Shadowfire - OC x Shoto Todoroki

Chapter 11 - Deep Water

The aura between Kaida and Bakugou in the weeks following the sports festival was like that of an extremely messy divorce. The two denied each other's existence completely, Kaida spending her lunchtimes sitting at the back of the school under a sakura tree with Shoto instead of with the Bakusquad.

It was obvious to the entirety of class 1-A that something deep had gone down during the final fight of the sports festival, but no one commented on the events that had transpired on the field, and no observations were made regarding the lack of soulmarks on Kaida and Bakugou. Quite possibly due to the murderous and standoffish auras the two of them radiated.

Kaminari and Kirishima had taken it upon themselves to at least attempt to rectify the shattered relationship between their two friends, the brainstorming session they had held being the most academic thing they had ever willingly done.

Forcing Bakugou and Kaida into a seven-minutes-in-heaven situation had been quickly vetoed, as had making them spar each other, faking a villain attack and have them fight together, and dumping them in the middle of nowhere and leaving them to fend for themselves; the most likely outcome of every idea being that Kirishima and Kaminari would be left with two corpses to dispose of.

Instead, they had gone for a less isolated approach, and had convinced Mr Aizawa to let class 1-A use UA's pool for the day to 'train'.

The biggest struggle had been convincing their two targets to attend their pool day; Bakugou refusing to spend an entire day with his insufferable classmates, and Kaida making a half assed excuse about having to 'maintain her vampire white skin' and that a tan would be a real setback.

That was, until Kirishima had told Bakugou that he could smash Midoriya at the swimming competition they were planning on holding, and Kaminari promised Kaida that she could sit in the shade the entire time, and he would ensure no one disturbed her, as long as she graced them with her presence.

And with rolls of their eyes and twin clicks of their tongues, Bakugou and Kaida reluctantly agreed, and operation 'save the old, married couple' was in action.

^^^

As per Kaminari's promise, Kaida had spent the last few hours planted on a pool lounge, covered by an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, her nose buried in a book as she tuned out the screams and squeals of her classmates, playing in the pool like small children on sugar highs.

She hadn't failed to notice Bakugou sitting on the edge of the pool furthest away from her, feet dangling in the water and his forearms resting on his thighs. As much as she hated to admit it, it had been a struggle to not stare at him, at his now clear left cheek, no longer obscured by his soulmark. She rubbed her similarly bare knuckles, having broken the ritual of violently scrubbing at them each morning to try and rid herself of her mark the day after it had vanished.

She berated herself for letting Bakugou slip into her mind again, turning her head to instead watch the game of water polo currently happening in the pool. She smiled tiredly as she saw Shoto standing on the outskirts of one of the teams, every so often leaning in to hit the ball over the net. She realised she had been staring when his eyes met hers, but instead of frowning, he offered her the tiniest of smiles, which only broadened her own one, sending a light into her dulled eyes that gave Shoto a strangely satisfied feeling that he had been able to make her eyes glow like the moon.

"So you're really just going to sit here all day and not touch the water?"

Kaida turned her head to her right, where Kaminari was now perched on the chair beside her in nothing but swimming shorts.

"That is exactly what I plan to do." Kaida said matter-of-factly, turning her attention back to her book.

"Not even dipping your toes in?"