Bakugo was frozen, time moving sluggishly around him as he watched with wide eyes the bright, crackling energy surging forwards to meet him. He raised his wrists, in an attempt to blast at it, but as the white heat had reached his body he instantly knew it wouldn't be enough.

He was snapped from his trance by the sudden jolt of a body making contact with his own. He was sent sprawling to the side, crashing into the soft sand of the ring and raising his head in time to see the shark-toothed boy taking the brunt of the blast. The front of his body was hardened almost completely, and his feet were skidding backwards through the sand. He heard the screams of his classmates from all around him, but couldn't keep his gaze from the other boy's body.

As the blast ended, that boy, what was his name again? Kirishima, right. Kirishima sunk to his knees, his body steaming and Bakugo watched as their homeroom teacher, Mr Aizawa came rushing across the gym.

There was a lot of noise now and Bakugo could only sit in shock, his eyes regarding the steaming, sprawled out figure of the ponytail kid with eyes a swirling mix of confusion and worry. He ignored the sound of Deku asking if he was alright and lurched to his feet, stumbling forwards through the sand and placing himself in front of the fallen figure in the sand. He turned his attention in the direction from which the blast had come from, finally finding a large, smoking hole in the wall and a sheepish looking second year standing at the center of it. It must have been an accident. With no real threat, Bakugo relaxed, turning his attention back to the silent figure before him.

"Oi, shit brain. Wake up," he growled nervously, nudging the other boy with the toe of his shoe. He watched as the other boy's small eyebrows crinkled and his eyes slowly fluttered open. There were still a few curling ribbons of white vapor pooling off the other boy's chest, and he had sunken into the sand quite a bit, the crumbling grays shifting as the boy pushed himself into an upright position.

Bakugo didn't move, his lips twitching in a thin line. He wasn't sure what to say, Hell, he wasn't even sure how he felt! Was he mad that this random extra had saved him? Maybe. Then why had he felt such a panic to see if he was alright? He didn't even know the guy. Bakugo hated being confused about his feelings and found that anger was just the best substitution. He glowered, looking away to the side and shoving his hands into his pants pockets grumpily.

"Hey man, I'm glad your ok." Bakugo chanced a glance back at the other kid and was shocked to see the enormous smile warming his features. He scoffed, scratching the back of his neck and muttering a quiet, "whatever." Before turning on his heel and walking away towards the locker rooms.

Fuck this emotional bullshit, I need a shower.

~~~

Kirishima yawned as he padded out of Recovery Girl's office. It was nice to have been treated so quickly for the minor burns across his chest. He looked down at the folded sheet of paper in his palm, blinking wearily at the room number for his next class.

241, cool. I'm actually excited for this class. Soulmate studies has always been a super interesting subject for me.

As he made his way to the doorway, he hesitated. Would he be chastised for coming in so late? He hoped that the makeshift note from recovery girl would do. The door was heavy, and he handed the sensei his note before quickly padding to the first empty seat.

"As I was saying, this is an introductory level course offered as an elective for non-hero course students and mandatory for all first year greysighted students.

Ah yes, Greysights. That's the term used by society to refer to anyone who had not met their soulmate, and therefore could not see color.

Kirishima was surprised by the annoyed huff from his right side. He turned to see the profile of the spiky-haired boy from sparring today.

Nice! I can talk to him more now that he's in this class! I'm glad he's ok, he seemed pretty upset after that sparring match went sour.

"Does anyone know where the first pair of greysights met? They were the first of many who developed this trait, alongside quirks, and should have been at least mentioned in your underclassmen textbooks," The teacher at the front of the room questioned, her eyes peering over the the lip of her sharply pointed mask.

"Ryker and Jasmine in Ontario, USA." The voice came from beside him, and Kirishima was surprised. He had just seemed so uninterested before.

And so the class went on, Bakugo piping up more often than not with correct answers for all of the questions Mrs. Midnight had for the class.

"Ok last question for the day. Who can tell me what a soulmate is defined as, seeing as it is the link that allows us to see in colors."

The classroom was silent, and Mrs Midnight smiled. "Glad I can teach you all a little bit here, haha, blondie over there seems to know a lot about history, do you think you have an answer?"

Bakugo blinked, confusion warping his features.

"Blondie?"

"Ah yes, forgive me, sometimes I forget about color absences." Her eyes lit up and she turned towards the large green chalkboard behind her, scribbling out the words, Color Absences. "Alright, real quick before I answer that other intro question, Color absences is the term used to refer to the gap between those who have found their soulmates, and those who lack the ability to see color. This occurs in the use of words for color. While living in such a mixed world, I'm sure you've all heard words like Red and Green. But other words, like blonde for example, may be less spoken, and thus harder for a greysight to understand."

"Ah? Then why'd you call me it?!"

"Calm down kiddo," Mrs Midnight said, cracking her whip before continuing. "I called you blondie because that's the color of your hair. Well, it's ash blonde." She looked back out at the rest of the class, now on the edges of their seats. Many parents refused to tell their kids the colors of their features, as there was a long held custom of colors being revealed by their soulmates. Colors in the world as they knew it were very important.

"Now to finish my other question, as there are only about 4 minutes left before the bell. Soulmates are an incredibly intimate part of our lives, laced together as our other half. They can be romantic, as well as platonic, though the vast majority of soulmates are romantic. Your soulmate is revealed when you first touch. When this development first began there was actually a craze of touching, called search mobbing. People were desperate to see color and were crowding around the world, grabbing at one another all over the place. Luckily that time has passed, as when you find your soulmate in a search mob, you may never see them again, and the pain of being distant from your soulmate is nearly unbearable. This is why most all soulmates live together."

That's really interesting. Kirishima's eyes wandered over to look at the blonde who was now calmly taking notes. Bakugo would be a good study buddy. He thought absently, doodling  lazily in his journal. He jolted upwards at the sound of the bell releasing the class, quickly scribbling the next day's homework around his doodles of the day.

Wait, what was I drawing here exactly? He had been focused on class and not quite paying attention to the ministrations of his hand. Littered around the edges of his notebooks were scribbling of a familiar, strong jawline and piercing, intense eyes.

Oh no.

Word count: 1386

And another update! Sorry for all the delays, I just got out on spring break so I FINALLY have time to write again!

I hope you're all enjoying this books so far! See you next chapter!

~TAK