Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 45

Learning more about my quirk was both a blessing and a curse. Over the next week I was able to successfully use pain while training with Bakugo, but the backlash of it was brutal. I wondered if my body would eventually become accustomed to it or if it would continue to hurt me so severely and for such a lengthy period of time. The pain was most intense right after using my quirk but seemed to become more tolerable over the following 24 hours, slowly fading away as the day passed by. 

It was our last day of studying before the written exams and Bakugo was being short tempered as ever with Kirishima and I. Although, unless I was imagining it, it did feel like compared to the previous week he was being somewhat less intense and hadn't been yelling as much.

"Oi, are you paying attention?" Bakugo said, snapping me back to the present.

"Ah, yeah," I said, but just then I heard the door of the coffee shop open, my attention shifting to glance towards it and I froze.

Lavender eyes met mine before they moved to look at Bakugo and my pulse immediately quickened.

Shit. Shit! I thought, frantically standing up abruptly, my leg knocking the table and making it wobble before Bakugo grabbed it firmly.

"Watch it!" He snapped. "What the hell is with you?"

Shinso was looking at me again and there was a fraction of a second where I saw something flash in his eyes. Was it disappointment? And then he was breaking eye contact and moving towards the counter to order. My heart seemed to crack in the moment he looked away, as though he was going to carry on pretending he hadn't seen me sitting at a table with this boy that he clearly hated.

We hadn't talked about Bakugo since that conversation at the front gate of UA. And we hadn't talked about his warning that day either. I had started pulling away from Bakugo while Shinso and I had continued to go about our usual routine of going to the gym together. However, when Bakugo and I had decided to give our friendship another try, I let Shinso know that I was going to focus on studying for the finals so I was going to take a break from the gym. We hadn't really seen much of each other since although had messaged back and forth here and there.

Guilt wrapped itself around me, suffocating me, as I stared at his back while he stood at the counter. I hadn't told him anything about my relationship with Bakugo, including our training and my new discoveries about my quirk. There were times over the past week that I had stared at my phone, desperate to call him and tell him all about it, but my worry about how he would react always prevented me from pressing the call button.

Kirishima cleared his throat loudly, causing me to look down at him. I was still standing there and Kirishima had clearly seen Shinso, his eyes darting quickly between the two of us with an anxious look plastered on his face. Bakugo's back was to Shinso, so he hadn't seen him yet, although he was beginning to turn around.

"Be right back!" I nearly shouted before I could see Bakugo's reaction and rushed past him towards Shinso.

He had just finished up paying and was turning around as I came to stand in front of him.

"Hey, you!" I said, my voice too cheery, my hand waving too animatedly. "What are you up to?"

"Just grabbing some coffee to go," His voice sounded guarded and I imagined the space between us growing despite standing so close together. It terrified me.

"Where are you headed to?" I asked, my smile wavering. I hated this feeling of tension in the air as I waited for him to respond.

"Home. I have a lot of cramming to do before finals tomorrow. Looks like you've already got a study group," He gestured towards our table and I glanced over my shoulder.

The negative energy radiating off of Bakugo was palpable, even across the room. His furious red eyes met mine and I noticed his grip on the back of his chair tighten as his knuckles turned white. Kirishima was desperately trying to get his attention but Bakugo's eyes remained fixed on us. 

What the hell is his problem? I thought, as I turned around swiftly. 

"Yeah, but we were just finishing up. Can I walk with you?" I asked.

When he didn't respond right away, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away and I thought for a moment that he was actually going to say no.

"If you want, sure," He finally said and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, of course! Let me go grab my stuff!" I said and began moving towards the table.

My eyes planted firmly towards the ground to avoid Bakugo's murderous glare, I quickly started gathering my things once I made it to the table.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He growled and as I went to went to grab one of my notebooks his hand slammed over the top of it, pinning it down.

Finally, I looked at him. His fiery red eyes made my breath catch and my heart race. Why is he making such a big deal about me leaving? We're not even training today, so I don't understand why he would even care about me going now.

"I'm heading out," I said, yanking the notebook out from under his hand and shoving it into my bag. "I'm feeling like I'm ready for the finals tomorrow and I'm going to walk home with Shinso,"

He twitched slightly at the mention of his name. "Like hell you're ready, you just want to walk home with that purple haired freak,"

"Hey!" I snapped, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "Don't call him that. You're being an asshole. Stop it or..."

I trailed off, not sure what I would do if he didn't actually stop. Why was my heart hammering in my throat? I couldn't seem to breath all of a sudden and I just wanted everything to slow down but I felt like a train headed towards a broken track at full speed.

"Or what?" He sneered. "You gonna challenge me or something? Oh, wait. You already have and I've already beat you. Multiple times. Because I'm superior to you in every way and your pathetic quirk is just -"

Hearing him call my quirk pathetic was like throwing gasoline on an already raging fire. I was projecting pain on him before I could stop myself and he stopped talking abruptly as his face twisted in pain. He gripped the table and leaned forward, his eyes squeezed shut. His whole body was tense as a garbled sound came out of his mouth that sounded like a slew of expletives. 

Kirishima looked to me in confusion before looking at Bakugo in concern. "What is happening?" He asked.

"Just using my pathetic quirk," I said, as the pain seemed to pass and Bakugo opened his eyes, looking up at me with renewed fury.

Before he had a chance to respond, I was already moving towards the door where Shinso stood. By the look on his face, I could tell that he had witnessed the entire interaction.