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When Akira woke the next day, it was one of the best nights sleep she's had since the League of Villains took her and Bakugou hostage. Every time they crossed her mind, Kira wondered if Bakugou still resented her for putting herself in danger by recklessly charging in after him. Because of her, he couldn't escape. He should have just gone through with his plan, forgotten about her and blew her face off if it meant getting away from the bad guys. She still doesn't know why he didn't go through with it when every fibre of his being must have been screaming at him to escape. In his eyes, he may be considered a heroic being, but Kira knows that his mentality is to do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it means setting off an explosion in her face. Some part of Kira wanted him to do it, as if she deserved it for such a foolish attempt at rescuing her classmate.
Kira opened her eyes, feeling slightly sore after having just been sparring with Bakugou the night before. However, her hand seems to have healed overnight, as she brings her hand up to her face, lying on her side still, facing the closed blinds. She flexes the muscles, opening and closing her hand, but it's as if her injury never even happened. That's when she realises that she's still wearing Bakugou's hoodie, still a rarity to even spot him in something such as this. Kira sits up so abruptly, that she suffers a head rush, but chooses to ignore it, tugging at the clothing by her stomach, as if she had never seen it before. But, she has. Last night, Bakugou willingly gave it to her after they avoided that falling tree and landed in the shallow lake water.
She can still sense the tension between them, their bodies having been touching for longer than normal, but Kira still felt nothing but comfort when she reminisces about it. The way he looks at her, the way his skin feels on hers, maybe he doesn't hate her. Bakugou is just so strangely different around her, his nature is just kinder, gentler, like she might break if he treats her like he does everyone else. It makes Kira feel unique, but at the same time, she doesn't want the special treatment.
It just feels wrong - she feels wrong, like she's using Bakugou for her own selfish gain. After having just broken up with Kirishima, this sudden realisation for Bakugou's beauty... perhaps she's merely projecting those broken emotions and feelings onto Bakugou and that just isn't fair on him. It could've been anyone in class, but why is it Katsuki Bakugou? She feels as though she's getting some sort of special treatment from him, but what if she's really just imagining it all? Seeing something that isn't really there in order to deal with her involvement with Kirishima?
This is exactly why Kira told herself to stay away from Bakugou and with her realisation now in the open, she will.
Akira pulls the hoodie off over her head, feeling its delicate material in between her fingers before folding up the clothing and placing it at the end of her bed. As much as she wants to keep on wearing it for as long as she can, she won't. As much as she wants to cling onto that sweet smell that latched to the fibres, she won't. It's not fair to keep hanging around Bakugou, bothering him with her issues, when it's clear he wants nothing to do with anyone in class 1A. He has his own goals set in mind and she's nothing but a hindrance, a nuisance. Kira scoffs to herself quietly, staring at the folded hoodie - using Bakugou, as if he were the perfect rebound. How pathetic is she?
A harsh, rapid knock on her door makes Kira leap out of her skin, followed by Kyoka's voice.
"Akira! Wake the hell up!" She shouts, her voice slightly muffled by the door. "We're all going down to the lake again and we're gonna go on those canoes! We were lucky enough to get another sunny-ish day, so come out of that room and put on that swimwear you brought with you!"
Kira frowns as she turns towards her door - how the hell does she know that she brought her green swimsuit with her? Either way, she listens to her friends hurried footsteps on the wooden structure and Kirishima's voice. He seems to be yelling and Kira tiptoes up to her door and places her cheek against it, her palms resting on it too, just under her chin.
"No way I'm joining you damn losers!" Bakugou's voice, as clear as day.
"Come on, man," Kirishima pleads. "This might be our last day here if those heroes bring us back tomorrow morning."
Kira hears Bakugou grumble his complaints some more, followed by the sounds of feet scuffing on wood. Kirishima could be dragging Bakugou out the cabin, with the help of Kaminari perhaps, though she can't hear the latter.
Kira decides to get herself changed - it's not like she can hide out in her room to avoid Bakugou, as that would only end up drawing suspicion to herself. So, instead of showering first, Kira throws on her green swimsuit under her clothes. If there's a chance of going for a swim, then there wouldn't really be a point in showering. When she left her room, the cabin was empty and quiet. The temptation to keep the quietness all to herself was alluring, but Kira shoved Bakugou's - her - shoes on and made her way to the small cabin on the hill, where Kira could sign her name down for the day. It seems as though Kira's had a late start, as she peers up at the high sun and realises that her classmates have already jotted down their names on the sheet of paper. Her late night with Bakugou must have really gotten to her - she did notice that it was one of the best nights sleep she's had in a while.
Kyoka mentioned that the day was nicer than usual for October and she was right. As Kira headed down the slope towards the lake, where her friends were all gathered around the canoes to try and figure them all out, a breeze brushed over her, but it was warm for this time of the year. Kira expected more rain to crush their spirits, but the weather had decided to grant their wishes. When Kira met with her classmates, they were all arguing with one another, yelling about who gets to go first, who rides with who, how to set the boats up, how to row them. It was a big, confusing mess. Sero had his hand on one of the canoes, untying the rope from the dock, as he pointed and yelled his concerns along with the others. Kira had no idea how the canoes functioned, but it looked simple enough.
"Give me that, you idiot!" Bakugou snatches the rope from Sero's hand once he had untied it from the dock. "You're gonna drop it or some shit."
"Everyone, calm down!" Iida bellows over the ruckus. "As your class representative, I will ensure who gets to go first and how to properly function these canoes."
"You've gone canoeing before, class prez?" Kaminari wonders, his foot resting on the front of one of the canoes.
"Yes, I have," he replies. "Though it's been some time. I used to go with my brother quite a bit."
That causes a solemn silence to waver through the students and Sero jabs Kaminari in the ribs. "Well done," he mutters sarcastically.
"Hey," he whisper-shouts. "How the hell was I supposed to know?"
"Never mind all that now," Iida adds. "It's fairly straightforward to control a canoe. They are surprisingly well-balanced."
"Have you been in one before, Akira?" Mina asks, whispering over her shoulder as Iida continues to explain.
Kira shakes her head slightly. "Never," she tells her. "But, it doesn't look that hard."
"Maybe a hidden talent?" Mina teases.
Kira looks back at her slightly with a one-shoulder shrug. "You never know."
"Me and Akira are going first," Mina announces to the other students, barging her way past to the front and cutting off any order that Iida was trying to bring.
"V-very well," Iida stammers. "Half of us queue up behind Ashido and Kiriya and the other half at the next canoe."
Kira and Mina approach their canoe and Bakugou hands her the rope which Kira takes without looking at him, or offering her thanks.
"You two know how to control it?" Iida asks.
"Oh yeah, Akira does!" Mina announces confidently and Kira whips her head round to her friend so fast that she hurts her neck and glares daggers at her.
"Really?" Iida looks surprised.
"Yeah." Kira sends Iida a quick smile. "Piece of cake."
As Kira stares down at the canoe, gently rising and falling with the calm lake water, she's not entirely sure how to step into the thing without wobbling like an idiot. If she just stays low, hopefully her centre of gravity will stick with her intentions.
"Mina, can you support the front end for me?" Kira asks.
They swap places as her friend grabs the wooden canoe and the rope, preventing it from rocking when she steps into it. With her curious classmates eyes on her, she can't afford to screw it up, or they'll never let her hear the end of it. Especially having appeared so confident about it beforehand, no thanks to Mina.
"I'm going first in this one then!" Kaminari yells out as he skips over to the second canoe, placing his foot on the front like he did with the other one, as if he's claimed it already.
"Like hell you are," Bakugou argues, shoving Kaminari with enough force to shove him over the end of the dock and splashing into the water below.
"Bakugou!" Iida marches over, wagging his finger as he scolds him. "This behaviour is unbelievably unacceptable. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
Iida continues his rant, but Bakugou doesn't even bat an eyelid at the furious class president. Now, everyone's eyes are on him and Kaminari in the lake. Bakugou gives Kira a quick look, as if he just knew that Kira had no idea what she was doing and wanted to prevent her from embarrassing herself. A foolish notion. Bakugou doesn't care about her that way - she's just seeing what she wants to see. He was just glaring at her again in that way he does, telling her she's useless and good-for-nothing.
Kira pulls her eyes away from the scene, crouching into the canoe and sitting at the front, the part that has a bit more spacious room for her legs. Kira grabs onto the dock beside her and beckons for Mina to join her before it gets more out of hand. Mina clambers in, a bit more wobbly than Kira and perches on the seat behind her, picking up her paddle.
"We need to push away first," Kira says, glancing back at her friend briefly. "With me."
Kira counts down from three and they simultaneously push away from the wooden platform gently. A surge of water whooshes loudly as the boat moves, silencing the argument back on the dock and the students all turn to the sound of the canoe in the water.
Kyoka whoops at their success, her fists in the air. "Way to go, you two!"
Kira and Mina were barely two metres away from the dock, but everyone had urged them on and congratulated them for being able to guide the canoe away without tipping over. Kira wasn't sure if she should find it degrading or not, in all honesty.
"Come on already, shitty hair," Bakugou grumbles, already in his canoe with paddle in hand. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner it'll all be over."
"You don't have to rush everything, Kacchan," Midoriya speaks up.
"Shut the hell up, you damn nerd," he snaps, glaring at him harshly.
"All right, all right, Bakugou," Kirishima replies, jumping down into the canoe. "Let's get going then."
Kirishima fishes for his paddle in the canoe and Kira does the same with her own, marvelling at it when she gets a grip on it underfoot. It was short, with a weird shape on the end. Looks like it's there to wrap fingers around it for a better hold. Kira has no idea how to use it, so she places one hand near the top, but doesn't use the weird shape at the very end and places her other somewhere in the middle. It doesn't feel all that right, though it'll do for now. It's not like they'll be on this canoe for long.
"Ready, Mina?" Kira wonders, as she places her paddle in the water on the left side. "You put yours on the right side and we'll give it a go. Try and paddle straight to the middle of the lake."
"Okay," she replies behind Kira, followed by the gentle splash of her paddle in the water.
They row at the same time, muttering under their breaths until they find a rhythm. It was slightly wonky and the boat drifted to the side at a weird angle, but they eventually made it to the centre of the lake, where Bakugou and Kirishima were already waiting for them.
"What took you two so long!?" Kirishima teases, waving at them.
"Oh, shut up, Kirishima!" Mina retorts, slightly winded from the paddling. "This is our first time doing this."
"I thought you said you knew what you were doing, Akira?" Kirishima wonders.
"It looks easy enough." She shrugs. "Harder than I thought, though."
"That's because you're holding the paddle wrong," Bakugou inputs, staring across the lake.
Kira looks down at her paddle and checks out the weird shape of it, but chooses not to reply to Bakugou's comment. Instead, he groans irritably, moving his whole canoe with one strong stroke until it's parallel to her own. Bakugou takes her paddle without even asking and starts explaining how to hold it properly, where her hands should go, how far in the water it should be, how firmly she should stroke for a beginner. Kirishima and Mina share subtle confused, awkward glances with one another that Kira catches onto when she tries to avoid Bakugou's sudden closeness.
"You'd better be paying attention," he snaps, looking up at her briskly when he notices her eyes drifting. "I'm not gonna explain it again."
"No, I got it." She nods quickly.
"Uh huh," he murmurs. "Show me, then."
Kira places her hands differently to how they were before, but in truth, she wasn't paying attention to Bakugou's instructions - she was too concerned about the judgement passing over her classmates faces.
Bakugou groans irritably at Kira's hand placement, grabbing them and placing them where they should be on the paddle and Kira tenses at the briskness of his touch. "Like that, you idiot. You wanna get blisters or something?"
Kira slowly shakes her head, but lets go of her paddle as it clangs down by her feet. Anything to be free from his skin on hers. "You should show Mina too," Kira says, turning her head away from Bakugou to stare across the vacant lake. "So, it's not just me doing all the work."
Bakugou looks at Mina slowly, before leaning back comfortably into his own canoe. "I've already done more than what you idiots deserve," he replies harshly. "Show her yourself."
Before anyone can say another word, Bakugou surges the canoe away before Kirishima can join in and Kira watches their canoe venture around the outskirts of the lake.
"Okay, what the hell was that about?" Her friend behind her questions.
Kira can only sigh as she picks up the paddle by her feet and swings her legs around so she's facing her classmate. "Mina, I gotta tell you something."
Akira decided to fill Mina in on all of her feelings and emotions that have been haunting her lately, albeit begrudgingly. Thanks to Bakugou, she didn't really feel she had a choice. For him to so openly and willingly help Kira like that has definitely raised a few eyebrows, namely Eijiro Kirishima and Mina Ashido. The middle of the lake was the perfect setting for all these thoughts to spring out anyway, as the canoe gently drifted in the water, with no sounds to bother them aside from a gentle breeze that occasionally splashed water up the side of the boat.
"I really need you to just not announce all of this to the others when we get back to the dock. Okay?" Kira says, glaring at Mina.
"That's why you didn't tell me sooner?" Mina looks appalled. "I mean, I may joke around and stuff a lot, but everything you've been feeling? You should have told me sooner, Akira."
"I'll let the other girls know soon enough," Kira assures. "So, we can maybe all discuss everything then, but this was supposed to be a week off. Fun times only, right?"
Mina scoffs loudly. "Oh, screw that! You know I'd jump at the chance to discuss gossip, especially anything to do with the boys in our class."
"Except this isn't gossip, Mina," she says through gritted teeth. "Please don't spread around what I just told you. I'm trusting you to keep your big mouth shut."
"Hey, you want me to keep a secret?" She throws her hands to her chest dramatically. "I can keep a secret."
"Mina..." Kira rolls her eyes at her eccentric behaviour, stifling a laugh.
"So," Mina says, leaning forward suddenly, growing terrifyingly serious. "How long?"
"How long?" Kira repeats, quirking a brow.
"Your massive crush on Bakugou, duh."
Kira laughs out loud suddenly, shocking herself. "Seems like you've listened to about twenty-five percent of what I just told you."
"Only the important parts," she replies, slyly.
"Mina!"
"Joking!" She raises her hands in mock surrender. "You said you have these really intense feelings around Bakugou... as a result of your sudden break up with Kirishima?"
"Yes!" Kira blurts.
Mina just narrows her eyes at her friend. "Are you sure that these feelings just- have always been there and the only reason you never noticed them until now is because of Kirishima?"
Kira can't help but bark out another stunned cackle. "Katsuki Bakugou?" She says, almost with disgust. "Are you kidding me? We may have been through a lot together this past year, but I can't stand him and I'm certain that he hates me back. He says horrible things and he does horrible things. He's strong, but doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."
Mina just slowly nods at Kira's mini outburst. "Sounds to me like you're not just trying to convince me."
"Oh, come on!" Kira nearly explodes, rocking the boat slightly. "Mina, you must be blind not to notice the kind of person he is."
"No, Kira," Mina replies a little shortly for her. "It seems like you're the blind one. Just now, Bakugou didn't hesitate to help you with your paddle, and when you told him to help me out" - she places her hand on her chest - "he didn't even bat his eyes at me."
Kira didn't want to hear this conversation any longer, she didn't want her best friend to spill out a truth to the world that she's been avoiding for so long now. Kira turned in her seat, staring out across the water, where she spots the other canoe on the far side of the lake. Kirishima's standing up in the boat, causing it to swing with each movement, pointing at something amongst the trees, probably another waterfall or a rare, wild animal. If this was a few months ago, Kira would have been gushing at Kirishima's smile, his charismatic personality and longing for his cold, enlightening embrace, but now her awareness is drawn elsewhere.
Mina still echoes behind Kira, trying to get her attention, chanting her name and rocking her shoulder without trying to move the boat too much. But, Kira refuses to hear it. Her eyes linger on a certain somebody across the lake and he stares right back at her, like he's been listening to every word she's been saying, but with the distance, it's impossible. Kirishima tries to get Bakugou's attention, waving his arm as he points with the other, but Bakugou's head is tilted towards Kira's canoe so subtly that it would be hard for anybody else to notice. But, there's no mistaking those eyes, a burning red with an unknown passion in them that Kira feels she could find anywhere, whether it be across the span of a lake, or amidst a suffocating fog. Bakugou's paddle rests across his legs, gripping the handle with such an immense strength, it's surprising that the old wood has held on for so long.
"Mina..." Kira forces her eyes away from the other canoe, spinning to her friend with sudden tears in her eyes. "I don't want to."
"Yo- you don't want to?" Mina's voice softens, when she notices Kira's saddened state. "You don't want to... what?"
Kira looks into Mina's curious, kind eyes, gripping her paddle like Bakugou just was. She can trust her friend, right?
"I don't want to fall in love with Katsuki Bakugou."
~~~