Fiery Hearts: A MHA Fanfic Tale

What Happened?

The next day, Bakugo and Katsumi met up in the common area after school. Katsumi thought about walking with Bakugo when class ended, but knew that that would push it. As she walks through the dorm doors, she notices Bakugo sitting down waiting for her. The rest of the classmates wonder why he's hanging around near the couches, since he usually heads straight to his room. They all walk past, whispering to each other about what could possibly make Bakugo sit where everyone else sits.

"Why are you sitting there, bro?" Eijiro asks Bakugo. 

"'Cause I can nerd." Although they are close to one another, Eijiro isn't exempted from Bakugo's patronizing. 

Katsumi walks over to the couch, and sits next to Bakugo, trying to not sit so close. 

"What are you doing?" Eijiro asks Katsumi. Nobody knew that Bakugo was helping Katsumi study, so having her sit next to him shocked Eijiro. Katsumi could feel how uncomfortable Eijiro was making Bakugo feel.

"Bakugo is helping me study. Not a big deal." Katsumi says nonchalantly. She doesn't want to cause a scene, since this time she is being serious. Any other time, and Katsumi would make a fool out of Bakugo, but she knew not to. Eijiro shrugs his shoulders, and walks away. Finally, they can get to work. 

Katsumi and Bakugo pull out their books and pencils. As Bakugo is explaining certain concepts, Katsumi involuntarily leans in closer to have a better look at his notes, so she can copy them down. 

"What are you doing, getting so close?" He's a little flustered, from having a girl so close to him in a situation that isn't related to battle. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was trying to see your notes better." Katsumi apologizes, afraid she did something wrong. Usually, Katsumi likes getting on his nerves, reminding her of how her brother is, but she is just trying to get her math skills up if she has any chance of passing. She doesn't realize how flustered Bakugo was getting, and he didn't understand why he cared so much.

"Scoot back some, damn. You're taking my air." Katsumi scoots back confused, not knowing what she did wrong. She doesn't want to pry since she knows that that might make Bakugo change his mind about helping Katsumi. 

The rest of the studying session goes smoothly, but Katsumi is tense the entire time. She wonders that maybe being so close to Bakugo was making him uncomfortable, and that was making her uncomfortable. It was strange to see someone so outspoken act differently, especially around Katsumi. Katsumi wasn't someone to feel awkward towards, and she definitely didn't want to make the person she is trying to befriend feel that way. 

Before Bakugo packs up and leaves, she asks him a question.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?" 

Bakugo initially ignores Katsumi's question, and continues to pack up his things. He ponders on it, trying to make himself understand why he acted that way. He usually would've made someone back up, but he would never get flustered around a girl. Bakugo isn't the type to care who he was around, so to have someone that makes him think about his feelings, is odd. 

"Don't get so close. I don't need a girl distracting me." Bakugo pulls on his bag, and heads upstairs. 

Distracting? It was his idea to help Katsumi, so why now all of a sudden is he acting this way? Katsumi stands up and runs after him.

"You were the one who wanted to help me in the first place. Why the sudden behavior?" Bakugo's been acting different since the day before, when he was at Katsumi's house studying. Katsumi couldn't understand what was going on.

"I didn't realize how damn annoying you were." Bakugo doesn't even turn around to look at Katsumi. 

"What do you want me to say? Did I somehow make you uncomfortable? If so, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you're sensitive to that." She's trying to make it better, but the situation is going south.

"Sensitive?? Who the hell you're calling sensitive??" Bakugo turns around, angry. Katsumi has struck a nerve, and this time she wasn't trying to.

"I didn't mean it as an insult. You were just acting different, and I was wondering if I was the cause." 

"I don't need someone like you to get in my way." All previous thoughts of him wanting her to admit defeat, fly out the window. Unknowingly, Katsumi has gotten under Bakugo's skin, making him want to distant himself away from her. Bakugo can't figure out his feelings, and he is hating how it's making him feel. These new emotions are not mixing well in Bakugo's mind.

"What are you talking about? I thought we were getting to be friends?" Katsumi is angry too, but she's also sad. Here she thought she was making progress, after training together, and now studying. 

"Friends?" Bakugo laughs. "We were never going to be friends." Bakugo leaves Katsumi, and walks up to his dorm room. 

Katsumi stands there, shocked. After these past couple of weeks, she thought she was making good headway, but after one day, everything gets ruined. Katsumi doesn't even know what she said to make Bakugo angry. The fact that she called him sensitive? He was. Uncomfortable? That's how it seemed to Katsumi. All these thoughts circled Katsumi's mind, and she is left confused. What the hell just happened? 

That entire week was odd. Katsumi's friends noticed the air shift: instead of Katsumi's constant annoying of Bakugo in class, she was quiet, and didn't talk to anyone. That weekend, Ochaco asks Katsumi if she can stay at the dorms instead of going home.

"Why? What's up?" Katsumi asks. There was a trace of sadness on her face, and it's been there all week. 

"I noticed how down you've been, and I was wanting to cheer you up!" Ochaco smiles. 

"Oh. Was it that obvious?" Kastumi chuckles, nervously. She didn't want to be the reason of her friends' worries, so having someone notice her change of attitude didn't sit right with Katsumi. 

Ochaco nods her head. That weekend she was hoping they would go out and have some fun. Also, Ochaco wanted to know what happened between Bakugo and Katsumi. 

"Uh, sure. Let me talk to my mother first." Katsumi calls her mother, telling her her friend wanted to hang with Katsumi. Fortunately, Aiko was away on a business trip that weekend, so she wouldn't be home. 

Deep inside, Katsumi was disappointed. She knew that Ochaco was going to ask about Bakugo, and Katsumi wasn't ready to talk about it. 

"My mother is going to be away on a trip, so I'm free." Ochaco squeals and hugs Katsumi.

"Great! We're going to have so much fun!" Ochaco talks excitedly about all the things they're going to do together, but Katsumi thinks about Bakugo, and what shifted between the two of them. They were never best friends, but Katsumi knew that Bakugo would never train with her if he didn't think she wasn't capable. And the studying make Katsumi even more confused. Why would someone go out of their way to tutor someone they didn't like? She was willing to admit defeat at the sake of Bakugo's ego, but Katsumi never expected Bakugo to act like that. Now, Katsumi is going to start back at square one, but can it go back to being the same?