Flicker (KatsukiXOC)

8. Fight

Katsuki stared down at his bracelet. He could feel his cheeks heating as he ran his fingers over the cold, smooth, red beads between his fingers. Closing his eyes he could picture almost as clear as day the look on Awako's face when he took the bracelet from her. Her face had lit up the brightest he had seen in forever and she looked like a damn puppy dog with her tail wagging.

He breathed her name in the darkness of his room, staring up at the ceiling. He felt his chest tighten.

Hours passed and he still couldn't get to sleep. Reaching for his earbuds he slipped them into his ears, turning on music. Of course the first song that popped up was one that Awako had insisted over and over that he listen to.

"It's good! I promise!" she whined, trying to put the earbud in his ear. It was before they had their fight. Before they graduated middleschool.

"Fine, fine, give me the fucking thing," he snapped, holding his hand out. He took the earbud and placed it in his ear, preparing himself to space out for the next four or five minutes but actually found himself enjoying the song. It wasn't much his style but he could see why she liked it.

"It's alright I guess," he said, yanking the earbud from his ear and handing back to her. For weeks after he listened to her hum it to herself as she braided her bracelets. He even walked in on her singing it as she waited for him to get out of class.

He tapped his fingers on his chest, muttering the lyrics to himself. He closed his eyes, rolling to his side.

That night he dreamt of his fingers running through bushy brown hair.

~

Awako fidgeted in her seat. They were on a bus heading towards the UA training grounds for rescue training. She had taken up a seat next to Katsuki, nervously glancing at the bracelet he wore on his wrist.

She wore her bracelet also.

She wasn't much paying attention to the conversation. Her body jerked with every bump of the bus. It caused their hands to bump. Katsuki didn't really seem to notice but Awako's face was bright red. She was clad in her hero costume, a new backpack sitting in her lap that looked much like the one Katsuki broke beforehand. There was a note saying to be more careful and that it was made of stronger material. She kept her focus on the water sloshing inside of it and not to the closeness of their hands now. If anything it felt as if his hand was getting closer.

"You wanna talk strong and cool? That'd be Todoroki and Bakugou." The comment pulled her out of her thoughts and both Katsuki and herself perked up, listening to the conversation. Katsuki made a noise, turning his gaze back out the window. His pinky finger almost wrapped around hers.

"But Bakugou's so unhinged he'd never be popular," Tsuyu said, causing the blonde to bristle.

"What'd you say, Frog Face?" he snarled, shooting up. Tsuyu replied "See?"

"We've hardly started socializing and already you've made it clear to us the unpleasantness of your steam turd of a personality," a blond boy with a black streak in his hair said. Awako racked her brain for a name. Denki. Kaminari Denki.

"Yeah, okay Mr. Vocabulary. How about I pound you!?" Katsuki snarled. Awako began to flail a bit before grabbing his hand looking up at him.

"C-Calm down K-Kacchan," she whispered, pulling him down. He snorted and went back to sitting, crossing his legs. He squeezed her hand tightly, keeping his grip on it for the rest of the ride.

~

"Why are you so close?" Katsuki finally commented. Awako fidgeted, stepping a few steps back and crossing her arms behind her back.