Set Me Free

Chapter 9. Altercations

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"Your actions spoke to me when I was blind to your words."

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Kirishima wasn't sure if she preferred him yelling at her or the sudden silence that fell over their camp that night. Scratch that; she already knew it, and she just wished he would get it over with because frankly, a quiet Bakugou unnerved her.

So much for not making him angry.

So far she had been giving him a wide berth—well, wider than usual anyway—and she had seen no improvement.

Kirishima watched him intently as he set about lighting a fire, completely ignoring her.

The redhead sighed before finding her feet and saying, "Hit me."

"Don't fucking tempt me," Bakugou growled.

"You're angry at me, so do something about it. I'll take whatever you throw at me!" He still wouldn't look at her. "If I can't take at least that much, then how could I expect to be by your side?"

The redhead took a stance in front of the blonde, saying, "Let's settle this like men!" Kirishima steeled herself as her angry companion suddenly rose to his feet.

"You don't even know what that means." Bakugou scoffed before shouldering past her, momentarily surprised when he met resistance. She hadn't budged an inch, making him finally look her in the eye.

"I know that when people say that they fight to work out their differences. So settle this like men with me and don't hold back!" Kirishima pressed forward, forcing Bakugou to push back to hold his ground.

That was the final tick.

Bakugou grasped her wrists and forced them up to her chest to move her to the side. This, however, didn't work. Kirishima lowered her head and moved with his force as she dug her feet into the dirt before finding her footing and charging forward. The blonde narrowly jutted his chin up to avoid the collision at the cost of his grip.

She was strong, much stronger than she should have been with such a small form, and even Kirishima herself was surprised.

Bakugou knew that even if his grip had been loosened, she still had to possess considerable strength to pull free. Perhaps this would present more of a challenge than he had first anticipated.

Bakugou moved his head to the side as the red's small fist aimed to connect in what would have been a broken nose and re-captured her right arm above the elbow. This was a new development. She didn't know how to control her strength, something arguably more dangerous than if she had experienced.

Kirishima stumbled as Bakugou jerked her forward, crossing her arms and locking her against his chest. The blonde arched slightly so her feet left the ground and dropped her again, making her knees buckle beneath her, landing hard on her knees as he released her.

The redhead stayed on her knees as her chest heaved and sweat rolled down her temple. He hadn't thrown a single punch, and he had brought her to her knees. Just how far apart were they?

Kirishima remained on her knees with her head hung low; she couldn't find it in herself to look at him. It was almost laughable. Somehow she thought that her natural battle prowess would carry over, and how wrong she was. Perhaps she was fighting in a foreign language against a man who had probably fought more battles than she could fathom, but to her, that didn't matter.

She was determined to become a worthy protector like those in the stories her Pa told her as a child and the person she had vowed to be an unbreakable force. She had a long way to go.

Kirishima pierced her lip with her sharp teeth as she forced her legs to work. "Again and again, I'll keep going until you can't knock me down!"

"Tch, strength is wasted on someone who can't use it."

"I'll learn; I won't let you brush me off!" Kirishima swung her fist again but stumbled as Bakugou swiped at her legs, making her roll to the side to avoid eating dirt.

"You think it's that fucking easy? Unless you're willing to break yourself, then your words are empty and you're wasting my time." The blonde eyed the redhead as she rose again from the dirt. She was covered in dirt and already out of breath, but she kept getting up, and he found that annoying. Sloppy, but not without promise; perhaps if...

What was he thinking? Was he considering taking her on? It would just be a serious pain in the ass. To hell with it all.

Perhaps if he were a calmer person, he would have rethought his next words, but alas, he wouldn't be Bakugou otherwise.

"Why don't you just go home?" Bakugou watched for her reaction and frowned when a familiar emotion passed over her crimson eyes.

"Home is wherever people still wait for you; I don't have anyone like that anymore." Kirishima smiled sadly as she dusted off the cloak that had become displaced.

"Tch enough," the blonde clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned away, glancing over his shoulder, "that's a loan, so it's your job to keep it clean." Bakugou marched off into the treeline while Kirishima lifted the edge of the now dirt-covered cloth.

That hadn't gone as planned, not in the slightest. She didn't know what else to do, and she hadn't connected with the blonde as she wished. Kirishima could only hope that he was willing to take her on despite her flaws.

Kirishima waded her way into the shallows with the large cloth tucked in her arms, quickly washing away the marks and smudges and laying it on the riverbank before letting the water claim her. As she floated, her mind drifted away with the stream and towards the blonde.

As she had found herself thinking often, she dwelled on his habit of brutal honesty. During the harshness of what he said was true, she was weak as she was, and no matter her conviction, she would get nowhere without instruction. Something she was hoping to look to him for help obtaining.

She wasn't giving up, not on him or herself. Kirishima smiled. He had better prepare when he returned because she wasn't going to hold back. She was going to have to work on her approach and maybe listen to him a little more.

Though he wasn't very smooth with his words, she had to assume he had his reasons, even if she didn't understand them at the time. Even if it wasn't as fun.

...

Kirishima felt her shoulders tense and the hair on her neck prickle. Something wasn't right. The redhead waded to the far side of the tree cover across from their camp and sank up to her nose.

Multiple unfamiliar scents carried through the wind as the water around her settled into a slow ripple. She smelt something familiar in the sea of odour that made her stomach twist and turn before settling into a sinking sensation.

Kirishima remained still for some time before wading out from her hiding spot to try and get a better whiff of what was coming.

Where was it coming from, and where was Bakugou? She hoped that he hadn't found trouble.

Those were her final thoughts before trouble found her.

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