Ch. 11

Ami had never been more confused and it was starting to stress her out. Today was the 5th day of their training and Bakugo still hadn't said a single damn word as to why he was being so weird. At this point even Miruko and Fatgum had taken notice, but no one wanted to push Bakugo to talk. Ami, on the other hand, had taken up trying her damned hardest to talk to him. Even if all talking to him did was get one or two word responses or shrugs majority of the time.

He'd said she wasn't the reason for his attitude but it damn sure felt like it when he did that.

"He's so confusing sometimes." Ami sighs, exasperated. She had confided in Mina her frustrations about the situation as well as his response to her coming to him with her concerns. "I don't know why I care so much, maybe I have PTSD from having people hate me and shit from Seiai."

Mina tsks and looks over to where Bakugo walks silently beside Kirishima. "I can't imagine Bakugo comforting someone at all though, so I guess if he did all that when you talked to him then that's something." Mina had frowned at her like she expected it to be a joke when Ami had told her about the night she'd visited him. Admittedly, though, he really didn't seem the comforting type. Never had been for as many months as she'd been there and interacted with him.

"I guess." Though the interaction had sent her heart fluttering, she had made herself not get too excited by it. That hadn't stopped her from laying in bed that night and thinking about it, however. "Maybe it's just because he doesn't want to look distracted in front of Fat and Miruko?"

"Maybe. Even though we have worked with them before. They know him."

Ami sighs again and thinks back to the all-out battle that had left Japan shaken, as their pros and the student of UA had gone head-to-head with the League and their allies. At Seiai, the teachers had the girls more focused on a sort of "disaster relief", so they were in the areas or helping send things to the areas with the most devastation from the previous battle. After All-For-One's protector, Gigantomachia, had left a wake of utter destruction through multiple cities there weren't many areas that didn't need help. During their own efforts she had wondered the whole time when things were going to hit their peak, and by the time news of the battle had reached where she was, it had already been over. Then Japan's recovery had started all over again.

Bakugo was one of UA's Big Three for a reason. He'd played a massive part in the final battle against the villians alongside Midoriya and Todoroki, with the massive amount of firepower behind his quirk he was almost crucial to it. So it was obvious the pros would know about his skills.

But with that being the case, what was his problem then?

"Don't sweat it though, Bakugo's just a little weird sometimes. Before you know it he'll be back to his usual loud and arrogant self."

Ami nods slightly, watching as Kirishima tries yet again to strike up a conversation with his best friend, only to get the same lack of response as she had gotten. She was getting more and more worried the longer his mood stayed the way it was.

Mina sighs suddenly then, bringing Ami's attention back to her. "He's really such a headache though," she pouts. "I don't understand why you like him so much."

Ami chokes and Mina reaches over to pat her on the back firmly.

"And before you ask me how I knew, you talk about him all the time." Mina continues, talking slightly louder over Ami's sputtering "And you care way too much about what he's doing or how he feels to not like him."

Ami puts her face in her hands, embarrassed, "...It's that obvious?" First Kirishima had called her out on it and now Mina? It made her wonder who else had noticed...

"To me at least. It's not like he'd notice, though, if that's what you're worried about."

It wasn't entirely, because if he did know she was sure he would've called her out on it already. For a while she'd thought that maybe that was the reason for him pushing her away so suddenly, but there was no way he could've known when she herself hadn't even fully acknowledged it.

Maybe it was better this way. Less trouble.

But by the time they finish their patrol and head back to the dorms, Ami had decided she was going to pay Bakugo another visit against her original word. She'd been meaning to go by to grab her shirt anyway since he hadn't remembered to bring it to her. Waiting for him to come to her was taking too long and wasn't showing any signs of happening at all. After all, friends check on each other all the time, right?

Walking up to his door she takes a deep breath, wringing her fingers nervously. This would be the third time she'd popped up at his dorm unannounced without asking, the first time being out of anger. She hoped it would be more similar to the second, though, where he'd been an unusual amount of understanding and comforting. She was coming to check on him after all. Wouldn't that be welcomed again? Although... the very first time she showed concern about him resulted in months of them not speaking.

And man, she didn't want that to happen again.

Ami knocks on his door hesitantly and waits. After a few seconds of hearing nothing she goes to knock again before she hears movement and pauses.

Bakugo pulls open the door and looks down at her, eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise before he clears his throat, "...What's up?"

"Sorry to show up again unannounced," She begins, shifting from one foot to another. "I promise I won't make a habit out of it."

He laughs once, lightly. "Three times looks like the start of a habit to me, Shortstack."

Flustered, she continues. "I came for two reasons actually, but mainly because I wanted to talk to you... Would it be ok if I came in?"

A beat passes before he shrugs and opens the door further so she can come in. "So...?" He urges.

Ami turns around to face him and takes a small breath, "What's going on with you? I know I should know by now to leave you alone when you're not in a good mood but this is... different. You barely speak at all."

He quirks up an eyebrow for a second then looks over to the corner of his room, face turning contemplative, before he speaks. "I told you the last time you came. I'm fine." He begins. "Being out in the city reminds me of some not-so-great memories sometimes is all."

The words have a hint of truth to them, but she can tell he's leaving something out.

"Since we're friends this time around, you can talk to me if you need to." She says, then adds, "Bad memories or bad moments in the present."

Bakugo exhales through his nose softly and nods, "I know."

Ami leans to the side into his preheperal vision until his eyes flick over to look at her. "And you're sure it's nothing else aside from memories bothering you?"

"Yes."

"You pinky promised." She reminds him.

This gets a laugh out of him, not a big one but a genuine one all the same. "I pinky promised that you're not the cause of all my shit moods." He replies.

"Touché."

"What was the second thing you wanted?"

Ami gestures vaguely, "To come get my shirt from wherever it is in here."

Bakugo hesitates for a moment -thinking?- before turning around and crossing his room to pull it from out of a basket in the corner. "I washed it and forgot to give it to you because it got mixed in with my clothes. Sorry."

Ami takes it from him when he reaches her and puts it over her shoulder. "Thank you." Then she hesitates again. "You know... Kirishima is worried about you too. He's been trying to be patient until you talk to him so... maybe let him know what going on?"

Almost immediately Bakugo's eyes harden. His face remains exactly the same, but the look in his eyes goes from relaxed to annoyed in a flash. "Yeah, whatever." He mutters, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Woah hold up. Is he mad at Eijiro? As far as she knew, the boys had a good relationship. Kirishima being the fun loving one of the two and Bakugo being the more serious. But from the look that just crossed his face-

"You're really not mad at me. You're mad at him." The words leave her lips as soon as they go through her head.

They both freeze at the same time and Bakugo's expression changes to defensive immediately. "The hell I am. Why the fuck would I be mad at him for?"

Defensive. So it's true.

"I don't know, Bakugo. Why don't you tell me why?"

His eyes turn incredulous before he laughs in disbelief, now crossing his arms in front of his chest. "When did this turn into an interrogation?" He asks.

"If you were used to opening up to people maybe then you wouldn't get interrogated." Ami shoots back.

"You're really goddamn persistent, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

He snorts -irritated, but thankfully not angry- and shakes his head. "I'm not mad at Kirishima," he says shortly. "We've just been distant recently. It's no big deal."

"He's your best friend. We've been trying to invite you to come hang out for forever now but you always say no."

The blond barks a cold laugh, "And be a third wheel like Deku and fucking Kaminari? I'll pass."

Ami frowns, "Excuse me?"

Bakugo continues without a pause, "I don't play third wheel. Shit's awkward."

"Excuse me." She says again, more firmly. "Third wheel?"

It's then that his eyes meet hers and change to genuine annoyance, "Can you not fucking hear?"

"How the hell would you be a 'third wheel'?" She asks, brushing past the rude question. "It's not like Eijiro and I are dating or something. You're his best friend and my friend too."

For the first time all night, he just stares at her silently. A beat passes, then two... then three...

Then it clicks.

"...You... thought we were dating?" Ami asks, even though it sounds more like the answer to her own question.

Bakugo doesn't reply for a moment. "...You're not?"

Ami laughs, shocked. "No." Sure Kirishima was a good friend, but she didn't like him like that. She didn't even understand where he could've gotten that impression from-

Oh.

"We just hang out a lot because he's easy to talk to." She explains quickly. "But we're just friends."

It could've been a trick of the light but she could've sworn Bakugo's face turned a light shade of red at her words.

"We didn't mean to make you feel like we didn't care if you were uncomf-"

"It's fine." He interjects quickly. "Don't worry about it."

Ami bites her lip, feeling guilty. She knew it wasn't her fault but she didn't like that he was under the impression that it was Eijiro that she liked. That was his best friend, and if he had thought that this whole time then... maybe that had killed off any chance of-

No. Don't even go there. You said you wouldn't. He doesn't like you like that.

"I mean it," he insists, watching the emotions play across her face. "And don't go starting that 'So it really was me' shit either."

"I just-... I feel bad."

Bakugo levels her with a look as if she'd said something crazy. "You feel bad? For what?"

"You've been weird this whole time because we've been acting all overly buddy-buddy and you felt uncomfortable. That's not what I wanted to cause..." They were supposed to be a team on the streets of the city, not divided for any reason.

He surprises her by snorting a small laugh. "That isnt- Ok, look." He shakes his head and gestures vaguely. "I'll come hang out with you two losers whenever you invite me to something next time. That sound good?"

Ami purses her lips.

"What?"

"We're not losers, asshole."

Bakugo gives her a genuine laugh now and corrects himself slightly. "Fine, whatever. Not losers. Whenever you two invite me, I'll come. Better?"

Ami relaxes her lips and nods. "I'll tell him then." She says.

He hesitates for a moment before awkwardly scratching the back of his head, "Yeah.. and maybe don't tell him about this whole misunderstanding?"

The whole situation was already weird enough, with Bakugo displaying a range of emotions she hadn't even thought he was capable of. The last thing she wanted to do with it was have it brought up again.

"Agreed."

Bakugo holds out his pinky, an amused look in his eyes now. "Promise on that?"

Ami hooks her pinky through his and rolls her eyes, "Whatever, yeah. I promise." She doesn't even want to acknowledge the tiny shiver that shoots up her arm when their skin touches.

"Is that everything, officer?" He asks dryly, but there's still a note of laughter in his tone.

"That's everything."

But it doesn't hit her until she's already in the comfort of her own dorm room. She was so concerned about making him uncomfortable these past few days that it didn't immediately occur to her...

Why would the idea of her dating Kirishima make him that upset?

The second Ami's gone, Katsuki sits down in the middle of his floor and puts his face in his hands.

I'm so fucking stupid. That was reckless as hell.

Usually he was better at guarding his emotions and keeping a straight face, but in the span of 5 seconds flat he'd managed to give away the fact that seeing Ami so close to Kirishima had bothered him. "Made him uncomfortable" even. He had practically written it across his fucking forehead. He was smarter than that, and yet he'd let his emotions hang him out to dry. And yet... he'd found out that they actually weren't a couple.

He can't help it. A small, relieved smile breaks out on his face before he can smother the feeling. Katsuki hadn't realized how much the assumption had been weighing him down until Ami had corrected him. Tied to that assumption had been all this anger, frustration, guilt, and shame... So much fucking shame. So while he was embarrassed that Ami had read him like a damn book, it had come with an unanticipated reward. A hugely welcome one.

Katsuki did wonder now, though, if even though Ami didn't have feelings for Kirishima... did he have feelings for her? He was always friendly, but he spent more of his time with her than him or the other guys these days. Kirishima hadn't mentioned having any feelings for anyone, so maybe that meant he didn't? Although, it wasn't like Katsuki had been the best friend recently to confide in. He should probably get it off his chest and ask, but he didn't want to be questioned about why he cared. If Ami had read him that fast, there was no doubt in his mind that Kirishima would see right through him even faster.

And he really didn't need that.

"I have to play this safe." Katsuki mutters to himself. There was no guarantee Ami even liked him -because had he been sure that she did he would've charged right into it and asked her out already-, but he really didn't want to deal with a goddamn love triangle.

Not that I love her. He quickly corrects himself. I just... like her, a lot.

Would it really be such a bad thing for her to know though? A small, quiet voice in the back of his mind whispers.Why don't you just tell her?

He'd be lying to himself if he said the idea didn't cross his mind every now and then. The urge to tell her was... tempting, but the fear or rejection kept him from acting on it. They had only just repaired their broken friendship, and pushing these feelings onto her would probably be too much. Especially when he didn't know how to handle them himself. It didn't seem fair to make her do it.

She seemed to at least care about him though, but he had zero experience with women so he wasn't sure what it would look like if she had feelings for him that went beyond just simply caring about him. The only person who would really know how she felt was probably...

Katsuki groans audibly and sighs. Asking Pinky would be a fucking nightmare.

Mina was closer to Ami than Kirishima had become as of late, so if anyone knew anything it would be her... She'd also been checking on him periodically, so that meant she was at least fine with talking to him.

So maybe asking her wouldn't do too much harm...

Before he can talk himself out of it, he walks to Mina's dorm on the other side of the dormatory. He wasn't familiar with the girls' side of the building since he never had a reason to go over there, but after a while of wandering he eventually finds the pink girl's door.

He knocks lightly and waits, trying to fight down the urge to leave before she even has a chance to open the door; But he doesn't even get the chance to even take a step back. The door opens and black and gold eyes meet his.

"...Bakugo?"

He puts his hands in his pockets and looks down at the ground. "...I need to ask you something." He forces out grudgingly. "It's... about Ami."

Mina's silence is deafening, but when he grimaces and looks up at her to say something, he's stopped by the big grin on her face.

"What?"

Her grin only grows, "You like her, don't you?"

Katsuki sputters, feeling his face turn red, "YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST LET ME ASK MY QUESTION, RACCOON EYES." he hisses angrily, trying to keep his voice down.

Mina holds her hands up in front of her defensively, "Sorry, jeez. My bad."

He hears a door start to open down the hall and quickly walks past her into her room before thinking.

"Come in then I guess." Mina mutters under her breath before closing the door and turning around to face him. "So is she the reason you've been so pissy these last couple of days?"

Grimacing, he nods. Being vague won't get you anywhere.

"I fucking knew it."

"You act like it was fucking obvious or something."

"It wasn't at first, because you normally act like an asshole. But this was a special kind of assholery so it took me a minute to figure it out. But I did in the end." She adds proudly, as if she hadn't just openly called him an asshole to his face.

He lets it slide because he needs her help. "Do you...- fuck," He's pacing now, nerves getting the best of him. "Do you know if she like... likes anyone?"

Mina crosses her arms and an amused look crosses her face, "She might."

He pauses and glares at her, watching her face. "It's... not Kirishima, is it?"

"Kirishima?"

"Did I stutter or something? Is. It. Kirishima?"

"No. It's not." She scoffs.

Well that eliminates that. "Then who is it?"

Mina walks past him and sits on her bed, eyeing him carefully. "What kind of best friend would I be if I just told you all her secrets? You can't just... storm in here without an invitation and expect me to tell you everything." She scolds. "You didn't even message me to ask if you could come over."

"I know, damn it. Sorry." In truth, he hadn't even thought to do that. He just knew she'd be up. "I've been stressed the fuck out so I didn't think it through."

"And had you given yourself time to think it through you're scared you wouldn't have asked me at all, right?"

He nods.

The pink girl sighs and gives him a lightly sympathetic look. "Alright, I'll help you out. Only because this is my best friend we're talking about, so if you're going to try to 'woo her' I want you to do it right."

Katsuki releases a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Thank you." He says softly, sitting down on the floor at Mina's feet.

"You're welcome. So," Mina crosses her ankles and leans forward. "Ask me almost anything. Within reason."

Here goes nothing.

"Well... what kind of stuff does she like?"