Bare With Me - [MHA Boys/OC x Female Reader]

Chapter 42 - Questions With No Answers

Upon arriving back to the dorms, you'd wandered off from Bakugo just to be careful that no one saw you. You knew it was odd through other people's eyes if they suddenly saw you talking to Bakugo. Though, part of you wouldn't mind because did it really matter that much that it needed to be considered and kept as a 'secret'? You didn't think so.

Over the next few days, you tried to keep a low profile. Ever since that strange, silent understanding with Bakugo, it felt like something had shifted—but it wasn't anything dramatic or noticeable to anyone but you—or so you thought.

You avoided making a big deal out of it, not wanting Jude or anyone else to misinterpret what was going on. It wasn't like you and Bakugo were suddenly 'best friends'—it was more like you'd found a kind of unspoken connection. A connection rooted in the quiet exhaustion that came from constantly pushing yourself past the limit.

You couldn't help but think about it while pacing around your dorm room where you'd spent most of your time recently, aimlessly scrolling through your phone, waiting for something to happen. For someone like you, who was always trying to keep up, being still felt almost unnatural.

The Provisional License Exam was coming up, and instead of being anxious, you felt... numb. Maybe because you'd spent so much time putting everything else aside—your complicated feelings about Jude, your internal conflict about whether you were handling things the right way—that it all just blended into background noise.

Your thoughts wandered back to that night with Bakugo. It wasn't the conversation itself that stuck with you—it was how it felt. For once, you didn't have to explain yourself. He understood the burnout, the exhaustion, the relentless drive to prove yourself. And maybe, that's why you hadn't pushed Jude to understand.

As much as you cared about him, there was a part of you that felt like he couldn't grasp what you were going through. Not like Bakugo had, even if it was in his own, gruff way. It wasn't something you'd voice out loud, but the feeling was there, gnawing at you.

You pulled up your messages and stared at the last conversation with Jude. It was light, and fun, but something about it felt... disconnected. Like there was a barrier between you two that you didn't know how to break. Or maybe you didn't want to break it—because breaking it meant having a conversation about where you stood. And you weren't sure if you were ready for that, especially now.

Leaning against your wall, you sighed. Why did everything feel so complicated when it didn't have to be? You thought about your parents, their expectations, and the pressure to live up to your mother's legacy while also making your father proud. Everything was so intertwined, and it left little room for you to just be.

For a second, you almost wished you could be like Bakugo—unapologetically yourself, never worrying about how your actions impacted anyone else. But that wasn't you. You cared. Too much, maybe. And that's what made everything feel so overwhelming.

You stuffed your phone back into your pocket and glanced around, spotting a few classmates heading to training. Maybe that's what you needed—something to focus on. Something physical to drown out the noise in your head. Without thinking, you pushed off the wall and started walking toward the training arena, hoping the exhaustion of working your body would silence the exhaustion in your mind.

• • •

As a few more days passed by, it was finally almost time for the License Exam; which was finally tomorrow.

A lot was going on, and you hated to say you were excited but also knew that this was extremely important not only to you but to everyone else. Being excited felt wrong because it was supposed to be something serious and important, something that could indicate your future. You knew you needed to get rest, but that driving force of yours forced you to do the exact opposite, and that was to train.