Work Text:
The senior year of high school was the most stressful, everyone scrambled around to finish college applications or their hero assessments to complete the year. You were in general studies but were taking extracurricular classes to further impress Universities. You loved fixing machines and helping improve people’s lives with them. You couldn’t wait till you could finally leave this school and start your adult life with that as your main driver.
“Hey, nerd! Where the fuck are you going?” Usagiyama came up behind you and slammed you into the wall. You felt the rough wall pull at your clothes and disheveled them.
“Oh uh, hi there Usagiyama. Do you need me to do something for you?” This was the norm for both of you. Usagiyama would corner you and demand something while you tried to please her by doing whatever she asked of you. You didn’t particularly enjoy it but it helped keep away other bullies since they would see you with her.
“Yeah, I need you to come to my place and do my homework. Got it, nerd?” You nodded at her and watched as she walked away. You didn’t care anymore, she didn’t scare you. Usagiyama was just irritating. Her aggressive personality made it difficult to deal with her. She had this weird lust for violence that made you do double-takes at the notion that she was in the hero course.
You decided to get a head start on your homework during lunch and once the bell rang, you bolted towards her apartment. It was in a nice area with a lot of semi-wealthy families, her apartment itself was fine. Usagiyama walked up to you and opened the door so you could come in, she of course smacked your ass before smirking at you. You watched her tail wag when you turned around, a sadistic smile ever-present on her face only grew at your shocked expression.
“What?” She walked past you and into her kitchen leaving you at the front door.
You didn’t understand why she was acting…weird. Yeah, she’s teased you before but something felt different, almost like she was trying to say something without wording it. You made yourself comfortable on her couch and pulled out the notes you took in class. This was getting strange. She usually had the tv blasting as you worked and would sit on the other end on her phone but for some reason, she brought you a plate of cut fruit and a glass of water, she even sat right beside you. You ignored her as you worked on the worksheets she gave you and quietly ate the fruit she offered you. You realized how out of character this truly was, she was nice to you. But that’s when things got even stranger. You reached out to pick up another slice of apple but couldn’t find it. You turned towards the plate but had an apple shoved into your mouth.
“W- What are you doing?” You moved away from Usagiyama and stared at her surprised face.
“I’m… giving you food.” She didn’t understand. You looked so cute sitting there, working away that she just needed to…help you. She didn’t smell bad, she made sure to wear deodorant and perfume just to make a good impression. So why were you backing away? Why were you putting distance?
“Ok…can you just let me eat on my own?” You rearranged your things so that they were as far away from Usagiyama as possible. You ignored the sudden twitch of her ears and how droopy they looked. You didn’t want this moment to become even more awkward than it had already become.
You continued to do her work for her but Usagiyama was not enjoying this anymore. You were uncomfortable around her and you won’t let her come close. Her ears fully flopped down and her foot began to tap on the floor aggressively. She wanted to touch you, wanted to be near you and scent you. You were hers, even if you didn’t know it yet. But you didn’t want her.
Usagiyama kicked you out of her home once you finished with her assignments. She didn’t bother with an explanation, just threw you out by your shirt into the breezeway. You couldn’t believe it, you helped her, again, and she just… she threw you. You were kind of impressed at her strength but you hated that it was directed at you. You gathered your things from the floor and walked down the stairs to the street.
The night was pleasant, not too cold but not too hot. When you arrived home you dropped your things down by the front door and immediately made your way to your bedroom. You felt the tears prick in your eyes and slowly make themselves down your face. The sheets beneath you were slowly becoming soaked in your tears. You liked her, you didn’t know in what way but you didn’t hold any ill will towards her. Yes she was aggressive with you and of course, she bullied you throughout your entire high school experience but you could see that she was a good person. When she spoke about hero work during your previous sessions, she was passionate about the career. This glint in her eyes made itself known and it wasn’t cruel or sadistic. It was pure love.
You cried that night and early into the morning when you collected your thoughts. You didn’t understand why the demeanor from last night made you feel weird. Usagiyama was never close to you unless it was to tease you and last night didn’t seem like it was teasing. She was soft with you, her hands, when they made contact with your skin, were gentle with you, almost like she was afraid that she’d hurt you. You shook your head and assumed you were overthinking things. She was probably just having an off day. You did your regular morning routine and made your way to school. Everyone was staring at you the moment you got onto campus. You didn’t understand what was happening and just went straight to class. Your classroom was the same thing, everyone was whispering around you and looking at you as they gossiped. You felt like a stranger but brushed it off the moment class started. The entire day was like this with no clear answer to your questions.
“Hey, nerd!” Usagiyama made her way to your lunch table and slammed her hand in your lunch. It splattered everywhere even your clothes.
“At mines, after school. Don’t. Be. Late.” She shook her hand and wiped her hand on the table. Your things were covered in your destroyed lunch but you didn’t care about that. Usagiyama’s voice wasn’t playful or teasing, she was pissed. She wasn’t an angry person but you’ve seen her speak at people in that way. It seemed like you weren’t being spared her wrath. You swallowed what little food you had left in your mouth and cleaned your dirty lunch table before going back to class.
You stood outside of her apartment, taking in deep and controlled breaths to calm your hammering heart. What was this? You’ve been to her home many times in the past so why did this feel different? You took one last major breath and opened the door. You were pulled into the dark apartment and dragged to what felt like a spacious area within the home. It was pitch black, your eyes couldn’t help you orient yourself in the space.
“L/n.” The lights snapped on and you were greeted by Usagiyama dressed in a gray hoodie. Her hands were inside her pockets and she stared down at you as she pursed her lips.
“You’re a pain, you know that?” She stepped closer to you and wrapped your tie around her hand. Usagiyama pulled you in, her face just a few inches away from your own.
“That’s why I need to do this. To put you in your place you ungrateful shit.” Usagiyama dumped something on you. It was wet and thick. Whatever it was completely flattened your hair and held weight to it. Then came the add-on. She grabbed another container that was near and dumped it on you as well. You felt like you were suffocating in whatever it was. You couldn’t open your eyes nor wipe the thing off of you. But what you did hear was footsteps and laughter. You and Usagiyama weren’t alone in the apartment. The laughter came from multiple places in the room and you didn’t know what to do. You stood up and attempted to orient yourself to the space. You began to look for the door but bumped into things along the way, something even hit and broke on the floor.
“Look at you. You’re such a pig.” Usagiyama kicked you. You fell to the floor and rubbed your eyes. The world was blurry and your eyelids felt rough. Your hands felt like they were being stabbed by tiny needles. You picked yourself up and turned to face her.
“You’re worthless, I hope you’re aware of that.” She wasn’t laughing with the other people. Usagiyama just stared at you as you ran out the front door.
You ran, whatever was on you was shaking off of you with every step. The tears you held were now pouring down your face. The Usagiyama you knew was mean but not cruel. She never embarrassed you in front of others but it seemed that it no longer applied. You made it back to your apartment and slammed the door behind you. You felt the world crash into you the moment you slid down to the ground.
Glitter. You had glitter all over you and the heavy substance that was poured onto you first was some kind of gel. The tears wouldn’t stop coming as you sat at your door. Usagiyama wasn’t cruel. She couldn’t be, not with you. Usagiyama was…something. You couldn’t explain anything to yourself, the day went from odd to worse in a matter of hours. You didn’t bother wiping the tears and instead stood up, your legs wobbling, and walked to the bathroom. You couldn’t forget what just happened but you could at least clean the mess you were in.
Usagiyama watched as the people rewatched the video they took of you getting gel and glitter poured on you for the 32nd time that night. Your confused face and wavering voice made her heart clench every time it was replayed. The people-watching laughed when you stumbled and fell onto the floor of her living room. Usagiyama couldn’t take it. It was painful. She fucked up, she knows she did because she didn’t mean anything. She never wanted to hurt you but she hated the way you reacted to her flirting with you. She was being nice but she guessed it was overwhelming to you.
“Stop and get out.” All of the people in her living room stopped laughing when they heard her. It was clear who ruled the space, Usagiyama was not playing games anymore.
“Get out” Everyone scattered and ran out her front door. No one wanted to deal with her when she was in a mood.
Usagiyama sat on her couch and watched the video again. You were scared of her and she was angry with you for no real reason. She couldn’t blame you for wanting to escape her. She dreamt of the day she could finally have you by her side, have you be her engineer, and get to call you hers. She wanted to make it possible to be your hero, but she wasn’t. That reality was flawed. She wasn’t your hero anymore, not like she ever was, she was the predator you ran from. She cried for the first time in years, the tears hot as they fell onto her lap. You weren’t going to be hers anymore and all because she couldn’t keep her feelings in check.