Chapter Eighteen

Hello? I sit up in what seems like a void, completely black, and I instinctively reach up to rub my head. Simultaneously, I realize my head doesn't hurt and my hand is wet. I reach back down to where I'm sitting, confused when my hand hits shallow water. What the hell? I stand, surprised by the lack of soreness in my body, but it seems like I'm alone here...

"Hello?" I call out, voice raspy.

"Kaida" an image of Shoto, smiling warmly, flashes before me before disappearing. My heart stops. What the hell is happening?

"Over here" Bakugo smirks, that same look in his eyes from before, but he disappears too. My heart races. What's going on?

"Guys?" I call out, trying to walk through the muck. My boots struggle through it and walking gets harder and harder. Come on! I start to sink.

"Help! Someone!" I shout, thrashing against the water as it pulls me in.

"I'm here!" their voices say. Bakugo and Shoto both appear, both of them reaching their hands out to me. Panic races through me as I try to claw my way back to them. Please... please help me... my heart slams against my rib cage and all I can see are their faces... their eyes... I reach out, instinctively throwing my hand out to catch one of theirs and the fear drains out of me. A hand grips me tight and pulls as hard as it can, dragging me out of the slime to face him... to face...

I gasp when I wake up, coughing violently as my lungs try to refill themselves with oxygen. My whole body aches, head throbbing and chest burning.

"Hey! Come on" I hear Bakugo say as he rolls me onto my side, rubbing my shoulder blades to bring some of the feeling back. I wince, breathing raggedly.

"What... what the hell happened?" I rasp, body shaking. We're still in the office, but the whole place is wrecked, torn to shreds by Aneurysm and whoever else might've been helping him. I struggle to sit up with Bakugo's help and one of the ceiling fixtures crashes to the floor.

"That asshole knocked us all out and destroyed the place. Left us to die as it goes down! We've gotta get out of here" he growls, lifting me up and throwing my arm over his shoulders. I groan with the pain.

"Where's everyone else? What about them?" I demand. Bakugo shakes his head, looking away from me as the building shakes and cracks around us. A pit opens in my stomach and fear gnaws at me.

"Bakugo, what happened?" I demand. He scoffs, dragging me over to the broken window and points down. Down below, I see almost everyone that was up here with us... safe. I shake my head.

"They left us?" I whisper and the anger only grows in Bakugo's eyes, flaring a vicious red.

"Icy hot didn't want to if that's what you're concerned about, but you weren't exactly alive, Kaida. You stopped breathing and when the rest of us woke up, Endeavor had to make a decision" he spits out, glaring out at them. Another rumble goes through the ceiling above us, threatening to cave in and my heart sinks.

"What about you?" I rasp as Bakugo tries to calculate how to get out of here, looking down the side of the building and making a noise of irritation under his breath.

"Do you have enough strength to hold onto me?" he demands, ignoring my question.

"What about you, Bakugo?" I ask more firmly, anger making my voice strong.

"Can you do it, Kaida?!" he barks.

"Tell me!" I shout, needing to know why he's still with me. He looks away from me, clearly pissed off and realizing that I'm stubborn enough to let us die for an answer to my question.

"Endeavor made his decision and so did I! I wasn't leaving you here! Dead or not" he snaps and my chest aches violently. He shouldn't have stayed. He should've saved himself. Should have gone down there with them. I was gone. No matter how you dice it, no matter how thankful I am to be alive and breathing, I hate that he threw his life to the wind without thought. Imagining it makes a deep seated guilt and indescribable fury burn through me like never before.

"Can you hold on or not?" he adds, ignoring the look on my face. I swallow and nod, knowing that starting an argument with him here would only put us both in danger.

"What about the stairs?" I ask, grimacing as I wrap my arms tightly around his neck and try to wedge them around his neck piece. He shakes his head.

"They're destroyed. This is the only way" he tells me and I take a deep breath, slamming my eyes shut. I know how good Bakugo is with his quirk, but for it to be enough to save us, I'm gonna have to be able to hold onto him without help. Fear makes my whole body shake as he steps up on the ledge.

"Hold on" he growls, grunting with the exertion of lifting me. Please don't drop me, please don't drop me. My heart thunders in my chest and I can feel the heat beneath his skin.

"Hey..." he says again, calling my attention. I force my eyes open slowly, staring at him with more uncertainty than ever before.

"Don't let me go" he tells me, eyes completely serious. My stomach drops and suddenly, he jumps. I gasp, tightening my grip and squeezing my eyes shut again when we're propelled upwards by a series of explosions. I yelp when we start dropping again but as we do, he's consistent with his export of flames, slowing our fall just a bit each time. I bury my face against his jaw, clenching my fists around my own arms and praying they don't break apart despite the quivering pain. Just a little longer.

"Shit! Hold on!" I hear him over the deafening roar of his own explosions just before we collide into the side of the building.

"Bakugo!" I yelp, opening my eyes just long enough to see him trying to regain balance as the soles of his boots skate against cracked and shattering windows. For a moment, he loses his footing and the jostling rips my arms apart. I gasp, trying to catch myself, but he wraps an arm around my waist, yanking me close and blasting another explosion down towards the ground. I bury my face again, not wanting to see what the end looks like, but when we finally land, we trip over each other, coming to a rolling stop with him on top of me, arms caging me in protectively as we both try to catch our breath.

Looking up at him, my heart feels like it might stop working altogether and the look he gives me makes it hard to look away. Right now, I'm so close to him that nothing else exists and for the first time, he's the one who breaks us out of the moment.

"You okay?" he asks, righting himself before helping me up. I nod, glad that he's not staring at my flaming face right now.

"I'm fine... but Bakugo..." I start. Now that we're finally safe, my anger feels completely justified. He looks back at me again and the look on his face makes me explode with frustration and worry.

"Don't ever stay behind for me again! What were you thinking?! You almost got yourself killed for what? You should've saved yourself you dumbass!" I shout, feeling like bursting into tears. How could he do that? How could he ignore his own life just to try and save mine? Especially when there was no guarantee.

"What?! You're yelling at me for saving your life?" he demands, his own spark of irritation flaring up.

"Of course I am! What would I have done if you were dead, huh? You want me to wake up to that? Want me to have to live with that?! Don't you dare try to save me at the cost of your own life, ever!" I snap, so unbelievably angry that even I don't understand it. He gapes at me incredulously, his whole face displaying an array of intense emotions.

"Then stop going around trying to die! I wouldn't have to save your ass if you could take care of yourself! Besides, what do you care if I die, huh? What's it to you if I don't survive something like that? I'm not your boyfriend!" he growls and the hurt and anger within me only seems to grow.

"Because I care about you, you asshole! I hate that I do, but you're one of my best friends, Bakugo! Seeing you hurt like that... it would crush me" I admit, the truth of the words feeling like a punch to the gut. Bakugo blinks at me, complete shock ending our argument in a heartbeat. I swallow hard, body shaking. How do I recover from those words? How do I take them back? And most of all... do I want to?

"KAIDA!" I hear Shoto's voice before I see him and when I turn around, he barrels into me at full force, crushing me in a hug that hurts even more than the fall did. I gasp, the pain making me dizzy.

"Sh-Shoto" I breathe in surprise, barely managing to hug him back. He pulls away from me, grabbing the sides of my face with both hands and searching my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he demands, a serious look on his face. I nod, pulling my head away gently.

"I'm fine... I just..."

"Can't you see she's in pain?" Bakugo snaps and Shoto's gaze flits up to him, an intimidating look in his eyes.

"Are you speaking for her now?" he asks coldly and the hair on the back of my neck bristles.

"No, I'm speaking as the guy that stayed behind to save her ass, while you and her so called mentor floated to safety" Bakugo retorts, an edge to his voice. Shoto's eyes spark and I can see small fizzles of flame dancing off the ends of his hair as he steps forward, fists clenched.

"Stop" I say, voice sounding choked and raspy. Damn it. Bakugo steps forward too, the two of them glaring at each other just over my head.

"I don't think you want to start this argument" Shoto warns and Bakugo lets out a menacing laugh.

"Don't I?" he snarls, an almost manic look on his face. I take a breath, managing to slow my heart rate even in this state and as it begins to beat steady, I push a pulse out of both of my palms, shoving the boys apart.

"Enough!" I snap. Both of them look back at me in either surprise or shame, but either way, I don't care. I almost died and all they can do is scream at each other. My head throbs and I wince, covering my face with my hand. Damn it. Not now.

"Kaida!" Shoto exclaims worriedly, trying to come to my rescue. I push him away, anger flaring through my exhausted body.

"Just leave me alone!" I bark, glaring at him in a way I never have before. His eyes widen, staring at me without understanding. It's fine. I don't need his understanding right now... right now, I need to go home. I leave the two of them behind without another word, forcing my body to keep working as I march towards Endeavor. He looks down at me as I approach, expression wary.

"Kaida" he greets me. I nod, coming to a stop beside him and looking up at the agency as it continues to fall apart. I sigh.

"I was dead, huh?" I ask. He frowns, staring up at the same scene I am.

"Yes" he replies and I know what it means. It means I was dead as far as he could tell. I was dead because I wasn't moving and I wasn't breathing and he had people to save. People that were breathing. I nod again.

"Thank you" I tell him, trying to ignore the way my voice croaks. Endeavor chances a glance at me, probably wondering if there's a double meaning or not behind my words. I meet his gaze calmly.

"You did what you had to, to save the most people. You made the hard choice. That's how I know I can trust you in combat and how I know I can trust you to train me. You didn't hold punches and you didn't risk your life to save me. I respect that" I explain and an odd look passes over his face. We don't often compliment each other but I figured he deserved to know that he had my respect as a hero. It's not something I usually express, but I needed him to know I wasn't angry. Not now and not when I realized what he'd done. He did exactly what he was supposed to.

"I'm glad you survived" he replies coolly, his expression refusing to shift even an inch. I smile a bit, but the sight of the agency makes it difficult to feel anything positive. Who are these guys? How are they so powerful?

"What do we do now?" I ask. Endeavor grits his teeth and clenches his fists, an angry look on his face.

"We rebuild" he growls and I can see the determination in his eyes. Determination to find these villains and make them pay for what they've done here. I recognize the feeling well, mostly because I feel it myself. The need to act. For a while, Endeavor and I both watch as the building finally seems to settle. The structure itself seems to be incredibly sturdy and the building stays upright regardless of a few collapsing stories and exploded rows of windows. Endeavor Agency stands tall still among the buildings around it and it feels like a symbol of pride.

"Everyone get home. Don't travel alone. You'll have to meet with the heroes association and the police starting tomorrow, but you've been through a lot. Get some rest" Endeavor says, once he has the four of us together again. We all nod, but as we head off, I ignore Shoto and Bakugo, choosing instead to walk with Deku. He doesn't complain, in fact, every time I trip up from exhaustion or pain, he helps me up, trying to make me laugh with a lame joke or funny story. I even laugh a little as we go but it'd be a lie if I said I don't feel their eyes boring into the back of my head... both of them. The two men in my life. The one I want and the one that I... I can't think about how I feel about him now. Not after he saved me today. Not after he scared me so badly, trying to get himself killed. The thought of it makes me angry and upset all over again and those feelings only make me even more exhausted.

"Do you need someone to take you to the infirmary?" Deku asks once we finally near the dorms. I shake my head, refusing the magic kiss for once.

"I don't think I'd have enough energy to heal that quickly anyway. I really just need sleep" I insist. Deku nods, offering me a reassuring smile and walking inside, clearly misreading the plea for help in my eyes. Now I'm alone with Shoto and Bakugo. Great. I turn around at the bottom of the stairs, pressing my lips together awkwardly.

"I, uh... I need some time. Away from both of you... right now" I begin, receiving mixed responses. Shoto looks mostly hurt while Bakugo looks unsurprised but incredibly irritated. I sigh, refusing to back down.

"I just don't have the energy to bicker with either of you or tell you how I'm feeling or talk about how dead I might've been. All I have the energy for is climbing these last bits of stairs to my room and passing the hell out. Any objections?" I inquire. Neither one of them says anything in reply so I nod my head once and turn on my heel, starting the excruciating climb. Damn it, Midoriya. You couldn't have waited five minutes? I curse him internally but I don't dare ask for help. Instead, I climb every inch of the way to my room by myself, making it to the last few stairs before feeling like I'm going to pass out.

"Kaida?" Ochaco says, seeing me sway.

"Help?" I half whimper, legs feeling like Jell-O. Ochaco rushes to catch me easily and without a second thought helps me to my room, fussing over my worked over appearance and weakness. I laugh, finally feeling a little better.

"Thanks, Ochaco" I smile and she grins, setting me down on my bed.

"Any time. That's what friends are for" she chimes and I can't help but feel a little warm inside. Yeah... I guess we are friends... aren't we?