The school day ended pretty quickly, you could say. It was now almost half past three, gathering all your belongings and ready to leave. You told Midoriya you had to go, so you guys didn't walk together that day. But you didn't go home. Not yet, at least. You were taking your sweet time walking, even deciding to take an even longer route.
You were thinking about Bakugo.
"If you want a fight, then you'll surely get one. Just you wait.'' Those words of his were the only thing that kept your mind occupied while walking. You weren't afraid of Bakugo. At first, when you were kids, yes but not anymore. That little narcissist's ego blew up at four years old. Always thinking he's the best in everything and not caring for a damn thing. Good luck being a hero with that attitude.
No, it's not that. You were just thinking if you could actually beat Bakugo in a fight. All his bitchiness aside, you knew damn well that an angry pomeranian is strong. Your quirk could protect you from his blast but for how long? If you keep your wings in their metallic form for too long not only your wings get damaged but your body hurts from their weight. And if you had to guess by his quirk only, that boy is fast. So are you but ,again, for how long? You kept thinking all that, still walking at a slow pace.
'Do I even have a chance with-' your thoughts were interrupted as you caught sight of the boy you were just thinking about along with his friends, inside the alley you were walking. You were so distracted, you didn't even realize you were going the wrong way.
"Hey, Katsuki, aren't you and your Midoriya childhood friends?" one if his friends asked him.
"You went a little overboard today." the other one added.
"It's his fault for getting in my way." Bakugo said with his usual angry face, kicking a plastic bottle from the ground and hitting the top of your wing accidentally, before it banged on the column behind you.
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing your garbage, boom boy." you said making direct eye contact.
"Heh? What are you doing here? Your house is the other way, or are you that much of a bird brain?"
You crossed your arms on your chest "I just wanted to walk a little. You got a problem?" you said with a mocking expression.
"Tch." he broke eye contact by turning around to face his friends "I don't care what you do."
"You were the one asked, though. That doesn't look like 'I don't care' to me." you said, smirking a little.
He turned around again, positioning his hands as if ready to attack you. "You really want to get blown up today, don't you, bird brain?!" The second he said that, he started running towards you.
"What the-" you said taking a step back "We're not going to fight here-"
"WATCH OUT!" he yelled, grabbing you and pushing you behind him. You fell on the ground and when you turned around...
Your pupils were as wide as they could get.
'Bakugo...' you thought.
A slime-like villain was slowly forming in front of us.
"An invisible cloak with a great quirk!" he said and immediately went for Bakugo. You quickly commanded your two large and sharp feathers to fly to your hands and just as you were about to fly, Bakugo released an explosion to him, smoke forming around us, but only for the villain to get sliced in two and sneak behind him "Mind if I take it?"
The smoke started clearing and once Bakugo was in sight...
He was caught.
"BAKUGO!" you yelled in pure shock.
He was trying to get away but it was futile. That villain had completely restrained him. You had frozen on the spot. You didn't know what to do. What could you do? You were afraid to even move because of what he could do to Bakugo.
"RUN YOU IDIOT! GET AWA- HMPH!" he yelled at you before the criminal prevented him from speaking any further.
'Run?' you thought still unmoved 'I can't just run and leave him here! But...What can I do...?'
"He's right, we have to get away from here! Move, Nagata!" one of Bakugo's friends said.
"But-"
The slim man started demolishing everything in sight. Citizens started panicking, running away from the scene. You three were caught up in the flames caused by the villain 'I should at least get these two out here' you thought, grabbing their arms and flying up, getting them both out of the alley. The police and three heroes, finally, showed up in the scene
"A child was taken hostage?!" Death Arms said and immediately ran to the villain to save Bakugo "You coward!" he jumped and directly punched the villain only for his arm to get sucked "What is this? I can't grab hold!"
That scoundrel shoved the hero to the wall and quickly attacked the other two before they could get closer "Heh. Don't come near me." he warned.
You were starting to get really worried. They couldn't even touch him without getting caught in that gross slime of his. And the worst part...you were just standing there...doing nothing to help him...but maybe you could-
"Bakugo!" you yelled waiting for him to make eye contact with you "Use your quirk, damn it!"
Then Bakugo started to move again, this time getting slightly free, enough to talk again and move just a little, but still caught in that stickiness "Don't order me around, bird brain! I won't let sewage like this swallow me!" he said, activating his quirk again "You little-" and blowing up everything.
"What power! I've hit the jackpot!" the villain said "With this quirk and power, I can get revenge on that guy!" he reformed himself around Bakugo.
"There she is!" a girl from the crowd said "the rookie hero, Mt. Lady!" as the giant hero was running to the scene.
'Well, I hope she helps.' you thought.
She suddenly stopped "W-wait...I need there to be at least two lanes!"
"You've got to be kidding me." you said with a frustrated but also lowered voice. Well, Kamui is not good with explosions, apparently, Backdraft was busy with the fire and Death Arms-
"He's sticky and hard to grab, and a child with a strong quirk is struggling against him." he answered Backdraft when he asked about the situation "Thanks to that, it's a midfield. It's hard to do anything against this triple play!"
Once again, the villain went for a direct attack to the heroes in front of him, causing them to back off "Crap! There is no use!" Death Arms said again.
"There is no one who can take care of this at the scene right now!"
You clenched your fist so hard your fingers were turning white. Your face was twitching every now and then from the frustration, your breath was starting to get heavier. You had to do something. You couldn't just stand there and watch. You had to- had to-
"All we can do is wait for someone with a more suitable quirk!"
Had to-
You let out a frustrated scream and without even thinking you flew back to the alley "I'LL SHOW YOU A MORE SUITABLE QUIRK!" your two sharp feathers got in your hands, ready to slice that filthy villain into a million pieces but Death Arms managed to grab you before going any further "LET ME GO!"
"What do you think you're doing, kid!? You are no match for that villain!" you weren't even listening to him. Your attention was on Bakugo, who was still desperately trying to get out of that scumbag's grasp.
"I SAID LET. ME. GO!" you repeated struggling to get out of Death Arms' strong, muscular hands.
"Kid, look at him!" he said "It is too dangerous! You'll get caught in it, too!" You were not listening. You couldn't. You kept flapping your wings with force, thinking it may help but you were not strong enough for him-
You were not...
Strong enough...
To save him.
You then took note of the situation with more logic, instead of anger on your mind. What were you thinking? The heroes themselves couldn't do anything at the moment. What could you do? Just a middle schooler. Just a kid.
You looked into Bakugo's eyes at that moment.
They weren't angry.
They weren't glaring at you saying to leave him alone.
They were...scared.
Your heart was beating so fast. You were scared as well. Scared for him. But you couldn't do anything. Pathetic. How pathetic could you be? You wanted a better world, didn't you? You wanted to become a hero, didn't you? Yet, you couldn't even save your own classmate in front of your very eyes.
You never broke eye contact. You could not look anywhere else, besides him. His eyes...It was painful for you...They were asking- no, begging for help. You have never seen that in Bakugo's eyes.
Fear.
You saw fear in him.
But you were not the only one who saw that.
Midoriya jumping from the crowd and running into the scene, to save Bakugo, was the last thing you were expecting to happen at that moment.
"Idiot! Stop!" Death Arms warned him but he was occupied, restraining you, as you started to struggle again but this time to stop Midoriya.
"WAIT! MIDORIYA GET BACK!" he didn't even look at you. He just kept running "STOP!"
"Die in an explosion!" The villain got ready to blast him, Midoriya threw his school bag at him, one of his notebooks hitting his eye, causing him to let go of Bakugo, just enough for him to breathe normally.
"Kacchan!" All Midoriya could do was tug with his fingers and smile but his endeavor was pointless.
"Why are you here?!" Bakugo said annoyed.
"My legs moved on their own! I don't know why, though!" Midoriya said still at the attempt and with a forced smile he looked at his childhood friend and said "You looked like you were asking for help..."
You gasped, noticing the villain had taken almost all of Bakugo's body "No!"
"Don't get in my way!" The criminal was ready to attack Midoriya and all the heroes there rushed to his aid.
"He'll die in vain!"
"Is he suicidal?!"
But then-
Something exploded. The smoke surrounding the three of them. It was not the villain's doing, though. And Bakugo had no more control over his quirk to activate it at will. So...Who?
The moment the smoke cleared, Midoriya was on the ground, thankfully unharmed, but your eyes were fixated on the man in front of him.
"All Might!" you shouted full of relief. All Might was there. Now everything would be just fine. Bakugo would be safe, Midoriya as well. And that coward will get what he deserves.
"I really am pathetic." All Might said "Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice!" He broke free from the smile strings surrounding his body and grabbed hold of Bakugo" Pros are always risking their lives!" and he send that villain flying with his Detroit Smash while tugging Bakugo and finally getting him to safety.
***
The police advised you to go home, but you stayed with the two boys. You wanted to make sure Midoriya was all right and thank Bakugo. He saved your life back there by risking his, after all. You never really thought he would do something like that. Especially to you. You always thought that you were meaningless to him. But he put his own life in line, without thinking twice.
You walked up to Bakugo, who was sitting on the ground "Hey. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" you asked still a little worried. He didn't answer. Just kept looking down "Bakugo..." you waited for eye contact before continuing but instead he gave you a side glance "Thank you." he only hummed in response "...And I'm sorry." you added looking on the ground.
His eyebrows were frowned in confusion but you never saw it. You had broken your gaze from him. You were now looking back to Midoriya who was getting scolded from Kamui and Death Arms for his careless actions.
'I'm guessing I'll have a piece of that, as well, after him.' you thought.
One of the heroes walked to Bakugo and started talking to him "That was amazing toughness! And that quirk! Once you're a pro, please come to my agency! You'll definitely be an excellent sidekick!" The hero praised him but Bakugo wasn't really acknowledging his existence. You weren't sure if he was even acknowledging yours at this point, so you stood up and walked to your friend, before giving Bakugo a side glance.
You were feeling guilty. You were annoyed, frustrated, angry to yourself but oh so proud of Midoriya. Although what he did was indeed insane, he was braver than you were...Even if you attempted the same thing as him, your doubts and insecurities got the best of you.
You were proud of Midoriya.
You were thankful to Bakugo for stepping in and saving you.
But you were so disappointed in you.
"Are you ok, Midoriya?" you asked the boy, still on the ground from before.
"I'm fine, don't worry." he said "What about Kacchan?" he tilted his head to the side a little, trying to check on him "Is he ok?"
You walked up to him quickly and hugged him so tight, he could suffocate "Don't you ever do something so dangerous again, you idiot." you whispered with your eyes blurry from the tears you're holding back. His eyes were wide for a minute, but softened his face after those words and hugged back with a "I'm sorry."
You let go and signaled him to go back home but he said he wanted to stay with Bakugo for a while, so you left without him yet again. The sun was now, setting. You had to hurry or your parents would be worried sick, even though they had probably already heard about the incident, since it was all over the news.
As you were walking, the only thing creeping on your mind was those eyes. His eyes. A shinny mesmerizing shade of red full of fear 'Come on, it's over now. Stop thinking about it' you reminded yourself. You arrived home after several minutes of walking. You were just about to touch the handle of the fence's door when-
"Bird brain!" you stopped on your tracks to Bakugo's voice calling you. You turned around to him standing right behind you panting. You both shared eye contact for a second before his head tilted downwards, his hair now hiding his eyes, with clenched fists. "I made myself perfectly clear with Deku and now I'll do the same to you." He said "I never asked for either of you to help me!"
Your eyes were now on the ground, with a sad expression and a low chuckle "It's not that I was able to give it to you anyways...Midoriya is the one who-"
"He didn't help me!" he bit and you flinched a little "I was fine by myself!" His eyes were angrier than ever, his teeth clenched and his voice rough. "You two are just weaklings playing without a full deck!" he was breathing heavily out of his anger "I saw the way you were looking at me." his voice now low, almost threatening "You were pitying me."
"What? No I-"
"Shut up!" he yelled again "Get this, bird brain." he continued not giving you a chance to even open your mouth to say something "You don't owe me anything for what I did back there!" he started walking towards his house, which was just three houses away from you, and when he got right next to you "And don't you ever look down on me again!"
Your eyes widened a little to that, letting out a small gasp. That was the last thing you needed to hear from him.
'Look down on you...?' you thought.
"Don't ever underestimate me like that again," he said.
'All I ever did was...'
He purposely hit your shoulder, while leaving, making you take a step back "Got it?"
'Look up to you.'