A/N: second chapter for today! If you follow my Instagram (hitomi. mimii) or have read the 2021 Christmas side story you may find a reference to a certain someone ;D

If not this is the second time you're hearing of it lol 😂 (for old readers Ch 39 was edited a while back to include a mention of them because of what was discussed in that chapter!) This is the first time they're described in a bit more detail in the main fic tho

Art -

[Complete Gallery] Add /21axlkt3bolc to the DeviantArt Stash URL.

[Ch. 58] Add /2g4vxiyfmwj to the DeviantArt Stash URL.

Hitomi had taken the time she had alone at the dormitories to think.

She was sitting on the couch in the common area, swinging her feet absentmindedly and still wrapped in her blanket.

What am I going to do?

Bakugou was now her first crush since elementary school.

Hitomi remembered the boy she had liked in second grade vividly. He was a distant memory now, but she could recall the parts of him that had led her to be infatuated with him. He had been sort of a troublemaker, rowdy and loud. The other boys in their class often got caught up in his schemes, making trouble for their poor teacher who was only trying to stop them from causing havoc with their quirks. Hitomi remembered Nari had found out at some point, and questioned her to no end on why she liked him.

He had been kind to her, which was somewhat of a surprise because of how much of a prankster he could be to the other kids. He had told her her quirk was really cool, and was even interested in all the nerdy, space stuff she always read about.

And then, Hitomi had moved away the very next year, and he was simply ingrained in her memory as the first boy she ever had a crush on.

Hitomi had never been too heartbroken by it. It was just a small, tiny crush she had, the simple infatuation a small child would experience, and she merely moved on from it with ease. In all honesty, she'd been more heartbroken about leaving Nari. They were best friends after all. It was lucky they were able to keep in touch for so long.

But Hitomi hadn't had any crushes since then.

So how did you deal with feelings like this?

Especially when you didn't really want them.

Hitomi sighed, sitting up straight.

She couldn't let this become anything more than infatuation.

Because if she did, all it would do is hurt her.

Hitomi didn't want to change the way things were with Bakugou. She enjoyed being his friend, laughing easily with him, making teasing jabs at him with Kaminari.

How would he react to finding out Hitomi liked him?

That's what Hitomi was afraid of.

Would he treat her differently? Would knowing she had a crush on him make things weird? Would… would he not want to be friends with her anymore?

Hitomi stood up from the couch, making her way to the elevator.

As it took her up to the fourth floor, an inherent anxiety was starting to build in her stomach.

Hitomi didn't want to stop being friends with Bakugou.

Romantic feelings aside, he had become a really important person to her. Her friendship with him was different from how it felt with Nari, or Kirishima. Despite his abrasiveness, she looked up to him a lot. She admired his skills and his strength, and she wanted to be more like him.

Hitomi supposed he inspired her, in a way.

She paused in front of her bedroom door, her eyes trailing to Bakugou's room that was right across from hers.

...Stupid.

…

Hitomi was back in bed, left to contemplate her own thoughts as she waited out fully recovering from her fever.

She stared at the ceiling blankly, mulling things over.

If she was being honest with herself…

Bakugou was way, way out of her league.

He was incredibly powerful and talented, he had confidence…

Not to mention he was really, really pretty.

Hitomi couldn't compare to him.

She wasn't on the same level as him, she doubted herself pretty much every other day, and, well… she'd say her looks were average, at best. Definitely not as pretty as Yaoyorozu, or their upperclassman Nejire.

Hitomi closed her eyes, trying to push those depressing thoughts away. She covered her face with a pillow, groaning into the fabric.

...Stop thinking so negatively, you sad sack!

She huffed, pushing the pillow away to let herself breathe.

Basically, the thought she was trying to form was that Bakugou would never return her feelings.

He was never going to look at her that way.

And for some reason, knowing that already made her heart hurt.

And if Hitomi let her feelings stay as they were, it could hurt her later down the line, too.

She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh, pulling her blanket over herself.

It had only been one day and this crush stuff was already such a nuisance.

…

Hitomi opened her eyes groggily at the distant sound of an elevator dinging down the hall, sitting up hastily. She hissed as the action made her head throb slightly, before checking the clock that sat on her bed frame.

I must've fallen asleep…!

Her face paled at the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall, sounding like they were approaching her room. Hitomi jumped out of bed, stumbling to her door. Right when she was almost there, about to lock it, it burst open.

"HITOMI!"

"Wagh-!"

She fell onto the floor on her butt, yelping in pain as the Bakusquad stared at her from her doorway. It was at times like this that she was reminded she had to get into the habit of locking her door.

"Hitomi?" Kaminari said, raising a brow as the group continued to stare. "Why're you on the floor?"

Hitomi winced, her face flushing in embarrassment that her friends had witnessed her fall. "Ow…"

"Gah, sorry Hitomi!" Kirishima exclaimed, stepping into the room as the rest of the group lingered by the open doorway. He offered her his hand, helping her stand up. "I guess we startled you, huh?"

"That's why I was trying to get to my door before you guys…" Hitomi's eyes drifted closed as she sighed, rubbing her behind. "That really hurt."

The group chimed various "sorry's" in reply, before they lapsed into silence.

"...Dude, you gotta say sorry too."

"Why? You idiots were the ones who decided to break into her room like a bunch of burglars."

Hitomi opened her eyes, recognizing Bakugou's voice immediately.

"By that logic, Kirishima would be the only one to apologize since he's the one who opened the door!" Mina huffed.

"Give in to the peer pressure, Bakugou!" Kaminari whined.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue. "No. I thought we came here to see how she was doing."

He glanced directly at her, the sight of his piercing red eyes making her stiffen.

"So how are you feeling, Hitomi?" Kirishima asked her, pulling her gaze back to the redhead. "You're already out of bed, so better, right?"

"I- Uh- yeah…!" Hitomi stuttered, giving him a somewhat wobbly smile. "Better…" Her eyes drifted back to Bakugou again, before she quickly looked away, making the ash blonde raise a brow.

Crap… I hope I'm not blushing…

"But, you guys should go."

Before any of them could protest, Hitomi was already pushing Kirishima and the others out the door.

"I still kinda have a headache, and- um- well, I don't want to risk passing this bug around so…"

I don't want him here right now…! Not like this!

Once she'd successfully gotten them out of the way, she grabbed the door handle, giving the group a forced smile.

"I'll see you guys later!"

And with that, she slammed the door shut, leaving the Bakusquad to stare in confusion.

Kaminari and Mina seemed to deflate, looking disappointed.

"She kicked us out," Kirishima sighed, a worried frown on his face.

Sero shrugged. "Well, I guess it makes sense, right? She needs rest, and like Bakugou said yesterday, if we crowd around her all the time it may take her longer to get better."

Mina pouted. "Yeah, but…"

"Just leave her alone," Bakugou huffed, beginning to make his way down the hall. "We can check up on her again later, if you're really that fucking worried."

The group reluctantly agreed, finally splitting off to head to their own rooms. As Bakugou walked with Kirishima across the hall to the boys' side, he couldn't help but think back to how Hitomi had looked at him before ushering them out.

The look in her eyes made it seem like she didn't want to see him.

But Bakugou brushed that weird thought aside, pulling out his key to unlock his room.

He shouldn't read so much into it. That look she had probably wasn't even directed at him, but at the entire group. She did need peace and quiet to recover after all…

So why the hell did it seem to bother him?

A/N: I know this is Hitomi's tsundere era and we should probably be concerned that Bakugou's already noticing something's up with her but-

Hitomi's crush from elementary school got a little mention TvT I'm saying it now that he isn't gonna show up here in IPP but the side stories (and maaaaybe my Insta account) are a different story lol