Chapter Text
“Dynamight, duck!”
Bakugo drops to a knee just in time for Kirishima to throw a nasty right hook over his head. The punch collides with the villain’s jaw hard enough to scatter teeth. He throws a hand out and aims his palms, explosions propelling him out from under Kirishima’s chest, around and over his back. His free hand buries itself in the spikes of Kirishima’s hair as he shoves him down and out of the way to send a blast right into the face of the still-stunned villain. He hears Kirishima chuckle as he slides away, unaffected by the explosion. They swap spots effortlessly as the villain recovers, with years of synchronization that’s been beaten bone-deep, so when he swings at Bakugo he’s already gone and it’s Kirishima’s solid chest his knuckles crack against. Bakugo shoves a hand between them and lets loose. Kirishima stumbles back laughing while the other guy is sent flying through the air, landing on the crumbled shelving units of the convenience store.
“You’re fuckin’ small fry,” Bakugo sneers, letting off a few minor explosions as he menaces the man now smoking on the ground. He plants a boot on his chest and crushes him down into the wreckage. “Can’t believe they sent us in to deal with someone as pathetic as you. Waste of our goddamn skill.”
He shoves his hands onto his hips and turns to look at Kirishima. “Red, tell the police we got him! Then tell them not to waste my damn time with any more of these–” He stops when the villain rolls out from his boot and lunges. Kirishima shouts something as a cold hand grabs Bakugo’s neck and there is a second where all his training goes out the window and his mind and muscles are rendered useless by memory. He is frozen, suddenly in sludge, suddenly in Shigaraki’s hold. He blinks it away in a second but a second is all the villain needed. He pulls Bakugo closer, hunched over with a wild look on his face. A green glow fills his eyes and Bakugo’s entire body goes limp. His knees crack on the floor when they give out. He feels impossibly exhausted and entirely cold.
“Let him go!” Kirishima’s screams. He’s nothing but a flash of red. He rips the villain’s hand off of Bakugo and there is a moment where their eyes meet and he sees the flash of worry, watches it spark to rage as Kirishima throws the villain into the wall. He lunges for him, hardened fists raised, and Bakugo knows this will be the last hit. He can’t do much anyway. He realizes with a slight horror that he can’t get his palms to ignite. He wasn’t that exhausted, was he? At least Kirishima can handle it from here.
He watches Kirishima swing. The villain pulls a knife in a flash of silver and Bakugo grins. Idiot picked the worst possible weapon. The two collide. Somehow, something lights. A small explosion cracks between them. Then Kirishima screams and Bakugo sees red.
Suddenly everything is silent and slow. It’s a haze of panic and confusion as Kirishima stumbles back a step and Bakugo realizes that the blood is his . Horror echoes through his heartbeat in his ears. The villain got through his hardening, somehow. He slashed Kirishima from waist to chest and it is deep and he is falling. Bakugo tries to stumble forward and catch him before he hits the ground but his legs won’t move beneath him. He reaches to trigger an explosion and buy Kirishima time, but nothing sparks. The villain lunges for Kirishima again and Bakugo screams something incoherent as the villain plunges the knife into his soft, human chest. Home run right beneath the dip of his collarbones. It probably stabs crooked when it glances off his sternum. Kirishima stumbles back and grabs at it, staring down at his body like it’s betrayed him. Panicking now, he scans the room until his eyes find Bakugo. He tries to say something as their gaze meets. He coughs a spray of blood, and then he collapses.
Bakugo isn’t cold anymore. Everything spikes to fever temperatures, blinding madness heating his veins as rage takes hold. His body finally moves.
He lunges, shoving himself in front of Kirishima and pushing the villain back hard enough that he trips over his own feet. “You’ll die for that.” Bakugo snarls. He launches at the villain and tries again to light an explosion. In his fury all he knows how to do is throw a hand forward and trigger his explosion. Instead, he feels a prickling sensation and when his swing goes through his punch is rock solid.
It knocks the villain to the floor again, which allows Bakugo a second of confusion. He stares at his bloody fist. His bloody, hardened fist. He tries to do the same with his other hand and it works. It’s the same instinct he uses to spark his explosion quirk, only this time it turns his skin to stone.
There’s no time for analysis, Kirishima is bleeding.
“This will fucking work.” Bakugo growls. He lays blind punch after blind punch into the villain, as fast and hard as possible until blood splatters his skin. Only when his rage subsides does he stumble back. The villain slumps with half his face in a different shape. Bakugo collapses beside Kirishima. He’s unconscious and still bleeding. He tries to crawl to him but finds his body sluggish, still strangely drained.
“Do not fucking die on me, Eijiro.” He snaps, reaching. He pulls himself to Kirishima, breathing heavily as he fumbles with his gauntlets, ripping them off so he can press his hands to Kirishima’s skin and try to slow the bleeding. He curses under his breath, panic taking hold as the blood seeps sticky between his fingers.
A series of clatters by the door announces the arrival of backup.
“Dynamight! Riot! Location?”
“We got a fucking situation over here, Chargebolt!” Bakugo’s never been more grateful to hear the idiot. Kaminari darts around the remaining shelves and almost trips over the mess their fight had made. He sees Kirishima and his eyes go wide.
“What the hell? How’d they get to him?”
Silent in his exhaustion and distress, Bakugo raises a hand in front of him and hardens it.
Kaminari’s eyebrows furrow, then his entire face goes slack.
“Oh,” He whispers, “Oh shit.”