beetlesau

[beetlesau]

Share A Seat, Bakugo/Reader

1.4k - Colleting the small UA group heading off to Summer Camp as counselors. The van has limited seating. This is just a drab I have been wanting to read but I have yet to find one. (If anyone knows a similar concept PLS LINK??? LINKIES???) so I made a small one for myself. Enjoy, or don't. That's okay. [I didn't proofread but this COULD be gn I think?] Aged up, Cursing,

Summer was in full swing. The AC blasting throughout Midoriya's van was soon to be a distant memory as he picked up the old UA gang one by one- destination, a Sleep-away camp, where third years had the unfortunate pleasure of being camp counselors.

Kirishima and you were the first passengers. He took advantage of this by taking control of the AUX and sitting behind the driver. You claimed the legroom riding shotgun. Within an hour, the van was filling up with familiar faces and, as well, entirely too much luggage.

Mina sat in the middle row, Kirishima to her left and Kaminari to her right. By no surprise to anyone who knew the boy- Denki had managed to pack even more than even Mina. Their luggage and duffle bags crowded the third and final row, leaving a small spot for their last two passengers, Bakugo and Uraraka.

As Midoriya pulled into the driveway of the former, onlookers met an angry scowl. "You're late." he seethed as he strode up to the window, shooting Deku a terrifying snarl with you caught in the crossfire. "Ah-ha, yeah, sorry. We had a hard time getting the duffle bags in the back arranged so we could make a spot for you." Midoriya nervously apologized. "Save it, nerd," he dismissed him before giving you a subtle nod and a grumbled, "Hey." Before you could think to reply, he was shoving Kaminari aside to gain access to the last row. You turned to watch him shove his bag onto the ever-growing pile of clothing and camping accessories, finally settling in with his earphones.

The last stop is Uraraka. This stop was met with a much more agreeable greeting, as she was running out the front door with a glowing smile and a float in her step. You rolled the window down, "Do you need any help with your bags? Is that all you're bringing!? Where's the rest of it?" you were taken aback that she seemed to have even less than Bakugo had. She blushed and looked to Izuku who was tomato red already. "Well, we were so excited to be a part of the Future Heroes Camp as counselors that we sort of planned all our outfits ahead of time and I ended up just leaving them at Izuku's place! So most of my things are actually packed away already in the van. These are just my toiletries and such." she smiled brightly at the embarrassed green-haired driver before poking her head in your window and checking the scene in the back. You could see her excitement falter as she noticed there wasn't much room left and the last spot was in the very back next to the grumpiest guy. "Do you want me to see if we can rearrange the luggage again to make more room for you?" Mina suggested, "I'm sure we could toss out one of Kaminari's bags, I bet he packed more than one useless hairdryer." she rolled her eyes. "What!? It's my back up dryer!" "Why would you need a backup one!?" "Uh-duh, in case the first one breaks?"

"WHAT'S THE HOLD UP, DEKU!?" Bakugo's voice thundered over the two arguing. "Sorry!" "Eep! Please, it's alright, I don't want anyone to make any changes for me… I'll be alright." Uraraka smiled her sweet sincere smile before taking a strained deep breath. You could see her swallow hard as Kaminari stepped out so she could easily push up the seat, accessing the back row.

Against your better judgment, you spoke up before she could hoist herself in. "Wait, how about you take my seat? I've been shotgun for the entire pickup, I don't mind taking the back for the rest of the way." You ignored the tiny excited gasp only you could hear coming from the driver's seat.

"I'll take it!" Kaminari shouted, sticking his grabby hands out at your chair. You, admittedly with satisfying force, karate chopped his forehead and shoved him away from you and your passenger seat.

You deadpanned, "I didn't offer it to you, chump, now move aside. Ochako?" "Well, if you're sure? I really don't want to be a bother to anyone…" she wrung her hands together.

"You're bothering me, you idiots!" Bakugo carried on but was, for the most part, ignored. "Ah! Okay! I'll trade you. Thank you so much! I owe you one, really." she bowed and hurridly scurried to replace you in the front spot.

You were feeling pretty well about your good deed till you found yourself in a tighter spot than you'd first expected. "Wow, there really isn't a whole lotta room back here is there, huh?" you muttered to your new seatmate.

"Tsk. Whatever, just get in already. It's bad enough I got ropped into riding with you all when I could of just drove myself." he scoffed.

"Why didn't you then?" you used every bit of muscle you had to try and widen the nonexistent gap between Bakugo and the bags, to no avail.

"Shitty hair said it would 'be a bonding experience!' and that 'carpooling is manly and saves the ecosystem!' I don't know, some other shit sprinkled in there. Basically, agreed just so he'd shut the hell up about it." Bakugo didn't attempt to make more room for you.

You sat awkwardly, leaning on your hip into the luggage, attempting the most dramatic leg-cross just to avoid putting any weight on Bakugo's thigh.

"Oh. Well, good thing he didn't get that message to Todoroki or we might have a real problem on our laps." you rolled your eyes at yourself, hoping he missed the stupid joke. "That Half-and-half rat bastard is probably sitting real comfy all by himself in the most expensive car daddy's money can buy." Bakugo's leg started to bounce in irritation before he realized it was propelling you further into the baggage. "Sorry." he mumbled out low enough you almost missed it. "Suppose we could find time during our month-long camping trip to dirty it up, would that make you feel better?" you look over your shoulder, giving him a mischievous eye. He tried to hide his sudden smile by turning to look out the window away from you, "Sheesh, might find his car was egged? Could of been any number of the bratty ass kids, we can't keep an eye on all of them, now can we?" "Oo, better yet what if one of those eggs found its way inside his car? Shame if after a month one were to go bad hidden under the precious leather seats?" "You… That's… You're kind of a badass, huh?" he glares at you intently. You weren't sure if he was being serious or using sarcasm. Before you could figure it out the van hit a pothole that sent the luggage and the pair of you a foot in the air. "HEY, YOU DAMN NERD, CAN YOU EVEN DRIVE, DICKHEAD?" "Sorry!" the frightened voice squeaked from the front. "Fuck. Are you okay?" he sounded more pissed than concerned but that was the one type of question you knew he'd never ask unless he meant it. "Ah, yeah a little ragdoll never hurt anyone." you scoffed, "Are you okay?" you looked down to see the bump had practically put you in his lap. "Nothing here I can't handle," he stated simply. You were readjusting and scoffed, "I'd take that bet." then froze realizing what you'd said. You screwed your eyes shut, your face turned away from the blonde. You focused your attention on literally anything but the heat radiating off him before deciding you should try and slide back into your cramped spot. "Welp! I'm just gonna move over-" You thought your belt loop must have been stuck on something as when you tried to lift yourself, it held you back. Looking down you were surprised to find Bakugo's thumb was twisted through the loop holding you down to your makeshift seat.

"Uh, Bakugo?" you nervously croaked out. "Yeah, what's up?" he was glancing out his window, cool as always. "Did you want me to move off of you?" He turned, glare burning, "I think it's actually better if you stay put, this shitbox filled with all this junk and you can't even use the seatbelt right now."

"Oh, right. Okay. That… makes sense." you internally screamed as your brain malfunctioned. "Oi, don't make it a big deal. It's whatever." he shrugged. "No yeah, no it's cool. Best seat in the house, honestly." "For me, Definitely." he smirked and readjusted you so you were fully in his lap, for the extra security.

"Do you think the rest of camp will be this interesting?" you cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I can fuckin' hope."

#bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader

[beetlesau]

Bus Ride, Drabble Dabble, Bakugo/Reader

I'm obsessed with the idea that Bakugo would go feral for a woman that's as normie as his dad just because his mom CHASED his dad DOWN because she wanted him, And Bakugo is his moms twin. ANYWAY. Just messing around with a tame version of that idea. Being bored. Zero Edits, I don't even know if I spelt names correctly lol K Baaiiiii

"Why does your hair look like that?" Mineta peaked over the bus seat down at you. You instinctually pulled the collar of your shirt up to cover any cleavage that could have been showing from that view. 

You sighed, it was a common question back in school before UA. You'd been made fun of for it for as long as you could remember, but you never cared. It was your second year at UA, you'd thought someone would have said something sooner than now, but here you were. You made an obvious glance up at Mineta's purple grapelike head before bringing your attention back to his face. 

"Same reason yours looks like that, I guess. Our quirk just made us different." You looked back down to a Heroes Weekly Tabloid magazine you'd been busying yourself with prior. 

Your hair was normal, bland even, save for the bands of white that flowed down from your temples. The doctors said that when your quirk manifested, it must have put such a strain on you that your body responded in the odd way it did. The same thing happened to your eye color. You had such intense grey eyes after your quirk appeared you hardly remember the color they were before that day.  

"No I mean your haircut!" he chided. Your eye twitched before you looked up again at the pervert menace. You noticed that comment also grabbed the attention of the others on the bus. 

In the seat across from Mineta sat Ashido and Uraraka. Uraraka, who sat by the window, glowered at the boy as best as her round sweet face could. Ashido sneered and shot a glance over to Mineta's seatmate, Kaminari. A look that said, "if you don't do something, I will."

Kaminari, not wanting to have his face melted off as collateral damage, stood in his chair and turned back to face you as well. He put on his best flirty smile and propped his cheek on his fist. "I don't know, I think it looks pretty good. Edgy. Mysterious."

"Yeah, it's a mystery why she has that haircut. It's so unflattering on you! You could be an absolute ten if you'd just--"

Mina flung her leg across the aisle, shoving her boot into Mineta AND Kaminari's sides.

"You dimwitted jerks! You're lucky she doesn't have Uraraka float your two asses and hog tie you to the bus like a couple of balloons!"

"Say the word and I'll do it, girl!" Uraraka looked at you with her dusted pink cheeks. She may have been a softy but she was a ride-or-die. 

You laughed at your two best friends and shook your head no. It was alright. It wasn't anything you weren't used to.

"She cuts it herself." a gravelly voice across from you catches your attention. "Didn't you say that, like, first day of school? Do you not pay attention, idiots?" Bakugo takes one of his earphones out as he readjusts against his school bag. All the noise must have bothered him enough to chime in. 

All four members of the conversation lean out into the aisle and look back at the blonde. Did he just say he remembered some random thing someone said about themselves? 

"Oh. Right, yeah I kind of do remember that." Kaminari pulls out his phone and starts typing away like a madman. Not seconds later a couple of simultaneous dings are heard a bit further up the bus. "Uh, do you know why she cuts it herself though?"

"What's it to you dumbass? She's right there, ask her yourself." he sucks his teeth annoyed, but looks over to you. "Don't tell this shithead anything you don't want to." You smiled at him, your cheeks finding a bit of color before you turned back to Kaminari. You raised your eyebrows at him as though to say, "You heard the man."

Kaminari groans before trying a new tactic. "I mean, I already know the answer. I remember, I was just trying to see if YOU remembered. In fact, I think I probably know more about her than anyone else on this bus." he stated matter-of-factly. You looked at him with an incredulous expression before the hothead across from you spoke out again. 

"You're full of shit." he turns to you again, "You cut it that way so it doesn't get in your way! That's why it doesn't matter what the hell it looks like. You're not trying to win fuckin beauty pageants, you're trying to kick villain ass."

"What's going on, what did I miss? What was that text about?" Kirishima crouched in the aisle, looking to Kaminari for answers. 

"Kirishima, thank god! Mineta move, let Kirishima sit there, you've been a menace long enough today." Mineta checked the seat Kirishima had just come from and saw it was across from Yaoyorozu and agreed without too much fuss.

"Oh, man, you just missed Bakugo say that the lil lady back here isn't winning any beauty pageants." Kaminari slowly shook his head in mock disappointment. 

"WHAT THE HELL? DID I FUCKING SAY THAT??? YOU WANNA KEEP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH?" Bakugo shot up from his seat, sparks popping off his hands that gripped the back of Ashido and Uraraka's chair, the smell of scorched plastic permeated before Uraraka opened her window.

"It's okay Bakugo, he's just trying to mess with you. You're right though, I just hate having my hair in my eyes so I cut my bangs myself." you blow air up from your mouth and watch as the short choppy fringe fluttered about just a bit. "One of these days I'm gonna have tech support just make me a built-in headband so I can grow them out. The grow-out stage is a bitch, is all. " you laugh.

"So that's why Bakugo called you Fringe for the first year of school!" Kirishima nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Kirishima, do you know her favorite color, by the way?" Kaminari ponders dramatically. 

"Uh, It'd be a guess, but no I don't think I've ever asked--What is your favorite color?" Kirishima politely and enthusiastically requested the information from you now. 

"Oh! Well now hold on a minute, maybe we SHOULD guess it." Kaminari's words were laced with a layer of sticky entrapment but you were curious to see where he was going with all this nonsense. 

"Sure, go ahead." you shrugged. 

"Let's take turns guessing. Is it teal?" he looked at you expectantly, and you gave him a cocked side-eye. 

"No-"

"OH darn. Okay Bakugo, your turn. What's her favorite color?"

"This is stupid." he huffed

"Well if you don't know, just say so--"

"It's the same as her birthstone, jackass."

Your blush told Kaminari he was correct, or at least close enough. 

"What makes you so sure? Did she tell you?"

"Obviously it's the same as her birthstone, she has a bracelet she wears that's that color, so why wouldn't it be? It's not that hard to figure out if you weren't an idiot."

"--you know her birthdate?" Uraraka's eyes were wide and she was blushing profusely, knowing full well what was happening. 

"What's her favorite food?" Mina piped up, ignoring the subtlety that Kaminari was attempting, seeing exactly what he was trying to get from the angry blonde. 

"How the hell should I know." Bakugo sunk back down in his seat, attempting to put his dead earphones back on, conveying he was done with the interrogation. 

"Well that's a tough one anyway, I'll eat just about anything. I'm not picky." you shrugged, trying to save Bakugo from any more annoyance. 

"Psh. Yeah, but you have such an annoying sweet tooth. I swear I came down to the common area one time and you were practically scarfing down a cupcake. I thought you'd end up eating the wrapper." Bakugo interjected. 

"Oh, that's ... That's true actually!" you grinned. "Well, the sweets part. I was not going to eat the wrapper! Sato had made some for the class. Maybe if you didn't go to bed so early you could of known how amazing it was." you pouted.

"I don't eat sweets before bed, are you nuts? How's anyone supposed to sleep hopped up on sugar? I don't know how you do it." he mumbled, crossing his arms and spreading to take up more room in his seat. 

"Ah, well I suppose I do have trouble falling asleep sometimes." you considered, "I should try out your schedule for a week and see if it helps!"

"WHY ARE YOU ALL STARING? What the fuck could you all have to look at? Fucking annoying." Bakugo stopped to yell when he noticed the small group of onlookers were, well, still looking at the two of you. 

"Kaminari, he's right, you should mind your own business." Mina said as she and Uraraka turned back around to go back to their own thing. Mina turned to send you a glance and pointed at her phone, indicating you should check your phone. 

Looking at your recent messages you see one from the pinkette,

So are you going to pretend it's normal for THAT guy to know everything about you??

You bit your lip as you glanced over at the annoyed guy staring into the back of the seat in front of him. His leg was bouncing in boredom and probably irritation if you had to guess.

Mina was your best friend, but she could be a bit dramatic. 

You weren't sure you were ready to tell her that Bakugo had made it known to you that he was interested. Like, VERY interested.

And you were, less obviously, interested back. You knew his favorite food. His favorite color. He even told you things that made him feel insecure and confided his feelings about being a hero to you. 

It happened suddenly one day. You noticed him looking at you, like actually looking. He held you back after class and said your actual name and not just fringe. That was when you realized you had feelings for him. You didn't hate the nickname, and you considered yourself on good terms with him. He acknowledged your strength and treated you as an equal. But something about the way he said your name made your mind go fuzzy. It felt like you'd just woken from a dream and saw him for the first time. Were his eyes always that intense? 

"I talked to my old man the other day, and he told me some gross shit about how when he and my mom met- she pursued him relentlessly. Borderline insane is what it sounded like to me. My pop apparently doesn't have a spine and he just gave in. Whatever." Bakugo rolled his eyes before waiting for you to say something. 

"Oh! Um, I don't know, I guess I can see how that's romantic. Uh, why are you telling me this though?" you shuffled your weight from one foot to the other, noticing there was a bit too much heat bouncing off the two of you. 

Bakugo bit the inside of his cheek, taking a moment to find the wording. "I'm not crazy like that. I'm not some clone of my old Hag I just wanted to say." he lifted his arm to stretch his back, his actions nonchalant for such an odd topic of conversation. "Anyway, I waited a year is all I wanted to say, so I think I'm going to persue you now."

"Wh-what? You waited. Ah what?" you stammered, you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. "W-what if I don't want you to pursue m-me?" you laughed. You were nervous. And nervous you always say something to deflect the awkward feelings. 

"I'm not very good at not getting what I want, but like I said-I'm not crazy like that old hag, I'll let you have your own say. Anyway. I'll see you later." and then he left you standing there dazed and confused. 

You looked over to him now, sitting alone in his seat. Why else would you have been sitting in the back if not because you knew he'd be back here? You smile to yourself. While this could be your secret for a little while longer you really couldn't resist after seeing his commitment to knowing you in front of the others. 

You pull out your earphones, put one ear in, and hold out the other to Bakugo, who accepts without hesitation. He shoots you a nod and pushes his bag to the floor making room for you to sit by him. 

And you do. You probably will for the rest of your life if he has his way, and you're happy with that. 

#bakugo katuski #bakugou x reader

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

CHAPTER 5, THIS IS IT THE LAST CHAPTER

I'm wrapping this up because I just don't have the steam to make a cohesive story anymore lol. I thought I'd have one more chapter but then I crammed it all into this one, oops.

I'm sorry if you wanted to be tagged still it's just been so long since an update I feel anxious about it.

It's time we meet.

You unwrapped a crisp little note that rattled your Soulbox,

Actually this time. No distractions, nothing getting in the way. I'm starting to feel way in over my head about this lately and I've never felt that way about shit before. You deserve the truth. I don't even know if you'll like me for who I am. It doesn't feel right to not tell you everything. 

You read the note a few times over to yourself. It was so... perplexing. Up until this point, you'd thought he had just been busy, but now you realized he was avoiding you for a reason. The anxiety you felt was enough to call in a personal day at work. You lay on your couch, wads of crinkled papers thrown around the room. You had no idea how to respond. You wanted to meet, but after obsessing over these cryptic words, what did he mean he's not who you think? Who is he? Is he a villain? Is he even in the hero profession at all? 

Why, oh why, did none of those options.... matter, to you?

Your anxiety was centered around why none of this seemed like a big deal to you. But, it was a big deal? And you should be anxious that your soulmate has a deal-breaking secret to tell you, but you aren't. Which is just making you anxious for all the wrong reasons. 

... you felt bad for... not .. feeling bad. 

You were pacing yourself sick when the buzzer to your apartment rang. It startled you enough you nervously approached the speaker by your door. What if it was him? What if he had found you somehow? What if now was the time? What if-- The buzzer rang again, more feverish and unending now. 

"Hello!?" you all but screamed to whoever was ringing your apartment's number. 

"What the hell are you doing? Why the hell aren't you at work dumbass?" a familiar voice growled through to you.

"Oh! Bakugo... I... I'm uh, I'm just not feeling well. I think... I have a cold!"

"... Bullshit. You've never been sick a day in your life, your quirk won't allow it."

How did he... never mind, there were probably plenty of people who could figure that fun fact out about you, not just Midoriya the hero-obsessed wonder.

"Ah, uh, that's not, true. Um, see I think it must be a new strand. Yeah, I can't seem to even use my quirk to get rid of it I'm so sick. *Cough Cough* ah, yeah see? So you'd better just leave, I can't have you coming up and getting si--"

You nearly jumped out of your skin as there was a pounding at your door. You checked the peek hole and saw it was none other than Bakugo, scowling into the lens.

"Son of a. WHO let you in the building!?" you screeched, turning to the mess that was your apartment. You scrambled to pick up loose notes, wadded papers, and an occasional tissue when your thoughts went to the worst possible meaning behind the sudden soul-sent message. 

"Turns out the doorman is a huge fan of Dynamite. What the FUCK are you doing and why have you not opened this door yet, huh?" he grumbled. "I'll break it down, you know I will." You could hear the agitation in his voice.

"NO! ugh, just give me a second would you!? I told the office I was taking a personal day, I didn't know I also had to tell you too!"

You march back to the door and yank it open, "Remind me to look for apartments with better security--what? What are these?" Your eyes caught the tufts of color lowered by his side.

"What the hell do they look like, Smokey, they're flowers." he pushed them to your chest before inviting himself in. 

"I...? Thank you. Why?"

He didn't answer, he just looked at you like you were the crazy one for even asking. 

"Okay. Anyway, I'm sorry, is there something I can help you with? I took the day off for a reason you know?"

"What reason?" he quipped.

"It's just one day, Bakugo. I'm just having a personal crisis I guess. My soulmate wants to try and meet up again."

"So? Isn't that what you wanted?" his face unreadable, he made his way uninvited to your couch. 

"Make yourself at home, I guess?" Shifting into host mode you pulled bottled water from your fridge and offered it up to your new houseguest. "Well yeah, but the way the note was-- wait how do you know where I live?"

"Wow, distracted much? Your dumbass friend from work, Karen or whatever the fuck told Kirishima and I heard so here I am."

"Kirishima asked where I lived. Why? Wait who? Who's Karen? I'm totally lost."

"Jesus, the secretary lady, I don't know her name I thought it was Karen. WHO CARES. You focus on the dumbest shit, I swear."

"It's not dumb, it's completely valid! But, FINE. WHY DID KIRISHIMA, need to get my address from Sahrin, the secretary!?!" you raise your voice to the absolute bafoon sitting in front of you.

"He heard you were sick and wanted to have a card signed by the office and sent over to you, shitty woman!"

"I'M NOT SICK, HOW DID HE EVEN GET THAT IDEA??"

"OBVIOUSLY FROM ME, IDIOT? I JUST KNEW SHE WASN'T GOING TO GIVE ME THE ADDRESS BECAUSE SHE'S AN ASSHOLE!"

"So you're telling me, you got Kiri to think I was sick, planted the idea that I needed a get well card sent over to me, so you hid within earshot while he probably flirted to get my address out of the secretary, "tHe AsSHolE" Sahrin NOT Karen, and then took it upon yourself to come to my apartment and harass me on my day off, right?"

"I didn't fuckin' hide. I could have got it myself if I wanted, I just didn't wanna flirt with some extra." he huffed. 

"Okay, Bakugo. Well?"

"Well what, hag!?"

"... where's my get well soon card!?" You held out your hand, only for it to get harshly swatted away by the blonde. 

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? GET SERIOUS."

"Oh wait, so that's what the flowers were for! Everyone thinks I'm sick?"

Bakugo's face blanked a moment, his mouth moving without speaking before his words finally caught up.

"Sure. Anyway, how is your dumbass soulmate causing you to take a personal day off work?" his face was heavy with stress, even with him trying to hide it you could see.

"Right. I dunno. I know it's so stupid--"

"I didn't say it was stupid. I just want a real answer."

"I'll get there! I just, he wants to meet again and the things he said in his note just... didn't sit right with me." You slouched into the couch trying to collect all your various free-floating thoughts.

"First he tells me he's been busy lately. So we haven't messaged a lot, which is fine. But, he's been ... acting differently whenever we do."

"Different? How?" Bakugo leaned in close, his expression told you this conversation had his full attention. It made you feel... wrong. This was the kind of thing you should tell a close friend, not some coworker you started having a crush on. It felt like cheating. 

A what-- you turned your eyes away from his burning red one. A bit of a slap to the face that something very obvious had only just now been realized by you. 

"I- I-" you stammered, Your thought process seemed to have come to a halt on the outside but on the inside, you couldn't stop the flow of information that was coming from this new discovery. 

You hesitated to meet your soulmate now, after minimal contact these past weeks. Why? Because you had someone else to occupy your thoughts now? Was that fair? Was that even right?

Did you stay home out of fear?

Fear that your soulmate wanted to reject you, no it would seem not.

Fear that you would go to work and see someone that didn't make you feel all that bad about that possibility, maybe.

And then what? Bakugo has a soulmate, and from what little he's told you about them, the way he's told you, they might as well be the Sun compared to you. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know." You glared hard at nothing in particular. "No, that's not true. It's been me. I've been different." You wrung your hands from the anxiety. Your thoughts and feelings were unfolding before you in real time, not exactly in the way you were used to. 

"You?" Bakugo inched closer to your face, something anyone else wouldn't think twice about being that it was a minuscule distance, but at this moment you were hyperaware of every little thing about him. The way his eyes searched your face for more answers. Answers you didn't want to give. 

"Yeah. What if I don't... what if it turns out I don't want him to... I've spent my life, believing in him as my one true Soulmate. I know that the world has so many possibilities for us, that there's never just One option. One outcome. But he was my first. And as a child, I banked so hard on fairytales and true love. I was so stubborn I didn't think about ever moving on just because he wouldn't speak to me. And that obsession with him being the one grew because of all the hard work I put into loving him and making him love me."

"But now you don't feel the same?"

"I love him. I do. Or I know I'm supposed to. I know that I will. Because he's my soulmate. I just thought..... I thought he would be the only one I loved." you confessed. Suddenly overwhelmed you stood. "I think you should leave." Your heart tremored at what you needed to do. There was no way you could keep going down this path, you could see no light at the end of it. Even if your soulmate had something horrid to tell you there was no use leaning on Bakugo for any of it. You wouldn't dream of chasing something forbidden as another person's soulmate

He stood without argument or snark as he normally would and silently headed towards the door. He seemed to understand what you were going through, having gone through the same quite recently himself. 

"I'm sorry. That I did this. This isn't how I wanted things to go, and I never meant to confuse you. I want you to know that all of this has been very real for me. I'm sorry for not being who I should have been from the start, instead of being an asshole. But I promise you, things can be fixed now." he left quietly, and the air was thick with unspoken words. 

You took your Soulbox and moved to the counter. You couldn't wait or hesitate any longer. There was no reason to stall, no reason to overthink it. You quickly jotted down your reply to your waiting soulmate. 

Then let's meet, Soulmate.

Let's meet at this park outside of this cafe, here.

The letter came shortly after you'd sent yours. It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes after Bakugo had left. It was a park not far from where you'd had lunch with him so many days ago. 

Alright, when?

Now.

Your heart skipped a beat. Now? But you were... well... you weren't busy. But they didn't know that. Maybe you could come up with an excuse... Why were you so nervous? This was what you'd wanted your entire life but the butterflies in your stomach were overwhelming you. 

I know you're free today, don't bother trying to get out of it. 

You read the message that followed, your heart vibrated so hard you were sure it could activate your quirk and leave you. How? How did they know? Oh god. You felt yourself so desperate now. You needed to know. 

I'm on my way. 

Know that I love you. 

You stared at the message, unsure of your feelings. You mindlessly held on to this note as you gathered your purse and locked your apartment door behind you. 

You decided to walk, it wasn't far. You needed time to gather your thoughts and your courage for the meeting. When you arrived, however, you were met with a familiar face unexpectedly. 

"Hey! Kirishima, what are you doing here?" you paused on the idea that he was your soulmate, but it was quickly cast from your mind when he jumped straight to the point. 

"Did you know that Katsuki never had a Soulbox? He still doesn't." he smiled at you like you'd been in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation. 

"What?"

"Yeah, he used to just stuff letters into the front pouch of his backpack in UA." Kirishima's sharp teeth grinned in fondness at his memories. "One day me and some of our friends were curious so we took it when he wasn't looking, and we found a letter form his Soulmate, that was how we found out."

"Oh. That's... funny. Why are you- Why tell me this?"

He ignored you in favor of telling another story. 

"So a few years before you came to UA, you remember on the news that he'd been kidnapped and all that? Then we started staying in dorms on campus. Everyone wanted to know what his room looked like because he wouldn't let us in. Anyway, we told him we wanted to study and we all agreed we should do it in his room. He let us, thinking we were actually going to study. The jokes on him cause we all barely passed our classes either way. But yeah, so Mina saw a keychain hanging on the bed's headrest. It was some AllMight holiday edition I think? I don't remember. But, not the point. So we grilled him and he told us it was the first thing his soulmate ever sent to him, funny right?"

"Funny." Your heart was in your throat now. You could feel tears threatening at the corner of your eyes. You needed to hear more but needed silence all at once. It was so much to take in. There was no reason for him to be telling any of this to you. This strangely similar parallel story that you feel like you lived in some way. 

"And do you know what the first thing he ever sent to his soulmate was?" Kirishima asked you gently.

You instinctually reached for the locket that lay around your neck, realizing you were still holding the note you'd carried with you to the park. 

"What was it?" you whispered so softly you didn't think he'd heard your question. But he didn't need to, it wasn't for him. 

"It was a shitty gum wrapper." a familiar gruff voice spoke behind you. 

You spun so fast on your heels that you'd lost balance enough to fall into this voice. 

"Please." your tears fell freely now. "Please say it's you." you whimpered. 

"I tortured someone for years because I had fallen in love with them. I did everything I could to keep myself from getting close to them because I was scared it would mean I didn't really love my Soulmate." Bakugo steaded you, his grip on you was firm and desperate as if you would try to run away. "Then I found out the truth. That I was pushing away the one person I wanted by my side forever."

"I wanted it to be you." was all you could manage, You held out your hand and the last Soulmate letter rolled in your palm, crinkled and wadded up. He took it from you, fixing it, folding it neatly this time before taking the wrapper from your locket and replacing it. 

"I don't want you to hate me. I pushed you away because I thought you belonged to someone else. That I belonged to someone else. I should have known it was you all along. I could never be with anyone but you." Katsuki wiped the tears from your face, now holding your cheeks in his calloused hands. 

"I wanted it to be you. I'm so happy that it's you, Katsuki."

It was all he'd needed to hear before pressing his lips to yours. 

#au #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #my hero academia #aged up characters #bakugo is mean lol #enimies to friends to lovers #enemies to lovers #enemies to friends to lovers

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

Chapta FOUR

WOOOOOOW a new chapter? yikes. it's just as much as my depression riddled brain could get out in one go. It's not readable on my life yall. but I figure something is better than nothing. So a big appreciation to the folks that can read this and make something out of it for themselves.

"Oh no," you swore under your breath before putting on your best smile, "Oh hey guys! Uh, I was just leaving--"

"Oh, that's to bad-" Kirishima started, awkwardly.

"What's your rush, Smokes? Can't hang out?" Bakugo sat across from you, leaving Kirishima to find and pull up his chair.

"With you? No. I mean, I --- What the hell are you doing!?" you watched as the rude sob now across from you started eating the food that sat at the table.

"What? You said you were just leaving. You gonna leave all this uneaten food here? What a fuckin waste, and this sauce is delicious!" he snorted as if what he was doing was completely justified.

As bad (and annoyed) as it made you feel, he did have a point. Suppose it would be a shame to waste it. 

"I just... well it was supposed to be for my date. I was going to meet my Soulmate today but he had something come up last second." 

Saying out loud had a whole new wave of disappointment hit you.

Kirishima had an uncomfortable laugh at this looking to Bakugo, trying to follow his lead or at least get a grasp on why he bothered to come in here if not as your Soulmate. He was an ass a lot of the time, but never cruel.

"Uh, well that sucks... I wonder, uh what happened to him? Bakugo? Any.. uh, ideas? What is THAT guy thinking, huh?"

Bakugo looked Kiri dead in the eye, face deadpan, "How the hell would I know? Go grab us some drinks. "

Kirishima slowly left to do his mental gymnastics, and frankly, he was glad to leave the scene. He had no idea what lead Bakugo wanted him to follow at the moment. Needless to say, he'd never needed to be a wingman, especially not in a soulmate situation. Uh, a soulmate that didn't know he was the soulmate... and didn't want her to know? Oh god. Okay, he decided to take his time with the drinks. 

"Oh, no you don't have to do that Kiri, Kiri!--- aaand he's gone..." You were now left alone with the one person in the world you were sure you did not want to be here with right now. You look over and find that he's staring daggers at you. Quickly looking away, you clear your throat and pick at the uneaten food in front of you. 

"What's with that necklace?" he speaks harshly for such an uncomplicated question. 

You grabbed your trinket as if to shield it from his prying eye. 

"What do you mean what's with it? It's just a necklace I guess." Ugh, this wasn't a conversation you wanted to have with your biggest bully. 

"Bullshit. I've seen you wearing that thing back from U.A. Who keeps a cheap thing like that, that long?"

You'd always worn it, but it was perpetually hidden away under work clothes and a hero uniform. You had indeed worn it all through your time in school as well. But it wasn't something you would have expected him to remember, the man who couldn't be bothered to even remember half his own classmates' names. You thought about it for a moment, wondering if he had decided to be your enemy even back then. It would make sense, this obsession he had with making you miserable. 

It almost made you proud, to think that a top hero like him found you to be a threat, even back in high school.

"The necklace itself was just something from my toys as a kid. It has meaning to me, but less so than what I keep inside it."

You straightened up. You know what, you were glad to talk about such a keepsake, from your soulmate. A token of how your relationship with him had started to where it was now. It helped quell the pain of him not being able to show up for your first meeting. You held the locket tighter in your grasp. 

"What's in it?"

"If you must know, it's the first thing that was ever sent through my soulbox."

"Which was?"

He couldn't remember the first thing he'd ever sent you. Or even anything of significance. It made his stomach turn, a feeling he didn't like. He remembers the first thing you sent him. An All-Might keychain. It had appeared in his shorts pocket one day. He still had it in his childhood bedroom at his parent's house. 

"A.. it was a wrapper."

"What? What's that? A wrapper to what?"

He stared at you in confusion. Wracking his brain for what he sent you.

"A gum wrapper." you huffed.

Bakugo slumped forward and his brows came further together, awkwardly you'd almost ask if he was okay before he snapped back in a rage.

"TRASH!? YOU KEPT THAT TRASH IN YOUR LOCKET!?!?!" He was, as usual attracting attention with his booming voice and lack of regard for others' ears. He put his head in his hands and groaned loudly.

"What is your problem?! Stop yelling! You just think everything is stupid! IT'S NOT TRASH." As much as you fought the instinct, you raised your voice to match his, he just... he just did this to you. You couldn't help it. He was a piss-poor influence. 

You knew he wouldn't understand.

"IT IS STUPID. SO FUCKING STUPID. IF I HAD WANTED TO SEND SOMETHING TO MY SOULMATE THINKING THEY WOULD KEEP IT FOREVER I SURE AS FUCK WOULDN'T BE SENDING TRASH, WHAT A TRASH GARBAGE THING TO SEND TO SOMEONE, I-- I-- HE FUCKING SUCKS--." he leaned back hard into the back of his stool, his expression now far away. You could see the small flare in his nostrils.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! YOU'RE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS, YOU KNOW THAT, BAKUGO? THIS WRAPPER IS A SYMBOL OF OUR GROWTH TOGETHER--"

"TRAAAASH!"

"NO YOU!"

Bakugo tried to reach across the small round table and take your hands off the necklace, but you were fast on your feet, using your quirk to fade just out of reach. 

"Stop! Stop! It's mine! God, leave me alone! Work on your damn relationship if this is such trash! Go get your soulmate some flowers you shithead asshole! Stop trying to mess with my life! I never did anything but exsist and you've been nothing but a thorn in my side!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"No, FUCK YOOOU!"

Bakugo stands and throws the plate of half-eaten food on the ground before his palms start to spark. He didn't know why he was doing this. He was angry at himself, he was angry at you for putting up with his shit as someone in the same hero occupation. He was mad and relieved you didn't give up on him as a soulmate. You could have destroyed your connection to him and found another one. A better one. But here you were, defending his garbage not even realizing he was the one that sent it to you. 

He had no idea how to make things better between you and this was his response. To throw a fist at the problems. 

The exchange was cut short as Kirishima came running back, putting himself between the two of you.

"Hey, what's going on I was gone for like a half minute! Did you tell her??" he looked between the two of you, trying to read your faces for answers. Yeah, he assumed Bakugo might have told you he was your soulmate, and maybe it would be received negatively.... but... damn. 

"Shit-hair. We're leaving, let's go." Bakugo straightened up, pulled out his wallet, and tossed enough bills on the table to pay for your meal that now littered the floor as well a hefty tip for the trouble.

"Tell me what?" you were still heaving and full of adrenaline, still ready to fight. You asked the question on auto-pilot, not caring to hear any more from the blonde.

"Shut it, Shithair. I didn't come to tell her shit." he turned to leave, patrons of the bar parting like a biblical sea as he made his way to the exit. 

"Oh, uh. Sorry. I should probably go with him, try and calm him down. He's just going through some things right now, soulmate stuff and all that. 

"HE still has a soulmate? That's a joke, right? How many got stuck with him and tossed their Soulbox to get away?" You didn't mean that. You would never say something like that. You believed everyone deserved the happiness of genuine love. Even people that sucked major wang like him. Ugh, god he just made you so angry. 

Even Kirishima looked hurt by your words. 

"He's never changed soulmates. They've known each other from the beginning. He really loves her. You should try and get to know him. I know, I know how difficult that sounds. But please, just trust me, okay? I'll see you at work." He gave you a caring side hug, holding on just a bit too long, before pursuing his best friend. 

------------- ------------------ -------------------

"He's never changed soulmates. He's ... passionate. He's an asshole." you faltered nervously, shifting your weight from one foot to the other as you mindlessly made informational flyer copies at the work printer. "Nope. No. Nice thoughts. What do we have in common? Our hero uniforms were made by the same company. That's a fun fact. Yeah. He can create smoke as a byproduct of his quirk, same as me! Holy crap this is impossible."

"What the hell are you mumbling about?" a gruff voice pulled you back to earth. 

"AH! ShIt! You scared me, Bakugo! Don't sneak up on people like that, asshole." you scolded as you worked to get your heart rate back under control. 

"Scared you? Are you twelve? I didn't sneak up on you, it's a public space dumbass." He sounded tired. 

"Well, that's. Shut up." you turned back to your printings, face turning red. You felt embarrassed, almost worried he would know you were thinking of him if you looked at him. "Sorry." Stay casual. "Anyway," Stay nice. "Kirishima tells me you still have the same Soulmate since the start."

He grunts.

Okay.

"Me too!"

Awkward silence.

"Welp! Good talk, see you later!"

You turn to get away from him as fast as possible but are stopped by a firm hand on your shoulder. 

"huh?" 

Bakugo points to a shred of paper that caught on the sole of your shoe.

"Oh, thanks." 

------------------------- ------------------------ ------------------

"What's this?"

"The hells it look like, dumbass? It's coffee."

"Okay... but why are you trying to hand me your coffee? I'm not your maid."

"IT'S NOT MY FUC---oh my god. It's not my coffee. I got it for you, you shit brain. I can't have you passing out during this patrol like last time."

"What? I didn't pass out! Wh-Where, how do you even know what kind I like?" you took the cup, taking a sniff you could tell it had all the things in it that you loved.

"Shithair." was all he said before he walked off. 

"Hmm." you took another inhale of the rich aroma. "I don't remember telling Kiri my order." you sip and the coffee goes down smoothly. You shrug, not really caring now.

----------------- --------------------------- -----------------------

It'd been two weeks since your Soulmate stood you up.

Since then, talk between the two of you had come to a slow trickle, if not a halt altogether. He assured you that something important had come up and that he would talk to you as soon as he could. You knew he was a hero, even if you didn't know which one. You admittedly searched the hero network for any heroes that might be on any classified missions. Anything that would correlate to the radio silence. 

What took you by surprise, was how you were filling your time until you heard from him again. 

Bakugo was a pill, that was for sure. But you took Kirishima's advice and tried to get to know the man under the mask. You'd started slowly at first. 

Things had shifted around awkwardly after that night you both nearly tore down the bar in a fight. And you were still struggling not to say something mean every time he met your eye. But after two weeks of trying, Actually trying, you learned to admire plenty about him. 

You wouldn't call yourself friends. God no. But he was indeed becoming more tolerable. 

You noticed he stopped competing with you so much. Maybe it was the fact that you were both on the same team for once. Well, you were both heroes and you could have argued that you had always been on the same team but maybe he needed the physical image of you greeting him good morning for things to finally cement into his head. 

Hell, this morning he even asked questions about you that you didn't ever think would come from his mouth. 

"What do you like about your soulmate?" He asked during one of his breaks. He was sitting at a client chair across from your desk, something he'd been doing often. He'd pulled up a stool to prop his feet on, finally coming to the conclusion you would NEVER willingly allow his boots to touch your desktop ever again. 

"What?" you looked up, hardly registering the question. 

"Jesus, nevermind." he huffed, a shorter fuse for repeating himself as usual. 

"What do I like about them? Like, like?" you sat, dumbfounded. 

"What the hell is so hard about that question, yes!?"

"Sorry, I just, I'm not used to you asking those types of things! Uh, I guess, I like how he pushes me to be the best I can be. He's the reason I wanted to become a hero in the first place. I really don't think I'd be where I am today without him." you said thoughtfully, a small smile playing on your face. 

"So, like me?" he stated. 

"What? What do you mean, 'like you'? He's not like you at all?" you were confused, that was for sure.

"What the hell, that's exactly like me? I push you all the time!" he scoffed. 

"Uh, yeah, but you're an asshole? Nothing you've ever said to me has been to make me better! You berate and put me down, always telling me I'm not as good as you nor will I ever be? Like, I don't know, you've changed a little now, but are you seriously thinking you helped me improve in any way!?"

"That's not true." Bakugo looks straight ahead, contemplating his next words, or maybe mulling over the words you'd said to him, before popping up from his chair and leaving your desk without another word. 

"Hey! Where are you going? Hello, Bakugo?? Okay... whatever." you shake your head and continue your paperwork.

----------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------

"So what about you? What do you like about your soulmate?" 

You and Bakugo are on a patrol through the less-than-crowded streets one day, and you decide to ask him about his soulmate. You'd been curious for a long time but it never seemed like a topic the blonde would openly talk about. To your surprise though, he answered straight away.

"I like... no I love that I know she is the one. I used to have this fear. This fear that destiny was wrong about us, me and her because I fell in love with someone before I met her. I never told her that before. But the day we met was the day that all changed. I figured out that Destiny bullshit really knows what it's doing."

"Holy shit."

"What." he looked at you, almost expectant, though you wouldn't notice. 

"That's... that's incredible. How romantic. I really hope when I meet my soulmate that something like that happens. That has been my literal fantasy since I was a child, Bakugo!" you swooned at the romance of his words. You had no idea he had it in him to feel that way about anyone. It made you feel warm and though you wouldn't say it, a bit jealous. 

"Not gonna happen." he states simply, a smirk plain as day on his face.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Obviously I have the best soulmate 'cause I wouldn't settle for fucking less. It's too bad when you meet yours that it'll never amount to that same feeling. Sucks to suck, but yours is probably a fuckin loser."

"Bakugo! Stop! That's so fucking rude." you push his shoulder to no avail, as he snickers at your weak attempt.  

"You've got a damn mouth on you, you know that?"

"I swear you are the worst influence on me. I never used to cuss like this till I was forced to be around you!" you cried.

"I dunno seems like an improvement to me, maybe your soulmate will like you better now. And you can have me to thank for that."

"Stooop!"

As the two of you were playing, you hadn't noticed Bakugo had veered off the usual patrol route, landing you two in front of a diner. When you finally realized you patted your stomach, noticing you were getting rather hungry. 

"Oh man, we must have taken a wrong turn. I've never been here before? It looks good. I'll have to remember this spot for later, I'm starving." you read the diner sign before turning to get back on the path, but Bakugo stopped you.

"Well why don't we just get something to eat here now? I don't want you complaining the rest of patrol."

"Oh... but what about--"

"Shut up, loser. It's the slowest day ever, and who's gonna do anything stupid knowing I'm out here to kick their ass if they try anything?"

"Good point." you shook your head and laughed at just how full of himself he could be, but you could finally see the light-hearted guy under the hard exterior. Or maybe you were just too hungry to argue. 

"Woah, look at this! This burger is huge AND it comes with fries. I'm going to die that looks so good. What are you gonna get, Bakugo?" you looked up from your menu to his crimson eyes looking over you. He lagged a moment, not bothering to search his menu. 

"Yeah, probably that. Sounds good to me."

You beamed up a smile at him. This was nice, you thought. It was almost like a date but with a semi-sort of a friend. Well, you felt, for the first time EVER, that you and Bakugo could for once get along. Maybe you could be friends. 

"So what's with your soulmate?" he asks you.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What does he do? Where does he live? What kind of loser hobbies does he have?"

"Oh! He's a hero, like us! Uh, well I think he lives in this city actually. Or it seemed like it when we were supposed to meet up for the first time that one day. We always stayed really minimal with giving information about ourselves, but I know he likes to be outdoors. I know he's gone hiking and camping with his friends over the years. He seems close with them even though I don't know anything about them at all."

"And you never worry he's actually seeing some girl when he says hes doing those things?"

"What! No! Never. He would never do that. I may not know him, but I know him. I trust him with my heart and life. And someday when we meet-" You took a deep contented sigh. "It'll be magical."

"Jesus you're a sap. This guy is probably some huge nerd. Never been outside a day in his life."

"Shhhh! Shut up, you're such an ass!" you laughed and swatted at Bakugo. "I'm gonna order a milkshake too, do you want one?"

"Are you serious? And have to go to the gym for twelve hours straight just to work it off? No thanks, that shit'll kill you."

"Ooooh wow, what a buzzkill. Are you telling me you don't eat any desserts at all or do you just have a major thing against milkshakes?"

"No I don't have a sweet tooth really. I like spicy as shit food, though."

"Oh for real?! So does my soulmate! Maybe he doesn't like sweets either, I'll have to ask him sometime."

"So you don't REALLY know much about this guy, do you?" Bakugo's face contorted into something unreadable. 

"I know what really matters. But I'm not worried about the small stuff, no." you stated matter of factly.

"So if this guy was four foot tall with a gross mole on his face, you're telling me you wouldn't care?"

"Haha! No! I'm not that shallow what the heck."

"I don't buy it. What if he wasn't really a hero. Or if he was, he's not even on the charts, he's so bad? Could you really live with him knowing you were better than him at something he encouraged you to become?"

"Oooh, that's a really neat question. Hm. No I think he's probably a great hero. But if he wasn't... hm. That would be okay. I will love him no matter what. What about you, though?"

"What about me?"

"Well what about your soulmate? You're already the best, so how do you feel about her not being 'the best' like you, as you so put it?"

"I don't care."

"No?"

"Hell no. She's the best there is, even if the charts don't reflect it the way they should. I've always pushed her to be better anyway, she's pushed me to be the best too. I'm where I am because of her and heroes like her."

"Awwwweee! That is actually the cutest thing I've ever heard you say, literally EVER."

"Shut up."

"Nope! So who is she? Will you tell me?? What's her quirk? Do I know her?"

"Hell no." 

"Awe man, why noooot?" you pout.

"It wouldn't be safe to tell you right now."

Your eyes grow wide in wonder. 

"Oh man!! So she's like an undercover hero? Holy crap that is so cool. Wow. Okay well I won't push it but I really hope I get to meet her one day!"

"Yeah yeah. Enough about that. Let's talk about the fact that your soulmate could end up being a huge loser. Let's talk about the fact that your soulmate could end up being DEKU?"

"YUCK!" you covered your mouth with a gasp. "Oh, nooo, no I didn't mean it that waaaay. Medoriya is a really nice guy, I mean I dunno he---"

"AHAHAHAHAH NO NO, PLEASE. STOP THERE. That's fucking funny, don't ruin it." Bakugo barked out a laugh and grinned ear to ear. It looked rather handsome on him, though you could never admit it in a million years.

"Stop laughing! No it's not funny, it was so mean. I just mean he's not my type."

"Oh yeah? And what is your type, then? Cause you don't even know who your soulmate is, so that is some slippery slope you're on."

"I... that's true. Well, I know my soulmate IS my type. Whatever that may be. Look this is embarassing and I'd rather not talk about it!"

"Does your type have multiple arms?"

"Mm, likely not. But it would be okay!"

"Does he have an abusive father, formerly the number one hero?"

"Oooh, low blow. But no, I've always found Todoroki to be a bit dense. Besides he's already married to his soulmate! Not him." you giggled at the game. 

"Does your type... get hard under stress?"

"Awwwwe Kirishima is a cutie. But no. ... And please don't say things like that! Your jokes are terrible."

"That box dye shithead is not cute, he's annoying."

"Not true! Hmm. Maybe he IS my type! How do we know for sure HE isn't my soulmate? Oh my gosh! Call him, get him on the phone, haha." you were just playing around, but you noticed the way Bakugo's jaw clenched.

"No. Forget it. He's not your fuckin soulmate. He's an idiot. You are not."

"Well, see? Oposites attract! This could be one of those situations--"

"It's not. Anyway, eat your damn food before it gets cold, no one likes gross cold fries."

"Awe, someone doesn't like when I tease his fwends?" 

"Something like that. Eat."

"Alright, alright. Fine." You finally look at the plate that was placed before you forever ago, dipping your fries in a saucer of ketchup. You took a long pause, realizing how much you were enjoying this time with Bakugo.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would guess that my soulmate is a lot like you, now that I think about it. He used to be really standoffish and mean, you know? But once I got to know him, I found out he was really funny and caring." you laughed, enjoying the food and company. 

"Haha, maybe you're my type after all, Bakugo!" you were only joking. And so engrossed now in your meal you didn't notice the way Bakugo's face turned so red, you would have thought he'd eaten something too spicy, even for him.

#au #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #my hero academia #aged up characters #bakugo is mean lol #enimies to friends to lovers #enemies to lovers #enemies to friends to lovers

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

*cringing internally* CHAPTER THREEEE, wow yes wow finally

no editing, I didn't even check for continuity errors from the last chapter so just roll with whatever if there's anything like that! Here we go babyyy YeeHaw. like, 3k words. warnings would be CURSING. Let's go.

You aren't sure which exact moment got you into this situation. 

One second, you were filing paperwork, then the next, you were in the office of your team leader.

Sat beside you, arms crossed and scowl plastered on, was Bakugo. 

You tried to listen thoughtfully as the department head reprimanded the two of you for starting a shouting match at your desk. 

He wasn't even done speaking before Bakugo groaned loudly in annoyance. 

"It wasn't that big a deal. We were just having a conversation." he scoffed. 

"You call that a conversation? You started criticizing the order of my desk immediately! Normally when someone joins a new team they, I dunno, introduce themselves, say hello!"

"It seemed pretty valid to me! You're the one that started talking shit about my body!"

The team leader's eye widened and turned to get an elaboration from you on that. 

"You sat at my chair, put your dirty PLATFORM WORKBOOTS on my desk, and all I did was call you out on it! It had nothing to do with your height, but since you bring it up, yeah, clearly you're compensating for it!" 

Okay, so that one did make you feel bad. It wasn't really in your nature to be so mean, but he'd always brought out the worst in you. He wasn't even short, you just happened to be taller than the average woman and he was still a head taller than you? You didn't know how it affected him as much as it did. Also even if he was shorter than you, why would you care? Did he care that you thought he was short? Your mind was wandering as it was prone to do when you couldn't figure something out through simple observation. 

"Are you even fucking listening? Swear you and Deku could be Soulmates you both go off in your own damn worlds. This is why no one likes you." Bakugo waves his hand in front of your face. 

You were standing outside the team director's office, apparently having autopiloted your way through the boring... uh important lecture on office behavior. 

"Soulmate?" you mumbled to the blonde. 

"Jesus is that all you heard? This is why Soulmate shit is so stupid. Find out you have one and nothing else in the world matters. Have some fuckin life goals."

"What? No! Shut up! I'm in the top ten best heroes how in the world can you conclude that I don't have my own goals just because I zoned out for a second, huh? Grow up."

"Well you're not as good as me," he stated simply.

You groaned, "I didn't SAY that I was, I didn't SAY anything. Why do you act like this!" you stormed off before he could continue to berate you further. 

Back at your desk, you were typing away at some reports that had been emailed over when there was a tap on your shoulder. Expecting to see Bakugo coming to get the last word, you were surprised to see another transfer from his previous Agency. 

"Kirishima!" you gasped in surprise and elation. 

"Oh, wow hi! You remember me!?" he smiled with the same sharp-toothed grin you remembered from U.A. 

He and Bakugo were in the third year at U.A. by the time you took your entrance exam. While Bakugo was aggressive and rude, Kirishima had been the complete opposite. Oh course you would remember him, and not just by his hero name. 

"YES? I looked up to you and half your class, how could I ever forget!" you stood to give him a warm hug, noticing a pair of glaring red eyes a few cubicles away from your own. Of course, he would be watching, fuming over the ease at which Kirishima got along with others. 

"Oh wow, you flatter me! I just wanted to come over and say how excited I am that we could end up working together now! Maybe you looked up to me then, but I am for sure your fan now." he scratched the back of his head bashfully, the smallest pink on his cheeks nearly hidden by the brighter red hue of his hair. 

Just then a heavy wad of paper struck him in the neck.

"Ow! What gives dude!?" he turned to Bakugo, knowing full well it was him. 

"Would you stop flirting, I'm ready to hit a patrol!" he screeched.

"I'm just saying my hellos, it's been a long time since we've talked-"

"She outranks you on the charts by god knows how much, don't you think you should work on that, shit for hair? Shit's embarrassing. You shouldn't even be breathing the same air as her." he mumbled the last part, but his voice is so deep and harsh it was easily heard since everyone had stopped to listen in yet again to the angry man. 

"Then why do you talk to him if that's how you feel?" you asked, confused by his logic, "You're friends with him, like???"

"It's okay. I, he, well you just, he--" Kirishima was having a hard time finding the words, but Bakugo took this moment to grab him hard by the shoulder and pull him away.

"Stop talking loser. Now." he didn't seem to want Kirishima to explain his behaviors.

"Well anyway, I'll see you around! Maybe we can go out for drinks later!"

"Ah, y-yeah! That sounds... fun." the two of them were gone before you could finish your sentence, though you can't say it bothered you that much. The idea of going out for drinks with Kirishima was fine, but not so much with Bakugo.  

It was times like this you really wish you could talk about life events more specifically to your soulmate. Speaking of which, you decided to check the box in your bottom desk drawer while you were finishing up your paperwork. A couple of notes had gathered, cramped within their small confines. 

You unfold one, 

Do you ever have someone on your mind that you just can't stop thinking about? Like everything they do just pisses you off for some reason?

You take a look at the second, more hastily written note:

I think we should meet soon. 

Your eyes bulge at the second note. The jump from one topic to this one has you believing it was an impulse decision on his part, but you couldn't care less about that right now. He wanted to meet. He asked you. 

You practically believed this day would never come, but here it is, out of the blue. 

You both agreed that you would meet when the time was right for you in your personal lives. Having steady careers, financial stability, and your own independence. 

You knew something big happened in his life recently, but not this level big. 

He wanted to meet you. 

You wanted to meet him, absolutely. 

You wrote back and your handwriting was sloppy for the first time ever, the eagerness getting the better of you. 

Yes! Do we live close? Are we even in the same country? oh my god, I don't care, yes!

Your work break was nearing, and the anticipation you were experiencing had your body covered in a thin layer of sweat. You figured he would take a while responding, it always had in the past. But you nearly passed out when you heard your little magic box shuffle not long after you'd sent your own message. The handwriting was sloppier than normal if that was even possible. There were a few puncture holes in some of the curves of the letters as though he were on the move when writing them, and no solid place to hold his paper against. 

I live near this location. What about you?

Holy shit. Holy shit shit shit. He was close. Oh so close. Closer than you could have imagined. The thoughts that he could have been someone you've met before had you light-headed. 

No freaking way. I live here! 

Well, that's just fuckin perfect, I just moved to the area so it seems like an alignment to me. I need to talk to you in person anyway. I have some things I want to get off my chest. But it wouldn't be fair to you to just write them out. 

We have to meet soon. 

Your heart stuttered at the words he'd written. What did that mean? What did he have to tell me that could only be said in person? Was it good things? Bad? 

A letter came through before you could riddle yourself with any further anxiety. 

Don't be scared about what I just said. I'm yours. I don't care what's going on in my life I'm not going to let anything get in the way of you and me being soulmates. I love you. 

This new message did next to nothing to quell your worry and left you honestly with even more questions. He's not going to let anything get in the way? What does that mean, you wondered. You read back over the first message he'd sent that day. 

"Do you ever have someone on your mind that you just can't stop thinking about? Like everything they do just pisses you off for some reason?" As you read it over a couple of times, you could only piece together that it wasn't some thing that was occupying his mind with worry, it was some one. 

You curse your observant mind to all hell. Why couldn't you just read things without analyzing them to oblivion?

But, you knew him. You knew he was no liar, of that you were sure. If he said he was yours, then he was, simple as that. 

I love you. When and where? 

It was finally time, and nothing would ruin that. 

The very next day, you sat at a little table for two, at a restaurant/ bar you'd both agreed on. He said it was the only place in town that he'd really been to yet, thanks to a friend of his dragging him out. He told you that the small buffalo bites were alright but it was the hot sauce dip that really sold the place to him. You breathed in at a steady pace to calm yourself as you waited. You told him he could recognize you because you were going to order two of what he'd had, one for you and another sat across the table for him. On top of that, you let him know you would be wearing a necklace that held his very first "message" to you. So he would be able to pick you out with that small item descriptor as well. 

You placed your SoulBox next to your glass of wine, straightened your posture, fixed your hair so that it perfectly framed and showcased your necklace, and waited. 

"I can't believe those fuckers decided to rob a hot dog stand of all the damn places. On the way to this stupid ass bar. Unbelievable."

Bakugo seethed the entire walk to the place he was meant to meet his soulmate for the first time. Kirishima kept quiet, knowing nothing could help his friend in this moment of anger. He didn't even have the chance to change out of his hero costume. "The absolute stupidity. They didn't even check their surroundings before pulling that shit. Imagine, two top heroes standing a mere fifteen feet away and you try and rob a hot dog stand. A HOT DOG STAND. I hate being late. I hate it. And now of all times. This is the worst first impression I think I could ever make in my LIFE."

Kirishima nodded in silence. They marched forward at a blurring pace, not realizing they had nearly walked past the restaurant bar they had been heading to. 

"Woah, dude. Hold up, we're here! Are you ready?" Kirishima sounded almost more nervous than his best friend. He was even shifting his weight from one foot to another, a habit that much annoyed his blonde companion. 

"Of course I'm ready, shittyhair. 'm not scared of anything." Bakugo clicked his tongue and scoffed. ... But made no move to the entrance. 

"Well uh, I guess I'll leave you to it then?"

"Fine whatever. I dont' know why you insisted on coming along anyway." he shooed at him. 

"I'm just excited for you man! It's a once in a lifetime thing to meet your soulmate for the first time!" He smiled his obnoxious smile like he always does when something good happens for Bakugo. He slapped his friend's shoulder, giving him a nod of approval before turning to head back to the Agency. 

"Wait." Bakugo spoke in a low annoyed growl. "Will you.. Can you just check the window for me? Tell me if you see someone with the necklace she described?"

Kirishima stood, jaw slack for a moment before practically sprinting up to the bars tinted windows to peek inside. There was no chance in hell he would survive if he teased Bakugo over how nervous he came off as. Instead, he played it off like a best friend would, "Oh smart, man. Check the scene. Make sure she's in there, get her location so you're not looking around forever and---" Kirishima looked through the glass and cocked his head, his own silence cutting him off mid-sentence. 

"Hello? What the hell are you doing? Did you find her or not?" Bakugo was growing impatient. 

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I think so?" 

"What do you mean , 'you think so'? What the hell, does she have the food in front of her?"

"Um. Yes."

"And does that person also have a fucking necklace on that matched the one I described to you?"

"Also yes."

"THEN WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?"

"Well I dunno if you're gonna like her man."

"WHAT? How the hell would you know what I like, dumbass?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Well you know Smokie from work?" Kirishima wasn't exactly fond of using your 'petname' that Bakugo referred to you as usual, but it was the surest way he would know who he was talking about right away. 

"Sm-- what? Yes? SO? What the hell does she have to do with anything we're talking about right now, moron? Did you forget to take you ADHD medication or something--"

"Well if you don't like Smokie, you won't like her." he says matter-of-factly.

"WELL, WHY THE HELL NOT?" Bakugo has had it. At the end of his rope with his long-time friend, soon to be six feet under friend.

"Mm. Because it IS Smokie." he tries to force a smile, but he's too afraid of the blonde at this moment. 

A long pause ensues. 

Bakugo darts up to the window, quick to take the place of where Kirishima once stood. His eyes search the dining area, sure enough, landing on a lone woman sitting at a table for two. Two plates of chicken and spicy sauce. A familiar necklace around her neck. You. It's you that sits there, waiting. You are sitting there waiting for him. For Bakugo. 

And all at once Bakugo goes completely blank. This person, you, has been a thorn in his side for years. Someone he noticed during his third year in U.A. Noticed every time you ascended the ranks, took an absolutely deserved step closer to him in power. It infuriated him. It made him proud. It made him sick that he thought of you so much, so hatefully. And he did hate you. Or at least he tried. Tried to tell himself that, because he had a soulmate. Someone that actually knew his heart. How could he even consider the possibility of liking you, knowing that the real love of his life was out there, patiently waiting for him? 

"Oh my god." 

Then it all came crashing down around him at once. He'd done nothing but show you his worst side for years. Did whatever he could to be close to you but a light year away at the same time. 

He told you, his soulmate you, that he needed to get something off his chest. His ugly infatuation with someone that wasn't you, that now WAS you. He desperately needed to meet you, to get over this ridiculous crush, all he had to do was meet his soulmate and that would be the end of it once and for all. 

That seemed like such a trivial thing to talk about before. Now it seemed like the easiest outcome. This, this was a whole new set of problems. 

This you, the one sitting in the bar. This you loved him. This you hated him. 

Bakugo stepped down from the window, silent. And began to walk away, aimless and dizzy. 

"Hey! Hey man! You're not going to just leave her in there are you? I mean she's your soulmate! You gotta at least send her a message or something, right?" Kirishima called after his friend in earnest. 

Bakugo stopped and scolded at his feet for a moment before getting an idea. 

"Yeah... Yeah you're right. He's got to send her a message, he's gonna be late. In fact, he's not even going to make it, after all." 

Kirishima's face scrunched in bewilderment before realizing what his friend meant. 

Bakugo pulled out a small notebook he kept in one of his many pant pockets, scribbled his apologies, and tore out the page, placing it in another separate pant pocket. 

"Right. Soo, what, do we just... leave now?" Kirishima questions.

"Nope. I've got a better idea." he peaks in the window again, waiting as he watches you open your box, picking out the letter and seeing the heartbreak written on your face. 

"We're going to go talk to my soulmate."

You look over the letter that rattled the box unexpectantly. 

You could have almost teared up as you read that an emergency had come up and he wouldn't be able to make it after all. If that wasn't the worst of it, not moments after the bad news a familiar pair of now off-duty coworkers come striding through the door and are heading straight for you. 

#au #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #soul mates #soulmate au #my hero academia #uuuuhhh #soulmate boxes #letters #rejection #eventual fluff #mha bakugou #maybe #friends to more #enimies to friends to lovers #not sure it comes to me as i go #oops #aged up characters #bakugo is mean lol

[beetlesau]

do you have an update schedule for soulbox?

No, sorry, my work schedule is ever changing and i do it as im able!

[beetlesau]

Im literally inlove with your soulbox series could i be taged in any future chapters

Shur!

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

Chapter 2

2.9k

cursing

Eighteen Years Later, you opened your eyes to see your off-white-colored ceiling before a yawn overtook you. On any normal day off from your hero work you'd be up before your alarm, planning on hitting the gym and saying hi to the elderly neighbors in your building. Sadly for you, you were under strict orders by your hero agency and doctor both to take it easy, at least today. 

Getting hurt was nothing new to you. 

It was part of the Hero lifestyle you adopted as a kid.  

You loved the people you came to work with and the lives you saved.

Not only did you love your job, but you were damn good at it too. 

Being the fifth most popular hero was a pretty big deal because you worked mostly stealth and rescue missions and handled a lot of dealings at night. Not exactly peak hours for someone to gain as much popularity as you had. But what you lacked in time in the limelight you made up for in your community work. If you weren't at your agency you could likely be found volunteering around smaller towns. 

All these wonderful things in your life and it was wild to consider who got you on this path in the first place. 

Your Soulmate. 

You think back to all the first messages he'd ever sent you, and how they progressed to where you were today. 

In the beginning, it was impossible to get him to talk to you. 

You recalled all the notes he'd stuffed into his pocket that didn't even belong to him! 

As a child, you knew your soulmate was a bully. 

Torn pages from a notebook.

Nearly unreadable scribbled notes about heroes that were popular at the time. Stolen playing cards, and broken friendship bracelets.

Turns out the first way your soulmate ever communicated to you was through a zippered pocket of his most worn cargo shorts. Who knew that was even possible?

So at first, you were sent a lot of accident things. Then he used it as a means to get rid of evidence that he was tormenting one of his classmates. Not a ton of communication, but one thing you did pull from him, finally after months, was how much he wanted to be a hero. To be the best. 

So of course, you being the firmest believer in your soulmate's destiny, you had to become an amazing hero too, right?

And then he would have to talk to you more. He would want to. Because you were both going to be the absolute best, no doubt about that. 

(You were a kid, and following his every move then makes you roll your eyes now, but at the time it was a BIG DEAL that he acknowledge you, right? YOU WERE SOULMATES!)

Thankfully for you, it all worked out for the best regardless. Because that was when you buckled down and FOCUSED like hell on what you wanted. You were a smart kid, no doubt about that. But to get a head start on what you wanted out of life at such a young age? Even the adults found you impressive. 

You equated being the best as being worthy of your soulmate at the time. 

And boy he did not make it easy. 

There probably wasn't a letter sent from him at the time that didn't look down on you in some way. Or about him bragging about one thing or another. You didn't even break your parent's rules about giving out your personal information, and somehow he still made you feel like he *knew* he was better than you. 

Then some time passed and you stopped getting messages altogether.

Figured he grew out of his cargo shorts and just didn't bother to place any intent into another container. (He holds firm to this day that it was an accident he even thought about his soulmate enough at the time for the pocket to become magically embued.)

You were getting older though, less boy and soulmate crazy. You had your friends, your quirk, and your life to keep you busy. 

Then one day, finally, you received another message at last.

You remember you were about a year and a half away from finishing basic schooling before you could apply to U.A. when you checked your box. By this time you only checked it maybe once a week, not because you expected anything, but because it was more of a routine by now. A habit you'd made for yourself without knowing what kept you doing it. 

You were surprised when you found the box you'd had for years was now holding a folded scrap of paper. 

You read it three times over, taking in every detail of what it contained. You compared the way the handwriting changed, still hastily written, still thickly lined like someone that put too much pressure on their pen. Now even more though, like someone upset. You felt the texture of the paper, smooth save for some warped smudges at the corner. There was a tear through the middle of one like he tried to rip them off before sending it. Tried to hide them. Was he, crying? It was dry to the touch, so it must not have been sent too recently. 

You felt almost hurt for him that you weren't able to reply before remembering that he was the one that left your conversations out to dry, not you. 

The letter itself read-

I don't know why I'm even talking to you. Or if I even am. Shit, I don't even know how this Soulbox stuff works. Or soulmate thing. If I'm lucky it doesn't work and this is just some stupid message to myself. This is for sure the stupidest thing I've ever done or thought about doing. 

Whatever. 

Forget it. I don't even know what I want to say. I hope this doesn't even reach you. Fuck off

You took a pen and paper you had between one of your notebooks, quickly eager to respond, forgetting for a moment he'd neglected to talk to you for so long. Your heart raced in excitement and care, it didn't take long before those old thoughts were thrown out. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but however you sent your message this time, did in fact reach me. 

Do you want to talk about whatever it is that has you so upset?

It took nearly no time at all before your box rattled with a message back. A few minutes later you were surprised at how familiar the sound of the box shaking was. 

I am not upset, stupid. I'm pissed off. Why did it take you so long to write such a short message back anyway, some soulmate huh? 

I actually didn't know you'd sent a message, you know since it's been some years since YOU messaged back. Or maybe it only matters when it's about YOUR needs? Some soulmate huh?

What the fuck. I don't know how this was even sent to you in the first place. Soulmates are bullshit and clearly so are you.

Then why write like you wanted to talk to me at all? You're the one that thought about me enough that it created the connection to my Soulbox again. Don't be an asshole and just tell me what's wrong. 

Fuck you.

You frowned. Well, this wasn't exactly the reunion anyone would probably hope for. You tossed your Soulbox roughly onto your desk, watching as it hit your lamp. Just as good as hanging up on someone on the phone, you guessed, though he had no way of knowing it happened. Suppose less satisfying then. 

There had to be a mistake. 

You screwed your eyes in thought. He was rude. Cussed more than necessary. Poor communication. Was this guy really your Soulmate? Did some wires get crossed and letters meant for your person were intercepted by him? You felt bad for even thinking about it. There had to be more behind him. But it seemed like you'd never find out wha--

A rattle of the box. 

Something stupid happened today. I don't want to talk about it. I was just, dunno. I guess I just wanted to talk, but I don't even know why I thought of you. Just forget it Okay, it's not your problem.

You were perceptive. There was no doubt about this. You saw details others usually missed. But this guy, at least on the page, was hard to read. Maybe that was why the universe thought you were a match. Two people that challenge each other and all that. 

It's okay. Really. You don't have to tell me anything. Any details. But I am here, and I don't mind listening... reading* what you have to say. Maybe, as much as my little childhood heart hates for me to say it, maybe soulmates aren't what everyone thinks. Maybe it's just someone that listens, and that can just be all. 

Fine.

Really you thought that would be the last of the messages for now. But the unpredictable happened as you were coming to find out was normal with him. 

He started talking to you more. A lot more. Never really about... anything. It was usually some vague thing, no details. You'd both agreed on no details about each other. No names, no locations. Just the bare emotions. 

You drew all your own conclusions. He was still drawn to being the number one hero, you guessed when something or someone made him angry it was to do with whatever was happening at school. You couldn't quite pinpoint his age or grade, but you didn't want to look too much into that aspect. You actually enjoyed the air of mystery.

You concluded he had to be really into sports since he got so mad when likely watching the U.A. sports festival on TV. He said it was obvious the quirk user with fire and ice wasn't giving his all. You agreed. You liked that he was perceptive too. 

When you were accepted into U.A. he was proud of you. You didn't tell him which school of course, but he knew you were happy with where you ended up. 

Even if you did have your own moments of complaint over a really rude third year that never paid attention to where he was walking in the halls. 

They're really strong. Like, they ARE one of the top students here and I admire their dedication but like, it wouldn't kill them to not take up the entire hallway when they strut down. So cocky. Nbd just venting. Anyway, how are you?

Sounds annoying. Maybe you should kick their ass. 

I'm fine. Getting ready for another internship, finally. I like the hands-on work obviously. 

LOL, maybe I will.

Nice. Maybe someday we'll end up at the same agency! Wouldn't that be something? 

It would be the top agency in the whole fuckin country. Unstoppable. Me as the number one hero and you as....?

Um sorry, with ME as the number one hero and you as my sidekick?? ;)

I'm going to ignore that because, No. Just no.

What if we meet and I'm not even your type. 

You looked a while at the message. A vulnerable question hidden in shared jokes. You liked that about him. He was tough to crack but if felt like when he did, it was only for you. You knew that with time that trust would only deepen. He was your soulmate, no matter what.  

I mean, you already are, right? The universe says so. 

The universe, huh? Sounds like bullshit to me. 

Nah, it's not.

So if end up looking like a fish with three eyes, I'll be your type, right?

Ah. Very "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" energy. Ummmm let me think about it. 

Wow.

Jk. I know that when the time is right, and we meet, I'm going to know right away. I'll bet I could spot you in a crowd having never even met you yet. 

--------------- ------------- ----------------

You received a text from your senior task manager.

BossLadyyy

I hope you're resting and recovering well?

8:52 

You looked down at your arm, a large bruise covered what otherwise was a perfectly healthy arm. 

You sighed. 

Your quirk, in the easiest of terms, allowed you to phase through objects. A broken arm or anything of the like would be fixed simply by phasing enough that your very cells are pieced back together in the correct position. Mending bones happens easily as a child's play. Your boss knew this. By this point, your doctor knew this. Someone was not giving it to you straight and it was obvious. 

You

Yep! perfectly healed, but you knew that didn't you?

You wanna tell me why I had to be out of the office today, really? 

8:54 

BossLadyyy

Yeaaah. Okay so about that. We're getting a temp for one of our cases. 

8:55

You

Okay, and?

8:55

BossLadyyy

Well it's uh

he comes in today, just to get his desk and stuff set up. And I just thought it would be easier if you didn't have to meet.

9:01

You 

Don't tell me who I think you're about to tell me. 

I have to be out sick when you know damn well that I'm fine.

9:01

There's literally only one person I complain about when we go out for Friday drinks. 

9:02

Don't do this to me. Send him back. 

9:03

BossLadyyy

You know I don't have control over who the higher-ups add on, you know this.  

9:03

You

Well, you said Temp at least.

How long is he supposed to be on?

9:04

Hellloooo?

9:09

.... He's not at the agency as a temp is he.

9:11

I can't stand you.

9:13

You had barely gotten out of bed. You'd only just showered and gotten back from the little corner shop with your coffee. You were having an ordinary wonderful morning. 

They kept you at home because they knew how much of a stink you would raise over ... Him. 

The most arrogant rude self-centered hero ever. 

Dynamite.

All you ever did was mind your business. You raised your numbers fair and square in your way. Through kindness and connecting with people. And he had the gall to say it wasn't earned. Just because you didn't take out as many villains as him. Just because you didn't brute force your way out of every situation. And it wasn't like you were a threat to his number two position? Sure, you managed to rise through the ranks exceedingly fast once you got out of U.A., but you were still only in the fifth spot. And in the hero world, that was the distance of an ocean apart from him.

And now here he was, moving in on your turf as if it was some ill fate that he was meant to torture you not only through the media but in your waking life. 

You caressed the old and worn locket around your neck. It helped you strengthen your resolve in times like this.

No. You couldn't let him get to you like that. Out of all the people in the world, you couldn't let him bring you down to his level. You'd go to work tomorrow, and everything would be fine. Better than fine, even. You would welcome Dynamite with open arms. 

I just got the worst news on my day off, but I'm not gonna let it bring me down. I'm gonna kick ass tomorrow. 

That's my girl. 

I've got a busy day today but I'll write when I can. 

Love you babe. 

Love you.

#au #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #soul mates #soulmate au #my hero academia #uuuuhhh #soulmate boxes #letters #rejection #eventual fluff #mha bakugou #maybe #friends to more #enimies to friends to lovers #not sure it comes to me as i go #oops #aged up characters #bakugo is mean lol

[beetlesau]

On my life an update for SoulBox is coming lol

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

BakugoXreader

2.2k words, f!reader, ummmm, not proofread- not now not eva.

no warnings as of now other than I make this stuff up as I go and I am sorry. OH! so the quirk I've given reader is basically the dash from Hollow Knight, a really cute fun indie game. Just expanded on that it's a sort of fast travel, but not a warp quirk since those are really rare. Good stealth quirk.

---------------------------------------------------- Chapta 1 The Wrapper

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you were younger, you dreamed of meeting your soulmate and living happily ever after.

A girl in your class, Koya, who had just turned five, got her quirk one day and her SoulBox the very next.

Her parents threw her a party to celebrate the following weekend. Everyone in the class was there.

You anxiously waited to see what her box looked like after all the parents fawned over her flashy quirk.

A couple of other girls, thankfully, were also more interested in the box. Once your small group of girls could pull Koya away, you all huddled in her elaborate princess fort.

"Well? Can we see it?"

"Was it expensive?"

"HAVE YOU--"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry. Have you written a letter yet?"

The anticipation had you all bursting at the seams.

The SoulBox.

A trademarked name for the selling of *usually* a box. Of course, any hollow and closed vessel would do when it came to communication with your soulmate(s), but leave it to the money-hungry to find a way to sell love.

Boxes come in many shapes and sizes, different colors, different textures, boxes with screw-on lids or slide-on, boxes with locks, whatever your heart desired, there was likely a box for it.

What's the box about, you might ask?

Well, as stated, it's a way to communicate with your soulmate(s).

Someone takes a letter, a note, or a small trinket, and places it inside their vessel. The key to creating a SoulBox is intent. You desire to speak with your soulmate, you focus as you place your first letter inside your vessel, or box in this day and age, and tada! you have your communication device. A two-way street between you and the love of your life!

The fortunate thing for companies that specialize in sales of SoulBoxes is banking on the number of people who want a new box every year.

Why soulmate(s) you wonder? How can there be more than one? Why not keep the same box every year? What, people want holiday boxes? Limited edition?

(Well, yes. Some people DO obsess over the newest box design.)

But, you see, the idea of a soulmate is what's being sold. The REALITY is that there are a certain number of people throughout the world that can be your person.

There are no "perfect matches." There are only choices.

When someone buys a box and puts their intent into it, they get connected with one of the many picks the universe has provided just for them.

If they decide they are happy, they keep their box, and the two can meet and spend their lives together.

If not, well, that's where the money lies.

If you decide, for whatever reason, the person on the other end of your box does not meet your needs any longer. You simply need to destroy the box. Only then can you reclaim another one, and the universe connects you to a different match.

The highest record so far for most SoulBoxes bought is a whopping 82.

(He was a wealthy middle-aged man who never learned to be content and happy with what life's given him, but this isn't about him.)

No, this is about you.

You watched as Koya pulled out a little pink glittering box, her name embroidered on the side in purple letters. The way you could tell it was expensive had you swooning. An expensive pretty princess box to match her expensive pretty princess lifestyle. 

It wasn't exactly something you gave much thought to yourself, but you'd overheard your mother gossiping on one of your playdates. She said since Koya's father was a 'big wig' at the SoulBox corp. that that would mean she'd be in the media spotlight for the rest of her life, an example that the Box works. She also said that she felt sorry for her because of it, although to you, it sounded like the best thing in the world. The box would work for you, and you'd be delighted to have the world see you happy with the love of your life. 

Nothing in your life mattered until the day your quirk finally manifested a whopping forty-three days after your fifth birthday. Yes, you were counting. 

Your parents congratulated you on your ability to 'phase through walls' who cares. Your body's cells broke apart into their tiniest little forms in a haze of black as you could dash from one spot to another in less than a second. Had you been at all interested, you would have acknowledged the beauty and practicality of it. All you could think about was getting your first SoulBox.

Your mother assured you that just because you got your quirk did not mean you had to get your box, and that Koya's situation was not the standard. 

You can recall crying for three days straight after hearing that. 

Your parents debated one night, weighing the pros and cons of getting you a box so early in your life. 

An agreement was made if you promised to follow their rules for communicating with whoever you found on the other end of the box. 

One, NO personal information was to be shared. They didn't need to know where you lived and you didn't need to know that about them. 

Two, NO talking to your SoulMate for more than thirty mins a day. It wasn't healthy to obsess over someone at such a young age. (Or any age for that matter.)

Three, any and all conversation was to be monitored and supervised by a parent. 

You agreed vehemently to all conditions. 

At long last, on a Monday, at three-twenty-five in the afternoon, after she picked you up from work, your mother took you to the local SoulBox shop.

You could hardly breathe as you took in the sights around you. The month was coming up close to yet another holiday and the shop had just transitioned its decor to match. You found a display of every color box you could imagine stacked in a brilliant pyramid. Next to that were a dozen cubbies that held accessories to match. Glitter pens, scented paper, and keychains that could attach to your pen or box if you bought a specially made one. There were jelly box covers, furry and fuzzy ones, every little child's dream could be found in this shop you felt like. In another corner were the Hero-themed boxes. A cardboard cutout of All-Might stood front and center to entice little ones to check out the collection there. 

"Oh dear." your mother muttered under her breath. 

She didn't understand the appeal, she had never had a box. She met your father the old-fashioned way as she called it, and had never needed one. You fantasized that even if she had had a box, it would have led her to your father regardless. 

You picked up a box, one slightly larger than the one Koya had received for her birthday, and held it up to your mother. 

"I love this one! Please, mommy!?"

Your mother took the box and examined it. You watched as her eyes grew large and her mouth contorted into a pencil-thin line when she saw the price tag. 

"I'm so sorry sweety... Uh, perhaps you could look in the discount bin for mommy?" she looked down at you sadly.

You knew that look. A look that told you she was disappointed in herself for the things she could provide for you, or the lack thereof. 

You hated that look. 

You may have wanted a box more than anything in the world, but you never, not once, wanted your parents to feel like you were ungrateful for whatever they could provide to you. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat that yearned for the shiny new box, put on a smile, and nodded excitedly. "Okay!" you stated before running off the find said bin. 

Now, as a child, no one would have described you as quiet. You loved frilly fabrics and bright colors. You loved all that glowed and shined. Sure, you mostly grew out of that by the time we get to the present day, but in that store, you were all things soft and fuzzy. 

Which is why your mom was a bit shocked when you picked out the box you did. 

As you dug through the bin of disorganized boxes, many bent or dented, crooked and scuffed, some with the wrong lid or missing one altogether, your eyes caught something. 

You reached your short little arms to the max as your fingertips barely caught hold of it at the bottom of the bin. 

It was an off-white cream color. A box made cheaply enough that in a few years, it would turn an unappealing shade of faded yellow like parchment paper. You held it in your hands. It was small, barely larger than a rubix's cube. It even had a small dent in one of its corners. 

By all rights, it was hideous. 

But it was the only one in the bin that had that off-white color, and that meant something to you. 

Sure, it didn't matter what box you chose. Once you put intent in any container you get connected with a preordained Soul. But that didn't stop the gut feeling you had. The connection to the box. 

They say when you feel that connection to a box, your connected Soulmate is truly the one. (They say that to sell more boxes, but you believed it.)

The chosen runt of the litter box was so cheap the cashier slipped a keychain in the bag that was free after spending a certain higher amount in-store. 

"Might as well get something decent out of this purchase." she chuckled to your mom, waving you off and bidding you a wonderful day. 

Finally. At long last. You sat at your kitchen table, and your parents sat on either side of you, waiting for your first message to be sent. 

....

....

"I can't think of anything to say." you sighed, exasperated after a while. 

"Why not start with a simple, 'Hello'?" your father asked. 

"!!! Dad no! It's my Soulmate! It has to be perfect. The perfect message." you fussed at him like it was obvious.

He opened his mouth, brows furrowed, then let out a held breath. "Alright, suppose you're right." he gave up, shaking his head. There was no arguing with you, his little girl. 

After an eternity, your parents shared a look, then decided maybe they could relent on one of their rules, just this once. 

"Um, sweetie, I know we said you could only communicate with supervision, but mm it is getting kind of late. Maybe you could take the box with you to your room and that'll help you come up with the perfect thing to say, hm?"

After all, what amount of trouble could two children get into at this young age over a box? 

You held the box tightly in your hands as you stared up at the ceiling. 

You tried to imagine who would be on the other side. 

You wanted them to have dark hair. 

Kind eyes, like your dad's. You loved the freckles that your mom passed on to you, so you hoped they would have lots of them too. 

Without a doubt, they would be the kindest person you'd ever meet. 

Suddenly you got an idea. You bolted upright, turning to search your nightstand for the bag your box had come in. 

Inside was still the little keychain that was given to you. You examined it, turns out it was a little All-Might New Year Holiday Special Costume edition keychain. It wasn't rare by any means, but it had that year's date stamped on it in a way that made it look like the hero was holding it above his head. 

It was perfect. 

What better way to say hello than to send the nation's top hero? His popular video online was even him saying "I am here." which is exactly the message you wanted to send!

Proudly you placed the keychain in the box, elated by the way it fits perfectly inside. 

You then held the box to your chest and shut your eyes so tight you could see stars behind your eyelids. 

"Intent. Intent. Intent." you chanted under your breath. "I hope this finds you well," you repeated something your mom suggested to you earlier at the table to help the connection form. 

After several moments you finally relinquished your death grip on the box and opened it back up. 

The surprise and excitement hit you at once when you saw that the keychain was gone, and was instead replaced by a crumpled-up wad of chewing gum paper. 

Eagerly taking the paper you were sure there would be a note of great value written on what would normally be trash turned treasure. 

Confusion replaced excitement when you found it to be blank.

It was just... a wrapper. It was just trash? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe they were so excited they dropped their trash in by mistake and .... put the lid on their box... and.. sent... uh, SOMETHING happened by mistake. That was all. You would wait for another message. 

You hopped out of bed and pulled your little toy jewelry box from your messy closet, where inside you found a locket necklace your mom had let you borrow once. (You were still borrowing it, you told yourself)

You placed the gum wrapper inside the locket and put the necklace on. 

You slept with it around your neck. 

Maybe it was trash, but in your eyes, it was the first message of many to come.

#au #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #soul mates #soulmate au #my hero academia #uuuuhhh #soulmate boxes #letters #rejection #eventual fluff #mha bakugou #maybe #friends to more #enimies to friends to lovers #not sure it comes to me as i go #oops #aged up characters #bakugo is mean lol

[beetlesau]

Chapter 9 That's the sound a heart makes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lubb-Dub is what the internet said was medically accurate, don't @ me

link to previous chapters below

"Katsuki?" you shook him lightly at first, then with rough panicked motions. His body was slack and unresponsive. 

"Shit... shit! What is going on!? Hello!?"

You had no idea what to do. He didn't have a pulse, it's not like you could check that.

And he didn't have a heartbeat, you couldn't imagine CPR would work, but that didn't stop you from giving him chest compressions a couple of times over. 

When that didn't yield results all you could think about was how you needed to get his body back to the house. It was unlikely that it would help, but you were a bit short on solutions.

Now there was the problem of how heavy he was. Or maybe the problem was how weak you were. Even with your adrenaline rush, you could only move him a few feet before the burn in your legs made your muscles cramp up. 

"Think. THINK." you paced a moment, hands compressing your skull in an attempt to focus harder. 

"Oh god..." 

You weren't strong enough to move him, but maybe if you had help. 

If Katsuki was conscious right now he'd be fuming at the idea running through your head. 

"Well, you can't get mad at me right now, can you?" you spat back at your imagined argument with him. 

You needed help. And the only moving bodies close by would be the Dead back in the new community area. 

Maybe they're rehabilitated just enough to help me... or they'll eat me. You didn't bother to weigh the pros and cons as you sprinted back to the houses. 

Out of breath and sweating when you arrived back, you shook the fence and shouted before reaching the gate.

"Help! Hey! Come out here, please! I need your help!" the yelling and rattling alerted the small residents as they slowly trotted their way down the fenceline with you, meeting you at the gate.

"PLEASE. Listen to me," you begged that whatever improvements they'd made allowed them to understand the urgency and sincerity in your voice. "Bakugo is in trouble. I NEED you to come help me carry him back home. I NEED you to not EAT me, Okay? Please." Oh god, please. 

You took a deep breath as your hand lingered on the latch before opening it. 

"You could run away. You could forget about the Dead. You could find a new place to live, far away that even if Katsuki did come back he wouldn't find you. This was never meant for you. You deserve to be alone."

"NO!" you screamed before pulling the latch and letting the gate swing open. You didn't have time for any intrusive thoughts. And besides that, you knew without a doubt you never wanted to go back to how things were. You didn't want to go without Katsuki. Which is how you knew that the freed Dead would help you. They HAD to help you. There was no other way.

You turned to lead the Dead to his body before they had a chance to pass the threshold. "Follow. Me." you didn't ask, you commanded. 

And they listened, whether to eat you or to help you didn't matter now. 

It felt like the run-back took years longer than the run-away.

You hadn't looked back to see if they were running along with you, you could hear them. They weren't nearly as fast as Katsuki had been. Their sounds were simple ragged breaths that didn't hold any of the bite you'd experienced earlier that day. 

Finally, there he was, right where you left him. His body is motionless on the ground.

You hoped that he'd be awake by the time you got back. Just a false alarm. Maybe he'd be gone, searching around for you. Or he'd be sitting up there, nursing a headache. Something, anything. 

You were gasping, kneeling beside him. You held his hand in yours as you waited for the distant panting to catch up to you. "It's okay, Katsuki, I brought help. Everything is going to be--" you were cut short by a pair of arms grabbing and pulling you away from behind. "No! Stop! You have to help him!" you were knocked off balance and fell back. Above you was the Dead that grabbed you, cocking her head to one side as she looked you over upside down. 

"What are you doing!?" you croaked up to her as she reached down to grab you again. Only instead of a forceful grip she was almost gentle. She pawed at your shoulders trying to get a handle under your arms. She was trying to pull you away.

You turned your attention to the others that had made it to the scene a couple moments after her. They were doing the same, only to Katsuki. One didn't have very fine motor skills as he tried to capture the body's ankles. One of the more capable ones grabbed Katsuki's left arm while the last had a grip on the waist of his jeans. 

You looked back up at the Dead that tried to keep you out of the way, "I can help." you shook your head, an acknowledgment to her that you understood they were here to help. 

Her head swayed a moment before she took a shuffled step back from you.

Standing, you took place at Katsuki's right shoulder, hooking one arm under his and the other under his waist. 

The hustle back had you overheating and worried your companions' bodies might give out on them too. 

------------------ ------------------------

You sat in a wooden chair across from the couch Katsuki was laid out on.

After you'd directed the others to place him there, they kind of went back into a blank mindless stare. 

After the first day, they drifted off back into their respective yards, or just nearby. You didn't bother locking the gate again. If they could show that much humanity, you felt wildly uncomfortable treating them like exhibits at a zoo. 

Katsuki wouldn't be happy about that. He'd tell you that it was stupid and unsafe. You would welcome the earful if he would just come back. 

On the second day, you grabbed the comforter from his bed and sat over him in your chair. You'd hardly leave him a moment for anything save for food or a bathroom break. 

You'd fallen asleep after trying to keep your eyes open the night before.

When you came to, he was still there.

"Bakugo?" no reply. 

"Katsuki." silence.

Your eyes were becoming cloudy from the tears and sleep. Mindlessly, you stood and slotted yourself between his body and the cushions that made up the back of the couch. You were out of plans, you were just so tired and alone. 

You sat in a tub of water. It was warm and inviting. You slid your body further into the slow pulsing waves until all of you were submerged. You listened to the sound of your own heart beating in your ears.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

 Everything was peaceful and weightless. You opened your eyes to see through the crystal clear endless ocean above you. A silhouette appeared, and you could see a familiar blonde with piercing ruby eyes. A dozen or more arms slid into the water to embrace you, his arms. They swathed around every inch of you as they hoisted you out of the water and into his warm beating chest. 

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

The ocean around you caught fire and the smell was sickly sweet, But in his embrace, you felt no pain.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

On the third day, he awoke.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

Covered in sweat and heat, his eyes jolted open as he gasped for air.

On the third day, He awoke with you by his side, where he knew he'd want you to be for the rest of his life.

On the third day, Bakugo Katsuki awoke with a heartbeat.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

#bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #mha zombie #Bakugo zombie #warm bodies type of story #mha au #bakugo x reader #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #zombie au #zombie fic #bakugou is dead but not #AU #uuuh how does one make tags #Zombie bakugou

[beetlesau]

Chapter 8, long overdue and unedited.

apologiessss.

"It's a flower," you stated matter-of-factly. You were sat in the middle of an empty parking lot, picking at the weeds that grew between the old cracked pavement.  

"I know what a flower is, dummy." Bakugo scoffed as he threw the small bloomed weed at your head. He stood and dusted his pants off before holding out a hand to help you stand as well. 

"Well, you're looking at it like it's foreign to that brain of yours." you followed his lead, but in protest refused the helping hand.

"What is your favorite?" he barked suddenly, eyes boring into yours.

"Wh-what?", the aggression of such a simple question threw you off, "My favorite flower? I don't know if I have one... Actually, does cactus count? Wait, no. I mean they do flower, but--"

"Nevermind." he rolled his eyes. 

"So rude! I guess the Violet? Simple, colorful, smells decent." 

"Okay." 

"Nice conversation, Bakugo. Can we go back noooow?" you moved anxiously to face the direction of his old neighborhood. 

"No," he grumbled. "All day in the cold house and got sick from it." he grabbed the back of your shirt to hold you from stepping further away. 

"I didn't get sick! I just couldn't feel my fingers after a while. Besides, we got the house cleaned and prepped, right? Worth it?"

Bakugo grunted in disapproval. 

It had been at least a month since that night he shared the sadness he held over his mother. Since then, a lot has happened. He helped you set up a perimeter of fencing, wrapping a few houses with the least amount of damage to them. Cleaning out each one, making sure the floors were stable, and the beds were in decent shape. The cabinets were filled with cans of food you'd collected on long tiring trips back and forth with a tin wagon. Not that the Dead had any interest in eating at this point still, but you were determined to be prepped for anything. 

You and Bakugo had just finished setting up an additional house the day before. He noticed you were getting a bit sluggish and pale. The last straw was when he saw you shivering when you thought he wasn't looking. He kicked you out of the house and now today refused to let you anywhere near the project houses. 

The houses were for the Dead. It was your idea that the best way to help them was to give them what they no longer had. A home. A reason to feel alive again. 

You did your best, often overexerting yourself, until he pulled you back each time, forcing you to give him some of this responsibility. 

You had your own house set up, although outside the perimeter. You'd decided living in an apartment with a large hole in the side of it was not as cool as it seemed. It took a good three days to move all of your trinkets and junk.

Bakugo insisted you be outside the fence, safe from the Dead, but still within his bedroom window's view, under his watchful, annoying, borderline obsessive, protection. 

You knew it was for your safety, but you could see all the changes going through the eyes of your new friends. 

You chose the Dead that were all trapped on the bridge to start with. Your long-standing self-appointed friends. After the task of getting them from point A to point B, Bakugo led them inside the new gated community. Alone with you, they were unresponsive, still seeing everything through hungry eyes. But, with Bakugo by your side, they seemed to just... sense something. You couldn't tell if it was... fear? of the absolute death glare, he'd give them if they even so much as looked at you with mouth agape. Or maybe it was the way he stood by you. He was not a weak-bodied Dead, nor weak-minded. You wondered if they could feel the strength that emanated from him. You noticed it more and more every day since enacting your rehabilitation plans.  

He was kind of... amazing. 

And caring.

And as he learned to talk again, you understood him in more ways than just language. 

On more than one occasion, you found yourself staring at him. Which seldom went unnoticed by the firey blonde, considering he was staring right back. 

It was impossible for even the longest Dead to not notice that kind of connection, it would seem. 

You'd never been so impatient about anything in your life. Things were exciting for once, a rare thing. 

But here you were today, following the orders of your co-captain, to get some warmth from the great outdoors, take a deep breath, and talk about flowers. 

"Ugh, fiiiine. Well, what are you making me do next, warden?"

"Hmm. Good question. We need more firewood. You are a baby and will freeze to death at night." he looked off in the direction he intended to head, not so much as a hint of acknowledgment that he'd just insulted you. 

"I- Fine. Aye-Aye, Captain! let's get some firewood." you began to dramatically march off the way he was looking before he grabbed your shirt collar again, pulling an exaggerated yelp from you. 

"Hey, what gives! I'm getting your stinking firewood-"

"Hold my hand," he stated blankly.

"W-what?" you were suddenly a bit too warmed by the Sun. You gulped, perhaps you misheard him.

"I said, hold my hand. I don't want you running off, or falling, or getting into trouble, or leaving my sight." he carried on just enough to make you scream.

"Agh! OKAY! Shut up and take my hand then!" he made you feel less embarrassed right away, you'd do anything to make him stop teasing you so relentlessly. 

You whipped up your hand, making quick gimme motions like a child. 

He smirked. 

SMIRKED.

And just like that, you were embarrassed again. 

"WHY are you making that face, Bakugo?"

"It's nothing. Let's go." he brushed past you. 

"Well, now I don't wanna." you paused, suddenly the most shit-eating grin creeping on your face. You turned your heel and ran as fast as your unathletic, clumsy figure would take you. 

"EH!? NO!" you heard him yell, but didn't stop.

You may have gotten a head start, but you knew there was no way you could outrun him.

It was just a joke. 

You didn't know what would happen. 

But you triggered something unintentionally. 

As you run, you could already hear him gaining on you. The hair on the back of your neck stood on end as he was within arms reach. You set off your quirk, just enough to go unseen for a moment as you made a sharp turn and doubled back, towards the piles of wood Bakugo intended on gathering. 

Unfortunately, as clever as it was, it was not enough to throw him off. 

You gained only a second more before he was behind you again. 

You couldn't see him, but you could hear him. He didn't seem right. His breathing was ragged and animalistic. You no longer felt like you were playing a game. You felt like prey that was in the midst of its final moments of life. A hand grabbed your arm and you were thrown off balance and hit the ground face-first. You could feel the sting on your lip before tasting the copper tang that filled your mouth. You'd busted your lower lip but that was the least of your worries. 

In no time you were flipped over and pinned. 

The way he looked. It was like you were seeing him in your room for the first time again. It was feral. Your running must have triggered a desire he'd been fighting all along. 

This time you had your hands free just enough to push against his chest, your knuckles white from your grip on his shirt. You weren't strong enough to hold him long. 

"Bakugo! Bakugo! Bakugo!" your voice cracked and strained as you screamed again and again. Hot tears blurred your vision before running down the sides of your face. 

"Not like this. Not like this, Bakugo." your terror was not for yourself this time. This time thoughts of Bakugo afterward flooded in and suffocated you. He'd be alone. He'd be angry at himself. He'd never get over this. This isn't something he deserved. It's not something he asked for. 

In your last-ditch efforts, you silently prayed for him to forgive himself. Then, before he'd gotten down to your level on the ground, you pushed yourself up to meet him, taking his mouth to your own. 

You could feel his lips as you desperately tried to claim them before his teeth claimed your flesh. Your torn lip fills the space in your mouth with blood. He was still for a moment, his brain processing the movement. 

His arms snaked around your back, fingernails hard against your skin it felt like he was trying to tear into you with his hands alone. 

But then they kept wrapping, and the touch became lighter. Kinder. 

His tongue lapped at your lip before taking it again between his. One second it was about the sensation of blood filling his mouth then it was all about you. 

You could feel his tears falling to your cheek as he began to sob. 

"I'm sorry. Dammit. I'm so sorry." he held you like you were made of gold. 

He rocked back and forth with you as one, every breath an apology and a curse on himself as you both wept. 

"Bakugo." you sniffled. "Katsuki. You stopped. You did it. God. fuck. That was so scary." you laughed and cried at the same time. 

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, unable to meet your eyes. You knew how much pain he was in. You could feel it like it was your own. 

"Can we go home, Katsuki?" you were exhausted. 

"Katsuki," he repeated.

"Yeah, that's you. Is it okay if I call you that?"

"It's more than okay. I'm sorry. Yes, please. Let's get you home." he was shaking. 

He stood, pulling you up with him. 

Neither of you was ready to move. And you weren't ready to let go of him. He didn't seem to mind. 

"Do you hate me?" he whispered. 

"No. I don't think I could if I tried."

"Stupid."

"I guess we should... talk about what happened just now?" you sighed. 

"Yeah... uh, maybe later?" he laughed humorlessly. 

"Are you embarrassed for once?" you looked up at him.

"Embarrassed for almost eating you?" he scrunched his brows.

"No. For kissing me."

"WH-wh, what! You kissed ME!" 

"No. I mean, I did. But I was in a panic. What's your excuse?"

He turned a faint shade of pink. 

"Wait. Your face." something new. 

"Katsuki, your face is pink. You're blushing!"

"You really are sick. Seeing things?" he lifted a hand to feel your forehead for a fever. "I can't be pink I don't have any blood flow. You know, Dead."

"No, I'm serious. Look at me."

"Stop messing around, come on let's get ba-" Katsuki coughed. Clearing his throat he stopped in his tracks. He looked as though a shock had coursed through him. He held his chest, profusely coughing. 

"Katsuki? What's wrong!?"

Katsuki suddenly fell over, unresponsive. 

#bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #mha zombie #Bakugo zombie #warm bodies type of story #mha au #bakugo x reader #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #zombie au #zombie fic #bakugou is dead but not #AU #uuuh how does one make tags #Zombie bakugou #bakugou needs help #fantasy romance #bakugou love story

[beetlesau]

I just want to let you know that your Zombie Bakugou story is fucking amazing! I just read all of it right now and I’m absolutely HOOKED!

Please tag me in future updates if you do that sort of thing 🧟‍♂️

❤️‍🔥

Will do! And thank you for the kind words!

[beetlesau]

CHAPTER 7!

A Child and A Mother

------------------------------------

In the night, you awaken to complete darkness. Considering you see very well in low light conditions, thanks to your quirk, it's rather alarming. But you feel warm as if there was heat coursing through the home. Then you remember there was supposed to be another body in the bed. You fumble your hand in the darkness, feeling the empty spot where Bakugo should have been. 

"Huh. Must not have gotten very much sleep." 

You pull yourself from the bed and wobble from the sudden rush to your head. "Aaand I got up to fast." you hum to yourself. "Bakugo must be downstairs."

You make your way down slowly, still trying to wake up and dragging your hand along the wall for support in the darkness. 

At the bottom of the stairs, you see Bakugo sitting on the couch, a blue glow illuminating his face from the TV. 

"Woah, how long have we had power here?" you ask.

"Hey, sleepyhead. It kicked back on maybe an hour ago. I didn't want to wake you. I just came down to check the news when I noticed it." he held out his arm, inviting you to sit next to him. 

"Oh. You know you need to take it easy, right? You've barely been alive for a month. We don't exactly have a handbook on how much you should be pushing yourself right now." You sat and rested your head on his shoulder as you mindlessly watched the screen. 

"Tsk. Says you? How many times have you patrolled the neighborhood this week? How many supply runs have you secretly gone on without me, huh? You're just as stubborn as I am." his voice was scolding, but the smirk on his face told you how proud he was to be with someone as driven as him. 

"Shut uuup. Those people need our help. And unlike you, I've always been alive. And I know my limits, thank you very much." you stuck out your tongue as he flicked your forehead. 

"I know," he conceded, "But anyway, on to more important matters, eh? Are you hungry?" his lips pecked the small red mark he left on you, then he got up, heading to the kitchen. "I've got some, only slightly, expired pancake mix with your name on it."

"Yum, my favorite!" you roll your eyes, grinning.

"I know, that's--- hey, what's this?" Bakugo cuts himself short to stare at the mess on the floor. 

You turn your head from the couch and see the large puddle of deep red, almost black substance on the ground. Bakugou stands over it, illuminated by the TV, and deep shadows engulf his face.

"Oh, I thought that was your blood?"

"No, it's not mine."

"Then who is it?" you ask. You stand from the couch, and when you turn around to get a better look at the floor, you can see the mass moving. You watch as the blood slithers and swirls around Bakugo until finally it crawls up his body and begins entering his now-empty eye sockets. The blood looks like a running river of tears going in reverse and you stand there, unable to move even when you try. 

"It's my moms." he finally says. His body is decayed and green. His hair is matted and black at the roots, like how it was when you first met him. He isn't human anymore. 

"It's my mom's, and I killed her." 

Your eyes opened, and you've awoken once again. This time, there is light coming in from the second-story window that sits on the wall next to the bed. You're frozen in fear and covered in a layer of sweat. You take a moment to realize it was only a dream. But the instant memory of the first one hits you. The dream of Bakugo needing your help turned out to be real, leading you to fear the worse of this new dream. 

Bakugo turned and then killed his mother. That was the blood downstairs? If he killed her, his flesh and blood, what chance did you have of saving him and not being eaten yourself? It was already a fear you battled with most days but it was the first time the weight had finally settled in the pit of your stomach. This was too much pressure for just one person to handle. And you of all people? Before meeting this blonde Dead, you stuck to your paths of safety. Now you were doing the most dangerous thing of all, lying across from one, practically in the arms of danger. 

You could feel him still there, his weight on the bed causing the smallest divot in the mattress. Inclined almost enough that you could fall back into him if your body wasn't stiffened with anxiety. 

You got up as slowly and as quietly as you could, turning to make sure he was still asleep or meditating, or hybernating? Whatever it was that he did to shut his unliving body down for rest. 

You needed a moment. 

You silently crept from the house and inhaled the crisp morning air outside. 

"What am I doing? Who do I think I am? Why did I think I could do this!?"

The back and forth in your mind was stifling. You needed to go for a walk. By choosing the alleyway, you could take comfort in not being exposed and out in the open. It was easy enough to use your quirk, but you didn't want to. You just needed some moment of normality. A time before the Dead, before the dangers of the world, before the need to hide. 

You promised you would help Bakugo. And you still wanted to, but the reality of how difficult that could be was creeping up on you. 

What was that dream? What parts of it should you even think about? The fact that you're pretty sure that blood belongs to his mother, or maybe that you two were.... like... A THING? in your dream?

You shook your head. It wasn't real. The idea of a relationship during the apocalypse seemed the most trivial thing imaginable. 

Considering it was just a dream, the possibilities it created in your mind were endless. 

Before long, the walk came to an end. You were so lost in thought that you hadn't noticed you'd gone down a no-outlet street. You turned in a hurry to double back. 

A rustling noise came from the nearest dumpster to your left, so you activated your quirk and waited before continuing. Out of the pile of garbage fumbled a body. It shuffled to its feet and took a few steps where you had last been seen before realizing there was no longer anyone there. Its groan sounded confused and desperate as it reached out into thin air. You took a few steps back to stay completely out of reach but he seemed persistent. He must have been able to scent you out just enough as Bakugo did, though perhaps far less accurately. 

You would have considered the chainlink fence to your right, making too much noise as you try to make it over it, or you could have considered the crumbling wall of an old house to your left, the chance of a firm grip, not the most promising. But, instead, you hadn't time to consider any of that when a furious firey-eyed beast came barreling down the alleyway towards you both. 

Surprisingly, your first thought was how much trouble you were in. But more in the way of how a child gets in trouble with a parent after coming home after curfew. 

Your second thought was how he was absolutely coming to kill the Dead that now slowly turned towards all the noise he was making. 

Your third and final thought was how stupid it was that you instinctively put yourself between Bakugo and the Dead, revealing yourself in the process.

Very smart. Yup, save the Dead guy that is about to chomp down into your neck from behind. 

You came between the two just before Bakugo was able to slam his sizzling fist into the Dead's droopy face. 

His reflexes may not have been what they used to be, but you noticed the improvement in them over the past few days. He slowed his arm and diverted it away from you, just over your shoulder. You could hear it connect with a pop. 

"No!" you cried. You turned your head to check the damage to the Dead, surprised to see that instead of a shattering punch Bakugo instead had an open palm wedged between a struggling set of teeth. The pop you heard must have been the jaw opening wide enough to accommodate the intrusion. 

Bakugo held the skull steady as his palm built up heat. 

"Stop. Please. Please don't do this." you grabbed his arm gently, pleading with him.

"Danger." he seethed, true anger in his eyes, and not the kind he carried with him on a regular day. 

"I know. I know, but he doesn't deserve it. The same way you don't. Please. Don't be the monster."

His brows twitched at the word Monster. 

He pushed the Dead back, far enough out of your reach. He fumbled to the ground but kept his eyes on you. There was some small shift in them, you thought, but it must have been imagined. 

You two didn't stick around, knowing if the Dead attempted to approach you again, Bakugo would have no choice but to do things his way. 

You both sat in silence a while back at his old home. 

"Thank you." you finally managed to say. "Thank you for not killing him."

"I'm not..." his voice cracked as you listened intently.

" 'M not... monster." 

"Blood. Not mine." his eyes flickered to the spot on the floor just past him. 

"I know. It's your mother's, isn't it?" you already knew.

His face scrunched up in pain. A memory he couldn't forget. 

"What happened to her, Bakugo?" you were desperate for the answer.

"She became Dead... She attack. I was strong, but not enough for her. She bite. She's gone." 

It was the most he'd ever attempted to talk. But you understood all of it.

To see his mother become one of these things. He wasn't strong enough to stop her because he loved her. He couldn't kill her until it was too late for him.  

You got up and stood over him where he sat. You ran a hand through his now soft locks and leaned down, placing a kiss on his forehead. You held him a moment. His deep breaths getting lost in the fabric of your shirt.

"I think we can help the others. There are more like you. Will you help me?" 

 He leaned away to look up into your eyes, before nodding, "Yes."

#bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #mha zombie #Bakugo zombie #warm bodies type of story #mha au #bakugo x reader #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #zombie au #zombie fic #bakugou is dead but not #AU #uuuh how does one make tags #Zombie bakugou #bakugou needs help #fantasy romance #bakugou love story

[beetlesau]

CHAPTER 6, WARMTH! finally lol sorry I was seriously blocked, still am but figures better to get something out than nothing. ----------------- -------------------- ----------------- ------------------

"Do you eat food?" "Ung?"

"Have you eaten, people?"

"Mmn..."

"Okay... I don't know what that means...but uh, let's save that one for later, okay?"

You sighed, leaning back on your elbows you gazed out of your newly renovated hole in the wall left by your new companion. The Sun coming through was warm and comforting on your skin. The cracked mug at your side held your now cold coffee. 

"Do you feel the warmth?" you wondered. "Not just like, heat, since you clearly don't, after all the time spent in that crate, but warmth like, do you look at some pretty flowers and feel anything? Or, when you look at a sunrise, does it make you happy or sad?" you tilted your head to the side, so curious to know things he had no way of communicating yet. But it's been a few days of him being here, so you imagine he's used to you asking long-winded questions that need more in-depth answers. 

You wonder if he's just glad someone is there to talk to him. You know you are. 

He's learned your name, though he won't use it to call to you. It almost seems like he completely avoids it.

The only reason you know he's learned it is because of the way he says it at night when he thinks you're sleeping. Sometimes you can hear him as he paces the halls nonstop on some never-ending patrol. Over and over, he'll speak it as best his cracked vocals allow. He's gotten good at it. Even during the day, you'd sometimes imagine you've heard him hum just the syllables of it. 

You set up the apartment room across from yours. Made it as homely and welcoming as possible, considering the world was a whole mess. He has a bed that he never uses, some books he never reads, plants he doesn't water, and even canned food he'll never open. 

The problem is you aren't really sure how to help him. What does he need to feel human?

When he isn't gone for hours at a time, he's pacing the room you occupy. You've tested it before, gone up to the roof, and waited. Not long after, you'd hear shuffling coming up the stairs, and there he was. Minding his own business, he wouldn't even spare you a glance, as if it was always his plan to come up here anyway, regardless of you. Then you'd decide to walk down the wall of the building, as casually as they come, and make your way out of sight past a corner street. You'd walk to the old park that was now overgrown and sit at one of its benches. He never approached you, but you were sure you could see him pacing in the distance just at the edge of your peripherals. Maybe it should have scared you. A lion that stalks and plays with its food. Maybe you made those instincts kick into overdrive. But you instead found it funny, and surprisingly cute. 

You jolt from your thoughts and land in your room with him sitting across from you. He had been staring again. He was always staring. 

"I've got an idea."

You get up and leave the room, not even bothering to tell him where you were off to, knowing it didn't matter. As well as the surprise was half the fun. 

You begin walking down the street slowly, making sure he was indeed still going to follow you like he did every other time. There was a store down the way that had most of its clothing still in decent condition. Hopefully, your sour friend would humor you and at least change out of those dingy clothes he'd been wearing his entire Dead career. 

Even going at a slower pace, you still managed to get to the shop well before him. You'd collected three clean shirts and a pair of jeans by the time he could be seen lurking outside the window. You knocked on the glass before poking your head outside. "Hey you, come in here, don't be such a stalker, huh?" you teased. You closed the door on him before seeing his grimace. 

"Okay. I think it's well past time that you change out of those clothes, don't you? They make the entire building smell like smoke and ash." you chided cheerfully, as you handed him the growing stack of clothes and pointed him off to the dressing room. 

After a while, you'd stop hearing the sounds of fabric rustling, but then silence followed. "Hey, you good in there? You are able to change, right? Do you need help?" no reply. 

You gently pulled back the curtain, almost a bit embarrassed at what you might find. There he stood, shirtless, staring in the mirror. 

You could see old scars littering his chest, and bruises outlining every rib. Staring with such sadness made your heart ache for him. He hated himself. He hated what he had become. It was clear he hadn't seen himself in a mirror in a long time. 

"H-hey... Are you alright?" you whispered, almost worried you might frighten him. No reply, not even an angry huff which seemed to be his favorite response. 

Stepping closer to him, you could make out the glossiness in his eyes, and a look of defeat that somehow you knew didn't suit his face in the slightest. 

He turned to you and then walked out of the store. He didn't turn back the way to the apartment, he made his way further into the city, to a little area you hadn't dared to explore for fear of dangers unknown. You could feel the pull of him, his desire for you to follow. 

You walked for two hours, maybe more. 

He stopped in front of a small house, it was falling apart slower than all the houses around it you thought. You could see how cute it must have been in its heyday. He walked to the door and waited for you.

"Do you... live here?" you asked puzzled. Did the Dead LIVE anywhere? 

But he proceeded inside and left the door open for you. 

Inside was dusty. Picture frames lined the tabletops in the entryway, and further down the hall opened up to the living room and kitchen. Pots and pans were littering the countertops and the couch had signs of wear and tear from possible rodents in need of shelter. 

The tall blonde made his way up the stairs and into a side room. You took your time to follow him. First picking up a picture frame caked in mud. Finally, you noticed a blood stain that peeked out from behind an overturned chair in the dining room. What looked like a regular home of the apocalypse suddenly felt more threatening than just that.

You cowered into yourself and sprinted up the stairs to find him for comfort. 

Comfort.

It seemed the last thing on your mind was that the very person you were with was the cause of all that old blood spread out on the floor. 

"Is that your blo-- Hey!" you were standing in a room that very clearly had belonged to a teen once. And against the wall was the adult version of that teen, laying in a bed. 

"SO you DO sleep!? Is this where you go when you aren't around me? Wow." You looked around the room taking in all the old hero memorabilia. The notable amount of the long-gone hero, All-Might. 

"This stuff is like, really vintage." you awed over the collection. In the corner of this room 

At last, you remembered you were still toting around the picture frame, you took your sleeve and wiped away the dirt and dust. 

There was a picture of a man in glasses next to a blonde woman, youthful and beautiful. The woman looked similar to the Dead that lay in front of you now. In looks but expression as well. She looked proud but a bit annoyed all at once. This must be his family. 

You cleared away the other half of the image, a hero standing next to the couple. 

"Oh wow, your parents met Dynamight, that's actually... wait." you took far too long to process, but finally you realized who you were looking at.

"Holy Fuck." you looked to the Dead that was looking at you blankly like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. 

"You're Dynamight! THE Dynamight!........ Well shit, that makes alot of sense now. Ugh, OF COURSE you can fly. I'm an idiot. Your quirk was so strong, well IS strong I guess..."

Dynamight turned to his nightstand and reached inside for a notebook. He handed it to you expectantly, and you took it eagerly. 

You flipped through the pages and found old notes from a time long passed. 

School work, homework, equations, doodles of his early years hero costume, and in the corner of every page, the name "Bakugo, Katsuki." written sloppily. 

"Wow." you held the notebook to your chest and wordlessly made your way to his bed, laying under the blanket that he was on top of. 

"Bakugo. Bakugo. Bakugo. Bakugo." you repeated it over again, like you'd heard him do with yours so many times in the night. It created warmth in your mouth that you swallowed and felt spread through you. 

It was too dark outside for you to feel safe returning to your own shelter, so you both stayed where you were. For once, he lie still, free of pacing and mumblings. 

He had shared something with you. It was small, but it was enough.

#bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #mha zombie #Bakugo zombie #warm bodies type of story #mha au #bakugo x reader #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #zombie au #zombie fic #bakugou is dead but not #AU #uuuh how does one make tags #Zombie bakugou #bakugou needs help #fantasy romance #bakugou love story

[beetlesau]

#New to etsy #New to selling art #art #bug art #insects #shadow boxes #etsy gifts #etsy small business #etsy shop #handmade #imperfect perfection #selling #showing

[beetlesau]

Chapter 5, "I Will." Uhhh yup, here's another

An hour later, you had moved all your various collected camping gear to the roof of your building. This included two tents, a sleeping bag, firewood, a few pots and pans for coffee, and whatever canned food you had left. There was even still your small raised garden growing tomatoes close by.

Not being a fan of a strong chilled breeze you set up the small tent inside the larger tent. As ridiculous and difficult as it was to put together, it did help with insulation. At least, that's what you told yourself. 

Any sane person would probably hightail it out of there by now, and find a new place to live entirely. But you were a bit stubborn when it came to your large collection of trinkets, unwilling to leave them behind just yet. You wanted to at least pack them away in the event you did have to move soon.

Which is how you ended up on the roof, barring the only door in or out. You couldn't leave your things behind. If you ever needed to get back to your room, you left a window unlocked and you could easily scale the walls for access thanks to your quirk. 

Sure, it wasn't the most practical solution, but it would do for now. You just wanted to be out of reach of the Dead that had turned your world upside down. 

Who was he? Who was he before all this that made him so different in death? You ponder if the answer to that could be found in his previous life. A little perturbed you would never know the answer. 

What you did know is that he was dangerous. Despite the fluke of him not eating you after you got knocked out at the crate.... and when he followed you back to your home... and watched you sleep... and then attacked you but ran away at the last second. Yeah. He was dangerous. 

But! He couldn't reach you from here. The barred door was made of sturdy metal, and you could easily get away in time if he did end up breaking it down.

"Point to me? Why yes, I think so. Point to the Dead? Zero." you smugly dusted your hands together as you sat around your cozy warm fire. "I've already seen his quirk, so at least I know he can't fly." 

You watched as a pot above the fire boiled a few ripe tomatoes and water, expired but acceptable spices, and finally to top it off, a package of dried instant noodles. It wasn't much, but you considered yourself a real chef in the apocalypse. Nothing like a soup to warm yourself with. 

You sat enjoying the fresh breeze when a small drop of rain hit your nose and then a few more nestled into your clothing.

"Ah, crumbs." you mumbled, "suppose that's the cue to retire for the evening."

By now, the sun was getting low and soon there would be nothing but your small fire to illuminate the rooftop. There were more shady clouds on the horizon, the impending promise of a storm soon to hit, but you hoped it would be mild enough that you wouldn't have to retreat back inside.

You headed inside your tents and crawled into your sleeping bag. With a full belly, warm blood, and, not to mention the absolutely traumatic day you'd just had, you'd fallen asleep faster than you ever thought possible. 

Finally a well-overdue rest.

... Except not. 

It started out slowly at first, the small pitter-patter on the roof of your tent. Not even loud enough to wake you, but eventually it turned into heavy rain. You were finally startled awake by the sound of thunder roaring all around you. 

"Crap! no way!" you shrieked as lightning struck in the distance and the thunder followed directly after. You panicked, realizing this was not the safest place to be. But if you went back inside... he could show up, and he might not have as hard a time controlling his hunger as last time. 

alright, let's not panic here. We'll just climb down to the window, and uh... figure out where to stay. 

You got up from the warm comfort and made your way to a duffle bag in the outer layer of the tent. You ruffled around for a rain jacket or umbrella, groaning when you found neither. You had to make due and instead pulled out a large blue tarp and a bungee cord. You wrapped it around yourself a few times, trying to get it to stay in position without trapping your arms or blocking your vision. When you finally got it somewhat under control and held in place, at least at the waist, you peeked outside the tent. Some good news you noted as the barrels you'd set out some months ago were finally getting their use, already half full from the heavy rainfall. Apocolypse sink water at its best was tragically grainy. 

Looking beyond the barrels in the distance, towards the bridge, for a fleeting moment, you wondered if your Dead chums would be alright. Nothing to shield them from the storm. Although, luckily no thoughts to make them fearful of it either. 

Pulling you from your considerations was a sound that almost rang like thunder, but it followed after no lightning strike above. You walked outside your tent and towards the ledge of the building, holding your tarp in place. You wondered if the pelting of rain on the tarp would drown out any other noises. You looked down the wall of the building and could see your window. Wondering now if the rain would make it much harder to keep a solid grip as you'd scale down it. 

You tested it by placing one hand on the wall, then another. Your quirk allowed you to practically stick to the wall, it didn't seem you'd lost any grip on the wet stone. Happy enough with this small test you leaned back over to remove your shoes. 

Then another thunder, but not thunder sound rang out, this time it was closer and answered the question of hearing under a tarp. You looked down the wall where it seemed to have come from, but found nothing. 

You definitely heard something. You hoisted yourself over the ledge and made sure all ten fingers were down flat against the building before taking your next movement. Cautions as you made small steady actions down the wall. 

You'd only gotten maybe three full feet away from the ledge before the wall below you exploded out in glass and brick. The smoke that spewed out made you cough uncontrollably and your eyes burn. 

He was there, in your apartment, apparently mad enough that when he couldn't find you, his plan of action was to blow a hole in your wall.

When the smoke departed you saw the Dead leaning out of his new window renovation, his stiffened neck straining to turn enough to see you hanging above him. If you didn't know any better you'd say he looked almost surprised to see you there. That supposed look turned into a scowl as he slowly reached out a grabbing hand towards you. He couldn't reach you, you were still a good floor and a half above him. But still, he reached, beckoned you to come down. 

You shook your head at him, "ARE YOU NUTS? You tried to eat me yesterday! You just BLEW A HOLE in the side of my apartment! Go away! I don't want to be eaten anymore!" you were delirious with fear and anger that you WOULD have to find a new place to live. you turned to climb back to the roof, maybe against all odds he would listen and just go away. 

You didn't look back when you heard more explosions, even as they passed right by your ears. Maybe he was trying to kill you. Trying to blow you up. When you reached the ledge again you threw yourself over and lay on the roof, panting. The rain had gotten under your tarp and you were soaked through. 

How could anything possibly get worse? you cried. 

Then you heard the shuffling. Coming towards you, on the roof, in the rain, in the dark, as you were soaked to the core. 

Reluctant to open your eyes you just spoke out blindly. "Are you on the roof with me?"

...

...

A growl. 

"Can you fly or something?"

another growl. 

Sigh. "Alright." 

You picked yourself up and sat leaning against the wall, head between your knees. Just... over it. 

Then you felt a tickle of cloth lightly tapping against your arm. Finally looking up, a rag was being dangled in front of you. 

"What's this?" you asked nonchalantly. 

"Uhh." 

"Ah, right. Cool, thanks." you took the rag and put your head back down. 

An annoyed grunt followed by a soft thud landing in front of you, you checked on your stalker and saw that he'd now kneeled down in front of you, tense and childishly mad in appearance. 

"I don't understand! What do you want from me!"

He reached out his hand clumsily and a bit too tightly around yours, pulling it and the rag up to his face. 

"You.. want me to clean your face now? What about before...?"

"Herl" his voice was harsh but quieter.  

"What?" you leaned in closer to hear him better, once again forgetting what he was. 

"H-help."

"So you do need my help." you could feel your heart melt and the utter sadness of the situation. There was something inside this Dead, something that was still living. 

He huffed and tried to look away, but you still held his cheek and turned it back to you. His eyes, still like rubies, looked as though they were wet, but surely it was only from the rain. 

Forgetting about the cold and the rain, you wiped his face. He had clearly been caught out in the storm since some of the work had already been done for you. His hair was looking cleaner, and the muck in it had dripped down over his face. You wiped it away gently as he stared at you, unblinking. You cleaned the ash and soot that still clung to the divots under his eyes. Then the neck, following it up to the sharp curves of his jaw. When it was as clean as it could get, for now, you leaned back and admired the work. 

"There we go... there was someone under all that, huh?" you smiled. 

"Help." he repeated. "Help."

"I--"

There was someone there. Inside, pounding on this newly cleaned grey flesh that begged to be freed. Again, you wondered. Who was this person in their living life, to be filled with such determination in death? You felt a lump in your throat. The agony of humanity trapped within the Dead. You could find out. You would. 

"I will." 

#bakugou x you #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #mha zombie #Bakugo zombie #warm bodies type of story #mha au #bakugo x reader #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #zombie au #zombie fic #bakugou is dead but not #AU #uuuh how does one make tags #Zombie bakugou #bakugou needs help #fantasy romance #bakugou love story