Secrets [Todoroki]

*Chapter Thirty-Six*

True to her word, Nightmare kept Miri at home for the next few days.

When Miri wasn't pacing her room, anxiously waiting for any sign of her father, she was nursing her broken heart.

'Missing an opportunity like that to spend time with him...it sucks. Not to mention how this will affect my schooling. I can only hope Aizawa is understanding about all this...'

She stopped and stared out her window. The dark night sky cast shadows everywhere. Miri felt her body buzzing with power and energy. Tonight would be a night that she would get little sleep.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She sighed, checking it, half expecting it to be another one of her friends asking her if everything was alright.

How wrong she was.

"Meet me at the park. We've got things to talk about." Bakugo had texted her.

The fact that Bakugo even knew her number in the first place was already a surprise to begin with. But he wanted to speak to her about something?

This sent her anxiety flying off the rails.

She opened her window, ready to hop out of it. Hesitation stopped her, however.

Would everything be okay here if she left?

She narrowed her eyes. She was only here because Nightmare was a paranoid old woman. She was more than confident that Nightmare could handle her dad without her. She only wanted Miri around because she's so used to sending her to do things for her.

She crawled up into the window, immediately becoming one with the darkness. She traveled down the streets, over the sidewalks, and past a rowdy dog. She came to the park within a few minutes of receiving Bakugo's text.

She materialized behind a trash can and came walking out into the middle of the park. She looked around, noting how creepy it looked with no children.

"Tell me something." His voice cut through the night air. Miri turned to see Bakugo strolling up with an unreadable look on his face. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his black sweats. His iconic black shirt with a white skull on it fitted over his muscular body. "Why are you at U.A.? And don't give me the crap about you wanting to be a hero who saves people," He mocked her. "But I want the actual reason you're there."

Miri's heart thudded dangerously in her chest. "I don't...I don't understand what you mean."

"You don't?" Bakugo asked, a certain hardness behind his eyes.

"I'm there because I want to be a hero. I want to save people. No other reason." A cold sweat broke out on her neck, sending a crawling sensation down her spine.

"Really? I find that hard to believe. What business does the daughter of Nightmare have at U.A. High school?" Bakugo pressed, his eyes narrowing.

A dropping sensation replaced the rapid beating of her heart. "Me?" Her voice came out squeaky. "The daughter of Nightmare?!" She laughed, but it sounded so fake. "I knew you were irrational, but I didn't think you were stupid."

Bakugo stared her down. His hand snatched out at her, lightning quick. His hand grabbed the collar of her muscle shirt and yanked her close to him. She could feel the burning of his fingers on her skin and a sweet smell of caramel filled her nose. His other hand came up as an enclosed fist, sparks radiating off of it like a sparkler on the Fourth of July. "You have three seconds to tell the truth before I blast your ass straight to hell."

The coy attitude from before washed off Miri quickly. Now she was in danger. Now she was scared. "How did you find out?" Her voice was uneven, strained.