Chapter 6 - In Common

Sunday rolled around and Mina had convinced the entire class to go to the mall and multiplex. The mall was bigger than many you had seen in America. At its center stood a large cinema boasting twenty-six theaters. Its tall windows showed a multitude of posters for movies "Coming Soon!" or "Last week to see".

"We have three choices for movies this afternoon!" Mina stated to the group all gathered together near a wide two-tiered fountain. "One action, one rom-com, and one documentary that if anyone chooses, I will seriously question our friendship!"

"You said there was gonna be a horror film Shitty Hair!" Bakugou turned to walk away but Kirishima pulled him back. It was a miracle Kirishima had even gotten him to come out in the first place.

"C'mon man. The action one should still be good. Lots of explosions!" Kirishima pretended to make tiny fireworks with his hands. Bakugou huffed, rolled his eyes, and shoved his fists into his pockets.

"We have two hours before either of the movies, so I suggest breaking up and finding something fun to do. Shop, check out the arcade, grab food, but be back by two o'clock!" Iida instructed, looking like the chaperone of your little field trip.

You watched as your classmates broke into smaller groups. Ochako walked beside Izuku, the boy focusing on the string of shops to his left. You caught her eye and winked. Her whole body stiffened before she turned red and seemed to forget what to do with her hands.

"You feeling okay Uraraka-chan?" Izuku seemed to have noticed her strange behavior. You chuckled to yourself as they walked off.

"What movie do you want to see?" Todoroki pulled up to your right side.

"Oh! Didn't see you there!" You blinked a few times awkwardly. "I think the action one. I've seen my fair share of rom-coms. Girl and boy don't see eye to eye, but somehow they fall in love. Something crazy happens to split them up, but they get back together. Happily ever after. It's so predictable."

"I guess you're right," Todoroki said, nodding toward the pavement. "What would you like to do in the meantime?"

"Why're you asking me?" you squeaked, taken aback by his question.

"You're the one who suggested the movie day. I thought you wanted to spend time together. Besides, you're new and I haven't figured you out yet," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Haven't figured me out?" You began to feel a touch more defensive.

"I've been watching you," he stated so plainly it was unnerving. "You're clearly strong and smart. You show a cheerful side even though you can be sarcastic. But sometimes I catch you looking really anxious and distant when you think no one is paying attention and I can't figure out why."

Okay creepy stalker...

You felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Trying to ignore that terrifyingly accurate description, you countered with, "And because of that you agreed to come to the movies?" Just as he was about to answer, you heard a familiar voice call your name.

"Hey [y/n]!" Kirishima said, "We're going to the arcade. Wanna come with?" You could see Sero, Mina, and Kaminari smiling at you to join while Bakugou kicked a nearby curb.

"Wanna join them?" You pivoted to face Todoroki and instinctively grabbed his hand to drag him toward the arcade. He stiffened at the contact but allowed himself to be pulled.

"I suppose," he responded, walking a pace behind you as you trotted over to the group.

***

The arcade was bursting with life on the weekend - couples on dates, parents with young children, packs of middle school students, a few weird loner guys. You scanned the loud, brightly lit space, taking it all in. There were five levels, each with a different theme. You'd never been to such a huge arcade before.

Bakugou pulled away from the rest of the group to go, you assumed, smash buttons as aggressively as possible. 

"What do you wanna do first [y/n]?" Kirishima asked brightly. You spotted a row of steering wheels to your left.

"Let's all race!" you suggested, tugging Todoroki's hand so he wouldn't get left behind. You could tell he didn't quite feel part of the group. You plopped down in the center seat with Todoroki on your right and Kaminari on your left. The blond boy slipped a coin into your slot and gave you a wink. You scrunched your nose up playfully and smiled at him as the game counted down, 3...2...1 Go!

***

You spent the next hour pulling each other in different directions to play new games. Todoroki appeared to like the old school fighter games the best while Mina destroyed everyone at Dance Dance Revolution. You were partial to the pinball machines yourself.

"Where's Bakugou?" Kirishima called out after coming back from the snack stand. "I got him a taiyaki."

"I think he's by the skee-ball machines," you piped up, about to take a slurp of your cherry popsicle, tilting your head to catch a red blob as it dribbled down the side.

Todoroki latched onto the bottom of the popsicle stick and the treat immediately started to crystallize. "It looked like it was melting. I didn't want it to run down your hand." A bright, surprised smiled filled your face as you looked at the heterochromatic boy. You could almost see the hint of a smile emerge on his lips as well.

Kirishima coughed. You turned back to him as he held out the fish shaped sweet. "Can you take it to him?" He passed it to you, balancing several drinks in his other hand. You glanced over toward the skee-ball machines, nodded, and hopped off your seat to head toward Bakugou. Todoroki almost followed, but instead watched your bobbing form move to the blond boy, his smile dipping to a frown.

Bakugou was rolling the balls up the slope with (probably too much) force, but he managed to make several hundred-point shots in a row.

"What?" he huffed, not taking his eyes off the machine.

"Kiri bought you a tai-" You were cut off by Bakugou swiping the treat out of your hand. You rolled your eyes. "You're welcome." He rolled another ball. You tapped your foot. "Why don't you come play some games with us? It's more fun as a group," you said before placing your newly icy treat to your mouth.

"No. It's not," he scoffed back as his game ended and he collected his tickets. He took a large bite of the taiyaki.

"What if we made it a competition?" You gave him a taunting grin. His eyebrows lifted slightly. You had his attention. "How about, if I beat you at air hockey, you have to show us all your moves at DDR?"

"What about when I win?" he replied, unable to mask the excitement in his voice. "What do you have to do?"

"What do you want me to do?" You half regretted the question as it came out of your mouth.

He paused, and then his lips quirked up. "Let's just say you'll owe me a favor." His red eyes sparkled against all the flashing lights in the room. It made him look mischievous, and if you were being honest with yourself, very attractive.

Too bad he's an asshole.

"Fine," you said, turning your back and heading toward the air hockey table. "You coming?" you called over your shoulder with a sly grin, taking a lick of your popsicle.

***

You both grabbed your paddles. Your other friends had, at this point, gotten curious as to how you'd convinced Bakugou to interact and surrounded the table.

Bakugou cracked his knuckles in a (not-so) threatening way before looking at you with that same cocky smile he always wore. "Ready Ashtray?"

You stretched out your neck and shoulders, knowing against this boy a simple game would feel like a session at the gym. "Born ready." Did I really just say that?

The puck moved at lightning speeds as neither of you let a single point be scored for the first two minutes. Then you caught a break, and the puck glided into Bakugou's goal before he could react to your sharp hit.

"FUCK!" he screamed before shoving the puck back onto the table and relentlessly swatting at it again. A few passersby looked up, shocked at his outburst which caused you to giggle. Kirishima apologized on his behalf.

The process was repeated several more times, him scoring, you scoring (and him swearing), before you were down to the game point. Your game faces were on and you were both sweating.

"My money's on Bakugou," Sero stated.

"I'll take that bet." Kaminari shook the dark-haired boy's hand.

"I believe in you [y/n]!" Mina cheered, nervously bouncing from foot to foot.

"You got this bro!" Kirishima said enthusiastically. Todoroki stayed silent and watched.

"I can't wait to see your dance moves Bakugou," you quipped as you took your final stance. Shit talking was a mistake. You saw the fire in his eyes grow.

This boy does not like to lose.

Click. Click... Click... Click. Click. Goal. Fuck.

"Ha! Fuck you Ashtray. I win!" Bakugou gloated, looking around himself as if expecting high praise from the small audience. Kaminari passed Sero a bill, looking crestfallen. Todoroki walked away from the table not even making eye contact while Kirishima and Mina shared uncomfortable glances, giving you a sorry thumbs up as if to say, 'nice try'.

"Well done you competitive bastard. What is my punishment?" you said in a monotone so as not to further inflate his ego.

"Oh, I'll be collecting on that when I better suits me," he said devilishly. "Now c'mon extras, it's time to go watch things explode in IMAX."

As you left the arcade Bakugou shoved all his winning tickets into the hands of an unsuspecting five-year-old and kept walking.

Well, maybe he's not a complete asshole.

***

You somehow ended up sitting between Todoroki and Bakugou. ("I LIKE SITTING ON THE END FOR THE LEG ROOM!") Todoroki shifted his bag of pick-n-mix sweets toward you, offering you some of the sugary goodness. You smiled back sweetly, Bakugou making a not-so-subtle gagging noise into his closed fist. Todoroki shot him a cold glare as the lights went down.

No one said this action movie was about zombies. You hated zombies. Why didn't they call it a horror? Their skin sloughing off and the gruesome wounds covering their bodies; you knew you'd never live it down if you left, so you watched with one eye open at the really nasty bits. You wrapped your arms around your torso as if to protect yourself from their slack mouths and emotionless eyes. You jumped or squeaked several times, too wrapped up in the scenes to notice Todoroki glance over at you each time you did.

The climax of the movie was intense. The heroes rounded a corner only to be swarmed by hundreds of the undead monsters. You suddenly grabbed onto the armrests of the chair, hoping your scream wouldn't rise if you squeezed hard enough. You didn't even feel their hands beneath yours.

Bakugou looked down, letting your hand squeeze his for a moment longer than necessary before pulling away. "Scared Ashtray?" he whispered into your ear, nearly making you jump out of your skin.

"Fuck off. This is not my kind of action movie," you said under your breath. It was only then that you realized you were still clamped onto another hand on your right. You released and quickly apologized. Todoroki said nothing, just gave a slight nod while keeping his eyes on the screen.

***

"Ashtray is a giant fucking baby," Bakugou said from behind you as you exited the theater. The rom-com had gotten out a half hour earlier, so it was just your small party left at the multiplex.

"There were like a million zombies! I personally think you're a psycho for not being scared!" you shouted back, sounding like a child.

"I'm a hero. I'm not afraid of anything." Bakugou smirked, stepping ahead of you, knocking your shoulder slightly as he passed.

"Not even when you were taken last year?" Todoroki said quietly, pulling up the rear, annoyed at Bakugou's remarks toward you. Your other friends' eyes grew wide at the mention. Bakugou turned around with a look of pure rage on his face.

"THAT WAS FUCKING REAL YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFU--" He didn't even finish his insult as he stormed off, small blasts leaving his palms. No one tried to follow him.

"Low blow man," Kirishima said with a slightly disgusted look on his face. Kaminari's and Sero's faces also looked darker than usual. Todoroki glanced down, knowing he had crossed a line.

"I'll apologize later," he said before going silent.

You felt like you had whiplash at how fast it, whatever it was, had just transpired. "Does anyone wanna tell me what just happened?" you said after a few more awkward moments.

"You don't know?" Mina said, quieter than you'd ever heard her.

"Know what?"

"The League of Villains captured Bakugou and held him for three days last year. He only got away when All Might and the other heroes came to the rescue. That was the night All Might-" Kirishima searched for the right word, "... retired."

You'd heard All Might had stepped down as the number one hero after defeating a monstrous villain thought to be the mastermind behind the League of Villains. You knew he had confronted him because a student had been taken during summer training.

"... Bakugou was the hostage?" you said almost breathlessly, feeling regret and fear and pain rise into your chest.

"[Y/n]?!" Kaminari exclaimed, shocking you from your thought. You looked up, only then realizing you were encircled by a lattice of thick black smoke with your fiery fingertips digging into your palms.

You released.

"Ow," you said softly, the smoke dissipating. Todoroki grabbed your hands and immediately began cooling your new burns. You couldn't meet his gaze. You were still too deep in the realization that you and Bakugou shared something horrible in common.