Bakugo's POV

"That was rough." Leech 2 commented as they followed me through an alley near the shopping district on our way home.

"Weren't you and Midoriya good friends back when you were kids?" Leech 1 asked.

"Yeah, you were a little harsh with him today." Leech 2 piped up.

"It's his own fault for getting in my way." I grumbled after finishing my can of soda and kicked a bottle someone had left in the alley in frustration.

"You shouldn't waste your time on the guy." Leech 2 continued.

I thought back on how pitiful he'd been when I confronted him earlier about wanting to go to UA, "someone's gotta teach that worthless nerd how the world really works." The can in my hand exploded as I let my anger bubble up as I thought of him fawning over Kaiya all day. "I hate it when he talks heroes." I growled masking the real reason for my anger.

The leeches chuckled at this.

"Get this." Leech 1 spoke up, "I sit behind Kaiya and I saw her writing in her planner to remember to sign up for the UA exam...that's just sad."

I clenched my fist crunching the burnt can into a tiny ball and shot the leech a glare, "shut up."

He misunderstood and seemed to think I didn't believe what he said rather than actually wanting him to shut the hell up.

"No joke! She wrote it in her planner, even circled it with cutesy flowers. I like the girl, she's super nice and always has extra pencils but she has to know, she can't be a hero in a wheelchair. That's just crazy." Leech 1 continued.

"Yeah she'd be done for as soon as she reached her arch nemesis, stairs." Leech 2 guffawed and they both started cackling.

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" I snapped.

"Ah...you're right, picking on the handicap kid is too far...sorry." Leech 1 looked as if he felt ashamed of himself.

"Weren't you friends with Kaiya back in the day too?" Leech 2 asked curiously.

I didn't answer. I couldn't claim to be her friend, not after what I'd done. I'd ruined her life.

"Has she always been in a wheelchair?" He asked.

"...no..." I replied softly as I thought back on a time when we were kids. Kaiya loved to run through the field next to the park, it was always overgrown with wildflowers and there were plenty of butterflies about in the spring and summer. She used to love running around trying to catch them on her finger but never realized they were always fluttering away from her because of her giggling and sudden movements. I'd tried to explain that she might be able to catch one if she would just sit still but she'd always been a ball of energy when we were kids. Thinking back on how happy she'd been running through the field; I felt my stomach twist into a tight unpleasant knot.

"I wonder what happened." Leech 1 pondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter." I grumbled and tossed the now tiny crushed up burned can into a nearby trashcan.

Sensing my dwindling mood and that my temper was about to flare, Leech 2 tried to diffuse the situation, "hey, I got an idea, we should go to the arcade. Get your mind off it, ya know?"

"Fine." I reluctantly agreed. I didn't particularly care for them but if I didn't hang out with them, my mind would just linger to Kaiya and I'd be consumed with guilt and it would just make me angrier at the nerd.

"Or we can sneak into the bar at the station. Pick up some ladies." Leech 1 suggested.

"Now that's a good idea." Leech 2 grinned.

"Idiots!" I snapped, finally over their shared braincell. "If we get caught, there's no way UA would let me in."

"H-hey, what's that?" The two idiots with one braincell pointed behind me.

I turned to see a strange dark green sludge monster at the entrance of the alley. It turned its wild eyes on me and laughed eerily, "Perfect. I like a skin suit with some fire." It lunged toward me as the idiots ran off with their tails between their legs.

I activated my quirk and tried to blast the strange sludge beast away from be but soon found myself getting engulfed in its disgusting sewage like body. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't break free. My quirk was going berserk as I tried to blast my way to freedom. No matter what I did, I couldn't shake him.

"LET ME GO!" I roared and kept trying to blast him.

Every time I blasted him; his body would reform as if nothing had happened. In no time the street was overtaken with flames. I could hear sirens in the distance as civilians screamed and ran in terror to get away from the monster and my explosions.

Pro Heroes began showing up but were no match against the disgusting sludge beast trying to engulf me. I didn't like this helpless feeling as several second-rate heroes joined in the fray to try and rescue me.

I managed to pull my mouth free and let out a roar of rage, "You picked the wrong guy to mess with! I'm gonna send you back to whatever sewer you crawled out of!" I activated my quirk, "let me go!"

"You've got so much power." The villain sounded impressed but was still trying to engulf me, not seeming to be affected by my quirk. "I really hit the jackpot. With a quirk like yours under my control, I can take down All Might with one punch." He guffawed as the heroes kept their distance. None of them were suited to take down the villain and were focusing on damage control. "Much better than that whiny kid and the cripple I stumbled upon earlier." The villain muttered to himself.

An image of Kaiya flashed across my mind. "If you hurt her you piece of shit, I'll blow you up till there's nothing left!" I snarled and flailed against him as my rage spiraled out of control. I managed to fire off consecutive blasts of my quirk in rapid succession creating a small pocket where I thought I could step free. Rather than flee, I continued to focus my attacks on him as I imagined Kaiya lying injured somewhere with only that useless Deku to help her.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I locked eyes on the useless nerd in the crowd of onlookers. Why the hell wasn't he with Kaiya?! He screamed and ran toward us flinging his backpack at the villain. He lurched forward and tried to dig me free.

"Kacchan!"

My mouth was freed for a moment, "what the hell?! Why are you here?! Where's Kaiya?!" I roared.

His tear-filled green eyes grew wide as if he were just suddenly hit with a horrible realization. "...she wasn't there when I came to...I thought she'd escaped...she had to have escaped..."

Did he leave her after they were attacked?! I was overcome with rage. "YOU USELESS NERD!" Blinded by my rage I reached out a hand to blow the nerd to pieces when the villain began to swing wildly as it tried to maintain it's hold on me and smack Midoriya away.

I heard a familiar voice I'd only ever heard on TV as a giant hulking form jumped in to shield the nerd form the villain. "I really am pathetic."

All Might!

"I told you the traits that make a great champion, but I see now I wasn't living up to my own ideal!" He wrenched his massive arm free from the villains grasp and reached in with his free hand getting a grip on me, "Pros are always risking their lives. That's the true test of a hero!"

"Damn you, All Might!" The sludge villain roared and prepared to attack him.

"Detroit Smash!" All Might swung his massive fist while simultaneously pulling me free with his free hand blasting the smudge villain into hundreds of pieces.

I lost consciousness briefly. By the time I came to, All Might was gone and I was being hounded by reporters and the second-rate heroes who'd been on the scene. I managed to get away from them all and spotted Deku being scolded by the same heroes who'd recognized me for my quirk. He bowed away from them and nearly walked right into me.

"Kaccha-." He cut off with a yelp as I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off his feet.

"Where the hell is Kaiya?" I growled.

He paled and began muttering to himself. "...she definitely got away and made it home safe, she wasn't there when I woke up...right? She called for heroes...right?"

I shook him angrily, "where did you see her last?!"

He listed off a street name and I dropped him and took off at a run. I ran through a mantra in my head, repeating it over and over again, 'please don't be there, please don't be there, please don't be there'. I skidded to a stop at a tunnel with a manhole cover lying askew. This had to be where the villain came from.

I scanned the area. It didn't seem like a high traffic area. I saw some skid marks that looked too small to be from car tires and not the right shape for bike tires. Had it been a wheelchair? My heart sank.

"KAIYA!" I ran in the direction the skid marks led and spotted her wheelchair in the ditch appearing to be stuck in some bushes. I wrenched it free and scanned the nearby area. She wasn't here... did she really get away? Without her chair? What if it had been much worse than I'd thought and she was taken away in an ambulance?

I heard a soft groan from the opposite side of the street and bolted to the other side with her wheelchair. I felt my blood run cold as I spotted Kaiya lying in a heap in the opposite ditch. She was mostly concealed by some bushes. No one would have found her if they didn't know to look for her.

"KAIYA!" I dropped the chair and slid down the slope to the ditch and pulled her from the bushes. She had cuts, scrapes and bruises all over her arms and even one side of her face. It was some serious road rash. Her eyes were half closed, she was completely out of it. "Hey, snap out of it." I shook her gently.

Her bright green eyes fluttered open and she stared up at me with tears in her eyes, "Kacchan?"

"Damn it." I clenched my fists. That nerd was going to die. "Can you move the parts of you that can normally move?" I asked through gritted teeth.

She looked a little confused before slowly wiggling her fingers and raising her arms and turning her head. She cringed with each movement but seemed to be in one piece and able to move what she could move normally.

I lifted her into my arms. "Hospital?"

"No...I think they're just surface wounds..." she murmured as I carried her up the slope to her awaiting wheelchair. It was a little dinged up, one of the wheels was slightly bent but still functional. "Is Midoriya okay? He was attacked by a villain."

"Don't mention that useless nerd in my presence ever again." I seethed with rage.

Kaiya looked up at me, confused. "How come you're here? Were you looking for me?"

"...yeah..." I muttered as I set her in her chair.

There was blood dripping from scrapes on her hands, I knew she'd be upset that I wasn't letting her do it herself but didn't want her to get an infection by putting her hands on the dirty wheels to move herself. I pushed her in the direction of her house.

"...Kacchan...I don't live this way anymore..." She spoke up softly.

"What? When did you move?" I growled, I was still pissed at the nerd and my spineless leeches.

"Last weekend." Her voice was so soft I thought maybe she was drifting out of consciousness.

"To where?!" I swiveled her around to make sure she was still conscious.

Her face reddened at our sudden closeness, "the same building as Midoriya."

Was that why they were suddenly close? They'd become neighbors. His mother probably asked him to keep an eye on Kaiya, that explained all the awkward hovering. "What did I say about mentioning that useless nerd?"

"Why are you so angry at him?" Kaiya asked as I began pushing her in the other direction.

"That counts as mentioning him." I growled.

Kaiya let out a sigh and sank back into her wheelchair, "fine." She waited a moment before turning her head to look back at me, "thank yo-."

"Don't." I growled. I didn't deserve her thanks.

She bit her lip and turned back around sinking further into her chair.