Bakugou couldn't help but want to hold her hand. Every time he saw it alone, he'd want to take hold, just enjoy her presence. Her smiles, though she pretended they were rare, were a sight he now made sure to observe. Bakugou would do anything to make sure she wouldn't cry. Seeing her smile was so much better.
Y/N was currently on her knees, with Bakugou being the watchful eye. She was digging in the dirt, searching for something in the schoolyard of a public school. "Y/N," he said, making her shut him up, "It was around here," she insisted, getting more dirt in her nails. He joined her, leaving the gate open, to which he began to think she was crazy. "What the hell are you doing?" The skin of her arms was muddy, with grass stuck on and her sweatpants cuffed to her knees.
"I'm looking for a bracelet. I wear it all the time." "You do?" "I wear long sleeves, cut yourself slack," she shrugged, continuing to search. Bakugou looked around the courtyard more, noticing the relative niceness of it and the flowery smell of the trees. "Why would it be out here?" "I fought out here today," she answered like it was nothing, "fell off during a punch I think." Bakugou rolled his eyes, crouching to join her on the ground, "I told you that wasn't necessary. What does it look like?"
Y/N, disheveled, wiped her dirty hands on her pants, "it's pink. Charm bracket type shit. My mom got it for my tenth birthday after I broke my arm." She stood up and began to kick around the shrubbery. "Why'd you break your arm?" Bakugou asked, crawling on his knees in a flowerbed. "Some kid twisted it behind my back. Told my mom that I fell off a tree. She believed it." He grumbled, listening to her ramble while the palms of his hands were getting pricked with thorns.
This night certainly wasn't the best, but Y/N wasn't crying, so it was better than others. "Why were you fighting today?" He called out, picking at his skin and shoving aside piles of dirt. "Same bullshit!" She laughed, destroying the bushes, "these kids aren't real creative with their insults, Bakugou! Worthless, pointless, useless, like damn, glad you can read a thesaurus." Y/N felt a gentle breeze brush her ankles, nothing out of the ordinary, but it shut her up for a moment.
She raised her head, looking towards the fences in case her eyes caught any roaming figures. Another breeze fanned her cheeks. "Y/N!" Peering over, Bakugou stood with a charm bracket in hand. "Yes!" She cheered, clapping her muddy hands and rushing over to join him.
Giddily, Y/N held her hand out, excited upon seeing her prized possession. Bakugou began to blush, taking her wrist and clasping the lock back on. She was glad the moon was bright enough to let her see his pink face. Y/N cupped his cheek, "thank you, Bakugou." She gave him a long kiss, locking their hands together with a jingle of her bracket down her arm. "Katsuki," he whispered as he took a breath, "my given name." "Katsuki, then," Y/N licked her lips before going back in, loving the warmth on his palms and the sweet smell that radiated off him.
Although she could've enjoyed kissing him for much longer, Y/N came to realize that the breeze latching onto her wasn't normal. It was too thick, like a hand grasping onto you. It smelled of hatred. Bakugou saw the worry in her face when she pulled away, noticing the swinging gate and the rattling of the fence. "Y/N, what's wrong?" "We have to go." Squeezing his hand, Y/N ran towards the exit with Bakugou right behind her.
"Y/N!" A strident male voice sounded in the air, the thick wind raced towards her, strangling her skin. Y/N ran faster, her nails digging into Bakugou's palm. "Get back here, bitch!" It was the same male Bakugou had met before at the park. His female companion was with him, their feet stomping the street as they chased after them.
Y/N led the way, squeezing them together behind a building. They were both panting, legs aching. Bakugou was embarrassed at how much he wanted to keep holding her hand, but she wasn't letting go either. Y/N wasn't thinking about it. She was busy listening for footsteps among their breathing, quick voices, or a gust of wind to be too strong. Bakugou was so terrible at names, but hers came so naturally to his lips.
"Y/N." She hummed, not wanting to contribute words. "We can't keep running like cowards. That's not who we are." She scoffed, "fighting doesn't seem like the best option. I don't know what else you want us to do." Close to his chest, the warm air of the night between their breaths, Y/N looked at Bakugou's flushed face, deciding on priorities. Before he could seize his chance, a taunting wind road through the streets, with pattering feet dancing on top.
Y/N gasped, placing her hand atop his face, covering his nose and mouth. She listened closely, squeezing Bakugou's hand as he tried to wrestle his face away. "Stop that!" He tried to whisper, attempting to breathe, "it's fucking annoying!" "Be quiet!" The footsteps stopped, with Y/N's pulse pounding in her ears and the wind confining her. "Y/N!" Their pursuers shouted, voices clashing. Both parties were panting messes, but neither knew of the other's upper hand.
Y/N was thankful that they were holding hands the whole time, otherwise, he probably would've blown up the whole street. Although they had seen her new companion, Y/N needed to keep his quirk a secret for now. "Let's go," she said, tugging his hand as rushing down the allies. "Over here!" They heard behind them, voices rising as they closed in. Bakugou and Y/N ran hand in hand, never daring to lose one another. Hiding among the darkness once more, she held her hand to his face, before sliding it down to uncover his nose. "Sorry," she whispered, peering around for straggling shadows.
"We can't do this all night. Let's just go to my dorm. Or your home! Y/N, are you listening?" She shook her head, rolling up her sleeves, bracelet sliding down her arm. "You have to promise me something," she sternly told him, as if he didn't have a choice. "What?" "Katsuki," she mumbled, "you can't fight." "What?" The cold wind, the dizzy feeling, the strange stiffness of the atmosphere, they couldn't keep running.
Y/N grabbed his cheeks, pulling him towards her. "You can't fight them. Promise me that." "Wh-no! No way!" "Katsuki! You have too much to lose! You don't know them as I do! That girl—she—Katsuki, you can't fight her! Please, just listen to me!" His hands, holding onto her, her eyes which cried so much for the people chasing them, her hands which were rough and dry, he hated it. He hated how much stronger she was. "Okay. I won't." Y/N brought their lips together, making his stomach flutter. Her directness always made him melt.
She reclaimed his hand, leading their escape down the street once more. Y/N hoped to avoid U.A, but she needed to get him home before her classmates found out. They couldn't find out who he was. They couldn't find out how much she loved him. She'd never forgive herself for putting him in that situation. Being herself was already enough, Bakugou would be the tipping point.
Y/N begged to the gods, Y/N prayed, an unusual thing for her. She wasn't given anything. She was given an unwanted life. No matter how many time her and her parents had prayed. But now she had something special. She had someone who understood her. She had someone who tried to understand. If that wasn't an answer to the hundreds of prayers, she didn't know what was.
Bakugou was more than anything she could've ever begged for. So Y/N prayed.
"Katsuki," she huffed, trying to take an ounce of a breath, "you have to let go." "What?!" "We have to separate! You run home! They won't follow you to U.A! I'll escape them too! You have to run!" "No! Y/N, you don't know that they'll leave!" He tried to demur, but she was insistent, just as always. "It's more dangerous for us to be together! I'll be okay! I'll see you tomorrow! I promise!" Running side by side, their arms began to stretch as Y/N tried to depart. Bakugou grasped her hand the best she could, shaking his head as his eyes began to water.
"Y/N, don't," he begged. But his life wasn't made for begging. Y/N let go, turning the other way and hopping fence, leaving behind one of her muddy shoes as she clipped the landing. He couldn't stop, so Bakugou ran towards the dormitories.
The streets didn't smell of must, the wind had stopped, and the roads returned to an ugly and unwanted quiescent sound.
