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He’d never admit it out loud because of his pride, but Bakugo does actually about his idiotic group of friends, even if they continuously annoy the shit out of him. It’s just that he shows it in his own roundabout ways. Only the people closest to him would be able to tell that he enjoys their company, or be able to push his buttons without any real repercussions.
He obviously regards Kirishima as his equal. The redhead was loud and boisterous most occasions, like most of the group, but he had still managed to worm his way into Bakugo’s group of friends. He’s like Deku, in a way: friendly to everyone, like an overexcited puppy, and filled with determination. It was his bravery and his persistence to become a hero that drew Bakugo to him, even if he didn’t realize it himself until the whole group had formed.
He puts up with Mina’s and Sero’s antics, begrudgingly indulging them in whatever stupid plans for “bonding” they come up with: movie nights, playing instruments with Jiro, and even hanging out at the mall when they were allowed to leave the dorms. Of course, he’s grown to like spending time with all of them to an extent, but he’s still gotta keep up his annoyed facade so they don’t see how much they’ve grown on him.
As for Kaminari... well, Bakugo tries not to delve deep into his feelings for him that much. He’ll outright refuse to acknowledge how there might be some crush-like feelings for the boy, and instead bury them down as much as he can. Unfortunately, that rarely works anyway seeing as how Kaminari is also always around and it’s impossible to ignore his bright smile and playful jabs. It’s like he knows just how to drag Bakugo’s feelings to the surface. It’s irritating, Bakugo tries to convince himself.
—
Today is no different in regards to how bothersome his friends can be.
Mina and Sero, damn them, have been irritating him all day with their pleas for him to join them in going to the mall after lunch. Apparently there’s some kind of discount going on at the video game store and they desperately want new things to play when the five of them hang out to challenge each other—not that they’ll ever win, of course. After about an hour of insistent texts and yelling, he gives in, shouting at them that he’ll go if they promise to leave him alone tomorrow. They agree to the promise, mouths pulled into giant grins, although he already knows that them actually sticking to the promise is absolute bullshit.
He steps out of the elevator onto the main floor and sees the four idiots already gathered together, talking and laughing. His eyes automatically, without his fucking consent, drift to Kaminari, who’s literally rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he excitedly flails his arms around while giving his input. Bakugo quickly looks away, as if his eyes had been burned by the sun itself.
It’s Kirishima who spots him first, his smile growing wider. “Hey, Bakubro! It’s about time you showed up!” He goes over to Bakugo and flings an arm around his shoulders, although it’s immediately shrugged off in annoyance. Kirishima doesn’t take offense to it.
“Well, now that Baku-slow is here, we can head out!” Mina chirps out happily. Bakugo sends a glare her way as he shoves his hands into his pockets, muttering a “let’s go” before walking to the front doors. The others quickly follow behind him as cheers erupt from both Kaminari and Sero.
As they walk to their destination, Kaminari ends up falling into step with Bakugo, while the other three stay behind and chatter amongst themselves.
“I’m surprised you actually agreed to come, dude,” Kaminari says, bumping his shoulder against Bakugo’s. Bakugo just grunts in response, trying to avoid looking at Kaminari. He knows if he does he’ll see how cute the other is and it’ll make his chest and stomach feel weird.
“Don’t think you guys are special or anything, dunce face,” he grumbles out. He doesn’t even need to look at him to know that Kaminari’s flashing him with one of his big smiles.
“Aww c’mon, you know you love us!”
That phrase sticks with him the entire rest of the way.
—
“Ooh! I wanna look inside this store next!” Mina exclaims, pointing at a shop full of colorful and frilly clothes. The group made it to the mall about a half hour ago, still without any video games as Mina keeps wanting to sidetrack their mission. Every time she passes a store that looks cutesy, she’ll drag either Kaminari or Sero in with her to ogle the items. Bakugo learned early on that yelling at her to quit getting distracted didn’t work so now he just resorts to standing with Kirishima outside the shops and glaring at passerby’s. It wouldn’t be so irritating if she actually bought something, but it seems she’s content to just look and keep them from going back to the dorms quickly.
”Hell no, pinky! Let’s just get the game and go,” Bakugo says gruffly. Mina pouts at him, obviously ready to retort.
A scream suddenly pierces through the air, stopping the conversation from progressing even further. They stood still in their tracks as they all turned towards the direction it came from. It didn’t take long for them, and everyone else around them, to see what the problem was. There stood a tall and lanky man, grinning maniacally as he stands over a bleeding figure on the ground. The victim’s throat has been cut open, and it’s not hard to figure out how by the looks of the blood on the villain’s hand.
It was unmistakable who he was. The bastard‘s name was Warhammer, a troublesome villain that the police and pro-heroes have been trying to apprehend for the past month. It seems the only reason he hasn’t been caught yet was because of his quick reflexes and strength. The bottoms of his feet were made of steal and basically in the round shape of a hammer’s head. His speed allowed him to jump around and use those to crush through most mediums, including concrete. News coverage has shown that some unlucky civilians have been crushed by his feet already, capitalizing on the fact that he’s not someone to mess with. Not only that, but actual construction nails are where his finger tips would be, the sharp points never dulling no matter how many times they’re used to slash through something—or someone.
It was just the UA students’ luck that he was there at the same time they were.
“Well if it isn’t the soon-to-be pros,” he drawls out. “It must be fate that I find you here. It’d be awfully rude of me to just ignore you.”
Despite knowing they should wait for the pro-heroes to arrive, they also understood that Warhammer having his eyes on them meant they had to do something to preserve themselves until enforcement came. They can’t just stand around defenseless. Bakugo is the first one to pounce, his hands producing sparks that he shoots out towards the villain. Warhammer lets out a jarring laugh as he jumps into the air onto the catwalk. The civilians around them scream and scatter in different directions.
Sero launches himself around with his tape, chasing after the villain. It’s sort of like a game of cat and mouse until Warhammer suddenly turns to run towards him, cutting through his tape with his nails. Before Sero can react, Warhammer is in the air above him, about to drop down on him with his steel feet. Then there’s a shock of lightning coming towards him. He stops his descent down to block it, which he does easily, but that distraction was enough for Sero to propel himself up to try and wrap the other’s arms together. Unfortunately Warhammer sees through the plan and dodged the tape, allowing himself to land on the ground. What he didn’t notice, however, is Mina in the shadows, quickly secreting acid from her feet to create a pool, which Warhammer ends up landing in at the last moment. He find himself slipping on it, toppling over onto his back. Kaminari sweeps in quickly and uses his electricity on the pond of acid, electrocuting both it and the villain himself. However, Warhammer was already jumping out of the acid by the time he did that, so even though Kaminari did shock him, it hadn’t been strong enough to put him out of commission.
They continue to try and catch up with him but Warhammer truly lives up to what’s in the news. He’s fast, faster than what the U.A. students expected. He jumps from ledge to ledge, dodging all their attacks while simultaneously throwing out his own moves. While Mina was able to get a good hit of acid at his arm, she still found herself at the receiving end of nails tearing through her shirt and skin. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep enough to be concerning, but it still threw her off a little. As Warhammer begins to attack her again, Kirishima, completely hardened, runs and slams into him, knocking both of them to the ground. Warhammer is immediately trying to slice through Kirishima’s flesh, but thankfully the latter’s hardening ability keeps him from getting wounded. Kirishima throws punch after punch, blood spewing out of the other’s nose and mouth. After several failed attempts at slicing Kirishima open, Warhammer realizes the futility of the situation and jumps off the ground and away from him.
“Shit! This is fuckin’ taking forever!” Bakugo screams frustratedly. He blasts himself towards where Warhammer is squatting on the roof of one of the palm trees that’s in the mall. As soon as he’s close enough, he ignites a huge flame to explode in the villain’s face, but at the last moment Warhammer jumped to a different area, a smile plastered on his face. It‘s like he’s teasing them. He and Bakugo exchange several hits, Bakugo getting shallow cuts in several areas. At one point, Warhammer jumps away out of sight.
“Bakugo, look out!” a voice yells from behind him. Just as he turns his head around to see what was happening, blood flows into his peripheral vision. It was as if everything has frozen. His mind feels hazy all of a sudden. He doesn’t feel pain anywhere on his body, so he knows he wasn’t the one who got hurt. But if it wasn’t him, then...
“KAMINARI!” Kirishima‘s loud voice rings through the haze, and Bakugo can feel his stomach drop at the name. He hears a thud from behind him and quickly turns all the way around to assess the situation. There, on the ground, lays Kaminari, his throat slit and blood streaming out of the wound, soaking the ground in crimson. Bakugo distantly hears Kirishima yell angrily as he charges towards Warhammer, but all he himself can do is stare in shock at the scene before him. Kaminari has a hand up to his neck, trying to stop the bleeding himself, but what truly knocked Bakugo out of his trance were the tears streaming from the other’s eyes. He quickly got down onto his knees and applied pressure to the wound as well, holding his hands over Kaminari’s.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck... What the hell, Pikachu?! Why would you—?!” He can feel himself panicking, something he can proudly say doesn’t ever happen. He doesn’t get a response even though it’s obvious Kaminari’s trying to speak. All he hears are the cries of his other friends.
He knows he’s always telling Kaminari and the others to shut up, that they’re all annoying, but he’d give anything to hear Kaminari say something right now. He actually enjoys the group’s chatter as background noise. It helps him feel less alone.
If Kaminari survives this, he’ll definitely tell him how much his voice actually means to him.
He wants so bad to run and explode the villain into a thousand pieces. He wants to tear the villain apart limb by limb, nail by nail, until there’s nothing left but charred flesh and steel. But he can’t. He can’t just walk away and leave Kaminari bleeding on the ground. He needs to help him somehow, but he has no idea what he can do without any medical supplies. The cut isn’t deep enough to have him bleed out and die quickly but it’ll still be fatal if not treated.
He can hear footsteps coming towards them, and he quickly shields Kaminari’s body with his own without even looking to see who it is.
“Stay the hell away!” he hollers, holding Kaminari’s body close to his chest protectively. The footsteps stop.
“Bakugo, please...” Bakugo recognizes Sero’s voice, but the tension still doesn’t leave his body. The light footsteps start up again. “Let me bandage him up at least,” Sero pleads, approaching slowly as to not rile Bakugo up even more. It’s obvious how terrified and angry Bakugo is right now. Bakugo hesitates for a second before his posture becomes less frigid. Sero takes that as a go-ahead and runs over to the two, quickly using his tape to wrap Kaminari’s neck with shaky hands. He can see Kaminari smile at him a little and Sero has to do everything he can to not break down right there, no matter how much he wants to cry out.
“Y-You’re gonna be okay, buddy,” he says instead, before turning to Bakugo. “I’ll call an ambulance for him.” He quickly pulls out his phone but Bakugo puts a stop to the motion.
“NO! The shitty ambulance won’t get here in time! I’ll fuckin’ take him myself!” he replies angrily, and luckily Sero is smart enough to not argue. With that, Bakugo gathers Kaminari into his arms before using his explosions to propel himself forwards as fast as he can towards the hospital. As he passes by, he sees Mina and Kirishima still battling it out with the villain, and finds himself hoping that a pro-hero arrives soon. He can’t handle the possibility of losing someone else too.
He tries to run smoothly so as not to jostle Kaminari’s head. It seems the bleeding has temporarily stopped—or at least slowed down a lot—but the amount lost already is still a cause for concern. Soon, he finds himself at the hospital, bursting through the entrance and screaming for someone to help the boy in his arms. It all happens so fast. Suddenly Kaminari’s body is no longer there, his arms holding nothing, and he’s being ushered to the side as doctors and nurses rush by. He sees Kaminari being wheeled away on a gurney but it doesn’t truly register in his mind. There’s a nurse trying to talk to him but all he can hear is white noise and his own erratic heartbeat. The nurse seems to understand what’s happening and leads him to sit down in one of the waiting room chairs.
He sits there for who knows how long, uncaring of how his hands are covered in dried blood, and isn’t snapped out of his trance until he‘s approached by someone with familiar pink hair. Mina. She sits in the chair beside him and he feels one of her arms wrap around him, her face buried in his shoulder. He’s distantly aware of the tears staining his shirt. Suddenly there’s a flash of red on his other side, and he can hear a question being asked but it won’t compute in his mind. Everything’s a jumbled mess right now and all he can do is stare forward, his mind briefly noting that Sero’s standing close before that thought is also consumed by the void.
It’s a while before the ringing in his ears fade and he can take in his surroundings. Mina and Kirishima are still sitting on either side of him, both of them with tears in their eyes. Kirishima looks especially worn out, but it’s possible that also has to do with his fist fight against Warhammer. Sero’s standing very rigid, seemingly texting something on his phone. Bakugo wouldn’t be surprised if the other was updating their classmates on what happened.
On what happened.
Fuck. Kaminari.
Is he okay? Is he gonna make it? What if it had been too late?
He didn’t realize his breath was starting to quicken until a hand rested on his shoulder. He looks to his right at Kirishima, who attempts to smile reassuringly, although Bakugo can clearly see that the smile doesn’t reach his watery eyes.
“He’s gonna be alright,” he says shakily. Mina looks at the two of them before she starts crying again, hiding his face in her hands. Sero quickly kneels down in front of her to comfort her with whispered words.
Suddenly there’s a familiar voice talking to them, and all of them turn their attention to it. Aizawa is there with Recovery Girl, both of them looking a bit worn out—for different reasons, most likely. Kirishima is the first one to speak, lunging out of his chair with his fists clenched tightly, asking how Kaminari is doing, if they’ve even seen him yet. The others are watching intently, awaiting some kind of answer.
“Because of your all’s quick thinking and... dare I say, medical help, he’ll be okay,” Aizawa finally says. “Recovery Girl and I were called here right after he was brought in, and she was able to fix him up. A couple doctors helped as well. He should be good to go either tonight or tomorrow morning.”
Tension bleeds out of everyone except Bakugo. Mina is seen slumping back in her chair, exhaustion from crying and stress clear on her face and in her posture. Sero leans up against the wall as he sighs in relief, Kirishima following suit. Aizawa notices that Bakugo’s the only one who’s still tense, and doesn’t hesitate to bring it up.
“Is there something on your mind, Bakugo?” he asks. He knows it was him that brought Kaminari here, and definitely knows that carrying around your limp and bleeding friend’s body could be terrifying even for the most strong-willed people. He wouldn’t be surprised if Bakugo was still feeling some of that leftover fear from earlier, and he’d rather Bakugo actually talk about it instead of letting those feelings simmer until they boil over.
Bakugo looks at him, the fierceness in his eyes as present as ever. However, anyone could see that there’s remnants of concern in them as well. “I want—no, I fuckin’ need to see him,” he says as calmly as he can. While Aizawa would normally be glad that Bakugo is actually using an inside voice, he knows right now that it’s really just the calm before the storm. If he were to keep Bakugo from seeing the other and tell him to go back to the dorms, it’ll most likely end in yelling and explosions. He didn’t want to deal with that, especially at a hospital, so instead of telling the group to wait until tomorrow, he sighs and says, “follow me”.
The normally-chaotic group of teens are eerily quiet as they walk with him through the different hallways. There’s no giggling or banter, just silence. It’s odd.
They make it to Kaminari’s hospital room, but before Aizawa stops them before they can enter. Bakugo gives him a piercing glare but doesn’t say anything.
“I want you guys to know that the only reason you won’t be suspended is because you all have obviously been through shit. I’d like it if you’d be back at the dorms before 5.” With that, he walks away.
They all hold their breaths, afraid of what lies behind the door. Even with the assurance that Kaminari will be okay, it’d still be heartbreaking seeing him in such a vulnerable position. Too many of them have been in the hospital already, and seeing friends wrapped up in bandages and lying in a hospital bed never gets easier. It just keeps enforcing the idea that the society around them is dangerous.
Bakugo, like usual, is the first one to act. He shoves open the door, not caring how loud he’s being, and walks in. He instantly spots Kaminari’s figure in the bed, lying so still you’d think he wasn’t even alive. He’s pale, his skin color close to that of the hospital bandages adorning his neck. Before he even realizes it, Bakugo has taken one of Kaminari’s hands into his own as he sits in the chair nearby. The others don’t seem to notice—or just don’t care—and instead surround the bed with him. Kirishima’s eyes fill with tears once again as he sits on other side the bed next to Kaminari’s legs, and Mina stands next to him with a hand curled around his waist.
“I’ve never seen him so quiet before,” Sero jokes from next to Bakugo, trying to lighten the mood. Mina snorts but it comes out as more of a sob. Even Kirishima manages to crack a small smile although it doesn’t last long. They sit there in silence for about half an hour before they notice Kaminari’s face begin to twitch as he wakes up. It’s obvious he’s still pretty out of it because of the drugs in his system from the surgery as he slowly takes in his surroundings without actually understanding what’s going on. Kirishima leans down closer to him, his eyes wide.
“Kami... can you hear me?”
Kaminari just blinks, still not processing where he is and who’s around him. His eyes seem far away, full of confusion and tiredness. He shuts them after a bit, slipping back into unconsciousness.
“I doubt we’re gonna get more than that today, guys. It’s almost 4:30, so we should probably head back now,” Sero says, providing a voice of reason. Bakugo can see the hesitation in Mina’s and Kirishima’s expressions, and understands completely how they don’t want to leave Kaminari’s side.
“I don’t want him to wake up alone...” Mina softly says. Kirishima nods in agreement.
Bakugo doesn’t want that either. Fuck it. Fuck curfews, fuck Aizawa, and fuck being a goody-two-shoes. He’s not gonna just walk back to the dorms and wait until tomorrow for an update. He especially doesn’t want to deal with his other classmates, who will no doubt be worried and instantly start asking all kinds of questions.
“You guys go. I’ll stay here and update you if anything happens,” he says with finality. Even if they try to convince him to leave as well, he won’t budge. He’s made his decision.
“But Bakugo, Mr. Aizawa said—”
Bakugo cuts Sero off. “I don’t give a fucking shit what he said, tape face! I ain’t going anywhere!”
The others look at him with shock. Out of everyone, they probably thought he’d be the one to get their asses back the dorm as soon as possible. Mina and Kirishima exchange glance at each other before a look of resignation falls on them both. They’ve known Bakugo long enough to know that there’s no stopping him when he’s put his mind to something.
Kirishima gets up first, but not before gently touching Kaminari’s cheek, a silent goodbye. Mina bends down to kiss the same cheek, and Bakugo stamps down the unnecessary pang of jealousy he feels from seeing that. He knows that Mina’s just an affectionate person. She’s always hugging and smooching her friends. This isn’t the time to be unreasonable.
The three of them leave after giving one more glance towards Kaminari’s still form, leaving Bakugo alone with him. He didn’t even realize he was still holding Kaminari’s hand until he felt how sweaty his palm had gotten. He still doesn’t let go.
—
Bakugo didn’t know when he had drifted off, but when he opens his eyes he sees that the clock on the wall reads 7:40. He’s definitely going to be in deep shit with Aizawa later, but he can’t find it in himself to care at the moment... especially since a pair of golden eyes are staring at him. He almost doesn’t believe it at first until Kaminari smiles softly at him, his eyes scrunching up. They’re still holding hands.
Bakugo leans forward in the chair, letting his free hand gently sweep through the other’s hair. He doesn’t know where this gentle side of himself came from. It seems even Kaminari’s shocked by it. Although it’s possible some of that surprise is from seeing how bloody his hands still are.
“You really scared the shit out of us, dunce face,” he says quietly. He’s not sure how much Kaminari actually remembers right now, but Bakugo’s definitely not going to bring up his own breakdown.
“... So... rry...” Kaminari croaks out. It looks like he’s trying to say more but Bakugo stops him.
“Shut it, there’s no fuckin’ reason to apologize. Just... I’m glad you’re gonna be okay.” Showing so much vulnerability is unlike him, but at the moment he doesn’t mind doing so if it keeps that smile on Kaminari’s face. But of course, he did make a promise, and as embarrassing as it is, he’ll keep to it.
“You better get soon quickly, ‘cause I like hearing your shitty voice,” he adds, gritting his teeth. It’s so embarrassing to admit and he can feel the tips of his ears burn a little. Opening up like this is always hard for him, even when it’s with his friends. Hell, maybe it’s worse when it’s his friends.
The look Kaminari gives him—eyes wide, grin bright—makes it all worth it.