❖

The word "rebels" shouldn't have made him feel the way he did.

Besides, maybe Kirishima was nice, but his friend Bakugo seemed quite annoying.

It was time to let the thought of them go.

Then Midoriya raised his look, searching for the sky, and saw a familiar blond person jumping from one building to another.

No, it couldn't be. What were the odds of them running into each other two days in a row?
Midoriya told himself he should forget about the rebels and their crazy conspiracy, but he couldn't look the other way now, not like that.

It would be stupid to pretend he didn't see him, a waste of an opportunity. What opportunity? He didn't know. But Midoriya's heart wanted to follow the rebel, he wanted to believe it was fate that had made them meet again.

So he followed him.
He kept his eyes up, scanning the rooftops of the buildings he ran between, searching for the blond glimpse of hair that kept slipping away from him.
Bakugo was fast. Clearly, he had jumped between rooftops like that numerous times before.

Some people glanced at Midoriya weirdly, but he didn't notice them, nor did he slow down.
With his eyes fixed on his target, he followed him from beneath, through side alleys and crowded streets, from main roads to dark corners, until they were out of the black market's area, until Bakugo got tired of it.
He leaped from the roof, catching himself halfway down using the iron bars of a closed window, then leaped down to the ground again.
Midoriya turned a corner just in time to see him land, and stopped in his tracks.

They were standing in a narrow passage between the buildings, all alone.

"Fucking bastard," breathed Bakugo. All the running and jumping he did weren't as easy as he made them look, but he forced himself to straighten up, acting as if it was nothing, and studied Midoriya with a firm, annoyed look.
"Why the hell are you following me?"

The tone of his voice made Midoriya cower, he didn't think Bakugo was aware of his presence.
All the confidence he had suddenly disappeared.

Why did he follow him, really? What did he think would happen?

"Ah, well... I saw you jumping from rooftops when I was walking..."

"So you followed me? Just like that?" Bakugo raised an eyebrow, sounding half pissed and half surprised.

Yes, thought Midoriya, just like that. But he couldn't say that. Now, when he was standing in front of Bakugo and wasn't blinded by the unexplainable urge to run after him, he understood how ridiculously stupid it all seemed.

"I..."

"That's creepy. You're creepy. Did we even encounter you yesterday by chance, or did you follow us then too?"

"No! Yesterday was a total coincidence, and today too. I thought I'll never see you guys again, I guess I was just surprised."

"So surprised you decided to follow me."

"Please stop saying that," Midoriya felt his face hitting up, "I understand how it looks, and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, it's embarrassing enough as it is."

Bakugo studied him a bit more, contemplating something in his head. Midoriya wished he would stop looking at him, he wanted to turn around and run away. But that will only make him look even weirder, isn't it?

Bakugo let out an annoyed breath. "Fine," He said.
"Just don't do it again, creep."

Midoriya felt somewhat relieved, now they could go their separate ways. He never even liked Bakugo in the first place. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't he see Kirishima jumping off from building to building? If it was him, they'd probably be in the middle of a nice conversation by now.

Bakugo started to walk away, and Midoriya, who was just about to do the same thing, suddenly realized his idiotic actions had caused him another problem.
He followed Bakugo for quite some time, and now, looking around, he had no idea where he was.

Midoriya considered finding his way home on his own, thinking that even if it takes hours, it would be better than asking Bakugo for help.

However, Midoriya was also aware of the amount of money lying in his pocket. The money he got for trading the shirt.
He couldn't risk losing it. Robberies and theft cases were accruing on a regular basis in their city, and the longer he'll wander the streets alone, the bigger the chance he'll catch someone's eye.

"Wait!" Called Midoriya against his will.
Bakugo turned around, rolling his eyes, "What now?"

"I... I don't know where we are."

Bakugo shrugged, "Not my problem."

"Come on," Midoriya took a couple of steps forward, "I showed you the way out of the woods yesterday."

"And we gave you a shirt, so we owe you nothing."

"Please, I wouldn't have asked you if I had another option."

Bakugo clenched his jaw, looking like he is about to punch him.
"Fuck, okay. Come with me, don't slow me down."

"Thank you!" Said Midoriya, relieved, and hurried to follow the grumpy blond again.

"Shut up."

Midoriya didn't shut up.

"Why are you not with Kirishima today?" He asked when they exited the narrow passage.

"What do you mean why?" groaned Bakugo, "We are not always together."

"Just when you steal?"

Bakugo glared at him, "Are you seriously asking me this in the middle of the street? At least keep your fucking voice down."

"Ah, right!״ Midoriya covered his mouth, ״Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Do you EVER think?"

"Hey, of course I do!" Midoriya replied, but his gaze fell to the ground. He didn't think of himself as a talkative person, so why couldn't he shut his mouth around Bakugo? He felt like he was making a fool out of himself, and he hated it.

"I swear, the only thing you did that had a little bit of sense to it was selling that stupid shirt."

"It's not the only thing, you just don't know m..." Midoriya halted, looking up at Bakugo again, frowning.

"How did you know I sold the shirt..?" he barely managed to finish his sentence before the realization hit him.
"Ah!" His eyes widened as he pointed his finger at Bakugo, "You! You! You followed me!"

"No I didn't!" Bakugo replied immediately, defending himself.

"Then how did you know I sold the shirt?"

That was the first time he saw Bakugo stuttering, "Ah, I-"

"You called me a creep for following you, but you were there in the first place because you were following me!"

"Wha- Hey! That's not the same! We had to make sure you won't do anything stupid with that shirt!"

"Stupid?" Midoriya crossed his arms, "Like what?"

"I don't know, like showing it to the soldiers and exposing us!"

Midoriya looked around, "Now you are the one who should keep his voice down."

Realizing how loud they were, Bakugo lowered his voice. Some people were watching them, and whether it was because of the noise they made or the words they said, He didn't like that.

"Damn, let's get out of here." He grabbed Midoriya by his arm and dragged him along.

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Your next chapter is:
"Temptation"