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Chapter 11: The new future
'Tick... tock... tick... tock...' went the clock on the wall. A pair of half-lidded e/c eyes followed the minute hand of the clock absent-mindedly as it moved further towards the 12 at the top. Her body was lazily sprawled across her bed, as she stared at the clock, bored out of her mind. She tightened her hold on the teddy bear her best friend won for her in her arms, stroking its furry head dozily. She gave the calendar on her nightstand a side glance - 10th of April, Sunday. She let out a heavy sigh, what a boring Sunday.
Two years. It'd been two years already, since she moved from Musutafu, away from her friends, and to Kagoshima, where she was able to meet three wonderful girls and became great friends.
18-years-old L/n Y/n breathed out a groan as she sat up on her bed, just to flop down again, staring at her teddy bear straight in the eyes. It was a soft vanilla color, with the cutest little snout and wide, innocent-looking chocolate brown eyes. She smiled warmly at the memory of how she got this adorable furball...
"Come on, come on, come on, come on!"
A chaotic rustle filled the arcade, a spot where the group of supposedly delinquents would often come to hang out. Whilst two boys occupied themselves with an adrenalined-filled game of race cars - accompanied by their girls who cheered them on - the deemed 'gang leader' stood in front of a claw machine filled with soft-looking teddy bears. His hands - already in his pockets - felt for his spare change, wondering if he should give it a try.
Though a few days had past after the Sludge villian incident, he still felt guilty whenever he thought back to the teary face of his best friend, who thought she'd have lost him forever.
Bakugou Katsuki let out an exasperated breath.
He wasn't the type of person to do something like this, in fact, it was embarrassing, and he really wouldn't be caught dead fishing for a teddy bear in a claw machine - an obvious contraption made to trick young children - just to satisfy his guilt.
He paused for a moment, and in the end, he pulled out a handful of coins, firm on his decision. Just this one time in his life, he wouldn't mind being caught doing something as pathetic as this.
He wouldn't mind, if it were for Y/n.
On their way back, they met up with L/n, who'd finished up with her detention, which she got for starting a fight at school, when someone mocked Bakugou - a victim of the Sludge incident.
"Hey, guys!" she jovially called, waving her arms wildly at her friends, whom she could see in the distance. One of the boys waved back at her, shouting her name with the same enthusiasm.
From afar, Bakugou could see the bandages plastered all over her face. For someone so tame, L/n could be really scary when it comes to protecting the people she cared about. She was bruised on the face just ever so slightly, but he wondered just how the dude she fought with looked like now... deformed, maybe.
The girls laughed as they high-fived.
"Did you guys have fun?"
"Obviously! It's a shame you had detention."
"Yeah. But I say it's worth it."
The girls erupted into a cheerful conversation, and so did the boys. Bakugou kept quiet, knowing full well that the sweet-looking vanilla colored teddy bear he won needs to handed to its owner.
Who's going to give it to her?
Not him, that's for sure.
He remained silent throughout the entire walk from school back home, along with his friends. One by one, each of them left, going their separate ways, along with their partners, until he was left alone... with L/n. One of the boys flashed him a wink, knowing full well what he had in his backpack. Bakugou glared at him angrily, though he kept his hands in his pockets.
L/n shouted goodbye to their friends, whom slowly disappeared from her view of sight. The girl sighed dreamily, fiddling with the straps of her school bag as she swayed on her balls of her feet.
"What a day, huh?"
Bakugou grunted.
L/n tilted her head at him curiously. Sweating more than usual, check. Not shouting at anyone, check. Bulky backpack, check.
She narrowed her eyes at him.
This boy was hiding something.
She folded her arms together, turning to him and raising an eyebrow. "So, what are you hiding, Katsuki?" He flinched.
"N-none of ya fucking business."
That only added to L/n's suspicions, but she kept quiet on it, knowing that if she pushed any further Bakugou would either feel uncomfortable or just straight up blow up. "Oooookay then.
"Well, if that's the case, c'mon. Let's go home."
L/n then proceeded to take one step forward, looking back cautiously to look at his reaction. Bakugou hated to have anyone walk in front of him, but she needed to get home, and he didn't seem like he was going to budge. The boy stood frozen in his spot, his gaze locked on the ground. She took that as a sign and took another step forward, eventually she walked off, pausing every few steps to look back at him, frowning when he still didn't move.
Her silhouette was walking further and further away... yet Bakugou still couldn't choose between his pride or his feelings.
Eventually, he gave in to the latter.
He broke into a run, rushing to catch up with her. L/n gasped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist, panting ever so slightly.
Bakugou let out a choked breath -
"You... you're walking in front of me, dammit."
L/n turned around, her lips parted slightly. Then, before her mind couldn't comprehend what just happened, Bakugou grabbed something out of his bag, shoved it into her hands, and took off running to his house, leaving her standing in the middle of the sidewalk, blinking in disbelief.
L/n, after giving Bakugou's retreating figure one last look of confusion, looked down at what was in her hands.
She gasped.
It was soft, very huggly too. In the color vanilla, her favourite. Its wide eyes a dark chocolate, staring back into hers when she looked at them. Its tiny snout booping her nose, as she held it close to her face. A soft scent of caramel wafted off of it... L/n smiled.
A teddy bear.
L/n rolled around in her bed, squeezing the bear to her chest, internally squealing. Ah, memories from the past really were the best, she thought, as a huge wave of nostalgia washed over her.
