His Drumming Heartbeat

Returns

The way everyone got on the bus happened in an orderly fashion, proving how used they are to the routine: same day, different venue. However, this time around, it's clear that the tension is slowly rising between some parties, especially between Bakugo and a few others. He noticed Louise and Persephone's death stare as they checked out this morning, but he ignored it, not in the mood to start something with a couple of girls acting immature.

He apologized that morning. Sure, they didn't accept it and called it "shallow," but he thought, "at least I did, right?"

However, the only individual who didn't hate him was Bella, which amazed the ash-blond male because she's the closest to the raven-haired woman out of everyone else in that band.

They stand next to each other, taking a breather before the claustrophobia of being on a tour bus with multiple people creeps up.

"I bet you hate my guts right now," Bakugo expressed to the brunette.

"I don't hate you," Bella divulges, "I'm just disappointed. She trusted you, and that happened."

"Is that part of why she's not here for the last night of the tour?" Bakugo couldn't help but question.

"Actually," Bella justifies, "it's more personal than that. If you're wondering, it's not her dad, but it's someone else she used to be close with back in high school."

"There was someone else she was close with besides you four? I wonder how she could do it."

"He," Bella points out. "He was a couple of grades above her, but slowly, they grew close after he defended her during the first week of school. It's kind of romantic, actually."

"They ever dated?"

"He had platonic feelings for her, but they developed into something more around her sophomore year when she dated that one asshole. He had difficulty explaining how he felt and knew she never felt for him that way, so he thought there was no point."

Bakugo listens to the brunette continue, understanding who this mysterious guy is and his relationship with the rest of the band.

"He respected her personal space and never did anything to make her uncomfortable, which goes for the rest of us," Bella continues. "I find it strange he's reaching out to her now since they only talked once within the six-to-seven years since her graduation, but it must be something bad if he is."

Bakugo nods his head, agreeing with the brunette. He hears his friends call out to him to let him know they're ready to go and put everything away. The two adults say "see ya" to each other as they go to their next destination to sleep in another random bed in another city.

Arriving on the tour bus where the rest of his bandmates are, they engage in a conversation regarding Kaminari being drunk last night to the point he was speaking in cursive. Jiro captured the footage and let the golden-haired male watch the clips, the look of shock painting his face because he had no recollection of that happening.

"Yeah, you were so drunk," Jiro giggles, "the bartender pointed at you and flat-out said, "you're done, you're done."

They all laugh to themselves, but the laugh ends up short-lived when they see Bakugo standing at the front.

"She didn't yell at you?" Midoriya asked, referring to Bella.

Bakugo says, "no, I'm relieved but still feel guilty."

"He does have remorse," Kaminari said out loud.

Everyone on the bus looks at him, but the death stare comes from Bakugo, who says, "dude, what the fuck?"