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Chapter 25: Lingering Arson and Haircare(Complete)
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 20:43:18 +0000 UTCThe Two sections of Chapter 25 are now one, I'll be deleting the other in a few minutes.
Oh boy, this was unprecedented, but I have no choice but to post this half-done chapter. It sucks, believe me, but due to a household issue relating to security, the time I usually work on finishing the chapter was taken up, and I have other responsibilities to handle. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the second half tomorrow evening, and then come Saturday, I'll combine them into a single chapter.
Chapter 25: Lingering Arson and Haircare.
"Hey, Todoroki." The bi-coloured-haired boy turned from his book to look towards Jiro and Yaoyorozu, admittedly not much of a distraction as he hadn't been reading it, too lost in his thoughts for that. Upon seeing their concern, he felt his ire rising. It had been a long weekend since the U.S.J, with school closing for a couple days while they investigated it. It gave him, Bakugo, and Tokoyami time to recuperate after their losses, moments that only further angered him.
"Are…are you feeling alright? You looked pretty bad when they took you to the hospital." Jiro, a girl he had noted was straight to the point and unapologetic with her statements and views, was dancing around the subject. He had been in rough shape then, but that was all that they knew as he would be damned if he told anyone that Recovery Girl and the medical staff, upon his regaining consciousness, had torn into him for his vow never to use his fire, highlighting that his injuries were minor from the fight and how it was his constant reliance on his ice that left him in real danger of frostbite or death.
His afternoon hadn't been made any better when his father came to visit him, which seemed to be another topic of discussion as Kaminari walked up to him. "Your dad must have been worried, dude. The news spent half the break talking about him visiting you in the hospital." Todoroki kept a straight face, but his hands tightened into fists as he ground his teeth together. As much as Jiro and Bakugo liked to call Kaminari an idiot, he couldn't fault him for that statement. He knew fathers and sons should have good relationships and worry for one another.
“He did visit me.” Todoroki kept it short as Kaminari and the rest of them couldn’t have known that when his bastard of a father walked into his hospital room like he owned it, not a hint of concern for his son, his very flame-covered face he was as unamused as ever and just called him an idiot for his 'little rebellion' to such an extreme that he would allow a villain like Slice to nearly kill him, a statement that made Todoroki want to freeze his father then and there if not for his weakened state.
Endeavour left after that, not because he could see his son wanted him to, but because he had other things to do than pretend to be a father. As he turned the door, the man made it clear that once Shoto was discharged and returned home, they'd be training harder than ever till he broke his vow and used that bastard's flames to prevent him from embarrassing his father with a loss again. Man didn't even seem to care that Shoto nearly died; he was more concerned about how it reflected on himself, as usual.
True to his word, when he was discharged, Endeavour was waiting for him, and even before he could speak with his sister, he was ordered to the dojo, where his father held little back. By the time he decided they were for the day, Shoto was exhausted and close to just passing out, repeating that process for the rest of the break from school. Endeavor seemed to have planned that as Shoto was too injured and tired from training to talk with Fuyumi, who helped him address his wounds and get him to bed. They used to at least have dinner, but he could barely keep his eyes open during them, turning one of the few times he had with her into a silent affair.
And to think, all because of that damned woman, because Slice decided to step into his life and ruin things for him. As he stewed in carefully hidden rage while Yaoyorozu and Jiro tried to speak with him off the side, Tokoyami was much more open.
"It's good to see you in class, but I hope you're not pushing yourself." Shiozaki stated, Koda at her side, even more, silent and shy than usual after having to deal with nightmares the entire time school was out, each involving massive infernos, burning snakes, and the mad laughter of a demon that seemed to want nothing more than to burn everything.
"My injuries, while extensive, were well cared for. I won't even have to deal with lingering scars or burns from the experience," Tokoyami replied, as despite getting the fried chicken treatment sans the boiling oil, he looked like he did that morning before the attack.
"That is wonderful to hear. There is some good news from that horrid day." Shiozaki stated.
“Yes, it would seem that my fortunes were low as it was a poor match-up, perhaps if I had found myself against the Slice woman instead,” Tokoyami took a breath to calm himself. “No, that is pointless talk now. What’s done is done.”
"Still, it's quite frightening to know that their arsonist is our age. I can only pray for guidance on why a young soul was tempted to evil." Shiozaki clasped her hands together, as while the 5 Thunders had been known, their individual members didn't get that much press, certainly not enough for most of them to recognize them like Koda had. But now? All of them could pick them out in a crowd if needed.
Asui, who walked into class and completely ignored Bakugo, added. "Well, our class has its powerhouses, so it was only a matter of time before a villain our age could say the same."
Shoji huffed, crossing his arms. "The League as a whole was far from a threat; they over-relied on their strongest players, all of them managing to slip through our fingers." That statement made Bakugo growl, with Asui again ignoring him while Kirishima looked at him worriedly.
Line Break
"Well, I'm happy to say that your injuries were far worse than they appeared. As you had a bit tongue, broken nose, mild concussion, and bruised liver, the rest were cuts and bruises that easily heal on their own." The doctor read out his treated injuries to him, but he had been silent since Bakugo had woken up. Only speaking with the old hag when she came by earlier with his old man. She had been worried sick about him and, despite his refusals, had clang to him the entire time.
He would have yelled at her but could see it in her eyes. She was distraught and devastated. Worried for him and that fucking nerd but was devastated that his villainy had struck so close to home, going so far as to nearly kill him if not for All Might. He hadn't dared ask where Auntie was, as no doubt she heard about the attack, if not from the old hag, then from the news, as he couldn't turn the TV on without somebody mentioning it, reminding him that he wasn't strong enough, that again that fucking pyro had bested him without trying.
He shivered when he recalled the way he looked after him when he hit him with his most potent attack. Pyro looked like a corpse, yet he was still moving, breathing, and burning.
"I'll consider myself lucky if I was in your shoes; from what I've heard, people that try and fight that pyromaniac all tend to require extensive burn treatments." He grunted at that as the doctor left, something about finishing the paperwork so he could be discharged later. He didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually, there was a knock at his door.
Turning a crimson eye towards it, he saw it was dunce-face opening it, looking around for a minute before his eyes lit up when he saw him awake and up, munching on some shitty hospital food. “Hey, Bakugo, you’re awake.”
“Looks like sleeping beauty is finally up.” Sero stated as he walked up to his bedside.
“Up hours, duct tape.” Bakugo flipped him off, getting some laughs from them.
“If he has the energy to insult, he’s fine.” Jiro noted, taking a breath of relief as if nothing else, that it was an excellent return to normalcy that they desperately needed over the last 24 hours. Once news broke of the attack, the reporters returned in force. Footage of their faces being shown to the public made it worse as by the time U.A. slapped news agencies with threats for legal action, the damage had been done, and now not one of those shown on the news for the entire country could walk around without getting mobbed by regular folk or media with nothing but questions.
Bakugo, who didn't know this, was curious about why they were even there. “The hell do you want?”
"We've come to visit you, Tokoyami and Todoroki. All of you were in rough shape when we last saw you." Iida explained, his chopping hands following with his explanation.
“You already finish with those two morons?” Bakugo asked them, curious and a little concerned for them but not willing to voice it.
“(Kero) I would say you’re the moron since you charged in against Pyre and nearly died.” He glared at Asui, but for one, she didn't just meet it with her straight face but a frown and creased brows. She was angry, and seeing her, of all people, angry was enough to keep Bakugo's tongue in check as she continued. "But they're doing alright. Todoroki will leave in about 2 days; they want to keep him for extra tests. Tokoyami will leave tomorrow morning as they wait for the skin graft to heal properly."
"Yeah…yeah, that makes sense. They looked real fucked up when I saw them." He muttered, with Shiozaki's lips pursed as she reframed from trying to correct his crass language, as she had learned that Bakugo was a lost cause, one so petty he'd curse more just to spite her as he had done during their first day of school.
"What about you? You good?" Kirishima asked; in contrast to the anger in Asui, he was much calmer and worried for Bakugo.
"What does it look like?" He barked before breathing in and out to calm the storm of emotions in his chest before answering the question. "I'll be out before they serve whatever cow shit they call dinner here.”
Again, Asui, normally one of the more level-headed classmates, seemingly lost patience with the conversation and cut to the chase. "We've seen that he's doing alright. Can Kirishima and I talk with him privately?" She looked at their classmates, who, like Bakugo, were caught off guard by her request. While Kirishima frowned, he didn't object to her.
Awkwardly, the rest agreed, and after wishing Bakugo messages to get better, they all left, with Shoji closing the door behind them. Alone, the trio was silent as Bakugo looked at them both, wondering what the hell this was about, while Kirishima struggled to find a way to word this that wouldn't just enrage Bakugo and get nothing out of him.
Asui didn't have that issue; quite the opposite. She was more furious and wondered how she'd handle dealing with Bakugo in a way that didn't end with a screaming match. Again, she went with her gut, as angry as it was, and got to the point. "Why do you do it?"
“What are you talking about, frog legs.” Bakugo barely finished the sentence before he found himself looking away against his will, his cheek wet and red.
Retracting her tongue into her mouth from slapping Bakugo, Asui was very much sick of his bullshit. “My name is Asui. Use it.” She firmly told him, as he had let him get away with his moronic names because it didn’t matter in the long term. Besides, she had been called far worse before.
But she was done as she marched up to his bed and glared at him, her blank face conveying just as furious she was despite how little it changed compared to others. "And don't play stupid with me. You have a brain in that angry head of yours, but it seems you don't like using it. All Might told you Pyre was beyond you; he told you to stay back, and you decided you knew better." She scolded him like a child, which got on his nerves. She impassively waved to his state; his wounds might have been treated, but they all knew his pride was still damaged.
"Well, you at you now, in the hospital, lucky you weren't roasted." At that, Bakugo bit back.
“Like you would know anything about that! I had the fucker!” In the face of his anger, Kirishima moved to step in to stop this argument as Bakugo was loud. They all knew that, but this felt genuine, and he didn't want either to do anything they regretted.
Asui didn't budge; if anything, she dug in deeper as her eyes pierced through Bakugo's fury and ego, hitting him almost as hard as Midoriya's blows had. Then her questions came, each hitting him harder than the last. “(Kero) And when was that, when your surprise attack didn’t even phrase him? When he was man-handling you in hand-to-hand, or when was it that you decided to try and kill him with your support item and failed?”
That got him to wince in shame, as after having time to think it over, he was man enough to admit that he had gone overboard near the end and nearly paid the price when Midoriya decided to return his lethal force with lethal force, but if he thought that this would get him any sympathy from the frog girl, he was sorely mistaken.
"Tell me, Bakugo Katsuki, when did you have anything?” She asked, her words made as hard as stone and has unforgiving as a hot poker to the eye. She thought he was different and wasn't as rough around the edges as he seemed, but now she wasn't sure. But, she'll give him this one chance to prove that she was right about him. she'll drop him faster if he fails than a hot steam bun.
"You…you don't understand, I made a promise. It had to be me to take him down." Bakugo bundled his bedsheets in his fists, looking away from Asui's judgemental gaze. Those emerald eyes reminded him too much of another emerald-eyed person. The reason he was even in the hospital was like that fucking pyro; Asui's eyes had a strength to them, an unyielding force that made the world move around her, not the other way around.
“But why?” Kirishima spoke up, Bakugo turning to see the redhead looking at him worriedly. Red eyes so different from his pleading with him. “Help us understand, Bakugo. Please.”
Bakugo looked away for a moment, wondering about it, wondering about a lot of things before he made his choice.
“Pyre…Midoriya is my villain to defeat. I have to take him down because when I had the chance before…I failed.” Bakugo started, thinking of all the times he could have dragged him to the police, all the times he could have been harder on the punk to keep him in line.
"And when was that? This is the first time he's attacked in the area," Kirishima asked. As with this latest attack, the class had a vested interest in tracking the 5 Thunders. So far, they had largely been operating out of Northern Japan. The closest attack before this was in Koriyama 2, weeks before the attack at the U.S.J.
"We went to the same middle school, hell we've known each other since we were in fucking diapers because our moms were friends. Even in those days, he was always annoying, clingy, and a crybaby." Bakugo recounted, Kirishima listening intently while Asui remained silent, her ever-present poker face hiding whatever feelings she had on this.
"Then his quirk came in, and it changed him. He went from just being annoying to being a fucking sociopath. Wanting to burn objects, animals, and people. It was like all I wanted in life was to burn everything. Do you want the smell is like when you walk into a classroom after some freak decided to roast the class pet? I know, and I never want to smell that again." Both frowned at that, as that sounded like the classic signs of a serial killer, as they always heard that such killers and criminals started with animals and then moved up to their fellow man.
"Not even his family is safe from him. His dad booked it like a pussy first chance he got, but his mother, he burned her arms, probably more of her. All I know is that she's never not wearing long-sleeved, turtle-necked anything anymore. Underneath, it's nothing but bandages to hide what her devil spawn of a son did to her." Bakugo had a good relationship with Inko, which was far better than what he had with her devil of a son. So when they visited her in the hospital, even a 6-year-old could put 2 and 2 together.
He never understood why the bastard was never sent to some youth insane asylum after that. When he asked either Auntie or the old hag, they'd just tell him that he needed to learn restraint or that he was just trying to express himself. A load of bullshit if you asked him.
In fact, thinking of all the times Auntie could have just washed her hands of that shit stain only angered him further. "And for years, it was like he didn't even know what was wrong! He'll set fire to his fucking desk one minute and talk about being the best hero next. He wasn't satisfied with being a villain; he wanted to mock me by declaring he'll be the stronger hero!" He slammed his fist into the bedframe, wishing so badly that he had the strength to bend it, to break it, to shatter it, but all that happened was a dull thud and a prickling pain in his hand.
“Then there was that sludge fuck.”
“You were captured by him.” Asui spoke up, level-toned as she didn't ask. They all knew about it as early as their second day at U.A., when Kaminari mentioned it off handily and got Bakugo yelling at him for three minutes straight.
Bakugo took a breath, as that wasn't a pleasant memory, and he hated thinking of it. Of how useless he had been, how no one could reach him. "Yeah, fucker's body was nearly impossible to blast away; said something about wanting to body-jack me, as if I'll let him do that, so I fought back."
"Then he appeared and did what I couldn't do in 5 minutes in just a single move. He grabbed him, pulled me out from that sludge bastard, and roasted him like it was nothing. He acted like he had done something good when all he did was embarrass me." Bakugo recalled that feeling, the pain of his arm being burned as he was dragged out, the awe at Midoriya's power, and the fear that came from seeing him use it, burning human beings into little more than a puddle.
Those eyes, they haunted him ever since.
He released his hold. "When the heroes told him to surrender, he had this bitch-fit and ran when All Might appeared, finally showing his true colors. He didn't care. He never cared because when shit came down on his mother, he couldn't even bring himself to surrender to the pros. Instead, he found other rejects and decided to go on a crime spree.” He was there, watching Auntie worry and fall apart as the son she still loved despite all he had done just kept adding to the shit storm that was his rap sheet.
“Wow…shit, that," Kirishima didn't know what to say. It sounded like they were storied rivals, destined to oppose one another. But it was one thing to see in a movie or manga series, much different when it was reality, and the hero was the weaker of the two. "That's a history between you, too."
"Bakugo. Did he ever hurt you or anyone?" Asui's question had both boys looking toward her, wondering if she was even listening to Bakugo's story.
"What? Of course, he did!" Bastard had been doing nothing but hurting people since he ran like a bitch!
Asui didn’t let up, leaning closer to him, forcing Bakugo to meet her gaze. “Did he ever mean it? Did he ever say before or after that he wanted to harm people before he fled then?” Bakugo wasn’t the only one wondering what she was going on about. Regardless, searching through his memories, he couldn’t recall the prick ever being honest about his intentions, as he would always say he was ‘helping’ people.
"Like he needed to." Asui's frown grew at his response as she sighed, her face relaxed as whatever anger she felt drained from her. Instead, it was replaced with something Bakugo hated even more:.
Pity,
"(Gero) Then you're truly blind. I'll spell it out for you, but you won't listen. Until you get that, don't talk to me, and I won't talk to you unless necessary." She didn't bother waiting for a response nor allow Kirishima to try and keep her around to question her statement as she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Bakugo furious…but heartbroken that his first friend in years had walked out on him.
Kirishima looked on, worried that the two hadn't spoken since. Bakugo looked like he was stewing in anger. At the same time, Asui pretended he wasn't even there, which was worse than calling him out as at least she would acknowledge him. He had tried to get her to speak with him, to explain why she was even mad with Bakugo but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. And all his attempts over the break had ended the same, with her telling him if he didn't figure it out, it wasn't worth it.
His mind was brought back to the present when Mineta spoke up. “That Pyre was scary as hell. First, he comes in looking like a cute girl but turns out to be a trap and then turns into a fire demon. We're lucky All Might was there; otherwise, he might have decided to roast all of us."
Shiozaki gave Mineta a glance, one that had him sweat a little. "While what you focus on is far from appropriate, Mineta. I find that I agree with you. We would have enough problems handling the villainess with her hair if her partner had been allowed to aid her." She didn't finish the statement; they all knew it would have been a disaster as only Kirishima, fully hardened, could claim fire resistance, and even then, Pyre was no mere typical fire user.
Stepping in, Kirishima said his piece. "Yeah, I could handle Slice and her hair, but those flames would have been hard to deal with, especially if he managed to hit me with enough force to send me flying."
"Come on, you're a human wrecking ball. He might be able to turn himself to stone, but I have a feeling your stone skin is better." Kirishima smiled at Sero's faith in him. It was nice that his classmates saw his simple quirk as something extraordinary.
"Everyone, homeroom is about to start. Go to your seats!" Iida yelled out, and the students followed his instructions. Once the last person was seated, Iida quickly walked to his and sat, waiting for their homeroom teacher to arrive.
Ashido thought about that as she leaned back towards Asui: "Tsu, who is our homeroom teacher today?" Asui took a moment to consider it, as it was a good question considering the situation.
"Well, Eraser-sensei was hurt pretty bad, so he's probably still out on leave. Maybe Present Mic?" She answered, only for the door to open and reveal a surprising sight.
"Morning." Aizawa's delivery was the same as usual. If you weren't looking his way, you'd even assume that today was no different from normal. But to those who were, that being the entire class, they saw that the man was wrapped head to two in bandages, so much so you couldn't see his face while both his arms were still in casts and double-slinged. Frankly, they wondered how he even opened the door.
"Aizawa-sensei, you're back way too soon!" They yelled at him.
As the man walked in like he wasn't a living mummy, Kaminari shuddered at the man's apparent insanity. "He's way too hardcore."
Iida agreed with him as he raised his hand but didn't wait to be acknowledged before he spoke. "Aizawa-sensei, shouldn't you still be resting?"
Aizawa didn't show any visible change. If he was touched by his students' concerns, he kept it to himself as he reached the podium and turned to address them. "My well-being doesn't matter, not when the fight isn't over yet."
“Fight?” Bakugo repeated, suddenly at full attention.
“Are they back?” Todoroki asked, ready to pay that woman back for his defeat.
“How?!” Mineta was terrified that those villains had managed to sneak onto campus again.
Lucky for them, it was none of them as Aizawa's gaze grew stronger, even through the wraps around his face. "The U.A. sports festival is in 2 weeks." The man's delivery was closer to someone informing you that you had stage 4 cancer and weeks to live, not telling you that a regular school event was still scheduled to kick off as expected. Despite that, recent events dampened the students' mood, as none could find it in them to be excited about it; instead, they were worried.
"Sir, is that wise? Villains attacked us less than a week ago. What if they try again?" Jiro asked, and while that sounded insane, it also sounded insane that someone would attack the U.S.J when, as far as they knew, All Might would be there. So clearly, the presence of powerful heroes wasn't as much of a deterrent as they would have liked.
"The festival will have thousands of people, right? How can we even ensure that we can protect them all?" Ojiro asked the next big question, as even the League brought fodder again. They were at least hero students, but most people in the crowds wouldn't be, and so many people were just asking for chaos if something did happen.
Aizawa nodded to their questions, as he had many of the same when he was informed about the decision. Still, he also had been informed of why Nezu and the rest of the board had decided it was worth the risk. "It was decided that continuing as normal would show the villains and the public that this was a fluke of little consequence. It's also meant to show that crisis management handled the issue quickly and effectively."
"Of course, it's not like there won't be any changes as security will be 7 times that of previous years, as they'll be asking for a few heroes in the top 20s to take the day off to help with security and keeping the people calm." Aizawa felt like that would typically be adequate. Still, when the League was foolish enough to strike a target, they had reason to think the top hero would be present; he wasn't sure if asking people like Wash or Yoroi Musha would be much help.
"I feel like there's a but to this." Sero noted, with Aizawa nodding again.
"Correct, the other reason the festival will happen as planned is for your sake. It's a major chance to show off what you can do to the public and, more importantly, hero agencies. Those same agencies, if impressed, will send you an offer which allows you to intern with them for a time, learning valuable skills you can't learn in a classroom or exercise." He explained that for all the good that being a U.A. student brought, there would always be a limit to what you could learn in a controlled setting. There was a reason that practical experience was seen as worth more than training, after all.
"You have the 3, so you mustn't waste this."
Denki started doing the math in his head when he heard that, as he knew that the Sports Festival was open to all 3 grades, which explained why Aizawa said they just had the 3 classes, assuming they weren't held back or something. Still, there was an issue, namely the date. "Wait, if it's meant to show off what we can do? Why does it take place during Golden Week? We've been students less than a month; kinda feels unfair for pros to judge us based on that."
Aizawa smiled when he heard that, though with the wraps around his face, they couldn’t see it, but they could tell that he looked like he had something in his basement that they would call the cops over. The underground hero didn’t care for that, as questions like that helped remind him that while slower than his classmates, Kaminari wasn’t an idiot. “Believe me, you’re not the first person to ask that, nor will you be the last. So I'll give you the same explanation I got at your age: Because it's Golden Week."
“That’s not an answer.” Kaminari replied, even more confused.
“It’s all you’re getting.” Aizawa replied. He felt the same way when he was a student. It logically made no sense to judge what U.A. could do with not even a third of a semester's training to work with. 2nd and 3rd years, maybe, as they all have a year and 2 years, respectively, under their belts, but surely it would make sense to perhaps shift the festival to perhaps the start of the second semester. Alas, it was how it was when he was a student, and unless he could convince the board, it would remain that way for another 15 years.
With that said, some of the prior unease faded, replaced with some optimism as the students discussed how they'd do this. But while that was happening, Todoroki was silent. He had been stuck in his head ever since he heard that top heroes would be called for this, as if his bastard of a father wasn't going to attend before. Those chances had just fallen as he was the second-strongest hero in Japan and one of the most influential and terrifying villains.
But he could stomach knowing that his old man would be watching him—he was always watching him. Instead, he focused on this being his chance to prove that what happened at the U.S.J. was a fluke, nothing more. He would take home that gold with just his ice. When it was done, he'd train even harder to bring it to an entirely new level so that he could, if the chance arose, handle the 5 Thunders and correct that mistake.
He had to defeat them, as that damned woman, her smug smile, her agile moments, her taunts had haunted his restless sleep ever since he first regained consciousness. No matter how hard he fought, how well he thought he understood her movements, and how long their fights lasted, the result was always the same. He was lying defeated, half frozen at her feet as she smiled down at him, those blue eyes so different from his bastard sperm-doners sharing one trait, the belief that his efforts, his ice, were not enough.
That infuriated him more than anything else, as his last dream had been the most vivid, ending with her hair bursting into flames, just like his father's.
“Lay down and melt like your pathetic mother’s ice!”
He woke up in a cold sweat after that. He nearly froze his bed and half his room on instinct and fear alone from that hellish nightmare.
Line Break
Hours later, the school day had come and gone. But with it being time to leave, Uraraka opened the door, seeing not students walking by but a mob of them waiting for them with bated breath. "What's going on?" She yelled as she stumbled back.
Iida was more collected than she was, though he was just as puzzled. "What business do you have with class A?" Mineta joined in, too, yelling that they needed to leave if they wanted to make their trains, as Bakugo just got up to leave.
"It's obvious, you purple pervert. They're scouting the enemy." He brushed past the little prevent, not even caring that he tried to deny that nickname. "We're the ones that made it out of a villain attack." He finished as he approached the mob, who looked at him with worry, envy, and, again, that damned pity. Well, they can take their pity and choke on it.
Taking that anger at seeing people look at them, at him like that, he put it into words. "But I have other things to do than deal with your extras. So out of the way." Which didn't go well with his classmates, as stated, freaking out at his brash, abrasive response.
"You can't just call me extras, Bakugo. It's insulting!" Four-eyes yelled at him, but he hadn't listened before and wasn't about to start listening to him now.
"Well, someone sure is full of themselves." Bakugo's eyes narrowed as he expected them to comply. He even expected some to bite back but with no real threat. But as the crowd was pushed aside, he saw someone who could have been Eraser's secret love child approaching, an amused smirk on his face that made him want to punch him. "But you're only half right. Sure, we came to scout out the competition, but I wouldn't say you made it out of a villain attack. More like you all got manhandled."
That statement for the rest up in arms, as it was one thing to need to deal with questions from strangers, but they’ll be damned if someone insulted them for it. Especially when Koda was still terrified by that pyromaniac.
“What was that?” Bakugo's glare sharpened from its neutral form to an aggressive, angry one. But where the rest of the extras back off to avoid it, the reason for it plowed on ahead.
"You heard me. Everyone knows you were attacked, but seeing how you'll all act, I wouldn't say you beat them so much as lasted long enough for All Might to arrive." The purple-haired, sleep-deprived boy continued to pock at their sore spot, not realizing that he was extremely close to him for Bakugo.
But looking at him, the unknown did seem to finally recognize him, but that only made his smirk all the bigger. "You were among the unlucky among the unlucky, as I don't recall seeing you standing with the rest of them in the news. So, I'm guessing it was…you…and you had to spend some time in the ER." The unknown pointed to the ones that had needed medical attention, all of whom opened, glaring at him, but he returned his gaze to just the one.
He chuckled, finding the whole thing funny. “You have some real rotten luck. Attacked by a villain last year and needing to be saved by another, then attacked by your would-be savior not even a week ago." Bakugo's teeth ground together hard enough that he could have turned wheat into flour. He wasn't some victim, and he damn well will never be a damsel saved by fucking pyro!
"Makes you wonder if you're all that? But it does mean that for those of us that want to transfer, the odds of a place opening up are higher than normal." The boy mocked them, his gaze landing on Koda for a moment. He immediately suspected he was the weakest link but wondered how Bakugo was still in the hero course. Most likely his quirk. "I came here to declare war, but you seem to need to figure out your own stuff before that."
Turning on his heel, he walked off. But not before he left them one final message. “See you at the festival.”
