"𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐." - 𝚛.𝚑.
15
Reiko's Point of View
Bakugou, of course, ordered the spiciest beef ramen they had on the menu, then added sriracha to it anyways. I ordered miso-pork ramen... which he added sriracha to without asking me.
We learned so much about each other during dinner. We ate, we laughed, we drank... we drank quite a lot. We ended up stumbling out of the restaurant, actually.
The nighttime summer air was hot, thick and sticky from the rain. The puddles that collected on the city streets reflected the lights and neon signs above.
"It finally stopped raining!" I exclaimed
"Thaaank god." Bakugou slurred "Dates not over yet though."
"Oh, really? Where to next?" I asked curiously
"Somewhere... Its a surprise."
He wore his usual stern expression, a scowl of sorts, with a new twist.
"Kacchan, you're drunk." I smiled at the rosy hue his cheeks had flushed
"I'M NOT THAT DAMN DRUNK, YOU'RE DRUNK!"
"Only a little!" I emphasized that with my pointer finger and thumb, holding them as close together as I could.
"Come on, Kowai."
He took my hand. I didn't know where he was taking me next, but it didn't matter. The emotion I was feeling as wandered through the streets together, giggling like two kids, peeking into stores and looking at shop windows—it was entirely new to me. Its was terrifying, yet wonderful.
He led me to a back, concrete waterway with a small bridge. It was quiet, and the sound of the water flowing was so peaceful. It was dimly backlit by the glow of lights coming from the city.
I gave him a knowing smile.
"Don't look at me like that, you idiot. I come here sometimes to... I don't know. Sometimes I just sit out here. Clear my head."
"Mhmm."
I followed him to a grassy knoll over near the bridge. The earth beneath us was warm and soft. The dark night sky was beginning to become peppered with stars as the rain clouds cleared out. It gave this stunning backdrop to what was probably the most unexpected, unlikely scene that I could've thought he'd show me.
We sat there quietly for a bit, looking out over the water.
"Kowai..."
"Hm?"
"I'm gonna tell you some stuff... Its easier to talk when I'm drunk. Which is pretty damn sad, actually." He sighed "I want to be able to say certain things but I get so stuck in my fucking head and I never used to—"
"Kacchan, slow down. What are you babbling about?"
I scooted in front of him so I could see his face. He took a deep breath before fixing his intense scarlet eyes on me.
"You can talk to me..." I added
He looked down and began to anxiously pull at the grass with his fingers.
"Its about why I've been weird the past few days." He said "Do you remember icy hot?"
FINALLY!
Finally he's going to tell me whats been wrong with him... And what does he mean by Icy hot?
Oh, wait, is he talking about that one guy I met? Endeavors' son?
"Todoroki?"
"Heh... this is why I like you—but, anyways... he told me something, and I haven't been able to get it out of my damn head."
My expression twisted. Now that I'm thinking about it, he started acting like this right after Todoroki showed up.
"What the hell did he say to you?" I asked, sharply
"He was just passing on some stuff he'd heard from some other heroes, but its what they're saying that has me... all fucked up."
I could tell that this was really weighing on him.
"Well, spit it out. What did they say?"
He remained silent as a soft breeze ruffled his hair.
His silence, unfortunately, said a thousand words.
"...Its about me, isn't it?" I asked reluctantly
"..Not entirely." He revealed "They think that I'm being careless by letting you work with me because you were a villain—that I could be putting everyone in danger."
I swallowed hard as an painful ache rose in my chest. It was like I was being torn apart with guilt from the inside out.
No... being a hero is Bakugou's whole life, its the most important thing to him. He's worked so hard to get where he is. If the other heroes stop trusting him... he could lose everything—and it would be my fault completely.
"K-Kacchan..." I stammered "I didn't want this to happen. I never meant to put you into a position where your judgement as a hero would be questioned—I-I'm so sorry."
"STOP IT! See? This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you! I don't want you to blame yourself."
"How can I not?!" I asked
"Because this isn't your fucking fault, Rei!"
"It is." I insisted "Its not like I knew we would get this far."
"I didn't either."
"...You're still not sure if you can trust me either, are you?" I asked "Thats why you're having doubts. Otherwise you wouldn't care about what anyone was saying."
"...Thats not what I'm—"
"Katsuki. I don't expect to fully trust me yet. You've known me for, like, a week. A-And, of course I'm gonna feel guilty about this. I dropped into your life out of nowhere and I put a lot on you. It was selfish and stupid—especially for me to think you'd get no backlash."
"But I agreed to take that shit on. Me. That was my fucking decision. I could've said no, but I didn't."
I felt a lump beginning to rise in my throat, salty tears made desperate attempts to well up in my eyes.
"It doesn't matter as long as the source of your problem is still me. If I know anything thing about you, its that you don't bow to others. You stand your ground, you say whats on your mind, and as long as you know you're doing the right thing, nothing else matters. Thats one of the things I admire most about you."
The look in his eyes was one I'd never seen from him before. I don't know if he was worried, upset, scared, or what.
"If I need to, I'll train even harder. I'll work my ass off to prove myself to them and to whoever else that I'm different." I continued "I don't care what I have to go through—I'll make them see me just like you see me... and if it ever becomes too much for you, let me know and... I-I'll leave. You'll never hear from me again."
A few angry tears escaped and streamed down my cheeks. The thought of leaving Bakugou and never seeing him again made me feel sick to my stomach.
"Thats not gonna fucking happen, do you hear me? I promise you." He reassured me, tucking some of my hair behind my ear "And if you leave, I'll hunt you down and kill you."
Hearing that I have his support meant more to me than I thought it would.
"Shut up." I sniffed, managing to give a weak smile.
"We're gonna work hard together, okay? Me and you. Now stop your stupid crying."
I nodded as he leaned in. I felt the smile on his lips as he kissed me, sweetly. His warmth drew me in closer.
"You're a piece of work, you know that?" He whispered, resting his forehead against mine "You'd better not be telling people I'm a sap, dumbass."
"Call me a dumbass again and I'll throat-punch you."
"I'd like to see you fucking try."
He thinks I'm playing. Funny.
Just as I started to crack my knuckles, our phones went off. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but they went off at the exact same time, and made the same sound. A sound that I'd gotten to know all too well.
He and I exchanged troubled glances as we pulled our phones out.
His BHA (Bakugou Hero Agency) alerts are forwarded to my phone via the app. As soon as I opened it, I was bombarded by notifications. They were all map locations shared with Bakugou from 4 different contacts.
"What the hell...?" I asked
"They're backup requests from... Iida, Deku, Sero and Kirishima. Son of a bitch."
We both stood. Bakugou stretched his arms and cracked his neck.
"Come on."
"...You sure you want me to come with you?" I asked
"Of course I am."
"What do you think is going on?"
"No idea, but I'm ready."
I noticed that his normal, determined and slightly wild expression had returned.
What a relief.
I'd missed it so much.
"LETS GO BLOW UP SOME FUCKING VILLAINS!" He shouted with a malicious smile.
I activated my quirk, setting off two explosions, one from each hand, using the sound of his voice.
"Lets do it."
