bakugou x reader

at any cost

I felt so defeated when I collapsed in front of my classmates that day. I knew they looked down on me whenever they saw me after the incident, and I'm ashamed to admit I've been avoiding them and shunning them for it. Everyone assumed I was still sick because I wasn't sleeping enough or wasn't eating. But it wasn't that at all.

The Final Exams were coming up, and I made sure to study as hard as I could so I could get a good grade. I just couldn't let them down; including my older brother. In the end, I scored 7th, tied with Jirou, and even I was impressed since I hadn't really studied as hard as the others.

But when the Practice Exam came, everyone was put into teams of two to fight against a teacher. Though when they had mentioned everyone except me, I walked over to Aizawa to ask him if they had made a mistake.

"Sensei," I called, "What about me?"

Aizawa looked down at his paper, grinning.

"Well, (l/n). You're going to fight against one of the teachers; Vlad King. Alone..."

My eyes widened as I panicked, shocked.

"Why am I the only one who's alone?!"

"You see," Sensei explained, "you're the only student from class 1-A who's been currently held back. Due to your absence in many of my classes, your refusal to fight and the fact that you come in late has led up to this decision."

I looked down, horrified.

"Normally, they would've expelled you by now. But the principal has given you one last chance to prove yourself you're worthy of staying in UA"

I trembled, nervous.

"But I'm afraid that if you lose, you'll be expelled from the Academy; forever..."

I gulped, returning to my seat as I ate my bag of prunes while I sulked on my desk. I was more than thankful that the principal was kind enough to give me this chance. But as I kept on thinking about it, the rest of my friends would be fighting alongside another teammate; I wasn't. I was going up against a teacher; a pro hero! My chances of winning were zero to nothing, and my confidence of winning was slowly going down. But I knew I had to try if I wanted to claim victory; all I had to do was win. At any cost.

We were brought to the waiting room after putting on our hero costumes, and as I stood by anxiously, both Asui and Tokoyami walked toward me.

"Hey, (y/n)," Tokoyami greeted.

"Who are you fighting against?" Asui asked, "And who's your partner?"

"No," I shook my head, "I'm alone, and I'm fighting Vlad King."

The two of them looked at each other, worried.

"Everyone knows you have to win, (y/n)," Asui hesitated, "Or else you'll..."

My eyes widened, shocked. I looked around, and noticed they all stared at me.

"We know you'll do your best," Tokoyami croaked.

I looked down, gripping my fist tightly, determined.

"Everyone! I promise I'll win!" I yelled, "Just you wait!"

At that same time, they called my name on the speaker. I gulped before walking away from the waiting room. But before I could, someone's voice stopped me.

"You better not lose, you idiot!" Bakugou shouted, "If you do, I'll kill you!"

I stopped to look at him over my shoulder, grinning.

"Don't worry," I assured, "That won't happen."