xii.

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          

𝗄𝖾𝗍𝗌𝗎 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌©
𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗘


𖦹 ๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑ 𖦹


AFTER AN EARFUL from gang orca, where the hero spat out insults you never thought possible, your group of UA students was sent back to their dorms early, leaving the shiketsu students and the others to finish without you guys.
you had to endure bakugo's incessant complaining the whole walk and on top of that, todoroki's quiet disappointment, which made you feel 10 times worse. you understood the three of you came as a group, but it was really only necessary to send you and bakugo home. 
on top of that, you didn't even get to sit and process the half of that day before you and bakugo were called into aizawa's office almost immediately.
when you knocked on the door, there was a voice that invited you to come in. you opened to door to see bakugo already sitting in one of the two chairs set facing aizawa, an angry-sulky expression on his face. 
"come in and close the door," the man beckoned you in, his chunky bangs causing a shadow over his bloodshot eyes. 
you took a seat in the empty chair beside bakugo and slumped down a little, ready to get the same treatment the two of you got this morning with gang orca. though you knew the pro hero was right, his words sure hit deep. 
"how is it that two, more than capable teenagers— no, aspiring heroes would rather put their own citizens in danger—children—than to work out their differences?" 
you squeezed your eyes shut when a scowl almost set itself upon your face. 
you wanted to try and defend yourself, but you knew it wouldn't get you anywhere good, especially since you acknowledged that yes... it definitely wasn't the best idea to throw an explosive at a child. 
it was in the moment, okay?
at least we know now that that kid would've been a better football player than a hero anyway. 
"i'm sure you two know why you're here," aizawa started off cliche, leaning back in his office chair. when you nodded to prompt him on, bakugo not even bothering to look up, aizawa huffed a great big sigh. 
"i know you've already got a mouthful from gang, so i'm not gonna say much except the fact that the two of you desperately need to work on your relationship," he said almost wearily. 
"if you're lookin' to be a hero someday, there's absolutely no room for people like you two; people who can't cooperate. you'd be surprised to know how much teamwork plays a role in missions, and you can't afford even the tiniest gap in your partner's relationship because it can be detrimental to not only you, but most importantly the people you're trying to save," aizawa barely paused between his sentences, seeming to be quite passionate about this despite the blank look on his face. though, behind it, you could find some hesitation. "do you guys understand that?" 
"... yes, i understand that what i did today was unacceptable and could've hurt a lot of people. i apologize for that," you said with regret and cheerlessness laced in your words. so much that you felt bakugo's gaze on you for just a second. 
"we all make bad decisions, y/n, just please... think about this and learn from it," aizawa nodded then turned towards bakugo, who's head had not seen the light of day since he entered the office. 
when he felt several eyes in him, he looked up in all is petulance and grimaced. "i'm sorry too... i guess." 
there was a pause and a silence where you could hear a pin drop. but then, you were surprised when you looked up at aizawa to see just the ghost of a smile on his lips. 
there was a pained groan as he got up, as if he was some old man with years of back and bone aches, and he straightened. "now, your punishment doesn't end here, kids," aizawa said with what you could've sworn was wry sardonicism. 
when he heard the sound of shuffling between you and bakugo as the two of you looked up in expectation, he smiled. 
"ever since y/n has gotten here, there's been a lot more chaos in the dorms than usual. i know it's only been a couple days and that bakugo barely gets along with anybody in general, but the two of you seem to share a perpetual, mutual dislike for each other." 
bakugo made a face that looked like he wanted to say "damn right," and begin a whole sermon on what you did for him to hate you, but seemed to decide against that. 
instead, he let out a gruff sound and rasped out an irritated, "so?" 
"i was waiting for that," aizawa chuckled. "so," he said, the silence of his pause being filled by that sound of, what, chains? "i came up with a nice way to help you guys get along!" 
❥๑━━━━━━━━━━๑❥
"HANDCUFFS??" you and bakugo yelled simultaneously, looking at the restrictive item in aizawa's hand with confusion. 
"handcuffs, indeed," aizawa said, his feigned urbane way of speaking making you finally scowl. 
"and what the hell do you think you're gonna do with those?" bakugo asked incredulously, eyes just widening at sight. his red irises dragging along the length of the chain that snaked along the floor behind aizawa, exactly one handcuff on each side. 
"what do you think i'm gonna do with them?" aizawa asked sarcastically. "we're gonna play a little game, of course!" 
alright, now he was having too much fun. 
"one of you is going to pick a hand," he continued in his deep voice as if he was speaking to children the stature of those you had to deal with earlier that day. "and we'll go from there. but ultimately, the point is to have the two of you handcuffed together for a few days."
"and for what reason??" you asked, unable to even grasp the idea: you and bakugo... cuffed together... unable to leave each other's side for days! 
"we'll call it a bonding exercise," the man shrugged, his calm demeanor making you twitch. his gaze went to bakugo, who had been wallowing in quiet rage for the past minute. "i know what you're thinking, kid. if you try to resist, we can always bring midnight in..."
bakugo made a choked sound and stiffened up as if aizawa had read his mind, which was soon replaced by a mere pout, his hand buried in his pocket as he hunched over. 
you sighed and leaned your elbows on your thighs, rubbing your scalp. "when are we starting?" 
aizawa took a hand out of his pocket to scratch his head, "tomorrow morning, bright and early," a full grin on his face this time. "enjoy your last night of freedom."

𖦹 ๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑ 𖦹
ketsu <3