Ketsurui

Bakugou and Aizawa raced through the hallway, thunder echoing throughout the building and melding with their footsteps. The exit was just up ahead on the left. Luckily Aizawa had already cleared a path, and they came across no villains on the way out. They were all either outside looking, inside helping the injured... or not breathing. Bakugou carried Anzu out bridal style, still clinging to a tendon of hope that was on the verge of snapping.

Aizawa jumped into the driver's seat, starting the ignition immediately, and punching the gas. Bakugou's adrenaline seemed to be in perfect harmony with the suspenseful rain, keeping him alert and his heart beating. He jumped into the car just in time, slamming the door right before it hit a tree on a hard left turn. Aizawa reached over to the passenger's seat and threw something at him. He caught it with one hand, shocked at how soft it felt.

"Use it to dry off. It's going to get cold soon, so do everything you can to keep her body heat up." Aizawa took another turn, breaking away from the distant forest, his car light's cutting through the thickness of the rain soaked night.

"What do you mean it's going to get cold soon? It's the middle of the night, how much colder can it get?" Bakugou said, using the blanket to wipe the blood and rain droplets from her face. He sunk his hands, covered in dried blood into the blanket, feeling a bit guilty for staining the soft cotton with something so dirty.

"We're going far away from here. Back to the mountains." He said, bracing for Bakugou's outburst.

"We're what!? Hell no! Are you crazy!? We need to go to a hospital!" He said, fighting the urge to jump from his seat. Aizawa sighed, his hair flaring up a bit and forcing down the redness that seemed to want to creep into his eyes.

"Will you just shut up and just listen for once!? If we go to a hospital now she's going to be locked up for the rest of her life! Do you really want that for her!? We need to go somewhere until the situation is resolved. I have enough medical training to get by." He finished, clearing his throat and continuing to drive.

"But why the mountains?" He pushed, loosing his own thoughts in staring out the window, still fuming but swallowing it.

"No one will think to look for us. I'll explain on the ride there. For now... just focus on her." He said, staring at them in the rear-view mirror.

"1-A Will be worried. Hell... My parents... They'll think I'm dead." He had a tint of smile to his voice, ironic and rueful as it was.

"If you want I can drop you off at home. I'll take Anzu up by myself. She's my responsibility any-"

"NO! Just.... shut up and drive old man." He said, breaking eye contact with him in the mirror. He pulled Anzu into him, wrapping the blanket around her to the best of his ability, warming up his hands just enough so that they wouldn't burn, but they would keep her warm. We twisted a lock of her hair between his thumb and finger. Stared at her, utterly conflicted. He thought it would be over. How many times was his hope going to be ripped from him with such force? A lump rose in his throat, but he couldn't get upset now. Not with Aizawa so close.

"I'm going to stop at a store to get some medical supplies and food. Is there anything you need?" Aizawa turned into the closest gas station, shutting off the ignition and lights. Looking in the back seat to find Bakugou's attention elsewhere.

"Yeah. Pick up some clothes for the both of us. Our suits can't be fixed." He trailed off, and Aizawa decided not to ask any further. Bakugou felt the lurch in his stomach when the car door shut. And he was alone again. But not alone like last time, not alone with her. Just alone, like always. He let go of the lock of hair he had been twirling and rubbed a spec of dirt from her cheek. He took in a deep breath, stretching his arms and back, relieving the soreness and tension that had been there for so long. Twenty minutes ago everything was so loud it hurt. Now all he could hear was silence, leaking through the cracks in the car door. His breathing a nuisance in the peaceful fog that had settled over the area. The mountains huh? My mother's gonna kick my ass when I get back. Old hag deserves it for worrying so much. Doesn't matter though. I hate to make her upset. Bakugou looked downwards, feeling the peace around him, and finally giving in. She'll understand. I can't leave Anzu now... not after I made this naive little shit my own responsibility. Bakugou rested his hands on her wrist again. Her pulse was... Slow, but there. He honestly had plenty of doubts that Aizawa knew what to do. How does one treat a stab wound without extreme medical procedures? Bakugou got lost in his own thoughts, staring at his wounded ally that was... somehow no longer just an ally.

Bakugou sighed, pressing the 'unlock' button as Aizawa walked back in, chucking a bag at Bakugou and slouching back into the driver's seat.

"There should be enough in there to last three weeks tops, if we're careful. Dig around in there and find the medical cotton sheets. I'll instruct you from there." He said, taking a sip of the coffee he just bought and handing Bakugou a separate one. He felt the warmth radiating from the mug on his finger tips, fighting off the chill biting at his hands from the night air. He turned the label around to see the words 'Decaf' written in pretty font. "I got it decaffeinated. I need you to get some sleep and restore your energy, because when we get there I'm counting on you to do a lot of heavy lifting." He said, his expression blurred out in the bright lights gleaming off of the gas station. Bakugou scowled at the thought, but though he fought it... sleep didn't sound too bad of an idea. He then looked at Anzu and doubt slowly funneled into his thoughts. Every time he shut his eyes, even for a moment, he could picture all sorts of things. What if I wake up and her pulse is gone? What if I wake up, and she already bled out? What if I wake up and I'm still in that janitor's closet with my... whatever she was... dead in my arms? Bakugou swallowed a sip of his coffee, hoping for it to drown out the thoughts but it didn't do very much. "Your worried right?... Don't be. They put me through a medical training course when I was younger. My memory might be foggy, but from what I can see, the location of the stab wound was either really lucky or intentional. Something tells me that the villains were briefed that no matter what, they were not to kill her. In the end it seemed to save her life. Anywhere else and she sure as hell wouldn't be breathing right now." Aizawa started the car again and Bakugou removed the white gauze from the bag. There were some other things like disinfectants and pain killers, but mostly just a lot of gauze. One thing was evident... They were going to be gone for a really long time.

With the guide of Aizawa, Bakugou less than successfully tended to Anzu's injuries. It wasn't the best, but it would hold until they got there. Bakugou in the end, struggled to keep his eyes open and took Aizawa's advice. He laid down in the back seat, letting Anzu rest on top of him. It wasn't the most comfortable situation in the world but it would suffice. Unfortunately... it's difficult to sleep when you won't close you eyes. Every time he saw something different. Kirishima, blaming him for her death. His mother... dissapointed. Most of all... coming home at five o'clock, and just sitting there, with no one to talk to. Training alone. He would miss watching movies with someone that wasn't a disruption through the entire thing. He would miss someone happy to see him when he came home. Someone that enjoyed his presence not because he was smart, or strong. Bakugou pinched his nasal cavity as he got a headache from thinking so hard. He didn't have enough energy. Eventually, sleep began to tug at his eyes and no matter what he saw it didn't even resonate. He was too tired to think or understand. He finally was able to shut his eyes, slightly reassured by the rising and falling of her chest. He wrapped his arms around her, grabbing her hand out of Aizawa's line of sight. Trying not to flinch when he was shocked by it's icy temperature. So cold. That was all he felt. So cold as the ceiling faded and a nightmare crept into his mind.

The car jumped on a pebble, shaking Bakugou out of a restless sleep. He snapped his eyes open, feeling a cold bead of sweat fall down his forehead. He struggled to make his breathing sound normal, as he fumbled to find Anzu's wrist. He had to make sure. Had to know, right then...right there. He felt the trapped air finally escape his lungs when the steady beating was still there. Bakugou's mind was running a million miles a minute, trying to make sense of where he was. He hadn't even realized, but he was jumped into a sitting position, he now sat there, his back on fire. Trying not to think about the numbing pain creeping along his spine. It was like he was getting burned all over again. Apparently the wound glued to the seat when he was sleeping, and when re ripped it up, he re-opened the injury once again. It was just as painful as the original burn. He sucked in air through his teeth, hoping Aizawa wouldn't notice the hell he felt he was in.

"There's some burn medicine in the bag. I would use it before that gets worse." Aizawa didn't bother to turn around or look in the mirror. Bakugou felt the hair on the back of his neck rise like a cat and frustration boiled up in him. He snatched the bag with a scowl, starring daggers at him. Hoping the sheer hatred of his glare would somehow reach Aizawa without his needing to see. When that didn't work, he simply moved his attention to the bag, removing the pain killers and burn medicine. He applied it as evenly as possible, but seeing as he couldn't reach all of it, there were still spots all over that stung like hell. On the other half, the freezing gel melded with the cooling air forcing half of him into a shiver, and leaving the rest on fire. None the less Bakugou, shut the lid and tried to just sit still, even though the shivering was getting worse. It was odd, and he was sure now it wasn't normal. He had a feeling that it wasn't just the burn relief and cold. He rarely felt cold because his blood ran so thick... but now he felt frozen to the core and it was almost painful. All he wanted was for it to end, so he could think clearly but everything seemed so fuzzy. Nonetheless, he could still think well enough.

"If you're awake... I should probably tell you what's really going on here. The locations still about four hours away, so I guess now's as good a time as ever." He said, turning up the car heat without Bakugou noticing. Aizawa knew it would set Bakugou off if he found out he knew how sick he looked. Aizawa had a feeling those were third degree burns and a pretty nasty fever was going to follow it. When he was at the store he made sure to pick up items for that too.

"What do you mean by 'what's really going on here'?" Bakugou asked, forcing himself to sit still even though his muscles seemed to keep twitching.

"Just listen. So I assume that you're aware of Anzu's relationship to Albino Cross correct?" Bakugou nodded his head yes. "All of the information I'm about to share is confidential. If you say anything, I'll expel you immediately." Something about Aizawa's tone wasn't just a threat, but a promise. " We found Ketsurui, you know her as Anzu, at age eight. Despite what she thinks, she never grew up in that white room. As a kid she was freakishly smart. Her mother past on her quirk, Roma. A highly technical quirk that can think of the perfect battle strategy on the spot. The woman had a disgustingly good way with words and was highly respected everywhere. It also came with savant level intelligence. On her father's side... she received Cross Nerve. A quirk that was supposed to work like her fathers. In the end it was ten times more powerfu-" Aizawa was cut off.

"Woah! Woah! Hold on there old man. Okay so you're saying she had a child hood till age nine!? And repeat her real name again." Bakugou said, fumbling for words. He had just learned about her past... now he was finding out that is was all another lie!? He shook his head, trying to make sense on it all. Trying not to feel a bit bitter. She had a different name... different life... A sharp pain crept it's way into the back of his head.

"Her name was Ketsurui. Anyway... She wound up being much more powerful and intelligent than her father. I'm sure you noticed that she can fight in ways you never taught her. She had a fighting style even before you trained her right?"

"Yeah. It was fucking weird." Bakugou said, still trying to sound cool to recover from his moment of confusion.

"We don't know everything about her past. When we found her... she had no memories of her old self. There was a... crime scene per say when we first gained custody of her. She was completely alone, except her father was next to her. He was dead for a long time, and someone we assumed to be her had... uhhh... removed his eyes from their sockets. We thought she was insane, absolutely crazy, but then we saw a video tape of what happened. In fact... we saw a lot of video tapes. Her father had been harshly training her with a certain amount of cruelty that was surprising, even for a villain. To the point that when we gave a blood test she had become anemic due to using her quirk so much. Her father was slick and powerful, had a good way with words, but one thing about him was that he was very feeble. The reason the quirk makes you cry blood is because it's damaging your own nerves as you use it. Not enough to cause death, but a lot of other dangerous symptoms can come from it. The reason I know so much... is because I was working as a spy for the USJ Board." Aizawa paused as Bakugou coughed up his drink."

"You knew her when she was a kid!? What kind of fuckery is this!?" Aizawa rolled his eyes and continued his rant.

"All might was always assigned All for One. My villain... no matter what I did, or how hard I fought, Albino Cross always came back. Anyway... I noticed that Kets- I mean Anzu was always different around her father... She was cold, and submissive. The second he gave the order she'd blink and his opponent would die. I could feel it when I met her though... it was like she wasn't supposed to be there. She did her job so well... yet somehow I still knew that she had an inkling of remorse somewhere in there. So I tried to see her whenever I could, tried to convert her to my side. She never talked, and always smiled and nodded but didn't change. I assumed she was too little to understand... but I wound up being very wrong. She didn't want to listen, but she was also taking in all the information I shared. Eventually I noticed every time I saw her she got very skittish, wouldn't let me look at her, and gave me warning glances every time I got near her father. Then she just stopped coming all together. That's when I realized she was silently warning me that my cover was blown. After that... I left to avoid being captured. I didn't know what happened after that... but soon after I left.. I was arriving back at the crime seen, only to see her drenched in blood with a giant slit through her left eye. Completely memory-less. Luckily, she was smarter than most and left a final logue to tell us what happened. It was the first time I heard her voice, so it was very quiet, but what she told me shocked me half to death. Apparently her father had killed her mother in a blind rage. She said in the logue that he threatened her next... unfortunately for him she figured out a secret about the quirk they shared. When the eye glows red, it either feeds off the fear of others, or the fear of the user. Her father was absolutely terrified of Anzu. She was much stronger and posed a threat larger than he could've though possible. So when he killed her mother, and threatened to kill her next, she simply took the dominance. Threatened him, backed him into a corner, took control down to the very last breath. Cross wasn't as smart as his wife or daughter... but he always had a way of leaving a final pin wherever he went. As he died, he tried to shut off her brain, but ran out of time. So instead, he opted for the memory. He shut off the nerve 'permanently', but the process was a bit slower than he anticipated. When she finally beat him, and... removed the problem, she took a video recording to tell the people when they found her what happened. Who she was. What she wanted... and what she wanted... was to be locked up where no one would think about her ever again. Well... more accurately she wanted to continue her life in secrecy, but we didn't trust her. So this seemed to be the best solution. As her memories faded, we replaced them with false ones. Every time she said she couldn't remember, we'd tell her a false answer. The issue is... we thought Cross's quirk was permanent. Turns out it's only Anzu's quirk that works that way. Slowly, even though most don't notice it... she's getting her memories back. So I suggested, rather than sit here and wait for her to get her memories back, break out of her cell, and begin to homicide, we take her out and give her a personality to counteract the bad one. I'd say so far... it's been working. Now don't get me wrong... I knew Anzu had something good in her... but it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped. Her past self was... less than anything she is now. To be honest I'm worried. Now that they know Anzu has murdered like her old days... I can't protect her anymore. I came here as a last minute decision... fuck I don't even know what to do." He finally finished, spreading his fingers through his ebony hair. It was a long story, lasting about an hour. When Aizawa finished, Bakugou just stared blankly at the building white blanket outside. The cold beginning to really jump into his core. He found himself staring at her the whole time... thinking the strangest thoughts. Ketsurui... doesn't suit her. She could never be a villain. What part of this innocent ass chick could kill someone intentionally? After all the lies the school tells it's very possible Aizawa's lying too. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" Bakugou asked, his red eyes gleaming into Aizawa's back. They were challenging him.

"Well... don't do it too much... but... when she wakes up, call her Ketsurui. She'll respond to it. I've done it by accident on multiple occasions and she didn't even notice." Aizawa muttered, a smile of irony plastered on his face. Tension and cold began to build in the room, blocking out everything but the howling, blizzard wind outside.

"So what does this mean? Why are you telling me this?" Bakugou said, one of his eyes growing blurrier than the other, trying to adjust to his flashing temperatures that still raged a full on war inside of him. He still didn't know if he liked Aizawa's answer to whether he was telling the truth or not.

"I'm not as dense as you hope. I know something went on in there and I'm not going to ask what. All I know is that if anything, your the only key to keep her from reverting back... When the time comes." Aizawa turned behind the seat and chucked hand warmers at him, as well as a granola bar. He could see the streaks where tears had cleared away the dirt and blood. For the life of him he couldn't think of Bakugou crying. It was almost an impossible idea. "Eat something and get some sleep. You look pale as hell. Also, use those hand warmers for Anzu. We're really close and the temperatures already begging to drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. (-6.67 In Celsius). So don't be stupid and let her freeze to death." He said, facing back around and maintaining control on the growing icy road.

"I don't look fucking pale. I'm fine." He hissed under his breath, Aizawa wasn't meant to hear, but something told Bakugou he did anyway. He then looked at Anzu... No Ketsurui? I don't know what to call her anymore. He thought, opening the granola bar, feeling it fall into his empty stomach and feeling more sick than before. He was hungry, but he worried if he ate he would throw up. Instead he left it on the side and opened up the hand warmers, shaking them to get the reaction going. He then stuffed them in her boots and sleeves. Frostbite was the last thing any of them needed. She looks so damn pitiful like this. I told her not to worry. I told myself I wouldn't let anything like this happen. How the hell do I expect to become a hero when I can't save one person. So much had happened. So much information so quickly... he wondered if he was still just stuck in an elaborate dream. Somehow the snow whipping past the car window failed to seem real. Like he was in one big simulation, and if he reached out... Anzu wouldn't be there. But it would be his Anzu. Not the villain Anzu. Not the one that in another life, he may have ended up sending to jail. Not the murderer. Only his Anzu. Only mine. He thought, slightly reassured as he turned the words over in his mind. He then settled back into the back seat, pulling her in close again, a bit satisfied when though it was little, she still gave a bit of heat in return. He knew when he woke up... there would be a lot of shit to get done. For now all that mattered was to rest. Rest and forget about Ketsurui and Albino Cross. Rest with Anzu, and let the hot and cold cycles sink away. When the sun finally came up, drifting over the frozen mountains, Aizawa continued to drive while Bakugou held Anzu tight in the back of the car. It was odd. Never in all his life had he thought his most troublesome student, and a girl he had given up on a long time ago would grow so close. He smiled to himself. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he knew at that moment, where Bakugou stood. He couldn't be happier for them. After all... it was about damn time.