All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
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 (A/N: God in Japanese). I'm here to guide you," he replied solemnly.
"Am I dead?" Bakugo asked, sounding somewhat fearful.
"No, not yet. But you will be," the faceless figure replied. "But fear not, Bakugo. Peace awaits you where you go."
"Peace?" Bakugo raised an eyebrow, confused.
"That's it. Peace. No pain, no regrets, no guilt. Now follow me," the faceless one ordered, walking in the direction of the light.
"But..." Bakugo protested.
—Hurry. If you stay here, you'll remain in limbo. You'll be neither in heaven nor on earth. You'll be in purgatory forever—said the faceless one.
"Then take me back to Earth!" Bakugo demanded.
"Do you want to feel that unbearable pain again?" the faceless man asked. Bakugo stood still, muttering. "I figured as much. Let's go."
Bakugo turned his face away from the path to Earth. There stood a younger version of himself, looking at him disapprovingly.
"What's wrong now? Why did you stop?" asked the faceless man, annoyed at having to wait so long.
"It's another fucking hallucination that's messing with me even here," Bakugo said, frowning. "But now it's a poor imitation of my past self."
"You said it yourself. It's a hallucination. So stop wasting time and come with me," the faceless one ordered.
"Tsk," Bakugo muttered, furious that the Bakugo kid was still staring at him disapprovingly. Then he turned and started walking, following the faceless figure.
Bakugo, Bakugo.
"What was that?" Bakugo asked, stopping as he heard a voice calling him from beyond the tunnel.
"Stop being distracted already. Come on!" the faceless one ordered.
Your classmates need you to pass the exam. You can't let them down!
"I know that voice... It's the flower freak!" Bakugo exclaimed. "Is she dead like me too?"
—No. Your friends are trying to bring you back to life.
"I don't have any friends," Bakugo replied, relieved to hear that Ino hadn't died.
"Whatever you say. Kami-sama sent me here to rectify your companions' mistake," the faceless one remarked.
You promised you'd come back! You promised me! What kind of man are you if you can't keep your promises? Weren't you supposed to be the next Hokage?
"Why is this a mistake?" asked Bakugo, who was getting angrier as he realized that his younger self was still there sulking without saying a word.
"Because they don't know the fate that would await you if you returned to the world of mortals!" replied the faceless one.
So if you really want to be the next Hokage, wake up already!
"Tsk," Bakugo muttered, frowning, unable to stand his younger self any longer. "If you want to tell me something, tell me! But don't just stand there like an idiot! All my other damn hallucinations talked like parrots! Why are you the only one who doesn't say anything?!"
Suddenly, drops of water began to fall on him from the tunnel.
"What the hell?" Bakugo complained.
No, he hasn't left! GET UP, BAKUGO! COME ON!
Bakugo clutched his hair tightly. He was starting to get a headache.
"How many times do I have to tell you to move already?" said the faceless man.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Bakugo yelled. "You're pissing me off too!"
"I'm trying to help you! I'm offering you the chance to finally live in peace!" said the faceless one.
YOU ARE A FIGHTER! Now...GET UP AND FIGHT!
"I'm tired of hearing you talk about peace," Bakugo said. "I'm going back to Earth and kicking ass." He turned to face his hallucination of the younger Bakugo. But to his surprise, the younger Bakugo no longer seemed disgusted with him; he was looking at him with an arrogant, self-satisfied smile.
—I'm talking to you about peace because if you go back you'll only find pain. And I'm not just talking about physical pain.
STAND UP AND FIGHT! KEEP YOUR PROMISES!
"How can I live in peace if I let that idiot Deku become the number one hero? How can I live in peace if I don't find out why Itachi killed Mikoto and her entire clan? You're already hearing that flower freak. It's impossible for me to live in peace if I don't go back and fulfill what I promised," Bakugo said.
" You think you're strong, but you're not. You won't be able to endure what awaits you. The feeling of loss, friends turning into enemies, betrayal, the helplessness of not getting what you want. If you go back, you won't find peace. That's why Kami-sama sent me here. He's magnanimous and doesn't want you to suffer unnecessarily," the faceless one explained.
FIGHT!
"You say my fate is already written. But if that were true, you wouldn't be here trying to convince me to come with you. Isn't free will supposed to exist?" Bakugo asked sarcastically.
N/A: Free will means that people naturally have the freedom to make their own decisions, without being subject to pressures, needs, or limitations, or to divine predetermination.
"And it exists. But the probability of what I've said not coming true is so remote that it would be cruel to let you return and not find rest," said the faceless one.
"I haven't earned the peace and rest you talk about yet. First, I have to get strong enough to kick the asses of Itachi, Snake, Weird Eyes, and every other idiot who comes to mess with me. Then, I'll free All Might and return to my world. After that, I'll surpass Deku, or whoever else is the number one hero. And maybe, who knows, after I've accomplished all of that, I'll have kids and train them to be as awesome as me," Bakugo said, pointing at the faceless figure. "Only then will I have peace."
"You crazy fool..." said the faceless man, unable to believe that Bakugo didn't want to go with him to heaven. Bakugo walked in the direction of the mortal world and his hallucination. "I warn you, you won't remember anything about our conversation if you come back!"
"Better yet, I don't want to have nightmares about your fucking faceless head," Bakugo said, now just a few meters from the tunnel exit.
" You still have time to reconsider, Bakugo! Come into the light!" the faceless one tried one last time.
"Nah, I prefer kicking ass," Bakugo said.
—Well said, old man. —were the first words of his hallucination of his childhood self.
"Heh, I thought you didn't talk?" Bakugo said with a grin. The hallucination smiled back and vanished.
"You know it's a mistake, right?" said the faceless one from afar.
"The only mistake was that you and Kami-sama underestimated me. When I get back here, I'll make you apologize for not taking me seriously. Did you really think you could win me over with peace alone? I'm only satisfied if I'm number one in everything!" These were Bakugo's last words in purgatory. He teleported back to the mortal world.
In purgatory, only the faceless one remained.
"I hope I'm wrong, Bakugo. But if I'm right, I'm afraid your soul will never find peace. So I hope you're right and I have to apologize, Bakugo." The faceless one returned to the sky after this thought.
Back to the world of the living...
"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.
"His heart has stopped beating. It's hard to accept reality, but he's no longer with us..." Kabuto said, putting his arm around Ino's shoulder to comfort her.
"No!" Ino wiped the tears from her face and roughly pushed Kabuto away again. "He'll live. If Bakugo's going to die from anything, it'll be from the beating I'm going to give him for not listening to me and going after that Sound Ninja."
She began to mimic, somewhat clumsily, the CPR movements she had seen Kabuto perform moments before, alternating chest compressions with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. There wasn't a hint of blush on her face, even though she was kissing Bakugo; her focus was solely on saving him.
"It's over, Ino," Kabuto tried to reason with her.
She ignored Kabuto, but her conviction that she could save Bakugo was gradually faltering as she watched the seconds tick by and the blond boy still had no pulse or breathing.
"Ino..." Shikamaru said, a lump forming in his throat. "You heard Kabuto, he's dead."
"No..." Ino shook her head, a couple of tears falling onto the blond man's face. "I'm not going to lose him again." She pressed harder on his chest, but the result remained the same. There was no response.
"Ino, please..." Sakura said, her voice breaking with grief. "We must take him back to the village to be buried."
"Come on, Bakugo." More and more tears streamed down the ash-blond boy's face. "Come on!" he shouted. Then he resumed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "Bakugo... Bakugo... stay with us... I haven't even thanked you for saving my life yet..." he whispered, almost inaudibly.
"Ino, you have to let him go," Choji said, suffering. What hurt him most wasn't Bakugo's death itself, but the reaction of absolute grief and denial his teammate was experiencing.
Sasuke was the only one who didn't say anything. His gaze was lost on the ground, his fists clenched with rage and the bitterness of losing another person he cared about.
Ino continued to ignore her teammates' pleas and kept trying to revive Bakugo.
"Bakugo, Bakugo, your classmates need you to pass the exam! You can't just abandon them!" Ino cried, her face red with tears. "You promised you'd come back! You promised me! What kind of man are you if you can't keep your promises? Weren't you supposed to be the next Hokage?"
Sakura couldn't watch the scene any longer without completely breaking down. She turned away and began to sob uncontrollably.
"We have to get out of here. We're easy targets for the other applicants," said Kabuto, who was the only one in the group who remained calm.
"When we saw you couldn't do ninjutsu or genjutsu at the academy, we all laughed at your idea of becoming the next Hokage. You looked like Naruto, but he's the Fourth Hokage's son and one of the strongest in the class, and you're just a loudmouth." She performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation again, staining Bakguo's face with more tears in the process. "But nobody laughs at you anymore. I don't laugh at you anymore. You've proven yourself to be very strong. So if you really want to be the next Hokage, wake up already!"
—Ino, she's gone...—Shikamaru tried again to reason with his partner while she continued to compress the blond's chest.
"No, he's not gone!" Ino turned to Shikamaru, pausing the CPR for a few moments. Her face reflected immense pain. Then she resumed her task. "Get up, Bakugo! Come on!"
"I'm sorry to be a pain, but we have to leave NOW," Kabuto urged.
"I'm not going to let him go..." Ino whispered, wiping her tear-streaked face again. Then she decided to change her approach to resuscitation, and instead of chest compressions, she began punching him hard with her fist. "YOU'RE A FIGHTER! Now...GET UP AND FIGHT! KEEP YOUR PROMISES!" Another powerful punch to the blond boy's chest. "FIGHT, FIGHT!"
Ino performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation again. And then, three minutes after Kabuto declared Bakugo dead, the miracle happened.
"Uuuugugfuu," Bakugo tried to gasp for air, but he couldn't and spat blood in Ino's face. Then his eyes rolled back.
"He's alive..." Ino's whisper alerted the others, and then it grew into a roar. "HE'S ALIVE!"
The Leaf genin stared in astonishment at the blonde's revelation, but the most surprised was Kabuto, who summed up the situation that was happening.
"Impossible..." Kabuto said, his voice trembling. He quickly touched his neck and confirmed that he had a pulse again. "It can't be... It's a miracle."
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