Work Text:
“Watch out!”
But you didn’t want to, you were just too tired. Suddenly you were tackled to the ground in the middle of the street.
A piece of cement comes flying above your head a few seconds later. “You damn useless extra, can’t you see that this is an active villain attack? Are you fucking stupid?!”
“C’mon Dynamight, that’s a little harsh. Let’s get you out of here, okay? It wouldn’t be very manly if you got crushed by falling debris.”
Your vision clears from being, quite frankly, violently tackled. Above you is a snarling face you recognize from the news and the fan sites you frequent.
Not that you’d ever admit that out loud. You accept the hand that was being held out to you as Pro Hero Dynamight pushes himself off of you.
“Thank you Red Riot. I appreciate the help.” You say.
“Hah?! I’m the one who pushed you out of the way of that fucking brick. Pay more attention! You could’ve gotten killed, you shitty extra!” Bakugo Katsuki is practically snarling at your complete dismissal of him.
“… thank you Dynamight. I didn’t need your help though.”
“What the hell!? You almost died, of course you needed my fucking help. Know what? I gotta a shitty villain to beat, get out of here. I don’t need to deal with civilian bullshit.”
Dynamight storms off and Red Riot gives a fleeting glance to you before running after his partner.
Well, I guess today isn’t the day then.
You walk off in the direction of your appointment, ignoring the heat and noise of explosions behind you. For some reason, it isn’t as terrifying as it should be.
————————————
FanaticFrequent: hey… u up?
HeroHopeful: just got home from work, why? How was your day?
FanaticFrequent: nothing much. almost died 2day. and I got new hero merch.
HeroHopeful: Wait, hold up? Back to the first fucking part? YOU ALMOST DIED!!!!!!!!
FanaticFrequent: yeah villain attack near the store. anyways- I got the new Hawks plush, it’s a corgi with his wings. I think I’m gonna call it cawks.
HeroHopeful: how many times do I have to tell you to stay away from those villain attacks! seeing a hero in action is not worth losing your fucking life.
FanaticFrequent: …
HeroHopeful: dont dot me you fucking dolt. you can’t keep doing that, it's unsafe.
FanaticFrequent: what else would I do with my life? There's nothing else that brings me the same joy. careful tho, it almost sounds like you care lol.
HeroHopeful: Of course I fucking care, we’ve talking online for two years. what else would I do on this stupid site?
FanaticFrequent: …
HeroHopeful: … be careful okay? I know you’re not doing well right now but that’s no reason to be careless.
—————————————
On the other side of a computer screen, Bakugo -a.k.a. Dynamight- sighs deeply. Dunceface had introduced him to a popular messaging service in his UA days. It seemed lame at first, but Katsuki found he rather enjoyed talking to people online.
There’s no mandatory way for him to act, he can be himself without people telling him he’s too aggressive or violent. That’s when he met FanaticFrequent.
Well technically they’ve never met before. They had both agreed that meeting in person wasn’t necessary. Internet safety and all that shit.
Lately however, he’s been thinking of trying to meet up with them. He’s a pro hero for fucks sake, he can handle a random extra.
Except they weren’t a random extra. This is the person that outside of shitty hair, is his best friend. What if he scares them off? Or explodes their face? He wouldn’t actually, but the possibility is still there.
It was so god damn frustrating. Fanatic had been going through a tough time and if maybe Bakugo could meet them in person. Take care of them or some shit, they would feel better.
He’s the legendary hero Dynamight. He can totally do this, if he can’t save one of his best friends from themselves, how can he call himself a hero?
He logs back online for the second time that night.
HeroHopeful: hey… i know we said we weren’t going to meet up, but do you wanna get coffee?
—————————————
You had been sitting at the café table for nearly an hour now. Meeting people on the internet had never been high on your list of safe activities, but then again you weren’t paying much attention to that nowadays.
Truth be told, you’ve been struggling with your depression and anxiety for a while now. Doctor says it’s clinical, the medication they prescribed for it isn’t really working yet.
In fact nothing seemed to be working now. Not your coping mechanisms, or your support system. Quite frankly, it all just fucking sucks.
Speaking of sucking, HopefulHero better show up soon otherwise your leaving. There’s only so long you can wait, no matter how desperate you feel for a friend.
More than a friend maybe, after speaking for two years, HopefulHero had become your only solace. He knew everything about you and you knew everything about him.
Or at least you thought. Now you’ve been sitting at this table for two hours and it had started to rain. Great, guess you’re walking back in the rain.
You were getting sick of the pity glances from the waitress anyways. “You know what? Fuck this guy. I’m out of here.”
You weren’t even talking to anybody. Tears started running down your face before you could help yourself. All you could think was that you needed to get out of here before you fell apart.
Fuck this guy. I knew it was too good to be true, who would ever want to be friends with me. Another depressing day to add to the list.
You’re lost in your head as you storm out of the café. You barely even noticed the guy heading towards you. There’s a loud grunt as you collide into each other.
“Hey watch where you’re going dipshit!”
That was it. You had never done well with people yelling at you and given the day you’ve had, it’s all too much. Tears bubble over before you could stop yourself.
The more you try to stop yourself, the worse it becomes and now you’re sobbing in the middle of the street. “Hey- uhhh, I didn’t mean to- ummm. Don’t cry please, I uh need to meet someone… oh gosh I’m gonna be late. Please stop crying…”
Wait a minute, you recognize that voice. “Wait… Dynamight?” You are momentarily shocked from your meltdown.
“Are you a fan? I’ll sign something if it gets you to stop crying. Ugh I wish shitty hair was here, he’s better at this crap than I am.” He looks down at his watch. “Shit- I’m so late, stupid extra can’t get their own fucking purse back. Please still be here Fanatic…”
Add another shock to the list. There’s no way, right? There’s no way that Bakugo Katsuki could be your online friend. That’s impossible.
Maybe though… just maybe.
“HeroHopeful?” you ask hesitantly.
Your voice is still a bit hoarse from crying but he certainly hears you. His eyes widened and it would have been comical if you weren’t so overwhelmed in this moment.
“FanaticFrequent?” He asks back.
“Yeah… that’s me.” You look down at your shoes.
Of course it’s just your luck that one of the most eligible bachelors in Japan is your secret online crush. He must be so disappointed. You were such a bitch to him this morning too!
He was only trying to protect you from a villain attack and you go and dismiss him for it. You're so pathetic. This is it, you're gonna lose your last friend now. If you hadn’t been so depressed earlier, waiting for a god damn villain attack to “accidentally” hurt you. Stupid, stupid-
Your thoughts are cut off by two strong arms wrapping around you. Bakugo squeezes you and for a moment it’s hard to get air in your lungs. “C-can’t breathe”
“Shit! Sorry.” He releases you and you kinda regret saying anything in the first place. You haven’t been hugged like that in a very long time.
You cough a bit to clear your throat. “So… you’re HeroHopeful? Should’ve guessed from the username. I should umm- I should get going now. Sorry to waste your time.”
No! What are you doing? Don’t run away! This is Pro Hero Dynamight! He’s not gonna want to be friends with a coward. Idiot.
“Wait! Don’t go! I didn’t mean to scare you it’s- I was surprised it was you. Fuck. I know I’m late, there was a bag thief on my way over. Shit. Did I mess this all up?”
He stares at you and for a moment it feels like he stares right into your brain with how focused he is.
“Did you…? No! If anything I messed it up. There’s no way someone like you would want to hang out with me. Gosh this is so embarrassing.”
“Oi! What did I say about insulting yourself, only losers do that shit. You're no loser.” He snaps at you.
Wow. It really is HeroHopeful, he says stuff like that all the time and it always gives you butterflies in your stomach. Like right now.
He talks again. “Do you umm, maybe want to still have coffee? I know I’m late. I’d really like to get to hang out with you though. Fuck. Umm I’m not really good at this emotional shit.” There’s a pause and a deep breath.
“I know you’ve been going through a tough time so I just thought that maybe… we could become like friends irl. You shouldn’t go through this shit alone.”
Your smile takes over your face before you can help yourself. Once again, you find yourself in Bakugo Katsuki’s arms. This time, knowing that you have a friend to count on.
“Silly Hero, we were already friends.”