Work Text:
A soft knock echoed through Bakugo’s door stirring him from his sleep. He groans as he rubs a palm against one side of his forehead.
[ 23:58 ] was displayed in neon green numerals as his eyes shifted upward to read the digital alarm in the darkness. He fumbled for the chain of the light on his desk and turns it on.
Once again the soft knocking starts again—
“I heard you the first time!” He calls propping himself up and then rubbing his eyes as he groggily trudges towards the door.
“This better be an emergency Kirishima or I’m going to kill—“ he pauses as he opens the door to see two gray eyes meet his and blink at his shirtless chest, quickly darting to the ground as she held her fist back to her heart, her black hair cascading over her loose pink t-shirt paired with gray pajama shorts.
“Sorry to bother you Bakugo— I just— May I come in?” She stutters. Bakugo shifts his eyes to sweep the hall to make sure it was clear. He tilts his head towards the inside, motioning her to come in, then shuts the door behind her.
“What’s this about?” He yawned, as he fetched a black undershirt with a screen printed skull from a drawer to pull over his head. He threads his arms through the holes and leans against the closed door before shoving his hands in his pajama pants pockets.
“Oh, I was reorganizing some my notes and realized I may have forgotten my book here from earlier so I wanted to come by and umm—“ Yaoyorozu rambled timidly.
“Which book?” Bakugo interrupted, glancing up in her direction, standing upright.
“Uh, Physics I believe...” the black haired bombshell replies diverting her gaze as she looks around his room.
“Ha, you don’t say? Well that’s funny, I thought we our last project was for English,” he corrects her as his eyes narrowed before he spoke again, “So are you gonna tell me the real reason why you decided to piss me off in the middle of the night or waste my time with another lame excuse?”
Yaoyorozu looks up and blushes as she meets his crimson stare studying her, “Am I that transparent? The truth is I... I couldn’t sleep.”
“Join the club,” Bakugo scoffs as he crosses his arms in front of his chest, unamused.
“You couldn’t either?” she blinks.
“What is this? An interrogation?” He scrunches his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose annoyed, “You’re the one that woke me up in the middle of the night remember?”
“I apologize Bakugo,” she bows, relocating her arms in front of her as she clasped her hands together so they rested against her thighs. “I’ve been having these nightmares and it makes it difficult for me to fall asleep. I thought maybe being around you would help. I mean, you’re not afraid of anything. Villains, the unknown, failing—“
“Thats because failure’s not an option to me,” he interjects.
“See? Fearless,” she smiles sheepishly.
The ash blonde sucks his teeth and sighs, “So what do you want me to do about it? Knock you out cold?”
She forced a laugh as she grimaced, “Ha, of course not.” Defeated by no other way of wording what she wanted to try, she mustered up the courage and asked, “I know it’s a strange request, but I was hoping you can keep me company while I fall asleep?”
Bakugo’s brows furrow as he continues to study her, irritation creeping in his voice, “You can’t be serious Ponytail,” he pauses and then rolls his eyes, clenching his jaw, “Is this another one of Racoon Eyes stupid dares? She’s gonna regr—“
Yaoyorozu holds up a hand to elaborate, “Like I said, I know it’s a strange request Bakugo. I really haven’t been able to sleep ever since camp... When I nodded off after we finishing up our project, that was actually the first time since then I was able to sleep soundly...” she smiles softly, tears welling up in her stone colored eyes, “I still don’t know exactly what happened before I blacked out when Awase saved me. Unfortunately, not being able to retrace what happened before the attack is just as traumatic to me than if I was able to. A significant part of my memory is inaccessible as I keep bombarding myself with what if’s from that night. What if that Nomu kept pursuing us? If only I was faster at reacting and using my quirk efficiently in a time of crisis, I would’ve been strong enough to protect every one I was with and not be incapacitated. Or a burden. What if I don’t have what it takes to be a true pro hero? It’s been weighing on me so much that I keep experiencing recurring nightmares of not being able to save people because I’m frozen in my own doubts. But, when I’m near you,” She pauses taking in a deep breath and exhales slowly as tears start to trickle down her face, “It disappears... I can’t explain why that is, but to the best of my knowledge I don’t feel as overwhelmed or anxious as I normally do when I’m around you.”
He walks away from the door shaking his head. Her eyes lower to the floor as she heads towards her exit.
‘Come on Yaomomo, what were you thinking?’
“Look alive Ponytail,” Bakugo alerts her as he tossed her an extra pillow from his closet. She clumsily catches it before it hits the floor boards as he stands next to his bed pointing to the spot near the the wall, “Stay on your side, got it?”
Yaoyorozu nods relieved, slipping her house shoes off near the door and tracks to her spot. She scoots near the wall, and tucks her legs below the thin black sheet. Bakugo slides onto the bed, legs already underneath, when he catches her gazing at him, “What the hell are you looking at?”
She flinches, and nervously returns a smile to him as she shrugs, “Goodnight Bakugo, and thank you.” She turns towards the wall lying on her side, one hand bracing her head under the pillow, and clutching the sheet against her torso. Bakugo reached for the small chain that suspended off of the nightlight and tugged it as the room fell back into darkness. She could feel Bakugo lie down beside her and placing his hands behind his head. He was staring at the ceiling pacing through his thoughts as she closed her eyes and hoped for a peaceful sleep. On cue, in a matter of seconds her body relaxed, and slipped into the slumber she had been deprived of.
—————————
He slept facing away from her so he wouldn’t snore in her face once he drifted into unconsciousness. She had turned away out of respect to give him more space on his regular sized bed. However, in just fifteen minutes, Yaoyorozu had subconsciously shifted the same direction as Bakugo, scooting closer to the warmth of his back and burying her nose in between his shoulder blades. He flinched as he felt her forehead rested against his back and peaked over. She smelled so sweet. A faint scent of fresh plumerias and vanilla caressed his nose from her silky locks. Slender fingers slid over his waist and faintly rested on top his bicep directly on the sheet. A tingling sensation of electricity circuited through every inch of his body that Yaoyorozu’s arm laid in contact with.
“Oi, Ponytail,” he whispered. No reply. He weighed what he should do in his head which would be the best option; wake her up to move? Or to leave her be and maybe she’d retreat without embarrassing herself in front of him? She nudged her head again against his back and exhaled softly. Tingles appeared in his stomach. He sighed and returned his head to lay on his pillow and closed his eyes again.
The vibration of his phone against the wooden desk woke him up as one of this daily affirmations flashed automatically on his screen like it does every morning at 6:30am.
Yaoyorozu was now facing him still asleep, her forehead now cradled against his chest. He slowly flutters his eyes with open, and scans her face. Two small tear streams faintly remained on her cheeks. Had she been crying in her sleep? Did he notice and end up comforting her? His toned arm was still embracing her as she stayed nuzzled against him. He couldn’t recall how they ended up intertwined in his drowsy state. Without thinking he grazed the wetness with his thumb to wipe them away gently from her face. She didn’t budge, a faint smile twitched at the corners of her lips as she slept. He slid a small section of her bangs and tucked it away from her face admiring her features. Tiny mini explosions started popping in his core... Even in stillness she was stunning. Distracted by his own thoughts, he didn’t notice her tilt her head up and lazily open her eyes then glancing to his arm bracing her against him, “Bakugo?”
He immediately returns his arm to his side and rolls onto his back to hide the heat surfacing to his face, “It’s almost 7... you might want to make your way back before the rest of those extras see you sneaking out of here.”
She lifts herself upright from the bed, her cheeks already flushed, “You’re right, I should get going. Uh, do you mind?”
“Huh?”
“I need to slide out from your side. Umm... my side’s next to the wall,” she responds trying to suppressing a laugh. She thought it was cute how he looked confused for a second.
“I knew that!” he retorts as he swings his legs off the edge of the bed so she can get through.
‘Idiot,’ he thought shaking his head.
She scooted over and swung her legs off the edge next to his, “Thank you Bakugo. I definitely feel a lot better. I’m super grateful—“
“Yeah yeah, whatever Ponytail,” he dismisses her, cocking an brow up at her, “Are you trying to get caught or—?”
“Oh no of course not,” she says as she jumps off and scurries to the door opening it quietly and peaking outside. The hall was empty and there was a clear shot to the elevator. she stepped out quietly and turned around to wave at red eyed blonde watching her leave. “See you around?”
“In your dreams,” he answers. She couldn’t help but smile and blush again as she slowly closed his door finally making a light click as it sealed. He faintly heard the elevator doors ding open and a few seconds later close. He caught his reflection in his closet mirror, still grinning after she bid him farewell.
‘Fuck, not again.’