Stuck With You | Katsuki Bakugou x OC [Book One]

Chapter 78 - Coming To Her Senses

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Akira hasn't been able to sleep for the past few weeks. Her progress during the licensing exam has been sorely lacking - both her classmates and her teacher have been reminding her of her failures every time she's proven to be a terrible asset.

After learning the devastating news, Kira's mind has been elsewhere. She's forgotten about her advancements on her Quirks, she's been failing her classes, barely talking to her classmates, a simple 'yes' or 'no' here and there.

Now, she's a burden, worrying her fellow friends and anchoring Bakugou and Todoroki during the weekends, which in turn only makes her feel worse, so much so that her cynical thoughts keep coming to light.

"Hey, Akira." Something keeps clicking, muffled and far away, lost down a well. "Kira, Kira, Kira..."

She blinks quickly, shaking her head as Kirishima wakes her out of her daze, snapping his fingers in her face.

She's in his room, sat on the edge of his bed. She doesn't even remember entering his room, but now she'd do anything to leave.

"There you are," Kirishima breathes a sigh of relief. "Thought I lost you for good then."

Akira chuckles lightly, though there's no humour behind it.

"What did you think?"

"Sorry, what?" Kira rubs her eyes and stares up at her partner, when she realises they're not alone. "I zoned out for a sec."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ojiro scoffs, though not in any way meant to come across as scornful.

"You've been like that for the past few weeks now," a quiet voice says next to her.

She looks to her left at Shoji, their shoulders touching.

"I've noticed that too," Kirishima adds, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Something happen during the exams?"

"I'm just tired, is all," she tells them. "They've been working us to the bone."

"Bakugou and Todoroki don't seem as exhausted as you do," Shoji inputs, his voice slightly muffled behind his thin, blue mask.

"Maybe they're just stronger than me," she says sharply, growing irritated of this conversation.

"Why don't you take some of that anger out on the bag?" Kirishima suggests, his tone light and jokey. "Don't aim it at your fellow classmates."

Akira notices the red punching bag hung up by the window. That explains why Ojiro and Shoji are here - testing our their physical strength. It would be nice to let off a little bit of steam. After all, these past few weeks, Akira's been meaning to train with Midoriya, to help him out with hand to hand combat. Apparently, he's interested in her type of fighting style. She's had to brush him off for quite a bit and he's respecting her distance, but she has to show some leeway eventually.

Kira faces the bag and Kirishima braces the other side, hardening his skin slightly to take the punches. She remembers Light Bringer's teachings, two jabs, block, dodge, strike. Look for a weakness. But, this is a punching bag, an inanimate object. This time, Kira can attack her own way.

She starts with a strong front punch, followed by two quick jabs aimed at the stomach area. She uses the momentum to push herself backwards, and lashes out her leg, her shin whacking into the leather material of the bag.

Akira spots Kirishima grinning from behind the bag, pleased to see her back to her old self, somewhat.

Kira jabs twice again, one aimed in the collar bone somewhere, the other back in the gut, winding the 'opponent'. If this were a real person, they would probably be doubled over from the impact, leaving them open to a knee in the face. However, the punching bag holds tall and strong. At times, opponents might not be swayed by her previous attack, so she needs back up moves, ways to free herself from a potentially dangerous situation.