"Let's wrap this up!" Sekijioru called out with a clap of his hands. "(l/n), Bakugou, you're up next!"

You flicked your gaze up and watched as the crowd of students split to reveal an absolutely vexed looking Bakugou. The blond glared at you as he made his way to the cleared space, hands stuffed in his pockets. Around you, you heard a serenade of whispers mingling in the air.

"Wow, this looks tense doesn't it?"

"It's like the scene before a slaughter..."

"More like watching the final boss up against the princess in a videogame."

Did they not just see you kick Todoroki's ass? Their lack of faith peeved you to no end. What you found the most annoying, however, wasn't their words. It was that even your own 1-B classmates had their doubts. You recognized the myriad of voices as the ones you heard every day.

Even so, Bakugou trudged forward and tugged off his blue UA sweater. As he did so your eyes wandered off to his very prominent shoulders in the black muscle shirt he wore.

Ohhh myyyy gooodd, You scolded yourself immediately. You could not be looking at him like that right now. You were mad at him and you were about to fight him.

You bit your lip in nervous dismay. That wasn't entirely true. You weren't as angry as you were before. In fact, you didn't even want to kick his ass anymore. Even though his stupid face made you angry sometimes, something inside you didn't want to hurt him.

Just then, you heard Bakugou scoff. "Aizawa-sensei, is this really necessary?" He drawled.

"What do you mean, Bakugou?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow at his student.

"It's obvious I'm not gonna lose to some little 1-B princess, so why should I go through the effort in fighting her?" The ash blond shook his head with a breathy laugh. "Spare me the energy. I'm done here." He turned on his heel and made to leave.

FUUUUUCCKK NOT HURTING HIM NOW

"You pompous, over-inflated sack of shit!!!" Your booming voice resonated amidst the band of students bringing them to a cold silence. Your feet were suddenly moving on their own heading straight towards the core of all your fury. Your arm flew back and swung at him.

But the punch never landed. Instead, it crashed into Bakugou's open palm.

Angry tears filled your eyes despite your resentment for them being there. "Why do you act like such a jackass? You put yourself on a high pedestal and treat everyone else like shit! I'm sick of it!" You shouted. You threw another fist at him but he easily shoved it away.

"Do you really think you're the best thing to happen to this damn school? Do you honestly hold yourself at such a high regard that you'll dismiss everyone else!?" Your voice felt raw against your throat, but the words never stopped spilling out. Neither did your advances at him.

You struck punch and after punch at the blond with no real aim but to land. Your rage was blind and scornful as you exhausted your energy into every attack. You couldn't care where you hit him so long as you did.

But no matter how much force you put in, Bakugou still managed to block or dodge you. He showed no other emotion other than focus as he quickly guarded your fists and kicks.

"I'm such an idiot! I fell right into that 'I-can-be-understanding' bullshit! " You let out in frustration. "Why the fuck did I think you could be different!? That you had some semblance of humanity!?" Sweat and tears ran down your burning hot face as your heart throbbing against your ribs. Your breath came out in ragged sighs all the while you incessantly pounded at the boy. "You will always be the same stupid, conceited asshole who doesn't care about anyone! Not even those who are close to you! You're just FUCKING BULLY WITH A MASSIVE, CANCEROUS EGO!!"

The remainder of your strength went into a final punch aimed at his face, and just like before his entire hand had enveloped your fist. But this wasn't what had caught your surprise. No, it was Bakugou's expression that made you pause. His previous emotionless demeanor had gone and in its stead was a dirty, uneasy scowl. You weren't sure, but you felt him emitting a serious aura behind those ruby eyes.

This made you cower into deep confusion causing your earlier strength dissipated along with your anger. All that was left was the embarrassment of your public outburst and your sad frustration.

However, these worries were pushed aside when you felt Bakugou clench the hand that held yours. You winced painfully as he crushed your fingers.

"You don't know shit about me!" His voice remained even, but his tone was threatening. "You don't know why I act the way I act or why I do what I do. You don't know me enough to understand what the fuck is going through my head! So don't fool yourself into believing you do, princess," Bakugou spat in disdain. His grip on you tightened causing you to have to muffle your yelp. You tried to pry free your captive hand but he suddenly caught your other wrist, wrenching it dangerously. All rational thoughts left you as you pulled and twisted in an attempt to escape.

Bakugou laughed spitefully. "Fucking bold of you to assume shit about me when you don't even know what the fuck I've been through! Before you come at me, why don't you go and check your facts!" He then took both your arms and shoved you to the ground with the help of a kick to your stomach. Once again, the wind was knocked out of you and you rolled on the floor in agony.

Bakugou's jaw tightened as he realized everyone was staring intently at him. "There...I won. I'm leaving." And with that, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the field.

After that, it took everyone a long moment to process what the hell just happened.

"Oh my god, (l/n)!" You heard the familiar scream of your classmate, Itsuka. She and Ibara had run over to you immediately and knelt beside you. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

They had managed to sit you up but you still couldn't form a response. The crowd of students was suffocating you with their peering eyes.

"(l/n), you alright?" Aizawa began to stride towards you but you gave him a wave of reassurance.

Just then, Kirishima and Kaminari scampered close to you. "Goddamn what the fuck was that..." Kaminari mumbled.

Kirishima wore a conflicted look. "Jesus...he didn't have to kick you down like that..." He lifted your arm as he saw you trying to get up. Leaning on him for support, you took this opportunity to attempt to control your breathing again.

"Are you going to be alright? Do you need to go down to the Recovery Girl's office?" Sekijioru prodded.

"No," You wheezed. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe you should go," Kirishima persuaded as the others followed his statement. "You're not looking too good right now. You should at least rest."

"Thank you, Kirishima, but I'll be okay," You said slowly. "I agreed to two matches after all. This is on me."

"(l/n)..." Ibara wanted to protest, but you seemed resigned to your decision.

"I'm fine," You sighed, hand over your sore abdomen. Your body felt bruised and stung, physically and emotionally.

"Well...I guess this is it for class today," Aizawa announced, casting glances over to your group. "Everyone can head home now."

"Can you help me out here, Kiri?" You smiled weakly. You didn't want to cause a big stir, but you also didn't want to fall flat on your face. Better safe than sorry.

"Oh, sure thing!" The red head nodded, placing your arm over his shoulder. You could walk on your own although it tortured your torso when you did. Maybe all those consecutive fights weren't such a good idea.

Anyone who had an interest in speaking to you afterwards about the fight was quickly shut down by your friends as they distracted the students while you made your getaway inside the school. You and Kirishima wound down a couple hallways before you finally decided you could manage yourself once again.

"Are you sure? I don't mind carrying you," Kirishima said kindly.

"Yeah, I'm good...for now. Just feel like shit." You tried to make your statement into a joke but even a chuckle made you groan in pain. You sighed and sat on one of the empty benches in the corridor. "Can we just stay here for a bit?" Kirishima nodded and sat down beside you. "Sure thing."

With a heavy breath, you closed your eyes and laid your head back against the wall. "Fuck."

"Yeah, that's probably how I'd describe right now too," He laughed meekly. "But it was manly of you to take on 5 dudes all within an hour or so."

"That's not what I meant." Your eyebrows furrowed. "I fucked up. To be fair, I feel like he also fucked up but I made some mistakes as well."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Bakugou was right," You admitted sorely. "I don't know him well. It feels like I may not have known him at all. Who am I to assume so much of him?" Your lips curled into a tight grimace. "But I still don't think it's an excuse for rude behavior.....ahhh, this is all such a big fucking mess! Why did this happen?"

You hunched over and pressed your palms to your eyes. "Why is this affecting me so much?"

Kirishima let out a soft huff. "Because...you care about your friendship with Bakugou."

You glanced up at him with silent distress, almost urging him to go on. "I don't know...I thought I wanted him gone, out of my life, and now...I don't know what to do..."

"Well, the way I see it, you two are both conflicted about this fight. You need to talk to each other about what's bothering you," Kirishima said, resting a hand on your shoulder. "And if you guys are still butting heads, then maybe it's for the better you both go your separate paths."

You nodded solemnly. "I think you may be right. I don't know how exactly I can talk to him after what happened today, but you're right."

"And if something goes wrong, don't forget I'll be here for you," The red head continued with a chuckle. "I consider you a good friend of mine and I'd like to be there for you."

You laughed quietly. "What about Kaminari?"

"Oh, yeah, he's here for you too haha." His sharp teeth beamed into a wistful smile.

"That's good to know," You chortled. Talking with Kirishima had restored your happiness a little bit. "Hey, Kiri, thanks for coming with me...and helping me out in general," You told him in kind voice. "I really appreciate it."

"Of course," He grinned warmly and gave your arm a slight squeeze. "Here, why don't we grab your stuff and I'll walk you home today?"

You felt your spirits lifted by his affectionate nature and an endearing smile cross your face. "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Excuse me, Sekijirou," Aizawa stopped his colleague in the hallway. "I wanted to talk to you about (l/n)."

"Hm? What about her?"

"First, I wanted to compliment you on having a very talented student," Aizawa went on. "She has a lot of tenacity, although I'm not sure what that outburst between her and my student was."

"Oh yes. I didn't even know your students spoke to mine," Sekijirou nodded in agreement. "But (l/n) is extremely capable. She may be one of the best students I've ever had, mentally and hero-wise."

Aizawa looked a bit surprised by this. "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"(l/n) may be lazy in class but she certainly knows what she's doing. She has the best grades out of all of them. Her quirk is also very powerful and has potential for growth. I mean, you saw her out there. She is no slouch. She can handle herself almost as well as a pro," Sekijirou praised. "I sometimes wonder where she learned to fight like that, but she claims she's had no lessons."

"She sounds impressive," Aizawa mused thoughtfully. "Perhaps it's her parentage?"

"I think she only has one parent, a civilian mother," Sekijirou said. "But still, (l/n) certainly got the long end of the stick with her genetics turning out so outstanding."

"I was thinking," Aizawa pondered, "Perhaps we could give the students a mock exam before their midterm? It'd give them a chance to learn each other's quirks so they can improve themselves for the test."

Sekijirou hummed. "Hmm, that would be beneficial...alright. When did you want to have them practice?"

"In a week or two."

"Sounds like plan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You laughter echoed as you and Kirishima walked down your empty neighborhood. The warm sunset in the distance indicated how late it had gotten, though it wasn't your fault. The injuries you sustained had slowed you down and made you miss the train you normally used to get back home. So there you were, striding along the concrete path while Kirishima told you about the time he thought he was going to die peeing his pants.

"I was terrified, man. One minute I'm getting up to use the bathroom and the next and my head is bleeding all over the place."

"But how did you not know it was you who did it?" You inquired amid fits of giggles.

"I don't know! I just saw the blood and thought I was dying," Kirishima shrugged.

"Was this before or after you pissed yourself?" You smirked.

"Before, and come on, I was three years old! My quirk manifestation has a lousy timing."

"At least your scar is hard to see," You said, glancing over to his right brow. "Imagine if you had taken out your eye?"

"Then I'd probably be a pirate hero," Kirishima laughed.

"Hey, I think pirates are cool so you'd be good in my book."

Just then, you both had arrived at your yard. The silent house would have seemed unsettling if you didn't live there.

"This is my stop," You hummed, turning to the red head.

"I guess I'll see you Monday. Take care of yourself, (l/n)." Kirishima gave you friendly smile and a wave. You also bid him farewell and carefully wandered inside your home.

The first thing you did once you were inside was call out to see if your mother was there. Given no reply, you proceeded to search around the house. You found a note on the refrigerator in the kitchen whilst noticing you had a text from your mother. Both messages read the same.

Working extra hours tonight. Money is on the counter for dinner
Love you!

You let out a dejected sigh. Another night alone. As much as you enjoyed quiet moments to yourself, you had them abundantly in your lifetime. It was only until recently that you had an excuse to stay away from home. And that reason was Bakugou.

The thought of him reminded you of your aching abdomen and the rest of your bruised limbs. You groaned as you opened the freezer and made yourself a makeshift icepack and applied it to your stomach. You then strode over to the couch and let yourself fall in a heap. The tension in your body instantly released and exhaustion washed over you.

Today was unexpected. Memories flickered like a film in your mind as you pondered the events. Your heart pulled every which way mimicking the tornado of emotions you experienced that day. How to fix it all, how to forget it all, what to do about it all...

You were lost to your thoughts as a hazy cloud of sleep overtook you...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nap must have really knocked you out because the next thing you knew, you woke up to darkness. Groggily, you sat up and rubbed your eyes. You then felt an icy breeze hitting your back and realized you were sitting in a cold puddle.

Fuck, the icepack...!

You grumbled angrily at yourself as you got up and did your best to clean up the spill. After that, you changed out of your uniform and into some casual shorts and a t-shirt. Sensing the lateness, you checked the time on your phone and saw that it was already 8:15.

Your stomach was making the rumblies so you thought it best to go to the convenience store now before it got any later. No matter how capable you thought you were, you still felt uneasy when going out at night.

You walked hurriedly to the store and grabbed a quick set of items with the money your mom had left. By the time you left it was around 8:50.

Gah, it's getting late... You ranted to yourself and tried to pick up your stride. You felt extremely unsafe being outside at this hour. To take your mind off of it, you tried thinking about something else.

I've got homework this weekend...maybe I can put it off till Sunday night... or I can pair up with Ibara and we can try to split the work...

You winced as the next thought came to. But what if she asks what happened with Bakugou? I don't want to talk about it...

Thinking of him, your worried expression was replaced with sadness. What were you going to do about him? Kirishima had advised speaking to him but who knew if he'd let you. Your outburst certainly didn't do you any favors. You felt like you may have overreacted just a little but you were just so angry at the time you didn't care.

However, you wouldn't be troubled by all of this if you didn't. You needed to talk to him and clear things up. Maybe...just maybe...he wanted to settle this too? You hoped so. Bakugou may have acted like a jerk, but somehow that jerk had managed to worm his way into your emotions. You didn't want to lose a good friend like him over a trivial problem that could be solved easily. Perhaps, with Kirishima's help, you could approach him on Monday and—

You suddenly froze. There was something standing in front of you a few feet away across the street. It was shrouded in darkness but you could still make out what it was.

Your eyes went wide as a terrible, paralyzing fear shocked you and your audibly pounding heart. You stepped back but your legs gave out on you and you fell onto the pavement, a scream clawing its way up your throat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For once, Bakugou was left alone.

After kicking you to the ground, his classmates made no attempt at conversation with him. Even Kaminari kept his distance.

The teen walked out the school feeling a knot in his chest. He knew the root to this feeling, but he didn't know why. Why did he give a shit about what happened? He didn't need you. You weren't anything new or special. And yet...

Bakugou couldn't explain it. For some reason, your words affected him. He had tried his damnedest to keep a level head and blow you off, but you just had this look on your face that pissed him off.

You hated him. And why? Because you thought he was some vile, self-righteous monster. Maybe if you got to know how he actually was, you'd...

Wait, why was he thinking this? Why did he want you to get to know him? Maybe it was pride thing. Maybe he was just stubborn. Or maybe...he just wanted to show you he wasn't the asshat you thought he was.

Maybe Bakugou wanted to be understood.

The blond frowned at this revelation. But why you? He didn't care what other people thought of him, why you? That's what it always came back to.

You had something about you that just radiated fun and intrigue and for some reason Bakugou found that quality to be so strange yet so enticing. He wanted to know more, he wanted to share more, he wanted to thrill himself in conversation. Because whatever you had to say was worth something to him. Because what you said broadened his perspectives and invigorated his interests and he only ever got that with you.

Perhaps he did truly feel like you were his friend. That's why he didn't want to lose you. He wanted to get over this spat and go back to your daily interactions of ravings and taunts.

Bakugou's mind was still wandering when his phone on his bed lit up. To his surprise, your name was printed in big white letters. He stared at the device in shock for a few seconds before he picked it up. With one last glance at the screen, he answered your call.

"Hello?" The confused teen spoke. What he heard next made his blood run cold.

"Bakugou?" Your voice trembled between frightful cries. "Oh my god, please help me...I have no one else to turn to....oh god...."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I JUST FINISHED THIS AND IM SO TIRED BUT I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I WANTED TO HAVE THIS UP BEFORE TOMORROW EVEN THOUGH IT'S ALREADY TOMORROW FOR ME BUT WHATEVER

SORRY I DIDN'T UPLOAD SATURDAY. SCHOOL KEPT ME BUSY SO I FINISHED IT TODAY :D