Dammit! I'd just gotten her off my mind, then she had to go and do something like that!
*
There were four of them left now. Yaoyorozu went up against Midoriya in their semi-final match. Midoriya won, meaning whoever won between the other two would fight against Deku in a battle to remember. When the names were announced on the screen, Ren prayed she'd get Midoriya so she could bow out of the race... But when Katsuki Bakugo popped up next to her name, her pride got the best of her. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had their battle while Bakugo and Ren waited in the hall that lead to the battlefield.
"Hm." Bakugo smirked smugly. "This'll be easy, and then I can go up against Deku, that damn nerd."
"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself." Ren narrowed her eyes at him. Present Mic called out their names and the crowd's cheers sounded through the hall. Bakugo groaned at her as he peeled himself from lazing against the wall so they could walk out. "Besides, all I have to do is get on top of you." She winked at Bakugo before stepping out onto the field. It infuriated him how easily she could push his buttons.
They stood across from each other on the concrete platform and squared each other up. "You're so screwed." Bakugo smirked.
Ren looked down and shut her eyes. "Hm."
She hummed with a little smirk. "You seem really intent on screwing me, huh?"
Bakugo felt the palms of his hands and the apples of his cheeks heat up to her words. It annoyed him and strangely aroused him at the same time. 'Head in the game, Katsuki'. He thought to himself.
"There's no puddles of water for you now, I'm not stupid like that icy-hot half-and-half bastard!" Yeah, thinking about Todoroki always killed his horny buzz. Bakugo clenched his fists and little explosions popped around his hands. "I'm gonna roast you alive, Freckles!"
Present Mic sounded the start of their match. "Whatever you say, Baka." Ren said casually and knocked the lids off of her bottles.
Bakugo rushed forward with an explosion that propelled him towards her. As he got close to her he swung his arms forward and sent an explosion her way. Ren slid out of the way smoothly and sent some water to slap him in the face. She smirked as the liquid stunned him, causing him to stumble slightly. Bakugo slid to a halt and wiped his face. "Is that all you got?!" He screamed and rushed at her again.
Ren stood her ground and waited for his attack. She had been watching Bakugo intently for the weeks leading up to the sports festival. She couldn't help herself, he was fascinating to watch. 'Okay, I gotta show him I can defend from the front so he's tempted to do that move where he attacks me from the back.' Ren strategised to herself.
Bakugo made another attack at Ren. He sent an explosion to her directly but Ren was ready. She leapt up over the explosion and landed just behind Bakugo.
"Dammit!" He screamed and turned to her. Bakugo flew forward with an explosion from his palm. This was it, the move she was expecting. She'd pulled him far enough to the side. He propelled himself upward with an explosion, then at the last second, sent himself over her head with another explosion.
Ren followed his position carefully.
There.
As he popped up behind her she grabbed his wrist and rotated it away from her. Panicked, Bakugo sent out and explosion. The flames licked at her wrist but she didn't budge. 'What?! That should've seared her skin!' Ren dropped his wrist and slapped both of her hands on his cheeks.
'Hng?!' Bakugo clenched his jaw as he felt his body go limp at her touch. Aizawa rocketed up from his seat and lent in. The crowd went dead silent. It was just for a second but he caught a glimpse of it, a blue electric aura zapped around Ren. The battleground that Bakugo had half destroyed had pieces of rubble scattered all around it, and a few of the rocky pieces vibrated ever so slightly.
"What's going on?" Midoriya looked at the two of them intently. "Hng?! No way!" He exclaimed and stood up, clicking his fingers together as the realisation sunk in.
"What is it, Deku?" Uraraka asked darting her eyes between the battle and Midoriya.
"W-what- What is this?!" Bakugo demanded as Ren held his face in her hands. Aizawa bolted out of the commentators box and hastened to the battleground.
"The human body is made up of 70% water." Ren said while looking down. "That makes 70% of your body that I can control." She glanced back up and smirked. Bakugo's eyes widened. "I just needed an opening."
Ren slid her hands down Bakugo's neck and onto his shoulders. Aizawa stumbled through the hall and waited at the entrance to the field, watching Ren intently.
Ren pushed herself up from Bakugo's shoulders and kicked him hard in the chest. "Agh!" Bakugo spat out as he fell back. He hit the concrete with a loud thud and scrape, past the red line that showed the boundary of the battleground.
"And advancing to the final round is Ren Chinami!" Present Mic called out and the crowd cheered loudly.
Ren walked over to Bakugo and offered her hand to him. "Told ya not to be so sure you'd beat me." She chuckled.
Bakugo slapped her hand away and got up himself. "Don't pity me, bitch." He grumbled. The words fell out of his mouth. 'Hng.' He clenched his teeth as he realised what he said to her.
She took a slight step back and drew her hand into her chest. It cut deep but she understood that she'd just destroyed his ego. Bakugo covered his face and slumped out of the stadium. Ren followed a few paces behind and went to the waiting room where Midoriya was already waiting. "Great match!" He said to her as she came in.
"Thanks." Ren sat down and pushed her hair back. "I don't think Bakugo would agree."
"Kacchan doesn't like losing." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, I kinda figured." Ren chuckled back.
They engaged in light chatter before they were called up to the battlefield. On their walk down the hall, Aizawa appeared before them. "Midoriya, please continue. I need to have a word with Ren."
"Oh um, okay." Midoriya walked off slowly and turned back a few times to look at Ren. She nodded an 'it's okay' with a little smile.
"You need to bow out of this fight." Aizawa said to Ren as soon as broccoli was out of earshot.
"Why?" Ren asked plainly.
"You got close to the limit in your match with Bakugo, and I'm warning you now, Midoriya is one of the strongest students both physically and mentally that I've ever seen. If you engage with him, you'll lose control. I can cancel your quirk in time but then there'll be a lot of explaining to do." Ren furrowed her brow and looked down. "Don't worry." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've heard plenty of heroes saying that they're interested in taking you on for work study. You've proven yourself."
"I'm not allowed to partake in work studies, remember?" She snapped at him. Ren turned on her heel and hastened towards Midoriya.
"I need your word." She heard Aizawa call out to her, making her pause for a second.
"I'm not an idiot." She muttered back before rushing to the entrance of the field.
Midoriya and Ren stood across from each other on the battlefield. Present Mic sounded out the start of the battle and Deku crouched over slightly and clenched his fists. An electric green aura formed around his body.
Ren stood her ground and held her fists close to her face. 'This is gonna hurt.' Ren thought to herself. She focused her energy on the front of her body, manipulating the blood within her to act like a protective barrier. Midoriya leapt forward and held his middle finger down with his thumb. 'Oh boy this is really gonna hurt.' Ren braced herself for impact.
Bakugo watched intently from the stands, though, he pretended like he wasn't interested. 'Why isn't she moving?!' He thought to himself. 'You damn freckle-faced nerd, MOVE!' His heart-rate quickened. After all of that, did he still want her to win?
Deku released his finger and a powerful gust of wind shot towards Ren. It hit her in the chest, immediately knocking the breath from her lungs. She flew out of bounds and landed on the grass with a thud. 'Hng-ah!' She cried out as she hit the ground.
'Why didn't she move?!' Bakugo asked himself and clenched his fists. Todoroki frowned and observed the battlefield. He spotted Aizawa standing in the entrance and narrowed his eyes.
Deku rushed from the battlefield to Ren's side. "Ren!" He slid down next to her to check that she was okay. "Are you alright?"
Ren pushed herself up and and wiped a small trickle of blood from her lips, causing Midoriya to gasp at the sight of her blood. "Yeah." She held a thumbs up and smirked.
Deku returned a wide smile and helped her to her feet. "Thank goodness!"
"You pack quite a punch, Izuku!" Ren chuckled.
"Izuku Midoriya has won the 2nd year UA sports festivaaaaaaaaaal!" Present Mic announced to the stadium. The crowd cheered loudly.
"Yay Deku!" Uraraka cheered.
"Well done, Midoriya." Todoroki said with a small smile.
Bakugo growled at his success. "Come on Bakugo, be a good sport." Kirishima knocked him in the ribs. Bakugo shot a deadly look at him. He chuckled trying to ease Bakugo's anger.
*
Yaoyorozu and Bakugo were awarded third place together while Ren got second and Midoriya got first. Deku wiped his eyes as the crowd cheered his name. He knew his mom would be watching proudly, probably crying out his name and blowing her nose, and that All Might would be proud too. Ren and Yaoyorozu gracefully bowed and accepted their awards while Bakugo grumpily snatched it and crossed his arms. Third place? He'd literally rather be dead.
That night, the class celebrated. All four top students were in their class, it certainly called for celebration. Aizawa let them order food and have it sent to their dorm. He also allowed them to stay up and watch movies past the regular curfew.
They dined on pizza and watched terrible horror movies. Aoyama, Hagakure and Mina would screech and then laugh every time there was a jump scare. Sero, Sato, Ojiro, Shoji and Kaminari half watched the films half played card games on the floor. Occasionally, Shoji would create an extra eye and use it to spy on the others' cards.
Koda, Su and Uraraka were each huddled under a blanket, they found the movies genuinely thrilling and scary. Mineta would immediately try jump "to the girls aid" when they got a fright, it always resulted in a slap. Deku made jokes with Kirishima and Iida to hide the fact that they too got a little scared sometimes. Tokoyami and Jiro chuckled during the gory scenes.
Ren sat with Yaoyorozu and Todoroki at the edge of the couch, all three of them were falling asleep. Ren was clutching a cup of tea that was on the verge of spilling as she drifted off to sleep. Bakugo had gone to bed immediately after dinner, he never wanted to socialise with everyone at the best of times.
Aoyama screeched at another jump scare, startling the three of them back to consciousness. Ren saved her tea from escaping her cup and downed the last few remaining millilitres.
"Aw man! We're out of popcorn." Kaminari whined. He grabbed another bag. "Yo, Todoroki!" He chucked it at Todoroki, who caught it with a sigh. Todoroki held the packet in his left hand and in an instant, it puffed up with a POP. He tossed it back to Kaminari, who opened it up to reveal fresh hot popcorn.
"You guys all use me to charge your phones, so you can't complain." Kaminari mumbled. "Oh by the way Uraraka, your phones on 100%." He unplugged her phone from a jack that was connected to him and handed it back to her.
"Sweet, thanks Kaminari." She took it before diving back into her blanket fortress.
"I think I'll call it a night." Yaoyorozu said getting up and stretching a little. "Goodnight everyone, have a good rest!"
"Goodnight Yaomomo!" They all called out to her as she disappeared from the common area, her fabulous robe following behind her.
Bakugo appeared for the first time since dinner to get a drink. "You extras are fucking loud." He grumbled as he got to the common room.
"You could always come and join the fun?" Kirishima leant over the couch backwards and grinned cheekily at Bakugo.
"No way." He returned his smirk with a frown and huffed over to the kitchen.
A chill ran through Ren and she drew her legs closer to her chest. "Are you cold?" Todoroki asked softly. There was a gap between them now that Yaoyorozu had gone to bed.
"Yeah, a little." Ren mumbled back. "Sometimes when I overexert my quirk, I get cold easily while I'm trying to rehydrate." She explained while tucking her hands into her sleeves and rubbing them up and down her legs.
"Oh. Here, sit closer to me. I can keep you warm with my left side." Todoroki gestured for her to shuffle closer. He lifted his left arm onto the backrest of the couch and let Ren tuck in closely.
"You promise you won't set me on fire?" Ren asked with a half joking half kinda serious chuckle.
Todoroki smiled back. "I'll try not to." He activated his quirk just enough to make his left side heat up. Ren exhaled deeply as the warmth flooded over her. She leant her head on his shoulder as the warmth made her sleepy again.
Bakugo returned from the kitchen with his drink and scanned the socialising. His eyes fell angrily on Ren curled up against Todoroki. He glanced up to see Bakugo glaring at the two of them huddled together on the couch. Without taking his eyes off of Bakugo, he slid his hand down the backrest of the couch and wrapped it around Ren's shoulders. In her sleep-state, Ren cuddled further into Todoroki. Bakugo clenched his teeth. His hands shook with rage and he could feel the glass in his hands heating up against his skin. He darted out of the common area, trying to get the image of Ren out of his mind.
'What is she doing touching that icy hot bastard?!' He thought to himself while mashing the elevator buttons. 'And to make things worse, she had to be wearing tiny shorts and a big sweater!' Bakugo ran his fingers through his hair and clutched onto a clump of it. 'Her hair looked so soft... And now he gets to smell her hair, and touch her skin.'
The elevator opened on his floor. 'Dammit!' He slammed his hand into the wall and left a fist shaped burn mark in the paint. 'Why do I care so much? Why can't I stop thinking about her? That damn nerd! That half and half bastard can have her! See if I care!'
Bakugo kicked his room door open and slammed it behind him. He took a long swig of his drink before he flopped onto his back on his bed. Ren popped into his mind. He grumbled and rolled over, looking at his posters and items in his room to try and distract him. It worked for a couple of seconds before Ren popped into his mind again. Bakugo sighed and pulled his phone out. He needed anything to distract him. 'I hate her. I hate her.' He kept repeating to himself.
Back downstairs, Iida was ready to call it a night for everyone else. "Alright everyone, it's getting late, I advise you all make your way to bed shortly." He shot his arms in the direction of the elevator hall. "I will be saying goodnight now, I trust you will see to it that you're in bed before midnight."
They looked back at Iida blankly. "We'll try." Uraraka chuckled.
"I do not allow sleeping in past 8am, even on weekends. Be advised." He smacked his straightened hand into his palm before he turned on his heel. "Goodnight."
As the evening continued, members of the class slowly retired for the night. There were a few of them left when Todoroki fell asleep with Ren still tucked against him.
Deku, Uraraka and Su were the last few to retire. "Should we wake them up?" Su whispered to Uraraka.
"I think we should leave them. I'm sure they'll wake up soon." Uraraka said before she let out a round yawn. Deku held Uraraka upright in her half asleep state as the three of them made their way to the elevators.
It was the silence that woke Ren up. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the blackened room. Empty mugs, glasses and plates were left all over the place. She spied a single cookie left on the platter Sato prepared for everyone and an idea popped into her head. Blankets and pillows were strewn across the floor and couch. She yawned and sat up away from Todoroki, causing him to stir.
"Where is everyone?" He mumbled quietly and rubbed his eyes.
"I assume they all went to bed." Ren said with another yawn. She fiddled around for her phone and accidentally grabbed Todoroki's hand. "Oh. I'm sorry." She dropped it and continued her search with a slight fluster.
Todoroki chuckled. "You were sleeping on me."
Ren blushed slightly. "I guess you're right." She found her phone and clicked it on. Bright light filled the room. "Agh!" They both covered their eyes while she turned the brightness down. "It's 2:34am." She said between lengthy blinks.
"I suppose we better go to bed." Todoroki stretched out of the groove he'd created in the couch pillows.
"Probably should." Ren agreed and the two of them made their way to the elevators. They waited for their lifts before Ren pretended to remember something. "Oh I forgot my earphones, don't wait for me." She gestured to the light above Todoroki's elevator. "Night." She waved to him as she bounced away.
Todoroki smirked. "Night, Ren."
Thanks to never ending and extremely frustrating thoughts of Ren, Bakugo was still awake. It was about to hit 3am when he heard a slight shuffle outside his door. The hallway light peeked under his bedroom door. He sat up on his bed and furrowed his brow. He'd heard Kirishima and Shoji go to bed a few hours ago already. He listened intently but there was nothing more. The hallway light flicked off. Bakugo slid off of his bed and slumped to his door.
'Better not be a stupid prank or some shit.' He thought to himself. He opened the door and looked around, nothing. He looked up, nothing. He looked down, something. On a piece of paper sat a cookie. He raised an eyebrow at it before crouching down to pick it up. The piece of paper had a note written on it.
'Sato made these for everyone. I didn't want you to miss out, they're so good! Peace offering? - Ren :)'
He looked at the cookie and then the note, then the cookie and the note again. "Dammit!" He exclaimed before he crunched the paper in his hand, causing it to inecenerate instantly. "I'd just gotten her off my mind, then she had to go and do something like that!"