Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bakugou snorted from where he sat in the sand, watching Midoriya pant and try to recover from the exertion of moving the few scraps of trash they’d decided to start with. Among their pile was the broken remains of a dresser, several tires, and a dilapidated refrigerator that they had pushed out of the way together. Bakugou appreciated the burn he felt in his muscles from the workout, though Midoriya didn’t seem to share that sentiment.

“Damn ‘Zuku. We really have a long way to go. The freaking trash is holding up better than you are right now.” Katsuki snickered as he looked around at the heaping piles of rubbish they still needed to work through. It was only the first day, so there wasn’t much of a change in the disheveled appearance of the beach, but he figured things would pick up once they got into a good rhythm. Seeing as they'd made it a goal to clean the entire beach, hopefully they'd find that rhythm quickly. Midoriya groaned, throwing a handful of sand in Bakugou’s direction as he flopped onto his back.

“It’s not my fault! You’re just insanely dedicated to working out. This is a normal person’s reaction!” Midoriya argued as he squeezed his water bottle over his head to help cool himself down. Bakugou tsked as he rose to his feet and stretched a bit.

“How can your endurance when running be so good, yet you fall apart from dragging a tire through the sand?” Bakugou mocked as Midoriya flashed him a rude gesture, looking around to make sure no one else was there to see it. Bakugou rolled his eyes as the smaller teen then threw an arm over his eyes dramatically.

“My physical exercise has only ever included running away from bullies and towards hero fights. Sorry I’m not obsessed with lifting weights and learning fighting techniques, like some people.” The green-haired teen bit out.

Bakugou scowled at the reminder of Midoriya’s less than ideal school situation. No matter how much he wanted to beat the crap out of everyone who bothered his friend, there was only so much he could do to protect Izuku at school. Both boys had figured out pretty quick that the only one who’d get in trouble if they reported the bullying happening to Midoriya, was Midoriya himself. For lying, or disruption, or whatever else they could pin on him. It was bullshit.

What was even more annoying was the fact that, unlike when people picked on Izuku and received no punishment, the same couldn’t be said if Bakugou fought with one of the other students. Heaven forbid someone face consequences for bullying the quirkless kid, but Bakugou getting in a fight with another student that had a ‘strong’ quirk and a superiority complex about it? That gets put on his permanent record. There was only so much he could do without ruining his academic standing and getting ‘Zuku in even more trouble.

Scanning the area around them for something to get his mind off the darker topic, Bakugou spots an area a few meters away that was surrounded by a denser amount of trash.

“Just get your ass up and come with me.” He huffed, trudging over to the place he felt they’d be better hidden. Once Midoriya had dragged himself over, he gestured to their little hideout. “This should be good enough. Hurry up and transform or whatever.” He demanded.

Bakugou couldn’t deny that he was eager to see what all Venom could do, and if they kept up with their plan to save bringing him out for last, he knew Midoriya wouldn’t have the energy to do much. At least, that’s what he was assuming. Neither of them knew if Venom was affected by Midoriya’s stamina or if he had his own. Either way, he was tired of waiting and wanted to move things along faster.

“Are you sure, Kacchan? We’ve barely done anything yet.” Midoriya said nervously. As excited as he was to learn more about Venom, there was still some level of apprehension he felt. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he could tell Venom was unsure as well, and that was only feeding into his feelings. “Maybe we should keep cleaning for a bit.”

Bakugou groaned and kicked at the sand. “We didn’t come all this way just for you to chicken out now! Do you want to figure this shit out or not?” Bakugou stood impatiently and argued his point until Midoriya finally gave in and agreed.

“Alright then Freak Face, come on out.” The blonde goaded once Midoriya had finally stated that they were ready.

Venom morphed into full being in front of him and crouched down, stretching like an overgrown house cat as he lazily took in their surroundings.

“This place is a shithole.” He stated elegantly as he shifted in the sand. Bakugou snorted once before he crossed his arms and tried to stand in a way that showed he meant business. Even though he knew Midoriya was in there and Venom wasn’t an enemy, he was still an intimidating thing to be face to face with and Bakugou refused to back down.

“So, are you gonna do something other than stand there all hunched over? We only have ten months until the UA entrance exams and we need to know if you'll even be able to help 'Zuku any.” Bakugou hoped he was only baiting the alien into annoyance and not actually pissing him off, but the flippant reaction from the black mess made him think the only one getting irate was himself. When all Venom had done was cock his head to the side and look away, Bakugou threw a small explosion at the side of his body, his expression morphing into one of impatience.

“Are you really gonna ignore me right now?! We came all this way!” Bakugou was fuming but it seemed to have no effect on the large humanoid, who merely kept his face angled away from him and towards a nondescript pile of trash. Letting out a string of curses, Bakugou turned on his heel to leave, all of his eagerness suddenly leaving him with Venom’s display of disinterest. He was stopped by a clawed hand that shot out at lightning speed to grab onto him.

“Let go of me you giant asshole! If you were just gonna string us along then I'm leaving! I didn’t come here so you could sightsee piles of garbage!” Venom was unaffected by this outburst as he dropped his hold and swiveled his head to growl out a response.

“Make Izuku stronger and I will take care of the rest. For now, something tasty is hiding over there.”

With those words spoken and nothing else said, Venom melted away and left Izuku standing before him and blinking in confusion, his hand still raised in the direction Venom had pointed.

“Uhh. Sorry Kacchan. Venom says it’ll be better to train with him out once I get stronger. Right now, I’d just be relying on his strength instead of developing my own.” Midoriya self-consciously rubbed his at his arm as he curled in on himself, shame creeping into his face in an ugly red color. Bakugou just threw his hands up and kicked an old air conditioning unit, not understanding why the stupid alien didn't just tell them that in the first place. Before he could let loose with another string of curses, a garbled groan pricked at his ears.

He turned to Midoriya to see the teen with wide eyes and a nervous posture, Venom floating over his shoulder with a look that Bakugou could only assume was anticipation.

“If it's no one important, can I eat him?” The head inquired excitedly. Bakugou went to swat at him, but the stupid alien ducked away and Bakugou tch’ed before deciding to go and investigate while Midoriya began a lecture about how everyone was important and eating people wasn't okay.

Seeing as it was apparently a person Venom discovered, Bakugou moved forward cautiously. As he got closer to the area he'd heard the groan from, labored breathing pulled him towards a pile of cardboard and broken metal.

“Hey, whoever the fuck you are, you better not be naked.” Bakugou snarked, knowing that it was most likely some homeless person or a tweaker coming down from a high. Bakugou was trying to determine in his mind which encounter would be worse, slipping into a defensive position when he stepped around the side of the pile to finally see who was breathing so heavily.

Coming up short in surprise, Bakugou stared at the figure settled in the garbage, his brain not processing the sight in front of him.

Tufts of wild, purple hair were all Bakugou could see at first, and as his eyes trailed down, he saw it was coming from the head of a boy that couldn't be any older than he or Izuku. The teen had deep, dark bags under his violet eyes that reminded him of a raccoon, and he was tugging uselessly at thick leather straps that were holding a muzzle to his face. He was wearing an over-sized black hoodie on top of what was probably a school uniform, if the black slacks were anything to go by, and his whole appearance was disheveled.

The boy's hands dropped when he made eye contact with Katsuki, his gaze full of defiance and challenge as he straightened his posture and winced.

“Wow. You look like shit.” Bakugou stated in full offense. The mute boy did his best to scowl around the muzzle and rose abruptly to his feet before blinking heavily and crashing back to the ground. That was enough to snap Bakugou out of his stupor and he called out to Midoriya as he darted forward to help the teen.

“Oh my god! Kacchan, what happened?” Midoriya gasped as he rushed in to help lift the skinny boy into a more comfortable position. Bakugou smacked him upside the head before turning back to the mess of straps knotted against Raccoon boy’s scalp.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? I just found him like this!” He hissed. The grumpy blonde tugged angrily at the ties, getting madder by the second when the knots proved too tight to pry apart. “Shit. Someone really didn't want you getting this thing off.” Bakugou muttered. He made his hands still when a pained whine came from the body between them and Bakugou used the moment to notice just how tight the muzzle was fixed to Raccoon boy's face.

The metal frame of the offending object was cutting into the tender skin of cheek and chin, and Bakugou was sure the kid would have scars after his face healed. At a loss for how to untie the wicked thing without making the damage worse, Bakugou started sifting through the cardboard and metal scrap looking for something that could cut it off.

“Are you looking for something sharp Kacchan? Venom says he can snap it off if we need him to.” Bakugou looked up to see Midoriya reaching out with two black clawed hands, getting far closer to purple dude's head than Katsuki thought was safe. Hissing in protest, Katsuki tugged Raccoon boy away from Izuku's grasp.

“Are you fucking crazy? Put those things away, we don't want to rip his damn head off!” The silent boy between them startled at that and trained wide, wary eyes onto Midoriya, who began apologizing profusely as Venom popped out over his shoulder.

“I wouldn't rip his head off!” Venom roared at Bakugou, making the weak teen between the two boys 'murmph!' in alarm.

“Yeah, I’m sure you wouldn't Freak Face. But these straps are still way too close to this dude's head and 'Zuku hasn't had any practice yet. Save it for something that isn’t a random kid’s face!” Bakugou assumed Venom was satisfied with that answer as he eased back into Midoriya and disappeared, and he let out a breath as he went back to searching for something he could use.

In the next second though, before Bakugou could react to what was happening, Venom had fully transformed and snagged the leather straps, slicing clean through the knots and leaving the muzzle to drop unceremoniously from the terrified teen's face.

“WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!” Bakugou screamed as he jumped to his feet in anger, abandoning his task of finding a sharp piece of metal. Raccoon boy slumped over to catch himself with a gasp and Bakugou felt a brief pang of regret before he focused his attention back on Venom – who merely hummed low, staring boldly at the explosive boy's face.

“I'm capable of being careful. You doubted me.” The last sentence was said with a petulance that had Bakugou ready to rip out his hair.

“That doesn't mean you go and prove me wrong like that! What if you had hurt him more?!” Bakugou's eyes darted to the still silent boy, wondering why he didn't say anything or start screaming and trying to get away immediately after the muzzle had come off. He waved Venom away when he realized the kid was currently not present, his eyes staring blankly at the muzzle in front of him as blood dribbled down from the corners of his mouth. Glancing down, Bakugou swallowed the bile that rose up when he saw the wide clamp on the inner side of the muzzle. It looked way too big and sharp to have been shoved into a kid's mouth, and the dark tone Midoriya addressed him with told him the green-haired boy thought the same.

“Let’s get him up and take him to your house. Our parents can help us figure it out from there.” Without another word, Midoriya bent down and slid an arm under one side of the teen and Bakugou mirrored the action, straightening up and lifting the muzzle with him from the ground. As much as he wanted to explode the thing into a million pieces, it was still evidence that something bad had happened to this kid and Bakugou didn't want to risk people not believing them. He and Izuku had enough experience with that.

The purple-haired boy between them let out a weak sound of protest as his head lolled to the side, dizzy from how quickly he was pulled up.

“C'mon, we gotta get him outta this dump.” Bakugou huffed, already taking slow steps in the direction of the stairs that exit the beach. Midoriya nodded furiously as he focused all his concentration on keeping himself upright and not slipping in the sand.

Bakugou's mind was running at a million miles per second as he tried to figure out how they were going to make it all the way back to his house. The kid wasn't particularly heavy, but he was taller than both him and Midoriya and it was already difficult trying to awkwardly shuffle along through the sand. He was contemplating switching to giving the boy a piggyback ride when a voice stopped them all in their tracks.

“Shinsou! There you are, we've been looking everywhere for you!” A panicked voice called out. Bakugou looked around and saw two people jogging up to them – the first was a short, stocky man with an ugly balding spot and the second was a tall, wiry lady with beady eyes and a hand clasped over her chest.

“What happened to you? You're hurt!” She flailed her arms out dramatically and Bakugou heard alarm bells screaming in his head. The woman looked first to Midoriya and then to Bakugou before she reached forward as if to grab 'Shinsou', which Bakugou assumed was Raccoon boy’s name. “Thank you, boys, for helping him this far! We'll take him from here, he needs a hospital!”

“Nuh umph!” Shinsou let out quickly as he jerked backwards, nearly toppling all three of them before Midoriya and Bakugou could correct the movement. Bakugou took the reaction in stride with his gut feeling and bristled.

“Shinsou, don't be like that, let us help you.” The woman chided as she reached out a hand once again. Bakugou swatted it away and took a few steps back, happy that Midoriya seemed to be on the same page as they dragged the purple teen further away with them.

“Who the fuck are you two?” Bakugou growled out, his eyes scanning the area and not seeing anyone near – except for two men who were walking past them on the sidewalk, at the top of the stairs. Too far. His mind supplied as he focused back on the strangers in front of them. Bakugou watched as annoyance flashed across the lady's face before she smoothed it over into a painted expression of submission, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

“We're Shinsou's guardians. He never came home last night, and we've been worried sick looking for him the whole time.” Bakugou found her voice had taken on a sickly-sweet edge and he instinctively bristled again, fighting the slight nagging feeling that he should trust her. “Now please, let us take him home.” She reached forward again and Bakugou and Midoriya stumbled back once more. The blonde trying to shield their new acquaintance from the woman’s grasp.

“Hey!” Bakugou shouted when the woman tugged on his arm instead. He yanked his hand away and tightened his other arm around Raccoon eyes. “You ever heard of Finders Keepers?” He asked, distractedly. Noticing that he’d caught the attention of the two passersby, he focused back in on the woman before him.  

Bakugou knew they were being played and he didn’t like it. Even with the two men now making their way towards this little scene, they were still far off, and he didn’t like the angry glint in the eyes of the two creeps that were directly before them.

“You’re funny, boy. Now hand over the kid.” The male finally spoke up, his balding head shining in the late-day sunlight. Midoriya let out an animalistic growl before muttering ‘you cannot do that’ under his breath. Bakugou was fairly certain he was talking to Venom and ignored him, donning a cocky grin as they kept steadily retreating.

“Sure thing. Why don’t I just give you my wallet and my home address while I’m at it?” He snarked back. The man loomed menacingly in front of them, anger clear on his face, before being pulled back by the hand of his partner. The thin woman, pushing the man further behind her as she began to speak sweetly, inched forward.  

“Now honey, Shinsou is our charge and he’s obviously very hurt. For all we know, you’re the ones who did it! We don’t want to have to get the police involved, now do we?” He let his steps falter, no longer pulling away from the couple. He saw Midoriya glance at him in confusion from his peripherals and tapped his arm where they overlapped behind Shinsou's back, hoping it was enough to get the shorter boy to stay quiet as the woman gave him a sharp smile, letting her hands relax at her sides and her body stop as she regarded him.

Bakugou played into it, dropping his confident posture and trying to curl in on himself just enough that he’d look unsure and nervous. He just needed to buy enough time for the two onlookers to get close enough to help them. It was a long shot if they even would, but it’s the only plan he could think of without wasting anymore time.

“Wait! We didn’t do this. We – we were just trying… trying to help him.” Bakugou stuttered out, swallowing back a gag at the feigned vulnerability in his tone. The lady grinned, sharp and dangerous.

“I know honey, and you did good. But we’re here now. Let us take him home.” That same sickly-sweet tone grated against Bakugou's ears, and he felt a budding urge to trust the woman and what she was saying. He squashed it in outrage when he realized it was most likely a quirk, and he let his eyes flick to the man standing guard behind the woman, glancing past him for just a second to see the two men drawing nearer with their eyes fixed to the scene. “I understand that you might be nervous to hand him over to people who are strangers to you, but I assure you, we just want to get him home safely.”

“Get him home safely?” Bakugou tilted his head to the side as he pretended to ponder on the words for moment, while the woman in front of them nodded encouragingly, not noticing the two people still approaching from behind them.

At this point, Shinsou's breathing had picked up and he was holding the hem of Midoriya's shirt in a vice grip. Bakugou felt Midoriya begin to run his hand up and down the boy's back and he gave a soft hum as he looked the woman in the eye, disgusted by the smug look he saw there.

“I thought you said he needed a hospital?” Bakugou asked innocently, but the challenge in his eyes gave him away. The woman's Cheshire grin disappeared, and Bakugou spoke again before she could say anything, dropping the act entirely and raising his voice. “Hey! Fucking help us with these creeps!”

The effect was instantaneous. The two men – one tall and blonde with a funny little mustache and one a few centimeters shorter with black hair and eyebags as dark as Shinsou's, darted forward to intervene at the same time as the balding man yelled a curse and started forward to grab at the three kids. The wiry woman stood fuming, rage twisting her features as she lunged for the purple-haired boy in the middle, whipping out a blade and smiling wickedly. Bakugou cursed internally when he realized they were still within reach, and he pulled Raccoon eyes back with him as he tried to put more distance between them and their attackers. He growled in frustration when, instead, the full weight of Shinsou toppled him into the sand.

Looking up to see why the fuck Izuku didn't move with him in the face of such an obvious threat, he shouted in alarm. To his horror, Midoriya had jumped in to tackle the woman to the side, pulling her attention away from him and Shinsou. This left the woman towering over Izuku and screaming as the man continued stalking towards all of them. Midoriya scrambled back, sitting in the sand with his eyes wide like he hadn't thought of what to do next. And all Bakugou could do was watch, with a lap full of injured teen.

Luckily, the two newcomers were able to take over the situation then, and they immediately knocked out both the creeps in a matter of seconds; Bakugou would never admit it out loud, but he was impressed. Now that the two psychos were taken care of and both men were now talking to Izuku, who he trusted to explain what had happened, Bakugou focused on Shinsou.

“Uh. Hey dude. Shinsou, or whatever your name is. You good?” Receiving no response, Bakugou continued. “You're okay now, we're gonna explain everything to these new people and make sure those creeps don't try to mess with you again. If they don't believe us, then we’ll just make a run for it.” Bakugou tried to insert a false bravado into his tone, but it fell flat, even to his ears. Just because these guys helped them in the heat of the moment didn't mean they would keep helping them now. And it was fairly obvious they were in no condition to deal with another confrontation. It seemed Shinsou thought the same thing as he curled into a fetal position on the ground, gasping in pain as he shook his head.

“They're gonna call the police and I’m gonna be sent right back.” The purple-haired teen rasped out, breath hitching as he began to hyperventilate. “I can't go back! I can't!” Bakugou stared down at the boy at a loss for words, feeling the slightest sense of relief to see Izuku and the two men walking towards him.

“He said he can't go back.” Bakugou repeated to them dumbly as they approached. “What the fuck am I supposed to tell him?” He clenched his fists as he fell back next to the panicking teen, hesitating for only a moment before he began to rub circles into the other boy's back, like he would do with Izuku, but gentle so as not to hurt him. It didn't seem to do much for Shinsou, but Bakugou kept it up anyway, just for something to make him feel less useless.

“What's that there in your hand, little listener?” The tall blonde asked, crouching beside him as his dark-haired friend focused on the distraught teen they’d somehow managed to save from... whatever the hell that situation just was. Bakugou startled for a moment, having forgotten he was still holding the damn muzzle. He lifted it up in front of his face and scowled as he threw it between him and the adult, nodding his head towards Shinsou as he spoke.

“Cut it off his face when we found him.” He grunted. He watched the blonde's face morph into a look of horror and then disgust, as if the contraption had personally offended him. Which was fair, if Bakugou was being honest. The muzzle pissed him off as well. He let his hand drop from Shinsou's back as the dark-haired man shifted the teen into a sitting position.

“We found him over there,” he gestured to the area of the trash covered beach they had come from, “sitting in a pile of garbage and looking all beat up.” Bakugou tacked on, glancing at the boy next to him as he hiccupped himself into silence.

“Did anyone call the police yet?” Midoriya cut in meekly, his phone in hand. Bakugou huffed out a breath at that as he rose and shook sand from his hair, ready to argue against it if it was going to make Raccoon boy uncomfortable.

“They're on their way now.” A gruff voice answered. Bakugou turned to look at the dark-haired man who stared back at him with indifference. He returned the man's stare with one of his own, not saying anything to distract himself from their silent contest. Eventually, he looked away to see how the purple-haired teen was reacting. Said teen was still staring down, his shoulders drooped forward in resignation.

“Oh! That's good then. Um–” Midoriya was floundering as he looked between everyone sitting or crouched in the sand. An awkward tension rose in the silence and just when Bakugou was going to open his mouth and try to break it, Venom's head popped up over Midoriya's shoulder.

“Those two that were attacking – can I eat them?” He asked blandly.

Midoriya 'eeeped' and swatted at the alien's head. Venom merely ducked around the half-hearted jab, Midoriya looking nervously to the two shocked adults.

“Venom! Stop asking to eat people!” Midoriya whisper-yelled in exasperation at the fiend. Letting out a nervous chuckle, Midoriya bowed low. “I'm so sorry! He didn't mean that!” He said shakily.

“I meant it.” Venom drawled.

Bakugou groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He was sure that whatever trust they had built up with these people was definitely gone now.

To his surprise, the dark-haired man scoffed out a short laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “You won't see me stopping you.” He stated. Bakugou's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise and the blonde man still in front of him gasped in a loud voice.

“Shouta! Don't talk like that, you're supposed to be the good example!” Bakugou snickered at the look of disdain that crossed the black-haired man's face before shifting his attention. Nudging the purple boy next to him and asking him if he was doing better, Bakugou huffed in irritation when, instead of getting a response, Shinsou just stared resolutely at the ground with red cheeks.

“Oh good, the police are here.” The man – Shouta, declared loudly, cutting off the blonde man who had begun ranting about being good role models and setting an example for the next generation. Bakugou's back instantly stiffened with the news, scowling as he turned to glare at the oncoming group of officers led by one man in a beige trench coat.

When they fully arrived, the two adults went to the side to speak quietly with the man who had briefly introduced himself as a detective, gesturing at the three kids still shifting nervously in the soft sand. After a moment more, the three men made their way back and began to tell them what would happen next as the other officers handcuffed the prone forms of the offending couple and carried them away. They were spoken to in a professional and concise manner, with no room for negotiation, but Katsuki would see to that. After listening to the breakdown of how things were going to play out, Bakugou rose to his feet and crossed his arms.

“Why are you two still involved in this?” He sneered at the men who stood at the detective's side. Sure, they had helped them with the two psychos, but they were still just strangers as far as he knew. Either this detective was an idiot, or this was some of the sketchiest police work he had ever seen.

“This detective guy says you're going to take Shinsou 'under your care’ for the time being. How the fuck does that work, you just handing kids out to strangers like they're candy now?” He directed the last part of his sentence directly at the detective as he puffed up his chest. Nothing about this situation made sense to him. Why the fuck were the two random men who'd decided to help them suddenly keeping Raccoon eyes? In what way was that proper procedure?

Midoriya was even skeptical as he inched closer to Shinsou, his fingers twitching like he wanted to reach out and grab the hunched over teen.

“My apologies to you three.” Detective whatever started saying. Bakugou really should have paid more attention to what his name was. “These two men are actually colleagues of mine, in a looser sense of the word.” He finished. Bakugou just glared as the two men in question reached into their pockets to produce similar wallets, flipping them open and showing him and Midoriya their Hero Licenses. Midoriya gasped in excitement, practically vibrating as he stared at the small pieces of plastic.

“Eraserhead?! You – you're one of the top underground heroes, with the quirk Erasure! You take villains down practically quirkless and even patented the capture scarf you use as one of your support items! You've been an inspiration to me for years!” Midoriya was now unashamedly fanboying as he stared up at the dark-haired hero with open admiration. Said hero seemed to be at a loss of words as the man beside him tried to muffle a snort of laughter. Midoriya zeroed in on the sound.

“And you! You're Present Mic! One of the top 50 lime-light heroes! Your quirk 'Voice' can get loud enough to shatter glass from up to 3 kilometers away! On top of that, you also work as a DJ and a teacher at UA. I try to listen to your radio show every time it comes on.” Midoriya was beaming as he bounced his attention over to the smiling blonde man, Venom hovering over his shoulder and eyeing to two men distrustfully.

As much as Bakugou was embarrassed by it, he loved keeping up with heroes just like Midoriya did. Maybe not to the same level of obsession as Izuku, but enough that seeing these two pros in front of him had him momentarily slack jawed. Remembering himself a second later, Bakugou snapped up his jaw and scoffed. He couldn't let his guard down just because they were heroes.

Keeping his arms crossed, Bakugou only glared in anger as he stepped in front of Shinsou, who had been looking up at the two heroes with a sliver of hope in his eyes.

“So, you're heroes. Big whoop. You're gonna have to do something more than flash your fancy licenses for me to believe Raccoon Eyes is really gonna be safe with you.” After everything that had happened yesterday, Bakugou was feeling disillusioned with the idea that heroes actually cared about kids like them.

Eraserhead – whose real name was Shouta, holy shit – merely raised a single eyebrow as he looked at him, while Present Mic just stood silently, looking like a confused puppy. At Bakugou's words, Midoriya had turned to him with a soft smile on his face, touching Bakugou lightly on the arm as he spoke carefully.

“Kacchan, it's okay. It's Present Mic and Eraserhead!” Midoriya squealed, still subdued. “They're two of the good ones!” The reassurance did little to appease him and Bakugou only squinted more as he kept his feet planted in front of Shinsou, turning his head to give Midoriya the most cynical look he could muster.

“And All Might was supposed to be the best of them all. Look how that turned out.” He bit out harshly. He regretted the words as soon as he saw the way Midoriya's face fell, the freckled boy's eyes starting to fill with tears. Even Venom growled with offense at the low blow. With a frustrated sigh, Bakugou ran a hand over his face.

“Shit 'Zuku. I wasn't trying to be a dick.” He rushed out through clenched teeth. Midoriya blinked back his tears and offered up a watery smile before he looked back down at his feet.

“You're right though. I need to stop being so naive.” Bakugou reached out his hand to grab Midoriya by the shoulder and tell him that's not what he meant, but a throat clearing pulled both boys’ attention.

Looking into the curious eyes of the detective, Bakugou straightened his back and bared his teeth, quick to change the topic so that the three adults wouldn't try to press them for more details on what they were taking about. They all looked far more curious than Bakugou liked. Turning to look at the purple-haired boy still sitting on the ground, Bakugou nudged him with his knee.

“Your name is Shinsou, right? That wasn't some fake shit those creeps made up?” His voice was gruff from awkwardness. He wasn't sure why but talking to this kid wasn't coming easy. Maybe it was because of the situation they'd found him in, or maybe it was because Bakugou really didn't talk to many other kids besides Izuku – at least, not nicely. Either way, he needed to clear his throat as he waited for a response.

Instead of getting a verbal response, Shinsou just nodded his head slowly, stiffly getting to his feet and letting his eyes dart between the five other people in his presence. He had inched forward so that he was just behind Bakugou, but off to his right slightly, so he was still able to see everyone easily. Bakugou sighed heavily, having a feeling that this 'Shinsou' was the exact opposite of Midoriya when it came to speaking.

“So, what’s your take on all of this?” Bakugou asked over his shoulder, his foot tapping while he kept his arms crossed and looked back to the two heroes, making sure they weren’t going to try to grab the poor kid slightly behind him. When there was nothing but silence after his words, Bakugou turned to glare at the pale, skinny teen.

Said teen was looking at him with his head tilted questioningly, his eyes confused even as they went back to darting around their small group. It was Midoriya who spoke up next, moving slowly as he came to stand right in front of Shinsou, blocking his view of the adults that seemed ready to make a move if necessary.

“What Kacchan is trying to ask,” Midoriya started while sending Bakugou a reproachful stare, “is – are you comfortable going with these people?” Shinsou merely blinked at the shorter boy, peering around behind him, and then looking back to Bakugou once more. “If you're not, you can come to our house! My mom probably wouldn't mind and Kacchan's parents are really understanding too!”

“Don't drag the old hag into this.” Bakugou grumbled as he kicked at the sand. Before anymore could be said on the matter, Eraserhead stepped forward and cleared his throat.

“As much as I'm sure you're both trying to help, we can't just ignore this situation and let Shinsou leave with you. He will be coming with us.” The boy in question flinched back and wrapped his arms around himself as he dropped his gaze to the sand, still silent. “As long as he's with us, he'll be well cared for.” The man tried to assure. Bakugou snapped, letting his hands spark as he marched forward and shoved a finger into Eraserhead's chest.

“You're fucking lying!” He hissed accusingly. “And if you're not lying, that just means that you're going to dump him with someone else the first chance you get. No one gives two shits about kids like us, so don't try to stand there and act like you do!” Bakugou was so upset, he didn’t even notice as his quirk was cancelled, and the popping of his explosions disappeared.

“You really expect us to believe that you’re going to take Shinsou in, out of the goodness of your heart? After – what – one instance of being in the right place at the right time? Do you do this with all the people you rescue? ‘Cause I highly fucking doubt it. You’re all pieces of shit who only care about what the public is going to think of you, and this isn’t any different, so fuck you!” Bakugou was heaving by the time he finished shouting, Midoriya groaning from behind him as he started to pull him back.

“Kacchan, I told you! They’re not like the other heroes!” Midoriya shook him slightly as his voice lowered into a hiss. “And Eraserhead is an underground hero! He doesn’t care what the public thinks of him!” Katsuki had nothing to say in response to that, so both boys turned to face the dark-haired pro, each looking spooked enough to bolt any second.

To Eraserhead's credit, he merely stared Bakugou down with an empty glare, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, but devoid of any rage or irritation. When he was sure the boys were finished and that the angry blonde wouldn’t start yelling again, he stepped forward and unwound his scarf, wrapping the three teens in a tight hold with his capture weapon in seconds.

“It seems there's something more going on with you, children.” The underground hero drawled. “Anyone care to explain?” Eraserhead loosened his hold on the three kids slightly and waited for one of them to speak up, his eyes betraying no emotion as the three kids before him fidgeted nervously in their confines. Receiving no response, Shouta's dark eyes met Bakugou's bright red ones.

“Want to tell me what you meant when you said, 'kids like you'?”

Bakugou tch'ed and looked away, clamming up rather fast now that Eraserhead's prying gaze was fixated on him and he could feel how trapped he was. He lasted about one minute before he angrily pulled against the scarf.

“Stop fucking staring at me you goddamn hobo man – and stop pretending like you don't know what I meant!” Eraserhead continued to stare the boy down before his eyes shifted to Midoriya, who had cleared his throat at a volume just barely loud enough to be heard.

“Can you let us go please?” Midoriya squeaked out softly. “I just– I can't. The wrap. It's too much and I–” Before he could finish, the scarf entangling them all was unwound and resting unassumingly around Eraserhead's neck once more. Bakugou took a steadying breath before pushing his budding panic away to comfort his friend, stopping only when he realized Eraserhead was already kneeling in front of him and speaking softly.

“There. Keep taking deep breaths like that. Take your time and sit if you need to.” Midoriya responded by plopping onto the sand and panting as he reached out to grab Bakugou's hand. Bakugou responded by sitting down next to the panicking teen and dragging Shinsou down with him, deciding to keep an eye on both of them at once. The self-assigned task helped to keep him out of his own head.

“I apologize for being careless. I should have taken the state of each of you into account before restraining you three.” Shouta said very seriously with a low bow. Bakugou was momentarily taken aback by the sincerity before he huffed and shrugged his shoulders, watching the two teens before him blink back into the present. It seemed Shinsou had an adverse reaction to being wrapped up as well, though he hid it a bit better than Izuku had. Bakugou was about to ask the raccoon kid if he was okay, as he was clutching his side, when Midoriya morphed into full Venom unexpectedly.

“Venom, what the fuck are you doing?!” Katsuki hissed, glancing at the three adults who had backed away and dropped into defensive stances; watching Bakugou talk to the alien with shocked eyes.

“Izuku wants to leave. I will take us away from here.” Venom reached out his large, clawed hand and lifted Shinsou up, much to the boy’s dismay, before trying to grab at Bakugou. Bakugou in turn swatted Venom's hand away and tried to pull Shinsou from the creature's grip, cursing with every tug that failed to loosen the wide-eyed boy.

“Goddammit! We can't just up and leave now! That'll get us in even more trouble.” Bakugou tried to let off an explosion to no avail, only to look over his shoulder and see that Eraserhead had been trying to erase Midoriya's quirk. When that hadn't succeeded, it seemed he'd erased Bakugou's instead. “Just bring 'Zuku back – you're making everything worse!” He screamed, kicking at the alien’s shin repetitively.

Venom snarled as he shoved Shinsou roughly into Bakugou and slipped back into Midoriya's much smaller form, popping up over the green boy's shoulder and muttering a 'fuck you' before disappearing entirely.

With that out of the way, Bakugou turned back to the stunned adults slowly.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! We – I didn’t mean for him to do that!” Midoriya rushed out as he grabbed onto Bakugou's arm. To Bakugou's surprise, Midoriya wasn't talking to the adults – but to Shinsou, who was still leaning against Bakugou and panting slightly as he clutched his side, eyes screwed shut in pain.

“If everyone could stop tugging me around like a ragdoll, that'd be great.” Raccoon eyes deadpanned in a raspy voice, cracking his eyes open to give them all a glare, just to show how done he was with this whole situation, before promptly passing out.

“Shit!” Bakugou yelped, shifting so that he had a better grip on Shinsou as he went limp, and then looking around in alarm. Eraserhead came forward and reached out as if to grab the unconscious teen, brows furrowed with worry, but Bakugou slapped his hand away.

“No way.” He growled to the hero, feeling suddenly possessive of the unresponsive teen. Eraserhead raised his hands up and inched forward much slower than when he had first tried to grab Shinsou, his head dipping down as he spoke in a level tone.

“Kid, I know you don't want to trust us, but Shinsou obviously needs help. And as much as you might not want to admit it, that help is beyond you right now. Let us take care of him. I promise you; we will take care of him.” Bakugou froze as his mind raced with what he should do. Part of him agreed with the words the underground hero had told him. He was just some dumb teenager. He knew damn well that he and Izuku couldn't do anything more for Shinsou than they already had. He should just trust them to do their jobs and stop interfering.

Another part of him couldn't help but look at the three men in front of him and see nothing more than the resigned eyes of the heroes from yesterday, who'd stood by and watched him while he was struggling and suffocating. If he tried hard enough, he could still feel the cold slime oozing down his throat as it burned, and a tightness in his chest that all the explosions in the world couldn't alleviate. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as his heart began to race.

Smoke. Fire. The sound of his own explosions being used against him. Screaming bystanders and his own grunts of fearful struggling. Heroes watching all around, but none of them trying to save him –why wouldn’t anyone save him? Please – someone save him!

Powerless.

He couldn’t even save himself.

Powerless.

He was too weak to save himself. How could he be so weak? He wasn’t supposed to be weak.

Powerless.

Weak.

Powerless.

Greenish gray sludge sliding over his skin – enveloping him – obstructing his view – cooling his skin like the corpse it soon would be.

Weak.

Everyone standing there, even the heroes. Watching. All eyes on him, but they couldn’t wouldn’t save him. They wouldn’t save him. They wouldn’t save him –

“Kacchan.” Midoriya said softly, capturing Bakugou's attention and then gesturing to the two heroes who were now gently maneuvering Shinsou out of Bakugou's hold. A zing of panic shot through his spine when he realized he couldn't remember them coming this close. He shot a sharp look at Izuku as he heaved in air to try to help calm his erratic heart.

“Kacchan. It's okay. They just want to help Shinsou.” Bakugou dropped his trembling hands to his sides in defeat as he watched Present Mic and Eraserhead make their way off the beach, with the former of the two throwing a concerned glance over his shoulder. As much as he wanted to pitch a fit and grab the teen back from the two, he suddenly felt exhausted. “Are you okay now, Kacchan?”

Bakugou shoved Midoriya away from him as he scowled, hiding his shaking hands in his pockets as he gave the green-eyed boy a challenging glare. Midoriya simply smiled softly, keeping his distance, with so much understanding in his gaze that it was making Bakugou itch.

“Right. Well then, you two boys will need to come with me.” Bakugou's head shot up at the words of the detective, who was still standing near them. “You're not in trouble or anything. I'm just going to take you back to the station with me and get your statements. I can call your families to pick you up once we're there.” The detective dropped a light hand on each of their shoulders and began to steer them in the same direction that Shinsou was taken in.

Before they'd taken more than a few steps, Bakugou shrugged the man's hand off and gave himself some space.

“Don't touch me.” He tried to warn in a low tone, but his voice only came out tired. The detective searched his face for a moment before nodding and pulling his hands back from the two.

“My car is right this way, if you'll both please follow.” He had softened his voice and with that, he turned and began to slowly walk to his vehicle. Midoriya quickly followed suit and began to pester the man with questions as Bakugou hesitantly trailed along, his mind racing with thoughts concerning what had just happened to him, and what would become of the weird purple-haired boy they'd found injured in the garbage, and just how mad their parents would be at getting a call from the police station about the two of them – not even a full day after being attacked by a villain.

Yeah. This weekend was turning out to be way more troublesome than he would've ever imagined. Hey, at least 'Zuku has a quirk now. Bakugou reassured himself silently, refusing to let himself think of anything else as he watched Venom pop his head up for a moment before darting out of view once again. Weird fucking alien. He thought as he shook his head, quickening his pace and falling into step beside the shorter teen as he let the boy's muttering wash over him.

Hopefully from here on out, things would calm down.

Chapter Text

1 Week Later.

Bakugou let the door fall shut behind him as he exited his first therapy session with Hound Dog. He wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about the whole situation he’d ended up in, but he would admit to himself that it had gone better than he expected.

Last week, when he and Izuku had ended up at the police station for questioning, Bakugou had a panic attack while waiting for their parents to pick them up. It was his second one for the day, as it turns out his episode when Shinsou was taken from him was a panic attack as well. All it had taken was a single offhanded comment from one of the cops loitering in the waiting area, and he was suddenly back in the clutches of the Sludge Villain.

The off-white walls of the police station had faded away and left him fighting alone, lost in his own mind again like he had been at the beach. It had taken nearly ten minutes for someone to bring him out of it, and even afterward, it only brought him back to the present to freak out more. All the man had asked was if he and Izuku were the kids from the attack the day before and Bakugou was gone.

Tsukauchi, Bakugou had finally learned the detective’s name, had tried to move the two boys into an unused investigation room for some privacy, a monumental effort in and of itself. At the time, Bakugou didn’t understand what was going on and started fighting like a cornered animal when they were being ushered away, Midoriya himself bursting into tears and panicking in response. Detective Tsukauchi had the misfortune of dealing with them both until they calmed down, as he was the one who’d brought them in, and he immediately had a talk with each boy’s parents once they finally arrived.

After hearing a basic run down from their parents of what had happened with the two teens the day previous, Detective Tsukauchi made it his mission to get the two boys the help they needed. Anger had roiled in his gut once he found out how badly the Bakugou’s and Midoriya’s had been wronged. The confusing snippets of conversation from the children that he’d overheard at the beach suddenly made more sense as their parents tore into every officer present.

Katsuki hadn’t questioned the chaos his parents were causing at all in the moment. At the time, all he’d wanted to do was curl into a ball and sleep for as many days as possible, and from the way Izuku had closed off beside him, the shorter teen felt the same.

The rest of the evening had passed in a blur of apologies from officials Katsuki and Izuku couldn’t be bothered to care about, and phone calls to set up their appointments with Hound Dog. Bakugou didn’t pay much attention to the details of that though, not surprised to find out that the detective had connections with another pro hero after seeing how familiar he was with Present Mic and Eraserhead.

He’d only spoken up once, to ask what was happening with Shinsou while everyone was wasting their time with his and Midoriya’s already resolved issues. He’d received a lengthy lecture about properly dealing with trauma at that, and nearly tore his hair out in frustration. Even after the lecture, no one had actually answered his questions concerning the Raccoon boy. The only bright side was when Izuku lost it for a moment and Venom rampaged in the bullpen, loudly proclaiming all of the officers to be pussies and demanding that he be fed if they wanted him to retreat.

After things had finally calmed down and been sorted out, the Bakugou’s and Midoriya’s took their leave and Katsuki spent the days leading up to his appointment training and ignoring the nagging sense of dread he felt.

Now that his first session was over and done with, he thought that maybe this set up wouldn’t be so bad and he internally berated himself when he realized he had been worried for no reason.

For starters – he was at UA. He was on the campus of his dream school! It felt like he was getting a behind the scenes look at what his future would be after Aldera. It sucked that the reason he was here was for therapy, but he might as well take it for what it was worth. Hound Dog had spent much of their allotted hour assuring him that it wasn’t weak to talk to a therapist about what he’d been through. Bakugou was skeptical, but he did feel slightly better by the end of it. It helped that Hound Dog mentioned there were many heroes that went to therapists – it was part of the job. Heroes sometimes saw the worst of the world, and therapy was a tool they used to help overcome those moments that might otherwise stop them from doing their best in the field. It was just another step Bakugou needed to take towards being number one.

Keeping that in mind, Bakugou pushed himself off the door and began walking down the empty halls to pass the time before Izuku’s meeting was finished. Midoriya had done his session with Hound Dog yesterday, and in that time he’d somehow managed to get himself on the radar of the school principal, who he was back to see today. Midoriya had told him he’d been cornered by the principal when Venom was hovering over his shoulder and firing off directions when they were both completely lost. Instead of getting upset, the principal had invited him to tea and chess and asked him to return today. How that green-haired nerd was able to get himself into these kinds of situations, Bakugou didn’t know.

Actually, now that he was the one wandering the halls, maybe he did know. This place was designed like a maze, and with every turn he took, Bakugou got more and more annoyed. He was the one lost now, much to his own chagrin. Before Bakugou’s anger could get the best of him, he’d turned on his heel and started making his way back to where he thought he’d come from, figuring that backtracking would work in his favor.

After what he was sure was at least half an hour of him wandering around aimlessly, and thoroughly lost, Bakugou was starting to get bored and worried. At this rate, he’d have to wait and hope someone would find him like the principal had found Izuku. Once someone did, he’s certain he could explain himself easily enough. But that would mean he needed to not be alone.

Staring ahead of him and seeing no one, Bakugou loudly let loose a stream of curses.

“That’s quite the vocabulary you’ve got there, little listener!” Bakugou spun around at the sound of someone else’s voice, his hands coming up defensively. Despite the familiarity of the tone, Bakugou was still surprised to see Present Mic smiling at him, his glasses pulled down so that he was peering over the tops of them. Next to him were two other familiar faces – one of them was the dark-haired hero, Eraserhead, and the final one was none other than Raccoon boy. Bakugou ignored the two adults in favor of zeroing in on the teen between them.

“Hey! It’s you!” Bakugou shouted as he stepped towards the trio, with his finger pointing directly into Shinsou’s chest. Shinsou merely nodded, looking somewhat wary, but Bakugou wasn’t deterred. He was a bit excited as his eyes quickly swept over the purple boy’s form, and he let himself relax slightly when he took in how much better the boy looked. He still had dark circles underneath his eyes, and he was practically a stick, but he was no longer sickly pale, and his eyes were alert. Bakugou would consider that a win for now. Glancing away to the heroes on either side, Bakugou crossed his arms, suddenly self-conscious about his predicament.

“Mind telling us what exactly you’re doing here?” Eraserhead’s gruff voice spoke up. Bakugou shuffled his feet a bit, hating that he had to admit that he’d been careless enough to get lost. Breathing out a sigh, he opened his mouth to explain and was immediately cut off by a light laugh coming from behind him. Katsuki turned around and there, walking up the hallway, was Izuku and what looked like an oversized rat creature in a suit. Turning his attention from whatever conversation they’d been having; the rat man beamed and strode forward.

“Ahh, hello Bakugou, Midoriya has told me a lot about you!” Bakugou’s eyes shot up to peer at Izuku, who was doing his best to look innocent and failing. “I’m principal Nedzu.” Bakugou reached out mechanically to shake the paw extended to him, trying to hide his panic and awe at meeting the principal of his dream school. He said nothing but nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets when the introduction was over.

He continued to stand silently as the principal began to speak to Shinsou, who looked like a deer caught in headlights at the attention he was receiving. It didn’t take long for Midoriya to bound forward and make the boy even more nervous, asking the purple-haired teen how he was doing, as Venom popped out to watch the interaction and playfully snap at Bakugou. Bakugou rolled his eyes but didn’t retaliate, determined to keep up a good impression in front of Nedzu.

“Well, as nice as it is to see such fresh, young faces, I must be taking my leave now! Midoriya, you should know your way out from here. If you need more direction, I’m sure Aizawa or Yamada would be willing to help!” Nedzu spoke soon after. He gave one final wave before he strode away from them, turning back and calling out to Izuku at the last second. “Oh, and Midoriya? Can I count on seeing you at this same time, next week?” Midoriya nodded vigorously and Bakugou saw the color drain from Eraserhead’s face.

“Yes sir!” Midoriya answered with intensity.

Before Bakugou could open his mouth to ask Midoriya what that was all about, the green-haired teen gave a startled squeak. It was as if Bakugou had blinked and all of a sudden Nedzu was wound up in Eraserhead’s capture weapon. The suited animal seemed undisturbed and laughed as he tugged on a random loop, the wrappings falling away effortlessly.

“Explain.” The dark-haired hero demanded with a growl, seemingly unbothered by how easily the rat creature had slipped from his bindings.

“Ahh, Aizawa. I would have liked to keep it a secret for a little longer, but my excitement seems to have gotten the best of me! I am taking Midoriya on as my personal student for the time being. I can tell you more later, but for now I have a meeting with – oh here he is now!” Bakugou pushed aside his thoughts on the bombshell Nedzu just dropped; watching as the principal turned on his heel and greeted a towering, skinny blonde that looked as if a stiff wind would knock him over. Katsuki turned to Midoriya, fully prepared to make a withering comment, if you will, when he noticed the look of panic and discomfort on Midoriya’s face.

Looking back over at the tall stranger, he stared hard. There was a familiarity that took a second for him to understand, but once he did it made everything in his brain click into place and he launched himself at the newcomer with a sudden hostility. Rage made his vision dim as he cursed himself for being so slow on the uptake, focusing all of his senses on the asshole of a hero in front of him. Before he could reach the shocked man, capture fabric wound itself around him and locked him in place. The newcomer stood, eyes wide as he coughed into his hand, blood splatters coating the thin white handkerchief he held up.

Bakugou didn’t care. His mind was racing – remembering how Midoriya said All Might had deflated on the rooftop. Remembering how Izuku had described the shrunken form of his once hero, and how the man had tried to use that as further proof for why Izuku couldn’t be one himself. He remembered the details that seemed to match up with the skinny man in front of him, confirmed by the fear and anxiety he’d seen in Midoriya’s face when he came into sight, and he saw red.

“You!” He screamed, tugging at the bonds restricting him as his palms crackled. The gaunt man chuckled nervously as he stepped back.

“Hello, young man. You look as if you recognize me, but I assure you, we’ve never met.” Bakugou snarled as he finally loosened the capture scarf from around him, springing free and skidding to a stop directly in front of the skeletal man.

“Cut the shit, Small Might! What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?!” Bakugou was jabbing his finger into the giant’s chest as a scent reminiscent of burnt caramel filled the hall, small pops letting loose in a constant stream. He slapped away the large hand that had come forward placatingly, narrowing his eyes and taking a step forward even as the man stepped back. Good impressions be damned. “I told you to stay away from me and my brother!” At his words, Midoriya rushed forward nervously.

“Kacchan! It-it’s okay! Let’s just go.” Midoriya was tugging nervously on his sleeve, his eyes darting around to their audience as he tried to pull the enraged blonde back. His words caught the attention of the man being threatened, and All Might turned his attention onto Izuku, his eyes softening in surprise.

“Young Midoriya. I…” Midoriya stared with wide eyes as he backed away and shook his head, not daring himself to speak but wanting the man to know he wasn’t interested in listening to him. Bakugou had stepped back with him, stubbornly staying in front of Midoriya like a shield. “I see.” All Might said softly, letting his words drop into a tense silence as he, for once, took the hint.

Bakugou glanced at Midoriya’s face and knew he was having a different conversation altogether. Judging from the intense look of concentration and sweat starting to drip from Midoriya’s brow (and the fact that Venom was nowhere in sight), he assumed the alien wanted to make his presence known and Midoriya was trying to hold him back.

“Don’t even think about it, Venom.” Bakugou growled. “This isn’t the time or the place.” He continued to glare at Midoriya until his shoulders slumped and he sighed, nodding his thanks in Bakugou’s direction. Katsuki was sure that, if Venom really wanted to come out and attack his target, he would have, but took the small win for what it was worth.  

Katsuki then let his eyes dart around and he took in the looks on the faces of the other people with them. Apart from Nedzu, who held a calculating gaze, the trio that Bakugou had first run into were looking at them with confusion and (in Eraserhead’s case) suspicion. Though his distrust wasn’t directed at either kid standing in front of him. Surprisingly, it was Shinsou who spoke up first.

“You guys are brothers.” It was phrased like a statement, but Shinsou’s head was cocked to the side as if he were asking a question. Bakugou glanced at Midoriya before staring back at Shinsou and shrugging. He wasn’t sure how to go about clarifying things with the awkward tension still permeating the air, but Shinsou seemed to understand that and gave him a curt nod.

“Does anyone want to explain what’s happening right now?” Aizawa, as principal Nedzu had called him, asked. Bakugou and Midoriya had started backing up from the number one hero, stopping only when they ended up right in front of the man who had asked the question. Aizawa noticed this and reached out to pull them closer, his eyes now boring daggers into the blonde giant who stood frozen a short distance away.

As much as Bakugou wanted to shrug the man’s hand off his shoulder, it did help ground him in this moment and he steeled himself to answer Eraserhead’s question, not thinking twice about why he was so quick to trust the dark-haired hero.

“That asshole,” he started, gesturing to the skeletal man with a sneer, “is All Might, and he hurt ‘Zuku.” Bakugou felt like an idiot, tattling on the hero like a whiny child, but at the same time he felt a vindictive sort of glee. Aizawa merely blinked at him before looking at Nedzu, whose features were unreadable.

“Now, now young Bakugou. It was never my intention to hurt young Midoriya. I was merely–” Bakugou took a single step forward as the hand on his shoulder tightened.

“Fuck you! You told ‘Zuku he couldn’t be a hero! You knew how much it meant to him. I don’t give a shit what your intentions were!” Aizawa pulled him back and towards Midoriya, who Bakugou finally noticed was shaking a bit.

“Wow. What a dick.” Bakugou snapped his head to the side, looking to see Shinsou staring at Small Might with a displeased expression. When the purple-haired boy looked away, he realized that everyone’s eyes were now on him and ducked his head, blushing furiously.

“Toshinori, is this true?” That was principal Nedzu’s voice cutting through the hall. The towering blonde turned to him with a sheepish look before glancing back at Midoriya.

“I was merely stating a fact. He asked me if he could be a hero even though he’s quirkless. I told him he could not. He would only be putting himself and others in harm’s way without a quirk to protect him.” The silence that followed was stifling. Compared to the confusion in Shinsou, Eraserhead, and Present Mic’s eyes, there was a cold fury in Nedzu’s that Bakugou was sure chilled the whole campus.

“I see.” Nedzu said in a clipped tone. “Toshinori, we will be continuing this conversation in my office. Midoriya, Bakugou, if you two could please wait with Yamada and Aizawa. I’m sure Shinsou would appreciate the company of people his age. I’ll meet you all in the teacher’s lounge once I get to the bottom of this.” With that, Nedzu clasped his paws together and briskly left the hall, Toshinori following close behind with his shoulders hunched. After a few beats of silence, Present Mic shook himself out of his stupor and clapped his hands, speaking for the first time since he’d first greeted Bakugou.

“Well, little listeners! Let’s get you all up to the teacher’s lounge. I’m sure we could all do with a nice, refreshing drink while we wait!” The voice hero, Yamada, shot a sharp look at Aizawa as they all quietly made their way to the teacher’s lounge. Bakugou watched Aizawa shake his head minutely before he shifted his focus to Midoriya, who was hunched in on himself and staring at his feet with teary eyes.

Katsuki knew that ‘Zuku was lost in his head right now, and as much as he wanted to pull his friend from his spiral, he knew that Midoriya needed a moment to himself.

Izuku.

Midoriya shook his head as he collapsed into the small sofa of the break room, sniffling quietly. He didn’t want to listen to whatever Venom was going to say, he just wanted to forget this whole day.

Things had been going fine, amazing even. He had his meeting with Nedzu, who revealed that he knew Venom was an alien and not a quirk, and reassured Midoriya that he was simply interested in knowing how he came to tame the creature. At that, Venom had burst out, indignantly claiming that he hadn’t been tamed; he’d chosen Midoriya.

It made Midoriya feel warm inside when he’d heard those words, knowing that he was suddenly wanted by someone outside of his family, and he’d opened his mouth to explain everything that had led up to the bond between him and Venom. Their game of chess became nothing more than a distraction as he delved deeper into everything that had happened in the week previous, and Midoriya quickly lost, though he wasn’t too surprised. Holding out against Nedzu for as long as he had seemed like a feat in and of itself and the principal reassured him as much.

He’d strategically left out as much as he could about All Might as he talked, going no further than to mention that he was saved twice by the hero. If Nedzu thought it was strange, he didn’t show it, and he backed off enough to change topics and ask Midoriya about his goals for the future.

At their first meeting, the two actually hadn’t discussed much. It was more a ‘getting to know you’ arrangement that piqued Nedzu’s curiosity enough to invite him back. The teen now sat wondering if this would be the point where Nedzu would laugh at him and dismiss him entirely.

Pressing on anyway, Midoriya hesitantly explained that he wanted to be a hero. He told the principal that he had been studying analysis before Venom had come along, planning to go the underground route since he was quirkless. But now that Venom had agreed to help him, he was going to try harder so that he could succeed. He wasn’t sure yet if he still wanted to go underground or not though.

When Nedzu had asked if Midoriya had a copy of any of his analysis on hand, he’d carefully pulled out his most recent notebook and slid it across the principal’s desk. There was a tense bout of silence as Nedzu read, and Midoriya felt dread begin to pool in his stomach. Thoughts were racing through his head and Midoriya was starting to feel self-conscious as the minutes ticked by.

Suddenly, the chimera threw his head back and positively cackled before proclaiming loudly that Izuku would be his personal student from that moment on. Midoriya had sat there, stunned, for a full minute before he reacted. Tears had poured from his eyes, and he couldn’t thank Nedzu enough. After he had calmed down, Nedzu gave him a list of obscure heroes to research until their next meeting. Nedzu said he would like to see how much information he could gather on his own before offering up more resources to the teen.

Midoriya had left the office feeling lighter than he had in a long time, with a fun task ahead of him on top of that, and when he’d seen Bakugou talking with Shinsou he was even happier. He knew how worried Bakugou had been about the boy, even if he wouldn’t admit it. He had been worried about Shinsou too, yet there he was, safe and looking loads better than when they had first met.

And then, everything took a turn for the worst. All Might, in his small form, had rounded the corner and Izuku couldn’t breathe. Hurtful words he’d tried to bury echoed in his head and all of the work and training he’d been looking forward to doing suddenly seemed impossible. What good was trying when he’d already received his answer? What would happen if everyone here found out what All Might had said? Would they agree, would they hate him like everyone who came before? Who was he to try to prove the number one hero wrong?

He stood, stock still, and hoped he’d go unnoticed. It might have worked too, if Bakugou hadn’t glanced at him for a mere second and pieced everything together. Sometimes Izuku wished he wasn’t such an open book to his friend. More than anything, he wished he didn’t go into such detail when he explained things all the time. It’s his own fault Bakugou recognized the hero in the first place.

Now, he was sitting in the teacher’s lounge and wallowing quietly, while Bakugou fumed. The cup of hot chocolate in his hands cooling slowly. No one was saying anything and Midoriya could only shrink down on himself more and pretend he didn’t exist.

“Hey.” Shinsou suddenly whispered, his eyes still downcast but his head turned to face him. Midoriya looked up and made a noise of acknowledgement, fiddling with his shirt as he waited for Shinsou to speak.

“What that guy said, about how you can’t be a hero, it’s not true.” Midoriya’s breath caught in his throat as he froze, the words washing over him while he struggled to process. “I just – I know what it’s like, to want to be something other than what everyone already assumes you to be.” Shinsou’s eyes hardened for a moment before he subtly shook his head. “You’ve already proved him wrong anyway. I mean, you saved me that day on the beach. You both did.” Shinsou glanced over to Bakugou, who was observing quietly, before looking back down in his lap. “So just… yeah. You’re both already heroes to me. And, um. Thanks.”

Midoriya gave Shinsou a watery smile and wiped the last of his tears away, the words of the purple-haired kid alleviating some of the weight on his chest and warming him more than the drink in his hands. Before he could do anything more, Bakugou’s gruff voice cut in, the blonde deciding he’d been quiet for long enough.

“Did we save you?” Midoriya watched as piercing red eyes bore into indigo, and Shinsou made a confused hum. Bakugou nodded his head over to where the two heroes had been chatting quietly as they poured coffee, not letting his eyes stray from their mark. “Are they keeping their promise to take care of you? Are you safe now?”

Midoriya watched as Shinsou looked up at the two pros and then nodded his head slowly, a small smile playing on his lips. “Yeah. For once, I think I am.” They fell into a comfortable silence then, each stuck in their own heads as they waited for whatever would happen next.

They ended up waiting only a few minutes before Present Mic sidled closer to sit in front of them and threw his hands up.

“To hell with this!” The voice hero leaned forward conspiratorially before being tugged back by Eraserhead’s capture weapon. Aizawa gave a stern look to the blonde adult and reeled the man back in.

“Hizashi. No.” Hizashi brushed him off with a wave of his hands and let his eyes flit back and forth from Midoriya to Bakugou.

“So… You two are brothers? I’m guessing not related by blood, as you look nothing alike. Were you two adopted? Maybe just one of you?” Hizashi was waggling his eyebrows like he’d just discovered the hottest gossip as he waited for an answer. After receiving nothing but stares from all three boys, he pressed on undeterred.

“You know, Shinsou could use some friends in his corner who know what it’s like to live in the system. Even if you weren’t in it that long. You’ve already seemed to hit it off from the first time you met…” The hero let the implication hang in the air as he watched the two boys, ignoring Shinsou’s whine of embarrassment. Bakugou sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

“We’re not related, you freaking cockatoo. Izuku and I are best friends. I just said that because we’ve grown up together and we see each other every day; he might as well be related to me.” Izuku swiveled his head over at those words.

“Well, maybe it’s more that you’re related to me. I mean, you’ve picked up more of my tendencies than I have yours.” Bakugou squinted his eyes at him as he scoffed.

“Don’t be so sure of that, nerd. Just because you aren’t super obvious about it doesn’t mean you aren’t a little shit too.” He huffed, annoyed. Izuku tugged on the thread unraveling Bakugou’s patience, enjoying his irritation a little too much.

“Whatever you say Kacchan. Last time I checked though – you were the one picking apart that battle with Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. And I have yet to blow up a single classroom.” Bakugou reached over and smacked Midoriya in the head.

“Shut up, jack ass! I do other things besides just exploding shit!” Midoriya laughed dismissively and then squealed when Bakugou lunged at him, nearly spilling hot chocolate all over himself and Shinsou. Before Bakugou could reach him, Aizawa had him wrapped in his capture weapon, his eyes glowing red.

“Knock it off, you two.” They both froze as Present Mic chuckled lightly from the side.

“I see what you mean though, you totally could have fooled me.” His face shifted into something more somber as he looked at both boys closely. “About what happened earlier though, with All Might.” Midoriya and Bakugou both looked away as Aizawa not-so-subtly kicked Hizashi’s shin, letting his capture scarf fall from the latter teen. Hizashi pushed on, resting his hand on Aizawa’s shoulder as his voice softened.

“What he said to you was wrong. He was wrong. A quirk is just a tool, and it doesn’t make someone a good hero. Their actions do. And as far as Sho and I are concerned, All Might has failed to be a good hero for either of you.” Bakugou snorted and zeroed in on the two adults.

“You’ve got that right. Never meet your heroes, or whatever they say.” It was quiet again, no one quite knowing what to say, until Shinsou cleared his throat and announced he had a question.

“Go ahead, Hitoshi.” Present Mic encouraged. Midoriya watched as Shinsou opened his mouth and then closed it – a frustrated sigh escaping through his nose as he closed his eyes into a pinched expression.

“All Might. He was different – like a shell of himself.” Shinsou settled on.

“Small Might.” Bakugou snorted out with a smirk. He didn’t say anything else as he waited for Shinsou to continue, but seeing the teen fidget, Midoriya realized that was probably all they were going to get.

“Um. He said it was a secret, but I don’t think it really matters if you know or not; you already saw him in his skinny form.” Midoriya blinked and cleared his throat as everyone’s eyes shifted over to him.

“All Might said he was injured during a fight with a villain. A fight that he’s done everything in his power to keep hidden from the public. He was able to stop the villain, but he almost died from his injuries. Because of that, he can only do hero work for a few hours every day before his energy is used up and he reverts to his small form. That’s all the information he gave me.” No one said anything as they took in the words. The two pro heroes felt a chill go down their spine at finding out there had been a villain powerful enough to nearly take down the number one hero, while the younger boys all reflected on the idea that All Might wasn’t as untouchable as they thought he was.

“When did you have the chance to talk with All Might about this? It doesn’t seem logical to have this sort of conversation with just any fan in passing.” Midoriya chuckled nervously as he looked away from Aizawa’s piercing eyes, the man’s head cocked to the side as he waited for an answer.

“Oh. Well, you see.” Midoriya fidgeted on the spot before sighing. “All Might saved me from the sludge villain the first time it attacked.” At the heroes’ confused faces, Midoriya continued. “I was attacked a little while before the sludge villain attacked Kacchan, and All Might showed up out of nowhere right before I d–” Midoriya stopped for a second before he shook his head as he pressed on. “He took care of the villain and afterwards, I wanted to ask him if I could be a hero, even without a quirk, but he was in such a rush that he tried to leave before I could ask. So… I sort of grabbed onto him as he went to jump away. When we landed again, he went into his skinny form and explained it to me because I was freaking out.” Bakugou let out a heavy sigh, having already heard this story the week before.

“You…you grabbed onto him.” Midoriya nodded at Hizashi, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “When he jumped away – jumped, as in launched himself into the sky.” Midoriya nodded again and Shinsou whispered a heartfelt ‘dude’.

“While that recklessness does need to be addressed, I’d like to know how Bakugou was able to be attacked by this same villain shortly after you, Midoriya. If All Might saved you beforehand, how did the second incident even happen?” Aizawa sat back expectantly, awaiting an answer Midoriya was dreading to give him. It was Bakugou who finally spoke up, self-consciously shifting in his seat as he grumbled out a response.

“I kicked a soda bottle.” It was quiet as everyone, apart from Midoriya, stared blankly at Bakugou.

“You kicked a soda bottle.” Aizawa repeated, voice filled with confusion and dissatisfaction. Bakugou bristled as he sat up defensively.

“Yeah. I kicked a damn soda bottle, and that sludge villain was in it, and it broke out. And I already know I fucked up, so whatever you’re gonna say, keep it to yourself.” Aizawa sighed heavily as his hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose, Hizashi sitting beside him and making a sound somewhere between a wheezing laugh and a wail.

“Do you mean to tell me,” Eraserhead started, dropping his head into his hands, “that All Might – Japan’s number one hero – subdued a villain, and then tried to restrain said villain within a piece of trash?” Bakugou paused, letting his guard drop back down now that he knew he wasn’t about to be chewed out, before he shrugged his shoulders. Midoriya leaned forward and waved his hands in front of him, his ears burning with shame.

“It was my fault, Eraserhead sir.” Aizawa let his head swivel back to the green-haired boy, his eyebrows raised incredulously. “All Might had the bottle in his pocket before he went to jump away. When I latched onto him, I must’ve knocked the bottle loose and it fell.” White-hot shame coursed through Midoriya as he bowed his head, his eyes already blurring with tears. “I’m the reason Kacchan even got attacked in the first place.”

Before Midoriya could let his thoughts spiral, Bakugou sprawled across the sofa to reach Izuku, his way impeded by the body of Shinsou, who was trying desperately to not get crushed.

“I already told you, you damn nerd! It’s my fault for kicking that stupid bottle! Stop trying to make this all about you, that’s why you almost died a second time!” Bakugou punctuated his words with several punches to Midoriya’s thigh as Shinsou tried to hold the blonde back.

“Both of you stop.” It was Present Mic, voice pitched low in a surprising show of seriousness, who’d spoken. “Neither one of you are to blame for this. This falls on All Might. He didn’t follow proper procedure on restraining a villain, and because of that, people were hurt.” Midoriya felt uncomfortable at Present Mic’s words, part of him wanting to agree with the voice hero, while the other part of him wanted to continue explaining how this was all his fault.

He’s right. It’s All Might’s fault. We should find him and eat him.

Midoriya startled and lifted one hand to grab at his head.

“Venom, we talked about this!” He hissed in a whisper. A small squeak escaped him when he felt the mental impression of the shrug that Venom answered him with.

I want that drink. Venom stated in response, completely ignoring Midoriya’s words in favor of bringing the green-haired teen’s attention back to his forgotten hot chocolate.

Midoriya acquiesced, feeling his body vibrate at Venom’s satisfaction with the hot chocolate, before he looked up and saw four pairs of eyes fixed on him.

“What’d the parasite say?” Bakugou asked finally, his eyes curious even as he raised an eyebrow.

“Parasite?!” Venom screeched as he burst from Midoriya’s middle back. Bakugou glared harder, refusing to back down as he leaned forward and swatted at the creature, though Midoriya could tell from his eyes alone that he’d been startled.

“Calm down, Freak Face! I was just teasing.” Bakugou snatched his hand back when Venom snapped his teeth at him, looking offended and irate. “You know what? Fuck you!” Bakugou rose to his feet and Midoriya mimicked him, if only to back away from the impending fight.

“I’m not a parasite!” Venom roared, bobbing above Midoriya’s shoulder as he widened his mouth to show his rows of sharp teeth. Bakugou scoffed and crossed his arms, stepping around Shinsou’s legs to get closer, too prideful to back down.

“Could’ve fooled me, jackass!” Midoriya placed his cup on a nearby table and then lifted his hands placatingly in front of him.

“Can you guys stop? I really don’t want to do this right now.” It had been a tiring week of breaking up the petty squabbles between Bakugou and Venom. For some reason, the two seemed to be doing everything in their power to get on the other’s nerves. Midoriya couldn’t understand it, especially when he could feel Venom’s approval of the hot head. It was like they were both just looking for excuses to fight each other. Thinking about it now though, that did make sense if he thought about both of their personalities.

After a tense moment, Venom backed off, grumbling into Midoriya’s side as he slipped from view once again. Sighing in relief, Midoriya grabbed his mug again and raised it to his lips to help calm Venom. It seemed the word choice on Bakugou’s part had deeply offended the alien and Venom enjoyed the drink quite a bit the first time. Midoriya just hoped it would be enough.

“He doesn’t like that word, Kacchan.” Midoriya reprimanded after he’d swallowed and was sure Venom wouldn’t pop out in a rage again. “It really bothers him.” Bakugou stared long and hard before plopping down into Midoriya’s vacated spot, adjusting himself afterwards when he realized he was nearly on top of Shinsou.

“I won’t call him that again or whatever.” Bakugou finally relented, a vein throbbing in his temple. Midoriya knew that was as close to an apology as Bakugou got, and it seemed to be enough for Venom, so he nodded.

“What the fuck is that?” Shinsou asked with wide, innocent eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly in utter shock.

Midoriya thought back to Shinsou’s last encounter with Venom, how the alien had snatched him up with no warning, aggravating his injuries further before tossing him back to Bakugou. Maybe it was for the best if he didn’t bring Venom out around Shinsou.

Rude. Venom grumbled.

Yes, it was. Midoriya shot back, still thinking about the beach. Venom didn’t say anything after that and Midoriya focused on the two heroes in front of him.

“Problem children. Explain.” Izuku turned to see both Present Mic and Eraserhead standing warily, their faces perfect masks of suspicion and perplexity.

“That’s the thing from the beach. You called it Venom? That’s its name?” Present Mic was looking back and forth between Bakugou and Midoriya as he waited for an answer. Midoriya slowly nodded his head. “And it’s your… quirk?” Midoriya nodded again and Present Mic looked completely baffled.

“He’s, my quirk.” At the slow nod he received from the tall blonde, Midoriya sighed. “He’s sentient. We think he’s a mutation.”

“No, no, I get that.” Present Mic stated. “I’m just not understanding why you bothered to ask All Might if you could be a hero without a quirk, when you obviously do have one? Whatever it may be.” Yamada added with a gulp. Aizawa was glaring at him while he waited for an answer to the question posed by Yamada.

“Ahaha.” Midoriya chuckled nervously. “It’s kinda complicated?” He cursed himself for making his words come out as a question, ignoring Bakugou’s groan as he dropped his head into his hands.

Aizawa simply glared harder, his face showing that he wouldn’t be backing down from getting his answer. Midoriya let his shoulders slump, defeated.

“I didn’t have a quirk when I talked to All Might on that rooftop. I’m quirkless. Or – um I was.” Midoriya began, ignoring the way Shinsou parroted ‘rooftop’ under his breath with a baffled expression.

“After he left, I started to make my way home and heard explosions that I recognized. I knew they belonged to Kacchan, and when I saw him being attacked by the same villain that attacked me, I knew it had to be my fault. So, I ran in to try to save him, but ended up just putting myself in danger too.” Izuku hung his head in shame at the reminder of how powerless he had been in that moment. “Right before things got too bad –” Bakugou scoffed and cut him off.

“You were about to die ‘Zuku. Things were way past ‘too bad’.” Midoriya just sighed heavily, continuing on.

“Anyway, before things got too bad,” he shot a look at Bakugou, “All Might showed up and saved us.”

“No, he didn’t.” Bakugou growled. Midoriya lifted his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath, pausing just long enough to let his annoyance ebb away before speaking once more.

“Because of all the stress and strain my body had been put under, and because I was saved at just the right time before–” Midoriya paused and looked down, not able to bring himself to say the words.

“Before you died.” Bakugou stated for him with crossed arms, trying to drive the point home. Midoriya threw his hands in the air, petulantly reminding the red-eyed teen that he’d almost died too. “Whatever.” Bakugou muttered without any heat, and Midoriya dropped it.

“So, anyway, Um. I guess all that stress and stuff piled up and I developed a quirk.” Midoriya looked at the incredulous faces in front of him. “Um. At least, that’s what I figured must have happened. I wasn’t really in the right mindset to process that I felt differently until I got home – er, I mean, to Kacchan’s house.” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“You probably couldn’t think straight because All Might threw a punch at you so hard, you split your head open on the pavement.” Bakugou snarked. Midoriya groaned and turned to the disruptive blonde.

“Kacchan, enough! Just let it go! He didn’t mean to hurt me; he was trying to get rid of the sludge villain.” Bakugou scoffed and muttered ‘right’ sarcastically, under his breath.

“Bu-but. That means…” Yamada trailed off as Aizawa growled.

“Forced quirk activation.” The dark-haired man elaborated. “Cases of it are rare. Cases of someone surviving it, even rarer. Usually, the body is pushed so far past it’s limits, that even after developing a quirk, the person succumbs to their injuries within the following days.”

Midoriya didn’t actually know that little tidbit of information, though it made sense that their teachers and schoolbooks would skip over the nitty-gritty details of this particular topic.

“Um. That’s probably because of Venom.” He squeaked out, his cheeks burning from all the attention. “He healed me. By the time Kacchan and I had walked home, I didn’t even have a concussion anymore!” He hoped it would be enough to satisfy the two heroes.

“The concussion that All Might gave you, when he split your head open.” Bakugou helpfully supplied in a false cheery tone. Midoriya just sighed. Bakugou wasn’t letting it go.

“I really don’t like that man.” Shinsou announced with distaste. “Also, you said you talked to All Might on a rooftop…” Despite the phrasing, the question was clear, but Yamada had cut in with a question once again.

“How did he heal you? Wait, what do you mean by ‘walked home’, listener?” Aizawa nodded along with his eyes narrowed, whether it was in anger or something else, Midoriya didn’t know.

“Why weren’t you two treated on the scene and then escorted home, or to the hospital? That would be most logical.” Midoriya shrugged at Aizawa, not wanting to go into the details of their hasty retreat from All Might and the EMT’s refusal after finding out his quirk status.

“Did you at least get some type of treatment before you left?” Yamada asked, somewhat desperately now.

“One of the paramedics gave us a tube of ointment.” Bakugou stated bluntly. Present Mic whimpered in displeasure.

“I’m still curious about the rooftop thing.” Shinsou had his hand raised as if they were in a class and having this discussion.

“Oh? You mean the thing where All Might told ‘Zuku he couldn’t be a hero without a quirk, despite knowing he was quirkless, and then left him alone on the roof of some random building? That rooftop thing?” Bakugou was now glaring at Midoriya, who was looking helplessly between everyone as the angry blonde answered their questions. Shinsou’s face had paled considerably as he put his hand down with a look of shock.

“Yeah.” He whispered, “That rooftop thing.”

“He was in a rush.” Midoriya stated weakly, not even sure why he was trying to defend the man.

“He did WHAT?!” Aizawa shouted, his eyes glowing red almost subconsciously.

“Oh no. Sho – baby.” Hizashi reached out his hand and wrapped an arm around the dark-haired hero’s shoulder.

Aizawa angrily threw the arm off him as he stomped over to the door, which slammed shut and bolted closed before Aizawa could manage to make it out of the room. Looking around wildly, Aizawa tugged at his capture scarf.

“Let me out, you damn rat!” Eraserhead shouted in a rage. Nedzu’s voice echoed through some hidden speaker, sounding somewhat mechanical as he replied.

“No can do, Shouta. As much as I share your anger, and believe me I do,” Midoriya felt a chill go down his spine at Nedzu’s tone. “I cannot allow you to murder the number one hero. You’re far too valuable to me, and right now, those children need someone to be there for them. I am trusting you and Yamada to handle this, while I handle Toshinori.” With that said, a sharp click resounded and Midoriya knew the principal had taken his leave.

He felt mortified to know that Nedzu had probably been listening in on them the whole time, but not as mortified as he felt when he realized he was locked in a room with an angry Eraserhead. Turning his head slowly, he took in the dark-haired hero’s angry posture.

“Um.” He started hesitantly. “Can we maybe just pretend that none of this conversation ever happened?” All he received were deadpan stares from everyone. “It’s really not that big of a deal…” Midoriya let his words trail off when he noticed Aizawa bristle and suck in a sharp breath.

“It’s a very big deal, kid. It seems Bakugou is grasping the seriousness of this situation much better than you are, for whatever reason.” Bakugou’s lips turned up in a smug smile and Izuku frowned once again, not understanding why everyone was making such a big fuss out of this.

“I mean, yeah, it really hurt my feelings when All Might said I couldn’t be a hero, but it’s nothing I haven’t heard before and I don’t think even that would have been enough to really stop me from trying in the long run. And it sucked when I found out Kacchan was being attacked and I couldn’t do much of anything to stop it, but in the end, everything worked out okay and now I have Venom!”

“‘Everything worked out okay’? Are you insane?” Katsuki was staring at Midoriya angrily, mouth gaping as he rose from his seat. “You almost died because you ran in to try to help me and told the sludge villain to take you instead. And it fucking listened. As much as I can’t stand to say it, if All Might didn’t show up when he did, you would be dead.” Bakugou stood and started pacing.

“And the worst part, is he still ruined it. He almost killed you himself, when he knocked you over with that one punch. You smashed your head open, and he didn’t even apologize! He just told us it had to be done so that he could stop the villain. Like you were collateral damage! What the fuck! And then he told you again that you couldn’t be a hero. Even though you were the only one who tried to do anything! I was dying. There were three other heroes and a crowd people there, and no one – no one tried to help me. And that fucker really had the nerve to say that it only proved you couldn’t be a hero? You’re really okay with that?” Bakugou twirled around to face Midoriya head on, whose mouth was dropped open slightly as he stood, unsure what to say.

“GODDAMMIT! Do something ‘Zuku! Get mad, scream, throw something! Don’t just sit back and take it! You always just brush this shit off, it’s not okay!” Bakugou exploded a table out of anger before he tossed a chair across the room. Midoriya watched it shatter against the wall and said nothing. This only seemed to anger Bakugou more as he came to stand in front of Midoriya and shake him by the shoulders.

“You had to watch me almost die because no one cared enough to do anything! You had to face the man who crushed your dreams, and then sit there as he crushed them again! We had to walk home, injured, because the paramedics wouldn’t treat you once they found out you were quirkless! Doesn’t any of that make you angry!?” Midoriya’s breathing stuttered as he unfroze, tears pouring down his face as he pulled himself away from Bakugou’s heated hands. In a sudden surge of anger, Midoriya lunged forward and shoved Bakugou to the ground, breathing heavily as he tugged at his own hair.

“Of course, it makes me angry, you asshole! Of course, I’m not okay with any of it!” Midoriya dropped to the floor and curled in on himself, hiding his face in the crook of his arm as he sobbed, all of his anger suddenly turning to sorrow. “But what was I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do now? This has been my life for the past decade, Kacchan. I’m tired. I don’t want to hold grudges against everyone who ever hurt me. I can’t. All I can do is move on and maybe prove that I am enough after all! Not to anyone else, but to me. Even if I don’t believe it. Even if I don’t feel like it! I just have to pretend, because that’s all I fucking have!” Bakugou’s eyes were wide and shocked as he slowly came forward, wrapping an arm around Midoriya’s shoulders.

Midoriya leaned into the embrace, letting himself fall apart for just a few moments longer. “It’s just not fair. All I’ve ever wanted to do is help people, but all anyone sees when they look at me is something to hate!” Bakugou grit his teeth as he rubbed circles into Midoriya’s back, shaking his head subtly when the two adults with them tried to inch forward and help.

Midoriya was fully content to stay like this, wallowing and depressed, when Venom’s voice cut through his head with a nudge.

The purple one needs help.

Midoriya’s self-pity evaporated as his head snapped up to focus his gaze on Shinsou, who was staring blankly ahead, his eyes glazed as he clearly sat in a dissociative state. All of a sudden, any thoughts concerning his own mental well-being were gone as he focused on the dazed teen. Cursing and pushing Bakugou off him and in the direction of the other teen they’d forgotten was in the room, he stood. Izuku mentally berated himself for having a shouting match and throwing all his issues out in front of the boy, whose past he knew wasn’t good. He wobbled to the machine holding hot chocolate, shakily getting a cup down from the cupboard and filling it with the dark liquid. Hopefully they hadn’t ruined their chances of making a new friend.

When he came back to the couch, Present Mic and Eraserhead were standing back and watching for when to step in, their faces full of surprise. Bakugou was murmuring softly and holding Shinsou’s hands, rubbing soothing circles into Shinsou’s knuckles with his thumbs.

“C’mon, you purple fucker. You’re doing good. We’re in the teacher’s lounge at UA. ‘Zuku and I were being stupid, but we’re done now. Wherever you’re at in your head, it’s not happening right now. You’re safe. I won’t let that shit happen again.” Shinsou’s breathing hitched and Bakugou lifted the pale teen’s hand to his chest, exaggerating his own breathing as Shinsou’s picked up in a panic while he slowly came back to the present.

The way he spoke softly and made large, languid movements was a testament to how often he’d done this kind of thing. It might have seemed strange to anyone else, seeing the normally loud blonde handling the situation so well, but Midoriya knew better. Bakugou had been by his side since they were toddlers, and he’d been there to pick Izuku up every step of the way. Talking him out of his worser panic attacks was almost normal, and even if it wasn’t, it sure as hell was coming in handy today.

“It’s okay Shinsou. You’re safe. You’re at UA with me and ‘Zuku. You’re sitting on the worlds ugliest puke green couch, in the most boring room in UA, and you’re having a panic attack. Match my breathing. In and out. That’s it.” Izuku waited for Bakugou’s cue, and when the blonde reached out a hand, Midoriya placed the mug into it, stepping back to watch Bakugou mold Shinsou’s fingers around it.

“You feel that?” Bakugou asked. Shinsou nodded, his eyes wild and confused as he stared at Bakugou’s chest so that he could still follow his breathing, now that his hands were occupied. “What’s it feel like?” Bakugou asked, covering Shinsou’s hands with his own.

“Warm.” Shinsou rasped, blinking rapidly as he sucked in a breath a bit too fast.

“Yup. Hey, you’re still doing fine. Why don’t you take a sip?” Bakugou helped the teen lift the mug, and they all watched as Shinsou sagged around the cup, his eyes closing as he drank deeper. It stayed quiet for a moment before Hizashi stepped forward, the shock of everything that had happened in the past few minutes seeming to have finally worn off.

“You okay, Hitoshi?” The adult spoke softly. Shinsou cracked his eyes open and nodded, his gaze flicking over Bakugou’s form, who was still kneeling in front of him. He blushed as he set down the cup, laying on his side as he curled up on the couch, feeling exhausted and having not completely gotten rid of the spacey feeling.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, purple eyes locking onto the tiles of the floor. He refused to look anywhere near the occupants of the room. Bakugou jerked his head harshly in a single shake and tch’ed.

“You’re not the one who needs to be sorry.” Bakugou turned so his back was braced against the couch, letting his head fall and his eyes slip closed. He let out an angry sigh as he sat in silence, unable to bring himself to say more. Midoriya scooted forward and faced Shinsou and Bakugou, pillowing his head on his arms and resting them on his knees while he sat on the floor.

“That’s as close to an apology as he gets.” Midoriya elaborates, a yawn forcing its way out of his mouth. “But we are sorry. Really.” Midoriya watches as Shinsou nods his head blearily and his eyes flutter shut. He continues to stare at the two, watching as Shinsou’s breathing evens out and the harsh lines in Bakugou’s face smooth away. Suddenly, a small laugh escapes him as a realization dawns on him. Venom rumbles his agreement as Aizawa asks him what so funny.

Shaking his head, Midoriya let’s his eyes fall shut, the stress of everything that happened today going on the backburner as he wonders how long it’ll take the hotheaded teen sleeping in front of him to realize his budding feelings for their new acquaintance. He lets himself succumb to his exhaustion and falls asleep fairly quick after that epiphany. Turns out, getting super emotional and breaking down can be really exhausting, and it seemed all three boys were at their limit.

Hizashi and Shouta stare at one another in silence before looking back at the three sleeping teens in front of them. With a quiet groan, Aizawa walks off and all but collapses into the stool by the coffee counter, his head dropping gracelessly onto the marble top.

“I’ll admit,” Hizashi starts in a whisper. “I wasn’t expecting them to all end up falling asleep like this. But look at them! They’re adorable!” Hizashi continued to gush as he whipped out his phone to snap photos from whatever angle he could get. Aizawa just lifted his head and repeatedly dropped it back onto the countertop, banging it only enough to jar him and not enough for Yamada to interfere.

“How? How did we happen to find the three most danger-prone kids to ever exist – with no self-preservation instincts on top of that – and get them all in the same room?” Hizashi chuckled as he came to sit next to his husband, sliding a cup of coffee across the surface between them.

“If you really think about it, they kind of found each other all on their own, we were just there to watch it happen.” Hizashi stared at the three sleeping faces with a soft smile, happy that his new son had found two friends that would be good for him. Aizawa grumbled around his coffee cup, trying to act tough even in the face of the three sleeping teens.

“Well, they better not find anymore.” Aizawa had to use his quirk on Hizashi so that he didn’t wake the kids with his burst of laughter, and then they began to plan out a schedule and training routine for all three boys. Now that they knew what happened to each of them, respectively, neither hero felt good about letting them continue on the way things were.

Not if they could help it.