Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Living in a world with soulmates is… interesting to say the least.

The strings showed up at different times, seemingly random. Some saw their strings before they even presented the concept of love, others saw their strings on their deathbeds, though those are extreme cases. But only those two people could see their strings. Only they knew that they had found their other piece.

She dreamed of finding her person, imagining what it would feel like to have the string tug at her pinky to the person she was destined for. Who it would lead to, how they would meet.

Attending one of the best high schools in the country was no easy feat, but she managed. Even though she didn't make it into the hero course, she was proud of her accomplishment of making it into the General Ed course. Yet she would always get lost in her own little world, thinking about the imaginary string on her finger, wondering when it would appear. Romance books were hidden in her backpack as she imagined different scenarios and timelines, hoping and waiting.

Her first year was full of excitement, of a new school and environment, so many new people. Maybe she would meet them here, among the different students and classes. Some people made a small impression, others faded from her nightly daydream before sleep as quickly as they appeared.

There was only one boy who made his appearance known, who stuck with her.

Bakugo Katsuki.

She saw him at her first sports festival. It was a series of different games and challenges, to see who would come out on top. Students from all departments are allowed to participate, and it is a chance for heroes in training to show off what they can do for Pro Heroes in the audience, to increase their chances of possible internships or recruitment, as well as for students from the Support and Business courses to promote their support items and further develop their business sense, respectively. When she first entered the arena, she was in awe of everything she saw. She was buzzing with excitement to compete with the different classes along with her fellow classmates and friends.

She heard him before she saw him.

“I pledge… that I'll be number one.”

An uproar from the students below brought her attention to one of the large screens of the arena, where she saw a boy with spiky blonde hair and red eyes. People from the stands cheered and some booed, it was chaos.

But oh, he was gorgeous.

After seeing his performance at the festival, she began noticing him in school. In the hallways, in the lunch room, while she was walking to class she heard explosions from the training area sometimes and would wonder if he was training. He began to be the only one on her mind for a while…

About two years went by as she admired him from afar, watching and admiring him with every event the school held and through every hero headline. They moved into the dorms sometime between the years. She sometimes saw him while walking around the campus, with a few of his friends from 1-A. She never thought she had a chance, that her chance of becoming his friend was as good if not worse than her chances of meeting All Might.

One night as she read through her latest book, she began to feel dizzy, disoriented. She decided maybe she should go to sleep to feel better, after all she had been staying up late these past few nights.

Sleep wasn't much help that night, tossing and turning, weird dreams and places. She woke up in a sweat, groaning softly. Ugh, she felt so icky, she definitely needed a shower before heading to class. She sat up, groaning softly as she kicked off the sheets that felt like they were suffocating her. She grabbed her phone, checking the time…

School starts in five minutes.

Her eyes widened as she rushed to get ready. “Shit!” she hissed as she changed. Forget the shower, she didn't have time, she would just have to get ready. She quickly sprayed her hair with a little water, and put some gel before tying it back. She frowned at her ponytail’s unevenness, but had no time to redo it. She stuffed her books into her bag and raced out of her dorm.

She raced through hallways, up stairs, to finally arrive at class five minutes late. She panted softly as she set her bag down and quickly began writing notes. That's when she noticed the soft red glow on her pinky and gasped softly.

Her soulmate string!

She waited until lunch to follow the string and see who it led to. Maybe they were in the support course? Or visiting from a different school? Maybe-

She froze as she saw him. Bakugo.

He was her soulmate? Him? Her heart began to race. Maybe she had a little luck on her side after all, if the universe paired her with someone like him. He slowly feels a tug on his pinky and looks at her. She looks at him, waiting for a reaction…

Only to see him scoff. He grabs his snack and turns away, walking to the lunch hall. Her shoulders sag, her excited expression faltering. He… was disappointed, wasn't he? Her heart squeezed at that as she walked dejectedly back to her class to pick up her lunch, forgotten in the hurry to find her soulmate… who didn't even want her.

The string faded at the revelation.

Days passed, and she grew more hopeless with each one. At first she thought, ‘maybe he’ll come around? Maybe he was just in shock? Maybe-’

But with each excuse she found herself losing hope for herself, and the string dimmed more and more. He never came to speak to her, never tried to acknowledge her even. She lay at night, imagination lost, because she could no longer imagine her soulmate loving her at all. Was she really that bad?

She stopped waiting. Stopped hoping for the love she knew wouldn't come from him. And the string turned a dark grey.

One night, while a rainstorm raged outside, she lay in her bed observing the string that had first glowed a bright red, now fading deeper and deeper into a black. She teared up as she looked at the faded string, no longer flickering and trying to connect back to the red it had been. It had given up trying, just like she had.

“Why have a soulmate… if they don't even want you?” she murmured into the silence of her room. She glanced over at her desk and hesitated before picking up the scissors that looked so tempting, so promising.

With trembling hands, she opened the blades, sharp, promising a clean cut. As the metal touched the string, a sharp pain struck her chest as she cried out and fell to the floor. She hissed at the pain, glancing again at the string that faded to a deep black now. She glared at it, a source of suffering and hatred, turmoil in her life.

Cutting it would be worth the pain. She would be free of it, of him, surely he wouldn't mind, he didn't even want her. She tried and tried multiple times, each time another sharp pain in her chest. As she was about to try again, a loud knock sounded at her door.

“Open up you fucking extra!”

Chapter Text

Bakugo had always been one to pride himself on his accomplishments and abilities.

He was accepted into one of the most prestigious hero schools in the country (when he found out that Deku did too he was less than pleased at first, but has accepted it over the years). He has a balanced schedule between studying, training, when those extras drag him away to “hang out”, and still manages to get into bed by 8:30. Not to mention his quirk, which has kept his head held high since he was a child. There’s only one idea he cannot seem to settle with.

Soulmates.

He wakes up every day, terrified he might see his soulmate string attached to his pinky. He’s not ready for the attachment, the feelings, the confrontation of old wounds buried far below that he doesn't want to acknowledge for long. He needs to focus on becoming the best hero, and if he gets his soulmate string right now, he won’t be able to focus on his dreams and aspirations, too caught up in whatever they want or whoever they are. They would be a distraction, a setback.

That’s why he hopes he gets it when he’s eighty.

…it’s possible, he read it from the news one time he swears.

He was able to clear about two years at UA without getting his string. Thankfully, because what the hell had the villains been on lately? Attacking them everywhere all the time. They move into the dorms eventually, which is torture and relieving. He gets his own room, his own space, gets to manage it however he wants to whenever he would like. It's a breath of fresh air. However, he does also have to deal with the stupid extras he calls classmates a bit more often, but its tolerable for now.

But now hes even more terrified to get that stupid string. If its someone at school, in his own class, he’ll have to avoid them like the plague. He prays for them to be on the other side of the world, somewhere far, far away…

But of course, the universe doesn’t give a shit about what you want.

It starts on a random Tuesday.

He’s hanging out with the usual extras, at some random arcade, when he begins to feel off. His head began to hurt, he felt dizzy and tired. They headed back to the dorms and he went up to his room to go to sleep. He did not want to get sick a few weeks before the sports festival, it was one of the only school events he genuinely looked forward to. Plus, he still had much training to do with some of his new moves.

That night, he dreamt of a weird collage of things. Different animals, symbols, places, people. He kept looking for someone in a frantic panic, shouting a name he knew nothing of and did not recognize in his conscious mind.

He woke up in a cold sweat.

Bakugo looked around his room, then at his phone. He still had ten minutes before his alarm goes off. He groans and lays back down. Exhaustion still fills his body and mind, the sleep did nothing to ease his tiredness. He tries to remember his dream, but he cannot recall anything about it. When his alarm finally sounds, he’s annoyed because he finally was falling back asleep and the stupid time is up already??

He groans as he drags himself from bed, walking to the bathroom to start his day, even if he feels like shit.

He grabbed his toothbrush when he noticed-

No. Nononono-

Why?

His soulmate string had shown up. Perfect. Just perfect.

He arrived at school more annoyed than usual. As he stormed into his class, the students inside tensed. Izuku opened his mouth for a question or greeting, but he couldn’t get either out before Bakugo barked out a sharp “shut up.”

The day went by slow. Too slow. He desperately wanted to go back to his dorm and lock himself up so he wouldn’t see his soulmate. He tried to ignore the string as much as he could, thinking maybe it was a prank or that it was a dream (sadly, it was not). Lunchtime came, and he somehow made it without blowing up someone’s head.

As he walked down an empty hallway, he stopped for a moment at a vending machine to grab a snack. That’s when he felt a gentle tug on his string. He looked up-

On the other end was his soulmate.

She stood at the end of the hallway, eyes wide, with a blush spreading over her cheeks. He froze. Today was not the day. He didn’t have the energy, the patience-

Plus who the hell is this chick? He’s never seen her before like at all?

Bakugo scoffs softly and grabs his snack before turning and heading to the lunch hall, desperate to get away from the confrontation of a fate he can no longer escape. She doesn’t follow, which he’s grateful for.

He doesn’t notice the dimmed light of the string.

Over the next few weeks, Bakugo’s slammed with exams, errands, and training for the sports festival. And on top of that, he’s avoiding his soulmate at all costs. He will not hesitate to do a complete 180 when he sees her. Not today, he is not dealing with this today.

Which is what he has said yesterday, and the day before that, everyday for the past month.

A day or two after he got the string, he was able to feel her feelings. Her slight pang of joy in the middle of the day, her small moments of anger, her disappointment when he turns away, her sadness well into the night. He looked into her a bit, discreetly asking Mina if she knew anything (“I-it’s recon for the sports festival!” he insisted). She had informed him that his soulmate was a General Ed student, and her quirk was hydrokinesis, but that's all she knew of her. With each little piece of the puzzle, he became more and more curious of who exactly she was, and why she was his soulmate. What made her so worthy of his attention?

He doesn’t notice how much the string dims until it turns a dark grey. He’s laying in bed one night, in the dark, looking at his string.

‘dark grey?’ he thinks. That’s weird. He swears it was red yesterday.

The weekend. Finally, a day to relax when he’s not running errands or training for the festival, he just gets to relax in his dorm, rewatching old All Might movies or analysis on some of All Might’s old cases.

He sat on the bed and pulled out his computer, scrolling through the video selections. Outside, the pitter patter of rain created a calm background noise, it was the perfect atmosphere for a nice warm tea and a movie.

Until he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Bakugo gasped as he held his chest. A heart attack? But he didn’t feel any pressure in his chest, so it couldn’t be.

That’s when he noticed the string turn black.

Shit, that can’t be good.

What is he supposed to do? What is she doing? Is she doing something to harm the string? He tries to feel her, to focus on anything that he has felt of their connection over the past month, but it's all a blur.

He tries to stand, but the pain is immense. He forces himself to get up and grab his hoodie, when the pain suddenly is cut off. He has to check on her. What if something happened? He raced out of his dorm, set on finding his soulmate. He races to the General Ed dorms, getting soaked, following his string to the correct building. Now, he’s starting to get worried because he can’t feel anything from the string.

He used to be able to feel some of her disappointment when he turned away. He can’t feel that anymore.

He could feel her sadness at midnight. He can’t feel it anymore.

He used to feel her. And now-

He can’t. It’s empty, numb.

He finally arrives at the correct building, soaked from the rain. He barges in and races up the stairs, trying to get closer. He feels another sharp pain and groans as he holds his chest. He bangs on the door, hoping it was his soulmate’s dorm and not some random person.

“Open up you fucking extra!”

When she opens the door, her eyes widen, surprised. Maybe it’s because he looks pissed, maybe it’s because he showed up near 11 o’clock at night on a Sunday, maybe it’s because he appeared at her dorm looking like a soaking wet dog. He glares at her. “What the fuck are you doing?!”
She looks tired, sad. She must have cried a lot last night. When he looks down in her hand-

Scissors?

“What?” She sneered.

“What are you doing?!” He takes the scissors away, afraid she would harm either one of them.
“Trying to cut the string, what else?!” She reaches up to take them back, only for him to keep them away.

Bakugo huffed. “What makes you think I'll let you do that?” He crosses his arms, a cold challenging frown on his face.

“The fact that you’ve avoided me for the past month and scoffed when you first saw me?” She rolled her eyes. “You obviously have some sort of dislike towards me.”

Ah, the consequences of his actions coming to kick him in the ass. How fitting. He huffs. “It’s complicated-”

“Complicated enough to make you ignore me and make me feel like you hate me?” She steps towards him. “Complicated enough to make me feel like a mistake? That I'm not good enough to be loved by my own soulmate? Because yeah, that does seem complicated.”

He hesitated a little, his aloof facade coming down a bit. “Listen uh…” he tries to remember her name, but it slips his mind. He clears his throat. “I'm not… I'm not ready to have my soulmate yet.” He says a little quieter, more vulnerable.

She froze at his confession, her face contorting in a myriad of emotion. “What do you mean?”
He looked at her, his face still in a frown but gentler than his usual snarl. “Im not ready to be held back by this yet. I still have so many things I want to achieve, and I can't afford to focus on distractions.”

“So I'm a distraction?” She teared up. Her eyebrows furrowed, showing her pain. “I'm a roadblock to your path of victory?”

Bakugo stays silent for a moment, contemplating his next words when the string suddenly pulsed black with the maelstrom of emotions from both of them, before they both felt a sharp pain again through their chest, though this time stronger. They fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

“What is happening?!” He groans, trying to hold back a cry from how painful it is. “What did you do?!”

He hears no answer to echo his. He looks over and sees how she lies unconsciously on the ground. A small panic ignites in his heart as he crawls over to her, calling her name frantically. When the pain finally dissipates, he picks her up.

“Cmon, we’re going to Recovery Girl.”

Chapter Text

“Coming, coming!” Chiyo Shuzenji says as she slowly rises from her bed. It’s almost midnight, and there’s someone banging at her door, awakening her from her slumber. She knew it must be important, and if it wasn’t, she’d be sure no one ever did it again.

She opened the door with a frown, ready to scold the person behind it, but she was astounded by the scene in front of her. Bakugo was carrying one of the general ed students in his arms, who looked to be unconscious. “Come inside, quick!” She ushered them in.

Recovery girl went to grab towels for them to dry off from the rain outside. “Good grief! What were you doing in that storm?” She scolded Bakugo as she handed him a towel and laid one on his companion.

“There’s something wrong with the-“ he paused and sighed, forcing the words from his mouth. “Our soulmate string.”

Recovery girl nodded and looked for a pulse on the girl. She would have make a teasing comment to the gruff boy that had stood at her doorway, soaked from rain to make sure his soulmate was alright, but now was not the right time. When she found the pulse, she relaxed as she began checking for any other physical injuries. “What seems to be the problem?”

“The string has turned black.” Bakugo murmured as he sat in a random chair. “I used to be able to feel some of her too, like her emotions and stuff, and now I can’t feel her at all.”

“Ah.” Recovery Girl tsked with a solemn reply. “That I cannot fix, but-”

“What?!” Bakugo yelped, worried at her response.

“Hush boy!” Recovery Girl shushed him. “No, I cannot fix it. It is not physical, it is more of a… soul connection that has to be fixed. Furthermore, I do not have experience when dealing with soulmate strings.”

Bakugo sighs, defeated. “How… how do we fix it then?” He begins feeling guilty. Maybe he should have talked to his soulmate a little more, maybe avoiding her wasn’t the best idea…

Barely been a month he’s had her and he already broke their connection. Yay.

“You should research with her more about your condition. With the internet, the information is at your fingertips. But if it goes further than that, you will have to see a specialist.” Recovery Girl looked at the General Ed student. “I am not sure if it can be fixed, or what will happen if it is not. So be very careful with each other for the moment.”

The girl began to stir, and Bakugo let out a sigh of relief. The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes as she looked around. “Where…”

“Here you go dear.” Recovery Girl handed her a water bottle. “Bakugo brought you to me after you fainted in your dorm. Would you like to let me know what happened?”

She drank a little of the water and paused for a moment. “Well, how much do you want to know?” She glanced briefly at Bakugo, then back down at her lap, contemplating how much she wanted to reveal in his presence. He frowned slightly, but chose not to comment.

“Whatever you are comfortable with.” Recovery girl said gently, offering a gentle smile.

She sighed. “Well, long story short, I tried to cut our soulmate string.” The girl murmured. “And now its black, and there was a sharp pain in my chest, and it seems he could feel it too, and the bond feels really weak because I can’t feel anything from his side anymore and-”

“Slow down dear, its alright.” Recovery Girl says softly, seeing the worry and stress from the girl. “Why don't you two go back to your dorms and get some sleep instead? It seems you have been through an emotional rollercoaster today.” She helps the girl get to her feet. “You two can come to my office tomorrow during lunch. I will do some research to help you both.”

The girl smiled, standing once again. “Thank you, Recovery Girl.” Bakugo nodded along, giving a small respectful bow. “Thanks…”

Luckily by that time, the rain had stopped.

Bakugo left first, er, tried too. When he was fifteen feet away, they both felt another sharp pain. Not as powerful, but it hurt. They hissed at the same time as Bakugo backed into Recovery Girl’s room again. Recovery Girl's face formed a worrisome expression as she observed, standing to help them.

“What the hell?” He groaned.

“What happened?” the girl began to stand again.

Recovery Girl’s eyebrows furrowed. “I assume it is due to your string. It seems as though you cannot be too far from each other for the moment.”

“What?!” they said in unison.

“Try to leave again, Bakugo.” Recovery Girl instructed him. Bakugo backed up slowly, almost out the door, when the pain struck again and he hurried back in. Recovery Girl sighed as she looked at them. “I suppose you are going to have to sleep in the same dorm tonight.”

Bakugo frowned and the girl shook her head. “What about the rules?” She asked. “Won’t Mr. Aizawa-”

“Ill excuse it for the moment, since this is a special case.” Recovery girl pointed at them warningly. “No funny business.”

The girl scoffed softly. “Oh, you don't have to worry about that.” She crossed her arms. Bakugo glared at her as she looked away.

“Good. Now children, go to sleep and visit my office first thing tomorrow morning. I will notify your teachers.” Recovery girl gave them each a little golden star sticker and sent them off, back to one of their dorms. They both stood outside her room a few seconds afterwards, before Bakugo broke the silence.

“My dorm or yours?”

They walked back to his dorm, since it would be closer to Recovery Girl’s office at school. They also passed by her dorm while he stood outside, allowing her to change into more comfortable clothes other than the ones that were soaking wet from the rain. As they walked back to his dorm, they didn't talk much, mostly silent. They walked on opposite sides of the sidewalk, close enough to not be hurt by the invisible shock collar their string had become, but far enough they wouldn't bump into each other. As they arrived, they quietly walked through the dorm halls to his room, staying as far away from each other as possible. As they got into his room, he closed the door behind them.

“You take the bed.” He murmured, avoiding her eyes.

“Hell no.” She scoffed in disgust. “Who knows what you do there.”

Bakugo turned red from embarrassment and anger. “I don’t do anything you idiot!” He whisper shouted, cheeks burning.

“Thats what you say.” She rolls her eyes and settles onto the floor, on the far side of the room. “Im sleeping here.”

He huffs and silently mocks her, walking to his clothing drawers. “Fine, close your damn eyes so I can change.”

She huffs in response, and turns to close her eyes begrudgingly. He quickly changes out of his wet clothes, and settles into his bed. He murmurs a rough, “Done,” and at that she gets into a comfortable position to fall asleep.

Yet, as they lay on opposite sides of the room their worry doesn’t dissipate. The string, still a void of darkness, continues to feel fragile and vulnerable, a mirror of their cold demeanor towards each other.

She once dreamed of a true love that would accept her, wholly and gently. He once prayed that he never had an attachment to anyone, that he would never be tied down and was in control of himself.

In what world were they meant to be each other's half? Because it seemed like this world had gotten it wrong.

Chapter Text

The first thing she felt that morning was a shock.

“Ow!” she hissed sleepily as she sat up, ripped out of her precious sleep by this impatient bomb of a boy who can't sit still for five seconds. Bakugo, also feeling the pain, quickly pulled back into the room, wincing at the pain. He had forgotten about the stupid string.

“The hell were you doing?!” she yelled softly as she rubbed her eyes to will herself awake at such an ungodly hour of the morning (it was 7:30am).

“Well excuse me for forgetting our little predicament, princess.” he scoffed mockingly, rolling his eyes as he closed the door once again.. “I just wanted to go brush my teeth.”

“Don't call me that.” She groaned as she stood, stretching out all the kinks in her body as they popped quietly. He cringed when she did her neck, the seemingly soft pops urking him.

“The hell am I supposed to call you then?” he huffed, rolling his eyes.

“My name, idiot.” She crossed her arms, half awake now at least.

“Ok idiot, come on. Just because we’re stuck together doesn't mean you disrupt my routine.” Bakugo walks out of the dorm, and to avoid being shocked again, she goes along with him, speeding up a little to catch up. “I wanna get ready and get this string thing fixed to go back to my normal life.”

“Ok first, you know what I meant, dummy.” She huffed as she fell into step alongside him. “And second, excuse me if I'm not used to getting up at the asscrack of dawn to fix this damn thing. I want it gone as much as you do.” Her heart gave a small pang of hurt, knowing she was lying through her teeth.

He rolled his eyes. “Look, I'm just not ready for more things on my plate. I have enough things to handle, the last thing I need is some girl holding me back because of her stupid fantasies.”

Once they arrive at the restrooms, they stand in front of the two doors for a moment. Glancing at them both, they wondered how in the hell they were gonna do this.

“Ok so…” She began warily, twiddling with her fingers. “Should I go into the boys restroom with you or do you wanna accompany me to the girls restroom?”

Bakugo huffs. “It doesn't really matter, I'm sure everyone's still asleep.”

“As they should be, only you would be crazy enough to get up this early for anything.” She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “I should be asleep, comfy, in my bed. But instead, I have to deal with Mr. Explodey at seven in the morning.”

“and that is why I am the best there is and will take back the first place title this year in the sports festival.” He stands proudly, chest puffing slightly in pride. “Knowing this class, no one should be awake yet-”

“Kacchan?” A voice appeared from behind.

Both of their heads whipped around to see Izuku, sweaty from his morning training session. Bakugo glared at him menacingly. “If you spill any of this, I will break that limited edition figure of All Might you have, Izuku.”

Izuku huffed amusedly, crossing his arms. “Dutibly noted. I was wondering why you didn’t wake up for our usual morning run.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Had to deal with this dumbass yesterday night and this morning.”

“Hey!” she exclaimed offendedly.

Izuku smiled at her. “Hello! Im Midoriya Izuku.” he outstretched his hand to her. She smiled and shook his hand firmly. “Hello Midoriya, nice to officially meet you.”

“So, what are you two doing here at this hour?” Izuku paused. “And are you from another class? How did you get here so early? Why did you get here so early? Why are you with Kacchan? How-”

“If you don’t shut the fuck up I will beat the shit out of you.” Bakugo cuts him off with an annoyed expression on his face. She frowns and elbows him. “That isn’t very nice!”

Izuku chuckles, eyes squinting as he looks at them. Bakugo huffs. “Ill explain later, nerd. Right now, we need to get in and out of the boys bathroom before anyone else wakes up.”

Before any proper goodbyes, he drags her into the boys bathroom, leaving Izuku standing outside, smiling. “So he finally got the string, huh?” he murmured to himself with a cheeky smile, walking back to his dorm.

After finally managing to get dressed and ready, they walked over to Recovery Girl’s office. Once again, they distanced themselves from each other as he walked more than a few feet in front of her. While he was already fully awake, she was still mentally half asleep. And that meant contemplating payback for this morning.

‘He totally did that on purpose, I bet.’ She thought, ‘I have no idea what he has against me. Is it really so bad to be with someone like me?’

Her heart aches again at the thought. In most recent days, her heart had not felt much more than small doses of happiness here and there, not to mention her period being in a week and this stupid fucking asshole (her thoughts exactly) just not knowing when to quit.

Soulmates were stupid. She hates soulmates now. ‘No you don’t,’ a part of her whispered, ‘you're just hurt right now.’

‘Shut up and let me brood.’ she told it.

While she was praying for his downfall, he was in front, blissfully unaware of his impending doom. He was thinking about what to do in general with this situation.

He didn't want a soulmate, not yet. He still had such a long way to go. All Might never had anyone, and that's how he rose to the top. He had nothing to lose. If this girl begins to meddle, he won't have that anymore.

Not that he currently is crushing on her, but he knows that soulmate shit works. Because he's seen his parents.

His whole life, he has been confused on how in the everloving peanut butter fuck his father ended up with someone like his mother. Did she bully him? Threaten him? Or worse? No!

He had cleared up his suspicion a few years ago at dinner, where his father had revealed that his mother had ended up asking HIM out on valentines day during their school years, nervous and shy even if she was known as one of the fiercest and scariest girls in his grade. On White Day a month later, they had made their relationship official, despite not having seen their strings yet.

“Our string revealed itself after years of dating.” His father smiled. “I always had a feeling.” His mother became tongue twisted at the comment and angrily stormed off to wash dishes like the tsundere she is.

If his father could fall for his mother BEFORE the stupid string, Bakugo had to believe in some type of fate because the universe had put them together and they were complete opposites. If this girl was his ‘soulmate’ like the string currently acting in the role of a shock collar showed them to be, then she was dangerous.

Dangerous because even as strangers she made him feel too much. A dangerous amount of emotion he wasn't used to feeling usually.

This girl-

“OW!” He yelped as he tumbled backward, grabbing the help of a nearby wall for stability against the shock. He turned and glared at said girl, leaning against the wall with that smug smirk of hers that said, ‘Gotcha’.

“Payback for waking me up so early.” She hummed and walked past, “We’re almost there. Just a few doors down.”

He was going to die if he ended up falling for this woman.

“So,” Recovery Girl began once they were in her office, sitting next to another older woman. “I have brought in a specialist so we may resolve this as quickly as possible.”

“Thank the lord.” Bakugo mumbled. You frowned a bit but nodded to Recovery Girl’s words.

The woman sitting next to her had dark curly hair and skin of dual colors, both dark and light. Her eyes were green and kind as she smiled at them. “Hello children. I am Miss Nomura, and I am a specialist in the matters of everything to do with soulmates! My quirk allows me to see and feel the string so I can help assess what is the matter.”

Both students nodded as Ms. Nomura continued. “Now, may I see your string?”

They paused before setting their hands, joined by the black string that no longer pulsed with as much hurt as it did last night.

However, Ms. Nomura paled. “Oh dear. What happened?” She gently touched the string, flinching slightly from its deeply hurt energy.

Bakugo caught his soulmate's gaze, mirroring her worried expression in his own, more brooding way. “Is… it really that bad?” She averted her gaze from him as she spoke, turning her gaze back to the string.

“A heavily sprained string, but not yet broken, though I fear it could be soon as it has begun to fray.” Ms. Nomura created a circle with her hands around the string, careful not to touch. “Im afraid it has gone too far for even my quirk to heal it completely.”

Bakugo tensed. Guilt struck him again. ‘My fault, my fault, my fault, everything is always my fault, I never do anything right, I hurt everything I touch, it's all my fault…’

His spiral continued silently, behind a brooding face, and armor that was built over years living in his house.

The string returned to a dark grey, but no further. Ms. Nomura panted softly as she sat back next to Recovery Girl. “Im afraid that's all I can do.”

“You mean,” The girl began worriedly, "it'll stay like this forever?”

“Not if you allow it to heal.” Ms. Nomura explained. “See, at the moment it is badly strained. Like… a twisted ankle. However, if you allow it to heal and not strain it over a few months, it should return to normal.”

Bakugo tensed. “Months?” he said worriedly. “But what about the sports festival?”

Ms. Nomura shrugged. “You two can still participate. However, if you so much as make a few more wrong moves…” She looked at the string. “The string will die.”

“Die?!” They said in unison. “What will happen to us?” You asked, horrified and scared.

“You two will be able to live on with your lives, no harm would come physically after the string is broken. However,” Ms. Nomura cautioned. “It may take away feelings of love, meaning you won't be able to find another soulmate. You would have to be with someone else, if you could even manage to care for them at all. There are also reports that it could make you lose empathy, critical thinking skills, and even change your personality completely if you are someone who feels immensely.”

Both of them tensed. Maybe they didn't want the string gone as desperately as they had thought.

“To heal it,” Ms. Nomura began again. “You must not stray too far from each other. I'm sure you have felt that if one of you is too far away, it shocks you?”

Bakugo huffed, amused, while his soulmate looked around the room to avoid Ms. Nomura’s eyes.

Ms. Nomura rolled her eyes and deadpanned, “If you keep doing that, the string will only grow shorter, giving you less room to move around. So knock it off.” Both children sighed and nodded begrudgingly.

“Secondly, you have to communicate and talk to each other.” Ms. Nomura said. “Feelings of any sort of negativity related to either one of you also slows the healing process.”

Both groaned. “You mean this emotionally constipated pain in my butt has to not only be with me all day but we have to share everything?” He gave her ankle a small kick, she pinched his arm with a glare.

Ms. Nomura, seeing her work cut out for her, nodded. “Yes. And remember, it is trying to heal. So the more you two argue and fight and avoid each other, the more hurt it will grow unless you give it what it needs to regenerate.”

“So if we start becoming friends, will it go back to normal?” Bakugo asked, annoyed.

“When a string deteriorates this deep, it needs more than that.” Ms. Nomura murmured. “It needs love.”

Both teens glare at each other. “Love HIM?! Absolutely not.” You scoffed and sat back with her arms crossed, slouching and facing away from Bakugo.

“Ditto, nerd.” He huffed and mirrored her position, glaring at the bookshelf in Recovery Girls office.

“Well, if you don't want the string to die, that's how to fix it.” Ms. Nomura stands. “If there's any more complications, have Recovery Girl call me.” She smiled and shook hands with Recovery Girl before leaving.

“You heard her, lovebirds.” Recovery girl chuckled. “It is your actions which will decide what comes of your fate.” She slowly stood. “You two are excused for the rest of the day. I have to get to the training ground to observe and make sure students don't hurt themselves.”

Recovery Girl left shortly after, leaving the two brooding, beefing, angry teenagers together alone. While they may have different and similar feelings about the situation, their thought was the same:

‘What are we gonna do?’

Chapter Text

They didn't speak for a while after that. Not after leaving Recovery Girl’s office, nor while walking back to the 1-A Dorms (she had to if she didn't want to hurt herself or the string), not even when they were in the elevator. They were both processing the information in their own way.

Bakugo's thoughts were filled with curses to the universe for trying to hold him back with this whole love thing. It KNEW he was trying to avoid that shit and yet it came back and kicked him in the ass for it, for deliberately wishing against it. He cursed the universe, whatever greater being was out there, and whatever force that had brought him such misfortune in such a short amount of time.

He just had to figure out a way to get back on track and somehow fix the string before it breaks. Because deep, deep, deep down inside, in a bottle that he has locked away in a safe inside of his heart…

Maybe he could have someone love him for a change.

Meanwhile in your brain…

“YOU MEAN WE’RE STUCK WITH HIM??” The angry version of you screamed in agony, fear, and frankly disgust. “He’s the one who MESSED US UP IN THE FIRST PLACE! HELLO!”

“I think we just need to organize ourselves and figure out a way to mend our relationship.” Said the smart and sophisticated version of you. “We cannot let him interfere with our regularly scheduled study time.”

“But he has his own schedule too!” The empathetic part of you said, frowning. “We cant just force him to do what we want! That would be mean!”

“Mean is the only way we’re going to get through to this guy!” Anger said, fixing her hair. “We cannot be a doormat! We have to show him we mean business!”

“Has sadness recovered?” Intelligent asked, looking over at the judgemental version of you who is cradling sadness in her arms.

“No. and ew! Take a tissue woman! Pull yourself together!” Judgey said as she gave sadness a tissue. Sadness just cried harder. “Shes been like this for weeks.” Judgey said, half disgusted and half worried.

“Better than Love and Joy.” Anger said, pointing over to the two rooms painted pink and yellow. “They haven't come out since…” Anger’s fury faltered as she cleared her throat.

There was a moment of silence in her head, the little emotion people pausing in a dip of sadness.

“Well,” Empathy broke the silence. “The only way this will get better is by fixing it. And we all know that volcano won't do it first.”

“So? Let him.” Anger huffed. “It doesn't matter if it takes years, I won't forgive him.”

“Anger,” Intelligence said, “holding a grudge isn't a solution.”

“How?!” Anger yelled. “He hurt us!”

“While that is true, we don't know what he was or is going through, nor do we know what his background is with love.” Intelligence said.

“So, why don't we start there!” Empathy said. “Ms. Nomura did say for us to talk things out and talk to each other!”

Intelligence nodded. “It is a logical place to begin amends.”

Anger huffed. “Whatever.”

A door creaked open, they all froze for a second. Love peaked out from her pink door, her mascara tainting her vividly pink face with black. She watched for a moment, then went back inside her little room to cry.

They finally reached his dorm, standing outside for a moment in the rare silence of the building. Everyone was still in class, leaving the 1-A dorms eerily quiet. They didn’t look at each other as they stood there for what felt like an eternity. She finally lifted her gaze, as did he, mirroring her actions. Their eyes met, not in the usual anger and fury, but slight fear and worry instead.

“We have to fix this.” She murmured.

“I know,” he said. “I don’t like being leashed to anything, let alone anyone.”

“Hey, that hurts you know.” She frowned.

“Boo hoo cry me a river, nerd.” He huffed as he opened the door and stepped inside. She followed, anger returning to her eyes as she frowned.

“Hey, Ms. Nomura said that to fix this, we have to try to get along and talk.” She sat on his desk chair while he sat on his bed.

“How hard can it be?” Bakugo huffed. “You were crushing on me before you even met me.”

“Not true!” her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she crossed her arms. “I admired you for your skill in fighting against the League of Villains, along with everyone else because apparently someone can’t control their anger as well as they can control their quirk.”

He rolled his eyes in response, not wanting to deal with this bullshit anymore today. “Whatever, just give me a break ok? Go lay on the floor or something, I need some recharging from dealing with your dumbass.”

She frowned in response, disliking his avoidance of the topic and of her. “Fine.” She stood and went to lay down on the makeshift bed she had made the night before on the floor, her back towards him. Maybe a nap would help.

As Bakugo turned to the girl laying on the floor, his heart panged with regret before he buried the feeling. ‘We just need time to process.’ He rationalized, wanting to get rid of the icky feeling of regret for making her hurt, but that went much deeper than a simple comment and he did not have the energy to go through that cabinet of shit at the moment. So he just walked to his desk, sat down, and began catching up on his studies.

Chapter Text

A week has gone by. It's a miracle they haven’t killed each other.

“What do you mean you don’t understand? It's simple algebra!” Bakugo hit you over the head with a rolled up newspaper, furious that his hour of studying with you was yielding little results.

“Maybe if you stop treating me like a dog, I'll understand better! You dumbass!” You glared at him, rubbing your head. You hated that damn newspaper, you wish the school news had switched to an online platform.

Outside Bakugo’s dorm, Kirishima sighed. “There they go again.” He rolled his eyes with amusement as he walked with Sero and Denki.

“Did you expect any less?” Sero huffed, eating a banana. “I'm surprised he hasn't burnt down the dorm.” He chuckled softly, looking at Denki.

“At least he has his soulmate!” Denki groaned. “My string hasn’t shown up yet.” He frowned and sulked as the three entered the elevator.

“Don’t worry Denki, I’m sure there's someone out there for you. Maybe.” Sero poked fun at the blonde, who glared at his effective ragebating.

Kirishima hummed. “Though, I feel if Bakugo really felt it was so horrible, he would have broken it off as soon as he could regardless of the consequences. Don’t you think so?” Kirishima looked at the two, who had paused their staring contest to think.

“I guess so?” Denki huffed. “He hasn’t hesitated for anything else. At least he’s calmed down a bit.”

“I agree. He isn’t the raging pomeranian he used to be.” Sero joked. They all laughed as they finally arrived in the common room.

Being attached wasn't as easy as you two had anticipated. Over the next few weeks, arguments were constant.

“Go to sleep you dumbass!”
“I'm trying asshole!”

“Don’t eat that, it's bad for you.”
“Ill eat whatever I want, thank you very much.”

“WHY DID YOU PUT COLORS WITH WHITES?”
“THAT'S THE WAY I LIVE BLONDIE, ON THE EDGE!”

A few weeks later though, you had adjusted. Bakugo found it was useless to try to argue against your habits, so he let you do your thing most of the time. Thanks to him, you had to be waking up at five in the morning to go on runs with him and Midoriya, which was torture because they were so fast. He yelled at you when you couldn't keep up, but slowed down for your sake.

For school, you had switched to his class schedule, as he had insisted he didn't need to put his learning on pause for your sake. Which meant higher level classes. You had definitely underestimated how smart he was. You struggled to keep up, but he would always tutor you later on when you needed help (though he did yell quite a bit)

For training, your quirk definitely did get stronger. Now that you were training with the top hero class, it was forced to. Especially when the hot-head you were attached to was top of his class. So you learned to use your hydrokenisis better by controling water, holding it up in the air and making shapes with it (if he got splashed a few times, that was a complete coincidence).

So by the end of the day you were beat. And somehow, he had enough juice to make dinner. You usually fell asleep on the counter or dozed off on the floor of the common room kitchen. But he would always set aside a little extra for you anyway.

“You need to keep up with me, dumbass.” He reasoned. You were too tired to notice his slightly worried glances at your baggy eyes sometimes.

As for showering, it was a little awkward. Within a few weeks, the string had gotten longer, but at first you had to be in the shower stalls right next to each other. It was always the girls bathroom you both used, and it was always closed off for you two. The other students would giggle and tease, only to be disappointed to see you both come out normal.

Bakugo was many things, but above all a gentleman. He wasn’t a pervert like Mineta, he wasn’t eager to see another naked body. Hell, he was sometimes too tired to even shower at all. So he minded his business respectfully, and so did you.

And at night, you fell asleep separately still. Though you had gotten a nicer bed to sleep in, instead of the floor. Sometimes when it was hard to sleep, you felt each other's thoughts and feelings in the darkness of the room.

He felt guilty at the situation, how it all could have been avoided if it weren’t for his stubborn pride. He felt anger at the universe for throwing you into his path at this moment. He felt sadness at how hopeless the string seemed, even if they had started to get along. And he felt the smallest bit of want, of crave. He craved touch and affection, but the moment he felt it he buried it deep deep down again.

She felt hurt at her soulmate's actions from before. She felt guilty, like a nuisance for even being in his life, for throwing off his plans and dreams. She mirrored his sadness at the hopelessness look of the string despite all their work. But she also craved what he did. The touch, the affection, and that's what scared her the most.

They never mentioned anything about the feelings later on, ignored the things they were able to feel in each other through the string.

That's what the past four weeks had been. The string was no longer frayed, but still a deeper grey than either of you wanted to take the chances with. It had allowed for them to be further apart as well, by a foot or so.

The Sports Festival was quickly approaching the next week, and they needed to train for it this upcoming week. They would need to compete together still, much to his dismay.

“Get rested tonight, because our training starts tomorrow.” Bakugo huffed as he turned away.

“Looking forward to it!” You said sarcastically, turning away from him as well.

Clearly, your body had other plans.

Bakugo was in a deep sleep when he felt a warm hand on his back.

“Pssst. Bakugo.”

He frowned, but didn’t move.

“Bakugo.” The voice whispered a bit louder, accompanied by harsher shaking of his shoulders.

He huffed and finally sat up. “This better be fucking important or I'm blowing your ass up, pipsqueak.” His groggy, but furious voice said.

You took a deep breath. “You want the whole situation or just-”

“Whole. Hurry up.” He rubbed his face, trying to find patience for this. He didnt have time or energy for whatever fuckass excuse she was gonna give.

You took a deep breath. “I started my period and I need to go to the bathroom to get changed and get pads.”

He froze. He looked up at you with widened eyes. “Hah?”

“Period? You know, a woman's monthly hell?” You murmured.

He blinked and groaned softly, rubbing his face. ‘Patience, patience, patience…’ He whispers under his breath and finally stands. “Whats the damage?”

You looked embarrassed, not that he could tell in the dark, as you looked back at your bed. “Luckily only my underwear and pajama pants, none of the sheets. I was expecting it later this week, not today.”

He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Just don’t get too emotional on me.” Bakugo yelped softly at the punch that landed on his side.

“Technically, levels of testosterone rise during a womans period. So technically I act more like a guy.” You frown and pull your fist away.

He grumbles and looks at you. “You’re lucky I can’t hurt you.”

“You’re lucky you don’t have to shed your insides every month.” You huff as you grab a few clothes and supplies, opening the door and walking out of the dorm. He follows with a frown and tired eyes.

The next day, Bakugo woke you up at your usual time. “Come on, time to train.”

You groaned softly, but didn’t argue as you began to stand up. That surprised him. He was usually met with the whine of “five more minutessss” Or “can we skip today, pleasee?”

You were weirdly quiet. Even when he made you jog, or when he had you do exercises with him. When you both got to class, you looked a mix of tired, annoyed, and silent for some reason.

By the time lunch came, you were starving. You excitedly waited in line for food with him. He huffed softly, grumbling about how his food tasted better. But he also realized maybe it was all because you were hungry. The silent movements, the softly annoyed looks.

Bakugo never really had much experience with periods before. His mother had always been loud and angry, nothing ever really changed. And he hadn’t had a girlfriend before, he was an only child, so he had never really paid much attention to the whole period situation.

They went along their normal routine, training a bit harder during class in preparation of the sports festival. They trained to fight like a team, and it went better than expected.

Later on, in the dorm, they studied together. Yet the silence was getting to him. He anxiously bounced his knee and played with his pencil. Why was she not talking? Or humming? Some noise at all?

He clenched his pencil as he turned around abruptly. “Can you stop being so quiet?!”

You freeze. Slowly, you look up at him confused. “...why?”

“Because! It’s- it’s annoying!” Bakugo fumbled his words. He didn't really know why your silence bothered him, it just… did.

You huff. “You’re always telling me to shut up. Enjoy your quiet time.” You look down and continue your work.

He winced at the jab momentarily before he frowned, thinking. “Is it because of your… stuff?”

You raise an eyebrow as you look up at him. “My period?”

He tenses, quieting down for a moment. “Yes.”

You scoff and go back to doing work. “No.” You mumble as you scribble on your workbook pages. You pause. “I just have less energy because my body is working overtime. I don’t feel like talking.”

Bakugo hums. He turns away again, embarrassed by his question. You hesitate before speaking up. “I'm sorry to burden you with another thing.”

His head whips around to look at you with wide eyes. His expression turns into a glare, then a frown. “You ain’t bothering me with shit.”

“Oh please, don’t lie to me.” You huff, looking at him with a piercing gaze. “I know that I’m just extra weight you’re pulling around.”

“Do you really think that?!” He huffs. “Why do you think I bother then?! To wake you up in the morning and give you five minutes when you ask for it? When I give you my notes after class because I know damn well you missed a slide? When I make you food even if you are struggling to keep your eyes open because you’re being forced to keep up with me?!” He stands aggressively, stepping forward and pulling you up by the collar of your shirt.

“You’re not just extra weight, you’re my soulmate and I care for you!” He peers down at you. “Its not an obligation, or an obstacle, it's just as simple as that! You think I don’t feel bad for putting us through this?! Putting you through this?!” He tears up slightly. You mirror his expression, eyes welling with tears.

You both stand there for a moment. He realizes how close you are and how hard he's gripping your collar. He gently lets go of you and stares at the ceiling, trying not to cry. For a minute, you two stand there, still. Afraid of breaking something invisible.

“Im-I’m sorry-” He begins, only to be hugged by you. Bakugo lets out a soft gasp as you wrap your arms around his torso.

You take a deep breath and sigh. “Thanks for apologizing.” You close your eyes. “I forgive you.”

He sighs and relaxes in your hold, melting into your touch and slowly hugging you back.

A few minutes go by, neither one of you move. Both of you, eyes closed, just feeling each other's breath and warmth.

Neither of you notice the string turning a lighter grey.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day you could barely look at each other.

Your eyes would meet and it's like second hand embarrassment came from the past to haunt your vulnerability. Bakugo didn't even want to talk about what had happened, so he quickly finished up his work and went to sleep earlier. You didn't protest, still feeling heat rise to your cheeks at the warmth of the hug.

Who knew Bakugo was such a good hugger?

He had felt literally like a heating blanket, so warm, and despite his muscular appearance, soft. Your skin still feels tingles from his embrace.

The next morning, you still didn't speak much, just small acknowledgments of each other as you once again got up for a morning run (stupid Bakugo and his stupid desire to overwork himself). You two met up with Midoriya at the front of the dorms, where you guys usually met.

You never spoke much during their morning runs. They would usually run ahead while you struggled to keep up, keep awake, and keep from tripping over your own damn feet. But the sunrise was nice at least!

And yet when you two approached him, he immediately caught wind that something was up.

“Are you guys ok?” He asked inquisitively, crossing his arms.

Panicking a little, you answered quickly. “Y-yeah we’re good! How’s your morning going?” You try to change the topic to not rise suspicion.

“Its alright, just a little cold.” Midoriya laughed. Bakugo frowned and tugged his friend by the arm, forcing them to begin their run. You groaned softly as you began to jog as slow as you could without hurting the string.

“What's really up with you two?” Midoriya raised an eyebrow to his childhood friend. The blonde merely scoffed and turned back to make sure you were far enough away before beginning to speak. “Progress. A little”

“Oh? What emotional laxative caused that?” Midoriya joked. Bakugo would have punched him if it were not to raise suspicion.

“Shut up, nerd.” He murmured gruffly. He then sighed and looked forward. “I'm just glad the string isn’t as dark as it used to be.” Bakugo said honestly.

Midoriya's gaze softened. “You got scared for a second there, didn’t you?”

Bakugo scoffed. “Me? Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything you damn nerd! I'll kick everyone's ass!” He paused for a moment and swallowed. “...but maybe just that once I was a bit scared.”

Midoriya hummed and nodded. Bakugo continued. “Its just… I knew from before that my soulmate would only hold me back from doing things, from being able to risk it all because I had nothing more to risk than my own life. But now…” He sighed. “I have her to think about in my choices. It's not just me anymore.”

“You don't think about your parents?” Midoriya teases. Bakugo glares. “You know what I mean nerd.”

There's a quiet pause for a few seconds. They both look up to the beautiful rising sun, shining through the leaves of the gorgeous trees within UA.

“Kacchan, you can be a hero and have attachments.” Midoriya broke the silence. “It just means that now, you have something more to fight for.”

Bakugo pauses for a moment. Before he could answer, he feels a gentle tug on the string, not the shock collar from before, but rather as if it were a leash. He turns quickly, he'd forgotten you were there for a bit. You pant heavily as you hold up a hand for a break. “We… ran a mile… already.”

While you had your hands on your knees, trying to catch your breath staring at the ground, you didn't catch his amused gaze. “We’ll catch up later, Izuku.” He said to the green haired man.

Midoriya smiled. “Think about what I said, Kacchan.”

“Yeah yeah, later nerd.” He huffed as Midoriya ran off. Bakugo turned back to you, placing his hands gently on your shoulders and lifting you from your stance of hands on your knees. “Hands above your head, it allows your lungs to expand more.”

You nod and close your eyes as you hold your hands up and behind your head. “Ugh, its so cold. It makes my throat feel so dry and raw.”

Bakugo hums. “Ill make you a tea before class.”

You frown. “The one with lemon? It always tastes so sour!” You huff as you two begin walking again.

“Its good for you, just like running is.” He puffs out his chest. “Good for your cardiovascular system, keeps the blood pumping.”

You roll your eyes. “My blood is always pumping just fine without running.”

He scoffs. “Would a hero think that way?” He looks at you with a raised eyebrow.

You huff again. “You’re one to talk, Mr. Competitive.”

“Damn right I am, how else am I supposed to rise to the top?” He grinned a feral smile.

You looked over at him for a moment. You broke out into a laugh, stopping your walk momentarily. He looked confused, what did he say that was so funny?

“Bakugo, you can be so funny sometimes.” You smiled up at him.

His heart stopped for a moment. The morning light made you look as if you were glowing. Your bright smile, messy hair, tired eyes. You were beautiful.

He huffed and walked ahead. “We’re gonna be late for class because of your lazy ass!”

You giggled and ran to him, tapping him on the shoulder as you ran past. “Tag!”

He paused for a moment as you ran off, smiling as he ran after you. “You’re gonna regret that you brat!”

You two did end up in class late, to which Aizawa gave you both detention after school for. At lunch, you two sat down at your usual table while arguing.

“We wouldn’t have been late if it weren't for your slow ass!” Bakugo huffed as he took an aggressive bite of his food.

“Who’s fault is it we were even out there to begin with?!” You argued back and bumped him with your shoulder. “Maybe if you weren’t such a workaholic, I could sleep in for a day!” A pout formed on your face as you also took a bite of your food.

He glared at the bump and rolled his eyes. “How the hell am I supposed to be the best if I don't work the hardest? Huh?”

“Ooooo did the Lovebirds get detention?” Mina teased. You both whipped your heads around and shouted in unison, “WE’RE NOT LOVEBIRDS.”

“Uh huh. And Denki’s the smartest person at this table.” Sero joked. Denki glared at him. “Hey! I'm smart!”

“Out where? Is this where you guys go every morning?” Kirishima asks curiously. Denki nods in agreement.

“Yeah, I always see you guys getting back in the mornings.” Sero looked at them as he opened his own bento.

You hum. “This asshole forces me to go on runs in the mornings with him and Midoriya. It's sooooo boring and tiring.”

Bakugo huffs in response. “You’re gonna be a hero, you’re gonna need cardio!”

“Ugh, cardio definitely sucks.” Mina agrees and sighs. Jiro nods. “Some quirks need it though. What's your quirk?”

“It's hydrokinesis!" You answer excitedly and take a bite of your food. “I can control water, basically.”

“Don’t talk while you’re chewing.” Bakugo interjects.

“Shut up, you’re not my mom.” You glare at him.

As you two bantered, your friend group enjoyed the free entertainment you provided. You had slowly integrated yourself into his friend group after the whole “must be within ___ feet of each other” issue. You never really had friends in your General Ed classes anyway.

Midoriya and Todoroki passed by, throwing their trash from lunch away and talking about a topic in the past lecture.

“Midoriya!” Kirishima calls. “You go on morning runs too don't you?”

Midoriya and Todoroki pause at the table. “Yes, I do, why?”

“Do you know why they were late today?” Mina asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

Bakugo immediately turns to Midoriya. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Midoriya quickly shrugs, genuine confusion on his face. “I-I wasn't even there! I was already back at the dorms by that time, I got to class early today!”

Mina deflates, until Todoroki speaks up in a monotone voice, “I saw them playing tag on my way to class.”

Everyone pauses for a moment, just to erupt into chaos. Bakugo hops up, and Todoroki quickly realizes he’s in trouble and dashes away. Bakugo runs, hot on his heels, “YOU LITTLE SHIT!” You’re forced to run along, the string being attached and all.

“KACCHAN WAIT, YOU’LL GET ANOTHER DETENTION!” Midoriya runs after them, quickly catching up.

The table laughed at their antics, especially when Iida stepped in (“NO RUNNING IN THE CAFFETERIA!”). When Bakugo was finally contained and brought back to the table, grumbling angrily ‘stupid half and half and his stupid loose lips…’. You were brought back as well, panting from the surprise sprint you were forced to run. The rest of lunch went smoothly, despite your friends teasing comments the rest of the time.

The detention after school felt like way more than two hours. Luckily, you two were able to knock out homework during most of it.

“So…” you began, folding a scratch paper you had used for math. “You make explosions?”

Bakugo huffed. “More complicated than that, dumbass.” He looked up at you. “I sweat nitroglycerin.”

You nod with a silent, “Ohhhh.”

He looks at his palm, feeling the warmth and slight sweatyness of it. “Technically, my quirk turns my sweat into a nitroglycerin type substance that is highly flammable and combustible. I ignite them mostly in my palms, it doesn't really work anywhere else on me for some reason.”

You listen to him talk more on his quirk for a little more, about how the more sweat that accumulates, the bigger the blast, the technical aspects on his support gear, his weakness in colder climates since he can't sweat, etc.

“My hearing also takes some brunt.” He huffs. “The explosions are pretty loud.”

You nod and smile. “How cool! How’d you learn all this stuff?”

He shrugs. “Doctors I’ve been to, chemistry classes, that sort of stuff.” He looks at you for a moment. “What about your quirk? You mentioned it at lunch.”

You hum. “Hydrokenisis. Essentially, I can control water molecules.” You shrug. “Not much, but helps with putting out fires, stopping small floods.” You sigh and lean your head back. “If I can train it to become that. Right now I can only hold it up to make stars and hearts in the air. Imagine a flood.”

Bakugo lets out a low chuckle. “Sounds like you.”

“Oh, be quiet.” You roll your eyes.

He hums thoughtfully. “Though, it could be a pretty powerful thing. A lot is made with water.” He pauses. “Have you ever tried to control water inside your body?”

You freeze and blush. “I-its helped me hold my pee a few times.”

“I was talking about blood, you dumbass!” He scoffs.

“Oh!” You smile sheepishly. “Um… I haven’t thought about that actually.” You nod. “That would be cool. I’d be like Skarlet from Mortal Kombat!”

“Or Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender.” Bakugo nods and crosses his arms.

You raise an eyebrow. “Avatar the what?”

“YOU UNCULTURED SWINE-”

After school had finished, you two returned back to the dorms, eager to have some down time after the chaotic day. It had left you without any energy, in every aspect.

Bakugo headed to the kitchen to fix up something to eat, while you went to sit down on one of the counter chairs and take a nap. Before you could fall asleep, you hear a defeated sigh from the blonde. You look up for a moment, and without looking away from the fridge he murmurs to you, “We’re out of eggs. How many people eat eggs in this damn dorm?”

You sit up. “You wanna go get some? The grocery isn’t too far from here for walking.”

He sighs. “I don’t know. The villains have been quiet lately, it makes me uneasy in case a big attack happens while we’re out.” He says, slightly worried.

“It’ll be quick!” You reason, and stand from your chair. “We’ll be in and out, promise.”

Bakugo frowns, thinking about it for a moment. He takes a deep breath, and sighs. “Fine. We have to get jackets from my dorm though, it's gonna be cold.” He begins walking to the elevator. You walk along with him, smiling.

You guys walk together to the nearby grocery soon after. Most of the walk is silent, per your exhausted selves not only from the school day, but from the detention hours as well.

You two walk into the store, grabbing the eggs and some extra snacks for you both. When you got to the register, you reached to grab your selected snacks to pay separately, but he smacked your hand away. “I got it.” He said gruffly.

You frowned. “I don’t want to owe you-”

“You’re not gonna.” He huffed.

“But-”

“Let me pay for the damn snacks, would you? Geez.” He rolled his eyes before paying.

As you two walked out of the store, you murmured a soft, “Thank you.”

He paused, genuinely having not heard you. “Huh?”

“Thank you, Bakugo.” You looked up at him. It wasn't often you called him by his name, neither did he call you by yours. Whenever you two spoke, it always seemed to be a banter of some sort, names being replaced by “dumbass,” “nerd,” or whatever other insults you came up with.

His cheeks warmed and he looked away quickly. “Tch, don’t mention it.” He walked ahead a few steps. And the long silent walk back to the dorms began.