Title: In Denial

Rating: M—for language and suggestive content

Writer: xSteleAliniax

Summary: Bakugo definitely does NOT have feelings for a girl and he definitely doesn't act on them.

Part One: Forced Hatred

Bakugo sat in his desk, glowering at a math exam and tapping his pen angrily on his paper as if that would somehow make the answers appear there. He hated math. Math was for nerds like that Deku. He didn't need this kind of shit to be a hero. Heroes didn't do math—they saved lives. Why weren't they out there in the world practicing with their quirks on villains? This was idiotic.

The door opened and Mr. Aizawa glanced over at it with his typical bored expression. The principal walked in with a girl he'd never seen before wearing a UA uniform. She was blonde and small and had average features he couldn't be bothered to really look at, but her entrance was more interesting than his current math test so he welcomed the brief distraction.

"Mr. Aizawa," greeted Principal Nezu. "This is Aisla Haru, she's a transfer student from Shiketsu High School. She'll be in your class from here on out."

"Great, just what I needed. Another student." Mr. Aizawa sat back in his chair and closed his eyes once more. "Have a seat, Miss Haru."

The girl hurried into the only free seat in the room, right in front of Bakugo. Her blonde hair settled around her waist as she sat, sending a waft of floral into his nose. Why did girls always smell like flowers?

He completely ignored the rest of his test until Mr. Aizawa called the end of the exam and he had to hastily fill in random ass answers before taking it up front and dropping it on the teacher's desk. He got a raised brow in return as if it was obvious he'd flunked. He half expected Mr. Aizawa to just give him an F right then to save time. Like he cared. He didn't put much effort into math and he never would. If he ever needed it in life, he'd get a nerdy sidekick to do it for him.

When class ended, the other students immediately clustered around the new girl's desk, blocking his way of escape. His eyes blazed as everyone started shooting off questions about who she was and why she'd transferred and what her quirk was. Bakugo was too angry to hear any of her soft responses. He didn't care who this new chick was. All he cared about was being the next best hero.

And getting out of this damn classroom, he thought angrily as the crowd of students continued bombarding the girl with questions.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP?!" He finally shouted, fists clenched and eyes like fire. A couple of girls gave a squeak of surprise and jumped back. "SHE DOESN'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU FREAKS SO LEAVE HER ALONE AND LET ME GO!"

The girl in question, Isis or whatever, turned in her seat, giving him a soft smile. "It's okay, I don't mind that much." Her voice was so…

Annoying, he decided. Not soft. Not anything. She was annoying.

"Well I do. I want to get the hell out of here." He barked, jumped from his seat, snatched his bag, and shoved through the crowd. He didn't stop until he ran right into someone in the halls.

"DEKU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING OR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF, YOU GOT THAT?!"

"Sorry, Kacchan!" He replied quickly, gave a bow and then hurried off to wherever the hell that freak was going.

"Deku fucking nerd," he growled under his breath.

"Are you alright?"

The voice was not Deku's.

Bakugo was still on the floor, rubbing his head where he'd smacked into the rock named Deku. He glanced up. Of course. The girl.

"Go away." But he was too tired to put any conviction into the words.

"I'm sorry if everyone got in your way," she said. "I know new people can draw a crowd." An embarrassed laugh. She was so stupid.

"Didn't you hear me? GO AWAY!" He glared at her, baring his teeth like some kind of animal. She didn't even flinch, just shrugged.

"My name's Aisla, by the way." She did not offer her hand. Instead, she turned her back on him and walked away without another word.

Weird girl, he thought.

The next day was a weekend so no classes were in session. Even so, Bakugo wasn't going to let that stop him from practicing his quirk. He headed out into the nearby woods to find a quiet place to practice so as not to be disturbed by his annoying classmates.

However…

About a quarter-mile into the woods, right where his practice spot was, sat the girl in a clearing. She just sat there with her back to him, doing nothing as far as he could tell. Her golden hair shined in the sunlight from above. Not that he noticed.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" He shouted, anger filling his entire being.

Again, she didn't flinch at his loud words, surprising him. Maybe she got yelled at a lot for being an idiot. "Meditating," she answered in an even tone.

"The hell for?" He asked, confounded as to why anyone ever did boring shit like that. She didn't turn around, didn't move.

"It helps me control my quirk."

He scoffed. "You and that Deku really need to get control of your powers already if you ever want a hope of getting a real job."

This time she did turn, a small smile on her face. A stupid smile. "Thanks. I'll try my best. That's all any of us can do, right?"

He blinked. Scoffed. Looked away. "Whatever. Just get the hell out of here. This is my spot."

"I was here first." She gave him a challenging look.

He arched an eyebrow, wondering if he should challenge her back by giving her a taste of his quirk. Maybe she'd think twice about stealing his practice spot.

"Do you want to see it?" She asked when he said nothing.

"I don't wanna see anything!" He snapped.

She smirked and shrugged. "Alright. Your loss." She went back to meditating as if he wasn't even there.

He seethed. "Hey! You wanna fight or what?"

She ignored him.

"Alright, you asked for it! Better use that quirk of yours to defend yourself!"

He wasn't doing this to see her quirk. He just needed to fight someone and she happened to be there. He clenched his fists and forced as much power as he could into an attack. She still had her back to him, despite his battle cry of rage, as he sent an explosion aimed right at her—

"Ow!"

Before he could even finish speaking, he was lying flat on his back with singed hair—from his explosion. How the hell had that happened? He sat up, breath heaving from anger. She still had her back turned, but her head faced him so their eyes met briefly.

"Thought you didn't want to see?" She asked, a dangerous look in her eyes.

He just blinked at her in confusion for a long time. He had attacked her. She hadn't moved. Yet, his own explosion had come back to hit him. What had she done? What kind of quirk did this chick have?

"It's called 'mirror.'" She said as if having read his mind. Maybe she had. "I can reflect a quirk back at someone, but only if I've looked them in the eyes. It doesn't work on people with masks that cover their eyes. That's all I can do, though. I have no offensive powers. I can only reflect, not attack."

"That's shitty," he muttered.

She laughed like he'd said something funny. Idiot.

He looked away and glared at a tree. "Whatever. I'll come back later."

"Hey wait!"

He heard her shoes scrape against the dirt as she scrambled after him. He didn't slow for her, he actually walked a little faster, hoping to avoid her. It didn't work. She was at a light jog when she caught up.

"Wait, you didn't give me your name."

"It's none of your damn business!" He practically screamed the words at her and then ran off as fast as he could. She didn't catch up.

Monday rolled around a few days later and classes were back in session. New Kid continued to sit in front of him and he continued to ignore her presence. He didn't even notice her there, didn't notice the golden color of her hair resting against her back, or the way it moved like waves when she tilted her head. That would be fucking stupid. Girls were stupid. This girl was the dumbest one of all.

"Mr. Bakugo."

He shook his head and glared up at Mr. Aizawa as if he'd been the one to do something wrong.

"Pay attention," he scolded. "I don't waste my life away in this classroom so you students can take naps. If I have to be here, you have to pay attention."

Bakugo twisted his mouth into something petulant and started pretending to write notes. Instead, his paper read: dumb dumb dumb, this is so dumb. Kill me now because this is so dumb. Also screw you Deku.

At the end of class, New Kid, Aisle or Islam or whatever, turned to him and gave him a friendly smile. "Wow, Mr. Aizawa is pretty intense, isn't he? I always thought his quirk was really cool and was really excited when I heard he taught here!" Bakugo ignored her as he packed up his bag but she just kept on going. "I probably would have come to UA sooner if I'd known such great heroes taught here! Eraser Head, All Might. It's so exciting!"

"Don't you ever shut up?!" He demanded. He threw his bag over his shoulder and stomped off, just barely catching Deku's idiotic voice asking how the new girl's first official day was or some shit. He didn't care. He just wanted to be left alone.

He stomped his way down the stairs and almost ran into an asshole. "Watch where you're going, Icy Hot!"

"Same goes for you." Todoroki was deadpan as always, with hands stuffed in pockets and an arrogant expression. "You ran into me, you know."

"Well you were in my way!"

"Um, hello."

Both guys turned toward the voice. New Girl, of course. Was she following him or something? What the hell was wrong with this chick?

"What do you want, Isis?" He demanded. "Thought I told you to stop talking?"

"My name is Aisla," she corrected softly. "I wasn't named after a terrorist group. What's your name?" The question was directed at Todoroki this time. Good. At least she remembered that Bakugo wouldn't tell her his name.

"Todoroki," he said with a slight bow of his head, "Shoto Todoroki."

Bakugo waited for her to do that freak out fangirl shit, asking him if he's the number two hero, Endeavor's son, acting surprised that it's him. He wondered if Todoroki hated telling people his name for that reason, wondered if it bothered him. Then remembered he didn't give a shit about Icy Hot or this girl and should walk the hell away.

She smiled politely. "Shoto. That's nice. Thank you for telling me." She gave a small bow. "It was nice meeting you both."

She turned and began walking away. Finally.

"She didn't ask who your old man was." Bakugo realized aloud.

"Or she doesn't care," Todoroki said with a shrug.

The next few days went by exactly the same. Bakugo went to class and then was bombarded with idiotic questions from Aileen (he definitely couldn't remember her name). Then he'd catch her talking up Icy Hot in the hallway or outside in the courtyard. He would promptly ignore them, speed-walking past their stupid conversations and ignoring Iris's calls of greeting. He didn't need to stop and talk to them. They could talk to each other.

On the last day of school, he wasn't approached by the new girl as he had been the other four days. He figured she'd finally gotten the hint that he didn't want anything to do with her. He watched her from the corner of his eye, gathering up her supplies without ever looking in his direction, then walking through the door with her head down.

"Hey moron." Todoroki stood by his desk, arms folded across his chest. "Aisla's a nice girl. Why are you such an ass to her? You know she's probably the only girl at this whole school who would ever give your sorry ass the time of day, right?"

Bakugo seethed. "I don't need pity from some dumb girl! I don't need anyone!" He pushed his chair back and began shoving things into his bag.

"She's a good person," Todoroki said in a warning tone.

"What are you, her brother? Get the hell away from my desk!"

"Who are we talking about?!" Asked Deku, coming to stand by Bakugo's desk.

"Aisla Haru," Todoroki explained.

"Oh, she's great!" Deku exclaimed in his annoying voice. "Everyone really likes her."

"WELL I DON'T, OKAY?!" Bakugo slammed his fists against his desk, making Todoroki jump back. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME STUPID GIRL SO SHE CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL FOR ALL I CARE!"

When he finished his tirade, he noticed everyone looking not at him but towards the door. He glanced over and saw her, the blonde he'd just insulted, standing in the doorway with glittering eyes. Pools of blue met his eyes and then she turned and ran back out the door.

He just stood there, watching the empty space in the doorway. He heard whispers start to fill the air around him but he paid them little attention. People thought he was heartless and cruel, it wasn't anything new. Almost no one liked him in their class, in their whole school probably, except for Kirishima, that idiot Deku, and her.

Well, she definitely doesn't like you now, his mind sneered at him.

A fist smacked him hard in the back of the head, sending him flying onto his face.

"HEY!" He jumped to his feet, ready for a fight.

Todoroki stood there, expression…disapproving? The hell did he have to be disapproving about?

"You're an asshole." Was all he said before leaving the room. Bakugo was too surprised to react right away. By the time he regained his composure, no one remained in the room except Kirishima.

"You know, instead of insulting girls you like, maybe you should try talking to them," Kirishima suggested with a wink.

"Shut up! I don't like her!" He snatched his bag from Kirishima's outstretched hand and followed his classmates out the door.

"Come on, it's obvious you've got the hots for her!" His friend dropped an arm around his shoulders and leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially into Bakugo's ear. "If you want, I can hook you two up. There's a small chance you haven't completely blown it with her. She may still dig you."

"I said shut up!" He shoved the other guy off and walked faster, with more purpose. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't want to deal with Kirishima and his conspiracies. He didn't like Aisla. Aisla was a stupid name anyway. He didn't like her and didn't care if she hated his guts like everyone else. So what if he hurt some girl's feelings? He did that on a daily basis. What was one more person who hated him?

But her face…and her eyes…

"I don't care!" He shouted aloud, slamming a fist into a locker and making some girls nearby shriek.

He kept walking, kept his eyes trained forward until he reached the campus courtyard. Aisla stood there, talking to a couple of girls from another class. He walked right up to her, face hard. He would tell her that he wanted nothing to do with her and not to take it personally because he hated everyone and everyone in turn hated him.

Aisla and the other girls turned at his hurried, angry approach. The two girls with her looked immediately on edge, but Aisla just looked tired. Her eyes were red-rimmed, not that he noticed.

"LEAVE," he barked at the two intruding girls who gave no hesitation in their retreat. "Bakugo," he told her.

She blinked a few times as if waiting for more, then a frown settled into place. "Sorry?"

"My name," he said as if that weren't obvious, "You asked what it was. It's Katsuki Bakugo. Now we're even."

The most astonishing thing happened then, she giggled. Never had anyone giggled at him before, especially not a girl. Maybe her brain wasn't screwed on all the way or something.

"Nice to meet you, Katsuki Bakugo." She bowed once more. "Maybe you'd like to hang out sometime?" Her blue eyes focused on his.

He scoffed. "Why the hell would I want to hang out with you?!"

She shrugged and turned to walk away. Bakugo inwardly growled. He pulled at his hair in frustration.

"WAIT." The word was a command. "The fair."

She looked confused again. "The fair?"

"Yeah, are you stupid or something? The fair's in town."

Understanding lit her features and a small smile made its way onto her lips. "Oh yeah, I heard about that. I haven't been yet, but it looks really fun."

"Yeah, well I'm going tomorrow at two o'clock. So I won't be here. At two o'clock," he repeated this just so she would understand because she was blonde and that meant she would forget. That was the only reason. "So don't try to look for me at school because at two o'clock tomorrow I'll be at the fair!" He turned and stormed off, feeling his cheeks heat.

AFTERWORD

A/N: HELLLLOOOOO FRIIIIIEEEENNNDDDSSS! It's good to be back! I have missed you all dearly! I know this is a lot different than most of the work I put out, but I have recently gotten into My Hero Academia and randomly thought up this short story for Bakugo. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's one of my favorite short stories, I think! It will be four parts spanning a few years time, so some time jumps will occur but they are necessary for the plot, HOWEVER…

I'm also doing a companion fic after this one from Aisla's POV that I will be posting soon after so I hope you'll check that out as well! The first part or two will be similar to the Bakugo chapters but from her perspective of what happened, but then it will change into things that I skipped over during the time jumps to give more back story into their lives.

TOF Fans: TOF is still in a heavy edit/rewrite thing at the moment, but I have been diligently working on getting that done for you guys. I know a lot of my "fans" are really looking forward to the next chapter! I wanted to go through all the chapters first and fix all the plot holes I could find and smooth some things out. I'm also still plotting out the sequel for you guys, which I think you will all love as well.

Other News: I have many ideas for new stories and hope you're all excited to see some new content from Stele! I am most excited to start sharing my Lugratsu fic, for those of you who can't choose between one, because let's face it: they're both HOT AS HELL XD. There's also a really super special story and a friend and I have been working on for maybe two years or so now that may or may not be loved by fans, but is dear and special to me so I urge you all to give it a chance!

Thank you all for being so awesome and supportive and understanding! Many of you have been along on this journey of mine for years now and I appreciate that so much!

Shoutouts: Thank you to yellowchikadee for letting me read her this short fic, and for being there when I needed someone to bombard with ideas and theories.