Shoot Your Shot - MHA College AU

Scene 23: Taming a Fire

{ Scene 23: Taming a Fire }

When Bakugo was upset, he certainly had a strong way of showing it. Or at least, you had a sensitive means of receiving it. Being stuck in this room together, there was no one else to hide behind, nowhere else to deflect his heated stares. In the darkness of the space, his glowing hands and the muted light trickling in through the crooked blinds were your only means of sight. A moonlit jail, seated with a reluctant prisoner.

You fidgeted in the messy pile of shoes, chucking the stinky sneakers out of the way. Normally, he would've found a reason to scold you for 'making such a damn mess, and it's not even your room!'. Instead, there was just quiet, carried by his rhythmic, shallow breaths as he listened outside, nape to the door.

The silent treatment became too much to bear. You had to say something, anything. All the questions that you'd been gathering were tossed to the wind the moment those eyes had glared back at you, sending them running for the hills. Unlike the other times with his needles and pins, you'd been flashed with a knife, a weapon of purposeful hurt, not accidental. In the face of his quiet anger, one of those brave, innocent questions remained, and that something came to mind.

"That was you back there, wasn't it?" you asked, a careful tone to your words. "Back in the hallway? By the vending machine?"

"Huh?"

"You passed right by me. I thought you were part of the villain group or a monster or something else honestly. Why didn't you say anything?"

He hummed, picking his thumb nail without regard.

"Couldn't fuckin' see you, that's why. I only say something when I see them. Don't want to draw attention to the guards."

"When you see, them?"

He groaned. "The other students, idiot. I've been searching for them. Picking 'em out of the rooms, throwing them all together. Lot of 'em are quirkless. Been trying to get them out but the guards won't let up."

There was an awful pinch to your chest. To think that you'd so wrongly misjudged him. To have assumed that he'd gone off after that villain on the roof, only to seek blood and war. Kirishima was right to trust him. This whole time he'd been filling the role of a hero, still putting the people who needed saving first. Even with his icicles of cold words and sharp tones, his actions warmed your heart.

"What happened to going after the one on the roof?"

His eyes gleamed through his hair. Globes of blood in the night. "How 'bout you quit interrogating me," he snapped. "What are you even doing here? Thought you were with shitty hair."

"I was. We broke through the gates earlier. The whole residence was stuck at the padlock. Speaking of, how'd you manage to get in?"

"Enough with the questions!" he growled, causing you to flinch. "I came the back way. Flew over the wall. Didn't even touch the gate."

You chewed the inside of your cheek. Bakugo could be classified as a safety hazard in this state, just one small slip away from detonating.

You continued, more careful with your words. "A-Afterwards, me and Kiri moved the students to the training building... There's a barrier surrounding the campus, so we're trapped in here right now..."

If Kirishima were here, maybe you could all finally set things straight. He could hold the boy in all his spikey, explosive glory, immune to his attacks, the ones your soft-skinned body couldn't handle without a little blood. Those shoes couldn't be filled by anyone else, especially not you. If only it were him, maybe Bakugo would listen.