Bakugou Angst Stories

Weighing Grudges 009

Katsuki spirals backwards, his legs lifting over his head before he lands. A crouch, he watches Pinky with his hands clutching the grass. Only her, the ground, and the sky. She lifts her hand once, he snaps to his feet, and he smells the coppery spray of acid before it lands on him.

It eats mini-holes on his hero suit, faster than fire and so cold it burns. He hisses, stepping back, ignoring the dots of pain littering across him. He needs to be more careful, first period training always has him out of the loop. He's never ready of what's to come and it shows early in the morning. Katsuki breathes, readying himself, as Pinky raises another hand like a wizard, and he's running.

Not away, but towards her. Pinky freezes, because it's no different from a rhino heading straight at you when it's Katsuki. He readies his arm, a spark growing in his palm, his feet whir closer to target, and Pinky shoots as he clutches her face. Pinky panics and aims the acid too far off, and the hum of her scream pulses on his palm.

Pinky fumbles her hands, shaking them around uselessly, but she manages to shackle an acidic palm around his wrist. If Katsuki didn't know any better, he would say she injected something into his bones. He traps the scream in his lungs. Forcing the reflex of snapping his hand away as she oozes acid over his arm.

Katsuki gives in to restlessness and shoots himself onto her, tackling her to the ground. Hand still clutched on her face. If she can't see, she can't aim well, but of course she can still hold on to things. Pinky and her deadly grip.

'You have enough yet?' He almost winces.

'N-no!' Pinky fights uselessly underneath, the acid sliding down his hand, 'NO!'

'Five,' Midnight begins the countdown, 'four. Three. Two-'

Pinky knees him, but Katsuki remains solid over her. There's no way she's escaping, especially when she can't peek past his fingers.

'One and zero! Bakugou wins!'

The moment Katsuki's hand rises, Pinky sputters, gasping, and breathing air. It's barely a second later, 'OH HELL! WHAT'S ON YOUR HAND?'

'The fuck?'

'HOLY!' Pinky coughs, 'LIKE BURNING SUGAR MY GOD IT SMELLS SO BAD!'

'SHUT THE HELL UP! IT'S NITROGLYCERIN YOU DUMBASS!'

'UGH EW!'

Pinky isn't quiet, and the spectating students laugh. Their 1v1 is over, but of course this is what lives on. Pinky coughs again, 'Holy crap!' she grumbles, wobbling onto her feet. Katsuki's still on the ground though, messing around with his wrist. 

'Does it actually smell so strongly?' Ponytail asks from the bench.

'Of course it does!' yells Katsuki, 'it's a chemical! The hell were you expecting? Daisies?'

'I know what it smells like! I hang around you for gods' sake,' Pinky shakes her head, 'I can handle the usual smell but not when you're putting your fingers up my nose!'

'Yours smells even worse.'

'No way! Yours is horrible!'

'Yours is-'

Midnight cuts in between them, but she faces the spectators, 'Next match: Mineta and Yaoyorozu.'

Katsuki should be hurrying to the benches by now, preparing to watch Mineta get annihilated while getting the occasional grope in because he's too terrified to fight against a girl. Yet something stops Katsuki. He clutches his wrist, pausing. 

Pinky's talking to him again.

He gets to his feet, and she talks the whole way to the bench. Katsuki rigidly sits beside her, which is coincidentally beside Sparky. And Sparky's around Tapeface. And Shitty's the bench above. And they're all talking to him.

They've actually completely forgiven him for something he didn't mean to do. There's bitterness, but it's overridden by relief. A relief more intense than the chemical stench of nitroglycerin and acid combined.

'Ey bro,' Shitty says, gripping his shoulder. Quickly rerouting, both ignoring the grunt that escapes Pink Cheeks from behind them. Right after lunch, things have fallen downhill. 'Did something happen?'

Katsuki clicks his tongue.

'I heard them knock on your dorm door,' Shitty adds. 'it sounds like you guys were fighting.'

'Mind your own business,' Katsuki says, not particularly loud but certainly not quiet either. He almost glances back to see their reaction, but Shitty's arm tightens. His smile enlarging in-sync with his eyes.

'Say,' Shitty then whispers, 'are you mad at Midobro?'

'What? Never!' Katsuki shouts, detaching himself from Shitty and near bumping into his desk but he grapples it instead. Glaring back at Shitty, his hands up like he's been caught red-handed. 'Scram!'

'Ah.'

The scene gains a crowd. Indistinct chatter, and Pink Cheeks might pass as Red Cheeks for a moment. Or swollen cheeks with the way she puffs up, placing her hands on her hips, 'Are you making fun of us?'

Shitty shakes his hands, 'Eh? No! I would never!!'

'Right.' and the room's quiet enough to hear a pin drop. And it's definitely quiet enough to hear the brewing panic within Deku. Pink Cheeks just continues, oblivious to it as she takes a step forward.

'Right?' challenges Katsuki. Meeting her emboldened eyes, eventually, she finds it isn't worth it. She scrunches her face, and turns off. Heading to her friends IcyHot and Deku.

It's only when Pink Cheek's is slightly out of earshot, Shitty asks, 'What was that?'

Katsuki rubs his sore wrists, scowling as he turns away, 'Doesn't matter.'

'I don't think it's fair she's bothering you.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah, you didn't tell anyone, did you?'

Katsuki doesn't dignify it with an answer. Just a hard stare that screams who would I tell?

Shitty gets it and smiles, 'That's what I like about you. I think... you probably know a lot about me already,' he quiets, 'like some really embarrassing things you got from the motives that nobody else sees.'

'I was actually trying to forget it.'

'Is it that bad?' 

'No, I was trying to forget every video.'

Shitty isn't normal. He just smiles wider, 'You're normally not this honest. Did something happen?'

'Are you calling me a liar?'

'No, I'm just happy you tell me things. I guess.'

'Don't get used to it,' and Katsuki sits himself down. Back to thinking about Slanted, which pairs up with Deku's venomous punch now. And Katsuki for a moment or two, actually hates Deku. Until he glances up, catches him staring at him from across the room with a frown. It's not disapproving, but a thoughtful frown that turns shocked when they meet eyes. Katsuki scowls long and hard to ward his eyes away.

It works, but when he looks back at Shitty, he's staring at Deku. So apparently, Shitty can even pinpoint the exact trajectory of Katsuki's eyes now. Sometimes he worries that Shitty knows too much, but it's comforting knowing he thinks the same. 

The door opens, and in walks Aizawa. Bias lessons starts the moment he drops the heavy book on the desk, and everybody scurries to their seat. Shitty included, but not without that, 'Bye bro,' that Katsuki's actually missed.

How could he miss something so plain and simple? It's like a weight he never knew was there slipping off of him.

It won't last long though.

Words: 1200