He knew that today was going to be an absolute fucking nightmare the moment he and Kirishima had to voluntarily eat dirt to avoid being plowed into by Four Eyes the human fucking bullet.
Slamming his bento onto the table, Bakugou plopped into the seat next to Kirishima as Kami-something-or-other and Raccoon Eyes rambled about school gossip and whatever TV show was popular right now while the glorified tape dispenser nodded along as if he were actually listening and not glancing at Bakugou with a sheepish grin. Instead of concerning himself with the likes of him, he chose to observe his surroundings, immediately noting how plain and boring the makeshift cafeteria's decor was against the vibrant colors of the city landscape outside the giant windows that they were all but surrounded by. Of course, he didn't mind all that much, as it didn't do too much to irritate his currently pounding headache.
The day had started off decent enough, waking up at his normal inhuman hours of the morning for a workout and proper cleanup before making himself something to eat. One reason that he preferred such an early hour was because then he wouldn't have to deal with any of his classmates before classes actually started, and as a bonus, he wouldn't have them whining at him to make them breakfast. Of course, Deku and Four Eyes were also early risers, as were Todoroki and the ponytail girl, though only sometimes, but the latter two were tolerable on a good day, Deku usually knew better than to bother him too much, and Four Eyes usually stuck with Deku, so it wasn't that bad when compared to getting up with everyone else and dealing with nineteen people badgering him first thing in the morning. Definitely the lesser of two evils.
Of course, he had noticed a distinct lack of idiots that morning when Deku and Four Eyes didn't show up in the kitchen or common room at their usual time, but he supposed that there wasn't really any reason to be concerned, since they could've either had some sort of late night study session or they were tired from something stupid happening in heroics class yesterday or whatever. He then wondered why he even cared.
As class time approached, he put on his uniform jacket and slipped out of the dorms, trying to avoid his classmates in case they attempted to try and walk with him as if they were actually friends or something, unless it was Kirishima. Kirishima was his least hated classmate, so he got a pass.
And lucky for him, because the redhead had taken it upon himself to catch up with him when he'd notice his absence. Choosing to ignore most of Weird Hair's small talk, Bakugou wasn't too caught off guard when they got to the front steps and Deku and Four Eyes, along with Round Face, decided that it would be a wonderful idea to nearly run them over and then crash into the front steps. In all honesty, he was surprised that they didn't all break their necks from the impact, the idiots. At least he gave Deku a good scare for doing something so moronic, and he hoped that slamming face-first into that wall hurt for good measure. He then wondered why he even cared.
From there, classes went on as usual, with the Grape being an annoying little pervy shit and Deku being an annoying shit in general and Kirishima giggling like an idiot because apparently their near-death experience outside was hilarious for some reason or another and if he were honest with himself, he should have freaked out at them more than twice. Then Soy Sauce, who had witnessed the event, had the absolute gall to ask if the crash had actually scared him.
Soy Sauce doesn't have a desk anymore.
Raccoon Eyes let out a hideous howl of laughter when Bakugou suddenly smacked Sparky's thieving hands as hard as he could as they reached for his bento, resulting in a surprised screech and a deep red bruise.
Soy Sauce snorted. "Dude, are you sure you're good? You've been acting a little odd today. Jumpy, I might say."
Kirishima hummed in thought. "Yeah, Bakugou. I've noticed, too. Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine." He spat, glaring at all of them before wolfing down his meal. So what if he felt weirdly...fidgety today. It wasn't any of their fucking business. Thankfully, they seemed to accept that answer, shrugging it off and returning to whatever 'possible relationship' they'd been talking about last. He knew for a fact that Kirishima wouldn't buy any of his blanket statements that easily, but he could deal with that after lunch during tutoring.
In fact, that wasn't a bad excuse to leave now if Kirishima was willing to roll with it.
"Hey, Weird Hair," Kirishima gave him his full attention instantly. Bakugou took his last spring roll, shut the lid of his bento, and smacked Sparky with the box for another lunch theft attempt he'd been making because he's a moron. "You wanted a tutoring session today, didn't you? If we head back to the dorms now, we can get it done before heroics classes start."
Kirishima looked up in thought, trying to mimic The Thinker statue from the looks of it (though sticking his tongue out did nothing to help make him look even remotely intelligent), before giving a firm nod to himself and turning back to him. "Sure. We could chat while we study, too."
Bakugou rolled his eyes. "How is that studying, dipshit? Besides, I never said I wanted to 'chat'. It's pointless."
Kirishima smiled, nudging his shoulder. "Well, maybe if you learned how to deal with it, you could make more friends."
"That is assuming that I actually wanted to be friends with any of these extras, which I don't."
"Rude."
"Yeah, us 'extras' can still hear you, you know." Sparky called out, pouting.
"And you're assuming that I give a shit." Bakugou shot back before stalking off. Kirishima gave an apologetic shrugged, which the three idiots easily waved off as Bakugou being Bakugou, and chased after him.
The room was crowded, the smaller space being littered with chairs and tables formerly left in neat little rows across the room with a comfortable view of the city. Students from every department bustled in and out, talking about useless facts and chit chat that Bakugou couldn't care less about as they walked by. Every once in a while, Kirishima would spot someone from their class, such as the frog girl or the guy that downed horrifying amounts of sugar because quirks, he guessed, and say something irrelevant before moving on. He himself noticed Icyhot at one point, but chose not to say anything. The sooner they got out of this place and away from these losers, the better.
"Man, check out the view!" Kirishima suddenly exclaimed, plastering himself onto the window to look at the city. Bakugou just about shoved him through it out of frustration.
"Yeah. Great. Scenery. Scenery that we see. Every. Single. Day. Let's go."
The redhead huffed, giving him a look of mock hurt before slowly sauntering away from the window. "You're no fun."
"We're in school." Bakugou responded deadpan. He then turned to stomp out of the room, with or without Kirishima-
-And froze.
There, off to the side and closest to the windows, were Deku, Four Eyes, and Round Face. Uraraka, if he remembered correctly. Uraraka's back was to the windows, talking the other twos' ears off, most likely about something stupid, while Deku gave her his full attention with annoyingly bright eyes and Iida sat with his back straight enough to be considered vertical planking. After today's fiasco out front, he decided that it would be best for all of them if he just ignored them and walked by, but that wasn't why he stopped.
It was the weird fidgety feeling in his gut slamming into him all at once.
Suddenly, in that moment, he truly was hyper aware, every sound and movement within his peripheral being easily noticed, and it almost felt as if he were in slow motion. Everything was crystal clear and he felt as if he could just run a marathon right then and there. And yet, at the same time, it didn't feel like he was entirely in control of himself, almost like an out-of-body experience. It was easily the most surreal thing he'd ever felt.
Something was wrong.
"Okay, seriously dude. Are you really okay?" Kirishima sounded as if he were talking directly into his ear, despite being somewhere behind him. There was a hint of concern there, too. Not pity, though. He knew Kirishima and Kirishima knew better.
And then he saw it. The slightest pinch in Deku's eyebrows, a fleeting glance behind Uraraka, and Bakugou's head instinctively turned towards the windows, out into the city, and to a lone building a good distance away, where a sudden flash occurred. Somehow, someway, he already knew what was happening.
And his feet just moved on their own.
Bakugou didn't remember what happened after that. Everything happened so fast that his mind didn't entirely register what his body was doing. He faintly recalled grabbing someone and throwing them to the side, but besides that, all he knew was that he'd moved a significant distance from where he'd been, if Kirishima's position was any indication. He felt strangely numb, and all the noise and sights that had been heightened suddenly died out.
And then everything hurt.
Gasping from the sudden impact, Bakugou gripped the table behind him and hunched over, trying to regain the breath that had just been knocked out of him. He didn't quite expect being shot to feel like the most solid punch to the chest that was humanly possible and more so.
His next coherent thought was the realization that he'd just been motherfucking shot.
"-Are you okay?" Someone was speaking to him. Was it the class rep? It was probably the class rep.
He slowly and shakily exhaled. "Shu... Shut it... F-F-Four eyes." he rasped.
His body suddenly weighed way more than it should have, his knees buckling without his permission and giving out from under him. He barely registered himself grabbing onto the table for support, trying to haul himself back up, because no way in hell was he going down without a fight. He heard what he could only assume were surprised shouts, but in all honesty, he couldn't care less. If nothing else, at least the gut-wrenching fidgety feeling had gone away.
He lost his grip and plummeted, landing in the arms of who he could only assume was Kirishima, the bastard. However, he was finding himself caring less about what was happening around him and more about just breathing.
There was movement around him, some shouting, and blurs of colors flying past him in a manic fashion. Four Eyes' declaration of whatever the fuck he was doing pierced through the air and a gust of wind announced his exit. He could feel pressure on his numb chest, and the world started to regain some shape, revealing Kirishima above him, pressing his jacket against him.
He looked so upset. If he were honest with himself, he didn't like that look on Kirishima's face. It looked too weird and out of place. Instinctively, he reached up to latch onto his...classmate's arm as reassurance that he was still with him if nothing else.
He coughed. "K-Kiri..." And wow. If that's what he sounded like, then even he was concerned. It was as if he was trying to talk while underwater.
"That- That was so cool, man. You totally took a hit for Midoriya and took it like a champ." Kirishima sounded muffled, but he could at least make out what he was saying. "Just hang on, okay? It looks like you're hurt pretty bad. Iida just went to get the teachers."
Ah, so that's what Four Eyes was shouting about, not that he could tell. It sounded as if everything was underwater, and he sounded like he was under that water...like...water-ception? But that didn't make any sense. Fuck, he must be really out of it at this point.
Yeah, concerned might actually be a good term for this scenario.
"Kacchan?"
Oh yeah, Deku was a thing.
A green blob materialized in his vision, which he could only assume to be the stupid fucking dweeb. "Wh- What...nerd?" He answered back. Damn, he sounded like death.
For a single moment of lucidity, he could make out Deku's face, his eyes impossibly wide with tears beginning to cascade down his face. It felt...uncomfortably familiar.
"I-I- I- Are you- I mean-..." He was stuttering, having just about as much of a hard time breathing as he was. Why was everything so quiet? "Why did you-..."
The coughing fit that suddenly wracked his body cut Deku off, causing one last blur of movement before everything became distant. He could still hear voices, or at least vague, familiar representations, but there was no understanding or clarity, leaving him grasping at straws. The colors left, leaving him with darkness creeping around the edges of his vision and slowly encompassing it, until he was swallowed whole.
Was this what dying felt like?
...Whatever. Not that he was afraid. He wasn't afraid of anything.
Deku was still rambling, though. He couldn't understand a word he was saying, but he could tell that he was still talking, and despite the familiarity of it, it was starting to grate on his nerves.
Maybe that's where said familiarity stemmed from?
"Sh-shut up... So damn annoying..." It hurt, but it didn't. It was strange. He felt oddly peaceful, despite the darkness taking over his vision and the looks of utter horror from the people around him being etched into his memory. He felt numb, blank, as if he wasn't even there, but that was fine, he supposed. A nap wouldn't hurt.
And then it was just quiet.