My Savior

"Nine children between the ages of eight and ten were killed in the villain attack." The new reporter said on the loud T.V. in Bakugo's hospital room. "Sixteen were injured, but they're going to pull through. Seven hundred and six students were rescued successfully with no injury."

Bakugo leaned back and closed his eyes. Nine children died. He was sure he was with two of them when they died when the bomb went off that took him out. Those kids saw him coming and thought they would be safe.

That wasn't the outcome.

"Pro Hero Dynamight did the majority of the work when it came to evacuating. The rest of the heroes didn't show up until it was almost too late," her partner added.

"Even though Dynamight did his best, he has been getting some serious backlash about not making sure every child was safe." She started another sentence, but the T.V. was turned off quickly.

"They need to understand that heroes are still human. We only have so much stamina and so much fight in us. Tearing us down further when we're down doesn't do any damn good." Bakugo opened his eyes and saw Kirishima and Sero standing in the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Bakugo replied. He had four broken ribs, a broken arm, and several broken fingers. His right side got hit worse than his left. "Why are you here?"

"We just wanted to come to check on you," Sero shrugged. "Everyone was worried. You pushed yourself too far."

"Not far enough," Bakugo scoffed. "There are dead kids."

"Because the rest of us weren't fast enough." The blond said nothing else before closing his eyes and rolling over. He didn't care what they had to say. Nobody was going to change his mind.

Those nine kids were dead because of him.

Because he couldn't push past his limits. He only had one more hallway to go, and he couldn't fucking do it.
Sero and Kirishima sat on the couch in his hospital room, but he didn't pay any attention to them. He tuned their conversation out as he closed his eyes, thinking back to the school.

He thought to the kids that didn't make it through the bomb explosion. He heard their cries. He heard their screams. He saw the blood and could swear he still smelled the burning flesh.

"Bakubro?" Bakugo jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

That was a stupid question. Tears rolled down his face as he lay in a hospital bed with several broken bones. He just had the worst mission of his life. Why the hell would he be okay?

"Can you guys leave?" Bakugo asked. He didn't want anyone around him right now. He wanted to lay in silence and process everything that happened.

Kirishima frowned. "Yeah, but call us later. Okay?"

Bakugo didn't say anything.

Kirishima and Sero shared a concerned glance, but they chose not to say anything else. They left his room quietly, leaving their friend to sulk alone.

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He saved my son, but he didn't save my daughter. He decided that one of my children was more important than the other. He should have been faster! He should have been able to save more! He's in the top twenty heroes, for crying out loud! He should have been more capable.

Bakugo knew it was a bad idea, but he continued to the comments anyway.

He saved so many kids and almost lost his life. Give him a break! Heroes are human, too! They're not invincible.

If the other heroes had gotten there sooner, everyone would have had a better chance at survival.

My son died there, and I'll never be able to trust another hero again.

Bakugo continued scrolling. Most comments supported him and the rest of the heroes. However, there were still the people who were devastated. The parents who lost their kids. The kids who lost their siblings.

They had every right to be upset and hate the world. Bakugo understood that. He just wished they would understand that he did try his best. His best just wasn't good enough this time.

Heroes can't be there twenty-four-seven. They can't save everyone. Bakugo knew that. He understood that. And yet, he couldn't stop the bile that made its way up his throat. He grabbed the bucket next to him and dry-heaved. He hadn't eaten anything in over a day, so he had nothing in his stomach to throw up.

When he closed his eyes, he saw the young boy again—one of the few he couldn't save. Tears rolled down his face as he continued to dry-heave into the bucket.

He hit the call button quickly.

It took less than a minute for a nurse to run in with a worried look.

"Sir, you need to eat something. You keep dry-heaving because you have nothing in your stomach. You're not regaining any energy." The nurses and doctor had been trying to get Bakugo to eat something since he was admitted, but it wasn't happening.

The blond rolled his eyes and shoved his empty water cup toward her. She got the hint and disappeared with his empty cup.

And since Bakugo likes torturing himself, he finally decided to check the group chat.

Kirishima- Bakugo, why aren't you allowing visitors? We got you your favorite spicy curry, and they wouldn't let us up.

Sero- They wouldn't even take the curry to give to you. Were you sleeping? Are you feeling any better?

Bakugo scrolled through the rest of the texts, barely reading them. He only read enough to know that they were receiving some backlash from not getting to the school fast enough, but he was still receiving the worst of it.

When he backed out of the group chat, he saw a lot of individual texts. He skimmed through them, not caring to reply to anybody. The only text he actually read was the one from Midoriya. Since he was the one who got Bakugo out of the building and saved his life, he figured he could at least read his text.

Midoriya- Hi Kacchan! I just wanted to check in and see how you're feeling. They said you'll be there for a while but wouldn't tell me anything else. We have to do a press conference sometime this week. Do you know if you'll be well enough to join us?

Bakugo backed out of his texts without replying. He said he would read the text because he saved his life. He never said anything about replying.

A new social media notification popped up. Again, Bakugo knew he should have ignored it, but he couldn't help it.

As soon as he saw a picture of himself being carried out of the school by Midoriya, he wished he never opened it. The caption read Someone needs to knock Dynamight down a peg. He's probably gloating about his victory as we speak. What other reason does he have for completely going silent?

He skimmed through the comment. Some people had his back, some of them didn't.

He squeezed his hand around his phone, using his quirk to blow it into tiny pieces.

Fuck this, he thought to himself as he ripped the IV out of his arm before moving to the other equipment attached to various parts of his body. He was trying to hold on until Recovery Girl got there to heal him, but he didn't care anymore. He just wanted the fuck out. He could deal with the broken bones.

He only had one good hand and wasn't sure how well he was going to be able to use his quirk one-handed to get home using the rooftops, but he was sure as hell going to try. Hopefully, he could be out of the hospital and safely home before anyone notices since he's sure the nurse forgot about his water.

He walked to the window and looked down. He was closer to the roof than he was to the ground. He already knew his quirk was still working since he smashed his phone. He only hoped it would be enough to get him to the roof instead of failing and hurling him toward the ground.

Not that that sounded entirely terrible.

He tied his gown tighter around his back before practically jumping out the window. He only had one hand that could handle his quirk right now, but it was enough to get him home.