dead quiet that Bakugou wondered if Kirishima had been there at all or if it was just a hallucination. Not even sobs or hiccups could be heard, the only hint of human existence being the occasional sound of fabric rubbing against skin or the floor. Bakugou wasn't sure how long they sat there like that, but he found himself caring about time far less than he felt like he should.
He'd been asking himself too many questions since this whole thing started, when five kids walked out of a store and a building blew up.
And it was driving him absolutely nuts, this feeling sorry for themselves and wallowing in self-pity, because he'd seen first hand just how competent of heroes they were, and he didn't give out positive opinions like that like an American Black Friday sale, either.
He knew he meant that. He just needed them to know he meant that.
He needed them to know that he...he...didn't hate them. Maybe that could help.
But he didn't know where to start. Talking didn't help. He could listen, but that seemed to only be doing so much, and he wasn't going to be there for a few days at least.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do.
But...maybe he knew somebody who did.
It was out of his way, but maybe, just maybe, they could help somehow. Or...he could, anyway.
He'd fall behind though, and that irked him. It shouldn't be worth that. Yes, he can openly say that Kirishima's pretty awesome, but this... For four people...
Who bug him and annoy him and won't shut up-
"...Kirishima?"
No response. He wasn't expecting one. "I'm leaving the dorms tomorrow and won't be back for a few days, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, you hear?"
He'd get nothing out of this. This wouldn't do anything for his hero career. He didn't have to do this.
This was so fucking stupid.
And yet, he'd made up his mind.
…
When did he start to care...?
At the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, Bakugou was already getting dressed with a more aggressive vigor than was even normal for him and was running out the door with his objective in sight. At first, it had thrown him off that Deku ended up leaving for home at the exact same time to visit Auntie Inko over the weekend, but Bakugou endured traveling alongside him, far too focused on his mission to be overly upset about the freckled boy tagging along.
That's what he told himself, anyway.
The trip was painfully awkward and left him feeling all kinds of weird as soon as they parted ways, but he aimed his intentions back to home. His mother was more than a little confused when he barged in unannounced, but went with it far better than he'd expected, and by that, he meant that the screaming stayed at a minimum. She even got a "Good to fucking see you, brat" in while she was at it.
He didn't say anything about it, but he didn't miss the framed newspaper cutouts now littering the walls by the doorway, all of which with his name plastered on them.
And with that, he charged into his father's office, scaring him so badly that he nearly fell backwards in his chair and launched his stylus off into the aether. It took them a minute or two to find it in the older man's absolute disaster of a workspace, but soon enough, after many overly emotional greetings and well wishes that drove Bakugou up the wall, he finally got down to business.
If there was one thing that Bakugou had never bothered with, it was worrying about dealing with other people, whether it be politeness, making friends, or in this case, cheering them up when they're really upset, especially when he can't punch the problem in the face. He could have gone to one of his classmates, he was sure, but he wasn't there yet with Deku, Todoroki was just as clueless, if not more so, Uraraka's in the hospital, and he couldn't be bothered to ask anyone else in class something so...embarrassingly mushy.
But if there was anyone he could confide in with this mushy shit and get some proper advice, it was his painfully soft old man.
As he'd expected, his father was more than happy to sit down with him and brainstorm some ideas, and just as he'd hoped, he had a lot of them. There were stupid ones like cards or practicing being more comforting in general, because fuck that noise, but there was one idea he brought up that he latched onto almost immediately. It would be a lot of work on his part, and his dad would probably need to pitch in to ensure the best quality possible, but since when did hard work ever scare him off?
That was all two days ago.
Two days of unwavering focus on his project. Of sore fingers and carpal tunnel and washing his hands every other five minutes because he was sweating too much. His mom eventually threw a pair of gloves at him as hard as she could and yelled at him about being an idiot and not thinking. Whether she was trying to be helpful or was tired of his constant stomping around was beyond him, but he appreciated the gesture, nonetheless.
When he'd finished his work, he was in such a good mood that he decided to cook supper that night, that meal being one of the calmest that they'd had in years. Bakugou couldn't help but wonder what was happening these days, but he definitely approved of the changes it was causing at home.
He made sure to let his parents know that he was leaving stupidly early that morning for a mission, thinking that neither of them would appreciate him disappearing in the middle of the night due to past events. Those goodnights and goodbyes were definitely among their nicer farewells.
Now, sitting on the empty early morning train, he found himself meticulously planning out his next move, as if this were a previously losing battle and this was the final push to win the fight. Even if it didn't end the war, it was one step in the right direction.
Staring at his cargo, he contemplated just leaving it by their dorm rooms and letting the idiot parade try to piece it together themselves, but maybe they were all a little too distraught to think straight and figure it out. Normally, he might want to stay anonymous about something like this, but his dad had told him that perhaps knowing that it was an authentic gesture from him would make it more effective.
Pulling out a pen and paper, he started to write, scribbling out a half-decent message that would get his point across without sounding overly cheesy on one end or completely careless on the other. It almost felt like word vomit on his part, but he realized it would have to do as the train slowed at his stop and he hopped off to set everything up for the day's events.
Make copies of the note, set everything up, make breakfast and get in his costume, meet back up in front of Heights Alliance.
By the time everything was said and done, he was practically vibrating with energy.
Meeting up with Half n' Half, Earlobes, and Ponytail, Bakugou was fascinated to walk through the front entrance to find the angriest scowl he'd ever seen on Todoroki's face. As Jirou briefed Ponytail on what she knew, Bakugou approached the dual quirk user.
"So, what crawled up your ass and died?" Bakugou asked, eloquent as ever. "You look like someone shot your dog."
Todoroki's scowl grew deeper, the heterochromatic teen glaring at nothing in particular. "I figured out what you met by the flag of Dubai."
He didn't know if it was the way he said it or the face he was making, or if maybe it was the generally good mood he'd been in lately, but Bakugou had no chance to stifle his laughter. He barely even noticed Jirou's and Yaoyorozu's startled faces, but the way Todoroki pouted at him in genuine agitation definitely made his day that much better.
Hey, losers.
If you're reading this, then I'm already out of town. I can't say shit about why, so you'll just have to roll with it.
When Kirishima woke up that morning, groggy and heartbroken and feeling like absolute shit, he was confused to find a small package and a handwritten note next to his door.
Anyway, I don't know if you morons know or not, but my old man's in the fashion industry, so I called in a favor over the weekend. This is what we came up with.
At first, Kirishima stared at the little box blankly, a twinge of confusion in the back of his mind. Eventually, he brought himself to removed the lid, pulling out the contents. He stared in awe at the beautifully made scarf that he found, a shade of red just a bit darker than his hair that faded smoothly into black at the ends. Each end of the scarf looked identically and carefully torn and had a bright red 'R' design on it. Kirishima, with a gasp, pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of himself in his hero costume, marveling at how the R's on the scarf perfectly matched the one on his costume's belt.
You probably know better than anyone that I'm no good with words, but you fucking idiots' moping around is really getting on my nerves, so take this as a warning.
He'd just finished reading the note when Ashido suddenly appeared, her teary eyes shining as she showed off a pair of beautifully crafted earrings, shaped like gray alien faces with big black orbs for eyes and hanging off of shining golden piercings.
"He made a matching necklace and hair clip!" she whispered in awe. It was the happiest she'd looked in days. "They're so pretty!"
Any more of your bullshit feeling-sorry-for-yourselves when I get back and I will not hesitate to blow those things up in front of your ugly mugs, got it?
They met Sero on the elevator, the raven-haired boy sporting the first genuine grin since before their disastrous shopping trip and a fancy new black leather jacket.
Look, we're heroes and shit happens. If I had a single yen for every time I screwed up or something outside of my control went wrong, I'd be the richest man in the world.
The jacket had two white stripes wrapping around each arm and on the back, 'Cell' was written out with what looked like tape. When Ashido scratched at it, she realized that the 'tape' really was just the design on the jacket.
I want each and every one of you to know that if I thought you were anything less than absolutely fucking incredible, then I wouldn't bother wasting my breath on you.
And if I've made you feel less than that, I'm sor that wasn't my intention.
Walking off the elevator, the three of them immediately scurried into the kitchen, squeezing past Satou and giving quick hellos to other classmates floating around as they pulled out the specially marked tupperware bowls full of delicious leftovers and empty, clean bento boxes. Even before they filled their plates and threw them into the microwave, they were all salivating.
Worse is gonna happen. You can take my word for it, and if you can't stomach that, if you can't bounce back from the worst this job can throw at you, then you might as well reconsider your career path.
It was a moment later that Kaminari peered into the common room, still more subdued than usual but happier than he'd been, asking something about Blasty's cooking and wearing what looked like a handmade beanie.
But, unfortuna I know you. I know just how much endurance you shits have, so I know that this won't destroy you. I'd bet my own quirk on that.
Ashido gushed over the black beanie, admiring the masterfully crafted lightning designs running along the sides. Kaminari pulled it over his eyes with a giddy noise escaping his throat before he noticed her earrings and the two devolved into twin states of freaking out.
You better be back to your annoying selves by the time I get back, or else.
The four of them ate in relative joviality, almost forgetting about the immeasurable weights their shoulders were carrying. In that moment, despite the world crashing down around them, they felt like they could still be happy somehow.
They felt loved.
Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. There should be leftovers marked in the fridge, so no sharing with the other degenerates in our class and no substituting junk for a meal or I'll kill you.
See you whenever,
Bakug
Blasty
It would be a few days later that the raid would be declared a success, the four student participants at the heart of everything.
The four of them managed to escape with minor injuries and more heroic merit than anyone at their age should be able to. Ponytail had fought to the point of exhaustion, but she'd managed to save a hostage in the process, getting them out unscathed. Meanwhile, Earlobes got out without even a scratch, using her quirk to direct every hero to the perfect positions for ambushes, warn them of traps, and get them out of harm's way when things went wrong.
Along with the other front-line heroes, Bakugou and Todoroki were at the forefront, plowing through with brute force and grit and outperforming villains twice their size. Todoroki ended up overheating himself and getting a fractured rib from getting blindsided, but that was the extent of it.
Bakugou couldn't help but feel pride in himself. The worst he'd gotten was extremely sore muscles in his arms, but he'd also managed to help take down the boss of the operation. He even got the final hit in. He always loved it when things fell together like this. It seemed like it was becoming a rarer occurrence these days.
Bakugou and Jirou still had to get checked into a hospital with the others anyway, just to make sure that the doctors didn't miss anything. Bakugou scratched at the gauze patch on his left cheek in annoyance. A villain had gotten a good right hook in and managed to leave a mark. Oh well. It'll be gone by the end of the week.
It would be as he was getting checked out that he'd be rushed by four annoying teenagers who really didn't know when to quit, wearing his gifts proudly and gushing to him about how good they looked and how delicious his food was and how much they loved him.
And Bakugou simply floundered in their respective grips, conflicted feelings roaring through his mind and leaving his thoughts a spiraling mess.
Because on one hand, he wanted to hate this. He was supposed to hate them with their annoying personalities and loud voices and disregard for personal space. He was angry.
But on the other, this had been his goal, to bring them back to that annoying cheeriness, and he'd also hated the blaring quiet, and their downcast faces and their isolated behavior. That was gone now, their joy brought back by a simple act of kindness that said maybe, just maybe, he did care, somewhere in his cold, dead heart. He won.
He was...happy? He didn't know.
For now, he feigned annoyance, flailing in their holds and complaining about their tight grips and overbearing presence, because it was familiar.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, he welcomed this newer familiarity, being surrounded by...
Friends.
When did that happen?
He'd figure it out another day.