Battle of Wills ~ (bakugou x reader)

Chapter Six

Art Credit: @Angry_Baku on Twitter (?)

***

In the following days, you and Bakugou settled into a routine. The both of you would show up at roughly the same time, and Bakugou would begin his intense questioning--demanding for you to fight him or to show him your quirk. When you stayed silent, his daunting figure would follow you like an angry shadow for the rest of your morning workout.

You managed to stay hidden from him in the hallways during school, but he had confronted you a few times now about blatantly avoiding him.

If it's so obvious I don't want to talk to you, maybe you should leave me alone, you grumbled in your head.

Luckily, Bakugou--as well as the rest of the students in the Hero Course--was too distracted preparing for the upcoming Sports Festival to pursue you much at school. He made up for what he lacked in persistence during the school day to antagonize you to no end during your once-peaceful morning workouts.

At the moment, you sat in the hard desk chair of your History of Heroes class, glancing out the window to your left. It was a beautiful day outside, the sun shining on the well-kept grounds and gardens of U.A. Academy. You could faintly hear the shouts, bangs, and small explosions of the Hero Course as they did a class exercise on the training grounds nearby.

You let your mind drift as the droning voice of your history teacher nearly put you to sleep. You weren't even quite sure what subject you were on now, but it didn't really matter. As a member of the rehabilitation program, many of your classes were chosen for you--this being one of them. You wouldn't be surprised if a good proportion of the History of Heroes students sleeping soundly behind you were members of the same program. No one willing took the class.

In terms of content, it was easy to realize the words spouting from the teacher's mouth were a tool for indoctrination. The only topic all class period, every day, were the amazing impacts of heroes on society, our hero role models, and crime statistics that were probably reported by the heroes themselves.

Honestly, you could see heroes being a good thing for the world if they weren't allowed to run amok without regulation as they did now. All it took was one hero acting on a preconceived prejudice for an innocent man to be killed. All heroes were taught was how to defeat villains, not how to understand their motives or reform them. They believed all wrong-doers to be beings lacking basic empathy or morals--easy target practice. Just the other day, a news station reported the defeat of an extremely stealthy "villain" by one of the city's top heroes. What did this villain do wrong? Steal some prescription pills from the pharmacy for his dying sister. Now, he was lying in a hospital bed next to her, handcuffs chaining him to the armrests.

You couldn't say you whole-heartedly supported that kind of behavior. But it's not like you were going to get up and follow in your father's footsteps as the next big villain. Your father was someone that deserved to be killed for his crimes. But not all hero and villain interactions were black and white or good vs. evil.

All you wanted was to become a researcher. You wanted to understand how certain quirks worked at a biological level and how they could help others. For instance, your own quirk could likely help cure many brain disorders or even accomplish feats like lessening pain or trouble focusing. Your original plan--before that fateful day in your old foster home--was to graduate high school and attend a college specializing in scientific research and medicine.

However, now you were stuck listening to the long-winded speeches of your balding history teacher.

Life was funny that way.

***

One especially dark morning, you walked into the gym to see complete blackness. It had been awhile since you had gotten here before Bakugou, and you relished in the time alone as you flicked on the light switches by the door.

However, once the overhead lights flickered to life, you were startled to see the man himself leaning against the wall a few feet next to you. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, keeping his strong arms crossed over his shirtless chest as he stared intently at the ground. For some reason, his silence seemed more frightening than his loud yells or angry questioning.

"Err..." you started, not sure what to say.

Bakugou finally glanced over to you, his intense gaze and bright red eyes making anxiety ripple in the pit of your stomach.

"You know, (Y/N)," he muttered darkly. "This isn't some fucking game of tag."

This was a new side to the blond that you hadn't seen before.

Bakugou slowly pushed himself off the wall and walked over to you, leaning his arm against the wall over your head. He sneered at your frightening expression.

"You're wasting my fucking time. Show me your quirk."

His body was so close to yours that you could smell him. Caramel. It was a strange smell to notice on a man like Bakugou, but you guessed it had something to do with the nitroglycerin his body secreted.

"B-Bakugou..." You internally punched yourself for stuttering in front of him. You weren't about to turn weak just because he was a bit more forceful than usual.

On second thought, as you peered up to glance at his heated expression, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to rile him up further.

"Cat got your tongue, dumbass?" He leaned his face in further. You could feel his hot breath on your face.

"I don't want to hurt you," you mutter weakly. For some reason, your knees felt like they were about to give out.

Bakugou's expression turned into a frown as he took a step back from you, his eyebrows furrowed. You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding as you regained some semblance of personal space.

"Are you underestimating me, (Y/N)?" the blond lowly breathed.

At that moment, something shifted in your head. One of the top Hero Course students at U.A. was standing less than a foot from you, caging you in with his arms--shirtless. His body was incredibly muscular, but surprisingly compact. Due to the nature of his quirk, Bakugou likely needed his agility--he couldn't become too bulky. His arms were one of the most impressive aspects of his build: thick with tight cords of muscle that bulged as they moved. Arms that trapped you to him. Sweat from his previous workout dripped down his toned abs as he narrowed in on you with a piercing gaze.

"Am I-- what?" you asked, embarrassingly having forgotten Bakugou's question. You didn't realize that a fierce blush had spread along your cheeks.

Bakugou let out a sharp huff, the warm air tickling your skin. Somehow his face had become even angrier.

"Do you think you are so much more powerful than me, hah? Is that why you won't fight me?!"

You shook your head, trying to gather your disjointed thoughts. Why were you so distracted?

"No, I just--"

The hand above you clenched into a fist as Bakugou's furious face came within inches of yours.

"One of these days," he snarled. "You will fight me. I'm not the type to sit around on my fucking ass and wonder if I really deserve the top spot at this school, you got me, (Y/N)?"

You gulped. "Yep."

Bakugou smirked as he leaned away from you. "That's what I thought," he said with narrowed eyes.

You blinked a few times, flustered, your head foggy with an emotion you couldn't pin. As Bakugou's hands returned to the pockets of his sweats, you took the opportunity and bolted back out the door. It seemed like you had been having to escape from him a lot lately.

When your flushed cheeks met the cool air of the morning, your mind began to clear.

What did you just agree to?