Chapter Text
Feet propped up on his desk, Bakugo leaned his head over the back of his chair and closed his eyes. He was one of the first of the students to arrive to class this morning, after an uptight loser with glasses and a girl wearing a cloak over her uniform with the hood up. When he had walked into the classroom, four-eyes was getting on the girl’s case for breaking uniform until she held up a small piece of paper to him. Four-eyes glanced at the paper to read it before he dramatically apologized to her. The girl’s light-blue eyes glanced at Bakugo as he stood in the doorway and she flinched and hid her face by lowering her head enough for the hood of her cloak to completely obscure her face. Was he scowling that much for her to react like that? Whatever.
The boy with glasses then focused his attention to Bakugo, lecturing him about respecting school property and demanding he lower his feet. The blond argued back with him as more students filled the classroom. It felt like an eternity to the rest of the students until the two abruptly stopped arguing when a green-haired boy walked into the room.
The boy’s eyes locked with the light-blue ones and he gasped. “A-Asachan...?” Midoriya took a few steps closer, walking past the boy with glasses and approached the girl sitting two desks behind Bakugo. Hearing Midoriya say the familiar nickname, Bakugo whipped around in his seat to stare wide-eyed at the hooded girl. “Asachan is that really you...?”
She fiddled with the navy-blue hair that peeked out from the hood. “Izukkun... I’m happy you recognize me...after all this time...”
That name she used for Midoriya cleared any doubt. The hooded girl was Kagesochi Asami. She was eight the last time Midoriya and Bakugo had seen her. Before she was whisked away by her family and never kept in touch, despite promising she would. He wasn’t sure how Midoriya recognized her; hooded cloak aside, she had completely transformed from the small girl they once knew. She had matured into a curvy, young woman with full lips and long lashes.
“Why the hell didn’t you say something?” Bakugo yelled, glaring at the girl.
She let out a scream before she suddenly disappeared from sight, causing the other 1-A students to look around the room in confusion. Midoriya walked closer and kneeled next to her desk.
“I-I’m so-sorry Kattsun...” Her soft voice echoed through the class. “I d-didn’t know wh-what to s-s-say...”
Midoriya watched the shadow under Asami’s desk ebb and flow almost as if it were breathing. “Asachan, please come out.” The shadow flinched and shook. “Please. You don’t need to be scared.” He shot Bakugo a pointed look, silently demanding he apologize to her for his outburst.
Sighing, Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Didn’t mean to scare ya. Forgot how jumpy you are. I’m not mad; come out.”
From the shadow under the desk, Asami’s head timidly popped out and she looked up at Bakugo. Her hood had fallen off so he could clearly see her face and her scared expression. “I’m sorry for not saying hi…”
“S’alright,” he looked down at her. His voice was softer and Midoriya could see his gaze soften as well. Seems he still had a soft spot for her, even after all this time. “How’ve you been, scaredy cat?”
A shadowy form gathered at Asami’s desk and she slowly materialized again. Her eyes still looked nervously at her desk instead of up at her two childhood friends. “I’ve been fine. I’m happy to see the two of you again.” She pulled her hood back up to shield herself from the stares of their other classmates.
Bakugo couldn’t help but notice that apart from her body changing, there was something about her personality that seemed off. Given, that’s to be expected; it’s been seven years since they’ve seen each other. But Asami seemed to be more terrified than timid. Her eyes held this kind of pain in them that made his heart clench. She was jumpier. More withdrawn. Not smiling.
What happened to you, Sami?
She stood before her two best friends, tears welling up in her eyes. Asami tried her best to keep the tears in but they soon overflowed and she began to sob. Running forward she wrapped her arms around Bakugo and cried.
“I’m going to miss you two,” Asami cried out before she left go of Bakugo and went to hold Midoriya instead.
“Asachan,” Midoriya sobbed, holding her close. “Don’t leave, Asachan! You can stay with me and mom!”
“If she’s staying with anyone, it’s going to be me, Deku!” Bakugo snapped as he pulled Asami out of the green-haired boy’s arms and held her close. “Don’t go, Sami. You don’t have to. You can stay with us.”
Shaking her head, she cried louder. “I have to, Kattsun. I can’t leave mommy... She needs me.”
“I’m gonna write to you every day!” Bakugo said, a sense of urgency in his voice. “I’ll write every day until we meet again. And you better write back! Or I’ll never forgive you!”
Their first day at U.A. was eventful, to say the least. The threat of expulsion brought out the best in all of the students’ abilities in the Quirk Aptitude Test Aizawa-sensei organized. Asami struggled; her Quirk wasn’t built for amplification. It was hard for her to show her skills. The only tests she excelled at were the dash and the long-distance run; transforming into a shadow to quickly move across the ground before materializing again at the sensor and end of the track. Since light - or in this case, lack thereof - travelled so quickly, she managed to even beat Iida’s score. But even so, she was only slightly behind Midoriya, sitting at 19th overall in the class.
“You have an interesting Quirk,” Aizawa-sensei said to her as he walked past. “I hope I didn’t hurt your self-esteem too much with this test. It’s clear your strengths lie elsewhere. I look forward to seeing how you fare moving forward.”
Asami flinched, lowering her hood down slightly to hide herself from her teacher. “Th-thank you, sensei… I h-hope I do not di-disappoint…”
Standing aside, Asami waited for her classmates to leave the field as a group so she could slowly trail behind them. It worked for the most part, but two sets of sharp eyes stayed glued to her.
“Kagesochi, was it?” a deep voice called out to her; she let out a small squeak before she turned to see her classmate with the bird head walking toward her. “My name is Tokoyami Fumikage. Due to your Quirk, I feel a kinship with you.” A shadowy figure emerged connected to his chest, avian-like with bright, yellow eyes. Dark Shadow almost seemed to purr when they locked eyes with Asami, and they inched forward before affectionately rubbing their face against her cheek. Asami giggled and reached out to pet Dark Shadow as it continued to purr. “When you turn, you remind me of Dark Shadow. You appear to be weakened by the light. I assume the darkness recharges you? Allow Dark Shadow to shield you as we return to the classroom.” Dark Shadow nodded at Tokoyami and stretched out before wrapping around Asami.
A growl was heard behind the pair and they turned to see Bakugo glaring at Tokoyami. “Back off, Bird-Brain,” he scowled, raising his chin to glare down at the bird-headed student. “Get your creepy pet off of her and get lost. As if I’d let you use your Quirk to wrap yourself around her like that.”
Tokoyami blinked a few times before sighing. “I do not feel what Dark Shadow feels and my intent is pure if that truly is your concern.” The two pairs of red eyes met in a short glaring competition before Tokoyami continued. “Do you not see how weak she has become?” he asked, gesturing toward Asami.
Dark Shadow pulled away from the young woman and Bakugo could see how she faltered without the support of the shadow creature holding her up. Asami seemed to be trembling and her eyes, once bright, light-blue had faded to a light grey.
“Sami, are you alright?” Bakugo asked with wide eyes as he rushed forward, just in time to catch her as she toppled over.
Asami closed her eyes and rest her head against Bakugo’s chest as he held her up. “I’ll… be okay… Thank you, Kattsun…” Her eyes opened once more to look at Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, the latter of which seemed to be concerned, fingers poking together nervously as they watched her. “I’d like to thank you two as well, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. But if I have you shield me, I won’t get used to the light…”
She let out another small squeak of surprise as Bakugo effortlessly lifted her up into his arms. He was frowning, but Asami could tell it was out of concern. It may have been many years since they had last seen each other, but her friend had not changed much. “You’ve always been terrible at asking others for help,” Bakugo mumbled as he started walking toward the main building. “Remember what I said? I’m here for you, Sami. I’ll always be here for you.” A small smile graced Asami’s face before her eyes closed once more. With her head against Bakugo’s chest, she felt safe. A feeling she hadn’t felt in many years. Bakugo stared down at her peaceful face and sighed. “You never wrote back…,” he muttered, low enough that Tokoyami couldn’t hear as he followed behind. “I know I said I’d never forgive you, but… I just want to know why.”
Bakugo watched as her eyes shot open, clear confusion in the grey orbs. “But you never…” Almost instantly, water began to well in her eyes. “I never…got any letters…” Asami’s lips quivered as she spoke and the tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I thought you…decided you didn’t want to be friends after I left… I thought you lied about writing to me, so I didn’t write to you…”
As she buried her face into his chest to cry, Asami felt the rumble of his growl. “That bastard… First he took you away then he…” He held her tighter, resting his chin atop her head. “I know it was your bastard of a father who would do that. Always locking you up. Telling you lies.” The growling grew louder and louder as the thoughts settled in. “I swear if I ever see that bastard, I’ll kill him. I’ll blow him up so bad they’ll never find all the pieces…”
The girl in his arms sniffled, bringing up her cloak to dry her eyes. “He’s already…”
“Tch. I don’t even get the satisfaction of ending him myself,” Bakugo spat as he used his foot to kick open the door to the school building. “But I’m kinda glad the bastard is burning in hell.”
“…me too…” Asami’s lips pulled into a tiny smile.
Chuckling, Bakugo wiped away a stray tear from her face with his thumb. “It’s good to know you can still smile, scaredy cat. Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?”
She shook her head before resting back against Bakugo’s chest, her head fitting comfortably under his chin once more. “I’m not hurt, Kattsun… Just tired…”
Tokoyami walked ahead of the two to open the 1-A Classroom Door for them. Asami gave him a soft thank you as Bakugo scanned the room for someone who could be helpful. “Hey, round-face,” he called out to Uraraka. She tilted her head to the side and pointed at herself with a raised brow. “Yeah, you. Mind coming with me? I’ll carry her to the change rooms and you can help her back into her uniform.”
“Um, sure,” Uraraka said, excusing herself from her conversation with Asui.
Asami slowly opened her eyes to look at her and she offered a weak smile. “I don’t think we properly met... I’m Kagesochi Asami... Thank you for agreeing to help me...”
“Uraraka Ochako,” she replied, gently pressing her hands to Asami’s shoulder to activate her Quirk. “No need to thank me, Asami-chan.”
Easing his grip, Bakugo allowed Asami’s body to float out of his arms. He watched as Uraraka guided his friend into the change room and he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh as he leaned his head back against the wall.
His lips turned up in a sneer as he watched the man pull his friend away by her arm.
“I thought I told you not to go outside!” he snapped at her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“But Papa, I have to do schoolwork with Katts-“
Asami let out a cry as her father’s hand collided with the back of her head. She stumbled forward from the impact and fell to the ground. “Don’t talk back to me!”
Growling, Bakugo stepped forward, explosions crackling in his palms. “Leave her alone! Don’t hurt her!”
Ever since her Quirk manifested, Asami’s father had grown more and more controlling and violent with her. Her mother couldn’t do much to stop him; Asami got her timid constitution from her, after all. So Bakugo had to stand by and watch as his friend was yelled at, hit, and locked up by a man who was supposed to take care of her.
Asami was always bruised and bandaged; even the smallest of injuries was easy to see on her fair complexion. But she always managed to smile whenever she saw Bakugo; he made it his mission to be her hero. He would be by her side whenever she needed him.
“I said leave her alone!” Bakugo shouted as he watched Asami’s father roughly grab her arm and force her to stand before pushing her along. He ran at the man, fist ready to smash him with an explosion, but he dissolved right before impact.
“You little brat...” A voice echoed around him and suddenly, Bakugo couldn’t move his body. “Stop getting in the way of things that don’t concern you.” The boy struggled to even flex his fingers; he was completely immobilized.
“Papa, stop!” Asami cried out. Big tears rolled down her cheeks as she ran over to hug Bakugo. “Leave Kattsun out of this! I’ll come with you without fighting, just let him go!”
Bakugo involuntarily smirked at her. “Force me out, Asami,” Bakugo said, his voice corrupted by the sound of her father’s. “You’ve been getting better at possessions, haven’t you? You can hold them down for five seconds. Show me. Free your friend from my control.”
Blinking her tears away, Asami wiped her cheeks with the back of her sweater sleeves. In an instant, she dissolved into a wisp of darkness.
Snaking toward Bakugo’s shadow, she focused her energy in becoming one with it. The problem laid in the fact that there was already something else there; her father’s shadow. “Get out, Papa!” Bakugo could hear her voice in his head, tickling behind his eyeballs. “Leave Kattsun alone!”
She pushed, her shadow tackling the mass of darkness that connected to her friend. The force made Bakugo stumble, but her father still had control. Another tackle, and Bakugo collapsed, his muscles finally free of possession but not having the reflexes to bounce back. Muscles tensing again, he stood beyond his control and he heard Asami’s voice echoing in his head. “I’m sorry Kattsun; is this okay?”
Slowly, she eased her way out of Bakugo’s shadow, allowing him to gradually get control of his muscles again so he wouldn’t collapse. Bakugo gawked as her shadow took physical form before turning back into her human shape.
Up until this point, he had only seen her use her Quirk to hide in other shadows. For her to be able to possess bodies like that... it was a scary idea.
“Excellent work, Asami!” her father said with a smirk, transitioning back into his corporeal form. “It only took two tries to get me to break control. Perhaps I should use this host more often; you seem extra motivated.”
Her brows furrowed at the man as Bakugo continued to stand there in shock, trying to catch his breath. “I passed your test, Papa. Now please, leave him alone. I’ll go back with you, okay?”
The man’s hand raised and Asami flinched before it came down to gently pat her head. “That’s my good girl.”
“Kattsun?” a soft voice pulled him away from his thoughts. Opening his eyes, he saw Asami approach him now dressed in her uniform and covered with her cloak.
As she stumbled, Bakugo sprang forward to catch her again. “Easy, Sami,” he said, almost tenderly. “Don’t rush. I’ve got you.”
He couldn’t protect her back then. He can’t make up for the times he failed. But he will be her hero.