WHO NEEDS TO APOLOGIZE?
─────✧❅✦❅✧─────
"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for your fight?" You questioned Bakugo with your arms crossed as he grumbled a small complaint under his breath. "You're up against Uraraka, aren't you?" You added.
After scaring Mugi's friend with a few more death threats, he retreated, almost pissing his pants in fear. Mugi didn't really want to leave at first, but he had no choice but to leave with his friend after receiving a chilling glare from Bakugo.
Who wouldn't run away after seeing a feral pomeranian ready to bite your head off?
Bakugo makes a small grunt to answer your question, but the lack of continuation to it means he didn't need to prepare for anything for the fight. However, his sudden appearance was enough to elicit another question from you.
"Why are you here?"
His vermillion eyes sharply looks at you, making your spine slightly shiver. "Watch my fight," he demanded with a neutral tone even though you expected him to shout those words. "I need you to know how much I've improved from our last fight."
"You wanna try to impress me this time, huh?" You teased, laughing loudly when he yells 'Shut up!' while small explosions pop off from his palm to threaten you as usual.
Bakugo sighs, something he didn't often do but you catch it nonetheless. He takes off his eyes from you and looks somewhere else. "So, you and that bastard Todoroki," he started and glanced at your face briefly.
Now why the fuck did he suddenly bring that up? He personally heard Todoroki admit that you're his fiancé and you didn't deny anything. So what does he want to hear? He knew better than asking for more answers that he already know.
No. He shouldn't have brought the topic up in the first place if it meant for him to see your bright eyes lose their shine.
"Oh." You remembered that he was there too when you decided to eavesdrop on Midoriya and Todoroki's conversation. You haven't explained anything to him since he wasn't supposed to know anything after all.
"You're engaged and living together," he stated with certainty. Perhaps your confirmation is what he's been dying to hear. He heard nothing from you after all. What if Todoroki was only lying to his face just to piss him off?
It may seem childish, but he refuses to believe Todoroki's words until he hears you admit the truth. Even if all clues he saw and confessions he heard all point out to one conclusion, your silence all this time isn't going to satisfy him.
You lift your eyes to look at him, making sure to conceal your wary expression. "I figured the latter part on my own," he added.
"What are you trying to say?" You asked hesitantly.
Or maybe he really doesn't want to hear the truth from you after all. What is he supposed to do if he does? He wasn't planning on avoiding you either way.
"It's that bastard again, isn't it? Twice in one day?" He looks down on you with his fierce eyes and reaches a hand to lift your chin up for a proper look at your face. You give him a perplexed look in return. "You can't hide being sad like this from me."
With an amused grin, you slap his hand away from your face. "You're acting weird, Bakugo," you chuckled and watch his eyebrows knit from your sudden change of mood. "If someone saw us like that, they'll get the wrong idea. You haven't heard of the rumors about us?"
"No fuckin' clue."
"They said we're dating."
"Heh."
"Heh?" You repeated, raising an eyebrow at him incredulously. "You found that amusing? I thought you'd go on rampage looking for the source of that rumor," you laughed but Bakugo's having none of it. He can see right through the faces you purposely set up for him.
"Oi," his voice drops an octave deeper, making you shudder in response. He grabs your jaw with his big hand, squeezing your cheeks with his fingers to make your lips pucker. "I've been playing too nice with you lately, Y/n," he leaned forward closer to your face. "Now tell me.. what did Icyhot do this time?"
Bakugo's normally fierce vermillion eyes are calm as they look straight into your soul. You dive deeper like he does and you just notice his eyes are in a darker shade compared to devil in your memories.
His eyes are calm but unsettling. Like the calm before the storm. Your instincts tell you to pull away immediately, which you follow. You push yourself away from Bakugo's grasp that leaves his hand suspended mid-air.
A flash of realization hits him hard and Bakugo immediately drops his hand to his side. "I'm not forcing you to tell me or anything," he trailed off. "But I'm letting you know I can listen to you talk until my fucking ears fall off and I'd say thank you!"
"What? Where did that come from?" You laughed wholeheartedly this time, eyes crinkling and teeth all there for him to see. The sound of your laughter calms him for some reason he doesn't know.
"It's because we're.. friends."
The explosive boy turns his back from you and starts walking away just in time for Present Mic's announcement for the last fight. You stopped laughing then, but no one can deny the huge childish grin on your lips.
"No take backs!" You shouted at the boy's retreating back.
❅✦❅
It's obvious to everyone who's going to win the fight. Uraraka has no chance of defeating Bakugo with close combat especially with his destructive Quirk. Several people from the audience even starts criticizing Bakugo for heavily injuring Uraraka, but Aizawa saves the day by pointing out that Bakugo acknowledged her abilities for him to be cautious.
For a second you doubt that Bakugo would win the round after seeing a cluster of solid rocks high up in the air. Uraraka releases them all at once above Bakugo and he definitely did not expect that move, but a single huge explosion from his palm turns the rocks into smithereens.
"She's done," you commented quietly, noticing the shaking of her legs and exhaustion painted all over her face. She drops to the ground with a thud and Bakugo stops all of his actions.
"Did Uraraka faint?" You heard Kirishima ask out of worry and unexpectedly makes eye contact with you. He tenses and quickly shifts his eyes away, turning to look at Sero instead.
You turn away from him and pretend nothing happened with a frown. Despite the obvious uncomfortable atmosphere from everyone from your class, there's no change in Midoriya's disposition.
"I'll be fighting Todoroki-kun next," he said nervously and clutches his notebook tightly to his chest. He takes a peek at your reaction but finds you already looking back at him with disinterest. "Y/n?"
You blink and turn to look at the stage again. "Good luck with that," you replied. "Kill him if you can," you joked, giggling when Midoriya looks at you in horror.
Midoriya studies your face for a brief second before looking at the stage where Bakugo stood. Midnight declares Bakugo as the winner, but the thing he notices the most is his childhood friend's attention on you. He can't be mistaken.
The freckled boy blinks in wonder, looking at you and Bakugo alternately. They aren't.. are they?
"I'll go see Uraraka-san," Midoriya informed you before standing up. You nod, waving a hand to shoo him away with a knowing smirk and he catches what you meant, making him blush all over before scurrying to leave.
Now that the other side of the seat is empty and the second round isn't starting yet for the next 20 minutes, you find yourself slowly getting bored. Kaminari who used to sit on the opposite of you is now sitting next to Sero and Kirishima at the far back of the bleachers.
All of the girls occupied a lane in the middle, all surrounding Yaoyorozu who's all bandaged up from her fight with you. You see them all talking, but you can't make out the words from all the buzzing noise from other people.
"Shouldn't you be apologizing to Yaomomo!?" An unfamiliar voice shouted and the girls suddenly turns to look at you. You raise an eyebrow, looking at their group carefully before realizing it was probably Hagakure who spoke. A floating pair of gym uniform has the end of its sleeves on the hips.
What's the script you brewed this time? You stand up with a frustrated sigh and watch them flinch when you walk to their direction. "Why should I?" You asked, looking down at Yaoyorozu, daring her to make a rebuttal.
"Why?! Look at what you've done to her!" Hagakure replied, her shrill voice makes your inner ear tingle. You don't even try to look at her direction. There's nothing to look at anyway.
"She's fine. I didn't even went all out on her. If I did, she won't be here right now," you shrug your shoulders, smirking when Yaoyorozu whimpers and clutches Jiro's sleeve tightly out of fear. "Yaoyorozu-san should be the one apologizing to me, right?"
Yaoyorozu feels so small under your gaze. She knows what you meant and if you decide to tell the whole class what she had done, wouldn't that make her the villain instead? "I.. I don't know what you mean, Takahashi-san, but if it makes you feel better—"
"Make me feel better?" You scoffed, brushing the hair out of your face. You really look like a villainess who's harassing the helpless protagonist right now, but you don't really care what people think of you. Their opinion doesn't matter. "Are you going to apologize to make yourself look more pitiful? I guess getting beat up and crawling in front of people didn't satisfy you, huh? I didn't pegged you to be a masochist."
"Hey! That's enough!" Mina stands up this time to defend Yaoyorozu. She even attempts to push you away if not for you sidestepping just in time. At this point, Yaoyorozu's already crying like a bullied child and you can only shake your head in disbelief. "Is an apology that hard to do, Y/n?"
"I don't get why you guys want me to apologize to her when I haven't done anything wrong to begin with," you answered, slightly cocking your head to the side to make a brief glance around the bleachers. The fuzz had already created an audience from nearby classes and a teacher will definitely intervene soon if this continue any longer.
"First of all, I'm not the one who keeps sticking like a leech to someone who's already engaged, sexually harassed someone by forcing herself on him, lying about me and my friend having a relationship, and twisting my words to make me the bad guy." You gauge each and everyone's reaction but all of them are predictable. Shocked. Surprised. Disgusted. Horrified.
"But you all see me as the bad guy either way 'cause I made the princess crawl on all fours, huh?" You sneered, sharply looking at Mina who immediately turns away to avoid your gaze.
Your eyes falls back on Yaoyorozu who can't even lift her head to look at you. "I get it, you're his ex-fiancé. And what about it? You don't even hold a special relationship with each other, yet you delude yourself that you do," you sigh, wanting to get this all done and over with. "So who's supposed to apologize to who now?"
"Even if she did all that, so what? What does it have to do with you?" Hagakure fired back and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.
"What does it have to do with me? Can't I get angry at someone who's desperately trying to slither her way into a relationship with my fiancé?"
All of the listeners gasps in shock and their eyes falls on Yaoyorozu who never felt smaller all her life. She's speechless and numb from fear of being outcasted. Her plan of being the poor girl who was getting bullied was already turning awry. "Aren't you just accusing me without proof?"
"Without proof," you repeated mockingly. She's supposed to be the smartest out of everyone in class but it seems she's lacking in common sense. "Well, everyone assumes that there's an ongoing relationship between the two of you since you're so close. It wouldn't be questionable if you decided to kiss him out of nowhere, but what if he verifies my words to be the truth? Wouldn't that make you a clown?"
As if on cue, Todoroki comes around with a perplexed look on his face when he sees you surrounded by your classmates. He quickly makes his entrance, taking your hand with his while studying the smug look on your face.
"Is everything alright, wife?"
"Of course!" You grinned at Todoroki's well-timed entrance. He's honestly confused with your sudden change of behavior around him but he'll take it. This is better than being ignored anyway. "She's asking for receipts. Why don't you confirm to everyone what she was doing to you?"
"Receipts?"
"Proof."
Todoroki scowls at Yaoyorozu and it's clear to everyone that the peppermint boy is repulsed just by looking at her. He contemplates your request for a second, weighing the pros and cons in his head. It would have been better if the issue was dealt more privately, but he can't turn his back on you now like he did last time.
He failed to be a good partner to you several times, so if this situation would make himself worthy in your eyes, so be it.
"I apologize for your lingering attachments to me, Yaoyorozu. I respect and thought highly of you since you have the skills to prove it, however, I do not harbor any romantic feelings for you like you think I do. There was never an us to begin with, so I suggest you stop trying to make our non existent relationship work," Todoroki sighed and squeezed your hand for reassurance.
"I'll pretend you didn't try to ruin my relationship with Y/n by using her friendship with Bakugo as an excuse. My personal business is not to be of your concern, especially with Y/n," Todoroki pointed out firmly.
"We kissed!" Yaoyorozu declared as she stood up. "I know that we—"
"You're a bad kisser," he interrupted with no emotion. Mouth wide open, you stare at him in shock. Did he really have to say that? "And I did not consent that kiss."
"Todoroki-san! I—"
"Get out of my sight."
You didn't want to expose your true relationship with Todoroki today but you can't help it. Yaoyorozu has been taking advantage of the fact that you've been keeping it a secret and it won't end up pretty well for you in the long run if you decided to let her continue.
Sobbing, Yaoyorozu dashes to the exit while bumping with a few of your classmates but none of them followed after her. Even Hagakure who's strongly defending her just a while ago only stood idle. You dare Mina to follow after the girl by looking at her, but she simply avoids your gaze again.
"So does this mean Todoroki's fiancé is Y/n and not Yaomomo!?" Kaminari's voice broke in utter surprise, turning to look at Sero and Kirishima. "I knew there was something fishy going on! And you two didn't believe me!" He accused the two.
"I mean.. Yaomomo and Todoroki seem plausible so I really didn't expect it to be like this. Plus we're rooting for Bakugo and Y/n all this time," Sero explained, now feeling a bit guilty in the bets he made with Mina. "But to think Yaomomo kissed him without consent.."
With the two discussing the unexpected outcome, Kirishima remains listening to them both without trying to input his own opinions. He feels guilty, seeing as he has a pretty good relationship with you before the whole thing blew up today.
He can't deny what you did was pretty brutal, unmanly, but he also made a mistake of not talking to you first before judging. After all, Yaoyorozu's story was believable. Harassing her because you didn't like her being with Todoroki, using the fight to vent out on her, you trying to break off their engagement?
The story didn't make sense at first. After all, he's one of the witnesses that day on the cafeteria, the scene during the Battle Trial, Todoroki arriving and leaving the school together with you. If he was truly engaged to Yaoyorozu back then, why did he do that with you instead?
Kirishima just wants to laugh at himself for being so stupid. He feels bad but he knew he's not the only one.
You look at each and everyone from your class, especially Mina and Hagakure. "Is an apology that hard to do, hm?" you repeated Mina's words. No one dared to lift their head out of guilt.
You turn your heels to leave your class together with Todoroki without another word.
❅✦❅
You found yourself alone with Todoroki in the Prep Room, waiting for his fight with Midoriya to start. He stands awkwardly in front of you in silence after entering the room and it makes you wonder if he has something to tell.
Looking up to him, his mismatched eyes showed melancholy while gazing at you. He thinks that you seem to dislike the idea of being alone with him just by looking at your expression, but he quickly dismisses the idea when you brush off his bangs away with your fingers.
"Have you already forgiven me?" He asked, hopeful for a positive reply.
"As if."
"I understand," he nods at you timidly, disappointed. He takes the opportunity to explain himself further before you change your mind and leave him again. "I was wrong for calling you selfish and I've been doing a lot of thinking after we argued. I failed at being a good husband to you," Todoroki inhales a lungful of breath before continuing. "I was careless about my decisions and words, and I ended up hurting you."
"I hurt you too," you replied, yet he only shakes his head.
Todoroki really did a lot of thinking since his argument with you, and it reminded him of the foreboding feeling that he felt when you smiled and talked calmly instead of lashing out on him. His instincts told him to stop you from continuing if he wanted to make it through the day, but after thinking about it, were you actually about to say something that will hurt him?
Your words back then sounded like puzzles that needed to be deciphered. You asked if the engagement is burdensome to him, clarified you're not working for his father, and lastly, the wish.
Back then, he asked for your wish and you answered that you don't have anything to wish for. Did you change your mind for you to be so adamant in taking first place? Are you going to break the engagement using the wish if you become the victor in the finals?
"I don't find this engagement burdensome," he finally answered, which confuses you for a bit before remembering your question this morning. "Did you ask that question because you do?"
"I don't find it burdensome, Todoroki," you replied honestly which made him relieved. With a sigh, you plop down on the chair and take a deep breath. "And I'm sorry for revealing our engagement to our classmates even if we promised that it'll be our secret. I just want her to leave us alone."
"It's nothing to be sorry about," Todoroki replied before taking the empty seat next to you. "Congratulations on winning your fight against her, Y/n."
"Did you even watch?"
"I did. I won't say anything that would lead to another argument. So rest assured," he smiles a tiny bit, you'll see it if you squint.
Time seems to be ticking slow today that 20 minutes feels like an hour. Present Mic hasn't called the participants for the second round yet and you've ran out of things to say.
You hum a familiar tune to distract yourself. You're surprised when Todoroki starts following along the tune, his head slowly nodding to the beat. "I missed you, Y/n," Todoroki bluntly said out of the blue it gave you whiplash.
You chuckle in return after composing yourself, finding his bluntness endearing. "It's only been a few hours," you replied. "And it's not like I was gone."
"But you didn't talk to me during that time," he muttered sadly with a quiet voice. He slowly holds your dainty fingers under the table, both of you feeling comforted with each other's warmth. "I don't want to fight with you again, Y/n. So if you ever forgive me for the mistakes I made, I'll make sure to treasure you more."
You hum, having second thoughts about the new arrangement. Your reaction makes Todoroki nervous and anticipate your response at the same time. "If you won't hold back in our fight later, I'll think about it."
This chapter is long overdue so this one's a bit longer than the previous chapters. I think the Sports Festival Arc is the longest I've written so far but worry not since the arc is almost ending :)
Thank you so much for 50k+ reads and counting!
I hope you liked this chapter lovelies!