Nedzu Raising A Child. What?

Taming the Shadows with Light

He knew that being paired with Bakugo was a bad idea.

Shoto was not happy about the pick of his team partner at the very beginning, but he settled on the choice especially when he realized there was a good chance that Bakugo would not be screaming at any checkpoint due to his desire to win.

So he and Bakugo had not talked or been scared during the entire walk through the forest so far. The only time it was close was when they both were temporarily put off by that strange girl's head appearing out of the ground like the beginning of a horror movie. And even then, it was just both of them saying 'oh' simultaneously instead of being scared.

The light of their flashlights guided the way as the sky darkened further into the night. All they could see was the shadows of the trees hanging over them and the unruly vines crawling everywhere. It was shades of green that deepened into the dark blue of the night.

But things started to go awry once Bakugo pointed out a plume of smoke that was north of them. Or at least what he assumed was north.

"Oi!" Bakugo gestured to the growing amount of fire and smoke with his arm. Sparks flew from his palm as his twisted scowl was directed at him. "Did your friend say anything about an obstacle like that happening?"

"I'm guessing you mean Izuku." Shoto raised his eyebrow at Bakugo. He heard the other grunt in response which made him roll his eyes. "No. He did not mention anything like this happening. There is no way that this is planned." Shoto added. Bakugo would not let his eyes trail away too far from the fire yet those red eyes glanced at him every now and then when he talked. "The Wild Wild Pussycats would not start a forest fire for the sake of an exercise."

Bakugo turned away from the forest fire at his words. It's scarlet brilliance illuminating the tips of his blonde hair that looked paler in the night. "Hah?! Then what started that?"

"No one but us would be able to make that fire unless someone did it on purpose. Some of the girls brought lighters, but they would never bring them all the way out here." Shoto explained, his eyes narrowing at the red and orange flames spiking up into the night sky. "It would make no sense to endanger everyone on the camping grounds unless—"

"Students! Find a safe place! This is an emergency!" Mandalay's words ran through their heads which caused both of them to pause in their tracks. "A fire has broken out in the forest and there are villains being reported in the area! We give you permission to use your quirks to defend yourselves!"

Both of them turned to each other.

"Bakugo..."

"Shut up!" Bakugo yelled, interrupting his thoughts and words with a scowl. Shoto glared at him before the blonde threw up his hand in his face with sparks falling from his palm. It felt almost comical like the angry teen was telling him to talk to his hand. Yet Bakugo's attention was not on him at all. Shoto tilted his head around the blonde's fingers then found Bakugo was looking out into the forest.

Shoto leaned more until he finally saw what Bakugo was watching. A man wrapped up in restraints with only his mouth visible was waddling fast through the trees. Bakugo clicked his tongue. "A villain..."

"That's not good," Shoto said, watching the stumbling form of the wrapped up man. They moved like a zombie with only their mouth exposed from the cocoon of material around their body.

With his eyes on the villain, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bakugo was running through the trees towards the dangerous, known villain. Why?! "Bakugo, what are you doing?!" Shoto shouted after him while he started to sprint after the determined blonde. He breathed out in frustration. "Ugh. I should have just tried to do this alone, so I wouldn't be chasing after a thrill-seeker."