Chapter 8 Traning And Bonds

The first person Bakugou told about the dream was All Might. It was only fitting, since he might have more insight on what had transpired and if One for All was playing any part in keeping Izuku from losing himself. He caught the man in the hallway on the way to the teacher's longue. It was still early, too early for any student to be out and about – on top of that, Bakugou's face had looked too serious and almost desperate for All Might to give any second thoughts.

The previous number one hero sat Bakugou down in the teacher's longue sofa and made him some green tea. All Might sat down in front of him, listening to the boy's explanation on what had occurred during the night. During the dream.

"My boy, are you certain it was young Midoriya?" All Might's face looked too serious, almost grim.

"I swear to you it was! There's no way I could've imagined up a dumb explanation like that. On top of that, I think I saw the other users of One for All." Bakugou added, gripping the cup of tea in his hands. "There was eight people, hidden in the hallway. I could see their eyes but not their bodies. One of them… I think looked like you."

All Might leaned back on his chair, hands folded on his lap. He took a deep breath.

"There's no doubt about it then, that was One for All. You described it almost exactly the same way Young Midoriya had before." The retired hero leaned in, looking directly in Bakugou's eyes. "Young Bakugou, you've found out something incredibly important. Not only do we know Midoriya is still inside his trapped memories, but we know a bit of their plan and can prepare accordingly."

Hearing it from All Might made Bakugou's lip quiver. The sense of relief he was feeling in that moment was unimaginable, not something you could measure or describe with words. In the back of his mind, Bakugou was afraid that his dream was nothing more than just that – not a vision or a plea for help. Now that he's explained it to All Might, the burden was slowly falling off his shoulders.

"We should tell Aizawa-sensei, and everyone else!" Bakugou got up from his seat, nearly dropping his cup of green tea. All Might nodded his head getting up as well and checking the time of the wall clock.

"It's nearly time for everyone to get up anyways, we can wake them up early and have a class meeting. Let's go, Young Bakugou." All Might held an arm out for Bakugou, patting his back as he walked over. The boy felt a tremendous amount of emotion wave past him, forming into tears in his eyes. He quickly took an arm and rubbed them away. That fucking Deku was getting to him.

-

All Might and Aizawa had presented the situation to everyone in the common area. The entire class had gathered, either sitting on the sofas or standing. Inko Midoriya was sitting down as well, listening in as she handed the students some orange uice. Bakugou scanned over messy hair and tired faces to see their reactions as the dream was described. His face reddened with embarrassment, as there wasn't any other time a teacher of his would be describing his dream to his fellow classmates. In theory it sounded like a dumb prank, but the severity of the situation was not meant with any laughter or mockery. Those tired eyes amongst the students brightened, fueled by hope.

"So Deku can be saved, he's not forever brainwashed?" Uraraka cried out, her own eyes welling up.

"He wasn't brainwashed, Midoriya described it as memory alteration. Perhaps an illusion-type quirk." Yayoyorozu had interjected while tying up her hair.

"To be trapped inside one's own mind, watching your body act on motives that are not your own… how awful." Tokoyami crossed his arms and furrowed, closing his eyes.

The chattering amongst students began to peak, irritating their sensei. He only allowed it for a while longer, before raising his voice.

"Listen. With this new information we've also discovered that the villains are planning on taking you all down. This won't be the same as the USJ attack, nor the attack during summer training. We're all being targeted. The villains know all of our quirks, and even weaknesses at this point. On top of that, they technically have one of our own as hostage. Even if they plan to use him against us, there's no telling when they'll dispose of Midoriya." The class grew silent.

"It's not easy to say this, but if push comes to shove they'll probably kill Midoriya if they find themselves back in a corner." Aizawa frowned deeply, his hands balling into fists beside him. The atmosphere amongst the students became deadly – fearful.

"That's why we're going to have to train the hardest we've ever had to. I was planning on making you all take the hero license exam so each one of you would be able to use your quirks outside of school, but considering our circumstances it might be too risky to pursue that right now. Once we finish this meeting, we'll have to talk to Principal Nedzu and the police force. It's more than likely that they'll have more guards surrounding us and a tighter schedule. They might even try to convince us to not get involved," A few words of frustration had sprung. "However, I as your class homeroom teacher give you all permission to use your quirks outside of class. I will take full responsibility, even if it costs me my teacher job or hero license."

"But Sensei-" Ashido had started but was met with Aizawa raising a hand.

"In my heart, I believe it is all of you that will rescue Midoriya. The bonds in this class are strong, I have never seen another group of first years that show so much vigor and determination than all of you." Aizawa had closed his eyes, the class stunned.

"With that being said, you all need to put forth more than just your best. Go beyond, plus-"

"PLUS ULTRA!" The class erupted. Even Inko had held a fist up to the sky with determination in her eyes. Aizawa scoffed, smirking gently.

"Right, now you can all return back to-" Aizawa was sudden attacked by a few of his students, all pulling him and All Might into a hug.

"SENSEI! That was so sweet of you!" Hagakure cried out. Other students had piled into the group hug until only Bakugou remained. Even Todoroki had been pulled in by Iida, though it didn't seem like he wanted to pull away at the moment. Bakugou frowned deeply, unsure on how to handle all of this until Sero and Kirishima looked at him.

"C'MERE BAKUGOU!" Sero yelled out, using his tape to pull the boy into the group hug. Kirishima wrangled Bakugou's shoulders with his arm, pulling him into the entire class hug. He grumbled loudly, muttering curses but finally gave him. He held his arms out, placing them on Sero and Kirishima's back as he kept his head low, listening to Aizawa's yells of complains and All Might's laughter.

-

Bakugou had tried sleeping at the same time as the night before in order to meet up with Deku, at least just once more. Maybe he'd have more information about the possible attack, but every time he tried to go to sleep it never came to another meeting. He tried falling asleep at different times but still led to no other meetings. He started to believe that the next time he'd see Deku was during the attack.

The class had been given orders to always stay together, at least in groups of two or three to be safe. Each student had formed their own little buddy systems and began training with each other either during hero practice and even in their own free time. With the warning that the attack was going to try to separate everyone by quirk and weaknesses, the students of Class 1-A had all worked on picking up their endurance as well as figuring out possible counters to any outcome.

It was interesting to see different pairings form as a result. Bakugou saw Asui talking with Todoroki about how she faired in fire, and asked for his help creating a simulation where she would figure out how to work in flames. Aoyama and Uraraka had planned a competition amongst each other to work on their quirk limits. Whoever would get a stomachache/nauseous first would have to make the other person dinner for the day. Students all went to Ojiro for martial arts training, and others went to Yaoyorozu to get her to create some training dummies as well. Even Kaminari had gone to the support class and asked for some tech that could help him regulate the direction of his electricity.

Everyone was working to push their limits, to break their current weaknesses in order to save Izuku Midoriya. Even when the nerd wasn't around, he was still uniting the class in some way or another. The entire class was kicked into gear, training like the attack could happen at any moment – they had to be ready for it.

Bakugou continued to spar with Kirishima, as the latter had confronted him and begged for some one-on-one sparring in order to work on being able to last in a drawn out fight. Of course, Bakugou had no problem using the hardening quirk to his own advantages as well, it was a good pair.

"Better than the Sports Festival fight yeah?" Kirishima grinned, aiming more punches at Bakugou's face. He dodged them quickly, moving to counter with his arms. He tried to land an explosion on Kirishima's side but the other boy hardened his skin so it had no effect.

"Yeah, but you're probably going to last only an extra minute!" Bakugou spun on his heel, kicking up his other leg to land a hit at the side of Kirishima's head. The red-haired boy hardened his face, moving to grip at Bakugou's ankle. Once Bakugou felt the boy's hold, he used his palms to explode himself off the ground, flipping himself over and using the moment of his leg to bring Kirishima up and slammed him to the ground.

Kirishima landed with a grunt, flat on his back. He quickly sat up, holding onto his head before stumbling up. "I'm not down yet!" Bakugou grinned widely, turning around to throw an explosion at him. Kirishima quickly dodged it, bringing his arms up to lock Bakugou's arm. He turned on his heel right after, throwing Bakugou to the side. The blonde quickly readjusted his weight so that he could land on his feet, using a hand to the ground to stop his momentum. He grinned up at Kirishima.

"Guess you went past an extra minute! Let's finish this!" Bakugou charged at Kirishima who in return began running towards Bakugou, yelling out. Before the two could meet in the middle of the sparring field, a loud explosion that was heading their way caught their attention.

"YO LOOK OUT!" Kirishima called out, kicking himself in gear and launched himself to pull Bakugou onto the ground, away from the explosion. The two of them coughed, the dirt from the ground shifting into puffs of brown clouds around them. They quickly got up, readying themselves. Was it the time? Were the villains here?

"KIRISHIMA! BAKUGOU!" Iida ran towards them, an arm up in his signature robotic fashion. "SO SORRY, Yaoyorozu is working on creating new types of cannons and explosions with her quirk! We've also been learning to dodge the speed and I accidentally kicked one of the explosions over here! Is anyone hurt?!"

Bakugou shoved Kirishima off him, standing up and then grabbed the hardened boy by the air and hoisted him onto his feet.

"We're fucking fine, better watch it four eyes, anyone else other than us and we would've been blown up." Bakugou had an ugly look on his face but Kirishima was staring at him with glimmering eyes.

"Oh my god Iida did you hear that? He basically said I was strong!" Kirishima held onto his face, Iida bowing his head deeply.

"AGAIN, apologies!" Iida moved up from his bow and then bowed once more. Then again. Then he got up and left back to the group he was training with.

Bakugou huffed, turning to see Kirishima still oggling at him. "What the fuck do you want hairs-for-brains?!" He screamed, trying to slam his hand against the boy's face to make an explosion. Kirishima ducked, dodging the attack but kept his smiling face of admiration and pride on his face.

"You think I'm getting better?" Kirishima batted his eyelashes. It was met with a huff from Bakugou and his other hand throwing down onto Kirishima's face.

"Of course you idiot! Everyone here's working their asses off, you got me off guard for a second too so I guess you're improving." Bakugou pushed Kirishima's face away from him, shoving his hands into his pockets after.

"Right on! At this rate, we'll get back Midoriya for sure!" Kirishima threw a fist into the air, grinning brightly. Bakugou turned away, but he wasn't angry or upset about Kirishima's exclamation. It was true; the entire Class 1-A was improving themselves at such an incredible speed. Not only had that, but they all done so while bonding. It was true what Aizawa-sensei had said about the class. They were strong but they were strongest together. It was cheesy for sure, Bakugou would never admit it but he felt a part of the class's strength.

The sound of wheels were heard coming towards them. Inko Midoriya had a small trolley of water bottles behind her, but she wasn't pushing it. Instead, she was pulling the trolley with her quirk – even she was working hard to exercise her own powers and exceed past her limits. It didn't seem like she was having too much trouble, but the trolley moved at a slower pace than normal.

"Hi boys, here take some water bottles!" She pulled the water bottles from the trolley towards her, taking ahold of them and handed them to Bakugou and Kirishima.

"Thank you, Mrs. Midoriya!" Kirishima bowed his head and took the water bottle, opening it and began chugging.

Bakugou took the water bottle and nodded at her, feeling a bit relaxed seeing the mother work so hard. He noted that she hadn't cried in a while, not even when they discussed the dream Bakugou had, nor did she ask about it afterwards. Instead, it looked like she was given a new set of motivation and drive, visible physically and through her work ethics.

Inko didn't want to stand aside anymore, not wanting to worry or fret like she had done before. Instead, she sought to be of use to the people that were going to help save her son. Bakugou always knew her as a fiercely protective and loving mother. Whenever he was over at the Midoriya's as a child, she loved to pick up her son and fly him around, showering him with kisses. A mother's love could reach even the stars and was more powerful than any quirk, at least that's what it seemed to Bakugou in that moment. It only strengthened his desire to fulfill the promise he made to her.

Toshinori Yagi walked into the high tech prison hallway with two guards behind him. He had wanted to come sooner, but with the situation happening with Izuku Midoriya and Class 1-A, it was nearly impossible to make time or set aside the emotions that were still reeling inside him. After confiding in Gran Torino, Toshinori felt like he was resolved enough to confront All for One. He had to find out, even if it would be difficult – he needed to know how to save young Midoriya.

He sat in a chair, wearing one of his All Might hero outfits despite the size being too big for his true form. In front of him was a glass wall and beyond that was All for One, strapped against a chair. Next to the chair was tubes and bars that kept him alive. Bright lights illuminated the room, but it felt a lot darker of an atmosphere.

"This place, All Might," One for All began, knowing that the retired hero was sitting in front of him. "It's quite stiff. Let's say I have an itch on my back, if I were to move to scratch it, the guns will point at me. My vitals, my brain waves, all monitored at all times. If you so much as think about activating your quirk, their hands will already be gripped around your throat." Toshinori didn't budge, he didn't care for small talk at the moment.

"They modeled it after a Greek legend, they call it Tartarus. It is the name of the God of Hell. Quite fitting that the fate of those who betray the gods have befallen me."

Toshinori's gaze pierced through the wall, despite the man before him being unable to see.

"What kind of quirk did you use on Young Midoriya?" He wanted to get straight to the point, he wasn't there for idle chit chat.

"Of course you'd be here to ask me that, but what about young Tomura? After all, he is the blood relative of your dear master. My successor, and your's, working in tandem. Quite troubling is it not? I could only imagine how you must be feeling!"

Toshinori kept his composure, even if the villain was the grandson of his master, none of that matter! What was more important was Izuku Midoriya.

"You plan to have your successor kill both the boy and I," Toshinori started, recalling what Gran Torino told him. You are no longer capable of seeing him as a villain. You would be at a complete loss. No matter what his lineage is, at the end of the day he's still a criminal. It was true, he was almost blinded by the fact that he could be harming his master's kin, but everything changed once young Midoriya became involved. Tomura Shigaraki might've been his master's grandson, but he himself had become a mentor to Midoriya and he was first priority. "If that's the case then I hope you enjoy rotting in here for the rest of your life. I will not die. Now I'll ask you again, I came here for the sole purpose of saving Young Midoriya. What did you do to him?"

All for One chuckled. He almost looked like he was grinning behind the bandages. "You've lost, All Might. Even if you survive, that boy will never be the same. I haven't had a proper conversation in years, so I might just indulge you on some hints."

Toshinori frowned.

"We know that you've used a memory altering quirk. Just what did you alter?" He asked, taking a deep breath to keep his composure.

"Ah, so you found out that much? Interesting. I didn't change much actually, you see, children can be quite cruel." All for One chuckled again. "I saw his memories, so I know about how you two met. Did you know, right before then, a certain classmate of his had said some rather harsh things? If it wasn't for that boy, honestly it would've taken me more work to piece together a new path."

Toshinori felt his chest tightened. Was he talking about Young Bakugou?

"I'll keep it simple, that young boy with the explosions had told our little Midoriya to kill himself. I went from there, you already told him that he couldn't be a hero, so I just made it so he did jump. Brilliant isn't it?" Toshinori swallowed hard. He knew that Midoriya and Bakugou had a long rivalry, but to hear exactly what Midoriya had gone through was too much to bear. Children were awful… but Katsuki Bakugou had grown tremendously. He knew that the boy regretted his actions and was working past his limits to save Midoriya.

"It's a simple memory altering quirk I've stolen a long time ago, but that's not the only quirk I used on him." All for One used the information like bait on a string, Toshinori could only listen, wondering if what the villain was saying was false, just a way to get him on the edge of his seat.

"…What is it?" Toshinori gritted his teeth.

"What, no please?" At that, Toshinori got up, moving to leave.

"I don't have time for this, you're bluffing regardless. Have fun rotting in here forever." Before Toshinori could step away, All for One quickly interjected.

"Wait wait! I have more to say!" The villain wanted to get his plan out, he wanted to hear Toshinori's shock. "I'll tell you what it is."

Toshinori turned back around, readying himself.

-

About half the class were sitting in the common rooms, either playing card games or just talking. The other half of the students were in the kitchen grabbing snacks and choosing movies. They all had made a consensus to have a night off of training and have something similar to a movie/game night. Most of the girls had all convinced Satou to bake something for the night, and he presented everyone with a scrumptious sponge cake. Everyone had gotten a piece for the night, and while Bakugou wasn't one to eat sweets, it wasn't half-bad.

Bakugou watched as Todoroki, teamed up with Iida, face off against Denki who was teamed up with Kouda, in a game of charades. Iida's wild hand gestures had confused Icey-Hot, who couldn't decipher which hand movements were a part of the hints and which ones were just Iida being himself. Kouda on the other hand, was pretty good at charades. It was the electric dummy that wasn't able to decipher the well-thought out clues given to him.

Jirou had brought out an acoustic guitar and was showing Tokoyami and Sero the chords to an easy song. She strummed a few of the chords for them, bobbing her head to the tune.

Other classmates were talking and eating cakes, someone had finally decided on what movie for them to watch. Hagakure and Ashido both voted on watching a classic Disney movie and moved to put it in.

Before they could put the movie in, all the lights had gone out. Everyone's first response was to look at Kaminari but once he faced his classmates with a serious face, they all got up. The emergency lights started flashing red against the walls.

"INTRUDERS ON CAMPUS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. INTRUDERS ON CAMPUS."

Iida was the first to raise his arm.

"Class 1-A! We have intruders on the campus and they're most likely the villains! Prepare yourselves, stay in groups!" Iida looked over to his classmates. "First, we need to make sure Mrs. Midoriya is safe!"

Satou and Shouji had both paired up to go check on Inko in her room. The rest of the class headed towards the front to see the commotion that was brought into the U.A campus. Bakugou raced through the gates, stopping when they saw a lone person walking through the pathway, security guard bodies on the floor.

From the looks of it, they were only pinned down and not dead. Despite it being the night time, Bakugou was able to see that the security personnel were all being held down by knives. The class came to a halt, watching as Izuku Midoriya walked towards them, a knife in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"Hm, looks like not everyone's accounted for, but that's fine." Bakugou glared. It seemed like he was right in thinking the next time he'd see Deku was during the attack, and there he was. Before Deku could take another step, Sero and Mineta had moved into action.

Purple orbs were thrown near Deku's feet, causing the villain to move in order to dodge them. Sero had used his tape to catch him as he jumped into the air, wrapping around him tightly and began pulling.

"You're in our territory now! C'mon let's get you back here with us!" Sero yelled out, pulling at his tape.

A warp gate formed behind Deku, absorbing him as the tape began being pulled from inside the warp gate. Sero nearly jerked forwards before Kirishima sliced the tape off him with his hardened skin.

Another warp gate appeared behind the class. Students that were closer to the gate quickly faced it, while the other classmates kept their eyes peeling all around them. The entire class moved closer to each other, getting ready as two more warp gates on each side of the first gate appeared.

Deku emerged out of the middle, his notebook tucked under his arm.

"We might be in your territory now, but I think you'll find that we have the upper hand." Behind him emerged out Tomura Shigaraki, then the villain responsible for the warp gates. Out of the other portals came out various nomus, reaching to at least six in all. Other villains emerged from the warp gate alongside the monsters. The class prepared themselves as the villains approached. They had trained their hardest for this moment.

Bakugou stared down Deku, who in return grinned at him.

"Kacchan, I've been waiting for this for a long time." He started walking towards the class, though his sights were only on Bakugou. Tomura took ahold of his shoulder with a finger up. He whispered something to him, leaving Deku with a frown. Bakugou noticed the clenched fists and the way he receded back behind the villains with the hands.

The nomus charged towards the students as warp portals were being placed around the areas. The villains were planning on splitting everyone up, at least that's what it looked like to Class 1-A. They kept to their assigned pairings and groups, getting ready to face the nomus.

Bakugou kept his sights on Deku, while the other did the same. This was it.

He was going to save Izuku Midoriya.