Kapitel 18: Then let's be that.
"Can you take the muzzle off for this visit? I'd like to speak with him."
"Are you sure?"
"Very, thank you."
(Y/N) held her hands firmly crossed against the semi-table bottoming the bay glass. Watching as they unhinged the bear trap firmly clasped around his jaw. The sound of slapping metal was almost jarring - piercing as it sliced through the quiet of the empty room with a loud clack! Bouncing off the concrete walls that concealed it. But, everything about this room was jarring to be honest. From the stark white walls to the floor that mocked it. You'd go mad if you were here any longer than a few hours. She almost felt a little disappointed that this wasn't his actual homing cell.
The guard took a brisk step back as the muzzle fell into his hands. Moving to stand near the door behind him while he watched from a safe distance. He was a biter she'd heard. Nearly bit the throat out of one of the prison guards while on a routine review of his cell. The poor guy ~ walking around with a plug in his neck all because of this rabid hound of a man and his lack of utter restraint. She'd hoped he got the flowers she sent him.
She couldn't help but grimace at the sight of him. Her expression souring as she traced the sunken indent that surrounded the bridge of his nose down to the low of his jaw. Welt like scars lining indiscriminate parts of his face like war fixtures. Some looked new. Good. And a discoloration on his skin that was sickeningly obvious from the lack of light. It gave him an almost spongy look at the bottom side of his face. He looked rightfully disgusting.
She leaned into her chair as she kept her eyes locked with his, crossing her arms against her chest. "You've been misbehaving I've heard. Bad behavior won't take any less time off of your two life sentences. But I'm sure you know that."
The introduction was teasing but the delivery didn't come off that way. Her voice driving out on flat tires, coming off lifeless and almost disinterested. But that was better than fear. Better than letting him know how fast her heart was racing right now. Maybe he'd read the absence of color in her hair as purely anger. No, he wasn't allowed to see her face. That'd only egg him on. The guards couldn't afford that. Not the same mistake twice.
"Mom wants me to continue these annual visits with you. Even if after..." She swallowed. Hopefully not too audibly. "Out of respect for her, I've chosen only to abide by that request. ~ Worst regards from her by the way. She hopes you're doing horribly."
His jaw clenched at that, his scowl noticeably deepening. That had struck a chord with him and it nearly had her holding back a smile. She hoped it hurt his feelings.
"But that's not the only reason I came." She sat up a bit as she crossed her legs under her dress. The long and flowy kind. He hated them. "I come barring news. - I'm moving. You can stop sending your goons to my high school now. ~ Since I won't be there to receive them."
She sighed. "Hopefully that means these visits will eventually spread and become a bit more scarce. You get to have your solitude. I get to have a fresh start. We all get to be hap-"
"Quiet."
(Y/N) couldn't help but jump at the sound of his voice. It felt like ages since the last time she'd heard it and it was just as gravely and as terrifying as it had always been. She hated the way her lips instinctively clamped down on themselves. How her first reaction was to obey like a dog. She could even feel the noticeable straighten in her spine. Her eyes wavered from his for a split second.
He let out a long exhale, an almost solemn one. She could hear his chains adjust against the trap around his hands. "You have your mother's mouth, you know that? Which is odd. Because I thought I taught you how to shut up a long time ago."
She almost said, "I'm sorry." And the thought of nearly fulfilling that action had her holding back vomit. It always irked her how small he could made her. How merely the sound of his voice could so quickly downsize her to a spec. She tried to contain the quiver in her fingers under her crossed arms. But at that point, she was just holding herself.
"Do I look like an idiot to you? Is that it? Like I couldn't possibly know what you're moving out there to do?" He leaned toward the glass and she couldn't help but press herself harder against the chair. "I saw it in you when you were a child and thought I could purge it then. Caught it again when you were fifteen and thought I had ripped it out of you for good. But I didn't. I truly failed you as a father. I see that now."
He shook his head. "You were everything I could ever hope for in a child. As beautiful as the stars, as powerful as the sun. ~ Smart enough to learn basic combat at five," He chuckled bitterly. "But too... too fucking stupid to know that you will never be cut out for hero work."
She finally took her gaze from his, trying to fight the burning sensation that had begun to prickle at the whites of her eyes. She couldn't give him that power. Her tears would just be his bread and butter. He wasn't going to win this. She wouldn't let him.
"And everything I did for you. Everything I- Hey, eyes on me (Y/N)." The sound of his fingers snapping against the metal in his box pulled her back to him. Glassy eyes and all. It was an instinct at this point. He made sure of that. "Everything I did ~ was an act of love. The actions of a father who could truly see the potential in his offspring. You were meant to be so much better than I am. To carry on my legacy and grab the world by its balls. Hero work would be a waste of your time - a waste of my love."
He sat back in his chair with a hard plap. Not too quickly forgoing his solemn look for a visage much more bitter than the one he held in his first act. Familiar in his gesture to the glass separating the two, even when knit so firmly in the box containing both of his hands. "Your right hand by itself triples me in power. You could bring utter devastation to Japan like that - and you think that's what your people want in a hero? You think they want a threat? A hazard? Or-" He shook his head. "How about this ~ how's the world gonna react when they find out a Viper has been playing dress up in their safe little communities? Slithering about their street corners, hissing around their children? Disgusting."
"Because you were born that way. - In the purest sense; poisonous. Vile. Baleful. It's a curse our family has taken on for ages. And you and I can turn that curse into to profit. Power. Drown the world in a plague of fire and watch it burn. ~ Build it up again and rule it the right way."
"~ Seize the opportunity for control or let it be wasted on the ideals of weak men, (Y/N). You carry the right choice on your fingers. And just as well as I - you know that prophecy is an immovable stone amidst the waters of desire. No matter what choice you make, you were made for a purpose."
He stood at that. Taking a moment to look over his shoulder and gesture the guard over, he turned to look at her again. The light smirk on his face had her mouth watering but the nickname nearly made her gag.
"Don't fight it, Adder."
~
"And you're sure you're okay? Absolutely positively? No, if and's or-"
She shushed him with a gentle finger pressed against his lips, letting the smoke from her glide over crawl into curling wisps that hovered around them. "I'm fine, Izuku. ~ Okay, maybe not fine but, I did cry a lot back at the school and even more when you got here. So, I should be good for now."
"But are you sure that's it? You can cry more if you want. I'm not going to judge you or anything. If anything I'm probably that last person who's gonna-"
She giggled. Singing to him through a slight smile. "~Zu-chan, I'm fine."
That's it. That killed him. Sorry, All Might. Sorry, Mom. Sorry, friends and all other acquaintances whom he'd come to hold near and dear. Izuku Midoriya has officially left the building. Gotta say it was a fun run. I think we all had some pretty good times ~ Like when All Might made him eat that strand of hair. Or when he broke his arms all those-
"Uh, Izuku? Oh no, did I break you?"
"I would literally pay you to call me that again."
She laughed and pushed her hand playfully against his chest. Gliding back in a fit of giggles as she sat against the headboard of his bed. "Where'd you get all these candies from anyway?"
Seriously, when he offered comfort food this was not what she was expecting. The amount was all but incredulous. Unopened potato bags worth of assorted sweets that had been stuffed beside his bedside cabinet nearly bursting the damn thing open. It had to have been bought at a bulk store. No sane person would sell these things over the counter.
"Would you believe me if I said I was a cry eater?"
"Pfft! With gains like that? I'm pretty sure you lift in your sleep. - Besides, none of these are open?"
He smirked as he crawled over to her, taking the bag from her hand and holding it in his. "Would you believe me if I said it was for a special someone? You know, just in case."
"Ohh." She smiled at him. "Midoriya Izuku has that hots for someone! ~Who is she?"
He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. You might see her around."
"Lemme guess! Is she... hot?"
"Well...It's the personality really that-"
"Izuku!" (Y/N) snorted. "That's what you say about ugly girls!"
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He chuckled. "No but,"
Tossing the bag to the side and pulling her under him, he knelt to hover over her, his nose gently pressing against hers. The heat of his breath on her lips and the soft smell of mint that had become accustomed to him at this point, was enough to give her butterflies. The smoke from her hair raising to curl around his.
"She's hot. Definitely."
"Oh? How hot? If I might ask."
"Smokin' "
She couldn't contain the bubbly guffaw that bounced out of her throat at that. "Are you serious?! I walked right into that!"
He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm on....fire."
"You can't- That's not even a smoke pun!"
They couldn't help but giggle into each other's mouths as he leaned in to complete the kiss. Soft and cotton candy like ~ playful as they shared short nibbles between ever other smooch. It made her head spin. Tiny fits of dopamine waving through her skull, muffling what was left of her sorrow for the moment. She couldn't help but enjoy the lingering feeling even after the kiss was broken.
"Can I ask you a question?"
She nodded as she looked up at him, her eyes falling into largely dilated pupils. Ink-like and boundless, nearly encompassing the green that confined them. "Of course."
"What are we?"
Oh.
The question made the hairs on her arms stand. There was a wall she needed to break down to get to that answer. They had gotten this far, of course. And lord knows she wanted him. She was almost sure she did. The butterflies. The way he rolled around her head when he wasn't around. How excited she was to see him every day.
But Bakugou.
"I'm...uh... sorry, about- er... the other day."
"What?"
"I'm not saying it again."
"I..." She staggered. "It's okay?.. I um... I forgive you."
"Yeah," He exhaled. "Yeah....Thanks."
She nodded as it fell silent again.
It was already a little weird that he'd (demanded) offered to help her grab her things and walk her back to the dorms for the evening. Which don't get her wrong she wholeheartedly appreciated. It's just... she didn't really know this Bakugou. His awkward kindness was as cute as it was off-putting and she was having a difficult time comprehending it. I mean an apology? Was he sick? She'd know, right? That's how these wrist things worked?
Bakugou stopped her a bit before the door, handing (Y/N) her bag before moving to put a hand in his pocket. The other on the back of his neck. "You uh.. have my number if you need anything right?"
She nodded. "Yep. Sent you a text before we left."
"Okay...Good."
"Thanks for this by the way." She gave him a small smile. "For what you did back there...in the classroom."
"Yeah. Don't mention it."
She gave him another nod as she swung her bag around her shoulder, turning to open the door but stopped again by the sound of her name.
"Oh uh, Angel face." Or well nickname. (She thought it was cute)
"Hm?"
"You-" He paused for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed as he kept his gaze on the ground in front of her. He must have been putting the thought together. "I'm not... gonna stop you from being happy with that shitty loser. If that's what you really want.... It's not like I'm gonna be mad at you or anything."
"I-" That took her back a bit. She could barely even think of the proper response.
The sudden force knocked him back a bit, slightly teetering on the edge of a step. It took him a moment to register he had been taken into another embrace. The feeling of her arms against his sides made him feel feverish.
"You're a great friend, Bakugou."
"Yeah." He sighed as he returned the hug. "I better be."
She bit her lip as she leaned into him, pressing her lips softly against his before pulling away again. "What do you want us to be?"
"Maybe... more than friends?"
She smiled and brought her hand up to cup the side of his face, letting her thumb gentley smooth over his freckles. She loved them. You could even find little constellations if you looked hard enough.
"Then let's be that."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein