Chapter Twenty-Five: Desire

Aisla was in her room studying when someone pounded on the door so loudly the walls vibrated in protest. She sighed and playfully rolled her eyes. She didn't need to see who was out there; there was only one person with a fist that furious.

"AISLA, GET THE HELL OUT HERE! IT'S TRAINING TIME, DAMMIT!"

Katsuki, she thought with only mild annoyance. She'd wanted to get some studying done tonight. She'd already trained with him the previous night and had let him know that she wouldn't be available the following day, so he would have to go ask someone else.

"AISLA, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" he called out.

Aisla stuck a marker in her textbook and went to the door. She pulled it open and offered him a deadpan expression. "Katsuki, I'm trying to study," she informed him. "I already told you, I can't train with you today."

"But it's after six o'clock," he protested with a pout.

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Katsuki, I have to study. This is the last week to get this stuff done. You can stay and study with me if you want, but otherwise you have to leave."

"But curfew's in a few hours! We have to get one more training session done before then!"

She blinked at him curiously. Was he…begging her? He wanted her to go with him that badly? She couldn't remember him being this insistent before. She supposed they had been spending more time together recently, but even so…he wasn't usually so pushy. Usually, he did extra training with either her or Kirishima, although the redhead had been spending a lot of his extra time with Kanzashi. So, was Katsuki begging because he was out of options or was 'kicking someone's ass' his love language?

She considered his offer for a moment, weighing it against the need to study her academics. "I guess I can spare an hour or two," she began slowly. "But," she added before he could say anything, "you have to say 'please.'" She placed her hands on her hips and waited expectantly. "And you have to mean it."

He scowled. "What the hell for? You already agreed to go! It's gonna be dark soon!"

"I'm waiting, Katsuki Bakugo!"

He grumbled something under his breath that sounded like "cheese."

"I can't hear you~" she sang.

His expression hardened. "Please, Aisla?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Please what?" she asked sweetly.

Before she could so much as bat an eyelash, he had her pinned against the door frame, lips at her ear. She couldn't help the excited gasp that escaped her at his sudden proximity. Hot breath tickled the hairs on her neck. She fought the urge to reach up and fist her fingers in his shirt.

"Aisla," he breathed against her earlobe. "Please, come with me."

Good god, what did he mean by that?

"Come train with me, one more time…"

Right… that's what he meant…

"Yes," she breathed out, the sound close to a moan. She was immediately brought back to the night when he'd pushed her against her wall, then later when she'd succumbed to her body's aching needs, alone in the dark.

He pulled back slightly so he could look in her eyes. Ember irises gleamed like he knew exactly what she'd been thinking. And while there was something sharp and hungry in them, there was also a tenderness cradled in the ruby shimmer that had her feeling weak. His eyes had been a lot softer lately. He spent more time looking at her and less time averting his gaze. Right now, he stared at her for a long moment until finally, he closed the last inch of space between them and pressed his lips to hers, soft and tender.

He pulled back after only a moment and turned away from her in embarrassment, but it was one of the sweetest kisses they'd shared thus far.

"Ready?"

I'm ready for more, she thought.

"Let me grab my shoes," she said aloud.

Ten minutes later, they were at the familiar clearing Aisla had grown to think of as theirs. She wasn't sure why—it wasn't as if she only came here with Katsuki, but it felt like a special place for the two of them. It was where they had their first fight and shared their first kiss, it was the place where they spent most of their free time together. It made Aisla feel closer to Katsuki than anywhere else.

"Are we having another duel?" Aisla asked as she set down her bag.

Katsuki arched an eyebrow. "A duel? Is this a video game or something?"

Aisla's eyes widened. "I love video games! We should play together sometime!"

"You play video games?" He sounded doubtful.

Aisla huffed. "Excuse you, I'm great at video games! I happen to have an exceptionally high sword skill in Sword Gale Online."

"You play SGO?" More incredulity.

Aisla crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. "How dare you doubt me, Katsuki Bakugo! I'm a master."

His lips curled up into an almost mischievous smile and there was an excited gleam in his red eyes. "Oh yeah? You're going to have to prove that to me, Aisla Haru." He beckoned her with two fingers, implying that she needed to prove her worth in more than just virtual reality.

"You're on!" she cried, then lunged forward as if she was going to strike.

His smile dropped and he jumped out of the way, shooting out an explosion that she easily blocked with her quirk. A smug smile appeared on her lips and she ran at him again, faster this time.

"Hey!" he hollered and tried to dodge her, but misstepped and ended up tripping. She collided with him and he landed hard on his back with her on top, fist pressed against his throat and victory in her eyes.

"I win~!" she sang.

He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I thought we were having a quirk battle?"

"We are!" she exclaimed. "But I've been training with Midoriya to enhance my physical strength, too. I guess he's a really great teacher if I can take down the great Katsuki Bakugo." She winked. While it was true, Midoriya had spared a little of his time to teach her new techniques, she'd been doing the brunt of her refinement with Mr. Aizawa. She had a feeling that crediting Midoriya would rile up Katsuki exactly the way she wanted though, so she left out the part about the pro hero.

As expected, he growled and pushed her off so hard she flew backward onto the ground. She recovered quickly and got to her feet with just enough time to reflect back his next attack.

"If you love Deku so much, why don't you go be with him?!" Katsuki roared as he shot off a series of blasts her way.

She reflected most of them back but also used some unique moves he'd never seen from her before. She jumped and flipped out of the way like an acrobat or a gymnast, and each time she landed easily on her feet.

"Hmph, show off," he grumbled.

Aisla gave a bow. "That's right, I'm the master of all! You cannot hope to defeat me!" Silently, she thanked Mr. Aizawa for grueling hours of flexibility training. Thanks to that, she now had the rare and exhilarating opportunity to actually flaunt in front of Katsuki.

Another mischievous smile lifted his lips. "Alright then, if that's how it's gonna be then get ready, Aisla! Here's a new move I've been working on! See if you can block this!"

Her eyes barely had the chance to widen before Katsuki geared up for his next attack and started launching explosions at her left and right. She reflected them back with her mirror quirk and dodged the ones she couldn't, but there were so many all at once, it was almost like he was a human machine gun and she wasn't prepared to defend herself against something like that. She was growing tired, too. The attacks kept coming, and Katsuki was doing his own version of acrobatics with complex flips and jumps that Aisla couldn't keep up with. She was heaving for breath and trying with all she had to wait it out. Surely, this attack of his would come to an end, wouldn't it?

Just as she thought that, his attack pattern changed. He came to a grinding halt several feet away, then stood there for a moment. He turned his back on her and she braced for what was to come. A four-series explosion came flying toward her at missile speed and she jumped out of the way, quirk activating to send the hit back. But she didn't anticipate the fifth explosion. It was just like that day in the training arena, only today there was no Shoto there with his ice shield.

"Katsuki, stop!" she cried out just as the last blast hit her squarely in the chest. She went flying backward and hit a tree before slamming into the ground with so much force all the air left her body. Her vision swam with tears, then went black.

She's kicking my ass today, Katsuki noted with both excitement and irritation. He liked to be the best one, yet here was Aisla giving him a run for his money. She was looking at him smugly after showing off all her acrobatics. When had she learned to do all that shit? They'd just trained together yesterday and she hadn't come out with any of these fancy moves! Had she been holding out for the past week or two, waiting for the best chance to display her new skills? When had she become so awesome?

"I've been training with Midoriya…"

Deku fucking nerd! he inwardly snarled. That idiot was teaching his girlfriend to do all of that? And Katsuki couldn't even keep up with her? He needed to step up his game, to show Deku and Aisla that he was the superior one. The next time Aisla needed help with her quirk, she'd come to him because he was the best damn prodigy at UA!

"That's right, I'm the master of all! You cannot hope to defeat me!" Aisla taunted.

"Alright then," he said with a grin, "if that's how it's gonna be then get ready, Aisla! Here's a new move I've been working on! See if you can block this!"

He hadn't mastered this new move quite yet, but he didn't need to go all out with her anyway. She would be able to dodge the attack with all of those skills, but first she'd get scared and realize what a badass he was. She'd see how hard Katsuki had been training since they'd met and she'd be proud of him. She would come to him for help, he just knew it! He would be her hero, not Deku or Todo.

He started the attack with a move she'd probably already seen from him, a backward flip that led into a series of blasts while he was still in the air. When he landed, he'd have half a second of time left to launch the next attack, this one sending out four explosions simultaneously—she'd be able to reflect all of those easily with her quirk. Then, he ran at her just like she'd done to him, forcing her to move back and jump out of the way before three more blasts came her way. She was fast, he'd give her that. She was able to jump around like she was a damn fairy, practically a bird on the wind, flitting around with ease.

It was thrilling to watch. Excitement raced through him as he continued his assault on her. She was reaching her breaking point, he could tell and thought about just letting her win but…she'd shown off enough today, and that comment about Deku still made him angry. So, he put his all into one final attack.

He skidded to a halt in the center of the clearing, looked to make sure her quirk was still active, then turned his back on her. He knew this would confuse her and that was exactly what he needed to win. He roared a battle cry as he sent four more blasts her way without so much as turning to look at her. Then he flipped around and sent one more before throwing his arms up in victory. There was no way she could beat that! His hands burned and his arms ached but damn, it felt good to let loose with someone who wasn't the shock-absorbing boulder, Kirishima. Adrenaline pumped in his veins. He was sure she'd be impressed by that performance.

"Katsuki!" he heard her frightened voice a second too late. His arms dropped and his eyes went wide just as she yelled, "stop!" and he watched his explosion hit her small body and send her flying toward a tree.

"AISLA!" Katsuki yelled as he raced to catch her, but it was too late. She hit the tree hard and fell to the ground, causing a plume of dust to engulf her whole body. He fell to his knees when he reached her, coughing against the cloud. "Aisla! Oh shit, I didn't mean it. Are you okay? Aisla!"

She wasn't moving. Was she even breathing?!

He lowered his ear to her chest and listened for a heartbeat. He touched the inside of her wrist for a pulse.

Oh fuck, I just killed my own girlfriend. Oh shit, what do I do?!

"AISLA!" he screamed and slammed both fists down onto her chest. "Don't you dare die on me! I don't give you permission! You better breathe, dammit!"

Katsuki pounded on her chest again, desperate to get her heart started. He would not accept this. He had to save her.

"AISLA, GODDAMMIT!" he screamed, then suddenly she coughed violently, face contorted in pain.

"Aisla!" He dropped his face back onto her chest and felt tears drip onto her shirt. Never in his life could he remember shedding a tear over another person, but he'd been so scared that he'd seriously hurt her. He couldn't stop himself from being an emotional wreck. He didn't care if that made him look like a total pussy.

"Fuck, Aisla. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to take it that far, I swear!" He sobbed into her chest. She was panting for breath and her heart hammered so hard he was sure she was having a heart attack but at least it was beating.

Her hands lifted to embrace him, the fool who'd almost killed her yet again. He was a plague, a danger to everyone. This was why he didn't care about people, this was the reason he didn't let anyone in. This was why he'd warned her to stay away from him!

"Katsuki," she breathed, voice hoarse. "Stop thinking like that. I'm okay." Her arms tightened around him as he cried into her shirt. His fingers clenched the fabric tightly as if afraid it would disappear and take her body along with it. He couldn't lose her; he wouldn't let that happen.

"Katsuki, it's okay…" she soothed, reading his mind again.

"It's not okay this time," he said through clenched teeth. "It's not okay at all, dammit!" he gripped the shirt tighter. "I'm so sorry, Aisla. I'm a fucking idiot. I never should have done—"

"Stop that," she ordered, cutting him off. She lifted his face up to meet hers. She was eye-level with his shame now, watching it wash away the pride he'd felt only moments ago. Her eyes were clear, tear-free, and serious. "You listen to me, Katsuki Bakugo," she told him. "You don't get to feel sorry for me, okay? This was a fight, remember? And you won!" She flashed him a brilliant smile. "So be proud!"

"Aisla…"

Why do you put up with me? he wondered. How can you be so pure-hearted? I'll never deserve you as long as I live. Especially now.

"Katsuki," she whispered, eyes traveling down to the lips she was caressing with her thumb. He wasn't sure when that happened but he was acutely aware of the fact that his lips had parted under her touch and his heart rate increased. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. But that would be wrong. He'd nearly killed her! He should take her straight to Recovery Girl.

But that finger… and those eyes.

Crystal clear orbs of water locked on red pools of lava, begging him to do exactly what he wanted. He could see the lust in her eyes as if they were mirrors of his own. She wanted him to kiss her.

So, he did.

He closed the space between them and pressed his lips to hers. Immediately hers parted in invitation, hot breath mixing with his own. He gladly took the opportunity to deepen the kiss and slide his tongue against hers. Her hands slid into his hair, fingers gripping the blond strands roughly. He liked that. An unmistakable moan passed between them, much like that day when he'd shoved her against the wall. He wasn't sure who the sound had come from, but it made something wake up inside of him, something he'd only felt once before.

Desire… his mind supplied. Not cheap excitement fueled by hormones or the need for release, either. This was something else. Something alive, summoned from another plane of existence by the sorceress at the tip of his tongue.

When her legs wrapped around his back, he let out a primal sound as his pelvis was forced down against hers. The gasp that escaped her lips was intoxicating.

He wanted to hear it again.

He broke the kiss and dropped his lips to her neck, tongue darting out to lick hot skin. Perspiration made the skin there damp but he didn't care. In fact, tasting the salt that had formed during their training session felt intimate somehow, filling him with pride and hot arousal because he was the one who'd made her sweat. He put a hand behind her neck so he could move her head into a better angle and then gave a light suck.

"Katsuki," she moaned, deep and guttural. Her hands fisted in his hair and her body squirmed beneath his.

"God," he groaned against her skin. "Don't make that sound," he pleaded, even though he silently pleaded for her to do it again.

It was her bedroom all over again. He was pushing her against the wall and grinding his hips on hers. Their lips were together and his tongue was sliding inside as she pulled him closer, begging him for more. He'd gone nearly insane from lust that day—and when he went back to his room, he couldn't stop himself from picturing her own heady expression in his mind while he stroked himself to a powerful finish. The memory of that day combined with their current predicament caused something hard to give an insistent pulse between their flush hips.

Shit, he thought and pulled back instantly before it went any further than that. Oh god, she felt that, didn't she? She definitely felt that. She doesn't think I want to…? Or, maybe she wants to…?

I am not going there in the middle of the forest after Aisla nearly died! he thought, pinching his eyes shut with an embarrassed blush.

"I'm sorry!" they said in unison.

Aisla gave him an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, Katsuki."

He shook his head, both to clear the haze from his mind and to deny her apology. "Don't be dumb, you don't have to apologize." He sat up and helped her sit as well. She winced. "We should get you to Recovery Girl."

"It's not that bad, I'll be—KATSUKI!" she shrieked as he scooped her up in his arms and started back toward the dorms. "Put me down! My bag is still out there!"

"Stop whining," he snapped at her as he walked faster. "You almost died just now. Your stupid bag isn't important! I'll just send Todo to get your shit, alright? You need to see Recovery Girl now."

She pouted but allowed herself to be taken to the nurse. Katsuki had to explain the situation, which got him a week of detention with Ectoplasm and a whole lot of questions from Mr. Aizawa. The latter just stood there with crossed arms and gleaming red eyes like he was seconds away from using his quirk on Katsuki. He was mad.

Aisla ended up leaving with nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises and no detention. Katsuki sometimes wondered if Mr. Aizawa was just picking favorites, because Aisla never got detention and Katsuki always seemed to be in trouble.

Teacher's pet…

Katsuki was true to his word and texted a quick message to Icy Hot to go get Aisla's things from the clearing because his ass wasn't going back there and Todo was her loyal Labrador. He agreed at once like the good dog he was and Katsuki walked Aisla back to her room.

"Thanks for the fun training session!" she chirped as they walked.

He scoffed. "Don't try to be funny, Aisla."

"Oh, I don't have to try," she retorted with a wink.

He gave her a deadpan look.

She laughed and slid her hand into his. He looked at their linked hands for a moment, wondering when he'd gotten to the point where he didn't care as much about this act, and when he'd started to sort of…like holding hands. He remembered holding her hand just the other day when they were walking down the hallway and no one even spared them a second glance. Maybe Aisla was right, no one really cared what the two of them did together. Maybe…Katsuki didn't care anymore either.

"Katsuki?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked through a yawn.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

His heart gave a hard jerk. Did he think she was pretty? She was beautiful and sexy—didn't she already know that? She wasn't like the other girls—like Ashido who plastered her face with makeup, or Yaoyorozu who wore all those expensive outfits. He assumed that was because she knew she was pretty without all that. It was no contest, obviously. Aisla was in the running with an invisible girl, a frog, and some emo chick with gross ears. She had to know she was the hottest girl in class, right?

"That's just your bias talking because you're so into her~" Kirishima had said to him after Katsuki shit-talked his bald girlfriend for ten minutes by comparing her to Aisla. Was that really the reason? Was he not being objective because he was just that attracted to her? What answer was she looking for? The objective truth or his blind opinion about how perfect she looked to him?

"Uh…" he stammered. "Y-you know the answer to that!" he finally got out.

"I don't…" she said quietly.

You stupid idiot, he thought fondly.

"Of course you are," he mumbled, so low he hoped she didn't hear him. It was the best he could offer right now. Pride, humiliation, or both prevented him from voicing his other thoughts.

Her hand gave his a squeeze. "I think I really like you," she whispered.

His heart panicked again. Now he was the one having a heart attack. He needed medical attention, STAT.

"Ow, Katsuki!" she hissed as she yanked her hand free.

"Sorry," he muttered when he realized he'd been squeezing the life out of it.

She glowered up at him. "That's a rude thing to do after what I just said!"

His mouth fell open. "W-what? I didn't mean—"

She giggled, cutting off his words. She threw her arms around him in an embrace, head resting against his chest. She did that a lot, he realized, hugged him like this. He recalled all the kisses they'd shared, and the powerful one they'd just had. He remembered all the bright smiles and words of encouragement, the laughter. They'd come a long way in the last several months. Before, he wouldn't have dared let her be like this, pressed against him in the hallway where anyone could see them.

When did we get this far? he wondered. And what happens next?

"I'm still going to kick your butt in SGO," Aisla suddenly said, shattering the thoughts that had been churning in his mind. He couldn't even remember what they were now.

He smiled. "You're on."

A/N: Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter with a little extra spice! Originally, this chapter and the following one (which you'll have to wait for another week to read!) were one scene. I've done this with a few of the chapters in this story. I've been writing it for quite some time now, over a YEAR, and have a lot of extra scenes I wrote in the beginning of the story and had to incorporate in later. This chapter would have been too long if I'd kept it as it was, so I cut it into two. I've tried to make all of the chapters in this story roughly the same length, as I've mentioned before. So, on average they are all around 10 pages, with the occasional 12-15 pages, I believe. But this scene would have been too long as a whole, so it had to share!

Anyway, look forward to next week's installment of Don't Deny Me! I wonder what it will be about~

Reviews:

MeMyselfAndI82907: Indeed, indeed. All true facts. Relationships are tricky, for sure, but they can be worth it if it's the right one. Katsuki is starting to realize that, especially in this chapter. He's noticing how biased he might be about Aisla. Is she really as great as he thinks? Or is it all because he's the one looking? Hard to say, Mr. Explosion Murder, but the important thing is that he is seeing her now. He spends less time trying to pretend that he doesn't have feelings for her, which I personally really like from him!

Blasttyrant: Aw thanks! I agree that he's doing a much better job being with her. He's always liked her, but he spent so long pretending he didn't care. Now, he's becoming more relaxed around her and just letting things happen between them. He's still Katsuki, so he has his moments, but he's trying at least! Good boy, Katsuki!

Also, I've never heard of Clutch before, but that's really cool! Thanks for sharing! I'm always curious how everyone chooses their names for this site.

Beta: yellowchikadee

Thank you for all the help with this chapter! You added some very impressive detail that helped make it even better! You've been an absolute asset to me!