Chapter Forty-Three: Your Name
Katsuki felt irritated when he finally woke up the next morning. It was later than he needed to be up, but he'd had a bad night's sleep and completely slept through his alarm until someone came in and shook him awake. He punched them hard in the chest at the abrupt wake up, sending them straight onto their ass.
"Watch it, man!" Kirishima complained as he picked himself up off the ground. "You're gonna be late for first period. I know how much you hate being late!"
Katsuki blinked, taking in the bright light and the still-ringing alarm on his phone. Kirishima picked it up and silenced it before setting it back down on his end table and turning to leave.
"Better get out of that bed!" he warned as he shut the door behind him.
Ten minutes later, Katsuki sat at his desk, eyes and limbs heavy from sleep. He hadn't gotten the chance to fully wake up before class, leaving him with that uncomfortable groggy sensation like being pulled under a tidal wave.
He wasn't the only one running late today, either. Seconds before the bell rang for class, Aisla raced through the door so fast she stumbled and fell to her hands and knees, open bag flying from her shoulder and sending papers and pens in every direction.
Mr. Aizawa heaved an audible sigh. "Miss Haru, thank you for remembering what time class begins, but your comical entrance wasn't really necessary."
Todoroki raced to her side before their teacher had even finished talking and started gathering up her things while she continued to kneel on the ground as if she'd just lost all will to live.
She's just tired from her long night with the brainwashing freak, Katsuki thought bitterly, though a part of him still ached at the sight of this frail, thin girl shaking in front of the whole class.
"Come on," Todoroki murmured as he zipped her bag closed and slung it over his shoulder. He reached down and forced Aisla to her feet. His dual-colored eyes widened. "Geez, what happened?" He cupped her face in his palm, making Katsuki's gaze darken and his fists clench.
Mr. Aizawa's gaze swiveled over to her. "Miss Haru?" he said. "Go see Recovery Girl and come right back."
"I'll take her, sir," Todoroki offered, arm slipping around Aisla's thin frame.
"Not happening," Mr. Aizawa protested with a finger pointed at his desk. "Sit down, Todoroki. You're needed here today. Miss Haru, go and get yourself healed and come back to class."
"I'll do it."
Katsuki's face flushed when he realized he'd been the one to speak up. He felt his cheeks heat.
Mr. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think that's wise—" he started to say.
"I SAID I'LL TAKE HER, DAMMIT!" Katsuki shouted as he stood up and made his way across the room. He gripped her wrist tightly without looking at her and started dragging her out the door.
"Bakugo," his teacher said in a warning tone.
"I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" He hurried out of the room with Aisla in tow and let the door shut behind them.
"What are you doing?" came Aisla's soft voice.
"Taking you to see Recovery Girl," he snapped.
She sighed. "You don't have to come with me, Bakugo."
He flinched at the name, fingers tightening around her wrist without realizing.
"That hurts," she said, tone flat.
He glanced down at her, but she was doing that thing again where she hid behind her hair. Katsuki stopped in the middle of the hallway and leaned down to push the hair out of her eyes, wincing at the sight of the purple and blue ring around her eye, popped vessels suggesting she'd taken a hard hit to the face sometime recently.
"Are you stupid or something?" he accused, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth. Nothing like victim-blaming someone who clearly got punched.
She didn't even acknowledge the comment, though. "You're touching me," she responded flatly, gaze refusing to fully meet his.
He glanced down, realizing that his hand was still gripping strands of blonde curls, then released his hold and took a step back. "Guess that new boyfriend of yours isn't as nice as I thought," he grumbled. He'd meant for the words to stay inside his own head, but had let them slip in his agitation.
"What 'boyfriend?'" Aisla asked, words taking on a sharp bite now.
He glanced down at her, noting the slight frown and narrowed eyes that still wouldn't look at him. She was mad at him. That wasn't a surprise. Of course, she'd still be mad at him.
"Shinso," Katsuki said. "Your new boyfriend."
Now her eyes did meet his but he kind of wished they hadn't. Anger, hurt, and something like disappointment burned within those icy depths. "How dare you," she said lowly, tiny fists clenching and body leaning forward slightly in an offensive manner. "You don't have the right to say things like that to me. You don't get to ignore me for weeks and then come up to me with these accusations without even asking me about them first! I thought…" She took a deep breath. "I thought when you hit Monoma that meant you were defending me. But clearly, you believe all the rumors just as much as everyone else."
"I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING!" he roared, feeling his body get hotter with each piercing word she struck him with.
"Then, what gives you the impression I've moved on with Shinso?" she demanded, voice still hard with anger.
"Because I saw you two together in the clearing!" he cried. "You two looked pretty fucking cozy wrapped up together in Aizawa's scarf. Like some kind of couple."
Her eyebrows rose in disbelief. "That's what this is all about? We were training, Bakugo! Shinso slipped up while practicing with the capture scarf and we got tied up. There was nothing scandalous about it. It was an accident. I'm not seeing Shinso or anyone else!" She was shouting by the time she finished speaking, chest heaving from the effort to keep calm.
Katsuki was too astonished to utter a single word in his own defense. He'd been so certain that Aisla had moved on and was happier now, that his mind had immediately drawn conclusions without taking in all the evidence. He'd just been so…jealous when he saw her with another guy that his instincts told him something dirty was going on.
"Don't yousee, Bakugo?" she hissed, spitting his name like a foul word. "I can't be with anyone else. Not Shoto, not Shinso, not anyone. Are you that blind?" Her eyes were wild with some emotion as she continued to pierce his heart. "I'm heartbroken, you idiot! You don't just move on from something like…like we had as if it meant nothing. At least, I can't do that. Our relationship was special to me. I lo—" She cut herself off with a fierce bite to her lips and turned her back on him, body shaking with either rage or a barely controlled sob. "I'm leaving now," she said quietly, stiffly, barely forcing the words through gritted teeth. "Please, don't follow me."
"Wait," he called after her with every intention to say whatever it would take to wash that look from her face, and bury the words she'd shouted at him forever. But Aisla didn't stop as she walked away from him, didn't so much as glance back in his direction. Katsuki didn't follow her, even as his legs begged to move, to chase. He stood there in the middle of the hallway until the lunch bell rang and students started filing out of their classrooms. They moved past him like he wasn't even there as he remained frozen in place.
I can't be with anyone else… Our relationship was special… I lo…
Had she been trying to tell him that she still meant what she'd written in her note? Maybe that was why she'd walked away. She was too afraid to say the words aloud and risk making him angry again. So, she buried her sorrow beneath a layer of hot anger and walked away, choosing to remove herself from the whole situation rather than risk earning his wrath.
God, he thought as pain gripped his chest, I should have just told her how I felt.
Someone bumped into him then, bringing him back to reality. Todoroki stood there with empty eyes and arms folded over his chest.
"What?" Katsuki barked.
"How's Aisla?" he demanded in that way of his that made him sound like an obsessed stalker. Or maybe a disapproving dad.
Katsuki ground his teeth. "I don't know!" he hissed. "Go find her yourself."
He started to walk away when the other boy reached out and gripped his upper arm in an almost painful fist. "Tell me what you said to her," came the harsh command. "Why the hell was she bawling her eyes out in Recovery Girl's office?"
"How the hell should I know?!" Katsuki snapped defensively. "Ask her yourself, you damn lab!"
"How long are you going to keep punishing her like this?" Icy Hot spat. "Hasn't this gone on long enough? She knows she made a mistake, but to ignore and provoke her for weeks afterward because of it? She can only be so sorry, you know? Perhaps, it's time to stop being such an ass to her. Does hurting Aisla really make you feel better about yourself?"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU HALF AND HALF BASTARD!" he shouted. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT US!"
Todoroki gave him a pitying look. "I know one thing at least," he said pointedly. "There's no 'us' when it comes to you and Aisla."
Katsuki's fist flew out to hit the other boy, but Todoroki had anticipated this action and easily dodged the attack before giving Katsuki a shitty look and walking away without another word.
The next day, they were all training together at Ground Beta again, only this time they weren't forced to perform some ridiculous rescue exercise. Much like when they were practicing with their ultimate moves, they were all teamed up and fighting each other as well as some of their instructors. Katsuki had already blasted through six of Ectoplasm's clones and wished he could take on a real opponent.
Aisla was there—expression fierce and determined as she battled with Deku. Katsuki thought that was an unfair matchup since that loser could easily pummel her straight into the earth, but after watching them for a moment, he realized what was happening. Aisla was not only practicing her hand-to-hand combat, but she was also learning how to mirror someone's physical attacks and their quirk simultaneously. He was so intrigued by the idea that he completely forgot that he was in the middle of his own battle until Ectoplasm's clone gave him a swift kick to the back, sending Katsuki flying over the ledge they were fighting on. He used his blasters to keep himself from plummeting to a painful drop, and landed right back in front of his seventh victim, eliminating him with one solid blast to his face.
"Bakugo!" Mr. Aizawa shouted at him. "Get down here and practice with Todoroki!"
Fuck that bastard, he thought angrily, and jumped down from the ledge, landing in front of his teacher with a wicked gleam in his red eyes, ready to take on anyone who could be a real challenge for him. He hated Todoroki with a fiery passion, but he was a damn good fighter, and Katsuki still had yet to see him at his full potential.
"FIGHT ME, YOU ICY HOT BASTARD!" he roared, throwing out a blast before he'd even fully turned toward the other boy.
Todoroki flicked his wrist, sending a wall of ice up to block the blast. Katsuki wasn't going to stop with one, however. In the brief time it took for his opponent to put up a barrier, Katsuki sent out a series of explosions that penetrated the glorified ice cube in seconds.
The reason he favored a one-on-one fight with the Icy Hot bastard, however, was his ability to think just as quickly as Katsuki could, and the skill that nearly matched his own. Todoroki surprised him with a blast of fire that sent Katsuki flying backward, right past Mr. Aizawa and Ectoplasm.
Katsuki grinned maliciously and returned with an inferno all his own. A blast that could put a supernova to shame shot out toward Todoroki at light speed. The other boy had only a moment for his eyes to widen before throwing up his Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall to protect himself.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" Katsuki raged as he held out one hand and formed a circle in the center with his other, preparing to use his AP Machine Gun against Todoroki. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Aizawa wrapped him up, face and all, and called an end to the training for the day.
He dropped Katsuki onto the ground before giving him a disapproving scowl. "I said practice with Todoroki, not murder him," his teacher chastised with a shake of his head.
"You trying to tell me not to go all out with my quirk?!" Katsuki snapped angrily in response.
"You weren't paying attention to your surroundings, including all of the people and structural building supports behind Todoroki. Yet again, you let your anger get the best of you."
Katsuki opened his mouth to defend himself but Aizawa cut him off.
"Detention," he snapped, before walking away with the other students.
Katsuki growled and stomped behind them all, grumbling the whole way about how fucking stupid this whole week had been.
Aisla was dragging behind the others as they made their way back to the classroom. Her precious labrador was nowhere to be seen for once, leaving her all alone at the back of the group—eyes trained down, posture slumped, and feet scraping the ground as she walked slowly forward like she was literally dragging herself along.
Katsuki frowned and looked around for Todo or one of the girls, but everyone else was pretty far ahead of them and talking animatedly amongst themselves. No one noticed Katsuki and Aisla drifting behind them. He wondered if she was too caught up in her own thoughts to really pay attention to what she was doing. Maybe she was thinking about her training match with Deku, or stressing about training in general. She still looked pretty beat up from her fight with Shinso, arms just as bruised and battered as her face had been the day before. But her slumped position made him think she was probably just tired.
He was watching her so intently that the moment she started to lean sideways, Katsuki was right there, catching her in his arms before he even realized that he'd moved.
"Aisla…" he breathed her name, unable to speak any louder. Her eyes were rolling inside her head as if she couldn't concentrate on his face. Her skin was pale, even under the fading purple bruises that Recovery Girl couldn't quite get rid of. Her skin was hot, too, like she'd been that day when he'd found her sick in her room.
"Aisla," he said more fiercely, giving her a light shake. Still, her gaze wouldn't focus on his. "Dammit," he swore as he picked her up in his arms and felt her labored, wheezing breaths against his neck.
"Katsuki…" she whispered, voice hoarse.
"It's okay, Aisla," he told her as he ran toward the clinic where Recovery Girl worked. "You'll be fine. I'll take care of you."
She went limp in his arms after that, and Katsuki ran even faster, determined to get her help immediately.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he shouted to anyone who dared get in his path. He held her tightly against his chest, but cradled her head softly so as not to jar her too much.
When he got to Recovery Girl's office, he kicked open the door and bellowed for her to come rescue the dying girl in his arms. The old lady wasn't there, however. Instead, a young girl with short black hair and a name tag that read 'Akina' gave a surprised start of alarm when he shouted, and jumped up from her seat.
"WHERE THE HELL IS RECOVERY GIRL?!" he demanded, having no patience for kids his own age.
"She's out working with some young heroes right now," Akina explained, dark hair swaying as her head shifted from Katsuki to Aisla. "What's wrong with her?"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT'S WRONG?'" Katsuki roared. "SHE'S DYING, DAMMIT!"
Akina didn't so much as flinch at his harsh tone. "Alright, let me see if I can help. Lay her down on the bed over there." She pointed to one of the empty cots.
Katsuki narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but then Aisla gave a whimper in his arms. He obeyed the stranger's instruction and laid Aisla down on the mattress, but refused to leave her side.
Akina walked over to Aisla and placed a hand on her forehead, eyes going instantly wide. "That's a pretty high fever. How long has she been sick?"
"She was just here yesterday!" Katsuki snapped, feeling personally offended by the question as if he were the reason Aisla was sick.
Akina nodded and placed a hand over Aisla's chest for a moment, closing her eyes in thought.
"The hell are you groping her for?" Katsuki barked.
He received a glare in return. "It's my quirk; I can feel some internal elements such as viruses and diseases. I can't cure everything, but I can help with a lot of things. Mostly my quirk works as a sort of pain repressor."
"Well…what's wrong with her?" he asked, tone less harsh now.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out…" she replied slowly as she moved her hand along Aisla's body. "Ah, I see the problem."
"TELL ME," he commanded at once.
"When's the last time she ate?"
Katsuki blushed and looked away. "I…wouldn't know…"
"Okay, well it looks a lot like her body hasn't been getting a lot of food lately, and it finally ran out of energy and broke down," she explained as she continued moving her hands around different parts of Aisla's body. "Was she in training today?"
"Yeah…" Katsuki said as realization suddenly struck him. "We were training for hours, and when we were on our way back to the classroom, Aisla just…fell over."
"Starvation," Akina confirmed with a bob of her head. "That's easy enough to fix, though. I'll just have to start a dripline to get some electrolytes back into her body and then Recovery Girl can give her something more. She'll probably prescribe some anti-nausea medicine and write up a meal plan for her to give to Lunch Rush."
Katsuki sank into a chair and buried his face in his hands. "This is all my fault…" he whispered. "I should have done something sooner."
"Oh, it's not your fault!" Akina instantly protested. "It happens a lot more than you'd think with hero course students. I've seen a lot of young heroes who forget to eat for a few days and wind up passing out mid-training. You hero-course students don't understand that food is fuel, and that you burn way more calories than the average person during all of your field training. Protein and carbs are extremely important! Aisla's not the first young hero to forget that, and she definitely won't be the last one who ends up in here. So, try not to worry. It's nothing you could have caused."
Katsuki wasn't so sure about that. He knew the reason Aisla hadn't been eating wasn't because she forgot to do it. Guilt settled in the pit of his stomach as he watched her lying there unconscious, eyes moving rapidly behind her closed lids as if she was having a bad dream. Maybe she was dreaming about him and that was why she looked so stressed out, even in sleep.
"You can go back to class, if you want?" Akina offered as she pulled out the dripline. "She'll probably be asleep for a while. We can call for you when she wakes up?" She paused in her work to give Katsuki a questioning look.
He considered this. He wanted to insist that he stay by her side until she awoke to make sure she was okay, but…
"I'm heartbroken… Please don't follow me…"
Katsuki let out a strained breath. The truth of the matter was… Aisla didn't want him there. She didn't want to wake up after passing out from starvation—the thing she'd done to herself because of Katsuki—and see him sitting on the edge of her bed. His presence alone would probably be enough to warrant another hateful glower, and Katsuki never wanted to see that expression on her pretty face again.
"Yeah," he reluctantly agreed. "I'll leave. I'll…go find my teacher."
He left after that and slowly made his way back to his classroom. They only had an hour of class left, but Katsuki really wasn't in the mood to deal with a lecture right now. He wanted to go back to his room and contemplate his life, but it was better to suck it up and deal with his teacher's wrath sooner rather than later.
"Bakugo," Mr. Aizawa greeted him with narrowed eyes. "Where have you been?"
"Aisla," Katsuki spat out, then swallowed hard and tried again. "It's Aisla. I had to take her to see Recovery Girl."
"What happened?" Todoroki demanded, standing from his chair with wide eyes full of concern. "Is she okay?"
"She passed out after training…" Katsuki explained in a mumble. "I…found her. I took her to Recovery Girl. I thought you should know."
He was no longer sure if he was saying this for Mr. Aizawa's benefit or Todoroki's. He knew his teacher needed to know why one of his students wasn't in class, but he was also painfully aware of Aisla's connection with the other boy. She cared about him more than probably anyone else at their school. And Todoroki had proven that he cherished her much more than Katsuki ever had. He deserved to know that his friend was hurt.
"I have to go see her," Todoroki declared, running across the room like his tail was on fire.
"Not so fast," Aizawa tried, but Todoroki ignored him and darted right past the pro hero. He was gone in a flash, leaving a very annoyed teacher in his wake. He threw up his hands in irritation. "Whatever. Class is dismissed. Everyone get out."
The other students started murmuring to one another the moment Mr. Aizawa got the words out. They wasted no time in leaving, quickly tossing pens and notebooks into their bags while they whispered about Aisla. Katsuki felt himself getting more angry by the minute, hearing snippets of his classmates' conversations.
"Aisla's in the hospital again?"
"Do you think she got that hurt in training today?"
"Maybe she's been working herself too hard."
"She has been acting pretty weird lately. Maybe she tried to hurt herself."
"I heard she hasn't been eating. You don't think she's starving herself, do you?"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Katsuki roared, slamming a fist into the desk closest to him. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HER BEHIND HER BACK LIKE THAT! YOU'RE ALL JUST AS BAD AS THOSE ASSHOLES SPREADING RUMORS!"
They all went quiet after that as they finished gathering up their belongings. Everyone made their way out of the room, including Katsuki, who wanted nothing more than to go demolish some trees.
"Detention," his teacher reminded him when he reached the door.
"But—" he started.
"You're being punished for your little stunt with Todoroki earlier."
Katsuki bristled. "Hey, he was just as much at fault as I was!"
"I want you to sit there and work on all the homework you've been putting off," Aizawa ordered, ignoring his complaint. "And don't say a damn word until you're done."
Katsuki grudgingly dropped into his seat and took out a stack of neglected homework. He set to work, filling in answers with a scowl set on his lips. He silently cursed his teacher for the unfair punishment, even though he knew he'd be in even bigger trouble if he didn't get this stuff done soon. He'd been putting it off for long enough, and even if he turned in every page today, he was certain he would still wind up with a few deductions for being late.
An hour later, Mr. Aizawa snapped a folder shut on his desk and stood up from his chair. "You're done with detention," he announced. "Get out of my sight before I decide you should come back tomorrow."
Katsuki didn't have to be told twice. He shoved his things into his bag, deposited the sheets of homework he'd managed to complete on his teacher's desk, then fled the room.
He wasn't sure what his objective was now that he'd simmered down a bit, but his legs moved of their own accord anyway. His body took him down hallways, past the remaining students who stood in their stupid little cliques, chatting amongst themselves about the upcoming weekend, and into a wing of the school almost completely deserted at this time of day. Only one person was there at the moment, muttering under his breath as he paced in front of the clinic door. Todoroki.
"Hey!" Bakugo barked as he approached. "What the hell are you doing?"
The other boy gave him a tired look in return. "I just finished talking with Aisla. I was trying to decide if I should wait for her to be released or go study in my room."
Katsuki's eyes widened. "She's…awake?"
Todoroki nodded. "She is." He paused for a long moment while he stared Katsuki down. "You can…go inside if you want. Akina is with her right now, but I can ask her to step outside for a moment."
Katsuki said nothing to this, just stood there blankly while this other boy waited for his reply. Finally, Todoroki gave a shrug and stepped into the room. A moment later, he came back out with the black-haired girl in tow. His hand was interlaced with hers and a smile lit up the girl's face when she looked up at him.
Katsuki felt bemused. "Aren't you supposed to be Aisla's loyal Labrador or something?" he asked, gaze shifting between the two of them.
Akina blushed and pulled her hand free.
Todoroki sighed. "I've told you before, Bakugo. Aisla and I are just friends."
"So, what the hell are you two supposed to be?"
Neither one answered his question, but they looked equally flustered, and couldn't make eye contact with each other.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Icy Hot. Just decide what you want or you'll end up looking like a moron." He wasn't sure where the friendly words of advice came from. He didn't give a shit about Todoroki's potential love life. Maybe the words weren't to him at all. Maybe they were a reflection of Katsuki's own fucked up position.
He pushed into the room after that, deciding one person would be easier to deal with than two. His feet walked forward without his permission, coming closer to the bed hidden behind the pale sheet that concealed her from view, then stopped just beyond it, hand reaching forward to drew back the curtain, but unable to fully allow the action to happen.
"I know you're there," came a soft, empty tone.
Katsuki pulled the curtain aside and found Aisla sitting up in bed with a needle in her arm. She wasn't looking at him, but he felt like she was piercing his soul nonetheless. Her fingers fisted the sheets, and he could see the hard expression on her face even though some of her hair tried to cover it up.
"You're alive," he blurted, without meaning to say the words aloud.
"Yeah," she agreed flatly.
"Do you…remember what happened?"
Aisla sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, he saw them shimmer with tears. "No. I just woke up here a little while ago. I must have…bumped my head or something."
She's lying, he thought, but he wasn't sure how he knew this.
I just…know her. Maybe better than anyone. Or, I did…
"Are you…okay?" he asked.
She finally turned her gaze his way and met his eyes as tears fell from her crystal orbs. "Why are you here, Bakugo?"
He sucked in a breath at her harsh tone. "I…came to check on you."
Her eyes narrowed. "Why?" she insisted. "Why are you doing this to me?"
His eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean why?"
More tears dripped from her eyes. "You haven't cared about me for the last two months," she whispered.
His mouth opened to respond, but no words came out. His jaw just hung open like that, tongue heavy and useless behind his teeth. I cared, he wanted to say. I still care.
"Bakugo, I…" She sniffled, her arms starting to shake as the tears rattled her body. Her arms…they were so thin. "I know that what I did… I know it was stupid, and I wasn't paying attention to your feelings back then, I get that. Every single day, I wish… I wish I hadn't said those words. Not yet. Not like that."
His heart started to pound and his palms were sweating enough to make him concerned about accidentally using his quirk. They were talking about this, finally. They were really talking about it.
"I didn't mean to humiliate you, you know?" She was starting to hyperventilate, sobs choking her and tears dampening the sheet below her tilted head. "All I wanted…was to show you… I didn't think about…" she hiccupped on a sob. "I didn't think about anything else."
She wiped at her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. "I know I made a mistake, but you… You've been ignoring me, pushing me away, accusing me of things… You made it clear that you don't care about me, so why are you here?" Her eyes were so desperate, like they were searching for something, but he didn't know what. "Why now? What do you want?"
He avoided her gaze as he absentmindedly twisted the ring on his right hand, which he hid behind his back. "I just wanted to talk to you…" he said lamely.
"So, talk."
He took a deep breath. "Well, I just wanted to say…" He closed his eyes and willed himself to speak. "That…thing you gave me, the picture of us? I…well, I forgive you. For the drawing. I just…wanted you to know that."
She was silent for so long that he finally had to open his eyes and look down at her in case she'd suddenly vanished. She was still there, though, eyes downcast now with blonde hair concealing her face. Maybe she wasn't hearing what he was trying to say? "Yeah," he shuffled on his feet awkwardly, "making me the drawing and saying all of that stuff was dumb. I'm glad you can see that, now. Point is, I forgive you. You know…for your mistake or whatever."
Again, he was met with silence. She'd even stopped sniffling. The only sound was the measured breathing coming from her parted lips. He felt unease creep beneath his bones. "Aisla?"
"Are you serious right now?" Her tone was so cold, it gave him a chill.
"Y-yeah?" he stammered. "I mean it—I've forgiven you for the gift. So, we can move past this now. Or something. Okay?"
Her gaze shot back to his, and in those stunning blue eyes was that same lividity from the day before, only somehow much darker. "You forgive me?" Her tone was full of incredulity. "Have you seriously been over there telling yourself this is all my fault this whole time?!"
He bristled. "Well, not all your fault, but, you just said so yourself that it was a mistake, I'm just saying—"
"I'm not sorry for the drawing, or for the thing I was trying to say. I acknowledge that I made a poor decision when I gave you that present—but you're just going to ignore everything that you did afterward? You treated my family with disrespect, you yelled at me like you hated me in front of them, and ever since then, you've been so cold and callous toward me that it's like you wish I would just disappear!"
"None of that would have happened though if you didn't…you know." He rolled his shoulders. "So, if I forgive you for it, then we can forget about everything afterward, because that was the issue that started it all in the first place." It made sense to him, but he knew the words were wrong as soon as they came out. He knew she wasn't hearing the words he was really trying to get across. "Look, you did something stupid, big deal, we can just—"
"No!" she cut him off, waving a hand in the air to silence him. "How dare you come in here and say that to me like you're the broken party here. You don't even get it, do you?" she accused with a slight shake of her head. "Bakugo—"
"Stop calling me that," he cut her off, unable to hear that name coming from her lips like that another moment. "That's…not what you call me."
Her eyes hardened. "I can't call you anything else, because I no longer know who you even are."
The words were a punch to the gut, so strong and piercing he gasped aloud. "Aisla," he tried but she held up a hand once more.
"Do not say my name," she said in a breathy sob. "Just…don't…" She hiccupped, covered her face with her hands, and tried to conceal her sobs while her body trembled.
"Don't cry, Aisla…" he murmured, moving closer to her.
"Don't you dare!" she shrieked at him. "Don't come near me!"
His face paled. "Aisla, come on. You're crying, let me—"
"Get out!" she screamed. "I can't deal with this right now. Just leave me alone!"
"But I—"
The door flew open and Mr. Aizawa stood there with blazing red eyes. "I think she asked you to leave. Do not make me forcibly remove you."
Katsuki sent one last pained glance back at Aisla's sobbing form, then let out a long sigh before following his teacher's orders. He left the room, ignoring the concerned frown on Todoroki's face as he passed by, and walked numbly back to his own room.
Once he was inside, he dropped to his knees right in the middle of the floor and wept there. He was such a fool. Of course that had been the wrong thing to say. He didn't need her acceptance, he needed her forgiveness. He should have gone to her in repentance, not seeking approval. She was right—he'd treated her family badly, and he'd been horrible to Aisla, too. He'd been embarrassed when she'd given him that picture with its foreign words, but he'd acted irrationally and had probably lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.
I should have said it back, he realized as tears dripped onto the floor. I never should have let you get away.
A/N: Good morning! So nice to be back with chapter 43! I can't believe it's been that many weeks since I started posting this story. I'm still working on new chapters as much as I can while also trying out some new things. This story has some exciting things in store, so I hope you'll stick around!
MeMyselfAndI82907: Mr. Aizawa's entrance is my favorite, too lmao. There are certain little things in this story that I always think are really funny or epic, and I love it when you guys notice them, too! And then look at Aisla, coming to class all beat up. Went a little overboard, did you Eraser? Lol. Funny thing, though, I did write something very similar to what you described at the end of your review, but NOT for this story. Just a side thing. Funny how you almost guessed it completely XD Too bad it'll never see the light of day! Also, I love your commentary, but let's keep certain words out of the reviews please! I don't want to offend anyone scrolling through the reviews. Thank you!
blasttyrant: I see your review in my email, but fanfiction is being a turd and won't display them right now, sorry! But yes, I loved that ending line as well! When I first wrote it, I didn't actually say WHO it was, and then my test readers were like IS IT A VILLAIN?! and were super confused, so I made it more obvious. I think I was going to do something with it in the next chapter and forgot. I don't remember now! Don't worry about taking a while to read! Thank you for always taking the time to do so! It really means a lot to have your support!
yellowchikadee: Noooooo I'm so sorry, I cannot read your whole review! FanFiction is being dumb and not displaying them again! But I'll respond to yours on the next chapter when I'm actually able to see it all!
The New Aged Hippie: I'm going to respond to yours on the next chapter as well, but I hope this chapter helped with some of your concerns! Just keep in mind that I HAVE been writing this for over a year now, and all of this content you see has been written months ago. I do not write and post weekly anymore, I have MANY backed up and waiting to be posted. As for the rest, I will get back to you next week!
Beta: yellowchikadee