The Hero Sense can sense varying levels of danger
"...It's a little chilly today."
Cold, irritated, and wishing that he could watch the world burn just to have a nice fire to sit by, Bakugou made sure to send him the hardest glare he could possibly muster as the dual quirk user mindlessly rocked on his heels waiting for the cross sign to turn green, but he supposed that having his giant ass scarf pulled up over half of his face took away from the effect.
A light flurry of snow nipped at his exposed face as the crisp morning wind blew through the sparse streets of Musutafu, a chill running over his body as he pressed down on his earmuffs in some vain attempt to block out the same cold that was biting down harshly on his now sharply aching nose and exposed hand clutching his hero costume's briefcase. Other than the odd student or business worker coming through, it was mostly quiet, just a little too early for the main morning rush of extras to be coming through. The sun had yet to fully rise, so the cloud covered skies were dark, painting the city a monotone grayish color. The abysmal mood was only emphasized by the last of the lit street lights buzzing with life, counting down until they would eventually fizzle out for the morning and life would officially spring up despite the freezing cold weather.
With a faint flicker, the light turned green, Bakugou's eyes carefully surveying the scene before he even thought about stepping into the street. Christmas wasn't too long ago and he didn't trust that there wasn't at least one jackass who felt like he owned the world, partying even days passed and deciding to fly down the road without a care in the world. Half n' half was a little less cautious, walking forward as if he also owned the world and meandering his way forward. Bakugou swallowed the irritation that bubbled up in his stomach that the heterochromatic boy still insisted on trying to walk in front of him, as if he was better, which he wasn't, but he was quick to step in line, a pace or two ahead, as they continued their icy trek to meet up with Deku at Endeavor's hero agency for their internship.
Wasn't that a sentence and a half.
A faint buzz caught both of their attention as Todoroki fished through his pockets for his phone. Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Is that your old man throwing a tantrum or that useless group chat that Ms. Illusion insisted on?"
Todoroki, eyes on the screen, tilted his head in confusion. "What does 'shit be wild' mean?"
He's still not sure if it was the deadpan way he asked or the image of Endeavor casually saying that that made him snort so hard he nearly choked.
Icyhot continued to look like a lost child trying to read a warning label upside down as they continued to walk down the street, life just starting to return to it as civilians of all different kinds began to linger around the openings of different buildings and young children were out playing in the light snowfall. Bakugou was sure that his own phone vibrating was either that same group chat, in which case he forgot to mute it, or Deku questioning why the two of them weren't there ten minutes early, so he felt relatively safe just ignoring it.
It seemed that as soon as the cloudy morning brought some form of color to the soon-to-be bustling city of extras, the stepping of feet, light cracking of ice, and crunch of loose concrete and asphalt under their soles, the slamming of doors and roaring of engines and high pitched laughter of children started to really grate on him. The rhythmic sound of Halfie's thumbs padding against his phone screen was enough to make him want to pull his hair out.
The way the sidewalk felt uneven under his feet pointlessly pulled at his attention, earning nothing more than a glance. He somehow didn't miss the way the concrete just barely dipped into a small crevice just a few paces in front of them, and with how engrossed his annoying companion was next to him, Bakugou was willing to bet that he hadn't noticed.
As much as he would have loved to watch the clueless dual quirk user completely eat shit, the mumbled "watch where you're going" was out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about it. Todoroki stopped, looking down at his feet with a light 'oh', nudging his foot against the solid surface before stepping over the walking hazard.
It was then that Bakugou paused.
Hands warm in his pockets, he took a second look at his surroundings with a raised eyebrow. He took in the fact that the still mostly empty streets had become so loud. He made himself aware of the small number of civilians roaming through the city. He noticed how the cloudy morning was somehow too bright for his eyes and how the different smells from the surrounding cafes were almost too much for him to take without feeling nauseous.
He didn't know the exact moment he'd become hyper aware, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was the light twitch of his fingers, the sound of his own heartbeat on blast in his ears, the uneasiness rolling in his stomach.
Something was wrong.
"Bakugou?" Half n' half had walked quite a few feet away before he'd noticed that he'd stopped, his red eyes meticulously scanning their immediate vicinity.
The building closest to them was another cafe, where a couple was talking to the owner as he set up a sign. A few doors down was a businessman rushing down a flight of stairs and sprinting down the road, a couple passersby jumping out of the way as he ran. Across the street, a woman was standing with her little boy, said kid holding an All Might themed ball in his hands as if it were the most precious thing in the world. His gaze lingered on them, but his attention was drawn away a moment later.
He eventually looked up, zeroing in on a tree standing just opposite to the cafe. Up on the branches, he made out the form of a girl, about nine or ten years old from the looks of it, squirming around as a smaller child looked on from the bass of the trunk, clutching a Hawks action figure so tightly that he was practically crushing the life out of it. Though the tree was relatively small, it still grew tall enough to just reach the height of the second story windows of the cafe on the other side of the sidewalk.
Just out of the kid's reach, near the very top, he spotted a flash of blue. The small object waved around in the wind, the branches around it rustling and smaller twigs swaying with the breeze. With one last lunge, the kid's small fingers wrapped around the string of what Bakugou realized was a balloon, having been caught in the tree after blowing away, likely from the boy's own hands.
Bakugou already knew exactly what was about to follow.
Everything happened at the exact same time.
He didn't know when Todoroki had reached him, but he was pushing him out of the way mid-sentence, one hand roughly pressing against the other teen's chest and the other dropping his costume just as a loud SNAP filled the air above them, followed by twin cries of terror. The couple spun around at that exact moment, the store owner nearly knocking his sign over.
The next thing Bakugou knew, there was a little girl in his arms.
He blinked at her owlishly, the child shaking in his hold as she stared off at nothing. She held an iron grip on the balloon string, as if that alone was keeping her from falling to the ground.
A part of Bakugou actually wanted to laugh. She hadn't fallen head-first. It wasn't high enough to kill her. The worst it would have done was break some bones, and that might have been traumatic and would have hurt like a bitch, but it was nothing to be so completely freaked out over. He could already see himself in his mind's eye, barely pushing six and calling stupid Deku a crybaby after they'd both tumbled down a hill while out sledding and Bakugou had taken such a hard landing on his back that it'd knocked the wind out of him.
He kept his mouth shut though, silently looking down at the quivering boy clinging onto his pant leg and staring up at him with wide, teary eyes as the girl seemed to come to her senses, slowly wriggling her way out of his arms just as a shaking man pulled her into his own with a warbled sigh of relief, just on the verge of a sob.
Out of the corner of his eye, he briefly noticed Todoroki's wide eyes, silently staring.
It took them far longer to escape the scene and get back on track than Bakugou would have liked. The couple had been reduced to sniveling children as they both reassured and scolded their daughter while the cafe owner, apparently a family friend, had done everything in his power to get the two heroes-in-training to stay for a bite to eat on the house once he found out that they were just students.
To Icyhot's credit, he floundered around his own social ineptitude fairly harmlessly, emphasizing the fact that they were already going to be late for their internship with the number one hero as it was and that they 'unfortunately' didn't have time to stay, though he did agree to return later, much to Bakugou's irritation. He, for one, had no reason to come back to some rundown coffee shop and deal with anymore of the girl's incessant questions about heroes. He didn't even know why Half n' half agreed at all. It's not like he didn't know how to say no. Far from it.
"It seemed appropriate." He reasoned with a shrug. "I would invite Midoriya to go with me in your stead, but you were the one who saved the girl. Not me."
His face had been a strange conglomerate of confusion and frustration as he'd said it, momentarily shifting back to a neutral blank stare as he turned to wave goodbye to the group. Bakugou watched him carefully, noting the way his eyebrows furrowed again as he pulled out his phone and started tapping wildly, an abnormally aggravated rumble escaping his throat as they returned to their trek.
At this point, they were speed walking, both ready to book it at any second, should there be any further delays.
"I've let my father know that we might just barely make it on time for our internship and why." Todoroki announced. "He seems to be rather understanding about it, so that's good, at least."
Bakugou simply hummed in response, still riding off the effects of his hero sense. It was still too bright for his liking and the cold had gone from tolerable to agonizing, the roiling in his stomach and fidgeting in his limbs just barely starting to taper off.
This was the worst part about this sense business in his opinion, how it would make him sensitive to anything and everything and how aggravatingly distracting it could be. If someone was going to have an ability that in any way, shape, or form resembled predictions or fortunetelling, couldn't they just stick to the prophetic shit and leave out the annoying as hell physical side effects that just had to come with it? Couldn't he just have a break for once in his sorry life?
"What did it feel like?"
Bakugou turned to him sharply, scrutinizing his insensible classmate as he stared ahead, his eyes strangely glassy. Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"The uh..." Todoroki flailed uselessly, as if trying to convey understanding. "The...sense. What did you feel?"
His other brow rose, heterochromatic eyes finally locking with his. For all it was worth, the ash blonde was all but clueless as he tried to understand and interpret the waves of muffled emotion swimming in his eyes. If nothing else, whatever Todoroki was trying to communicate was genuine, even if he didn't know what it was.
Morning traffic was just now starting to build up, families and workers and all kinds of people milling around in the streets as the landscape turned from a moody gray to an overly cheery white, the snow picking up and gnawing at their skin in the whistling breeze. Staring ahead, pulling at his stuffy scarf and exercising his frozen fingers gripping his costume case, he let out a strange hybrid sound between a sigh and a growl. "Why are you even asking me? I thought you had it too."
Icyhot bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, yes, but that's the thing..." He gestured behind them. "I didn't feel anything."
Bakugou's eyes narrowed, staring at the teen next to him with a fiery gaze that threatened to set even his right side ablaze. Todoroki, to his credit, met his eyes head on without so much as a twitch of discomfort. If anything, his eyes were as cloudy as the sky above them.
Bakugou looked away first, running a hand through his hair as the wind picked up, almost blowing his earmuffs right off. "You have the developed sense, right? Those are usually weaker than the natural one."
"But you have that too."
"From what All Might's told me, I'm a special case." In actuality, the retired hero had referred to him as a freak of nature, but the specifics didn't particularly matter at the moment. "Besides, I've had mine longer and you just started developing yours. It's always weak at first. Takes time to strengthen and build up, almost like a stockpile quirk."
Icyhot appeared thoughtful as they rounded a corner, passing a four way stoplight near where the agency was. Bakugou supposed they might be on time, after all.
"I see..." he said to no one in particular. "That is...reassuring. Thank you."
"Hah!?" The explosion quirk user whirled around, his body suddenly radiating with pent-up energy and an aura of raw anger. "The fuck did you say to me?! I'm just telling you the facts, dammit!"
Todoroki didn't even glance at him. "Of course."
Bakugou exhaled through his nose, fingers rigid and cramped as they curled tightly into fists. He didn't know what it was about the Icyhot bastard that made him want to commit mass genocide of the human race, but he ultimately decided that now wasn't the time to have a public freak out. He could throttle him after their internship.
As nice as the thought was, it didn't stop his blood from boiling, making him feel hot despite the blistering cold assaulting his senses. His eyes scanned the street beside them, where people were now running to and fro in hordes. Traffic was also starting to pick up, though not by much. The blinding white of the scene around him did nothing to alleviate his oncoming headache.
He barely noticed that he'd slowed down, Todoroki making distance between the two as he became lost in his own thoughts. He didn't quite know why, but the opposite sidewalk was desperately pulling at his attention, where a small crowd was starting to gather at the walkway, waiting for the green light. He could hear children's laughter, and for a moment the only thing he could see was the road.
He stopped walking altogether.
Again? Already?
No, this was different. This one was stronger.
His breath left him, disappearing as a puff of steam blowing away in the frigid winds. Wide-eyed with clenched teeth, he fervently scanned the streets, more so to ease his racing heart than anything else.
Or at least, that's what he told himself.
It was the literal millisecond the walk light turned green that his heartbeat hit a crescendo, pounding in his ears to the point of deafness.
A ball, an All Might-themed ball, harmlessly bouncing into the road, a small, startled shout following after it. He barely made the connection as a young boy ran after it, his face painted with a childish determination as he leaped over a precarious patch of ice and onto the pavement. The only sound louder than the blaring war drum in the ash blonde's chest was the distant screeching of tires.
"Oh," With the distance he'd gone ahead of him, Todoroki's voice was nearly inaudible. "Oh, I can feel that-"
Bakugou barely even noticed the moment that Todoroki realized he was gone, pausing to whip around almost frantically in search of him as the explosive hero-in-training felt himself lurch forward, almost disconnected from his own body as the little boy turned to meet a pair of broken headlights.
In that moment, he didn't think about the ache in his fingers. He didn't think about the biting cold in his hands. In that moment, he didn't think about the weakness of his explosions, of how his feet couldn't even leave the ground, of how much faster the car was than him.
He didn't think at all.
In that moment, time and mortality were of little consequence.
He moved.
One, two, three propelled steps, and his arm was hooking around the kid's torso, yanking him violently into his chest as he left his back exposed. It was at this point that it actually sank in, that his hands weren't warmed up, that he wasn't moving fast enough, that this was gonna hurt.
A sudden force slamming into his back threw him forward, the kid's head tightly cupped in one hand and the base of his back in the other, and suddenly he was six years old again, tumbling down a hill and his breath leaving him as he reached the bottom, spread eagle in the snow as a green-haired crybaby sobbed over him, his own scraped face and torn coat forgotten and thin tear tracks freezing in the cold winter air.
It took him a few moments to relearn how to breathe, cold air burning his throat and setting fire to his lungs, and another few to register that there was a lot less weight and/or pain than he'd been expecting just a moment ago as the sound of tires scraping uselessly against pavement assaulted his ears. He decided that this kid had every right to be shaking this time, hands clutching the front of his uniform jacket and he too struggling to find air. Just barely on his elbows and knees and inches away from crushing the kid under his own weight, Bakugou chanced a glance behind him, almost disbelieving at the sight of a small blue car, the paint muted and scratched, headlights broken and dim, the driver hidden behind a deployed airbag, and the entire back half of the vehicle and the open air behind it completely encapsulated in ice.
Almost as if summoned by thought, white boots appeared in his field of view, almost blending into the environment, as he pulled himself up to his knees, the hyperventilating kid rising with him, face pressed against his shirt. Further up, he saw two clenched fists, white-knuckle grips on two brief cases, one covered in frost and the other, his own, he realized, only saved from melting by the fact that the handle was made to withstand the heat of his own palms. He didn't even remember discarding it.
His gaze finally reached Half n' half's face and he almost reeled back.
The jackass was shaking.
He was actually shaking, eyes almost as comically wide as Deku's and frost and ice chunks coating his entire right side. Air left his lips in enormous releases of steam that almost hid his face as his lungs heaved. From where he was, Bakugou could see the ice trail, from across the street to where it flared up, practically swallowing the car whole as it sat just barely over the walkway. There was a growing murmur of people as the driver seemed to finally realize what had happened, an empty can of some store brand liquor rolling out as he threw his door open and booked it down the street, a blur of colorful movement flying passed the two of them after his disappearing form.
"Are you alright?" Todoroki finally forced out, and it threw Bakugou off, because never in his entire miserable life knowing the taller boy had he seen him this spooked.
Bakugou finally came out of his stupor, blinking at nothing as he allowed his body to sag, but only a little bit. He refused to let his guard down for a second. "Yeah." he said with strength, lazily lifting his hand to point towards the other side of the road. "Go get the ball, by that grate."
Todoroki slowly turned to where he was pointing, a brightly colored ball sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with All Might's grinning face plastered all over it. He numbly did as he was told, moving one of the cases to his other hand as he stepped away, his now free hand hovering over his chest.
Yeah, a strong reaction from the hero sense could do that to you, as he'd personally discovered.
Even as Bakugou got to his feet, the boy's mother sweeping her son up into her arms with loud sobs and apologies and declarations of love, and a couple of heroes began to hover around, looking over the scene and taking the clearly intoxicated driver into custody, he could still feel adrenaline pumping through his veins, the cold nipping his ears and sending aches running along his face. Icyhot was back a moment later, gently handing the boy back his ball as he cried, clutching his toy desperately.
Feeling the remaining tremors leave his body and stomach loosen up from its earlier twisting, Bakugou found that he could finally breathe right again. The feeling had gone away.
Todoroki was still staring at him though, less haunted now and almost perfectly unreadable. Bakugou snarled at him on instinct, though he swallowed the painfully light feeling that shot through him when Halfie's shoulders seemed to ease in response.
Icyhot suddenly froze, eyes wide, and he snapped his fingers as if he'd had an epiphany. "Are you and Midoriya secretly brothers?"
"...WHAT?"
"It all makes sense. No wonder he's so selflessly reckless. He gets it from you. Maybe it runs in the family..."
Bakugou stared at him in stunned disbelief, almost at a complete loss at the dual quirk user's innate stupidity. He was actually speechless.
He was mumbling to himself now. "Which would also make you another of All Might's secret lo-"
"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU ON!?"
Todoroki was completely unfazed. Bakugou wished the car had run him over.
"Kacchan was WHAT?!"
"To be fair, it didn't run him over...but he was hit, so..."
"Dear lord, shut up, both of you! I'm fine!" To be completely honest with himself, he was sure his back was bruised pretty badly, but he wasn't saying shit.
Deku looked like he was about to cry another river while Half n' half looked obnoxiously pleased with himself, glancing between the two of them before raising his hands and doing the most deadpan jazz hands to have ever disgraced the blonde's presence. "Brothers."
"I FUCKING-"
He hated these nerds so much.