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Uraraka considered herself pretty laid back. She found that having a calm disposition was important in being a hero, to being a good person in general. How could she save others when she herself as panicking? That's why she tried her absolute darndest to stay reasonable in even the most dire situation.
Of course, right now, she thought it was totally normal for her to be losing her damn mind.
Tsuyu hasn't been seen in over a week. She had disappeared one night, being caught leaving on the security cameras after dinner. Class 1-A had called, texted, done anything in their power to find her, but there was no luck.
Even more troublesome, Ashido hadn't been able to get in contact with Himoto either. It had students wondering if she had gone missing too.
In any case, it was affecting the whole class. Midnight's long emotional talks with them, nor Aizawa's liencency could do anything to help that.
All Mina would ever do is check her phone. Morning, night, it didn't matter. Even in the middle of class, if there was a beep she would whip the device out. It was always met with disappointment on her end, but it never stopped her from trying. Aizawa may not have been happy, but he understood and sympathized.
That was truly unfortunate, but not anywhere near as bad as some other classmates' reactions.
Kirishima had come up from behind Kaminari one day, throwing his arms around him. It wasn't odd, he was pretty touchy feely.
What was odd, was Kaminari's reaction.
He panicked, and started shocking Kirishima...and shocking him, and shocking him. Sero had to pull him away, calming him down. Apparently he didn't even process who was in front of him, he was too scared.
Kirishima had to go to Recovery Girl, but was mainly unharmed. What was harmed, was Kaminari's trust in himself. He made it a point to stay far away from everyone, especially Kirishima. If he wasn't around, he was likely just on his room.
That didn't stop the empty feeling his absence left.
Point was, Tsuyu's disappearance affected everyone. Momo and Iida were damage control, speaking with all of them, making sure they were alright. Even Bakugou, Bakugou of all people was worried. Honestly, Uraraka found it kind of cute how he was constantly watching Midoriya, even if he denied it.
Uraraka pushed her face into a pillow, she was so exhausted.
She was in the common room with the rest of the class. It had become something of a sad tradition. The whole class would just sit together, They didn't talk, but there was still a sense of security it provided.
Quiet, how precious it was.
"A video!" Ashido shot up out of her seat, "Tamomoski, she sent me something."
The class gathered around her expectantly as she shakily hit play on her phone.
At first, there was nothing, then, a face appeared and Uraraka felt her blood run cold.
"Hello!" smiling wide as ever, Toga graced the screen, "You poor thing! I'm sure you were super scared, Mina! No worries though! Let me just cut to the chase! I have Tsu, I'm going to keep Tsu, and nothing can get her back. Unless...you find her."
The camera panned around a warehouse, Tsuyu tied to a chair in the background.
"Look, by the time you get this, I'll have been with Tsu a long while, so! Find her as soon as you can, or else who knows what I'll do! I could Ooh, she's waking up. See you all soon!"
"I don't...I don't understand," Hagakure stammered, "Was Himoto...?"
"Toga," Tokoyami finished, and it sounded more grave than he had ever been.
There's a long silence until Bakugou speaks up.
"I knew it, I knew there was something up with her," Uraraka could swear he almost seems proud.
"W-We were friends! I hugged her! I trusted her and all this time...!" Ashido's face turns pale and she runs off with a faint, 'I'm gonna' be sick.'
Jirou and Hagakure are behind her in an instant, though they are shaking just as much. Uraraka idly wonders if they are going to help, or because they feel the need to vomit as well.
"We need to get this to Aizawa! To someone, anyone!" Momo trembles as the words spill out.
"Affirmative! I am sure Aizawa would understand our breaking of the rules!" Iida is already guiding her away.
In the chaos, the faint retching, the tears, the screams, there is only one thing Uraraka can think of.
"Bakugou," she starts, "What do you mean, 'you knew?'"
He turns to her, "Hah?"
"You said it yourself, so don't play dumb."
"Play dumb? God, I could tell she was crazy the minute I met 'er."
Uraraka shook her head, "No. You're lying!"
Bakugou shook his head, "Fine, whatever. Psycho ass blackmailed me to not look into her more."
He was so casual, like he was discussing the weather, "You mean you knew? You knew Tsu was in danger!"
"...I guess."
"You guess?" Uraraka rubbed her eyes, "What's wrong with you? What did she use to blackmail you, huh?"
He stayed oh so silent at that.
"You're ridiculous! If you hadn't been so selfish, so weak "
There's almost a sizzle in the air. Those who weren't paying attention suddenly found their eyes on the confrontation.
Bakugou tenses up, and there's hate in his eyes, in his grin, "Weak, huh? You crack me up round face."
"What?"
"Think about it, frog face ain't really my friend. You're the weak one for being unable to protect the person dearest to you."
Uraraka freezes, because he's right, isn't he? It doesn't matter, she's going to her room.
She's beginning to think Kaminari has had the right idea this whole time.
Bakugou wants to destroy something.
He doesn't know what, it doesn't matter what. All that matters is that he shows how strong he is, how capeable.
Round face didn't know a single damn thing.
So what if he was blackmailed? It didn't matter. He didn't care. This wasn't his fault!
It wasn't.
But that was a lie, a total and utter lie. If he had kept on investigating, maybe he would have been able to prevent this. He didn't, though. Why? All because of his feelings towards Midoriya, towards Deku.
Heroes were supposed to be strong, right? They cared about people, and that made them strong.
But no! He cared about stupid little weak Deku. Why? It would just make him weak, weak, weak....
He adored Midoriya since they were kids. He adored his shining smile and eyes that got only brighter when he laid eyes on Bakugou, his Kacchan.
For Bakugou to love him like that, for a boy to love another boy like that, it wasn't normal. People who weren't normal couldn't be heroes.
Bakugou wasn't normal.
So, he did what he does best. He raged.
Instead of meaningfully addressing the issue, he chose to hate Midoriya. He hated how he was quirkless. He hated how he still kept smiling in spite of that. They way he was still determined to be a hero. It was near scary just how easily he could slip back into that way of thinking.
He ignored how he burned through his bedsheets.
Midoriya wasn't normal, but he stood out in the best way possible.
"Kacchan," came the annoyingly high pitched tone, "Can I come in?"
"Ugh just screw off, Deku!" Bakugou didn't really want to see the source of his turmoil.
"If you don't let me in, I'll break the door down!"
Bakugou sighed. Usually, he would call BS, but that had happened to him before.
He opened the door, scowl present on his face, "What do you want, nerd?"
"C'mon, don't be ao mean!" Midoriya pouted, before his voice softened, "Are you okay?"
Bakugou flopped down on his bed, "Why wouldn't I be?"
The freckled boy frowned, looking at his largely destroyed room, "You don't seem it. Kacchan...will you please explain the blackmail thing to me?"
Ugh, how could he deny him when he asked like that?"It wasn't even a big deal."
"Then you should be fine telling me."
"Crazy got some pictures of us...together."
"Oh."
"Since we both want to keep it on the low, figured it wasn't worth the trouble."
"Kacchan..."
"S' fine. I don't care."
Midoriya curled up next to Bakugou, putting his face in his chest, "I'm sorry...I was so dumb about this."
"God," Bakugou frowned, putting a hand atop Midoriya's head, "I knew you would act like this. Knew if I told you I'd be a whole thing!"
"Sorry, Kacchan."
"Don't apologize, nerd!"
"Sor...right."
Bakugou pulled Midoriya slightly closer. As much as he hated it, having him there calmed his heart, "You should go check on round face."
Great job showing your emotions there.
"Then why are you hugging me so tight?" Midoriya grinned, "Besides, you both went too far. I had to make sure you were alright."
"I don't deserve it."
"Kacchan!"
"Oh come on, Deku! You know I'm right!"
His turned around, green eyes falling on Bakugou, "Don't say that, just don't. I care about you, I love you. You went too far, but so did she. It would mean a lot more to here an apology from you."
"Damn, I get it, okay? I'll go talk to her."
Midoriya kissed him softly, "Remember, none of this is your fault."
Bakugou did his best not to let his blush show, "Right. You know, I used to hate when you did that."
The other looked at him confused, "Did what?"
"Smiled."
Midoriya lowers his voice to a whisper, looking at him through his long eyelashes, and Bakugou wonders if he knows how damn manipulative he is, "Do you hate it now?"
Bakugou thinks it over for a moment. He thinks over the light feeling in his chest whenever e sees that grin. He thinks about what he would do if that smile was gone, his Deku in Tsuyu's current position, "I can't say I do."
"That's good, since I smile a lot."
"Yeah, I know. It's annoying."
"If you don't hate my smile...do you love it?"
The explosive teen shouted, "Shut up, Deku. I'm gonna' go talk to Round face!"
"We're not done with this conversation."
"Yes. We. Are."
"Fine," Midoriya concedes, all smiles, "Oh, and Kacchan?"
"What?"
"Plus Ultra!"
Midoriya whined as Bakugou pinched his cheeks.
Uraraka wanted to fix something.
She didn't know what, it didn't matter what. All that mattered was that she was able to hold together her steadily crumbling world.
Bakugou, rude as he was about the matter, had a point. He was being blackmailed, but she, she just wasn't able to tell Tsuyu was in a dangerous position.
Hero's were to protect people. Uraraka couldn't even protect her best friend, so how could she protect random civilians?
It was disheartening.
Fully ready to lie on her bed and wallow, Uraraka startles upon hearing a loud knock at her door. Was knock the right word? It sounded more like the door was being brutally beaten.
"Round face!"
Uraraka sighed, ah, that made sense. Dragging herself to the door, she opened it.
There stood Bakugou, who walked in without her permission, "About time. You had me waiting outside forever."
"I was perfectly speedly," she pouts.
"Ha! Yeah, right."
Then there's silence.
"So Bakugou, did you need any "
He groans shoving his hands in his pockets, "I was getting to that! Look, all I wanted to say is that I went a bit far earlier. There ain't really no one at fault here other than Toga."
Uraraka gapes. Is Bakugou, of all people, apologizing to her? "I...I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have blamed you. I was just...in my emotions."
"Who said I was apologizing?" he retorts just a tad bit too quickly, "Since Toga contacted us, we finally have some leads on finding frog face. So, I say that instead of brooding, we get together to take down that ugly bitch."
He extended her hand, and Uraraka tried to resist the tears stinging her eyes. For all his flaws, bakugou really did have the heart of a hero.
She took his hand, "Right!"
Bakugou groaned something about how annoying her tears were, but slug an around around her shoulders.
"You ever tell anyone about this and I'll kill you."
She laughed through her tears, "Of course."