Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 7

I felt the harsh sting of bright lights as my eyes slowly opened. I furrowed my brow and squeezed my eyes shut as a groan escaped my lips. Images flashed through my mind. Kirishima's kind eyes and warm smile. Breaking the bones of my hand and foot against his rock hard skin. Kirishima staggering back, hand to his head. Locking eyes with Kirishima as he stood out of bounds.

I shot up quickly and immediately regretted my quick movement. Pain spiked throughout my body and I bent forward, cradling my head in my hands.

"Y/n?" I heard a familiar voice beside me and I felt a warm hand fall lightly on my thigh.

I looked over to see Shinso, whose face suddenly became tinted with the slightest shade of pink as he snatched his hand away, seeming to realize the intimacy of the gesture.

"Shinso? What..." My voice trailed off. Where to even start? "How long was I out?" I winced as I continued to feel pain coursing through my body.

"Only a couple hours. Recovery girl did her best to patch you up and it looks like she was able to heal your hand and foot for the most part." As he said this I looked down at my hands, which appeared to be fine. I flexed the fingers of my right hand and they moved freely although there were still traces of light bruising along my knuckles. "You busted up your hand pretty bad," he remarked as I continued to examine it. "That guy has a quirk called hardening. He's able to make his entire body rock solid. Well, you know that now, of course.." He looked up at me sheepishly.

"What..." I was struggling to find the right words. To piece together my memories of what exactly happened. "What happened?"

Shinso let out a breath and his eyebrows furrowed together. "I was hoping you could tell me..?" It should have been a statement, but it came out as though it was a question. As I continued to look completely bewildered, he rushed to continue talking, "I mean, obviously with your quirk, like mine, it's not one that can be seen with the eye. I don't know what emotion you were projecting on him, but the dude just kind of freaked out. The way that he screamed out and doubled over, it was as though you had landed a serious physical blow to him."

"I don't...I don't know what I did." As the words left my mouth I felt stupid. And my head was pounding. I gently rubbed my fingers in small circles over my temples.

"Hey, what matters is that you won. Right?" His smile was warm and I felt some of my pain ease momentarily.

"Right!" I agreed, and started swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "I should probably start getting ready for my next match," As I began to stand, Shinso was already on his feet and offering me a hand, but I waved it away nonchalantly.

"You're treating me like I'm fragile or something. You should know -" I was unexpected by the new wave of pain that overtook me as I took a step forward and faltered. Stars began swimming in my vision and I was vaguely aware of Shinso's grip on my arm as he helped steady me.

"I know you've got a lot of pride, but take it easy," Shinso said, as he gently guided me back to a sitting position. "I should go get Recovery Girl, I just want to make sure they didn't miss anything. It seems odd that you're still in this much pain after she patched you up."

"No, no," I immediately protested. "I just need a minute." What the hell is happening? I know that I really messed up my hand and foot during the match but my entire body is screaming. All I feel is pain. Pain. The word echoed through my thoughts. That's what I was thinking during the match. I wanted Kirishima to feel pain, the pain that I had been enduring for years. What if... "Shinso, what if I made him feel pain?"

Shinso looked thoughtful for a moment. "You mean physical pain?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "I was thinking it before he had that intense reaction. My own emotions were so heightened at the time, thinking about everything with my dad and how much it hurt and how I just wanted him to feel pain, I needed him to feel that pain because I needed to win."

He was quiet and appeared to be deep in thought. "It's possible I suppose. I mean, if you're hurt badly enough emotionally it can feel like physical pain." His eyes traveled to the floor and stayed there as we sat in silence for a few moments.

"Everything hurts," I said quietly.

He looked up quickly, his soft lavendar eyes meeting mine. "What?"

"My body. I know what it feels like after getting in a fight, but this...it's everywhere. I feel the pain everywhere." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair absently. "It's weird and I don't like it and none of this makes sense."

"I think the only thing you need to worry about is recovering. You still have a while before your next match, so just take it easy."

"Who am I up against?" I asked eagerly, feeling myself looking forward to the match despite the pain that was currently consuming me.

He smirked, "The one that could really use some anger management. I can't wait to see how you use your quirk with this one."