Battle of Wills ~ (bakugou x reader)

Chapter Nine

A/N: Extra-long chapter!

Also, y'all should know I have an entire album on my phone now of Bakugou pics to use as media for this story, but I'm not complaining ;)

***

You sighed as you entered the gym, seeing the lights were off again. As expected, no Bakugou. You wondered when your brain would stop anticipating his presence. Soon, you hoped.

You went through the motions of your morning workout: drop off your bag near the door, stretch your muscles out on the floor, wrap your hands with protective tape. Your movements felt disconnected from the turbulence in your brain.

As you started wrapping the white fabric around your knuckles, the gym door suddenly slammed open with a loud noise, banging against the wall from the force.

"Hey, dumbass," Bakugou said with a smirk. "Miss me?"

Your eyes widened in surprise, and you tried to suppress the small smile that disobediently played on your lips when you realized who was at the gym entrance.

"Why are you here, Bakugou?" you questioned, still sitting on the equipment tub with just one hand wrapped. "I thought you got what you were after. You weren't even here yesterday."

"Ah, so you do pay attention to me," he said, grinning, as he walked over to sit beside you. "I'm not a coward like Deku, I don't run away from my problems. If you have a strong quirk, then I will train with you to become just as strong--and eventually become stronger. That's why I fight strong opponents."

You didn't bother asking who Deku was.

Bakugou sighed as he leaned back, stretching his strong arms above his head. "I admit I was caught off-guard by your quirk the other day, but that won't happen again. I figure everyone's quirk has a breaking point. Even the best runners have to stop running eventually, even the best lifters have a weight they can't handle. Quirks are physical characteristics, and physical characteristics have limits. So we'll find yours."

You raised an eyebrow. "And who said I agreed to that?"

An evil smile made its way onto Bakugou's face. "Imagine if Aizawa heard a certain girl from General Studies wasn't letting one of the top Hero Course students into the Hero training gym. Hah, you could wave goodbye to your morning workout privileges."

Crossing your arms across your chest, you frowned at him. "Are you blackmailing me?" you questioned him.

"Yes," Bakugou replied.

Well, at least he was honest.

"Touche," you said in response. "So are you saying you think you can break free of my mind control?"

"Are you underestimating me again, (Y/N)?" Bakugou sneered. "Of course I can."

You sighed and scooted away from Bakugou's body. He was a little too close for comfort.

"I suppose if someone was incredibly strong mentally and had built up immutable neuronal pathways through long-term potentiation, it would be significantly harder for my quirk to alter the flow of information--"

"Hah?" Bakugou sneered. "Fuckin' nerd. Use Japanese."

You rolled your eyes and abandoned your thought process. It wasn't very plausible Bakugou could accomplish such a feat, anyhow. "You know, I really don't like using my quirk on humans," you told him. "The brain is an incredibly delicate organ. One wrong move, and you'll be paralyzed. Or dead."

The blond laughed, as if your words were of little consequence to him. "Then it will be a learning experience for both of us," he stated, leaving little room to argue. "Don't think that throwing around scary words like those will deter me."