Chapter Twenty-Four: Common Ground
Aisla sat cross-legged in the clearing with her eyes closed against the late afternoon sun. Classes were out for the day and most of her fellow classmates would be in the dining hall finishing up with dinner, or lounging in the common area of their dorm. She could picture them now, all squished up on the small sofa playing Sword Gale Online together. They'd be sharing laughter and more than a few insults, but it would all be in good humor.
She had a brief pang of jealousy. She wanted to be there, too. She kind of wanted to just ditch what she was doing and make up some excuse as to why she had to bail. But then the guilt started to set in and she knew she couldn't do that to him, not like this. She needed to just get this whole thing over with so she could—
Swat!
"Ow!" she complained when something hit her in the side of the head.
"You're not focusing your mind, Miss Haru," Mr. Aizawa rebuked her. "How do you expect to master your quirk if you can't even manage to stay focused on a single lesson?"
His berating only mildly wounded her. Sure, part of her hated seeing the disapproval on her teacher's face, but the other part still yearned to impress her favorite hero. Instead of discouraging her, his chastisement served to invigorate and re-center her mind. He made her want to excel and make a name for herself. She wanted to make him proud.
She nodded vehemently. "Yes, sir! You're absolutely right. From the top!"
She spent the next hour working on focusing her energy in one place. It worked a little, though she couldn't help but feel like this might all be a waste of time. She wouldn't have time to sit and meditate during a villain attack.
"Concentrate, Miss Haru!" Mr. Aizawa snapped. "I know this feels pointless, but I promise you it will be useful in the end. For people with quirks like you and I, keeping clearheaded is more important than strength or speed. You need to absorb this lesson."
Aisla felt her shoulders slump. "I'm sorry, Mr. Aizawa, I just feel so useless! This 'ultimate move' or whatever is more trouble than it's worth. I can rarely duplicate it when I try. There's no point of sitting around for hours staring at trees if it barely makes it any easier."
Mr. Aizawa put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Listen to me, Aisla. I know it feels that way right now, but that doesn't mean you or your quirk is useless. With anything in life, especially quirk training, it's important to practice. It's like a muscle—you need to exercise it in order for it to grow stronger. The more you use that muscle, the easier it will be to control. Soon, you won't even have to think about what you're doing, it will just come naturally."
Aisla nodded as he spoke and tried to take every piece of advice he gave her. He was a good teacher and she had been getting stronger these last few days. Her best bet was to follow his example and strengthen her quirk muscles.
"I think that's enough for today," he announced. "Let's pick this up again on Monday."
Aisla smiled in return. "Thanks for all your help!" she said before running off toward the dorms.
If she was lucky, the dining hall would still be open and she could grab something to eat. She was starving after her training session with Mr. Aizawa but she also felt dirty and sweaty and wanted to take a long, hot shower.
The latter won out in the end and she found herself standing under a hot spray of water as she washed her body and hair. She took her time since no one else was in there, enjoying the feel of the water hitting her aching muscles. When she finished, she realized with some annoyance that she'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes with her. Fortunately, she had remembered a towel, so she wrapped that tightly around her chest and grabbed her bin of soaps along with her sweaty workout clothes. She made her way down the hall with the prayer that no one would be around to witness her humiliation. Fortunately, luck was on her side and no boys saw her in a towel.
She had the passing thought that it might be fun to see one particular boy's reaction to her wearing only a towel. Thinking about that made her lower abdomen do weird flips though, so she shook the thoughts from her mind.
She quickly dressed in some shorts and a loose-fitting night shirt, humming softly to herself. She was running a brush through her long hair when someone gave a tentative knock to her door. She glanced at the clock and noted the time: 8:20. She didn't know who would come to her bedroom at this hour, but she made her way over to the door anyway and pulled it open.
"Katsuki," she said in surprise. "Is something the matter?" She hadn't seen him outside of class since the other night when she'd snuck into his bed again. He'd held her in his arms that night, and the next morning he'd kissed her awake before leaving the room in a rush.
"Go away…" he muttered under his breath. His expression gave nothing away as she stared at him in astonishment.
"Excuse me?" she asked, trying not to sound miffed by his comment. Surely, she had misheard him. He didn't seriously come to her room just to tell her to go away?
He cleared his throat. "I mean… go away… with… me…" He choked out the words, fists clenched, teeth gritting together as he tried to maintain a poker face. He was failing miserably, though and Aisla felt her lips turning up in amusement now.
"Oh, I see. You're asking me out," she stated matter-of-factly. "Why didn't you just say so?"
His cheeks turned rouge. "SHUT UP, THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M DOING!"
Aisla shrugged and feigned a disappointed sigh. "That's too bad. It would have been fun to hang out with you alone…with no one else around… But I guess I'll just ask Roki if he—"
"HEY!" he cut her off, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward. "I just wanted you to go train with me tomorrow, okay?!" he hissed under his breath.
She arched an eyebrow. "So…you don't want to go out with me?"
He growled and dropped her hand, favoring the safety of his pockets. "If that's what you wanna call it, then be my guest." He turned and started for his own room.
"Wait!" she called after him. He stopped but didn't turn to face her. "Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?" she asked sweetly.
His whole body tensed and she waited for either rejection or acceptance from her boyfriend. He stood there, though, in the middle of the hallway with hands stuffed in jeans pockets and shoulders bunched up like he was trying to control some emotion.
Aisla stepped out of her room and slowly made her way over to him. "Katsuki?" she asked softly, placing a hand on his arm. "Do you…want to come to my room for a little while?"
He looked down at her, expressing a mix of uncertainty, frustration, and something she really hoped was desire. He opened his mouth to answer when a booming voice broke the silence.
"BAKUGO!" Mr. Aizawa barked from down the hall. "What are you doing with Miss Haru?"
Aisla stepped away from the boy and gestured wildly. "I was just—we were just—it was just talking!" she sputtered lamely.
He glared at each of them in turn. "That's all it's going to be, is that understood?" he demanded. "This is a school dorm, not a hotel room. Go to your own rooms. And stay there," he added, looking right at Aisla.
She blushed crimson and wondered if by some horror her teacher had found out about her late night snuggle sessions with Katsuki.
"Yeah, whatever," the blond muttered, already opening his own door. "Where the hell else would I go anyway?" Then he shut the door with a little more force than necessary, leaving Aisla alone with her favorite hero.
She quirked him a sheepish grin as she backed toward her door. "Just talking~" she repeated and scurried inside, ignoring the disapproval written all over his face.
The next morning at breakfast, Aisla was sitting alone for once. Her two girlfriends, Ochaco and Mina were getting an early start on training, and Shoto claimed to have a headache and wanted to eat in his room. So, Aisla had brought her sketchbook and a pencil to the dining hall like she used to do at her old school, back when eating alone was an everyday event.
She remembered her sort-of-friend, Corrin and wondered what she was up to these days. The pair hadn't spoken at all since Aisla had transferred to UA, though that wasn't much of a surprise. They barely spoke at all back at Shiketsu. Aisla had been under no delusions that the two would be lifelong friends after high school. Sometimes, they sat together at lunch as equal outcasts, but they didn't know much about one another besides their names and their mutual hobby.
Again she was jarred by the juxtaposition of her life now versus what it was back at Shiketsu High. She'd gone from having a single begrudging acquaintance to having many, genuine friends and the best boyfriend of all time—though she might have been biased.
"Hey."
Aisla looked up to see Katsuki standing over her with one of his cute shy expressions that made her want to swoon like the school girl she was. Instead, she gestured to the seat across from her. To her surprise, he took the one right next to her and scooted closer. He leaned over her paper and poked a finger at the image there.
"That's better than your last one," he commented. She didn't know which picture he was referring to, nor did she know if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult.
"Um, which one?"
"The cat in the pajamas," he said.
"It was a space suit!" she exclaimed defensively.
"Whatever." He waved a dismissive hand. "This one is way cooler."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?! You're not just saying that?"
He shook his head. "I like it. Looks like an epic battle just went down." His finger traced a line of smoke she'd just drawn.
"You can see that?" she asked softly.
She wanted to step out of her comfort zone and draw something new, so she'd decided to do her best at replicating the aftermath of a battle. Buildings collapsing, fire still exploding in the background, and smoke everywhere. It was difficult to do with only a charcoal pencil, but she figured she could fill it in later with pastels if she really wanted to. Aisla was partial to black and white artwork, however, and didn't often feel the need to add anything more.
"It would look even more epic if you added in a villain right here." He pointed to a spot where a car was upturned and fire blazed from the undercarriage. "He could be standing there with his arms up in the air and an expression of victory on his face!"
Aisla giggled. "That's a great idea, Katsuki. What should he look like?"
Katsuki chewed the inside of his lip in thought. She didn't know he had that habit, but she supposed she didn't really see Katsuki's thinking face very often. "I think he should be really tall with huge muscles and feathers."
She laughed. "Why the feathers?"
Katsuki gave a look. "Because he's a jail bird! Put him in some stripes, too."
"Why is he a jail bird?" she asked, though she was already trying to picture what he was describing.
"Because his profession is breaking out of prisons!" he exclaimed. "Illegally."
Aisla snorted. "You're so funny, Katsuki!"
She barely noticed the red tinge to his cheek as she turned back to her paper. She flipped the page and began to sketch out what she thought he was looking for, taking corrections here and there until they were both satisfied with the final product.
"You're a really good artist," Katsuki commented.
Aisla grinned. "Thanks! I've always loved to draw, though my parents told me I wasn't very good at it when I was younger. I took a few art classes after that and it really helped with my technique."
"You took art classes?" he asked, sounding surprised. "Did your parents approve of you doing that sort of thing?"
She shrugged. "I don't think they had an opinion one way or the other. They just wanted me to do whatever would make me happy."
"They sound cool."
"Yeah, they are!" she agreed. "What about your parents?"
Beside her, Katsuki stiffened and a scowl settled on his lips. "My dad's a pushover and my mom's just as mean as I am," he answered dryly.
She laughed softly. "I see. I think I should meet them for myself one day so I can be the judge of that. Besides," she added, "I don't think you're mean. I really like you, Katsuki." She winked, then began packing up her things.
"What are you doing?"
"It's about time for class," she reminded him, pointing to the clock on the wall.
"But you didn't eat anything," he realized, glancing around the table as if hoping to disprove this fact.
She shrugged. "I didn't feel like eating today. I just like coming down here to draw sometimes."
"You should eat your food," he admonished.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You sound like my dad. Come on!" She stood up and offered him a hand. He scowled and brushed her aside, standing up on his own. He clasped her hand in his before she could feel too hurt about the act. She smiled up at him.
"Let's go to class before anyone says anything," he suggested flatly. She could feel his hand twitching in hers as if he were seconds away from pulling from her grasp and running in the opposite direction. He stayed by her side, however, for the whole walk down the hallway. A few students gave them curious looks but most of the lingering kids ignored them. No one paid them much attention either way.
"See that, Katsuki," Aisla remarked when they reached their classroom. They had paused outside the door, hands still clasped. "No one cares if we hold hands. Everyone does it. That's what you do with your…you know, girlfriend or boyfriend."
His cheeks heated and she could tell he was about to snap at her.
"N-not that we have to do what everyone else does!" she added quickly. "I just meant…at least no one noticed?"
His expression softened and he visibly deflated. "Yeah, I guess. Come on." he tugged her inside and walked her to her seat before letting go of her hand. Everyone else, including their teacher, was already seated. They got a lot more curious glances from their fellow classmates than they did out in the hallway, including a disapproving look from Mr. Aizawa.
Kaminari and Mineta both snickered, and a few of the girls covered their mouths to hide a smile, but most of the class held expressions that said they already knew this was a thing and they weren't surprised in the least.
When they were all seated, Mr. Aizawa called them to attention and announced that today they would be working on independent studies and then they'd be off early for the weekend. Everyone tried not to get too excited about that, but for the rest of class they were all too antsy to pay attention to their work. Mr. Aizawa had to snap at them several times to get them to focus.
Finally, it was over and they were free for the next two and a half days. And after next week, they'd be off for a full week to celebrate the holidays! There would be no homework, extended curfew, and a Christmas party. They would exchange gifts and drink cider and—
Aisla realized with some horror that she hadn't thought to get Katsuki a gift yet. She'd been planning on it, sure, but she hadn't expected to get locked up at school for the entire month. How was she supposed to get him something now?
She let out a frustrated sigh.
"What's on your mind, Ru?"
Aisla looked up into dual-colored eyes and offered a small smile. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something."
"Got any plans this weekend?" Shoto asked casually as he leaned against her desk.
"Yeah."
The words didn't come from Aisla but rather someone seated just behind her. They both turned at the same time to find Katsuki standing up at his desk, hands stuffed in pockets, and a challenging expression.
"She already has plans, you damn lab," he snapped. "Go bark up someone else's tree."
"Katsuki!" she hissed under her breath.
Shoto shrugged it off and stood up straighter. "I was only asking," he said, then turned to Aisla. "If you get bored, shoot me a text. We can hang out if you want. You can bring your boyfriend, too."
"THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Katsuki snarled, but Shoto was already walking away. Katsuki scoffed when he was gone. "Why do you like that douchebag, Aisla?" he demanded.
Aisla blinked in confusion. "What do you mean 'why'? He's my best friend."
"Best friend," he repeated in a grumble. He started angrily shoving things into his bag.
Aisla placed a hand on his arm. "Katsuki," she began softly, "Roki may be my best friend, but you're my best boyfriend." She offered with a grin.
He shrugged her off but his expression said he was pleased by her words. "Yeah, whatever. Get your stuff, we're leaving."
"Aren't you going to feed me first?" she whined, glancing at the clock that told her it was time for lunch, not training.
He rolled his eyes. "I knew you were going to be like this! You should have eaten breakfast!"
"I wasn't hungry then!" she reminded him. "But I am now! Are you going to feed me, Katsuki Bakugo, or face the wrath of Aisla?" She showed him her muscles which were severely lacking compared to his own.
He burst into laughter, the kind she'd never heard from him before. It was warm and light and filled her with a joy she couldn't contain.
"Shut up, you weirdo," he said through more laughter. "Let's get you some food before you explode on me." He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room.
"I want curry!" she announced.
He snorted. "There's no curry. They're serving some kind of beef stew shit that smells like socks."
"Yum, sock stew!" Aisla cheered.
He laughed again, though softer this time. "You're a strange girl."
"Hey, what's your favorite color?" she blurted as they walked, completely changing the subject.
This time he'd chosen to release her hand in the crowded hallway in favor of shoving them into his pockets. But he stayed by her side, which was almost as good. "Black, obviously," he answered. "Is there a better color?"
"How about red?" she suggested, picturing the red irises that stared back at her.
He thought about it. "Nah, red makes me think of Icy Hot and I don't wanna think about that asshole!"
"What about…blue?"
"Blue?" he echoed with a frown. "Blue is…like the other half of Icy Hot." He shuddered and Aisla sighed, thinking of the blue hue of her eyes and wondering if that was the reason he so often avoided eye contact with her.
"Hey." He suddenly pulled her to a stop in the hallway, fingers wrapped around her wrist. He leaned down and looked at her with a strange expression. "I didn't mean it, okay?" She searched his gaze. "I don't hate…" he cleared his throat, "the color blue. It's, you know…fine, I guess."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
"DON'T DOUBT ME, WOMAN!" he yelled, then started down the hallway once more.
When they were seated with their beef stew concoction—which didn't smell like socks at all, she noted—Aisla pulled out her sketchbook and began inserting Katsuki's villain into her drawing. He watched with rapt attention as she drew, following every brush stroke of her pencil across the paper like he was mesmerized by it.
Aisla turned a smile his way. "Katsuki? Your stew is getting cold."
He shrugged and continued to watch her.
She took a bite, then sketched a few lines, took a bite, drew some more, until her bowl was empty and the villain was almost complete.
"It's missing something…" she mused aloud as she tapped her pencil on the page.
"Yeah, like a badass cape!" he pointed to the villain's shoulders. "Make it a blue one."
She met his gaze and for a moment her heart stopped. He was so unlike himself right now. He'd never paid so much attention to her before. She was soaking up every second of what he offered. This was what she needed from him, for him to just be with her. They didn't have to do anything crazy, she just wanted to be near him and for him to want to be near her, too.
"Thank you, Katsuki," she whispered.
His eyes shone with surprise. "For what?" he asked just as softly.
"For…the great ideas," she said at last, too afraid of ruining the moment to speak her actual thoughts aloud.
"My ideas are awesome," he agreed, "but that's not what you meant." His expression was knowing, and there was no escape from the cages of his red irises.
Her eyes went wide at the accusation. "How did you…?"
His shoulders lifted. "I can just tell," he murmured. "You don't have to hold back with me, Aisla. I know I can be…kind of a dick sometimes."
"You're not!" she protested.
"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to talk to me about whatever's on your mind," he continued as if she hadn't even spoken. "I want you to trust me more…" This last part was said almost reluctantly, like an admission he didn't really want to share.
She took one of his hands in hers and squeezed. "I do trust you, more than you know. I just don't want to scare you away. I can be a little pushy, I know that. I'm trying not to be too…" she searched for the right word, "aggressive, I guess?"
He chuckled. "You? Aggressive? Don't be ridiculous." He yanked his hand free and pulled his bowl in front of him. "You gonna finish that?" he asked through a mouthful of food.
She shook her head and smiled at her paper, at the drawing that she and Katsuki had done together. Whenever she looked at this one, she would always remember this day and how sweet this boy was in that moment.
"Do you…still want to do something with me?" she asked hopefully as he wolfed down his lunch.
"Yeah, sure," he replied nonchalantly.
"For New Years?" she pressed, letting him know that her own goals went beyond this afternoon.
He scowled into his bowl. "What'd I tell you? I'll be sleeping."
Her smile fell. "Okay."
He poked her arm. "Stop pouting. Maybe we'll do something for a little while. But don't you dare expect me to stay up until sunrise and do that stupid thing!"
Her lips pulled back up. "That kissing thing?" she guessed. He didn't dignify that with a response. "The thing we were doing in my room the other day~?" she added in a sultry tone. She pitched her voice low. "That time when I wasn't wearing any shorts and you pushed me against the wall and—"
His hand suddenly clamped over her mouth as his eyes darted everywhere. His face was as red as his eyes, which were wide with something like terror. "Shut up!" he hissed. "Don't talk about it!"
She pouted. "Aw, but it was fun!"
He gave her a deadpan look. "Not in front of the whole school, it wasn't. Go back to your sketching or whatever."
She hid a mischievous grin. She liked playful Katsuki a lot, but the Katsuki she met that night…that one she would really like to see again.
She shook her head to clear the thought. She didn't need to be thinking about that right now. For the time being, all she needed to be concerned about was figuring out a way to get a gift for Katsuki before the Christmas party. She had already decided what she wanted to get for him. The only question now was…would he accept or reject something like that from her?
Katsuki Bakugo, she thought as she pictured the gift in her mind, this might be the true test of your feelings. Will you accept this gift? Or turn me away?
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! Twenty-four chapters already?! It feels like just a few weeks ago I posted the first one! And look where we are now! It's exciting to see you all catching up to where I'm at. It's also fun to go back and reread what I wrote a long time ago. I've been working on this story for much longer than it seems like! I wanted to make sure I have plenty of chapters so it doesn't just end randomly. I've been working on a few other projects recently as well, but don't you worry, DDM is always top priority! Keep sending me your thoughts, opinions, and theories! I love those theories! Have a great weekend!
OH RIGHT! So, the game that I may or may not have mentioned before now (I honestly don't remember, it's hard to keep track of what I wrote before or recently), Sword Gale Online or SGO for short, is a play off of Sword Art Online and Gun Gale Online, for those of you who don't know. I'm not clever at all and I used it because I needed them to play a video game and that sounded fun lol. That's the only reason. Whenever I mention anything about SGO, that's what I'm referring to! I mean, it's pretty obvious, but just in case anyone wanted to know!
Reviews:
MeMyselfAndI82907: Fiction is always equally more fun and less so than reality! However, I do have to take into account that they are at school, in a dorm no less, so it will be harder for couples to…well, couple. So I try to think of every option and proceed accordingly. Sometimes, I do it for the sake of humor, other times, I do it purposely to keep them from going in a direction I don't want them to, and other times I use that method because it's realistic. I do my best! XD
Well, thank you for saying that! No one has told me out loud that they don't like when I ramble, but they may or may not think it. Although, IRL, I'm a very shy, quiet person and most people think I'm pretty awkward. So there's that!
Reflective sweat makes me think of sparkly vampires lol. I like the exploding eyes, though… Like, maybe they could create explosions by looking at something? Because, that's pretty great.
Blasttyrant: I like your name, Tyrant! It reminds me of a blast from Katsuki, and also the Tyrant from Resident Evil XD. Just thought I'd say that! And YES! He is trying to be better, knowing that the person he cares about would like that. He's not beyond reason, although sometimes he seems that way. Mostly, it's his own stubborn will that gives him these thoughts and impulses to do/say things he shouldn't. Deep down, he knows it's not necessarily the best thing to say or do, but he does it anyway because he's stubborn! But, he's making an effort, and that's all anyone can ask for!
Oh no, not that debt thing! Good luck with that, buddy! Ah, so you're like me. I had over sixty chapters written before I started posting DDM. I did this because in the past I haven't given myself very much to work with. My Twist of Fate story had maybe ten or so, and my Fairy Tail High had less than that. It didn't work out in my favor and I ended up feeling really stressed out trying to get chapters done in time. So this time 'round, I wanted to make sure I had a nice, healthy cushion! Good luck with your Kaminari fic!
Beta: yellowchickadee