Bakugou was lost.
It wasn't his fault.
It wasn't.
He had only wanted to go home. That was it. But anger had a way of pulling him by the collar, of blinding him just long enough for the world to twist sideways. Streets grew narrower. The lights dimmer. The air heavier. Somewhere along the way, he realized he'd ended up in the worst part of town.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue. "Stupid Deku. Stupid extras."
The words were sharp, familiar. Comforting, even.
Then—
BOOM.
The explosion rattled the pavement beneath his feet. Bakugou snapped his head up just in time to see people sprinting past him, faces pale, eyes wide with terror.
Running away from where he was headed.
"…Shit."
He turned on his heel.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," he muttered, forcing his feet to move. He wasn't scared. He wasn't. Fear was weakness. And Bakugou Katsuki didn't lose.
Didn't panic.
Didn't—
"AHHHH!"
"SAVE ME!"
"HELP —!"
The screaming tore through him, sharp and overlapping. Too loud. Too close. His chest tightened. His eyes widened.
Was this—
Was he caught in a villain attack?
He glanced over his shoulder.
He shouldn't have.
A blur of motion. A flash of light. Something whistled past him—
—and slammed into the people beside him.
Bakugou staggered back.
Silence.
The bodies hit the ground a second later.
They weren't moving.
They weren't—
His stomach lurched.
"…They're dead," he whispered.
No. No, no, no—
He twists on his heel into a narrow alleyway and ran.
He just had to go home. That was it. Just go home. His mom would be pissed, yelling about dinner getting cold and—
ring.
Bakugou froze.
"…What?"
ring.
The sound was wrong. Too clean. Too deliberate.
He looked down.
A black flip phone sat on the pavement, pristine, untouched by dust or debris. It rang again.
ring.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
He doesn't know why he did it. If he could go back and change anything, anything at all, he would pick this moment.
He picked it up,
...flipping it open. The screen flickered. Letters crawled across it, rearranging themselves like they couldn't decide what they wanted to be.
"Tal… io… r… a…?"
The name made his skin crawl.
Against his better judgment, he answered.
click.
"Yo," an old man's voice barked through the speaker. "You done ignoring me, Tango?"
Bakugou scowled. '…Who?'
"Seriously, you better not be screwing around. You made it to the drop-off, right? I didn't bust my ass lining this up just for you to slack."
Drop-off? Job?
"…The least you can do is show up and finish it."
Bakugou stayed silent.
"…Heh. Playing the quiet game again?"
Something about this felt wrong. Deeply wrong. His instincts screamed at him to hang up—to throw the phone and bolt.
"…S'fine," the man sighed. "I'll just tap into the camera feed like usual."
Bakugou stiffened.
Camera—
A faint click sounded behind him.
He turned.
A red dot stared back at him from the wall.
'…Uh oh.'
"Let's see…" the man hummed. "Ah. There you are. XXXX Beika Street. Now if I just pull you up—"
Pause.
"…Huh."
Another pause.
"…You're not Tango."
The line went dead.
— — —
"Sir," a woman's voice said nervously. "There's been a spike in villain activity near Beika Street. A hero's already engaging—property damage is extensive."
Tsukauchi sighed, rubbing his temple. "Please don't tell me it's Endeavor."
"TSUKAUCHI-SAN!"
He looked up.
Sansa stood in the doorway, pale, holding a phone with both hands. Everyone in the meeting room stared at him.
"You told me to bring this to you if anyone ever dialed it." He said sheepishly.
Tsukauchi's breath caught.
Slowly, he took the phone.
The caller ID was obscured beneath his thumb.
"…Hello?"
Silence.
Then—
Tsukauchi's eyes widened.
"Oh no."
— — —
Bakugou was smart.
People forgot that. Or maybe they never noticed it beneath the shouting and explosions. But he had instincts. Sharp ones. Survival instincts.
Which was why he ran.
He dropped the phone—
—but not before a sharp shock tore through his hand.
His ears rang violently.
"Tch—!"
He didn't stop to think. Didn't look back. He ran all the way home, heart hammering, lungs burning.
Creepy old man. Creepy phone.
He'd tell his mom. She'd call the cops. They'd throw the bastard in jail.
Easy.
By the end of the week, Bakugou forgot all about it.
He never told his mom.
He never told anyone.
— — —
Walking home with extras always put him on edge.
They talked too much. Breathed too loud. Existed wrong.
Normally he'd yell. Threaten. Blow something up.
But lately, something felt off.
Like eyes on his back.
He told himself to ignore it.
Then a man bumped into him.
"Ah—sorry about that," the man said kindly, steadying him with a warm grip. He smiled. Fatherly. Safe.
Bakugou grabbed the offered hand.
And the world vanished.
Everything distorted around him and it began from the man's hand in his.
Bakugou noticed the faint outline of a phone.
Dread.
The man's smile disappeared.
The street disappeared.
Everyone disappeared.
"What the—"
Steel flashed.
Bakugou barely jumped back in time as a blade cut through the air where his head had been.
The man moved again.
Bakugou ran.
He kept to the small enclosed areas.
He didn't know how long he ran. His legs screamed. His vision blurred. His lungs burned like fire.
Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't—
He heard something.
"..."
Something rang.
"…H-huh…?"
A familiar sound.
Tunring the corner, he saw a flip phone lay ahead of him, identical to the last. Waiting.
ring.
He limped toward it.
ring.
He picked it up.
ring-
"Hello," he rasped.
"You have two choices," a young girl said calmly.
Her voice was steady. Cold. Strangely comforting.
"Choice one: repeat the oath after me. Do so, and you will belong to us. You will never leave."
"What the hell are you talking about—"
"Quiet. I am not finished."
Bakugou grit his teeth. "…Fine."
"Choice two is simpler," she continued. "You die."
"EH?! YOU CAN'T JUST—"
"Bakugou-chi," she said softly.
His blood ran cold.
Footsteps echoed nearby.
"Choice one," she asked again. "Or two?"
Bakugou swallowed. He knew if he didn't choose he was going to die.
"…O-one."
"Repeat after me. I know it will sound quite... cringey. Please do excuse me. I did not come up wi-"
"JUST SAY IT! GO ALREADY!" Bakugou could hear the footsteps growing closer. He limped with his broken leg backward but his strength left him.
He collapsed.
The girl audibly sighed and murmured something under her breathe. Bakugou straightened up when she began to speak.
"I surrender my name, my past, my witness."
"I will act unseen, unheard, unremembered."
"My hands are not mine. My victories are not mine."
The man spotted him.
Bakugou sped up through the words.
"I surrender my life, untold."
"HURRY UP! HURRYYYY!!"
"If I speak, I fracture."
"I told you that I did not come up with it."
"If I betray, I cease."
He drew his sword up and sprinted foward.
Bakugou squeezed his eyes shut.
"From this moment, I am a tribute—!"
...
Silence.
Bakugou tentatively opened an eye, followed quickly by the other.
The tip of a blade resting mere centimeters from his face.