All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
We find ourselves at the moment when Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Sakura, and Sasuke were waiting for Bakugo to return from his pursuit of Dosu. Shikamaru saw black smoke in the sky (A/N: this smoke resulted from the explosion he caused to his hallucination of All Might).
"Guys! Look!" exclaimed Shikamaru.
"That smoke... it could be from Bakugo's explosions. To show us where he is," Sasuke commented. "But he's very far from here. Bakugo isn't one to have a bad sense of direction."
"It might not be him..." Sakura said, not really knowing if it was him or an enemy.
"Or maybe it's him and he's in trouble," Ino said, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"SILENCE!" yelled Choji, who was very focused on hearing something.
The other four were taken aback by Choji's shout, as he was usually a very calm person. They obeyed without question, and thanks to that, they were able to hear, albeit with difficulty due to the great distance between them, the sound of an explosion. (A/N: This noise they heard was caused by Bakugo's massive explosion upon the giant All Might that merged with the rest of his hallucinations.)
"BAKUGO!" the five shouted.
"Let's go!" Sasuke ordered, leading the group in search of his companion.
The five of them moved as quickly as possible, taking turns carrying Bakugo's sword, toward the explosion they heard. Truthfully, only Shikamaru and Choji were carrying it, since Sasuke and Sakura were still injured and Ino was too distraught to heed her teammates' requests to take turns.
It took them about five minutes until they saw Bakugo lying in a hole caused by his big explosion in the middle of the forest.
"It's him! It's Bakugo!" Ino said, half excited and half alarmed because he didn't seem to be conscious.
"Stay still, it could be a trap and the Sound Man might be lurking," Shikamaru said, looking around for Dosu's whereabouts.
"Stop talking nonsense, Shikamaru!" Ino snapped. "We have to help him!"
As she was about to approach the blond boy, she froze when she saw Bakugo get to his feet, his legs trembling. She wasn't the only one frozen. The rest of them also froze at the sight of Bakugo's condition. Blood was pouring from his ears and eyes. His skin had lost its color, becoming almost white, save for the patches of dried blood covering his face and bare torso. Furthermore, the wound on his shoulder had blackened, indicating that it was beginning to rot from the inside.
But it wasn't Bakugo's appearance that impressed them most; it was the way he looked at them. He had a sick, unbalanced gaze, like a zombie straight out of a horror movie.
—Bakugo...—Sakura whispered, covering her mouth with her anxious hand.
"Who the hell are you?" Bakugo asked with a grimace and narrowed eyes.
"Bakugo, it's us," Ino replied tearfully. "I brought this to heal you." She reached out, taking the bag containing the crushed acacia and juniper paste.
"Speak my fucking language, mmm... I don't know what you are but speak my fucking language!" Bakugo ordered, raising his voice.
"Huh? Bakugo, I told you that..." Ino began, continuing to approach. But Sasuke stopped her, seeing Bakugo's hostile attitude.
"I don't like this one bit..." Sasuke said, thinking that something very bad must be happening to Bakugo for him to be like this.
"Old man..." Bakugo said, looking to his left where there was no one.
"What's wrong with him?" Choji whispered to Shikamaru.
"I'm no medical expert, but I think he's hallucinating..." Shikamaru commented, unsure how to react.
"Well said, old man. I'll finish them off," Bakugo said with a sickening look, baring his teeth.
—Did Dosu put him under a genjutsu?— Sakura asked the rest of the group.
"I don't think so, Sakura. She's losing a lot of blood. The blood loss might be causing her hallucinations," Sasuke commented worriedly.
"Cough, cough, cough. I'd love to blow you all up with my explosions, cough cough cough." Bakugo coughed. After wiping some blood from his mouth, he showed his teeth, which were stained with blood. "I'm not at my best, but I'll take you down with my fists and feet."
"Bakugo, you need to calm down. It's us. We've come to help you," Ino tried to calm Bakugo.
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO SPEAK MY FUCKING LANGUAGE?!" Bakugo leaped from his position and charged at the central cloud. "SHINEEEEE!"
— Kagemane no Jutsu (N/A: Shadow Imitation Technique) — Shikamaru exclaimed.
An instant later, Bakugo was petrified, unable to move.
"Why can't I move?" the ash-blond man thought aloud.
"What do we do now?" Sakura asked, on the verge of having an anxiety attack.
"WHAT KIND OF QUIRK DID YOU USE, YOU PIECE OF SCUM?!" Bakugo screamed, completely out of control. "I'M KATSUKI BAKUGO, AND I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU ALL. DID YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE DEAD!" He was slowly regaining his mobility.
"Hurry up, I can barely hold him back," Shikamaru said, gesturing with great effort. He had used his Nara clan technique. But he couldn't understand how Bakugo, being more dead than alive, could still possess so much strength.
"Before we make any move, we need to know what's happening to him," Sasuke replied.
"He's poisoned," announced a figure that emerged from behind Bakugo.
—Kabuto...—Sakura said, not understanding what she was doing there.
"I can't hold out much longer..." said Shikamaru, his technique beginning to lose its effect.
"YOU WILL REGRET THE DAY YOU CHALLENGED KATSUKI BAKUGO, BITCHES!" As he was about to move, Kabuto struck him sharply on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.
"What the hell are you doing, Kabuto!" Ino said indignantly.
"Blood is coming from both his tear ducts and his ears. That means he's been poisoned. The hallucinations must be a result of the fever from the poison. I need him to stay still so I can treat him," Kabuto said. "It might not seem like it, but I have extensive knowledge of medicine and medical jutsu."
"But will she be alright? Won't she?" Ino said, her voice breaking with anguish.
Kabuto approached Bakugo's unconscious body and examined his neck. Then he looked at Sasuke's neck.
"Impossible, why doesn't he have it? He must be one of them..." Kabuto whispered. It was the only possibility Kabuto could think of as to why he didn't have Orochimaru's cursed seal. He must be from another world.
"The one who doesn't have one?" Sakura asked, having heard Kabuto's whisper.
"Huh?" Kabuto said, embarrassed that he'd voiced his thoughts aloud. "Pulse, he has no pulse." He managed to extricate himself from the situation. "He doesn't have much time left." And he was right, since he wasn't breathing either. "This is bad..."
"What's wrong, Kabuto?" Ino said, kneeling down next to where Kabuto and Bakugo were standing.
"I need to concentrate. So be quiet," Kabuto replied.
Kabuto began performing CPR. He supplemented chest compressions with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to try to provide oxygen to Bakugo's lungs.
Bakugo's first kiss. Well... technically it wasn't a kiss per se, since Bakugo was unconscious and had no pulse, and Kabuto was trying to save his life. But what is certain is that it was the first time Bakugo's lips had ever touched another person's.
After more than half a minute trying to revive Bakugo, Kabuto gave up with a long sigh.
"I'm sorry, guys." The five genin in Bakugo's class felt like they'd been beaten with a baseball bat at Kabuto's words. "Your friend is..." Ino didn't let him finish the sentence, interrupting him with fury in her eyes.
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence! He's not dead! Get out of the way!" Ino shouted, pushing Kabuto away.
—Ino...—Sakura sobbed.
"He's not dead!" Ino cried, her face also streaked with tears. "He can't be dead! He's like this because he protected Choji and me!"
Sasuke slammed a violent kick into a rock, furious with himself for not being able to do anything to save Bakugo. Once again, someone precious to him had died without him being able to stop it.
Elsewhere, in an endless tunnel completely dark except for a small light at the end, lay the lost soul of Bakugo.
"Hmm, that's strange. I don't feel any pain," he said, looking at his shoulder, which was completely healed. "How is that possible? Who healed me? And more importantly... where am I?" he asked, addressing no one in particular.
"In purgatory, Katsuki Bakugo," said a figure somewhat taller than Bakugo that had no face.
"Who are you? Are you another fucking hallucination?" Bakugo asked.
"No, I'm not. I'm an emissary of Kami-sama. I'm here to guide you," he replied solemnly.
"Am I dead?" Bakugo asked, sounding somewhat fearful.
"No, not yet. But you will be," replied the faceless figure.