Bakugou Angst Stories

Weighing Grudges 006

Rapunzel: Hiryu Rin

Steely: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Today they stopped picking people, everybody who wanted to be picked has gone, and for the first time, Ayako reads off a list. Her odd eyes searching through the paper, darting up, then going on, Katsuki feels his stomach knot. He tries to unbraid the curls in his stomach but by then, it undoes itself.

Today is when each class meets the half point mark in motives.

She calls out the names one by one, 'Momo Yaoyorozu, Hiryu Rin, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, and Shouto Todoroki.'

His stomach contracts. IcyHot? Katsuki can't help but dash his eyes to him, and he catch the barest amount of worry on his unfeeling face. Katsuki tries to scoff, but it gets caught in his throat as though the sound was too ugly to leave the air. He knows it's probably better like that. Deku, who picked a seat just a space away from Katsuki, is ready to raise his hand, or launch out of his seat, or do something to postpone IcyHot going up.

Despite how much Katsuki wants to chip in, that conversation wasn't his to hear. He's been trying to forget it from the moment it touched his ears, if it was out of respect or apathy, guess nobody will ever know.

IcyHot walks to the stage, as though nothing is wrong. Katsuki knows there is, there's something fundamentally wrong. He stands on the stage, and Katsuki knows he's looking at IcyHot, and IcyHot only. Chewing on his lip worriedly, and looking back at Deku, for maybe the sight of him worried, but instead their gaze connects. Deku looks surprised, and turns his head away quickly mumbling.

'Quit looking at me you freak,' Katsuki chides, leaning in the bridge from the awkward empty seat between them.

'Sorry Kacchan,' Deku mutters half heartedly, back to worrying his little freak face off. His eyes soon raise to his, really looking at him before frowning again, 'you'll know in a few moments anyways but—'

'—IcyHot didn't have the best childhood,' Katsuki snaps, then instantly feels an intense amount of shame gather on his face. Damn he said that, it doesn't even matter he just finished Deku's sentence like he'd known him for years, but the fact that Deku's boggled.

'What? How do you—'

'Shut up.'

'...'

'Just shut up.' Katsuki turns back around so quickly, finding that Ayako's taking her hand from Ponytail's head, and the seats whirl again.

He recounts who was there, Steely and Rapunzel were also picked. He closes his eyes, letting all that dread pull through him, he knows Deku closes in with the empty chair that had been between them, like a barrier, he can feel his presence right beside him. His eyes on him. Near accusing but not quite, Katsuki pretends it doesn't exist.

The screen blinks to life.

There's a pitch white carpet. So soft it looks like fur, as though sheered from perfectly white dogs or polar bears. There are feet between tendrils of carpet, a wall mirror right above, and a flush ceiling light that's skillfully aimed down. The furniture is antique, a pearly white with gold trim carries throughout the room. Steamy tea pours in a fancy China cup, specks of infused gold catches too much of the sun's flare.

Then the dainty hands holding the kettle place it on the tray, resting atop an older woman's lap. The rest of the girl serving the tea rolls in the frame, and it's a younger Ponytail, no more than thirteen. She looks clean cut and gentle, as though she'd grow up to be the perfect yamato nadeshiko and had been trimmed for it all her life. Her mom definitely looks like one, although she wears fashionable Korean attire, which is soft but squeezes around her waist like a corset.