Chapter 1

The event that took place during the summer training camp had produced results that no one foresaw. Eleven injuries, ranging from minor to severe. Thirteen were injured. One had gone missing. The entire city – maybe even world – had taken the event and mucked up a mass media storm. How could U.A, a school that was supposed to train future heroes, allow something like this to happen? Of course, the media was only interested in what would rile people up. All they heard was "villains" and "kidnapped" and they went to have their own field day. This time was different than the villain attack Class 1-A had over at USJ. Where they had all been able to escape with minimal injuries, this time they had not. In fact, it was very possible a good amount of students could have died. Not only that, but a student had gone missing: No. 14 of Class 1-A, Izuku Midoriya.

While everyone had voiced their concerns, worries and fears, it was the people who had saw him right before the kidnapping that made them think the worst. Izuku Midoriya was in critical condition. His limbs had been torn and bruised from overusing his quirk; the only reason he had gotten as far as he did was because of adrenaline. Now that he was in the clutches of the League of Villain, in such a state no less, would they show mercy on him? Every single one of Class 1-A's students had those thoughts circling in their minds.

Class 1-A, minus Tooru Hagakure, Kyouka Jirou, Momo Yaoyorozu and of course Izuku Midoriya, had all gathered inside of Katsuki Bakugou's hospital room. The boy had bandages around his hands, his brows furrowed deeply at them instead of acknowledging his classmates who had come in to wish him recovery. Mineta was holding a bag of bell peppers (as a melon would've been pretty pricy) for Bakugou.

"We got you some bell peppers!" He spoke up, slicing through the thick silence. No responses. The class could only stare at each other in the awkward air. It wasn't until Eijirou Kirishima walked up to Bakugou's bedside, placing a hand on the railing and a fist forming in the other.

"Look. This time around, let's save him." The sudden exclamation caused Bakugou to spin his head around and look at his classmate, dead in the eyes. Bakugou's mind began reeling. Thoughts of what had happened began playing back, vividly in front of him.

"KAACHAN!" He couldn't see anything in that moment. He was trapped in some orb or whatever… But he could clearly hear that brat's annoying voice scream out his dumb nickname. Stupid Deku. What could he do anyways –

At a blink of an eye, there was a loud bursting POP noise and Bakugou was back in the forest, stumbling backwards. He could only take in his surroundings for a few seconds, though it seemed like an eternity. People were behind and in front of him. His classmates who for the love of God, he's never really known by name, were catching both his and Tokoyami's fall as they both were released from their ball imprisonment. The villains in front of him were retreating back into the black, misty portal except in one of their arms was… Deku.

The villain had his hand at Deku's throat, keeping a strong grip on his shoulder as well. Bakugou had noticed beforehand that the tentacle guy was carrying Deku around for a while, and the reason was evident. The amount of strain and injuries he received on his body was massive; absolutely destructive. Bakugou knew his quirk's limits, but obviously Deku didn't or he chose to ignore them. Again, an idiot.

His brain finally caught up to speed as he watched Deku be taken by the villains in his stead. Bakugou's arm went out, flickers of explosions readying itself desperately as the villains retreated.

"DEKU!" He screamed out. In that instant, only he saw the lights reflecting in Izuku's eyes. Glimmers of tears accompanied a small, shaky smile.

"Kaachan, I'm so glad…" The boy whispered softly, maybe low enough to make sure he didn't heard but he fucking heard it. And with that, the portal closed. The students was left in the forests by themselves, taking in the UTTER DEFEAT.

Anger, frustration, concern, more anger, ANGER, and also some anger had whirled around in Bakugou's chest. He was never one to express his emotions honestly, and not to strangers even if they were classmates at the very least. He didn't know what he wanted at the moment, everything about the night seemed like a really bad dream.

"Look, Todoroki and I were here yesterday, and we happened to hear a conversation with Yaoyorozu and…" Kirishima rubbed the back of us head while Todoroki took the lead to explain. He looked down at Bakugou, meeting fiery eyes with his cool ones.

"She placed a tracking device on one of those monsters. Yaoyorozu is giving the police one to track them down." He explained softly as the other classmates listened. Tenya Iida, or who Bakugou considered as Fast Four-Eyes, had grabbed ahold of both Kirishima and Todorki's shoulders.

"WE CAN'T! This is a matter we should leave to the professionals! This isn't something we as students should be meddling in!" He nearly screamed out but a chorus of hushing noises helped Iida catch his voice. Kirishima could only grimace and clutch at his chest.

"Damn it man I know that! But I still couldn't do anything! You didn't either!" The jab caught Iida stricken, both students clenched their fists. "We heard Bakugou was being targeted but we couldn't do anything! I didn't do anything about it! And everyone got hurt and Midoriya got-" He stopped himself, swallowing hard.

"If I don't do something about it here, then I won't be able to call myself a hero!" Everyone around had tried to hush the students until he turned back to Bakugou.

"LISTEN! Everyone knows you and Midoriya's got some weird beef or whatever, but you've known him the longest right? He risked his life to save yours, so it's only right that we go and save him!" The class went quiet, Bakugou went back to stare at his hands, pondering, aggressively thinking. He too, stayed quiet, since he had no idea what to say or what his honest self was telling him. His mind grew dizzy again, the reality of the situation was more than he could ever take in. The class only waited for Bakugou's response but he had already tuned everyone out. Visions of the past played once again.

"Kaachan are you hurt? Can you get up?" Shut up Deku.

"Because… I couldn't just stand around and watch you die!" SHUT UP. DEKU.

"Kaachan, I'm so glad…"

A roar of anguish filled the room as Bakugou clenched his bandaged fists and bang them down on the bed repeatedly. The entire class jumped in shock, some even escaped out of the room. He continued to beat his hands down again and again, each time with more vigor fueled by hatred.

"Every fucking time he goes and pulls some shit like this! I didn't ask for fucking help and he looks at me like I'm some weakling that needs saving! I would've been fine if they took me! So if he's all powerful and great, then he should be able to get himself out of that shit! I ain't gonna help that son of a bitch he can DIE for all I care!" He screamed out. Bakugou's face was towards the bed, but every single one of the classmates still inside the room had felt the vicious, frontal attack from where they were. The shocked silence was broken by footsteps approaching Bakugou's bed and a hard slap.

Uraraka's eyes brimmed with tears but her eyebrows furrowed in anger and disgust.

"Whether you wanted it or not! Deku risked everything to save you! That's something a real hero would do, and if you're going to look down on that, then you should quit now! You're not hero material!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she turned and stormed out of the room, followed by a few of the other classmates until only Kirishima stayed there next to Bakugou's side. He didn't move from when Uraraka slapped him, the time to be furious had passed. Deep down, Bakugou knew he didn't mean what he said, at least not the last part. He was always one to talk about killing and death but never would he choose to take someone's life. Bakugou was being defensive, there were too many people there and he wasn't able to share how he really felt. If Deku did die then…

"Bakugou." Kirishima whispered softly. He turned his head to look up at him. "I know that… You don't mean that. Whether you come or not, me and Todoroki are leaving tonight." His words became softer, Kirishima's eyes looking to the ground as well.

"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you don't care about him. But he sure as hell cared about you and he's our classmate and friend! I'm still inviting you because, well, I think you do want to rescue him too."

Bakugou turned his face away from the red head. "Get out." Kirishima blinked in surprise before sighing, rubbing the back of his neck. He turned on his heels to the door and with one look at Bakugou, he left.

It was true though, he did want to rescue Deku. He didn't want Kirishima to see him blink away frustrated tears before letting them out with a cry.

-

Bakugou had taken the party by surprise when he met with the students outside of the hospital. Kirishima's face had lit up, giving him a bright grin as they discussed what their plan of action was. The rescue team was Kirishima, Todoroki, Bakugou, Yaoyorozu and even Iida. While the class president was there to persuade them to stop what they were doing, he was convinced by the idea of a non-combat rescue mission and a quick chat with Todoroki. No one really heard what they were talking about, out of privacy, but Bakugou was able to hear Todoroki softly say "You know if you were the one kidnapped, he'd try to rescue you." Everyone in class knew that Deku's friends were mainly Iida and Uraraka, and even though Bakugou didn't know this, it seemed like the bonds Deku had made were as strong as steel. Bakugou wondered - if it were anyone else, would Iida have agreed to come along despite the potential risks? He answered it with a no.

With Yaoyorozu's tracking device, they pinpointed the chip to be located in the Kamino Ward. The bullet train ride to the region was awkward, filled with a kind of silence that was only broken up by discussion between Iida and Todoroki. They sat across from each other and while Todoroki and Kirishima were eating at their store-bought meals, Iida expressed his position as watchmen to all of them.

"I want all of you to remember what we're doing is extremely dangerous and that we are to avoid combat at ALL cost!" He had directed most of the speeches to Bakugou who only grunted and sneered in response.

"Listen up four-eyes, I don't give a shit about what you say but I'm not going to run in without a plan." Bakugou crossed his arms and glared him down, which only gave Iida more fuel to spout his speeches. Everyone knew him to be the person with the least likeliness to cooperate, but he wasn't an idiot. Bakugou understood it was virtually impossible to achieve their mission without relying on each other, much to his dismay.

They all had ended up with a disguise. Dumb disguises is what Bakugou thought as he tugged on his collar and scratched at the beanie they had him put on. He was ready to tear apart the sunglasses and fake goatee until Kirishima had reassured he looked like a "super cool dude!" Bakugou left it alone but nearly socked Kirishima in the face when he tried to get him to do some sort of accent. (Lucky for him, Kirishima always knew when to activate his quirk to protect himself from Bakugou's fists).

All four of them walked towards the tracking point's location, with Iida constantly reminder of to not engage in any form of combat. In order to keep suspicion from the regular pedestrians, they all had crammed themselves into the side of the building the tracking device had pointed to. Kirishima had brought out a (pretty expensive) night vision camera and hoisted himself on top of Todoroki's shoulders. Bakugou followed, stepping onto Iida's shoulders despite his unwillingness. When they saw that only noumus were inside of the facility, everyone's hearts sank. While no one knew what the noumus were, from the many they've fought and seen, everyone understood that they weren't normal. Was it possible that Deku was inside of this facility as well? With the noumus?

Everything that occurred next happened in a blink of an eye. Mt. Lady had come with other pro heroes and police enforcement to smash the building down and rescue and retain those that were inside the building. The destruction left the five of them stunned, scrambling up on the ledge to see what was happening.

"Mt. Lady, Gang the Orca, even No. 4 Hero Best Jeanist is there!" Kirishima shouted. As the pro heroes rounded up all the noumus and rescue those who were taken, Iida announced that they should all leave it to them and head back now. He seemed far too happy to leave, but Bakugou stayed put. There was something off. Something in the air was telling Bakugou that it wasn't going to be this easy. Something inside Bakugou's stomach churned and before he knew it-

WHAM.

"If possible, I'd like to ask for you all to stop interfering."

The aura around them dropped. It was almost as if they had come face to face with the reaper themselves. All five of them had their backs to the wall. The entire block had been destroyed in one second. The sound of slow clapping lingered as the man in the dark praised Best Jeanist.

"As expected of the No. 4 Hero! I was trying to blast everyone away but in an instant you controlled everyone's clothes and pulled them out of the way! Your judgement, your technique, you've got nerve of steel. Isn't that so, Izuku?"

Bakugou froze. Every single of them had heard what the man had said, yet no one's body would move. Everyone single one of them was paralyzed by fear, Bakugou included. Yaoyorozu had vomited to the side.

"That's definitely Best Jeanist for you, not only does he have a versatile quirk that can affect anyone who's wearing clothes, he's also known for his swift judgement!" The voice was Izuku Midoriya's. Every single one of them recognized it. It was Bakugou who finally turned his head to see Deku standing there, next to the man in the dark suit.

He looked… Fine. His injuries were gone, he was smiling like he was back at school with his friends but something was off. Deku was in his hero outfit, but wasn't at the same time. It was a darker, black ersion of what he wore with modifications. While his face still seemed soft, there was something about his eyes that made him look… tired.

Black liquid began forming and spilling out villains, those specifically from the League. The guy with the hands, Bakugou remembered it was something like Shigaraki, landed in front of the man who seemed to be Death himself.

"Tomura. I know your goal was to take the Bakugou boy, but I'd like you to know you did not fail with your replacement." The man placed a hand onto Deku's shoulder. Bakugou was ready to stand up and run over when Iida placed a hand on him, shaking his head as he covered his own mouth. He gritted his teeth, hands balling into fists as he stood there, watching like some sort of bystander.

"You've actually found us the key to success. With Izuku, we can finally rip apart One for All." Shigaraki Tomura only slouched himself, scratching at his neck.

"Sensei…I didn't know you had such tremendous power." Before he could say anything else, All Might had appeared and tried to land a hit on the man. The fight ensured. Bakugou couldn't keep an eye on everything that was going on, from the man, to All Might, to Tomura, to Deku.

"I want you to remember, Tomura. You can still grow so much more. My gift to you is this boy, he will be the key to your success." With his fingers, it zipped over to the unconscious warp gate villain, forcing his quirk to activate. "Izuku, go with Tomura."

"But, Sensei-" Deku looked up at him before All Might came back.

"OH, no you don't! I'll be rescuing Midoriya!" The man fended off All Might, throwing him onto his back. The warp gate grew larger as the suited-man used whatever his quirk was to pull the villains into the black warp gate. Before any of them could get in, Bakugou finally sprung up and over the wall.

"DEKU!" He screamed out, using his explosions to propel himself towards the gate. All Might turned towards Bakugou, shocked before he yelled out.

"Bakugou! GET BACK NOW!" Before he knew it, Deku's body jolted forward towards Bakugou despite the magnetism, and punched him square in the face. He hit the wall, cracking the cement as the other students jumped over the wall to assist him.

The man turned towards them. "Oh? Izuku, is this the boy you've been telling me about?" Deku nodded in response, a grin appearing on his face.

"Yeah, this is Kaachan." He replied. The man only chuckled, turning back to All Might.

"Very well. Tomura, I'll send Izuku to you soon. I'm sure right now he has his own battle to face." With that, Tomura and the other villains were pulled into the black warp gate, leaving Izuku Midoriya standing there, grinning towards Katsuki Bakugou.

All Might's voice rang through the battle ground. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" The No. 1 Hero ran towards the man, throwing a punch which was blocked.

"Not much, really. I only tweaked with some memories. Don't worry though, he still idolizes you. I couldn't get rid of that." The man chuckled and black lines from his fingertip charged at All Might. "Izuku, I'll let you have your fight."

"Thank you Sensei!" Deku's face lit up, almost like a child who was given permission to eat another cookie. It pissed off Bakugou.

"What the FUCK Deku?! What's wrong with you? Brainwashed huh?! Just do the thing you did back at the sports festival and snap out of it!" Bakugou screamed out, his personal rage fueling him to act without thinking. Iida and Kirishima had helped him back up, all of them keeping their eyes on Deku.

Todoroki called out after him. "Midoriya, we're here to rescue you! Whatever's going on, you can pull through!" Deku only blinked in confusion as the man laughed while fighting All Might. The destruction from the two's fight was overwhelming, but there was nothing the U.A students could do unless they wanted to leave behind Deku.

"Huh, I don't know who you are, but it seems like you know me? I didn't know Kaachan had friends!" Deku furrowed his brow, fists clenching. "Wow, that's really amazing huh Kaachan? It's been only a year since we've seen each other and you're here with friends? While I'm alone." Bakugou's eyes widen. What the fuck was going on? Yaoyorozu placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He doesn't know us, only you Bakugou. I think he definitely is brainwashed in some way, but there could be more to this…" She explained, biting her lip as she watched her classmate slowly turn his smile into a frown. "He still has his personality, talk to him, Midoriya's one to talk."

Bakugou didn't want to fucking talk, he wanted to really punch Deku in the face right now. Yaoyorozu was right though, there seemed to have been some kind of brainwash in play. If it was similar to Shinsou's brainwashing then that means there must be some sort of limit or trigger to release the quirk. The others seem to have realized that too, so the best form of action right now was to keep Midoriya talking, maybe even taunt him closer. It would be risky and any assurance of the mission being non-combat was out the window.

"You said a year huh? I don't even remember the last time we saw each other! You're just that small to me!" Bakugou yelled out, grinning as he got his hands ready. That seemed to bring Deku's face back to a soft, nervous look. Iida, on the other hand, was not as pleased.

"Do you remember back in middle school? We both were applying to U.A and you told me that I couldn't do anything since I was quirkless?" Deku looked down and clenched his fists. "And then, do you remember what you told me? You said, 'Hey! I know a way for you to get a quick! Maybe if you jump off the school roof you can die and be reborn with a quirk!'" Bakugou's face dropped. His classmates turned to look at him, terrified.

"Did you… Did you say that to him?" Todoroki whispered softly. The silence and then the sound of a swallow gave them the answer.

"Well… I wasn't going to at first but as I was walking home I got taken by a villain, a sludge monster. All Might came to save me actually and I asked him, you know, me and you look up to him so much and he was there in front of me! So I had to ask, if it was possible I could still be a hero even without a quirk." All Might had heard every word and tried to call out to him but was silenced by Sensei and the destruction going around.

"He…He told me I couldn't. And deep down I knew that too, but for some reason I felt that All Might would've told me that… maybe I could've been. So I went back to school, went up to the roof and did exactly what you told me to do." Deku looked up to stare at Bakugou, dead on.

"I didn't die, but I was reborn. Sensei found me and he told me that I could be a hero! Then he gave me a quirk! So now I can be a hero, and to prove it, I'm going to defeat you, Kaachan!" Deku clenched his fists and charged towards the students. Kaachan, stunned, quickly got into a stance to take him on. For the first time though, he wasn't able to smile.

Before either of them could do anything, Todoroki placed up a giant wall of ice to keep Deku from coming. "If he doesn't know us, he won't know our quirk, we have to leave, NOW." He explained sternly to his classmates, ushering them up.

"What? NO! I can beat him! I'll knock him out and then we'll take him back!" Bakugou screamed as the ice shattered, a fist coming through it. Todoroki quickly used his flames to melt the shards that were flung by the impact. None of them were in their hero outfits, it was too dangerous to fight, especially with All Might and the man having their destructive battle so close.

"We need to go, now!" Todoroki yelled out, pulling them all back. Deku stared at all of them, causing all of them to freeze as their hearts dropped. In that instant, Izuku Midoriya looked like he was ready to kill.

"I'm not letting you go that easy Kaachan!" Another fist came down but was blocked by Kirishima's arm. There was a cracking noise as Kirishima yelled out in pain.

"FUCK! He's, too strong!" The hardening wore off and was replaced with a bruised, bloodied arm. Bakugou looked at it, gritting his teeth. There was no other option. They had to get out of there. It'll be okay, they'll get out, regroup, they'll rescue Deku later. He was alive and that's what was important. Even if the fucking idiot got himself brainwashed. But now - ! They had to leave in order to give All Might a chance to win!

"EVERYONE LOOK AWAY!" Bakugou held his hands close, pointing out towards Deku. Everyone turned as he unleashed a concentrated explosion at Deku, who blocked it with his arms. The boy flew back onto the ground as Bakugou grabbed ahold of Iida's shirt. "FUCKING GO!" He cried out, Iida nodding in response. They all grabbed onto Iida as he used his quirk to swiftly get out of the area of action.

"Oh no you DON'T!" Deku gotten up and jumped towards them, a fist ready to land when all of a sudden All Might appeared to block the punch.

"Get out of here! I'll take care of the rest!" All Might grabbed onto Deku's hand and punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards once again. "I'm sorry Midoriya, my boy!" He turned towards the children who have raced off, away from the action and into the streets. No one knew how long it took them to get away so quickly, but everyone's minds began reeling as they were stuck in a crowd who were being escorted by police officers and other traffic control mediators. No one said a word to one another as they were being funneled into the main streets as helicopters flew in every direction towards the fight.

Everyone directed themselves towards the screens up on high buildings as they went from whatever commercial they were playing to the fight at hand. From high above, they were able to see both All Might and Deku. His voice was low, but audible when projected on the loud speakers.

"You were my hero! I've always wanted to be like you All Might, so why… Why didn't you tell me I could be a hero?!" He screamed out, getting his fists ready. The man in dark suit came over, placing a hand onto Deku's shoulder. All Might grimaced deeply, his fists shaking.

"No Midoriya, that's not what happened!" He yelled out. How could All for One erase all of the memories from that point? How was he able to implant new ones? Who had that ability and what were the ways to dispel the effects? All Might continue to reach out to Deku. "You can be a hero! You are a hero! Izuku Midoirya! I know you!"

His eyes widen, tears glistening. "A-All Might… You're only saying that now cause I'm in front of you, with a quirk, with a power. Why didn't you tell me that before?!" Deku screamed out. He ran toward him but was quickly stopped by All for One.

"That's enough for you Izuku, go back to Tomura." He placed a warp gate behind them as Izuku reluctantly got in.

"Sensei what about you?" His voice shook before All for One looked back to All Might. "Whatever happens to me, Tomura will succeed me. Help him." Deku nodded his head and went into the gate.

"NO!" All Might raced towards the warp gate but was stopped when All for One aimed a destructive blow towards a civilian. At the last second, All Might turned to protect the woman, and then lost his form.

Bakugou watched the events unfold. He listened to words like "successor" and "All for One" and didn't understand anything that was going on. Even when All Might's true form was revealed, he cried out for him to win. As other heroes came to help and lighten the load, Bakugou heard the man say something but the speakers cut off. Only All Might heard this in the moment.

"Izuku Midoriya, the boy you passed it to huh? To be honest, I was going to kill him and make him feel every bit ounce of regret. But the opportunity presented itself. Isn't it sweeter? To see the boy who was going to be your successor, fall into my hands. I'll be honest, when I saw him, I swear he was my younger brother for a second." He laughed. "It won't matter what the results are now! You lose either way! To be a teacher is to help your pupil stand up by himself. It seems you haven't been doing that good of a job. It might've been a result from your previous teacher."

The last moment of the fight gave an incredulous explosion. It ended with a United States of Smash. It ended with one fist raised into the air. It ended with cheers from every part of the nation. It was victory; victory for everyone else except the chosen few. If Izuku Midoriya had been watching next to him, Bakugou was certain he'd be crying endless amount of tears. He wasn't there; however, which meant what the five of them ultimately had sought to do ended in a complete failure.

The next morning the world was in a state of chaos. Bakugou and the others had all gone their separate ways, quiet, deep in thought, and in mourning. Everyone had been able to go back home to their families, except for Deku.

The road to his house was familiar to Bakugou, walking past it every time he went to elementary school in the past and on the occasions where he had come over to grab Deku for their daily adventures as children. As he walked past the Midoriya's household, he couldn't help but see the police vehicles lined up outside. He knew what that meant. He could also hear Deku's mom crying loudly, begging for help from the police who were trying to reassure her the best to their abilities.

Bakugou grabbed at his shirt, gripping it tightly as he gritted his teeth. He tried to keep walking but stopped a few feet away from the house. He doubled over, eyes brimming but refusing to let them stream. He held his breath behind pulled back teeth, Bakugou wasn't going to scream. He didn't need to as the sound of Inko Midoriya's wails of sorrow echoed through the neighborhood.

He wasn't strong enough to save Deku. They had to run away like pathetic losers! Bakugou didn't know what was a better scenario. The fact that Deku could be dead versus Deku being brainwashed into a villain. If it was him, he'd rather be dead than turn villain. Of course he'd fight his ways out first, but would rather die trying than anything else. To be forced into being a villain, now that was something that set him off. It was disgusting. Bakugou would've never admit it out loud, but Deku's passion for becoming the best hero rivaled his own.