Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 46

The familiar shooting pain running up my legs every time I took a step made me wince but I pushed through it, wanting to get as much distance between us and Bakugo as I could. My foot caught on the sidewalk, causing me to lurch forward, but I felt Shinso's hand grip my arm to keep me from falling.

"Hey," He said, concern laced in his voice. "What just happened and why do you look like you're in so much pain?"

"Can we..." Everything felt so jumbled and I was too consumed by the pain coursing through my body. "Sit?"

"Did he..." He trailed off and it seemed like his grip on my arm tightened. "Did he hurt you somehow?"

"No!" I responded right away and then took a deep breath as I looked around. There was a park across the street that had a bench seated under a cluster of cherry blossom trees. "There! Can you just help me get over to that bench and I'll explain everything."

I began to put my arm around his neck, expecting him to wrap his arm around my waist to prop me up and help me walk, but instead he bent over and set his coffee down before he lifted me into his arms. Normally I would have protested but the aches, a combination of dull and sharp pains like bullets hitting unexpectedly throughout my body, were enough to quiet me. His hands felt warm and strong as he carried me to the bench. I ventured a look up at him and noticed that the dark circles under his eyes seemed more pronounced than usual. 

When we got to the bench, he set me down so gently that I felt my emotions get the best of me as tears formed in my eyes. He was always so good to me. He was my best friend. Why hadn't I just been honest and up front with him this whole time?

"You okay if I run back and grab my coffee?" He asked.

I nodded, thankful to be seated, and he jogged away to retrieve the abandoned beverage. When he got back, he sat down and began fiddling with the cardboard sleeve wrapped around his coffee. We sat in silence, my thoughts racing as I tried to figure out where to even begin.

"I'm sorry," I finally said, leaning forward to put my head in my hands. I stared at the ground, littered with cherry blossom petals, as I continued. "I came up with this idea after I joined the hero course but I didn't tell you because I was afraid you wouldn't approve and you'd just worry about me."

I could feel a bead of sweat crawl down my back and I realized I was perspiring excessively. I was so nervous, my mind immediately jumping to the worst case scenario. Shinso's angry eyes boring into me, his voice raising as he tells me how much of an idiot I am, splashing his scalding hot coffee on me before storming away and never speaking to me again.

"Probably accurate," He said and I finally looked up at him. 

The scenario I had been imagining immediately dissipated. Shinso's eyes were rarely angry and as I looked into them now I saw the familiar softness that I had come to expect. There was even a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked at me.

"I asked Bakugo to train with me so that I could try to figure out more about using pain against my opponents. It was kind of like an experiment. I've been able to use it a few times, but I've learned that the backlash causes me to be in a lot of physical pain as well, usually lasting about a day, but getting less and less intense as the time goes on."

"So, basically you're using him to learn more about your quirk?"

I could tell that it wasn't meant to be a malicious question and yet I immediately felt myself become irritated and defensive.

"No, of course not! It's more than that!" My words made me pause and I felt my face get hot. 

Oh God, that made it sound like we're in a relationship or something! I thought and began to talk rapidly, stuttering the words out as a stream of consciousness started falling from my mouth.

"N-not like that! I mean, we-we're, ya know, friends I guess? I mean, like, if you c-could call it that, I mean, he's still an asshole! And I guess he-he's helping me with studying for finals b-but I,"

"Nakano," Shinso finally put me out of my misery by cutting in. "What happened at the coffee shop just now?"

I looked down as the pain of his words struck me once more, the scene playing through my mind as vividly as if it was happening all over again.

"He called my quirk pathetic." I said and as soon as the words left my mouth Shinso was standing.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"No!" I shouted, reaching my hand out to take his as he attempted to step away.

He looked down at my hand in his and then his eyes traveled up to meet mine. He surprised me by sitting down and gripping my hand as he turned to face me.

"Why didn't you listen to me that day? I told you that this would happen and yet you still defend him? Why can't you see that he doesn't care about you the way -" He stopped abruptly, his grip loosening on my hand as he slowly turned away. His hand released mine and traveled to rest over his coffee. His lavender hair shielded his eyes from me so I couldn't get a good read on him.

"Shinso...I did listen to you that day. I started distancing myself from him and I tried to stay away from him. But he keeps doing and saying things that confuse me. They don't always match. And I don't think that he actually knows how to be a friend to someone or at least what a true friendship should look like. But I do think he's trying."

"Trying doesn't seem like a fitting word for someone who just called your quirk pathetic."

I sighed and leaned back on the bench, the aches in my body shifting as I moved. I watched as a pink petal floated down and landed softly in front of us. He sipped at his coffee beside me as we sat in silence.

Maybe I was kidding myself. Maybe he really didn't care about me and Kirishima and I were both just idiots who were trying to fool ourselves into believing that we could call Bakugo a friend. But as I thought back on our time together, I knew this wasn't true. Katsuki Bakugo was still an asshole, he was still arrogant and hot headed and stubborn. But he did care for me, of that I was sure. In the quiet moments where we were studying or training or eating lunch together, I saw his actions speak louder than the words that he spewed when he was overcome with his anger.

"Nakano," Shinso said, turning to face me. His expression was neutral, his features arranged in a way that made me suspect he was trying not to show his raw emotions. "I will never tell you who you can and cannot be friends with. I never want to see you get hurt."

My heart seemed to constrict at his words. I could tell that he was holding back from telling me the whole truth of his thoughts and feelings but that he had made a decision to lock them away for the time being.

"I don't like him," He continued, "And I think that he is just going to keep hurting you. But I also know that you can take care of yourself, clearly,"

At this he smirked, and his arm lifted to rest on the back of the bench, his hand grabbing my shoulder and pulling me towards him. I welcomed the comforting gesture and laid my head on his shoulder, feeling some of the tension I had been holding start to slip away.

Leaning in to me, he spoke quietly, his breath fanning across my forehead. "Just please be careful."