Exponential Differences

It is all over the news and media. The UA Sports Festival is just about the only thing anyone is talking about, and what is the primary topic above all else? The villainous boy who the heroes chained on a pedestal because he was a threat.

Throughout the streets, in homes, and online, people talk.

"I don't understand why UA hasn't expelled him."

"Maybe they wanted to try a fix-it case? Looks like it failed, haha."

"Wow. I've never seen someone like that so young.... Honestly, they should put him down or something. He acts like a rabid dog, anyway."

Few stand up for the boy. When they do, the masses shut them down. They make arguments inferring that All Might approved of the treatment, given his own involvement, and, of course, the heroes know what they are doing better than anyone else, right? In the end, many of the few people who had been on Bakugou Katsuki's side were persuaded against him or went silent.

The day after the sports festival, when Bakugou boards a subway, all eyes are immediately stuck to him. People look fearful, expressions disbelieving and worried. Mothers pull children further from him, and men move in front of women protectively. "Tch," Bakugou clicks his tongue, and he shoves his hands further into his pockets, slouching over to stand by the opposite door. The two people who had been there scurry away like rats.

People leave a safe radius of about six feet around him—they would clearly prefer to be further, but the already close proximity of everyone onboard would not allow the space. The subway starts up, and they are on their way. The air is tense and suffocating, seemingly running out quickly inside the close metal walls of the subway.

People continue to stare at Bakugou warily, and he glares at anyone who makes a move toward him, silencing them and making them back away. He feels the bruise blooming on his jaw twinge and scowls. On the way here, some bland extra had thrown a rock at him, and he was out of it enough not to notice. At least it taught him to keep his guard up from then on. He had managed to miss a few other random projectiles since then (someone even threw a sandwich. Really?) and he is cautious enough not to let people get too close in an enclosed space. Some of the people in here with him certainly look generous enough to attempt to get a hit in. Gritting his teeth, Bakugou presses his back into the cold metal behind him, eyeing the people in the seats nearest him.

Suddenly, Bakugou feels a tug on his pants. His eyes widen. So much for not letting anyone get too close, he mentally scoffs. Looking down, his eyebrows raise slightly when he sees a child trying to get his attention, staring up at him with huge eyes bulging with curiosity from a face that looks about six years old.

"Are you Bakugou Kats'ki, mister?" the kid asks eagerly in a high pitch voice. "The one who makes 'splosions?"

Bakugou opens his mouth to respond in the affirmative, but a screeched "Emiko!" beats him to the punch. A woman shoots out from the circle of people and enters what could be called Bakugou's zone, scrambling for her child. She looks terrified as she grabs her into her arms, and the kid, Emiko, looks like she wants to argue. The woman shushes her, however, and apologizes swiftly to Bakugou, not once making eye contact with him. He scowls in response, and the woman hurries away, likely to the furthest part of the car she can reach. Some people glare at him for that, and he rolls his eyes.

The fuck did he do? Those two come up to him, he doesn't even get the chance to speak, and everyone gets mad at him. Fuck all of them, he wants to tell them, but, instead, he finds himself staring at the floor, brows furrowed.

The subway slows again, and he watches the doors slide open, people flooding in and out on the side opposite him. Those exiting seem a bit too rushed, and new people entering quickly pick up on the situation, either running out and to another car or swiftly joining the people a safe distance away from Bakugou.