Chapter 3: It's Not Easy Being Three

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About halfway back to school, Bakugou started really lagging behind. Kirishima slowed down too. Yeah, Bakugou's still got his big kid brain but he's in a very small body and is currently quirkless so literally anyone could just snatch him up. It's a terrifying thought.

"Bakugou, just let me carry you, please?" He begged. Then they could walk way faster and Kiri wouldn't have to worry about something happening to his teeny friend. 

"No!" Bakugou huffed, stumbling some since he'd began to tiredly shuffle instead of properly picking up his feet with each step. He grumbled some curses in frustration. 

"Can you at least just hold my hand?" Kirishima tried to compromise, offering his hand out. Bakugou glared at it for a moment. 

"Fine." He mumbled, taking one of his hands out of his pocket to hold onto Kirishima's. Somehow this almost felt worse. He could really feel the size difference in how tiny his hand was. Like, Kiri's hand engulfed it entirely. This sucks. And it didn't help that he could feel his little legs about to give out at any minute, making him trip over his own feet more. He hasn't even walked that far, how pathetic can he be to already be tired?!

"Fuck." He cursed loudly, tripping again. He would've face planted the concrete if he wasn't holding Kirishima's hand. 

A few shocked people turned when they heard such a word come from a small kid like that. 

Kirishima blushed some at all the sudden attention and just scooped Bakugou up, jogging to catch up with Midoriya and Todoroki. 

"Hey!" Bakugou protested, trying to wriggle down. 

Kirishima sighed, "I'm gonna hand you over to Midoriya if you don't stop." He said, wanting to just hurry up and get to school as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe Recovery Girl can reverse this somehow.

Bakugou stopped resisting and glared at Kirishima. It took everything in his power for Kiri not to smile considering how adorable Bakugou looked with that little angry pout. 

Now that they were able to pick up the pace, they quickly made their way back to UA's campus. Midoriya knocked lightly on the 1A classroom door before entering.

"Um....Aizawa sensei? Something happened while we were out." He started, stepping in and heading over to where their teacher was laying on the floor. 

Aizawa breathed out through his nose and turned over so he could see. He squinted at the boys for a moment before sitting up, inspecting the two small children being held. He'd ask who they were but it was blatantly obvious considering their uncanny hairstyles. And also that angry look on Bakugou's face. Aizawa sighed.

"When I said you were throwing a tantrum like a toddler earlier, I din't expect you to actually come back as one." He stated, unzipping himself from his sleeping back and standing up. Bakugou huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, "So do you guys remember everything?" 

Bakugou and Todoroki nodded, though Todoroki was just kind of twiddling his thumbs and staring at his hands. 

"Whoever did this to them was taken to the hospital." Kirishima explained.

"The EMS gave me this phone number." Midoriya said, handing Aizawa the card. 

"I'll call and see what the situation is. Take them to Recovery Girl in the meantime." Aizawa suggested, setting the card down on the podium. 

Kirishima and Midoriya nodded. 

Aizawa turned his attention to the smaller boys, "And since you two still have your teenage minds and whatnot, I still expect you to participate and pay attention in class. Unless you want to be considered absent." He told them. They both nodded, Todoroki a little more reluctantly.

And so they headed to Recovery Girl's office. 

The checkup and exams didn't take too much time. She took their height and weight, normal doctor stuff. She brought an assistant with a more in-depth body analysis quirk though just to do a few extra tests.

Once it was all done, she looked through her notes with a shrug, "Well, they're perfectly healthy three year olds, I can say that for sure." She began, glancing at the two small boys who were sitting on the edge of the little hospital bed, "Their brains, on the other hand, are a bit of an anomaly. Even though they still have their memories at this time, it seems like that's only temporary. My assistant could already see some sort of 'rejuvenation' process taking place as their minds try to match their physical bodies." She went on. 

Bakugou furrowed his brows, "You can't be fuckin' se'ious." He stated in disbelief. 

Todoroki just blinked. It was honestly kind of unclear if he was paying attention or not. That is, until we spoke, "Are we.....stuck?" He asked slowly, staring down at the floor tiles. 

Recovery Girl took a breath, "It depends. We can't know until we talk to the quirk user." She answered, shrugging. 

Todoroki furrowed his brows. He didn't want to be stuck like this. He doesn't want to have to live twelve years of his life over. Just the thought of all the shit he had to endure made his chest burn. And that wasn't his quirk. An overwhelming sense of dread started looming over him. He's going to lose all his memories and then probably have to relive his life under the supervision of his father. Again. And what if it's worse this time? With his older siblings gown and out living their own lives, nobody will be there to protect him from his father. Todoroki started sniffling, hands clenched into tight fists. He began biting his lip as his thoughts continued to race and he continued to seemingly imploded into himself. Everything has just been building up and wants to get out

Midoriya gasped when he noticed Todoroki start to spiral, quickly rushing over and picking him up. 

Bakugou just stared in annoyed disbelief. Like, yeah, he's pissed about this too, but he's not gonna have a meltdown about it. Yet, that is. 

Midoriya stepped out into the hallway and held Todoroki tight. He doesn't think he's ever seen Todoroki cry. Or really show much of any strong emotion. The guy just probably learned to manage all that but Midoriya guesses that this little body isn't as good at holding in all those big emotions. 

He started rubbing little circles into Todoroki's back and bouncing him some. He didn't exactly know how to do any of this but he's seen people do this stuff to calm kids down. But it didn't seem to be working all too well. Todoroki started hyperventilating and shivering, tears rolling down his face. 

"Todoroki, please calm down, it's okay." Midoriya said softly, hugging onto the small child tighter. Not like, tight enough to hurt him, but like, come on, those tight hugs are the best and that's Midoriya's only plan right now. 

Luckily, this strategy was seemingly successful because Todoroki managed to stop shaking and was just sobbing quietly with his face buried in Midoriya's shirt. Midoriya's definitely gonna have to send his suit to get cleaned after all the tears and snot he's gonna have on it after this. 

"S-so-sorry." Todoroki coughed out, his voice muffled. Midoriya rubbed his back some.

"It's okay, I know this sucks, but I'm here to help, okay? You can cry all you need." He assured him. Todoroki just weakly nodded, already ready to start crying again from his shame and embarrassment of his reaction.

He should be strong. But that's very hard when you're barely three feet tall. 

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