Chapter 2
“Oh yeah, Midoriya don’t you want to go to UA, too?”
Their teacher's words made Bakugo’s heart drop. He had been hoping Deku wouldn’t mention it to their teachers out of embarrassment. He was quirkless, why couldn’t he just give up on the hero dream? It was going to get him killed!
“-uh” Deku replied nervously
“Midoriya? You’re kidding right?”
“There’s no way you’re getting into the hero course without a quirk!”
The extras chatted in the background but he only listened for Deku’s reply. That’s all that mattered.
“Well, actually they got rid of that rule. I could be the first one”
He growled blasting his desk forcing the timid boy to fall back. He hoped the fall didn’t hurt but he couldn’t stop to care. He couldn’t ever show he cared. He had to tear him down, and show him he couldn’t be a hero. That he wouldn’t make it. He’d hate Bakugo forever for what he was about to say but he had to. If he had to choose between Deku hating him forever or loving him but dying trying to be a hero, he'd choose the former.
“Listen up, Deku! You’re even worse than the rest of these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe. You really think they’d let someone like you in when they could have me” he shouted.
“Huh? Wait. You’ve got it all wrong! Really! I’m not trying to compete against you. You gotta believe me! It’s just that I’ve wanted to be a hero since I was little. I may not have a quirk, but I can still try my hardest, can't I ?”
Always so fucking hopeful. Why couldn’t he see that he didn’t stand a chance? Even the exams would be a death sentence for him!
“You’d never be able to hang with the best of the best. You’d die in the exams! Defenseless Izuku.” He slipped up saying his name but he was so frustrated. He wanted to beg him not to try to be a hero but knew he wouldn’t listen.
That conversation set the stage for one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever make. He was angry. Scared. Frustrated. Desperate.
“He’ll never be a hero” “Better to find out now instead of later”
Deku didn’t listen to the extras, he never did. Bakugo seemed to be the only person that phased him. Why though? Even after all this, he looked to Bakugo, his Kacchan, for validation. If that’s what he wanted though he wouldn’t get it. He was so set on killing himself to become a hero. If that’s what he wanted then fine.
“You know if you really want to be a hero that badly there actually might be another way. Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.”
Deku glared at him.
His hands sparked, trying yet again to help him see the difference between the two of them. Bakugo could threaten him and hurt him easily. What didn’t he get about that?!
“Something wrong?” He forced himself to smile, to mock him.
Deku started crying.
He walked off like he didn’t care but he did. He was a terrible person for what he said and he regretted it. He knew Deku wouldn’t actually do it. He was too determined to be a fucking hero. Even knowing he wouldn’t actually kill himself he was still anxious. If Deku died… he would never recover. The thought made his stomach turn, he made some excuse to his friends about needing to use the bathroom. He stumbled through the door and threw up immediately. He went to look for Deku but he was already gone, not in the classroom or on the roof.
He resigned himself to waking home with his friends. He’d have his mom call Inko Midoriya later to make sure Deku was fine.
…he never got the chance.
A few hours later he was fighting for his life against a sludge villain. He was scared but if he could hold out until All Might showed up then everything would be okay. He wouldn’t let this second-rate villain take him down. He raged at the sludge struggling in an attempt to breathe. His body let out as many blasts as he could hoping at least one would hurt the villain.
Then something caught his eye. The world stopped.
Quirkless, defenseless, Izuku Midoriya, raced toward him. His eyes widened and his body started to tremble. He went from scared to terrified... He had to be hallucinating, it couldn’t be… he couldn’t be here. He would die if he was here…
“Deku?”
He called his name hoping he was just seeing things, praying that that idiot wasn’t here. Something yellow hurtled towards them, missing Bakugo and hitting the villain. He gasped for air finally being able to breathe.
“Kacchan,” he cried.
This was what he had been afraid of the entire time, that Deku would do something reckless trying to be a hero. Despite everything he had said and done to Izuku he still raced forward powerless to try and save him. He still called him that childhood nickname.
And now, he watched the sludge villain use his arm to hurl the quirkless boy into the nearby wall. He heard the sickening crack as his head hit the brick. He tried to scream his name but his mouth was filled with sludge. He fought with all he had, “don’t worry about me,” he wanted to say to the nearby heroes. “Please save Izuku, please save him,” he begged in his mind. He fought and struggled against the sludge letting off even more blasts despite being at his limit.
It wasn’t enough, he wasn’t enough. He watched Izuku’s chest stop rising. His body wasn’t moving.
No, please. He struggled to watch his chest. Please move. Please breathe. Please. IZUKU!
He was drenched in sweat, heart racing, his throat was sore like he had actually been screaming. Like every other time he woke up from a nightmare, he was in his room and Izuku Midoirya had lived. That moment had gained him a quirk and the ability to actually be a hero but it still haunted Bakugo.
He had nightmares of so many different endings to that horrible day. Visions of Izuku actually jumping. Visions of his mom on the phone sobbing having found him dead. Visions of him being killed by that sludge villain. It didn’t matter what occurred, the ending was still death.
Despite knowing that it was a nightmare he still grabbed his phone and dialed the number from memory.
“Uh-Kacchan? It’s 3 am, is everything okay?” He answered on the second ring, voice groggy.
He released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“Deku.” That’s all he said, what else could he say? I have nightmares you die. This one felt so real I needed to hear your voice.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yea.”
“Okay…”
He didn’t have a reply to that but it seemed like he didn’t need one. Deku didn’t hang up nor did Bakugo. He just lay there listening to him breathe until it evened out indicating he had fallen asleep. After a nightmare like that, he couldn’t sleep but he was content to listen to Deku breathe. As long as he was breathing, everything would be okay.
/ / / /
The rest of the week went by in a daze. Patrol, paperwork, a few minor robberies to handle, training, one night shift. Nothing major. Everything was eerily calm; it didn't last long though. Approximately seven days after the previous attack on Jiro and Shoji, another group was attacked. This time it was Tokoyami and Asui who got attacked.
A bunch of other agency members were at the hospital now checking on their teammates but this particular attack didn’t feel right. Bakugo told them to let him know how the two were doing and opted to stay back to check out the mission report.
The villain was spotted at the far end of the city. The report said that it was someone with a physical quirk manifestation, similar to that of a snake. Asui went to handle it but didn’t return. Tokoyami went to assist after she didn’t radio in.
Turns out there were two villains. One with a cold quirk and the other with an electricity-based quirk. Tokoyami sent this message through a secure line. His exact words from the report said
“The report was incorrect. Two villains. Ice quirk and electric quirk. Froppy is immobilized. They’re searching for something. Attempting rescue. Send back up immediately.”
That was all the information they had. The villains had been apprehended by heroes from another agency and turned in to the police. Iida and Yaoyorozu had went to the police station to get the official report and assist with interrogation.
Something about this felt off though. The two areas that were attacked seemed specific, they were both close together. The villains as well seemed to have the exact quirks needed to take down the heroes patrolling that area. It was too exact to be a coincidence.
Tsuyu Asui. Her quirk was Frog. She had a lot of the physical characteristics and abilities of a frog. She didn’t have any obvious weaknesses but if she got cold enough then her body would go into a hibernation-like state.
Fumikage Tokoyami. His quirk was named dark shadow. Extremely strong, stronger at night. Weakest in bright light. An electric quirk would be the perfect opposite to him. Fire or something like Bakugo’s own blasts would work as well.
He grabbed the report from a week ago to check what the villain's quirks had been. A weather quirk and a corrosive quirk. They used Jiro and Shoji’s sensory abilities against them then used the corrosive quirk to disable them.
What are the chances that both teams went up against their exact opposites? There was a small possibility he was being paranoid but something didn’t feel right.
He wasn’t one to be overly worried for nothing though. Perhaps checking both areas again might help him find a connection between the two attacks.
Pulling out his phone he dialed Deku.
“Kacchan! I was just about to call you. Tokoyami and Asui are going to be okay. They’re both unconscious right now though. Iida called too! He said that the bad guys aren’t talking at all. They refused to say anything so that’s a dead end for now. Did you find something?”
“Yeah, gonna check the scenes again. Send somebody else to back me up.”
He hung up after that. The faster he got there the better.
It was concerning if someone was targeting them specifically though. They shared patrol times with fellow agencies but they never revealed exactly who would be on patrol for safety reasons. Currently their agency did the morning shift and then the first night shift. Two other agency’s traded off with the remaining shifts.
That made this whole ordeal even more suspicious. If those same two villains had come a few hours earlier or a few hours later they would have missed Tokoyami and Asui completely, same with the attack last week.
He ducked under the police tape flashing his hero badge at the two cops standing in front of their car talking. They barely looked at him which was annoying. They were supposed to be guarding the scene, he could have been someone with a copy or mimic quirk. Even someone with a blood quirk could impersonate him. As one of The Trinity, as the public had dubbed them, people pretended to be him often. They dressed up as their favorites.
He had seen plenty of kids running around in little versions of his costume. It would be easy for someone to impersonate him. Glancing back he memorized the officers' badge numbers before walking further onto the scene.
“Bakugo!”
“Deku sent you? Why?” He couldn’t keep the bite out of his voice.
Bakugo didn’t dislike Uraraka, actually, he liked her most times. Her obsession with Deku pissed him off. The main issue is that he knew that they had both liked each other at one point. She actually had a chance with Deku in a way that he didn’t.
“I volunteered. Something about the situation bothered me.”
He nodded in agreement but he wanted to know if she noticed something he didn’t.
“Same. What bothered you?”
“Both attacks happened two hours into their shift.”
What? He hadn’t noticed that at all. Thinking back the report did say the time of the initial attack and this attack. He hadn’t put it together because one happened earlier than the other but it was exactly two hours into their shifts down to the minute. That really was concerning.
Before he could reply back to her he noticed movement behind her. The two officers were talking to some third officer who walked up. That wasn’t necessarily suspicious but the way they kept side-eying the two heroes didn’t sit right with him.
“Aye, did they check your hero license when you showed up?” He kept his voice low, moving closer to her.
“Now that you mention it, no they didn’t. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Not sure yet.”
Surveying the scene around them, it wasn’t good. They were near the middle of an alleyway, there was only one exit. The back wall was covered in brick but he could likely blast through it.
Keeping an eye on the cops he moved closer to the back of the alleyway. They were whispering and looking at them both still. He had a bad feeling and it was making him angry.
Not even hiding it he stared at them back. A fourth cop walked up except… he recognized this person although he couldn’t recall her name. It was a criminal with a rap sheet. She was known for petty crimes so she was never in jail for very long but now she was here dressed like a cop. The other two cops didn’t look surprised and even smiled at her. If the other cops were in on it then it would be four against two. If not then they just had a petty criminal impersonating a cop to deal with. In any case…
“Uraraka, be ready to fight.”
He didn’t use her name often, using it now indicated how serious he was. Even though he was upset about the Deku situation, as a hero he liked her. She was strong in her own way and had only continued to grow since U.A. Kirishima told him that she still did martial arts training in her free time.
“Aye, you ain’t a real cop.” He yelled down the alley at the newcomer.
She looked at him with shock that quickly turned into anger. The three cops with her held similar looks.
Looks like it is four against two, he thought grimly. Normally he welcomed the challenge but since the other three cops were fake they could easily have dangerous quirks. Sure enough, the objects in the alleyway with them started to glow and float. He hadn’t seen Uraraka touch a thing so one of their opponents was likely a telepath of some sort.
He blasted any object that came close to him holding his ground. Rushing at them without knowing their powers would be too dangerous in this narrow alley.
The criminal he recognized and one of the cops rushed at them. He quickly blasted the first in the face and kicked the other one toward Uraraka.
Trusting her to take care of it he slammed the criminal into the nearby wall knocking her out so they had one less villain to deal with.
“That’s all you got!” He yelled, rushing at the last two.
One of them flew past him toward Uraraka. Damn, either they were targeting her or this last person had a strong quirk. Which one was the telepath? One of the two behind him or the one he was racing toward? He didn’t have time to figure it out, he fired off a big blast in front of the guy's face and dropped down to the ground to sweep his legs out from under him.
The man dropped to the ground with a loud groan. He turned back to see how Uraraka was doing but that left him open for a kick to the ribs. The man shouldn’t have been able to reach him though…
He looked back to see an extra long leg shrinking back to normal size. Fuck, it was an elasticity-based quirk. He’d have to knock him out.
Trying to find an opening he took multiple shots to his stomach and ribs. Smiling despite the pain he finally managed to get in close enough to land a good punch to the face. He blasted him for extra measure and turned to Uraraka again.
She was being overpowered by the villain. One lay on the ground knocked out but the other had to be the telepath. She was up against the wall and seemed to be choking. Her hands clawed at her neck drawing blood but her face was still turning red, her mouth open.
Using one big blast behind he propelled himself straight into the villain. He slammed into them and heard her fall to the ground with a thud. The gasping and coughing could be heard behind him.
Good. She’s okay for now.
He was on the villain's chest but not for long. They had him floating before he could do anything else.
Shit, he had to get out of this. He struggled against the invisible force causing him to float but wasn’t able to budge. He glared at the person beneath him. It didn’t seem to clearly be a man or a woman, the person had light blue hair, the sides were shaved. Their eyes were jet black with no visible white, no iris, just pure black.
He noticed a tattoo on their neck, he couldn’t make it out but it seemed to creep out from their collar. It could be a regular tattoo or their soulmark he wasn’t sure. The person seemed to be struggling hard to hold him up with their telepathy.
“Uravity! Make this bastard float.”
It wasn’t quick but he could see her crawl forward and touch the telepath's ankle. The blue-haired person floated up while Bakugo came crashing to the ground.
Once they got just above the building she released them and they came hurtling toward the ground head first.
“Damn it.” He cursed before blasting up to catch them in the air. The person had passed out either out of fear or overuse of their quirk.
He set them on the ground. He heard sirens indicating backup and medical attention was on the way. He only had a few bruises. He turned to see how bad Uraraka was injured…
It all happened so fast.
He saw a figure coming toward her and the glint of a knife. No time to warn her, just had to run. He leaped over there with the help of a blast to launch him forward. He managed to land just in front of her in time to receive a knife to the stomach which would have gone in her back.
“BAKUGO” he heard her scream before his vision went dark.
Something had to be on that knife. He’d been stabbed before but it never felt like this. The world around him started to rapidly blur before fading to black.
When he finally came to, he was laying down on the ground. Somebody dressed like an emergency responder was over him asking him something.
“Dynamight. Can you hear me?” He managed to nod even though his head felt like it was weighed down by bricks.
“My name is Yuki. You were stabbed, we believe the knife was poisoned. I have a healing quirk but it’s painful. You won’t be fully healed but you won’t be severely injured either. Is that okay?”
He managed another nod. Looking to the left he saw Uraraka leaning against the wall. Her neck was bruised severely but other than that she didn’t seem physically injured anywhere. She flashed a weak smile at him.
Noticing his stare, Yuki talked as he worked on cutting away Bakugo’s clothes around the wound.
“Uravity’s vocal cords were slightly damaged. Her airway is clear though so I’ll heal her after you.”
“The villains?” He croaked out.
“The police are taking them now and my partner is handling any serious injuries as well.”
He had another question but he sucked in a pained gasp as Yuki’s hands pulled the fabric away from his wound.
“Sorry, this will be over soon,” more fabric pulling “what is this? Some kind of patch? I’ll have to remove this to heal you.” He closed his eyes knowing that Uraraka was staring at him.
“Are you in more pain? Dynamight?” the responder asked in concern.
“S’fine. Remove it.”
“Okay. I’ll remove it then heal you. Let me know if the pain is too much.”
He felt his skin pull as the adhesive patch was gently pulled away revealing his soulmark. A blob that looked like an ink splat. It matched Deku’s exactly. Luckily the responder, Yuki, would have no idea. Cracking his eyes open to glare at the man he didn’t seem surprised about the mark in any way. He was completely professional as he started to heal Bakugo.
Ignoring the pain he glared at Uraraka next. Her mouth was agape, eyes wide with shock. She looked even paler than normal.
“Y.. ur..” she started coughing aggressively as soon as she tried to talk. Grasping at her throat she kept trying.
“No, no! Ms. Uravity please stop! You’ll damage your throat further. You can talk after I heal you!” Yuki spoke rapidly.
She stopped trying but the look on her face showed betrayal and shock.
“Don’t tell ‘em.” he barked, his throat still felt dry but he continued. “I know who your soulmate is.” She shook her head rapidly not believing him.
“Your mark is on your foot yeah? Looks like a star or some shit. Got an extra two dots though. That ain’t in Deku’s little information book.”
She looked at him in horror now. He glanced at Yuki and was pleased to note that he was minding his business as he should. There was more he could say but he stayed silent until the responder finished healing him. After a moment he moved to start healing Uraraka. Watching as she got healed he waited for her to finally be able to speak.
Surprisingly even once she was able to speak, she didn’t. She waited until Yuki had got done with both of them. Thanked him and still said nothing. It wasn’t until the responder was out of earshot that she said what she wanted.
“Why would you do this? And who is it?”
When he didn’t reply right away she continued, “Tell me Bakugo! If you know my soulmate why didn’t you tell me?! Why!” She sounded like she would cry.
“Why should I? If you weren’t so obsessed with Deku maybe you would actually know who your fucking soulmate is.” He yelled, stunning her into silence.
“Yeah, crazy huh? You think they would want you knowing they’re your second choice? Nobody wants that. So you don’t deserve to know.” He spat at her. Kirishima deserved more than that but even in anger he couldn’t let it slip. It wasn’t his secret to tell.
“Fine! Maybe you’re right but what about Izuku? He does deserve to know!” She challenged.
He did . He deserved to know but he deserved a better soulmate than Bakugo. Somebody that would make him happy. Somebody who hadn’t bullied him for years. A woman. Somebody who could give him the kids he wanted.
“Do you really think he deserves a soulmate like me?” He growled at her.
“No, I don’t. I think he deserves someone better,” he knew it. He knew that’s what she would think and so would everyone else. “Stop with that look! Just because that’s what I think doesn’t mean that’s what Izuku will think. ”
There wasn’t a chance. He wouldn’t let her words give him false hope. Luckily he didn’t have to reply, some seemingly real cops approached them about the situation but upon Bakugo’s insistence they left to get detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. He refused to speak to anyone else.
Tsukauchi was one of the few people who knew about All Might and Deku. He also had a truth quirk, it would be hard for someone to impersonate him. He’d be the best person to determine which cops were real and which ones weren’t. While they waited for him to arrive Uraraka took that opportunity to ask him another question.
“Do you love him?” her voice was quiet, she had almost whispered it but he heard her.
He could lie but he was tired of lying. It didn’t help that she had been after Deku since their U.A. days. He wanted her to know the truth. Deku belonged to him, they were soulmates. He loved him. He did all of this in the hopes that Deku would survive with him even if he ruined their chances of being together. That’s how much he cared about him. He’d do anything if he thought it was best for Deku. Truly, he was too good for Bakugo. He was a nerd, a hero, a crybaby, an idiot, and he was everything that Bakugo wanted.
Just once he wanted to tell someone how he truly felt. In all this time he’d never said it out loud. His heart raced as he gave her the answer he’d been dying to say.
A sad smile slipped onto his face before he admitted.
“Yea, I love Izuku.”