Vulnerability and Second Chances (Barbarian King!Bakugou x Omega!Reader)

Chapter 11: Peaceful Nights

After the Eastern Alliance clan meeting was over, Bakugou headed back with Sero in tow and found you. In his tent.

Again.

"You have your own damn cave for a reason." He grunted roughly as he threw his sword to the side and swept the cape off his shoulder. It wasn't as flashy or gaudy as the one he had lent you but it had done its job so he didn't really care. "And you're supposed to be asleep, you brat."

But even though his voice was edged with exhaustion, he didn't kick you out like you thought that he would.

It was late. Too late. You weren't sure what compelled you to visit him but you found that after he left, you wandered around the camp absentmindedly, waiting for him to return.

Kirishima and Katsuma tried to engage you in a spontaneous game with Jirou as she returned from a hunt but you let out a sad whine and laid your head down on your paws, gaze locked on Bakugou's tent from afar.

It hadn't taken much coaxing for Kirishima to convince you that Bakugou probably wouldn't mind if you waited for him to get back. Turns out that he was right.

On all fours, you padded over to him curiously, nose twitching as you scented the air. It was tinged with a faint smell of distress and you cocked your head to the side.

"What's wrong?" You asked inquisitively but your keen eyes betrayed your worry.

Bakugou sighed heavily as he sat down on the edge of his bed. He resisted the urge to pat your head as you kneeled down by his legs. Somehow, you looking like a lost puppy was doing bad things for his heart.

Bad things in the sense that you were making him feel soft again. Pathetic.

You blinked, your fluffy ears swiveling as you focused on him. Your tail was wrapped neatly around your leg and you stared up at him in concern.

Bakugou crumbled under your earnest expression. Usually, he'd hesitate longer to spill what was on his mind but with you looking at him so imploringly, with so much genuine worry, his lips started moving before he was fully aware of the fact that he was confessing what was weighing so heavy on his heart.

"When it's over, you have a choice to make." He declared bluntly, deciding it was just best to get this talk over with now.

Your ears perked up and your tail thumped excitedly on the ground, having a gut feeling as to where he was going with this.

Bakugou hid a faint smile at your reaction, suppressing the pang that went through his heart before it could surface in his eyes as damn sadness. "You can either stay here with—"

He stopped himself from saying "me" just in time. There was no way he was going to admit that just yet.

"... Us." He corrected in his head, clearing his throat. "Or you can leave."

At your crestfallen expression, he paused and scratched the back of his head since he didn't know how to console you. He didn't mean for it to come out that way... it just... did.

He scowled, knowing that was a pathetic excuse for the way he worded it.

"Don't give me that, I didn't say you had to leave, dumbass." Bakugou said, struggling with what to say next. How to amend it.

He just didn't want to restrict your freedom now that you got a taste of what the world was like outside of the cruelty of the League. He didn't want to keep you in a cage if that's what you saw his clan as, he wanted you to fly free, to go where you wanted to go and be whoever you were without fear of being punished for that.