Bet On You - Bakugo X Reader (College AU)

PART 9: The Fall

With half the drinks gone from the center and half the original players either tapped out or knocked out of the game, it was down to the wire. Your hands were sticky, and you'd already taken one of those god-awful tequila shots, but Shuya was still in the game, and so was that lurking menace across the table. He hadn't eased up for a second, if anything, he was playing this game with the aggression of someone with a life-long grudge.

The table had formed its own watch party. Partygoers clearly had nothing better to do than to observe the most on-edge game of flip cup they'd probably ever witnessed.

Another head-to-head battle. The poor opponent on the chopping block was slipping, that is, until the devil finally caught up. And Bakugo was quick to prove his speed, whacking that cup so hard it flew into the crowd and nearly took someone's eye out.

"I meant what I said extras!" he bellowed, wiping his hands on his jeans.

The crowd was clearly against him, making comments just out of his earshot. 'Someone beat this dude already.' Bakugo was unfazed.

One round led into the next, until only a few remained and you were left desperately trying to flip this stupid plastic cup in the hopes that winning would somehow prove that Katsuki Bakugo didn't matter. That you could be happy knowing he'd never be yours.

The line had caught up to you. And your elbow enemy was Shuya. He gave you a smile, and from the outside, it might've looked like a face of challenge. A friendly threat of 'watch out, cause it's over for you'.

But through your failures over and over again, you realized he was playing slow... Like he wasn't really trying.

Finally, your cup landed. And then Shuya's did right after. The flipping went down the line until Bakugo destroyed yet another fragile ego.

While the crowd erupted, filled by scattered complaints, Shuya leaned into you. "Let's work together," he whispered.

You'd always thrived off competition, off the tension between you and your rival, so much so that this sly, under the table 'I'll go easy on you' was a joke card. It felt, wrong. A forbidden partnership, something far against the rules, but something nobody had to know about. And teaming up with the cute library boy would bring you closer to finally proving your point.

You nodded, growing just an inch taller with reassurance.

'See him? Yeah, head of the table over there.' Another voice in the crowd. It reminded you of a sweet perfume you couldn't escape from. Some girls were giggling. They were practically down your neck with how packed the room was.

'You know what I heard?' she said. 'I heard he's the one everyone's talking about.'

You were doing everything in your power to focus on the game and the chain was catching up to you and soon it would be your time to flip. But something told you they were talking about Bakugo. And that fact alone kept you glued to your eavesdropping.

'About what?'

'The scandal? Y'know?'

'Oh... the guy Kaya slept with? You mean, he's the hero?'

The cup in your fingers clattered to the ground. You knocked your head against the table trying to find it in the dark beneath, throwing you off course, dizzy, frantically searching while on the verge of being sick.

I-It was just a rumor. Just a stupid story. But Mina had mentioned it before and at the time you'd just brushed it off, but if the mystery 'up and coming hero' person was Bakugo all along...