Glass || Bakugo x OC

Tired

TW: Slight mentions of self harm!

We walk down the street lined with cherry blossom trees, kicking a stray pebble as I think about what happened with Kaniko today.

"You okay, magnet-face?" Katsuki asks.

"I'm fine." I reply absentmindedly.

He stops under one of the large, pink trees that was shedding its petals. I stop as well and stare at him quizzically.
"Can you stop?!" He growls.

"W-what?" I stutter, his sudden outburst shocking me.

"Can you stop just taking the punches like some weakling?" He exasperatedly shouts. "Where's your fight, huh?! Ever since what happened at the sports festival, you've been acting like you're dead!"
"When I make fun of you, you don't respond anymore! Icyhot cant even start a conversation with you and you're letting that damn Kani-hoe step all over you! What's your deal?!"

I bite my lip. "I-I don't know..." I mutter. I haven't even realized I've been acting this way. 'He's right.' I think. 'But I'm useless without a quirk anyway, so what's the issue?' I clench my fists.

The anger in his eyes had dissipated. "Magne- Rei...can you talk to me?" His voice cracks at the end and my eyes widen.

"I'm sorry..." I mutter. "I'm just r-really tired...." I feel my eyes start to well up with tears. I haven't cried in a long time, but after seeing Katsuki so desperate, something inside me just snapped. "I'm having nightmares every night and I'm acting like I'm tough, but I feel so, so weak without my quirk. All I've done since I got here was cause trouble and when we thought it was all over, the damn incident during sports festival happened, Aizawa is in the hospital, a wanted villain took away my quirk, and now my friendships are falling apart! I'm like a flame that's been burning ever since the entrance exam, but I'm tired....and scared, Katsuki..." I say so quietly, it's barely a whisper. "I'm scared of burning out." The hot tears that I was trying so desperately to hold in were now streaming down my cheeks.

He squeezes me in a tight embrace. The pink petals had fallen in his hair and probably mine as well. I sob into his shoulder and grip his shirt.

I sniffle and stop my crying. "Sorry. I probably look pathetic right now." I try to crack a smile, but my frown doesn't budge.

"Rei, I want you to tell me these things." Katsuki starts. "Keeping it bottled up is only going to make it worse."

"Speak for yourself, mr.inferiority-superiority complex." I joke weakly.

"Tch, I'm trying to be nice here!" He growls.

I let out a small laugh. "Keyword; trying."

He lets out an annoyed groan, but cracks a tiny smile. "At least you're being all snarky again." He mutters.

I reciprocate a smile. "Yup."

"Don't worry, magnet-face." Katsuki says. "It'll all work out. Aizawa will recover, this mess will be resolved, and we'll catch that smelly-bastard." He hisses the bit.

"Alright." I reply. "I trust you." My eyes widen and I suddenly gasp. 'That smelly-bastard may or may not be still in my house!' I think, panicked.

"What is it?" Katsuki asks.

"N-Nothing! I just realized how late it is and I haven't even started studying for the math test!" I lie- 'Well, I haven't studied for the math test, but that's not important right now!'

He sighs. "Let's go then."

——-

We stop in front of my house. "Thanks, Katsuki. I'll see you tomorrow." I say.

He nods and watches as I enter my home. As I shut the front door behind me, I watch Katsuki turn and walk back down the street. 'It's already time for dinner.' I think as I turn around. 'I should start coo- wait a minute...'

I suspiciously sniff the air and the aroma of pork cutlet wafts to my nose. I walk down the hall to see the kitchen lights on. 'What the-'

I turn the corner and spot Ryuusuke seated at the kitchen table with his head resting in his hands.
"Hey, princess." He greets me with a smile.

"Hey...? Did you cook dinner?" I ask as I eye the two plates of pork cutlet resting on the dinner table.

He nods. "I figured you would be hungry and I had nothing else to do." He replies with a shrug.

"That's really thoughtful of you," I remark. "but you could've left, y'know."

"No can do." He smirks. "I can't leave my princess here alone, can I?"

"Yes, you can." I respond as I sit down.

"The police prohibits it. I thought you needed to be under supervision at all times?" He quirks an eyebrow.

I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, to keep me away from people like you." I say as I pick up a fork and knife. "Plus, I doubt you ever listen to what the police have to say."

"Fair enough." He responds.

I eye the food suspiciously. It looks and smells mouthwatering! "Is this poisoned?" I ask.

"Take a bite and find out." He replies with a smirk.

I roll my eyes at him, but I can't resist the aroma of the hot food. I take a bite and flavour spreads through my mouth. "Holy crap! This is really good!" I exclaim as I take another bite.

Ryuusuke takes a bite of his own food with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure I read the recipe wrong, though."

"What do you mean?" I query.

"I have dyslexia, so some of the words were all messed up, but I used my discretion and guessed. I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as 'baking sauce'." He jokes.

I chuckle. "There's soy sauce, laundry sauce, and baking sauce." I sarcastically remark.

"Laundry sauce?" Ryuusuke asks.

"Don't get me started." I remember Kaminari calling the detergent laundry sauce once and it's stuck with me ever since.

"I won't." He says and finishes his food.

I watch as he takes my empty plate makes his way over to the kitchen, dumping the plates in the sink. He rolls up his sleeves to wash the dishes. That's when I see them; small, almost invisible slits adorning his wrists. My eyes widen.
"Ryuusuke..." I trail off.

"What was that?" He asks.

I think frantically for a question to ask that won't make him uncomfortable. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen." He replies.

'Only about two years older than me.' I think. 'And somehow he's almost two feet taller.'

"Why?" He asks.

I shrug. "Just felt like asking."

He nods. "Did you sleep well?" I could he smirk in his voice.

"Y-Yeah." I reply as my face flushes. "H-How about you?"

"I slept for maybe an hour or two." He responds. "You know," he starts and I hear his tone change. "It's rude to leave before the other one wakes up?"

I blush out of embarrassment. "We only slept in the same bed together! We didn't...you know...."

He gives a hearty chuckle. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

"Shut up!" I exclaim. "I'm already into someone else!"

"Oh, Mr.Aggressive?" Ryuusuke laughs. "He's the guy you like?"

"Y-Yes..." I sputter. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

"Sure thing, princess." He replies.

"Why are you here?" I ask. "Give me a serious answer."

He freezes and I feel the atmosphere get chillier. "Are you sure you want to know?"