Caught ☽「todoroki, bakugou」

taunting

"Uhh," you managed to speak. There he stood, in all of his sweaty and agitated glory, feet planted in front of you and downward stare like that of an apex predator.

Behind him, the sky glowed a red, orange and yellow gradient, hinting how long you had been out for. You subconsciously took notice of how the sunset accentuated his scarlet eyes.

"Oh, so you can talk." He looked at you with narrowed eyes. "Now tell me why the fuck you were sneaking up on me."

Sneaking up on him? Your throat felt painfully dry as you tried to form a response. Who did this guy think he was? It was clear no one had ever grown the balls to tell him off.

"Woah, no one was sneaking up on anyone." A sardonic chuckle fell from your lips as your hands went up in mock surrender. "I'm just training for the sports festival. Sorry if I scared you."

"Who said anything about being scared, dumbass!" He let out an indignant yell. Bullseye. You almost shied away from his scrutinizing eyes before there was a flash of recognition and he clicked his tongue. "What even is your shitty quirk, anyway?"

You weren't sure if you were more surprised he gave up on grilling you, or that he remembered you as his classmate. Even more so that he stood so patiently while you described your quirk.

Truthfully, he already knew the answer. Despite not caring much about his classmates, he wasn't stupid enough to underestimate his competitors. 

After watching the quirk apprehension tests and battle trials, it was easy to sort you into who was weak and who was worth his time. Regardless, he could still kick all of your asses if he wanted to.

"Hah?? 7 seconds? You're bat-shit weak, not worth my time." He said haughtily as he grabbed his towel from the ground. You didn't know how to react.

While he crouched down, grabbing the belongings he abandoned in favor of attacking you, a thought crossed your mind to make his head into a soccer ball. It wasn't that you were pissed. In fact, you weren't, and that was pissing you off more than anything.

As he began to walk away, something rose to the surface. It really didn't make sense. He was probably the most off-putting, arrogant person you've ever met, but you just couldn't ignore the itch to keep his attention. 

After all, it wasn't his kindness that attracted you in the first place.

"You know," his footsteps paused. "You'd be kind of attractive if you weren't such an asshole." A slow smile rose to your lips, loving the adrenaline rush.

It was slow, the way he turned back to look at you, jaw slack for a moment before it was overwritten with red hot anger. Like you were the one whose ego was too big for anyone to handle.

"What did you just say?!" And in an instant he was back on you, pulling you up by the collar; that feeling of excitement and fear coming back to you just as quickly.

"I mean, if you're so much 'stronger' than me, why don't you prove it?" You provoked, not really thinking about your words, nor did you know what you were trying to achieve by making him angry.

But the look he was giving you made you feel things.

"Have it your way. Come at me with everything you've got, and maybe I won't fuck you up too bad." He threw you back with the grip of your shirt. Only then did it sink in that you were about to fight Bakugou Katsuki, and what a world of pain awaited you.

You stumbled but were able to regain your balance. Looking up at him, he cracked his knuckles, narrowed eyes staring you down.

Why couldn't you stop yourself? Surely, it wasn't too late to say you were joking. Because he was an asshole that needed to be knocked down a peg? 

Or maybe it was just you chasing those fleeting desires again. Either way, you had wanted to train with him, and in a technical sense, that's exactly what you got.

Getting into a ready position, you concentrated on his figure mere meters away, eyes darting across the radiating sky and its clouds, visualizing them all at a much slower pace.

His glare intensified, as if deciding whether to attack first before you had a chance to activate your quirk. By the time he had started running, everything ran still. Flowing so slowly, you could run to that clearing and back before he reached you.

'7'...the toneless voice began its count once more.

You closed in on the blond, aiming your fist towards his stomach and punching with all the force you could muster. There was no plan. It was do as much damage as you could, and hope it worked in your favor. 

Your right leg kicked into the air as you whiled behind the boy, landing a solid axe kick to his back while he was doubled over. The movements felt clunky and amateurish, but fortunately, no one could tell when you were moving at super-speed.

'3'...

Control was fading at an alarming rate. By now, his pupils were blown wide, mouth opening, presumably to recoup the air that was knocked out of his lungs. 

You began to feel an edge of confidence, wheeling over to his front, grabbing his shoulders. Angling your torso for better leverage, you aimed your knee at his gut, ready to deal a finishing blow. 

Except that you were blown away before you were able to complete it. Literally.

Falling backward on your ass, rugged coughing could be heard about 2 meters away.

"Ow..." You whined, lugging yourself to your feet. Once you looked up, you knew the pain in your bottom half was nothing compared to what you'd be receiving next.

"I'll make you regret those words, dumb bitch." Bakugou said lowly, and darkly, not yelling for once. He wiped the remnants of a liquid from the corner of his mouth, using his forearm.

You couldn't quite tell with the distance, and the slight headache looming at the back of your skull. The grim reaper himself was looming over your shoulders as you properly took in his appearance and struggled to quell your eager imagination.

Much like it had been when you first laid eyes on him at the entrance exam, amid the destroyed machines, every sane part of you screamed 'danger' and urged you to make a run for it.

But your body wouldn't move an inch.