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cyberesc · 3 months ago

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THE BOY IS MINE. (PART 2)

pairing: Prohero!Bakugo x Prohero!Reader

rating: slight angst, hurt/comfort, reader needs a break tbh

note: I forgot where I was originally going with this story when I wrote this a few years ago since part 2 was only 70% done in my drafts, hope this was a good read ! it was fun writing dialogue for Hitomi, might bring her back for a new series🤐

part 1

You don't know when it happened, but somehow, your very existence seemed to aggravate Hitomi, for reasons you couldn’t understand. Your coworkers noticed it, even your assistant made a passing comment, but they urged you not to take it personally. Still, the cold stares, the subtle digs, and the way she tried to one-up you at every turn, it all started to wear on you. What you didn’t know was that her attitude stemmed from the time she spent in one-on-one training sessions with Bakugo.

The list of things Bakugo is good at is so long it would be stupid to write about, so it was obvious that he would be the perfect mentor. His sharp eyes caught every mistake, his feedback was brutally honest, and his results were undeniable. Hitomi knew this and respected him for it. But there was something else that ate away at her during those sessions, something that made her resentment towards you grow stronger with each passing day.

It started with the small comments Bakugo would make, things he probably didn’t even realize he was saying out loud. “Y/N always nails this move on the first try,” he muttered once, when Hitomi fumbled during a drill. Or, “You’re gripping too tight—Y/N knows how to balance strength with control.” At first, Hitomi tried to brush it off, telling herself that Bakugo was just using you as an example to push her to do better, after all you were in the top rankings of Japan for a reason. But the more it happened, the more it grated on her. It wasn't just that you were good—it was that you seemed to be the benchmark against which she was measured.

The worst part, the part that truly made her snap, came during a routine training session. Hitomi was testing the mobility of her suit after some recent upgrades, moving through the drills with the precision she had honed under Bakugo’s guidance. He observed her as usual, his sharp eyes catching every nuance, every mistake.

But then, as she finished a complex maneuver, he made a comment that made her blood run cold. “You’ve got the power, but you’re hesitating,” Bakugo remarked, his tone almost distracted. “They would’ve read that shift in a heartbeat, made the move smoother.” he continued under his breath.

He didn’t even look at her when he said it. The reference was subtle, but Hitomi knew exactly who he meant. He talked about you enough for her to pick up on the unspoken comparison.

It wasn’t just that he compared her to you; it was that, in his mind, you were the standard she could never reach. The unattainable.

In that moment, it solidified for Hitomi: no matter how hard she trained, no matter how perfectly she executed every move, she would always be second to you in his eyes. His words echoed in her head, taunting her, and she knew then that she wasn’t just competing with a fellow hero. She was battling against the idealized version of you that Bakugo seemed to hold onto, an impossible shadow she could never escape.

It wasn’t rare for Dynamight to be paired with lower-ranking heroes on missions or patrols, but you happened to be his frequent partner. You weren’t sure if it was because your quirks worked well together or because you could read each other in any situation. Little did you know, Bakugo’s unconscious behavior around you was something even his assistant had picked up on. He didn’t lose his temper as easily when you were around, and on the rare occasions he did, it was never directed at you. He even made subtle nods at reporters before blasting off with you by his side. Almost every mission you collaborated on ended successfully, a fact that wasn’t lost on the agency.

Hitomi had noticed, too. She watched the way Bakugo seemed more grounded when you were around, how he sometimes deferred to your judgment without argument, and how he never seemed to mind your presence. That’s what made her resentment so sharp—it was one thing to compete with you in training, but another thing entirely to see that you were already a fixture in the life of the hero she admired—the man she wanted.

Your first mistake, if you could even call it that, was during a debriefing session. Hitomi had suggested a strategy, one that was sound but flawed in a way only experience could detect. You pointed it out, offering a correction in a calm, professional manner. It wasn’t meant to be demeaning, but to Hitomi, it felt like a public embarrassment. And Bakugo, instead of defending her, nodded in agreement with you, reinforcing the gap between her and you in his mind.

Another time, in the break room, she overheard a conversation where Bakugo was praising your tactical instincts. He never did that for anyone else, not even her—the one he had personally trained to analyze and fight just like him. She had been mentored by the best, molded to think and act with the same precision and intensity that Bakugo himself embodied. So, it came as a shock when she realized that everything she did, using everything she had learned from him, wasn’t good enough to hold his attention.

From then on, every interaction with you became a painful reminder that you held a place in Bakugo’s life that she couldn’t touch. So, she decided to carve out her own space, to prove that she could be the one who stood by his side.

The tension between you two only grew, feeding off these moments until it became a palpable force within the agency. And as much as you tried to stay above it, to focus on your work and ignore the subtle hostility, it was impossible not to notice. The whispers of office gossip, the way Hitomi would shoot you a look whenever Bakugo acknowledged you in a meeting—it all added up, and it all pointed to the truth you were too kind to see: Hitomi wasn’t just competing with you. She wanted to take everything you had, including Bakugo.

Hitomi’s resentment towards you was not something she could easily suppress. It wasn’t just about competition; it was personal. And when she realized that Bakugo saw you as a benchmark she could never reach, it drove her to desperate measures. If she couldn’t directly compete with you on the field, she would try to outmaneuver you in the court of public opinion.

So she set up a rumor to shift the narrative. It began subtly, with carefully orchestrated moments designed to seed the idea in the media. She made sure to be seen with Bakugo frequently, arranging coincidental encounters that were just intimate enough to spark curiosity. It was all carefully planned to catch the eye of the paparazzi.

The crucial moment came when Hitomi arranged for an image to be captured. A staged photo, one that would make it look like she and Bakugo were involved in a romantic relationship. The key was using a lookalike, someone who bore a striking resemblance to Bakugo, someone subtle enough to create a convincing illusion without risking his actual reputation.

The resulting photo, taken from a distance, showed Bakugo— or allegedly Bakugo—with his arm around Hitomi’s shoulders.

She meticulously chose the location of Bakugo’s favorite konbini, a spot he frequented to fuel up between patrols. This particular konbini was a well-kept secret among a few close friends and had become a sort of personal refuge for him. By selecting this location, Hitomi aimed to make a statement—a pointed message aimed directly at you.

The magazine’s social media team spread the image far and wide, igniting a storm of speculation and gossip. Fans and media alike began buzzing about the potential romance, analyzing every interaction between Bakugo and Hitomi for signs of affection. The craze was relentless, and soon, it became a trending topic. Headlines everywhere echoed the same speculation, and Hitomi basked in the growing buzz.

It was a clever ploy. With Bakugo’s name and your connection to him constantly in the limelight, it created a smokescreen that obscured the truth and shifted public perception. By the time you and Bakugo were confronted with the rumor, it had already gained enough traction to cause serious damage. Hitomi had successfully planted the seeds of doubt, making it seem like she was the one who had captured Bakugo’s attention.

Hitomi’s actions were not just about rivalry. She was trying to erase your presence and position herself as the ideal partner, hoping that by winning over those around Bakugo and creating a convincing narrative, she could finally gain what she felt she deserved.

Hitomi’s plan was working, and you were now caught in the crossfire of a fight you hadn’t even realized you were part of. And that’s where it all began to unravel.

After your checkup at the agency’s infirmary, the reality of your situation set in. The injury was severe enough that your boss decided to put you on desk duty until you were fully recovered. It was frustrating, but you had little choice but to comply.

Today, you found yourself seated at your desk, sifting through paperwork and mission reports. The mundane tasks offered a welcome distraction from your physical pain, but it did little to quell the storm of emotions that raged within you.

The agency’s hallways bustled with activity, heroes and sidekicks moving about in their usual hurried fashion. You were doing your best to stay out of everyone’s way, trying to blend into the background. You were engrossed in organizing a stack of reports when there was a knock on your door.

“Come in,” you called, not looking up.

“Hey, Y/N!” The cheery, singsong voice of Hitomi reached your ears, and you tensed. You had hoped to avoid any direct communication with her, but it seemed luck wasn’t on your side today.

You looked up slowly, forcing a neutral expression onto your face as she approached you with a case file under one arm and a newspaper clutched in her hand. Her gaze flicked over to you with an expression that was anything but friendly.

“How can I help you?,” you said curtly, not in the mood for small talk.

“I thought you might want to see this,” she said, her tone dripping with false sweetness. She tossed the newspaper onto your desk and placed the case file beside it.

Looking down, your heart sank as you read the newspaper’s headline: “ANOTHER HERO BITES THE DUST! PRO HERO Y/H/N CAN’T HANDLE THE HEAT!” The article was filled with damning criticisms and snide remarks, painting you in a poor light due to your mess up.

Hitomi smirked as she noticed your reaction. “You know how it is. The media loves to stir up drama. Thought you’d appreciate the heads-up.” She gave you a patronizing wave and turned to leave.

The moment she was gone, you let out a heavy sigh, grabbing the newspaper and crumpling it in your hands. With a grimace, you tossed it into the trash can, trying to ignore the sting of humiliation that the article left behind.

It had been a week since the billboard incident, and despite your best efforts to avoid Bakugo, it was inevitable that you would cross paths eventually. You had spent those days focusing on your hero work, throwing yourself into your duties with an intensity that left you exhausted by the end of each day. But no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t shake the heavy weight in your chest.

Boring days of recovery were soon over. The bandages were finally coming off, and you were able to inspect your hero suit in preparation for your first patrol since the incident. The repairs were almost complete, and you hoped that getting back to work would help distract you from the recent turmoil.

As you were adjusting your suit in the testing room, you heard the door swing open. Hitomi walked in with her repaired support gear, her humming coming to a halt at the sight of you.

“Hey Y/N!” She greeted

You nodded in greeting, quickly attaching the support items to your suit to avoid a conversation.

She didn’t seem to notice your lack of enthusiasm. “I saw you around the other day but didn’t get a chance to chat. You’ve been working hard, haven’t you?” Her tone was laced with false sweetness, and you could sense the underlying hostility.

“Paperwork kept me busy,” you replied, adjusting the straps to your suit . You really didn’t want to have this conversation.

Her smile widened, as she took a step closer. “Well, you know how it is around here. There’s always something to keep us busy,” she said, her tone light. “I guess it’s why they say people like us need someone who understands the grind, right? Someone who gets how demanding this work can be.”

You felt a subtle tension in her words, but you weren’t sure where she was going with this. “Yeah, it’s a tough job.”

Hitomi’s eyes flickered with a hint of something more as she leaned in slightly. “Exactly. That’s why it’s so important to have someone who can keep up, someone who’s… on the same level. Makes things easier, don’t you think?”

There was an undercurrent to her words that you couldn’t ignore, but you weren’t ready to engage with it. “I suppose,” you replied cautiously.

She tilted her head, her smile never wavering. “Like Bakugo, for instance. He really needs someone who understands him, someone who’s in sync with him. It’s funny how the media picks up on these things.”

Your chest tightened, the implication of her words hitting you like a ton of bricks. “The media?” you asked, trying to keep your tone neutral.

“Oh, you know how they are,” she said with a casual shrug. “Always speculating about who’s with who, who’s spending time together… Sometimes they’re not too far off, though.” She chuckled softly, but there was a sharp edge to the sound. “But I guess that’s just part of being in the spotlight.”

You raised a brow at her words as she continued.

“You know—people talk. They notice who spends time together, who seems… close. But anyway, it’s a shame you’ve been avoiding Bakugo. But I guess it’s for the best.”

Realizing what she was insinuating, you could feel the tension building in your chest. “What are you getting at, Hitomi?”

She maintained that infuriatingly casual tone. “Oh, nothing specific. Just making an observation. But…let’s be real, Y/N. You were never really in the running, were you?”

You bit down on your tongue, recalling the lessons from your time as a sidekick at Endeavor's agency. Back then, you were trained to handle criticism and bounce back quickly. Being a hero meant facing harsh judgment from reporters and the press, and you had learned to develop a thick skin. You’d been through the wringer as a rookie, chewed up and spit out, and had come out stronger for it. Hitomi wasn’t the first to try and get under your skin, and she certainly wouldn’t be the last. Your resolve was solid, and you weren’t about to let her words shake you now.

Seeing that you had no reaction, she pressed on, her tone turning more aggressive. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re even still around here. I mean, after that slip-up the other night, it’s a miracle you didn’t get yourself killed. Maybe you should stick to the sidelines and let the real heroes do the work.”

Something inside you snapped. The pain and frustration that had been building up for days suddenly burst free, and you opened your mouth to retort—but before you could say a word, a familiar voice cut through the air, sharp and angry.

“What the hell did you just say?”

You both turned to see Bakugo standing a few feet away, his crimson eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at the sidekick. His presence was like a storm cloud rolling in, the atmosphere around him crackling with barely contained fury.

The sidekick’s confident demeanor faltered, her eyes widening in surprise and a hint of fear. “D-Dynamight! I was just—”

“You were just what?” Bakugo interrupted, stepping closer. “Talking shit to Y/H/N? Your superior?”

She stammered, clearly panicking. “I-I wasn’t… I didn’t mean—”

Bakugo’s expression darkened, his voice low and deadly calm. “You should know better than to run your mouth about things you don’t understand.”

The sidekick’s eyes darted between you and Bakugo, realizing she was in serious trouble. “But—”

Bakugo spoke over her, his patience completely gone. “You’ve got some nerve, talking like you know a damn thing about me or Y/N.”

You were frozen in place, watching the scene unfold in disbelief. Even after avoiding him for so long and keeping your distance, Bakugo was defending you—unrelentingly—and it was clear that he wasn’t going to let Hitomi off the hook.

“You’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass since you got here. Cause of what? All the delusional crap you read in a magazine? That ends now.”

The sidekick paled. “I’m sorry, Dynamight, I didn’t mean—”

“Save it. Now get the hell out of here.” he growled, not giving her a chance to finish.

You could hear when her heart broke, she glanced at you one last time, a look you read that you’ve won. Without another word, she bolted from the room, her confidence completely shattered. The moment she was gone, Bakugo turned his attention to you, his expression softening slightly, though the tension in his shoulders remained.

You stared at him, still reeling from what had just happened. “Bakugo, I—”

“Don’t,” he interrupted, his tone gentler than before. “Don’t apologize for her being a damn idiot.”

“I wasn’t going to apologize,” you said quietly. “I just… I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” he asked, his brow furrowing.

You looked down at your feet, your voice barely above a whisper. “About the rumors… I thought it was true.”

Bakugo let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Of course you did. Those vultures love to stir up shit for clicks. None of it was true. I’m not dating her—or anyone.”

You felt lighter from his words but quickly pushed down the hope that tried to rise in your chest. “But why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t think I needed to,” he muttered, looking almost sheepish. “I told you before, I wasn’t interested in dating. And I figured you’d know I wouldn’t get involved in that kind of crap.”

You swallowed hard, feeling a mix of relief and lingering hurt. “I… I didn’t want to assume anything. And after what I saw… I guess I thought I had misread everything between us.”

Bakugo’s gaze softened, and he stepped closer, his hand resting on your shoulder. “You didn’t misread anything. I know what I said before—But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, dumbass.”

The warmth of his hand on your shoulder, the sincerity in his eyes—it was too much. Your resolve crumbled, and you felt tears prickling at the corners of your eyes. “I thought you were just stringing me along.”

Bakugo’s heart ached at the sight of your tears, and without hesitation, he gently pulled you into a hug, his arms wrapping around you protectively. “’m sorry… I can be a total idiot sometimes, but I’d never screw with you on purpose.”

He rested his chin on your head. “So, don’t let that bullshit get to you.”

You buried your face in his chest, letting yourself relax into his embrace. “I missed you,” you mumbled into his hero suit, the words escaping before you could stop them.

He let out a soft huff, his hand moving to the back of your head, holding you close. The sound of his heart skipping a beat was unmistakable. “Missed you too, idiot. We’ll figure this out, okay? Just… don’t shut me out again.”

You nodded against his chest, feeling the weight that had been pressing down on you finally start to lift. “Okay.”

He pulled back slightly, just enough to look you in the eyes, his thumb brushing away a stray tear from your cheek. “Look, I’m not great at this, but… I want to try. With you.”

Your breath hitched, hope flaring back to life in your chest. “Really?”

Bakugo nodded, his expression serious. “Yeah. We can take it slow, figure things out…but I’m not letting you walk away.”

A small smile tugged at your lips as you looked up at him. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Katsuki.”

He smiled, his dimples appearing at the sound of his first name rolling off your tongue, and he leaned in, pressing a gentle, lingering kiss to your forehead. “Good.”

You leaned into him, feeling the last remnants of doubt melt away. As he pulled back, you felt his breath against your skin. His eyes flickered down to your lips, with an unspoken question hung in the air. Without overthinking it, you leaned up on your toes, closing the small distance between you.

Bakugo hesitated for the briefest of moments, then closed the gap, capturing your lips in a kiss that was tender. Everything he couldn’t say with words was poured into that kiss—every frustration, every ounce of care, every unresolved feeling that had been simmering between you for so long.

Your arms wrapped around his neck as you leaned into the kiss, the warmth of his embrace grounding you. His hands settled on your waist, pulling you closer as if he was afraid you might slip away. The world around you seemed to fade, leaving just the two of you in that moment.

When you finally pulled back, both of you were breathless, your foreheads resting against each other’s. His eyes were still half-lidded, a faint blush coloring his cheeks—a rare sight for him.

“Damn idiot,” he muttered softly, his voice laced with affection. “Should’ve kissed me sooner.”

You couldn’t help but smile, your fingers gently tracing the line of his jaw. “Maybe I was waiting for you to make the first move.”

He huffed, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Guess I’ll have to make up for lost time, then.”

Before you could respond, he pulled you in for another kiss, this one deeper, more confident—like he was staking his claim. And you kissed him back with equal fervor, knowing that, this time, you weren’t going to let anything or anyone come between you.

When you finally broke apart, you stayed in his arms, content and more at ease than you had felt in weeks. The uncertainty that had plagued you was gone. And for now, that was more than enough.

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tag list: @berryvioo @poemzcheng @bri-licious08 @hypernovaxx @dragonscribble @adultseatdinonuggets4dinner

#mha x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #mha bakugo x reader #mha x reader angst #bnha x gn!reader #bnha x reader #my hero academia x reader #mha x gender neutral reader #bakugo x reader angst #mha x reader hurt comfort #bakugo x reader hurt comfort #cyber.writes

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moonlitshines · 2 months ago

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fragile hearts.

bakugo katsuki x f!reader

angst, hurt and comfort. toxic rs (?) happy ending.

aftermath of the screaming competition you’ve had with your boyfriend last night.

Synopsis: You and Bakugo were dating for years already but having a romantic relationship with him doesn’t mean that he’s less meaner to you. Yesterday, he was really tired from training and overworked. When you tried to take care of him, he snapped and said hurtful things for the nth time. This has been happening over and over already.

You were laying down on the bed while scrolling on your phone. Him, on the other hand, is busy with his computer, playing a game and acting unbothered. Both of you refusing to talk to each other.

You heard him sigh to himself. His focus shifts ever so often during his match as he sneaks a glance at you from his peripheral vision. He knows he snapped at you yesterday, but at the same time he was frustrated and tired after having practiced the same move over and over for hours on end. That was no excuse to snap at you, of course, but he’d never admit that. But even while feeling a pang of guilt in his chest, Bakugo keeps his mouth shut and continues to watch his match.

The game comes to a pause and he looks over again at you. The guilt starts to eat at him more as he thinks about what he said to you yesterday. He feels the urge to say something, but his ego and pride holds him back from doing so. He sighs to himself again before deciding to talk to you.

“Hey.”

You didn’t, however, said anything and just keeps scrolling on your phone. That made him want to approach you, thus he sits on the bed right where you are and gives you a sidelong glance. Seeing you scrolling on your phone and looking like you don’t want to talk to him, you heard him sigh to himself again.

“Hey, can we talk?”

You just took a quick glance at him, “About what?”

It’s not like you really don’t know what he wants. He didn’t fail to notice how you respond curtly. He doesn’t know if it’s because you’re still mad at him or not, but he chooses his next words carefully. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s being defensive towards you.

“I want to talk about yesterday… because I know I got a little heated and… said some things I shouldn’t have said to you.”

He keeps his eyes on you, trying to read your expression to gauge what you’re thinking. He is honestly pretty worried that you’d give him a negative response… and quite honestly, that you’d just ignore him and not talk to him at all, which he honestly thinks he deserves but still doesn’t want to happen.

“I just… need to get my head focused and I kinda lost my cool,” he says quietly as he struggles with his words. Bakugo isn’t good with verbal emotions but he really wanted to express himself to you without saying the wrong things.

“It’s fine. I apologize for bothering you, too. Sorry, I’ll let you focus now,” you muttered.

“Is that it?”

You didn’t fail to notice the frustration in his face as he said that. He wasn’t sure if it’s because you’re not even remotely forgiving to him and you’re just going to disregard his attempt at trying to talk to you… or if you’re not interested in talking at all. Either of those two things makes him extremely frustrated as his ego is telling him to just ignore it, but his heart is telling him to keep going.

He furrows his eyebrows and grits his teeth while holding back the urge to get snappy with you. He takes a deep breath and clenches his fists… thinking carefully on what to say next.

“No… I don’t… I can’t just…” he pauses and looks at you for a second before he grabs your wrist, “…Don’t just say ‘it’s fine’ and brush it aside.”

He moves closer to you and looks you in the eyes. He is really trying hard to get you to say something more than just ‘it’s fine’ right now. He needs you to say something… anything. He doesn’t like this kind of tension between you two, especially since he is the reason for it.

He tightens his grip on your wrist slightly before continuing to speak. This clearly shows how frustrated, worried, panicked, and guilty he is with the whole situation.

“Please… talk to me. Don’t act like you’re just okay with it because I know you’re not.”

You were looking down, trying to act fine when it really wasn't, “It’s fine, Katsuki. Really,” you said in a low voice so he wouldn't notice your voice shaking.

He scoffs with frustration at you. He hates how you keep just saying the same thing over and over, as if you can’t even be honest with him. This whole situation is really testing his patience.

“No, it’s not fine. You won’t even talk to me!”

He says while gritting his teeth and furrowing his brows. He is trying really hard to not lash out at you, but you’re really pushing his buttons right now.

You scoff and almost rolled your eyes as you heard him. You recalled what exactly he said yesterday when he snapped at you, you were just doing what he wanted and now he’s still gonna snap at you for doing that? Shouldn’t he be happy?

“I’m just not meddling with your business.”

He lets go of your wrist as he leans back and runs his hand through his hair as he tries to rein in his frustration. He is honestly getting to the boiling point at this point because you are not saying what he wants to hear.

“You’re not gonna mess with my business? You’ve always meddled in my business,” he says dryly. He can’t even help but chuckle bitterly at how hypocritical that sounds as he feels the irony of the whole situation.

You didn’t respond. This is what happened last night, too. You know for sure he’s gonna keep going and repeat all the things he already said. Like what always happens.

He scoffs silently to himself as he looks at you, “You’ve always been around me and now all of a sudden you don’t want to meddle with my business?”

You were keeping your head on the ground, trying not to snap because you know it won’t help. And it’s his job, not yours.

“Isn't that what you wanted?”

He furrows his eyebrows as he gives you a perplexed look. He doesn’t know what you’re trying to get at, which is even more infuriating for him.

“What do you mean what I wanted? I never said I wanted you to not meddle with me,” he says in a slightly annoyed tone as he looks at you with a sharp glare.

“Yeah, that’s not what you said last night,“ you replied, getting tired of him acting like it’s not his fault why you’re acting this way.

He scoffs as he looks away, clenching his jaw. He didn’t expect you to bring that up so casually. The memories of what he said last night came rushing into his mind and honestly… he is starting to regret it.

“…That’s not what I meant… you know that.”

“It is pretty much what you meant. There’s no way you didn’t mean it one bit when you brought it up so many times.”

“Can’t you just forget that I said those things?”

Hearing that, you scoff and roll your eyes. Forget it? Just forget everything he said? How can you just forget it when everytime he snaps at you, it was the same thing he says over and over? There’s no way he didn’t mean it, right?

He can hardly reign himself in anymore. The frustration and agitation is getting the better of him. He is clenching his fists so hard now with a murderous glare in his eyes. He looks like he’s about to explode at any second from this whole situation.

“Why are you acting like this? Are you really that petty because I said some shitty things?”

He raises his voice and steps even closer to you, his eyes fixed on your face. At this point, he’s already lost his cool.

He continues, his voice is getting louder and louder as he talks.

“I told you to stop meddling in my business, so what? All of a sudden you’re acting like I told you to piss off and not talk to me anymore?!”

You scoff for the nth time this day, “I’m just minding my own life. Like you told me to.”

His grip on your shoulders tightens as his fingernails dig into your skin, it starts to hurt. The tension in the air is so thick you can cut it with a knife. He’s clenching his jaw so hard it looks like he’s about to gnaw all his teeth at this point from how strained he is because of all this.

“Katsuki.. you’re.. hurting me. Please, let go,” you said weakly, almost whispering. You closed your eyes shut as you felt his grip just tighten even more, you were already feeling his nails digging right on your skin, despite wearing a sleeve.

He just scoffs and lets out a dry, bitter laugh. He tightens his grip on your shoulders even more as he locks you in place. He continues to glare at you as he speaks with a cold and sharp tone.

“Why? You deserve it. If you’re being difficult, you should expect me to be rough back at you,” he said as if he was out of his mind.

“You’re so frustrated you don’t care if you hurt me?” you asked as if you don’t already know the answer, considering how he acts right now and whenever he’s tired and snapping at you.

“Let go, please. You were hurting me verbally.. through words.. just a day ago. And now you're.. doing it.. physically. You don’t even care anymore?” you muttered in a weak tone. You were tired and you can’t take anymore of this anymore.

He furrows his eyebrows and his grip on your shoulders tightens even more. He clearly doesn’t like you bringing that up, but he keeps his cold glare on you as he continues to respond.

“You still deserve it and should’ve seen it coming for you acting like this. After all, I gave you a way out when I told you to forget about it, but you just kept acting so damn cold.”

Your eyes just widened at his response. He’s.. not thinking clearly. I deserve him hurting me physically because I did what he wanted? Because I chose to stay out of his business like he told me to? Was it my fault?

You couldn’t take it anymore. You keep your eyes shut, preparing yourself to ask the question you never thought will cross your mind.

“Katsuki, at this point.. shouldn’t we just.. end this?”

He stops and freezes as he hears that word come from your mouth. He looks at you with his eyes wide as he feels a wave of shock go through his body.

“End this..?”

He says with a disbelieving tone. He can hardly believe the words that just came out of your mouth. With that, he lets go of your shoulder. You put a hand on it, considering how it hurts so much. He was gripping it like he intended to make you bleed.

As he lets go of your shoulders, he steps back, staring at you with a surprised and disbelieving look.

“What do you mean end this? Do you…”

He stops, the words getting stuck in his throat. It’s almost as if his mind can’t even process it.

“Do you mean end our relationship?”

He says, his voice sounding strained. His eyes are locked on your face, searching for any answers to the hundreds of questions swirling in his head right now.

You didn’t say anything, and your silence was his confirmation. He stops and stares at you. He can’t believe what you just said. It feels like someone had just suddenly ripped his heart out from his chest.

“Why…. Why do you want to end this?”

He asks, his voice hoarse and weak. He feels like he’s about to collapse from the wave of disbelief and shock that just hit him.

He steps closer to you and grabs you by the shoulders, looking at you with a desperate look. He just can’t understand what you’re thinking, and is desperately trying to cling onto anything that can salvage this whole situation.

“Can you just… can you explain why…?”

He says, his voice cracking from trying to hold back the emotions in his chest right now. You shut your eyes again. You chose to ignore the pain in his voice because you know how weak you are when it comes to him.

“I tell you what’s wrong, that you hurt me. You mock me and try to make it my fault. This just keeps happening over and over again. You don’t want to change, that’s why it’s happening again and again. It’s tiring,” you finally said, finally saying what you have been holding back out loud.

He falters as he hears you say that. His grip on you loosens as he stares at you, trying to process the words you just said.

“I…. I hurt you? Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

He can’t help but look at you, his expression now looking like a mixture of guilt, regret, and disbelief in himself. All this time, he thought you were just fine and didn’t know that he was hurting you with how he was acting.

You try not to roll your eyes as he asked that, “I did tell you! All you replied was that I deserve it!”

He stays silent at your reply. That’s right. You did tell him. He remembers now that you did, but he got so caught up in his anger that he brushed you off.

“…I didn’t mean it like that,” he says quietly. He doesn’t know how to make this better anymore, the regret of his actions now weighing heavily on his chest.

He steps even closer to you, his arms now reaching out to wrap around your waist, pulling you tight to his chest. He buries his head against your shoulder, his grip on you tight and desperate as he tries to hold back the flood of emotions in his chest right now.

“I… I’m so sorry,” he finally said.

It’s as if he’s at the verge of sobbing right now. He feels so guilty and remorseful for what he’s done to you, and now it’s all crashing down on him at the thought of losing you.

You didn’t do anything as he hugs you, didn’t hug him back. You just let him.

His voice is weak and shaky as he struggles to keep it together. His body is trembling from the mixture of emotions in his chest right now as he continues to hold you tight against him.

“Please… please tell me I can fix this…” He whispers against your shoulder, his voice raw and strained as he clings onto you, desperate to hold on.

He keeps his head buried against your shoulder, his hands gripping the back of your shirt tightly. It’s clear that he is trying his best to rein in his emotions right now, but he is on the verge of breaking down due to the guilt and regret that is crushing his chest right now.

“Please…. I’ll do anything, just don’t… don’t end this,” he practically pleads with you, his voice cracking slightly from his struggle to keep it together.

That was your last straw. You sighed, knees starting to give up. You were weak. Weak when it comes to him. You can’t handle it when he shows his emotions.. his vulnerable side. You’re weak and so hopelessly in love with him.

You didn’t say anything but wrap your arms around him, hugging him back and burying your face against his chest.

The moment you hug him back, he lets out a shaky exhale of relief. It’s at this point that he lets go of the last of his self control, and just breaks down into your embrace.

His whole body trembles as he clings onto you tightly, his arms wrapping around you as he buries his head against your shoulder. His body feels like it’s collapsing at this point as all the emotions in his chest just come out.

His chest is heaving as he struggles to catch his breath, his body and mind overcome with an overwhelming tsunami of emotion.

“Please... I’m sorry... I’m so s-sorry...”

He keeps repeating it apologetically as he hugs you even tighter, his hands clenching the back of your shirt. It’s like he’s scared that if he lets go of you, you’ll just disappear and leave him forever.

“I promise... I’ll change. I’ll do anything to be b-better for you... Please, j-just.. don’t... leave me....”

It was your first time hearing him talk like that, admitting that it was his fault, and that he will change. For you. It was the first time you see him act like this. He was scared to lose you. So scared. And you don’t want to leave him either. Despite all the things that happened and what he did, you can’t help but want to be the one who stays beside him, protect him, take care of him, and love him.

“I’m.. holding you onto that,” you muttered in a soft, weak voice.

He nods vigorously against your shoulder, his arms around you hugging you even tighter. There’s a slight sense of relief in his body now after hearing that you’re not leaving.

“I will... I promise,” he says, his voice shaky and vulnerable as he holds you like he’s holding onto dear life right now. He has no plans of letting you go any time soon.

He takes a deep breath as he continues to hold you tightly in his arms. His body is still trembling slightly as he clings onto you, the whole emotional outburst leaving him feeling weak and vulnerable. He continues to bury his head against your shoulder, not wanting to let go just yet and wanting to stay like this with you for as long as possible.

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugo katsuki #katsuki bakugou #bakugo x reader #bakugo x you #bakugo angst #bnha angst #mha angst #angst #angst with a happy ending #hurt/comfort #argument #happy ending #fanfic #idk what im doing

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sannasruins · 1 year ago

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it didn't hurt, right?

bakugo katsuki x reader

type: angst

warnings: cheating (on reader), smoking, f!reader

a/n: hi it's been a while, got writer's block but then something bad happened to me which always makes the writing juices flow, also i didn't proofread, i will never proofread

word count: 2k

The strike of a lighter lit in front of your face, you weren't one to smoke, in fact, you had never smoked a cigarette before. After all that had happened to you today though, you thought you needed a vice. You needed something, anything, too dull, to numb, to take your mind off what had happened. What you had heard, and now this dull ache refusing to leave your chest. You let the flame go out.

Leaning against the cold brick wall in the dark, in the alleyway of the convince store where you had just bought a pack of Marlboro's, the pretty sad girls always seemed to smoke those, and a matching red lighter. You huddled into yourself, hands stuffed in your jacket pockets, fist clamped around the box you had just bought. Your chilled body illuminated slightly by the neon lights of the city that spilled into your hiding place, you shakily take out the box, struggling for a second on how to open it before, with shaky hands, successfully ripping into it. You tapped out a single thin white stick and brought it to your lips, before restriking the lighter and bringing it to the tip.

You inhaled deeply, and paused before you began coughing, it felt as if you were going to cough your lungs right out of your body with how hard they were wracking your entire being. You bent over, hands on your knees as your whole body shook with the motions of your coughs, the cigarette, forgotten and extinguished on the ground by your feet, while this was a miserable feeling, you thought to yourself, it did replace that horrible knot of anxiety in your stomach for a few moments. Maybe it was worth it.

You thought back to what had caused this rash change in behavior for you, it wasn’t too long ago, just a few weeks, maybe even a handful of minutes if you didn’t count the foreboding feeling leading up to it.

You had been dating your boyfriend, Pro Hero Bakugo Katsuki for 2 years now, but had known him since the days that he was an upper classman for you at UA high, you in the support class a year under him, got semi acquainted with him as he frequently was breaking his equipment. After he graduated you both lost touch but when you graduated and found a job as a hero equipment repair apprentice at the same agency he was working at, the two of you began to interact once more.

You had had a crush on him since your schooling days, your girl friends always calling you crazy for liking such an abrasive boy, but you liked his candor, and his mental fortitude. The two of you found your quick wit in common and you could sympathize with him in a way that it seemed that a lot of people could not, which you didn’t fully understand but you didn’t let it get to you.

He asked you out 2 years after you had started working at the pro hero agency, he had brought a bouquet of your favorite flowers, you were surprised he had known them, but you happily said yes with years in your eyes. Your girlhood crush had been realized; how many people can say that.

You asked him later what made him ask you out, what he liked about you. He told you he liked your sweetness, your kind eyes, and maybe it was a red flag that he didn't mention how brave you were, or your quick hands, or your impressive talents. But maybe not, it’s hard to tell at this point.

He was sweet for a while, attentive, present, though it did drop off eventually, maybe after a year, maybe a bit sooner. You could shrug that off though, he was a pro hero, he was busy protecting the city and the entirety of Japan.

The two of you moved in together on your one-year anniversary, you thought it was so sweet when he presented you with the key to his apartment in a little box with a bow. Though was that just lazy behavior? Did he do that because he didn’t know what else to do or didn’t care to do anything else? You were questioning everything about the of your relationship at this point.

You hadn’t brought much from your apartment, just a couple boxes of stuff besides clothes, since his place was already furnished with things much nicer than yours. You didn’t think you would be needing any of your old furniture again, no point in paying for storage for things you don’t need, so you sold it off for a little bit of money to put into your savings, you secretly had the thought of ‘wedding’ when saving the money.

You chuckle bitterly in the alleyway you’ve been reminiscing in, “stupid” you murmur to yourself.

It was definitely dumb of you to sell almost all your belongings when moving in with your first serious boyfriend, but you were young and dumb and in love.

You were happy cooking lunches for the both of you, and then making breakfast, before going to work an 8-hour shift, often having to put in overtime due to unexpected or urgent repairs needing to be done, and then coming home, cleaning your shared living spaces, and starting on dinner before he came home. It became a routine, and you didn’t mind, he worked hard, and you loved him, so putting in some extra effort didn’t hurt, right?

You loved him. He loved you. It didn't hurt, right?

He had been acting a little more distant than usual in the last few weeks, you had tried talking to him, getting him to open up, letting him know you were there for him, giving him his space, but no matter what you did, nothing seemed to work, he just seemed to be getting further and further away from you, coming home later, pushing his dinner around his plate but not eating, and even when the two of you slept in the same bed, side by side, it was as if you were worlds apart. You had no idea what was going on, you equated it to his job, it was hard, he had to watch people get hurt, he had to watch people die, he had to bear the guilt of not being able to save those claimed by death. You felt helpless sitting there watching him drift away but you tried everything, there was nothing left for you to do.

He came home earlier than his new normal that day, the sun was still in the sky, albeit, setting, the orange fingers of light stretching out through the clouds as if grasping onto the day, not wanting to leave the bliss of unknowing.

“Oh, hi honey!” you greeted him as you heard the door unlock and swing open, “you’re home earlier than you’ve been, so I don’t have dinner ready quite yet,”.

You continued to happily babble as he took off his shoes by the entrance and closed the door behind him before making his way to the kitchen where you stood and took a seat at the dining table. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling the spikes slightly, in a way he did when he was anxious, but you didn’t see the movement as you had you back turned, happily stirring away at a pot on the stove.

“We need to talk.” He stated.

You felt your stomach drop in anxiety, you didn’t like his tone of voice, it was curt, it was clipped, it was cold. It was unfamiliar.

“O-” your voice caught in your throat, “Okay Hun, well dinners almost ready so, like 10 more minutes and we can talk over it okay? Thats fine, right?” you asked, more trying to reassure yourself than anything else.

“Y/n,” again, the unfamiliar tone, “turn off the stone, that can wait, we need to talk now.”

You slowly released the iron grasp you didn’t know you had on the wooden spoon you held in your hand, a sizable lump growing in your throat, before you inhaled through your nose and acknowledged him.

“Okay, Katsuki.” you turned the burner off, and whipped your palms quickly down your jeans once, steeling yourself before you turned to face him, sitting at the table, which suddenly looked alien to you.

You walked stiffly towards the chair you always sat in, opposite him, and looked at his face, there was an indescribable expression on it, but it was stern, and chilly. His lips were pressed into a hard line, and his eyes had a storm of emotion in them, determination, but behind that, maybe, guilt.

You pulled the chair out and sat, dread already filling your stomach as your mind filled with 1,000 ideas as to what he had to say, though nothing could have prepared you for the words that were about to leave his mouth.

“I found someone else.”

Time slowed for you.

He continued, “and I think I love her, more than I love you, I think more than I could ever love you.”, every second felt agonizing as you processed what he had just told you, someone else? You had a million questions, and they all started falling out of your mouth, tumbling and choking you along with your tears.

“Why? Who? For how long? When did this start? Where did you meet her? What do you mean? Can’t I do anything to fix this? Why are yo-,” You were stuttering and stumbling over your words before he held up a hand to stop your onslaught of questions.

“I can’t say why, I didn’t do it to hurt you, I still care about you, I do still love you, I just,” he paused and put his head in his hands, sighing, “I love her more.”

“I can’t tell you wh-” you stood up, the sound of your chair scrapping against the wooden floor cutting him off. Fat, hot tears ran down your cheeks and you walked past him and towards the front door.

He stood up as you passed, the sharp sound of his chair on the floor abrasive in your ears, and you flinched, squinting your eyes closed.

He grabbed your arm tightly, perhaps he didn’t know his own strength, but the force was bruising. You tried once to shake him off, but he didn’t let go. “Y/n, sit back down and listen to me,” he tried to command you.

You tried again to shrug him off, and when he again refused to release you from his grasp, your voice, raspy and harsher, and in a tone, he had never heard escape from your lips, confronted him.

“Let me go Bakugo.”

His hand loosened and you were able to finally shrug your bicep out of his fisted hand.

He stood there silently watching as you made your way to the front door, shoving your feet into the first pair of shoes you saw and grabbing a jacket, before opening the door and heading out, slamming it behind you.

That is how you had found yourself, now sitting on the ground in the alleyway on the side of a convenience store, knees to your eyes as you shook silently with sobs.

You lowered your knees and again reached into your jacket pocket, pulling out the little box and lighter, deciding to try again. You brought the cigarette back up to your shaky lips and repeated the steps, click of the lighter, bring the flame in close, let the flame die, inhale. Ignore the burn in your chest, exhale.

It didn’t hurt, right?

a/n: there will not be a part two, this was lightly based on an experience that happened to me, and i won't want to write a fake future. even if his actions end up coming and biting him in the ass though, i have moved past it, as i am not going to spend my youth full of regret and rage, it doesn't hurt anyone but me. I hope all of my readers understand. <3

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ghostxrose · 8 months ago

Text

𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅 | 𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒖𝒈𝒐 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒊 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

Summary ~ For three years your life was great, then Katsuki said nine little words. Nine simple words. One singular sentence. And everything that happened after those nine fucking words were spoken? Absolute Hell.

Tags/Warnings ~ MDNI, some non-descript NSFW content, Fem!Reader, some fluff, on a scale we're lookin at mostly hurt accompanied by a little bit of comfort, heavy angst, angst w/a happy ending tho, potentially triggering situations, mild description of injuries, !alternate ending- read note for info please!, idk what else to tag just comment if there's anything else <3

Note ~ Hey Lovelies, soo this fic is going to be long and it's going to be angstyyy. The word count is 16,667 words without the alternate ending, so buckle in, Lovelies! And just remember, I swear to you that this idea started out a lot smaller and a lot fluffier in my head. The plot just took over and churned out this monstrosity.

Now, onto addressing the alternate ending.. I think it's technically more of an extended ending that will crush your soul if you choose to read it. Do with that what you will, just know that I warned you. I put it below the second image divider, under the A/N..

Happy reading, My Lovelies! <3

Maybe it was meant to be or maybe it wasn’t. You knew the parameters of his job, his still-budding career, his dream. You knew why your relationship was kept a secret from everyone. You had both agreed to keep it hidden and you were even happy about it. You enjoyed the privacy of it all.. No one butting in with opinions or teasing comments. No risks of having your daily life plastered all over various media. No threats upon your life from vengeful villains. It was just you and Katsuki living your best lives together, until..

“I’m goin’ on a mission out of the country.”

Those had been the first words out of Katsuki’s mouth when he had finally decided to break the brooding silence that he had been exercising since he stepped foot into your shared apartment.

He had gotten home from work, taken his shoes off, and went straight to your guys’ bedroom without uttering a single word to you. It had been mostly uncharacteristic of him, but you had just brushed it off as him having had a rough day and let it be. When he had finally chosen to speak, you were both halfway through the dinner you had made.

Your chopsticks had clattered to the table as something paralyzing and numbing had taken over your body. You had looked over at him, your eyes glassy and your hands shaking. Shock, fear, anger, and sadness had slammed into you like a brick wall and made everything heart-breakingly surreal. He was staring down at his plate, refusing to look at you, but his jaw was clenched and his hand had tightened around his chopsticks.

“Look, ya know that this-” he had begun to argue, begun to try to defend himself and his job, but you had cut him off.

“When do you leave?” You had asked in a voice that was far more calm and controlled than you had ever thought was possible in a moment like that.

It was then that his eyes had widened slightly and he met your gaze, his features softening a bit when he had noticed the barely contained tears that had built up on your lash lines.

“Two days.” He had stated in a quiet tone and a bit of guilt in his eyes.

“F-for ho-how long?” You had stuttered out as your poorly held together composure crumbled.

He was quiet for a moment, eyes roaming your face and taking you in, before he spoke again, “A year. Could be shorter, could be longer.”

You could tell that he was a bit surprised that neither of you were yelling or fighting about it, yet. But he also knew that you had always been someone who never let things get to that point, nor had you ever aided in his fuse blowing. You had always been his calm, his quiet, his serenity.

You had quietly nodded your head as you took in the information and attempted to process. You were mentally going over everything you both would have to do to prepare for his departure when he had spoken up, yet again.

“I,” he had started, albeit abnormally hesitantly, before continuing, “I don’t want you to wait for me.”

Your entire world had shattered, caught fire, fucking exploded, in that moment and you snapped.

“What the actual fuck are you talking about, Katsuki?” You questioned, your voice raised and harsh.

Katsuki had visibly winced before hardening his expression and body language. In the three years that you and him had been together you had never raised your voice at him let alone ever said his name like that. His face had shifted into a heated glare, something that he was very much familiar with.

“You fuckin’ heard me, Y/N! I don’t need you mopin’ around this place just fuckin’ waitin’ to see if I’ll message you or even return home! I- I’m cuttin’ you free! Free to do whatever the fuck you want! Free to party! Free to go out with whoever you want! Free to fuck whoever you want!” He had viciously spat out, his voice raised to a shout by the end of his explanation.

Your brain had stopped working as horrified shock had taken over your features and tears had flowed down your face. You were only knocked back into reality when Katsuki had slammed his fist down on the table as curses flew from his mouth.

“Do.. how.. You truly think so low of me?” You had asked, your voice quieted by immense hurt and disbelief. “You truly believe that I wouldn’t be able to handle you being away? That I would let myself just sit here in our apartment and rot?! You truly believe that I would want to be with or fuck anyone else?! Jesus fucking Christ, Katsuki! Do the last three fucking years not exist?! Do you not fucking know me at all?!” You had shouted back at him, your voice cracking and raw.

You had shattered completely after shouting, your face in your hands as gut-wrenching sobs tore from your mouth. A metallic tang on your tongue with every harsh exhale had told you just how much your vocal cords had suffered. It had felt like you were choking as you sat there trying to wrap your head around what the hell was going on.

“Kirishima and Mina will be here tomorrow to help get my stuff. They’re going to store it for me until I get back. I’ve already taken my name off of the lease, but paid for the next six months’ rent. I..” Katsuki had paused for a moment, his disconnected tone wavering ever-so-slightly before he cleared his throat. “This is what needs to happen, Y/N.” He had said with emotionless finality.

That had broken you even more, something you had thought impossible at the time, and overwhelming nausea had slammed into you. You had bolted from the table and barely made it to the bathroom before what little you had eaten at dinner made its reappearance. You had locked yourself in that bathroom for the rest of the night. Katsuki hadn’t knocked, hadn’t called out to you to see if you were okay. You had caught the few times he had lingered outside of the door, but he had just walked away silently each time.

That was four months ago.

Now, you do anything you can to not be in that godforsaken apartment that he had left you in.

Every time you’re there, memories of the day he left shred you into nothing. Flashbacks of numbly sitting on the couch watching him gather the small amount of items he had left in the apartment and placing them by the door. Flashbacks of watching him make his coffee and eat in silence. Flashbacks of shivering from the devastating cold that had settled into your bones, no matter the amount of layers you had thrown on. Flashbacks of him not looking at you once as he put his shoes on, picked up his bags, and left without uttering a single fucking word.

The click of the door shutting is an echo that haunts and breaks you every single time you step foot in that place.

So now you spend your nights at friends’ houses or in hotels. You throw yourself into working or meaningless tasks. You fill all of your freetime with hobby after hobby. You do absolutely anything and everything you can because if you stop for one fucking second, then all of your thoughts go back to him.

Is this what he wanted for you?

You know about and pointedly ignore worries thrown your way. You dismiss the questions from friends and family about your sudden change in pace and mental state.

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

“Why are you working yourself so hard?”

“What are you constantly rushing around for?”

“Are you sleeping okay? Those dark circles are a bit concerning..”

“Has something happened?”

“Y/N, are you doing okay?”

Are you doing okay?

You force your happy facade back into place as you look at your reflection in the doors of the elevator. Ignoring all of the physical signs of you not being okay, you paint a smile on your face when you hear the ding alerting you of your arrival to the requested floor. Freshly baked goodies in hand, you step out of the elevator, your eyes searching for the door number you want. Finally seeing and getting up to the aforementioned door, you take a deep breath and knock. It takes a moment or two, but eventually the door opens.

“Hey, Izuku! I had some time and thought I’d drop by to give you these!” You greet cheerfully, holding up the bags of baked goods. “There’s, uhm, there’s.. Shit, what did I make, again..” You fumble and look down into the bags to remember what all you had baked.

Your memory comes back to you and with a triumphant grin, you look back up at Izuku, “Right! There’s some mochi, chocolate chunk cookies, uhm, red bean-”

“Y/N,” Izuku says your name softly, but in a way that feels offending-ly like pity and your words come to a dead-stop.

“Please don’t speak to me like that.” You quietly grit out, your hands gripping the handles of the bags tightly as your eyes fall to the floor, your stare boring holes into Izuku’s socked feet.

A sigh is exhaled through Izuku’s nose before he reaches out and gently grabs your shoulder, bringing you into his apartment. You let him guide you inside, your facade cracking a bit and letting your heavier emotions through to slump your body language. The door clicks shut behind you and you unintentionally flinch at the soft noise. Scarred hands come into your vision and gently take the bags from your still clenched ones.

Izuku is one of the only people who knows about your.. situation, other than Kirishima and Mina. You hate that anyone knows, but you especially hate that Izuku knows. You hate it because the only reason he knows is due to the letter that Katsuki had delivered to him the day he left. The letter that Izuku refuses to let you read. The letter that your green-haired friend refuses to even talk about with you any more than it stated to look after you.

The day Katsuki had left, Izuku had shown up not long after the blonde had closed the door. Izuku had let himself in using the key, Katsuki’s key, that had been in the envelope with the letter. You hadn’t moved from your spot on the couch. The green-haired hero had found you just sitting there staring at the wall with tears dripping from your face.

It was Izuku who had cleaned up Katsuki’s mess. It was Izuku who had quietly found a washcloth and dampened it, then used it to gently wipe your face. It was Izuku who had forced you to eat buttered toast and drink some water. It was Izuku who had sat there in the blaring silence with you until you ultimately passed out from the exhaustion of it all.

“Y/N,” Izuku calls your name softly, once again, bringing you back to the present. You look up to see him holding the bags you have yet to let go of with a small, albeit sad, smile.

“You can let go of these now, thank you.” He says gently as he slowly pulls the bags further toward himself. With a small nod, you finally relinquish your grasp on the bags. A slightly stuttered breath leaves your lungs before you straighten up and paint a smile on your face.

“My bad, sorry about that!” You say with a huff of forced laughter.

“Have you eaten today?” Izuku asks with a knowing tone as he makes his way to his kitchen. Your jaw clenches out of irritation and it’s only made worse when a sharp pang from your stomach hits.

“I have.” You lie, kicking off your shoes and moving to follow him, ignoring the way your body trembles slightly and how the room spins a bit when you move too fast.

“Well, I was just about to make dinner. How about you join me?” Izuku says, his question coming out as more of a statement even with the cheery lilt of his voice.

“I would love to but I’ve got, ya know, some stuff to do still, so-” You ramble out as you back-track toward your shoes and the door. You cut yourself off when you feel a warm static wrapping around your wrist and you stop walking. Looking down, you see a tendril of Blackwhip gently pulling you back toward the kitchen and you let out an irritated huff.

“Sit down for a bit, Y/N. How does katsudon sound?” Izuku’s annoyingly kind voice asks as another tendril of Blackwhip pulls out a chair for you.

With a tired sigh, you plop yourself down into the chair and grumble out, “Sounds good.”

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

Izuku listens closely for a few moments, standing at his cracked bedroom door. When he doesn’t hear anything more than the electrical humming of the apartment, he closes the door as quietly as he can. He makes his way to his bed and grabs his phone off of the nightstand, turning it on and navigating through apps.

After going through the extensive security process of the HPSC Communications app, he pulls up Katsuki’s file. Getting to the call function, Izuku presses it with almost no hesitation, then brings the phone up to his ear.

“The fuck are ya risking a call for, Nerd?” Katsuki’s agitated tone demands when the call connects after a few rings.

“Hello to you too, Kacchan.” Izuku says quietly while rolling his eyes.

“Cut the fuckin’ pleasantries, Izuku. You already know these damn calls can’t be long. Also, why the fuck are you whispering?” Katsuki, once again, demands. Though, he sounds more tired now than anything else.

“Y/N came by today, ended up crashing here for the night. Hopefully, she’s sleeping but I don’t want to risk her hearing me talking to you..” Izuku quietly explains, wincing slightly at how bluntly it all came out. Silence fills the call at the mention of you and Izuku tries to suppress his frustrations with his childhood friend.

“She’s.. she’s not doing well, Kacchan. If her physical state is anything to go off of, she’s losing it. She’s lost more weight, the bags under her eyes could pass as bruises, her mental stability is practically nonexistent-” Izuku says, diving into his reason for calling when he’s cut off.

“Goddammit, Izuku! The fuck do you want me to do?! I can’t come home! Not that I think that it would help any! Every fucking ‘update’ you give me does nothing! I know what I did was shitty! I know that! But I can’t do anything to change or fix things right now, so what the hell do you want from me?!” Katsuki shouts from his end of the call making Izuku wince and hold the phone away from his ear.

Sighing heavily at Katsuki’s angered breathing coming through the speaker, Izuku defeatedly replies, “You told me to give you updates, Kacchan, and I’m doing that. I don’t know what you should do with the information I give you and I know how you feel about what you did. I.. I’m just worried about her.”

Izuku runs a hand through his hair, letting out another sigh before continuing, “If she keeps going like this.. she’s going to-”

“Don’t.” Katsuki speaks up, his voice quiet and shaking slightly. “Don’t finish that fucking sentence, please Izuku. I can’t.. If she.. Just, don’t.”

“I’m sorry, Kacchan.. Obviously, I’m going to keep doing my best to keep an eye on her, but.. I can only do so much.” Izuku says quietly, defeat and helplessness churning his mind.

“I know, Nerd.. thanks.” Katsuki grumbles out, but his gratitude is still felt by Izuku.

“So, how’s the mission going?” Izuku asks awkwardly, changing the subject.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

You wake up the next morning, taking a few moments to gaze around the room you’re in and remember where you are. Rolling onto your back, you yawn as you take in the familiarity of the guest room of Izuku’s apartment. You’ve spent more than a few nights (and days) in this room within the last four months, so much so that some of your clothes take up space in the closet. You hate feeling like you’re imposing on Izuku every time you spend the night, but you are eternally grateful for his friendship.

Letting out a sigh, you stare blankly up at the ceiling as a cold, numbing feeling sinks into your body. You don’t want to move. You don’t want to exhaust yourself anymore by pretending to be okay. You just want to lay in bed and rot. But you can’t because that’s what Katsuki expected you to do and you can’t let him be right.

Ignoring the beginning ache of a headache from crying multiple times throughout the night, you heave your body out of the bed. Slowly, you shuffle your way to the bathroom and try, very desperately, to find the energy to put together your facade of happiness. The smell of food cooking floats through the air and a small, appreciative smile pulls at your lips.

Finishing up your business in the bathroom, you make your way to the kitchen. You find Izuku humming quietly as he scoops rice into two separate bowls. Also spotting two steaming bowls of miso soup, you feel your stomach rumble a bit.

“Good morning, Izuku!” You greet happily as you walk up next to him.

“Oh, good morning, Y/N! I was actually about to come see if you were awake yet! You have good timing!” Izuku says with a warm smile as he hands you a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup.

“Woke up a few minutes ago,” you lie, not wanting to talk about the thirty minutes you spent mentally rotting. “Thanks for breakfast!” You say with a smile as you seat yourself at the island.

“Of course!” Izuku says with his signature smile as he sits next to you. “Any plans for the day?” He asks after a few bites of food.

You internally sigh, trying to conjure up a list of to-do’s to keep your day off from work as busy as it can be, “Uhm, I have to stop by the grocery store since I used up a lot of ingredients making a bunch of baked goods.. Akari is in for quite a surprise when they open their fridge if they haven’t already..” You say with a bit of nervous laughter.

“Ah, you’ve been staying with them, lately? How are they doing?” Izuku asks politely, though underneath, he’s still concerned that you refuse to stay in your own apartment.

“They’re doing well.. but, I think that they’re getting a bit, uhm, overwhelmed by my various hobbies, haha..” You say with a tinge of guilt as you nervously stir your soup.

Izuku sends you a reassuring smile, “I’m sure they would let you know if they were feeling overwhelmed. You know.. You still have your own apartment-”

“Izuku. You know that I just can’t-”

“Just hear me out, Y/N. I know that it still causes you pain being back there, but maybe it’ll help heal you if you go back and take the place back as your own.” Izuku advises, his tone calm yet slightly pleading. “Buy yourself some plants, rearrange the furniture, paint the walls, do something to make it different than when Katsuki was there. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you’ve barely been there over the last few months. Realistically, you either need to start living there again or break the lease before you have to start paying rent again.” He finishes with a look of worry on his face.

You go deathly quiet, just staring intensely down at your food as your hand grips your spoon. You know that he’s right and that he would never try to hurt you by bringing up Katsuki.. But that doesn’t keep the pain in your chest from spreading. You let out a shaky sigh, your appetite completely disappearing, and you stand to clear your place.

“I should really change and head out, but thank you, Izuku. I’ll message you later.” You say stoically as you rinse your dishes, then leave the kitchen.

Getting back to the guest room you change quickly and gather your stuff. You fix up the guest room, taking the time to bring the bedding to the laundry room and put it in the washing machine. Finally, you head for the door to put your shoes on and Izuku hovers near you, guilt written all over his face.

“You can stop acting like a kicked puppy, Izuku,” you sigh out as you straighten up from tying your shoes. “I know you meant well earlier and I.. I’ll think about what you said, okay? I appreciate you caring about me at all in the first place.” You finish softly and step forward to hug him.

Izuku lets out a relieved breath and wraps his arms around you, “I’m still sorry for being so.. blunt earlier. I just worry about you, that’s all. I don’t have any siblings but after getting to know you over the last four months, you’re like a sister to me. I’m here for you whenever you need, okay?” He says softly, then kisses the top of your head.

You nod against him, emotion clogging your throat, and give him one last squeeze before you both release each other. You shoot him a wobbly smile before you open the door and step out into the hall, making your way to the elevator.

A few hours later, you’ve restocked your friend’s fridge and pantry with all of the items you used up while manically baking. They told you that you didn’t have to, but there was no way you weren’t going to replace it all when they’ve been letting you live at their house for the last week and a half. Eventually, they ask if you’ll be staying again tonight but you shake your head and thank them for being so amazing to you. With that, you gather up all of your stuff and pack it into your car before getting into the driver’s seat.

‘Izuku was right. I need to do this. I need to do it tonight before I have the chance to overthink myself out of it.’ You state to yourself as you start your car. You drive in silence the whole way to your apartment, your grip on the steering wheel white-knuckled.

Once you get to your apartment complex, your white-knuckled grip transfers from your steering wheel to your bags as you grab them from the trunk of your car. Your body trembles and your mind goes distant as you ride the elevator up to your apartment. Your stomach sinks and your heart begins to race as the elevator ascends. Finally, it stops and the doors open to the floor that you are so painfully familiar with. Your keys nearly fall from your sweaty hand as your trembles increase with each step toward your door.

The sound of them hitting the floor doesn’t register in your brain as you walk up to your cracked-open apartment door. Your bags join your keys on the floor as you, admittedly stupidly, push open the door. Reality slams back into your blank mind when your eyes meet those of some stranger who's standing in your living room. Fear pours over you like a bucket of ice water and you just fucking freeze.

Suddenly, pain explodes from the back of your head, your thoughts of what you should fucking do disappearing before any sort of move could be made, and everything fades to black.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

Izuku checks his phone for what feels like the millionth time today and frowns at the lack of notifications from you. With a frustrated and concerned huff, he stuffs his phone back into his pocket.

“You’ve been checking your phone all patrol, bro. Everything okay?” Kirishima asks from beside Izuku.

Izuku wasn’t supposed to work today, but a hero never truly has a day off and he was called in to cover Mina’s patrol slot with Kirishima.

Izuku runs a hand through his hair, “I haven’t heard from Y/N all day. She crashed at my place last night and left this morning after I had basically told her to go back home to her apartment and try moving on with her life. I had apologized before she left and she didn’t seem mad, but even if she was she would have messaged me by now. On top of all of that, I have this weird pit in my stomach and danger sense won’t leave me alone and I don’t know what to make of it-”

“Woah, bro, okay calm down. Tell you what, let’s finish up our patrol, then I’ll come with you to check up on her. Where’s she staying this time?” Kirishima calmly, and a bit concernedly, plans out after cutting off Izuku’s panicked ramble.

“She mentioned this morning that she’s been staying with Akari, lately. Hopefully, she’s still at their place.” Izuku mumbles out distractedly as he checks his phone, yet again.

“Okay, we’ll go straight to their apartment once we finish up at the agency.” Kirishima says with a pit of worry starting to churn in his own stomach.

The pair rush through their end-of-shift tasks once they get back to the agency and soon they are seated in Kirishima’s car heading for Akari’s apartment. While giving directions from the passenger seat, Izuku texts and calls your phone, getting met with no answers each time. His stress and worry levels only increase with each missed call and he can only pray that you’re sleeping.

They pull into the parking lot of your friend’s apartment complex, Kirishima barely locking his car before Izuku is rushing off. The pair of heroes get up to the door of Akari’s apartment, Izuku knocking as politely as he can in his increasing panic. When the door finally opens, it’s only a confused Akari standing there wondering where the hell the fire is.

Akari tells the two heroes that you had packed up all of your stuff and left hours ago. Izuku’s stomach drops at this new piece of information and his mind jumps to worst case scenarios. His biggest fear is that you returned to your apartment, decided that it was all too much, and did something to yourself. A rational fear given your severe mental instability the last few months, but still an overly terrifying thought. As Izuku and Kirishima get back into the red-heads car, Izuku mentally berates himself for not accompanying, or at the very least getting ahold of you, earlier.

Kirishima speeds through traffic, his grip on the steering wheel near crushing. He feels extremely guilty for not keeping up with you as much as he should have since Katsuki left. He just figured that you wouldn’t want to talk to him because of his part in the whole situation with him holding onto Katsuki’s things. He’s mostly been getting updates on your well-being from Izuku, an admittedly cowardly move from the man who loves to preach about “manliness.”

Kirishima shoves down his guilt and worry driven nausea as he weaves his car through traffic. He’s just as worried as Izuku over the thought that you’ve done something to yourself. He isn’t sure how he’d ever be able to look Izuku, or Katsuki, in the eye again if they find you injured or dead in that apartment. He would never be able to forgive himself for playing a part in your pain.

“Eijiro! Are you coming or not?!” Izuku’s frustrated voice breaks Kirishima from his clouded mind, the red-head just now registering that they’ve arrived at your apartment complex. The two rush through the lobby of the complex and anxiously wait for the elevator to bring them to the floor your apartment is on.

The doors open and they barrel out of the elevator, practically running for your door. Izuku gets to it first and stops dead in his tracks when he finds your door wide open. Barely stepping through the doorway the green-haired hero spots the small pool of blood on the floor and his emotions surge through him.

“Damn it!” He shouts in frustrated anguish as he steps over it to search the rest of the apartment.

Kirishima follows behind him, stomach acid burning at the back of his throat. Neither of them find any other trace of you beside your bags haphazardly tossed aside on the floor. It’s Kirishima that notices first that there is stuff missing from the apartment. He grabs Izuku by the shoulders and shakes him a bit to get him focused, Izuku growling and about to go off when he sees the look in Kirishima’s eyes.

“Don’t touch anything else.” Kirishima states ominously. “Izuku.. This.. this is a crime scene.” The red-head finishes with a sad look in his eyes and Izuku’s entire being goes numb.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

When consciousness comes back to you it’s slow and everything is blurry. Your head aches badly, your body feels heavy in its forced sitting position, and there’s something in your mouth. Your vision clears for the most part, aside from the slight spinning of the room if you shift your eyes too fast, and what you see makes your panic spike up painfully.

Firstly, you’re tied to a chair in the middle of a dimly lit room, possibly in some sort of abandoned building. There’s a man off to your left sitting at what seems to be an old desk and another man, a bit further to the right of the room, at the doorway. The man at the desk is clicking through files of a laptop, seemingly searching for something. It’s only when the man briefly goes to the main desktop screen that you realize it’s your laptop, the background being a photo of you and Katsuki together. Your stomach lurches and your heart sinks as a whimper escapes you, muffled by the gag in your mouth.

Your whimper catches the attention of both men and both of them look at you with smiles filled with malicious intent. Tears of fear prick at your eyes as the one at the desk tells the other to “go get Boss” and takes a tablet from his hands. A tablet that you realize is also yours judging by the customized Dynamight themed case.

The throbbing coming from the back of your skull gets worse as your breaths increase and you cry harder. You aren’t sure what they could be looking for on your laptop and tablet, you’ve always been extremely careful in burying any information that pertains to Katsuki’s job. Files tucked away within the depths of technology, locked up with passwords you’ve long forgotten and encrypted.

“So the princess woke up, huh?” A taunting voice startles you out of your thoughts and you watch a tall man enter the room with the man who was guarding the door following behind him. You mask your fear by glaring at the man as he casually strides up to you with a smirk on his face.

“Come now, princess, don’t be like that. Such an ugly look on such a pretty face.” The man coos out, condescending and sickeningly sweet.

You curse him out but your voice is once again muffled by the gag in your mouth. The man simply laughs at you as he pulls up a chair, its metal legs scraping harshly against the old laminate flooring. You cringe at the noise but manage to maintain your glare as the man sits down in front of you. His elbows rest on his knees, his hands clasping together around a phone and he leans forward to rest his chin on the top edge of it. His eyes look over your form as a twisted smile sits on his face.

“So you’re the great Dynamight’s secret little bitch.” The man states, not questions, but states. Your heart rate picks up and your glare falters slightly, making the man’s smile widen.

“I can see why he kept you so well hidden! You’re a real looker, ain'tcha? Smile so sweet it’s nearly tooth-rotting,” he continues, but now he’s opened the phone and is scrolling through picture after picture of you and Katsuki. Your glare crumbles completely as tears begin flowing from your eyes from both fear and pain over your past. Your eyes fall to your lap and your jaw clenches against the thick fabric in your mouth as you cry.

“God, where are my manners? Here I am telling a lady about how pretty she is and I haven’t even introduced myself! I’m terribly sorry, Y/N! My name is Isamu, but you may know me as Shadow Step.” Isamu- Shadow Step says with a sinister smirk and your body goes shock-still. Memories hit your pounding brain and bile rises in the back of your throat.

Shadow Step was a notorious human trafficker that would get his victims by getting them alone then using his Quirk to take them away. Once he was captured, it was discovered that his Quirk was teleporting through shadows, which was why he only struck at night. Katsuki was the leader of the team that finally took down Shadow Step and his operation. That was only a year ago, so how the hell is he back out on the streets?

“You know, you really played your part well in making all of this come full circle, princess. We were already planning on hunting you down after what we discovered at your apartment, but then you just showed up! Served yourself up to us on a golden platter! It’s honestly laughable how well things played out!” Shadow Step says with maniacal cheer, a slightly deranged laugh falling from his lips.

“Anyway, princess, you’re gunna help us with a little project. Nothing too crazy, just a little video to help bring your favorite little hero out of the shadows. Keishi, Reiji, get the princess dolled up for her role while I get the camera set up.” Shadow Step says more seriously as he stands up before ordering his two lackeys around.

One of them pulls Shadow Step’s chair away as the other roughly tugs down the gag from your mouth. Your body begins trembling and you hate how useless your Quirk is at this moment. It’s a low-level, and admittedly weak, nature-type Quirk; Vine Manipulation. You can only use it if there are vine-type plants near you and even then you can’t do anything substantial with the vines.

The two men, Keishi and Reiji, stand in front of you wearing twin sinister and sick smiles. Looking up at their faces, you’ve never felt fear like this before. Never felt such an overwhelming sense of impending doom and dread.

“Ready for your makeover, bitch?” One of them asks right before slapping you, hard. You cry out in pain, the side of your face tingling and on fire, echoes of the slap and your cry ringing out in the room.

The two take turns delivering blow after blow, ignoring your pleas to stop and your depserate cries for help. By the time Shadow Step tells them to stop your cheek has swelled up as well as one of your eyes. Blood drips from your lips while more runs down your face from the split skin above one of your eyebrows. You’re pretty sure they broke at least a couple of your ribs if the sharp pains every time you breathe are anything to go by. Tears still spill from your eyes, mixing with your blood and creating pinks rivulets that trail down your cheeks, chin, and neck.

You’re on the verge of passing out from all of the pain when Shadow Step bends down and makes himself face level with you, “I gotta say, princess, you look a lot prettier like this. You ready for your time on the big screen?”

You let out a pained and pathetic whimper that he merely chuckles at, “Your job is to just sit here and be quiet. You fail to do that and you really won’t like what happens. Got it, princess?” He says, his tone threatening and deadly. You nod weakly, whimpering when he pats your cheek a bit harder than necessary.

Shadow Step turns toward the camera, stepping up to it so that his body blocks yours out in the viewfinder screen of the camera. He motions for one of his goons to hit record and his little show begins.

“This is a message for the Heroes of our society,” Shadow Step begins in a calm, even tone with an easy smile on his face.

“I am looking for Pro Hero Dynamight, he and I have a little score to settle. I’ve come to understand that he is on a mission out of the country right now, so I need the rest of you little Heroes to help get this message to him. If he isn’t back by the end of the week, then I’ll kill the little number sitting behind me.” He states as he steps back to reveal your tied up and beaten form in the viewfinder.

“Who knew Dynamight had himself a girlfriend, I’m sure none of you did! Poor thing has been so scared since I brought her here, but as you can see I’ve been treatin’ her real well! Anyway, enough theatrics,” Shadow Step says, his face turning serious and his tone dropping low and threatening.

He pulls a gun out from behind his back and points it at you while his face is turned to the camera, “If you don’t think I’m being serious about this, then you’re dead wrong. You have four days, Dynamight.” He states in a deadly tone before pulling the trigger.

A scream tears from your throat before you could stop it as white-hot flames of pain flood your body. Your left shoulder jerks as the bullet pierces through it and your vision nearly blackens out. You dry heave and choke on cries of immense pain as the camera zooms in on your form, unbeknownst to you. You barely hear the dark laughter falling from the mouths of the three men over the ringing of your ears and your consciousness, along with your body, gives out plunging you into cold darkness.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

The video ends, the final frame being a zoomed-in image of you slumped over unconscious in the chair you’re tied to, blood already soaking the fabric of your shirt. The silence in the room is suffocating and Izuku has to consciously fight to rein in his rage. The fleeting thought of just how to tell Katsuki about this crosses his mind before his attention is brought back to the meeting.

“As was stated earlier, the video was posted a couple of hours ago. We don’t have any leads yet on where the location of filming was nor just how exactly Shadow Step managed to escape imprisonment. It has also not been confirmed as to whether or not the girl has any connection to Dynamight-” A HPSC representative explains before being cut off.

“Her name is Y/N L/N. She is Kacch- Dynamight’s girlfriend. They kept their relationship a secret because they feared something like this happening. Even if she was just a civilian without a connection to Kacch- Dynamight, she would still be just as much a priority rescue.” Izuku grits out, the rage-filled look on his face daring the HPSC rep to say anything countering his statement.

Instead, the rep just swallows nervously and nods their head, “Y-yes, of course. Thank you, Deku. A-alright, with that confirmation the HPSC will notify Dynamight of the event. The Directors will decide if they want to take him off of his mission or not-”

“Are you serious?!” Izuku’s head whips over to Kirishima at the red-head’s outburst. “You heard that psycho! If Bakugo doesn’t come home, then that bastard is going to kill her!” Kirishima rages, one of his clenched fists slamming down on the table.

“R-Red Riot, I-I assure you that the Directors already have a plan in the works. It’s why you all have been brought into this meeting. I’ve been told to tell you that you five have been tasked with capturing Shadow Step.” The rep anxiously explains.

Izuku doesn’t miss the way they said what the mission was, though. Of course all the Commission cares about is having the Heroes find and put a stop to Shadow Step. To the Commission, it would be easy enough to explain it away or cover it up if you were to die before being rescued. To the Commission, saving a singular civilian such as yourself doesn’t take priority over capturing an escaped villain. To the Commission, you are nothing but collateral damage.

Izuku seethes where he is seated, his mind already working on the details of your rescue and cursing the Commission that he works for. He shares looks with the other four Heroes seated at the meeting table; Kirishima, Shinso, Jiro, and Tokage. The four reflect the determined expression Izuku sends them even though Shinso, Jiro, and Tokage all still seem to be in shock by the situation. Nobody had even an inkling that Katsuki Bakugo had anyone precious in his life other than his parents, and now the entire country knows.

The HPSC rep finishes up the meeting, letting Izuku and the other four Heroes know that the Commission would contact them with anything they find. A heavy silence follows the sound of the meeting room door closing, Izuku’s guilt laden thoughts waging war within his mind with the part of him that knows he couldn’t have predicted this.

“Do you really think that the Commission wouldn’t let Bakugo come home for this? Would.. would he even want to come home?” Kirishima meekly asks, sending Izuku a saddened and worried look.

“Hold on, why wouldn’t he want to come home? His girlfriend was kidnapped.” Jiro asks with a look of confusion.

“I’m not sure if they would let him come home, but if I know anything about Kacchan, it’s that he would find a way to get back here.” Izuku says with a heavy sigh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table and his hands coming up to rub over his face.

“As for their current relationship status.. Kacchan broke up with her before he left for his mission. At the time, he thought that it would be better for her to be single rather than sitting around waiting for him to come back. His thought process was wrong but his heart was in the right place, and he regrets what he did. I can confirm that he very much still cares.. still loves her.” Izuku explains, cringing slightly at the harshly judgemental expressions on Shinso’s and Jiro’s faces.

“I’m just surprised that asshole could find anybody who wants to be with him, but that’s besides the point. So, what’s the plan here? Considering the injuries she had in the video on top of the gunshot wound, she may not have four days.” Shinso says stoically, his words like a bucket of ice water down Izuku’s back.

“They could be holding her anywhere. The room in the video looked like some sort of abandoned office space, but do you know how many abandoned business buildings there are in Japan? Not to mention, they could have moved locations since putting out the video.” Tokage says with solemn exasperation, rubbing a hand on her forehead.

Izuku pinches his bottom lip in thought for a moment before straightening up and tapping the table’s surface, awakening the technology beneath the glass. He pulls up a map of Japan, locates your apartment building, and highlights the point.

“Okay, so this is where her apartment is located. Let’s have Shinso, Jiro, and Tokage check the abandoned buildings within a five mile radius. You three have better stealth skills than Kirishima and I. While you three search buildings, I’ll further analyze the video for any possible clues.” Izuku says, taking charge of the situation. Shinso, Jiro, and Tokage simultaneously nod and send him looks of determination.

“Kirishima, I need you to look back through your files and give us as much information on Shadow Step as you can. You were the only one out of the five of us that was part of the team that took him down the first time. We’ll all keep in contact via our own closed Comms frequency.” Izuku directs, a look of agreement on everyone’s faces.

“One thing we all know for sure is that Shadow Step acts at night, so everybody should go rest up if you can because we’ll be officially starting this mission at sunset.” Izuku finishes with hardened determination coloring his tone and face.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

You’re not sure how much time has passed with your consciousness phasing in and out. Everything hurts; your head, your face, your shoulder, your ribs. You feel weak in every sense of the word but more so physically, barely being able to keep yourself sitting up. You’re still tied up, your muscles stiff and your neck seemingly stuck in its hung down position.

When you’re awake the voices of Shadow Step and his lackeys blearily echo in your ears. Whether they’re talking to you or to each other you're not sure. They’ve done the bare minimum to keep you breathing; wrapping a cloth around your shoulder to stem the bleeding and sticking an IV in your arm to keep you hydrated.

The spinning room is far too dizzying when you’re awake and the feeling of hopelessness drapes over your mind. It’s easier being asleep, easier letting your mind fall into the loss of consciousness that your body yearns for. So you let go of the fear and escape to the depths of your mind, your dreams offering a reprieve from the suffering you’re enduring.

Katsuki fakes a gag as the characters on TV kiss, cliche romantic melodies playing in the background as their kiss becomes more heated.

“This shit is so fucking cheesy I might actually die from cringing so hard.” Katsuki annoyedly rasps out.

You’re cuddled up to each other on the couch two movies into your weekly “Saturday Night Movie Marathon” and your chosen movie playing on the TV screen.

“I won’t deny that it’s cringe-worthy, but it’s all so cute, too! They’re so in looooovvvve!!” You gush with a giggle over Katsuki’s disgusted face when you look at him.

“Can’t believe you make me watch this shit. They’re all the same story, I don’t understand the appeal of it all. The main characters go back and forth for fuckin’ ever until they finally admit they love each other, then it’s end credits. It’s so damn dumb.” He grumbles out, then lets out an irritated sigh as he leans his head back onto the couch cushion.

With a roll of your eyes and your own sigh you look back at the TV with a small pout on your lips, “If you really hate these kinds of movies so much, you can just tell me to pick something different. I like genres other than ‘sappy-mushy-lovey-dovey-crap’, you know.”

Katsuki lightly pinches your side, huffing a laugh at the yelp you let out and the glare you send him, “Don’t be like that, Sweetheart. Ya know that I’m just messin’ with ya.” He murmurs into your neck as he trails light kisses along the column of your throat.

“Such a bully,” you mumble out as you tilt your head to give him better access.

“Mhm, but you love it, dontcha Sweetheart?” He says into your skin as his kisses get a bit more passionate.

Feelings stirring up within you begin clouding your mind as your breaths become airy and panted. A soft moan slips from your mouth when he kisses and lightly sucks on a particularly sensitive spot of your neck. His arms circle around your body, his hands slipping under your shirt and coming up to play with your breasts.

He pinches your hardened nipples and the airy words slip out of your mouth before you can stop them, “Ah, yes, love you, Katsuki.”

Katsuki’s ministrations come to a dead halt and your mind sobers up as shock fills you. Did you really just say that?! It’s not that you don't mean it, but more so that you two have only been together for a few months! You’re not sure if this is something Katsuki is ready for! What did you just do?! What the hell did you just d-

“I love you, too.” Katsuki whispers, his face buried in the crook of your neck and his hands clammy against your skin.

Tears well up in your eyes and everything feels so surreal, “You.. you don’t have to say it back if you’re not ready..” You whisper out as your heart races. Lifting his head from his hiding place, he gently urges you to turn around to face him. Your eyes scan over his flushed features and you take in the soft look he’s giving you.

“I love you too, Y/N.” He repeats himself with more surety in his tone and gentle determination on his face as he manages to maintain eye contact with you.

A few tears of happiness drip down your face and you surge forward, connecting your lips with his. Your arms wrap around his shoulders and you readjust your position to straddle him. The kiss turns into a heated makeout session with teeth nipping at bottom lips and tongues fighting for dominance.

The movie is forgotten as the heated passion rises between you both and soon enough there’s a pile of clothes on the floor. Pants, groans, and moans fill the air as your connected bodies move against each other. This was love-making in its truest form and you were lost in the ecstasy of it all. Both of you lost in showering one another with as much physical affection as you could show as you both worked each other toward the edge.

Laying on the couch wrapped up in each other in the afterglow of sex, you couldn’t imagine a lifetime where you didn’t love this man.

You snap to consciousness when sharp, white-hot pain shoots through your body from your shoulder. You send a weak glare to Reiji as he just looks down at you with a sick smile on his face. His hand squeezes your injured shoulder harder, his fingers digging into the hole in your flesh. Fresh blood saturates the cloth wrapped around your shoulder and you weakly cry out, pleading for him to stop. Fresh tears stream down your face and wish so desperately to go back to the times when you were in the safety of Katsuki’s arms.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

Izuku can't get himself to relax, let alone get some rest. Flashes of your beaten form burn behind his eyelids and your pain-filled scream echoes around his mind. Guilt tears up his stomach and fear has bile sitting at the back of his throat. Sitting on his couch with the TV's low volume droning on in the background of his racing thoughts, he's suddenly brought back to the present when his phone starts ringing. Pulling it from his pocket his stomach drops when he sees the caller ID.. It's Katsuki.

Taking in a shaky breath, Izuku accepts the call and brings the phone up to his ear, “Kacchan.. I-I’m s-so sorry.. I.. I sh-should have d-” Izuku softly begins, stuttering as emotions clog his throat, but his apology is cut short.

“Izuku,” Katsuki whispers out and Izuku doesn’t recognize the hollow despondent tone his childhood friend has taken on.

“Kacchan?” Izuku’s voice cracks as he speaks, the sting of tears making him blink rapidly.

“The Commission sent me the video.. Wanted me to confirm that it was actually Shadow Step and not some imposter.. Like I’d actually know that somehow without fucking being there..” Katsuki pauses, a couple of labored breaths then a sniffle filling the silence before he speaks again.

“Th-they.. They didn’t even say anything about, Y/N.. I-I told them that I wanted to come home, that I need to come home, but they won’t take me off of this mission, Izuku.. They won’t let me COME HOME! Wha-what am I gunna do?! What sh-should I do?! I-I c-can’t let her- Wh-what if she- This can’t be- I-” Katsuki’s words descend into a muddled mess as his breathing picks up and even if they hadn't been friends for so long, Izuku could recognize a panic attack anywhere.

“K-Kacchan, you need to calm down. Slow your breathing, okay. Deep breaths, just copy me.” Izuku calmly coaches through the choked sobs wracking his chest.

“I.. can’t.. calm.. down..” Katsuki wheezes out, his anger and fear evident despite his inability to breathe properly.

It takes a while, but Izuku eventually gets Katsuki to even out his breaths, both of them left panting in the aftermath.

“She’s gunna die, Izuku, and it’s my fucking fault!” Katsuki openly sobs out, his voice breaking and full of anguish.

“We’re not going to let that happen, Kacchan. Listen to me! I will not let her die at the hands of that bastard! Just focus on getting back here, forget what the Commision wants.” Izuku says with steely, firm resolve.

“I won’t make it back in time, Izuku! It took me four fucking days to get out here! What if you guys can’t find her in time, huh?! The last fucking thing I ever said to her was that breaking up was best for both of us! She’ll die thinking I don’t fucking love her!” Katsuki shouts over the phone, his voice raw and breaking further as he crumbles down to nothing.

“I promise you that we will find her alive, Kacchan! Just get your ass back home as soon as you can, okay?” Izuku says firmly, trying desperately to reassure Katsuki.

An hour later, Izuku hangs up his phone with a long, exhausted sigh. It had taken him longer than expected to bring Katsuki back to more rational thinking. Coupled with the task of trying to get Katsuki to trust that Izuku and his team will find you, it’s safe to say that Izuku is beyond tired. But there isn’t any more time to rest because it’s time for Izuku to meet back up with the other four Heroes on his team.

Izuku arrives back at the meeting room from earlier in the day just after Kirishima. The two of them only have to wait a few minutes before the other three Heroes on their team walk in and Izuku is quick to get into the details of their tasks.

“This map has been linked with the ones on your phones. Pinpoints of all of the abandoned buildings within a five mile radius of Y/N’s apartment have already been marked. Just let us know over the Comms every time you clear a building and we’ll mark it off of the list.” Izuku says in a serious tone, his mind focussed on the tasks at hand.

“I’ve already called in the best stealth-based sidekicks I could find. Each of you will have two accompanying you to help clear buildings faster. Report any piece of potential evidence you find, anything and everything could be imperative to the mission. Alright, pick your zones and head out. Your sidekicks will be waiting for you in the lobby.” Izuku further explains before essentially dismissing Shinso, Jiro, and Tokage.

Given the extreme importance of the mission and the time constraints, the three choose their zones and quickly head out leaving Kirishima and Izuku alone in the room.

“You look rougher than you did earlier man.. Did you get any rest?” Kirishima gently asks as he takes in Izuku’s worn-out appearance.

“I’m fine. I couldn’t manage to sleep, then.. Kacchan called. He’s a mess, Kirishima.. I’ve never heard him so broken before even during all of the crap we all went through at UA.” Izuku quietly says as he watches through the video, his eyes searching the background for anything.

Izuku hears Kirishima swallow thickly as the red-head shuffles through the files he brought. “I really hope that we find her in time..” Kirishima whispers, seemingly more to himself, and Izuku’s fists clench.

“We will,” Izuku grits out as he replays the video, this time at a slower speed.

After what feels like years of replaying the video and looking over the information Kirishima dug up on Shadow Step, Izuku’s exhaustion catches up with him and he snaps a bit. “Fuck!” He exclaims frustratedly as he sits back in his chair and rubs his hands over his face.

“Nothing at this building either, Deku, it’s clear.” Jiro’s voice comes through Izuku’s earpiece. The green-haired Hero growls out an “okay” and marks the building off of the map in front of him.

“Listen, man, if you wanna take a brief break, then I can handle the Comms for a bit..” Kirishima tries to offer, face full of concern as he looks at his friend and fellow Hero.

“I don’t have time to take a break. We have to find her before time runs out. I don’t know what else to do, there’s nothing in the video that would point us any closer to finding her. All of the buildings that the stealth team have checked so far have brought up nothing. What else could we possibly che-” Izuku cuts himself off from his exasperation-filled rant as an idea hits his brain.

“God, why didn’t any of us think of this sooner? Damn it!” He growls out as he brings up another hologram screen from the table.

“Think of what, man?” Kirishima asks confusedly as he scoots closer to Izuku.

“Security cameras,” Izuku mutters as he pulls up mini screen after mini screen of camera footage.

“Fuck.. okay, tell me where you want me to pull camera footage from. We can divide up the search between us both.” Kirishima says as he moves to a different part of the table and pulls up a hologram screen.

Izuku tells him where to start, then the two are nearly silent as their eyes search through hours worth of traffic and security cam footage. Occasional muttering from both of them fills the room, as well as Izuku’s responses to the stealth team. None of the five Heroes come up with anything until Shinso’s shaken voice comes through the Comms.

“Mid- Deku.. I found the room the video was filmed in,” Shinso informs Izuku, and the rest of the team, gravely. Izuku’s whole body freezes up and his eyes whip to the map to see where Shinso’s location is pinged. The map shows Shinso in a building about two and half miles South from your apartment complex.

“Deku, there’s a lot of blood on the floor here..” Shinso says, his tone disheartened, and Izuku’s nausea comes back at full-force.

“Shinso, stay there and wait for the police to arrive. Jiro and Tokage, take your sidekicks and all of you start searching the abandoned buildings around Shinso’s pinned location. From what we’ve gathered on Shadow Step’s Quirk he can’t teleport very far and his teleportation may be made more difficult if he’s transporting Y/N around.” Izuku orders while trying his best to keep in his Hero mindset and not let his emotions take over.

Izuku looks over at Kirishima, about to tell him to start searching the camera footage from around Shinso’s location when he pauses, “Kirishima, do you need a moment to step out?” Izuku asks as he looks over Kirishima’s stock-still frame and pale face.

Kirishima’s eyes snap to him and he shakes his head, “N-no. I’m fine. What do you need me to do?”

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

You’re brought into a hazy and slightly delirious-feeling consciousness by the feeling of someone changing your IV. You don’t have the energy anymore to make anything other than a small, barely heard, and weak whimper. You’re not sure how long it’s been since the day the video was made, since the day you were fucking shot. With the state that your body is in and Shadow Step constantly transporting you through shadows to different abandoned buildings, everything is blurring together.

Being awake is becoming more and more unpleasant and surreal. Your entire body hurts. You feel sick; feverish but freezing, weak, trembling so much that your teeth chatter. The thought that your gunshot wound may be infected has crossed your dazed mind, but you can’t do anything about it. All they’ve done for it is change the wrapping a couple times only because the three of them keep agitating the wound, making it bleed more.

You don’t even know how you’re still alive, honestly. Between the blood loss and the possible infection, you really feel like you should be dead. Hell, you almost wish Shadow Step would kill you before his self-set timeline ends just so that you don’t have to endure this any longer. At the same time, you pray that Katsuki is out there trying his best to find you.. Because even if he doesn’t love you anymore he used to and that has to count for something, right?

But you also know Katsuki.. You know that he never half-asses anything. If the mission he’s on isn’t finished, if they still need him out there, then he’s not going to abandon it to save an ex.

Whatever ends up happening, whether he comes home or not, you know that you won’t resent or hate him. Even with being in the most emotional and mental pain in your life during the last four months, you’ve never once hated him. Sure, you were pissed as fuck in the beginning, but your love for him hasn’t faded. There’s always been that voice in the back of your mind telling you that he hadn’t meant it. That he hadn’t meant to hurt you. That his heart was in the right place despite his fucked up execution of the situation.

As your blurred sense of reality fades out and you slip back into memory-filled unconsciousness, you grasp tightly onto the hope that all of this ends soon one way or another, and a small smile weakly tugs at your lips at the memory your mind begins playing..

You’ve looked over your entire outfit five times in the mirror by now, making yourself run borderline late. It’s been a while since you’ve been on a first date, so the world can kiss your ass for stressing over every detail. With one more touch up of your already perfect makeup, you breathe out a shaky sigh, then grab your purse.

The drive to the restaurant goes fairly smoothly and you pull into the parking lot 5 minutes before you’re supposed to be there. A soft gasp of shock and awe leaves you when you turn your car off and finally take a good look at the place. It looks ridiculously fancy and much too expensive for you to even be parked in the parking lot. You re-read the message Bakugo had sent you a couple of days ago detailing how to enter the building and ask about the reservation while exercising as much privacy as possible.

Admittedly, you were a bit apprehensive about going on a date with him at all. The man is freaking Pro Hero Dynamight and you had always told yourself that you didn’t want to be with someone like him. Someone who not only puts his life on the line every day, but who also has eyes on his every move at any given point. But a few casual conversations with Bakugo at your part time job at a local (but somewhat fancy) coffee and tea shop later, he somehow managed to charm you into going on a date with him.

In the days leading up to this date Bakugo had assured you plenty of times that he would do everything he could to keep things relatively private and just between the two of you. You had learned that while he is a Limelight Pro, he very much values keeping his private life just that; private. So you decided to trust his word, ignore the thoughts begging to know why he would want to even go on a date with a random-nobody-part-time-barista, and now you’re here.

Here.

At a fancy ass restaurant.

Feeling severely out of your league and still wondering how you ever caught his eye.

With a racing heart and shaky hands you grab your purse and get out of your car. Making your way up to the front doors of the restaurant, one hand fidgets with your necklace as the other grips the strap of your purse just a little too tightly. Walking through the door your eyes immediately search the sea of faces for the server Bakugo had mentioned in the message. A small sigh of relief leaves your mouth when you spot them and you politely wave them down.

“Welcome, ma’am! Is there something I can help you with?” They politely ask with a warm smile and it makes you feel a bit more comfortable already.

“Yes, uhm, I’m the other party for the reservation under K. B.” You tell them with a nervous smile.

“Ah, I see! Let me just check something..” They say as they look down at the tablet in their hands for a moment.

Your eyes glance down at the tablet and you watch them pull up a photo of you. You recognize the selfie as the one you took the day prior and had sent to Bakugo when he had asked for it. You had found it a bit weird when he initially asked, but he had explained the purpose shortly after receiving the photo.

“Perfect! If you’ll just follow me this way, please! Also, if I may say, you are just as gorgeous in person!” The server says, their smile kind and still just as warm, and your cheeks flush.

“Thank you,” you say shyly as you step forward to follow them. The blush deepens a bit when you think back to yesterday when Bakugo had commented on the photo and called you beautiful, even though it was just a simple selfie.

The server and yourself weave through tables and groups of people until you both reach a door with a gold plate that reads “VIP Seating” on it. The server slides a keycard through the handle and it beeps, signifying that it’s unlocked. They push it open, holding the door so that you can walk through, then they let it swing shut and wait a moment for it to lock again before proceeding to lead you to your table.

Looking around as you walk you notice that there are significantly less tables in this section of the restaurant and it doesn’t take you long to spot Bakugo. Your breath catches in your throat when you see him seated at the table leisurely sipping on what you think is whiskey on the rocks. He’s wearing a deep green button up with a black tie and a black vest, black slacks, and expensive-looking, glossy dress shoes. He looks stunning and you feel underdressed despite wearing your most expensive dress and a pair of pricey, name brand stilettos Akari let you borrow.

As you get lead closer to the table, Bakugo’s eyes stray from the window he was looking out of to scan the room. His gaze immediately catches on you and you watch his eyes widen a bit as they look your form up and down. You feel self-conscious but stifle a giggle as you watch him tug his collar a bit before he quickly moves to stand.

“Your table, ma’am! I’ll give you both some time to look over the menu but in the meantime, would you like something to drink?” The server says and you give them your drink order, then they’re off.

“Hi,” you say shyly as you look at Bakugo, your blush returning a bit.

“Hey,” he gently rasps out, his eyes still slowly roaming over your body causing your feelings of self-consciousness to return in full.

You look down at your dress and begin to nervously ramble, “I-I hope I dressed up enough.. you said this place was fancy, but I didn’t know it was this fan-”

“You look amazing,” Bakugo rushes out, effectively cutting you off, and your face practically catches fire. “Ah, uhm, let me get your chair for you.” He says in what you interpret as shyness, which you find adorable. As he walks around you to your chair your eyes catch on the pink tips of his ears, also freaking adorable, and you stifle yet another giggle.

He pulls out your chair and you thank him as you sit, scooching the chair toward the table with his assistance. ‘The brash Pro Hero Dynamight is actually such a gentleman, who knew?’ You playfully think to yourself as you watch him make his way back to his chair.

“You look pretty amazing yourself,” you say as a random bout of confidence hits your system. Your confidence and comfort only rises as you watch his cheeks begin to pinken. He sputters a bit before grumbling out a “thank you” and you let your giggle slip out this time around. He sends you what’s supposed to be a glare but the corners of his mouth tick up and there’s a playfulness in his eyes. The night rolls on with easy getting-to-know-each-other conversation, amazing food, and a comfortable atmosphere.

Everything is going so well, flowing so easily and feeling so right, but you’re still unsure if this is something you want to pursue further. It’s only when you get back to your car with Bak- Katsuki’s suit jacket over your shoulders, Katsuki wearing a mask and beanie that don’t match the rest of his attire at all, and he lowers the mask on his face to kiss you goodbye that your heart seems to stop as your brain comes to a startling realization..

You’re starting to fall, really hard, for this man.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

To say that Izuku is emotionally, mentally, and physically wrung out would be an understatement. He and the rest of the team have spent day and night the last three days trying to find you with minimal success. Every building checked has turned up with nothing except more blood along with bloody bandage wraps, empty IV bags, and increased frustration. Not to mention the very few camera sightings of Shadow Step and his two accomplices, the sightings only being slivers of the man in the corners of the frames or glimpses of him slipping into shadows.

It doesn’t help that Izuku’s phone has been getting inundated with notifications from Katsuki, his childhood friend messaging or calling him every chance he gets between flights. Izuku has stopped answering Katsuki’s calls, though, simply because that every call is full of frustration-fueled screaming matches that end with gritted out apologies. The green-haired Hero feels for his friend, he really does, but he can only take so much of his yelling and berating. They’re not in school anymore and they’re actually friends now.

“This building is clear, Deku. No sign of them passing through here.” Kirishima reports as he walks up to Izuku, his face and tone heavy with tired frustration and sadness.

Izuku can feel his hold on One For All slip and green lightning radiates from his body as he struggles to keep from punching a wall, “Fuck!” He yells, his voice echoing throughout the room he was searching.

Kirishima lets out a heavy sigh and turns to leave, “C’mon man, lets go check out the next on-”

“I found them.” Tokage’s hushed voice crackles through the Comms, but it feels as though she shouted it into Izuku’s ear as her words ring through his brain. He just stands there shocked for a moment, briefly thinking that his overly exhausted mind is playing a cruel trick on him, before he dashes into action.

“Copy that. Pulling up your location now. Keep them in your sights, but keep hidden. All other Heroes and sidekicks start heading for Lizardy’s location.” Izuku commands as he moves as fast as he can out of the building, Kirishima just barely keeping up behind him.

On their way to Tokage’s location, Izuku had told Shinso and Jiro to wait for himself and Kirishima near a building about a block away from the target building. Izuku had also taken to using Blackwhip and Float in order to move faster, unfortunately having to use one of his Blackwhip tendrils to carry Kirishima. The red-haired Hero didn’t seem to mind this form of travel except for maybe the slight look of fear when he was initially lifted off of the ground.

The two get to the established meeting spot just after Shinso and his sidekicks, and they don’t have to wait but a minute longer for Jiro and her sidekicks to arrive. Izuku immediately hashes out a plan of attack, making it a priority for someone to get you first if they can.

“Everyone ready?” Izuku asks with eager determination and receives nods of confirmation filled with just as much determination. “Lizardy, do you copy?”

“Yes, I copy.” Tokage answers quietly.

“We’re set to get into position. Are they all still there?” Izuku asks as he nods at those around him, a silent command to get moving.

“Yes. Shadow Step is on his phone and his two lackeys are sleeping.” Tokage quietly reports.

“What about Y/N?” Izuku asks as his fear tries to override his Hero Mode.

“She’s tied up and on the floor in the West corner of the room. She appears to be sleeping as well, but Deku.. I don’t think she’s doing very well..” Tokage informs and her voice takes on a somber tone.

It takes incredible effort for Iuzku to shove down his emotions as he tries to keep himself together to complete the mission, but he manages to do it, “We’re all here, she’ll be fine. Lizardy, once everybody has confirmed their positions, I want you to send your hands into the room with a pair of Quirk canceling cuffs. Try to get them onto either Shadow Step’s wrists or ankles, then report if you managed to do so or not.” Izuku tells her as he reaches his position.

“Everyone else, if Lizardy succeeds, rush in immediately. If she isn’t successful, hold your positions and be ready for a chase.” Izuku quietly directs the others, receiving confirmations from the whole group.

“Alright, sending the cuffs in now.” Tokage whispers, her concentration on the task heard in her voice.

Izuku feels like he waits against the wall of his position forever, the Comms quiet and his heart racing a millions miles a minute. He notes just how dim it has gotten out and for the first time in his life he curses a sunset. His biggest fear right now is missing this opportunity because he knows that once the sun has set, Shadow Step will move you to another building. If he and the team lets that happen, then it’s back to square one and the possibility of getting you back alive practically diminishes.

There wouldn’t be enough time to hunt down Shadow Step, not with it already taking the team three whole days to find him now. Add that to the fact that Katsuki is only about halfway through his second to last flight back to Japan. Even if more Heroes were brought onto the case there just wouldn’t be enough fucking time.

The seconds tick by agonizingly slowly and Izuku has to fight the panic trying to grasp at his lungs. They have to save you. He has to save you. He doesn’t think Katsuki would be able to move past it if you died. Izuku isn’t even sure if he would be able to get past it if you died and he’s only friends with you. Katsuki, though, Katsuki was your boyfriend. He was and still is very serious about you as Izuku has come to find out. So serious that a month before Katsuki had found out that he was being sent on a mission he had bought a ring. A ring that you never had any idea about. A ring that Izuku only knows about because Katsuki drunkenly told him everything about your guys’ secret relationship a few nights before he shattered your heart. A ring that sits securely tucked away in a safe with the letter Katsuki had given Izuku the day he left for the mission.

So yeah, it’s safe to say that Izuku is feeling every ounce of pressure of making sure this massive opportunity is not fucking wast-

“The cuffs are on, everybody move in now!” Tokage shouts into the Comms and Izuku doesn’t hesitate for even a second rushing up the final flight of stairs that lead toward the room you’re being held in.

It’s pure chaos when Izuku bursts into the room, Shinso and Jiro right behind him with Kirishima trailing not too far behind them. Izuku bypasses Shadow Step’s lackeys as they rush the door, their adrenaline seemingly knocking away their sleep. Shinso and Jiro quickly garner their attention, fighting them to keep their attention away from helping their boss or getting to you.

Izuku finds Shadow Step lying on the ground with his ankles cuffed together. He almost counts it as a victory until he watches one of Shadow Step’s arms reach behind him, mostly likely trying to grab his gun. But he doesn’t get the chance to even touch the weapon because Izuku quickly restrains him with expertly controlled tendrils of Blackwhip. He manuvers Shadow Step so that he can cuff his wrists and secure the bastard’s gun.

“Who’s available to come take this bastard outside to wait for the police?” Izuku calls out, his eyes focused on your slumped and still form in the corner of the room.

“I got him, man. Go see if she’s okay.” Kirishima says after he’s finished helping Jiro cuff one of the lackeys.

Izuku waits until Shadow Step is firmly within Kirishima’s grip before rushing over to you. His stomach churns just looking at the state you’re in and stomach acid burns at the back of his throat when he gently puts his hands on your heated and shivering body.

“Y/N? Y/N, can you hear me? Come on, Y/N, wake up.” Izuku gently urges as he pushes the hair away from your face.

You let out a weak whimper, a string of whispered pleas to stop and to not hurt you anymore leaving your dry, cracked lips. Izuku’s heart breaks and he gently hushes you, telling you that it’s okay and that you’re being rescued.

“K-Kats? Y-you fou-found m-me?” You stutter out weakly, your breaths labored and your eyes still closed as Izuku holds your head up for you.

“It’s Izuku, Y/N.. Kacchan isn’t back yet, but he’s on his way, I promise. He’s trying to get back as fast as possible.” Izuku quietly tells you through his tears as he cuts the ropes off of you.

You don’t register Iuzku’s words, your infection-induced delirium and barely conscious state not letting you grasp his words, “I-I st-ill love y-you, Kats.. Do yo-you..” You don’t get to finish your question before you pass out, but Izuku can guess what you were going to ask.

A strangled sob leaves his mouth before he reigns himself back in and gently wraps his arms around you, “He does, Y/N. He does still love you.” He whispers out as he carefully stands with your limp form in his arms.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

It takes a few days of being in the hospital’s ICU being pumped full of meds before you wake up with any sort of clarity. You couldn’t have any visitors because of the risk of an exposure to anything that would worsen your condition. It’s not like you would have remembered anyone visiting you if they could have, you were unconscious practically the whole time between the meds and your body being so weak.

But today you wake up of your own volition and it’s the best you’ve felt in what feels like years. The world doesn’t have a delirious haze over it, the pain in your shoulder and head have reduced down to dull aches, and your appetite has returned if the pang in your stomach is anything to go off of. You slowly reach your good arm out to press the call nurse button when the door suddenly bursts open causing you to flinch back and pain radiates through your body.

Katsuki’s angry tone slams rather than floats into the room with the opening of the door, “I’m done fuckin’ waitin’! Doc said she would probably wake up feeling better today since her healin’ has been on track, so I’m fuckin’ seein’ my girlfrie- Holy shit, you’re already awake?” He asks in disbelief when he finally looks at you.

“Just woke up,” You say quietly, your voice hoarse from lack of use and you cough a bit. Apparently the nurse that had been trying to keep Katsuki out of your room is just as shocked that you’re awake and lucid because it takes Katsuki demanding that she go get some water to knock her from her trance. She glares at Katsuki for a moment before telling you that she’s going to go get you some water and tell the doctor that you’re awake.

The door closes and the room fills with heavy silence, the only sounds interrupting the silence being your heart monitor and breathing. Katsuki just stares at you and when you can’t stand meeting his gaze any longer you look down at your lap. The hand of your good arm fidgets with the thin hospital blanket pooled at your waist as too many emotions whirlwind around your brain and heart.

“Can I, uh, is it okay if I sit?” Katsuki asks hesitantly and you almost want to say no, but you’ve never been good at saying no to him.

“Sure,” you say quietly and nearly regret it because with every step he takes toward the chair next to your bed, you feel the dam you didn’t know you had up within you crack. Your hand grips the blanket tightly when he sits and your eyes start stinging. You can feel the heavy weight of Katsuki’s gaze on you but you know that if you meet it the dam will completely crumble and you’re already trying so hard not to cry.

The silence that has settled back over the two of you is broken when the nurse comes into the room with a cup and a pitcher of water, “Alright, hon, here’s some water. Sip slowly, okay? Also, the doctor should be by within the next hour to see if you’re ready to transfer out of the ICU.” She says sweetly as she sets the water and the cup down on the bedside table.

She looks between you and Katsuki for a moment before asking, “You sure you want him in here right now, hon?” Concern coloring her features when she sees the shine of tears in your eyes, both of you ignoring the irritated sigh that leaves Katsuki.

“Yes, I’m sure, thank you. I’ll hit the button if I need anything.” You say with a small smile and take a couple sips of water.

“Okay, hon. Remember, small sips.” She says before she’s out of the room, the door slowly shutting once more.

“Y/N, I..” Katsuki starts and your hand tightens around the cup at his soft, saddened tone. “I don’t know where to start.. I’m so fuckin’ sorry-”

“You weren’t there,” You whisper out before you can stop yourself, tears finally tipping over the edges of your lash lines.

“I-I know, Baby-” He tries to butt in, his voice already wrecked and guilt-ridden, but you cut him off again.

“N-no, you weren’t there, Katsuki. You left for that mission and you weren’t in the apartment anymore. Not you, not your stuff. You weren’t there.” You continue, crying as you speak. “S-so I couldn’t be there either. For four months I slept on Akari’s couch, or in Izuku’s guest room, or in a hotel room. I-I even fell asleep at my desk at work a few times. You weren’t home, so I wasn’t either. For four months that apartment sat empty, void of people, un-until I-I decided t-to-” Your sentence hangs in the air incomplete as your breathing picks up at the bits of memories of what had happened that day flash across your mind.

“Fuck.. Y/N, Sweetheart? Breathe, Sweetheart. C’mon, take some deep breaths for me Baby, please.” Katsuki tries verbally coaching you through your panic attack but, much to his overwhelming concern, it isn’t working.

“Dammit, c-can I touch you? Is that okay, Sweetheart?” He desperately asks and all you can do is nod your head. Katsuki is quick to rise from his chair to carefully slide himself onto the bed. Being hyper aware of your healing injuries, he gathers you up into his arms and takes your hand into his, gently squeezing it.

“Okay, Baby, remember how we used to do this? Listen for my breaths and focus your attention on our hands.” He rasps softly, then begins taking slow and even deep breaths as his hand gently squeezes yours to the rhythm.

A few long-feeling minutes go by before your breaths even out and you’re left crying into his chest. He stays quiet, soothingly rubbing your back and lightly resting his head against yours, as he waits for your crying to subside. An additional five minutes later, your cries are little more than quiet sniffles and stray tears rolling down your face.

There’s a long moment of not-quite-silence before you speak again, “Izuku had convinced me that I should go back-”

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to talk about it if you’re not rea-”

Cutting each other’s sentences off seemed to be the theme of today and while you would normally just let someone speak, you needed Katsuki to hear this. You needed to tell him what had happened the day you were taken and..

“But I don’t blame him for what happened. He hadn’t told me to go back that same day, he just said that I should do it soon. Suggested that I go back to the apartment and do whatever I wanted to reclaim the space as my own so that I would stop thinking of it as ours. I know that he didn’t have any ill-intent behind the suggestion. I wasn’t doing very well, Kats, and I know that he was worried. He was just trying to help me bounce back.” You say quietly and pause for a brief moment to just listen to the sound of Katsuki’s heartbeat.

Katsuki remained quiet, surprisingly enough, so you continued on, “So when I left his place that day, I went back to Akari’s and gathered my stuff, then drove home. I know that I should have messaged him. I know that I should have at least brought Akari with me, though I’m glad that I didn’t.. Wh-when I got there, Kats, the door was cracked open and..” You trail off as you mentally berate yourself for being so stupid.

“Sweethe-”

“..and I pushed it open because I’m that fucking stupid! I just walked inside like finding your apartment door broken open is fucking normal and that’s when I saw one of Sh-Shadow S-Step’s guys in the living room.. Do you know what I did next, Katsuki? I just fucking stood there! I didn’t scream, I didn’t run, I just stood there like a fucking moron! That’s when, either the other guy or Shadow Step himself, hit me in the back of my head and I blacked out.” You push on with your retelling of the events, Katsuki’s hold on you growing a bit tighter.

“Baby, just-”

Tears begin rapidly falling down your face again and a sob leaves your mouth, “I-I’m s-so s-sorry, Kats! I-I’m so f-fucking sorry! I-I-I di-dn’t mean t-to wor-ry eve-everyone! I-I j-just-”

“Y/N, stop.” Katsuki says firmly, his face pained as he gently forces you to look at him. “You are absolutely fucking not going to blame yourself for getting fucking taken by that guy, do you hear me?” His voice cracks as he speaks and you notice the glisten of tears in his eyes.

“If you want to pin blame on somebody, then pin it on that bastard, Shadow Step. Pin it on the dumbfucks who let him escape prison. Pin it on me.. Fucking pin it on me for leaving you the way that I did because maybe if I hadn’t.. Maybe you wouldn’t have ended up nearly dying! I’m the one who should be fucking sorry, Y/N, and I am! I am so fucking sorry and whatever I could possibly do to make it up to you, just tell me and I’ll do it! Please, Baby, I love you so much, I’m sorry.”

You’re both crying by the time Katsuki finishes, holding onto each other tightly as tidal waves of emotions slam into you both. Your heart breaks as you listen to the man you love sob into your shoulder and you pray to the universe that you never hear it again as you cling to him.

“I haven’t and I never will blame you for this, Katsuki. You couldn’t see it coming as much as I couldn’t.. But I’m okay now. I’m alive and safe and I love you too, Kats, so much.” You tearfully stutter over sobs, and Katsuki lifts his head to look at you.

He cradles your face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away your tears as best he can, “I know we’re both kind of gross from crying-” he softly starts and you can’t help the huff of wet laughter that leaves your lips.

He attempts to glare at you but his face is too soft, too loving, for it to pack any sort of heat, “-but, would it be okay if I kissed you?” He finishes, pink dusting his cheeks a bit and a small, wobbly smile on his lips.

“Have I ever made you ask for permission before?” You weakly tease as you lean in toward him. He meets you halfway, slotting his lips against yours without adding in any sassy comeback beforehand.

In that moment, it’s like you come alive again, like you’re home. It may have only been four months without him, but with everything else that happened stacked on top of those four months, you could have been convinced that it was a lifetime. Sure, you have some things that you’re going to have to work through, both with Katsuki and yourself. There’s definitely going to have to be some work put in by both of you to rebuild trust and you’re most definitely going to have to get some therapy to help work through the shit you went through getting kidnapped.

But for right now, you let yourself sink into the feelings of home, safety, and Katsuki’s love.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

{A few months later}

“Izuku, I’m telling you right now that if I trip over something one more time because of this whole ‘put on this blind fold and I’ll guide you’ bullshit, I’m going to lose it and you will be the victim of that wrath.” You grit out half-jokingly when you stumble for the fifth time since this endeavor started.

Izuku laughs, obviously not taking your threat as seriously as he should, and helps to steady you, “I promise you that we’re almost there! Also, do you really think that I would let you get hurt? Kacchan would kill me- awff!”

Izuku lets out a weird noise as your elbow meets his stomach and now it’s your turn to laugh, “What the hell even was that? Oh my god, that was funny! Okay, back to business, we’re almost where, exactly?” You question in hopes that he’ll actually tell you this time.

“Nope. Elbows to the stomach aren’t as effective as you may think, but nice try! All you need to know is that we’re almost there!” Izuku answers all too cheerfully for your taste and a pout forms on your lips.

After an indeterminate amount of time continuing on this lovely nature walk, you’re assuming it’s lovely since you can’t freaking see, Izuku finally lets you know that it’s coming to an end, “Alrighty, just around the bend here.. And look at that, there’s Kacchan!” He excitedly exclaims and you fight the urge to elbow him again.

“Izuku, I can’t see anything, I’m fucking blindfolded.” You state in the most unamused tone you can muster. You hear two huffs from two different directions, each depicting two different emotions. One of them is the little pouty huff Izuku does when someone gets snarky with him and the other is the huff of laughter you know so well to be Katsuki’s.

“Kats, Izuku made me put on this blindfold and then he tried to kill me multiple times on the way here.. Wherever ‘here’ is.” You whine at your boyfriend, your lips forming back into a pout to hide the playful smirk tugging at them.

“He wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Sweetheart. His whole career is based on keeping people from getting hurt, plus he knows that I would kill him.” Katsuki says matter of factly and you can hear the mirth in his voice.

Behind you, Izuku makes a triumphant noise like he won something, “See! I told you- awff! Dammit, stop doing that!” Izuku makes the hilariously weird noise again after you elbow him in the stomach, again, and you can’t help the evil little giggle that leaves your mouth.

“Alright Sweetheart, stop abusing the nerd,” Katsuki says after he’s done laughing. “And do me a favor, yeah? Step forward about six steps, and before you say anything, no you aren’t going to trip on anything.”

Taking a brief moment to flip Katsuki the bird for his teasing, you hesitantly begin to step forward. You count the steps in your head since Katsuki was weirdly specific about it, then stop when you’ve taken the sixth step. You are beyond confused about what the hell is going on here, but you trust Katsuki so don’t question anything aloud.

“Hmm.. actually, take one more step forward.” Katsuki says in a quieted and calculating tone, he sounds closer to you now and that supplies more questions in your mind. Regardless, you take one more step, then just stand in place, your hands fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

“Now, turn around.” Katsuki says and you can hear a bit of nervousness enter his voice.

“Kats, what’s going on? Are you oka-” You ask concernedly and your hands come up to peel off the blindfold.

“Don’t! Ah, j-just, don’t take that off yet.. please.. And, could you just turn around? Please?” He asks and you can hear his nerves turning into slight irritation, so you mumble out a ‘sorry’ then turn around.

You hear a bit of shuffling behind you and you begin to feel genuine concern and anxiety about what situation you three could possibly be in. After about a minute of shuffling noises and small grunts from behind you, Izuku’s voice pipes up from a bit of a distance in front of you.

“Okay, Y/N, you can take off the blindfold now.” He calls out and you breathe a sigh of relief as you pull the cloth off of your face.

You blink a bit against the bright rays of sunlight and when your vision adjusts you see Izuku making a “turn around” motion with one of his hands. His other hand is holding up what looks to be Katsuki’s phone, the front pointed at you as if he’s taking a video. You send him a look of utter confusion as his hand motion gets more urgent and his smile grows wider.

Hesitantly, you turn around and what you see has you gasping with tears immediately spring to your eyes.

Katsuki is down on one knee with a maroon colored velvet box clasped in his hands looking nervous as hell but wearing a handsome, genuinely happy smile on his face. Behind him, just past the ledge you both are near, is a breathtaking view of a canyon full of lush greenery and a river running right down the middle of it. Bringing both of your hands up to your mouth, you try to wrap your head around what’s happening.

“Y/N L/N, you have been the most consistent thing on my mind since the very first time I saw you. The day we met in that little cafe there was something about you that wouldn’t shake itself from my thoughts. I don’t know if it was your smile, your cheesy charm, or the way you treated me like I was just a normal customer, but you’ve had me hooked since then.” He pauses for a moment when a tearful giggle leaves your lips from his teasing little dig and you melt at the adoration in his eyes.

“I tried my damndest not to fall for you, especially when you had mentioned you didn’t think you could handle a lifestyle like mine, but with every conversation we had, you had me wrapped around your small ass finger more and more. I know that I’m difficult and I’ve fucked up, but you keep loving me. It’s probably one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever encountered in my life, but it’s also the most incredible.” Katsuki’s emotional staring is so intense and you almost want to shy away. You're a blubbering mess by now, absolutely drowning in his affectionate speech, and he keeps going.

“What we have is something that I’m never going to try to get rid of.. again..” Guilt flashes across his features when he says this even though you both have worked through it you know that he still beats himself up over it. But his happiness comes back in the blink of an eye and he continues, “So this is me tying ya down, Sweetheart. I love you, Y/N, more than I ever thought possible for someone like myself.”

He pauses one more time, his eyes darting down to the box in his hands as he opens it and presents it to you, his loving gaze meeting yours, and what he says next is the most “Katsuki” thing you think he could say in a moment like this..

“Y/N L/N, my Sweetheart, will ya fuckin’ marry me or what?”

Your laughter mixes with your happy crying as you fall to your knees, every form of “yes” you can think of at this moment spilling from your lips as he slips the ring onto your finger. Cheering is heard from Izuku as you pull Katsuki in for a passionate kiss, your heart so incredibly full that it feels like it’ll burst.

Katsuki is the first one to pull away from the kiss and he faces toward Izuku, raising your left hand into the air triumphantly, “We’re gettin’ fuckin’ married!!” He shouts and it echoes down the canyon along with the cheers from Izuku and yourself. Joyous warmth fills your chest and all you can think about is how Y/N Bakugo has such a delicious ring to it.

Note ~ Lovelies.. this fic definitely made me have.. feelings. Nothing even close to how emotional I was when I wrote One Life After Another, Forvermore but still, feeelliinngggsss lol. I really do hope that you enjoyed the read, though! And if there are any typos or errors please point them out because I finished and posted this fic to here on literally zero hours of sleep. I really do be just running off of nicotine and sheer fucking will lmao. Anyway, if you read past this note you will be entering "extended ending" territory, so just beware because it's sad. Big sad. I also may be overdramatizing it, but y'all can let me know. I love and appreciate you, Lovelies! <3

𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆/𝑬𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈

The image of you, Katsuki and Izuku fades out until the emptiness that surrounded you when you first ended up here comes back. You’re on your knees as gut-wrenching sobs rip themselves from your chest. If there is a god, just how cruel of a being is he if he’s willing to show you how your life would have played out if you didn’t die? Does he get some kind of sick joy out of making you watch a movie of everything you ever could have dreamed of obtaining if you had just survived.

If you would have lived, would have kept breathing for maybe five minutes longer, the day they found where Shadow Step was hiding you then you could have had all of that. But you didn’t live. You didn’t survive. You died slumped against that wall mere minutes before Izuku came bursting through that damn doorway. Your body had just given up, so fucking pathetically too.

You had stood near your body watching Izuku sob as he performed CPR and you had screamed for him to bring you back. You watched him nearly kill the paramedic as they tried to, respectfully, pull your lifeless body away from Izuku to put it into a bodybag. You watched as the “ever-smiling” Hero Deku held your cold, dead hand the entire way to the morgue with nothing more than a disconnected look on his face.

Later that night, you watched the love of your life stand next to your body with tears streaming down his face as he ran a finger down your cheek. You watched as his face contorted into horrified disbelief and he stumbled over to a trash can in the corner of the room just barely making it there before he threw up whatever was in his stomach. You watched as the man you loved with your entire being cursed, screamed, cried, and destroyed the room until he was on his knees beside where your body laid. You watched as Katsuki screamed at your body that he was sorry, that he loves you, and that he wishes that it was him that was dead. You watched as your Katsuki hoarsely begged you to come back to him even though within his ever-logical brain, he knew that it wasn’t possible for you to come back.

You had never known what happened after someone died.

And now that you do know?

You wouldn’t wish this upon your worst enemy.

Not even on the man that sent you here in the first place.

Tag List ~ @bri-mercado-00 @queenpiranhadon @feral-ratatattat-king @queendynamight2001

Divider Credit ~ @saradika

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lightseoul · 2 years ago

Text

prove it

synopsis. bakugou katsuki starts acting differently after your last conversation. you finally arrive at an agreement. (part 1) (part 2)

cw. fem!reader, worker!reader, prohero!katsuki, aged-up (~24 yrs old), lots of cussing

word count. 3.6k words

a/n. the last part of the series! thanks so much for all the love on the first two parts, everyone! i had such fun writing this <3 again, reblogs, tags, and comments will be highly appreciated!

You barely slept a wink that night.

After that exchange with Bakugou, you immediately left his office, not even bothering to greet his secretary (partly because you couldn’t bear the possibility of her overhearing), and headed straight to your desk.

A feeble attempt at going back to work was made, but you’d be lying to yourself if you said you actually got something done.

Even as you commuted your way home and got ready for bed, your brain wouldn’t stop replaying the conversation, lingering especially on his loaded confession.

He still loves you.

What now?

Sadly, just because you're marred by sleep deficit and boy problems doesn't mean you get to miss out on work. You now walk down the hallway of your floor on the way to the break room, desperate to inject some caffeine into your system to get you through the day.

And to help you focus and get your mind off of Bakugou fucking Katsuki, thank you very much.

You’re one foot into the room when it suddenly dawns on you how you consumed the last pod of your favorite brew yesterday (before all the shit went down), which means that you’re now out and caffeine-less.

Fuck.

“Well, don’t you look like shit.”

Mikuri hums from her favorite spot on the sofa, a cup of what you think is green tea in her hands.

“Thanks?” you mumble begrudgingly as you plop yourself across from her, mood growing sourer by the minute.

“What’s up with you?” she sounds amused, a brow quirked in question.

You sigh, smoothing the wrinkle on your blazer you didn’t have the energy to iron out that morning. “Am sleep-deprived and out of coffee. Not everyone can be chipper like you on this fine day, I guess.”

“No, you’re not?”

You sit up, eyes narrowing, “You mean to say I look like shit normally and not just because I didn’t get enough sleep?”

She frowns, “You know that’s not what I mean. What I meant is that no, you’re not out of coffee.”

“Look,” she gestures to the beverage area with her free hand.

Your brows shoot up in response as you take in the freshly stocked shelf.

Weird, you think to yourself.

You were normally the one to restock on that specific flavor, being the only one on your floor who is partial to it.

Unless…

You shake your head to rid yourself of the unwelcome thoughts, willing to crush the butterflies erupting in your stomach.

Mikuri doesn’t get the chance to comment on your unusual behavior because the Performance Management head of your HR team pops in through the door, a grin adorning his face.

“Good morning, boss! See you in 15.”

Yamakawa, the Recruitment head, rifles through her documents before standing up to distribute them to you and the other sub-department leads.

She goes around the room to hand you what seems to be a substantial amount of pages, “Here’s the status report on Bakugou’s new sidekick.”

“Already?” you splutter, gaining the attention of your direct subordinates. You straighten up, slightly embarrassed. “I thought they’re just starting today?”

“Yeah, well. We figured you’d want to hear it,” Yamakawa says as she gets seated and goes through her copy.

“Get this,” she continues, “he’s way more cooperative than we predicted him to be. Moriyama-san, or Water Jet Hero: Aqua Girl, is already in his office, discussing—” she glances at the report, “—battle strategies and joint training schedules as we speak.”

The others hum in acknowledgment as you sit there, still struggling to wrap your head around what was just said.

“And no one coerced him to do this?” Tanaka, the Performance Management head, pipes in. You whip to look at Yamakawa, anticipating her answer.

“Apparently, he emailed Moriyama-san yesterday himself to set the meeting.”

Delighted noises erupt across the room as you stare at the Recruitment head in disbelief.

“This is great news, right?” the Socialization head exclaims. “If we’re talking long-term, Bakugou’s workload will definitely lessen with a good sidekick around, meaning we’ll get fewer angry outbursts and a more decent-to-be-around boss!”

You know they’re making sense, and that this is supposed to be amazing news to hear as the HR department head, but you can’t help the tinge of anticipatory dread rising in your gut.

“Why don’t you seem happy?” Tanaka asks you, before turning to the others. “Hey, why isn’t Y/N happy?”

The unusual events don’t end after that.

To your surprise, Bakugou starts to attend meetings that concern him, instead of the usual—letting Kirishima do all the coordinating with you and your department. He’s even offered to help you with your analysis report on his new sidekick (quite awkwardly, at that), which you so quickly and frantically declined in front of everyone.

You suspect your subordinates are starting to deem you as weird, too.

If they only knew.

Regardless, with each passing day, you seem to be seeing more and more of him around the office, and needless to say, it’s messing with your head.

The always-stocked shelf of coffee isn’t helping either.

It’s gotten to the point where it’s starting to affect your sleep as well, with how much you overthink these sudden changes in his behavior.

In an attempt to get your mind off him and the confusing mix of hope and dread circling your stomach, you start to drown yourself in work.

Ah, your ever-trusty friend: avoidance.

You stand by the coffee machine as it does its magic, your foot tapping against the floor impatiently. You glance at the wall clock, which reads 8:01 PM.

You sigh, grabbing the freshly brewed beverage not even a second after the machine dings.

It’s been two weeks since that heated conversation with Bakugou, and one since your self-mandated oath to bury yourself with work, at least until your thoughts get a little bit less muddled and Bakugou stops acting differently.

“You’re still here?”

You startle from your absentminded stirring and look toward the source of the voice.

Speak of the devil.

Seeming as though he’s fresh from a shower, you stare at Bakugou as he stands by the doorway of the break room.

You eye the duffel bag that’s slung over his shoulder.

“You’re leaving already?”

Fuck, you think to yourself. Now you feel like a creep for knowing that Bakugou leaving two hours after his shift is considered early in his dictionary.

And now you feel stupid for answering his question with another question.

What’s gotten into you?

“Yeah,” he answers curtly, not offering much of an explanation. “What’re you doing working overtime?”

You place the mug on the marble countertop and cringe when it makes a loud, clashing noise.

You turn back to face him. “Have to work on the biannual report.” You shrug, as nonchalantly as you can, “It’s due soon.”

Bakugou grunts in acknowledgment, shifting on his feet.

“Well, thank you for your hard work,” he offers. “And for—uh—helping me choose my sidekick.”

Your stomach whirls in delight despite yourself.

You clear your throat, “Again, I was just doing my job.”

At that, he deflates ever so minutely, so you follow it up with: “But you’re welcome. I heard you’re thinking of hiring another one?”

“Yeah, just to help with the workload,” he nods. “I met him yesterday.”

“...You’re right, by the way,” Bakugou adds after a few seconds pass without you saying anything.

“Huh?”

He looks away, breaking eye contact. “I don’t like how similar we are. But he’s good.”

You have no idea how he knew you said that.

Scratch that—it was probably Kirishima.

Damn that meddler.

You clear your throat again in an attempt to change the subject and drop the conversation in its entirety.

“Well, I hope you have a good rest of your night.”

Bakugou meets your eye again, and for a moment he looks like he’s about to say something, then hesitates.

He opens his mouth ever so slightly before closing it again, eyes still fixed on you, before simply saying: “You too.”

At that, he turns on his heel and trudges towards the elevators.

Once you’re sure he’s out of sight and earshot, you bring your hand up to clutch at your heart, which is going at an alarmingly fast rate.

“Shit.”

You can’t still be in love with him?

“What?!” Mina hops on her feet, almost knocking your glass of iced tea off the table.

“Dude, you’ve got to stop doing that,” you seethe, looking around your go-to café. It’s unusually barren on a Saturday afternoon.

You look back at her, “People stare, you know. And besides, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!” she parrots incredulously.

“Just—” you scramble for words, “please sit back down?”

At your pleading tone, Mina finally gets seated, but her pinched eyebrows tell you she’s far from being done with the conversation.

“Fine,” she relents, “but you’ve got some explaining to do, missy.”

You sigh, “Okay. What do I have to explain to you?”

“Wha—” she starts, aghast, “I mean—first of all, why the fuck are you asking me to contact your blind date when three weeks ago, you were practically disgusted with the idea of going on one?”

“We talked,” you shift your eyes away from her. “Bakugou and I.”

Mina snorts.

“Let me guess. You realized you still love him?”

Your head whips to look at her, “Mina!”

“What?” she spits back. “Don’t use that accusatory tone on me.”

“I have the right to use this accusatory tone on you. I have a feeling a certain someone broke her promise about not saying anything about our last conversation with Bakugou.”

At that, Mina visibly cringes.

“In my defense,” she starts, voice raised, “it was only because that cemented how you’re both still into each other!”

You scoff.

“Aren’t you?” she presses, shooting you a pointed look, “Still into him?”

“I—I don’t know okay,” you raise your voice, inadvertently catching a few café-goers’ attention. You sink back into your seat in embarrassment.

“All I know is that the circumstances between us still haven’t changed. And that this shit is confusing—he’s confusing.”

You wave your hand around vaguely, “He’s been acting all weird and stuff.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters…”

“Hmmm…”

“What do you mean, hmmm?” you ask, exasperated.

She rolls her eyes at you, “Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that he’s trying to prove you something?”

At that, your heart leaps in your throat. You push it down, though, as best as you can. Crossing your arms across your chest, you huff.

“If he thinks restocking my coffee for me is proving something, he’s got another thing coming for him.”

Mina guffaws, and you can’t help the smile that creeps on your face. Once the laughter has died down, though, she eyes you for a moment before sighing in resignation.

She picks up her phone and thumbs out something on her keyboard.

“Well, you’re in luck,” she starts, “Daichi-san is still interested in meeting you.”

You don’t know whether to be annoyed at Mina for ignoring your earlier request to cancel or be grateful for indulging you on your current one.

Not wanting to change her mind, you merely opt for mumbling a quick ‘thank you’, glancing at your phone as it dings with a message from her containing the engineer’s number.

You look around the interior of the restaurant, past the windows of the private room you’re in where a beautiful traditional garden lies, illuminated by the dim orange outdoor lighting.

You chance a peek at Daichi, who is already looking at you when your eyes meet.

Embarrassed, you look down at your ridiculously elaborate main course, finding yourself grateful that you opted for the fancier of your two dresses earlier this evening.

“So,” he breaks the silence as he pours you a glass of wine whose name you can’t even begin to pronounce. “Ashido-san told me you work at the Ground Riot agency?”

“Yes,” you smile gratefully as you bring your glass to your lips and take a sip. “I’ve been working there for a year now.”

“Must be exciting, huh?” he adds pleasantly, “working for top Pro Heroes?”

Man.

You purse your lips together, not wanting to seem stilted by the question. “It is. It can get quite hectic, though.”

He hums in agreement, “I get that.”

Daichi then proceeds to talk about the agency where he works, and normally you’d be kind enough to actively listen and throw in some follow-up questions, but your mind is now drifting towards Bakugou and your last encounter at the mention of the Pro Hero.

What did he want to say to you?

“L/N-san?”

“Huh?”

Daichi chuckles awkwardly, “I was just asking if you wanted some spice on your salmon."

Spice.

Bakugou would’ve wanted some.

Bakugou, you think to yourself.

Bakugou.

“Bakugou?”

You gape at the figure looming over your dining table.

The very man is standing there in his regular clothes that would’ve disguised his identity if it weren’t for his distinct blonde hair and hulking figure.

“What are you doing here?!”

“I need to talk to you.”

You nervously glance at your date, who seems to be starstruck by the Pro Hero in front of him.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something?” you whisper-shout.

Bakugou barely pays him any attention—gaze remaining on you. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think an unspoken ‘please’ lies at the tip of his tongue.

You shake your head in bewilderment, or in an attempt to shake off these thoughts—you don’t know.

“Don’t you have the night shift? And how’d you know I was here?”

He exhales heavily, jaw tensing.

“I had Kirishima cover for me. And…” He looks away for a brief moment, before turning back and fixing his gaze on yours. “I asked Mina, and she told me you’d be here.”

You don’t know what comes over you, but at that, you stand up on your feet and stare him down.

“You can stop now, Katsuki,” you hush, wary of your date eavesdropping on your conversation. “Quit wasting your time on me just to prove a point and go back to the agency. You’ve done enough.”

His eyebrows furrow in what you’ve grown to identify as defiance, but he doesn’t make a move to fight back or leave.

Instead, he says through gritted teeth: “I’m not just trying to prove a fucking point, Y/N.”

“Then what are—”

“Excuse me?”

You both whip your heads in the direction of the voice, only to see Daichi sporting a sheepish look on his face as his eyes dart between the two of you.

A pang of guilt courses through you at the sight.

He clears his throat, “Do you guys need a minute alone?”

“No, we’re just—”

“Yes.”

You turn back to look at Bakugou in angry confusion. To your astoundment, he leans in ever slightly, mouth nearing your ear. From how close you are, you see how his Adam’s apple bobs as he gulps before speaking.

His voice is barely above a whisper when he says: “I can’t pretend that this isn’t bothering me.”

You jerk away at the sensation and take a step back, flustered. Before you can even gather your bearing, Daichi speaks up again, albeit quite hesitantly.

“I know I’m supposed to be the one leaving here, but if you want some privacy, this restaurant has a private patio right to your left.”

“I can’t believe you interrupted us like that,” you spew as you step out into the restaurant’s patio, which is fortunately empty except for the two of you.

Bakugou follows behind you, trying to catch up as you speak.

“I just needed to talk to you.”

At that, you spin around to face him, and he halts in his step in front of you.

Incredulous, you stare at him for a few seconds.

“Talk,” you finally command.

His eyes widen in surprise, and you can tell he didn’t expect this conversation to arrive at this point so soon.

A moment passes, but not a single word is uttered. Bakugou’s mouth opens and closes, opens and closes, as he attempts to get a word out but to no avail.

“What, now you don’t have anything to say?” you ask pointedly, irritation bubbling in you by the second.

You wait for a few more, excruciatingly quiet seconds before huffing in defeat. And disappointment—you finally admit to yourself.

“If you’ll excuse me,” you turn on your heel, “I have a poor date to return to.”

You start to head for the restaurant’s back door when Bakugou makes a grab for your hand, spinning you around to face him.

“Just—wait.”

His voice is pleading now, frustration and desperation evident in his tone. You’re itching to yank your hand back, which is getting alarmingly clammier by the second, but you fight the urge.

The pained look on Bakugou’s face is enough to freeze you solid.

This time around, you patiently wait for him to gather his words with his hand still wrapped around yours and your heart betraying you, beating at an abnormally fast pace.

What feels like an hour goes by before he finally manages to speak.

And what comes out of his mouth throws you right off.

“I strengthened our coordination with the other agencies around the district.”

“...What?”

You absentmindedly touch your face with your free hand.

You can’t be having a stroke right now.

Bakugou shifts on his feet, a nervous tic you’ve noticed developed over the years.

Okay, if you’re coherent enough to observe that, maybe you’re not having a stroke.

“I mean—” he scratches the back of his neck with his free hand. “—Shitty Hair and I, we clarified jurisdictions around the area so that the two of us won’t be the go-to contact every time there’s a villain around.”

“I’m still not following, Katsuki.”

He ignores your comment, choosing to continue on his tangent instead.

“And I started seeing my therapist again. That damned hag went on telling me she was glad I’m getting help again like she was my mother.”

You blink at him as the gears start turning in your head.

Jurisdiction.

Less overtime.

More sidekicks.

Therapy.

Communication.

Suddenly, everything clicks.

“Maybe I am trying to prove a point,” Bakugou mumbles, more to himself than you.

“But it’s not just that,” he continues, looking back at you and not letting you get a word in.

“I’m here to tell you that I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect. Despite all the adjustments I’ve made, there are still gonna be days when I have no choice but to prioritize my duties as a hero over you.”

He looks down at your joint hands and squeezes, “Over us.”

“But I’m trying my best,” he declares with such certainty it knocks the wind off your lungs. “And I’ll keep doing so, if you’ll give me a chance to prove to you that I can do it.”

A million questions race through your mind. Why couldn’t he have done this for you the first time around? How is this time going to be any different? Are the changes going to be enough?

But he’s staring at you with such longing and hope and determination that the only thing you can think of is: How can you not?

Dizzy from the revelation and robbed of all words, all you can do is nod in affirmation as the tears you didn’t even notice were there start falling down your cheek.

A sigh of relief wracks Bakugou’s body as he scoops you in his arms, engulfing you in an embrace that has you sobbing even more on his shoulder.

The wet sensation spreading on your bare shoulders tells you he’s crying, too.

After what feels like an eternity of shedding tears and being wrapped in each other’s arms, Bakugou finally moves to unwrap his limbs around you, now holding you at an arm’s length.

Now not in spite of yourself, your hand shoots up to wipe off the tear streaks on his face, which he leans into.

“I’m sorry, by the way,” he whispers after a moment.

Your hand freezes in its track. “For what?”

“For not being able to immediately answer back when you asked me if you loving me changed anything.”

He looks down at his feet, uncertain. “I think—I just—” he stutters, “Fuck.”

You can’t help but chuckle in response, and he looks up at your face at the sound. He’s trying to playfully pout, but you can tell by the look on his face that he’s feeling the farthest from playful.

Flashing him what you hope is a reassuring smile, you reach for the hand on your shoulder and squeeze it. “Go on, Katsuki.”

He sighs for the nth time at your coaxing, the slightest bit of relief flashing across his features.

“At that moment,” he finally continues, voice raspy, “I guess I was just scared shitless. I was paralyzed with doubt—in myself, in my capability to not mess up the second time around.”

He huffs, eyeing you, “Didn’t occur to me how stupid that was until I was walking home later that night.”

You’re about to reassure him when he snorts. “The fuck am I saying—I’m still scared.”

At that, you audibly laugh, running your fingers through his hair in an attempt to soothe him. He visibly softens at the gesture, lids fluttering shut for a moment. When he opens them, you then look him straight in the eye—the laughter long gone, now replaced with a palpable seriousness.

“I’m scared, too,” you say, voice quiet. “But we’ll try and make things work. Right, Katsuki?”

He nods vigorously, hand clenching yours and his crimson orbs filled with nothing but sincerity that all the apprehensions floating in your mind suddenly disappear.

“We will.”

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#bakugou x reader #bakugou x y/n #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou imagines #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha scenarios #mha scenarios #mha x reader #bnha x reader #bakugou x you #bakugou imagine #bakugou hurt/comfort #bakugo x reader #bakugo x y/n #AND IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!!#WOOOOOH #sorry i did not proofread this AT ALL

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