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

Chapter 47 - Foggy Minded

A/N
hi everyone! if you haven't seen already, bwm is gonna go on a lil semi-hiatus cus im applying for college + handling school, so im gonna prioritize that for now. once ive gotten thru most of that and have time to write regularly, bwm will be back on track. but i wanted to post this chapter cus i had it pretty much done and wanted to publish it before it goes on a break. so, enjoy!

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Jude's POV: Downtown Tokyo

Jude and Camie's hangout had been a last-minute decision. He'd known Inasa for a while, having reconnected during the License Exam a few months back. When Jude and Vienna broke up, he started spending time with Inasa, Seiji, and Camie, hoping to escape the drama and tension among his usual friends. That group had given him the space and distraction he needed, and over time, they'd all grown surprisingly close.

On the first day of break, Inasa had reached out to Jude, suggesting they hang out and rekindle their friendship after some time apart. Naturally, Jude, being the social butterfly he was, agreed without hesitation. He was always up for reconnecting with old friends and meeting new people, especially after everything he'd been through recently.

Jude hadn't mentioned anything about (Y/N) to his friends. He had been avoiding it, distracting himself from the conversation they'd had about needing space. The only takeaway from that talk was that (Y/N) wanted and needed distance. He knew she was overwhelmed with stress, and no matter how much he tried to offer help, it wasn't making things better. So, he'd taken a step back, unsure of how to navigate the situation but certain that pushing her would only make things worse.

Jude recognized the signs all too well—(Y/N) was slowly pushing him away, using the same coping mechanism he once did with others. It wasn't a good feeling at all. He deeply cared for her, and watching her go through this was brutal, especially knowing he'd been in the exact same place before. The distance she created was like a mirror to his own past, and that made it even harder to stand by without intervening.

But there wasn't much he could do. If Jude continued to press the issue and push (Y/N) to reconsider distancing herself, it would've only escalated into a fight rather than a meaningful conversation. He knew from experience that trying to force her to stay close would backfire, creating more tension instead of helping her heal.

He wondered if he should've tried harder to make her rethink her choice, or if distancing herself from him was for the better.

Then—he saw her hanging around Bakugo. That was still something that had been on his mind. He wanted to know so badly as to why they were suddenly friends. Part of Jude felt like Bakugo knew what was happening between him and (Y/N) and wanted to exact his revenge on him from their past and get close to her out of spite, or was there something more?

Jude was definitely an over thinker, but it wasn't hard not to be; especially in a situation like this.

That day, Camie and Inasa had the idea to head to downtown Tokyo to wander around like most students probably would do if they had a week off of break.

Little did Jude know the shit he was about to see.

When they'd pulled up at that intersection, Camie's entire expression shifted once she saw the person in the car beside her. Her eyes were slightly wide as she tapped Jude, "Hey—don't those two go to your school? I swear I saw that blonde guy when U.A.'s Sports Festival aired," she commented.

"Did you not see the chaos he caused at the Provisional License Exam? Or was it just me who had a horrible encounter with him? He's quite an interesting character, to say the least..." Seiji muttered, his eyes fixated on the window as he tried to get a better view of the car beside them, the tension clear in his voice. Camie, lost in thought, scrunched her nose in confusion. "I don't... remember the License Exam at all," she mumbled, her gaze drifting toward the floor.