(づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ
Word count: 3708
Enjoy~
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Arriving at the falls was a euphoric experience for you.
Although it wasn't the typically salty smell you were accustomed to, the smell of this earthy water still reminded you of home, specifically your getaway place with Kota and Midoriya. Looking at the expansive lake it was daresay neverending when you stood at the rocky shore. If you hadn't been able to see the full thing on the way to it you would have mistaken it as a lost piece of the ocean.
At the shore, you were hoping that the spray from the decent falls would coat your body with welcoming arms like the sea did but you were not that fortunate. This spray was more like a burst of random droplets like a tap on the shoulder -- regardless you welcomed it. And when it came to entering the cold water, you embraced it.
Feeling the frigid water against your skin made a sigh of nostalgia escaped you.
You never released how much you love something until its gone.
Following the others with wooden buckets in tow, you mimicked their movements once you got knee-deep. Filling your bucket, the same way the others did, you noticed just how clear the water was and the subtle tint of blue that was in it. You had the rare treat of being able to see your wiggling toes. A smile turned up on your lips--this water was much clearer than the ocean or your getaway.
Once the buckets were full, all of the women rushed back to shore leaving you marooned in the calm waters. On land, they all started what they came here to do and that was to wash away all the grime that they had collected over a few days work.
Tilting your head you watched the group chat away on the shore while holding your heavy bucket of liquid. Hearing what Kota said was odd enough but seeing it was mystifying.
Glancing over your shoulder, you looked at the crystal water that was taunting you to join it. In your humble opinion, it would be rude to deny such an offer from the cousin of the sea. Running up the shore you loaded off your bucket just close enough inland that it would be swept away with by current. In turn, you stripped yourself of all the fabric you were currently wearing giving it a good chuck up the dry land making it land into a messy pile.
Spinning on your heel, you ran through the water and silently dove into the refreshing water once you were deep enough.
Being wrapped in the comfort of water made unknown tension leave your body. Your legs fluttered in the water as you dared to open your eyes under the water. You were greeted with a slightly stinging blurry view of this new underwater world which you were elated to find out usually, it was a burning sensation. You took in the sight of different fish dwelled on what appeared to be the bottom of the lake moving without a care in a world. The freshwater seaweed was sparse giving a potential reason to why the water was so clear. Adventuring deeper your fingers grazed against the incredibly smooth rocks leaving clean lines over their mossy exterior.
This world wasn't as colorful or popping with life as you used to, but it did hold its own unique type of beauty.
A familiar burning sensation in your lungs alerted you that you didn't have much longer in this round of exploring such a beautiful haven. Breaking the seal of water and air you took a deep breath before paddling yourself further into the lake. Flipping yourself over you floated lazily on your back and closed your eyes, enjoying the gentle heat of morning sun like an iguana on a hot rock.
"(Y/N)!!!" A desperate fleet of cries wracked through your ears.
Jumping up you kept yourself afloat by kicking your legs. You weren't terribly close to the shore and you weren't terribly close to the center of the lake or to the falls, so why were all of the girls looking at you with fear in their eyes.
Yao-Momo and Jirou were scuttling behind the others who were back at their knee-deep level yelling at you while making different motions with their arms. Looking over the girls, you also noticed that Asui was missing.
Raising one of your arms you gave a big wave along with a reassuring smile, "I'm fine! The current isn't strong at all!" You called.
Your innocent message was deeply misconstrued by the women on the shore. Your approval of the water had been drowned out by the sound of the gushing falls. Your arm flying wildly in the air while you called back to them heightened their scramble.
In the water, watching the chaos triple made your brows knit in confusion. Perhaps a snake was at the shore and was coming towards you in the water? Or did something happen to Asui? You tried to hear the cries that Ashido was yelling to you, but her voice alone wasn't strong enough to beat the sound crashing of the falls.
Realizing your grave mistake, you dove under the water again taking a few strokes away from the falls while also inching closer to the shore. Bursting up to the surface again, you could now hear muddle noises from them but not things you could understand. They appeared to be more panicked and frantic working on something diligently behind them.
Then exploding out of the woods came Asui and Bakugou whose limp seemed to have magically healed in the matter of an hour. He was messily dressed, only a loosely tied cloth around his hips, and his blond locks were dripping wet. Seeing you out in the water, Bakugou's pace picked up leaving Asui in the dust. Taking whatever the girls were working on he joined Ashido's side swinging the item as if testing the weight of the oddity before pelting it into the air.
Your eyes bludge open as the item arched in the air coming straight at you. Paddling backward as fast as you could you dunk yourself under the water just before the strange item came crashing into the water right where your head once was.
Popping up once more, you were finally able to see what was hurled to you, your brow rising at such a strange hodgepodge item.
A piece of driftwood attached to rope?
"Grab it, you fucking idiot!!!" Bakugou's harsh voice overpowering the falls ten times over. Flinching, you instantly took hold of the wood.
You were wretched forward as he began to pull you in like the biggest catch of the day. Small wakes came to life on the sides of the wood the closer you got to the shore.
Once you were close enough to touch the bottom you attempted to help him by walking into shore but with the way that Bakugou was pulling you in, it would have only gone against him. His efforts slowed down once it was clear that you were in the safety of the shore.
Clutching the wood to your chest, you stayed low, kneeling in the shallow water attempting to hide what you could from the blond. Bakugou rushed to you one of his paws seizing your shoulder while the other grabbed your jaw tilting your head every which way.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" He cried releasing your face.
Your jaw was loose as you looked up at him. His carmine eyes were moving manically across your face and were as wide as the moon. There were still small bits of dirt clumped up in his hair meaning that he wasn't done with his bath when he came over here.
"Answer me, (Y/N)!" His hands now shaking you, "You could have died damn it!"
"B-Bakugou, I'm fine." Your hand hesitantly resting on his chest, your voice full of confusion, "I'm okay."
A deep groan resonated out his mouth as his head dropped, his hands sliding down your arms, "Why on earth would you go out there? Didn't you ever learn how dangerous the water is?"
Your brows collided into one another, "Of course I did. I lived by the ocean."
His head shot up again, the water living on his head flicking onto your face, his canines barred, "Then why in the hell would you go out there?!"
His fingernails buried themselves into you and if you weren't lost in the worried expression on his face you surely would have snapped at him for it, "I-I was just going out for a swim. I was fine."
"A swim?" His head recoiled, his voice dropping a few octaves.
You nodded, "My tribe always went swimming. You don't have to worry, I'm a strong swimmer."
Quickly, Bakugou invaded your space again, "Don't ever do this swim thing again. You scared the shit out of everyone."
"But-"
"Don't," he hissed pulling you up while looking the other way, "just...don't do it."
You stayed quiet allowing him to lead you to the others who hurriedly wrapped you in a towel. Bakugou stood to the side eyes watching on you as the girls assessed your well being asking you and asked you a range of different questions. Slowly, you realized what had caused a commotion.
These people don't know how to swim.
Tugging the towel closer to you, you burrowed your lower face into the dry cloth. You felt horrible. You caused them so much worry from doing something that was so natural to you. Suddenly, the idea of getting back in the water left a sour taste in your mouth.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble." You whispered under your breath.
"We're just glad your safe (L/n)," Asui piped in giving your arm a comforting pat, "let's just get you dressed."
"Okay." Your voice now coming out louder than your whisper but still soft.
Pulling you to the side and into the safety of the woods they left you with your new clothes. Throwing your towel over a branch for extra protection, you got dressed in the new apparel.
The black top was a halter and lined with grey fur, a few small cut out gave a diamond design on the center. For your bottoms, you had made sure to get one of the few skirts that were provided for you even if it didn't exactly match your top. The bottom was composed of dark grey fabric and also lined with grey fur and large splits going each side of your legs stopping at your thighs. You took the front pieces of your hair and put them in braids before tying them back to keep your hair out of your face for the day.
Tugging the damp towel down, you folded it up carefully and returned to the group noticing that a certain male had left, "Where's Bakugou?"
"He went back to the river to finish up his bath," Yao-Momo answered for you.
Looking down the well-worked path you gnawed at your lip, "You all can head back, I need to go talk to him."
Not bothering to wait to hear their response you collected your things before traveling into the woods following the trail. You couldn't explain it to yourself, you felt compelled to go and see him. Walking down the trail, it became apparent that he and Asui must have been sprinting in order to get to where you were so quickly. And he had looked so beat up this morning.
The trail eventually opened up again revealing a river bed where the current was much stronger than the lake you were in. Bakugou was perched on a log by the shoreline. His lower half still wrapped up in whatever he had when he rushed over to the lake to save you. He sat in front of a bucket, his hands dipping into the water cupping some of the clean liquid before dosing his sections of his head rubbing his fingers to loosen up the different clumps of dirt that loved his hair.
You approached with caution seeing that his face was in a clear scowl, "Bakugou?"
The blond halted for a moment, before getting back to work, "What?"
The corners of your lips immediately fell. Looking back at the trail you had just emerged from you cursed yourself for following your heart. This all was a horrible idea. You should just turn around and march back up to the village and make him suffer for hours pulling all of that dirt from his hair; but, of course, your legs moved in the opposite direction of the tribe.
Making your way to him, his vibrant orbs glared at you throw the wet mop that was his hair. Kneeling in front of him, you plucked a piece of now mud from his hair, "You'll never get it all out at this rate."
"So? I'll get it out one day." He spat out while running his hands through his hair which only helped to spread the issue he was currently having, "I know how to get dirt out of my hair."
You decided to ignore his stubbornness. This was more for you than him.
"Come on," you offered, holding your hand out, "I'll help you."
His garnet jewels bounced between your impassive face and willingly offered hand. A devious smirk made its way onto his face. Taking your offer his hand engulfed yours, "About time you started to fall for me."
You rolled your eyes, "Or, I'm just thanking you."
Urging him up, you pushed over the log so that it was laying on the ground.
"For what?"
"For coming to help them," You changed the conversation briefly by pointing at the tipped over log, "lay down."
"I wasn't helping them," he grumbled but did as you instructed, "I told you I would keep you safe."
You stayed quiet after hearing his words to fully digesting them. Taking the bucket, you tipped it over, pouring half of the contents onto his head thoroughly soaking his hair, "Just take the thank you."
Running your fingers through his hair, they acted as a comb and you were able to get rid of the larger bits that were matted at the under layers of his hair. As for the increasing amount of mud caked in his tresses you decided that you would need a lot of water to wash it out. Feeling his blond stands was surprisingly pleasant. They felt nothing like what you had imagined it would feel like considering stiff it looked in its dry state. It was soft to the touch and even rivaled yours when it was wet. It made you curious about what it felt like when it was dry.
Scratching at his scalp you could tell he enjoyed the feeling of being pampered as he closed his eyes relaxing into your rough but gentle touch.
"How did Kota end up for the night?"
You stopped your motions, the question catching you off guard. Peering down at his face, you noted that his eyes were still closed. You started up cleaning him up once again, "He went to bed after you left."
He hummed at your answer and you dosed his head with another splash of water.
"I..I didn't mean to hit him that hard." He murmured as his arms crossed over his chest, "I thought it would be more of a tap."
"You smacked him." You seethed raking your fingers through his hair rougher than you had been.
"I know." Bakugou wasn't going to fight with the reality of the situation. He had smacked that kid into the next season. He had severely underestimated his strength in the moment and now he was paying for it.
You worked on the hidden earth that was behind his right ear, you didn't want to talk any more about that event from last night, "What did you do last night?"
Clicking his tongue he shifted under you, alerting you that he was uncomfortable answering your question, "Things."
"Things?" You repeated back to him in a condensing tone.
His eyes shot open glaring at you in his upside-down world, "I did what I had to blow off steam, alright?"
Pouring the last of the water onto his hair you could see that the water running clear at this point signaling that it was clean of debris. Biting your lip you debated if you wanted to press on the issue and find out what it meant for Bakugou to blow off steam. The more you thought about the more you didn't want to ask. You weren't in the mood for anything vulgar or disgusting. If you had to place a bet on what it meant for Bakugou to blow off steam it probably was fighting a bear with his bare hands.
"Well, I will tell you that your words did strike a chord with Kota. For better or for worse is yet to be seen," running your hands through his hair you ringed out all the water you could from his hair adding to the puddle below him, "You're done."
Bakugou sat up shaking his head making his hair shift to an appearance that reminded you more of what his hair was usually like. Grabbing his towel and clothes he stalked off to the forest as you had done early.
Before you left, you had one more thing left to do.
Going to the edge of the river you took off your necklace observing it. Your earlier dip in the lake did help to erase some of the light layers of blood that was on it, but the more opaque droplets were still staring you in the face. Dipping the necklace into the water, you rubbed away the red stains, the water taking your people with it. Some of the disturbing liquid had to feel into the groves of your shells, but with some elbow grease, you were able to get that out too.
Pulling the necklace out of the water you admired it shimmering in the light. It was back in its pristine state. Your people were free and heading back home thanks to this river. Smiling you petted over your indigo pearl. You hated that you had let blood stay as long as it did. You could have washed it days ago but you were selfish. Seeing that red ink reminded you of them, it helped remind you that they were still with you waiting for you to free them and let them return home. So you finally did. You couldn't keep them with you forever. That wouldn't be right.
"Come on, idiot. I wanna get out of here before the other dumbasses get here."
Clipping the necklace back on you shivered at feeling cool water droplets run down your dry skin. You took your time returning to his side but returned to it none the less. This tribe had little shame and you certainly didn't want to see any naked men.
Taking a new trail, Bakugou naturally took the leading position. Watching him from the back you could tell that he still had his limp and his ankle was starting to swell and turn a nasty purple that mirrored the bruised on your neck. You tried to focus on other things like the flora and the random fauna that would scamper by, but your eyes kept drifting back to the injured ankle. He had ran on it to get to you as fast as he could knowing his injury and here he was pushing himself to suppress the severity of the wound.
Going uphill, a clear gritted damn it had dropped Bakugou's lips as he continued to push forward and you decided that you had enough of this manly act. Grabbing his arm you raised it allowing you to duck under it before ripping it down forcing him to take the support you were giving him and in turn, relieving his ankle of some pain.
"Let go of me, woman." He growled as he attempted to pull away from you.
Walking forward you dragged him along with you, "No."
"I don't need your goddamn help. It's just a sprained ankle."
You gave him a tug on the arm, "And I made it worse when you ran to save me, this is the least I can do. I can be just as stubborn as you, now come on and make both of our lives easier."
Bakugou continued the fight you for a few more minutes before finally caving and accepting your aid. His heavy body leaning into yours as you walked passing a few different tribe members as you made your slow ascent. Whenever you did pass a person, Bakugou's face would take refuge in your neck hiding his embarrassment from the world.
Arriving at the tribe grounds, you immediately took Bakugou to the hut. You took care in setting set him down on the bed propping his ankle up. Taking the wrapping that was meant for your arm, you sat down next to him tightly wrapping the foot. Bakugou chest heaved the more pressure you applied to it but it had to be done. Judging it, you guessed that he'd be lucky if it healed by next week.
"You need sleep," you order pushing his foot off of you as roughly as you could without causing more harm, "Have you ate anything?"
"I ate before I went to the river." He countered settling in his side of the bed before he lifted the blanket presenting your side of the bed to you, "get in."
"I have other things I have to do Bakugou." It was true you hadn't had breakfast and you wanted to stop by Jeanist and see if he had finished your shoes.
Disregarding your answer he grabbed your wrist and pulled you in the bed gluing himself to you, "Just till I fall asleep then."
Heaving a sigh, you decided that you could fulfill his request. Turning around you got into your usual position and shut your eyes. You could feel his head nuzzle into your neck taking in a breath as his arms maneuvered themselves around you.
"Just until you fall asleep."