Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 74

The tears blurred my vision as I blindly sprinted through the woods. My entire body ached each time by foot stamped against the ground and my chest was beginning to burn. I slowed down and leaned against a tree, the bark scraping against the bare skin of my arm as I attempted to catch my breath.

I slowly slid down until I landed with a thud against the cold, hard ground. Pulling my knees up, I pressed myself forward into a tight ball and allowed myself to cry freely. I hated crying in front of others and it was even more humiliating to do it in front of the person who had just hurt you.

'Who the fuck said anything about us being in a relationship, emo chick?' It was as though the words had been burned into my flesh and I couldn't escape the pain that they inflicted as they ran through my mind over and over and over again.

Is that really how he feels? I guess it shouldn't surprise me since he blatantly ignored me after I blew him a kiss during training. I'm such a fucking idiot, why did I do that?! It was an impulse but I couldn't help myself, he looked so damn...cute and unguarded in that moment that our eyes met. I was already pissed at him about that but then he comes at me about trying to make him jealous with Todoroki? He's so fucking dense! Is that all he thinks about? 

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear someone approaching and when I felt something press down on my forearm, I immediately shot up to swipe it away.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Mina said. "Oh, babe..." She immediately leaned down and wrapped me in her arms as a fresh wave of tears overcame me.

"Katsuki...he...he just...he said..." My voice sounded pathetic and choppy as I tried to cry and breath and speak at the same time.

"I know," Her voice was low and soothing. "I heard. I saw your interaction with him before you went into the woods and when he charged after you I figured he would do or say something stupid so I followed after you guys."

"Why would...he say that?" I tried slowing my breathing down and taking a few deep breaths.

She sighed heavily as she leaned back to wipe the tears from my eyes. "Because he's a stupid boy. If it makes any difference, I really don't think he meant it. This is what he does, right? He says hurtful things when he's mad. It's not okay, don't get me wrong, but that's just how he is, isn't it?"

What started as a slow, searing burn began to turn into a raging fire within me. I was fucking pissed.

"You know what?" I said, wiping my face with the sleeve of my shirt and pushing against the tree to steady myself as I stood up. "Screw it! He doesn't think we're in a relationship, so I'm going to fucking treat him like it! He can burn in hell for all I care! I'll beat his ass, does he think I fucking won't?!"

Mina must have seen the fire in my eyes because she looked nervous as I started stomping my way back towards the camp.

"Uh, y/n," She said meekly, catching up to walk beside me. "I know you're upset and he was totally in the wrong just now, but you should probably take some time to cool down before -"

"No!" I couldn't seem to keep the twinge of madness out of my voice. I hated when I got like this, when it felt like I had no control over my actions any more because they were being guided by the overwhelming force of my emotions, which also felt so unpredictable and out of my control.

Through the trees, I could see the camp and as I got closer, my eyes searched for that spiky blonde hair in the sea of students. I caught a flash of red first and my eyes were drawn to Kirishima, who stood near the edge of the woods. He seemed to be talking to someone although I couldn't see because a large tree was blocking my view and the person was likely leaning on the other side of it. Mina, who had been shocked into silence by my sharp outburst a second ago, suddenly began sprinting forward towards Kirishima.

He must be talking to Katsuki. I thought as I followed after her, although Mina was surprisingly fast and got there long before I did. I watched as her lips moved, her hands gesturing back in my direction, before Katsuki stepped out from behind the tree and started making his way towards me. Kirishima appeared to protest but Katsuki ignored him completely.

I stopped moving and leaned against a tree to catch my breath as he approached. He wore a simple black shirt with black pants and if I was being honest with myself he looked pretty damn good. His eyes were like calm pools of crimson liquid and I couldn't help but stare into them as he stopped a few feet away from me.

"So what's this about wanting to fight me now?" He asked, his expression blank.

I glared at him. "Yeah, what? You probably think I'm so -"

His hand reached out and I briefly registered the bruising on his knuckles before he was griping the back of my head and pulling me into his chest, his other arm wrapping around my waist to hold me against him tightly.

"Cute when you're angry? Yeah, that's what I was thinking." He murmured against my hair.

Shocked, I just stood there for a moment in his arms, completely blindsided and distracted by his sweet scent that invaded my nostrils. I wanted to melt into him and accept that this was probably the closest I would get to any sort of resolution to our fight but the heat of the fire within me slowly began to rise once again. 

"Stop doing this!" I huffed, pushing away from him. "You can't just do or say something sweet and expect that to erase what happened! And what's the deal, anyways? I thought you said we weren't in a relationship, so what are you trying to get at?"

"Tch, so annoying." He muttered under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked away.

"You know what, fuck you, Bakugo!" 

His head snapped up as he met my gaze with a fiery stare. I knew how much he hated it when I didn't call him by his given name and looking into his eyes it was clear that it had been a direct hit. He opened his mouth but I cut him off before he could get a word in.

"This isn't a game to me. You knew how I felt and where I stood and you just shoved it in my face that you didn't care. So you know what, I'm done."

Stop it. You should walk away. The voice that rang through my head was that of reason but the whirlwind of pain, confusion, hurt, sadness and rejection kept forcing their way out in words that tumbled from my lips faster than I could control them.

"I'm done trying. Because you treat me like shit and I'm sick of it. You know who doesn't treat me like shit?"

Don't. Don't say it.

"Shinso." 

I watched as his eyes widened and he clenched his shaking fists.

STOP IT! The voice was screaming but the words were like vomit and I couldn't stop what came next.

"So maybe I should just go and be with him since he really is the best."

It was a critical hit. His face twisted into a pained expression for a moment before he turned and began walking away. Somehow the silence that followed felt a thousand times more painful than the angry rebuttal that I had come to expect.