♞ 𝔗𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱 ♞ ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏᴜ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Chapter 26: Training

When I reached my home, I rested for about forty-five minutes before getting ready for my training with Bakugou. My outfit was pretty simple. (F/C) long-sleeved shirt, black leggings and white shoes. Nothing too special. I grabbed my water bottle, a face towel, and a small box with throat medicine before heading off. I got there at least ten minutes early before the meeting time and to my surprise, Bakugou was already there. He was wearing a black tank top, dark grey shorts and black sneakers. His bored face was still covered in bandages after the fight with Kumo. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Tch, what took you so damn long?" He asked me.

Excuse me? I felt my blood pressure rise as I yelled, "I'm ten minutes early! I'm not late!" I crossed my arms at him. "Why'd you come here so damn early?" I semi-imitated him.

Bakugou pouted in anger. "Because I can, and I was excited to see you again," he muttered the last part. Did he think I couldn't hear what he was saying?

I took this opportunity to poke fun at him. "Sorry, what?" I questioned with a raised brow and a mischievous grin. "I couldn't hear you." Like the genius he was, Bakugou immediately knew what I was up to and yelled at me to shut up and follow him.

~

After a short walk, we reached a clearing. In this training, I have to try and prolong my breathing and reducing the burning pain I feel in my throat whenever I use my quirk. "After training, we rest for a bit," Bakugou glared at me. "Then, you'll fight me. Right here."

"One day, both of us will fight to see who is better!" Bakugou proclaimed.

Damn, I almost forgot about that. How long has it been since that day? I can tell he was being serious. His eyes were filled with determination and hunger for victory. We care about each other, yes, but this training will help us improve and get better, for Todoroki and Izuku. It is inevitable that we will be going against people, so we can't just keep trying to refine our quirks. We must build on our strategy and fighting style as well. "Right," I nodded and I began walking to the other side of the clearing. Placing my belongings down nearby, I inhaled and exhaled, preparing myself mentally.

I started doing breathing exercises before beginning. Expanding my lungs, I took in air and held my breath. The longer I hold my breath, the hotter the flames are. My lungs were getting scorched. This is definitely going to hurt my throat afterwards. I blew it out as soon as the pain became slightly unbearable. The length of the fire from my mouth to the tip was around five meters. "Hm, not good enough," I coughed twice as I walked back to my stuff. I chugged water to relieve the pain. "Damn, I should've added some water tank to my hero costume or something so I can drink and relieve the pain in my throat faster," I muttered to myself. I went back and repeated what I just did.

I began to notice that I've been holding back so it wouldn't get so painful. I have to force myself to endure the pain. A damaged muscle will repair itself. I must push my limits. I have to improve for my cousin and classmate. Their faces quickly flashed in my mind. I can see them so clearly.

Izuku's big, round and green eyes that sparkled whenever he was happy. His bright smile that even made the sun jealous. The little freckles on his cheeks, his green, curly hair. He was my brother from a different set of parents. Todoroki. His unique half-white and half-red hair, as well as his different coloured, thin eyes with a cold stare. In my head, they're standing next to each other in a very bright environment. Izuku's smiling like nothing happened to him, even Todoroki had a slight smile on his face. The sight of them being safe and uninjured made me tear up out of happiness.

I won't let them down. I do it for them, I do it for him. Determined, I furrowed my brows as I inhaled a lot of air. I held my breath until the heat made me shed some tears. I forcefully exhaled through my mouth while maintaining the fire despite the burning sensation in my throat. I forced my eyes shut due to the pain. I managed to keep it going for around ten seconds at a distance of six meters. Not a bad improvement, I guess. I ran back while coughing to my water bottle to drink up and rest.

I repeated this for around thirty minutes before the Bakugou himself approached me. "Ready, Nensho?" He asked me. I turned to him and I couldn't help but stare. His wet tank top stuck to his body, clearly shaping the muscles it was supposed to hide. His nitroglycerin-like sweat made his skin glisten in the sunlight. Damn this boy. "There you go again, staring at me," Bakugou snapped me back into reality. "Can you just tell me what you keep looking at?"

I gulped, "O-Oh, it's nothing. Just sit back for a bit. I'll do my last one." Bakugou listened and walked to where I couldn't see him, yet I could still feel his eyes on me. There was no doubt he was watching me. His stare makes my body tremble and shake. Oh god, am I supposed to impress him? Wait, what am I thinking?

I inhaled a gallon of air and held it in. Before releasing it, I tilted my head upwards slightly. I was slowly but surely getting used to the pain as I have never actually done this kind of training consecutively, like pushing to my limits due to the fear of damaging my throat. Izuku and Todoroki getting kidnapped made me motivated and determined to succeed. Everyone is trying their very best and I should too.

I rubbed my lips after that last one. "Not bad, Nensho," I heard Bakugou comment. I turned around and saw him with a soft smile.

I chuckled, "Thanks, Hot-Shot."

"Tch," he scoffed with a smirk. "Now, come over here and get ready to fight with your boyfriend, you idiot."

~

After about ten minutes of resting, Bakugou stood up from his sitting position. "Listen up, Nensho," Bakugou snatched my focus and attention. "You better not hold back and not do your very best against me, because I won't, and I don't plan on having a fight without you giving it your all, you got that?"

I nodded at him and gave him a determined look, "You don't have to tell me what I was already planning on doing!"

Bakugou smirked. "Don't worry, Nensho," he mocked me with a cruel smile. "I'll make sure that pretty face of yours is safe. Wouldn't want it all messed up, now do we?" His comment made me clench my fists at my sides. Before he walked away to get into position, Bakugou turned to me one last time. "Nensho, in this fight, I want you to look at me with hatred. Don't look at me and see your boyfriend. Look at me and see a beast, a monster, a villain."

Before I could reply to his line, he walked away completely. Once he was far enough, we both got into our fighting stance. I narrowed my eyes at him. I concentrated and tried my hardest to make myself hate him.

"Look at me and see a beast, a monster, a villain."

"You fire-breathing loser,"

"You're all talk, aren't you? I bet your ass doesn't even dare to go against me."

"Shut up, Nensho!"

"What're you looking at, Nensho? Walk away."

"You think I wanted this?!"

"And maybe you should watch that mouth of yours. You keep defending people around you, Nensho. You defended Deku when we were kids and now you're defending Rock Face."

"We both know that you can't defend yourself even if your life depended on it. If the challenge earlier was a real one and I wasn't there, you would be dead along with Weird Hair."

I clenched my fists tighter until they were shaking and my knuckles were white. 'You wanted me to hate you and look at you as if you were a beast,' I thought to myself with a determined smile.

​

'You'll get what's coming to you, Baka-gou.'