The Tinker

Chapter 3 - Breaking Point

"Fuck!" Y/N cried out, kicking over one of the boxes.

She had been in that mess of a workshop since 6:00 AM, doing what she could to clean up, but it felt futile. She didn't have the strength to move around or lift most of the equipment. After several hours of trying to leverage her weight to push around the heavy machinery, she was planning on giving in. No amount of shoving was going to make it budge. She considered going to get help, but knew that class was in session and she didn't want to interrupt.

She sighed and sat down on the floor, letting her eyes drift shut. God, she was tired. "What I'd give for a fucking muscle quirk right now."

Y/N still hadn't fully adjusted to Japan time-- or given herself time to rest, really. The hotel bed had given her back a painful cramp that still hadn't subsided, and the Tylenol wasn't doing much to help.

A headache was brewing behind her eyes again from exhaustion. She was getting rather sick of it. Granted, she didn't regret yesterday; it was the most fun she had had in a long while, and she genuinely liked the other people she'd met-- Even that cranky blonde. Super Smash Bros was pretty much the only game Y/N could brag about being good at, and she was secretly proud of being able to show off the night before. She smiled remembering the fit that the boys had thrown, though was slightly worried that getting on Bakugou's bad side wasn't a good idea.

"Give up or you're dead!"

Y/N's eyes shot open in alarm at the sound of yelling. It had come from down the hall. She forced her shaking legs to stand up and she grabbed her bag on her way to investigate. "The hell..."

The sound of explosions sounded from a room at the end of the hall with industry-grade double doors. She peeked through the window and saw a few familiar faces gathered around what looked like a sparring ring. Inside the ring was Kirishima and Bakugou.

Her eyes widened in excitement. Being able to watch heroes fight sounded much more fun that laboring over that stupid machinery. She knew she shouldn't interrupt, but...

Y/N quietly opened the door to slip inside, but she realized it didn't matter how loud she was-- nobody was paying attention, and the cheering was too overbearing. All focus was on the boys in the ring.

"No way, dude! Give me your worst!" Kirishima roared from underneath Bakugou, sending a hardened punch towards his opponent's jaw. Bakugou had anticipated the move and dodged it easily, but wasn't paying attention when Kirishima's leg came up to kick his stomach. Bakugou grunted as he was thrown off to the side, but landed on his feet. He was grinning like a madman.

"Oh my god, Y/N! Hi!" Mina beamed. She rushed over and grabbed Y/N's hand. "Come on, let's get you a closer look."

"Hold up, I'm not technically a stu--"

"No one cares, trust me. It's the last match. Plus, this sparring combo is entertaining as hell, you gotta see."

Y/N reluctantly let Mina pull her towards the front of the ring. Mina was right, nobody cared. Every pair of eyes was glued to the boys in the middle of the room, and now hers were, too. The cheers around her were deafening.

Bakugou, with his massive gauntlet, was aiming an explosion straight for Kirishima's head. Sweat dripped down his chest as he panted. "Beg, shithead!" He shouted. The ball of power at his palm grew in size at a dangerous rate, as did his grin. 

All Might rolled his eyes at Bakugou's cursing.

Kirishima only cackled in response, and instead of backing down, sprinted straight towards Bakugou. Bakugou wasn't expecting that, but it was too late-- Eijirou managed to land a hit right at the base of Bakugou's gauntlet.

An explosion ripped through the room.

In less than a second, half the class was thrown backwards against the floor. Y/N's ears rang and her arm ripped with pain at the impact. She groaned, unable to hear herself, and looked down at her arm. No skin was broken, thank God- but it was definitely going to leave a gnarly bruise. She prayed nothing was broken or sprained.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY GAUNTLET?!" Bakugou's roar pierced through the ringing in her ears. The smoke in the room started to dissipate. She looked up and saw Bakugou with his foot on the back of a pinned Kirishima.

At this point, All Might stepped in. "Bakugou, let him go. Is everyone okay?"

There were a couple of grunts, but it seemed everyone was in okay condition.

"What happened?" Denki grumbled, rubbing his head from his fall.

"Kirishima broke Bakugou's gauntlet, which released the stored energy," Todoroki grunted, already on his feet again. "The impact shot everyone back."

All Might was examining a passed out Kirishima. "He'll be fine," He announced. "He activated his quirk in time to prevent any abrasions, but the force may have given him a concussion. Iida, go get Recovery Girl if you will and let her know what happened." He stood up and laughed. "Young Bakugou! It looks like we finally got a peek at what kind of energy you store in there," he said, jabbing Bakugou's palm. "Seems like Kirishima was able to break through that barrier though. No one is hurt, correct?" He said, turning to the class.

Everyone shook their heads. 

"Good. That could've gone much worse. Looks like you need some new gear. Can't have you marching around with only one gauntlet!" He gave Bakugou a solid smack on the back as he laughed.

Bakugou sighed in frustration, eyeing the one gauntlet that still worked. "Shitty thing," he grumbled.

"Miss Y/N! What are you doing here?" All Might questioned loudly. He had a curious smile on his face. She'd been found out. The room quieted and eyes turned to her.

Y/N wanted to curl into a ball and die, already regretting leaving the workshop. "I, uh... heard the explosions. Wanted to come see," She said sheepishly. Bakugou made eye contact with her and smirked at her confession, tightening his fist and puffing out his chest in pride. She came to see him. 

Her embarrassment deepened.

"You're welcome to spectate any time!" He walked over to help her up. She took his hand, but winced in pain. "Ah... that looks like a sprain. You best meet with Recovery Girl as well. Everyone else, head back to class-- Aizawa has a lecture planned for you."

Everybody but Kirishima, Bakugou, and Y/N filed out the doors. "Nah, my arm is honestly fine, I don't think it's that bad. I have work to get back to," Y/N started, going to pick up her bag. She was already embarrassed at being called out with an injury. The immovable machinery was starting to sound more appealing, but All Might put his hand on her shoulder before she could leave.

"Not so fast, Y/N. I won't have anyone here leaving this room with injuries. You'll stay and wait for Recovery Girl with young Kirishima."

Kirishima's eyes fluttered open, they landed on Bakugou's hand that held the broken gauntlet and gave him a shit eating grin. "Serves you right, dude." 

Bakugou glared at him.

"Bakugou, come with me. You two stay put. Don't you dare leave without getting your arm checked out," All Might warned, pointing at Y/N.

"Y/N, what are you doing here? I though you were fixing-- fuck, my head," Eijirou groaned. Y/N knelt down next to him and chuckled.

"You absorbed that crazy blast. That was sick." She held out her undamaged arm for knuckles. He grinned and gladly knocked fists with her. "The machinery in the workshop is too heavy for me to move. I lost my battle with it a while ago, but didn't want to admit defeat."

Kirishima snickered. "Sounds like someone else I know. You should make Bakugou move your machinery since he fucked up your arm," he said, sitting up. He grabbed the back of his head and winced at the blood rush. "I'd help, but I can't really see straight right now."

"Don't worry about it, man. You should focus on getting your head healed," she laughed, flicking his forehead.