A lot was in his mind. Ranging from how he was going to proceed with actualising the formula, to reaping its benefits on a bigger scale. Giving All Might his much needed respiratory system back was one thing. Using the same means for the good of everyone in the country was another story.

The HPSC would be itching to get their hands on the formula. It was why Katsuki had kept it secret for years.

There was a light buzz in his pockets. Reaching for the device, he looked at the messages he missed for the entire day.

Apparently his...friends..teammates..? were having an outing to take a break from the drudgery of everyday's work. They'd invited him, and he missed it.

He snorted. Not like he needed to slouch his back like a decrepit old man and waste his energy on such facetious things. There were much more important things to tend to than indulging these extras in their glamorous ways.

Besides, Round Face wasn't coming.

As Katsuki closed the phone, he walked to the front gate of his house. Something was off.

The door was opened.

Scrambling to the yard, he sprinted towards the house interiors afterwards. Katsuki immediately rushed to the stairs. The old man was on the second floor, and he'd be damned if-

Katsuki's frantic train of thoughts were disrupted when a silhouette was seen closing in on the ground. As the light shone to reveal the full features of the man..

Katsuki was shocked when he saw hat the man looked a lot like him. Dark, crimson fluid dripped from the man's hands.

..

No...

They exchanged glances for a brief moment. The man smiled as Katsuki bared his eyes into his.

Without a word, the man exited the house without inciting any physical altercations.

After that, Katsuki turned his head over to the stairs. He could see the trail of blood leading to-

No.

Nonononono!

Katsuki's thoughts were plagued by dread. Dread that something awful had happened.

Something that should've been within his control.

'Please be alright.'

'Please be alright!'

'PLEASE!'

And the worst was yet to come. As Katsuki opened the door..

He could smell the daunting scent of iron that blemished the air. A mist of death loomed over the room as Katsuki's lips quivered, shivering at what he saw in front of him.

All Might. The man who once flipped the entire criminal world upside down and sent its unruly dogs running with their tails wagging between their legs..

Stranded on his bed with his pool of blood soaking his clothes like a frail antique relic.

"ALL MIGHT!" Katsuki screamed. He rushed to the old man's side, shaking him in blind panic.

Katsuki cupped the old man's chin, forcing him to look at him in the eyes. "It wasn't me..it wasn't me.."

Yagi could barely register his words.

Katsuki immediately brought the old man outside. He reached for his phone, calling 119 in his panicked state.

"119, what is your emergen-"

Katsuki cut the operator off with a scream, "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SEND AN AMBULANCE OVER HERE!"

"Sir, please remain calm. What is your address?"

Katsuki immediately told her the address.

"Okay. Now I need you to remain calm while I send the ambulance crew. What is the situation here, if I may ask?" The operator asked.

"My old man's bleeding. I don't know how much longer he could hold on—he's fuckin' dying, goddammit!" Katsuki was practically screaming. "Please tell them to hurry!"

"The ambulance crew is already en route," the operator said. "You need to stop the bleeding while they're on their way. Do you happen to have a piece of clothing on you?"

"I already know what to do. Just focus on the fucking ambulance crew!" Katsuki said as he tried to apply pressure on the spot where Yagi was stabbed.

"Okay. Please remain where you are as the ambulance crew is already closing in," the operator said.

Muting the call, Katsuki tried to apply more pressure into the old man's wounds.

"Young..." Yagi tried to say, his voice croaking. "Katsuki..."

Desperate, Katsuki whispered in a soft, raspy voice, "It wasn't me...old man, it wasn't me. I would never.."

"Don't..." Yagi used whatever's left of his strength to touch his pupil in the cheeks. "Don't let...your fears...push the people...that care about you...away..."

Katsuki shook All Might vigorously, desperate to pull him away from death's grip. "Stop fucking saying shit like you're gonna die. You're not gonna die. You hear me?! You're fucking All Might! The strongest hero in the entire fucking world! This is...this is nothing!"

Yagi's eyes began to slowly flutter; his hands fell limply to the ground. "No! NO! YOU'RE NOT FUCKING DYING ON ME!" Katsuki's voice cracked as he unmuted the call. "Where's the ambulance?!" he screamed to his phone.

"They're two minutes away from where you are, sir," the operator replied.

Katsuki yelled again, "WELL TELL THEM TO HURRY THE FUCK UP!"

Katsuki muted the call again, turning his attention back to the dying mentor in his hands. "You're gonna live, got it?"

"The beaches in the States are beautiful this time around, isn't it?" Katsuki's lips crossed into a desperate smile. "And you'll be there! You won't have to worry about anything anymore. No more burden to shoulder. You earned it!"

Yagi wasn't responding. Katsuki checked for a pulse in his wrist.

There was none.

"No..." Katsuki's voice began to grow despondent. "NO! NO! PLEASE!" Katsuki began to shake Yagi, but a response never came.

Not long after, the sirens of the ambulance were closing in. As the vehicle stopped, two parademics came out of it and rushed to the old man's aid.

As they took the old man to the ambulance, Katsuki caught a glimpse of the man from before.

The man that bore his resemblance.

The perpetrator slowly morphed back to his original form. The form of none other than..

Shigaraki Tomura. The newly appointed CEO of the LifeForAll Foundation.

Katsuki slowly stood up with his tear-stained eyes.

Shigaraki simply gave him a malignant smile from afar as he disappeared into a dark mist.

Katsuki didn't even move from where he was. He only stood there with the pale, crescent moon hovering above the sky. As the ambulance took off, Katsuki dropped to his knees, his eyes trained to the dry ground.

Droplets of his tears dropped into the cement-coated floor as his hands curled into a fist.

All Might was dead.

And it'd been all his fault.

He was so fucking-

"Useless," Izuku finished.

Weasel propped the seal away from the car in the garage while listening to Izuku's plight. Well, some of them, anyway. "Didn't catch all of that, but I'm pretty sure you're anything but useless to him."

"Well, I do have a bad habit of sucking at making a distinction between what I feel and what actually is the fact," Izuku defended.

Weasel snorted. "Yeah. You're much more of an idiot than I originally thought."

"Thanks for the confidence boost, Weasy. Real helpful," Izuku rolled his eyes. He squinted his eyes at the new car in front of him. "What happened to the previous one?"

Weasel hissed, "In case you haven't noticed, after you destroyed the only car I had, I loaned one from a friend, one that you still used and caused damage to, might I add."

"I don't remember damaging it," Izuku denied.

"Yeah? I count blood stains as damage," Weasel blurted out.

Izuku raised his hand in mock-surrender, "Can't argue with that."

He squinted his eye even more to inspect the car in front of him. "This is...a Honda Odyssey? Seriously? I thought this shit went out of stock like..a century ago."

"I have my ways," Weasel rubbed the car as if it were a legendary relic. "Besides, I like to keep my things...old-fashioned. Classics like this can't just be tossed to the dump of history."

Izuku was eager to jump on the opportunity to shit on this frail-looking car, "Wouldn't it be a little...I dunno, outdated? Not just design-wise, but its resilience. You'd bump your car lightly into a strand of leaf and next thing you know it'd go crumbling down."

Weasel was not on the same page and said, "What, are you crazy? This car is tough as a cookie—"

"A cookie is not durable, though," Izuku interrupted.

Weasel continued despite the cumbersome interruption, "—you get the fucking point. Don't interrupt me, dipshit. This car is tough. You want me to prove it to you? Why don't you stand in front of the garage and let me run a few tests?"

"Woah, woah, woah, ease up with the Vehicular Manslaughter tendencies, fast and furious," Izuku held his hands up. "I won't say anything further about this..erm...'car'."

Weasel growled and spoke again, "Good. But anyway, I'll show you someday that this car is tough in a much more..conventional way."

"Honda Might would've been the better option," Izuku shrugged; "just saying."

Weasel glared at him and said, "Of course you'd say that. All Might lives rent-free in your head, even in death."

Izuku scoffed. "Whaaaa, I don't even like him that much anymore."

"Your mercenary suit would beg to differ," Weasel rolled his eyes.

"To be fair, I only kept the design because my mom made it for me. I thought I told you that," Izuku clarified.

Weasel just rolled with it and said, "Suuuuuuuree, whatever floats your boat, mighty boy."

Izuku groaned, not saying anything further to indulge the man's incessant teasings. As Weasel tended to the new car, the door leading to the garage opened. Bakugo was already awake, and he'd never looked worse.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty," Izuku said to Bakugo, who only grunted in response.

Weasel's eyes moved to meet Bakugo's gaze and said, "Hey, you won't believe this. Dickhead over here is having an existential crisis over—"

"Can it!" Izuku yelled at Weasel, but his reprimand fell on deaf ears.

"—not being useful—"

Izuku clamped his hand over Weasel's mouth. He looked at Bakugo, slightly looking sheepish. "You might not wanna listen to this asshole. How was your sleep?"

"Mmmmmph!" Weasel's muffled voice went through Izuku's iron tight grip.

Bakugo was silent for a moment before saying, "Was neither good nor bad. Anyway, there was something I noticed about your swords, though," Bakugo lifted the blade in his hand. "They're coated in a material that felt a bit similar to my claws."

Weasel broke out of Izuku's hold, saying, "You were looking through this dude's stuff?"

"As a pastime," Bakugo bluntly stated.

Izuku snickered. "Talk about being creepy, peanut."

Weasel then began to explain, "Well if you're so curious, the katana that Izuku has is coated with the strongest metal on earth, adamantium."

Izuku's eyes widened. "And you left this part out when you gave them to me?"

"You never asked," Weasel countered.

Izuku groaned as he said, "I would've shredded you to pieces had you have the same regenerative abilities as I do."

Bakugo then chimed in, "I've heard of it before, when Dabi was going off on a tangent. Adamantium...no one's ever known that such a thing exists."

Izuku nodded in agreement. "Think LifeForAll's got something to do with it?" Izuku asked Weasel.

Weasel shrugged. "Beats me. I didn't get it from them if that's what you were wondering about."

Izuku sighed. "Right," he stood up and approached Bakugo. "Okay, put the overly expensive weapon down for a sec you greasy canine. I've got an agenda for the both of us today."

"Like a date?" Weasel interjected uninvited.

"Weasel. Shut. The fuck. Up," Izuku emphasized on each word. Then, he gestured for Bakugo to come with him. "We'll just talk somewhere this shithead won't be able to butt his head."

Bakugo shrugged absent-mindedly. "Fine."

As they walked to the living room, Bakugo crossed his arms and asked, "Alright, spit it out."

"I was wondering if we could just...let go of this stupid stress for a day. Even if it's for a fleeting moment," Izuku inquired. "Maybe go to the movies? A theme park ride, maybe? Hiking? I don't know. My head feels like it's going to burst any moment now and I feel like just about anything will make me feel better at this point."

Bakugo's brow raised. "You know you could do those stuff anytime, right? No one's stopping you."

"You don't get it. I want to do it with you," Izuku declared.

Bakugo was caught off guard by that statement.

"Not that I'm trying to make you do something that you don't want to, of course. But I've also noticed that you seemed a bit..under duress nowadays," Izuku admitted. "Maybe you could alleviate yourself by...ugh, I don't know anymore. You've refused before, I don't see how it'll be different this time."

Izuku shook his head and began to turn away. "Nevermind, it's stupid of me to ask anywa—"

Bakugo gripped Izuku in his should, preventing him from turning away completely. "Wait."

Izuku tilted his head to meet Bakugo's eyes.

"I'll go."

Izuku's eyebrows raised. "R..really?"

"Things are getting tedious anyway," Bakugo said in a weary voice. "And I haven't been in the best of moods."

Izuku frowned at that, but he decided to brush it off. "Alright then. You...have any idea what we're going to do?"

Bakugo raised his brow at that. "You were the one who invited me."

Izuku laughed a little and said, "Yeah, yeah, my bad. I wanted to take a Ferris Wheel ride to see the view from up there, so maybe we could do...that? What do you think?"

Bakugo nodded. "Sure. As long as you shut the fuck up and let me enjoy the view as well."

"I make no promises, peanut," Izuku smirked. "But before that, I'd like for us to do a little something first."

Bakugo shrugged. "What's it?"

"You wanna meet my mom?" Izuku asked. "I feel like it's a good time to...well, reintroduce you."

"Wouldn't she freak out? Because.. I'm supposed to be dead," Bakugo inquired.

Izuku chuckled at that. "Trust me, she's seen worse."

"That's disconcerting," Bakugo admitted.

Izuku shook his head. "Trust me, it's normal. Anyway, you coming with?"

"I'll ask Weasel for the keys," but before Bakugo could go and fetch the keys, Izuku stopped him.

"Nope," Izuku wasn't on board with driving the car.

Bakugo, on the other hand, was confused. "What do you mean 'no'? You want to walk all the way to your house?"

"We're taking a cab," Izuku replied.

Bakugo raised his brow. "Can I ask why?"

"I'm not driving a Honda fucking Odyssey," Izuku exclaimed.

Bakugo retorted, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one who will be driving it."

"Yeah but-"

Leaving no room for further discussion, Bakugo was already headed to the garage.

"Hey! Get back here!" Izuku followed suit. Bakugo was already asking for the keys. God damn it!

"Well, if you're not gonna damage it again," Weasel said, reluctant to give Bakugo the keys.

Bakugo shook his head. "We're not going somewhere dangerous. Just his mom's house, and some sort of theme park nearby."

"You sure?" Weasel asked again.

Izuku began to say, "Not to worry, Weasel! Because we're taking a cab!"

Looking at Izuku with a mischievous look, Weasel said, "You know what," he gave Bakugo the keys. "Take the car."

"Thank you," Bakugo replied sweetly.

"Wha-?! Weasel! How could you!" Izuku practically yelled.

Bakugo, fed up, gestured for Izuku to get inside the car. "Just get in the car."

"This isn't a car," Izuku pointed at the car to emphasize on his point. "This is a Honda fuckin' Odyssey. Throttle response sucks a cock. Dated infotainment system. When Honda saw that untreated chlamydia was making a comeback, they invented the Honda Odyssey...to compete!"

Bakugo wasn't going to have any of this. He approached Izuku and stared him down, uttering every single word with indignance. "Get. In the fucking. Car."

"Make me, peanut," Izuku said in a challenging voice.

Bakugo's glare began to intensify. Both of them stared each other down.

Izuku wasn't going to give in.

Yup.

He would never—

It was safe to say that Bakugo, against all the odds, managed to make Izuku get inside the Honda Odyssey. Wasn't easy to pull it off, but Bakugo has his way with persuasion.

Said way involves physical threats and obscenities.

After getting in their respective suits, courtesy of Izuku's insistence of making themselves look presentable, they took off with the car and were already halfway down the road.

"You made me get inside this thing," Izuku fumed, his frown lines were visible behind the red fabric of his mask.

Bakugo sighed. "And you made me wear this fucking shit again," he said, referring to the tacky yellow and blue suit that he had to don again.

Izuku sighed as he said, "On the bright side, it smells like a new car. As if no one's ever used and tampered with it. And it's for a century too! How did they even manage to preserve something this...antique?"

Bakugo shrugged, not responding to Izuku's mumbling.

"Fine," Izuku slumped to the back of the seat. "I'll endure just this once. Next time we're taking a cab."

Bakugo hissed, "Next time we're taking this car like normal people would."

"You're no fun," Izuku pouted, looking at the scenery outside of the car's window.

As they pulled over their stop, Bakugo was the first to move and opened the car door, standing outside while waiting for Izuku, who followed suit.

However, before Izuku could walk further into the household's threshold, Bakugo grabbed him by his shoulder and lightly pulled him back. "Wait."

Izuku was surprised by the gesture. "Hm?"

"You sure you're ready?" Bakugo asked. "I mean..you haven't seen her in a long time and you practically ghosted her."

Izuku flinched at that last part. "First of all, I did NOT ghost her. I still text her from time to time. Secondly, yes, I am ready. Why do you think I'm not ready?"

"Something's off," Bakugo replied. "I mean the thing with you and your mom. Bad shit is brewing inside of your head, I can tell."

"And pray tell, what could have possibly given you that idea?" Izuku asked.

"The fact that you brought the quirk exterminator with you," Bakugo pointed out, his index finger directed at Izuku's pockets.

Instinctively, Izuku reached for his pockets. "Perceptive, aren't you?"

Bakugo's brows furrowed as he asked, "What's going on?"

"I prefer if we don't have this discussion for now," Izuku said.

Without further delay, both Izuku and Akugo walked to the front door of Inko's house. Then, Izuku brought his keys out and unlocked the door.

"Wouldn't she just assume that someone is robbing her house?" Bakugo asked.

"I live here," Izuku deadpanned.

Then, Izuku called out to his mom, "Mom? I'm home!"

No answer.

Sighing in exasperation, Izuku mumbled, "Alright, what is it this time?"

"Does this happen often?" Bakugo asked.

"Yup. She probably lost her cane again," Izuku rolled his eyes as he said that. After that, he went to his mom's room, softly knocking on it. "Mom?"

"Izuku?!" A voice came from inside. "Aw fuck, where is my cane— wait just a moment!"

Izuku shook his head and opened the door, awkwardly asking, "You..want me to help?"

"No, no, I got this," Inko insisted, reaching under the bed. Then, she felt something. "There!"

Inko pulled the cane out of her bed. "Come back to mommy, you little rascal."

"I'm here though," Izuku retorted.

"I wasn't referring to you, dipshit," Inko barked out an insult. Inko then used the cane to navigate her way to Izuku, and when she could feel him..

She immediately threw her arms around the man, hugging him tightly. "Oh my fucking god, I missed you so much! Where the fuck have you been?!"

God damn, was that tonal shift in her voice terrifying.

"Uhm, you know, business?"

"Is that a valid reason to ghost your own mom, young man? Do you have any idea how worried I was?! And you..Azure said something about you being a mercenary?! And where have you been for the past few years? I was..I was- I WAS-!"

"Mom!" Izuku shook his mom lightly. "Fuck, you look like you're about to explode like a grenade. Breathe. Please. I'm okay. All will be explained in due time, alright?"

Bakugo, ignorant of cues and signals, approached them both and said, "I thought you said you didn't ghost her?"

Startled, Inko swung her cane towards whoever it was that spoke. Effortlessly, Bakugo caught the attack. "My bad, I didn't mean to come here unannounced."

Izuku whispered to Bakugo's ear, "So embarrassing!"

"Who are you?!" Inko demanded.

Bakugo stood there in awkward silence for the next few seconds. He leaned closer to Izuku's ear and asked, "Should I just introduce myself?"

"Duh? What the fuck do you think?" Izuku spat back.

Bakugo cleared his throat and said, "Ma'am, I'm Bakugo Katsuki, his..childhood friend, if you remember?"

Inko stood there, trying to process that information properly. "You're..Katsuki?"

"Yeah. I am," Bakugo said awkwardly.

"There's a lot to explain here so you might wanna sit this down.." Izuku suggested. They were then headed to the living room as the three of them sat down.

Inko was the first to speak, "Izuku, you're not shitting me, right? The one you brought here is Katsuki? I thought he was—"

"—dead?" Izuku finished for her and shook his head. "He never was. Actually, what happened is closely related to the reason why I've been missing for the last couple of years."

Inko's face turned serious. "Whatever it is, please just spill the beans. Don't leave me in suspense."

"I was kinda...kidnapped for a time? They experimented on me—"

"THEY FUCKING DID WHAT?!" Inko screamed to the top of her lungs.

"—and ruined my face as a result. Also, I'm sort of immortal right now," Izuku explained.

"And these people, they did the same to Katsuki?" Inko asked.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh you poor thing.." Inko's maternal instinct began to take over.

"And he doesn't have his memories yet," Izuku added.

Inko couldn't see anything, so she used her cane to poke Bakugo in the torso.

Bakugo was confused by this gesture.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your mother years ago. Mitsuki really fought hard against her terminal illness," Inko frowned melancholically.

"It's fine," Bakugo said even though he didn't even remember who his mom was.

After a long while of awkward silence, Bakugo broke it and asked, "What was I like?"

Inko was confused by the abrupt question. "I beg your pardon?"

"Back then. How did I treat Izuku?" Bakugo asked. "What was I like?"

Inko rubbed her chin. "I'm not sure if you want to know."

"I do want to know," Bakugo confirmed. "If you're comfortable to share, of course."

Izuku was internally amused by Bakugo's sudden amiable approach to asking his mother. It was like he did a sudden U-turn and changed personalities in an instant.

Inko then answered, "Well, for starters, you were..a lot of things to Izuku. But most of all, you were his best friend. You and him used to play hero and villain whenever you had a sleepover. You gave me and Mitsuki quite the headache," she chuckled at the memory.

"So I've been told," Bakugo mused. "What changed?" Bakugo asked again.

"A lot," Inko sighed and rubbed her temple. "Two things happened that caused a rift in you two's relationship."

"What were those things?" Bakugo asked.

"Your father's death, and Izuku's unfortunate diagnosis," Inko said, her expression gradually changing as she went down the memory lane.

His father died?

Bakugo took in the information and remained neutral. "And...how did I treat him after that?"

"Like shit," Inko bluntly said.

"Mom—" Izuku protested, but Bakugo gave him a look that told him it was fine.

"Continue, please," Bakugo gestured at Inko.

Inko sighed in distress as she began recounting, "Izuku would come home with bruises and burn marks on his skin. I'd ask him what happened, but he wouldn't tell me. Little shit had always been secretive about what he faced in school, and it never sat well with me. I, being the overprotective mother I was, confronted Mitsuki about it once I inferred what those burn marks could mean. We had a little talk, and let's just say...I admonished you for what you did."

Bakugo hummed. "I never listened, did I?"

"Nope," Inko grimaced. "For a guy with gaps in his memories, you sure know a lot about yourself."

"Was just a lucky guess," Bakugo sighed. "Did we ever..."

"No. You two never made up," Inko shook her head. "Kind of just..separated gradually over the years. You still bullied him from time to time, but the physical aspect began to wane over time."

Inko's mouth twitched as she struggled to speak, "But you made up with him this time, didn't you?"

In truth, Bakugo didn't really know if they had. He had come to see Izuku as a friend, a confidant, but even he didn't know what'd happen once he got his memories back.

"Mom," Izuku interjected. "Don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't think it's the right time to ask that sort of question."

"Right," Inko deflated. "But all is well and dandy between the two of you?"

Bakugo nodded. "For now."

"For now," Inko reiterated. "For some reason, that just oddly sounds ominous. And you, Midoriya fucking Izuku," Inko pointed at Izuku. "You're not getting off that easily. Not for leaving your fuckin' old hag out of the loop for the past few years."

"We're past the age where you could spank my ass with a fuckin' ruler like it's no one else's business. Pretty sure the readers would just bail and call the author out if that ever happens anyway," Izuku said, looking right to the unseen. "That's right. Opinionated bunch, remember?"

"What?" Both Bakugo and Inko said in unison.

Izuku cleared his throat. "That's not important now."

"Well, putting whatever you just said aside," Inko leaned forward with her cane supporting her in the ground. "I'm sure you didn't come here only for a social visit. There's more to it, isn't there?"

"That's about...right," Izuku said; "but I prefer if we discuss this privately."

Bakugo immediately stood up. "Yeah, I need to get some fresh air anyway."

Izuku gave Bakugo a nod as he walked out of the house.

Silence reigned on them both. Truth to be told, Izuku didn't know where to start. Inko then broke the silence, "Well? What is it?"

"Mom," Izuku gripped Inko's hands softly; "I need you to listen to me carefully."

Inko nodded. "Sure."

Where could he even fucking begin?

"Some villain out there is planning something. Something catastrophic," Izuku began to explain. "It has something to do with quirks. See, they're planning to release a large amount of gas, and it'll potentially cover the entire world. It affects only those who have a quirk."

Inko was wide-eyed. "Hold on, this is a lot to take in. You said some villain is about to...?"

"Mhm," Izuku nodded.

"And it only affects people with quirks?" Inko inquired again.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah."

Inko held her mouth with both her hands. "And that means you're going to die too?"

"Relax," Izuku shook his head. "It's you who I'm worried about."

"But—?"

"It's a long story, but to keep it brief, I won't die from the gas," Izuku said, and continued; "but you will."

Izuku reached for something in his pockets, and sat next to his mom. "I brought something. Something that will...well, rid you of your quirk permanently. I know it's a tough decision, but I'm afraid we may not have a lot of choice in this regard."

Inko took a while to say something. Then, she took a deep breath and replied, "Not that I have any use for my quirk in the first place anyway. Give it your best shot."

Bakugo crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall outside of the house. What was Izuku hiding, exactly? Why was he so reluctant to keep him on the loop?

Did he really think that he was alone in this? Well, knowing him, he probably did. Bakugo couldn't help but feel like shit for the things he did to him in the past.

It might have led to him being this...closed. He'd poured his heart out to the asshole multiple times, but on his end? There was nothing. Well, maybe there were a few glimpses there and there, but Bakugo hardly knew anything about him and what he was feeling beyond the fact that he thought he was useless. Izuku never even considered to confide in him. Sure, Bakugo was just a seemingly emotionally unavailable prick who hadn't even recovered his memories, but he was trying.

Trying so hard he could blow his eyes out of their fucking sockets.

A door creak snapped him out of his trance. Izuku was out already.

"Went well?" Bakugo asked.

Izuku nodded. "Nothing to worry about anymore," Izuku whispered to himself.

It was unfortunate that Bakugo was able to hear it. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Let's go. We're about to fuckin' let ourselves loose today, remember?" Izuku gave him a playful smile.

Bakugo was about to say something, but he kept it in.

Well, spending time with the obnoxious bastard wouldn't hurt, right?

The theme park the man took him into wasn't all that bad. It felt...familiar.

Like he'd spent his time here before with someone important.

Deciding to put it aside for now, Bakugo followed Izuku from behind. Izuku spoke, "I know I said we were going to take a ride on a ferris wheel, but what say you if we do some warm up first?"

"Like wha—"

Izuku interrupted as he pointed at a shooting gallery stand. "Like that! It's right up my fuckin alley!"

Bakugo stood there, dumbfounded.

Izuku grabbed him by his wrist. "What are you waiting for? Get over here!"

Bakugo let this fucker drag him around like a lost puppy. Well, that was actually what he was.

The man who tended to the stand greeted them warmly, "Hey! Welcome! It's a nice change of pace, actually. Instead of those gremlins you call 'children', I get to have actual pro-heroes trying out the game!"

"Oh wow, geezer, you hate kids that much?" Izuku remarked. "And we're not pro-heroes."

The old man frowned. "Oh wow. Who could've guessed?"

"Alright, alright," Izuku inserted the coin on the machine. "You sure this thing will give me a decent challenge, old man?"

"By all means, indulge yourselves!" The old man spread out his arms.

Izuku cracked his neck as he grabbed the ball pistol. "Witness the power of aim bot in real life, peanut!"

"This isn't Grand Theft Auto Online," Bakugo blurted out.

"It might as well be with my top aiming skills!" Izuku shouted as he began shooting at the targets.

And the best part of it all?

It was that he managed to hit eleven of those targets seamlessly under the otherwise tight time limit.

Huh.

Impressive.

But then again, Bakugo shouldn't even be surprised. He'd seen that skill first-hand.

"See? Skillz. I'm a top-tier fuckin mercenary for a reason! Hey, grumps, what do we win!?" Izuku asked the old man.

The man in question gave him a plushie of—

"Wait a minute," Izuku began to snicker as he realised what he just saw. "Is this a fucking Dynamight plushie?"

Bakugo turned his head away.

Seriously?!

He looked ridiculous in that...whatever that thing was!

"Yep," the old man nodded. "Let's just say that this old man has a lot of admiration stored for him. Even till this day," when he finished that, his expression grew sadder. But he snapped out of that quickly. "But anyway! I don't mean to make things more depressing than it is."

Izuku lightly bumped Bakugo's shoulder with his fist. "See? What'd I tell you. People do admire you."

Bakugo scoffed and said, "Yeah, yeah, I can see that."

"Anyway, you're not off the hook yet. It's your turn."

Bakugo shrugged to himself. As much as he wanted to say no and walk away, that would defeat the whole purpose of him being here.

Grabbing the ball pistol, Bakugo prepared himself as the machine turned on once again.

Bakugo pulled the trigger, and began shooting at the targets.

He missed them all.

A sign saying 'you failed' came out behind the wooden grasses.

"Aw, you'll get them next time," Izuku patted him in the back. "Actually you could do it again right about..." Izuku plopped the coin down the machine without a warning. "Now!"

Bakugo groaned.

He was going to do this for a while, wasn't he?

It didn't hurt at all. Spending time with him was oddly comforting. Bakugo didn't feel as much annoyance as he originally thought he would. The other games were actually fun. Well, except for that...shitty fishing game that gave him rubber ducks as a reward.

It was boring, time-consuming, and the reward was just equally as tedious. Fucking rubber ducks? It was even worse than the previous prizes that they got, including that detestable Dynamight plushie.

"I think it's kinda cute," Izuku said, referring to the Dynamight plushie in his hands.

Bakugo let out a grunt and said, "Throw that thing away."

Sensing his uneasiness, Izuku mischievously shoved the doll in front of Bakugo's face. "C'mon, it's you but a lot cuter!"

"And that makes me wanna throw it away even more," Bakugo scowled. "Actually, give it to me."

"Finder's keepers, peanut. If you want one, you should've won the last couple of games," Izuku blew a raspberry at him.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just keep that damned thing away."

They stopped in front of the Ferris wheel, and god damn, the waiting line was crowded. Bakugo was going to be here for the entire fucking day.

And wait there for an entire day, they did. It was close to 4 PM at the time. Thankfully, the view was exquisite from up there. The ferris wheel spun around slowly, taking its time just enough for them to bask themselves in the view.

"This is nice," Izuku said to himself.

"Yeah," Bakugo agreed.

"The seats could use some work, though. Feels like I'm sitting on a fucking gravestone," Izuku muttered.

Bakugo snorted. "Don't whine. You were the one who suggested this."

"That, I did," Izuku nodded.

They stayed silent for a while. Sometimes, a little silence was all that Bakugo needed.

Oh right.

There was one thing that he needed to ask Izuku.

"What are you hiding?" Bakugo suddenly asked.

Izuku raised his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Bakugo responded. "The little sad glances, bringing the quirk exterminator over to your mom's, and a lot of other things. You've been like this ever since you went out to see that Yakuza asshole. Was it something he said?"

Izuku looked like he was hesitating. Why was he? They were in this together since the very beginning. The whole thing with LifeForAll was their shit to deal with together.

So what was up with the change?

"You don't need to worry about it," Izuku replied.

Bakugo's voice was a lot sterner as he said his next words, "You're not going to play the lone wolf in this one, Izuku."

"I'm not!" Izuku laughed nervously. "Why would I ever?"

"Because you're an open book," Bakugo leaned forward to say his next words a lot gentler. "We're in this together. So please, just..whatever the hell it is, let it out."

Izuku looked even more hesitant than before.

"Or you could do it in your pace. I'm not pressuring you to do shit against your wishes," Bakugo sighed. "Maybe a little hint?"

"I told you. It's nothing to worry about," Izuku insisted.

Bakugo looked at him for a little more, but then he conceded. Dropping the topic, he relaxed against the back of the seat and said, "Alright."

Both of them stared at the sun setting on the horizon. The night nearly settled over the sky like a canopy. Bakugo found the silence to be unsettling over time.

Something bad was coming.

And it did come.

An explosion erupted from an area nor far away from them.

Bakugo tapped Izuku in the shoulder and said, "Did you hear that?"

Shaken out of his stupor, Izuku shook his head. "Did I hear whaaaaaaa—oh my god."

The area ahead of them was covered in smoke, and people were running away from the source of the explosion.

They had to take an action right there and then.