Mind of Mine || ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

chapter 24

The Sports Festival was upon you.

It was required that all participating students report to the arena at 8am, the latest being 9am with a valid excuse.

But that wasn't an issue for Class 2-A. By the time 7am rolled around, the ruckus of students getting up and getting ready echoed through the corridors of 2-A Alliance. Due to the guidance of Iida, everybody was ready to go with half an hour to spare.

Currently sitting in one of the empty couches in the waiting room, you leaned back to rest your head against the wall behind you.

Last night you had spent hours looking at videos of previous Sports Festival, trying to understand what went on. Breaking it down, there were three major events, in which the first event was meant to eliminate about half or more of the participants, making it an individual race, but teaming up was allowed. The second event was a team effort type of thing, and the teams that scored high would move on to the final rounds, which always ended up being 1v1 fights.

The events themselves weren't the problem.

It was the crowd out there that set you on edge.

Thousands of people would be sitting up there, watching your every move. Aizawa had tried to reassure you, claiming that you only had to focus on yourself, and if you needed the extra help to ground yourself- you could always focus on his voice since he was once again dragged by Present Mic to be a commentator

Taking a deep breath in, you started to picture good things- happy things- to try and ignore the roar of the crowd that seemed to vibrate the room.

Happy thought: Eri gave you the biggest hug ever and claimed she was passing on some good luck and that she'll be cheering the loudest for you. It felt nice, knowing there was at least one familiar face up there on the stands.

"Don't tell me you're getting nervous Scar." Bakugo scoffed as he plopped next to you, bringing you out of your thoughts.

Humming lazily, your head dropped slowly to the side to look at him. The eyebags you sported were a clear sign that you were struggling to sleep, especially after the therapy session you had with the class. Still, there was a gleam of excitement in your eyes. "I'm not nervous. The crowd is just a bit too much for me right now."

"Fuck those extras. If it bothers you that much, just block them out. Plus, as a hero you have to get used to people staring at you, it's in the job description."

"I know I know, I just didn't expect all of Japan to be fucking watching me."

Rolling his eyes, he pinched your thigh as a way to get rid of the nerves you had. "Japan won't be watching you." Looking at him confused, he smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "They'll be watching me because I'm going to win again."

Laughing, you flick his forehead. The confidence he emitted was contagious as it spread to you. "I watched the speech you gave last year, pretty ballsy."

Bakugo merely shrugged, "Merely stating facts."

"MeReLy sTaTiNg FaCtS," you mocked, imitating the position he was in.

"Fuck you, I'm going to win and prove that I'm the best."

"Mmm I wouldn't be too sure about that, I might just snatch it from you." It was easy to rile him up, just suggest you were going to beat him and that was enough to set him off.

He was ready to go on a rant about how he was better than everybody in U.A but stopped when he noticed the teasing smile you had. A rant from him is exactly what you wanted- well too bad, Bakugo wasn't going to give it to you.