Don't let him out of your sight [Little Sh*t Part 9] (Patreon)

The moon was full and bright above them, lighting the forest with a soft, white glow, and Bakugou couldn’t help but notice the way it made Midoriya’s eyes shine despite their exhaustion. The nerd ending up in his group had been his only saving grace over the past few days, stuck in the forest with only four people as his company, three of them maybe the worst three people he’d ever met in his life.

Villains included.

Thankfully they’d been provided with small, single-person tents to discourage any hanky-panky, so Katsuki had retained his own little space to retreat to if he needed time alone, but still every evening he’d crawled out for dinner around the campfire and made his way to Midoriya’s afterward. They’d slept curled together for warmth, sandwiched between the matching red-and-blue sleeping bags that Bakugou had made sure went unseen by their classmates, and even over the icy nights he’d managed to wake up warm.

Bakugou wasn’t really sure why the school had decided to run their training camp in the middle of winter but apparently some asshole had decided it would be good for them to experience nature and the elements in all seasons, not just over the summer.

And, well, it was technically only Autumn but that was beside the point.

Their only sources of communication were the announcements All Might made through the speaker they’d been given, and a set of emergency flares in case anyone got in trouble – their classmates had made a lot of jokes about how Midoriya would probably be the one who needed them, and Bakugou hated to admit that they were probably right.

Especially since he was about ready to murder one of the Class-B Assholes.

Despite being covered in mud, Bakugou had no energy left to bother washing himself again. He’d already taken a cold shower under a bucket and a tree after their daytime training, he was not ready to freeze his ass off again for night training. Instead he just stripped off his clothes at the tent doorway, tossing them into the grass to wash later, and gave his feet a quick wipe on a towel to make sure they were clean before he climbed into bed in his underwear. He knew he was going to stink, but he knew Midoriya was going to stink too, and honestly he just didn’t give a shit anymore.

He was just beginning to doze off when he began to hear the noises, eyelids cracking open reluctantly in response. Midoriya’s eyes were also open, inches away from his, and he knew from the look on his face that they’d both heard the same thing.

A few seconds passed in silence, then a distinct crackrang through the trees and Bakugou leapt up, Midoriya right at his heels as they tore the tent flaps open. With no one immediately in sight, he paused long enough to drag his cold, muddy pants back on and wrap himself in a coat, glancing over as Midoriya picked up his long arm braces to pull on over his pyjamas. Rustling in the nearby tents told him they weren’t alone in hearing the noises, three confused Class B students crawling out sleepily to join them, and Bakugou brought his hands together with a burst of light between, blasting their surrounding forest with a burst of golden light.

“Foooouuund youuuuu.”

The voice honestly made Bakugou want to just crawl back into his tent and go to sleep, but he knew that wasn’t a possibility – not when they had three people on deck who had never met the guy, and history had told him there may be much stronger people backing him up, if the league had anything to say about it.

Shinsou turned to look at the proud asshole, scowling as he eyed him over and pulling a face that looked oddly like he’d smelled something gross.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, dripping with disdain.

“Huh?! Who am I?! What do you mean who am-”

The villain fell silent, eyes glazing over, and Bakugou couldn’t help but snort when Shinsou smirked to himself – he’d allow that smug look just this once.

The next set of footsteps came quickly, and Bakugou barely had the chance to yell mine as he whirled around, aiming a blast into a gnarled face that launched at them. More movement, more figures, and suddenly the forest was alive with the light and wind of quirks flying. The annoying bodyguards seemed to have at least one braincell between them, smart enough to not answer when Shinsou spoke, and without his capture weapon in hand he was rendered all but useless. Tetsutetsu seemed to realise it too, moving closer to Shinsou to keep him covered as he dove back into his tent to search for it, so Bakugou didn’t bother to divert his course. Midoriya was somewhere behind him, the forest buzzing with his green lightning, but Bakugou no longer felt the need to make sure he was taking care of himself – the nerd had proven his worth, much to Bakugou’s joint dismay and pride, and he knew the Class B idiots were much more of a concern.

Especially, he realised, a certain blond idiot who was trying to fight a villain with his own quirk, despite having decades less practice with it, and absolutely no control. With a low growl he blasted his own opponent away again for a brief reprieve, darting over to Monoma and holding out both hands: one to the asshole with the stupid quirk, and the other to send the villain flying.

“Don’t ever tell anyone I let you use my quirk.”

With wide eyes, Monoma gave him an awkward high-five, his palms lighting up with untamed explosions immediately. Bakugou left him to it, turning back to his own old bastard whose quirk he hadn’t actually paid any attention to as of yet and lighting up the area with another stun grenade. Blinded, it took no effort to get him to the ground, and Bakugou was honestly a tiny bit grateful when Shinsou showed up with his capture weapon now in hand, minding wrists and ankles while Bakugou took off to handle the next villain.

By the time they finished, the sun was already rising, covering them with red and orange hues as they dug out ropes and bound villains to various strong trees. Tetsutetsu pulled out the emergency flares, and Bakugou gritted his teeth as he watched it fire into the sky, knowing full-well how much their classmates would be laughing from their own camps, making stupid jokes about Midoriya breaking an arm or Bakugou murdering the Class B students.

As Bakugou wound the ropes tightly around the stupid de-ager’s wrists, he felt the man squirm in his grip, freezing in his tracks to stare at him when the whimpers began.

“That hurts,” he whined. “Why do you have to make them so tight?”

“Wait,” Midoriya whirled around, frowning. “Did he just talk?”

“Huh?! Of course I talked! What the hell do you- Oh!”

Bakugou moved too late, a maniacal cackle coming from the man right as Bakugou slammed a hand over his eyes. From across the clearing, Shinsou fell still, a shiver running through his body that Bakugou knew far too well.

“Fuck you,” Bakugou hissed, tying the ropes even tighter as Midoriya quickly tied a hoodie around the guy’s face. “As soon as these ropes are secure I’m gonna explode your fucking balls.”

“Can I kick him first?” Midoriya requested, shoving a sock in the villain’s mouth just to keep him quiet. “I’ll make them burst before you explode them off.’

“Deal.”

Muffled whines came through the material, but no one bothered to address him, busy watching as a tiny Shinsou wrapped himself in tattered pyjamas to keep warm.

“I can reverse it,” Monoma offered, touching the villain’s bound hands and stepping closer to Shinsou. “Hold still, kid.”

Shinsou squeaked, his shivers growing stronger and tiny hands starting to turn blue. Bakugou hauled him away quickly, blocking his gaze, and Shinsou breathed a tiny sigh of relief the moment Monoma was gone.

“You’re not reversing it,” Bakugou hissed. “You’re making it worse, asshole!”

“What?! How do you know?!”

“Because we’ve been there,” Midoriya said quietly. “If it was reversing, he’d be getting hot, not cold.”

“O-Oh.”

“It only lasts a couple of days, we’ll just wait it out, like always.”

“Has this happened a lot?” Tetsutetsu asked, throwing a t-shirt over Shinsou’s head and wrapping a coat around him gently. “I know I saw you, a couple of times.”

“Yeah, a lot,” Midoriya confirmed, running a hand down his face. “I’m so tired.”

“The teachers should get here soon, then we can get some rest.”

Sure enough, it didn’t take long before hurried footsteps began to draw closer, and Aizawa let out a long, tired sigh when he saw the bound villains. Just like Bakugou and Midoriya, he’d had enough run-ins with the asshole to recognise him on sight, even with his face obscured by hoodie and sock. While Vlad King was busy checking on his students, Aizawa was silent, shaking his head slowly when he saw the miniature Shinsou huddled in his pile of clothes.

“All Might is back at base camp to keep an eye on the other groups, I should take these villains in.”

“We can help,” Bakugou pointed out, gesturing toward the rest of the villains, equally bound and gagged. “Might be too many for just you.”

“That would help. We should probably try to get Shinsou back too, I’ll see if we can find another teacher or hero to supervise him until things return to normal.”

Shinsou flinched away when Monoma came close, pulling the coat up over his head to hide, and Bakugou rolled his eyes. Of course it couldn’t be that easy, why would it be?

“He’s not gonna go with the copycat,” he said flatly, nodding toward Monoma’s slightly offended expression. “Not after the shit he did.”

“No,” Shinsou said quietly, huddling in his hiding spot.

“See?” Bakugou snorted.

“He didn’t do anything bad,” Midoriya assured them, before Aizawa could ask. “He tried to reverse the quirk and it didn’t work, that’s all! He scared Shinsou a little, but he’s okay! You’re a brave boy, aren’t you, Shinsou?”

One eye peeked out at him, curious, and Midoriya flashed him the biggest smile he could manage.

“Why don’t we look after him, Sensei? Me and Kacchan have done it before! We can stay here and babysit, and in a couple of days, everything will be back to normal so we can go back to training camp!”

“I hate you,” Bakugou muttered, shooting him a weak glare. “I swear to God, nerd.”

“How hard can it be?”

“I hate you so much.”

“Thank you, Midoriya,” Aizawa sighed faintly. “Bakugou, I know it’s not the best of situations, but I’d appreciate it if you would help him out. There’s another group of your classmates not far from here, maybe an hour away to the north. I’d like you to go join up with them, so I know you’re not alone if anything else happens. They can help you too.”

“Fine,” Bakugou grunted – if Aizawa was saying it, he didn’t exactly get much choice, after all. “We’ll pack this stuff up then go join then.”

“Thank you. Monoma, Tetsutetsu, please assist us with these villains.”

“Copycat should take the Kiddy Asshole,” Bakugou suggested, eyes narrowed. “And... Use it again, if you need it.”

“And Tetsutetsu should probably take the guy with the purple hair,” Midoriya nodded, pointing at the villain he’d been fighting not long ago, who now slumped bound against a tree, out cold. “His skin goes sharp, your quirk would be good for him, Tetsutetsu.”

“Got it!” Tetsutetsu agreed, Monoma nodding his agreement faintly. “We’ll take care of everything, don’t worry about us!”

Bakugou folded his arms, huffing quietly as the group rounded up the villains and headed off into the woods. When they were out of sight, he turned around to look at the dumb kid again – He’d much rather have been on security detail, handling the actual villains, as shit as they were, but he supposed being practically-alone with Midoriya wasn’t so bad, compared to having their teachers watching their every move. He just had to-

“Where the hell did he go?!” Bakugou demanded, staring at the abandoned pile of clothing. “What the hell?! Deku!”

Midoriya whirled around, eyes widening at the lack of children, and for a moment he turned into a tennis spectator, head snapping from side to side as if the kid might be an inch away, unnoticed.

“Shit,” Bakugou hissed, running off into the threes without another thought. “Oi! Kid! Where the hell did you go?! Shit, what was your damn name? Troll doll, where the fuck did you go?!”

“His name is Shinsou!” Midoriya insisted, somewhere nearby but obscured by trees. “And be nice, Kacchan!”

“Like I give a shit about nice right now.”

“Shiiiinsouuuuu! My name is Deku, I’m a friend of yours from the future! Can you come out here?”

Bakugou finally spotted him, cheeks puffed out in concentration as he attempted to scale a tree trunk, and with a little grunt of annoyance he snatched the kid up into his arms.

“Oi, hold still,” he insisted, when Shinsou immediately began to squirm and whine. “Deku! I got him! He’s over here!”

“Go!”

“Go where?” Bakugou demanded. “Why the hell are you running off on your own, huh?”

“Up!”

Bakugou looked up, frowning slightly when he saw the leaves waving gently in the breeze – there were no birds to chase, was nothing shiny to grab, did he just want to climb??

“Why?” he asked finally.

“Uppppp!”

“I said why you little brat, not where.”

“Tree!”

Groaning, Bakugou gave up on trying to get a coherent sentence. He gripped Shinsou by the waist and hoisted him up high, waving him at the leaves lightly.

“There, you’re up, now what?”

“Wheeeeee!”

“You just want to be up high?”

“Up!”

“This is as tall as I get.”

“More up!”

With a sigh, Bakugou set Shinsou on his shoulders, making sure he was secure before he jumped and grabbed a branch, hauling them both up to sit in the branches. Shinsou clapped his hands in delight, wobbling precariously until Bakugou grabbed his leg to steady him, and from below he heard a familiar little giggle.

“Hi, Kacchan!” he called, when Bakugou looked down. “What are you doing up there?”

“The brat was determined that he needed to be here.”

“He looks really happy!”

“Whatever. We need to pack up the tents and shit.”

“I’ll do it! You play with him for five more minutes okay?”

“Wh- No! What?! Deku!”

His yells went unheard as Midoriya ran back toward their campsite – or ignored, at any rate – and Bakugou could only sigh again, plucking a particularly green leaf that Shinsou seemed determined to reach and handing it to him to hold.

The kid was much quieter with it in his hands, happy to just sit up above the world and play with the one specific leaf he had apparently latched on to, and Bakugou relished the peace while it lasted – he knew from experience that it wouldn’t last long, after all. He was yet to get more than a word out of the kid at a time, wasn’t sure he’d even said one to anyone else, but he suspected that too would be short-lived.

When Midoriya was finished packing their bags, he returned to their tree with a smile and a wave, setting Bakugou’s stuffed-full backpack down in the grass. It had been comfortably light when they’d arrived, just a few changes of clothes and his costume case inside, tent and sleeping bag fastened securely to the outer straps. Half their class had shown up with their bags full, even their costume cases dangling from the outside to make everything fit, and some of them still had another smaller bag to carry by hand. He had no idea what they were all determined that they needed, considering the teachers were supplying their food and cooking supplies, but apparently they were all hoarders or some shit.

Even Midoriya’s had been a little crowded, with spare notebooks and pens and a bunch of books about plants and animals of the area, but at least when he did it, it was kind of endearing. Plus, everything had still fit. Bakugou would have never let him get away with bringing two bags.

Considering the Shitty-Hair-Knock-Off and Can’t-Get-His-Own-Quirk-Gotta-Steal-Others’ had taken their backpacks with them, Bakugou suspected his suddenly heavy backpack was holding Troll Doll’s stuff, which he supposed made sense considering the kid couldn’t exactly carry it himself, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be bitter.

Midoriya’s was a little more jam-packed than it had been, too, which Bakugou supposed must have been the spare tents and the cooking gear they’d had in the area. He should probably have considered it lucky that they managed to fit it all in, if it had been anyone but the Purple-Haired Psycho they probably wouldn’t have been so lucky, but again, he was still allowed to be annoyed.

Despite the squeak it caused, Bakugou threw the toddler down to land safely in Midoriya’s arms, ignoring the indignant squawk Midoriya gave him for it. He swung himself down from the branch, brushing his hands off on his pants before he picked up his backpack, and Midoriya finally gave up on his lecture when he realised Bakugou wasn’t listening to a word of it.

“You’re such a jerk sometimes,” he sighed instead, hugging Shinsou briefly before he set him back on the ground. “Come on, buddy, we need to go for a walk!”

“No.”

“Want me to carry you?”

“No.”

“How about uhh... Skipping?”

Shinsou sat down stubbornly, and Bakugou rolled his eyes, grabbing the kid by the hand and dragging him back up immediately.

“We’re walking,” he said firmly. “Don’t be a brat.”

“Nooooooo.”

“Deku and I are walking. If you want to be left alone in the dark, scary woods, with all the wolves and lions who eat little brats, and no tent or blankets or clothes, be my guest.”

Shinsou looked down, at that, staring at the far-too-big t-shirt that he still wore like a ridiculous dress, then finally looked up to squint at Bakugou. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t object, either, and Bakugou suspected that was a good start.

“Come on, Shinsou, we’ll protect you from the scary animals if you stay with us,” Deku promised. “We’ll go slow so your legs don’t get too tired, and I can carry you if they do.”

“No carry.”

“Walk, then?”

“Fine.”

He smiled, nudging Shinsou on ahead to keep his eyes on the kid as they started their trek, and while the tiny back was turned he gave Bakugou a grateful look. He had never been good at bein firm with the kids, was always the one who gave in to keep them happy, so it was a relief to have Bakugou on his side once more, to be firm with him like he had been with All Might, and apparently with Midoriya himself. It wasn’t often that he got a chance to see Bakugou’s parenting skills in action, it was nice to see what he’d be in for if they ever decided they wanted a kid of their own.

He was pretty sure Bakugou would never want one, but that was beside the point. As long as he had his Kacchan, it didn’t really matter.

─────

“He’s gone again, isn’t he?”

Bakugou didn’t bother to look down as he said the words, groaning to himself, and with a long whine, Midoriya looked back to check. Sure enough, the sneaky little toddler had vanished once again, and he turned around to begin their fifteenth search of the hour.

“At least we’re almost there, right?” Bakugou sighed. “It’s been an hour, we must be close.”

“Well...” Midoriya mumbled, cringing. “Considering I can still see our campsite, I don’t think so.”

“You can what?”

“That’s where we were going to the bathroom yesterday,” Midoriya pointed out, waving toward a familiar clump of bushes in the distance behind them. “We keep doubling back on ourselves.”

“I swear to God I’m gonna kill this kid when he’s back to normal.”

“Shinsouuuu!” Midoriya called, the fatigue clear in his voice. “Where’d you go, buddy?”

“That hasn’t worked the past fourteen times,” Bakugou pointed out. “He’s a sneaky little bastard.”

“What else am I meant to do?”

“Plan your speech for Aizawa and his family about how we tried our best to resuscitate him and it didn’t work?”

“Kacchan!”

He slapped Bakugou on the arm, mouth hanging open, and Bakugou managed a tired smile at his offence. He ruffled Midoriya’s tangled curls, plucking a stray stick out of the nest, and headed off into the trees. It took a minute for Midoriya to notice the trail of footprints that followed him, sighing faintly when he saw the tiny little indents leading the same way.

“Tree,” Shinsou said, the moment they caught up.

“Yeah, there are thousands of them,” Bakugou huffed, grabbing him by the back of his shirt-dress. “You’ve gotten distracted a dozen times because you wanted to look at one specific tree or bush when we should have been walking.”

“Like tree.”

Midoriya softened, practically cooing at him, but Bakugou shot him a warning look, refusing to let him give in. If they kept following the damn whims of a toddler, they’d never make it to the next campsite.

“Alright, here’s how this is gonna go,” Bakugou said firmly, pulling a length of rope from his bag. “You can explore to the end of this rope, no further. If you try, I’m just gonna drag you along through the mud. Got it?”

He wrapped the rope around Shinsou’s shoulders and waist, fastening it securely at his back where Shinsou couldn’t attempt to untie himself, and Midoriya watched in horror as he tied the other end to his backpack to keep him close. It gave Shinsou a few metres in each direction to run around, but not far enough to disappear behind a bush or a tree where they couldn’t see him, and somehow Midoriya didn’t like that thought??

“You can’t put him on a leash!” Midoriya insisted. “Kacchan!”

“Maybe you can’t,” Bakugou snorted. “I sure as hell can.”

Midoriya caved when he saw Shinsou skipping off to look at some bushes, perfectly content with his little exploration bubble, and Bakugou’s sharp-toothed smirk was honestly pretty hard to argue with. When Bakugou began to walk, the rope tugged at Shinsou’s harness, and despite a little grumble of protest, he followed.

“There,” Bakugou grinned, when Shinsou darted off ahead instead. “We can finally make some progress.”

“Fine,” Midoriya sighed. “I give up.”

“Good choice.”

─────

When the tents came into view, Bakugou’s legs began to wobble. He was so ready to just collapse and take an incredibly long, dead-to-the-world nap. He was even relieved to see Kaminari standing in their clearing, his face lighting up with excitement to see his friends approaching.

“What are you guys doing here?!” he asked, throwing an arm around Bakugou’s shoulders fondly. “Long time no see!”

Bakugou turned to point wordlessly at the kid attached to his bag, freezing in his tracks when he saw the tattered end of rope trailing through the dirt. The silence was deafening, and Midoriya turned to investigate, breaking it with a long moan when everything clicked into place.

“Shinsou got hit by that de-aging villain,” he explained in barely more than a whisper. “We were so close Kacchan! He was there five minutes ago!”

“He keeps running off,” Bakugou explained, pinching the bridge of his nose in the hopes he might be able to pull his headache out. “I haven’t slept in thirty-two hours and I am ready to murder someone.”

“Okay, well, let’s go find the kid, and then you guys can take a nap, okay?” He turned to look over his shoulder, scanning the treeline briefly before he gave up and settled for yelling. “Kiri! C’mere, would you?!”

Kirishima came running immediately, and Bakugou hated to admit how happy he was to see the cheesy grin pointed their way.

“Hey!” he beamed, hugging Midoriya tightly when he saw the look on his face. “What’s up, man?”

“Yeah, Midoriya, do you wanna fill us in on what happened, while we look?”

“The de-ager showed up,” Midoriya explained, leading the way back into the trees to search. “He hit Shinsou, and he has been... Less than easy to keep track of. He seems to like really specific trees?”

“Don’t ask,” Bakugou sighed.

“There were like three other villains with him,” Midoriya continued. “So Aizawa and Vlad King came to get them, Monoma and Tetsutetsu went along, and I said we’d take care of Shinsou until it was sorted. I... May have underestimated how difficult it would be.”

“May have?” Bakugou snorted. “I’ll never complain about Toshi again.”

A flash of blue caught Bakugou’s attention, some kind of flowery weed covering the grass, and with a sigh he headed toward it, peeking around the corner. Sure enough, Shinsou sat in the middle of the flower patch, poking at the petals happily.

“Oi.”

Shinsou jolted like he’d been shocked, a little eep escaping him at being caught, and Bakugou held up the end of the rope pointedly.

“Seriously?” he asked. “How the hell did you even do this? Did you chew through it?”

Shinsou nodded, and Bakugou’s eyes widened – honestly, he hadn’t expected to be right.

“Seriously?! What are you, a dog?”

“Well you did put him on a leash, Kacchan,” Midoriya pointed out stubbornly. “Come on, Shinsou, we’ve got a nice new camp to stay in now! Are you ready for some sleep? I know I am.”

He held out a hand, and despite a face full of apprehension, Shinsou accepted. Midoriya kept them carefully linked as they walked, never once taking his eyes off the kid, until finally they got to sit around the long-extinguished campfire.

“Why don’t you guys go take a nap in my tent?” Kirishima offered, when he saw the way they slumped in exhaustion. “We’ll switch! I’ll set yours up and put my stuff in there.”

“Are you sure?” Midoriya asked quietly. “I don’t want to inconvenience you guys, you still have training tasks to do today, right?”

“It’s not a problem! I’m sure none of the teachers will be terribly upset if we take some time to help you guys out!”

“You’re amazing, Kirishima. I would hug you if I could feel my arms.”

Kirishima just laughed, standing up to go clear space in the tent, and Midoriya managed a smile when he looked down at Shinsou in front of him. Kaminari had sat himself down in the grass to pull faces and make silly noises, mostly confusing Shinsou more than entertaining him, but it was still nice to have some sort of distraction for the kid.

“Are you ready for a nap, Shinsou?” Midoriya asked softly.

“No.”

“No?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Are you sure? I thought you’d be exhausted.”

“No.”

“Well, alright, I guess I’ll stay up with you a bit longer, then. Maybe we can draw together, or read a book?”

“Go sleep,” Bakugou sighed, hating himself for it even as he said the words. “You need it more. I’ll stay up while you nap.”

“Oh, no, Kacchan, I can’t! I’m the one who offered to watch him!”

“Go, nerd. I’ll be fine.”

Midoriya dithered, mumbling up a storm about can Kacchan manage alone? and should I stay up to help? that quickly began to piss Bakugou off. He was more than capable of handling a toddler for a few hours, damn it!

Midoriya seemed to sense his frustration, quickly jamming his mouth shut, and finally he conceded a tiny nod.

“Okay, thank you Kacchan. I have some books and stuff if you want? Just grab them from my bag, it’s no big deal.”

“I can take him,” Kaminari offered. “We’ll have a great time together!”

“No,” Bakugou said flatly. “You’d lose him within ten minutes.”

“Besides, you need to go do your tasks,” Midoriya added quickly. “Really, I don’t want you guys to get in trouble or anything!”

“Alright, well, the others are doing theirs right now,” Kirishima hummed. “Yaoyorozu will probably be done soon, she started first, so I’m gonna go find her and fill her in. When she gets back she can at least make him some clothes that fit, maybe she can babysit for a bit, make some toys or something?”

“Yeah, that would be cool,” Bakugou admitted. “I’ll keep an eye on him until then, we’ll go climb a  specific tree or some shit.”

“Wake me up when she gets back,” Midoriya insisted. “I’ll help her out with him while you have a turn napping.”

“Fine,” Bakugou agreed. “Now go get some sleep, stop wasting your nap time.”

“Okay,” he nodded faintly. “Thank you, Kacchan. You’re amazing.”

He planted a little kiss on Bakugou’s cheek, getting a blush in return and a couple of teasing coos from their classmates, then finally he retreated into Kirishima’s emptied tent, dragging his sleeping bag along with him. Kirishima and Kaminari shared a look, and without saying a word they somehow managed to communicate something apparently meaningful, because they nodded to each other before Kirishima headed off into the trees.

“Kiri is gonna go fill the girls in,” he explained, sitting down next to Bakugou and retrieving Midoriya’s books from one of the backpacks. “Tsunotori and Kendou might almost be done. I’ll stay with you until at least one of them finishes.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“I know, man,” Kaminari assured him, smiling. “But you can supervise while I play, okay? I’ll keep him entertained, you keep him safe. Sound fair?”

“Fine,” Bakugou sighed, too tired to even care about arguing. “Just don’t let him out of your sight, alright? And if I fall asleep or some shit, don’t you dare let me sleep. Wake me up immediately.”

“I will, promise!”

Bakugou nodded, leaning his head on his hand, and Kaminari thankfully didn’t wait for more than that, already offering Shinsou pens and notebooks – the guidebooks had been abandoned before he’d even really looked, deemed boring schoolwork. And Bakugou had to concede that yeah, Kaminari wasn’t terrible with the kid, he at least managed to keep him from darting off into the trees unattended.

He suspected he dozed off a couple of times, losing track of a few minutes at a time that the pair didn’t seem to notice, but still he kept a valiant watch, refusing to leave them alone together. It would be just his luck that Kaminari would run off to piss, thinking Bakugou was watching, and then the kid would be out.

“So why have you been up so long, anyway?” Kaminari asked, after a glance to make sure Bakugou’s eyes were still open. “You didn’t sleep last night? Was the villain attack that long ago?”

“All Might’s shitty speaker woke us up for night exercises,” Bakugou grimaced. “You didn’t have to do them?”

“Oh. Shit, no, we didn’t. Uhh, I wonder if they’re different nights? Maybe ours will be tonight or something.”

“Maybe,” Bakugou agreed. “You should take a nap before dark or something, just in case.”

“Nah, we’ll be okay! I’m sure we won’t get interrupted by a villain right after,” he laughed. “And even if we did, we’d have you and Midoriya here to help! And Shinsou, right? You’re a big brave hero too, you can help us!”

Shinsou looked up curiously at the words, his eyes opening a little wider, and Kaminari just grinned back.

“He doesn’t really talk, you probably noticed,” Bakugou offered. “I can usually get a word, occasionally two.”

“Are you shy, little dude?” Kaminari asked, doodling on new page with one of Midoriya’s bright green pens. “One of my friends has a sister your age, she’s super shy too, she doesn’t like to talk to people. She likes me though, you know why? Because I talk enough for both of us.”

Shinsou cracked the tiniest of smiles, and Kaminari grinned back, continuing.

“If you wanna chime in, feel free! But you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I can just tell you stories or something, I’m really good at talking about absolutely nothing.”

“It’s true,” Bakugou acknowledged. “He’ll talk for hours without ever actually saying anything. It’s his one talent.”

“I have two talents, thank you very much!” Kaminari boasted, sitting up a little straighter. “I can shoot lightning from my hands.”

He snapped his fingers, setting off a tiny spark, and Shinsou’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

“It’s okay, nothing to be afraid of! Has Blasty told you much? It must be weird to not know what’s going on. Let me tell you all about this villain, how about that?”

He started from the very beginning, the day Midoriya came home three feet tall, and Bakugou couldn’t help but listen along too. He’d missed a lot of it, with his own involvement in the situations, and he only then started to realise that he could have asked. So much of their time had been Bakugou and Midoriya trying to piece it together themselves, when really, they could have just asked someone to fill them in. They’d still be missing the thoughts and emotions they’d left behind in their brief resurgence of childhood, but they could at least know the stories.

He was still going when Yaoyorozu returned to the camp, offering them all a smile and a wave, and a small part of Bakugou kind of regretted that it had to end. But Yaoyorozu was joining them, talking to Shinsou quietly despite the way he shied away and didn’t answer her questions, and Bakugou knew it was almost time for him to finally get some sleep.

“Deku told me to switch out with him when you got back,” Bakugou explained, when she set to work producing clothes from her stomach. “So Sparky can go finish his tasks. I assume that’s uh, cool?”

“Of course! You deserve some rest!”

Shinsou hesitated, staring at the clean clothes she set in his hands, and with a tiny nod he turned to look at Bakugou again.

“Nap,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go nap.”

Shinsou shook his head this time, and Bakugou frowned slightly.

“Can you give me two words again, kid? Help me out, here.”

“I nap.”

“Oh. You’re tired, now?”

He nodded, this time, and Bakugou was strangely relieved to see it.

“Okay. Um, Ponytail, would you mind... Standing guard? He uh, likes to run off. So maybe the three of us can nap, and you can make sure he doesn’t sneak out of the tent and run off alone?”

“Of course! I’ll just be here cooking and reading, so I’ll see him the moment he tries! But Shinsou, if you need to go to the toilet, come to me, okay? I’ll help you find a spot and make sure you’re safe. Sound good?”

“Or wake me up, if she makes you nervous,” Bakugou offered. “I promise I won’t yell.”

Shinsou nodded once more, and this time Yaoyorozu handed him a set of fluffy pyjamas, smiling when he hugged them close.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, then,” she said warmly. “Have a good rest, Shinsou! And you, too, Bakugou!”

“Thanks.”

He ushered Shinsou into the tent, cramming him in near Midoriya’s feet and helping him get dressed. The t-shirt got shoved into a backpack outside the tent flap, and when Shinsou was safely tucked into his purple sleeping bag, Bakugou finally got settled in himself. Midoriya had already set up their little double bed again, lying across one of their matching sleeping bags with the other tucked over top nice and warm, and after a moment of consideration Bakugou zipped the tent closed, lying down across the zip to make sure no children went sneaking out unattended.

“Wake me if you need to pee,” he reminded Shinsou quietly. “Just give me a shake or something, we’ll sort it out.”

Shinsou nodded, blanket tucked up over his head so only his face gave the motion away, and finally Bakugou closed his eyes.

Fucking finally.

─────

Bakugou woke to strange noises in the tent, groaning as he rolled over to take a look. He knew immediately that it was going to be Shinsou causing trouble again, he could only hope that he wasn’t pissing in the tent rather than wake Bakugou up to take him. He cracked open his eyes to look, blinking in the dim light that filtered through the tent walls, and Shinsou immediately froze.

Beside him was a backpack Bakugou didn’t fully recognise, floppy with how devoid it was of contents, and even through the post-nap brain fog he managed to figure out it was Shinsou’s. He knew his own had ended up in the tent too, after he’d changed into clean clothes to sleep in, and he vaguely remembered pulling Shinsou’s from within it as he dug for the clean stuff – it seemed logical to conclude it was the one Shinsou had gone digging through, considering Bakugou was still lying over the tent zip.

Then again, even without any of that, it probably would have been an easy conclusion considering Shinsou was now tangled in his own stupid capture scarf.

“No yell?” Shinsou whispered, when Bakugou rolled over and closed his eyes again.

“It’s yours, not mine,” Bakugou shrugged, not bothering to look up. “I don’t give a shit what you do with it.”

“Oh.”

There was silence for a moment, and Bakugou was just getting comfortable again when the tiny voice piped up once more.

“M’stuck.”

“I figured,” Bakugou snorted.

“Help?”

“Are you gonna say please?”

“No.”

“Then no.”

It took a solid ten minutes for the kid to cave, as Bakugou was drifting off in his cozy little spot, a fluffy nerd head tucked under his arm peacefully.

“Please.”

With a groan, Bakugou levered himself out of his spot, getting a tiny, sleepy whine from Midoriya as he moved. It took all his willpower to not just ignore the dumb kid and cuddle back in with his boyfriend, but he supposed he’d be a bit of a hypocrite to demand manners then refuse anyway.

“Kacchan?” Midoriya grumbled. “Where’re you going?”

“Gotta help the kid.”

“Oh,” he yawned, sitting up. “Right. Morning Shinsou, how did- Oh. Uh, you been playing with your scarf?”

Shinsou nodded faintly, and Bakugou rolled his eyes as he peeled the layers away, making a hole big enough to slip the toddler out. He held him around the waist, staring at him for a moment, then his eyes darted to the messy pile of capture weapon.

“I’m not fixing that,” he said flatly, setting Shinsou down. “You can do it when you’re big again.”

Shinsou nodded wordlessly, and Bakugou returned it with a brief one of his own, rolling back into his spot between the sleeping bags.

“Did you have a nap, Shinsou?” Midoriya asked, stroking Bakugou’s hair as he snuggled in against Midoriya’s thigh. “You got some rest?”

Shinsou nodded, and Midoriya cracked a tiny smile, pointing toward the tent flaps.

“You want to go play? I’ll come with you, we’ll let Kacchan have his nap in peace.”

Another nod, and Bakugou grumbled as Midoriya’s thigh pulled away, forced to settle for holding on to the soft pillow that smelled of him instead. He rolled over obediently when Midoriya nudged him over, letting the nerd tuck him in comfortably, and with a quiet zip the pair left him alone to get some sleep.

Outside, Midoriya found a group of their classmates gathered, shooting them the biggest smile he could manage as he led Shinsou out and closed up the tent behind them. The sun was starting to sink through the sky but still providing plenty of light and warmth, a little surprising considering how dim the tent had been, and his friends were just starting to serve up a late lunch. Midoriya found it a little weird how familiar it all was, the exact same routine he’d been following with his own group a day prior, which he knew made sense considering their directions and activities had been almost identical too, but still it seemed a little disconcerting somehow. In another world, he’d have been doing the exact same thing an hour to the south, with a different group of people sitting around him.

“You hungry, Shinsou?” Kendou asked, offering him a steaming bowl. “It’s just noodles, but they’re tasty!”

Shinsou tiptoed over to accept the food, sitting down on one of the cushions the group had set out, and Midoriya grinned as he joined them too. Soon Kendou was offering him another bowl, brimming with thin noodles and sweet-smelling chicken, and he moaned when he took his first bite.

“It’s been so long since I’ve eaten,” he explained, mouth jammed with food. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much.”

Soon the whole group was chatting and eating together, sharing stories from their morning activities, a bowl kept carefully aside for when Bakugou woke up again to join them. Now that he was a little more awake, it was finally hitting Midoriya exactly how much Bakugou had sacrificed when he offered to stay up. They’d both been completely out of it by the time they arrived, too tired to talk or focus on anything but keeping moving, he hadn’t even had the energy to really argue with Bakugou when he’d made the decision. He owed Bakugou so many kisses and snuggles for his sacrifice.

“My name is Kendou, and this is Tsunotori, we’re in the same class as you at school.”

Midoriya’s eyes widened when he heard the introduction, realising far too late that he’d never thought to tell Shinsou his own name. After so many experiences with the ridiculous quirk he really should have been better at dealing with it, but here he was, screwing it all up. It was no wonder Shinsou was still so nervous around him.

“You can call me Momo,” Yaoyorozu offered, smiling warmly. “I know my surname is hard to say, Midoriya had trouble with it when he was little too.”

Shinsou sneaked a glance his way when Yaoyorozu turned her grin on him, and Midoriya nodded faintly, giving them a weak smile back.

“You can call me Izuku, too,” he said softly. “Or Deku, whichever you like. And Kacchan won’t mind if you call him Kacchan, his name is a little hard too.”

Shinsou nodded wordlessly, and Midoriya flashed him a brighter smile, reaching for the massive pot of noodles when Kendou offered everyone seconds.

“You remember me, right?” Kaminari asked, waving from across the campfire. “I told you when we were drawing together, but I’m-”

“Kami,” Shinsou said quietly, sucking down another noodle.

“Yeah! And I told you about-”

“Kiri.”

“Good job! You’ve got a good memory!”

“You were drawing?” Midoriya asked, his smile softening a little. “Did you have fun?”

Shinsou nodded again, glancing around their little clearing, and Kaminari quickly reached for a book, holding up one of Midoriya’s cheap notebooks he’d offered them. Shinsou pointed at it, and Midoriya grinned, reaching to accept it from Kaminari’s outstretched hand.

“Wow, look at this!” he gushed, when he found Shinsou’s first scribbled doodle. “It’s so cool, Shinsou!”

Despite his nerves, Shinsou looked oddly pleased by the praise, and it made Midoriya’s smile stretch wider as he flipped through the pages.

“You’re such a good artist, I’ll have to make sure we keep this safe for when you get big again.”

“Keep.”

“Keep?”

Shinsou nodded again, shooting a glance at Midoriya and quickly looking away again.

“Deku keep.”

“I can keep it?”

Shinsou nodded once more, and Midoriya felt himself tearing up, hugging the book to his chest carefully.

“Thank you, Shinsou! I’ll treasure it forever!”

─────

The speaker crackled to life, and Bakugou groaned before he even knew it was happening, catching a glimpse of a matching cringe from Midoriya when he looked up again. The entire group tensed up, anticipating the time for night training that the others had already been caught out by, but when Aizawa’s voice came through instead of All Might’s, they all relaxed a little.

“We have decided to conclude the training camp early,” the calm, level voice informed them. “Please get some rest, and at sunrise, begin the hike back to base camp. Remember to be vigilant, and use your flares if you encounter any problems.”

The speaker went silent again, but it took a moment for anyone to speak up, waiting patiently for any further information that might be added on. Bakugou sighed when he looked up at the exhausted group, eyes darting to Shinsou briefly.

“I’m still good from my nap,” he offered. “I might stay up and keep watch for a bit.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Midoriya agreed, relieved. “Just in case, you know? He did say be vigilant.”

“I’m very tired,” Tsunotori admitted. “Maybe I’ll go to bed now, and then I can get up for second watch?”

“That sounds great,” Kendou agreed. “Maybe I’ll do the same, we can do our watch together.”

“Okay!”

“I’ll stay up with Bakugou a bit longer, then.” Kirishima grinned. “Shinsou, are you ready for another nap?”

Another nod, and Midoriya gave him a quick smile, pointing back toward the tent they’d slept in earlier.

“Do you want to come sleep with me again, then? Kacchan can come join us later.”

“I’ll get everything cleaned up then have a rest myself,” Yaoyorozu nodded. “Do you need anything for the night, Shinsou? More clothes? A toy?”

Shinsou’s eyes widened, though he remained silent, and Midoriya couldn’t help but grin.

“Shinsou likes cats, right? Maybe he’d like a kitty to sleep with?”

Shinsou didn’t move, but his eyes lit up in a way Midoriya had never seen before, and Yaoyorozu was working on it before he could say a word. Ginger fluff poured from her stomach, and with the gentlest touch, she set the squishy cat plushie in Shinsou’s lap, giggling when he hugged it tight.

“I’m glad you like him,” she said knowingly. “You take good care of him, okay? I think he’s a little scared, with all these strange people around, you’ll have to keep him close so he feels safe.”

Shinsou nodded solemnly, heading for the tent without even needing to be told, and Midoriya couldn’t help but laugh.

“Thank you,” he said softly, smiling at Shinsou’s back. “I’m never quite sure what he’s thinking, other than ‘how can I escape this time’, at least.”

“I put a tracker in him,” Yaoyorozu grinned, producing a small black box from her back and handing it over. “Just in case.”

“You’re amazing.”

“Can you make him a leash, too?” Bakugou requested, eyes narrowing at the tent. “One he can’t bite through.”

“Bite through?”

“Don’t even get me started,” Midoriya sighed. “We don’t need a leash, he’s a child.”

“It worked,” Bakugou insisted. “We wouldn’t have gotten here without that leash.”

“It’s inhumane!”

“What about his capture weapon?” Yaoyorozu suggested. “That stuff is tough to break, right? Maybe we can hook it to the back of his shirt or something.”

“Not you too!” Midoriya groaned. “I thought you’d be on my side!”

“My parents had a kid leash for me when I was that age,” Kaminari offered. “I turned out fine!”

“Did you, though?” Bakugou asked.

“Don’t be mean, Kacchan. I bet you had one too.”

“Kacchan was a good boy, his parents didn’t need one.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

With a last little smile and a few ‘goodnight’s, Midoriya crawled into the tent behind Shinsou, and Bakugou stared at it for a moment as the zip slid closed.

“Can you make me a bell?”

Yaoyorozu looked at him a little strangely, but nodded all the same, lifting up the back of her shirt again.

“What kind of bell? Big? Small?”

“I want to attach it to the zip,” he explained. “So if the Troll Toddler tries to sneak out, it’ll let us know.”

“Is he really that sneaky?”

“Absolutely.”

With a little smile, she poured a bell out into her hand, and Bakugou accepted it with a nod, heading over to fasten it to the zip. He gave it a little test-pull, and sure enough the bell jingled brightly, alerting him to its movement.

“Perfect,” he said quietly. “Um, thanks.”

“My pleasure, Bakugou! I’m happy to help!”

“I’ll do the dishes.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You can go to bed,” he clarified. “I’ll clean up.”

“Oh! You don’t need to do that!”

“It’s fine,” Bakugou huffed. “I don’t offer shit if I don’t want to.”

“I know, but...” She trailed off, cracking another smile finally. “Okay. Thank you, Bakugou. Make sure you get some rest, okay? When the girls wake up.”

“I will. Um, you too. Sleep well, I mean.”

“Thank you!”

Soon it was just Bakugou and Kirishima sitting at the fire, watching the sky darken above them as the sun slipped away, and Kirishima couldn’t resist nudging him lightly.

“You’re gonna make a good Dad, one day,” he teased. “Even if you do put your kid on a leash.”

“My kid won’t need a leash, I’ll teach them better than that.”

“Even if it’s Midoriya’s kid too?”

“Ugh. That’ll make it harder, but I can handle it.”

“I was kidding, Bakubro. Do we need to talk about the birds and the bees again?”

“There are so many ridiculous quirks in the world, someone, somewhere, is bound to have one that can give us a kid.”

“That’s true,” Kirishima hummed. “Or you can always adopt, anyway.”

“Yeah, we can.” Katsuki nodded. “If he even wants to.”

“I’m sure Midoriya would love to have them, even if you have to wait until you both retire first.”

“With me?”

“He wouldn’t want them with anyone else.”

“You’re so gross.”

Kirishima laughed, at that, and Bakugou couldn’t help but smile a little himself, nodding when he looked over at the dark tent with its little bell on the front.

“Help me with these dishes,” Bakugou demanded, before he could get all sappy over his boyfriend. “We can get everything packed up for the morning, make it easier on everyone.”

“Sounds good!”

─────

When Midoriya woke up to an orange glow spreading through the tent, Shinsou was out like a light beside him, and it took Midoriya a moment of staring to really comprehend it. He wasn’t sure he’d seen Shinsou actually sleep in the entire time they’d been together – even before the de-aging incident, Shinsou had been the last one to bed and the first one up. He hadn’t realised it was possible to be up before Bakugou, but Shinsou had certainly proven him wrong.

Bakugou, too, was still out of it, his face soft and sweet in his peaceful slumber. Midoriya always loved the rare moments when he got to see Bakugou sleep, usually reserved for the middle of the night when he woke up unexpectedly. He never saw Bakugou so relaxed and uncaring in his waking hours, got to see the occasional smile or laugh, but never such a look of calm. It was one of his favourite parts of sleeping in the same bed – that and the way Bakugou clung to him like a koala when he got cold, wrapping all four limbs around his body and nuzzling into his neck comfortably. It made Midoriya wake up boiling hot, but it was more than worth it.

“Morning,” he whispered, when Bakugou’s eyelashes fluttered open. “Shinsou is still sleeping.”

Bakugou glanced up at where the kid snoozed near his head, nodding faintly as he gently slid something out of the tiny hand.

“Typical,” he muttered. “Killed my battery.”

Midoriya’s eyebrows knitted together, and Bakugou held up his phone screen in explanation, shutting it off and tucking it into his backpack for later.

“He couldn’t sleep, woke me up trying to climb over me.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry.”

“S’fine, at least he didn’t make it out of the tent. Told him he didn’t have to sleep but he had to stay, let him play games on my phone ‘til he knocked back out. Looks like it worked.”

“Thank you, Kacchan.”

“S’all good. You sleep okay?”

“The best.”

“Good.”

Contorting his hand a little to silence the bell on the outside, Bakugou opened the tent up just enough for them both the crawl out, shutting it again behind them for Shinsou to get his rest. With their last sets of clean clothes, the pair got dressed in the open to avoid waking him, and Midoriya couldn’t resist a smile when he saw Bakugou shiver.

“Here,” he insisted, tugging his warmest sweater over Bakugou’s head. “Layer up, it’s gonna be a cold day.”

Bakugou didn’t protest, for once, just layered his coat over the top and grabbed a pair of gloves, kicking his feet into the boots from his hero costume to avoid slipping on the icy grass. Everything else went into his backpack, and when Midoriya went to start a new fire, Bakugou stuffed all his gear into the same bag, merging their collections together. With only one backpack between them, it  would free one of them up to stick with Shinsou, and to carry him when required during their hike. He knew Midoriya would object to it, if asked – would refuse to let Bakugou take his stuff, and equally refuse to let Bakugou be the one to carry Shinsou. It was much easier to just do it without a discussion, to not give him a chance to complain about it.

One by one their classmates began to emerge, packing up their tents and sleeping bags and getting their backpacks filled and secured, and with Midoriya over the fire making hot coffee to wake them up, the camp was a peaceful one. He was used to his classmates being headless chickens when it came to cleaning up, but apparently the group was a decent one – the girls from Class B were calm and methodical, Yaoyorozu had always been pretty decent other than having no idea how to deal with a tent, Kirishima seemed to have enough self-awareness to keep it down while Shinsou was still sleeping, and even the ever-loud Kaminari was too tired to make much noise, waiting frantically for the brewing coffee.

Bakugou laughed when Yaoyorozu began piecing together bits of metal and plastic, turning all eyes his way, and even Midoriya managed a smile when he realised what was happening. Bit by bit she put together a little wagon, the sides high enough to protect Shinsou from his surroundings, and hopefully to discourage him from climbing out as they moved. Even the base was lined with the little waterproof cushions they’d been eating on the night prior, so he wouldn’t feel as much from rolling over the uneven ground.

“You’re amazing,” Midoriya gushed. “Maybe we can make decent time, now.”

“It took us four hours to get here,” Bakugou mumbled. “It should have only taken one.”

“I thought it might make him happier about it, too,” Yaoyorozu giggled. “No kid likes to walk for that long, after all! The only problem will be going up the hill to base camp, but maybe we can just carry him when it gets too steep.”

“Thank you, it looks great!”

When everyone was ready to go, Midoriya sneaked back into the tent, smiling apologetically when Shinsou woke to the noise. He slid an arm around the sleepy boy, picking him up carefully, and for once Shinsou allowed it, slumping against his chest. Bakugou quickly retrieved their bedding, allowing it when Kirishima quickly jumped in to help, and Kendou tucked Shinsou’s sleeping bag into his wagon neatly. She threw his pillow in with it, and Midoriya got him comfortably tucked in, snuggled up with his cat under his arm and his thumb in his mouth. Maybe their journey would start off easy, with him still snoozing, rather than having to resort to leashes again.

“I’ve got your stuff,” Bakugou mumbled, when Midoriya looked back for his bag. “You take the kid.”

“Kacchan, you don’t need to-”

“Too late, I’ve already got it,” Bakugou cut him off, pacing on ahead. “Me and Deku will lead, I’ve got the compass; Ponytail is in charge of watching the brat from behind so he doesn’t climb out; Shitty-Hair, you make sure Dunce Face doesn’t do anything stupid; and whatever your names are, you two can keep an eye out for other people. We’ll probably meet some of the other extras as we get closer, but make sure there aren’t any villains and shit too.”

He half-expected everyone to argue with him, but no one seemed bothered by letting him be in charge, instead just giving him a quick nod of agreement as they pulled their backpacks on. Everyone was wrapped up warm, all their gear packed away safely, and when they began to walk the clearing was left perfectly empty, no trash or forgotten belongings left behind. The only sign they’d ever been there was the extinguished campfire,

Just the way Bakugou liked it: Clean, efficient, and without damaging nature.

The walk was equally calm, the noise levels kept down to avoid waking Shinsou for as long as possible, only the quiet rattle of wheels rolling over dirt and stones breaking the peace of the forest.

The moment Shinsou woke up, Yaoyorozu greeted him brightly to make sure everyone was aware, and Bakugou looked back to see the kid sitting up straighter, rubbing his eyes as he looked around in confusion.

“You can stay there, buddy!” Midoriya smiled. “I’ve got you! You get to be the little prince today, in his own special carriage while his servants carry him along.”

Shinsou narrowed his eyes, still a little distrustful, but he conceded a little nod all the same. Bakugou knew he was plotting his escape already, but then Midoriya was reaching into his pocket, stopping to hand over his phone.

“I only have a couple of games, but you can play if you want! I have a super cool fighting game where you can fight as All Might, and there’s one where you can do puzzles to buy things for your cats! You might like that one, one of the cats looks like your friend there!”

Shinsou looked down at his toy cat, then nodded faintly, accepting the phone with both hands to keep from dropping it. He’d done the same thing the night prior, had held Bakugou’s phone with a very careful touch, and it was maybe the only reason he’d been comfortable leaving it in the kid’s hands when he went back to sleep.

Between the wagon and the distractions, the trip was significantly easier than their first one, and soon they were meeting up with their classmates, sharing the story multiple times to catch everyone up on the toddler and the flares. Everyone laughed with them over their misfortune, a few of them taking their own turns to pull Shinsou along and even play games with him as they walked, leaving him no openings to escape and run off into the trees. It almost made Bakugou wish they’d done things differently, after the attack – if they’d all gone as a group to take the villains in, they might have had more luck keeping him under observation.

Midoriya seemed to be thinking the same thing, by the way he went quiet, watching silently as his friends tried and failed to engage the kid in conversation. They were at the top of the hill before they knew it, outside the little cabin where All Might was handing out bowls of rice and egg for breakfast, and Midoriya smiled awkwardly as he lifted Shinsou out of the wagon to stretch his legs.

“You’re relieved of duty,” Aizawa informed him, when he led Shinsou over to see him. “Thank you for watching over him, I’ll take it from here.”

“Thank you, Sensei!” Midoriya grinned. “We were happy to help! It’ll be nice to get some rest now, though. I kept waking up every hour to check on him.”

“Get plenty of sleep tonight, then. We’ll be back in class first thing tomorrow.”

“Understood! See you later, Shinsou! Hope you had a good time!”

Shinsou waved as Aizawa led him away toward a waiting bus, apparently more than happy to remain under his care, and Midoriya sidled up to Bakugou’s side, finally free to just hang out with his friends – and more importantly, his boyfriend.

“I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a pain,” he said quietly, slipping his hand into Bakugou’s. “I just get so nervous about it all, it’s hard to... let people help, you know?”

“You’re fine,” Bakugou assured him. “The only thing you have to apologise for is offering to take care of that little shit.”

Midoriya laughed brightly, and Bakugou cracked a smile of his own, shifting his hand to link their fingers together.

“Our kids better not be that bratty,” he chuckled. “Don’t you dare spoil them.”

“Our kids?” Midoriya asked, wide-eyed. “Would you really want them? With me?”

“I would only want them with you,” Bakugou clarified. “Anyone else can get fucked.”

Midoriya smiled, despite the way his eyes filled with tears, and Bakugou grunted when the strong body hit him in the chest, demanding hugs.

“Alright nerd, enough with the gross sappy shit,” he groaned, hugging him all the same. “Did you warn Aizawa?”

“About what?” he sniffled.

“About the brat and his fascination with trees?”

Midoriya froze, looking up at him with wide eyes, and Bakugou groaned even louder this time.

“You didn’t?! Seriously?!”

“I didn’t think of it!”

“Oh my God, Deku. You’re an idiot. Come on.”

He stomped off toward their teachers, standing beside the bus to discuss their departure, ignoring the way Midoriya laughed at him for it. He managed to grab Shinsou by the shirt right as he made his first escape attempt, Aizawa distracted for a brief moment, and the kid looked up with wide eyes, halting under Bakugou’s scowl. Bakugou grumbled wordlessly as he dragged the kid back to Aizawa’s side, watching dark eyes dart down to him in confusion.

“Sensei?” he asked, dumping Shinsou next to him. “A word of advice, don’t let him out of your sight.”

Aizawa looked down at Shinsou’s little pout, half-hidden in his cat’s fur, and after a moment of piecing things together in his mind, he gave Bakugou a firm nod.

“Thank you, Bakugou. Duly noted.”

“And if he does get away,” he continued, in a whisper this time as he tucked a black box into Aizawa’s hand. “We have a line on his cat’s location.”

“I think I’m beginning to understand why you were both so tired,” Aizawa said flatly, watching as Shinsou whispered to his cat, probably lamenting their failure. “And why you showed up with a baby carriage."

“Trust me, Sensei,” Bakugou smirked. “You don’t know the half of it.”