The next morning was awful, I was anxious and nervous to meet with Bakugou, but I said I would, and I didn't like to lie. So, as soon as I'd gotten breakfast, I was out the door, heading to the train station to find Bakugou waiting, his spiky blonde hair unique even in a city of mutant-type quirks and odd haircuts.
"It's about time you got here, I've been waiting for an hour," Bakugou grumbled, looking pissed off.
I raised an eyebrow at him, too tired for his crap "You know what time I get here, so you only have yourself to blame."
"That's not the point." His voice was almost a growl, but so far, he hadn't yelled.
I waited next to him, he'd asked me to talk, and he could be responsible for figuring out the conversation.
"Dammit, can't you make this easy? I'm trying to be nice De-" He caught himself, about to call me Deku. At least he was trying.
I loved this exchange. For once, I wasn't defending myself. I had all the power. "Easy? If you have something to say, then say it, but It's not my job to make things easy for you."
Silence fell over us until the train came, the two of us standing next to each other for a while. Was this it? An awkward exchange, and then we just said nothing?
"I'm sorry." His words were sudden, without warning, not quite reaching my ears.
I turned my head to look at him. He had my attention now. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry, Midoriya." He told me, and he really did look it.
"I don't forgive you," I told him, turning away, ready to move further away, but he grabbed my shoulders, spinning me until I was facing him.
"No, you don't understand. I'm sorry for being an asshole, and it wasn't because you were quirkless. I was mad that you were always looking down on me." As he spoke, I let his words wash over me.
"I didn't look down on you, I wanted to be treated like an equal. I didn't follow you around because you were some amazing and powerful person, I liked you, Bakugou. I was coming into my own feelings and just wanted the hottest guy in class to look at me like I was human."
"I like you too." He told me, his gruffness gone and his voice a little hopeful. It'd been so long since I'd seen him like this.
I was angry and a little sad. He was too late for just an apology, and I wasn't going to let all the years of pain slide.
"I'm sorry, Bakugou, but maybe when you make an effort to be better, then we can talk about moving past this, maybe be friends." I wasn't stupid, but I pressed my lips to his, and I felt how soft they were before pulling away.
"Remember what you could have had if you were a little nicer."
The train came to stop, and I got off, heading to English. My morning classes were going slow, still focused on that train ride, and the fact that my first kiss was just thrown away so unceremoniously, but after a lunch with Iida and Uraraka, the class I'd been looking forward to the most here.
"Basic hero training! Oh man, this is gonna be good!" I couldn't contain all my excitement, some of it spilling out as we heard All Might from the hall.
"I have," and he paused before coming through the door. "Come through the door like normal!" Even though he was standing in the door in a weird position.
I was more focused on what he was wearing, taking in the details of his silver age costume and listening to him tell us that we were going to change into our costumes and go to ground beta.
I opened my case, staring at my costume with a smile. My mom had spent so much on this costume, based on a sketch I'd made. This was the most valuable thing I owned, more than my set of All Mights boots with a certificate of authenticity.
In the locker room, I could hear my classmates talking, one in particular talking about the assets of the girls he wanted to peek at the most.
"Can't you have a little bit of self-respect?" I asked, slipping on my costume and making sure it fit properly.
"Woah, Midoriya, where'd you get your costume?" The only redhead in class asked, watching me put my mask on.
"My mom got it for me as a gift for making it into U.A." I replied, pride in my voice as I noticed the head of spiky blonde hair in the mirror across from me.
"That's manly as hell, dude!" He cheered, and I was left a little confused as he gave me a high-five before he left, wearing what I could only describe as vest-less sleeves made out of gears. It looked cool as hell, though, catching up so we could chat as we made our way to ground beta.
Two vs two indoor battles, each of us would be villains and heroes teams.
"First up are these!" All Might yelled, sticking his hands in two containers, one marked villain, the other hero, and pulling out two balls with letters.
"The heroes are Team A! The villains are Team D!" He announced, and I couldn't have put it anymore poetic than that.
"The villain team goes in first! The timer starts in five minutes when the hero team sneaks in. The rest of you will watch via cctv!" All Might informed us, and I looked to my partner, Uraraka, giving her a big smile.
Once we studied the buildings' blueprints, we talked a little bit, and Uraraka asked me about Bakugou.
"Bakugou's the one who keeps trying to bully you, right?" She asked, and I wondered how many times I'd have to have this conversation.
"Yeah. He may be a jerk, but he's amazing. His goals, his confidence, his quirk control, his willpower. All of it surpasses me in every way." A short pause, adjusting my mask. "But that's why I don't wanna lose to him!"
I was determined to win, I knew how he'd fight me, how I'd need to be on my toes. But I had a plan.
As soon as time was up for the villains to prepare, I picked up Uraraka and lifted her to the roof, my legs aching a little, but I'd been training hard.
"I'm going back to the bottom floor. Odds are that only one of them is guarding the bomb. Probably Iida, but be prepared to dodge Bakugou. His close range attacks are no joke. We'll sweep the floors, but odds are that the bomb is somewhere around the middle floors." I told her, offering my fist to her with a smile.
She bumped mine back, and I wondered if she could see my smile, but I liked hers. It was cute. Then I felt stupid for thinking that in the middle of a training exercise.
"We're gonna win because we're a team." She told me, and I watched her head tilt slightly before I felt goosebumps on my arm, pulling her out of the way of an explosion.
"Get the bomb. If you can, use stealth and win this quickly." I told her, half my mask burned off, but I didn't let that kill my smile.
"Right! Good luck, Midoriya." She told me, running to the roof entrance while Bakugou and I stared one another down.
"You come here often, or didja make the trip just to see me?" I quipped, my feet shoulder width apart to allow for easy movement and a solid base to attack and defend from, my elbows tucked in to allow straighter punches and protect from body strikes, my hands were a little higher with my palms facing outwards. Just like my sensei had taught me.
"You know why I'm here, Midoriya." Bakugou told me, getting ready to lunge at me.
"Yeah. All of our issues, and of the pain and hurt, we settle it here." I replied, my feet moving before I could think, Bakugou launching himself at me, the two of us ready to strike before our fist collided, and I sent him backwards, over the side of the roof. It took everything I had to overpower him, jumping after him.
"You won't get away that easy villain! I won't let you hurt anyone else!" I called, playing into the role as I caught him, holding him to me before I punched downwards, just before he hit the ground, and we went tumbling, my grip on him.
"That's where you're wrong, hero! I'm gonna beat you!" He yelled, playing his role with an actual smile, and I felt my heart flutter a little.
"Uraraka, I've got one of the villains outside the building. It's up to you to diffuse the bomb." I told her, letting go of my communication device and looking at Bakugou.
"Come on, Kacchan, don't leave me waiting!" I screamed, feeling a warm, powerful feeling inside me as we looked at each other before he made the first move, blasting himself at me quickly.
"You asked for it, Deku!"
(lol, cliffhanger)