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❟❛❟ CHAPTER FIFTY ❟❛❟
"TODOROKIII!!!!"
The scream tore out of Bakugou's throat like shrapnel, echoing across the battlefield.
Everything around him slowed, as if the world itself recoiled. Sound dulled. The wind held its breath. Flames flickered in silence. Even Sekka's movement seemed like it was trapped in glass.
Bakugou couldn't feel the pain in his body anymore. The cuts, the burns, the frostbite clawing at his limbs—all of it was drowned beneath a single, all-consuming panic.
He ran.
Each step tore through the ice-covered rubble, his breath ragged, his explosions sputtering behind him. He pushed through the storm of petals, debris, and ruin—just to get there in time. And he did. Barely. Before Todoroki hit the ground, Bakugou caught him.
His knees buckled from the weight. He was cold. Unnaturally cold. Like holding a corpse made of glass.
"Todoroki!" Bakugou choked, falling to his knees with him. "Wake up, dammit! TODOROKI!"
He laid him down with shaking hands, desperately searching for a pulse, for the rise of a breath. His fingertips trembled as they pressed to Todoroki's neck, his chest. For a second—was that movement? No. Just his own frantic heartbeat thundering in his ears.
"Don't fucking do this," Bakugou's voice cracked. "You don't get to check out now, bastard!"
He shook him. Useless. Useless. "Don't sleep. Hey—DON'T FUCKING SLEEP!"
He bent over Todoroki's limp form, pulling him close, holding him tight, trying to pour warmth back into his frozen body, as if his own heat could reignite the fire inside him.
"Isn't this ironic?" Sekka's voice floated above them, quiet and venomous. "An ice user... defeated by ice."
She raised her hand.
But before she could strike, something sharp hurtled from the side and struck her arm—deflecting the blow.
Bakugou didn't even flinch. He didn't look. He didn't care. He was still holding Todoroki, forehead pressed to his. "You're gonna be fine, got it? Got it, Todoroki? Shouto... Shouto... wake up."
His voice broke into a whisper. "Please, dammit... Don't leave us here."
His eyes, red and raw, scanned the ruined skyline like a cornered animal. "Where is he?! Where's Dr. Akame?! He'll fix this. He has to. He always—"
"Dynamight," Jeanist's voice came from behind him—gentler than Bakugou had ever heard it. He knelt slowly beside them, eyes shadowed with grief.
"I need to take Todoroki to him. I need to—" Bakugou's words tumbled out, fast and cracking. "I'll hold him, just get him here. He can fix this. He always fixes it!"
