Mind Boggled

Chapter 47

Third person pov

They were in a janitors closet, and Bakugo was pacing so hard Harper was pretty sure he was going to wear a divot in the floor. He'd stalk to one side of the closet, spin on his heel, and then trudge right on to the other. Harper watched this all with tired eyes. He was lucky she had the patience of a fucking saint these days, or else she would've just left. Why did she have to care? This wasn't an issue before UA. When in doubt, blame Nezu. He probably had something to do with it anyway. He was the root of all her problems. They all began with that tiny, damned little rat man.

Bakugo suddenly stopped in front of her, towering over her and looking extremely frustrated. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Predictably. Harper stared up at him with raised eyebrows. As much as she'd love to stand in this dark closet with Bakugo while his palms sparked semi-threateningly, she was hungry and tired. It was far enough into lunch now that she was going to have to give up food or sleep at this point, and she wasn't a fan, nor did she appreciate it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Bakugo turned back around, growling to himself. "What do I fucking say? How do I ever-- dammit, this was a shitty idea. As though Depresso over there is going to be able to help me with jack shit. She doesn't even like people!" 

Harper was severely unimpressed, but not offended. He wasn't wrong. In fact, he was pretty creative, combining espresso and depressed together. She could always be seen in the morning with a cup of coffee. Aizawa told her to stop a few times for appearances, but his thoughts told her she could bring it in anytime because he knew she didn't sleep much. She'd given up a cheers to that, which he'd almost died over. She could almost see his facade pop right before her eyes. Her and Kirishima were thinking of devising a game where they tried to make him break face in front of the class. 

Bakugo turned around again, his face set into a determine scowl that told Harper he really didn't want to be doing this. Had she just tuned out of his entire self pep talk? Shame— that might've ended up being pretty amusing had she stayed clued in. That was fine. She was about to hear a lot more of the thoughts flying through Bakugo's head, which was... fun. And she meant "fun" in the most sarcastic sense. Her headache was ramping up fast and his barrage of frustrated emotions wasn't helping in the least.

"You... You fucking understand people." Bakugo grit out, glowering down at her as though she'd dragged him into this closet to chat. Harper blinked, sort of seeing where this is going but also not at all. Everything about Bakugo was about Izuku Midoriya, so it was safe to make a few assumptions. "Shit! How do I ask this?! I fucking— I don't need a shrink, but I need help. She's always in people's heads and shit. She knows how this fuckery works. I don't... I want to apologise to fucking Deku! I know he'll probably never fucking like my sorry ass after all I did, but I still..."

"Yeah, I guess." Harper answered his verbal statement dryly. He looked ready to bite her head off. "What about it? Did you want something?"

Using the words "need something" would be a no go. Had she gone that route, he would've shut down. Which would've been her preference, but she'd been meaning to reach out and try to help him ever since she first heard of his dilemma. There was something wrong with him. Nothing particularly bad, per say, but it wasn't great either. It's like he couldn't get the words out. He'd try to say something, but it would come out completely different and far too aggressive. She knew now that he wasn't meaning to sound so hostile. It just happened. He had absolutely no idea how to control it.

"...Fuck. Fucking— dammit, I need your help!" Bakugo's glower darkened. "Tell a soul and you're dead."

"My lips are sealed." Harper responded tiredly, knowing she'd be dragging Kirishima into this later despite the blonde's threat. She looked him up and down for a moment. He was extremely defensive and just about ready to bolt, like a scared animal that had been cornered. Ironic considering who'd dragged who in here. She let out a heavy sigh, bringing a hand up to massage her temples. "Is this about Izuku?"