Detonate ((BAKUGOU KATSUKI X OC))

Chapter 6

She turned back toward Bakugou as he picked himself up off the floor, and found it within herself to approach him whilst he dusted himself off.

"How was that, King Explosion Murder?" Courtney couldn't help her cocky smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. She could hear Bakugou growl low in his throat as he shot her a mean glance.

"Don't start," he warned under his breath as he brushed past her. She frowned as she followed him back to where they once stood. "You're strong, I'll give you that... let me ask you something."

Courtney cutely tilted her head to the side in curiosity at his request, but motioned for him to continue nonetheless.

"Your fire," he began. "It only burnt me once, when you knocked me into the tree; not even when I was consumed by it."

"They told us not to maim each other, right?" Courtney found herself confused by his statement. "I can regulate the heat of my flames in my base form — when I'm not on fire. It gets harder to control when I let it all out."

"Is that why your hair catches fire when you're pissed off?" Bakugou guessed. Courtney nodded.

"My fire is fueled by powerful emotions," she carried on to explain. "Base form is easy — if I don't get mad. But when I'm lit up, it's like I'm releasing everything a person could feel at once. It's overwhelming every time I use it extensively, which is why it's so hard to control how hot my fire gets."

Bakugou hummed in acknowledgement as she spoke. "Right."

"Wow, you two are talking and not trying to rip each other's throats out!" Dani looked excited despite her teasing as she approached them.

"Oh, great. You again." Bakugou grumbled, grouchy by her presence as he rolled his eyes to look off to the side.

"Lighten up, Blondie," Dani stuck her tongue out at him. "You put up a pretty good fight. Court usually blasts people off the mat before they even realize the match has started."

"You were really impressive to watch," Mina beamed from behind her. "When you two were throwing punches, it almost looked like you were dancing."

"It did, didn't it?" Dani quickly agreed, and at their observation, Courtney rolled her eyes again.

"Oh, spare me." She huffed.

"I think that just shows how fluidly you guys could work together," Dani added as she looked between them. They shared a brief glance. "You may be at each other's throats now, but I think this could shape out to be a pretty fair pairing."

"I agree!" Mina nodded quickly.

"You could say Court needs to work on restraint." Dante's voice elicited all four of them to turn as he approached them.

"He deserved it," Courtney justified whilst crossing her arms adamantly over her chest. "Besides, that was me going easy on him. It could have been a lot worse."

Bakugou scoffed at that. "I'm fine. You just got lucky and caught me by surprise."

"Just admit that I'm leagues ahead of you." Courtney scowled at him, earning her a similar look in return.

"In your damn dreams, Pinkie!" Bakugou snapped, although he seemed more annoyed than angry. "I'll have beat your ass by the end of the month, watch!"

"Sounded like a confession to me." Dani couldn't help but point out as she tried not to snicker.

"Shut up, Shark Teeth!" Bakugou's palms were now emitting tiny explosions, to which their group laughed at.

"Hey now, don't feel bad," Dante said as he threw an arm around Courtney's shoulders. "Court is probably leagues ahead of all of us. You really got paired with the best HANY has to offer."

"That's not, —"

"Just wait until you guys really see her in action," Dani cut her off with a grin. "She may be inexperienced, but when she's out on patrols, it's like she's been fighting for years!"

"Cut it out," Courtney felt small under their praise whilst shoving her hands into her pockets. "I can't even control my flames. You guys don't know what you're talking about."

"You shouldn't sell yourself short," Deku, who had approached alongside Dante, broke his silence. "You really seem to know what you're doing. If we hadn't been told of your inexperience, I would have guessed you were formally trained!"

His eyes looked starry as he spoke, and again Courtney felt small as she looked down.

"Spare me..." she said again, scowling.

Their group laughed yet again, but this time at Courtney's bashfulness as the next round of fights began. Dante remained beside her with his arm around her up until it was time for his and Deku's match, and Courtney watched intently from beside Mina as Dante expertly maneuvered around Deku's Quirk. If anyone were leagues above the rest, it would be Dante, she thought.

Bakugou and Dani stood a little ways behind them as the fights went on, but despite it, Bakugou's eyes never left the back of Courtney's head. Whether it was intentional or not Dani couldn't tell, but nevertheless was something she immediately noticed since Dante's fight began. She wondered what he possibly could be thinking about as he stared, and eventually decided to nudge him with her elbow. He subtly jumped as he was pulled from his thoughts, and immediately turned to scowl at her at the gesture.

"She's cute, huh?" Dani implied, nodding in Courtney's direction. She spoke quietly.

"What?" Bakugou deadpanned. His scowl didn't falter.

"I don't know if you noticed, but you're staring." She pointed out with a subtle, knowing smile on her face.

"The hell I was." He denied immediately and turned away from her. It made her snicker.

"You oughta be careful," Dani shook her head in amusement. "I'm like, ninety percent sure Dante has a thing for her, too."

"They aren't together?" Bakugou asked without giving her the satisfaction of looking her in the face.

"Nope, why, is that what you were wondering?" Dani asked knowingly, and when Bakugou didn't respond, she snickered again. "Don't worry, they're just friends."

Bakugou again neglected to say anything, and when Dani took a glance at him again, she saw that he was back to looking at her. She couldn't tell if this was a new development or if his jackassery had been a facade due to his shyness, but when he looked at her then, he looked softer; calmer.

"If you like her, why don't you start acting like it?" Dani found herself asking.

"I barely know her," Bakugou grumbled. "I don't like her. She's my partner for the month and that's all."

"You kind of sound like her when you talk like that," Dani pointed out, recalling a similar conversation she had had with Courtney the day before. "But if you say so. I guess."

Her lingering tone made Bakugou throw another scowl at her, but decided to say nothing further as the remainder of the class went by. Images of their fight replayed in his head like a movie, and he found himself wondering when he would get to go up against her again. He hoped it to be soon, and he hoped that he would win.