Bakugou didn't see her for a couple of days. She didn't show up and he'd have to sit by himself for hours with the hope that she would. He worried for her well-being, especially since the last time she was around, her body was trembling in the presence of those other kids. Bakugou refused to stop returning to the playground, even after each failed attempt to see her. He mumbled curses to himself as he stomped onto the mulch, but as he raised his head, he saw her figure, sitting on top of the monkey bars. She didn't look at him, but she knew he was there.
He casually approached, keeping silent in case she wanted to say something. She didn't. He climbed the other side, keeping a large distance between them. Bakugou observed her bruised knuckles and legs, colorful with bandaids. He couldn't see her face, a hood covering her eyes from view. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "for leaving you alone." "Why did you? Did something happen?" Her hands tightened on her knees, showing off the dried blood on her skin.
"I—I couldn't—I'm so sorry." He watched tears drop from her hood. She held onto it, chest heaving as she sobbed. "I was trying!" She shouted, nose red as she felt the need to cry. It struck her face with an awful sting. "I was trying to be strong for you!" She clenched her jaw, her tears falling to her lips. "I believe you. I want to so badly. I don't want to listen to them."
"Crybaby?" He called out as she continued to sob. His cheeks were flushed as he tried scooting closer to her side. "Hey, Crybaby?" She lifted the hood off her head to reveal a dark bruise on her cheek. "Oh, Y/N." She met his face as he finally voiced her name. "What the fuck did they do to you?" "The same thing they always do. They thrive off my fear. I know I'm stronger than that, I should be. But, there's always that fear of failure and I let myself down." Bakugou sighed, shaking his head, "I know this sounds stupid, coming from me, but there's different ways of being strong. You don't have to feel inclined to beat the shit out of everyone."
She laughed, using her fists to wipe her face, "that does sound stupid from you." "As I was saying," he huffed, "you're strong in a different way. A way I'll never be because you're quirkless and I'm not. Bakugou didn't want to say it, but he did, "because your quirkless—you're stronger than me." "Are you saying you couldn't take them on?" "No! I totally could! I'm saying that you're really great, so I don't want you to turn into me!" He avoided her eyes now, crossing his arms as he felt a sting hit his face. "You have a strong will and you clearly know how to fight. I don't want you to feel expectations from me, because I get plenty of those already."
He tried to discreetly wipe his face before jumping down, pacing the ground with his crying eyes peering towards his feet. "You deserve more than that kinda bullshit. When I tell you to be strong, I want you to stand up for yourself, not to turn into—into-" "Into?" "Into whatever I am." Bakugou growled as he continued to hide his seemingly infinite flow of tears.
Y/N flipped upside down, hanging from her knees. When her face swing towards him, he jolted up. "You have bad habits," she jeered, "comparing yourself to others." He sniffled as she lifted her sleeve-covered hands to wipe away his tears herself. "You speak so highly of yourself and then you go and say shit like that." "I-I'm trying-to-to make a point." "Useless point if you're bringing yourself down making it." Her sleeves were stained with his tears as she held his blushing face in her palms. "You're amazing," she professed, "that's why I'm trying to be strong. That's why I've decided to stop giving up. I want to be like you." He placed his hands atop hers. "You don't want to be like me." "Oh?" She began to mock, "I thought you were the best in the whole damn school?"
His cheeks pushed into her hands, muffling his speech. "I-I I am!" He stumbled, "but—I-like you how you are." She began to laugh, making him pout. "Sorry, sorry," she continued, "but I'm serious. I want to be like you because you know who you are and that's amazing in itself." Their fingers laced between one another. "Ground Zero, I think I get it now." "Get what?" "All this crying. It's kinda done me good, but it also keeps me from seeing the big picture because I'm so used to letting myself down."
She felt her knees begin to slide. "If I'm always expecting to fail, I'll never put forth enough effort to succeed." Bakugou watched her fall into his arms, making them both fall to the ground. She sat up in his lap, her tears starting to flow again. "I refused to be useless, but I'm the one who set it up that way. I gave myself an endpoint, believing that I could never reach it, when I hadn't even taken the first step." Bakugou watched her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing herself closer to him.
"You're an asshole," she whispered, pressing her face into the crevice of his neck, "but thank you—for believing in me." Bakugou's spine shivered when she kissed his neck. "W-what-what are you doing?" He clasped his hands onto her shirt, heart thumping at her next words. "You make me weak too, ground zero."
