heart on fire ; k. bakugou [HIATUS]

You're Just Like Him

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After that awkwardly..normal..encounter with blasty I finished putting my shoes on and walked to the center courtyard where I told Toma to meet me.

Toma had already been there once I arrived. He greeted me with a small smile and a wave.

"So what's this about?" He wasted no time getting to the point.

I wanted to reminisce for a bit. I haven't seen Toma since we graduated middle school, we also haven't talked since then. I say we aren't really friends but that's not actually the case.

We are friends, it's just hard for me to admit sometimes, having friends was never my strong suit and the fact that Toma stuck around regardless of my nature, meant something. Anytime I had some sort of issue he would be there. When I first manifested amaterasu, he was there to calm me down and help me gain control and for a really long time I did have control of my devilish black flames, but that's over now. Toma was like my rock that I didn't realize I needed until it was gone.

I can't treat him like an object though. I have to be nicer to him than I was in middle school and treat him like a real friend. At the least, I have to try.

"Well before anything I just wanna say thanks for agreeing to meet me so late, I know we have class in the morning and you must be exhausted." I nervously scratched the nape of my neck, anticipating a snarling response.

"It's okay, I'll always be here for you." He replies in a calmer tone than I was expecting.

I was a little shocked at his words and mannerism in that moment, but I quickly got over it. I didn't come here to bring up the past and sulk in my poor decisions from back then. I came here because I needed to figure something out and the only person here who knows me knows me, is Monoma.

"Right.. well I wanted to talk about what you said earlier, when we were with Midoriya and Uraraka." My voice was shaky. It was a mix of exhaustion and nerves coming out all jumbled in one sentence.

Toma looked like he was racking his brain for the memory of our weird encounter this afternoon, "Do you mean when I said you were just like Bakugou? Is that what this is about?"

I huffed and turned my attention to the ground. It was the only way I could really say yes without physically having to say yes, I didn't want to look at the periwinkle-eyed boy directly for this conversation.

"You know that's a compliment, right?" He sneered. Ah, back to his sarcastic statements.

"Stop playing with me." I retorted, I was about to give up on the whole talk until Toma got my attention again.

"I'm being serious."

And he really was being serious. I could tell by the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice that he, 100%, meant that as a compliment.

I didn't respond as a sign to let him continue, showing that I was still confused.

"Listen, Bakugou may be a barbarian sometimes but he's not weak in the slightest. I may hate the guy because he thinks the world revolves around him and that no one else matters but he's got guts and he's strong and focused all the time. I don't think anything could stand in the way of him becoming a hero, and you're just like that." He looked at me with caring eyes that showed me he was being sincere the entire time. He did believe I possessed all of the good qualities that ticking time bomb possessed as well.

"Sure I said you were like a little devil when we were kids, because you were and from what I heard so was Bakugou. It's like you're two sides of the same coin but you have no idea. Why did that comment bother you so much?" Toma asked when he was finished with his explanation.

"Because I hate Bakugou."

No you don't.

"No you don't!" He let out a chuckle with that statement, "I heard about your fight and I know why you're mad at him, but if you REALLY hated him we wouldn't be having this conversation."

I stood there in silence once again. Saying I was at a loss for words was an understatement at this point. My thoughts are just all messed up, how could I have such complicated feelings about a person I only met a few hours ago?

"It's late and I'm tired but try to think about why it is that you 'hate' him so much and then we'll talk." He gave me a smile as to say goodbye and walked in the direction of the class B dorms.

When I got back to my room I started thinking about Toma's words and what they exactly he was implying at. It hurt my head more than anything to think about the conversation we had just had.

"Oh and about your family" Toma turned around to face me, "I know what happened and I'm really sorry, just know, it's not your fault."

Toma's last words to me as he walked away resonated in my head all night until I finally feel asleep.
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