so·lus
/ˈsōləs/adjective
1. alone or unaccompanied
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The wind against the blond boy's face made his cheeks cold and his nose numb, allowing the small rubbing of his hands to slightly warm him up. There was a soft chatter throughout the bus, but his main focus was the site of the airport coming into view and he taps his foot against the bus floor, almost in an impatient manner. It was just a small distraction to get his mind off of the intrusive thoughts plaguing his mind.
"Bakugou, bro! I'm super excited about going to America!" The shark-toothed, redhead exclaimed. A wide smile across his face as he seems to bounce in his seat. "What about you? You've been angrier than usual." Kirishima studies his friend's face, looking for any change of expression, but much to his dismay, there had not been.
The usual scowl was there, but his mood was worse. Katsuki Bakugou turns his head away from the overly-excited human rock and his gaze falls outside the window once again. "Is it about your marking? Everyone-" He cut himself off, not wanting to piss off the blond male any further. He knew better than anyone not to press on the subject.
Bakugou's gaze never leaves the window, but he gives a small, frustrated nod, followed by a disapproving grunt. "Yeah." He held back his scowl. "The soulmate is probably dead or fell in love with the wrong person because that's my fucking luck." His right hands clench into a fist and a trail of smoke escapes the small opening of his hand.
"Who needs a shitty soulmate when I'll be the best hero ever? I don't need a whiney bitch to latch onto me whenever I'm busy being the number one hero." Hell, if he was being honest, being a hero was the least of his worries at this point. He loosens his hand, allowing the muscles to relax in it as he notices that the bus has now entered the airport parking lot. Adjusting in his seat, he looks at his now, slightly concerned seatmate, and the conversation continues.
"Well, soulmate or not. You've still got us as your friends. Besides, I'm surprised you're the submissive." The redhead earned a glare from the now annoyed blond as if he was mocking him, but it was just a harmless statement. With that, nothing more was said between the two and the talking between other classmates grew up in an excited roar as the bus came began to slow down.
When the bus stopped at the front, Aizawa mumbled a few safety tips to the students and was the first off of the bus. Safety tips were; "Don't do anything stupid. I don't have time to bail any of you out." With that, the students practically ran off the bus, Iida Tenya shouting at them as they did so, and they went to the second bus to gather their things.
No-one stopped for a nanosecond to acknowledge the fact that Bakugou was moving the slowest, his head down, bag slung over his shoulder, and his suitcase at his side as he trudges his way through the airport doors.
Sure, he was just as stoked about leaving Japan for a good month or two as the rest of his classmates for their last semester ended, but he definitely would not let them know that. Of course, going to America of all places was a bit unsettling, but that was the least of his worries. His main focus was on his nonexisting Soulmate mark and he could not wrap his head around the fact that he of all people was submissive. It just didn't make much sense to him, only causing him to become angry with the Universe.
Trailing behind the rest of the group, a deep frown was set on his face, seeming as if it was permanent. The class files into a line without much complication and begin their way through the luggage check before heading towards the plane itself. Good thing they had not left too early or too late. If they had, they would either have to rush or wait, and neither of the two options was appealing to the group.
In front of Bakugou was Mina Ashido; the pink alien in training, and as she reached to grab her luggage from the table, she lets out a small, happy squeal before running towards the group of girls that happened to be waiting for her. The girls begin chatting in such a happy manner that Bakugou's fuze almost blew.
The two men, that were now checking through the angry blond's suitcase and bag, gave each other concerned glances before quickly checking his things and handing them back to him. "I wonder what that was about." The one with spiked green and blue hair said, causing the white-haired man to nod in agreement. Before the girls left, Mina and the other high pitched voiced females were practically bouncing. The few dreaded words that Bakugou did not want to hear left her mouth and much to his dismay, he would have to hear them the entire way to America.
"I finally get to meet my Soulmate!"
That was it, he had almost lost it. Who was next? Mineta? Like hell, he would ever get one! That disgusting creature did not deserve the right to even be around a female, or male, let alone have an actual attachment with one. No matter how angry he felt at that moment, there was a part of him that felt empty and broken. Had something happened to his soulmate? Even if that was the case, why the hell should he care?
Bakugou sends a glare towards the group of yapping females before pushing past them and boarding the plane. The shoving causes a few of the girls to bicker behind him while they found their seats, but the complaining quieted down and returned to the girlish excitement as he shoved his luggage in the compartment above his seat. He sits down beside the window and leans his head against the headrest and takes his phone out, putting it on airplane mode, and sighs before shoving his earbuds in his ears. The next thirteen hours were going to be everything but pleasant and he knew that he just needed them to be as bearable as possible.
Sensing a movement text to him, he turns his head towards his left, watching Kirishima sit in the seat beside him and this causes him to pause his music. Bakugou looks at the shark-toothed boy with an irritated look. He did not want to be bothered by anyone even if it was the only person he could somewhat tolerate. "What do you want?" He grumbles out the question, taking out his left earbud, allowing it to gently fall and sway side to side before it settled on his stomach.
"I heard the girls getting excited over Mina's new marking, so I decided to sit back here with you." Kirishima shrugs it off and puts his phone on airplane mode as well. "I won't bother you. I just wouldn't last listening to them for hours even if it would be manly."
Bakugou gives him a swift nod and turns his head back towards the window. "Whatever. Just don't bother me." Putting his earbud back in, he hears Kirishima let out a small chuckle before he turns his music on and he mentally rolls his eyes, a tiny smile on his lips, but it seems to quickly turn into a hateful scowl as he wonders why he was not the one to choose who his soulmate was and if he would ever give them one or not. This small thought causes his mood to only worsen. His once bitter mood now completely sour.
Pulling his mind away from his angry thoughts, he goes over all the English that he knew. Sure, he and his other classmates would communicate with English every so often, but that did not mean he was completely fluent in it. With a few quick words from the pilot, the plane began lifting itself into the sky, the front wheel is the first thing to go and soon the entire death trap begins its journey through the sky.
Aizawa Shota, the tired Pro Hero gazes at the students from the front of the plane, taking a mental headcount of them just in case he had forgotten one. He would not necessarily complain if he had, but he did not want to have a parent call him and ask why he had left one of them behind followed by hours of bickering.
One thing that he had thought about was the fact that he had decided to stay with this particular group of students. Of course, there were other teachers and heroes to take on the task, but he seemed to have volunteered at the idea. That is what bothered him the most. He, out of all people knew how dangerous The States had become, so why had he agreed to go with them? Was he worried about them? Concerned that they might be sent away if one of them used their quirk accidentally? Whatever the reason, he definitely would not let anyone find out he was perturbed.
It's not like he did not want them to get in trouble. Besides, staying in trouble? That's basically what kept the class together and he knew that better than anyone. The trauma they all went through made them closer, but it has never always been a good thing to fall back on.
His exhausted gaze falls across each student, yet he stops at Bakugou and studies him for a few seconds before immediately knowing what was wrong with the blonde boy. He's seen it many times before with different types of students, but he knew he should not say anything to him. He'd rather make it to the States before the plane blew up, but he understood the younger male's troubles. He had not gotten his mark until his late twenties and even then, he and his soulmate split. Deciding to relax for the remaining time of the ride, the tired man sighs and begins to get comfortable, taking out a book to hopefully catch up on the last few chapters.
Soon, the plane settled into a relaxing silence other than the occasional conversation, but even that wasn't enough to bother the rest of the classmates or their jaded teacher. The twenty students became comfortable with the atmosphere and some had drifted off to sleep with their music to guide them into a peaceful state.
The seventeen-year-old blonde boy drums his fingers along his thigh and knee in an attempt to distract him once again. In a room full of people, no matter how he acted towards his friends, he truly felt alone and he was starting to finally doubt himself. Was he good enough or was he as bad as everyone said he was? Then again, why did he care that his potential soulmate had never bothered to mark the two of them? He takes long breathes to try and relax before giving up and going back to drumming his fingers with the music.
Looking over at his friend, his eyes scan the sleeping figure before falling on the detailed marking on the top of his hand. The diamond looking three dimensional and the firework effect around it made it seem so real. Kirishima was the dominant one and he had asked Bakugou to help out with the mark and to give him an idea of what he should do, hence the fireworks. A small smile forms on his lips when his mind drifts back to how happy his best friend was when he ran into his soulmate at a concert, accidentally tripping them in the process. Kirishima had boasted about how manly it was that his partner was non-binary and he found it all the more interesting that they had been quirkless.
Tearing his eyes away from the marking he looks towards the front where Mina Ashido was sitting and he couldn't help but wonder what hers was and if she would ever find them which quickly brought him back to his self-degrading thoughts. Whether he showed it or not, he truly felt alone and worthless, the tears that threatened to fall only making him feel worse as the music played.
~ 時間スキップ ~
Twelve hours and thirty minutes into the flight to the States and the plane was still in one piece despite the group of dangerous passengers. Some of the students have already woken up while a few of them still being asleep, causing the ones that are awake to wake them up from whatever they happen to be dreaming about if anything at all. While Aizawa made sure that everyone was in their seats once again, he looks back at Bakugou to see the boy had his face against the window and a bit of drool leaves his mouth as snores escape him. At least he got a short break from that troubled mind of his. The Pro-Hero thinks as he watches Kirishima wake the other male up from his peaceful sleep.
Looking down at his wrist, he rubs it. The last time he had been to America, they had put a band around his wrist as to signal that he had used his quirk before sending a shock through the wearer's body. The band was only put on visitors whether they claimed to have a quirk or not. The government knew people with quirks lived on their land, but their main, primary focus was on anyone coming in as they knew they couldn't get rid of everyone with a quirk without doing massive amounts of testing. Aizawa knew his students would never agree on the idea of wearing such a band, yet it couldn't be helped and he figured it to be a good learning experience for them no matter how uneasy he felt.
After the rest of the students wake up, Aizawa stands in the middle of the aisle and watches some of the drowsy students look at him with a confused glance before finally waking up completely. "Everyone," The soft chatter from before had now settled down and everyone's focus was on the tired male. "Since we have less than twenty minutes before we finally get to the States, I want to make sure you all know that whatever they tell you, goes. You will not resist them. They'll put a band on either of your two wrists that prevents you from using your quirks. If you try using your quirk, however, it will send a shock through your body." The talking from before rose back up, but the Pro Hero did not bother to stop them. It was best they talked about it amongst themselves.
Bakugou runs a hand through his nest of blonde hair as he listens to Kirishima talk about how unmanly that was before immediately taking it back and saying he understood where they were coming from, but the ticking bomb didn't mind it as much. Maybe if he doesn't use his quirk, then maybe he wouldn't seem as much as a threat but even then, his personality was just as explosive.
Someone raises their hand and without looking, the ebony-haired hero hums at them. "What about the language barrier, Aizawa-Sensai?" It was none other than Ochaco Urakaka and the zero-gravity girl had accidentally swatted the boy next to her, causing him to become flustered. Midoriya Izuku sighs before rubbing the back of his head and mutters to himself as his Soulmate quietly apologizes under her breath to him. Aizawa gives a short, tired shrug and stops himself from yawning. "If there is something you don't understand, ask me or the tour guide. Anything else?" After answering a few other questions, the lean man finally sits back down as the pilot reminds them to stay seated and fasten their seatbelts before they begin to land.
Rubbing his eyes, Bakugou mutters to himself that a restriction on his quirk wasn't so bad and he might be lucky enough that his Soulmate might be in the States, but he felt a heavy doubt in the pit of his stomach along with the feeling of loneliness settled with it, causing him to lean his head against the headrest as he watches the plane lower itself to the airport runway below.