Chapter Forty-Seven: Atonement

The next week went by in a blur. Katsuki went to class every day, then trained in the forest after dinner, then had the nightly awkward "meeting" with Aisla and her labrador. They'd barely even scratched the surface of what they planned to do with their project, and Katsuki had barely scratched the surface with Aisla.

At first, he thought the right approach to earning her forgiveness was to bring her thoughtful gifts. He'd returned her hair ribbon that first day—which, okay, didn't count because it was already hers—then brought something he thought would be useful to their next meeting. He felt so proud of himself, in fact, that he was certain she'd accept his gift.

"Todo said we needed a new notebook so…I brought one to…you know… take notes for our project!" he sputtered awkwardly while holding out a bright blue notebook with stupid girly butterflies on the front.

Aisla frowned. "Thanks, but I already have a notebook, Bakugo." She held up a black one with red polka dots on its front. She'd already doodled a little white cat in the bottom corner.

Next, he offered something he knew she couldn't refuse. He had never gone wrong with this gift before, so surely this time would be the same.

He held out a cup of the coffee from the same place he'd gone to for Valentine's Day, and gave what he hoped was a pleasant smile. He'd skipped dinner just to leave campus and pick it up for her. That had to count for something, right?

"I got coffee because I know you like the stuff!" he explained, earning a snort of amusement from Todoroki. Katsuki ignored him and focused on Aisla's ice-blue eyes, waiting for her to take his proffered gift and forgive him.

She heaved a tired sigh. "It's too late for coffee, Bakugo. I'll be up all night."

After the notebook and coffee incidents, he tried to pay attention to the things she actually needed. Maybe, if he offered her something she didn't have, then she'd accept it. He didn't need her to thank or praise him. Even just a small gesture of acceptance would be enough.

"It looked like your eraser was getting kind of used up…?" He tried with another tight smile.

She produced a box of brand new erasers and waved it in the air. "I have plenty."

After that, he started to run out of ideas.

"A paperclip?" he offered with a shrug. It was one of the big, metallic pink ones, so he thought, even if she didn't need one, maybe she'd at least think it was cool.

"Really?" she deadpanned. She didn't even justify that with a response, just shook her head and scribbled something in her notebook.

"Actually, we could use one of those." Shoto reached for the paperclip and plucked it out of Katsuki's hand.

He slumped in his chair, defeated. His plan to do something thoughtful for her had gone completely wrong. Not only did she refuse each thing he offered, but she also looked annoyed with him, like he was a child trying to give his parents the fifth macaroni necklace of summer break.

"We have to do the second rescue," Todoroki was saying as he tapped on the paper Aisla was writing on. He pointed to a section they'd been arguing about for two straight sessions. 'They' meaning Aisla and Todo, who seemed to be having some sort of lover's quarrel right before his eyes, talking around him as if he wasn't even there. Part of him really wished he wasn't. If those two kept up the bickering, Katsuki was going to slip away and go to bed. They probably wouldn't even notice he'd left.

"It's too much!" Aisla argued for the tenth time that evening. "We won't be able to do all of that in time. We only have five hours!"

"Then, we take the rooftop villain capture off the list. That should give us plenty of time to accomplish the other tasks."

"No, that capture gives us the most points! It's our ace! It's the most important one on the list!" Aisla retorted.

"It's the most dangerous one, you mean," Icy Hot argued, clearly irritated.

Katsuki sighed as they went on. They were acting so stupid! Couldn't they see how pointless this was if they couldn't even agree on one thing? All they had to do was come up with a solid plan of action!

The final project rules were pretty straightforward. It was a build-your-own, day-in-the-life of a hero agency adventure. There was a whole list of activities the teams could take part in, each with varying point values. Patrolling the map, for example, only gave 15 points. Small, useless stuff like helping citizens and crap were all worth small point values. Then, there were rescues, villain attacks, and mysterious stealth missions. It was a test of time management. Each team had to figure out how much they could do realistically in a five hour time-frame in order to get enough points to pass.

Each rescue was worth 50-200 points, depending on the difficulty of the scenario. Staged villain attacks ranged between 200 and 500. Then there was the special category: Covert Ops. There were only two scenarios to choose from, and each one was worth a whopping 800 points, but part of the difficulty was in the mystery. Those who chose to go this route weren't given any information on what they'd be expected to do until the day of the test. It was a huge gamble.

Katsuki sighed as he went over the list once more while Aisla and Icy Hot continued to bicker. There were about a thousand different combinations they could choose from to stack up at least the points needed to pass. The problem was finding combinations that played to all of their strengths, where each person was guaranteed to earn enough individual points to get by. Thinking about it like that didn't leave many options for them to argue about. Katsuki thought it was simple, but he knew better than to point that out so bluntly. So, he'd been wracking his brain for a way to tell his two companions what idiots they were being without actually using the word itself. So far, he'd come up with absolutely nothing.

Covert Ops… he mused silently, chewing his lip as he frowned at the words. He was trying to decide if the gamble was worth the point value. Technically, if they nailed the big points mission flawlessly, they'd earn all 800 points and not even have to bother doing any of the other small-fry shit. But… if they screwed that one up, they'd fail the whole exam.

If Katsuki was taking the test alone, he'd already have picked Covert Ops. He had no doubt that he could blast the mission out of the water and earn every point allowed. But as a team test? He wasn't sure what a covert ops scenario would look like for them, so deciding if it would even work for their team was a real problem. There were a lot of unknown variables, and if the mission relied on something that Katsuki wasn't good at, he'd be out on his ass, not able to provide support to his team members if they needed it. Not that any of it mattered when they weren't even acting like a team in the first place! How were they expected to work together for a mission like that if they couldn't even exchange two words without arguing?

"Covert" meant they'd be performing stealth operations, and that wasn't always Katsuki's strongest area. He wasn't sure how stealthy Icy Hot could be either with his massive ice walls and hey, smells like something's burning fire attacks. If stealth was their goal, Aisla would be their ticket to winning. She moved almost as silently and quickly as Mr. Aizawa. She was small, quiet, and could use her mirror quirk to all but disappear. If they used her for reconnaissance, and then Katsuki and Icy Hot came in at full power, they'd obliterate the test. If he had it his way, Katsuki would say it was worth the risk, but…

"We can't afford to lose the rooftop attack," Aisla insisted with a stubborn pout that made Katsuki lips twitch in amusement. He always liked it when she made that expression, even if seeing it meant he was about to lose an argument.

"Aisla," Todoroki said sternly, "we can't do that one. How are we even supposed to fly up there to fight him? Do you have wings you've been hiding from us? A superpower that allows you to float, maybe? Because I sure as hell don't. I can probably ride my ice to the top, and Bakugo can use his blasters. But what about you, Aisla? Neither of us is equipped to help you reach the top of the building easily."

Aisla was looking at the table now, hair falling forward to hide her face from view. It worked for her less than empathetic best friend, but Katsuki sat across from them and had a clear view of her trembling lip and pinched eyes. He watched as she drew the lip into her mouth and clamped down hard as if trying to literally bite back tears.

She's really upset, he thought. Apparently, even Boy Wonder wasn't as perfect as he seemed. Katsuki didn't like seeing her pained expression, but knew that sympathy from him would only make her angry. He kept his mouth shut and waited to see what would happen. He allowed his periphery to stay trained on her face as he turned slightly away, just in case she started to cry. In that case, maybe he'd try and make up some excuse for her to leave.

Boy Wonder sighed. "I'm sorry, Aisla," he finally murmured, tone full of guilt and regret. "I shouldn't have been so harsh about it. If it's really that important to you—"

"Don't you dare," she cut him off and sent him a hard look, though her eyes didn't hold the same disdain they did when pointed in Katsuki's direction. "Don't back down from what you want, Shoto. Just because we're having a disagreement, doesn't mean I'm not being a total idiot!"

Todoroki's eyes were wide, jaw slack, and expression so full of shock it was comical. Katsuki guessed the other boy had never been in a real argument with Aisla Haru before. She might throw a huge fit at the beginning out of stubbornness, but once she realized that she was wrong, she would grudgingly admit defeat. Katsuki had been in a number of 'disagreements' with her, and while he normally just let her win, there were plenty of times when he refused to back down because she was being too damn unreasonable. Aisla never faulted him for that.

Except for this time, he realized with a pang of guilt.

Katsuki took some sick satisfaction from watching her beloved labrador looking at her like a scolded puppy dog. He didn't understand when Aisla was just being stubborn for the sake of her pride. If he'd kept on insisting a little longer, she would have caved and given in to whatever she'd been wrong about. Deep down, she knew that scenario wasn't going to work for them. She may not have been as strategic as Katsuki was, but she was smart and capable, and she would have figured it out eventually, even without Todoroki.

"I'm…sorry?" Icy Hot finally got out. His look of confusion didn't waver, even as Aisla's expression softened.

"What do you think we should do?"

It took Katsuki a solid minute to realize Aisla's hesitant voice was speaking to him. He'd been looking away, half listening as he went over plans in his own head and tried not to think about the way Aisla's lips looked when she pouted. When the silence stretched on for too long, Katsuki glanced up and saw Aisla watching him expectantly. She didn't quite meet his eyes, but her gaze was on his face this time, so that was progress…probably.

"What do you think, Bakugo?" she asked again when he continued to stare at her in confusion.

He tried to decide how best to answer that sort of question. Katsuki thought the plan was obvious, but these two morons insisted on making everything about this project painfully difficult. He wanted to tell them both to shut the hell up and accept whatever plan he gave them. He knew no one else would fully understand the formula quite as well as he could, but knew Aisla would feel offended and probably resent him for implying that.

"I think he's having a hard time finding his words," Icy Hot gibed with a smirk that just begged to be hit right off his face. Katsuki resisted the urge, clenching his fists to channel his anger somewhere that wasn't at Aisla's best friend's face.

"The rooftop attack won't showcase all of our skills," he said after a long moment of playing with words inside his head. "Aisla, stop being so damn stubborn. You know you can't do any aerial attacks, so stop picking scenarios that involve being in the air. Your best options are the ones with a lot of rubble to hide behind."

Aisla scowled at him. "So I can stay out of sight?" she muttered.

Stop pouting, he thought.

Aloud he said, "No, so you can do that move of yours where you reflect back someone's steps." He left out the duh just so she wouldn't kick him under the table.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, I forgot I was working on that."

Icy Hot frowned. "What is he talking about?"

Aisla turned to him, expression thoughtful. "It's something I was working on…" a quick glance at Katsuki, "um, a few months ago. I was trying to see if I could reflect back not only a quirk's effects, but physical motion as well. It wasn't very successful, but I was able to do it a few times. Still…" she frowned in thought, "I'm not confident enough with that skill to try and bank on its success during an important test like this. If it fails, then our whole team could be eliminated because of me. I haven't even worked on it in months."

"I think you can do it," Katsuki said, hoping he sounded encouraging and not snappish.

"I don't know what this move is," Todoroki began slowly, "but I also believe in you, Aisla. We could help you train with it up until the big test?"

Aisla bit her lip again, but this time it was from embarrassment. Her hair was wound around one finger and her expression looked concerned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don't want our whole strategy to rely on me and my unpredictable quirk abilities. They aren't always cooperative, either."

Katsuki stood up from his chair and slammed his palms down on the table. Part of him wanted to point out that no one had said anything about the whole test relying on her, and that he'd only meant that she could use it as a good support technique, but…a greater part of him realized that Aisla was doubting herself again, and he wanted, no needed, to remind her of how capable she was. "Then make them cooperate!" he exclaimed, feeling suddenly hyped about the whole test. "Come on, Aisla! We'll go out and practice right now!"

"No," Aisla said in a small voice. "I don't want to practice with you, Bakugo."

Katsuki fell back in his chair as if the icy force of a blizzard had knocked him down. The name 'Bakugo' echoed inside his brain like a series of hits to the skull, each one seemingly more painful than the last.

Right, you don't want to train with me. You don't want anything to do with me…

Any semblance of civility Aisla had offered him during these meetings must have been forced in order to keep the peace between their group. She didn't want to fail her final out of anger for her fellow teammate. To think, for a moment, he thought that maybe…maybe they could be friends again. It was a stupid notion, he realized now with humiliation. And Katsuki was stupid for getting his hopes up.

"Maybe we should call it a night," Icy Hot suggested.

"We haven't made any progress," Katsuki complained half-heartedly.

"He's right," Aisla agreed reluctantly. Katsuki glanced up at her in surprise. His assumption had been that she would automatically reject any opinion that Katsuki offered, but she seemed to be in a reasonable enough mood tonight, despite everything. "We haven't settled on anything. We still need a plan so we can actually start working on this thing."

"No aerial scenarios," Katsuki repeated firmly. He set aside the pain of rejection for now to focus on the task at hand.

She rolled her eyes without looking at him. "No aerial. And no use of my unmastered quirk abilities. I'm not like the two of you; I don't just magically have these awesome powers. It takes a lot of time, practice, and failing in order to make anything happen at all. Even then, it's never a one-hundred percent accuracy."

"Aisla, don't be like that," Icy Hot said in that patronizing tone of his. "Everyone has to work on making their quirk stronger, not just you. I didn't wake up one morning with all of the abilities I have today." They exchanged a meaningful glance as if they were having a telepathic conversation. Katsuki fought the urge to vomit at the disgusting display.

After a long moment of this, Aisla sighed and looked away. "Yeah, you're right, Roki. I just…feel like my quirk is going to be what determines whether we succeed or fail."

Icy Hot gave her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Ru, I'm confident in our success. I know we'll beat this test with flying colors. Don't even sweat it."

It's because of you that we'll win, Katsuki silently added, knowing his words would only go over her head. Already, he was turning over scenarios in his mind of what they could do with Aisla's quirk. If only she wasn't so damn scared of it, she could probably beat any one of them with ease.

I believe in you, too, he thought. I know you can succeed. All you have to do is try.

When Saturday rolled around, Katsuki woke up disappointed. Usually, he looked forward to the weekend because he could sleep in, get some extra training in, and sometimes be a lazy blob who did nothing at all. Today, however, was not a Saturday he'd been looking forward to because this was the day he wasn't allowed to see Aisla. He looked forward to their hour-long sessions at the end of the day, even though they mostly consisted of Aisla and her stupid best friend bickering back and forth. Still, it was the first real social encounter Katsuki had had since he and Aisla stopped seeing each other. It pained him to remember all the times they'd spent together. It was bittersweet being in her presence again. He appreciated being allowed to be near her, but it also made his heart ache when he thought about how much Aisla clearly despised it.

Despite all that, Katsuki still had much more fun sitting with the bickering duo than he did smashing trees with his fists by himself. He missed training with Aisla, and wished he was brave enough to go beg her to hang out with him again. It would be useless, however. He could get down on hands and knees and she still would refuse him. She didn't want to be around him. Katsuki was the asshole who'd broken her heart.

Fix this, his mind sneered at him. This is your fault, do something about it.

Katsuki wished it was that simple. He'd been wracking his brain with ideas on how to atone for his mistakes, but all he could come up with was his unsuccessful gift giving mission. Now, he had a box full of office supplies he didn't know what to do with. At least now he knew that material goods weren't going to fix anything. It wouldn't matter what he gave her, because in Aisla's mind, Katsuki was still a monster and she couldn't accept anything from someone like that.

"It has to be something that actually matters…" he told himself as he paced in his room. He couldn't just give her a gift and expect everything to go back to normal, he had to do something. But what could Katsuki do for Aisla that would make a difference? Todoroki was her person. She went to him for comfort, and he made her feel safe in a way that Katsuki had never been able to. But what about Katsuki? Was there anything he could do for her that no one else could?

Yes, he decided a moment later, pausing in the middle of the floor as an idea suddenly struck him. There is something I can do. Why hadn't he thought about it before? No…that wasn't quite right. He had thought about it. It kept him awake at night. It haunted him. But Katsuki had been so busy stubbornly refusing to try to make amends with Aisla that he'd ignored his own responsibility to do something.

The only question was…would he even be able to change anything, or was it too late to fix the damage?

I have to try, he decided. All I can do for now…is try.

He found some socks in a drawer, then plopped down on his bed to pull them on. He was going to start fixing things with Aisla right now. He had no idea how this would play out, but he had a clear objective now. He also knew that if he didn't steel himself and do it right now, then he would just keep putting it off until his inaction spoke for him.

"Dammit," he swore under his breath when he dropped a sock, then bent down to grab it. When he did, he noticed something white in his periphery. Curious, he dropped onto the floor to check it out. A balled-up piece of paper lay just under his bed, far enough back that he hadn't noticed it before. He reached under the bed and snatched it up before sitting back down with the paper, sock forgotten for now. He smoothed it out on his lap and let out a sharp breath. It was the drawing he and Aisla had made together, the one he'd crumpled in his fist one day when his anger had gotten the better of him. He'd forgotten about it until that moment and felt a little guilty for leaving it down there for so long.

I'm an idiot, he thought as he tried to smooth out the wrinkles. It was no use—the paper had been folded for so long that it would never be the same again. Still, he was determined to make it as close to its original perfection as possible. He placed it on his desk and lay three textbooks on top of it to try and press down the creases.

Once that task was done, Katsuki slipped on his other sock, grabbed his shoes, and left the room in a rush. He barrelled down the stairs and through the front door, ignoring the surprised looks from his classmates that occupied the common area.

He stormed to the 1B dorm with nothing but his objective in his mind. He was ready to set things into motion—he was ready to make things right. If not with Aisla, then for her.

When he got to the dorm, he kicked the door open and stomped inside without bothering to take off his shoes. Monoma was nowhere to be seen, but a few of his asshole friends were milling about, chatting and laughing with one another. They stopped momentarily at Katsuki's intrusion, but then went right back to their snickering, even going so far as to point fingers at him while they guffawed.

"LISTEN UP, YOU FILTHY PACK OF HYENAS!" Katsuki roared as he charged forward. "TELL ME WHO SPREAD THOSE RUMORS RIGHT THE HELL NOW!" He glared around the small group of boys that was gathered there, watching the amusement in their eyes and trying to will himself not to kill them all.

"Gosh, I don't even know what rumors you could be referring to," one boy said, tapping his chin as if trying to pull up a memory.

"THE ONES ABOUT AISLA HARU, DAMMIT!" Katsuki yelled, having no patience for these assholes.

"Who's to say?" asked the freaky praying-mantis. "I just can't remember who would do such a terrible thing." His friends snorted with laughter.

"I think I'm too scared to remember," gibed the black-haired boy with the nasty scales, feigning a shudder.

Katsuki couldn't remember any of their names and only a few of their quirks. He'd never given a shit about this class. They were all extras to be left in his dust. There was no shrugging them off today, though. This wasn't about Katsuki. It was for her.

Katsuki grabbed him by his collar and stared him straight in the eyes, hoping he looked menacing. "Let me jog your memory then," he growled.

Like most people, this guy apparently didn't appreciate being this close to Katsuki's anger. His eyes widened, and Katsuki could feel him trembling in his hold.

"I DON'T WANT YOU TALKING ABOUT AISLA HARU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" he screamed. All the gathered boys had stopped laughing when Katsuki grabbed their friend's collar. Now, the room was dead silent except for the sound of Katsuki's booming voice echoing around them. "I BETTER NOT HEAR ANOTHER FUCKING WORD ABOUT HER OR SO HELP ME, YOU'LL ALL BE ON YOUR DEATH BEDS!"

"O-okay, man!" the black-haired boy panicked as he desperately tried to claw Katsuki's fingers from his shirt. "I won't say a word! I don't even care about those rumors! Most of us stopped talking about her a long time ago, everything you've been hearing lately is just residual stuff still floating around the other classes, I swear!"

"Well, you're going to make sure it stops floating around, and that's not all," Katsuki said in a low, terrifying tone. "I want every single one of you assholes to start owning up to your lies. Go spread the word: you're all a bunch of lying pieces of shit who made up every rumor! Or I'm going straight to Principal Nezu to report you for harassment." It occurred to him suddenly…horribly, that he could have done that all along. In the beginning, when Monoma warned him about the rumors, he could have gone straight to the principal, or hell even Mr. Aizawa or Vlad. Had anyone done that? Had anyone really tried to help her? Maybe, and it didn't work. It didn't matter, because Katsuki never thought about it. Katsuki never tried. Now, here he was, doing too little, too late, as always. He could only hope that this made a difference for the better.

He let the other boy go and folded his arms across his chest as he glared at each person in turn. "Don't make me regret letting you live!"

He turned around and left them all there, staring after him with slack jaws and wide eyes as if they couldn't believe what just happened.

For hours, Katsuki prowled the school looking for every person he'd ever heard say Aisla's name, or jeer at her, or whisper when she walked past. He found every person he suspected had participated in spreading the rumors and threatened them, too. He told them that the stories about Aisla Haru were all false, and whatever they'd heard about her breaking Katsuki's heart was wrong. He wanted people to know that Aisla was the innocent party here. Their breakup had been entirely his fault. He didn't elaborate on the whys and hows, but he made sure they were aware of his role.

"Aisla is the victim here," he told one girl. "I'm the one who screwed everything up."

"I blew everything out of proportion," he insisted to a boy he saw in the bathroom. "It was all me."

"Aisla suffered because of me," he admitted to a group of surprised girls. "I should have done something sooner."

So, what if they mocked him? What if those students looked at him like he was an unhinged lunatic raving through the halls about old rumors? What if this did absolutely nothing to help Aisla? He didn't care. He had to stand up for her, he had to do what he should have done before. Maybe it meant nothing, or maybe…it meant something about Katsuki and about the man he wanted to be.

By the time he got back to his room, his feet were sore and his voice was hoarse from overuse. He'd never had to talk so much in his life. He wasn't sure if what he'd done would even matter in the end. The rumors surrounding him and Aisla had been going pretty strong for a while now, and he couldn't say if his last ditch effort would pay off and change his peers' minds. He might have gone about everything in all the wrong ways. Katsuki knew nothing about atonement. His plan to put a stop to all the hurtful stories might not even matter in the end.

As long as they stop talking about her, he silently pleaded. He didn't want Aisla to be afraid to be around people anymore. If he could do that one small thing for her, then he'd be happy to stay away from her if that's what she needed. He would give anything to be in her life again, but if she really wanted to separate the two of them permanently, then Katsuki….

He didn't want to think about that scenario. He had no expectations or hopes that they'd date again, but if she refused to even be his friend? To train with him and eat meals together and laugh like they knew each other… He didn't want those things to be lost forever, and suddenly, he missed them so deeply that it hurt.

"I can't imagine my life without you…" he murmured into the silence of his empty room. "I can't imagine one more night without you. I need you, Aisla Haru…"

He sent a silent prayer to whoever was out there that Aisla would allow him to be in her life again. Even if the only relationship she wanted was friendship, he'd take that over never talking to her again, or seeing her pleased grin when he walked into a room, or spending time with her that wasn't a forced school assignment. He would never be Todoroki for her, but if he could just be Katsuki again, that was good enough for him.

A/N: Been a BUSY few weeks, guys. After I got this second job, I have less time to do the things I want to do—like write! Don't worry, though. I meant it when I said I had a LOT of chapters piled up for you. I won't leave you hanging! The reason I wanted such a big cushion, and why I keep mentioning it, is so that you know this story won't fall off the face of the planet one day. I'm gonna bring it to a nice cushy landing! So stick around and see what else is in store for these two!

So, what did we think of this chapter? How was Katsuki's attempt at "Atonement?" In the beginning, he was not going about it in quite the right ways, but he seemed to be getting some better ideas near the end. Maybe there's hope for these two after all? XD What do YOU think will happen next?

Also, if I didn't mention it before, the midterm exams they're doing will be a whole arc. There will be battles and some other interesting things coming your way soon, so stick around!

Reviews:

MeMyselfAndI82907: Aw thanks! I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying that part! I was afraid everyone would be coming at me with fire and pitchforks for this breakup arc, so it's nice to know someone out there is seeing the little things in the background! A few of these chapters coming up are some of my best work, I think. I'm hoping you will enjoy them as well! But yes, Katsuki isn't used to being the nice guy or trying to earn someone's forgiveness, so it's been a rollercoaster trying to get him to cooperate! Aisla, on the other hand, is usually very forgiving and understanding. However, I have learned in my time with her that she is extremely STUBBORN, which sometimes makes her an even bigger pain than Katsuki. She does have her reasons, in this case. Katsuki WAS a major ass to her and continued to be for a long time. Then there are the rumors going around making her feel even worse about everything. But, she's still being stubborn! They're both being really stupid right now.

Beta: yellowchikadee