Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 4

I sat with my classmates as I waited for the first round of the tournament to start, feeling the butterflies in my stomach come to life as I considered my upcoming fight. Kirishima...I think I remember him from the first round of the sports festival. He was ahead of me during the obstacle course and I saw him using sheer power and force to destroy some of the robots that were blocking our path. So, he's definitely got a quirk that's focus is on physical ability...

I bit my bottom lip nervously, considering the possibility that I may not make it as far into the finals as I had hoped. My mind flashed back to the opening ceremony and the boy's voice rang through my head, I just wanna say...I'm gonna win. I gritted my teeth and felt my nails press into the soft flesh of my palms as my hands became fists. Like hell you will, blondie! I thought. I'm not sure what it was about him that bothered me so much. I thought back to our first encounter and how his crimson eyes had blazed into mine. So much anger. I had felt it, been overwhelmed by it...and yet...

I was snapped back to the present as I heard the announcer saying Shinso's name. I immediately stood up from my seat and cheered wildly. As I watched from the stands above, I saw his opponent approaching the center of the arena as well. He looked fairly harmless, as Shinso had said earlier. He had a lanky body, topped by a mop of green hair. His emerald green eyes looked forward and were filled with determination. Something about the look in his eyes made me pause. I realized that he hadn't actually used a quirk prior to this, at least not that I had seen. It would be foolish to think him harmless without knowing his quirk. However, all Shinso had to do was get him to answer a question and then it was all over. As Present Mic yelled out for the opponents to begin, I smirked as I realized that Shinso had already started talking to Midoriya. Soon, he was responding angrily and began taking a few steps towards Shinso. As soon as Shinso responded Midoriya stopped dead in his tracks.

As Midoriya turned and started walking towards the edge of the area, I cheered inwardly for my friend. I guess I got it wrong when I thought maybe there'd be more to this one. My mind began to drift to thoughts of my upcoming match again when they were suddenly interrupted by a loud smash, followed by a gust of dirt and smashed rubble flying up into the crowds. I gasped as I covered my eyes and turned away. When I brought my attention back to the arena, I saw that Midoriya was one step away from being out of bounds. His right hand clutched his left and I sat in stunned amazement as I realized that he was no longer under Shinso's spell. What the hell just happened? I looked closely at his hand and felt myself inhale sharply. His index finger and thumb were colored a deep purple and he didn't seem to be able to move them. Did he break them? I thought, as I realized that Shinso was talking again, but Midoriya wasn't answering.

"I didn't know you had so much power in your fingers," I heard Shinso say. "I'm kind of jealous of you! Thanks to the way my quirk works I've been at a big disadvantage but someone as blessed as you wouldn't understand that! You're lucky enough to have a heroic quirk! It'll be so easy for you to reach your goal!"

I felt a sharp pain in my chest as I listened to him speak. I know that feeling. I was weighed down by that feeling for years. Questioning if I was good enough. If I was capable enough of becoming a hero despite my quirk, which never seemed to fall in the category of heroic. Hell, I still feel it. I watched in disbelief as Midoriya stormed Shinso and attempted to push him out of bounds. Shinso fought back and seemed to have the upper hand but before I could even comprehend what was happening, Midoriya had turned the tables and flipped Shinso out of bounds. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding as Shinso lay on the ground in defeat.

"Midoriya wins!" I winced as the words boomed through the stadium and cheers erupted around me.

I started working my way down the stairs towards the lower level to meet up with Shinso. I felt horrible. I could only imagine how he was feeling after he worked so hard to get into the finals. I was so caught up in my thoughts that due to my lack of attention, I ran into someone as I rounded a corner. I startled and instinctively reached out to steady myself. As my fingers gripped the boys arm, I was overpowered by feelings of resentment and anger. The waves of emotion pulsated through me as I looked up and my eyes met his. His eyes were stunning, one charcoal grey and the other an icy blue. A red blotch surrounded his blue eye and it took me a moment to realize it was a scar. His hair was half red and half white, almost perfectly split down the middle. His face was blank as his eyes bore into mine although there was clearly so much more brewing beneath the surface of his cool facade.

"I'm so sorry," I said, releasing my hold on his arm and backing away.

It was as though he didn't hear me. His eyes, which had seemed to be looking directly into mine now seemed to be looking through me as he continued on his path without responding to my apology.

That was weird... I thought, as I walked forward, more slowly this time. I was beginning to question whether it was a good idea to seek Shinso out or if I should give him space. If it was me who had been knocked out of the finals right away, I know my pride would get the better of me and I wouldn't want to talk about it. Doubt was beginning to creep into my mind as my eyes caught sight of what appeared to be fire. Wait, is that..? When I realized what I was looking at, I quickly turned down a corridor so that I wouldn't have to come face to face with Endeavor, the number two hero, who weilded a powerful fire quirk. My father was friends with him and Endeavor was the same kind of man my father was, one who looked down on those he deemed less worthy. Just like my father, he believed my quirk to be useless and he wasn't afraid to make his own snide comments to me on the few occasions that we had come across each other.

I felt my hands ball into fists as the familiar anger started to creep across me, slowly consuming me. Shinso would have to wait. Because I'll be damned if I don't win this thing and I'm not going to let any distractions get in my way.