just behind you ~ Katsuki Bakugou x fem O/C

changing rooms

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TW
mentions of child harm, blades, childhood trauma, scars, mild gore
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Now that everyone's calmed down from the threat of expulsion, we all head to the changing rooms to get out of our sweaty PE gear. I walk with the frog-like Asui, who tells me to just call her Tsu.

I take my shoulder-length hair out of its low pigtails as we walk, and the cold air brushing the back of my neck makes me involuntarily sigh in relief. This is why I'm glad I don't have long hair, I'd overheat way too fast.

Once we get to the changing rooms, nerves gnaw at my insides. This is the part I've been dreading most - communal showers.

We all strip down in almost complete silence, but I pause when I'm in just my underwear. Jirou has already started up the showers, and steam billows out towards the rest of us, but I'm stuck in hesitation.

I look down at my stomach, at the purple vertical scar, not thick, but not thin. The puckered skin around it always makes my insides twist.

"You know you'll never be strong enough to be a pro, right?"

Eight year old me stayed silent, watching her with wide, shining eyes as I clung onto her every word.

"But don't worry, sweetheart, I'll always be here for you, to protect you and keep you safe," mum said, dilated pupils eerily staring into me, "you don't need a quirk anyway, they do more harm than good to this twisted world."

She stepped forward, and I sensed a shift in her. Backing away, my stomach dropped as I wasn't fast enough and she grabbed me by the arm.

"Mama, stop, you're hurting me," I whined as her bony fingers dug into my soft skin.

She ignored this.

I started to cry as she dragged me across the room to the kitchen, hiccuping sobs spilling from my pouted lips.

"What if you hurt someone? What if someone tries to hurt you?" Mum muttered under her breath, "no, you'd be much better off with a more peaceful quirk. Something like your sister. Something that won't make you a target, or make you overconfident, resulting in you getting hurt."

My eyebrows scrunched together, eyes brimming with confused tears.

"Yes, in fact, you'd be even better off with no quirk at all!! You'll finally have a shot at a normal life, isn't that great!"

"What're you doing?" I cry out as she rummages through a high-up drawer frantically, still gripping onto me as I try to tug away.

"Stop crying." she whispered, eyes glinting as she looked down on me, pulling something out of the drawer and hiding it behind her body.

She then suddenly picked me up, placing me on the counter. I pulled my knees up to my chest, worry spreading through me at the look on my mothers face. Was she alright? Did I do something wrong?

The knife in her hand came into my view, and I gasped.

"Keep your eyes on me, Sayuri, I promise I will fix you, it'll be over in a second," she murmured gently, surprisingly soft as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

"Something to do with the layout of veins perhaps?" She muttered to herself, gathering both of my small hands in one of her own with an iron grip, "maybe organ configuration?"

The knife pressed against my stomach, an insistent pressure as I kicked out, hot tears flowing down my crumpled face. I couldn't deter her. I wasn't strong enough to stop her. Why was she hurting me?

A thick lump in my throat repressed the confused cries I wanted to release. The best I could do was scream at the burning sharp, white-hot pain spreading across my abdomen, and the thick warmth that spilled down my skin.

My fingers tenderly rub over the scar. The last thing I need is prying looks and questions. Even Toru hasn't seen my scar in a while.

I glance around, noticing only Uraraka's bare back as she slips off her shirt behind me. Whipping back around as to not invade her privacy, I groan internally. Suck it up. Then, I pull off my underwear and sports bra, grabbing my hair products, and calmly walking into the steamy showers, the heat engulfing me.

Thankfully, none of the girls ask me a thing about the scar, instead we talk about why we want to become heroes.

"Honestly? The money is so good for when you become a pro." Uraraka says.

I grin, "I mean you're not wrong."

She pauses, waving her hands full of shampoo sheepishly, "That came out a little selfish!! Don't get me wrong, I love helping people, but my main reason is for the money so I can support my parents better!! I just want to see them happy again."

"That's really noble of you Ochako." Tsu says.

"Yeah, and that's literally the opposite of a selfish reason!" Adds Ashido.

"And anyway, so what if our reasons are for ourselves, the most important thing is we're all happy, right?" My sister chimes in, and I can't help but nod in agreement.

The perceptive girl from earlier, who I now know is called Yayorozu, looks over at me curiously, "you never said your reasoning for wanting to be a hero, Hagakure."

"Please, call me Sayuri," I smile, "all of you can, it'll be much less confusing that way."

"Yeah, it's kind of annoying being in the same class because we don't know who people are talking to!" My sister exclaims, and I giggle.

"Of course, Sayuri!" Uraraka says.

"You have a lovely name." Tsu says, and I send her a smile.

"But I think my main reason for becoming a pro hero is because," I pause, looking at the tiles under my feet, at the suds being washed away slowly down the drain, "I guess I want to help the people who can't help themselves, the quirkless and those with peaceful quirks; I'm going to prove my mother wrong."

I practically whisper the last bit, then look up to where my sister is standing. I can only see the water bending around her vague figure, but I can sense the smile she's got on her face.

The immediate response from the others are encouraging words that make my heart swell and my breathing even again. I hadn't admitted my motives out loud yet, so to have them so completely welcomed... praised even, made me feel so warm inside.

Having classmates this supportive is like having a load more sisters, and I'm totally here for it.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot." I beam.

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