Chapter Text
Bakugo POV:
I'm sitting in my desk working on homework when I hear the sounds of my classmates channeling in from lunch. I try to ignore their annoying chatter amongst each other so I can continue working, but a familiar giggle reaches my ears making my body freeze up.
Sure enough, Runa walks in with three of our other classmates. The audacity of her...I can't believe she's here.
I watch her carefully as she makes her way to the other side of the classroom and plops down onto one of the desks. She begins to swing her legs back and forth and tilts her head slightly when she talks. Her long black hair flows down her slender back and I find myself wondering if it was as soft as it was when we were kids. Another chuckle slips from her mouth and I catch myself leaning towards it in order to hear it a little better. Hearing it after all this time is enough to make me feel jealous that I'm not the one causing it, yet feeling guilty for even thinking that way. Enough idiot! You can't go down this road again!
The sound of the school chime fills my ears and she jumps off the desk and makes her way back towards me. She passes me on her way to sit down and I can smell her vanilla perfume, the kind she always wears. I am so aware of her it drives me insane. The way her perfume subtly fills my nose, the way she tilts her head when she talks, how she listens intently to what you have to say whether it's interesting or not, the way she picks at the skin of her nails when she's nervous.
I don't miss a thing when it comes to her, but I wish I did. Why did she have to come here? Why did she have to ruin my plans?
I'm violently yanked from my thoughts when our new teacher walks in. All Might is loud and surprisingly awkward. It's not my first encounter with him but having him here is definitely something to get used to.
As if being this close to her isn't bad enough, I'm caught off guard by a snicker coming from directly behind me. From her. My body tenses and I go to look at her but quickly stop myself, because if I look at her right now, I don't know what will happen. I just know it won't be good.
What could she possibly be laughing about? I look up and see All Might walking in, his walk definitely seeming off. It's not enough to actually laugh about though. I guess she hasn't really changed. She was never able to take anything seriously when we were kids.
I hear a small sound come from her once more, then the sound of something small hitting the desk. Against my better judgement, I turn around and find her head tucked under her arms, shoulders rising and falling quickly. She's...laughing. I look up again and All Might is flexing while monologuing. This girl is going to be the death of me...
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
I walk out of the locker room feeling pumped. I have a sick new hero suit and nothing it going to stop me from kicking ass in training today. I don't allow myself to think about the spunky brunette who haunts my past because I won't let anything come between me and being the number one hero.
I make my way through the school grounds and follow my classmates to Ground Beta. As if this day couldn't get any worse, I see a flash of black and silver appear in the dimmed tunnel hallway.
I look up and see Runa. The air from my lungs gets knocked loose and my entire body comes to a halt. I slowly drag my eyes up her body, taking in her new suit. My eyes finally meet hers and my face betrays me for a split second and I can tell she noticed, because she too, comes to a stop. I quickly recover and replace my shocked look with a more familiar one. A nasty feeling claws it's way into my gut and before I can say or do anything, she quickly takes off, leaving me behind.
Bakugo 9 y/o:
My friends and I stumble into the neighborhood park and start to play kickball. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Izuku and Runa sitting at one of the benches under the pavilion. Izuku is wearing normal clothes but Runa is swamped by a large black cloak with silver designs on it. I'm too far away to make out what's on it or what they are doing.
I try to focus on the game with my friends but can't because I keep glancing over at Runa. I see her swing her short legs over the edge of the bench and stand up. She leans down to say something to Izuku then walks away. Against my better judgement, I get up and walk over to her, intercepting her before she can reach the bathrooms.
"Kats? Uh...what are you doing here?" She asks nervously, slightly tilting her head to the side.
"What do you think? We're at the park. I'm playing. What are YOU doing?"
"Oh um... I'm doing some crafts with Izuku."
She glances over at Izuku then looks back over at me. Her pretty green eyes meet mine and it makes me nervous.
"Crafts?"
"Uh...yeah. I'm making something for my hero suit. Do you want to join? I know we aren't-"
I quickly cut her off, not wanting to hear what she has to say. Cutting off Izuku was easy, but I can't say the same about her. It was a million times harder. I can't let her back in. Before I can stop my big mouth, I blurt out, "Hero suit? How could you be a hero? All you do is dream stuff."
"I- " My body acts before I can even think. I grab the cloak she's wearing and rip it off of her body. "Kats no! Please-"
Ignoring her protests, I set off my quirk, searing holes throughout her cloak. Her big green eyes, brighter now because of the redness in them, meet mine begging for answers.
"Kats...how could you...I worked so hard on it..."
Tears begin to well in her eyes and a sharp feeling hits my gut. I want to apologize but stop myself because I already know I went too far. I slip back into the part and lay on the hurt a little thicker.
"Just give up Runa. You'll never be a hero like me. Neither will Izuku. He's more useless than you are."
Runa yanks the seared fabric from my hands and runs into the bathroom crying. I tell myself that I did what I had to do to keep her away. If I'm going to be number one. I can't let anything or anyone hold me back.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Bakugo Present Time:
The memory leaves a sour feeling in my gut and for once, I let myself take it in because in all honesty, I deserve it. I let myself feel the guilt creep in and worm its way inside, slithering across all my organs one by one. I let it circle my heart tight enough to squeeze, tight enough for it to hurt. I let the feeling take over little by little. After a bit, it starts becoming too heavy and I can barely handle it. I clutch the fabric of my suit in my fist, desperate for release as I walk through the tunnel.
But as I expected, I don't find it. I see Runa walking in front of me, head hanging low, hood covering her face. Each step we take feels heavier and I can feel the darkness starting to take me. Before I can let it, a strong hand with an even stronger grip greets my shoulder with a squeeze.
"Bakugo! My man! Lookin suuuper manly with your new hero suit." Kirishima continues to walk alongside me, despite me glaring at him and hoping he'll take the hint. He doesn't.
"Fuck off shitty hair. Don't you have anyone else to bother?" He clutches his stomach and laughs, patting my back while doing so.
"You're funny Bakugo. Always so feisty!" I grunt and give him another look but as always, he just laughs it off.
We continue to make our way through the dark tunnel and eventually reach the inside, greeting an excited looking All Might.
"It is time for combat training!"
Some guy with glasses speaks up, "Sir, this is the fake city from the entrance exam right? Will we be doing the same thing as before?"
"Not quite!" He throws up an unexpected peace sign. "Most people expect to encounter villains outside, but in reality, you actually encounter them more indoors, so I want you guys to work on that. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows, not out in broad daylight! Because of this, you will be fighting two on two battles."
"Isn't this a little advanced?" A froglike girl pipes in and I roll my eyes. Idiots.
"Not at all! The best training you can get is while on the battlefield! But remember, you can't just go around punching robots this time. You will be dealing with real people, your classmates."
Already annoyed by all the droning on and on, I ask, "How much can we hurt the other team?" My question gets drowned out by the many more that come after mine, leaving me annoyed.
All Might then goes on to explain that if we are the heroes, we are to find a missile and capture it or the villains, but if we are the villains, we are to keep the heroes from reaching it. He explains that everything will be completely random. As long as I don't get Runa, everything should be fine. I hear her get paired with that pink-cheeked girl and sigh in relief. All the pairs are announced and now we wait to see who will be the heroes and villains.
My relief is unfortunately, short lived. As if the world has it out for me, I find out that my team is going against hers. Honestly, I don't know which is worse. Me being forced to work with her, or having to be in close enough proximity to fight her. Either option is a loss.
Iida and I head to the missiles location where he wants to "strategize". As if I would work with him. The damn four-eyes keeps babbling about embodying the spirit of villainy or whatever the fuck when all I want is for him to shut up so we can get this over with.
"Whatever four-eyes. You can do what you want. Guard the missile, fight, I don't care. I'm going out there to stop pink cheeks and Hanamura before they can even make it up here."
"But Bakugo, we need a plan!"
"That was my plan. Now shut up and let me get down there."
I make my way down the stairs and through the hallways in hopes of finding the girls. Before I now it, I can hear the familiar clack of high heels echoing through the hallway. I follow the sound and pop out from my hiding spot just in time to intercept them and fire a blast. Unfortunately, Runa knocks them out of the way, so I miss. The smoke clears and I am met with Runa standing with our classmate tucked behind her arm.
"Don't make me fight you, Katsuki."
"What? Scared you'll lose...Witch?"
I can see her lip twitch at the name and briefly I feel guilty for using it, but quickly shove those kinds of thoughts away. I'm not here to be nice. I'm here to win.
"I guess we'll find out."
She goes to untie the strings holding together her cloak, determined green eyes not wavering from mine. She pulls it off and throws it into the hallway to her side. With a hint of a smirk, she rolls her shoulders and goes to a fighting stance. Her quirk has nothing to do with this kind of fighting. I've never seen her fight a day in her life, so I'm a little confused as to why she thinks she can stand a chance.
"It's okay, sweetheart." I take off in a run towards her and she doesn't move a muscle. "I'll go easy on you, so I don't hurt you too badly."
I send a right hook right towards her face and to my surprise, she not only stops it, but grabs my arm. Because of my shock, I don't register what she does before it's too late. Using more strength than I know she possessed, she pulls on my arm and throws me over her shoulder, slamming my back onto the ground. The air from my lungs gets shoved out of my chest from the impact.
As I start to stand, I hear her speak behind me, "You always start a fight with a right hook, Kats." There's a brief silence. "What? Didn't think I'd pick up on it after all these years of watching you pick fights?"
I turn my body to face her and I see a smirk plastered on her face. "Come on, show me what you got, asshole. I see you'll pick fights with girls now too."
My blood starts to boil. My breathing picks up and I can see an unfamiliar, feral look in her eyes. "Despite what you think, I'm not useless. My quirk might not help me in this situation, but it doesn't mean I'm not a good fighter. How do you think I made it into this place?"
Absolute rage seethes through me and I let off a couple explosions in my palms. I see her flinch, then take half a step back but she quickly resumes her position.
As I'm about to launch another attack, Iida's voice fills my ears, courtesy of the ear piece we were given.
"Bakugo, come in. What's going on? Where are you?"
"Shut up and defend the weapon. I've got more important things to worry about."
Shifting my focus back to the angry brunette in front of me, "Let's get this over with Witch."
"Uraraka! Run! Get to Iida!"
Pink cheeks takes off running. I sprint over to Runa and send my left leg into her side, but again, she blocks it. I look down and see her start to wrap the capture tape around my ankle. Over my dead body. Frustrated, I send another explosion her way, trying not to hit her anywhere fatal, but she quickly dodges, falling into a somersault before standing back up.
As if her being able to fight didn't already shock me, seeing her take off in a sprint away from me had me absolutely floored. Do I chase her? Do I let her get away and just go after pink cheeks? I grip my hair with both hands and groan before taking off after her. I check hallway after hallway and she's nowhere to be found. After a while, I finally find her crouched against the wall.
Taking advantage of the fact that she hasn't noticed me yet, I quietly take her in. She's panting quickly and holding her face in her hands. Her long black hair is pulled into a high ponytail, the ends flowing over her left shoulder. I know she's flustered and panicking by the way she starts to mess with her fingers. Before I can let myself feel bad, I shout at her, getting her attention. She quickly stands up and starts to back away slowly.
As expected, she turns around and darts off again. I know she's only stalling me so her teammate can have some time to get to the missile, but I let her have her fun for a bit and immediately take off after her again. Not long after, I catch up to her, finding her in an open room. I quickly slide my arm around her waist and pull her to me.
"Let me go Katsuki!" She screams and elbows me in the stomach.
I let her go and she turns around to face me. She almost looks as angry as the day I told Izuku to jump off the roof. Knowing it'll rile her up, I smirk and she charges at me, playing right into my hand. She wraps her arms around my torso and tackles me to the ground. I fail to push her off fast enough, so she straddles me and my breath catches. Taking advantage of the momentary trance I was in, she throws a punch at my face and it's harder than I expected.
Thankfully, I get over myself and grab her fist with my hand before she can get another in. She tries again with her other fist but again, I catch that one too. With both of her fists in mine, I use my body weight to knock her off so I'm on top of her instead. I bring both of her hands above her head and pin them there with one of my own. My other arm is pressed to her chest just below her neck. Her eyes go wide beneath me and she starts to squirm. I won't lie and say this position isn't affecting me. I know I'm a sick bastard for it but in this moment I don't care. I need to win.
"What happened to all the sass you had for me back there Runa? Hmm?" She squirms some more under my hold.
"Fuck you, asshole," she sneers.
Seeing her like this does something to me that I can't name. She was always so quiet and civil but seeing her like this gets me fired up.
I see her look down and it clicks in my head what she's about to do. "Oh no you don't!" I quickly move my body to be positioned between her legs instead of on the outside.
"A hit to the nuts is a low blow!" I almost smirk at her. I'm weirdly...proud?
"Anything to win...right Katsuki?" She smirks at me and I start to sweat, not from the fighting, but from the fact that I have this gorgeous girl under me giving me a look that could bring me to my knees.
"Get off-"
All Might's voice appears, "The first round is over. The hero team wins!"
I quickly scurry off the girl below me and the look on her face rivals my own. I fucking lost. That four-eyed bastard is so useless! We just stare at one another, seething green eyes meet my red ones. We are told to leave so we start to head outside. Right as we are about to leave the building she stops and grabs my wrist.
"Don't you DARE do that to me again! Don't touch me and don't speak to me." Her eyes are locked on mine for a few seconds before she throws my wrist down and storms off leaving me behind.