song prompt : Pretty Face - PUBLIC
warnings: angst w happy ending
Pairing: Bakugo Katsuki x Original OC (mine)
A/N: I suck at tagging this kind of stuff but thank you for reading!!
July 1st. That’s when it started. Bakugou was kidnapped and Kori couldn’t help but cry herself to sleep overnight curled up into Kaminari’s arms as her mind wandered to what could be happening to him as she laid on his bed, tangled up in the shirt he last wore, drenched with the smell of caramel. Anything to feel close to him while he was so far. She couldn’t stand it. Everyone did their best to keep her calm. To eat, shower and slumber. Kaminari got the worst of it though, the blonde basically kept the poor girl from ripping her hair out and her cheeks dry.
July 2nd. Her mind kept spiraling the longer the two were apart. “Sparky w-what if he never comes back? We haven’t even said I love you yet..” hugging her arms and curling up inside another one of Katsuki’s shirts, the scent slowly fading as the hours passed. Kaminari couldn’t help but feel empathetic for the woman in front of his eyes. Part of him felt so terrible for thinking that this could be his chance to get into her good graces after loving her for so long. But, his common sense reigned over and knew not to take advantage of a lady while she was vulnerable. Putting his own feelings aside for her once more, he toughed it out and took her into his arms. Her tears soaking his uniform once again.
July 9th. The hero's mission to rescue Bakugou commenced. A weight was lifted off of her shoulder knowing All Might would be there. She finally left her room to stare at the live news broadcast, yearning for the sight of spiky ash blonde hair, piercing red eyes, anything. She practically jumped out of her seat when she saw the orange embers. Explosions. A soft ‘baby..’ leaving her lips, her fingers trembling with anxiety and her heart skipping a beat being reassured he was alive. Kaminari simply sat on the lounge chair with her all night, the smile on her face making his heart clench knowing things would go back to normal and he wouldn’t be the one holding her at night anymore.
July 10th. He was back. Minor scrapes and bruises physically, his sanity intact, his ego fragile after the events that occurred over the last week. Paired with the kidnapping and the loss of the ’Symbol of Peace’, Kori was stuck back to Bakugou’s side like glue, being there for him every step of the way. She didn’t know that in Bakugou’s head, the boat was drifting along the shore, distancing itself away from the safety called land.
Kaminari could tell. He saw subtle changes. Bakugou wouldn’t hold her hand for very long, would ‘playfully’ shove her hugs away, and would opt for hanging with the Baku-squad over the girl who spent a week shedding her tears and losing her mind over his safety. Hell, he wouldn’t even let her spend the night in his dorm right across the hall from hers. “She just wants to be close to you.. I’d kill for that”. Kori wrote it off but he noticed. And it killed him. But he wanted his best friend to be happy, so he didn’t interfere.
Then it happened. After the licensing exams, everything seemed to happen lightning fast. That was Bakugou’s final straw. His chance to finally take the first step into being a pro hero and he failed. Back at square one, another failure to smack him in the face and he snapped at yet another reassurance from his girlfriend. “Baby you can just make it up in a couple months, no sweat!” One hand on his shoulder while the other held her own license in her hands, turned away from Bakugou as if it was taunting him. “Pathetic.” he spat, thinking out loud. Her brows furrowing in confusion, both her hands cupping his cheeks before they were pushed off and he took a step back. “What do you me-“ Kori began to ask before being cut off by a sharp remark, making her jump back.
“God damn it, Kori, just stop!” his red eyes, Kori being so used to see them filled with fluttering embarrassment or love, now staring at her with pure rage. “Don’t you get it? You’re not stupid. This. This is pathetic. I couldn’t get my damn license to be a hero, I couldn’t keep myself from being kidnapped and I hate how everyone stares at me with so much sympathy. Especially you! The second I got back, you’re a constant reminder of how weak I am. Telling me it’s over now, telling me it’ll all be okay when it shouldn’t have happened in the fucking first place. DAMN IT” gripping his chest with one hand and clenching his fist for the crackling noises to stop.
Her eyes filling with tears, blinking them away best she could, hating to cry at a moment like this. She knew what was happening here but she fought with it, smiling meekly and reaching out to touch his chest, taking a step forward. “Katsuki what’re you sayi-“ her hand getting smacked away and his back suddenly being faced to her. Their height difference feeling a million miles apart. She felt so small upon hearing those words.
“Korishi we’re fucking over. Stay out of my way from now on.”
Her world crumbled, her heart shattering and the pieces fell into her stomach, suddenly feeling sick. Suddenly she was thankful everyone was clustered into one section celebrating the fact they all got their licenses because she could run into the elevator in peace and let the tears fall, a shaky breath being released from her chest and gripping her shirt. Pressing the button for the 4th floor, wanting to be in the safety of her bedroom away from everyone else. Alone. Cursing under her breath as the elevator stopped on the 3rd floor, quickly wiping her face and attempting to look presentable so whoever it was wouldn’t question why her nose was red and her eyes glossy, not expecting to be face to face with the electric yellow she knew so well.
“Whoa whoa, have you been crying?” Kaminari asked gently, careful to reach out for her and stepping inside the elevator as the doors closed and begun to move back up to the 4th floor. Her mind scrambled to come up with an excuse as to why she looked like this. But really, lying to the person who knew you like the back of your hand is like lying to a mirror. She said it anyways. “What? Of course not, I just yawned so my eyes got all glossy and stuff, plus.. my head hurts. I’m just gonna take a nap. Go celebrate Sparky, I’ll be down later.” Offering a kind smile before sprinting out of the confined space and down the hall, closing her door and shouting at the top of her lungs as she broke down onto her knees, covering her face with her hands, grateful her walls were soundproof. Being left to torment on her own.
Kaminari stepped out of the elevator with a puzzled look on his face, looking around the common room to see if something had happened during the time he went to change his clothes. Everyone was fine. Smiles and giggles, the usual background characters brooding. But something felt wrong. “Hey, party people!” his smile beaming with joy as he sat on the couch with the Baku-squad. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kuromi and Shoji were hurriedly walking to the elevator all the way up to the fourth floor, despite their dorms being on the second, not being seen for the rest of the night. Yeah, something was definitely up.
It didn’t take long for word to travel from Kuromi to Kaminari, Shoji and Kirishima being a victim to the second-hand news. The unlikely group of 4 standing outside Kori’s dorm, hushed whispers after discussing what had happened merely days ago.
“So.. yeah. That’s what happened after we all got our licenses. It doesn’t even feel real. She.. really loved him, you guys. She’s heartbroken, it feels weird seeing her sad” Kuromi’s words seeming to strike a chord within Kaminari, feeling his heart clench once again, the woman he cherished feeling more broken than ever 2 feet away, being separated by a door. How he yearned to hold her again, make her feel safe.
The atmosphere suddenly changed, a certain vibe radiating from behind Kori’s door as a soft strum of her guitar was heard, a feeling of disorienting sadness filling the brain and tears in the eyes. The group all collectively knowing she was using her quirk by mistake, her voice having that effect if she intended. Pressing their ears against her door curiously as they attempted to listen to what she was mumbling, Kaminari biting his lip as his heart trembled, catching just how run down she sounded as she mumbled the words. “She’s.. writing a song” Kirishima spoke as they collectively closed their eyes and the quirk induced tears fell down their cheeks.
From beyond the door, Kori knew her friends were outside but she didn’t have the strength to open the door. Too humiliated to allow anyone to see her like this. She formally told Aizawa she wouldn’t be attending classes for a few days, mental health days she called it, but he knew what was going on and allowed it as long as her grades didn’t slip. Staring down at the guitar as her fingers strummed a random melody, absentmindedly singing the first thing that was coming to her mind “Wish I could go back to the day we met and leave you be. Sit and look pretty. Never should have called. Never should have helped. Never should have kissed. Never should have said. Stranger, that's all I see.. when I look into your eyes, I see a soulmate who wasn't meant to be. Stranger, who knows all my secrets.. who can pull me apart and break my.. h-heart” the soft strumming suddenly stopping and a whimper leaving her lips. Coming to her senses and hurriedly rushing out of bed to open the door, the eavesdropping group nearly falling before launching herself into Kaminari’s arms with the loudest sob echoing through the hallway, punching his back and allowing herself to finally break down. Kuromi merely watching, backing away from the pair and getting choked up at the sight of her friend, delicately pushing Shoji and Kirishima to the elevator, leaving the two alone.
“It hurts so b-bad Denki! I wasn’t good enough, what did I do? What did I do? WHAT DID I DO?” Her sobs gradually turning into screams before squeezing Kaminari closer to her and taking large gasping breaths as her glossy rose-colored eyes stared into his, desperate for a reasonable explanation, anything. He didn’t even realize he was crying as heavily as he was, his arms trembled as he pulled her closer to his chest and ushered her into her bedroom, cupping her cheeks to force her to look into his dandelion eyes.
“NOTHING! Stop blaming yourself, please. I’ve seen how he’s been treating you ever since he got back, Kori you’re amazing.. he doesn’t deserve you if he couldn’t see that.. please stop crying.. your quirk’s ruining my bad-boy reputation, cmon” wiping his face with a laugh, his lame attempt to make her giggle actually work as she nodded and regained somewhat of her composure.
And with that, the two were attached at the hip. Kori being bummed out every time Kaminari had to go to class, which paired with his begging of her to come back to class. Her refusal each time made him sigh and bring her the homework he knew she was missing, he didn’t want her to fail the semester simply because of someone like Bakugou.
There’s two sides to every story. And it wasn’t a secret that Bakugou was extremely observant. He had a sneaking suspicion that Kaminari knew what went down but he never voiced it, so he didn’t have a right to accuse him of knowing. His girlfriend ex wasn’t showing up to class, never really leaving her dorm besides basic human functions, and in the back of his mind he was worried. Is she eating, sleeping enough? Eating, sleeping at all? His thumb seemed to hover over their text thread every night, but part of him froze. “What am I supposed to say? It’s too damn late now, not even our worst fights lasted this long” mumbling to himself as he threw his phone onto his bed, rubbing over his face in distress. Jumping at the sound of a notification, being met with her face as his lock screen, yearning for it to be a text from her, anything. Nothing.
The night it happened, he waited long for Kaminari to leave, screwing up his own sleep schedule as his forehead was pressed against her door at the late hours of the night. His hand delicately against the cold wood, biting his lip as he heard her small sniffling breaths in her sleep. Whispering a small “sorry” before sneaking back into his dorm, staring at the screen of his phone, the cheesy moment frozen in time.
“Baby one picture PLEASE? You’re so pretty.” Kori begged as the pair sat nestled under a newly bloomed tree in the spring time. Holding her phone camera out as she wiggled with excitement as she waited for an answer from her loud lover.
“I’m not pretty dumbass.. one picture, make it good” looking off to the side with one of his signature stubborn blushes before up at her phone camera, propped up away from the pair. His arms instinctively pulling her closer as he stared with a dead look in his eye, Kori shouting ‘cheese’ before his eyes suddenly widened as he felt a wet kiss on his cheek, his cheeks flushing with a red blush.
Before he had the chance to protest, the picture was taken and Kori simply nuzzled into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and relaxing underneath it as she mumbled a soft “Thank you”. Those cursed three words on the tips of both their tongues, either too afraid to speak it into existence but the feeling was there.
Turning over onto his back, his phone now discarded and eyes heavy. The final thought on his mind being “What did I do?”. And after that, Kaminari finally broke her down, a freshly ironed uniform clad against her body, freshly showered as she stared at herself in the mirror. Kori forced herself to do her makeup to disguise the fact that she had been crying on and off, sleep coming and going. A knock on her door, opening it with a grin, knowing it was Kaminari and doing a small twirl “Doesn’t look like I had a mental breakdown does it?” taking his hand into hers, everyone leaving their dorms and being a little surprised yet glad to see their friend. It was nice.
Arriving into homeroom, Kaminari walking in first and Kori shyly peeking her head in to see who was there, knowing just who she wanted to avoid. He turned back to whisper “I talked to Aizawa.. listen, he said you can sit in my seat until you’re up to it okay?” a simple nod as her response. With that, she entered the home room, setting her things down onto Kaminari’s desk. Mina practically bursted into tears as she ran into Kori’s arms, yelling “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?” while Kori stiffened and patted her head, giggling awkwardly as the rest of the Baku-squad came to group hug the young girl. All except their leader. Nearly everyone came to give her the tightest hug ever, simply reassuring her fellow heroes that she needed a few days to herself. But the inner circle knew better.
Bakugou watched in the background as Kori told the same excuse as to why she was absent for a millionth time. But he knew. Wanting nothing more but to tell all the damn extras to leave her alone, for his woman to sit by his side and kiss her. But he didn’t have that right. Not anymore.
The day went fairly okay, classes sailed smoothly. Kaminari busted his ass to find a way for Kori to avoid Bakugou as much as possible, switching seats and gym partners, anything for her.
End of day finally came. Everyone collectively broke into their groups, designated friends to walk the other home. Which is where Kori fell short. It was too late to ask Kuromi, she left with Shoji. She insisted Kaminari leave as well, he spent enough time with her over the last week so she urged him to hang out with the baku-squad. So there she sat. Doing her homework at Kaminari’s desk, it wasn’t until Aizawa knocked on the nearby wall which caused her to jump.
“C’mon kid. You get the teacher’s lounge today. Your dads there” immediately walking out the door afterwards, not taking no as an answer.
Quickly gathering her things and sprinting to catch up with him, gripping her books to her chest. Aizawa let out a simple “hm”. Opening the door and gently petting her head, the man essentially a second father to her. The moment was serene, until-
“MY BABY GIRL!” Mic shouted, pulling Kori into his chest and cradling her as if she was an infant. Causing her face to scrunch up as she lightly swatted his hands and sat on the couch. “Daddy I’m fine.. a lot better. Just trying not to think about it. Plus, you kinda gave him hell today..” a soft giggle passing her lips as she thought of the events earlier. Present Mic wouldn’t let poor Bakugou finish a sentence or even raise his hand the entire class period.
Mic and Aizawa sat there with Kori, giving her a nice distraction after nearly a week of stressing out. A few texts from Kaminari, Ururaka and Kuromi but other than that nothing out of the usual. She felt light for once in a long while. And with that, she waved goodbye to the cherished adults and begun her slow walk back to the dorm as the sun set.
Meanwhile back in the dorms, the Baku-squad sat in the common room laughing and simply relaxing. Bakugou sitting in the back while the rest talked about the next random thing. His attention only being caught when her name was mentioned.
“Hey Bakugou, why didn’t Kori walk back with us? She always does” their laughter dying down as Kaminari and Kirishima collectively shared the same thought. The pair making hand motions to stop talking as quickly as they could, smacking their foreheads as Sero didn’t seem to take the hint.
Looking off to the side and crossing his arms. “TCH. Who?” attempting to play it off, anything to shut him down before his temper roused anymore. Kaminari’s hands clenched.
“Your girlfrie-“ Mina started saying before being cut off by the explosive teen. “Why would I date an extra like her? HAH? I don’t care about anyone but me.” sending daggers their way before bowing his head and biting his lip, holding back his vulnerability.
All their heads popped up and looked around to search for that source. Looking for who said that before they all collectively froze. Bakugou and Kaminari getting the worst of it.
Bakugou got up to say something, reach out to her. And for a second, Kori almost took a step forward, ready to launch back into his arms. There was no doubt the chemistry was still there. But Bakugou’s ego spoke before his heart could.
Not exactly the three words he wanted to say. But it was too late to take it back now. Kori’s smile was bittersweet and she looked down at her shoes, exhaling shakily but refusing to shed any more tears. “Yeah.. I did. Goodnight Bakugou” as she gripped her books closer to her chest to feel safe before speed walking to the elevator and disappearing behind the closing doors.
Bakugou simply sucked his teeth again and sat back down, looking down at the floor as the tension in the room seemed to build even with Kori gone. And as Kirishima’s awkward laugh began to fill the room, Kaminari stood up and slammed his hands on the table, small electrical bolts popping off of his hands and radiating around him.
“Do you..” exhaling slowly before staring at Bakugou with pure rage, being bolder than he’s ever been. Poking at his chest as he yelled at the male in front of him. “Do you KNOW how much she’s cried the last week? How many times I had to force her to get out of bed to eat? To pee? To fucking SHOWER? All because you couldn’t handle a little fucking affection and worrying!?” Bakugou’s lips turning up into a sneer but Kaminari continued to yell, Kirishima getting a bit worried.
“She loves you SO MUCH. When you were kidnapped she wouldn’t fucking sleep unless she cried herself to bed. I was there Bakugou! All she would do was worry for YOU. Worry about YOU. And you pussy out for remotely no good reason? We all know your ego, we take a lot of your shit Bakugou. We can handle it and so can she. Yet you have the audacity to run and dump her at the first sight of feeling inferior! Do you even love her? You don’t- you don’t APPRECIATE HER. YOU DON’T DESERVE HER” Kaminari tearing up and digging his nails into his hands.
Both boys raised their fists to throw a punch before Kirishima hardened his own fists and caught their hands before either of them did something they’d regret. Staring at the both of them with a dead serious look.
“Walk. Away. Both of you”
And that’s how the night ended. Both boys stormed back to their dorms.
Bakugou wrote a letter and left it outside her room at exactly 8:30. Going to bed so he wouldn’t have to worry about her rejecting it before tomorrow.
Kaminari checked upon the girl. She texted and reassured its fine, she’s grown a bit tougher since the breakup so while it did sting she wasn’t stressing over it. Her eyes caught the side of a shadow in front of her door, leaning down, and slipping a letter under her door. Addressed “you’re my idiot” she froze in place as the shadow walked away before picking it up. She let it sit on her desk, the energy radiating from it and haunting her until she opened it.
Tearing it open and biting her lip as she begun to read.
I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I mean it. I reacted without thinking and you know I suck at this sappy stuff. But I don’t think the way I treated you was right, so, give me some time please. I know you probably hate my guts right now but I still care about you so damn much mamas. I don’t want your memory of me to be permanently embedded as the asshole who broke your heart because you cared about me too much. Hell, even my own friends can’t stand the sight of me cause of what I did to you. Not that I care what those extras think, or anyone for that matter. Well, you know you broke through somehow. Which is why I’m not giving up on you and you better not give up on me. I want to be number one. Pro hero and.. your man. Have breakfast with me tomorrow if you’re willing to give me a chance? Goodnight. <3 Blasty.”
Holding the letter to her chest and immediately grabbing her phone to text Kuromi what just happened. But she locked the phone and set the letter down delicately against her desk, sitting her on bed and thinking. Grabbing her phone and opening her text thread with Bakugou, biting her lip as she thought of what to say, if she should say anything.
“Chocolate chip pancakes.”
It was well past Katsuki’s bedtime so she laid down and stared at the ceiling, knowing he wouldn’t see it until 6 am that morning, the boy on a robotic routine. But truth be told, he was staring at the black screen on his phone, waiting to see her name pop up, his eyes heavy for the second night. Reading the text and his heart swelling (no one can know he can do that). His lips upturning into a small grin as he laid with the phone against his chest, his scowl fading into a look of serenity. Their eyes collectively closing and for once in a while, had a goodnights sleep.
