Chapter 8
TRIGGER WARNING: Attempted suicide.
"That's right. Let's talk back at the office, I'm almost there." She hung up her call, groceries in hand as she continued to walk down the street to her destination. Ochako sighed, "What am I supposed to tell the boss, somethings are just impossible, no matter what."
"Oh, well, I still have to face the firing squad." A heel flew out of the sky landing onto the pavement narrowly missing her head. She stopped dead in her tracks, gasping in surprise, Ochako turned up to the sky to see a well dressed woman, with one heel, sitting on the edge of the roof of a four story building. "Oh my god," She frantically looked for her phone and placed a call to 911. "Miss?!" she called up to the lady. The phone rung twice before an operator had picked up, "Hello? 911? Someone is trying to kill herself."
"DON'T COME NEAR ME!"
Ochako had no time to lose, she ran up each flight of steps as if she didn't have on five inch heels, she stood against the entry way for the roof and leaned against it catching her breath.
"Linda, be careful." Bakugo stood about six feet from the distraught woman, speaking in a calm manner, how was he going to get her down?
"You said you would help me through my divorce!" She screamed at him. "Now that I finally have my life together, why are you pushing me away?!" Bakugo held his prop ring in his hand, he took a few steps towards Linda and she leaned forward over the edge. "STAY BACK!"
"Okay, okay..." He raised his hands, backtracking to his original spot. "Please, Linda, calm down."
"Promise you will be with me, right now, or I'll jump!" Ochako gasped and ran out of the entry way. "You have to give me your answer today, or I'll jump!"
"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?" Ochako walked out with her phone in one hand and her finger covering her other ear, she feigned naivete as she walked around the roof top making a bee line for Linda. "I have terrible reception here. Hello?" Bakugo reached out for her, but she just blew past him, now closer to the woman than he. "You're breaking up with me?"
"H-Hey..."
"You're dumping me over the phone?" Ochako sighed, frustrated "you better explain yourself."
'When did she get a boyfriend?' He stood there with his hands on his hips, watching the scene unfold. Ochako was now merely a foot from Linda, who was thrown for a loop when they were no longer the only two left on the roof.
"Fine, I'm on the roof, I'm sure you can guess what's gonna happen next." She threatened over the phone. Bakugo's eyes widened, there was no way he'd be able to handle both of these women having crises at the sametime. She placed her phone down on the ledge and hoisted herself right next to Linda. Picking up her phone once again she talked to the non existent person on the other end of the line. "You honestly think I would be so silly as to kill myself for an unworthy man like you? If I did, I wouldn't be doing myself justice."
'Please... I hope you're listening...' She sighed, and spoke softly "Listen, I'm not someone who'd treat an old pair of shoes like treasure." She hung up and placed her phone between her and the other woman. She turned her head, looking at the poor girl's feet to see that they were rubbed raw and bleeding a little from her heels.
Linda was tense beside her, Ochako let out a breath her voice calm and collected, "Perhaps you used to think you could use your life as a bargaining chip, to get something that you want. But if you cannot love and treasure yourself, how can you hope that others will love you as well?"
"What do you know?" Linda turned her, the hurt clear as day in her eyes. "Have you every been divorced? Do you know how painful life is after divorce?" Her voice rose after every question, "Well, do you?!"
"It took so much of me just to pull myself back together. And that's because HE gave me the courage to do so!" Ochako turned back to Bakugo genuinely surprised that he would be capable of such things before bringing her attention back to Linda.
"But he also stayed with you through the toughest, darkest moments after your divorce, didn't he?" Linda retreated to her thoughts, Bakugo closed the space between all three of them, only about a foot of space betweent them all.
"Please, stay calm. The thing is," He took of the ring on his hand, speaking genuinely to her, "I'm not married. I wear a wedding ring to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. More importantly, I don't want to develop romantic attachments with clients, because the time I do spend with you ends." He placed the ring in his breast pocket, his eyes never wavering from Linda. "I'm sorry for any misunderstandings I may have caused for you, but I sincerely believe if I can help someone walk away from a relationship, then she can forget the unpleasant past, and embrace her life anew."
Linda sniffled, Bakugo and Ochako shared a look, "I know you did that on purpose. I know you only helped me because you took pity on me." Her bottom lip wavered, "But I have nothing now, after the divorce. That's why I wanted to have you for myself."
"The thing is, what you need the most right now isn't pity. You need to learn how to love yourself." In place of Linda, Ochako could see herself from a year ago, how distraught she was over her broken heart. "The most important thing a failed relationship taught me is never be with someone who's not right for you. Because two people growing apart is much more terrifying than being alone." The other two stayed in their places, lost in their own thoughts as they took in her words of wisdom.
Ochako turned herself around, bringing her legs over the ledge and removed her silver glittery heels, she placed them on the ledge and pushed them towards Linda. "You can borrow these shoes for now, maybe you haven't realized you've hurt your feet." Linda looked down at her feet to see that she was right, "Your wounded feet may need a pair of shoes to protect them, but your old shoes didn't fit you. If you want to find a good pair of shoes, you need to spend time to try and look."
The edge of his lips lifted briefly, before his stoic nature returned. Bakugo outstretched his hands out to Linda who was currently wiping her tears away , "Here. Come away from the ledge." She hesitated, looking at him and the stranger beside her who outstretched her hand as well. Taking both, she slowly turned around on the ledge, her feet on the roof and no longer dangling in mid air.
Ochako lost her footing, screamed out, letting go of Linda's hand, she took Bakugo by surprise who exclaimed and let go of Linda as well. She was falling head first into the pavement, her arm strength not nearly good enough to stop herself, but thankfully, Bakugo was able to wrap his arms around her waist firmly, they turned in a circle as he brought her flush against him, their faces close, noses almost touching, he saved her.
Ochako's eyes were wide, instinctively she pushed him off of her. Bakugo unfortunately was caught off guard as well, his reasons slightly different from hers, as her eyes caught the light in just the right way that he found himself distracted. When she pushed him away, he lost balance and fell to the ground.
Ochako sat on the outside of the hospital, she rubbed her bad ankle. Although barefoot just earlier she was about to scrounge up some 3 dollar pink slides. A lucky get considering they were the last ones at the convenience store. Bakugo walked out of the double automatic doors, he stopped for a moment. "You-" He continued on his way.
"I-" She called after him. Ochako hurried after him as best she could, her injury throbbing with each excruciating step. "H-Hey, Bakugo Katsuki-san!" At the mention of his name, Bakugo stopped and turned to her, Ochako's limp the first thing he noticed. The brooding blonde silently walked away once again. "Are you alright?" He slowed and stopped, she now infront of him, genuine concern on her face. "Are you okay?" He glared at her cooly, "What?"
"What?" He repeated lifting his left hand between them, balled into a fist except for his poor ring finger that was bandaged up and placed into a metal brace.
A laugh escaped her, and he mockingly let out a chuckle as well, the laughter never hitting his eyes. "You think it's funny? I didn't have to get hurt, why did you push me away? Huh?!"
"I mean to be fair, I told you to not be within a foot of me." She used her index finger to push his hand further away from her face. "You got too close."
He seethed through his teeth, "I was trying to help you."
"Help me? It's all your fault."
"My fault?"
"Of course, you. Who else is here!" She threw back. "You thought you were being empathetic, consoling your client while wearing a wedding band. Then what? She tried to end her life. And then we-" She stopped abruptly, a rosy tint coming to life on her cheeks.
Bakugo gave her a look as if saying, 'Finish your sentence.' When she refused and looked off to the side, Bakugo scoffed, "Hey, it's totally your fault."
"It's you alright?!"Ochako grabbed the finger he pointed at her and flipped it back on him, "Otherwise, out of all your fingers, why did you end up breaking the ring finger." Bakugo had tried to stop her, but she grabbed ahold of the broken finger and he exclaimed in pain. Bakugo ripped her hand off of his.
She let it go and he glared at her, "Hey! That fucking hurts."
Ochako felt bad for only a moment. "It's divine justice."
He took in a nice deep breath, calming himself, after all murder is frowned upon in society. A long awkward silence ensued, Bakugo breaking it. "I did that because-" He sighed again. "I know how difficult it is to heal a broken heart alone... That's why I was trying to be empathetic and help those whose marriages have failed. Also... I put on a wedding ring to avoid others from getting attached to me. I was trying to make things easier for myself." They both stared at the ground as he quietly continued. "Little did I know... I was only causing trouble for others."
"But I sincerely believe if you can help someone walk away from a relationship, then she can forget the unpleasant past, and embrace her life anew."
"Do you really think making a perfect exit can really make you forget everything?"
"This isn't all your fault, actually." She fiddled with her fingers, as she had when she was younger and in trouble. "if I hadn't butt in between you and your client, we wouldn't have seen eachother and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
He took in a deep breath, his intense ruby gaze boring into her. "If it weren't for you- Perhaps today would've ended in tragedy." The two stood there, less than a foot apart, neither pulling the other's gaze away.
"Ochako-chan!" Tsuyu called out, both Ochako and Bakugo turned to the noise. She couldn't help herself from teasing her friend and giving her a big thumbs up in approval. Ochako smiled, grateful to see her friend, but frowned and shook her head announcing that things were not as they seemed. She scooted over beside her bestie, "There's only two days left until the Mr. Popularity event." Both girl's briefly looked at the man in question, who only stood there awkwardly hoping they wouldn't as again. "Boss asked me and Aoyama-kun for an update, so I told her the truth. I'm sorry, Ochako-chan."
Ochako smiled softly, sadly and shook her head. "It's fine. I had to face it sooner or later." Bakugo turned his head to the side, "Let's get going."
"Ugh only two days left... Hey, what happened to your shoes?"
"It's a long story, Let's just go." Ochako limped along the side walk as her friend accompanied her home.
"Is your ankle alright? I think it's gotten worse."
"It's fine, Tsu-chan, you worry too much."
"Let me take that for you."
She had just helped him with something major, and it was his fault that she was in such pain physically. He usually could careless what happened to others and yet here he was... worrying that this girl would get in trouble with at work for not acquiring him for the Mr. Popularity event.
Bakugo reached into his fridge pulling out a freshly chilled bottle of bubbly. He walked back to his desk, where his computer sat and attempted to open his bottle. He sucked in a breath at the pain.
"If you want to find a pair of nice shoes that can last a long time, you would need to spend time to try and look."
he glared at his hand, a plain wooden box, with office supplies laid just beside his computer, Bakugo brought the box closer to his person, opened it and pulled out a little soccer ball keychain. His heart squeezed in pain. Memories flooded him, the echoes of his beloved's voice calling out to him replaying for him.
Both teams were tied 9 to 9. A red haired man, shirtless intercepted Bakugo just as he was going to kick in the winning goal. A big bright smirk in his face as he ran after him. There was no way he would allow him to win so easily. Kirishima laughed looking back at his competition.
Bakugo held the precious keychain in his enclosed hand, his heart aching even-more-so than before.
"If you cannot face the fact that you still love him, it's hard for me to help you find the courage to love again."
Tears welled in his eyes, 'Dammit,' He sniffled and forced the tears back that stung his eyes so mercilessly.
Bakugo had caught up to him now, he had slid ont the grass kicking the ball away to prevent a goal on his team, doing so had cause Kirishima to fall on top of him. They laid there, laughing. Kiri lifted himself up so their lips were just centimeters apart from eachother. Bakugo blushed and smirked like the cocky bastard he was. "Asshole..." Kirishima breathed connecting their lips, with a peck.
That was not enough for him, he grabbed his love by the back of his head and stole a deeper much more passionate kiss from his lover. Bakugo chuckling at the look on Kirishima's face when he pulled away.
He stood, making his way to his bedroom, over to his bookcases filled to the brim with various articles of literature, Bakugo placed the little keychain on a shelf and proceeded to pull out a section of books to reveal a small six inch by seven inch sliver metal tin container. He opened it, revealing pictures of him and Kirishima with Sully, smiling on their vacation, another of just Kiri adoringly playing with Sully, the last with eacothers arms wrapped around the other's waist, Kirishima looking into the camera smiling and Bakugo with his eyes glued to the red haired man, smiling fondly, adoringly at him.
Bakugo sniffled, at one point the pictures became too blurry for him to see. He placed the photographs back in their place, bringing the keychain just over the tin. He held it in his hand, unable to relinquish it. Bakugo sniffled once again, wiping his eyes of the tears that threatened to fall. Releasing the keychain, Bakugo closed the tin, carefully placing the item back in it's original place and wasling away back to his desk. He sat there, collecting his thoughts,
King: 'Maybe I'm still in love with him, I still remember his phone number. But with courage alone, how can you be sure the next relationship can last a lifetime?'
He sent the comment and laid back in his chair, taking a swig of his drink.
"Boss was asking me and Aoyama-kun for an update, so I told her the truth. I'm sorry."