Ashes, Ashes

[4]

   The students are left in the dorms for the day for security reasons.  Bakugo sits among the small group– a measly eight heroes-in-training gathered around (some heroes we are, sitting here Bakugo fumes, still shaken by Midoriya's... disintegration).  Bakugo decides that anything to do with ash and dust are now going to face his wrath for the foreseeable future. It's not fucking fair! the blond screams in his mind. He feels betrayed by what he felt was a truce between him and Midoriya. And for the green-haired boy to just... poof? Gone? How can I be Number 1 if I can't fight to get there?!

   "I guess this whole situation just hasn't... sunk in, yet."  Ashido speaks up, sitting on one of the long couches with her legs curled up against her chest.  Everyone is gathered in the lounge, occupying the two long couches across a coffee table from each other and two armchairs on the table's short ends.  Jiro sits beside Ashido, sitting cross-legged while Hagakure's form flanks Ashido's other side.  The invisible girl is marked by her floating tank-top and running shorts, seemingly sitting with one leg propped up and the other resting on the ground.  Tsuyu sits on Jiro's left, a boneless mass sinking into the couch's material.  Todoroki rests independently on one end of a chairs across the table from Bakugo's own seat, adjacent to the two long couches on their left and right.  On the other, longer couch across the small coffee table from the girls, sits Shoji, perching on the arm of the couch, and Kaminari, who is leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees, fingers steepled together and forehead resting gently against his fingertips.  In response to Ashido's quiet admittance, Kaminari lifts his head and gives her an uncharacteristically serious look, sadness in his eyes. Bakugo chooses not to dwell on how dark Kaminari's eye color appears to be– a sure testament to how deep his feeling of despair stretches.

   "Yeah, it's just so much to take in...  I mean, with K-Kirishima, and Iida, and Yaoyorozu, and Midoriya– ... gone," a few of the students wince at Kaminari's choice of honest wording, "how are we just supposed to... pull through?  I mean, Iida always makes an effort to keep order, and Kirishima and Midoriya are always encouraging, a-and–"

   "Why are you talking as if they're already dead?"  Todoroki cuts in, his voice neutral.  He doesn't have much hope for the fate of his classmates other than whatever Aizawa and All Might will learn, but Todoroki thinks some of his classmates think the same. Just as in the past, he keeps his anger and confusion locked away in the farthest reaches of his mind. If anyone notices the temperature drop in any room he occupies, then no one says anything. Bakugo doesn't even flinch at his wording, feeling anger swell in his chest.

"Because we don't know what happened!" Jiro snaps, her ear jacks hovering defensively in the air. "Bakugo said that Midoriya just disintegrated, what's up with that?!"

"I'll tell you 'what's up with that'." Bakugo growls, his palms sparking. "Whenever we get Deku back from wherever the fuck he went I'm gonna pound his ass for whatever the fuck he did to disappear in the first place!" Bakugo feels rather than sees Todoroki shoot him a warning look, but the blond doesn't even spare him a glance– instead, Bakugo merely sinks back into his couch with a loud growl. None bother to confront the boy for fear of invoking his already delicately concealed wrath. Even Bakugo acknowledges that, at any moment, he could snap. Although, to be quite frank, he really doesn't care about the consequences of his actions at the moment.

"Okay, but let's think about this rationally for a second." Shoji grabs the attention of all the occupants in the room as he leans forward. "This is something that happened out of the blue, completely unexpected. The Heroes obviously weren't prepared for any sort of attack like this, judging by what Bakugo said of All Might's reaction to Midoriya's disappearance."

"A-and since that's the case," Hagakure contributes, her voice wavering, "then none of the Villains in Japan could have planned it, right?"

"Assuming something this big could have been kept quiet in the first place, kero." Tsuyu says, sitting up and showing her interest in where the conversation is going. Although Bakugo can clearly see where they are heading, he doesn't pitch in nor does he look at anyone– he keeps his gaze trained on his hands, fighting to keep his emotions under control. He rubs his palms roughly against the fabric of his pants, reigning in his desire to just blow everything up.

"Yes," Todoroki says, a contemplative look flashing across his face, "and since the Heroes never caught wind of this scheme, they didn't know what to look for when interrogating any captured villains, as well."

"So could that mean this entire thing came from somewhere else?" Ashido asks, her voice more curious than sad now. Bakugo spares her a withering glance.

"Where the fuck else could it have come from? I don't care how good those shitty villains are, they'd crack under pressure and spill everything in prison if the Heroes were looking for something or not." The blond curls his hands in his lap, feeling the overwhelming urge to punch something fester beneath his skin. Todoroki fixes a blank gaze on him, and Bakugo tenses, ready for a fight. "The fuck you lookin' at, Half-n-Half?!" Todoroki merely shrugs, his gaze flickering around the room. Bakugo fumes quietly.

"I dunno, that sounds like an interesting thought, but from what you describe happened to Midoriya, doesn't it sound like that villain's Quirk? Shigaraki Tomura?" Jiro asks suddenly, causing Bakugo to growl under his breath. Why I outta rip that guy to shr–

"Unless its a long range attack using his Quirk?" Kaminari supplies, eyes lighting up at the solid idea. Bakugo shoots him an odd look at the weird excitement in his tone. "That makes sense!"

"It could be possible," Todoroki says as he folds his hands in his lap, "Quirks can be used for a variety of both close and long range attacks. The other problem with that is, from what we know about him, his Quirk only works if he makes direct contact with his victim."

"So, unless the League of Villains somehow got a genius inventor that allows Shigaraki to take out multiple people at once, that idea's a no-go." Ashido says, disgust evident on her face. She slumps into Jiro, sighing loudly. No one has the heart to say anything else, not having the energy to distract themselves from the unknowing reality of their lives from that moment forward.

As the room descends into quiet, Bakugo grinds his teeth, fed up with the sickening atmosphere in the group. He jumps to his feet, mindless of the gazes of his classmates on his form as he turns and storms off. He wants desperately to let off steam, and so he blindly navigates to the gym, his palms beginning to spark and sizzle as his control loses its grip. He growls as he stalks around the dorms, glaring at the sunlight streaming through the enormous windows.

Why the fuck is everything so bright when Deku's gone? Possibly... forever?