- 25 Below

Aizawa blew his whistle. Anzu halted, nearly smashing into the back of Bakugou. The freezing air she had been sucking in burned her lungs, she suppressed a bout of coughing. This was torture. She had no idea her face could be numb with cold yet the rest of her body could be sweating and on fire. They had been running up the mountain since six in the morning. Her sweatshirt still hadn't dried since last night. Not only was she running in the bitter cold, but she was wearing wet clothes while doing it. She had layered on four short sleeve shirts, and wrapped two around her arms. It kept her warm, but a little too warm. She didn't know if the heat or the cold was worse. Kaminari, Kiri, and Anzu were all at the back of the bunch. Kiri and Anzu had both caught a small cold. The scenery was a lot less beautiful now that she had been running in it for hours on end. Finally, when they reached the bottom of the mountain, it was only noon. They still had three hours left of training. Aizawa paired groups up for hand to hand combat. Because it didn't apply to quirks, this would be the first group exercise she did with the class. She wound up getting paired with Izuku. She had heard from Bakugou that he was famous for watching fighting techniques and adapting a style from the information he learned. Lucky for her, He had never seen her fight. And she heard that a lot of his combat skills heavily relied on his quirk, she didn't know if she believed that though. Bakugou seemed to have it out for him for some unidentified reason. Rivals maybe? But she caught him glaring at her. She knew what it meant. Lose this and I'll kill you later. She rolled her eyes. That seemed to piss him off. He got paired up with Uraraka. She had watched a tape of the previous sports festival to become familiar with her classmates quirks. Uraraka had been beaten up pretty badly. She gave Bakugou a similar look. If you don't play nice I'll kill you later. She said, smirking at him, purposefully trying to make him angry. It was so easy to do that it was always tempting. After that small exchange she turned to Midoriya and they shook hands. His grip was shockingly loose even though he was clearly built. 

                "Wait." She heard Aizawa yell. Anzu turned around just in time to be hit with something. Aizawa shoved an article of clothing into her hands, the same for Midoriya. They were the first team up in the outside ring. Anzu unraveled the clothing. What was this? All Midoriya had been given was a pair of black shorts. Anzu had been given the same pair of shorts and a black sports bra that reached to her midsection.

                "I want you to fight in the cold. Hurry up and change." Aizawa mumbled, taking his perch from the sidelines. Anzu looked at him like he was crazy. It was negative twenty five degrees below zero.(-31.6 Cel.) And he expected them to fight in less clothing than she would, even if it was warm. Anzu stomped into the changing room. This was insanity. She sneezed again, she really wasn't doing well since last night. She assumed her immunity wasn't used to the weather change. When she was finally got into the outfit, she was shaking. She would kill for some sunshine right about now. As if to spit on her prayer, a little canopy of snowflakes began softly falling. Midoriya and her came out around the same time, both shaking. She caught the sympathetic and fretful looks coming from her class mates. At this point she didn't care if she won or lost. She just wanted to go home and drink something hot. Midoriya gave her an awkward smile, taking a ready position. She didn't pay much attention to him on school grounds, but she did notice him smiling quite often. He was around a man with blonde hair and skeleton like facial features quite often as well. She assumed it was a mentor. The whole class seemed to like the guy. 

                "Go." She heard from above her. Anzu waited for Midoriya to make the first move. However he seemed to have the same idea, so nothing happened at first. Then Anzu slowly realized she wanted to get the jump on him. She swung her head to the left, trying to fake a punch, then swung right, she was about to plant a fist in his jaw but he caught her in a block. He planted her to the ground, but she aimed a kick to the back of his knees, taking him down with her. He landed on top of her, but she was more prepared than he was. She raised her fist up, grabbing his arm and twisting him over. But he was a lot heavier and stronger than he looked. He pushed up with his knees, giving Anzu just enough time to hop off. They were both back on their feet in no time, covered head to foot in snow. Her breathing came out in rasps, her throat becoming sore. The air in the mountains was sharp and frigid, not like the humid air they had at U.A. Midoriya, made the first move this time. She was about to throw a left hook, but he caught it before she had time to think otherwise. It was like he read her mind. She was taken back, and he landed a blow directly to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She tumbled to the ground but somehow managed to stay in the ring, with not an inch to spare. Now she wasn't so happy, now she just wanted to end it. Anzu cracked her knuckles. She jumped at him again, faking right but swooping down coming up, clothes lining him in the neck. She grabbed him in a headlock and swung around. She was about to throw him out of the ring, but he caught his legs in the snow. He swung around and-

                "Time's up." She heard Aizawa call from above. That was it? How was she supposed to win in that amount of time!? She released her grip on Midoriya's shoulders and held her hand out. They both shook hands and he smiled.

                "You're really pretty good! I didn't know what I expected though. Bakugou is training you after all." He gave her a thumbs up. He was such a dork. 

                "How did you know I was going to throw that left hook?" She asked trying not to let her frustration show. She was so damn close. She almost won. Anger flared up in her, she supposed she had been hanging around Bakugou too much. She was getting too competitive.

                "Because Bakugou always opens with a left hook. so I figured you would pick up on some of his habits." Midoriya smiled. He really was just as observant as Bakugou had said. Anzu wiped the snow off of her arms, leaving wet streaks all over them. The adrenaline receded, leaving her colder than when she started. A shiver of cold went through her. 

                "Midoriya, don't fall for so many fakes. Anzu stop throwing so many fakes, better opponents will catch on." Aizawa said, ushering them to the changing rooms. Anzu took the information and stored it in her brain. Bakugou was up next. but she wouldn't finish changing in time to see who won. When she came out it seemed to be a stale mate. Uraraka seemed to be a lot stronger than most gave her credit for. In the end, Bakugou and Anzu had no reason to be angry at each other.

        When three o'clock finally came along, Anzu was exhausted, but ecstatic to go skiing. The air grew a bit sweeter again. Bakugou and Anzu had a competition to see who could get down first. Anzu wanted something to be able to shove in Bakugou's face later. He was better at almost everything, but she just needed this one win. 

        "Have you ever been skiing?" She asked Bakugou, staring at the trees going by. They were on a ski lift, heading to the mid section of the mountain. 

        "No. But my mom and dad went a lot before I was born." He grumbled. He had been acting weird all day. Everything that came out of his mouth sounded depressed. 

        "What's wrong with you?" She asked, staring him down. He looked over to her. Every time she grew confidence, his glare would put hers to shame. She held it, but shrunk back a little bit.

        "I'm fine. Drop it." He said, looking back. The way he smiled had a kind of 'That's what I thought" essence to it. For some explainable reason that made her angry.

        "Clearly you're not. You're barely even paying attention!" She said, poking at his puffy coat. She wish she had one of those. The fur around the top was just as poofy as his hair. 

        "I'm fine! So shut it!" He said, giving her a tap to the back of the head. It wasn't strong enough to be a slap, just like when cats hit you without claws. Kind of like a 'pap'. However, she was incredibly ill prepared for this. The type of ski lift they were using, was smaller. It was red and had a single bar in the middle. But it had no crossbar to lock the participant in. It wasn't a long drop but it definitely could do some damage. Anzu's balance was entirely thrown off and her grip slipped. It seemed to happen in slow motion. Bakugou's eyes widened, and he snatched the hand that was poking at his jacket. Hauling her up with ease. She grabbed a shaky hold of the middle bar, her eyes wide open. 

        "Don't. Do that again." She puffed, eyeing the drop hesitantly. She was surprised how quick his reflexes were. She hadn't realized how cold her hands were until he grabbed it. Even through the gloves, his hands were warm enough to leave hers red. The small bit of panic that had crept into his eyes left as soon as it came. He looked the other direction. Her heart was still pounding. She could almost see the top now. It was a lot more intimidating than she thought from the bottom. It was steep, and she suddenly realized no one here knew how to ski. Sero and Mina had lost their one on one battles and had to stay back to help make dinner. Kaminari and Kirishima had both decided to start on an easier level and that they would meet up at the bottom. Anzu felt a shiver run through her, it was even colder up here. The sky was long and the color of ice, the mountain sparkled when the rays of sunlight bounced off of it. It was the perfect weather to ski. As the lift came to an end, Bakugou and Anzu both almost failed the drop off, and awkwardly struggled down the mat. This seemed to be a bad idea after all.

        "Hey Bakugou how do you stop?" She asked, trying her absolute best not to slip as she walked. 

        "No clue. I'll figure it out." He said, waiting at the edge of the drop. Anzu hesitantly stepped out. Her ski's seemed to have a mind of their own. They crossed out from under her, tipping over and beginning to pick up speed. She couldn't even get the words wait out. The same thing happened to Bakugou. Anzu was starting to go much too quickly for her liking, so she decided to stop the only way she knew how. She sat down, her legs bending back. She had no idea that the more pressure you put on one foot, the more you'd turn. So to her disappointment, she veered right, taking Bakugou down with her. They both tumbled on the ice, finally smashing into a tree.

        "Damn. The ice is not soft." She said, making sure Bakugou was okay. He was okay. He was also not happy. 

        "If you're going down don't drag me with you!" He yelled. He tried to get up, using umph to make a statement. This was a terrible idea seeing as getting up in skis was harder than learning how to stop. His legs buckled and he fell back on his butt. Anzu tried not to laugh but it happened anyway. It was hysterical to see Mr. Perfect fail so miserably. She was in the same boat though. Anzu used a nearby tree branch to haul herself up, still slipping but gaining her balance for the most part. She continued to laugh at the failing hot-head as he tried over and over again to get up. 

        "Shut up!" He yelled, kicking his skis under hers. She fell with a plop. He began to snicker. That was the weirdest thing she had ever heard. He was... laughing. 

        "That's it!" She yelled chucking snow in his face. There was a brief pause. He spit the snow out of his mouth. The action was followed as he chucked a giant pile of snow at her face. She let out a squeak as it went down her hoodie and behind her shirt. "Jerk!" She said. And then she saw it. She punched the tree as hard as she could. She was out of it's reach but he was still under it. A mini avalanche fell from it, covering him in sheets of snow. She quickly got up, using the tree as leverage and started down the mountain. She didn't dare look back. She didn't have to. She heard the exploding noises behind her. He caught up to her ridiculously quickly. He was using his explosions to propel himself. They were small, because he didn't have much sweat but they were enough.

        "You're dead." He grinned reaching out. Then the momentum became too much for him. Bakugou fell face first onto the sheet of snow, taking a giant bite of everything he slammed his mouth into. He came up covered in white.

        "Are you okay?!" She laughed, hugging her stomach. That was the dumbest thing she had ever seen him do. There wasn't an answer. "Aw come one Bakugou I'm just joking." She said wiping away a tear from laughing too hard. She held out a hand to help him up. He took it, but used it to yank her down to his level. She clumsily fell right on top of him. Anzu rolled off, and this time they were both laughing. "Yeah I deserved that." She snickered, Sitting up. "We should get down or Kirishima and Kaminari are both going to be worried." She said, trying to get up. Bakugou seemed to figure it out first. He helped her up... or more like picked her up and placed her on her feet. That still did surprise her sometimes. She had never heard him laugh before, but something about his laugh was special. She couldn't explain why. It wasn't because it was rare. It was something else she couldn't quite explain.

        They reached the bottom of the mountain about an hour later. By then it was only five o'clock. Bakugou wanted to go for another hike, but she refused to let him go alone, so the both found a medium level trail. Apparently Kirishima and Kaminari were even worse at skiing than her and Bakugou, and Kaminari twisted his ankle. In the end, Bakugou and Anzu were again alone together. Again... But he seemed to be in good spirits for some reason. Atleast alot happier than this morning.

        "Do you like hiking or something?" She asked, following behind him. She had to watch her footing on the narrow trail. She nearly tripped several times. Not once did it happen to Bakugou. He seemed to have experience doing this.

        "You'll see." He said, not bothering to look back. She rolled her eyes. Never a straight answer with him was there? The wind blew right through her and she silently regretted going. She was really starting to feel the full brunt of the sickness. She was having trouble breathing from her nose, which was as issue because breathing the frigid air constantly through her mouth was making her throat sore. Her sense of temperature was all out of wack, every time she felt cold, she would instantly become hot again. She didn't get sick much in the white room because she wasn't exposed to any germs but her own. She had studied a lot of common ones though, and knew what they were supposed to feel like. Bakugou took in a deep breath. They had been traveling up for some time now. They should reach the destination soon. All she could see from here were trees upon trees. Maybe a cardinal or squirrel on occasion. Bakugou didn't seem like the type of person to like nature. It honestly didn't make sense to her why he enjoyed it so much. He stopped walking out of nowhere. Anzu hit the back of him, and glared upwards. His expression was unreadable. He must have seen something. After a decent five minutes of silence, Bakugou kept on moving. 

        "I thought I saw someone. Weird." He said, ignoring the creeping feeling on his back. It was black and purple whatever it was. It disappeared much quicker than he could see. This sent Anzu on edge. She caught herself looking behind her more often. They reached the summit in no time. There was a big deck in a clearing. It rested on a plateau on the side of the mountain. As Anzu walked up to the balcony she was blown away. The view was outstanding. For miles, all she could see were snow covered trees and mountains turned blue from the mix of colors. Giant mountains all displayed out in front of her. It was absolutely breathtaking. Nothing like she had seen in any picture book. The mountains were the biggest things she had ever seen, rough and rigid turning magenta with the sunset. And it stretched for miles. She couldn't rip her eyes away... She caught Bakugou smiling in her peripheral vision.

        "Now you see why I like hiking?" He asked, looking back. She could barely muster a nod. The wind swept up, sending a shiver through her. It was almost ominous. The sunset was a rich red and orange color, casting shadows and pinks along the surface of the snow. Blinding but beautiful. Bakugou took a picture with his phone. "We should head back soon. It's getting cold." He said motioning towards the trail. Anzu desperately didn't want to leave, but she had no choice.

        "Can we come back?" She asked turning around. Bakugou nodded and began back down. He walked next to her rather than in front of her this time. Going downhill was a lot steeper and he knew she would probably lose her footing. For someone so quick on her feet she was shockingly clumsy. Anzu still seemed shocked from the view. He supposed there weren't many mountains, wherever the hell she came from. That had been bothering him for a while. Where did she come from? And why was she so secretive about it? He was thrown out of his thoughts when she jumped. 

        "S-sorry it's just really cold." Anzu gave a small smile. She was such a dork.

        "Why are you wearing that instead of an actual coat?" He asked, looking at his old sweater. She seemed to like it too much for him to ask for it back. And even though she tried to hide it, he knew everything she wore was borrowed. No one in their right mind would have a shirt that says thug life and a shirt that said wall flower in the same drawer. So he let her keep it.

        "I forgot to buy one." She lied, looking the other direction. He stared harder at her. It always seemed to make her uncomfortable. To his dismay, she still didn't turn around. He gave an exasperated sigh. Anzu heard him unzipper his coat.

        "What are you doing!?" She asked, interrupted as he plopped it on her head.

        "You're already fucking sick. Plus my quirk keeps me warm." He lied. He didn't want to look at her. He couldn't believe he just did that. She probably would think he was going soft now. "Come prepared next time." He muttered, stepping on ahead of her. Anzu was completely dumbfounded. Did he just... Was he... What is he... She couldn't think properly. He even noticed she was getting sick. Was this just out of guilt because of what happened yesterday? Or something else? She gladly slipped it on. It was ridiculously warm, and it had that same burnt caramel smell. The fur on the sides was soft as well. It clearly wasn't a cheap coat. She pulled the zipper up over her nose, breathing in the warm air, giving her lungs a break. 

        They reached the cabin around seven o'clock. The sun had finally set leaving a garment of black over the camp grounds. Anzu showered off the grime of the day, clearing out her nose with the steam of the shower. She enjoyed hot chocolate and a warm meal that Mina and Sero had made. In they end they all played a board game. Bakugou had to become the announcer because apparently last time he played he exploded everything. In the end, they all fell asleep on the couch, and the day was over. It was the best memory Anzu had.