The Favor [Bakugou x Reader]

Chapter 21 - Exhale

"You what?" The explosive blond was taken aback.

"I wasn't sure. But now I am," you responded. Your tone was flat and unsettling.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you are going to explain to me what you did today. I wanted to give you space, but I guess I'm just that selfish. What the fuck was that quirk?" You finally turned to face him. His figure was silhouetted on the door. You looked into his questioning eyes. He wasn't here to yell at you. He was here to understand. You took a deep breath and stared at the wall once more.

"Last year..." you began, your voice soft and pained. "Last year I went for a run over winter break. I had gone five, maybe six miles and was listening to a book through my headphones. I had run that circuit dozens of times. I was no more than a mile from my campus when I felt arms wrap around my shoulders and neck. Then a cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose." Your breath hitched as you recalled the sensation. Bakugou took a tentative step further into the room.

"I woke up in some kind of warehouse. My hands were covered with shackles. They must have known my quirk. There were no candles, no fireplaces. No one even smoked a cigarette for me to pull from."

"There were four of them. In my mind I named them - Scar, Slash, Knuckles and Riddle." You spoke slowly, remembering each of their faces. "Riddle would come into my little room and ask me over and over and over where to find the Misfits. I didn't know what he was talking about. I still don't."

"Every time I didn't answer, one of the others would come in. Slash used a whip. Knuckles used his fists. And Scar... Scar used a knife." Bakugou's face was that of pure horror. "I was there for three days. Every night they would drug me and every morning they would begin the questioning and torture again..." You wrapped your arms around your body, limited by the bandages. You realized you were shaking. Bakugou came closer, finally daring to sit on the bed next to you. He watched your foggy eyes relive every horrifying moment.

"On the fourth morning I woke up to a dagger cutting into my arm. I watched my own blood pour onto the floor. I had lost so much blood it almost didn't faze me anymore."

"Riddle came in. He told me if I didn't tell him about the Misfits this time, he would kill me. I was always taught, never let them see your fear, but I was passed that. I cried, and I begged but he just scowled at me, disgusted that I would choose death over answers. But I had none to give. Riddle left, but Scar stayed." You shifted on the bed, pushing your back against the wall and staring up at the ceiling. You shook your head in disbelief.

"The next thing I remember, I was in the woods. The ground was snowy, and I was barefoot. My arms and back were bare and stinging from the cuts, the whippings, and what I didn't realize were fresh burns." Bakugou looked at your bandaged arms, his eyes going wide in understanding.

"I smelled smoke and I walked toward it, not feeling the cold leaves or the snapping twigs under my feet. A building was on fire. I could hear sirens and people yelling. As I got closer, I saw someone pumping water onto the roof and through windows."

"I found my way to the street and stood next to a police car. Not that I even realized it was there at the time. I felt a hand touch my elbow, and I snapped, releasing my tendrils and pinning a man to the ground. Another man, I'm guessing a police officer, pulled me off him and I dissolved my ropes."

"I sat on the ground shivering as someone draped me in a blanket and asked if I was alright, if I had been in the fire. I couldn't speak. I just rocked back and forth until I saw an ambulance pull up, my focus only on the red and blue spinning lights. Someone said they thought I was in shock. I guess I must have been."

"But then I saw them. There were two black bags on the ground. Body bags. Two other unconscious bodies were sent into the ambulance. Their skin was covered in deep burns and ash and they had oxygen masks strapped to their faces. I learned later that they died of asphyxiation on the way too the hospital. There was too much soot in their lungs." Bakugou draped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you gently toward his warmth. You didn't resist and felt tears well up in your eyes.