𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 22 | 𝖣𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 | 𝖯𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗎𝗌 | 𝖭𝖾𝗑𝗍
You returned back to the dormitories after your short internship with Ectoplasm.
Being at his agency took a weight off your chest, even if it was just for a short while. No awkward run-ins with Bakugou, no pressure from your mother, and surprisingly, no academic stress hanging over your head every second of the day. It was just training, field work, and moments of quiet where your brain could finally breathe. Plus, being around Ectoplasm always made you feel lighter somehow. Safe, almost.
Usually, that's what the experience would've felt like entirely.
But this time, something lingered.
The League of Villains sat in the back of your mind constantly now. Toga. Shigaraki's words. The mention of your father. Every single thing about it felt wrong in ways you couldn't explain yet. You'd sit down to read over notes or articles and somehow end up staring blankly at the same sentence for ten minutes because your thoughts kept drifting elsewhere.
You kept thinking about Bakugou.
Even when you didn't physically run into him, he still crossed your mind constantly. The argument at the licensing exam replayed in your head more than you wanted it to. The way he kept shutting you out. The frustration in his voice. The tension between you afterward. Even when you understood where he was coming from, it still hurt.
Which was stupid because technically he was still around all the time.
You grabbed it lazily from beside you before immediately sitting upright.
Your heart skipped painfully.
The place where he walked with you after the USJ incident after you got out of the hospital. The place you two occasionally stopped at after training because it overlooked almost the entire city.
You stared at the message for a long moment before typing back. You responded with a simple okay and waited for the time to roll around.
The sun had already begun setting by the time you arrived.
The sky was painted in soft oranges and pinks while the city below slowly flickered alive with lights. A cool breeze drifted through the overlook, brushing lightly against your skin as you approached the railing.
Bakugou was already there.
He stood with his hands shoved into his pockets, staring quietly out at the skyline. The sunset cast warm light against the side of his face and softened the sharpness in his expression just slightly.
Then walked over beside him.
For a few seconds, neither of you spoke. The silence wasn't awkward exactly.
Like both of you were trying to figure out where to even begin.
His voice was quieter than usual.
You leaned lightly against the railing in front of him.
Bakugou nodded faintly. Another silence settled between you before he slowly exhaled through his nose.
Your chest tightened immediately.
He still wasn't looking at you.
"I've been acting like a dick," he muttered. "And I know it."
You blinked slightly. Bakugou almost never apologized first.
"I shouldn't've taken my crap out on you," he continued. "That wasn't fair."
The wind shifted softly between you. You stayed quiet, mostly because you didn't trust yourself to speak yet.
Bakugou rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before continuing.
"I just..." He frowned slightly. "I handled everything badly."
Your eyes drifted toward him carefully.
Bakugou didn't look angry.
He looked frustrated with himself.
"I shouldn't've ignored you," he admitted quietly. "Or shut you down every time you tried talking."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"And I definitely shouldn't've made you feel like your feelings didn't matter."
Something in your chest ached painfully at that. Because that had been the worst part.
It was feeling like your feelings were suddenly inconvenient to him.
Bakugou finally glanced toward you then, red eyes softer than usual. The slow rise in his chest, the slightly parted lips, the way his gaze lingered on your face for just a second too long—it all felt unfamiliar on him. The utterly confident and empowering Bakugou looked almost... nervous.
"Because you matter," he said quietly before pausing. "Especially to me. We... you're my—"
He stopped himself abruptly and clicked his tongue.
"I just..." Bakugou dragged a hand through his hair roughly. "I wish you told me."
Your throat tightened immediately.
He looked at you like you already knew the answer.
The confession in the woods.
Bakugou noticed instantly.
"And not because of some ego thing," he said quickly. "That's not what I mean."
He looked frustrated trying to explain himself.
"You already push your own feelings aside enough."
Your brows furrowed slightly.
"You do it with your mom. Your dad. Everyone." His voice lowered slightly. "You act like you gotta carry everything by yourself."
The city lights flickered on one by one as the sun disappeared lower behind the skyline.
"And I'm not everyone else," he muttered.
"And..." Bakugou shifted his weight slightly. "You're not everyone else either, remember that."
You looked at him for a second before letting out a soft laugh.
"What does that even mean?"
"I do," you teased lightly. "Just wanted to hear you explain it."
A quiet moment settled between the both of you after that. The tension was so thick it felt almost tangible. Every glance lingered too long. Every brush of wind suddenly made you hyper aware of how close he was standing beside you.
Until you decided to speak again.
"I never wanted you to think I was trying to get in the way of your goals," you admitted quietly. "That's exactly why I never told you anything. I didn't want to burden you—"
"And I respect how hard you work, Bakugou." You turned fully toward him now. "You're admirable. More than I'd like to admit. You work harder than anyone I know."
His eyes widened slightly before narrowing again, like he didn't know what to do with praise coming from you.
"Don't worry about me or having an answer to my feelings," you continued softly. "I'm still me and you're still you. Nothing's changed. Nothing could change us. We've been us since childhood, my feelings never—"
You quickly cut yourself off.
You didn't want to tell him how long you'd loved him. How deeply rooted those feelings really were. Because right now, more than anything else, you just wanted your best friend back. Whether something changed in the future or not didn't matter nearly as much as still being able to stand beside him.
You cleared your throat softly.
Bakugou fully turned toward you then.
He was closer than you realized.
Close enough that you could feel the warmth radiating off him despite the cool breeze. Close enough that your chest tightened painfully when his eyes dropped briefly to your lips before snapping back upward.
Bakugou had always been blunt and straightforward, but this feeling in his chest wasn't straightforward at all. Ever since childhood he knew he liked when you were around and hated when you weren't. He knew seeing you upset pissed him off more than it should. He knew hearing you talk about someone else always left this weird irritation clawing at his ribs.
This warm, restless, suffocating feeling every time you looked at him like that?
So instead, he buried it under training. Under anger. Under distance.
And it backfired completely.
He knew he fucked up. Knew he didn't deserve to call himself your best friend after how he treated you lately. He let his own confusion dictate everything. Still, selfishly, guiltily—
Your feelings toward him never disgusted him. Never felt like some burden dragging him down. They shocked him, sure, but they also made his chest feel weirdly tight in a way he couldn't understand.
He knew from the second those words left his mouth back at camp, he didn't mean them.
"...Yeah," he finally said quietly. "We're okay."
The relief on your face hit him harder than expected.
You let out the biggest sigh before smiling softly. "Good."
A small laugh escaped your lips as you held out your fist toward him for a bump.
Bakugou stared at it for a second.
And before you could even process what was happening—
He grabbed your wrist lightly and pulled you into him.
Your breath caught instantly.
Bakugou hugged awkwardly.
You realized that immediately.
Like he genuinely didn't know what to do with his arms at first. One wrapped around your shoulders while the other stayed stiff against your back for half a second too long before finally relaxing.
But despite the awkwardness—
Your eyes widened slightly before you slowly melted into it, hands bunching lightly into the fabric of his shirt. You could hear his heartbeat faintly beneath your ear, noticeably quicker than usual.
"You're so weird," you mumbled softly against him.
"You apologizing. Hugging me." You snorted quietly. "Who are you and what did you do with Bakugou?"
But there wasn't any bite behind it.
You smiled faintly against his chest. For a few quiet seconds, neither of you moved away. And somehow, after everything—
The world finally felt a little lighter again.
Two days later, you were now in Bakugou's room laying at the end of his bed eating an ice pop because the heat was getting to you. You were dressed in short athletic shorts and a fitted t-shirt since the original plan for today was combat training.
There was absolutely no way in hell you were doing that right now.
So, the two of you agreed on training around sunset instead. The school decided not to keep the students hauled up in their dorms over the course of this short break and let them visit their homes.
Bakugou was laying against his headboard too, one knee bent up while he mindlessly scrolled through social media with one hand and held an ice pop with the other. He was in his usual black tank and some sweat pants.
That day by the river hadn't ended in some dramatic love confession.
The two of you simply made up.
He didn't bring your feelings up again afterward, and honestly, you were okay with that. You told him already—you didn't need an answer from him. Didn't need him to force himself into figuring things out before he was ready. Even a rejection would suffice.
Still... your brain wandered sometimes.
Toward what-ifs. Toward the way he hugged you. Toward the look on his face that night. But every time your thoughts started spiraling too far, you quickly shoved them away.
You didn't want to ruin this again.
The two of you sat in comfortable silence before Bakugou finally spoke.
"The hag had two tickets for I-Island." He paused, eyes still lazily fixed on his phone. "Y'know, where they're having that quirk exhibition thing. My parents were gonna use em, but couldn't at the last minute."
His eyes shifted upward toward you.
You removed the ice pop from your mouth and turned your head toward him.
"Oh yeah," you said. "I think I heard some people from class talking about it."
"Seriously?" Bakugou scoffed. "Fuck that, we're not goin'—"
You finished your ice pop before tossing the stick perfectly into the trash can across the room. Then you pushed yourself up and made your way over to sit beside him on the bed.
"Look at these videos online," you said while unlocking your phone. "It actually looks fun. We should go."
Bakugou leaned over slightly to look at your screen.
The two of you started scrolling through videos together. Clips of floating walkways over the ocean, giant technology exhibits, pro heroes doing demonstrations, beaches, food stalls, lights reflecting over the water at night.
Neither of you realized how close you were sitting. How your bare thigh brushed against his sweatpants. How your shoulders pressed together every few seconds. How your arms kept bumping while scrolling.
Not until you looked up from your phone after a video ended.
And realized your faces were inches apart.
You widened your eyes first and instinctively jerked backward too fast. A startled noise escaped your throat before your balance completely gave out. You tumbled right off the side of the bed with a loud thud.
Silence filled the room for half a second.
Then Bakugou barked out a laugh.
Not one of his smug little huffs either—a real laugh that sounded so genuinely amused it almost offended you.
You groaned dramatically from the floor.
"The hell was that?" he laughed again, leaning forward over the edge of the mattress to look down at you. "You looked like a damn startled cat!"
"You're in my personal space!"
"I literally wasn't moving!"
"Your stupid face was there!"
Bakugou stared at you for a second before another grin pulled at the corner of his mouth.
Heat immediately crawled up your neck.
You rolled onto your back on the floor and threw an arm over your face.
You'd known Bakugou your entire life. You'd fought villains together, trained together, patched each other up after injuries, slept over at each other's houses as kids, shared food, secrets, stupid arguments—
Yet suddenly him sitting too close had your brain malfunctioning.
"You alive down there?" Bakugou asked, still clearly entertained.
You could hear the grin in his voice.
A few seconds passed before he spoke again.
You peeked at him through your arm. "What about it?"
He shrugged one shoulder casually, though his eyes flickered away for a moment.
Your face lit up immediately. "Seriously?"
"Don't make it a whole thing."
"You literally just acted like you hated the idea."
Bakugou clicked his tongue while trying to hide the tiny smirk threatening to form. "You gonna get back on the bed or what?"
Your heartbeat betrayed you instantly. Because now getting back beside him suddenly felt... different.
You crossed your arms dramatically while remaining sprawled out on the floor. "Nah. I'm good down here."
Bakugou raised a brow. "You're laying on my floor."
"That doesn't even make sense."
You stubbornly stayed flat on your back anyway, mostly because your face still felt way too hot to sit beside him again right now.
The room settled back into silence, but this time it felt different.
The sunset light poured through Bakugou's bedroom window in warm orange streaks, coating the room in soft gold tones. It made everything feel quieter somehow. More intimate.
You became hyper aware of every little thing.
The sound of his breathing above you. The faint smell of smoke and detergent clinging to his sheets. The occasional shift of the mattress whenever he moved.
Your eyes widened. "I am not."
Bakugou hummed like he clearly didn't believe that was the only reason.
You turned your head enough to glare up at him from the floor. "...Why are you red then?"
That shut him up immediately.
Bakugou scoffed and leaned back harder against the headboard. "It's hot."
"The AC and your fan are both literally on."
You grinned triumphantly before staring back at the ceiling.
For some reason, the silence afterward felt softer now.
A few moments later, you heard movement above you before Bakugou suddenly leaned over the side of the bed slightly.
"You seriously staying down there forever?"
"The hell's wrong with you?"
You snorted softly. "You!"
"You were breathing at me!"
Bakugou stared at you in disbelief. "That's literally how humans work, stupid!"
You laughed despite yourself, and the sound made something in Bakugou's chest loosen slightly.
Even now, sitting there looking down at you sprawled dramatically across his floor while sunset light hit your skin, Bakugou felt that same strange tightness in his chest that he still couldn't name. The foreign feeling that wasn't so foreign anymore at times like this.
His eyes flickered downward briefly before immediately snapping back up. "...Get up already."
You looked toward him again.
Bakugou's hand suddenly appeared over the edge of the mattress in front of your face.
Your stomach flipped instantly. "...What?"
"I'm not lettin' you die on my floor, dumbass."
"You're the one laying there like roadkill."
You rolled your eyes but slowly reached upward anyway.
The second your hand touched his—
Both of you went quiet. Bakugou's hand was warm. Rough from constant training. Big enough that your fingers nearly disappeared against his grip.
And instead of pulling you up immediately—
Your eyes lifted toward him slowly. Bakugou was already looking at you. The tension in the room thickened instantly.
Just intimate in this dangerous sort of way that made your chest feel tight. Then suddenly Bakugou yanked you upward hard enough that you let out a startled yelp.
You stumbled forward directly into his chest. "Katsuki!"
"Should've braced yourself."
"You did that on purpose!"
His grin widened slightly.
You tried pulling away immediately, but your knee awkwardly caught against the edge of the mattress, making you lose balance again.
Bakugou caught your waist on instinct.
Your breath caught softly.
His hand stayed firm against your side, fingers curling slightly against the fabric of your shirt. Even through the material, the warmth of his palm burned against your skin.
You were very aware of how close this was.
Your hands had instinctively grabbed onto the front of his tank top to steady yourself.
Bakugou's eyes flickered downward briefly.
Neither of you moved away right away. The air suddenly felt too warm.
You could hear your own heartbeat. Bakugou swallowed once before speaking.
"...You gonna fall a third time or what?"
The stupid joke broke the tension just enough for you to laugh softly.
"Took you long enough to realize."
Bakugou suddenly started tickling your waist and you fell flatly on his bed. You laughed till you couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay, stop!" You said pushing him away.
He grinned smugly, "Still ticklish?"
It was moments like these where you felt like the line between friendship and something blurred. But, you may just be delusional all at the same time.
Two hours passed, and you and Bakugou ended up just lounging in his room. At some point, the both of you silently agreed to skip training for the day entirely and just stay in each other's presence instead.
Neither of you acknowledged it out loud.
Mindlessly scrolling through your phones, occasionally showing each other videos or making small comments here and there. The room had gone dimmer over time as the sun fully disappeared, leaving only the warm glow from Bakugou's bedside lamp and the faint city lights bleeding through the curtains.
You glanced at the time on your phone and realized just how late it had gotten. Your eyes widened slightly before you finally pushed yourself off the bed.
"I should probably go home."
Bakugou looked up immediately.
His full attention shifted toward you so fast it almost made you decide to stay longer.
"Yeah," you said while grabbing your hoodie off the floor. "It's late."
Bakugou clicked his tongue softly before standing up too.
You tried not to think too hard about how naturally that came to him.
The two of you made your way downstairs quietly. The Bakugou house was mostly dark now aside from the kitchen light Mitsuki must've forgotten to turn off earlier. You slipped your shoes back on by the front door while Bakugou leaned lazily against the wall nearby, arms crossed over his chest.
"We leave tomorrow for the trip by the way."
Slowly, you looked up at him.
"You decided now was the time to tell me?!"
You stared at him in disbelief.
"Thank you so much, Bakugou. You're actually so helpful."
"Just pack your damn suitcase and meet at my house tomorrow at twelve," he said. "Quit complainin'."
You rolled your eyes dramatically while opening the front door.
The door closed softly behind you.
And even after it did, Bakugou stood there for another second longer than necessary staring at it.
The night air outside was cooler now.
A soft breeze brushed against your skin as you walked home beneath glowing streetlights, your thoughts drifting lazily between tomorrow's trip and the weird warmth still lingering in your chest from earlier.
The image of Bakugou's hand on your waist replayed against your will.
You shoved the thought away immediately.
'Nope. Not doing that tonight.'
Your phone suddenly buzzed in your pocket.
Incoming Call — Ectoplasm.
Your brows furrowed slightly at the sound of his voice.
It was late. Too late for a casual call.
"Sorry to disturb you so late," he continued. "You got a minute to talk?"
Your stomach tightened slightly.
"Yeah," you said slowly. "What's up?"
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"After break, you won't be returning to class."
Your footsteps stopped entirely.
Streetlights flickered softly above you while your brain struggled to process the sentence.
"I'll give you more details later," Ectoplasm said calmly. "Sorry to spring that on you suddenly."
You scoffed lightly in disbelief.
"Right. 'Don't worry too much,' after casually dropping life-changing information on me. Got it."
A quiet amused sound came from the other end.
"You always do this, kiddo."
"Start stressin' before you even have the full picture."
You rubbed your forehead tiredly.
You started walking again slowly, your mind already spiraling with possibilities. Was this because of the League? Your father? Something with your quirk? Underground hero work? Your chest tightened the more you thought about it.
Then Ectoplasm spoke again.
You blinked slightly at the sudden subject change.
"...Going on a trip with Bakugou."
There was immediate amusement in his voice now.
"So you two love birds made up?"
"'Love birds' is a strong term. We're more like... friendly platonic birds."
Ectoplasm went quiet for a second.
Something about the way he said it made your stomach twist strangely.
Not teasing. Not lighthearted. Just... thoughtful.
"Well, have fun on your trip," he said. "Enjoy it."
The words settled oddly in your chest. Like there was more meaning behind them than there should've been. Almost like he was telling you to enjoy normalcy while you still had it.
"Have a good night now, Y/N."
You lowered your phone slowly while staring ahead at your house. The lights inside were still on. Your mom was probably awake. Yumi too, maybe. Everything should've felt normal.
But for some reason, standing there beneath the streetlights with Ectoplasm's words echoing in your head—
You suddenly felt like something was about to change.
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