The Shift

Chapter 19 - Push

"One mile down!" Bakugo huffed.  The trail was growing steeper the further they hiked.  "How are you holding up nerd?"

Izuku shook stray curls out of his face and smiled at his alpha.  "All good over here."

The pair had been keeping a brisk pace but Katsuki wanted to up the ante. 

"Oh yeah?  You even breaking a sweat over there?  I think I'm going too easy on you."

Izuku rolled his eyes.  "Fine Kacchan.  What do you wanna do?  I can handle whatever you throw at me."

"You think so?"

Midoriya picked up the pace.  "Mhmm.  I spent the whole summer training.  Just because I presented doesn't mean I can't keep up with you."

"Hey!  I never said you couldn't keep up..."

"I know you look at me differently now." Izuku growled as he pushed himself to go faster.

"Hang on!"  Katsuki grabbed Midoriya by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

"What?" The smaller male huffed.  "It's the truth!"

"Yeah nerd.  You're my omega.  Of course I look at you differently now.  But don't go putting words in my mouth.  Where is your dumbass getting the idea that I think you can't keep up?"

A small growl of frustration escaped Izuku.  He knew his own insecurities were to blame for his sudden change in attitude, but that didn't make the situation any easier to deal with.

"It's just...I..." he tugged at his own green locks before placing his hands on his hips.

"Deku just tell me."

"I'm worried you don't see me as an equal." Midoriya finally admitted, a blend of fear and frustration present on his face.

"What?"

"I feel like you see me as someone that needs looking after, and not your competition."

Bakugo moved into the smaller male's space and grabbed him by the hair.  "You look at me and you listen.  Alright?"  His fist tightened around Izuku's locks and the omega glared at him defiantly, his small fangs bared.

"I'm your alpha.  I am gonna do whatever it fucking takes to make sure you're ok.  That doesn't mean I'm your babysitter.  And I don't know how you got it into your head that I don't see you as an equal.  Do you really think I'd waste my time on someone who couldn't keep up with me?  Who couldn't challenge me and keep shit interesting?  I know you have your sights set on that number one hero spot but you're gonna have to go through me to get it."

Midoriya swallowed hard as he tried to make sense of everything churning inside him.  The feeling of Katsuki's fist in his hair was making him hungry for more contact, and the alpha's hushed growls nearly made him whine.

"You are my competition Deku.  All I'm fucking doing here is making sure you're in the best possible shape so that the next time I'm up against you, the fight lasts longer.  I only want real fights with capable opponents.  You're not weak, you can keep up.  But being an omega makes it harder to build muscle the way you would have before.  That's just a fact.  So I'm here to help you so you can avoid losing any progress you made over the summer.  That's it.  I wanna go up against the best fucking version of you."

The omega's heartbeat was a steady thud against his ribs.  He stared into his alpha's eyes and realized that Katsuki was serious. 

"You..." Izuku tried to slow his breathing.  "You really mean all that?" 

"I don't say shit I don't mean Deku.  You know that."

Their scents had sharpened and neither was willing to look away.  The sound of their strained breathing disturbed the otherwise peaceful trail.