{Denial} BakuDeku

Chapter 4 [A meeting]

—(Second Day Of Yuueii)—

"What do you think is up with him?" Mineta leaned over to Denki.

"I dunno, man," the blond shrugged, looking at his group of friends and minding to keep his voice down. "He acts like a delinquent."

"Or a loner."

"How about crazy?" Mineta offered to the conversation, and Momo shot them a worried look. They shrugged her stare off, opting to see the dust-blond who sat in the middle of class, feet perched on the desk- eyes spaced out and staring blankly at the empty board.

He had his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders oddly tense, and a blank slate look on his face instead of the scowl he usually wields. Bakugou, they learned, was strong- and even Mineta admitted defeat to him just by a glance. He was built- arms strung up with muscles, stature lean but powerful, with his legs also beefed up.
Momo had observed him- only as a potential rival of course- and found that he favored his upper body strength more, since he had excelled in push-ups rather than mountain climbers and running.

'A boxer?,' she thought. It looks like it.
Whatever he was, it was already obvious that the boy was a powerhouse, and due to his temper, probably relied on brute strength.

Speaking about his temper, Bakugou has been acting extremely.. Closed off to everyone.

Momo has found that everyone had their own little cliques at the first day of school. For example- Denki, Kirishima and Mina had instantly clicked together due to their matching eccentricity. Tokoyami, Koda, and Shoji got along with their mysterious, shy demeanor, and the girls naturally drew to each other and formed some kind of girl band.

The rest were picking conversations with everyone, hanging and circling through the cliques, trying to find where they best fit in- and by the looks of it, Sato and had found his an circle with Koda and the rest. And there was Todoroki, a quiet boy, cold and shut off, a bit worse than Bakugou but was immediately justified by the fact he was the son of Endeavor- the number two in the world of Taekwondo.

Momo found herself with Jirou, Ochako, Asui, hanging by the window while they made corny jokes.

But..

Katsuki usually stared off into space, and if not that, he had his head down on his desk when he got bored- and he snapped like a rabid dog to anyone who tried approaching him, with actual growls and snarls and bared teeth. Momo found it.. Off-putting.

————

"All of you have a new classmate. He'll come through the door in a couple seconds- and I'll give all of you five minutes to interact and re-introduce yourself. Otherwise, don't wake me."

Aizawa's sentence was short and clipped, straight to the point, barely leaving any time to react, before Mina was the first one to squawk. "A new classmate!?" Eijirou grinnned widely, excitement clearly visible, followed by the others who either whispered enthusiastically.

It was strange- why didn't they attend yesterday?

Bakugou, on contrast of his other classmates, sat on his desk with a frown, barely paying any attention to the commotion. He doesn't understand why everyone was so.. Energized about a new arrival- but nonetheless, Katsuki found it as a chance to crush them under his heel before they could think about approaching him.

It worked that way, he had realized. Katsuki had shown off during the test yesterday, and everyone seemed to hold him in a way higher regard than before, barely approaching him- except for shark hair and the girl with a pink mop of messy hair sticking out like a sore thumb. And that dainty ponytail girl whose hair looked like a horse's tail, who was so obviously watching him carefully, trying to get a read on him like a book.

He was well aware as well that some of his classmates have been talking behind his back, if the stares and whispers directed to him was anything to go by. He doesn't give a shit though, Katsuki always told himself as he grit his teeth, grinding down harshly at the thought before he clenched his fists in his pocket.

He wanted, so badly, to pummel something (or someone) to calm himself the fuck down, because that's what he was best at.

He was the best at hurting everyone. Katsuki was born to hurt, hurt, hurt, with fists clenched and bruises constantly appearing on his knuckles and his body covered in nicks and scars from getting in so much fights- which he always emerged victorious.

It's all he will ever be good at.

Katsuki found himself staring at the big 1-A door, a muffled voice heard on the other side, the others seemed to notice when an unusual hush fell upon them, ridden with anticipation.

(His stomach felt heavy, at the thoughts from before.)

And the door opened, light flooding into the room, a bit of a bright tangerine like tint from the sun, and a boy stepped in.

And Katsuki's breath was stolen, robbed from his lungs, and his chest constricted sharply.

(He would never admit how his hands shook.)

It was so hard to breathe, not when a familiar pair of green eyes scanned the room slowly as Katsuki's brain screamed to try and activate his "fight or flight" instinct.

Oh god- its-

The boy seemed to be taken aback too, taking a few steps back (with those tacky red shoes) to adjust himself, clearing his throat as Katsuki felt something fall into place- like a missing puzzle piece clicking together with the puzzle to complete it.

Bakugou's dumbfounded expression seemed to be ignored by the roar of his classmate's excitement.

It seemed like it were the two of them only, as if they were in a bubble, everything else muffled outside as Katsuki's mechanical pencil clattered on the ground, and he- he..

"Kacchan."

His voice hitched at the sound of his voice, managing a shaky, lopsided smirk as those familiar doe eyes watered up with fat tears, threatening to spill, and Katsuki felt as if someone gave him a jab to the gut, and his nails dug into the sides of his thighs through the school uniform's fabric to try and ground himself.

"Deku," he finally breathed our after an eternity, and Katsuki felt himself shaking. "Fuck.." His voice broke, and he didn't find it in himself to care.

"You.. You fucking nerd."