Natsumi navigated the next couple of days in a daze, almost as if her autopilot switch had been turned on and she was no longer in charge of making her own decisions. A fog had settled over her, she didn't even realize how much she truly enjoyed her time at Yūei, as short as it was, until she was no longer permitted on campus.
It had only been two days since the USJ attack and she had done nothing but stew in her thoughts, replaying the conversations she had with Hibiki and Ryou over and over again. Each time she would come up with different scenarios, things that she would have done or said differently if she had the chance to go back in time.
She missed her classmates, her teachers, and just all around having a routine schedule to follow. At home she wasn't expected to do things at certain times of the day, hell, she could just lay around in her pajamas until it was time for bed again and no one was around to tell her any differently. In fact, that was exactly how she had spent her last two days at home—in sweatpants and an oversized sweater, wrapped in her comforter and overthinking all of her life's decisions.
"Natsu, don't you see? You were never meant to follow the path of heroism. You know it, I know it, your parents knew it."
"Maybe he was right." She mumbled, pulling her comforter tighter around her as she sat in the middle of her living room floor staring at the blank television screen.
She found immense comfort in her dreams and spent a majority of her time at home sleeping the days away. During the few hours that she permitted her body to be awake she would lay on the floor and stare at nothing in particular and when that proved to be too much for her she would down half a bottle of Nyquil to put herself to sleep. Being awake meant more time spent with her thoughts and that was something she wasn't ready to do, she had never been very good at confronting her feelings.
Natsumi typically wasn't the type to sit around and marinate in her depression and dark thoughts but at this point there was nothing else for her to do. She tried to do the right thing and be a better person, better than what her parents had wanted for her, better than what was expected of her. But, as it turned out, maybe she really wasn't destined for greatness. Maybe she was fated to wind up just like her parents. Maybe she should've just waited for Ryou and Hibiki to come for her.
"Ugh, why am I stuck in this waking nightmare? Who did I piss off in my past life?" She groaned, running her fingers through her tangled locks and pulling hard at the knots out of frustration.
A loud gurgle caught her attention, her arms quickly wrapping around her sides in an effort to soothe her aching stomach. The growls became louder and the pain was more pronounced, no amount of sleep would take away the aches of an empty stomach.
With a tired groan, Natsumi shed her comforter and shuffled across the living room towards the kitchen after realizing that the only way to make herself feel better would be to stop denying it the nutrition that her body desperately sought.
Pale fingers wrapped around the brass knob of one of her cabinets, yanking it open to reveal empty shelves inside. A sigh escaped through her parted lips as she tried the next one. Empty. Empty. Empty.
"Shit." When was the last time she had gone shopping?
"Oh right, it was when I went with Uraraka-chan and Midoriya-kun. Guess I underestimated how much I would eat in a week."
Slumping her shoulders in defeat, the pink haired teen made her way to the bathroom where she took one glance at her appearance in the mirror and decided that the knots in her hair were not worth the time and frustration so, instead, she snatched a hair tie off of the cluttered counter and pulled her wavy locks into a messy bun.
She shed her sweatpants and pulled on a pair of black leggings, deciding that she'd keep the oversized navy knitted sweater that she had already been wearing on. Sure, it was the middle of Spring and the weather had been rather warm, but due to her quirk she always felt frigid in her own skin.
Shoving her feet into her black boots at the door, Natsumi quickly laced them up and snatched her small black purse from the hooks embedded in the wall by the door.
I shouldn't spend too much, just grab a few cheap essentials to get me through the week. Maybe some ramen? Definitely should probably get some vegetables and maybe some fruit. What're the sales this week?
The hand basket hung loosely from her right arm as she ambled through the produce section, face scrunched up in concentration as she mentally made a note of things that were on sale and what she could realistically afford with her budget.
Maybe I should start looking for a part time job. The money my parents had stashed away won't last me forever.
She placed several different vegetables into her basket such as a cabbage, radishes, and a bag of carrots before moving on. When she shopped she liked to keep her total below a certain amount, the less money she spent the better because she needed to make sure that her money stash would last her as long as possible even with paying rent, utilities, and groceries.
Though she was lucky that the owner of the building that she lived in felt like he was indebted to her parents who had helped him keep from losing the building years ago so he let her live there for only half of the usual price. Natsumi was sure that if she asked or if she fell on hard times that he would allow her to live there for free but she already felt guilty about the hefty discount he was already giving her, she didn't want to feel like she was taking advantage of him.
"The fuck are you doing here?" A familiar voice growled out from beside her just as she was reaching out to grab a package of noodles off of the store shelf.
She recoiled back in surprise, glancing to her left at the ash blond who fixed her with an unreadable stare as she quickly grabbed a couple noodle packages and dropped them into her basket of ingredients.
"Shopping." She answered coolly.
He rolled his eyes, "No shit."
"The better question is, what're you doing here? Don't you live on the other side of town?" She turned to face him, brown eyes narrowed questioningly at him.
"S'not like I had a fucking choice." He hissed, glaring over his shoulder at an older woman who was browsing the shelves further down the isle. The woman in question was of average height and had wild ash blond hair styled similarly to Bakugou's.
"Ah, how cute. Shopping with mommy?" Natsumi teased, leaning forward with a cheeky grin.
"I'll kill you right here, right now, snowflake." Bakugou sneered, carmine eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Oh Katsuki~! Who is this, a friend from school?" His mother practically glided over to them, ruby eyes dancing between her son and the pink haired teen.
"Hi, I'm Miyano Natsumi. We're in the same class." She answered, lips quirking into a polite smile.
"Oh, it's you!"
Natsumi's smile faltered. What did that mean? Had word gotten out that the daughter of two of Japan's most prolific villains had been accepted into Yuei's hero course? She knew that it couldn't stay a secret forever but having to come face to face with such a reality was something that she wasn't ready to confront. She wasn't ready to confront a lot of things, but this situation was definitely at the top of the list of things she'd rather die than do.
"Katsu-chan has told me about you, you're the one who protected him and your other classmate during that villain attack." His mother went on to explain.
Natsumi had not been expecting that. Bakugou hardly seemed like the type to broadcast his moments of vulnerability, even if it was just to his mother. She cast a quick glance in the boy's direction to find that he was glaring heatedly at the back of his mother's head.
"Oh, I didn't do much, Bakugou-san." The pink haired teen bit her lip, waving it off dismissively.
"Nonsense! If it weren't for you who knows what those villainous brats would've done to my pain in the ass son."
Natsumi nearly snorted at the way the older woman talked about her son who was growing angrier and angrier by the moment.
"Shut the fu—"
"Be quiet, brat!" She immediately interjected, turning her head swiftly to give her son a warning look before turning back to the teen girl before her, "I would love if you would come over for dinner tonight, I understand that it's short notice but consider it my way of thanking you for keeping this brat safe."
Taken aback by the invitation, Natsumi smiled and shook her head politely, "Oh no, I couldn't possibly im—"
"Nonsense, it would be no trouble at all. I'll have Katsuki and my husband come pick you up tonight, where do you live?"
With no room left to argue, the teen conceded and accepted the dinner invitation. She gave the older woman her address and apartment number and waved as she went to checkout, leaving just Natsumi and Bakugou alone in the aisle.
His lips were pulled into a frown and he gave her the impression that he wanted to say something but, instead, he expelled a stream of air from his nostrils and strode past her with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. She didn't have much time to ponder his behavior though as the realization that she was going to be going to the Bakugou household in just a few short hours settled over her.
Why is this happening? Why couldn't I just say no?
She quickly finished her shopping and paid before rushing back home to put her groceries away and mentally prepare herself for the night that was ahead of her.
Pacing her apartment, Natsumi found herself feeling more and more nauseous as the minutes ticked by turning into hours, the time that Bakugou Mitsuki had given her slowly inching closer and closer. Why had she been so set on having her over for dinner? What would they even talk about? Was her lineage common knowledge at this point or had the school kept it covered up? She wouldn't have been surprised either way, if they had spilled the beans then it would've been because people would've wanted answers as to why they had expelled one of their students. But at the same time, keeping the fact that they had accepted and allowed the daughter of Spectre and Hydra to enroll in the first place seemed like a better option in the eyes of the school—that way people wouldn't realize just how badly they had screwed up to begin with.
From the corner of her eye she noticed a little black bundle wake and begin her post nap stretches on the couch, letting out a wide yawn followed by a small squeak.
"Hungry?"
The cat made a sound that was halfway between a purr and a chirp which was the confirmation that the teen needed. Happy for the distraction, Natsumi strode into the kitchen and pulled one of the bottom cabinets opened, grabbing a can of wet cat food out and pulling on the pull tab on the lid to open it.
Kaguya sprung from the couch and dashed over to the girl, weaving in and out of her legs eagerly.
"You act as if I starve you." Natsumi laughed, dumping the shredded meat from the can onto a small plate before setting it down for the cat to ravenously chow down on.
Knock. Knock knock.
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of knuckles rapping against her front door, her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of who would be on the other side of it. Were they going to berate and laugh at her for thinking she could join the ranks of the heroes that they adored? She just didn't know and it was driving her crazy just thinking about all of the possibilities of what could be said and done over the next couple of hours.
Tugging at a stray strand of curled pastel pink hair, Natsumi shuffled towards the door while swallowing back the bile that was attempting to rise from the pit of her stomach. Pale fingers tentatively wrapped around the doorknob before twisting the cool metal and pulling it open to reveal an annoyed looking Bakugou Katsuki on the other side.
When she opened the door she found him staring off down the hallway at nothing in particular, his lips pursed. Carmine irises slid in her direction as soon as the door opened and he gave her a once over before scowling, "Took you long enough."
He was wearing a red buffalo plaid button up shirt and a pair of black pants, Natsumi was sure that his mother had probably made him dress nicely for the occasion.
"You're lucky I even opened the door knowing your ass was on the other side." She retorted with a roll of her eyes.
Natsumi had wanted to look her best as well, not for the boy standing before her, but for his mother who had been so eager and thoughtful to invite her over in the first place. She had curled her hair, styling it into ringlets that cascaded over her shoulders in thick waves. The teen didn't own too many feminine outfits though as she did tend to wear pretty much the same thing, but she had been able to dig out a nice form fitting sweater from her pile. It was a deep crimson knitted sweater that opened up to a wide neckline, exposing her shoulders. She wore a pair of black leggings and finished off the simple look with a pair of knee high black boots with red trim.
He snorted, eyeing her thick sweater judgingly, "You know winter's over, right?"
"I'm always cold regardless of what the weather outside is like."
"Tch, whatever." He turned on his heel and began to stalk down the hallway towards the stairwell that would take him down to where his father had parked the car, not even glancing back to see whether she was following or not.
Natsumi closed the door behind her, locking it for good measure, before hurrying after him. He was much taller than she was so she needed to jog to catch up to his long strides, something he noticed quickly, a small smirk twitching at the corners of his lips.
The ride back to the Bakugou residence was rather awkward as her classmate was forced to sit in the back with her per his father's request, stating it would be rude to leave Natsumi by herself back there, despite the ash blond's protests on the matter.
His house was much more spectacular than she could have ever imagined. It was a large three story tan brick house with large dark windows and bright green perfectly manicured bushes out front lining the sidewalk up to the front door.
"You coming or what, snowflake?" Bakugou called out over his shoulder, him and his father already by the front door.
Natsumi was pulled out of her thoughts by his comment, pushing her awe aside and quickening her pace to catch up to the two already making their way inside.
The inside of the home was just as immaculate and beautiful as the outside and she couldn't believe that someone like Bakugou could actually live in such a nice home. Everything was bright and inviting, the warmth that hit her upon entering almost knocked her back and she had to collect herself before venturing forward.
"Natsumi-chan, so happy you made it!" Bakugou Mitsuki popped her head out of a doorway that Natsumi could only presume led to the kitchen, the older woman drying her hands on a blue polka dotted dish towel.
"Of course, thank you for inviting me." She responded politely, "Do you need help with anything?"
"Oh no, no, you're a guest in this household. Besides," She leaned forward with a grin, "that's what this brat is for." She thrust her thumb in Bakugou's direction, he scowled.
"Go set the table." She commanded her son.
"Fuck off hag, do it yourself."
"Don't fucking argue with me."
Watching Bakugou and his mother argue with each other over something so trivial as setting the table was an incredible treat to see because it was just completely expected. It was an interaction that she wasn't surprised by at all, Bakugou's attitude had clearly been inherited from his mother, although from what Natsumi could tell, the older woman at least knew when to be polite and civil whereas her son was severely lacking in that department.
The older woman clenched her fist and brought it down on her son's head, he let out a loud string of expletives before stomping off towards the dining room to set the table.
"I know my son can be such a little shit, thank you for putting up with his shitty attitude at school." Bakugou Mitsuki's lips quirked into a small smirk as she turned her attention to the pink haired teen standing behind her.
"We all just sort of ignore him most of the time, though every once in a while when I'm feeling confrontational I'll egg him on." Natsumi laughed sheepishly before a feeling of defeat overcame her and she let out a sigh and mumbled, "Though, I guess I won't have to worry about that anymore."
The older woman frowned for the briefest of moments before placing the palms of her hands on Natsumi's shoulders, forcing the girl to meet her gaze, "Buck up, kid. I don't know the full story but from what I've heard from Katsuki it sounds like it's all just one big misunderstanding. I'm sure you'll get the 'okay' to head back to class soon enough once they're done with their investigations."
"Oi, table's ready. Let's eat." Bakugou must have popped back into the room while she and his mother were talking, he was positioned up against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and an impatient look in his carmine eyes.
Natsumi could visibly see a vein throb on Mitsuki's forehead, the corners of her eyes twitching in irritation, "If you're so eager to eat then why don't you go check and see if everything is ready?"
"Whatever." He pushed off of the doorframe and disappeared once more.
"We've been trying to teach him some manners but he's so goddamn stubborn." She let out an exasperated sigh, closing her eyes momentarily before motioning for Natsumi to follow her into the dining room where Bakugou and her husband, Masaru, were filling up everyone's cups with freshly brewed tea.
"Katsuki told me that because of your Quirk you're usually very cold temperature-wise so I kept that in mind when deciding on what to make for dinner tonight. I hope you like Sukiyaki." She smiled, gesturing to the large pot in the center of the table where their meal had been simmering. The scent of seared and seasoned beef and the various vegetables stewing in their own broth was so tantalizing that Natsumi could literally feel saliva pooling in her mouth the instant she got a whiff of it. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a home cooked meal.
"Wow, that looks incredible." The teen expressed, turning to the older woman and bowing, "Thank you for inviting me into your home."
"No need to be formal, we wanted to thank you for keeping this knucklehead safe during the attack." Mitsuki pulled Bakugou into a headlock, giving the squirming teen a noogie while he growled out various curses of protest.
They all sat down around the table, each of them picking up their own pair of chopsticks and beginning to dig in to the pot of food at the center of the table. Each of them had a small bowl with a raw egg inside that they used to dip their meat and vegetables in for added flavor.
"I hear they're still going through with having the Sports Festival, are you two excited about that?" Mitsuki asked after everyone had already tucked into their meal, her husband quietly enjoying his meal from beside her. He didn't seem to speak very much from what Natsumi could tell, the two adults were polar opposites.
"I'm going to be the indisputable winner." Bakugou declared through a mouthful of meat.
"Mhm, if you say so." Mitsuki rolled her eyes before turning to Natsumi who had just popped a piece of cabbage into her mouth, "What do you think?"
The pink haired teen chewed her food quickly before swallowing it, caught off guard by the question, "Well, I guess it all depends on whether they allow me to go back but…I'd really like to compete," Her gaze then shifted to Bakugou, a teasing smile playing on her lips, "I'd give you a run for your money, that's for sure."
"Yeah right, enjoy eating my dust, ice bitch." He shot back, a fire alight in his eyes as he stabbed at a piece of meat with his chopsticks before chomping down on it loudly.
"Katsuki!" His mother and father both interjected disapprovingly.
Natsumi laughed dismissively, "It's fine, it's his nickname for me."
"Has becoming a Hero always been your goal?" His mother questioned her.
It was weird being asked questions, especially something so personal, no one had ever really cared to get to know her or ask her what she wanted to do when she was growing up. She knew that Bakugou Mitsuki was just doing it to be polite and keep conversation flowing but something about the way she asked her, so softly, and coupled with the warmth of the meal they were sharing just made Natsumi want to cry. She wouldn't, but the moment was so sincere that if she wasn't so well versed at keeping her emotions in check that she just might have.
"Not…really." She answered honestly with a lopsided grin, "I'm…I'm not sure how much of my past has been dug up and exposed at this point but Heroism was never in the cards for me growing up. I was brought up to follow a completely different path and it took a very important person to finally set me straight and steer me along the path to becoming a Hero. I will forever be in his debt for seeing the good in me."
From beside her she could see Bakugou tense up from the corner of her eye, his gaze sliding in her direction in an almost curious fashion, he wanted to know what person she was referring to. She was sure that after she had been suspended that information about who she was had been revealed to the class, there was a reason why she had gone by a different name and changed her appearance, but none of that mattered anymore.
"Well I'm sure you'll be a great hero one day." Bakugou Masaru smiled across the table at her.
"Not as great as me." The boy next to her smirked, she rolled her eyes in response.
The rest of the night continued on in a similar manner with everyone enjoying their meal, the two teens periodically answering questions asked by Mitsuki, taunting each other at every chance they got. Somehow, they got on the subject of birthdays and Natsumi admitted that her birthday was actually coming up, she was going to be sixteen in the middle of May.
"Katsuki's birthday is on the twentieth, I know he acts like he's eight but he'll be sixteen if you can believe it." His mother joked while Bakugou flashed the middle finger.
It felt so natural conversing with the Bakugous, as unconventional as their relationship with each other was with the way they spoke, it was refreshing and she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't. She could tease and taunt and use as much sarcasm as she pleased without having to worry about offending anyone. They all spoke their minds, with the exception of Bakugou Masaru who was the odd one out at the table in that he preferred to sit back and listen rather than jump into the conversation around him.
It wasn't until Masaru chimed in stating that it was getting late and reminded his wife that Katsuki had school in the morning that they all realized how late it had gotten. With their stomachs full and plates empty and clean, Natsumi bowed politely and thanked the two adults profusely for allowing her to be a part of their evening.
Once back home Natsumi noticed how quiet and cold her apartment truly was in comparison with the Bakugou residence which only furthered to amplify the loneliness that had settled thickly over her heart the past few days. Dinner had been a welcomed distraction but now she was back to her solitude and her thoughts and wasn't sure how much longer she'd last if left to her own devices.
I know that was probably a weird chapter, but I feel like despite Bakugou not being the type of person to really advertise his shortcomings and vulnerabilities I do believe that he's in the Hero course for a reason and he saw first hand the type of Quirks the twins had. So when he learned that Natsumi was suspended I don't necessarily think he'd out right tell his parents what he was thinking but I also sorta feel like he'd grumble about how it was bullshit for the school to pull someone out of class before properly investigating and getting all of the information. Idk, maybe that's just me, but I do feel that he's got a sense of justice and feels like it was unjust of Yuei to just presume she's automatically guilty before looking at the facts first.
So this chapter was pretty Bakugou heavy and next chapter will have a fair amount of him and her as well but no worries, I promise this is still going to be a Todoroki story, I just want to flesh out Bakugou and his relationship with Natsumi a little more.
Also! Thank you so much to CardyDesu who drew a super cute picture of Natsumi which can be found on her BnHA art Instagram (PrivateCardy).
Thank you everyone who favorited/followed! I was actually afraid that for some reason that last chapter didn't post publicly because the next day I was going through the stories listed in the BnHA section and I couldn't find mine there at all so I was worried that it was no longer available for the public to see lmao.
Thank you everyone who reviewed, even just a simple "can't wait for the next chapter" makes me day when I read it so thank you so much!