Fighting Fears

Chapter 7

"IZUKU WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Ochaco ran inside, the rest of the class following her, as well as Midnight and All Might. Their eyes were ablaze with anger. "You brought it up, didn't you?" Midnight spat. My heart dropped. "What'd you do?" Kirishima looked at us in fear. Even Bakugo looked upset. "I can't believe you two." All Might would've been better off being angry at me. Instead, the disappointment lacing his voice made it so much worse. "Should we go after her?" Midnight asked her fellow pro. "No. It's not going to work. You remember what happened the last time she ran off. I just barely got to her in time, she had swum halfway to the mainland!" All Might slumped forward in defeat. "I always knew you were pathetic, but this is a whole new level." Bakugo glared at me before leaving the dorms as well. As I looked at each one of my classmates, I felt my heart breaking more and more. "I'm sorry."

~~~

I quietly walked along the street, ignoring everything around me, kicking pebbles as I pointlessly wandered. As we had been warned, Todoroki and I were expelled. I knew I deserved it. I deserved worse honestly.

You said you wanted to be a hero, and instead of acting like one, you dug up something she was trying to forget. You hurt someone. What kind of hero does that?

I scolded myself, blinking away the hot tears threatening to fall.

How could I have said that...

Bakugo's POV

"Bakugo! Wait!" A familiar voice called. I stopped for a split second. "What?" I glared at Uraraka angrily. "I'm coming with you." She said in determination. "You don't even know what I'm doing." I snapped, turning away. "I do. You're looking for Winter, aren't you?" She questioned. "And if I am?" "I want to help." "I don't need your help." I rolled my eyes. "You do. If she was really a problem for even the pros to track down, you can't do this on your own. Let me help, just this once. I won't try to get in the way of anything else, just let me help find her." My classmate begged. I snorted. "Fine."

The two of us spent into early morning hours searching for Winter. It was nearly impossible, considering she could literally be the cockroach crawling into the shadows or the ant climbing into his hill. "This is pointless!" I shouted, blowing up a bag of trash lying around. "How are we going to find her if we don't even know where she's going?!" I snapped, kicking a wall. It only stung for a moment. "There!" Uraraka pointed towards the sky. On top of a building, facing away, Winter sat looking over the city. "Float us up there," I demanded. My classmate nodded, doing so. We attempted to quietly approach her, to no avail. "Why are you following me?" Winter turned to us, snarling. "Because! You're obviously upset! Don't you want to talk about it?" Uraraka worried. "Why would I? Nobody really cares about how monsters feel." Winter laughed. "Shut up with the self-pity!" I yelled. "Who gives a damn as to what those two bastards said?! They don't know what they're talking about! They don't even know you! You really believe what they're saying? Well then, you must be stupid." I continued. Winter's eyes lit with fury as she pinned me, teeth bared. "Call me stupid again. I dare you." The girl snarled, changing into a snow leopard. "Those two idiots are judging you based on something that happened years ago! If they were real heroes, they'd do what All Might and Midnight did. They'd treat you like a normal person, also known as what you are, not some sort of rumor!" I yelled. "Who gives a shit if they don't trust you! Ignore them! The rest of the class cares! If you don't believe me, you should! Uraraka and I actually bothering to come find you should be enough proof! You left, but the second you did the whole class came in. I usually don't say this, but everyone, including me, was upset. You can't run away, Winter." I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I will not cry.

I promised myself. "Please come back," Uraraka begged. Winter looked back and forth at us for a moment before stepping to the side, going back to her normal form. "Fine. I'll give you all one more chance. But you have to promise that you won't come looking for me next time." She muttered. "Promise."

"Oh, and one more thing." I began. "Those two might be losers, but I'm pretty sure they feel bad for what they did," I said, taking to the sky, using my Quirk to propel myself. Uraraka floated alongside us, and Winter flew in the form of a hawk. "I'll have to see that for myself."