"Hattori, you alright?" Uraraka asked as she took a step over to her roommate's bed. Her body faced the wall away from her, still motionless and undisturbed. She didn't seem like the type to ignore the morning alarms set on their phones on a school day, so something was up. Shyly, Akane pulled the covers over her shoulder to hide her face.

"I'm not feeling good today..."

"Does it hurt somewhere?"

"No... I think I might be sick."

"Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?" she frowned sympathetically.

"She only helps with injuries, not things like colds or the flu. I think I just need to stay here today..."

"But if you feel that bad, she could at least give you something to help you out, like some medicine. Are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself?"

"Yea... I just need to rest for a while." Akane felt bad for thinking this, but she just wanted her to leave already and stop pestering her with questions. If she kept on, it would only be a matter of time before she slipped up and Uraraka would see right through her words. Then again, she wasn't really that observant. Still, it wasn't really her fault, since she was only trying to be a good roommate.

"Want me to get you something before I go, or bring you anything back from class?"

"No, thanks. I can get my notes from Emiri and my group."

"Okay, well text me if you change your mind."

"Okay..."

After that, Uraraka buttoned her blazer, grabbed her backpack, and stepped out the door, leaving her alone at last. For a while, she continued to sink into the bed, carefully listening outside the door until the faint sounds of students scrambling to get ready faded away. When it was completely quiet, she was fairly confident that she was the only one left in the entire dorm. It wasn't until she heard the air vents go off that she finally decided to move. She rolled on her back and stared blankly at the smooth white ceiling, somehow feeling a connection with the empty void within it. Last night left her more drained than rested and now she could feel her body paying for it, feeling so sluggish. It was damn near impossible to get to sleep. No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about what Bakugo said. His words resonated in her mind over and over, as if they were playing on a reel as a constant painful reminder of her loneliness.

It was so stupid. Of course, he wouldn't want to date. Why would he now that he's this close to graduating? Now that she thought of it, he was a sophmore who only had two years left until graduation. After that, they'd probably never see each other again, at least, that's what they all say. Once high school ends, he'll be out there working the streets, beating bad guys, and moving on up to the top hero spot. She then recalled their conversation the other day, how he wanted a big house, luxury sports cars, and everyone's love and admiration. If there was one thing she knew about Bakugo, he dreams big. Not only that, but he was also determined, and there wasn't a single doubt in her mind that he was definitely going to be busy making all that happen. Even now, he's worked so hard to get to such a high level, so it would only make sense that he would put that kind of thing out of his life. Why would he want a girlfriend anyways? If anything, a relationship would only get in his way. Besides, it's not like other heroes don't do the same thing. In this day and age, being a famous hero could put everyone you know, even your closest friends and family at risk, especially if they encounter a dangerous top villain.

Still... to go down that road alone...

Annoyed, she tried to shake those thoughts out of her head. Though it didn't really work, thankfully, that was enough motivation needed to finally get her to sit up. She pulled off the covers and rotated until her bare feet touched the cold bamboo floor. She allowed a quiet sigh to slip through her nose as she slumped her shoulders. This was going to be a long day. In truth, she wasn't actually ill. There wasn't any fever, nor chills, or upset stomach, not even a small headache. Aside from the lack of sleep and a bruised heart, she was perfectly fine. Today was just going to be one of those days, a mental health day to recuperate from the crazy amount of stress; well, that was her go-to excuse. If she were to be honest, taking the day off, it was mostly because she wanted to avoid seeing Bakugo. After overhearing what he said, she couldn't bear to go out there and face him. She was so upset, and she certainly didn't want him to see her show it, so she ran to her room and stayed there for the rest of the night. After that, she stayed up pondering how she was going to work up the courage to see him in the morning and pretend like nothing happened. And now here she was, locking herself in her room, faking sickness, like a coward. Deep down, she knew it was probably for the best. As loud as he was, he was pretty sharp, so he'd know something was up the minute they'd see each other on the way to class, and she just couldn't let that happen. If he found out her true feelings, he'd only reject her again. Akane didn't think she'd be able to handle it a second time around.

It didn't take long before her bladder caught her attention, encouraging her to go to the bathroom right down the hall. Now that she was awake, she utilized the freedom of being alone to do her morning routine. On days like this, it was actually quite peaceful knowing you didn't have a time limit to get what you needed to get done before class started or so that someone else could use the sink or shower. No one around to ask you how things are going, no one to spread school gossip around, or tell you all the details about their lives as if it somehow pertained to you when really, you just don't care. Some wouldn't see it that way, but it was days like this where she felt the most relaxed to be on her own. Unfortunately, that feeling of ease didn't last long when she got out to dry off. When she wiped her hand across the foggy mirror, she noticed a small shimmer of light on her arm. She turned her head to see that the shine had come from the small charm on the silver bracelet Bakugo had given her. She eyed the small skull charm closely, still amazed that she had gone this long without ever taking it off. The heaviness lingering inside her chest became unwielding the longer she stared at it.

Angrily, she bit down on her lip and went to reach for the latch to undo it, but somehow, for some reason, she stopped. She should've taken it off sooner, then it wouldn't have been this hard to get rid of. Even though he was a jerk most of the time, this gift was one of the nicest things he could've done for her.

"God dammit..." she muttered under her breath as she clenched her fingers into a fist and pulled her hand away. Why did it have to be this hard? What was worse, continuing to wear it or taking it off? She tried to find some solace by gazing at her own reflection in the place she wiped off the cloudy mirror. Unfortunately, her bloodshot, baggy eyes only made her feel worse. She looked like hell, seriously. At some point, she'll have to get a nap in and try to bring this ugliness down a notch. She might not be sick, but she definitely looked like it. That's what happens when you stay up all night trying not to cry.

When she finished drying her hair off with the towel, she changed back into her lounging clothes and walked back to her room. She tossed the used towel in the dirty hamper near the wall and bent down to her private drawer to pull out her sketch book and pencil. As always, drawing was her best solution to all these annoying, depressing thoughts. Akane sat back down on her bed and began to flip through the pages of the book. It had been a while since she worked on her graphic novel because of school shit, so now was the perfect time to catch up and get it going again. Once the storyline was set, then it was time to draw out the scenes and maybe go back in with some colored paints and pens. It was a long process, but nevertheless, it was something she enjoyed. Right when she got close to the last page, she paused when she caught glimpse of an old sketch. Her eyes lowered when she noticed that it was Bakugo's character, the dragon tamer.

She immediately flipped the page and found another one, only this was the new version of his character she'd been working on since Christmas, complete with all the changes he asked her to make. So fucking aggravating... Again, she turned the page and finally relieved at the sight of a blank sheet of paper. With the pencil in her hand, she began to drag it across the sheet. Mark after mark, she made, not really caring about the details of the shape, only focusing on the feeling of graphite to paper. She erased the messy bits that didn't line up and brushed it off with her hand, then went back over to add the shading. After a while, she paused to take a distant look at her progress, but when she did, she felt her stomach churn with sorrow. Instead of scenes for the story she planned to work on, she drew her knight character walking beside the dragon tamer in an open field on a mountain top, extending her arm out to reach for his hand. Bakugo's character had looked over his shoulder, just now noticing the sweet gesture and blushing like a flustered mess. Damn it! This had nothing to do with the storyline! Why was she drawing this?! If the image wasn't such a painful arrow through the heart, she'd actually think it was kind of cute. Now she was getting pissed off at herself.

Furiously, she fought with all her might to bury those thoughts deep down in her mind and start over on another blank page. No way was she going to let this shit get in the way of her favorite hobby! Her drawing tool marked all across the white canvas, taking a new form. Sadly, her hand couldn't follow through with her own command and ended up creating another image of them, this time they were fighting together on a battlefield.

'What the fuck, Akane?!' she cursed at herself. It's like the universe is constantly throwing him back in her face!

She nearly ripped the page out trying to turn it to start over again. Shortly after, she made another picture, and this one they were eating and drinking together at a pub. And then another, and another. In a fit, she tossed the pencil and book across the bed and buried her head in her pillow. This was awful. Why couldn't she just draw what she needed to draw? This was something that never happened before and she couldn't understand it. She always drew the things she wanted and they always turned out fine...

She quietly sighed. Maybe that was it... She still wanted to know what it could've been like to be by Bakugo's side as his friend... No, not his friend... Not anymore.

No longer able to contain her own desires, Akane let out a groan and gave in to defeat. She pushed off the pillow and gazed down at her mess. She picked up the sketchpad and her pencil once again before taking another glance at the last drawing she made. This one in particular stood out the most, for their characters weren't exactly the same anymore. Their armor was gone and replaced with normal clothing, there wasn't any fantastical dragons or magic, nothing like that. No, this one was just her and Bakugo... with her eyes closed, kissing him on the lips. In that moment, she thought about what it would've been like to actually feel that. Would he reciprocate, like she made him seem in her drawing? Probably not... but a girl can dream, can't she? Getting over this wasn't going to be easy; it was definitely going to take some time. She swallowed her repressed emotions back down inside her, where they belonged and exhaled.

"I'll draw until I stop thinking about you..."

Bakugo tapped his finger repeatedly across his folded arms as he glared at the double doors. Where the hell was she? It's been almost a half hour past training time and she still hadn't shown up. He stood there thinking back to the days that she was scheduled to have counseling at this time, and he knew that today wasn't one of them. Did the teacher make her stay after class or something? Was she in detention? Perhaps she was off causing some trouble somewhere. If that was the case, she definitely didn't seem like the type. Even so, she could've at least said something about it so they wouldn't have to wait this long. Anxiously, he reached into his pocket to check his phone. He sent her a quick text to check in and make sure nothing came up and waited. Another five minutes had passed and still nothing. Every second that ticked on by, Katsuki grew even more irate. This was getting ridiculous!

A growl rolled down his throat as he continued to stare at the doors. "What the hell is taking her so damn long?"

"I don't know. She doesn't have counseling today, does she?" asked Shishida, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Sato, fiddling with his half-empty water bottle.

"No, she only has that on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now that you mention it, I didn't see her at breakfast this morning, did you?" Sugar Freak turned to Bakugo

"... No, I didn't."

He wouldn't say it out loud, but now he was getting a little skeptical. Since he thought of it, it was pretty peculiar the way she left in such a hurry the other night. Maybe something happened and she didn't think to tell anyone, like always. He went to check his phone again. Another five minutes had gone away, wasted. Geez... what's going on? He decided to check her social media profile for any indication to the reason of her absence, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary, aside from the dumb videos that everyone had seen and shared at least a hundred times over. The bubble next to her name showed that she wasn't active on the chat. Then again, that's how it always was. As far as he noticed, she wouldn't really be on unless she was ready to talk, and even then, you'd have to send the first message. She was usually consistent at answering her texts, so her lack of response only made it that more unusual. His thumb hovered over the phone icon just above her name, contemplating clicking it to call her when out of nowhere Sato's phone dinged.

"Hey, guys, I just got a text from Hattori. She says she's sick, so she's not gonna come to training today."

"What?" Bakugo's brow creased in disbelief. What the hell? She seemed fine the other day, at least until she left... But why didn't she text him about that? He literally just messaged her a second ago and instead she responded to Sato? What gives? He checked his phone again to see if he got a reply. Still nothing. What the hell? It's not like he wouldn't understand. If she was really sick, he wouldn't give a shit. Maybe she thought he'd get all mad about it and lecture her for being so weak and careless about her health, but even still, being sick isn't something to joke about, at least not for him. It's not like it matters that much, but ... She still could've told him about it.

"Is she okay?" Shishida asked sympathetically.

"She says she's staying in bed all day. If she doesn't get better, she might not come tomorrow either."

"Well, I hope she does. Our next group test is this Friday. We need to make sure she's ready so we'll all pass."

"We can check up on her when we get back to the dorm. But what should we do now?" Sato asked as he went to put away his phone. Shishida held a finger to his chin to think about it.

"We could go over her improvements for the essay."

Bakugo only scoffed at that lame suggestion. It sounded like a lot of work doing nothing, and he hated the idea of sitting for another hour and a half for something he could knock out in twenty minutes. He needed to move around more or he'd get jittery and restless. This sucks. He was looking forward to spar today, but guess it couldn't be helped. If she wasn't going to show up, then there was no point in him sticking around. Reaching down, he snatched up his bag and threw it over his shoulder. Without a word, he started to walk off towards the double doors.

"Bakugo, where're you going?" Shishida asked.

"If she's not gonna bother coming, I'm not gonna waste my time. I'm gonna go train on my own. You extras do whatever you want."

Before they could get another word in to try and reason with him, he shoved the door open and left. Sato and Shishida both turned towards each other, both unsure about going after him or giving up on their group time altogether. It wasn't much of a session if half the group wasn't there. Still... if he wanted to train, they could've done so together, but that was Bakugo for you, always wanting to do things for himself. In the time Sato spent being his classmate, he figured it was best to just let him be.

As soon as Bakugo bolted out of the building, he lowered his pace to a steady walk until he was back on the sidewalk. He put his hands in his pockets to keep them warm from the bitter cold. As he did so, his fingers grazed the edge of his phone, which made him think back to Hattori. Something didn't feel right about that whole situation. Just - why did it have to be Sato? He thought he made it clear that she could message him whenever she wanted and he wouldn't care. And what about the evaluation book? He said he'd bring it for her to use for that stupid essay. If she needed it, why didn't she text him about it yet? If she asked, he probably would've made the effort to bring it to her or at least give it to Uraraka. If she really was sick, he secretly hoped it wasn't too bad. He quickly shook his head, knowing damn well he was just overthinking things, as before. It's probably nothing more than a small cold. She'll more likely be better by tomorrow and he can give her the book then.

With that settled, he figured he'd go ahead and make his plans for the rest of the week. No doubt it'd be full of studying. The teachers pushed the monthly evaluations to this week to make room to study for the final exams next week. Oh yea, the guys planned that study session this Friday, didn't they? Well, not so much planned, more like forced, but what else was new? And they just kept on testing him, always backing him into a corner with their series of annoying questions. He hated it when they did that crap! Why did it have to be him to be asked such personal shit? Didn't he make it clear that he didn't want people to know him like that? Any small thing they found out, they ended up using it against him, like how they got him to play the drums in that show for the school festival last year. If not that, then they'd end up picking on him for it. Like hell, he'd want to go through that shit again!

And then they just had to start talking about that fucking holiday! What's so great about Valentine's Day anyways? All it is is just a big fat reminder that no one wanted to be around him. For everyone else, it was an excuse to get fat eating a fuck ton of chocolate, and he wasn't having any of that. He hated sweets. If by some random chance he did end up getting a confession letter, he'd only end up hurting their feelings. Now wasn't the right time for dating and shit anyways. Things like that would only get in the way of his hero training. And it's not like he'd want to deal with some emotionally weak idiot crying in front of him. If that happened, people would only think of him as more of a jerk than he already was, and he really didn't want that, so there was no point in getting involved in that stuff.

Even if he wanted to, he wasn't very good at expressing his emotions. Whenever he tried to show that he gave a damn about something, people always took it the wrong way and thought he was being an asshole. He wasn't an asshole, he just aggressively cared and showed it the only way he knew how. He couldn't help that it including yelling and using lots of curse words. Besides, it's not like he grew up in a super affectionate house... Though sometimes, listening in on those rumors, their words would stick with him and he wouldn't stop thinking about until he eventually believed it. No one ever chose to stay beside him, at least not very long. His old "friends" made that crystal clear the last time they spoke, before he never saw them again. Since then, he's been slowly working on it, trying to better himself when he's around others. Some days though can be really tough to fight it, like with that idiot Monoma around or when people were being too nosy in his business, so he decided it was best to just keep people at arms length. Then they'd never get close and it wouldn't suck so hard when they left.

He needed to stop thinking about that shit. If he kept on, it'd only make him doubt himself and then he'd get depressed and anxious about it. Why couldn't Kirishima and Sparkplug pester him about the damn study session instead?! Sure, it was boring as fuck, but it was better than thinking about this shit. His mind began to drift, wondering what Hattori was doing right now. Sato said she'd be in bed all day, so that's probably what she was doing. Not that he gave a shit about it, but if Hattori had shown up to practice, he might've offered her to come to the study session if she wanted. Those two idiots wouldn't have cared either way. Knowing Kaminari, he'd never turn down a chance to spend time with a girl. That'd be the only time he'd ever get in his desperate life. And Kirishima never had objections when it came to hanging out with a lot of friends. Would she feel better by then?

Even though she was in the lower hero level, she definitely wasn't the moron in her class. If anything, she could show them a thing or two in the study session. Maybe she could even word it in a way they could understand, so he wouldn't have to deal with the headache of trying to explain himself all the time. No, it wasn't because he wanted her to come! Having her around was just a deterrent, to get those two idiots off his back. With her around, they wouldn't bother him so damn much! Yea, he'll go with that... That's why.

Would she even want to though? It's not like he can force her. I mean, he could, but not legally. He thought back to the last time he saw her; it was back at the gym and something about it bothered him. When she came out of the locker room, the look on her face was so distraught, almost as if she was in pain, and the way she rushed off like that- something was clearly wrong. Did she hurt herself getting the towels? Or saw something bad that she wasn't supposed to see? Maybe she felt like she was going to be sick and was too embarrassed to stay in case she ended up hurling. That didn't seem right since the locker room had restroom stalls in it. He should've asked, but he just didn't know... Maybe he should've followed her to make sure she was okay. That's probably why she's sick right now.

Suddenly, that question appeared again, speaking to him. 'Who do you have a crush on?' Where in the hell did they get an idea like that? They weren't that observant, so how did-? Oh crap! Bakugo stopped in his tracks and straightened his back when it clicked.

'She didn't hear me, did she?'

If that was true, then did she leave because she was upset? Did that mean she might... like him? He didn't even realize how sweaty his palms just got until they started detonating on their own. His entire face now felt like it was on fire. No, she couldn't! No one could stand being around him for more than a day, let alone like him! Not that she was out of his league or anything, but why him of all people? That didn't seem right at all!

With a sigh, he forced himself to relax his shoulders and wiped the sweat off his hands. He was overthinking again. In what universe would that actually happen? This was all so stupid. Even if she did, it's not like it would matter... After having his fair share of girlfriends in junior high, he decided that dating was too much trouble. Of course, being the popular guy that he was, he got all kinds of love letters and admiration, but it none of them genuinely knew anything about him. All they gave a damn about was his awesome quirk. He'll admit, he didn't mind showing off from time to time, but he didn't want it to be about his quirk all the time. Often times, he desired to sit and actually hold a conversation with a girl, to share some of the things they liked, and go out to do the things other typical couples do, like see a movie, hold hands or some shit. Sadly, every time he held a chick's hand, he'd get all nervous and sweaty and that always led to him accidentally triggering his quirk. And when that happened, they'd complain and call him a jerk, thinking he did it on purpose. If it wasn't the hand thing, it was the same shit that happened with his last group of friends, where he made them do whatever he wanted without considering some of the things they wanted to do. Looking back on it now, that was pretty selfish of him. At that point, they'd end up fighting until he'd get tired of it and dump the bitch. After dealing with that more times than he cared to count, he finally stopped dating altogether. So how would being with Hattori be any different?

Geez, how is it that she's not even here and yet she's been the biggest distraction for him all day? And it wasn't just today. Yesterday, he couldn't focus in class at all, or pay attention to discussion of the new students coming in to Class C; hell, he couldn't even do his homework properly, or count the reps for his workouts. For some reason, his thoughts always kept drawing back to Hattori, and he fucking hated it! He kept trying to convince himself that it was nothing, that she was nothing, and it's just a stupid crush that he'll get over soon, and that's exactly what he was doing right now. This time, he was going to utilize the time he wasted waiting on her dumbass to take off and go blow up a bunch of shit. No matter what pointless, lovey-dovey crap goes through his head, Bakugo was determined to get himself back on track.

With his winter sports clothes already on, he turned off the sidewalk across the grass and into the forest line. He headed towards his favorite spot, the one he used go to before he started this training. Since all the other groups were inside the other gyms taking up space, he figured it was best to stay outside for the time being. It didn't matter if he was still cold as hell, he figured he could use the fresh air and some peace and quiet. He really needed it. Of course, he could've gone back to the dorms and use that gym instead, but nobody would be there, except maybe Hattori, and she was sick. Also, the very idea of being alone with her in an entire building made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. There was a slim chance that some of the groups finished by now, but he still didn't want to chance it. Besides, it'd been a long time since he finally let loose on his own; he had to be sure his Howitzer blast was still effective.

Damn it! He was doing it again!

Angrily, he pinched his legs through his pant pockets to use the pain as a deterrent. It helped, but not much. With all his might, he forced himself to look ahead, past the leafless trees to something else. Somehow, seeing nature always seemed to make him feel relaxed. He didn't know why, he just did. Several steps later, he came upon a small clearing, where he used his explosions to knock down the trees. Among the many that toppled over, one tree managed to stay standing to this day with one giant, massive gash near the base. Once his eyes found that wound he made that's when he knew he made it. No one would bother him this far out, except maybe the border patrol. Great. Time to get to work.

Several hours later...

Bakugo slammed his bedroom door open and threw his backpack across the room in a fit. Thank God there wasn't anything worth a damn inside it, or else it'd be smashed by now. After closing the door behind him, he leaned against the frame and huffed a groan in frustration. He did what he set out to do, he trained until it felt like his arms were about to fall off. The tips of his fingers were still trembling from the extensive damage done to his nerves, which wasn't a big deal because that's how he usually did it before, but that wasn't what was bothering him so much. He did what he thought he needed to do to get his mind off of shit, but he wasn't successful. It started out okay at first; he would imagine the free-standing trees as if they were each one of his enemies and he would obliterate it like it was nothing. He imagined the villains who captured him at camp, the sludge villain and his foul, gooey tentacles, that dickhead Monoma and every person who ever criticized him or his fighting skills... Soon after, those images started to get even more personal. He started to visualize his old friends back in Junior High, his classmates and Deku, his parents... even All Might. When he saw his number one hero, that's when the explosions started to fade and left him questioning what he was doing. Have all the choices he made up until this point to keep everyone away, was that really the right thing to do? When he was younger, he was so self-righteous that at some point, he just stopped caring about everyone else, including the people he should've made an effort to keep close. He thought he was so amazing that he just assumed there would always be someone else to come along to admire and stay beside him, but that just wasn't the case and that was the painful truth. So he ended up pushing his friends away, his family, even the man who risked his life to save him, the man he respected most and hoped to be just like one day all because he didn't want to feel that awful truth again.

But then the image of All Might changed into Hattori... Seeing her made him want to set the whole forest on fire and everything in it, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it. The sparks disappeared from his aching hands and he decided to end training.

His shoulders slumped as he eased off the door and stepped into the room. He stripped off his thick jacket and tossed it on the bed before he sat down on the edge and ran his fingers through his hair. How much longer was he going to have to deal with this? It didn't take this long to get over a damn crush before. Nothing he did was working. Damn Hattori and her pretty face!

Wait! Pretty? Since when did he start thinking she was pretty?!

'Fuuuuuuuuuck!' he internally screamed at himself as a few small pops combusted in the palms of his hand. He immediately winced at the sharp pain in his forearms. Once he felt the pain from a small blast, he knew he needed to lay off his quirk for a while. A moment went by with him trying to get himself together and calm the fuck down. As much as he hated to admit it, he could probably stand to like her just one more day. It's not like she knew or liked him back. He didn't have time to do anything about it anyways, even if he wanted to, and he sure as hell didn't! But for now, he needed to stop trying so hard or else he'd kill over on these sheets.

Bakugo turned on his bed towards the headboard to gaze at the small shelves he placed above it. He installed it back when they first moved into the dorms and it was a lot less annoying than assembling a giant bookshelf. There were a few open mantles where he kept his alarm clock, his very expensive camera, and some of his personal knick-knacks, but at the bottom was a much larger compartment, covered by two little wooden doors and a lock. With his hands, he felt underneath the wooden cabinet until he felt his fingers graze over the hidden latch, and with a small flick, the lock was open. He pulled the handles to the small doors and there it was, his best kept secret, the one thing he vowed never to show anyone in the entire world, not to his parents, or even his best friend. No one knew about it and that's how it was supposed to be. If anyone saw this, they would never look at him the same way again, as shameful and degrading as it was. There, sitting in that compartment was his entire collection of romance books. He trailed his fingers along the spines, browsing which one he'd want to read again.

Some of these were the first few books he came across back in Junior High. When he dated one of those girls, he remembered how much they always talked nonstop about these damn love stories. Eventually, when things started to go south with his girlfriend, he actually bought one on a whim as a way of making up to her, but she already had it and they ended up breaking up that same day, so he just threw it on his bookshelf and never got around to throwing it away. When he was cleaning his room one day, he found it again and curiously wanted to see what was so great about these dumb books and astonishingly, they weren't that bad. Soon after, he was hooked. He didn't know why he liked it. Maybe it was seeing what kind of lengths people are willing to go through to show trust or honor. Like he mentioned before, he didn't exaclty grow up in an affectionate house. What was it about holding someones hand or giving them a small smile that made them feel so weak and powerful at the same time? Why did these characters put themselves through hell just to be with someone? He didn't know, but he wanted to. Somehow, those stories enticed him to read more and more, but then he remembered that he had a reputation to protect. He was supposed to be this badass, amazingly strong, tough guy at school. He knew he couldn't let anyone see him reading that shit. How could anyone think of him that way if they knew he was into that kind of stuff? They definitely wouldn't think he was very intimidating then. If they started picking on him, it would be much worse, so whenever he went out with his friends, he would try to secretly slip off and buy more books. Morosely, he only managed to get this many before his friends started to catch on to his weird behavior. Thankfully nowadays, most of these mangas can be read online for free and are updated frequently, so he no longer has to worry about anyone catching him buying this genre. Still, the romantic love stories he kept around, he still enjoyed reading them.

When his finger stopped at a book he desired, he pulled it out from it's slot, took his most comfortable spot on the bed, and opened it up to read. He was probably being a huge ironic asshole for doing this, reading about love stories to try and stop thinking about doing it in real life, but he figured that if he re-read some of the major obstacles in the story, that he would think twice about love and dating. This was the perfect one to do it. This female main character loved a man for all he was worth and ended up getting betrayed. That's the part that people don't like to see, the dark side of romance, where even if you put all your heart and soul invested in this one person, eventually it was all wasted because you were too blind to see that they were just stringing you along from the start. They never really returned that love and it all becomes a big sham. Then you're left there sad and alone, ashamed in yourself for being played like a clown. Deep down, Bakugo knew this scenario was right for him. It's not like marriage never crossed his mind; it did once or twice. He still longed to find peace, to feel what they felt, and find comfort knowing that he wasn't alone in this forsaken world, but that kind of life wasn't really suited for someone like him. To everyone, he's an asshole who will always be an asshole. No one would ever choose to stay beside him, even if he tried to make that happen. He built up so many walls around him that anyone who tries to knock it down, he lashes out with that fear and quickly replaces it with a new one. It only made sense that they wouldn't want to stay. Who'd want to deal with that all the time? Maybe they were right about him being an asshole... he deserved that title. If that was to be the case, then he needed to go back to focussing on being Number One. By then, the people would love him again for his power, determination, and skill.

And Hattori... She'll be just like the rest of them, so there's no point in letting these feelings take over. It won't mean anything once she sees who he truly is. She'll end up leaving like the rest of them.

'She'll probably end up dating someone by the end of the week anyways...'