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animereaderinsertwriter · 3 years ago

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Previous- Chapter 2 - Next - Series Masterlist - Series Playlist

Tags/Warnings: Bakugou/Reader, Angst interspersed with fluff and intimacy, ambiguous ending for the first work but will be resolved in a good ending in the second, reader has an empathy quirk, witch!reader, inspired by St. Trinian's (please go watch it, it needs more love!), institutional exploitation and abuse, first kiss, mentions/references of underage drinking, MINORS DNI

ao3 link here

"This is bullshit," said Bakugou as he pulled on his sneakers. "I hate field hockey."

Aizawa couldn't agree more.

Three events had come from Aizawa's negotiations with Genevieve (a tall, sultry, impossible woman who was St. Angela's Head of School)— one picked by St. Angela's administration, one picked by U.A.'s administration, and one chosen by the students from a list curated by the faculty and staff of both schools. The first event was fencing, chosen by St. Angela's, who won by a landslide; the second was baseball, chosen and won by U.A.; the third event— field hockey— was chosen by the students of both high schools, and would be the deciding victory for either school. Now, only moments before the game, tensions were high between both students and staff, and there was no lack of contempt from either side, no matter how much of a positive spin the press tried to put on it. At this point, Aizawa would just as soon have a villain rain hellfire down on their little shitfest and give him an actual problem to deal with instead of this petty nonsense.

"Cheer up, Shouta-kun," said Yamada Hizashi, who fell into step with him as they walked out to the grassy expanse that had been chosen for the game. "You usually reserve this glum face for the media, and they aren't scheduled to arrive for another ten minutes."

"This is a terrible idea," Aizawa repeated for what felt like the thousandth time that morning. "Really, I mean, a game of field hockey between those little national terrorists from St. Angela's and the competitive, ultra-hormonal molotov cocktail that is Class 1-A? Just to prove a point?"

"That point is kind of an important one," said Yamada, scanning the mix of new and familiar faces. "This is as much of an ordeal for them as it is for us— it's a punishment as well as insurance against further incidents."

Aizawa scoffed.

"No, this is a dog-and-pony show for the media so everyone can see pretty girls in short skirts rub elbows and God knows what else with virile, muscular heroes-to-be. Besides, they don't seem to be suffering any."

Aizawa nodded to a group of giggling St. Angela's girls, and Yamada shrugged in that casual, unbothered way of his.

"Always the glass half-empty with you, Shouta."

No, thought Aizawa, I just see the world how it is, and it's pretty fucking shitty.

Their conversation stopped as they came up to the sideline, where the teams would linger for a while until the game started. The St. Angela's team grew quiet as U.A. approached, and Aizawa was pleased to note that they looked on with apprehension as Bakugou sneered, Todoroki brooded, and Midoriya smiled just awkwardly enough that he seemed both friendly and slightly unhinged. Significantly less pleasing was the salacious up-and-down look Gevevieve passed his way, and less pleasing than that was the chuckle Yamada had at his expense.

"Laugh now," said Aizawa, "Wait until it's your turn— it won't be so funny when one of the Amazons decides you're fresh meat."

For all that it annoyed him, though, Aizawa couldn't fight the blush that rose to his cheeks. Genevieve was a truly beautiful woman with a wit sharper than his seldom-used straight razor; if Aizawa hadn't been so disinclined to trust her, he might have asked her out to coffee sometime. As it was, he figured trusting her farther than he could throw her would be a poor idea— and by his reckoning, he couldn't throw her very far at all.

"Oh dear," Yamada mused, staring off a little ways. "It seems there's trouble in paradise."

Two St. Angela's students were having it out with one another across the way. The taller of the two— a girl with shiny black hair and olive skin— had her hands on her hips and was barking down at the shorter, a petite blonde who, despite her determined expression, looked as though she might cry.

"Odd." Aizawa glanced around. "Where's the other one that's always glued to their hips? I've never seen one of them without the others."

Eventually, Aizawa found her. She was sitting under the shade of a pecan tree, her back leaning against the trunk. She seemed totally at ease with the world with a book in her hand, her hockey stick across her lap, and her legs crossed at the ankle; Aizawa had to admit that she looked a bit like something out of a painting. Serenity, he would name it, if he were a painter.

"Should we go talk to her?" asked Yamada. "She seems…"

Untouchable was the word Aizawa would have used, but before he could say anything, a long-fingered hand was placed gently on his shoulder, and he turned to find Genevieve's unnaturally lovely visage staring back at him.

"I think you should go talk to the little one, Shouta-kun," she said, nodding to the girl. "I think she has quite forgotten herself— and young women do so need strong male role models in their lives."

She looked meaningfully at Aizawa, and he knew then and there that something was wrong about this situation. Genevieve's eyes— jade-green and glassy like a doll's— were half-lidded and sultry, and her hand tightened painfully on his shoulder. A feeling came over him— an instinct, formed after years of training and experience— and his quirk activated quite without his permission.

Even so, the feeling didn't stop, and Aizawa began to panic.

"Oh, Sho-kun, you really have so little faith in me," purred Genevieve, moving a long, slender finger to poke at his sensitive neck. "Go talk to her— I need that girl on my team this afternoon, but more than that, I care that she's well. She refused to talk to me, so maybe she'll talk to you."

With that, Genevieve left them, and Yamada released a breath he didn't seem to realize he'd been holding as Aizawa took a moment to compose himself.

"That was terrifying," said Yamada. "And you worked with her for months?"

Aizawa nodded. "Yeah, but something's not right. Let's go— I'm interested to see what information the girl can give us."

As they approached the girl, Aizawa became less and less convinced that she was an ordinary student. She looked up from her book as she heard them approach, and shifted her posture accordingly; she had an air about her that was hard to describe, but Aizawa knew it instantly. Her eyes were half-lidded like a predator trying to convince its prey of its harmlessness, and the posture of her body was open and relaxed, yet poised for action. There was a certain lazy confidence about her that rubbed him the wrong way, so once he was close enough, he spoke up with a bluntness he usually reserved for villains on the street.

"So, you're not playing?"

The girl looked at him, her expression blank at first, then distantly amused.

"No," she replied easily, but did not elaborate.

Aizawa grunted.

"I thought St. Angela's was only supposed to bring enough for one team, as per the agreement with U.A."

The girl smiled, and Aizawa was caught off guard by the innocence of it.

"Ah, I suppose I should explain myself," she hummed, fiddling with her necklace whose charm seemed to be a large, circular locket of sorts. "I'm on the team, but I'm not playing. Color me Achilles, lounging on the beaches of Troy, and Blair— our team captain— is my Agamemnon."

Aizawa was nonplussed.

"Interesting," he replied.

The girl looked him up and down a good once, then smirked as though she knew how uncomfortable the action would make him.

"Not as interesting as you, Eraserhead-san," she purred in the same disquieting way Genevieve had, her eyes razor-sharp. "Tell me, are you nervous that your boys will be distracted?"

He would be lying if he denied it. It was disturbing, the way his student’s eyes followed the St. Angela's girls— it was lucky that the first two events were ones that required traditional uniforms, or else Aizawa wasn’t certain that U.A. could have pulled a victory even once. As things were, poor Midoriya was blushing from his chest to the top of his ears, Mineta was foaming at the mouth, and Todoroki’s eyes were crossing as he tried to figure out where to look. It seemed that Nomu were no match for U.A., but low-cut tops, tiny uniform skirts, and fishnet stockings were like kryptonite. Whether or not those kids would be able to focus at all with that much flesh showing was, unfortunately, up in the air.

"No," he replied. "I have every confidence in them."

The girl hummed again, turning the locket charm in her fingers. Aizawa had to admit that she was beautiful, really— just like all St. Angela’s students. It was uncanny, unnatural, and something about it bothered him. She was too young to look and act this old.

Aizawa noticed that her hands were trembling.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, watching carefully for any odd reaction.

She shrugged.

"Define wrong." She looked up then, still fiddling with her necklace almost obsessively. "Wrongness is a matter of perspective. What is wrong for one may be right for another. What wrong do you mean?"

Aizawa studied the girl, then looked over to Yamada, and he knew that his friend had seen the same thing he had when he looked at the girl before them.

Beneath her smooth, composed facade, this girl was troubled.

"Do you believe in spirits, Eraserhead-san?" she asked suddenly, her eyes piercing as she gazed intently up at him. "In the power they hold?"

The question was a test if Aizawa had ever heard one.

"I'll believe whatever you have to say to me, no matter how strange," he told her sincerely. "If there’s something I can help you with—”

The girl held up her hand.

“I forget myself,” she muttered. “You’re a hero, not a savior.”

“I’m neither of those things. I’m a teacher.”

She looked up at him one more time, and Aizawa tried to push every ounce of sincerity in his body into his gaze. If this girl was in trouble, he wanted to be the one to help her.

“It’s your choice,” he said, frowning. “But this won’t be your last chance to talk if you want to. You have as long as you need. What’s your name?”

A dark cloud of distrust flashed across her features, and rage kindled in Aizawa towards whomever had hurt her— because someone had hurt her, for her to be this distrustful. Teenger or not, she was still a child, and Aizawa hated worse than anything to see a child truly suffer.

“Y/N,” she said finally. “My name is (Y/N).”

Aizawa fought against a sigh of relief— something about him had made (Y/N) decide to trust him, and he couldn’t betray that trust by immediately proving himself conspicuous. Still, he allowed the small victory to warm him, and he smiled lightly at her.

“Call me Aizawa,” he said, “And this is Yamada-sensei. I trust him with my life. If you want to talk further, I assume you know how to reach me if you need?”

(Y/N) cracked a grin, but it felt broken, fractured, somehow.

“I’ll figure something out.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the whistle blew, and it was time for the game to start. (Y/N)’s face morphed back into the mask of sultry superiority that Aizawa recognized from Genevieve, and she waved at him with a smirk that spelled trouble.

“See ya later, sensei,” she winked. “Tell daddy-issues to watch out— Blair has a thing for him.”

Aizawa turned to where she was nodding, and he saw the dark-haired, olive-skinned girl from earlier surreptitiously putting away a pocket knife with which she had clearly just been sharpening her hockey stick. She— Blair, apparently— was staring blatantly at Todoroki, who was trying very hard to look literally anywhere else.

“Oh, and Aizawa-sensei?”

Aizawa turned back to find (Y/N) staring at the book in her hand.

“Yes?”

"Tell Bakugou-san that whenever he's ready to cross blades again, I'd love a rematch."

Aizawa didn’t pretend to know what she meant by that, but he also didn’t have to turn to know that Bakugou was, in fact, staring at (Y/N)— he’d done little else in her presence since she’d thoroughly thrashed him at fencing.

“Fair enough,” said Aizawa. “See you, kid.”

If those two hook up in any sense of the word, he thought to himself, picturing explosions and subterfuge, The world really may just end— unstoppable force meets immovable object.

***

After U.A.'s baseball victory, Bakugou had noticed that (Y/N) was acting strangely. Someone who wasn't looking might not have noticed, but Bakugou had been looking, and he was incredibly astute; it was plain to him that she had been preoccupied, even distracted, and he'd been concerned for her even as U.A. pulled a victory. Even at the end of the game, when Bakugou had asked her if she'd be willing to fence with him again— he'd been training and wanted to test himself against her— she just gave him an odd look and said that she wasn't sure.

Now, it was true that Bakugou didn't know (Y/N) very well, but he knew suspicious behavior when he saw it. There was something amiss with her, and he was dying to find out what.

It was to this that he accredited his strange eagerness to meet with (Y/N) again for the final competition between St. Angela's and U.A. Bakugou wanted desperately to see her, to speak with her, to feel the push-and-pull of opposition with her; he wanted to feel her fire, wanted to watch as she burned in the fight for victory. It was almost an obsession, the way he imagined her strength against his own— but then when U.A. arrived at the playing field, he found (Y/N) sitting alone under a shade tree, out of uniform and away from her friends.

She looked… sad.

Bakugou didn't quite know why he was so very bothered by that.

"You seem distracted."

Deku was standing close by, tying his shoe. He didn't look up to see Bakugou's reaction, but Bakugou knew he was listening anyway.

"'M not," he said, watching (Y/N)'s lips purse as she turned a page in her book. "Just wondering what broke up the big three."

The big three— Aizawa had described them as the top three students at St. Angela's who would be afforded the best career opportunities, the best sponsors, and the most options for success at the time of their graduation. It was an enviable position, one that came with heavy competition and sometimes even violence, but the current big three— Blair Cross, Sabrina Schreiber, and (Y/N)— were supposedly an air-tight and iron-clad trio, an impenetrable wall of solidarity that warranted no competition between the three of them for the top position. They were all equal, and what one lacked, the others more than made up for; they were the best and brightest that St. Angela's had ever cultivated.

But today, there seemed to be trouble in paradise, and Bakugou wondered what snake had slithered into St. Angela's garden.

"Dunno," Deku replied. "All the better for us though. Divide and conquer, y'know?"

Bakugou did know. He didn't intend to lose today any more than he'd lost the baseball game. He was just… he was just concerned, that was all.

"Let's do this," he replied, turning to look at his friend. "Don't wanna keep pretty ladies waiting."

Deku grinned.

"You said it, Kacchan."

As soon as the words were out of Deku's mouth, Aizawa blew the whistle, summoning the teams to line up and get ready to play. Despite his previous musings, Bakugou couldn't help but smile.

He loved a challenge.

***

"No biting, kicking, punching, scratching, strangling, or— or gouging," the referee had told them at the start of the game. "Any such infraction will result in the termination of the game."

Admittedly, Bakugou hadn't thought too much of that set of rules to start with, but now, as they fought for the deciding victory, the St.Angela girls were proving themselves to be masters of subtle violence, and U.A. was beginning to understand why this event was necessary to start with.

"This isn't going to work," Todoroki said the instant the teams huddled for a time out. "At this rate, one of us is going to die before the end of the match."

He wasn't wrong. Iida had taken a nasty fall after his feet were hooked by an errant hockey stick, Deku’s toe was almost definitely broken by a vicious stomp to his foot with a tiny cleat, and Sero's knee was swelling from where he'd been surreptitiously jabbed by one of the girls with a sharpened hockey stick; the rest of the U.A. team weren't all that much worse for wear with only a few bruises and scratches, but since those St. Angela’s harpies had no trouble using anything at their disposal— thier flirty smiles, their sharpened sticks, even their quirks— Bakugou had no doubt that it would only go downhill from here.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander," said Bakugou, rage pumping dangerously just beneath his skin. "I say we give those bitches a taste of their own medicine."

Deku— with his shitty hair, shitty freckles, and shitty frown— grimaced.

"But Kacchan," he protested, "That's against the rules. If we're caught, then—"

"So don't get caught," Bakugou snapped. "If we don't play by their book, they'll stomp all over us."

Todoroki nodded. "There's a reason they pitted U.A. against St. Angela's. If anyone can beat them, it's us. We have a duty to prove that it can be done."

Bakugou didn't know about all that, but he fucking hated losing. After the fencing fiasco, he'd sworn that never again would he ever feel so defeated if he could help it.

After some strategizing, it was agreed that U.A. would go on the offensive, and this time, quirks weren't entirely off the table as long as they were subtle. If St. Angela's wanted a fight, it was a fight they would get, and since (Y/N) was safe on the sideline, Bakugou was chomping at the bit to teach them a lesson they'd never forget. Even if he couldn't fully use his quirk to blast away the competition, Bakugou was fast and strong and smart— anyone would be hard pressed to find a better center.

"Alright, let's show 'em who's boss," said Kirishima with a shark-like grin. "Not a single puck will get past me, so do your thing!"

The ensuing game was fast and furious, and everyone's blood was running hot. Subtle cheating spread like a disease; a little slippery ice here, a subtle flick of tape to stop a puck in its tracks there, and U.A. suddenly had the advantage. Little explosions fueled Bakugou's shots, and the St. Angela goalie— a cute, lanky red-head with the bluest eyes Bakugou had ever seen— flinched every time he got a little too close. It was glorious.

Well, at least it was until one of the St. Angela girls— one of the smaller ones who didn't seem as much like she would moonlight as a serial killer— was shoved roughly into Bakugou as he attempted to make a shot.

Bakugou took the fall hard, but the girl who had careened into him took it harder. She landed on her back, her head thumping painfully against the ground, and even though her teammates had taken worse falls and had shaken it off like it was nothing, she stayed down. The ref blew the whistle, and everyone gathered around to help her up.

"That was a blatant foul," barked Todoroki from across the way as he approached the center for the other team. "I watched you shove your own teammate— what the hell were you thinking?"

The center— a dark-haired beauty with braided pigtails— looked down her nose at him.

"Well, no one else saw it," she sniffed. "I, for one, have no idea what you're talking about."

Just when Bakugou was grinning in anticipation of something acerbic coming from Icy-Hot, pig-tails wobbled slightly as she was grabbed by her arm, and then a fist was connecting with her face.

"Blair Cross, I'll strangle you with my own two hands!" shouted (Y/N)— a fierce, frightening, furious force of nature that appeared out of nowhere— as she kept Pig-Tails from falling with a hand fisted in the collar of her uniform shirt. "I don't know who you think you are or what you think you're doing, but that's too fucking far!"

Blair threw a punch back, but missed.

"You're such a drama queen!" Blair shot back. "Go back to sitting on your ass and being useless while we win this game!"

"Not likely," warned the other girl, but Blair just smirked.

"You won't do shit."

Bakugou shivered involuntarily as (Y/N) yanked her classmate to her so hard that their noses almost touched. Both of the girls were beautiful, he noticed, but only one of them struck him as truly deadly.

"Wanna test that?" she challenged. "I'll kick your uppity ass until hell won't have it back!"

"(Y/N), really, I'm fine!" called the girl who had fallen from where she was sitting. Her skin was scraped and bleeding, and Bakugou thought she couldn't be further from fine. "It was all just an accident, I swear!"

(Y/N) turned, fury in her eyes. If she were a sculpture hewn from marble, Bakugou would call her Lady Rage. She would stand as a symbol with her counterparts— Lady Justice with her blindfold, Lady Liberty with her crown, and Victory with her wings— and she would be remembered forever as a warning to all who would cross womankind.

"Stop defending her!” cried (Y/N) with such force that Bakugou wished he could bottle it and keep it to use as a stun grenade. “She bullies everyone, and now you? Where does it stop?"

Blair shoved her roughly. "I do not!"

(Y/N) shoved her right back, and Blair lost her balance. If Aizawa-sensei had been a second slower, Blair would have hit the ground and probably cracked open her skull— but as it was, Aizawa-sensei's binding cloth caught her before she could get hurt and restrained the two girls before a fight could commence.

"That's enough out of you two," he said darkly, standing between the two of them. "Referee, this game is over. I saw the foul just as well as anyone else did, and the rules say—"

"Oh nonsense, Aizawa-sensei," said a leggy blonde woman— St. Angela's Head of School— as she approached. "Have a heart. These girls are like sisters, you know. They're only horseplaying."

Judging by the way (Y/N)'s eyes screamed malice and Blair's nostrils flared, not even a fool would have thought their near-fight to be horseplay. Still, the ref seemed eager enough to believe the story, even if no one else was, and when all was said and done, the injured girl was sent to Recovery Girl and (Y/N) agreed to take her place on the team.

"Don't think for a second that this is over," Bakugou overheard (Y/N) murmuring to Blair. "There's still a score to settle."

Whatever else was said, Bakugou didn't hear because Deku was laying out a strategy that required his full attention. A few moments later, they were back in position, ready to play, and from that moment on, U.A.'s ship began to sink.

Bakugou supposed he got what he wanted— (Y/N) was as fierce a player at field hockey as she was a fencer with a saber, and playing against her was a special sort of hell designed specifically for him. If the puck made it anywhere near her stick, the point was as good as lost for U.A.; and even though Bakugou wasn't someone who was easily intimidated, when any player who came near her faltered a split second before they could steal the puck or block a pass and couldn't tell anyone why, he couldn't help but be more wary of her than ever.

"What the hell, Icy-Hot?!" he demanded when Todoroki nearly fell over his own feet instead of smacking the puck. "You had that one!"

Todoroki gripped his knees, his expression stricken.

"I couldn’t— I was locked into place, I—”

Bakugou scowled, but they didn't have time to talk further before resuming their positions to play the next point.

…which hit Kirishima in the face hard enough to leave a dent in his helmet before it bounced into the goal.

This is insane, Bakugou thought, watching (Y/N) toss her hair. Until we crack her, nothing's stopping St. Angela's from creaming us.

So he took it upon himself to do whatever it took to bring her down.

Only, that didn't quite happen.

Bakugou was so close. His legs were longer, his muscles were stronger, and his reach was farther than (Y/N)'s— he had the perfect opening to steal the puck for U.A. Of course, (Y/N) was close on his tail, but there was no reason he couldn't have made a clean shot… no reason except the words she murmured to him so lowly that no one else could possibly have heard.

Words that broke something inside him with enough force to make him falter.

"You were never good enough," she hissed, her voice somehow traveling over the roar of blood in his ears. "It was you who was always the extra."

For a single second, Bakugou's world crumbled, and that was all it took for (Y/N) to sweep in and claim the victory.

Needless to say, that sealed the deal for U.A.'s morale. The boys lost, and they lost hard; every single player was sweaty, breathless, and somewhat battered by the end, and the St. Angela's team looked as though they had hardly broken a sweat. It made Bakugou sick to think that his team had been so weak again— that he had been so weak again— and he was so distracted by his own self-loathing that he didn't even notice someone following him back to the locker room until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

On instinct, Bakugou jerked away from the touch, and when he turned to see who had bothered him, he was shocked to find (Y/N) staring back at him.

"I'm sorry," she said, fidgeting with the edge of her glove. Her eyes were downcast, and she looked almost… ashamed. "I didn't mean what I said back there, I just— I used my quirk to exploit your emotional weakness. It was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" he demanded, fingers twitching with the desire to hurt, to silence, to avenge. "You're fucking sorry, and you expect me to forgive you for— for—"

Bakugou felt his breath quicken, readying his body for the rage within him to overflow, but then (Y/N) physically flinched back from him, and he suddenly, stupidly felt contrite.

"What can possibly excuse what you said to me?" he demanded, deliberately keeping his voice low and dark. "How can you justify that?"

"St. Angela's needed this victory," she said simply, unwilling to meet his eyes. "I don't expect you to understand what was at stake, or how unhappy I am with it, but using my quirk like that— it was the only way I could stop you." She looked up then, and Bakugou was taken aback by the tears he saw in her eyes. "You have to know I didn't mean what I said. I don't care if you never forgive me, but please, please know that that's not what I think. It's not what anyone thinks."

With that, she tore a glove off of one of her hands and placed it on his arm, and immediately, a sickening wave of guilt roiled in his stomach at the touch. He felt as though he couldn't even breathe through the pain of it, but before he could react, (Y/N) withdrew her hand and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She turned away. "I'm really, really sorry, Bakugou-san."

Bakugou was taken aback. He couldn't even think well enough to be angry— he just asked the first thing that came to mind.

"What the hell is your quirk?"

(Y/N) stiffened, and for a moment Bakugou didn't think she was going to answer, but then she turned back to him and spoke softly so that only he could hear.

"Empathy. I… feel what people feel. All the time, no limitations. I can also let others feel what I feel through skin contact, as you felt."

"And you used it to take advantage of my team," Bakugou realized aloud, his anger bleeding through his shock. "Like a dirty villain, you fucked with our heads—"

"I had to." Her jaw clenched. "I said I was sorry, but I did what I had to."

Bakugou shook his head.

"Whatever," he huffed. "That's villain logic, and I refuse to subscribe to bullshit like that. Thanks anyway, (Y/N)-san. Good game— enjoy your victory."

With that, Bakugou walked away, and he didn't need to turn to know that his blow had landed hard. If he turned, he knew that he would see the hurt he'd caused written in her eyes— eyes that shone bright like stars, reflecting sunlight like precious stones— and he didn't think he could handle feeling guilty for hurting someone who had wounded him so grievously, had encroached on the privacy of his innermost feelings and weaponized them to gain a petty, meaningless victory.

He regretted the concern he'd felt for her. He regretted the excitement with which he'd walked onto the field in anticipation of seeing her. He regretted the very moment they first locked eyes.

He wished he'd never known her.

"Hey Bakugou, do you want to—"

"Shut the fuck up," he growled, stalking away from his classmates. "Stay out of my way, extras."

***

It stormed that night.

It started raining right after the game, and the weather got so bad that St. Angela's had to stay at a nearby hotel instead of traveling home. Not that it mattered to Bakugou— as soon as he reached his dorm and changed into different clothes, he'd started running laps around the school so he didn't decide to blow himself or anyone else into a million pieces out of sheer rage. He didn't bring headphones or a water bottle or anything else; he had no thought for anything except running until he was numb.

It was sometime later— whether it was minutes or hours after Bakugou had collapsed from exhaustion, his muscles screaming and his chest heaving, he couldn't have said— that Deku and Todoroki approached him, costumes on and faces deadly serious.

"Come on, Kaccahn, we're being called in for support," said Deku through his stupid-looking mask. "St. Angela's hotel has been attacked by villains, and they're trying to take hostages."

Bakugou couldn't have cared less.

"Fine," he coughed through burning lungs and bitterness. "Let them fight their own battles if they're so tough."

Todoroki scowled at that, and Bakugou wanted to laugh. He looked exactly as he had before fighting Deku at the sports festival years ago— frigid and angry and full of shit.

"Get up, Bakugou," Todorki demanded, digging his foot into Bakugou's side. "They need our help. Their headmistress is captured, the big three are badly wounded from trying to free her, and there aren't enough heroes available on a night like this, you know that."

Bakugou closed his eyes. All he wanted to do was sleep.

"Why should I run to them when they spat on us?"

"Because," said Deku gently, "We got this note."

Bakugou opened his eyes, and he took the note Deku handed him. He scanned it briefly, and he recognized (Y/N)'s handwriting. It was addressed to him, and his eyes widened at what he saw written there.

'Bakugou-san

There are not many people I trust. By all rights, I shouldn't trust you at all, and yet I do. Don't prove that trust to be misplaced.

I don't have much time, so I'll be brief— get this to your Aizawa sensei and have him speak my name to this paper, and the truth will be revealed to him and only him. I'm sorry I can't say more, but this is more important to me than victory here or even my own life.

Thank you, Bakugou-san, and if I never see you again, then may we meet again beyond the veil.

(Y/N).

Blood smudged the corner of the page, and it was clear to Bakugou that it had been written in haste. Fear, panic, and realization struck him all at once, and then it was overtaken by rage as he crushed the note in his hand.

"Cryptic bitch," he muttered, his palms smoking. "Deathbed confessions are so fucking stupid— why not just live and take care of it yourself?"

His blood was hot now, and he felt foolish for ever resisting his friends when they called for his aid.

"Let's go," he said. "And make it quick— I have shit to do."

They did, in fact, make it quick— the hotel was only about two miles from U.A., and as Dark Shadow flies, it only took Tokoyami a few minutes to drop off Deku, Todoroki, and Bakugou off as a vanguard squad to go ahead of the rest of U.A., which would arrive en masse a few minutes later.

"What a mess," Todoroki said as they ran up to the building, which was practically in shambles from all the fighting.

Bakugou had to agree— but at least the rescue squad assigned to protect the civilians in the hotel seemed to have that much under control. Additionally, it appeared that two of the purported six villain attackers had been apprehended by St. Angela's students, but those students looked much, much worse for wear. Still, though, it was decent work for students who weren't from a hero academy, and their reports of the other villains' quirks were both thorough and brief.

As Bakugou, Deku, and Todoroki turned away from the girls who were giving them information, a mighty cracking sound reverberated throughout the streets, and the roof of the hotel was blown clean off by a blast of some sort. Instantly, the three of them were on their guard, shielding the civilians with their quirks, but that appeared to be unnecessary as the debris winked out of existence as soon as it hit what appeared to be an invisible wall.

"Whose quirk is that?" Deku asked, slack-jawed. "I've— I've never seen anything like it!"

Off to the side, Sabrina— the petite blonde who had been shoved into Bakugou earlier on the hockey field— was watching them warily with the one eye of hers that wasn't blackened by a bruise, and Bakugou barked at her to report.

"(Y/N)-chan, Blair-chan , and Genevieve-sensei are still inside," she called out over the driving rain, her face a mask of fear and worry. "Please save them, there are too many villains for them to handle alone!"

Bakugou didn't need to be told twice.

"I will," he said, taking off without waiting for Deku and Todoroki to follow. "I'm going in."

Well, 'going in,' might not have been the most accurate way to phrase it— since climbing the stairs of the building was time-consuming and the structural integrity of the building was questionable at best, Bakugou used his explosions to blast himself up to the exposed part of the building where all the action was happening. In his haste, he overdid it with the final blast to the top, but quickly compensated by landing in a tuck-and-roll form that had him back on his feet and running toward trouble with effortless momentum.

"Oi!" He raged, taking mental note of the positioning of the four remaining villains— one on the wall, another holding the limp form of Genevieve, and the other two facing off with Blair and (Y/N). "Pick on someone your own size, you piss-sucking bastards!"

And just like that, all-out battle commenced.

Bakugou blasted the villain nearest to Blair sky-high— compared to (Y/N), Blair was more severely wounded and could use the relief from pressure— and then launched himself at the one holding their sensei. In the meantime, he heard (Y/N) screaming words in a language he didn't understand, and every single hair on his body stood straight up as he felt something shift behind him. If he could have risked it, he would have turned immediately to see what was happening behind him, but he couldn't afford a lapse in focus— he just had to trust that (Y/N) and Blair had things handled until he or one of the others could help out.

When Bakugou finally subdued the villain in front of him, he turned to find two things:

One, another of the villains was being restrained by a wounded, exhausted-looking Blair, who was sitting on the dumb bastard.

Two, (Y/N)'s villain suddenly decided that (Y/N) was much less interesting than Bakugou, and as Bakugou realized belatedly that this was the villain who could freeze a person in their tracks just by looking at them, the villain launched herself at him with a knife that oozed something purple.

The villain wouldn't get very far, but Bakugou had no way of knowing that as panic set in. In his desperation, he turned his eyes to (Y/N), hoping that she would take this opportunity to run, to get the hell out of there before the villain was through with him, but when his eyes found her, she was staring right back at him with a with a white-hot flare of— of something in her eyes, and she extended one hand to the sky, calling out once more into the storm.

Lightning split the heavens above them, and as (Y/N) bellowed from the center of her being, Bakugou realized that she was calling to it, speaking to it, commanding it. In a flash of dizzying light, the wild, screaming bolt of lighting reached down, filling Bakugou's mouth with the tangy, metallic smell-taste of ozone; the world went white save for (Y/N)'s dark silhouette, and Bakugou could do nothing but watch as her other hand reached out, steady and sure. The lighting followed the motion, and in a zigging, zagging bolt, it struck the villain directly, leaving the smell of burning flesh in its wake.

It was over in less time than it took Bakugou to blink.

Christ on a cracker, he thought to himself dazedly as (Y/N) wobbled a bit before steading herself. That's not her quirk. I've felt her quirk. This— this is supernatural.

"Are you hurt?" (Y/N) called to him, clutching her side— which, he noticed, was bleeding. "Can you move now?"

Bakugou could, in fact, move— he just wasn't sure he remembered how.

"Come on," Blair said tiredly, looking at (Y/N). "Help me get this moron secured before I decide to just shove him off the building."

"I got you."

Blair turned to see Todoroki and Deku standing behind her, ready to help, and before long, everyone was down from the roof and the rescue teams went inside the hotel to make sure there was no one trapped inside before doing a head count.

"Thank you," said (Y/N) quietly as Bakugou waited by the ambulance where she was being treated. "You didn't have to come, but you did."

"Of course I had to," he replied. "I wanted the answers to what's in that note straight from you. Couldn't get that if a villain decided to nab you."

(Y/N) smiled tiredly. "I can take care of myself, Bakugou-san."

Bakugou thought back to the magnificent lightning bolt she'd called down from the heavens, and he couldn't deny that.

"I know you can, toots," he replied, allowing the endearment to slip out with the beginnings of a smile. "That's another thing you're going to have to explain to me."

(Y/N) huffed a laugh, then winced as that turned out to be a bad idea.

"Is she going to be alright?" Bakugou asked the EMT as they walked back around the ambulance, and they shrugged.

"Wound's not too deep, and she seems fine otherwise. Now that it's all cleaned out, she should be right as rain in a few weeks."

Bakugou nodded and was about to ask a follow-up question when (Y/N)'s bare hand touched his.

"Bakugou," she said, and he noticed that she was shaking, "I promise to tell you everything in time. You've earned that from me, but— but can you wait until I'm ready?"

"Katsuki," he replied nonsensically. "To you, my name is Katsuki."

(Y/N) smiled then, and through her touch, Bakugou knew that she knew that she had her answer.

"Katsuki," she repeated softly, sweetly. "It suits you, you know."

She said something then, again in a strange language, and Bakugou shivered at the power in that word.

"Did you feel something?" she asked, suddenly excited.

"Yeah," he replied. "What the hell was that?"

(Y/N) said it again, and Bakugou broke out in gooseflesh.

"Your name," she said, her quiet joy bleeding into Bakugou from their connection. "It's your name, your true name— it is who you were, who you are, and who you will come to be."

Bakugou didn't understand that, not really, but he didn't feel the need to press for an answer. (Y/N) was happy, he felt, and for now, that was enough.

"Kacchan!" called Deku from across the way. "Come on, we've gotta get back to U.A.! St. Angela's is staying with us for the night!"

(Y/N) and Bakugou looked at each other again, and both of them burst out laughing.

"Oi," he chuckled, squeezing her hand. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," (Y/N) replied behind the silliest of giggles. "Only that Genevieve-sensei is going to be so pleased to torture your Aizawa-sensei again. She's done her best to seduce him, you see, and do you know that he hasn't reacted at all?"

Bakugou snorted.

"Not that you can see," he replied, helping her down from the ambulance. "He puffs up like a pissed-off tomcat everytime he sees her."

"Sounds like someone else I know," (Y/N) said, just a hint of mischief in her eyes, and Bakugou couldn't even blame her for it.

"Oi," he replied, feigning indignation.

(Y/N) smiled and started to say something, but then the two of them were ushered away by a mix of pro heroes and U.A. administration. Bakugou would have liked to know what she might have said— whether she would have had a sly quip, or maybe a quiet little acknowledgment meant only for him— but he found that as their hands stayed connected, he hardly needed to know to feel that there was a fondness for him forming warmly in her heart, and for now, that was quite enough for him.

Beautiful and deadly, he thought, watching protectively as (Y/N) walked slowly beside him, clutching her side as she went, But maybe a little something more, too.

#katsuki bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou x y/n #bakugou x you #mha x reader #bnha x reader #angst #fluff #ambiguous ending #reader has an empathy quirk #witch!reader #mha smut #mha fanfiction

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flowers-and-literature · 3 years ago

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Going into a fandom tag that most of your mutuals are not in is just,,,,, farewell friends, I am off on my perilous journey on horseback through the rocky mountain ledges with none but my small pony for company. Upon my return I shall bring a variety of gifts, all of which you have no idea what they are or what they mean, but know that I cherish you all dearly and will keep you all in my hearts the whole way. Till we meet again friends, and do expect utter nonsense and insanity arriving on my quest. Arrivederci, losers ✌️

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tezzbot · 3 years ago

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how did u go about developing your pony art style? it looks so rad & interesting!!

thank you!!! if im totally honest with you it literally just came to me one day, like obviously i had like. my ideas on how the breeds would differentiate for different reasons (that u can find somewhere in my #pony talk tag lol) that u can see i tried incorporating into how i drew them like even from this one drawing i did in 2019?

ubulike u can see that i had the ideas of streamlined pegasi, solid/bulky eps, pointy unicorns n the like but bc i never drew much mlp after this (an au here and there but not as much as i do now for sure lol)

but this time round in drawing them i decided to push that even further to the extreme while also like. keeping it extremely simple and easy for me to draw? if tht makes sense lol, in my artstyle before like. shifting into pony mode, the characters i would draw i liked to break them down into more basic shapes in their designs, going for a more stylised look in all of my art? none of that stuff is online anywhere anymore i dont think but that also def carried over into my ponies lol

but yeah basically my tips for doing it is make up some nonsense for why each character/race might look the way they do and go absolutely berserk bonkers with it, ig smth that goes for all art in general is just push your limits, try new things like brushes and techniques and draw A Lot thats how i developed my style :P

#tezztalks #thank you for asking me about me its my favourite subject #lmaoooo #also i do love giving art advice i feel like a wise old crone youve travelled far to see and we're sitting drinking tea

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network-warrior-01 · 3 years ago

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Here’s how I’m gonna tag things here

(will update daily)

#My Things - things that are mine

#personal reads - Fics I like and may read again later

#good references - art/writing/other references

#Not Canon - old post/theory but I want to reblog anyway

#Toon Things - Cartoon things that don’t fit in a specific tag

#Videos Games - Games

#comic nonsense - Web comics

#The Mouse - Miscellaneous Disney Stuff

#Art Thingy - amazing art not related to a cartoon

#reality - none cartoon related post

#unfortunately - Add on to the reality tag if the news isn’t good

#human rights - Civil rights/pride stuff

#Umm... Ow - Sad Post

#D’awwwwww - Cute post

#WHEEZE - Funny post

#Ooo,Spicy - EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE (don't expect this tag to be used much)

#Edgyest of edge - Blood/intense themes

#Bah la la la la - Big hero 6

#Gay space rocks - Steven Universe

#Woo-oo - Ducktales

#I AM..... - Darkwing Duck

#Gotta Cetch'em All - Pokemon

#little weird, little wild - Star vs the forces of evil

#Who ya gonna call? - Ghostbusters

#Stay Determined - Undertale

#GOD F***ING DAMMIT KRIS - Deltarune

#Just West of Weird - gravity Falls

#Magic is Friendship - my little pony

#WHOOOOOOOAAAAA! - regular show

#Back to the past - Samurai Jack

#Turtle Power - tmnt

#WHAT TIME IS IT? - Adventure time

#Going Ghost - Danny Phantom

#We'll Be There! - We Bare Bears

#IT IS I ZIIIIIIIIIIM! - Invader Zim

#Let down your hair - Tangled

#Ba Ding - Sonic the hedgehog

#It's a me - Mario Bros.

#Let's be heroes - OK KO

#Super Fighting Robot - Mega-Man

#Be Gay Do Witchcraft - The Owl House

#Spranne Against The World - Amphibia

#For The Honor of Greyskull - She-ra and The Princesses of Power

#He will Set Us Free - Bendy and The Ink Machine

#I Will Put You Back Together - Five Nights at Freddys

#Roll Out - Transformers

#The angst train - Infinity Train

#That's rough Buddy - Avatar

#Call Me Beep Me - Kim Possible

#Oh Nerds - Glitch Techs

#H.A.M.U.F.A. - Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts

#By The Power of Greyskull - He-man and The Masters of The Universe

#Inside of Every demon is a Rainbow - Hazbin Hotel

#Hello Blitzy - Helluva Boss

#HERE COMES - LEGO Monkie Kid

#Ninja GO! - Ninjago

#Don’t Deal With The Devil - Cuphead

#PLUS ULTRA! - My Hero Academia

#Bloody Hell - Harry Potter

#Moon Girl Magic - Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

#What’s The Time? PLAYTIME! - Poppy Playtime

#I Wanna Be Famous - Total Drama/Ridonculous Race

#The Pomni Suffering Show - The Amazing Digital Circus

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circlique · 3 years ago

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Avatar DND: session 16!

Summary: There are a lot of plot hooks floating around: an invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, secret tunnels, and a blood spirit building an army: which will we pursue?

Previous sessions / Avatar DND Masterpost

We talk about what to do next. Chai Li still owes Dai Lee an update about the plan he apparently doesn’t know anything about. Kelsang says maybe he can astral project to Maika again and try and get some kind of intel on her that Chai Li might be able to use for an update and preserve his cover. We agree to this, plus Klo and Syntagma trying to figure out more about Poni and Laminar’s plan.

Juno pulls Chai Li aside and says while everyone else is intel gathering, she wants to do some additional training with him. She asks him why Dai Lee is dangerous, and the two of them spend some time talking philosophically about choice and agency. She uses this to segue into what she actually wants—to train him to recognize mindbending and when his thoughts aren’t actually his own. She then says he will spend today “going about his business” while trying to determine when she is mindbending him. Juno sends him off into the training ground with no further instructions, and he’s left to question every single thought that crosses his mind for the rest of the session.

Meanwhile, Klo goes to dig up some info on Laminar and/or find Ong. She runs into someone she knows from the Northern Water Tribe, Lani, who tells her she’s overheard Laminar spreading rumors that Klo’s not the real leader of their tribe. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, so Klo asks if she knows where Laminar is. Lani signals vaguely in some direction that she thinks she saw Laminar go.

Flamer, meanwhile, is wandering the training ground and sees Reiker in one of the resting areas in obvious pain. Reiker asks if he can fill in as ref for him. Flamer resists for a while but eventually agrees and goes out to get the matches started. He starts with a pair of firebenders and wants to talk to them separately about the rules…he tells one of them if he wants to win…five gold pieces. The bender says he can’t afford it. Flamer tells the other guy ten gold pieces but after some negotiation, they agree to two pieces before and three gold pieces after. He repeats this with basically everybody on the field and corrupt fashion.

Meanwhile, Syntagma goes to follow Poni around. He finds Poni trying to recruit some earthbenders with a sales pitch about his company’s great wages and benefits. He overhears the rate Poni says he’d pay them, and it’s 6x what Syntagma would pay! Syntagma thinks this would be unsustainable and is tempted to spy on Poni’s mines because there has to be something more to this, but decides to go spy on Laminar instead since they are clearly working together.

Klo tags along with Syntagma and they find Laminar outside the training ground talking to Ong. Laminar tells Ong to “stop packing” because under no circumstances will he be going anywhere, and he is to stop this nonsense and continue his training at once! She sends him off and Klo and Syntagma both roll low on stealth and are about to have their cover blown, so Syntagma just reveals himself and starts trying to convince Laminar to “partner” with him instead of Poni. She is obviously suspicious, but Syntagma presses, insisting he has more money and power and can provide her with weapons or whatever else she needs. She asks him what he’s talking about and what he knows. Syntagma says he knows “everything”, which he isn’t supposed to (and doesn’t). Laminar flips, and bloodbends him into the air in a threatening fashion. She intends to choke him, but as he starts to pass out, Syntagma is able to bend a spike through her foot. She drops him, screaming in pain, and he is able to escape back to the training ground.

Klo catches Ong as he passes to find out what’s going on between him and Laminar. Ong relays that his mom caught him packing and sent him back to training. He assures Klo he still intends to go with them and will meet them at the beach tonight.

Meanwhile, Chai Li is just hanging around the training ground watching matches. Every once in a while he will get thirsty or something and the DM makes him roll a wisdom save. He just seeks intel, but doesn’t uncover much other than running into another LAMB bounty hunter looking for Juno. He does question every single action he makes though.

Back at the matches, Ong has returned and is trying to find a sparring partner, but Blazer is the only person left. Flamer isn’t exactly enthused about this, but still lets it happen. Flamer offers Blaze the same offer as he did the other benders, but Blaze just laughs (because he knows he doesn’t need the help). Still, he tells Flamer he’s a good ref and gives him ten times the bribe.

The match starts, and Blaze goes hard but is unable to even land a hit on Ong. Still, it seems like it is mostly Blaze on offense and Ong dodging for his life.

Meanwhile, Kelsang has gone to the meditation garden and projects to Maika again. This time he finds himself at the desert oasis, the air filled with sounds of battle. He follows the noise to the commotion and finds Maika beating up some bandits. He watches as she freezes the arm on one of them and proceeds to break it off. She then beats the guy with his own arm.

Kelsang is horrified of course, so he floats somewhere where he knows she’ll see him and glares at her disapprovingly. She spots him, yells at him, and then quickly realizes no one else can see him and that she looks like a crazy person yelling at nothing. She abandons the fight and stomps off into the desert, and Kelsang follows her.

When he catches up to her, she helpfully reminds him that if she finds him, she’ll end him. On that cheerful note, Kelsang berates her on using too much force on petty bandits. Like come on, this is beneath her. She’s the Avatar, that was complete overkill. She insists that she’s doing what she has to do, and was just looking for “work” when they attempted to rob her, and was just dishing out the punishment accordingly. She explains that she is just wandering from place to place, looking for things that need dealing with. Who knows when she’ll find some hidden mafia or something?

Trying to be helpful and gather intel, Kelsang asks if any of those places might be the Southern Water Tribe, to which she answers no, why the fuck would she be there? She doesn’t appear to be lying, but before he can answer, Maika asks him if he or Juno are gonna be at the Southern Water Tribe. He quickly says no and rolls high enough to pass the deception check, and says he just has some friends who deal in intel and the whole Dai Li appears to be setting up some kind of trap for her there, and he thought Maika might want to know since no one else seems to be helping her. Kelsang meant this as a sort of olive branch, but it doesn’t appear to have much effect on her.

She keeps walking and Kelsang changes the subject, saying he actually had something serious to ask her. He tries again to relate to her, saying they have some things in common, she cuts him off and says what? He says “our mutual acquaintance…Panggu.” She stops and glares at him, and he continues, asking how she became “acquainted” with the spirit and how she got rid of him. After a pause, she tells him she was looking for power and found it with the spirit, but after a while decided it “wasn’t for her.” She explains that Laminar taught her how to bloodbend and that Maika somehow bloodbent the spirit out of her herself.

This is quite interesting and Kelsang would love some further elaboration, but he feels an “itch” and a sensation like he is being pulled back to his body. Panggu’s voice then tells him “It’s time.” Maika notices his change in demeanor and asks “what has you so quiet all of a sudden, squarebender?” He manages to steady himself and says “Nothing. Just remember there are bigger fish out there. Don’t waste your time on these people.” He is then pulled back to his body, which Panggu has taken over and is walking back towards the camp. Kelsang pleads with the spirit to stop but fails the first saving throw. Instead he asks the spirit what it wants with Maika and what it’s doing now.

Panggu responds “Powerful benders… The Avatar is the one that got away.”

Against his will, Kelsang walks into the training camp, and Panggu sets his sights on Blazer, who is still going relentlessly against Ong.

Blazer finally lands a hit on Ong and leaves a scorch mark on his face. At this point, Chai Li and Klo intervene and after a couple attempts are able to make Blazer pass out. Ong takes the chance to escape, but doesn’t stop at the edge of the training ground and keeps on running to who knows where.

Kelsang figures out who Panggu is after and rolls another save, and rolls high enough this time to say to Klo “Stop me.”

She figures out what he’s asking and bloodbends him to a standstill, but unfortunately, being a blood spirit, it doesn’t take Panggu long to free himself from the paralysis and continue his march towards Blazer.

When he gets close enough, Panggu uses Kelsang’s airbending to blast back Klo, Zhongchung, Ong, and anyone else close enough to get in his way. He then forces Kelsang to scratch open the wound on the back of his head, and scratch Blazer to mix their blood.

Panggu then decides this is the perfect time to release Kelsang and gives him control again. Confused and horrified at what just happened (and also keenly aware of the fact that Panggu didn’t use his full 7 minutes yet), Kelsang jumps on his glider and starts flying in a random direction, just trying to put distance between himself and the camp.

Blazer wakes up, and when he opens his eyes, they’re glowing red in the way that shows Panggu is in control. Blazer stalks out of the camp and Chai Li and Klo follow him. Blazer walks to the same clearing where Laminar was hiding out earlier, and she’s waiting for him. She tells him to meet her at HQ tomorrow. Her eyes flash red for a split second, and she directly addresses Panggu. “You know what that means right, Panggu?”

We ended the session here. Oh boy.

#avatar #atla #avatar oc #avatar legends #avatar the last airbender #avatar dnd

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genopaint · 3 years ago

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I posted 538 times in 2021

341 posts created (63%)

197 posts reblogged (37%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.6 posts.

I added 771 tags in 2021

#reblog - 174 posts

#fanart - 142 posts

#oc - 117 posts

#my stuff - 111 posts

#character design - 66 posts

#character art - 46 posts

#original character - 43 posts

#commissions - 26 posts

#anthro - 23 posts

#pokemon - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#also i post this every time as if cloud hero and sephiroth arent some of the most fun characters in smash that i play as constantly

My Top Posts in 2021

See the full post

274 notes • Posted 2021-04-12 04:54:03 GMT

beat sly 2 this week and had to draw this nonsense to get it out of my brain

360 notes • Posted 2021-06-12 02:51:12 GMT

Some ponies for warm up! I don't draw these two nearly enough but they're so cute!!

378 notes • Posted 2021-08-17 17:37:03 GMT

Very original Legally Blonde fanart 2021

378 notes • Posted 2021-05-16 05:46:56 GMT

Big, mean, alligator girl. Watch out, her bark is only marginally better than her bite!!

Had a stressful day so I just wanted to unwind with a random self indulgent scalie drawing

681 notes • Posted 2021-01-18 03:27:49 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#review #recap #sorry guys i LOVE recaps on stuff like this!#Thank you for all the love in 2021

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bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky · 3 years ago

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Like Real People Do | Bucky Barnes x Reader

In a shocking twist of events, I have written yet another Hozier inspired Bucky fic. This was the first Hozier song I ever heard and I fell in love immediately. I’m including the live version below because it is just TOO fucking good.

As always, send me any comments, questions, or suggestions you may have! 💕

Tag list! @beefybuckrrito, @everything-burns-down, @shadytalementality, @rainbow-unicorn-pony, @mandersshow

“Honey, just put your sweet lips

on my lips.

We should just kiss

like real people do.”

Sam appraised you and Bucky from afar, taking a long look at your disguises for the evening. Your floor length silver dress was not something you ever would’ve chosen to wear; you missed the comfort your leggings, big tshirts, and vans, but tonight was unfortunately not a leggings kind of night. “I don’t think anyone is gonna buy this” Sam muttered with a laugh. Nat nodded along with him as she examined your appearance. “What are you talking about?” Bucky retorted with an eye roll, “no one is gonna know who we are”. He fidgeted next to you, already tired of wearing his suit even though he’d only had it on for fifteen minutes. “I mean, look at her” Bucky said, gesturing to you, “no one is even going to notice I’m there once they see her”. Your face grew hot and if it hadn’t been for the make up, your cheeks surely would have been crimson.

Bucky shot you a wink and then turned his attention back to Sam. “We’re good. Right? Just let us go,” he complained. Sam and Nat whispered back and forth for a moment before turning back to face the two of you. "Alright, the two of you weren't exactly my first choice for this job, but you're our only option", Nat said. "So, you need to go in there, blend in, and find the target without arousing suspicion. Stay on him all night till you can follow him out, and we’ll rendezvous to apprehend him after the event,” Sam added. Bucky rolled his eyes and nodded, "we know. And thanks all the confidence in us, by the way". You laughed quietly and watched Sam and Bucky bicker like they always did.

"I'm not saying you're gonna fuck it up," Sam said, "it's just that sending our two most introverted operatives to go under cover at a big, fancy party doesn't really sound like the way to go". Now it was you rolling your eyes. "Oh, come on, Sam. We can pretend for a night," you lightly punched Bucky on the arm, "right, Buck?" He nodded defiantly and winked at you once again. "Just let us go, guys," Bucky pleaded.

"Okay, Okay! Fine!" exclaimed Nat in exasperation. "Go! Eat, drink, and be merry, I guess. Just get the job done and don't die". She made her way out of the room and slammed the door behind her, no doubt headed to go tell Clint about how much Sam and Bucky annoyed her. After one last look, Sam sighed and conceded. Motioning for the two of you to head out. "Alright...go," he said. "None of that ‘hiding in the corner, keeping to yourselves’ nonsense. Act like real people".

Bucky scoffed and held the door open for you, escorting you down the hall and into the garage. "Come on, Sweetheart. Let's go act like real people," he teased. He opened your car door and you slid into the excessively fancy vehicle. Bucky made his way around the car and plopped down in the driver’s seat, his strong hands gripping the smooth leather on the steering wheel. “Alright, doll. Let’s party!” he quipped as he turned on the ignition and felt the car roar to life.

Walking into the party was a shock to say the least. Your mouth ran dry as you surveyed the room, taking in each and every graceful, gorgeous socialite and their GQ worthy beaus. “Oh I am way out of my league…” you muttered, feeling suddenly inferior to literally everyone in the room. A gentle, reassuring hand squeeze from Bucky was accompanied by him whispering “you can do this, doll. You look fucking incredible”. Some of your anxiety melted away and you took a deep breath, steadying your nerves and keeping an eye out for your target.

“Uhhh, I think we’ve been standing here too long…” Bucky tried to mumble casually, “people are starting to stare.” Without realizing it, the two of you had set up camp in the grand entry way, paralyzed by the intimidating guests. “Shit. Right. Um, the bar? Let’s hit the bar” you whispered back as you took Bucky’s hand. You loved intertwining your fingers with his, and did so platonically all the time. He often needed comfort after a panic attack or a night terror, and you holding his hand seemed to bring him back down to earth. Feeling his hand in yours was one of your favorite sensations in the world, but you never let it last too long. Messing up your friendship with Bucky by revealing your romantic feelings was not worth it.

The two of you walked hand in hand as nonchalantly as you could and took up residence near the end of the bar. “Alright, so…this is my nightmare” Bucky stated with a low chuckle. Your laugh almost beat out the sounds of the swanky jazz music and people nearby turned their heads in your direction.

Suddenly, a shiver ran up your leg. Glancing down, you saw Bucky’s large, warm hand pressed against your thigh. He gave your leg a small squeeze and you thought you might melt out of your chair. “A little too familiar there, aren’t we, Barnes?” you teased. He leaned in close and pressed a kiss to your cheek as he whispered, “we’re supposed to be a couple, remember?” You felt your face get hot at Bucky’s words and you awkwardly cleared your throat before giving him a subtle nod.

You had practically begged Nat to send you on this job with literally anyone else, but she loved to mess with you. She was the only one who knew about the massive crush you had on your best friend Bucky, and exploiting that fact was one of her favorite things. Bucky scanned the room and you couldn’t help but look him over. He looked fucking gorgeous in a suit- not that he didn’t always look gorgeous. But tonight with his clean shaven face and expertly tailored suit, he was basically irresistible to you.

“You’re staring…” you heard Bucky mutter, and his words pulled you from your daydream. “What? Oh, sorry. Thought I saw the target behind you, but I was wrong…false alarm!” you said with an awkward chuckle. He shot you his signature wink and gave your thigh another small squeeze before standing up and offering you his hand. “May I have this dance?” He asked charmingly as the band started in on a new song. You were flustered to say the least. You felt your face warm up yet again your heart began beating rapidly. “Oh, um. Yeah, I- yes. Yes, let’s dance”, you stammered.

Bucky lead you by the hand to a vacant spot on the dance floor and pulled you close. Placing one hand on your waist, he brought you in tight to his body, using his other hand to hold one of yours. Your free hand found his shoulder and you felt butterflies swarming in your stomach. The two of you began moving as one, in sync with the music. “This is fun,” Bucky murmured, close to your ear. “I’m glad I begged Nat to let me accompany you on this mission”. You pulled away and saw a playful smirk plastered across his face.

“Wait, you- did you really?” you asked. He just nodded and pulled you back in, kissing you on the cheek and moving with the slow music. “I really did” he murmured. “You know I’ve had an enormous crush on you since…well, basically since we met?” You heart stopped and your breath caught in your throat. “I-um, no I-I didn’t know that…but um, me- me too…” you stammered. Bucky gave a quiet laugh and squeezed your hand.

“You know,” he murmured, “Sam said we have to act like ‘real people’ tonight, and we’re supposed to be a couple, so…I think we should kiss. You know, like real people do”. A dopey grin took up your entire face and you had to take a moment to catch your breath before responding. “Oh, well, of course,” you teased, “I want to make sure I play the role convincingly”.

Bucky’s lips found yours in the most passionate yet tender kiss you had ever experienced. He let go of your hand so he could cup the side of your face, and your arms quickly found a place around his neck. He gripped your waist as he kissed you deeply, awakening some form of passion in you that you didn’t know existed. When he pulled away, it was only to catch his breath. He pressed his forehead against yours and began subtlety moving with the music once more.

“Look at us,” he joked, “acting like real people”.

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