The air seemed to freeze with the question.
Iida's eyes widened, the color draining slightly from his face. The mention of his brother, Tensei—the hero Ingenium—had clearly struck a nerve. He took a deep breath, shoulders tense, and answered in a softer voice."If it were Tensei… I…" Iida hesitated for a second. "I would want him to be saved. He's my role model, my guide, one of the most important people in my life. But I know that… he would say the same thing I did."
Bakugo listened closely. Before deciding whether or not to save Tensei from being seriously injured by Stain, he wanted to know what Iida's opinion would be. And now, Bakugo knew what he was going to do. "That's all, Iida. I won't get in the way of your training anymore."
***
Sitting under the shade of a tree, Momo flipped through Bakugo's notes with a focused expression, while he absentmindedly watched two second-year students sparring a few meters away.
"Hmm, reduce the time of my creations…" Momo murmured, eyes fixed on the words in front of her.
Bakugo looked away from the fight. "Yeah. Your reaction time's already solid for now. But there's gonna come a moment when your reflexes outpace your creation time. And then, you'll be vulnerable."
"Hmm," Momo hummed. "And your initial training idea to fix that is for me to keep eating while using my quirk at the same time?"
Bakugo raised an eyebrow at her. "Do I really need to explain why?"
Momo covered her mouth with one hand, hiding a smile. "Sorry, Bakugo-san. I just find it interesting when you explain things to me. You have… a unique way of speaking."
"Should I take that as a compliment, Yaoyorozu?"
"Without a doubt."
***
The next day, already late in the afternoon, Bakugo collapsed onto a bench after helping Shouji, Koda, Mineta, Mina, and Hagakure. He hadn't expected nearly the entire class to come to him personally for help, but thinking about it, after everything that had happened, it wasn't all that surprising.
Class 1-A was determined to push past their limits, and he—whether he liked it or not—had become a reference point.
"I'm dead," Bakugo muttered, sprawling across the bench, arms stretched out and head tilted back. His eyes wandered up to a lone cloud in the sky, already thinking about the next day. 'I gave Izuku two days to figure out Full Cowl on his own. That's the limit—even if I didn't want to get involved in his progress specifically—'
"—kun, Bakugo-kun!"
!
He gripped the edges of the bench tightly, holding back the urge to jump from surprise. 'I really need to stop getting so distracted,' Bakugo thought, annoyed with himself. Turning his head, he saw who had sat beside him without him noticing.
Uraraka.
"Oh, you finally noticed me? Heheh," she said with a smile. "I called you a few times already. Lost in thought?"
"...something like that." Bakugo grimaced and looked back at the sky. 'Damn old man, now I can't stop thinking about it.'
"So... how was your day?" Uraraka asked, folding her hands in her lap.
"...busy."
"I figured! I saw you helping everyone." She lowered her head a little. "That was really cool, by the way. Everything you did for us..."
Bakugo scoffed, crossing his arms. "It was nothing."
"Hehehe, I knew you'd say that." Uraraka started tapping her thumbs together. "How are your injuries?"
"...better. I'll go see Recovery Girl tomorrow."
"Good... I—uh... are you avoiding me?"
"Avoiding you? Where'd you get that from?" Bakugo's voice came out harsher than he meant.
"It's just that... I don't know, every time I try to talk to you, you're always rushing off somewhere or answering kind of... short." She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her neck. "If I did something wrong, just tell me, okay? I don't want things to get weird between us."
Bakugo scoffed again, running a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable. "There's nothing wrong. I've just got a lot on my mind."
Uraraka watched him for a moment. "So... we're good?"
"...obviously."
"That's a relief." She smiled and paused, hesitating again. "In that case... do you think you could... um... help me too?"
Bakugo raised an eyebrow, finally looking at her. "We had this whole conversation just so you could ask that?"
Uraraka blushed slightly. "Of course not! I'm not that kind of person."
***
The next morning, Bakugo headed straight to the gym as soon as he arrived at U.A. 'You better have made some progress, nerd,' he thought, shoving the gym door open.
BAM!
As he opened it, the sound of a violent impact echoed through the space, followed by a muffled cry. Bakugo froze for a fraction of a second, eyes wide as he saw Kirishima flying through the air, crashing into a pile of mats with a dull thud.
In the center of the gym, Izuku stood panting, his arm still extended after the punch that had sent his classmate flying several meters.
'That... did not look like 5%,' Bakugo thought, the initial shock giving way to a wave of unease tightening in his chest. 'What the hell is going on here?'
Izuku seemed unaware of Bakugo's presence, adjusting his stance for the next strike. Kirishima, still sprawled on the mats, let out a loud laugh, rubbing his chest with one hand. "Dude, Midoriya! That was insane!"
Bakugo narrowed his eyes, his mind racing. 'He's using Full Cowl, no doubt. But Izuku should only be able to handle 5% of One For All, and that's not enough to send Kirishima flying like that, even if his Hardening is still kinda half-assed.'
"Bakugo-shonen! So good to see you here," Toshinori said, approaching him.
"All Might…" Bakugo replied, eyes still locked on Izuku.
"Hmm?" Toshinori followed his gaze. "Oh, impressive, isn't it? Just two days ago, Midoriya-shonen could barely use One For All without breaking a finger. And now, look at that! He's already handling 10%!"
'WHAT?! 10%?! How?! How. The. Hell. Is. That. Possible?! Izuku wasn't supposed to reach 8% for months!'
***
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.