Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 42

Bakugo's POV

"Can we please be done for today?" Kirishima whined.

I sighed through my clenched teeth. "You guys are completely hopeless," I said but started to pack up my bag. "Don't blame me when you fail all of your finals because you don't have what it takes."

"Hey," The girl said, grabbing my arm. "We're really grateful for you taking the time to tutor us. But it helps to take breaks too. Would you be willing to meet with us again, maybe every other day or something, after school like this?"

"Or every day," Weird hair said, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head. "I'm really struggling to get my head wrapped around this stuff."

Usually I would be more irritated with having to spend my time teaching people that are clearly beneath my own level of intelligence. And yet, as annoying as these two are, the idea of continuing to tutor them didn't seem like the worst way to spend my time.

"Finals are already next week. We should meet every day after school if you two morons are going to have any chance of passing," I said and broke Nakano's grip on my arm as I started moving towards the door.

I heard a cheer followed by what must have been the two of them high fiving each other. Annoyance pulsed through me for a moment. Their enthusiasm, especially together, was particularly exhausting. I heard their footsteps following close behind me after a moment.

Once we got outside, Kirishima pointed in one direction. "We're headed to the train station. What about you, Nakano?"

Irritation gnawed at me from shitty hair speaking for both of us. It's true that I would normally be walking towards the train station with him although I figured the girl would be going the opposite direction based on what I knew of where her house was.

"Oh," she said, the smile on her face dimming slightly. "My house is within walking distance but I'm headed this way." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to indicate that she would be going the way I had predicted.

"Oh, okay! Well, see you tomorrow?" Kirishima said, and they both began to wave and turn away when I took a step forward.

"Actually, I'm headed this way too, so don't speak for me, shitty hair," I growled and started walking before they had a chance to respond.

It was that damn familiar pull towards this girl that I couldn't seem to shake. I'd just spent the past few hours with her and normally I would be sprinting towards the metaphorical exit of the social interaction to spend the rest of my evening in solitude. But I wasn't ready to walk away from her quite yet. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw her wave to Kirishima before rushing to catch up to me.

When she didn't say anything but walked beside me about half a step behind, I snuck a glance in her direction. Her emerald green eyes were bright and alert, a small smile on her lips. We didn't speak to each other for a while but the silence didn't feel uncomfortable. I had to admit that I was thankful she wasn't questioning my motives to make me come up with some bullshit excuse. There seemed to be an unspoken acknowledgement that I was walking her home and I was relieved when she didn't call me out on it right away.

"Hey," she said, shattering the silence. "There's going to be a physical part of the exam too, right? Like, there's the written exam but there's also more since we're in the hero course. Similar to the hero classes we take in the afternoon?"

"Yeah," I said.

When she didn't respond right away I looked over. She was biting her lip and her eyes were cast downward. Her brows were furrowed and she seemed to be lost in thought.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

She startled at the sound of my voice before her eyes met mine. "Oh, ah..." Trailing off, she looked away again and started fidgeting with her hands. "I'm just..."

There was a long pause and I grew impatient. "Well, spit it out already!"

"I'm just going to fail at everything apparently!" She suddenly burst out, her hands clenching into fists as the words came barreling out of her mouth.

"Oh, give me a break, emo chick, it's not going to be that hard," I said.

"Not for you," Her voice came out quiet this time and I fought the urge to look at her again, keeping my eyes trained forward. "It seems like everything comes so easily to you."

The anger was quick to take over, my voice raising as I came to a halt. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

She stopped too and turned around to face me. "No, I'm not kidding!"

The fire in her eyes matched mine. "You think this shit is easy? That I just had it handed to me?" I yelled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do! So when you say shit like 'it's not going to be that hard' it pisses me off! Because it's going to be hard as hell for someone like me! I just joined the hero course not that long ago and I'm not as good as the rest of you -"

The anger within me swelled. I felt it rise from my stomach up into my throat and then the words were spewing out of me, "Who the fuck's been telling you that bullshit?! Because I recall you gushing on about some bullshit sob story like that after I beat your ass at the sports festival!"

I stepped towards her and she held my angry gaze with defiance. When she opened her mouth to speak, I kept going. "The only one who tells you this shit is yourself! So stop getting in your own way! The reason that I'm good at everything is because I work hard and I don't let anyone tell me that I'm less than I am!"

We were both breathing heavily and the tension between us hung like a cloud of smoke that distorted my ability to see her clearly. Or maybe that was my own anger, I don't know. But then she sniffled and I noticed that her eyes were sparkling.

A single tear rolled down her cheek. "You're right. I know you are. But my father..."

"He's a piece of shit! You shouldn't care what he has to say."

Without thinking about it, my hand came up and my thumb was brushing across her cheek to wipe the tear away. The shock of the action seemed to dry the remainder of the tears that had been in her eyes. Embarrassed with myself, I turned away as I spoke, trying to keep the tone of my voice harsh despite the fact that my tough demeanor was crumbling by the moment. "Seriously, emo chick. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. You've gotta' toughen up. Work harder."

I faced the sky and focused on the warmth of the sun on my face while I waited for her to respond.

"Would you...would you still be willing to train with me?"

When I turned back around, the look in her eyes was still fiery but there was a determination there that hadn't been a moment ago. She held up a clenched fist and squeezed it as she spoke. "I want to get better. And I will. I'll get smart and strong enough that I can beat even you."

"Like hell you will!" I shot back. "But sure, I'll let you humiliate yourself a bit more while we train together."

"Ha, I'm gonna kick your ass Katsuki Bakugo, you just wait and see," she said with a grin and spun around to continue walking.

Luckily she did because I felt myself flush at her words. Gripping at my chest, her words echoing through my mind, I wondered what this was. This feeling like it was hard to breath, an awareness of the beating of my heart that I'd never had before, something that left me feeling weak and exposed. I pondered it as I watched this girl walk away before I snapped out of it and my feet began moving, once again pulling me towards her.