Save You

Chapter 35 : Care

After their meeting with the teachers, Todoroki and Midoriya returned back to class. At first, All Might had attempted to convince Midoriya to head back to the dorms, but Midoriya outright refused.

'If this is my dream, then I need to race towards it. I'll never forgive myself if I don't!'

Midoriya's passionate words touched everyone and managed to convince his teachers to let him return to class. However, Todoroki was still slightly unconvinced. After all, his friend had just broken down before him - how could he believe everything was fine now?

Everyone was seated and focusing on lesson at hand. There was only five minutes until lunch, but another two hours until freedom.

Midoriya was scribbling all the notes down furiously in his notebook whilst mumbling, which strangely made Bakugou feel at ease. Never once did he think that he'd be happy to hear the nerd's annoying voice.

But, there was a limitation to what Bakugou could handle and thankfully for Midoriya, the bell rang just before Bakugou exploded.

Aizawa dismissed the class and everyone began to happily chat whilst walking towards the cafeteria. Todoroki instantly found Midoriya and was by his side the whole way.

The classroom was quickly empty, leaving just Bakugou and Kaminari. It wasn't unusual for Kaminari to be last out as the blonde was so disorganised that it took him at least ten minutes to pack his belongings into his bag.

However, Bakugou was always one of , the first people out. He never waited around for anyone or anything. Therefore, it was obvious that this would make Kaminari curious as to just why Bakugou was hanging around.

'Hey Kacchan. What're you still doing here?'

Bakugou snaps out of his daze and looks up, a scowl instantly returning. 'What's it to you Dunce Face?' He growls, stuffing his bag aggressively before swinging it over his shoulder.

It was more then obvious how out of character Bakugou is. The usual ball of anger seemed rather tamed and in a somewhat dampened mood. Plus, considering a lot of the class hadn't heard of Bakugou since the incident - it was quite a shock to see him in this state.

'Well I dunno. Maybe I care because we share this thing called friendship?' Kaminari replies sarcastically, knowing very well that he was about two seconds away from being smacked.

Bakugou scoffs in annoyance. 'No, you think we are friends, Dunce Face. Not fucking me.'

'Ouch, man.' Kaminari replies, dramatically placing a hand over his chest. He's known Bakugou long enough now to know his insults and remarks is just him trying to express his emotions. The poor boy only knows the language of anger.

Bakugou begins to walk towards the door, but suddenly stops just in front of the doorframe. 'Hey, Dunce.'

Kaminari's ears perk up at his nickname falling from Bakugou's lips. It was strange though, Bakugou's voice sounded more soft and shaky, completely different from the tone he was using earlier.

'Yeah?'

'Kirishima,' Bakugou starts, pausing slightly before continuing. 'What was he like when I was... away?'

Kaminari freezes slightly at the sudden question. It was obvious that this topic was not only insanely touchy for Bakugou, but everyone in the class. After being brought back, Bakugou changed. He wasn't as angry and had became slightly quieter. Not once was his experiences with the villains mentioned; no one really knew what he went through. Not even Kirishima.

'Well, he was obviously crushed.' Kaminari starts, thinking back to that night. 'When it was announced that you were a target, Kirishima grew so restless. He instantly tried to leave the building to go find you. But, Mr. Aizawa didn't allow him to.'

Denki pauses before continuing. 'After we found out about you going missing, he just... He wasn't there. I've never seen him so lifeless in my life. It was really, really terrifying. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.'

Kirishima didn't speak at all that night. It was like the moment Bakugou's kidnapping was announced everything in Kirishima's body just turned off. Not even Mina could console her own friend out of this mind state, Kirishima was utterly gone.

'You know, it was Kirishima's idea to go and save you. We all visited Midoriya in hospital and from that, Kirishima announced that he and Todoroki had hatched a plan to help you. Even after having the whole class disagree with him, Kirishima was still determined. He didn't seem to care how many people hated him in that moment, all he cared about was you and your safety.'

Bakugou felt his body go numb from Kaminari's recount. It seemed so unrealistic for Kirishima even act in such a manner. Kirishima who was always happy, Kirishima who always managed to hype everyone up - how could he become so unresponsive just because of Bakugou?

Kaminari's scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. 'That went south really quickly, didn't it? Don't go telling Kirishima what I've said. I know it still hurts him to bring it up and everything.' There's a small awkward chuckle, 'he really cares about you, you know? We all do.'

'I- Uh...' Bakugou stumbles over his words, still caught up over all this new information. 'Whatever, thanks.'

Kaminari smiles softly as he watches Bakugou disappear out the door and down the hall. Although he doesn't know what intrigued Bakugou to know about Kirishima's state, he was glad that he now knew.

It seemed like the best for the both of them right now. Kirishima needed Bakugou to understand why he's always worried and Bakugou needed to know that everyone cared.

However, even with the small healing of Kirishima and Kaminari's words, there was still the large gaping hole that Midoriya left in Bakugou's heart.

• • •

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for such a delayed update, things have been crazy lately.
I hope you're all doing well. :)
Thank you so much for 15K! Honestly you guys are amazing.
I also just wanted to quickly add that even though I have been focusing on a Kiribaku, Tododeku side, Bakudeku will be coming within the next few chapters.
So please, stay tuned!
Have a lovely day / night! 💜
- M00n_child_