Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 71

After about half an hour of listening to Mina gush on and on about Shinso, I feigned a headache and said that I wanted to try taking a nap.

Why am I so bothered right now? I thought, as we stood up to switch seats. I agreed to this. And Shinso is my best friend. If he's happy talking to Mina, I should be happy for him. But...he still hasn't reached out to me. He said he needed time, but I hate not being able to talk to him. And even more so, I hate knowing that Mina can. Ugh, literally all of this sucks.

Sitting down, I used the crook of my elbow to lie my head against the window. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it would have to do for now. I didn't think that I would actually get any sleep, but I drifted off surprisingly fast.

I woke to the sound of Mineta squealing about needing to use the restroom. Squinting and blinking my eyes rapidly to help them adjust to the light, I was surprised to find that my classmates were starting to file out of the bus and Mina must have already snuck out. As I stood, it felt good to stretch my body out and I instinctively found myself looking for Katsuki. When our eyes met, it felt like a jolt of electricity ran through me. I wondered when this feeling would get old and hoped that it never would.

As he got to my aisle of seats he stopped and motioned for me to go ahead of him.

Kirishima, who was directly behind Katsuki, seemed to become emotional for a moment as he quietly said, "So manly."

As I stepped in front of Katsuki, I heard what sounded like Kirishima getting the wind knocked out of him, followed by Katsuki barking, "Can it, shitty hair!"

When I got to the front of the bus, Aizawa held out his arm to block me from exiting.

"Nakano, you stay back. I'll explain in a minute."

Confused, I stepped to the side and shrugged when Katsuki looked at me questioningly. When all the students had gotten off the bus, Aizawa said, "The training camp is about to start, but this is one of those activities that you won't be able to participate in. Wait here." He must have caught my look of disappointment because he added, "Don't worry, I have something else planned for you."

My disappointment quickly morphed into anxiety as I wondered what was in store for me. Peering out the window of the bus, I marveled at the view. We were surrounded by lush, green forests and rocky terrain. The mountainous area was beautiful and it made me look forward to spending the upcoming week in such a secluded space.

I was so distracted by the view that I nearly missed the scene that unfolded before me. A flash of movement caught my attention and I looked to find my classmates trying to run back to the bus. Horrified, I watched as the mountain crumbled beneath them, sending them flying downwards.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, quickly getting off of the bus.

Aizawa stood, hands in his pockets, looking completely unperturbed. It wasn't until that moment that I noticed the two women that were dressed in cat-like attire and a young boy standing off towards the side of the wreckage.

"What just happened?!" I demanded.

"Your classmates have the pleasure of walking the rest of the way." Mr. Aizawa's casual tone made me feel nauseous. "All while battling Pixie-Bob's earth beasts." He gestured towards the blonde female, who was waving her paws around and talking to herself but she stood too far away for me to understand what she was saying.

The other woman began walking towards us. She had short brown hair that framed her face and wore an outfit similar to the blondes, including knee high boots, skirt and tank top, complete with what appeared to be cat mittens and a cat tail. She also wore a metallic headband which simulated the appearance of cat ears. The only major difference in their outfits was that this girl's outfit was red, whereas the blonde's outfit was a blue version of the hero costume.

"So this is our injured little kitten, huh?" The woman said as she approached and I immediately bristled. She seemed to notice because she quickly added, "Just as tough, I'm sure. But I heard that because of your injury you get to skip this part of today's activities. Getting thrown off a cliff probably wouldn't be the best idea while you're healing from a chest wound."

"And beyond that, we wouldn't be able to keep an eye on you. Nakano, this is Mandalay. Instead of joining your class you're going to be training with her once we get to camp." Mr. Aizawa said. "We'll talk about the details on the ride there. Let's move."

He was already moving back towards the bus and I gave Mandalay a quick wave before I started scurrying after him. As we entered the vehicle, I suddenly felt awkward when I realized that it would just be Aizawa and I. Instead of heading to my original spot, I took a seat across the aisle from him at the front of the bus.

"So...about my training, sir?" I asked anxiously.

"During the finals," He said, turning to face me. His expression was serious, making a nervous shiver run up my spin. The dark circles under his eyes reminded me of Shinso and I caught myself staring at the scar under his eye before quickly looking away. "Did you use your quirk on me at the end? Before you crossed the exit?"

"Oh," I said, completely thrown off guard by this. "I totally forgot about that. Yeah, I did. I suppose I haven't really talked about that before. It happened for the first time during the sports festival during my match against Kirishima. Since then I've been able to use it a few times but the aftermath of using it causes me to be in a lot of physical pain. Even Recovery Girl's quirk hasn't seemed to have an effect on lessening the pain from my past experience. It generally lasts about 24 hours."

After mulling this over, Aizawa said, "So that must mean that the pain you feel is more psychological."

"I suppose so..." I said, not liking where he was going with this. "But that doesn't make it hurt any less!"

"The training you start today will be similar to what we do over the next few days. You're going to push yourself to strengthen your quirk. It's similar to weight lifting. The muscle tears and then has to repair itself, causing the strength of the muscle to increase. Quirks work the same way. When you're sparring with Mandalay, you will use your quirk to make her feel a range of emotions, including pain."

Whenever I had trained with Katsuki, we had taken breaks, especially after using my quirk to project pain onto him. The thought of pushing through even after I'd used it once made me feel sick.

"You should enjoy the ride while it lasts." Mr. Aizawa turned to me then, his face alight with a grin that was nothing short of sadistic. "Because this'll be so hard you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you survive."