MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

━ work study

chapter 50

7 YEARS AGO
2nd Year of U.A. High

The tall wooden and metal buildings rushed by in the blink of an eye. The view beyond the clear windows were merely blurs of dull colors and the occasional silhouette of a person walking past the subway tracks. The afternoon sun beat down on the metal train and the roofs of the passing buildings. It was the beginning of the school year and it honestly couldn't be hotter on this day.

A pair of crystal blue eyes stared out the opposite window of the subway train. Her eyes flicked back and forth as her gaze locked on some quickly passing building or object before snapping to another moving object. It was making her dizzy. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the wall of the subway car. The train was mostly full but not overloaded with too many people since it was the middle of the day and everyone was at work or at school already. This was the late crowd if anything.

The screeching of the train tracks was annoying as hell but she didn't notice it much. It was more so just a slight inconvenience that only bothered her if she was really listening for it. A similar explanation for the people talking and playing on their phones and gadgets around her.

Current bipolar level: 8

An elbow nudged her arm. She peeked one eye open and glanced to the side.

Sitting next to her was her ash blond compatriot. His crimson eyes stared at her with slight wonder. Similar to her, he was dressed in his U.A. uniform but he had his jacket sitting across his lap rather than on his shoulders. The heat must've gotten to him.

"You alright?" he asked her.

She smiled and nodded. "Just a bit nervous."

Bakugou rolled his eyes and leaned his head back on the train wall, matching her. "Scared, more like it."

Shimamura scowled playfully. "You? Yes. I would be too if I were going to see Endeavor."

He shot her a glare before closing his eyes and sighing. "Whatever, Whitey."

Shimamura snickered and squeezed his finger.

In between them, they had their pinkies linked together rather than actually holding hands. They were still trying to keep their relationship on the downlow. Sure, practically all of U.A. knew, but they didn't need that information going out to the public or the media quite yet. If anyone happened to know who they were on the subway train, they didn't want to be too obvious about their relationship status. They should be sitting in opposite cars if they wanted to be really secretive about it...

But these two were basically attached at the hip. Knowing they could be next to each other and together, they wouldn't give that up. They shouldn't even be touching each other but here they were: linking fingers as a substitute for holding hands.

It was a serious debate in Class 1-A for who was the clingy one in their relationship. Half the class voted Shimamura, the other half (aka those who didn't fear the wrath of Bakugou) voted Bakugou. They still didn't have an answer though. These two decided it would remain a mystery. (But then again, not even they knew who was the clingy one... Maybe because it was both of them.)

"Are you actually though?" Bakugou asked out of the blue.

Shimamura hummed. "What?"

"Nervous. Are you actually nervous?" He elaborated.

"I mean... Yeah. Shouldn't I be?"

He shrugged.

Shimamura shook her head with a frown and stared forwards at the rapidly changing window view. The blur of building walls and silhouettes had changed into a landscape image of the entire city, moving past in inches since it was such a distance away. The sunlight glanced off the metallic roof of the tallest building and created a sort of sparkling arc over the rest of the city. The sun rose above the buildings and almost blinded her. She could feel the heat radiating off of the sun just seeing it so high in the sky.