Chapter Text
1.1 Midoriya Izuku
Kacchan had pushed him lots of times. Out of his way, off swings, off steps, against the wall, to the ground. Kacchan had been pushing him for years.
But never had he pushed him off a roof before.
Izuku knew he hadn't meant it. Neither of them had been aware that they were so close to the edge. He needed to tell Kacchan he knew he didn't mean it. That he wasn't mad. That he knew Kacchan would never intentionally push him off something so high.
Then reality caught up with him, and he realized that he was falling and was going to die in the next few seconds whether Kacchan meant it or not.
"Wait—!" he screamed, because he wasn't done yet, he still had things he needed to do, he still had to save Kacchan and to be a hero and save other people and—
Then he hit the concrete.
1.2 Bakugou Katsuki
Katsuki stared at the place where Deku had just been, uncomprehending. The nerd didn't have an invisibility Quirk or anything. So where the fuck did he go?
He was really close to the edge
There was only one place he could have gone.
"Wait—!"
Splack!
Katsuki stared at the spot where Deku had been just a couple seconds ago.
His voice was still echoing faintly, lingering in the air like a foul smell.
Katsuki's tongue tasted acidic.
Katsuki went downstairs. The fifth floor residents were coming out of their rooms. When Todoroki saw him, he asked, "Did you hear that?"
"It almost sounded like—" Yaoyorozu began, but Katsuki interrupted her.
"I just pushed Deku off the fucking roof."
They stared at him.
"Please be joking," Sero said.
Katsuki shook his head numbly. The hallway was spinning.
"Todoroki-kun, go get Recovery Girl," Yaoyorozu said, taking charge before anyone had time to panic, "Everyone else, go to the common room and please keep our classmates there, too. Bakugou-kun, come with me."
Todoroki speed walked away. Sero and Kaminari, who had been in Sero's room, followed him. Yaoyorozu reached for Katsuki's hand. He jerked it away. "Don't fucking touch me."
"Bakugou-kun, you need—"
"Don't fucking tell me what I need," he said, pushing past her, "I'm fine. Fuck you. I'm fine." Despite feeling like he was going to fall over and puke any second.
"Bakugou-kun!" she commanded in a voice that demanded he stop in his tracks. He did, just for a second. But then he kept walking. She ran to catch up with him. "You aren't thinking straight. Being on the scene will cause you unnecessary stress and will inhibit the paramedics, and being in a room full of confused and scared peers will also do the former. I don't want you to go into shock, if you aren't already. If you are, I need to treat you for it—"
"Shut the fuck up."
Yaoyorozu seized his arm and planted her feet. He flung it backwards violently, and she stumbled back. He stomped down the stairs. She followed him, a soft pitter-patter-pitter-patter to his much more forceful footsteps.
"Bakugou-kun—"
"SHUT UP!" He roared, and pushed her. She fell with a surprised little huff, landing on the step she had just been on.
"Bakugou-kun—"
Katsuki stared at her as she continued henpecking him, his head whirling round and round even faster than it had before.
That went a lot better than the last time he had pushed someone.
Splack!
He whirled and went down the stairs so fast he almost tripped. He continued to his room at the same speed, Yaoyorozu calling his name. He didn't even know how he was walking anymore, everything was spinning so fast. He slammed the door and locked it.
He slid down against the door. His head cleared, just enough for him to make a decision.
He really should have done this a long time ago.
Deku had put up with his shit for much longer than Katsuki had ever expected him to. Pretty much their whole lives. That either said something about Deku or about him or about both of them. Probably both of them.
Deku didn't need to put up with his shit, but he did. And now he'd gone too far, and Deku had fallen off the roof.
Fallen to—
Splack!
The sound of a body hitting concrete. He'd heard it plenty of times during training. But never so loud.
"Wait—!"
The last thing Deku would ever fucking say.
"Kacchan, wait for me!"
"Keep up, Deku!"
Such a fucking familiar sound, that word in his voice.
Deku should not have fallen. Deku should not have to take the verbal and physical abuse Katsuki threw at him. Deku should not have to suffer because Katsuki couldn't deal with his own fucking brain.
But he did.
He really should have done this a long time ago. Not killing Deku. That was the worst thing he had ever done and he would never get the sound out of his head.
He looked around his room. There was nothing useful. Nothing he had access to that could accomplish what he needed.
Wait a minute.
He looked at his hands.
That was really, really fitting, somehow.
Katsuki pressed his hands to the sides of his head.
1.3 Yaoyorozu Momo
Momo was about to try to force her way through Bakugou's door when the explosion went off. It shuddered against the walls and doors and floor. The vibration wouldn't travel in any noticeable volume to the common room, but the bang may have been heard.
She stood in confusion for a second before it clicked.
"Fuck!" she said. It was the first time she'd ever said that word.
She ran downstairs. All the rest of the class was there. Iida was trying to keep order. She grabbed Todoroki's shoulder and asked, "Are the paramedics here?"
"No," he said, "but Recovery Girl is with him."
"Fuck," she whispered again.
"Yao-Momo."
She turned to see Jirou.
"Where is Bakugou?"
"Upstairs," she said.
"Did he explode something?" Jirou asked. When Momo didn't reply, she said, "What did he explode?"
"How—" Momo said, and stopped. Of course Jirou had heard it and felt the vibration. Of course. Jirou was smart, it wouldn't take long before she put two and two together—
Jirou's face turned a sick shade of pale green. "Please tell me he didn't."
"Technically I don't know what he exploded—"
"You wouldn't have left him up there if he was just having a temper tantrum."
Momo spun towards the door. "I need to—"
"Fuck," Jirou said, and ran upstairs.
"Jirou-kun, come back!" Iida called. Momo was already running out the door.
An ambulance came into view, all flashing lights and blaring sirens. It went around the side of the building. Momo followed it.
It took her a moment to spot Recovery Girl among the paramedics, but when she did she made a rapid beeline for her.
"Recover Girl-san," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
The short old lady turned. "Yaoyorozu, I'm—" she stopped at the look on her student's face. "What do you need?"
Momo swallowed, trying to give herself courage and resolutely not looking at where most of the activity was. "I think Bakugou may have… done something to himself." Just saying the words made her want to throw up.
"You," Recovery Girl said, pointing at one of the paramedics, "Come with me. Yaoyorozu-san, where is he?"
"In his room. Fourth floor. It's locked, I think."
The old lady nodded. "Take everyone to Class B's dorm, okay?"
Momo nodded. The three of them rushed back to the common room. Recovery Girl was surprisingly fast for someone so old.
"Everyone!" Momo called, "We have been instructed to go to Class B's dorm! Please follow me!"
Her classmates did not heed her request. They only redirected their shouted questions from each other to her.
"What happened to Bakugou?"
"Is that Recovery Girl?"
"Where's Deku?"
"What's going on?"
"Why are we moving?"
"I will answer as many questions as I can in Class B's dorm!" Momo shouted above the noise. Recovery Girl and the paramedic had made it to the stairs by now.
"Listen to Yaoyorozu-kun!" Iida, whose voice projected much better than hers, said, "We are all going to Class B's dorm! Information will be imparted later!"
He marched out the door. The others followed him. Most of them looked confused or scared, except Todoroki, who never had any expression at all, Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima, who were wide-eyed and silent, and Jirou, who looked as though she was going to barf. If Momo didn't have to be in charge, she would be, too.
She glanced back at the empty common room, then took up the rear.
Tokage was the one to open the door. "What the fuck is going on?" she said.
"We require temporary residence here!"
Tokage stepped aside. "Why? And did I hear an ambulance?"
"Yeah," Uraraka said as she passed her.
Like Class A, Class B had gathered in the common room. Thirty-eight teenagers stared at each other for a couple seconds, some unsure what to do with or as the unexpected visitors, others too shaken to speak.
"What's happening?" Kendou finally asked.
"I do not know!" Iida said.
"Deku fell off the roof," Kaminari said.
"What!?" shouted thirty-three voices. Jirou gagged and ran for the bathroom.
"Deku fell off the roof?" Uraraka repeated.
"How?"
"Is that what the ambulance was for?"
"What the fuck is wrong with Class A?"
"SILENCE!" Kendou shouted. Everyone abruptly shut up. "We don't need to know everything, okay? Our friends are in distress. Questions can wait. We'll get info eventually. For now, let's take care of Class A, okay?"
Heads nodded in agreement.
And since Momo no longer needed to be in charge, she crumpled to the ground and started crying.
1.4 Jirou Kyouka
Kyouka was very, very afraid.
Kaminari and Sero had corralled everyone else into the common room without telling anyone why. Todoroki had sped out the door to who-knows-where, then returned shortly after and not answered any questions. Also, Yao-Momo, Bakugou, and Midoriya were missing.
The building trembled slightly, so little that she knew she was the only one to sense it. It was a familiar vibration.
Bakugou.
And then Yao-Momo ran downstairs and started asking about paramedics, and she just knew he had hurt someone. Probably Deku.
She dashed up the stairs, heedless of Iida's calls. By the time she got to the fourth floor she was out of breath, but the fear, the need to know what had happened made her barely aware of it. She seized Bakugou's door handle and yanked, but that only succeeded in nearly dislocating her arm. She tried to turn it, but it wouldn't move.
She had to have something on her that could pick a lock.
Maybe her ears. She'd never tried, but it couldn't hurt.
She was in the middle of fiddling around inside the lock when Kirishima appeared behind her, saying, "Jirou-chan, we gotta stay in the common room—"
"Fuck no," she said.
"We need to keep everyone consolidated—"
"Everyone's in the common room except you, me, Bakugou, and Deku, and we're all right here. I'd call that consolidated." The lock clicked. "Yes," she whispered.
Then she opened the door.
Worst mistake of her life.
She stood frozen, staring at the bloody mess that was Bakugou.
Kirishima started speaking. She heard one of his feet come down on the floor. "No," she said, barely hearing herself.
"Jirou-chan—"
"Don't come any closer."
Something in her voice must have made him stop, because he did as requested.
Now. Whatever the hell was in front of her.
What the fuck.
Her brain couldn't process what she was seeing. She couldn't process this lump of blood and flesh and bone and hair as a head, let alone her classmate's head.
There was so much blood.
Blood had never really bothered her. But aside from the atrocious amounts of it, there was…
Brain.
There were bits of his brain scattered on the carpet.
She'd never seen a brain that hadn't been soaked in formaldehyde beforehand. She didn't really want to. Especially not if it had been exploded.
He was dead.
No, that was wrong. Beneath her and Kirishima's louder rhythms, Bakugou's heart was still beating softly.
Kyouka spun around. "We need Recovery Girl."
As if summoned by her name, Recovery Girl appeared. "You two need to get back downstairs," she said.
"Sensei, his brain is on the floor."
Kirishima stared at her, something like horror on his face. Recovery Girl's features pinched and she hurried past Kyouka into the room.
"Go downstairs."
Kyouka turned to see a guy in a paramedic's uniform.
"Go downstairs," he repeated.
"But—"
"Go."
Kyouka went. But before she did, she said, "He's still alive. I can hear his heart beating."
Kirishima took her arm and guided her downstairs.