maple leaves (katsuki bakugou × reader)
word count: 2k
warnings: none.
a/n: hello i’m back at it again drinking that loving kacchan juice<3 for this piece, i used the “head in their lap” prompt from my @bnhabookclub hero camp bingo card! special thanks to @pixxiesdust and @prismaroyal for beta reading this!
The clouds above move effortlessly through the sky, making light gently seep through the leaves of the Japanese maples you sit under. Looking up, you contemplate the ethereal beauty of the faint crimson luminescence gracing your frame. Eyes close as you bathe in the tranquility of the moment, your heightened and serene state allowing you to relish in the distant sound of leaves rustling with this season’s fresh and gentle breeze. Time and time again, you’re faced with and made aware of autumn’s many blessings.
This is the best time of the year, you think to yourself with a satisfied smile shamelessly plastered on your features.
“What’s with that dopey ass smile?” A familiar and loud voice breaks your halcyon with its habitual unkind remarks.
Sighing, your eyelids flutter open to meet with him, who stands a few feet away in the ancient rock pathway of the garden that leads to the main grounds of the temple. “I was just enjoying the moment, thanks for ruining my zen.”
“Those dumbasses freaked out when you got separated from us, you should’ve let one of us know you were going to piss off on your own.” Bakugou steps forward and walks in your direction, withered leaves being crushed as he draws nearer. He sits beside you with his legs crossed once he gets close enough. “Stupid Deku and Shitty Hair called you a bunch of times to check up on you, and you never picked up. Is your phone on silent mode or something?”
“As a matter of fact, it is.” The acrimony in your voice is palpable. “Sorry for making you guys worry, next time I’ll let everyone know when I wander off because I want to be left alone, sounds good?”
Rolling his eyes, he responds. “Whatever.” As he settles down, his arms reach for the sky and help stretch his back. Bakugou leans against the tree trunk, arms folded behind his head and acting as a makeshift pillow. “I’m taking a nap, wake me up when you stop being a major bitch.”
“Oh, bite me, Kacchan.” After calling him by his childish nickname in a sardonic tone, you turn away from him. Interacting with this guy always leaves a bad taste in your mouth; he’s an asshole.
When discussions about the school trip started with Mr. Aizawa, the first thing on your mind was how much you didn’t want Bakugou to be in your group when it came to deciding your travelling groups. Early on, Eraserhead let everyone know that the groups would be assigned randomly, and, realistically, there was only a 1 in 20 chance of him ending up with you.
Pulling a white box with a small round opening on the top, he asks everyone to come up to the front to pick a number. By the end of the whole ordeal, you’re left with a plastic ball carrying the number four on your hands.
“We’ll be travelling in groups of five people each. When I call your name, say the number you pulled out loud.”
Aoyama, Ashido, Asui, Iida, Uraraka… As your homeroom teacher goes down the list, you’re glad when you hear Kirishima say number four first. He is fun to be around, sure, but you grow more and more concerned when the next number four doesn’t pop up until Todoroki’s name is called.
“Hagakure?”
“Three!”
Okay, Bakugou is next, and the only numbers left are two and four.
“Bakugou?”
Please don’t say four, please don’t say four, PLEASE–
“Four.”
Your head smacks down on your desk, the wooden surface letting everyone in class know of your exaggerated reaction as it lets out a loud bang.
…
All eyes are on you, the room riddled in dead silence until Mr. Aizawa’s voice raises a question. “Everything okay, ________?”
You keep your face down, too embarrassed to look up. “Y-yes, sorry, please go on.”
“Midoriya?”
“F-four…”
Before Bakugou can object and make a ruckus just like he knows he will, Eraserhead continues.
“________?”
Finally lifting your face up, your irises meet with Mr. Aizawa’s tired vision.
“Four.”
After that, you attempt to hide this cruel joke fate has decided to play on you in the back of your mind, but it looms over you for the following weeks before the trip.
Bakugou had never been actively mean to you. Sure, he was an ass to friends, allies, and foes alike, but his selfish, rude, and aggressive self drove you out of your wits. Most of your classmates don’t care much for his attitude either, but they seem to drown him out when necessary. You, on the other hand, can’t help but feel baited by all the words—scratch that, all the garbage that he spews, always compelled to talk back to him.
There isn’t a day where you don’t end up in a screaming match with your hotheaded schoolmate, or a day where you don’t look forward to getting teamed up with him just to spar and kick his ass. You two usually trade victories every so often, and you’re thankful that he doesn’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl. Bless his soul for being equally nasty to everyone.
Long story short, your only wish was to have fun on your school trip, without having to worry about your jerk of a classmate and about popping a vein because of said jerk of a classmate.
Inhaling long and hard before exhaling as an exasperated sigh eludes you, you taunt him.“God, why were you the one that came looking for me? Did you lose a bet or something?” He had already ruined your mood, he might as well make himself useful and amuse you while he’s here.
His eyelids, who had previously been ever so carefreely closed, snap open. “Are you braindead? All of us went looking for you! It’s fucking dangerous to wander off on your own!” he barks, his head whipping in your direction, red irises indignant as they bore into you.
You’re taken aback by the sudden shift in his posture, the sharpness and urgency of his words cutting deep and making you ignore that he called you braindead, somehow. “Seriously, don’t fucking do that ever again! Who knows what shit could go down when that bunch of dipshits from the League of Villains are always on our asses! Use your brain for once in your fucking life!”
…
Oh.
It doesn’t take long for you to understand where he’s coming from. You would’ve accused him of being an insensitive piece of shit had he not voiced out his completely valid concerns. You had your reasons to step out yourself, but now you can’t help but feel that you had been the insensitive one in this whole tribulation. After staring at him for what feels like forever, you lower your head in shame, biting the insides of your mouth as anxiety washes over your whole being.
“Call Half and Half, Shitty Hair and Deku and fucking tell them you’re okay, now!”
Jumping in your seat, you’re quick to pull your cell phone from the pockets of your grey blazer. “Okay, okay, fine!” Your hands shake as you dial the numbers, nails frantically clicking on the tempered glass screen.
“Hi, Midoriya? Sorry for ignoring your calls, I wasn’t feeling well and had to step outside the temple for a moment…”
…
“Yes, I’m fine, Kirishima, calm down! Bakugou found me, everything is good.”
…
“I appreciate your concern, Todoroki, I really do, I’m sorry for running off on my own, I’ll be more careful for the remainder of this trip, I promise.”
Bakugou peers into you the whole time you’re on the phone, arms crossed in front of his puffed chest as if to make sure you’re saying the right things and not adding unnecessary stank to your statements. You start to think it’s weird, even out of characters, for him to be so passionate about this, but the Katsuki Bakugou you’ve come to know would definitely lose his shit at the thought of one of his peers going missing just like he did during his first semester at UA.
You feel a pit in your stomach barely conjuring the thought of making him worried, or even scared, just because of your selfish afflictions. Once you hang up on Todoroki, you turn to meet his still upset gaze. It’s so pitiful, feeling like a freshly scolded child, but as regret keeps besetting in your guts, the worse you feel. The least you can do now is apologize… right?
“…I’m sorry.” Those are the only words that dare to come out of your mouth.
“You better be!”
“I-In my defense, I really did need to step out from the tour for a while…” The only thing left to do is explain yourself. “I didn’t expect the Rurikoin Temple to be so crowded and… I don’t do well with crowds. I started feeling nauseous, and decided it would be better if I went somewhere secluded so you guys wouldn’t see me having a meltdown.”
“I know you suck with crowds, you always excuse yourself whenever there’s a lot of people anywhere.” He mentions, suddenly averting his stern stare away from you. “That’s why I figured you’d be here.”
Tilting your head in genuine confusion, you ask. “But… How?”
“Yesterday, when we visited this shrine, you kept staring at this particular garden, remember?” He’s very nonchalant about the fact that he basically just admitted to looking in your general direction. Amazing. “Besides, I fucking hate crowded places too, and the first place I thought of pissing off to was here, so, there’s that.” After saying his piece, he leans back into the tree trunk, in the same position he had been earlier. “We can go to meet those dumbasses later, I’ll keep you company until you feel better, unless you want me to fuck off.”
Your mouth is agape at the amount of empathy his words exude. At this standstill, you’re faced with the Bakugou you thought you knew, and the Bakugou that never ever, not even in a million years, you thought you’d witness. Warmth rushes through your chest out of nowhere, making this already unsteady heart of yours hammer on your chest and your face faintly flush. All because maybe, just maybe…
He isn’t as bad as I thought he was…
Overcome by an emotion unknown, your hands reach for Bakugou’s shoulders, turning him around so that his back is facing you. Before he can say anything, you’re already pulling him backwards. His head forcefully comes in contact with your lap, as half of it lays over your skirt and the other half over your stockinged thighs. His body is stiff as a board at the velocity at which everything is happening.
His first move after being forced into this position is to veer his head slightly to the side to meet your gaze, his expression dumbfounded, but you refuse to look at him. “Y-You can nap here, if you want.”
“Wha—”
“Bakugou, for once in your life, please shut up…” You beg, barely able to get words out.
…
Shrugging, Bakugou gets comfortable, stretching his legs and yawning as loud as possible before speaking up. “Fine, wake me up when you’re ready to leave.” Impressed at the fact that he doesn’t take advantage of this moment of weakness of yours to make fun of you for being so pathetic, you gingerly smile to yourself, letting your back hit the trunk of the tree behind you.
Somehow, your chest feels lighter, as if a curse had been broken, or a heavy burden had been lifted. You find yourself wishing to throw away all the bitterness you’d been holding dangerously close to your heart, feeling like this sudden closeness isn’t only physical, but also emotional. It’s strange how much things can change in a matter of seconds. Now, more than ever, you find yourself closing the distance between your preconceptions and reality.
The thought of I wouldn’t mind getting closer to him crosses your mind.
If the kind of person you witnessed was the real him, then you honestly wouldn’t mind at all.
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taglist: @lowermoons, @sleepynyx, @kaaidalupita, @simplybakugou, @ererokii
