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It all started when they went to training camp. Bakugou had stormed off, not yet angry, but definitely annoyed. He went further and further away before he was truly gone. At first, a few minutes passed, so no one did a thing. A few more minutes. And a few more…
“I think we should go check on him,” Kiri says, genuine worry written across his face.
“You know how K-Kacchan is,” Deku says thinking back. “It’s probably better if we just let him find his way back when he pleases.” Kiri just sighs as he sits back down. But, soon after, he’s stood back up again.
“No. I really don’t think something is right.”
“I mean, even for Bakugou, he’s been gone and possibly fuming for a while,” Denki says agreeing with the latter. With a sigh, Midoriya just agrees knowing their right.
“Just, we need to come up with a plan in case he is made,” Midoriya adds as they all stand up.
“Relax,” Kiri begins. “He’s harmless.”
So, off they went, into the woods by their camp base, following the trail of debris, timbred trees and… aqua smoke? The cloud was barely visible anymore, but just enough to form some sort of rim around something; that something being the someone they were looking for.
Before even thinking, Eijiro ran into the cloud and grabbed a pale, weary Bakugou from the ground. He was back out as quickly as he was in and gently lay Katsuki on the ground.
“Midoryia, go get Aiziwa-sensei.” Suddenly, Kirishima took upon the role of leader out of worry for Bakugou’s state. Knowing, it was serious, Midoryia went almost instantly, using as much power as he could for now. “Todoroki, check if he’s stable. Sero! Kaminari! Follow me to keep watch and maybe catch some of the that stuff,” he says pointing in the direction of the cloud.
It’s only a few minutes before Deku returns with their teacher and what looks like a first aid kit, but it felt like hours. According to the look on Shoto’s face, Bakugou was getting less and less conscious every minute, heart-beat slowing, breathing slowing. As soon as their teacher was in sight, Kiri lifted up the still Bakugou and simply ran in what felt like slow motion. The next thing he knew, it was black.
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When Kiri first woke up, he was back at school, but in the nurse’s office, next to him was a sleeping Bakugou with wires attached all around. Instantly, he shot out of him bed, only to be pulled back by Aiziwa. He had a few check-ups, but he was fine. The complete opposite could be said for Bakugou; it took a few more days for the latter to wake up and a few more days still, to freely move.
“Bakugou, listen carefully, because I’ll only say this once. You have been struck by the quirk of an unknown villain whose quirk seems to affect sections of a victim’s memory. We are working on an antidote, but until then, you’ll need to attend school.”
Bakugou, not even knowing it was him, just sat there quietly, looking around, trying to familiarize himself. He could hear the man speaking, but he wasn’t processing any of it. How could he when he knew nothing of this place? He was already scared enough, but then suddenly an explosion came out of nowhere! But that nowhere seemed to be in the middle of his palm. He looked at the man, then at his hand and back to the man.
“That is your quirk, explosion. You can ignite your sweat, but you’ll get the hang of how to control it. I’ll let you have a couple minutes with your friends to see if you remember anything, but then you should come to class.” With all the information he just heard, Bakugou felt another one of those nervous explosions coming on as well as a bombardment of questions that were just stuck in his throat.
Before he had the chance to open is his mouth, the man has left, Aizawa was it? And in his place came a bunch of new faces which Bakugou assumed were his friends as Aizawa had said.
“K-Kacchan, are you okay? How much do you remember?” Bakugou started back blankly.
“Are you in good physical shape? You were being so reckless.” That came from a relatively tall, strict looking-
“Bakugou, are you actually okay? You were motionless for days.”
“Give him some space to breathe. He might explode on us.”
“He probably doesn’t even know how to control his quirk yet, there’s no way he’d do that.”
“Having no control of his quirk makes him even more dangerous.”
Bakugou just looks around in a panic, but still trying to stay calm enough to not explode. With all going on, it’s becoming harder and harder to breathe. He wants to shrink, or just get away or just- just explode.
“Ha! I told you so!” Bakugou just stares blankly at all of them for a moment before just running out, a mixture of embarrassed and overwhelmed by everything.
Back in the room, the others just pause slightly confused. Kirishima begins to go after him before being held back.
“He just blew up; I think he needs to calm down.” Izuku says not letting go of Kirishima’s arm. But the latter is quick to yank it away.
“That’s what got us into this mess, so no, I’m going after him. Besides, he’s scared and confused.” Before anyone gets the chance to say anything more, Kirishima is out the door and looking for Bakugou, but, a lost and confused Bakugou.
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After a few minutes of looking around what felt like the same two corridors, Kiri finally found Bakugou. He sat still and pale in a corner, slightly sweaty, but thankfully, not with any explosions.
“Hi,” Kiri says, barely above a whisper. At that, Bakugou tries to go further away, into the corner. “It’s okay, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Bakugou nods, but then they just sit there, in silence for a few moments.
“I- I’m sorry that I ran off. I just-”
“It’s cool. Don’t apologize. We have to go to lessons soon, but first, let me tell you all you need to know, if that’s okay with you?”
“Umm… Okay. I already know my name, Kacchan, right?” Kiri smirks as a plan forms in his head.
“Yeah. Most of the class call you Bakugou though. You are 15 and go to a school for hero’s, in training of course. You have a strong fighter’s spirit and help everyone if you can. I guess, you’ll get the hang of everything as you go along, but if you need help, call on me, Kirishima, Deku, the kid with unmistakable green hair or, well, anyone expect Mineta.”
Bakugou gives a weak smile before finally standing up and suggesting they head to class. The whole walk there, he doesn’t let go of Kiri’s arm out of fear, not that the latter really minded much. And as soon as they walked into the room, Bakugou’s grip almost doubled.
“K-Kacchan! We didn’t mean to scare you, but are you okay?” Deku asks, shaking slightly. Bakugou just nods, still holding onto Kirishima. The class is soon in order as Aizawa walks in. Kiri guides Bakugou to his seat before going to sit in his own, only a few feet away.
The lesson goes on, but it is strange, silent and strange. Even for Bakugou, who feels as though he’s new, he knows this isn’t right. Still, he sits there, silently copying down notes from the board. Occasionally looking, subtly in Kirishima’s direction for a safe, calm feeling. He almost didn’t want it to end.
After the silent lesson finishes, they are straight out to PT (physical training) which is louder and sweatier and once again something Bakugou no longer knows how to do.
“Don’t worry. As I said, you have a strong quirk. You’ll get the hang of it.” Kiri smiles as they walk out the door into the sun and fenced arena. It wasn’t really intimidating, it just looked like a city. One that Bakugou knew he had never seen, like this or what he was before.
“Welcome all to the new arena. Designed for mastering each quirk, yet still saving lives as a team. I have assigned you each to teams already, they will test your abilities, but beware, they may change.” Bakugou looks around, but he isn’t sure what he’s looking at, he is just in awe until he hears is own name, but it was too late, he missed it. “Now, go beyond…”
“PLUS ULTRA!!!” Everyone, including Bakugou himself shouts, must’ve been engraved in his in brain, clearly. Before he has time to question it, someone, Iida he thinks, grabs his hand and zips him away, behind a large rock.
“Have you gotten a hold of that quirk?” Bakugou just stares, implying, he hasn’t. “Very well,” Iida continues, “stay here and alert us if there’s any trouble.” Deku and Kirishima look like they have something to say, but Iida drags them both before they have the chance. So Bakugou just sits, waiting for the others to return. He zones in and out of his head before he’s back and raging suddenly.
“You nerds want me to miss all the fun huh?” Bakugou doesn’t know what he’s doing. It feels like, some sort of weird dream, though all too real. He was moving, and could see everything as if he were actually, yet he stayed sat on the ground. He felt wild, but also like a new being integrity, then it went black.
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When he woke up, the others were back, he was free to move again, but he was sweating fiercely and, in the hospital, again. This time, there was no bombardment of questions, just a worried smile on Kirishima’s face.
He wanted to forget what happened after that, go back and somehow change the past. But he couldn’t, so he’d just have to face it:
- Face the fact that they didn’t find a cure, but instead a flaw in the quirk he fell victim to. An allowance of only 2 weeks’ worth of memory loss from the moment they wake – 2 weeks where they are changed, but still haunted by memories of their past, other self slowly re-forming.
- Face the fact that everything Kiri had said was a lie. He wasn’t some loveable friend, he was a monster that the whole class fear, one that didn’t deserve saving ever, not that he would’ve wanted it in that form.
- Face the fact that there was a spec of light. Face the fact that he could go and redeem himself in these 2 short weeks. No, it wouldn’t change him completely, and yes, they’d still be scared, with good reason to be, but at least he could try. He couldn’t give up.
He would’ve been better off not knowing, but at least now he knew, he could change.
“Kiri,” he begins, barely above a whisper, “you lied. But… I forgive you because, now, if you’ll help me, I can be nicer. And they won’t be as scared. And-” Without a word, Kirishima pulls the latter into a tight, warm hug as if to say yes. Bakugou replies with a silent thank you, and they just sit for a few moments.
“What’d you need help with? Something manly?”
“No. I need help shopping for presents, apology gifts almost. Or, I could throw them a party. Or I could-”
“Gifts sound like enough. I’ll be happy to help.” And with that, after the last two slow lessons of the day, they go shopping, but Denki wouldn’t let them go alone, not without a valid excuse anyways.
They tried not talk more about what the somehow believable excuse was on the trip, they were just both relieved that no one found out about their gift scheme and even more that no one decided to question anything.
At first, it was hard for Bakugou to choose gifts as he didn’t know the that well anymore, but Kiri was constantly there to help if he needed. It was nice: calm and kind of cosier this way.
“I think, this is enough for today. It will drag less suspicion. Anyways, let’s go grab a snack before going home.” So, they do. After the shopping da- trip, they go to get a quickly eaten bowl of katsudon before heading back home with 2 large cups of bubble tea.
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Next day, same arraignment. School, some lunch, more lessons and then shopping. It repeated for a couple of days before anyone started asking anything, but even then, they’d just let it slide. In those 2 weeks, Bakugou grew closer with all his classmates, and yes, he remembered a bit more each day, but he tried to brush off anything bad.
The last day came, and somehow, they had gone from a few gifts to a full-on leaver’s party, perfectly timed for spring break. They had only 24 hours of this Bakugou left, but they wouldn’t waste even a second of it. At almost they were all awake, preparing any last decorations for the new-old friend friend that would soon become just the old friend. And as soon as they started, they wouldn’t stop. Somehow, they managed to have a sort of barbeque, and outdoor theatre and other things that the school somehow let the have.
“Thank you all,” Bakugou begins. It was getting later and later, but there was nothing they could do. At least, all the gifts were sent out. “I- I wish I was a better person, the real me. But… I was glad to have spent this time with you lot.”
He doesn’t spend much more time with any speeches, they watch one more movie. It was alright, but long enough for Kacchan to fall asleep through. Silently sleeping softly on Kiri’s shoulder, arms gently holding the latter.
“Aren’t you going to move him? Somewhere more comfortable?”
“Nah. As I said, he’s harmless.” Kiri just smiles looking down at the calm blonde on his shoulder. The usually angry boy, sleeping sound after a fortnight of behaving like a new man, would soon be back to his shouty ways, but for now, they’d just enjoy the last few minutes.
“Just wait until he wakes up.” Denki says laughing.