Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 41

As the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, I lay my head down on my desk. Throughout the day I had felt knots of tension forming in my shoulders and it had grown to a steady ache. It felt like I was in a race where my classmates had taken off a mile ahead of me and I was using all of my strength, speed and knowledge to catch up but they were just specks in the distance. It felt impossible. A slow but steady sense of defeat had been sinking its fangs into me over the past week and today the feeling was worse since I had missed classes yesterday which only put me farther behind. Finals (author's note: I have been referring to them as midterms but meant finals and I'll likely be too lazy to go back and edit, just fyi) were looming over me and I felt completely paralyzed.

Mina had tried to convince me to study with her and some of our other classmates at Yaoyorozu's but I had politely turned down the offer. Honestly, Yaoyorozu intimidated the hell out of me. She was second in command to Iida, our class representative, and not only was she crazy smart and at the top of our class, but she was gorgeous and I always felt myself feeling flustered and inadequate around her.

I'd really like someone to help me out with studying but I don't know who to ask. Midoriya, maybe? He's always so sweet and helpful with letting me borrow his notes. Maybe I should ask him.

Picking my head up, I turned around to look for Midoriya and was met with those crimson eyes regarding me coolly.

"What's your problem?" he asked, although it wasn't harsh like I would have expected. Rather, there was a hint of curiosity in his tone. 

"Oh, um," I got nervous looking into his piercing red eyes and looked away. "I was just looking for Midoriya."

"What the hell are you looking for that damn nerd for?" There was venom in his tone and when I looked up his eyes were blazing, a scowl plastered on his face.

"I need help studying," I mumbled, looking away again.

"Hah?! You're gonna have to speak up, emo chick!"

I could see some heads turn out of the corner of my eye and embarrassment made my cheeks flush at the sudden attention. "Jesus, I said I need help studying, okay?" 

My eyes pleaded with his to quiet down and he smirked in response. "You should have just asked."

I stared at him for a moment, confused. Was he suggesting...that he would help me? Today had gone by fairly smoothly in that interacting with him had been decent. He'd made minimal snarky remarks and hadn't even really raised his voice that much. Well, by Bakugo's standards at least. While I was still processing his words, Kirishima appeared beside our desks. 

"Oi, weird hair," Bakugo said, standing up. "I'm tutoring this dummy too now."

Kirishima's face lit up as he turned to me. "Really?! That's awesome!"

"We're leaving," Bakugo said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and already headed towards the door.

Dumbstruck, I gathered my things together and shoved them into my bag, quickly following after them. Kirishima chatted happily along the way, while Bakugo mostly remained quiet. I hadn't been told where we were going but when we got within a block away Kirishima said, "Rise and Shine is a really great place to study. It's super chill and totally underrated if you ask me."

"Rise and Shine?!" My face split into a grin as I squealed and did a skip in excitement. "That's my favorite coffee shop!"

"Really?!" Kirishima matched my enthusiasm. "That's so cool!"

Ahead of us, I heard Bakugo scoff. And then as we stood in front of the coffee shop, I remembered. This was where I first encountered Bakugo. I recalled the overwhelming sense of anger I felt as I had grabbed his arm that day and the unsettling feeling of being screamed at in public. It felt like that interaction had happened ages ago although in reality it hadn't been that long ago. From an outside perspective, Bakugo had seemed so crazy. I never would have imagined our relationship progressing to this point of being able to call each other friends. Well, not that Bakugo would ever use this terminology out loud, although I'm not sure that words of affirmation would ever be his strong suit.