Anzu opened up the window on her side of the bus. The cool, snowy mountain air poured in from the crack. She could see her breath rising up in a little cloud of dancing smoke. She shivered from within Bakugou's sweatshirt. They were almost to the top now. Anzu had completely misjudged the temperature drop. She now regretted not saying anything, seeing as now she was freezing cold. She breathed the smoke into her hands, in a futile attempt to remove the frost bite. When they arrived at the resort, there were three log cabins. The interior was a bit cramped, but still cozy. Two cabins with four beds and one cabin with three beds. They were queen sized, allowing students to share. In the end, the Bakusquad decided to stay in the three bed one. Mina and Anzu paired up, Sero and Kaminari, and Kirishima and Bakugou. Kirishima was the only one brave enough to be with such a violent sleeper. Despite the fact that this was a training camp, there would still be an afternoon time that they would be able to enjoy themselves. There was an opportunity to ski, mountain climb, and each dorm also had a hot tub outside. The size of the mountain left Anzu gaping for minutes on end. The fact that the world was so big, that it had thousands of these in it... It was breathtaking. When they all unloaded their bags and got set up in the cabin, there was a big debate on what the group should do first. It was late, around five o'clock. Everyone except Bakugou wanted to stay in, and relax after all the traveling. Bakugou seemed dead set on hiking. In the end, Bakugou grew the resolve to go alone. This was something Anzu thought was incredibly ignorant, especially due to the harsh weather, however it wasn't her place to say so. Besides, he was already pretty angry, and forcing him to stay would just make matters worse. After an hour long argument, he wound up going without anyone else's knowledge. Aizawa came by a little bit later to check up on everyone and bring ingredients for a meal. In the end, they wound up making a quick stew. As they ate, they talked about tomorrows plans. Training involved steep hiking, endurance in freezing weather, how to treat hypothermia and frostbite, among other things. Around three o'clock they would be let out of training and allowed to do whatever they wanted. They all decided that skiing sounded fun, and than they would all start on the medium level. To her relief, most of them had never gone skiing either, so she wouldn't embarrass herself too badly. Sadly, the rest of the night went less than smooth.
"Hey... I'm pretty tired. I'm heading to bed." Mina yawned, rubbing her eyes and rising from the couch. They had all been sitting around, drinking tea. It was amazing how different the world was without distractions like internet. They had introduced Anzu to the world of board games, and talked about their home lives. Wind howled at the glass of the cabin, sending reverberations all through the house. If she wasn't with the company of friends it would've been unnerving. But something about being with these people... She felt comfortable. She wasn't worried over anything or afraid. Just comfortable. In the end, Sero and Mina were the first to turn in. So Kaminari, Kirishima, and Anzu were left to talk about stupid things like movies they had all watched, and also explained to Anzu what video games were.
"Hey Anzu! Where'd you get that sweatshirt from? I like the Pro Hero Merch." Kirishima said, scratching one of the iron-ons.
"Oh, Bakugou lent it to me! I didn't have much to wear the first night so..." She trailed off. Anzu and Kirishima made eye contact, realization suddenly rising. She could hear incoherent swearing coming from Kaminari. Anzu and Kirishima jumped up at once.
"How long has he been gone!? I can't believe we forgot!" She said pacing around the wood floor. "We have to go look for him! Who's idea was it to let him go out alone in a snow storm!? What if he broke his leg and is stuck somewhere in the middle of the mountains!?" She said, shoving on Mina's snow boots and putting her winter coat over Bakugou's sweatshirt.
"Let me grab a coat!" Kirishima called from the other room. "Kaminari! You stay here in case he comes back!" Kirishima yelled. Anzu was already half way out the freezing cold door.
"Hurry up! Were wasting time!" She said slamming the door shut. She was shocked at first by the force of the wind. It was past curfew. They probably shouldn't even be out. She felt like she had been caught up in a blizzard. The freezing particles in the air stung her nose, flying at a full force speed. It hammered into her, and she could swear her coat was made of paper. She had no idea how he could be out here in this. Kirishima joined her quickly, and they began towards the map. There were five different routs he could've taken, but knowing him he probably took the most advanced one. The only audible thing was the howling of the wind and the methodical crunch of their boots in the fresh powder. They could barely hear each other's voices, and it was impossible to see more than five feet in front of you. Anzu questioned if this was the right decision. Maybe they should've gotten Aizawa, explained the situation. But at this point, Anzu couldn't admit it, but she couldn't even tell which way was back and which was forward. She could barely see the moon through the flurry of snow flakes flying over her head. Crunching of snow under her feet over and over for what felt like hours but was only thirty minutes. Anzu walked closer to Kirishima, finally stopping him.
"We have to go back! We won't be able to find him this way! We've been walking for at least thirty minutes! We need to get Aizawa's help!" She yelled, her voice being carried by the screaming wind. She was so worried she didn't know what to do. This weather was almost deadly to be out in for too long. She had only been out for thirty minutes and the tips of her fingers and her nose were completely numb. Kirishima gave her a sympathetic look. She had never seen him worried before. It made her uncomfortable to see someone so bright look solemn. She didn't want to give up either. But rushing into this would solve nothing, it would just end up in more casualties. Anzu sighed inwardly. She felt like she was abandoning a friend, and it was never something she had experienced before. It nearly made her sick to her stomach.
"Anzu look." Kirishima said, pointing in a direction. She swore she didn't even know which way was up anymore. She could hear additional crunching, then the appearance of something white. It had shadow to it though. She knew for a fact it was him.
"Bakugou!" She called, waving. Kirishima did the same. When he finally looked up, Anzu swore it was the first time he looked happy to see them. Kirishima lit up.
"F-fuck. It's cold." Bakugou said, stomping up to them. He was shivering uncontrollably. He had turned a completely different shade of white. His hair was the color of cotton, and he looked like someone spread flour all over his face. He looked tired, which was also a first for her. Kirishima slung Bakugou's arm over his shoulder. The trek home was a lot less stressful.
When they got home, all three of them looked like they had gone to war in the Alps. Anzu's locks of hair had been frozen in place and looked like they had been dyed white. Kirishima's hair was also frozen solid, and Bakugou looked like a miniature yeti. Kaminari had boiled some water, and set up a fire. She was genuinely shocked as well. She supposed he could be smart when he needed to be. Bakugou was still shivering like crazy. They all sat by the fire, and Anzu continued to rub her numbed hands.
"What the hell happened!?" Anzu asked Bakugou, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.
"I got stuck in a gully* filled with powder." He stammered, sitting so close to the fire Anzu worried he would burn himself. *(A gully is water-worn ravine. It's a ditch that can be fun to ski in, but when filled with powder that has the same effect as sinking sand except colder, it can be very dangerous.)
"We're just glad your safe." Kiri smiled, nudging Bakugou with his elbow. Anzu had just about defrosted, but now she was more worried for Bakugou. She had read during her studies in the white room, that if hypothermia wasn't treated immediately it could lead to much worse side effects.
"Hey Kaminari, do we have any rags around here?" She asked, filling a bowl with kettle water.
"Yeah I think we have some in the closet why?" She said walking over to grab them.
"I heard the best way to treat frost bite is to put warm cloths on your skin." She said, taking them gratefully. "You should get some rest. I think we can handle it from here." She smiled as confidently as possible. No reason for him to suffer too. Kaminari looked doubtful, but didn't argue. He gladly turned in. By now it was around one in the morning. The wind was as strong as ever. Anzu walked back to the two shivering numb skulls.
"You two need to change out of those wet clothes. It's only making it worse." Anzu ordered. She tried not to let her tone be too harsh but she wasn't exactly the happiest with Bakugou at the moment. For someone she knew was so smart he had made an awfully dumb mistake that Kiri and Kaminari were now paying for. Kirishima shakily got up, and offered a hand to Bakugou. Anzu tried not to laugh at their exchange.
"I'll stay here." Bakugou said, tilting his head back to the fire.
"No. You're not." He said, forcefully grabbing Bakugou's frozen palm. He grimaced at the movement. It was probably still pretty frostbitten. Kiri attempted to haul Bakugou off of the floor, but it looked like his legs had been glued in place. "Dude what's wrong with you?" Kiri asked, suppressing a snicker. Anzu watched a little bit of color reappear in Bakugou's cheeks.
"I can't move." He said in a quiet voice. Anzu had to turn away so she wouldn't laugh to his face. Karma. In the end, Kirishima half hauled half dragged Bakugou into the other room and got them both into dry clothes. Anzu didn't have anything but short sleeve shirts to change into, so Kiri lent her a turtle neck. It was far to big on her, but it was much nicer than freezing cold clothes sticking to her skin. She ordered the boys to begin soaking the rags in warm water an applying them to their skin. Luckily for her, they were both too tired to put up a fight. They both listened well and to her luck, they were still cold but at least they were dry, and had little chance of getting hypothermia. Bakugou still looked a bit glazed over. She had never seen him so silent. She didn't know if it was because his body wasn't working properly or he felt guilty. Maybe a mix of both. She dropped another blanket on his head.
"Kiri you should go to sleep, your gonna need your strength for tomorrow." She suggested.
"What about you and Bakugou?" He said fretting over the frozen blonde. Anzu assured him that they would be right after him. He gladly turned in. One to go. She walked over to Bakugou. He was looking head on at the slowly dying fire.
"What were you thinking?" She grumbled, hugging the blanket tighter. "What if you didn't make it back. You could've gotten seriously sick you moron." She was a little frustrated at him. It was a stupid idea in the first place and his stubborn attitude could've gotten him killed.
"Sorry." The flickering fire was reflected in his crimson irises. Anzu was completely shocked. She knew the only reason he said that was because it was late and he was tired, but it was still surprising.
"I forgive you." She said falling backward. Her back was stiff from laying hunched over. She would've yelled at him more but his apology was so out of the blue it shut her up for the time being. "C'mon. Let's go to bed." She murmured. Heaving herself up off the floor. She helped him up, and they both walked into the dorm. The wind still howled at the windows. She was so tired she thought she would collapse then and there. Her cheeks were bight red and she could already feel her nose beginning to stuff up. She was just glad Bakugou was safe. That was all that mattered to her. As long as he was okay she would be okay too. She fell asleep almost immediately. For Bakugou however, not so much.
He felt sickeningly guilty for what happened. He could still remember the feeling of being stuck in that powder. The feeling of his lungs compressing under the pressure, and the more he tried to escape the more he sunk. Now everyone probably thought he was weak. The very fact they went out to save him made him want to kill someone. He didn't want help from anyone. It was just a stupid mistake he shouldn't have made in the first place. His hands were still for the most part numb, but the water soaked rags had helped. For someone so clueless, she did have a lot of tricks up her over sized sleeves. He could tell she was cocky over it too. That pissed him off. It did come in handy though. The very thought of going out tomorrow and doing it all over again sounded like hell. The feeling of being in that powder still crept around in his thoughts. How the snow soaked up his sweat, making him quirkless. It was a lot like when that sludge villain attacked. If he hadn't been able to reach that tree branch to pull him out, he probably would've died there. That feeling he couldn't shake of being useless. Helpless. Weak. Everything he detested. And they would've found him dead because of it. He rolled over, nearly slamming into Kirishima. He hated sharing beds with anyone. He just wanted to forget. He rarely made big mistakes, but when he did they would stay in his mind until the next one came. And it would fester. He still couldn't stand the way Anzu looked at him. He couldn't tell if she was angry or disappointed. Or both. The last time she looked at him like that was when that villain attacked in September. It took her forever to get back to being the same around him. Whatever the villain did really messed her up, but this time there wasn't a villain to blame. It was his fault. He only hoped she would get over it quicker so he could too. After those thoughts, Bakugou drifted into a restless, cold sleep. And with the sound of the howling wind, he felt strangely alone.
Hey guys! Sorry for the late chapter! So fun fact about your author! I used to live in the mountains and my family and I used to go skiing quite often. My sister got caught in a powder spot just like Bakugou and also experienced a near death situation 😅 So I thought I'd use it in the fanfiction. So This chapter was supposed to be filled with fluff, but for some reason it was really hard to write so I switched around the order a bit. Don't worry though! The next chapter will assuredly be a fluff chapter, so don't worry😉Hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for reading! It was really fun to write because I feel like snow scenes are an underrated vacation point for animes. But that's just me :) Thanks for reading!
-Melancholic Writer.