𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚-𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙞𝙣 // 𝘽𝙉𝙃𝘼

𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦

bakugo katsuki was never really a fan of nakaya rintarou. from the first day that the boy set foot into that class, he was nothing but a cocky, egotistical piece of shit.

of course, such could be said about bakugo himself. however, from one hypocrite to another, it was obvious that rintarou was lost. he wasn't supposed to be here, that much was clear, so why exactly was he here?

bakugo katsuki was not a fool. the tall boy seemed to love pissing bakugo off, for no reason, and although they had hardly interacted one on one, face to face, bakugo almost felt a sense of familiarity when it came to rintarou.

he was sure he'd never met him before, but the way he acted just made everything feel so normal.

while he would typically be incredibly offended over being called a pomeranian, he was shocked to realize that he actually didn't mind nakaya rintarou that much.

but one thing that really, really pissed him off, was when people didn't try their hardest. to him, rin fit perfectly under that category. but the worst part about his supposed 'aggravation', was that rin had a reason for not trying his hardest.

he never actually needed to.

to him,

the others were just that weak.

and that pissed off bakugo katsuki to no end.

»»——⍟——««

"BAKUGO AND NAKAYA, MATCH START!"

surprisingly, neither party moved. the ever-fiery bakugo katsuki stood still on the battlefield, hands shoved in his pockets. this made rin tilt his head sideways, in mild confusion.

"i refuse to fight."

"WHAT?!"

the whole stadium erupted into loud shouts at bakugo's words. rin flinched, realizing what bakugo's objective was.

upon closer observation, bakugo katsuki's face was grim, lips set in a straight, taut line.

"i said, i refuse to fight."

"bakugo-kun, are you forfeiting?" midnight questioned, still extremely lost on the whole situation.

"'course not!" bakugo scoffed, kicking lightly at the dirt beneath his shoes. he pulled one hand out of his pockets, and pointed at his opponent. "listen here, fox-eyes. i don't know what's up with you, but i'm gonna fight you to my fullest ability. i know you could've avoided getting burned in todoroki's battle, but you didn't. you're not trying hard enough.

i want you to fight me with your fullest ability!"

rin drew in a large breath, as his lip started quivering. bakugo was clearly not expecting that reaction, as his face fell slack, and his eyes grew wide.

"...no." rin breathed heavily, chest rising up and down with great difficulty.

»»——⍟——««

from the stands, number two pro hero hawks groaned. next to him, miruko glanced at him, confused.

"what's up, hawks?" the rabbit hero grinned, slapping his back.

"this isn't good, rumi." hawks said, dragging his hands down his face dramatically. "seriously, this isn't good, rin's not gonna like that at all..."

"eh?" the rabbit hero had a blank face. "whaddaya mean? why are you talking about the kid like you know him?"

"rumi-channn! you don't get it! rin's gonna be seriously pissed later, and i'm gonna have to deal with it because aizawa won't be home!" hawks whined, flailing around.

"oi, hawks! what're you even sayin'? i don't get it!" miruko flailed back, imitating hawks' sputtering panic. "are you that kid's dad or something?!"

hawks turned to her, aghast. "no, miruko!! if anything,

that kid's my guardian!"

"...eh?"

»»——⍟——««

"i can't." the long-haired boy inhaled, and exhaled slowly.

the ash-blonde boy gritted his teeth, infuriated. "what, you think i'm too weak? you think i can't fuckin' handle it, asshole?!"

"no." rin's tone shut bakugo down almost immediately. "you don't get it, bakugo. i can't give you my all. if i give it my all,

you will die.

i haven't even shown the smallest portion of my power yet. you have no idea the things i've gone through to get to this point."

"the hell are you saying?! you don't wanna be strong? you don't want to prove your worth?!"

"listen to me carefully, bakugo." rin's voice boomed, livid with anger. this was the loudest, and most serious anyone in the crowd had ever heard the boy speak.

"if i had a choice between being as strong as i am now, or being the weakest, most useless person on the earth,

i would choose the latter, if it means i could have him back."

»»——⍟——««

kinzoku aki sighed in exasperation, as he watched the tall boy willingly walk out of bounds. he didn't blame bakugo for wanting to be taken seriously, but he couldn't help but feel bad, knowing the frustration rintarou currently felt.

the boy chose to act carefree all the time, but his inner thoughts were anything but.

his words rung true, holding heavy weight. if nakaya rintarou had already been so strong a year or two ago, and still managed to lose satoru,

then what was the point of him getting stronger now?