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The moment Ochako saw Bakugo leading Deku away from the dorms, she knew what was about to happen. She had a few choices on how to deal with it.
Much as it hurt her pride to acknowledge, she stood no chance of stopping the two on her own. She knew Deku would stop the moment she appeared, but Bakugo? Hah!
She could have gotten a teacher, but they had proven before just how much they cared about Bakugo’s behavior. Knowing them, Deku would somehow be blamed for the fight that was certain to come.
Fortunately, she knew someone else who cared for Deku, and was powerful enough to stop the two from fighting.
That was why she ended up pounding on Todoroki’s door, panting from running around the dorms to get to him. He always slept fairly early, but she hoped Deku being it trouble would be enough for him to wake up.
“Uraraka?” Todoroki opened his door, seemingly still groggy from waking up. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Deku!” Ochako exclaimed.
Todoroki seemed to wake up fully, almost instantly. “What?”
“Bakugo’s leading him away from the dorms. I don’t think the teachers would be any help.” Ochako explained.
“Lead the way.” Todoroki stepped out of his room, shutting the door behind him, not at all caring that he was wearing just boxers and a tank top. His friend was in trouble.
_____________________
Finally, Bakugo was getting the fight he wanted. Deku didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. He’d always been weak, so failing was part of his life, but Bakugo? He’d never failed at anything! How could Deku possibly understand what he felt?!
Course, that all went straight to hell when a fucking glacier sprung up between him and Deku. Tch. No surprise, the nerd’s friends came to help him out. Bastard couldn’t win a fight on his own, not without breaking himself like the wooden doll he was.
“Don’t you fucking interefere extras!” Bakugo screamed as he saw Roundface approach Deku, who had already stopped. God if he had to watch anyone else baby the nerd, he was going to vomit.
“I suggest you stay quiet.” Icyhot was angry, that much was clear, but there was something… new, there. “We heard everything.”
“I don’t give a fuck! This is between me and Deku, not you!”
“I’m not the kind of person to let someone bully my friend.” Bakugo did not even get the chance to respond before he was frozen from the neck down. Great, and he hadn’t built up enough sweat to break out, either. Fuckers.
“Sit tight.” Icyhot turned to Roundface. “You were right. Should we get a teacher?”
Fuck. If they caught him out after curfew, they might actually expel him. Aizawa probably wouldn’t, but that rodent might.
“No, I have a few things to say to him first.” Roundface looked… angry was not the right word. She looked similar to when she fought him at the festival, that same look of intensity, that same determination. Only now, there was something else in that gaze. Something… hostile.
“Bakugo.” She spat, probably still pissy about him hurting Deku. “You are the first person that’s made me feel this way.”
Was… she confessing? What the fuck?
“I hate you.”
Oh, that made more sense. As if he gave a flying fuck.
“You think I care about what you feel, Roundface?!” He growled, still unable to break out of the ice.
“No. That’s just it. You don’t care.” She approached him slowly, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel the slightest tremor of fear. “It’s not just that you don’t care about anyone. It’s that you genuinely cannot comprehend the idea of caring about other people. Kirishima and Kaminari told me about what happened during the exam. When you screamed at the actors to save themselves.”
“Eh? So what? If they could complain, they could get themselves out!”
“Probably, but that’s not what a hero does. That’s not what a decent human being does.” Her tone was even, but somehow that deep hatred seemed to just intensify with every word. “But that’s not it, either, is it? You kept saying Deku was looking down on you, mistaking basic empathy for condescension. I honestly don’t know how anyone can think of you as a good person, hell I can’t even think of you as a person. You lack empathy, the strongest trait in all of humanity. The thing that makes us human. I mean, even when you were crying about ending All Might, you made it about you. Not about the fact that a man had to give up his lifelong passion, not that so much was destroyed, but that you felt bad . You do understand why that bothers me, don’t you? You can’t possibly be that self-centered… But here you are. Still clinging to the idea that it’s all about you, and that all you have to do is beat the villain to win.”
Bakugo scoffed. She had no idea. Beating the villain was the purpose of the hero. Extras could save themselves.
“Yeah, that attitude too. Dismissing every bit of criticism. You know, I got bored one day and started looking up psychological terms, just to see if anything fit. I may not be a professional, but you are a fucking psychopath. You can’t accept that people other than you matter, and that pisses me off. It's literally the antithesis of what I want to become a hero for.”
“Oh please, you just wanted to give your parents money.” He snorted again. Did she think he was an idiot? No one did things just because.
She nodded, not breaking eye contact. “Yeah, because I want them to be happy. But before that, I wanted to be a hero so I could make other people happy. You? I think you just wanted an excuse to fight, which I can’t fault honestly. At least, I couldn’t fault it if you weren’t so villainous.”
“I ain’t a fucking villain!” He roared, defiant.
“No, and that’s the problem. It’d be so easy if you were, we could just throw you in jail and be done with it. Instead, you cling to the title of hero, even though you are the furthest thing from it.”
Bakugo rolled his eyes. Like he needed to hear another morality questioning.
“But ya know… that’s not touching on what you did to Deku.”
“Oh so what?! He should’ve stayed out of my way.”
“Let’s start off with the first day, when you attacked him.”
“I didn’t get the chance to, remember?”
“Oh yeah, I know. I count that more as a failure of Aizawa for not doing much to stop that behavior, but still. Then the very next day, you try to kill him. ‘He won’t die if he dodges’, really?” Her fists clenched, and Bakugo’s heart started beating just a bit faster. He didn’t like to admit it, but he was helpless here, and with Icyhot and Deku distracted, Roundface could get away with anything right now.
“But that’s also not the worst thing. I bet you think Deku is an introvert, huh?”
“Duh.” Did she even need a response for that? Nerd was always focused on his notebooks, or training.
“I used to think so too. Then I met Mei and Tamaki.” She shook her head. “Hatsume is a clear introvert, caring more about her inventions than people, even if she doesn’t feel uncomfortable with people. Tamaki, even without his anxiety, prefers to be by himself, or as few people as possible. Deku, though? He loves people. Goes out of his way to be friendly, helps people even if they don’t want it at first. He was the first to greet Kota at the camp. Really, the only thing that makes him seem like an introvert is how hesitant he is to interact with people. But… that isn’t because he doesn’t want to. That’s because he is scared.”
She was only a few feet from him, and god he wished he could get away. He felt like she was moments from pulling a knife and taking a swipe at his neck at this point. He’d never dealt with hatred like this.
“You did that, didn’t you?” She didn’t wait for his denial, not that he would have denied it. “You made him so scared of other people, but I don’t think that’s all either. I bet you’re the reason he doesn’t value himself much, too. Maybe I’m placing too much blame on you, but frankly, you’re so clearly the villain of his story, and I hope he gets over this stockholm syndrome so we can all be rid of you.”
She turned away, and Bakugo instantly felt better. What the hell was with her?!
“We’re getting a teacher. Hopefully, they’ll expel you. I doubt it, but the idea is comforting at least. The further away you are from Deku, the better.” The Beast that wore Roundface’s skin said. There was no way this was actually Roundface. Fragile she may not be, but she was not this… angry thing.
“No need.” An unfortunately familiar voice spoke. He craned his neck just enough to see the emaciated form of what used to be All Might walking forward. “I’ve been here since the beginning. I hope you understand, everyone is to report to the Principal’s office. Immediately.” He spoke, sounding sterner than he ever had before. Roundface and Icyhot looked resolute, while Deku looked worried, looking at his shoes instead of his mentor.
Whatever the case, things had obviously changed for everyone.