A/N: Y'all asked for this, and I'm warning you now: Bakutomi is gonna be a PAINFULLY LONG slow-burn.
And this is just the very start of it.
Art -
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Hitomi giggled as Mina twirled around on the walkway, mimicking the dance moves of the band they had just finished watching perform.
The group had been walking around the Expo for half an hour after leaving the arcade before Kaminari and Mina heard the sound of singing, following the noise and leading the group to a small music show. Apparently a band from South Korea had been flown in to feature at the Expo, hence why Mina was imitating their complex dance as the group continued to walk down the street.
They walked around for another 20 minutes before Hitomi turned around, wanting to ask Kirishima something.
He, Mina, Kaminari, and Sero were all missing.
"Bakugou, wait," she called to the blonde trailing in front of her.
He stopped, turning to see their group of six was now two before groaning. "Aw, fuck. Are you kidding me?! Where'd they run off to this time?"
Hitomi pulled out her phone, about to call Kirishima before she noticed a text from the redhead.
Sorry, Hitomi! Kaminari and Mina roped us into this horror walk-through attraction before we could tell you.
The employees told us it'll take as long as an hour and a half to two hours and that we need to leave our phones on silent to get "the best experience".
I'll call you when we're out, but for now maybe try and have some fun with Bakugou?
Again, sorry! I'll make it up to you, I promise!
Hitomi sighed, closing the message and putting her phone away.
Oh Kirishima, you innocent idiot…
She turned to Bakugou, the boy still waiting for an answer.
"They're off in some horror attraction, and Kirishima said it'll take a while. We'll have to find something to do for at least two hours."
Bakugou rolled his eyes, turning back around to continue walking as Hitomi followed him. "Those idiots, begging me to walk around with them and then running off without a word…" she heard him mutter.
He sounded annoyed, but Hitomi could tell there was no bite in his words.
The two had been walking for less than 10 minutes before Hitomi abruptly grabbed Bakugou's sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.
"What?" he muttered.
Hitomi pointed at a sign labeled "Scavenger Hunt" and turned to him with an enthusiastic smile on her face.
"Let's do that!"
Bakugou stared at the building it was likely taking place in before turning back to face the walkway. "No. It's probably for little kids."
"Aw, come on!" Hitomi protested. "Did you even read the sign?! It says if you finish it within an hour, you get passes that give you free access to all the restaurants and food vendors! It's based on hero laws and quirk society; we're literally studying all of that! We could win free passes to all the food here, Bakugou!"
Bakugou turned back to read the sign in full this time, realizing everything his companion had said was true.
"Besides," Hitomi continued, "you can't do it individually. You need a group of two or more! C'mon Bakugou, don't you want to get free food for basically the rest of the week?"
A cocky smirk emerged on his face as he began to walk towards the building.
"Fine, let's destroy this scavenger hunt."
Hitomi and Bakugou had been gifted layouts of the building along with a small piece of paper, a riddle written on it that would hint them towards the first item.
"So this takes place in one of the school buildings on the island, huh…?" Hitomi remarked as she looked over the map, noticing the array of classrooms. "What's the riddle say?"
Bakugou picked up the small piece of paper, looking it over before reading it aloud.
"'The origin of superhuman society
More than several thousand kilometers from Japan
One who glowed brightly
And the advent of quirks all began.'"
He put down the paper, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle a laugh. "Holy shit. That sounds so fucking dorky."
Hitomi lightly smacked him on the arm, looking at him in exasperation. "Don't laugh! People worked hard to make this stuff up!" She looked back at the map as Bakugou calmed himself, remembering the riddle. "That one sounds pretty easy. The glowing baby that was in Qing Qing City, right? So we just need to find a world map."
Bakugou peered at the floor plan in Hitomi's hands, pointing to a specific spot. "There. History Department."
"Okay, let's go!"
…
Hitomi shoved open the door, a sigh of relief as they entered the classroom. "Finally, one that's unlocked…"
Bakugou walked towards the map in the back of the classroom, finding a small envelope taped underneath China on the map.
He pulled it open, taking out another small piece of paper.
"What's that one say?" Hitomi said as she tried to look over his shoulder, with little to no luck due to their height difference.
"'A popular theory
A virus carried by some
The cause of paranormality
Made society what it's become.'
...Jesus fuck, I sound stupid."
"It'll all be worth it, Bakugou," Hitomi said as she pulled open the building map. "Besides, at least I'm not Kaminari or anything. He'd tease you forever for this. I'll only tease you for today."
Some tick marks appeared on Bakugou's face as he crushed the paper in his hand. "Oh, fuck off!"
Hitomi laughed as she repeated the riddle in her head.
"A theory…? But there's so many out there…"
Bakugou rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue as he pointed to another spot on the map. "They're talking about the rat disease theory, dumbass. They probably want us to check the chemistry lab."
"Oh! But that one's never had any evidence to back it up…"
"Well, it matches up with that 'virus' shit, so it's all we got. Hurry up, we've got 45 minutes left before our hour's up."
Hitomi plopped down onto the bench beside Bakugou, putting her newly gained all-access food pass in her bag.
The two had finished the scavenger hunt with 10 minutes to spare, winning their prize of free food for the rest of their time at the Expo. Now, they were taking a break to eat crepes with their new passes.
Bakugou stared at Hitomi's crepe with disdain as the girl took a bite.
It had strawberries and Nutella filling the inside, topped with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream to finish the sweet treat off.
Bakugou's crepe, on the other hand, was more savory, being filled with spinach, cheese, and chicken, with curry sauce to bring it all together.
Hitomi pulled out her phone as the two ate their food, seeing it was 5:20 PM. They still had at least an hour before Kirishima and the others were done, meaning they had to find something new to do.
Hitomi looked around at the other attractions she could see from their bench, her eyes falling on one not that far away.
Yes, that one would be fun to try.
A/N: Those riddles I made are dumb, I'm cringing...
I've noticed that Bakugou comes off a lot quieter and calmer when I write original content without any influence from the anime, so I hope their interactions are realistic and not out of character. I also really hope it doesn't come off as forced either.
I've got so much planned for how it'll play out, you guys have no idea.