Bakugou Katsuki X Oc - Tumblr Posts

anyways, now im working on a bnha fic, bungou stray dogs fic and bullet train fic on wattpad, only god knows if i'm ever gonna post any of them any time soon since igcse's are like IN 9 DAYS T-T

Making moves on the criminals.

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Warnings: Mha stuff idk. Todobakudeku but it's not poly their just a group. Bakugou is a grump but a softie. Todobakudeku are criminals. OC is a detective. Criminal/crime stuff idk. OC insert. Kinda sad.

-

When I became a detective, the first thing I learnt was that if the criminal is charming, to never fall for the facade. It was my co-worker Mina Ashido who had told me that. She claimed that on her first day, a jewel thief named Tomura Shigaraki tried to bribe her with a dinner date to get out of jail.

I couldn't help but laugh at the story. I couldn't imagine having a criminal try to flirt his way out of jail. It sounds ridiculous. However, it truly does happen quite a lot. Not to me. But I've heard way too many stories of thieves and killers trying to bribe their way out of being proven guilty.

I thought I could never happen to me. That I was safe from that stuff and when I was assigned to track down three high profile thieves who robbed a secure bank vault hiding 20 million dollars in gold, I thought it could finally, FINALLY be my big break.

But I was so wrong. Standing at the door to the interrogation room, I flicked through my files before entering. My chief Yagi Toshinori handed me a folder labeled "S.T. K.B. I.M" they were initials.

"Is this my information?" I asked

"It's everything you need to know" He said gruffly, sighing almost sympathetically.

I opened the folder to see 1 sheet. My mouth fell open. "What the hell is this?!"

"It's your information"

The information, as mentioned, was a single sheet of paper with very little detail. On the top of the page sat three words with small lettering beside them in brackets: Deku (izuku midoriya). Dynamight (Katsuki Bakugou). Freezerburn (shoto todoroki). All colored red.

NickNames.

Next there were three dot points about each of them. I read shoto's first.

●Use a Quiet Voice when talking

●wear protective Gloves

●wear hazmat suit (if necessary)

If that was just one of them, I didn't want to know how dangerous the other two were going to be.

I took a breath and opened the door to the interrogation room. There, sat patiently at a metal table, were the three thieves.

One, I guessed to be Shoto Todoroki, sat on the left, he had split dyed red and white hair and a large scar on the right of his face, it looked almost like fire in the light. He bared a bored expression, unlike the fluffy green haired male beside him.

From memory, he was Izuku Midoriya. He had small freckles and a button nose. Unlike Shoto, he was quite friendly looking. He even seemed a bit innocent.

Contrasting them all had to be Katsuki Bakugou. His ashy blonde hair and red eyes made him the most intimidating of them all. He wore a scowl on his face that was anything but gentle.

This is what I was dealing with, and even though shoto and izuku seemed innocent enough, I had to remember they were all criminals.

"So" I cleared my throat and placed the file on the table.

Before I could say anything, I was cut off my Bakugou yawning obnoxiously loud. "I'm sorry Mr Bakugou is this boring for you?"

"Actually, yes. I've never been so fucking bored in my life" Bakugou groans. he leans back and puts his hands behind his head and feet on the table.

"You should have considered the boredom before you stolen 20 million dollars".

I opened the file. "Mr Midoriya," I said, looking at the greenette. "It says you entered the bank 20 minutes after Mr Todoroki had froze the civilians inside. Can you explain to me why?" I put my hands on the table.

Izuku was biting his nails. "Because I like the number 20?" He was trying to ease tension. I could tell.

"Mr Midoriya, please,"

"You're so demanding, Officer, you like that with everyone?" Bakugou cut in. He had a cocky tone and a smug grin on his face.

I grabbed his ankles and pushed them off the table. They landed with a thud. "HEY!" Bakugou scowled. "DONT YOU TOUCH ME!"

He pointed a finger at me. Somehow it was more intimidating then the scowl he had when I walked it.

"You will respect me, or you can find someone else to help you. And they won't be as nice as I am" I hit bakugous finger away from my face.

Shoto reached for Bakugou's shoulder. "That's enough, Katsuki." He spoke gently it was Potentially a few decibels just above a whisper, that's the only way I could describe it.

Somehow, he'd calmed Katsuki Bakugou down enough to put him back. In his chair, he still scowled. "When bakugou was finished sparking the metal gate enough for it to heat up, he broke it apart. Izuku broke in through the roof, and I had broken in through the windows to freeze everyone. It wasn't a plan. We had improvised"

My mouth fell agape. Improvised? You mean to tell me that the three most wanted theives in Musutafu, Japan, improvised a bank robbery? IMPROVISED?!

"I'm sorry, what? You must be kidding." I laughed in disbelief.

"Ha! You didn't really think we had a plan, did you?!" Bakugou laughed maniacally. Even izuku and Shoto chuckled with him.

I felt like an idiot. I really thought they had planned the whole thing. I couldn't be mad at myself, I mean, they were experts in these things. It makes sense that they could pull off such things with no plan at all.

"I feel sympathy for you," shoto announced. "Perhaps i can help you out," he gave a small and cheeky smile.

"Don't feel sorry for me. I don't want your pity" I huffed.

"You know aren't so bad coppa. Maybe if you join us, we can show you just how good being bad really is. Or you can sit around being lazy and sorting files for these morons, "

Bakugou leaned his elbows on the table.

"Kacchan is right," Izuku spoke. "We aren't as bad as it seems. But on the other hand you don't want this life. It's not one that everyone wants and needs. Barely anyone deserves it"

Izuku sounded like he spoke from the heart.

"We've seen a lot of things. Awful things I wish I could erase from my memory. It's what this job does to you, it steals your life away"

Suddenly, the air became suffocating. A wave of emotion struck the room. I found myself staring at three now quite upset theives. In this moment, they weren't, though. They weren't bad people or horrible. They didn't hurt me. They were just young adults trying to make a living.

"I wish I could help you. But I love my job. It's what I always wanted to do" I bit my lips nervously.

"Please don't put us away, Sanaka. We can't afford to be in prison"

My heart stopped when Bakugou said my name. "You know my name?"

"I read your file before you came in. You used to be a thief too" bakugou states almost smugly.

I sighed. "Yes. I stole 2 million dollars worth of rubies from a trader in Tokyo. It took them a year to catch me, and I spent 3 in prison. I was only 17 at the time"

I tried to stop the tears from swelling but I couldn't. "You know we get it" shoto said softly. Genuinely.

"I don't know how to help you all. I feel sorry for you. This isn't the life you all want, I can tell"

I looked at them. Shoto's glimmering heterochromic eyes of blue and brown. Bakugou’s deep scarlet eyes like gemstones with a sharp cut and Izukus glossy brown puppy dog eyes.

"What do you need from me?"

Making moves on the criminals pt2: Night calls.

Warnings: Todobakudeku are criminals. Angst ish, kinda fluff. Crime/criminal stuff idk. No violence happens but it is implied.

-

It had been 3 days since the three theives were let go from a holding cell at the station. I hadn't seen them or heard of them since. Toshinori was getting on my ass about their case. He kept saying, "They were going to strike again".

I knew they would. But he was too worried about it, an unnatural amount. While working on their case, I had been assigned a few low-level petty criminals robbing stores or stealing a bike, minor things. This was all while working their case still. He sat at the office all day and panicked. Not healthy if you ask me.

"So, have you heard anything on them?" My co-worker Tsuyu Asui was an officer in training. She had a hard time with her froggy voice and being taken seriously. It's mainly why she always worked with me, I enjoyed her company.

"Nothing yet. I sorta hoped I would by now though" I scratched my chin, thinking about where they could be.

I knew that as a police officer, I shouldn't be worrying about the criminals. But there was something about them, Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, and Shoto Todoroki, that made me curious about them.

They didn't even seem harmful. Well, maybe Bakugou has a bit of anger in him, but he's not mean or evil like I was told. In fact, he was quite calm, like shoto and izuku.

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Tsuyu whispered to me.

I bit my lip nervously and looked down at the file.

S.T. K.B. I.M

"Yeah, yeah, I am worried about them." I leant on my hand and rested my elbow on the table.

As I contemplated looking them up in the system, I received an urgent email from My Sargeant, Shota Aizawa.

It read as follows.

Urgent

Officer Sanaka, I hear you were tasked with the bank robbers' case. The three of them have been spotted outside a jewellery store on West Avenue. Apparently, they have acquaintances with them. Two men also on High Profile and on watch. I've sent their files to you.

Good luck.

Sgt Shota Aizawa.

-

I clicked on the files Aizawa had sent. Both are also labelled urgent.

D.K

E.K

Apparently, the two of them were quite skilled in both pickpocketing and Lockpicking. Denki Kaminari was an expert Electrical Engineer, and Ejirou Kirishima was an ex boxer.

"Not bad" I said to myself.

Reading this reminded me I never checked what the other threes jobs really were. I knew they were thieves obviously but they had to be something before that right?

I looked them up.

IZUKU MIDORIYA: ex Hitman, professional chess player and graduated law student.

SHOTO TODOROKI: ex gambler, architect and bartender.

KATSUKI BAKUGOU: ex casino owner, ex street racer, and graduated med student.

I was shook to my core. They were all so educated and skilled, and it was pretty attractive. The thought they were achieving all of this or had achieved while being high profile criminals was something else entirely.

"Heavens above how did I get assigned this case. These guys are high profile I knew that but this is...this is madness" I rubbed my face and sighed.

I wasn't going to be able to do this case. Biggest break of my career, and I can't do it. I m too worried about them. They don't deserve to be harmed to have any more hurt out on them.

"Sanaka, there's someone here to see you" Mina approached me.

"Who?" I asked

"Someone who really needs you, or so he claims"

I rushed down to see what was happening. I assumed it was going to be some idiot wanting to ask a question, a drunk being stupid so late at night.

But it wasn't. Standing in front of me bleeding from the head and clutching his wounded stomach was Katsuki Bakugou. He had multiple scars and scratches on his arms and face. He was wheezing and crying.

"H-help me"

He began to fall and I caught him in my arms, he became limp. He let out small whimpers and groans. He was in a lot of pain.

"Oh my God Bakugou" I Gasped as he fell.

I began to breathe rapidly "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE" I screamed

Hey, Lovelies! I'm going to be dropping a new fic soon, TBD if it's going to be multiple parts, and it's going to be angstyyyyy lmao. It's Bakugo x Reader with some bestie!Izuku vibes! It was meant to be a quick write to hold yall over until I start posting my new Bakugo x OC long-fic, but I think we all know how one can get lost in the plot lol. Anyway, be on the look out, my amazing Lovelies!

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

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

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

Summary ~ The war between humanity and aliens began in 2013 when the first Kaiju hauled itself out of the depths of the ocean. It rampaged through three cities, destroying everything in its path and killing thousands before it was finally taken down. As more Kaiju emerged from the sea, nations put aside rivalries and hatred in order to ban together and find a solution to save the human race.

Azusa had never imagined that this would be the world that she would grow up in. Mankind using giant robots to take down massive alien monsters sounds like the stuff of movies not the reality that she’s forced to live. She had also never imagined signing herself up to battle the monsters from the sea, but somebody needed to avenge her brother’s death and her father sure as hell wasn’t doing it.

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 ~ Heyy, Lovelies! This fic is my twist on MHA characters in the Pacific Rim universe. I am absolutely obsessed with Pacific Rim, it's probably my most favorite movie! So this fic is my mash up of two of my fave things. It is xOC instead of xReader, but I hope that you enjoy it all the same. I'm one of those readers who will imagine myself as the main chacter no matter what, so this can be read as reader-insert. Anyway, enough with my rambling, enjoy the story My Lovelies! <3

“Get going, Azusa!” He says with urgency as he ushers her out of the kitchen.

“I’m not fucking going anywhere without you, Toya! I have a bad feeling about this one! Please listen to me, don’t go with Dad!” She pleads over the sounds of their younger siblings crying.

“Dammit Azusa, I have to! Dad doesn’t have another co-pilot! We’ll be fine, just go!” He borderline shouts at her as he makes his way to the door.

“Don’t go! Please, don’t go!” She cries, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the door.

“Fucking let me go! This is a job, Azusa, and I’ve been called to go do it! Go help Mom with Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shoto!” He yells, ripping his arm out of her grasp and rushing out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“Dammit, Toya-”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Jolting upright in her bed, chest heaving and tears wetting her face, Azusa slams the button on her alarm. Letting out a groan, she wipes at her face and tries to even out her breathing. It takes a few minutes, as it always does, but she finally manages to recover and drags herself out of bed.

“Thanks, subconscious.” She mumbles bitterly as she makes her way to the bathroom. She goes through the motions of her everyday routine; getting dressed, putting her hair up, brushing her teeth, staring at the old family vacation photo on her dresser for too long.. Numbly, she finishes lacing up her boots, then stands up ready to answer the door for the knock she knows is coming.

The predicted knock does happen and she opens the door to greet her sister, “Morning, Fuyumi.” She says as she steps out of her room, closing the door behind her and locking it.

“Good morning, Azusa! You ready for today?” Fuyumi asks her as the two make their way to the elevator.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She says with a slight shrug as they step into the elevator.

After pressing the button for the Mess Hall, Fuyumi joins her sister in leaning against the back wall of the elevator. She bumps her shoulder against Azusa’s with a small playful smile on her face.

“It’s a big day for you, kinda thought you’d be more hyped.” She comments, her features taking on a bit of concern.

“It’s just another day, Yumi. Just another day of being one of his soldiers that he couldn’t give less of a damn about.” Azusa replies in an emotionless tone to cover up the anger burning beneath her skin.

Fuyumi lets out a heavy sigh as the elevator doors open, “He does care, Zusa… And I know that it won’t be the same without Toya there to cheer you on.. but it’s been three years. There was nothing more you could have done that day to stop him. He’s gone, you’re here, and you worked your ass off to get to this point. You deserve to feel excited about today.” She says tiredly as they walk up to the food line.

“Yeah..” Azusa responds quietly, letting the conversation fizzle out. They fill up their trays with no further conversation being made, then head for a table with open seating.

Unfortunately for both of them the only table with open seating just so happens to be next to the table that Katsuki Bakugo and his group are sitting at. Azusa rolls her eyes at the comments and praises she hears being thrown the blonde’s way as she sits down. It’s been two years since her group entered the Ranger Program and Bakugo’s arrogant personality hasn’t dimmed a bit. Not even being behind the scenes during humanity’s war against aliens has done anything to lessen his pompous attitude.

“Who do you think you’ll be Drift-compatible with, Bakugo?” Azusa hears Mina’s perky voice ask.

“I don’t think any of you extras could handle being in my head and I sure as hell don’t wanna be in any of your idiotic brains. I’m just gonna ask the Marshal to let me pilot by my damn self.” Bakugo replies with a tone full of annoyance, earning himself a few gasps of shock and a bit of laughter.

“Oh c’mon man, you know single piloting is impossible even with the tech we have now! Plus, I think we’d be Drift-compatible! We work well together and we’re both super manly!” She hears Kirishima exclaim and she lets out a small huff of laughter at the pose she knows he’s doing even without looking at him.

“I don’t need a damn co-pilot and if I am forced to have one, it better not be any of you idiots!” Bakugo bites out and Azusa rolls her eyes once again as she digs into her breakfast.

“What a jerk, Dad’s gonna be pissed if Bakugo actually puts in that request,” Fuyumi comments quietly before taking a sip of her juice.

Azusa silently nods her head in absentminded agreement as she takes another bite. Suddenly, everyone around her quiets down, their heads bowing in respect and words becoming low whispers.

“Good morning, Rangers.” Marshal Todoroki greets, his booming voice echoing throughout the Mess Hall and demanding attention.

“As many of you know, today is the day that groups A through D will be testing to find their Drift-compatibility partners, or rather, their co-pilots. All other groups will be excused from their training to witness the event, but do not mistake this as a free day. Learn something from what you witness. As for groups A through D, tests will begin at 0800. Be prepared and be on time.” He continues, his stern tone making everyone give an intimidated nod of understanding.

“Ranger Azusa Todoroki,” Marshal Todoroki calls out, causing everyone’s eyes to turn toward the girl. Azusa clenches her jaw and her eyes meet the cold blue ones of her father.

“Come to my office once you have finished breakfast. Thank you, everyone, you may carry on.” He finishes with a slight bow of his head before he and his second-in-command, Marshal Shota Aizawa, turn to leave. Noise ensues once again with the disappearance of the Marshal’s presence. Meaningless chatter and the clattering of dishware fill the room, but one voice, in particular, catches Azusa’s attention as very much intended by the voice’s owner.

“Aww, the princess get in trouble, again?” Bakugo’s taunting comment grates at Azusa’s eardrums and her grip on her chopsticks tightens.

Other than the whitening of her knuckles, she gives no reaction toward the blonde, her eyes cast down toward her food tray despite wanting to glare at Bakugo. She numbly finishes her breakfast, tells Fuyumi that she’ll see her later, then stands to clear her place. She can feel eyes on her as she takes her tray to the trash bin, but she maintains her facade of emotionless neutrality as she walks out of the Mess Hall.

“The fuck does the old man want now?” She mumbles out angrily under her breath as she steps into the elevator.

Jamming her finger against the button for the floor that the Marshal’s office is on, she lets out a long breath. Stepping back to the middle of the elevator, Azusa crosses her arms over her chest and closes her eyes. A minute or two passes and the elevator groans as it comes to a stop. She prepares herself, mentally and physically, to step out of the elevator when the doors begin to open but pauses when she comes face to face with Marshal Todoroki.

“Marshal?” She questions, bowing her head slightly, confusion flashing over her features before she settles back into her neutral state.

“We will be going down to the Shatterdome instead.” Marshal Todoroki says, his voice taking on a much different tone than earlier.

He stares at Azusa with an expectant look as he waits for her to move back so that he can step into the elevator. Azusa shakes the confusion from her mind and dutifully steps back to let the large man through the doorway. Tense silence fills the cramped-feeling space as she presses the button for the Shatterdome. The elevator groans once again as it begins descending.

“Why are we going to the Shatterdome, Sir?” Azusa asks, tone neutral and emotionless and the Marshal lets out a tired sigh.

“Azusa, please, it’s just the two of us you can call me da-”

“I stopped calling you that a long time ago, Enji. Why would I start again now? Just tell me why you wanted me to meet with you instead of letting me go get ready for my Drift-compatibility tests.” Azusa bites out, cutting off her father’s words.

Marshal Todoroki’s jaw clenches and his fists clench before the tension deflates from his body and a look of defeat fills his features, “I want to show you something.” He replies vaguely and Azusa sends him an incredulous look.

“You want to show me something?? This is ridiculous! I need to be getting ready, not dealing with your feeble attempts at earning my forgiveness ba-” Azusa’s anger gets the better of her until she cuts herself off, clamping her mouth shut as the elevator doors open.

Marshal Todoroki stays silent as they step out of the elevator, only opening his mouth to greet others. They move through the hustle and bustle of the Shatterdome, walking past Jaeger after Jaeger and all of the people working on said Jaegers. They finally stop at the far end of Bay 12, both of them turning their bodies toward the Jaeger standing tall against the wall. Azusa’s neck cranes as she looks up at the gigantic robot, a tidal wave of emotions flooding her as she takes it in.

“Bravo Inferno,” Azusa whispers out, tears building up on her lash lines and the Marshal quietly nods from beside her. “The day Toya died.. I thought she was too destroyed to salvage, I mean, you barely came back in one piece.. H-how is she here?” She asks, her voice thick with emotion and tears slipping down her face.

“It took the repair techs a long time, but they were able to put her back together. In fact, she’s better than she was before.. on the inside, that is. I made sure the outside was redone to look the same as when she first came out of production.” Marshal Todoroki says quietly, his hands clasped behind his back professionally but his face full of emotions.

Azusa stares up at her brother’s old Jaeger with a mixture of awe and sadness. The blue flame-colored paint reflects the lights of the Shatterdome, giving it a pearlescent shine. Bravo Inferno’s emblem, a flaming phoenix, is stamped proudly on the left side of its chest along with the numbers from the year it was made. From head to toe, the Jaeger looks just like it had the day Azusa watched it leave the base being piloted by her brother for the last time.

“What was the point of this?” Azusa asks, coming back to her senses and remembering that she is standing with the man responsible for her brother’s death. “You piloting again or something?”

Still looking up at Bravo Inferno, the Marshal shakes his head, “No, my piloting days are long since over with. I’m passing Bravo Inferno on to you, Azusa. It’s.. it’s what Toya would have wanted had he thought the war would still be going on.” He says looking at Azusa with the ghost of a smile on his saddened face.

It takes a moment for Azusa to work past the lump in her throat, to straighten her back even though she wants to fall to her knees and sob. A strained “thank you” makes its way out of her mouth as she blinks away the tears in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Azusa cracks her knuckles before crossing her arms and waiting for the tests to begin. She and the other Rangers who will be testing today are gathered around the training mats, most idly chatting as they wait for Marshal Todoroki and Marshal Aizawa. She does a quick glance around and sees some of the other Rangers stretching, so she follows suit.

“Hey, Azusa!” Someone calls out excitedly right as Azusa hears footsteps approaching her. Turning her head, she catches sight of Tetsutetsu and Kendo making their way toward her. She sends them a small smile and waves, Tetsutetsu’s bright smile making her want to put on sunglasses.

“Hey guys,” she says when the two get up to her, narrowly dodging Tetsutetsu when he tries to engulf her in a hug.

“You nervous?” Kendo asks when the three of them fall back into warm-up stretches.

“Nope. I just hope that I get a good co-pilot.” Azusa answers simply as she leans further into a leg lunge.

“How are you not nervous?? Literally, everyone will be watching; Rangers, Rangers-in-training, Marshal Aizawa, Marshal Todoroki.. You’re seriously not nervous about your dad watching the tests??” Tetsutetsu rambles out before he is whacked upside the head by Kendo.

“Dude, shut up!” Kendo reprimands and Azusa huffs out a laugh.

“No, I’m not nervous. I don’t care who’s watching.” Azusa says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Attention, Rangers!” Marshal Aizawa’s stern voice calls out and everyone stands at attention.

“At ease,” Marshal Todoroki calls out next as he steps up next to Marshal Aizawa. Everyone relaxes but keeps their full attention on the two men at the front of the room.

“We’ll go over a brief explanation of how the tests will work, then we’ll get started.” Marshal Aizawa starts as the bleachers along the walls of the room begin filling with the other groups of Rangers-in-training that aren’t testing.

“The tests will work like this; one-on-one melee combat with bo staffs. You all have been broken up into smaller groups based on your results from previous Drift simulations and screenings. These one-on-ones will help better identify who exactly you work well with. Remember Rangers, these are dialogues, not fights. The goal is to find a co-pilot that keeps up with your moves and keeps the scores even. Should one of you outright win a match then we’ll know that person is not a match for you. The cementing stage of this test will occur at a later date when you and your co-pilot are assigned a Jaeger and go through your first real Drift together.” Marshal Aizawa explains in his normal serious yet tired tone.

“Rangers Bakugo, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Todoroki, Kendo, and Hado, grab your bo staffs then step onto the mat. Each of you will have one match with each other then Marshal Todoroki and I will review your scores later. Your co-pilots will be announced tomorrow if we get through everyone’s tests today. Marshal Todoroki, if you would choose the starting pairings, please,” Marshal Aizawa says and Marshal Todoroki scans over the six Rangers lined up in front of him.

“Kendo with Bakugo, Tetsutetsu with Hado, and Kirishima with Todoroki.” Marshal Todoroki says, tone firm as always and his gaze already full of judgment.

“Rangers spread out across the mat with your respective opponent and assume position. You will begin when I say so.” Marshal Aizawa commands and the Rangers listen accordingly.

Once they’ve reached a space far enough away from the other pairs, Azusa faces Kirishima with her bo staff positioned diagonally in front of her. She takes in a deep breath, steadying the few nerves that have crept into her system, and bends her knees slightly ready to move to either defend or attack. Kirishima does the same, winking at her when their eyes meet with a playful smirk on his face.

“Rangers begin,” Marshal Aizawa commands, and the pairs begin their matches.

The match between Bakugo and Kendo ends quickly with the score being; Bakugou 4 and Kendo 1. That’s not to say that Kendo didn’t try her best to keep up with Bakugou, it’s just that the blonde was relentless. Despite them all being told that the matches were supposed to flow like dialogues and not fights, it’s just like Katsuki Bakugo to do his own thing. Tetsutetsu and Hado’s match ended a bit better with their scores being; Hado 4 and Tetsutetsu 2. In both of their typical fashions, they shook hands at the end of the match, both of them wearing confident smiles.

Kirishima and Azusa started out neck and neck, but that changed quickly when Azusa got the upper hand. Their match ended with the scores being; Azusa 4 and Kirishima 2. Azusa helped Kirishima up after her final time taking him down and wished him good luck on his next match. Kirishima, being the ever-bright ray of sunshine that he is, smiled warmly at her and thanked her for a good match.

The next three rounds of matches seemed to fly by while simultaneously feeling dragged out. Azusa had won by 1 point against both Hado and Kendo, which made her feel pretty good about ending up being co-pilots with either of them. She, unfortunately, lost by 2 points against Tetsutetsu and she was a little disappointed by the fact that one of her two best friends wasn’t a very good match for her to be co-pilots with. At the end of their, match Tetsutetsu gave her an encouraging smile and told her that he would have been honored to be co-pilots with her.

“Time for the final matches for the first six Rangers. The pairings will be as follows; Hado with Kendo, Tetsutetsu with Kirishima, and Bakugo with Todoroki. Get ready, Rangers.” Marshal Aizawa calls out, and Azusa’s entire being fills with dread.

“Prepared to lose, Princess?” Bakugo goads arrogantly as the two get into position and Azusa’s blood boils a bit.

Marshal Aizawa tells them to begin and Bakugo doesn’t hesitate to make the first move. Azusa blocks his bo staff a couple of times but ultimately Bakugo lands a hit to her shoulder.

“1-0.” Bakugo comments with a cocky smirk.

Not wasting another moment, Azusa swings her bo staff knocking the blonde’s bo staff away and rushing him. With quick movements, she brings her bo staff up, then swings it down, stopping it only inches from his face.

“1-1.” She says quietly, challenging him with her eyes while her face remains neutral.

They go back and forth for what feels like hours, both of them having stopped keeping track of the score after they hit 2-2. Both of them panting and sweating, their match continues on and on until a booming voice pierces the bubble they seem to be in.

“That’s enough! Bakugo, Todoroki, your match is over. Put your bo staffs away and get on the sidelines.” Marshal Todoroki sternly tells the two and Bakugo releases Azusa from the hold he had her in.

The blonde stands and walks off to put his bo staff away, not bothering to offer Azusa help. The two don’t even look at each other once they’re both situated on the sidelines of the training mat, standing as far away from each other as possible. Kendo and Tetsutetsu both send Azusa twin looks of surprise mixed with heavy confusion, but she chooses to ignore them in favor of watching the next group of matches.

Note ~ I know that there may not be much to go off of but let me know what you think so far! Should I post chapter/part 2 sooner than planned? Idk, I'm just loving how the story is turning out and wanted to share it with yall! I love and appreciate you, Lovelies! <3

Ps, @tr-mha-fan I'm doing my best to work on your (second) request, I promise that I didn't ignore your ask, Lovely! <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 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 ~ Here's the second chapter, Lovelies! Hope yall enjoy the read, and let me know if there are any tags I should add! <3

Enji Todoroki has always been a focused and serious person, someone who always did what needed to be done. He may have hated being bossed around and being at the bottom of the food chain, but his drive for power and need to be at the top are what got him where he is today. The day he became a Marshal was the day he truly began to look down on those he thought were far beneath him.

It hadn’t been very long after the day he ranked Marshal when the first Kaiju had pulled itself from the depths of the ocean and showed no mercy to the people of the cities it destroyed.

In all of his years, he hadn’t given the preposterous idea of aliens a single thought. There wasn’t any evidence to back up the claims of various wack-jobs around the world. Astronomers had proven time and time again that space was just cold and empty. Had Enji given even half a thought on the topic of aliens he certainly wouldn’t have ever suspected that they would emerge from the ocean.

It didn’t take very many attacks on major coastal cities around the world for nations to band together and try to come up with a solution to fight back. With the production of Jaegers came the preparation of pilots. Most of those who were volun-told to be pilots went through their training terrified. Enji, though, remained calm and level-headed through it all.

The day he stepped into a Jaeger and completed his first Drift seamlessly, Enji felt a new kind of power wash over him. He felt truly invincible like he could take anything on headfirst. And with this new feeling of power came a cockiness that he had trouble hiding behind a mask of stoicism.

Enji and his co-pilot, Toshinori Yagi, had made a powerful team. They hadn’t gotten along very well outside of the drift, mostly on Enji’s part, but they kicked Kaiju ass, nevertheless. They held the record for most Kaiju kills in Japan for two years. They were unstoppable.. until Okinawa.

It was 2200 and the two had just gotten back to their bunk when the alert sounded. Despite being as tired as they were, the two had suited up and rushed to their Jaeger, Mighty Endeavor. They had loaded up, Drifted, and made sure that everything was calibrated. Then they were flown off to Okinawa.

It was supposed to be an easy take-down and another kill for Mighty Endeavor and its pilots. The Kaiju, code-named Speartail, was a fairly small Category 3. Enji had worn a cocky smile the whole flight to Okinawa as adrenaline had coursed through his veins. Being in the red-haired man’s brain, Toshinori had just rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile.

The kill was supposed to be easy. They were supposed to have won.

Instead, what had happened was they were dropped into the water just off of the coastline and were immediately met by Speartail. The Kaiju, in all of its seemingly mindless brutality, relentlessly attacked the Jaeger. It moved quicker than anticipated, gliding through the water more smoothly than Mighty Endeavor. Enji and Toshinori had lost sight of the damn creature at one point, the both of them having to rely on Loccent to tell them where to look.

Unfortunately, in the few seconds that Enji had spent screaming at Loccent, Speartail had found its opportunity to launch itself at the Jaeger. Mighty Endeavor was hit hard, and Enji and Toshinori struggled to regain balance. Neither of them had seen the long tail of the creature coming toward the face of their Jaeger until the sharp, pointed end of it was speared through Toshinori’s chest.

A cross between a roar and a scream had been torn from Enji’s throat when he was struck with the phantom pain. The tail retreated as quickly as it came, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of Toshinori’s body. Blazing red and molten hot rage filled Enji and fueled him to not only pilot on his own but also kill the Kaiju. All the while, Toshinori’s lifeless body swung around limply from the piloting harness that it was stuck to.

Getting back to the Shatterdome that day had not been the success-filled occasion that it should have been. Instead, Enji was numb and his body had felt cold. It wasn’t until he saw the tear-soaked faces of Inko and Izuku that the reality of what had happened hit him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Enji became cold and closed off, even more stoic, after that day. He hadn’t even congratulated or shown an ounce of pride when Toya became a full-fledged Ranger and pilot. On the day of Toya’s Drift-compatibility test, Enji silently brought his son to a private training room and tested to see if they were Drift-compatible.

Once Enji had confirmed that he and his son were, in fact, Drift-compatible, he asked to be sent a new, more up-to-date, Jaeger. Bravo Inferno had arrived quickly equipped with the latest technologies, smoother and quicker movement capabilities, and better weapons than what Mighty Endeavor had. The men’s first drift and test run of the new Jaeger went without a single hitch.

Enji and Toya had been Chiba’s most effective team of co-pilots, holding the record for most kills out of all of the teams stationed at the Shatterdome. While he took the job seriously in front of his father, Toya’s ability to be humble only ever went that far. Outside of his father’s intimidating presence, Toya was overly confident and cocky as hell. The only people who could stand him, the only people he wasn’t cocky around, were his mother and siblings.

He would genuinely smile and laugh when teasing and playing with his brothers and sisters. He would cry in his mother’s arms whenever he came back from an especially rough deployment. Behind the closed door of their family bunker, he could just be himself instead of the Toya that had to deflect the judgment and harsh words of his peers by being insufferably cocky and easy-going. He laughed boisterously at the comments flung at him even though all he wanted to scream was that he didn’t even ask to be the Marshal’s, his father’s, co-pilot. He never did understand why people couldn’t see that Enji always treated Toya like he was just another Ranger to boss around like the rest of them. That is the number one thing that Enji would come to regret every day after the day that Toya died.

The alert for the deployment that day had woken both Enji and Toya from their slumber. The AI’s voice told them that Bravo Inferno was being deployed to take down a Kaiju entering the shallows a few miles down the coastline from the Shatterdome. The Kaiju, code-named Kurassha, was labeled a Category 3, a level of Kaiju that they had fought and won against many times by that point.

They suited up, locked themselves into their harnesses, dropped and Drifted, then they were off. The whole flight to the Kaiju, while short, was full of Enji trying to ignore the fact that he could see his old self in his feral-eyed and manically grinning son. Instead of joining in on Toya’s hype, Enji simply told his son to “take the situation seriously” and to “stay focused” in his ever-commanding, anger-bitten, militant tone. He wasn’t in any mood to deal with Toya’s energy, not to mention, Enji was still pissed that Toya had been late getting to the Bay to suit up.

Their Jaeger was dropped into the water within the general vicinity of where Loccent had tracked the Kaiju. It hadn’t taken much looking around before Kurassha had decided to show itself. The massive creature had simply chosen to slowly rise out of the water about 40 feet away from where Bravo Inferno stood ready for battle.

Enji hadn’t been as phased by the appearance of the Kaiju as Toya had, his son’s fear flooding his mind and covering his own. Even if Enji hadn’t been sharing a brain space with his son, one could tell from the look on Toya’s face that he was terrified. Enji had swallowed his own fear, gritted his teeth, and demanded that Toya get it together and get ready to fight.

The decision to rush Kurassha was made at the same time the huge beast began rushing them. The brutal collision of beast and metal seemed to have shaken the earth beneath their feet, waves ripping through the water around them. Bravo Inferno’s metal fists landed punch after punch to the Kaiju, the impacts not seeming to do much to stop its assault on the Jaeger.

One of the Kaiju’s hands, which had been far larger than it should have been in proportion to its body, had come up and immediately grabbed Bravo Inferno’s right arm. Neither Toya nor Enji could keep their roars of pain in as the monster in front of them started crushing Bravo Inferno’s arm in its grip. It wasn’t until minutes of pain later that the Kaiju just ripped the newly crushed arm off of the Jaeger.

Panting and gritting his teeth, Enji had ignored Toya’s pleas to tell Loccent to send back up. He shouted at Toya to shut up and focus back on fighting, wholly believing that they could still finish and win the fight. He pressed a series of buttons and activated one of Bravo Inferno’s weapons as he attempted to block Toya’s thoughts from his mind.

Before Bravo Inferno’s remaining arm could fully transform into the weapon Enji had selected, the Jaeger was being picked up. Kurassha’s massive hands fully wrapped around Bravo Inferno’s middle, crushing the metal and digging its claws into the Jaeger’s spine. Shouts of pain erupted from both Enji and Toya, once more, their suits shocking them with violent pulses of electricity.

Suddenly, they were spinning, the monster that had a hold of them gearing up to launch them. After a couple of spins, Kurassha let go sending Bravo Inferno flying toward the jagged rocks of the shoreline. The loud ear-piercing sound of stone puncturing metal echoed throughout the surrounding area along with the roar tearing from the Kaiju as it bounded after the Jaeger.

Both men were dazed, Toya shaking with fear, as they tried to get back up from their harsh landing, but the machine that they were linked to seemed stuck. Enji was silent, trying to figure out their next move, as Toya shouted into the Comms for Loccent to send out backup. Loccent had been in the middle of informing them that backup was on the way when the Kaiju pounced on them. The action caused the sharp rock that was already embedded in the back of Bravo Inferno to pierce through further, the sharp tip protruding from the Jaeger’s chest.

Kurassha made quick work of crushing and ripping off the Jaeger’s left arm. As the Kaiju continued with its brutal and aggressive assault, Enji did something he had never done before; he froze. To him, everything was happening in slow motion. Sounds were muffled, his body jostled in the harness as the Kaiju tore the Jaeger apart from the outside of the Conn-Pod. He hadn’t even registered Toya screaming at him until he saw the cracking of the glass panel in front of him.

It was then that sound came crashing into his eardrums and he was forced back into reality. Multiple alarms were blaring, Loccent was cutting in and out, metal groaning and crumpling, and the gut-wrenching sound of Toya crying. A frantic look around the Conn-Pod told Enji that the monster outside had a massive hand wrapped around the head of Bravo Inferno and was slowly crushing it.

Even though he knew the risk, Enji manually released himself from his harness and immediately went to prepare the escape pods. Somehow, it was still possible for them to eject and that was the one and only time that Enji thanked whatever God may be out there. He turned toward Toya, shouting for him to get out of the harness and get to a pod, and saw his son struggling.

Toya’s manual release wasn’t working no matter what he did.

Enji felt his stomach sink and he rushed over to try to help his son, but when neither of them could get the harness to release and the Conn-Pod was closing in more and more by the second, Toya stopped his movements. Enji was filled with panic and exasperation and was about to yell at Toya to keep trying but stopped when he met his son’s eyes. Toya’s face, while calm, was solemn and his eyes were filled with deep sadness and defeat. Enji was pulled into a hug that he didn’t reciprocate because his mind was still in shock over the realization he just made.

“You better take care of them, Dad. They’re your family, not soldiers. I love you, Old Man.”

Those were Toya’s final words before shoving Enji away from him and shouting for him to get into the escape pod and leave. Enji’s entire being was numb in a way that he had never felt before, not even when Toshinori was killed. As if on autopilot, he had climbed into an escape pod, pressed everything that he needed to then was ejected from the head of Bravo Inferno seconds before it was finally crushed with his son still inside.

He flew through the air waiting for the escape pod to crash land somewhere when a new kind of pain shot through his numbed body. It wasn’t like the phantom pain one could feel through a Drift and it was far worse than any physical pain he had ever felt. It was the kind of pain you only feel when you lose someone you love.

That was the day Enji Todoroki started regretting treating his son and the rest of his children like they were soldiers.

That was the day Enji Todoroki started feeling disappointed in who he was as a person.

That was the only day that Enji Todoroki had ever wished that he had never chosen to make being in the military a lifetime career.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Marshal Todoroki.” Aizawa’s firm voice knocks reality back into Enji’s mind and he blinks a few times at the tablet in front of him before looking up to his second-in-command with a question brow raised.

“You were.. overthinking the pairings, again.” Aizawa subtly excuses Enji’s wandering mind though his tone is tired and he lets out a sigh.

“Right.. My apologies, Shota. Where were we?” Enji asks, falling back into his serious and stoic mask.

“We were just re-evaluating the co-pilot pairings for the six that tested first earlier today. I just want to be sure that you are certain about who we’ve selected to be co-pilots,” Aizawa says, casting an unsure glance between the tablet in his hands and Enji.

“You have doubts about the pairings?” Enji questions with a tick of annoyance on his face.

“Only about one of them. Rangers Hado and Kendo will work well together, I believe. Rangers Kirishima and Tetsutetsu are practically twins, so they’ll Drift just fine. It’s Rangers Bakugo and To-” Aizawa begins to explain, ready to give his reasoning as to why the last pair wouldn’t mesh well when he’s cut off.

“They’ll work just fine together, Shota. If not at first, then they’ll learn to make it work.” Enji states, his tone definitive, and Aizawa lets out another sigh as he rubs his forehead.

“Okay then.. That’s all of the pairings, then. What time do you want to commence first Drift trials?” Aizawa asks tiredly.

“Set the mass alarms for 0500. We’ll let the Rangers eat breakfast before announcing their co-pilots and Jaeger assignments. We’ll have them all report to Bay 3, I’ve already had the groups’ Jaegers moved there.” Enji says as he scrolls through the pairings on his tablet one last time before closing tabs and signing out of it.

“Alright Enji, alarms are set,” Aizawa announces before closing the tabs on his own tablet and signing out of it.

“See you at 0530. Goodnight.” Aizawa says while standing, bowing slightly before leaving Enji’s office.

Enji mumbles out a “goodnight” as the door closes behind Aizawa, then releases a long sigh as he leans back in his chair. He checks the time on his watch, seeing that it’s already a bit late. He wonders if Rei has eaten already or if she waited for him. She doesn’t wait up for him as much anymore, usually choosing to grab him something from the Mess Hall and keeping it in their family bunker. But she does sit and talk with him while he eats and that’s more than he could ask for after everything they’ve been through over the years.

Especially when she’s the only one in their family that doesn’t blame him for Toya’s death.

Note ~ Let me know how you're feelin' about the story so far! Also, I know that I said that Enji is trash, and HE IS, but every other chapter/part or so will be written from his focus. I am still having a bit of trouble grasping onto Third POV stories as I mostly write in First or Second POV. So if the overall story or POV are a bit choppy, thats why haha! Anyway, I love and appreciate you all!! <3 <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 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! Here's chapter three and four will be up right after I post this one! My husband and I will be going out of town for a bit, so yall get a double-update treat! Enjoy, Lovelies! <3

“Toya, are you sure it’s okay for us to be doing this..? Dad will kill us if he finds us out here without him or Mom..” Natsuo quietly asks, his body language screaming how nervous he is as they all walk along.

Toya lets out an annoyed huff, waving a dismissive hand in the air, “If you’re going to be such a scared little baby, then you can go back to the house.” He says without turning around to face his younger brother.

“We’ll be fine, Nats. We’ll only be down at the beach for a bit; play in some waves, make sandcastles, admire the stars or whatever, then we’ll head back.” Azusa tells Natsuo, reassuringly wrapping an arm over his shoulders.

“Yeah, Nats! C’mon, this is going to be so fun! It’s a full moon tonight, so we have plenty of light to play wave tag in!” Fuyumi exclaims with a wide smile as she skips across the sand.

With another huff, this time one of slight guilt for being snappish, Toya turns around to face his three siblings, “Exactly what they said, Squirt. Look, I just want to make the most of this vacation. You know that Dad doesn’t get a lot of leave days, so who knows when we’ll be back and dammit a night swim at the beach is something everyone should experience! Even you brats!” He lightheartedly jabs with a playful smile as he continues to walk backward on the beach.

“Hey-”

“-m not a brat-”

“Toyaaaa-”

Azusa, Natsuo, and Fuyumi all playfully whine out with giggles and smiles on their faces as they all charge their older brother. A game of tag ensues; laughs echo in the air, sand and water being flung at one another, and pure joy exudes from each of the Todoroki siblings.

A yelp escapes Azusa’s mouth when she feels Toya squish a fat handful of sand into the top of her head, ensuring that grains of sand bury themselves in her hair.

“Oh my god, Toya! You are so dea-”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“Attention Rangers, report to the Mess Hall for breakfast, then report to Bay 3 at 0600 immediately following breakfast for your co-pilot and Jaeger assignments. Attention Rangers, report-”

Azusa groans at the AI voice grating at her ears and she blindly reaches a hand out to shut off the alarm and the accompanying repetitive message. As she pulls herself from her bed, she tries to cling to the faint feeling of happiness she gained from the memory she relived in her sleep. She makes her way to her dresser, pausing before opening up the sock drawer to pick up a photo of her late brother.

“Today is the day I officially become a pilot, Toya.. I’ll even get to pilot your old Jaeger. D-don’t worry, Toya, I’ll m-make sure t-to take care of her f-for you.” Azusa whispers to the photo, barely getting her promise out past the painful lump in her throat. She gently sets the photo back down on the dresser and takes a few deep breaths then proceeds to get ready for the day.

Once dressed and as mentally ready as she can be, Azusa leaves her room and heads for the Mess Hall. Fuyumi never showed up to accompany her, which happens from time to time especially when Rangers are woken up earlier than usual. A small and quiet voice whispers how much it wants to be in bed still in the back of Azusa’s mind as the elevator descends. She lets out a tired sigh as she steps off of the elevator when it stops but quickly rights herself out as she enters the Mess Hall.

Azusa heads for the food line when she’s roughly shoulder-checked by somebody quickly moving past her. “Watch it,” she hisses out just before she registers the tall, broad, and blonde-haired being cutting in front of her. Sticking up his middle finger, Bakugo turns to shoot Azusa an arrogant smirk before turning back toward the stack of trays at the start of the food line. Azusa’s jaw clenches, her blood immediately boiling, but before she can spit any venom at Bakugo, Kendo and Tetsutetsu come up to her.

“Asshole,” Kendo says harshly under her breath as she casts a glare at the back of Bakugo’s head.

“I feel sorry for whoever his co-pilot ends up being,” Tetsutetsu adds as the three of them grab their trays and join the food line.

“Hopefully whoever it is can help him pull his head out of his ass.” Azusa quips quietly, causing her two friends to snicker as all three of them watch Bakugo’s knuckles go white from how hard he grips his tray.

Breakfast goes by without any more spats, surprisingly enough to Azusa. She had to hide it in the moment but she was genuinely shocked that Bakugo hadn’t attempted to fight the trio when they were shit-talking him literally right behind his back. All she had gotten for her comment was an ugly, snarl-twisted glare shot at her before he stomped off to “his” table.

All too soon, Rangers across the entire Mess Hall began standing to clear their places and head for the Shatterdome. An air of nervousness and excitement settles amongst the collective of newly graduated Rangers as they all gather around the elevators. Azusa blankets her nerves with perpetual stoicism and forced calm. She observes that Kendo has chosen to take occasional deep breaths while Tetsutetsu finds that yammering on endlessly about random crap soothes his nerves. It’s only when the group of new Rangers are all standing at attention at the mouth of Bay 3 with Marshal Todoroki and Marshal Aizawa in front of them that a suffocating silence ensue.

Marshal Todoroki’s judgmental gaze sweeps over the group as Marshal Aizawa’s stern gaze serves as a silent reminder to take this seriously. Marshal Todoroki clears his throat, making everyone tighten up their positions.

“At ease, Rangers.” Marshal Todoroki finally says after a couple of moments of tense silence. “Before we announce the co-pilot pairings and Jaeger assignments, I wanted to remind you all that this is not a game. This is not your childhood dream nor is it your chance at 15 minutes of fame. This is war. You are Rangers now, fighting for the sake of saving humanity.” Marshal Todoroki firmly states, his tone deadly serious.

“This is reality and in this reality, in this war, you are all putting your lives on the line. You may die. Your co-pilots may die. Your friends may die. But with those facts of this hellish reality looming over our heads, I thank you for your service and hope that you all live to see the day we win this war.” Marshal Todoroki ends his speech, both he and Marshal Aizawa straightening up and saluting.

The group of Rangers, collectively torn between shitting their pants from fear and keeping their cool, straightens up and salutes back. Azusa, while fully grasping the seriousness of the situation, inwardly cringes a bit at the lack of encouragement from her father. ‘Did I really expect him to be any sort of encouraging, though?’ She ponders bitterly as she and the rest of the group relax their positions.

“Onto announcing the co-pilot pairings and Jaeger assignments,” Marshal Aizawa says, drawing every pair of anticipation-filled eyes on him.

As Marshal Aizawa read off the names of pairs of co-pilots and their assigned Jaegers, Azusa’s stomach began to churn a bit. As much as she tried to will away the feelings of nervousness and slight dread, the roiling feeling refused to go. Occasionally her eyes connected with those of her father’s, making matching his steely and stoic gaze the only easy thing about this whole event.

“Rangers Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, you both will be the pilots of the Jaeger; Steel Riot.” Marshal Aizawa announces, then sends a sharp glare at the two as they move to high-five and cheer, stopping them in their tracks.

“Rangers Hado and Kendo, you both will be piloting the Jaeger; Battle Fist.” Marshal Aizawa continues, letting the smiles the girls shoot each other slide despite the air of professionalism.

“Rangers Bakugo and Todoroki, both of you will be piloting the Jaeger; Bravo Inferno.” Marshal Aizawa says, casting a slightly wary glance between Azusa and Bakugo.

As soon as she had heard Bakugo’s name in the same sentence as hers, every single other word out of the man’s mouth became muffled by static. Her stomach now burns with a nasty mix of anger, dread, and loathing. She hears a curse-filled outburst that undoubtedly comes from Bakugo, but she is too focused on glaring at her father to acknowledge the brash blonde.

Marshal Todoroki pointedly avoids meeting Azusa’s eyes, his stoic gaze shifting over the other Rangers. Azusa clenches her jaw, her teeth grinding together as she continues to glare, half registering the stern words from Marshal Aizawa’s reprimand toward Bakugo. She can’t understand why her father or Marshal Aizawa thought that pairing her with Bakugo would be a good idea.

‘There is absolutely no way we will be able to work together, let alone Drift smoothly! This doesn’t make any fucking sense! He’s a stubborn asshole who will get us both killed if we’re even able to Drift successfully! Son of a fucking bitch-’ Azusa seethes as she half listens to Marshal Aizawa continue with assignments. Eventually, the assignment announcements come to an end and the group of Rangers are being led to Loccent’s command center while the first Jaeger and its pilots are being prepped for their first test run.

Azusa and the other newly graduated Rangers watch as team after team take their turns with their Jaegers, going through their first Drifts. Her peers cheer and congratulate each other with every successful display. Azusa offers her own words of praise when Tetsu and Kendo come back from each of their own successful Drift sequences with their co-pilots. Finally, the moment that she has been dreading comes when Marshal Aizawa tells her and Bakugo to go suit up.

The tense and rage-filled air between Azusa and Bakugo could be cut with a knife as the two don’t utter a word, let alone spare a glance at each other while techs help them suit up. The two enter the Conn-Pod of Bravo Inferno, Bakugo stomping his way over to the right-side pilot harness without even asking what side Azusa would prefer. As much as she would have preferred piloting from the right, she lets it go with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

Mechanisms lock Azusa into place when she steps into the foot-holds and places her back against the harness. The soft hissing and clicks coming from her right tell her that Bakugo hasn’t decided to leave the Conn-Pod in an anger-filled rage. Azusa takes a deep breath, using the cool oxygen being pumped into her helmet as an aid to shove down her growing dread.

“Alright, Rangers, let yourselves flow through the Drift. Remember Random Access Brain Impulse Triggers, or RABIT, don’t chase it and don’t fight it. Just like in your simulations, do not get stuck in the memories. Are you ready?” Marshal Aizawa’s voice coaches through the Comms, his voice firm but holding the slightest amount of hesitance.

“Whatever! Let’s just get this over with!” Bakugo snarls out, smothering her confirmation of readiness. Marshal Aizawa doesn’t even bother reprimanding him, just lets out a tired sigh before getting off of the Comms.

Azusa straightens up and tries to force the tension from her body as the AI voice speaking through the Comms counts down the seconds til neural handshake. She leans back a bit and closes her eyes, the final seconds ticking down. A gasp is ripped from her mouth and her body jerks as her consciousness is sucked into a flurry of memories, both hers and Bakugo’s.

Flashes of her childhood play before her eyes, good moments blurring together into bad. She sees herself running around and laughing as she chases her siblings. Watches as her past self cheers and gloats over beating Toya in a video game. Feels it when memories of her father angrily shouting at her and her siblings when they did something wrong or embarrassed him in some way fly by. Unaware of her body’s labored breathing, new memories flash across her mind’s eye, memories that are new to her but not to Bakugo.

Azusa watches as a younger version of the blonde marches across a playground seemingly commanding those that follow him. Another memory bleeds through and she sees an older, female version of Bakugo cleaning his younger version’s knee. The woman, his mother Azusa assumes, says something that makes Bakugo’s younger self reluctantly giggle before that memory fades into another. This time, Azusa sees a teenage Bakugo gripping tightly onto a family photo. His face is twisted into anger and anguish, tears sliding down his cheeks and his jaw clenched. Everything fades out completely and with another gasp, Azusa is dropped back into reality, feelings and thoughts that aren’t hers invading her brain.

“Right hemisphere calibrating,” the AI voice from before guides, as Azusa and Bakugo lift their right hands up in sync.

“Left hemisphere calibrating,” the AI continues, Bakugo and Azusa raising their left hands up in sync.

“Holy shit,” Bakugo breathes out over the Comms and Azusa can feel his awe as much as she can feel her own.

The pair’s thoughts fall into sync seamlessly as they move to show off a bit. Moving together fluidly the two raise their fists and bend their knees, getting themselves and the massive machine they now control into a fighting position. Feeding off of the impressed looks and cheers from onlookers, they quickly move into a different stance. Their brains and bodies following the same train of thought, they straighten up and bring one fisted hand to the palm of their opened one. Bakugo’s overwhelmingly confident and flashy ego reminds Azusa of Toya, a bit of sadness flashing through her mind when-

“Where the fuck is he?! Where is Toya?! He can’t be dead! Please, no no no-”

Flinching at the painful drop back into reality, Azusa groans and tries to make out what the voices she’s hearing are saying, “-roki and Ranger Bakugo, you are both out of alignment! Please try to re-stabilize yourselves!” Iida’s slightly panicked voice rings through Azusa’s ears.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m good now-” Azusa tries to say, but she is cut off by Marshal Aizawa getting on the Comms.

“You’re stabilizing, Todoroki, but Bakugo is still way out of it! Bring him back, now!” Marshal Aizawa commands with urgency.

“Dammit- Bakugo, listen to me! Snap out of it! It’s just a memory, you have to come back to reality!” Azusa shouts across the three-foot gap between her and Bakugo.

Unfortunately, nothing seems to be getting through to the blonde as he stands in place, stock still. His eyes have a faraway look in them, his face fearful and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. But Azusa keeps trying to get to him, closing her eyes and sinking into her mind to try to find where his went.

When she opens her eyes again it’s raining and she’s standing among the rubble remains of a building. Her gaze sweeps the area, not finding her co-pilot anywhere but instead catching on the form of his younger self. This version of Bakugo appears to be the same teenage version from the earlier memory. Once again, she looks around at all of the broken pieces of the building and pieces together that it used to be an apartment complex.

She looks back at teenage Bakugo when she hears him cough and groan as he moves to sit up from where he is lying. In the distance, she can hear helicopters and there’s a slight rumble from the ground beneath her, but all she can focus on is the boy in front of her. Teenage Bakugo stands up slowly with a dazed and pained look on his face as he grabs at his bleeding torso. More blood runs down the side of his face from his hairline and overall he doesn’t look too good.

Azusa watches as he looks around, clarity coming back to him as concern floods his features. He stumbles forward, desperately searching for something among the rubble surrounding them.

“Ma? Pops?” He calls out, his raspy and cracking voice echoing throughout the destroyed landscape. A few tears escape his eyes and he furiously wipes them away before continuing his search for his parents. A few feet away from where he had woken up, Bakugo stops cold in his tracks.

“N-no,” he brokenly whispers out, looking down at a pile of broken concrete slabs.

Azusa slowly walks up behind him, morbid curiosity getting the better of her, admittedly. A horrified gasp leaves her mouth as her stomach lurches at the sight of a hand sticking out from beneath the rubble. Slender fingers lay slightly crumpled and limp on the ground, a silver wedding band coated in dust sitting snugly on the ring finger. Acid burns at the back of Azusa’s throat when she recognizes the small ruby adorning the ring.

“No, no, no! Damn it!” Bakugo’s gut-wrenching shouting breaks Azusa’s attention away from her horrible realization.

Turning to her left, Azusa sees teenage Bakugo on his knees next to a body half-covered by rubble. Part of a re-bar sticks out of the side of the body’s chest and her nausea hits full force, once more, as Azusa walks over to Bakugo. When she reaches him, his face is buried in his hands as he sobs and his shoulders shake violently. Azusa looks down at the body before them and with a broken heart she realizes that it’s the man from the family photo from the other memory; Bakugo’s father.

Lost within the shared feelings of loss, grief, and pain, neither she nor Bakugo registers the sound of emergency personnel making their arrival. It’s only when a paramedic is crouched down in front of Bakugo do either of them briefly break from their grief. Bakugo, expressionless and silent, gets ushered to an ambulance with a dust-covered picture frame in his hands, the glass of it shattered and the whole thing is overall broken.

Teenage Bakugo passing out in the back of that ambulance is what snaps them back to reality, both of their bodies giving out on them. Alarms are blaring throughout the Conn-Pod and voices shout at them through the Comms. Looking out of the window of the Conn-Pod, Azusa watches the arms of the Jaeger slowly fall to its sides. As the glow of them fades out, she realizes that one of the weapons had been engaged during the traumatic flashback and a dulled shiver runs down her spine.

Ignoring the continued shouting from whoever is on the Comms, Azusa removes her helmet and releases herself from her harness. She rushes over to Bakugo, hands out ready to steady the man as he stumbles from his harness’s release. He rights himself, though, and shakes the look of sadness from his face to replace it with a harsh glare. He rips his helmet off as he steps away from Azusa.

“Get the fuck away from me.” He seethes out before running a hand over his face to wipe away the remaining tears. Shoving past her with little care, Bakugo storms his way out of the Conn-Pod leaving Azusa alone to deal with the torrent of emotions flooding her brain.

Note ~ Let me know if there are any tags I should add! I love and appreciate every single one of you, Lovelies! <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

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

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 ~ 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