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Mina glared up at the steadily falling snow and squeezed her arms against her white fur coat. “Snowing in April should be a crime punishable by death.”
“I don’t think you can execute a cloud, Pinky,” Sero pointed out.
“I’m sure I could.”
“Yeah, but you’d just bring acid rain down on all of us. Not worth it.”
“Where are we even going?” Kaminari groaned, picking his shoes up and watching the snow fall from the bottom of his sneakers. “Can we just hurry up and get this over with? I wanna go play Rock Band.”
“How many times have I told you, Rock Band is not going to make you a better guitarist,” Jiro mumbled under her breath. Her specialty-made hat had long pockets that came down to her neck so her ear jacks could comfortably find warmth inside.
“What would Bakugo want?” Kirishima asked aloud, thinking deeply as he scanned the stores along the street.
“We should’ve just gone to the mall,” Mina complained.
Sero shook his head. “Trouble always finds us at the mall! And we’re late enough as it is. His birthday’s tomorrow!”
“4/20,” Kaminari piped in, sharing a mischievous smirk with Sero. Jiro whacked them both on the head with her ear jacks.
“Don’t get any ideas. Aizawa will expel you.”
“Actually, I get the vibe he’ll wanna join us! Doesn’t he seem like a smoker to you?”
“We are not bringing weed to Bakugo’s birthday party.”
Mina reflected. “Well, it could be fun…”
“Mina!”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Across the town, voices rose into screams. Kirishima and Mina were running toward the danger before their friends could oppose them, and suddenly Sero, Jiro, and Kaminari were chasing after them.
A villain with an earth-shaking quirk was battling it out against a growing Mt. Lady, who was finding it hard to get close to the villain when he kept causing earthquakes and splitting the earth beneath her feet. One of her feet fell into a hole and knocked her over, giving the villain, who was holding a bag overflowing with stolen jewelry, enough time to attempt an escape.
“Intercept him through the alley!” Mina yelled, charging into the nearest one and attempting to predict the villain’s route. He seemed to be heading toward the train station. “Sero, can you get on top of a building and follow from above?”
“On it!”
“Jiro, direct us!”
“Got it!”
Through Jiro’s assistance, they managed to surround the villain at a corner, Sero from above, Kaminari and Mina from the front, and Jiro and Kaminari from the back. The villain laughed.
“Stupid children. Get out of my way.” As he spoke, the ground vibrated beneath them. Jiro stumbled and held onto the side of the building, while Kaminari hardened himself to keep in one place.
Jiro’s eyes widened. “Guys, it’s going to–!”
It was too late. The ground was opening up beneath them, and when Kirishima took a step back, he fell into a widening hole, Jiro and Mina right behind him. He hardened himself as he began to fall, reaching out for something to stop his descent, but he was in a freefall for three horrible seconds before landing on frozen earth, Jiro landing on top of him before he could unharden. He heard her suck in a breath at the contact.
“ Ouch! ” His pink classmate landed on her feet, but soon dropped to her knees.
“Mina, are you alright?”
She needed a moment to answer, shifting her leg experimentally. “I – I’m fine, I think – I hope it’s just a sprain. I might be able to stand on it, but I can’t fight.”
“I hope we won’t be fighting in here ,” Kirishima said, looking up. They were about fifteen meters down in the earth. He glanced at Jiro, who still had not moved. “Uh – Jiro, are you –” He stopped, looking at her arm, how it had landed on his hardened body, and how desperately she was trying not to cry. “Oh no. I’m sorry. Is it broken?”
“I – I don’t know,” she gritted out. “I don’t want to move it.”
“Okay. Well, Denki and Sero are still up there, so –”
Just as he spoke, Kaminari fell in from above. Kirishima tried to gently move Jiro off of him and jumped up to try and break his fall. He hardened his legs for his landing, and then collapsed under Kaminari’s weight. Mina and Jiro tried to shift to give them more space, but there was hardly enough room as it was; they were stuck in a hole about as wide as a bathtub.
“What’s going on up there?” Mina asked. Kaminari sighed.
“Guy’s got rubber gloves. Rubber . Who wears rubber on a snowy day?”
Kirishima tried to be patient. “Are there heroes coming?”
“Not yet. That I could see, anyway. Sero’s trying to tie him up, but–”
The sharp tink of something hard slamming into metal sounded from up above, and suddenly Sero was falling down toward them.
“Kirishima, get him!” Mina fretted, and Kirishima saw why – Sero was unconscious. His friends backed as closely against the walls surrounding them as they could, and Kirishima tried to break Sero’s fall, but he ended up landing on Kaminari’s feet when he came back down.
“Sorry,” Kirishima gasped, the wind knocked out of him.
Kaminari barely seemed to care, kneeling down to brush the hair out of Sero’s face. “Is he okay?!” He seemed to answer his own question when the hair brushed away to reveal a large darkening bump on his forehead. “Uh-oh.”
“He – he wasn’t the one who made that sound, was he?” Mina asked worriedly.
“We need to get out,” Jiro’s voice broke, terror built up in her shaky breaths. She held her arm with the other, keeping it from movement, but she still looked half to agony. “There’s no one around – I can’t hear – and the snow –”
“Try to calm down,” Mina pleaded. “We’ll be okay.”
Kaminari winced. “As long as the snow doesn’t pick up.”
Mina glared at him, but Kirishima saw his point. Looking up at the cloudy sky above – the falling snow that kept drifting down, steadily – and seeing as how it was starting to create a small flaky layer at the bottom of their hole, it could very well kill them if they couldn’t find a way out in time.
***
Kaminari’s mind went fuzzy five minutes into his attempts at sending up a signal. He’d shot electricity up through the hole and into the sky as many times as he could, but from what he could tell, it was probably barely getting to the height of a building, and no one was apparently outside to see or hear. All evacuated by now, it seemed. He could put more energy into a more powerful, farther blast, but if he did, he’d probably black out, and for what? No one was around. Jiro couldn’t hear a single passerby, and the villain had probably escaped long ago, since there were no heroes or sounds of battle in the area.
“Denki!” Jiro cried, reaching out to hold him by the shoulder. Her other arm had been placed in a makeshift sling using Kirishima’s shirt. “Sit down for a minute. You’re going into your whey state and then you won’t be of any use.”
“If only Sero could control his tape, maybe we could connect it up there and use it as a rope,” Mina whispered, rubbing Sero’s back in circles. He had woken up, but he had a terrible concussion – he couldn’t open his eyes and was throwing up, making a small pool of vomit in the inch-high layer of snow already at their feet. He wasn’t responding very quickly to anything they asked of him, which wasn’t a good sign. They couldn’t depend on him; they needed to get help for him.
But what could they do?
“Did any of you guys bring a phone?” Kirishima asked suddenly. “I hate not being able to do this on our own, but… if we need help, we need help.”
“No luck. Mine died,” Mina sighed.
“Sorry,” Jiro said. “Mine fell out of my pocket up there.”
“Kaminari?” Denki blinked himself into awareness.
“Um…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Yeah… Here.”
Mina snatched it. “Perfect! I’ll call Yaomomo.”
“The air’s getting thinner… isn’t it?” Jiro murmured.
Kirishima shivered, pulling his coat tighter around him, as the snow made it up to his ankles.
***
Uraraka gasped, drawing attention to the television. The news had been playing in the background of the common room, but no one had been paying much attention, until now. Uraraka pointed at the screen. “That’s where Mina and the others went!”
Bakugo’s head shot up. “Why?”
Uraraka let out a small eep as she remembered the reason, but then looked at him firmly. “It’s a secret.”
He growled but didn’t push the issue more, listening in as the news anchor described the villain attack and that the hero Mt. Lady was on the scene. As far as they knew, there were no casualties, but the physical damage was extraordinary, and chasms had opened everywhere throughout the town, so no one was to go outside unless authorized, until they could find and fill all of the holes.
“I hope they didn’t fall in one of those,” Yaoyorozu murmured, as the camera focused in on one particularly large chasm, from which no bottom could be seen.
“W-Well, Sero is there, so I'm sure they'll be okay…”
“Idiot. Tape Face needs something to latch onto. Definitely not snow .”
“Oh! That's a good point!”
“Why don't we just call them and find out where they are?” Asui suggested.
“Right! Who's most likely to have their phone and pick up right away?” Midoriya asked thoughtfully.
Yaoyorozu jumped as her phone began to ring, and pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Kaminari! I’ll put it on speaker phone.” She opened the call and everyone gathered closer as Mina's panicked voice came through the speaker.
“Oh, thank goodness you answered! Look, we're all stuck in this huge hole that's filling up with snow by the second! Sero has a concussion, Kaminari's half to duncehead status, Jiro can't hear anyone around, and Kirishima and I can't use our quirks in case the earth falls in on us! Can you contact the nearest hero agency to get someone out here?”
Aizawa seemingly appeared out of nowhere and kneeled down beside the phone. “State your location. Is the villain attack still ongoing?”
“N-No, it seemed like he got away, or they moved the confrontation off to another street. It's quiet here; no one can hear us yelling.” Mina listed off the streets and shops they were nearest, and Aizawa started punching a number into his phone.
“I'll contact the hero agency. List your injuries in complete detail.”
“The villain hit Sero in the head – hard. I didn't get to see it but it sounded like metal. He's got a bad bump on his forehead and he's really sick and out of it, but we're keeping him talking. Jiro's arm is broken and she’s in a lot of pain. Denki and I might be bruised or sprained, my ankle’s hurt, but we're mostly okay; again, his quirk is making him a bit loopy so he needs to recharge. Kirishima hardened in time so he's alright.”
“Keep moving your fingers and toes. Huddle for warmth, and stay on the phone,” Aizawa instructed. He shared a look with Yaoyorozu. “Keep them talking.” He then pointed his gaze at Bakugo. “Don't get any ideas.”
“Tch! Don't go ordering me around. It's not a school day.”
“You are all forbidden from leaving the dorms. No one is to go out. Let the professionals handle this.”
“Those are my idiots out there,” Bakugo snapped. Everyone turned to either gape or smirk in his direction. “Ey! Whatcha looking at?!”
“ Your idiots?” Aoyama teased.
“Don’t you mean extras ?” Hakagure joked.
“Bakugo, they’ll be okay,” Asui promised.
“Tch! I’ll kill you!” He threatened as he stormed off to his room to avoid their gleeful mockery.
***
Mina took careful, deep breaths as the air seemed to get more shallow around them. She wasn’t sure if that was just her panicking or if it could be the truth, because they could still see the open sky. She and Kirishima made sure Sero was moving his fingers and toes to prevent hypothermia as the snow reached their calves and got into their shoes. Kaminari kept shooting out desperate bolts of lightning into the sky, despite Jiro pleading with him to stop before he hurt himself. He swayed with every move, but he didn’t stop, and he refused to meet her gaze.
“Sero, we could use some tape. Can you make enough for us to pull ourselves out of here?” Mina asked gently. Sero squeezed his eyes shut, raised his arm, and then let it drop as he dry-heaved. She rubbed his back. “It’s okay. Take your time.”
“But not too much,” Kirishima mumbled, feeling useless. All he could do was stand and watch as everyone else tried their best, but he was afraid he would only hurt them all by using his quirk. All he could do was stand still, and…
“Wait. What if we made a ladder?”
“He’s not ready–”
“Mina, if you climbed on top of me, and Denki on top of you –”
“We’d need all five of us, and even then it probably wouldn’t be enough,” Mina reminded him. “And Sero can’t climb, jump, or carry our weight right now. Neither will Denki, if he goes into whey mode.”
Kirishima grimaced. It had sounded feasible in his mind, but looking at the height of what they had to climb–
He felt nauseous, suddenly, and out of breath. What if they never got out? What if they died here, trapped underground, suffocated by snow?
“Kirishima, we’ll be fine. Help is on the way,” Mina promised, and he reminded himself that he had to be brave for them. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
“I’m sorry we can’t be there,” Yaoyorozu said quietly from the other end of the phone. “I feel helpless.”
Mina forced a smile. “It’s okay. Aizawa is just trying to keep everyone safe. I know he, or other heroes, will be here soon.”
Mina sounded so sure of herself, but Kirishima wasn’t so sure. He thought of Bakugo, of how frustrated he would be if he found out what they died for. Five of his classmates dying the day before his birthday…
It really should be illegal for it to snow in April.
Jiro suddenly jumped to attention and shook Kaminari. “Once more! Shoot it once more!”
Kirishima felt a tingle of hope. “Do you hear something?!”
“Kaminari, ple–” Jiro took one look at his dazed expression and gently sat him down before gazing up at the sky. “HELP! WE’RE HERE!”
“Gaaaaah…” Sero covered his ears.
“I’m sorry, Sero, but we need to let them know where we are. Someone’s coming!”
Kaminari shook his head. “Someone’s… coming?”
“DOWN HERE! WE NEED HELP!”
Kaminari stumbled to his feet. “Kiri, lift me up…”
Kirishima didn’t hesitate. He kneeled down so Kaminari could get on his shoulders, then lifted him up as high as he could for a better aim. He then shot one precise lightning bolt up, as high and straight as he could, before fainting. Kirishima caught him before he could hit his head on the ground.
“-- over there!”
Jiro laughed weakly. “They’re coming. They saw us.”
“Good, because I think we’re down two.”
A voice came from a distance. “Anyone over here?!”
“WE’RE DOWN HERE!”
A few moments later, a head peered down at them. “Are you the missing UA students?”
Kirishima could have sobbed with relief. His toes were starting to go numb. “Yeah, that’s us!”
“Just one moment! We have a rescue team and an ambulance on the way!”
“Thank goodness,” Jiro sighed. “That could have gone worse.”
“Well, just wait until we have to face Aizawa and Bakugo. Then we’re in for it.”
***
A few hours later, the hospital finally allowed them to have visitors. Jiro’s arm was in a cast, and Mina had her ankle wrapped, but they were cleared to go. Kirishima didn’t have any injuries to note of, but he was curled up in a heated blanket since he’d been most exposed to the cold. The three of them were sitting in the room shared by Kaminari, who was still recharging, and Sero, whose condition was still being monitored.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before their fellow UA student busted down the door to their room. Literally.
“YOU IDIOTS!” he screamed, King Explosion Murder himself, in the flesh.
“Heeey, there’s Bakugo,” Kaminari whispered happily, still looking a little silly.
“O-Oh, hey, Bakugo,” Jiro said awkwardly. His glare shot her way and she quickly looked away and started fiddling with her earplugs.
“Aww, I knew you’d come to check on us!” Mina exclaimed heartily.
Kirishima winced guiltily. “I’m sorry, bro. That wasn’t very cool of us to all get trapped in one spot like that.”
“Yeah, it was real dumb, Shitty Hair.” Bakugo dropped onto the end of Kaminari’s bed, still looking deadly furious. “What the hell were you all doing out here in a snowstorm in the first effin’ place?”
“Um… that’s a secret!” Mina replied.
Bakugo wasn’t having it. “TELL ME PINK FREAK!”
She shook her head playfully. “If you won’t ask nicely, I won’t answer!”
“It’s alright, we’re not gonna be able to carry out our plans now anyway. Might as well give it up,” Kirishima pointed out. Mina frowned.
“Aww, really?”
“Well, with Sero not coming back to the dorms till tomorrow, and us probably grounded to the dorms the rest of the night anyway…”
“Right… We won’t get to prep anything,” Jiro said dejectedly. All of them, including Kaminari, looked down at their feet with equal expressions of disappointment and guilt.
Bakugo huffed. “What the hell are you all lookin’ sorry for?!”
“Sorry, Bakugo. It’s your birthday tomorrow, and – we were gonna get stuff to do a whole party for you. We didn’t have any cake or party supplies in the dorms, and we hadn’t decided what to get you as a gift yet, so we were really making a last-minute trip, but then the villain attack happened, and–”
“YOU FRIGGIN’ BASTARDS!!!”
Kirishima blinked. “What’s wrong?”
Bakugo grabbed him by the collar. “YOU IDIOTS! DID I ASK YOU FOR A PARTY? DID I ASK YOU FOR GIFTS?”
“Uh, no, but obviously no one asks for gifts–”
“THEN I DON’T WANT ‘EM!”
“But… we wanted to do something nice for you–”
“DO YOU THINK I WANTED THIS ?!” Bakugo screeched. A nurse started approaching to warn him about his volume, but Bakugo sent a tiny warning explosion her way to stop her in her tracks. “YOU THINK I WANTED YOU ALL TO DIE IN A SNOWSTORM FOR SOME STUPID PARTY I NEVER ASKED FOR?”
Mina’s cheeks puffed out. “Well, I’m sorry we care about a jerk like you! I guess it won’t happen again!”
“GOOD!” Bakugo snapped, before storming off down the hall, leaving before he could be dragged out.
Kaminari laughed and leaned back against his pillow. “He’s really bad at hiding how much he cares.”
“Honestly, he could be less screechy about it,” Mina grumbled.
“That’s just how he is,” Jiro replied.
“And we love him for it anyway!” Kirishima grinned.
***
The next day, Sero was released. They all went to see Recovery Girl before they were allowed back into the dorms. Aizawa chastised them for a while and told them he’d come up with a suitable punishment for them the next day of class. It was both comforting and concerning that they had no idea what to expect, but since it was Bakugo’s birthday, they decided not to worry about it. Their classmates all came in to welcome them, but Bakugo interrupted the reception, grabbing Sero by the arm and ordering them all into his room for a private conversation.
“So, did you get me anything while you were out?” They shook their heads sadly. “Good. Now, I’m gonna tell you exactly how we’re gonna spend my birthday – in the living room. We’re gonna watch that stupid Marvel movie Shitty Hair keeps talking about, we’re gonna order pizza, and then I’m gonna beat your asses in Smash. Got it?”
The Bakusquad exchanged smiles of agreement.
Midoriya complained when Bakugo shunned his surprise party and refused to eat the cake he made him, instead hijacking the living room for him and his group. When Mineta tried to join, Bakugo threatened to blow him up. When Asui offered to bring him a slice of cake, Bakugo told her to go away and die.
“Jeez, right when you think he’s showing a different side of himself, then he reminds you how much he doesn’t care,” Hagakure sighed.
“That’s not it,” Todoroki replied. “Those five aren’t extras to him. That’s all it is.”
Midoriya nodded, smiling sadly. “Bakugo’s made some really good friends here.” He looked at Mina’s beaming face as she managed to knock Bakugo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character down at the cost of her last life; at Kaminari and Jiro fighting for the last slice of pepperoni pizza; at Bakugo and Kaminari’s focused competitiveness as they fought for first place. “And they get him. Maybe that’s all he needs today.”
“I’LL FRIGGIN’ KILL YOU!!!” Bakugo screeched in the background.
“I’m sure it is,” Todoroki said blankly, and then they went back to their cake.