Love Like You (KatsukixOC)

3.What Begins

"Not only two, but three of our students getting into U.A.!"

Awako should have beamed at the praise but instead she hunched her shoulders, looking down at her feet. She stood between Izuku and Katsuki, her hands folded behind her back.

"I'm surprised at you, Awako! Even with such low grades you passed the exam!"

She dug her nails into her palm, nodding her head at the comment.

"And Midoriya! Your acceptance is a miracle among miracles!"

She slowly looked up toward Izuku who looked even worse than she did. Her gaze shifted to Katsuki who was leering back at Izuku. Then it shifted to her. She thought of her phone in her bag that notified her of one unread message.

She looked away.

~

"Wanko."

She began to walk faster.

"Wanko!"

She tripped, nearly running.

"Wanko, wait!"

Katsuki's hand grabbed her wrist and she was jerked to a stop. He tugged it and she turned to look at him.

"Talk to me!" he growled, his face inches from her. They were in the school hallway, empty now. School had ended for the day and it seemed like they were the only two on campus. Normally by now Awako would have skittered on home. Her father was finally home and had plans to make her favorite meal to celebrate, but the teacher had kept her after for tutoring once again.

Her eyes met Katsuki's and she felt her ears heat up. His face scrunched up into a scowl that she was so used to yet unfamiliar with at the same time. She tried pulling her wrist away, her face turning red.

"I-I'm sorry I have to go," she mumbled, pulling her arm again. He wouldn't let go. She tugged her arm again, looking up at him and nearly started laughing. He looked like a pouting child, his face scrunched up.

"Stop ignoring me," he growled at her, his hair seeming to bristle up, "You can't just ignore me forever, Wanko!"

"You don't need me, remember?!"

The loudness in her voice shocked them both, Katsuki's grip on her wrist faltering for a second before grabbing her bracelet.

"I didn't-" he began before she tugged her arm again, the bracelet string snapping. Beads scattered everywhere, catching Katsuki's attention and causing him to take a few steps back.

Awako was gone when he looked back up.

"Fuck."

~

"Fuck," Katsuki mumbled for the thirteenth time. He stared down at his hands, the beads glittering under the lamp on his desk. He didn't even know where to start. Countless times he had watched Wanko braid bracelets over and over, but he couldn't even remember how she did that anymore. He even resorted to looking up tutorials on how to do it but none of them seemed to look like how she made her's.

He cut the thread for the fourteenth time and started over, his clumsy hands slowly working with the braid.

She has to have so much patience to do this, he thought to himself, feeling his palms beginning to sweat. He wiped them on his pants. He had already accidentally exploded the beads all over his room in rage and spent a good two hours trying to find all of them. He definitely didn't want to do that again.