Work For Your Affection (BakuTodo)

hug

Once I cross the finish line, I drop to my hands and knees. As I catch my breath, I glimpse up at Aizawa. He surveys the time on his stopwatch before peering down at me.

"New personal record by four minutes," he says. "That's a pretty significant drop in the span of a few weeks."

I slide my arm across my forehead, wiping away as much sweat as I can. I sit on my heels. "Been training hard," I tell him.

He nods. "I can see that. You should be proud, but don't overwork yourself. There's no point in beating all your old records if it means sacrificing your stamina."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Go sit in the shade and have something to drink."

I nod, still panting, before standing up. I step out of the way so I'm not blocking any of my classmates whenever they cross the finish line, though I don't think anyone else is coming for at least another few minutes. Aside from the class representative, I smoked everybody in the three mile run, including Deku, which makes me happy.

In fact, I crushed my classmates in every aspect of the fitness test today. Which is to be expected regardless, but never have I established such a clear gap between myself and the rest of them. Even the Katsuki from earlier this month wouldn't stand a chance against the Katsuki of today. I'm unstoppable at this point. It's a good feeling, I won't lie. 

The class rep tosses me a water bottle, which I down in all of seven seconds. The tree I'm sitting against provides more than enough shade as I wait for the rest of 1-A to finish their run.

Deku's the first one to cross after me. Then the ponytail girl. Then the frog. Then Sero.

And finally, there's Icyhot.

I've avoided him all weekend. It was easier than I thought it would be, seeing as I kept my schedule packed with either homework or training. It was hectic, but necessary. Because whenever I had even the slightest bit of down time, all I did was think about Icyhot.

I thought about Friday night, the way he held my hand as we walked through campus. The way it provided me a comfort I wasn't expecting. The way it felt so natural that it terrified me.

The way that I kinda, maybe, wouldn't be opposed to doing it again?

Fuck, what is wrong with me? I'm convinced the bastard put a hex on me or something. He probably recruited Tokoyami to help him. There's no other logical explanation as to why he occupies my mind so much.

Stupid Icyhot.

Once the rest of my classmates cross the finish line, Aizawa calls for everyone to huddle around him. He yawns with half open eyes. This man needs about six times more sleep than he normally gets.

He pulls out a small remote from his pocket. "Let's see your new class rankings."

With the press of a button, a hologram appears in front of us. Twenty names. Twenty rankings. My eyes immediately dart toward the very top, hoping it says what I've been working so hard for.

Sure enough, it does.

1. Katsuki Bakugou 

Yes. Hell yes.

"HA!" I call out. "EAT YOUR HEART OUT, DEKU!"

"Quiet, Bakugou," Aizawa snaps.

I huff in response, though I don't drop my smile.

Out of curiosity, I scan the rest of the rankings for my class. There are some surprises in the mix. Deku's beta self is ranked second. Then Uraraka. Then Kirishima, who's struggling to comprehend how he managed to snag the top four spot. He should give himself more credit. He's put in a lot of work to improve.