Chapter Text
There were eyes watching them, following them and Bakugou was getting sick of the feeling. His jaw clenched as he put a hand in front of Midoriya to stop him from walking, pausing them both in their tracks. He could see the greenlet’s mouth moving with a question, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts to listen. Bakugou let his crimson hues scan the area in front of them as he thought of what he wanted to do. He wasn’t an idiot, and he knew as much as he wanted to start a fight, he had to show some restraint. Sure, they had their licenses, but this lady was following them since their tread back to the school.
Bakugou reluctantly let Deku come along with him to the nearest fitness store to replace some of his weights since the nerd needed stronger weights. Plus with the recent attacks on UA and the fight Midoriya had just been involved with, both of them were prime subjects to be attacked if they went out alone. Bakugou knew he could handle himself, but he didn’t need his rival to get attacked alone. Let alone while the sun was setting. He needed someone to compete against, and that was the only reason why he cared enough to have them travel in pairs. Otherwise he would’ve told him to piss off and go another time.
It was as they were coming out of the store did he feel a tingling feeling down his spine and at first he brushed it off. Until it persisted. Then he noticed a woman following them, seemingly inconspicuously, but the blonde knew better. So that’s when he finally decided to stop to at least think for a second.
Well, he thought the woman may give him that luxury. She was only following them after all, if she wanted to fight them, she would’ve already. Except she was waiting for them to stop, so she could leap forward, arm stretched. Bakugou’s eyes widened at the sudden development, but widened his stance, crouched down and opened up his palms to produce the crackling explosions. That was until he saw green.
“What the fuck did I tell you about jumping in front of me?! Shitty nerd, I have this handled!” Bakugou yelled as he pushed the smaller male off to the side and went to blast the stranger in the face. Or at least he tried, as the woman was able to jump back, snickering to herself. Then she just ran off, after managing to graze Midoriya. This struck Bakugou with unease, features shrivelling in both confusion and fury.
Midoriya had jumped in front of Bakugou, seeing the villain and deducing that she was trying to touch his rival. He had assumed it had something to do with her quirk and he wasn’t about to let a classmate be affected. Midoriya was selfless like that and it pissed the blonde off.
“Hey! You aren’t getting away that easily!” Bakugou growled and bolted forward to go after the weird female. Instead, he felt the male beside him grab ahold of him, holding him back. He protested by forcing his arm out of his grip. This person had clearly touched Deku for a reason, and he was sure it was filled with villainous intent. Regardless of what he was thinking, Deku seemed to have other plans as the grip returned soon after. Bakugou’s list of reasons to be angry kept growing as this situation went on.
“Stop fucking grabbing onto me like a lost child. I’m going after her-“ He was cut off.
“We don’t know her quirk, Kacchan. It’s best to alert the pros at UA to what we saw.” He said in an abnormally low tone, something Bakugou wasn’t exactly expecting at the moment. He expected a whining tone, mixed with the usual softness he held. But it wasn’t there. It was as if it had completely faded away and it gave the blonde mixed feelings. His jaw clenched, tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth as he stared forward at the ghost trail the woman had left behind.
“Whatever. We have our licenses, we should be able to handle her.” He snarled, his teeth baring just slightly. Despite his tone being filled with frustration, he finally looked over to see Deku hunched over. He wanted to inquire more about what happened, but he had to see if he wasn’t suffering from anything serious. After all, it was clearly some kind of quirk attack. He just didn’t know what had happened.
“Don’t tell me she got the best of you already, she barely grazed you. How weak.” He snickered, bordering on teasing. That only earned a half laugh from the nerd, but the bubbly energy was void from the other’s features as his face snapped up from staring at the ground.
“Yeah I’m fine, nothing happened, see?” He says while flashing a mock smile. “You’re just underestimating me, as always again.” Annoyance plagued his tone as he rolled his eyes, picking up his bags he dropped and started to lead back to UA, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Bakugou in his wake. Since when did Deku snap back like that? It was unlike him to get angry at anyone. Sure, he remembers quite clearly how frustrated he had gotten during their quarrel after All Might retired. This was much different though like something more sinister was brewing.
Was Midoriya genuinely angry?
No, it couldn’t be possible. Maybe he was annoyed at the situation? This was something out of the ordinary, and it caused a hindrance in their journey back to school. But that wasn’t anything to get terribly annoyed about. Not for Deku, maybe for Bakugou himself, but definitely not for the greenlet. Normally, the blonde wouldn’t care at all, but he didn’t appreciate being mocked by Deku. Something about it made him uncomfortable, and he wanted it to stop. The more he thought about it, the more the feeling rose in his chest.
Eventually, they made it back to UA. He swung the door open, not bothering to keep it open for Deku, causing it to almost smack him in the face. He had glanced back just to make sure he made it inside, mostly out of habit anyway, but instead, he saw Deku now inside but frozen by the door. It caused a small chuckle to leave Bakugou’s mouth until he did it again, full-on belly laughing seconds later.
The other 1-A students were in the room, Kirishima one of the first people to really see what was about to happen. Was Deku about to snap? By the way he was staring down, clenched fists, he looked like he was about to become an attempted murderer. Even so, Bakugou kept laughing, lifting his arm to point.
“Oh, are you going to cry? Oh boo hoo, I let the door slam in your face. Did that woman’s quirk cause you to become even more of a crybaby? That’s pathetic.” He snorted, wiping his eyes.
“Uh...Bakubro I’m not sure you want to be saying that right now.” Kirishima warned from behind him. “I don’t think he’s about to cry.” He continued, his concern rising as he spoke, deciding to get up to stand by Midoriya’s side. He placed a hand on his shoulder, only to be smacked off. A feeling he only knew from Bakugou. But from Midoriya? This was foreign and it left Kirishima in a state of shock.
“No one fucking touch me.” Was the first thing out of the greenlet’s mouth and it was so filled with venom, it could kill a man on the spot. He slowly rolled his head up to stare at Bakugou with fierce, dark eyes. His nose scrunched and eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Bakugou for a moment, scanning him up and down before opening his mouth again.
“You think this is fucking funny? The constant bullying and constant antagonization?! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of you feeling so entitled to continue to berate me with deprecating comments just because you think you’re better than everyone else! How would you feel if Kirishima or Sero started to pick at every little part of your personality? It definitely wouldn’t feel good!” His voice rose steadily as he continued to speak, taking the entire class by surprise. They didn’t know he was capable of this volume, much less swearing.
Bakugou rolled his eyes at the yelling, he was used to it. This was how his mom spoke to him after all, often yelling in his face about the things she was disappointed about when it came to the blonde. This was a breeze. “And you think yelling about it will make a difference? I bet this is the quirk talking, probably something to make you spout absolute bullshit. The shitty nerd wouldn’t say this.” He deflected. He could see the disappointed look in Kirishima’s eyes and it was causing him to mentally shrink. He felt a subtle feeling of not belonging. He wasn’t supposed to be the one being yelled at, he was supposed to be doing the yelling. He should be in control of the situation. He shifted on his feet in an attempt to feel more comfortable, so he didn’t feel like a foreigner in his own skin. It was making his anxieties rise just slightly.
The response got Deku to laugh now, doubling over and laughing loudly before he looked back at Bakugou with the same rage that caused the blonde’s skin to crawl and itch. “Oh no. You are mistaken. You did this. THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” He bellowed, clenching his fists tighter, matching his facial features. “I’ve been angry at you for years and this is exactly the push I needed to show you just how much you’ve hurt me.” He hissed, contemplating whether or not he wanted to punch him across the jaw. It was tempting, but for now, he decided to continue with the words dripping in poison.
“All I’ve done is extend a hand out to you and you’ve smacked it away more times than I can count. All I’ve been is nice to you and as understanding as possible and what do you do on the last day of middle school? Tell me to take a swan dive off the roof in hopes I would reincarnate with a quirk. You haven’t even fucking apologized for it! And you know, I actually contemplated it for a while.” He spoke darkly, his words loaded with years of pain from the relentless bullying he had to endure from Bakugou. He was tired of all of it.
Kirishima’s features widened in shock when Midoriya exposed what Bakugou had said to him months ago. Sure, his friend has grown since then, but to not apologize? That was unacceptable to the redhead. He was not happy to hear that, his own eyebrows furrowing, which in turn caused Bakugou to feel as though he was backed into a corner. The words he wanted to say were caught in his throat, feeling his own fists clench. He shifted his weight back a little and clenched his jaw, teeth being revealed. His breathing had subtly sped up and he was breaking heavier through his nose as he stared at the green-haired individual in front of him. His features said he was angry, but his eyes showed he was anxious. He knew he had to say something, the urgency only contributing to the anxiety response.
“You never fucking asked for one, how was I supposed to know how you feel?” Was the best response he could muster, with a small, snarky comment to follow. “I’m not a mind reader. Last time I checked, I had an explosion quirk.” He tsked, shaking his head before locking eyes with the enraged Deku. This only seemed to piss him off more, as he finally decided to hold up his arm right in front of Bakugou, the signature flicking motion being formed with his hand.
Kirishima wasn’t sure if he should intervene. Midoriya was rightfully mad and it made sense why he would want to throw something back at Bakugou. Before he could make the decision, Iida sped in between the both of them with a disappointed look across his features.
“That’s enough, both of you.” He spoke harshly, looking between the two. “Midoriya, please head to your room for the ni-”
He was rudely cut off by Midoriya saying, “Are you kidding me?! After all he’s done I at least get to land one fucking blow on him! I’m tired of him walking over me! IIda you understand, Stain-”
Iida stole back the stage from under him. “Midoriya. As class representative, I’m asking you to please retreat to your quarters for the night to cool off. It appears the quirk you were hit with seems to amplify your strongest emotions in whatever situation you are in, and you need to be away from Bakugou before you two get into a physical altercation. So please, go to your dorm room and wait for the quirk to wear off.” He finished, a stern look across his features now as he looked at Midoriya. The greenlet groaned and stormed off to his room reluctantly, glaring daggers as he passed Bakugou. Kirishima let out a small breath before looking at his explosive friend in front of him. “If you really said that...that is not very manly of you.” He spoke and before he could continue, Bakugou sneered.
“Save it. I don’t need to hear this right now.” He spoke harshly as he shoved his shaky hands into his pants pockets. “I’m going to my room. Don’t follow.” He hissed and shoved passed Kaminari, who was standing by just in case as well.
He never felt more confused and conflicted in his life. On the one hand, he didn’t agree with Deku. He didn’t see himself as self-entitled and he was better than everyone else. At least, that’s what he had been taught. He was dealt the grooming hand as a child, and it ultimately had affected him to think he has one of the most amazing quirks. He believed it too. But on the other hand, he was trying to wrap his head around just how much damage he could’ve been doing to Deku all those years. Was he really that much of an asshole that Deku felt the need to end his life? Because despite his words, he never wanted that to happen. He has someone he can rival and someone he can bounce off of to be the best he could possibly be. It may be beneficial to them both, but he knew it would help him personally grow too.
In a weird way, he cared about Deku. It wasn’t exactly as conventional as most relationships, but it was something. He could say that it had happened gradually because at one point he really did think Deku was looking down at him and mocking him. That he deserved the mean words and the dose of reality. In his mind, he was also trying to help Deku realize he really couldn’t be a hero back then. He just didn’t know what weight his words had carried until this moment. It was causing his stomach to do flips as he finally decided to lay across his bed, sprawling out.
Bakugou didn’t know if he wanted to apologize, it just seemed like so much work. But at this point, it seemed to be a necessity. Maybe he’d sleep on it and gain some more insight that way. He could also talk to Kirishima tomorrow, but it seemed like his friend was mad at him for learning all this information. He didn’t blame him, because as he was laying awake still, he was slowly realizing that he could’ve caused a death. And slowly the reality that the nerd would not have been here if he had listened to what Bakugou told him to do, was hitting him like a ton of bricks.
The hero in training groaned as he rolled over and pulled the covers over his body. He was thinking too much about stupid Deku. He needed to sleep. But alas, everything kept him awake. He felt as though this was his punishment for how today was handled, but he had much to process.
It only mirrored Midoriya, as the quirk quickly wore off after his outburst. It left him with a sense of lightness. He got a lot off his chest, but he knew this wasn’t over.
Maybe this would be the push to help repair their relationship.