- Day 2 -

That night felt longer than it should, because Bakugo could not sleep at all. Of course, Principal Nedzu had to call his parents to report his suspension from the fight he initiated. Before going to bed, the explosive blonde finally decided to answer his phone. Only because that damn hag kept calling him every few minutes after dinner. So his phone kept ringing, then buzzing. And vibrating… dammit. He should have turned it off. But his conscience finally got the better of him.

As expected, his mom was absolutely pissed, and gave him quite the lengthy earful about how dissapointed she was about the whole matter. She thought her son had grown-up and got over those aggressive tendancies of his, especially the grudge he held with Midoriya Izuku. Katsuki was secretly relieved that the woman was too busy to afford a trip to come over in person. Repetively, she told him this suspension was completely unacceptable. This was not the news she wanted to have after hearing how her son failed in receiving his hero license.

And then, and then to also be threatened with an expulsion if he happened to get into another fight? Nyargh. (The only reason that hadn't already happened was from the good graces of All Might talking their teacher out of it.) The hag had to remind him again how she and his dad had worked so hard to help get him into UA, so the least he could do was to not throw all that away for his foolish, selfish reasons.

Bakugo's angry thoughts about feeling less than perfect ate at his conscience all over again. He wasn't a bad person, he wasn't! There were real villians out there who were far worse than him. All he wanted was to be a top-notch, powerful hero who made those villians cower in fear! A hero that society could look up to for years to come!

Sure, a lot of it was his parents' stupid fault for making him think that he was the best in every way. But the explosive blonde refused to think that he had been mislead otherwise… and that being high on the spectrum had nothing to do with it. Since an early age, his mom send him to tutors to keep him up on his grades. Things like math and science came super easy, since he tended to understand the world around him like an algorithm. He was smart, and not insane! It was just those hero professor-wannabe's that were wrong! They just didn't like his lack of people skills... that was why he didn't get his stupid license!

Katsuki was a star-catcher.. a viking dragon tamer... he grew up believing there was nothing he couldn't defeat with his bare hands. He rolled onto his back, feeling so pent up now. Weak.

How the fuck was he supposed to go three more days caged up like this?!

The angry teen exhaled loudly. Out of desperation, he lifted his hands to generate that bright, orange glow in the dark. The intense contrast in color tempered his mood a little, and he clamped his fingers shut into fists to feel the building sparks build and pop against his skin. After flares erupted boldly out of the sides, he open up his hands to watch his palms glow again. This was the color of 'boom'. The colors and the explosions that he heard and felt which fueled the intensity behind his quirk's power. The same stimulating apprehension he first experienced as a young child that transformed into the adrenaline rush of today that ultimately boosted his sweat output. Then the sudden wave of satisfaction upon seeing those bothersome things get blown into smithereens made the discomfort well worth it. Later he learned from his dad that calming sensation actually came from the nitroglycerin in the sweat Katsuki produced. (His dad was a chemist as his profession.) So combining these facts with the fearful awe and respect he got from the other kids about how powerful it was, the explosive blonde felt like the boss! Unfortunately for his mom, that was also when he became a real handful to keep in line.

Blowing up shit that annoyed him had been so cathartic…

That pretty much was how his quirk had shaped who he was. Katsuki didn't ever want to be known as the messed up kid with mental issues. Nope, he was the kid with a damn awesome quirk that no one messed with! He didn't ever need any help! This was this mantra he repetively told himself whenever he felt out of control.

Because right now Katsuki felt like screaming at the world more than ever! God dammit!

He really hated feeling like a fucking shitty loser, and he especially hated feeling confined! All this reminded him of having his hands trapped in those damned quirk cancelling devices. The Sports Festival Awards Ceremony being aired publicly was utterly embarrassing, but when the fucking League of Losers took note to do the same thing to him? He was so done with that!

Katsuki also hadn't blown up anything in over a day, since he couldn't attend any training activities. He felt so pent up, so irritated.. so trapped, but the teen did not know how make those feelings stop now. The gnawing irritation and fusteration… the lump forming in his throat again.

He pressed his palms against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut really trying to suppress his storm of emotions, but it didn't work. Katsuki rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow. He gripped it tight just to muffle his anguished swearing before he literally exploded. Attracting more attention from his classmates with his yelling was the last thing he wanted. When sleep finally did come, it hit him hard.

Come morning, the alarm wasn't enough to wake Bakugo at his usual time. Most likely because he fell back to sleep under his singed pillow after shutting it off. But it was the sharp knock on his door followed by a "Yo! Getting late, bro!" that shook him. Suddenly realizing the time, Bakugo stumbled out of bed and rushed around to get dressed. Guh… his aching, stiff body hurt even worse today as he struggled though his routine.

Outside as the frazzled blonde jogged down the hall to bound down the stairs, Deku called his phone. He was very late now, dammit! "I'M COMING!" Bakugo yelled at his phone as he paused just long enough to answer and hang up. He barely noticed the handful of texts from the nerd and Kirishima trying to reach him earlier.

By the time the two reached the dorm's cafeteria, the majority of everyone had gone thru already for breakfast. Deku had been waiting for him in the dorm's common area all that time. The nerd said he already did trash duty for him, leaving it with that unspoken implication that Bakugo should do it all for the next day.

Damn nerd sat near him at the table too, not that there was much of a choice. Th two of them had to sit in the front corner apart from the other students anyway. "Everything .. okay?" he finally asked hesitantly. Because yes, Deku also knew Bakugo was never late.

"M' fine!" the emotionally charged teen shot back, hunched over his tray. Bakugo really didn't feel hungry either, but he still forced himself to eat something.

Deku just tugged on his t-shirt collar while looking at Bakugo's shirt. It finally dawned on him that he put his uniform pants on, with his white uniform shirt roughly buttoned over his black tank top. Since they were on house arrest, they didn't need to wear their uniforms. Bakugo had forgotten that in his half-awake hurry to get ready.

"Maybe I meant to!" he blurted out in defense, because, yes.. some habits were hard to break.

"Right, it's okay! I guess," the shitty broccoli-top just smiled nervously.

"So stop laughing!" Bakugo was really getting steamed about this stupid little oversight. He wasn't that messed up.. he wasn't!

He got yelled at by his mom all the time.

"Sorry…" Deku answered, now looking even more sympathetic, which wasn't any better.

The blonde hated the boy's pity just as much, and he wished he could eat his breakfast somewhere else. The irritation of nothing going his way this morning was putting him evermore on edge. Sadly, the hopeless nerd knew Katsuki just enough now to know when something was off.

"Kacchan… you know All Might said that if you ever needed to talk, his door is always open," the green-haired nerd added more quietly, just loud enough for the blonde to hear.

"Just. Shut. Up." Bakugo glared at him for a beat, before scowling at his tray of food before him. He didn't have those kind of problems… and he wasn't blaming that for any of this shit that just happened.

He just was …..

He just... he wasn't sure what to call it… just a range of dark moods and feelings of irritation and.. self-loathing, all scratching at his insides. It was what he always felt when things just.. got to him.

That's not new.

What was new, was that All Might was nothing but Professor Yagi now. Because his role model was-

"I- I had trouble sleeping last night too," Deku interrupted his internal conflict with a new conversation. "It's bad enough we can't even learn anything about what the others are doing. I heard talk about new internships!"

Katsuki just kept his focus on trying to eat his breakfast without acknowledging his rival's new attempt to make small talk. All Deku does was talk.. too damn much! He really wasn't in the mood right now, because yes, they were being left behind! And just because All Might confessed their secret to him doesn't mean that made them best buds now.

"But after I had dreamed about those ghosts…" he continued, keeping his voice low even though there wasn't anyone around them. "Actually… it was those people who I think.. had a connection with All Might's One for All quirk… I got worried, because I don't know why I had the dream. The first time I saw them was when Shinso brainwashed me at the Sports Festival."

The blonde glanced up, interest growing since that nerd was talking about that quirk of his again.

"Then it got wierd… when I was taking out the trash this morning, this face just showed up on the wall and then it moved to the ground... just.. watching me.. then he started to talk!"

"Right… maybe your real quirk is that you can fucking 'see dead people'..." Katsuki muttered in response. Yes, he was practically attempting a stupid joke just to trip him up.

"No…"

Katsuki just snorted. "Think about it, nerd.. you got a super-secret power-up quirk that had been passed down from generations of people… and you don't think that's going to come with some fucked-up side-effects?"

"Yeah.. but All Might hadn't said anything about being able to see 'the others' before…" his stupid rival continued at his hushed whisper.

"Yeah, sounds like you're the one who should have a talk with him," Bakugo concluded, then got up to take his tray back. In all honesty, he did believe what the nerd told him. Dumb-ku was having trouble with his damn quirk, as usual, the stupid idiot. That made him wonder once again why All Might chose such a wimpy kid.

Even so, the blonde thought back to how his quirk used to scare the bejeebers out of him when it first came in, at the ripe young age of five!

But Deku? Tch. Fucking nerd got that One for All quirk like barely a month before coming to UA. He hardly had any time to get used to it. All the other students had their quirks years before arriving. They already broke them in and understood at least some basic concepts on how to use their quirks. That alone just made Deku stand out like a sore thumb from the rest! The only reason he hadn't been kicked out of the hero course for being such a hazard was because of All Might!

Deku was like a fucking five year old just learning how to read, when everyone else here was at high school level! It was stupid and alarming at the same time how quickly that hopeless nerd caught up to them though. Bakugo did get what Professor Yagi was telling them though, that Deku needed help in learning how to adjust to his quirk to 'win', but dammit… that useless pebble was never his friend! Just a stepping stone...

"Why's teamwork so fucking important?" the blonde muttered under his breath as he stood up. His thoughts were already on what was next for the day, since he already felt like he was behind on their chores. He didn't expect Deku to actually answer that.

"Well… because All Might realized that being the strongest as the top hero was a system designed to fail? If we adapt a teamwork system instead, then it's harder for the villians to take us out," the broccoli-top explained fairly confidently as he picked up his tray to follow after.

Bakugo sighed, taking his tray directly to the kitchen in the back where they had to wash the dishes. He also hated it when Deku actually said something that made sense.

Unfortunately, the damn nerd felt the need to keep talking as he thought out loud. Why Deku's mouth rarely got the message from his brain to shut up when he started to brainstorm was something that will forever annoy the spikey blonde.

"...but that makes sense though, when considering the current state of affairs. The emphasis on being the most powerful hero with admirable qualities - like having a quirk that's strong enough to stop villians while helping victims - that was what eventually became All Might's downfall. That's true for the rest of us and for society: that we have to push our limits and define the quality of our quirks to determine our worth. Even Endeavor wasn't able to surpass him for so many years.. and it also forced All for One to get stronger - well, he was the creator of that power... but All for One had another plan just as daunting by organizing a team of villians…"

Trying to go along with that babbling nerd was pointless now. Stupid T word… Bakugo thought desperately while getting the hot water ready for the dishes.

The explosive blonde didn't like to own up to it, but he had seen and heard things about the League of Villians that he wished he could forget. There were some points he thought were true, like how corrupt the system had become. Bakugo overheard some of his classmates complain about many of the wierd activities they did while interning. Photoshoots, special appearances, and commercials, all to promote more of their 'brand'. That much was true, as he felt highly annoyed in also having to take on Best Jeanist's style, right down to the hair and the blue jeans. That pro hero's legit reasoning was that it was for the sake of uniform professionalism. The symbol you wanted to convey to the world. Right.

What it all boiled down to was that the League of Villians wanted to have him for his quirk. He was dangerous, lethal, and aggressive… qualities that weren't typically considered heroic, but villainous. All of them had quirks that destroyed, controlled, stole away. Katsuki couldn't deny it though, there was that satisfaction in seeing the bothersome thing go 'boom'... but his mom told him otherwise. If he wanted to be a hero, then his quirk shouldn't be scary. It should be helpful and mighty, like All Might's quirk!

Katsuki got it, though… Deku was chosen because he didn't have that greedy drive for fame and fortune. The damn nerd just liked saving people, a lot. The blonde wasn't greedy, persay... he just only thought about numbers, not names. So for that crazy fanboy to openly agree that the corruption of society was All Might's fault..? The mighty Number One they had idolized for so long? No. That didn't make it any better.

So if they really wanted to get to bottom of all this, All for One should be to blame. What Yagi told them was that said ass wipe had the ability to absorb, magnify, and stockpile other quirks. All for what reason? To just knock out All Might… or really, One for All.

Deku would be next. He… Katsuki had to keep that from happening. And he hated knowing that now.

"It's fuckin' All for One's fault… All Might was just another one of his shitty pawns."

Yep, that got the damn nerd's attention.

"What did that shitty fucker ask you again, at the mall before our camping trip?" Bakugo asked. It wasn't because he didn't remember, it was to make a point. Those assholes hated the idea of a hero with a quirk so unbelievably super, that said hero had become like a diety. They wanted it gone. If that was true, and if Deku now had One for All, why didn't they kidnap All Might's predecessor instead? Surely they had figured that much out about the nerd.

"That… that he was looking for a reason to destroy," Deku said, slowly and carefully. His expression was dead serious and graven. "What did they.. ask you?"

Bakugo scoffed at that stupid question. That much had already been publicly addressed numerous times - those shits thought he would be great villain material. All he could fathom was that if he wasn't rescued when he was, then they would have stolen his quirk instead. "Their shithead leader was just some spoiled brat who answered to All for One. They had no fucking clue what to do!"

"But, he was the grandson of All Might's master…"

"So?"

Deku just returned his look, then sighed. "Just the way Shigaraki was talking to me, about how it sounded like All Might wasn't able to be there.. to save him..."

So the shitty nerd was going to pry it out of him this way. "What if we could not have saved you, in t-?"

He snarled, grabbing Deku's shirt collar to make his point clear. "That fucking didn't happen, so don't even go there, dammit! I would have never let those losers… they would have never…" Even if it meant dying, Bakugo would never ever chose to become one of them. Or worse, become a quirkless prisoner held at the mercy of their experimentations. Death would have been a welcome relief in comparison to being a quirkless fuck-up!

"I know, but… ..didn't want to lose.. you… " the words were barely heard.

Right. But. There was that brief moment when All for One had warped him from the warehouse that fear had completely seized Bakugo. He felt All for One's scary-insane amount of power course through him, making him feel like he really was about to die. Bakugo had just slipped right out of All Might's grasp, because the hero's final expression was that of genuine horror... instead of his stupid, trademark smile. All Might actually failed that time. But it wasn't the hero's fault.. it… it was because All for One was that much more powerful. That it took every last once All Might had left to stand up against that villain. That made Katsuki feel so remorseful…

"You felt it too.. his power..." Deku breathed, his eyes wide open.

Bakugo let go, suddenly feeling very exposed, and pushed his green-haired rival stumbling back a couple steps. The hot-head turned away to stare at the sink for a moment to recollect himself, clenching his fists. There was no doubt Deku saw the shadow of apprehension fall over his face.

"Fucking shut up!" he growed at the sink instead. He was done with that topic, and those feelings. That there was no way he would've been able to hold his own against... him. Them.

His classmate actually stayed silent, shockingly silent, as they finished washing the rest of the dishes.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Come dinnertime, somehow, a couple of the kitchen staff decided to call off work and they were short staffed for that evening. This left the two boys to work in the serving lines now. Alas, trying to argue this placement with a gruff kitchen lady (who very much reminded him of a Korean ahjumma) was just as futile as arguing with his hag of a mom. Big Ugly didn't care that Bakugo knew how to cook, which he often did on the weekends when the kitchen staff was out. She just wanted servers.

Being wiser on the matter, said supervisor put them on opposite ends of the line to keep the two from bickering. This exposed placement felt so embarrassing to Bakugo because it left certain students at UA to wonder why he and Deku were there.

Even though many of the students stayed in their own respective dorm buildings, there were some who wanted to visit - which meant dealing with class 1B. Like how Iron Brows liked hanging with Krishima, or that some of the 1B girls would be invited over to chat about girl stuff.

The worse of this was having to endure the various comments about Bakugo's 'hidden domestic talents' or how cute his apron looked, as well as overhearing broken conversations about what happened that put him in this spot. His future at UA was tested completely when that shitty, blonde fuckwad came along. He was going to kill whoever invited him here!

Bakugo's threat to the 1B student that he'd spit in his food immediately resulted in him being moved to the dishwashing area. That change could have been a good thing, but the Shitty Copy Cat wasn't done with him yet.

"Now, remember what Aizawa-Sensei said about eating students... they may taste good, but they are not good for you!" the fucking blonde sassed Bakugo after he dropped off his tray.

The ceramic soup bowl Bakugo just washed ended up exploding, along with the pink, rubber dish gloves that went up to his elbows. Red eyes turned to glare at the loud-mouthed copy cat as he walked away. The spiky blonde explode-a-pulted a small bowl at the braggert. But it was abruptly caught by a large hand that came up out of no where!

"Just stop!" the assertive Class President of 1B bapped the Shitty Copy Cat on the head with her free hand. Her gaze settled on Bakugo as her hands went back to their normal size. She set the scorched metal rice bowl back on the drop-off counter. "And you need to stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Tch," the fuming spikey blonde grit his teeth in his effort to recognize the Big Hand girl's attempt to keep their skirmish from escalating. Damn… it was so hard to stay calm!

Bakugo was still simmering when the half and half approached with his tray. The expression on his face was a little more than his usual deadpan gaze. Apparently Icyhot overheard that altercation, and looked as if he wanted to say something. Fortunately, he was alone this time and not tailing Four Eyes. Just their eyes met, mismatched ones with crimson red, before Bakugo turned away in spite. His threats hardly seem to shake the halfie, and that just made him even more aggravated!

This was shaping up to be a long day... a really, really long day. His patience, like his energy, had been spent two hours ago. If he could get to the end of this day without getting expelled, that would be a goddamned miracle!

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Once dinner was finished, the students went their separate ways. While a handfull still hung out in the common room below, many more went back to their rooms this time. Since Bakugo and Midoriya had been grounded to their own rooms during this time, that had affected the jovial atmosphere of everyone else.

The sun hadn't set yet so the warm glow of evening filtered into Shouto Todoroki's room through the balcony window. Regardless of what went on, he had his own routine each night and the pleasant evening air helped to motivate him. Typically after dinner, he would finish what remained of his homework and then did twenty-five sets each of situps, pushups, burpees, and squats. If there was time left, he would also practice a couple of katas before wrapping up with some cool-down stretches. It was something that had been drilled into his mindset, every morning after waking up and every night before bed, just to keep up his fitness and endurance.

Yes, Shouto actually tried to break away from the rigorous daily routine after coming to the dorms, especially after Sero teased him if he was trying to become Bruce Lee. However, the half and half hero-in-training had noticed how more uncoordinated and slow he felt during their physical training classes. That bothered him a lot, as well as the nagging feeling that something was missing, so he picked them back up again. A lot of things oddly had started to feel 'missing' after he came to live at UA.

These excercises provided only a false sense security this time. The youngest Todoroki was still deeply bothered by the reality he had failed passing the provisional license course, even though it was a couple days ago. He could tell that Bakugo wasn't taking it very well either after hearing about the late night fight with Midoriya, and then even more door slamming and other noises coming from the room right below. It did leave him to wonder how Midoriya got caught up in this anyway. It made him feel more hyper-aware of Bakugo, of what he was up to, for his classmate's benefit. But.

But what ate at Shouto the most was that this failure at the PLE was something that could have been avoided entirely. If only he also hadn't lost his temper.

That Shouto even had a temper… just like his old man.

That someone also had gone as far as to compare him to Endeavor, to say that he, Shouto, had the same uncaring eyes and arrogant attitude.

That hit him hard.

Even more damning were the angry words and shaming that Shouto expected to hear from his father… a belittling that never came. Like his old man knew now that he would be beating himself up in wait of his final sentence. Or was it that his father heard that the remedial course intended to make-up for the provisional exam was going to be that grueling?

The fifteen year old sat with his legs crossed on the balcony after finishing his reps, to reflect on that part of his behavior some more. Trying to pick up on social cues from body language, or event the metaphoric sayings, just wasn't something Shouto was good with. His previous classmates thought it was the hardcore, sheltered life he lived, while teachers and counselors from his other schools felt that Shouto had some developmental delays. Either way, whenever the matter was addressed during parent-teacher conferences, his dad forcefully disagreed about there being anything else wrong with him. Shouto also pushed it aside, as it all just sounded like another thing that would have more people fussing over him.

He had more than his share of doctor visits, surgeries on his eye, and the pain, the failed skin graphs, the medicines, and ointments for his burn therapy. In the midst of all this, the worse feeling was not really knowing what happened to his mother. Shouto had felt so confused and lonely back then, and the first few months after that 'incident', he so much ached for her soothing hugs. He missed his mother's cooking, and the special treats she would sneak in for him... to the point the depression made him loose weight. That only irritated his father even more. All that he would say was that his mother hated him. She hated how he looked - especially his heterochromatic eyes, his father's piercing cold blue. She was the one who hurt him, so he best stop that crying and get over it!

But Shouto felt that couldn't be true. How could his mom suddenly hate him? Why? His older sister, if and when he did get to see her, would whisper things that reminded him of their mother. Reassurances and utterances... reminders.. it wasn't his fault. It wasn't his mom's fault.

Shouto decided to blame his overbearing father instead, because he didn't like their mother anymore. That's why he suppressed his fire, out of spite. Then his old man brought in some strict granny-nanny come to watch after him and his siblings. To keep him seperated from them. He even forgot how many siblings he had back then…

How was Shouto supposed to know the right and wrong way to act around people, when he hardly had the chance to be a kid?

After talking to his mother now… and listening to her confessions of guilt and more happier recollections, Shouto wasn't sure what to feel anymore. Who was he? Who did he want to be? How can he not be so... 'cold'?

"Hey Todoroki! Sato's got chocolate brownie's if you want some!" Sero's announcement outside his closed door startled him from his thoughts. Yes... of course, sharing a floor with those two classmates of his never meant a dull moment. It was even harder to not resist trying the food he had been smelling in the air for the last thirty minutes.

Right. Step one to learning how to be more friendly: socialize more.

Trying to be more social, on the other hand, did not come naturally with people he wasn't especially close with. Todoroki had decided Midoriya and Iida just had that approachable demeanor which made it easier. Sero was approachable too, but he tended to joke around a lot so sometimes Todoroki wasn't sure when his classmate was being truly serious. That girl, Camie, from the other school who also failed the provisional exam reminded him of Sero and Kaminari too. Bakugo though, he was the opposite. He was the demanding type who pushed everyone away on purpose… kind of like his father. That's probably why he wasn't letting the explosive blonde's attitude get to him so much.

So how did Inasa Yoarashi get to be so annoying?

Despite his mind still on overdrive, Todoroki had walked over to Sato's room where he heard Sero laughing about something. Of course, he must have been wearing his mood, because he got the concerned looks from them.

"Something up?" Sero wondered, bumping his shoulder lightly into Todoroki's. He remembered his first combat experience with the tall tape-boy at the Sports Festival, the last time he had to compete while in a sour mood.

The half and half took a brownie from the plate that Sato offered him. He hesitated, then decided to answer before taking a bite. "Am I an unkind person?"

Sero pursed his mouth in thought for a pregnant moment longer, holding up his pointed finger, before giving his two cents. "No. No, you're not," he smiled now. "Not being 'outgoing' does not equal not being 'friendly'."

"I think you're nice," Sato said, from where he was sitting on his rolling desk chair.

"The student from Shiketsu High said that my eyes looked cold.. heartless, like Endeavor's," Shouto finally explained. While his two floormates hadn't gotten the full story of his homelife like Midoriya had, they knew enough that Shouto did not get along with his father.

"Well.. yeah," Sero twisted his mouth. His brutal honesty was rarely held back. "You do tend to have a RBF, but not as bad as Bakugo's, at least."

"A.. what?"

"A resting bitch face," the dark-haired teen nodded smartly, despite any possible consequences.

"So my face looks like a bitch when I'm resting?" Todoroki tried to clarify this, still holding his uneaten brownie. It was bad enough that he felt responsible for injuring people's hands… now he was like a female dog?

"It's not a bad thing. We know you are a good person. It just means you need to smile more!" Sero patted Todoroki's shoulder. Sato nodded in agreement.

Taking that to heart, Todoroki attempted a smile. It might have been a little forced though.

Sato had to twist his face as to not say anything, but Sero did. "Well no… not like that. Just think of stuff that genuinely makes you feel happy.. if that helps."

Right. He nodded and took a bite of the brownie. Then it hit him. The realization that Shouto was free to make his own choices now, to experience more at UA that he hadn't before, and to make friends. Like the warm sweetness of the chocolate in his mouth, his expression brightened up.

Sero just laughed, clapping him on the shoulder to acknowledge his sincere effort.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

The evening breeze blew lightly into his room after Eijiro Kirishima opened the sliding door on his balcony just a crack. His room felt stuffy after a few rounds on the punching bag, so the cool air felt refreshing.

The sounds of pulsing music from Kaminari's room below had filtered in. Only because the only other person who would blast music that loud was Bakugo, but his taste was mostly rock. Sometimes Sero would pick up the pace, but his tastes were far more eclectic. The other guys on that floor and above were for the most part pretty quiet.

Bakugo was quiet in his room now though, which was wierd after how 'stormy' he had been lately. Kirishima's best guess was that his tempermental friend finally wore himself out and went to bed early.

It hadn't been very long since they moved into the dorm system, also when Bakugo had been kidnapped. The trying conversation Kirishima had with his friend the other night still lingered in his thoughts. Bakugo was visibly upset about something... something more profound that he didn't want to make transparent. The explosive blonde never really openly addressed his thoughts about the Kamino incident before, but.. was that really the problem? His friend just looked so much more fusterated about not being considered a 'good hero'. Failing the provisional exam most likely reopened wounds that hadn't properly healed from the League of Villians kidnapping him. Being the proud type that he was, Bakugo wouldn't just admit that he was struggling either. That one thing about him really annoyed Kirishima, but what could he do?

Bakugo just didn't like talking about personal stuff. He even struggled visibly when he felt physically too close to people.

The spiked redhead sighed, shaking out his arms. Just being there was the best he could do, and so he was here in his room for that reason. Just in case.

Kirishima sat at his desk, and pulled out his spiral notebook to look over his homework assignment list. Just one more thing to do there, so he looked for his wireless earbuds to connect with his phone for music. Because, after Bakugo yelled at him once about it, the layout of the dorm's floor plan wasn't a smart one. They designed the rooms so that the beds of one room were against the desks of the next one. That meant Kirishima couldn't play music very loudly at night since the walls weren't that well insulated, despite being made of cinder blocks. Otherwise, he would have the explosive blond pounding on the wall and yelling more obscenities to can it.

Kirishima sighed after turning on his laptop. He pulled up Present Mic's online English assignment and groaned. It was one of those he had to stop his music for so he could listen to the audio clips. A speak and spell, persay.

Then his phone rang.

"Hey," Krishima answered. His ear buds were connected via Bluetooth anyway.

"So we're still thinking of staging that mission," Kaminari's voice resonated through the music in the background.

"Mission?" Kirishima was just a little foggy on this one. A lot of things happened that day.

"You know… about seeing what's up with that empty room next to Bakugo's?" the sparky blonde explained a little more.

"Oh, yeah... Or the one by Sato," Kirishima hummed. Yes, for some reason Kaminari, Sero, and Mina had to start wondering about that the other day. In all honesty, they thought it was funny how the girls were spaced more apart, with many of them being placed at the corners. But for the guy's side, they left the extra corner rooms open, but not in the same way on each floor.

That was when Kaminari suggested that there might be a special reason to the floorplans. Now they could just use the reason that the electrified teen had read a lot of murder mysteries, but it was hard to resist the idea that their dorm had its own secrets.

Sero wondered if in the event of another vilian attack, what if Heights Alliance would turn into a barricaded fortress? Why else would Principal Nezu and the others insist on this dorm system? Well, Sero also read a lot of American superhero comics (namely Spiderman) as well as manga, so he couldn't help for letting his imagination go wild.

More ideas from the group spilled forth after that, such as secret passages, a hi-tech base of operations in the basement with 007 tech, or even a underground tunnel system for the pros to travel through. Now if only they could develop their own method for warp gates, that would make their campus invincible!

This apparently was what happens when Bakugo wasn't there to keep them real.

"Well.. I think Bakugo already went to sleep, so we have to be quiet if you want to do something tonight," Kirishima added more of his thoughts. Nevermind the fact it was a school night too.

"We still have to plan out the finer details, but maybe just look for clues tonight?"

"Where? My floor?"

"Probably. Sero said Todoroki's in his room. Sato too," then there was a pause, letting the background noise come through. "Should we let Todoroki in on this at some point? Since he knows things about the hero system that we don't."

"Maybe… but only if it gets hard to pull a bluff anymore," Kirishima frowned. They hadn't said anything to Bakugo either, simply for not wanting to get him into further trouble.

On the other hand, Denki Kaminari apparently had his own sorted past before coming to UA. After the attack on the supposedly secret location of their camping trip, Kaminari hadn't been seen for some time due to being questioned by the police. The higher ups had their concerns that he had transmited the camps location. His classmate confided with Kirishma afterwards that he had a reputation with the authorities from his middle school days for being a hacker. Yes, his unspoken skill in that area was a little concerning. Fortunately, the sparky blonde, with the help of his parents, managed to get cleared from that accusation without being expelled. Denki swore that he would never rat out his friends, especially Bakugo. That was why he chose to stay behind when the redhead had plotted with Midoriya on a 'safe' way to locate and possibly rescue Bakugo. The electrified teen couldn't afford to get into any more trouble.

Kirishima noticed his phone clicking again, but didn't think too much more about that. He tended to hear a lot of feed back from static over the phone when he talked with Denki.

"What are you playing now?" the sharp-toothed teen became aware of more video gaming sounds, like a combo of punches, growls, and gunfire.

"Oh, there's this new one that's like a combat, scavenger, zombie apocalypse. Oh, whoa-" he explained ever so causally, followed by a horrible strangling sound. "Hah! Sweet… hold on, I'll send you the link if you wanna join in."

"Okay…" Kirishima thought, glancing at the clock. Well, maybe he could play a quick round before getting back to his homework, then head to the shower later. He followed the link that popped up on his screen through a messenger service.

"When are you coming up?" he asked, but then his crimson eyes shifted to the wall behind his laptop when he heard a couple thumps against it. His face twisted, because apart from talking, he hadn't been loud. Unless Bakugo was just acting out again? Kirishima vaguely remembered hearing the explosive blonde yelling from time to time in his sleep last night.

"After this."

The spiky redhead proceeded with the online game log-in, as Kaminari went on about something else. It definitely looked to be a challenging pursuit.

Then Kirishima heard pounding on his door. He rose from his chair, earbuds still in, and opened the door to see a super angry Bakugo with a scowl on his face. Of course.

"What-"

The blonde stomped past him while growling, "Too fuckin' loud!".

"...I'm too loud?" Okay, he was officially confused now.

"No… check your fucking phone!" Bakugo finally found his target and grabbed the phone from Kirishima's desk to toss it to the redhead.

His angry friend stalked further to pummel a few explosion packed punches into Kirishima's punching bag. Of course, it had been reinforced with a bullet-proof Kevlar material to keep from being destroyed so easily, and that made it an even more inviting target.

"Oh… my bad," the sharptooth grimaced after noticing that he had five missed calls and a handful of texts, from Bakugo, to both him and Kaminari. Primarily just to tell Kaminari to turn off his music.

"Sorry Denki… gotta go. Bakugo's here, and he also wants you to turn down your music," Kirishima explained now.

"I said to fucking turn it OFF!" the explosive blonde countered.

"Yeah.. gotcha, Ei."

"So… yeah..." the redhead winced while watching his pend-up friend release a couple more fiery blows. Bakugo stopped, panting, for a couple long seconds before leaning his shoulder into the bag this time to land a few more finishing punches.

"Yep. Abort.. see ya."

Kirishima took out his earbuds and set those and his phone on the desk so he could put his full undivided attention on his stressed out friend. "…rough day?"

Still breathing hard, Bakugo gave him That Look, and at the same time also noticing the video game still on his laptop. "No wonder your grades suck," he grumbled instead.

Kirishima glanced back at that, then rubbed his neck, feeling a little more guilty. "Sorry, bro."

Bakugo turned away to sit on the bed and he ran both of his hands through his hair. Then he dropped them to rest his elbows on his knees, his exhaustion evident moreso in the dim light of the room.

"What's up?" the spiked redhead reached over to turn on a lamp by the head of his bed. He then sat in his desk chair and managed to make eye contact with his friend's stormy red irises. Bakugo had stayed instead of retreating back to his own room, and that left Kirishima a little curious.

The the blonde broke eye contact, his gaze falling to the floor. It was rare, if not just non-existent, for Bakugo to actually need something, but it looked like that was finally the case. Unfortunately, 'just talking about it' wasn't one of Bakugo's best skills either, considering how he had tried to block Kirishima from entering his room the other night.

"I have to write a letter… an apology letter, for Aizawa-Sensei," Bakugo finally muttered, then looked up. "I'm pissed because that damn nerd had written five fucking pages already!"

Kirishima blinked after hearing this interesting admission of truth. He had to stifle his amusement only because of how odd of a problem this was for the blonde. Bakugo was smart, no where near dumb, and was particularly good at understanding even the toughest math and science problems. He even asked the surly blonde to help him study in the past.

"So… you can't?"

"No! I can! I just don't see why it has to be a load of bull shit!" he fumed, hands clenched and smoking.

"I guess that's true," Kirishima agreed. "How much did you write?"

Bakugo just snorted, otherwise giving the redhead that sense his friend didn't have very much down.

"Okay.. so... have you tried jotting down all your thoughts and feelings about what happened?" he tried next, only because he wasn't sure what else to say.

"That's what I was doing!"

"Then what's the problem?"

Bakugo glared at Kirishima, clearly fusterated, as if unable to find the right words. "...I don't like writing about my fucking feelings!"

Well, the sharptooth couldn't argue with that either. It seemed like Bakugo's only other emotion was 'angry'. But on a different level, Kirishima felt like Bakugo was holding back again. "Well… then just stick with ideas? Or just start brainstorming random stuff to better understand your perspective?"

Bakugo just rubbed his face, grumbling incoherently.

"Like... Why did you choose black and orange for your hero suit?"

His friend furrowed his brows, otherwise giving Kirishima that WTF look again. But he humored him enough to respond. "They contrast against each other.. like the color of explosions."

"But you could have gone with orange and yellow, or reds… why that color scheme?"

Bakugo scoffed, eyes narrowing as he curled his upper lip in prolonged hesitation. Then he answered. "Because I like black! ...and the barred 'X' is like a warning sign… kinda like.. a monarch butterfly."

Kirishima nodded, doing his best to seem as sincere and as understanding as possible. He had noticed before just how much Bakugo wanted to be tough and menacing, all while not actually being a hardcore juvenile deliquent. That was super awesome! But right now, Kirishima was secretly excited to even get this far with his friend. This last bit of news was entirely unexpected. "Okay, so.. why does the monarch butterfly look that way?"

"To warn others that it's poisonous."

"Right! But… is it also 'cause you want others to stay away.. or..?"

Bakugo glared again, his telltale reds revealing to him just how subjected he felt. He hadn't told him to shut up yet, however. "Shitty Hair, if you tell anyone about this comparison to a butterfly!"

"But you're a badass butterfly!" Kirishima flashed his teeth in a teasing smile. He was never going to think about those spiked 'explosions' that Bakugo wore for head gear the same way again.

"Then stop laughing!" the explosive blonde rose up to threaten him, his palms glowing.

"Okay, okay!" Kirishima waved his hands in surrender as he also stood up from his chair. "I get you, bro. Really, I do."

And he did, in so many ways, but that was for a different time. Kirishima pressed his lips together in thought, and settled on a more relative question. Only because Bakugo so swiftly kept dodging it the other night. "So why do you keep picking fights with Midoriya?"

Bakugo, still on his feet, ended up in Kirishima's face. His friend's breath was hot against his hardening skin as the blonde literally yelled his rebuttal. "Why do you need to know?"

The redhead felt sure now that Bakugo was hiding something else besides the obvious jealousy that the green, curly haired teen with a problematic super quirk had bested him, more than once. Midoriya had told him that Bakugo had issues about personal space and didn't like to be touched, but sometimes Kirishima couldn't help himself. He gripped his friend's shoulders, hoping to keep his eye contact long enough to get through to him. "Hey, this question was for you! Your letter!"

And then Kirishima let go of the angry blonde before he resisted.

"Fucking… apology shit.. " Bakugo huffed. He turned away, looking out down the window at the last rays from the sunset. The blonde did come back to his senses, realizing that this wasn't done yet. With a gutteral sigh, he sat back down on the corner of Kirishima's bed. "What if I don't want... tch, fuck it-"

"It's okay if you rather save that part for your letter, bro. Really," the spiky redhead interrupted, catching that drift again. He got through though.. Kirishima just had that effect on the blonde. He then pulled his desk chair over to sit on it again.

Bakugo just clenched his jaw, his eyes still intense as he worked things over. He almost looked like he was going to drop this and bolt, but something was keeping him there.

Kirishima recognized that his friend was struggling, with his pride, with his beliefs, something. Something he couldn't identify… something that wasn't tangible or could be easily fixed right away. It occured to him, in its own way, that maybe Bakugo also sought some sort of proof or validation that he was not the bad guy (even though he liked to act like one). And despite that, for whatever undisclosed reason, the explosive hero in training must not want to apologize to Midoriya. While Bakugo may have ready his apology to their teacher for causing trouble, the conflict between him and Midoriya ran deeper.

So, maybe a diversion to ease the tension then. Because if he was really that much in need of something, maybe his own admission might help break down more of that wall.

"Because... all this, it's a front to cover who I really am too," the spiked redhead started again, his voice a lot more softer. The teen sat up a little more to gesture to his gelled-up red hair and buff body.

Eijiro sighed, noticing Bakugo's' acknowledgment with more brief eye contact before their gaze averted elsewhere. He did admire Bakugo because of his bold confidence and flashy quirk. Eijiro's quirk was simple, and had been such a hassle to manage at first. What could he do with it as a hero? Forget that, how could he be a hero if he had regrets?

Eijiro's only resolve was to keep pysching himself up, looking up to others… because they encouraged him to wonder how could he be more. He admired Bakugo as much as Mina now... and sometimes that also left him feeling torn.

"So what you are saying is that you're a chickenshit, like Dunce-face?" Bakugo asked, in a chiding why. It was already pretty much known that Kirishima dyed his hair, no thanks to Mina telling his friends that.

Eijiro twitched his lip at that label. "...no. I mean.. that I used to doubt myself. I didn't know what to do, when-" he stopped himself short, not really sure how to further explain how he used to feel without turning this into a pity party. A place he never really wanted to revisit again, really. But to think that he was a coward?

"Seriously?" Bakugo just questioned him, his intensity very evident.

"Yeah, that's what I struggle with," the redhead smiled sheepishly. "I'm always having to push myself to be 'more', to get stronger-"

"You're plenty strong," Bakugo scoffed again, almost in disbelief, while shaking his head. That simple statement struck him as something unbelievable for Bakugo to tell him. But he looked to have really meant it.

Kirishima realized he had been stunned for a noticeable second too long when Bakugo shown more of a frown as if to keep from yelling some more at him. Crap... damage control!

"So, yeah.. I-I mean.. is that what you struggle with? When you realize others are better than you?" Kirishima carefully worded his next question in his effort to relate this back. Again, he didn't want this to suddenly revolve around him. This was for Bakugo. Kirishima didn't want to give names, either, but it became clear how some of the top ranked students, as well as the pro-heroes themselves, gave Bakugo a real challenge.

"Nnrggh.." Bakugo's eyes flashed again, mostly from his denial to admit his weaknesses. "I just don't like teamwork!"

Kirishima raised his eyebrow. That wasn't the answer he was expecting, but it was just as much true. Bakugo generally thought about his own self-preservation, and always pursued the best route to secure the win. What he observed of his friend's actions during the provisional exam, were not Bakugo's usual motives. He didn't directly go after the villian target, and then their impromptu team-up between himself and Kaminari was super cool! But the examiners didn't think that was good enough to make up for Bakugo's faults. There were a lot more hits on Bakugo's bad language and attitude, and that he failed in his follow-up for many of the rescues. Even though some of the injured people weren't life threatening, he still failed to report them to the authorities.

"Wasn't fast enough either... Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten caught," the blonde muttered, eyes now cast to the floor.

Kirishima knew what he meant, nodding. That reflected on more than one instance now. Kirishima remembered from what Todoroki said in how quickly and quietly Bakugo had been taken from their group in the woods. He could relate to that unsettling experience from when the redhead was suddenly turned into a meatball during exam. But even more unsettling was when he overheard what classes were like for the second and third years from TetsuTetsu. "We just started as first-year's though… and being at our weakest is what meant a kestrel us stronger."

Bakugo just scrunched up his face in response to that thought. "Ffrrghh…" he gripped his head with both hands while flopping back on the bed. He sounded rather deflated too.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Bakugo fell back on Kirishima's bed and decided to not disclose anything else that brought him closer to the truth. His sharptoothed friend somehow had that way with him, getting him to talk more openly about stuff. He didn't like having to be so candid, but it was helping in getting his thoughts together. Just listening to Kirishima's voice also calmed the turbulent feelings that he was struggling with. It's been that way since that time he had to share a hotel room with the redhead on that special invitation to the tech island. He never thought Kirishima would just stop talking then.

Even though the questions were really stupid, and Kirishima kept giving him that dumb-ass smile…

Bakugo still laid on the bed, feeling a new sense of exhaustion as he draped an arm over his eyes. The tired finally caught up to him, and raising his fight to keep from falling asleep there.

To say that he had to apologize to Deku because he, Katsuki, felt inferior to that useless nerd still made no fucking sense. Sure, it was a jealous rage that drove him to wanting to prove that he was still the better one, but…

Why? Why did he have to fabricate his feelings for that fucking apology letter, especially when he couldn't explain the real reason about All Might's power. Would Aizawa expel him if he didn't apologize? That would be even more fucking stupid!

"Tired?" his friend's question interrupted his endless internal debate.

"Hnnn..." Bakugo knew he had to get up, go back, because he was supposed to be grounded, but.. his body was so done. He just wanted another minute of this peace for some fucking reason …

"S'kay," Kirishima turned back to his desk to look at his laptop. "Guess I'll finish up on my homework then."

"M' not s'pposed to know what assignments you have..." Bakugo thought to add, sarcastically repeating Iida's orders to the others. He still didn't move though.

"Right," he set up his earbud connection instead.

Because, damn, it was a crazy long, super annoying day of trivial, domestic work. At least Bakugo was able to change from his uniform after lunch. The only absurd highlight was having to track down Koda's escaped bunny. A sassy bunny, with such soft fur.

What finally gave Bakugo an actual reason to move was when he heard some noises from outside in the hall. Maybe Shoji was coming back to his room? The noises continued, however, making the blonde even more wary. Being caught out of his room was not an option.

"Ah.. fuck, who's-" Bakugo sat up, and then without waiting for Kirishima to respond, he slipped out the open sliding door onto the small balcony. He had the sliding door open a crack to his own room as well.

Once Bakugo lept the railing to his own balcony, Sero happened to be outside too, stringing down on tape from his balcony above. The lanky teen was perched on the railing of the vacant room next to Bakugo's, phone in hand, and they both stared at each other with that shook look before shouting.

"Did you just sneak out of Kirishima's room?"

"What are you doing out here?!"

"Ah! Also a good question!"

"That isn't the correct answer!"

"Then how about: Sato has brownies and I can sneak you some?"

"…. No! Fucking go away!" Bakugo just gave up on this futile argument and escaped into his room. Clearly those idiots were up to something, because he heard more recognizable voices coming from the hall again a few moments later.

Dammit, he was too tired for this crap.

The explosive blonde opened his door, and saw them in front of the door of that empty room. Ear Lobes and Raccoon Eyes appeared to be helping Dunce-face pick the lock on the door. It didn't look very good at all. "WHAT the FUCK are you extras DOING!?" Bakugo practically yelled.

The stupid blond let go of the door handle with a startle, stepping back rather suddenly. "Uh.. Checking the quality of the door locks? Very sturdy, yup!" he smiled meekly.

The rock-n-roll girl rolled her eyes with a huff, giving off that impression this wasn't her idea to be here.

Then his next door neighbor appeared magically right next to Bakugo, making this whole thing even more suspicious. The blonde crossed his arms, giving the sharptooth an unwelcome sidelong glance. He could lip-read Shitty Hair's mouth-words about him 'thinking that 'this' was aborted'.

Sparky shrugged him off, and before he could start with his weak comeback, the girls came clean.

"Okay, so we had this idea that the dorm's at UA have secret passages and other high tech things to protect us, or let the pro-hero's sneak inside, in the event of another vilian attack," Mina explained as directly as possible while also chewing on her gum.

Bakugo just leveled his eyes with her, and glanced to the other two for even letting it get this far. Ear Lobes literally did look like an extra who got roped in last minute though. The last crazy foolery he got sucked into a couple weeks ago involved some nasty jelly-bean eating contest. What they were describing sounded far more serious, and very risky. "You're for fucking real?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Jiro nodded rather nonchalantly.

"Ooh, since you're playing janitor this week, do you have the keys to this vacant room?" Pink hair asked Bakugo little more sweetly than necessary.

"Wait... I thought we didn't want to risk getting him in more trouble!" Shitty Hair interjected stepping up to them.

His darkening Look of Death only intensified. Bakugo grabbed the redhead by his hoodie and dragged him into the blond's room. "What have you fuckin' planned?!" the words boomed as the door shut loudly.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

AN:

And that was Day 2! (Well, most of it!) Things are certainly going to get more interesting as more parties get involved.

I am also a manga reader, so I have been dropping many subtle hints from it. However, I won't disclose/spoil those specific details for those not reading. ;D

In the time took for me to write this, I also got more involved with BNHA, and how diverse the characters are (I'm a complete fan of the Todoroki Family Drama!). Many of the head canons here come from a RPG I have participated in on for 'Evil Never Dies' if you want to check it out.

Thank you for reading!