Dare To Love You (Bakugo X Reader)

Chapter 9

I rushed onto the bus and snagged a seat between Mina and Kiri.

For a while, the whole bus sat in a comfortable hush. I looked over Mina's shoulder and scrolled through her Instagram feed.

As she scrolled, a photo of a mouth-watering milkshake, stacked high with ice cream, sprinkles, whipped cream, topped off with a perfect cherry.

"Oh. My. God!" Mina drooled.

"Damn! I'd like some of that!" I agreed, realizing how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten since lunch, and now the sun was on the horizon. 

With everything that had happened, lunch felt forever ago.

"Wait, are you guy looking at . . . ?" Kiri wiggled his brows suggestively.

It seemed to take Mina a second to realize what he was saying. She gaped at him, appalled.

"What the fuck, Kiri! Get your mind out of the gutter!" she scolded, showing him the photo.

"Oohhh . . . yeah, that does look really good."

"That reminds me! There's a super cute shop that just opened up near school. They're supposed to have great shakes," I said.

"Oh yeah, the one that's 50's themed, right? We should totally go to eat there!" Mina suggested.

"I'd be in."

Sato, who was sitting on the other side of Mina, chimed in, "Is it okay if I come as well? Sweets are kind of my thing."

"Of course!" Mina cheered. "We should totally invite the whole class!"

~*~

The girls shuffled about the locker room, changing out of our roughed-up hero costumes.

We'd gotten back to U.A. with plans to eat out together. Though many people had previous engagements, Kiri, Kaminari, and Jiro said they were free.

When Bakugo was asked, he just said he wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with extras like us. That guy can be so infuriating sometimes.

I slipped on my shoes and left the locker room. I was greeted by the blinding orange light from the sunset coming in through the window.

Once my eyes adjusted, I saw a silhouetted spiky-haired figure looking out the window.

Speak of the devil . . .

I stood beside him for a few comfortable seconds before speaking up.

"Hey," I looked up at him.

"Hey," he replied, not taking his eyes off the sunset.

" . . . you seem to have a lot on your mind,"

He didn't say anything, so I continued.

"And I think . . . coming to eat with us would distract you!"

His expression soured.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm not eating out with you losers!" he turned away.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, angry at myself for ruining the moment. "I just . . . want you there."

I squeezed my eyes shut and hung my head in shame. I expected to hear either the sound of him storming away or the sound of him exploding on me.

Instead, I felt a hand on my shoulder. My heart leaped into my throat as my eyes fluttered open.

When we made eye contact, his cheeks went bright pink and his hand tensed up on my shoulder.

He seemed . . . flustered?

His hand left my shoulder and he stiffly looked to the side. The muscles along his sharp jawline contracted and released repeatedly as he thought.

"Fine," he finally responded. "I'll go. But I need to use the restroom first."

I chuckled as he rushed off.

Fucking tsundere.

~*~

Kiri, Baku, Mina, Jiro, Kami, and I walked to the eatery in the day's remaining light (Sato's mom wouldn't let him go).

Mina skipped ahead at the front of the group, leading the way. I shuffled along behind her with the bulk of the group. Bakugo took up the rear end as we walked into the city.

We arrived at the restaurant, which was all shiny and new, but still pretty dinky and small. It was squished between two shops, part of a line of shops that stretched down the street. 

The sun had set by now, and the neon lights from the shop's windows lit up the streets.

We clamored into the establishment and sat down in a booth.

It was a tight squeeze, but Kirishima insisted, somewhat forcefully shoving me into the booth, then bakugo, before sitting down beside us.

Kiri snickered under his breath but abruptly stopped upon seeing Bakugo's deathly glower.

Mina took the seat opposite me; Jiro in the middle, and Kaminari on the outside.

The group looked over their menu until a waiter came by to take our orders.

Her curly ginger hair bounced about in the pigtails she had them in as she skipped over to our table. "Hey! I'm kelly and ill be your waiter today! What can I do yall for?"

"I'll get the Cherry Cherlot Shake!" Kiri piped up first.

"Um . . . the Banana and Peanut Butter Shake looks good," Kaminari said.

"Midnight Chocolate Shake., please," Jiro murmured.

"I'll take the Double Trouble Sundae!" Mina chirped.

"I-I'll take the P-pretty in Pink Strawberry Shake," Bakugo mumbled.

I snorted back a laugh.

"Shut up! It's just a strawberry shake!" he snapped.

"Yeah, a strawberry shake with heart-shaped sprinkles!" I laughed, pointing at the picture on the menu. I addressed the waiter, "Oh, and I'll get the Silky Whipped Chocolate Shake."

~*~

Once our drinks came, the table became quiet as everyone dove in. For a while, there was only the sound of utensils clicking against the retro glass cups.

It wasn't long until small talk broke out again, of which I didn't take part. They talked mostly about what happened today at U.S.J.

Their tone seemed so light, and though there were no casualties, something about what happened seemed so heavy.

Why does it feel like it's just the beginning of a series of unfortunate events? I thought as shoveled silky chocolate into my mouth with my spoon.

My brooding thoughts were interrupted by Bakugo's voice in my ear.

"Hey."

I jumped at how close he was to my ear. Slowly turning my head, I was startled by how close he was. A simple push and our noses would touch . . .

"You've, um, got a little . . ." he lifted his hand and swiped his thumb across my nose, coming away with a bit of whipped chocolate.

My whole face warmed and reddened at his touch. I quickly breathed in through my nose out of surprise, and I smelled the caramel scent he seemed to exude.

He stuck out his tongue and licked his finger clean.

"Damn! Yours is really good!" he smirked.

"Y-yeah, um, thanks for-um . . . "

~*~

I am so glad I got this fucking chapter done!

Thank you for reading! Votes and comments are highly appreciated!