Of Monsters And Men | Bakugo Katsuki X OC

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, suicidal ideation, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Hey Lovelies, hope you all are well! I know I usually post on weekends, but since I felt bad for not posting over this last weekend. My husband and I were busy setting up my new PC! It definitely feels like a fancier upgrade from the laptop I was working off of, lol! Anyway, enjoy the read! <3

Enji sighs heavily when he hears that the team that was sent out to take down the Kaiju that had made land along the Shizuoka coastline are on their way back. The Kaiju was successfully taken down with no casualties, so despite the damage to nearby buildings and structures, Enji is relieved. He tells the team to debrief and complete their written report of the event when they get back, then he leaves the Bay 3 Loccent Control Room.

He’s barely gotten into the elevator when his phone vibrates in his pocket. Something in his stomach sinks as he pulls out his phone and sees Aizawa’s contact on the screen along with a message. The message is short and to the point with Aizawa only saying that he’ll meet him at Enji’s office to discuss the Drift trial. Enji lets out another heavy sigh and presses the button for the floor that his office is on, consciously trying to fight off his impending and unwarranted anger.

It’s not long before the elevator stops and opens up to the floor Enji requested, and he steps out. As he gets closer to his office he can see Aizawa leaning against the door doing something on his tablet. He can feel a deeply rooted sense of embarrassment and disappointment burning within him as he makes assumptions about why Aizawa wanted to meet with him.

“They went out of alignment again?” Enji asks as he gets up to Aizawa, his tone coming across angrier than he meant it to be.

“Let’s just get into your office before we discuss how the trial went.” Aizawa says already trying to tiredly tamper down Enji’s hot-blooded temper.

Enji clenches his jaw but nods once and moves to open the door to his office after Aizawa steps out the way. He walks in first heading for his desk chair, leaving Aizawa to close the door behind him. Enji sits down heavily, fighting the urge to audibly groan over the relief of not being on his feet anymore, and waits for Aizawa to explain what happened. Aizawa sits down and attempts to level Enji with a stern look that says “try not to fly off the fucking handle this time.”

“They went out of alignment again.” Aizawa states, cutting right to the chase and confirming what Enji had questioned. “It started with Bakugo this time, but whatever Bakugo had flashbacks of seemed to have triggered Azu- Todoroki to go way out of alignment. As you had seen before you left, they were working well together and making good progress as co-pilots.. but whatever she re-lived, whatever he saw, seemed to have set them back to square one. We should start considering pairing them up with other rangers-”

“No.” Enji practically growls out firmly, his fists clenched on his desk in front of him as he leans forward on his forearms. “They will learn to work with each other to become an efficient team-”

“Jesus, Enji, why won’t you give it a rest? They obviously hate each other and neither of them show signs of being willing to set that aside to make this work. Why are you so adamant about them being co-pilots?” Aizawa asks exasperatedly, his frustrations boiling over as he sends a questioning glare to Enji.

“Because if we pair Bakugo with anyone else he will get that Ranger or himself or both of them killed! The boy is too overconfident in his abilities and any other Ranger that gets paired with him will just turn into a pushover when it comes to decisions during battle. Azusa has the stubbornness and rational thinking that Bakugo needs in a co-pilot. As much as they may hate each other they balance each other out.” Enji bursts out, his voice just below a shout as he gives the reasons behind why he’s so set on this co-pilot pairing.

Aizawa’s eyes widen slightly and Enji lets out an exasperated sigh before running a hand down his face. There’s a couple of moments of tense silence before Aizawa sighs tiredly and his body language slumps a bit, “I’m sorry for failing to see such dynamics between them. I suppose I was too focused on their Drift Compatibility and their hate for each other. I wasn’t taking into account their actual personalities. You’re right, they do balance each other out; Bakugo’s confidence more than makes up for Todoroki’s lack-thereof, and Todoroki’s rationality makes up for Bakugo’s ‘act first, think later’ way of thinking.. but how long are we willing to wait for them to get their act together?”

Enji steels himself, sinks into his Marshal-mindset and pushes away any guilty feelings over what he’s about to say, “They get two more trial runs. If neither are successful, if there are misalignment hiccups both times, then they’ll be kicked from the Jaeger program and placed in a different field.”

Aizawa’s eyes widen again and he audibly inhales, “Enj- Sir, I’m not sure if the consequences need to be that drast-”

“Bakugo’s irrationality and Azu- Todoroki’s under-confidence will kill them both if they are placed with other pilots.” Something within Enji’s mind hates himself for saying that about his own daughter, but he buries the feeling and continues on, “They will have two more chances to prove that they can work together and if they can’t, then they’re done. That’s my final decision.”

Enji watches Aizawa fight to hold his tongue as the dark-haired man clenches his jaw. In Enji’s mind, he knows that this sounds like a harsh decision, that in any other case they would simply change the pairings. But between Bakugo’s personality and Azusa’s lack of proof that she’s actually cut out for this, it’s an easy decision for him. It is unfortunately made easier when Enji’s pride over his reputation has been screaming at him this entire time, telling him to keep Azusa from embarrassing him further.. The deep-seated need for himself and his family to be perfect, flawless, and effective at everything all the time winning out in moments like these.

“I already sent you the report on what happened today with the Drift trial.” Aizawa grits out, obviously mad about Enji’s decision but keeping his anger to himself for the most part. “Did you want to speak with the Rangers themselves?”

“I’ll read over the report, then decide. You’re dismissed, Marshal.” Enji responds evenly shifting his steely gaze from Aizawa to the computer on his desk.

Without another word, Aizawa stands and leaves the office, the sound of the door closing with a bit more force than necessary echoing throughout the room. Enji sighs and lets his shoulders droop as exhaustion in every form hits him. He locates and opens the email with the report attached to it and begins reading through it.

Even without the presence of tons of personnel down in Bay 10 where the Drift trail was held the re-telling of the events that happened make Enji’s blood boil. It doesn’t matter to him that this time the two had begun to work well with each other. It doesn’t matter to him that this time the misalignment was Bakugo’s fault. It doesn’t matter to him that this time it was Azusa that got pulled into what was assumed to be a horrible and traumatic memory that ‘left the Ranger shaken’ when she came out of it. What matters to Enji is that, yet again, it was a Todoroki that made an embarrassment out of all of the Todoroki’s, especially himself.

Enji could feel the fiery anger flow hot through his veins as he sent private messages to both Bakugo and Azusa, telling them to report to his office immediately. He could feel his hands shaking more and more with each minute that passed by waiting for them to get there. And he could feel the painful strain in his throat as he tried to keep an even tone when telling whoever knocked on the door first to come in.

His inner rage only seemed to intensify when Azusa walked into his office, saying nothing as she closed the door behind her and walked over to the chair across the desk from him. He sat there simmering in his embarrassment-fueled anger as he watched her sit down and look at him emotionlessly.

“I was told about what happened during your Drift trial and read the report. What do you have to say for yourself, Ranger?” Enji’s cold, angry tone only gets a minuscule reaction from Azusa and that only seems to rile him up more.

“It was human error, I suppose, Sir.” Azusa says plainly, staring at Enji with blank eyes, and the man loses his barely held together composure.

“Human error? Human error?!” He shouts as his face heats up from exasperated anger, and Azusa flinches slightly.

“Yes, Sir. Ranger Bakugo had a brief flashback and what little came through from the flashback sent me into-” Azusa tries to explain, her emotionless facade cracking a bit as various emotions ripple across her features, but all Enji can focus on is rage.

“Ranger, are you telling me that you are so weak-minded that the tiniest bit of someone else’s memory can force you to completely chase the rabbit?! Tell me, what was the memory you so carelessly got yourself sucked into, huh?! You are far too young to have any memories so traumatic!” His shouts bounce cruelly off of the walls of his office and Enji watches as his rage is reflected in his daughter’s face.

“Too young for trauma?! It’s your fucking fault that I have memories that traumatic in the first place! Even before you killed Toya- aahhh!” Azusa’s rage-filled outburst is harshly cut off when Enji, blinded by white-hot rage, slaps her across the face. Her head snaps harshly to the side as she cries out and the room becomes dead silent aside from both of their heavy breathing.

It registers in Enji’s mind what he just did and all of his anger dissipates into thin air as he looks between his tingling hand and Azusa. Horror fills his stomach making him feel nauseous, and acid burns at the back of his throat. He watches as one of Azusa’s hands comes up to hold her now reddened and swelling cheek as she turns her head to face forward again. His heart shatters at the tears dripping down her face and the unreadable emotions in her eyes.

“A-Azusa, I-I-”

Enji is cut off when Azusa suddenly stands up, the chair she was sitting in falling backwards from the force, and runs out of the room. Before he can even tell her to wait the office door slams shut, the walls around him nearly shaking. Feeling defeated, horrified, and numb at the same time, Enji stumbles his way over to the door. Opening it he comes face to face with a hesitant-looking Bakugo who has a fist raised and ready to knock.

“You can go back to your bunk, Ranger. I will speak to you later.” Enji forces out in horribly composed professional tone.

Bakugo swallows thickly and just nods at Enji before turning around and quickly disappearing from Enji’s view. Going back into his office, Enji slowly closes the door and locks it. Too many emotions surge through him at once, the main one being a massive amount of self-hatred, and he punches the thick metal in front of him. He doesn’t even blink an eye at the pain that shoots up his arm, or acknowledge his now split and bleeding knuckles.

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, suicidal ideation, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Hi, my Lovelies! Hope you all are well! I hope you're enjoying the story! I have a feeling this fic is going to be a pretty long one, so I hope that those who have taken an interest in it stay along for the ride! Anyway, I love and appreciate you all, and I'm glad to be back! <3

Once she was dismissed, Azusa had burst out of her father’s office feeling way too much at once. She was too wrapped up in forcing herself to calm down and go numb until she could be back in the privacy of her room to notice the tall blonde rushing to hide around the corner. Unbeknownst to her, Bakugo had lingered just outside the door to the Marshal’s office desperate to know if she would actually get reprimanded or not. He had expected to hear her get a pass, to be let off easy for letting herself mess up their Drift sequence. What he hadn’t expected to hear was the Marshal ruthlessly berating her as she tried to choke back sobs.

After a few deep, shaking breaths and forcing her face to be blank and emotionless, Azusa walked back to her bunk. She had walked along numbly, not bothering to acknowledge other Rangers or techs she was familiar with lest her fragile mask crack. She had just barely made it through the doorway of her room when she crumbled, closing and locking the door behind her as she fell to the floor.

Back up against the door and choking on sobs is where she still sits, not having the will or strength to drag herself to her bed. Her father’s words reverberate through her mind, shredding her down to her core. Her hands come up to her mouth to muffle the broken, painful, whining sobs that tear from her chest. Like so many times before, years upon years of emotional turmoil flooded to the surface like hot magma. Far too many times throughout her life has she seen that side of Enji and it tears her down to nothing. Every. Single. Time.

Her puffy, red, and watery eyes solemnly glance over at the picture of Toya on her dresser, and whispered apologies begin falling from her lips. Pathetically, she drags herself over to the dresser, blindly crawling along the floor as tears continue to flow from her eyes. With far more effort than it should have taken, she heaves herself up to stand weakly in front of the dresser.

‘Failure! Disappointment! Embarrassment! Pathetic! Nothing!’ Her mind berates her as she reaches a shaking hand out to the photo of her late brother. Choking on a sobbed-out “sorry” she fixes the frame so that it lays face down on her dresser. Azusa then turns to her bed, letting herself crash into its surface without bothering to change before crying herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“Attention Bravo Inferno, report to Bay 10 immediately following breakfast for your trial Drift sequence. Attention Bravo Inferno, report to Bay 10 immediately following breakfast for your trial Drift sequence. Attention Bravo Inferno-”

Azusa reaches a hand out to shut off the repetitive alarm and lets out a heavy sigh as she sits up. Her body is a bit stiff as she gets out of bed to get ready for the day. Emotions from the day before try worming their way into her psyche, the emotion leading the brigade being guilt. Guilt over everything that had transpired but mostly over ignoring Aizawa when he had stopped by her bunk. She had laid in bed unmoving even when he had knocked multiple times and asked if she was okay from the other side of the door. Eventually, he had left and she was able to go back to berating herself in peace.

Looking at her ragged reflection as she does her hair, Azusa forces herself to go numb. It’s a horrible coping mechanism and she knows that, but it’s all she knows to do when everything feels like too much. Meeting the expressionless face that stares back at her from the mirror, she ignores the bags under her eyes and her bloodshot scleras. Instead, she smooths down any stray flyaways in her hair and leaves the bathroom. When she opens her bunk door to leave, Fuyumi is right there with her hand up ready to knock. She gives Azusa a once-over, then looks back up at her sister with concerned eyes.

“Zusa.. what did Dad say to you, yesterday? You look.. You’ve got that look in your eyes..” Fuyumi voices her worries as she falls into step next to Azusa, the two making their way to the elevator.

“I got a lecture like any other Ranger would have and then I moved on with my day,” Azusa answers in a monotone voice, not meeting her sister’s eyes. “And there is no ‘look’, Yumi, I look how I always do.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Your eyes are always that puffy and red, my bad. And you totally always act this distant and disconnected, sorry for being concerned.” Fuyumi sasses after scoffing. “Look, I know yesterday was rough. You can talk to me, Zusa. You don’t have to close yourself off, you don’t have to shut down like this-”

“I am fine, Fuyumi. Just drop it, alright?” Azusa accidentally says with more bite than she intended and the guilt starts to rear its ugly face, yet again, before she shoves it back down. Fuyumi sends Azusa a slightly startled glance, then shakes her head defeatedly as the elevator door opens up.

The two walk into the Mess Hall and immediately Azusa feels like every pair of eyes are on her. Her body tenses, a slight tremble starting in her hands as she heads toward the food line. She mentally fights to keep up the emotionless mask she’s donned while her thoughts try to convince her that every whisper from those around her is about her.

She rushes to fill her tray with food, then she crosses the room to an open table as calmly and collectively as she can. She passes by the table where Bakugo is sitting and accidentally makes eye contact with the blonde. Except, where she expects to find sharp, blood-red eyes glaring at her, she finds that Bakugo is looking at her with a calculating gaze. He’s looking at her like he’s trying to figure something out until he relents with a scoff and turns his eyes back down to his food.

Finally sitting down, Azusa shakes off the confusion from Bakugo’s weird behavior and begins picking at her food. She knows that if she starts thinking, and starts trying to analyze whatever the hell that was about, the other thoughts will begin battering her brain. She needs to be numb. She needs to not think about anything. That’s the only way that this next Drift trial will go smoothly.

After just mostly pushing the food around her tray for what feels like hours, she sees Bakugo get up to clear his place out of the corner of her eye. She waits a respectable minute or so after he has left the Mess Hall to do the same. Standing up, inhaling a long breath as she does, when she feels a tug on her sleeve and she looks down at Fuyumi.

“You hardly ate half your food, Azusa. You should really stay and finish it.” Fuyumi says, concern and what Azusa makes out to be pity lining her features.

Tugging her arm away from her sister’s light grasp, Azusa glares slightly, “I’ll be late for my Drift trial if I stay any longer and you know how the Marshal hates lateness. I’ll see you later, Fuyumi.”

Azusa can hear Fuyumi’s frustrated and tired sigh as she walks away from the table, but chooses not to let her thoughts linger on it. She drops her tray off at the designated area, then forces confidence into her stride as she leaves the Mess Hall. Getting to the elevator she doesn’t see Bakugo anywhere and she internally sighs a breath of relief. Pressing the button to call the elevator, she forces herself to think numb thoughts.

The elevator ride to Bay 10 was simultaneously too short and too long. Dread, fear, and rage had tried clawing their way through the barriers that Azusa had put up with each floor that had passed. All the while, Azusa had been desperately trying to get a fucking grip on her anxiety, which she currently feels like is still not under wraps completely as she steps out of the elevator. But seeing her fath- the Marshal standing at the threshold of the Shatterdome actually helps her with stuffing every single emotion she has back into that little box at the back of her mind.

“Sir.” She says emotionlessly, her features hardened and cold as steel as she stands at attention in front of the man, not bothering to acknowledge Bakugo standing off to his side.

“At ease, Ranger.” Marshal Todoroki says, stoic as ever but guilt swims in his eyes and Azusa has to fight with her inner rage for a moment. The tension is suffocating for a moment until Bakugo clears his throat uncharacteristically awkwardly, reminding the Marshal of his presence.

“Alright, Rangers, myself and Marshal Aizawa have decided to have you both run through a couple more trial Drifts to further test your compatibility. If the next couple of trials prove to be failures, then we will place you both with other co-pilots. If either of you are knocked out of alignment, try your best to bring each other back. You are a team and that means you should be getting through every obstacle as a team. Prove to me and Marshal Aizawa that yesterday was just a fluke, am I understood?” Marshal Todoroki finishes his spiel, his tone as militant and commanding as ever.

“Yes, Sir.” Azusa and Bakugo say at the same time and Marshal Todoroki gives them a singular nod.

“Good. Now, go suit up and get to your Jaeger.” Marshal Todoroki says dismissively before he turns to head for the Loccent Command Center for this Bay.

Silence befalls the two Rangers as they head for the sub-level where techs are waiting to help them suit up. They step into an elevator that’s slightly smaller than the one used for travel through the main floors of the base. Bakugo hits the button for the sub-level they need and the elevator begins moving with a metallic groan.

“You’re acting fucking weird today,” Bakugo states, his agitated voice breaking the silence.

“And why would you care?” Azusa spits, really not in the mood to deal with the blonde’s bullshit.

“I don’t!” Bakugo barks out, overly defensive and irritated. “Just make sure you don’t fuck this up, again! I’ve worked too damn hard for this and I don’t need the Marshal’s defective ass dau-”

“Don’t finish that fucking sentence, asshole.” Azusa seethes through clenched teeth, flames of rage burning behind her eyes as she glares at Bakugo.“I have worked just as hard as you and I am just as much stuck with you as you are with me. I am not the one who got stuck in my memories yesterday, am I? This is a job, Bakugo, one that we both signed up for. We don’t have to like each other, we just have to work well enough together that the job gets fucking done.”

Bakugo’s jaw and fists clench at Azusa’s words, but he doesn’t say anything further, each of their low blows making the other seethe. The two suit up in silence, ignoring the techs around them sending worried glances to each other at the thick tension. As they both enter the Conn-Pod of Bravo Inferno there is, once again, no conversation about side-preferences. Bakugo just automatically goes over to the right, forcing Azusa to take the left side.

Mechanical fasteners click into place and various instruments whir to life as the pilots settle into their harnesses. Taking a moment to close her eyes and take a couple of deep breaths, Azusa lets go of her anger and forces her mind to go numbly blank, once more.

“Good morning, Bravo Inferno pilots! Izuku Midoriya, here to be your trusted Loccent contact, today!” Izuku’s cheery voice comes through the Comms and Azusa feels the smallest tug of a smile at the corners of her lips.

Before Azusa has a chance to greet her childhood friend back, Marshal Aizawa’s voice fills the Comms, “Listen up, Rangers. Once your neural handshake has been finalized and deemed stable, you will be directed to move about the Bay. We have cleared it of all personnel so that you may roam freely. Marshal Todoroki, Izuku, and I will be monitoring your stats the entire time. If either of you goes out of alignment, we are more than prepared to handle the situation, so just focus on getting each other back to the present. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Bakugo and Azusa answer in tandem, once again.

“Good. Prepare for neural handshake.” Marshal Aizawa says before Izuku’s voice comes back through the Comms with the countdown.

Azusa closes her eyes and tips her head back focusing on the mantra playing through her mind, ‘Just be blank. Carry nothing into the Drift. No emotions. No thoughts. Just be blank. Carry nothing into the Drift. No emotion. No thoughts. Just be blan-’

The sharp gasp that leaves Azusa’s mouth cuts off her train of thought and just like yesterday her consciousness is pulled through memory after memory, both her own and Bakugo’s. Memories different than the ones she saw yesterday flash through her mind, but she just lets her consciousness flow through them. Soon enough, she jerks back into the present with the feeling of Bakugo’s psyche rubbing against and melding with her own.

“Right hemisphere calibrating,” Bakugo and Azusa say together as they raise their right hand, repeating the action for their left side.

“Looking good, you two! Neural handshake is strong and stable! I’ve gotten the green light from the Marshals to tell you to go ahead and try moving whenever you’re ready!” Izuku happily informs the two over the Comms.

Azusa can feel Bakugo’s annoyance spike at Izuku’s cheerful tone and she can’t help the rolling of her eyes. Underneath the annoyance, though, is the excitement that the blonde feels along with a sense of power. ‘Jesus, this is just going to make his god complex worse.’ Azusa thinks with an internal groan and she hears a growl come from the blonde three feet away from her.

‘You know that I can hear your thoughts, right idiot?’ The anger-fueled thought flashes across Azusa’s mind leaving her slightly surprised yet smug, a self-satisfied smirk pulling at her lips.

“Get moving, Rangers. We don’t have all day to just sit here. Focus on the task at hand and take it seriously or get the hell out of that Jaeger.” Marshal Todoroki says borderline harshly through the Comms and it takes everything for Azusa not to flinch at his reprimand.

Bakugo must feel something flash through their bond because he looks over to Azusa, the look on his face contradicting what he tells her within their shared mind-space, ‘Don’t listen to him, just focus on keeping yourself stable and present.’

Only half meeting Bakugo’s gaze, Azusa just nods, forcing herself to be blank and numb again. As the two make their Jaeger take a step forward, Azusa offhandedly thinks about how keeping herself completely void of feelings is much more difficult to do with someone else in her brain. It’s an absentminded thought, fast and fleeting in nature. Yet it’s not fast enough for Bakugo to miss, but he chooses to ignore it. For now, at least.

Bakugo and Azusa move Bravo Inferno around the Bay for a while, both of them getting used to a new center of gravity and being in someone’s mind. They’re in the middle of practicing evasive maneuvers when their Comms crackle to life.

“Attention, Rangers. I just wanted to inform you both that Marshal Todoroki had to step out to observe a deployment. There was a Kaiju signature picked up on our radars along the Shizuoka coastline. I am staying here to continue observations.” Marshal Aizawa informs the two pilots, but before either of them can respond Bakugo goes shock-still.

Azusa can feel cold fear flash through her and her body jerks painfully as her reality is shaken. There’s a brief, muted, and echoing sound of sirens, the noise appearing to come from whatever flashback had thrown Bakugo back into the past. But the disruption within Bakugo’s psyche reverberates through Azusa’s and triggers something within her mind.

Suddenly, Azusa is on her knees with the armor of her suit protecting them from the grainy sand beneath her. Then she blinks and she is the 17-year-old version of herself wearing an all too familiar t-shirt and pair of shorts. The grains of sand now dig into the skin of her knees and the blare of the Kaiju Warning Sirens echoes around her.

She watches with paralyzing fear as a Kaiju gets increasingly closer to the shoreline she’s kneeling at. Even if the fear wasn’t freezing her muscles in place, she doesn’t think she would have the will to move. The Kaiju finally reaches the shallows and something akin to relief bleeds into Azusa’s body.

It’s been a month since Toya’s death and it has been nothing short of unbearable. Between the grief and her father’s heightened cruelty, Azusa has been going through hell. She doesn’t feel like she can do it anymore. She can’t handle the pressure of being the oldest Todoroki sibling. She can’t handle being the pillar of support for her brothers, sister, and mother. She can’t handle being just another outlet for her father’s misplaced anger.

It’s been a month and she can’t help but wonder how Toya did this for years without crumbling under the pressure.

The earth beneath her rumbles and shakes with every step the alien monster in front of her takes. It roars as it draws closer and Azusa’s body begins trembling subconsciously, her basic survival instincts screaming at her to run. But she ignores the rational part of her brain and focuses on finally being able to escape life, on the possibility of seeing her brother again. She’s so focused on the Kaiju that’s now right in front of her that she doesn’t register the sound of metallic muscles working to rush the monster staring down at her.

Metal meets alien flesh and the sound resonates through the air, pulling Azusa out of the daze she was stuck in. Beast fights beast and from the blur of limbs crashing into bodies, the tail of the Kaiju swings through the air. Its intention is to hit the Jaeger in the side, but as it travels along its set path it slams into Azusa’s body.

The wind is immediately knocked from her lungs as pain explodes throughout her entire being, her body sent flying through the air. She bounces a couple of times when she lands before she slides along the asphalt of the beachside parking lot. Barely conscious, she cries at the feeling of the cold yet fiery pain engulfing the right side of her body. The metallic smell of blood hits her nostrils and she gags on it in all of her agony.

She dazedly watches the Jaeger land the final blows to the Kaiju that was supposed to kill her. Listens to its dying roars with a mixture of instinctual relief and conscious jealousy. The beast finally lies down dead and the Jaeger’s head turns in her direction. It begins to approach her and she takes the time to really look at it. The familiar black and lime green paint, the emblem of a jaguar with bright yellow eyes stamped on the chest; it’s Aizawa’s and Yamada’s Jaeger.

The massive robot finally reaches her, its towering figure bending over to gently pick her up with one hand. The metal giant brings its hand up to the glass window where its eyes would be. The glass panel slides open and Azusa meets the dark eyes of the man she looks up to the most in her life.

“I’ll keep us steady, you go grab her, Shota!” Yamada calls out as he hits various switches and buttons.

Aizawa is quick to disengage from his harness, rushing over to scoop Azusa up into his arms, uncaring of her blood getting all over his suit. He brings her over to a corner of the Conn-Pod and carefully straps her to a spine board, worry filling his usually tired features.

“What were you even doing out here, kid?” He quietly asks, not really looking for an answer but getting one anyway.

“I just wanted to see Toya again..” Azusa brokenly whispers out just before the severity of her injuries catches up to her and she passes out.

Gasping like she couldn’t breathe the whole time, Azusa crashes back to reality. In a daze still, she disengages from her harness, swaying as her body threatens to give out on her. Her legs shake, then her knees buckle but before her body can hit the floor two strong arms catch her. Hands come up to rip off her helmet and she gulps in all the oxygen she can.

“Guess we’re even now, huh Princess?” Bakugo rasps out quietly from beside her and it’s then that Azusa registers the shouting through the Comms and the various alarms blaring.

“S-sorry,” Azusa whispers, leaning all of her weight against Bakugo.

“Don’t be.” The blonde states quietly instead of spitting out something snarky.

The doors to the Conn-Pod suddenly open causing Bakugo to jerk away from Azusa a bit. Without thinking, one of Azusa’s hands shoots out to grasp Bakugo’s arm, the fear of being left alone overriding her distaste for the blonde.

Footsteps approach the pair and Azusa instantly knows who it is, “Rangers, are you okay? Todoroki, can you stand?” Marshal Aizawa’s voice fills the newfound silence of the Conn-Pod.

“I’m fine,” Azusa says as Bakugo helps her stand. As soon as she’s up she steps away from him despite being shaky on her feet.

Bakugo sends her a confused look before fixing his features back to his usual look of annoyed disinterest, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Aizawa sends a weary glance to Azusa before sighing, “Okay, good. Both of you head back to your bunks, we’re done for the day. I’ll let Marshal Todoroki know what happened.” He states, sending Azusa a brief apologetic glance before turning to walk out of the Conn-Pod.

Bakugo turns slightly to look at Azusa, the scars on the right side of her face more noticeable than they were before. The rest of the memory plays through his head; Azusa waking up in the Hospital Bay, her mother and siblings being sent out of the room, and her father screaming at her for the next hour. Phantom feelings of emotional pain linger in his chest and it makes him grind his teeth.

“You sure you’re fine?” Bakugo asks with feigned disinterest despite his unwelcomed and genuine concern.

“Don’t worry about it, Bakugo. Forget that you saw anything.” Azusa says tiredly as she moves past him to leave the Conn-Pod, refusing to meet his eye at any point.

Note ~ So, while I am still working on this fic, I want to write some more xReader one or two-parters so hit up that ask button, Lovelies! Drop a comment telling me how you're liking the story so far or if I missed any typos or if I need to add any more tags! Much love and appreciation, Lovelies! <3

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover

Taking Over Me | Aizawa Shota x Reader

Part One | Part Two | Part Three |

Summary ~ You have been doing this job for a very long time. Maybe since the dawn of time, but who knows? In all of that time, you never had a doubt or question about the way things were. That is, until now.. because you’re pretty sure that Protectors aren’t supposed to fall in love with those that they’re protecting.

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!Guardian Angel!Reader, canon typical violence, character injury, angst, hurt, comfort, fluff, medium-slow burn because Shota is bad at feelings, more tags to come as the story develops..

Note ~ Hey, Lovelies! This is something that I've been working on for awhile, and am excited to share with you all! The idea was actually derived from a concept I had for an Original Story that I had started writing a long time ago! There's just something about characters falling in love with ethereal beings and vice versa that I love so much, lol! Anyway, enough of my rambles, enjoy the read, My Lovelies!

Your kind has many names amongst the humans; Protector, Keeper, Champion, Lifesaver, Watcher, Divine Messenger, Guardian Angel, Guardian Spirit, and so on. In the many millennia you’ve existed, you’ve never had a preferred title, just settled on the most accurate term; Protector. Label or not, you simply exist and you have one job. Something that you instinctively and unconsciously perform, no matter who you’re paired with. Your only job is to steer someone away from life-threatening danger. However, it is up to the person to either acknowledge your signs or ignore them.

You’ve never questioned why you exist, why you’ve been given your role, or who was in charge of all of this. You don’t even remember how you came to exist if you were being honest. But from time to time, you do think about some peculiarities you’ve encountered over the thousands of years you’ve been doing this. One of the peculiarities you find to be more.. odd, for lack of a better word, is that of the billions of souls swimming around out there in the universe you’ve experienced repeated pairings with one of them. Though, once again, you don’t ask questions, you just do your job.

Over the last 500 years, you’ve watched over just under a hundred different souls, and that number has only been so low because you keep getting paired with one soul in particular. He’s had a different name each lifetime that he’s lived through, and his appearance changes with each new life. But you can always recognize his soul; the colors of it, the shape of it, the feelings ebbing from it, and.. the way it pulls at yours unlike any other soul has. In this new life, he has dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin, and goes by the name Shota Aizawa.

The world that he has been born into this time intrigues you. It seems as though most humans, including Shota, are born with powers of all kinds. It fascinates and challenges you in the sense that these “Quirk-powered” humans will make your job of protecting Shota a bit harder. But despite being paired with his soul again and the impending challenge, you silently vow to do your job as best you can. Shota certainly doesn’t make things easier for you when he decides to attend a high school that helps the youth to become Heroes. You stay by his side, though, unseen to the human eye as you watch him work to become a Hero.

~~~~~~~~~~

Let it be said that while your sole purpose is to protect those you’re paired with doesn’t mean that you are some unfeeling being. Countless times have you wished so desperately that you could provide comfort to the humans you protect. Moments when they’re overwhelmed, devastated, or grief-stricken, and all you can do is watch them break apart emotionally. Sometimes, most times, it feels like their pain is your pain. Unfortunately, now is one of those times…

You’re standing beside Shota as he looks down at a pile of rubble that has crushed one of his friends. He’s clutching his bleeding arm with a devastated and traumatized look on his face. As if by reflex, you reach out to put a hand on his shoulder, but your hand phases right through him. You whisper an apology to him even though he can’t hear it, and look at the being across from you. The ethereal glow of their body flickers and dims sporadically as they gaze down at the rubble. It’s hard for you to see the look of deep sadness and guilt on a fellow Protector’s face, especially one you’ve come to know fairly well. They look up at you and the disappointment they feel in themselves is practically palpable.

“You did well… His will to save those children just happened to be stronger than his will to pay attention to your signs… You did all that you could…” You say to them in reassurance, the ethereal echo of your voice holding a certainty to it.

“Thank you…” They say before vanishing into thin air, likely pulled to the next soul they’ll be protecting.

You look back to Shota and wish that he didn’t have to experience such pain so early on in his life. A heavy feeling weighs over you as you follow him to the ambulance that he’s being led to by paramedics. You give silent nods of acknowledgment to other Protectors when you cross their paths. You try your best to offer reassurance to dejected-looking Protectors whenever you notice them lingering. When the day is over, and Shota is curled up on a bed trying to deal with his emotions, you almost dread what the future may hold for this lifetime.

~~~~~~~~~~

Years pass by, and you watch Shota shape into an amazing Hero and person. You feel some relief when Shota accepts a teaching position at the same school he graduated from. You hope that maybe he would mostly stay out of trouble being a teacher versus being a Hero full-time. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that this lifetime has been really making you put in the work toward keeping Shota safe.

School year after school year, you watch Shota intimidate his students and make drastic decisions geared toward helping them realize the path they’ve chosen to pursue. It can be said that his methods are harsh, but you know that he is just trying to help them understand the realities of becoming a Hero. Oftentimes, you think back to the day he lost his friend, and it feels as though you are the only one to see his reasoning.

The day you walk into the classroom for Class 1-A behind Shota, you are interested in what he has planned for this new group of students. The year prior he expelled his entire class, which had even thrown you off a bit. As he gives his introduction, you scan the small sea of students and their Protectors. Most of the Protectors appear neutral, almost laid back for the moment, but a few catch your attention.

The Protector standing near a boy with a scar on his face seems to be wilted, their helplessness almost making their ethereal glow dim to nothing. The Protector to the left of a boy with green hair appears to be harshly glaring at the blonde boy in front of the green-haired child. Meanwhile, the spiky-haired blonde boy’s Protector seems to be exhausted, and from the aura the boy gives off, you wonder if the exhaustion is from protecting him or just observing him. Lastly, the Protector standing near the blonde boy seated closest to the door is rather.. shifty, like they’re nervous. Their gaze keeps darting around the room to look at the other Protectors, then back down to the boy they are paired with.

You understand that as children, none of the students really pose any threat to Shota, but you find that it’s still best to be on higher alert if a human’s Protector is acting strangely. Especially in this lifetime and with all of the many Quirks you’ve seen from being by Shota’s side. You’d much rather err on the side of caution than ignore a potential threat.

By the end of the first day, you’re quite surprised that Shota only expelled one student this year. The short boy seemed quite upset when he learned of his expulsion, but his Protector seemed to have slumped with relief. It made you wonder just what that Protector had observed of the boy throughout his life. Regardless, seeing the posture of the Protectors near each of the female students ease at the news of the boy’s expulsion was enough for you to agree with Shota’s decision.

The second day doesn’t go as smoothly as you or Shota had hoped. Shota wasn’t in any danger, thankfully, he just slept peacefully in the teacher’s lounge while a Hero called All Might took over the class. When Shota was awoken by his phone ringing, it was Recovery Girl informing him that one of his students was very injured during the battle training All Might was supervising. You could practically feel Shota’s worry and anger as you followed behind him as he made his way to the infirmary.

After watching Shota give All Might a stern talking-to for letting the students go that far during training, you followed him back to his classroom. You listened idly by as he announced that he would be taking the class on a trip to a facility called the USJ in a couple of days. Most of the students cheered and voiced their excitement over going on a field trip, but Shota was quick to quiet them. He made it clear to the class that it wasn’t going to be a leisurely trip, but another means of Hero training. With most of the class deflated down into more of a serious state, he dismissed them for the day.

~~~~~~~~~~

The day of the trip arrives without much fanfare, and you stay dutifully by Shota’s side as he leans back against the seat of the bus and naps. Vehicles such as buses were always an interesting environment to be in as a Protector. Looking over your shoulder at the rows of seated students, you see each of their Protectors lining the middle aisle. While your kind doesn’t really exist on the same plane of existence as humans, your ethereal bodies are comparable to what humans call ghosts, you still prefer not to be phasing in and out of a human body.

As the bus slows to a stop, Shota awakens and stands to face the class. He tells them to be on their best behavior and to focus on learning all that they can today. You make your way off of the bus with Shota leading the way and his students following behind. You and Shota walk up to the doors of the USJ, joining up with another Hero dressed in a spacesuit.

The spacesuit Hero, Thirteen, cheerfully greets the students and then begins explaining the purpose of the USJ. They get serious while explaining that there are a lot of dangerous Quirks out in the world that have the potential to be deadly before showing and explaining their own Quirk. Your gaze sweeps over the students, and you find that most of their Protectors are absentmindedly nodding and checking to see if their humans understand the warning being given.

Soon enough, Thirteen pushes the doors to the USJ open, leading Shota and his students into the facility. The students audibly marvel at the inside of the USJ and its different disaster zones. Thirteen gets into explaining what the different zones are and the unique difficulties that come with each zone. When they finish, they look to Shota and he nods at them before beginning to tell the students who would be in which zone. Shota gets interrupted by a red-haired student, their Protector pointing to something behind you and Shota. When you turn around to see what the Protector is pointing at, your intuition and protective instincts flare to max levels.

A massive portal has opened up down in the center plaza of the USJ and sketchy-looking humans have begun pouring out. You hear Shota identify them as villains and you gear yourself up for the fighting he will inevitably engage in. As expected, Shota yells for the students to stay with Thirteen and rushes into battle. You follow closely behind him, confident in his fighting abilities and quick reflexes.. But, you know that even if he isn’t aware of your existence or the parameters of your job, he does rely on you to watch his back.

Being a Hero’s Protector is no easy feat since villains have their own Protectors. Your kind have a job to do, no matter the human you are paired with. A villain’s Protector will protect them just as fiercely as a Hero’s. That said, since being Shota’s Protector in this lifetime, you’ve worked harder to become faster at alerting Shota to danger. More often than not, you can get Shota’s attention and help him to strike before a villain’s Protector can warn them.

As Shota is taking down villain after villain, you take a brief moment to look toward three unmoving villains. The one with multiple severed hands clutching his body scratches at his neck wildly as his Protector stands near him. You notice something strange about the other two near the Hand Villain, though.. While they both seem to be alive, neither of them has a Protector within sight. It’s unusual for your kind to stray very far from the human they are paired with, so not seeing a Protector right next to either villain is very abnormal.

In your momentary distraction, Shota takes down two more thugs and is rushed by the Hand Villain. Disappointment, in yourself, floods you as you watch Shota blink and his Quirk deactivate. The Hand Villain monologues as the spot where his hand is on Shota’s elbow begins to crack and flake away until the muscle underneath is showing. Shota reactivates his Quirk and breaks away from the Hand Villain, but his groans of pain echo in your mind. Berating yourself for being so careless, you stick closer to his side as more low-level thugs surround him.

The Hand Villain continues his annoying chatter as Shota, tired and worn out as he is, fights off the thugs using his good arm. His elbow looks bad, and you feel like you’ve failed him. You work harder to give him every sign and warning possible to take down the thugs relentlessly rushing him. Difficult as it is with one arm, Shota succeeds and turns to face the Hand Villain, putting you both back to back. Horror fills you along with the urgent and intense need to warn Shota, but with the state he’s in, he misses sign after sign that you send his way. He doesn’t notice the hulking beast behind him until the Hand Villain says something.

Despair like nothing you’ve ever felt before fills you as you watch the monstrous creature beat Shota down like he’s nothing but a small bug under someone’s boot. You scream, but the echoing ethereal sound only catches the attention of other Protectors around you. You flinch every time you hear the snapping of bone and cry of pain. The ethereal glow of your body dims from the feeling of failure filling you, and when the merciless creature slams Shota’s face into the ground you think only one thought…

‘Shota is going to die today…’

Falling to your knees next to Shota, you’re gaze is too focused on the growing puddle of blood on the ground to realize that the monster leaves Shota to defend the Hand Villain. Apologies spill from your lips over and over again as you continue looking at his limp and broken form. You can feel that he is dying and for some reason, it causes you immense pain. It’s a pain unlike anything you’ve ever felt before with any other soul, or during any of his other lifetimes. Everything else going on near or around you becomes irrelevant as you place a hand on Shota’s head, your touch light enough to not phase through him.

You startle when you feel the touch of a hand on each of your shoulders and looking up, you find a Protector on either side of you. You also notice that three of Shota’s students, the green-haired boy, the girl with the frog Quirk, and the boy with the tape Quirk, are carefully lifting him. The three students’ Protectors help you up off of your knees and walk with you when the students start moving toward the entrance of the USJ.

“Fret not, he may still have a chance…”

“You did all that you could…”

“His will was to protect those students, and you helped him achieve that…”

The echoing ethereal tones of the three Protectors walking with you fill your ears, but you find it difficult to take comfort in their words. Words that you’ve said to so many others before. Words that you’ve found comfort within before when you were feeling far less pain than you are right now. You can’t find it in yourself to respond to the other Protectors, so you just continue to walk in solemn silence.

At some point, the green-haired boy and his Protector break away to head back to the fight, leaving the other two students to carry Shota to the entrance. When they finally get up the steps and rejoin the small group of other students, they carefully lay Shota’s body down next to Thirteen who also seems to be injured greatly. You gaze down at Shota numbly, unable to comprehend why you feel so.. broken.

“What the hell is going on..?”

You startle as a sudden presence from beside you speaks. Recognizing the voice, your head whips to the side in complete shock. Standing there right next to you is Shota, looking far more translucent than he usually does. You just stare at him in shock and disbelief, your mouth agape and eyes blinking owlishly.

“Who the hell are you? Is this some kind of Quirk? Are you one of the villains?” Shota asks, his tone is demanding and quite confused, not that you blame him.

“Y-you.. you can see me?…” You ask, disbelief and confusion coloring your ethereal voice. Now, at this moment, in this lifetime, you have so many questions as you also wonder what the hell is going on.

“Uhm.. yeah. I can see you.” Shota says with uncharacteristic uncertainty. Apparently deeming you non-threatening, his posture deflates into resignation as his gaze sweeps across his students, “So.. are you here to take me wherever it is dead people go?”

Sadness creeps back into you and you look back down at his broken body, shaking your head, “No, I.. I only protect… Escorting the dead is not part of the job…”

“Protect?” Shota questions quietly as he looks back at you. “What, like a.. Guardian Angel?” The skeptical tone in Shota’s voice makes the corners of your mouth tick up ever so slightly because even though he is quite literally dying, of course, he is trying to be rational right now.

You meet his eyes with a slightly amused look in yours, “You humans have many names for my kind, ‘Guardian Angel’ is one of them… Many are like me; uncaring of what we are called, just here to do our job…”

Shota still looks skeptical, but he nods his head, “Does this normally happen when a person dies? We get to meet our.. Guardian Angels before we move onto whatever afterlife is out there?”

You shake your head and look back down at his body, “This has never happened to me before… We are not meant to be seen by humans, dead or alive.. and technically, you are not dead… Your body is struggling, but you are still alive…”

You pause for a moment as the weight of your failure falls back over your shoulders, almost tenfold. You speak again before Shota has the chance, your tone heavy with sadness, “I am so sorry, Shota… I should have done more to keep you safe… It is my fault that you are in this position… I failed you…”

Silence hangs between you both as you watch paramedics move Shota’s body onto a stretcher. They spend a few moments wrapping his injuries with makeshift bandages and attaching various equipment to him. When they begin moving him to an ambulance, you step forward to follow but are stopped when you feel a warm hand on your shoulder. It’s different than the cold feeling of another Protector’s touch and stops you in your tracks. You turn slightly, your wide eyes meeting Shota’s uncharacteristically soft ones.

“You.. I’d like to think that you did your best to protect me, and whatever happens to me.. just know that I don’t blame you.” Shota’s gentle tone catches you off guard and also strikes something deep within you. The most you can muster is a shaky nod before you both begin to head for the ambulance his body was taken to.

Divider Credit ~ @cafekitsune

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☠︎︎ Shasta Rose's Masterlist

☠︎︎ About Me: Check bio

☠︎︎ Requests: Open, but..

I only write Fem!Reader

If you send in a request that I don't feel comfortable or capable of writing, I will let you know

☠︎︎ Characters I'll Write For: Bakugo Katsuki, Aizawa Shota, Hawks, Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijiro

<3 I love and appreciate every single one of you, My Lovelies! <3

↳ I'll probably add more to this or edit it as I learn how to Tumblr lol

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, suicidal ideation, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Hey, Lovelies. Sorry that I've been MIA, I'm kinda going through it and it's been impacting my motivation to write. I am hoping to drag myself out of this funk and get some new stuff out for y'all, though.. Just know that I love and appreciate all of you. <3

Azusa’s brain can’t even fully register what just happened. In the twenty years that she’s been on this godforsaken earth, never has Enji Todoroki ever laid a hand on her. His brand of abuse has strictly been mental and emotional. She’s never even been spanked. But as her brain short-circuits and she cradles her throbbing cheek with one hand, she’s in complete shock. Sounds become muffled and her vision takes on a distortion that makes everything seem surreal. Azusa doesn’t even feel like she’s in her body as she stands up to run out of the room. Enji’s voice rings in her ears, but he sounds distant and his words echo through her mind as she flees.

Unconsciously slamming Enji’s office door behind her, Azusa nearly slams into Bakugo. The two Rangers share a brief look; Bakugo’s eyes wide and an uncharacteristic concern blanketing his features, while Azusa’s face is stuck with shock and her eyes are swimming with fear along with so much more. Before Bakugo can even get a word out of his opening mouth, Azusa bolts for the elevator.

Azusa tries with every conscious thread that she can grasp onto to hold herself together for the entire elevator ride back to the floor her bunk is on. Her chest feels tight and her throat hurts from the strain of swallowing down her sobs and whimpers. When the elevator finally stops she stumbles out of it, ignoring the concerned and off-put looks from others around her as she rushes toward her room. She barely notices Aizawa leaning against the wall next to the door to her bunk, let alone fully registers his voice commanding those around to move on.

Azusa’s entire body is shaking as she struggles to unlock her door and when she finally does, she practically falls into her room. Aizawa catches her before she collapses, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly to his chest. He manages to close the door and the sound of it shutting finally triggers Azusa to break down.

Her sobs come out as choked wails of anguish only muffled by Aizawa’s newly tear-stained shirt. Her hands fist the back of Aizawa’s shirt, her knuckles white from how tight her grip is. She can hear Aizawa trying to speak to her, but his voice sounds like he’s underwater and she can’t think beyond every emotion crashing into her. Her cheek throbs with white-hot, tingling pain every time her face scrunches from another gut-wrenching sob. Suddenly she’s being moved, Aizawa guiding her to her bed and urging her to sit.

“Nonononono, please! Please don’t leave! Please, please, please!” She begs through sobs as she feels Aizawa peeling himself away from her.

Aizawa’s slimmer form gets replaced by someone’s bulkier, more muscular form but Azusa clings to them all the same. It doesn’t take much conscious thought to know that whoever this new person is, isn’t her father. Hesitant arms wrap around her in what would be an awkward and embarrassing hug if she were in her right mind. But she isn’t, instead her entire being is shattering as she wails into an assumed stranger’s chest.

“I’m sorry, kid.. Just, both of you stay here, I’ll be right back.” Aizawa’s apologetic tone cuts through the sound of Azusa’s blood rushing in her ears. She chokes on more pleas for him not to leave and flinches at the sound of her door closing. The arms wrapped around her tighten, but it does little to soothe her rampant emotions.

“H-he hi-hit m-m-me, h-he fucking h-it me..” Azusa stutters out as her shaking increases and her sobs become more guttural.

“I.. I know.” A male voice quietly rasps out and it’s a voice that Azusa is all too fucking familiar with. She tears herself away from the body that she had been pathetically clinging to as mortification shoves its way past all of the other emotions that have torn to the surface. Azusa and the man she’s despised the last two years stare at each other with matching looks of shock. Bakugo’s shock being from her sudden retreat, and Azusa’s shock being from realizing just who she’s been breaking down in front of.

“Ge-get ou-out,” Azusa whispers hoarsely as painful sobs still fall from her mouth, her body subconsciously backing up to the corner of the bed and beginning to curl into itself.

Confused exasperation contorts Bakugo’s features, “No, I- Marshal Aizawa said to-”

“Get out! Get out! Get out! GET OUT!” Azusa begins shouting, choking on sobs and wincing from the pain radiating from her cheek. Her hands come up to grip her hair at the roots as she continues shouting, probably looking like a complete lunatic.

“Todor-” Bakugo tries calling out to Azusa, but using her surname only seems to make her state worsen if the way she shouts “no” over and over again is anything to go off of.

“Damn it- Azusa! I’m not leavin’! I’ve been right on the other side of the door both times he’s yelled at you this week! I’ve been inside your fuckin’ head! I ain’t leavin’ you here like this knowin’ what I know!” Bakugo yells over her shouts.

Between her frayed emotions and her shattered mental state, Azusa doesn’t have it in her to keep arguing with Bakugo. Her throat feels like she’s swallowing glass and there’s a metallic taste on her tongue, but her wails keep coming. Her hands abandon their grip on her hair and move to cover her face. Her pain is intensified as her hand presses against her bruised cheek, but she buries her face in her hands anyway.

“Fuck,” Bakugo curses quietly with tired exasperation already stretched way past his emotionally-stunted limits.

Bakugo unties and kicks his boots off before cautiously crawling across the bed toward Azusa. Feeling the mattress shift, she recoils tighter into herself but Bakugo reluctantly ignores the action. Bakugo situates himself next to her and leans back against the wall, stretching his legs out. He spreads them out and gently pulls Azusa into the space between them, avidly ignoring how embarrassed and awkward the position makes him feel. She resists a bit but ultimately relents to lean her body against the front of his, her head resting against his chest as she continues to shake and sob. Bakugo lets his head fall back to softly rest against the wall and he looks up to the ceiling as a heavy sigh leaves him.

Azusa flinches slightly when Bakugo’s arms wrap around her body, his hands coming up to gently pull hers from her face. She’s starting to feel the exhaustion creep in but she can’t stop crying and all of the pain she’s feeling, emotional and physical, won’t relent. Her sobs have calmed down the tiniest bit, at least to the point that she isn’t choking on them anymore and she can kind of breathe.

“I-I wish th-that day w-would have ha-happened the way tha-that i-it should h-have..” Azusa cries and stutters out, and she feels Bakugo’s breath hitch in his chest.

“Don’t say shit like that.” Bakugo says in a quietly firm tone after a moment of silence, and it’s all Azusa needs to know that he understands what day she’s talking about.

“I-I mean it.. Y-you al-ready know..” Azusa cries with anguish.

Suddenly, her bunk door opens causing both her and Bakugo to startle. Aizawa walks in and Azusa wastes no time in detaching herself from Bakugo’s hold, and moving to the edge of the bed toward one of the only people in the world that’s ever made her feel safe and comforted.

“He already knows what, kid?” Aizawa questions, softly for Azusa’s sake, as he makes his way toward her with an ice pack in hand.

Aizawa hands the ice pack to Azusa, quietly telling her to gently hold it against her face. She takes the ice pack without a word, doing as she was instructed as she leans forward to rest her forehead against his chest. Aizawa may not have ever had kids of his own, but with Azusa being like a daughter to him, or at the very least a niece, he feels comfortable enough to be soft around her. Comfortable enough to let her cry against him, and to soothingly run a hand over her hair to try to calm her crying.

Aizawa’s eyes shift from Azusa to Bakugo who sits in place with a shaken look on his face. Bakugo’s eyes connect with Aizawa’s but all he does is silently shake his head at the Marshal’s questioning gaze. Aizawa lets out a quiet and tired sigh before looking down at Azusa, noticing that the poor girl’s sobs have finally calmed down to a less intense level of crying.

“Zusa, you should try to get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today, kid. Let your mind take a break for a bit,” Aizawa gently suggests and Azusa’s hand curls tighter into the bit of his shirt that she's gripping weakly at his side.

“H-he hit m-me, Sh-shota.. s-sl-slapped m-me.. I-I’ve never s-seen him so an-angry.. I-I’m usually s-so careful t-to not m-make h-him so-” Azusa stutters out weakly sounding absolutely broken.

“Sshh, sshh, Azusa, I know..” Aizawa says with forced calm, his inner rage reaching a boiling point with how fed up he is with Enji. “Bakugo, you can go. I’m going to stay with her a bit until she falls asleep, then I have some business to take care of.” Aizawa says, looking at Bakugo who still hasn’t moved from his spot or wiped the shaken look off of his face.

Bakugo seems to snap back into reality at Aizawa’s words and he forces a look of neutrality on his face, “Sir, I.. I don’t have anything that requires my attention at the moment. I can stay with her while you go attend to.. business.” Bakugo's voice is even as he speaks, but his fists clench tightly where they rest and his eyes burn with anger.

Aizawa studies him for a moment, pondering if that would be a good decision, but then he feels Azusa’s hand release it’s grip some and her body slumps a bit. He can feel a barely-there nod against his chest and he takes that as her being okay with that course of action.

“Fine. But if she needs me to come back here then I expect you to call me immediately. You may have been inside her head a couple of times now, Bakugo, but you don’t know what she’s had to deal with or the shit I’ve had to keep my mouth shut about, per her request, all of these years.” Aizawa’s slightly threatening tone makes Bakugo’s eyes widen a bit, but he nods his head in understanding. Aizawa gently urges Azusa to lean back and he carefully pulls her hand away from her face to inspect her swollen cheek. Anger blazes in his eyes and his jaw clenches, but he remains soft and careful in his movements and words of reassurance.

“Keep that ice on there for a bit longer, then try to get some rest okay, kid? I’ll come back in a bit with something from the Mess Hall.” Aizawa says quietly as he meets Azusa’s eyes.

“Okay.. Thank you, Shota,” Azusa quietly rasps out and reluctantly pulls away from him completely. Aizawa accepts the thanks with as much brokenhearted grace as he can muster as he gently pats her head a couple of times before stepping back.

“Bakugo, a moment?” Aizawa demands slightly as he opens the door. Bakugo is quick to get off of Azusa’s bed, leaving her with room to lay down and pull the blanket over herself, and he follows Aizawa to just outside of the bunk.

“I don’t know what kind of reconciliation or cease fire you two have put into place for the time being, but do not pick a fight with her right now,” Aizawa borderline threatens once again. “And we will be discussing what exactly you both were talking about right before I got back. Understood, Ranger?”

“Yes, Sir,” Bakugo says, slightly intimidated, and Aizawa firmly nods before turning to walk away.

“Oh, and Marshal?” Bakugo calls out making Aizawa pause and turn around, “Give him hell.” Bakugo says with angered seriousness.

Aizawa gives him another more determined nod before turning back around and walking away. Bakugo walks back into Azusa’s bunk and tries to close the door as quietly as he can, not wanting to startle her.

Azusa is lying on her side, her uninjured cheek squished against her pillow, and occasional shivers run down her body both from the cold ice pack and her fried emotions. She can feel her mind sinking into the safety that numbness promises and she looks up at Bakugo with almost emotionless eyes. She can only imagine the mess that she looks like right now, but at this point she finds herself uncaring.

“You can sit wherever you’d like, just don’t go through my shit.” Azusa rasps out and Bakugo gives an annoyed roll of his eyes before sitting himself down in her desk chair.

“Why the hell would I want to do that? We’re co-pilots, remember? Being inside your brain is enough.” Bakugo snarks, albeit with less heat than usual, and Azusa would roll her eyes if she had the strength.

A few moments of silence passes by before Azusa speaks again, “Anything you tell Sho- Marshal Aizawa won’t be anything he hasn’t heard directly from me before.. So, if you were stressed or something about the talk you guys will be having later, then don’t be.”

Bakugo looks at her with slightly widened eyes both from her admittance and from the near-emotionless tone of her voice. He schools his expression back into one of neutrality as he crosses his arms and looks at the ceiling, “Wasn’t stressed about it, so just try to sleep, ‘kay?”

“Whatever, Bakugo,” Azusa quietly replies, her eyes drifting shut. There’s another moment of silence before Bakugo catches what she says just barely above a whisper;

“Thank you..”

~~~~~~~~~~

Azusa groggily wakes up some time later to the sound of her bunk door opening and the hushed sound of voices talking. One of her eyes opens with ease while the other struggles to open halfway due to the swelling from her injured cheek. She groans as a yawn tries to escape her mouth, her cheek and the sore muscles underneath fiercely protesting such an action. The low voices quiet as Azusa slowly sits up, her fingers running through her hair attempting to tame it.

Everything that happened earlier tries to batter her freshly awakened brain, but Azusa is quick to throw up her walls despite how weak they are. “What time is it?” She asks without looking at the other two people in her room, her voice still hoarse yet emotionless. She hears the familiar sound of Aizawa’s signature tired sigh and her eyes shift to look at him.

“Bakugo, just go. They’re still serving food in the Mess Hall, then you need to get some rest, you both will be attempting another Drift trial tomorrow.” Aizawa says to Bakugo before turning to Azusa.

Azusa watches as Bakugo clenches his fists and his teeth grit together. She woke up too late to catch any significant pieces of the two’s conversation, but judging by Bakugo’s obvious agitation it wasn’t anything light. The blonde doesn’t put up much of a fight as he leaves Azusa’s bunk without a word, closing the door surprisingly calmly behind him as he goes.

“It’s a little past seven. I brought you some food, it’s not anything fancy just whatever was easy to carry.” Aizawa quietly informs her, stepping closer then sitting at the edge of her bed. “..You feeling a bit better after some rest, kid?”

Azusa silently takes the food from Aizawa’s hands and numbly unwraps the sandwich, “I feel fine. Thanks for the food.” She says, her tone still blank but she visibly winces as she takes a small bite of her sandwich.

Aizawa looks at her with a sad look in his eye and another sigh, “I know that you’re not fine, kid. You don’t have to shut down like this, not in front of me. Here, take these pain meds and drink some water.”

Azusa’s walls begin to crumble at Aizawa’s gentle tone and her hands shake as she sets her sandwich down, then takes the pain pills and water bottle. She chokes down the medicine and water as her whole body begins to tremble from the force of trying to hold back more sobs. Picking up her sandwich again she tries to continue eating, ignoring the tears starting to roll down her face.

Aizawa raises one of his arms, silently extending the offer of comfort that he knows Azusa needs right now. She doesn’t waste any time in repositioning herself, abandoning her sandwich to cling to Aizawa’s side. She buries her face into his chest despite her cheek screaming in pain.

A million thoughts race through her mind, battering against her skull as she cries. Is she really cut out for this? Would Toya be disappointed in her? Would she really be all that upset if Enji kicked her out of the Jaeger program? Why is Enji so angry at her all the time? Has she really pushed him to his limits? Is he going to hit her again? She.. she wishes..

“I wish you were my dad instead of him..” Azusa’s thoughts begin pouring from her mouth in broken stutters. “E-Enji hates me! Every m-move I make sets him off! I-I-I don’t get it! Wh-why have kids if you were going to make it clear that they were unwanted in the first place??”

Azusa can feel Aizawa’s breath hitch and his arm wraps around her tighter. As his other arm comes up to wrap around her, Azusa catches sight of his hand. It’s visibly swollen and his knuckles look split but they aren’t bleeding, at least not anymore. Distantly, a sick satisfaction settles in the back of her mind thinking about the shiner Enji must be sporting right now.

“I’m so sorry, kid.. sorry that you got stuck with a monster for a father.. sorry that I’ve kept my stupid mouth shut about his behaviors for so long.. I feel that I’ve failed you just as much as he has..” Aizawa says quietly, his defeat and guilt evident in his tone. He hugs her tighter and gently rests his chin on the top of her head.

Azusa shakes her head slightly, “Please don’t.. y-you’ve helped me and my siblings a lot over the years.. They wouldn’t, and I don’t, blame you for not wanting to interfere with another person’s career even with how that person treats their family.. it’s not like there’s ever been much proof.. except for now, I guess, since he’s decided to start getting physical..” She whispers out between sniffles and her unending crying.

Aizawa cringes slightly at Azusa’s words, but he knows that she’s right. Enji’s game has always been verbal abuse behind closed doors. There hasn’t been a chance to get proof in the past, but even now it would difficult to prove that it was Enji that hit Azusa. It’s an overall shitty situation.

Aizawa doesn’t say anything more, his heart hurting for Azusa. He just continues to hold her tightly as he ponders reporting Enji and whether or not the rest of the Todoroki family would be okay with that.

Note ~ Hit the ask button and leave me angsty prompts/ideas, pretty please. <3

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to lovers, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Loveliiiieeessss!! Let me know what you think of the story so far!! If I'm being totally open with yall this story is my passion project and I'm a bit hyper-focused on it.. but if yall have any xReader ideas/requests don't be afraid to hit that ask button! Obviously, I love writing for Katsuki, but I'm also comfortable writing for Izuku, Shota, possibly Hawks.. If you have a request just send it in and I'll let ya know if I feel I can accomplish writing something up to your expectations! Enough of my rambles, enjoy the read! <3

Enji had managed to keep up his neutral facade despite the bubble of pride that had welled up inside of him at the sight of his daughter piloting his old Jaeger. He even congratulated himself for being correct in his assumption that Azusa and Bakugo would Drift well together. Watching the two exercise perfect control over Bravo Inferno and perform little tricks was admittedly quite entertaining. That was until his bubble of pride was harshly burst by the sound of the system’s AI telling Loccent that the pilots had gone out of alignment.

He watched with masked panic as Iida and Aizawa tried to get the two pilots stabilized again. Fear and embarrassment flooded him when he watched the arms of Bravo Inferno rise, the Jaeger’s palms beginning to glow molten red. Rangers and techs hurried out of the Loccent Command Center as seasoned Rangers cleared the observation platforms just outside.

“Pull the main power line!” Enji had shouted to Aizawa before he could even think about what else to do.

Aizawa was on the task in an instant, pulling at the large cable with all of his might. Finally, with one last grunt of effort, he pulled the plug from the control panel. Enji looked out to the Jaeger, watching with hidden relief as it began powering down. That’s when the anger began settling into his bones.

~~~~~~~~~~

“This is exactly why I wanted to pilot by myself! If she hadn’t gone out of alignment first, then none of that other shit would have happened! You’ve seen my damn sim scores, you know that I would never fuck up like that if it was just me in that Jae-”

“That’s enough, Ranger!” Enji’s sharp tone effectively cuts Bakugo off from his ranting. “You know damn well that you cannot pilot a Jaeger by yourself, no matter how good your simulation scores are-”

Bakugo exasperatedly cuts Enji off, acting like a petulant child, “You’ve done it before! You brought Mighty Endeavor back on your own-”

“Because my co-pilot died! Yes, I finished off that Kaiju and dragged my Jaeger back to the Shatterdome by myself, but I had to because my co-pilot was dead in his harness right next to me.” Enji bites out, anger twisting his features as he steps closer to Bakugo whose mouth is clamped shut with eyes averted to the floor.

“And do you know what happened after I got back from piloting that Jaeger by myself?” Enji asks half rhetorically, but he pauses and waits for an answer anyway, and Bakugo shakes his head.

“I became so sick from the radiation that I was bedridden. My body burned like I was on fire and I could barely keep conscious. For three fucking days, I was like that.” Enji grits out before he releases a tired sigh and partially turns away from Bakugo. “We still do not have the technology to run single-pilot Jaegers, and I refuse to purposefully put any Ranger through what I went through. Marshal Aizawa and I will talk about what happened today and decide what to do about your co-pilot pairing. You are dismissed, Ranger.”

Bakugo bows slightly and, surprisingly enough, leaves without another word. Enji takes a moment to recollect himself, trying to calm the anger racing through his veins, but then there’s a knock at his office door. Crossing his arms to hide his clenched fists, Enji tells the Ranger at his door to come in. The metal door squeaks as it opens and closes, Azusa walking into the office. She doesn’t sit but rather comes to stand a couple of feet in front of Enji. Her face is neutral, but her eyes hold a bit of anxiety among the rage and her anger only aids in fueling Enji’s own.

“Marshal Todoroki, I-” Azusa begins, but Enji doesn’t let her get very far with her sentence.

“What the fuck happened out there, Azusa?!” Enji starts, immediately letting his anger boil over as he lays into her. “You know, one look at your simulation scores would lead anyone to believe that you would be a strong candidate for becoming a pilot! But what I saw happen out there was pathetic and embarrassing! Who would have thought that the Marshal’s daughter would pull a fucking stunt like that causing another Ranger to fail! You let your co-pilot down today, Azusa! You let me down! You were an embarrassment to every single one of the Rangers observing!”

By this point, Enji is too caught up in his anger to even realize that Azusa has started silently crying in front of him. He can’t stop himself from yelling, can’t stop himself from spitting venomous comment after venomous comment. Deep down, very deep down, he knows that she didn’t do anything substantially wrong, but his pride and his ego won’t let him quiet down.

“What you displayed out there today was that you are no better than the Rangers that just got dropped here from boot camp! No child of mine would have made such an embarrassment out of the Todoroki name like that! You almost caused hundreds of deaths and millions of dollars in damages! Do you realize that?!” Enji spits, his shouting echoing off of the walls of his office as Azusa cowers in front of him.

What Enji says next slips too fast from his mouth to stop in time and he regrets them as soon as the words are spoken, “Toya would be incredibly disappointed in you! You don’t even deserve to pilot Bravo Inferno!”

A sharp gasp knocks some reality back into Enji along with the weight of the words he just shouted into his daughter’s face, and he looks down at her. Horrified shock fills her features as much as it does his, but sharing his shock is immense guilt. Enji is at a loss for words as he tries to think of how to take back or amend what just flew from his mouth. Floundering, he just stares at Azusa’s tear-soaked face, her hurt practically palpable in the air around them.

“Azusa, I-I didn’t mea-”

“Don’t.” She states quietly, making Enji’s words die in his throat. “I-I understood you loud and clear, M-Marshal. Permission to be dismissed, Sir?” Her voice is strained as she speaks and she’s just barely able to stand up straight and look Enji in the eye. All Enji can do is nod since the lump in his throat won’t let him speak.

He watches helplessly as she flees from the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Stunned by his own behavior, Enji slowly moves around his desk to sit down. Leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk, he buries his face in his hands. He doesn’t know how he’s even going to attempt to fix this kind of fuck up. He isn’t sure that Rei will be able to soothe over the hurt that he’s caused. She may not even be willing to offer him advice on the situation, not that he would blame her.

Enji spends more than a few minutes recollecting himself before calling Aizawa to his office. He’s exhausted now, all of his anger replaced by insurmountable guilt. He let his ego, his pride over his esteemed reputation, win just like so many other times in the past. Enji is the one who let Toya down today, not Azusa, and he fears that he really won’t be able to get his daughter back now.

Knocking pulls Enji out of his spiraling thoughts and he clears his throat before telling Aizawa to enter.

Aizawa enters the room quietly, closing the door behind him before he makes his way over to the chair in front of Enji’s desk. Aizawa just stares at the man for a few moments before letting out his famous tired sigh.

“What happened today was nobody’s fault, Enji. We both know that the chances of something like that happening during a team’s first Drift is highly possible. I’m just surprised that it didn’t happen with more of the other teams.” Aizawa says as he leans back in the chair, tipping his head back and closing his eyes.

At Enji’s silence, Aizawa decides to move the conversation forward himself, “So did either of them request a different co-pilot? I’m sure we can switch the teams around, make it work.”

“No,” Enji utters exhaustively, deciding to end his silent brooding. “Bakugo just requested, yet again, to pilot by himself but I sorted that out already. We’ll keep Azu- Ranger Todoroki and Ranger Bakugo as co-pilots for Bravo Inferno, but we won’t send them out on any deployments until they go through a few more trial Drifts.” He states as he clasps his hands and rests his chin on them.

Aizawa straightens up in his seat, raising a questioning eyebrow at him, “I know that I kind of just advocated for them, but are you sure you don’t want to try putting them with other Rangers? I witnessed, just as you did, that they have the potential to work well together, but if they go out of alignment again and neither of them can bring the other back.. They won’t make it out in the field like that, Enji.”

“That’s why we’ll have them run through a few more trial Drifts. If this was a one-off type of situation, then they’ll be just fine. And if it happens again, we’ll either see if they can bring each other out of it or we’ll pair them off with other pilots.” Enji firmly states with a bit of frustration.

Aizawa relents with a sigh, scrubbing a hand over his face, “Fine. I’ll have their Jaeger sent to one of the Bays with less foot traffic so that when they try again tomorrow there’s less of a chance for catastrophe if something goes wrong again.” He says as he types out the message on his tablet, then sends it to the crew in the Shatterdome.

Aizawa then looks up at Enji, the man being able to read him like a book after working with him for so long, “So how hard were you on her?” His tone is knowing but free of any real judgment.

“Too hard.” Enji admits reluctantly before continuing, “I said things that I shouldn’t have.. I wouldn’t blame her if she honest to god hates me now.” He finishes quietly.

“Well, I don’t know shit about parenting, so it’s up to you to figure out how to fix it, but do you want me to go talk to her?” Aizawa offers with tired nonchalance.

The perpetually exhausted man has worked with Enji for so long that Azusa along with her siblings sees Aizawa as family, or a mentor at the very least. Azusa has always gone to Aizawa if she needed to talk through some stuff, especially after Toya’s passing. So, Enji ponders the offer for a minute, thinking that it may help Azusa to have someone to talk to after what all just went down.

“It’s up to you, Shota,” Enji says with a long sigh. “She may not want to talk to anyone right now.” He says with defeat, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands over his face.

“Well, I’ll try stopping by her bunk, knock a few times, and if she doesn’t answer then I’ll leave her be,” Aizawa says as he stands up, wincing a bit when his knees crack loudly. “Try not to spend all day cooped up in here, Enji. Go get something to eat, scare the new Rangers, just anything to get you out of this office.”

Aizawa’s attempt at humor doesn’t do much to pull Enji out of his self-loathing, but he appreciates it all the same, “See you later, Shota.”

Shota leaves with a half-assed wave and Enji is left alone with his thoughts, once again. He thinks about stopping by the family bunker to see Rei, hoping that Azusa hasn’t talked to her yet so that he can have a few moments of peace with his wife before he tells her himself about just how badly he messed up this time.

Note ~ Lemme know if there are any tags I should add! I love and appreciate you, Lovelies! <3

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover