Fortuitous

Chapter 1

cw: mild violence and injuries

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It was obvious the villain did not have a plan, or any real objective. It was a small time robbery from a small convenience store hidden away near an ally just outside the main city. Heroes didn't cover that particular area much. Patrols focused on what they considered problem areas where it was much more populated, and this area did not fit their standards. Still, that doesn't stop the pro heroes jumping into action at the first shout for help.

It was obvious he wanted money, that much everyone could tell. It was the only thing that made people desperate enough to rob a convenience store in the first place. Though the real reason behind it, no one would truly know. It was expected to corner the villain, apprehend, and bring him in. These types of criminals usually were not a problem, and people were used to seeing such villains dealt with quickly. They never usually had much fight in them. But no one expected to find one desperate and willing enough to lose everything. Or maybe, they had nothing to lose.

Bakugo's mind questioned the villain as he made his way along the debris of fallen buildings. He was nowhere near the scene when the attack was occurring, but had been called in to help get people out and away from the wreckage. As much as he hated search and rescue, it was necessary. He just couldn't deal with crying faces and the need to comfort. He tried, he really did, he's just not very good at it. He was always too aggressive, too loud, and too blunt.

He could see people from his now graduated class pulling bodies out of the ruins and directing them to safety in the forms of makeshift tents where medical personnel were checking survivors and sorting them into groups. Those who just need a quick patch up were looked over and less urgently sent to the hospital for a final checkup while those who need urgent care were sent off in ambulances.

He's looking around when he spots a little girl just awkwardly sitting in between large fragments of a building. He wants to just yell at her for sitting around when it is very obvious she needs to make her way towards the other survivors to be looked over, but she's scared, Katsuki, she's just a child!

He scolds himself for even thinking about yelling at an already frightened child while moving towards her. The closer he gets to her, the more he realizes that maybe she's not moving because she can't.

When she's an arm's length away from him, he crouches down to look at her face. She's got dust and dirt all over her, but even so he can still see her tanned skin and coppery orange hair. Her gray eyes speckled with pink are wide and wet as she looks back at him. He thinks that maybe she's still in shock with how still she is, and how blank her face is as she stares back at him.

Eventually, his eyes make their way to check her posture. She's got one leg tucked into her chest with one hand rested on her knee and the other on the floor. The other leg is bent at an awkward angle, hidden under some rubble. He knows it's broken and getting her leg out from underneath the mess will be at best unpleasant.

"I'm going to touch your leg, okay?"

Bakugo waits for a response, but he doesn't get one. Not that he was expecting it. One look to her eyes tells him that she hardly is registering her surroundings. He hopes she stays that way, at least until he can get her out.

She doesn't, of course. She stays still upon his initial examination of her leg, but as soon as he tries to alleviate the pressure from the rubble, she's screaming.

Bakugo throws off whatever he can as quickly as he can, cursing to himself as she wails while big fat tears roll down her dirtied face.

He scoops her up, eager to bring her medical attention, but she keeps squirming in his grasp. He panics slightly, trying to think of a way to calm her down.