Chapter Text
“I fucking hate snow.”
Class 1-A trudged along through the snow filled pines of the mountain, grumbling as they forged through the drifts. Aizawa led at the front, bundled up so only his shifting, bloodshot eyes were visible above his capture weapon.
“Learn how to deal with it, problem children. Rescue training is no easy feat.” The class grumbled, already chilled to the bone from the hike to their designated training area.
“Man, this sucks,” Kaminari grumbled, brushing snow from his hat. “Snow-rescues are literally the worst.”
“Yeah? Well try having a heat-reliant quirk and then come complain back to me, fucker,” Bakugou snapped, his face barely visible beneath his many winter layers.
Bakugou was thoroughly miserable. At times like these, he was begrudgingly jealous of Todoroki, who could regulate his body heat and wasn’t even wearing a hat. Deku was glued to his side, soaking up the heat like the little leech he was. Unlike Todoroki, who thrived in both hot and cold environments, Bakugou needed a warm environment to create sweat for his nitroglycerin. In cold environments like this, however much he hated to admit it, he was pretty much useless with his nearly dry, cold palms. He couldn’t even create so much as a spark without first building up at least an hour’s worth of sweat within his gloves, and he hated the feeling of inadequacy. Aizawa had said it was important to train in disadvantaged situations or fucking whatever, but he disagreed.
Whatever. It was fine. He would kill the fuck out of whatever rescue mission or shitty avalanche training they had and then he would gladly fuck off back to the warmth of level ground. None of these shitty mountain snow fuckers would kill him. They walked further and further up the slope until they reached a large cliff. Aizawa turned to face the class.
“This is where we split up. I have placed you into groups of four based on strengths and weaknesses that you need improving. You will each travel to predetermined locations that I have marked on the GPS in your pack. You must work together to travel through the terrain and to save the civilians you find once you reach your destination. You could find anything from an avalanche to a cave-in, so be prepared. I’ll be keeping an eye on you from the tracker in your pack, so don’t go wandering off. I’ll know,” he warned, eyes shifting suspiciously over to Bakugou. He rolled his eyes. Fucking bastard. He wasn’t dumb enough to split up from his group in a place like this. It would spell certain death for him without another body nearby providing heat. He wasn’t a fucking idiot, however much Aizawa seemed to think that he was.
They had already known their teams before they left, so Bakugou was prepared when he was approached by Midoriya and Todoroki. However much he hated the nerd, he wasn’t a half bad partner to have, and Todoroki would be annoying as hell to deal with but his heat regulation would be a blessing. No way would he tell him that though. Kirishima grinned from beside him and shoulder checked him.
“Bakubro! You ready for this? I sure am!” He smiled, his stupid shark teeth glinting. Bakugou’s heart stuttered in his chest. He was glad that he had Kirishima as a buffer between the other two idiots or else he doubted he’d survive the sheer amount of dumbass the two exuded. Okay, maybe Kirishima was a dumbass too, but he was a good dumbass.
“No fair, how come the most powerful kids in class are all in the same group?? This is blatant favoritism,” Ashido whined.
“Nah, I think it’s cuz Aizawa thinks they’re the most likely to sabotage each other. He did the rest of us a favor,” Sero ribbed, elbowing Kaminari, who was very obviously staring at Shinsou.
“Uhhh, you bet he did us a favor,” he drooled. “Shinsou, my man, don’t you think Aizawa did us a favor?” Shinsou blushed faintly, looking away.
“Sure.”
“Yeah, he put us all together cuz we’re gonna kick your asses at rescuing. We’re gonna kill this fucking mountain, right?” Bakugou growled angrily.
“Uhhh, Kacchan, I don’t think that’s the aim of the exercise—“
“SHUT UP NERD.”
“...Okay fine. We’ll be the best at rescuing and we’re gonna win. You happy now?” Midoriya admonished. Bakugou grinned ferally.
“Very.” Todoroki tapped Midoriya on the shoulder, his quirk-warmed breath making fog in the air.
“Midoriya, Kirishima, Bakugou, we should start heading out. We want to ‘kill the mountain’ as fast as possible, right? Midoriya sputtered, his face turning red.
“Todoroki—that was a joke—“ Bakugou snatched the GPS out of Todoroki’s outstretched hand.
“Gimme that. Who knows where this dumb fuck would take us, he couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag.” Kirishima peered over Bakugou’s shoulder, his breath creating condensation against his neck causing him to shiver violently, his face heating.
Well. That was one way to get warm.
“Looks like we have to get higher up the mountain, near the avalanche zone,” Kirishima pointed out, his hand resting on the device and over Bakugou’s chilled fingers. Bakugou quickly stepped away.
“Great. Fucking more snow. Let’s go, idiots.”
Hours later, the sky darkened with foreboding clouds, they finally reached the avalanche zone. Bakugou’s feet ached and he was chilled to the bone and shivering slightly. He longed for a break to warm up but he refused to ask for one. Kirishima glanced over at him, somehow completely fine despite the winter chill. The shitty haired bastard was apparently immune to cold or something.
“You good, dude?” He asked, his hand coming to rest on Bakugou’s shoulder. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m fucking fine shitty hair. Let’s just get this over with.” As Bakugou spoke, tiny flakes began to fall from the sky. Kirishima frowned as Bakugou shook his hand off of him, trudging farther ahead. Kirishima turned and yelled behind him.
“Hey Todoroki, Midoriya, could we stop for a bit? I’m kinda chilly and my feet hurt.” Bakugou whipped around, starting to retort that he knew for a fact Kirishima was just fucking fine, but he stopped himself. He really did need a break, and some fire would be nice.
“Alright Kirishima, let’s stop here,” Todoroki said as he and Midoriya came into view, hand in hand. “Aizawa messaged and said that our exercise wasn’t quite set up yet. We’ll have to make camp and wait until tomorrow.” Bakugou heaved an almost inaudible sigh of relief.The snow began falling in earnest, blanketing the woods further in white and muffling the world around them. Bakugou shivered again. That was another part of winter that he despised: the quiet. The blanket of snow muffled everything, including his usually loud explosions. He already had trouble hearing softer noises, and the oppressive downfall made it even harder to make out potential threats. It was unsettling.
The four boys slung off their heavy packs and took out their various tents and camping equipment and began to set up. Midoriya and Todoroki sat side by side in the cleared off circle of dead grass and set up the first tent while Kirishima and Bakugou went to search for firewood. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and buried his face into his scarf, scowling angrily that he couldn’t get warm just yet. Curse the need for firewood. Kirishima happily chattered away beside him, ducking under branches and smiling widely. Bakugou responded in short grunts, the cold dulling his brain as the two searched for fallen branches for tinder.
“Hey Bakugou, do you think they postponed the activity on purpose? Maybe they’re testing our survival skills as well!” Bakugou scoffed.
“Wouldn’t be surprised with all of Aizawa’s fuckin ‘logical ruses’. Why else would they put the shitty camping equipment in there if they didn’t want us to use it.” Kirishima nodded earnestly.
“You’re so smart, dude! I would have never guessed that.”
They fell into silence as the sky began to darken, the wind howling louder and blowing the snow wildly through the air. Bakugou gritted his teeth as a particularly strong gust blew gritty flakes into his eyes. Kirishima yelled to be heard over the gusts.
“It’s snowing kinda hard, isn’t it??” He yelled, shielding his face with his arm. Bakugou didn’t respond, but he grabbed Kirishima’s shoulder. He could barely see through the thick flakes blowing around, and he didn’t want to lose him.
“We have to get back to camp, fuck the firewood,” Bakugou rasped into his ear, fighting his way through the drifts. “We’ll never find anything in this shitty storm.” A deep cracking noise, heard clearly over the howling wind, made them stop in their tracks.Kirishima’s eyes widened, his hand grabbing Bakugou’s.
“What was that??” He asked, his voice quavering. The noise sounded again, louder this time, and directly above them. Bakugou’s heart nearly stopped in his chest.
“The avalanche zone.” He turned to Kirishima, tugging on his hand frantically. “The avalanche zone! It’s gonna fall! Fucking run!” Both of their quirks would be useless against a tidal wave of falling snow. Bakugou desperately wished that they had Todoroki, or even Deku. But they would have no idea where they were. They had left the GPS back at the camp with them. They charged through the drifts, the rumbling noise growing ever louder behind them. They weren’t gonna make it. Bakugou’s heart thundered in his throat, his hands clammy with fear…
...wait.
“I have a plan, but its fucking stupid! Are you with me??” He screamed to Kirishima, already ripping off his other glove. Kirishima nodded determinedly.
“Always!”
“Grab onto my back!” Kirishima bounded over to him, his large form immediately weighing him down.
This isn’t gonna fucking work. He’s too heavy, my explosions are too weak, we’re not gonna—
“SHUT UP!” He screamed wildly to the thoughts in his head. “We will make it!” Heat started building in his palms, and sparks immediately flew. A huge explosion ignited, catapulting the two boys far away from the avalanche.
“Yes!!” Bakugou yelled, a wide grin on his face as they flew through the air. Kirishima laughed hysterically, his arms tightening around Bakugou’s neck. Another large crack sounded from behind them.The laughing cut off abruptly. The explosion, while it had gotten them away from the wave, had triggered an even larger avalanche. It rose behind the first one, quickly overtaking it and moving much faster than before. As their arc began to descend, Bakugou frantically tried to ignite another explosion, but he was spent, his sweat freezing in the frigid air.
“Kirishima!” He screamed, grasping the arm around his chest. He felt the arm harden as Kirishima flipped them in the air.
“Hold on!” Kirishima yelled into his ear, his entire body hardened into unbreakable as they crashed into the snowy ground. Upon impact, Bakugou jolted into Kirishima and was flung away, his exhausted body falling limp in the snow. He struggled to get up, stumbling, but his arms shook, both from the force of the explosion and from the cold. He had lost his gloves far behind. He heard a yell from farther ahead.
“Bakugou, look out!!” He heard, a bright red silhouette far ahead in the flurry filled air. Time slowed as Bakugou heard the snow rumbling behind him, the whoosh of the unforgiving wind, Kirishima’s yell and the oppressive silence of the muffling storm all at once. He moved as if in slow motion, unable to summon even a spark to slow the enormous wave from reaching him.
“Kirishima—!”
He was cut off as the wave overtook him, burying his pleading red eyes in a mountain of snow.