Tumgik
#sorry i got REALLY rambly xD if uh... it's not exactly what you were interested in
Note
Heya purge! I saw in one of your tags that you’d been consuming fic for around 20 years! That’s like my whole life. Mind telling us how things have changed? I’m sure places like ao3 have changed things a lot. I’m just really curious in fandom and fanfic culture! :3 x
Ao3 is a fucking godsend let me tell you. I won’t make a lot of the same points and stuff that fannish history folks have already documented (how it literally changed, and all the fic we’ve lost that isn’t backed up on floppy disk somewhere… I’d say we’ve lost an equivalent to the digital burning of alexandria honestly) but i can tell you my experience :3
I’ll stick it under a cut cuz i kind of rambled… but i had fun doing so ahahha xD sorry you unleashed the tiger from the cage xD
We all make jokes about ‘being there’ when stuff in fandom history happened, but i’ve been around since all the major purges (LOL my name is so fitting in retrospect ahahha). ff.net’s various purges (and the whole anne rice suing fanfic writers and shit… i never DID agree to their new terms of service haha), geocities sites going down, obviously the more recent shit too, but like I’ve been around even for the creations of certain, older fanfic sites too (one of the oldest slash forums for lord of the rings fics for example… I was there, Gandalf LOLOL!!… and now that i check the date on that i feel old as balls thanks anon xDDD and wow my one fic is still up there PFFFFT) but like, I come from an era where you took your floppy disk and copy/pasted shit from online (once it even loaded) for later reading, and also so you could find it again, because also before ff.net it was hard to find stuff. I’m pre-google ya’ll xD You dont UNDERSTAND the horrors of trying to find anything pre-google. Ya’ll have it so fucking good D:
There was never an abundance of content like there is today, and so you can bet your shit we were grateful as fuck for what was out there, let alone for someone with a decent command of writing and storytelling. Everyone commented on everything (once that was something even implemented… it was email lists before that, and comments sent in that way… i still have my e-mailed comments from fic readers haha), and it was (and still is, in my honest opinion because people entitled as FUCK now) one of the GREATEST faux paus you could do to be reading a fic (esp. multi-chaptered) and not comment. The indignity of not giving back a little (and it still is a little, which is why i get so damn fired up on this subject) for aaaaaaaall the words and story and everything you just read was a serious sin against fanfic writers. I still think its seriously fucked up not to comment (and again, i’ve mentioned that if you dont got the spoons, thats obviously different) but like, the entitlement that runs rampant today did not even exist back then. Yeah, you still had the assholes whose comment would literally consist only of “where’s the rest?” with ZERO actual thanks or input while expecting/thinking they deserve more (and THEN you could remove chapters or stories, cuz god giveth and damn does she taketh away xD), but it wasn’t nearly as prolific as it is today.
The commenting culture today and the backlash against writers wanting comments on their work in return for providing said free content makes me mad enough to wanna curb stomp some people. I’m a bartender, I don’t put up with shit HAHA xD But the entitlement especially now and people who act like writers are being uppity for wanting a small return on their craft are disgusting. Same type of entitlement as art thieves (we all know the type). We didn’t put up with that shit back then. People acting like little bitches wanting free stuff for literally nothing? We’d pull the whole fic. And the community would handle it and it usually turned into a teaching moment about how damn important it is to comment and just how much freaking control writers DO have over their media. We’d pull it from public view unless amends were made (whether that be a private note from someone entitled finally paying their fucking due with proper humility, or reaching a comment count when you had hundreds of people reading but not commenting). Damn i miss taking away fic xD We played hardball back then xD
That was the fucking worst and people were rightfully denied access to fic if hits didn’t coincide with comments. You could publish a chapter and then decide to remove it from view (either for editing, or hostage taking for comments…. which i miss dearly AHAHAH it forced people to learn to be proper commenters and interact with those whose media they were consuming). It’s a big part of what I miss because just like a proper community, people kept each other in check and made sure everyone played nice. You enjoyed a fic? You sure as hell let that writer know. Now though…. the entitlement drives me up the fucking absolute walls and makes me wanna put stuff behind a paywall sometimes…. everyone is lucky im lazy as shit tho AHAHAH and im usually fine after venting xD
But yeah, fanfic culture in general has shifted in a major way to constantly consume and NEVER give back, either in comments, or creating new content yourself to also add to the community (for example as i’m sure we’re all aware, like ALL the people who bitch about certain ships or ‘why ship this when you can ship THIS?’…. Like, instead of bitching that ‘WAH WAH this author doesnt WRITE the ship I LIKE why can’t they write THAT??’ people came up with the radical idea of CREATING the content they wanted to see :| And if weren’t that good of a writer/artist to do so? Well then you SUPPORTED the writers/artists you enjoyed by leaving comments on their shit OR getting a commission… Goddamn i remember when even ‘commissioning’ people was a wild concept… Ya’ll dont know ahahah xD
I do believe that this is a huge source of where Anti-shipper behavior has stemmed from; entitlement gone berserk. And public schools and shit are still largely full of my parents’ generation who were not computer-literate either in function or courtesy, so even as internet social skills are not being taught correctly (or safety; they scared the SHIT out of us back in the day and now everyone has all their shit and pictures online haha) so there’s also a huge disconnect socially which i think has impacted online fandom spaces and what is considered acceptable or not. People also turn into fucking swine when they think they’re anonymous online (and boy do they change their tune fucking quickly when you out them) and i think the whole anonymity thing is also a factor of this whole entitlement issue in fandom spaces; making demands without giving ANYTHING back. Like I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t put up with that shit, and it’s not a coincidence I was going to work for the CIA after I just left Japan about 3yrs back (thank fuck I didn’t cuz FUUUUCK this administration) cuz people are dumb as shit and basic tracking skills to call someone out on their bullshit has been my bread and butter since i was like 12 haha. You act dishonest and entitled, and it’s gonna come back to you in some shape or form. You’re going to reap what you sow. That was the motto back then and I still believe in it today.
Hell, it has shocked the FUCK out of me the few times i’ve had people tell me ‘omg me and my friend were talking about your latest update!’ and i’m just like O_O????? because also back in the day, ‘fanfiction’ was kind of a taboo word. You never said you were into fanfic in mixed company. You more or less NEVER discussed it publicly (I’m not even talking dirty stuff, just normal, sfw fanfiction) because it primarily existed only online (for me; i’m post-fan magazines but pre-internet fanfic sites LOLOL). Hell, I got my college english professor into fanfiction. She didn’t even know what it was, let alone that something like that existed, and I had to explain it to her my first year of college kind of with a red face xD She was a writing-professor too so like, let that date the culture a bit. Like, if that was literally her major field of expertise and she didn’t know about it, that should tell you how not-mainstream fanfic was.
I’m kind of out of touch with that myself. Do kids (ya’ll are kids to me okay? xD) mention fanfiction as a reading/entertainment medium in normal conversation? Like, you could mention, without getting weird looks, ‘oh i enjoy reading fanfiction’ or (and i’m like internally gasping at the idea here) being able to say ‘yeah i enjoy writing fanfiction’? Is that a thing? I sure as hell don’t tell my peers that I write fanfic, let alone that i’m approaching 1million words for borderlands stuff alone AHAHAH It’s STILL taboo and seen as a lesser writing medium to folks my age. If you weren’t in a ‘geek’ circle (and i mean, i had friends who played D&D at lunch, and one friend who we mentioned fanfic together with) then culturally, as an art form, it wasn’t acceptable to discuss. Like, i’m STILL in that mindset that fanfic is not something to be discussed off the internet with people and it makes me very very uncomfortable to do so unless i know 100% I can speak discretely with someone. That’s what the offline culture was. I know its way different in some respects, like me and my youngest sister are 10yrs apart and her experiences with fandom are wildly different, but the idea of people actually talking about someone’s fic together with friends absolutely blows my fucking mind.
So, it’s changed in good ways too xD I just fucking HATE people who think they’re entitled to never comment or give back to the community sooooo i tend to get stuck on that issue, ESPECIALLY, again, as a writer approaching 1million words. *salute* doing my duty to the fandom community LOLOL or polluting the fandom community if you’re an anti AHAHAH antis can suck my entire ass and i’ll go on to put another million words of what they HATE into the world and they cant stop me ;3 spite is a fabulous motivator xD
The tools back then were a lot more crude, abilities and functionality was limited (but also better in some ways; moving fic to the ‘backroom’ so to speak), and even finding stuff was hard and relied on the hushed whispers of friends, but damn the community was better. So much better. So much more positive and accountability made people decent. So like, I do LOVE a lot of what we have now, but we have lost SO much. Both in terms of content and sense of community. I wish people would put more positivity into the content they’re consuming and lift up others. It’s why i try my damnedest to leave commenting tags on EVERY SINGLE THING i ever reblog here, because i *know* firsthand how much it means. To scream your art into the silence and only get the equivalent of stares back is maddening.
So yeah. Stuff has changed. Capitalism and censorship are running especially rampant hand-in-hand right now, and lord forbid we come full circle where there are no more places for us. I mean, if we have to go back to email lists, hell I’m already ready and an old veteran to that system anyhow. I’d miss all the content we all have access to…. but then there’s also that 90% commenting rate you get with that kind of system so HEEEEEY let it all fall down! bahahah xD
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kawaiikichi · 5 years
Text
Look at Me (Happy Belated Birthday Togami!)
Hey, you guys! It’s kawaiikichi with a belated birthday one-shot for the one and only Byakuya Togami! I was supposed to have this up for his birthday, but in the end, it never happened. But I figured that since we’re still in his birthday month, it should still count, right? XD
So, a few months ago, I finally got my friend to start playing the first Danganronpa game. Just listening to her telling me her thoughts about it (characters that she likes, characters she doesn’t like, ships that she’s leaning towards, etc) made me think back on some of my old OTPs that I haven’t written for in a while. One of those is Naegami (which is coincidentally a ship that she’s starting to ship; I’m so proud of her for being an intellectual XD).
I decided to return to some of my older works that I wrote when I was still active on Fanfiction Amino, polish them a bit, and then upload them here. This one in particular is me combining two separate one-shots into one with a lot of editing and additional scenes.
So, I hope you guys like it! :)
(And happy belated birthday, Togami!)
Title: Look at Me
Summary: Makoto has had a crush on Byakuya from the moment their eyes met. However, with how Byakuya treats him, Makoto’s crush is unrequited and he finds himself getting more and more hurt by his words. But, is that really all there is to it?
One-Shot Notes: Basically a mashup of two of my Naegami one-shots that I had uploaded on Fanfiction Amino with some additional scenes and a whole lot of editing; an AU where they all choose to cohabit with one another rather than participate in the killing game; due to the fact that I haven’t written Naegami in forever and I’m going off of what I remember about their ship dynamic and what not, they might be OOC, so I’m just warning you all ahead of time
One-shot is under the cut!
Makoto was busy putting some books back in their appropriate spots on the bookshelf when a voice called out to him.
"Oi, go get me some coffee."
He nearly jolted at the voice. He turned to look at Byakuya, who peered at him over the book he was reading.
"Huh?" Makoto answered.
"I said to go get me some coffee." Byakuya stated.
"Ah! I...I'll get that right away!" Makoto stammered out before rushing out of the library and making his way down the stairs to the cafeteria.
He went into the kitchen, picked out a mug, and he began to brew some coffee for Byakuya.
As he started up the coffee maker, a voice called out to him.
"Naegi-kun?"
Makoto turned at the voice, seeing Kyouko enter the kitchen.
"Ah! Kirigiri-san!" he exclaimed.
"What are you doing here? You should be helping us out with searching the school." she stated.
"Ah. Well...Togami-kun told me to come and brew him some coffee..." he trailed off.
Kyouko breathed out a deep sigh.
"You need to stop wasting your time on him. He's not worth it." she said.
"But..." Makoto scratched lightly at his chin. "I love him..." he murmured quietly, his cheeks taking on a rosy pink color.
Ever since he had first locked eyes on Byakuya, Makoto had felt some sort of attraction to him. He was totally in love with him.
But, he knew that Byakuya could never feel that way towards him. He would never see him as Makoto Naegi. To Byakuya Togami, Makoto Naegi was nothing more than a mere errand boy. That was it.
Even if that was so, Makoto still loved him. He couldn't ever bring himself to forget or let go of his love for him. So, he continued to quietly love him, even though it hurt so much.
His thoughts were cut off by an exasperated sigh.
"Well, go ahead and ruin yourself." Kyouko went over and got an apple from the fridge. "Don't say I didn't warn you." she said before marching off.
Makoto breathed out a sigh as he finished brewing Byakuya’s coffee. He turned the coffee maker off and he began making his way back up to the library.
As he walked down the hallway on the second floor, he heard a voice.
"Oi, stop bothering me!"
"Eh?! But, Byakuya-sama...!"
Makoto stopped in his tracks, recognizing those two voices immediately. Touko was pestering Byakuya once again.
It was always like that. Byakuya seemed to be more talkative when it came to her. It almost made Makoto jealous (even though all the blond would say to her was to leave him alone).
He found it in him to walk again and he made his way into the library to see Byakuya trying to concentrate on reading his book and Touko gazing at him with a love struck look in her eyes. Makoto bit his lip as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Uh...Togami-kun..." he trailed off.
Byakuya looked up from his book, glowering at Makoto.
"What?" he responded coldly.
"Um..." Makoto swallowed as he held the coffee cup up. "Coffee?" he spoke nervously.
"Ah, bring that over to me." Byakuya said, ushering Makoto to come closer.
Makoto nodded slowly as he walked over to Byakuya. The blond took the mug from him, their fingers brushing together ever so slightly. Makoto immediately let go, yanking his hand away like he had been scorched by fire. Byakuya didn’t seem to notice how flustered Makoto looked as he snapped the book he was reading shut, offering it to Makoto.
"Get me another book. This one is boring me." Byakuya said.
"Okay..." Makoto trailed off as he took the book and headed off to put it back.
As he went into an aisle, he heard Byakuya snapping at Touko and telling her to go away. He sighed as he put the book back and he pulled out another one. He ran his hand along the cover, a sad sigh escaping his lips. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice how the the library went silent or heard the footsteps making their way over to him.
"When will he just look at me...?" he mumbled out.
"What are you mumbling about over there?" a hand was placed by his head on the bookshelf, making Makoto gasp as he whirled around.
"T-Togami-kun!" he stuttered out.
Byakuya’s eyebrows were knitted, a scowl on his face as he stared at Makoto.
“Does it really take that long to bring me a book?” he asked.
“I...” Makoto could hear his heart pounding loudly in his ears. “I’m sorry...I was lost in thought...” he trailed off.
Byakuya sighed.
“As expected of a plebeian.” he commented.
Makoto stayed silent as Byakuya continued.
"Whatever. Back to the matter at hand." Byakuya leaned in towards Makoto. "Tell me, what exactly were you mumbling about?" he asked.
Makoto swallowed as he stared at Byakuya, the pounding in his ears getting louder. The blond’s piercing steel blue gaze gave him goosebumps and the thick scent of his cologne hanging over him made his head spin. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he began to think.
Should I really say what’s on my mind, he asked himself.
“Do you really intend on continuing to waste my time?” Byakuya’s words pulled Makoto out of his thoughts.
“Ah! I...I’m really sorry!” Makoto apologized.
“Geez, you have no sense of urgency.” Byakuya snatched the book out of Makoto’s hand. “If you don’t plan on telling me, then I’ll go back and start reading this.” he said as he turned to leave.
Makoto’s eyes widened as he watched Byakuya begin to walk off. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed for Byakuya’s coat sleeve.
“Wait.” he called out, his voice small and meek.
He expected Byakuya to shake him off and continue on his way, but surprisingly enough, he did no such thing. He slowly turned, watching Makoto expectantly.
Makoto swallowed once more.
It was now or never.
"Why...Why won't you look at me?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hm?" Byakuya eyed Makoto like he just said something stupid. "Aren't I already doing that?" he asked.
Makoto’s eyes grew wide as he stared at him. He wanted to say something more, but the words refused to be spoken. It was like someone stuffed his throat with cotton.
"Now," Byakuya yanked his arm away, "if you’re done rambling about nonsensical things, I’ll resume my reading session and you can go do something else." he said before pulling away and walking off.
Makoto’s cheeks turned a beet red as he slammed a fist against his mouth.
You know exactly what I mean, Togami-kun. I want you to look at me for me, not as your errand boy, he thought to himself.
And for the first time ever since they had gotten locked up at Hope's Peak Academy, he began to cry.
📚🍀📚🍀
Kyouko shot Makoto a blank look as she stirred some creamer into her coffee.
“I warned you.” she stated bluntly.
“I know you warned me.” Makoto groaned out as he slumped over the table in the cafeteria.
Kyouko took a sip of her coffee as she observed Makoto, noting the dark circles under his eyes, the dried tear marks on his cheeks, and the red tinge of his eyes.
“Did you happen to get any sleep these past couple of days?” she asked.
“Of course I did! Sleep is important, after all.” he replied.
Kyouko narrowed her eyes at him skeptically. They continued to stare at each other before Makoto released a sigh.
“Okay, you got me.” he said.
“Damn right, I did.” Kyouko took another sip. “Like I said, he’s not worth your time. If he’s going to continue to treat you like this, then I suggest you move and find someone who will treat you nicer.” she stated.
“But, who would that even be? There’s no one here that interests me like he does.” Makoto stated.
“Then, just stay single for the rest of the time you’re here, I don’t know. What I do know is that you can’t keep hurting yourself like this.” she stated, pointing a finger at him.
Makoto bit his lip.
“I guess so...” he trailed off.
Kyouko took another sip from her coffee.
“If I recall correctly, you already wrote a love confession to him, haven’t you?” she asked.
“Huh? Oh, that.” Makoto scratched the back of his head. “I should probably get rid of that, huh?” he mumbled.
“You should.” Kyouko replied.
“Yeah, you’re right...maybe instead of a love confession, I should leave behind a note saying that I’m going to get over him.” Makoto said.
He stood from his seat.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. He won’t read it anyway, so it’ll just be my little secret.” he said.
He turned to leave.
“I need to go and write it. I’ll see you later, Kirigiri-san!” he shouted over his shoulder as he rushed out of the cafeteria.
“Yeah.” Kyouko replied as he left the cafeteria.
She released a sigh as she finished off her coffee, recalling the past couple of nights she listened to him crying through his slightly ajar bedroom door as she was heading to her room for the night.
“This is for the best.” she rested her cup on the table. “This way, he won’t get hurt anymore.” she spoke quietly.
📚🍀📚🍀
Byakuya sat at his usual table in the library, flipping through yet another book.
He tried to focus on what he was reading, but his mind kept drifting.
He found himself thinking about a certain lucky student.
Two days have passed since they last spoke. Makoto had been distant as of late, which was pretty unusual. Every time he tried calling him over to do something for him, the lucky student would either be preoccupied with some of the other students or he’d avert his gaze and rush off to do god knows what.
If Byakuya was being honest, it was starting to irritate him.
He didn’t know when it began, but he felt some sort of pull towards him. There was something about Makoto that intrigued him, although he couldn’t quite place what that something was.
At some point, he assumed that what he felt towards Makoto was love, but he immediately shooed that thought away.
Him? In love?
What a joke.
He released an irritated sigh, snapping the book shut as he looked to see Touko staring at him.
“Would it kill you to leave me alone for a day?” he barked out.
“But Byakuya-sama, I couldn’t possibly do that!” Touko exclaimed.
“I want to read in peace, so leave me alone.” he stated.
“I wish to be useful to you though, Byakuya-sama! I’ll do whatever it is you ask!”
“You want to be useful to me? Then, curl up and die. Stop harassing me and let me be by myself.”
With that, Byakuya stood and headed off to put the book back.
“Byakuya-sama...!” Touko called out.
Byakuya chose to ignore her as he ventured further into the library. As he put the book back in its appropriate spot, he recalled what happened between him and Makoto.
📚🍀📚🍀
"Why...Why won't you look at me?" Makoto asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hm?" Byakuya eyed Makoto like he just said something stupid.
What is this idiot going on about, of course I’m looking at him. He may not realize it, but I don’t really see him as much of a pleb anymore, he thought to himself.
"Aren't I already doing that?" he asked.
Makoto’s eyes grew wide as he stared at him. He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. Byakuya peered at him, trying to decipher what was going on in his mind.
Was it a look of surprise? Or was it one of disappointment?
Just the fact that someone as simple as Makoto was so hard to read was just so damn annoying.
He decided not to dwell on the thought any longer.
"Now," Byakuya yanked his arm away, "if you’re done rambling about nonsensical things, I’ll resume my reading session and you can go do something else." he said before pulling away and walking off.
He turned into the other aisle and leaned against it as he heard Makoto sobbing.
📚🍀📚🍀
Byakuya bit his lip as Makoto’s sobs replayed in his mind.
He knew that his words came off as cold and very harsh. But, he was also very straightforward when he needed to be.
He thought that he was doing exactly that when he told Makoto that. He thought that Makoto would pick up on what he meant. But, it seems that it had the opposite effect.
He found himself biting his lip.
The last thing he wanted to do was make Makoto cry.
I thought he knew what I was trying to get at. I guess my words came off tougher than I thought, he thought to himself.
He let out an annoyed ‘tch’.
“Dammit.”
📚🍀📚🍀
Makoto listened to everyone converse with each other as they all stood in the gym.
They were all woken up by the usual morning announcement along with the monochromatic bear demanding them to all meet up in the gym after breakfast or else they would all face some sort of “punishment.”
“Hey, Naegi-kun...what do you think Monobear wants from us this time?” Aoi asked.
“I have no idea.” Makoto replied as Mondo let out a loud shout.
“Hurry up and get out here, you little shit! I’ll slug ya if you keep stalling!” he roared angrily, cracking his knuckles as he glowered at the empty podium.
“Now, now, take a chill pill! I hope you haven’t forgotten about what will happen to you if you use violence on the headmaster!” Monobear shouted as it jumped onto the podium.
“Eeeeeeeek, it’s back!” Yasuhiro shrieked.
“Oh hush it, Bob Marley wannabe!” Monobear snapped.
Yasuhiro could only gape at the bear in shock as Monobear cleared its throat.
“Now then, I have a very important announcement to make: it’s one of you bastard’s birthday today!” it shouted.
“It is?!” Sayaka exclaimed in surprise.
“Indeed, indeed! Today is Mister Byakuya Togami’s birthday!” Monobear declared, gesturing to the uninterested blond sitting on the bleachers.
“It’s Byakuya-sama’s birthday today?!” Touko exclaimed.
She began giggling excitedly as Byakuya released an annoyed sigh.
“I never said that you could announce my birthday to the whole world.” he bit out.
“Oh, relax! Having your fellow classmates know your birthday isn’t gonna kill ya!” Monobear said.
“Hold up a minute, just how in the world do you know his birthday and that it’s today?!” Aoi asked.
“Well duh, his birthday is listed in the student report section of your handbooks. And also, we have something called a calendar!” Monobear snapped, eyeing the students in annoyance.
“For real...?” Yasuhiro grumbled as he pulled out his handbook and began to flip through it.
Kyouko released a sigh.
“So? What’s the real reason for you to be calling us here?” she asked.
Makoto eyed Kyouko in confusion.
“The real reason...?” he wondered out loud as Monobear cleared its throat again.
“Okay, you got me. Actually, I have something to share with you all, particularly Mister Togami.” Monobear began.
“For me?” Byakuya questioned, eyeing the bear quizzically.
“Upupu, indeed.” Monobear’s eyes glowed mischievously. “You see, I was strolling through the library, minding my own goddamn business. I picked up a book, started flipping through it, and came across an envelope that was addressed to Togami.” it said.
Immediately, Makoto went pale. Kyouko eyed the lucky student out of the corner of her eye.
“Is he referring to what I think he’s referring to?” she whispered.
“I think so...” Makoto murmured out as Monobear cackled.
“I want to say who it’s from, but I think it would be even more thrilling for you to go check it out yourself~” Monobear singsonged.
Byakuya glowered at the bear.
“Don’t be ridiculous—“
“I’m sorry, I need to step out real quick!” Makoto shouted as he whirled around on his heel and made a dash for the door.
“Huh?! Just where does that little shit think he’s going?!” Mondo roared.
“Naegi-kun! Where are you going?!” Aoi shouted.
“Huh?! How dare he leave while I’m still talking!” Monobear stomped its foot. “That blasted lucky student!” it exclaimed.
As Makoto pushed the gym door open, he failed to see the look that spread itself across Byakuya’s face as he stumbled out and raced in the direction of the library.
📚🍀📚🍀
Makoto felt faint as he stumbled into the library.
He couldn’t believe this was happening to him.
“I have to get that letter...I can’t have Togami-kun read it!” he said to himself.
He began searching through each and every book in the library, hoping that he would come across the letter at some point.
A few minutes passed before he stopped flipping through a geometry textbook.
Wait...why am I trying so hard to retrieve a letter that says that I am going to get over him, he asked himself.
“Why am I...?” he muttered under his breath.
It’s not like it’s a love confession, so why am I panicking, he wondered to himself.
He briefly thought of putting the book back and heading out of the library like he didn’t just try to turn the library upside down for a measly letter, but he decided against it.
No, I can’t! I have to retrieve it, no matter what, he told himself.
He put the textbook back and he continued his search. He eventually found himself in the comic book section.
As he flipped through a comic book involving cyborgs, he heard a voice call out to him from behind.
"Looking for something?"
Makoto whirled around to see Byakuya holding an eerily familiar white envelope that had the blond’s name written in the center of it.
Makoto’s eyes grew wide.
That’s the letter, he thought to himself.
A look of horror spread across Makoto’s face as he spoke.
"That letter...” he trailed off.
“You know, I wasn’t going to pay this letter any mind, but as soon as that bear brought it up, you grew pale and dashed out of the gym. It intrigued me, so I decided to follow after you and find it myself. Turns out this was stuck in between the pages of a romance novel.” Byakuya explained.
Makoto grew even paler as Byakuya looked at the envelope.
“Just as I figured...this is a letter you wrote for me...” he murmured.
Fear bubbled up from within the lucky student as he spoke.
“That letter...I need it, so please give it to me...” he said as he tried to snatch it out of his hand.
However, Byakuya rose it above his head. This made Makoto frustrated.
"Please, give it to me, Togami-kun!” Makoto pleaded as he tried to grab for it.
However, he failed. Byakuya eyed Makoto curiously.
"This letter is addressed to me, though. I don’t see why I should give it to you.” Byakuya stated.
"Do I really need to tell you why you should give it to me?” Makoto asked.
"Well, seeing as you’re making such a fuss about it, then you might as well enlighten me." Byakuya replied.
Makoto thought about it for a split second before furiously shaking his head.
"I can’t do that, so please just give it to me!" he shouted as he tried grabbing for it once again. But, that just made the blond raise it higher.
"If you really want it, then you’re going to have to jump for it.” he said.
Makoto huffed our a frustrated sigh as he jumped for it. As his fingers grazed the envelope, Byakuya pulled it away and whirled around.
"You know, you've gotten me very curious. Seeing as you’re trying so hard to make sure I don’t open this envelope, it must either be very important or downright embarrassing." he proceeded to open the envelope. “Let’s find out, shall we?” he asked.
Makoto’s eyes widened in horror as he watched the envelope being opened.
"No!" Makoto tried to grab for it once more. “Please, give it back!" he begged.
"No." Byakuya replied as he took the letter out and he began to read it.
Togami-kun,
I highly doubt you’ll actually find this letter, but if you somehow do, then I would appreciate it if you could read it in its entirety.
So, I honestly don’t know how I should start with this, but I feel like I should state the obvious: I loved you. Even though you’re cold and rude and have a horrible personality, I still liked you. I figured I could live with this unrequited crush on you, but as the days passed, it grew harder for me. Then, when I asked you why you wouldn’t look at me and you said that you found my question stupid because you already were made me finally realize that if I continued to love you, I would get hurt in the end. You never looked at me as more than your errand boy. And the more that I think about it, the more I’ve come to realize that you’ll never see me that way ever.
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I’m going to get over you, Togami-kun. I’ll get rid of my feelings for you and start over. It’ll be hard at first, but in the end, I think that this is for the best.
Togami-kun, please don’t be disgusted by these feelings that I used to harbor for you. As of now, they don’t exist anymore, so you have nothing to worry about. I’ll just go my way, you can go yours, and I’ll just forget that I even felt this way towards you.
I hope you are able to understand.
From,
Makoto Naegi
Byakuya scanned the letter with an unreadable look in his eyes. Makoto swallowed, his heart pounding against his rib cage. His palms grew clammy with sweat as he bit down hard on his bottom lip.
Oh, how he wanted nothing more than to have the ground swallow him whole.
He lowered his gaze to the floor as Byakuya spoke.
"What do you mean when you said that you loved me?" he asked.
Makoto flinched at the tone of Byakuya’s voice.
"Uh...” Makoto swallowed again. “Well...I think it’s exactly what it means. I did love you before.” he replied in a soft voice.
“What about now?”
“I don’t love you anymore.”
“Bullshit.”
Makoto blinked his eyes twice.
“Huh? What do you mean?” he asked.
“It’s exactly what it mean. That’s bullshit.” Byakuya replied.
“Why do you think that’s the case, Togami-kun?”
“One, because I can tell that’s the case and two, you didn’t look me in the eye when you said that just now.”
Makoto bit down on his lip harder, drawing blood as Byakuya continued.
“Look at me.”
Makoto hesitated, wondering if he should really do as he said. He heard Byakuya let out an annoyed ‘tch' as he strode over to him, placed his hands on his shoulders, and pushed Makoto against the bookshelf. Makoto’s head snapped up, staring up at the blond in surprise.
“Togami-kun—“ he didn’t get to say anything else as Byakuya’s lips covered his own in a kiss.
Makoto’s eyes widened.
Byakuya is kissing him.
His heart nearly exploded as Byakuya kissed him harder, urging for him to respond. Makoto blinked only for him to see that Byakuya was staring him down, a fire raging in his blue eyes that Makoto had never seen before. His gaze was so intense that it made Makoto shudder. He squeezed his eyes shut as he slowly kissed back. A few minutes passed before Byakuya pulled away.
Dazed by the sudden kiss, Makoto’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked up at the blond as he spoke, the fire in his eyes still flickering.
"If there’s anything I hate more than annoying plebs, it’s being lied to. Don’t say that you don’t love me anymore when it’s obvious that you still do. Before you try and refute me, just know that I can see it in your eyes. You feel something for me still. Even though you say you’re trying to get over me, in the end, you can’t find it you to actually go through with it.” Byakuya explained.
Makoto narrowed his eyes at him.
“Don’t just assume things on your—“ the blond immediately cut him off.
“Also, if you’re going to confess your feelings to me, don’t you dare do it in past tense. I’ll begin losing hope.” Byakuya stated.
Makoto got ready to retort when Byakuya’s words replayed in his mind. This made him curious as to what he meant.
“You’ll begin losing hope? Why is that?” he asked.
“Well, that’s because...” Byakuya trailed off.
He then muttered something under his breath, causing Makoto to eye him curiously.
“What? I didn’t hear what you said.” Makoto said.
Byakuya glowered at him before pushing away and walking off.
“Wait! Togami-kun!” he began to run after him. “Please, tell me what you said!” he exclaimed.
“Do I really have to repeat myself?” Byakuya stopped and whirled around to look at him. “I also like you, dumbass!” he snapped.
Makoto blinked up in bewilderment, watching as Byakuya stared him down. Then, the blond’s words registered in his mind.
“Y-Y-You like me, too?!” he squeaked out, his cheeks immediately flushing a bright red.
“Is that not what I said?” Makoto noticed that the blond’s cheeks were the lightest shade of red as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “What, did you assume that I liked Fukawa or something?” he asked.
“That is...” Makoto trailed off, not wanting to admit that Byakuya was right.
Byakuya sighed in exasperation.
“Just as I thought. Geez, you really are stupid.” he grumbled.
“Huh?!” Makoto gawked at him in shock. “I’m not stupid—“ he was cut off by Byakuya pulling him into his arms.
The blush spread to Makoto’s ears as Byakuya spoke.
“The only one I like is you, so stop making assumptions. Especially the one where you thought I was only looking at you as a mere errand boy.” he said.
“Huh?” Makoto rose his head. “You mean you have always seen me as more than that?” he asked.
“Yeah. But, I guess with the way I worded it, you ended up getting the wrong idea.” Byakuya explained.
“Oh...” Makoto pouted. “Then, you should’ve said it in a way that wouldn’t make me think like that! Be more straightforward!” he whined as he smacked Byakuya’s chest lightly.
“I’ll try.”
“No, you absolutely have to, not try to!”
“Okay, okay, I will.”
“And...especially since we’re now together...” Makoto twiddled with his thumbs. “We should be honest with one another...” he mumbled.
Byakuya stared at Makoto for a couple of minutes before speaking.
“Okay, I’ll be more honest with you, starting now.” he said.
He pulled Makoto back in, leaning in towards his ear. Makoto’s face was red like a tomato, his heart pounding in his ears as the words Byakuya whispered to him played through his mind.
“I love you.”
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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years
Text
[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Eighty-Four: Pretending ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]
Okay...this shouldn’t be too hard. Just play it cool - not too forward, he might suspect that. But also blunt enough even Naruto can’t mistake it. Once he gets his point across, he’s sure the blond will spread the news like wildfire.
And that’s exactly what Sasuke wants.
Making his way into his first period class - one he just so happens to share with Naruto - he takes his seat and just...waits.
Soon enough, in storms the Uzumaki like a tornado, just like every other morning. “Hey!”
“Hey.”
Sitting in the desk in front of Sasuke, Naruto pauses...and then squints. “...what’s with that look?”
“Look?” Heh, perfect. Of course the blond is familiar enough with his mannerisms to notice.
“Yeah, you’re all…” His nose wrinkles. “...grinny. What’s going on?”
“I dunno what you’re talking about, Naruto.”
“No, really! You’re...smiling. It’s weirding me out, man.”
“What, I’m not allowed to be happy?”
“Well, no! But…” Naruto looks to him skeptically. “...did something happen?”
“Like what?”
“I dunno! Is your brother coming home for a visit?”
“Mm, no.”
“Uh…” A hand itches at his neck. “...didja ace a test?”
“I do that all the time.”
“...true.” Curling a first under his chin, Naruto squints. “...this is buggin’ the heck outta me! What did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why are you smiling like that?!”
“Maybe I’m just happy. That ever cross your mind?”
“Nah, there’s gotta be a reason. There’s gotta be…” Examining his friend closely, Naruto’s lips purse, eyes nearly closed as he scrutinizes him. “...d’ya get a girlfriend or something?”
At that, the pretending starts. Expression shifting to mild shock for a moment, Sasuke then glances away. “...why would I do that?”
A knowing glint shines in Naruto’s eyes. “Ah! I saw that! You flinched!”
“W-what?”
“YOU FLINCHED!” The blond slaps a knee with a cackle. “You got a girlfriend!”
At the exclamation, several people look over...including a few girls, among them Sakura. Once they words process, she gives a jolt.
Ha...perfect…!
Doing his best to scowl and look...sheepish about it, Sasuke mutters, “Shut up idiot, you want the whole school to hear you?”
“What, and let people miss out on the juicy gossip? Dude, I thought it would never happen! You’ve had a stick up yer ass for so long, I was starting to think you were gay!”
...that earns a genuine deadpan. “No, I just...hadn’t found the right person.”
“Well c’mon, you gotta tell me! Who’s the lucky lady, eh? Tell me, tell me!” Practically bouncing, Naruto’s got stars in his eyes.
“Look...I don’t want you bothering her, okay?”
“Nah, course not! I just wanna know who finally got through that stone heart of yours,” Naruto snickers.
Giving a pensive glance, he pauses for just the right amount of time. “...her name’s Hinata…”
All at once, Naruto’s face goes slack, eyes wide and jaw hanging open comically. “...wait...you mean Hinata? Hinata Hinata?”
“What, you know more than one?”
“Well, no...but…” He seems to hesitate. “I just thought...y’know…”
“What?” Oh, this is too much fun...he never gets to see Naruto squirm like this!
“I thought she...liked…” In barely a murmur, Naruto admits. “...me…”
“...well, maybe she got tired of chasing after your dumb ass. You think she was gonna wait around forever?” Sasuke asks, leaning back in his chair as though taunting.
“...maybe. I dunno, it’s just...weird. But…” After a pause, he gives a gentle smile, which...takes the Uchiha back a bit. “...I’m glad she found someone to make her happy. Cuz...it wasn’t ever gonna be me, y’know?”
The sudden genuine moment leaves Sasuke without a reply. Out of all the reactions he’d imagined...this wasn’t one of them.
“...a-anyway!” Naruto springs back to normal, grinning sheepishly. “Maybe with you outta the running, Sakura will give me a date, huh?”
“Honestly, I hope she will.”
“...really?”
“Yeah. Maybe she’d make you happy,” he offers with a shrug. That, and it might be some sign she’d finally moved on from chasing him…
Naruto blinks, then goes a light shade of pink, itching his neck bashfully. “Heh...maybe! I-I mean, I hope so! It’d be...nice…”
Thankfully, it’s then their first period teacher decides to arrive, cutting through the chatter. So absorbed was he in the rather raw moment with Naruto, Sasuke forgot that everyone else seemed to be whispering.
Probably about Naruto’s outburst. Which is exactly what he wants: the sooner everyone thinks he’s got a girlfriend, hopefully the sooner they all start leaving him alone! And he can enjoy his senior year of high school in relative peace.
The class goes by easily enough, and soon the ‘infected’ people take their leave, each heading to new classrooms...and each bearing the news: Sasuke Uchiha has a girlfriend at last. The school’s most eligible bachelor (eugh he hates thinking that…) is officially off the market!
Of course...not everyone takes it so gracefully. A few girls go so far as to start crying, and he can’t help guilty flinches. Were they really that invested in someone they barely know…?
Come lunch, his first full act is in full swing: time to sit with her and...do whatever it is dating people do.
...what is he supposed to do?
Grabbing a tray of the same old stuff, he startles as she just...appears next to him! Smiling and perky, she asks, “So...where do you want to sit?”
Blinking as his brain plays catch-up - she really is having fun with this, isn’t she? - Sasuke then replies, “Uh...you pick.”
“Okay!” Thankfully it’s a corner table that’s typically rather unoccupied. Rather than next to him, she sits across...after a moment, he realizes it’s so they can face each other.
...good plan.
“So, anything interesting happen in any of your morning classes?” she asks, popping a tater tot into her mouth.
“Uh...not really. Though it’s probably pretty obvious the Naruto plan worked out perfectly.”
“Yeah...it is,” she admits, smiling a bit wearily as several girls behind her shoot dirty looks. That...makes him pause. He hadn’t really considered if she’d get any backlash. He was so concerned about his side of the plan - of finally getting rid of all the people chasing him - it just...didn’t occur to him they might get nasty if they felt jilted enough.
“...you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay...there’s been some, um...awkward moments, but nothing bad,” she assures him.
Something seems to weigh on his chest, and he mutters, “...anyone gives you trouble, you let me know. I’ll take care of it.”
Surprise makes her blink, apparently not expecting that. “...I will. But...I doubt it will come to that.”
“...better not.”
A span of silence blooms.
“...so, what about you?” he then asks.
“Hm?”
“Classes: anything cool happen?”
“Oh...well, someone managed to catch a textbook on fire in chemistry,” she giggles. “Thankfully it didn’t actually trigger the alarms, though...or everyone would have gotten hauled outside!”
He can’t help a snort. “Who the hell did that…?”
“I’m not sure, an underclassman I don’t know. He was so embarrassed, poor thing…”
And so it goes, the pair of them trading useless information about their day, then the previous weekend. Usually smalltalk feels so...forced, but this doesn’t. They just...talk. No awkward pauses or scrambling for a topic.
...he doesn’t really get that very often.
But, soon enough, lunch period is over, and it’s back to the grind of classes. “Well...see you after school, I guess,” Hinata offers.
“Got time to do anything after class?”
“Oh...I’m sorry, I’ve got volleyball practice,” is her reply, expression dropping in disappointment. “But, um...we don’t have any Friday, since we have a game Saturday!”
He mulls that over, hands in his pockets. “...would you rather I go to your game?”
That makes her startle a bit. “You’d...you’d want to go to a game?”
“Sure. Never seen one before, might be fun. Besides, gotta be there to support my girl, right?” Sasuke gives a soft grin.
To his surprise, her cheeks dust pink. “I...I would like that!” A smile then blooms wide across her face. “It starts at two!”
“Sounds good. Maybe we could, like...get dinner after, if you’re not busy?”
“Well, sometimes the team goes out, but...if we don’t, then...sure!” A hand tucks spare hair behind her ear. “...this is kinda funny, huh? It kinda...feels like the real thing. Not like we’re pretending.”
Taken aback, Sasuke glances aside, ears suddenly feeling warm. “...yeah, guess it kinda does.”
“...well, we can talk more about it a-after school - we better go or we’ll be late.”
“Yeah, later.”
Watching her go, Sasuke turns to head to his own fifth period class, feeling the warmth in his face spread. What is wrong with him? This isn’t real! It’s just...pretend! An act!
...right?
                                                              .oOo.
     Welp, after far too long, here's a sequel to day 146 - more of the fake dating trope! Yay! I've wanted to do more of it for quite a while, but none of the prompts seemed to fit too well, but...well, obviously this one fits perfectly xD      Uh ohhh, seems there's a wee spark of genuine feelings here...? And not just from Sasuke, seems like! Whatever will they do? :3c      Anyway, I'd like to ramble more but it's VERY late, and I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. So for now, I'ma sign off - thanks for reading!
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cutegirlmayra · 5 years
Text
Jenna Commission Receipt
@aoi-hina Commission for Hero Academia Story
Time: Took me some time because I was graduating, but was able to write it in about a month or so. I did some research and wrote up a summary based on her requests, then I wrote it all out! :Db
Review: @aoi-hina : I finally finished reading it and w o w i’m so impressed??? Like bakugou is such a hard character to write for but you did it so well omg,,, and the ending made me so happy, he’s so cute 😂🥰 Thank you so much!! And i’m definitely interested in commissioning a sequel, when you open them again of course!!
Note: Absolutely! My pleasure ^^ I worked hard, lol! Thank you! I'm really happy!!!! xD I'm so glad! I worked hard trying to make sure it was well done!
Paid Amount: 15$ which was about 37 or so pages, but I ended up giving her around 50 pages, so more for her money XD (I care about the story lol)
Product Preview: With premission from @aoi-hina, here is the ROUGH DRAFT of the product.
A Spark to The Match
Commission for Aoi-Hina
By: Cutegirlmayra
 “You’re going to love it in Japan! UA is the best hero’s school there is. I know it’s hard to adjust to a new culture and people, but just think of all the adventures you can have there!” It was a loving voice, but one Jenna had learned to turn off and on when she needed to.
If she needed it…
She sat with her arms crossed, wearing her favorite, oversized jacket that let her curly brown hair drape over like curtains. It was comfy, that’s all.
Her uniform was ordered with the wrong size due to Japan’s normal measurements, so she was getting it resized, but her hero’s attire was just fine. She brought it all the way from America.
Saying goodbye to everyone wasn’t the hard part, it was knowing she couldn’t call them without paying extra that ticked her off.
Her hazel eyes scanned the classroom, simply out of boredom. Her acute attention to detail saw the scrapes made by the chairs on the floor, the ceiling punctures, and the chipped wood and plastic along the desks and doors.
She had to introduce herself, didn’t she?
How annoying is that?
She stuck her arms into her jacket’s pockets that connected to each other, picking at her nails a moment and looking down until someone in the class noticed her.
“Oh, are you new here?” Well, duh.
Jenna just gave her a sarcastic smile, perfectly crafted after so many years of practice. She leaned just enough down that her glasses drooped a little to her nose, “How can you tell?”
“I’m the president of class 1A, it’s my job to know the wellbeing of my class and each individual by name. As class president, I should also properly introduce myself to you as you are new here.“ the girl rambled on, but there was something genuine about her overly exerting herself to make a good impression and do what was considered ‘polite’.
Jenna smiled, though half-listening, and noticed another girl walking by her to sit down. This one had ear jacks connected to her ear lopes.
Sick.
“-and so I’m Momo Yaoyorozu. My quirk is-“ Momo suddenly realized that Jenna was distracted, and immediately cleared her throat. “My apologies. How incredibly rude of me. I haven’t even properly asked for your name yet.” She held her hand, balled gently near her mouth before lowering it to just below the neck.
She actually did look really sorry, which made Jenna’s attention turn back to her. She didn’t want to disappoint her, it wasn’t like she was being fake, she just wanted to make Jenna feel included and noticed.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “And you are?”
Jenna watched as the world shone with a radiant shine around Momo, who extended her hand and bent down to kindly give a warm greeting to her.
Jenna was stubborn though, and just looked at the hand for a moment.
Freakin’ trust issues…
It was hard for Jenna to bring herself, even for this kind girl, to accept the friendly offer right away.
Momo’s eyes rounded and Jenna could see the sweat starting to fall down the sides of her face in fear. It was cute, seeing her struggle, but Jenna wouldn’t tease her for long.
She sighed, deciding to let her issues go and took her hand, “Jenna Everett.” She stated, nonchalantly.
“Oh! Your accent! Are you, by chance, American?” Momo’s eyes seemed to light up again at the prospect of a new transfer student.
“Yeah, how oddly romantic of a scene, huh?” Jenna wondered how she couldn’t tell, or maybe she blended in too well for her own good. It was her skills to be untraceable, undetected, and basically—all around sneaky.
Jenna played it cool and nodded towards Momo’s enthusiasm; knowing that foreign students, even in America, were somewhat a fantasized delight for the local students.
“Did you happen to come here because…“ Suddenly, there was another boy, nervously shaking as he approached the conversation. However, it only made her slightly suspicious of him, ‘Who the heck is this twerp?’
“B-Because of All Might?” his entire demeanor was portraying shyness and uncertainty, which made Jenna nervous and uptight. She sat up a bit in her chair, scanning him with her eyes and noticing his trembling hands clutching each other as the poor boy’s nerves got the better of him.
“This is Izuku Midoriya.” Seeing Jenna not respond, Momo spoke up first, making sure Midoriya remembered his manners. “Please introduce yourself, first.” Momo scolded him, closing her eyes and gesturing very proper-like to Midoriya, who tensed up and immediately bowed repeatedly at lightning speeds.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I was just curious, that’s all!”
“Deku!!!”
The earphone jack girl unplugged something next to me and clamped her hands against her ears. Was she listening in on her?
‘Rude.’ Jenna thought before turning to the abrupt distraction in front of her.
A boy had stood on a chair, pounding his foot down on the back of the seat’s top rim with his hands in his pant’s pockets. “Dang it!!! You’re so loud and annoying, nerd!”
“I-I-I’m sorry, Kacchan!”
“Whaaat??? Stop calling me that, Deku!” The boy tsk’d and then turned to look at Jenna from the corner of his eye. He stuck his head up all high and mighty. His attitude made Jenna give him a quick death glare, she didn’t like being looked down upon…
Her keen eye could already see thousands upon thousands of openings, where an arrow could hit. Easy. Where to puncture a vital organ or cause intensive bleeding.  A walk in the park. If needs be, she readied herself to find which avenue to direct her attacks to first.
It was natural for her to think rather dark, but she lost track of how long they stared at each other, eyeing the other with a threatening presence, when Momo spoke up again.
“U-uh, Umm… W-what’s your quirk, E-Everett-san?” she tried to redirect Jenna’s eyes… but Jenna was hyper-fixated on the possible danger in front of her.
She was trained to read situations, but wasn’t the best at the social aspects of them…
“…You can find out.” She rudely spat out without a lick of emotion, just continuing her long stare down with the annoying loudmouth.
Momo just laughed awkwardly, noticing the two weren’t going to be easily distracted from the other.
“K… Kacchan, please don’t be so scary to the new transfer student.” Midoriya attempted to motion his hands up and down to try and calm the boy back down to his senses, but the boy completely ignored him. He raised his head up, scowling at her.
His eyebrow twitched and he finally spoke, “What are you staring at, Pipsque-?”
“Your enormous mouth.” She spoke back so rapidly quick that he barely had time to finish his first sentence.
“Darn it, what did you say!?” He spread his arms out, like a puffer fish trying to look larger than his foe. His voice grew louder at her brash response, “Want to speak that in plain Japanese for me!?”
“Wow, I can smell your breath from here. Make out with any skunks lately?” She barely blinked her eyes. ‘I just want this kid to shut the heck up.’ She thought to herself, ‘I don’t care if others think I’m rude for it. Maybe it’ll teach them not to talk down to me.’
The whole of the students around the area of the classroom seemed to hush up then.
They all looked nervous, turning to the boy as if waiting for a fight to break lose.
“…Tsk.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m Lord Explosion Murder.” His tough-guy expression didn’t change but the entire class spoke up with mumbled voices, all sewed together like a choir—“No you’re not.”—then he angled his head down with a tilt and smiled at her, masking his anger with another sharp question. “And who are you supposed to be? A hot-shot American who thinks they’re better than everyone else? Go back to your second-best landmass with whatever lame quirk you have. We don’t need you or your ‘free speech’.”
Now, Jenna liked America, but she wouldn’t exactly say she was a patriot. But when this boy talked… It was like a bald eagle rose with a sharp cry behind her.
“We have All Might and the best Hero’s School in the world. I don’t care what kinda rep you got back in America, but here? It’s a lot different. You’re a nobody. I’m gonna be the ultimate hero and kill anyone who tries to stand in my way!” He swiped his upper-torso and head back to leaning towards her and looking down on her, showing no fear. “So if you dare to stay, just know that I’m the only loudmouth around here that’s taking out dumb hero-wannabes like Deku here… and you.” His stink eye only made her blood boil more with the colors red, white, and blue.
“Now listen here, you punk.” She lifted a leg to her seat, using it to push up and sit a little straighter in her chair. A moment ago, she was relaxing back down, but now…
“You’re acting so arrogant compared to all these chumps who at least know to suck-up to someone new. Heck, they’re actually being courteous, something I found rather amusing and appropriate for the time being… But then there’s you. I was minding my own lazy freakin’ business, but then…” she lifted her head up, angling her eye to him and smirking with a creepy intensity that pierced like an arrow through his soul. “Don’t make the excuse that I’m the problem just because I’m American! You’re just as loud and obnoxious as any one! You wanna stare and dare make fun of me when you were just seconds ago calling this twerp a nerd!? Explode on me, why don’tcha, but keep your little smart-alek, tough boy fantasy act to yourself! Cry me a river next time you have something to say!”
Even the boy was a bit thrown off, leaning back from her naturally louder voice than even Japanese people were accustomed too.
When he seemed to mutter some curses under his breath and look away, she took that as a sign of backing down and sat loosely relaxed in her chair again. “Darn kids.” She spoke in English that time, then looked to Momo. “Sorry about all that. I just really can’t stand injustice when I see it… Especially from a blonde firecracker with no self-control.” She purposefully muttered the last part to tick off the guy further, making sure to side-mouth the comment enough that he would hear. Just for laughs and giggles.
“You-!” the boy turned abruptly back to her, but Momo’s chest flashed bright colors and a flag popped out from her skin. Jenna stared a second as Momo motioned the flag between the boy’s eyesight and herself.
His eyes twitched through the sheer fabric, looking crazed as fire seemed to burn in his eyes…
“That’s enough, Bakugo. You’ve embarrassed us all long enough!” she spoke with authority. Jenna watched as the boy, apparently named Bakugo, sparked the palms of his hands and tensed up.
“Darn, bratty, girl…” he twitched and hunched over as though ready to strike at her. Jenna slowly moved her hand out of her pockets and towards her quiver…
“K-Kacchan, wait!” Midoriya stepped in front of the flag, waving his arms around and desperately trying to calm Bakugo down again, using a more direct approach. “S-she’s new! We should be nice to transfer students!”
Bakugo leaned his head up, staring down at the three of them, “She called you all chumps too. Don’t say I blame her, but you all are really acting like idiots!” he blathered out, but there was something about pride mixed in on that. Was he racist? Probably not, just super hot-headed. Jenna frowned at that behavior, slightly wishing she hadn’t called them that before another voice spoke up.
“Look, she’s actually pretty cool for standing up to you like that.” Jenna turned around to see the girl tap her earphone jacks together above her head, gesturing a hand out like a shrug to further state her point. “Just drop it, dude. She’s obviously not a pushover. Whatever her quirk is, she’s not one to mess around with it like you are. Quit picking fights with the new girl before sensei walks in.”
‘Okay, this girl is pretty chill.’ Jenna thought to herself.
“She’s probably on edge being in a new country and you just added wood to the fire. Quit taking out your anger on her and just let the volume in this room simmer down, alright?” she winked to Jenna as Bakugo about-faced, grinding his teeth together in agitation.
Jenna, after seeing the boy begrudgingly back off, then asked the girl behind her, “And you are?”
The girl smiled warmly, tilting her head, “The name’s Kyoka Jiro. I’m all about sound, and boy, can you project your voice or what?”
“Heh,” Jenna smirked, “You could say I’m all about range.” She joked, looking down at her quiver. “I don’t conform well, so forgive me if I overstep something culturally. However, dealing with bullies is kinda my thing.”
Bakugo jumped down from his chair and sat properly in it, seeming to have an aura of darkness around him. ‘Heh, was he feeling beat?’ she was put in a happier mood because of that little display of aggression turning to utter defeat.
“Anyway, who’s sensei?”
“Oh, that’s Japanese for-“ Deku began but she stopped him.
“No, no. I get the term. But who is he? A retired hero, or..?”
“Oh, he’s Eraserhead!” Deku went off on a ramble about all his feats and successes, his history and fame, so on and so forth.
But as Jenna half-listened again, she looked over to see Bakugo making small sparks in his palms again, hunched with fury. Twitching in rage, he seemed to be channeling his power and withholding it in, it looked painful from this distance, which only made her stifle a chuckle into her hand.
She was thinking it kinda funny to see someone so upset at being told off. He snapped at her first, what was he expecting? For her to lay down and die?
“What’s with Lord Explosion Murder over there?” She whispered back to Jiro while Midoriya continued without realizing the conversation had shifted elsewhere. Jiro lifted her half-drooped eyes at her question, turning her gaze from Midoriya’s rambles now conversing with her.
“Hmm? Oh, he’s a popular prodigy here. Or so we’re told…” she looked back at him. “See those sparks? One touch from his sweat and suddenly he’s a walking grenade. Best not to trigger him, you know?”
‘But when you tell me not too…’ she looked back at him, ‘it only makes me want to even more.’ She thought to herself, snickering.
“So, he’s blastboy? Talk about working up a cold sweat.”
Jiro, plugging her earjacks into her head and placing her hand over her mouth, tried to stop the sound of her laughter from escaping her body. She was perfectly muted, moving as though laughing, but no sound escaped her.
She unhooked her earjacks and winked to Jenna, “I’d keep that one between us.”
Jenna knew that her and Jiro would get along then… but Bakugo? A different story…
‘He seems… very interesting though… very interesting…’ she lowered her head to her hand, watching him from behind and completely ignoring the green and black hair boy explain more about their teacher’s status.
----
Later that day, after the slightly interesting lesson on firearms and hostage situations, Jenna was excited to hear that the class activity was going to feature one of the famous UA training fields. However, this one looked familiar…
“Isn’t this the same place where the exams to get into the school happen?” One of the students stated, having a massive scar across his face.
“It is…” Midoriya stated, looking a bit nervous.
“I wouldn’t know.” Jenna muttered under her breath.
Jiro turned to her but Momo asked first, “Did you not go through the Entrance Exam?”
Jenna tilted her head and chuckled a little, sticking a bored finger into her ear and scratching around as though she didn’t care about the question. “Nah, I got here through recommendations. My parents were pretty stoked when I was permitted in.”
“Wow… You must be amazing!” Midoriya’s eyes lit up, his hands bundled in excitement near his chest.
She shrugged, but smiled to the kid. He seemed pretty innocent enough.
“That gives us home field advantage.”
She glared back at the explosive boy, seeing him smirking with his eyes closed and head down. “You don’t stand a chance in this class, American.” He rose his head up, squinting one eye at her. “Better run home before you get trashed and thrown away.”
She tensed up, “If you target me…” she threatened, “I’ll hunt you down.” She narrowed her eyes, “I like playing games… but I can’t stand a bully.”
“Heh. Let’s see what America has to offer then!” he taunted, pulling out his hands and kicking one leg forward, stomping on the ground and having mini-explosions lighting up on his hands. He hunched down, “I’m gonna win anyway, so might as well tell ya I’m coming for you first!”
She fully faced him without a shred of fear, “Bring it on, hotshot.” She laughed inwardly at her own pun.
“The objective is quite simple. Eliminate the threat.” Eraserhead pointed to a few students, who then were assigned dots on their hero uniforms.
She had wondered if she would get to try on her UA school outfit, not that it wasn’t tacky enough to make fun of while wearing it, but because it was a new experience, after all. She was still excited to show off her hero’s attire, though. A tight body suit made of a deep purple with inky, black streaks of smooth stripes to show off more of her silhouette. It was meant to make it easier to blend into shadows, but it was still stylish. She had requested special-made belts that she slung around her arms, legs, and even one to hold her quiver tight so it didn’t jingle around while sneakily getting into position. Hero work required a lot of running, she couldn’t be detected, not by sound or sight. Her feet had extra, technologically enhanced padding and her prescription goggles resembled a thin mask like the design from the olden days of heroes. Each piece of material was made to be slightly flame, shock, and freeze proof; this was simply because she worked with different types of enhanced arrows. If one exploded from her quiver? Yeouch!
The material was thick and wide, but smooth like leather against her body. It allowed for her to breathe, and that’s what was important. ‘Durable, flexible, and the right amount of sexy. Just how I like it.’ She smiled, fixing herself up a little bit for the rogue operation.
She strapped a dot on over her logo, where an ‘A’ with her support friend’s insignia for Jenna’s hero name was at. It kept the line that dashed through the middle of the ‘A’ like a speeding arrow, ending near her collarbone.
“What’s that?” Momo had asked, seeing where Jenna had slapped the dot on.
Slyly, Jenna lowered her eyelids and clicked a stick out to reveal a long, slender bow that arched with its tips out like fine cursive. “It’s nothing.” She winked. “If you get knocked out first, you can watch and see.”
“Such a mystery.” Jiro teased, looking away and shaking her head. “Man… I hope this isn’t too much of a hassle.”
Eraserhead continued, “Enough chatter. I want to see the villains move quickly through these stages. Your objective is to defend yourself. You’re trying to distract the heroes from finding what you’re protecting. I’ve given you a dot to identify yourselves, but you’ll have to use your location devices to see what exactly you’re defending. All the heroes know is that you’ve planted bombs. The exercise is over when the heroes have all successfully defused the bombs, or all the threats explode.”
“Wait, you want us to combat the villains and take out the bombs?!” A purple headed guy started sweating and shaking in his knees. “That’s way too much to ask of us!”
“You’ve been through worse.” Eraserhead narrowed his eyes on him, but it was hard to tell exactly how he was feeling with such an exhausted tone in his voice. Half his face was covered too… it made Jenna wonder… ‘Should I also wear something to conceal my face?’
She touched her mask, but then noticed at the corner of her eye that Bakugo character staring at her again.
She turned to him, pretty annoyed, but stuck her tongue out and smiled. ‘This should be fun and interesting…’
He seemed to flinch back at her, but then tilt his head and curve the side of his mouth down in a frown for a millisecond.
‘Ohh?’ her intrigue at him peaked just then, ‘Does someone not like all his attention taken away?’
“Go!”
She took off. Bakugo watched her the entire time, but she tried to ignore him.
‘Is he really going to follow me?’ She looked slightly behind her, tracking his footfalls with her ears since she dared not alert him. Although, he was being so obvious about it… ‘Really? Any direction I take?’ she thought that silly of him as she switched roads and he continued to pursue with his eyes locked on her. ‘Well, if he’s gonna talk smack, he better have a bite to go with that bark.’ She joked to herself, smiling at the prospect of a fun rivalry.
“We’re defending the diamond store!” A pink skin girl cried out, charging for it as Jenna looked up to the rooftops.
“Keep your voices down!” Jenna almost hissed out through gritted teeth. Yes, they were away from the starting line where the heroes were, but that doesn’t mean you shout! She had to lose Bakugo’s sight. He was waiting for her when she appeared out of alley ways, scanning… but he seemed to not care about the random, muffled shouting across the distance. No one seemed to understand what the girl had said from this range. Bakugo was only focused on tracking her down and not losing her.
She had to wiggle lose of his watchful gaze, so she side-stepped into the shadows and began scaling the buildings by hooking her bow on windowpanes and railings to climb to the top. Seems the shadows off the tall, white buildings were in her favor.
“I’ll target the heroes.” She stated quickly to the girl with the horns that had called out earlier, passing her upon the rooftops. “You just keep the area secure. And stay silent.” She muttered the last part, but was deeply serious as she spoke. All business, no fun. But… maybe some fun, if you can wittily sneak some humor in there somehow… which was something Jenna liked to do, specifically.
“W-what?” The girl looked confused but Jenna didn’t have time to compromise anything.
She had blastboy to deal with…
He had made a fuss after she turned a corner, “Where is she!?” he had cried out so loud that it made her hum a small chime of satisfaction. She had lost him!
It only made her giddier to glance behind and see his frustrated expression. It had a kind of… charm to it. Made her all fuzzy inside!
The flare to show the heroes it was time to attack and not just watch was sent through the sky, lighting it up in a dazzling red. Jenna immediately stopped scaling the rooftops, her eyes widening with red as she shoved her back against the corner wall of a building, staying out of sight as she tucked herself inside a nook. ‘Herrreeee, Baky, Baky…’ She teased, not daring to make an actual sound, but watched as soon—darting into the streets—were countless heroes taking the scene.
‘Right in the open? How stupid can these guys get?’ she blinked in puzzlement, but decided to let those slide and get to the second ring of defenses they had organized.
There, a girl with gravity powers levitated some loose road and brought the battle up to the skies.
“Got’cha.” She slipped up, speaking out loud in her excitement as she pulled out an ice arrow and began firing near their feet.
Trapped, until the ice exploded and they were all sent spiraling downwards toward the broken up, artificial highways of the UA Entrance Exam. Although, she wondered why they were using this as a test today. Was she… perhaps, being watched by the higher ups? She took a second to look for cameras, but then remembered her mission and stayed on her easy targets.
‘Too simple, but at least it’s a clean kill.’ She puckered her lips, ‘That’s no fun…’
But where was he..?
“Move it!!!” A familiar, loud, deafening voice broke through the silence as Bakugo jumped and blasted through the floating pieces of road.
The gravity girl ducked out of shot, but now there were just pieces of gravel flying aimlessly around in the air.
The dust caught Jenna by surprise. She coughed a moment into her arm, sweating…
‘Dang it! I can’t breathe now! But if I make anymore sound, he’ll spot me!’ she decided to suck in air from her arm, blocking most of the tiny debris from entering her lungs and then held her breath.
Her long fingers skimmed the arrow’s feathers… each was designed so she could easily identify which was which; her unique brand of destruction towards her enemies depended on the particular feel of each feather. Bomb? Shock? Ice..?
‘Ice is weak to fire… but it should slow him down for a moment or two.’ Unable to see through the dust, she knew she had to jump.
‘There!’ she leaped up, above the floating mass of dirtied cover, finding him using his hand explosions to stay afloat in the air over it all.
“You need to cool off!” She pulled back and ripped her ice arrow, the metal arrow parting in three sections to reveal a cooling blue goo that shone white in the light of the blaring sun. Bakugo instinctively turned one hand of his grenade arm to block the attack, but by doing so, hard-banked left with just one hand making constant explosions.
Instead of getting his leg stuck to the building like she had planned, his arm—spreading up to his shoulder—was hit. The goo spread out instantly in the air, forming an icicle that latched onto him.
“3…2…1…” she counted in a hushed whisper as she felt her body begin to dive back into the littered, rocky air. Gravity naturally took over, and she began to fall. She hoped to see it though, the moment it shattered.
The ice began to crack at each count, ready to explode as Bakugo reached for it—“Don’t!”
“Huh?” Bakugo looked over to see the boy with the scar jump through the floating pieces of ground and grab the ice.
“W-what?!” She was still free-falling at this point, unable to see fully what was going on, but the boy seemed to use some sort of fire attack to bring the cooling agent back to its goo form.
‘Darn it!’ she bit her lip, upset by an interruption in her fun. The vision of the two faded behind the deep floating dust that blinded her goggles. She dipped into back, the light brown fog with mini-pieces of earth pelting into her hide.
-------
The cold stung at Bakugo, but he raked it off with his oversized gloves and grenade wrist accessories. “What was that for?! Did I ask for a babysitter!?” the two disappeared under the fog as Shoto Todoroki used his ice to scale them safely down, sliding along the smooth surface till they could see the bottom.
They both coughed, but saw Ochaco Uraraka getting caught by Deku, and taped up by Hanta Sero.
She had a cute look of ‘I’m caught’ on her face and just let them do their job, but Bakugo quickly turned his attention to Todoroki and gripped him by the front of his shirt’s neckline. Cussing loudly, he hollered in his face, but Todoroki seemed to take the assault in matured patience. “What’s with the big hero act!? I didn’t ask for your help, Todoroki! Going for a good grade through me will have you killed!”
“That was liquid ice with enhanced reactors. It instantly hardened and exploded. If you had exploded it before then with your hand, the force of the heat and the coolant would have scattered your shoulder in the chemical aftermath.” He stressed through gritted teeth, declaring his peace. “I did nothing wrong. I was just protecting my fellow classmate.”
Bakugo held him in that hold a moment, his anger depleting somewhat at hearing Todoroki’s explanation and begrudgingly let him go. “I don’t care if you care about me, Scar-face. I’m going to be the top hero. I don’t need your support.“ Bakugo turned away from him, pounding his feet onto solid ground and looking back at Todoroki with less hostility now.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Todoroki adjusted his attire. “What I want to know is…” He gave a piercing stare back to Bakugo, “Why you backed down from fighting her when she confronted you.”
“…Tsk. Now you want to ask?” Bakugo was judging up the situation, knowing she was around here somewhere…
He caught a floating piece of earth and held it in front of him and Todoroki for some added protection, “She’s a freakin’ loud American, and to boot a stranger. It’s just in their nature. They’re nosy. Proud. I don’t like to deal with anyone’s crap. But mostly,… I didn’t feel like it.”
“I don’t believe you.” Todoroki quickly called his bluff, not even bothering to change his tone as he stated it. “I don’t think it has anything to do with her nationality. I think you know better than that. You just got surprised by her. Not her particular culture.” He knelt down, seeing if he could spot anything from under the piece of earth Bakugo was holding and looked up at the buildings. “Plenty of places to hide. If she’s an archer, she’s most likely used to ranged combat.”
“So get in hot and heavy. Got it.” Bakugo was ready for melee, but Todoroki just let a small, frustrated sigh escape from his nose.
He got back up, staring straight ahead, “You looked like you were putting on a show at one point. What were you trying to do? Give a good impression?”
“I don’t care about who someone is, or what blasted nation they come from, alright?” Bakugo admitted, getting heated as he didn’t like standing around for so long. “I just didn’t like her standing up for Deku…”
“She called you a bully.”
“Yeah, well. Figures.”
Suddenly, a barrage of arrows with radiating red flickers of sparks and flames rose up in a swift aligned manner, as if fired one right after the other. Like clockwork, they began exploding more debris into the air.
“She’s trying for cover.” Bakugo shielded himself but quickly detached from the now blasted earth and jumped into the air, blazing forward. “Come’ere!!!” he cried out, hitting randomly at the buildings, trying to flush out a mouse.
Todoroki watched him, worried before seeing a faint streak of purple and black trail right behind Bakugo, a loud explosion behind her as she expertly twisted herself in the air, shooting him from behind with a bomb arrow.
“Dang it!!!” Bakugo swung around, just narrowly getting her with some distant fire from his explosions.
“Ugh!” she rolled on the ground, toppling a bit before quickly getting up and firing a multitude of arrows at him. ‘She was flame proof!?’ he looked ticked at that realization, “You scum! Fight me!”
He dodged her arrows, burning some of them to ash before they could even reach him. “Oh, now you’re silent!?” He was waiting for a comeback, but she was trying desperately to discipline herself to remain stealthy and silent while engaged in battle. “I’ll kill yoooouuu!!!” he blasted off after her, singling her out as she continued to look for cover and distance between them.
“Why does he always pester the strong ones? To be honest, it’s incredible that he can pick them out of a crowd in seconds.” Todoroki noticed her skill, and also acknowledged Bakugo’s recognition of that.
“Is this his form of respect?” He scoffed at that, but quickly touched both hands to the ground and had spikes of ice flying up towards her, creating a path of jagged, icy spikes her way.
Bakugo looked back, seeing Todoroki’s icicles scale up after her and shouted even louder, hitting his chin to his chest to see below him. “Heeey!!! I thought I told you to stay out of this?! Augh! I’ll kill you too!!!”
She turned her long, curly hair towards the sound of protruding ice and quickly shifted her attention to jumping quickly out of its way, hoping to avoid contact. She aimed straight below her, firing fire arrows that melted the ice before it could fully form into a sharp object and stab her through in the air.
“How did she..?” Todoroki’s eyes shook as Deku waved him from afar.
“Shoto-san!” he called, “She’s got different arrow feathers! Watch to see which one she’s aiming for!”
“Midoriya?” Todoroki turned to him, “Why is he spouting this out now?”
“Todoroki-san!” Deku leaped forward, changing tactics, and pushed Todoroki out of the way of a Shock Arrow that created a rigid line of electrical power surging intensely to immobilize him.
“Mi-Midoriya!” Todoroki watched in horror as Deku strained against the shock arrow’s affect. He took the arrow that had opened and latched itself onto him and summoned some of his power to break the arrow off him, ripping some of his uniform to do it, and then held his hand out in front of her.
“If one of those fire arrows… hits Kaachan… He’ll explode on himself.” He muttered through the pain, squinting as he aimed a finger at Jenna.
She had slid down the ice and was trying to get away, completely unaware that Midoriya was aiming for her. For someone so stealthy, her awareness at who was targeting her seemed slightly flawed. She didn’t pay attention to a lot of people, only what was right in front of her.
That would be her downfall, her weakness in her armor as Deku put it, and he had figured it out in only a couple of minutes.
“I’ll give you this one shot… she’s vulnerable in the air.” He shot out a blast from his finger, stunning Todoroki as Bakugo strained against the power, “Her character weakness… is that she doesn’t look at what’s happening around her. Only at what’s crucial to her and her alone. That’s why Bakugo distracting her by calling her out is so unnerving to her. She hates to be targeted. She can only deal with one thing at a time.” Then, something strange happened. Bakugo saw her and dived for an attack, but didn’t notice Deku’s One For All until it was too late.
Todoroki stood up and leaned towards the two, stranded in the air, “She’s not the only one with the character flaw!!!”
The two shouted out as they were sucked into the windblast, getting pushed back, far away from the rest of the students and activity grounds they were on.
“Dang it! Dekkkkku..!!!” Bakugo cried out while him and Jenna were blasted out into the open air. However, the effects of the windblast also pushed the cloud of dirt away, and they were able to convince Uraraka to let the floating road pieces finally go down.
It was all playing well into the strategy though, and to help Jenna out too, Uraraka kept it up.
When they finally pleaded with her enough, she conceded and placed her fingers together, “Release.” And looked up with one eye shut and an innocently, cheeky smile. “Hehe~ But that new transfer student is still doing great without my-“ she couldn’t finish her sentence as she suddenly looked up to see Jenna and Bakugo being flung out of the current combat zone. “Uhh… I spoke too soon.” She fell limp in a comical fashion, a sweat drop on the side of her face.
“Who is this transfer student… And does she know about Bakugo’s quirk?” Todoroki watched as the two of them disappeared from eyesight over the large skyscrapers in the distance.
----
The two rolled as Jenna quickly fought through the pain, grinding together her teeth a moment to force herself up and get her bow and arrow in place.
She was huffing, bending her legs to keep a crouched stance, looking to Bakugo’s rolling body.
‘He’s gotta be sweaty by now.’ She told herself, holding a fire arrow in place.
She could light it with her finger, the two that were covered in a fire-starting oil and designed to scrape against the arrows hide where a dipped string lit the head.
“Hmm? Oh, he’s a popular prodigy here. Or so we’re told… See those sparks? One touch from his sweat and suddenly he’s a walking grenade. Best not to trigger him, you know?”
But that’s precisely what she wanted.
When he got up, she could tell by how the dust stuck to the side of his masculine face that he was getting worked up. The sweat was almost visible, causing his face to shine in a oily way… and his deep breathing, intense stare…
She suddenly shook her head, finding her thoughts strange. ‘Focus, Jenna! What’s wrong with you!? He’s just a stupid boy!’
Bakugo wiped some the sweat off his face, “You’re no joke…” His hair bent and swooped with the hand’s motion. “This is even more annoying than that darn Deku ever was…” He breathed hard, and with her keen vision, noticed his finely toned chest moving up and down, the strain it had on his shirt, now wetted with sweat; How he reeled himself up from his hunched position, using each notch on his spine to slowly stand up straight, and stare her directly on.
“Quit comparing me to him!” she pulled the string back, lighting the fire with a swipe of her finger-guard that also worked as a match.
“Heh,… Yeah, you tick me off just as much, or even more so, then he did…” he smirked, liking seeing her lose her silent demeanor. Was he egging her on?
She was shaking, but why? Why was she so upset at being compared to the boy he was bulling earlier? She felt… was it jealousy?
“Keep your attention on the fight at hand, blastboy! I’m no nothing!” she mocked his cruel nickname for the other boy, but also found herself losing her composure.
Maybe it was from the shock of the blast? That green-hair kid sent her flying with one finger flick.
Why were her hands unable to remain still? She should be breathing naturally still, but her breaths were all over the place, just as much as her aim was.
Her bow shook in different directions as he stood before her, locked on without a inch of movement. Her balance was off. Could she not take a hit?!
‘That Deku guy… how powerful is he!?’ she squinted her eyes through her googles, trying to steel her mind again and focus against the pain in her joints and the strain on her muscles from such a blow.
‘How was he just fine!?’ Bakugo did look beat-up, but not beaten in the least. Her eyes kept darting to different parts of him as he advanced, walking menacingly over to her with his hands to his sides, facing up as though ready to blast whenever.
‘Then neither shall I.’ she closed her eyes… her body finding the strength and balance it needed to remain still once more.
She controlled her breathing, leaning her head down to breath out, and then breathing up with the rising of her head.
She opened her eyes.
He put one hand behind him as though ready to charge her until she shouted out,
“Blastboy!”
“W-What-?” He stopped his pursuit and blinked in confusion, completely taken off-guard by that name. “Why you-! I’m Lord Explosion Murder!” His eyes suddenly were filled with white, shaping into an arrow as he ‘whined’ loudly to her. At least, that’s how she interpreted it.
She felt a bit embarrassed for him, ‘That’s such a lame name.’ she teased inside her head and then found herself giggling to the side of her raised shoulder, still holding the fire arrow out in front of her. “You’re kinda funny, you know that? Haha…”
He suddenly stopped twitching his fingers and looked a bit shocked at her expression.
She… was laughing.
To any normal boy, they would have stared longer at how sweetly beautiful she looked as she serenely let go of reality and enjoyed a small bit of silliness in her day.
But Bakugo was far from normal.
He took in the scene, and then figured she was making fun of him.
“D-…” He lowered his head, “DARN YOU!!!” then blasted forward with a hand reaching out for her.
She continued to laugh a moment, swinging her head up and letting her brown hair fly over her face a moment. Then her eyes turned cold and serious, her breathing was exact, and her eyes honed in on the insides of his sweat-storage, deep within his grenade wristbands.
“Got’cha.” She winked, a new signature she was thinking of keeping as a last moment line and fired the fire arrow.
He went to dodge it, but she quickly took out another, lighting it with one hand, and driving her head into his hand, spooking him at her directness.
He could have blasted her head off at a direct shot, her goggles may have protected her eyes but the rest of her skin was bare and would have suffered burns from this sort of impact.
If her bodysuit was really flame proof, she would have been blown back and suffered broken bones, maybe less burns, but her face? Gone.
She leaned her head into his hand with a smirk on her face, no fear.
His amazement at this caught him completely dumbfounded, not firing his explosion as she feinted shooting an arrow but instead let his moving hand push her back as she shoved the newly lit fire arrow into a cranny of his attire.
“Idiot.” She watched as his other hand propelling him stopped firing out a constant barrage of explosions and let him fly a moment towards her.
His eyes and hers met, her cocky and his full of wonder.
“You-“ He was about to speak about how crazy she was,
But then…
BA-OOOOOMMMM!!!!
---
Who was the idiot?
It was hard to tell.
She had wanted to get a one-on-one with him—all alone. His attention solely on her and nothing else, but luckily she twisted her body just in time to where her bodysuit took most of the fire damage. However… she was still bruised up and deeply scarred from the injuries of the forceful blast, and the nurse had to use her ridiculously long lips to heal the rest of it.
“You’re lucky you didn’t get second degree burns on your pretty little skin, deary.” The nurse lifted Jenna’s arm up, looking over her suit and then bandaging her up when she was able to change back into her school uniform. “Might I ask what was so life and death that you willingly took the shot?”
“Honor..? Valor..? The thrill of the kill?” Jenna lied, looking away from the old woman as she saw the shadow behind the curtain… the other gurney had Blastboy laying in it, silent and still as a rock.
“Kill..?” the nurse seemed to pause in deep thought at that. She lowered her arm and placed her hands behind her back, “Well, you’re all fixed up. I don’t know about that last reason… but I hope you’ll be more careful with your fellow classmates next time.” She nodded after her light scold when Jenna lowered her head in respects for her help.
“Thanks.” She lightheartedly said and waited for the nurse to leave.
As the nurse departed, she looked back at Bakugo, having moved enough towards the door that she was beyond the curtain and could see him now. “Hmph. She’s just as feisty as you and that Midoriya boy you’re always barking at.”
Bakugo grunted in annoyance behind the curtain, which made Jenna really curious about what damages he took.
“Take care then… Rascals.” The nurse had closed the door with one final thought, and it sounded almost like a cuss word by how she stated it.
Jenna jumped down from her bed and threw the curtain out of the way, her face shining in triumphant victory.
“What cool scars did I give you!?” Her childish glee at examining him suddenly dropped when she noticed his arm in a cast. “Aww… was it fully healed?”
An anger mark twitched on his head. He was turned on his side, but quickly leaned up and shouted out at her, “Shut up, Deku!”
“Excuse me?” she blinked, growing annoyed that he slipped up again. “How many times do I have to tell you to quit comparing me to him?”
He flinched at his mistake, almost blushing too before sparking his good hand again, “Dang it all!!! I’ll kill you!”
“I did kill ya!” she cheerily responded, making him fall out of his gurney and have his leg twitch above him, comically taken-aback by quick quip.
“Hey… are you like, mentally disturbed or somethin’?” He rubbed his head when he sat back up, but Jenna didn’t take it to heart.
She jumped over the gurney, landing gracefully above him and sat down with her legs pulled tightly against her.
“I don’t really do well in conversations. Kinda more introverted.” She began talking, but Bakugo just looked more ticked off.
He got back up on the gurney and tried to shout her off of it.
“Oui! Who said you could sit by me and suddenly act like the whole world’s okay!?” He growled, but she continued.
“Deku didn’t do anything to you. I did.” She stared straight ahead, remembering it all. “I distracted you with a gutsy play, and then it was me who jammed my fire arrow into your hero’s suit.” She smiled giddily, as though everything she was saying was absolutely fine to talk about.
“Y-you…” he spoke through gritted teeth, his hand twitching to seize her neck, but he held it all back.
“But it looks like we beat each other up… I’m still the victor though! Hee!” She made a peace-sign with her hand and gave him the best close-eyed smile she could muster. “That was fun! Thanks for not exploding my face off!”
“Give it here and I will..!” he reached for her face, but the bell rang and she had already deflected it with some skill.
She kept laughing, so he moved back and tried to figure out what had just happened.
The motion was so smooth and fast. She had whacked his hand back, a light swat that held enough momentum to completely side-swipe his hand away from her face. She didn’t even seem to have looked, just did it.
He tried again to punch through her defenses, not planning to actually strike her, but get a reaction again.
Once more, she expertly locked his hand into a wrestling hold and then rolled to kick him over herself and smash backwards into a medicine cabinet located on the ground near them.
She continued to laugh as though that wasn’t even strenuous on her. “You’re funny.”
“You… You do know hand-to-hand combat! Todorokkkkki!!!” he almost looked like he was spewing fire out of his mouth, but Jenna was still upset he was crying out someone else’s name.
“Oui, the name’s Jenna. Hero name is Arrow. State one or the other but quit calling out somebody else’s name.” she puffed up a side of her cheek, annoyed again. “Darn, and you were actually making me laugh for real that time.”
“Quit laughing at me and fight!” he got up again, stomping his foot to the ground. “You and me! The Lakeside! Wear your hero’s attire so no one knows who we are!”
She pfft’d to herself, shaking her head. “Dummy. Did I smack your head too hard against that cabinet just now? Everyone, even over in America, knows about Class 1A in Japan’s UA. There’s no way people wouldn’t recognize you.” She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he even knew of his class’s reputation and fame.
“Grk..! You may be right about that…” His temper died down then, and for a moment, she saw his calmer side. He began to calculate as he put a hand to his chin and remained silent, which made her tilt her head and stare at him.
Once again her eyes wandered and she examined him. He was muscular, duh. He was, after all, training to be a hero. His wounds were completely healed, like her own, even though they both took an explosion almost head-on.
Heh, she chuckled lightly at her own pun again.
She covered her face and let her hair drape over her shoulders, ‘Why is he so fascinating to me?’ she thought before he once again spoke up.
“Hey, America.”
It took her by surprise, how calm and relaxed it was.
She looked up, seeing a serious expression on his face now. “I-It’s Jenna or-“
“Still meet me by the lakeside, but at night.” He clarified. “You’ll need some flame resistant, so suit it is.” He smirked as though dastardly planning something… He rose his hand up and let mini-explosions flare up on his hand. “I won’t hold back next time. You won’t trip me up with your daredevil acts. If I get the chance to take you down, I won’t hesitate like before! I’ll blow your blasted head off! No exceptions!”
She stared at him a moment… but soon her face matched his own and her ambition caused her to get up alongside him, reaching a hand out. “Then it’s a date.”
He flinched, “A rematch..!” he also offered his hand, not taking her own.
“Aww… that hurts my little feelings…” she whimpered, only enraging him more.
“Who would want to go on a date with a psychopath that puts her head directly into a bomb!?” He exploded in his words again.
She smirked this time, leaning her head directly up towards his face. “This gal.” she flirted, only slightly, before moving her face away and waving it off. “Just kidding.” She walked to the door, noticing her broken quiver and burnt-up arrows.
She frowned, but still managed to pick it up and sling it around her shoulder. She turned to look back at a frozen Bakugo, winking, “Got’cha.” She teased again, and then headed out the door.
He just stared at her… would this be a reoccurring theme?
Some time passed and she asked around for where the support class was, everyone wanted to ask about her and Bakugo’s injuries, but she just rudely pushed by them and kept asking the same question to other students nearby.
Finally, someone gave her some intel on a girl named Mei Hatsume. She was apparently another prodigy when it came to hero gear, but it was times like these that Jenna missed her inventor friend back in America.
“Hello?” Jenna used the back of her hand to knock on the inside of the room, already stepping in as a girl turned around.
Her eyes sparkled at Jenna’s quiver and arrows, “Oh! Babies!” She flung whatever she was working on away and bolted to Jenna, causing her to stand upright as though in the military.
“Umm…” Jenna’s gear was whisked away by the girl, who she assumed must be the famous Mei Hatsume she’s been hearing about. Mei began to tinker almost immediately with the devices after caressing them over to her worktable.
“Shush, shush… It’s okay, Auntie’s here~” Mei then indirectly spoke to Jenna while she worked. “So, you’re the girl who was picking on Bakugo, right?”
“Eh?” Jenna was distracted by all the inventions in the room, almost about to touch one when she heard Mei address her. “O-oh. I guess you could say that. Though… I would say he targeted me first.” She shrugged.
“Really?” Mei’s goggles shined a moment, “And would you say… you targeted him back?”
“I mean, I don’t back down from a challenge.” Jenna couldn’t resist, she poked something along the wall and three springs burst out, making her jumble around to catch them all before they startled the young inventor and got her scolded again. “Phew… I-Is our story that well-known already?”
“Hmm… No. I was just looking over the babies. They scream with melted steel and defective sockets. You must have triggered a bomb—Bakugo. You must have been in close range—a fight. What I can’t tell is who made these once exquisite darlings?” She held a now charcoal black arrow up and stared down it through its tip, measuring with her eye before placing it back down and pulling out some tools.
“My friend… from America.” She grew suddenly very sober. Her finger lightly skimmed the wood of the other tables as Mei stopped working to look back at her.
“You miss her? This friend?” Mei questioned as Jenna quickly shook herself out of it.
“It’s nothing. I mean, it’s everything! But… she was just a close friend… I don’t like goodbyes.”
“Yet, you love flirting with death.”
“What?”
“Go!”
Mei turned around and shoved her arms out in front of her, “I’ll need about a day to completely restore these busted up, bruised, and completely abused, precious little cuties without your interfering…” she started pushing Jenna out.
“H-hey! Don’t touch me! I can’t leave! What are you gonna do with my equipment!? Hey, wait!” the door was about to be shut on her, but Jenna was not one to be shoved around by anyone.
She jammed her foot into the door, wincing at the pain. “I need to know exactly what you’re going to do to my stuff!”
“…You gotta work on those trust issues.” Mei stated, but raised her head kindly to Jenna, “And… maybe be less hazardous on yourself and others.”
“H-huh?” Jenna raised an eyebrow.
“I did hear about you and the battle, but I also deduced you were in close combat with Bakugo… You should really think before you move.” Mei picked up a wrench from the wall and knocked lightly on Jenna’s wedged foot like a hammer, trying to get her to go away. “I’m only saying that to confront this demand of closeness is necessary in order to fulfill these babies desires of attacking to protect, not just for the thrill of the hunt.”
“H-how did you-!?” Jenna was then locked out and left to stand confused and upset outside the door. “I’ve been wronged!” Jenna protested, folding her arms before realizing… “I’ve been robbed!” her eyes widened, and she banged on the door, “Give me my stuff back! Hey! Hatsume!!! Ohhh..!”
It was all so interesting though… this new life, this new rematch…
She had swore she saw a faint blush of red when she leaned her face close to his. But a ‘demand for closeness’? That was absurd!
Then again…Would she kiss a bomb? Oh, absolutely… if kissing ever crossed her mind, which it didn’t. At least…
It hadn’t happened before…
---
“She’s late.”
Bakugo tapped his foot impatiently to the concrete sidewalk around the lake. He was leaning against the railing, hands in his pockets, feeling the nipping cold of the dusk as night set in.
“Late… Late… Late…” he kept repeating, growing agitated by the lowering of the sun.
“Tsk! Waste of my time!” he kicked a trashcan down,… thinking suddenly as he looked to his foot.
‘The pain is gone…’ he stared intently at his lifted foot, and then looked around the lake again.
Happy, stupid couples… all holding hands in the dark…
How irritating.
He looked away, spooking some kids who came by to scare the ducks and geese as he spoke out like a punk, hollering and thrashing about to leave the space open.
It wouldn’t be long before everyone was checking out for the night. Even the annoying freakin’ couples would pause in their mushy-gushy make-outs to look up and see it was time to head out.
“She’s late.” He growled out again, looking towards the sky. “…Or maybe I’m early.”
He took his bag with his hero’s attire in it and headed for the outdoor bathroom, “I’ll get changed…” he abruptly kicked another trashcan over.
After setting his attire on him just right, he burst the door open with a blast and walked out, “Everyone better be gone… or I’ll make you get lost!”
It was a Saturday, so most of the people were still walking around.
“Tsk.” He couldn’t challenge her again at the school, it wasn’t open Saturdays.
They may have dorms now, but he would get in trouble again if he got spotted. And he was threw picking up trash!
He kicked another trashcan down.
“Now she really is late!”
It was pitch black, everyone had seen the roaring kid and rushed off. He had gotten everyone to vacate the premises as if he owned the place.
Once it was perfectly quiet and he was completely alone, he sat up on the railing and looked around, chewing on a piece of tall, green grass.
He looked in one direction, chewed. …. Nothing.
He looked in the other direction, crunched a piece off. … Nothing.
He looked dead ahead, then gripped the bar of the railing and leaned himself all the way back.
His hair crashed into the water, spraying up a ripple effect that sent the almost sleeping birds flying.
He saw some flashlights. Probably the lake cops. He would have to lay low.
“Hmph, whatever.” He leaned back up and headed into the bushes and behind a tree.
Water sprayed up with him as he rose, dripping down his neck to his back as he raced off to avoid being detected.
He wasn’t going to give up. She was going to come. She was going to lose.
He was able to dodge them as they looked around, and then took off again.
“Come on, America… Where the heck are you?” he badgered as if she was right next to him. “You really think you can stand me up? What? Trying to hold on to your fluke of a victory? I’ll kill ya, alright. I’m gonna be the number one hero. A real somethin’…” he walked in the dark, muttering to himself and growing increasingly sorrowful.
He stared at the ground, his wrist grenades feeling weighted all of a sudden.
He slowed his pace…
And finally stopped.
He stared at his shoes… then spat the piece of grass out. “…She’s not coming.”
“Says who!? Ha…ha…”
His eyes rose up and he slowly turned around.
“…Brat girl?”
“Ugh, at least you’re trying to address me this time.”
She was clutching her knees, bending over and breathing hard as though she had run a marathon. “You know how many lakes there are? You could have been more specific! And besides that, my arrows and bow was broken. Didn’t you have to get your equipment fine-tuned or something? Oh, come on… it would hurt my feelings if you said they were fine.” She groaned, but he stared at her as if she was an apparition.
She finally got a hold on her breathing, arching her back and stretching a bit. “Boy… hooo… it took me a minute. I had to scale these buildings and figure out which lakeside you meant, but I finally made it! It’s dark and we’re isolated from causing any real damage. It’s actually kinda clever. Way to go, Blastboy! Let’s finish this!” she took out her stick that expanded into a slick bow and then looked ready to dart.
His eyes twitched as her naturally loud voice echoed over the lake and caused some birds to fly off, cawing.
“Stupid-! Get down..!” he let out a shouted whisper as he noticed the lights of the cops’ flashlights glisten over the water and head straight for their direction.
---
“Eep!” she was tackled down and thrown below the bushes. Bakugo was directly over her, leaning down but keeping his eyes up at the lights through the leaves…
She could smell him… she could feel the cool wind against his heated skin… was he always warm? Was that natural for him? ‘Heh, he’s hot. Quite literally.’ She joked to herself, trying to keep her mind off of unwanted ramblings on abandoned train tracks through her mind.
He was certainly powerful. She struggled under him a moment, her face growing red when she realized he was forcefully pinning her down.
“Quit shaking!” he whispered again, tightening his hold on her as she squeaked inside her head and freaked out. He was… holding her down.
When the light finally wandered off and disappeared, he still kept himself over her, waiting longer as she began to make small, broken noises of syllables that should have formed words to a cohesive sentence but didn’t.
He looked back at her, as though ticked off by her continual sound making, and covered her mouth.
“What part of lay low do you not understand?!”
His hand was whacked away as she maneuvered out from below him.
“The part where you didn’t say lay low, genius!” she rubbed the loose grass off her hero suit as he got up, straightening up but remaining on his knees to peer over the tall shrubbery.
“They’ll break to the other side soon… then we’ll be clear to brawl.” His eyebrow solidified heavily into a broad look of serious contemplating.
“Is that all you ever think-“ she looked up, and the expression made her stare a moment, getting the twigs and other little castaways of nature’s clippings out of her hair. “…About…”
She gulped and straightened herself out. Probably best not to let him know how she was feeling about that last ‘move’.
She started fixing her hair, “You know… people usually don’t brawl on their first date.”
“Shut up.”
“You take that too literally. It’s kinda funny.” She joked, pulling her hair up to get a better grip of it. She tried to look a little sexy, but he wasn’t even staring at her. She dropped the ruse and pouted.
“You’re the funny lookin’ one.”
She gasped in excitement, had he noticed?!
“I’m cute funny, you’re just funny.”
He actually let out a chuckle, which caught her off-guard and had her once again staring at him.
He got up and offered her his hand, “Come on, Ameri-… Arrow. We have some unfinished business to settle.”
“I’ll settle with you.”
“…What?” he flinched back.
“S-sorry!” she waved her hands about, “I talk dirty when I’m nervous!”
“…D…Dirty!?” he accidentally let his voice raise a little much, and bent down in a bit of surprise, “Shoot… we gotta keep our voices down till we know we’re in the clear…”
“You’ve said we’re in the clear a few times now…” she noticed he turned his head down, listening to her whispers and turned an ear to her.
It was too good to resist~
“…And I get loud at night.”
“…What?!” he once again tensed up and was shook by her words, but she again apologized.
“L-look! You were the one who invited me out here randomly!” She was half-faking her condition, but it seemed to make him react and that’s all she really wanted.
“For a rematch! Get your head in the game and quit it!” he bundled a fist as tightly as he could squeeze it, his eyes turning white again and forming into the shape of arrows.
“You’ve already lit the flame! My game’s on, where’s yours at?” She covered her face, “I’m so sorry…”
There was a brief moment of pause from Bakugo, his face shifted to normal and he spoke very seriously then.
“You are mentally disturbed, aren’t you?”
“Oui! It’s natural battle-talk for an intimate fight like this, right!?” She acted coy, pretending not to really mean anything she was saying.
“Since when do combatants talk dirty to-!”
He stopped himself a moment, “Wait… do you mean smack talking? Are you confusing the words around?” He face-palmed himself, “Your Japanese is so good,” he seemed to mentally scolding himself, “…I couldn’t tell.”
“I’m not confusing anything! Just ignore that and let’s go!” She wasn’t actually that sorry, she just wanted to see what she thought she saw in the nurse’s office. His face was red, wasn’t it? She couldn’t remember.
But… she seemed to be able to trigger him, and something inside her liked that.
Getting him flustered was a good way to see if she was right, but it was too dark, she’d have to find a way to make him glow red.
Besides, he deserved it… giving her all these random thoughts and whatnot!
As they approached the lake, Bakugo and her were silent… A moment stretched on as they gazed at the fading lights bouncing off the lake’s surface before Bakugo turned to her.
“Hey…” he looked pretty serious, but seemed to calm down quite a bit. She turned to show she was listening to him. “… Let’s just fight our hearts out. Winner is determined by-“
“Who doesn’t flinch?”
“You have a habit of cutting people off, you know that?” He scratched his hand through his hair, “But sure. Yeah. Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”
In the distance, flames and arrows, explosions and bright lights could be seen around the lake. But then, a brilliant blue as ice scaled the lake front and melted with Bakugo’s heat.
They both crashed into the lake, Bakugo swinging up and placing his hand on the grenade clip to his arms.
Jenna flung her hair up over her face and let it slap against her back, her bow ready, arm extended and grasping it tight while aimed at his heart. Truer than a headshot, it was the most accurate place to target.
When Jenna saw his mouth hanging open, water steaming around him, she realized that she was enthralled in the thick of this battle as well. She hadn’t ever met someone she could consider a rival, and it took longer for her to even consider someone a decent human being—worthy of being called a friend.
She froze a moment, ‘He’s really putting everything he has into this… I should too!’ She pulled out an arrow, not even looking back to see which one it was and fired straight.
His eyes widened as the arrow hit his chest but bounced off.
“B…Blunted?” he saw the arrow sink through the lake, which was about up to his stomach.
Slowly, he felt his pride sink with it. She didn’t fire a real, deadly one?
“What, do you think this is some kind of joke!?” he blasted his hands into the lake, causing it to get warm and boil around him.
Only, Jenna could feel the warmth and swished her hands around in it, giggling as the bubbles popped around her, “You’ve got me in a Jacuzzi already? Whatever will my parents think?”
Bakugo staggers back, the water lit by the glow of the moon. She saw, for a moment anyway, the faint pink spread across his uncomfortable face.
Once again, another opening.
She takes out another arrow, placing it like clockwork in its spot and shooting true. The blunt arrow whacks him again on the chest, “That’s two times I’ve killed you.”
“Tsk… You’re not fooling around…” Bakugo’s eyes twitch, looking at the arrow sinking again and then her smug little face. “What if that was-!?” he stopped. “You really want to kill somebody?”
She rose an eyebrow, confused. “Didn’t you want me to play rough?”
He ignored the flirty underlining of that comment and stood straighter, agitated at her. “I don’t think I like that…”
“What? If I killed you, then we wouldn’t be able to brawl anymore.” She lowered her bow, looking him over. “And honestly…”
---
She tilted her head, “This was a great way to go! I’ll miss you, Bakugo! Hahaha!”
“G-go?” His head jolted up. “What do you mean, American!?” He worriedly thought she was meant…
“Exactly that. I was only meant to train here for a couple of months. I have to return to America by this next week.”
His eyes shook, “S-so soon?” It was like a cave-in on his chest. It wasn’t what he thought, but it was still devastating to hear…
A true fatality.
“Gonna miss me?” she winked before turning away and folding her arrow back into its portable stick form. “I… can’t thank you enough. I’ve learned a lot here… even if it was short, I was only meant to study abroad for a little bit. I… wish I could have stayed.”
He heard the splashes and slush of the water as she trailed out of it, wringing out her hair and shaking off the water from her arms and legs.
He just stood there, a statue as though he didn’t hear her correctly.
“You’re… You can’t be serious!” he punched a fist up towards Jenna, “I still haven’t beaten you to a pulp yet!!!”
She turned with a little expression, but one he couldn’t read due to its subtlety.
“You always make me laugh, Blastboy… but really,” Was it the water? Or were those… tears?
She turned away, her tone growing sorrowful and something sounding like a block in her throat building up in her voice.
“This time, for real,… I don’t Got’cha.”
He walked away from the lake, soaking wet, with thoughts and a cold running through his body.
He looked like a drunk man, swaying his arms about as he wondered why it mattered so much. What did America have that he didn’t? Or well… that Japan didn’t!? They had All Might. They had UA. Why on earth would she leave-!?
He shook his head, “Darn bratt!” he punched a trashcan and exploded it’s lower-half, sending it flying over a house.
He watched in a bit of regret, his frown softening before he winced as he heard a- TANK TONK TANK! On the other side…
“…Why am I so worked up over this?” He looked at his hand, “I’ve never felt my heat this scorching before…” but what he didn’t know, he figured, was probably best left unsolved.
He rubbed his chest where the blunted arrows had hit, and then grumbled as he kicked some rocks on the corner of the sidewalk and headed home.
“I need to change…”
---
The next few months at school were followed by either loud arguments and having their heads pinned against the others, or long silent competitions where they never spoke but tried to out-match the other in any training event they had.
While working out in her UA clothes, down by the gym, Jenna punch a bag repeatedly in a built-up sweat. She was venting, secretly. She had noticed Bakugo was pulling away from her playful bickerings with him and wanted to know why.
Also, she thought about what Bakugo had said that night, in the lake.
She grew upset, her mind playing tricks on her as she imagined him coming up to her, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her close…
It disgusted her.
“Get your head in the game!” she mumbled to herself, knocking the bag around wildly as she swung at it. ‘Did he really think I might have actually wanted to hurt him?’ her anger spiked and she swung her leg high, striking through the bag on accident. “Whoops.” She tried to punch out of it, but the bag was torn. She hopped on one leg to try and free herself, deciding to practice multiple punch-strikes next but Bakugo stepped into the gym by then.
All lights fell upon him as Jenna’s senses and eyes honed-in on his appearance.
‘Thank goodness he didn’t see that.’ She gulped, glad she hadn’t suffered through his relentless laughing, pointing at her folly.
He seemed to not notice her, or pretended as much, heading towards some gear he could fire at.
She watched him workout, leaping through the air and scaling to dummies placed along the upper walls that he fired at. Practicing his aim?
She found herself staring at him again. So annoying! But at this point, it couldn’t be helped…
She noticed his calculated strikes, his expert timing, and the way he controlled the movement of his flailing body as it rotated and moved with each precise blast towards another dummy to attack. Before too long, he jumped down and was flexing his hands, massaging his arms a bit before finally acknowledging her presence and stare back.
Again, with the annoying silence…
“What do you want?!” She growled out, stomping over to him. Anything to break this unbearable silent treatment… “Quit staring!”
She stood right in front of him, demanding his full attention. A full explanation…
It was close to the time she had to leave, and when that was announced to the class, he had grown colder than Todoroki’s ice towards her…
She had warmed up to the class, gotten used to things, but not the fact that Blastboy wasn’t giving her any mind anymore.
That arrow pierced deep.
“Nothing. You stared at me first.” He was calm, which wasn’t completely normal for her.
‘Why wasn’t he responding with loud statement back!?’ she wondered, ‘Where’s my heated, pleasant arguing!?’
“I… I do a lot of things first… but you’re the first guy I ever couldn’t stand!” she threw her arms straight down in front of her, unable to fully control her rising emotions.
“Then sit down, you’re annoying me.” He smirked, which ticked her off even more.
She was flustered, how could she let this happen!? He must have been smirking because he knew.
That’s when she saw her reflection behind her in the mirror.
Her face was a bright red tomato!
She forced herself to pretend like she didn’t know it, attempting to frown but it only looked like a cute girl pouting in frustration.
‘Crap, Japanese boys love those types of girls, right!? What am I doing!?’ She wished she could take her short breaths to calm herself down to a normal shade of skin color, but at this point, he would notice her awareness of her current state in front of him and he’d have a field day with it.
But… at least he was teasing her. That’s better than him not reacting to her at all.
“Excuse me?! You picked a fight with me!” immediately, she threw an extremely accurate punch towards his face. He blocks it almost instantly, his hands still warm from his practice as she blinked up at how quickly he grabbed it.
“I learned a thing or two from you, America.” His eyes lowered a little, a look she hadn’t seen him pull off before. “I figured out how you strike. How you throw food at me when you notice I didn’t eat that day. When you pout, you’re really saying ‘Come at me’, and when you shout, you’re only asking for me to look at you. It took me a while, but I think I figured out how you blocked me that last time, in the nurse’s office…”
He suddenly bent the wrist, placing her in a lock as she almost fell to a knee and held her hand to her aching arm. “But honestly, none of that matters. If I wanted to fight you right now, I would have.”
“Grr…Grk… What? Afraid I’m too strong for you?!” she masked her heart racing, the words leaving her feeling weak. She wouldn’t dare let him know! It was against everything she stood for!
She tried to slide her foot under his leg and make him fall back, hoping to get another wrestling move off on him, prove him wrong about his observations but the act didn’t get passed him.
He caught her leg too and squeezed it beneath the arch of his knee, causing her leg to now be locked in a hold as well.
“Gah!” she cried out in frustration. “What is this!? Martial arts?!” He was balancing on one leg, and she couldn’t move!
“What are you!? A brick wall1?”
He scoffed at that, lifting his arrogant head up, “What’s wrong, America? I see the red on your face, the white of your eyes, but not the blue of a bruise.” What was he trying to do? Flirt with a threat!?
“What’s your problem, anyway!? You haven’t been the same with me sense the lake!” she blurted out, struggling to get out of his grasp, hitting his chest as he took the blows, one by one… “We were actually getting along, you get that, right!? What? All of a sudden I’m leaving and now you’re afraid to even speak to me!?”
He remained silent.
“You think all my arrows are blunted?!”
Silence… A continue stare of his intense eyes at her expression.
She had bent her head, gripping his shirt as the emotions spilled out.
She shook her head, shaking as she tried to laugh off her momentary breakdown, “Pfft! Come on, Blastboy… Scared I’ll forget you’re gonna kill me before I leave?” she tried to tease, but it was clear her voice betrayed her usual sense of dark humor.
He lets go of her hand and leg as she threw it down, trying to build her anger back up again. “I know my arrows!” she protested, but he just shook his head.
“Do they justify anyone killing a hero in America?” That really bothered her.
“N-no..?” She stepped back, ‘What’s wrong with him? He’s not exploding like his usual self at me anymore… Even when I’m trying to get him upset…’
It was nerve-wracking, seeing him acting so restrained… “What’s the matter?” she finally asked. “Why do you seem so… distant?”
He lowered his head so his eyes were in shadows, his hands moving to his pockets. “Not like I’d actually kill you, either.” He barely got the words out, the mumbling almost inaudible.
“Huh?”
“That’s against the law, dummy!” he cried out, shouting like his normal self for a second.
“…Did you really think I was gonna kill you?” She then asked, waiting a moment.
There was a metaphor here… but It was hard for the two of them to admit it.
He bent his head straight down again, not able to look her in the face.
“… I think you wouldn’t flinch to kill a man.”
She felt her breath slip at those words, her eyes shaking at his statement. “I.. I would never kill-“
“What? The innocent? The misunderstood? You barely hesitated. I don’t trust your arrows… you put too much faith in them.” He pointed to her quiver just inches from where she was training… “What if it wasn’t blunted, America? That night? The lake?”
She clamped her mouth shut.
“You claim to know all your arrows, but you insulted me by using a plain, ordinary arrow. You aimed for all my vital organs. What if you missed picking the right one? I don’t fear death, but a stupid guess.”
Was he really saying what she thought he was saying?
Did he really think they liked each other that much, that they’ve both been holding back everything?  Or was it his pride? Saying that she should have gone all out instead of letting him and this experience go by as though a fling on a vacation?
She gripped his gym clothes, pulling him up towards her, “I never just guess. I know my arrows, more than I know anything else in this world… I would have never drew the wrong one. I would hesitate to hurt you…”
She wasn’t going to let him think wrongly of her. Her feelings were true. He wasn’t just a play thing on some foreign exchange program she ran into. Did he see her feelings and think that much of her..!? “If you knew then-! Then why didn’t you-?!”
“You didn’t last time.” He narrowed his eyes, recalling to her mind how she struck an arrow directly into his grenades which could have killed them both. “Did you hesitate then? Did you think?”
For the first time in her life, she actually felt horror at that. “I… I don’t think that would have happened but…” she let go of him, conflicted now.
She wasn’t that rash. Even if he was speaking literally, which she now questioned if he was, she had never actually planned to murder anybody. That was just ridiculous and if so, then she would be double-embarrassed by this predicament.
She really hoped he was on the same page with her… or this could be bad…
“Accidents happen?” She bit her lip, moving away from him as though she was asking him if he was actually speaking about the fight… or about her feelings for him. Maybe even… his possible feelings for her?
He waited till her grip loosened before taking his hands out of his pockets, his intimidating stare also softened somewhat. “I’m not asking for an apology. I’m just not used to someone who acts so rapidly that they forget about human life.”
“You’re always talking about killing-!”, ‘I do want to consider your feelings, Bakugo… Do you really think I haven’t?’
Though her words were harsh, her eyes were pleading for him to mean what she thought he was saying… but also to see how much she wanted him to care too.
“I’ve never killed anyone for real though.” He left nothing to be deciphered. Like an ancient ruin, his feelings were an enigma.  
“That’s-!” She wanted to just grab his head and shake it off, pull open his head and find out what he was thinking. That was stupid, she knew it, but she was desperate to try anything at this point. “You’re so annoying! I-!”
“Now look, I’m cutting you off.” He chuckled, but she was even more confused now.
“W-what are you after? Why are you bringing this all up?”, ‘Tell me, darn it! Or I’ll look like a fool!’
He stepped up to her, holding a hand up to her face, sparking it directly at her, just inches from her nose and eyes.
The light of the yellow and red sparks didn’t frighten her though, it was strangely hypnotic to see his cocky smile through the crackling of sparks on his hands.
“I don’t want that to be our last match. I’m not afraid of playing dirty either.” He smirked, and for a moment, she saw the old Bakugo again. As though he had relit himself from within his eyes.
“Your face is pale. Let me heat it up for you.” Again with the threats, he was clearly trying to show her that with one drip of sweat, he could accidentally create a blast right in her face.
But again, he should have known this by now…
To prove her point, Jenna wasn’t scared. The warmth from his hand told a different story for her… “I haven’t felt sparks from you in a long time.” She flirted, stepping up to the bomb’s face and smiling with a calm confidence back at him.
It was a bit awkward, Bakugo flinching back and looking like he was going to get angry again, but then… a bit of red crossed his cheeks.
“Shut up, Jenna.” He stated.
“Hey! That’s my name!” she smiled, not even worried about his little stunt. She knew what he was trying to say now…
The flashes of light upon his grin made her feel something leap inside her heart, warming her up even quicker as a faint pink skimmed her own cheeks. “I care about you too, Bakugo.”
---
“…H-huh?” He pulled the hand away, but she quickly took it before he could.
Thikning she knew best, she nodded. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt you, either. But the life of a hero is a dangerous one. I can’t stay in Japan,… but I trust you. I trust that even if you sparked your hands in my face, nothing would happen. I hope one day… you can trust me that I won’t pull the wrong arrow and betray our friendship together.”
He seemed completely floored by her words. A moment ago, he was proving a point by threatening an explosion in her face, but she took it the way he thought no one would interpret it.
Had she seen right through him?
“G-good…” he pulled his hand away, sweating at how close they were. When she kept smiling, he grew agitated, remembering she was leaving and threw his hand out of her grasp. “You-! You weirdo!” he cried out, racing off before calling back, “Goodnight, America!”
He wouldn’t look back. He couldn’t.
She had understood, how on earth could she have seen that much under all his deception!?
But she knew. She figured it out. What was really being said…
There was one more thing to do now. She confirmed it. Nothing was going to stop him from doing the heroic thing now.
---
“…Goodnight.” She lowered her eyes, gripping the spot where her heart was pounding heavily. “and… and good riddance!” she spun around and headed off the opposite direction.
However… she knew now.
She was leaving for America tomorrow… Momo and Jiro knew… but she didn’t have the heart to tell him what time.
The day and time came… she waved her new found friends off as she strolled her suitcase up with her into the loading area.
The plane took off not too long after, a short load really.
On the plane, she stared blankly out the window, sighing at the clouds and wishing she would have said something to him. Left him with her number or… or something!
It was making her upset just thinking about it… him fuming in class the next morning, unable to fully lash out like he could with her and not having a ‘playmate’ anymore.
She just couldn’t face him again. That red face of her betrayed her usual composure. She just wouldn’t do that to herself again.
So… did he care? Maybe. But it clearly wasn’t enough for him to ask her to stay in Japan. In UA…. With him…
She was making pictures with her finger, using the moisture on the window and drawing his angry face. Eyes as narrow and sharp as arrows, giggling to herself at her perfect memory of it. ‘Guess I’ll never meet a hothead like him again… Poor blastboy. You’ve got no one to be loud with anymore…’ she rested her head in her hand and leaned against it, slowly closing her eyes…
“Someone’s flying like a jet outside, Mom!” A boy’s voice cried out from behind her, on the other row.
“Deary, keep your voice down.” The mother seemed to protest.
“But, Mom! It looks like a boy!” The boy abruptly argued.
“She said keep your voice down, dear.” An older woman, looking like the kid’s grandmother, than quipped up too, patting his leg.
“But, Grandma! He’s that student from the famous class in UA!”
Jenna opened her eyes, slowly…
“He’s looking through on all the windows, he’s gonna blast the plane open!”
Then, all at once, a small dot scaled up next to her window. Like turbo engines, his hands were blazing with smoke trails as Bakugo, in his hero costume, looked in each individual window, terrifying the passengers who saw him. Finally, he spotted Jenna and with what looked to be a loud cry, not being heard from the sound of the plane, flew up and banged his head against the window. “…Yooooouuu!!!! You’re not going anywhere!!!”
Her heart took over her hand as it immediately touched the window with his squished-up face against it. She could hear him now at this close proximity. He was cursing loudly, calling her awful names, but each fiery word made her melt all the more. “You’re gonna leave just like that?! What about my rematch!?”
It was a spark to a match.
“You’ve got it!” she grabbed her things and took off to the back of the plane, scaring countless passengers as she gripped the exit panel.
“Miss!” A flight attendant called, but Jenna just looked back at her with a closed-eyed smile, beaming brightly with joy. “He loves me!” she spoke so quickly and with such a gleeful high pitch that most couldn’t understand her. She jumped out the plane, feeling the wind whiplash her upwards before shooting her straight down like a weighted arrow. “Bakuuuuugoooo!!!!” she cried out.
Immediately, like a flaming rocket, he spun up and did an aerial maneuver to twist and fly backwards, arching himself in a loop in the sky to dive down after her.
She reached out for him, his head coming straight for her as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Did you honestly think I would let you go back? I still have to beat you up!”
Jenna knew what he was saying, ‘I love you, don’t go.’
She just laughed, feeling the warmth of his bombing hands creating smog in the sky. He smiled though, seeming to see she knew what he meant, and lowered his head to hers.
After a brief reunion, he sped up and blasted calculated burst to get her on his back, speeding along with the plane. “How could you not tell me?” He looked pretty mad, but that only made her more happy.
She hugged him close, “I knew you’d pull a stunt like this!”
“You did not, hag!”
“I did too, bomb happy hooligan!”
He landed on top of the plane, using his now free hands to help her sit as the wind beat against them. “You care!”
He ruffled a hand through his hair, “…Eh, maybe only a little. I needed someone to show me America, you know, since I’m now a tourist and what not.”
“Gosh, illegally sneaking onto a plane?” she lifted her hands in a shocked sarcasm up to her mouth. “What ever will we do if you get caught?”
“Guess I’ll have to blow up the jail.” He reclined back, smirking to her.
“Guess I’ll have to show off how American girls say I love you…” She leaned up to his face.
Immediately, he lost his grip on the plane and was rolled backwards across its spine.
“Bakugo!” she cried out, worried before she saw him hook a hand to the plane and cry out more curses to her name.
She just smiled, sighing in relief that he was alright.
While the plane cruised, they laughed and joked with one another about America. Jenna promised to get him a hotdog, and Bakugo said he wouldn’t mind seeing a baseball game there.
It was as though they had been best friends all their lives…
End.
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Text
Football Modern Spot Conlon x Reader
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Summary: The Manhattan boys come along with you to watch your boyfriend Spot play football at the homecoming game.
Word Count: 1.5k
Author's note: This was super fun to write and while it was kinda everywhere near the end,  I just had to write some Spot HC because I totally had a crush on the 1992 version of Spot.
Warning: Just one or two cuss words and I'm not an expert at football so if I got anything wrong I'm sorry! Also I was going to write Spot as a Quarterback but it seemed more realistic for him to be a running back.
Request: "Head cannon where modern 1992 Spot is on the football team and you're his girl and you go to all his games and cheer him on along with racetrack or romeo or idk any newsie please and thank you, but if you can't do modern than can you do uh just a hc about spot conlon xD my creativity is gone but pls"
- before meeting spot, you had never really enjoyed watching football or going to the games at school
- I mean you watched the Superbowl
-for the commercials
- and the wings your dad picked up from Buffalo Wild Wings
-(I'm craving wings right now oops)
-but other than that you never really showed interest in football
-that is until you started dating Spot Conlon
-most of Spot's time went towards football because he was really counting on getting a football scholarship
-he made sure he went to every single practice and was always the first on the field and the last to hit the showers
-occasionally if you weren't busy with your own extracurriculars, you would do homework with Davey and Kathrine on the bleachers as your boyfriend practiced
- you loved watching him play because you could tell how much he genuinely liked playing football
- the first couple of games weren't as boring as you thought it would be
- Race was more than helpful at explaining the breakdown of the game so you wouldn't be lost
- And Jack's cheering and hollering were scary but always made sure you could see what was happening
- game after game Brooklyn High was undefeatable
-even Manhattan high, the school you went to, lost 13-42
-all of the Manhattan boys chose to cheer on Spot's team instead
- the night of the homecoming game was stressful, to say the least
- you came to the stadium early  to tell Spot 'good luck' before the game and you spotted him sitting in the middle of the bleachers, looking out onto the field
-"You look stressed Conlon, everything okay?" you asked as you sat down next to him
- he must've been running sometime before since sweat was visible on the top of his forehead and down his neck
-and even though he was sweaty, you didn't pull away when he wrapped his hand around your waist to pull you closer to him
- "me? Nervous? Nah...just- anxious about tonight. It's a big game and I don't want to let anyone down."
-You gently squeezed his hand to reassure him
-" Spot, I've seen how hard you've been practicing, you aren't going to let your team down- number 26 though- he's god awful that boy can barely return-"
-" I don't care about the school I just don't want to let you down (Y/N)."
- You placed a soft kiss on his lips and after you two pulled apart, his signature smirk was finally back
-" You'd never let me down, Conlon."
-skipping ahead to the night of the game
-the student section was packed full of unfamiliar faces since you went to Manhattan High
-and all you wanted to do was find your friends
-but when you heard Albert's deafening yell from the very first row, you eased up
-most of the Manhattan boys came to support Spot
-even Kathrine and Sarah were there with homemade posters
- you were wearing Spot's red and gold jersey and your hair was tied back with a red bow that you stole from Specs's room
- you opted out for painting your face but Jack insisted you paint at least a red dash on either side of your cheeks
- some of the boys had the number 18 written on them
-(chose 18 cause of 1899 Strike anyway continue)
- Albert and Race's faces were split down the middle with red and gold
- and you were about 99% sure you heard Race betting big bucks again
- the time came where the team rushed the field, the cheers already starting and your eyes frantically searched for number 18
- you spotted him on the field as soon as the game started and you were immediately immersed in the game
- It made sense that Spot was a Running Back because of how fast he was
- you used to call him 'The Pony Express' ;)
- he wouldn't admit it but he liked the nickname in "certain" situations
-but anyway
-the game continues on for some time and your voice is already feeling strained from all the shouting
- everyone on the home team cheered and went crazy when Spot rushed through the defense and sprinted down the field, leaving the other team in the dust
- You held onto Jack as you jumped up and down with joy
-" THAT'S MY BOYFRIEND WOOOOO!"
-Spot didn't know exactly where you were in the stands but he pointed over to your general direction while he placed his other hand on his heart
-you could practically hear his voice "that was all for you doll"
- whenever Spot took a nasty tackle you tensed up and wouldn't say anything until Spot got up and brushed it off, making you sigh in relief
-you almost wanted to run onto the field and soak the two guys on the other team who tackled the hell out of Spot but you knew that it was only part of the game and it wasn't personal
- You didn't realize how pissed you were until Crutchie pointed out how your knuckles were turning white from gripping the railing
- Brooklyn High was losing but not by much
- when it reached halftime you could see Spot rush off the field and went straight to the student section to try and find your face
- You called out his name over the sea of noise and his head turned over to your voice and jogged over to you
-" Baby you're killing it out there!" You shrieked as you leaned over the railing and Spot stood on his tippy toes to kiss you back
- " Yeah well the other team is destroying us" Spot pouted slightly until he spotted the rest of the Manhattan boys waving at him
- "Lookin good Conlon!"
- "I bet money on this game, don't let me down!"
-" Tell number 26 to get his shit together!"
- Spot gave a small laugh but immediately felt a wave of comfort, knowing that his friends came to come and support him
- You told Spot to head back to the locker room since you could feel the burning glare from his coach
- Spot backed up and blew a kiss to you before rushing over to the locker room
-*Halftime performance bonus*
- Elmer, Specs and Crutchie danced along to the performance from the Dance Team and you point out how Race would make a good cheerleader
-he rolls his eyes but everyone knows he would totally sign up for tryouts which are next week
- as the band starts to play, Davey rambles on about how:
-" Orchestra never gets any recognition! It's always about band this....band that! Why can't orchestra play during halftime!"
- After he complains you catch him moving his head to the rhythm of  seven nation army played by the other team's band
- Kathrine almost gets into a fight at the snack bar because some guy was being a total jerk to Sarah and Jack had to drag Kathrine away before she got kicked out of the stadium
-*Halftime over*
-skipping even more ahead to the 4th quarter
- and the score is so close, it could be anyone's game
- The crowd groans when number 26 yet again screws up and you let out a "thank god" when he gets benched
- your number 18, on the other hand, weaves through the defense with such grace and throws with such accuracy that you are sure that the scouts for college are looking at him
- With seconds on the clock and the score so close, everyone knows that this is the last chance to win the game
- the Quarterback gives the ball to Spot and he runs through defense, everyone in the stands are cheering him to keep going
- "Let's go Brooklyn!"
-" You got this Conlon!"
- " Run Spot Run!"
- When Spot makes it to the end zone without a scrape, the whole crowd goes
 N U T S
- You were overjoyed and Jack had to hold onto you so you wouldn't fall over
- As the band started playing the "victory tune" you went to the gate and raced onto the field where you saw Spot running towards you
-he took off his helmet and threw it to the ground before you jumped and wrapped your legs around his waist, kissing him
- you could hear the other Manhattan boys wooing and teasing from the stands but all you were focused on was Spot
- " I'm so proud of you Spot, how are you feeling?"
-  Spot's hair was stuck to his forehead and while he smelled like wet grass,  he wore the biggest grin on his face
- Spot kisses you roughly again and wraps his hand around your waist
- " Victory tastes amazing doll"
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