Whelp...I binged this manga in a single 24-hr-setting period, no sleep, about two weeks ago, and started this fic immediately because I LOVE BAKUGOU and as much as I loved the subversion of the trope of his rival-character joining the villains...I also really want that angst and to see what it *would* be like if Bakugou joined the League, or at least went to them...This fic was meant to be shorter (sooooo much shorter) but things kept expanding, it got waaaay out of hand, and I'm very sorry...

Everyone is OOC 'cause I, again, bit off more than I could chew with such an ambitious, long story; a lot of suspension of disbelief is required for this story, too; I wrote Bakugou very angsty and fragile in his wavering morals and ideals, but that's just the plot of this story is his bobbing in the water, occasionally slipping under or over the surface of this moral event line; I also tried to keep this piece as non-AU as possible; currently, the manga is at chapter 190, so other than Blackmist not being captured (? spoiler..?) I think this story can fit anywhere after the Culture festival arc~

Warnings: I do not own My Hero Academia, any of the characters, or the song "Another Bag of Bones" by Kevin Devine, which is a fantastic~ song and I used the lyrics to break-up the story~

Bakugou cusses like a sailor, so warning for that.

There's some dark themes, but nothing too bad-this fic has less whumpage than I'd like, it's mostly a mental battle with oneself, so, idk, trigger-warning for any of that..? I think the themes are at the very least written poorly enough that you should be fine~!

It's a long fic. I'm so sorry about that. It's probably not a good story. It's my first in this fandom, but hopefully I'll write more for bnha soon, and most likely it'll be more Bakugou-centric cause I love him~! An evne longer Author's Note is at the end to just add to this length so...sorry...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Another Bag of Bones

It's a brush fire spreading, feeding as it moves

It's a disappeared glacier; it's the airborne

It's your disbelieving eyes logging concrete miles

It's your yawning conscience and your lawyer's smile

Frustrated, Bakugou sat with his arms crossed at his desk. Toru sat in front of him, scribbling notes he could easily peer at if he wanted to—her whole "invisible body" kind of made things like that easy.

Not that he'd look at her notes, or cheat off her tests—she was pretty dumb, in his eyes. She'd start to take notes, then scribble into doodles and inevitably end up drawing images of outfits she wanted to wear; they'd range from hero costumes to regular dresses she'd seen in a magazine. Sometimes she'd doodle fellow classmates, little cartoons of some event or joke that had happened earlier. Treating her time in class like it was personal time, and her notebook like a diary. Her mind was never focused. She was stupid and vapid. They all were.

Bakugou blinked, grunting at his thoughts. Those weren't 'nice' thoughts about his classmates. C'mon, Toru had proven herself to make it into the Heroics program at U.A—she had some good moves, some accomplishments. She wasn't near his level, but she still had merit.

Bakugou felt his palms sweating- was it really this hard to think positive things? He felt like he was forcing himself to say something nice about his classmate. And it was bullshit, too—not like anyone could hear him! No one was reading his mind, or holding him at gunpoint demanding he "say something nice!"

He didn't have anything to prove to anyone by not just thinking "she's fucking dumb".

Why the fuck was he even spending so much energy on thinking about the girl anyway?!

Bakugou grimaced. He tried to return his attention to the lecture, but he knew all this shit.

He felt a kick at the back of his chair and this instantly set him off, because it was followed by a sharp intake of breadth and an immediate whimper. Fucking Deku.

He'd accidentally stretched his foot too far out from his desk, hitting Bakugou's chair leg. Deku was already muttering an apology, half-heartedly wondering if speaking out loud would make things worse. Deku was probably expecting Bakugou to just turn around and threaten him, or, without a word, explode his desk.

Bakugou could feel the sweat in his palms seeping. He grunted again. Midnight was in the middle of a lecture about heroics and art, and he'd for the most part been paying attention, but then he'd stupidly let his mind wander into what those remedial classes had been hounding him on—how he treated people.

"Everyone and everything is just a fight to you!" Gang Orca had yelled at him. Bakugou hadn't cared much for the words at the time when he was being chewed out, but two days later it was suddenly all he could think about.

"Heroes rescue people; help those in need. They don't just fight the villains! You can't be a hero if you're not willing to be all of what a hero stands for! What does winning even mean to you? Having an enemy admit they can't fight anymore? Every innocent being rescued and no casualties? You won't always win—because in some situations, there is no winning! There's just 'doing what is best! Can you live with that?"

The sweat dripped, hitting the floor. Deku was still muttering. Midnight was begging for someone to provide the correct answer to her question after failed attempts by Mineta, Kaminari and Kirishima.

"Bakugou?" Midnight called on him.

"K-Kacchan..?" Midoriya at the same time muttered, pressing his luck with his apology.

"Well? Why do you want to be a hero?!" Gang Orca's words echoed in Bakugou's head.

Bakugou threw his palms to his desk, standing up abruptly. The chair fell over. Deku audibly squeaked. Midnight didn't look that perturbed. The class stared at him, but his eyes were downcast.

"I need to use the restroom!" He finally declared before storming out of the room.

Many of the students took note that he'd taken a left, while the restrooms closest were down the hall to the right, but he ignored their chatter as Midnight's voice called over all of them to settle down and answer her properly.

Bakugou didn't like skipping classes, but he couldn't fucking stand just sitting and doing nothing. Watching Toru take notes, or listen to Deku mutter an apology? Even Midnight's lecture was boring—he'd read the chapter she was covering and knew all the information. He needed to hit something. He needed to release all this anger, and without any heroics class this afternoon, he'd just have to make up the occasion himself.

The gym was empty. It was too early for the second or third years' classes to be taking place. It was set just as Cementoss left it before he'd form the gym into whatever arena was best situated for any class; just a bland gym. No equipment was out; the locker room was secured.

Bakugou didn't have his gym clothes or his costume—he was in his school uniform, sans tie, and without his gloves he'd get a kickback on any explosions he'd cause that were too big- if he felt so reckless.

And he fucking did.

Bakugou let out a scream, pushing off from just a few feet away from the entrance door to leap towards the center of the gym floor, spiraling and delivering an enclosed punch to the floor with an explosion. The concrete floor shattered like glass, forming a hole that spread outwards. Debris landed around Bakugou as he screamed and landed another palming hit against the floor, exploding his sweat just as he'd make impact.

His palms already were stinging but Bakugou kept the attacks against the architecture coming.

"Why do you want to be a hero?"

Bakugou had set off an explosion that had caught Todoroki in the shoulder, but had also taken out the targets in one shot. Inasa was already yelling out how that was a prick move, but Todoroki had barely been scuffed. Bakugou didn't care what Inasa, or now Camie who had joined in chiming with her stupid opinion, were saying. He'd accomplished the mission.

Gang Orca stepped up to the remedial class, silencing the students as his shadow loomed over Bakugou. Fucking great…

"A word, Bakugou Katsuki."

And that's when Bakugou found himself in the corner of the gym, siphoned off from the rest of the class for no reason—Gang Orca's voice was raised, and they all were watching their exchange. Everyone was witnessing Gang Orca's lecture, and it made Bakugou that much angrier that they were watching him—focus on your own weak selves!

"Everyone and everything is just a fight to you! Heroes need to be able to cooperate! To work together! You'll only die if you rely only on yourself!"

Bakugou didn't respond.

"Heroes rescue people; help those in need. They don't just fight the villains! You can't be a hero if you're not willing to be all of what a hero stands for! What does winning even mean to you? Having an enemy admit they can't fight anymore? Every innocent being rescued and no casualties? You won't always win—because in some situations, there is no winning! There's just 'doing what is best! Can you live with that?"

Bakugou furrowed his brows. Of course he knew there would be situations when not everyone could be saved—but he'd still save everyone! His mind kept yelling at him that he'd do it all-he'd win!

But, his mouth stayed snapped shut.

What a stupid answer. What naïve thinking…

"Well? Why do you want to be a hero?!"

He wanted to be the fucking best! Wasn't that enough?!

Bakugou hated that memory, that conversation. He'd felt like a dog with his whipped tail between his legs, leaving the remedial class that day…He hadn't responded to Gang Orca at all. He didn't answer him. It just had reminded him of his week with Best Jeanist and his unwanted opinion of how Bakugou was 'rough' and 'didn't know how to handle his image or other people'; what a waste that week had been.

He just wanted to be the best hero! No matter what it took….but…

He could feel the invisible eyes of everyone on him, all the time. Ever since his kidnapping—no, before that. Everyone always swore he'd become a villain. Back in middle school, all those extras would only repeat his proclamations that he'd become a hero because they knew he was stronger than them—because he was so adamant and vocal about becoming a hero, and so they'd just nod uselessly and agree. Of-fucking-course he was gonna become a hero! If any one of those extras had a spine, they'd have spoke up and called Bakugou out that he was a bully, a villain. Look at how he treated Deku! No one had believed in him when he'd earned top marks on tests—they had to have talked behind his back, wondering if he really was hero material…

And then, that sludge villain incident just made him a victim…

Of course the sludge villain had found him to be the perfect host—he had a villainous power, endless rage…

What had fucking Deku said? His "eyes had begged for help"?! He didn't need help!

"Heroes will sometimes have to team up, rely on others and their Quirks…" They'd been told that- instilled that- at U.A…

At U.A, all the staff had their doubts. He saw it in Aizawa's eyes. Aizawa always was wondering if he should stop Bakugou, intervene with him—halt his progress.

He knew it in All Might's broken smile. All Might, who had chosen Deku for whatever reason…All Might, who was no longer the hero he had been because of Bakugou. Does All Might ever wonder if it was worth it? To lose his powers to save Bakugou?

He heard it in the media's voices.

"What makes you so sure Bakugou Katsuki won't be swayed to the villain's cause? We all saw him perform at the Sport's Festival!"

He'd watched that broadcast, when reporters questioned Aizawa why Bakugou was surely not going to be brought over to the villain's side. He watched it live at the villains' headquarters, and he watched it again over and over on nights when he couldn't sleep after that event. It was supposed to be comforting, hearing his homeroom teacher stand up for him. His mom had thanked Aizawa for 'understanding Bakugou better than anyone else had', but what did that bitch know? Aizawa—that whole press conference—was just a distraction; a ploy. Every word had been prepared to throw off the guard of the League of Villains so that All Might could lead other pros to rescue Bakugou…

Maybe Aizawa hadn't believed in his own words. Maybe he'd just said them, knowing the villains were watching, and hoping that they'd comfort Bakugou himself and keep him from joining the League while a rescue team was on its way…

Everyone saw him at the Sport's Festival—it was just another excuse for them to throw at his face.

Look how brash you were! You were violent—you beat down a girl! You challenged fellow heroes, classmates—you were self-centered and violent!

It's why fewer heroes wanted to work with him despite winning.

You don't know your own classmates names?! You have no interest in rescuing people! You're brash and crude!

It's why he didn't pass his provincial license exam.

You just keep getting saved! By All Might—you cost him his power! You're the reason All Might is gone!

His palms were numb.

You got saved by Midoriya! He cares—he looks down on you, he pities you, because you just want to be strong, but you're weak-

Bakugou let out one last blood-curdling scream before falling onto his knees, scraping them under his pants. His palms collided with the broken ground and all the sweat gathered from beneath his uniform that slid into his palms built up under them as he ignited them—the blast caught him up in it and sent him backwards.

Except, there was no blast.

Bakugou was panting, his eyes closed as he felt his arms shake. It'd been a long time since he'd gone this hard, this intensely, without the gauntlets and the gloves that aided the kickback. He was a hell of a lot stronger, too, than the last time he'd really been no holds barred with just his palms, and against pure concrete…

His numb hands formed into a fist and he lifted his shaking right arm, bringing it down onto the cracked ground. No explosion—just the pounding of a simple fist against the concrete.

It busted his knuckles immediately, but he did the same with his left hand, slowly building up a rhythm until he was pounding both fists into the cracked earth, leaving a small pool of blood in his wake. He kept his eyes closed, clenching his teeth in anger. Nothing was working!

Nothing was releasing the pain. Nothing was clearing his head. This was supposed to work—he was supposed to feel better! All he did was feel worse—

He froze, finally opening his eyes and staring at the stain of red before him. His fingers were dripped with a mixture of his Quirk sweat and of blood, dripping just in front of his knees as he frowned. There was almost enough blood pooled, with the gym's lights, to create a reflection of himself in red to stare back at.

It was a pitiful sight.

Bakugou stared in disbelief at the floor, bewildered, before hearing a sigh from behind him.

"Skipping class to get back at Cementoss or something..? This will just cause him more work, even if it'll be trivial at most. He can reshape this place in a moment, but still…"

Aizawa was muttering to himself, admiring the handiwork of Bakugou.

Bakugou fell back onto his heels. So, Aizawa had found him.

Bakugou was breathing hard, glaring at his teacher.

Aizawa said nothing as he approached Bakugou. Despite Bakugou's move to lift himself up, Aizawa sturdily grabbed Bakugou by the shoulders, helping him to his feet. Bakugou wanted to push his teacher off him, but merely took in how strange it was.

Aizawa held Bakugou's shoulders for a moment, glancing at the blood, before returning to staring at the boy intently and sighing again.

"So, this is all about…something, I presume?"

Bakugou didn't say anything, glaring as he looked the other way.

Aizawa nodded, brushing off Bakugou's shoulder of debris before releasing his grip finally.

"You really are a piece of work."

Bakugou glared back at Aizawa, noticing how the professor was seemingly sizing him up. Did he think Bakugou was going to try to let out another explosion? Aizawa's eyes were on him, he already was probably cancelling his quirk…What did Aizawa want from him? An apology for the gym? For skipping Midnight's lecture? For him to pour out his heart and soul?!

Aizawa bent besides the pool of blood, touching at it with the tips of his fingers and frowning. Bakugou ignored it. You get into a fight, with a person or with concrete, you're bound to get a few scrapes.

"How're those provincial classes going? You should be completing them by the end of this week, shouldn't you?"

Bakugou kept his lips pursed together. If Aizawa wanted an update on how those classes were going, he could always ask Half-and-half. That bastard would love giving a full report of the merit of the classes and the improvement of every student in attendance. As for the schedule, Aizawa for sure had it memorized. This was a piss-poor attempt at small talk.

Aizawa kept his eyes on Bakugou, as if memorizing the details of the boy—looking for a reaction? For any sign of some kind of preemptive strike? Bakugou thought he'd put his professor at ease—he pocketed his hands, which were still bleeding, and his palms were blistering, of which his sweat was mixing into. It didn't hurt him—for him, it was just a light sting that'd go away in a couple of minutes…or an hour.

"You look like you've got a lot on your mind. You could unload some of it on me. I'm trying to understand you better, Bakugou."

Bakugou still didn't speak, sizing up the situation. He squinted his eyes, glaring.

"Or, if there's nothing on your mind, then you're just reacting without thought. So then, what are you reacting to?"

Bakugou dipped his head, clenching his fists. This was gonna hurt.

He waited quietly a moment, Aizawa sighing and closing his eyes, shaking his head.

"You're hard-headed, you know that?"

That's when Bakugou struck.

When 'Aizawa' closed their eyes.

He threw out both palms with his lightning speed, hitting 'Aizawa' squarely in the chest with a blast that sent 'Aizawa' backwards.

When the debris and smoke cleared, 'Aizawa' stumbled to stand, a hole in his shirt on his chest barring his flesh.

"Ow! That' really hurt!"

The voice was not of Aizawa's.

For a moment, 'Aizawa' grimaced, and then smiled. Then he…formed breasts?!

'Aizawa' began to melt, the clothes loosely melting with him as the form dissolved into a more petite frame; a female frame. Bakugou threw his arms up defensively.

His recognized the crazed smile and blonde hair as the true 'Aizawa' came to fruition.

The crazy bitch from the League of Villians!

Toga licked at her lips, tasting her own split lip.

"What a waste! You saw through my guise so soon?! I still had time left with that one, too…" She pouted.

Bakugou immediately fell into a fighting stance.

"How'd you get past the security?! Pros, heroes-in-training—they're all gonna be on you any second! This whole campus is being monitored, you think my actions in this gym didn't call some attention to them?!"

Toga shrugged.

"If anyone cared about you, wouldn't they have already arrived? Looks like the only person who did show up was…me!"

Bakugou ignored her words, refusing to let that bother him. Like he even needed backup! He could take this bitch down-!

"I know you'll hate hearing this~ But, I don't want to fight! In fact, I got everything I needed!"

Bakugou frowned.

"Needed…? What the hell did you take?!"

Toga smirked.

"If you wanna find out…come out tonight. To the gate, around 9—I'll find a way to get you out without tripping any alarms~ you'll get all your answers. To every question you have," she winked, emphasizing the 'every', as if to say she knew what was bothering him. Bakugou should stop her here and now.

He should knock her out; take her to the Pros…

She was already slipping out the door, her figure melting once more into that of Aizawa's.

"I can even promise you a fight, if you come tonight! Don't tell anyone though, alright?! Our secret!"

She winked, and then was gone.

Bakugou stood there, posed and staring after her while blood and sweat pooled from his palms. Minutes went by.

Sure enough, no one did show up. No one cared, or noticed, his explosions. No one knew a League of Villains' member had just been here.

Bakugou really was on his own.

"Heroes need to be able to cooperate! To work together! You'll only die if you rely only on yourself!" Gang Orca was screaming in his head again. All that crap about heroes looking out for each other, needing to rely on one another, and where were any of them now? Not that he needed them…or anyone…

"Why do you want to be a hero?!"

Bakugou slipped out of the gym just before the third years arrived to use it for their heroics training that day. He returned to the dorms before class was let out, slipping to his room and falling onto his bed. His palms were bruised, still stinging and a little numb—too numb to clench fully into fists, he found.

The pockets of his pants were stained with blood from when he pocketed them, but he didn't care about laundry or his wounds.

His mind was preoccupied with other pressing matters.

Bakugou grimaced.

Damnit!

Half an hour later, the class returned to the dorms. Bakugou knew as much because he heard Mina and Kirishima arguing at the top of their lungs from the first floor. He turned over in his bed, trying to relax and calm his head which was pounding. Maybe he could get some sleep.

He heard the stomps of footsteps and the loud knock on his door, followed by Sero's voice.

"Oi, Katsuki! You didn't return to class, so I brought your bag and notes back…you awake?"

Sero tried knocking softer, waiting, and then audibly sighed.

"I'll just…leave them outside your door then," he muttered to himself before the footsteps faded. No other steps were heard—no one else had returned to this floor, or their rooms. From the distant sounds, Bakugou could guess most of the class, at the least, was still in the commons area.

His scowl deepened.

He thought about what the mimicry-bitch had said.

He'd caught onto her with the way she'd kept looking at him, studying him. Aizawa never looked beyond a person's eyes to tell their intent or read their movements. She had some other purpose, the way she'd kept grabbing him and eyeing him.

Bakugou curses under his breath—she'd got a hold of his blood! He hadn't even thought about it, but in the debriefs after the internships that Round-face and Frog-girl and Deku had come back from, they'd mentioned something about how…Toga? That had been her name—her Quirk had to do with blood.

Is that how she slipped in and out of the school's security system? By taking on Aizawa's form? She must have gotten his blood from that attack that Deku and them had all been a part of…. She couldn't copy Quirk's, Bakugou had realized-never once had his Quirk felt cancelled while 'Aizawa's' eyes were on him. That'd really given her away.

Bakugou covered his face with his palms. He'd washed the blood off in his bathroom before everyone had returned, but he still wore the stained pants and school uniform, and his hands still had blisters and were forming bruises alarmingly quick. His knuckles were threatening to reopen if he stretched them too much, breaking the scabs that had tentatively formed.

There was no way in hell he was gonna meet with that bitch tonight.

Bakugou rolled over on his side, staring at the door and the darkness of his room. He heard a burst of laughter from below and gritted his teeth again.

Gang Orca's words were slowly being replaced by Toga's.

"Heroes rescue people; help those in need—"

"If anyone cared about you, wouldn't they have already arrived? Looks like the only person who did show up was…me!"

"-They don't just fight the villains! You can't be a hero if you're not willing to be all of what a hero stands for! What does winning even mean to you-?"

"-If you wanna find out…come out tonight. To the gate, around 9—I'll find a way to get you out without tripping any alarms~ you'll get all your answers-"

"-Having an enemy admit they can't fight anymore? Every innocent being rescued and no casualties? You won't always win—because in some situations, there is no winning! There's just 'doing what is best! Can you live with that? Well? Why do you want to be a hero?!"

"-To every question you have-"

Bakugou sat up suddenly, staring at the clock beside him. It was only 5. He cursed, still rattled inside to his core. Bakugou bit his cheek, feeling the sweat form in his palms, before throwing his shirt off and yanking off the blood-stained pocketed school pants, throwing on sweats and a tank top.

Damnit!

"You're going out?" Kirishima perked up, being the first to notice as Bakugou entered the commons room. It would have been ideal to not have crossed paths with anyone, but the reality was in order to get out of the front door, he had to go through here…

"For a run."

As he'd suspected, nearly everyone was present in the commons room. Sato was passing out brownies he'd made, getting compliments from the gathered girls around him,Toru and Jirou. Shoji had a book in hand, but was more interested in watching Kaminari and Sero play a video game. Sero was shouting at Kaminari, calling him a cheater—Kirishima was also involved in the game, but had set aside the controller—his teammates however had chosen to play on despite his forfeit as he stared at Bakugou.

Iida was already making a beeline for Bakugou, and Bakugou could guess what he was about to say.

"-skipping class is unacceptable!"

There it was. Iida took his role of class president so seriously, and he'd jumped right into berating Bakugou…

"-What's with your hands?"

Bakugou grimaced. Fucking Ponytail—of course she'd notice. He pocketed his hands before anyone else could draw their attention to his knuckles, still stained red and purple with bruises and caked blood.

Luckily, few were paying Bakugou much attention. Iida ignored Yaomomo's words, continuing his useless lecture. Mineta was looking at some magazine, trying and failing to keep it out of Ojiro's reach who scolded him for whatever vile filth it was. Ponytail sat at a stool in the kitchen area; beside her, Tokoyami was preparing dinner for the class. They both looked at him with the most judgment.

"Kacchan?"

Bakugou felt a blood vessel on his forehead pop at the pathetic whimper of Deku's voice from behind him. Sure enough, him and Round-face entered to room, followed by Aoyama and Asui, who all held snack foods in their hands.

"We're having a movie marathon!" Mina exclaimed, coming into the room from the other end with extra blankets in her hands. Koda was with her, also carrying pillows.

"You'll stay and watch with us, won't you?"

Deku sounded so fucking pathetic—it pissed Bakugou off even more.

Even that bastard Todoroki was there, sitting in a chair and half-heartedly watching the game go down. Kirishima's face fell, as he'd heard Yaomomo and caught just in time the state of Bakugou's hands. Concerned for his friend, he started to stand.

No, no, no—Bakugou didn't want to be cornered. He already had that pathetic Deku at his back, and the class president blabbering in his face…Yaomomo and Tokoyami's eyes were burning into him, and that look of pity that Kirishima was giving him-

Bakugou let off an explosion in his palms. It busted open the blisters that had formed, but his clenched fist hid those. That shut everyone up and he pocketed his hands just as quickly so no one could get a second look at his hands.

"I'm going for a run!"

"…"

No one said anything. Most were untroubled, used to Bakugou's bursts of anger or his standoffish antisocial ways. Most turned away, including Tokoyami. Round-face looked irritated, leading Aoyama and Asui around Bakugou. Todoroki looked away, too.

Only Yaomomo, Kirishima and Deku continued to stare at Bakugou as Iida was called away by Mina to help distribute the blankets, knowing he'd 'do it so efficiently and organized so that no one was left cold'.

"Don't fuckin' wait up for me." Bakugou finally finished, done with this fucking show he'd been forced to be put on—he hated this spotlight everyone had thrown on him, and he wanted to shake those eyes. Kirishima finally looked down, saddened by his friend's refusal to participate.

"There's curfew-"

"I fucking know that!"

Fucking Deku…leave well enough alone! Bakugou should've just blasted the punk in his stupid, pathetic face, but right now, he was looking for any solution to clear his head, and if punching things wouldn't work, or if he couldn't catch some sleep, then maybe a run would do him good.

Sero had Kaminari by the shoulders, shaking him as he demanded to know how he was cheating. Iida was trying his hardest to remain calm and collected, admitting out loud that no one from Class 1-A could stoop to such low tactics as cheating, but internally feeling inadequate at having lost a racing video game.

Iida had replaced Kirishima, who hadn't felt like playing after watching Bakugou sprint out of the dormitories. He'd given up his spot to approach the kitchen, rather aimlessly wandering.

Yaomomo offered him a leftover brownie of Sato's, but Kirishima just shook his head.

"You care a lot about Bakugou, huh?" Tsuyu suddenly blurted, squatting in the stool beside Kirishima. Most of the class was settling around the couch, but Yaomomo and Tokoyami werne't finished with dinner quite yet, and Tsuyu had joined the kitchen group. Deku, nearby, over heard Tsuyu's declaration and attempted to eavesdrop, despite Uraraka's pursuits that he cheer alongside with her for Iida.

"W-well, yeah, he's my best bro!"

Yaomomo frowned.

"You two are close…do you know what's bothering him?"

Kirishima bowed his head.

"No…I've no idea."

It was an admittance of guilt and shame. Kirishima, Bakugou's closest friend in U.A…knew very little about what went on in Bakugou's mind.

"I think he's stressed about the remedial classes," Todoroki provided, approaching the group that spoke in low whispers so as not to draw the entire class into a discussion about Kacchan—there was an unspoken fear they all felt that Bakugou would somehow kow if everyone was talking about him—or worse, feeling concerned for him—and he'd burst through the wall blowing them all up.

Todoroki didn't disclose the exact words Gang Orca had thrown in Bakugou's face. It wasn't his conversation to tell, even if he'd heard it all. True, he'd been caught up in Bakugou's blast, but from what Todoroki could tell, a minor impact to his shoulder was a worthy sacrifice to reach the goal within the time limit of the challenge.

Kirishima perked up.

"That has to be it! Your test is this week, isn't it?!"

Todoroki nodded.

Nearby, Deku seemed to sigh with relief, apparently also satisfied with the answer the group had come up with.

That had to be it—Bakugou was nervous about the test! And he just didn't want everyone to see it.

Yaomomo smiled, but seemed the least convinced.

Rather, Tsuyu was the least convinced, and admitted as much.

"Bakugou aces every test. There's no way that's it."

That was a gut punch to Deku and Kirishima, and Yaomomo's smile fell, as if she was in agreeance.

"Perhaps something more sinister clouds Katsuki's mind," Tokoyami chipped in.

Everyone present in the conversation frowned, thinking what could be more important to Bakugou than passing his hero provincial exam to obtain his license.

None suspected it was being a hero alone that Bakugou was at odds with—he always seemed so confident and constant with that goal of his. Surely, someone as confident and brahs as him, never swayed or had doubts…?

Bakugou panted heavily, dropping his hands to his knees to catch his breath as he slowed at the gate. He stared at the watch. Curfew would start in just a few minutes. He'd need to start heading back to the dorm…

Or…

He looked upwards, at the gate. Nearly nine…the girl said she'd be here, waiting for him….

He hated the idea that he'd actually be here. This wasn't his intention when he'd left for a run…or, it maybe was. Who goes for a four-hour jog, anyway? He'd stopped at places around campus—hell, he'd tried to take a nap on a bench by the pond towards the front of campus for a bit, but…but now, here he was.

He still hadn't made up his mind as to whether to turn heel and head back or stay and see if the bitch had the balls to actually show up when the all-too-familiar Quirk of Blackmist formed on the other side of the gate.

Bakugou jumped back as from the portal stepped…the ninja-guy.

"You're not her…"

"Why? Did she tell you it'd be her waiting for you?" The masked man's eyes were expressive, despite the mask, and he legitimately looked confused.

Thinking back, that hadn't been her words exactly…

"…She promised me a fight."

"Ah! That—I can fight you! But, first—you're going to listen to what I have to say." The masked figure seemed to smile from under his mask.

"I could give a damn about what you have to say. I'm just here to kick your ass-"

"-fine, don't listen. Just come with me and see—then, and I promise, we'll fight."

Bakugou grunted. He looked around at the cameras surrounding the gate—the masked figure was perfectly situated in their blind spot, across the street. But, the sensors would note the moment Bakugou crossed them.

Why was he even considering this..?

"The girl said she'd take care of the sensors-"

"Ah! That! She takes credit for everything, doesn't she? No, I'll be the one that'll be taking care of the sensors. Well, sort of—you'll see! It's a secret! I'm going to make a clone of you, and that way you won't even leave the campus grounds!"

Bakugou frowned in disbelief at the guy speaking to him from across the gate.

Twice. That had been his name, he remembered.

"How..?"

"Toga-chan gave me your measurements earlier~! They were really helpful! I wish I'd taken them, they'd have been better. But, It's enough that I can make a clone of you! It'll have your conscience and even your Quirk, but it won't be as strong as you. And that clone is who I'll take with me—you can stay on the campus grounds, sit on a bench over there, and witness everything—kinda like watching through a camera! Or being cloned!"

Bakugou didn't answer immediately. So that's why 'Aizawa' had been paying such close attention to him—grasping his shoulders and memorizing details about him.

She'd been gathering the details for Twice's Quirk to work.

"So, you're gonna clone me?"

"Yep! Weren't you listening? All thanks to Toga-chan's measurements! Actually, they didn't help as much, but she got some of your blood and was able to transform into you for me, and I took my measurements then!"

Bakugou was getting irritated by this guy's talking.

"…And if I go with you, and listen to whatever bullshit you have to say about how I ought to join you villains, blah blah, I then get to fight you?"

"Yep! No."

Twice held up a finger.

"I'm not hear to talk to you and convince you to join the League."

Bakugou clenched his fists.

"So what the fuck are you-?"

"-I'm here to help you answer your questions. Toga said as much, didn't she?! This isn't a recruitment tour."

"Tour..?"

"Yes. Also, I think there will be less talking than you think. I'm more…going to show you, rather than talk to you. I do love to talk though, so I'll probably talk a lot!"

Bakugou had had enough. He made to step to turn around.

"…Aren't you curious?"

Bakugou froze.

"…Don't you want a fight?"

That piqued Bakugou's interest.

He frowned, but stood still.

"So…what do I have to do…for you to, y'know, clone me?"

"Nothing! I've got what I need…"

Twice stretched out his arms as a liquid—a molasses like ooze—formed from his hands. Slowly, it took form until Bakugou was staring directly at himself. And…himself was staring back at him.

Bakugou felt suddenly dizzy, his original form taking a step back. In his mind, he was seeing two different images, in real time, and he felt conscious in both bodies.

"It's a bit unnerving at first, huh? I still struggle when I clone myself to know which one is real! You ought to take my advice and sit on that bench…"

Bakugou, grimacing, did as Twice suggested. A bit of ways past the gate, there was a bench. He sat down, closing his eyes and laying his head into his hands.

Now, only his clone was feeding images to his head. He stared at Twice, suddenly standing directly next to the masked villain.

Twice gave him thumbs up.

"See?! So, you ready to come with me?"

Bakugou clenched his fists. He did feel weaker, but he still felt the power of his Quirk surging through him.

"I let you babble on, and then I get to fight you?"

"That's how it works!"

Bakugou thought back to the remedial classes, and his one-on-one with Gang Orca. He thought about earlier today, in the classroom, when he'd watched Toru take notes. And at the gym, where no one had come after him. And then those looks of pity in the commons area.

"Let's go."

Before Bakugou had even given his answer, Blackmist had opened a portal, and Twice was half-stepped through, hand outstretched for Bakugou.

This time, Bakugou willingly stepped through the portal after a League member.

It's an occupied country foaming at the mouth

No smoking gun, no mushroom cloud

It's a military mother with a boy in hell

And it's a flag-draped casket down an oil well

Through the darkness, Bakugou was slightly blinded by an overhanging light—a street spotlight. He grimaced, looking around at his surroundings. Some alleyway, trashed and filthy, in a packed city that he couldn't make out instantly with the lack of a visible skyline. Neon lights flickered and he could make out shadowy figures walking around.

He instinctively struck a pose, forgetting all too late that his clone-self was dressed as he had been—in his tank top and sweats.

Twice seemed to notice.

"No one is gonna bother you. In fact, they would've bothered you if you were dressed like a hero—but, you look like any street punk kid, and you're with me, so no one will notice you. I made the decision last minute to change your clothes to what you had on from what I saw, rather than your school uniform like Toga-chan had modeled for me! You should be glad I know my fabrics and can mimic them so well, huh?"

Bakugou looked around at the surprisingly crowded alley, despite how shitty an environment it was. Sure enough, no one paid him any attention. One looked at Twice and seemed to recognize his mask, nodding at him before going on about his business. Bakugou looked at his appearance. Punk kid?!

"Jin~! Is that you? You wanna go another night with me? It is the clone of you that spent the night with me, right…?" A prostitute seemingly jumped at them from nowhere, smiling at Twice.

She looked to be in her mid twenties—pretty except for the heavy make-up, and blonde with fishnets and a halter top that left little to the imagination. Bakugou didn't bat an eye as she leaned forward, throwing her already heavily-exposed breasts into the view of the two males.

"Ah~! I-I, uh, am kinda on duty right now, s-sorry Josei…"

'Josei' eyed Twice, then Bakugou.

"Someone else has caught your heart. I can see it. Is it this boy..? He' doesn't look legal…"

"N-no! No, this kid isn't-! A-and there is no one else! It's Toga-chan! She gets me!"

Josei smirked, ignoring Twice and his contradicting ways.

She eyed Bakugou, who finally relented and stared back at her, giving her a threatening look.

"Yeesh," Josei backed off. "This kid's heart is full of…fight. No compassion….or passion, really…."

"What?!"

Twice rubbed at the back of his head.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to run into you tonight, Josei, but I can't say this is bad timing. Josei has a Quirk, kid," Twice added, turning his attention to Bakugou. He continued to stare at the woman, who looked proud of herself as Twice explained.

"Compassion; she can tell what a person most desires at that moment by looking at them. It's pretty convenient for a lady of the night, huh?"

Josei batted her fake eyelashes, leaning her weight onto one heel.

"And I can tell that Twice's heart is all confused, as ever. He wishes he could be sure-"

"-Josei!" Twice whined, "don't go telling everyone my story! I cloned myself once—too many clones, not sure which one was real. We killed each other—I might be just a clone! I'll never know."

"…"

Bakugou had fucking had it.

"But you!" Josei smirked. "You have as clouded a heart as Twice, or anyone's I've ever seen…You want to prove yourself, and be recognized…glorified…but you don't know how to get there…You're a real mess, kid!"

Bakugou clenched his fists.

"The fuck do you know? You're just a street walker, bitch!"

"Oh, he's got a mouth!" Josei smirked, but it was a darker smile.

"With a Quirk like mine, I coulda been a hero…Seeing into villains' hearts and desires and using that against them. But, I'm not hero material. See, when I first formed this Quirk, in elementary school, I thought it was great! I could see what all my classmates wanted—what toys they envied for, or who they had a crush on. All innocent….

But, then I also could see the hearts of adults. I could see how my father desired nothing more than to divorce my mother and run off with his assistant. Or how my mother desired the same thing, if nothing else so she could force full custody onto him and not have to be chained down to taking care of her brat of a daughter. I could see how my middle school teachers all desired to sleep with me when I, well, developed ahead of my other classmates…I could see how dark the desires were of people on the streets. I once saw a hero, and read his desire—money. He just wanted to earn his paycheck and live in a penthouse with a gal on each arm."

Josei flipped at her hair, smirking. Bakugou felt his teeth unclenching, debating whether he should pity this woman or not.

"Being a hero? That wasn't what I desired anymore, after seeing into everyone's hearts. It'd be so much easier to use my Quirk on my own terms than go through all that government sanctioned bull crap. Now, I use my Quirk and see what people want, and I give it to them." She winked, her meaning clear to Bakugou.

"The only problem is when I come across people like you—people who are unsure of what they desire. Those kind of people interest me the most…." Josei leaned in close to Bakugou's face, filling his nostrils with her perfume.

Suddenly, she shrugged, leaning back from Bakugou's face.

"In a couple of years, I guess!"

Twice sighed, apparently worried the entire time, or relieved that Josei wasn't going to leave him for this kid. Who knows what Twice was thinking—Twice didn't.

"When you get over that Toga-chick, you know where to find me!" Josei waved, walking on as a distant whistle called her attention. Bakugou watched her go out of curiosity, while Twice snaked an arm around Bakugou, leading him forward.

"Well, that was unexpected. I mean, I had an idea she might be out here tonight, but I wasn't sure."

"Is she the first stop on your tour to turn me? Show me someone who wanted to be a hero but saw the bad in people and so went to the dark side? Pretty over-the-head, wasn't it?"

Twice shrugs. "Again, I wasn't sure she'd be here. I didn't know if she'd tell you her story. And you got her all wrong. She didn't 'see the bad' in people—she just saw the reality of them. There's no dark side, either. Good? Bad? Evil? No such thing. Ah! This up here is what I wanted to show you! I'm glad Josei didn't keep us too long, or we'd have missed it! I'd have killed her if she talked too much!"

Bakugou frowned at Twice, this psychopath who was as open as a book but still impossible to read, but followed his directing.

Three men sprinted out of a storefront, bags of cash loosely gripped in their hands. One yelled back at the others, telling them to hurry. The largest of the three threw his bags at the other two, squatting against the ground. He activated his Quirk, his joints in his limbs deforming into round, wheel-like structures. The other two leapt upon the mutant's back, himself acting as a getaway car, before laughing at their success, mostly in astonishment.

"Aren't you going to stop them?"

Bakugou balled his fists.

"You don't have a provincial license, though…And, you're just a clone, so there's less durability in you than if you were really here. Though, there's more than enough durability in you, even as a clone, to take on some small fries like them. And, you're a clone—no one is here, I could have you dissolved before you're noticed or caught—you have an alibi of being on campus…Really, nothing is stopping you! But…"

Bakugou glared after the three men.

"…Is it really the license that is keeping you back..?"

Bakugou gritted his teeth.

"…They're so weak. You gonna waste the effort on them, or are you saving it all for me?"

Bakugou looked down at his feet. He couldn't get them to move.

"I overheard there'd be a hit tonight…probably for the best. A hero will catch them…maybe. They've been planning this for awhile now, and someone might have tipped them off to what the local heroes' patrol routes were gonna be tonight, so they know where to avoid…They'll get away scot-free."

"Your fucking point?"

Bakugou felt blood rushing to his face. He knew everything Twice was saying was true—he couldn't move himself to go after the criminals, and it wasn't the license that was holding him back... But, he was also getting tired of this ham-fisted speech Twice was feeding him.

Twice smirked, as if waiting for this, because suddenly his aura changed and he threw a hand out at Bakugou's shoulder, gripping him.

"You don't care about stopping them one bit? Who are they hurting? They're not worth the fight. You won't challenge them; fight them, because they're beneath you. But, as a hero, that's your duty. You can't turn away. Oh, wait, that's right…you don't have your license…Is that what's stopping you? If so, I won't tell! Go ahead, do the heroic thing and stop the bad guys! Or…do you just not care? See, this is why you can't be a hero. You just want to fight—to win, I should say."

"You know who always wins?" Bakugou spat back, his blood boiling. "Not the villains."

"Not the heroes either…"

"All Might always won!"

"You just admitted it yourself—'won'. Past tense. All Might was defeated. All For One and All Might had a draw. All For One is still alive—you know that, don't you? They have him locked up; heroes don't kill. He still has all his powers, all his Quirks that he's obtained. He still is intact. All Might? All Might is all but gone. Just a tarnished image…."

Shut up!

Bakugou swatted Twice's hand away, stepping back to put a few feet between the two of them.

"No one wins. A hero can win one battle, a villain the next. There's always gonna be good vs. evil. There are no definite winners or losers. So, if that's why you want to be a hero…then, I kinda shattered your resolve just now there, huh?"

Bakugou snarled.

Shut up!

"Josei said it herself—there's good and bad in everyone. Was she a villain? She works outside the law, and she uses her Quirk for selfish gains, unsanctioned. But, the people she does work with? She's doing them a service—she makes them feel good. Like a hero, right? Heroes can be corrupt—they can be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. But, you don't care about anyone but yourself. You just want to fight; to fight the strongest…to win. Heroes and their skewed reasoning for becoming such…for money, for fights….Villains do it too; they do crimes for money, or for fights. So, what's the difference? Simple."

Shut up!

"-Villains get to achieve their desires without the government keeping them in check. They have no one to answer to. No higher-ups…We don't have the duty-bound limitations of 'save these people' or 'clean up these disasters'. We're free."

Bakugou was shaking, anger rising in him with every word Twice spouted out. Shut up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

"So, if we're all the same, why do you want to be a hero over a villain? 'Cause of statistics? All Might's loss should show you…no one 'always wins'. But, you will, right? You'll never lose? As a hero?"

Twice suddenly took a stance, pulling forth the wire from his wrist.

"Prove it. Let's battle-"

Bakugou charged without hesitation. He leapt into the air, raising his hand up with the gathered sweat from clenching his fist built up to unleash on Twice-

With the snap of his fingers, Bakugou felt his clone dissolving before he could land.

"I guess I won! 0-1 for you, I'm afraid! Maybe we'll rematch…"

And with that- Twice, the alleyway, and everything- was gone.

Bakugou, startled, leapt up to his feet. He was back on campus, standing just in front of the gates, by the bench he'd been sitting at. Distant howling of Hound Dog reminded Bakugou of curfew, of which he was far past by now. He stared after where Twice had been, now just out into the darkness at nothing.

Bakugou stared at his hands, now padded in their gloves. It felt strange to be back in his costume. His knuckles were still bruised and his palms still had blisters that hadn't healed.

He thought back to last night, with Twice, and even afterwards, when he returned to the dorm. Of course someone had been waiting for him.

"Curfew started awhile ago….Where were you?"

Bakugou growled, angrily stepping past the nosy student.

A shadow met him in the face.

"I'm not in the mood for it, Feather-head…"

Tokoyami, leaning against the wall, didn't move.

"Dark Shadow is harder to control this late at night, in the dark…sorry," he said, half-heartedly and clearly not meaning his apology. He was getting in Bakugou's way.

Bakugou still had a lot of pent up anger and energy from his battle that didn't happen. Tokoyami was riding a thin line…

"Running out of class….out at night…Where are you going?"

"-like you fucking care?!"

Bakugou spat back, but quickly realized he hadn't meant to. He didn't want Feather-head to get the wrong impression. He didn't want everyone hovering over him.

"…You give off conflicting messages. Sometimes, you act like we're all beneath you, but then…sometimes I think you, and you know this…need us."

Bakugou snapped.

He let an explosion go off in his palms, the light sending Dark Shadow cowering. Tokoyami didn't flinch.

"Keep your dark poetry crap thoughts to yourself." Bakugou added in a calmer voice. He just wanted to sleep…

He kept thinking about Josei, her words about how clouded his heart was—"…people who are unsure of what they desire."

He thought about that masked bastard's words—"So, if we're all the same, why do you want to be a hero over a villain?"

And that mimicry-bitch—"If anyone cared about you, wouldn't they have already arrived? Looks like the only person who did show up was…me!"

"You give off conflicting messages. Sometimes, you act like we're all beneath you, but then…sometimes, I think you, and you know this…need us."

Bakugou stormed past Tokoyami. He didn't need anyone! He didn't need to listen to any damn one of them! He wanted to become a hero!

"Well? Why do you want to be a hero?!"

His head was spinning and he barely made it to his door, tripping over his own bag that Sero had set out for him hours ago. He kicked his notebook through the doorway. Kirishima's head poked out of his door to see what was causing the commotion, but before he could begin to ask if Bakugou was alright, Bakugou had slammed his door shut.

No more.

No more questions. No more talking. He wanted everyone to leave him alone.

He wanted them to just leave him alone!

"Bakugou, my boy, you don't seem to be focused. Your AP shot is off—the others mentioned you weren't feeling well yesterday. Perhaps a day of rest..?"

So, everyone was talking about him? Bakugou glared in Tokoyami's direction. If that bird said anything about his run last night…

"The hell do you care?"

All Might wasn't taken aback by Bakugou's language—hardly anyone was these days, but he was silent for a long time.

"…I'm here to talk and listen, you know."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. Teachers thinking they can solve all the problems of their students—heroes who have wisdom to pass down to trainees whose "shoes they once were in, too."

Bakugou respected All Might, but a part of him also hated being near him. He felt…uncomfortable. This thin, shadowy shell of a man was his fault.

That thought triggered Bakugou, who clenched his fist and used the spur of energy to release an AP shot.

It missed the target's bulls-eye by a hair, but it was enough to set Bakugou off. That wasn't good enough!

Bakugou's howl of rage spooked the few students nearest him. Kirishima peaked his head over the concrete to look at his friend, quizzically panning between the enraged Bakugou and the stoic All Might.

All Might quickly threw a smile in Kirishima's direction. "Kirishima, my boy! Do not despair! Bakugou is fine!"

Bakugou ignored the two, storming off the gym floor. He threw his gauntlets against the wall, aggravated.

With Cementoss' arrangement, everyone was walled off from one another and on different levels, working on their special moves. The person closest to Bakugou, in the back corner, was Yaomomo, who was working on the speed of her Creation. She paused, watching after Bakugou as he looked at his palms, which were throbbing.

All Might caught up to Bakugou, and from the distance, Yaomomo watched them exchange words—rather, All Might muttering something—and All Might reaching for Bakugou's hands. Bakugou slapped the retired hero's hand away, but this visibly caused him pain as he flinched, gripping his wrist. Again, All Might reached for Bakugou, but he stepped away from the former hero.

Yaomomo halted her work, trying to focus on what was going on.

Beside her, Shoji appeared.

"Do you want to know what they're saying?"

"Shoji! I….I'm worried about Bakugou."

Shoji raised an eyebrow. His tentacle, a mouth formed on one end while another joint formed into an ear, leaned in towards Yaomomo.

"Few would ever utter that sentence but….I am too." There was a pause as Shoji's ear strained.

Finally, the mouth at the end of his tentacle spoke.

"All Might is concerned about Bakugou's…hands. He noticed some damage to them earlier…He thinks Bakugou is distracted, and is concerned…especially with his hero license test coming up at the end of this week…Bakugou isn't saying anything…"

Yaomomo thought back to the prior night, and Bakugou's hands she had caught sight of before he'd hidden them. The knuckles were busted, and his palms had looked red and raw from what she'd seen. She thought about the small, short conversation of the few of them in the kitchen…During the movie marathon that night, she'd tried talking to Mina about it—Mina spoke to Bakugou, or was on better terms with him, than herself, but Mina had no clue. Yaomomo supposed the cause of the injuries had been from after Bakugou had stormed out of class. He was far too distracted as of late, and All Might was right…he had his exam at the end of this week, and the distraction could hold him back,

"…I'm not sure what that was about…"

Yaomomo was stirred from her thoughts, drawn back to reality. Bakugou was storming away from All Might, who only stared after him. Shoji had continued with the conversation relay, but Yaomomo had missed much of it.

"W-wait, I'm sorry, Shoji, what did you, er, Bakugou say?"

Shoji kept his eyes fixated on All Might.

"All Might told Bakugou, or rather began to tell him, that heroes need to rest occasionally, preferably to meditate and heal both mind and body, but Bakugou didn't stay to listen. He's stormed off now, it seems…."

Yaomomo bit her lip.

You can't keep hesitating, Momo!

"If All Might comes looking for me, tell him I've gone to get water!"

"Yaomomo..?"

A hero needs this…a hero needs to do that…

Just the word 'hero' seemed to trigger Bakugou as he grumbled into his arms.

Momo found Bakugou squatting in the hallway, his head bowed and his elbows propped on his knees, leaving his gloved hands to hang outward.

"Bakugou?"

He didn't raise his head, but he'd heard her.

"What the hell do you want, Ponytail?"

Momo hesitated, wondering what was the best way to approach Bakugou. His mood was never 'good'—just bad, or worse, and it seemed like the latter was her answer.

However, when Bakugou did lift his face, it was calm. It was a pensive look she had seen, but rarely. It was the look of guilt he'd carried when the class had been chewed out by Aizawa for knowing about and/or going after Bakugou. All thanks to Momo's tracker…

Momo lifted her arm, concentrating hard on the chemical compound she had memorized.

Bakugou jerk-reacted as Momo's arm began to ooze a liquid, which she quickly caught and gathered in her other hand.

"This is a balm I've memorized the chemical components of…It'll help your hands. May I?"

Bakugou didn't react immediately, still staring after the balm in her hands.

Momo frowned.

"Don't pretend there's nothing wrong, but also…don't feel you need to spill your heart out to me."

Bakugou flinched at this, "tsk"-ing at her proclamation. Course I ain't gonna spill my fucking heart to you, Ponytail.

Momo held her hand out closer to Bakugou.

"Let me see your hands."

Bakugou didn't argue, or bark or bite back. He merely pulled off one glove, followed by the other, and offered his hands to Momo.

She gulped down her gasp. They were in worse condition than she'd imagined. The distant glimpse she'd gotten last night only had revealed some red palms and busted knuckles—but these severe blisters?

"Are your gauntlets not working?"

Bakugou didn't answer, burying his head in his elbow as Momo began applying the balm to his right palm.

He hissed when she touched a blister that had popped.

"The gauntlets…are fine. This was…without them."

Momo nodded, filling in the gaps. Of course—after he stormed out of class. She doesn't know what he did, what happened, but she can try to fill in the gaps. Without his costume, which was kept in the locker room that he'd have no access to, he must have taken out his anger….somewhere. Here, in the gym, perhaps?

Momo was thinking about the schedules before Bakugou brought her back to reality.

"The other hand? I can get it."

Momo jumped, nodding as she held out the balm in one hand for Bakugou to finger and apply to his other hand. This, however, only reminded her-

"Your knuckles, too! The balm can help heal those…"

Now, that was a mystery. His palms ignited his sweat, so what cut his knuckles open..? A bare punch..?

Bakugou nodded once, applying the balm over both sets of knuckles. He stretched his fingers, feeling the numb, but comforting, feeling of the medicinal properties spreading through his hands.

"So…are you going to rest? Like All Might told you to?"

Bakugou, aggravated, glared at Momo, and she realized she'd just given away that she'd been eavesdropping. He muttered something about "Tentacle-arms", obviously having noticed the two watching his confrontation with All Might.

But, instead of exploding on her, Bakugou just sighed.

"I could use a nap."

Momo assumed he meant he was going to return to the dorms, but rather he curled there, on the floor just in front of her, and stretched out.

"H-here?!"

Bakugou, his eyes already closed, frowned.

"Why not? This way, I'll wake when class is over—I still have to change out of my costume…"

He'd gotten no sleep last night. After his confrontation with Toga and Twice, he'd been up for hours, despite how exhausted he'd felt. When he finally had found sleep, it'd been riddled with nightmares and then, suddenly, it was morning. Class had been distracting enough, taking notes as Aizawa lectured, but he couldn't put everything out of his head completely…

Momo watched the class hot-head for a moment, curled on the floor, before sighing with a small smirk.

"Well, class still has an hour left…At least take this…."

From her stomach, Momo produced a pillow, slowly pulling the fabric and fluff from her exposed torso. Bakugou only opened his eyes after it had fully been formed, flinching as she set to place the object under his head.

"What the-?!"

"-Just get some sleep. I'll wake you a few minutes before class ends, before everyone comes racing into the hall, and then you can join us in the locker room and change. Then, you'll go back to the dorm and get some more sleep, alright?"

Bakugou frowned.

"Are you ordering me around?"

She smiled.

"If you're going to be a hero, you got to be adaptable to plans and commands from teammates. We are teammates, after all. Fellow heroes, and all that..?"

She blushed, but Bakugou's face seemed to fall. Something she said set him off, and he turned his back to her, curling further inward on himself. Momo sighed, recognizing that at the very least, she'd gotten Bakugou to not only accept one gift, the balm, but two—the pillow. And he hadn't threatened to kill her so…all in all, this was the most successful conversation she'd had with him. She stood, bowing to his back, before leaving him to his nap.

Bakugou played her words over in his head, remembering Twice's proclamation of the difference between heroes and villains.

"If you're going to be a hero, you got to be adaptable to plans and commands…"

"-Villains get to achieve their desires without the government keeping them in check. They have no one to answer to. No higher-ups…"

Bakugou further curled up, clenching the pillow and grinding his teeth.

Heroes need this…heroes have to do that…"Villains are free"

He didn't get any sleep by the time Momo returned to 'wake' him before class ended.

Bakugou stared at his hands, which had significantly healed thanks to Ponytail's balm. He'd have to ask her what the actual product was and buy some for himself, rather than rely on her Quirk to make any more. But, the week had passed and what little he'd used had significantly healed the blisters and the scarring. Just his knuckles bore the scars, but that side of his hand mattered less.

"We have our exam tomorrow. Are you prepared for it?"

Bakugou jumped at the sound of Half-and-Half from beside him. He looked up, still a bit flabbergasted that the bastard was willingly speaking to him, but then again he'd become more social and outspoken than when he'd first started U.A—Bakugou noted this seemed to be Deku's doing. That brat had an influence on the class, it seemed.

Not Bakugou though—if anything, he'd just blow the little punk up next time he saw him.

Class had ended and everyone was filing out of the room, but Todoroki was lagging behind to talk to Bakugou. Bakugou thought back on how All Might had mentioned the class' "worry for his health'—so, was this another showing of that? Everyone seemed to make up excuses all week to get closer to Bakugou, to get him to talk. Like what? If Kirishima asked him enough times to borrow a pencil because he forgot his, Bakugou would reveal he spent a night out with a member of the League of Villains? If he actually joined Mina in all her requests for him to dance with her in the commons area, he'd feel compelled to reveal to her that Gang Orca hit him hard with some words last week that have rattled him since?

If Todoroki acts concerned for Bakugou and pretends to assume that Bakugou isn't 1000-fucking-percent ready for their remedial exam tomorrow, Bakugou will break down and cry like fucking Deku always does?

No one knows how to keep to their fucking selves, do they?

"Don't forget everything we've learned in the remedial classes-"

"-I fucking know that!"

Bakugou clenched his fists, but Todoroki didn't flinch. He seemed to be waiting on Bakugou, who hadn't even begun to put away his supplies or get up from his desk. The room was completely cleared by now, save the two of them.

"What the hell are you waiting on?!" Bakugou snapped.

"I thought…" Todoroki hesitated.

What could this Icyhot bastard have thought? That we could study together or some bullshit?!

"It might help if we relaxed tonight. We don't want to overwork ourselves the day before the exam-"

Bakugou grabbed his bag, standing and pushing past Todoroki.

"You can eat ice cream and nap or do whatever the hell you want. Just leave me out of it."

Todoroki sighed.

"You know, the reason we both failed the first exam was because of our attitudes….we weren't acting like heroes."

This struck a nerve with Bakugou, who dropped the bag from his shoulder.

Todoroki didn't stop, though.

"I couldn't work together with Inasa, and get over our own petty differences in time, and you lacked the sensitivity in dealing with people."

"See, this is why you can't be a hero. You just want to fight—to win, I should say."

Bakugou shook his head, trying to get Twice's voice out of his head, unaware Todoroki was still rambling on.

"This exam…it won't be a battle like the Sports Festival Tournament. The proctors know you're strong—they know we all are. But, it's like that day with the daycare kids—it's like Gang Orca said; we lacked heart-"

Gang Orca.

"Everyone and everything is just a fight to you! Heroes rescue people; help those in need. They don't just fight the villains! You can't be a hero if you're not willing to be all of what a hero stands for!"

Bakugou set off an explosion in either fist, shutting Todoroki up.

For a long pause, he didn't say anything, before finally turning around to shout back at Todoroki.

"I'm gonna pass the exam! I'm gonna get the stupid license and be a hero!"

In the back of his mind, faintly, he could see the sneering smiles of Toga and Gang Orca, and Twice loomed there with his mocking fingers holding up an "0" and "1" to signify their record. Bakugou was shaking with anger.

I'll show them I can become a hero!

It's an Argentine school-girl gagged and bound

It's a torture camp; it's a long way down

It's the constant bracing shock of now

And it's the whole damn world turned inside out,

alright

Inasa, Camie, Todoroki and Bakugou all were cornered, covering each other's backs. Bakugou didn't like the situation, but he knew this was necessary.

The exam was a giant puzzle board—one that set off traps with every wrong step or move and one that could very well kill you without care.

Three hostages, more trained trauma victims, were encased in glass cages, and wrong moves on the board also lead to unpleasantries to the hostages—the glasses were filling with water, and a line just at each victim's chin-height on the glass signified how much water the containers would take before the test was declared a failure and ended.

Bakugou assessed the board. Each tile was a different pattern or color, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. One green tile sent darts out that had nearly taken out Camie before Inasa had used wind to send them off course, while another green tile had added a gallon of water to the prisons the hostages cried from within.

"Todoroki, can't you set a sheet of ice out over the board for us to walk on?"

"I could," Todoroki answered Inasa, "but the problem are the sensors."

Ah, the other problem. The whole damn thing was a 3D box, and the ceiling had sensors that covered a radius. If anything entered that radius—movement, heat signature change, visual—the sensors sent out a laser beam directly downward. Each sensor had an invisible radius, and of varying sizes. So, it was impossible to tell if you were in a radius' sight or not. For the moment, they'd found a safe corner and were sticking to it, but the clock was ticking down—another element to this exam.

"We got to release the hostages," Todoroki reiterated, glancing at the three red buttons above each prison that would release the hostages. Bakugou hated everyone's screaming, eyeing the tiles and the sensors and the three hostages.

They had to cross the arena all at once, he figured. They didn't have time to find a safe route to each hostage. They also couldn't split up, much to his chagrin. They needed to combine their Quirks and reflexes, or they'd never make it.

That gave Bakugou an idea.

"Bimbo! Loudmouth! Icyhot! I have an idea!"

"Like, rude, but we're all ears," Camie pouted.

"You're gonna make an ice slide and push us all forward," Bakugou pointed to Todoroki.

"That's a lot of distance to cover without any support—if a sensor beam breaks the ice, the whole thing will crash down onto the tiles-"

"That's why you're gonna make supports on every tile that's green."

"But that'll, like, set off something! Either darts or water or—who knows?!"

"Just darts, and just water," Bakugou smirked. They'd been at this trial for a good ten minutes and he'd worked out the pattern.

"Each colored tile has two properties associated with it. The patterns and symbols are a mislead; they don't' mean anything. Purple tiles send out an electric shock when stepped on, or they enclose the cages to give the hostages less space. Yellow tiles activate a laser from the nearest sensor to their location, or they act as safe spots. Orange tiles also are either safe spots, or they explode."

The others glanced at their feet, noting how they all stood on a combination of orange and yellow tiles.

"So, like, wouldn't we aim then for supports on an orange or yellow tile?!"

Bakugou shook his head.

"The laser or explosion would break the support—that's too risky."

"So are darts or drowning the hostages!" Inasa yelled.

"No, because you, Airhead, are gonna redirect the darts to strike the glass containers of the hostages. The glass is probably too enforced to shatter, but if you can break even just a single dart through the containers, that'll let out water, depending on how high or low you strike the darts into the containers."

Todoroki was still examining the floor tiles, surprised by Bakugou's insight. When did he pick out the pattern…?

"Camie, you'll use your Glamour Quirk ahead of Todoroki to find out the radius of the sensors. Create enough clones of yourself to determine the radius, and Todoroki will swerve the slide accordingly."

"And you?" Camie bickered.

Bakugou looked at the hostages. Three containers.

"I'll take out any sensors we can't avoid, and catch whatever darts Inasa misses."

Inasa smirked. "I won't miss any."

Bakugou nodded, but there was a part of his plan he wasn't revealing.

Todoroki cracked his knuckles, raising his right hand.

"Alright. We don't have much time left, so this is all or nothing, Bakugou…"

"Yeah, I know. But it'll work. Trust me."

"That sensor has a small radius, cut close to it and, like, we'll avoid the other one to the left, totes!"

Todoroki swayed the slide, setting off green tiles for supports. A set of darts came aiming for his support, but Inasa had already swept them up with his wind and redirected their course. Several gallons had also been added to the hostages' tanks, but Inasa finally made a breakthrough with his darts on each container—a small faucet of water began to leak out as the hostages cheered (though they were never in any danger of drowning, they acted as if they were for sure going to 'not drown'; a nod to their training).

Bakugou shot AP Shots at sensors that Camie thought were too big an obstacle to get around, but also kept his eyes peeled forward, watching something. Todoroki noticed this, in what little moments he could spare to glance back at his classmate, before finally catching sight of what he saw.

The leaking water.

A row of alternating orange and yellow tiles lined the front of the tanks—presumably, they were all neutral tiles. But, the immediate row after them? A pure row of purple tiles. That's why breaking the glasses completely would be foolish—that rush of water would set off…electric shocks!

What little water was leaking alone was already pooling dangerously close…

"Bakugou! We're not gonna make it in time-!"

"Huh? What's he talking about?!" Camie asked, looking in every which direction, distracted as if she had missed something (of which she was).

"Camie! Your Quirk! The upcoming sensor!"

The momentary lapse in judgment of Camie was gonna cost them—they'd already hit the range of the sensor—the light lit up red, charging its radial attack.

"We're not gonna make it-" Todoroki began again.

Everything moved in slow motion for Todoroki in that moment. Bakugou gripped Camie and Inasa by the collars of their clothes, blasting them in the back in opposite directions. "-Inasa, use your wind to direct you two!"

Inasa was quick to catch on, using the blast as a boost and his wind as the final push for himself and Camie to launch them directly at the red buttons above the end cages.

Bakugou gripped Todoroki's back with both hands.

"-this might sting-"

The laser from the sensor was charged up-

"-Bakugou!"

Todoroki felt the sting as Bakugou blasted Todoroki forward, through the air, directly at the final button.

Just as the laser came down on Bakugou, who was left behind in the range of the final sensor.

The final sensor that seemed to cover the entire length, wall to wall, of the puzzle.

It would have been impossible to avoid its sensor even if Camie hadn't been distracted.

Todoroki slapped the button, releasing the final hostage who cheered.

Inasa was being hugged by his hostage, while Camie was cheering.

Todoroki immediately turned around, upon landing in the puddle of water under his hostage's cage. The floor seemed to have been deactivated once the buttons had been pressed, but…

"Baku-!"

"-check on your hostage, damn it," Bakugou smirked.

He was laying on the ground, on his stomach, bruised and charred a bit by the laser. A trickle of blood was leaking from his mouth, but Todoroki just nodded.

Hostages always were the first priority.

He turned to his, who smiled satisfyingly at Todoroki. After assuring that the hostage was safe, Todoroki ran over to Bakugou.

"Self-sacrifice? Really?!"

Bakugou spat the blood out, slowly pulling himself up to his knees. Todoroki attempted to help him, but he gripped Bakugou's ribs and the blonde winced at the touch.

"Bakugou, that was quite a hit! You could have internal bleeding…"

"Recovery Girl will heal me up in no time," Bakugou mumbled, but he wasn't smiling.

"….You knew the whole time about the final sensor. And your plan from the beginning was to launch the three of us the second we were close enough in range…And take the blast yourself?!"

Bakugou shrugged.

"Three hostages…You only needed three people, at most, to hit the buttons. My explosions were going to cross you three faster than your ice…"

"…You could've exploded the sensor, instead of taking the blast."

"Not enough time to do both—take out the sensor and launch you three? The hostages come first."

"So do teammates," Inasa added, joining the two. He was smirking, clearly impressed by Bakugou.

Camie hugged Bakugou, running right into him and ignoring his wincing at the pain.

"You, like, were totes the MVP of this! You solved the puzzle and, like, I kinda hate you cause you're brash and your explosion really hurt my back but, like, we totally did it cause of you!"

A buzzer sounded and the four hero-wannabes looked up to watch the walls dissolve by Cementoss, revealing a panel of onlookers.

Among them was Gang Orca.

Bakugou grimaced, but noted the others present—Aizawa, Endeavour…it was quite a bit of a crowd, actually…

Todoroki tensed, seeing his father, but Bakugou didn't give it any thought—he had his own internal issues to try to sort through before he got involved in someone else's mushy family crap.

Mera stood at the forefront.

"Congratulations on the completion of the exam. Your results will be announced shortly..."

"We so all totally passed," Camie winked.

Bakugou smirked. He better have fucking passed.

He was a hero after all.

"You all have passed….with the exception of one."

"Tf?!" Camie jumped up.

Inasa too looked shocked, worry washing over his face. Todoroki also seemed concerned, though reeled in his emotions more than the other two. Which one of them..?

Changed out of their costumes, they all sat in a row before the gathered council and proctors in their school uniforms. Bakugou had his arms crossed, head bowed. Recovery Girl had healed him up rather quickly, but something in his gut suddenly felt sick, and he doubted it was something even she could fix.

"Bakugou Katsuki…It is with remorse that the council has decided to decline your approval of a hero's provincial license."

At this, all three of Bakugou's teammates from the exam stood up from their chair. Murmurs amongst the crowd also filled Bakugou's ears, but his face was unexpressive.

"What?! Bakugou was just as much a part of our success as any one of us—how can you fail him?!"

The proctor looked uneasy. "To be honest…the decision came down to the council. They feel, well…with young Bakugou's showing from the U.A Sports Festival, to the "incident", to the exam and even now, there's just…not enough proof…"

"Proof of what?!" Todoroki demanded. Mera seemed to be sweating.

"P-proof of change of ch-character…"

Bakugou remained still.

The council still sees me as villain material. They'll never see me as a hero.

"He passed the written exam!" Inasa argued.

"And he was instrumental in the practical exam—if anything, he's the only one who should have passed it! Like, what, cause he didn't press a button when there was only three you're going to fail him? This is such BS!"

"You're looking at his past to make the decision for the now?! How can you deny him a license?!"

"Shoto!" Todoroki ignored the shout from his father from the stands. His eyes were burning with intensity at Mera—at the invisible council that all had decided to overlook the grading system of their own test and instead fail a hero because they couldn't-

Bakugou stood to his feet, startling everyone but Todoroki. Mera squeaked. They expected him to set off an explosion, or to go off on everyone present with a Bakugou-trademarked tantrum, but…

He just turned and walked out, mid-speech of the quivering proctor.

"Bakugou, wait!"

"A party! For Todoroki's passing!" Mina declared, still excited even after hours of prep had passed.

"Oi, don't forget about Bakugou! He'll pass!" Kirishima defended his friend.

"You think? I mean…'rescue' is a part of the exam, isn't it? He failed that, even at the entrance exam—0 points, remember?"

"Hey! Bakugou has changed!"

Clearly not enough, Bakugou thought bitterly, overhearing the discussion. He'd arrived back at the dorms half an hour ago—skipping the ceremony and the officiating of the trainees' licenses.

He'd been caught by Aizawa just outside the examination...

"-The council had their reasons, and normally I'd say to accept them and move on…but, in this case, I understand how you feel. This isn't fair…I watched the exam, and you conducted yourself like a hero. You showed heart. You cared for the hostages, and your teammates…What the council did, and why, isn't a good enough reason, and I-"

"Aizawa…." Bakugou stopped Aizawa, surprisingly calm. Aizawa was taken aback by his hot-headed student's show of restraint.

Maybe he felt ashamed and needed to cry it out. Maybe rather than angry, like Aizawa expected him to be, Bakugou was actually hurting-

But, then Bakugou turned to face his teacher.

And his face wasn't sad or angry.

It was so…calm.

Aizawa felt a knot grow in his throat.

Since when did he care about his students this much? Hell, he failed his entire homeroom last year…

"Go back inside. Be there for Todoroki. He's your student, and you need to show him your support. You trained him and he's a hero-in-training now, because of all you did for him."

You're my student too. Something seemed off about Bakugou's speech. It was all veiled—he wasn't talking about Todoroki at all.

This sounded like a goodbye.

"I'll personally lead an appeal against the council to overrule this judgment call-"

"Aizawa."

Again, Bakugou was cutting Aizawa off. Why wasn't he angry? All Bakugou wanted was to become a hero…

'Growth of character'…and the council saw none of it?

"Thank you."

That was like a dagger to Aizawa's heart. What..?

When Bakugou had made his way back to the dorms, he'd gotten lucky—everyone was in the kitchen, or setting up streamers—no one heard him slip through the door, and he'd dove into a crevice of a hall closet to avoid being spotted by the oncoming duo of Jirou and Toru, with arms full of decorations—streamers, banners, and handmade posters.

He really didn't want to deal with this shit.

The sound of the door bursting open made Bakugou close his eyes, steady his breathing. It's not worth it—whatever they say; don't give up your position. Don't get involved.

"Todoroki?! You're back already?!" Momo, who was assisting Kato with the cake.

"Surprise! And Congrats! Where's..?" Uraraka, who sounded so genuine in her congratulations for Todoroki…

"Have you guys seen Bakugou?!" Todoroki, who was going to now answer a barrage of questions and-

Bakugou couldn't handle it. He really wished his Quirk was walking through walls, because in this instant he wanted to get the hell away from here…

"No…he was at the test, with you, right?! Don't tell me he skipped the test!"

"He was there all right. And he passed it."

"Ha! See?! Told ya he would-"

"-except that the proctors wouldn't award him with a license."

"Wait…what?"

"Kacchan…didn't pass?!"

Bakugou grit his teeth. He had to get out of here.

If everyone was gathering around Todoroki at the entrance, and he stayed close enough against the wall, he could slip out and to the right. He could make a run for the elevators, and be in his room—no one would hear the ding, not over their chatter…He made a run for it, ignoring the impassioned back and forth between Icyhot and Deku.

He didn't need them defending him. He didn't need a damn license.

He didn't need…

…to be a hero.

Rather than his room, Bakugou found himself on the roof. It was dusk and he laid out on his back, watching the clouds. They all looked like the aftermath of an explosion to him, and it wasn't some kind of meditating crap. It was just that from no matter where he was inside, he could hear the yelling of everyone from downstairs. He heard the door open and sighed. 23 minutes…that's how long he'd escaped being found. So, what'd they done? Realized that Bakugou had to have returned before Todoroki? Did they split into teams of two, searching every room or sending out a search party across campus..?

"Todoroki told us what happened."

Fucking great.

It had to be that Round-face that followed Deku everywhere. She picked up on his habits of caring too much, and putting her nose where it didn't belong. Of all the people, the only one worse would've been Deku himself.

Bakugou ignored her. He didn't need her pity. If she took a step closer, he'd just set off an explosion, really let her know that he didn't want her pity, or her company, at this moment. He just wanted to be left alone.

"It's unfair! We could talk to All Might, or the Principal—have them appeal the council's ruling-"

Her words acted just like a footstep, so he let off a palmed explosion.

"Just shut the fuck up, Round-face. I don't care."

"You don't care?! About becoming a hero?! Are you serious?! You ruined Midoriya's life all because you wanted nothing more than to become a hero! That's all you talk about—is being the best!"

Midoriya? This bitch had her priorities so skewed. Fuck Deku. And fuck her.

"I will become number one!"

He clenched his fists.

You don't have to be a hero to win…

Uraraka huffed, not perturbed by Bakugou's warning explosions.

"Todoroki told us what you did at the exam…how you acted? You put everyone else before yourself…I thought he was joking…" She crossed her arms.

Bakugou smirked.

"Look at that—you really do have a darkness in you, huh? Bet Midoriya thinks you're so pure hearted. Is that why you two like each other? 'Cause he thinks you're this perfect, loving girl that sees the good in everyone, and because you wish you were? You're both fucking pretenders."

Uraraka shuddered, biting her lip.

"I-I don't…like Midoriya.."

Bullshit, she doesn't.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. Whatever helped her sleep at night.

"A-and I know I can be fake! I-I know everyone thinks I'm not selfish but…I can be…But you…You're the real deal. Here I thought, 'he's only selfish. Only cares about himself'. But, the way Todoroki spoke about the test, for a second…I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are a hero. But, you're not."

She turned to leave. Bakugou didn't stop her.

She, however, did, if only to look back at him briefly to give her final two-cents.

"You're not a hero, and you're all bark…What're you even doing here?"

"Why do you want to be a hero?!"

Bakugou laid back down, his eyes calmly finding the shapes of mushroom clouds in the skies again.

"I won't tell anyone you're up here. In fact, I wish I hadn't found you," Uraraka muttered, tears in her eyes.

She was right, Bakugou thought, ignoring her mutters as she slammed her way back into the stairwell and off the roof.

He isn't a hero.

True to her word, Uraraka didn't tell anyone she'd seen Bakugou on the roof. Kirishima guessed he was in his room, pretending to be asleep and ignoring his friend pounding at his door, and was threatening to break it down, but Iida and Todoroki both stopped him, claiming he should give Bakugou some space.

Uraraka was sour at the party downstairs. Everyone was in a less chipper mood, despite Toru's attempts to tell everyone to cheer up and celebrate for Todoroki's sake. But, Todoroki didn't feel like celebrating. They ate the cake in silence, complimenting Kato but otherwise slowly chewing through a rather delicious cake with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Deku tried to talk to Uraraka about why she seemed so upset, but she blushed, recalling Bakugou's words, and pushing aside her thoughts. She knew she'd been too hard on Bakugou—he rubbed her the wrong way, but the words she'd said to him…they'd gone too far.

She debated about telling someone that Bakugou was on the roof. For Deku's sake, it couldn't be him. He cared so much for his 'childhood friend', but he couldn't save Bakugou…

Maybe Todoroki? Or Kirishima? Kirishima was closest to Bakugou…

But, in the end, after Todoroki claimed he was tired after the test and wanted to call it a night, and everyone agreed there was no reason to drag the party on when no one really felt like celebrating, Uraraka found herself thinking that…she should be the one to confront Bakugou. If nothing else, to cleanse her own conscience and apologize.

That's when they felt the rattle—like the entire building was shaking.

Everyone paused, pondering for a moment what it could have been, before realization dawned on them.

"Bakugou!"

"It came from the roof!"

Uraraka felt her insides freeze. Did he…?

Everyone raced to the roof, arriving to see a large imprint of cracked ground, with a wide radius, centered on the roof.

"An explosion…"

"He propelled himself!" Kirishima stepped forward, in front of the others. He thought back to when Bakugou did the same thing to launch himself to catch Kirishima's hand when they'd rescued him…

"H-he was up here the whole time?"

Uraraka's stomach dropped when she saw tears form in Kirishima's eyes.

"N-no one checked the roof?! He was just up here this whole time and now he…he…"

Iida stepped forward, examining the blast.

"It looks like he went in the direction of…the gate? Do you think he's gonna leave campus?"

"You're not a hero, and you're all bark…What're you even doing here?"

Uraraka gripped her hands over her mouth, suddenly feeling sick. He was running away, all because of what she said!

Izuku frowned, glancing at Uraraka, "Are you alright? Uraraka…?"

"Uraraka! Y-you checked the roof…" Kirishima suddenly turned on her, his face as scary as Bakugou's. He looked a mixture of hurt and accusing…

"Y-you said he wasn't up here!"

"I…"

Uraraka felt tears sting her cheeks.

"-She probably didn't see him," Momo provided, gripping Uraraka's shoulder. Something about the touch made Uraraka realize that Yaomomo knew, but in her own way was saying "Don't."

"Don't blame yourself," Deku smiled reassuringly at Uraraka, which just made her want to cry more.

"Look at that—you really do have a darkness in you, huh? Bet Midoriya thinks you're so pure hearted"

Kirishima and Uraraka were both crying. Iida was ordering everyone to return inside, assuring them that the sensors, or Hound Dog, would find Bakugou before he could get off campus.

No one was sure whether to believe him or not…

Bakugou softened his landing with a small explosion that let him tuck and roll. He landed yards away from the dormitory.

Then, he ran.

He ran as fast as he could, not daring to set off any more explosions—that'd alert someone to his position. He just wanted to keep running, to run until he-

"Heard about the test…you wanna talk about it?"

Bakugou froze when he saw…himself?

Toga.

She smirked, dressed in his school uniform and in his form, looking at him. She yawned, mockingly, before throwing her/"his" hands behind "his" head.

"No." He grinds his teeth.

She shrugged, in his form.

"You got through the sensors disguised as me?"

Again, a shrug.

"You said you didn't wanna talk, but you're doing an awful lot of it!"

"I don't want to talk." Bakugou admitted."But…I'll come with you."

She blinks, not understanding at first, before a gleeful smile—it looked wrong on his face, with how her eyes looked lustful—spread. She nodded, excited—"I'll tell Twice-"

"-Not as a clone."

Her surprised smirk grew into a knowing smile—that was the worst, he decided.

The two Bakugous stepped through the gate, onto the main street. Toga melted into her original form, and she gripped Bakugou's sleeve.

"…Then, I'll call Blackmist."

It's a march to extinction with your god in step

It's his name in your mouth; it's his cross on your neck

It's a farm boy sprinting over desert dirt

And he's panting the 'Our Father' in staccato spurts

The new hideout for the League of Villains is a major upgrade to the previous one. It's a true lair; not just a run-down bar. It looks like an underground warehouse or shelter, from what Bakugou can tell. Familiar and unfamiliar faces from before surround him. Standing in the forefront, waiting for his and Toga's arrival, is Tomura Shigaraki.

"Let's get one thing straight. I can leave whenever I want. I'm not here to join you. But, I'm also not here to stop you." Bakugou shouts immediately. He's not intimidated by these guys—not as much as last time.

"You're just going to lead your schoolmates to us again, is that it? Where's the tracker on this kid? He's setting us up!" A lizard-looking fellow spits from the corner.

"Spinner…" Tomura answers. Bakugou takes note of the lizard's name. "No…he's not. Alright, we agree to your terms. You don't get involved in our ways, and we won't hold you here against your will. You stay as long as you want and observe. That's all—think of it as an internship. Since, y'know, you're not allowed to have one of those, thanks to the whole no-license thing…"

Bakugou's fist clench, but he doesn't let Tomura's words get to him. He wonders where these guys get their information—who's the spy on the inside, or do they just have eyes everywhere.

"But, to leave our hideout, we ask this of you—our one rule. Blackmist is the only way you can go, in or out. If you decide to leave, we can't very well have you telling everyone where we operate from."

"We could just kill him if he chooses to leave," Spinner remarks, smiling manically.

Tomura shakes his head.

"I think this is gonna be great, kid! This could definitely backfire on us and we shouldn't trust him; he's a loose cannon after all. He's decided he doesn't wanna be a hero, see, Tomura?! Just like you wanted! I wonder if this kid has an ulterior motive—he didn't seem like the type we were gonna convince last time around…"

Bakugou actually smirks at Twice.

The masked bastard was growing on him like a weed.

"I agree to your terms. Do you all sleep in this shit hole, or am I just gonna be kept here like a caged pet?"

Tomura shrugged, answering Bakugou's question.

"Dabi, you've got first watch."

"What?" The figure Bakugou remembers holding his throat from the forest…Dabi was his name?

He sighed, irritated.

"Is this punishment for something?"

"I don't trust Spinner alone with the kid, and Toga and Twice already have done so much…especially after having to work with the Yakuza."

Twice sighs in relief, apparently this being a sore memory, and Toga just smiles per usual.

"Besides, Blackmist and I have business to take care of…"

Bakugou watched the unnerving duo disappear into another warp gate before turning his attention to Dabi, who still hadn't stood from his seat.

"What? You want me to read off the rules or something? This isn't school, kid."

Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"Like I want to hear your voice anymore than I have to. I'm going to go take a look around. Stay outta my way and I'll stay outta yours."

Dabi scoffed as Bakugou walked off. Cocky kid…he'll fit in.

Sure enough, the place was a bunker. Like an underground casino, Bakugou easily found the exit, only to find the door was locked. But, he didn't bothered exploding it open—honestly, his situation was precarious and…he didn't want to escape. He really wanted to see this…whatever this was…through.

So, a stairwell to the bunker's door lead to the hallway, and the second door to the right was the main room he'd warped into. The first door was a storage room, mostly of locked boxes—probably black market goods. There were cases and duffle bags, and even some jars—some empty, some not. It just was a stash room, but not of anything too important. Bakugou doubted the headquarters also served as their laboratory, where those damn Nomus were being held, or created…

The end of the hallway had an office with papers and maps—shit that if Bakugou was a hero, he'd memorize. There was a door in the back of the office that also was locked, and when Bakugou toggled the handle, he swore he heard something, or someone, from inside…

Maybe a Nomu was here…

But none of this was his problem. The left side of the hall had three rooms—one was a large gym that made him actually smirk. Another room was a bathroom the size of a hall closet, and the third was another backroom like the first room had been—a place for the League to prepare or chill out. There was a small bar in the back.

It was this, the last room, where Dabi met up with Bakugou.

"Done exploring? You didn't try to escape, so…"

"So?" Bakugou asked with a raised brow.

Dabi shrugged.

"Nothing, I guess. You want a drink?"

Bakugou frowned.

"I'm fucking fifteen."

Dabi actually laughed at this—unnerving to see, as he looked like half a corpse with his scarred body and piercing stitches.

"Kid…you're in the Headquarters of the League of Villains…you think we care about the age limit?"

Bakugou realized it sounded dumb when put that way. He was going to turn down the drink anyway—he probably wouldn't like it, but Dabi was behind the bar, pouring two shots of something dark already.

He set one forward for Bakugou to take.

Bakugou hesitantly lifted the drink, sniffing it—it burned his nostrils.

"Don't smell it. Just shoot it back—the less it touches your throat, the less it'll burn."

Bakugou went to sip the stuff—it really smelled like gasoline, or some kind of poison. Was he sure Dabi wasn't trying to kill him?

"Don't."

Bakugou moved the glass quickly away from his mouth, spilling some. It was poison!

Dabi sighed, still smirking.

"You're on edge…I meant, don't drink it just yet…Don't ever take shots alone. It's bad luck. You cheers it-"

Dabi lifted his glass, expectantly. Bakugou slowly tapped his to Dabi's.

"-and then you tap the bar with it," Dabi demonstrated, setting his glass down momentarily on the counter before raising it back and shooting the shot back.

"Ah!" He gasped refreshingly.

Bakugou slowly followed Dabi's motions, holding his breath as the burning liquid went down. He gagged when he swallowed.

"That stuff is shit!"

"You'll build a tolerance."

Bakugou felt like rubbing his tongue on a washcloth, but rather Dabi instead handed him another glass-this liquid was clear.

"Fuck is that?"

"A chaser. In your case, just water."

Bakugou hesitated, then took the glass. If it was poison, he honestly didn't care. That alcohol tasted so bad, he could go ahead and die right now.

"So, you're here. Of your own free will."

Bakugou glared at Dabi. Small talk? Really?

He didn't immediately respond. A stupid question like that? Honestly didn't deserve a response. Dabi continued to smirk.

"I came here of my own free will, too. After seeing Stain's last stand, and hearing his manifesto. He wanted to bring down heroes—organized heroics and everything they stood for."

Dabi created a small, blue flame in his hand.

"So do I."

Bakugou watched the flame flicker and dance.

"That's the League's goal, isn't it? Kill all the heroes. Destroy the symbol of justice and all that?"

Dabi shrugged.

"The League's goals…my goals…we all have our reasons for being here. The League is just a front for people that hate heroes to gather. But, we all have our own agendas. And we don't get in the way of each other."

Bakugou frowned.

"So…what's your goal?"

"I told you. I want to see the world of heroes fall. Heh…I guess my goals do line up with the League's. But, Toga? She just likes blood—just wants to kill. Twice? No one would give him a second look. The League? We took him in, see his potential—give him a purpose to calm his voices…"

"Tomura?"

"All For One trained Tomura to lead us…Tomura wants to make All For One proud. To carry out his message. Of how flawed heroes are…They're entitled and goody-two-shoes…they think they're above the law, but also are puppets for it."

Dabi was pouring two more shots. Bakugou watched him, not as intimidated by the liquid as before. Maybe because he felt the tingle, the fire, of it spreading in his veins.

"You have a goal, kid?"

"To win," Bakugou admitted, without hesitation. "To be the best."

Dabi smirked, sliding the shot glass over to Bakugou.

"The best at what? Best fighter? Best hero, or…?"

Bakugou grabbed the glass, not answering Dabi. He instead just held up the shot.

Dabi smirked.

"I forgot—when you cheers, you're supposed to cheers to something. So…to you being the best!"

Bakugou didn't smile.

"To you getting your revenge," he countered.

Their glasses clinked.

Dabi smirked. Clever boy…he certainly pays attention and reads people better than he lets up.

They simultaneously tapped their glasses to the counter, then threw back their heads.

Bakugou still coughed hysterically after taking it, and Dabi offered him another chaser of water.

When Tomura returned later with Blackmist that night, they found Dabi and Bakugou in the backroom…drunk.

Granted, Dabi wasn't nearly as gone as the kid.

Blackmist huffed and puffed, something about him being the only one allowed behind the counter. Dabi and Bakugou laughed at him, exchanging insults at the "uptight dust cloud".

Tomura smirked from beneath 'Father's' hand.

Twice arrived, panting with his mask half-hazardly on, soon after, and surprised to see the drunken duo.

"Kids…" He muttered, before immediately pulling out a cigarette. "You wanna smoke, kid?"

Bakugou set off an explosion, a small one, in front of Twice's face that both lit the cigarette and blasted half of it away. Twice just laughed, angrily yelling at the brat for nearly blowing his head off but also impressed that he lit the cigarette, or what was left of it. Bakugou and Dabi broke into a fit of laughter.

"This kid is alright! Let's kill him!"

This confession by Twice made the duo laugh harder, as if it was some inside joke between two lifelong friends, and the two drunkards continued to laugh. Bakugou sighed, leaning back in his chair until it was propped on just two legs.

"Oi, do you old geezers drink?"

Blackmist huffed and puffed further, but Tomura continued to smirk.

"Glad to see you found a way to occupy yourselves, Dabi. Bakugou. Of which, are you planning on staying the night, Bakugou?"

Bakugou grimaced. "Huh? You kicking me out or something?"

"Not at all! We'll just need to make some accommodations for you."

Dabi rubbed a hand through his hair.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to take the kid out of here…"

Bakugou stood suddenly, walking past everyone towards to door.

"I already got my sleeping arrangements. Who's watching over me tomorrow?"

Tomura smirked, watching the tipsy boy stumble to the doorway.

"Toga, but only during the day. At night…we're going to go on an excursion. Only if you want to come with us, of course. And just to observe….like we promised."

Bakugou, red in the face from the shots, just nodded once before walking through the doorway.

Tomura turned to Dabi, eyeing him. He seemed to sober up quite a bit in an instant.

"So? What do you think of the kid?"

"He's definitely confused…I don't think he's gonna be so easily swayed. He's been raised in the heroics system; school, even before U.A. Honestly…" Dabi stood, "he could go either way. He could join us and be one hell of a force to reckon with, or…he could fall back on what he knows and decide he wants to work it out as a hero."

Tomura curled in on himself.

"He'd make a hell of a villain."

Dabi frowned, "he could also be a hell of a hero."

Outside the doorway, against the wall, Bakugou listened. That was enough, though, he decided. He walked back to the storage room, opening the door as quietly as he could before closing it behind him. He found two large duffel sacks—most likely filled with money—and set them up to make a makeshift cot. He spread himself over the two bags, barely fitting on the surface they created, and laid still. He thought of Yaomomo's pillow, and how that wouldn't have been a bad thing to have right now, but quickly put that thought out of his mind.

He'd let on that the alcohol had hit him harder than it had, but it really had hit him. He could feel it in his veins, and it made him hot—he was sweating. He looked around, finding a few empty jars on a lower shelf he noted during his earlier scouting. He squeezed the sweat from his palms into the jars. They couldn't be more than a pint, and he hardly filled them, but without his costume—his gauntlets or his grenades—he needed some kind of fall back. He took off his shirt and ringed that out into the jar as well—almost a third. Not bad.

He set the jars, hiding them, behind his makeshift bed and laid back down.

He didn't think about what his classmates were doing. If they were worrying, or planning some stupid counter to come save him with no knowledge of where he was.

He didn't need to be rescued, damn it! And, even if things went south, this time…

He'd find his own way out.

Bakugou dreamed that he was back in the practical exam—the provincial one. Except, the hostages were clones of him. One was no older than four, trying his hardest to create an explosion to break the glass. The second was in costume, screaming about how he'd "Kill 'em all".

And the third was him, in sweats and a tank, with no expression. Only the third's container was filling with water, and quickly. There was no line indicating the container would stop filling.

Bakugou simultaneously stood at the other end of the puzzle room and was in the mind of each of his other selves. It was the same feeling as when Twice had cloned him—the awareness that he existed in so many different locations and bodies.

"I'm gonna be the greatest hero! Just like All Might!" his child self yelled, not fully aware that he was trapped.

"Fuck All Might!" His costumed self yelled back.

"All Might is gone. We're the reason, too," his dower self admitted, the water already to his knees.

"Huh?" The child stopped shouting, suddenly feeling…scared? "Wh-who is gonna stop all the bad guys?"

The water was hitting his waist now.

"Why do they need to be stopped?"

His costumed self cackled.

"We'll fight fucking everyone! All Might—everyone! We'll fight them!"

"Ah! You mean, we'll become the next All Might?! We're gonna become a hero!"

Didn't his child-self get it? "No! No, we're not gonna become the 'next All Might'. We're not gonna become a hero!"

From across the room, Bakugou gripped his head. He could hear all their thoughts, and voices, in his head, but also out loud…it was driving him mad. His child self was fluctuating with his emotions between happy, scared, excited, devastated…

And his costumed self just kept yelling about fighting!

The calmer self—the drowning self—stared directly at Bakugou across the room.

"We're not going to become a hero. No one wants us to become a hero."

The free Bakugou fell to his knees, grabbing at his head. This hurt like hell! He wanted it to just stop!

The water was up to his neck.

"The 'hero' in us…is dying…"

The water covered his mouth. He was going to drown.

The remaining three Bakugous began choking for air as if they, too, were drowning. Child-Bakugou was crying, begging for a hero to save him. His costumed self just kept yelling "damn it" through gurgles.

Bakugou, gasping on the ground outside of the tanks, watched as the actual drowned Bakugou just stared at him, blankly, through the water. He wasn't putting up any kind of fight—he was just letting himself drown, and watching as he took the others down with him…

The throbbing of his head didn't end when Bakugou woke to Twice leaned over him, practically yelling in his face.

"So, this is where you slept all night? This looks uncomfortable as hell!"

Dabi stood beside him, extending his arm with a water bottle for Bakugou. "Hydrate yourself. It'll lessen the hangover."

Hangover? Fuck. Bakugou took the water bottle, still not sure if it was poisoned or not but taking his chances.

"So? Where's Toga? Isn't she on babysitting duty?"

"What makes you think I'm not here?"

Dabi's form melted and sure enough, Toga was there. Always exposing herself, Toga's form was shiny, like a snake that had shed its skin for a new one. Twice groaned.

"Form clothes, Toga! I love seeing your body, it makes me hot!"

Bakugou grimaced, looking away as Toga just smiled and made her skin form into a schoolgirl uniform.

"Whelp, now that you two are together, I'm off! Gotta prepare for tonight!" Twice declared, leaving the two of them.

Toga threw her hands together, behind her back, and leaned in towards Bakugou.

"Sorry I missed how yesterday went~! Heard you had a late night! Dabi I think likes you~! At least, he doesn't wanna kill you, like Spinner."

Bakugou scoffed. "Good to know."

Toga tried peaking around Bakugou's makeshift bed, but he stood abruptly.

"So? What're we gonna do..?"

He didn't like being in this close-quartered room with Toga. Toga, despite her age, was as unnerving as the rest of the League. In some ways, she was amongst the most unnerving.

Toga thought for a moment, pressing her finger to her mouth.

"Hmm~ How about you tell me all about Deku!"

Bakugou couldn't help but burst into sarcastic laughter.

"The last thing I want to do is talk about that fucker."

Toga, despite her smile, gave Bakugou a menacing glare.

"Don't talk about Deku like that to me! I'm gonna make him mine!"

Bakugou looked at the blonde quizzically. What the hell?

"You can have him…but, I still won't talk about him. Or any of my classmates. I'm not giving you guys information on them…"

I'm not betraying them…more than I already have.

"Ex-classmates!" Toga cheerily corrected.

Bakugou is in the first main room again for most of the day, glancing over what little fills the room. There's a few books that he ponders reading, but Toga keeps bugging him, wanting to talk, and he can't find a moment to himself with her around.

When it hits lunch time, her stomach grumbles and it gives him an opportunity.

"Oi, does this place have a kitchen?"

"Nope!"

"Well, then can't you go get us some food?"

Toga bites her lip.

"We're both fucking hungry. I'm not going anywhere—I can't—but I'm not gonna wait for everyone to return at night before I fucking eat!"

Toga stands up, puffing her cheeks out.

"Fine! I'll grab us food, but don't do anything naughty while I'm gone!"

Bakugou listens for her to leave, hearing the vault door up the stairs close before getting up himself.

He heads back to the backroom bar, grabbing at the bottles and reading the potency on the labels before selecting three.

He returns to his jars in the sore room, adding the alcohol to fill each jar up further. He quickly performs some push ups and jogs in place, building up his own sweat to further mix in with the jars. When they're all filled, he closed them, encasing the mixture of alcohol and nitroglycerin—four jars total. It's…something. He hides them and returns the liquor back to the cabinet, having been careful to not use too much of any one bottle to cause suspicion.

When he returns to the main room, it's not a moment to soon. He hears the vault door open and shut.

"Took your sweet fucking time-"

He freezes when he sees Aizawa.

"T-Toga…that's a sick fucking joke."

There's no bags or food in Aizawa's hands. There's no way, though…

"So, this is where you ran off to?"

It's Aizawa's voice but…

"Toga, knock it off."

'Aizawa' glares at Bakugou.

"Nice show of gratitude…run away from the school and join up with the League of Villains."

"I'm not playing your fucking game, Toga!"

'Aizawa' sighs.

"All this cause we couldn't pass the test, huh? I told you, we'd appeal to the council-"

"Wh-what?!" Bakugou stepped out of his chair.

"T-Toga…were you Aizawa that day, too?"

Aizawa smirked, and it confirmed this was Toga, now.

"Was I?"

"Fucking bitch…quit with your mind games!"

"You're so quick to accuse everyone…don't you ever admit your own faults? Do you ever take the blame for your own actions? Everyone probably told you that the council was unjust in their decision to not give you a license, but it was your actions that convinced them not to. Did you take responsibility for that? Or did you just storm off?"

"If you were Aizawa that day, wouldn't you know…"

Toga smirked and the façade of Aizawa melted away to reveal the shorter, blonde girl.

"It'll eat you alive, but I'll put you out of your misery…alas, I was at the trials, but not as Aizawa…I heard his impassioned speech, however, at the appeal meeting yesterday."

What?

"The council still voted him down, though…"

Bakugou snarled.

"You were a part of the council—you convinced them to not make me a hero! This is some big manipulation plan—the League went that far just to try to convince me to join them?!"

Toga smiled, winking.

"I won't say who I was, but…I will say this. I didn't propose for you not to get your license. In fact, the opposite. We, at the League, wanted you to get your license. Because, if you turned while being just a trainee, well…that's just like a prospective drop out. But, if you had passed, and got a license, and the system thought they had recognized that you could be a hero…only for you then to turn? That would've been a bigger blow to the heroes' community."

"You're a lying bitch!"

Toga shrugged.

"You can't trust me, nobody trusts you…" She reached around the doorway, producing a bag with two sandwiches in boxes from a convenience store. "I brought you that food you wanted, though! Or…are you not hungry anymore…?"

Bakugou stormed past Toga, hitting her in the shoulder on his way out and shutting himself in the storeroom.

He let out a yell of "damnit!"

Toga sat, satisfied, in the other room, only frowning at the fact she now had two sandwiches to deal with.

"I can't eat both of them…"

Now that's his automatic rifle and it tells no lies

It's his truth in your stomach, it's no alibi

But the trouble lies on the other side

With an equal truth prepping for his holy night

Bakugou crouches in the storage room, knees pulled to his chest. He thinks for the first time of his mom and dad—the crazy ol' hag who raised him as best she could, even if she sometimes was aloof and resorted to a punch when she felt Katsuki had stepped out of line, and that father of his that was so soft…Deku reminded him of his dad, but Bakugou didn't want to set off an explosion in his dad's face.

He wondered what they were doing right now. His mom was probably talking to reporters or the school staff, going on about how her son was a delinquent, no-good-for-nothing brat that was just having a mood. His father was probably offering to make everyone tea.

Was anyone searching for him? His classmates had been, that day, but they'd no doubt have correctly guessed he'd made a break for the gate. Did they suspect he was with the League of Villains, or just ran away?

Bakugou wouldn't just quit! He doesn't do anything half ass!

Bakugou could imagine Kirishima saying something like that, sticking up for him and acting like he knew Bakugou the best (Truth is, though, that he did).

It's reasonable to assume that if he's run away from U.A…he's probably ran right into the League of Villains.

Someone calculating, like Todoroki or Yaomomo or even Iida would say that.

N-no way?! He'd join the League?!

An idiot, like Deku.

Perhaps, or he's captured by them.

Maybe he just ran home—o-or to the beach?! He's probably just taking some time off! Failing the test must have been brutal…

I think he's gone to challenge the League all by himself—if he takes them out, it'll show how worthy of his hero license he is, and the council will have to reverse their decision!

Maybe he's gone to take his own life.

The imaginary voices of his classmates made Bakugou's head spin, and he abruptly stood up. He stormed out of the storage room, passing the main room quietly to not alert Toga. With a quick glance, he noted she looked preoccupied with her sandwiches, and so he easily passed the room without alerting her..

Bakugou found himself in the office room, needing a change of scenery from duffle bags of illegal drugs and wads of cash. As much as punching something in the gym could be relieving, he instead found comfort in reading. Normally, he'd study the text books or read up on whatever books he got his hands on—he was fucking smart, to everyone's disbelief.

All the papers scattered on the desk were files, all signed and dated by someone named 'Giran'. Mostly it was information presented in a format he didn't understand—calculations and descriptions that were coded for a select few to understand the value in.

Bakugou kept glancing around the room, hoping there was a ledger or something, even just of income or trafficking that he could study for the sake of distracting himself.

Again, a faint noise alarmed him to the locked door in the corner.

That could be distracting.

Bakugou approached the door. It was still locked, and an explosion would cause enough nosie to send Toga in after him, but…

He encircled the door knob with his palm, trying to minimize the surface area that'd escape his blast and cause noise. A small explosion was all he needed, and it'd start a timer before Toga caught up to him, but maybe a moment was all he needed…

The moment he let off an explosion and the handle fell, the door creaked open and Bakugou pushed himself instead.

The sight nearly made him vomit on the spot.

Strung up in a crucified position, with IVs hooked into his neck and sides and thighs, was a man. Stumps on either ends of his shoulders replaced where arms ought to have been, and he was strapped up, with his head hanging miserably, his chin to his chest.

He looked frail, thin, and haggard. With dark hair, the figure didn't appear very old, and might have been handsome with some proper nutrition.

Bakugou held back the rising in his throat.

A captive?!

The man appeared asleep, but at the startled gurgle of disgust from Bakugou, he seemed to stir awake. His eyes were beady, narrow, and full of hatred, and briefly they sent a shiver down Bakugou's spine when they found him. But, as they focused, they found no recognition in the boy.

The man didn't smirk, breathing in raspy wheezes.

"Don't tell me you're a hero, come to return me to the captivity of the law?"

Bakugou bit his tongue. Without his license…hee wasn't a hero…he wasn't here to save this man.

"Overhaul…so, you woke up."

Bakugou couldn't peel his eyes away from…Overhaul? Was that his name? Even as Toga stepped slowly into the room after Bakugou, he kept his eyes on the captive.

"He was the acting head of the Yakuza…real nightmare." Toga shuddered in theatrics, smirking at Overhaul, who glared at Toga in return. "Deku-kun took care of him for us though~! Real pain in Tomura's ass…" Toga grimaced, bad memories surfacing.

Bakugou also gritted his teeth.

So, this is what happened to enemies of the League?

"I thought only Heroes didn't kill?"

"There are fates worse than death. Like, loosing your Quirk and becoming a trophy mounted on the wall of your enemy's backroom~!" Toga smirked, while Overhaul just glared at her.

Bakugou recalled Overhaul, finally…the story of what happened with Deku and Kirishima during their internship…the Yakuza…

That girl, at the Culture Festival that Deku kept parading around…

Bakugou didn't know the whole story—no one did, but Kirishima had filled him in on what he could. Overhaul was the Yakuza boss they'd fought, and lost to the League allegedly, in the ensuing ambulance fiasco. So, the League had kept him alive, but robbed him of his Quirk…

And somehow, that girl…Ebi? Eri? Was involved in the whole incident, though Kirishima admitted he didn't know what the extent of her power, or involvement, had been. Just that Overhaul was a powerful Quirk user, who'd been defeated, brought down by Deku, and had been running some illegal drug trade on the black market.

Kirishima had mentioned Overhaul's Quirk had been monstrous, or so Deku had said as much. Overhaul had been a huge threat, and the media coverage had shown some extent of his power when he'd been destroying that portion of the town…

All that power…and now you're a wall ornament.

Bakugou found himself less disgusted in what the League had hidden in their backroom, and more disgusted by the idea that someone so strong could be defeated…

Overhaul…All Might…All For One…no matter how powerful you are, you can lose. You can be defeated.

"No one wins."

Bakugou unclenched his fists. Overhaul looked to be sustained by the IVs pumping fluids into his weakened body. His eyes challenged Bakugou, as if to say 'let me out, and with or without my Quirk I'll kill you.'

He looked at 'Overhaul' with pity, no longer disgust.

Would captivity with the heroes be any different? Being defeated and caught, by either side, was Overhaul's downfall.

So don't get captured.

Bakugou looked at Overhaul as an example. Don't cross the League.

Don't lose.

Toga approached Overhaul, taunting him by palming his exposed chest where the needles plunged. Overhaul seemed to wince, causing Toga more joy.

"He hates being touched! Give it a try, Bakugou~!"

Having Toga sing-song call Bakugou's name made him snarl, and he wasn't into taunting or torturing an enemy that was already defeated.

He turned on his heels, finally tearing his eyes away from Overhaul and heading for the door.

"Do whatever the fuck you want. This has nothing to do with me."

"So this is Tomura's plan? He's recruiting kids? The League is still as hapless as when I first met them," Overhaul snarls at Toga, who visibly lets her smile falter.

Bakugou pauses in the doorway to turn back at the duo.

"The League ain't the one that's suspended in captivity," Toga counters.

"Aren't they? All For One is." Overhaul still snarls with every poke Toga lands on him, and Bakugou lets his mind wander back to that thought.

"We could always kill ya, but that'd be no fun!" Toga spits back.

You never even corrected him, Bakugou thinks.

"The league is recruiting kids now?"

Neither Toga, nor Bakugou, denied it. Toga probably just didn't want to give Overhaul any satisfaction of confirming or denying what the league was doing, but Bakugou..?

Was he just not stooping to a loser's level? Was he not denying a fact?

Tsk, like it mattered.

Overhaul, the League, his classmates…

Think whatever they want to think. Bakugou wasn't with the League.

"Are you a hero, come to return me to the captivity of the law?"

He wasn't a hero, either.

At night, everyone gathers—even Mr. Compress, who Bakugou glares at.

Tomura stretches out his arms, several hands perking up at the motion.

"So, Toga tells me you found our secret in the backroom."

Spinner, Blackmist and Mr. Compress all jump, hearing this news for the first time and apparently very alarmed. Dabi looks bored, and Twice isn't paying attention at all. Toga is smug.

Tomura doesn't appear mad, though.

"It's crude, yes, but he…well, he deserved as much."

"The kid is just snooping around our base—I don't like it!" Spinner voiced.

Bakugou could care less what Spinner liked.

Tomura, too, ignored Spinner.

"Everyone, we have an observer for tonight's run~!"

Bakugou looked around the room, at the villains and, suddenly aware-

"-You're going to lead a major attack?!"

Tomura laughs, but Mr. Compress and Spinner both flinch into a pose, ready to strike. Bakugou realizes he himself instinctively set his feet in a fighting stance.

"Told ya he still was a hero through-and-through!" Spinner spits. Bakugou glares, but doesn't see it as such an insult…

"No, tonight's run isn't anything grand that'll call attention to us. It's multiply, small runs…pieces to a grander puzzle…"

Bakugou relaxes his fists, thinking about the jars and how he should've snuck them onto his person earlier, before joining everyone in the main room…

"Spinner and Dabi are going to create a distraction far away from where we'll be."

Bakugou looked at Dabi, who smirked a little.

"So I'm going with the corpse and the lizard?"

Spinner spat obscenities.

"No. Distractions are meant to draw attention to themselves…do you want to make your debut with our humble League so soon?"

Bakugou grimaced.

"You'll be with Twice and Toga, who'll be the back-up to myself, Mr. Compress and Blackmist…"

Tomura's hands, all hugging his various limbs, spread their fingers along with his own two hands in explanatory exaggeration. Bakugou looked to Toga and Twice. Toga he couldn't stand at the moment, and she knew it—she smirked knowingly at him—but Twice wasn't all bad.

They're villains. He reminded himself.

So? What are you? Not a hero. Just go along with them, see what they're up to. You're curious…

Bakugou grunted. Was this some kind of side effect of Twice's cloning? These dual voices in his head? Or was he just trying to reason with himself beyond reasoning…

If Aizawa or All Might were here, they'd say something to calm all your worries-

Bakugou clenched his fists. Except they weren't here, and even when they were, they didn't. Nothing they said helped him. Nothing they did helped. Nothing anyone did, or could do, was…

"-I said, you ready, Boom-Boy?"

Bakugou blinked as Toga leaned herself closer into Bakugou's face.

He swatted at her, she barely dodging him.

"Stay outta my face, bitch." She's creepy.

"Bakugou, stay close to me! We don't want you to be recognized or picked up on camera. I could lend you my mask, actually. Without my mask, I'll go insane—please don't ask me for my mask."

"I'll stay to the shadows," Bakugou agreed, ignoring Twice's outward war with himself.

Blackmist dropped the trio outside a hospital. Bakugou looked to Twice.

"What? You're gonna rob a hospital for medical supplies?"

"Hm? No, there's Villain fix-it joints that get their supplies through their own methods—corrupt product providers, sneaky attendants, raids on deliveries; that's small stuff. Not something on our league."

When Bakugou looked back at Toga, she'd already transformed into someone older—still a pretty blonde, but in a nurse orderly scrubs and with a less creepy face.

Her voice was different, too, when she spoke.

"You're all set?"

Twice, from beside Bakugou, gave her a thumbs up, before forming a clone of himself.

"We'll be where you need us, when you do!"

In the distance, Bakugou hears a large explosion.

"Ah! Dabi and Spinner started without us! Clock is running!"

With that, Toga took off, leaving Bakugou and the two Twices.

"What is she going to do?"

Bakugou watched as Toga, in her new form, ran through the entrance of the hospital, yelling about "-I'm sorry I'm late for my shift, but I just heard the explosion just now—civilians will surely be here in ambulances any second, where can I be of most help?!"

Twice, both of them, sighed through their mask.

"She's collecting more blood samples. I shouldn't say of who, y'know, with you being not a villain…but, it's of the councilman she parades as. He gets treatment for his health here, and she takes the blood samples. Her Quirk works longer the more blood she has access to."

Bakugou stares after the hospital. Sure enough, the sound of ambulances appear in the distance.

"Right, I'll stay here and wait for Toga. You, come with me—we have our own errand!"

Bakugou blinked in disbelief as Twice managed to point at himself while giving directions, his clone—or, was that the original..?—doing the exact mirrored motions. It wasn't until they split in directions that Bakugou followed the one he assumed he was meant to—and whom he had an inkling was the original.

Bakugou hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings, but upon closer inspection he finally was recognizing—they were in Sendai. He doubted this was where their base was, too, but at the moment, it was the target city. And something about the street signs and scenery looked familiar to Bakugou…

They were in the outskirts, and taking the path of dark alleys once again.

Alleys…

Was Sendai where he'd gone with Twice, that night, too..?

Twice held out his arm to stop Bakugou when he, too, had come to a stop.

"We're here."

Bakugou waited, but nothing happened. Finally, a warp gate appeared and from it stepped a man Bakugou didn't recognize.

"Giran! So, you came!"

"When a portal appears, I don't question it…I'm assuming you're making a 'run' tonight?"

Twice held up a thumbs-up.

"Absolutely not! Of course!"

The man called Giran looked at Bakugou.

"Whose the kid?" He leaned forward, "He looks familiar…Oooh, is this the one Tomura wanted..?"

Bakugou held up a fist, ready to blast the bastard back, but Twice interjected.

"He's no one! Exactly right! You have what you promised?"

Giran smirked at Bakugou before handing him a manila envelope.

"Some more promising hopefuls—small-time runners. If Dabi does his part right, they'll be wetting themselves to join up with the League."

Bakugou could hear Twice smirking under his mask.

"Recruits—that's what we want! Well, time should be just about up-"

As if on cue, a warp gate appeared.

Giran was all too happy to step through the one before him, waving at Twice and saying something about good business, while Twice grabbed Bakugou, pulling him onward.

"That was a detour. Giran handles a lot of our PR…brings in recruits. Brought in Dabi and Toga, actually. But, now, we'll arrive to give back-up to Tomura and the others."

Bakugou didn't say anything, still wondering what sort of operation they were running tonight, when a warp gate opened up and Dabi, seamlessly, stepped out and into a run alongside the two of them, in step.

"How'd the distraction go?" Twice beamed. Bakugou was still recovering from how freely Blackmist just popped portals and timed everyone…

"Distracted the local heroes; they're all conducting interviews with the media, unable to put out the flames. We had an…unexpected hero show up. Don't know what he's doing here…" Dabi seemed unusually irritated. "Spinner is staying back to make sure they don't break any ground. It's pathetic."

Dabi spits his report out with such disgust.

They crossed a street, and before Bakugou even recognized it, they'd leapt straight through a warp gate and into an entirely different street. It was dark, and relatively empty. A crowd was gathered in front of televisions. They'd landed somewhere more central than the alleyway, and Bakugou could see the smoke from the flames Dabi had set in the far off distance.

He paused behind the crowd, watching the television along with the crowd.

A local sports stadium had been Dabi's target. It was night, and empty, so there were no casualties from within the stadium, but more than enough heroes had shown up.

And the heroes did nothing.

Reporters were jamming their microphones in the faces of the gathered heroes, who had stopped to 'calm the gathering crowd'.

"-no one is inside, so for now, we're just trying to contain the fire and make sure no one gets injured, coming too close…"

Bakugou looked around at the crowd. They were more excited at the appearance of their local heroes—none that Bakugou recognized—than fearful of the impending doom the flames threatened.

They were all idiots!

"That's a hero. A symbol. All Might was the ultimate symbol…of justice and hope. People see heroes? They go soft. They think they're safe and they let their guard down…and heroes eat it up. They love the attention—their ranking system…it's bullshit," Dabi muttered. Bakugou just gawked at the scene. He knew not every duty of a hero's was to fight a villain but…

"Heroes are puff pieces in tabloids. They're a dying breed. Only ones authorized to use their Quirk while the rest of the world is told to hide their abilities, and they use it on what? Showboating?"

Bakugou balled his fists.

A reporter quickly cut off the hero she'd been interviewing, announcing suddenly that…yes, indeed, Endeavour was on the scene!

The cameras all seemed to swivel and sway away from disappointed local heroes to show Endeavour and his flames, confronting Spinner. Many of the local heroes were begging the crowd to step back for their safety.

A warp gate appeared before the trio.

"Ah! They completed the mission without our help..Time to go, Bakugou," Twice pointed, but Bakugou didn't move.

He was frustrated. If he had his license, he could do something…he could cause an explosion, take the air away from the flames. He'd do something! He'd-

Bakugou took a step forward, only to feel Dabi's hand on his arm. The same grip that had held his throat back in the forest.

"No, kid."

That was all he said, and then Bakugou felt himself being shoved backwards. He landed on the floor of the main room, surrounded by everyone except Tomura and Blackmist.

"Have a good time?" Toga asked mockingly.

He sees the crescent and the star blink in the virgin sky

And hears the call of milk and honey from the afterlife

And as he eases to the checkpoint, he is calm and sure

It's collateral damage; it's the cost of war

Bakugou sat awake, not having gained a wink of sleep. He has seven jars now filled of his sweat, hidden in stashes in this backroom. His makeshift bed isn't ideal, but the comfort isn't what keeps him from sleep. He keeps thinking about the fire. He almost took action. He almost did the heroic thing.

But, you're not a hero.

Bakugou frowned, turning on his side.

It's been two days since the night he went out with the League. Tomura is never around, and Blackmist he's only seen once. Mr. Compress was his babysitter the other day, to which they did very little talking. Twice, surprisingly, brought him a change of clothes and enough toiletries to take a shower with the bathroom sink. Bakugou hadn't realized he'd been in his school uniform for the past few nights, and they were filthy—he had been exercising and sleeping in them this entire time. Luckily, he'd left off the jacket, which would have given away his school had anyone seen him the night before.

That night…

Yesterday, his baby sitter had been Twice, who'd been more talkative, and despite maybe his intentions, gave away a bit more about the mission they'd pulled that night.

While Toga had gotten her blood sources, that had been her own side mission for her own personal gain. The chaos of the stadium fire brought attention to it, and left the hospital in a craze despite relative lack of casualties. It also caused a distraction for…whatever Tomura and Blackmist did, which from what little Twice let slip up, sounded like "collecting". Bakugou didn't know what they'd collected, but Twice had caught himself and continued talking in order to make up for the slip-up.

The files Giran gave Twice were of potential recruits, who'd be evaluated by the league from a distance before they approached. Bakugou learned a bit more, mostly from putting two-and-two together, about Giran and what he did for the league, recalling his name on all the papers in the back office.

Everything Dabi said ended up becoming a talking point—the media was abuzz with how it looked; all the heroes standing around. Twice couldn't sing enough praise about the dark web's response—so many vloggers had taken to point out how dumb the heroes looked, just talking to the media. Many had theorized that the League was behind the attack—correctly, Twice noted—and those that did swore this was a bold and great move on taking down heroes. Here the villains had been, causing no casualties and harm, and the heroes were still trying to rally up praise for themselves and make a heroic showing of themselves. They were peacocks putting on a dance, and they'd danced right into the villains' hands.

Bakugou had eaten his meal slowly as Twice talked. Why did he want to become a hero so badly?

To win? To be the best?

If being the best meant sucking up like that to the media…

He thought of All Might, and how he was a symbol for people—no hero was, or is, like him.

Was, because you're the reason All Might lost his power. Don't ever forget that.

The darkest revelation Twice had revealed was the casualty list that a dark web podcast had revealed. While the public was trying to minimize letting out the names of those who perished in the relatively small attack, the underground media that supported the League wanted to martyr every death as a sign that the Heroes didn't do a damn thing—if anything, most blamed Endeavour's involvement for the few deaths.

"Yoru Masayune…"

"What?"

Twice was, rather rare of himself, not wearing his mask. Bakugou could see the stitches, the scars, of when Twice—Jin—nearly killed himself; maybe he did, and this was just a clone of the original.

"Yoru Masayune…we knew her as Josei."

Bakugou felt ice run through his veins. Jin was smiling, but it was a sad smile.

"She got caught up with Spinner and Endeavour's little show…bad burns, honestly…h-honestly, if she'd survived, she'd probably have killed herself! No one wants damaged goods when the goods are sold as 'most desirable'."

Jin genuinely was upset, despite the faux smile on his face, the front he was putting on.

Bakugou clenched his fists.

Heroes…Villains…this was all a fucking game to them. And everyone just was getting caught up in it…All those heroes panning to the media…

The League hadn't gone after a populated area! It was just a distraction…Endeavour getting involved caused Spinner to retaliate, and Josei…

Bakugou caught himself.

You're sympathizing with them. You're thinking like a villain.

Who knew what Spinner and Dabi's distraction was for anyway. Tomura and Blackmist probably went on their own killing, or "collecting" spree.

Nomus…they're made up from stealing other's Quirks…

Bakugou couldn't eat as Twice moved on to another topic. His head was spinning.

So, was that it? Tomura probably 'collected' that night, while Dabi's flames drew the attention of the heroes, for Nomus…Josei was dead…

Whatever. She was a prostitute you ran into once. Don't lose sleep over her.

But Bakugou did. He sat up now, on his makeshift bed, thinking about Josei's Quirk.

He recalled the conversation between Todoroki and Deku he'd overheard.

In her final moments, did Josei see what Endeavour desired? Before she died?

And was that desire to "Be number one"?

Did that give her a sense of comfort, before she died, knowing the hero who had come to save her only was doing so to win favor in the eyes of the public?

"You like sleeping here, in the backroom..?" Toga.

"I don't give a fuck where I sleep."

"Well, it doesn't look like you're getting much rest." Toga sighs, plopping herself down on a box as a chair.

"Can we talk about Deku now?!"

Bakugou jumps at that, irritated beyond hell.

"Why the fuck do you wanna know about that lil' shit?! He's a goddamn All Might fanboy-"

Bakugou hesitates. All Might. Midoriya. Their secret of One For All. He clamps up.

Toga doesn't notice, too busy gushing at the thought of Deku.

"He's just so…well, you know him better than me, I guess! Don't you? Hey, he called you Kacchan—you must be really close! Are you best friends?!"

Bakugou growls.

"Not even close."

Toga frowns.

"I wish Deku would join us. But, you're right…he idolizes All Might…Ooh, I wish he'd join us though!"

Even in the League, Deku was preferred over Bakugou. Bakugou still wasn't good enough for them, huh? Everyone saw something in Deku that made him so desirable. This crazy chick. All Might…

"C'mon, we have a surprise for you!" Toga suddenly changed the topic. "Villains have their own ways to get equipment and tech too, y'know?"

His new gauntlets are a bit bulkier, heavier—not as ideal. But, they serve their purpose. He hesitates to slip his hands into them; to really get a feel for them.

"Trying to buy me over with bribes?"

"No. Just that you ought to be earning your keep. I know we agreed you ain't working for us, but so long as you're sleeping here…" Blackmist nods towards Toga and Twice. "They got these made for you. And also…"

Twice handed out a piece of cloth that Bakugou recognized was a mask—Twice must have sewn it himself. Honestly, it was…kinda nice. If you were into sentimental crap.

"You're coming with us on this next mission…And this is a precaution in case you get seen. You can stand by and do nothing, but…should you choose to join us….now, you'll be equipped to."

Bakugou is speechless. He thinks about what Twice said, about the recruits that are being watched on a trial basis. He was getting all this special treatment…

The League really wanted him to join them…

They needed him.

Bakugou grinned, feeling a rise in his blood of adrenaline. If nothing else, he finally could use his Quirk again, and he was itching to set off some explosions…

"Alright. I'll come with you."

"That part wasn't negotiable…"

Tomura, having returned to the headquarters for the first time in days, opened his arms wide as if gesturing a welcoming hug.

"Excellent, Katsuki!"

Black Mist dropped the group off in what seemed like an already ongoing battle.

"Remember those recruits we got wind of from Giran?" Twice shouted over the noise of explosions and rumblings of fighting. "Well, they picked one hell of an entrance exam stage to catch our attention! Going after the #10 hero~!"

Ryukyu?

Bakugou peered over their cover of a metal sheet, where the group had a vantage point of the battle beneath them.

It was a construction site, with the majority of it dug out. Spotlights set the stage and in the middle of it all was the fearsome dragon that was Ryukyu. Bakugou could make out a total of four vagrants that he could loosely recall from the flashes of their profiles' pictures that Giran had handed Twice.

"What are we doing then? Observing?"

"And let them have all the fun?" Twice smirked. "Absolutely!"

Besides Twice and Bakugou, Dabi and Mr. Compress had joined them. Toga, Tomura, and Blackmist weren't a part of this voyeuristic trip, and Spinner had elected to stay behind at base, still unnerved by the presence of Bakugou and licking his wounds from a narrow escape with Endeavour.

Dabi smirked.

"Actually, we're going to show our support for the potential recruits…lend them a helping hand…"

A warp gate opened, to which Dabi just smirked, "Right on time."

Bakugou was horrified as three Nomu reared their heads through the portal.

They leapt onto the battlefield, and over the commotion, Bakugou could clearly make out a voice, "Nomu?! Is the League here?!"

Round-face?!

Bakugou followed the voice, and sure enough saw Uraraka and even Asui, in costume, fighting alongside Ryukyu.

They're interns of hers…

"I'd put your mask on, kid. We're getting a closer look" Twice winked through his expressive mask before he, Dabi, and Mr. Compress all leapt from their position.

Bakugou was frozen still.

He couldn't….he couldn't go down there…

What are they doing?! Why are those two here?

The League knew his classmates would be here. Did they set this up? They wanted Bakugou to be caught…to be revealed, and associated, with them…

Asui yelled at the others to alert them to the incoming party-crashers. The gang of vagrants seemed to weep with excitement.

"The League! They really came!"

Dabi and Mr. Compress went straight for Ryukyu. The three Nomu occupied Uraraka and two other heroes on the scene—more of Ryukyu's interns, or other local heroes.

Asui was attacked by one of the trial-vagrants, but put him down quickly by slamming him into the ground with her tongue.

Bakugou froze, watching with…horror? As his…teammates? As everyone fought…

He didn't know which side he was supposed to root for—which side was he on?

Bakugou stood there, dumbfounded, and this lapse of judgment cost him dearly.

"I see another one! Up there! I'll go after him!"

Crap!

Bakugou turned to duck for cover. He heard Uraraka shout after Asui, warning her not to pursue without back-up.

"I can handle him!"

Crap, Asui! No, no, no…!

Bakugou felt his legs shake, as if they were jelly.

No, no, no—not good!

He had to run, to get away from here, to not be caught-!

Bakugou made a dash for straight ahead of him, but from the ground, having tunneled, leapt out Asui.

Crap!

"Stop right there-!"

Tsuyu paused.

The mask hid his face and hair, but the build of his body was exposed, and the gauntlets…they weren't the same, but…

No, it's not…it can't be!

Tsuyu leapt into action.

Bakugou bit down on his tongue. Tsuyu threw out her tongue, but Bakugou's reflexes were quick and he caught it. He yanked at it, pulling her forward, but side stepped, not landing a punch or catching her. Just letting her land now to his back.

"You're toying with me! You're looking down on me!"

No, Asui…You're a strong opponent. But, I can't fight you. I can't use my Quirk on you…

"Don't turn your back on me!"

Again, Tsuyu threw out her tongue to try to catch Bakugou's arm. He countered it, stepping aside, but the tongue found a target—his mask.

"-No!"

Tsuyu yanked on the mask, and Bakugou was revealed.

Tsuyu's face faltered, and for a moment she lost her battle-stance.

"Frog-girl?"

Tsuyu looked at Bakugou like he was a ghost. There were actual tears in her eyes.

"Ba…Kugou?! You're alive?! We've all been looking for you! I-I'll call Uraraka and everyone, we'll bring you back to the academy-!"

Tsuyu was getting so emotional…what the hell?

Bakugou stared at Tsuyu, unable to say anything as her wide eyes went through a range of emotions.

"W-we all thought you were dead, o-or taken, a-and Aizawa cancelled classes but All Might said…said…"

She stared at his costume—it's different. New, and darker.

"Where did you..?"

It's slowly hitting her.

"You…you're with them."

"Frog-face…Tsuyu, I'm not-"

"You became a villain?" She sounds insulted.

Bakugou grew impatient, angry.

He thinks about the provincial exam. About the heroes and the reporters. About what Toga said of the council…He thinks about the pity in everyone's eyes that showered him those days after his rescue from the League, or when he first failed the exam. He thinks about Uraraka's words from the rooftop.

"They decided I was one!"

Tsuyu looks so afraid of him.

"They made me into one!"

So, that's it, the voice in his head echoes. You're a villain…not because you chose to be, but because you were always meant to be one. Tomura was right when he first kidnapped you. Being a hero…that wasn't your way, was it?

She shakes her head slowly, "We decide who we become. Maybe some people saw villainy in you but…but we didn't. 1-A? We saw Bakugou…Kacchan…the hero. To us, we could never conceive you becoming a villain. Just like Midoriya, or me, or Oijiro, or Jirou…no one from 1-A could be a villain! We all want to be heroes! You wanted to be a hero! You….you want…wanted…"

Bakugou frowns, irritated and…sad.

"Tsuyu…"

"My friends call me Tsuyu! People," She spits out her words through tears, like venom, "….heroes and my c-classmates call me…B-but, villains?! They'll know me as Froppy! And if you're a villain, th-then you're my opponent!"

Froppy took her stance, and, reluctantly, so did Bakugou.

Neither of their hearts were in it.

It's another bag of bones for the Gods to sort

It's just another bag of bones for the Gods to sort

Froppy leaps into action first, aiming to grip Bakugou. He grimaces, knowing her strength is no match for him. He lets her get a hold of him, only to use his weight against her and throw her to the ground. She's not the best for hand to hand combat.

"Ts…Froppy. Give it up."

"N-never!"

She lashes her tongue out again, but he dodges it. She tries countering immediately with a series of flying kicks, but he blocks each one with his gauntlet.

"Use your Quirk, b-bastard! Don't look down on me!"

That's not it, Tsuyu….

Bakugou grimaces.

"You always want to fight, don't you? To win?! You hated Todoroki for not giving his all against you, so don't you dare do the same to me!"

That struck a chord, and Bakugou's face hardened. Without any expression, he straightened himself. Tsuyu felt a shudder of fear overcome her.

He was really going to go all out on her.

"Ts…Froppy. I…" Bakugou gives up. There's no use telling her he's not a part of the League. There's no reasoning with her. He said it already himself, didn't he? He's a villain. He made his choice.

She throws her tongue out at him again, aiming for his arm above his gauntlets, but he catches her tongue with his left hand and, with as much reluctance as Bakugou had ever done so, sets off an explosion.

Tsuyu cries in pain, retracting her burnt tongue, but Bakugou doesn't stop. He blasts himself towards her, gripping her face with the palm of his hand and setting off another explosion.

Tsuyu falls back, her eyes stinging. Her vision, impaired, can't keep up with his barrage of punches to her sides. He hears a crack and knows a rib just snapped.

Every hit is agony for both of them.

Tsuyu tries to kick, and Bakugou grimaces.

Please, stop putting up a fight! Just admit defeat!

She tries her tongue again, despite its numbness.

He grabs her by the neck, slamming her down to the ground. The earth around them shatters. He stands up, praying this battle is over, but Tsuyu tries, shakily, to get up.

Bakugou has never felt so…guilty. He squats in front of her, her eyes still refusing to open properly all the way, and her cheeks are stained with tears. Tsuyu, who rarely cries…

Bakugou grips both of her arms, gritting his teeth.

"I'm sorry…Froppy."

The only thing louder than the explosions he sets off is the outcry of Tsuyu.

Bakugou waits in the shadows, watching as Uraraka comes running, only to break down when she sees the unconscious form of Tsuyu on the ground. Bakugou doesn't stick around to hear Uraraka try to wake Tsuyu up—he doesn't need to hear Tsuyu's accusing words as she tells Uraraka what Uraraka knew all along.

That Bakugou is a villain.

He finds Twice, or a clone of Twice, waiting for him not far from the scene.

Bakugou had picked up his mask and dawned it back on after the fight, but his mouth, visible, expresses that he's in a foul mood. Surprisingly, Twice says nothing as he calls Blackmist for a warp gate. Bakugou enters the headquarters and heads straight for his backroom bed.

He pours out the sweat from his new gauntlets into three more jars, creating ten total pints. He sits on his heels, his knees, for awhile, staring at the jars.

So, this is what he's become.

"They decided I was one! They made me into one!"

"You're not a hero…"

Bakugou clenches his fist, and feels tears file into his eyes.

"We decide who we become. Maybe some people saw villainy in you but…but we didn't. 1-A? We saw Bakugou…Kacchan…the hero. To us, we could never conceive you becoming a villain. Just like Midoriya, or me, or Oijiro, or Jirou…no one from 1-A could be a villain! We all want to be heroes! You wanted to be a hero!"

What we want isn't always enough, Bakugou thinks.

"You want to prove yourself, and be recognized…glorified…but you don't know how to get there…You're a real mess, kid"

Josei…

He hears the chatter next door, and it hits him.

He may not be a hero…but, he isn't a villain, either.

"You said I could leave whenever. Well, I'm leaving."

The room is silent. Tomura smirks.

"…for now."

"What was that?!" Bakugou's anger flares up.

"You think they'll welcome you back with open arms? You were seen affiliated with the League. You're a criminal now. They won't take you back! You said it yourself—Froppy will make it known you're a villain, and they'll lock you up. And without your blessing to be affiliated with us…we won't go after and save you."

"Tsch, like I need saving."

"Say hi to All For One, when they lock you up in a cell beside him…your potential to be just as dangerous as him..? They'll make sure you never see the light of day again."

Maybe that's how things were meant to be.

He wasn't returning to U.A…but he also wasn't coming back here.

"Boss, Tomura…we can't just let him leave—he knows, and has seen, way too much!" Spinner.

Bakugou smirks.

"I'd like to see you try to stop me."

Bakugou lifts his shirt, revealing the ten jars of sweat duct taped to his body.

"The hell is that?!"

Dabi smirks, impressed.

"He's made himself a suicide bomb vest. If any of us approach him, that's enough nitroglycerin to take an arm off…at least."

"Blackmist, you'll drop me off outside of U.A, or I'll blow these jars. And if you think your mist can react quickly enough to teleport everyone away, I'd worry about your base. An explosion of this size? It'll take this building or whatever the hell this hide-out is down. It'll alert local heroes, and whatever isn't lost in the blast, will be confiscated. I may not have given a crap about your shit in the storeroom, but some heroes might. Bet they'd love to see what's hiding behind the office…or who."

"Overha-!"

Spinner catches himself, glancing at Tomura. Everyone looks to their leader, to see what he says—how he responds.

Tomura clapped his hands, breaking the tense silence.

"Thinking ahead…like a villain. It's a win-win for you, even if one of those wins is killing yourself! You really can't stand being a villain, can you?"

Bakugou doesn't respond immediately.

"I'm not a hero, or a villain. I'm not a part of your League, and I'm ready to leave. I can do so on terms we all are fine with, or I can go on my own terms with this little contingency plan."

Tomura waved a hand at Blackmist.

"Let him go."

"Seriously?!" Spinner spits.

"Kid held up his promise. He never left the compound, came on missions with us…He saw what he wanted to, and didn't like it." Dabi shrugs. "Let him go."

"He knows too much…." Mr. Compress argued.

"He'll keep his mouth shut. We have an understanding…besides, from behind the cage that the heroes will throw him into…I don't think there's much threat to him. I'll ask one last time, for kicks…won't you join us and the League?"

Bakugou seriously considers it.

But then, he places his palm against a jar.

"Drop me off outside of U.A."

Tomura just smiles through the palm on his face, and Bakugou feels the engulfing of Blackmist's warp gate.

When he opens his eyes, its daylight, and he's directly in front of the gate of U.A.

Bakugou expects the sirens to go off the moment he steps through the gate, but someone hasn't gotten around to erasing his DNA from the sensor. That's pretty piss-poor security, considering he's been ousted as a villain. He could turn himself in directly to the police, but he needs to see for himself…he needs to see through one last thing before they, in all probability, do lock him up beside All For One.

He unlatches the jars from his torso and leaves them just outside the gate. He'll tell someone about them to get disposed of later.

The A-1 dormitories seem so foreign to Bakugou, but he was here just days ago…

He sighs, entering through the front door. He doesn't have much time, so he hopes whoever confronts him first is someone agreeable enough to talk to. Hell, he almost hopes its Deku—with how emotional that twerp is, he'd spill his guts before alerting the rest of the class that the villain Bakugou is here to attack.

What he's really hoping for is that there's not a huge crowd—the more of them there are, the quicker they'll just restrain him and not hear him out. He just wants to know…

"Bakugou! You're back!"

"Where have you been?!"

"Everyone, Bakugou is…he's here!"

Bakugou is taken aback. Upon entering, more than half the class is present in the commons area.

What's more, they look…happy? To see him?

"-They'll want to see you—hear where you've been, take your statement-"

Iida is spouting out something about Bakugou needing to go to the staff or the police immediately. Kirishima and Mina are crying, clasping hands together and asking Bakugou over and over if it's really him.

Bakugou looks around, looking for the face-ah…

He notices Uraraka in the crowd.

She looks nervous. So, maybe Froppy told her, and she didn't have the heart to tell the others yet? Well, she looks about ready to explode, so now is as good as ever-

"I'm sorry!"

Bakugou is thrown back when Uraraka…hugs him? Everyone goes quiet for that brief moment.

"I saw you on the roof and…and I said those horrible things! You ran away because of m-"

Bakugou stops her, pulling her off him. His lip is quivering. She doesn't know…

"Where's Ts…Froppy?" He finally manages to mutter

"Eh? She's in a coma…a gig the other night during her internship left her in a bad state. She's mostly healed but sleeping it off. She should be back tomorrow-Bakugou?!"

Baklugou was gone before anyone could flood him with more questions. They could report him and catch him in a moment—first, he had to see Tsuyu. He had to apologize.

No one even questions why, of all the people not present that he wanted to see, he asked for Tsuyu—did he know about her injuries? Who cared—Bakugou was back!

By the time Izuku reaches downstairs, Bakugou is gone. Uraraka is in tears, being comforted by Momo. Kirishima and Mina are also in tears, but seem to be in such a state out of happiness. Sero stands over the two of them, and Kaminari and Aoyama are dancing with Jirou in a circle, smiling and singing.

"Wh-what's going on?"

Iida himself looks close to tears, but also confused.

"Bakugou came back, but…now he's gone? I think he went to go see Tsuyu…"

Izuku takes in the words, slowly letting them sink in.

"Kacchan is back?!"

Bakugou gets to Asui's room without any trouble. There's one nurse, and when she sees how upset Bakugou looks, she offers to leave the room for him. He asks her to do as much, taking advantage of her misunderstanding of the situation—she probably thinks he's visiting his girlfriend, or even just friend—but, in reality, what he needs to say is something he doesn't want overheard by just any nurse.

He's grateful Tsuyu is recovered enough to have been simply at the on-campus infirmary. Recovery Girl is the best at what she does, though, so it makes sense…

He hesitates to pull back the curtain.

When he does, he almost vomits.

Froppy looks fine—nearly fully healed, save for a bandage wrapped on either arm—from where he gripped her. She isn't awake, at first, but stirs at the sound of the curtain.

Bakugou is frozen with fear, unable to speak. He waits for Froppy to accuse him, to try to attack him, to yell and scream for help…

"So…you're not with them?"

"Froppy…."

"Tsuyu. My friends call me Tsuyu."

Bakugou nearly cried. His fists bundle up the fabric of the hem of his shirt in his hands.

"Ts….Tsuyu…I fucked up!"

He bows his head.

"And I'm going to go away, for a long time…but, before I do, before they take me, I…I wanted to apologize to you-"

"There's no need. I get it…And they won't take you away."

Bakugou looks at Tsuyu with a puzzled expression.

"I didn't tell them it was you. No one knows you were there—no one but I saw you. Make up an excuse for where you've been this past week, but I won't tell anyone…ever…about that night. Because that wasn't really you. You were confused, and lost, but that wasn't the Bakugou I know…"

She had the audacity to fucking smile.

Bakugou didn't smirk back, but some kind of understanding passed with a curt nod he gave her.

"If I return to classes tomorrow….you better be there, or I'll fucking kill you."

She winks.

"You didn't when you had the chance, ribbit!"

Bakugou does smile, softly, at this.

He didn't…and a villain would have.

Villains don't always kill. There are worse fates, a faint voice in the back of his head reminds him, but he pushes it aside.

Well it's a species disappearing, all the birds fly south

In a January heat wave, in a pulsing crowd

It's an African Militia, kids with sub-machines

It's a conflict diamond on your bride-to-be

No one seems to buy his story, but after hours he's tentatively let out. When he gets back, everyone except Tsuyu is in the commons area, waiting for him.

"Bakugou!" Kirishima looks near to tears, despite his face and eyes already puffy from crying too much already. Bakugou doubts his friend has any moisture left in him.

Friend…

"Tsuyu. My friends call me Tsuyu."

How could anyone want to be friends with him…

How could anyone believe in him?

"You were at home?"

Bakugou nods.

The police chief looks to the Principal, who looks to Aizawa.

"I…was upset about the exam. So, I ran home."

"Aizawa, didn't you check his home? His mother said he wasn't there…"

Aizawa doesn't respond.

"I…told her to not tell anyone. I was hiding upstairs."

He was really in for it, Bakugou thought. This was the weakest lie, and one call to his mom would reveal he was lying.

At the moment, the door busted open, and sure enough, Mitsuki Bakugou came storming in.

"You little shit, you had your father and I worried-"

"-Bakugou was just telling us how he'd been at home the whole time."

Mitsuki blinked once, and then her face—all the anger and emotion—fell.

"Ah, so you confessed it all then, huh?"

Bakugou was the most shocked in the room.

"Yeah, he came home after the test…I offered to call the school and tell them he was taking a few sick days, but this brat, well….he'd too prideful. Didn't want anyone gathering at the house to pity him, or check up on him. He thinks he doesn't need help from anyone."

She turned her eyes to Bakugou, who continued to stare in disbelief at his mom.

"When you came by, Mr. Aizawa, Katsuki made me swear to not tell you he was just upstairs. It really ate him up, but he couldn't face anyone. I understand this goes against the school's protocol, but…I really hope you can overlook my son's stupidity. And, my own fault for going along with his charade. I got so into character, even now I didn't know if he'd gone back willingly or had been found out and…so, that explains it."

Bakugou bit his lip.

Mom…

Aizawa stood up, speaking before the police chief or Principal could.

"I think we can overlook this incident. Katsuki is a top performing, outstanding student that hasn't broken the rules before."

Bullshit I haven't! Bakugou stared between his mother and homeroom teacher in absolute disbelief. No one was buying this crap, right?

"And, with the duress he's been under, I can understand what he thought was the course of action he needed to heal. You yourself never filed a missing person's report, Mrs. Bakugou, so it makes sense that he technically was never missing or lost. Please do be more transparent with us in the future, though, to not cause such a fret."

Bakugou couldn't believe it. Aizawa was letting him get off? Mr. I'll-expel-you-for-anything was just…hand-waving the whole incident?!

The Principal smiled at the police chief, "That covers it then!"

That's it?!

In the hallway, Bakugou caught up to his mother.

"Mom-"

"-save it. I don't want to know the truth…"

Up close, Bakugou could tell his mom had been crying. She'd been so worried when she'd first entered the room…

Mitsuki sighed.

"I didn't do right by you, Katsuki…I left you to your own devices and didn't raise you properly…That's why you came out like this. A hothead with a streak of meanness in you." She smiled, sadly, and put her hand to her forehead.

"When you first got your Quirk, everyone around me told me…'he's gonna be a villain, Mitsuki! Mark our words!'. I told them all to go to hell."

Bakugou tried to smile, but only felt his heart fall. At four, people knew…Everyone always knew he'd-

"-and then, you had that obsession with All Might. Watching him, you'd light up and…and I'd think, 'if they could see this face! If all those naysayers could see this boy's face when he watches All Might…then they'd know…there's no way he could become a villain."

Bakugou felt tears prick his eyes.

"Mom…" Bakugou reached a hand out towards his mother

"Sometimes I look at you now and think…that face is gone. Maybe everyone was right, and I was wrong…"

Bakugou froze, his hand hesitating. No, no, no…Mom, don't say that.

She was in tears now.

"Can you bring that boy back? With the face that lights up when he watched All Might?!"

Bakugou stepped back, horrified at himself.

Mitsuki wiped at her eyes, smiling again.

"I'm sorry…I told you, I never did right by you…"

But, when she looked at him, he saw it. He saw the pain, the longing, in her eyes. What she'd said to Aizawa, when he'd come to ask for her permission for Bakugou to move into the dorms…

"You saw the truth about Bakugou…"

Had she meant it? Did she even mean that? Or did she think that Aizawa had seen it—had seen the boy whose face lit up watching All Might? Had it really been so long since his own mother believed in him…

"Ah, I have to get home. Your father is a mess, but I told him not to leave work and that I'd settle everything."

She knocked him softly with a balled hand on the top of his head.

"Don't go scaring everyone like that again, ya hear?"

Bakugou bowed his head, unable to answer his mom.

He wasn't a hero, and he wasn't a villain.

But maybe he was a monster.

He sat in the center of the couch, everyone gathered around him and laughing. They're reliving glory days and trying to get Bakugou to 'Remember? Remember that time-?!'

Bakugou keeps thinking about his mother's tears, and Tsuyu bandaged in the infirmary…

He thinks how twisted it is that Uraraka blames herself for Bakugou running away, when just the other day she'd found one of her best friends pummeled by him and didn't even know it.

Bakugou stood abruptly.

"I'm just going to go to sleep-"

"-No."

Even Bakugou is shocked as they all turn to the source of the voice putting her foot down.

"Yaomomo…."

"We didn't know where you were for a week, Bakugou! We thought…we thought the League of Villains had gotten to you again-"

The word 'again' stings, but he bites his tongue.

"Only you and I know about that night".

Only Tsuyu knows the truth. And she was right. It'd hurt everyone else too much if he told them what he couldn't, or didn't, tell the professors.

"So, tonight….you don't have to tell us what happened. You don't have to say a word. But—you aren't leaving our sights! We're…" Yaomomo's resolve quickly dissolved before she encouraged herself, pumping herself up to stutter out, "W-we're having a commons room sleepover!"

The room was a mixture of cheers and "huhs?"

"Seriously?!"

"And this time…you're gonna participate Bakugou! W-we'll bind you to the couch if we have t-"

"Fine."

Everyone is stunned, and no more so when Bakugou follows up his surprise answer with a smirk.

"But I don't have to enjoy it."

Everyone smiles.

Bakugou puts his mom's words in the back of his head. Mina convinces everyone to watch a horror film, to which most of the boys are down for until a quarter into it they're trying to act like it isn't disturbing them, but in reality they hate it. Surprisingly, it's the girls who laugh at most of the gore and tropes of the movie—Toru especially gets a kick out of the movie.

Iida declares their next form of entertainment will be a game. It takes a long time to settle on what, but in the end they go with charades and split into two teams. Bakugou serves as timer, sitting out of the game itself in a special "guest chair", to even out the teams with Tsuyu missing. Iida, despite his enthusiasm, is by far the worst at the game, as his robotic movements leave everyone to guess "Mr. Roboto" or "Robocop", depending on the category. Mineta is surprisingly good at charades.

When a comedy movie is picked for their next form of entertainment, Bakugou excuses himself to the kitchen. It's empty at first, but he's quickly followed by none other than Deku.

"Bakugou…I need to talk to you."

Bakugou nods knowingly, and only responds with, "Outside."

"What is it, Deku?"

It's a pointless question—he knows exactly what 'it' is, but nonetheless says the words to encourage Deku to hurry up and ask.

"…I…I wanted to ask you…about this past week."

"You want to know if I was with them? The League of Villains?"

Deku bites his lip. He doesn't want to believe it, he can't-

"I was."

Midoriya gawks.

"Don't worry. I didn't tell them anything, about All Might, or you…I kept our secret…"

Bakugou clenches his fists.

"Honestly…this had nothing to do with you two. So, don't get all guilt-ridden over nothing, got it? For fucking once, this wasn't about you. It was my decision…I…I needed to see, to know…if I could be a hero. And…and whether I instead was meant to be a villain."

"Bakugou…"

"I wish I could look you in the eye right now and say I'm definitely a hero!" Bakugou trembles. He's held it in, but this is the fucking truth. Tears well in his eyes.

"The truth…honestly…is that I don't know if I'm better suited to be a villain or hero. I don't know if I can ever become a hero…And I do know that I could make a damn good villain…so, no, I don't know which I'll become. Which is why…Midoriya…"

Bakugou looks up at his…childhood friend? The trash that motivated him these past months? His rival?

…friend?

"If I become a villain…defeat me. Don't let All Might's secret get out. Defeat me, and lock me up right next to All For One…got it? Promise me, Deku, or I'll fucking kill you!"

Deku doesn't say anything for a long time.

"Kacchan…"

Bakugou swipes his hand through the air.

"I'm not your Kacchan! When…if…I become a villain, then that's all I am—a villain. And you're a hero, and your job is to stop me. So promise me you will! Promise me, damn it!"

"Ka…" Deku hesitates, clenching his fists. "You're not a villain-"

"-Didn't you hear a god damn word I just said?! I already am one! I was with the League. I went on runs with them. I…I'm the one that attacked Tsuyu! The council…they're never going to give me a hero's provincial license. They see what…what my own mother sees. What everyone, except your fucking dumb ass, sees! They see my potential to be a villain! This is just…a charade! Me? Being at U.A in the heroics department?!"

Bakugou had broken down now.

"This is just one big charade…of me, tricking myself into thinking I ca-could be…a hero. So, I'm asking…begging you, Izuku…to promise me."

Deku is crying—of course he is—but at least his face looks full of resolve.

"I promise you Kacchan….that if you go down the villain route…I'll stop you."

Bakugou smiles, relieved.

"But," Deku continues, shaking, "You won't become a villain. And you're going to promise me that you won't become one! You told me, remember?! That you were going to become the greatest hero? And I told you'd I'd beat you?! But I can't beat you if you don't become the best hero so…so promise me you'll become the best hero! Promise me, Kacchan!"

Bakugou smirks. Maybe Deku wasn't as stupid as he looked.

"I-"

"There you two are!"

The two are interrupted by Uraraka.

"I heard shouting when I went to go find you two…Bakugou, you can't just keep running off! Didn't you hear Yaomomo?! You're stuck with us tonight! And Deku, get in here! You…you've been crying?"

Bakugou stepped past Deku, leaving him to deal with Uraraka's worrying.

He still smiled though.

It's the dispossessed lining up at every gate

It's the facts worth facing, faced way too late

The next day, in class, Aizawa acts like nothing had changed. He lectures on, but everyone is smiling and whispering. Tsuyu is back, fully healed, and even waves at Bakugou. He actually sheepishly waves back.

Toru is taking notes again, but then her pencil trails off and she's doodling. But, instead of an outfit, she's drawing a comical interpretation of Iida from charades last night. Bakugou smirks at this, too.

Some fucking mood he's in, compared to last week.

When Iida and Yaomomo stand up to make classroom announcements, they welcome back both Bakugou and Tsuyu, to thunderous cheers from everyone else.

Yaomomo smiles at Bakugou, and even catches up to him on his way to the gym as the class walks together for today's heroics class.

"Did that balm work?"

Bakugou genuinely is startled, not having realized how long it'd been since he'd used the balm of Yaomomo's; and how he'd never properly thanked her.

"Y-yeah, it actually was great!"

Without thinking, he throws his hands in her face.

"See? All healed!"

Yaomomo smiles, nodding in gratitude that she could be of help, but this just reminds Bakugou of how…supportive everyone is. Was.

And he ignored it all.

In the gym, they all separate to work on individual attacks.

Bakugou overhears Todoroki muttering something to Iida, but they hush as soon as Bakugou comes even close. Bakugou knows exactly what they're talking about—Mina blurted it out last night.

"Congrats on your internship, Icyhot."

Bakugou says this, but he's genuine. Todoroki blinks back his surprise, then smiles.

"Thank you. It's just with my father's offices, again, but…Well, he's really trying to…ah, it's nothing."

Bakugou thinks of his mother, and her tears from the other morning.

"It's the number one hero. That's a great opportunity," is all Bakugou says, before leaving the two. There's still a bitter sting at the tip of his tongue when he thinks of Endeavour, of Josei…but, who is he to hold a morality judgment card to anyone..

He blasts himself to the highest point in Cementoss' arena and feels his hands in their proper gauntlets. His gauntlets.

His hero gauntlets.

When Bakugou sits back to catch a breather, he's surprised to find All Might behind him. Bakugou doesn't say anything, drinking from his water bottle.

"…I know you were with the League."

"What?!" Bakugou does a spit take.

All Might smirks, "Midoriya can't keep a secret. Don't worry—I won't contradict your story to the staff. I also spoke to the council about your license…"

Bakugou clenches his fists.

"They won't give me it because-and now, you too—know… that I could become a villain."

All Might grips Bakugou's shoulder.

"You're no closer to becoming a villain than I am."

"Are you fucking kidding me?! I was there! For a week! I…I'm the one that hurt Tsuyu! I was among the villains, I…I very well could have become a villain!"

Bakugou remembers the hideout, and believing All Might is about five seconds away from arresting Bakugou, blurts out.

"I-I don't know where their hideout is…I never saw the outside of it's location, but…But, Overhaul is there."

All Might doesn't say anything. He's probably calculating the escape routes Bakugou might try taking when he makes his move.

Bakugou doesn't bother, and when seconds pass without All Might restraining Bakugou, it only pisses him off.

"D-didn't you hear me?! I'm a villain! I'm a traitor! I'm not giving you his information on the League as some kind of plea deal—I'm a villain, damnit!" Am I? "S-so take me in, already!"

All Might fucking smiles.

"You're in U.A's Heroics division, currently in your Heroics Training Class…Last I checked, U.A doesn't have a Villains' academic route-"

"-You're seriously overlooking everything I just said?! I confessed everything to you! You…You're All Might. You're a hero. You stop villains like me…"

"All this power I possessed, and you don't think I had doubts?" All Might counters. "When there were people I couldn't save, or when there were times I didn't feel like smiling…I was tempted by how easy it'd be to just turn sides and use my power for evil. Hurt people rather than help them."

"You never thought that way…you've only ever thought of helping others. Just like Deku…"

All Might smirks.

"Alright, true…but, there still were moments. Moments where it'd have been easier if I'd become a villain…Some people, like the government, worried of that very outcome. I was invincible—if I had decided to switch sides, who could stop me?"

Bakugou frowns. This wasn't making him feel any better.

"So, there are people who were against me, too. But, I swayed them by never giving up."

All Might holds up something for Bakugou. Upon glancing at it, Bakugou recognizes it to be his provincial license.

"I didn't give up. I won them over. It's just another battle…can you fight it?"

Bakugou smirked, wiping away sweat or tears or both.

"Fuck yeah!"

Bakugou can't stop admiring his card. He's actually a provincial hero. He grins like a coyote, wanting to yell into the void that he did it—he's a fucking hero!

But, another noise deafens him.

The sensor alarm.

Bakugou hesitates a moment, before glancing it his card.

He's a hero now. Any threat…he can respond to.

Bakugou pockets the card and pauses for a moment, shuffling under his desk. He throws together his secret weapon before he sprints out of his dorm room, meeting the rest of the class in the hallways as they all make their way outside.

It's the mission of modernity, go get what's yours

Til there's nothing leftover to go get no more

And it's not what we're owed, but it's what we've earned

And it's closer than we realize, and it's time now to burn

"N-no way!" Mineta is freaking out.

"It's the League!" Yaomomo takes a stance, already pulling a katana from her flesh.

"Everyone, form a circular formation! Back to back, don't leave any blind spots!" Iida, giving demands.

Just outside their dorm, the entire League has gathered.

Bakugou grimaces. The pros are moments away, but he knows why the League is here…

"They're cornering us!" Mina looks frightened.

They all do. Bakugou clenches his fists.

They couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Aww, look at the cute little wannabes~!" Toga teases.

"It's a beautiful day…Are you sure you want to die on a day like this?" Twice.

"You don't exactly have a choice…well, one of you does." Tomura steps forward.

Somehow, Bakugou found himself in the center of the grouping—it's as if the class silently agreed to protect him, with or without knowing as much.

"What the hell does that mean?" Kirishima hardens.

"He knows."

Their eyes find Bakugou. The class tenses.

"We're not letting you take him again!" Todoroki, still feeling like he has to prove something from back in the forest…

"Bakugou, stay back! We'll protect you!" Uraraka sounds so strong, so determined…

"Again? Oh, you mean the first time~! Didn't he tell you about the most recent time, though? He came to us—willingly. Just like he will now!" Toga winks at Deku.

"What…?" Sero glances back at Bakugou.

"Bakugou, what is she saying?!" Shoji keeps glancing between Bakugou and the closest enemy—Mr. Compress.

"Bakugou, ignore them, ribbit!" Tsuyu…who knows, and has seen, the truth…

"Bakugou~" Toga sing-songs, cooing at him, "Come back to us. Or, we'll kill all these weaklings."

That triggers him. Bakugou smirks.

"You're really a dumb bitch aren't you?"

"Huh?!"

"Firstly…I'm not going anywhere with you. Yeah, maybe if I go with you, I'd spare everyone from a fight, but they all know me well enough to know I live for a good fight!

And two? You think these guys are weaklings?! You've got another thing coming for you!"

Bakugou launches the initiative, landing a blow right in front of Tomura and sending him backwards. The class, half confused and half rattled, follow his pursuit and engage in their battles.

It's not long before the staff arrives, but Dabi sets up a flame wall, encircling the students and the League, and keeping them back. Blackmist is using warp gates to throw the teachers in different locations—the first target naturally being Aizawa.

"Can't have you cancelling our Quirks, can we?"

Afterwards, it's pairs of students against League members.

Tokoyami, Ojiro, Kirishima and Uraraka take on Toga. The first two are nimble enough to avoid her knife, while Kirishima hardens simply, taking her attacks but providing no blood. Uraraka goes at Toga like its personal.

Mineta, Jirou, Kaminari, Aoyama and Momo take on Mr. Compress. Mineta throws his balls to counter Mr. Compress' own capturing orbs, while Jirou and Kaminari try attacking him with ranged attacks. Yaomomo provides them with back up of an assortment of weapons and items she creates, yelling out strategies.

Iida, Tsuyu, Sero and Koda take on Spinner. Iida is fast, running circles around the lizard bastard. Tsuyu and Sero are using their tongue and tape, respectively, to turn him around, while Koda calls forth surrounding animals—mostly bugs and pigeons—to also cause a distraction to Spinner.

Mina, Shoji, Toru and Sato take on Twice. Sato's strength is incredible, but Twice is acrobatic and quick. Shoji tries to grab him, and Mina is making the entire area slippery. Toru has gone completely invisible, stripped down, and Twice keeps getting blinded by her manipulation of light.

Todoroki takes on Dabi, using his ice to halt the flames to allow the pros in, but Dabi's flames just burst through, evaporating the ice wall.

Deku, the idiot that he is, goes for Blackmist, trying to distract and catch him to stop him from removing the pros.

All the while, Tomura just stands there, watching the chaos unfold.

Bakugou clenches his fists. Everyone is fighting in a mixture of their school uniforms or their civilian clothes—class has ended. None of them have their equipment or costumes, but they're putting up one hell of a fight.

Everyone is fighting to stop the villains.

They're fighting to save you!

"Tomura!" Bakugou yells, calling out the leader.

Tomura sways his head to the side—his face hidden by a hand.

"You want me? Come and pry me off these grounds!"

"I was wondering why they hadn't locked you up…but, judging from your classmates' reactions, you just lied and didn't tell them the truth. Now, it's out there. So, your only options are come with us and be free, and none of your classmates die, or watch them all die and then be locked up. Which one of those sounds good to you?"

"I told you to not underestimate them! Or me!"

Midoriya lands a 20% strike to Blackmist's exposed gut, knocking him out in riving pain. Todoroki is still struggling with Dabi and his wall of fire… The smoke keeps Midnight and Nom. 13's sleep musk and gravity pull from reaching the arena that's been makeshift created. Aizawa was lost first to Blackmist and his warp gates, as was Cementos, who could've potentially stopped the fires…

Midoriya looks around, watching everyone fighting…

The League is standing there own, and no one group is making much leeway in terms of gaining an upper hand against them.

The League is really doing all this for Kacchan?! I can't let them get to him!

His eyes stop on Bakugou, who is facing off against Tomura by himself.

Bakugou goes in for an attack, but Tomura side steps it and-

"Bakugou!"

He felt the touch of flesh, cold, upon his arm—the pressing of fingers. First three, then four.

Shit-!

His arm was being held and a fifth finger lingered as everyone else came to standstill.

"Bakugou…enough with the senseless fighting. You're only going to get yourself, and your classmates," Tomura motioned to the restrained students, also in precarious positions of life or death, "killed. Just come with us, nice and easy like you did the other night."

Bakugou grimaces.

Everyone has come to a standstill.

Toga has Uraraka held with a knife at her throat, forcing Tokoyami, Ojiro and Kirishima to surrender. Bakugou glances at Toga, snarling at her. The mimicry bitch who was so obsessed with Deku, now holding Uraraka hostage, who found Bakugou on the roof.

Everything she'd said had been out of anger, but it'd been true. He'd been an ass, and she still blamed herself…Bakugou wouldn't get to apologize to her.

Tokoyami, who waited up that night and actually cared… Kirishima, who considers Bakugou his best friend, and is always there, worried about Bakugou—Bakugou grits his teeth.

You were wrong, Toga! They did come for me! Not at the gym, but still when it mattered!

Mr. Compress has captured Mineta, and holds the marble precariously in his metallic prosthetic hand. Kaminari is sparking, while Jirou is gripping at her leg that got cut in the scuffle. Momo stands protectively over her, eyeing between the captive Mineta and the standstill of everyone else. She's trying to put together a strategy to get them out of here.

Always caring about everyone else…Even when that someone else doesn't want you to, you still cared for them! Bakugou remembers the balm and the pillow Momo made him, and the concern in her voice. Your classmates were always there for you!

They always believed in you!

Tsuyu is being crippled by Spinner, taking advantage of her injuries. The injuries that Bakugou had given her. Iida keeps leading a charge at him to try to snatch her back, while Sero is throwing out tape to catch Spinner and subdue him. Koda looks helplessly on, trying to corner Spinner's maneuvers into the direction of Iida and Sero.

Everyone is fighting to keep you from joining…from becoming a villain!

Twice has created clones of himself that have cornered Mina and Toru back to back, while another holds Shoji by the throat with his metal wire tape. Sato is unconscious on the ground nearby.

Dabi has Todoroki encircled by flames, creating a vacuum of air for the younger flame-wielder.

Midoriya stands over a dispensed Blackmist, tears welled in his eyes.

"I'll become your what? Tool?! You can't force me to follow you!" Bakugou spits, fight still in his voice despite the obvious check mate he's caught in.

"We have ways. Maybe we'll take a hostage from this crowd of willing subjects-"

"Heroes need to be able to cooperate! To work together! You'll only die if you rely only on yourself!"

"No!" Bakugou grinds his teeth."I'll go willingly…"

"Heroes rescue people; help those in need. They don't just fight the villains!"

"Kacchan!" Deku looks as helpless as that day in the forest, when Bakugou told him to stay back…

"-And I'll do whatever you want. Fight your battles, cause your explosions…"

"You can't be a hero if you're not willing to be all of what a hero stands for!"

"Bakugou, no! Stop! Don't give in-!"

"That sounds all good…" The palm-faced man admitted.

"What does winning even mean to you? Having an enemy admit they can't fight anymore? Every innocent being rescued and no casualties?"

"But…" Bakugou continued. "I can't expect you to keep up your end of the promise. And you're wrong."

Bakugou, in a flash, tossed something small into the air—it distracted a few; just enough for his classmates to break through. Uraraka tosses Toga over her, into the air with her Quirk to aimlessly float. Yaomomo snags Mineta back from Mr. Compress. Iida lands a hit on Spinner, freeing Tsuyu. Todoroki's ice ceases Dabi's flames. Shoji throws his Twice clone into the others, knocking them away from Mina and Toru.

"I am a hero!"

Bakugou gripped Tomura's other hand, lurching it forward so the fingers brushed against his shirt. In moments, it dissolved to reveal the ten jars of sweat, bottled and securely taped, to his chest.

Tomura's eyes widened as Bakugou smiles.

He'd gone back that night after everyone was asleep and collected the bottles back. He'd even borrowed tape from Sero that night during their commons' room party to created a proper makeshift harness for the jars. He didn't figure he'd ever use it, but he kept it in his room, under his desk more as keepsakes than anything, but on the off chance…

His other arm was still gripped by Tomura, but he used this, yanking his arm back. Tomura, reflexively, gripped harder—pressing the fifth finger down—and being drawn in closer to Bakugou.

"Kacchan!"

"You won't always win—because in some situations, there is no winning! There's just 'doing what is best! Can you live with that?"

Bakugou released Tomura's hand he'd manipulated to use in his reveal, and pressed his hand against one of the jars. His other arm had already begun dissolving.

His eyes find Deku's, and he smiles. He never did, out loud, promise Deku…

He turns his attention back to the terrified eyes of Tomura.

"I win," Bakugou smiled, before setting off his palm's explosion.

Todoroki grimaces—just like the exam—self-sacrificing to save the hostages! You're a hero, Bakugou…

It was a deafening explosion, with a blinding light and wind that blew everyone back several yards.

Deku was the first to recover, stumbling to raise himself on his hands and get to his feet. Something shimmers in front of him, just a foot away.

Deku found himself blinded by tears before he even fully had a grip on the object- what he recognized to be the distraction that Kacchan tossed- to be.

His hero provincial license.

You were…are…a hero, Kacchan.

He quickly comes to his feet and is sprinting to the ground zero point of impact.

Kacchan…Kacchan, y-you can't…you can't die! Y-you promised to be the best…I'm supposed to chase after you! You can't…Kacchan…

"KACCHAN!"

And oh it's time now to burn

And oh it's time now to burn

And oh it's time now to burn, to burn

When Bakugou opens his eyes, he's blinded by light. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust, and he feels something on his arm-

His arm?!

He shouldn't have an arm—either arm. Hell, he shouldn't have a body—he shouldn't be alive!

He flexes his fingers—all ten.

What the hell?!

He tries lifting his head, his neck, to look up, and it hurts like hell but he manages and sure enough, someone is gripping his right arm.

A girl…

Eri…that little girl Deku kept parading around…

Bakugou feels a warmth and watches as this small girl, so young, glows. There's a horn protruding from her forehead, and it's significantly grown from the bump that he recalls it being.

He honestly feels…fantastic. And intact.

He hears gasps and sniffles and his eyes focus to see that everyone—everyone—is gathered around him. They're outside, where he'd held his last stand, but time has passed…his classmates have bandages. Aizawa is standing nearest, returned from wherever Blackmist sent him…

The villains…

None are present, or in view.

The warmth ceases and Bakugou returns his attention to the girl, who looks worn out as her glow fails. Aizawa steps up to grip her, leading her away and with his eyes securely on her.

Bakugou blinks, shocked.

Her Quirk…restores people?

He was dead, wasn't he?

Is he still…?

A shadow casts itself over Bakugou and he looks up to see All Might—but, it's the All Might he remembers. The muscular, smiling All Might…

"You're a hero, Bakugou Katsuki. Deku found this…don't go losing it again, hear me?"

All Might's form doesn't last for more than that, and in a poof he's back to his sickly form, but Bakugou is welling with tears to have seen his hero again, even briefly. And from one shaky hand to the next, All Might passes Bakugou his now scuffed hero provincial license.

Bakugou hears his classmates cheering "Plus Ultra!" around him, but everything sounds so faint and distant.

No doubtful voices flood his head. Josei smiles at him, content that his heart isn't so clouded anymore. Gang Orca nods approvingly, sure that Bakugou knows what it is to be a hero now. The League of Villains are gone.

Tsuyu is yelling "ribbit" from beside Uraraka, whose gripping Deku with tears in both their eyes. Kirishima is begging to know if he can hug Bakugou, but Mina and Toru don't wait for permission and practically attack Bakugou, which upsets Kirishima who quickly joins, despite warnings from other staff members to give Bakugou some space and air.

Yaomomo joins in the hug, and eyes Bakugou—there's pure forgiveness in her eyes. Everyone seems to be overlooking Bakugou's past mistakes—his week with the League. He's back, with them, and he's alive. He died for them, but he's alive now. He's alive, and back, and he's a hero.

"Fucking Deku!"

Bakugou suddenly yells, and Deku jumps, scared suddenly by the old Bakugou outburst.

"I'm gonna be the number one hero! I promise!"

Deku nods once, crying like the fucking idiot he is, and Bakugou smiles; because this idiot is still his top rival, and he better not change, except getting stronger, even after all that has happened.

When Bakugou is tired of the over exertion of hugs everyone is drowning him in, he causes a warning explosion that throws them mostly off himself. He then declares that he feels the fucking best he's ever felt and wants to test out his strength—he feels like a fight. Iida warns him there's no fighting on school grounds outside of class time. Kirishima takes up Bakugou on his offer.

I'm a hero because I'll make the sacrifices necessary to win. I'm a hero because I depend on others to support me, and I do the same for them. I don't kill. I save the hostages, the civilians, and I know right from wrong and choose to fight for what is right. I'm a hero because I win, and heroes never lose!

Bakugou smirks at the half of his class that has taken him up on his offer for a fight, excited and filled with adrenaline and happiness that they all survived

"I'll fucking murder you!" He yells at the oncoming wave of his peers—his friends—but he's smiling with tears in his eyes.

"That's not very heroic for a battle cry," Tsuyu adds.

Later, Bakugou will be filled in that the League was pulled out last moment by Blackmist, who escaped after Deku ignored him momentarily. But, they weren't unscathed, and from what anyone could tell, Tomura will be licking his wounds for awhile thanks to Bakugou's 'last stand'. He's instructed by Aizawa to "never pull shit like that again."

The school holds a media press conference, but are vague with the information they reveal. Bakugou is never brought to charges for any acts of villainy—something he knows All Might and his connections with the police force have something to do with. Despite all the information he can give over to the heroes, they never find the base, or Overhaul, but his information does help out Toga as a disguised member of the council, and security at the school is buffed to better handle Twice or Toga's interference.

A week goes by and Toru is still doodling on her notes—images of Ojiro, Bakugou notes mostly. Tsuyu comes to Bakugou frequently now, by his desk, to either compare notes for studying or to just silently sit by him—he doesn't mind that she doesn't talk too much, or that she's blunt.

Bakugou gets held back one day in class by Todoroki, and confesses about Endeavour and Spinner's fight. Bakugou admits he knew a victim, but when Todoroki reveals that there were no victims during Endeavour and Spinner's fight, Bakugou pieces together the truth—the truth that maybe even Twice wasn't aware of.

Josei was collected by Tomura that night. All the "casualties" were. Bakugou feels like an idiot for not realizing it, and only grows angrier at the League—so, Josei is probably captive somewhere, her Quirk being drained from her for a Nomu or some twisted experiment. He silently vows to find her one day, if she's still alive, and save her.

Show her that heroes do have good intentions.

When Todoroki and Bakugou reach the dormitory, Bakugou is actually surprised by the streamers and shouts of his classmates.

"Congrats!"

Bakugou looks at Todoroki, who clearly was in on the surprise party, and is surprised evne to find Camie and Inasa in attendance.

"What is this?"

"Your surprise aprty for earning your license!" Mina declares, as if it's obvious.

Sato baked several cakes for the occasion, and Mineta is hitting on Camie who ignores him completely. Yaomomo gives Bakugou a small gift—a jar of her valve in a bag along with a pillow "compact enough to bring with you anywhere—for impromptu naps!"

Bakugou actually blushes at the gesture and refuses to thank her, but accepts the gifts.

Deku takes his sweet time finally making his way over to Bakugou, despite it being apparent from the moment Bakugou walked in that he had something on his mind, and finally Bakugou snaps at Deku to just "let it out already!"

"Don't die again!"

Bakugou frowns at Deku.

"Of-fucking-course I'm not going to die again! You fucking idiot, didn't you hear me?! I'm going to be the number one hero, and I can't die until that happens!"

Deku looks relieved.

The old Bakugou is back.

Bakugou smirks inwardly as well.

His doubts have receded.

He is a hero.

A/N: So, this is gonna be long too, but...

Firstly, congrats on making it to the end?! I hope you enjoyed this story! Like I said earlier, this thought stemmed from the idea of "what if.." Bakugou did go to the League. I always knew I wanted him to first have that outing with Twice, as a clone, cause I thought, at least, that that's a clever way to sneak Bakugou out-so, his fight with Toga to lead to meeting with Twice (Who I love as a character and I liked writing a lot~ if you couldn't tell) was always planned to take place, and then have Bakugou return to U.A before THEN physically going willingly with the League.

What REALLY grew was his time spent with the League~ Originally, I planned Bakugou to kinda observe one mission of the League's and just not participate or step in as a hero would have done, which would have convinced him he's not a true hero, but then that mission grew and grew, and his time at the headquaters, too, grew and grew~ I like Dabi, and I support the theory that he's a Todoroki oldest brother, so you can read into his drinking and "cheers" with Bakugou that, yeah, he's got some idea of revenge towards the heroes, particularly Endeavour~ again, that whole part just kept expanding, but it kinda needed to because the meat of this story is the idea of Bakugou being with the League so...

I don't know the extent of Blackmist's range, or much about Japanese geography-I don't know is Sendai was a proper place to put a lot of the outside story and missions in, or how it lines up with the geography of the story in bnha so far-but, Yoru Masayune, or Josei, is a play, or attempt of a play, on the Japanese words for "night" or "lady of the night" along with a reference to "Date Masamune", who formed Sendai and whom I'm a fan of because I f*cking love Sengoku Basara (An awesomely ridiculous historical-set game-and-anime series that is the only reason I know a lot about the Edo/Warring States Period of Japan) so...yeah...I normally dislike OCs, but Josei served a small role, and I liked using her brief character as a catalyst of the potential casualty only to later be, rather expositionarily-dumped at the end, revealed to be a victim of what was Tomura's job during the mission run that night-collecting people for their Quirks for the Nomu, so...yeah...

Ships! I kept this story relatively low in terms of ships-obviously DekuxUraraka is kinda endgame canon implied, so they're implied, and Toga has her weird crush on Deku, too, but other than that every interaction between any character can be read into platonically or not (Oh, and Twice's crazy-maybe-crush on Toga, too, is in line with the manga). Thanks to Blamedorange on tumblr, I'm slowly converting to a Bakumomo shipper, but I didn't mean for them to come across as a ship in this story unless you read it that way-for the most part, I jsut like her character and wanted to give her more screen-time. I don't ship TsuyuxBakugo, but I think if you do ship that, this story also has a lot of Tsuyu (Again, I love her character and wanted to give her more screen-time) and, hell, even you BakugoxUraraka fans can maybe read into their few scenes as some shipping-level of some sorts~ I also don't ship Bakushima, but even I'll admit I severely underused Kirishima, and even Todoroki and Deku, and in future fics I want to give them more screen-time~! Cause what I do love is Kirishima, and his friendship with Bakugou~!

Originally, I had no idea how to end this fic. I kinda wanted to kill off Bakugou, but ultimately gave this story a happy ending or Eri reviving him and the villains getting away...Eri I was gonna leave out of the story, because she's such a game breaker, but another character I originally hadn't planned to be in the story got involved and so it felt alright to pull off the Ex-Machina that she is-Overhaul, despite being an abuser and mosnter of a person in the manga, I...secretly actually love. I wasn't intending to have him in the story at all, and then I had a draft where he's hinted at being kept in the back room, and then finally I had Bakugou just outright find Overhaul and confront him...so...yeah, it's awful, but I really od love Overhaul and I hope he returns in the manga and gets his Quirk back if nothing else cause he's another game-breaker Quirk that I wanna see make a comeback~!

But, yeah, originally after Bakugou fights Tsuyu, he was going to return to U.A and that part of the story stayed relatively the same-I tried to flesh out his interactions and reinstatement with his classmates, and then yeah my original intent was his self-sacrifice and leaving it open-ended, ambigious with Deku finding his license in the rubble and no satisfying ending but...instead, it turned into a fluffy ending where Bakugou gets hugs and then does the most in-character thing by immediately challenging his class to a fight~

Again, this story is long, unrefined, and OOC-but, I have to focus on actual schoolwork now and need to just release this project into the world so I can move on (and inevitably just write more fics -_-). I love Bakugou, and bnha, and want to write more for this fandom, and read more from the fandom as well~! (I saw a lot of Deku!Villain AUs..? And not that many Bakugou ones...? Please link me to good Bakugou as a villain fics, cause I am in a great need for them~!) Anyway...

I hope if you read the story that you found some enjoyment out of it! Thank you and I promise I'll fine-tune my next fic!