The air in the abandoned corner of the park was thick with the smell of ozone and burnt earth. This was our spot, a desolate patch of concrete and rusted playground equipment where we could go all out without the cops or the neighbours breathing down our necks.
RIKO POV
"Is that all you got, Roach-Girl?!" Bakugo roared, propelled through the air by a twin set of explosions. He looked like a heat-seeking missile made of ego and spite.
"Keep barking, Sparky! You're just making it easier to track you!" I shouted back.
I grabbed a marble from my skirt pocket, charging it with a heavy dose of kinetic energy in a split second. I didn't throw it at him; I threw it at the ground where he was about to land.
BOOM.
The explosion sent dust and grit flying, forcing him to veer off course. I didn't let up. I lunged forward, my movements fluid and fast, thanks to training with Izuku. We collided in the center of the clearing, his palms sparking against my forearms, my kicks narrowly missing his ribs.
We were perfectly matched. My "Matter Detonation" was stronger in terms of raw power, but his "Explosion" was more versatile. We were both panting, gritting our teeth, pushed to the absolute limit.
"Finish this!" Bakugo screamed, charging a massive blast in both hands.
"Gladly!" I yelled, slamming multiple marbels between my palms, charging them with a ton of energy and threw them into the air between us.
The resulting collision was deafening. A massive, blinding flash of orange and white light erupted, throwing both of us backwards. I hit the dirt hard, sliding a few feet before coming to a stop.
I scrambled to my feet immediately, my heart hammering. "Nice try, you—"
I stopped.
Bakugo was standing five feet away, but he wasn't charging at me. His eyes were wide- not with anger, but with a look of surprise.
"What?" I snapped, feeling a weird, heavy dullness in my lower back. "You scared of a little dirt?"
Then I felt it. Something warm and wet trickling down my thigh. I looked down, thinking I'd caught a piece of shrapnel from the blast.
There was blood. A lot of it, staining my skirt.
My brain stalled. Wait. Wuvt? I didn't feel a cut. Did I burst an artery? Am I dying? Did I injure my internal organs? In my past life, I was a guy who avoided health class like the plague. I knew the "theory," but experiencing it? I was completely, utterly lost. I felt a wave of genuine panic.
"Bakugo... I think I'm bleeding out," I whispered, my face going pale.
Bakugo, for all his screaming and posturing, didn't hesitate. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else on earth, but he tore off his school blazer in one swift motion.
"Shut up, you idiot!" he hissed, his face a deep shade of red. He stepped forward and shoved the blazer toward me. "Wrap this around your waist. Now!"
"But I'm dying, Sparky! Look at the—"
"YOU'RE NOT DYING, YOU DUMB IDIOT! JUST DO IT!"
He grabbed my arm, his grip surprisingly firm, and practically dragged me toward the public restrooms at the edge of the park. He shoved me into the girls' side.
"Stay there! Don't move! I'm... I'm going to get help!"
"Help? Like an ambulance?!"
"NO! JUST STAY PUT!" He turned and bolted, running faster than I'd ever seen him move.
THIRD PERSON POV
I sat on the closed toilet, wrapped in Bakugo's school blazer, feeling confused and weirdly crampy. Ten minutes later, the door swung open. It wasn't an EMT.
It was Mitsuki Bakugo.
She looked like she had just sprinted a marathon, but her expression softened the moment she saw Riko sitting there looking like a lost puppy.
"Oh, Riko," Mitsuki sighed, walking over and kneeling in front of her. "That brat of mine called me, screaming that you were 'leaking' in the park. He was at the convenience store buying out their entire stock of pads when I found him."
She reached out, ruffling Riko's hair. "It's okay, sweetie. It's just your first time. You aren't dying."
Mitsuki helped Riko clean up with the efficiency of a woman who had dealt with "explosive" situations her whole life. She guided her out to the car, where a very red-faced, silent Bakugo was waiting, holding a plastic bag full of different types of pads like they were live grenades.
They didn't go to Riko's apartment. Mitsuki drove straight to the Bakugo house.
RIKO POV
Everything was a blur of embarrassment and warmth. Mitsuki had tucked me into Bakugo's bed, which smelled faintly of caramel and burnt sugar and placed a warm heating pad over my stomach.
"Drink this," Mitsuki said, handing me a cup of hot tea. "I called your dad. I told him you're staying here tonight so I can look after you. He was worried sick until I explained, then he started thanking me so much I thought he was going to cry through the phone."
"I feel like an idiot," I mumbled, pulling the covers up to my chin. "I really thought I was dying."
Mitsuki chuckled, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. "Most girls do the first time. And men are even worse about it. Speaking of which..."
She looked toward the door. Bakugo was standing in the hallway, not meeting my eyes.
"Thanks," I whispered. "For the blazer. And... the stuff."
"Whatever," he grunted, kicking the doorframe. "Just don't bleed on my bed, Roach-Girl. It's gross."
"Katsuki!" Mitsuki warned, but I saw the way his ears were red.
"It's fine," I said, feeling the heat from the pad finally dulling the ache in my gut. "I owe you one, I'll buy you the next volume of attack on titan"
"you don't owe me anything" he muttered, but he lingered for a second longer than he needed to before turning away.
As the house settled into a quiet hum, I lay there staring at the ceiling of Bakugo's room. The warmth of the heating pad was doing wonders for the cramps, but it couldn't touch the weird, hollow feeling in my chest.
In my head, I still made the same jokes. I still thought like the guy who spent his nights drinking Red Bull and arguing about anime on the internet. For years, I'd treated this body like a temporary skin…a vessel I was just "piloting" until the next big thing happened. I'd ignored the hair, ignored the clothes, and laughed off the "Roach girl" or "Riko" names like they were nicknames for a character I was playing.
But as I felt the dull, physical ache of a body that was very much female and very much mine, the irony finally stopped being funny.
The ROB hadn't just put me in a new world; he'd retired the old me. The "guy" I used to be didn't exist anymore. He wasn't coming back. There was no "Game Over" screen that would revert me to my original save file. This blood, this pain, this life... it was all real.
I looked at my hands in the dim light. They were smaller than they used to be, callous from training, and stained with the ink of the manga.
I'm a girl, I thought. I didn't say it out loud…my pride wouldn't let me go that far yet…but for the first time, I let the thought sit there without trying to kick it away with a dick joke.
I wasn't just a soul in a suit. I was Riko. I was a daughter, a mangaka, and apparently, a girl who was going to experience pain, periodically. I'd spent so long fighting the change....yet here I was, in Bakugo's bed, of all things.
I pulled the covers tighter and sighed, a small, tired smile tugging at my lips.
"Well," I whispered to the empty room. "At least I've got the best curry in the world to help me through the transition."
I was Riko. And for the first time, the weight of that name didn't feel so heavy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Authors Note
Yeah, this chapter was something I never planned, but here we are.....
Also, thanks for the support. Comment more so I can learn.... plus, it helps a lot
on another note... I know, I'm messing up the pov's, but hey, let's hope I get better at it. That's all...
peace out.