He didn't know why the fuck he'd started agreeing to go on these stupid outings with that dumbass group of idiots that insist on calling themselves his friends so often, but it was starting to worry him.
Bakugou kicked a pebble down the sidewalk, watching with indifference and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket as it shot off and bounced away into the street. The stars in the night sky were hidden away by the blaring city lights, people running back and forth within the early beginnings of Musutafu's nightlife. Even from here, he could hear the squealing laughter of the girls in his class a ways down the road, clamoring over some random clothing line that didn't even hold a candle to that of his parents, and that wasn't even him being biased. He's all for spitting every insult about his bitch of a hag in the known universe, but they were still his parents. Of course, they'd be fucking talented.
Elsewhere, he was sure that Dunce and Tape were off at an arcade somewhere with some of their other classmates, and Kirishima was either with them or chose to go off with Deku's nerd squad to revisit that hero museum that opened up a while back. With that, he was actually left to his own devices, which was somewhat exciting. As much as he found the idiot parade...tolerable, they were still a lot, wanting to hang out with him all the fucking time. It was exhausting, so this quiet, just him and the murmur of a crowd that was kindly leaving him alone, was a nice change of pace.
It was good, because otherwise, he'd have snapped at someone a long while ago from the pent-up energy running through his body and swirling discomfort in his stomach.
It had been a faint feeling, not nearly as powerful as it could get, but if there's one thing that All Might has taught him, it's to never, ever ignore the fidgety feeling. Ever.
So he'd come along on an agenda, with the hope of finding the cause of his Hero Sense going off, especially so lightly, and maybe learning a little more about how it works in the process. If it were one of his fri- one of the idiots that never leave him alone, or one of a select few in his class, he'd be in a dizzying state of hyper-awareness, and in some cases even, a lot more sick. However, he's noticed that the range is getting wider, where more and more people will cause a stronger reaction, and he didn't know whether he should be thrilled or irritated.
His other reason for looking into things was that Deku did look sick, his eyes sharpened and his entire body vibrating with building energy. Meanwhile, he'd overheard from said nerd that Half n' Half was showing signs of it as well, but he didn't seem to be experiencing anything. His theory was because he'd just developed it recently, but that still didn't completely answer why he was being affected.
So here he was, wandering the streets of Musutafu, kicking rocks and window shopping like it wasn't a waste of his time, hoping that the answers to all of his questions would kindly just fall out of the sky and smack him on the head, because all of this walking around doing nothing productive was driving him up the fucking wall.
It would be in the midst of his thoughts, just below the volume of the churning crowds and their useless chatter, that his answer would come in the form of a woman's plea.
"Please, don't hurt us!"
He stopped, the hyper-awareness he'd become all too familiar with taking over and shutting out the hazy murmur that surrounded him. It was as if time had slowed down around him, and almost instinctively, his eyes shot towards the opening of an alleyway several feet behind him.
So it was a civilian.
Which meant that his Hero Sense was nearly fully developed.
Again, either thrilled or irritated. Can't tell.
He turned on his heel and ran, shoving past several people as he approached the seemingly empty alleyway. From here, he couldn't see anything, and yet, the muffled sound of a struggle was reaching his ears and suddenly, looking extremely closely, he could see the nearly invisible ripple of some kind of barrier closing off the alleyway.
Sticking his arm through, there was no resistance or movement from the space around the entrance. However, as soon as he stuck his head through, the sounds of the crowds died away and were immediately replaced with a woman's screaming and the cries of children, which meant that the barrier was only a shield against sound, like a sound room in a recording studio. There was laughing as well, from multiple voices, it sounded like, and a cold sweat took over his entire being. This was a bad idea. He was running into a situation blind.
But he was Bakugou fucking Katsuki, and fuck him for even thinking of running away.
He bolted forward, following the pain-filled cries of the civilian and sobbing of two brats as he rounded the corner. He was immediately met with the sight of a woman, no older than thirty five, skin coated with blood and bruises, curling up against the wall with her back to her attackers. In her arms were two children, and the taller of them couldn't be older than seven. Both of them had curly black hair just like hers and were clinging to her like a lifeline, screaming at the men standing above them to leave her alone.
The leader of their aggressors looked like a typical biker, with big muscles, long wavy hair, too much leather, and such an ugly fucking mug that it honestly looked like a potato. His buddy wasn't much better, being a literal komodo dragon. Note to self, steer clear of that guy. There was a third guy as well, some lanky dude with a bowl cut and circle glasses whose face just screamed 'please punch me here'.
With a quick look around, Bakugou could see that there were more people around the alleyway. He couldn't get an exact number, but he would take a wild guess that there were at least four people watching the show, and almost every single one of them, with the exception of Lizard Man, had a quirk that Bakugou didn't know about.
Seven to one at most, mystery quirks, nerve to kill, all sound hidden from the outside world, current location unknown.
This was a stupid fucking idea.
"Just give it up, woman." Potato Face snarled, kicking the woman hard in the gut. She didn't scream, but still started coughing heavily. The two children cried out again, the smaller boy crying and the slightly taller one looking ready to take his chances and throw hands himself.
"I won't let you..." she breathed out, holding onto her children as if their lives depended on it. "I will not let you take either of them!"
"Come on, lady." the Killer Nerd laughed. "It's just one. If you just move out of the way, we'll make it quick. We'll even spare the other kid!"
"Leave her alone!" the smaller boy with glasses screamed, tears streaming down his face. "Mommy!"
The woman smiled. "I love you both so much."
Potato Face huffed. "Fine." He motioned for Lizard Man to walk forward, telling him to finish the job. He did as told.
"Hey!"
Every eye in that alleyway turned to face him, and if he were any less, he might have shrunk back, but he was a fucking hero, dammit! Fuck these guys! "The hell do you think you're doing?"
"A kid?" one of the people from the shadows asked in confusion. "How did he get in here?"
"It's a barrier against sound only." a young girl's voice responded. It must be her doing, whoever she is. "You can walk right through it."
"Fantastic." Killer Nerd muttered in annoyance. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but if you could just walk the other way, that'd be wonderful."
"Now, now," Potato Face said calmly. "No need to be rude to our friend here." With a smile, he began to walk towards him, looking him directly in the eyes with an intensity that almost impressed him. "Those are the eyes of someone who's seen some shit."
The woman was looking at him with tears and blood streaming down her face, her eyes showing an array of emotions passing by, all coated with a layer of confusion. The two boys clung to her, the older boy with incredulity and the younger with hope. He would sooner compliment his mother than admit how much courage those kid's eyes gave him as he gazed defiantly at the villain towering over him.
"Listen, boy," Potato Face stated carefully. "I'm a nice guy. Real forgiving. So, I'm gonna make you a deal, an agreement between fellow badasses."
Potato Face placed his hand on Bakugou's shoulder, and he had to fight the urge to flinch. He didn't know this guy's quirk, so this was a huge gamble, but if things went his way, he could take him out quickly.
"How about you pretend you didn't see anything? My people here have business with this woman and it shouldn't take much longer. I can tell you're a tough kid just by looking at you, but I'd rather not get into a fight over nothing."
"Please, get help!" the woman screamed. "They're trying to take my son! I don't care what happens to me, but please save my son!"
Potato Face let out a sigh, ignoring the woman's screaming while Killer Nerd laughed and Lizard Man waited for his next orders.
Once upon a time, Bakugou might have not cared. He just would have been enraged that they would look down on him as some random kid and would start shit blindly thinking that he could handle them, because he had no weakness that he knew of.
But things change.
And as people grow older, they grow smarter, wiser, stronger.
It really is amazing what growing up can do for someone, and damn, does it feel good to see all of that effort add up into one singular moment that could change the course of history.
The villain gasped, choking as the wind was knocked straight out of him and smoke invaded his nostrils. He fell to his knees, clutching his stomach after taking a direct, well-aimed punch from a powerful fist practically glowing and radiating with intense heat. Some things must never change, because Bakugou couldn't help the manic grin that spread across his face.
Killer Nerd let out a pathetic squawk while Lizard Man immediately charged him. Bakugou, however, was able to use his size to his advantage, slipping right under him and sending a blast at his back. He was thrown onto Potato Face with a satisfying slam just as Killer Nerd turned to run, only to take a boot to the back of the head that smashed his face into the ground.
Footsteps scattered around, changing positions, as Bakugou positioned himself in front of the woman and her children. "Calm down, lady." he said with a grin. "I'm a heroics student at U.A. High."
The woman let out a sob, pulling herself up and holding onto her boys with renewed strength. Around them, more villains appeared, but Bakugou was running on adrenaline and high confidence. This was it. This is what being a hero was to him. In that single moment, he was on top of the world again.
But there was no time to get distracted. He had civilians to evacuate.
"Look away!" he yelled at them, the mother quickly moving to cover her kids' eyes and closing her own.
"Stun Grenade!"
A huge flash of light took over the alleyway, blinding the villains. Bakugou grabbed the woman, who wobbly picked up her children with a wince, and ran towards the exit, shooting an explosion behind him to create smoke for good measure.
When they came to the exit, there was another woman to his right, her hair green like Deku's and pulled back in a ponytail. She swung a bat at them, which he caught while throwing the woman with her children towards the exit. "GO!"
The woman stumbled out of the alleyway, pulling her children along with her and sobbing with relief as she ran into the crowd and out of sight. That same moment, Green Hair shoved him back, blocking his own escape, not that he'd been planning on escaping.
These guys were trapped in here with him.
He dodged another swing from the chick with the bat and launched her into a wall. Lizard Man got back up, charging him again as two other villains appeared. The temperature dropped, and for a moment, he panicked. Identifying a villain with an ice breath quirk, he immediately attacked him, sending him flying as well before sending another blast at the lizard.
Unfortunately, Lizard Man got a good hit on him, punching him in the gut like he'd done to Potato Face and leaving him gagging. He only came to his senses fast enough to dodge the clawed hand that swung at him.
This lasted for quite a few minutes, Bakugou dodging and weaving around villains and taking several of them out while Lizard Man kept getting back up. It was getting tiring, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel alive. Ice Breath fell to the ground unconscious and covered with burns, while Green Hair had her face dug into the ground as she remained unmoving. Counting now, Bakugou could still see four more villains standing including Lizard Man and someone waiting by the entrance of the alleyway.
He could do this. He could handle this.
He felt a prick on his left upper arm.
His blood ran as cold as Half n' Half's right side, slowly looking over with wide eyes. He couldn't help the spike of fear as he stared in horror at the small syringe, immediately yanking it out of his arm when he came out of his stupor. He looked up, making eye contact with a girl around his age, bright green eyes and familiar freckles. Her hair was cut short and as red as Kirishima's, and her smile was that of a child watching their favorite TV show.
Lizard Man laughed. "No worries, kid. It's just a quirk suppressant. You're not gonna drop dead."
That still didn't spell out good things for him, thanks.
He could already feel the contents of the sweat in his palms changing, but he controlled his rage and relaxed his hands, because he had a plan. This wasn't over.
He really, really didn't want it to come to this, but Lizard Man was a problem and he knew the best way to solve that problem.
That, and it'll be quick. He doesn't do this very often, so they'll know.
The villains approached him carelessly, guard down from the quirk suppressant running through his system, and Bakugou grinned.
The sweat outside of his body won't be affected by a drug from inside.
He swung, igniting the remaining nitroglycerin still on his palms, and created both a loud unexpected noise that had the villains ducking for cover and a massive smokescreen. With only seconds to work with, Bakugou threw himself back, slamming into the wall behind him as he pulled out his phone. It came to life instantly, unread texts from Kirishima and Deku greeting him. Working fast, he searched through his phone, finding the unfamiliar distress signal system that he'd only looked at one other time, when he'd been forced to install the thing, and hitting the first contact he saw. He wouldn't even admit to himself the relief that flooded into his system when he read the contact as 'The Four Horsemen'.
One of the villains broke through the smoke, though he dodged easily as he slipped his phone into a hidden pocket inside his jacket and zipped it shut. At this point, all he had to do was outlast them. Then, they'd be fucked.
They'll come.
Just survive. Just survive. Just survive.
Looking back, he seemed to be decently good at that.
"Do you not like it, Uraraka?"
Uraraka jumped, shaking her head vigorously. "Nonononono! That's not it at all! I think it's lovely!"
Yaoyorozu smiled, looking happily at the sleek black sleeveless dress while Uraraka once again blanched at the price tag. Shuddering, she turned back to the cute pink polka dot sundress she'd been looking at. It was simple, girly, not too long to fight in and not too short to be showy, and came with a nice hat. And it was super cheap. Uraraka cooed over it as Hagakure leaped out of a changing room in a dress with so many different colors that Uraraka nearly went blind.
"This is one of the nice things about being invisible!" she laughed. "I can make anything work!"
"You make a good point." Asui mused, appearing from the other changing room in a simple dark green dress with long sleeves, her hair tied back in a bow-like bun with her bangs left out.
Ashido skipped over to them humming, throwing the golden dress and black stockings she'd tried on into Yaoyorozu's cart. "I want this one with those gold shoes I got the other day."
"It looked very nice on you, Ashido." Yaoyorozu said.
"Thanks! Blasty told me once that this color goes well with my eyes, and I trust his judgment, so I'm trying to get more gold stuff in my wardrobe."
"Did he really say that? That was nice of him."
Ashido beamed. "He has his moments."
Ashido jogged over to the sundresses that Uraraka was looking at, cooing over a light pink one with black zebra stripes. Next to it was a green one with white lightning designs on it, and suddenly Uraraka was drawn to it. It really reminded her of Deku.
"Maybe I'll get this one too. It's not too expensive." She hoped he was doing better. Last time she saw him, he'd been really pale. He'd insisted that he was fine and that he wanted to come with them, saying that he didn't want to be absent if something happened, but Iida had texted her not too long ago that it had gotten worse. Uraraka bit her lip. Hopefully, it wasn't too serious.
Ashido's phone buzzed.
With a hum, she pulled it out, tapping it and opening it up. As the light from her screen lit up her face, Jirou appeared next to her.
"I like this red one." she commented, holding up a deep red sundress with black drum designs on the hem of the skirt. "It'd look nice with some tights and a jacket."
"That'd be so cool!" Hagakure exclaimed from behind them, bouncing over in her regular outfit and her rainbow dress in her arms. "It really suits you!"
"Yeah."
"I'll happily buy it for you." Yaoyorozu offered.
Uraraka giggled as Jirou's face went red. "No, don't worry about it. I can-"
Ashido screamed.
Every single person inside and around the store jumped, the five other heroes in training leaping into defensive positions.
"What is it?!" Uraraka questioned.
Ashido was shaking, wide-eyed and terrified as she stared at her phone. Before any of the others could question her, she bolted, sprinting out of the store and through the crowd in a mad rush that left Uraraka winded just from watching. She knew Ashido was fast, but not that fast.
"I-I-Is everything alright?!" one of the store workers asked in concern.
Yaoyorozu looked at her with similar worry. "I- I'm not sure. We're friends of hers, you see."
As Yaoyorozu continued to speak with and console the poor woman, Uraraka looked out where Ashido had disappeared into the crowd and felt her stomach drop. She had a really bad feeling about this.
Todoroki had no idea why he was here.
"New high score!" Kaminari cheered, laughing hysterically as Sero gave him the dirtiest look he could muster, walking away sulking as Kaminari performed some strange victory dance. Todoroki couldn't really care less about arcade game scores. Kaminari had simply insisted that he spend some time with them at the arcade like a normal teenager and he'd only agreed because Kaminari was his friend and he really was curious. In all honesty, however, all Todoroki wanted to do at the moment was rendezvous with Midoriya's group and make sure he was okay.
That, and some strange, uncomfortable feeling had suddenly shot up his spine.
The last couple of times this happened, something bad followed. It was concerning.
"Hey, Todoroki!" Kaminari called. "Come and give it a shot! I'll go easy on you!"
Todoroki stared at the unoccupied console, then at his phone, furrowing his eyebrows. He really wanted to make sure Midoriya was okay, but at the same time, Midoriya would be upset if Todoroki ditched the others just because he was worried about him. Besides, if it got really bad, Iida would call him.
"Okay."
Kaminari cheered jovially as Todoroki took control of his character. It was a racing game of some kind, and Todoroki discovered that he was surprisingly good at it. They were neck and neck for a large part of it, Kaminari only just pulling ahead in the last lap. Their friends gave a round of applause as Kaminari backed up, letting out a deep breath and rubbing sweat off of his forehead.
"That was awesome!" Kaminari laughed. "I thought you had me for a moment there! You want a rematch?"
"Would that be alright?" Todoroki asked carefully. The game was actually very fun, and a welcome distraction from his weird feeling, but he didn't want to hold everyone else up. When he looked back at them, however, all of them were nodding at him, motioning for him to continue. Sero, in particular.
How kind of them.
"Okay then."
As the next race started, Kaminari's phone buzzed. He must have received a text of some kind. From the sounds of it, Sero got one too, because he opened up his phone a moment later.
Just before they hit the second lap, Sero suddenly appeared beside Kaminari, a look of genuine panic in his eyes that had Todoroki freezing up for a moment.
"Dude, we have a situation!" he rambled breathlessly, shoving his phone in Kaminari's face. At first, he was just confused, but after getting a good look at what was on the screen, he gasped, releasing his controller and scrambling to pull out his phone.
"Is he for real!?"
"Does it matter!?"
A moment of looking at his own phone screen and Kaminari ran, Sero following close behind.
"I win?" Todoroki asked in confusion as he finished the last lap. Watching his classmates run as if their lives depended on it, the feeling suddenly intensified.
Follow them!
Todoroki got up and ran after them, racing out into the crowd and searching for the electric yellow of Kaminari's hair. However, they'd somehow vanished between when they ran out and when Todoroki followed.
This couldn't be good.
After sending a couple of quick texts to Midoriya and Aizawa, he took off towards the hero museum.
7:48 PM
Todoroki: Kaminari and Sero just left in a rush and I don't feel well. Something is wrong. Are you okay?
Midoriya really wished he could respond, but he was currently busy puking his guts out in a museum restroom.
He felt Iida rubbing at his back as he continued to heave, his stomach expelling his dinner against his will as his insides swirled and writhed with no end in sight.
"You shouldn't have come if you were this sick!" Iida reprimanded, handing him tissues and a bottle of water as soon as he finished. He hated the fact that tears were running down his face, but there wasn't much he could do about it, between the nerves and the fear coursing through him.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't this bad when we left-" He felt it coming before he could finish his sentence, scrambling back to the toilet bowl and vomiting.
He hated this. He absolutely hated it.
It had never been this bad before.
All Might had once told him about a time when he'd just gotten OFA. A close friend of his was killed in a villain attack, but he hadn't known until later. At the time, he'd been experiencing flu symptoms, sporting a terrible fever and throwing up, because his hero sense had reacted so strongly to what was happening.
He reassured him that the reaction would become less severe and easier to utilize as he got older, but he always dreaded the day where someone he cared about would need him and he'd be left a sick, shivering mess.
Well, today must be that day, apparently.
"Is he any better?" Kirishima asked as he appeared by the stall, a look of concern painting his features.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that way." Iida responded, going back to rubbing circles. "Hopefully, Aizawa-sensei can take him back to the dorms to see Recovery Girl."
"No." Midoriya whined between heaves. "That's not it."
"This isn't healthy, Midoriya-!"
Midoriya let out a sob. "I don't know what's wrong! Someone needs me and I don't know what to do!"
Kirishima seemed to blanch at that, pushing further into the stall and leaning over Iida. "Is this the fidgety feeling?"
Midoriya whipped around to look at him, fighting the wave of dizziness that followed. "You know about that?"
"Yeah! Blasty's talk to me about it! Oh man, I hope he's feeling alright. Maybe he can help with whatever's happening."
With that, Kirishima pulled out his phone while Midoriya continued to be scared and miserable. He could only hope that Aizawa-sensei would be able to help him figure this out. He should probably have Iida call him, and All Might too. That way, they'd know that something was wrong. Actually, All Might probably already knew and was hopefully doing something about it.
"Oh." Kirishima's voice came out slowly, almost in a mixture of confusion and awe.
"Oh, fuck..."
"Language, Kirishima!" Iida stated. "We are in a public area and there could be children around."
"Shit... Shit!"
Midoriya hadn't felt fear like this in a long time. Kirishima's face had gone extremely pale, his breathing dangerously erratic and eyes widening. He glanced at Midoriya, and Midoriya felt like his heart stopped right then and there.
"Iida, call Aizawa now!"
"What, why-? Kirishima!?"
Kirishima was already stumbling out of the restroom. "Have him come looking for my location immediately! I just got a distress signal!"
Iida jumped up at that, but had to immediately return to Midoriya's side as he attempted to stand as well. "Are you serious!? From who?"
Midoriya wouldn't forget the absolute blinding terror that took over his entire being as Kirishima yelled back a distance from the entrance and didn't look back. "The last person who'd ever send a fucking distress signal!"
Midoriya came very close to blacking out.
It wouldn't be the first time that life fucked him sideways.
Considering the situation he was in, he'd done well, but he honestly didn't know what he was expecting. Despite not having access to his quirk at the time, he was able to fight off the three villains for a while. In fact, he knocked two of them out cold. Score one and two for Bakugou.
Lizard Man proved to be as dangerous as he'd suspected. After he'd taken out his buddy, Lizard Man had gone to a lot of trouble in order to get a bite out of him. From what he remembered, komodo dragon bites were extremely dangerous, so he really didn't want to deal with that. All he really needed to do was avoid his mouth and not get grabbed. It was a hassle without being able to fly, but he was still small enough to slip out of his reach easily. The plethora of useful weapons around the alleyway was a huge help as well.
He'd had a hold of Green Hair's bat when Lizard Man suddenly stopped, looking behind him and smirking confidently. His eyes had widened, and that was all the time he had before a wave of sludge-like mud slammed into him, threw the bat to the side, and stuck him against a wall. He was not proud to admit that he panicked, images of the sludge villain incident and particularly visceral nightmares of it flying across his mind's eye as he clawed and kicked at the thick substance trapping him.
Apparently, this was Potato Face's quirk, fucking putty arms, the ugly fuck clutching his bruised and burnt midsection and giving him a dangerous glare.
"I thought you looked familiar." he growled. "You're the brat from the U.A. Sports Festival that Shigaraki's group was losing their shit over. Worked out for them, obviously."
Potato Face grinned, and though Bakugou glared back defiantly, he was terrified. "You're dangerous, kid. I'll give you that. The world of villains may not survive against a force like you..."
The mud began to move, feeling more and more constricting, and suddenly he found it creeping up his face. "So I guess I have no choice but to kill you. Nothing personal, kid."
He couldn't breathe.
His struggles intensified, fighting against the substance that was now tightly hugging the lower half of his face, cutting off his airways, and constricting around her torso. Terror fully seeped into his bones, pulling at his primal instinct to stay alive. His hands wouldn't explode. He couldn't breathe. Lizard Man and another villain are laughing somewhere. Where are they? He can't breathe! He can't breathe!
He fought with the last of his strength. He clawed at the mud and he kicked in Potato Face's direction, because there was no way in hell that he would go down without a fight.
The edges of his vision were closing in, images of his past that he'd rather not face right now appearing before his very eyes. Faces of people that he'd begrudgingly learned to tolerate being around over many, many months of his life.
There was a stupid smile and sassy expression as he proudly admired his work of taping a pair of crocs on the ceiling and snarky comments about his friends.
There was a thumbs up and a stupid face as he brightened up at finally understanding the question and happily showing off the correct answer.
There were horns and the color pink as she showed him her new shoes and asked his opinion, absolutely glowing like the sun when he admitted that they suited her.
There were sharp teeth and stupid-looking hair as he opened up about his insecurities for the first time in his life and was accepted for who he was far more easily than he deserved.
It was getting dark.
Where are they?
Can't breathe...
….
…
.
There's a flash of pink and suddenly he can breathe.
He desperately gasped for air as he fell to the ground, savoring every ounce of clean air that made it into his lungs. There was a scuffle a few feet from where he was laying and muffled yelling, a pink blur throwing fist after fist at what could only be Potato Face. As his vision cleared, he saw Lizard Man running to intervene, only for a splash of acid to be shot at him. Ashido finally came into focus, screaming something and ruthlessly slamming her acid-coated fists into Potato Face's already hideous mug. This would probably be an improvement.
He felt himself being rolled onto his back, and he found Sero's face staring back at him as a blur of yellow moved through his peripheral vision.
"Dude, can you hear me?" his lips read, his eyes blown wide and permanent grin absent. Bakugou struggled to pull himself up, putting his breath towards inhaling rather than yelling at Sero for helping him sit up.
"I-, yeah." Bakugou forced out between coughs. "I'm alive."
Sero's shoulders seemed to relax at that, even as Ashido is thrown past them and static runs across their skin.
Bakugou's eyes then shoot upward, zeroing in on the girl above them, holding up a strange-looking gun and taking aim.
"Sniper!"
Sero's reaction time must have improved. He immediately spun around, eyes locking onto his target, and shot a line of tape at their attacker. She ducked, losing her gun in the process, and disappeared, skittering away across the rooftops. Meanwhile, the other extra villain was down for the count, leaving a beat-up Potato Face and an angry Lizard Man to deal with.
"You brats!" Lizard Man yelled, eyes zeroing in on Bakugou and preparing to charge. Ashido and Kaminari were with them instantly, standing by Sero and ready to fight back.
And then Kirishima's fist was burying itself into his gut, Lizard Man throwing up on the spot and falling to the ground near unresponsive. Potato Face looked on in shock, staring at the redhead with resignation as they locked eyes.
"Just stay down." Kirishima spat aggressively. "It's over."
Bakugou would at least give Potato Face this: He was smart enough to know that he lost.
"I knew going into this class that you and the problem child would give me the most gray hairs, but this is getting ridiculous."
Bakugou chose not to say anything, choosing instead to enjoy the luxury of pressing an oxygen mask against his face.
When the woman had disappeared into the crowd with her children, she had immediately called the police instead of just running off, so he had to give it to her. She seemed like an okay person. Good thing, because he had a feeling that if he had to check into the hospital, then he'd have to deal with her as well.
He sat on the side of a stretcher as he watched his four idiot friends cause a ruckus in order to calm himself down, Weird Hair on the phone with Deku trying to calm him after everything that happened. Ashido was pretty close to falling over and going to sleep, while Kaminari wouldn't shut the fuck up and Sero just kept smiling.
Idiots, all of them.
"Hero guy!" The voice carried over whatever Aizawa had been lecturing at him as all six of them turned to see the younger of the two boys, with his giant glasses and equally oversized eyes. From what Bakugou understood, the villains had been attempting to kidnap the boy in order to raise him as a villain and use his powerful quirk, but the mother, like any good parent, had risked her life to protect him. She'd been beaten up pretty badly, but she would be fine eventually.
Apparently, they really wanted him, because they'd hired a infamous villain, Sound Room, who was well known for being a master at kidnappings and murders due to her sound-canceling quirk. Bakugou couldn't help but grimace. Somehow, Freckles had been the only one to escape, which meant that she was still out there and for hire.
"Hero guy!" the boy called again, standing directly beside him. The six-year-old barely made it above his knees, craning his neck to see his face.
He raised his fists in the air and cheered. "Thank you for saving my mommy! When I grow up, I'm gonna be a hero, too!"
His smile was blinding, and Bakugou couldn't help but see a little bit of Deku in this kid. For some reason, it didn't anger him.
"Shuyou!" a man came running over, scooping the boy up and holding him close to his chest as the boy squirmed in his grip and laughed with glee.
"Daddy! This is the guy, daddy! He was like, boom! And then, bang! And then, bsshhhhhhhhh! It was so cool, daddy!"
His father smiled at him, hugging him tightly and letting a few tears fall down his face as he looked over at Bakugou.
He bowed. "Thank you so much for saving my family."
And he left, cradling his son, and Aizawa let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm letting you off the hook for being reckless this time, but next time, call me. I'm going to make a statement for you now, so stay. Here."
Bakugou snorted as Aizawa walked away, pretending not to notice when Horns climbed up onto the stretcher with him. Weird Hair, Sparky, and Soy Sauce stood by them.
"You're okay?" Ashido asked, eyes filled with unshed tears.
Bakugou huffed. "Yes, Pink. I'm fine."
"Promise?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah."
Sero let out a long sigh that rivaled Aizawa's. "You've got to stop doing that to us, man."
Bakugou only hummed in response, glancing over at Weird Hair. Kirishima looked at him with watery eyes and a wide smile, an entire conversation passing between them in that moment. "I'm so glad we got there in time."
"I knew you would."
All four of them startled, looking at him in disbelief, before all looking at each other in surprised happiness.
"Of course, Dynamite!"
"Someone's gotta keep an eye on you, you maniac!"
"Just glad you're still with us, bro!"
"That's what best friends are for!"
If Bakugou smiled, then they must have been delusional. "Yeah."