Bakugou only saw her back as he walked up, but he could easily hear her. She wept while sitting on one end of a seesaw and he walked over to the other end. Her eyes peered up at him and once again, she was quick to wipe her red face. "Kinda didn't expect you to come back," she chuckled, "I thought I scared you."
"You didn't scare me," he huffed, pulling down the seesaw far enough for him to climb on too. His end fell to the ground and she peered down at him from above, still wiping her face. "What did you think about our fight yesterday night then?" Bakugou watched her pick at her fingers, trying to be casual in their conversation. "You didn't scare me, you just-you caught me off guard." "Was it effective?" "Affective?"
She rolled her eyes at him, "dude, I didn't just say those things to be mean! I said them for a damn reason." Bakugou didn't remain eye contact with her. Instead, he looked down at the rough scratches on his fingers from his struggle with her. "You wanted me to feel like you," he said, "right?" She paused, surprised he hadn't said something different. "Yeah," she confirmed, "that's right."
Bakugou squeezed his hands tightly, grumbling as he tried to form more words. "Were-were those words, the ones you said to me, were they-like-things people have said to you?" Her silence made him curious, so he looked back up towards the sky at her to find more tears falling down her face. "Y-y-yeah," she answered, her voice soft and fragile.
Sniffling, she lifted her head to prevent more from falling. "I don't want to call myself weak, but I let people walk over me. It's just-I don't know-easier that way." Looking back down, Bakugou was struggling to understand. "I might as well give in to their surmises and let them believe I'm incapable."
Bakugou squeezed the handle on the seat, "fuck that." Bakugou stepped off the seesaw, making her side quickly drop to the ground. He stomped over to her and pointed a finger right in her face. "Fuck that! You won't get anywhere in life if you let people believe they're stronger than you. You have to hit them in the face and tell them you aren't!"
He watched tears fall from the corner of her eyes, silently making their way down her pink face. "Whoever did that dumb shit to you is a goddamn pussy and you shouldn't take it like that." She shook her head. "You can't say that," she told him, shoving his hand away, "you don't believe I'm strong, so don't turn around and tell me I am just because I scared you."
"You didn't fucking-! No...listen...," he didn't even know her name, "you aren't ever going to be as strong as people with good quirks. That's just fucking facts. But if you let people push you around and tell you bullshit, then you're throwing away your chances to prove your strength." Grabbing her hand, Bakugou pulled her off the seat. "Now, listen to me, crybaby—I'm not gonna keep coming here to watch you cry and whine about how pathetic you are. What I'm going to do is let you take the chance to give me real perspective."
"Real perspective?" She asked as he began to walk her, his hand tightly holding onto hers. "Real fucking perspective." Bakugou led her down the street until they were in a large plain of grass, a For Sale sign planted in the ground. "We're gonna have a real fight, where you can show me your real strength. Change my mind. Right here."
Bakugou held up his fingers as he listed off his own rules. "Quirks are allowed. We're allowed to hurt each other. This is about winning." She raised her hand as if she were in class. "...yes?" "How do I know you're not about to murder me?" "Because, you can dodge my quirk, you just have to be smart. Show me what you've got, crybaby."
Getting into his fighting position, she copied, her arms shaking at she stared him down. "Ground Zero?" She asked. "What?" He huffed, his fists already beginning to spark. "I'm afraid." He smiled, his hands smoking. "Good."
His fists, crackling, let out an explosion that she ducked to escape. All those stupid fighting lessons her parents gave her we're finally coming in handy. They'd absolutely flip if they knew what she was doing. They'd rather her give up then be accidentally killed by a quirk person. But giving up got her nowhere and someone was giving her the chance to keep going.
While on the ground, the smoke clearing around them, she grabbed hold of his ankle and used all her strength to pull him off his feet. As soon as she saw the familiar bright lights forming in his palms, she flipped herself over him, missing the explosion and landing at his shoulders. Bakugou felt her wrap an arm around his neck and her legs snaked underneath him, securing his body like a rope.
The girl held onto his hands while he tried to squirm. "You smell like caramel," she laughed, trying hard to catch her breath. His hands were becoming warm, so she turned his palms towards his face, making him unable to set off an explosion without killing both of them. "That's my sweat," he huffed, letting his hands go limp and falling at his chest. "Gross."
The two breathed hard, the smoke around them still clearing. Her face came into view above him. "You just lost a fight to a quirkless little nobody. How does it feel, s'plosion boy?" Bakugou liked her smile. "Pretty good."
