Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When the rocks fell from the sky, all Uraraka saw was smoke. She was defeated, crushed under her own weapon, ruined by her own plan. Through dust-clouded vision, she blinked up. The last sight that greeted her before the darkness was a pair of smug, red eyes.

-x-

Uraraka woke up to screaming - violent, incoherent, ear-shattering screaming.

"I’m so sorry about this, dear.” A brittle, kind voice came from her side. As she got acclimated to her surroundings, she realized she was in the infirmary wing and that voice was Recovery Girl, standing to her left. To her right was the most bizarre scene she had witnessed since enrolling in UA.

Katsuki Bakugou, who just earlier that day had beaten Uraraka so badly in the Sports Festival that she had to recover in the infirmary, was being wrestled into the bed next to her, shouting muffled profanities through a muzzle. 

“He just gets so worked up, you know.” Recovery Girl patted Uraraka’s head, which was covered in a thick bandage. “I think some rest will do that boy good. How are you feeling?”

Uraraka was too stunned to answer. Aizawa, All Might and Cementoss had forced Bakugo into the bed and handcuffed his arms to the bars on the side. Bakugou was bloodied and bruised and his hair was soaked in sweat. His costume was singed in places and his eyes were murderous.

"A mild sedative should do, Recovery Girl,” Aizawa said, ignoring the incoherent string of curses thrown his way.

"This is so unnecessary, young Bakugou.” All Might shook his head and sighed. “You won the tournament, you should be proud!”

Bakugou kicked his feet wildly in response.

“Maybe a little more than mild,” suggested Cementoss. Recovery Girl nodded and gave Uraraka one more pat before she left her side to tend to Bakugou. Uraraka knew it was rude to stare, but she couldn't rip her eyes away. After a brief struggle and a frighteningly large shot, Bakugou went limp.

“That should hold him for a while,” Recovery Girl announced. “Uraraka, my dear, I think you should stay here overnight. That one gave you some nasty injuries. You need to rest without interference.”

Uraraka nodded, casting a cautious glance at the now peaceful and silent Bakugou. 

“I’m sorry, Uraraka,” Aizawa said. “This was the last room available for him. The infirmary is a popular place after the sports festival.”

“If he gives you any trouble at all, please do not hesitate to call for one of us.” All Might pointed to a phone on the stand next to Uraraka’s bed. “We will be able to come handle the situation.”

“He should…sleep through the night, right?” She asked tentatively, nervous.

“With what we gave him, it would be shocking if he didn’t,” Recovery Girl assured her with another gentle pat, this one to the arm. “I’ll be back in the morning to make sure everyone is healing well. I have a lot more rounds to make tonight. That Sports Festival is no good…children hurting themselves…no good at all…” she continued muttering to herself as she walked out the door.

“Right,” All Might looked embarrassed. “Well, I suppose we can take this off of him.” He removed the spit-covered muzzle from Bakugou’s mouth and gave it an uncomfortable grimace.

“We’ll leave the cuffs,” Cementoss promised, “Just in case.”

Uraraka nodded, still not quite sure if she was fully awake. Before the three left, she asked, “Did Bakugou win?”

“He won, but not on his own terms,” All Might explained. Aizawa looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but was restraining for professional, and Cementoss just looked uncomfortable. “I’m sure you’ll hear all about it when your friends come to visit.”

“Tomorrow,” Aizawa said, and his voice was stern. “No visitors until after Recovery Girl has seen you tomorrow.”

“Yes, Sensei,” Uraraka whispered, and she was grateful for the restriction. She was way too tired for any visitors, especially when they were certain to be Midoriya and Iida. Their energy level could be overwhelming on a good day, but she could keep up when she was at her best. Now, she was so tired, and her body ached with ever micro-movement. Besides the pain, she wasn't sure she could face them right then. Her ego was wounded, and the tears that had dried were threatening to spill over again with Bakugou's presence. The sooner she got back to sleep, the sooner she could wake up and be away from the violent blonde lying in the room with her. She had been so close – so close to defeating him.

“Goodnight, Uraraka.” The three departed, and she was alone.

She sighed. In terms of sleeping arrangements, this was less than ideal. Uraraka had gone up against Bakugo in the late afternoon, and so she figured she had been sleeping for at least several hours. She didn’t know how long it had taken the rest of the festival to conclude, but it was dark outside now and she was wide awake.

“Ugh, this sucks,” she whined out loud. She shoved a pillow into her face and tried to think peaceful thoughts, but all she could think about was how ashamed she was of herself. She had concocted such a master plan to beat the unbeatable Bakugou. She had matched his power and she had almost come out victorious. How was he always one step ahead of everyone? A violent boy with a violent quirk, outdoing an entire class of heroes. 

“I just want to be a hero,” she whispered to herself, as if saying it out loud would make it happen. "I just want to – "

“Will you shut it, Round Face?”

Uraraka gasped and shot up from her bed, immediately regretting it. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she fell back onto her pillow. 

“Bakugou?” She breathed, confused at how he could possibly be speaking to her when she had watched him get heavily drugged just a short time ago. Maybe she was half-asleep still. "Bakugou, was that you?"

“Who else is here?" His voice came out in a huff. "Why are you talking so much? Can’t I fuckin’ sleep around here?”

“How are you…awake…?” She contemplated trying to sit up again, to see his face, but decided she was safer protected by her pillow.

“These drugs are weak shit.”

She blinked into the darkness. His willpower really was astounding. She knew the drugs were affecting him, because his words were slurred and because he hadn’t tried to blast the handcuffs off the bed yet, but the mere fact that he was awake after being injected with one of the biggest needles Uraraka had seen to date was impressive, and a little bit horrifying.

“Well, sorry, go to sleep then," she mumbled, wishing she had kept quiet and not alerted him that she was awake.

“The problem with that is that it’s really hard to sleep when you’re fuckin’ handcuffed.” Aggressive rattling filled the room, and she glanced over to see him shaking his bed in the low amount of light brought in by the moon. He didn’t look as terrifying as he usually did, restrained and beat up, and so obviously tired, but her breath still caught when he turned his crimson eyes on her. “Do you wanna maybe stop starin’ and get me out of these?”

Uraraka did not think that was a good idea. She wasn’t too keen on being alone in a dark room with a halfway-sedated, fully-homicidal teenager with an explosion quirk, especially when he was carrying what appeared to be several tons of pent up rage.

She thought fast. “I…don’t…have the key!” That was a great excuse. She couldn’t unlock the cuffs if she didn’t have a key.

“It’s in here somewhere,” he grunted. She could practically hear his eyes roll. “C’mon, Round Face, help me out.”

“I’ve got to be honest, Bakugou, I don’t really feel like helping you out after you almost killed me,” she tried for strong and indignant, but landed more on high-pitched. 

Bakugou snorted and pulled on his handcuffs more. His voice was becoming less hazy. “I didn’t almost kill you; don't be so dramatic. I was saving the murder for the half-and-half bastard. I just had to get you out of the way.”

“Gee, that makes me feel so much better about this situation,” she snapped. She paused. “Did you succeed in murdering Todoroki?”

“I’ll let you answer that question yourself,” he said, his words dripping sarcasm.

“Why are you so angry anyway?" Now Uraraka was getting frustrated. She didn't get Bakugou – he was so nasty for no reason. He was smart, strong and had a wildly powerful quirk. By definition, he'd won the lottery of life, so why was he so angry all of the time? It made no sense. "You won. You’re on top.”

Bakugou growled. “That bastard didn’t give me his all. He wouldn’t use his goddamn fire on me and that shit pisses me off. He used it on Deku of all fuckin' people, so why not me? I don’t like to win the easy way.”

“I really think you would benefit from some therapy.”

“Just for that, next time I will try to kill you.”

Now it was Uraraka’s time to roll her eyes, and she even smiled a little, because she was pretty sure he was making an actual joke. Bakugou wasn’t so scary when he wasn't screaming. She stayed silent after that, trying her best to ignore him, but the rattling was incessant.

“You’re not going to get those off on your own, you know! Just go to sleep. They’ll take them off in the morning.”

“I want them off now, Round Face, fuck. I’m not some goddamn animal. I’m not gonna actually kill you. Can you get the fucking key and get them off of me?”

“Stop calling me Round Face and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Bakugou let out an aggressive breath and with what Uraraka imagined was all his strength, spat out her name.

“Uraraka. Can. You. Please. Take. These. Off?”

Fine, she would. She climbed out of bed, noting the protests her body made when she hit the ground and casting an irritated glare at Bakugou, who had done this to her, then maneuvered slowly through the darkness. The keys to the handcuffs were on the end table next to his bed, tauntingly close to him.

“Bullshit that they had to handcuff me,” he muttered as Uraraka blindly tried to find the keyhole.

“You were acting like an insane person.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I’m holding the key to your freedom here; do you really want to keep being rude to me?”

Bakugou kept his mouth shut. Uraraka released him.

“Thank fuck.”

"You’re welcome,” she said pointedly, standing up again. “Now go to sleep.”

He said nothing, and so Uraraka clambered back into bed, clumsily and blindly. Her head hit the pillow and she sighed loudly. Sleep, please, sleep, she told herself. When she woke up, things would be normal again.  

After what seemed like a lifetime of disconcerting silence in which her thoughts swirled around like a hurricane, Uraraka began to fall asleep. Dreams were getting ready to claim her and she was ready to embrace them, when once again, she was shocked awake.

“Round Face." Her eyes shot open and she squeaked, startling so hard that she bumped her head against the wall. Bakugou was right next to her bed, standing over her and staring directly at her.

“What!” She gasped, suddenly fearing for her life again. Bakugo had decided he was going to kill her. This was it.

“Hey. Calm the fuck down. I just can’t sleep.”

“Don’t stand over me like that! That was scary!”

“Don’t be such a baby."

“You startled me. I was about to fall asleep.”

“Yeah, fuckin' sorry, didn't know you'd be able to sleep that easily." 

She squinted at him in the darkness. His voice was gentler, without malice. It was suspicious. She still hadn’t ruled out his attempted murder of her.

He ran his fingers through his hair and coughed, almost awkwardly. “I’m fuckin' wide awake. I’m amped up. I’m – I just can’t relax.”

“And what…am I…supposed to do about that, Bakugou?” She was terrified for his response. Did he want to use her as a punching bag to get rid of his manic energy? Target practice for his quirk?

“I – I have a suggestion that might work well for both of us.”

“If it works well for both of us, then I’m assuming it doesn’t involve me bleeding.”

“You really have no faith in me, do you?”

Uraraka snorted. “I wonder why? Could it be because every waking moment you’re trying to destroy my best friend? Maybe because you shout at everyone who looks your way? The fact that you probably learned my name for the first time today because it was announced during the festival?”

“First off – that’s your own damn fault for being friends with Deku. And I knew your name before. I’ve noticed you. Obviously.”

She raised her eyebrows in the darkness. “You’ve noticed me?”

"Would be hard not to,” he said it in such an offhand way that Uraraka wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly. This was not Bakugou talking. What kind of drugs had they given him?

“Look,” he began again, “I’m just – all I’m saying – is that we’ve both had a kind of…tense day, don’t you think?”

“Yes…” Uraraka answered slowly. “You could definitely say that.” She thought back again to the meteor shower that had rained down upon her and cringed. Her humiliation would never fade.

“Right, exactly. I have a lot of…pent up energy that I could stand to get out.”

He really did want to use her as target practice for his quirk! “Bakugou, I really don’t think what you’re thinking is a good idea,” she started off quickly, not pausing to breathe, “and I really think that maybe you should, like, run around outside or something maybe? I’ll be fine in here.”

Bakugou said nothing but walked to the window to open the blinds. Moonlight shone into the room, and for once, Uraraka could see his face clearly. His features were softer than she had ever seen them. He could have almost passed for kind-looking, which was a ridiculous thought.

"What do you think I’m talking about, Round Face?” He asked with a smirk. So much for kind. She frowned.

“Uhhh…practicing your quirk on me?”

“I don’t think my quirk would be very useful in the situation I’m trying to describe to you here.” He was laughing now, and Uraraka blushed, embarrassed. “You really don't get it? I'm talking about sex.”

Uraraka was stunned. Horrified. Mortified. Her entire face burned, and she completely lost the ability to speak coherent sentences. “Wha – S – Me – Bakugou?” She waited for him to say something else, but he was politely looking on while she collected herself, so she spoke again. “What are you talking about? Why would you bring that up now?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Round Face. I know you know what fuckin’ is. Everyone is doing it. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” He rolled his eyes. 

“I –” She couldn't argue. He was right. It was impossible not to notice when everyone lived so close to each other in the dorms – she'd caught Kaminari sneaking out of Jirou’s room early one morning, and Jirou had sworn her to secrecy. Ashido often came to the baths sporting purple bruises all down her neck and sometimes on her thighs. She pointed them out, giggling with a flush on her face. Uraraka knew what was going on, but she never gave it much thought. “I mean, yeah. I know some people are – engaging – in that kind of stuff. But so what!”

Bakugou whistled and shook his head. “You’re somethin’ else. You don’t know what you’re missing. Want me to show you?”

He had gotten closer to Uraraka now and she was losing her breath. She could not believe this was happening. Maybe it wasn’t happening. Maybe it was a dream. She pinched herself.

Nope. Not a dream.

“Did you just pinch yourself?" He snorted. "How fucking flattering.” Bakugou’s grin glowed in the dark.

Uraraka let out a noise that was supposed to be full of contempt but sounded more like a terrified squeak.

“This is not right, Bakugou – we don't even like each other!”

“Doesn’t have to be right; don't have to like each other,” he mumbled, “I just think we both need a release. Just one time. What do you say? Ochako.”

Her name came out of his mouth in a low and gravelly voice unlike anything Uraraka had heard before. It sent shivers down her whole body and she could feel the blush creeping back into her cheeks again. She didn't know what she was feeling, but it wasn't bad. Her stomach twisted with nerves and her whole body felt hot - she looked up at Bakugou and met his red eyes. They were gentle, but wanting. Different than she had ever seen them.

Uraraka couldn't pretend Bakugou wasn't attractive – he was gorgeous, in that disheveled, uncaring way. If he never opened his mouth, she could come up with a few fantasies about him, and it wasn't like she wasn't curious. Whenever Kaminari left Jirou's room, she practically floated. When Mina talked about her various escapades, in enough detail that would make even Midnight blush, Uraraka couldn't help but wonder – what would it be like? Maybe it would be good, to learn in a scenario like this – one that no one would ever have to know about, that they could pretend had never happened in the morning. They weren't friends; there was no affection, so it could just be like a science experiment. A learning experience. 

“Just one time,” Bakugou promised her again, “Just once. We can go back to hating each other in the morning.”

She was so tense. Tense and sore and embarrassed and angry. Bakugou promised this would give her a release.

Maybe just one time would be okay, in the privacy of the infirmary, in the light of the moonlight, it could be like a dream that wouldn't exist in the morning. Without giving herself a chance to change her mind, Uraraka looked Bakugo in the eye and said, “okay.”

Bakugou smiled so menacingly, like an animal getting ready to devour its prey, and then he was in her bed before she had a chance to react. 

He pinned her hands above her head and pressed his lips to her. They were softer than she would've thought, from Bakugou, and they fit against hers well. She had never been kissed before, and now she was kissing Bakugou, and she liked the feeling of it. She liked the feel of his hands holding her wrist as his lips moved against hers, coaxing them to follow his rhythm. 

When he parted them and poked his tongue into her mouth, she squeaked and almost bit him. He pulled away, and then he was releasing her wrists and breathing into her ear, “relax, angel face. Don't think so damn much. Enjoy it.” He nipped at the ear he was whispering into, and Uraraka gasped. Her body reacted in ways she hadn't known it was capable of. She jerked into him.

“Angel face?” Bakugou bore his weight down on her and kissed her neck while his hands rested on her hips. She let out a shameful moan, and her own hands wound themselves around his back. “That’s new." 

“It’s a name just for me. You’re just for me right now.” He kissed her collarbone and murmured, “angel.”

Uraraka melted and let herself give into this version of Bakugou. She turned her brain off, just like he suggested, and enjoyed it. She would follow his lead and learn from him – she would make the most of this strange and secret night. She moved her arms to his neck, pulling herself up and him with her. She followed his lead, and climbed into his lap, kissing him just like he had kissed her.

“You’re a fast learner, huh?” Bakugou grabbed her by her hair and pulled her closer. Uraraka ached between her legs, so she grinded against him for relief. He let out a soft moan.

Oh. Oh. The noise Bakugou made gave Uraraka a pang of pleasure and she decided she needed to get even closer to him.

“Take this off,” he growled and when he yanked at Uraraka’s shirt, she shimmied it willingly over her head. “This too,” he snapped her bra in one fluid motion and she was naked from the top up in front of him. In front of Bakugou.

This was too weird, but Uraraka couldn't stop now. Some raw instinct had taken completely over. 

"Fuck, you're pretty," He said, as if in a daze. 

"Huh?" She gasped as his hands found their way to her bare skin, tracing a line from her stomach to her chest. Bakugou said nothing, but his eyes bore into her, drinking in every detail. She would've felt self-conscious if he didn't look so reverent. 

She was suddenly aware of the uneven playing ground here. 

"You too," she demanded, drunk on this new feeling. She gripped the edges of his burned shirt and helped him out of it. She pressed her body against his, skin on skin, and held his face in her hands. “This is good," she breathed. He laughed and moved his mouth to her breasts.

“This is nothing, angel face," he said, his voice was wanting. “We haven’t even begun.”

He kissed and sucked on her breasts and she arched her back in response, grinding against him. She could feel his satisfaction through his pants, which was another new sensation that sent fire through her body. Bakugou wrapped his arms tight around her back and moved his lips back up to hers, kissing her frantically, slipping his tongue along her lower lip, prompting her to open her mouth just slightly again.         

Bakugou moved her hands to his lap, and she felt the bulge that was straining against his pants. 

"Take these off for me?" He asked. She had never heard Bakugou so gentle. Asking for things was not his forte - he demanded, but here he was with Uraraka, making sure she was okay with everything that was happening.

And she was. She answered his request with by fumbling with his zipper then yanking them down to his ankles. He kicked them off and then gave Uraraka the most beautiful look she had ever seen on his face - he was different when he wasn't angry, wasn't shouting or thrashing or insulting someone. His eyebrows weren't drawn together, but were raised slightly in bemusement. His eyes were lidded, the red softer as they took her in. It was like she was watching him come undone. 

"Touch me." He moved Uraraka’s hands to his lap.

She obeyed, feeling him grow through his boxers at her touch. He moaned again, louder and when Uraraka shifted so that her mouth was on his stomach, trailing kisses downward, he gasped. She knew more than Bakugou could give her credit for – she'd paid attention to Mina's stories, after all, but she wouldn't tell him that.

“Fuck. For no experience, you’re good at this. A goddamn natural…” His voice trailed away as she ran her fingers along the waistband of his boxers. "You can – you can take them off too."

Uraraka nodded, and pulled the boxers down slowly. Once they were off, Uraraka had him in the palm of her hands. He was panting, chest heaving while he stared at her, but she was nervous. She knew what came next, but she didn’t…know how to do it.

Bakugou seemed to notice her hesitation. “Let me make you feel good," he said. "Okay?"

She nodded. Okay. She was pulled out of her shorts and underwear in a swift movement and she didn't have a single moment to feel exposed before Bakugou flipped her on her back and put one hand on each of her thighs. "You'll really like this," he promised, smiling mischievously, and then he lowered his head in-between her legs. 

She should've been horrified; she should've been embarrassed that someone - that Bakugou - was seeing her so intimately, was touching her so privately, but all she could do was cry out. Bakugou seemed to be an expert at this – licking, lapping, swirling his tongue around like he was created for the sole purpose of pleasuring her. 

“Bakugou,” she whined, “Bakugou, please…”

“Please what?” He mumbled, his words tickling her skin.

“Please,” she repeated, her breathing heavy. “Please!”

"What do you need?"

"I need...more." She knew what she needed, but didn't know how to describe it. She had a desire to be filled - and she knew that Bakugou would fulfil it for her. She wanted to know how all of the stories ended, wanted to experience it for herself.

“You sure you're ready, Round Face?” 

“I'm ready, I need it,” she was more aggressive this time, desperate, needing. She was a mess of her usual self, and she didn't care, she just wanted more from Bakugou.

He positioned himself above her, and stared down. "You sure?"

"Yes!"

He didn't need to be told again. He pushed in, slowly, painfully, tantalizing. 

“You’re so tight," he actually whimpered. “Fuck, Ochako. Are you okay?”

She didn’t think she could feel so much pain and so much pleasure at the same time. The sensation was tearing her apart, but she needed more. She needed to work through it.  She was in bliss. He thrust into her slowly, finally bottoming out. “I'm okay," she managed. "Don’t stop.”

“You’re gonna to kill me,” he rasped, but he didn’t stop. He continued to thrust in and out, quickly finding a rhythm that overwhelmed Uraraka to the point where she was coming undone with breathy gasps and whispered pleas. She wrapped her legs around him and he sunk even deeper into her. 

"Bakugou!" She cried and Bakugou whined. She was close to something otherworldly - her vision was blurring, her stomach was exploding in warmth and her skin tingled all over. "Bakugou --!" She choked on her words as he thrust into her once more, hitting a spot that unraveled her. She lost sense of where she was and all she could focus on was riding out the feelings that threatened to take over her body.

Bakugou groaned and pulled out of her, bringing her back to the present as something warm covered her stomach.

“Fuck," he murmured. “Fuck.” He gave her an intense look and smiled softly, just as blissed out as she was. "Sorry," he gestured to the mess. She was incapable of words so she just waved it away. She would take care of it later.

“See?” Bakugou murmured, tracing her lips with his finger, giving her a dangerous smile. “Don’t you feel better now?”         

-x-

Uraraka woke up the next morning feeling sorer than she did the previous day. Her entire body ached, and she was in desperate need of a shower. Disoriented, she blinked at the room around her. The bed next to her was empty, but hers was crowded. Bakugou slept beside her – well, under her, peacefully. His breathing was even, and his face was smooth. She liked him like this. He was much more handsome when he wasn’t yelling and cursing. She smiled, and pulled the blanket they shared tighter to them. When he woke up, they would have to pretend this never happened, but Uraraka could enjoy it for now.

“I would recommend you moving him before we open up the infirmary to visitors. Your friends want to see you.”

Uraraka’s entire body almost seized. Aizawa was sitting in a seat near the bed, regarding her with uninterested eyes.

“Sensei!” She cried, mortified. She pulled the covers up tighter to her neck, making sure she and her bedmate were covered. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Not long," he said, his eyes moving slowly to Bakugou’s undisturbed form. “I came to check on the two of you before allowing visitors. Uraraka, this is truly none of my business, but please be careful of what you get into with Bakugou.”

Uraraka could only nod in fear, wishing she had a disappearing quirk.

"I imagine your friends will want to see you as soon as they wake. They’re an enthusiastic bunch, you know.” He looked once more to Bakugou, and then stood to go.

"Sensei!” Uraraka was urgent. “You won’t – you won’t –!”

“I’m not a middle school girl, Uraraka. I don’t have a habit of gossiping.” He walked out of the room.

In that moment, Uraraka wished Bakugo had killed her during the sports festival. It would’ve been better than the shame and embarrassment she was feeling right now.

Chapter Text

After Aizawa left, Uraraka began urgently shaking Bakugou, not knowing exactly how much time she had before her friends were given permission to come check on her. She knew her friends, and they would’ve spent the entire night with her had they been allowed. Instead, she had spent the entire night with Bakugou.

Her face burned. She wouldn't be able to just forget last night – she couldn’t forget if she tried. Bakugou's soft expression would be burned into her memory and she would see it every time they encountered each other – in class, in the lunchroom, during training. She would have to avoid him for the rest of her life. The soreness had increased, accompanied by new pains that ached low in her body. He had done even more damage to her last night than he did during the Sports Festival. She groaned, looking down at the sleeping boy below her. Even if it was fake, this was comfortable and peaceful. Once he woke, there would be no going back. When he opened his eyes, they would be hard and angry again.

She groaned. It didn't matter. She had to wake him before Deku came in and saw them like this, or worse – Iida. She shook Bakugou again, panicked now. “Hey, wake up, Bakugou!” She kept her voice at a leveled hiss just in case anyone was lurking in the hallway. "Hey!"

“What the fuck do you want? Get off me,” he finally responded with a snarl, heavy with sleep. 

There it was – the dream was broken, and reality was back. Bakugou was Bakugou again. 

“You have to get to your own bed. They're going to start letting visitors in soon.” She almost let it slip that Aizawa had already caught them, but bit her tongue. She figured that particular explosion was avoidable. 

“Yeah, with pleasure,” he grunted and pushed himself off, moving Uraraka to the side. “You’re heavy.” 

She blinked at him, slightly hurt but unsurprised by his change in attitude. Last night was not the norm. Bakugou was drugged up and insane from his performance in the Sports Festival. She knew that, but she couldn’t help feeling the disappointment deep in her chest that she would likely never experience the Bakugou from last night again. 

“Goddamn, my head hurts," he muttered as he clambered back into his bed, pulled up the covers and turned the opposite direction from Uraraka. 

Uraraka knew how this was going to go and she cursed herself for being such an impulsive idiot last night. She knew Bakugou would go right back to ignoring her. She knew he didn’t want her for anything other than sex. She knew all of these things and she had still taken his bait last night, knowing that she was the type to latch onto these types of things. She had still fallen for his soft words and quiet promises of relief. 

Stupid. So stupid. She felt the tears form in her eyes and it just made her angrier. She'd done it to herself – they said one time, and she knew that. Why would he care about her outside of the one-time experience? Why would she want him to? It was Bakugou!

Because you thought that maybe he could, whispered the little voice inside of her head. Uraraka, like most girls her age, grew up hearing tales of princes and princesses, true love and fate. When she got a little older, she learned about sex, and how it was an earth-shattering event that would form a connection between her and whoever she decided to give herself to. 

Now, she just felt empty and sad, but she knew. Bakugou wasn't a prince.

Her pity party was interrupted by the door opening, and Recovery Girl’s tiny frame coming into view. “Good morning, darling,” she smiled kindly at the now quivering girl. "Oh! You’re crying! Is the pain bad, dear?”

“Oh, no, I’m okay -” 

Bakugou shifted in his bed at her voice. 

“Ah, you’re awake too, dear! How did you sleep with the drugs?”

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” he grumbled into his pillow. Recovery Girl gave him a disapproving look and moved over to Uraraka’s side. She fussed over her for a few moments, changing her bandage and checking her vitals. 

“My goodness, your heart rate is through the roof, dear!” Recovery Girl looked at Uraraka with concerned eyes. “Is everything okay?” She glanced at Bakugou slightly, raising her eyebrows.

“Fine! I’m fine!” She tried to steady her breathing. “I’m just ready to get out of here.” 

“Just stay a little longer,” she focused on Uraraka’s bed. “Oh, my. There’s blood on your sheets. Did I miss something when dressing your wounds?” She clicked her tongue. “That Sports Festival is so violent…so violent for children.”

Uraraka’s eyes snapped down to her bedsheets where there was a small spot of dried blood near her legs. She blanched. 

“I’m okay, Recovery Girl. Really. Thank you.” She was using all of her strength to keep her voice steady and convincing even though it all came out like word vomit. The old woman looked distressed, but she just made a puckering noise and shuffled over Bakugou’s bed to fuss over him. He was less hostile than he could have been towards her, but Uraraka knew everyone had a soft spot for Recovery Girl.

Once she was satisfied with the healing of the two, she said she would open the infirmary for their visitors. She tutted in Uraraka’s general direction again, and then left the room.

“I thought that old bitch would never leave,” Bakugou murmured under his breath. “I’m out.”

Uraraka’s eyes widened as she watched Bakugou hoist himself out of his bed and start toward the door. “What! Where are you going?”

“Uh, my dorm? Why would I stay in this shitty room?” He gave her an irritated look, like she wasn’t worth the time it took for him to respond. It made her heart ache.

“Oh, yeah, right. See ya later then.” She gave him a meek wave and then immediately hated herself for how pathetic she was being. “Bakugou!” She cried before he could reach for the handle. “Uh – about last night. I’m not that kind of girl. Usually. Just so you know.” Her face burned, and she stared at her lap.

“You don't have to tell me what kind of girl you are, angel face.” The corners of his mouth curled up into a smile that resembled more of a snarl. “See ya.”

What the hell did that mean? Uraraka felt the nausea usually accompanied by her floating start to fill her stomach. Her breathing was shallow. She was going to cry. Maybe she could research someone with a time-reversing quirk and make the last 24 hours never happen. 

She didn’t have time to get introspective, because the door to her room swung open, and two of her dearest friends rushed in. She wiped her eyes subtly, feigning rubbing away sleep, and put on her most winning smile for her friends.

“Uraraka!” Deku shouted, his smile lighting up his face like a sunny day. Her own smile grew more genuine, as she Deku effect washed over her. She liked Deku. He was kind, ambitious, a true hero. He wanted the best for her, always. She'd admired him since day one. It should’ve been him –  even if he never wanted her in that way. Tsu, her most logical friend, who would've talked her out of every decision she made last night, stared at her blankly, like she knew something was wrong. There was a noticeable absence in the room, and Uraraka frowned.

"Where’s Iida?”

Deku waved her question away, looking nervous. Tsu answered for him, always one for giving the straight facts. “Iida had a family emergency. How are you, Uraraka? Bakugou didn’t hurt you too bad, I hope?”

“Oh, no, no! It was just a tough battle. He was a fair opponent.” Uraraka hated being treated like a ragdoll that Bakugou had thrown around the stadium. She held her own, damn it. She was a worthy opponent. Everyone looked at her and saw just a pretty, innocent face. She had proved that was false. In more ways than one.

A blush crept onto her face, remembering last night, again.  

“It was pretty rough to watch,” Tsu frowned at her best friend. "But you did amazing."

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, Uraraka,” Deku’s eyes were earnest. “I know how…intense…Bakugou can be.”

You really don’t, she thought. Then: what am I thinking?

“Any experience is good experience!” She squeaked, the double meaning not hitting her until after the words were out of her mouth. “I should get out of here soon, I think. The injuries are really not bad. Recovery Girl is just fussing.”

“I know how she is too,” Deku laughed good-naturedly. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Uraraka. We’ve all been so worried. We have a few days off to relax before classes start again, but then we’re talking about internships!”

“That’s so exciting!” Uraraka cheered, and she meant it. Hero work was something she could cling to and focus on. That was what mattered, wasn't it? She wanted to grow to be the best hero she could be, to give her parents the life they deserved. She shouldn't get distracted. “I can’t wait!”

Deku launched into his analytic jabber about the Sports Festival, and Uraraka got lost in it, gasping at all the right times, and giggling when the more ridiculous feats were discussed. For the next half hour, everything was normal – they discussed results, hyped each other up, and marveled over their classmates. Deku’s eyes shone with admiration when he described his defeat at the hand of Todoroki.

“Oh, Deku. You’re worried about me, how are you?” Uraraka suddenly felt very selfish. She cast a frantic look to his hands and arms, cursing herself for being too distracted to show immediate concern for her friend. He was covered in bandages, but she was all too used to the sight. This time seemed worse, though. Deku had a bad habit of breaking all his bones every time he battled.

“I’m okay.” He was always so humble, never letting himself hold any attention or letting anyone worry over him. “I’m always okay, right?” He gave her a confident smile. “We’ll just get better from here on out!”

Deku was inspirational. Uraraka knew he was a born hero from the first day she met him. He never let anything get him down. She used to have a one track mind when it came to him – be like Deku, be strong, be brave, be kind. Be with somebody like Deku, the embodiment of a hero –  it was rational, but now her train of thought was interrupted by thoughts of Bakugou – blasting the rocks from the sky with just his hands, walking around with his air of cockiness, a level of experience that no one but him could pull off. The way he spoke, so sure of himself, so sure he knew what Uraraka wanted.

No, Uraraka. Her internal voice had had it with these thoughts. She tried to shake them away.  

“Uraraka? You’re spacing out,” Tsu pointed out, blunt as always. “What are you thinking?”

“Ah! Nothing! Just thinking about internships,” she lied quickly.

“Well, we should let you rest.” Deku frowned at her and his eyes were full of love. Uraraka felt like shit.

“Hopefully you get out of here by tonight, we’re going to have a class movie night, kero.” Tsu was clearly excited even though her voice remained neutral. 

“Yeah, I think I’ll leave after I rest a little more. I should be there.”

Her friends said goodbye, promising her favorite snacks for the movie night and a blanket for them all to cuddle under and Uraraka felt warm and whole for the first time since waking up that morning.

-x-

Uraraka was given Recovery Girl’s blessing later that afternoon, after her bandages were removed and she was smooched on the forehead. She had a sneaking suspicion that the elderly hero played favorites, and that it had something to do with all the times Uraraka had visited Deku in the hospital and spent time talking to her while she waited for him to wake up. She had a lot of fond memories of the infirmary room. She wasn't sure if last night was included.

She was still processing it – obsessing, maybe – as she made her way down the hallway, out the door and across the lawn to Alliance Heights, desperate to finally relax in her own room, and take a much-needed shower. It was horrifying how gross she was, between the dirt on her knees from the Sports Festival, and the mess between her legs. All courtesy of Bakugou.

She needed to stop thinking about him. He was like a parasite, sucking up all of the space in her brain, and she knew he wasn't thinking about her this much. He had infected her brain and she was probably just an afterthought. A means to an end for him to use for his pleasure.

Her mom had warned her about this, but she was too stubborn for her own good, always.

“Uraraka, whoa!” A voice broke her from her reverie again. She was spacing out too many times in one day. She had almost walked right into the solid chest of Kirishima. He was grinning down at her sheepishly. "Careful there." 

She stared at him, then to those around him: his best friends Kaminari, Sero and Bakugou.

Of course, Bakugou would never admit they were best friends, but they were. He didn’t want anyone to think he had feelings or that he was a normal human being with actual emotions, but it was obvious to anyone that he was soft for Kirishima, and he hadn't killed Kaminari or Sero yet, which was something.

“Uraraka?” Kirishima prompted, good-natured and nervous, because he cared about everyone in the class like they had known each other for their whole lives. “You alright?”

“Huh?” She blurted out, because really, she'd short-circuited, seeing Bakugou so soon after he'd left the infirmary. She felt like Kaminari had shocked her.

“Damn Sports Festival gave her brain damage,” Bakugou gave her an irritated glare, as if telling her to get her shit together. 

“Dude, you did that to her,” Kaminari said in a low voice, nudging him before glancing back at Uraraka, like she couldn't hear him. 

“Fuck yeah, I did,” Bakugou’s grin was malicious. “She’s a big girl though. She handled herself well.”

Uraraka couldn’t help but hear deeper meaning to his words, but she was probably just overthinking. She grimaced at him, but then decided to bite back. She wouldn't let Bakugou win all of the further battles just because they'd done something intimate together. She was the one who'd stood up to him in the Sports Festival. She was not afraid of him. “Yeah, I did. Next time I won’t be so submissive, and the tables will turn.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh? There’s gonna be a next time, Round Face?”

“Guess we’ll see.” She rivaled his intense stare. Kaminari whispered an, "oh shit" and grinned, but Kirishima gave Uraraka a lingering look, studying her. It was unsettling, the feeling of being read. She swallowed, and broke eye contact.

“Don’t fight, you two!” Sero wailed, giving Uraraka the relief of distracting both Kirishima and Bakugou from her. “The Sports Festival is fun! We aren’t enemies!” He flashed his trademark blinding smile. “Uraraka,” he continued, “Are you coming to the movie tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” She replied cheerfully, gathering herself again. 

“Fuckin’ stupid movie night,” Bakugou mumbled and he started in the direction of the dorms, walking two steps ahead of everybody else.

“Hey, Bakugou, wait up!” Kirishima was always the first one to chase Bakugou down. "See ya, Uraraka!" He called over his shoulder.

“Ignore him,” Sero said, giving Uraraka an apologetic look. “He’s been grumpier than usual today. The press has been all over the Sports Festival, and he’s getting some…less than ideal coverage.”

“Yeah, it’s not cool to beat up a girl.” Kaminari shook his head. Uraraka bristled at the words but decided it wasn’t worth it to argue. If everyone wanted to see her as fragile, so be it. She would prove them all wrong sooner rather than later.

She waved to the boys and promised she would see them later that night to watch the newest action flick that was out on DVD.

She decided she couldn't go straight to the showers. She needed to lay face down in her bed for at least an hour and wallow. When she finally did obtain the energy she needed, and made her way to the communal showers, she almost cried with relief. The hot water felt cleansing – like she could start over again. She washed the filth and grime off of her and with it she washed away everything that had burdened her for the past day. The frustration of losing the Sports Festival, the quiver in her voice that she couldn't hold back when she called her parents, the fakeness she displayed when talking to her friends, the aching of her body, the pain of waking up to Bakugou’s rejection – she washed it all down the drain. She let the hot water scald her, reveling in the burn. She was so angry. She was supposed to be a hero and she was sick of everyone treating her like a fragile, innocent –

“Angel.”

“Ah!” Uraraka screamed at the very distinct, very male voice that had interrupted her introspective shower. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she instinctively covered what she could with her hands. She knew that voice – of course it was him. “This is the girl’s room, Bakugou!”

“Everyone is downstairs, relax. They started the movie. You’re late, so I came to see what the fuck you were doing.” He was right outside of the stall. She was hyper-aware that the only thing separating them was the flimsy shower curtain that didn’t even hide her feet. Her chest was heaving, and her body felt like it was activating a fight or flight response– and favoring flight.

“I thought you weren’t going to the movie,” she managed weakly. “Bakugou, you can’t be in here. You’ll get in trouble if you’re caught.”

“I’m good at not getting caught," he murmured. “I'm good at everything, and I've been thinking about you today, angel.”

“Oh yeah? You barely looked at me this morning.” Uraraka tried to sound strong but was betrayed by the obvious hurt in her shaky voice. If Bakugou had been thinking about her, why would he act like he couldn't get away from her fast enough?

“Well, shit was weird. Can you blame me? What could I have said? ‘Hey Round Face, thanks for the great sex. I’d love to do it again, but we said it was a one-time thing’?” He scoffed, and she could practically hear him roll his eyes. “I’m not good at talking about shit, but last night…wasn’t terrible.”

Uraraka snorted. The water hitting her body was starting to lose its heat, and she was going to start shivering soon if she didn’t get out.

“I'm glad it wasn't terrible, but you've gotta go,” she whined, “I need to go get dressed and get down to the movie.”

“Fuck that movie.” He made a step towards the curtain and Uraraka held her breath. “I've gotta be real with you, angel face. You’ve been making me crazy all day. I don’t think last night is gonna be a one-time thing.”

“Is that really your decision to make?” Uraraka could feel an ache forming involuntarily in-between her legs, similar to how she felt last night when Bakugou was in her infirmary bed. She backed up against the wall, trying to put more distance between her and the boy outside of the curtain, but the battle was lost the moment Bakugou walked into the showers. 

“If you say no, I’ll leave,” he promised, his voice sultry and dangerous. “But I have to hear you say no. So, what are you saying, angel?”

Uraraka closed her eyes and leaned further against the wall. She might regret it later, but she knew exactly what her answer was.

Chapter Text

Uraraka’s heart was beating so loudly that she was positive Bakugou could hear it. She had made her decision the moment she heard his voice outside of the shower, but facing that decision was a different story.

“I need my towel.” She squeaked out, finally.

A second later, his arm reached through the curtain, handing her a soft, fluffy towel. She sighed in relief, feeling much less vulnerable and exposed.

“So, what’s your answer?” The desperation in Bakugou’s voice was noticeable. She had power over him. The thought was satisfying.

“You ambushed me in the shower. Can you give me a second?”

“I’m getting impatient, angel.” He growled. “You’re torturing me. Hiding there behind that curtain…”

Said curtain started bunching up before her eyes, and she realized Bakugou was gripping it. “You’re so close…” He continued, his tone gruff.

Uraraka dried her hair with the towel, then her body, enjoying being in control of Bakugou’s emotions. He had been an asshole that morning. He could wait.

“Give me a second.” She repeated, her heart rate slowing down. She was in control. She could do this.

“That’s not a no.” He mumbled.

“It’s not.” She agreed, and he groaned. The impatience must’ve gotten the better of him, because less than a second later the curtain was torn back and there he stood, his face slightly red, his eyes hungry.

“Stop teasing me, Uraraka.” He snarled. He walked forward into the stall, causing Uraraka to back up against the wall, under the shower head. So much for being in control. “The more you tease me, the rougher I’ll be with you.”

There went her heart rate again: through the damn roof. She forgot how to breathe – how to speak. She locked eyes with the man towering above her, both terrified and enraptured by his gaze.

“I-I didn’t say yes yet…” She attempted weakly. But she knew what her answer was. He knew what her answer was. He grinned, and then his body was against hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist easily, holding little regard that she was only wearing a towel. He moved his lips to her exposed neck, nipping and sucking at it. She let herself relax into his touch, moving her hands from her sides to his arms, and then to hang around his neck. Her movement caused her towel to slip down her chest and it didn’t take long for Bakugou to notice.

“Mmm, I like you like this.” He whispered, his lips brushing against her ear while his fingers teased the edges of the towel, pulling it down farther. “This is so much easier.”

She laughed, putting her own hands on the waistband of his shorts. “I think we have to make things fairer.” She didn’t know where this confidence was coming from – when Bakugou looked at her like this, touched her like this – she felt invincible.

She felt desirable, and this was confirmed when at her touch, Bakugou melted. He kissed her harder, pulling the towel completely off in one swoop, leaving her naked. He stepped back, his eyes traveling down every curve of her body. Normally, she would’ve been mortified and rushed to grab the towel to cover herself, but Bakugou was looking at her like she was something amazing.

“Fuck.” He said, his hands on her bare waist. “You’re goddamn beautiful. I can’t believe you hide a body like this under your uniform. Fuck.”

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and she pulled at his shirt again, reminding him of the unfair balance between the two of them.

“Take it off for me then, angel.” He said softly to her and something about the gentleness in his voice set her entire body on fire because Bakugou Katsuki was not gentle. He was cruel and manic and abrasive and immature and obnoxious.

But with her, right now, he was somebody entirely different. He was rough hands on soft skin, surprisingly soft lips pressing hard but in a needy way, not a painful way. He was admiration, desire and…

She cut her thoughts off. Maybe Bakugou was behaving differently with her, but maybe all guys behaved differently during sex. It’s not like she had anything to compare the experience with. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself with thoughts of Bakugou as a person with real emotions. Right then, however, it would be really easy to pretend.

She obliged and pulled his shirt off of his body, and she gaped slightly at his chiseled figure. It wasn’t the first time she had seen it, obviously, but last night things hadn’t been as obvious in the dark. He said she was beautiful. He should look in the mirror.

Bakugou threw his shirt on the wet ground and went back to running his hands all over Uraraka’s body. He captured her mouth in a kiss as he pressed his bare chest against hers and moved his hand down to in-between her legs.

Uraraka was entirely aware of her nakedness, and how his hands effortlessly glided over her wet body, as if he had done this a thousand times with her. He slowly inserted a finger into her, and then another, his eyes asking her for permission.

Her moan was all the approval he needed, and he kissed her hungrily as his fingers worked. His other hand was gripping wet, tangled hair, while her hands fumbled clumsily with his zipper. Bakugou whined into her mouth because she was taking too long, and he grabbed her hair tighter, pulling. She was finding it hard to concentrate due to the pressure in-between her legs, but she finally managed to free him from his shorts, and in the same swift movement, she yanked his boxers down to the floor.

She squealed as he moved his hand down to her butt, squeezing one cheek and pulling her closer to him. His fingers went deeper, and her vision blurred.

“Bakugou – I’m gonna -”

“You can’t come for me yet, angel.” He looked into her eyes and his expression was primal. Uraraka thought she would pass out. She grinded against his fingers, mewling and panting. Suddenly, he pulled his hand out, and before she had a chance to protest, he picked her up and slammed her against the wall. She would’ve cried out in pain if she wasn’t so turned on by it. She wrapped her legs around his waist and grabbed his neck, pulling his lips to hers so she could taste him. She felt how hard he was against her, and she felt the desire inside of her to take control.

“Katsuki,” she said softly, urgently. His eyes glazed over at the sound of his name. “Let me down.”

He gave her a questioning look but released her. She then put her hand on his chest and pushed him against the opposite wall, so that their positions were switched. She got on her knees and took him into her mouth.

Unlike last night, now she had an idea of what to do. She kissed and sucked gently, reveling in the noises of ecstasy that came out of Bakugou’s mouth – knowing she was doing this to him. She placed both of her hands on his stomach and sucked harder, doing her best to ignore her gag reflex so she could go as deep as possible.

“Fuck, Uraraka.” He rasped. “You’re so good. So good.” His hands were in her hair again, pulling hard and motivating her to keep going. She licked down his shaft and gave his head a small, innocent kiss then stared at him with big, round, brown eyes.

Then he was on her, crashing down to the ground, tangling their legs together, and then he was inside of her without warning. He was rabid with want, and Uraraka cried out each time he thrust into her. There was pain this time, as well, but it was a welcome, searing pain. She couldn’t get enough. She pulled him deeper into her, gasping and clenching as she tried to hold on.

“Come for me now, angel.” He said, tilting her head up so she could look him in the eye. Uraraka came undone and she did as he said, realizing that at some point, he had taken control again. Bakugou pulled out quickly after and Uraraka felt the absence of him. She didn’t like it.

“Condoms,” He breathed out, his chest heaving. “We need condoms.”

Uraraka blinked at him. They were on the floor of the showers, both wet, sweaty and heaving. She needed another shower after this. It took her a minute to process what he was saying.

“Where are you going to get condoms?” She finally asked. He was sitting against the wall with his head leaned back and his eyes closed. She let her eyes wander over him, admiring. He really took being the best at everything seriously – he had the best body in the class by far. She really couldn’t be blamed for giving into him twice. Anyone else in her situation would do the same thing.

She felt a small sense of pride that it wasn’t anyone else in this situation.

“I can steal them from Pikachu.” He muttered. “He was just bragging about how much he gets laid, so I’m sure he has them. Not sure if they’ll fit, though…”

A laugh bubbled out of Uraraka’s lips. “Pikachu?”

“Yeah, you know. The stupid electric one.”

“Isn’t he, like, one of your best friends?”

He scoffed. “He wishes.” He opened one eye and took in Uraraka. “Did you finish washing your hair?”

Her hands automatically went up to the top of her head, feeling the mess of tangled, wet locks. “No. It’s bad, right?”

He snorted. “Yeah, it’s fuckin’ bad. Come on. I’ll wash it for you.”

“You’ll…what?” She blinked at him. Wash her hair? Who was this man and what had he done with Bakugou?

“Tch. Yeah, c’mon.” He stood up and pulled her up with him. He turned the water back on and once the temperature was adjusted, he turned her around and went to work. His hands worked slowly through the knots, lathering and rinsing. She stood in stunned silence, naked, in the shower, letting Bakugou wash her hair.

It was the most intimate thing she had ever experienced.

“What would the rest of the class say if they knew you were such a softie?” She teased, enjoying the feeling of her scalp being massaged.

“I’ll kill you.” He growled, but his heart wasn’t in it.

Once her hair was to Bakugou’s satisfaction, she turned around to face him. “Hey, Bakugou?”

“Mmm?”

“What are we doing?”

Bakugou grinned, his usual taunting smile making his face look slightly menacing. “We’re just showering, angel.”

“That’s not what I –”

“We gotta get down to the movie. I told Shitty Hair and Pikachu that I was just going to change. They’re gonna start getting suspicious.” He changed the subject quickly and Uraraka felt her heart drop slightly, but she didn’t push it.

He grabbed two towels and wrapped one around his waist and handed the other to Uraraka. Her originally towel laid soaking on the floor, and she decided it would be best just to leave it there.

Bakugou gathered up his clothes and went to leave. At the last second, he seemed to think better of it, and he grabbed Uraraka by the waist and planted an aggressive kiss on her lips. It was over before it started, and she felt dizzy.

“We’ll talk about it later.” He promised, his voice more of a mumble than a confident declaration. “After the movie, you wanna come by my room?”

"Isn’t that dangerous? We could get caught. Iida patrols.”

“Of fuckin’ course he does…just don’t get caught, Moon Face.” He rolled his eyes. “Or don’t come. Whatever.”

“Don’t do that.” She snapped back. “Don’t act all sweet when I’m naked and then turn back into an asshole as soon as we put clothes on.”

He rubbed the back of his neck as if she was causing him physical discomfort. “Please come to my room later, okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded, placated for the time being. “I will.”

He nodded back at her and then he left the bathroom without another word. Uraraka groaned. She knew she had to talk to Bakugou about this…arrangement, but she was afraid of what that talk would entail. She didn’t want to stop, and that thought scared her. As she combed through her freshly washed hair, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was flushed and tingling all over. She tried to think about a time in her life where she wasn’t being consumed with thoughts of Bakugou – so, two days ago. It felt like much longer. In two days he had turned her whole world upside down.

And the crazy thing was, Uraraka loved it.

She finished getting ready quickly then ran down the stairs to join her friends at the movie. When she entered the common room, everyone was sitting around the TV which was showing an explosion. She hated when the boys got to pick the movie. She spotted Bakugou in the corner of the couch, looking at his phone, disinterested as always and surrounded by his squad of Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero and Mina.

“Uraraka-san!” Deku called, waving her over. “We were wondering where you were!”

“Yeah, what took so long, kero?” Tsu patted the seat next to her on the couch and when Uraraka sat down, she covered them both with a blanket and handed her friend her favorite candy. Uraraka loved her friends, and she hated that she had to lie to them, but there was also something thrilling about having the secret.

“You know, I was just really in need of a long shower.” She snuck a glance at Bakugou and she swore she saw him smirk.

Chapter Text

The movie seemed to be dragging on forever. The main character was going on a graphic killing spree in search of the man who had killed his dog – which was understandable – but Uraraka just couldn’t get into it. She found herself glancing over at Bakugou more times than was socially acceptable, hoping he would be looking back at her.

She caught his eye once, but he just gave her a quick, intense glare and looked back down at his phone. 

“Ochako, you seem distracted, kero.” Tsu whispered from next to her. “I thought you liked action movies.” 

 “Oh!” She had to remember how observant Tsu was. She would always realize when Uraraka had her mind on other things. “I do like action movies. I’m just tired, ya know? It’s been such a long few days. I could sleep forever!” 

 “Shh!” Kaminari waved his hand in Uraraka’s direction without taking his eyes off the TV. “This is the best part.”

 “Kaminari’s seen this movie twelve times.” Jirou explained helpfully. 

 “It’s the greatest movie series in existence.” He assured the class.

 “Oi, who needs to shut up now?” Bakugou barked at his friend. Kaminari dismissed him with another wave and Bakugou ground his teeth together in a grimace. Uraraka looked at her phone again for the time. 

They continued watching the flick, reacting at the appropriate times and laughing amongst themselves. Uraraka shared a popcorn bowl with Tsu and Deku. She watched as Mina relaxed back against Bakugou’s legs and she tried not to get jealous. Because why would she? It’s not like Bakugou belonged to her. 

That didn’t stop her from smiling to herself when he kicked Mina off of him approximately four seconds later. 

 “Why are you so against affection?!” Mina whined to him. “We’re best friends!”

 “Shut it, alien freak,” was his response. 

 “Please don’t fight, kids.” Kirishima begged, always the pacifist. “You’re tearing this family apart!”

 “I’m going to tear you apart if you don’t shut the fuck up.” Sero promised casually. His face was in his hands as he stared in wonder at the violence flashing across the screen. Uraraka watched the group with interest. She saw the friend group interact all the time, and she had always wondered what drew the loud-mouthed but kind, warm and fun-loving kids to Bakugou. She thought she was beginning to understand more and more about the act that he put on each day, and that other people knew the truth about him. He wasn’t a bad guy. 

She looked over at Deku, on the other side of Tsu, who was cheerfully eating his popcorn and looking mesmerized by the movie. Bakugou wasn’t a bad person, except when it came to Deku. She frowned. She made a mental note to mention his past with Deku when they talked.

When they talked – the movie was winding down. Even though she wasn’t paying much attention, she could tell that much. The main guy was running out of villains to kill, and she knew soon that everyone would be heading to bed. She looked at Bakugou, who was again looking at his phone, and she shot him a text.

So, how am I supposed to get to your room? 

He was typing back to her almost immediately, as if he had been waiting for her to ask. The response came quickly. One word: Float.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he completely ignored her.

 “Who are you looking at, kero?” Tsu asked quietly. Uraraka visibly flinched and her eyes snapped down to her lap. 

 “Nobody!” She assured the curious girl. “I’m just spacing out.” If she continued acting like this, she was going to be exposed. Tsu was too observant for her tonight. “I think I’m going to turn in a little early.” She smiled nervously. Deku turned his attention towards her.

 “Aw, you’ll miss the end, Uraraka!” His green eyes were always so puppy-like. It was no wonder nobody ever said no to him. Except for Uraraka, right now.

 “You can tell me about it tomorrow at breakfast.” She promised with a kind smile. Then, before anyone could convince her otherwise, she called out: “night, everyone!”

“Goodnight, Uraraka!” The class chorused back, and as she got up to go, one set of crimson eyes followed her out of the room. Her phone vibrated with another text, this one with just two words: One hour. 

She walked to her room with her legs feeling like Jell-O and her stomach feeling fluttery. She had been extremely intimate with Bakugou over the past few days – but something she barely had done was talk to him. She had no idea how it was going to go. It was hard to feel like you didn’t know somebody when you had seen all of them in the sort of setting that she had. She tried to shake herself out of her feelings – it had only been two days after all, and she was being ridiculous. 

That realization did nothing to calm her anxiety as she sat on her bed and willed the hour to go by faster. 

It was already 10 PM, and she figured she could get some work done before going to her fated meeting with Bakugou. She brushed her teeth, changed into pajamas and then sat down at her desk, opening her textbook to Mic’s English assignment. Her head was already spinning, and she wondered why English was such a confusing language and if she would ever understand possessives when her phone vibrated from its position on the desk.

She lunged for it. The time read 10:53 PM and the one unread text flashed up at her: Don’t get caught.

 Not getting caught was easier said than done, Uraraka thought but she stood up from her desk and slunk out of her room. She silently closed the door behind her and stalked down the hallway. She thought her quirk made her better at sneaking, but she had never actually put it into practice – especially not in the context of sneaking into a boy’s dorm after curfew. 

 She looked at every door as she passed, noting if the lights were on or if they were cracked. Aizawa would be proud of her; she had learned a lot in her hero courses about how to take in her environment. Well, maybe he wouldn’t be so proud if he knew how she was making use of her knowledge, but she shoved that thought to the back of her brain where it belonged. She made it to the end of the hallway without incident and was about to go down the staircase when she heard soft giggling.

 “Shh!” A male voice carried up the stairs to Uraraka’s ears. “We have to be quiet.”

 “You know I’m not good at being quiet.” A second voice rang out clearly, and Uraraka realized immediately it was Mina’s distinctive trill. Which meant the voice accompanying her was…

 “Kiri,” Mina’s voice was honey. “Maybe we don’t go to bed tonight?” 

 “Like at all? Mina, our sleep schedules are going to get really messed up if we do that…and I have to go to the gym tomorrow…and…” 

Kirishima’s voice was cut off, and Uraraka listened to the silence, trying to make out anything that was being said, but there was nothing. She wanted to hear more from this secret conversation – she knew Mina had mentioned fooling around with Kirishima but hearing them talk about it was something different all together. But she had bigger problems than that. If they were in the common room, how was she supposed to get to the other end of the hallway where the boy’s dorms were?    

She remembered the text Bakugou had sent her.

Float.

Her stomach dropped in fear. Looking around her at the high ceilings, she figured she could do it, but it would be risky. She had been practicing her ability to maneuver in the air while engaged in zero gravity. She wasn’t perfect, but she could do it for short periods of time. Depending on where Mina and Kirishima were in the room, she could realistically get across the ceiling quietly enough and land on the other end of the hallway without getting caught. 

Was she being crazy? Yes. But she would address that later. 

She continued to hear silence from the common room, and maybe that meant that Mina and Kirishima had taken their late-night tryst somewhere more private, but either way, it was do or die for Uraraka. She didn’t want to know how temperamental Bakugou would get if she bailed out on their meeting. 

Shaking off her nerves, she touched the pads of her fingers together and she felt the familiar sensation of losing everything that grounded her. 

She moved quietly through the air, using her arms to propel her across the ceiling. The key to keeping from puking her guts out when she floated herself was to keep her eyes glued to one spot in front of her and to never waver from it. She did that now, eyes narrowed on her goal of the other end of the hallway. She was so concentrated on her goal that she didn’t notice anything – or anyone around her. 

 “Uraraka?” 

Shit. Her heart exploded out of her chest and she could feel the panic rising like bile in her throat. 

No. No, that was actual bile. She quickly pushed herself down as close to the ground as she could get, released her quirk and ran to the kitchen sink, barely making it before she threw up all of her dinner. 

 “Oh, fuck. Look what you did, Kiri!” Mina’s voice was chastising.

 “What was I supposed to say when I saw someone floating across the ceiling in the middle of the night?”

Uraraka fell to her knees and laid her head on the granite countertops, savoring the cold on her clammy face. She hadn’t thrown up from floating in so long, but the combination of her nerves with her quirk and the shock of getting caught was too much for her body to handle. 

She groaned. Bakugou had told her not to get caught, and here she was. 

 “Uraraka, honey, are you okay?” Mina was right next to her, and her voice was soothing. She put a soft hand on Uraraka’s back and started making small circles. 

 “Thanks, Mina.” She murmured, her shame seeping through her voice. “I’m okay.”

 “Okay. Great. Then tell me this: what the fuck were you doing?” 

Kirishima snorted from the pink girl’s side. He looked just as embarrassed as Uraraka felt. “Hey, Uraraka.” He smiled meekly. “That was a nice display.”

Uraraka just groaned in response. 

 “Seriously, what’s the explanation here? Just doing some extra training at 11 o’clock at night?” Mina helped Uraraka up off the floor and started cleaning out the sink. She was the wild one of the girl gang, but she was also a mom when the situation called for it.

 “That sounds reasonable. If I say that’s what I was doing, can we leave it at that?” She tried. 

 “Absolutely not.” Mina finished cleaning the sink and turned to the still-clammy and groggy girl in front of her. “Kiri and I are out late because we are hooking up. That’s, like, the only reason anyone ever sneaks around here.” She narrowed her eyes. “So what is sweet, little Uraraka doing out at this hour?”

“Mina, damn. Is anything private?” Kirishima protested weakly.

 “No, we live in dorms and spend every waking moment together. Of course nothing is private.” She scolded him for even suggesting something so ridiculous. 

 “I was just…restless. I couldn’t sleep.” She looked at her lap. Mina wasn’t buying it, and she made that known.

 “Kiri, can you believe this? I can’t believe this. She thinks we’re stupid.”

 “Well, I mean…” He shrugged. 

 “I don’t think you’re stupid!” Uraraka cried. “I just…can’t tell you where I’m going…it’s a secret.” 

 “Oh my God. You’re going to Midoriya’s room, aren’t you?” Kirishima’s face lit up. “Uraraka!”

 “No!” She held up her hands in surrender. She couldn’t let that rumor start. She had to think quickly, but in her state of disarray the only thing she could think of to placate them would be telling them the truth. She was a horrible liar, and everyone knew it. “I need you two to promise --” she gave them both a meaningful look – “swear that you will never breathe a word of this to anyone, ever, for the rest of your lives.”

They both nodded eagerly, ready for the gossip. She closed her eyes. She was going to regret this. She was so going to regret this.

 “I’m going to see Bakugou – BUT!” She saw the looks on their faces and stopped them before they could say anything. “We aren’t hooking up. We’re just…talking. As friends.”

Mina looked like Christmas came early and Kirishima was clapping his hands and jumping up and down. 

 “You are such a fucking liar!” Mina cried out in a whisper, her eyes shining with glee. “You’re hooking up with Bakugou! Bakugou!”

“Holy shit, I can’t believe it. Somebody likes him. There’s hope for him after all, Mina!” Kirishima wiped a fake tear from his eye.

 “I know! Our son! Uraraka, tell us everything.”

Uraraka was backed into a corner and she could feel herself beginning to panic. There was no way she could tell them everything. She could barely tell them anything. What was there to tell? She could just see their faces when she said: ‘Oh yeah, we’ve fucked twice now. Once in the infirmary and once in the shower. I’m on my way to find out what exactly it is that we’re doing because I would like to do it many more times in many different places.’ 

When her mind put it like that, it made her feel dirty.  

 “There’s nothing to tell.” She could feel her face burning under their enthusiastic gazes. “We’ve…hooked up a few times. Nothing serious. Nothing like that.” She shot a glare at Mina who was making an obscene gesture. “Just…kissing and stuff.” She finished weakly.

 “Just kissing and stuff, huh?” Kirishima’s sharp grin said that he didn’t believe her, but he wasn’t cruel. “Figures. Bakugou doesn’t have any experience. Glad you’re teaching him, Uraraka.”

 “Stop embarrassing her!” Mina smacked his arm before he had a chance to harden it and he cringed. 

“Me?!” He acted scandalized.

 “Can I go now? Because I promised him I’d be there by 11 and it’s now…” She looked down at her phone and her chest tightened. It was 11:34 and she had four unopened text messages from Bakugou. 

“Shit. We’re cock blocking so bad right now.” Kirishima groaned. “Okay, go. Tell us all about it later.” 

“Yes, please! Breakfast date tomorrow. Bring Bakugou.” Mina was practically dancing with excitement. 

“That’s not happening.” Uraraka snorted at the image of Bakugou agreeing on a double date. He wouldn’t even agree on a single date. “You guys will keep quiet, right? Right?” 

“Your secret is safe with us, hun.” Mina mimed zipping her lips and Kirishima nodded furiously. 

 “Wouldn’t dream of telling anyone.” He said. 

 “Okay. Good.” She gave both of them a distrusting glare and then turned to Mina and asked in a low voice. “Do I look okay?”

Mina looked like she was going to cry tears of joy. “Uraraka, you look perfect.”

Chapter Text

Uraraka expected rage, because that’s just who Bakugou was. She expected him to glare at her, shout at her for wasting his time, or tell her that he never wanted to see her again. She expected all of this when she took her fist to his door and gave three timid knocks. 

What she didn’t expect was to not even get an answer. 

She knocked again, louder this time, and still – nothing. She looked at her phone. She had shot him an apologetic text, promising she would be there in just a minute, but gotten no reply. Frankly, that pissed her off more than the idea of him yelling at her. She had to endure Mina and Kirishima to get here. He better answer the door, damn it.

 “Bakugou.” She whispered, knocking again. He could play games with her. She wouldn’t leave. “Open up.” 

At the resounding silence that answered, she decided to take a leaf out of Bakugou’s book and use force. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door to his bedroom.

She stood in the doorway and looked in. Bakugou’s bedside lamp was on, casting a warm glow over the room. His laptop was open to what looked like an essay – probably for Midnight’s class – and books were scattered all across the desk. 

And in his bed in the clothes he wore to the movie laid Bakugou: absolutely, undeniably asleep.

Shit.

She should’ve escaped while she could. She could’ve just told Bakugou that she forgot, fell asleep, had too much homework. It would’ve been an easy lie, but it would’ve stopped what they were doing in its tracks. She was sure of that. Bakugou had too much pride not to react harshly to being blown off. Despite her immediate reaction to run, she couldn’t make her legs turn towards the door. Bakugou’s sleeping form mesmerized her; he looked so peaceful. 

It was different than when he slept in the infirmary. This was his room, where he was vulnerable and comfortable. He slept spread out on the bed, with one arm at his side and the other hanging off. His mouth was slightly open, and his face was smooth, devoid of all the stress he usually carried.            

The light being on and the computer being open told Uraraka that he had fallen asleep waiting for her, and she knew she would have to wake him. She tried to do it as gently as possible, putting her hand lightly on his arm. He didn’t move. She tried again, hovering over him carefully.

She shook his hand slightly, making sure to keep her pinky finger up so that he didn’t end up against the ceiling. He wouldn’t find that to be a pleasant way to wake up. 

Suddenly, she heard a small noise, that she at first wasn’t sure had come from him at all. Then, his hand twitched under hers, like it was reaching for something.

“Uraraka.” He whispered her name and she shot up. 

 “You’re awake!” She cried. His eyes opened quickly at her voice. He was disoriented. 

 “Huh?! What are you doing in my room, Moon Face?” He sat up, looking frantically around the room. “Did you fuckin’ let yourself in and wake me up?”

 “You weren’t answering. We were supposed to meet. You said my name, so I thought you were awake…” She backed away, suddenly feeling very silly about her plan.

 “Yeah, at 11.” He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. “You know how to read clocks? I didn’t say your fuckin’ name.”

Uraraka blinked at him, confused. Was she hearing things?

 “Look, I’m sorry, I got…” She had to phrase her excuse carefully. She didn’t want Bakugou knowing that Mina and Kirishima knew their secret. “I got caught up.” 

 “We agreed on a fucking time.” He spat. “I don’t like to have to stay up all night waiting for you to get down here when you feel like it.” 

 “I told you I’m sorry.” She crossed her arms. Here was the rage that she had been expecting. “I literally couldn’t get here on time. I told you. I got caught up.” After only two days being around Bakugou she was starting to learn how to bite back with her words. “I’m here now.”

 “Yeah, breaking and entering and shit.” He mussed his hair, trying to reduce the bedhead. He still looked annoyed, but his voice had softened. “Gonna keep me up all night with this bullshit.”

 “Oh, is this bullshit?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Because I can leave.” 

 “No, you woke me up. We’re gonna talk.” He patted a spot next to him on the bed. “Sit.” 

She hesitantly obeyed, waiting for further explosions, but they never came. He just sighed heavily, orienting himself to being awake again. She knew this was past his bedtime, so it said something that he was willing to lose sleep over her.

“Well?” He prompted her, his voice only slightly softening. She sat next to him, close enough that their legs were almost touching, but he faced forward, not looking at her. 

“I have to start?” She asked nervously. She didn’t even know where to begin with this situation. 

“Tch. You’re the one who wanted to talk, cheeks.” He reminded. 

She chose to ignore the new nickname, not wanting to admit to herself that she liked it when Bakugou called her by these silly names. Usually he gave nicknames because he couldn’t be bothered to remember anyone’s actual name, but Uraraka knew he remembered hers. 

“I just want some…clarification…as to what we are doing here.” She was afraid he would be able to hear her heart beating. She could feel it in her throat. She already wasn’t feeling great due to her bout of nausea in the common room, and the looming doom of this conversation was not making her feel any better. 

Bakugou sighed heavily. The conversation had barely begun, and he was already acting like it had aged him a hundred years. “We’re having sex. It’s fun. We enjoy it. I personally would like to continue but if you aren’t feeling it --”

“That’s not it!” Uraraka cried quickly – too quickly. Yikes. Her entire face turned pink. Bakugou politely pretended not to notice. “That’s not it.” She repeated. “I don’t want it to stop, but…isn’t it weird? To just be friends and just be casually having sex?”

“Are we friends?” Bakugou asked lazily. 

Oh. Ouch. She took a deep breath. She knew not to expect much from Bakugou in terms of fuzziness and feelings, but she couldn’t help but feel the sting of that one. Not even friends? 

“What is it, Round Face?” He taunted. “You gotta big crush on me now, is that it?”

“No.” She growled. Of course she didn’t have a crush on him. She just liked being around him. And found him attractive. And enjoyed sex with him. 

Really. He could be anyone. 

“I just think it’s weird.” She finished finally. 

“It’s not weird. A lot of people in school do it.” He shrugged. “Look at Mina and Kirishima. Or Mina and Sero, for a while.” 

“What? Sero too?” Uraraka was snapped out of the seriousness of the conversation by the tidbit of juicy gossip. 

He waved her question away. “Yeah, it was a thing. Not anymore, obviously.” He shot her a look to silence her unasked question. “But it’s never been a big deal. I mean, the idiots talk about that shit casually. Sero and Mina laugh about it all the time. And,” He started up again, with another example. He really had the sources to back up his work here, like he expected Uraraka to have this issue. She was impressed. “I know for a damn fact that half-and-half and the bitch-with-the-boobs are fooling around because he’s my fuckin’ next door neighbor and these walls are thin.” 

“Momo and Todoroki?” She felt her mouth drop open. “I can’t believe you know so much gossip.”

He only grunted in response. Then he offered, “It’s not weird. It’s just sex. Sex is fun.” He paused. “Like I said earlier – a good tension reliever. And we all have a lot of fuckin’ tension up in here.”

She couldn’t argue with that logic; they did hold a lot more tension than the average high school student. When Uraraka gave him no response to his spiel, he spoke again. “Do you want to keep doing this or not?”   

He didn’t sound angry. He sounded nervous. His voice had lost its usual confident edge and Uraraka stared at him in wonder. Just a minute ago, Bakugou had said they weren’t even friends and assured her that none of their situation was a big deal. Now, his voice was betraying him, and Uraraka could tell that even if he acted like he didn’t, he cared about this. He didn’t want this to stop. That fact gave Uraraka her own confidence back, and she was able to form her next words easily.

“I don’t want to stop. Not at all. I like this. But, I think we need to have some rules and boundaries if we’re going to keep doing it.” She touched his leg to get him to look at her and he did, but only for a reluctant second before he turned back away. 

 “Yeah, alright. What’s your first rule?” 

 “First rule is that we should not fall in love with each other.” 

Bakugou sounded like he choked. He quickly turned his cough into a sharp laugh and then turned to Uraraka with an incredulous look on his face. “You think I’m gonna fall in love with you?!” 

 “I said we should not fall in love with each other. It’s a group effort.” She had prepared these rules in her head during the movie and expected his response, so it did not faze her. “This has gotta be purely sexual. A tension relief exercise. It’s only to improve us as heroes. Right?”

Bakugou mumbled something that vaguely resembled “right”, still thrown off by Uraraka’s assumption that he was capable of loving another human being. 

 “Rule number two,” she continued, “You have to listen to me. If I ever want to stop for any reason --”

 “—Ahh, come on, Round Face. Who do you take me for?” He snapped, offended. 

 “It’s an important rule!” She felt her face growing red. She had heard horror stories about sexual encounters gone wrong when one partner goes too far and ignores the needs of their other partner. She had been researching, although she would never tell him that. She could only imagine the laughter. 

 “Okay,” He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and gave a drawn-out sigh. “What’s next?”

 “I think we have to be 100% honest with each other at all times.” She spoke this one in one breath, afraid of the backlash for it. Bakugou just stared at the wall, unmoving. 

 “Yeah, alright.” He said finally. “What do you want to know? You obviously made that a rule because you’ve got something on your damn mind.” 

She did. She had been thinking about it since the morning she woke up in the infirmary with Bakugou laying under her. The question had been burning at the back of her brain, but she hadn’t known how to ask. 

 “C’mon, out with it, Round Face.” He grumbled. 

 “Well,” She started thoughtfully, “It’s no secret that I’m a little sexually inexperienced.” 

Bakugou snorted and shrugged his shoulders. “You’re not half bad.” He admitted, which was a pretty solid compliment from him.

 “Thanks, but – you.” She poked her finger into his chest, slightly accusatory. “You learned what you know somewhere. I want to know where.” 

He didn’t react to her question, which let her know that he expected it. He seemed to be thinking very carefully about his response, and the tension in the room was stifling her. She regretted asking, because it seemed like hours had passed before he finally said:

 “She was this bitch I met over the summer.” The words left his mouth unceremoniously and without emotion.

Uraraka made no move to respond, waiting for him to say more. He growled in frustration. “I know you’re inexperienced but don’t you fuckin’ know it’s weird to ask the guy you’re fucking with who he used to fuck?”

She blinked. Jeeze. That was a lot of ‘fucks’ in one sentence. “I mean, I already asked.” She said. 

Bakugou looked like he wanted to punch a wall. He probably had before, many times. She casually scanned his wall for holes but surprisingly found none.

 “She’s older than us. We met at this training thing. She was all into me from the start, and when she made a move, I went with it.” He spilled out. “It went on pretty much the entire summer after that. Since she was older, she taught me a lot. You can thank her for how good I am.” He chuckled darkly at that.

She ignored that. “What happened with her?”

 “Damn, you’re nosy, aren’t you?”

 “You agreed to honesty.” She reminded him. She was listening with rapt attention. She wanted to know all about this mysterious older girl.

 “She goes to school far away, so when the training program ended, so did we. That’s all. There was nothing romantic or shit.” He glared as if the thought personally offended him. “So, yeah. That’s my answer.”

 “What was her name?”

Bakugou whined. “You spend too much time with fuckin’ Deku. Ask too many questions. Her name was Camie.” 

Camie. That was a cute name. Uraraka wondered absently if she was cuter than her. An older woman with experience. How could she match up to that? 

 “What’s the next rule?” Bakugou asked impatiently, snapping her back to reality with a subject change. “Here, I got one. This shit is for us only. So don’t go telling your little nerd friends. It’s a secret. Our secret, right?” He said the last part softly, and she could feel his body relax next to her. 

Unfortunately, hers did the opposite.

 “Yes! Of course! A secret! Why would I tell anyone? That would be the worst idea ever!” She clutched her fists in an attempt to keep herself grounded and believable. Bakugou gave her a sideways glance. 

 “The fuck is wrong with you?” 

 “Nothing!” She squeaked. “I agree with that rule! It’s best to keep it a secret.”

 “Everyone would just be fuckin’ annoying about it if it wasn’t.” He said in explanation, even though Uraraka had not asked for one. She wasn’t upset that Bakugou didn’t want to shout their weird arrangement from the rooftops. She didn’t want to either. If Kirishima and Mina were any indication as to how the rest of the class would take it, then she would rather avoid that as long as possible, preferably forever. She didn’t even want to imagine what her friends would think. She could see Iida’s face now and hear his scolding voice. She knew Tsu would have horrifically blunt questions that would send her into a frenzy of blushing and floating. 

And Deku. What would he say? The thought made her stomach hurt. In the past, she thought she would end up with Deku. They would have been perfect together. At least, she thought so. Deku, not so much.

She shoved the thought back into the deep compartment in her brain where it belonged.

“Yeah, I agree.” She nodded, calming herself down. She made a mental note to threaten Kirishima and Mina again to keep them quiet. 

 “Another rule,” Uraraka began, “If this is strictly sex then we shouldn’t do anything that could accidentally be conceived as romantic. No touching outside of sex. No kissing outside of sex. No cutesy pet names.” She shot him a meaningful look when she said the last one. She liked the nicknames, but they were borderline couple behavior.

 “I don’t think Round Face is cutesy but if that’s what you like.” He shrugged. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

 “Right.” She nodded. “Well, any others?” 

 “That’s all I got.” He said. “Question for ya though – where did you get your limited sex knowledge from?” 

Her eyes widened. “Oh – oh, uh, the girls, mostly. We’ve talked about it a little and I-I-I’ve watched some things.” She whispered. 

 “You’ve watched porn?” Bakugou seemed almost gleeful at the news. “You?”

 “I got curious after watching a movie one night! Everyone has done it! Don’t make fun of me!” She pushed him.

 “Hey, no touching.” He taunted. “Broke a rule.”

 “Ah, shit.” She covered her mouth quickly. “I’m not supposed to say that out loud. You’re ruining me.”

Bakugou laughed. A true and uninhibited laugh. He finally turned his entire body towards Uraraka on the bed and looked into her eyes, something that she wasn’t sure would ever stop making her heart beat faster. 

 “I’ve only just started ruining you, Round Face.”

 “No cutesy nicknames!” She cried.

 “Ah, fuck that rule. We aren’t following it.” 

 “Okay,” was the brilliant response she came up with. She felt dizzy. “I guess I should go back to my room to go to sleep. It’s late.”

His mouth turned up into a classic, manic, Bakugou smile. “Nah, angel. We’re not going to sleep anytime soon.” He put both hands on her hips and in a swift movement pulled her into his lap. She gasped as he immediately yanked down her tank top, exposing her breasts.

“You’ve got so much damn nerve,” he murmured into her chest, kissing and biting between words. “Barging into my damn room. Late. And not wearing a bra. Fuckin’ tease.” He squeezed her left breast hard and she yelped. “Who do you think you are?” He squeezed again, and moved his other hand to her waist, his fingers grazing on the band of her soft shorts. She felt heated by his aggression, every nerve in her body screaming for him. She wanted him to be rougher. She loved the way he spoke to her in his raspy, taunting voice.

“Am I in trouble?” She whispered, and Bakugou’s eyes widened at the question. She took in his reaction and added, “Am I a bad girl?”

“Ah, fuck.” He growled, and any restraint he had went out the window. Her shirt was on the ground before she could react, and Bakugou’s mouth was all over her. She was on fire. His hands slid down her chest to her shorts and he started rubbing her through the fabric, fast and hard. She moaned at the contact and focused her attention on Bakugou’s mouth. She bit his lip and opened her mouth wider for him when he tried to push his tongue through. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself closer. She couldn’t get close enough. She needed all of him.

“Katsuki,” She said, her voice dripping with desire, smooth as silk, “Punish me.”  

She wasn’t aware that this version of her existed, but Bakugou had drawn it out of her. She normally would’ve felt bashful saying such sultry things, but Bakugou loved it. He was practically hyperventilating he was breathing so hard.

“Angel,” He choked out, “You’re really gonna fuckin’ kill me. Yeah,” He tilted her chin up, “I’ll punish you alright. You asked for it.”

He smirked and threw Uraraka out of his lap and to the back of the bed. He yanked her shorts and underwear off at once and discarded them somewhere next to her shirt. “C’mere.” He demanded, and he sat down on the edge of the bed, still fully clothed.

“What?” Uraraka asked, confused as to why Bakugou’s hands and lips weren’t on her. But she obeyed, because right now, he was in charge. She was at his mercy.

“Come,” He repeated, and he pulled her naked body into his lap. “Like this.” She was laying on his lap, positioned on her stomach. She felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach, wondering what he would do to her.

Smack!

His hand came down hard on her butt, leaving an incredible stinging sensation.

"Ouch!” She cried out, but the pain was…kind of hot, actually. “Fuck,” she mumbled softly. “Do it again.”

He grinned, and obliged. Each smack increased the burn in the lower part of her body. Each smack made her weaker for Bakugou.

When he had gotten tired of the delicious game, he pulled Uraraka back into his lap and kissed her with passion she didn’t know existed. He slipped his fingers into her, two at once, because she could handle it now, and began getting her ready.

"Fuck, you’re already so wet.” He increased his pace, fucking her with his fingers until she was writhing in his lap. “You like being punished, don’t you?”

"Yes!” She cried, dipping her head into his shoulder and biting down to keep from screaming.

"You want me to fuck you really hard, don’t you? You’re fuckin’ dirty.” He pulled his fingers out quickly, just as she was on the edge, and she let out a sob. “It’s not gonna be that easy for you, bad girl.” His voice was consuming her. She needed him so bad that it was causing her pain.

"Undress, please.” She choked out. “I need…you…inside me.”

"I don’t think you’ve earned that yet.” His smile was wicked, and again he pushed her out of his lap and set her on the edge of the bed. “No, I think we need a little more punishment.”

"At least…take…your clothes off…” She was panting, and desperate to see him.

"Only if you take ‘em off for me, angel.”

She nodded, removing his shirt with trembling hands, then his pants, then his boxers. She was shaking so hard she could barely manage the zipper. Bakugou gave her a little assistance, and then they were both naked.

“You’re…really gorgeous.” She managed, reaching out her hands for him. She needed to touch him.

“Nuh-uh.” He swatted her hands away. “You don’t get to touch me. You’re a bad girl, remember?”

She gave a weak cry in response. Bakugou made a primal noise and then dove his head into her lap, his tongue immediately lapping her up.

“Ah!” She called out, surprised. She closed her eyes and twisted her fingers into her hair. He pulled away.

“If you touch me, I’ll stop.” He teased. “You don’t want that, do you?”

“No,” She gasped, “Please.”

“Be a good girl, then.” He went back to work, swirling his tongue around inside of her while she writhed and moaned in pain and pleasure. She needed a release, or she was going to scream. It was building up inside of her, but Bakugou wouldn’t let her get there. Every time she started to tense around his mouth, he would pull out, leaving her begging and crying for him.

“Please!” She cried, too loud for the proximity in the dorms. Bakugou slapped his hand over her mouth and she mumbled incoherently in response. “Please,” She managed, weak, desperate.

“Are you sorry for being bad?” He asked.

“Yes. I’m sorry. Please.” Her eyes had glazed over, focusing on his body in front of her. Please.

"Well, since you asked so nicely.” He crooned, and then he was flipping her over for the third time that night so that she was on her hands and knees in front of him. “You’re gonna like it like this, angel.” He ran a hand from her back down to her butt and then he helped position her so that she was face down. There was a moment of hesitation where Uraraka turned around and he was sliding on a condom, and then…

Then he was inside of her, and Uraraka felt her body explode with bliss. Finally, finally she would feel relief. He was thrusting hard, one hand on her back, exploring her, the other grasping tightly to her hair, pulling her head back every time she opened her mouth to moan.

It was euphoric. Uraraka could feel herself clenching around him, unable to handle it due to the merciless teasing. “Kat-su-ki.” She whimpered.

At the sound of his name coming from her, he let himself go too. This time, he didn’t pull out, but sunk into her farther, letting out an animalistic moan as he did.

They both collapsed when it was over, Bakugou on top of Uraraka, breathless.

After a few minutes of silence, Bakugou laughed slightly, and Uraraka looked up, alarmed.

“You’re gonna have to show me that porn you’ve been watching,” he raised an eyebrow at her, “bad girl.”

Chapter Text

They went on like that for two weeks, and Uraraka could say that she was very pleased with the arrangement. During the day, Bakugou and her were virtual strangers. They did not look at each other, speak to each other, or even spend time in the same vicinity unless they had to but every night at 11 PM, she was tiptoeing down the hallway to his bedroom.

The longer she spent with him, the more comfortable they got with each other. On Monday of week two, at their prearranged meeting time, Uraraka was drowning in homework. She texted this concern to Bakugou and he replied: Bring it over here and I’ll help you.

He helped her with her History of Heroics homework and then they had incredible sex afterwards. It was a win-win situation if Uraraka had ever heard of one. On the Wednesday of week two, Uraraka fell asleep in Bakugou’s bed and he let her sleep for a whole 30 minutes before he set off a small explosion in the room, waking her up in a shock. On Friday of week two, Mina approached Uraraka in the cafeteria.

“Hi, Ochako!” She waved brightly and Uraraka smiled, slightly uneasy at the way the pink girl was grinning down at her. Mina talking to Uraraka was not so much a rarity – all the girls spent plenty of time together and had a great bond – but lunch was a bit of an odd time. It took about one week for everyone in class A to find their respective lunch cliques and for the most part, they stuck to them rather religiously. Uraraka always sat with her best friends – Deku, Tsu and Iida. They were often joined by Todoroki, Momo or, to everyone’s chagrin, Mineta. The table was crowded, but Uraraka loved all of the company. There was never a shortage of interesting conversation. At the next table over sat Tokoyami, Koda, Sato, Ojiro and Hagakure, who generally enjoyed quiet lunches, unless Hagakure was excited about something. Across the room was Mina’s table, who had a reputation for being the rowdiest in the cafeteria. Mina was joined by her boys – Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari and Bakugou and more often than not these days – Jirou. Rowdy was an understatement – they got downright wild at lunchtime.

There were explosions, electric shots, or pieces of tape being shot up from the table at any given time. Every so often, Mina would stand on top of the table and shout because it was the only way for her to get her boys’ attention. If the words: “hey guys, watch this” ever came out of Kaminari’s mouth, the whole cafeteria knew to take cover. Wednesdays were “annoy Bakugou” day and whoever caused Bakugou to set off his explosions won a prize.

Their lunch table was like its own sovereign nation, and most of the class knew to stay away lest they get roped into whatever ridiculousness was going on that day.

So, it was strange for Mina to break out of her lunchroom jungle and cross the floor all the way to Uraraka, but she was not surprised. She knew that grin. Mina had come to gossip. 

Mina glanced at the table, taking in who was around and considering whom she thought should be allowed to hear her. In the end, she decided on whispering in Uraraka’s ear.

“How are you and Bakugou?” Her lips were right against her ear, and her voice was still so low that Uraraka could barely hear her, but that didn’t stop the hair from standing up on her arms in terror. Mina was not supposed to talk about that in public. Especially not right in front of her friends. 

“No, I don’t have the homework for Mic’s class.” She snapped back at her, mustering all of her alarm and anger into a glare and shooting it in her direction. 

“Ooh. Okay. Oh, Ochako,” her eyes twinkled, “Would you like to eat lunch at our table sometime?”

If Uraraka’s table had been politely pretending they weren’t listening before, they dropped the act when they heard Mina’s invitation, because no one got invited to sit at that table. Nobody could handle that table. The only time anyone joined the tight-knit group was when Jirou started seeing Kaminari. 

“Thank you, Mina, but I like my table.” She responded, eerily calm and sickeningly sweet. She was going to kill her later. 

“Well, if you change your mind,” She gestured to the table across the room, where Sero and Kaminari were currently trying to balance as many things on Kirishima as possible while he was maintaining his hardened form. “You know where to find us. We should talk later.”

“Oh, we will.” She beamed at Mina, willing her smile to look like a cat hunting a mouse, but Mina seemed joyfully oblivious to it. 

“See you in class, everyone!” She waved to the rest of the table, who all waved back as if in a trance, then she skipped back to her domain. 

“That was strange, kero.” Tsu was the first to comment, obviously. “She never leaves her table during lunch.”

“That’s because Mina is the queen of that table. When she leaves, things dissolve into chaos.” Momo pointed out before daintily spooning some rice into her mouth. “Why did she only ask you for the homework, Ochako? I would’ve gotten mine for us to look over together.”

“She probably just thought I’d be the one most likely to let her copy. It’s nothing.” She tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, but of course it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“It’s strange that she invited you to eat lunch with them, though.” Tsu said. “Why would you want to eat lunch with that group? They’re loud.”

“And obnoxious,” Added Todoroki in a soft voice. 

“Guys, Mina was just trying to branch out. I think it’s very nice of her!” Sweet Deku, always the optimist, declared. “You should go, Uraraka, I bet it’ll be fun.” 

Todoroki gave a sideways glance across the room where Kaminari was now being egged on by the group to chug a glass full of who-knows-what that they concocted. “Yeah,” he said blandly, “fun.”

“I agree with Midoriya!” Iida proclaimed. “It’s important for us to develop close relationships with all of our classmates, inside the classroom and out!”

Tsu put a thoughtful finger to her cheek and tilted her head in her signature way. “I don’t know why anyone would want to develop a close relationship with Bakugou.”

Uraraka’s face fired up, and she stared into her soup nervously. 

“Kacchan isn’t so bad,” Deku smiled meekly.

“He is when you share a wall with him.” Todoroki said, and he shot a quick glance at Uraraka, then looked away.

Her heart stopped, and she stared back at Todoroki, who was now pointedly ignoring her for his soba. Did he know? Uraraka shared a wall with Jirou, so it was an easy decision to exclusively use Bakugou’s room for their “activities”. She thought she did a decent job of staying quiet, but admittedly there were sometimes when she tended to lose control…

Maybe she imagined Todoroki looking at her. His statement could’ve meant anything. She knew for a fact Bakugou shouted at video games and set off explosions when he was having a particularly frustrating time with homework. There were endless things that could make him an annoying neighbor to have – things that definitely did not involve Uraraka.

“We should not speak negatively about our classmates!” Iida scolded, his exclamation carrying Uraraka back to the conversation at hand. “Even one as abrasive as Bakugou!” 

“I think you should go sit with them,” Momo commented seriously. Then, with a small smile, she added, “And maybe bring Jirou back with you. I miss sitting with her.”

“Yeah, maybe I will sometime.” Uraraka mumbled, wishing that class would start already so she could get out of the cafeteria. She let her eyes wander past Tsu, who sat across from her, to the infamous table. She scanned the scene, her gaze landing on Bakugou, who was, shockingly, looking right back at her.

She let her eyes fall quickly, mortified at being caught staring – but then, hadn’t he been staring as well? They weren’t supposed to interact in public, but just looking couldn’t hurt….

Uraraka allowed herself another peek, and was yet again met with crimson eyes, staring right back. She lost her breath. She and Bakugou may have been doing this for a steady two weeks already, but she was still amazed it was real, and when he looked at her that way, it made her feel like they were the only two in the room.

Stop it, Uraraka, she told herself sternly, remember rule number one. Like she had been doing so often lately, she forced the thought into the back of her mind and focused back on her friends in front of her, who had, thankfully, switched topics to an upcoming project Aizawa told them about in class earlier.

It was some kind of teamwork exercise where they were being paired up with each other and pitted against class B. Everyone was buzzing about it, always eager for the chance to interact with the other class and prove their skills. No one had been paired up yet, but Aizawa had promised that both he and Vlad King had painstakingly matched them for optimal compatibility, so everyone was theorizing who would end up with who.

 “I hope I get to work with somebody good, kero.” Tsu mused. “I don’t really know whose quirk is compatible with mine.”

 “You work very well with everyone, Tsu!” Momo was the most enthusiastic about the exercise. She wanted to prove herself as worthy of being in the class, since she had gotten in based on recommendations. “I’m very excited to work with whoever Aizawa Sensei thinks I would work well with. I’m sure we’ll make a very capable team!”

Her positive attitude was contagious and Uraraka found herself grinning. She was excited about the opportunity too. She had been working on her combat skills and was ready to surprise the class. She’d show them she wasn’t just a breakable, destined-to-be-rescue-hero. She just hoped her partner would be someone who took her seriously – even though there weren’t many of those in the class. She bunched up her hands into a fist.

 “I’m going to win.” She declared suddenly, and everyone turned to her.

 “Wonderful attitude, Uraraka!” Shouted Iida, his hands chopping the air in excitement. “We should all do our best!”

Everyone agreed vigorously and divulged into deeper conversation about strengths and weaknesses while Uraraka fantasized being crowned the victor over her match up. She didn’t know much about B’s quirks or combat experience, but she knew that she would stop at nothing to be victorious. Bakugou really was rubbing off on her in more ways than one. 

There was a loud beep throughout the lunchroom, signifying that it was time to go back to class. Everyone left in a mob, as usual, and Uraraka found Bakugou’s eyes one more time. Frustrated at him for carelessly staring, she mouthed: what? 

She couldn’t quite tell, but after he shot her a smirk, she thought she could make out him mouthing back: hey, angel face. 

In the center of the classroom, Aizawa yawned. He was still wrapped in his sleeping bag from his lunchtime nap, and he peered at them all over it. He reluctantly stepped out of it and folded it up neatly under his desk, then stood once more to address them. 

“So,” He drawled, and Uraraka leaned forward, all her attention on him. “I’m sure you’re curious about who you’re going to be paired up with.” The classroom was silent, but everyone nodded eagerly. “This was done very carefully. Vlad King and I paired you not based on your abilities but for this particular exercise, we focused more on your personalities. While it is important to be able to work with all kinds of different heroes with different attitudes than you, it is also important to know who you work the best with.” He paused, staring down the room. Aizawa may have pretended otherwise, but Uraraka thought he had a flare for the dramatic. 

 “I will go in seat order. Aoyoma – Iida.”

Uraraka gave Iida an encouraging smile. He smiled back but looked slightly nervous. Aoyama was an interesting choice in terms of compatibility for Iida. While Iida was a by-the-books, rule-following, straight-edge type of person, Aoyoma was an individual. She wasn’t sure if Iida could handle all that sparkle and she wasn’t sure they had all that much in common. Aizawa must have had a reason for his matching.

“Ashido – Kaminari.”

“AYEEEEE!” They both shouted simultaneously, and Uraraka knew that this personality pairing was spot on. 

“Asui – Tokoyami.”

Tsu’s eyes widened and Tokoyami gave a somber nod. Uraraka giggled. She knew Tsu was going to be a little sketched out by working with the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, but it was true that they had similarly blunt personalities. 

 “Uraraka – Kirishima.”

 “Alright, Uraraka!” Kirishima punched the air. “We’re gonna make the best team!”

Uraraka nodded and flashed a bright smile at her new partner. Part of her had hoped for Bakugou, but she knew that would be impossible. She couldn’t think of anyone more her opposite than him, and she knew that she and Kirishima were really close in terms of personality. He was always optimistic and fired up about being a great hero. She admired that about him.

The pairs continued to be called – Ojiro with Shoji, Sato with Sero, Koda with Jirou, Mineta with Hagakure, then – “Todoroki – Bakugou.”

 “WHAT!” Bakugou exploded and the whole class cringed. “I’m not working with that fuckin’ half-and-half!” 

  “There will be no partner switching.” Aizawa deadpanned, already moving onto the final pair (Midoriya and Momo). 

 “Sensei, I can’t think of anyone I’m less compatible with than Bakugou.” Todoroki said simply after Aizawa had finished. “He won’t work with me.”

 “You will find a way to work together and you will discover that your abilities are well-suited for teamwork. Or you’ll fail. Whichever you prefer.” He stared unblinkingly at Bakugou and Todoroki each in turn. Bakugou was visibly seething, while Todoroki sat with his back straight, staring at the board. 

 “You will have one week to practice with your partner. The exam will take place next Monday.”

 “Exam?” Wailed Kaminari; looking up from the doodling he was doing on his notebook. “I thought it was just an exercise.”

 “I lied. It’s an exam. So don’t fail. I will allow you the rest of class time to strategize. If you don’t use this time to strategize, I will give you extra work to do – so choose wisely.” He appeared to be speaking directly at Bakugou, who was leaned back in his desk with his arms crossed, glaring murderously at the wall. Aizawa picked up his sleeping bag again and the students took that as their cue to get with their partners.

Overall, the mood in the room was electric. Most everyone had immediately taken to their partners and the air filled with excited chatter and careful strategizing. Kirishima wandered over to Uraraka’s seat and sat down on top of her desk. “Hey, Uraraka!” He said cheerfully. “I think this is going to be good…I already have a lot of ideas.” He talked with his hands, enthusiastically. “I’m so hype to be your partner! You’re by far one of the coolest girls in the class.” He smiled down at her. “We’re going to win this!”

She blinked back up at Kirishima, flattered by his confidence in her, and determined more than ever to be victorious.

“Oi – Shitty Hair!” Bakugou’s voice cracked across the room. “You’re too fuckin’ loud, it’s distracting!”

“I’m not even talking loud, dude.” He said. “You’re just listening too hard.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing, man.” Kirishima grinned and gave a thumbs up. “Hey, good luck in your match. You and Todoroki are gonna be a tough combo to beat.” He turned away before Bakugou had a chance to unleash another string of profanities at him. “Anyway, Uraraka, you wanna train later this weekend? Maybe tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Cool,” He said, “Let me give you my number so we can coordinate.” She nodded and handed him her phone, all the while trying to ignore the distinctive feeling she had that she was being stared at. Kirishima finished entering his number and beamed once more. “Looking forward to working with you, partner.” Then he winked and jumped down off the table to go join Kaminari and Sero, who were packing up and heading out of the classroom.

“You coming, Bakugou?” Kirishima called back to him.

“Fuck off!”

“Alright, see ya later!”

Uraraka got out of her chair and walked out of class with her friends, fighting the urge to look back at Bakugou that got stronger each day.

Chapter Text

When Uraraka got to Bakugou’s room that evening, he was in a state. She had barely gotten in the door before he was grabbing her and planting a heated kiss on her lips. She didn’t even have time to kiss back before he started ranting.

“I can’t believe they paired me with that fuckin’ half-breed bastard. That’s worse than if they paired me with Deku.” He spat out the name of Uraraka’s best friend’s name with disgust, but she had gotten used to it. She meant to talk to him about it, but there had really been no need. Bakugou had naturally backed off from Deku and she wasn’t sure why. “I would’ve worked with anyone else. C’mere.” He snatched Uraraka into his lap and buried his head in her chest.

Uraraka tightened her arms around his back and let him blow off his steam. This was something they had gotten used to. They couldn’t have sex without talking to each other, after all. If Uraraka didn’t know any better, she’d say that they had become friends.

“And you got stuck with fuckin’ Shitty Hair – that fuckin’ blows.” He had pushed her shirt down to her stomach and was now leaving angry red marks on her breasts. She always wore her pajamas to Bakugou’s room, due to the hour, but she had gotten in the habit of not wearing a bra, just to drive him crazy.

“Kirishima is your literal best friend.” She rolled her eyes but moved herself closer to him, grinding her hips against him and pushing her breasts further into his mouth.

“He’s a fuckin’ moron is what he is.” He growled, moving to her neck, sucking hard. She smacked him.

“Don’t leave a hickey, that’s like basic secret hookup etiquette.” She dipped her head down and kissed him, tangling their tongues together. When they pulled away to breathe, she said, “I think he’ll be a good partner. We can work really well together.”

Bakugou ripped Uraraka’s shirt over her head entirely and threw her off him and onto the bed. Scowling, he climbed over her and crashed down onto her body, almost knocking the wind out of her. He started trailing hot kisses down her stomach, giving extra attention when he reached the inside of her thighs. She sighed in contentment and then yelped when he bit her.

“You’re aggressive tonight, even for you. Why are you marking me?” She gasped, looking down at the welts that were forming on her stomach and on her thighs.

“Who’s gonna see them but me?” He murmured against her, already working on leaving another one.

“Cut it out!” She squealed, but she saw Bakugou smile and she couldn’t help but giggle. Love bites is what Mina had called them so long ago.

She felt a strange, floating feeling in her stomach and she shook the thought away.

“I think you and I would work together better.” Bakugou’s voice was so low that she had to strain to hear it. He was still sucking on her skin, while one hand kneaded her left breast. She could feel the wetness pooling in between her legs.

“What was that?” She whispered, seizing a fistful of his hair as he teased his tongue along the outside of her underwear. He ignored her, opting instead to pull them off of her with his teeth, then dive into her.

Bakugou was really, really good at distraction. Uraraka all but forgot about his mumbled comment, and all she could focus on was his head in-between her legs. Whenever he did this, she quickly became a dirty-mouthed, wanting, desperate pile of putty in his hands – or tongue, in this case.

"Mmm, don’t let me cum yet.” She moaned, her eyes closed in ecstasy. This was a game they had started playing, a slow, torturous game where Uraraka tested how long she could hold out against Bakugou’s maddening tongue-fucking.

He gripped her hips in response and started licking faster. Uraraka was going to lose the game, as usual.

“Angel Face,” He pulled his face away from her, smirking at the state she was in, flushed and exhausted, breathing raggedly. “Wanna try something fun?”

“Always,” She smiled back, keeping her eyes closed.

She opened one eye and watched him strip down out of his pants. This was her favorite part, every time. She drank in every inch of him, in awe that she was allowed to touch this perfect man. His chiseled abs looked like they belonged on a model, and she often found herself in class, fantasizing about them under his uniform. His hands were strong, and though some might be afraid of the fact that he literally sweat nitroglycerin out of explosive palms, the thought actually kind of turned her on.

She couldn’t believe who she had turned into.

“I wanna fuck your face, okay?” He asked softly. Uraraka’s eyes widened. He was kneeling above her now, with his entire hardened length dangerously close to her mouth.

“Okay.” She nodded. Trying new things with Bakugou excited her. He was a great teacher.

When her mouth closed around him, he moaned, and started to thrust, slowly at first, gauging if she could handle it. When she didn’t protest, he picked up the pace, pushing himself harder into her.

Uraraka had tears in her eyes, but Bakugou’s moans were fueling her. She sucked hard, letting her tongue slide up and down while he continued to shove himself deeper in Uraraka’s mouth until –

She gagged violently and Bakugou pulled out immediately.

“Shit, shit, you okay?” He looked concerned. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I got carried away –”

She blinked away tears, touched at his care for her comfort. Over the past few weeks, Bakugou had been increasingly less like the angry, mouthy version of himself that he showed to the world, and had been more kind. Uraraka knew it was only for her, and she reveled in that fact. “Hey, it’s okay.” She said softly. “I like trying new things.”

She sat up slowly, pushing Bakugou back as she did. His eyes were cautious, but he moved back with the motion of her hands. She climbed into his lap and planted a soft kiss on his lips. He didn’t protest, even though she was technically breaking a rule.

“I wanna try something new too.” She said, stretching her arm out to reach for the condom packet on the nightstand. She opened it and slipped it on for him, gently, languidly. Bakugou was staring at her, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes glazed over with lust and something Uraraka had never seen before. “Ready?”

He dipped his head slightly in assent, and then Uraraka sat down on his length, filling herself with him.

“Ochako,” He breathed, and he tightened his arms around her waist, his eyes never leaving hers. In all the times they had done this, she had been too afraid to be on top. She preferred letting Bakugou take control – he had the experience after all. Tonight, something felt different. Uraraka felt a change in herself.

She moved up and down on him, all the while keeping her eyes locked to his and her hands on his shoulders. The eye contact was intense, but Uraraka couldn’t look away. She had never seen Bakugou look so vulnerable – so beautiful. When she moaned faintly, he moved his hands to her face and he kissed her tenderly.

She could hear both their hearts beating in sync with each other.

As Uraraka continued her smooth rhythm, the only sounds in the room their mingled breathing and moans, she realized and undeniable truth: she had completely broken rule number one. She was falling in love with Bakugou Katsuki.

She was literally and figuratively fucked.

Chapter Text

“Aye, Uraraka, why are you so distracted? We kinda need to pay careful attention to this…” Kirishima’s voice sounded so far away, because Uraraka’s brain was in another atmosphere when it was supposed to be on Ground Beta with Kirishima, training.

“Sorry, Kiri. I’m here. I’m focused. I’m just a little tired.” That was the understatement of the year.

After leaving Bakugou’s room last night, Uraraka had proceeded to engage in several hours of self-torture, letting her thoughts consume her to the point that she got almost no sleep. Her mind kept going back to the same scenario – she gives into her feelings for Bakugou, he rejects her, and the arrangement grinds to a halt. She couldn’t let him find out. She couldn’t let herself continue herself feel anything from him other than the purely platonic sexual pleasure they had agreed upon. She knew for a fact that if Bakugou got wind of any emotions coming her way, then he would run for the hills. 

So she spent an agonizing, sleepless night thinking of how she would make herself stop liking him, and came up with some pretty solid solutions, but every one was more painful than the last. 

Now, here she was, ignoring Kirishima when they were supposed to be training for the battle exam that Uraraka was supposed to be amped up to win. She couldn’t even focus on victory because her thoughts were so preoccupied. How pathetic. 

“Not get much sleep last night?” Kirishima’s tone was light and teasing. He had been true to his word about not telling anyone about her situation with Bakugou, but that didn’t mean he kept quiet to her about it. 

“I know what you’re implying and you’re wrong.” She lied through her teeth. “I had a lot of homework.” 

“That’s still a thing though, I’m assuming?” He raised an eyebrow.  Uraraka shot a warning glance at him, because they were far from the only ones on the field. In fact, almost the entire class was up early on their Saturday, taking advantage of the facilities UA had to offer them and preparing to annihilate B. Few things motivated them quite like the opportunity to prove themselves the superior class. Even Bakugou had come out, and he was working almost cooperatively with Todoroki – although it was certainly reluctant and involved a lot of bellowing and cursing. Todoroki, as usual, was as patient as a saint. 

“Lower your voice.” Uraraka snapped at him, so Kirishima moved closer, whispering in her ear: “I’m taking that as a yes.”

Uraraka swatted at him, resisting the urge to laugh at how goofy the redhead was. “Let’s get back to work.” She said instead.

Uraraka and Kirishima, as it turns out, really did work well together. Not only were their personalities compatible, but their quirks could combine to form a wicked power attack – one that they had dubbed “Comet”. 

Uraraka activated her quirk on Kirishima and let him float high up into the air, then, he gave the signal that he was using his quirk to harden his body, and she released him. What followed was Kirishima crashing into the ground with his full weight and hitting the ground with an impressive impact. It was a little rough around the edges and hard to perfect, but it was coming along, and once they got it down they would be able to take out their competition with ease. 

“Ready?” She asked, and he nodded. She touched his arm lightly with the pads of her fingers, and into the sky he went.

Every time they had done this move so far, the other students had stopped to watch in awe and Uraraka felt herself swell with pride that she was being acknowledged. 

Kirishima gave her the signal from way up in the air, and Uraraka released. Seconds later, his body smashed into the ground, way out of range of where it was supposed to have landed. The past few times they had done this, Kirishima had jumped up immediately after landing to give a thumbs up and ensure he was okay, but this time Uraraka was met with silence.

“Ah, shit, Kiri!” She cried and ran over to the crater he had made. He was splayed out over what looked like a tree trunk, and his eyes were closed. Shit, shit, shit.

She jumped down into the hole and touched his face, but nothing. 

“You guys okay?” A voice called from up above, and Kaminari looked in, concerned. 

“Kiri!” This was Mina, wailing. “I knew he was gonna hurt himself – he always does!”

Uraraka felt a terrible twisting in her gut. This move had been her idea – now she had an injured Kirishima and it was all her fault.

Suddenly, an ear-shattering explosion banged above their heads, and Kirishima’s eyes shot open in shock. 

“Bakugou!” Sero’s voice shouted, “You gave us all a heart attack.”

Bakugou said nothing, but he narrowed his eyes at the thankfully-alive Kirishima and grimaced.

“You okay, Kirishima?” Midoriya asked, casting a nervous look at the ill-tempered Bakugou before directing his attention on Kirishima.

Kirishima blinked a few times to acclimate himself to his surroundings, and then grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, everyone. Sometimes the impact makes me lose consciousness for a few minutes. I should’ve mentioned that before.”

“You idiot!” Mina admonished him. “Uraraka, please try to not let him break himself. I trust you.” 

“I won’t.” She said weakly, she was still kneeling above Kirishima, and looking down at both of them was Bakugou, murder in his eyes. 

Sero had shot tape down to pull Kirishima up, and Uraraka floated herself out of the crater. She reached the top again and had begun to dust herself off when heavy footsteps approached her and then there were strong, sweaty hands pulling her aside.

Bakugou yanked her away and stared at her with a look of burning intensity in his eyes. She recognized that look. She had seen it before, many times, in his bedroom.

“What are you doing?” She hissed. The whole class was staring at them – they weren’t even trying to look tactfully disinterested. Midoriya looked concerned, and Iida was opening his mouth to say something, when Momo hushed him with a flick of her hand.

“You -” Bakugou was struggling with his words. He glanced down at her lips then back into her eyes.

“People are staring. We aren’t supposed to talk in public, remember?” Her voice was barely audible. Her heart was racing. They were about to be found out. What the hell was Bakugou thinking?

As if he suddenly realized they had an audience, Bakugou released her wrists and then turned on his heel toward the rest of the class. “What the fuck are you looking at?” His snarled threateningly. “Fuck out of here.”

Then he stalked away, the class backing up automatically as if he was magnetically repelling them.

“Uraraka, what was that?” Tsu broke the stunned silence hung over everyone.

“I…I don’t know…” She stuttered, panicked.

“Bakugou was just freaked out that I hurt myself!” Kirishima jumped in, saving Uraraka from having her own fainting spell. “He’s my best bro, and he may not show it, but he worries about me.”

“Absolutely, Bakugou is a secret angel.” Mina nodded vigorously. “Kirishima, you should go check on him.”

“Yeah, good idea, babe.” He agreed. “Uraraka – we’ll catch up on the training later.” He gave her a meaningful look – then took off running in the direction Bakugou had stomped away to.

“Nothing to see here, yeah?” Mina snapped at the class once Kirishima had gone. “Don’t you all have training to do? I know none of you are gonna lose to B.” Her eyes were dangerous, daring anyone to ask Uraraka another question. None of them wanted to cross her, and so everyone scattered.

When everyone was fully immersed in their practice, Mina approached Uraraka, who was ready to cry. She couldn’t understand what just happened. Bakugou had looked pained. He had touched her – which was breaking a rule – in front of the whole class – which was really breaking a rule. He couldn’t have been thinking straight at all. But why?

Maybe this arrangement was messing with both of their heads.

“Hey, Ochako.” Mina’s voice was soft and careful. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She said, grateful that Mina had abandoned her usual teasing gait. “I’m just…I’m so confused.”

“Jirou and I were planning a girl talk night at hot springs tonight. Come. Relax. We can talk about it, if you want, but if you don’t then that’s okay.”

Uraraka released a heavy sigh and her chest felt lighter. A girl’s night sounded great. She couldn’t talk about it, of course, but she could let herself get lost in useless gossip with her friends.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” She smiled and tried to push the incident behind her. For once, Mina had a good idea for Uraraka.

-x-

Going to the springs was a horrible idea.

Uraraka had walked with Jirou to the bathhouse, towels in hand, talking idly. When they arrived, Jirou stripped off her clothes and covered herself with the towel before walking out into the springs and Uraraka remembered.

She had hickeys. She had so, so many hickeys. They were on her breasts, her stomach, her thighs – oh my God, they were on the inside of her thighs. She was so caught up in the earlier drama that she forgot she had them.

She realized Jirou had said something, but she hadn’t heard exactly what.

“Yes! Great! I’ll – I’ll catch up to you.” She stammered.

"Okay…” She gave Uraraka a look like she was a weirdo, which was fair, because she was acting like one, but she couldn’t undress in front of Jirou. Thankfully, Jirou wasn’t the type to be too pushy, and she walked out a moment later.

Uraraka had approximately five minutes to panic and find a solution before the girls started looking for her. She could run – away from UA and never come back – but she thought that was a little too drastic for the situation at hand. Although, if all the girls found out she was sleeping with Bakugou, he might actually kill her, so running far away might be the best option.

She might be able to get away with saying she didn’t feel like a spring bath tonight, but she knew the girls would protest, because Uraraka usually loved the hot springs.

She could see no escape that didn’t involve her changing her identity and fleeing the country.

She groaned, weighing her options, but she was running out of time. She shimmied out of her clothes and covered herself tightly with her towel. Thankfully, the towel at least covered her offensive spots.

Breathe, Ochako, she told herself. She could do this.

When she opened the door that led to the spring, she felt like she was walking to her execution. There was no way she got through this. Goodbye world.

“Ochako-chan, you made it.” Tsu popped out of the water. Momo, Mina, Jirou and Hagakure were all submerged in the water, talking amongst themselves, and they all turned when Tsu said Uraraka’s name.

“Hiii, Ochako-chan!” Hagakure trilled.

“So happy you could come.” Momo smiled genuinely.

Mina was gazing at her thoughtfully. The pink girl was well-qualified at reading people, and she was reading Uraraka’s dismay on her face. Uraraka tried to send her a silent plea to help her somehow, and miraculously, Mina seemed to understand.

“Ah, fuck, is that Mineta on the wall?!” She cried, whipping her head back and pointing. All of the girls squealed and turned toward the wall, ready to set off their quirks. Uraraka took her chance, dropped her towel and slid discretely into the spring.

Mina was a queen, her best friend, her savior. Her confrontation in the lunchroom was forgiven. Everything she had ever done to irritate Uraraka was forgiven and anything she would do in the future to irritate Uraraka was forgiven. Mina was her patron saint.

"I don’t see anything…” Tsu said suspiciously, snapping her tongue back into her mouth. Jirou reeled in her jacks.

"Yeah, Mina, are you seeing things?” She asked.

"I must be. All that training with your boyfriend gave me second-hand brain damage.”

Jirou laughed, “Yeah, I feel sorry for you. We’re still working on control.”

“We’re,” Teased Momo, “How cute.”

“Speaking of cute, Yaomomo,” Jirou challenged, “I am curious about your love life, which you have told no one about and I had to find out through the UA gossip train.”

Momo’s face turned a charming pink – she was even cuter when she was embarrassed. She stammered out, “Oh, I wouldn’t call it a love life…”

Uraraka listened in, relieved that the attention was on Momo. She had been rehearsing her reasoning for engaging in a heated stare down with Bakugou in the middle of a training session and she was fairly confident in her ability to feign innocence. 

Momo continued to talk about Todoroki, smiling the whole time, bashful. Uraraka noted that she left out the parts about the two of them keeping Bakugou awake all night, and she smirked to herself. She let herself get lost in the conversation, and it didn’t take long for her mind to begin to wander. It was evening time, just a few hours before her scheduled meeting with Bakugou. She had a lot of questions for him tonight, and she had half the mind to scold him for how he had behaved. She had been thinking about it all day, wondering what could have possessed him to lose his cool like that. She figured Todoroki had pissed him off, and he let his rage overpower his common sense, but another, smaller voice in her head offered the thought that maybe Bakugou was jealous of Uraraka’s compatibility with Kirishima.

Of course, she had spent the better half of the day convincing herself that she was crazy and that there wasn’t a soul in the world someone like Bakugou would ever be jealous of. 

“Ochako?” It was Hagakure’s voice that brought her back to the springs. “You with us?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, just spacing out. What’s up?”

Jirou grinned knowingly, and Mina looked helpless. 

“Are you gonna tell us about why Bakugou of all people looked like he wanted to ravage you on the field today?”

“Toru!” Momo choked and Jirou howled with laughter. Tsu blinked thoughtfully at Uraraka, waiting for her to answer, and Mina just kept her eyes down on the water. “You don’t have to be so vulgar.” Momo continued, admonishing the invisible girl. 

Uraraka imagined she probably blushed, but Hagakure’s laugh was haughty. “It’s girl talk, anything goes, and I know you’re curious too.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no idea why Bakugou did that.” Uraraka kept her voice as even as possible and didn’t dare glance at Mina because she knew it would break her immersion. “I think he was probably just angry, and I happened to be there.”

“He didn’t look angry, kero.” Tsu pointed out. “He looked…”

“Upset,” Hagakure finished. “Devastated.”

“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think? When has anyone ever seen Bakugou devastated about something?” Uraraka could feel her face growing hot and he limited acting skills were failing her. 

“Never, until today, which is why it’s so weird.” Hagakure continued. “I mean, it doesn’t take a lot to piss that boy off, but this was something I’ve never seen. And may I remind you, I’ve seen a lot.”

Hagakure was an even worse gossip than Mina. She claimed being invisible was just too much of temptation to eavesdrop on everybody, all the time. She even had gossip about the teachers. Unfortunately for Uraraka, her figurative eyes were set on her today.

“You know what I think?” The headband that Hagakure wore to mark her location bobbed in the air. “I think he was jealous because when Kirishima crashed hard, you were so worried about him. You were practically on top of him trying to revive him! If Bakugou has a crush on you – which, let’s face it, he does – then that would definitely set him off.”

Alarm bells rang in Uraraka’s head: abort mission!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She threw up her hands, accidentally splashing Momo slightly. “Slow down. First of all, none of that makes sense. What evidence do you possibly have that Bakugou has a crush on me? Second, why would he be jealous of Kirishima? Kiri is with Mina.”

“Technically, Kiri and I aren’t together,” Mina said, giving Uraraka an apologetic smile for disagreeing with her point. “We just fool around. We’re fuck buddies. I’ve fooled around with around 75% of my boys; Kiri is just my favorite.” She shrugged.

“Wow, Mina.” Momo looked impressed. 

Mina shrugged and pointed up to her head. “I’m horny.”

“Also, Kirishima is kind of a huge slut." Jirou added. "Kaminari has told me so many stories.”

Mina nodded vigorously, leaning in to the conversation. “Oh my God, he so is.” Her eyes were shining with mischief. “He would hook up with literally this entire school if he had the ability – male and female. So, no hard feelings if he’s flirting with you, Ochako, I don’t mind.”

Uraraka moved to respond, but Tsu cut her off.

"But Bakugou does.”

"Tsu.” Uraraka whined, feeling her chest start to tighten again. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“There’s no sides, dear,” Hagakure said sweetly. “We’re just trying to make you see sense. Bakugou has a big ole crush on you, and you can’t deny it.” She paused. “If I were you, I’d hop on that.”

“You are so lewd, Toru-chan.” Momo shook her head and sunk deeper into the hot water. If Hagakure’s face were visible, she’d be smirking.

“We’re all thinking it, Uraraka is just the only one who’s lucky enough to get the opportunity. I’ve seen how he stares at you when he thinks no one’s looking, Ochako.”

"What do you mean?! He doesn’t look at me!” Uraraka was frantic, waving her hands and closing her eyes in terror. “Why would he look at me?!”

Hagakure just chuckled. “I know what I’ve seen.”

“It is quite the opportunity, Ochako.” Mina’s eyes flashed. “When I say 75% of my boys…it’s not 100% because Bakugou is notoriously elusive. He doesn’t really like anybody. He’s so closed off. The fact that he likes you is a hugely impressive feat.” 

“He doesn’t like me. That’s ridiculous. Even if he was into me in some way, it wouldn’t be romantic, it would just be physical.”

"I mean, I wouldn’t fault any man for being interested in that ass.” Jirou said seriously. The girls burst into giggles, even Uraraka.  

“Well, something is going on with you two.” Tsu looked Uraraka directly in the eye, and guilt overwhelmed her. The frog girl was too observant for her own damn good and lying to her just made Uraraka feel bad.

“You should talk to Bakugou about it.” Mina said, and her words were stern. “You know, before things get weird.” 

Uraraka stared into black and gold eyes, realizing that things already were weird. She didn’t know what awaited her at 11 tonight. 

“Yeah, talking to Bakugou about feelings. Great idea. You’re all invited to my funeral.” She quipped, using humor to distract herself from the disaster at hand. 

“He’s no Todoroki,” Hagakure said, her headband turning pointedly towards Momo, “But maybe he’s secretly a prince, Ochako.” 

“He’s hardly human.” Deadpanned Tsu.

Uraraka didn’t answer. They had no idea what Bakugou was like behind closed doors. No idea at all.

But she did.

The girls continued to talk well into the night, and Uraraka felt more and more nervous as her scheduled meeting time approached. 

After about an hour and a half, Hagakure bounced out of the water and exclaimed, “Ahh, it’s already 10 PM! I have to get a full eight hours of sleep to deal with training with the Grapist tomorrow.”

The girls all made varying sympathetic noises. Poor Hagakure – somebody had to be Mineta’s partner but making it one of the girls was just cruel. She wondered what Aizawa was thinking with that one. 

“Yeah, I should be turning in too.” Momo yawned. “I have some homework to catch up on. And training with Midoriya is exhausting.”

“Training with Koda is great.” Jirou smiled. “He’s such a pure soul. I feel like a better person after I’m done.” 

“Must be nice!” Hagakure’s voice dripped with sarcasm. 

The girls were still laughing as they filed out of the spring, but Uraraka remained still, praying that nobody would question her. Mina was sitting on the edge in her towel, kicking her feet. She gave Uraraka a significant look, then she called: “See you ladies tomorrow. Uraraka and I will be right there.”

The others waved cheerfully to the brunette and the pinkette, and then they were alone. Mina waited patiently for Uraraka to gather herself. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, her cheeks burning. “Do you mind…turning around?”

“Oh, absolutely the fuck not. I wanna see why I covered for you.”

Uraraka stared at Mina in disbelief; sure she couldn’t be asking what she thought she was asking.

“Don’t act like a prude, Ochako. I know damn well you aren’t one.” She crossed her arms over her chest and giggled. “Come on, I just wanna see what the great Bakugou is capable of.”

"You really don’t…” Uraraka mumbled, but she emerged from the water all the same and Mina gasped.

“Holy fuck!” Her eyes widened into saucers as she took in the damage on Uraraka’s body – and it was damage. Purple marks all up and down her thighs, bruises on her hips, three small, circular welts on her stomach. And her chest – 

"You’re dirty!” Mina cried with glee. “Look at you!”

“Shut up.” Uraraka tried to sound threatening, but it came out shaky. She snatched her towel and quickly covered her shame. But Mina wasn’t done ogling at her. 

"You guys are really in this then, aren’t you? You’re doing this, doing this.”

Uraraka felt the truth bubble out of her before she could stop it: “I really like him, Mina.” 

“Well, of course you do, honey. You’d have to like a man to let him mark you up that badly. Lord.” She mimed fanning herself and Uraraka swatted at her playfully. “So, what? You guys dating now? Why hide it from everyone then?”

“No!” Uraraka cried, too quickly. “We aren’t together…we’re just – actually I really don’t know if we’re even friends.” She considered this. “We talk, a lot, but only during…you know. This is so embarrassing to talk about.”

“No its not!” Mina squealed. “I love talking about sex. I’m a sexpert. Don’t be embarrassed.” Her bright smile turned into a frown. “So, you guys are keeping this a secret, obviously, but if you like each other, why? Just date. No one is gonna judge you.”

"We don’t like each other – I like him. The feeling isn’t mutual.” Saying it out loud hurt more than she imagined it would. She felt the pang deep in her heart and knew then just how bad she had it.

"What? No, that’s ridiculous.” Mina’s voice was stern. “Of course he likes you. He’s having sex with you.”

"You just clarified earlier that you don’t have to like someone to have sex with them.” Uraraka pointed out miserably.

“Ochako, I like Kirishima. We’re good friends, we have feelings for each other, I’m just not into commitment. That’s okay. Bakugou though – he is. I know that for a fact.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s one of my boys.” Mina said earnestly. “I know everything about my boys.”

“Well, what do you think I should do about it? We…we came up with these rules. The first rule was to not fall for each other. I broke the rule so badly.” She was so grateful to say everything out loud. Mina hummed sympathetically.

“I think you should approach it very cautiously…because Bakugou is an idiot when it comes to his feelings. He might react badly if you just throw out a love confession. I would just…maybe…hint at it?” She scratched her head. “He’s my most difficult boy, but I can read him well. I know he likes you. He’s just gonna need some help realizing it himself.”

“You know this can go terribly wrong.” Uraraka felt sick again.

“But it can also go terribly right! And how will you know which unless you try?”

As if summoned by some higher power, Uraraka’s cell phone beeped. She lunged for it, already knowing who was texting her at the late hour.

Three words that made her heart leap into her throat: Angel, need you.

Chapter Text

“Hey.”

Bakugou looked up from his desk, wondering who the fuck was brave enough to disturb him while he was clearly occupied. His eyes snapped to the irritating half-and-half face that he knew so well and hated.

“What the hell do you want, bastard?”

“I want to win our match. I know for certain that I am capable of winning without your assistance, but Aizawa Sensei has made it clear that this is a teamwork project and will be graded as such.”

Did everything he said have to sound so annoyingly superior? Bakugou waved his hand at him like he was a gnat.

“I don’t care. I’ll win by myself.” He pointedly looked back down at his notes, signaling that he was done with the conversation.

Todoroki let out a long-suffering sigh and Bakugou’s eye twitched in frustration. “Why are you still here –”

“I didn’t want it to come to this.” The other boy interrupted in one quick breath. “But if you’re not going to work with me then you leave me no choice. I know. About you and Uraraka.” 

Bakugou almost choked. “Shut your mouth!” He snarled at him. He gave a cursory glance around the room, but everyone was engaged in talking with their partners and thankfully not paying them any mind. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He mumbled, his threatening voice dying in his throat. 

“Let’s save both of ourselves time here by just being honest. I know you know what I’m talking about. I’ve been hearing what I’m talking about every night for the past several weeks. Trust me, there is no mistaking it. I know.”

Bakugou blanched, speechless for once in his life. Sure, he could think of a few choice words for Todoroki, but none of them would help his situation. If Uraraka found out that Bakugou had been careless and let Todoroki find out, she’d panic and call the whole thing off. The thought of that made his stomach ache – because he’d have all that built up tension again, of course. 

“So, if you want to maintain that secret, which, by your face, I’m assuming you do, you’re going to have to work with me on this exam.” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking so satisfied with himself. Bakugou wished he could lob an explosion in his face. 

“I know about you and ponytail-bitch too, you know.” He made an attempt to blackmail him right back, and Todoroki’s face turned to stone.

“Call my girlfriend a name again and see where it gets you.” He was glaring down at him, hatred flashing in his eyes. He lowered his voice. “I don’t know what Uraraka finds appealing in you, but she’s my friend and if she wants to spend time with you, I will respect her wishes and refrain from killing you, but if you don’t watch your mouth I may find that I have less control than I thought. And obviously I don’t care if you hear Momo and I. I’m not hiding my relationship with her from the whole school.”

“Okay, okay, just stop talking!” Bakugou hissed, panicked. There were people not ten feet from them.

“I don’t know why you’re keeping this a secret.” Todoroki mused.  “She’s far too good for you. You should be bragging about the fact that she even looks at you. Shame. I’m sure she’ll realize soon enough that she can do better.” His eyes crossed the room to where Uraraka sat, talking amiably to Deku and the frog girl. He refrained from glaring. 

"I’ll fucking work with you, just…shut up, alright?”

Todoroki nodded curtly. “Tomorrow, then. In the morning. We’ll start practicing.”

“Fan-fuckin-tastic.”

As if working with the half-and-half bastard wasn’t bad enough, Bakugou had to watch Shitty Hair flirt with Uraraka all damn morning. She was doing something to him. Something bad. He found himself staring at her during class, looking away quickly before she could catch him. He would often daydream while Mic or Midnight lectured, letting his thoughts wander to Uraraka’s big brown eyes or the way she smiled at him, or the way she did certain things in his bedroom and then he’d have to think about something horrible like losing to Deku until he could calm down again.

Someone needed to slap him, hard. Why should he care so much about her? She was just another girl to fool around with. She could be anyone.

Except when she talked to him, her face lit up, and she always seemed so damn excited about everything. She genuinely listened and seemed concerned when he would rant about his day. Her eyebrows scrunched up when she was confused about a homework problem, and it was so cute. She didn’t look at him like he was a ticking time bomb. She wasn’t afraid of him. She didn’t just give up in their fight during the Sports Festival – she fought. She came damn close to beating him, too. She was different than any girl he had ever met.

“Oi, Bakugou! Pay attention!” Todoroki was suddenly in his face and Bakugou’s expression soured. They had come up with an incredibly powerful combination easily – they were two of the most talented students in the school, of course – but Bakugou was in no mood to practice it, especially because it made Todoroki look really impressive.

He knew he had to do what the bastard said for the peace of mind that he would keep his secret, but that didn’t mean he had to be pleasant about it. “Fuckin’ okay, hybrid bitch.”

Todoroki had set up another practice dummy and Bakugou rubbed his hands together, getting in stance to run through the move again.

It was simple, with a lot of firepower. When Todoroki gave him the signal, he took off sprinting. In a blur of movement, he pushed off of the dummy, leaving a coat of sweat in his place, and less than a second later, Todoroki was there, lighting it up.

The accompanying explosion was huge, and all of their classmates stopped to admire them.

“You know if you do that on an actual person, they’ll probably die.” Kaminari pointed out, looking slightly disturbed.

“I hope so.” Bakugou said seriously.

"Probably not.” Todoroki shrugged. “Class B can handle it.”

"Glad I'm not in B..." The electric boy mumbled, and Mina rolled her eyes in Bakugou’s general direction. He ignored her, as he usually did.

He let his eyes wander over to Uraraka, checking if she was admiring his move too, but her attention was fully on Kirishima. He frowned. 

"Again!” He shouted angrily at Todoroki, and the fire-and-ice boy went to work on setting up another dummy to blow up. While he was occupied with that, Bakugou found himself staring at Uraraka and Kirishima again, his eyes narrowing whenever he saw Uraraka touch him, or whenever she laughed at something he said. His face grew hot and he balled up his hands into fists, feeling explosions crackling in his palms. 

He was going to kill that dumb-haired bastard. 

“Bakugou!” Todoroki’s voice snapped him back to attention yet again and Bakugou ran for the dummy, screaming in rage. This time, when he flipped over, he didn’t just wipe his reactive sweat off, but he fired off two explosions as well, incinerating the stand-in and blowing himself back thirty feet. The resounding noise was earth-splitting and several of the others covered their ears. He landed on his feet and smirked proudly at his work. The dummy was charred to a crisp, and the head had been blown off. He turned to seek out Uraraka again, sure that she would be looking at him this time…

But she wasn’t. Her head was dipped low while Kirishima whispered something in her ear, neither of them paying the slightest attention to what just happened, as if they were in their own little world.

Bakugou saw red.

“Don’t be reckless!” Todoroki shouted at him, but his voice sounded miles away to Bakugou’s pounding ears. He was ready to pummel Kirishima into a wall and throw an explosion in his face, but he didn’t know why. Uraraka wasn’t his to claim and she certainly wasn’t somebody that he cared about. They weren’t even friends.

He was losing his goddamn mind. 

Todoroki appeared next to him without warning, his eyes flashing at Kirishima and Uraraka before focusing back on Bakugou. 

The bastard laughed. 

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” He snarled at him, ready for a fight because he had to lash out at somebody and his chances of getting away with beating on Kirishima for no apparent reason were slim. 

“You’re horribly obvious.” Todoroki said simply. “If you’re trying to keep your relationship a secret, maybe you shouldn’t stare at her every moment of every day.”

“It’s not a relationship.” Bakugou sputtered, hating that he could feel his ears turning red. “We’re just fucking. Don’t get it twisted.”

“Mmm.” He offered in response. “Then I guess you’re not mad that Kirishima is all over her today? If he wasn’t already with Mina, they’d make a cute couple, but you know how fast Mina moves on. Oh – or maybe, I can set her up on a date with Midoriya, you know how she used to have such a crush on him.”

“I’ll kill you!” Bakugou shouted without thinking, his rage spilling out of his mouth. “Shut the fuck up.” He muttered this quietly, grimacing down at his feet. If anyone was looking at him, he didn’t want to know. He felt hot shame flooding to his face and the feeling made him sick. He hated how reactive he was to the idea of Uraraka with anyone but him. It made him furious. 

“Confront your feelings, Bakugou. You’ll be less angry all the time.” 

Bakugou wanted to show him just how angry he could get, but he didn’t have a chance to – he was interrupted by another thundering crash as Kirishima created another stupid hole in the ground from his and Uraraka’s super move. They had been doing it all morning, and every time Bakugou’s eye twitched in irritation. He knew he and Uraraka could have a much more powerful super move than just a dumb falling rock. 

He almost looked away when he witnessed Uraraka start running to the crater in a panic. The rest of the class picked up on her distress and started to gather around. Huh. He knew the idiot hadn’t hurt himself. He was way stronger than that. 

He found himself following Todoroki over to the scene all the same.

He wished he hadn’t, because what he saw caused an anger to possess him like none he had ever experienced before. Uraraka was practically on top of Kirishima, touching his face and looking like she was about to cry. All the noises around him faded to nothing and all he could hear was her voice that usually called out his name crying “Kiri”. He was no longer in control of his own actions, and he let loose a perilous explosion. The air heated around him, but he ignored it. He ignored everyone who was speaking to him too, even Kirishima, who had startled awake – the bastard – and only looked at Uraraka.

She met his eyes, then the moment was over. Kirishima was being hauled out of the hole by tape-face and Uraraka floated gracefully out after him. Again, his body acted without reason, and he found himself stomping over to her, needing to demand her attention. He needed the class to know that she belonged to him.

He was already grabbing her wrists in front of everyone before common sense smacked back into him. 

Fuck, what was he doing?

He could feel the eyes of the idiots in his class on him, and he saw the look of horror on Uraraka’s face as she said something to him that he couldn’t quite comprehend in his state. In a panicked daze, he released her, and stormed away from the field, shouting profanities at anyone who got in his way.

He didn’t even realize that Kirishima was following him.

“Bakugou! Dude! Hey! Wait up!”

He ignored the voice, knowing that if he turned around, he would end up putting Kirishima in the hospital.

"C’mon, man, talk to me!”

Bakugou took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks. He had walked far enough away that there was no longer any prying eyes, but he was still paranoid.

“What the fuck do you want?” He asked him, his voice lethal. “I don’t wanna fuckin’ look at you.”

“Aw, man. Don’t be like that. I’m not trying to take Uraraka from you –”

“—Take her? She’s not fuckin’ mine.” He spat the words. “You can have her. I don’t give a fuck.”

“I know that’s not true. If it was, you wouldn’t be so worked up over us working together. Which is all it is, dude. We’re just working together.” Kirishima always had such an innocent look on his face – it made Bakugou want to punch him that much harder. “Look, I know you like her. It’s okay to be jealous when you like someone, but it’s not like that. Her and I are just partners for a project and we get along well. She definitely likes you. I can tell because she gets all flustered when she looks at you and –”

“Wait a fuckin’ minute, dumbass. Why do you even assume I’m into her?” He narrowed his eyes at the redhead. Todoroki made sense, because they shared a wall, but Kirishima had no way of knowing anything.

“Oh, I mean, you kinda grabbed her back there, man. It was intense. Looked like you were about to kiss her. People are gonna be talking about that for a while.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I wasn’t going to kiss her, I was just…” He had absolutely no explanation for his behavior, and now Uraraka was going to kill him. She probably wouldn’t even come to his room tonight. He had fucked everything up in a stupid moment of rage.

“I don’t really think you can explain what you did in any other way, bro.” Kirishima said. “It was honestly really weird. Saying that as a friend who cares about you.” He added quickly, sensing Bakugou’s impending rage.

“I just…reacted.” He sighed. “I don’t like her. We’re sleeping together, if you gotta know.”

“Kinda hurt you didn’t tell me sooner, bro. I could give you sex tips.”

Bakugou snorted. “I don’t need sex tips from you.”

Kirishima threw his hands in the air, laughing. “Seriously, though. You probably like her. If a guy was flirting with Mina, I wouldn’t blow shit up and then go intimately stare into her eyes for a solid thirty seconds with everyone in the class watching.”

When he said it like that, it sounded really bad.

“Also,” Kirishima continued, “Fair warning, Kaminari and Sero are gonna have a field day with this. You expressing an emotion is the best thing that could ever happen to them. Lunch tomorrow might be rough.”

“I didn’t express any fuckin’ emotions.” Bakugou mumbled this under his breath, knowing it was no use. He had royally screwed himself. He was done. “I fucked up a good thing, is what I did.”

Kirishima shrugged in a non-committal way. “I don’t think so. Just talk to Uraraka. Tell her how you feel.”

“Fuck no. You give the worst advice.” He shook his head. Telling Uraraka that he…liked her would be a terrible mistake. She would be out of there before he had a chance to finish the statement. She was the one who had made the rules about not falling in love and all that bullshit. It seemed like an easy rule to follow at the time, but here he fuckin’ was.

What he had to do was convince Uraraka that he didn’t like her – that his actions today were purely lustful thinking combined with adrenaline that caused him to forget his sense. He’d have to make her see.

This was purely sexual. He could do purely sexual.

“I gotta go, Shitty Hair. Gym tomorrow, yeah?” He had forgotten his early fury towards the other boy.

“Uh, yeah, man, ‘course. You gonna be okay, though?” Kirishima looked concerned.

"Yep, got it all figured out.”

He would convince Uraraka that there was nothing going on between them, and he hoped that in that process, he could convince himself too.

Chapter Text

Uraraka stood outside of Bakugou’s door, unable to bring herself to knock. Her nerves were amped up to one hundred, and her mind was reeling from her talk with Mina earlier. She had wholeheartedly admitted to herself that she liked Bakugou, and now she was supposed to tell him that?

Mina had warned her to be cautious – Bakugou tended to be reactive, so she didn’t want to startle him with a sudden declaration of feelings. She shook her head in frustration. She would be better off keeping her mouth shut. This thing she had with Bakugou was fragile enough already. Maybe, if she ignored her feelings, they would go away.

Uraraka took a deep breath, and finally closed her eyes and brought her fist down on the door.

It opened almost immediately, and she was pulled in by strong hands.

"Hey, angel.” His murmured voice was hot in her ear.

"Hey.” She smiled, then internally hit herself for falling for his charm so easily. She was supposed to ignore her feelings, not melt into a puddle from him greeting her. “Why the urgency tonight? ‘Need you’?”

He backed away from her and walked over to the bed, motioning her to follow. “Had a shitty day. Needed some tension relief.”

She sat down next to him, sensing her chance to get an explanation. “Yeah, so, about earlier…”

He growled and grabbed Uraraka’s hips, pulling her into his lap to face him. “It was nothing. It was adrenaline. I reacted without thinking.”

“Your reaction to adrenaline is to grab me?” She raised an eyebrow. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, but neither of them moved, they just stared at each other.

“I wasn’t thinking.” His voice was exasperated, and he squeezed Uraraka’s hips to punctuate his sentence. “Why do we have to talk about it? Why do we have to talk at all?” He moved his lips to her neck and started sucking, aggressive, with his teeth scraping against her skin. Bakugou was not soft tonight.

“Everyone has been on me about it all day.” She whispered, moving her hands down to his back and digging her nails into him as he peppered kisses down her chest.

“Tell ‘em to fuck off.” He spoke against her skin. His hands snaked their way under her shirt and she felt their warmth on her stomach.

"That’s more of a you reaction.” She mused, biting her lip as he moved his hands to her breasts and squeezed so hard it was almost painful. He made no move to respond to her, but instead busied his lips with nibbling on her collarbone.

“I don’t really know what to tell them, you know.” She said. She adjusted herself slightly in his lap and felt the bulge in his pants directly under her. She made sure to grind against it when she moved and smirked when he let out of a soft moan. He may have been ignoring her attempts to talk, but she could still maintain some sense of control.

“What we do is nobody’s business.” His voice was raspy as Uraraka rubbed herself against him, maintaining a slow and torturous pace. His eyes were glassy, distracted.

“But,” She continued, aware of the effect her slow dance was having on him. His hands had gone almost slack on her thighs. “It looks weird if we never speak to each other in class and then all the sudden, you’re grabbing my wrists and looking at me like you want to kiss me in the middle of training.”

“Why does everyone assume I wanted to kiss you? Kissing is couple shit anyways. We aren’t supposed to do that.” He snapped. Uraraka felt the drop in her stomach, but she maintained her tempo, not wanting to reveal her disappointment to him.

“We kiss during sex.” She protested weakly. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it.

"Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t.” Bakugou’s voice was cold and it pierced Uraraka through her heart. She was filled with a feeling of defeat and misery with a large side of anger. It was all unjustified. These were her rules, after all.

"Good idea.” She bit back, hoping the despair in her voice wasn’t obvious. “But we probably should at least acknowledge each other outside of your bedroom.”

“You want people to think we’re a couple or something?” He narrowed his eyes at her, and she modified her position on him so that her weight was off of his crotch. He whined slightly and tried to pull her back, but she smacked his hand away.

“No.” She said sternly, “But trying to act like I don’t even know you after you caused a scene in front of the class is not working out, so we need to at least pretend we’re friends.”

“Can we talk about this after I’ve finished fucking you?” His voice was husky and desperate.

"Bakugou.” She groaned. He was touching her again, and she didn’t force his hands away this time. He was running his fingers up and down her thighs, giving off an impatient energy.

“Fine, fine, we can act like friends. Fine.” He was irked. “Does that make you happy?”

“No, but it’s necessary.” She retorted. He was forcing her to be mean, but it was probably for the best. If he was cruel to her, her feelings would have to go away.

“Great, good talk.” He fisted his hands into her hair and pulled her back into his lap. She clutched a handful of his shirt and ripped it over his head. Once discarded, she ran her hands down from his chest down to the now even bigger bulge in his pants, and she cupped her hands around it. She wriggled out of his grip and brought her head down to it, mouthing him through his pants. He didn’t want to kiss anymore? Fine, she’d occupy herself with kissing other parts of him. If he was going to drive her crazy emotionally, she’d drive him crazy physically.

“Ah, I love when you touch me, angel.” The words were strained as he grinded against her mouth, begging for her to release him from his restraints. She didn’t.

“Do you? Hmm. I don’t know if I want to reward you…you really embarrassed me earlier.” She looked down at him, holding her hands away from his body.

“Huh?” He gasped, pained at the absence of her touch.

“Yeah…” She put on an innocent, sultry voice. “I don’t think you deserve me touching you.”

“Please…” His plea was barely audible. She had backed off of him, so that he couldn’t easily reach her, but she was pinning his legs down with her knees.

“You just blew up in front of everyone and then left. No explanation. No apology. Just left me to deal with the aftermath of your temper tantrum.” Her voice was dripping acid, and she didn’t know how she was capable of acting like this, but the confidence was building up inside her and she couldn’t stop. She was pissed and emotional and she needed a release more than ever. Bakugou taking charge just wasn’t going to cut it tonight.

“Angel, please.” He was whimpering, laying back on the bed and looking up at her with need. “Don’t torment me.”

“Say you’re sorry.” She rubbed her hands against his thighs, not quite touching him where he wanted to be touched. He was still held in place by her knees and was pitifully trying to buck his hips up towards her.

“Sorry.” He breathed.

“Do you mean it?” She teased, letting her fingers graze just slightly over his zipper.

“Yes.” He cried. “It hurts.”

Uraraka smiled at him and unzipped his pants, then pulled them off for him. Bakugou moaned in relief, already starting the process of wiggling out of his boxers, but Uraraka stopped him.

"You’re not gonna fuck me.” She whispered.

“Why not?” He was crying like a toddler being denied. His voice was shaky and weak. His hips were moving on their own accord. He was putty in Uraraka’s hands.

"Because I said so.”

She tried to detach her feelings from Bakugou from this moment right now, because she definitely liked him, and she felt a small pang of guilt for the pain she was causing him. But on the other hand, she was burning with desire. She wanted him like this, desperate and needy and at her mercy. It made her wetter than anything they had done so far. She could feel the ache between her legs grow stronger every time he let out a whine for her.

"Please!” He still couldn’t reach her, so he put his hands on his cock instead, rubbing it to give himself some relief that Uraraka refused him.

“Oh, no. None of that.” She grabbed his hands and pinned them behind him. She leaned over him, her face less than an inch from his. He strained his neck to try and kiss her, but she backed away. “No kisses remember? No couple shit.”

She could swear she saw tears in his eyes.

"Please let me fuck you.”

"You gotta earn it.” She didn’t falter, even though she wanted to, God she wanted to. Bakugou in this state was doing things to her that she couldn’t believe. She could barely concentrate on her game – she just wanted him on her.

“I’ll do anything for you, angel face. Anything.” His chest was heaving, and he was struggling against her hands. She knew he could overpower her easily – he could blast her across the room if he really wanted to – but he didn’t. He was enjoying this.

She smiled. She had something she wanted. She had been talking to Mina about it in the springs, after everyone had left.

She released Bakugou’s wrists and she climbed over his chest. She slipped off her shorts, then her underwear, and she reveled in the strangled moan that came out of his throat when she threw them on the floor. She settled herself right above his face, straddling him.

"Oh.” He wheezed. For a second, she doubted herself. Maybe…he wasn’t into this, maybe –

He grabbed her butt and slammed her down on his face, his tongue immediately slipping in-between her soaking wet folds. She cried out and kneaded her fingers into his hair, needing to hold onto something so she wouldn’t float away. He was insatiable, gripping her and pushing his face further into her. She bucked her hips and whimpered, grinding against his skillful tongue, desperate for more.

She was always so easy to finish for him. It never took long before she unraveled, singing out strings of profanities mixed in with Bakugou’s name. But he wasn’t going to make it easier on her this time. She teased him, now he was teasing her.

He waited until she was close. He always knew, because her thighs would tighten, and her body would start to lightly spasm. He waited for the cues, then he pulled his mouth away from her, and smirked up at her flushed face.

“Don’t stop.” She begged. “I’m so close.”

"Oh, I know, angel face. I know how close you are. You wanna keep fucking my face?”

"Yes.” She tried to position herself over him again, but he moved his hand out to cover her so that she couldn’t.

“I think I’d rather fuck you with something else.” He murmured dangerously. “Let’s get you on your knees again, yeah?”

There went her control. Out the window, yet again, with just his voice.

She was off of him and then flipped around so that she was on her knees on the edge of the bed. Bakugo stood up, and tore off his boxers, finally letting himself free of his excruciating captivity.

“Need you, need you, need you.” He fumbled with the condom and positioned himself behind Uraraka. Bakugou liked this position. She didn’t have any complaints either.

Her breath caught in her throat when he entered her. All his pent-up frustration was evident with each slammed thrust. She could feel him everywhere. His hands reached up to her hair and pulled, hard. She moaned, bucking into him, and fisting the sheets.

“Deeper,” Her plea was met with a primal growl and Bakugou plowed further into her. His hands were traveling all up and down her body, clutching at her curves. He trailed kisses down her back while maintaining his steady and delicious pace.

She wouldn’t give this up. She wouldn’t ruin this. She could hold her feelings in if it meant that she got to experience this with Bakugou. She would do whatever it took.

They finished at the same time, both collapsing on the bed, exhausted.

“Thank you.” He mumbled, his voice distorted by the pillow he was laying on.

A laugh bubbled out of Uraraka’s mouth. “You’re ridiculous.” She saw him smile slightly, all blissed out. She was just as blissed, but she forced herself to get up and get dressed, because cuddling after sex was couple shit, and she was done breaking the rules.

As she stood up to get dressed and go, she snuck a peek at Bakugou, and she swore she saw disappointment on his face.  

After a long morning of training, Uraraka was starving. She and Kirishima had all but perfected their super move and had been practicing hand-to-hand combat. They had to be prepared for whatever match-up they’d be given – Class B had some difficult to counter quirks. Throughout the training, she kept letting her eyes casually drift over to Bakugou and Todoroki, who were working really well together, actually. She had hardly heard any profanities from his general direction, and she could’ve sworn she heard him call him by his name earlier.

Uraraka and Kirishima finished up their sparring session and dusted themselves off.

“You ready for lunch?” He asked with a big smile.

“Yeah, definitely!”

The two started walking together towards the cafeteria and were quickly joined by Kaminari and Mina. Mina planted a kiss on Kirishima’s cheek, then a kiss on Uraraka’s cheek.

“How are my two darlings doing?”

Ever since they had talked, and Mina had covered for her in the springs, Uraraka felt closer to her. It helped that she was one of the few people who knew her secret and could relate. She also had to admit that she loved being able to spill all the juicy details of her sex life to her and she wouldn’t judge. She texted her immediately after she left Bakugou’s room last night to spill and Mina was ecstatic about it.

"Worn out,” Kirishima admitted. “Crashing repeatedly into the ground definitely tires you out.”

“Yeah, so does frying your brain several times in an hour.” Kaminari rubbed the back of his neck. “I gotta see Mei about some support items. I’m gonna go permanently stupid at this point.”

Mina nodded seriously. “Yeah, I think I might go with you. Wanna stop by before lunch?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

The group walked together, chatting amiably until it was time for Mina and Kaminari to split up, then Kirishima and Uraraka hurried to the lunch room to get in line before it got too crazy.

“So,” Kirishima started in a low voice, making sure nobody in line could overhear him. “Did you talk to Bakugou?”

“Did Mina tell you!?” Uraraka hissed. Kirishima blushed.

“Can you blame her? She had to tell someone, and I already knew.” He shrugged. “But, did you?”

“No, it’s more complicated than that.” She said carefully. She moved up a place in line and placed a water bottle on her tray. “But things are fine. They’re good.”

“Hmm.” Kirishima snatched a bowl of rice from the counter then turned to Uraraka, appraising her. “Seems like a lie, but I don’t know enough about the situation to dispute it.”

Uraraka laughed, and Kirishima dropped the subject. Once they got their food, she waved cheerily to him and then headed over to her usual table, where Tsu and Momo were already sitting. She got halfway there before a hand on her shoulder stopped her in her place.

“Hey, Round Face.” Bakugou’s voice startled her and she turned quickly to face him. “You wanna eat lunch with us today?”

She froze and stared at him dumbly, aware that her mouth was hanging open but unable to control it. He was asking her to eat lunch with him? At his table? She could only gape.

“Uh, earth to Uraraka.” He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to, but you said we should do the friend thing and –”

"No, yes, absolutely!” She answered too eagerly. “I mean, yeah, I think that’s a good idea. For the friendship image thing. Right.”

“Right.” He gave her a strange look. “C’mon then.”

“Okay.” She squeaked, and she turned to give Tsu and Momo an apologetic wave – just to find out that they were absolutely beaming at her. Momo’s thousand-watt smile could have lit up the entire room. Oh boy. She was going to be hearing about this later.

She trailed behind Bakugou, hurrying along so that she didn’t get left behind. When they approached the table, it was only Kirishima there and Uraraka let out a quiet breath of relief. She wasn’t ready to be bombarded yet.

“Hey, Uraraka!” Kirishima looked from Bakugou to her with a look of glee on his face.

"I don’t wanna hear it, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou growled at his friend. Kirishima held up his hands in surrender.

“Won’t hear anything from me, bro. So, about that super move with Todoroki…”

They lapsed into comfortable conversation, and not once did Uraraka feel out of place.

“I’m glad Bakugou finally invited you over here, Uraraka.” Kirishima said with an easy smirk. “Now he’ll stop staring at you all lunch.”

"Die,” Bakugou shot him a look that actually could kill.

“Why’s Kiri dying?” Sero slid in to the spot next to Kirishima and gave Uraraka a grin. “Hi, Uraraka-chan! What brings you to our kingdom? Not many people are brave enough to come this way.”

"She’s here with Bakugou.” Kirishima couldn’t contain himself. He was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement.

“No shit?! When’s the wedding?” Sero elbowed Kirishima. “Think we’ll get to be groomsmen?” Uraraka felt the blush spreading to her cheeks.

“I’ll be the best man.” Kirishima promised.

“We’re friends, you fucking dipshits.” Bakugou’s ears were turning red with fury. He looked like he regretted bringing Uraraka to the table, but she was enjoying herself. “Can’t I fuckin’ hang out with a friend?”

“Dude, I’m just shocked anyone tolerates you but us. How do you do it, Uraraka?” Sero leaned in, feigning extreme interest. Bakugou flicked a spoonful of rice at him.

“Uraraka’s here?!” Mina, Jirou and Kaminari had appeared at the table and Mina was squealing. “Welcome! I’m so glad you accepted my invitation!”

"Your invitation?” Sero raised an eyebrow. “She’s here with Bakugou, Mina.”

Mina blinked, her black eyes were blank and then lit up all at once when she processed what Sero said. “Oh my God. Oh my God! You are? I’m so proud of you two!”

“Mina!” Uraraka cried. “We’re friends.”

“Oh,” She frowned, disappointed.

“You all need to seriously fuck off.” Bakugou was eating angrily, glaring at them all collectively, except Uraraka.

“Thank you for welcoming me to your table.” Uraraka bowed her head meekly. “I’ll be honest, everyone is really scared of this table.”

"Scared? Why?” Kaminari asked with a mouthful of noodles.

“Because you’re all idiots.” Mina clarified. “And you behave like wild animals.”

“I resent that. We just know how to have fun. You’ll see, Uraraka.” Sero looked mischievous. “Stick with us, and you’ll have a great time.”

Uraraka smiled and nodded. She liked the idea of that. She knew she couldn’t completely abandon her friends back at her old table, but she was happy sitting next to Bakugou, as friends. It was much better than pretending that he didn’t exist during the day then spending all night embraced with him.

“Aye, Ochako.” Jirou said, “We’re going to go shopping after class tomorrow. You should come.”

“Since when are we going shopping?” Bakugou grumbled.

"Do you ever listen when anyone talks?” Mina snapped at him.

“Not worth my time.”

Uraraka kicked him lightly under the table and he looked at her curiously, then kicked her back.

“Well,” Jirou continued, rolling her eyes at Bakugou, “We are. I need some new guitar picks.”

"And I’m helping Kiri pick out new clothes. The old t-shirts are killing me.” Mina grimaced. “Come, Ochako. It’ll be fun.”

Uraraka’s leg was still pressed up against Bakugou’s, and the heat was distracting her. The mall was not her favorite place – everything cost money, which she didn’t have, but she could just walk around and give the girls moral support. Besides - she felt Bakugou kick her again, gently, playful – she thought she wanted to spend more time with her new friend.

Chapter Text

Uraraka stood in front of her mirror, twirling and fluffing up her hair. She was wearing a light pink skater dress that she reserved for semi-nice circumstances and she had coated her eyelashes with a light mascara.

She wasn’t trying to impress Bakugou. She just didn’t leave campus much these days, so she wanted to go for a look that wasn’t leggings and a t-shirt. She had been excited all throughout class, thinking about how fun it would be to go on an outing. Whenever her friends went out for dinner or to see a movie, she usually held back. She wasn’t able to afford most things, other than the basics, and she didn’t want to garner any pity or have anyone feel like they had to pay for her. It was easier just to miss out.

She could handle the mall. She didn’t have to spend any money there, and it would be fun to walk around.

She had spent lunch that day with her original table, much to Mina’s chagrin. Bakugou offered her a neutral “whatever” and a shrug of his shoulders when she told him she would see him later, but she figured for someone like Bakugou who struggled with the concept of friendship, it was pretty good.

At her original table, she was the center of attention.

“I can’t believe you sat there at lunch.” Momo’s voice was filled with wonder as she looked over to the other group. Mina had her arms draped lazily around Kirishima and Bakugou and she seemed to be speaking to them both rather intensely.

“What was it like?” Tsu asked.

“It was normal…” Uraraka flushed. “They’re funny. It was fun.”

“Kacchan invited you, right?” Deku’s smile was blinding. “I’m so glad you two are friends, Uraraka!”

Uraraka swore she saw Todoroki roll his eyes.

“So, does this mean you’re abandoning us?” Tsu’s eyes were large and innocent.

“No, of course not!” Uraraka cried. “I would never. You guys are my best friends.”

“It is a good thing to expand your horizons, Uraraka!” Iida proclaimed. “Perhaps your kind personality will be good for Bakugou!”  

“I feel like he’s already softer.” Momo said thoughtfully. “Isn’t he working well with you, Shoto?”

Todoroki blushed at his girlfriend’s use of his first name. Uraraka didn’t blame him. She didn’t think anyone could ever really get used to Momo’s affection.

“He is…cooperating.” Todoroki looked like it pained him to admit this.

Uraraka chose not to comment. She couldn’t claim any credit for Bakugou’s improving attitude, they had only just become “friends”.

“You two make such an impressive pair, Todoroki.” Deku said earnestly. “I can’t wait to see what you can do against Class B!”

Todoroki just bowed his head. He was so humble.

“Uraraka, so, just friends?” Tsu was staring into her soul. Uraraka gulped.

"Yeah, just friends. We’re actually going to the mall after school today – with other people!” She added frantically after seeing Momo, Tsu and Deku all look at her in awe.

“I’m glad he’s being less of an idiot.” Todoroki mumbled so quietly that Uraraka wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly at all. She blinked at him, and he made eye contact for a moment before looking away.

"The mall! That’s so fun!” Momo cried out. “You’ll have to tell us how it goes.”

“Sure, but it’s just a trip with friends. No big deal at all.”

Tsu touched her finger to her chin, looking like she didn’t believe Uraraka at all.

-x-

Uraraka met Mina and Jirou outside of Mina’s room, which was down the hall from the boys.

“I can’t believe somehow you got put on this floor. Aren’t you literally the only girl?” Jirou snickered.

“Hagakure is down the hall too, near Ojiro, but yeah, other than that. It’s me, Kaminari, Kirishima, Bakugou, Todoroki and Sero. That’s how we became friends.” Mina smiled. “Are you ladies ready?”

Uraraka and Jirou nodded, and then followed Mina as she pranced down the hallway and knocked rhythmically on one of the doors that Uraraka knew well.

Bakugou threw open the door and his eyes immediately found Uraraka’s.

“Hey.” He lifted his head up in acknowledgment of the girls at his door. Behind him, Kirishima and Sero sat on his bed, chatting to Kaminari who was styling his hair in Bakugou’s mirror. “You morons ready?”

Uraraka’s heart was warmed at the sight of Bakugou with friends, getting ready together in his room. It was so incredibly unlike him. She found herself smiling unconsciously and forced herself to keep her face stoic. Friends, Uraraka, just friends.

“We’re ready!” Kaminari put the finishing touches on his hair and walked over to Jirou and put his arm around her shoulder.

“Ah, man. I’m the fifth wheel.” Sero whined.

Bakugou growled at him. “No you aren’t.”

“Remember,” Kirishima winked, “Bakugou and Uraraka are just friends.”

Mina giggled and did air quotes. Uraraka flushed, wishing she could disappear.

“Aw, c’mon. Don’t make Uraraka uncomfortable.” Kaminari gave Uraraka an encouraging smile. “They’re just teasing. They used to tease Jirou and I the same way.”

“Yeah, and now you’re dating.” Sero deadpanned.

“Oh, right…”

Bakugou shook his head, already done with the group before they had even left for their outing. “Anyone else says something about Uraraka and I and I’ll blast them into another city. Got it?”

“Aye, aye, captain.” Mina saluted. “Let’s stop this silliness and get going! I want at least an hour and a half of shopping before dinner time, right, Kiri?”

Kirishima looked pained. “Right.”

-x-

When they finally made it to the mall, Uraraka was overwhelmed. She hadn’t been in years, relying mainly on hand-me-downs or thrift shops for her casual clothing. The dress she was wearing today was a Christmas gift, and she had almost cried when her mom presented it to her.

She didn’t dwell on the fact that she was perpetually poor often. She had other things to think about, like being a hero. However, standing in front of an endless array of flashy stores with her classmates loaded up with spending money was really reminding her just how broke she was. Maybe coming to the mall hadn’t been the best idea.

Bakugou walked up next to her, hands in his pockets, and seemed to sense her discomfort. She hadn’t mentioned her financial troubles to anyone except for Deku and Iida, but Bakugou was perceptive. He could tell she was stressed.

“Oi, I don’t want to buy anything at this shitty mall. I’ll be in the arcade. You comin’, Round Face?”

Uraraka nodded eagerly, relief flooding her body. They all agreed to meet at the food court in roughly two hours. Mina, Kirishima and Sero wandered off towards menswear while Jirou and Kaminari made a beeline for an indie music store.

“Thank you.” Uraraka murmured, ashamed.

“No idea what you’re thanking me for. Let’s go.” That was all he said on the subject, then he was off towards the arcade.

The arcade was massive and flashy, and crowded. Uraraka’s ears were filled with varying beeps and explosions and noises of victory and defeat.

Bakugou had wandered over to a two-player racing game. He pat the seat next to him so Uraraka could sit down. She was beginning to protest – she didn’t even have pocket change this week, it had been a rough past few months at home with her parents – but she didn’t have a chance before Bakugou slid a coin into both his side of the game and hers.

“I’m gonna beat your ass at this game.” He said, focused heavily on designing his car on the screen. Uraraka smirked. Bakugou would turn anything into a fierce competition.

“You’re on.”

Uraraka put up her best fight, but Bakugou truly did beat her ass. He left her in the dust in the first game, and then in three consecutive games after that. When he had grown tired of destroying her, he moved over to another game involving two guitars and a lot of complicated button pushing.

Uraraka was better at that one, but she couldn’t beat the unbeatable.

“You’re really good at this.” She whined, after she had come in second place for another song.

“The morons like to come to the mall. I don’t need to go shopping, so I come here.” He shrugged. “You down to get beat one more time?” He raised an eyebrow at her, teasing.

“You don’t need to spend your money on me.” She mumbled. He had paid for every game since they arrived, and Uraraka was beginning to feel guilty.

“Tch. Please. It’s not a problem.” He gave her a sideways glance. “My parents give me more money than necessary. I end up saving most of it.” He paused. “Want to go walk around?”

“Oh…sure, yeah.” She was breathless from Bakugou’s words. He tried to make it sound nonchalant, but he wanted to spend his money on her. What did that mean? She figured walking around would help clear her head. The loud noises in the arcade were making her feel disoriented.

She kept at a brisk pace, so she could keep up with Bakugou’s strides. He passed most stores without a hint of interest in his eyes, so Uraraka took it upon herself to quickly browse the windows as they walked.

“Whoa,” She stopped slightly in front of a particularly impressive window display. It was all pink lights and sparkles and beautiful models. “Pretty.” She whispered, feeling like a little kid in a candy store.

Bakugou snorted. “You messing with me, Round Face?” He asked her suspiciously. Uraraka was staring at a lingerie set. She had practically forgotten Bakugou was there, too distracted by the clever female marketing.

“Oh, sorry!” She sputtered out. “I wasn’t thinking – I just got distracted – this is so embarrassing.” Her face burned. She couldn’t believe she had subconsciously stopped in front of a lingerie display while walking around with Bakugou.

“You wanna go in?” He murmured.

“What?”

“Do you want to go in?” He asked her more clearly this time.

“You…would go in this store?” She was incredulous.

“It’s not weird if there’s a girl with you.” His face was turning red. “You just look like you wanna go in. So, I’ll go with you. If you want.”

“Oh – okay. Yeah. I mean, looking around would be fun.” She managed, trying to sound casual. Bakugou just rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, dragging her in behind him. Suddenly, it was like the mall’s air conditioning shut off. She was way too warm. 

Bakugou didn’t belong in a store like this. Everything was varying shades of rose and lavender and excited teenage girls mobbed the displays. If he was bothered by it, though, he didn’t show it. He looked around lazily, taking in all of the girly clothes and accessories. He still held onto Uraraka’s wrist, and she felt a little like she might pass out. 

She noticed the whispering as soon as they walked into the store. 

“—From the Sports Festival!” A girl who appeared only slightly younger than Uraraka was hissing to her friend.  “Both of them!”

 “Didn’t that boy really beat up on that girl? That was so hard to watch. I wonder what they’re doing here together.” 

 “That’s so weird, he’s so violent. I’m surprised she wants to hang out with him.”

 “Well, look how hot he is!”

The two girls giggled and threw cautious glances at Uraraka. When she made eye contact with them, they blanched and scurried away to dig through a collection of silver charm bracelets. Uraraka resisted the urge to pull a Bakugou and roll her eyes to the ceiling. She wondered if he realized how much attention was on them, but when she turned to look for him she found that he had let go of her wrist and was nowhere in sight.

She panicked slightly, worried that he had changed his mind about coming into the store and bailed on her.

Then she turned around and spotted him in the corner of the store with a sizable bundle of clothes in his arms. She made a beeline for him. “What are you doing? I don’t think these are your style…” She teased.

Bakugou scowled at her. “They’re your style.” He replied simply. 

She stared, dumbfounded in his presence for the second time that week. “What?”

“You’d look nice in this shit. You should try it on.” He tried to hand off the pile to her, but she shook her head frantically. 

 “Absolutely not!” She cried. “I don’t even want to know how much I can’t afford these.”

Bakugou was growing impatient with her, and his frown deepened. “Just try them on then. We got an hour to kill before we have to meet up with the morons, and I don’t wanna just walk around aimlessly. That’s dumb.” 

They were at a standoff. Uraraka loved to try on new clothes – it was a guilty pleasure – but doing it with Bakugou there would just be embarrassing and disappointing. Imagining his face when she had to put everything back made her stomach drop with shame. 

“I—”

Bakugou groaned and grabbed her wrist once more, pulling her over to the dressing rooms. “Just try ‘em on, Round Face.”

She supposed it couldn’t hurt to try them on…it could be fun. The clothes he had picked out for her were actually very pretty. She was surprised Bakugou had an eye for fashion.

“Okay.” She nodded. She slipped into the dressing room and took the first article of clothing she had been given. It was a baby blue dress – a little short for her taste, but she didn’t expect Bakugou to be going for a modest theme for someone he regularly had sex with.

She blushed in spite of herself, examining the dress. Other than the shortness, it fit perfectly. She twirled in front of the mirror, feeling more confident than usual. She was feeling that way a lot these days.

“Lemme see, Moon Face.” Bakugou’s voice called from outside the curtain. She pushed back the curtain and stood in front of him, jutting a hip out playfully and striking a model pose.

“Whaddya think?” She pretended that his approval didn’t matter, but she was elated when Bakugou’s face broke into a genuine smile.

“I have great fuckin’ taste.” He said proudly.

“How’d you know my size?” She wondered.

“I spend enough time fucking looking at you, don’t I?”

She couldn’t argue with that fact.

Uraraka continued trying out outfits, each time coming out with a more ridiculous pose. She had to hand it to Bakugou – she liked everything he picked out. Each piece was more flattering than the last. When she got to the last clothing set he picked out, she barked out a laugh.

“You’re a pervert!” She cried out from behind the curtain.

“You wearing it?”

“No!”

“Put it on!”

“You’re crazy!”

“You’ve liked everything else I’ve picked out!”

Uraraka couldn’t believe she was giggling like this. She could hear the laugh behind Bakugou’s words too. He did have a point. She did like everything else he picked out.

“I’ll try it on, but you can’t see.” She said, trying her best to make her words scathing.

“That’s completely unfair. I picked it out. You have to let me see.”

Uraraka just hummed in response. She contemplated the skimpy material in her hands. Somehow, Bakugou had snuck into the pile of clothes a black tied-leather corset and a matching pair of lacy underwear. That boy was a piece of work.

She put it on anyways.

Bakugou never minded what kind of underwear Uraraka wore – it didn’t usually stay on very long – but this…this would drive him insane. She hardly recognized the girl in the mirror. She was accentuated in all the right places.

“I am definitely not coming out there wearing this.” Uraraka kept her voice light and airy. She turned around and examined her butt in the mirror – she always had considered herself on the thicker side of things, body-wise, but this outfit was taking it to another level. She took out her phone and snapped a quick picture of herself. She didn’t know when the next time she would wear something like this would be.

“I’ll come in there then.” His voice was mischievous.

“You can’t do that!” She protested, but as usual, Bakugou did what he wanted. He ripped open the curtain and stood in front of her. She spun around for him.

“So, whaddya think?” She repeated her earlier question in an innocent voice. Bakugou didn’t answer immediately. His eyes traveled hungrily down her body, slowly, taking in every inch.

“Ah, fuck.” He growled. He walked slowly towards her, his eyes never leaving her. “I shouldn’t have come in here. Now I gotta have you.”

“Bakugou…” Uraraka spoke in a warning tone, but she could feel herself growing hot. They were in public. The dressing room only had a thin curtain separating them from a crowded store. There were other girls in the dressing area, in the other rooms. This was dangerous.

It was turning her on more than it should have.

“You’re the sexiest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen.” His eyes glazed over. “I gotta have you right now, angel.”

When he used that raspy, desperate voice, Uraraka would give him anything he wanted.

He backed her into the wall and pinned her hands above her head. His actions were maddeningly slow. Bakugou dipped his head down and his lips came within centimeters of hers.

“No kissing.” She managed to remind him, her words teasing and dripping with lust. He scowled at her and tightened his hold on her wrists. He busied his lips with sucking on her neck instead, languidly, softly. He inhaled deeply.

“You smell good.” He hummed against her skin. “Fuckin’ delicious.”

“You talk too much.” She scolded him, her lips barely moving. “If we’re gonna do this, we gotta be quick. And quiet.” She squeaked out as his hand slid between her legs. He murmured some sort of assent while his hands worked their way around her body and his lips drank in her the softness of her breasts. He was silent as he pushed the lacy underwear to the side and inserted two fingers into her. He said nothing as he pumped them up and down and she bit her lip to hold back a moan. Noiselessly, he pulled his fingers out and moved his hands to her waist, lifting her up into the air. She wrapped her legs around him and opened her mouth when he pushed her gently against the wall, grinding up into her, but she remained soundless. Bakugou was hushed as he took the condom out of his wallet, pulled his pants and boxers halfway down and slipped it on, all while Uraraka clung to him. Her leg strength was her top attribute when it came to working out, and it came in handy in situations like this too.

When he slid into her, she was mute, but she twisted her fingers into his hair and bit down on his shoulder. He rocked her against the wall, carefully, restrained, but still hitting her in all the right places. She held on tightly to him, and when she found her release, she dug her nails into his back and buried her face in his neck. Wordlessly, he lowered her to the ground, and Uraraka was left wobbly and disoriented, still fully clothed, looking at herself in the changing room mirror.

Bakugou was a talker, especially in bed, so this silent affair was something new. Something intimate. Uraraka smiled to herself.

“You have sex hair.” Bakugou pointed out in a whisper, gesturing to their reflection in the mirror.

“So do you.” She giggled. “Better fix it before we meet back up with the others.”

He shook his head slightly, and his hair fell back into perfect place. Unfair.

“Hey, close your eyes. I need to change.” Uraraka said absently.

“Close my eyes?” Bakugou squinted at her. “We just fucked in this changing room and now I have to close my eyes?”

“Shh! Voice down. Eyes closed.”

He looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he refrained, and closed them instead. She slipped out of the lingerie and back into her comfortable dress. Once she was satisfied with her hair, she allowed Bakugou to open his eyes again.

“Great,” He said, “You still look like you were just fucked in my eyes.” He shrugged. “I’m gonna sneak out and dispose of this.” He held up the used condom and Uraraka wrinkled her nose.

“Okay, I’m just gonna put these clothes back and I’ll meet you up front.” She said.

“I’ll take the clothes. Don’t worry about it. Meet me by the food court. I’ll just be a minute. Gotta go to the bathroom.” He was mumbling a little bit, but Uraraka just nodded.

“Uh, sure. Whatever you say.”

She left the changing room first, as to not cause suspicion and slipped out of the store. The food court was just a few stores down, and they didn’t have to meet their friends for another half an hour, so she decided to sit down at a table, relax, and contemplate when she became the type of person to have a quickie in a dressing room.

She thought about this for a while, scrolling her phone. Bakugou showed up at the table not fifteen minutes later, carrying a large pink bag.

“Um.” Uraraka stared at him.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it.” He shoved the bag in front of her.

“You did not.” She gasped. “Bakugou – no! Those were not cheap clothes!” She dug through the bag frantically. Every single outfit she had tried on was in there – including the corset and black underwear. Uraraka couldn’t breathe. She had to pay him back for this. She couldn’t afford to pay him back for this. “You have to return these.”

“No.” He said simply. “You need some new damn clothes. You wear the same thing all the time.”

She bristled, offended. She tried to make do with her limited supply of weekend wear but apparently Bakugou had seen through it.

“You can’t just buy me stuff.”

“Why? We’re friends, aren’t we?” His voice was venomous and Uraraka felt trapped. She couldn’t accept a gift this lavish. He noticed the panic on her face. “If you want to pay me back, then I’ll let you buy me something nice when you become a pro hero, okay?”

Uraraka’s head snapped up to him, awed. This was the first time she had ever heard Bakugou reference anyone going pro except him. He always bragged about how he was going to be number one and nobody would ever rival him. He never acknowledged anyone else’s talents or potential – but here he was, acknowledging hers even in the most offhand way.

“Oh – okay.” She said, unsure of what else she could say to him.

Thankfully, Mina, as usual, came in at the perfect time.

 “Hii, guys!” She waved from across the food court enthusiastically. She was hand-in-hand with both Kirishima and Sero, who each had several bags on their arms. “Did you have fun shopping?” She inquired as she approached the table Uraraka and Bakugou sat at. “Whoa.” Her black eyes widened at the sight of pink shopping bags that sat on the bench next to Uraraka. “I see you did.”

“I didn’t –” Uraraka began to protest, but Bakugou kicked her under the table. That was going to get annoying really fast.  “I did, yeah.” She sighed. “It was fun.”

“You’ll have to model your new wardrobe for me later.” Mina squealed with delight. “I helped Sero and Kirishima reinvent their style. It was so great!” 

Sero’s eyes flashed like he was having war flashbacks. Kirishima just grinned sheepishly. 

“Did you get anything, Bakugou?” Kirishima asked. 

“Fuck no, I hate shopping.” He grumbled. 

Liar, Uraraka thought, forcing herself to hide her grin. Jirou and Kaminari ambled up to the table a few moments later, each holding a small bag from the music store, and each other’s hands. Jirou was breathless, explaining rapidly how Kaminari struck up a casual conversation with the cashier that ended up with them getting free tickets to one of their favorite bands.

“It was the coolest thing anyone has ever done!” She gushed. Kaminari beamed, proud. 

Uraraka could argue that the coolest thing anyone had ever done was everything Bakugou had done for her today, but she didn’t want to turn it into a boyfriend competition.

She froze. Boyfriend? Bakugou was absolutely not her boyfriend. He was hardly her friend. They were just doing this to keep people from figuring out their arrangement. It was fake – all fake. 

It just felt so real. She couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe…it was real. 

“You guys hungry?” Kaminari asked, breaking Uraraka out of her reverie. “I’m really feeling some soba.”

“Yes, all this personal shopping worked up my appetite. It’s not easy being a fashion mogul.” Mina fanned her face dramatically. Kirishima snickered. 

"Let’s get what we want and meet back at this table.” Sero suggested. “I’m with you on the soba, bro.”

“Never a bad time for soba.”

Sero and Kaminari wandered over towards the soba kiosk while Jirou mused about takoyaki. Mina and Kirishima went giggling over towards the American food section, and Uraraka made a face, unsure of how they tolerated all of that grease. 

“I’m starving. You comin’?” Bakugou gave her a casual look that seemed to say he didn’t care much if she came or not.

“Oh, I’m not really all that hungry…” She couldn’t make eye contact with him, and her words trailed off at the end. As if punctuating her sentence, her stomach gave a small grumble.

Bakugou stared at her and raised one eyebrow. “Sure about that?”

“I don’t want you to pay for me anymore.” She mumbled, defeated. It wouldn’t be the first time she went to sleep hungry – she often times would get caught up in schoolwork or training and miss dinner time in Lunch Rush’s cafeteria. A lot of the other students had meals for such occasions in the communal kitchen, but Uraraka didn’t have that luxury. 

"Okay, but…you gotta eat.” He said this like it was the simplest thing in the world. “Come on, Round Face. Food.” He was no longer interested in arguing with her, and took off towards one of the meat kiosks, knowing she would follow. 

And, like a lovesick puppy, she did.

Uraraka got the cheapest item on the menu, and Bakugou pretended not to notice. She appreciated that. When they got back to the table, Kaminari was reenacting a battle he had in the Sports Festival with dramatic sound effects and hand gestures included.

“Babe, you don’t have to prove anything to us. That girl is ridiculously strong.” Jirou soothed her boyfriend. “None of us could beat her – except maybe Bakugou.”

“The vine bitch? Tch. Easy.” Bakugou slid his tray down next to Kirishima, leaving a spot on the other side of him for Uraraka to take. 

“Dude, not even!” Kaminari protested.  “She’s scary – like she’s got some kind of weird juju. She kept telling me I needed salvation.”

“Well, fair.” Mina said. “You really could use some salvation.”

“You need salvation.” Kaminari snapped back. “You all do, actually, except you, Uraraka. You’re all sunshine and rainbows.”

Bakugou snorted into his food and Uraraka just smiled and closed her eyes, mortified. 

“Don’t corrupt her too badly, Bakugou.” Kirishima teased and Uraraka narrowed her eyes at him. He knew damn well he wasn’t supposed to say things like that. This being friends with Bakugou in public thing was not good for her heart. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Bakugou replied sarcastically, giving Kirishima his own steely, warning look. Mina grinned mischievously. 

“Interesting of you to say that you could beat Ibara easily, Bakugou,” she began, her eyes flashing wickedly, “Considering you could barely beat Ochako.”

“Shiii—” Sero laughed into his soba and Jirou just shook her head. 

"Mina, why do you have to poke the bear? Now he’s gonna blow up on all of us and it’s always me first.” Kaminari wailed. Bakugou, however, did not blow anybody up. He grimaced, but then forced his face back into a smooth, undisturbed mask. 

“Uraraka is an actual worthy opponent.” He grunted. “You idiots shouldn’t underestimate her. She’d probably kick all of your asses in one-on-one combat." 

The table was silent. Somehow, this was scarier than Bakugou exploding. His calm response was eerily unlike him. Uraraka tried to melt into her seat. She could hear the admiration in his voice just then, and her insides were doing somersaults over it. Bakugou had stood up for her. He had recognized her talent and abilities in front of his friends. He had called her a worthy opponent. 

“Dude.” Kirishima’s face lit up with a thousand-watt smile. He just shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. 

“What?” Bakugou hissed.

“Nothing, man.” Kaminari seemed to realize what Kirishima was grinning about and couldn’t help but smile himself. “Nothing at all.”

Thankfully, the conversation moved on, but Uraraka’s mind was still buzzing. It was unfair how Bakugou had been treating her. He was supposed to be all anger and attitude and power – he was supposed to be unapproachable. Uraraka always used to wonder how he even managed to get the friends he had, figuring that Kirishima brought him in and nobody was able to say no to Kirishima, but now she wasn’t so sure. 

Bakugou was rough around the edges, and had a bad mouth, and was obsessed with winning at everything he did but he was also kind and soft and sweet and he cared about people even if he went to the ends of the earth claiming that he didn’t. Uraraka had been spending this whole time trying not to give in to her feelings for him – terrified that he wouldn’t return them, and she would ruin what they had. She would rather be with him in this way than not at all. These thoughts had been plaguing her since she spoke with Mina, and now, after spending time with Bakugou outside of his bedroom, she was convinced he might actually return her feelings. 

She had to talk to Mina. Privately. 

Unfortunately for her, Mina was in the middle of a deeply serious argument about the status of Aizawa Sensei’s relationship with a teacher from Ketsubutsu Academy.

“I swear, Toru told me she caught Aizawa on the phone late at night talking to a woman and he was laughing. Aizawa doesn’t laugh! It had to have been Ms. Joke.” She presented her evidence with a smug confidence. “And apparently, Toru heard him say that he was excited to see her and her students soon, so we’re gonna get to meet her!”

“I don’t buy it. Eraser doesn’t have a single emotion in his body other than exhaustion.” Kaminari promised, his mouth half full.

“Is exhaustion even an emotion?” Kirishima asked.

“For Eraser it is.” 

“Guys, when have I ever been wrong about gossip ever?” She whined. Uraraka had to give her that – Mina even realized Uraraka’s feelings for Bakugou before she herself realized them. 

"Fuckin’ plenty of times.” Mumbled Bakugou. 

“What was that, love?” Mina’s eyes presented a challenge and even Bakugou, who never backed down from a challenge, knew better in that situation. 

“Nothing.” He growled, tearing off a piece of his beef violently. 

Uraraka tried to telepathically communicate with Mina to look in her direction, but it wasn’t working. Kirishima began to give a conspiracy theory on why Aizawa was using Ms. Joke as a cover up for his real relationship with Mic, and Uraraka took her last chance to make Mina notice her.

“Hey – where’s the bathroom?” She locked eyes directly with the pink girl as she said it, and Mina stared back in understanding. 

“Oh, it’s kind of hard to find. Let me walk you. Be right back.”

Bless Mina.

The two walked to the bathroom in silence until Mina had determined they were an appropriate distance away from the table.  When they hit the bathroom doors, she grabbed her shoulders.

“What’s up? You had serious ‘save me’ eyes back there.” 

Uraraka took a deep breath. “Am I on a date with Bakugou?” 

Mina didn’t miss a beat. “Duh.” When Uraraka didn’t respond, she continued, “You guys have been alone together all day. He bought your dinner – I saw it –” Uraraka was about to protest, but Mina didn’t let her. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a date before, but this is it, honey.”

“He bought all my clothes…” She mumbled, half-way hoping Mina couldn’t hear her.

“Did you say he bought your clothes? Like, that whole bag you had from the boutique? Shit. This might not even be a date, it might be marriage.” She looked thoughtful. 

“Be serious, Mina!” Uraraka cried. “What do I do? Should I say something?”

“Okay, yes, but make it casual. You can’t overwhelm him. He doesn’t have the capacity to handle an overabundance of emotions.” She was speaking fast now, analyzing the situation and producing advice in a way that only Mina could. “Keep it low-key, like, ‘hey, Bakugou, had a nice time tonight. Thanks for everything.’ Bam. You’ve established it’s a date without saying the word ‘date’ out loud.” 

She waited for Uraraka’s approval, but all she got was a frown.

“What?” Mina whined. 

“I just…I don’t want to get my hopes up for nothing. What if I’m all wrong about this? Maybe he just bought me the clothes because he likes how I look in them. And the food – he probably just pities me.” She could feel her chest growing tighter as the words left her mouth. The self-doubt had been lingering but now it was flowing out of her freely. “He bought me the clothes right after we hooked up in the dressing room so maybe he was just like, on an adrenaline high?”

Mina gaped. “Uh. Okay. We can talk about hooking up in the dressing room later, but for now, stop overthinking it. We can all see you’re on a date. Everyone with eyes could see it. You two are really freaking stupid, you know? You’ve been dancing around the fact that you like each other for weeks. Frankly, it’s getting on my nerves. Let me have this, damn it.”

She finished her rant and stared at Uraraka expectantly. 

“Well, damn, tell me how you really feel.” She muttered. Mina laughed, filling the empty bathroom with a melody like wind chimes. 

“You don’t know how it is to be so invested, Uraraka. It’s like watching an anime and waiting faithfully every week for the characters to get together but they never do – except this is real life. And you two actually love each other, unlike any of my ships.” 

Uraraka rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry this is so stressful for you, Mina.” She deadpanned, 

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She smirked, teasing. “Now, come on, we’ve been in here too long and we have to head home soon, or we’ll break curfew, and Aizawa said if I break it again he’s going to put me on cleaning duty.” She shuddered. 

Uraraka laughed, and when her friend linked her arm around her, she shoved her nerves back down deep inside of her. She could do this. She could tell Bakugou Katsuki how she felt. 

It was dark by the time the group made it to the trains. Uraraka sat down next to Mina and let her head droop onto her shoulder. She let her mind wander to all the different scenarios that could come about from confessing to Bakugou. She favored the ones where he didn’t blow her up.

Right before she closed her eyes, she peeked at him, looking out the window lost in thought.

-x-

They arrived back on campus approximately two minutes before curfew, and Mina was squealing. “Hop to, men, let’s go, let’s go!” She waved Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari and Jirou ahead of her with vigor. She could’ve been a tiny, pink drill sergeant in another life. Uraraka would’ve been afraid of her. “I’m not scrubbing floors today, ladies and gentlemen!” She announced, bouncing in behind her group. Uraraka and Bakugou had fallen behind, walking leisurely. Uraraka was understandably stressed about breaking curfew, but Bakugou was unbothered, as he usually was when it came to rules. 

Her heart was beating out of her chest. It was now or never.

“Uh, Bakugou?” She stopped him with a careful hand placed on his shoulder.

“What?” He narrowed his eyes slightly and Uraraka almost lost her nerve. She remembered what Mina told her, and she took a deep breath. 

“Uh. I had a good time tonight. Thanks for…thanks for everything.” She stammered out, feeling anxiety overtake her with each stumbled word. Bakugou gave her an odd look. 

“You’re acting weird.” He offered in reply. “Don’t thank me. That’s stupid.” 

“Oh…s-sorry.” She looked down at her shoes, mortified. 

“Let’s go inside before Aizawa comes and kicks our asses.” He grumbled. 

Uraraka didn’t want to accept defeat; she didn’t know the next time she would be able to work up the courage to do something like this. “Bakugou, wait a sec.” 

He stopped and looked down on her with crossed arms. 

“I – I, uh. I –” She was pathetic, her words coming out as useless trembling. “Tonight – was it a date?” She finally managed, and then immediately wished she hadn’t. Bakugou’s red eyes were flaming. He glared at her with so much contempt it brought tears immediately to her eyes.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He growled in a low voice that made Uraraka whimper.

“I just…I thought…”

Bakugou looked like she had slapped him. “Listen the fuck up, Round Face. You’re the one who came up with these rules that you apparently can’t follow. We fucking agreed – just sex. We aren’t friends. We sure as fuck aren’t anything more than friends. I bought you that shit so I could take it off of you later. Nothing more.” His hand was shaking, and he clenched it into a fist to stop it. A small explosion crackled in his palm. “I went along with your stupid friend idea so you’d get off my goddamn back about it.”

A tear escaped Uraraka’s eye and slid down her cheek. Stupid, stupid, stupid.  She wanted to run away, hide, never show her face in UA ever again. She also wanted to yell. She wanted to push Bakugou, to scream in his face, to tell him he couldn’t just do that to her – he couldn’t act like he cared about her then go around and say it was all for show. 

However, her mouth wouldn’t form the words. She didn’t have the energy to get angry. “You -” She gasped out, tears freely falling now. “You’re cruel.”

“I told you straight up what this was gonna be, Round Face.” He snarled at her. “Don’t forget your own goddamn rules.” 

This had been such a mistake. Uraraka had ruined everything, just like she knew she would. She needed to leave. 

“Like, what the fuck. Uraraka?” He was yelling now, his voice raspy, and Uraraka wondered idly if anyone had their window open. She prayed not. “You know what? This shit is over. We shouldn’t have done it in the first place. I knew you couldn’t handle it.”

“Me?” Uraraka gasped. “You’re the one acting like I’m your girlfriend all the time!” There was the anger, bursting out of her like a volcano. “You’re the one who got all weird when I dared to look at Kirishima in a way you didn’t like!”

“You’ve got lot of nerve.” Bakugou’s voice was deadly. Both of his palms were actively creating small explosions. “You don’t know shit.”

“I do know.” Uraraka cried shamelessly now, pointing a finger at him. “You’re a fucking liar. I was wrong about you – I thought you were different than everyone said you were but you’re not!”

“Whose damn fault is that, Uraraka?” He spat. “I never tried to pretend to be anything I’m not. All I’ve ever cared about is being number one – and you’re just a goddamn distraction.”

Uraraka sobbed now, not even caring how weak she looked. Her body was wracked with emotion and she couldn’t control herself. She was panicking, her breaths coming out so shaky that she was choking on them. She was getting ready to float herself to her room, so she wouldn’t have to go through the common area when she was snapped into a bind. 

“What the f—” Bakugou shouted.

Aizawa’s voice boomed. “You are out past curfew and causing a scene.” He was angry, so angry, red eyes and raised hair angry. “Bakugou, get to your room. Now. I’ll deal with you later.” He gave Bakugou a threatening look that would make even the worst villain quiver, and then released him. Bakugou gave Uraraka one last look of disgust, then stalked away to the doors of the dorms, throwing back explosions in his wake. “Uraraka, you come with me.” 

Chapter Text

Bakugou saw red. 

As soon as Aizawa released him – the bastard - he made a furious beeline for the common room, not giving a single fuck who he encountered there.

Which was, of course, everyone in the class. 

“Bakugou, you okay, bro?” Kirishima stood up upon his friend’s arrival. He looked concerned.

“Fuck off!” Bakugou shouted at him, rage threatening to overflow and cause him to commit a violent act. He was sure everyone else was staring at him, if their stunned silence was any indication, but his vision was too blurry too tell, and his mind was racing too fast for him to form sentences. He stalked off instead, practically running to his room and slamming the door behind him before he lost it in front of everyone.

When it was safely locked, he collapsed on the ground, screaming.

“Fuck!” His voice was hoarse, and the wail hurt, but he didn’t care. He kept bellowing until he couldn’t breathe anymore, and then he moved to the explosions. His fury was turning frantic, and he knew he was losing his grip on reality fast.

He shot one explosion at his bed, burning his pillow instantly. He shot one at the wall, leaving a smoking hole in its wake. He would destroy his whole goddamned bedroom. What did he care? 

He wasn’t thinking straight. His mind was a slew of images, one after another racing through and striking him, over and over again to the point where he felt physical pain. He saw the materialization of his quirk, and his mother’s pride when he showed her. He saw as that pride turned to anger, and the anger turned physical the older he got. He saw the tendrils of the sludge villain who had attacked him and felt the suffocation as if he was still trapped within it. He saw Deku, running towards him, quirkless and afraid but still so damn brave. He saw Deku when he used his quirk against Bakugou, and Bakugou lost. He felt the rage and the shame of the loss. He felt the fear of realizing he might not be number one, and the implications that could come with it. He saw Camie, and he felt his stupid shitty heart break all over again when he remembered her words.

And on a torturous repeat, he saw Uraraka with her red eyes and ragged breaths, sobbing because of his words. 

He screamed again, throwing another explosion at his wall. 

He was on his knees, crying onto the floor like the pathetic piece of shit he was and always would be. No one could ever forget it. 

“Bakugou!” There was a frenzied knock on his door, and Kirishima’s voice was thick with worry. “Open the door!”

“Fuck off!” He shouted back, hating the way his voice cracked and shook – hating himself more and more with every passing second. 

There was a loud slam and he figured Kirishima had rammed his door. Even with his hardened form, it wouldn’t be an easy task to knock a UA door down. They were reinforced to handle all kinds of quirks.

“Open the door now!” He screeched. 

“Dude, we should get Aizawa.” Bakugou heard Kaminari’s voice. “He’s gonna blow up the whole building.”

“He’s going to hurt himself.” If Bakugou was in his right mind, he would’ve opened the door. He didn’t want to hear the stress in Kirishima’s voice, but he wasn’t in his right mind. He was spiraling.

He let loose another explosion, this time directed at his shelf, and he coughed at the expansion of smoke that appeared with it. The smell of singed paper filled the air and he choked more. His hands were burning and blistered, and his lungs were ready to burst but he deserved it. He deserved it and he would rather fill his lungs with acrid smoke until he passed out then relive the pain he had just caused Uraraka. 

“Bakugou!” This was a new voice, a voice he wasn’t used to hearing filled with emotion. He growled.

“Get the fuck away, half-and-half!” The next explosion he aimed towards the door, hoping it would make them leave him. His hacking turned to hyperventilating and he fell harder into himself, rocking on the floor, tears pouring down his cheeks.

“Back up.” He heard the half-and-half say firmly, and less than five seconds later, his eyes were burned by a bright light, and his room was flooded in heat.

“Fuck, dude.” Sero’s voice now, no longer muffled by the door, reached Bakugou’s ears. The half-and-half bastard had melted his door off. He didn’t get up to look. He couldn’t stand. 

“Jesus.” 

“Go get someone, Sero!”

“What’s going on?”

The voices melded together and crashed against Bakugou’s ears and felt like they were stabbing his brain directly, all the while the images still flashed by like a slideshow no matter how hard he closed his eyes. Every failure, every blow to his self-esteem, every weakness played over and over and over again until he felt like he was drowning.

Someone reached for him, to lift him off the ground, and he thrashed. His explosions were met by a hard barrier, and he knew he had attacked Kirishima. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else, but it was all he knew how to do, all he had ever known. 

“Leave me alone!” Bakugou was screaming again like a man possessed, leaving destruction in his wake. He heard Todoroki grunt in pain as one of his explosions hit him in the stomach. Kirishima held tight to him from behind, maintaining his toughened form, bearing the brunt of his attacks. 

“We have to subdue him!” Todoroki shouted. Absently, Bakugou wondered why the half breed was trying, why anyone would bother trying. “Watch out. Back up from him.”

Kirishima released Bakugou and he used the chance to swing at Todoroki, but he was too disoriented, and his vision was too clouded, and he missed, instead firing another explosion at his bed. Before he could attempt again, Todoroki had activated his ice, and Bakugou could no longer move at all. He was frozen, shivering, screaming profanities and sobbing. He didn’t care about anything anymore. He just wanted to hurt himself. 

He didn’t know how long he kept struggling, but Todoroki and Kirishima stayed, speaking in low voices, and keeping a watchful eye on him. His voice became ragged and finally he found that he could no longer use it. He coughed and sputtered instead, feeling the cold in his bones.

After who knows how long, maybe hours -- Bakugou was too lost in his brain to notice -- teachers showed up at what used to be his door.

Midnight, Cementoss, All Might and Aizawa, the same who had carted him off after the Sports Festival, had come to sedate him once again. 

Todoroki unfroze him then, and he collapsed in a heap to the ground. He closed his stinging eyes and breathed in shallow breaths. He said nothing. 

When All Might scooped him off the floor gently, like he was a bird with a broken wing, he let him, because he had no strength left to fight.  When Midnight released her sleep gas, he embraced it, desperately giving in to the promise of nothingness.

-x-

Uraraka sat in a squishy armchair, sniffling. Her sobs had subsided on the walk with Aizawa, and the tears had almost all dried. Aizawa sat across from her, drinking what she assumed was a very strongly caffeinated. She held the tea he made for her in her hands, letting it warm her, but not drinking. 

They sat in silence, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. If anything, Uraraka was grateful for it. She needed a good, quiet minute just to get her bearings back. 

She had calmed down, but the humiliation and hurt still weighed heavy on her heart. She knew that telling Bakugou could end badly, but she hadn’t expected that. She hadn’t seen him that angry since the night of the Sports Festival. 

It was foolish of her to think that he had changed for her. She was just seeing things the way she wished to see them. 

Aizawa picked up his phone and glanced down at the screen, then he turned his eyes to Uraraka.

“Are you doing better now?” He asked simply. She nodded in response. Aizawa made a lot of people uneasy, but to Uraraka he had a calming presence. When he was around, she felt like things would be okay. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He prompted, his voice soft. Uraraka took a deep, shuddering breath. 

“Aren’t you just going to tell me ‘I told you so’?” She murmured miserably.

“No.” He said. She made cautious eye contact. “I put a lot of faith in my class to make correct decisions. It is important to have good judgment in hero work. However, I recognize that while you are aspiring heroes, you are first and foremost teenagers.” He sighed, taking a sip of his tea before continuing. “And teenagers are really stupid.”

Uraraka felt a laugh bubble out of her before she could repress it. It made her feel lighter. 

“I made a really stupid decision.” She mumbled, letting her eyes fall to her lap again. “A series of really stupid decisions, actually.”

“You wouldn’t be the first, and you won’t be the last.” Aizawa said. “Bakugou,” He started, then paused, sighing. “Bakugou is not a bad person.” He said this almost sternly, as if he was scolding Uraraka for thinking so. She didn’t know what kind of person she thought he was anymore. 

“Bakugou is a complicated person.” He carried on. “He has a lot of baggage, but he isn’t bad, and I could make a guess that he’s feeling pretty bad about how he just treated you.”  Uraraka blinked up at him, waiting for him to continue. “When I saw you two in the infirmary, I wasn’t too surprised, because like I said, teenagers are stupid. I’ve caught several of you doing things of that nature.” Uraraka flushed wildly, in disbelief that her teacher just referenced his students having sex. “The reason I told you to be careful is because he has a history of getting like this. He has a hard time with his emotions. It’s very common for heroes, but it’s even more common in someone like Bakugou. It’s not my place to tell you any personal information about him, and my only concern is for both of your wellbeing, which is why I warned you about getting involved with him.

“That being said, I noticed a change in him in the past few weeks. I assigned him to work with Todoroki because I thought it would ground him, or at the very least, humble him when he refused to work with him and I failed him.” He took another casual sip of his tea. “But I was shocked to instead see him cooperating with him. I asked Todoroki about it, one day after practice, and he said I could thank you for it.”

For reasons unbeknownst to herself, another tear fell down Uraraka’s cheek. Aizawa wasted no time pushing a box of tissues over to her. 

“Other than just working with Todoroki, there were subtle changes I noticed as well – changes he might not have even noticed himself. He’s become less abrasive towards his classmates. I haven’t heard him insult Midoriya once in at least two weeks – which is extremely impressive for him. He listens more when people talk to him. He seems less…burdened. It is an incredible change in just over two weeks’ time.”

The tears flowed freely now, silently. “Then why did he act like that when I told him I liked him?” She whispered, not bothering to be embarrassed that she was admitting her crush to her homeroom teacher. “If I’ve changed him so much, then why?”

“Because he’s scared, Uraraka.” He replied. 

“But why?”

“That’s something you would need to ask him yourself.” 

“I don’t think he’s going to want to talk to me anytime soon…or ever again.”

Aizawa’s mouth twitched, and he almost smiled. “I wouldn’t bet on that.” 

Uraraka felt a wave of relief hit her at the sound of Aizawa’s words. Whether there was any truth to them, she didn’t know, but they were comforting 

He passed her his phone, and there was a video on the screen. She pressed play and her eyes lit up when an adorable kitten wandered in scene and started playing with a large dog. 

She grinned. Aizawa was a big softie after all.

A loud noise distracted Uraraka from the video, and suddenly Sero was at the door, gasping and panting like he had just run a marathon. “Sensei! I need you in the dorms! It’s Bakugou, he’s freaking out so bad! He’s blowing up his whole room!”

Aizawa’s eyes flashed red, and he turned to Uraraka. “Stay here.”

“But –!”

“Stay. I’ll be back soon. Sero, you stay too.”

“But -!”

Aizawa’s red eyes were no nonsense, and Sero wilted. “Yes, Sensei.” He managed. 

Then he was running. His panicked response set Uraraka on edge. It was like the Sports Festival all over again, but this time Uraraka wouldn’t be there to help calm him down.

-x-

Aizawa came back to the room after an hour. Uraraka was curled up in the chair, speaking only occasionally to Sero, and waiting, filled with anxiety to see if Bakugou was okay.

She shouldn’t have cared. After what he did to her, he deserved to be upset. Despite that, she couldn’t shake the nerves in her stomach. She couldn’t stop herself from worrying about him.

From what Sero told her, Bakugou was a mess. He said that Todoroki had melted his door down in order to get to him, and that his room was destroyed and filled with smoke.

“I’ve never seen him like that…” Sero shook his head and gave Uraraka a nervous look. “He was…I don’t know. He looked like he had been tortured.”

Uraraka’s heart sank at the image.

Sero had asked Uraraka if she knew what happened, but she said she didn’t have any idea, claiming that she was in Aizawa’s office to discuss the upcoming exam next week. He seemed to believe her, and she was grateful she didn’t have to explain to him that she was assuredly the reason Bakugou had blown up.

When Aizawa returned, he looked even more exhausted than usual. He told Sero to walk Uraraka back to her dorm, then asked him to check on Kirishima.

“Of course, Sensei.” He nodded solemnly. Aizawa gave Uraraka a meaningful look.

“Uraraka,” He said, before she walked out the door. “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Yes, Sensei.” She gave him a small bow of her head, and then left with Sero.

Their walk back was quiet. There was a tense energy in the air and both of them could feel it. It was eerily calm outside, the only noises made by the nocturnal animals that lived within the trees.

Uraraka expected the common room to be empty, so she was surprised when she found almost her entire class, gathered among the couches, looking tired and stressed.

“Ochako!” Mina ran up to her and hugged her tight. “Are you okay?” She whispered in her ear.

“Yes.” Uraraka breathed back.

“Did you talk to Aizawa?” Kirishima stood up and asked Sero. He had a panicked look in his eye. “Did he say if Bakugou is okay?”

“He didn’t say anything, dude, sorry.”

Kirishima’s expression fell, and he sat back down, burying his head into his hands.

“Did you hear what happened, Ochako?” Tsu, who was perched on the side of the couch next to Momo, wearing her pajamas inquired.

“A little bit.” Uraraka mumbled, feeling trapped.

“Uraraka doesn’t have to talk about it if she doesn’t want to.” Deku said softly. He was sitting next to Todoroki on the floor. Todoroki looked like he had been in a battle. His clothes were singed, and he had chunks of ice still melting off of him. What had Bakugou done?

“It’s okay, Deku. Thank you.” She gave her friend a small, unconvincing smile. Her head felt fuzzy as she took in the scene in front of her. “Why is everyone awake and down here?”

Tsu blinked at her. “You weren’t here, Ochako, kero. It was…really crazy.”

“It was scary.” This came from Hagakure’s pajamas. “I thought we were under attack.”

“We shouldn’t be talking about him like he's some villain.” Kirishima’s voice sounded ragged and pained, like he didn't have any fight left in him.

"I'm sorry, Kirishima." Hagakure said in a small voice.

The room went quiet after that. Kaminari put his arm around Kirishima, and he leaned his head onto his friend. Mina gripped Sero’s hand tightly. Uraraka sat in-between Deku and Tsu, needing the presence of her friends. 

Nobody said it, but they knew they wouldn’t get any sleep if they went back to their own rooms. The dorms were plagued by the nightmare that had occurred there, and although Bakugou wasn't the most popular person in Class A, it was clear everyone was scared for him, so they stayed that way, relying on each other for comfort. Sometime around 3 AM, Uraraka drifted off on Tsu’s shoulder, and she dreamed about explosions and screaming.

-x-

When Bakugou woke up, he was in the infirmary – the place that had started this whole shitshow – only this time, he was alone. Sunlight streamed through the windows, alerting him that the drugs they gave him this time actually allowed him to sleep through the night.

He felt like he had been hit by a train. His head was still pounding, and his hands were covered in bandages, probably due to the bloody blisters he caused underneath. 

It was far from his first panic attack, but it was one of the worst, and too many people had witnessed it. At the Sports Festival, he had been subdued before he had a chance to have a full-blown meltdown, and everyone had just chalked it up to his bad temper. He didn’t care. Let people think he had anger issues; it was better than them thinking he was broken. 

He frowned, remembering how Kirishima had held onto him last night, enduring every painful, fiery blast that hit him at close combat. He remembered how the half-and-half – Todoroki – was determined to help him, even when Bakugou was nothing but an asshole to him and tried several times to violently force him away. He felt hot shame flood his whole body when he thought about the teachers that had been called to rescue him, to sedate him, to force him into submission so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He was training to be a hero, but he was the one always being rescued.

Pathetic. That’s what his mom would say if she knew. That’s what he was. Pathetic. Weak. 

If he were number one at everything, then he wouldn’t have to feel that way. He would prove himself, but he kept getting distracted.

Distracted by a beautiful, wonderful girl. Uraraka. He wondered if she was okay. The image of her sobbing face forced its way into his subconscious again, and he squeezed his eyes shut, taking deep breaths and willing it to go away.

Control it, he told himself. 

He had thought he had a pretty good handle on controlling himself, ever since things with Camie. He had pledged not to get close to anyone, to just focus on becoming the best hero, and destroying every challenge in his way, but he couldn’t help but be curious about the girl who had almost defeated him in the Sports Festival.

Uraraka was a fighter. She wouldn’t give up, no matter how many times he pushed her down, and he liked that about her. When he ended up in the same room as her after the Festival had ended, well – he was only human. He gave into his curiosity. 

His intentions weren’t to fall in love with her, but again, he was only human.

Humans made mistakes. That was something he had to remind himself often.

Except, falling for Uraraka hadn’t felt like a mistake. It had felt right. She made him feel whole. She didn’t look at him like he was going to explode. She didn’t subdue herself around him for fear of offending him. She didn’t treat him like a monster, even though that’s what he tried so hard to portray himself as. 

She saw through him. 

The more time he spent with her, the harder he fell. When she told him the rules – the first rule being to not fall in love with each other – he told himself he would back off. She was right anyways, love was a distraction. 

Yet, every day he felt himself more drawn to her. He found himself spacing out in class, staring at her, daydreaming about dumb shit like holding her hand or taking her on dates. It was nauseating, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her. 

When she made the suggestion that they spend time together outside of their sex arrangement, he had to force himself not to show his excitement over it. Having her sit at his table just felt like a natural thing, and when they went to the mall he almost felt like it could work out. 

Then on the train ride home, everything came flooding back to him, and he remembered why that was a terrible thing to think. If there was anything he had learned from his past, it was that he was better off not emotionally attached to anyone.  He had resigned himself to this fact when the train pulled up at their station, and he was prepared to back up from Uraraka.

And then. She confessed to him, and his heart felt like it was going to explode straight out of his chest and he just reacted. Badly. 

He hadn’t meant to make her cry. He just had to make her see. He was a bad idea.

He grabbed a pillow and pressed it against his face, wishing he could force himself back asleep, and never have to face Uraraka again.

Chapter Text

As earth-shattering as things could feel, the funny thing about life was that the next day always came. Uraraka woke up in Tsu’s lap to light streaming into the common room. Next to her, Momo snored daintily, her mouth lulled open. Kirishima was snuggled up to Kaminari, who was laid against Jirou, whose fingers were spread just shy of Mina’s, like they had fallen asleep holding hands. Ojiro’s tail twitched slightly as he dreamed, and Hagakure’s pajamas shuffled as she moved in closer to him.

The world was so peaceful in the morning.

She wished she could hold on to that peace, just for a little longer, but the moment her brain truly woke up was the moment that her illusion of tranquility was shattered, and the anxiety took over.

She replayed the last night in her head, over and over again. While she attempted to sleep, she decided that it was her fault Bakugou had such a major meltdown last night. If she had just kept her mouth shut, pushed her feelings down and continued on with life as they had been living it, then he wouldn’t be gone right now. She would’ve ended the night like so many others before, wrapped in his arms in his room.

She was an idiot.

Her sleep-crusted eyes scanned over more of the room. Iida was propped up against the wall with his head leaned back, sleeping with his mouth wide open. Aoyama was near him, wrapped in a plush blanket and surrounded by what seemed to be four feather pillows. It was amazing to her that almost the entire class was here – willing to sleep on couches and the floor just to comfort their hurting friends, to worry together, to heal together. Her class really was incredible.

Bakugou should’ve been there.

She noticed that while most of her classmates were still sleeping, blissfully oblivious to the internal turmoil going on inside of Uraraka, that two were missing. Todoroki and Deku, who had fallen asleep on the floor when she last checked, were nowhere in the room.

It was obvious where they were. Bakugou wasn’t going to like it.

-x-

Bakugou would describe himself as someone who generally wanted to be left the fuck alone, especially now. He had friends back in middle school, sure, but he considered them more of followers. When he had enrolled in UA, he had done so with the knowledge that he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way, and that he absolutely was not there to make friends. 

He hadn’t expected the redheaded asshole to cling to him from day one and drag him reluctantly into the band of misfits. He really hadn’t expected that after seeing him with Kirishima’s group, others would start to look to him as a friend, like Uraraka. He really hadn’t expected to half-and-half bastard and Deku to be two people that would care about him enough to visit him in the goddamn infirmary. 

Yet, there they were, standing in front of him looking concerned. Well, Deku looked concerned. Todoroki never had much expression on his face. 

Neither of them said anything to him, and Bakugou simply sized them up.

“If you want an apology, I’m not giving one.” He hated how high-pitched and raspy his voice sounded. It was throbbing from the overuse. “I didn’t ask you to break down my fucking door.” He glared at Todoroki. 

“I know.” Todoroki’s voice was even. “But it was of interest to me to keep the dorm standing.” 

Deku blinked at Bakugou with astonishment and Bakugou resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The nerd always looked like he was going to cry. It was true he had backed off of him lately – mostly for Uraraka’s sake, but also just because he wasn’t as bothered by him anymore. He was more determined to rise above him and be the best on his own accord, rather than by tearing Deku down.

That didn’t make them fucking friends, though. 

“Why are you here?” Bakugou cringed at the pain that came with each word. 

“We wanted to make sure you were okay.” Deku said earnestly. “And to see if you were up to coming to class.”

“Of course I’m going to fuckin’ class.” He grumbled. “I’m fine. Nothing wrong with me.”

He shuffled in his bed to try and get up, to prove his point, and he felt his body ache. Kirishima and Todoroki hadn’t held back on subduing him. 

“If you’re not up to it –” Deku’s hands flew up, but Bakugou waved them away. He was fine. He couldn’t deal with people acting like he was breakable. Is this how Uraraka felt all the damn time? Fuck. 

“No. I’m going to class.” He said stubbornly, and his voice regained a slight bit of its usual vigor. “Half-breed,” He turned to Todoroki, “We’re gonna destroy Class B in this exam.”

Todoroki gave a slight dip of his head in acknowledgment. 

“Kacchan…” Deku’s voice was quaking, as usual. The damn emotions were about to overflow. “If you wanna talk about…about what happened…”

Bakugou gave him a fiery glare. “Nothing happened, Deku. You don’t know anything.”

“Actually, he does.” Todoroki interjected. “He picked up on it and asked me if your tantrum had anything to do with Uraraka, so I told him.”

“You bitch!” Bakugou felt the anger return to him in full force. “We had a deal!”

“The deal was ineffective as soon as you became a danger to yourself and others. Midoriya would have figured it out on his own anyway. He’s perceptive.”

Deku looked sheepish. “Uraraka is one of my best friends, Kacchan. I could tell she was acting differently.”

“Speaking of Uraraka,” Todoroki began, and Bakugou felt his heart sink. “She’s a mess, and she needs to move on from this. Make it easy for her.” He was not asking, he was demanding. 

Bakugou would generally have said something nasty to someone who thought they could tell him what to do, but he already knew he had to let Uraraka be. He couldn’t keep thoughts of her out of his head – he wished he could talk to her, just to make sure she was alright, but he knew that was out of the question. There was no coming back from last night. 

Deku gave Bakugou a sad smile, and Bakugou resisted the urge to blow something else up, but he didn’t think his hands could take the brunt of that if he did. 

Instead, he stood up from his bed, and walked out of the room with two people who he would have never thought could ever give a shit about him and he wasn’t even complaining about it. Life would be funny if it wasn’t so miserable.

-x-

The classroom was quietly buzzing with low conversations and wandering eyes. Uraraka sat at her desk, trying her best to just focus on staring straight ahead. Bakugou, Deku and Todoroki were not yet in class, and that was all she could think about as Iida chattered away in her ear.

He was trying to make her feel better, and she appreciated that, but she couldn’t make herself actually listen to his words. It was something about a rumor he had heard about provisional licenses and hero internships – stuff she would usually be excited about, but not when her brain was too occupied on her own misery. 

Iida had moved on to asking her if she knew where she wanted to intern yet, and she nodded vaguely. “Gunhead, maybe.” She said noncommittally. Iida gave her a strange look.

“Gunhead? That’s a strange choice for you…”

“What? Figure me for more of a Mount Lady girl?” She could hear the acid in her own voice, but she didn’t care. Iida backed off after that, opting to focus on writing something down in his notebook and keep his eyes away from her direction. 

She sighed. She was being awful. She turned to apologize to him when the door opened, and in walked Deku and Todoroki, followed closely by Bakugou. The tension in the room increased suddenly and astronomically. Everyone’s conversations faded.

Uraraka’s whole body screamed in alarm at Bakugou’s proximity. She hadn’t seen him since the incident, which felt more like years ago rather than last night, and her emotions descended into a cataclysm. Uraraka glanced up at the trio. Deku smiled softly at her, but when she tried to make eye contact with Bakugou, he pointedly ignored it, and continued walking. He slumped down into his seat, his eyes fixed on the board in front of him. 

Uraraka clenched her fists tight in her lap. She would not cry in class. 

Aizawa walked in soon after, calling the class to attention. If he said anything at all important, Uraraka wouldn’t know. She was running on two hours of sleep, if that, and she couldn’t fight the heaviness in her eyelids. 

Thankfully, if Aizawa noticed, which Uraraka knew he did, he didn’t say anything. He was more lenient in general today, not even commenting when Kirishima’s head dropped heavily onto his desk as he let his exhaustion overtake him. 

As homeroom came to an end and Uraraka was preparing to embark on a long journey of learning absolutely nothing, Aizawa reminded the class of their upcoming exam.

“Remember,” He said, “The goal of the exam is to work with your partner efficiently. It is not about which team wins. Also, please try to keep the destruction of UA property to a minimum.” He gave a sideways glance towards Bakugou and Todoroki. Neither let any sign of emotion cross their faces. “The exam will take place at 9 AM on Monday, so spend this weekend finalizing your strategies. Class dismissed.” 

Bakugou was the first one out of the classroom. He practically jumped out of his seat and speed-walked out the door. He was gone before anyone else even had the chance to stand up.

Aizawa gave Uraraka a cautious glance, and she forced herself to smile back at him. 

The fake smile stayed on her face throughout the day, but as the day wore on, it became more solid, and more real. Tsu smacked Mineta with her tongue when he made a pervy comment about Momo, and Uraraka found herself smiling. Iida launched into a monologue about the importance of having a balanced diet after Todoroki unpacked his soba for the fifth day in a row, and Todoroki slurped up several noodles while maintaining serious eye contact with Iida, and Uraraka actually laughed. By the time the end of lunch came, she felt like maybe she would be okay.

She glanced over at the lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria and saw that it was less crowded than usual. Mina sat with Sero and Jirou, but Kirishima, Kaminari and Bakugou were all absent. She felt her stomach knot up again.

“I’ll be right back.” She told Deku, who was in the middle of hyping up the group for their exam. He nodded, slightly nervous, but no one protested when she started moving towards the uncharted table. 

Mina’s eyes locked to hers before she could announce her presence, and the two others smiled at her weakly in greeting. Mina patted the bench she was sitting on and Uraraka took a seat next to her. 

“How ya doing, love?” She asked softly. Sero and Jirou had looks of concern on their faces and Uraraka felt a blush creep into her cheeks. 

“I’m okay. How are you? Is Kirishima okay?” She felt the emptiness where Kirishima and Kaminari usually were, loud and rowdy and joyful. 

“Kiri…cares…a lot. He doesn’t take it well when his friends are hurting. Bakugou disappeared after last period, so Kiri and Kami went to go find him. I’m kinda hoping they don’t find him though. He probably doesn’t want to be found.”

“Tried telling Kirishima that.” Sero mumbled. 

“He’s not in the most rational place right now.” Jirou explained to Uraraka. “Denki is taking care of him.” 

“You guys know Bakugou better than me…” Uraraka began tentatively. “Is…this normal for him?”

“It’s not…not normal.” Sero grimaced. “Obviously, he’s got some anger issues. So, we’ve seen him blow up over really small stuff, but last night…I’ve never seen him act like last night.”

Mina stared into her soup. “I should’ve been there.” She whispered. 

“No, you would’ve gotten hurt.” Sero promised her. “Kaminari and Ojiro even had to bail because they couldn’t do anything helpful for him. Todoroki and Kirishima were the only ones who could handle him. It was like he was possessed. His room was falling apart. I’m surprised they were able to salvage it.”

“Who?” Jirou asked.

“Todoroki and Kirishima and Kaminari and Ojiro cleaned it up last night, after Bakugou passed out. They managed to get it kind of cleaned up, and then the teachers did the rest.” Sero explained.

Uraraka felt sick. She had seen a glimpse of Bakugou’s fury in front of the dorms last night, but this just sounded like pain. He always acted like he had no friends, that he didn’t care about anyone, but his classmates had made the effort to help him in more ways than one. How could he pretend he didn’t care about that?

“He beat Kirishima up pretty bad. Even with his hardening, he has some nasty burn marks. Todoroki took a hit to the stomach.” Sero continued.

“Is he okay?” Uraraka gasped. She knew Kirishima had a rough night – she could tell by his behavior in class, but Todoroki was as stoic as ever. 

Sero shrugged. “Haven’t talked to him since last night.”

They lapsed into a brief silence. “Hey, Uraraka.” Jirou spoke up. “You know this isn’t your fault, right?” 

Uraraka blinked up at her. She figured they would have been talking about her situation with Bakugou, it was unavoidable, but still startled her to hear it.

When Uraraka didn’t answer quick enough, she added, “I mean, I know I would blame myself if Kami went rogue like that, but you didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve been nothing but good for Bakugou.”

“Thanks, Jirou.” Her fake smile was back. “There’s nothing going on with Bakugou and I though. There never has been.”

She knew nobody believed her, but she didn’t care. She would keep telling herself and others that fact until she believed it herself. 

“Another thing, Ochako.” Mina said gently. “We love you, and you are always welcome here. Okay?” Her eyes were staring into Uraraka’s soul so genuinely that it hurt. She took Mina’s hand and gave her a real smile, one of the few she had left. “This thing will blow over in no time.”

“Thank you.” 

The rest of the conversation moved into other topics, even though everyone’s minds were elsewhere. With fifteen minutes left of lunch, Uraraka spied Kaminari and Kirishima in line to get whatever food Lunch Rush had left. Kirishima looked defeated. His shoulders were slumped.  Bakugou was not with them.

“Hey, Uraraka.” Kaminari gave her a bright smile. Kirishima plopped down next to him and nodded at her.

“Training after class today?” Kirishima asked passively, and it took Uraraka a moment to realize he was talking to her. It was surprising that he was still focused on the exam when he looked like he could drop dead at any second, but if that’s what he needed; she would do that for him. They had their suffering in common now, and maybe training would be a good distraction.

“Sure, Kiri.” She said softly. He smiled, and she had been fake smiling enough today to recognize that there was no happiness behind it. 

Somehow, miraculously, Uraraka made it through the rest of the day without falling asleep. She did get whipped lightly by Midnight when she spaced out during History of Heroics, but other than that, she did a damn good job of functioning. However, when it was time to train with Kirishima, she thought she might drop dead.

“C’mon, Uraraka, you gotta hit harder than that!” Kirishima was a machine, apparently, because they had been practicing for an hour and he just seemed to get more fired up. Uraraka understood, though, the adrenaline was good for her. Her anxiety dissipated with every punch, kick and dodge. She could only focus on taking Kirishima down.

She hadn’t thought about Bakugou the whole time.

“Keep it up!” Kirishima shouted at her. “Use your quirk! Be creative!”

Uraraka used her quirk to float high into the air, and released herself above Kirishima’s head, dragging him down to the ground with her.

“Shit, yeah, good.” He panted when he recovered from getting the wind knocked out of him.

“Aren’t you tired, Kiri?” Uraraka gasped. “I can’t imagine you slept well last night.”

“Eh,” He waved her question away. “I’ve had many sleepless nights before.”

“Why’s that?” She rolled over into a sitting position.

He gave Uraraka a sheepish look. “For a lot of reasons, for one – Mina. Two – video games. Three – well, Bakugou’s room is right next to mine, and he’s kinda prone to loud outbursts. The first time it happened it really freaked me out, but they’re not super frequent. In fact…they stopped all together right around the time you two started up.” He said thoughtfully. “Well, until last night.”

Uraraka couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling in her stomach that came from hearing that statement. “Kirishima, am I wrong to still be upset with him? Everyone is so worried about him, and I’m worried about him too, but he was still a complete asshole to me. Do I just forget that?” She felt horrible just saying her feelings out loud.

“What? No! Listen.” Kirishima turned towards her and looked directly into her eyes. “Of course you can be upset. I don’t know exactly what happened between you two last night – just grapevine gossip - but you don’t have to push your anger aside just because he hurt himself in the process of hurting you.”

Uraraka had cried more times in the past two days than she had cried since she was in diapers. It was frustrating as hell to feel the tears well up again, but Kirishima’s words felt like they had lifted a twelve-ton weight off of her chest. “I just feel like a terrible person for still being mad, but I told him how I felt about him, and he basically told me that he didn’t give a shit about me, and I feel like I can’t even be that upset because he’s hurting – but doesn’t the fact that he’s hurting mean he does give a shit about me? I’m so confused and tired and angry and I don’t want to talk to him but at the same time I want nothing more than to just be in his arms again and, and, and –”

She trailed off, taking a deep breath to control her emotions. She wasn’t usually this weak – she was just so tired.

“Uraraka,” Kirishima smiled softly, “You aren’t a terrible person. You’re a great person. Bakugou is just an idiot and he doesn’t know how to handle his feelings. He cares about you. I know that for a fact, because he’s never beat himself up so badly before.” He paused. “And hopefully he never does again, because that shit is scary.”

Uraraka sniffled. “It took a big toll on you too, didn’t it?”

“He’s my best bro.” Kirishima said. “Even if he won’t admit it, I know me being there for him helps out, so I just wanna be able to do whatever I can. Last night, I wasn’t able to do much, so I’ve been feeling down on myself. But it’s gonna be okay, and Uraraka, you should take all the time you need to be angry at him – he needs to know that he can’t act like that, but I think that you care about him a lot too, and I don’t think you should torture yourself too much by staying away from him for too long.”

Uraraka wiped a tear from her dirty face. She was covered in grime and sweat mixed with snot and salty tears, and she needed a shower and about fourteen hours of sleep, but right then, she didn’t feel so terrible anymore.

As if he was summoned by their conversation, Bakugou walked onto the field, next to Todoroki. The explosive boy looked tired, but his bandages had been removed, and he walked with confidence. When he passed by the two on the ground, he looked right at Uraraka. His mouth turned up just slightly – and his features softened. His expression looked almost apologetic.

In spite of everything, Uraraka felt a real smile creep onto her lips.

Chapter Text

The weekend passed, and Uraraka felt like herself again. She spent her time working with Kirishima, watching movies with Mina, Hagakure and Jirou, and even allowed herself to go out to a restaurant with Deku, Todoroki, Iida, Momo and Tsu. She figured after everything she had been through, she deserved to treat herself at least a little.

Before she knew it, it was Monday morning, and it was time for their exam against Class B. For all the hype that it had received, Uraraka was hoping it would be a good battle. She was sure that whoever they were up against, that they were ready.

Uraraka walked to the field with Deku, who was quieter than usual. He had a frenetic energy radiating off of him, and Uraraka figured that he was nervous for his battle. Deku had improved vastly since the Sports Festival – they all had – but he still had such a magnificent power that Uraraka thought was sometimes too powerful for his body to handle.

“Are you excited, Uraraka?” He asked finally, pulling the girl out of her thoughts.

“I just wanna know who I’m up against. I hope it’s not Kuroiro. He gives me the creeps.” She shuddered. “What about you?”

“I’m super excited! We’ll both do our best!”

She could practically feel the anxiety behind his words, but she knew asking him about it would psych him out, so she refrained. They reached the field a solid twenty-five minutes before they were supposed to be there because Deku wanted to warm up but found that they were not the only ones trying to squeeze in some last-minute work.

Kendo Itsuka was repeatedly punching Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu with her giant fist. The metal boy wasn’t even budging. Mina was spinning while releasing acid into the air while Kaminari sent quick electric shocks at her to dodge. Tsu and Tokoyami were in the shadows, sparring with Dark Shadow, who was producing battle cries.

Down at the far end of the field, an explosion rocked the early morning air. Bakugou was sending fireballs at Todoroki faster than Uraraka’s brain could process. Todoroki either dodged them or blocked them by erecting ice in front of him. Uraraka watched with admiration, not even noticing that she was staring tactlessly.  

“Oi, Uraraka!” Kirishima called to her from elsewhere, and she tore her eyes away from the absurd power show that the two were putting on. Uraraka shook her head, shaking away that she wanted to be cheering Bakugou on and the pride she felt somewhere deep inside of her that he was so strong and he was hers.

He wasn’t hers. She was being stupid again.

She grinned at Kirishima and started to stretch with him, letting her ridiculous thoughts take a back burner. She didn’t notice when Bakugou took a break from his training to look at her.

The rest of Class A and Class B filtered onto the field, some looking terrified, others looking fearless. Neito Monoma was bragging to anyone who would listen that he was going to absolutely destroy A. His partner, the cute American girl Pony Tsunotori cheered along with him – Uraraka was pretty sure she didn’t know what he was saying.

Aizawa shuffled to the field at 9 AM on the dot, Vlad King and Mic in tow. Aizawa and Vlad didn’t look thrilled to be awake at 9 AM but Mic was enthusiastic enough for all three of them.

“GOOOOD MORNING, HERO COURSE STUDENTS? ARE YOU READY TO RUUUUUUMBLE?” His shout caused birds from the nearby trees to scatter, much to Koda’s chagrin.

Aizawa and Vlad King might have been tired, but the students were energized. Everyone was absolutely ready to show what they could do. The Sports Festival had focused on only the strongest – for many, this was a chance for redemption and attention.

Uraraka peaked over at Bakugou again, who was startlingly closer and staring right back at her. His eyes snapped to the ground and she followed suit, hating the blush that crept into her cheeks.

Bakugou cleared his throat. “Hey, Round – Uraraka.” He corrected himself. Uraraka felt her heart make a violent effort to escape her chest.

“Y-yeah?” She managed, trying to make herself look him in the eye, and failing.

“Kick some Class B ass today. I know you can.”

Her entire body was on fire. She wanted to reach out, to touch him, to kiss him. She wanted to kick him and punch him and scream at him for making her feel this way about him. She wanted his arms around her.

“Thanks, I’ll do my best!” That was what she said instead, with a big cheesy smile plastered to her face, then she turned her attention to Aizawa, who was beginning to announce the pairings.

That was so not what she needed right before she would be fighting.

The match-ups were announced, and Kirishima and Uraraka were going against Kendo and Tetsutetsu. Kirishima cried out excitedly, throwing his fist in the air at the prospect of fighting against his steel counterpart. Uraraka, however, was nervous. Kendo was nothing to mess with. She was an extremely tough opponent, both in intelligence and raw strength.

She clenched her fists. She could do this.

“THE RULES ARE SIMPLE!” Mic announced. “EACH MEMBER WILL BE GIVEN A CAPTURE WEAPON – tape provided by our very own Sero Hanta – WHICHEVER TEAM GETS BOTH MEMBERS CAPTURED FIRST WILL BE THE LOSERS.”

Sero beamed and produced another strip of tape to hand to Aizawa.

The first match was called to a start – Iida and Aoyama versus Manga Fukidashi and Yui Kodai. Uraraka was finding it hard to concentrate on the match, which was flashy and raucous, because Bakugou was sitting behind her, too close in proximity for her to be able to breathe properly. The two boys were sitting with Kirishima, and they all made comments to each other throughout the fight, commenting on strategies and making predictions. Kirishima and Todoroki seemed to have forgotten that just a few nights ago, Bakugou had tried to blow both of them up.

She tuned back into the battle just in time to see Aoyama keeled over, clutching his stomach, and tangled up in a strip of extra sticky tape. Manga was coughing into the air, tape around his wrists. Iida was zooming around the field, trying to catch Kodai who kept switching between gigantifying herself and shrinking to avoid his capture. He finally managed to move too fast for her to react, and A’s team was victorious.

The next several matches went similarly.

Battle after battle raged on in the still dewy grass of the UA training field. Uraraka watched in wonder at her classmate’s teamwork, which, for the most part was very successful. Some of the pairings worked better than she ever would’ve thought, and she had to give props to Aizawa for his match up skills. Jirou used her jacks to amplify Koda’s anivoice, and with the help of the biggest flock of birds Uraraka had ever seen, they took down Kinoko Komori and Nirengeki Shoda. Momo and Deku’s strategy against Kousei Tsuburaba and Jurota Shishida was for Momo to create as many support items as possible (she had a sneaking suspicion Hatsume Mei was involved) so that Deku could attack with reckless abandon. Momo also created her own weapons to use against the duo, but in the end the other two were overtaken. Uraraka considered it a success though, as Deku hadn’t broken any bones.

Bakugou and Todoroki were up next. Their match up was a particularly nasty one, in Uraraka’s opinion. Ibara Shiozaki and Juuzou Honenuki – the boy who reminded Uraraka of a death because of his skull-like appearance – looked determined and fierce. Todoroki looked calm and Bakugou’s eyes were murderous. 

“READY? STAART!” 

Todoroki and Bakugou barely waited for Mic’s voice to finish vibrating through the air before beginning their assault on the Class B students. Bakugou sprinted towards Ibara, explosions blowing up in his wake. The girl’s eyes widened at his tenacity, but she reacted quickly, surrounding herself with vines. She stood still, awaiting the inevitable fire attack, but instead, Bakugou went physical. He grabbed her hair with his palms, and Uraraka cringed, imagining the pain the thorns must be causing him. He didn’t show a single sign of discomfort, and soon he had wiped his hands all over Ibara’s vines. 

“What are you doing you sinful man!?” She cried from her cocoon, lashing him with vine after vine.  

“Todoroki!” Bakugou growled. Todoroki was skating on ice around Juuzou, who was continuously melting the grass to try and trap the other boy. Todoroki was too fast, and soon an entire glacier of ice surrounded Juuzou.

“Now!” Bakugou screamed. Todoroki slapped his tape on Juuzou and then started towards Bakugou and Ibara, who was now whipping Bakugou rapidly with her vines. He didn’t fight back, and Class B was murmuring in confusion, wondering why.

Todoroki activated his flames, and Ibara screamed as the vines covering her body caught fire. She retracted them quickly, panicking, her eyes wide and terrified. Todoroki took his chance and put out the remainder of the flames with some aptly placed ice, and then Bakugou bound her wrists with tape. The battle was over before it began. Uraraka had seen the move in action many times, but to see it in the actual exam was breathtaking. Bakugou and Todoroki were unbeatable together. 

“Holy shit.” Kirishima mumbled from next to her. “I told them that move could kill somebody.”

Ibara was whimpering, touching her charred hair. “You will pay for your wrongdoings!” She crowed at Bakugou and Todoroki. Bakugou scoffed and Todoroki stared blankly.

“WOW, WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE MATCH!” Mic’s voice boomed from far too close, making the students clutch their ears. “LET’S TRY TO REFRAIN FROM KILLING OUR OPPONENTS.”

Ibara was being crated off to Recovery Girl, tears in her eyes, shouting biblical curses in the direction of Bakugou and Todoroki. Todoroki thawed Juuzou quickly, and the two boys shook hands. “Nice moves, man.” He said, slightly awed. “Looking forward to our next fight.” Todoroki nodded.

“UP NEXT, WE HAVE THE FATED REMATCH AGAINST THE HERO COURSE’S TWO HARDEST TEENS – EIJIROU KIRISHIMA AND TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU!”

“You should be careful of your word choice…” Aizawa deadpanned, shaking his head.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT – AND IN THE SECOND CORNER, WE HAVE THE ZERO GRAVITY PRODIGY – URARAKAAAA OCHAKO AND THE POWERHOUSE PUNCHER – KENDOOOOO ITSUKA.”

“Let’s do this, Uraraka!” Kirishima hardened his arm and clenched his fist. Uraraka gave a determined nod.

“Do your best, guys!” Cheered Mina. “Make me proud!”

“You got it, Uraraka!” Deku gave her a thumbs up. Uraraka grinned down at her friends, then glanced over at Bakugou, who was sitting back in his original spot. His face was covered in shallow cuts from Ibara’s thorns, but he didn’t seem to be bothered. He gave a slight dip of his head to acknowledge Uraraka. She knew he would be watching her fight closely.

Tetsutetsu and Kendo were in fighting stance – they were a threatening duo, and their chemistry when fighting was hard to rival. The two were a match up that did not come to play. 

Then again, neither had Uraraka.

“STAAART!” Mic’s voice echoed and Uraraka and Kirishima took off running – they had agreed that their first strategy would be attack. Ideally, Uraraka could make one of their opponents float and Kirishima could take care of the other in close combat. They hadn’t known who they were going up against until the start of the matches, which was a disadvantage, but their plan still stood.

Kirishima rammed his entire body into Tetsutetsu, and they began their brawl. Kendo was expecting Uraraka – she knew her quirk from the Sports Festival, and she knew to stay away from her touch. Kendo’s quirk allowed her to keep her weak spots at a distance and use her fist as both offense and defense. Uraraka was using most of her energy just dodging the gigantic hand. If she could just keep her still long enough to press her fingers to her fist…

Kendo made contact with Uraraka, and she was thrown backwards against the field. Her back hit the ground and she gasped, feeling her breath leave her momentarily. 

She heard the concerned voices of her classmates rising up. They were always worried about her in fights, like she couldn’t hold her own. She was fragile.

I know you can, Bakugou had said to her. Everyone always underestimated her, but she wasn’t weak. 

She crawled up on her knees, only to be met by Kendo’s fist again, knocking her further back with a hit that should have knocked her out cold, but she blinked through the dizziness, and she spit the dirt out of her mouth.

I know you can. Just four words, but they gave her strength. She knew she could. She remained on the ground, quieting her breathing, until she heard Kendo’s footsteps approach. She waited until Kendo reached down to secure her victory, Sero’s tape in hand, and then Uraraka’s hand shot up. 

“See you in the air.” She managed. Kendo’s eyes widened as she rose up. Uraraka took her chance, leaving the girl airborne and sprinting towards Kirishima, tripping over her feet slightly but determined to reach him.

“Kiri!” She shouted, and he gave Tetsutetsu a shove with all his might, then reached his hand out to Uraraka. She touched the pads of her fingers to him, and up he went.

“What the?” Tetsutetsu’s eyes flew up, following Kirishima. Uraraka turned back to Kendo, who was hanging onto a tree with her oversized hands, struggling to pull herself down to the ground without gravity. 

"Uraraka!” Kirishima called from the sky, because Tetsutetsu had focused his attention momentarily on Kendo. Kirishima’s scream caused him to look back to Uraraka. Perfect.

“Release!” Kirishima became a comet, and he spiraled down directly at Tetsutetsu.

“Ah, shit.” The steel boy covered his head with his hands and braced for impact. Kirishima crashed into him, and the resulting eruption rang all across campus. Rock had hit steel, and now both of them lay passed out in a crater. Uraraka grimaced. 

Sorry, Kiri, she thought, before quickly binding Tetsutetsu with the tape. Kendo was still in commission and hanging from a tree branch. She seemed helpless, and Uraraka wanted to win, but she wanted to win without majorly injuring the girl, so she offered her a hand. 

Kendo took it and allowed herself to float into the sky again. Uraraka released her slowly, so that she wouldn’t fall hard. 

“Thanks, Uraraka.” The girl grinned at her. “And, sorry about this.”

Uraraka blinked, taking exactly one second to register before she received a giant fist to the face. She saw stars, and tasted blood. One eye was throbbing, and she was sure she would have permanent brain damage from that hit. Her ears were ringing, and she was unable to move. If she moved, her brain might fall out of her head. Idiot, she thought. She had been so confident, so sure she would win. She had worked so hard, and it was just like the Sports Festival all over again – humiliation and loss.

“Oi, Round Face, get up!” She heard Bakugou scream at her from what seemed like miles away. “I know you aren’t going to let some giant-hand bitch take you out! You’re stronger than that!” 

She spat out blood and propped herself up on her hands, trembling. 

“You can do it, Uraraka!” Deku’s voice had joined the yelling, and then, her entire class was cheering her name, encouraging her to get up. She wondered idly why Kendo hadn’t captured her yet, but now was her chance. 

She stood up shakily and wiped the blood from her nose on the back of her hand. She spotted Kendo, hunched over on the ground, throwing up. Uraraka smiled. Being without gravity that long had been more than Kendo could handle, and the after effects were hitting her.

The girl had taken advantage of Uraraka’s kindness.

Giant-hand bitch.

She used up the remainder of her energy and she ran at Kendo. She was unable to react in time and Uraraka shoved her hand into her face. Kendo gave her a horrified look, her face still green with nausea, as she rose up into the air. Uraraka waited until she was high in the air, and then with venom in her voice, cried out, “release!”

Kendo hit the ground hard.

“OKAAAY, MATCH OVER, TEAM A WINS!” Mic’s amplified voice rang out before Uraraka had a chance to officially capture Kendo. “AND PLEASE MAY I REMIND YOU ALL AGAIN, WE ARE NOT TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER. THANK YOU.”

Uraraka stared into the crowd, her eyes meeting with Bakugou. He wore a genuine, proud smile. 

She returned a bloody smile, then she passed out.

Uraraka woke up in the infirmary, feeling a distinctly sickening sense of déjà vu. Her head hurt, and when she reached her hand up to touch her face, she felt a serious bump above her right eye. She was starting to feel like Deku with how often she was ending up here. She groaned out loud. 

“Yeah, you look like shit.” A voice from next to her bed said off-handedly. Uraraka felt her spirit leave her body. Bakugou was sitting in a visitor’s chair, his face resting on his hand while he scrolled his phone and didn’t look at her. “That big-handed bitch really beat your face bad.”

“Why are you always here when I’m here?” Uraraka whined once she had recovered from the shock. Bakugou was in the infirmary, sitting next to her bed like nothing had ever happened. Maybe Kendo had punched her harder than she originally thought and now she was hallucinating. 

"They made me come up here anyways, to make sure I didn’t have any thorns imbedded in my skin.” He scrunched up his face. There was a Band-Aid above his right eye. They had matching eye injuries. Cute. “So, I just stopped by. Whatever.”

“So you’re just going to act like nothing happened?”

Bakugou growled. “What, you want me to say I’m sorry?”

“Uh, yeah, actually, that would be great.” She sat up straighter in her bed. “You were kind of a huge jerk.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “I’m sorry…for…. reacting…”

“Overreacting.” Uraraka corrected him pointedly. 

“Overreacting.” He scowled. “I just…didn’t expect it…. is all.” He finished as if apologizing physically pained him. 

“Well. Yeah. That’s a start.” She crossed her arms and gasped in pain when she did so. “Did I break my fucking arms too?”

Bakugou barked out a laugh at the profanity that came out of Uraraka’s mouth. “You’re not supposed to say fucking, Round Face.”

“Fuck you. You’re not allowed to call me nicknames anymore.” She said indignantly. 

“I said sorry, didn’t I?” He snapped. 

“Saying sorry and showing you’re sorry are two different things, Bakugou.” Uraraka was not prepared for this conversation, but she would not just forgive him that easily. If he wanted her back in his life, then he was going to have to work for it. “Besides, you can’t just say sorry and take back everything that happened. Do you remember what you said to me?”

“Yeah, I was shitty, but you came out of nowhere with that confession shit after telling me over and over again that you weren’t supposed to fall in love with me.”

“That was a fair rule until you decided to take me out on a date.”

“We were at the mall with those fuckin’ morons, and –"         

“—You bought me clothes and food. You ever been on a date, Bakugou? I hadn’t, until then.” Uraraka’s eyes were steely.                 

He threw his hands up in the air. “Okay, okay, shit.” His ears were reddening like they always did when he was embarrassed. “I’m not good at this shit. Fucking…feelings. I don’t know how to talk about it. So I don’t.”

“Okay, well, that’s not going to work.” Uraraka said simply. “You don’t get to completely reject me, then go and blow up your room – which, by the way, what?”

“Can we not talk about that please?” Bakugou stared down at the ground, clutching his phone in his fist.

“Not talking about things is why we’re in this stupid situation in the first place.” Uraraka argued, feeling frustrated that Bakugou thought he could just come to see her in the infirmary and act like nothing had happened and hope everything would just go back to normal. Absolutely not. She would make him talk to her if it killed him.

"I get fuckin’ panic attacks, alright? Shit. Saying that out loud is so fucking dumb.” His voice lost its edge at the end, and he just sounded disappointed.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Bakugou.” Uraraka’s voice softened. She knew based on what she had heard about his episode that he was suffering from a panic attack. Aspiring heroes knew a lot about them. She would often fall asleep in Tsu’s room, cradling the girl in her arms as she sniffled and sputtered, reliving the USJ attack from earlier in the year, and remembering how close that horrible decomposition villain had come to grabbing her face. “You think they make you weak?”

“I know they do. It’s bullshit.”

“No, they don’t, and bottling up your emotions will only make them worse. You have to talk to people, Katsuki.” It was a gamble, using his first name. She had only done so a handful of times, and they had all been when she was wrapped in his arms, but he didn’t react badly to it. Instead, he finally met her eyes.

“It’s hard to talk to people.” His voice was almost a whisper. “My whole life, I was told that I was strong, and the older I got, the more unacceptable it became to show weakness. Emotions were considered weakness. Can’t have that when you want to be number one.” He sounded bitter, and Uraraka could hear the implications in his words. He couldn’t be weak.

“That’s not a way to live, you know.” Uraraka’s heart hurt for him again. The anger she was holding against him dissipated. She wouldn’t forgive him so easily, but at least she could understand. Bakugou was struggling.

“Yeah, well it’s all I know how to fuckin’ do, angel.” He sighed. Uraraka almost scolded him for using a nickname, but she thought better of it. “I’ll try.” He murmured, barely moving his lips.

“What?”

“I’ll try. To talk about shit. To be…better.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry…for hurting you.”

Damn it. Her eyes betrayed her and welled up with tears for the ten thousandth time.                                   

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He breathed, and in his eyes, she saw vulnerability. Bakugou was opening up to her. He was trying.

“Yes. It’s okay. I forgive you.” She watched as he released a breath he was holding in. Relief was written on his face. “But we can’t go back to the way things were. I’m sorry. I can’t…I can’t handle that.” She gulped. “We can’t do the sex thing anymore.” She waited for him to leave, to tell her that was all he cared about and if it was off the table then fine, he was out. Even though he just opened up to her, she couldn’t help but feel like it was all fake.

“Okay.”

“What?” She couldn’t keep the exclamation from escaping her lips. “Did you just say okay?”

“Yes? The fuck? I’ll be your friend. We don’t have to do anything else, but I’ll be your friend.” He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “And I’ll prove to you I’m sorry.”

“Oh- okay…” She said slowly.

“Okay.” He repeated. “Now, can we get out of here? I’m starting to get real sick of being in this place.” 

"Okay.” She agreed, unable to remember any other word in her vocabulary. 

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

Uraraka spent the night in the infirmary, with Bakugou snoring in the chair next to her. It couldn’t have been comfortable, and Uraraka insisted that he should go back to his room many times, but he was stubborn and determined to spend the night by her side. 

“My room sucks right now anyways, cheeks.” He had said. The nicknames were back with a vengeance. He hadn’t wasted any time throwing her actual name out the window. “They’re still in the process of fuckin’ rebuilding it.”

“Oh right.” There went that argument. “Well, what if Deku or my other friends come by to visit? Wouldn’t they think it’s weird that you’re here?”

“First of all, I can handle that damn nerd. Second, people are gonna have to get used to seeing us together if we’re gonna be friends, so I don’t give a fuck what any of them think. And third – Recovery Girl said no visitors tonight, so.”

Uraraka gave him a look. “But you’re here?”

Bakugou glared at her. “Yeah, and?”

"Never mind.” She sighed. She wasn’t going to convince him to go to sleep in his room or anywhere more appropriate than where they currently were, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t grateful for his company. 

He told her about the results of the exam. Class A won overall, but narrowly. After Uraraka’s match, Aizawa and Vlad had agreed that they needed to add in some rules for safety so that the entire infirmary wouldn’t be full of injured students – namely, no moves that could cause life-threatening injuries allowed (“It got really fucking boring after that”). Bakugou also mentioned that after the exam was over, Aizawa announced that this had been preparation for a bigger event approaching – the Provisional License Exam. Uraraka remembered Iida talking about it, but then it had just been a rumor. The Provisional License Exam was a big deal – those who passed it would be able to use their quirks in public in the context of hero work. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for aspiring heroes. Bakugou’s eyes were fiery as he talked about it. 

Bakugou only left Uraraka’s side once, to sneak down into Lunch Rush’s cafeteria and grab them something to eat from the kitchen. She gasped when he returned with a bag full of various snacks – he even brought her some mochi, which was her favorite. They stayed up way later than they should have, eating and talking and Uraraka couldn’t help but laugh at a thought that entered her head.

“What?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

"This is like a sleepover.” She smirked. 

“Tch. Don’t say dumb shit like that.” He rolled his eyes. “Like I’d do a sleepover.”

“This is definitely a sleepover.” She assured him. “The only thing missing is watching a chick flick.” 

"I’ll leave.” He threatened. 

“Go ahead.” She gestured to the door. Bakugou made a “hmph” sound and sunk further into his chair. Uraraka giggled. She knew he wouldn’t leave. “I won’t make you watch a chick flick – not this time.” 

Bakugou’s ears got red, and he mumbled something incoherent. Uraraka took the lull in conversation as her cue to finally fall asleep. 

-x- 

Being Bakugou’s actual, real friend was a full-time job. He was insistent that Uraraka train with him every day, because, in his words he “wasn’t gonna watch her almost lose to some B extra again”. He woke her up at an ungodly hour each morning, practically having to drag her out of her warm and cozy bed for agonizingly brutal gym sessions.  

When they weren’t in the gym, they were working on homework together. Uraraka could finally understand English possessives with Bakugou’s help, and she was able to pass their next test with flying colors. 

She spent her lunches back and forth between her original table, and Bakugou’s table. Mina and Kirishima were ectstatic at this development, and no matter how many times Uraraka sat down next to Bakugou, they treated it like the first time.

“Uraraka is here!” Kirishima cheered one day. His arm was still set in a cast, but he claimed it was healing nicely. During his kamikaze dive into a man made of literal steel, Kirishima had landed directly on his left arm, and shattered it. He was angry for days, grumbling about how he was supposed to be unbreakable and what kind of bullshit quirk did he have if he couldn’t even ricochet from 50 feet in the air onto the enemy. Tetsutetsu was unharmed, and was good-natured about the whole thing, even losing. He was thrilled he had managed to break Kirishima. Shortly after the battle, the two Class B students had approached Kirishima and Uraraka to congratulate them on their victory. Kendo pulled Uraraka aside privately and apologized. “I didn’t act very much like a hero.” She admitted. Uraraka shook her head vigorously, assuring the girl there was no bad blood, and she actually thanked her. Kendo looked confused, but Uraraka just smiled. 

"I’m here like, every other day, Kiri.” Uraraka rolled her eyes, a bad habit she was picking up from Bakugou.

“Alright, Uraraka’s here!” Mina slid in next to Kirishima and beamed. “And sitting next to Bakugou again, I see.” She raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Is today the day?”

“No, Mina.” Uraraka sighed.

“Maybe tomorrow will be the day they admit they’re in love, Kiri.”

“I’ve got 2000 yen that says it’s in less than a month.” Chimed in Kaminari.

"Only 2000? I’ve got 4500.” Sero quipped.

"Are you fuckin’ idiots ever gonna get less annoying?” Bakugou wondered out loud, shooting a glare at the table in general.

"Never.” Mina’s grin was glowing. 

Of course, everyone had immediately noticed that Bakugou and Uraraka were talking again. After his blow-up, the whole weekend was filled with gossip about why he did it. It didn’t take long for Uraraka to be named as the cause, and then the rumors began to fly. 

Uraraka had to hand it to them – not all of the rumors were so far off. There was a particularly popular one about them being secret lovers and that Uraraka had cheated on Bakugou with Kirishima, breaking his heart and causing him to attempt to go on a murderous rampage only to be stopped by All Might himself. That one was at least halfway true, but she resented the fact that she was given the role of unfaithful partner.  

Now that they were friends, the whispering had increased ten-fold, and everywhere the two of them went together they were met with sly smirks and tittering behind hands. At first, it had irritated the hell out of Uraraka, especially the braver and more vocal students in the class.

“Oooh, Uraraka!” Aoyama cooed at her one day when she was trying to focus on a math problem in front of her. “Where’s your doting boy toy?”

“Where’s yours?” She snapped back.

"Moi? I do not have time for love, but you, you are a girl smitten.” He twirled, his eyes sparkling at her.

Uraraka shot him a glare that could rival Bakugou’s and he backed off. After a while, she stopped caring about the teasing. It was worth it to spend time as Bakugou’s friend.

The only ones who knew the truth about their situation – or rather, their former situation - were Mina and Kirishima, and later Uraraka learned, Todoroki and Deku.

“You told Deku?” Uraraka was incredulous when Bakugou admitted this fact one night. She was a little peeved. Deku was her best friend - she was supposed to be the one to tell him about her losing her virginity. 

"I didn’t tell anyone. The little shit figured it out himself, apparently cause you were acting weird. Todoroki too.” His voice was cross, and he didn’t look up from his homework. “Oh, Kirishima knows too.” He added quickly.

“You’re like a teenage girl, holy shit. You’re gossipy.” She stared at him in wonder, waiting for the explosion.

“Teenage girl my ass, Round Face! They’re the teenage girls, coming to me with all of this bullshit, acting like they know anything about us, getting in my goddamn business and on my goddamn nerves –”

Ah, there it was. She smiled fondly. “Well, if we’re being honest and communicating, which we are, Kirishima and Mina may or may not have caught me the very first night I went to your room and forced me to tell them everything.” She covered her face with her hands and blinked carefully through a gap in her fingers.

“I’m gonna kill you.” He said simply. He pushed his homework out of the way and jumped on her. She held her hands up, pushing them into his face and squealing, “I surrender. I surrender!”

Not everyone met the news of their friendship with a warm reception like Mina and Kirishima or teasing like Aoyama – but Uraraka was expecting that. Deku was supportive, as always, but Todoroki approached the subject with an attitude as cold as his right side. 

“I just don’t want a repeat of what happened that night.” He told her stoically. “Bakugou is volatile.”

“I can handle myself.” Uraraka promised him, meeting his eyes seriously. “Besides, we’re just friends, none of that other stuff.” She added in a low voice. He simply puffed air out of his cheeks and looked at Deku, as if asking for help.

Deku was the opposite of help. “I think it’s wonderful that Kacchan and Uraraka are friends again! Uraraka, you’re such a positive influence. I’ve really noticed a lot of growth from him lately.”

“Just because he isn’t trying to kill you and everyone around him every minute?” Todoroki deadpanned. 

“That’s growth, Todoroki. That is growth.” 

Regardless of how weird the situation actually was, Uraraka felt like things were natural between the two of them. She began to fall into a sort of routine with Bakugou – morning training sessions, every other lunch, and homework in the evenings. She was comfortable in her friendship – as if she had known the blonde boy her whole life. They were better as friends than they had ever been as sexual partners, she was sure of that. One night, Uraraka was so exhausted from the day that she fell asleep on her textbook in the middle of the common room. Bakugou had carried her back to her dorm, tucked her in, and then left. He would’ve never done that before – it broke rules.

Things got weird on a Tuesday afternoon at lunch. It was Uraraka’s day to sit with Deku, Iida, Todoroki, Tsu and Momo, or what she took to calling her “tranquil table” because she didn’t have to look out for rogue quirk use or have to worry about flying food. She had just sat down with her tray next to Tsu, when Bakugou slid in next to her, casually. He placed his own food down on the table and began to eat. The whole table stared at him.

"Uh,” Uraraka offered.

“What?” Bakugou snapped at them. 

“You don’t usually sit here, Kacchan.” Deku pointed out, seemingly dazed.

“Is there a fuckin’ rule that says where you can or can’t sit?” Bakugou scoffed. “I got sick of my shitty table. They’re more damn annoying than usual today.” 

Todoroki raised his eyebrow and gave Bakugou what appeared to be an amused look. His lips turned up, and Bakugou glowered at him.

“What are you looking at, half-and-half?” He spat. 

Todoroki shrugged, and continued to slurp his soba. 

After that, no matter which table Uraraka sat at, she ate lunch with Bakugou every day, and her tranquil table got slightly more explosive.

-x-

“Tomorrow is the Provisional License Exam.” Aizawa announced with no fanfare. He stood in front of the class, looking uninterested as ever, as he assessed their reactions to the news. It wasn’t like they hadn’t known it was coming – but Aizawa had purposely not given them the exact date, which caused an excited energy to surround the class at all times as they waited for their chance to improve. 

“Phew,” Kirishima let out a huge sigh of relief. His arm was finally out of its cast, and he was deemed by Recovery Girl as good to go. “Wouldn’t have wanted to miss that.” 

Uraraka jiggled her legs erratically under her desk. She was so ready for the Provisional License Exam. In her past few weeks training with Bakugou, she had gotten significantly stronger, more confident, and increased her tolerance for zero gravity. She was ready. 

“They will be separating classes A and B so that everything is kept fair – and so that you don’t end up with attempted murder on your records before you graduate –” He directed bloodshot eyes at Bakugou and Todoroki then Kirishima and Uraraka. Kirishima grinned sheepishly, while the rest of them kept their heads down. “We will be taking a bus to a facility in another city, and you will be partaking in the exam with many students from other schools. Remember, most of the students who take the Provisional License Exam are older and more experienced than you, so don’t underestimate their skill level.” He paused. “I know how cocky some of you can get.” 

“Cocky? Us? Sensei, I can’t believe you’d say something like that.” Mina sounded scandalized. 

“I’m the literal definition of humble.” Kaminari protested. “No one is humbler than me.” 

“Shut up, morons.” Bakugou said, but his words lacked their usual bite. Uraraka knew he was too amped up over the exam to focus on being a jerk. 

As usual, Aizawa pretended like he hadn’t heard any of them. 

“Sensei,” Ojiro asked, “What kind of exam will this be? Will it be similar to exercises we’ve had in school?”

“Sensei, will we be working in teams?” Hagakure called.

“Sensei!” Iida proclaimed, “Are we allowed support items during the exam?”

Aizawa gave a deadly stare to the class until the questions died down. “I’m not allowed to tell you anything, and even if I were, I wouldn’t. The Provisional License Exam evaluates your skills in hero work – if you do not already have the necessary skills then nothing I say now will help you pass. Now, go back to your dorms. Get some rest. We leave at 5 AM tomorrow and pack an overnight bag. The location is far and there is a possibility we will stay the night.”

“5 AM?!” Sero wailed. 

“I don’t usually go to sleep until at least 3.” Jirou complained. 

Aizawa’s eye twitched. “If you all keep complaining then I can just tell the Provisional License Committee that you all forfeit your chance for your license. And then I can expel you. Whatever you want.” 

The class murmured apologies and went quiet.

“Great. Go.” He waved them away with a lazy flick of his hand and the class filed out.

-x-

Uraraka thought that all the early morning training with Bakugou would turn her into a morning person, but no one was a 4:30 AM morning person. She crawled out of bed, pushed aside her blanket and then groaned. This should be illegal. She wiped the crust out of her bleary eyes and checked her phone.

The class group chat was alive and well and Kirishima and Kaminari were a little too enthusiastic to be awake – but judging by the timestamps on the messages, neither of them ever went to sleep. She had another text that required her attention – a text from Bakugou that read: Time to get up, cheeks. If you’re not awake in thirty minutes I’m coming to wake you up. The timestamp on it was dated thirty-two minutes ago. 

Crap. 

She just had enough time to pull her gym pants on and yank a tank top over her head before there was a pounding at her door. “Oi, time to wake up, Round Face!”

“I’m awake!” Uraraka cried back, looking longingly at her warm, inviting bed. “Come in.” She grumbled, slightly less venomous this time. She walked to the tiny bathroom to brush her teeth, not even bothering to worry about the mess of bedhead she was currently dealing with.

"Since when did you become my personal alarm clock?” Uraraka rinsed out her mouth then turned to appropriately glare at the blonde who ended up being clingier than she would have ever expected. Bakugou had his hands in his pockets. He was fully dressed in his gym uniform, and he looked perfectly awake and put together. Uraraka wanted to punch him.

Bakugou was totally a 4:30 AM morning person. How annoying.

“If I wasn’t your alarm clock, you’d never wake up on time.” He said. His eyes traveled up to her hair. “What’s going on there?”

“I didn’t have time to get ready before you invaded my space.” She snapped. “And I did manage to wake up just fine before you, you know.”

“Surprisingly.” He sat down on the bed. Her bed. It was too damn early for this.

“Just sit there and be quiet while I finish getting ready.” She mumbled. She stared at herself in the mirror and patted her cheeks as an attempt to jolt some awareness into herself. She took a brush to her hair to try and tame it, but it just ended up poofing out worse than before.

"Agh!” She cried out in frustration.

“What could you possibly be having so much damn trouble with, cheeks?”  Bakugou’s voice came from her bed. 

“My hair,” She felt silly saying it. “It just won’t go this morning. It’s too early for it to cooperate.”

"C’mere.” 

Uraraka stuck her face out the door to give Bakugou an odd look. “Why? What are you gonna do about it?” 

"Just c’mere.” He growled. She shrugged and ambled over to the blonde, starting to feel slightly more awake due to the sheer oddness of the situation. Bakugou tapped his foot on the floor in front of him, signaling Uraraka to sit down. She sat, and he immediately intertwined his fingers in her hair.

“What – are you – do you know how to do hair?” Uraraka asked incredulously. 

“Mhm.” He answered noncommittally, working one side of her hair into what felt like a French braid. 

“…How?” She managed. His fingers were working fast, expertly turning her mop into something seeming both manageable and efficient for the exam. 

“My quirk requires a lot of hand control. If my hands are shaky, or twitchy, or just weak in general, it could affect the quality of my explosions.” He explained. He tapped Uraraka’s wrist and held out his hand. 

“Hair tie.” He clarified. 

“Oh.” She had three on her hand, and she handed him one. 

“I need two.” 

“What kind of elaborate hairstyle are you doing on me?”

“Tch.” He ignored her. “Anyway, I did a lot of knot tying when I was younger, then that got too easy, so I learned how to braid. I knew – some girl who let me practice on her a lot, so I got really good at it.” His voice caught when he said girl, but he relaxed his voice so that the rest of his sentence sounded nonchalant. “It’s easy now, and it’s pretty relaxing or whatever, so I don’t mind doing it.” 

She smiled; it was just as relaxing for her having her hair braided as it was for Bakugou braiding it. 

"You tell anyone that and I’ll kill you.” He added and patted her head to let her know she was done. Uraraka jumped up to look in the mirror and let out an exclamation.

“Wow, this is better than anything I could have done! Thanks, Bakugou.” She grinned, genuinely awake now. 

“Yeah, whatever. You finally ready now?”

She nodded, and they headed out of him room to make the long walk towards the bus. 

Most of her classmates had already boarded by the time she arrived with Bakugou. Tsu stood outside with Mina, both girls wrapped in a blanket and looking pained.

“Good morning, Tsu-chan, Mina-chan.” Uraraka smiled at her friends. Mina gave her a withering look and Tsu ribbetted softly. 

"You’re sure awake this morning.” Tsu commented, her voice croakier than usual. She nodded towards Bakugou in greeting. Weeks ago, Uraraka showing up anywhere with Bakugou would’ve set Tsu’s alarm bells off, and she would’ve been grilling Uraraka for information, but everyone was used to them now, even if no one understood their relationship. 

“Yeah, you two are disgusting.” Mina said, sleep dripping from her words. “I at least expected anger and misery out of Bakugou, but since he’s so damn in love I can’t even rely on him for that.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes at Mina. “Don’t even need to justify your bullshit with an answer, alien freak.” He grumbled. “Let’s get on the damn bus, it’s cold.” 

“Okay, but once you get on, you’re gonna realize why we stayed out here.” Mina shook her head; her curls were missing their usual bounce.

Uraraka realized immediately what Mina was lamenting about. The inside of the bus was roaring with activity. Class A was full of morning people. She could’ve thrown up at the image.

Kirishima was bouncing up and down in his seat next to Deku, yammering a mile a minute about how he was going to destroy all the other schools in the competition while chugging an energy drink. Deku was listening eagerly, nodding his head so much that Uraraka was surprised it didn’t come unhinged. He was gripping his notebook, showing Kirishima all the different notes he had taken on him.

Kaminari and Sero were standing up and singing, loudly along to a K-Pop song that was blaring out of Kaminari’s phone. Hagakure was talking poor Ojiro’s ear off, the boy listening patiently and nodding at the appropriate times. Iida was trying and failing to get control of everyone, and Momo half-heartedly encouraged his attempts, but most of her focus was on a very sleepy Todoroki who was drooling on her shoulder.

"What is wrong with you animals?” Mina cried. “It’s 5 AM.”

“My sentiments exactly.” Aizawa shambled into the bus behind Uraraka. He squinted at the bus. “I don’t have even remotely enough energy for this.”

"Same.” Mina agreed.

“I wish one of you had a sleep quirk.” He muttered.

“Same.”

Aizawa collapsed down into one of the seats and immediately leaned up against the window. He looked like he was going to actually fall asleep amongst all the noise, when one last passenger ran onto the bus.

"SORRY I’M LATE, KIDDOS. WHO’S READY TO ROCK THIS PROVISIONAL EXAM? YEAAAAAH!” Uraraka cringed. If she wasn’t completely awake before, she was now. Mic dropped down into the seat next to Aizawa and began promptly talking a mile a minute.

Uraraka giggled slightly.

“C’mon, Round Face.” Bakugou nodded in the direction of the back of the bus, which seemed to be the quietest as it was where Todoroki was snoring away. Uraraka gave Momo an amused smile, which the girl returned bashfully. She was going to have so much drool on her uniform.

"How long is this ride, do you know?” Uraraka asked the other girl in a soft voice, taking care not to disturb Todoroki.

“Long,” Momo replied. “At least two hours, possibly three, if Iida’s information is correct. It’s a good thing though, because in about 45 minutes, they’ll be out.” Momo gestured with her eyes towards Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero. “Apparently, they only slept five hours last night, according to Todoroki who slept around five hours as well due to the noise.”

“Yeah,” Grunted Bakugou. “Idiots were up all night.”

"Todoroki said you were with them.”

Bakugou made a face. “Nosy fuckin’ half-and-half.” He grumbled under his breath. Momo giggled.

It didn’t take long for the bus to go from one hundred to zero in terms of activity. Kaminari was the first to go down – dramatically – as he fell into his seat and shouted, “goodnight everybody!” after a particular passionate rendition of an American rock song that he definitely didn’t know all the words to. He was snoring within minutes. Kirishima and Sero followed soon after, and Mina declared with relief, “oh, thank fuck.”

It was quiet then, except for the heavy music that was coming out of Bakugou’s ear buds. He was playing a game on his phone, seemingly wide awake. Their thighs were touching.

Oh yeah, that was another aspect of being friends with Bakugou that Uraraka was not prepared for: the painful amounts of sexual tension.

Once you sleep with someone, Uraraka had come to learn, it was really hard to stop sleeping with them. She craved Bakugou’s body, for his lips to touch her skin, for his hands to grab her, she wanted it all. She knew she couldn’t have it, but that didn’t mean her body made it any easier on her. At times, the tension was so thick that she had to remove herself from the situation, splash cold water on her face, and give herself a pep talk that usually included making herself imagine Iida’s disappointed face. It happened a lot when they were training. Hot and sweaty bodies pushing against each other in the early hours of the morning, all alone in the gym – it really made Uraraka’s heart beat hard. When Bakugou would throw her down on the ground and pin her, claiming victory, she couldn’t help but think he was torturing her on purpose.

She couldn’t claim innocence on her part, though. She did enjoy teasing him every now and again, to see how much self-control he had. She would bend over near his desk in class, knowing her skirt was a little too short that day. She would whisper in his ear when they were studying and enjoy watching them turn crimson just like his eyes.

No, she wasn’t innocent, but she was only human, and it turned out Bakugou had incredible self-control.  

In situations like this one, where she was hyper-aware of the fact that her legs and shoulders were pressed snugly against the sturdy blonde, well, she doubted her own self-control sometimes. Uraraka looked to the side of her – Momo’s head had lulled against Todoroki’s, and she slept soundly. Diagonally in front of her, Hagakure and Ojiro were snuggled together, breathing in sync. It seemed like everyone around them was asleep.

Uraraka put her hand on Bakugou’s thigh and let it rest there.

“Oi, what are you doing, Round Face?” His eyes widened. Uraraka put on her sweetest face.

"I was just trying to get your attention. Your music is so loud.” She explained easily.

“Oh,” His face relaxed as he popped an earbud out. “Yeah, sorry. What did you want?”

Uraraka paused. She hadn’t particularly wanted anything, other than to touch Bakugou. She was wrong to give into her selfish desires when she was the one who said they couldn’t go back to the way things were – but he was just so close.

“Cheeks?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, nothing!” She stammered out.

“So, you got nothing to get my attention about?” He narrowed his eyes at her, then lowered his voice. “You playin’ games with me? You shouldn’t start things you can’t finish, angel.”

He dipped his face down to hers, and she was frozen in place. If she just tilted her head up slightly, she could press her lips to his. On the bus. Full of her classmates. She could kiss the boy she had promised she was just friends with.

No, Ochako. Friends.

Bakugou turned his head and chuckled. “Play all the games you want, Round Face. You won’t win.”

Chapter Text

Uraraka was going to kill him. 

Bakugou knew that, of course. He should’ve known it from the first day he saw her practically jump into the classroom. She was all pink cheeks and white teeth and big, brown eyes full of laughter and brimming with excitement. She wasn’t his usual type – usually he went for the bombshell types, blonde, blue-eyed, long legs – but something about her interested him. Her persona radiated sunshine and good-nature, which usually Bakugou avoided like the plague, but she drew him in like an intoxicating scent.  

Her quirk, zero gravity, was one that continuously had impressed Bakugou in their first weeks – not that he would ever admit it. She could not only make anything she wanted to float, but she could also throw herself high into the air and propel through the sky. She wasn’t graceful about it – far from it, but it was an incredible quirk all the same. He watched as she got frustrated, over and over again, and he wondered why she didn’t see the things he saw. He didn’t know why he saw them – why he was letting himself get caught up in another person’s abilities when he had his own victories to focus on, but something about the girl got stuck in his head.

He ignored this feeling, like he knew he had to do, and shoved it away in a compartment inside of his head until a few weeks later. 

To say Bakugou was pissed that day was an understatement. He was seething. All Might was teaching a heroics lesson in one of the school’s many specialty gyms. It was a partner exercise, heroes versus villains, with Bakugou and the four-eyed nerd playing the villains. He was up against Deku, which pissed him off from the start, and the pink-cheeked girl. He hadn’t bothered to learn many names by that point, but he remembered hers. It sounded nice when anyone said it out loud. Ochako Uraraka. 

When Deku had delivered the final blow of the fight, blasting the ceiling to pieces and providing Uraraka with the perfect weapon to use against Iida, Bakugou had seen red. He could feel a meltdown coming on, full speed. He had lost. Worse yet, he had lost to Deku. His head was spilling as the anger bubbled out of him like lava. 

Deku practically passed out from whatever blowback he had caused with his mysterious, flashy, stupid new quirk, so Bakugou couldn’t direct his anger towards the loser. He had chosen instead to unleash his fury on Iida, who had been a shitty partner to begin with, when he was stopped by a soft hand touching his shoulder. 

He twitched violently and turned around, ready to blast whoever touched him across the broken-down building, but when he stopped to look, he saw her.

“Hey, you were really great!” She had such an overly-enthusiastic attitude. She reminded Bakugou of a chipmunk. “But you don’t need to be such a bully.” She added, her smile dropping. Bakugou didn’t like the absence of the smile. 

“Hah?” He gave her an incredulous look. She had a lot of nerve, coming up to him and calling him out like she knew something about him. “You –”

“Have a good day!” She waved cheerfully and practically skipped away. He was left looking at her receding back in awe, his mouth hanging open like a damn fish. 

After that, he couldn’t stop himself from noticing her more and more. She was always eager to volunteer, always laughing loudly with her friends, always hanging out around those stupid nerds, and always working so hard to get better. He could see the frustration on her face when she messed something up or lost but she got back up every time until she couldn’t anymore.

When it was time for the Sports Festival, he wasn’t thinking about Ochako Uraraka. He was thinking about winning. His mind was on one single track the entire day – victory. He lost in the first round – to Deku of all people. He held the bile down from that fact and worked even harder in the subsequent rounds to make sure he wouldn’t lose again. He was the strongest. He had to be the strongest. That was what his entire life was about. 

When he wound up facing the round-faced girl in the arena, he didn’t let himself get distracted. He ignored the boos that rained down upon him as he sent explosion after explosion at her. She just kept standing up, like she always did, fighting despite Bakugou’s power. When she got up for the last time, her eyes held fire that could rival his own. She was shaking and sweating and covered in dirt and debris, but when she looked to him and then back to the sky before pressing the pads of her fingers together, she displayed nothing but strength. 

Then the sky collapsed, and Bakugou had less than ten seconds to react, blowing the meteor show away in one colossal eruption of fire and rock. His hand trembled and a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. This girl…she was the real deal. How did nobody see that? 

Uraraka’s plan had failed, but only because of who she was up against. Bakugou was training to be the best – he wouldn’t be so easily beaten, but she could have taken down a number of their classmates – or villains – with such a clever and powerful move. When she finally, finally went down for the last time, and Bakugou had secured another victory, he found himself thinking that anyone who called that girl fragile was an idiot, and he couldn’t wait until she proved them all wrong. 

Bakugou hadn’t planned on that night in the infirmary happening. In fact, he thought it was a really fucking stupid idea. His body was pumped full of some sedative that Recovery Girl claimed would keep him asleep, but if she thought some wimpy ass needle could knock him out, she was severely mistaken. It probably did cloud his judgment a little bit. Uraraka was just so close to him, and he was so fascinated by her. He wanted to know her better than anybody else did. He wanted to watch what she could do. He wanted to be a part of it.

He remembered the previous summer, and how it felt to be with Camie – the before, not the after. He would never let himself feel the after again. He wouldn’t go be dumb enough to go through another Camie situation. He had learned from that, but he could get to know Ochako Uraraka just a little bit better. 

Now, he thought, as he made small circles on her leg while she slept soundly against his shoulder, bumping along gently from the motion of the bus, he probably knew her a bit too well. 

“You didn’t listen to me, you know.” A low voice came from the seat next to him. Bakugou didn’t dare move his head for fear of waking Uraraka, but his mouth moved sharply in response. 

“Didn’t know you were my goddamn mom, half-and-half.”

Todoroki chuckled. Bakugou wasn’t sure when he had woken up, because last he had seen the idiot was snoring and drooling on his girlfriend’s shoulder. 

“What are you laughing at?” Todoroki had the uncanny ability to draw rage out of Bakugou, no matter the scenario. It worked great in battles – not so great on a bus with a sleeping girl on him. 

“Nothing, you’re just predictable.” His voice was even. 

“Fucking –”

“Shh, you’ll wake her.” Bakugou could hear the shit-eating grin in the half-and-half’s voice and he tensed up in his seat. Uraraka sighed softly in her slumber, and the noise strained him even more.

“You really ought to stop lying to yourself.”  Todoroki continued once it was clear Bakugou wasn’t answering him. “Take it from someone with experience, its better if you’re just honest.” 

“You don’t know anything about me or us.” He snarled back at the hybrid. “And I am being honest. We’re friends.”

“I know it’s been quieter at night, which has been nice.” Todoroki said simply. “For me, not for you, I’m sure.”

Bakugou had to resist the urge to punch him in his stupid half-and-half face. “Mind your damn business.”

“Are you happy like this?” Todoroki inquired, disregarding Bakugou’s demand. “Just being her friend? Is she happy like this?”

"As I said, its none of your goddamned business.” He growled. He was losing his patience. “This is what works, so this is what we’re doing.”  

Todoroki said nothing. Bakugou imagined he had a smug look on his face. Bastard. 

The truth was that he didn’t know if he was happy. He felt the warmth on his shoulder that radiated off of Uraraka, and he knew that he was a lot damn happier than he would’ve been without her head there. Of course, he missed their late nights in his room and the feeling of her soft thighs and her breath in his ear. He missed the way she let him pick her up and push her against the wall, and the way her tongue felt tangled with his…

His face grew hot and he clutched his hand into a fist, trying to shift to readjust himself ever so slightly. Uraraka was so going to kill him.

 -x-

Bakugou hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep until he blinked himself back into consciousness at the sound of frenzied giggling next to his ears. 

"Ahh, don’t move, Bakugou!” Hagakure hissed from the aisle. “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

"Shit, he’s awake.” Mina lamented. “Did you get one good one of them asleep?” 

“I think I got a few.” Hagakure’s voice was gleeful. Bakugou grimaced at the girls who were snapping pictures of him like the damn paparazzi. Mina was a housefly that he couldn’t smack away.

"I can’t wait to show everyone these at your wedding.” Mina beamed. 

“I’m gonna kill you.” Bakugou let a small explosion crackle in his palm and Hagakure squealed and jumped back into her seat. Mina stood in front of him indignantly, not afraid of his threats.

“Please. If you killed me, the squad’s attractiveness level would plummet. We have an image to uphold.” She rolled her eyes. “Who would carry the team?!”

“Kiri.” Bakugou said, “Obviously.”

“Oh shit, you’re right.”

“Get out of here, alien freak.”

"Don’t worry,” Mina raised a finger to her lips. “We got what we came for – proof of true love. Honestly, Bakugou, your denial is getting comical.”

Bakugou took a deep breath to keep himself from shouting profanities at her. He normally would’ve done it regardless, but he didn’t want to wake Uraraka up. Not yet. “Are we fuckin’ there yet?” He asked finally, his voice even.

“Yes, wake your lady up. Oh, and tell her to check the group chat.” She gave Bakugou an infuriating wink and then bounced down back to Tsu. He groaned. The rest of the bus was waking up as well, and a dull buzz began to travel down the aisle and across seats. The excitement was rising as the implications of where they were settled in. Bakugou nudged Uraraka with his head and she startled.

“Wake up, Round Face.” Bakugou said gruffly. “It’s time to kick some ass.”

He thought her half-awake smile was one of the most goddamn beautiful things he had ever seen.

Uraraka stretched in her seat, lifting her arm in front of Bakugou’s face. He pushed them out of the way, giving her his best unamused look. She ignored him and looked out the window, marveling at the sight. Directly next to them was an arena even bigger than the one UA used for their entrance exam and Sports Festival – it was even bigger than the USJ. Groups of teenagers and young adults in school uniforms walked in clusters to the entrance. Bakugou wondered what kind of quirks they all had, and how fun it would be to beat them all.

Once the bus parked, Iida jumped up to rein the class in before they could get too rowdy. He ordered everyone to form a single file line and wait for further instructions from Aizawa. It went about as well as anybody could’ve expected.

“ONWARDS TO VICTORY!” Kaminari shouted, rallying the class behind him. Kirishima gave a war cry in response, and the two charged through the aisles.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” Mic asked Aizawa, who looked like he had just woken up from a nap.

"Kaminari, Kirishima, stop.” Aizawa said weakly. “Oh no, they aren’t listening…”

"Leave all your stuff on the bus! We’ll come back here to get it before checking into the hotel!” Iida shouted in distress.

The rest of Class A followed suit soon after, chattering and cheering and pushing to get out of the bus and onto the concrete.

“C’mon, angel face. Let’s fuckin’ get off this thing.”

Uraraka’s face went bright pink and Bakugou smirked. He knew she hated when he called her angel face or any variation of it in public – he could tell it drove her crazy. He knew the implication of it – he gave it to her the first night, promising that she was just for him.

Still applies, angel. The thought popped into his head without warning and he wanted to bash his head against the window. Feelings were so fuckin’ stupid.

“Bakugou, coming?” Uraraka’s smile could light up a dark room. Her braid was a little askew, but it just somewhat made her cuter. Todoroki’s words echoed in his head: “are you happy?”

It didn’t matter if he was happy, but he would burn down the whole world if that’s what it took to make sure she was.

-x-

The air was crisp and smelled like sour apples. Street vendors were out, pitching their products at the waves of students walking by and wishing them luck on their exam. Pro-heroes-turned-teachers corralled their classes into order, greeting each other as they did – even Aizawa was nodding to other groups, while Mic bellowed across the street to someone he recognized from his old agency.

Uraraka walked between Mina and Tsu. Bakugou was ahead of her, being physically pulled by Kirishima and Kaminari, who were so elated they were jumping up and down. Bakugou was grumbling and trying to free himself from Kirishima’s clutches, but the redhead had an iron grip.

Mina and Tsu were chattering away, gossiping about the other students they passed by.

“Ooh, wow. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to UA.” Mina whispered as they trooped towards the stadium – a group of tall, muscular men were gathered by one of the vendors. One of them gave Mina a suggestive wave. She blew a kiss.

“Mina, you better not be cheating on me back there.” Kirishima called without even looking back.

"Never, dear.” She giggled.

"How did he even see that?” Tsu asked.

"He didn’t. He saw the guys and knew I’d be about that.” Mina explained. “We have the same taste in men.”

Uraraka laughed and continued absorbing her surroundings. She had never seen so many hero students in one place before. There were people of all ages, but most of the students were older, well into their hero courses with experience and knowledge on their side – Uraraka didn’t know how she would measure up.

“Eraser, Eraser!” A spirited voice called out from the crowd. A teal-haired woman with an orange bandana bounded up to their class and threw herself into Aizawa’s arms.

The class froze. They waited with bated breath for their teacher’s reaction.

He slowly returned the hug.

“Oh my God!” Mina screamed. “Oh my God, Toru!”

"I KNOW!” Toru was squealing, and her clothes were moving up and down frantically in the air.

“Hello, Class A!” The woman addressed them airily. Her entire demeanor gave off upbeat vibes, and Uraraka found herself grinning without realizing it.

"Oh, you’re Ms. Joke!” Deku cried out. “The Joke Hero!”

"Eraserhead is into a woman named Ms. Joke?” Tokoyami asked in disbelief. “He doesn’t have a sense of humor...!”

“That’s what I said!” Cried Kaminari.

“I’m going to assign you extra homework when we get back to school.” Aizawa threatened. “Students, yes, this is Ms. Joke. She teaches at Ketsubutsu Academy and her students are trying for their provisional licenses today.”

“Ahh, the illustrious Class A. Pleasure to meet you!” A boy who Uraraka thought looked like an older Deku gave Class A a brilliant smile. “It’s like being in the presence of celebrities, huh, Tatami?”

A spiky-haired blonde girl nodded eagerly. “Can’t wait to see what you kids can do…although, we kind of already have.” She winked.

“It’s sure to be a fine competition!” Older Deku laughed haughtily.

“You’re fake as fuck.” Bakugou said with a snarl.

"Please excuse him!” Kirishima exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “He’s very rude!”

“Oh, we all know about Bakugou Katsuki. You’re something of a legend, yeah? Never seen anyone have to be muzzled on national television.” The man smirked but barreled on before Bakugou could have a violent reaction. “My name is Shindo. Looking forward to seeing you all later.”

“See you in the stadium, Eraser!” Ms. Joke waved gleefully. Aizawa mumbled something incoherent in response. Uraraka swore he was blushing.

“Class A from UA!” Another man was barreling towards them now – he was huge and wearing heavy furs and a hat. His uniform reminded Uraraka of a war commander. “I have been looking forward to meeting you in person!”

If there was a human embodiment of excitement, it was this man. He was practically falling over himself to get to them. “I am Inasa Yoarashi! I admire you all greatly! Please allow me to praise you for your work in the Sports Festival! Bakugou – you were absolutely terrifying!”

Bakugou smirked. “Thanks.”

“Midoriya Izuku! You continuously broke your bones on live television! It was incredible! Inspiring!”

This guy could give Iida a run for his money in the enthusiasm department. He was practically vibrating with fervor.

“Keep walking, class.” Mic called, subduing his voice so that he wouldn’t send the crowds into a panic. The class obeyed and picked up the pace while Inasa scrambled to keep up with them, babbling to Tokoyami now about Dark Shadow, who was looking anguished.

“Inasaaaaa!” A bubbly voice called. “There you are!”

This was the moment that time stopped for Uraraka.

“Holy shit.” Kaminari stopped in his tracks, causing Kirishima to smack into his back.

“Holy shit.” Sero echoed. 

“What are you staring at, you idiot?” Jirou raised a jack at Kaminari threateningly, but then she followed his gaze, and let out a soft “oh, holy shit” and then Uraraka understood.

Standing before her was the hottest woman Uraraka had ever seen in all her years of life. She appeared to be scolding the giant Inasa for running off and harassing other classes, but Uraraka couldn’t hear what she was saying because she was too mesmerized by watching her bubblegum pink lips move as each word formed.  

She was all curves and legs – she towered above Uraraka – and was clad in a black leather uniform with ample amounts of cleavage spilling out of her tight top. Silky blonde hair fell perfectly to her shoulders and was covered partially by a matching black hat. Uraraka swore that she was glowing – literally radiating beauty. 

The woman stopped in the middle of her sentence to Inasa to take in the class. She paused before her eyes zeroed in on one person, and then she gasped and lit up. “No way!” She trilled. “Is that my lil’ Bakubro?” 

“Oh my God, Bakugou, you know her?” Sero’s mouth dropped open. “I love you.” He added to the woman, flashing a simpering smile.

"Aw, you’re a cute little bean!” She beamed briefly at Sero then turned her attention back to Bakugou, whose hands had balled up into fists at his side. He looked like he was ready to scream. Uraraka frowned and then a terrible thought entered her head when she remembered the talk about honesty they had had so long ago, late at night in his bedroom.

"Baku, you didn’t tell me you were going to UA! That’s totally lit, my dude. You’re gonna be like, a top tier hero, man.” She pouted her lips at him. “I wouldn’t know because somebody hardly ever answers my texts and I send the best memes.” 

“Oh my God, she texts you?” Sero was wailing now.

“She sends him memes.” Kirishima repeated as if in a dreamlike trance. Bakugou’s stance was that of a bear caught in a trap – confused, tormented and furious. He was in fight or flight mode, and so was Uraraka. This beautiful woman texted Bakugou – regularly enough to get ignored – she knew him from the past but didn’t know he was a student at UA – that could only mean one thing. Once Uraraka realized it, she wished she hadn’t. She wished she could’ve remained ignorant.

“Fucking Christ, Camie.” Bakugou’s voice sounded devoid of all emotion. 

Camie. 

Uraraka was overcome with a sudden deep desire to rush to Bakugou’s side and grab his hand, signaling to the woman that sorry, but he’s spoken for. She restrained herself, because that wasn’t something a friend should do, and she didn’t want to cause a scene.

“Camie, we should be going!” Inasa exclaimed and Uraraka wanted to hug the man for suggesting they get far away from Bakugou. “We don’t want to lose the rest of our class!”

“Right you are, bro, right you are. See you later, maybe, Katsuki, yeah?” Camie blew him a kiss. Bakugou grunted at her inquiry and stared at his feet. “Bye, little cuties! Looking forward to seeing those super lit powers of yours I-R-L. Plus Ultra as hell!” She whooped to the rest of the class. Sero looked like he was going to go into cardiac arrest and Kaminari was exerting all of his strength not to look at her for too long with Jirou right next to him. Mina and Kirishima were both practically salivating.

Uraraka stared blankly as Camie bounced away, linking her arm through Inasa’s. Jealousy raged inside of her mind. That was Camie. That was the woman – and she was a woman – that Bakugou had been with before her. Camie was a 10, and Uraraka was a solid 4 in comparison. She oozed sex appeal and Uraraka was struck by the feeling that she looked like a little girl with her chubby pink cheeks and her pigtail braids. 

It’s not like it matters, she reminded herself sternly. You told him you were only going to be friends. You can’t get jealous when hot women from his past come back for him. 

She peeked up at Bakugou carefully. He was surrounded by the boys in the class, all eager to know who Camie was and how in the world Bakugou knew her. He shouted at them all to fuck off and go talk to her themselves, then he broke free from them and stomped up ahead, the frustration apparent in his heavy steps.

“Hey,” Tsu approached Uraraka gently. “Don’t worry, kero. She doesn’t seem very smart.”

Momo, who was right at Uraraka’s side, nodded furiously. “I can’t see her being Bakugou’s type at all.” She assured her, placing a soft hand on the brunette’s shoulder. Uraraka sighed miserably. If only they knew. 

“Keep it moving.” Aizawa snapped them all back to reality. “They won’t wait for you if you’re late.” 

Everyone picked their feet up and continued towards the stadium, the chatter growing exponentially to include the trepidation of meeting so many other students. In the last fifteen minutes, they had been exposed to more eccentric characters than some of them had met in their whole lives. Uraraka wondered if her whole life as a hero would be full of women like Camie and men like Shindo. She wasn’t sure she had the confidence to be a hero like that.

She didn’t have too long to ponder it, because soon they had reached the steps of the massive building, and Aizawa was arranging them into boy-girl lines to go change into their hero uniforms.

Uraraka followed Tsu dutifully into the changing room, feeling nauseous before she had even slightly used her quirk. 

“Wow, this is amazing!” Hagakure exclaimed, stripping out of her gym uniform except for her gloves and her shoes. Uraraka wondered how she felt being nude in public all the time. She’d never asked, feeling like it was an awkward question. “Everyone is so friendly from the other schools!”

“I think you’re naïve, Toru-chan.” Jirou said, inspecting her jacks in the mirror to make sure they were in fighting condition. “Those students were sizing us up.”

“Yeah, Ketsubutsu gave me an odd vibe.” Momo agreed. “Remember, everyone has seen us on television from the Sports Festival. They know our quirks, so we should stay on our toes.”

“They were all just so cute!” Hagakure was sighing. “Shindo is so handsome.” 

Uraraka adjusted her helmet aggressively. She didn’t think any of them were cute.

“Ochako-chan,” Mina was fluffing her hair and checking out her butt at the same time, but she still picked up on Uraraka’s unrest. “For the record, we all think you’re hotter than Camie.”

“Oh, absolutely.” Jirou said.

“So much hotter.” Hagakure conceded.

“Not even a question.” Momo smiled. 

They were all dirty liars, but Uraraka didn’t comment on that. “Why would it matter she’s hotter than me? Bakugou and I, again, are just friends. It’s not like I have any reason to be jealous.”

Mina gave her a sympathetic look because she knew Uraraka was full of shit, but at least the rest of them didn’t.

“Ochako, I say this with love, but you’re full of shit.” Hagakure said simply, her gloves were holding her phone. “Does this look like friends to you?” 

Her screen was set to a picture of Uraraka fast asleep on Bakugou’s shoulder, with her mouth slightly ajar, looking peaceful. Bakugou’s head was resting on top of hers, and his hand was slack on her thigh. 

Uraraka blushed, horrified. “Ah, Toru, delete it!” 

“You’ll thank me for it later when you’re looking for photos to show your kids!” Hagakure snatched the phone back from Uraraka’s desperate grip. Mina, Tsu and Jirou dissolved into a fit of laughter while Momo hummed disapprovingly.  

“Let’s focus on hero work here.” She calmed the girls down. “We have stiff competition and we must do UA proud.”

"God, you sound like Iida and Todoroki combined and I really don’t know how I feel about that.” Jirou cringed. Momo made an indignant sound.

“I do not –”

“Ladies,” An animated voice called, and a teal and orange decorated head peeked its way into the changing room. “Time for the introduction ceremony; it’s gonna be a blast!”

“Oh my God, oh my God, Ms. Joke. Ms. Joke, I need to know every single detail about your relationship with Eraserhead.” Mina ran to the woman, her mouth moving a mile a minute. “Have you ever seen him smile? Does he laugh? Does he sleep like a bat, nocturnally and hanging upside down?”

Ms. Joke guffawed, slapping her knees and breathing heavily. Uraraka felt her soul lighten at the sight. 

“You’re a funny bunch, no wonder Eraser talks about you all the time!” She gasped out when she could breathe again. 

“Please tell me I’m his favorite.” Mina begged her. “I can die happy if I have undeniable proof that I’m his favorite.” 

“Is your name Asui?” Ms. Joke asked.

"Damn it!” Mina lamented and Tsu smiled, touched.  

“He loves you all equally!” Ms. Joke corrected her mistake quickly. “He says you’re like his adopted children.” 

“This is the greatest day of my life, truly.” Mina said, her eyes filled with emotion. “We have confirmed proof that Eraser has a girlfriend and he admitted he’s our dad. Thank you, Ms. Joke. Thank you.” 

Uraraka wished she could feel warmed by the news that their teacher actually loved them, but her mind had gone back to envisioning Camie and Bakugou together, and it was making her sick. She didn’t know how she was going to get through the Provisional License Exam in this mind frame.

The girls exited the changing room with Ms. Joke and her female students, who were whispering amongst themselves and throwing covert glances at UA and entered the room where the introduction ceremony was being held.

Uraraka thought calling it a room wasn’t doing it justice. They could fit the entirety of UA in their twice – and it was filled to the brim with students looking to get their licenses. She spotted her class quickly, thanks to Shouji’s hulking figure and her eyes immediately scanned the group for Bakugou. He was there, in-between Kaminari and Kirishima, who were talking amongst themselves excitedly. She let her eyes linger. Bakugou was ignoring the two, which in and of itself wasn’t strange – he always ignored people – but his eyes were focused on something in the crowd. Uraraka carefully followed his gaze, and when she landed on his target, she felt like she had been punched in the stomach.

He was staring directly at Camie. 

Uraraka couldn’t get a good enough look at him to tell what his expression said. Was he looking at her longingly? Disgusted? She realized she knew nothing about their situation other than the fact that it had ended when their training camp did, because they lived so far away. If they hadn’t, would Bakugou want to be with her?

Her heart was hammering out of her chest and she wanted to run back to the safety of the bus and tell Aizawa that she would try again for her Provisional License next year because she couldn’t handle it this year – she was too much of an emotional disaster. 

She knew how well that would go over with her teacher.

Uraraka was being a baby. She was the one who had told Bakugou they could just be friends – it was her decision. Sure, it came after he brutally rejected her, but it was still her decision and she needed to stand by it. What kind of friend got freakishly jealous over their platonic friend’s past girlfriend? 

This was ridiculous. Uraraka was here to be a hero, not obsess over a love that didn’t even technically exist. She vowed to herself that she would not let her feelings get in the way of her hero work. Bakugou was her friend, and she was going to be a hero, just like him. That was all it would be.

She planted her legs firmly on the ground to make sure she didn’t accidentally activate her quirk. That would be embarrassing. 

“Ochako-chan?” Tsu spoke from behind her. “You okay? You just stopped moving suddenly, kero.”

Oh. She was already embarrassing. “Sorry. Tsu-chan! I’m okay. Let’s go!”

Tsu smiled, “Okay, let’s do our best.” 

Chapter Text

Uraraka barely had time to take in the jarring scenery change before she and her classmates were under attack. In the span of two minutes, the walls on the auditorium she was in had fallen, and she found herself in the middle of a mountainous terrain with various different types of battlefield stretching as far as her eye could see. She had no time to admire the intricacies of the arena because as soon as a high-pitched robotic voice rang out, “start!” they were descended upon.

The rules for this leg of the exam seemed extremely simple – you have three targets and a set of six balls. In order to advance to the next round, you have to knock out two opponents without getting out yourself. Easy.

Except Uraraka failed to consider that every single school at the exam would be aiming specifically to attack her and her friends.

Staying together was their best plan of attack, but as soon as the exam began, Todoroki ran off on his own – he was a loner by nature, and his power was almost impossible to use when in a crowd. Bakugou stalked off soon after, not one to be told what to do by anyone, especially Deku, and Kirishima and Kaminari disappeared after him. Uraraka watched them go but stayed firm in her decision to stick with the majority of her class.

Her world was rocked when Shindo from Ketsubutsu revealed his quirk – he could cause earthquakes, and she activated her quirk to stay out of the shock zone. Her class was torn apart, thrown into different areas of the arena to be hunted, and lost in the dusty aftermath of the tremor.

Uraraka released herself gently behind a large expanse of jagged rock, hiding herself from view of the other schools. She tried to come up with a game plan now that she was alone. She couldn’t let herself get taken out – especially not this early in the game.

She peeked her head over the rock and tried to make sense of what was happening underneath the dust. There was a cacophony of sounds rising into the air as assorted quirks were switched on. She wished she could locate at least one of her classmates to team up with.

“Hey, what’s a cutie like you doing all by herself over here?”

Uraraka’s heart leapt into her throat and she whipped around, arms raised in attack mode. However, he assailant was simply looking at her curiously, one hand pressed to her pouty, pink lips.

“I remember you from earlier.” Camie said. Uraraka clutched a ball in her hand and kept her eyes on the woman. “You’re one of the UA babies! You get separated from your crew in that big blast too?”

Uraraka raised her head slightly in assent.    

“What, you don’t know how to talk or somethin’? I’m not gonna attack you. This exam is lame, yo. I wanna get my license for sure, dude, but like, I don’t wanna fight my fellow hero friends.” She twisted a strand of hair. Uraraka didn’t let her guard down. Everything about Camie screamed that she was a non-threat. She had a ditzy attitude and a faraway look in her eyes, but Uraraka knew better. Bakugou would not have been with someone who had no common sense, no drive. Camie was plotting something and she knew it, so Uraraka would play her game.

“Oh, yeah, totally.” She put on her most bubblegum voice. “I’m just trying to save people and have fun with my friends; this is all so stressful!”

Uraraka saw the tiniest glimmer of relief in Camie’s eyes. If she blinked, she would’ve missed it. Camie was waiting for Uraraka to let her guard down, and she was assuming this was it.

Wrong.

“You’re adorable.” Camie cooed. “You’re a UA student, that’s too cool, fam. Are you friends with my lil’ explodey boy, Bakubro?”

Uraraka kept her face even and expressionless. “We’re familiar.”

“Isn’t he, like, the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? He’s a super lit hero. So are you, though, ya know. I’ve seen you on TV.” Her eyes narrowed just slightly, and one hand twitched.

“Oh, have you?” Uraraka had been moving her hands slightly since Camie called out to her, ready to activate her quirk at any time.

“You’re wicked strong, little girl.” Her eyes gleamed. “To almost take down Baku like that – that’s gutsy A-F.”

Uraraka wanted to let out an exasperated groan because of course, one of the only people to acknowledge her strength outside of Bakugou would be the blonde bomb shell that he used to sleep with. It was a painful irony. She watched the woman closely, looking for signs of movement that she was going to strike, but Camie was looking relaxed, her hand nowhere near the set of balls on her belt.

“I saw the way you looked at me earlier, ya know.” Camie said simply. Her lips curled up into a small smirk. “When I was talking to Katsuki.”

"I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Uraraka clenched her teeth, struggling to continue making eye contact as she watched Camie’s face shift into mischief.

"Oh, it’s okay, bae. He’s easy to fall for, yeah? A total cutie, and totally flirty.” She giggled. “That’s why I wanted to find you, dude. Girl talk!”

Uraraka resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was getting less and less sure of this girl’s intentions by the second – maybe she was just an idiot. She didn’t think Bakugou had a thing for dumb girls, but Camie was ridiculously hot, so it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

“Girl talk would be totally fun.” Uraraka agreed, keeping her voice light. “Bakugou is a hottie, for sure, how do you know him?” She would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious, and this might be the only opportunity she had to talk to the blonde. Her ears were still perked up for any movement behind her, and her eyes were fixated on Camie, but everyone seemed to be preoccupied with others, because the two girls were completely alone.

“I met Baku at a summer camp!” She trilled. “Baku had a mad crush on me. It was adorbs. We had a summer romance. Ended when the heat did. You know how it is.”

Uraraka didn’t know how it was. “Oh, yeah, I do! That’s so sad though. I hope you didn’t, like, break his heart too bad.” She had to hold back from physically cringing at the way her words were coming out – choppy and vapid.

“I mean, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. He’s a sensitive one, that Baku. Be careful.” She winked. “I wish he’d realize no hard feelings – I see him like a little bro, but he always ignores me! Maybe one day I’d wanna rekindle our lil’ romance, now that he’s older.” She gave Uraraka a steely look. “Oh – you’re not with him, are ya?”

“Not at all.” Uraraka wanted to rip Camie to shreds with her bare hands. Fuck the rules of the exam. She was ready to go for blood.

"Glad we had a girl talk, Ochako. You’re totally cool! We should be BFFs – I could show you how to work with what you’ve got and turn you into a top tier hottie!”

Uraraka finally broke eye contact when her vision went blurry with rage. She realized she had never told Camie her name – why would she know that? She was getting ready to float herself away, done with the conversation and her games, when suddenly there was a crash, and dust flew into her eyes.

She panicked, unable to locate Camie. Her targets burned on her body, her weak spots, exposed. She didn’t even know what Camie’s quirk was – she could be coming for her right then. Her hands were pressed together, not quite touching but ready at a moment’s notice for her escape plan.

When the smoke cleared, Camie no longer stood in front of her. She was replaced with Deku, smiling earnestly at Uraraka. Uraraka’s mind raced.

"D-Deku? Where did you come from?”

“I set off the explosion just now.” He said easily, rubbing the back of his neck. “I saw you back here corned by that girl from earlier, and I thought if I caused a lot of noise, she’d run off. I guess it worked, huh?”

Instant relief flooded Uraraka’s body. Deku was a true hero. “Yes! Thank you, Deku-kun. Have you found anyone else?”

"No, just you. It’s a minefield out here. The rest of the schools are attacking us. They call it the destroying of UA.” He looked troubled. “I hope everyone else is okay.”

Uraraka thought of Bakugou, who had walked away at the start, paying no mind to the rest of the class or the other schools. She wondered where he was now, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if he already passed. She let herself relax at the thought, and the absence of Camie. Now that she was teamed up with at least one of her classmates, she had a much better chance of surviving.

"Thanks for saving me, Deku.” She grinned, “Now, what’s our next m –”

Her sentence was cut off by a loud beep directly in front of her. She felt the impact too late. One of her targets had been taken out. “Huh?” She gasped, twirling around in panic. “Who – who hit me?”

She spun around to face Deku – except Deku wasn’t there. Camie stood in his place, pouting her lips at Uraraka. Her body was slightly smoking. “Sorrrrrrry, Ochako! No hard feelings, okay? We all came to win, babe.”

Uraraka reacted before she could figure out how Camie had just done what she had done. Her quirk must’ve been an illusion-type. The brunette pressed her fingers together and pushed herself up into the air, just as Camie was preparing for another attack.

Once Uraraka was in the air, she chanced a glance down at the woman. She was grinning wickedly and waving, and then she was gone.

Uraraka released herself down gently behind some more abandoned debris and took a deep breath. Camie’s quirk was good, and she kicked herself mentally for almost falling for her dumb act. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew exactly how to get her guard down. How did she know Deku would be one of the few people Uraraka would trust without hesitation?

She knew she couldn’t stay stationary and think about it for long. She shook the thoughts of Camie out of her head, and jumped up, ready to pass this thing one way or another. She wouldn’t let her guard down again.

After sneaking between larger chunks of rock and narrowly avoiding aggressively thrown balls, Uraraka found Sero – who made sure was really Sero by asking him to tell her why Kaminari had thrown up at lunch last week (He mixed hot sauce into his chocolate milk carton). The two teamed up and it wasn’t long after that that they ran into Deku, who was resting behind a mountain of rubble. His face was scratched, and one target was burnt out, but no limbs were broken and Uraraka was grateful he had been improving so much.

Not taking any chances, she asked him a rapid set of questions that only he would know the answer to, and only let herself relax slightly when he answered everyone perfectly.

“What was that about?” He gave Uraraka a concerned look.

“Can’t be too careful,” She said. “There’s all kinds of quirks out here.”

“I’m glad I found you two, I have a plan…” Deku began, and Sero and Uraraka gathered around.

Time moved quickly after they put their plan into action. While the first half of the exam had felt like hours, now Uraraka could see an end. She would do this. She would advance.

And she did. Their plan worked perfectly. Sero used his tape to secure an abundant mount of debris and Uraraka relived her moment in the sports festival, raising it all into the sky and then releasing it down upon several unsuspecting students. This time it was successful, and as Uraraka delivered the final blow to a nameless aspiring hero, she smiled and felt pride.

“Uraraka-chan!” Mina cried when Uraraka, Sero and Deku walked into the room designated for students who passed. The pink girl was covered in dust and guzzling down water. “Sero-kun, Midoriya-kun, you passed! And no broken bones – nice!”

Deku grinned sheepishly and mumbled a thanks. Uraraka looked around the room – most of the class was present. She spotted Bakugou, sitting on a bench by himself.

"Hey, I’ll be back.” She told her friends. Mina gave her a knowing smile and nodded. She walked over to Bakugou with her nerves lighting up in her body. She hadn’t spoken to him since they got off the bus and it felt like an eternity had passed since then – she felt nausea in the pit of her stomach when she remembered the look she had seen Bakugou give Camie and her words about ‘rekindling’ their romance.

She swallowed her fear and approached the brooding blonde.

Bakugou’s eyes rose lazily to her. “Round Face.” He said shortly.

“Glad to see you passed, Bakugou.” She smiled softly.

“What, did you doubt me?” He scoffed. “’Course I passed. Easy.”

“Okay,” Uraraka felt annoyance creep into her face. “So,” She began, encouraging herself internally so that she would be able to ask her next question, “That’s the Camie, huh?”

Bakugou’s eyebrows furrowed together. He didn’t meet her eyes. “Yeah. That’s her.”

"She’s…pretty.” Uraraka tried to sound casual and conversational, but her voice faltered. Bakugou still wouldn’t look at her, opting to stare intensely at his shoes instead, as if he was trying to memorize every speck of dirt and scuff on them.

"Yeah, she’s pretty.” He muttered. Uraraka felt a pang of jealousy hit her heart hard. It’s not that she had expected him to say she wasn’t – that would’ve been dishonest and they both knew it, and Uraraka did ask him for honesty. That didn’t change the fact that it shook her self-esteem to its core. “Fuckin’ obnoxious though, even more so than I remember.” He said. “All the fuckin’ morons are creaming themselves over her.”

"Do…do any of them know?” Uraraka asked carefully.

Bakugou finally looked at her and gave her a look like she was an idiot. “You think telling them would be a fucking good idea? They already never shut up.”

That was a very fair point.

“I don’t talk to her anymore. Not that it matters. But I don’t.” He was back to glaring at his shoes like they had called him weak.

“Oh.” Uraraka offered. She sat down then and joined in at the shoe-staring. “She talked to me, during the exam.”

"Oi, of fuckin’ course she did. She never knows how to mind her goddamn business –”

“—If you don’t talk to her, how did she know my name?” Uraraka had been thinking about it since her meeting with Camie during the exam. Unless she remembered her from the Sports Festival, there was no reason that Camie should have known who she was. The woman had also specifically sought her out during the exam, maybe as a target, sure, but also as somebody whose head she could get inside. Her suspicions that Camie had prior knowledge of her were confirmed when she saw the quick look of guilt cross over Bakugou’s face. If she had blinked, she would’ve missed it, but she didn’t, and Bakugou knew she didn’t.

“Ah. Fuck. Okay.” He buried his face in his hands. “Can’t talk about it right now. We still have part two of this exam and we gotta focus on that.”

“We’re already distracted.” Uraraka pointed out.

“I fuckin’ text her back sometimes, okay?” Bakugou’s sudden outburst took Uraraka by surprise. She looked up from the floor to his face. “Fuckin’ told her about you when we started up – before…everything happened. Had to tell someone. Sorry.”  

“You told…your ex about…me?” Uraraka formed the words slowly, trying to make sense of them.

“Ahh, she’s not my goddamn ex, cheeks. I don’t have people I can talk to about shit like that, and so, yeah. It was right at the beginning. So a long fuckin’ time ago. Haven’t talked to her since, but she still sends me dumb shit sometimes.” His face was burning.

“Did you like her a lot?” The question left her lips before she could think about why it would be a bad idea.

"Hah? Like her? Fuckin’…no, I didn’t fuckin’ like her, it was just sex, it was just –”

“Sounds familiar.” Uraraka deadpanned.

Bakugou frowned at her, eventually making eye contact with her. “I didn’t – don’t be like that, angel.”

"Hey, you were right though, we have another part of the exam to focus on. Sorry to bother you with this.” She stood to go. “Good luck, hope we both pass!”

"Oi, Uraraka.” Bakugou growled. “C’mon –”

Uraraka couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to be dramatic, or upset, or distracted, but hearing him say that about Camie brought back all the pain of hearing the words he said to her. She thought that it would be better like this – being friends with Bakugou – and that her feelings would naturally dissipate like they did with Deku, but if anything they just seemed to be growing stronger and she was getting more frustrated.

Why couldn’t she make her feelings go away? She wanted to float them out of her body and far away into the stratosphere, where they couldn’t hurt her and distract her from what she was supposed to be doing: becoming a hero.

“Uraraka, it’s time for the second round of the exam!” Mina called to her. Uraraka took a deep breath and put on her bravest smile. She was ready to be a hero.

When the second round began, Uraraka proved that. This was a rescue portion, and if it was anything Uraraka knew how to do, it was help people. She stuck with Mina and Momo and Tsu, and together the girls extricated professional victim after victim, from crying toddlers to the elderly. Uraraka was handling her nausea well even in the midst of floating so many piles of rubble and the victims themselves. Her mind didn’t stray from the rescue, not even when she spied Camie and Inasa across the stadium, working with their class to round up a gaggle of hysterical preteens who didn’t seem to understand they were being rescued. One boy clung to Camie’s waist, nestling his head in her chest.

Uraraka rolled her eyes and extended her hand to the last victim in her zone, a young blonde boy with spiky hair. He wouldn’t take her hand, opting instead to act stubbornly and cry out for his mother.

The universe was really laughing at her.

When Gang Orca showed up on the scene to simulate a villain attack, Uraraka and Momo rushed to move civilians to a safe zone. She pushed aside fallen beams, broken down cars and collapsed buildings in order to ensure the playing field was safe for those who were on the attack – like Deku and she assumed, Bakugou. She hadn’t seen him since the second round started.

Once every victim was accounted for, an alarm rang out, signaling the end of the exam. Uraraka fell to the ground, resting her stomach on her knees, waiting for the nausea that had accumulated to pass. She had done it. She was sure she had passed.

The students were corralled into the center of the stadium, and on a giant screen were 100 names. 100 newly licensed young heroes in training. Uraraka spied her name and cheered and hugged Tsu, who was also on the list. The crowd around her erupted into assorted shouts – some joyful, some lamenting. People were high-fiving, jumping up and down and pulling out their phones to snap pictures or call parents. Among them, Uraraka’s eyes fell on Bakugou. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and he was scanning the list furiously, looking desperately.

He wouldn’t find what he was looking for. Bakugou’s name wasn’t on the list.  

Chapter Text

“You all did well today.” Aizawa addressed the class as they stood in the lobby of the hotel. Bakugou stared at the ground, sulking, his arms crossed tight over his chest. Todoroki stared blankly at the wall. “You will have your chance again, Todoroki, Bakugou, but use this as a lesson – you are powerful, but power is not everything in hero work.” 

Bakugou just grunted, but Todoroki nodded solemnly. 

Uraraka had come to find out that neither Todoroki nor Bakugou had passed. The news burned through their class like a wildfire, and then spread to the other schools. The two most powerful students in Class A – who had shown such impressive drive during the nationally televised Sports Festival – had failed the exam. Uraraka had felt guilt pool deep inside of her at the news. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had distracted Bakugou by walking away from him. He already had enough on his mind with Camie here – it couldn’t have helped.

Kirishima had helped squash her guilt easily. “Ah, yeah. Bakugou is such an idiot.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Kami and I were with him the whole time, and he was just…being…Bakugou.”

“He told a child to fuck off and told a middle-aged couple to save themselves.” Kaminari had further explained. “I don’t think the HUCs appreciated his attitude.”

“They just don’t know him like we do.” Kirishima had shrugged.

"As for the rest of you, congratulations.” Aizawa continued. “You are now qualified to use your quirks for hero work. This opens up many opportunities for you. We can talk about it when we get back to class, but for now, I know you’re all exhausted. We will be assigning you to rooms –” 

Aizawa was interrupted by the door opening, and two crowds of students stampeding in. 

"Hey, it’s UA!” Ketsubutsu Academy was filing into the hotel, Shindo leading the way, smiling brighter now. “No hard feelings about earlier, huh? Happy to see you all passed – well…” He trailed off. Bakugou shot him a murderous glare and Shindo chuckled sheepishly. Behind Ketsubutsu was the militaristic uniforms belonging to Shiketsu. Inasa gave Todoroki a steely look when he entered, and Todoroki looked away. Coming up in the rear was the jovial presence of Ms. Joke. She was clutching the arm of someone, laughing hysterically.

“You are hilarious, Camie! You would make such a great sidekick.” 

"You think so, Ms. J? That would be wicked lit. Imagine our squad kicking some serious villain ass in these streets.” She flipped her hair casually. 

“Well, now that you have your license, we can start the process.” Ms. Joke winked at her, then spun around when she noticed how full the lobby was. “Ah! Eraser? You’re staying here too?”

"Oh, please, like she didn’t know.” Mina mumbled under her breath. Jirou snorted out a laugh. Uraraka kept her eyes on Camie.  

“How big is this hotel?” Muttered Kaminari.

"Not big enough.” Aizawa reclaimed the attention of his class. “Rooming assignments, listen up.”

He read off names and students started strolling off to get their room keys and go settle down. Bakugou’s name was called with Kirishima’s, and he stalked away before Kirishima even had a chance to try and smile at him. Uraraka caught his eye, and the redhead just shrugged sympathetically. Bakugou wasn’t going to be up to being friendly anytime soon after this blow to his ego. Uraraka didn’t even know if she should try to talk to him again, even if she felt terrible about earlier and really wanted to give him a chance to explain.

“Uraraka – Mina.” 

“Hell yeah! We’re gonna have some serious girl talk.” Mina was scheming already. 

"I’ve had enough girl talk for the rest of my life, thanks.” Uraraka deadpanned. Mina gave her a quizzical look but didn’t press her. She skipped up to the front of the room and grabbed her room key from Aizawa. 

“Thanks, dad.” Mina quipped. Aizawa made a face at her, but she grabbed Uraraka’s wrist and pulled her towards the elevator before he could say anything. 

There room was sparse, with two wooden twin beds and a small bathroom. A window overlooked the city, and a TV sat at the front of the room. Mina threw herself onto her bed and grabbed the remote. “What a day!” She announced.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Uraraka sat down slowly. She was sore all over from the trials they had gone through, and her head hurt from thoughts of leggy blondes and relationships and sex, but her provisional license was like a beacon in her wallet, reminding her that at least she had succeeded. 

Mina didn’t bring up Camie or Bakugou or anything at all, really. She tuned the channel to a girly drama, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence while it played on. Uraraka was getting ready to fall into a blissful, hopefully dreamless sleep, when there was a distinct knock at the door.

Mina threw a confused glance at Uraraka. “You expecting anyone?”

"No, you?”

“Nope, not tonight.”

“Should we ignore it?”

"No, what if it’s important?” Mina sat up and stretched. She had been so quiet for the past few minutes that Uraraka suspected she was close to sleep too. Now, her eyes were alert as she ambled across the room and threw open the door.

"What up?!” A dopey-looking Kaminari stood in the entrance to their room, grinning mischievously. Sero was in tow, giving off an equally dazed vibe.

“Heeey, ladies.” He threw up a peace sign, reminding Uraraka a little too much of Camie. “What are you up to on this fine evening?”

“Uh, sleeping?” Uraraka said from her bed.

“Sleeping?! That’s a terrible idea!” Kaminari giggled – actually giggled. He made an attempt to lean against the door frame but missed and stumbled back. Sero snorted and almost fell over, he was laughing so hard.

“What…what’s wrong with them?” Uraraka’s eyes widened. They were acting like they had been hit with Ms. Joke’s quirk, but she couldn’t think of any scenario where that would be necessary.

“Kaminari, are you high?” Mina smacked him upside the head.

“Owieeeee.” He whined, and then dissolved into another fit of giggles. Sero was covering his mouth with his hand, in absolute hysterics.

“We are!” Sero admitted, nodding furiously. “We came to get you – we’re having a party!”

Uraraka’s mouth dropped open in shock. Kaminari and Sero had drugs? In a hotel full of teachers? Right after they were just granted their provisional hero licenses?

“Where the fuck did you get weed?” Mina gaped at them. “I know you wouldn’t risk bringing it with you.” Her eyes were heavy on Sero. “Right?”

"Of course I wouldn’t bring my own supply, Mina, my love. That’s still in its safe place. Kaminari and I just made some friends.” His eyes were heavily lidded. “You should come with us to meet them.”

Mina turned to Uraraka, and Uraraka glared back at her. “No!” She protested before Mina could even ask. Going with them was a terrible idea – even letting them stand in front of their room right now was a terrible idea. “What if Aizawa comes and does room checks or something?”

“Taken care of,” Kaminari said, “One Ms. Joke was seen leaving her room, and one of our sources followed her to her destination – one Eraserhead’s bedroom.”

“Dude, why do you keep saying ‘one’?” Sero couldn’t contain himself. “You sound like a super spy.”

Kaminari threw up finger guns.

"Still no, Mina!” Uraraka snapped. “If we get caught, we could lose our provisional licenses!”

“No one else seems to be worried about that.” Kaminari kept pushing. “Everyone in attendance got their license tonight – so if they’re not worried, why should you be?”

“Stoner logic.” Mina offered weakly. “It can’t be that bad, Ochako…I mean, if Aizawa is with Ms. Joke…”

"What about other teachers?” Uraraka challenged.

“You think Mic is going to check on us? If anything, he’d join in.” Kaminari scoffed. Uraraka actually cracked a smile at that one, unable to help herself. Kaminari just sounded so sure of himself and Sero was swaying back and forth slowly, a big stupid grin ghosting on his face. The whole scene was so hilarious.

“Uraraka, come onnnnnnnn.” Sero begged, wringing his hands together. “Don’t make me tape you up and drag you.”

“Sero, I could blow in your general direction right now and you’d fall over.” Uraraka said simply. Kaminari practically howled with laughter, and Mina stomped on his foot to quiet him.

“Okay, okay, we’ll come! Just be quiet. Right, Ochako, we’ll go?” Mina gave her a pleading look. “You’ll enjoy it, I promise. It’ll be good to get your mind off…things.”

"Mina, I don’t do that.” Uraraka shook her head. She wanted to be a hero for God’s sake. She had to follow the law.

"You sound like Iida.” Mina shot back at her and Uraraka gasped.

“Take it back!”

“Prove me wrong.”

The two girls stared each other down. Sero and Kaminari watched, open-mouthed and enraptured. “Girl fight, meow, meow.” Kaminari put his hands out like claws.

“God, where’s Jirou when you need her?” Mina asked.

“She’s at the party!” Sero exclaimed. “After this, we’re going to get Kiri and Bakugou. It’ll be so fun!”

Uraraka blinked. “Bakugou? He doesn’t seem like the type.”

"Oh, he’s not.” Kaminari wore a wicked look. “But he’s gonna be tonight if I have anything to say about it.”

"You don’t have to partake if you don’t want to, Uraraka, but you should definitely come hang out.” Sero said. “We both deserve to have some fun after that amazing plan we pulled off today, don’t you think?”

“Okay, fine! I’ll come. Where is it?” Uraraka only agreed because she didn’t think that she would get rid of Kaminari and Sero any other way, and maybe because she was regretting her earlier decision of blowing Bakugou off before he had a chance to explain himself and wanted to make things right.

Kaminari’s smile was electrifying. “Great! Then allow me to show you ladies the way.”

-x-

Kaminari rapped on the door in what seemed to be a slow, deliberate pattern that required all his concentration. After a half-second, it opened just a crack and a voice whispered, “password?” in a tone that was trying to be serious but couldn’t hold back laughter. 

He broke into a goofy grin and Mina rolled her eyes in exasperation. 

“The password is Eraserjoke!” He hissed back, his excitement bubbling out of his lips.

“Correct.” The door swung open, and Kaminari quickly herded the girls in before closing it tightly behind him. 

"My God, you idiots.” Mina whistled low. Uraraka blinked, smoke assaulting her as soon as she stepped into the room. Once she blinked it out of her eyes, she adjusted to the strange scene in front of her. There was a scattering of students from Ketsubutsu and Shiketsu sitting on the different surfaces in the room – which was much bigger than Uraraka’s, with a queen-sized bed, a kitchenette and a couch. Shindo was the one who had opened the door and he was now gesturing for Mina and Uraraka to find a seat. If this was the type of room that had been reserved for the other schools, then UA really needed to step their budget up. There were pillows thrown around the floor, and on the counter, there was an absolutely unreal amount of junk food and bottles of what Uraraka could only assume was liquor, some already half-empty. Jirou sat with her back propped up against the bed – which two Shiketsu students were lounging on, almost on top of each other. She seemed unbothered, and was holding her phone and looking intensely at it. She spotted Uraraka and Mina and waved lazily. “I’m the aux cord.” She explained. 

Oh right. Uraraka had hardly noticed the faint music playing throughout the room. It was soft and slow with strange instruments. 

"Trippy.” Mina offered, taking the word from Uraraka’s head. 

"That’s what I’m going for.” Jirou beamed with pride.

The atmosphere was warm, but the room was chilly and Uraraka looked to the window, seeing it was open. The girl from Ketsubutsu with spiky hair – Tatami – was sitting by it, lethargically blowing smoke out of her mouth and into the air every few minutes. In the corner of the room, next to one of the beds, sat a Shiketsu student Uraraka recognized from the exam – it would be hard not to – with long, brown hair covering his entire body. Uraraka wasn’t even sure how he would partake in something like this and she imagined the smell would linger in his hair for weeks.  He was laughing at something the person next to him said, but they were partially obscured by his body and she could only make out bare legs. She spotted Inasa too, sitting on the floor and eating a bag of chips, looking distraught and not comfortable about being there and absentmindedly swirling a cloud of smoke into a small tornado above his head.

"Sero and I are gonna go get Kiri and Bakugou.” Kaminari said. “That’ll be everyone.” 

"What, you don’t have any more friends for us to meet?” Shindo challenged with a twinkle in his eye directed towards Uraraka. She gave him an irritated glance back.

"Not any who would want to do this.” Mina snorted. Uraraka pictured Momo and Iida’s response to this…or Deku’s. She smirked at the thought of his stammering. She pictured Iida, panicked and chopping, begging the students not to break any rules. She couldn’t picture Bakugou in the room. They said weed was relaxing, but the only time she had ever seen Bakugou relaxed was –

She blushed at the thought and refocused on reality.

“Well, UA is known for being a school for tight asses.” Tatami said loftily from the window.  

"My ass is absolutely tight, thanks.” Kaminari shot back. Sero wheezed out a laugh and grabbed Kaminari’s arm.

"Dude, that’s not what it means.”

"Okay, morons. Let me go with you to make sure you survive your journey.” Mina linked one arm through Sero’s and one through Kaminari’s. “Jirou, take care of Ochako, okay?” 

Jirou saluted and patted the floor next to her. “Come help me pick music.” 

Uraraka began to meander over to Jirou, but she was stopped when Shindo grabbed her hand. “Hey, why don’t you sit with me? Wanna take a hit?”

“No, I –” Uraraka protested, but she was cut off.

“Fuck off, Shindo. My girl here is spoken for.” The figure behind the hairy Shiketsu student had revealed herself – and just Uraraka’s luck, it was the person she wanted to see the least – Camie. She was like a leech, stuck on Uraraka, sucking the energy and peace out of her life. “Hi, Ochako! Isn’t this, like, severely lit?” Her eyes were almost as red as Bakugou’s, and she was swaying where she stood. “I’m so happy you’re here! Don’t mind Shindo, he has, like, a fetish for little girls.”

“I’m not a little –”

“Fuck you, Camie!” Shindo interrupted her. “I have a fetish for beautiful women.” He smiled at Uraraka.

“Goodbye.” Camie held up her hand in a stop motion, then wobbled over to Uraraka. “Please tell me you’re not mad at me for earlier. It was a competition, yo! I had to get down and dirty.” She winked.

“You’re always getting down and dirty, apparently.” Shindo muttered.

“You’re really hashing my vibe here, Yo.” She giggled. “Yo, Yo.”

Shindo burst into laughter and then decided Uraraka and Camie no longer warranted his attention. He wandered over to Tatami instead.

This was weird. Uraraka stared at Jirou helplessly, begging her to save her from the situation she had found herself in, but Jirou had her eyes closed and was tapping her fingers to the music.

"I’m not…mad.” Uraraka said, carefully choosing her words. Although, she wasn’t sure they even registered to Camie at all. “Are you drunk?”

“I am lit, my dude.” She placed a heavy hand on Uraraka’s shoulder. “Turnt A-F.”

As she babbled, she used Uraraka for balance. “I didn’t mean to tease you so much about Baku, babe. Promise. I didn’t know you were all that serious based on what he told me!”

"Which was what?” Uraraka raised an eyebrow. 

Camie giggled and leaned down to get on Uraraka’s level so she could whisper in her ear, “He said you were his new fuck buddy.” Her voice got even lower – it was almost seductive, and it made Uraraka sick. “I don’t know if you know this, but I taught Katsuki, like, everything he knows.” 

"So I heard.” Uraraka needed to find an emergency exit out of this conversation, but she didn’t know how. She could just leave, tell Jirou to tell Mina she was sorry, but she couldn’t do it, and hide under her covers for the rest of the night. But she didn’t want anyone to think she was running away from Camie. 

“We’re not…doing that…anymore.” Uraraka managed. “Do you need to sit down?” As much as she had a distaste for Camie, she also didn’t want her to fall and hit her head, which is what she was dangerously close to doing. Camie nodded slowly, and Uraraka helped guide her to the floor. 

“Oh?” The woman was dazed out of her mind, and it took her a minute to respond to Uraraka’s previous statement. “Why’s that, babe?”

“Didn’t work out.” Uraraka mumbled. She was starting to feel lightheaded, and she didn’t know if it was from the smoke swirling around the room or the fact that she was talking about this with Camie. 

“I know how that is, yo!” She was laughing, and then she stopped abruptly and put a hand on Uraraka’s leg. “Baku is super clingy, like – super clingy – and that’s just too much, man, when you’re just looking for some fun times. I liked him, but I wasn’t like, in love with him.” She scrunched up her nose.

Uraraka stared at her. Camie seemed to think Uraraka called things off because Bakugou had feelings – not the complete other way around – and her heart sank at the thought. She had been continuously telling herself that Bakugou was just bad at feelings, that he didn’t know what he wanted, that he was confused, and that was why they just had to stay friends – but if what Camie was saying was true, then –

“What happened? Like exactly?” Uraraka found herself asking the questions before she could fully understand that she might not like the answer. 

"Oh boy. You want a shot? It’s a long story, my dude.” 

"A shot?” Uraraka questioned. She didn’t have much experience with being drunk. She was allowed a sip of wine once at a family party with her parents, and it tasted so bitter that she never tried it again. 

“God, you are, like, the cutest thing.” Camie’s eye were drooping but they still managed to shine. “Hey, Nagamasa, can you pour this baby here a shot?”

“What’s your poison?” The hairy man stood up and a voice came from somewhere within the jungle on his face. 

"My poison?” Uraraka asked dumbly. 

"She’s so cute!” Camie practically squealed. “Start her off with something easy – like, that Mexican drink – tequila!”

Uraraka had never heard of tequila, but she liked the idea of something easy. She wasn’t sure why she was letting the Shiketsu students make her a drink – she felt far more relaxed than she should have, even in the presence of Camie, who had not only tried to play her for a fool in the Provisional License Exam, but who also was about to tell her all about her past relationship with the boy Uraraka was going back and forth constantly on whether or not she was in love with.  

Maybe she was truly a masochist. 

"Here you go – Ochako, right?” The hairy man – Nagamasa – squatted down in front of Uraraka. 

She nodded and took the tiny glass from him. She sipped it tentatively and made a face. It tasted like acid. 

“O-M-G. No! You have to just drink it!” Camie was rolling on the floor laughing and Nagamasa chuckled heartily. “Just straight down your throat, yo!”

Uraraka wondered if Camie knew that the majority of the things she said were inherently sexual. Maybe that was part of her appeal to men.

"How does anyone drink this?” Uraraka asked. 

“Ochako, are you taking shots?” Jirou had made her way over to them – finally fulfilling her promise to Mina to take care of her – and was looking at the group curiously. “With…Shiketsu?”

“It’s important to cultivate friendships among hero courses.” Nagamasa recited, “That’s what our teacher said.” 

"We took his advice to heart!” Camie winked. “Your ears are mad lit – so punk rock.” 

Jirou actually blushed and smiled softly but with pride. “Thanks.” 

“You want a shot too? We’re teaching Ochako.” Nagamasa got back up and moved to the counter. “Inasa, what about you?” He called to the giant who had moved onto his second – or maybe third – bag of chips. 

Inasa gave Nagamasa a strange look. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea in my current state.” 

“Inasa is baaaaked.” Camie trilled. She leaned in closer to Uraraka and Jirou. “He didn’t get his license today because he got in a fight with the literal hottie in your class. That icy-hot boy.” 

"Todoroki.” Jirou offered. “He didn’t get his license either. He’s probably in his room meditating about it.” 

Uraraka giggled, and Camie’s eyes snapped to her. “Hey, finish that, dude.” She gestured to the drink.

“It’s terrible.” Uraraka whined.

“C’mon, Ochako!” Jirou egged her on. Nagamasa came back with a shot of clear liquid for Jirou too. “Watch.”

The girl took the glass and basically threw it to the back of her throat and swallowed in one swift motion. Uraraka was amazed – Jirou didn’t even flinch. 

Jirou noticed her expression. “This is not my first rodeo, my friend.” 

“Ochako, take your damn shot so I can tell you my story.” Camie was getting impatient. “Do what this little baddie just did.”

Judging by Jirou’s grin, Camie was growing on her. 

Uraraka gave an uneasy glance at the glass in her hand. It was taunting her, reminding her that Camie was not only hotter than her, but also cooler than her in every single way with her ability to drink acidic drinks and not throw up afterwards, which is what Uraraka felt like doing after her first sip. 

She pinched her nose and lifted the drink to her lips, trying to throw it back like Jirou had done.

It spilled down her shirt slightly and she gagged. “Terrible!” She repeated, closing her eyes tight. It was disgusting, but it electrified her somehow. She felt her tension melt away.

"Oh.” She said simply. “Okay. I get it.”

Camie howled with laughter so hard that Shindo and Tatami cast curious glances over. Inasa chomped nervously on his chips. 

"Okay, so, my story – you can listen too, my little punk rocker.” Camie was sitting cross-legged in front of the two girls. Uraraka thought that she probably needed another shot to be able to handle this but figured asking for one so soon after would be overkill. 

"Baku and I met at this super lame training camp my parents made me go to – they probably just wanted me out of the house. It was, like, not for me. Anyway –”

Uraraka definitely needed another shot. “Hey, Nagamasa?”

Camie gave her an offended look but it dissolved quickly, and she smiled. “Look at you getting lit, baby girl, I see you.”

"Same, please.” Jirou raised a hand. Camie clapped her hands together. Once the two girls had downed their second drinks – this one not too much easier than the first, but less shocking – they waited for Camie to continue.

“So, this training camp, right. Baku was this angry little thing – but just so, so cute. I was into it. So, I just, like, went for it. I told him I was into him. He was into me too, so we started a little, like, fling. It went on all summer, and when summer was over, we were just gonna, like, go our separate ways, ya know? Except, Baku confessed his love for me or something on the last day – told me he would visit every weekend, gave me his number, all that stuff.” She paused, and Uraraka’s heart hurt at the thought of what was to come. “I couldn’t have that, obvs! Totally not what I was going for! So, I let him down easy, but I told him it couldn’t happen – at least not then. People would totally freak, yo.”

"Why would they freak?” Jirou was enraptured, her eyes focused entirely on Camie’s face. 

Camie gave Uraraka and Jirou a shrug. “I was his counselor.” 

“What the fuuuuck?” Jirou covered her mouth with her hands. “You’re a cradle robber!”

“How old are you?” Uraraka gasped. 

“Old enough.” Camie laughed. “Baku is ahead of his time – he’s super mature for his age, and now that he’s older…he’s a little more available, is what I’m hearing from you, Ochako. I mean, unless you’re still into him, babe. If so, I’ll back off.” 

Uraraka felt small. Camie was two years older than her and looking down at her now with a sly look on her face – despite every influence she was under, Camie still seemed to be playing with her like she was a cat and Uraraka was a very weak and dumb mouse. If she said that she still had feelings for Bakugou, she would be admitting defeat. It’s not like it would matter if she did. Bakugou had rejected her, and then they had settled on friendship. It was fine. It worked. If Bakugou wanted to reconnect with his old fling – no matter how wrong it might’ve been – then Uraraka shouldn’t the one to stop it. “No, I’m not…Bakugou and I are just friends.” She sighed out, finally. Saying it out loud enough might make it true. Camie’s grin was almost maniacal. 

“Great!”

“I think I need another shot.” Uraraka said. Jirou gave her a concerned look and took her hand. 

“No, I think you’re okay on shots.” She said gently. “C’mon, let’s go sit.” 

“Aw, you guys.” Camie whined. “I was having fun doing girl talk!” Nagamasa put a hand on her shoulder.

“You’ve had enough too, Camie. Let’s take it easy. Let’s go check on Inasa, okay?” 

Jirou sat Uraraka down on the bed, and she opened her mouth to speak, but just then, the door burst open.

“Fellas,” Kaminari announced, a twinkle in his yellow eyes. “The party has arrived.” 

Kirishima and Mina skipped into the room, pulling Sero in with them. Standing behind Kaminari, looking cross and not at all excited about being there was Bakugou. Uraraka felt her face burn, and she tried to stop feeling sorry for herself. 

Bakugou’s eyes found Uraraka’s quickly, then they fell. The air was still tense between them since her abrupt walking away from him earlier. She didn’t want things to be tense. She didn’t want things to be like they were at all – but she had to stay strictly on the path of friendship. Uraraka had never been good at having crushes – letting them consume her entirely and flip her world upside down. She was no stranger to rejection and was usually able to move on relatively quickly after some initial crying and binge-eating ice cream, opting to distance herself from the crush that wasn’t to be. Bakugou was different. With Bakugou, she was drawn to him like she was a moon orbiting a planet, and although he had rejected her, he hardly ever strayed from her side.

Her head spun from the alcohol. 

Uraraka watched as Bakugou trailed behind Kirishima, uncomfortable and stiff. She had a desperate desire to reach out to him and to comfort him, to tell him that it didn’t matter if he didn’t pass the Provisional License Exam – he was still going to be an amazing hero, and this was just a bump in the road, but she refrained. 

Uraraka was broken out of her introspection by Kaminari belly-flopping onto the bed, landing smoothly in-between her and Jirou. Jirou smacked him playfully. She gave Uraraka a cautious look. She seemed to be asking permission – if Uraraka was okay – so that she could fall into Kaminari’s presence. Uraraka nodded slightly, smiled sweetly at Kaminari, and then sat up. She was dizzy – the fumes in the room were stifling – and she thought it was about time she went back to her room. 

“Hey, Ochako.” Shindo’s breezy voice beckoned her over to the window, where he still sat. The guy didn’t know when to give up – but, looking at him through clouded tequila-vision, maybe he wasn’t so bad. He was good-looking, after all. It would be good to force herself to move on from Bakugou. 

She went over to him. Tatami gave her a warm smile and offered her the object she was holding in her hand – a small, brown cigar-like object. It didn’t look like the ones Uraraka’s dad smoked on rare, rare celebratory occasions, but she didn’t know what else she would call it. 

“Do you know how?” Shindo asked her. His voice was honey-sweet. Uraraka shook her head. She wasn’t feeling like herself. Her inhibitions were loosened. “Here, it’s like this.” He put the cigar between his lips and inhaled deeply, letting his eyes flutter shut. After what felt like forever, he turned towards the window and blew out a cloud of smoke and smiled. “I’ll help you.”

Shindo motioned for Uraraka to open her mouth, and she obliged. Tatami rolled her eyes but giggled. Shindo held the cigar to her mouth, then told her to close. “Now, suck in and hold it in.” 

Uraraka did as she was told, and felt her lungs catch on fire. She sputtered, coughing and hacking. Tears filled her eyes.

“It’s okay!” Shindo assured her.

“Everyone messes up their first try.” Tatami said. “Try again?”

Uraraka didn’t know if she wanted to feel that sensation again, but the Ketsubutsu students seemed so genuine – they wanted her to have a good time. When she tried again, she was able to control her inhale, and it went smoothly.

“Good girl.” Shindo smiled. 

“Oi!” Uraraka’s head snapped at to see Bakugou across the room, leaning over the counter and talking to Nagamasa. “Pour me some of that shit.” He was not looking at Uraraka, but even with the distance between them she could see his hands were shaking. She looked for Kirishima in the room, but found him tangled up with Mina, shrouded in smoke and not looking worried.

He’ll be fine, Uraraka told herself. If Kirishima wasn’t concerned, then she wouldn’t be either. Bakugou wasn’t the type to show weakness in front of people – he wouldn’t have a reaction in this room. She wondered idly how they even convinced him to come. 

“That one – you like him, right?” Shindo’s voice pulled her back in. 

"Bakugou? No, he’s a good friend, but I think we’re fighting right now.” She said softly. Tatami gave a low laugh.

"You must have the patience of a saint, being friends with that guy.” She said. “He behaves like an animal.” 

“He’s not – he’s a good guy. He’s just…” She struggled to find the words.

"Angry? Violent? Manic?” Shindo teased. He poked Uraraka in the stomach and she giggled as if on cue. What was she doing? 

"You just don’t know him.” She said, straightening up. She heard herself speak and her words sounded slow and heavy. The room was loud, but everything was fading into the background until she heard Camie’s distinctive trill.

"You better slow your roll, Bakubro. You’re gonna have a headache in the morning, babe.” 

Uraraka looked over again. Camie was leaning over the counter next to Bakugou, who was downing another shot – Uraraka wasn’t sure which number he was on. Camie leaned her body into him and her hand brushed his. Bakugou pushed it away aggressively. 

“Not interested, Camie.” He growled at her. 

“Still mad about the past, babe?” Her voice was far too loud to be asking something so intimately. Uraraka wanted to cover her ears and block out the whole conversation.

“Got other shit to focus on.” He mumbled. Uraraka strained to hear Camie’s low voice.

“Let me distract you.” 

She wanted to throw up. Suddenly she was too hot, too dizzy, too high. She needed to escape. She needed to go back to her room. Did she even know how to find her room in this state? She didn’t remember what number it was. Where was her keycard? She stood up, and immediately fell back over into Tatami, who held her arms protectively.

"Hey, it’s okay, relax.” She cooed into Uraraka’s ear, like she was unaffected by her sudden panic. “This happens. You just gotta take a deep breath.”

A deep breath. Uraraka could do that. She breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, trying not to hear the words repeated in her head. “Let me distract you.” She hadn’t heard Bakugou’s response – hadn’t wanted to. Her surroundings were starting to blur around her and she wanted to curl up in a ball until everything went away. 

“She should probably go to bed, Shindo.” Tatami’s voice sounded miles away. “She’s having like, a bad reaction.”

"Shouldn’t be.” Shindo said. “Didn’t think this shit was that strong, but I guess she’s got less of a tolerance than we do.” His voice went away. Uraraka squeezed her eyes shut, willing the nausea in her stomach away. “Hey, Ochako, I’ll take you to your room, okay?” 

She nodded. 

"Behave yourself, Shindo.” Tatami warned. Shindo helped Uraraka off the floor, lifting her slowly to her feet. He intertwined their fingers and Uraraka noted that they didn’t fit together well, and his hands were too dry. Uraraka kept her eyes on her feet, afraid of what she might see if she looked up.

“Is she okay?” This was Mina’s voice, distant and fretting. “I can take her -!” 

"I have her.” Shindo reassured her. “She’s okay.”

"No the fuck you don’t have her.” The snarling voice that cracked through the air and hit Uraraka’s ears was full of hatred. “You’re not taking her anywhere, you goddamned disgusting pervert.”

“Oh, does she belong to you?” Shindo challenged back. Uraraka managed to lift her head up and look at the scene around her. Bakugou was standing in front of the door, looking murderous. Camie was nowhere to be seen.  

“She doesn’t belong to anyone, you piece of shit.” Rage radiated off of Bakugou’s body. Explosions crackled in his palms. “You think I don’t know guys like you? I fuckin’ know guys like you. You got her nice and fucked up, didn’t you? Got her so she can’t say no?” 

“Oi, Bakugou, calm down.” Kirishima walked over to put space between him and Shindo, hardening his body against any blows. He glared at Shindo. “You leave Uraraka with us, alright?” 

“Kiri, you should move out of the way. I’m gonna kill him.”

“Should’ve known UA students would be a bunch of bitches.” Shindo laughed and  released his hold on Uraraka’s wrist and the sudden lack of stability caused her to jolt forward. Bakugou grabbed her and encased her in his arms.  “But this is my room, so you leave, and take her with you – she would’ve been too easy for me, anyway.” 

Bakugou’s entire body tensed against Uraraka’s back and his arms raised to blow Shindo out of the hotel – but Kirishima pushed him back hard. Uraraka fell backwards with him onto the floor. The whole room stared in stunned silence.

Then Kirishima punched Shindo in the face. 

“Guess we’re not about cultivating friendships with other schools.” Jirou muttered. Kaminari let out a low whistle. 

“I can’t say he didn’t deserve that.” Tatami walked over to where Shindo now lay, passed out cold. “I’m sorry he caused your class trouble.”

Uraraka, who was still on the floor, blinked up at the scene around her. Everything was still in slow motion, and she was having trouble processing what had just happened, or the fact that she was still wrapped in Bakugou’s arms, practically sitting on top of him where they fell. 

“We should probably all leave.” Nagamasa’s deep, authoritative voice boomed. “Tatami, will he…be okay?”

“Not the first time he’s been punched in the face, won’t be the last.” She sighed. “Itejiro will help me.”

A man with long black hair and dead eyes looked up at Tatami. He had been practically silent the whole time, sitting by himself in the corner of the room. He nodded and stood to help pick Shindo off the floor. 

"Where did Camie go?” Uraraka muttered. She wasn’t even sure if she said it out loud, until Bakugou answered.

“Hah? Why do you care about where Camie is?” He asked slowly, practically in her ear. “She’s gone, angel. She left.” Uraraka sunk back into his arms. She was so tired, and Camie being gone was the best news she had heard all day. 

The small group of UA students gathered to go. Kaminari and Jirou were supporting each other, walking slowly. Mina was bouncing with excitement, still feeling the effects of however many shots she took and the adrenaline of seeing Kirishima punch a man in the face. She pulled Sero along, babbling. Bakugou lifted Uraraka up easily and kept a firm grip on her arm. She moved her hand down to connect it with his, locking their fingers together. Bakugou didn’t fight it, and she couldn’t help but notice the sensation that they fit. 

“Our apologies, again.” Nagamasa bowed. Inasa mimicked him, still looking to be feeling the effects of the small tornado of smoke he had been inhaling for the whole night. “It was a pleasure fighting against you, and I hope that we meet again in the future.”

“We will,” Inasa spoke softly. “Bakugou.” He said. Bakugou nodded curtly. 

"Don’t apologize, man.” Sero said sheepishly. He appeared to have come down from his earlier high. “Wasn’t your school that produced such a creep.” 

"It was an interesting night for sure.” Mina grinned. “Thanks, Nagamasa!” 

They left the room then, and Uraraka felt crushed with exhaustion. Her head was still spinning but she found if she focused on her hand in Bakugou’s, it helped. She squeezed. He returned the pressure. 

“Uh…Uraraka…I have a question for you?” Mina giggled once they had shut the door behind them. “Do you think I could have the room?" She whispered in her ear. It was a loud whisper that all of them heard but politely pretended not to. 

“Where am I supposed to sleep?” Uraraka was groggy and just wanted her bed. 

Mina gave a pointed look to her hand, which was still tightly in Bakugou’s. “You can’t think of anywhere?”

“You’re the worst, Mina.” Jirou laughed. 

“Please, like you don’t plan on exiling Momo.” Mina shot back.

"You assume she’s actually in the room.” Jirou’s eyes flashed. “Even Momo knows how to have fun, sometimes. Kaminari and Todoroki are roommates, so.”

"Damn, it’s like Aizawa planned this.” Mina muttered then she gasped. “He totally did. I know he did. Do you think he ships us? I think he ships us.” 

“Mina, shut up.” Sero begged. “We really don’t need to get caught right now.”

“Well, anyways,” She dismissed Sero. “Uraraka, please?”

Bakugou gave her hand another gentle squeeze. “You can stay with me. There’s two beds in the room.” 

“Okay.” Uraraka managed, feeling her knees grow weaker by the second. With their plan set, everyone departed to rooms that were not their own, and the second half of the night began.

Chapter Text

Bakugou was prepared to shut the door in Kaminari’s stupid face, but Kirishima didn’t let him, so he opted for sitting on his bed, crossing his arms and looking as pissed as possible.

“I’m not going to some stupid, shitty hotel room with some random extras.” He snarled when Kaminari, Sero and Mina revealed their ridiculous plan. Kaminari and Sero were practically falling all over themselves they were so messed up. It was embarrassing.

"Bakugou, come on. We all know you had a bad day, why are you gonna sit up here and sulk about it in the dark?” Sero whined. He paused, then a shit-eating grin appeared on his plain face. “Plus, Uraraka is down there.”

“Why the fuck would Round Face want to go to that?” Bakugou raised one eyebrow and glared at each of them in turn. Mina snickered. 

“We told her you were gonna be there.” Kaminari guffawed. Idiot. 

“Why would you tell her that, moron?” He tried to channel all the fury he had inside of his body into a single look. Kaminari and Sero seemed oblivious to it, Mina seemed to enjoy it. 

“So you would both go. Duh.” Sero announced this like it was the smartest idea in the world. Kirishima looked nervously from Bakugou to the three. He had been walking on eggshells all night, trying to keep Bakugou busy with action movies and incessant chatter. It would’ve been kind of him if it wasn’t so damn annoying.

“Well, too bad. I’m not going.” Bakugou stayed firm in his resolve. He could think of nothing he wanted to do less than deal with this bullshit all night after he had failed his Provisional License Exam. He needed to be alone, sleep it off, and hope that the horrible feeling in his stomach that came with failure would be gone in the morning. 

He couldn’t believe he failed. It was unbelievable – a rigged system, obviously. He was a way better hero than the majority of those who passed, especially Deku. He knew deep inside why he lost, and he kicked himself for it. He was too harsh with the civilians he was supposed to be rescuing in that dumbass exercise. He didn’t want to rescue, he wanted to fight villains. The rescue just slowed him down – especially those who could save themselves. He was ashamed of himself, and what hurt the most is that he knew it was no one’s fault but his own. If Uraraka was there, she would’ve berated Bakugou for letting his temper get out of hand and she probably would’ve soothed him into a calmer attitude. She was good at that.

Too bad Uraraka had practically run away from him earlier after he ran his stupid mouth too much. 

“Oi, Bakugou. You know that cocky Ketsubutsu kid from earlier? The one who makes earthquakes?” Kaminari began innocently. 

“Yeah, what about that bastard?” Bakugou didn’t like that kid. From the moment he had approached their class, he knew that he was fake. The asshole confirmed it by immediately by attacking UA and making it his personal mission to deter them from getting their licenses. Bakugou hated busybodies like that. 

“He was giving Uraraka some serious bedroom eyes.” Mina said. “Like, so serious that I had to entrust Jirou to protect her from him.”

“That’s bullshit!” Bakugou clenched his hands into fists to keep his explosions contained. Mina and Kaminari smirked at each other. Sero looked dazed. Kirishima gave Mina a pained look.

“Stop antagonizing him.” He pleaded. “If he doesn’t wanna go you shouldn’t try to force him.” 

"Stop acting like my goddamn mom.” Bakugou snapped back. “I’ll fuckin’ go.” 

He’d be damned if he was going to let some cocky wannabe harass Uraraka. 

 -x-

Bakugou regretted his decision to go approximately three seconds after Kaminari opened the door. There was a reason these extras didn’t get into UA – that was because they were complete idiots.

Everything was swimming in smoke, and music played far too loudly for the proximity of the rooms. The wind-kid who actually got so freaked out about upsetting UA that he got a nose bleed was twirling a tornado full of smoke above his head. It was a scene. Bakugou’s eyes scanned the room, and they landed first on Uraraka, who was lying in bed next to Jirou, with a faraway look in her eyes and her mouth slack.

Oh fuck.

Uraraka was drunk. It was undeniable in the way she was draped across the bed, limp and smiling lazily at something Jirou said to her. He locked eyes with her and then he looked away quickly. He needed to apologize for earlier, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to do it when she was like this.

He tore his gaze away from her just as Kaminari was jumping onto the bed like a child. He followed Kirishima deeper into the room – it was a big room, for a hotel. There was even a kitchen with a counter full of alcohol and disgusting junk crap that no aspiring hero should ever eat. 

“Katsuki!” A voice dripping with sweetness whispered in his ear and a pair of cold hands wrapped around his waist. Bakugou shivered involuntarily. 

"Camie.” He said, his heart beating too fast. “Didn’t know you’d be here.” 

“Surprise.” She released him and walked around so she was in his vision. She was wearing tight black shorts and a pink tank top that was way too small. “Gonna stop avoiding me, huh, Baku?”

“Not avoiding you.” He mumbled. He hated the way he lost his nerve when he was around her. His usual abrasive attitude disintegrated, and he was left focusing all of his energy on trying to keep calm.

“Psh. Could’ve fooled me, babe.” She was messed up. Her eyes were drooping, and she swayed where she stood. “I talked to your girlfriend.” 

“What?” Bakugou’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say to Uraraka?”

“Oh, so she is your girlfriend?” Camie pushed her lips into a pout like she did when she wasn’t getting what she wanted. She inched slowly closer to him.

“No – what – that’s not the point!” He was getting annoyed. Talking to Camie was not how it used to be, and it wasn’t easy for him to keep his cool. A year ago, if Camie had approached him in a situation like this, he would’ve fallen to his knees and begged for her to touch him, to love him, to reconsider what she had said to him – but it wasn’t a year ago. It was now. He was different. 

“I told her about us. She was interested, so, like, had to give her the deets.” She shrugged, giving Bakugou an innocent look. “Told her maybe I was interested in starting things up again with ya.” She giggled and Bakugou felt bile rise in his throat. “She said to go for it.” 

She said…what? 

“Wanna go for it?” She placed a soft hand on his face, but he shoved her away. He couldn’t think in this situation. The room was so hot and so fucking loud. By the window, Uraraka sat with that bastard Shindo and some other Ketsubutsu random. She was smoking, which in and of itself was absurd, because that was not something she would normally do, but what made it worse was that Shindo placed the blunt in her mouth. Shindo was touching her thighs, her stomach, teasing. Uraraka was smiling back at him. 

Uraraka told Camie that she could have him. And now she was sitting close with another man and smiling at him. 

Bakugou needed a drink. Immediately.

“Oi, beast boy, pour me some of that shit!” He called to the Shiketsu student who was entirely covered in hair – what a shitty quirk. He complied and handed Bakugou a shot glass full of a dark brown liquid. He threw it down quickly.

"Ooh, you looking to party then, Baku? That’s pretty lit, my dude.” 

"Why don’t you leave me alone, Camie? You’ve fucked me up enough.” He snapped back at her, trying to keep his eyes from falling back on Uraraka. She was coughing and Shindo and the other girl were laughing at her lightly and encouraging her to try again. 

He grabbed the bottle beast boy was pouring from and untwisted the cap, pouring himself another shot.

"You better slow your role, Bakubro. You’re gonna have a headache in the morning, babe.”

Camie was like a housefly. He couldn’t believe how he used to fawn over her. He threw himself at her like a little bitch. Humiliating. Her hand brushed against his and he pushed it away, feeling physically sick as he downed the second shot. He didn’t know how many different ways he could tell her that he wasn’t interested, but he didn’t think Camie was used to being told no. 

He took a third consecutive shot, and then turned his full attention to Camie when she asked him if he was still mad about the past. 

Fuck yes, he was still mad about the past. Bakugou was mad that he had met Camie as a fucking kid, knowing nothing, but wanting to train and be the best, and that she had turned him into a wreck within a week. He was mad that she led him into the counselor’s office after midnight and talked him easily out of his clothes with seductive whispers and broken promises. He was mad that she told him that he was her favorite, that he was beautiful, that he was going to be the perfect hero. He was mad that she distracted him, so that when he got home from the training camp, he didn’t have all that much to show for his time there, which just made his mother angrier than she usually was and he paid for it. He was mad that Camie used him and made him believe that there could be worth in real relationships and that maybe loving someone wasn’t so terrible after all. She had tricked him. He was so wrong and naïve to ever think that, and that was proven when he told Camie he’d visit her, and wait for her, and go anywhere she went and Camie laughed in his face.

“You’re just baby, Baku. You’re too young for me!”

Bakugou stood before her then, his heart hammering out of his chest after his confession of love was met with nothing but rejection and laughter. The idea of being with him was so unthinkable to her. 

“It was fun, babe, but, like, this was just a summer fling. Just about sex. It’s better when it’s just about sex – no strings, my dude! Aren’t you glad you learned so much, though?”

Even now, remembering the words caused an icy feeling of pain in his chest and he had to take deep breaths to stay calm. Camie had ruined him. Everything that was wrong with him and Uraraka – it was Camie’s fault – he refused to go through it again. He wouldn’t hurt like that again. 

Uraraka isn’t Camie, the voice inside of his head reminded him gently. Uraraka was nowhere near Camie. She was intelligent and warm and kind and genuine and loving and – 

"I’ve got other shit to focus on.” He directed his answer back to Camie.    

“Let me distract you.”

The words sent angry fire into his soul. This was how she got him, back then. She had sultry words and long eyelashes and pouty lips and Bakugou couldn’t resist, he was putty in her hands. This time, the words make him sick – he knew who she was behind them. 

“I’ll tell you this one time, Camie. I don’t want to see you again. This shit? Not happening. You don’t get to take what you want whenever you decide you want it and then ruin shit when you’re done with it. People aren’t your goddamn playthings. And Uraraka? Stay the fuck away from her. Don’t speak to her. Don’t look at her. Don’t breathe near her.” He was shaking, trying to keep control. He could feel the rage inside of him bubbling, threatening to overflow. It was all too much. He continued his deep breaths, remembering the advice Aizawa had told him a short time ago, after his breakdown.

“Heroes have panic attacks, Bakugou – look at the job description. You think I don’t get them? All Might? You just have to learn to take a step back and assess the situation and breathe. Always breathe.” Bakugou had scoffed at the advice then, but he had been secretly practicing the technique – breathing and talking himself down.

“Yo, you’re the one who texted me asking for advice.” Camie said defensively, bringing Bakugou back into the situation. “You obviously, like, care about my opinion. I know you still care about me, Baku.” 

“My fucking mistake. I don’t.” 

“Shouldn’t waste your time on little girls when you have a woman, Katsuki.” She crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up her cleavage further. She was trying every move on him.

“Please. Like you’re more of a woman than her.” He spat this at her, focusing all of his hatred into his words. Camie clicked her tongue.

“Shame, Baku. I could’ve shown you so much more than she’ll ever be able to. Maybe later, yeah?” She gave him a gleaming smile. 

“Get out of my face, Camie.”

Camie “hmphed” and then leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. His face burned, and then she was gone before he could react further. He looked quickly over to Uraraka, praying that she hadn’t seen and misinterpreted the situation. He couldn’t have her be mad at him anymore – it physically hurt not to talk to her, especially not over someone like Camie. She wasn’t fucking worth it – never had been.  When he turned, however, he saw that Uraraka wasn’t seeing much of anything.

Shindo – the bastard - was holding her hand and walking her to the door. Bakugou’s heart was beating in his ears, and his palms were sweating and shaking uncontrollably. Breathe, breathe, breathe. He distantly heard Mina protest and offer to take Uraraka back to her room and he was thrilled the alien girl had a good idea for once in her damn life, but then Shindo said the words that set off a firestorm in Bakugou’s brain: “I have her.”

No, no, no. He moved without thinking, blocking the exit so that Shindo couldn’t pull Uraraka with him out the door to who knows where to do who knows what. She could barely stand, and the thought made him sick. He shouted at him, daring him to try and pass him, getting his explosions ready to blow him out of the damn room.

Kirishima intervened – of course, he couldn’t leave anything alone – and forced Bakugou back. After shouting back and forth, Shindo pushed Uraraka into Bakugou, and then she was in his arms, pushed against his chest. Her hair was right under his nose and he smelled her shampoo. It was familiar – intoxicating. His arms wrapped around her protectively as if on autopilot. He could feel his body relax now that she was away from Shindo.

When Shindo made a comment about how Uraraka was too easy for him, he lost all sense, and he just knew he had to kill him – he had no other option, but Kirishima was too quick and he activated his quirk and pushed Uraraka back onto Bakugou with enough force to send them both toppling onto the floor. 

Then Kirishima punched the bastard in the face, and Bakugou had never been prouder of his best friend. He hoped his pretty-boy face was fucked up from the hit.

Uraraka was practically incoherent, mumbling to herself mostly, but then she asked Bakugou where Camie was, and when Bakugou said she was gone, Uraraka smiled, and his heart could have burst at the sight of it. When they got up, dusted off, said awkward, tense goodbyes and apologies and left the room, Uraraka slid her hand down his arm and intertwined their fingers. He held on tight, afraid that if he let go, he might lose her again. 

The morons were giggling, high and hyperactive. Mina was gushing over Kirishima’s strength, but Kirishima was too busy fretting over Bakugou and Uraraka to notice.

"She gonna be okay, man? She’s pretty out of it.” He whispered to Bakugou. “Can’t believe that creep was gonna try to take advantage of her like that.”

“Thanks.” Bakugou muttered to him. That was all he would say. Kirishima looked surprised.

"Ah, s’nothing, dude. I didn’t want anyone to die. Even though he probably deserved it.” He said sheepishly.

Mina interrupted then, her shrieking voice louder than usual in the silent night. She was addressing Uraraka, who Bakugou wasn’t even sure could understand anything right now, asking her if she would be willing to give up her room. God, she was bold.

“Mina!” Kirishima gasped. She shushed him. Uraraka was protesting weakly, whining about how tired she was and how she needed somewhere to sleep. Bakugou squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was still there. He would take care of her.

-x-

Uraraka was unbelievably fucked up. When they reached his hotel room, he released her hand briefly to look for his room key, and she fell hard into the wall, causing a resounding bang. She gave him a dazed smile and softly proclaimed, “oops.” Bakugou cringed, hoping that everyone with a room nearby was a heavy sleeper.

“What am I gonna do with you?” He clicked his tongue. He was going to put her to bed – that was all he was going to do. He’d tuck her in, turn off the lights, climb in his own bed and try to sleep with the extreme awareness that Uraraka was sleeping in the same room as him. 

He got the door open and Uraraka held out her hand impatiently, waiting for Bakugou to hold it once more. He felt his face grow hot. His head was buzzing slightly, and he wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the proximity to Uraraka. He took her hand, and pulled her gently into the room, closing the door tightly behind them. 

"Okay, bedtime, cheeks.” He said sternly. 

“Oh – uh oh –” Uraraka released his hand quickly and dashed as hastily and as gracefully as she could – which was not very – to the bathroom. Less than thirty seconds later, he heard her throwing up.  

Damn. He should’ve seen that coming.

He followed her to the bathroom and saw her on the floor on her knees, whimpering. He sat down behind her and rubbed small circles into her back, then held her hair when she went to throw up again. “Rough night, huh, Round Face?” Her discomfort set him on edge. He didn’t like seeing her in pain.

Uraraka just cried softly in response. He sat with her for a few more minutes, continuing the calming motion on her back, until she spoke her first real coherent sentence since he had arrived at the party: “I’m disgusting.”

Bakugou laughed. She wasn’t wrong – she smelled like liquor and vomit and her hair was sweaty and sticking to her forehead. Her shirt had a wet spot on it from where she must’ve spilled something, and the smell of smoke clung to her body. 

“Yeah, you’re pretty fuckin’ gross.” He said.

"You’re not supposed to agree.” She groaned. 

“You should take a shower.” He suggested, “Then go to bed.” 

"Can you help me?” Her voice was small. She hadn’t moved from her spot, her face pressed against the toilet seat. Her eyes were half-closed. He still thought she looked beautiful, despite it all. 

"Help you?” He asked slowly. “Help you…shower? Ahh, bad idea, cheeks.” He moved his hands away from her back, distancing himself carefully. 

“You’ve seen me naked before, Bakugou.” She mumbled indignantly. “What’s another time?”

“It’s not bad logic, sweetheart, but a really bad idea.” His voice was desperate, pleading with her not to suggest such things. He absolutely could not handle being in the confined space of a shower with a very drunk and very undressed Uraraka. He would combust. 

"Well, at least make sure I don’t drown.” She said finally. 

“Don’t think you’ll drown in the shower.” He laughed lightly. “But yeah, I’ll close my eyes and stay in the room, how ‘bout that?”

“Okay.” She was satisfied with that answer.

Bakugou helped Uraraka up and made sure she was steady on her feet before announcing, “Okay, I’m closing my eyes, see?” He heard Uraraka giggle once he closed them and he couldn’t stop the small smile from playing on his lips. “Take a shower now.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Bakugou felt the blush creep into his cheeks. This night was going to kill him. He kept his eyes closed and listened for the start of the shower. And listened, and listened…

“Round Face?” Bakugou asked. “Are you having trouble?”

"Yes.” She answered simply. “Everything makes me dizzy and I can’t figure out how to get my arms out of this shirt.”

"Shower with your clothes on then.” He said, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter. 

“Bakugouuuuu.” Uraraka’s voice was whiny and tantalizingly adorable. “Help me.”

“You’re gonna give me a fuckin’ heart attack.” He wheezed. He took a deep breath – he was doing some serious breathing this night. “Fine. I’ll help you get your shirt off, but everything else you do yourself. Or you shower in your clothes.” He was firm in his resolve – Uraraka was drunk. She was drunk, and she didn’t know what she was saying and the only reason Bakugou was even doing this much was because he didn’t want her to sleep covered in vomit and liquor. 

When he opened his eyes, she was standing in front of him, looking helpless. One arm was halfway out of her shirt, but the other had gotten caught somewhere by her neck. Bakugou scoffed, incredulous.

“You’re a goddamn piece of work, Round Face.” He walked towards her quickly and lifted the shirt over her head in one swift movement – easy, something he had done so many times before. Thank God she was wearing a bra, or Bakugou would’ve died right there on the spot. 

“Okay, you’re on your own now.” He mumbled, backing up and closing his eyes quickly. 

“Thanks for your help, Katsuki.” He heard the soft thud of her pants hitting the ground and he almost whimpered out loud. This was his punishment for everything he had done – pure torture that he had brought upon himself for being a massive idiot.

Finally, the shower started, and Bakugou felt himself relax. He was able to open his eyes now that there was a solid barrier between him and Uraraka. 

“You okay in there, cheeks?” He asked carefully. Uraraka hummed in response. “I’m gonna get you something to wear, okay?”

“Okie dokie.” She sang from the shower. Bakugou smirked. He left the bathroom but kept the door open, so he could hear if she accidentally managed to hurt herself and went over to dig through his suitcase. Bakugou was a serial over-packer – he liked to be prepared, just in case. You never knew in the life of a hero. He found a t-shirt and a pair of dark boxers. His ears went red at the thought of Uraraka wearing them. 

Once he had collected the clothes and collected himself to the best of his abilities, he went back into the bathroom. “I’m gonna leave your clothes right here, and I’ll be right outside the room.” He called to her. “This shirt is easy to put on so I don’t wanna hear any bullshit about needing help.

"Okaay!” Her voice was airy. “This is the best shower I’ve ever taken.”

Bakugou snorted. “Glad to hear it.” 

He waited outside of the room, rocking on his heels. He needed a shower too, but it would have to wait until after Uraraka had fallen asleep. He didn’t want to know all the ways she could injure herself if left alone. The water shut off and he heard Uraraka singing softly to herself as she dressed. 

“I’m ready!” She proclaimed. 

“Ready for bed.” Bakugou laughed. “Alright, let’s go, angel. I’ll tuck you in.” 

Uraraka meandered out of the bathroom, wet hair and rosy cheeks and wearing his clothes, still a little unsteady on her feet but at least she hadn’t fallen over. His eyes took her in and he wanted nothing more than to touch her. He had spoken too soon about her not falling over, apparently – she walked directly into his chest and let herself collapse into him, wrapping her arms around him and inhaling deeply. “Thank you.” She mumbled against his body. He tensed up, but then allowed himself to slowly return the embrace, resting his head on top of hers. “Thank you for taking care of me.” She repeated softly. 

"Anytime, Round Face.” He said back. He would do anything for her – anything she wanted. He was hers. He knew that now, but he had always known it. “Time for you to sleep.” 

"Mmm. I can’t move. Carry me.” She tightened her arms around him. Bakugou thought he might succumb to death.  

“I’m never letting you get drunk ever again.” He warned her. “Fuckin’ killing me. Legs up, c’mon.” 

Uraraka obliged, jumping slightly and wrapping her legs around Bakugou’s waist. He hoisted her up and walked her over to her bed, focusing on anything he could to distract from the fact that her thighs were squeezing his body. When he went to drop her down, she squeezed him tighter.

“What?” He asked, trying not to look amused. 

“I don’t want to let go.” She spoke into his neck and her warm lips pressed against the bare skin. It was getting more difficult by the second to ignore the growing discomfort in his pants. Uraraka was teasing him and she didn’t even know it. He had her in his arms, he could just push her against the wall and –

“Have to.” He said quickly, shaking the dirty thoughts out of his head. “Can’t sleep like this. I’ll go numb.” 

“Can you stay with me?” 

“Stay with you? Wouldn’t that break the friendship contract thing we’ve got going on?” He challenged, but it was hard to keep his voice steady. “I don’t think you’re in any state to be making those requests.” 

“There’s no contract.” Uraraka giggled and the sound vibrated against him. She was so close, maddeningly close, he felt every movement. “And I just want to talk.” 

“What do you wanna talk about?” 

"Stay with me and you’ll see.” 

Bakugou released her onto the bed, and this time she went willingly. He missed the feeling of her arms and legs wrapped around him immediately. “Ya know, you’re a lot more damn conniving than I give you credit for.” He said. “Scoot over then.”

Uraraka blinked up at him and her eyes were full of emotion that Bakugou couldn’t quite figure out. His brain was too hazy to focus. She broke into a grin and moved over, making room for him to lay down with her in the small bed – but not a lot of room. 

“This is a tight fit, cheeks.” He groaned. She just shrugged.

“Not like we haven’t dealt with that before.” 

The double innuendo made it hard for him to function. He normally would love when Uraraka ditched her innocent act and got on his level, but tonight it was bordering on abuse. He readjusted himself, trying to hide his growing hardness. He was only human, and he couldn’t help it with the way she was talking.

He slid in next to Uraraka and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Their shoulders were touching, but he could handle that. That was innocent. He took deep breaths, willing his brain to focus on anything but their proximity and the fact that Uraraka was dressed in his clothes. 

“I don’t know if I like drugs and alcohol.” Uraraka spoke into the darkness. 

Bakugou laughed. “You definitely don’t handle them well.”

“Do you?”

“Better than you.” He shifted to try and get comfortable and brushed against Uraraka’s hand in the process. She wrapped a pinky around his, and he left it there. She was quiet, seemingly waiting for him to elaborate more. “I have a decent tolerance. I only drink when the morons want to do something stupid, but I was introduced to it last summer. I handle it well.”

"You’re talking a little more than usual, though.” She pointed out.

Bakugou didn’t tell her that that was the nerves, not the alcohol. 

“Camie told me how you guys got together.” Uraraka said this quietly. “She told me that she was your counselor, and that you were in love with her.”

Bakugou felt anger involuntarily fill him. “I wasn’t in love with her, I was dumb.” He said, his voice bitter.

“It’s okay if you were.” She said this so matter-of-factly that Bakugou turned his head towards her, but her eyes were closed.

“I don’t think I was.” He said after a moment. “I think I was just brainwashed.” 

"How do you know?” Her words were still slightly slurred, and heavy with exhaustion. Her eyes remained closed. Bakugou watched her lips move slowly, wanting so badly to run his fingers over them, to kiss them.  

"Because it was different.” He said. “It felt like love then, but now…”

“Now?” The word was so quiet that he almost didn’t hear. It was misty. She was falling asleep and he knew that she wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning. She would wake up with a headache and foggy memories of a long night, unaware of the fact that Bakugou laid next to her at all.

“I know what love really feels like now.” He said finally, barely speaking the words above a whisper.

Uraraka didn’t answer, and Bakugou heard the shallow breathing that signified she had fallen asleep. He sighed deeply. He knew he had to leave her now. He knew that if he stayed and wrapped his arms around her, which he so badly wanted to do, that she would wake up confused and alarmed. She would jump to the worst conclusions, and Bakugou didn’t want to confuse her more. He slowly pulled his pinky out of her gentle grasp, and sat up silently as to not disturb her, when she spoke delicately, dreamily:

“I love you, Katsuki.” 

She was drunk, high and practically asleep; she would forget this ever happened in the morning. All of these thoughts crowded his head and he felt like he was going to burst. Bakugou clenched his teeth as his eyes welled up with tears. He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I love you so goddamn much, angel.” 

Then he made sure she was securely tucked into her bed, and he went to his own to prepare for what he knew was sure to be a completely sleepless night.

Chapter Text

Uraraka woke up in an unfamiliar room with a dry mouth, a searing headache and an appalling sense of nausea. It took her a moment to put the pieces together and remember that she was in a hotel because she had gotten her provisional license yesterday, and she and her class were in a city three hours away from home. It took another beat for her to remember that her head and stomach were in pain because she was an idiot. 

She had hazy memories of the previous night, but she knew alcohol was involved. She recalled everything perfectly up into the point that she sat down with the two Ketsubutsu students – Tatami and Shindo – and smoked what she had to assume was extremely potent weed, because everything after that was a mystery.

At least she had made it back to her room – that was a victory, although one that she was sure she couldn’t attribute to herself. She turned to her side to look at the bed next to her, assuming Mina would still be fast asleep, but instead she found it empty.

That was strange. Uraraka glanced at the alarm clock that was aglow in the dark room and found that it was 6:17 AM. She didn’t know what reason Mina would have to not be in her bed at this hour, especially when they had to be on the bus back to UA by 7…unless she had snuck out sometime in the middle of the night to be with Kirishima. 

That was probably it. Uraraka was getting ready to settle back into her covers and try to sleep her self-induced illness away for another few minutes when a voice that was certainly not Mina’s said to her, “oh, you’re awake.”

Uraraka nearly fell out of the bed. “Bakugou? What are you doing in my room?”

Bakugou gave her a strange look that she could barely make out in the early morning darkness. “You’re in my room, Round Face.” 

“What – really – why?” She sat up in the bed then looked down at herself. “Am I…wearing your clothes? Oh God – Bakugou, did we?” Her heart started beating rapidly.

“No. Fuck.” He hissed. “I wouldn’t take advantage of you like that. You were all messed up last night and Mina wanted to fuck Kirishima, so she kicked you out of your room and I let you sleep in here. Your clothes smelled like liquor, so you borrowed some of mine.” He paused. “You don’t remember any of that?” An expression crossed his face then that almost looked…disappointed, but it was fleeting and gone before she could analyze it. 

"I remember most of the night, yeah, but the second half of it seems to be wiped out.” She grimaced, embarrassed. “Was I bad?”

Bakugou stared for a second before answering. “Nah. Threw up though – that wasn’t pretty.” 

Uraraka blushed. She had thrown up in front of Bakugou – how humiliating. In all the times they had trained together, she had managed to avoid her nausea getting too out of hand, and she had been so proud of herself – just for alcohol to be her undoing. She was sure she would never live that one down. She groaned and sunk back down into her bed, wishing it would swallow her up. “Have you been awake?” She asked Bakugou, who was already dressed and packed. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” He said simply.  

"Oh.” Dread formed in her stomach. Had she done something to upset him? She tried to study his face to see any signs of irritation with her, but it was a blank slate.

"You sleep okay?” He sat down on the edge of her bed, and she felt her nerves increase.

“Uh, fine, I guess. I feel horrible right now.” She rubbed the top of her head sheepishly. “My hair is wet. Did I manage to shower?”

“Managed, yeah.” Bakugou snorted. 

Uraraka’s face burned. “What does that mean?” 

Bakugou looked like he regretted saying that. “Ah, I mean. Tch. You were just having a hard time…doing normal shit. So, I made sure you didn’t fall and crack your head open in the shower – but I didn’t look at you or anything! I just stayed outside the bathroom.” He murmured.

Uraraka blushed furiously. “Oh God. I’m an embarrassment. I’m so sorry you had to deal with me. You’re a good friend.”

Bakugou stared at his lap. “Yeah, yeah.”  

“Are you mad at me?” The question burst from her lips before she could stop herself and she hated how unsure and needy it sounded.

“What? The fuck would I be mad at you for?” He scrunched up his nose at her.

"I don’t…I don’t remember…if I said or did anything…” The lack of sleep and pounding in her head was making her more emotional than usual and her voice shook. “And yesterday, I walked away from you…and then Camie…and the Provisional License Exam…and…” She trailed off.

“Round Face. You didn’t do anything.” Bakugou sighed, and he moved slightly closer to her on the bed. “Don’t worry, alright? I’m…sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean what I said. And fuckin’ Camie won’t bother you anymore. Took care of it.” She wiped a tear away from her eye, feeling stupid for worrying, but having a hole in her memory was stressful. She could’ve done anything, but Bakugou’s words were soothing – something she wasn’t sure she would’ve ever thought possible in the past – and she let herself relax. Well, she was able to relax for approximately three seconds, before Bakugou was grabbing her wrist and pulling her up. “Gonna be late and then they’ll leave us behind. I don’t think either of us feel like staying in this shitty place. Get ready, cheeks.”

Uraraka balked at the idea of getting out of the bed and forcing her body to stand upright. She didn’t want to throw up again. She took a careful step forward.

“You’re acting like you’re eighty-five years old.” Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. “Do you need me to get you a walker?”

“I had a rough night. Stop picking on me.” She snapped back. Her stomach felt mostly settled but the pounding in her head increased with each step. “I wish we had Recovery Girl with us.”

“Yeah, I bet Recovery Girl would love being called on to heal a damn hangover.” He laughed. Uraraka cracked a smile. Bakugou was giving her a hard time, which was so miraculously normal that relief spread throughout her body. Things were fine. Nothing weird had happened last night. She trudged over to the bathroom and conscientiously glanced up into the mirror. Her hair was a mess, but she could otherwise pass for having her life together. She reached down for her toothbrush, and then the realization that this was not her room hit her once again like a train.

“Uh, Bakugou?” She called from the bathroom. “Uh. All my stuff is in my hotel room.”

Bakugou was silent. Then, “well, fuck.”

“I can’t go out wearing your clothes!” Uraraka squeaked, panicking. “What if someone sees me?”

"Yeah, yeah, I fucking know. Hold on, I’m thinking.” He said back. She could practically hear the gears in his head turning. She stared at herself in the mirror – she was wearing Bakugou’s boxers. The thought that she would like to keep them invaded her mind, and she frowned at herself, scolding her brain for having inappropriate thoughts.

“Okay, so we’re fucked.” Bakugou spoke again finally.

"Oh, comforting.” Uraraka replied sarcastically. She peeked out of the bathroom to see the boy pacing back and forth.

“We have less than a half hour to get on that damn bus.” He mused. “If you went to your room to get your stuff wearing my clothes…Mina and Kirishima…” A look crossed his face reminiscent of a soldier remembering combat. Uraraka understood completely. If she showed up at the door to the hotel room wearing Bakugou’s boxers and t-shirt, Mina would throw a full-on celebration. Kirishima would probably cry tears of joy. “If I go to get your stuff, then they’ll just interrogate me.”

“I’ll just put back on my clothes from last night.” Uraraka said suddenly. “Why didn’t we think of that?”

Bakugou scoffed. “I fuckin’ wouldn’t put that back on. It’s gross and you’ll have to sit on the bus for three hours smelling like shit.”

Uraraka groaned. “Good point. Do you…have anything else I could wear?” She peeked at his suitcase. It looked full to the point of bursting.

“I just have this.” He gestured to the gym outfit he had worn on the bus yesterday which he was wearing again. “And my hero costume. And another T-shirt and shorts, but, still pretty fuckin’ obvious that they’re not your clothes.”

Uraraka worked through their options. “Well.” She decided. “Let me wear that.” She pointed to the gym outfit. “At least it’s the same as mine.”

Bakugou stared at her. “You’ll be fucking swimming in this, cheeks.”

“It’s the better option. At least until I can get to my hotel room, then I’ll change quickly.” She looked at the clock. “But we have to hurry because we have no time.”

“If you say so.” He muttered. He lifted his shirt off his head quickly and threw it at Uraraka. She missed it because she was too busy ogling him like an airhead. She couldn’t help it – it had been awhile since she saw him like this.

“You wanna take a picture, Round Face?” He teased her, but the look in his eyes was intense. Uraraka held on tight to her self-restraint.

“Sorry. Uh. I’ll just…change in the bathroom and you can give me the pants…whenever you’re ready.” She was stammering and blushing and she felt so foolish. Bakugou was smirking at her.

“Mhm.” He said. She picked the shirt off the ground and scurried into the bathroom, taking a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart. Uraraka took off the t-shirt she had slept in and put on the gym shirt – Bakugou was right. She wasn’t swimming in it, she was drowning in it. It came down past her thighs, covering the boxers she was wearing completely.

“You ready?” She asked Bakugou through the door. Her heartrate had decreased but she was still flushed. She couldn’t believe she used to touch that chest.

"Yeah, hurry up.” His voice was muffled. Uraraka opened the bathroom door in time for Bakugou to hurl the pair of pants at her. She managed to catch them that time. Bakugou had changed into a generic T-shirt and shorts combination and Uraraka was relieved that he was clothed at all.

She ran back into the bathroom, pulling the oversized pants up to the best of her ability. They hung loose on her hips.

“This looks ridiculous.” She whined. Bakugou was trying unsuccessfully to hide his grin.

“Your idea, cheeks.” He said with a shrug. “It’ll only be for a few minutes. Let’s go get your shit.”

They walked briskly and quietly down the hallway to Uraraka’s hotel room. When they finally made it, Uraraka wailed. “I don’t have my room key!”

“Fuckin’ – you’re a disaster, Moon Face.” Bakugou growled, but the words were not unkind. If anything, he sounded amused. “Oi, Shitty Hair, Alien Freak, open up!” He banged on the door. There was no answer.

“Do you think they left already?” Uraraka asked nervously, bouncing on the soles of her feet, which just caused her pants to fall lower. She yanked them up.

“You think they left on fuckin’ time?” Bakugou was skeptical. He knocked again, more aggressive this time. Nothing. “Holy shit. They actually left on time.”

“I can’t believe this is the one time they choose to be responsible.” Uraraka lamented. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Well…just fuckin’ own it, cheeks.” He couldn’t keep the smirk off of his lips. Uraraka wanted to smack him.

“I think you’re enjoying this.” She accused.

"Never said I wasn’t.”

She gave him an incredulous look, to which he shrugged and started walking again. “You wanna be late or fucking what?”

“No.” She murmured, defeated. She pulled her pants up once more and rushed to keep up with Bakugou’s pace while making sure she didn’t trip and fall over.

By the time Uraraka and Bakugou had made it to the bus, it was slightly past 7 AM, and Aizawa was waiting for them at the door, looking agitated. “Oh, look who showed up.” His eyes cased over Uraraka’s outfit and she wished she could sink into the ground. “Thank you for allowing us to leave.”

Bakugou scoffed but Uraraka bowed her head low. “Our apologies, Aizawa Sensei!” Uraraka hoped he didn’t assume anything from seeing them show up together, late. Aizawa impatiently waved them away and onto the bus, muttering something about “stupid teenagers” and Uraraka scurried after Bakugou. She tried to stay behind him, making herself scarce so that no one would notice her outfit. She failed to remember, however, that this was UA she was talking about – they noticed everything.

“Ochako-chan,” Tsu was sitting next to Deku. She placed a finger to her chin. “Why is your uniform so big on you?”

“Tsu, that’s Bakugou’s uniform.” Sero hissed from the seat behind her.

“Why are you wearing Bakugou’s clothes?” Tsu asked again, not understanding the implication.

“Tsu, you can’t ask that!” Deku whisper-cried, his face turning pink.

“Yes, she can.” Kaminari was grinning like a kid in a candy store. Uraraka began to panic – unsure of how she would remedy this situation.

“Her clothes got dirty from the Provisional License Exam and it turns out Round Face here is shit at packing.” Bakugou answered lazily, before Uraraka could come up with an excuse. “I loaned her some of mine. Obviously it doesn’t fuckin’ fit. Stop staring, you nosy bastards.” He spat the last sentence out with venom, and the class collectively lowered their heads. All except Sero, who smirked at Uraraka as the two passed down the aisles and elbowed Kaminari, “I’m gonna win 4500 yen.”’

Bakugou sat down in an empty seat, immediately putting in his headphones, and Uraraka sunk in next to him. She was doing her best to act small and hopefully disappear into the seat’s squishy leather, but she could feel eyes burning into her. She was sure she knew who they belonged to. She ignored them pointedly.

“Pst.” Mina’s trademark entirely not subtle whisper pierced Uraraka’s ears and she tensed. She pretended not to hear it – but Mina wasn’t stupid.

“Ochako, I’m not stupid.” The pink girl said exasperatedly, as if reading Uraraka’s mind. “I can literally see you ignoring me.”

“What, Mina?” Uraraka snapped back, failing to keep her irritation out of her voice. She didn’t want any more questions about her outfit.

“Jeez, calm down, I’m not gonna give you shit. I have your stuff.” Uraraka turned and faced Mina, who was holding Uraraka’s small backpack filled with her minimal essentials. She tossed it to Uraraka who mumbled her thanks. “Let’s hang out later, yeah?” Mina gave her a meaningful look. She was sitting next to Kirishima, who was on his phone, acting like he wasn’t listening, but Uraraka knew better.

"Sure, later.” Uraraka agreed. She settled back down, clutching her bag to her chest. Bakugou elbowed her gently and offered her one ear bud. She took it and put it in her ear, letting the loud riffs and fierce vocals take away from where she was. She couldn’t wait to leave this whole trip behind her.

Eventually, Uraraka’s head lolled over to Bakugou’s shoulder as she dipped out of consciousness. Right before she succumbed fully to sleep, she thought she felt the ghosting of a muffled kiss on the top of her head, but maybe she dreamt it.

-x-

Uraraka dreamt about smoke and explosions and rough hands on her body. Images flashed through her head – Shindo and his Cheshire smile and his hand taking hers – Camie, giggling and pouting her lips, handing her a shot – Bakugou, holding her thighs as she wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to get closer, closer. An earthquake interrupted her, and she startled awake, knocking her head against something solid.

“Ow, shit, Round Face.” Bakugou’s groggy voice helped clear the fog from her head. The dream had felt so real and she found herself feeling the absence of Bakugou’s arms around her, even though it had all been in her head. Back in the real world, she had just headbutted Bakugou off of her.

“Sorry!” She gasped, rubbing her head sheepishly. “Uh, bad dream, I guess.”

Bakugou grunted in response. Clearly, he had been having his own dreams, because his eyes were heavy with sleep. “’S fine.” He mumbled. “You know how far away we are?”

 His question was answered before Uraraka could get her bearings, by Iida jumping up and announcing: “We have arrived back on campus! Please be advised that it is Sunday, and per Aizawa you are free to do what you like with your day! Please exit the bus in an orderly fashion and report back to Alliance Heights unless you have gotten permission from Aizawa Sensei to partake in off-campus activities!” As usual, his proclamation was met with complete disregard as the students got up to stampede off the bus.

“That kid is so tenacious…”  Mic said idly. Aizawa yawned. Uraraka barely made it out of her seat before Mina was linking her arm through hers and chattering in her ear, “Let’s have dinner tonight, Ochako! I’ve been wanting to try this new recipe I found online…” Uraraka tuned her out, and focused on Kirishima, who had thrown his arm around Bakugou’s shoulders.

“Hey, man, wanna go to the gym later?” He asked.

“Tch. Yeah, course. Let me take a damn nap first though.”

Kirishima and Mina were up to something.

-x-

“Ochako-chan, taste this.” Mina held out a fork with a small bite of food on it. Despite Uraraka’s protests, Mina was treating her to dinner – homemade okonomiyaki. Uraraka hadn’t pegged Mina as someone who would enjoy cooking, but the taste Uraraka had of her meal was delicious, and she was grateful that Mina was considerate enough to cook for her.

Of course, she had a motive.

“So, Ochako.” She began to cut off a piece of the okonomiyaki to plate it for Uraraka. “How was your night last night?”

Last night seemed like years away. It hurt her head to think about it. Had she really taken the Provisional License Exam, gone to the party, talked to Camie, taken too many shots, done drugs, for God’s sake, and then blacked out. All in one day. Who had she become? How was she alive?

“Uh, long.” Uraraka opted to answer, knowing it wasn’t what Mina was looking for. “How was yours?”

“It was…interesting!” Mina took a big bite and her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Can I tell you something, Ochako? Promise not to tell.”

“Who would I tell, Mina?” The only person Uraraka gossiped with was Mina herself – and Bakugou, on rare occasion. Sometimes Tsu, but not often.

“Okay, okay.” Mina’s grin was charged. “I had a threesome. Cool, right?”

Uraraka stared at her, feeling her mouth drop open. “You did what? Mina! With who?”

“Kirishima and Sero.” She said simply, proudly. “It was so much fun. You should try it. Wanna borrow Kiri?”

“What? No, I don’t want to borrow Kiri! Bakugou and I aren’t even sleeping together anymore.” She whispered this last part, throwing cautiously glances around the kitchen. It was empty because Mina had insisted on a late dinner – probably for that very reason.

“Wait, what? But…you were wearing his clothes this morning, so I assumed last night…” She sounded disappointed. Uraraka snorted.

“No, we didn’t do anything. I just puked on my clothes, so he let me borrow his.” Uraraka recited this perfectly, but then her brain faltered. “Except…I can’t exactly remember everything that happened last night. I’m just taking Bakugou’s word for it – but I trust him!” She added quickly, seeing Mina’s eyes widen.

“You blacked out? That makes sense…you were pretty fucked up. I’m glad Bakugou was there, or who knows what that Ketsubutsu freak would’ve done to you.” She shuddered.

“I’m sorry?” Uraraka didn’t know what Mina was talking about. “Shindo?”

“Yeah, the earthquake fuck.” Mina responded. “You don’t remember that? He tried to take you back to his room and Bakugou went postal. I thought he was gonna kill the guy.”

“Take me back to his room?! I would’ve never gone back with him to his room!” Uraraka protested, panicked. What else hadn’t she remembered?

“Well, honey, you weren’t really in much of a state to say no.” Mina frowned. “We weren’t gonna let him take advantage of you though, don’t worry.” Her voice turned soothing. “I think Bakugou actually would’ve murdered him if he tried anything. Kirishima had to, like, physically stop him.”

Uraraka’s head hurt and her heart felt heavy at the thought of Bakugou saving her – at him having to save her. She should have never let herself get into that situation in the first place.  “Can you tell me the whole story? Like from the start?”

Mina took a deep breath and launched into recounting the night’s events. Uraraka listened with increasing horror as Mina described Shindo’s iron grip on her hand, and Bakugou’s threats to the Ketsubutsu student, Kirishima knocking Bakugou back and then punching Shindo in the face, and then Uraraka, clinging to Bakugou for dear life, going back to his bedroom to do…who knows what.

The more Mina talked, the more unsure she became. The image she had dreamt earlier of Shindo clutching her hand – that hadn’t been just a dream, it was a memory. So, what about the other images? Namely, the image of her wrapped around Bakugou in his hotel room. The image had begun to focus in her head. Arms wrapped around him. Shoulders touching in bed. Whispered words. What had she said?

“Bakugou…” Uraraka whispered. Her food lay half-eaten on her plate. “He said that nothing happened with us…”

“He would never take advantage of you, Ochako. He lost his shit over winning the Sports Festival against his own terms, you think he’d take something he didn’t exclusively have?” Mina explained.

“No, I know. That’s not what I was saying.” Uraraka said. “I think…I think I may have tried to do something.” Her voice fell in shame. “I don’t remember what…but…”

“Bakugou didn’t say anything?” Mina raised an eyebrow.

“He said that I was a disaster.” She mumbled. “And that he had to help me shower but that he didn’t…see anything.” She felt the heat in her face and knew her cheeks were turning pink.

“So, you think you threw yourself at him?”

Uraraka nodded, ashamed. Mina burst into hysterics.

“Ochako!” She cried with glee. “That’s the opposite of a problem. I’m sure Bakugou was absolutely losing his mind over it – oh man, that’s amazing.” She couldn’t contain herself.

“It’s embarrassing! We’re friends!” Uraraka protested, wondering if it was humanly possible for her face to get any warmer without it physically catching on fire.

“Oh, shut up. You’re friends that used to have sex with each other. That’s not a normal friend and you know it.” Mina rolled her eyes. “You two seriously need to get your shit together.”

“Mina!” Uraraka whined. “You’re supposed to be helping me, not yelling at me.”

“I can’t help it – you two are so damn stupid. I want to smack Bakugou sometimes – no, actually, all the time.” She took a big bite of her food, and closed her eyes. After she finished, she spoke. “You love him. He loves you. What is so hard about that?”

“Do you not remember the earth-shattering rejection I received? When Bakugou actually blew up his room because I made him so mad?” Uraraka hated thinking about it.

“Is that what you think?” Mina gasped. “Honey. You’re really so bad at this.”

“We can’t all be relationship experts…” Uraraka grumbled.

“I’m not even in a relationship. I don’t do relationships, and even I can see how ridiculous you’re being. You two just need to learn to talk to each other. It’s like you two have never communicated in your lives.”

“You’re being so blunt.” Uraraka said.

“Been spending lots of time with Tsu.” The pink girl winked. “But it’s true. You’ve got the friend thing down pretty well – that’s great – except you’re both tip-toeing around your feelings and it’s extremely painful to watch.” She paused a beat. “You know what? You’re going to talk to him. Tonight.”

“What? No, I’m not!” Uraraka cried.

“Ochako, I will physically drag you to his room. I’ll get Sero here and we’ll tape you up and stick you to Bakugou’s damn door. Don’t make me call Shinso…” Mina’s voice was threatening.

“Okay, okay! Fine. I’ll go. Does it have to be tonight?” She didn’t have the nerve to talk to him tonight. She didn’t know what she would say. She tried to talk to him this morning.

“Yes, tonight! Go!” Mina was shooing her away, grabbing her plate – which she hadn’t finished – away to go wash it in the sink.

“I’m going.” Uraraka said miserably.

“Text me as soon as you get back to your room so I can hear all about it.” Mina said, smiling again. “Oh, and I forgot to mention – I saw that Shindo creep putting his number in your phone last night, so make sure you delete that.”

Uraraka pulled out her phone and checked her contacts. “No, he didn’t. His number isn’t in here.”

Mina made a humming sound. “Weird. I could’ve sworn I saw it, but I was pretty drunk. Oh well, all the better. Now go out there and get em, girl!” She slapped Uraraka’s butt and she yelped. “Make me proud!”

Uraraka didn’t think anything good could come from this, but she waved goodbye to Mina anyways, throwing her a long-suffering glare to know that she was the cause of her anguish. Mina just grinned joyfully in return. Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath, Uraraka summoned all of her confidence and marched down the hallway, until she stood in front of Bakugou’s door. Before she could lose her very haphazardly thrown together nerves, she knocked.

Chapter Text

If he had gone to sleep when he planned, he wouldn’t have heard the light knock at his door. He didn’t go to bed, because even though he was tired as hell, he had too much on his mind, and he couldn’t get his brain to just keep fucking quiet.

Bakugou had spent the afternoon training with Kirishima and avoiding all of his nosy-ass questions. The annoying redhead was relentless as usual – every time Bakugou would throw a punch or pin him down, Kirishima would have another question for him. He had obviously never heard of the concept of working better in silence.

“Bro,” Kirishima panted as he lay on the floor, attempting to recover from the kick Bakugou had just aimed towards his stomach because he was being particularly irritating. “I’m just saying – I saw the look in your eyes when Shindo –” 

“Don’t say that bastard’s name.” Bakugou snapped at him. He had left Kirishima on the floor and moved on to attacking a punching bag, hitting it with all his strength until his knuckles were bright red and sore.

“Okay,” Bakugou wasn’t looking at him, but he could practically hear the eye-roll in Kirishima’s voice. “When that bastard tried to take Uraraka to his room.” 

“You didn’t react too kindly to it either, killer.” Bakugou pointed out blandly, aiming another powerful punch at the bag. It shuddered violently before coming to a stop and Bakugou gave it a rest, so he could catch his breath. 

“Yeah, I’m not gonna let anyone hurt my friends – I also didn’t want you to go to jail for manslaughter.” Kirishima laughed from the floor.

Bakugou muttered about how it would have been justified manslaughter and threw one more punch. “You still on the fuckin’ floor, Shitty Hair? Gonna get back up and fight me?”

“I think you’re avoiding this conversation.” Kirishima noted, but he stood up all the same and got in stance to spar. 

“I’m not avoiding shit.” Bakugou growled, going at Kirishima with all he had. He was brutally exhausted from lying awake in bed for hours last night, replaying the situation with Uraraka, obsessing over the fact that she was in the next bed over and wondering if he should have done anything different – and praying to whatever God there was that she would remember. 

She didn’t, of course. Bakugou had started to wonder if she had even told him she loved him at all – he was a little drunk too. Maybe it was in his head. It was what he wanted to hear, after all. 

He blocked a well-aimed punch from Kirishima with his hand and pushed his fighting partner back. 

"You’re looking pretty introspective right now, man.” He pointed out. Bakugou bared his teeth at him in a grimace. 

“Didn’t know you knew big words like that, moron.” Bakugou shot back, avoiding his comment. Kirishima scoffed but laughed. 

“Yeah, I’ve been studying.” He said sarcastically. “Look –” He twisted Bakugou’s arm behind his back before the blonde had a chance to react. He grumbled in frustration at being momentarily subdued by Kirishima – but proud too, because he had taught him everything he knew. It was nice to fight someone he matched up to. The only other person he could spar with that wouldn’t give up almost immediately was Uraraka. “I know you think that since you rejected Uraraka, you can’t take it back, but Uraraka is so forgiving – I mean, look at you two now. You’re all buddy-buddy.”

“Get off.” Bakugou grunted, lighting up an explosion in his palm to scare Kirishima away. It didn’t work. 

"Literally oldest trick in the book. Like you haven’t tried to burn me several hundred times before this.” His voice was jovial. He enjoyed having the upper hand. “You’re gonna regret it forever if you just keep avoiding this thing, ya know.”

“Round Face doesn’t want to be more than friends, idiot.” He finally broke out of Kirishima’s iron hold and knocked him on his ass. It was satisfying. 

"Yeah, I’m the idiot…” Kirishima said from the floor. 

“You callin’ me an idiot, Shitty Hair?! I’ll kill you!”

"Nah, you won’t.” Kirishima’s grin made his face extra punchable. “You know, I kinda avoided telling Mina I liked her too.” Kirishima moved into a sitting position on the floor and Bakugou sighed – he was gonna have to listen a whole goddamned story now. Might as well get comfortable. He sat down too, wiping sweat off of his forehead. “She had that thing with Sero and I didn’t know if it was entirely over, because, ya know, Mina.” He gave Bakugou a sheepish look. Bakugou did know Mina – her tendency to hop from guy to guy gave him damn whiplash sometimes. She had this goal to sleep with every guy in their friend group – or maybe the whole class, he didn’t know. When she had come onto him several months ago, he told her to go to hell, and that was that. She had been with Kirishima longer than anyone ever expected. “So, yeah, I debated telling her forever. We were flirting all the time and hanging out constantly, but I just didn’t think she’d like me.”

“Because you’re a moron.” Bakugou interrupted.

“Dude, I’m telling a story.”  Kirishima scolded. Bakugou sighed but shut up.

"Anyways,” He began again pointedly. “I finally got sick of playing games with her and not knowing where I stood, so I just told her. It’s manly to admit your feelings, dude, ya know?”

“There you go with that manly shit again.” Bakugou said, irritated.

"Baku, you’re the manliest guy I know, so don’t ruin it by being such a pansy about this.” Kirishima said seriously. He knew he could get away with calling Bakugou things that would make the blonde blow up others. 

“Obviously telling her worked, because here we are.” He finished.

“Yeah, but you and Mina are just fucking.” Bakugou argued. “I…don’t just want that anymore…” He trailed off, feeling stupid, not knowing how to phrase what was in his head. “I wanna like, take her on dates and shit. Hold her fuckin’ hand. Dumb shit like that.” 

Kirishima beamed. “That’s so cute, man.” 

"Shut the fuck up.” He snarled. “It’s not cute. It sucks.” 

“You know, I love Mina.” Kirishima said it simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Even if we may not be dating, I still love her, and I would’ve regretted it every day if I didn’t tell her how I felt – gotta throw your pride out the window sometimes, bro. Uraraka is gonna be too shy to tell you how she feels, because look where that got her last time.” Bakugou’s eyes fell down to his lap, ashamed to be reminded of his behavior – as if his brain every let him forget it – even weeks later, it haunted him. He wished he could take it back. Things wouldn’t be so damn difficult now if he hadn’t been such a fuck up in the past.

“It’s the manly thing to do.” He added on, sensing Bakugou’s uncertainty in his silence.

“Okay, okay, fine. Fuck. If I say I’ll talk to her, will you shut up? Or do I have to knock you out cold to get you to be quiet?”

Kirishima just smiled and stood back up, ready to fight some more.

Now, several hours later in his room, Bakugou had been debating just how he would talk to Uraraka. Putting himself out there in relationships was not something he excelled in – especially not when there was a very high chance he could get rejected again. If he kept his feelings to himself, he wouldn’t get hurt again, and he wouldn’t hurt Uraraka. Unfortunately, he knew that kind of thinking was bullshit. He wouldn’t be able to keep up the premise of being friends with Uraraka when his feelings for her were getting more and more serious and suffocating by the day.

He tried to imagine how he would feel if he and Uraraka stayed just friends, and he never told her. He was happy being her friend, but he thought of a day when she would come to him, gushing about some other guy who took her out, who held her, kissed her. The thought made anger burn deep within him. He didn’t think he would ever be able to handle it.

So, here he was, agonizing over how he could make her see that he was sorry for before, that he was an idiot, that he loved her more than he ever thought he could possibly love someone in his life. Uraraka had become more important to him than even being number one, and that terrified him.

The knock on his door brought him out of his painful contemplation and frankly, irritated the hell out of him. He was trying to deal with a damn crisis. The only person who would bother him this late at night was Kirishima, because for some reason the moron had a death wish, but Bakugou knew it couldn’t be him, since he had mentioned he would be helping Kaminari cram for a math test all night.

Whoever it was knocked again, louder this time and Bakugou growled. “What the fuck do you want?” He snapped as he threw himself out of his bed. He swung the door open as violently as he could, hoping to scare his unwanted guest away. His eyes widened when he saw who had knocked – Uraraka was standing in front of his door, looking alarmed.

“Sorry!” She squeaked out. “I didn’t mean to -”

"Round Face.” He couldn’t help but show his surprise. His expression softened automatically, and his anger dissipated, then turned to nerves. “What are you doing here?”

“I, uh – I didn’t wake you, right?” She had a look of extreme concern on her face. It was heartbreakingly cute.  

“Nah, I was up. Homework.” He explained quickly, so she wouldn’t think he was up torturing himself with thoughts about her – which he was.

“Oh, okay. Uh. I just. I came to talk to you, I guess. I wanted…I wanted to talk about last night.” She was practically shaking with fear, standing there in Bakugou’s doorway, and when she said those words, he felt his own fear hit him like ice in his chest. He wasn’t at all prepared to talk to her about anything regarding last night. He hadn’t thought enough about what he wanted to say to her. Feelings were so damn hard. He stood, frozen, thinking through his options – but it’s not like he could turn her away, so he swallowed his panic and walked back into his room, gesturing for her to follow him.

Uraraka looked around shyly and Bakugou was hyper-aware of her presence. She hadn’t been in his room since before the trip to the mall, before their fight – it seemed like a lifetime ago. She stood awkwardly in the center, clearly doubting whatever her intentions were and looking like a trapped animal.

“Alright, cheeks. What’s up?” Bakugou broke their silence and sat down on the bed, patting a spot next to him to let her know she could sit too.

When Uraraka sat down, Bakugou noticed how pale her face was. “Mina told me about Shindo – about how he was trying to…take advantage of me.” A look of disgust crossed her face. “And how you saved me. Thank you.” She let out a deep breath. “I owe you one.” Her voice was shaky.

"Don’t owe me anything.” Bakugou muttered, feeling his ears redden. “Like I would ever let anybody hurt you. Especially some fucking pervert like him.”

Uraraka blinked up at him through long eyelashes. His heart beat harder. “I can’t believe I let myself get into that situation. I was…so careless. You shouldn’t have to rescue me like that.”

“Don’t you dare beat yourself up for this.” He said, his words coming out harsher than he meant to. “You know damn well you’re strong, and you take care of yourself all the time. It’s okay to need someone to take care of you for once.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Uraraka asked.

"Huh?”

“About Shindo. You didn’t tell me this morning when I asked what happened last night.”

Bakugou didn’t answer. He didn’t know why he didn’t tell her. Maybe he was afraid. He was afraid that if he told her one thing, everything else would come spilling out of him and he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from telling her everything. “I didn’t want to freak you out.” He said instead.

Uraraka stared down at the bedsheets. “I’m not freaked out. I’m just mad. Mad that I even went near him.” She clenched her hands into fists then took a deep breath. “I won’t make that mistake again. Bakugou…I had a dream on the bus – about me holding Shindo’s hand, and me talking to Camie, and then about you carrying me in your arms in your hotel room. The first two parts of the dream turned out to be memories, so…I was wondering…”

Bakugou’s nerves were in a frenzy and he could barely hear her over the loud thrumming in his ears. Was that his fucking heart beating? Could she hear it? He had wanted so badly for her to remember last night - and now she did. He felt like he needed to explain himself, like he had done something wrong by letting the girl latch onto him, by holding her in his arms, by telling her that he loved her.

“Bakugou?” The brunette prompted gently.

“I did carry you, yeah.” He admitted finally, feeling a dam burst inside his chest. “You asked me to. I carried you to your bed and you asked me to stay with you, and I did. You asked me about Camie – if I loved her.” He stopped then, closing his eyes, willing himself to continue. “I said no – which is the goddamned honest truth.”

Uraraka was hanging onto his every word and sitting impossibly close to him. He pushed on. “You asked me how I knew and I –”

He lost his ability to speak. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t be vulnerable like this. Not again. He felt himself tense, felt his heartrate accelerate, felt the negative memories threaten to break down the door and force themselves into his head.

Breathe, breathe, breathe. He coaxed himself. Uraraka stared at him expectantly, a wide range of emotions shining in her light brown eyes. She deserved to know the truth – even if she rejected him, even if she ran out of his room right then, she deserved to know.

“I told you that I knew I wasn’t in love with Camie because I knew how love felt now, and it was fucking different. So different. You’re…so different, Uraraka.” The last line came out in almost a gasp. He had said it. It was out there. Whatever came next was out of his control and it was horrifying.

Uraraka’s silence was painful and Bakugou counted the seconds until she spoke. Eleven – although it felt like over a hundred.

“What did I say?” She asked finally, and tears were welling up in her eyes. He didn’t want her to cry anymore – he hated when he made her cry.

"You…you fell asleep, I thought.” He rubbed his hands through his hair, willing them to stop trembling. “But then you said that you loved me. I thought…I thought I imagined it, but you said it.” He couldn’t look at her – wouldn’t see the regret in her eyes. He waited for her to tell him that she was drunk, delusional, that she didn’t mean it, but it didn’t come.

When he forced himself to look up at her, the tears were streaming down her cheeks. She nodded her head so slightly, “Yeah.” She breathed.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I said that. I know I did.”  She was staring at Bakugou now and her felt her eyes pierce into his soul. When she spoke again, it was so hushed that if he hadn’t been so close, he would’ve missed it. “What did you say back?”

Time slowed to a stop and Bakugou moved closer to Uraraka, then slowly pressed his forehead against hers. She gazed directly into his eyes. He wiped a tear off her cheek and spoke gentler than even he knew he was capable of. His words quivered with all of the emotion he had been holding in since he started this thing with her. 

“I said that I loved you too, angel. That I loved you so much.” 

Uraraka was crying, her body wracked with quiet sobs, her head still pressed firmly to Bakugou’s. He placed his hands carefully on her shoulders and rubbed them, trying to soothe her, trying to make her stop crying. He had to remind himself not to hold his breath while he waited for her response. 

“Mina was right.” She managed after she mostly stopped her tears, and Bakugou gave her a strange look. “We’re really stupid.” 

He laughed then and pulled himself away from Uraraka. He moved his hands instead to hers and took them in his hands. “I’ve been fucking stupid. I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry for how I treated you. I was just…just fuckin’ scared. I’m messed up, angel. I really am. But I love you. I know that I love you.” He picked one hand up and kissed it. “I was just too much of a goddamn idiot to admit it before.” 

“You love me.” Uraraka said the words so tenderly, like she was trying them on, exploring them. She smiled, and it was radiant. It made Bakugou’s heart soar. “I love you, Bakugou.” He could’ve cried, then. He wanted to pick her up and twirl her around in his arms and listen to her say those words over and over again. He would never get sick of them. They were the most beautiful words he had ever heard – they played inside his head like a song. He wanted to shout and jump, and he felt joy. He had never felt so much happiness in his life.

“Katsuki.” He corrected, after a moment. “That’s what you said last night.”

Uraraka giggled, a lone tear spilling out of her eye. “Katsuki.” She repeated. “Ochako.” She pointed to herself. 

“Angel.” He said, and he pulled Uraraka into him and pressed his lips to hers. The feeling set his entire body on fire in a way it had never been before. An overwhelming sense of calm fell over him, as he held Uraraka’s hands in his. He was capable of love. He could be a good person for her. He could be a good person in general. He knew it. 

When Uraraka kissed him back, he was struck with the thought that life could be about so much more than being number one.

Chapter Text

Uraraka woke up encompassed in warmth. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and stretched her legs out, untangling them from the boy who slept tranquilly next to her. Bakugou’s arms were wrapped around her torso, and his face was pressed to his hair. Uraraka was surprised he could breathe like that – but he had been insistent on sleeping as close to her as he could possibly get. She snuggled against him now, smiling softly to herself. Last night replayed itself in her mind – she was still in disbelief by how it had all worked out.

Uraraka had knocked on Bakugou’s door without knowing what to expect, not sure if she could handle his rejection a second time. She almost backed out and ran to the safety of her own room, but she knew Mina was still in the common room, blocking her escape path and that if she caught her bailing then she would drag her to Bakugou’s room and knock herself. This would work out, she told herself. This time, it’s different.

When Bakugou answered the door, she nearly fainted at his anger, then again when it vanished, and was replaced by a gentleness that she still couldn’t believe Bakugou was capable of sometimes. The change in expression was so sudden it made her dizzy. When he let her into his room, he continued to surprise her, by honoring his promise of honesty, even when the circumstances had changed so much since he first pledged it to her. Uraraka had never felt more on-edge than listening to him recount the events of her night and she had never felt more elated than when he said the words “I love you” and kissed her. They spent the night kissing and talking in low voices, comfortable in each other’s arms.

It was all so perfect that it could’ve been a dream, but she was awake, and Bakugou was still there. She thought it was the most peaceful way to wake up.

Maybe…too peaceful. Uraraka couldn’t remember what day it was.

“Shit, Bakugou!” Uraraka shot up in bed, jostling Bakugou in the process. He groaned and reached his hands out to grab her and pull her back to him. “Bakugou, it’s Monday!” She cried.

“Ah, shit.” His eyes popped open and filled with alarm. “Fuck. What time is it?”

Uraraka fumbled for her phone, which had been nudged somewhere down by the bottom of the bed. “It’s 7:56! Oh my God, Aizawa is going to murder us.”

Class started at eight. The idea that they would be able to get dressed and presentable enough and make it to their seats in four minutes was laughable – but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to try.

The two flew out of bed at Mach speed. Thankfully, Uraraka had the humiliation of forgetting her clothes the previous night fresh in her mind when Bakugou asked her to stay over, so she retrieved her uniform and toothbrush from her room. She changed rapidly now, hopping into her tights, and haphazardly tying her tie, unabashedly stripping in front of Bakugou – because it’s not like he hadn’t already seen her like this. She tucked in her shirt, slipped into her jacket, brushed her teeth and took a comb through her hair, ripping at a knot but not having enough time to worry about damaged ends. Bakugou was ready in three minutes and was goading her on to go faster – men didn’t know how easy they had it. He didn’t even look that that disheveled.  

“Time?” Uraraka gasped, slinging her bag over her shoulder. 

“8:05.” Bakugou grabbed her hand and then pulled her out of the room. They still had to make it all the way across campus to their classroom. “We’re gonna be stupid late.” He grumbled. “Wanna take a short cut?”

“Short cut?” Uraraka repeated, unsure of what he meant. The way to the classrooms was a straight shot – there was no short cut.

“Yeah, here, make us float.” He put pressure on her pinky, which she always kept lifted when she held his hand. 

“Make us float? Why?” Her eyes widened. The grounds were deserted, but she still felt the need to whisper. 

“Trust me, angel face.” He said impatiently. “The later we are the more we’re gonna get shit on by Eraser.” 

She did trust him, but she didn’t know how much she trusted his ideas. She had seen Bakugou get reckless with his quirk countless times during class exercises, and she had been on the receiving end of his power endless times since the Sports Festival, but they had never used their quirks together before. 

She let her pinky curl around his grip and then activated her quirk on the both of them. She felt the familiar feeling of gravity leaving her body. Bakugou rose into the air uncertainly, a frown on his face and concentration creasing his eyebrows. He hovered just above the ground and Uraraka focused on keeping it that way. She had been experimenting with how much gravity she took away at a time. It was going well but took a lot of effort.

“This is so fuckin’ hard to get used to.” He said, “No wonder you throw up all the time.”

Uraraka blushed. Bakugou steadied himself, then released her hand and turned her around, then wrapped his arms around her so that she was pressed securely against his chest. “Alright, hold on, cheeks.”

“Wait, wha -”

She didn’t have a chance to finish her question before they were airborne, and wind was rushing past Uraraka’s ear, roaring.  

“Bakugou!” She screamed, breaking the silence of the early morning air. Bakugou had one arm wrapped tightly around Uraraka’s stomach and was using the other hand to propel them forward, leaving explosions in his wake. Uraraka felt like she was on a rollercoaster – her stomach dropped, and she clenched her eyes shut, but the feeling was not at all unpleasant. It was exhilarating. Bakugou was laughing uninhibited – the sound filled her with glee. Moments where Bakugou was really enjoying himself seemed so rare to witness – but right now, while they were soaring, it was hers to experience. She wanted to experience it time and time again. 

Their ride was over too soon, and Uraraka managed a weak, “release” to return gravity to them. Her legs felt shaky when she touched the ground and adrenaline was coursing through her body. Bakugou mussed his hair up, fixing the wind damage instantly. Uraraka knew she would not be so lucky, and she cringed when she pushed a tangled strand out of her face.

“Fun right, angel?” Bakugou’s grin could be described as maniacal by many, but Uraraka knew it was just his own unique smile.

“Yeah, fun.” She squirmed against his arm that was still holding her tight, and he freed her.

 “Let’s hurry up, we’re late enough.” Bakugou slipped his hand into hers automatically – it was already so natural - and she was about to protest that maybe showing up late to class, bedraggled and holding hands wasn’t the best idea, but he was already pulling her down the hallway. When they reached the classroom and opened the door, every pair of eyes in the class snapped to them. 

“Ah. Bakugou and Uraraka. Late for the second day in a row.” Aizawa’s voice droned flatly. His gaze passed down to their interlocked fingers and then back up to their faces. Bakugou released his hold on Uraraka’s hand and shoved his own into his pockets.

“Sorry.” He muttered, heading towards his desk. Uraraka put her head down and began the walk of shame to her desk. She glanced up and briefly caught Mina’s eye. The pink girl looked like she was going to hop up out of her seat and punch the air.

“You know I don’t care about sorry.” Aizawa said, clearly annoyed. “You interrupted my class. You both have detention. Separately.” He added, making a face that caused even more color to rise into Uraraka’s cheeks. She nodded solemnly and sat down.

“I’m sorry, but, Sensei, if I could just have a moment -” Mina was leaning out of her desk. “It’s just, Uraraka and Bakugou were holding hands just now.” She was practically bouncing in her chair. “Did everyone see that?” Kirishima gave Bakugou a sly thumbs up, but Bakugou pointedly ignored it.

“Ashido, I –” Aizawa was cut off by Kaminari, who smacked Ojiro’s tail and shouted excitedly, “Shit, I thought I was seeing things! Ojiro, you owe me money!” 

“Me too!” Sero was grinning ear to ear. “Pay up, man. I’m getting the new Switch game tonight! That’s what you get for being a doubter of true love.”

Ojiro smiled sheepishly and lifted his hands up in surrender. “Okay, yeah, after class.”

“Finally.” Todoroki rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I was wondering when you’d stop acting so foolish, Bakugou.”

 “Shut it, half-and-half.” Bakugou shot him a death glare from across the room. He directed his eyes to the rest of the class. “Everyone quit looking at us like we’re a damn circus act.” But in the past several months, the class had stopped being afraid of Bakugou, so despite his rage-packed words, they all kept whispering and giggling amongst themselves. About them. Their relationship. Uraraka buried her head in her arms.

“That’s enough.” Glowing red eyes pierced the class. Aizawa’s hair had begun its frightening ascent and Uraraka wanted to sink into her desk. “Ashido, you will be joining Uraraka in detention for attempting to incite a riot in my class.” He paused. “Todoroki, Kaminari, Sero – watch it.”

Mina pouted, but Kaminari and Sero just smirked at each other. Uraraka hoped that would be the end of it, and she could just focus all of her energy on Aizawa’s lesson, serve her detention and then run away from everyone. Unfortunately, fate – or maybe Aizawa – was cruel, and they were assigned a group work activity. Uraraka was in a group with Deku, Tsu and Jirou. She thanked whatever deity that was looking out for her that she didn’t get paired with Mina or Kirishima. 

Bakugou wasn’t having as easy of a time as she was. He was paired with Kaminari, Todoroki and Tokoyami. Kaminari was loudly gloating about how they knew it all along and asking Bakugou lewd questions that he probably thought no one could hear. Tokoyami was grimacing, but Todoroki laughed. Strangely enough, Bakugou was just taking it. There was no hatred behind his threats. 

 “So, Ochako-chan.” Tsu brought Uraraka’s attention back to their group. Their assignment was to put together a scenario in which they were pro heroes working to fight against a villain attack. They all needed roles and responsibilities and had to outline their basic plan of action. Jirou was drawing out a map of the city that they would face the attack in, while Deku muttered about abilities and how well they would work together and pored over his notebook. “Is it official?”

 “Hmm?” Uraraka pretended like she didn’t know what she was asking. Jirou snorted.

“It looks pretty official to me.” The punk girl laughed without looking up from her sketching. 

 “You and Bakugou?” Tsu prompted. “You know, I still don’t even really understand how you became friends…”

 “It’s a long story.” Uraraka tried to busy herself with writing down potential quirks for the hypothetical villain they had to fight. “But yeah, I guess we’re official.”

 “Mina is having an actual heart attack right now.” Deku commented, still absorbed in his notebook but obviously listening. “I can hear it.”

It was true. Mina was paired with Hagakure, Aoyama and Iida and she was squealing to Hagakure while Iida pleaded with her to pay attention. The two girls kept looking in Uraraka’s general direction and giggling. Less than five minutes after Uraraka sat down, Mina created a group chat amongst the girls demanding an emergency girl’s night in her room after detention. 

 “She’s more invested in this relationship than her own, kero.” Tsu placed her finger on her chin. 

 “She’s a serial shipper.” Jirou explained. “But a girl’s night should be fun.”

Uraraka didn’t mention that she had been hoping to spend the night with Bakugou again. She knew if she bailed out on Mina’s girl’s night that there would be hell to pay. 

“Yeah, Ochako can tell us all about her and Bakugou then.” Tsu smiled. 

 “However it did happen, Uraraka-chan, I’m happy for you.” Deku’s voice was earnest, and she believed him. Back in the beginning of the school year, Uraraka had been head-over-heels for Deku. She crushed on him instantly at the Entrance Exam and admired everything about the way he carried himself and the hero he wanted to become. After pining for several weeks and spending all of her time consumed with him, she decided to take a leap of faith and she corned him after class one day once everyone had shuffled out and she kissed him. What followed was the most awkward and shameful moment of Uraraka’s life as Deku floundered to explain that he wasn’t only not interested in Uraraka, but he wasn’t interested in anyone. 

 “It’s not that you aren’t beautiful and wonderful, Uraraka.” He had explained in a panicked frenzy. “I just…I have too much to focus on. I can’t worry about relationships. I’m sorry.” 

She had plastered a big fake smile on her face and told him that it was okay. And it was, after a while. She tried to imagine herself with Deku and found it to be a picture she didn’t like anymore. They had both changed so much in a short period – they all had. If she could go back in time and tell herself on the first day of UA that she would be so in love with the boy she perceived as an angry and violent bully, she probably would’ve laughed, but Bakugou was so much more than met the eye.

“Thanks, Deku-kun.”

“Dude, Bakugou, if you and Uraraka are together now, does this mean you’re actually getting laid?” Kaminari’s stage whisper carried over to her ears. She saw Todoroki snort and then try to hide his laughter with a cough. Bakugou had murder in his eyes.

“You gonna keep fuckin’ talking, Pikachu? Don’t make me fuck you up with your own goddamn electricity again.”

Kaminari grinned. “So, that’s definitely a no.”

“You have a death wish, Kaminari?!” Uraraka burst out from her side of the room. “I’ll float your ass straight into space!”

Jirou fell onto the map she was drawing, snickering hysterically. Tsu and Deku both looked at each other and grinned. Uraraka caught Bakugou’s eye. He couldn’t have looked prouder.

-x-

Uraraka’s stomach grumbled loudly, and Bakugou laughed low in her ear. His arms were traveling slowly down her back, savoring every inch of her. Uraraka was unamused.

“I’m hungry, don’t laugh at me!” She snapped quietly. Bakugou smirked against her neck before biting down on the sensitive skin.

“I’m hungry too.” He murmured. He trailed his tongue down her collarbone. She let out a gasp and hitched her leg up against him. “Ah, I almost forgot how much you like dirty talk, angel…” He moved his lips to hers, and kissed her hard, pushing his tongue against her closed lips to gain access. She obliged.

Uraraka didn’t know how she ended up in this situation – against the wall in a dark and particularly musty maintenance closet with Bakugou pressed against her. Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth – she did know exactly how she got here. She had texted Bakugou discretely during Mic’s class, telling him about Mina’s mandatory girl’s night and lamenting how she wouldn’t be able to spend the night with him. After convincing him that she absolutely could not tell Mina to go fuck herself, she had added sadly that she was really looking forward to being with him again…intimately. She had watched Bakugou’s face redden as he stared at his phone in his lap, and then when the bell rang for lunch, he had stolen her away from her friends and yanked her down the hallway until they found an empty closet.

“You can’t say shit to me like that in class, cheeks.” He had whispered, his voice primal. “You know how long it’s been? I’m dying for it.”

So, it was really her own fault that she was now missing lunch in exchange for having Bakugou’s hands under her shirt and lips burning on hers. She wasn’t complaining, even if her stomach was. She was dying for it too.

“We can’t stay in here long.” Uraraka whined, feeling his hand grip her thigh to pull her leg up further around him. He kissed her in lieu of a response. “I’m serious – people are going to wonder where we are.”

“People are gonna be wondering a lot of shit about us now.” He grumbled. His other hand was massaging her left breast under her shirt, pinching her nipple between his fingers. “Fuckin’ let ‘em wonder.”

“I think you like being the center of attention too much.” Uraraka tried to keep her voice even, but his hands were making her breathless. It had been way too long. Her body ached for him. “You actually walked into class today holding my hand. Risky move.”

“Maybe I just wanna show my girl off.”

Uraraka felt heat rush to her face, and butterflies fill her stomach. She liked that name more than any of the others. She could get used to it.

She crushed her lips to his then and wrapped her arms tight around his neck, pressing their chests together. He moaned into her mouth and moved his hands down to her lower back, holding her as close as he could, as if he was trying to swallow her with his body. She grinded her hips into him, careful not to go too far. They were in a closet after all, during lunchtime – that greatly limited their range of possible sexual activities.

“Fuck, Ochako. I don’t have a condom.” Bakugou growled against her. “I almost don’t fuckin’ care.”

“We can’t make a mess.” She warned him, but continued her teasing stirring against his groin.

“You’re a fuckin’ –” Bakugou gasped, bucking his hips to meet hers. “Don’t try me, angel face. I’ll make a mess all over you.”

The threat made heat pool in-between Uraraka’s legs. She wanted to test him, to see if he would make good on his promise. She wanted to sink on top of him, wrap her legs around his waist and have him fill her. She didn’t even care if he made a mess.

Of course, this wasn’t her logical side talking. She had to wake her up.

“Mmm, Bakugou, we can’t go any farther.” She said, nudging him away from her. “Not here, not now.” She paused, watching his pained expression in the semi-darkness. He was needy and desperate, not thinking straight at all. It drove Uraraka crazy, and any other time she would’ve taken advantage of it, but she figured they were in enough trouble already. “But,” she continued, wanting to take care of him. “I can think of a way to clean up your mess.”

She wiggled out of his embrace and sunk to her knees. “Ah, angel, fuck, you don’t have –”

“Shh, I miss the taste of you.” She began unbuttoning his pants, languidly, sensually.

“Your mouth is way too damn pretty to say such dirty shit. Fuck.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and hissed through his teeth when she released him from his boxers. “I’m gonna fuckin’ destroy you when I get the chance.”

“So romantic, boyfriend.” She teased, placing a tender kiss on his cock.

“I love you.” He managed weakly. She smiled, and took him entirely in her mouth, sucking and licking and gazing up at him through hooded eyes. He was coming undone in front of her and she had missed this so much. “Fuuck, I love you. I love you so much. Fuckin’ perfect.”

She took his words as encouragement, and bobbed her head faster, twirling her tongue and pulling his hips into her with her hands. He groaned loudly.

“You’re loud!” She giggled. She took one hand and stroked down his shaft leisurely, deliberately slow.

“Please, you’re making me insane. Need you, angel. Need you so bad.” He was whimpering, thrusting against her, urgent. Uraraka put her mouth back to work – she punctuated her sucking with moans of her own, and Bakugou looked like he might cry. “Ochako!” He choked as he found his release. Uraraka tasted the hot and salty mixture and stared into Bakugou’s eyes before swallowing it.

“My fuckin’ God. You’re amazing. C’mere.” His words were groggy, but he grabbed Uraraka by the waist and pulled her up, then smashed his lips against hers, immediately tangling their tongues. “I’m gonna make you feel so good. So good.” Now it was his turn to slide down to his knees. He snatched her tights down, taking little care to be gentle and Uraraka let out a cry when she heard the distinctive rip of sheer fabric.

“Katsuki! You tore my tights!”

“Sorry, cheeks.” His voice was muffled by her skirt, which he was currently under. It was very distracting from the problem at hand. His warm hands tugged her underwear to the side, and then his tongue was putting pressure against her folds. He teased, licking lightly and pressing chaste kisses to her thighs. She whined. “Don’t be cruel.”

“It’s just too much fun teasing you.” He said, placing another kiss dangerously close to her aching core. “Want it, angel?”

“Yes.” She squeaked. “Please.”

“Ah, anything for my girl.” She could hear the smirk in his voice and then he dove in, and Uraraka’s vision blurred as his tongue flicked against her and he pressed a finger firmly against her clit and made circles around it. She didn’t last long before she was exclaiming various praises for Bakugou and murmuring her assent. Her legs were trembling around him, and she felt her whole body turn to Jell-O.

“Wow, that…it’s been awhile, huh?” She felt dazed and exhausted when Bakugou finally removed his head from between her legs and helped her off the floor, so she could fix herself.

He laughed. “Been too fuckin’ long. C’mon, let’s get cleaned up so we can grab something from Lunch Rush before we have to go back to class.” He patted Uraraka’s stomach lightly. She blushed.

“What about my tights?” She gave an uneasy glance down at her legs. There was an extremely noticeable rip right by her crotch. “I can’t wear these.”

Bakugou shrugged. “Take ‘em off. It’s not like anyone will notice.”

Uraraka and Bakugou snuck out of the closet, after Bakugou double checked that the coast was clear, and ran hand-in-hand to Lunch Rush’s cafeteria to grab whatever was left. When they got back to the classroom, most everyone was already seated and waiting for the lesson – Midnight’s – to begin.

“Uraraka, where were you at lunch, kero?” Tsu inquired.

“Oh, just in the library catching up on some homework.” She lied easily, because she had forced Bakugou to rehearse with her on their way to the cafeteria.

“Weren’t you wearing tights earlier?” The frog girl was relentless in her observation skills. That alone made her a fearsome hero.

“I got hot.” She wasn’t ready for that question and blurted out her answer a little too quickly.

“It’s winter…” Tsu frowned. From across the classroom, laughter chimed from Mina’s direction.

“God, I can’t wait for this girl’s night.” She smiled wickedly, and Uraraka wondered worriedly just what she would be subjected to. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Aizawa decided at the last minute to separate Mina and Uraraka’s detentions, and she decided that he truly was her favorite teacher. She needed an hour of peace to prepare herself for the questions she was sure to be bombed with when she got to Mina’s room. He had sent Mina to help Monoma clean up the cafeteria – which was a punishment she was grateful she hadn’t been given. Her punishment was to sit in silence for an hour, monitored by Aizawa as he graded papers.

            He looked up at her grimly after about twenty minutes. “Uraraka.”

            “Yes, Sensei?” She had been picking at her nails for lack of anything better to do.

            “This new relationship isn’t going to cause problems, is it?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

            “No, Sensei.” She flushed, her eyes widening. “Of course not. I’m sorry I was late today. I just overslept.”

            “Coincidentally, so did Bakugou.”

            Her cheeks grew even pinker. “I’m sorry, Sensei.” She muttered again.

            “I will reiterate what I said to you many months ago – teenagers are stupid.” He shook his head. “But you’re smart, Uraraka, so make sure to stay smart.”

            “Yes, sir.” She nodded. Aizawa gave her a lingering look, as if analyzing her, then ducked is head back down to his grading. He didn’t speak for the rest of her detention, and when the hour was up, he simply waved her away lazily.

            “Don’t do it again.” He called out the door and Uraraka promised she wouldn’t.

            When Uraraka finally made it to Mina’s room, she found that all the other girls were waiting for her, gathered on the floor around a cellphone, giggling at a video Hagakure was showing them and snacking from the pile of baked goods that sat next to Tsu. 

            “Glad to see you survived detention.” Mina smiled when she opened the door. “I almost didn’t, in case you were wondering.” 

            “I was wondering.” Uraraka replied. “Monoma wasn’t a great cleaning partner? I’m shocked.”

            “You’re lucky you’re Aizawa’s favorite and you didn’t have to be subjected to torture.” Mina rolled her eyes.

            “Second favorite, kero.” Tsu pointed out, a sly smile spreading across her lips. 

            “I also was just late, not trying to cause the class to erupt into chaos.” Uraraka reminded her. 

            “Is it my fault that you showed up to class, late, hair all a mess, hand-in-hand with Katsuki Bakugou?” Mina protested. “Can you blame me?”

            “It was pretty shocking, kero.” Tsu offered.

            “I wasn’t too surprised.” Momo smiled sweetly. “We all knew it was coming eventually.”

            “You gotta give a girl some warning, though!” Mina cried. “I almost had a heart attack.” Hagakure bobbed enthusiastically in response.

            “I just want to point out that I called this, like, months ago.” Hagakure said breezily. “I should’ve gotten in on that bet…now poor Ojiro is going to be too broke to take me out.” She sounded like she was pouting. 

            “Wow, let’s talk about Hagakure and Ojiro. What a cute couple, right?” Uraraka attempted to steer the conversation away from her.

            “No, Ojiro isn’t the angriest and scariest guy in the class, so it’s not as interesting.” Hagakure said. 

            “She’s got a point.” Jirou said. “I was wondering how long it would take before you claimed him, Ochako. After everything with Camie…” She trailed off and Uraraka gave her a meaningful look.

            “Camie? The blonde girl from Shiketsu?” Hagakure asked, curiosity radiating from her invisible body. “The really hot one? What does she have to do with Bakugou?” 

            “Uh.” Uraraka managed. “Nothing?”

            Mina snorted a laugh. Jirou blushed slightly, looking like she regretted speaking up.

            “Shit. Sorry.” She muttered. “I forgot it’s not common knowledge.”           

            “Well,” Uraraka paused. “I guess since Bakugou and I are public now, I can tell you guys the whole story?” She had been keeping the secret for so long from everyone but Mina – telling the rest of the girls might prove therapeutic. Besides, these were her best friends. She did everything with these girls. They wouldn’t judge her.

            “Public now?” Hagakure gasped. Tsu and Momo looked at her with wide eyes. “As in, there was a time where it wasn’t public?” 

            “Oh boy.” Mina said, popping a small pastry in her mouth. “Here we go.”

            Uraraka sat down and took a deep breath, then began to tell her story from the beginning. She started from the night in the infirmary after the Sports Festival, patiently answering all of the incredulous questions that were blurted out as she spoke.

            “In the infirmary? I didn’t know that!” Mina cried. “Ochako, that’s so hot. You’re wild.”

            “Wait, wait, in the shower before the movie? We sat next to each other at that movie and you didn’t say anything.” Tsu frowned. “How did you hide all of this?”

            Uraraka frowned guiltily. “It was one of the rules we came up with. We couldn’t tell anyone about what we were doing – I mean, what would your reactions be?” She tried to make them understand that she didn’t have a choice, but Tsu looked hurt to be left out. “You would’ve tried to stop me!”

            “I mean, I wouldn’t.” Hagakure spoke up. “I would’ve wanted to know all about how Bakugou is in bed though.”

            Uraraka flushed. “I’m sorry for not telling you, Tsu.” She apologized to her dear friend. “I told Mina because she kinda…caught me.” 

            Momo gasped and Jirou roared with laughter. “Don’t tell me you walked in on them.” 

            “No!” They both yelled at the same time. 

            “Uraraka actually walked in on Kiri and I.” Mina explained. “We were making out in the common room.”

            “Animals.” Jirou shook her head. “You have bedrooms.”

            “It’s all about the risk, my love.” Mina winked. “But anyways, Uraraka was trying to sneak into Bakugou’s room – by floating across the damn ceiling – and then Kiri looked up because he heard a noise, he noticed her.”

            “Then I threw up.” Uraraka interjected. 

            “Oh yeah, it was gross.” Mina nodded vigorously. “Kiri and I cornered her and made her fess up after I helped her clean up her puke from the sink.” 

            Tsu seemed satisfied with the story. She put her finger to her chin and gave Uraraka an anxious look. “I’m not upset, Ochako, kero. I understand why you would keep that a secret. It is Bakugou after all.” She paused, then began to speak again, haltingly and nervously. “In the spirit of honesty…” All the girls listened with rapt attention. “I kinda haven’t told you something either…I have been talking to…Midoriya.”

            “Shut the fuck up!” Mina screamed. “Tsu!”

            “Oh, that’s so cute.” Cooed Momo. “Midoriya is such a sweetheart.”

            Tsu’s eyes stayed locked to Uraraka’s, looking apologetic and scared. Uraraka just smiled. She held no ill-will towards Tsu for finding a connection with her old crush. It was okay that Deku had decided he had time for a relationship after all. If he had thought that all those months ago when Uraraka confessed, then she wouldn’t be where she was now. And she loved where she was now.

            “I think you two are perfect for each other.” She said, and she meant it. Tsu’s eyes watered slightly, and she broke into a huge smile. 

            “Thanks, Ochako.” 

            “Wow, are we all taken women? This is precious.” Hagakure squealed. “We need to have a group date.”

            “A group date involving both Bakugou and Midoriya…” Jirou said, cringing. “Not a great idea.” 

            “You know, they seem like they’ve been better lately.” Momo said thoughtfully. “They’ve been fighting a lot less.”

            Uraraka nodded, a soft smile ghosting on her lips. She thought Bakugou had changed the most. 

            “Wait, Ochako.” Hagakure said. “Where does the hot blonde Shiketsu girl play into this?”

            “Oh.” Uraraka mumbled. She was hoping they had forgotten that detail. “Uh, she…well, she –”

            “She’s Bakugou’s ex.” Jirou interrupted her stammering. “Well, ex fuck-buddy.” 

            “How do you know that?” Momo asked. 

            “She told us, at a…party.” Jirou trailed off, giving Momo a sheepish smile. 

            “You didn’t invite us to a party?!” Hagakure wailed. “How cruel!” 

            “It wasn’t your type of party, dear.” Mina said gently. “And it sucked anyways. Trust me.” She gave a sideways glance to Uraraka, who looked down in shame. 

            “It did suck.” Jirou confirmed. “But Camie was there, and she told us the story about her and Bakugou. She’s kinda cool, actually. She texts me sometimes.” She said this part quickly and quietly, avoiding Uraraka’s eyes. 

            Uraraka said nothing, not wanting to cause a scene, but feeling a pang in her chest. Jirou was far from Uraraka’s best friend, but the two were on very good terms and friendly with each other. She didn’t understand how Jirou could know everything about how Camie had treated Bakugou and then still want to be her friend. She had witnessed Camie playing with Uraraka’s emotions, and still given the girl her number? It was a small betrayal. 

            “She just sends me music requests and stuff.” Jirou continued, trying to rid the room of the suffocating silence that had fallen over it. “And she said she’s really sorry about some of the stuff she said at the party. She said she’s not usually like that.”

            Uraraka begged to differ. She had talked to the girl when she was completely sober and knew that she was, in fact, like that. 

            “Wait, back up. Bakugou used to have sex with that girl?” Hagakure was still stuck on that unbelievable fact. “Isn’t she a third year?”

            “Long story.” Uraraka said shortly, wanting to change the subject. She could feel Jirou’s eyes on her, searching for validation from Uraraka, but she didn’t give it to her. She couldn’t, not yet. Camie had caused her too much stress and the fact that Jirou seemed okay with that left a bad taste in her mouth. She only hoped that their apparent friendship would dissolve when Camie got bored – she seemed to have a habit of doing that. 

            Mina sensed the tension between the two girls and came to Uraraka’s rescue. “Doesn’t matter now, does it? Ancient history. I’m glad you’re with Bakugou, Ochako. You two make a beautiful couple.”

            “One I wouldn’t expect, but yes, beautiful nonetheless.” Momo agreed. “You bring out the good in him, Ochako.”

            Uraraka smiled softly. “Thanks, Yaomomo.”

            “Hey, Yaomomo, how are you and Todoroki? Tell us about your sex life.” Hagakure had also picked up on Uraraka’s discomfort and changed the subject quickly. Uraraka had a strong desire to hug her and she joined in on the laughter as Momo held her hands up in protest, blushing wildly and exclaiming that her and Todoroki’s intimate activities were sacred.

            The conversation strayed then, and the girls fell back into a carefree chatter about their relationships, general school gossip, and upcoming lessons. Jirou threw Uraraka the occasional guilty glance, but Uraraka didn’t engage her, even though her mind was reeling. She didn’t want to be mad at Jirou – she really just wanted Camie to go away, but it wasn’t the punk girl’s fault that she had stricken up a friendship with her. Camie was alluring – she pulled people in and then trapped them. Anyone could fall for it easily. If Uraraka hadn’t known who she was, she had a feeling that even she herself would.

            Around eleven PM, Tsu had begun to doze off in Uraraka’s lap and the girls decided to call it a night. Jirou caught Uraraka’s arm in the hallway before she could begin the walk to her room. “Hey, I –”

            “It’s okay.” Uraraka cut her off. “You didn’t know. I can’t blame you. Bakugou wasn’t mine when Camie was messing around, so I can’t be mad.” She said this all in one quick breath and knew she meant it. Uraraka did not want to be the type of girl who caused petty drama over jealousy.

            “You mean more to me than she does, Ochako. I’ll stop talking to her. She’s cool but she’s kinda hard to talk to…” She made a face. “She uses so many emojis.” 

            The laugh bubbled out of Uraraka’s mouth before she could stop it and Jirou smiled, encouraged. “I don’t really know how Bakugou could tolerate her. He doesn’t seem to be into stupidity.” 

            “Who knows.” Uraraka sighed. “I just hope that she’s out of my life for good.”

            “I’ll stop talking to her.” Jirou promised. “She hasn’t really texted me all that much anyway. She just asked me for the Class A group chat link, and when I asked her what for, she said she had a song that she thought everyone would like and would remind them of the Provisional License Exam, but she stopped responding after I sent it.”  

            Uraraka blinked at her. “That’s strange…” She said slowly, feeling slightly unsettled. Camie had proven she was conniving, so Uraraka worried that she might have something else up her sleeve.

            “She’s not going after Bakugou anymore though.” Jirou said earnestly. “She told me she met someone new at the Provisional License Exam actually, and that she really likes him. So at least she won’t be a problem for you anymore.” 

            Uraraka felt herself physically loosen at hearing that. Thank God. Camie had grown bored of Bakugou once again and found a new toy to play with. She felt bad for whoever the poor guy was, but she still had a creeping feeling in the back of her mind that she was up to something. She told herself to forget it and not to become someone driven insane by envy.

            “Well, no hard feelings, Jirou.” She said, and she meant it. Jirou’s apology was sincere and Uraraka knew she hadn’t meant anything malicious by talking to Camie. The tension eased then, and Jirou seemed to let herself relax.

            “I’m really happy for you and Bakugou. I think he’s an idiot, but so is Kami, so.” She shrugged and smirked. “I’m glad to have you in the group.”

            “Thanks, Kyoka.” She said, and Jirou beamed at her.

-x-

            The next day, Uraraka was in her desk in the classroom ten minutes early, just in case. The rest of the class filtered in slowly, trickling in one-by-one or in pairs of two. She waved good morning to each of the girls, and to Deku and Iida. She was much more cheerful now that everything was the way it should be – her friends knew the truth, she knew Bakugou loved her, and she was rid of all her troubles that had plagued her for the past several months. It was going to be a good remainder of the semester.

            When Bakugou sauntered into the classroom with Kirishima a few minutes before class started, Uraraka gave him a shy smile, still not entirely used to the fact that they could interact in public now. Bakugou’s face broke into a real, genuine grin at the sight of her, and Uraraka could feel her heart stop it her chest. He was beautiful, and he was hers.

            “Morning, angel face.” He swooped down in front of her desk and kissed her on the lips – in front of everyone – she couldn’t imagine how red she was. She didn’t have a chance to respond before Bakugou was walking to his own seat across the room.

            “Wow, that’s something I really thought I’d never see.” Iida muttered from next to her. “Bakugou being romantic.”

            “Got something to fuckin’ say to me, four-eyes?!” Bakugou snapped from his seat, glaring.

            “Ah, now that’s more like it.” Iida said, nodding his head stiffly. Uraraka covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

            “Settle down.” Aizawa rose from the floor in his sleeping bag and addressed the class with a yawn. “I have a special announcement.”

            “I love his special announcements.” Mina stage-whispered to Tsu. Aizawa didn’t even bother to give her a glare. Uraraka suspected that even if he acted like she was a pain, Mina was definitely in the top five on his favorite students list.

            “Next week, we are going to be partaking in a special training exercise.” He said, and the class immediately broke into excited murmurs. He waited, glaring, for them to quiet. Uraraka leaned forward, listening intently. Now that she had her provisional license, she wanted to focus on getting stronger so that she could start her next step to becoming a hero. “We’ll be doing this training with another school – Ketsubutsu, some of you may remember them from –”

            “—MS. JOKE’S SCHOOL?” Mina cried out, cutting their teacher off. The vein in his forehead twitched. “Oh my God, the romance in the air is just, unbelievable.”

            “Ashido, I will put you on cleaning duty with Monoma every day this week.” Aizawa threatened and Mina squeaked in protest.

            “Sorry, sorry!”

            “As I was saying,” Aizawa continued pointedly. “Some of you may remember them from the Provisional License Exam – at least I hope you do, considering it was only three days ago.”

            It felt more like three years to Uraraka. Her internal clock was all kinds of confused. How could so much happen in three days?

            “She’s going to be bringing her second-year class to do a sort of ‘Battle Royale” exercise.”  His lips curled into his signature unsettling smirk. “This will lead us into our next lesson, which will be internships.”

            The excitement in the room was rising at the idea of an all-out battle with the Ketsubutsu students, and then internships. It was like Christmas had come early. Uraraka frowned. Ketsubutsu was Shindo’s school. She hoped he would stay home, but she figured there would be enough of them that she could avoid him if he didn’t.

            “One more thing.” Aizawa said, silencing the class. “You may only participate if you’ve earned your provisional license.”

            “What the f --”

            “Brutal.” Kirishima shook his head, throwing a sympathetic look towards Bakugou who was steaming. Todoroki simply stared down at his desk, shameful.

            “A provisional license is necessary for internships.” Aizawa explained, no inflection in his voice. “The ‘Battle Royale’ is internship prep. There is no need for you to participate if you won’t be partaking in an internship.”

            Bakugou looked like he was going to break something, and he locked eyes with Uraraka. She simply nodded at him, her lips set in a straight line. If he thought she was pitying him, it would only make him angrier, but the simple fact that she was looking at him seemed to keep him anchored to the ground.

            “Don’t worry, Bakugou, Todoroki. Your time will come.” Aizawa said curtly. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about your tests from Monday…”

-x-

            “It’s bullshit,” Bakugou growled as he yanked his tie off and threw it on the floor. They were in his room, attempting to do English homework but failing because Bakugou was too angry about being excluded from participating in the training exercise. “I’m better than half of the fucks who got their licenses.”

            “Hey, now.” Uraraka said softly. “You are incredible, Katsuki. You have amazing power, and you can be gentle. I know that, so why not show everybody else?”

            “It’s just for you.” He murmured, pulling his school shirt off, leaving only his black tank top on. He fell down onto the bed next to Uraraka. “Regular assholes don’t deserve it. You do.” He moved to lay his head in her lap.

            “I would be willing to let others have a small share of the kindness.” She said, flicking his nose lightly. He scrunched it up. “You love All Might, why don’t you act like him? Save people with a smile and all of that?”

            Bakugou grimaced. “That’s not me, cheeks.” He said simply.

            She smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.” Bakugou had come a long way, but Uraraka never wanted to change who he was. She wanted to help him grow and become a better hero and man, but she loved him for who he was: abrasive personality, intensity, dirty mouth and all.

            “I just can’t believe I won’t be able to kick some Ketsubutsu ass. If that bastard is there, I might have to…” He trailed off.

            “If he comes here, I’ll kick his ass myself.” Uraraka promised, threading her fingers into Bakugou’s hair. He closed his eyes in contentment.

            “That’s my girl.”

            They were quiet for a few minutes then, the only sound their  breathing as Uraraka ran her fingers through Bakugou’s hair. Then, faintly, Bakugou started to speak. “I always wanted to be like All Might.” He said slowly. “He was just so…so fuckin’ cool. I looked up to him so much as a kid. He was always so strong, and he never lost. That was what I wanted.”

            He paused, and Uraraka waited for him to continue. It was always mesmerizing when Bakugou opened up to her like this. She felt like she was witnessing an incredible secret: Katsuki Bakugou, the real boy under all of the anger and swagger and harsh attitude.

            “When I got my quirk, I was convinced that I was gonna be just like him.” He said, beginning his story again. “It was the most powerful quirk anyone near me had ever seen – everyone praised me for it, like I had fuckin’ done something. I was just born with it.” He sighed. “It all went to my fuckin’ head and I just knew that I was gonna be number one. Nobody could beat me. My mom – she’s a real goddamn piece of work – she thought the same. So she pushed, and she pushed, and I was never fuckin’ good enough for her.” He clenched his teeth and Uraraka could physically feel the tension in his body as he spoke. “Anyways, besides all that, I never had anyone stand against me. I never had anyone who could measure up. I was obsessed with being the best. I was gonna be the next All Might if it killed me. And it did. I trained all the time from the age of four and I couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option. The moment I got my quirk was the moment my life became about nothing but being number one.”

            Uraraka moved her hands from his head down to his arm and intertwined their fingers.

            “You know why I hated Deku so much?” He asked, his voice bitter.

            “No.” Uraraka answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

            “Because he’s everything I’m fuckin’ not. He was a quirkless nobody, and he still was determined to be a hero. He kept that goddamn notebook and he was always smiling and happy no matter what. We were neighbors, and I would see him with his mom, just so goddamn happy and trying so fuckin’ hard, despite everything. I hated him because he had a childhood and I didn’t. I hated him because I worked my ass off to get where I am, I gave up everything, and he just keeps beating me.”

            Bakugou’s hand was trembling, so Uraraka squeezed it harder. Tears pooled in her eyes as she listened to him talk about his past. “I worked so hard to get where I am, but then I got here, and it turns out I’m a nobody. Even Deku can beat me. He got to enjoy his childhood, and have a loving family, and then out of nowhere, he’s stronger than me. It isn’t fair.”

            “Katsuki.” Uraraka said his name like a prayer. “You’re strong. You’re amazing. You’re good enough.” The words flowed out of her like a fountain – everything she admired about Bakugou. Everything she loved. “You’re caring, and you’re sensitive, and you’re loving, and you’re gonna be an incredible hero.” She felt his pressure increase on her hand. “And you don’t have to be some kind of machine in order to achieve that. You’re human. You don’t have to fight so hard to be the best.”

            “It’s all I’ve ever known.” He murmured. “I have to be the best, or it will have all been for nothing.”

            “You deserve to be happy too, Katsuki.” She said softly.

            “I don’t think I was ever happy before I met you.” He breathed and Uraraka felt her heart break in half for this boy who she cared about so much. “I love you.”

            “I love you.” Uraraka echoed him. “You’re going to be happy. You’re going to be great. We’re gonna do it together.”

            She looked down at the boy whose head was in her lap and found that he was looking straight up at her. His eyes were fiery, full of pain and full of emotion, but deep in them, she saw that he believed her.

Chapter Text

The day of the Battle Royale brought with it an air of frenetic energy to class A. Everyone had been busy theorizing about what rules the fight against the other school could possibly entail and had been strategizing on how to best take Ketsubutsu down. This was an important battle for them – if UA was victorious, they could prove themselves as more experienced than a class full of second years. When 9 AM on the day finally arrived, the class was practically convulsing in anticipation. 

            “Death to Ketsubutsu!” Kaminari roared, throwing his fist in the air. Sero and Kirishima echoed his war cry.  

            “You don’t even know the rules yet.” Aizawa said flatly. They were following behind Aizawa in a cluster, bundled together in an attempt to counter the morning chill. 

            “I know that we’re gonna win!” The electric teen rebutted.    

            Uraraka walked between Bakugou and Kirishima. Mina was hanging onto Kirishima’s arm and yammering away to the group about all the new applications she had come up with for her acid, sounding upbeat, but Uraraka could feel the nerves in her voice. 

            “We should be a team.” Kirishima gestured to the four of them. 

            “I can’t participate, idiot.” Bakugou snapped at him. 

            “Us three, then.” Mina’s voice was filled with sudden confidence. “We could destroy!” 

            “You two morons might need Uraraka to survive.” Bakugou grunted, rolling his eyes. Uraraka smiled and squeezed his hand, grateful for his vote of confidence. She was feeling pretty nervous herself.

            “Are we even in teams?” Momo asked from a little way in front of them. Jirou was at her side, listening to music, her entire aura radiating focus.  

            “I assume so. I don’t think they’ll just let us have a free-for-all battle.” Deku chimed in. He was walking next to Todoroki and Tsu. “UA focuses heavily on teamwork.” 

            “I hope it’s like the USJ, and we can pick locations that work best for us, kero.” Tsu said thoughtfully. “I wonder if anyone at Ketsubutsu has a water quirk.”

            “We should try to take out the ones we know before anyone else.” Deku was preparing to enter full-on muttering mode. “There’s four I can remember specifically from the Provisional License Exam…and they all have very impressive quirks. I don’t know if we’ll be able to subdue them easily individually…” He trailed off, his words becoming more and more incoherent. 

            Uraraka watched Aizawa as the students pieced together the quirks of the Ketsubutsu students to see if she could recognize any reaction to their theories, but his face stayed smooth and unreadable.

            Finally, after a long walk, their teacher stopped at a clearing right outside of the forest. Uraraka blinked, confused. Ms. Joke stood alone in front of the trees, waving madly and blowing exaggerated kisses at the students, but her students were nowhere to be found, and the nearest battle ground was miles back. 

            Other students had noticed that this was a strange area to stop and had begun to voice their opinions.

            “Uh, Sensei.” Ojiro said. “Where is Ketsubutsu?”

            “They’re in the forest.” Aizawa said simply. Ms. Joke let out a peal of laughter.

            “Hello again, UA!” She trilled. She stood next to Aizawa and bounced on her tip-toes so that she could put her elbow on his shoulder. “Thank you so much for agreeing to battle my students!”

            “Did we have a choice?” Whined Hagakure under her breath. Aizawa shot a quieting glare in her general direction. 

            “You may be wondering why I sent my students deep into the forest, huh?” She grinned cheerfully at the confused class. “Well, this is a Battle Royale, after all, and you all are such impressive students – we decided it would be the best if the odds were stacked against you.”

            “Ms. Joke’s students have already been given directions for the exercise and have been sent into the forest to prepare for your arrival.” Aizawa continued, a small smirk creeping onto his lips at the expressions of horror on his students’ faces. “The rules for this exercise are very simple. The last one standing is the winner. You can fight. You can hide. You can use your quirks. You may not attempt to kill each other.”

            Ms. Joke laughed breezily. “I heard all about your homicidal tendencies from the last exam.” She winked. “In order to prevent that, we have provided these lovely tools – courtesy of your support department – that Hatsume Mei sure is a firecracker.” Ms. Joke said fondly. “All you have to do is touch these to your opponent and they will send a signal back to us who was eliminated. They make a small beeping noise when they’re activated. They’ll even send us your stats!” 

            “Eraser made it sound so much more sadistic.” Tokoyami muttered, his eyes wide. Uraraka breathed a sigh of relief. All she had to do was avoid getting caught. Her quirk was made for that. 

            “So, no teams?” Mina raised her hand and asked sadly. 

            “Every man for themselves.” Aizawa answered. “There will only be one winner.”

            Uraraka could feel Bakugou’s energy next to her. She couldn’t imagine how disappointed he must be having to sit this out – he lived for situations like this. He would’ve taken out everyone immediately.

            “Do we have a time limit?” Shoji inquired.

            “We have all day.” Ms. Joke said merrily. “Eraser and I will be hanging out in this clearing. When you get eliminated, you come back here. We will also be joined shortly by All Might, Mic and Midnight.” Her eyes shone with excitement. “We will be checking on you periodically and will also be equipping you each with one of these ‘babies’ as Miss Hatsume calls them.” She held up a small button with a clip on the back. “If you get eliminated or just get yourself into a sticky situation, just press this and one of us will come to your rescue. I may not look it, but I’m a very capable rescue hero!” She put her hands on her hips and laughed haughtily. The students all tried to contain their grins but failed. “Well, are you ready?!”

            “Yes, ma’am!” The class chorused, filled with dauntlessness. They all scattered to the edge of the forest, ready to take off at the go-to. 

            “Bakugou, Todoroki, you’re with us.” Aizawa said, and Bakugou froze in place. He had been slowly creeping towards the forest, trying to blend in among the rest of the students. Todoroki scoffed and shook his head. Bakugou looked like an angry puppy. Uraraka stifled a giggle. 

            “Wish me luck, Katsuki.” She whispered, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek once he had staggered back to her side.

            “You don’t need it.” He replied. “Give them hell, angel face.” He then slinked away to join Todoroki and Aizawa.

            Uraraka nodded, adamant that she wouldn’t get knocked out quickly. She was up against a terrifying collection of quirks, but she knew how to play to her strengths. She had combat skills thanks to training with Bakugou and her steady improvement from classes, but she knew her best plan of action was to wait out the carnage.

            “Have fun, UA! Can’t wait to see what you can do against my kiddos!”  Ms. Joke tittered, her eyes flashing mischievously. “GO!” 

            Everyone took off into the forest. There was an unsaid agreement between Class A that they would not attack each other off the bat, and so alliances were quickly formed amongst small groups of students. Uraraka watched as Kirishima and Kaminari disappeared deep into the woods together, sprinting with manic grins on their faces. Tsu and Tokoyami looked at each other in silent agreement and then took off together in search of somewhere dark and murky that they could stake out in. Jirou and Koda trotted towards the center of the forest, likely looking for a clearing filled with animals that they could occupy. 

            “Uraraka, Iida!” Deku called. “Want to team up?”

            “No can do, Midoriya.” Iida replied, his eyes shining with furious resolve. “I intend to win this alone. Good luck to you two. I hope that we do not have to meet in the end.” With that, he activated his leg-thrusters and zoomed away.

            “So intense.” Uraraka squeaked. Deku nodded. She understood his drive though. She didn’t want to rely on someone to save her when the time came; she had to prove she was capable of doing it alone. That would be the true test of if she could be a hero. “I’m gonna do the same, Deku.” She said. “I wanna see what I can do by myself, ya know?”

            Deku inclined his head slightly and gave Uraraka a vivid smile. “You’re gonna do great, Uraraka!”

            “Do your best, Deku.” She returned his friendly sentiment and then pressed the pads of her fingers together, letting gravity leave her. She ascended slowly up towards the trees. Her plan may have not been the bravest, but it was safe, and future heroes had to be smart. She allowed herself to float just below the treetops and propelled herself deeper into their arena, floating for several minutes until she found a dark, shadowy opening. She landed herself down gingerly on a sturdy looking branch, high in the air, and slowly allowed her gravity to trickle back to her body. 

            She was not comfortable in the sky like this. She didn’t have a quirk like Tsu’s or Tokoyami’s that would make balancing herself on a tree branch in nearly pitch darkness comfortable, but she knew being high up was an advantage.

            Battle noises echoed through the forest, but they sounded far away from her hidden spot. Every so often, the area around her was lit up with distant flashes – lightening, fire, and some kind of terrifying blue and green outburst that was followed by several screams. None of the light reached her. Uraraka’s stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies – she only really knew three of the Ketsubutsu students’ quirks – and one of them she really didn’t want to meet. 

            After several more minutes – or maybe hours, Uraraka couldn’t know in this situation – the ground below her rumbled violently. The branch she was sitting on started vibrating and Uraraka cried out in surprise. She smacked her hands together quickly and held herself steady in the air. When the ground finally settled again, she breathed an audible sigh of relief, and lowered herself back down onto her branch.

            “You’re hiding here too?” A soft, high-pitched voice spoke out from the darkness. Uraraka froze and felt her heart jump into her throat. She said nothing, terrified to give her location away to a potential assailant. She opened her eyes wide, trying to see through the thick blanket of blackness all around her. Her chest tightened, and she tried to manage her breathing.

            “It’s a good strategy for us non-fighters.” The voice continued, airy. It sounded like a little girl, and it put her on edge – it sounded like it was coming from every corner of the forest simultaneously. Uraraka kept her lips pressed tightly together, taking shallow breaths through her nose. “I’m not going to attack you, you know. I’m more of a rescue hero type.” The overwhelming presence of the voice disoriented her. She felt the desperate need to escape, but she was locked in place by an otherworldly fear. 

            “Come on, don’t hide from me.” The voice pleaded, almost playful. “I’ve been so bored just hiding here. Maybe we can team up. I know you’re from UA. I can tell by your breathing. I was told a certain UA student might try to hide in the air.” The voice was suddenly so much closer – she felt like she could hear it right in her ear. “I’m good at hiding in the air too, Ochako Uraraka.”

            Uraraka gasped involuntarily and then all at once, the stranger was upon her, her weight bending the branch Uraraka was perched on. “Got you!” The voice cheered. Uraraka shouted in shock and threw herself out of the tree, activating her quirk just before she hit the ground. “Release!” She managed to choke out, and then she stumbled blindly across the clearing she was in – holding her hands out to guide her. 

            “Oh, don’t run away from me! We could be friends!” The voice trilled. “We could make such a good team up here in the trees. It’s safer here than out there, I promise! It’s dangerous out there for you, Ochako!” She was laughing hysterically, teasing Uraraka.

            Uraraka ignored the horrible, fading voice and kept running. She tripped over a root and landed with a thud on her face. She felt the pain of a fresh scratch throbbing under her eye, but she ignored it and kept sprinting until her lungs burned and she was sure she wasn’t being followed. She finally slowed down to catch her breath when she reached a clearing with light filtering in from a gap in the trees. The return of her sense of sight gave her immense relief, and she placed her hands on her knees and let herself take long, heaving breaths. 

            It was suspicious that the girl hadn’t followed her. She clearly had a quirk that allowed her to see in the dark, and Uraraka would’ve been easy prey. Instead, she just chased her out into the open. And she had known Uraraka’s name. She had known exactly who she was. How? She looked around frantically with a sinking feeling – she was still surrounded heavily by towering trees, but she had lost her safe element of darkness. Someone could pick her off easily from here.

            “Uraraka?” Her body seized, and she jumped up again, immediately going into attack stance. “Whoa, hey, friend not foe!” When her eyes settled on Kirishima, she let out a sob.

            “Kiri!” She threw her arms around him, then pulled away quickly to assess the situation. “Where’s Kaminari?”

            “We got separated.” He said, frowning. “Some Ketsubutsu student with a really nasty quirk attacked us.” He pointed to a gash on his face that was crusted over with dried blood. It must’ve been a real nasty quirk if it managed to cut Kirishima. “You okay?”

            “Yeah, I was just…running.” She said. “I tried to hide out in the dark, but I think there’s a Ketsubutsu student who has a tracking quirk, because she almost got me.” 

            “They’re impressive for sure.” Kirishima agreed. “We should stick together for now. It’s safer to move in pairs.” 

            Uraraka nodded. She was still so shaken, and didn’t want to let her guard down yet, but Kirishima’s presence made her feel safe.

            “Let’s keep moving. We’re targets just standing here in the open like this.” 

            Moving through the forest on foot made Uraraka’s hair stand on end. She kept her hands close together, so that she could activate her quirk at any given moment. The soundtrack of an all-out battle continued to assault her ears from the various places in the woods the other students had ended up. She wondered how the rest of her classmates were faring.

            A drawn-out scream made Uraraka shiver and Kirishima frowned. “This is pretty intense, even by UA standards.” He said. “It feels like the stakes are so high. I feel kinda like I might actually die.”

            “We’ve never had a mission just about survival before.” Uraraka agreed breathlessly. “I guess it makes sense though – now that we have our licenses, we’ll be put in more dangerous situations. Knowing how to survive is important.”

            “I think some of these Ketsubutsu dudes have torture quirks.” Kirishima muttered as an explosive sound rocked the air. They stalked silently through the brush, avoiding roots and brambles and trying to speak in only whispers. Uraraka was beginning to feel extremely bothered by the fact that they had not encountered anyone yet. The forest was not big enough for there to be large stretches of emptiness.

            Uraraka shrugged, trying to act casual, like she wasn’t terrified out of her mind. “Anyone can be a hero, I guess.”

            They walked together in silence after that, dancing in and out of the shadows, keeping their ears open for potential threats. As they walked, Uraraka listened. There was a faint buzzing in the ground beneath him and it set her on-edge. She paused, holding her hand out to Kirishima’s chest to stop him. “Kiri, do you hear that?”

            “Hear what?” He stared at her. 

            “It’s like the ground is vibrating…” She said, and the noise grew louder in her ears. It was like something was whizzing under the ground right beneath their feet. 

            “Maybe it’s just the forest making noise.” Kirishima didn’t seemed worried. “Or someone’s quirk in the distance.”

            “Kiri, I don’t think –” 

            Just then, the ground erupted under them. Tremors knocked Uraraka down into the dirt, and she covered her head with her arms as she tried to brace for the impact. 

            “Uraraka, watch out!” Kirishima’s strangled cry was cut off by a heap of rocks flying up from the ground directly towards him. He hardened his body as they cascaded down on him, but the combination of the attack with the violent shaking of the ground flung him across the clearing. Two figures descended from the trees onto him then, moving like shadows.

            “Kirishima!” Uraraka cried, but she was quickly wrapped in a paralyzing grip and a hand covered her mouth.

            “He’s out, Uraraka.” A sickeningly soft and smooth voice whispered in her ear. “Had to get rid of him so I could talk to you. Please don’t waste your breath screaming. Everyone in this damn forest keeps screaming and I have a headache.” They had been ambushed – walked right into a trap set just for them. It made so much sense – the girl in the trees who knew her name, who chased her out but didn’t follow her, the eerie emptiness as they walked through the forest. Someone had set this up for them. The someone who had moved his hand from Uraraka’s mouth and slid both of them to her arms, holding them behind her in a way so that her fingertips could not touch. She was rendered completely useless in less than a minute. Uraraka struggled blindly against her attacker, kicking her legs and thrashing her body, but she couldn’t free herself. She watched hopelessly with horror as Kirishima was bombarded by attacks by two Ketsubutsu students– she recognized them both from the party – Tatami and Itejiro. Kirishima was holding them off, but they were pushing him farther into the forest, leaving Uraraka alone with the man who had trapped her. “School loyalty is important.” She could hear the smirk in Shindo’s voice. “I just asked them to take out Kirishima as a favor, and they did it no questions asked. Tatami has a desperate crush on me, so she’ll do anything I say. Itejiro has a desperate crush on her, so he’ll do whatever she says. Wish I could’ve done it myself, but I have more important matters.”

            Uraraka didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. She instead threw her head back, smashing it into his face. He jolted from the pain but didn’t release her, and just jerked her arms back tighter. “You’re such a fucking bitch. But you’re feisty, and I like feisty girls.” He laughed. “Still so weak though - it’s almost too easy to mess with you.” His breath was on her neck. She tried to throw her head back again, but he dodged. “I’m not gonna fall for the same thing twice. Give me some credit. Oh, almost forgot.” He ripped the button Ms. Joke had given them for emergencies off of her uniform and pocketed it, then yanked on her wrists, keeping her hands far apart before she even had a chance to realize what was happening.

            “What do you want?” Uraraka managed weakly, trying to sound intimidating but feeling terror deep within her. She was completely, undeniably overpowered by the older man, and he was pulling her farther and farther away from Kirishima and into a darker area of the forest. “Just eliminate me already. Don’t drag it out.” 

            “You think I’m here to eliminate you? Oh, Uraraka.” His laugh vibrated right against her skin as he twisted her arms once more, causing her to cry out in pain. “You’re not a threat to me. I don’t need to eliminate you. I just wanted to talk since our conversation was cut short last week.” 

            “I don’t even remember that conversation.” Uraraka tried to push her elbows back against him, refusing to give up, but Shindo was stronger than her by miles. “Please let me go.” She hated how pathetic she sounded, begging with him to release her arms. She could do nothing in this situation without her quirk.

            “Hmm, can’t do that. What’s that name your little boyfriend calls you? Angel?” 

            “Don’t!” Uraraka stomped on his foot with all her strength. Her hero suit boots were no joke, and Shindo hissed in pain.

            “I see why Bakugou likes you. It’s so fun to see you squirm.” Uraraka’s mind reeled as she realized the severity of the situation. She was alone in the middle of a dark patch of forest, completely immobilized in a scenario where if she screamed, everyone would just assume she was another casualty of the exercise. After knowing what he planned to do with her at the hotel, she knew that there was a real possibility he could do something terrible to her now.

            “What do you want?” She repeated. “Please. I’m sorry about what happened at the party. We were both drunk. It was stupid.” She said the words desperately. “I don’t usually do things like that.”

            “Oh yeah?” Shindo jerked Uraraka behind a tree, and threw her up against it, twisting her wrists tightly above her head. He was too close. She could smell the dirt and sweat on his body. She was going to be sick. “I think that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard.”

            “I’m sorry!” She cried again. “Please don’t hurt me.” She whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. “Please.”
            “Oh, quit the tears. I’m not gonna hurt you. Your boyfriend and his stupid friend pissed me off, that’s all. They couldn’t mind their own business.” He said, staring into her terrified eyes. He looked insane this close.

            “They were just looking out for me.” Uraraka squeaked, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see him. “You knew I was too drunk to do anything!”

            “You UA kids all think you’re such hot shit. So holier than thou.” He snarled at her. “All so high and mighty because the number one hero teaches at your school. You’re not even close to as skilled as we are – just more arrogant. Hey, Uraraka. What do you think your sweet classmates would think if they knew what a huge slut you were?” 

            “What?” She kicked against him again, but his body was pressed against her, holding her in place. She just needed to touch him. That was it. Then she could escape.

            “Yeah, that’s exactly what you are. And I have proof of it.” His face contorted into a menacing smile. “That black lingerie looks so good on you. I’d like to see it in person.” 

            Uraraka’s heart stopped beating, she was sure of it. She stared into Shindo’s eyes in despair, sure that she must’ve heard him wrong, and he laughed at the look. “Yeah, angel. That was something nice to come across.” The picture. The picture she had taken in the dressing room at the mall. She had taken it because she liked how she looked, she was never going to actually send it. She didn’t understand how he knew about it.

            “I – I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried weakly. “I – I – I –”

            Shindo put pressure on her wrists and she felt the sting as her knuckles scraped against the rough bark. “You sound like a broken record.” He chuckled. “You know what I’m talking about. It’s a pretty picture. Do you send pictures like that often?”

            “I didn’t – I didn’t send it.” His face was so close to his that she didn’t want to open her mouth to speak. 

            “Hmm? Too bad. I think people should see it, don’t you? In fact, I could make it so your whole class sees what a pretty little whore you are.” His eyes were dancing. He was enjoying this. “What would your boyfriend think of that?”

            “You – you wouldn’t!” She panicked. How did Shindo even get that picture? Had she sent it to him and then forgotten? Her heart thrummed in her chest and her vision blurred. Distantly, she could hear the sounds of battle, but they faded in and out. She felt faint. 

            “Thanks to my dear friend Camie, I could easily. I have access to your cute little class group chat. One click, and it’s sent. Simple, right? You know, Camie is an easy fuck, and I hate easy, but she sure is useful.” 

           Camie. Of course. Camie was texting Jirou for Shindo. Uraraka felt her breathing turn ragged. “Don’t you want to be a hero?” She choked out. “You’re acting horrible. Heroes don’t do this.” She couldn’t fight, so she was trying to talk him out of whatever his sick plan was. He was blackmailing her with the picture, but he hadn’t told her what he wanted from her yet.

            “Your boyfriend doesn’t act much like a hero either, does he? In fact, I think he’s more of a villain than anything. Don’t be disappointed when he turns on you.” He spat. “I’m gonna be a great hero – way beyond anything you’ll ever achieve.” 

            “Please. What do you gain from this?” Uraraka pleaded. “Ruining my reputation won’t do anything for you.” 

            “It’ll hurt Bakugou.” Shindo’s eyes burned with fury. “I wanna see him ruined. He’s too cocky; he needs to be knocked down a peg.” Every word was dripping with hatred. “And besides, it’ll be really fun using you to hurt him. You’re so beautiful, Uraraka. Especially when you’re all helpless like this…” He licked his lips.

            “You can’t!” Uraraka cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. She hated herself. For being weak. For being stupid. For letting his happen. She was a terrible excuse for a hero.

            “You know, maybe I shouldn’t stop at just showing your class? Maybe I could publish that picture. How would that look for UA? A scandal focusing on one of their hero hopefuls. Especially one who acts so innocent.” He ran his hand down from her wrist to her face and took her chin in his hand. “You think your parents would like to see it?” 

            “What is it going to take to make you delete that picture?” Uraraka held her face still, not breaking eye contact.

            “Hmm. I’ll delete the picture when I’ve gotten exactly what I want out of you.” 

            “Uraraka?” A voice called from nearby and Shindo’s smile turned into a scowl. Kirishima. Uraraka thought about screaming, but she couldn’t find her voice.

            “How did that fucking oaf manage to outdo both Tatami and Itejiro?” He snapped his attention back to Uraraka. “It’s time for me to stop wasting time and win this thing.” He said. “Don’t worry, Uraraka, you’ll hear from me soon. Oh, and, just to put you out of your misery.” He threw the emergency button back at her, and then pressed the tool to her chest that would eliminate her. It beeped once. “You’re pitiful, Uraraka, really. How are you gonna save anyone if you can’t even take care of yourself? If you tell anyone about this, I’ll make sure everyone in the whole country sees that picture.”

            Then he was gone, sprinting into the forest. Uraraka sunk down to the ground and sobbed. She felt disgusting, like she couldn’t get Shindo’s hands off of her. Her wrists were sore and bruised.

            “Uraraka!” Kirishima crashed through some foliage and found her then. He was a mess. He had several new scratches on his face and arms and one of his eyes was blackened. He looked down on Uraraka was panic. His mouth opened in a gasp. “What did he do to you?” 

            Uraraka just shook her head slowly. “Nothing.” She croaked out. 

            “Uraraka…” He crouched down to get on her level. “What. Did. He. Do?” 

            “No.” She whispered, a tear leaking down her cheek. “Nothing.” She couldn’t tell Kirishima. She couldn’t tell anyone. If Shindo found out, he would get angry and send out that picture, and it would ruin her. She thought about her friends’ reactions, her parents’, Aizawa’s – and Bakugou’s. What would Bakugou say if he knew that Shindo had that picture? How did Uraraka let him get it? Would he believe her if she said she didn’t know? Would he care? She could see the hurt on his face. “I just…I’m out. It…it sucks.” She said finally, lying through her teeth. She could care less about being eliminated. 

            Kirishima didn’t look convinced at all, but he seemed to realize asking would get him nowhere. “Are you sure?”

            “Yes.” She said firmly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s just…frustrating.” She lied shakily, but it was easy to make her voice sound disappointed when she was drowning in self-hatred. “Did you…take down Tatami and Itejiro by yourself?”

            “Oh, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I, uh. I wasn’t very heroic. Threw a rock at Itejiro and smashed Tatami into a tree.”

            “You’re doing great, Kiri.” Uraraka forced her mouth into a watery smile. “You should go win for the class.”

            “Nah.” He took Uraraka’s small cylinder tool from her pocket and pressed it to his chest, then sunk down next to her. The soft beep sounded booming in the quiet of the clearing.

            “Why did you do that?” 

            “You don’t have to tell me what happened.” He said, “But I know something happened, and I’m not going to leave you here alone. Besides, Bakugou would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

            Hearing Bakugou’s name felt like a nail through Uraraka’s heart. There was no getting out of this situation without him getting hurt. Kirishima helped her up, and her legs shook. “Thanks, Kiri.” She breathed. 

            “What are friends for? Now, let’s get out of here.”

“Ah, two more are out!” All Might announced as Uraraka and Kirishima limped into the clearing. A group of UA and Ketsubutsu students were scattered around, sitting in the grass or lying down with their eyes closed. Some were sporting fresh injuries while others just stared blankly, only showing their wounded pride. Uraraka noted that there were a lot of them, and more Ketsubutsu than UA, which means she had survived longer than she assumed she would and that the majority of her classmates were still fighting. She couldn’t bring herself to be happy about this fact. Bakugou sat next to Todoroki. His eyes locked to Uraraka’s and she could see the anger in them immediately. He jumped up from his spot. 

            “What the fuck happened to you? Why are you crying?” He demanded, grabbing her wrist. She twitched involuntarily and pulled her hand away. Hurt flashed across his face.

            “Nothing.” She answered, hoping her voice didn’t give her away. “I just didn’t want to lose.” 

            Uraraka saw Bakugou exchange a meaningful look with Kirishima, but it was fleeting and then his attention was back on her. “Are you hurt? Do you need Recovery Girl?”

            “No.” She said firmly. Her body was wracked with exhaustion and anxiety was bubbling in her stomach, but she had to maintain her act. If she let Bakugou know what was wrong, she would have to explain about the picture, and that meant telling him that she must’ve sent it to him. She couldn’t handle his disappointment. 

            “You did well, Uraraka, Kirishima.” All Might’s booming voice caused Bakugou to finally break his gaze from Uraraka. 

            “Kirishima, you look like you took quite a beating.” This was from Momo, looking pretty rough herself. Her clothes were torn in several areas and her hair was falling out of its signature ponytail. 

            “Yeah, I’m apparently a huge threat.” He said, smiling slightly, looking embarrassed. “I had a lot of people on me.”

            Bakugou had focused his attention back on Uraraka, and his eyes were boring holes into her. She felt like he was reading her mind. “I’m fine.” She told him again. He raised an eyebrow.

            “Didn’t ask, angel.”

            “You were thinking it.” She said, forcing emotions into her words. “You know I can take care of myself.” In her mind, Shindo’s words replayed themselves: you’re so weak. You’re pitiful.

            “Yeah, you’re right.” He mumbled. She knew he didn’t believe her at all but because they were surrounded by others, he dropped it. It had become a problem just how well Bakugou knew her. 

            “Who took you out, Uraraka?” Momo inquired, tilting her head to the side elegantly – even after battle, she was a princess. 

            “Someone I didn’t know.” She said simply. Kirishima gave her a sideways glance and frowned but didn’t say anything.

            The others sensed the change in Uraraka then, and no one pushed her further, but Bakugou didn’t leave her side. When they sat down in the grass, he casually intertwined their fingers and began rubbing his thumb in circles on her hand. With the weight over everything that had happened overwhelming her, Uraraka cried.

Chapter Text

            They waited, and they waited, and they waited. As the minutes turned to hours, more and more students filtered into the clearing, looking increasingly bedraggled. Soon after Uraraka and Kirishima came Kaminari, who had short-circuited and was being carried piggy-back style by Sero. Koda stumbled out several minutes later, Jirou unconscious in his arms – her ears were bleeding heavily. 

           All Might frowned. “Aizawa,” He said, trying to speak in a covert voice, but failing due to his default timbre. “This may have been too much for the students.” 

           “Ah, what, All Might?” Ms. Joke teased. She and Midnight had been giggling together since Uraraka made it to the clearing, forming a fast friendship. “Can your kids not handle mine?”

           Recovery Girl shuffled over to Jirou and placed a wet kiss on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open slowly. 

           “What? No! That is not what I’m saying!” All Might floundered.

           “Good work, Jirou, Koda.” Aizawa nodded at them both in turn. Jirou’s smile was wobbly. He turned back to the towering man, who had been flitting in and out of the training all day, never staying for longer than fifteen minutes. “My students can handle this kind of pressure, All Might. They’re going to be heroes, after all.” 

           Uraraka stared down at her lap. Her tears had dried, but the anxiety and terror remained. She didn’t feel very heroic at all. She watched the entrance to the forest hopelessly, waiting for him to appear. The more students that were eliminated, the sicker she felt. He didn’t deserve to win. He wasn’t a hero. 

           Mina showed up next, her hair wild and face covered in scratches. She was accompanied by Hagakure’s shoes and seemed to be walking with a stagger that suggested Hagakure was leaning her weight against her. Once she had safely left Hagakure in Ojiro’s capable hands, she collapsed into Kirishima’s arms.

           “That’s something different about your school, Eraser.” Ms. Joke pointed out thoughtfully, her voice lacking its usual humor. “They certainly don’t abandon each other.” 

           Aizawa just nodded, his face void of all expression except for a tiny glimmer of pride. 

           “Damn straight.” Mina muttered against Kirishima’s chest. Then, she slipped into silence.

           At some point, when Uraraka had totally lost track of time and had failed over and over again to keep her mind off of Shindo, Tatami and Itejiro approached Kirishima.

           “Hey, we’re sorry about tag-teaming you back there.” Tatami said softly. “Shindo kept telling us that if we didn’t take you out fast, you’d take us out first, and that you were after us.”

           Itejiro inclined his head. “You ended up taking us out anyway, but I apologize for the unfair attack. You are a very impressive hero.”

           “No sweat. Survival exercise, right?” Kirishima gave an easy smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes and Uraraka could sense his unease. There was no trust between them. Bakugou hadn’t let go of Uraraka’s hand, but she caught the few shared glances between the boys. 

           After another hour or so, Mic and Cementoss appeared with Lunch Rush, bringing food to all the students who were out. Everyone ate gratefully, inhaling their food like ravenous animals. Uraraka just stared at hers. She hadn’t eaten since that morning, and all of the running, use of her quirk, and fighting had left her famished, but just looking at the food made her stomach fill with revulsion.

           “You gotta eat, angel.” Bakugou’s voice was stern, but it had a desperate tinge to it. “You’re gonna goddamn pass out if you don’t.”  

           “I’m not hungry.” She insisted. He growled.

           “Uraraka. I’m not a fuckin’ idiot. I know you. I’ve seen you react to a loss. It’s not this.” He said, keeping his voice low. Only Kirishima seemed to hear and he stiffened at Bakugou’s voice. “Did you…did you run into that bastard?”

           Uraraka froze. Kirishima was looking at her. While he was one that wore his emotions on his sleeve and was easy to read, right now his face was a mask. Would he tell Bakugou if she lied? She had a feeling he would. He was her friend, yes, but his loyalty to Bakugou was boundless.

           “Yes.” The truth escaped from her lips before she could rethink it. But it wouldn’t be the whole truth. All it took was one word to set Bakugou off.

           “I’m gonna kill him. Have to.” He snarled. “I’ll go into those goddamn woods and kill him right now.” He released Uraraka’s hand and stood quickly. 

           “Bakugou.” Kirishima warned and Mina’s eyes widened as she was pushed away. He moved to stand quickly too, but Uraraka saw his face contort in pain. He wouldn’t be able to stop Bakugou in the state he was in.

            “Katsuki, stop.” Uraraka snapped. “Please don’t cause a scene. I’m okay. He was just a creep, that’s all. He didn’t…he didn’t do anything.” She closed her eyes, hating the way her voice shook. She was supposed to be good at faking that she was okay. She had done it so many times – after the Sports Festival, after her confession to Deku, after she and Bakugou decided on being just friends. She was sunshine girl; she excelled in convincing people she was okay. Except, that was all before Bakugou had fused himself into her life, twisting himself up in every aspect of who she was. He knew her. He knew her more than anyone – and that meant he could easily tell when she was lying.

           “Why would you defend him?” Bakugou’s voice was flat.

           “What? I’m not defending him! I’m telling the truth!” Uraraka cried.

           “No, you’re fuckin’ not.” He looked down at her with harsh, red eyes. “I know you like to take care of yourself, Ochako, but…if he hurt you…” His hand was shaking.

           “He grabbed me. That’s all. He grabbed me and…pushed me against a tree. Then he eliminated me.” Lying to Bakugou hurt her at her very core. She didn’t want to start their relationship based on lies, but she wouldn’t have a relationship at all if Shindo sent that picture out.

           Bakugou’s entire stance screamed “murderous” as he took in Uraraka’s words. She knew that none of the teachers would let him actually murder Shindo, but Uraraka had to keep him from even speaking to him. If Shindo thought Uraraka had confided in Bakugou, she risked him sending the picture out. “It was no big deal. He’s a creep.”

           “He doesn’t know when to fuckin’ quit, does he?” He was mumbling to himself, and it was terrifying. His eyes were wild. “Fucking bastard. I can’t believe he put his fucking hands on you…”

           “After this, we’ll never see him again.” Uraraka promised, trying to make her words soothing even though her mind was reeling with internal turmoil.

           “How are you so calm?” Bakugou spat.

           “She just doesn’t want you to murder anyone. Relax, Bakugou.” Kirishima intervened. “You won’t be able to even get near him with all of these teachers here. If you want to do something, save it for later.”

           Uraraka’s head snapped up to Kirishima. She couldn’t believe that he was encouraging him to be violent. Usually he was the sensible friend, helping ground Bakugou so that he didn’t go on murderous rages, but now his eyes held a similar fire.

           “Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I’ll be back.” Bakugou had a manic energy, and he sauntered off, plopping down in the grass by Todoroki again. Uraraka stared. That couldn’t be good.

           “You shouldn’t egg him on like that.” Uraraka whispered to Kirishima. “I don’t want him to get in trouble.”

           “Shindo doesn’t get to get away with putting his hands on you.” Kirishima said in response, and his tone made it clear that that was all he would say on the subject.

           “Uraraka,” Mina had been uncharacteristically quiet, sitting in the grass next to Kirishima and when she spoke, it was a ghost of her usual enthusiastic voice. “That’s all he did, right?”

           “Y-yes.” Uraraka was thrown by her sudden show of seriousness. “That’s all.”

           Mina bit her lip but stayed quiet.

           Uraraka didn’t speak again until Iida and Deku appeared in the clearing with Shoji. Deku was in the middle, being supported by the other two boys. His arms were purple and bruised. Uraraka cringed.

           Iida sat down gingerly next to her once Deku had been securely carted off the infirmary. “He really gave it his all.” He said gravely. “Overdid it. I haven’t seen him use this much uncontrolled power since the Sports Festival. We got caught by the student from Ketsubutsu who can create earthquakes. He’s a formidable opponent. Midoriya wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though.” He chuckled haughtily. “Between the three of us, we managed to get him, but not before he tapped us all out.” 

           Uraraka raised an eyebrow then. “You got Shindo out?”

           “Yes.” Iida smiled proudly. “He didn’t leave with us though. He’s got a bit of nasty temper.” His smile faded. 

           “So, who’s left from our team?” Kaminari had been listening from Kirishima’s side. 

           “Tsu and Tokoyami.” Answered Shoji. “We didn’t see them in there, so their strategy of hiding seems to be paying off.”

           Jirou, who was now sitting up straight and talking again, grimaced. “That’s gonna be rough if they have to face off against each other.” 

           “There’s still a few Ketsubutsu students left.” Mused Momo. 

           “I almost hope one of them takes one of them out, so they don’t have to fight.” Hagakure fretted. “Tokoyami’s quirk is so scary.”

           “Tsu is incredibly adept at camouflage.” Todoroki spoke up, and Uraraka watched Bakugou scowl in response to his voice. Theirs was a relationship that she would never understand. “If she just keeps hiding out, we could be here all night.”

           “If that’s what it takes.” Aizawa said. The students collectively groaned. 

           “We can’t even see anything.” Complained Kaminari.

           “If I severely injure myself, can I go back to my dorm?” Sero tried. 

           “I’ll be the judge of severely injured.” Aizawa replied. The class laughed. Uraraka wished she could join in with them.

           Two more Ketsubutsu students came into the clearing a few minutes later: one that Uraraka hadn’t seen before, with a menacing, blue face, but who looked extremely worse for wear, and holding him up over his shoulders was Shindo. He was panting, covered in dirt and blood, but when he caught Uraraka’s eye, he grinned. 

           “That’s my whole class!” Ms. Joke whined. “Man! You guys let yourselves get beat by first years?” She stuck her tongue out teasingly. “Guess it’s extra lessons for you.” 

           Her class groaned with what little strength they had left. Shindo collapsed into the grass on his back, covering his face with his hands. Hands that had held Uraraka by her wrists earlier. She felt uncontrollable rage and disgust build up inside of her as she stared at him. 

           It was nearly dark by the time by the time Tokoyami and Tsu emerged from the forest together. Neither of them looked particularly rattled, and Tsu was laughing with Dark Shadow.

           “Wait, who won?” Tatami asked, confused. 

           “Both of us.” Tsu said proudly. “Or neither of us, I don’t know.”

           “You…you Hunger Games’d it?” Kaminari’s mouth dropped open, referencing the popular American movie they had watched just a few weeks ago.

           “Something like that.” Tokoyami answered somberly. “After Asui and I realized we were the last two remaining after working as a team all day, we decided we did not want to have to try and destroy one another. That was too dark, even for me.” Dark Shadow nodded in agreement. 

           “So, we tapped each other at the same time!” Tsu announced, her face lit up in glee. 

           “Can they do that?” A Ketsubutsu student demanded.

           “It’s a loophole, but I’ll allow it.” Aizawa said. Miss Joke nodded in agreement. “Congratulations to the both of you.” 

           “What a beautiful display of teamwork. The youth brings tears to my eyes.” Midnight was sniffling. Ms. Joke clasped her hand and squeezed.

           “Yay!” She proclaimed, her voice rivaling even Mic’s in terms of volume. “In order to celebrate, and to treat all of the students who performed so well; Eraser and I have decided to bring you to a special dinner.” She beamed. “Courtesy of UA! Say thank you, students.”

           Her students managed a half-hearted chorus of gratitude.

           “No way!” Sero, who had previously been collapsed on the floor in anguish, shot up. “Off campus?!”

           “Mhm!” Ms. Joke was equally as enthusiastic. 

           “Do we all have to go?” Bakugou had been mumbling intently to Todoroki for the past hour and had now looked up, glaring. 

           “Yes.” Aizawa said simply.

           “Ketsubutsu drove a long way to be here for this exercise, students.” Midnight began, her eyes twinkling. “It is our duty as representatives of UA to make sure to be proper hosts.” 

           “We will be accommodating them overnight as well.” Mic said and all of the students began to mutter amongst themselves at the prospect of these very powerful strangers staying in their domain. 

           “Where are they supposed to fucking sleep?” Bakugou’s angry outburst caused Shindo’s mouth to upturn into a smirk. Uraraka hated him. Todoroki put a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder, and amazingly, he didn’t throw it off. His eyes burned, but he kept his mouth in a tight line.

           “They’ll sleep in the common room.” Said Aizawa. “Any more questions, Bakugou?”

           Bakugou gave him a hate-filled glare but didn’t say anything else. Uraraka felt her stomach sink. She felt like the world was punishing her for something and she didn’t know what she did to deserve it. Ketsubutsu was staying overnight? If there was a higher power torturing her for something as miniscule as underaged drinking and drug use, then maybe she ought to try a different life path – like sainthood. 

           Their teachers sent them back to their dorms to shower and prepare themselves for dinner. Anyone with drastic injuries was excused, but after Recovery Girl worked her way through everyone, that seemed to just be Deku – Uraraka wished she had broken both of her arms too, at that moment. Aizawa and Mic led Ms. Joke and her students to the common area showers. Uraraka made sure to stay far back, falling into step with Tsu and Momo, both of whom had picked up on her mood and weren’t pushing her to talk – thankfully. 

           She watched Bakugo and Kirishima walk ahead of her, their heads close together, talking covertly. Surprisingly, Todoroki was walking with them, clearly listening, but not saying anything. Uraraka couldn’t wrap her head around why Bakugou would willingly include Todoroki in anything, but she forced herself to push the thought away and focused instead on Tsu’s explanation of how she achieved victory.

           Once she reached her dorm room, she began thinking of excuses as to why she couldn’t leave it again until Ketsubutsu was far, far away. But she knew that wasn’t an option – she couldn’t hide from Shindo when he had blackmail on her. If she didn’t play along with him, he could easily ruin her life. It was a horrible situation, and as she sat in her bed with her head in her hands, feeling the dirt still caked on her face and the searing scratch under her eye, she felt a sob in her throat. 

           More than anything, she just wanted to talk to Bakugou. She wanted to tell him everything, apologize for her screw up, and ask him what she should do. But she couldn’t – she couldn’t risk losing him over something like this when she finally had him. 

           She remembered the way Shindo’s eyes had flashed when he told her she was going to help him hurt Bakugou. She shuddered. 

           As if he hadn’t already been hurt enough.

           She forced herself out of bed and into the shower, turning the water up to a scalding temperature, hoping that maybe she could burn Shindo’s touch off of her. She scrubbed the dirt and blood from her and drowned herself in body wash to get rid of the smell of sweat and trees and the cologne that had wafted off of Shindo, which was assaulting her nostrils even hours later. When the hot water finally started to run cold, she stopped, not feeling any cleaner at all. 

            She knew she had limited time to get herself together before she would have to put on a façade for her classmates and teachers. Keeping up a constant act was draining her.

           Uraraka stared at herself in the mirror as she dressed. Now that she had showered, she didn’t look all that bad. Her eyes were red, and she had the prominent scratch on her face but her worst injury was her wrists – which were bruised, and her knuckles, which were torn up from being dragged against the rough tree bark. It was a cruel reminder of what Shindo was capable of doing to her if he decided he wanted to. She threw an oversized hoodie, covering her wrists and trying to make herself appear as small and unappealing as possible. 

           There was a loud and impatient knock on her door and she startled, then felt a sense of calm. Bakugou. She needed to wrap herself in his comfort – everything would be okay if he was there. It always was.

           She opened the door quickly, and her stomach dropped. It wasn’t Bakugou at her door – it was Shindo.

           “Hey, Uraraka.” He waggled his fingers at her. “Can I come in?”

           “Go away, please.” Uraraka couldn’t hear her own words over the rushing of blood to her ears. “How did you even find my room?”

           Shindo shrugged. “Asked around. Said we were friends. Your classmates are very friendly. Super helpful.” 

           “You can’t be here” She said, feeling hatred build up inside of her. Why did he have to focus all his attention on her? Why couldn’t he worry about something else – like being a hero? 

           “But, yet again, our conversation got cut off. I didn’t get to tell you what I want yet. Remember?” He held up his phone teasingly. “Someone might see us if you don’t let me in…”

           “Okay, okay.” She snapped, then backed away from the door, not wanting to turn her back to him. She didn’t trust him at all, especially in such an enclosed space. Shindo pulled the door shut behind him. 

           “Cute room.” He commented. “Simple – figured it would have pinker.”

           “You don’t even know me.” She said, keeping her eyes locked to him. 

           “I would like to know you.” He smiled, and Uraraka understood why he was able to get his classmates to do whatever he wanted. If Uraraka didn’t know how vile the man in front of her was, she would’ve thought he was handsome. He had a strong jawbone and shiny spiked dark hair, with a row full of straight, white teeth. He was a villain in a top hero’s disguise. She let her eyes fall to his phone, clutched tightly in his hands, out of her reach. “If you think you can get it from me, you’re stupid.” He said, sensing where her attention had gone. “I have the picture locked behind a passcode anyway.”

           Uraraka felt an angry flush creep into her cheeks.

           “I’m only here for one night, Uraraka. Gotta make the most of our time, right?” His voice was tooth-rotting sweet, dripping with charisma. It made Uraraka shiver. “I don’t know why you’re hiding yourself in that sweatshirt…maybe we could take it off?”

           “Don’t touch me!” Uraraka cried. Her entire body was tense. She was in fight mode, remembering all of the combat she had learned, zeroing in on his weak spots. If he tried to touch her, she would fight him. Even if she couldn’t beat him, she would not let him do whatever he wanted to her. In the forest, he had surprised her, but here she was anticipating his movements.

           “Hey, hey, calm down, sweetheart.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just here to talk. That can come later.” He winked.

           “Just tell me what you want, Shindo. Stop playing games with me.” She snapped. The clock in her room warned that there wasn’t much time before they had to be downstairs to meet for dinner, and she didn’t want anyone catching Shindo leaving her room.

           “It’s pretty simple – I’m not all that bad of a guy, ya know? You’re gonna break up with Bakugou – tonight – and he’s gonna watch me take you from him.” Shindo’s expression was smug. “It blows my mind that someone like Bakugou got into the top hero school in Japan. He doesn’t deserve it. I’ve seen how angry he gets over…fucking everything, so this should push him right over the edge.”

          Uraraka glared at him, mustering every ounce of hatred she could into her eyes. “I won’t do that.” She said, but her voice shook, betraying her.

          “I think you will.” He said, advancing towards her again. She backed up slowly. “Because if you don’t, I’ll never leave you alone. I’ll send this picture out to everyone you’ve ever known, to every media outlet, to every hero agency. Hey – it won’t be all bad though, maybe you can work with an X-rated hero, like Midnight? You’re a little too cute for that image but I’m sure with a little work…” He teased. Uraraka stared.

          “Okay.” She said. “I’ll do what you want.”

          Shindo’s smile was predatory. “Good girl.” He said. “Looking forward to it. See you tonight.” He gave her a cheerful wave, and then swung open her door and left, not bothering to shut it behind him. Uraraka just stood where she was, numb and unable to fully process what she had just been told. Shindo wanted her to break up with Bakugou, publicly, and then make a show to go to him. She thought about her options – she tried to find a scenario in which she could communicate to him that she was being forced to do this, that she didn’t mean it, that she loved him, and she would never leave him for anyone – but how would she do that without explaining to him the power Shindo had over her? How would she make him see that without admitting that she had sent the picture, and done this to herself?

          Her thoughts were interrupted by somebody letting themselves into her room, and when she looked up, she met wide black and gold eyes. “Ochako,” Mina began. “Why the fuck did I just see Shindo leave your room?”

          Uraraka felt a dam inside of her break. “Shut the door.” She told Mina.

          “We have to be at dinner in like, ten minutes, so you better talk fast.” Mina said. “What’s going on?”

          Uraraka weighed the pros and cons in her head – she had always been able to trust Mina before. The girl had gone above and beyond for her in trying to help her establish her relationship with Bakugou, and she always gave proper – albeit sometimes a little sketchy – advice for whatever situation she or any of the other girls were in. Maybe Mina wouldn’t judge her for her idiocy. Maybe Mina would help her.

          “I…” She bit her lip, hesitating.

          “Ochako.” Mina’s eyes were burning into her.

          “He’s blackmailing me!” Uraraka burst out. “I took a sexual picture of myself wearing lingerie in the dressing room at the mall. I just took it to have it, because I had never looked that good – and then when we all got drunk and high at the hotel, I must’ve sent it to him. He has it, Mina, and he says he’s gonna show everyone if I don’t break up with Bakugou tonight.” Her hands were trembling by the end of her confession, and her eyes shone with tears. Just admitting her fault out loud lightened the weight on her shoulders considerably, but her stomach still twisted with anxiety as she waited for Mina’s response.

          “That piece of absolute shit.” She muttered. “You didn’t send that picture to him.”

          “What?” Uraraka blinked at her. “How else would he have – oh.” The realization was sudden. She remembered Mina’s words, just a few days before. Shindo put his number in your phone. “He sent himself the picture…”

          “How did a school that gave us the beautiful and wonderful Ms. Joke produce such a piece of garbage? He makes Grape Rape look tame.” Mina was mumbling under her breath, and Uraraka’s heart was beating out of her chest. She hadn’t sent him the picture. He had taken her phone, invaded her privacy, violated her. It wasn’t her fault. “Ochako, you realize that if he sent that picture to the class, no one would judge you. We love you. If anything, we’d be blessed to receive a nude of you. You’re hot as hell. Besides, if anyone had anything to say about it, I’d kill them.”

          A tear escaped Uraraka’s eye. “He said he would publish it. You know people follow us now, Mina, since the Sports Festival. I don’t want a scandal before I’m even a pro hero. What do I do?”

          “The question isn’t what do you do, love. The question is what do we do?” Mina reached out to Uraraka, and then wrapped her arms tight around her. The pressure of the hug was too much for Uraraka, and she cried freely into Mina’s shoulders.

          “I don’t…I don’t want to tell Bakugou.” She said softly against the pink girl. “I…he’ll be disappointed.”

          Mina didn’t say anything but Uraraka felt her nod. “I’ll keep it between us.” She pulled back and looked Uraraka intently in the eye. “Let me take care of this.”

          “What?”

          “I’m adept at dealing with sick fucks like Shindo.” She said. “Leave it to me. Don’t break up with Bakugou – that I would not be able to deal with.”

          “This isn’t your problem, Mina, it’s mine.” Uraraka protested.

          “Okay, then what’s your big plan?” Mina crossed her arms and looked at her expectantly. Uraraka paused.

          “Well…” She didn’t have a plan at all, actually. Her original plan was to do whatever Shindo told her to do out of pure fear, but now that Mina knew, she felt slightly braver. Despite that, she still wasn’t sure what she could do other than try to assassinate Shindo before he had a chance to send the picture out – which wasn’t the worst idea.

          “Exactly.” Mina said, a conniving smile slowly spreading across her face. “Lucky for you, Ochako, I do have a plan. I’ll handle it.”

          And once again Uraraka put her trust in Mina Ashido. 

Chapter Text

Bakugou threw open the door to Kirishima’s room violently, noticeably shocking the half-and-half who had become his personal shadow since the Battle Royale ended.

“Shouldn’t you knock –?” Todoroki protested, but Bakugou cut him off with a hand to the face. Kirishima was sitting on his bed, legs crossed and facing Mina. He glanced up at the two as the entered, looking unsurprised to see them there together. It wasn’t like Bakugou was dragging Todoroki around by choice. He didn’t need any help, but he had to admit that the half-and-half was useful in an altercation. When he fucked Shindo up, he wanted to make sure it really hurt.

“Hey.” The redhead acknowledged them both. Mina raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of them.

“Since when are you two best buddies?” She asked suspiciously.

“Don’t fuckin’ say dumb shit like that.” Bakugou snapped. “What’s she doing here anyways?” He addressed Kirishima.

“God, he acts like we aren’t friends. We sit together at lunch. You tutor me.” She chastised him.

“Yeah, and you still fuckin’ failed your last exam.” He deadpanned.

“Nobody’s perfect.” She shrugged. “I’m here for the same reason you are. I want to destroy Shindo.”

"Welcome to the club.” Todoroki quipped.

“What do you have against him?” Mina inquired.

"Same thing as you.” He shrugged. “I don’t take kindly to those who hurt my friends. He not only harassed Uraraka, but he also caused Midoriya to injure himself gravely again.”

“Double whammy.” Agreed Mina. “Total asshole. So, what’s your plan, boys?”

“To kill him.” Bakugou said simply, clenching his hands into fists. He would blow that bastard to pieces for thinking he could put his hands on Uraraka. He didn’t know who he was fucking with.

“That’s your plan.” Kirishima rolled his eyes. “And I already told you, murder is a hard no.” Bakugou grumbled in discontentment. They just weren’t thinking creatively enough.  

“The bastard fuckin’ deserves to die.” His rage had settled into a constant swirling storm inside of his mind, one that he could see through, but that clouded his every thought. He couldn’t focus on anything else other than giving the piece of shit what he deserved.

“I don’t necessarily disagree, but…” Todoroki trailed off, giving his trademark blank stare. “I think premediated murder would really mess up our future hero records.”

“We don’t really have much of a solid plan.” Kirishima admitted.

“Just want to make him fuckin’ pay.” Bakugou had been talking with Kirishima and Todoroki all day. The two had been steadily convincing him that they could rough him up without landing themselves in jail, but Bakugou was itching to inflict pain on the man. As far as he was concerned, he was a villain, and it was a hero’s job to take down villains. They had the whole night to spend with Ketsubutsu and he intended to teach Shindo a lesson personally while Kirishima and Todoroki acted as back up or distractions. Neither of the other two were keen on that plan, but he was only including them because they had their own vengeances. He would be damned if anyone but him took that bastard down.

“You want to jump him?” Mina stared at them. “What, at the restaurant?”

“No,” Kirishima argued weakly, “Sometime after that…"

“Okay, well, consider this: my plan.” Mina was grinning manically, almost rivaling Bakugou’s level of craze. “You guys can beat the shit out of Shindo all you want – actually, I encourage it, but I need your cooperation with something else first.”

“What’s your fuckin’ plan?” Bakugou snapped at her. He couldn’t imagine it was anywhere near painful enough for the Ketsubutsu fuck.

"Well, first…” Her face was stone-set serious. “Todoroki, I’m gonna need to borrow your girlfriend.”

-x-

Bakugou pushed his way past the tight knit mob of his classmates, jostling some extras in an attempt to get to Uraraka. He didn’t plan to let her out of his sight all night. Their class was walking separate from Ketsubutsu on their way to the train station and Bakugou didn’t blame them. That school produced filth – other than the obvious, the rest of the class gave him bad vibes. They just seemed…off. He shoved Kaminari out of the way, ignoring his indignant squawk and fell in step with Uraraka.

“Hey, angel face.” He said coolly. Mina had told them that the success of her plan relied fully on everyone – mainly Bakugou’s – ability to keep calm in the situation. He had scoffed at her – he was fucking good at being calm these days. He had been practicing.

Uraraka jolted a little at his voice and he frowned. Her whole body screamed on-edge. Tsu walked next to her and gave Bakugou a sideways look of concern. He ignored it. Another stipulation of Mina’s plan was that she couldn’t fucking explain it. She had promised it would all make sense when it was over, but they just had to trust that what she had to do was important. It didn’t involve Shindo bleeding, so Bakugou didn’t understand the necessity, but he had kept his mouth shut. According to the alien, no one but the four in the room, Momo and Tsu could know what was going on.

“Hey.” Uraraka replied softly, ducking her head.

He expected her to ask where he had been all afternoon, why he was spending time with the half-and-half – he expected her to show that attitude he loved so much about her, but all she gave him was a meek smile. Whatever the bastard had done to her – he made her like this.

Keep cool. Annoyingly, he heard Mina’s damn shrill voice in his head. He clamped his teeth together and kept walking in silence because he didn’t trust himself to keep his head on if he started talking to her.

The restaurant they were going to was in the city, and apparently, they had rented out the whole place. Bakugou thought their school’s budget should go to more important resources, but apparently inter-school relationships with the local shitty hero schools were high on Principal Nezu’s list. Although, judging by the exclusive UA-only blob of students that surrounded him and the tension in the air, he didn’t think that plan was working out for them. As if they were reading his mind, Ms. Joke and Aizawa gave them similar withering looks, although Aizawa’s just looked like his usual expression.

“I know you had to fight each other earlier, but you don’t need to be so rude to our guests.” Aizawa addressed his class. Bakugou saw Ms. Joke gesturing wildly to hers, and assumed they were getting the same pointless lecture. It was clear that the two schools didn’t like each other, no matter how hard their damn lovestruck teachers tried to force them to.

Nobody spoke. Instead, everyone gave their teacher blank looks. Bakugou chuckled darkly to himself and Uraraka looked up at him curiously. He couldn’t help it; even Kaminari and Sero – who usually never shut the fuck up – had nothing to say for once.

“Why is everyone acting so…weird?” Uraraka asked, her voice wary and eye scanning the others around her.

"Nobody likes those fucking fake extras.” Bakugou said, keeping his response curt. Uraraka just bit her lip, worried. He wanted to kiss those lips. He wanted to tell her she would be fine, that he was going to take care of her, but that would be in violation of rule number fucking three of Mina’s plan: under no circumstances could it be discussed with Uraraka.

“Does she know you’re planning this?” Kirishima had asked skeptically, back in his room.

“Well, she knows I’m planning something.” Mina had replied.

"Is something the matter with you all?” Aizawa tried again to get a response out of his class, clearly growing more irritated with their behavior by the minute.

“We’re just tired, Sensei.” Momo said softly.

“Don’t make UA look bad.” His tone was sterner now. Bakugou rolled his eyes. If only Aizawa knew what scum was at his girlfriend’s school – Shindo made Bakugou look like the damn reincarnation of Jesus Christ. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sensei.” Mina answered evenly. Her usual teasing tone reserved for Aizawa was absent, and he seemed to notice it. He cast a searching gaze over the class, freezing them all in place.

“Are you up to something?” He accused. Bakugou watched as the class stared back, stone-faced.

“Up to something?” Tsu cocked her head to the side innocently and placed a finger to her chin. “What would we be up to, Aizawa Sensei?” Bakugou held in a snort. The frog girl was in on their plan. She knew damn well what they were up to.

Aizawa dropped it then, but not before giving them a red-eyed warning glare, that dared them to cross him. Too bad that threat had stopped working on them around the second week of school.

Once everyone had boarded the train and was accounted for – they did role call twice, they were always treated like precious cargo on outings with all of the villains out and about – Bakugou rolled his shoulders back and let himself relax. In a few short hours, he would get to kick Shindo’s ass across campus. The thought made him smile.

Uraraka caught the grin and shot him an accusatory glare. “You’re not thinking of doing anything stupid, are you?”

He raised an eyebrow in response. “Why do ya ask, cheeks?”

“You’re smiling. You hardly ever smile unless you’re destroying someone or thinking about destroying someone.”

Damn, she was good. “I smile at you all the time.”

“Eh, in certain situations.” She said. “Don’t do anything stupid, Katsuki. Promise me?”

The smile left his lips. “Don’t worry, angel face. Love you.” He pressed his lips to her hair to soothe her. If he just kept his mouth shut, he wouldn’t have to lie to her.

Uraraka leaned against him slightly, but her rigidity was still apparent.

He let his eyes wander. Mina was with Momo and Tsu, speaking quickly and in a low voice. Momo was looking as focused as ever, while Tsu had her trademark blank face. She could give the half-and-half a run for his money in the competition for who was the driest student. Speaking of the half-and-half, Todoroki was sitting with Kirishima and Kaminari, who looked elated at the change in friend groups. Idiot had no idea. On the other end of the train, the Ketsubutsu bastard was sitting pressed tightly against the weird blonde bitch who could make her body contort and some freaky looking blue-faced student who had almost won the Battle Royale, smiling and laughing, his creepily white teeth glinting in the dim light of the cabin they were in. He used all of his self-control to keep from blasting him clean out the window.

Thankfully, his practice had paid off, and they reached their destination with no issues – violent or otherwise – but Aizawa still watched them carefully. The Ketsubutsu students were generally at ease, speaking amongst themselves and to Ms. Joke, but UA was still in a state of quiet – for some of them, of waiting.

Bakugou departed the train before Uraraka, and when he turned to grab her hand, he found that she wasn’t behind him. Panic engulfed him momentarily as he sought out Shindo to make sure he hadn’t dared try something – only to find Uraraka speaking intently to Aizawa Sensei. Huh. He couldn’t say it was unusual – Aizawa seemed to be extra protective of Uraraka these days. Mostly due to his behavior, but he tried not to dwell on that. That was not who he was anymore.

It was too damn cold to be walking around outside, but inside the restaurant was warm and inviting. Bakugou always preferred the warm. He thrived in it. Cold weather brought weakness – and it was shit trying to train when the wind hurt his face and he couldn’t get his hands to sweat enough for a blast. He shrugged off his coat and took a breath of the thermal air, finding Mina in the room and catching her eye. She was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet like she was preparing to run a marathon.

Uraraka had wandered back up with him after her talk with Aizawa, and he didn’t prompt her for information about it. She was radiating anxiety and discomfort, so of course their teacher would have picked up on it. He reminded himself that it would be taken care of soon – that she would be able to breathe again normally, and he would see her smile and be subjected to her usual sassy attitude. Instead of speaking, he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed.

Orange light cast a glow on everyone around him. It was a small building, with the 42 of them probably maxing out its capacity limit. Servers lingered silently by the walls, watching while the students debated where to sit. There were several tables spread about the room, and Kaminari and Kirishima wasted no time pushing them together so that as many people could cram together as possible. Ketsubutsu followed suit, setting up their territory on the other side of the room. The Battle Royale hadn’t ended yet.

“We should sit.” Uraraka suggested, finally returning pressure on his hand. “Sorry I’m being so quiet. I’m so tired.”

Bakugou shrugged. “Yeah, you had a long day.” He said gruffly. He let her lie slide.

They ended up with four large tables separated from each other by Aizawa and Ms. Joke, who sat by themselves in the center. Aizawa was still throwing wary looks at his students. Once everyone was seated – he ended up with the usual morons, but Todoroki, Tsu and Momo had joined the table. They were clearly out of place. Momo kept tightening her ponytail nervously, and Tsu kept turning to her and whispering in her ear. Bakugou knew that this entire plan Mina had concocted relied on them, and he hoped they wouldn’t screw it up. On the other end of the table, Kaminari, Jirou and Sero were none the wiser to anything that was going on and were acting like the idiots they were. Kaminari and Jirou both had their phones out and were engrossed in battling a gym in Pokémon Go while Sero cheered them on. Bakugou wondered what it was like to have so few brain cells.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Uraraka put her hand on his thigh, keeping one pinky raised. He looked down at her curiously, but he had an idea of what she was doing. Uraraka obviously thought he was going to do something stupid, like try to fight Shindo in front of their teacher and she was attempting to hold him down. Her face was casual, and he had to fight back a smirk – she was so obvious, and she didn’t even know it.

On the Ketsubutsu side, they were all clearly enjoying themselves. They were talking so loudly that it was almost shouting, and they cried out teasingly to Ms. Joke about how hurt they were that she wasn’t sitting with them. A tall, lanky blonde girl with hair down to her waist declared that and she’d have to make it up to them. Ms. Joke laughed airily and flagged down a waiter. Within moments, two large pitchers filled with amber liquid were placed down on the table and the students began fighting over them, grabbing at each other to pour drinks and laughing raucously as they did. Ms. Joke had bought her students alcohol. Bakugou barked out a laugh at the absurdity of it.

Kaminari noticed and followed Bakugou’s gaze. “Man!” He wailed. “They’re not even old enough to drink!”

Ms. Joke looked over at his voice and cocked an eyebrow. She put a finger to her lips and winked.

“Hey, Sensei –” Sero began hopefully.

“Absolutely not.” Aizawa’s eye twitched. Bakugou fixed his eyes on Shindo and scowled. The bastard had a glass next to him, but he was leaving it alone and talking in a soft voice to the weird blonde, a smile playing at his lips. The pig-tailed girl was hanging onto his every word, completely star struck. It was nauseating.

"Man, I hate Ketsubutsu.” Muttered Kaminari, scrunching his eyebrows together in displeasure. “Ms. Joke is so cool. They’re so lucky.”

“Did I just hear you say you want extra lessons, Kaminari?” Aizawa called lazily.

A high-pitched laugh bubbled out of Uraraka at Kaminari’s horrified face, and Bakugou’s heart jumped. He placed his hand over top of the hers that rested on his thigh. 

The Ketsubutsu students increased their volume to a dull roar as the pitcher was rapidly drained. Their rowdiness rivaled even that of Bakugou’s lunch table – and that was saying something. He listened into the conversations around him, bored. He couldn’t focus on anything but Shindo and causing pain. Mina had promised that her plan would cause him more anguish than they could ever cause him physically, but he wasn’t sure if he believed her. Mina could be diabolic when she wanted to be, but she wasn’t on Bakugou’s level. The alien girl was deep in a heated debate with Kaminari and Jirou over whether Kaminari would be strengthened in rain or end up electrocuting himself. Her demeanor was relaxed, but she was watching the room carefully, her eyes traveling back and forth between Shindo, and Aizawa, waiting for her moment to strike.

Bakugou was getting impatient. This plan didn’t have enough action, and it took too long. Uraraka’s clear misery was fogging up his brain and making him itch to get his hands around Shindo’s throat.

As if sensing his internal turmoil, Mina gave him a hard glare, then she nodded to the table where Aizawa and Ms. Joke were sitting – except Aizawa was absent. Bakugou understood. It was time.

“Yaomomo.” Mina said curtly. Momo swallowed, her cheeks turning a light pink. She gave Todoroki a nervous, slightly panicked glance, but the half-and-half gave her a tight-lipped smile that Bakugou assumed was supposed to be encouraging – instead, he just looked constipated. Momo gave Mina one shaky nod and stood up. Only those in on the plan paid her any mind at first, but as she adjusted her skirt, hiking it up, and unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse, the others took notice. Uraraka’s eyes widened. Kaminari, Sero and Jirou gaped like fish out of water. Jirou opened her mouth to protest, but Kirishima shook his head quickly and she closed it again.

Uraraka seemed concerned. Bakugou could feel the clamminess of her hands – it rivaled even his own. “Mina.” She squeaked out, but Mina ignored her, never taking her eyes off of her target. Then, Momo squared her shoulders and walked purposefully over to the Ketsubutsu table. The plan was in action.

“What…what just happened?” Kaminari stuttered out. Everyone ignored him. In fact, a stifling silence fell over the table. It was a staggering contrast to the ear-piercing racket coming from Ketsubutsu, but it was soon broken by Mina’s voice – less shrill than it had ever been.         “Tsu, you ready?”

“Kero.” Tsu was perched on her seat in battle stance, looking truly like a frog. Like a poisonous one that would really fuck your day up. Bakugou let himself hope for the plan’s success.

“What’s going on?” Uraraka whispered to Bakugou, demanding an explanation. He squeezed her hand in response, his eyes tracking Momo. She found her target then and Uraraka squeaked involuntarily. Momo was leaning over Shindo, one dainty hand on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

Bakugou had to hand it to her – she was a hell of a friend for getting so close to such a disgusting excuse for a human being. Hell of an actress too. If it were him that she was flirting with like that, he sure would’ve been fucking convinced. He almost felt bad for the half-and-half. The bastard craned his neck to look at her, a curious look on his face. He smiled at whatever she was saying to him, then stood when she wrapped her hand around his arm and pulled him up.

"Tsu.” Mina breathed. 

Bakugou held his breath because fuck, this whole thing was more stressful than he expected. For whatever reason, Mina was sure that their entire revenge plan hindered on getting Shindo’s phone from him. Tsu reacted immediately to her cue, shooting her tongue out across the room like a whip. A few Ketsubutsu students shrieked in alarm, scattering from the spot where it passed. After a beat, Tsu cried out in pain and Bakugou’s eyes widened. Her tongue was suspended across the room, and a small girl with huge eyes and a Cheshire grin was holding onto to it like it was a trophy. “Gotcha!” She announced in a high-pitched, little-girl cry. “Naughty, naughty, little froggy.”

Tsu groaned. Her tongue had been stopped just short of Shindo’s front pocket. The bastard was grinning madly.

“Fuck.” Mina whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"Thanks, Nusumu.” Shindo said. The girl released Tsu’s tongue and it snapped back into her mouth. She looked defeated.

“What is going on?” Ms. Joke asked sternly, but her words slurred.

“Nothing, Fukukado Sensei.” Shindo replied smoothly and bowed low. “Maybe you should go check on Aizawa Sensei?”

Her mouth made a small “o”, then she nodded. “Absolutely, I should.” She giggled. “Hold down the fort, Shindo, yeah?” She smiled. Bakugou cursed. Ms. Joke was in complete denial about who her students really were.

“Of course, Fukukado Sensei.”

The whole restaurant waited with bated breath as she stumbled out of the room and into the hallway, presumably to find Aizawa in the restrooms. Under normal circumstances, that would’ve been goddamn disgusting – but Bakugou had other things on his mind. Uraraka was trembling next to him. He tore his eyes away from Shindo long enough to look down at her, and her eyes were glazed over.

“He’s gonna –” She mumbled. “He’s gonna. Gonna. I –”

“He’s not gonna do anything to you, angel. I won’t fuckin’ let him.” He released her hand and then shoved his chair back violently. He was done waiting for other plans to fail. “Oi, bastard!”

Shindo pointed to his chest with an innocent, doe-eyed expression on his face as if to ask, “who me?” His arm hung lazily around Momo. She looked too petrified to throw it off. “Really wanna start something right here, Bakugou? I know you’re an asshole, but you’re not stupid.”

Bakugou clenched his fists. He knew the bastard was right. He couldn’t kill him right here. Not in front of his whole class – not when Aizawa and Ms. Joke could walk back in any minute. Not when Uraraka was about to enter a comatose state right next to him. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, letting her know that he was there.

“Get off of Momo.” Todoroki growled, standing too. He was seething now, his eyes echoing the flames that he held within his body. Kirishima followed his lead, hardening his arms almost automatically. Then, without even knowing why, so did the morons Kaminari and Sero. Actually, Bakugou noticed, the whole class had moved to stand, even the extras. Mina flitted to Uraraka, who was now actively shaking and muttering incoherently under her breath.

"You guys are so cute.” Shindo teased. “Such comradery. Although, we have that too, right guys?”

The Ketsubutsu students started to rise as well, no longer laughing. Shindo gripped Momo’s shoulder.

“Off of her!” Jirou snarled. Her jacks snapped threateningly.

“Ooh, down, girl.” Tatami said with a wicked grin. Shindo shrugged his shoulder off of Momo and then pushed her back over to Todoroki, who caught her by her arm.

“It wasn’t a bad plan, Ashido, though a little poorly executed.” Shindo began, sauntering over to UA’s side. Mina startled at being addressed by name, but other than that, nobody moved, not even Bakugou. He was held in place by Uraraka’s energy – by her pure and unfiltered terror. He couldn’t walk away from her. Not for anything. “If you wanted it to actually work, you should’ve used someone other than the princess. I mean, her sex appeal is an obvious distraction tactic. If you had sent the flat-chested one instead, maybe I wouldn’t have expected it.” He looked Jirou up and down. Electricity crackled through Kaminari’s body and he scowled. “The frog girl though – c’mon. Her winning was a fluke. Nusumu outclasses her in every way.”

The childish girl curtsied.

“You all just think you’re so special.” He continued.

"Shut the fuck up, bastard.” Bakugou spat. He was sick of hearing his voice. Next to him, Uraraka shook her head back and forth like she was trying to force pain out. Mina leaned close to her and whispered comfort into her ear.

"Be nice to me, man.” Shindo frowned, feigning hurt. “After all, I’m so close with your girlfriend, so we should be friends. Right, Uraraka, aren’t we friends?”

“Don’t!” Uraraka cried. Her face had lost all color and she was breathing erratically. “Please don’t, Shindo, please don’t!”

“Uraraka, it’s okay –” Mina reached out to grab her hand. Uraraka’s eyes were wide and dilated. Bakugou knew the signs – she was panicking. Her entire body was screaming in terror.

“What did you fuckin’ do to her?” Bakugou’s voice cracked.

“It’s not what I did, it’s what she did. Should I tell him, Uraraka?” Shindo addressed the tremoring girl.

“Don’t!” She screamed.

“What is wrong with you? Leave her alone!” Kirishima shouted at him. “Fuck off!”

“She didn’t do anything!” Mina cried. “You’re a liar!”

The voices swam in Bakugou's head. What she did? Uraraka would never willingly do anything with that bastard. He knew that. Shindo must've been trying to get inside of his head. And fuck, maybe it was working, because he felt the anger fill him like molten hot lava threatening to explode out of his body at the thought of it. He focused on his breathing again, remembering the technique, and remembering that Uraraka loved him and that Shindo was a disgusting, filthy excuse for a human being and a liar. 

The room erupted into chaos, with everyone yelling and jeering at each other. The classes were at a standoff – no one wanting to make the first move. Uraraka was sobbing, shaking her head rapidly and whispering, “Don’t, please don’t.” A waitress had squeaked in terror when the yelling started, and ran off into the hallway, looking frightened.

“Remember what we talked about, Uraraka.” Shindo’s smile was menacing.

“Fuck this!” Bakugou was over this bullshit, but Uraraka’s hand shot out to him. He met her wide eyes. They were swimming with tears.

In the past, if he had been forced to choose between destroying his enemies or taking care of someone he loved, it would’ve been an easy decision. He hadn’t had anyone he loved anyways – he would always choose to fight, to win. That was before Uraraka. Looking into her suffering eyes, he felt her pain deep inside of him. Uraraka was everything to him. All he wanted was for her to be okay – that’s why he wanted to fucking kill Shindo. For her. Bakugou was the one who was supposed to make her happy, to take care of her. He couldn’t let anyone ruin that. He would make sure she was safe, no matter what. Even if that meant holding off from giving that sick Ketsubutsu bastard what he deserved.

“Bakugou?” Shindo’s voice was steely.

“Later.” Bakugou managed to grunt out. Todoroki and Kirishima both turned to him, then nodded.

Shindo’s smile reminded him of a shark. He did menace even better than Bakugou did and it pissed him off. “Later, then.”

“Shindo?” Miss Joke had walked back into the room with Aizawa, who was looking disheveled and positively murderous. “What…are you doing?”

“Fukukado Sensei.” He bowed. “I’ll explain. We all still have a lot of adrenaline from the Battle Royale, and, I will admit, that as teenagers, it’s hard to keep from – excuse me – talking shit.” He grinned. Ms. Joke smiled back tentatively, but it turned back to a frown quickly.

“The waitress told us she thought you were going to full-on fight each other in the restaurant.”

"We got carried away.” Todoroki spoke up quickly. “Tensions.”

“You’ve been acting like children all night – not heroes.” Aizawa growled at his class. His eyes landed on Uraraka, and he paused. “Uraraka, what happened?”

“Sh – he – I –” She babbled. Mina was rubbing her back. Bakugou fell down to the bench and sat by her, wrapping his arms around her shaking body. Mina backed off and Uraraka fell into him, crying and shivering.

“She needs to go home.” Bakugou said evenly.

“We all need to go home, I think.” Ms. Joke said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Eraser, we should probably just make the journey back –”

“No!” Kirishima called, and everyone turned to stare at him. “I mean, it’s late. We were just being stupid, Ms. Joke. We apologize.”

Shindo tried to contain his smile. He was just as pleased about the idea of a real fight. Bakugou couldn’t wait to take him down. “I apologize as well, Fukukado Sensei. Aizawa Sensei. We would be honored to stay in your establishment this evening.”

Aizawa’s face was distrusting, but he was too focused on Uraraka to overthink it. Bakugou was glad – he didn’t want a teacher to take care of Shindo. No. He was his.

“Clean up, and let’s go.” Aizawa said finally. “Five minutes. No more bullshit.”

Everyone got up slowly and began to clear away their messes. They picked up their chairs, moved back the tables, and mumbled quietly amongst themselves. Bakugou stayed put, holding Uraraka, stroking her hair and whispering affirmation in her ear. If there was anything he knew how to handle, it was a goddamn panic attack.

“I love you, angel. He’s not gonna hurt you. I’m right here. I’m right here.”

She whimpered into his chest.

Once they were ready to leave, Kirishima walked over and helped lift Uraraka up. “We’re gonna get him, Uraraka. I swear.” The redhead said to her.

“Hey, Uraraka.” Bakugou’s breath hitched angrily at the bastard’s smooth voice. Uraraka looked up through her eyelashes, making petrified eye contact. “I’ll give you a little more time, alright?”      

Bakugou’s blood boiled. He had never known hatred until this moment.

He was going to make him pay.  

Chapter Text

The train ride home was even more tense than the train ride to the restaurant. Uraraka’s stomach gargled with anxiety and a little bit of hunger – she had picked at her dinner and tried to get it down but was ultimately unsuccessful. Her mind was still racing, but now sitting down and hiding her face in Bakugou’s chest, she could breathe again. And now that air was flowing to her brain again, she could think.

Shindo knew that she told. He knew that Mina knew, and he probably thought she had told everyone else too – but he still hadn’t sent the picture out. He was waiting for something. Was he still expecting her to break up with Bakugou? She took a shuddering breath against him, and he kissed the top of her head. It made her heart ache and it filled her entire body with something new – anger. Fury, actually. She was enraged. She was sick of being a puppet on Shindo’s string, forced to do what he said so that he wouldn’t ruin her life with the push of a button. She had to get that phone. She had to destroy the evidence – and then maybe destroy Shindo too, for good measure. She just didn’t know how.

As she wracked her brain for any semblance of a plan, she surveyed the space around her. Like on the way to the restaurant, Ketsubutsu sat on the opposite side of the train, but this time, Uraraka couldn’t see them. Her class had formed a tight guard in front of her, separating her from her tormentor. Todoroki and Momo stood directly in front of her, arms crossed and eyes dead-set in front of them. Next to them stood Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero, an unbreakable line cutting off any potential threat. It was almost too ridiculous – Uraraka didn’t need bodyguards. She could handle herself.

Well. She thought back to her meltdown at the restaurant. Maybe it was acceptable for them to think she couldn’t. Bakugou squeezed her hand, reminding her again of his all-encompassing presence. She recalled the advice she gave him not too long ago – panic attacks don’t make you weak. She had a hard time convincing herself to listen to her own advice.

Mina sat to the right of Uraraka, and Tsu next to her. Tsu was still embarrassed from her failure at the restaurant – Uraraka had been too much of a disaster to tell her it was okay, that she appreciated her trying for her, but Mina held the frog girl’s hand and Tsu’s face held a look of a determination on it. Tokoyami and Jirou were on the other side of Bakugou, both sitting straight up and alert, Jirou’s jacks at the ready and Tokoyami bracing to call Dark Shadow if needed. 

Tears threatened to overwhelm Uraraka again, but she held them in. Her class – her friends – were defending her even when they had no idea what was going on. Mina had promised to keep her word, and Uraraka knew that she had, which meant that no one had even an inkling of what happened between her and Shindo, but they accepted that he was someone who wanted to harm her, and they joined together to protect her. She knew they would draw their own conclusions from what events transpired that night, but one thing was clear: they were defending their own no matter what.

Bakugou took a deep breath and Uraraka’s head rose against his chest. The feeling was so calming, she almost forgot her anger. Almost.

Bakugou was the biggest surprise of all – she had expected him to throw a fit when she refused to tell him what was really going on, to force it out of her, but he hadn’t even asked more than once. He had shown nothing but trust in her, wanting answers but not insisting on her telling him when she was clearly uncomfortable.

She needed to tell him, but the thought made her ill. There was the possibility that he wouldn’t want anything to do with her afterwards, and that she wouldn’t get a chance to explain. Sure, Bakugou had come a long way in the past several months, but he was still Bakugou. He was still explosive. On the other end of that idea was the fact that it would invoke Shindo’s wrath. If she didn’t do what he said, he would send the picture out. Simple rules for his demonic game. Despite what Mina said, she still couldn’t stomach the idea of her classmates receiving that picture. She would never be able to look Iida in the eye again. Deku would be so ashamed of her. Mineta would probably print it out and put it up on his wall. 

She shook her head at the image. There had to be another way. She envied those with intelligence-enhancing quirks.

“Doing okay, angel?” Bakugou mumbled into her hair.

"Yep.” She answered quickly, so that he wouldn’t worry. How could you plot against someone who was always one step ahead?  

-x-

By the time they reached campus, everyone was amped up. Ketsubutsu mobbed past UA, whispering amongst themselves and throwing dirty looks. Some of the students appeared apologetic, even going as far to give sympathetic smiles to their hosts, but the majority was wrapped around Shindo’s finger. He led the pack, followed closely by his loyal disciples Tatami, Itejiro and the girl who Uraraka swore was too young to be in high school – Nusumu. After hearing her speak at the restaurant, Uraraka had been hit with the realization that she knew that voice. Nusumu was the one who had chased her out into the clearing where Shindo attacked her. She had been in on the plan all along. The way the tiny girl giggled at something Shindo said sent daggers through Uraraka’s skin. Her fury was building.

Kirishima approached Bakugou, distracting her momentarily, and he whispered something in his ear. Bakugou nodded tersely and replied, “Yeah, I’ll be by later. Gonna walk Round Face to the infirmary.”

“What? I don’t need to go to the infirmary.” She protested. “Where will you be going later?” She was more alert now, more in-tune to whatever Bakugou thought he was going to do. She couldn’t imagine he was stupid enough to try anything after Aizawa and Ms. Joke had walked in on the beginning of a full-blown battle, but she knew how hotheaded he could be.

“Yes, you do.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “You need to relax.” He tactfully avoided her second question by just flat-out ignoring it.

“But –”

“Ah, don’t worry, Uraraka.” Kirishima smiled sweetly. “I won’t let things fall apart here.” He patted Bakugou on the shoulder. 

Bakugou snorted, and Uraraka narrowed her eyes.

“I’m going to kill you two if I find out you’re planning something bad.” She threatened.

“Ah, all bark and no bite.” Kirishima waved his hand good-naturedly.

“Infirmary.” Bakugou said sternly, and steered Uraraka away from the redhead before she could ask any more questions or float Kirishima away for making fun of her, which she was considering doing.

Recovery Girl fretted when she saw Bakugou walk in with Uraraka in tow. “You two again!” She cried. “Between you and Midoriya, I swear…” She muttered under her breath as she led Uraraka to a bed and pushed her into it.

“Kacchan?” Deku’s voice came from behind a curtain as if he was summoned by the mention of his name. He pushed it open and his eyes fell from Bakugou to Uraraka. “Didn’t you guys come from dinner? What happened?” His expression was pure concern. 

“Shit, Deku.” Bakugou growled, but it was less hostile than it could have been. “Why are you always here?”

“I broke my arms.” Deku explained, tilting his head to the side innocently. Bakugou clicked his tongue, acting annoyed.

“Right, you fuckin’ tend to do that.”

“I’m fine, Deku.” Uraraka said Bakugou before he could come up with anything ruder. “Dinner was just…”

“Stupid. It’s Ketsubutsu.” Bakugou finished her sentence. “They’re fuckin’ scum bags.” 

“Ah, yes, I got that vibe…” Deku crinkled his eyebrows together, then opened his mouth to say something but paused when Recovery Girl came back into view. She started rapidly checking Uraraka’s vitals and fussing over how pale and shaky she was. 

"Rest.” She demanded. “Stay here tonight. You need to be away from whatever is causing you stress. And eat!” She shoved a candy bar into Uraraka’s face. She took it and looked at it like it was a bug that Recovery Girl had served her.

“But –”

“You heard her, angel.” Bakugou said. “Stay here tonight.” He echoed.

“Are you trying to keep me away from something? She challenged quietly. Deku looked between them nervously as Recovery Girl exited the room.

“Like what, Uraraka?” He asked. Bakugou grinned. 

“Yeah, listen to the nerd. Like what?” He moved to the bed and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll come see you in the morning.”

Considering Bakugou spent the last night that she was in the infirmary sleeping in a chair by her side, his desire to leave was suspicious, and stung a little. She would’ve liked his company. 

“Okay.” She said softly. “See ya.”

“Deku.” Bakugou was suddenly urgent. “You gettin’ out of here tonight?”

“That’s the plan, yes. Recovery Girl said I was good to go, as long as I take it easy…” He blushed, sheepish.

“Come to the half-and-half’s room when you get out.” Bakugou said simply, not meeting Deku’s or Uraraka’s eyes.

“Todoroki’s?” Deku was incredulous.

“Who the fuck else?” Bakugou spat. “Yeah, Todoroki’s. Just be there.”

“What –” Uraraka squeaked.

“Night, angel.” Bakugou didn’t let her finish her sentence before he was slinking out of the door and slamming it behind him. Uraraka stared at the now empty space where he had just been. Now he was getting Deku involved?

“He’s intense as always.” Deku commented lightly. He changed the subject, probably figuring Uraraka was going to ask questions if he didn’t. “You going to be okay, Uraraka?”

“You know, Deku, I have no idea.” She said honestly, pushing her worry over Bakugou out of her mind. She had too much to worry about right now. “This has been the longest day of my life so far. I say so far because I thought the same thing a week ago, and here we are.” She sighed, letting the words flow out of her. Deku was easy to talk to. Always had been.

“Wanna talk about it?” He offered tentatively. It was just a suggestion, with no pressure involved. Uraraka realized she did want to talk about it, but she held onto the fear of judgment, especially from innocent Deku.

"Would you judge me if I told you some things about me?” She asked, meeting his wide eyes.

“If it’s about you and Kacchan, I already know.” He frowned, confused. “Todoroki told me – well, I kinda figured it out, but Todoroki confirmed it. I would never judge you for that, I –”

“It’s not just that.” Uraraka interrupted him before he started rambling like he liked to do. “I took a really sexual nude of myself then saved it – maybe to send to Bakugou later, I dunno, but I liked how I looked so I saved it, then Shindo from Ketsubutsu took my phone when I was drunk and sent the picture to himself, now he’s blackmailing me with it.” It all came out in one breath, and when she peaked up through her fingers, she saw Deku gaping at her.

“That was…a lot of information at once. Shindo is blackmailing you?” He asked. “Actually, he seems like the type…he was very cold and calculating in both the Provisional License Exam and the Battle Royale…his harsh and almost fearsome attitude rivals even that of Bakugou…” He trailed off, muttering to himself about Shindo’s personality. Uraraka rolled her eyes, but her heart was heavy. Deku hadn’t even commented on the fact that she had taken the nude. He just jumped straight to Shindo.

"Deku, attention here, please.” She snapped her fingers. He gave her an apologetic grin.

“I’m not judging you, Uraraka. That picture was private, and it was yours and he took it. That’s his fault.” He said sincerely. “Have you told Kacchan?”

“No!” Uraraka cried. “No, Bakugou can’t know.”  

“Why? Kacchan may be…temperamental, but he’s not stupid. He wouldn’t blame you.”

“You don’t know that.” Uraraka grumbled, feeling the genuine easiness of this conversation. She never spoke to Deku about her personal life anymore, but the foundation of their best friendship was still as sturdy as ever. “Telling him is out of the question.”

"Okay, so…maybe tell Aizawa Sensei?” He tried.

“Deku, you’re supposed to have good plans.” Uraraka bemoaned. “I can’t tell anyone. I have to get the phone.” She stared up at the ceiling and made a realization. “Besides,” she said, “I’m pissed, Deku. I don’t want someone else to handle it. I want to handle it.”

Deku blinked at her, probably surprised at her use of vulgarity. She would have to work on her image. Everyone still saw her as the innocent rainbow and sunshine girl. And weak. Couldn’t forget weak.

She barreled on. “Shindo thinks he can just get away with doing whatever he wants because he’s got this over me. When he grabbed me in the forest, I couldn’t do anything. Now, he thinks I’m this weak, incapable, wannabe hero. I need to show him I’m not.” As soon as she spoke the words, she was struck with how honest they were. This whole situation made her sick, filled her with anxiety and terrified her, but more than anything it made her angry.

Deku said nothing, but frowned, tight-lipped.

“Do you think I’m being ridiculous?” Uraraka asked, somewhat bitter at her friend’s silence.

"No…” Deku began carefully. “I was thinking that I understand exactly what you mean. I understand feeling weak and unable to do anything.”

She paused, taking in his words. Deku had an incredible quirk, one completely suited to being a hero, but for some reason, his body didn’t always seem to be able to handle it. She knew that he of all people probably truly did understand what she was feeling. “So, what would you do?”

“Honestly?” He looked thoughtful. “I would probably confront him, but Uraraka, Shindo is a very…difficult opponent. You can still take charge of the situation, but you don’t have to do it alone. Accepting help from friends doesn’t make you weak.”

Uraraka exhaled. “I know. I just don’t even know what to do. There’s only tonight, then he goes back to Ketsubutsu and I really can’t do anything.”

“How about this? Stay here for a little bit. I’m going to see what Kacchan is planning – because you know he’s planning something.” He added the last part in response to her sour expression.

“I told him not to.” She said, irritation seeping into her voice. “He doesn’t need to get in trouble for me.”

“Did you forget who Kacchan is?” Deku raised an eyebrow, then stood from his bed. His arms were both bandaged tightly, and his face betrayed his exhaustion. “Hey, Uraraka? Trust him. He cares about you a lot. I can tell.” His eyes twinkled. “I’ll let you know when I figure out what’s going on.”

"Can’t I come with you?” She whined, hating the prospect of being left alone in the infirmary while the rest of her class plotted who-knows-what against Ketsubutsu.

"You wanna handle this yourself? You won’t be able to if Recovery Girl gets wind of you sneaking out early. She’s a force of nature.” Judging from the stricken look on his face, he knew from experience.

"You’re right.” She said, not happy with the fact.

"Yeah, aren’t I always?” He teased. “I promise. You’ll be a part of this. Shindo may think you’re weak, but he doesn’t know what’s coming for him.”

And for the first time in probably 24 hours, Uraraka genuinely grinned, letting the happiness wash over her. She wasn’t weak. And neither were her friends. If Bakugou had a plan, she would join in on it, and she would prove to Shindo that she was someone to be reckoned with.

“And Uraraka?” Deku said. “Tell Aizawa Sensei. That’s just common sense.”

Uraraka groaned into her pillow.

-x-

“Deku.” Bakugou grunted as he opened the door to the half-and-half’s room. The nerd was the last one to arrive to the odd, dojo-like area. He should’ve known Todoroki was the kind of weirdo who would have a room like this. There wasn’t even any damn chairs to sit on. All around the room, his classmates sat on the floor. He had only expected a few, but the whole damn class decided to show up. There really wasn’t enough space for all of them, but they made it work, somehow. Everyone was practically on top of each other and it drove Bakugou crazy, because he didn’t have any leeway to pace.

He was antsy. He still had a few more hours before it would be safe for them to make the walk to Ground Beta where they would be meeting the Ketsubutsu students. Bakugou had arranged it with Shindo, shortly after leaving Uraraka in the infirmary.

Kirishima and Todoroki had accompanied him – not because he fucking asked them to, but because they had become his personal shadows. Kirishima he was used to, but the half-and-half following him around like some deformed puppy was strange. He was spouting shit about friendship and honor, but Bakugou had a sneaking suspicion that he was just itching for a chance to battle, since he hadn’t been able to take part in the earlier exercise.

Truthfully, Bakugou was too. He wanted to kick some Ketsubutsu ass. The creep that had made the wrong choice to mess with Uraraka was just giving him the reason he needed.

Of course, Shindo wasn’t alone when they met, because he was a little bitch. He had his posse backing him up – the freakish little girl who seemed to be able to move without noise, the human embodiment of misery and the turtle-like girl who couldn’t stop herself from falling all over Shindo. They had never agreed to meet alone, but Bakugou would have if it weren’t for the wonder-duo behind him. He knew Shindo wouldn’t be so brave. Although, Bakugou could admit that it wasn’t terrible to have the back up.

"So, you’re defending your woman’s honor. Cute.” Shindo had said, appraising Bakugou and the other two.

“I fuckin’ came because I didn’t get a chance to kick your ass earlier, and I want a chance now.” He stepped into Shindo’s bubble, and immediately his cronies tensed. The tiny girl scowled and moved to a fighting stance. “Call off your attack chihuahua, I’m not fuckin’ fighting you now.” It was too early – everyone was awake and out and about. Even as they spoke, students from the other classes wandered throughout campus, heading back to their dorms from whatever activities they had been at. Some gave them curious glances or whispered to each other, but none bothered them.

“Nusumu, it’s okay.” Shindo spoke to her like she really was a yappy little dog. Bakugo crinkled his nose in disgust.

“Weird dynamic.” Todoroki muttered from his side. Kirishima nodded.

“You sure you wanna pick a fight?” Turtle-girl asked. “We’re a whole year older than you kids.”

“I solo’d both of you easily.” Kirishima laughed. “Hardly even exerted myself!”

“Don’t talk big game.” Misery drawled, his voice low and bland, reminding Bakugou of a young Aizawa if he had been even more emo. “You got lucky. You won’t get lucky again.”

“Let’s see, yeah?” Shindo spoke up again. “You wanna do round two? We’ll show you that your win was a fluke. When there are no rules and it’s just raw power – well, I won’t spoil it for you.” He grinned like a damn piranha. Kirishima had actual shark teeth and managed to look less evil than this guy. “Our class versus yours.”

“Alright. You think your whole bitch-ass class will be up to the challenge?” Bakugou spat.

“You think yours will?” Laughed the little freaky one. “I had Uraraka running scared!”

“Ah, no –” Kirishima cringed.

“DON’T FUCKING SAY HER NAME, YOU SHITTY FREAK!” Bakugou exploded, feeling all the rage he had been holding inside erupt out of him like a volcano. “I’LL KILL YOU FIRST!”

“Save it for tonight.” Todoroki said gruffly, smacking his hand against Bakugou’s chest.

“Looking forward to seeing what you can do too, son of Endeavor.” Shindo said sweetly. “You learn how to use your fire properly yet, or are you still too scared to act like your old man?”

Todoroki let his hand fall, and he immediately started radiating heat as he scowled at the four in front of them.

“Alright!” Kirishima grabbed both Bakugou and Todoroki. “Enough. Don’t be stupid. Shindo –” Kirishima directed a nasty look towards the bastard. “Ground Beta. It’s right before the forest – bunch of buildings. Ten PM. We’ll make sure Aizawa is taken care of.”  

Turtleneck nodded. “We’ll take care of Ms. Joke.”  

“Great. Fuckin’ looking forward to it.” Bakugou said, and he turned on his heels before he lost control and blew them all up at once. He wasn’t going to murder anyone tonight, no, because that wasn’t what heroes did. Heroes won – but they also protected. He was going to protect Uraraka, and he was going to fucking win while doing it.

He hadn’t expected his whole class to rally behind his cause. He couldn’t even properly explain why this was all happening, but it had only taken one short sentence constructed by Kirishima in a group chat created without Uraraka – One of Ketsubutsu’s messed with one of ours. Getting even tonight. Meet at Todoroki’s room at 8:30.

They hadn’t just shown up – they had shown up ready. Kaminari and Sero were first, as to be expected, decked out completely in their hero gear.

"I knew there was something off about that dude.” Kaminari shook his head as Kirishima explained to him more or less what was going on. “He’s been a shit head since the License Exam.”

Mina came with Momo, Jirou, Tsu and Hagakure all in tow. They all looked somber, and ready for a war. Momo spoke in a low voice, “I have a personal bone to pick with Shindo, so this should be…therapeutic.” Bakugou swore he saw the emotionless half-and-half crack a smile at that.

After that, the surprising ones showed up. Ojiro with Tokoyami and Shoji, who didn’t speak but just nodded, understanding. Aoyama, pulling a nervous-looking Koda, and Sato, who had brought everyone protein bars to keep their energy up for battle, and a whole cake for himself. Even the little grape shit showed up, though Todoroki made him sit between Sero and Kaminari, far away from the girls.

The last to show up before Deku was the class rep himself – Iida. He looked vastly out of his element and extremely uncomfortable, but his eyes flashed dangerously behind his glasses.

"Wow, this is impressive.” Mina commented. “I’m so proud of you guys.” There was a hint of emotion in her voice. Bakugou rolled his eyes, but he had to admit, it was pretty fucking cool to see all of his classmates come together to beat the shit out of some scumbags.

“Alright, here’s the plan. Someone needs to make sure Aizawa is accounted for.” Kirishima began, taking the reins on the whole thing. Bakugou was good at plans, but he wasn’t great at expressing them. He could relay what he wanted to happen to Kirishima easily, but a group of twenty required a bit more eloquence than he possessed.

“I’ll do it.” Iida said almost immediately. Everyone in the room gave him strange looks, including Bakugou. Four-Eyes was a huge rule-follower, to the point where it was obnoxious. Deceiving a teacher seemed like it would be low on his list of things he wanted to do, but then again, so did breaking curfew to hold a full-on battle on school property with a school they were supposed to be forming a friendship with. Shit happened.

“Just tell me what I need to do.”

While Kirishima explained Iida’s mission to him, and they bounced ideas off of each other, Bakugou let his thoughts wander to Uraraka, alone in the infirmary. He knew that if she was aware of what was going on, she would be livid, but he also knew she would want to fight. Uraraka was strong; there wasn’t a fragile bone in her goddamn body. He had proof of that from the few times she had managed to knock him on his ass while they were sparring – but something about Shindo seemed to throw her into an almost comatose state. He didn’t want to even think about what he could have possibly said to her during the Battle Royale – or done to her. He forced the dark thought deep into his brain. He would remind himself of it when it was time to kick Shindo’s ass.

For you, angel face, he said in his head. I’m gonna do it for you.

“So, in summary, we’re just gonna put the beat down on Ketsubutsu, yeah?” Kaminari asked, clarifying.  

“Yeah.” Bakugou grunted.

“It was Shindo, right?” Ojiro wondered. “He’s been messing with Uraraka? I’ve noticed how stressed out she’s been the whole day. I came across Shindo during the Battle Royale. He fights dirty.”

“Then we’ll fight dirtier.” Mina promised. “Oh, important thing. We need Shindo’s cell phone. No questions asked please. Just get it, and give it to me, so I can personally melt it.”  

“Let’s show them what UA is made of!” Hagakure exclaimed.

“Yeah, Plus Ultra!” Sero cried.

“Plus fuckin’ Ultra.” Bakugou snarled.

-x-

“Here we are again, Miss Ochako.” Aizawa stood in the hallway, looking in at her. “You’re starting to become the biggest problem child in my class, and that’s saying something.”

Uraraka flushed but smiled slightly. She couldn’t argue with that. She had been problematic lately.

“It’s not on purpose.” Uraraka promised. She was feeling lighter since her talk with Deku, and she was now determined to partake in whatever plan he and Bakugou were coming up with. Aizawa coming into her room was a bit of a deterrent to that, but maybe if she feigned ill, he would leave. She put on her most pitiful face.

Aizawa sighed and entered the room. Uraraka couldn’t say she wasn’t grateful for the company.

“I know that.” Aizawa sat down in a chair next to her bed. He looked exhausted, as was par for the course in his everyday life. “Emi – Ms. Joke, sorry, spoke to her students. Mine seem to be avoiding me.” His eyes flashed. “Even my more reliable ones aren’t talking.”

Uraraka swallowed nervously. It had to be Bakugou’s plan. “I don’t know what’s going on any more than you do, Sensei –”

Aizawa held up a hand to silence her. “I don’t believe that at all. You’re not as good of a liar as you think you are.”

“Sensei!” Uraraka squeaked, embarrassed. “I’m not –” She trailed off, sure that if she said anything else, she’d just dig herself a deeper hole.

He didn’t reply, just appraised her carefully. “Shindo Yo is not a good person. That much is clear in this situation.”

Uraraka stared back at him, her heart beating rapidly. “No…no, he’s really not.”

Aizawa nodded. “I figured that out at the Provisional License Exam. So did Bakugou, it seems.” His voice was cool, calm as usual, but there was a hint of distaste in the way he spoke about Shindo. “Ms. Joke knows too, of course. She’s not very…serious…but she’s a very intelligent hero.”

Uraraka smirked at that. Aizawa defending his girlfriend was a sweet sight. He noticed her face and then went back to his signature scowl. “At the restaurant, she mentioned to me that she thought Shindo might be behind the random hatred you and your classmates and Ketsubutsu suddenly developed for each other, so I suggested that we step out and see what happens.”

Uraraka gasped. “So, you knew. You heard everything.”

“Yes, we heard everything, but both your class and Shindo’s are experts at speaking out of context. I couldn’t figure out why you were upset, just that UA was rallying against Ketsubutsu and vice versa, but it seems that Shindo is the ringleader, and judging by your reaction to him…”

She sighed, a deep and shuddering breath that made her whole body tremble with fear.

“Most of them – UA, and Ketsubutsu – didn’t know what was happening.” She said softly.

Aizawa hummed thoughtfully then was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, makes sense.” He said finally.

“What? Really?” Uraraka didn’t think it made sense.

“That sounds like my class.” He said simply. “They don’t know the situation, they just know that someone from Ketsubutsu hurt their friend, and so they have to make things even.” He shook his head, looking almost amused. “A bunch of idiots.” He murmured fondly. Then, his expression turned serious as he locked his eyes to Uraraka.

“As your teacher, and also as somebody who cares for your wellbeing, it is important for me to know what Shindo Yo did to you. There’s no need to lie to me. I’m on your side, no matter what, Uraraka.”

Uraraka bit her lip to keep herself from word-vomiting out everything that had happened since the party – she knew Aizawa didn’t want all the details. But…he was a pro-hero, and a teacher, and someone who could really help her. She had just told Deku, and the reaction had been kind, and not what she expected at all. Maybe Aizawa would be similar. Deku did say it was common sense to tell a teacher, and he had a point.

She considered her options. Part of her, a very big and very loud part, wanted to seek out Shindo on her own, and show him that she was the wrong girl to mess with. Another part of her, quieter, meeker, suggested that the two previous times they had met, she had been unable to do anything to defend herself, and had been a blubbering, hyperventilating mess. It was no wonder Shindo hadn’t just bitten the bullet and sent out the picture – he was probably enjoying her losing her mind over it all. Sadistic fuck. The smaller part of Uraraka was screaming now, begging her to tell Aizawa – be logical! She knew that was the right thing to do – but what if Aizawa was disgusted with her? What if he never looked at her the same way? What if he told the other teachers, the principal, her parents? Was it possible that she could tell Aizawa and still get her personal revenge on Shindo? It was unlikely.

“Uraraka, I can see your brain working.” Aizawa brought her back to reality with his deadpan voice.

“Shindo is…threatening me…” She began, forcing the words from her throat before she could think to regret them. “Only Mina knows. And Dek - Midoriya. No one else.”

“Okay.” Aizawa transformed into full-on parent-mode right before Uraraka’s eyes. He sat up straight, attentive, and anger was hidden under his stoic expression. “How is he threatening you?”

“He...oh, boy. Are you sure you want to hear this, Sensei?” She couldn’t look at him, so she opted to stare at the pads of her fingers instead.

“No, but I need to.” He sighed.

“It’s…very embarrassing…to tell your teacher…” Uraraka clenched her eyes shut to force the tears out of them. She was so incredibly sick of crying. She wondered if Mei could make her a support item that would disable her tear ducts.

Aizawa inclined his head. “I wouldn’t judge you, Uraraka. Everyone makes mistakes. God knows I’ve made my share.”

Uraraka couldn’t imagine her impassive, haggard and permanently-worn down teacher had ever gotten into nearly as much drama as Uraraka had found herself in the last few months. He seemed more like a Tokoyami or Ojiro-type, one to keep his head down and skirt through life. But he was good friends with Present Mic, and dating a hero named Ms. Joke, so maybe he was full of surprises.

Here goes nothing. She took a deep breath, then told him everything as quickly as she could. The post-Provisional License Exam hotel party, how she got too drunk (she left out the part about the drugs, figuring that might give her teacher a heart attack), how Shindo tried to take her back to his hotel room, how Bakugou intervened, how Kirishima knocked Shindo out, and how Shindo approached her at the Battle Royale and told her that if she didn’t do exactly what he wanted, that he would send the picture out to everyone – or even go as far as publishing it in a hero magazine. She told the story differently than how she told it to Deku, but it was relieving all the same. The more people she told, the lighter the anxiety was on her chest. It was like removing weights one at a time.

“I see…” Aizawa said after a beat of silence while he took in everything. “That is…particularly disgusting.”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have taken the picture. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk.” She apologized quickly, bowing her head low. “It was stupid, and I was stupid and now I have to deal with it and I’m going to figure out a plan and –”

“Uraraka.” Aizawa interrupted her. “Stop. Don’t blame yourself. It’s tiring to listen to.”

She bit back her words and opted to continue bowing her head instead of having to look at him. She could imagine the shame in his eyes.

“Look at me.”

Uraraka frowned but directed her head up towards him. His face was not unkind, not at all. He was clearly upset, but it wasn’t at her. He looked frustrated. “I wish you had come to me with this immediately.”

“I wanted to…handle it myself. I told Mina. Mina tried to get the phone from him, but it didn’t end up working.” She trailed off, ashamed.

“Ashido is a good friend.” Aizawa said off-handedly. “And smart. However, Ketsubutsu has extremely capable students as well. The Battle Royale today showed your strengths well, but it could’ve gone either way. Ms. Joke has told me that Shindo is one of her most intelligent and strongest students in battle. She called him one of her most promising heroes.” His mouth twisted into a scowl. “But said he’s a master manipulator.”

“I don’t want my life to be ruined before I’ve even become a pro hero. That’s not the image I want. I – he said he would delete it if I broke up with Bakugou. He said he wants to hurt him.”

Aizawa rubbed his temple. “Yeah, Bakugou makes enemies easily. Listen, Uraraka. I’ve known men like Shindo – even if you did what he said to do, he would keep that picture and use it to blackmail you more. It’s a never-ending cycle of cruelty. Unfortunately, men like Shindo still become heroes.”

“What do I do, then? I can’t…I can’t let him send it out.”

“You told an adult, which was the right thing to do.” He said sternly. “I imagine you want to handle this yourself, because you’re the most headstrong class I’ve ever had, and you all want to do everything on your own.” He rolled his eyes slightly. “However, I will handle this, Uraraka. You stay out of it.”

She regretted telling him almost as soon as the words left his mouth. She didn’t want to stay out of it. She wanted Aizawa to tell her to fight him, to show him what she could do – she knew Aizawa was aware of her capabilities, having championed for her during her fated fight with Bakugou back in the Sports Festival. He knew, so he should let her prove herself.

Of course, he was a teacher and his responsibilities lied in the safety of his students, so he would never do that. She felt the disappointment deep within her soul, and was trying to reconcile herself with it, when the door to the infirmary burst open, and Iida appeared before them, out of breath and red in the face.

“Aizawa Sensei!” He chopped at the air, “I’m so glad I found you! Monoma copied Kouda’s quirk and called an entire pack of cats to the dorms! They’re everywhere!”

“What…?” Aizawa scratched his head in confusion. “Cats?”

Iida nodded seriously. “At least one hundred cats, sir!”

“Of all the things I didn’t need tonight.” His eye twitched. “Where are they?”

“Everywhere, but they seem to be mainly concentrated in Class 1B’s dorm. Vlad King sent me to find you because he said you’re good with animals. Kouda ran off after Monoma copied him, so we can’t communicate with the cats anymore! Present Mic, Midnight and Ms. Joke are already there trying to handle the situation and I told Recovery Girl on my way in, she said she loves cats and left to help!”

“Okay, okay. Christ. Uraraka, I need to take care of this. We’ll handle your situation in the morning. Thank you, Iida.” He sighed deeply, then stood to go, as if contemplating if this job was really worth it. Uraraka stared at Iida, wide-eyed. There was a beat of silence while they waited for Aizawa to put some distance between them.

“Cats?” She asked incredulously. Iida actually smirked, but then his expression turned businesslike.

“Uraraka, do you want to take part in the battle between UA and Ketsubutsu tonight? It is about to begin.”

She gasped. “What? A battle?”

“Yes, Bakugou arranged it. I know how it feels to want revenge. I wanted to offer you that option.”

“Iida.” Uraraka’s eyes shone. She didn’t even worry about the logistics, she just wanted to go. “Thank you. Yes. Where are they?”

“I’ll take you there.” He patted his back. “Come on, we must hurry! I don’t know how long the cats will keep the staff occupied!”

As if in a daze, Uraraka clambered out of her infirmary bed and jumped onto Iida’s back, laughing at the senselessness of the whole situation. Maybe she had panicked her way into a hallucination and she was imaging this all. He secured her to him, and then with a blast of flame, he ignited his thrusters, and they flew out of the building and made their way towards Ground Beta. No, she could tell by the air hitting her face as Iida ran that she was definitely awake, and she was going to fight back against Shindo.

-x-

The night air was numbing against Bakugou’s face as he walked towards Ground Beta. This time, he was alone. It was a little before ten, which was their official meeting time, but Bakugou needed some time without his classmates to think through everything that was going to go down. Many people thought of him as a rash, impulsive hero-in-training. No one seemed to trust his strategizing skills – but they were wrong. He was always thinking ahead, always assessing his opponents, and always planning for victory. You don’t get to be number one by just charging into a battle field unprepared.

It was quiet when he got there. Almost eerie. He knew that he would be the only one here, having left most of his class behind in Todoroki’s room and knowing that Shindo was way too much of a bitch to risk his pretty-boy face by showing up alone.

The more he had been thinking about it, the more he had been able to piece together the situation. Uraraka’s fear after the Battle Royale was not her normal shaken-up behavior. He knew what that looked like – it was the frustration etched into her face after she still didn’t understand an assignment after the fourth explanation. It was the way her lips turned up into a pout when she lost a sparring match. It was the way she stared down at the floor shyly whenever she was uncomfortable, disappointed, frustrated. She displayed those emotions frequently. No, this wasn’t frustration at Shindo taking her out of some silly exam, this was more of terror. Add that to the fact that Mina had been hyper-focused on getting the bastard’s phone from him made Bakugou come to the conclusion that he had something on her that he was keeping on his cellphone and he was threatening her with it.

The only question was what?  Shindo disgusted Uraraka. That was evident on her face anytime the bastard walked by or was mentioned. If he had anything on her, it was not something she disclosed to him by choice.

So, how did he fucking get it? What did he have on her, and what was he threatening to do with it? Whatever it was, it must’ve been pretty damn bad if Uraraka was rendered useless by it. She was not the type of person to go down without a fight. Bakugou wanted to tell her that whatever it was, he wouldn’t care, but bringing up the topic of Shindo to her didn’t seem like the best idea.

If she was afraid to fight because of it, that was fine. He was learning that some battles couldn’t be fought alone. That was why he would help her fight it.

“Hey.” He hadn’t realized how long he had been standing outside and was startled when Todoroki’s voice greeted him. They had decided on coming separately, as to not draw attention to themselves. Iida was in charge of distracting Aizawa, but the nerd wasn’t a natural rule-breaker, so Bakugou wasn’t sure how effective his plan would be.

“Hey.” Bakugou grunted back at the half-and-half.

“This is going to get messy.” He said it casually, as if commenting on the weather. “You prepared for the worst?”

“What’s the worst?” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

Todoroki shrugged. “Expulsion, probably. Aizawa’s done it before.”

“Tch. The old man loves us too much. Besides, wouldn’t be much of fucking heroes if we just let someone step all over our own damn classmate, would we?”

"You’ve come a long way, Bakugou.” Todoroki said simply. “Both in your relationship with Uraraka, and as a person.”

“Don’t get fuckin’ soft on me, half-and-half. We’ve got a goddamn battle to win.” Bakugou growled. Todoroki nodded in response, and then was silent.

Minutes went by, and one by one, students from UA and Ketsubutsu arrived. He counted his classmates, whose names had slowly burned themselves into his brain: Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, Mina, Hagakure, Momo, Aoyama, Tokoyami, Ojiro, Tsu, Shoji, Sato, Jirou, Kouda, Mineta, and Deku. The only two missing were Iida and Uraraka. Iida was in the midst of his distraction, but Uraraka was completely out of action. The thought almost made Bakugou sad.

He focused back on the attention at hand with the arrival of the guest of honor himself: Shindo. He walked up to the field accompanied by Turtleneck and Misery (Bakugou had learned their names from Kirishima, but he didn’t really think they deserved to be called by them). They were clad in their hero uniforms and laughing amongst themselves, like this was a game that they had decided to partake in.

Bakugou really couldn’t wait to body all three of them – the image of it brought a genuine smile to his face. Bringing pain to people deserved it was really one of his few joys in life.

“Oi, heads up, Bakugou.” Kirishima had ended up next to him and spoke now. He nodded towards the other side of the field, where Ketsubutsu was stretching and preparing and where Shindo was now walking confidently at them.

“Everyone showed.” Shindo noted as he reached them. Todoroki was still at his side, and Bakugou felt the increase of heat in the air at the bastard’s voice. “Surprised. It’s obvious you all have some…weak links.” He smiled sympathetically in the direction of Aoyama, who was speaking animatedly with Tokoyami about something.

“Every hero in this class has more potential and more honor than you.” Todoroki was the one who answered, his usual subdued tone was tight and fierce.

Shindo laughed breezily. “I guess we’ll see. I’m ready when you are.”

“We need to wait for Iida.” Said Kirishima. “He’s taking care of Aizawa Sensei.”

“Ah, no.” Shindo said sagely. Everything he said was so goddamn annoying. Bakugou didn’t know how he found anyone irritating before he had the displeasure of meeting Shindo, because nobody compared. He oozed superiority. “We have a better way of preventing any unwanted spectators from showing up. Tatsu!”  

A rail-thin boy with square glasses jogged over to them. He reminded Bakugou of Iida, if the nerd had skipped every meal for the entirety of his life. He was smirking. “Ready, boss?”

“Boss.” Snorted Bakugou.

Shindo ignored him. “Ready.” He turned back to the three boys in front of him. “Tatsu can block out things – individual people’s noises, or a collective group. Anything outside of his range won’t be able to hear or feel anything that’s going on. It’s pretty cool. Show them, Tatsu.”

The string-bean directed his gaze towards Mina, who was babbling excitedly to Momo, and whispered, “Shh.”

Mina’s voice continued to move, but no sound came out. Momo gasped, alarmed, and Mina threw her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and fearful.

“Okay, give it back.” Kirishima said quickly, cringing as Mina floundered. Skeletal boy gave a gaunt smile, and then said clearly, “be heard.”

“What the fuck?” Mina sputtered, gawking at the students around her desperately.

“It’s his fuckin’ creepy ass quirk.” Bakugou said blandly. “He’s gonna silence the whole damn field for us. Fuckin’ cast of a horror movie out here.”

“Impressive.” Todoroki admitted.

“So, let’s do this.” Turtleneck finally verbalized her presence. She and Misery hung around like puppets.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Kaminari, who had been listening in from close-by announced. His body crackled with electricity. “Hey, Tatami.” He waved. Turtleneck rolled her eyes at him. Bakugou figured they must’ve had a run-in during the Battle Royale, or Provisional License Exam for that matter.

“Okay.” Shindo answered, his voice dripping with thrill. “Can’t wait to see what you can do in person, Bakugou. Maybe this will be good practice for you, since you couldn’t manage to pass the exam.” He frowned, faking pity. “I’ll be glad to help.”

Bakugou balled his hands into fists and shot him the nastiest glare he could imagine. “You’ll fuckin’ see what I can do!” He snapped at him.

“Yeah, let’s stop talking!” Kirishima was already flexing his muscles, clearly ready for this fight.

“Do your thing, Tatsu.” Shindo said. All of the Ketsubutsu students were either assholes, or submissive, creepy fucks. It shouldn’t even be statistically possible to get a full hero-course full of shitty fucking people, but Bakugou figured Ketsubutsu was a rare case. Camie belonged in this class, honestly.

The malnourished kid spread his arms out and spun, letting his eyes fall on every part of the field in some ominous ritual-like occurrence. Once he had taken in the entirety of Ground Beta, he said in a raspy voice, “Shh.”

An immediate, suffocating wave of stillness fell over Bakugou, but when he opened his mouth, he found he could still speak. The freakshow had managed to keep their noise concentrated inside the bubble of Ground Beta.

“Wild.” Breathed Sero.

“No more waiting.” Bakugou said, lighting up an explosion. “Let’s fuckin’ do this.”

-x-

It was unusually hushed outside, Uraraka noted, as Iida and her zoomed through the grounds at speeds she had never known existed. The only sound she could process was the air rushing past her ears and Iida’s feet as they sprinted across damp grass.

The silence unnerved her. Iida had briefed her on everything, and she knew that there was no way forty heroes-in-training could manage to make no noise at all during an all-out battle.

“Iida!” She called into his ear. “Do you think the battle was called off?”

“It seems largely out of character for Bakugou to call anything off!” Iida shouted back as they came closer to Ground Beta. “We’re almost there, so we will see!”

As the battle field came into view, Uraraka gasped and Iida slowed his run. Explosions were lighting up the night sky as windows shattered noiselessly. A wall of ice materialized and Uraraka’s eyes widened as she saw someone destroy it with the use of metal balls. On the ground, Dark Shadow was picking off Ketsubutsu students one-by-one, while Aoyama periodically shot off his laser, keeping the creature under control. Every single Class A student, and what looked like all of Ketsubutsu had taken the Ground Beta for a battle of revenge. For her.

“Iida.” Uraraka whispered when they had come to a full-stop. “This is a war.”

Iida nodded grimly. “It seems to have gotten slightly out of control, but…” He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. “I believe that Ketsubutsu has brought this upon themselves.”

Mina skated by on a trail of acid, and threw her hands up at Tatami, who was popping in and out of vision by condensing her body to avoid her attacks, but the pink girl seemed to have a personal vendetta. Momo had created a variety of traps and was tossing them to Sero, who was taping them to random places on the field where they would be unnoticed by their foes. Even Mineta was there – rapidly tossing purple balls anywhere he could and cheering as the other school’s students fell onto them and were left to struggle and flail.

“This is…incredible.” Uraraka gasped. She watched, mesmerized, as Ojiro whacked a spikey-haired brunette boy in the face with his tail, and then Tsu materialized out of the grass, camouflage disappearing, and then used her tongue to throw him across the field.

Crows flitted around in the sky, and the fact that they made no sound was menacing. They picked at the Ketsubutsu students, pecking and flapping their wings, while boomerangs were thrown to disperse them. Kouda stood with his fists clutched, a determined and terrified look on his face.

It was utter chaos. A red flash lit up the sky and she watched as a tall blonde girl jumped onto Momo, pulling her ponytail. She spotted Deku, fighting alongside Kirishima, against the blue-faced boy who had almost won the Battle Royale. He appeared to using heavy weaponry to fend them off, without even breaking a sweat. The ground was shaking inside of the field, but the tremors didn’t reach Uraraka and Iida.

Her eyes searched desperately for the one person she needed to see, and of course, she found him face-to-face with Shindo. She couldn’t hear him, but she knew if she could, he would be screaming. Bakugou’s mouth was open in a battle-cry and his hands were detonating at a breakneck pace. Shindo was tearing the ground up under him, throwing both UA and Ketsubutsu students around like ragdolls, but Bakugou avoided it every time, shooting himself into the air with his explosions and raining fire back down on Shindo.

“I need to get in there.” Uraraka said urgently. Iida nodded, understanding, and he activated his thrusters once more and made a beeline for the battle.

Once they broke through the barrier, it was like somebody had taken the world off of mute. Uraraka’s ears were assaulted with a cacophony of grunts, cries and blasts. Names were being screamed in warning, weapons were being thrown, traps were being fallen into. Curses were being lobbed at each other with venom. Dark Shadow raged. It was like she had fallen into a scene from an action movie.

“Watch out!”

“Midoriya, now!”

“Take that, you fuck!”

Nobody noticed their arrival in all the activity, and Uraraka could use that to her advantage. Iida took off quickly, running to help Aoyama who was clutching his stomach in pain and cowering from Dark Shadow, who had grown considerably. Tokoyami was sweating from the exertion, but he had been training on keeping Dark Shadow under control, and it showed.

All around her, her classmates were falling down. Jirou was holding Kaminari, who had shocked himself stupid again. Momo was on her knees, on the verge of passing out due to overuse of her quirk; Hagakure sat next to her, her gloves the only indication that she was even there at all. Kirishima was taking blow after blow from the blue-faced boy, but he kept getting up.

Uraraka heard a familiar scream – Mina – and she looked over to see her on the ground, being pushed down by Nusumu, who was glowing red. Whatever her quirk was, it was causing Mina pain. Without thinking twice, Uraraka ran to her, and screamed at the childish girl. “Hey, bitch!”

Nusumu looked up for just a moment, and that was enough for Uraraka. She had grabbed a piece of earth that Shindo had broken up and lobbed it at the girl, screeching, “release” as she did. Regaining its gravity, her makeshift weapon hit its mark, and she was thrown off Mina with a pained squeak.

"That’s for the forest!” Uraraka spat at her.

"Uraraka!” Mina cried, standing up and dusting herself off. She let out a shaky, relieved breath. “Holy shit, that was amazing! Thank you.” She bowed slightly before returning her attention to the pandemonium around them. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at the infirmary.”

“Iida brought me.” She explained. “Mina, this is insane.” Her eyes wandered over to Shoji, who was now carrying Tsu in his arms like they had done at the Sports Festival and watched as the two of them picked off an unassuming Ketsubutsu girl who seemed like she didn’t really want to be there in the first place.

“My love, this is a Battle Royale. This is what happens when someone messes with one of our people.” Mina’s hair was in every direction and her eyes were insane. “Ah, fuck. I’ve gotta go. Someone is trying to mess with my man and he needs an acid wash.” Before Uraraka could answer, she took off in the direction of Kirishima, who was being worn down by the sheer force of the blue-faced boy. Deku too was looking overexerted.  

Actually, all around her, everyone was looking worse-for-wear. This battle was not sustainable, and it wouldn’t be long before everyone knocked each other out. Those who were still fighting were missing their marks, coughing, wheezing, bleeding. The thought worried Uraraka. They had done this for her. Bakugou had done this for her.

Bakugou was on the ground again, panting as he tried to recover his stamina. Shindo stood in front of him, also breathing heavily and wiping sweat off of his face, but his manic smile lit up his face as his eyes found Uraraka. “Hey, Bakugou.” He spat. “Look who came to play.”

"What are you doing here, angel face?!” Bakugou yelled, looking like a combination of both startled and…proud. He was covered in dirt and he had a cut on his cheek, but he was nowhere near done. That much was evident in his eyes. “Thought I told you to stay put!”

“I’m fighting!” Uraraka shouted back, racing towards her boyfriend. Shindo chuckled.

“Fighting? You’re not so good at that, angel!” He shook the ground again, but Uraraka threw herself into the air to avoid it. Bakugou followed suit. More students on the battlefield stumbled at the interruption of the ground’s sturdiness.

“You’re gonna let all your friends suffer for you, huh?” Shindo was maddened, his voice cracked. “Just because you don’t want anyone to know you’re a whore?”

The last line seemed to ring out into the air with the clarity of a tolling bell. Right before it left his mouth, the feel of silence was cracked, and the sounds of nature re-entered Uraraka’s ears. The earthquake that Shindo had created made its way past Ground Beta and shook the trees surrounding them. Kouda’s crows scattered.

“Fuck, Shindo -” Tatami cried, “Tatsu’s down!” Uraraka looked to where Tatami’s eyes were – they were on an emaciated boy who laid on the floor, mummified in tape. Sero stood above him.

“You weren’t supposed to take him out, you idiot!” Itejiro snapped. “He’s keeping us out of trouble!”

“It doesn’t matter, keep fighting!” Shindo demanded. His eyes moved erratically from Tatami and Tatsu back to her. “Uraraka, eyes on me. I’m going to end you. Then this will all have been for nothing.”

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” Bakugou slammed an explosion directly into Shindo’s face, but he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blast zone.

“You wouldn’t be so defensive of her if you knew what she did, Bakugou! Should I tell him, Uraraka? I should, shouldn’t I?”

“You’re a liar! You’re a liar and you stole something that wasn’t yours!” Uraraka bellowed. All around them, the sounds of fighting had grown quieter. The ones that were still able to move had ceased fighting and were now listening and watching. “I’m not fucking afraid of you!”

“Yeah? You should be!” Shindo set off another earthquake, and Uraraka once again rose into the sky. As she did so, Shindo pulled something out of his pocket, his shiny, silver cellphone. “I have Aizawa on fuckin’ speed dial.”

“He knows!” Uraraka spat at him. She landed down next to Bakugou. She was so close she could touch him. “I told him! I told him everything! He knows all about you, and so does Ms. Joke! If you do it, everyone will know it was you and they'll know you're a liar!”

Shindo’s face contorted into a furious grimace. “Wrong move, bitch!” He opted to throw out his quirk entirely, and charge at Uraraka with just his raw strength.

“Katsuki! Remember when we were late to class?” Uraraka cried, managing to dodge Shindo once, which only made him angrier. Bakugou nodded, his face lit up with recognition. She touched all five fingers to his arm and he ascended into the sky. With all her concentration, she floated him to the air, and then turned to Shindo, who was staring at Bakugou in the sky, confused. “You can’t control me! You can send the picture out to every one of my classmates, because you know what, they won’t judge me!”

“Yeah, what about your boyfriend?” Shindo teased, piercing her with his eyes. “Will he judge you?”

"In your fuckin’ dreams, bastard!” Bakugou screamed from the air. He was now directly above Shindo. “Uraraka!”

“RELEASE!” Uraraka’s voice was strained from use, but her declaration echoed throughout Ground Beta, and Bakugou came barreling down like a fiery comet, slamming into Shindo’s body at an ungodly speed with his explosions lighting up the sky behind him.

After how loud it had been during the battle, the silence following the impact was deafening. This wasn’t an artificial silence – it was real. Uraraka stared in shock into the crater that Bakugou had created with his body. He laid on top of Shindo, his eyes closed, and his arms splayed out. She let out a dry sob. Everyone around her watched in fear – they knew they had gone too far.

Uraraka jumped down and touched her fingers to Bakugou tenderly, floating him up to a safe area. As a second thought, she smacked her hand against Shindo too, with no gentleness in her action. Kirishima saw what she was doing, and he put his arms around Bakugou, pulling him down to the ground. Uraraka let gravity return and Bakugou landed softly in the grass. Shindo, she was a little less careful with, and she felt satisfied with the thud as his body hit the floor.

There was movement all around her as Tatami rushed to Shindo’s side, and the rest of the Ketsubutsu and UA students stirred, talking in low voices, and helping out the more injured, but Uraraka kept her attention on Bakugou.

“Hey…” She touched his cheek with only four fingers. His eyes opened slowly, blinking in his surroundings.

“Hey, angel face.” He smiled, a slightly dreamy expression on his face. Uraraka blanched, amazed that he was awake, but sure that he had hit his head hard. “You’re such a fuckin’ badass.”

Uraraka stared for a moment, then cracked the smallest smile she could accomplish, feeling a tear fall down her cheek. “Thanks. We make a great team.”

“Yeah, we do.” He shifted slightly and produced something in his hand. “Oi, alien freak.” He called. Mina startled at her nickname. “Got something for you.”

In his hands was Shindo’s cellphone, slightly charred now and cracked from the crash. Bakugou tossed it to her with what little strength he had left, and she fumbled to grab it from where it had landed. She activated her acid and the tiny machine melted easily in her hands, and then she started laughing – really laughing. Hysterical snickers burst out of her mouth and then evolved into full on shrieks.

“Uh, Mina?” Kirishima asked nervously, but then all of the sudden, he let out a loud guffaw. Uraraka felt her chest lighten up and an unwelcome smile was finding its way onto her lips.

“Oh, no.” Tatami’s mouth broke into a grin on its own accord. “We’re, ha, in so much, hahaha, trouble!” 

“Yes, you absolutely are.” Aizawa’s voice bared down upon them like a fifty-ton weight. The anger behind it was palpable. Uraraka looked up from Bakugou to see Aizawa, Ms. Joke, Present Mic, and Midnight all standing before them, all looking various shades of disappointed. Aizawa held a small black kitten in his arms, which somehow only made him look more terrifying. 

“Worth it.” Bakugou choked out, and then he proceeded to pass out in Uraraka’s arms. He was beat up, but there was a ghost of a smile on his now smooth face. There was a high chance they would all get expelled. Possibly murdered. At the very least, Aizawa would come up with the punishment of their lives. Yet, with the adrenaline pumping through her veins right then, and the sight of her classmates around her, worn from battle but victorious, Uraraka thought that she agreed with Bakugou. It was worth it.

Chapter Text

"Complete idiots. Hot-headed. Impulsive. Shortsighted.”

It was well-past midnight now and the entirety of Class A sat in their homeroom classroom, being chewed into by Aizawa. Recovery Girl ambled between the rows in her slippers, planting kisses on the foreheads of all those who needed them – which was almost everyone. Only Bakugou was absent – he had been taken to the infirmary as soon as the teachers had found them in the middle of their very illegal battle. Shindo was carted off too, with explicit instructions given to Mic and Midnight to keep them in separate rooms. The harsh fluorescents showcased the fatigue apparent on everyone’s faces and clearly spotlighted Aizawa’s fury.

“It would be doing this school a favor if I expelled every last one of you.” He spat that out with so much venom that Uraraka physically cringed. “The only reason I’m not is because I don’t think it’s punishment enough for the ridiculous stunt you pulled. I’m struggling to think of something that would be bad enough for what you did and I’m coming up short.”

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose like a migraine was coming on. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hair raised at every sentence. The black kitten was pacing back and forth on Aizawa’s desk, surveying the class. It looked like it was mocking them. “I really don’t know why I’m surprised because I knew some of you were this stupid –” He and the cat glared at Kaminari and Sero – “but I thought I could rely on most of you to be levelheaded.” He directed his threatening gaze on Momo and Iida. “But it appears every one of you has lost their minds.”

“Sensei, I –” Momo began, but Aizawa silenced her with a hand.

"I will hear no excuses.” He cracked his neck and scowled. “Recovery Girl, thank you. They will be fine. Get some rest.”

The old woman smiled. “This class sure is a challenge, isn’t it, Shouta?”

Aizawa grimaced at the use of his first name, but simply nodded. “They are.”

Once Recovery Girl had shuffled out of the room, Aizawa rounded on his students once more.

“I have a sneaking suspicion that I know exactly who was behind this –”   

“ – It was me, Sensei!” Kirishima blurted out. “It was my idea.”

“No, it was my idea.” Todoroki bowed his head respectfully. “I wanted a chance to fight with Ketsubutsu.”

“I absolutely contributed to the plan.” Mina added. “Like, fifty percent of it was me.” 

“Hey, stop taking all the blame!” Uraraka protested. “You guys all did this because of me!” 

“Quiet.” Aizawa snapped, his eyes switching over fully to red. “As admirable as it is that you all want to take the blame for each other, you’re all being punished regardless, so there’s no need.” He paused and massaged his forehead. “To think of how seriously injured you all could have gotten – Bakugou is seriously injured. Many of you have minor injuries, as do the Ketsubutsu students.” This was angrier than Uraraka had ever seen Aizawa. Usually when they were in trouble, he radiated irritation, like their misbehavior was an inconvenience to him. Now, however, emotion was spilling out of his voice. 

Uraraka’s gut twisted at the mention of Bakugou. After he had passed out, she was able to actually get a good look at him. He was bleeding profusely from his hands – Recovery Girl had muttered something about the overexertion causing his calluses to break open again so that the explosions harmed him when he set them off. His left arm was broken and apparently, he was lucky it was only that. Shindo had cushioned his fall. At least he could be an unintentional hero.

She hadn’t been allowed to go with him to the infirmary. Aizawa had herded them like cattle and marched them on a silent walk-of-shame to their homeroom classroom, because it was the only place he could fit them all in. It was strange to look out the windows and see an expanse of darkness instead of the usual sunny sky. 

Her classmates were silent around her. She imagined they must be even more tired and in pain than she was. She had arrived at the battle late – she hadn’t taken nearly as much of a beating as some of them had.

Deku’s bandages were torn and unraveling at his elbows, but he didn’t seem to notice or mind. Kirishima’s hair had fallen down, turning into a sweaty mop that he kept having to push out of his eyes. Kaminari was still coming back from his journey into brainlessness, and Jirou had to keep repeatedly smacking his arm lazily with her jacks to get him to wipe the dopey smile off his face. Aizawa had provided a blanket for Momo to wrap herself in, because she had ended up ripping her outfit. Mina looked like a warrior – her hair was standing up in every direction and her face was covered in dirt that she hadn’t bothered to wipe off. She sat up straight, rigid and determined to take whatever Aizawa threw at them.

Aizawa let out a deep, long-suffering sigh, and picked up the kitten from his desk to pat it lightly on the head. “As idiotic as you all are, I understand your reasoning for wanting to stand up for your classmate.” Jaws dropped, Momo gasped, Kaminari gave a shaky thumbs up. Aizawa scowled at them. “That does not mean that it was the right thing to do. You should’ve come to me immediately and I would’ve handled the situation.” He gave a pointed look to Uraraka and she blushed and let her eyes fall to her lap. “I know that you are a tight-knit group enough to have each other’s back. That’s important in this society, but next time, don’t be so stupid about it, or I will expel every last one of you and you will be forced to sit on the sidelines and watch students like those from Ketsubutsu become heroes.” His voice cracked like a whip across the quiet classroom, and Uraraka cringed. The kitten mewled sweetly in his arms. 

“A-Aizawa Sensei?” Ojiro raised a tentative hand. Aizawa glowered at him, but inclined his head just slightly, allowing him to continue. “I may not know personally exactly what Shindo did, but I know he was harassing one of our classmates.” It felt like every pair of eyes fell onto Uraraka. “What will happen to him?”  

"Shindo has several broken ribs and a concussion, so in terms of hero work, he’ll be out of commission for some time.” Aizawa said mildly, but the hint of satisfaction under his voice was easy to catch. “Ms. Joke will be handling her class’s punishment.”

"Sensei?” Tsu’s eyes were two times their normal width and brimming with tears. She was about to play the favorite student card and play it well. Everyone waited with bated breath. “We are all so sorry about the trouble we’ve caused you. It was truly shameful of us to cause such a scene. We were just so…worried about our friend, that we got d-desperate.” 

Aizawa stared at her. The kitten stared at her. The whole class stared back at Aizawa and by default, the kitten. The kitten let out a tiny gurgle and Aizawa nodded, as if he was agreeing with it.

“I appreciate your apology. You’re still the worst trouble you have ever been in and hopefully ever will be in your lives.” 

The class released their collective breath in disappointment. 

“To start, you’re all on house arrest for the next month, minimum. I might change my mind once I have more time to think about how much you all pissed me off.” He said blandly. 

“A month!” Gasped Mina. “Cafeteria food for a month? I can’t schedule a hair appointment for a month? No escape from Mineta for a month!?” Mineta squeaked in protest.

“Two months for you, ringleader.” Aizawa shot back. 

“You’re a cruel god.” Mina mumbled under her breath. Aizawa appraised her but chose to drop it. 

“We will be increasing the security around the dorms. No more sneaking out at night. No more sneaking into each other’s dorms. There is a curfew for a reason and you have ignored it for far too long. I don’t care if you stay in the common rooms late at night – you’re going to have to with all the extra homework I’m going to assign.”

That was all it took to fully wake Kaminari up. He made a strangled sound. “Sensei! Extra homework? I thought we already had more homework than usual!”

Aizawa continued. “Speaking of curfew, it’s reduced. Nine on weekdays, ten on weekends. Not that it matters for a month, because you’re on house arrest, remember.” The kitten squealed enthusiastically. It was enjoying this.

“How can you do this to us?” Kirishima whispered, mostly to himself. 

"Because as I stated earlier, you’re idiots, and this is less punishment than you deserve.” Aizawa deadpanned. “You will all partake in extra lessons on hero ethics, with emphasis on the fact that we do not attack other heroes.” 

“Could hardly call him a hero.” Mina grumbled. Aizawa gave her a steely look and sighed. 

“Listen. In life, you will be introduced to many heroes who are not the most…ethical.” He said. “That is just something you can’t avoid. There is a collection of rules and protocol in place for handling heroes like that. However, you are not pros yet. You’re teenagers. And so are the students of Ketsubutsu. Most of them were just acting in the same way as you were – defending their own.” Mina opened her mouth to disagree, but Aizawa barreled on. “Most of you were ready to fight without even knowing the reason – don’t you think it was the same case as Ketsubutsu?”

When nobody met his eyes or answered him, he continued. “Both schools made bad decisions tonight. The actions of one student should not warrant a vendetta against the whole class. You will apologize to Ketsubutsu.” He paused. “Shindo is not included in that.” 

Uraraka knocked the grin off her face quickly before Aizawa caught wind of it and added more punishment. 

“Also, extra cleaning duties for everyone.” He said airily. “You can fight amongst yourself over who has the more unpleasant chores since you like fighting other students so much.”

"God, he’s on a roll.” Sero whistled low.

“Not enough for you, Sero?” Aizawa asked.

“No, it’s enough, it’s enough!”

“Internships are coming up, you know.” He began. Uraraka gasped, and her heart plummeted.

"Sensei, please don’t punish them! It was my fault! Don’t take away internships! I’ll take on extra punishment!” She cried. “Please.” She fixed him with her most desperate and pleading look. 

"Don’t be full of shit, Ochako.” Mina snapped back at her. “You didn’t force us to do this. I’ll gladly give up my internship if it means knowing you have peace of mind and won’t be harassed by some sick freak.” 

“Ashido.” Aizawa warned.

"No, I get it, Sensei. I get that you have to punish us. You’re a teacher, that’s your whole thing, but I’m not gonna sit here and let Ochako let guilt eat her alive over it. I don’t regret it one bit.”

“I don’t either.” Kirishima offered. “I mean, I’m sorry, Sensei. But I don’t.”

“Me either! Don’t worry about it, Uraraka.” Hagakure called. The rest of the class voiced or nodded their agreement. The kitten in Aizawa’s arms mewled happily. Uraraka liked to think that it was agreeing too, finally on their side.

“That’s all very sweet and wholesome, but the punishments stand.” He took a long pause, then: “We can revisit the topic of internships later. Heroes won’t be looking for interns for at least another month, which is, coincidentally, when your house arrest ends.” He said this all in a drab, unkind voice, but just the fact that he hadn’t taken internships away immediately was a small act of mercy. “That is all. You all need to go to bed now. There will be class tomorrow and if anyone is late, I’m tacking on an extra month to your house arrest. Can I trust you to actually go to your bedrooms or do I need to escort you?” His eyes were humorless. 

"I will assure that everyone gets to their appropriate dorms, sir!” Iida promised, the passion back in his voice. “I apologize for this oversight on my part, I will not let you down again!” 

“Ah, Iida. I almost forgot about your special punishment for acting as the distraction. Monoma told me it was all your idea and that he was coerced into it. A lie, I assume, but he is not my student and therefore, not my problem. You, however, will personally help me find homes for every cat that you brought into this campus. They are currently rounded up in the 1B dorm with Vlad King.” His eyes flashed, and Iida stammered out some semblance of an apology. “Every Saturday we will go to an adoption event until they are all given new homes. I’m not just dropping them off at a shelter.” Iida nodded, slightly dazed. Aizawa then addressed the class as a whole. “Also, as part of your punishment, you will share the responsibility of this kitten with me. Her name is Cuddles. Ms. Joke named her and if anyone comments on it, I will add two months to your house arrest.” 

“Cuddles.” Jirou whispered, snickering. Aoyama stared at the kitten, mesmerized. Kouda’s face lit up. 

“If this isn’t going to be seen as a punishment…” Aizawa started, his voice dripping with irritation. 

"It totally is. I hate cats.” Mina nodded vigorously, but there were stars in her eyes. “Since I’m a ringleader, can I be in charge of watching her for the first night?”

“No.”

“It was worth a try.”

“To bed, now. See you all in the morning.” He looked pointedly towards the door and waited for the first student to move. It was Iida. He held the door open and gestured for the students to follow. 

“Straight to your dorms, students!” He declared as they all filed out like zombies. 

“Man,” Hagakure whined, “Aizawa is really tough.”

“We deserved it.” Jirou commented.

"Truly.” Tokoyami nodded. “But I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. I got to really see what Dark Shadow can do.” 

"Yeah, honestly…it was kind of fun.” Kaminari said. “I wanted a rematch, although I think my body might physically be out of electricity now.” 

“I can barely move.” Ojiro agreed. “Between the Battle Royale and then the…second Battle Royale, we’re gonna be sore in the morning.”

Uraraka couldn’t believe that those two events had taken place on the same day, and she couldn’t believe her classmates were talking about it casually, like it was just another day of class. A day in the life of a hero student.

“Most exciting exercise we’ve had since starting here.” Mina giggled. “How long before we break the curfew rule?”

“Are you trying to get expelled?” Momo gasped. She was leaning heavily against Todoroki as they walked, his arm was around her for support. He hadn’t spoken much since they were caught, other than to take the blame and a muttered, “My father will kill me if he finds out about this.”

“If Aizawa was ever going to expel us, don’t you think this would be it? If anything, my friends, this has just taught us one thing: Aizawa loves us more than he will ever admit.” 

-x-

Iida insisted on walking them all to their dorms individually and dropping them off at their doors, like they were elementary schoolers on a field trip. He was right back to his rule-abiding, noble self, but Uraraka would remember his badass moment. She appreciated him so much for it.

“Sleep well, Iida.” She had said when he could see that she was securely in her room. He bowed and continued on his mission, which was to get Tsu and Deku to their respective rooms. She settled on her bed, careful not to lay back because she knew that as soon as her head hit the pillow, she would be out until her alarm went off – approximately five hours later. She groaned out loud. Tomorrow was going to suck, but she knew if she didn’t do this now, then she never would. She had to visit someone.

After giving herself a safety net of ten minutes – ten painful minutes where she forced herself to scroll through hero news to keep her brain awake – she slipped out onto her balcony and pressed her fingers together, reveling in the familiar tugging feeling that took over her body when gravity left her. For so long, she had associated her quirk with discomfort, but now that she was getting used to its power, it was a more pleasant experience. It felt kind of like that first drop on a rollercoaster, or bungee-jumping. Then it was flight, and she had all the freedom in the world.  

The grounds were, miraculously, empty. They had passed Ketsubutsu in the common area on their shameful trek back to their dorms. Ms. Joke sat on a couch while they gathered around her on the floor. She was speaking severely to them. Class A avoided eye-contact and Ms. Joke mercifully let them pass without incident. No one threw dirty looks at each other. No one spoke. Now that Shindo was dealt with, there was no need. They were just kids following the leader.

Uraraka yawned big and slowly let gravity overtake her again as she reached her destination. She knew what room he was in – had overheard the teachers discussing it as they carted him away. She figured he’d be up too. Call it a hunch. 

She padded softly down the hallway. Recovery Girl would have long-since gone to sleep by now – the poor old woman had confided in Uraraka during one of her many stays that she preferred to be in bed with a cup of tea by 7 PM, but that Class A was greatly disrupting her sleep schedule. Hopefully she would get a day off tomorrow. 

Her eyes scanned the doors as she tip-toed and found that most of them were open. Honestly, it was surprising that more students didn’t end up in the infirmary after the night that they had. Uraraka thought it was mostly due to stubborn attitudes and strong wills. They didn’t want to show weakness or admit that the battle had gotten out of hand. She understood. 

She passed by a closed door and hesitated. It was not the door she was seeking out, but she paused all the same. Her desire to open it was strong, but she held back.

A few more steps down the hallway and she was facing the room she was looking for. She mouthed the numbers to herself as a way of encouragement – this was something she needed to do. 

She didn’t bother with knocking. It was past 1 AM now. He was either awake or he wasn’t. If he wasn’t, she would leave, and that would be that. She was slightly more prepared for that scenario. If he was awake, then she would have to actually face him.

She took in a deep breath and pulled open the door. 

He was awake. She expected that. It must be hard to sleep with broken ribs. He was still, but his eyes were open, staring at the ceiling.

“Kinda surprised you’re my first visitor.” Shindo spoke in a gruff, hoarse voice. It was definitely shot from all the screaming he did. “What do you want?” He had lost his usual cool, threatening tone and spoke instead with one that sounded unsure. “If you came to gloat, you may as well save it. My brain is all messed up right now and I can’t focus on things well.” 

Uraraka bit her lip. This man didn’t deserve her pity, not even one bit, but there was a very loud part of her demanding that she realize how pathetic and broken he was. She came for closure, and that was it. Then she would never have to see him again. “Why did you pick me? At the party? I needed to know.”

Shindo gave her an odd look. “That’s your burning question? You were drunk and you’re cute. Did I need another reason?” He appraised her lazily.

 “There were a lot of cute, drunk girls there.” Uraraka called his bluff. “Camie, for one. She would’ve happily gone with you.” It was something she had been thinking about since Shindo had threatened her in the forest. He had zeroed in on her the moment she entered that room. 

“Camie didn’t interest me.” He said simply.

“Camie interests everyone – and you said you slept with her after the party.” She accused.

“Yeah, I did, but it was because I needed something from her.” He smirked. “I told you, I don’t like anything too easy. My whole life has been about challenging myself. Girls are no different.” He shrugged his shoulders, then cringed from the pain. “You were too difficult though. Not worth it.”

“Right, that’s why you gave up.” Uraraka resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Hanging around Bakugou all the time had upped her sass considerably. “Did you have some kind of vendetta against Bakugou? Before the party?” She said. “You can be honest.”

Shindo crinkled his nose. “What, are we friends are something? You want me to talk about my feelings?”

“What? Ew, no! But you’ve got nothing better to do right now than talk to me. I assume it’s pretty hard to sleep with several broken ribs.” She pointed out.

He scowled. “Yeah, thanks to your boyfriend.” When Uraraka didn’t answer, he sighed. “I didn’t like Bakugou from the first time I saw him – which was on TV, at the Sports Festival. Coincidentally, I remember you from that too. That’s why you interested me. You were cool. Strong.”

"If you thought I was strong, why would you tell me what a weak bitch I was while simultaneously blackmailing me and threatening to ruin my life?” Her voice was deadpan and Shindo actually laughed. Any potential sympathy for him flew out the infirmary window.

“Because it worked, didn’t it? Scared the shit out of you, and it was fun. The thing is, Uraraka, I always get what I want. I’ve mastered the art of it, really. Two years ago was the last time I was truly disappointed – until tonight. How frustrating.” He frowned. “Bakugou behaved like a rabid animal on national television and everyone is still obsessed with him like he’s some kind of prodigy. People in my class talked about him for weeks. Endeavor’s kid too. I’m stronger than him. Both of them. I wanted to knock Bakugou down a notch.”

“So, what, you’re jealous?” Uraraka stood her ground, close to the door.

“No, I’m not jealous!” He snapped. He rubbed his head and closed his eyes. “I’m just…I don’t need to fuckin’ talk about this with you. It doesn’t matter. You have my phone or what?”

Uraraka inched closer to the door. There was no way for Shindo to get himself out of his infirmary bed, but Uraraka couldn’t help but still feel slightly afraid of him. “I destroyed it. Well, Mina did.”

“Ah, you’re so predictable.” He shook his head. “So, I got away with it then.”

"I’m sorry, you think you got away with this?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Aizawa knows. Ms. Joke knows. You didn’t get away with anything.”

“Where’s your proof? Any evidence of me ever having that picture was melted away with your pink freak’s acid.”

 “I told Aizawa.”

 “Maybe he thinks you’re a liar.” He said, clearly enjoying himself. “You did allow your classmates to wage a whole war over you. It wouldn’t be entirely out of the realm of possibility that you told a little white lie. It got you a lot of attention, didn’t you? Maybe you like that.”

“You’re manipulative and I won’t fall for it anymore.” She snapped, defiant. “Even with a concussion you’re an absolute psycho. I can’t believe you can live with yourself knowing everything you’ve done. I’m sure I’m not the only person you’ve tortured like this.”

“Tortured? Don’t be dramatic” He rolled his eyes. “I can admit defeat on this – for now – but if you want me to confess, you’re gonna have to force me. And as badass as you might think you are, I don’t think you’re capable of that.” Shindo smiled like he had won, like he was a cat and Uraraka was a mouse that he had trapped. Uraraka stared back at him, and then an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning from Kaminari.

“Yeah, you’re right, Shindo. You win. I’m glad we could have this talk.” He grimaced at her sudden cheery disposition returning to her, but she didn’t give him time to dwell on it. She turned on her heel and slipped out of the door, closing it gently behind her and leaving Shindo alone in the dark room. She checked the time on her phone: 1:53 AM. She had one more visit to make – to someone she knew for sure would be awake at this hour, and who would hopefully be willing to help her.

-x-

The next morning wasn’t as bad as Uraraka expected – it was so much worse. She woke up to the world’s most aggravating sound: the gentle chime of her alarm clock. She had chosen the ringtone because it was soothing, and because she wasn’t a morning person. There was nothing soothing about it after three hours of sleep – it was more akin to screeching children or a blaring horn.

Every part of her body ached, and her head was pounding. She dragged herself out of bed, cursing herself, Aizawa, the school system, and everything else that led her to this level of discomfort. Aizawa probably planned a pop quiz for them today, or some kind of excruciating obstacle course. She could see it now.

By the time she made it to the classroom, her eyes had opened slightly wider, but they were still bleary. She hadn’t even bothered to brush her hair. Who did she have to impress?

Her classmates all clearly had the same mentality. As they stumbled into class one-by-one, she could see the weariness on their faces and in their movements. Shirts were untucked, ties were crooked, makeup was smudged. Hagakure had the best quirk in the school for a situation like this, but even her socks were uneven, and her clothes floated in with a distinctive heavy trudge.

Mina arrived dramatically, as usual, with her eyes closed and holding onto Kirishima’s hand so he could guide her. His hair was in a low ponytail and he looked paler than usual, but he was always smiling.

 “Hey,” He greeted Uraraka, stopping in front of her desk and causing Mina to bump into him and sway. She opened her eyes sleepily and groaned in a greeting. Kirishima asked, “Have you seen Bakugou yet?”

“No, I didn’t want to risk it last night.” Between her talk with Shindo and her spontaneous trek across campus, she hadn’t gotten back to her dorm until almost 3 AM. If she had tried to go see Bakugou, she wouldn’t have slept at all. Not like it felt she had anyways.

“I saw him this morning and he’s ready to lose it being stuck in the infirmary. You know how he is. He asked about you.”

Yeah, she had a pretty good understanding of how antsy Bakugou got in the confinement of the infirmary. She blushed automatically.

“Damn, Ochako, Kiri is a better girlfriend than you.” Mina teased sleepily.

Uraraka rolled her eyes but smiled softly. “I was going to go see him after class.”

“While you do that, I’ll be taking a glorious nap.” Mina said. Her eyes were closed again, like she was micro-napping as they spoke.

“Oh, will you?” Aizawa popped up in front of the class and they all startled. No matter how many times he did it, it caused a mini heart attack for Uraraka when he and his yellow sleeping bag appeared in front of the class. Their teacher had stealth down to a science. “A nap doesn’t sound like punishment.”

 “Aizawa Sensei, if I don’t sleep, I will become delusional. I create acid from my body. Does delusion sound like a good attribute for someone who creates acid?”

Uraraka snickered into her hand, blaming the lack of sleep for her ballsiness to laugh in the face of Aizawa’s continuing wrath. Mina pushed the limits with their teacher on a constant basis.

Instead of a response, Aizawa rolled his eyes. He was still mad, but it was fading away. The worst was over in terms of his anger at them.

“Ketsubutsu will be leaving today. Before they do, they will be coming into this classroom and you will apologize to them for being terrible hosts and for setting up an illegal battle after hours.” Aizawa deadpanned.

"Man, when you say it like that, it sounds really bad.” Sero muttered. Their teacher sighed, fixing a glare on Sero.

“It is really bad.” He growled, then took an even deeper breath, composing himself. “They will be here shortly, sit quietly until then.”

They did what they were told, but it was not long before the quiet was interrupted by the door opening – but it wasn’t Ms. Joke and her class. It was a dull-faced, purple-haired boy striding in like he owned the place and sitting down in Bakugou’s empty desk. He blinked at Aizawa with lidded eyes, like nothing was out of the ordinary. Aizawa stared back, sizing him up, looking a mixture of confused and annoyed.

“Uh.” As usual, Mina was the first to question the unusual situation. “Shinso, what are you doing here?”

Hitoshi Shinso – Class A knew him well from the Sports Festival, where he had made an impression by using his quirk on some of them collectively, and one of them individually. Deku blushed wildly at his presence and muttered something under his breath. He was a General Studies student but aspiring to be a hero, and he had unintentionally struck up a friendship with Mina and Kaminari – unintentionally meaning that the two forced themselves upon him until he tolerated them. He was a cold, focused student, but Uraraka had caught him smiling before. It was a rare sight.

“Shadowing the class.” He said with an air of obviousness, as if it was a pre-established fact that everyone should have known about.

“That was today?” Aizawa asked, a pained look in his eyes. “Today is not a good day.”

“It was today.” Shinso nodded. “Seems like as good a day as any.” His voice was steely, confident. His eyes were as dead as ever.

“Alright, fine.” Aizawa mumbled. “Right now, they’re sitting down and shutting up. Can you manage that?”

“Mhm.” Shinso leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Uraraka didn’t take her gaze off of him.

As it turned out, it was easy for Shinso to sit down and shut up, but for everyone else, it was like the game had just been switched to hard mode. Mina hissed at the quiet boy, trying desperately to get his attention without speaking. Kaminari threw a piece of paper at his head, which bounced off and hit the floor with a crinkling sound. Everyone whispered to each other. Aizawa glared.

“I’m right here. I can see what you’re doing.” He said.

“Sensei, it’s just –“ Kaminari was cut off by the door swinging open yet again, and Ms. Joke’s voice, stern and assertive rather than light and punctuated with giggles, forcing her class into the room.

“Go on, all of you.” She pushed Tatami’s shoulders, smacked Itejiro on the back of the head, gave a scathing look to the blue-faced voice. “Hello, Eraser – Class A – boy who is not in class A.” She gave Shinso a sideways glance.

“I’m shadowing.” Shinso explained again.

“Right.” She turned towards the rest of Class A. “My class has something they would like to say to all of you. If they ever make it into the room – c’mon.”

The Ketsubutsu students were straggling in the hallway but at the sound of Ms. Joke’s snapping tone, started filing in more quickly. The last boy to enter the room was the one who had blocked out the sound at Ground Beta – he looked the guiltiest of all.

Ms. Joke glowered at the door like it personally offended her. “You too.” She said, stomping out into the hallway. She returned to the classroom pushing a wheelchair. In it sat Shindo, wearing pajamas and the most pitiful face Uraraka had ever seen – if hero work didn’t work out for him, he could be a seriously talented actor. That would probably be a better route for him.

"My class as well, Emi.” Aizawa said, not even bothering to keep up with formalities anymore. “Class?”

The class sang a half-hearted apology to the students in front of them, who, Uraraka noted, looked only slightly better than they did. Most of them were still dirty, wearing crumpled uniforms from the previous day, with tousled hair and sleep-crusted eyes. The air of guilt around them was palpable in the room; it radiated off almost every single one of them. Except for one. Uraraka could see Shindo fighting to keep up his act, to hide the smirk that was threatening to pull up the corners of his lips. Shinso opened his eyes and watched curiously.

"We appreciate your apology.” Ms. Joke said kindly after it was clear her class was not going to respond themselves. “And you, class 2B?”

Their apology was even more pained than Class A’s. No one made eye-contact and their words jumbled together. Ms. Joke sighed but didn’t push them more. Shindo’s lips hadn’t moved at all and stayed in a tight-pressed line. His eyes were on Uraraka, and they were twinkling.

Rage filled her body, and she coughed once. Shinso sat at attention.

“Hey, Earthquake boy, Shindo, right? Why are you in a wheelchair?” He called. Shindo gave him a sharp and suspicious glare.

“Shinso!” Aizawa shouted, but it was too late.

“Who are you – ?”

It was such a simple question to someone who didn’t know the boy – Shinso hadn’t been there, of course he would be curious about such serious injuries. Ms. Joke and the rest of the students looked on in astonishment as Shindo’s jaw went slack and Shinso regarded him with a scrutinizing eye.

“What’s going on, Eraser?” Ms. Joke was perturbed at the change in her student’s disposition. Aizawa gave Shinso a threatening look, but the purple-haired boy simply raised his eyebrow.

“As you know, Aizawa, I’m trying to become a hero. This is me doing my hero duty.” He turned back to Shindo, who was staring, unseeing at him. “Yo, Shindo, tell everyone in this room the truth about what you did to Uraraka – the whole truth.”

Uraraka startled. She hadn’t specified the whole truth to Shinso – she just wanted him to fess up to blackmailing her. The whole truth was more than she wanted anyone to know – but it was too late. Shindo had already started speaking in a zombified, matter-of-fact voice. She could only listen and watch everyone in the room’s expressions as they turned from shocked to horrified while Shindo explained in detail how he had planned on taking advantage from Uraraka from the beginning, to prove he was better than Bakugou. He monotonously laid out the events of the party, admitting that he had a stronger strain of marijuana that he had saved for Uraraka, after watching her down shots.

Everyone in the room seemed to lose the ability to speak. Someone probably should’ve stopped him – Uraraka probably should’ve stopped him. He was revealing embarrassing information about her, and if she didn’t say something soon, everyone in her class would know about the picture. Wasn’t that what she was trying to prevent this whole time?

Except now she wasn’t so sure. Her classmate’s horrified looks were not directed at her. They were at Shindo. She remembered Mina’s words: no one would judge her. Deku hadn’t judged her. Even Aizawa hadn’t seemed scandalized by it.

Shindo continued blabbing without tone. He had told Camie to get Uraraka riled up, knowing that she would be looking for something to make her relax, and that Camie’s story about Bakugou would cause her to be unsure of the boy’s feelings for her. He explained that the picture was just a bonus that he was just going through her phone to go through it and see if there was any dirt he could find on Bakugou when he came across the picture. He sent it to himself “just in case” and only decided that he would use it as blackmail after Bakugou kept Uraraka from going back to his room. This particular anecdote received an actual gasp from Momo and an indignant squeak from Hagakure.

When he described the Battle Royale, and how he told Nusumu to find Uraraka and get her to a clearing where he could find her, the childish girl’s eyes fell to the ground in guilt and fear. He said that he had told Tatami and Itejiro to defend him at all costs because he had business with Uraraka and the two sheepishly glanced at Kirishima, then away. He rehashed in great detail the threats he had presented Uraraka with, and the conditions of his blackmail as if he was listing items on a grocery list.

As Uraraka relived the events, she found that she no longer felt the need to cry. She no longer felt anger. She felt peace. Shindo had tormented her. He had taken advantage of her in order to hurt Bakugou over a jealous grudge that made no sense. He was pathetic, and he was not going to get away with it. That thought was enough to keep the tears at bay.

All around her, her classmates were having the opposite reactions. Anger bounced around the room so evidently that it almost seemed visible in the air. The room was choking in it.

Shindo’s story concluded with admitting he and Bakugou had planned the Battle Royale, and it was all that he wanted to do – beat Bakugou, show that he was superior, and then show him the picture, thus ruining his relationship with Uraraka. After he was done, his blank eyes focused again on Shinso, waiting for his next command.

“Ah, wake up.” Shinso managed – even he looked shaken.

 “Wha – What happened?” Shindo asked, rubbing his head. Ms. Joke stared at him with a fury that Uraraka didn’t know someone so cute and joyful could be capable of.

“Eraser – we…need to talk about this.” Ms. Joke was shell-shocked. All Aizawa could do was nod. They had both known already – Uraraka was sure Aizawa had told Ms. Joke, but hearing all of the gory details straight from the student’s brainwashed mouth was a different story all together. “Class, please go wait in the common area. Not you, Shindo.”

Shindo stared up at Ms. Joke and finally his desperate, sad façade dropped off and the reality of the situation seemed to hit him. “What did I say…”

“Oh, man.” Shinso was so proud of himself. “What didn’t you say? You’re one sick fuck. I wish I had been in the hero class so I could help take you down."

“Okay, that’s enough.” Aizawa found his voice again, but only for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. It was the first time Uraraka had seen Aizawa truly at a loss for words. “Shinso…we can talk about what just happened later.”

Shinso gave a cool incline of his head. He was clearly not at all apologetic.

“The rest of you…just…stay put. I’m going to send Mic in for English a little earlier than usual.” He scratched his head. He had told Uraraka that he would deal with Shindo, but she couldn’t imagine he knew how to deal with the aftermath of him confessing to both classes everything he had orchestrated.

“Yes, Sensei.” Iida broke the painful silence by speaking his affirmation. “I will ensure everyone stays in their seats and quiet!”

“Thank you.” Aizawa said curtly, and then he and Ms. Joke swiftly exited the room, pushing an increasingly panicked Shindo with them.

“YOOOOOOOOOO.” Kaminari wailed as soon as the door shut behind them. “Dude, what the fuck? Shinso, you legend! You’re such a good friend to Uraraka!”

Shinso waved his compliment away like it was a gnat. “I didn’t do it for any reason other than to prove that I have the capabilities necessary for hero work. This has nothing to do with friendship.” However, when he peeked over at Uraraka from the corner of his eye, she saw the hint of one of those rare, fleeting smiles on his face.

“Uraraka,” Ojiro gave her a sympathetic look. “I knew Shindo had done something, but I didn’t imagine it was something so cruel…and so well-thought out.”

“Seems pretty villainous to me, kero.” Tsu pointed out.  

“Well, you heard Aizawa Sensei…” Mused Momo. “Sometimes you will be faced with unethical heroes.”

“Mmm.” Todoroki agreed. Momo reached across the aisle and squeezed his hand.

“Are you okay, Uraraka?” Mina blurted out. She had been staring at her the entire time Shindo recited details with an increasingly concerned and miserable look in her eyes and seemed to have been waiting for the right time to say something.

“Yeah, I’m great, actually.” She said, and she meant it. “Thanks to you guys, Shindo is going to be so, so screwed.”

Mina grinned and her entire demeanor relaxed. “Not thanks to us. You did it too. I mean, asking Shinso for help? Brilliant. Can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Shinso, what’s this about shadowing the class?”

“Yeah, that just worked out.” Shinso shrugged. “Aizawa said I could shadow. He’s got a lot going on and he doesn’t sleep, so I figured he would easily forget when he said I could. When Uraraka told me the situation, I figured out it was the perfect chance to show off my skills.”

“Aw, you do have a heart.” Kaminari said warmly. Shinso scowled at him and began to argue that he did not, in fact, have a heart.

“Uraraka…” Kirishima spoke now, tentatively and softly, but his voice carried to her across the room. “Does Bakugou know?”

“I haven’t told him. I didn’t tell…many people, as you can probably understand why.” She was embarrassed now with so many eyes on her. The reality of the situation hit her: her whole class knew that she was an idiot, that she took sexual pictures, that she got drunk at parties…

“I don’t understand why.” Hagakure said bluntly. “Who hasn’t taken nudes? Who cares?”

“Have…have you taken nudes?” Sero asked. “How does that work?” He whispered to Kaminari.

“I take like, twelve a day.” Mina said. “Kiri has a whole folder on his phone full of them.”

Kirishima’s cheeks turned as red as his hair, but he nodded. “Yeah, Uraraka, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all do it.”

“I told her that.” Mina insisted. “I bet even Midoriya has taken nudes.”

“Please don’t bring me into this!” Deku begged, growing immediately flustered.

“The point is,” Kirishima raised his voice, saving Deku from the onslaught of questions that were sure to start flying his way. “We love you no matter what, Uraraka. Besides, he sent them to himself, which is the least manly thing you can do.”

“Yeah, what a loser.” Kaminari quipped.

“Can’t even get consensual nudes.” Jirou snorted.

“We’re a family, kero.” Tsu said. “Family sticks together no matter what.”

“Unless one of you goes postal and starts murdering people…” Sero said. “Then I’m out.”

They all agreed.

Todoroki spoke softly after a moment. “I did appreciate the chance to battle, Uraraka. Thank you for that. If you ever need your honor defended again, let us know.”

Uraraka flushed and laughed weakly.

“Yeah, it was so much fun!” Hagakure squealed. “I watched Ojiro completely knock out this guy that touched me. It was so romantic.”

“It was probably on accident…” Sero murmured.

“If I may make a suggestion,” Deku said. His cheeks had finally gone back to a normal color and he turned to Uraraka. “You should tell Kacchan as soon as possible, before this spreads…he would rather hear it from you, I’m sure.”

“Good point.” Mina said with a grimace. “Kaminari knows, so it’s gonna spread.”

“Hey, I can keep my mouth shut!”

“Ah, I hope people don’t gossip about me…” Uraraka bit her lip.

“If anything spreads from this, Uraraka, it’s going to be the legend of class A and the midnight battle against Ketsubutsu.” Momo said, her eyes slightly glassy. She looked like she wanted to be proud, but was fighting to be ashamed, as was the duty of the vice-class rep.

“And how Uraraka and Bakugou delivered the final blow to Shindo, I mean, holy shit, did everyone see it?!” Jirou exclaimed. “You guys need to team up in battle more often!”

The class began loudly talking over each other, reliving the events of the battle, offering commentary and compliments. When Mic threw open the door to announce his presence, everyone stopped and stared blankly at him, but the teacher was grinning ear-to-ear.

“Don’t tell Aizawa I said this, but you kids are the COOOOOOLEST!”

-x-

“You’re really stupid.”

Admittedly, that was not the answer Uraraka had expected after the final, dramatic confession she had managed to give Bakugou. She had rushed to the infirmary as soon as class had gotten out, and was out of breath by the time she arrived at his room. He was awake and staring at his phone with a glazed over look in his eyes. He had brightened when he saw her, and expressed a grouchy, “Took you long enough, angel face.” 

“What?” She yelped. “Why am I stupid?”

“Why wouldn’t you just fuckin’ tell me that? Obviously I know you wouldn’t send it to him by choice.” Bakugou sat up in the infirmary bed, looking cross. One arm rested on a pillow while the other one sat stiffly in a cast. He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself being incapacitated. He kept shifting uncomfortably and mumbling curses at his injuries.

“I – well, I didn’t know you would know! I thought you’d get mad!” She tried to explain her reasoning, but when he put it like that, she did feel pretty stupid. “Maybe I should have just told everyone from the beginning, then none of this would’ve happened and we wouldn’t be in so much trouble.”

“Tch. If you had told me, it would’ve just given me even more of an excuse to kick that weird bastard’s ass.” Bakugou attempted to cross his arms, then looked dumbly down at his cast. “Could’ve done without this shit though.” He growled. 

“Recovery Girl didn’t wanna just heal it?” Uraraka questioned, frowning at his obvious discomfort. 

“No, she said healing my hands would take enough of my stamina, and that I just had to deal with a cast like a ‘normal, irresponsible child’” He rolled his eyes as he mimicked Recovery Girl. Uraraka giggled. 

“I guess I’ll just have to be your personal servant until you heal. Carry your books, help you get dressed, feed you…” She trailed off, her tone teasing. “But you hate people helping you, so, maybe not.”

“Oi, don’t tempt me, cheeks. I’ll take you up on that damn offer.” Bakugou turned away, trying to hide his blush. Uraraka smiled. 

“You’re really not mad?” She asked again, needing to make sure. Telling Bakugou had consumed her since Shindo had first threatened her. She had imagined every scenario in which it could go, but none of them had ended as easily as this had. 

“When do I ever get mad?” 

Uraraka snorted and covered her mouth quickly. He gave her a scathing look and she couldn’t help herself, she dissolved into a fit of laughter. Bakugou waited patiently for her to get it all out of her system. 

“Uh, always?” She finally managed to choke out. 

“I’m the calmest person in this whole school.” He said seriously. 

His tone conjured up a fresh set of giggles. “I didn’t know you had such a sense of humor, Katsuki.” She gasped.

“You’re lucky I’m goddamn broken right now, but when this cast comes off, you’re gonna get it.”  It was an empty threat. Uraraka knew it. She stuck her tongue out. The tension of the last 48 hours dissolved out of her body as she sat on the edge of Bakugou’s infirmary bed. She may have been slightly delusional from lack of sleep, making her laugh harder than she would under normal circumstances, but her happiness was genuine. Bakugou didn’t hate her. Of course he didn’t. He loved her. He had told her that.

“Hey, Round Face. You still have that picture on your phone?” Bakugou asked off-handedly, innocently. 

 “Oh, yeah. I should probably delete that, shouldn’t I?” She took her phone out of her pocket and began scrolling through her pictures.

“No!” Bakugou cried. Uraraka’s eyes widened and his ears reddened. “I mean, uh, fuck. Don’t delete it. I wanna see it.” 

“Oh.” Uraraka’s mouth opened on its own accord. Duh. She hadn’t even considered the fact that her boyfriend might want to see the picture that she had sent the class into a war over.

“If you want!” He said quickly. 

“I took it for you.” She mused. “But we had that fight, and I forgot I had it.” 

“You took it for me?” 

“Who else would I take it for? The other ten guys I was in love with?” She deadpanned. Bakugou glared at her.

“You’re talking a whole lot of shit today, aren’t you?” He growled at her, but his face was smooth. He was teasing. 

“I blame the lack of sleep.” She shrugged. 

“I blame your personality.” He rolled his eyes. Then he frowned, and locked eyes with her. “Glad you’re back to normal, angel face.” He spoke softer now. “Hated seeing you like that.” 

Uraraka felt warmth fill her chest as if she had been lying in the sun for hours. It was a pleasant, safe feeling. “Sorry I acted stupid.”

“Don’t apologize for shit, angel.” He said. “You were stupid, but you were a badass. You handled your shit. Didn’t even need my help.” 

“Well, I don’t think I would’ve thought to arrange a second Battle Royale after curfew, so you did play an important part.” She joked. Bakugou gave her a dry look. “Oh, here’s the picture.” She stopped scrolling. “Shindo had to go past so many memes to get to this. He really is a serious creep.” She handed the phone over to Bakugou. She watched his face carefully. He noticed, and it was clear he was trying to control his expression, but the blush had spread from his ears to his cheeks and his mouth parted slightly.

“I should’ve killed him.” He said after a long minute of staring. “No one should ever see this picture but me. Greatest fuckin’ picture I’ve ever seen. I’m gonna frame it.”

“Katsuki, absolutely not!” She leaned over and whacked his good arm. “That’s the opposite way to prevent people from seeing it!” 

“What? You’re the only one who’s allowed in my room anyways.” He pouted. 

“Frame a better picture – preferably one where I have clothes on.” She tried to sound stern, but a smile was creeping onto her lips. It had to be the lack of sleep. That was it.

“Yeah, get me one and I will. Now that they’re gonna actually start giving a shit what we do in the dorms, I’m gonna have to settle for a picture instead of the real thing at night.” 

“Stop talking stupid.” Uraraka said, but she couldn’t stop the butterflies from fluttering in her stomach.

“I can’t help it. I miss you.” He put his hand on her leg. She eyed him cautiously.

“I’m right here.” She knew what he meant, but she was enjoying teasing him. She took the hand on her leg and intertwined their fingers then kissed his lightly. She noted the new scars on his palm. “You’re injured anyways, we can’t be spending any nights together.”

“Just my arm. Everything else works.” He gazed at her longingly. Uraraka’s heart thrummed erratically and heat rushed to her cheeks.

“You’re bold for it being three PM and us being in the infirmary.” She noted, keeping her voice even.

“If I wasn’t bold, I would’ve never gotten you the night after the Sports Festival.”

“Hmm. Good point.” Uraraka leaned over and kissed Bakugou softly on the lips, lingering just slightly. “But even you’re not 3 PM in the infirmary bold, not really.”

“Try me.” He growled.

“Not today.” She whispered. “We’re under house arrest for a month. There will be plenty of time. Right now, I have to make sure you don’t fall behind in class.”

Bakugou groaned, “What could I possibly miss from being in the infirmary one day?”

Uraraka smirked. “Oh, so much.”

Chapter Text

Bakugou couldn’t get out of the godforsaken infirmary fast enough. The second that Recovery Girl gave him the okay, he was practically running down the hallways to get back to his own dorm. He was given the explicit instructions to rest and rejuvenate until his arm was healed. Not like he could if he fucking wanted to – his arm was stuck in a clunky, annoying cast that prevented him from doing everything except taking notes. Aizawa had blandly told him that he was lucky he was right-handed before dropping a thick stack of papers on his desk the first morning he was back in class.

He had been given an individual lecture from his bedraggled teacher, filled with sighs and eye rolls from both ends. Bakugou had huffed a half-hearted apology and sat stone-faced as Aizawa listed off his punishments: two months house arrest, cleaning duty every week of those two months (switching off with Kirishima, Mina and Todoroki because the morons had all identified themselves as “ringleaders” in Aizawa’s words), a shit load of extra homework, and absolutely no chance of him partaking in an internship this semester. That one pissed him off the most, but he was already expecting it. No provisional license, no internship. He would just have to work twice as hard next semester when he finally got the damn thing. His only solace was that Todoroki wouldn’t get ahead of him either – they were both delayed. He only had to worry about shitty Deku and no matter how hard that nerd tried, he wouldn’t surpass him. In a weird way, having to catch up to him made Bakugou excited to show what he would be capable, even if Deku had the experience of an internship behind him.

All-in-all, it was far less of a beat down than he expected. Maybe Aizawa used up all his energy taking care of the Ketsubutsu bastard. When Uraraka had relayed the events that he had missed being held prisoner in the infirmary, he couldn’t help the pride from swelling in his chest. Uraraka had come up with the plan to use the creepy brainwashing extra to make Shindo confess his fucked-up plan to blackmail Uraraka into torturing Bakugou himself. He was lucky he hadn’t been there when it happened, or he really would have killed the freak. He wished he could’ve seen what Aizawa did to the bastard, but the man wasn’t talking.

“Shindo’s punishment is between Ms. Joke and the Ketsubutsu faculty.” Aizawa had said with an air of tired finality after Bakugou had posed the question casually. “I assure you it will be an appropriate punishment, as the same case with yours.”

Bakugou had grumbled some form of a response, then Aizawa had released him to go enjoy day one of the two months of house arrest he had to look forward to.

At least he wouldn’t get dragged into any dumb shit by the morons who stuck to him like glue. There wasn’t much they could get into if they were confined to campus, and they couldn’t drag him to anywhere he didn’t want to go.

He could admit that he was a bit grumpy about the whole thing. Not being able to go anywhere or do anything was bad enough, but it was made worse by the fact that he was practically useless with his broken arm. He worked out his legs and his abs to the best of his abilities, but everything was borderline impossible with only one functional arm. Even running on the treadmill was hard, and Kirishima and Uraraka wouldn’t even spar him. He tried to threaten Kaminari into it, but the electric idiot was doing all he could to avoid him and had recruited Jirou and Mina to be his personal bodyguards.  

Uraraka had stayed by his side day in and day out – well, until their newly established curfew time came, at least. After everything that had gone on, both of them were being careful to follow the rules, and so she was out of his room every night by ten PM. He liked sleeping next to Uraraka. He felt her absence when she left, and it was unpleasant, but necessary until things calmed down and Aizawa forgot how mad he was at all of them. It was frustrating. He craved more time with her, more touch from her, more kisses. He couldn’t stand it. 

Now, they were in the common room – the last two remaining, lounging on couches with books and paper spread out in front of them. They had long since finished their homework – as it turns out, the extra homework Aizawa had promised them was very easy to avoid. All it took was one small, innocent comment from Mina to each of the teachers.

“Wow, do you have plans this weekend, Mic Sensei? I hope not, because this extra homework is gonna be a lot to grade!” Mic’s smile had faltered and sweat gathered on his brow as he clearly thought of everything else he would rather be spending his weekend doing other than grading English papers. With a stammered-out plea for the students not to tell Aizawa, he had promised he wouldn’t be assigning more homework than usual. It had gone down pretty much the same way for all the other teachers. Too easy.

Uraraka sat across from him on the couch, her bare feet resting in his lap as she stared at her laptop, a look of deep and adorable concentration on her face. She was wearing one of his t-shirts, which he had given her to sleep in. Like everything he owned that she borrowed, it was comically large on her, but damn did she look beautiful in his clothes.

“What are you reading, angel? I know you can’t be doing anymore studying. There’s nothing left to study.” With all the downtime they now had, there was little else to do except study. Study or…do other things. While Uraraka busied herself on her laptop, Bakugou focused on the way her lips moved slowly as she read to herself, or the way her thighs probably looked under the cover of his shirt, or how soft and squeezable her pink cheeks were.

“Love languages.” She said simply, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“What?”

“I’m reading about love languages. There’s a quiz you take to find out which one you have.” She shooed his question away like it was pesky. “Hold on, I’m almost done, then you can take it.”

They were quiet for a few minutes and Bakugou busied himself with fantasizing about her more. It had been awhile since they had done anything – they were a little preoccupied with a sadistic psychopath trying to ruin their relationship and Uraraka’s life, and with all that going on, it was hard to make room for alone time. And now he had the issue of being a cripple. He scowled at his cast like it personally offended him. Stupid fucking thing. Recovery Girl could’ve fixed him easily – he thought Aizawa had probably told her not to, for extra punishment. He groaned to himself. If he didn’t have this cast, he would wrap his arms around Uraraka and pull her into his lap, and –

"What are you whining about over there?” She asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the dumb quiz and meeting his own.

“Nothing.” He said. “Did you get your results?”

"Yes!” She smiled. “My love language, according to this quiz, is words of affirmation, and my second one is acts of service.”

"How do you get two languages?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Love is complicated!”

“Hmmm.” He liked to hear her talk. He would talk about anything she wanted as long as he got to hear her voice and all the different tones that came with it – excited when she got the answer on the homework correct without needing it to be explained, breathless when she explained something she was into, warm like honey when she was flirting with him, full of attitude when she was scolding him. “What are the other ones?”

“There’s also gifts, quality time, and touch.” She said. “You should take the quiz –”

“Touch.” Bakugou answered without having to think about it. “That’s mine. And quality time, I guess.” He muttered that and Uraraka smiled wide.

"Touch.” She said, and she pressed one foot against his chest. “Like that?”

"Oh yeah, I’m just dying from the romance.” He said dryly. She giggled, then moved her feet back down to his lap. She rolled her ankles and bumped against his crotch. Heat rushed to his face.

“I prefer when you use your hands, but I’ll take what I can get.” He said, joking with her, but also being completely serious. Uraraka’s touch drove him crazy in any capacity – from the first night in the infirmary when she had given in and wrapped her arms around him, he couldn’t get enough.

“Picky, picky.” She pursed her lips at him. “We’re in public.” She whispered.

“Do you see anybody around us?” He looked over his shoulder. The common room was abandoned. It wasn’t necessarily late, but Class A was walking on eggshells with their punishment being so fresh. Most of them retired to their rooms early in the night, or snuck into each other’s dorms, doing what they could before the supposed random dorm checks began. Three days into their house arrest and there hadn’t been any “heightened security” to be noticed so far. Bakugou sensed that Aizawa really had no desire to go check on them in their rooms. They were teenagers after all – there was a very high chance he would walk in on something he did not want to see.  “I don’t.”

“Eighteen other students live in this dorm.” Uraraka reminded him, but she was still aimlessly kneading her foot against him, and he was having a hard time focusing enough to come up with snarky comments.

“What reason do any of them have to come down here?” He laid back farther against the couch, adjusting his broken arm carefully and spreading his legs slightly to give Uraraka easier access. Her eyes widened at the sight, but she kept her laptop where it was, and pretended to be engaged in reading. Bakugou knew she was a liar, and her foot continued moving maddeningly slow over his quickly growing bulge.

“Angel face, you’re fuckin’ torturing me here. Stop teasing me and c’mere.” His voice was husky and dripping with desire.

Uraraka hummed at his words, still playing her game and refusing to look away from that damn laptop. “You’re wearing a cast.”

“Good thing my right hand is dominant – and I’m very good with using it.” He promised, desperately needing her to touch him more than she already was. “Plus,” he added, remembering her words from when he was in the infirmary, “You did promise you’d take care of me.”

"I did, didn’t I?” She pondered in an off-hand way. “Personal servant or something like that?”

Bakugou swallowed. Fuck. She was so good at teasing him. She hardly had to do anything at all for him to fall apart in front of her.

“Ochako.” He breathed her name. “Put that laptop away before I blast it across the room and come here.” It came out dark and strangled, needy. He didn’t care how he sounded – he was needy. 

"You’d have to buy me a new one.” She said, but she shut it and finally, finally looked at him. Her lips curled up into a smile. He knew how much Uraraka liked to be in control – she could never keep it long, but he let her play at it sometimes. He found it pretty fucking hot when she was able to take charge of him, and right now, she knew she had him in the palm of her hand.

“I’ll buy you whatever you want. Come. Here.” He begged for the third time, and she obliged. She crawled over to him, slowly, making a show of it. She climbed into his lap, resting her weight against his aching bulge and he let out a sharp breath, before grabbing the back of her head with his good arm and pushing her head down to his so that their lips could meet.

Too long. It had been way too long. His body was on fire from her touch. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip and she gasped, granting him access to deepen the kiss. His hand traveled down to her hip and he squeezed.  Uraraka fisted her hands into his hair and grinded against him, pressing their chests together.

It was awkward with his cast, but they found their rhythm easily. He kept his mouth on Uraraka, on her lips, on her cheek, her neck. “Angel, I need this off.” He tugged at the shirt she was wearing.

“Katsuki!” She hissed. “Someone could come down here!”

“Here.” He grabbed a blanket from behind them and tossed it to her. “You can cover up with this – I need to see you.”

Uraraka blinked at him once, and then pulled the shirt over her head and began grinding against him again. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and Bakugou marveled at the sight of her, red-faced, swollen lips, breasts bouncing as she gyrated on top of him. She was truly a goddamn angel – her namesake couldn’t suit her more.

“Really speaking my language, angel face.” He grunted. Uraraka smiled and leaned down to kiss him. He needed to touch her more. He reached up to stroke her cheek but bumped his other arm in the process but didn’t let it deter him. Uraraka didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in panting into his lips as she continued her maddening dance against him. “Let me make you feel good.”

In his haste to tear her underwear down, he knocked his cast again, and this time it really fucking hurt. He hissed from the pain. “I’m gonna rip this fuckin’ thing off – I don’t even need it.”

“Katsuki.” Uraraka purred. Her eyes were heavily lidded. She gently pushed his hand away. “I want to take care of you like I said I would.” She moved off him slightly and he missed the weight, but she quickly moved her fingers to the waistband of his shorts, tugging them lightly. He eager obliged, keeping his eyes on her. When she pulled her own underwear to the side and positioned herself above him, he frowned.

“Hey, you’re not ready –” He protested. “Let me.”

“Nope.” Uraraka held his gaze as she slid her own hand down from her breasts to her stomach, then stopped right above her underwear, which were still off to the side, held in place by her other hand. She slipped one finger inside herself while keeping all of Bakugou’s attention – mesmerizing, seductive, beautiful. He wanted – needed to touch her, but he was frozen in place by her actions. She was sitting on top of him, practically naked, touching herself, biting her lip, and staring into Bakugou’s soul.

Fucking incredible. Everything about Uraraka was purely delicious. He watched her like she was his favorite goddamn show, drinking in every detail of her, like the way her lips stayed parted as she let out quiet, breathy moans, or the way her eyes burned with passion, and how she refused to look away. He remembered their first time – long before he knew what she would become to him. He remembered the closed eyes, tense bodies moving together, unsure of what it was they were doing at all. Now, as she stopped her erotic show and placed her hands softly on his shoulders, and carefully lowered herself onto him, and let him fill her, he was struck with the notion that they fit together perfectly.

“Katsuki,” Uraraka whispered his name like a prayer as she rode him, rolling her hips in slow, languid movements. “Will you always love me?”

“Yes.” Bakugou choked out, his body wracked with pleasure and emotion. It had been so long since he had her like this. He would never stop loving her. He would never give her up. “Fuckin’ always. Always. You’re the greatest fuckin’ thing that’s ever happened to me. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Now you’re speaking my language.” She teased lightly, then was quiet in her movement.  The only sound in the room was their panting and discrete moans. “Last time we actually had sex was before we were together.” She mused after a moment.

Bakugou frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, an apology maybe, a plea for forgiveness, a goddamn declaration of love so she would know that he would never dare to do something so stupid again, but she kissed him before he could get it out. “It’s okay. It’s even better than I remember it.”

Bakugou might have died right then and gone to heaven. He was in the presence of a true angel, and she belonged to him.

-x-

It was two days before Christmas when the news that Vlad King was taking class B to the mall on Christmas Eve day, so they could go shopping and see the Christmas tree lighting came out. Mina was beside herself.

“Sensei, please, please let us go too!” She cried when the news had traveled to Class A. Uraraka had a sneaking suspicion that the gossip spread so fast because Monoma was loudly bragging about it to anyone who would listen. 

“No, Ashido.” Aizawa’s tone had an air of finality, and Mina pouted and slunk back into her seat, crossing her arms in defeat. Mina had been slowly chipping away at their teacher since the start of class, trying to no avail to convince him to lift their house arrest for just one day, and Aizawa was starting to show his irritation.

“It’s Christmas, Sensei!” She whined. They still had another two weeks of punishment, and Mina was devastated that they wouldn’t be able to have any sort of Christmas celebration at all. “You’re a scrooge!”

 “Good.” He had said simply. She continued arguing, but Aizawa had been doing a remarkable job of keeping up his punishment. However, his anger had long since faded. He was just doing it to keep up appearances at this point – he couldn’t let his class who had started an all-out war get off easy, but they got away with more than they thought they ever could have.

Aizawa hadn’t been kidding about the heightened security in the dorms, though. They were given a brief period to adjust before everything was implemented, which was just enough time for everyone to assume their teacher was bluffing, and they continue with doing things exactly as they were doing – sneaking around, spending the night in dorms that were not their own, and generally disregarding every rule in place in the dorm system.

The first night had started off innocently enough – Uraraka and Bakugou were doing homework in his dorm and lost track of time. Like it sometimes happened, Uraraka found herself distracted – it happened a lot these days, especially with so much time spent together in the dorms, and with Bakugou’s cast finally coming off, making him…able, again. It was inevitable, really. After a quick kiss turned into several longer and drawn out kisses, and a few hot and heavy minutes turned into articles of clothing being discarded to the floor, Uraraka’s heart was stopped by a loud knock and a booming voice announcing: “RAAAAAAAANDOM DORM CHECK!” 

Bakugou had practically launched Uraraka off of him and she had to activate her quirk in order to avoid hitting the ceiling. He mouthed a panicked, “sorry” and shoved her out onto the balcony with her clothes. She hopped on one leg, trying to put her pants back on while cursing under her breath at the weather for being below freezing. He had just slammed the door behind her when Mic decided he had given enough warning and unceremoniously let himself into the room, looked around, and said a few words to Bakugou.

 “Why? There’s no one on my fuckin’ balcony!” She heard him snap, louder than necessary, but Uraraka squeaked in alarm and smashed her fingers together, shaking with nerves and cold as she slowly rose up into the sky. She kept herself still in the sky, holding her breath, closing her eyes, focusing on concealing her presence. Tsu with her camouflage and Hagakure with her invisibility would be much better suited for this situation right now, but no, Mic had to choose Bakugou’s room to invade first.

Their teacher ignored Bakugou’s outburst and went outside anyway, looking around slowly and leisurely, as if he knew he would find someone. Uraraka prepared herself for the end.

 “Hmm, nobody out here!” He declared with a hint of laughter in his voice. Uraraka bit her tongue. She could reach out and touch Mic’s hair if she wanted to, that’s how close she was to being discovered, but he didn’t seem to want to further investigate the situation. With a feeling of extreme relief, she realized that Mic was probably coerced into this by Aizawa, and really didn’t want to bust any of the kids.

Once the man had left, she let out a sigh and fell back down onto the concrete, harder than she had intended to. Bakugou snorted with laughter.

 “Better get back to your room, cheeks.” He warned. “Mic said Midnight is checking dorms on your end.”

And with a groan, Uraraka had pushed herself back into the sky.

The security hadn’t really stopped anyone though – they had just gotten more creative.  

In an act of true solidarity, Momo had created several pairs of walkie-talkies set to the same channel, and handed them out to Uraraka, Mina, Jirou and Hagakure.

“It’s just in case…we have to make a quick escape.” Momo had explained, blushingly wildly the whole time. “Not that I’m condoning breaking the rules, but for the sake of precaution!” 

“I love when she’s corrupt.” Mina beamed, and Momo stammered, holding her hands up in surrender.

“Yaomomo,” Tsu croaked. She had been watching the exchange with wide eyes and a nervous air about her. “C-could I…also get a walkie-talkie?”

“TSU!” Mina screamed, tackling the frog-girl with a happy squeal. “Oh, man, I can’t wait to talk about this…” 

Uraraka smiled and hugged her friend too, whispering in her ear before she pulled away, “Don’t spare me any details.” She laughed when Tsu’s face turned a deep shade of red and she let out a sheepish ribbet.

They had learned the system of using the walkie-talkies quickly, with Momo giving the explicit instructions to only press the talk button if Mic or Midnight were coming, and to keep the phrases they used casual, as to not arise suspicion. 

One night, when Uraraka was settling down to sleep, the talkie by her bedside crackled to life and Mina’s panicked voice called out: “Cuddles, stop scratching me!” She laughed at the image.

All-in-all, their punishment wasn’t terrible, but when it came to Christmas, Mina was relentless.

“I just think that we as a class don’t bond enough and being able to go shopping for gifts and see the Christmas tree together would be so important!” They were sitting in the lunch room, trying desperately to warm themselves with soups and stews while simultaneously listening to Mina whine. It was as if the weather was synced up with her sorrow, because for the past two days, it had been nonstop raining – the freezing, slushy kind, where if it was just a little colder outside it would be glorious snow, but it wasn’t quite there. One would think that the arctic temperatures combined with a downpour would be enough for Aizawa to let them train indoors, but that was not the case. Today, their exercise was running. Just running. Back and forth in the rain that felt more like sharp icicles hitting Uraraka’s face. 

Bakugou had just gotten his cast off that week, after reluctantly promising Recovery Girl he would take it easy, so naturally he had turned the running exercise into a race, finishing in first every time and screaming like a maniac at Kirishima, Todoroki and Deku to keep up.

He was back to normal for sure.

Mina pouted. Her horns stuck out through the holes in her hood, looking slightly dejected without her poof of pink hair to support them. She was drenched from the rain physically, but her stubborn spirit refused to be worn. Uraraka wasn’t sure why she was telling them – they all wanted to go. It was Aizawa who needed convincing.

“I just can’t believe while Class B gets to go on a shopping extravaganza and enjoy the joy and magic of the holidays, we’ll be stuck here. Aizawa will probably make us run laps on Christmas day. Maybe if I’m more annoying, he’ll give in.”

“You can be more annoying?” Bakugou pondered aloud. Uraraka covered her mouth to hide her laughter. Mina ignored him.

“Mina, it won’t work.” Kaminari assured her. “Aizawa is always annoyed. He’s used to this. You can’t break a man like that.”

Sero nodded enthusiastically and spoke through a big bite of his lunch. “Already broken.” He agreed. 

“Well, he can’t take away Christmas from us!” Mina shrieked. Next to Uraraka, Bakugou’s leg twitched. Mina’s decibels sometimes seemed to have that effect on him. 

“He’s going to.” Promised Kaminari. “Dude has an iron will.”

“You’re all even worse than the Grinch!”

-x-

Christmas Eve came, and Aizawa still hadn’t budged. Uraraka hadn’t expected him to, but a part of her was hoping that maybe he’d show them some mercy. She needed to get Bakugou a present, something great, to show him how much she cared about him and what he meant to her. She couldn’t craft anything, because she had the artistic talent of a three-year-old, and ordering packages to UA was against the rules – some sort of safety issue. It was truly like they were in prison. It soured her mood.

But, Uraraka was not a quitter. She was determined to find a way to get Bakugou something great. That was how she found herself trekking to the Class B dorms early in the morning, knowing that they would be leaving soon.

She was looking for a specific person, and luckily, she didn’t have to look far. When she entered the common room, she wasn’t even regarded as an oddity, which Uraraka found strange. Normally, the Class A kids didn’t have much reason to come to Class B’s stomping grounds. They trained together in the gyms or on the battle grounds, and they ate lunch together sometimes in the cafeteria, but when it came to dorms, they were generally pretty separated. It was something cliquey about UA that Uraraka never had appreciated but found herself falling into.

“Hi,” Setsuna Tokage greeted her from the couch in the common area, her permanent mischievous look made more apparent by her sharp smile. “Who are you here for?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” Uraraka said, confused.

“Your whole class had the same idea.” She rolled her eyes. “To use as a delivery service for your Christmas gifts.”

Oh. Uraraka had thought she was being clever and original with that idea, but maybe not.

“I’m already picking up one for Jirou.” She said fondly. “But, I think there’s still some of us available.” Uraraka didn’t get Tokage. She seemed to be always dripping sarcasm but wasn’t entirely unfriendly. She had a tough exterior for sure. She kind of reminded her of Bakugou.

“I was looking for Kendo.” Uraraka explained.

“Ah, she’s popular.” Tokage giggled. “She’ll do it for sure. I’ll take you to her room.”

Kendo answered after one knock, looking unsurprised at the visitors. “Oh, hey!”

“Another visitor requests your services, my queen.” Tokage said, bowing low. Kendo smacked her arm playfully and the other girl disappeared.

 “Hey, Uraraka-chan!” She said cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Kendo.” Uraraka greeted the Class B girl meekly. She was still a little nervous around her after their fight during the exam, but Kendo was nothing but good-natured. “I was hoping you could do me a favor…but I guess you already know.” She trailed off. Kendo laughed.

“Ah, yes. You too?” She grinned. “Kirishima asked Tetsu for the same thing, and I think your boyfriend might’ve asked – or told – Monoma as well, because he is almost fearfully adamant that we go to the mall as soon as possible.”

“Yes, that is what I was going to ask you.” She blushed. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all!” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “What you guys did? Incredible. I only wish I had gotten to be involved. I would’ve liked to take a swing at that Shindo. And Monoma may say you forced him into helping, but trust me, he hasn’t stopped talking about the role he played in weeks.” 

Uraraka smirked at that image. It was the exact type of chaotic energy she expected from Monoma – tell the teacher it was coercion but then take all the credit. 

“It was…an experience.” She nodded. “We’re paying for it now, though.”

Kendo giggled. “Vlad King told us he was proud that we didn’t get involved, but I think he’s secretly jealous that Aizawa has the more badass class. Next time, right? So, anyways, what can I get you?”

-x-

Class B came back red-faced and bundled up in layers, weighed down with armfuls of gifts. After dropping the various boxes off, the Class A students darted to their rooms to hide what they had requested. Aizawa may have forced them to stay on campus, but they had found a way around it. Uraraka sat cross-legged on her floor, painstakingly wrapping Bakugou’s gift while Mina watched her struggle.

“This is really tragic.” She said, throwing a concerned look at the packaged mess.

“You can help, you know.” Uraraka ripped off another piece of tape and tried to pull it off her thumb without sticking it together.

“No, tragedies are good forms of entertainment. Back in the old days, they performed tragic plays all the time.” She was sitting on Uraraka’s bed, filing her nails. Kirishima’s presents lay perfectly-wrapped on the floor, taunting her. “Bakugou is gonna laugh his ass off when he sees this.”

“Stop it!” Uraraka glared daggers at her. She didn’t have much practice wrapping gifts. She was a novice, and Mina’s teasing was not helping at all.

“I’m kidding! He’s gonna love it. This is the cutest gift idea ever.” She swooned. “You guys are the best couple in the year.” Uraraka blew her bangs out of her face and pouted. She hoped he did like the gifts – they weren’t much, and she had used all of her spending money on them. Her stomach churned with anxiety. They were nothing compared to what he probably got from his family, but it was all she could manage.

“Tomorrow, no matter what Aizawa says, it’s going to be a great Christmas.” Mina declared. “I may have not seen my tree lighting, damn it, but I’ll get to see Kiri’s face light up, and that might be even brighter.”

Uraraka smiled softly to herself. Mina was always talking about how she and Kirishima were strictly hooking up, how there was no feeling involved other than the great feeling of friendship, and how it would probably come to an end soon, when one of them got bored, but Uraraka knew a liar when she saw one. She had been one, not too long ago.

“I just can’t believe he wouldn’t let us have Christmas.” The pink girl sighed. “Kaminari and Sero were right. He is a broken man.”

“It’s okay.” Uraraka promised. “We’ll still have a good Christmas. I know there’s nobody I’d rather spend it with than my best friends.”

“Shit, Ochako, you cheesy, adorable little thing. Come here. Let me hug you. I’ll help you wrap your damn present.”

-x-

Uraraka woke up on Christmas morning to screeching so loud that she could hear it all the way in her dorm, from under her covers. She jolted up in bed and glanced disoriented at the clock next to her. It was 8 AM. Too early for screaming. Maybe someone was in trouble?

She threw open her door and ran from her room, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas or brush her hair.

When she arrived in the common room, she was not met with disaster, but instead…

The room had been transformed – string lights were hung up across the walls, flashing a rainbow of colors and casting a cozy glow on the room. Twenty-one stockings were hung around the room, each one displaying an individual student’s name, and one extra tiny one, labeled: Cuddles. The cat in question was snoozing peacefully, under the biggest tree Uraraka had ever seen.

 It rivaled even that of the one displayed every year in the city, the one Mina so desperately wanted to be let off-campus to see. It was glittering from the white lights and shiny, round ornaments that adorned it. On the top of the tree was a plushie cat in place of a star.

“Oh…oh my God.” Mina gasped. If Uraraka had to guess, her friend was the source of the scream. She was standing shell-shocked, staring at the tree in front of her. Presents were scattered under it, each with a tag that said a student’s name. Jirou whistled.

Sero ambled into the room, eyes bleary and bedhead causing his hair to stick up at the sides. He yawned before noticing what was in front of him. “Whoa. Does…Aizawa…have a heart…?” He asked carefully. 

“Dude….” Kirishima said, wandering in after him, wearing Red Riot sweatpants. “A big heart.”

As everyone made their way into the common room, the noise level grew exponentially. Laughter rang out, names were called, presents were tossed and exchanged. Everyone was chattering excitedly, running around the room to find their stocking, snapping pictures by the tree, and marveling at the lights. Uraraka couldn’t take her eyes off of the scene. She had never had a big Christmas before – it was simply too much of a luxury. She would usually get one big present from her mom and dad, a new dress or a pair of shoes, and they would eat a modest meal. This was more than she had ever experienced. She couldn’t believe it. Aizawa had done this. For them.

“Wow!” Deku shouted. He had opened his present that was under the tree. “Arm bracers – this will really help.”

“Thank God. He'll stop breaking his arms.” Muttered Tokoyami, who was cautiously shaking his own box, Dark Shadow poking out and peeking over his shoulder.

“I got tail armor!” Ojiro was practically jumping up and down. “This is awesome!”

Tsu was holding up a pair of brand-new water shoes, tears forming in her eyes.

“Kirishima, Kirishima, open my gift!” Mina shouted from across the room, running and tackling the redheaded boy, who was marveling at Kaminari’s new lightening rod support item. Uraraka scanned the room, looking for Bakugou, and she found him soon, walking suspiciously into the room with none other than Todoroki. They were actually…talking. Amicably.

A Christmas miracle, Uraraka decided.

“The fuck is this?” Bakugou asked when he reached Uraraka. “Did the old man do this?”

"I think so.” Uraraka said with an air of wonder in her voice. “He…he got us all gifts.”

Bakugou snorted. “He outdid himself. Mina isn’t gonna shut up about this for the next three years. What did he get you?”

“I haven’t checked yet. I was waiting for you.”

Bakugou raised an eyebrow at her, then pulled her by her arm over to the tree. “This one.” He picked it up and tossed it to her. “Fuck, it’s heavy.” She grunted with the effort of catching it, and then sat down on the floor to open it. She pulled the wrapping paper off carefully, preserving it. Bakugou scoffed at her.

“What are you doing?” He demanded.

“It’s recyclable!”                    

He rolled his eyes, but she caught the almost-smirk on his lips. When the paper had been removed and placed gently on the floor, Uraraka’s jaw dropped. “Oh.” She squeaked.

"Holy shit. Maybe you’re the favorite.” Mina’s voice came from behind Bakugou. She was peeking over him, marveling at her gift.

It was a shiny silver jetpack. She had never seen anything so nice in her life – it must’ve come straight from Power Loader and Hatsume Mei; the quality was incredible. She felt her heart hammer in her chest, and tears fill her eyes. Aizawa was the biggest softie she knew. She’d have to hug him afterwards. Several of her classmates came over to admire it and show off their own gifts. The air was filled with glee.

When everyone had finished opening their gifts from Aizawa, they moved to exchanging the ones they had purchased for each other. Hagakure put on tea and Sero brewed coffee for the non-morning people, while Jirou played a rock-Christmas playlist from her new speaker set she had received from Kaminari. Uraraka was struck with joy and love. This was her family. This was happiness.

“What did you get?” Uraraka asked Bakugou, curiously peering into the dwindling pile of gifts for the one with Bakugou’s name on it. She found it easily. It was a box even bigger than Uraraka’s, and Bakugou stared at it distastefully.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He griped. “You open it.”

“What? It’s your present!” Uraraka picked it up and shoved it in his face. “You have to open it.” 

He mumbled something incoherent and then rolled his eyes but tore the wrapping paper off all the same. Uraraka grimaced at his crude ripping – none of that paper would be able to be salvaged, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it, because her eyes widened at his present from their teacher.

They were gauntlets, but sleeker, and smoother than his current giant, bulky ones. They were black and orange – his hero colors – and looked like they would fit perfectly. Bakugou held them in front of him, analyzing them, keeping his face a smooth mask.

“They’re…fuckin’ alright.” He turned away quickly, and Uraraka could hear the emotion break into his voice. She smiled, then saved him from having to repress his emotions.

“I got you something.” She said, bubbling with skittish energy. “If you want it.”

Bakugou cocked his head at her. “Got you something too, angel. It’s nothin’ special, it’s just…it’s in my room. You wanna come see?” His voice was slightly on-edge, which was still so hard to get used to. Hearing Bakugou speak in any way that wasn’t exuding absolute confidence or total rage was something few people got to experience.

“Yeah! I’ll grab your gift from my room then meet you in yours in five?” She smiled up at him. 

“Sounds good, cheeks.” 

“Here – open yours first.” Uraraka sat on Bakugou’s bed and grabbed the two small boxes that she had recruited Mina to wrap for her. They were impeccable, and much better than what she could have ever done. She would never tell Bakugou that – let him think she was talented.

“Did you have the alien freak wrap these?” He asked immediately, skeptical.

Well, so much for that plan.

“How could you tell?” She wailed. 

Bakugou snorted. “She wrapped yours too.” 

Uraraka felt a laugh bubble out of her, and soon it spread to Bakugou, infectious. He shook his head. “Gifts aren’t my thing.” He admitted. “Takes too long to wrap something just for you to rip the paper off.”

“Good thing we have a friend like Mina.” Uraraka goaded him. He grimaced.

“Pushing it.” 

“Open your gift!” She poked the gift he was holding impatiently, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Bakugou did as he was told, and Uraraka watched his face carefully for his reaction. “It’s for your hands,” She explained, before he had a chance to say anything, “Because you’re always hurting them with blowing up – I found it online and Kendo went to get it for me on their outing – it’s from this really cute, organic shop, and it’s supposed to be incredible and have all these healing properties and prevent future injuries and –”

“Angel.” Bakugou interrupted her. “You’re rambling.” 

“Sorry.” She mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up. 

“This is a fuckin’ great gift.” He said, turning over the jar in his hands. His voice was genuine. Uraraka had painstakingly scoured the Internet for three days straight after Bakugou had ended up with two bandaged hands in the infirmary after their second Battle Royale. Recovery Girl said he would need to naturally build up resistance again through use of his explosions, but Uraraka wanted to find a less painful alternative. She found the salve on her third day of searching – it was handmade by an old woman in one of the smaller villages outside of the city. When Uraraka had brought up the idea to Kendo, she expected her to reject it immediately, but the girl had just shrugged, and said it sounded like an adventure and that Vlad King didn’t really care where they went as long as they were back by curfew. 

“You use it –” 

“I see.” Bakugou said, before she could launch into another nervous tirade of muttering. That was a bad habit she had picked up from Deku. “This is going to be so fuckin’ helpful. Think of how strong I can get if I don’t have to worry about waiting for my hands to heal. I didn’t know they had shit like this.”

“It…took a while to find.” Uraraka mumbled weakly, overwhelmed by his response. It was a small gift. Nothing special at all. But he loved it. “There’s another gift too, but this one is more of a joke.” She warned him. Bakugou set the salve gently down on his bedside table, and then gave a curious look to the second box. 

He opened it in one swift movement, and his face broke into a true smile. 

“I know it’s not the picture you asked for, but you said you wanted a picture of me, and…” She faded out, embarrassed. Bakugou stared at the picture frame like it was made of gold. She had Mina take the picture for her – thinking it would be a quiet and quick photoshoot and then she could move on, but of course, that could not be the case. Hagakure had overheard them talking about it and insisted that she do Uraraka’s makeup (which she was shockingly adept at – she had three invisible sisters and it turns out learning to do makeup on invisible faces made you very talented), then Momo had joined in, gushing about how cute Uraraka would look in a red Christmas dress, and of course she would make her one, and Tsu had begged to do her hair, while Jirou, blushing, said that she was really great at painting nails. Before she knew it, she had been looking into a mirror and hardly recognizing herself. Mina actually cried. 

“Can’t believe how fuckin’ beautiful you are, angel face. Nobody could ever compare.” Bakugou looked at the picture in front of him with a truly loving way, and Uraraka couldn’t help but think that he was the beautiful one out of the two. “Thank you.” He said softly. 

It was no small feat, for Bakugou to show gratitude. In fact, Uraraka thought, that this whole day was probably really hard for him. Expressing emotions was something he struggled with, even with the slow and steady improvement he had been showing over the last several months. His small and gruff thank you spoke volumes to her. 

He positioned the picture next to the salve on his night stand, facing towards his bed. He tried to hide it, but Uraraka saw a red dusting on his cheeks. He picked up a small, neatly-wrapped box with a red bow placed in the center and handed it to her.

“Well, it’s not as badass as a fuckin’ jetpack, but here you go.”  

She took it from him, turning it over in her hands and purposely taking her time now because she knew it drove him crazy to be so meticulous about preserving everything. She peeled off the shiny paper to reveal a small white box with a popular jewelry brand name impressed upon it. Her mouth dropped open. “Katsuki, you didn’t get me something really expensive, did you?”

He grunted in a non-committal way.

She groaned. “You weren’t supposed to do that!”

“You haven’t even looked at it yet! It could be something fuckin’ cheap!” He argued. She arched an eyebrow at him and he frowned. They both knew that Bakugou would never do anything cheap. He was staring so hard at the box that he could’ve melted a hole in it. She popped the lid off of the box and gasped, her eyes widening. She lost the ability to form cohesive sentences.

“I’m gonna kill you!” She squeaked out. That was as coherent as it was going to get.

“Hah,” Bakugou smirked. “That’s the response I was expecting.” 

Inside the small box was a silver knot ring, with a blue stones intertwined between the spaces. It gleamed at her, inviting her to admire it. When she slipped it on her finger, it fit perfectly. Not too big, not too small. She held up her hand and gaped at it, mesmerized. It was the prettiest thing she had ever seen.

“It’s your birthstone, see?” Bakugou prompted her, eagerly awaiting her to give him an actual response, but she was still straining to remember the basics of communication. “It’s called a promise ring. You asked me a few days ago if I would always love you – stupid fuckin’ question, but I figured I could show you that I would. That I will.” He paused, watching Uraraka as she flexed her ring finger, as she moved her pointer along the small stones, as she floundered to think of a response worthy of such an incredible gift. Bakugou continued, speaking only to fill the silence, “And this way, everyone else knows it too.” He said this darkly, and Uraraka could imagine the type of people he was referring to. There would be no more Shindo situations – no more boys trying to steal her from parties and sneak her away to hotel rooms. This ring was undeniably proof that she was spoken for – that she was Bakugou’s. 

“If you don’t like it –”

Uraraka finally remembered her vocabulary. “This is the most gorgeous present I’ve ever received. It’s amazing. I’ll wear it every day.” Her voice broke. “I love it. I love you. I love you.” She repeated it twice for emphasis, but she didn’t think all the flowery vernacular in the world could adequately express the way she felt about the man in front of her, so she opted to speak his love language instead, and she reached her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. 

Bakugou kissed the top of her forehead softly and returned the pressure of her hug. She thought that this was the best Christmas she ever had.

Chapter Text

The holidays had come and gone, and Class A’s house arrest was winding down to a glorious end. Uraraka was getting antsy. She hadn’t realized how much she treasured outings with her friends until an outing began consisting of walking from their dorms to the cafeteria slowly, so they could try and admire the surroundings they saw every day. She wanted to walk through the city, to gaze at the flashy displays and fantasize about how when she was a hero that she would be able to afford everything in them. She wanted to go on a proper date with Bakugou – maybe to the movies, or to a ramen shop, or even just wandering around aimlessly and holding hands. She smiled dreamily at the thought.

Uraraka sat in her room then, alone, as Bakugou was at extra lessons with Todoroki. Aizawa began accompanying them once a week to a different off-campus location for their makeup provisional license training. They were told to keep it a secret, considering that all of their other classmates were not allowed off-campus for any reason, and it could cause a mutiny if it got out, but of course, Uraraka had gotten it out of Bakugou almost immediately.

“It’s not a fuckin’ fun thing, cheeks.” He had grumbled when she gasped, shocked that he was about to get to enjoy freedom while was reviewing the same English homework for the third time that week. “I’m stuck with Todoroki and that damn wind kid – and Aizawa.” He rolled his eyes. Uraraka smiled then, though, because Bakugou had stopped calling Todoroki the half-and-half bastard completely.

Uraraka had promised to keep his secret, and so when her friends asked where Bakugou was, she and Momo exchanged covert glances before making up excuses. Luckily, Bakugou and Todoroki were two of the easiest people in UA to make excuses for due to their brooding attitudes and general discipline.

“Meditating.” Offered Momo one week, when questioned on Todoroki’s whereabouts. Deku had nodded, understanding.

“He’s sleeping.” Uraraka said seriously, at 7:36 PM, when Mina wondered why Bakugou was bailing on one of their weekly movie nights. The pink girl had just shrugged and muttered a quick, “makes sense” under her breath before pressing play on the remote.

Bakugou always came back from those sessions fired up, sweaty and exhausted. One time, Uraraka had even caught him grinning when discussing one of their exercises that involved a gaggle of rowdy children that they had been tasked with wrangling up without use of violence. Bakugou had really struggled with that concept at first, but after talking about it for a while, Uraraka got the feeling that he was really learning a lot from these extra lessons. She watched in quiet awe as his expression brightened without his realization as he talked about the things he taught those little kids, and the authentic laughter that bubbled out of his lips as he recounted Inasa and Todoroki getting dog-piled by rabid kindergarteners. The laughter was what Uraraka thought about now, staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom, having physically exhausted all of the social media she could scroll.

Two more days of house arrest. Just two more.

Her phone started vibrating in her hand, and an image of her and her parents popped onto the screen. She smiled, a feeling of comfort entering her chest. When she picked up, her mom’s light-as-a-bell voice greeted her.

Uraraka missed her parents. She spoke to her parents several times a week but talking on the phone and seeing them in person were two entirely different things, and she hadn’t seen them in months. Her parents were wildly proud of her. They followed her every move during the Sports Festival, had bragged to everyone they knew about how far she had gotten, and even gone so far as to send her a care package right after, bursting with her favorite sweets. She had cried and cried. She had been so terrified of disappointing of them, of not living up to her goals of being a hero, of not being able to support them, but they were so proud of her no matter what.

She remembered what her dad had said on the phone: “You were able to not only hold your own against that explosive boy – Ochako, he was terrifying; you almost beat him!”

At the time, Uraraka had been moved emotionally by her father’s support, now, every time she spoke to her parents on the phone, she was reminded of his sentiment. Bakugou had been terrifying. Her parents watched him beat her down until she finally fell on national television. Now, that “terrifying” boy was her boyfriend. She thought often about how she would tell her parents the news. Having a boyfriend was shocking enough for parents of a teenager – Uraraka was their only daughter, their little girl, and having a boyfriend would be new territory for them. To add in the fact that her boyfriend was Bakugou, well, she figured her mom might have a heart attack.

She had no idea how she would start that story, even though she had rehearsed it in her head many times since they became official. “Hey, mom and dad, remember the boy who was muzzled in front of all of Japan because he was so crazed over winning? Well, we’re in love.” She would have to leave out the less than cute and charming story of how they ended up together – starting from a night of random sex in an infirmary room. Yeah, that would be a detail she wouldn’t be sharing.

Even without the aforementioned, Bakugou wasn’t exactly someone you casually brought home to mom and dad. He took some adjusting to. 

“How are you, Ochako?” Her mother crooned. “We miss you so much! We have your Christmas presents here, and we plan to have a separate celebration as soon as your house arrest was over.”

The house arrest had been fun to explain to her parents. Aizawa was not playing around when he said that they would not be able to leave campus under any circumstance (other than Bakugou and Todoroki, apparently, but it was clear now that Aizawa played favorites shamelessly) and so none of the students had gone home for Christmas. It hadn’t gone over well with parents – Uraraka remembered the twitch in Aizawa’s eye as he mentioned off-handedly that he wasn’t going to change his mind, so they could all tell their parents to give up on the incessant phone calls. Momo and Deku had both blushed heavily at that one. When her parents asked what had warranted such a punishment, Uraraka had tactfully avoided admitting that it was all her fault by saying that UA had a policy that if one person was in trouble, the whole class was in trouble. It fostered responsible behavior and taught the students how to work as groups, as would be necessary in hero work.  

Lying to her parents made her guilt pool in her stomach, but she didn’t think the whole story would be good for their health.

“I miss you guys too.” Uraraka said, her heart aching. “It ends in two days.”

“Would you like to come this weekend?” Her voice was hopeful.

“I don’t see why not!” She bit down on her lip after answering, then took a deep breath. She had to rip the Band-Aid off.  “Hey, could I…bring a friend?”

“Of course!” Her mother’s enthusiasm and warmth seeped through the phone and wrapped around Uraraka like a hug. “I would absolutely love to meet all of your friends!”

Uraraka swallowed her nerves. Maybe this one would be starting out too strong. Maybe she should meet Tsu first.

But Uraraka had decided before the second Battle Royale: no more being a coward. This applied both to standing up to disgusting, perverted blackmailers and telling her parents that she was dating the human embodiment of an atomic bomb. A sweet atomic bomb. One that wasn’t all that dangerous at all, really, but not everyone could tell.

“Great,” Uraraka forced herself to say. “We’ll be there this weekend.”

She hung up the phone, feeling nervous butterflies fill her stomach.

When Bakugou returned that evening, he came straight to her room as usual. Tonight, he was boasting about how he had knocked Todoroki on his ass, and how Aizawa said that they would only have a few more lessons before being able to retake the Provisional License Exam. Uraraka listened and nodded along appropriately, but her mind was elsewhere.

“What are you thinking about, angel face?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can see the gears turning in your head.”

“Do your parents know about me?” She asked. She kept her voice even and innocent. Bakugou glared up at her suspiciously from where he lay in her lap.

“Why you asking?” He grumbled. “They don’t matter.”

“So that’s a no.” Uraraka decided.

Uraraka stared down at Bakugou and took in his pained expression. His drawn together eyebrows showed that he was searching for a way out of this conversation, but other than escaping through the balcony, there wasn’t much he could do to avoid it. “They…know…about you.” He gritted his teeth as he spoke. “That old hag pries information out of me every time we talk, and I can only ignore her calls so many damn times before she starts threatening to call fuckin’ Aizawa or come break into the dorms to see me herself.” 

Uraraka pondered the woman who gave birth to Bakugou and concluded that she must be an absolute force of nature. 

“Oh, they know about me. Hmm.” She pretended to be deep in thought, but she was really thinking of an excuse as to why she had taken so long to broach the subject of Bakugou with her own parents, and even then, she hadn’t really. She said she was bringing a friend home, not a boyfriend.

“Not by choice.” He growled. “I wouldn’t fuckin’ subject you to them. The bitch had to know why I was on house arrest and I said it was because I was defending my girlfriend’s goddamn honor.” His face burned.

A smirk played on Uraraka’s lips. “How did she react to that?”

“How do you think?” Bakugou snapped, but then continued with less venom. “She told me I was an idiot and if I was gonna be such a good hero, then why did I go and get caught breaking rules?” He shut his eyes. “Then she said you must be an idiot for dating me.”

“She sounds pleasant.” Uraraka quipped. Bakugou laughed darkly.

“You have no fuckin, idea, angel face. I’m sparing you. Trust me, it’s a goddamn freak show over there. I feel bad for my dad having to deal with her.” He groaned.

 “I’m gonna have to meet them eventually.” She pressed him. Despite the picture that he was painting of his family, Uraraka couldn’t help the curiosity that rose up when she thought about the people who had raised Bakugou. She knew bits and pieces of his childhood from stolen stories she had pulled out of him in intimate moments of soul-baring trust, but she didn’t know the two that had shaped him to be who he was today.

“Why don’t we pass?” He suggested.

“Well, you’re going to be meeting mine, so we should probably keep it even…” She trailed off, awaiting the wave of displeasure that was sure to rock Bakugou at this news. He sat up to face her, a confused look on his face.

“When am I meeting yours?” He choked out.

“Uh. This weekend? If you want.” She played with the pads of her fingers, blushing and looking everywhere in the room but in his eyes. “I’m going home this weekend and I was thinking you could come.” Her voice quavered. Her and Bakugou had been through so much, had shared deeply elemental moments together, had grown as heroes and just as people together, but the thought of introducing him to her parents felt like a massive roadblock. What if they hated him? What if they didn’t understand him like she did?

“Fuck, short notice.” Bakugou mumbled. “But yeah, of fuckin’ course I want to meet your parents.”

“They might…well, they don’t…they don’t know a lot about you.” She stammered out. “I didn’t –”

Amazingly, Bakugou smirked. “Ah. You didn’t tell them about me at all.”  

“I just – I haven’t had a chance!” She threw up her hands in protest. 

“What, you ashamed of me, angel?” His voice was light and teasing, but she could sense something insecure in his eyes.  “Don’t want your parents to know you’re dating UA’s bad boy?” 

Uraraka snorted. Bakugou was about as far from bad boy as it got. If she didn’t keep him up every night, he would be in bed by 8. He was always making sure she studied and ate her vegetables, and he had All Might action figures in his room. Bad boy was about as far from Bakugou as anything got. Emotionally stunted nerd was closer to an accurate description, but one that she loved nonetheless.

Of course, only she and those close to him knew how he really was. The image her parents had of him after the Sports Festival would be very different.  

“I’m not ashamed of you. I’ve just never had a boyfriend before and I know my parents are going to make a big deal out of it.” She said, half-truthfully. She wasn’t ashamed of Bakugou, but she was scared of introducing him to her sweet, conservative, soft-spoken parents. Bakugou had a hard time holding a conversation without at least four f-bombs sprinkled throughout. It was natural to worry about that sort of thing. 

“Listen, angel face. If you want me to be the perfect boyfriend for mom and dad, then I’ll fuckin’ be that.” Bakugou growled, the fire that he always got when he was preparing for a challenge emitted off of him. “I’ll be a goddamn delight. If you can introduce me your parents, I’ll introduce you to my shitty ones, but don’t expect anything great from them. I was raised in a fuckin’ jungle.” 

“Okay, fine. Deal.” Uraraka couldn’t help the giggle from bursting out of her. “Your parents cannot be that bad.”

“They’re so much fuckin’ worse.” Bakugou shook his head. “Come on, I’m done studying. I wanna hit something. Let’s go see if Kirishima will spar with us.” His energy was manic again, and Uraraka sighed, but she thought that hitting something would be a great idea to calm her nerves. It always seemed to work for Bakugou.

Aizawa stared lazily at his class. They stared back in fear. Nobody dared to speak. The air was thick with tension. Uraraka could see Mina preparing to combust in her seat, her leg shaking nervously. It was a repeat of the night they were caught at the second Battle Royale, except this time, the stakes seemed higher. Everyone was on the brink of insanity from being confined on campus, and although they had been on their very best behavior, it was possible that Aizawa was a true sadist and would hit them with a surprise punishment just as they were on the clasp of freedom. Mina had done everything in her power to butter him up, enlisting the help of all his favorites to ensure that their teacher was as happy as someone of Aizawa’s general attitude could be. She had even gone so far as to request another favor from Shinso and have him go off campus to buy Aizawa an assortment of cat related items for Cuddles and Aizawa. Shinso, as it turns out, had climbed high on the ranks of Aizawa’s favorites list, and there were rumors flying around that he could be joining the hero course next semester. Everything that could be done was done, and now all the students could do was wait and hope that Aizawa could use his heart more than once a year. Christmas, although he wouldn’t admit that it was him who decorated the common room, was more kindness than he was probably used to showing.

“Well,” Aizawa said, finally breaking the suffocating silence. Everybody leaned forward, every ear perked up, every student said a silent prayer. “I feel as though you have generally behaved.” His eyes appraised the room casually. “And, I’m pretty sick of having you around twenty-four-seven.” 

“Thank goodness.” Momo whimpered under her breath. Uraraka knew she wanted to go home to enjoy some of her luxury. Kaminari fist-bumped, shooting a grin at Kirishima and then Sero.

“Your house arrest ends today – even you, ringleaders.”

Mina actually screamed, leaping from her desk in victory. “Really?! You mean it?! Aizawa Sensei, I could hug you!”

“Don’t do that.” Aizawa clenched his teeth, urging her to sit back down with his glare. She obliged and wiggled back into her seat with a beaming grin. “Yes, I mean it. Everyone is free to leave campus with permission, as long as you’re back by curfew, which is still reduced.” He couldn’t only give positive news – they were delinquents in his eyes, after all. The class bit back their complaints, too focused on their approval to re-enter the outside world, even if it did come with limitations.

Aizawa cleared his throat to stop the excited chatter and he began speaking again. “Onto an important matter - your house arrest has ended just in time for internships. Everyone with a provisional license will be able to participate in an internship this semester. These are important for cultivating relationships with pro heroes, gaining experience and preparing yourselves for the dangers of the real world.”

Once again, the room began to buzz as students whispered to each other, thrilled at the prospect that they not only got to leave campus, but they got to leave campus to fight villains. Uraraka’s heart thrummed in her chest. She was so ready for this. She had spent many long hours during their punishment coming up with the pros and cons of different heroes she could intern with and thinking about just what kind of hero she wanted to be. Everyone assumed she would follow in the footsteps of someone like Thirteen, but Uraraka wanted to be a top hero, and the top heroes were versatile.

She glanced over at Bakugou to gauge his reaction to the news. No one had really thought that Aizawa would take internships away – he had a healthy rivalry with Vlad King, and class 1B would be at threat of getting ahead if they partook in internships while Class A stayed behind, but Bakugou would’ve been out regardless of if they had been punished or not. He frowned now, his lips pressed together in a tight line and his crimson eyes blazing with irritation and something that seemed a lot like disappointment. She wished she could catch his eye so she could give him an encouraging smile or let him know that it would be fine – he was Bakugou, he wouldn’t fall behind no matter what, but he stared straight ahead, his glare unwavering.  

Aizawa continued. “In order to obtain an internship, you must interview with a pro hero, and if they are impressed with your abilities, then they will take you under their wing. This internship program will run until the end of the year and you will work two or more days a week, depending on your ability to manage your school work load with this opportunity. Special missions will be approved on basis of necessity but know that a lot hero work is just patrolling and paper work.” He paused, as if waiting for that sentence to fall over the students’ ears and mellow them out, but it didn’t. It was almost as if he hadn’t spoken it at all.

“Dude, imagine how much ass we’re gonna get to kick!” Kaminari stage-whispered to Kirishima, who nodded like a bobblehead, his grin lighting up the entire room. Aizawa, who to his credit, did a really good job of maintaining his persona as apathetic and terrifying, smirked. It was brief, but Uraraka caught it, and she smiled herself. Aizawa was clearly excited to be able to free his students, and even more so for the opportunity he was presenting them with.

 “I have compiled a list of pro heroes who are willing to take on interns and I will display that on the board now. Read carefully.” He clicked a button, and a sprawling list of names appeared in front of them. Uraraka read, wide-eyed, scanning over the hundreds of names of pros. She stopped on a few familiar names – Midnight, Present Mic, Ectoplasm. She was surprised; she didn’t think that the teachers normally took on interns. After everyone absorbed the information, Aizawa passed out sheets of paper and told them to write down their top three choices. The room exploded into conversation, voices overlapping and laughter ringing out as everyone discussed their choices for the internships. Aizawa called Todoroki and Bakugou up to the front of the classroom so he could speak to them, and Uraraka had to stop herself from straining her ears to eavesdrop.

“Do you know who you want to intern under?” Tsu asked Uraraka brightly, distracting her from her ploy. “I’m thinking about Gang Orca.”

“Gang Orca, Tsu?” Momo crinkled her nose, before Uraraka could answer. “Are you sure? He seems rather intense.” 

“I think Gang Orca is a great idea!” Deku cut in. “Asui would be a great addition to his team! She’s powerful in both combat and rescue.”

Tsu blushed and gave Deku a bashful smile. “I told you to call me Tsu.” She croaked.

“I was thinking about Midnight! I’ve always wanted to be her.” Mina broke into the conversation, her eyes shining. “I mean, how cool would that be? Do you think she’d give me sex tips?” Her eyes danced. “Do you think I’d get to use the whip?”

Kirishima, who was sitting next to Deku, looked up with wide, frightened eyes. Mina winked at him. 

“Midnight would be a good, albeit very niche choice.” Momo nodded sagely. “It is very surprising and exciting that the teachers have volunteered their time to take us on patrols as well. They already have so much responsibility. Oh, Shoto!”

Todoroki and Bakugou were trudging back over to everyone else, Todoroki looking stoic as usual, Bakugou looking sour.

“Yeah, yeah.” Scoffed Bakugou, speaking as if he had been present that whole conversation. He sat on top of Uraraka’s desk and rested his elbow on top of her hair. “It’s a really honor and fuckin’ privilege to be forced to follow Aizawa around with this bastard.” 

Todoroki’s lips threatened to pull up into a smile, but he kept his composure, and instead opted for an indifferent shrug.

“Aizawa Sensei?” Tsu asked. “I didn’t see his name on the board.”

“Guess we’re fuckin’ special.” Bakugou grumbled.

“Aizawa Sensei offered to let Bakugou and I work under him, since we don’t possess our provisional licenses and can’t take on a legitimate internship.” Todoroki explained.

“So, he’s basically letting you do an internship without saying it’s an internship.” Mina giggled. “He’s such a softie.” Uraraka, frankly, was shocked. Aizawa was not the type to want any kind of flashy publicity and did most of his patrols at night. Todoroki and Bakugou were not two students that you wanted following you around if you wanted to avoid the spotlight, considering how much attention they attracted due to their power. Uraraka knew Aizawa was making a great personal sacrifice for the sake of two of his better students not falling behind. 

 “Think of it more as an apprenticeship.” Todoroki shrugged. “Or extra homework.”

“It’s fuckin’ pity is what it is.” Bakugou muttered. Uraraka shook her head so his elbow would fall off. She pulled his arm down and intertwined their fingers. He relaxed.

“Kacchan, don’t be like that!” Deku grinned now, at a seething Bakugou. “There’s so much to learn from Aizawa Sensei!”

“Shut it, you fuckin’ nerd! I’m gonna learn so much that I’ll kick your ass!” Well, the relaxed state was nice while it lasted.

Deku just nodded knowingly.

“I think it is important we work with heroes who may not specialize in our normal skillset. For example, Aizawa Sensei is a stealth hero, and works best at night, whereas Bakugou and Shoto are both very…flashy.” Momo giggled. Todoroki grimaced and Bakugou glared.

“Fuckin’ flashy.” He grumbled.

Momo continued. “I was considering working with the pro hero Miruko – she’s incredible in combat, which is something I desperately need to improve upon.” Her confidence wavered with this last statement, and she trailed off. Todoroki gave her an encouraging look.

“Miruko would be lucky to have you.” He said simply. 

“Gross.” Bakugou rolled his eyes, but he squeezed Uraraka’s hand slightly and she smirked. 

“Don’t you wanna know who your girlfriend is interning with, Baku?” Kirishima asked, raising his eyebrow. 

“Someone fuckin’ badass, I’m sure.” Bakugou tilted his head to the side to look down at Uraraka. She bit her lip. She had been thinking about who she wanted to work with a lot – there were many options: rescue heroes like Thirteen, combat heroes like Gunhead, top heroes like Ryuku, and she had been having a hard time settling on her best option. She had been practicing combat training with Bakugou and Kirishima almost every day, and she felt adequate in that part of her life – if her aching muscles were any indication, at least. She had rescuing down to a science – always jumping at chances to volunteer during the rescue stimulations they did in class. She had the top rescue score in the class and was always the one people called if they got themselves into tricky situations – she even saved Cuddles the other day when she had gotten herself stuck on the roof somehow. One name on the list jumped out at her immediately, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of it. She didn’t know why the idea appealed to her so much – maybe it was because she was so different. Maybe it was because she felt that she owed her something. Maybe she liked the idea of working with someone that she knew.

“I was actually thinking about working with Ms. Joke.” 

The group around her went silent. Mina opened her mouth several times to say something but seemed to think better of it. Bakugou gave her a curious look. 

“As in Ketsubutsu Ms. Joke?” Kirishima was the one who finally spoke up. 

“Tch. Who else, Shitty Hair?” Bakugou answered for her. 

“Wow, that’s…an interesting choice, Ochako.” Tsu said thoughtfully. “Are you sure you want to work so closely with her?”

“Ms. Joke herself is a wonderful person.” Momo said. “However, I feel as if there may be some tension in the air between ourselves and Ketsubutsu due to the circumstances of our battle with them.” 

“Personally, I would love to hear about what happened to Shindo, so I think it’s a great idea.” Jirou piped up.

Kaminari sauntered over to the group, interested now that there was gossip going on. “I heard through the grapevine that he got expelled.”

“Cite your sources.” Mina challenged and Kaminari just threw up his hands, feigning innocence.

“Can’t reveal my secrets.”

“I don’t know…Ms. Joke doesn’t seem like the type to expel someone, but maybe Aizawa rubbed off on her.” Momo touched her chin. 

“I’m personally hoping that she murdered him, but that might be an unrealistic expectation.” Sero popped up behind Kaminari’s shoulder. Now half of the class was listening in, eager to discuss what had become a forbidden topic on UA grounds. Uraraka had a sneaking suspicion that Bakugou was the cause of that – the first day of their punishment, Shindo and his threats to Uraraka was all anyone could talk about among all the classes. It had gotten back to General Studies courtesy of Shinso – who was now a local hero – and then made its way through the Support and Business courses. Hatsume Mei approached Uraraka the day after everything and told her she was an inspiration, smothering her in a hug and launching into a tirade about how if they had asked her about her new silencing “baby”, that they would’ve never gotten caught. 

It was all too much for Uraraka, who really didn’t want to think about it at all, and she voiced that to Bakugou. The next day, no one even dared to utter the name Shindo, and Bakugou spent most of their classes shooting death glares at anyone who approached Uraraka.

He was tensing up next to her now, clearly trying to figure out which of their classmates most warranted his fury, but Uraraka gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. 

“He probably hasn’t been murdered.” Uraraka said, “But I’m not trying to intern with Ms. Joke because I want to know about Shindo – quite the opposite, actually, I’d rather not know about him.” A few of her friends gave her guilty looks, but she pressed on, good-natured and determined. “I want to learn all the different aspects of being a hero – and interning under Ms. Joke will bring me a very different experience than what I’m used to!”

“Plus,” Mina added, “Maybe you can grill her about information about her relationship with Aizawa Sensei.” She grinned mischievously. Uraraka groaned.  

“Why don’t you just ask Aizawa?” She suggested dryly. 

Mina looked at her like she had two heads. “Yeah, like I want another three months of house arrest. He’s probably looking for an excuse to ground me until graduation.” 

“It’s a great idea, Uraraka!” Deku cheered. “Ms. Joke is a fascinating hero!”

“Interesting choice, angel face.” Bakugou dipped his head low and whispered in her ear. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing! It’s just what I said!” She protested.

 “You’ve got nothing to prove.” He insisted. Uraraka just shook his concerns away. She wasn’t trying to prove anything. Right?

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom. Aizawa coughed once, garnering the attention of the class before they could disappear. “Remember, if you’re going anywhere off-campus this weekend, you need to ask permission. And don’t get into any trouble, or you’ll be right back where you started. Think about your choices for your internships, you’ll begin interviewing next week.”

Uraraka was grateful she had a week to dwell on her internship, but for right now, she had a more pressing matter: she was bringing Katsuki Bakugou home to meet her parents.

Chapter Text

The torrential downpour that had been plaguing them for the past several weeks froze overnight, and Uraraka woke up to the world outside of her dorm room window dusted in white. Next to her, Bakugou’s chest rose and fell in slow succession, signaling that he was still dreaming deeply. His face was slack, his mouth opened slightly, and his nose twitched. Uraraka smiled sleepily, lying back down and reaching her arm out lazily to drape over his chest. 

“Morning, angel face.” Bakugou murmured, his voice heavy. 

“Good morning.” Uraraka whispered, struck with a sudden wave of emotion and gratitude for the boy next to her. All of her anxiety that had been gathering in her chest over meeting his parents and him meeting hers melted away, because he was wonderful, and she was going to make her parents see that. 

They had called again last, confirming that Uraraka was still bringing a “friend” so that they could prepare enough lunch. Their game plan was hectic – take the train to Uraraka’s parents’ house, spend the afternoon there, then back on the train to the other side of the city to where Bakugou grew up. Uraraka was sure that the two of them were from different worlds, but today would confirm it. Interestingly enough, the thought didn’t worry her. Regardless of where they were from or who they were or where they ended up, Uraraka knew that Bakugou would be somebody who would stick by her side.

“You ready to get the fuck out of here today?” Bakugou asked, still groggy, but stretching his arms out to wake himself up. Uraraka was surprised he was even still asleep – it was 7:35 AM, which was sleeping in for him. Normally, he would wake Uraraka up in a frenzy of gathering gym clothes, quick kisses, and muttered goodbyes before he slipped out to work out at ungodly hours of the morning, making sure not to encounter any potentially patrolling teachers – or Iida – on the way out. They hadn’t been consistent in their checkups lately, but Uraraka still kept her walkie-talkie charged and in position next to her on the night stand. Today must’ve been a special occasion for Bakugou to let himself rest – maybe he needed all of his energy to handle her parents, or his own. 

“Yeah, I am.” She said, yawning. Even though she had reluctantly become a morning person due to Bakugou’s tenacity for early training sessions, she was still, at heart, a sleepy girl. “Unlike some people, I actually had my punishment upheld.”

Bakugou smirked. His eyes were still closed. “Be grateful you didn’t have to spend time with fucking Todoroki. Trying to hold a conversation with him is damn impossible.”

“You’re not much easier.”

Bakugou scoffed, affronted. “I’m much easier.”

Uraraka hummed. “In some ways.”

"Yeah, what ways?” He leaned up on one elbow and fixed Uraraka with one of his famously intense gazes. Even riddled with sleep, it was piercing. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to get used to the fierce admiration and love that shone in his crimson-colored eyes when he looked at her. It was jarring, heart-stopping, and only for her.

She chose not to answer the question, and instead rolled herself closer to Bakugou, so that she was half-lying on his bare chest, and she placed a chaste kiss on his lips, then pulled away. He closed his eyes again and wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her back to him, chasing the kiss. His lips were impossibly soft as they slanted against her own, and she let herself be taken over by the sensation. The kiss was slow, lazy, longing. Bakugou’s hands were warm on her skin, but she shivered at his touch. She had thought that she would fall into a routine of intimacy with Bakugou – the quick pecks goodbye, the subconscious way that their fingers would link together when they were walking, and of course – the sex, but she found herself constantly being exposed to new sensations and emotions. Uraraka and Bakugou had come together through sex. Messy, heated hookups had bloomed into whispered declarations of love under low lighting, hot hands leaving scorching trails on bodies, and an exploration and expression of desire. Uraraka had feared that sex would become stagnant, or that it would fill her with memories of a time before Bakugou was hers and remind her of the harsh way he had promised her it was only sex, and that it didn’t mean anything. That was her fear, but Bakugou had more than quelled it. Where Bakugou had been teaching her before, now they learned and grew together. They murmured assent into each other’s ears whenever they tried something new that turned out to be right, something that made them both gasp with pleasure and tighten their holds on each other. Bakugou made the same promise to her each time they came together, pledging his devotion to her, murmuring the words against her skin and onto her lips.

“I love you.” Bakugou said now, encapsulating Uraraka in his solid arms, squeezing her body down to his. “We don’t have to go, right? You don’t really wanna meet my fuckin’ parents? We could stay here like this, all day…”

“Hmm. We could, but I don’t think I would make a very good impression on your parents if I bailed.” Uraraka pecked his nose and ran her padded fingers along his cheek, keeping her pinky raised.

“My mother thinks anyone who would be willing to date me must be a goddamn saint with more patience than Mother Theresa, so you’d have to work really hard to mess up that image.” Bakugou deadpanned.

“She’s right.” Uraraka said seriously, and Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed her, twisting them around so he was looming above her menacingly. He licked his lips slightly right before he reached his hands down to her stomach and promptly began to tickle her. She squealed, kicking her legs furiously and uselessly, and flailed in an attempt to free herself.

“Ah, mercy, mercy, I’m sorry!”  She cried, smacking her hand against his chest. “I’ll float you if you don’t stop, I will!” She snarled, trying to show her serious she was through the giggles.

“Fuck, okay.” Bakugou laughed. “Better watch that mouth, angel, or I’ll leave you to fend for yourself against the wolves.”

“Oh please, like you’re capable of leaving me alone like that.” She grinned up at him, taking in his appearance as he loomed over her. His hands were surrounding her head and his muscles rippled with the small effort of holding himself up. His broad chest was pale in the snowy morning light. She wanted to trail kisses down from his neck to his stomach, wanted to leave love bites on his thighs so that only she could see them, wanted to drown in his embrace and stay warm throughout the entire day.

She couldn’t, of course. They had too much to do today, but a small stolen hour of the dawn would be okay, so she let Bakugou peel off the thin layers of clothing separating them, and she folded herself into him.

-x-

For probably the tenth time in one year, Uraraka found herself reflecting on the fact that Aizawa definitely did not get paid enough to put up with them. The first weekend of freedom for class A had arrived at last, and each and every student had put in a request to leave campus. Aizawa sighed every thirty seconds or so with the effort of it all.

He corralled them all to the train station and Uraraka watched as he mouthed numbers to himself, keeping a solid headcount of everyone. He growled at Kaminari to stop wandering away aimlessly and snapped at Mina to quiet her incessant squealing. This wasn’t their first outing together by any means, but usually Aizawa had back up, and usually they hadn’t been cooped up for a month. Mic and Midnight had both fallen mysteriously ill that morning, and Uraraka had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with them not wanting to try and combat the sheer force of energy that was surging through the class at the moment.

“Sero, you can’t touch strangers!” The haggard man hissed. Sero froze in place, his fingers just inches away from poking a hurried businessman in the back of the head.

“Kaminari dared me.” He murmured, defeated.

Aizawa took a deep breath, even heavier than his rhythmic sighs. “Do you two want to go back to campus?”

“No, they don’t!” Mina grabbed both of the boys and forced them to link arms with her. “Don’t get lost now, kids.” She dragged them over to Kirishima and Bakugou, who were absolutely the parents of the group. Uraraka giggled from Bakugou’s side at his pained expression. Kirishima just shook his head as if he was used to this kind of behavior.

“Ochako, Baku, I can’t believe you guys aren’t coming with us.” Mina pouted. “You’re missing out.”

“Like I’d wanna go to some shitty concert.” Bakugou muttered.

Sero, Kirishima, Mina, Kaminari and Jirou were going to see a holiday concert in the city – they had been devastated when Uraraka and Bakugou had said they wouldn’t be going. However, when Mina was told the reason, she had been absolutely enthralled and promptly had burst into tears, blubbering about marriage and babies. Kaminari, Sero and Kirishima had enveloped Bakugou in a group hug, which he aggressively blasted his way out of.

“Dude, you like this band.” Kirishima rolled his eyes, calling out Bakugou on his bullshit as usual. “But it’s so cool that you’re going to visit each other’s parents! So serious.” He winked. He turned to Uraraka and said conspiratorially, “You know, I’ve met the Bakugous before.”

“And?” Uraraka whispered back, pretending like Bakugou couldn’t hear them and wasn’t glaring daggers at them both.

“Good luck.” Kirishima said, a serious look in his eye but a grin fighting its way onto his face.

“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou grumbled. “I already told her what to expect.”

“I’m only kidding, Uraraka. Mitsuki and Masaru are great.” Kirishima beamed, but he lowered his voice again and said, “You’ll understand though.”

Uraraka was about to ask Kirishima exactly what she would understand and Bakugou looked like he was going to shove his fist into Kirishima’s face when Aizawa’s harried voice interrupted her.

“Sero, Ashido, Kirishima, Kaminari, Jirou, you’re on that line.” Aizawa pushed the five in a group over towards a train. “Do you have your passes?”

“Yes, Sensei!” Mina flashed a bright smile and held up her rail pass. She turned towards the rest of her class. “Bye, everyone! I’ll miss you!” She called, clutching her heart.

“It’s just for one day, Mina. We’ll be back by curfew.” Kirishima said, but he locked eyes with Bakugou and mouthed, “I love you.” Bakugou bared his teeth at him, and Kirishima and the others dissolved into a fit of laughter.

 “One day when we’ve spent every waking moment together for the past month hurts, Kiri.” Mina protested, blowing kisses to Hagakure, Momo, Tsu and Uraraka in turn. All the girls waved cheerfully, and then the group was gone, bumping into each other in their excitement to race to the trains. Aizawa gazed after them, looking like he regretted letting them off house arrest in the first place, but then his attention was back on the remaining students.

 “Hagakure, Ojiro, Shoji, Tokoyami, passes? You’re this way.” Aizawa was like a harassed single mother, tutting over his children and making sure they were accounted for and prepared for their outing. “You all have your cell phones charged?”

“Yes, Sensei!” The four rang out, and then they departed for their train.

“Midoriya, Asui?” Aizawa zeroed in on the two. “Don’t get into trouble.” He glared specifically at Deku saying this, but it was Tsu who answered with a reassuring croak of, “Never, Sensei!”

Tsu had approached Uraraka last night and announced that her and Deku were going to go on their first official date. They were going to see a romantic comedy, then for dinner and ice cream. Tsu, who was never really worried about much of anything, was extremely nervous. Uraraka had spent the better half of the night talking her through her anxiety and braiding her long hair so that it would be wavy in the morning – a technique that had worked beautifully, as Tsu’s hair fell in shiny, crimped tresses around her face. Deku and Tsu said their goodbyes and took off together towards their train. As they disappeared into the crowd, Uraraka caught Deku sliding his hand into Tsu’s, and she smiled.

“Iida, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki?”

Momo and Iida raised their hands into the air swiftly, and Todoroki inclined his head. Somehow, Iida had gotten invited onto Todoroki and Momo’s day trip which was to go ice-skating. Uraraka couldn’t stop herself from smirking whenever she brought up the mental image in her head. She begged Momo to record for Iida on ice skates for the purpose of prosperity. The thought of the boy with engines in his legs trying to remain graceful on ice against the likes of Todoroki and Momo was sure to be an incredible sight.

Aizawa directed the few remaining students to their proper trains and reminded them all without an ounce of expression on his face to be back at the train station by curfew and not one second later or there would be hell to pay.

Uraraka and Bakugou were the last to go. Bakugou stood with his hands in his pockets, looking bored, but Uraraka could feel an aura of nervousness radiating off of him. Aizawa regarded them sharply.

“You two.” He said simply. “Passes?”

“Yes, Sensei!” Uraraka held them up for him to see. 

“You realize I’m making an exception for you. This is not a reward, it is simply to satisfy the request of your parents.” Aizawa’s face was pained and Uraraka had to fight to hold back her grin. With internships starting next week, both of them would be too busy for another weekend excursion, so it was decided that they would have to squeeze in meeting both of their families in one day, while still respecting Aizawa’s tight curfew. Bakugou was utterly thrilled at the realization and said that they could just stop by his place, hang out for, like, half an hour and then head back. Uraraka didn’t think that was fair, but Bakugou was insistent to the point of mania. Uraraka lay across his bed, buried in a magazine she borrowed from Mina when he called to relay this plan to his mom.

It had gone about as well as Uraraka could’ve expected. The screaming that erupted from the other end of the phone could have been heard across campus. Uraraka caught a few f-bombs and indignant screeching about how Bakugou was being excessively rude, a little shit, and an ungrateful brat.

“I have a fuckin’ curfew, you bitch!” He had shouted back at her, and Uraraka’s eyes widened. If she ever called her mother a bitch, the guilt would eat her alive for weeks, but it rolled off Bakugou’s tongue as easily as if he was talking to Todoroki. “You wanna complain to someone about it? Talk to fuckin’ Aizawa!”

Apparently, that was exactly what Mrs. Bakugou was going to do. Bakugou had muted his cellphone, grabbed Uraraka by the hand, and dragged her down the hall until they reached Aizawa’s quarters. After knocking heavily three times in rapid succession, he opened the door, looking suspicious and very bothered in his sweatpants and t-shirt, his hair tied up in a ponytail.

“It’s eight o’clock, there better be a good reason for –” But Bakugou hadn’t let him finish. He unmuted the phone and tossed it over like it was a grenade, and in a sense, it was, because as soon as Aizawa placed the device to his ear and opened his mouth to speak a greeting, Uraraka heard the explosion. 

In the end, Aizawa granted them permission for an extended curfew.

“Absolutely, you would never reward us.” Uraraka saluted. Aizawa gave her a scathing look. Bakugou snorted.

“Trust me, this is a fucking punishment.” He said. “You heard firsthand what a pleasure my mother is.”

“Nice woman.” Aizawa said, poker-faced. “Be back here at 11 PM. No later. If I have to wait for you, there will be consequences.”

“Yep.” Bakugou said. “I won’t want to stay a damn minute later.”

“We’ll start our training on Monday, Bakugou. Make sure you’re prepared.” Their teacher said as if Bakugou hadn’t spoken at all. With Aizawa’s general lack of displaying emotions, Uraraka couldn’t tell if he was eager to take on Bakugou and Todoroki as quasi-interns or dreading it.

“Monday is far enough away.” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“Monday at midnight. I work the night shift.” Aizawa reminded him, and Uraraka swore she saw a hint of a smirk pull up on his lips.

“Fuck.”

“Tell your mother I say hello.” Aizawa said impassively, and with that, he waved them off to their train, and Uraraka and Bakugou were on their way.

-x-

Ochako wouldn’t stop fiddling with the pads on her fingers, and it was all Bakugou could notice. She would press them together, starting with her thumb and going one by one until her pinkies connected. At any given time, she had one random finger raised, absentmindedly keeping herself from floating to the ceiling of the train. He wondered how many times she had accidentally taken her own gravity away before her brain started automatically sending signals to her fingers to never fully touch. Watching Ochako eased his own nerves. He wasn’t a nervous person, not usually. He never had reason to be – he was good at everything he did, but he could admit that socializing wasn’t exactly his strong suit. As aloof as he was generally, he couldn’t help but want to make a good impression on Ochako’s parents – he didn’t want them to look down on him. In order to do that, he had to make sure he wasn’t so…himself.

He could manage that. It would just involve a lot of shutting up and keeping a straight face.

Bakugou tore his eyes off Ochako in order to look out the window. They were heading in the opposite direction of Bakugou’s place, to a part of the region far away from UA. He knew Ochako lived in a rural area. She didn’t talk much about her parents but when she did, she spoke with love and admiration. As for her life pre-UA, Bakugou had committed the short stories and quips to memory, piecing together who Ochako was outside of an aspiring hero. She made offhand comments, like when she was late waking up for class one morning and mumbled to herself that she was grateful for the dorm systems, because her commute from home would’ve forced her to wake up twice as early. She had told Bakugou about her former goal of working for her parents’ construction company, which was apparently not doing so hot. He wasn’t surprised – there was a lot of competition for infrastructure jobs in a quirk-based society. People were born well-suited for the career, and according to Ochako, her parents weren’t. He knew her main goal as a hero was to earn enough money to support her parents. She was shy and red-faced when she told him, as if she was expecting him to laugh, or look down on her, but he found it damn respectable. Everyone acted like you had to have a noble reason to be a hero, but Ochako knew what she wanted, and Bakugou liked that.

It was no secret that Ochako and her family were not well-off. Even if she hadn’t told him about her ultimate plan, Bakugou had noticed her money anxiety early on in the year. She was always prompt to every meal, making sure that she got her food before Lunch Rush closed things up, and if she slept in or was too late to dinner, her stomach would rumble all night. She made up excuses to her group of nerds, assuring them that she didn’t want to go to the movies, or to a restaurant, or shopping or that she had too much homework, or she was tired. Bakugou had listened to her routine denials knowing that it was bullshit before he even knew her. Her cheeks would darken, or she’d stare down at her feet and her voice took on a softer tone. It had been confirmed when they had gone to the mall together – the terror in her eyes when she mentally calculated how much all Bakugou had bought her would cost. He decided in that moment that he would never let her want anything ever again.

Ochako told him more than she probably realized. She talked a lot. She recalled about an old dog she had that she would chase around for miles in her backyard. His name was Dai, and Ochako laughed fondly when she told the story about how her quirk had first manifested when she was wrapping the dog in hug, and he had floated into a tree before she panicked and released him. She had run inside crying and her dad had come out with a ladder, chuckling to himself. She recalled a friend who she had – a girl named Futaba -  and that they would go on treks through the woods together, playing as heroes and collecting leaves until Futaba moved to a city in a different region when her parents split.

She talked about other aspects of her life as well; small details that painted a picture of a young Ochako. Bakugou could picture her – all pink cheeks and braids, running around and exploring. Ochako was the kind of girl who would’ve played in dirt, would’ve probably gotten in fights, wouldn’t have taken anyone’s shit. He would’ve liked her then, too, but he didn’t think she would have liked who he was.

“Are you nervous?” Ochako asked him and he realized he had taken her hand as if on autopilot and started twirling the ring on her finger. “You’re spacing out.”

"No. Why would I be?” He cocked his head to the side to meet her eyes. He was used to people ignoring him when his thoughts took over like that. Having resting bitch face was good for some peace and quiet, but Ochako was more perceptive than anyone her knew.

“Nervous habit.” She stared accusingly down at her finger.

“I just like the ring.” He lied. “Got no reason to be nervous. Parents love me. Kirishima’s did.” That part wasn’t a lie – Kirishima’s family had been just like him: overly friendly and tough, so nothing he could’ve said phased them. In fact, they all thought his temper was outright hilarious and spent the better part of the night he was there giving him shit. Bakugou had a feeling that Ochako’s parents wouldn’t be quite so accepting. Ochako was tough, but she was also a princess, and he knew that her parents would be protective.

Bakugou never once gave a fuck about what anyone thought about him. He yelled and cursed and blew things up and nobody said anything, because he was admirable, because he was impressive, because he had so much potential as a hero, so he never learned to care about what people thought. The first time he truly found himself concerned with his image was after he shouted after Ochako, and the second time was now. He wanted her parents to at least trust him with their daughter. He wanted to prove that he could take care of her – not that she needed fucking taking care of.

The desire was so strong that it was making Bakugou sick. He hated worrying about shit, so, he did something that he would ordinarily never do. He heavily swallowed his pride, and he asked for help. No one could say he hadn’t grown since starting UA. If someone had told his middle school self that he would be asking for help in toning down his personality so that his girlfriend’s parents would like him, he would’ve laughed in their face, but here he was.

He mentally ticked through his classmates when thinking of who to approach, and how he would do it. He couldn’t act like he needed help – he had to keep it casual. Mina was out of the question. She would tell the entire world that she was giving Bakugou etiquette lessons and then probably try to dress him up and take pictures too. Hard pass. Kirishima was too cheerful, and Bakugou would never be able to mimic his sunshiney energy without wanting to kill himself. Kaminari and Sero were too damn dumb and Bakugou would sooner stab himself in the eyes before asking Deku or Todoroki for help.

He eventually narrowed it down to two reasonable opinions and went with the less agitating of the two. It was going to be terrible regardless, but damn it if he didn’t love Ochako enough to suffer.

“Hey.” Bakugou had approached his chosen teacher that night. She was seated in the common room, radiating her ever-present prim and proper aura. Her legs were crossed at the ankles, and her nose was buried in a chemistry book.

“Oh, hi, Bakugou.” Momo had smiled at him, relaxed. His classmates were slowly beginning to lower their guard around him. If he had approached Momo several months ago, she would’ve done that tense, shy thing she pulled whenever she was anxious. She closed her book before he could even make his request. Momo was one of the most accommodating people Bakugou had ever met. It annoyed him, once, when everything had annoyed him but now it worked to his favor. “What can I do for you?”

Bakugou had hesitated, trying to find a way to phrase his question in a way that didn’t sound as stupid and pathetic as it made him feel. “Can you teach me how to not talk like an asshole?”

Momo had blinked at him, her lips parted slightly in surprise. “I guess I can try. I’m flattered you came to me. I do try to always speak in a dignified way. What’s the occasion?”

Bakugou’s sigh aged him one hundred years. He held back an eye roll. “I’m meeting Ochako’s parents this weekend.”

Momo’s eyes had widened then, and a look of determination had fallen over her face. “Of course I’ll help you!”

On the train, Ochako just smiled in response and snuggled against him. Bakugou didn’t know how he got so lucky to have this soft and beautiful woman want to be so close to him, but he didn’t want to screw things up now. He hoped his damn lessons had been enough to turn him into a “proper young man” as Momo had put it. He scowled to himself. Acting was a fucking pain, and he didn’t want to do it, but it was for Ochako. He laid his head on top of hers and continued twisting the ring as the countryside flashed by in front of them.

They arrived soon after and waiting for them at the station was the spitting image of what Bakugou imagined Ochako would look like in twenty years. Mrs. Uraraka was a pretty, kind-faced woman with identical pink cheeks to her daughter. She was tiny next to a giant of a man, who was smiling Ochako’s identical smile. The woman actually jumped up and down when she saw Ochako, and Ochako sprinted to run into her arms. Bakugou followed behind at a distance, wanting to let them have their moment and needing more time to psyche himself up before he could handle a conversation with the Urarakas that didn’t include snark and vulgarity.

“Ochako!” The booming voice of Mr. Uraraka seemed to shake the ground around them. “My girl!”

When he scooped her into a bear-hug that Mrs. Uraraka soon joined, Bakugou felt like he was intruding. He knew Ochako and her family were close-knit – someone sweet like her had to have a loving upbringing – but seeing it in person was something he was not fully comfortable with. He didn’t know how to react to such brazen displays of family love.

“This must be your friend!” Mr. Uraraka called and Bakugou startled. “She didn’t mention to us she was bringing a boy.” He waggled his eyebrows at Ochako accusingly and she blushed. Mrs. Uraraka gave Bakugou a quick once-over, and the smile dropped off her face.

"Oh.” She squeaked. “I recognize you.”

“Yeah.” Mr. Uraraka agreed. His grin remained on his face. It was cheeky, taunting. On any other face, it would’ve pissed him off, but he was practicing the breathing exercises he had learned from Aizawa. “You’re famous.”

Bakugou had a snarky insult on his tongue but he bit it. The most practice he had with speaking to authority was his teacher, and the man was too tired to care if Bakugou swore and mouthed off. This was trickier. He reminded himself of Momo’s guidance. “Yeah.” Bakugou finally said, after Ochako gave him a meaningful look. “That’s me.” According to the rich girl, light jokes were good. Not for Bakugou’s sanity, but for the sake of his goddamn image.

“Mom, dad, this is Katsuki. Katsuki Bakugou.” Ochako walked back over to Bakugou who was still a healthy distance away and stood faithfully next to him. Tension melted off of Bakugou at her presence.

Mr. Uraraka was gazing at him with polite interest, whereas Mrs. Uraraka refused to meet his eyes, and was glaring pointedly at her daughter.

“Nice to meet you, Katsuki.” Said Mr. Uraraka, extending a hand. Bakugou shook it, making sure it was firm and not like his usual half-ass handshakes he reserved for people who didn’t deserve his respect. Momo had driven that one home – she made him practice grasping her hand for almost half an hour.

“Likewise, sir.” Bakugou said, his voice croakier than he intended it to be. Ochako gave him a curious look.

“Hello, Bakugou.” Mrs. Uraraka forced herself to look in his direction and she smiled, but it was fake. It didn’t reach her eyes, and she suddenly looked less like Ochako. Bakugou knew she had seen him in the Sports Festival. She had seen him knock down her daughter and aim explosions at her until she unceremoniously fainted. She probably saw his whole episode with Todoroki too. He cringed internally. She clearly thought he was evil, no good for Ochako and he had hardly had a chance to open his mouth. No amount of courtesy lessons could get rid of an obvious prejudice.

He unstuck his lips from their tight line and bowed. “Hello, Mrs. Uraraka. Pleased to meet you.” His own words sounded alien and he had to shove them out of his throat, but Ochako’s mother, at least, looked placated. Ochako on the other hand looked downright nonplussed. 

“Well, ready, kids? It’s a short drive back to the house but I’m sure everyone is hungry.” Mr. Uraraka said, beaming. As if awakened by his words, Ochako’s stomach grumbled and Bakugou smirked lightly. Ochako could always be counted on to want to eat. It was impressive how much that girl could put away.

“Ready!” Ochako cheered, and she tugged on Bakugou’s arm. He wanted the warmth of her hand in his, but he wasn’t going to make the first move, not here. This was Ochako’s playing field, and Bakugou was treading carefully through it. He had already suspected that she hadn’t told her parents the extent of their relationship, and this was confirmed by the way her parents greeted him as simply a friend. Bakugou hated it, but he kept his mouth shut. She more than likely had her own plan to tell them while he was here.

The car ride was short as promised, and Bakugou stayed mostly quiet, more than happy to let Ochako do all the talking. She babbled to her parents about lessons, about training, about friends, about everything she could possibly come up with, her mouth moving a mile a minute. She told her parents that her English grade had improved drastically, thanks to Bakugou’s tutoring. He grunted in response to her, but when Mr. Uraraka met his eyes in the rear-view mirror and thanked him, Bakugou tried his best at a normal smile. He was pretty sure it came out more as a snarl. 

When they arrived at the house, Bakugou found that it was exactly as he had pictured it: shoddy, worn down and tacky, but very much Ochako in terms of décor and style. An old swing hung abandoned on a tree, and there was a sparse garden where Bakugou could imagine bright flowers grew when it was warm, maybe vegetables too. He imagined a younger Ochako there, digging up dirt and making things grow. The sunshine that radiated off of her alone would be enough to create an incredible garden. He wondered when he got so damn corny, but he knew that Ochako had everything to do with it.

There was no dog, but Bakugou knew that much. Ochako had mentioned Dai passing away before she got to UA. She said she missed him. Maybe he’d get her a puppy when they were older and had their own place.

He was struck with how serious his thoughts had become.

“It’s not much, but –” Ochako began quickly, once they had gotten out of the car. Her parents had walked ahead, eager to start cooking. Bakugou silenced her with a well-placed glare.

“Don’t start that bullsh – that sh – stuff. Looks homey.” He sputtered out.

Ochako stared at him. “Homey.” She repeated. “Hmm.”

“What?” He crossed his arms indignantly.

“I’m just wondering what happened to my boyfriend.” She said off-handedly. Her parents had gone inside, but Ochako stood still, waiting for Bakugou’s explanation. “He seems to have been replaced with someone who uses ‘sir’ and bows and says things like ‘homey’.”

“What? I can’t be charming?” He growled.

"Not really, no.” She scrunched up her nose. Bakugou pushed her arm lightly. 

“I told you I’d make your parents fuckin’ like me.” He grumbled, feeling cathartic after allowing himself one relieving f-bomb.

“Yeah, but I want them to like you. You know?” Ochako’s eyes were earnest and Bakugou felt his damn heart melt. “You can be yourself. If they don’t like you, that’s their problem.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He pushed her worry away. “Let’s go inside.”

“Yes, sir.” She teased. He bit his lip to hold back the smile.

The inside of the house matched the outside – it was small – compact – all one-story, but clean and livable, despite books scattered around and coats thrown over furniture. Modest tables and chairs adorned what must’ve been the living room, and a decent-sized TV took up most of the space. Ochako buzzed nervously next to him, watching him take everything in. He made sure to keep his expression neutral, because if he showed any signs of emotion, she would latch onto it and convince herself he was thinking something that he wasn’t. He didn’t know why she was worrying – as if he’d give a shit about what her house looked like. He liked it, anyway. It reminded him of her. 

An aroma that vaguely resembled food wafted in from the kitchen, and Bakugou crinkled his nose. He knew that Ochako was a terrible cook – tragically bad. She was so damn lucky to have him – someone who could actually make a decent meal, but she wasn’t cooking this time. The smell was from whatever her parents were concocting. Bakugou snorted. It made sense that she had to get that from somewhere. He smirked. 

“What?” Ochako asked, concerned.

“Nothing, angel. I’m starving.” He said easily.

“Food will be ready soon!” She promised. She slid her hand into his and squeezed, then released it. “Here, let me give you a tour.”

Ochako pulled him around the rest of the house, animatedly pointing out things and telling their significance. There was a clock from her grandmother, which is why they kept it even though it was ugly; a framed painting that she had made in the third grade of her and her parents holding hands; a couch and loveseat set that they had won at an estate sale. Since the place was small, the tour was quick, and they ended up at the final stop, Ochako’s room, quickly. It was nearly identical to her dorm room but sparser, as she had brought all of her comfort items with her to school. A ratty teddy bear sat against her pillow, and sunlight filtered in from a small window above the bed. Ochako sat down on the edge of it. “What do you think?” She looked up at him expectantly.

“It feels...happy here.” Bakugou surprised even himself with the honesty that burst out of him. It was something he noticed as soon as he walked in the front door – the house was filled with joy and memories and warmth. Ochako wasn’t rich, but it was obvious that she had had a wonderful childhood. “Lived in.” He clarified.

“Well.” Ochako smiled softly, looking emotional. “People do live here.”

"Do you like tea, Bakugou?” Mrs. Uraraka called from the kitchen before Bakugou could further explain himself. It was probably better that way. He sucked with words. There was a whistling which indicated there was a boiling kettle on the stove, and Ochako gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen.

It was the dingiest room in the house, but if Bakugou was being polite – which he fucking was – then he would call it quaint. That was a Momo vocab word. Mr. Uraraka was clattering around, banging pots and pans and whistling to himself as he cooked something. The condensed size made the room warm and cozy, and he noticed how content Mr. Uraraka looked as he moved around his wife, reaching over her when he needed the stove and kissing her on the cheek in the process. It was so cute it was almost sickening. It was something Bakugou had never seen with his own parents.

“Yes, thank you.” He nodded to Mrs. Uraraka.

"So, you want to be a hero, Bakugou?” Mr. Uraraka inquired, not turning from his work. Ochako guided Bakugou to a small table in the corner of the room, set only for two. He had seen another, larger table in the living room.

“Yes, sir.” Bakugou mumbled, then Momo’s voice popped into his head, nagging him to speak up. “I’m interning under pro-hero Eraserhead in this semester.”

Ochako turned her laugh into an urgent cough, choking herself and turning her entire face bright red. Bakugou frowned at her. So, he was embellishing a bit. She didn’t have to get hysterical over it.

“Oh, Eraserhead.” Mrs. Uraraka said, bustling over to the two and pouring them tea into tiny, chipped cups. “He’s very lowkey. You hardly hear any news about him.”

“I’m pretty lowkey.” Bakugou shrugged. Ochako was absolutely losing her mind. She squeaked and sucked down her tea to shut herself up. Bakugou glared at her. She was going to blow his whole cover he had worked so hard to maintain.

“So, how did you and Ochako become friends?” Mrs. Uraraka was just as social as her daughter, but her tone was still subdued, as if she didn’t trust Bakugou yet.

“Actually, mom –”

“Ochako asked me to train her, actually.” Bakugou interrupted. “We’re sparring partners.”

Ochako shot him a scathing glare for cutting her off. Bakugou ignored her. He didn’t feel like it was the time to admit their relationship was more than just friendship. He hadn’t made enough of a good impression yet. They could react badly.

“Ah, wow. She beats you up, right?” Mr. Uraraka teased.

“Every day.” Bakugou said seriously. Ochako looked like she was going to punch him, but surprisingly, he was having fun with this. It was a lot easier to keep calm about making a first impression when you were being anyone but yourself. “She’s tough.”

“Real tough!” Mr. Uraraka agreed. “You saw that firsthand in the Sports Festival though, eh, Bakugou?”

Bakugou felt his breath catch in his throat slightly at the mention of the Sports Festival again. That shit was going to haunt him for the rest of his damn life. He had to hear it for weeks afterwards – what kind of person was he if he beat up a poor, fragile girl? They were a bunch of idiots and Ochako could’ve kicked all of their asses, but it had still been annoying to deal with the outcry. Kaminari made so many wife-beater jokes, and then there were all the pros who had booed him. He didn’t regret it. He would never go easy on Ochako because she was badass enough to handle it.

“Yeah, she almost beat – almost got me.” He corrected himself before his tongue slipped.

“Yeah, I did.” Ochako agreed. “Too bad you had to look up.”

“You’re an admirable opponent.” Bakugou said stiffly. He wanted to talk shit so badly. Ochako was asking for it, but he bit it back. She gave him a taunting look.

“I held back on him, really.” She continued. “You guys saw – I just didn’t want to embarrass you too badly.”

“Is that so? Interesting.” Bakugou kept his tone polite. He was going to give it to her later.

“I wouldn’t have expected you two to become friends after that.” Mrs. Uraraka said with a small frown. “But our Ochako always surprises us.”

Bakugou took a breath. He couldn’t tell if Ochako’s mother was warming up to him or not. She didn’t seem to be as opposed to him as she was when she first realized who he was, but she wasn’t exactly overly-friendly either. “It was an interesting road to friendship.” He said, finally, hating how much like fucking Iida he sounded.

“Well, we’re glad our Ochako is making friends.” Mr. Uraraka said from the stove. He was plating something that looked thick and a little bit sticky. “She’s always been such a sweet, sweet girl.”

“I agree. She’s lovely.” Bakugou said, and that was too much for Ochako altogether. She dissolved into a fit of laughter, actual tears spilling out of her eyes. Her parents both stopped what they were doing and gave her concerned looks, but she just kept going, gasping for breath and clutching at her sides.

“Stop!” She squeaked. “You’re – you guys – I can’t do this.” She giggled harder, swinging her legs and hiccupping. Everyone stared at her until she was able to calm down enough to form a cohesive sentence. “You.” She pointed accusingly at Bakugou. “Are being ridiculous.”

“How so?” He asked innocently, maintaining his act.

“Mom, dad.” Ochako choked through her laughter. “Katsuki. Katsuki is my boyfriend. He’s my boyfriend! We’ve been officially dating for a little over a month. We became friends because we were in the same room in the infirmary after he absolutely kicked my butt in the Sports Festival and started dating shortly after. He’s not at all low key. He’s holding everything in right now.”

"Wow!” Mrs. Uraraka gasped. Mr. Uraraka, however, joined his daughter, and broke into hysterical laughter.

“I thought so.” He said, after an awkward moment where Bakugou and Mrs. Uraraka waited for their significant others to calm down. “You’ve been so stiff, like a robot. And I saw you on TV – there’s nothing lowkey about you. My daughter wouldn’t date anyone lowkey.”

Bakugou grimaced. Well, her dad didn’t seem to hate him.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had a boyfriend, Ochako?” Scolded Mrs. Uraraka.

“Because it’s me.” Bakugou answered for her. “She was afraid you’d react badly.”

“Katsuki, that’s not --!” She protested. "I didn't want you guys to be weird about it."

“It’s okay, angel face.” He said, slipping comfortably back into his old vernacular, since they knew who he was now anyways. He may as well embrace it. “Neither of us have to lie anymore. Thank fuck.”

It had slipped out, an impulse. Cussing was just who Bakugou fucking was, he didn’t think about it. Momo had made him practice speaking in full, coherent sentences without any of his favorite choice words peppering them until he was ready to give up and quit and work on figuring out a plan that didn’t involve him having to meet Ochako’s parents, but Momo hadn’t let up. By the end of their training, he was speaking like an Iida-clone and it made him sick, but it was worth it. 

However, neither of her parents seemed phased by it. Mrs. Uraraka still seemed slightly dazed, but Mr. Uraraka just snorted. “Gotta work on your acting, son.”

“I only had a week to learn.” Bakugou said blandly.

“Learn?” Mrs. Uraraka questioned, raising her eyebrows. Ochako gave him an identical look.

“Uh, yeah. I – I wanted you to like me. So, I asked a classmate. How to be polite and shit.”

“Oh my God.” Ochako said. “Don’t tell me you asked Todoroki. I would’ve paid to see that.”        

“I didn’t ask Todoroki.” Bakugou snapped. “I asked his girlfriend.”

“Yaomomo.” Ochako gasped. "Even better. That's so sweet."

“You didn’t have to go to all that trouble.” Mrs. Uraraka frowned. “I may have misjudged you, Baku – Katsuki. I apologize for that. It was hard for me to watch that Sports Festival, but if Ochako likes you, then I trust her judgement. You don’t have to lie to impress us.”

“Ah, I told her that Ochako is a badass.” Mr. Uraraka clapped his hand on Bakugou’s shoulder, and he tensed at the unexpected contact. “Leave it to her to date someone so…explosive. I don’t think anyone else would do.”

“Watch your language, Mitsuru!” Mrs. Uraraka swatted at him.

“What? Bakugou doesn’t mind.” Mr. Uraraka’s grin was shit-eating. Bakugou decided that he liked them. “I was wondering when the real you would come out. Knew you were full of shit, but Kanoka wasn’t sure. Said she couldn’t get a read on you.”

“Hah? I’m not full of shit! I’m polite!” Bakugou argued, but the wall was gone. All of Momo’s guidance went out the window. Ochako rolled her eyes next to him.

“If you were polite, you wouldn’t have had to be chained up after winning the Sports Festival.” Mrs. Uraraka mimicked her daughter and rolled her eyes as well. Bakugou’s mouth dropped open slightly in shock. It was like her entire attitude had done a 180. Who was the one acting here?

“Ah, and there’s my real wife too.” Mr. Uraraka beamed.

“You two are being embarrassing. Stop picking on Katsuki. He’s worked hard to impress you! I’ve never heard him go so long without cursing.”

Bakugou blinked. Now they were all three ganging up on him.

 “Have…have you been messing with me?” Bakugou gaped. “With the whole judgmental, loving parents act?”

“Hey now,” Mr. Uraraka said. “We’re very loving.”

“I was being judgmental.” Mrs. Uraraka admitted. “I’m not usually like that, but Ochako is my only daughter, and I want the best for her.”

“There are worse men.” Ochako shrugged.

“Thanks.” Bakugou deadpanned.

Mr. Uraraka grinned again. “You two already talk like a married couple. I can tell this is a solid relationship. Come on. Let’s eat. To the dining room!”

Bakugou felt the tension leave his body as they moved to the bigger table. This situation was weird as fuck, and he still wasn’t sure exactly where he stood, but Ochako’s parents didn’t seem to hate him. In fact, they were being somewhat welcoming now. As they sat down, the two threw questions at Bakugou, one after another, in genuine interest. They asked what kind of hero he wanted to be, what his parents did, what he and Ochako did for fun, what was his favorite subject, if he liked dogs or cats, what he liked to eat. It was a game of twenty-fucking-questions, but every answer was making them laugh, and Bakugou felt good about himself for the first time since he arrived.

“You the cook?” Bakugou asked Ochako’s father after shoveling some goopy rice into his mouth.

He smiled in response. “Surprised?”

“Did you teach your daughter?” Bakugou dared.

Mr. Uraraka laughed, booming again and gave Ochako a steely look. “You have a complaint?”

“A few.” Bakugou nodded.

“Wow, ouch.” Ochako teased. “Guess I’m never cooking for you again.”

“Thank God."

Ochako swatted him, but he just smirked, continuing to eat the food regardless of how bad it tasted. That was an etiquette rule Momo hadn’t had to teach him.

“You know, Katsuki.” Mrs. Uraraka said softly. “Ochako has never brought anyone home. Not even when she was younger. You must be pretty special to her.”

“Oh yeah?” Bakugou glanced over at Ochako. She was staring at her plate guiltily. “I’m glad about that. She’s pretty damn special to me.”

“I’m glad you stopped pretending.” Mr. Uraraka said. “I like you much better this way. You’re hilarious. I never wanted Ochako to be with some stuffy, kiss-ass.”

“I think you’re a bad influence on my husband rather than my daughter.” Mrs. Uraraka said to Bakugou but looked amused.

“He’s a great influence.” Ochako said seriously. “I’ve been waking up before 10 AM these days.”

“How?!” Mr. Uraraka demanded. “It must be some kind of black magic.”

Ochako giggled, and then reached her hand under the table and intertwined her fingers with his. The warmth instantaneously spread through his whole body, and the negative thoughts inside his brain that had been rattling his head since they made this plan slowly ceased their assault on him. He felt at home here, in this shabby little house with these people who just an hour ago, he had been terrified would see him as a monster hellbent on ruining their daughter. He wasn’t ashamed of himself; he was happy.

Chapter Text

The afternoon wore on too quickly for Uraraka’s liking. She would have been content to spend the whole weekend with her family, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, snuggled up to her mother, laughing while they watched her boyfriend attempt to teach her father how to cook an edible and enjoyable meal.

 “Spices.” Bakugou gestured to their pantry, which was filled with spices that were, admittedly, mostly neglected. “Please do your family a favor and learn to use them.” 

His attitude was back in full force, but Uraraka no longer feared her parents’ opinion of it. Bakugou was who he was, and Uraraka wouldn’t change him for the world. She was just glad that her parents saw him for who he was. They had warmed up to him more than she could ever have hoped for, fully accepting him into the family without any drama or begging. Her dad was positively enraptured by him, listening intently and nodding seriously as Bakugou went through the very basic steps of cooking.

“He’s interesting, Ochako.” Her mother whispered to her now. “Interesting, but not what I expected. He’s a little brash, but I can see the kindness underneath it.” She paused. “Although I did think you liked that little green-haired boy that broke his arms a lot.”

Uraraka smiled softly. “A long time ago.” She said back. “And he’s breaking them less these days.” 

 “I don’t know him much yet, but I think Katsuki is more your type.” She took Uraraka’s hand and rubbed circles over it.

“I agree.” Uraraka smirked. “He’s a good guy, despite the rough exterior.” 

“I had my reservations about him.” Her mother said gently. “I mean, bringing home the boy who beat you in a fight on national television? That’s bold, even for you, but first impressions are often wrong. I look forward to learning more about him.”

Uraraka snorted, then smiled to herself, knowing it was a habit she had picked up from Bakugou. “Yeah, it just kind of happened, but I’m glad it did, and he’ll be around for a while, so I’m sure you’ll see him a lot more.”

“Good. I can tell that he’s good to you.” She nodded. “That’s all that matters to me. And don’t think I didn’t notice that ring…” 

Uraraka dissolved into giggles, doing her best to enchant her mother with watered down stories of romance and the fruition of her feelings for him.

Soon after that, it was time to go. Bakugou had succeeded in teaching Uraraka’s father a recipe that he insisted even Uraraka herself would be able to recreate. They all took turns tasting it and sang his praises once they had. It was not comparable to Bakugou’s usual creations, but for her father it was a culinary masterpiece.

They drove to the train station, talking amicably, as if Bakugou had been part of the family all along. Uraraka thought her father might have a crush on him with the way he was fanboying over Bakugou’s battles during the Sports Festival and asking about his quirk mechanics.

“If you ever get bored of being a hero, having someone who can blow things up would be real useful in in construction.” He winked. Bakugou smirked.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He promised.

Upon their arrival, her father shook Bakugou’s hand and told him to come back anytime. Bakugou said he only would if he cooked him a proper meal. Her mother tried to hide her laughter but failed. She wrapped Bakugou in a hug, which he initially stiffened at, then slowly returned. 

“Lovely to meet you, sweetheart. Thanks for taking care of my Ochako.”

Bakugou blushed and mumbled something back, then he was released. Uraraka felt her heart burst in her chest.

“Love you, kid.” Uraraka’s father turned to her. “You’re a badass. I’m proud of you. Always.” 

“Try not to get put on house arrest again, okay?” Her mother kissed Uraraka on the cheek. “Have a safe train ride!”

Uraraka felt tears prick her eyes and she blinked them away. She was absolutely sick of crying, but for once, these were happy tears, and she thought that she could let a few of those fall.

Once they were settled in their seats, they fell into what could have been a comfortable silence, but Uraraka was unable to relax for more than approximately thirty seconds, before she was bursting with conversation. 

“So, what did you think about my parents? Did you like them? They loved you! See, you’re likable when you don’t yell at everyone, I told you. My mom said she wants to see you again soon. I can’t believe you tried to teach my dad how to cook. He’s the worst cook ever, but we always eat it all because, you know, food. I –”

“Talking my ear off, angel face.” Bakugou muttered. Uraraka paused and looked thoughtfully at him, trying not to be offended by his abrupt interruption. She forgave it, because he was obviously deep in concentration, staring out the window like he was studying it. His leg shook lightly as he tapped his foot and his eyebrows were creased. Uraraka opened her mouth to ask what was bothering him, but he spoke before she could get the words out. “I like your parents. They’re cool as fuck. Different than mine, so prepare yourself.”

There was another warning. Bakugou had been warning Uraraka about his parents every day since they formulated this plan, and now that the day was here, he had upped the ante to several warnings every few hours. Each one was more and more ominous. Uraraka resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, because, truly, how bad could they be?  

If Uraraka could handle Katsuki Bakugou in his prime anger, she was sure she could handle his parents. Even if they were just like their son, they would have to be subdued. They were adults. That’s how it worked. 

“You know, I didn’t try to make you nervous before meeting my parents.” Uraraka poked his stomach playfully. 

Bakugou scowled. “I’m not trying to make you nervous, cheeks. I’m trying to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

“Well, I don’t. So far, you’ve just given me cryptic threats about how scary your parents are, but you haven’t actually told me anything about them.” Bakugou had known all about Uraraka’s parents before their visit – their jobs, their demeanors – Uraraka didn’t even know Bakugou’s parents’ names. 

Bakugou sighed, like Uraraka had asked him to do something particularly unpleasant, then began to drone out information. “Mitsuki and Masaru. They’re fashion designers. That’s how they met. Dad is a doormat, mom is an overbearing bitch. They bug the shit out of me. My mom’s gonna freak the fuck out of you and probably embarrass me in every fucking possible way.” 

Uraraka tried to categorize the short burst of information in her head. He used a lot of f-words to describe his mother in particular, while hardly focusing on his dad. There was a pattern there, and it was probably important to address, but her brain could only hone in on one thing. “They’re fashion designers? Holy shit. No wonder you look so good.”

“Tch.” Bakugou tried his best to bite back a smirk, but failed, and Uraraka smiled too. “I would look good no matter what and you know it.”

“Fashion designer parents help.” She teased. “Actually, with fashion designer parents you should look better. Like, you should wear a tie to class.”

Bakugou gave her a long-suffering look. “Got better things to worry about than fashion. Besides, if it wasn’t for me and the uniforms, you’d wear sweatpants every day.”

“Fair.” Uraraka agreed. “So, is your mom really that bad?”

“You heard her with Aizawa.” He said vaguely. 

“Well, she just must really want to see you.” She tried. “Which means she loves you!”

Bakugou crinkled his nose. “You’ll see, angel.” His tone made it clear that he was done with the conversation. 

Bakugou’s place was past UA and located in a city that Uraraka had never been to before. She knew of it, of course. Deku lived here, and he often spoke fondly of his childhood home, but seeing it in person, she was struck with how nice it was. It was big enough for her to get lost in, while being small enough for a community feel.  

“Where are your parents?” Uraraka asked, stretching on her tip toes to seek out anyone who resembled Bakugou. 

“I told them we’d walk, it’s not far.” 

As they walked, Bakugou pointed out things in a way that almost seemed unconscious, and Uraraka let herself get pulled into the majesty that was Bakugou when he opened up about anything. She loved it, every time. Every time he offered information about himself, about his life, his dreams, his desires – she drank it up, memorizing every detail.

“I used to come here a lot as a kid.” Bakugou pointed to a shabby convenience store. “The owner is an old bitch, but she would give me candy sometimes, if I ran errands for her.” They passed by an arcade, with a group of kids loitering outside, one smoking a cigarette. Bakugou rolled his eyes there. “The idiots I used to hang out with always wanted to come here. Like they had nothing better to do.”

“You had friends?” Uraraka teased.

“Didn’t say friends.”

“Right, right, my mistake.”

Bakugou bit back a smirk but left it at that. They continued at a leisurely pace – Bakugou didn’t seem in any hurry to get home. Usually, he walked with determination, almost stomping to his destination, but now he was practically strolling.

Uraraka couldn’t complain, because as he walked, he talked more. It was almost unconscious the way he narrated the setting of his youth, naming buildings with a causal air, and offering anecdotes about the things he used to do as a kid. Most of it had to do with hero training, but there were several offhand comments about fond memories associated with the places they passed – a restaurant he and his dad frequented; a coffee shop he did his homework in when he wanted to get out of the house.

“You never talk about your childhood.” Uraraka said, without thinking.

“That’s because I was fuckin’ shitty. You know that.” Bakugou growled and Uraraka blushed at her stupidity. Of course she knew that. Everyone knew that Bakugou had been a bully when he was younger – tormenting Deku for being quirkless. The difference between everyone and Uraraka was that she knew Bakugou had his own demons, and that he was living with the regret of how he had treated Deku. He had been threatened by him, jealous of him and didn’t know how to cope with it. Uraraka wouldn’t make excuses for who Bakugou was when he was a child, but she would understand, and she would support him in his growth. Just the fact that he acknowledged his behavior in a negative life was more than he would have done at the beginning of the year. He was trying.

“Doubt you were shitty the entirety of it.” Uraraka said.

“Pretty fucking much all of it.” He grunted. He was quiet for a moment then as they walked. “Here’s my place.”

They stopped in front of a modern house that made Uraraka’s home look like a shack. It was surrounded by a thick fence and evergreen trees. It reminded Uraraka of somewhere a rich scientist would live in a movie about the future. She supposed she should’ve expected it after learning that the Bakugous were fashion designers.

“Wow.” She sputtered out. “Fancy.”

“Yeah, the old hag likes to show off to the neighborhood. Come on.”

Bakugou threw open the door unceremoniously, leading Uraraka into a posh foyer, decorated with fake flowers, family photographs, and a few runway shots. Uraraka zeroed in on a particular picture as soon as it caught her eye – it showcased a baby Katsuki, probably five years old or so, grinning wildly as two small explosions emitted from his palms. He looked happy in a chaotic way. The smile was genuine. There were a few others like it – Bakugou hugging his mother, appearing to be around the age of three, Bakugou holding a trophy, beaming. There was even one of Bakugou and Deku, practically in diapers, holding their chubby fists up at the camera cheerfully. Uraraka giggled and Bakugou grunted.

“Didn’t know what I was doing.” He assured her, gesturing to the picture.

“Of course.”

He carefully observed her as she continued browsing through the photos. There was a family portrait – Bakugou looked to be about twelve in this one and was giving the camera his signature glare. A man with a soft smile stood above him, with an arm around his son, and next to him was the female equivalent of Bakugou himself. She had the same spiky ash blonde hair, the same sharp red eyes, the same look of smug superiority that Bakugou had carried on his face for so long. She considered the picture in comparison to the ones of him as a toddler and wondered when Bakugou had stopped smiling. 

“Katsuki? Is that you?” A shrill voice called down from upstairs.

“Yeah.” Bakugou snapped back. He had closed his eyes automatically at being addressed, almost like a tick and Uraraka could feel the tension radiating off of him; the discomfort apparent in his body language. Uraraka frowned. When she was home with her parents, all the frustration or nerves or anything that was bothering her melted away. Home was the place she felt most comfortable. Bakugou had seemed more at ease on the public train. 

“Katsuki! You’re so damn rude! You just waltz into the house without announcing your presence?!” His mother’s tone was loud and commanding. Bakugou twitched.

“I live here, you old hag!” He shouted back. “I don’t have to announce my fuckin’ presence when I walk into the door to my own fuckin’ home!”

“Katsuki.” Uraraka gasped automatically. She knew he spoke roughly to his parents; she had heard him on the phone with his mother, but she didn’t know the extent of how bad it was.

“Watch your mouth, you ungrateful brat!” The woman came into view then, and she resembled Bakugou even more in person. Her lips pulled up into a gleaming smile as soon as she locked eyes with Uraraka. “Oh! You must be Ochako! Welcome!”

“Fake bitch.” Bakugou murmured. 

“I hear you, brat!” Bakugou’s mother descended the stairs quickly and whacked her son upside the head. “You’re acting foolish in front of your girlfriend. Ochako, honey, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Mitsuki. Masaru is finishing something up in the studio, he’ll be down momentarily.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Uraraka replied weakly but politely, like she was raised. Mitsuki just grinned. 

“You’re much cuter than I expected my son to be able to manage.” She said. “Adorable. How did you trick her into liking you?” Uraraka laughed nervously. She had been right. This woman was a force of nature. Thirty-seconds into their meeting and Uraraka felt like she was being intensely scrutinized. Her eyes mirrored her son’s exactly – sharp and piercing.

“Didn’t need to fucking trick her.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. Uraraka knew on instinct that he would be doing a lot of that this afternoon. “What’s dad working on now?” He asked, changing the subject much to Uraraka’s relief. She felt like she was putting on a performance. Is this how Bakugou felt when they were at her place?

“Your father is working on a line for Paris.” Mitsuki swelled with pride, and her intense demeanor was suddenly replaced with girlish excitement. “We wanted to tell you in person – well, he wanted to tell you.” She shrugged. “So, act appropriately surprised if he brings it up at dinner.”

“No shit?” Bakugou said. His response was blasé, but Uraraka had trained herself over the last few months to speak his language, and she could hear the respect laced in his voice. Bakugou complained about his mother, but all the information she had managed to pick up about his father was positive.                  

“Yep.” Mitsuki nodded, He’s been locked in that studio for the past several weeks. You would know that if you came home more often.”

Bakugou scoffed.

“Sorry, Paris as in Paris Fashion Week?” Uraraka asked. She was never big into fashion, but she spent enough time with Mina and Hagakure poring over magazines of women dressed in overwhelmingly beautiful and unbelievably abstract outfits, strutting down runways. The two girls lived for it, and they had mentioned the revered Paris Fashion Week many times with stars in their eyes.

“That’s right.” Mitsuki beamed

“That’s incredible.” Uraraka gasped, because it was. “Katsuki mentioned you guys were designers, but that’s…that’s insane.” She finished, for lack of a more sophisticated word. She blushed in spite of her own simplicity. This was certainly a different world than she was used to.

“Thank you, darling. We’ll bring you back something nice.” She winked.

“Dad gonna cook tonight?” Bakugou inquired, seemingly still in a foul mood but at least being conversational without the use of a colorful array of swear words.

“I think he’s too busy; I was thinking about ordering takeout.” Replied his mom, equally as sedated now. Uraraka breathed an internal sigh of relief that the screaming from earlier seemed to be only used as a form of greeting and not as regular vernacular.

“The fuck?” Bakugou scrunched up his eyebrows. “Fuck that, I’ll cook.”

“Don’t be cocky, brat; there’s nothing even in the fridge!” Mitsuki protested. “We can get perfectly good –”

“No.” Bakugou snapped. “I’m cooking. I’m gonna – I’ll be right back.” And then Bakugou dashed up the stairs before either of the two could question him.

Mitsuki’s eyes followed him into he vanished from sight, then let out a quiet sigh. “He’s exactly me in almost every way and he still prefers his father.” She paused and gave Uraraka a sweet smile. “Anyway. If he’s going to convince his father to cook, you’ll be in for a treat. They’ll be able to take whatever shitty – ah, excuse me – ingredients we have in this house and turn them into a gourmet meal. They’re good like that.” She promised.

“I don’t doubt it.” Uraraka said sagely. “Katsuki just taught my dad how to cook us a proper meal – my family owes him our lives. I figured since he was so brilliant in the kitchen, he would have to have learned it from somewhere.”

“Ah, well, he’s nothing if not incredibly talented.” Mitsuki laughed. Just then, Bakugou came stomping down the staircase, and slightly lagging behind him was an older man with spiky hair much like his son, but the color of milk chocolate. His eyes matched the color scheme, and his smile was softer than his wife or his son, but there was no doubt that this man was Bakugou’s father.

“Ah, Masaru, this is Katsuki’s girlfriend if you can believe it.” Mitsuki introduced her with a smirk. Uraraka stood so she could bow, but Masaru Bakugou was waving her off before her had even touched down on the living room floor.

“No formalities needed, Ochako. Katsuki has told me all about you.” His voice was deep and imposing but laced with a gentleness that warmed Uraraka immediately.

“That’s bullshit, old man!” Bakugou growled. “Don’t make me sound so soft.” He rolled his eyes then slipped past Uraraka, mumbling to her: “I only told a few stories” before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Nice to meet you. Glad Katsuki could finally bring you around – we’ve been asking for months.”

“Months?” Uraraka asked slowly. Bakugou had told her that he had been forced to admit to them that he had a girlfriend when the news about the Battle Royale was released to the parents.

“Tch.” Mitsuki clicked her tongue and Uraraka was startled by the similarity. If her eyes had been closed, she would have thought it was Bakugou.

“Yeah, Kat’s been talking about you since that Sports Festival.” Masaru said passively, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I haven’t heard him get this passionate about a person since All Might.”

Mitsuki barked out a loud and joyful laugh. “Don’t embarrass the brat too much. He’s been half-decent so far.”

“Oi, old man, are you going to get in the fucking kitchen or am I doing this shit by myself?!”

Masaru smiled. “By his normal standards, he’s practically cheerful.” Then the man pushed the kitchen door open to begin the necessary prep for what Uraraka could tell would be a fantastic dinner.

That left her alone in the hypothetical lion’s den with Mitsuki and she was feeling very much like a wobbly, weak antelope.

“So, love. Tell me your secret.  How did you manage to tame my son?” She had a teasing glint in her eye, but Uraraka still felt her nerves fluttering. 

“Tame might be a strong word.” Uraraka cracked a shaky smile. It seemed to satisfy the woman because she snorted out a laugh that, like so many of her other mannerisms, was eerily reminiscent of her son. 

“Well, he must be better than he was when he went to live at that dorm if someone is willing to put up with him for extended periods of time. The only friend of his I’ve met is that sweet, red boy, and he’s got very thick skin – literally. Oh, but you don’t have a power up quirk like that, do you? You’re…”

“Anti-gravity.” Uraraka reminded her kindly.

“Right, right. Anti-gravity. That is quite a quirk suited for a hero. I always wanted to be a rescue hero, you know. I grew up admiring them, but ah, my quirk isn’t very useful in combat, unfortunately.” She trailed off, looking off with an imperceptive misty glint to her eye.

“What does your quirk do?” Uraraka couldn’t imagine Bakugou’s mother being equipped with any power less than explosive.

“Oh, it keeps me young.” She said off-handedly. “You were so impressive at the Sports Festival. That must’ve when Katsuki fell in love. Ah, not that I can blame him. The Bakugou men are weak to strong women.”

Uraraka could easily take her word for that one.

“I don’t know if I almost took him out.” Uraraka said humbly, but Mitsuki scoffed at her.

“Trust me, you did. He was furious, but he was reverent. He stayed on the phone with his father for hours the day after the festival, just ranting about some ‘extras who he couldn’t be bothered to name’ but he said your name.” She said. “Give yourself credit, dear. Almost beating Katsuki is an accomplishment. He’s one of the best – at least, that’s what I’ve always told him.” She paused. “Sometimes I think I pushed him too hard – or stroked his ego too much.”

Uraraka was stunned into silence at the sudden confession. She opened her mouth then closed it again, choking down any words she might have had to say. She didn’t know enough about Bakugou’s childhood to agree or disagree with her sentiment, but she did know Bakugou, and she knew that his superiority complex was set to an astounding degree. He had mentioned before that his whole life had been filled with people singing his praises, but Uraraka got the idea that Mitsuki had a different way of letting her opinions be known.

“I’m sorry.” She smiled softly. “I didn’t mean to unload that on you, or make you think he’s a bad kid. He’s not, he’s just…” 

“Intense.” Uraraka finished for her. Then, summoning the courage she kept reserved for hero training, she said: “You might not know, because he lives in the dorms now, but Katsuki has come a really long way. He’s got friends. He’s respected in the class. He’s not only going to be a great hero, but a great person.” The words came out firm and confident – because they were true. Uraraka believed in them.

“Yeah,” Mitsuki breathed out heavily. “I know he’s getting there. He wouldn’t have ever taken enough time off training to even consider having a girlfriend in the past. I don’t mean to yell at him so much. I didn’t mean to push him as much as I did, but he inherited my attitude, unfortunately, and so our heads collide. He’s a pain.” 

 She continued. “He would’ve been much better off if he inherited his father’s personality. You kinda remind me of Masaru. You’ll see when you get a chance to talk to him more. He’s dying to ask you everything about yourself. Katsuki is his pride and joy.” She said. “And mine too.” She added in a small voice.

Uraraka imagined growing up in a household of Bakugous and she internally commended Masaru for keeping what appeared to be a rather docile temperament.

 “Forgive me. I’m talking too much. Tell me more about you, Ochako.”

And so the afternoon continued in a whirlwind of question and answers, laughter and enough swears to warrant an R-rating, but through it, Uraraka discovered that she liked Mitsuki. She was nowhere near as bad as Bakugou described her – she was human. She hadn’t even realized how long she had been talking to the woman when an intoxicating, spice-filled aroma wafted its way into the living room.

“I don’t know how they manage it.” Mitsuki shook her head. “I haven’t even had time to go grocery shopping this week between helping Masaru with Paris and fretting over Katsuki in the infirmary due to his own stupidity.”

“Partially my fault.” Uraraka admitted, feeling comfortable enough now to speak more candidly.

“Oh, please, honey. He told me the story. I don’t blame him at all, but it was still stupid of him. He can never do things in a half-ass – shit, I’m sorry –” She had been apologizing after every slipped explicative, and Uraraka was having a hard time holding in her laughter. “Anyway. Don’t blame yourself. From what I heard, you were a badass, and that was coming from Katsuki, who tells me everything with extreme reluctance.”

“Oi, what bullshit are you telling her?” Bakugou’s presence crashed back into the room like a semi-truck.

“You left her alone with me at your own discretion, brat.” Mitsuki snapped, but it was lighthearted. “Here to tell us dinner is ready?”

“Yeah.” He grunted. “Come on.” He pulled on Uraraka’s hand. He had been mostly passive to her since they arrived, but she chalked it up to nerves and fatigue. He had already attempted to completely change his personality to please her parents, gotten found out and then had to continue talking with them afterwards and now he had to make sure Uraraka was getting along with his own parents. Bakugou was not used to this kind of prolonged socialization. So she didn’t blame him for leaving her to fend for himself against his mother – besides, she took pride in the fact that she was being perceived as likable.

They took seats around a large table that could easily fit half of Uraraka’s classmates. She had a funny mental image of the Bakugous throwing dinner parties, and a perpetually grumpy Katsuki being forced to dress up and participate in mundane supper conversation. A smirk played on her lips.

Dinner was incredible – so much so that Uraraka could forget the fact that all they had been doing all day was eating. Bakugou and his father had concocted up some kind of soup, made with what Uraraka could only assume was whatever had been leftover in the kitchen and spiced it to absolute perfection. Bakugou could reveal to her that he was feeding her frog legs and she wouldn’t have minded it. They chatted idly as they slurped, discussing classes, work and fashion. Masaru must have told Bakugou about Paris Fashion Week in the kitchen, because neither of them brought it up.

“Kat was telling me about internships, Ochako.” Masuau said, holding his spoon in the air. Uraraka tried not to get stuck on the fact that he called Bakugou Kat and how utterly adorable that was. She would be sure to bring it up with him later – it would be worth the risk. “Have you decided which hero you’d like to intern under?”

“Hmm. Well, she’s not super popular, I don’t think, so you might not know her, but I was looking to intern with Ms. Joke.”

“Oh, Emi.” Mitsuki said off-handedly. “She’s lovely.”

“Eh?” Bakugou asked, scrunching up his eyebrows. “Emi?”

“I designed Ms. Joke’s costume, actually.” Masaru said, his smile crinkling the skin under his eyes. “So I know her quite well. She’s a wonderful hero to intern with – you’ll learn a lot more than you expect.”

“I hope so!” Uraraka replied with wide-eyes, trying not to appear star-struck. She wondered who else Masaru had designed for – if he was big enough to partake in Paris Fashion Week, he must also be sought out by pros. She couldn’t believe Bakugou hadn’t told her any of this.

“She’s a hard-ass.” Mitsuki had given up on apologizing for the profanity. “Behind her sweet exterior is the attitude of a drill sergeant. I like her. Katsuki needs someone like her.” She shot a glare in his direction, almost as if on instinct.

“Tch. Like I’d let myself get pushed around by someone like Ms. Joke. Like I’d let anyone push me around.” He swirled around his soup aggressively.

“I don’t know much about Eraserhead as a pro hero, admittedly.” Masaru said, scratching his chin. “But if he’s good enough to teach at UA, I’m sure he’ll be a great mentor for you, Kat.”

“I just gotta get through it.” Bakugou said simply. “Just a few weeks dealing with Aizawa and his bullshit and then next year I can get a real internship – I was thinking Gang Orca.”

Mitsuki rolled her eyes. “Gang Orca would not want to deal with your rotten ass. I was talking to Miruko the other day and –”

“I don’t want to intern with that bitch!” Bakugou shouted. “She’s so fuckin’ annoying.”

“Language, Katsuki.” Masaru warned, and Uraraka wondered how many times he had to use that phrase on a regular day when Bakugou was home. It must’ve gotten tiring. Bakugou opened his mouth to retort but closed it and instead went back to attacking his soup.

Mitsuki, however, wasn’t done. “You’d be damn lucky to have an opportunity with Miruko! She’s climbing the leaderboards at a rapid pace – do you want to get behind your classmates even more so than you already are?”

Uraraka remembered her earlier conversation with Mitsuki – about how she pushed Bakugou too hard – and she wondered if this was a reflex. Did she even realize the words that came out of her mouth? They smacked across the room like a whip, hitting Bakugou square in the face.

He breathed out through his nose. “You don’t have to fuckin’ worry. None of those extras even come close to me.” He dropped his spoon and it clattered to the table with a loud clang. “I’m done.” He said, then without even a glance at Uraraka, he stalked away to the stairway and disappeared.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Ochako.” Masaru bowed his head. “That happens sometimes.”

“He just pushes my buttons!” Mitsuki cried. “He makes me like this!”

“It’s okay, darling. Ochako, maybe you can go check on him?” Masaru suggested, and Uraraka silently thanked him for excusing her from this mess. She bowed to the two of them and then scurried away as fast as she could without flat-out running.

Bakugou hadn’t shown her his room, but she was able to use process of elimination pretty easily and determine that his was the one that had an array of burn marks on the door.

“Katsuki, it’s me.” She knocked lightly.

“Shouldn’t you be eating?” He barked.

“Shouldn’t you not be abandoning your girlfriend with your parents when it’s the first time she’s met them?” She snapped, but without venom. Sometimes in order to get Bakugou to listen, she had to bite back.

He opened the door then, his expression softening when he saw her. “Sorry. ‘S not your fucking fault, shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t.” Uraraka agreed and Bakugou stuck his bottom lip out in an attempt at a pout.

“She just – she fuckin’ – I bet she was so sweet to you while I was gone, right? All pleasant and shit?” He shut the door behind her and collapsed down onto the bed.

“Well, yeah, she and I got along…” Uraraka fidgeted with the pads of her fingers. “She mostly asked me a lot of questions.”

“She’s fake.” Bakugou grumbled. “She – look, I don’t fuckin’ hate her, okay?” He kicked his feet against the bed. Uraraka sat down next to him.

“I know.” She said, speaking less so Bakugou would be able to get everything out. She had been using this philosophy this more and more since their relationship began – Uraraka found that Bakugou was an intensely emotional person; he just had no one to express his feelings to. Uraraka knew that it had to be her. She would be the one who Bakugou could trust, no matter what.

He continued. “She just – nothing is ever good enough for her. It’s like we can’t have a single conversation without her shitting all over me, even when she’s meeting someone fuckin’ important to me. She can never leave me the fuck alone.”

Uraraka’s heart stuttered slightly at that proclamation. She knew Bakugou loved her – he made sure she never forgot, but hearing it always filled her with warmth. 

“She’s certainly… tough.” Uraraka agreed slowly.

“She’s goddamn relentless.” He ran his hands through his hair erratically, causing it to stand up even more so than usual, like he had just gotten in a fight with Kaminari.

“You ever tried talking to her?” Uraraka suggested. Bakugou looked at her like she had suddenly been hit with a mutation quirk and grown a second appendage. 

“You ever tried talking to her? You just met her. She’s not exactly easy to talk to.”

“But not impossible either.” She shrugged. “I think she would listen to you if you seriously tried to talk to her.”

“You don’t understand because she’s nice to you.” He assured her, exasperated. “She’s always a whole different person when anyone is around. Kirishima loves her too.” He rolled his eyes. and Uraraka considered this and the truth of it. If Mitsuki Bakugou was willing to slap her son around in front of her then what kind of childhood was Bakugou subjected to? Her stomach sunk suddenly.

“Katsuki…did she hit you growing up?” She asked tentatively, fearing the answer.

“Tch. Don’t need to go all therapy on me, angel face.” Bakugou said shortly. “Other than slapping me around when I mouthed off, no, she didn’t hit me. Didn’t have to. Just had to fuckin’ yell at me all the time. Threatened to send me away so I couldn’t go to UA, while simultaneously fuckin’ pushing me to my limits to make sure I would get in because if I didn’t, then I was a failure.”

The weight in her gut dissipated, but she could hear the undertone of misery in Bakugou’s admission, and she hurt for him. “That would mess anyone up, Katsuki.”

Bakugou scowled. “You sayin’ I’m messed up?”

“No, dummy.” Uraraka put her hand up to his cheek and watched as he visibly relaxed into her touch. “You’re the strongest person I know, but no one would blame you if you did, hypothetically, have issues from a childhood like that.”

“I was a shit kid. Can’t blame her for all of it – she used to scream at me for messing with Deku.” He sighed. “I just wanted to be good enough, so she’d back the fuck off. But I never hated her. I just wanted her to be…proud of me, or some shit. Fuck. How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Uraraka blinked at him, confused.

“Make me fucking talk about shit. It’s like I can’t control what I say around you.” He rubbed against her hand, which still rested on his cheek, then wrapped his own arms around her. “I’m sorry.” He rumbled into her ear. “I shouldn’t have brought you here, they’re so different from your parents and – ”

“Katsuki.” Uraraka silenced him by putting a finger on his lips. “I don’t like you any less because you have a rocky relationship with your mom. I like your parents. I just want you to be happy and I think that it would help to tell her how you feel.”

“I don’t fuckin’ feel anything.” He snarled.

“Nothing?” Uraraka questioned. “Nothing at all?” She leaned in carefully and pressed a chaste kiss to his slightly opened mouth.

“Not what we were talking about, angel.” He said, chasing her lips and pushing his own against them.

“I’m just checking to see if you’re listening to me.” She teased when he pulled away.

“I always listen to you.” He snorted. “Even when you don’t know what you’re talking about, which you don’t right now. No matter what I say or what I do, I’ll never be good enough for her.”

“I don’t believe that.” Uraraka knew that it wasn’t true. She knew because she knew that Bakugou was just like his mother – they both were wildly emotional, brash, powerful and stubborn and neither seemed to have an easy way of letting their feelings out into the open. Mitsuki had confessed to Uraraka that she felt she had been too hard on her son, and then gone on to blow up on him at the dinner table. It was all too familiar to her. “You should just talk to her, Kat.”

“Hell no, we are not starting that.”

Uraraka grinned. “Couldn’t resist.”

Bakugou pulled her backwards onto the bed until she was resting against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers down her back. “Can’t believe you still stick around – you’re fuckin’ dumb.”

“Hey!” Uraraka glared, but the smile that threatened to overtake Bakugou’s face was too much and she laughed. “We’ve established before that we’re both dumb.”

“I love you.” Bakugou said. He let out a long-suffering sigh. “I guess I could fuckin’…try to talk to her.”

“I think it’ll be good.” She said tenderly. “It can’t hurt.”

“Yeah, yeah, well. You’re always right, aren’t you?.” He said. “Come on, let’s get downstairs before my mom kills my dad.”

They descended the stairs together, and Uraraka slipped her hand into his. He returned the pressure, holding her hand in an iron grip, like she was his lifeline. His parents were sitting in the living room when they approached, and Mitsuki stood immediately.

“Katsuki –”

The grip got impossibly stronger. “Can we go on a fuckin’ walk or something? I got some shit to say to you.”

It wasn’t exactly smooth or kind, but he had said it, and that was a big deal for Bakugou. The shock on Mitsuki’s face was apparent, but after a moment, her expression softened.

“Yeah, kid. Let’s go outside. You two will be okay?” She turned to Uraraka and Masaru.

“We’ll manage.” Masuru smiled kindly. Then they were alone, and Uraraka felt the awkwardness and the nerves that she had when she first walked in the door return. Masaru, luckily, seemed to be very perceptive. “You don’t need to worry about him, or about them. This is just what they do. They are both the loves of my life, but they are firecrackers.”

Uraraka decided that it would be okay to joke. “You’re a patient man.”

He laughed. “You’re a patient girl.”

“We have that in common then.” She shrugged.

Masaru paused then, and sunk back into his seat on the couch, intertwining his fingers behind his head. “Ochako, I know he’s difficult, and I know he comes with a lot of baggage, but I promise you that if you stick around, Kat is worth it. He’s an incredible kid.”

Uraraka smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

Masaru returned the smile, but his was almost melancholic in appearance. “I just hope he knows it too.”

They left the Bakugous in much higher spirits than when they arrived. Bakugou and his mother returned after almost an hour of absence, both looking sheepish but significantly less bothered. Mitsuki’s cheeks were puffy, but Uraraka and Masaru knew better than to comment on it. They spent the rest of the evening having normal conversation – still peppered with profanity and minor hostility, but Uraraka knew from experience that these were staples of the Bakugou family, and she didn’t mind it one bit. At one point, when they were seated on the floor, gathered around a small colorful board and playing a board game that Uraraka never knew could turn into such a passionate competition, she noticed Mitsuki slip her arm around Bakugou’s shoulder and the boy didn’t pull away.

When the clock on the wall chimed, signifying the late hour, Uraraka found herself reluctant to leave. Mitsuki and Masaru both hugged her, making her promise that she would be back soon, and thanking her for taking care of Bakugou. Masaru planted a kiss on his son’s forehead, and Bakugou grumbled in embarrassment, but when his mother grabbed him in a hug, he looked absolutely mortified.

“You tell that damn teacher of yours that next time you get in trouble, he should find a punishment that doesn’t include holding kids hostage from their families.” Mitsuki snapped.

“You tell him.” Bakugou grumbled.

“You know I will.” She put both hands on his cheeks and he stiffened but stayed put. “You come back soon, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, fuckin’ – I’ll be back, okay? I’m not going off to war.” He snapped.

“Oh, watch your mouth, you damn brat.” Mitsuki said, but she was smiling. They gave one last wave goodbye, then they were off, walking through the quiet and cold night, bundled in jackets and hats, their breath mingling together in clouds as they rushed to make it back to the train station in time.

On the ride home, Bakugou was quiet, except for one mumbled, “thanks” in Uraraka’s ear, as he dozed on her shoulder.

Chapter Text

“Katsuki, this is my second time sparring today – I’m going to die.” Uraraka whined as she punched into the pads Bakugou was wearing on his hands repeatedly. Her arms felt like wet noodles from a week of prepping for her internship interview. She didn’t think she would have to show off her combat skills for Ms. Joke – but try telling that to Bakugou. He was insistent that she be in top shape so that there was no doubt she was the best candidate for the job. It would’ve been sweet if Uraraka wasn’t suffering from exhaustion.

“I know that’s not my girlfriend bitching.” Bakugou grunted as Uraraka aimed a jab at his right hand. “Thought she was a badass.”

“A tired one!” Uraraka hit him as hard as she could, and he didn’t even budge. She groaned in defeat and collapsed on the ground. Worn out as she may be, Uraraka was appreciative of Bakugou for wanting to help her. Her other friends were either too wrapped up in preparing for their own interviews – like Deku, whose muttering had increased tenfold in the past three days – or weren’t concerned at all. Mina had taken her time to update her hairstyle, file her horns and practice her makeup with Hagakure in anticipation for her interview with Midnight.  

Bakugou had more reason to be tired than she did, but as usual, he was a machine. He had started his “apprenticeship” with Aizawa a week earlier and for three nights a week, he was leaving campus at twelve AM, Todoroki by his side. Each night when Bakugou would return, he would crawl into her bed at 3 or 4 in the morning and wrap his arms around her, waking her, but only for a moment before she fell into an even more comforting sleep than before. He had begun to sustain his life force on coffee and tea, and powernaps. He was in bed religiously by eight PM, ignoring the grandpa jokes that Kaminari and Sero through his way, and then was back out of the door a few hours later. It was a whirlwind of a life and Uraraka wasn’t sure how he was managing it, but Bakugou had always been incredible when it came to endurance and balance.

The hectic schedule made moments where they could spend time together actually talking few and far between. Usually their stolen moments consisted of anything but talking, so Uraraka did appreciate the time to catch up.

Today, however, Bakugou had been insistent that he needed to train, and would not hear it when Uraraka begged him to go beat up Kirishima, or Todoroki, or anyone else.

“Have mercy on me.” Uraraka said now, holding up her hands in surrender. Bakugou rolled his eyes then sat down next to her.

“You’ll never hear the end of it if Ms. Fuckin’ Joke is the one to take you down because you aren’t prepared.” He rolled his eyes then crouched down next to her, pushing the sweaty hair out of her face.

“I’m just resting, you animal. Normal people rest. It’s good for the body.” Uraraka swatted his hand away. He gave her a dry look.

“I rest.” He protested.

“Barely.”

“Got better things to do.” He said, then gazed into her eyes while licking his lips.

“You’re trying to kill me.” She accused. “That’s been your plan all along, hasn’t it?”

Bakugou laughed, then scooped her off the floor, effortless in a way that would always make Uraraka dizzy. “Yeah, ya caught me.” He dipped his mouth down to her ear. “Let’s go to my room, huh, angel face?”

Uraraka’s heart thrummed in her chest and she was sure her face was growing impossibly redder. “I’m so sweaty.” She said weakly. “It’s gross.”

“I think it’s hot.” His lips brushed against her. “But if you’re worried about it, we can take a shower.”

“It’s the middle of the day – what if someone walks in?”

“Then I’ll blast them to hell.” Bakugou said as if this was a simple and logical solution. When Uraraka groaned, and looked upside down to his face above her, she saw his smirk. “Everyone is busy doing whatever shit it is that extras do – no one is gonna walk in on us.”

Uraraka, admittedly, didn’t need a lot of convincing when it came to Bakugou. Not when she was pressed up against a wall of solid muscle and had his – quite literally – hot hands were curled under her, encompassing a sensitive area of her body. Every hero had a weakness, and Katsuki Bakugou was undeniably hers.

She inclined her head just enough to give her consent, and Bakugou lifted her hips into the air and spun her around so that she was facing him. He planted a searing kiss on her lips that left her dazed and dizzier than she already was from the exertion. “Let’s go.” He said, then he released her back to the ground, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away.

Bakugou wasn’t wrong – there was no one in the hallways, and he proved how confident he was in this fact by turning around swiftly, slamming Uraraka against the wall and pressing her wrists above her head.

“Katsuki!” She squeaked. They were right by the bedrooms – by Iida’s bedroom, in fact – it was like skipping through an active minefield. He growled against her neck.

“Can’t wait, angel face.” He murmured on her skin.

“You better!” She hissed. “Nothing would kill the mood more than Iida coming out here to lecture us.”

“Fuck, good point.” Bakugou crinkled his eyebrows together. “Let’s go then. Walk faster.” He released her and let her lead the way, which she was grateful for because it meant she wouldn’t be dragged like a ragdoll. Bakugou was in rare form today.

When they reached the door to the girl’s showers, she fumbled with the door due to her overzealousness and Bakugou smacked her ass impatiently.

Uraraka squealed and dragged Bakugou by the collar, sending him crashing into her in a tangle of limbs. “What’s up with you?” She gasped out after Bakugou pulled his lips away from her.

“Nothin’, just love you.” He mumbled. “And you look so fuckin’ hot when we spar.”

His words made Uraraka melt into a puddle at his feet, and she stretched up to her tip toes so that she could dig her fingers into his hair. She yanked hard, forcing his head back down and kissed him hard. When they broke away for air, Bakugou’s pupils were blown wide and his chest was heaving.

“Love you too.” Uraraka said sweetly. “Let’s shower.”

“You’re the one trying to kill me.” Bakugou choked out. He clawed at her tank top and Uraraka indulged him, letting him toss it into the corner of the room. It was probably a bad idea, leaving an evidence trail strewn around the bathroom, but Uraraka was having a hard time giving coherent thoughts any weight in her mind. Bakugou’s lips were too warm, his scent was too intoxicating. The bulge in his pants was pressing into her and any sensibility she might have had earlier was gone somewhere far beyond her reach. 

“Maybe.” She breathed, slowing herself down and letting her hands wander under his shirt, tracing mindless patterns onto his stomach.

“Don’t tease. You’re always such a fuckin’ tease, angel.” His voice made her shudder – it was throaty and dangerous, thick with desire. “Not enough time in the day to take it slow.”

He was right about that – with their opposing schedules, they really didn’t have enough time to take things slow, and something about the way his words dripped with desperation caused a low ache in Uraraka. She nodded, almost as if in a trance, and pulled Bakugou’s pants down to his ankles. Bakugo stepped out of them, and then blindly peeled Uraraka’s sports bra off of her. She kicked off her tennis shoes, tossed her socks, and let her shorts land somewhere by the sink.

Bakugou had walked her into the shower cubicle, yanking the curtain to the side as he did. Deft hands slid the last bit of fabric separating them down Uraraka’s legs, and then she was smashed to Bakugou, skimming her hands down his back as she grinded against him.

“Mmm.” Bakugou licked a strip up her neck and Uraraka dug her nails into his shoulders. “Salty.” He teased.

“Shut up.” She replied, voice wobbly. She found the shower knob behind her and set it to warm, unleashing a cascade of water over both of them. Bakugou pushed wet hair out of his eyes and pierced Uraraka with a look of pure fire.

Bakugou kissed her like a starving man, hot and heavy and needy. He disconnected himself from her for just long enough to squeeze body wash into his hands, and he lathered Uraraka up with it. He gave special attention to her breasts, pinching and flicking her nipples. He smirked when she gasped, bucking her hips into him at the sensation.

Uraraka trailed her hands down to Bakugou’s thighs, tickling them lightly, enjoying watching him squirm. His cock twitched in response and he groaned, begging her to touch him with his body language.

She complied, tightening her hand around him and stroking. Bakugou whined and crushed his lips to hers once more, tasting her upper lip with his tongue.

“Wait,” Bakugou moved Uraraka’s hands away from him and she gave him a confused look – she knew what Bakugou liked, so she didn’t understand why he would want her to stop. “Let’s get you ready.” He smiled deviously, then he dropped to his knees on the floor of the shower, staring up at Uraraka from under wet eyelashes. He squeezed her close to him and dove in with his tongue.

Uraraka tugged at his hair and whimpered, moving her body in rhythm with his ministrations. She closed her eyes and reached back against the wall to support herself, biting her lip to hold back her moans.

“Oh my God!”

Uraraka’s eyes jolted open, and Bakugou practically seized.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! These are your underwear, Ochako Uraraka! In the public showers? Really? You both have bedrooms.”

Uraraka’s heart thrummed rapidly in her chest. Someone had come into the bathroom. A very specific, very nosy, very loud someone –

“Fucking alien freak, get the fuck out.” Bakugou growled, his arms still wrapped around Uraraka’s waist, his mouth still dangerously close to where she ached.

“This is my shower, Bakugou.” Mina retorted. “Also, are you on your knees? Ochako, you queen. I’m so proud.”

“Mina, how much will it take for you to leave and never speak of this again?” Uraraka closed her eyes and sighed. Mina had the worst timing in the history of the world, always.

“I’m never going to stop speaking about this, but that’s beside the point. I’ve been looking for you all over the place – I thought when I went by yours and Baku’s rooms that I would be safe from this mental scarring, but I guess you’re kinkier than I think.” Uraraka could hear the shit-eating grin in her tone. “What if it had been Tsu who found you? Think of the innocence lost!”

Uraraka thought back to a conversation Tsu and her had had earlier in the week where the frog girl asked her for advice on picking out lingerie and knew that the innocence was long-since lost, but she didn’t mention that to Mina.

“What’s your fuckin’ point?” Bakugou stayed on his knees, and he slowly turned his head and ran his tongue between her legs. Uraraka smacked his head in an attempt to make him stop, but that just motivated him to delve in deeper.

“My point –” Uraraka was struggling to focus on Mina’s rambling as Bakugou worked magic, kissing and nipping at her most sensitive spots. She said a silent prayer that she had decided to keep the water on so it drowned out any sounds Bakugou – or Uraraka – might have been making. “I have been sent on a mission by Aizawa Sensei to find you. He wants to talk to you before you go to your interview tomorrow.”

“W – what does he want?” Uraraka closed her eyes tight, cringing at herself for stammering. Mina would know. Oh, Mina would know. She was too well-versed in the art of sex to be fooled. Uraraka would surely be hearing about this later.

“You think he tells me anything? He just said to find you. He knows I have tabs on everyone in this school.” She sounded proud.

“Okay, I’ll go talk to him.” Uraraka promised, needing Mina to leave so that she could unleash the string of profanities and exclamations that were building up on her tongue as Bakugou gripped her tighter, devouring her. “You can go now.”

“Aw, man, I don’t get to watch a porn video come to life?” Mina pouted.

“Go.” Bakugou growled, his words vibrating against Uraraka’s slit. She bit her lip so hard it was painful.

“Okay, okay, going!” And she giggled her way out of the door. Once they heard it shut behind her, Uraraka let out a monumental sigh.

“I told you!” She cried, hitting Bakugou on the shoulder. “You’re so – bad!” She slapped him once more, but he just laughed and picked her up, pushing her against the wall, away from the stream of the shower.

“Yeah, yeah. She’s gone now.” He said against her neck. “Where were we?”

“You’re unbelievable.” Uraraka couldn’t keep the smile out of her voice. “I have to go find Aizawa.”

“Oh, you think we’re done here?” Bakugou’s breath was hot in her ear. “He can wait, you’re mine right now.”

And Uraraka was. As he slowly sank into her, ensuring that she felt every inch of him until she was pressed flush against his wet body, Uraraka knew that she was undoubtedly his.

-x-

Uraraka prided herself on being an above-average student. Sure, when it came to classwork, she was no Momo and she had a long way to go before she matched the likes of Bakugou, Deku or Todoroki on the field, but she was decidedly decent in terms of her hero education.

And yet, she was pretty sure she was the only one who could say they had been in Aizawa’s office three times in one semester. Not even Deku could claim that title, and he was the constantly-proclaimed problem child.

Aizawa was grading papers when Uraraka arrived – she knew this from the sheer amount of red marks covering the paper in front of him. If she strained her eyes, she could make out the name written on top of the page, and she was unsurprised to see it was Kaminari. She told him he shouldn’t write his hero work analysis papers while hyped up on multiple energy drinks at two AM, but she learned early on that he rarely listened to reason.

Aizawa made one final mark before setting the paper aside, then turned his attention to Uraraka, who had been fidgeting with her wet hair while she glanced around the room. Even knowing Aizawa for as long as she had now, there was still an air of intimidation about him that she didn’t think would ever go away.

“I’d like to know the motivation for your choice of internship.”

Uraraka had been expecting this, and she had practiced her defense in front of her mirror until she had memorized all the facts about why this internship would be perfect for her. Of course, under Aizawa’s intense gaze, she forgot everything, and blurted out in a panic: “It’s not what you think!”

“I didn’t ask what it isn’t.” Aizawa said steadily. “It’s just not what I would’ve expected of you. If anything, I thought Ashido would be trying to intern with Em – Ms. Joke.” He grimaced as he said this, probably imagining all the embarrassing things that the two could come up with about him in an office together.

Uraraka smiled at the image. “I’m sure she considered it. She did ask me to gather intel on your relationship.” Aizawa looked pained, but kept his lips tight, so Uraraka could continue. “Honestly, I just think she would be a good teacher. Fighting with Ketsubutsu – sorry again about that – it was obvious that they knew their stuff. They were all very skilled in both close combat and distance attacks, and I know they’re good in rescue from seeing them at the Provisional License Exams. I want to be good at everything a hero needs to know, and it seems like Ms. Joke is the whole package.” She paused, then added as an afterthought, “And she must be legendary if you like her.”

Aizawa grumbled something incoherent that was probably vaguely threatening.

“I just don’t want to typecast myself either, you know? I don’t want to just be a rescue hero. I want to be a hero-hero.”

“You’re definitely not going to be a typecast hero, Uraraka. It would be a loss if you just ended up in one niche.” He said simply, as if this was the most obvious fact in the world. Uraraka’s heart swelled with pride at his words – he believed in her. He believed that she could be more than just a rescue-hero. Aizawa clasped his hands together and sunk further into his seat. “You’ve all impressed me with your choices, actually. You’re growing as a class. Most of you.” He added, squinting at the paper as if it had insulted him. “I do have to approve all internships, and I will approve Ms. Joke as a mentor for you on the basis that you don’t have any more dangerous and stupid revenge schemes up your sleeve.”

“Sensei, I didn’t even plan that!” Uraraka protested.

“I spoke to Bakugou and Todoroki as well, on the first night of patrol. Bakugou said something about ‘next time I see that bastard, I’ll kill him’ and Todoroki caught on fire. I think I drove the point home well.” He sighed. Uraraka blinked at him, picturing what a general patrol with Bakugou and Todoroki looked like. No wonder Aizawa seemed even more exhausted than usual lately.

“No more stupid revenge schemes.” Uraraka promised.

“I’m choosing to trust you, Uraraka, because I think that Ms. Joke will teach you a lot, but you’ll have to convince her of your intentions as well.”

“I will, Sensei!” Uraraka stood, suddenly more fired up than she had been since she made the decision. She would show Ms. Joke what a capable hero she was – she would prove she was worthy to be taken on as an intern. “Thank you.” She bowed low.

Aizawa almost smiled. Almost.

-x-

There had been many times in the past year that Uraraka had thanked the higher powers of the universe for gracing her life with Mina Ashido, and today was one of those times. As Uraraka bounced on the soles of her feet and pulled on her jacket while she waited outside of the gates of Ketsubutsu Academy, Mina rubbed her hand and comforted her with soothing, reassuring words.

Uraraka had been informed that since Ms. Joke was primarily a teacher and only patrolled occasionally when school-work would allow it, and so she didn’t have her own agency and therefore worked out of her school office. When she had learned this fact, Uraraka had almost changed her mind entirely – maybe a safe choice like Thirteen wouldn’t be so bad after all. However, when she dared voice that opinion at the lunch table – Mina’s domain, that day – she had been met with a roar of disapproval.

“You are not chickening out on this just because that fuck might be there.” Bakugou had grumbled, snatching a handful of fries from Kaminari’s plate and ignoring his cry of protest. “If you’re worried about it, I’ll come with ya.”

“No!” Three voices shouted at once – Kirishima, Mina and Uraraka herself. Bakugou’s murderous declaration that Aizawa had disclosed to her came into her head, and she knew the last thing she needed was to bring Bakugou to Ketsubutsu’s campus.

“Probably not the best idea, bro.” Kirishima patted Bakugou’s head like he was an angry puppy, and her boyfriend scowled at his best friend. Kirishima cheerfully ignored it. “But if you want someone to escort you, Uraraka, I’d be more than happy to.”

“Oh, don’t be stupid, Kiri. What could you do?” Kaminari spoke up. Jirou had given him some of her fries, so he was placated again. “She needs someone with long range attack, so if we see him coming around the corner, he’s done for before he even notices us.”

“No, she needs someone with capture power.” Sero’s chest swelled importantly. “You know how far out this tape goes? How strong it is?”

Jirou rolled her eyes. “You’re all morons. You just want to go to Ketsubutsu so you can snoop around and try to find out what happened to that asshole.”

None of the boys made eye contact. Bakugou snorted.

“Agreed, morons.” Mina said. “Ochako, you don’t need a bodyguard because you’re a bad bitch and I think everyone at this table knows that.” She glared pointedly at the boys. “However, seeing Ms. Joke brings me incredible amounts of joy and I also already had my interview with Midnight yesterday, so I would be thrilled beyond my wildest dreams to accompany you.”  

Uraraka considered this. It would be a lot less intimidating if Mina was there. It’s not that she was afraid of seeing Shindo – she knew he couldn’t hurt her anymore – but the thought of being the lone UA student on Ketsubutsu’s campus after everything had happened would be enough to give anyone a set of nerves.

That was how Mina had ended up with her here today, at four PM on a school day at Ketsubutsu Academy.

“Are people staring at us?” Uraraka whispered as the gate opened for them and they walked through the lush, grassy campus. Ketsubutsu reminded Uraraka of a college campus from her history books – old, regal brick buildings and large patches of grass where students lounged despite the still-present chill in the air. Ketsubutsu was a dorm system just like UA, and Uraraka could see the tall buildings in the distance and she wondered if Shindo was in one of them.

The thought gave her a stomach ache, so she pushed it away.

“I’m pink and I have horns, Ochako, people are always staring at me, and so by default, you too.” Mina said casually, smiling and giving a small to wave to a Ketsubutsu boy who had been eying her. He blushed and looked away quickly. “I think I recognize her.” She said, nudging her head towards a petite girl who sat on a blanket, seemingly doing homework. Uraraka recognized her too – Nusumu. She looked normal in a school setting – less like a tiny, evil bug.

“Yeah, she’s in Ms. Joke’s class. Let’s not say hi.” Uraraka steered Mina in the opposite direction towards the building Ms. Joke had told her to meet her in.

“You’re no fun.” Mina pouted, but she followed Uraraka obediently all the same. They didn’t see anyone else they knew, thankfully, and they arrived at the building – which boasted the school logo impressively on a banner – with relatively no incident. Mina did hiss at a girl that they overheard whispering loudly to her friends about her horns, but that was tame for Mina, and watching the girl stammer and then run away had been entertaining. Once they were standing in front of the door to Ms. Joke’s office, Uraraka took a deep breath, trying to expel the nerves from her body.

“Alright, it’s time. You ready? You pumped?” Mina was bouncing side-to-side like a boxer in the ring. “You gonna get this?!”

“Mina, it’s just – ”

“I asked, are you gonna get this?!”

“Yes, yes.” Uraraka sighed exasperatedly, then she giggled. “I’m gonna get this!”

“Yeah, you are.” Mina grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. “Get in there and kill it. I’ll wait out here and hope that I get blessed with a glance at Ms. Joke’s beauty.”

Uraraka rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Mina’s enthusiasm was as infectious as always. She knocked twice on the door, and when a lilted, sing-songy voice answered: “Cooome in!” She entered, holding her head high.

“Ochako Uraraka.” Ms. Joke’s smile was as wide as ever, filling Uraraka with an unavoidable joy and a pleasant tickling feeling in her stomach. “I will admit, when I got the call saying you were interested in interning, I was shocked. I didn’t think a UA student would be interested in little ole me.”

“Oh, I - I think you’re a great hero!” Uraraka stammered out. “I was really excited to see your name on the list!”

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing you met me at the Provisional License exam, hmm?” She winked. “Unfortunately, that was all about what you’re capable of, not what I’m capable of.” She laughed lightly, and Uraraka laughed too, the noise bubbling out of her like a shaken-up soda can, quickly filling her eyes up with tears as the unconscious desire to smile fogged her brain.

When Ms. Joke released her, Uraraka breathed out sharply. “That’s brutal.” She said, catching her breath and smacking her cheeks.

“Everyone thinks it would be such a pleasant way to be captured – but in reality, it sucks.” Ms. Joke shrugged. “Gives me an edge over villains though.” She gave Uraraka a steely look. “So, Shouta – sorry, God, that must be weird to hear – Aizawa Sensei said that you’re trying to diversify your hero portfolio.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

“Hearing you call him Sensei is weirder.” Uraraka pointed out politely.

“Noted.”

“Yes, I want to learn all about your hero work, and new skills for combat and capture. I want to perfect my quirk.” Uraraka nodded rapidly, getting excited at the prospect of actual patrols, actual villains, and actual hero work.  

“And this has nothing to do with my students?” She appraised her with still-gleaming but more serious eyes.

“I’ll never live that down, will I?” Uraraka asked sheepishly. Ms. Joke barked out a laugh.

“No, probably not.” She said honestly. “I know it wasn’t you who orchestrated the thing – and I can’t technically say this because they were my students that you waged war on – but, damn girl. That was something else you kids came up with.” She shook her head as if still in disbelief almost two months later. “I have to be sure, though.”

 “Promise I didn’t come for more revenge. I have had my fill of revenge for the rest of my life.” Uraraka said firmly. “I just admire you as a hero, and I want to expand my horizons. And, to be honest, I really want to see your quirk in action against villain’s because, wow. I’m still a little breathless from just a quick example.” 

“It is a lot of fun.” Ms. Joke grinned. “Well, I know what you can do, because I’ve seen you in action, so I don’t think we need to do a trial run. Plus, don’t tell him I said this but, man, does Shouta – Aizawa, jeeze, sorry – sing your praises. He said you’re one of his top students in terms of raw hero capability.”

Uraraka felt a tug at her heartstrings at that. 

“I do already have one intern from another school, but she’s a pleasure, and I think you’ll get along really well. It would be interesting to see how you two would use your quirks together.” She put a thoughtful finger to her chin. “Well, wanna join my team then, Uravity?” 

“Yes, I definitely do!” 

“Great.” Ms. Joke beamed. “We do patrols three times a week, always in the afternoon because we’re all school girls, aren’t we?” She winked. “Meet me here every time – I’ll get you a badge so you can swipe into the gate – Monday seem like a good starting point for ya?”

“Absolutely, Monday works!”

“See ya then.” She said happily. “Oh, leave the door open, will ya?”

“Of course.” Uraraka bowed respectfully, then backed out of the room, leaving the door wide-open. When she turned to Mina to tell her she was done, she saw the girl was already up, straining to see into the room.

“Hiiiya, Ashido!” Ms. Joke called, waving brightly. Mina froze and then jumped up and down, waving back with more gusto than should have been possibly in her compact body. As they walked across campus again, Mina couldn’t stop beaming.

“She remembered my name. I am so in there. We’re gonna be best friends and gossip about Aizawa. Just you wait.”

Uraraka laughed – naturally that time. She wouldn’t bet against it.

-x-

Uraraka radiated so much energy that she felt like she was a mixture of electrified and on fire. Her stomach flipped like she was on a rollercoaster, and she tapped her fingers together so rapidly that she kept accidentally taking away and returning gravity to herself.

“Relax, girly.” Ms. Joke said sternly, but even her authoritative voice was accented with an uncontainable smile. “You’re going to do great! I’ll stick with you the first week at all times, then depending on how you do, I’ll set you free, like Princess. She does most of her patrolling by herself at this point. If you think I’m a firecracker, wait until you meet her.”

“I can’t wait.” Uraraka said earnestly. Princess was the name of her internship partner, and other than that name, she was a mystery. Uraraka wasn’t surprised that Ms. Joke would take on an intern by such a name, but she did wonder about what her quirk was, or her personality. Ms. Joke promised that they would meet after patrol today, when they were going through paperwork.

“Well, if you can’t wait, then I guess we’ve gotta go! Onwards, mini me, let’s go kick some villain booty.” Ms. Joke punched the air, then wrapped her arm around Uraraka’s shoulder and pulled her outside.

The air was still sharp, but it lacked the bitterness that it had been holding onto for the past several weeks. Spring would be there before anyone knew it, and would bring with it sunshine, green grass and the smell of flowers in the air that Uraraka so loved. She was not a winter person by any means. As she shivered slightly in her non-insulated uniform, she looked forward to the warmer weather. She would have to talk to Hatsume about getting something more appropriate for the harsh winter, because she would be an easy target for a villain if she spent all her time shivering.

According to Ms. Joke, however, the cold weather was a positive.

“Villains are a bunch of babies. Put a little chill in the air and they all decide to take a vacation from crime and hole up with hot chocolate and a blanket.” She giggled and rolled her eyes. “Though, that does mean the ones that do come out are real baddies. I’ve had some nasty fights in winter.”

“What’s your fighting style?” Uraraka asked, eager to learn everything she could. “Do the villains just, like, give up when you use your quirk?”

“Oh, definitely not. They’ll fight through the laughter, easily. It makes for an entertaining show, avoiding punches from a hysterical villain.”  Ms. Joke smiled. “My fights get a lot of press because people think they’re fun. I draw a crowd.” Uraraka increased her pace, because Ms. Joke walked fast for someone who had decidedly little legs. “I’m an extremely skilled close-combat fighter, if I do say so myself, but everyone just focuses on the laughter and not the fact that I pack a punch. I actually started teaching because I got sick of nobody taking me seriously.” She shrugged. “Funny, huh? The joke hero wants to be taken seriously.” She laughed in spite of herself.

“So why take on interns?” Uraraka wanted to know.

“I missed it.” She said simply. “And Shouta asked me to.” She added slyly. Uraraka smirked – if only Mina could be there then; she would lose her mind. It was odd that Aizawa had recruited the teachers – there was definitely no shortage of pro heroes that would love to take on interns. She decided to ask Ms. Joke.

“Oh, he did that for your boyfriend and Endeavor’s kid.” She said breezily. “He said they have too much potential to miss this opportunity, and that he would fail as a teacher if he didn’t do something. He thought taking them on would be favoritism, so he just asked a bunch of teachers from different schools to help out. To disguise it, ya know?” She winked. “That Bakugou must be pretty special. Shouta talks about him almost as much as he talks about Asui and Ashido – though it’s more often than not when he’s explaining why he has a headache…” She trailed off, sheepishly. “But we didn’t come here to gossip about our men, yeah? Let’s get moving, Uraravity!”

Uraraka nodded, and they kept moving, discussing strategies for patrols as they walked.

Uraraka quickly learned the rhythm of Ms. Joke and exactly how she operated. She stopped to sign autographs for children, couldn’t keep herself from staring at flashy displays – especially when food was involved – and used enough bad puns to make even Kaminari groan in pain, but the moment there was a cry for help, she was on the move.

That moment happened around three hours into their first patrol.

Ms. Joke stopped in the middle of her story about her time as a freshly-graduated hero and how she ended up trapped in an elevator with Best Jeanist when she poked at her headset, nodded, and said seriously to Uraraka: “Baddies on the prowl. Let’s go, Uravity!”

They were off running. It wasn’t a huge ordeal – three of them, holding up a convenience store, Ms. Joke explained as they ran, but there were civilians in danger, and so they moved fast.

They reached the convenience store a moment later, sliding to a stop in front of a broken window. Uraraka craned her head and saw that several citizens were on the floor with their heads in-between their knees as a man shouted demands at them. “The register!” He shrieked at the poor cashier, who couldn’t have been much older than Uraraka. The girl had tears in her eyes as she fumbled with the keys, trying to keep steady with a gun being waved at her.

“Such a bully.” Ms. Joke said with narrowed eyes. “I hate bullies. Stay close and watch me this time. Don’t do anything bold.”

Uraraka nodded, a flame was cultivating inside of her, coursing through her body. She knew instantly she picked the right career.

Ms. Joke burst into the store, Uraraka hot on her heels, and called out the villains, who instantly turned on her with their weapons. Before any of them could make any move however, Ms. Joke singled out the bigger man – Uraraka assumed he was the ringleader – a short and squat man with leaves covering an otherwise bald head.

He glared at her for a beat, before his scowl twisted into something more pleasant and then he burst into uncontrollable laughter. “What – the – hell?” He gasped between the manic chuckles. Ms. Joke used this opportunity to tackle him to the ground, pinning him with her boot on his knee and her hands clasping down on his arms. He struggled against her. “Good try, villain.” She growled and Uraraka’s eyes widened in wonder. Ms. Joke was awesome.

“Oi, bitch!” The second villain was tall and gangly, the opposite of his counterpart. He had twisted horns coming directly out of his forehead, and he didn’t turn away from the cashier, who was still trembling. “Stop killing our vibe!”

Uraraka reacted before she had a chance to think better of it – she knew next to nothing about this man, or his abilities, or what weapons he could’ve held. A second-long analysis showed that he was young, bold and had long, greasy hair, but that was all she could note before she was running at him.

“Fuck off, kid!” He snapped at her, swatting at her like she was a fly, but Uraraka was already there. She pressed her hand to his arm and pushed hard. He smirked at her then opened his mouth to say something- probably a taunt – but it was lost in his throat as his feet detached from the floor.

Uraraka watched in satisfaction as he flailed his arms hopelessly for a moment and pushed against the ceiling. She turned away, ready to receive her praise from Ms. Joke, when she heard a threatening thump, and the man was on the floor again.

How…? She hadn’t released him.

Then she noted where his arm once was, there was a dripping stump. He glanced up at the ceiling, smirking, and followed his eyes. His arm floated, pressed up against the tiles, seemingly having been detached cleanly.

“Pretty neat, huh? I concentrated your stupid ass quirk’s power into one arm, and then said goodbye.” His grin was manic. “It’s a fun quirk when dealing with punks like you. Now, c’mere.” He abandoned the cashier at last and lunged for Uraraka, taking advantage of the fact that Ms. Joke was still grappling with the villain on the floor, who had started sending vines up her arms.

“I’m gonna enjoy this.” The gangly man licked his lips and put his finger to the trigger of his gun.

“Idiot, don’t shoot her. Jesus.”

Both the man and Uraraka’s eyes snapped to another man, this one so huge that he could barely fit in the building. His skin was burgundy, his eyes were yellow, and he carried a backpack of artillery on his back. He looked like a nightmare. “

“Come here, Gyanguri. And drop the gun.”

The man looked terrified at the use of his name from the behemoth’s mouth. He obeyed his every word, dropping the gun to the floor with a clatter that made every civilian on the floor shake. Out of the corner of her eye, Uraraka saw Ms. Joke finally finish restraining the man on the floor.

“You’re useless, you know that?” Said the nightmare. Then, he took his head, and bashed it into Gyanguri, knocking him out instantly. Uraraka heard a crack as his body hit the cold tile.

“Uravity, run!” Ms. Joke called, and Uraraka prepared to do as she was told, to get back up, to find someone who could handle this monster, when –

“Em, it’s cool, girl.”

The words that came out of the red terror of a man did not match the deep timbre they were spoken in, but then black smoke surrounded him, temporarily blinding Uraraka and obstructing the man entirely from view. She could see Ms. Joke, however, who seemed suddenly utterly relaxed, sitting next to the villain she had finish off. There was a hint of a smirk playing on her face.

“Where did you put him?” Ms. Joke asked in the direction of the smoke.

“Police got him already. He was all bark, no bite. Typical baddie boy.”

“Atta girl.”

Uraraka was no less confused, giving Ms. Joke the most lost look she could manage. Ms. Joke burst into laughter, standing up and making her way over to where the foggy air was beginning to clear. “Uravity, meet your partner. This is Princess – but that’s not the name she prefers, of course. Just the name I gave her.”

Finally, after the longest, most discombobulating minute of Uraraka’s entire hero career thus far, the smoke disappeared, and left standing in front of her was a familiarily beautiful, voluptuous blonde, smiling at her through thick-coated eyelashes.

”Hey, Ochako, babe! This internship is gonna be mad lit!”

Chapter Text

Ms. Joke spoke quickly to the police, using ample hand gestures and sharing her laughter. Once she was finished and the three criminals were rounded up and being ushered into the backseat of cop cars, she bounced over to Uraraka and Camie, who were both standing in a dumbfounded state, watching Ms. Joke work with glazed-over eyes.

Uraraka wasn’t sure what emotions she was feeling right now. Anger? Absolutely – just the sight of Camie set her temperature to its highest setting. Her cheeks felt heated, and it wasn’t from the villains. Fear? Of course, what was she supposed to do with Camie as her partner? General contempt for the world and how cruel it was to her? Oh yeah.

She knew logically that she couldn’t run away from this, and yet, her feet were turned outwards toward the door, itching to sprint out of the convenience store and all the way back to UA, never to be heard from again. If Camie was enough to send her away with her tail between her legs, then what kind of hero would she ever be? She would never be able to change her parents’ lives if she was incapable of working with other heroes – she couldn’t even work an office job if she wasn’t able to swallow her biases and tolerate those around her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Camie cleared her throat daintily, as if to say something – probably something dumb, annoying or cruel – but she didn’t get it out, as Ms. Joke skipped over to her two interns, looking positively elated. Uraraka actually sighed in relief, causing Camie to give her a side-eye, which she ignored.

Ms. Joke grabbed them both into a hug and Uraraka was forced against Camie – even after physical exertion, she smelled good, like concentrated femininity. And cupcakes. Uraraka was pretty sure she smelled like sweat. “I’m so proud of both of you – Princess, amazing work.” Camie beamed, then stuck her tongue out at Ms. Joke.

“Jokester, quit with the princess! It’s Miss Illusion.” She rolled her eyes. She turned to Uraraka. “She’s been calling me princess since day uno, but don’t listen to her.”

Ms. Joke waved her complaints away.  “Uravity, you have great strength, we just need to work on timing. Don’t get too eager.”

Uraraka nodded, feeling slightly ashamed of herself for not being comparable to Camie’s standards. “Also, do you two know each other?” Ms. Joke asked, seeming absolutely ecstatic. “You seem familiar.”

Uraraka’s cheeks darkened. Shindo had specifically named Camie in his mind-controlled confession, but she knew she couldn’t hold it against the hero for not remembering that particular detail when she had so much more to focus on – like the fact that one of her students was a sociopath. She decided to spare her the discomfort. “Yeah, we know each other.” She forced the words out in a pleasant, bubbly voice.

“We go way back!” Camie cried, practically jumping up and down like an overgrown cheerleader. “We met when you and I met, Em – the Provisional License Exam! Good times.”  

Good times. Uraraka clenched her teeth in order to keep from cringing at Camie’s loud and vapid tone. It probably was a great time for her – watching Uraraka embarrass herself in ten different ways.

How was she going to be able to tolerate this for the rest of the year? How would she survive this for the rest of the year? She probably wouldn’t. Camie would probably murder her and make it look like an accident. Uraraka wouldn’t put it beneath her.

“Great!” Ms. Joke cheered, none the wiser to Uraraka’s internal despair. “I’ll show you how to write up an incident, and you can work on that together. Paperwork – the biggest joy of hero work.” She giggled.

On the way back to Ketsubutsu, Uraraka had grown increasingly irritated and anxious in Camie’s presence. It wasn’t professional, but she couldn’t help it. Whenever Camie opened her mouth, or smiled with puckered, pink lips or laughed in that beautiful, musical way, she was reminded of not only all the pain she had caused her, but also of her extreme jealousy.

Her own mind had become her mortal enemy, and she started to imagine how Bakugou had been with Camie. Had they bantered casually, teased each other back and forth? Did he listen to all of her pointless ramblings – was he charmed by the way she spoke? She pictured the summer camp they both attended. In her mind, it was all rolling hills and a glistening, blue lake – the perfect place for romance – and Bakugou met Camie frequently by the water at night. She tried to force the image of his smile of admiration directed at the blonde girl out of her head, but she couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried.

“Hey, Uraraka.” Uraraka’s eyes snapped open in the backseat – she hadn’t even realized she had shut them – and she knew that they had arrived back to campus. “I wanted to go over some logistics with you, then we can get you set up with paperwork. Mind going ahead without us, Princess?”

“Sure thing, Jokester. Catch ya’ll on the flip side.” She threw up a peace sign, then gracefully climbed out of the car and let her luscious, long legs carry her over to their office.

Jealousy was in Uraraka’s top five list for least favorite feelings.

Ms. Joke led Uraraka to a group of benches under an impressive, willowy tree. It was chilly, but not unpleasant enough for Uraraka to complain. Once they had both sat down, the woman faced her with a soft smile, one that was different than her usual thousand-watt grin.

“So, obviously there is a bit of a connection between you and Camie.” Ms. Joke said. “And I’m kicking myself for not realizing it sooner – I’ve been so caught up in…everything that happened, that her name slipped over my head, but when I saw how obviously freaked out you were on the way back, it hit me. Camie was involved with what Shindo did, right?”

Uraraka knew the answer was written all over her face. Apparently, Uraraka owed Ms. Joke some more credit. She wasn’t entirely imperceptive. She fished for an excuse, but came up short. “Oh, that’s nothing…” Uraraka said, completely unconvincing, fidgeting with her fingers. Lying had never been her strong-suit, but she was reluctant to bring up anything involving Shindo to the woman, not wanting her to think that was why she was there. 

“Uraraka.” Ms. Joke said seriously, the glimmer in her eyes less pronounced. “Look – the Shindo thing, it’s obviously the elephant in the room, so let’s just discuss it now. He’s enrolled in Ketsubutsu, although he has been suspended from the hero course and is in remedial lessons, as well as ethics classes and behavioral therapy. What he did to you was unacceptable behavior and I would expect it to leave a lasting mark. It’s my own stupidity that I forgot Camie was involved – I’ll have to have a talk with her about that.”

“No, Ms. Joke!” Uraraka interjected quickly. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not your fault – she was a small part of it. And I’ve made peace with the Shindo situation. Honestly – I’m more freaked out about the fact that she dated my boyfriend.” Uraraka sighed, feeling silly and very much like a petty teenage girl and not a future hero. “It’s this whole complicated thing but it’s not a big deal, and I’ll get over it.” 

Ms. Joke blinked at her, absorbing this new information. “Ahh, that is a complicated situation, jeeze. You kids are all very interconnected.” She scratched her head, then stared Uraraka in the eye. “Well, if you have an issue with her, you can tell me. I won’t penalize you for it, or kick you out of this internship, but nor will I kick her out. I like you both and I think you have brilliant potential – so know that I will deal with any issues that arise.”

Her words eased Uraraka’s nerves, and slowed the roll of her overthinking, but she still wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t want to sabotage Camie – okay, she absolutley did, but it wouldn’t be right. She was trying to be a hero, and the type of hero she wanted to be didn’t fight dirty. Even if their partner was much, much dirtier.

At Uraraka’s silence, Ms. Joke continued. “Camie is independent enough that I can send her on her own routes, if that’s necessary.”

“No, no!” Uraraka cried. She didn’t want Ms. Joke to think she was so emotional and weak that she couldn’t stand to be in the same room as her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend. That would be humiliating. “No, it’s fine. It’s ancient history, really. We’ll work great together.” She plastered the most genuine fake smile she could manage onto her face. “It was just a shock, that’s all.” 

“Yeah, small world, huh?” Ms. Joke crossed her ankles. “I think she’s a good kid at heart – Camie. I think she just has a tendency to get caught up in stupid things.” There was a sadness on her face. “But when she came to me for the internship, she kept telling me she wanted to change and become a better hero. I always try to see the best in my kids, but I’ve been wrong before, so you let me know if anything is wrong during your partnership with her, okay, girlie?”

Uraraka nodded, feeling determined not to let anything bother her to the point where she would have to get Ms. Joke involved. She was going to be a force of nature throughout this internship. She had survived everything so far – she would survive Camie too.

-x-

For fifteen uncomfortable minutes, Uraraka and Camie worked in near silence. Camie, as it turns out, could not keep completely quiet to save her life, and hummed while she worked, mumbled to herself, and hissed expletives whenever she messed something up in the system. After she had finished her paperwork – she had a head start and more experience than Uraraka – she began to throw glances in Uraraka’s direction.

Uraraka pretended not to notice, but she could only maintain that act for so long before Camie was staring shamelessly and repeatedly clearing her throat. Uraraka turned towards her and raised a single eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, ya know?” The blonde finally broke the silence as she sunk into her seat dramatically, slouching over so that her legs grazed the floor. “I was like, totally uncool to you, and also a little bit of a dweeb. The whole thing with Shindo…” She scrunched her nose up at his name and gave Uraraka an obscenely adorable set of puppy-dog eyes. “It was, like, the worst thing I’ve ever done. I do this thing, right? I do this thing where if I like a guy, I’ll turn into an entirely different person for him. It’s lame, and I know it’s lame, but it’s hard, ya know? And I thought Shindo was a totally cool guy when I met him at the License Exam, and I liked him, but he had some weir obsession with you. I was a little ticked about that fact-o, and I knew you liked Bakugou, so when Shindo asked me to rile you up, it seemed like a win-win.” She breathed out a huge sigh and Uraraka could do nothing but stare.

“And then everything happened at the party, and I decided that I was shitty for trying to upset you, and I told Shindo that, but he swore it was all innocent, and then told me he had really liked me the whole time anyways. He and I did a little mild hooking up, then some not so mild hooking up, and before I knew it, I was totally twisted around his greasy-ass finger.” She scowled and still managed to look sexy despite the way it twisted her face. Annoying. She focused back on her words. “So when he asked me to get that UA group chat link for him – which, dude, he didn’t tell me what it was for – of course I did it. I thought about texting Katsu about it, but I figured he would just tell me to fuck off, you know, like he does, so I texted rocker babe. But I didn’t know, Ochako, I didn’t know he was going to go all serial killer stalker on you.” She let out a long, heavy sigh. “I’m a grade-A moron, space babe. I don’t deserve your forgiveness for any of it – but I just had to let you know. I’m not going to go all evil witch on you like before and I’m not going to ruin this internship for you. I want a fresh start.”

Uraraka blinked, taking in everything that Camie just said and chewing it over in her head. Internally, alarm bells sounded, warning her that Camie was a viper, but honestly, Camie seemed sincere. The way she looked at Uraraka made it apparent that she didn’t want things to be weird between them, whether or not it was because she was actually sorry or just because she didn’t want Ms. Joke kicking her off the job, Uraraka didn’t know, but an apology was an apology. She would have to think it over during a time where Camie wasn’t staring at her with big, expectant blue eyes that begged forgiveness.

“I’m sorry for what I did to you and Katsu. He deserved better in, like, a whole lot of ways. I may have said I didn’t, but I really loved him, and you’re good for him. I mean that. I’m different now.” 

The admission of love was enough to shock Uraraka to her core – it was so offhand, so fleeting. She stared at Camie for a moment, head rushing, trying to make sense of everything she had just said.

She needed time to process this, but Camie was giving her the world’s most expectant look, and Uraraka reminded herself that this was a professional internship, and sometimes being a professional meant putting on appearances so she smiled softly, looked Camie in the eye, and said: “It’s fine. No bad blood. Let’s make the most of this internship, right?”

Camie lit up, her eyes shining like two clear pools. “Thanks, Ochako, babe! I’ll make it up to you, promise.”

Uraraka blinked back tears as she turned back to her paperwork, unsure of how she always ended up in these situations.

-x-

“You’re kidding me. You’re absolutely lying right now.”

Uraraka shook her head firmly in response to Mina’s accusation, not letting her eyes wander from the screen as she concentrated on her go-kart flying through the clouds in front of her. “I’m not lying.” She promised. “Internship partner – Camie.”

Mina unleashed a string of profanities as her kart slid off the edge, allowing Jirou to overtake her. Kaminari let out a victory screech for his girlfriend, and Jirou grinned slyly.

“You have simultaneously the best and the worst luck in the history of the universe.” Sero quipped from where he was curled up in a ball at the end of the couch. “You should start collecting lucky items – that might help. But hey, I’ll switch with you and be her partner.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Mina tutted, then jerked the controlled sharply to avoid a rogue banana peel. “She’s out of your league.”

Sero pouted. “You had sex with me.”

“True, but Camie is also out of my league.”

“You could also get an exorcism.” Kaminari suggested casually as he scrolled through his phone. “You could have some kind of unlucky demon attached to you that enjoys tormenting. This place that’s only five miles away does exorcisms for cheap!”

“I appreciate the help, but I don’t think its demons. I think my life just sucks – goddamnit!” Mina had thrown a red shell that hit Uraraka’s character dead-on, causing her kart to spin out dramatically.

“God, Mina, she’s having a rough enough day.” Jirou laughed as she crossed the finish line – first place, again.

The five of them had been gathered in the common room for the past two hours, taking turns wailing on each other in Mario Kart. For Uraraka, it was the second-best form of stress relief. The best form, unfortunately, was taking his pre-patrol nap.

Uraraka had gotten back from her internship late, and therefore missed her chance to tell Bakugou about her predicament. It was probably for the best, though, that she didn’t drop that bomb on him right before a long, late-night patrol. His blood pressure needed to remain at a steady level in order for him to not cause any destruction, and she was sure Aizawa wouldn’t appreciate things being blown to bits on his watch.

Instead, she had called Mina down, and Mina had rallied the troops. Within minutes, Kaminari and Sero were plugging in their Switch, Jirou was throwing together snacks in the kitchen, and Mina was rubbing circles on Uraraka’s back, urging her to tell them all about it while the boys loaded up the game screen. All they were missing were Bakugou and Kirishima, who were busy with their respective internships.

The relief of being surrounded by her friends had been instantaneous, and Uraraka was relaxed enough to recount the tale of her terrible circumstance to them all.

“She apologized to me and said that she didn’t know about what Shindo was planning, but that she just did it because she really liked him, or something like that.”

Kaminari snorted. “Smells like bullshit to me.”

Jirou hummed thoughtfully. “When she texted me to get everyone’s contact information, she seemed to have a pretty solid understanding of what she needed to do. I dunno, though. Maybe Shindo just told her to get everyone’s numbers and nothing else.”

“Why would she just blindly do what that freak asked?” Sero asked, scrunching his forehead up in disbelief.

“Dick does make you do crazy things.” Mina mused. Uraraka gave her a dry look, and she smiled sheepishly. “But that doesn’t make it excusable or her any less evil.”

“Good save.” Kaminari said proudly. Uraraka directed her glare to him next, but after a moment, she smiled.

 If someone had told her at the beginning of the year that she would be spending the majority of her time hanging out with the self-proclaimed – by Kaminari – idiot squad of UA, then she would’ve laughed in their face. However, as time went on, she found herself loving them more and more each day. If she had gone to Deku or Tsu or Momo or Iida with this problem, they would’ve been deadly serious, offering her logical solutions and explanation. That wasn’t to say she didn’t love all her friends equally, but there was a time for serious advice and there was a time for stupidity, and right then, Uraraka needed stupidity.

“She also told me she was sorry for how she treated Bakugou, and that he deserved better. And she said that she loved him.” Uraraka added, whispering for dramatic effect. It worked – Mina gasped and Kaminari actually fell backwards off of the couch.

It was Jirou who spoke first: “She said what now?”

“I thought they were just hump-buddies!” Mina screamed.

“Mina, don’t use that terminology.” Jirou groaned. “But, yeah, what gives?”

“Apparently they were deeply in love.” Uraraka could hear the bitterness in her own voice, but she didn’t care. She needed some time to be bitter before she had to spend the rest of the year playing friendly with a girl she had a very deep dislike for.

“Bakugou has never loved anyone in his life but you.” Mina said sternly. “So, don’t start with that.”

“You forgot about Kirishima.” Kaminari pointed out unhelpfully.

“Shit, I did. Okay, Bakugou has never loved anyone in his life except you and Kirishima, but don’t worry, Kiri already tried that and was solidly rejected.” Mina said. “Although I really think you should consider the threesome idea.”

Uraraka rolled her eyes at Mina’s antics. “Can we focus here?”

She found herself smiling, cheered up already by the sheer ridiculousness of her friends. She was so grateful for them, so grateful for them all for never giving up on her and Bakugou, for forcing them together so that she could stay in her band of misfits.

“You know what you should do, right?” Kaminari asked seriously, giving Uraraka his most focused face.

“What?” Uraraka leaned in, curious to what the blonde boy could possibly come up with to help her.

“Sacrifice her to a villain.”

Four sets of hands slapped him at once and he threw his own up in surrender, whining and begging for mercy.

“Don’t be stupider than usual, Kam.” Mina shook her head. “What Ochako needs to do is simple. She just needs to show Camie that she doesn’t get under her skin. She needs to be the bigger hero – or sabotage, I could really go either way here.”

Uraraka laughed, but Mina’s words left her strangely determined – to be the bigger person, not to sabotage Camie. “I’m going to be a way better hero than she’ll ever be.”

“Atta girl, destroy your fellow hero!” Kaminari shouted. “Hey, don’t hit me again – hey!”

-x-

Uraraka awoke from a particularly vibrant and exciting dream where she was the sole intern under Ms. Joke, and they had just defeated a band of terrifying, big-and-bad villains with no trouble at all. She wasn’t sure why she woke up, until she registered the shuffling of clothes being discarded and tossed to the floor and then felt the warm heat of Bakugou’s chest against her back. She nuzzled against him, curling herself into a ball to best absorb his comfort.

“Hi.” She whispered into the darkness. She had been waiting for him to come back all night, going over how she would tell him her news until she had passed out from sheer exhaustion.

“Hey, angel face.” A kiss was pressed into the back of her head and a pair of sturdy arms wrapped around her waist. “Have a good first day?”

“Mmm.” Uraraka opted not to answer that, not trusting her sleep-addled brain to produce a coherent enough answer that wouldn’t send the very-much awake Bakugou into a frenzy. “Was fine.” She needed to tell Bakugou about her internship partner urgently, but although he had gotten a real hold on his temper in the past year, she still didn’t want to wake up the entirety of Alliance Heights if he exploded.

“Just fine?” Bakugou teased, pinching her hips. She groaned.

“M’ sleeping.”

“Sleep talking, huh?” She could practically hear the grin in his voice. Bakugou wasn’t usually so talkative on their nights together. They had a nice routine – she would leave her door unlocked for him to come in whenever he got home from patrol, he would crawl into bed, kiss her awake, then let her fall back asleep in his arms. Tonight, he seemed fired up about something, and she knew that she would have to sacrifice sleep to indulge him in it.

The things she did for love. It was for the best anyway, she needed to wake up in order to to tell him about Camie.

Uraraka pushed Bakugou’s arms off of her and twisted her body around so that she was cradled against his chest. He easily readjusted his position, now positioning his arms so that they rested on her back and laid his chin against the top of her head. “How was your patrol?” She asked, the grogginess fading slightly. She didn’t look at the clock. She didn’t want to know how tired she would be in class tomorrow. 

“It was…pretty fuckin’ cool, actually.”

There it was – the reason he was amped up. She traced circles into his back and made an encouraging sound, prompting him to continue. “Todoroki and I blew up a fuckin’ building.”

Uraraka was unsure if she had heard that correctly or if she had fallen back asleep.

“Aizawa allowed you to blow up a building?” She settled on asking because it seemed like the most apt question for the situation and her current state of mind.

“Fuckin’ allowed…” He grumbled. “Yeah. He did. It was a piece of shit building where some morons had some kinda drug ring and we waited until they left, and Aizawa went after them and told us to take care of the drugs. So, we blew the building up. Old bastard is starting to trust us.”

His voice had soothed her back into a partial dream-land. Uraraka was a very sleepy girl by nature, and the gravel in Bakugou’s voice was like a lullaby. “That’s good, ‘Suki.” She was being drawn back into a weary state, which lessened her inhibitions and lulled her mind into a sense of security that she could totally tell Bakugou about Camie now. She cuddled closer to him and moved his hands so that they were placed on her butt – he would be less likely to blow something up in anger if his hands were occupied. Or he might blow up her butt, but she decided to take that risk. “Guess what.”

“What, angel?”

“My internship partner is your ex-girlfriend.”

The silence that followed was what it took to finally wake Uraraka up. Bakugou hadn’t moved from his position, but she could practically hear the gears turning in his head, feel the steam threatening to rise out of him – she prepared for the explosion.

It didn’t come. She was met only with silence. Had…he fallen asleep? She tried to wriggle away from him but he tightened his arms. Okay, so he was awake, which was the more frightening of the two prospects.

“Katsuki?” She prompted him gently.

“Thinking.” He responded shortly. “Of other heroes you can intern with instead – you would be good with Gang Orca, and frog-face is your friend. Or Miruko – my mom is always on my ass about working with her, but you’d be better suited.”

“Katsuki! I’m not going to run away!” She was fully awake now, eyes wide and indignant.

“Ms. Joke isn’t even that badass. You could fuckin’ work with All Might with how good you are.” Bakugou said sharply.

Uraraka felt her face heat up in the dark room. “Shut up, you don’t mean that. You just don’t want me near Camie.”

“I do mean that, but, fuck, yeah, she’s a disease. She say anything to you? I swear to God if she said anything to you –”

“She’s my partner, so we’re going to have to talk. Listen, I know how to play nice – ”

“You don’t know how to play nice, you are nice! Too nice!” Bakugou protested. “And Camie will take advantage of that like the goddamn snake she is.” He was growing louder as his panic increased and Uraraka increased the pace of her fingers against his back, shushing him gently as a reminder that her neighbor was Jirou, and she probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken up in the dead of night.

“I’m not that naïve.” Uraraka rolled her eyes, wishing Bakugou could see it. He knew her too well, because he grumbled something about attitude and then something that sounded suspiciously like, “need to talk to Todoroki”.

“Did you just say Todoroki?” She asked.

“Fuckin’ no, why would I say that bastard’s name?” He snapped, then quickly changed the subject. “We’re talking about Camie. I bet she did this shit on purpose – probably fuckin’ stalking you to ruin my life.”

“She had no way of knowing I was going to intern with Ms. Joke, just like I had no way of knowing she was. Look, it sucks, and I really don’t wanna deal with it either, but I’m not a quitter. You of all people know that.”

There was radio silence from Bakugou’s end. “Just. Don’t listen to anything she says. Ever.”

“Trust me, I tune it out immediately. But I will have to talk to her.” Uraraka said.

“Don’t trust what she says then. She’s…she’s manipulative. You know that. She can talk anyone into anything. Just…don’t.” 

“Okay.” Uraraka said, not mentioning the apology, or the fact that she almost believed it. That could wait until morning. “It’ll be fine though. I’m sure of it.” She was more confident after spending the evening with her friends, who had assured her upwards of one hundred times that she was a capable hero and a certified badass even if she could never manage anything above fifth place in Mario Kart.  

“Yeah, of course it’ll be fine.” Bakugou mumbled. His excited energy from earlier had depleted and his voice was dull. “Go to sleep, angel face. We can talk about it more later.”

Uraraka knew this was a good idea, but despite the sweet, lingering kiss Bakugou gave her before she turned back around and the way his hands rested lazily on her stomach, she knew that he would not be sleeping that night, and so neither would she. 

-x-

Despite all the bizarreness of it all, Uraraka fell into a routine as Ms. Joke’s intern fairly easily. Every day that she had patrol, she would meet up with Camie at the train station and they would walk to campus together. The first time it had happened, Uraraka had been cross and irritable the entire time, but Camie never gave up, and with every day she was there with her dopey-but-beautiful grin, waving enthusiastically, Uraraka found herself getting less and less angry about the whole thing.

Camie, as a person, was not entirely terrible. At first, all Uraraka could focus on was her annoying aspects – her lingo, and how dumb it came across, her constant doe-eyed look, her giggle – all irritating as hell. Now, though, Uraraka couldn’t find it in her to mind. They were too busy with internship work, too worn out from long patrols and endless paperwork and too together. It turns out that if you spend a majority of your time with a person, they tend to grow on you.

Now, Uraraka walked beside Camie across Ketsubutsu’s campus, feeling just as nauseous as she always did when she was on these grounds. Camie apparently noticed, because she clicked her tongue in concern.

“You okay, lil dudette?” She cocked her head to the side and looked down at Uraraka – damn her tall and slender figure. Uraraka felt like potato-shaped in comparison. 

“No, I hate being here.” Uraraka was honest without thinking about it. “You obviously know about the Battle Royale thing, so you should know why.”

“I mean, yeah.” Camie shrugged. “But that’s badass. I bet all of these wimps are afraid of you. The power you hold, Chako-Chip.” 

“Gonna have to stop you while you’re ahead with the nicknames.” Uraraka deadpanned. Camie smiled. Pretending to be her friend wasn’t terribly difficult – she seemed similar to Bakugou in the aspect that she responded best to sarcasm and dry humor. Uraraka was a pro in that aspect.

“Oh no – ah, can we walk faster?” Uraraka said suddenly, already moving her legs quicker. In the distance, she spotted a familiar spikey-blonde head, but Tatami wasn’t who Uraraka was focused on. Next to her – looking absolutely healthy and happy – was Shindo. He was laughing at something Tatami was saying, and his thousand-watt smile burned her eyes even from far away.

“Ah, shit dude. Is that Shinhoe and his little Chihuahua?” Camie stood on her tip-toes as if that would help her see better in some way. “Gross.” 

“Yeah, so let’s g – ”

It was too late, because that was Uraraka’s luck. Shindo and Tatami had wandered right up to them, and Shindo was scowling like he was a toddler who had just been put in time out. Tatami fidgeted with her bag and avoided Uraraka’s eye – coward – but Shindo stared directly at her.

“What are you doing here? Stalking me?” He spat out. Uraraka had a snarky insult, but it died in her throat. She couldn’t move her lips. Suddenly, the feeling of Shindo’s arms wrapping around her, too restricting, intentionally rough, in the UA forests came back to her. She remembered the way his unpleasantly warm breath had assaulted her ears as he whispered his threats, remembered the way her heart had plummeted into her stomach when he mentioned the picture. She was frozen – terrified of the man in front of her beyond all reason. She needed to run, she needed – 

“What the fuck do you think gives you the right to speak to her?” 

Camie had moved in front of her and was acting as a sort of human shield between her and Shindo. He opened his mouth to respond to her, but Camie didn’t let up. “You have a lot of nerve, Shindy, to come over here after you acted like the biggest fuck-boy on planet earth.”

“You’re on my campus.” Shindo growled, now speaking only to Camie. “And don’t get all high and mighty with me – you were just as much a part of it as anyone else!”

“Yeah, I was, but I said sorry, bro. You’re still walking around as evil as ever, manipulating girls left and right – like, seriously, Tatami, I promise, it’s not even worth it. He’s got a small dick. So unimpressive. Two out of ten.” 

Tatami gasped and flushed bright pink. Shindo snarled at Camie. “You better shut up if you know what’s good for you.”

“Hmm, good for me, Shin-Shin? Who’s interning under Ms. Joke here, and who’s the rat she only didn’t expel because he cried for three days straight and agreed to being kicked into general studies? Still gonna be a hero?”

Uraraka stared. Shindo stared. Camie crossed her arms over her chest and puffed out air. “Don’t ever speak to Ochako again. Come on.” She pulled on Uraraka’s arm and she forced her legs to move, pulling them like they were roots dug deep into the ground. 

“Camie – you don’t get to just change who you are!” Shindo shouted after them. 

“Oh, word? Watch me.”  

Once they were a safe distance away from Shindo, who they had left behind frozen in place and gaping at them like they were from a different dimension as Tatami tried desperately to comfort him, Uraraka rounded on Camie.

 “What was that?” She demanded. Uraraka would never admit it, but what Camie had done had been almost…cool. She had stood up for her and made Shindo look like a fool in the process while Uraraka had stood there uselessly, unable to form words. 

“What? Nothin’.” Camie smirked. “You’re not the only one Shinhoe pissed off. “I don’t appreciate being used.”

“But you –“ Uraraka shut her mouth.

“Used Katsu?” She tilted her head. “Nah, babe. You got it wrong. He’s got it wrong, but I get why you do. It was, uh, a weird situation. Didn’t know what I wanted. Katsu is a great guy – you’re lucky. But I don’t want him anymore, kay? So we don’t have to make it weird.” 

It was definitely weird, but Uraraka kept her lips pressed tightly together as they continued their walk to Ms. Joke’s office. Uraraka thought this was the strangest internship she could have ever ended up with.

-x-

“Uravity, on the left!” Camie screamed from somewhere behind her. Uraraka dodged just in time, doing a barrel roll mid-air and missing the impact of the villain’s quirk. She had some kind of whipping quirk, sending out ropes of energy that caused shockwaves to tear through the victim’s body. Uraraka had avoided being hit so far, mostly due to Camie’s inference. She was surprisingly perceptive – something Uraraka would let annoy her later. Right now, she had to focus on getting her hands on the villain without getting her world rocked, and that was proving to be incredibly difficult because she would not stay still.

Ms. Joke had her hands full on the ground with the shockwave villain’s friend – a man who could make extreme weather happen, but only in small increments. As he circled around Ms. Joke, fighting through her laughter, rain poured down from the sky again, drenching Uraraka to her skin for the fourth time in fifteen minutes.

Uraraka’s villain got bored with watching Uraraka float away from her attacks like a balloon with a jetpack, and set her sights on Camie. The blonde was slippery and very light on her feet, and Uraraka took advantage of the villain’s distraction to let gravity overtake her body once more, and she crashed directly onto the villain.

That should’ve been the end of it – this villain was no big deal, just a standard “baddie” according to Ms. Joke, but Uraraka had been too overly confident in the strength of her thigh-crushing and her eyes widened in terror as the villain turned to her, fury etched into her face.

The villain shrieked at the same time Camie jumped, shoving Uraraka across the concrete. Seconds later, Uraraka’s partner was squirming on the floor, screaming and seizing in pain as shockwaves wracked her body.

Uraraka didn’t stop long enough to think. She ran, really tackling the villain this time, wrapping her arms around her chest and pressing all five fingers into her shirt with one hand, and hanging onto her with the other so she wouldn’t float into the stratosphere.

Ms. Joke had finished off her foe in a final clap of thunder and a slam of her colorful boots to his back. The police swarmed the scene, taking the villain from Uraraka’s arms, leaving her free to go to Camie – her mind was on autopilot, she only knew she needed to save the girl just like the girl had saved her.

Which, when she had a minute to relax, was going to be a lot to unpack.

“Hey, Illusion.” Uraraka used her hero name as Ms. Joke had instructed them to do at all times in public, for identity-protection purposes (even though everyone in Japan had watched Uraraka on television during the Sports Festival). She touched Camie’s shoulder softly, and the woman gave a closed-eyed, shaky smile and the weakest thumbs up Uraraka had ever seen – it trembled even more than Kaminari’s did after a particularly nasty brain-shutdown. “All good, Uravity.” She croaked. “But my bones hurt.”

“Get her an ambulance.” Ms. Joke was suddenly shouting at the law enforcement that surrounded them. “Uravity, how close was she to the shockwave?”

Uraraka blinked. Camie had practically jumped on top of the woman. She told Ms. Joke so, and the hero’s concern was evident in her expression as Camie was loaded into an ambulance.

“Come on.” Ms. Joke said to Uraraka. “We’ll meet her there.”

In the backseat of the town car arranged for them by Ms. Joke, Uraraka fiddled with the pads of her fingers, considering how everything she knew and thought about Camie had been brought into question all during a twenty-minute battle. Sure, the older girl had apologized, and sure, she had been kinder to Uraraka as of late – genuinely kind, not the fake, sugar-sweet kindness she had displayed during the Provisional License exam. It was giving Uraraka all kinds of confusing and conflicting information – especially after Bakugou had warned her to keep her distance, to maintain nothing but professionalism, not to trust her.

But Bakugou had a tendency to occasionally overreact, and sometimes sensationalize small things, and might hold a grudge or two. She knew Camie – she knew what she was capable of, but she also knew people could change. Uraraka liked to see the good in everyone; she was in love with Bakugou, after all.

Maybe Uraraka would go easy on Camie – maybe she would give her another chance. They didn’t have to be best friends, but Uraraka had to admit, they had the potential to make a pretty powerful team. 

Chapter Text

For someone who was training to be a pro-hero – someone who would inevitably be dealing with a lot of graphic injuries – Uraraka had a strange aversion to hospitals. She spent so much time in the infirmary that the fear should have dissipated, but the infirmary was warm and well-lived in (mostly by the more problem students, like Deku and more recently, herself) and hospitals were too sterile. Hospitals were too serious – the injuries here couldn’t be kissed away. 

Yet, here Uraraka sat, tapping her foot in the waiting room beside Ms. Joke. They waited for the better half an hour before a kind-faced doctor approached them and asked Ms. Joke tentatively if she was Camie’s mother.

“Oh, no.” Ms. Joke shook her head. “I tried to reach her parents, but apparently they’re abroad.” She frowned. “I’m her guardian for now.”

The doctor nodded, and told them that Camie was announced in stable condition, and they were allowed to go see her, but that the aftereffects of the quirk did muddle her brain. He explained that while she was otherwise in good shape, she seemed to be displaying signs of slight memory loss. She knew where she was and she remembered the fight, but older memories, those stored farther back in her head, were foggy. It wasn’t an uncommon form of amnesia, particularly in hero work, and he was confident that her memories would straighten themselves out in a few weeks at the most. Uraraka felt nervous, worried for Camie at the news. It hit her in her stomach and mixed with the guilt she had been harboring already. It could be Uraraka in a hospital room, mangled memories from a second-tier villain. If she were Camie, she would be furious.

And yet, when they entered the room, the blonde was sitting up in bed, looking more dazed and doe-eyed than usual but when she saw them, she broke into a genuine smile.

“Jokester! Chako-Chip!”

Uraraka didn’t have the heart to be annoyed over the nickname, not when Camie had actual brain damage. A thick, white bandage was tied around her head, pushing her hair up in wild directions, and she blinked heavily at them, trying to focus.

“Hey, Princess.” Ms. Joke said softly. The remorse in her features was on plain display. This poor woman shouldn’t have taken on any interns – they were bringing her nothing but stress. “How’s your head?”

“Rattled A-F. Like a shaken-up protein shake all the dudes drink. Hurts.” She added quietly, as an afterthought. “But I’ll be a-okay, after a while.”

“How are your memories?” Ms. Joke asked gently.

“Fine, I think.” She shrugged. “I remember your beautiful face.”

Ms. Joke laughed. “You seem fine to me.” She sighed. “I know this is a learning experience, but a rule I didn’t know I’d have to tell you guys is to not throw yourselves on top of villains.” 

Uraraka lowered her head. It was her fault Camie was in the hospital in the first place – she had thrown Uraraka off of the villain after she had been stupid enough to think she would be able to subdue her. She needed to not overestimate her own strength; she wouldn’t be any sort of hero if she was constantly being saved.

“Sorry, Ms. Joke.” Uraraka murmured, at the same that Camie smirked and giggled.

“We’ll be out here saving lives soon, Hokey-Jokey.” She said. “I’ll take a headache – a damn concussion – for that. I wasn’t gonna let that baddie get my sweet ‘Chako.”

“You didn’t need to save me.” Uraraka protested. “I was stupid – I’m supposed to be a hero, not the one being saved.”

“Someone’s gotta save the heroes too, girlie.” Camie said. “Besides, we’re friends, right?” She gave Uraraka a look as if she was asking for confirmation, and Uraraka faltered. Ms. Joke shot Uraraka a disturbed look.

“Princess, you remember the whole fight, right?” She asked slowly.

“Yep! Start to finish.”

“What about before that?” She prompted. “From school? Home?”

Camie hummed. “That’s a hefty order for my brain to pull up, don’tcha think?” She laughed. “I know where I go to school. I know my parents aren’t here because they never are. I know that I’m your intern…uh, not sure how it happened though.” She shrugged. “I guess we just picked from a list?”

“You met me at the Provisional License Exam, remember?” Ms. Joke looked alarmed. “You said you wanted to intern with me ever since.”

“Little foggy.” Camie said slowly, shaking her head. “I’m sure it’ll come to me. Doesn’t matter, right? Ochako, how did we meet? I know we’re friends because I saved your life.” She winked, and Uraraka knew she had to make a quick decision. Camie didn’t remember the Provisional License Exam. She didn’t remember anything she had done to Uraraka – she probably didn’t even remember knowing Shindo. Did she remember what had happened with her and Bakugou? Her palms felt sweaty and she found herself nodding unconsciously.

“Yeah.” She blurted. “’Course we’re friends.”

Uraraka couldn’t justify saying anything else. Camie was injured and it was Uraraka’s fault. There would be no point in adding more strain to her head just to explain that, no, Uraraka wasn’t really her biggest fan.

And Camie had been trying, hadn’t she? She defended her against Shindo. She went out of her way to be kind. She knocked her out of the way of a villain. Maybe this is how Uraraka could repay her – she could just get through this internship pretending that they had always been good friends.

Ms. Joke plastered a bright smile to her face. “Well, Uravity, why don’t you wait here and keep Princess company while I go talk to the doctors some more? I’ve got a lot of paperwork to fill out, and a few phone calls to make.” She said. “I’ll be back in a bit, okay?”

Uraraka nodded, and then she was left alone with Camie. Since starting her internship, being around Camie had become less stressful. Uraraka was no longer plagued by anxiety whenever she saw her face. She had begun to let her guard down, to be able to focus on why she was there in the first place – to be a better hero.

Now, though, she was nervous again. Camie was gazing at her expectantly, smiling dopily. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to her if she asked any questions – it was no secret that Uraraka was a terrible liar.

“Sorry.” Uraraka managed, her voice barely above a whisper. “That this happened to you.”

Camie blinked at her. “Don’t apologize, Chako. I’m sure that I had, like, a good reason t do it. I think I’m a pretty sweet hero most of the time.” She laughed and Uraraka bit her lip, feeling the conflicting emotions swirl around inside of her. Camie was like a new person, blissfully unaware of what she had put Uraraka through, and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Uraraka was saved from trying to fumble through her thoughts by the swinging open of the door, but it wasn’t Ms. Joke coming back. Standing in the doorway was a panting, giant of a man. His hat was askew and his coat was falling off of his shoulders.

“Camie!”

“Inasa?” Camie cocked her head to the side and studied the boy. “Like, from school, right?”

“I saw you! On the news! I ran all the way here!” Inasa gasped out, then paused. “Wait, what did you just ask?” He was completely out of breath and disheveled in every way and Uraraka’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Uh, Inasa – ”

“We were on the news?” Camie interrupted. “Cool A-F. We’re, like, celebrities! You think our hero rank will go up?”

“Yes!” Inasa seemed to forget Camie’s earlier confusion directed at him. “Definitely!”

“How far did you run, dude?” Camie chuckled. “To see me? You looking for my autograph, little one?”

That was the least appropriate nickname Uraraka could think of for Inasa, and he seemed to agree, because he blushed and murmured something under his breath, before managing to speak in a full sentence again. “Not that far. Provisional lessons are just across town. And no, I came to see you because you are my best friend.”

“Best friend?” Camie cocked her head to the side. “I don’t think we’ve ever, like, officially met?”

“Ah – ” Uraraka held up a hand, determined to speak and explain this time, but, because the same force of the universe that had put Uraraka in this situation in the first place was at work, she was interrupted once more by a door flying open.

“Fuckin’ –  here he is, Todoroki.” Uraraka dropped her hand and twisted herself to the source of the voice that she knew so well. This day kept getting stranger.

“Thank God.” This was Todoroki. Both of them pushed past Inasa, chests heaving similarly. “You run fast.”

“Katsuki? Todoroki? Why are you here?” Uraraka asked.

“Saw you kicking ass on TV.” Bakugou grunted. He didn’t look at Camie. “Looked like a rough ending though. You alright, angel?”

“Fine.” Uraraka managed, slightly dazed. She looked to Todoroki for further explanation, but he just shrugged.

“Everyone just started running, so I ran too.”

“Uh, I’m lost.”

Every pair of eyes snapped to Camie. Bakugou scowled at her, his distaste for her apparently not softened by the fact that she was in the hospital. No one answered her at first. Bakugou crossed his arms over his chest and turned away, Todoroki stared, seeming just as lost as Camie was, and Inasa frowned.

“Is your head okay, Camie?” The giant man asked seriously.

“Oh, hmm. Yeah. I lost some memories. We’re friends?” She pointed to Inasa.

“The best!” He assured her, his eyes shining. Camie smiled.

“Yeah, I see it. You’re a cool dude.” She gave a thumbs up, and Inasa returned it slowly. “But, uh, Baku…why are you here? Are we still…?”

“What the fuck? What the fuck is she talking about?” He demanded of no one in particular, but Uraraka found that she was best qualified to answer.

“Uh, the villain, you saw, she had some kind of shockwave power. She kinda…rearranged Camie’s brain. Some of her memories got lost in the process, we think.”

“I obviously remember you, Baku.” Camie rolled her eyes. “How could I ever forget?”

A nasty feeling settled in Uraraka’s stomach. Everyone was quiet, and a thick tension filled the air. Bakugou narrowed his eyes.

“You fuckin’ with us?”

“Not this time, Bakubro.” Camie answered evenly. “I remember everyone in this room, just, uh, I’m not sure how, I guess. Except for you, Baku. It’s trippy. You guys can just, like, tell me everything.”

All four exchanged an uncomfortable look. Uraraka didn’t know the extent of Inasa’s knowledge of the situation, but he seemed to think better than explaining anything.

“You’ve gotta be kidding.” Bakugou blurted out. “Seems pretty fuckin’ convenient. Forgot a bunch of real – ”

Uraraka tactfully stomped on his foot and gave him a pointed glare. He looked at her incredulously, but Todoroki seemed to pick up on the situation, and cleared his throat.

“Bakugou, Inasa. We need to get back to lessons.”

“Fuck the lessons, I – ”

“It would be such a shame if you got behind. Midoriya has been improving so rapidly – did you see him in training the other day? So impressive.” Uraraka had to give Todoroki credit, he was great at getting the appropriate reactions out of Bakugou. He shut his mouth with an audible snap and scowled at Todoroki.

“Fuckin’ fine.” He spat. To Uraraka, he kissed her forehead, an act that contrasted heavily with the harsh language he was spewing. That was Bakugou, though. “We’ll talk when you get back to campus.” Then he stalked out the door

 “Hurry up, Inasa.” Todoroki pleaded. “I have a feeling Gang Orca will give us extra lessons because we left in a hurry.” He gave a withered look. “See you back on campus, Uraraka. Feel better, uh, Utsushimi.” He bowed out. 

“Ew, do people call me that?” Camie wrinkled her nose once Todoroki had gone and Inasa rumbled about respect and seniority. Camie brushed his concerns away.

“Camie, will you be alright? Your memories will come back, right?” Inasa seemed almost frantic with concern. His body shook slightly, and Uraraka wasn’t sure if that was from fear of Camie’s illness or if that was just his general demeanor.

“Sure they will, supposed best friend.” She winked. “I’ll be okay. I’ve got Ochako here to take care of me.” She grinned, and Inasa gave Uraraka a cautious look. She wondered if he remembered the events of the night at the hotel all those months ago. With how much smoke he inhaled, she would’ve thought not, but with the way he was looking at her, that might not be the incorrect assumption. 

Also, she wasn’t sure she signed up to be Camie’s caretaker, but she could tackle that issue at a later time. 

“Okay, let me know if you need anything. I’ll be nearby.” He bowed so low that his head nearly swiped the floor then clambered out of the room. Camie sighed and sunk further into the bed once he was gone. Then it was just the two of them. 

Camie stared at Uraraka so hard that Uraraka could feel it. “What?” She blurted.

“You and Baku…? You two?”

“He’s my boyfriend.” Uraraka said. “We go to UA together.”

“Right…” She said slowly. “He and I know each other, uh, I don’t really know if we’re still buds.” She laughed nervously. “But we were once, I think.”

“Yeah,” Uraraka said. “I know.”

“Ochako. Will you help me...remember things?” Camie’s voice was so innocent, so perplexed, that Uraraka couldn’t find it in herself to harbor any negativity towards the girl. It had begun melting away the moment Camie apologized to her, but now it was as if the fire of hatred that had burned inside of her since she met Camie had been extinguished.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll do my best.” Uraraka said.  

 “Don’t have to right now, though. I’m pretty wiped. Just company is nice. I don’t like to be alone in hospitals – they’re mad sketchy sometimes.” 

Yeah, Uraraka could understand that, so she lowered herself into the stiff, uncomfortable chair and made light conversation with Camie about things that she did remember until Ms. Joke returned and urged her to get some rest. By the end of the day, Uraraka was convinced that while Camie was the one who had been hit by close-range shockwaves, Uraraka must be the one with real brain damage. One year at UA and she was going to need a lifetime of therapy.

When she finally got home that evening, she was ready to collapse from the sheer mental exhaustion. However, Mina was in the common room, and with Mina anywhere in the vicinity, peace was not an option.

She was sandwiched between Kirishima and Bakugou. Kirishima was half-dozing on her arm while Bakugou pouted, seemingly displeased with the fact that Kirishima had passed out and left him alone with her. When Uraraka walked in, Mina was in the process of talking his ear off while he occasionally grunted in response. His face relaxed when he saw Uraraka, and he patted the space next to him on the couch, alerting Mina of her presence.

“Heey, Ochako!” Mina cried and waved, knocking Kirishima off of her shoulder and sideways on the couch. He blinked slowly. 

“Where am I?” 

Bakugou rolled his eyes but snaked his arm around Uraraka’s waist once she sat down.  He laid his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. She wondered how exhaustive Gang Orca had made their extra lessons to get him into this comatose state. 

“Our boys are so tired.” Mina sighed. “They’re working you two too hard.”

“That’s weak.” Bakugou muttered. “Who’s fuckin’ tired?”

“I’m tired.” Offered Kirishima, already curling up in the spot he fell over to and falling back into a state of non-consciousness. 

Mina just shook her head and rubbed Kirishima’s leg soothingly. “So, Ochako, saw you on TV.” 

Bakugou opened his eyes and sat up. “Yeah, what the fuck? Is that bitch really trying to pretend she has amnesia?”

“Who has amnesia?!” Mina’s hands jumped to her face.

Bakugou grunted, refusing to speak Camie’s name, so Uraraka did it for him. Mina squealed and Kirishima whined from his corner of the couch.

“Oh my God. A new development in the soap opera that is your life!” Mina was bouncing with excitement. “She lost her memories? From the villain attack?”

“Fuckin’ allegedly.” Bakugou said with another roll of his eyes. Uraraka thought his eye muscles must’ve been stronger than any of his other muscles.

“You weren’t even there, who said I was talking to you?” Mina scoffed. “Such a primadonna. Always have to have all the attention.”

“Shut up.” Bakugou said without any venom. “I don’t fuckin’ like it.”

“Like what, my voice?” 

“That too.” 

Mina pretended to be deeply offended and Uraraka smirked, but she knew what Bakugou was talking about. He didn’t like the situation with Camie. He didn’t trust it.

“Back to the situation at hand here.” Mina prompted. She shifted herself so that she could better face Uraraka, and in her haste accidentally kicked Kirishima in the face. He wailed.

“Miiina!”

“My love, I am deeply sorry, but you’re missing good drama here anyway.”

Kirishima sat up sleepily. “What drama?”

“Uraraka’s mortal enemy had her mind wiped and now she – what? Doesn’t remember you hate her? Thinks she’s still in love with Bakugou?”

Bakugou huffed. “She was never fuckin’ in love with me, you annoying alien fuck.”

“Aw, that was almost a compliment, just take out the ‘annoying’.” Mina stuck her tongue out.

“She has her recent memories.” Uraraka said before Bakugou could spit out a more apt insult at Mina. “It’s really strange…she remembers me, but only in the sense of our internship. She said we must be friends because she tried to save my life.”

“She’s lying.” Bakugou said. “No one has selective-fuckin’-amnesia.”

“That is a thing.” Yawned Kirishima. “Comes from head trauma.”

“Didn’t know you were a fuckin’ doctor, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou snapped.

“Hey, if I wasn’t going to be a hero.” He flashed a sleepy smile. Bakugou ignored it. Uraraka ignored both of them, and continued. “She knew Inasa, but only as a boy at her school. She seemed to, uh, remember Bakugou well.”

“Because she’s an evil fuckin’ demon who’s fucking with you.” Bakugou promised, squeezing Uraraka’s waist.

“That seems too smart for her.” Mina mused. “Isn’t she kinda dumb?”

“No, she’s a conniving bitch!” Bakugou shouted. “Nobody listens to me.”

“We’ll listen when you stop shouting.” Kirishima said patiently in his specialized Bakugou voice. Bakugou crossed his arms and sighed heavily, like a disciplined toddler. “She’s not dumb.” He said finally, evenly. “She just….talks stupid, but she’s not stupid, not really.”

“Yeah,” Uraraka agreed. “She’s a smart strategizer. Good in a fight.” It surprised her how easily the words slipped off her tongue. She didn’t say them with any malice. She was simply stating facts. “But I don’t think she’s faking it. I fought that villain. She had a serious quirk.”

Bakugou mumbled something incoherent that sounded displeased. He hardly argued with Uraraka now, not after everything they had gone through.

“Well, this is an incredible update in the drama that is your life.” Mina said. “Eagerly awaiting the epic conclusion to season three.”

“Season three.” Uraraka scoffed. “I’m hoping the show transitions to a slice-of-life next year.”

“Life’s fun with a little bit of drama.” Mina winked. Uraraka was inclined to disagree, but she noticed that Bakugou had gone quiet beside her, and was rubbing his temple with the hand not wrapped around her waist.

“Hey, we should go to bed early tonight.” Uraraka nudged him. 

“God, its 8 PM. You two are disgusting.” Mina said.

“Kiri is drooling all over himself as we speak.” Uraraka pointed out dryly, because Kirishima had indeed reverted back to his curled-up state and his eyes were fluttering open and shut as he tried to fight to stay conscious. Mina gazed at him with love in her eyes.

“Yeah, he is.” She said affectionately. “Alright, fine, goodnight. Keep me updated.”

“Will do.”

On her way out of the common room, she threw one last glance at Mina and saw that the pink girl had wedged herself in-between Kirishima’s arms and was lying still, eyes-closed with a tiny smile on her lips. 

Bakugou led them to his room this time. As Aizawa and Mic had both taken on interns, their patrols had become less frequent, dwindling down to almost nothing. Aizawa had warned them that they should never get comfortable with a false sense of security (it was the same when dealing with villains) but Bakugou swore that their teacher passed out by 7 PM on his days off of patrol. Jirou had confirmed that fact by doing a drive-by of his room one night and alerting them that all she could hear from his room was a mixture of the relaxed breaths of someone fast asleep and a continuous heavy purring. 

When Bakugou saw his bed he groaned and fell onto it, face-first. This was his bedtime on a good day, so she knew he was at his limits for sleep deprivation with his long, late hours of interning, piles of homework, workout regime and all the time he picked Uraraka over sleep. She didn’t feel guilty about that one bit – she advised him against it, and he paid no attention to her. 

“You gonna make it?” Uraraka teased. 

“Gang Orca made us run drills for hours because we bailed out of practice.” He murmured into the pillow. “Fuckin’ sadistic sea creature.”

“How many more lessons do you have?” 

“Just one.” He answered, sitting up suddenly and rubbing his eyes aggressively, trying to force the sleepiness away. “I don’t know how Aizawa functions on this fucked up sleep schedule.” 

“I don’t think he really does.” Uraraka said thoughtfully. Aizawa often fell asleep in the middle of their tests, but much to Kaminari’s dismay, he would open one eye as soon as he heard even a hint of cheating going on and glare appropriately before dozing back off. 

“Yeah, I’m not either.” He grumbled.

“You would’ve been better off with a day time hero.” Uraraka said and Bakugou rolled his eyes, mumbling about how he hadn’t had much choice in the matter, but then his lips parted slightly and he scrunched his eyebrows together like he did when he was working through something.

“Nothing.” He said, too quickly, even though Uraraka hadn’t asked him anything. Then he knocked on the wall three times and checked his phone a moment later. Uraraka watched, completely lost. When Bakugou finally seemed to remember she was there, he looked up with a blank look on his face. “What? Anyway. You really think Camie lost her memory?” Bakugou’s question caught her off-guard, and she forgot about his strange display.

“I mean, yeah. You saw how she looked at you. It was like…” She trailed off, and Bakugou sighed.

“Like no time had passed from that goddamn summer camp.” He finished for her. “Yeah.”

“I just,” Uraraka let her shoulders sag as she sat down by Bakugou’s legs. “She’s like a puppy or something. I can’t be mad at her if she literally doesn’t remember anything she did.”

Bakugou scoffed. “Kirishima’s like a puppy. Camie is like…a piranha. Why were you hanging around her hospital room anyway?”

“Ms. Joke and I went together. You know, she’s my internship partner.” Uraraka rolled her eyes, but was grateful Bakugou couldn’t see from where he lay.

“That make you guys friends? The half-and-half is my partner but we sure as fuck aren’t friends.”

That was a lie, but Uraraka bit her tongue, letting him live in his fantasy world where him and Todoroki were not rapidly-growing close friends. “It’s just easier, to work with someone you don’t hate. It’s only for a semester. Then it’s over.”

“You gonna tell her?” He asked casually. He had one hand flung over his face.

“Probably better that I don’t. Makes working together less awkward, honestly.” Uraraka fidgeted with the pads of her fingers.  

 Bakugou just huffed in response. “Don’t let her pull you in. With her fuckin’ evil witch powers.”

Uraraka couldn’t contain the smirk that played on her lips. Bakugou was being silly. How hard could it be to keep herself from actually befriending someone? Especially someone she had a less-than-pleasant past with.

Neither she nor Bakugou had anything to worry about. Really, Camie losing her memories was the best thing that could've happened for Uraraka. Camie wouldn't be constantly trying to make things up to her, and it wouldn't be awkward - it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the semester.

Chapter Text

Bakugou shoved his hands into his pockets and glared appropriately, just so Todoroki would really understand his distaste for the current situation he had put him in.

“I just don’t know why you can’t use a phone like a normal person.” He grumbled, still blocking the door. Todoroki just blinked. 

“Why would I waste time typing things out? We live right next door to each other.” He pushed past Bakugou into his room, and Bakugou let out a long-suffering sigh. “You’re the one who wanted to talk about something. That’s why you banged on the wall, right?” 

“Yes. I was trying to communicate to you to check your phone but fucking come in, I guess.” 

“I’m already in.” Todoroki pointed out and Bakugou rubbed his temple in irritation. As if patrolling and extra lessons with this moron wasn’t bad enough, now Bakugou was being forced to deal with him outside of work hours. However, he knew his plan would never work if he didn’t have a back-up, and Todoroki wasn’t the worst option. He could’ve been stuck with Kaminari.

Fuck, that would’ve sucked.

“You’re sick of fighting at night, yeah?” He blurted out after Todoroki made himself too damn comfortable in his desk chair. It was best to get to the point when dealing with these types of situations.

“I am more tired than usual these days. Some nights, I don’t even get to sleep after our patrols are over.” He said dryly, staring pointedly at Bakugou. He waved the half-and-half’s complaint away. If Todoroki wanted to bitch about the noise levels, he would have to take it up with Uraraka.

“I keep my mouth shut most of the time because I’m damn considerate.” He snapped. 

“I’m so grateful.” Todoroki rolled his eyes. “To your point, yes, it would be better to patrol during the day, but Aizawa works at night, so our options are limited.”

“What if we convinced him to take on a few day patrols, though?” Bakugou prompted. “In a new precinct. Ours is boring as shit anyways.”

“We blew up a building last week.”

“Okay, how many buildings do you think we can blow up in one goddamn precinct?” Bakugou growled. How Todoroki had not sent him to an early grave was beyond him.

“Why would he do that?” He continued. “I think he’s nocturnal.” 

Bakugou scowled. “I dunno, we could chalk it up to a necessary fuckin’ educational experience, and we’re getting our provisional licenses, so we don’t have to be lowkey.”

“Does this have something do with Uraraka and Utsushimi?”

Damn perceptive half-and-half. 

“No. Just fucking sick of being tired.” He lied. 

“Right.” Todoroki didn’t look convinced, but that just wasn’t Bakugou’s problem right now. Aizawa to put them on day patrol – at least once a week. He couldn’t keep tabs on Uraraka if they had completely opposite schedules. Not that he was worried about her individually. He wasn’t the damn suffocating type, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her being subjected to a brain-fucked Camie. A normal-fucked Camie was bad enough.

His stomach dropped naturally just thinking her name. He couldn’t stop the horrible, intrusive thoughts that came to him whenever he imagined her alone with Uraraka – all the things she could be saying to her, the lies she could be telling, the truths she could be revealing…

He shook the negativity out of his mind. He was going to reduce the possibility. He was going to make sure he was there to keep Camie at bay. She could do too much damage. 

And then there was this amnesia bullshit. Part of him still couldn’t believe it – it was just too lucky, too convenient.

The possibility was there, though. And somehow, that was even scarier. His heart had hammered when she addressed him yesterday. Are we…? She had looked at him with that expression – that damn, innocent, doe-eyed expression – that she had so many times before that summer. It brought on an influx of feelings that he didn’t want nor know how to deal with, so he shoved them deep into the depths of his brain and came up instead with his plot on how to keep tabs on her.

“Bakugou.” 

“Hah?” 

Todoroki was staring at him – it was so damn unnerving when he did that. “You spaced out.”

“No, I didn’t. Stupid half-and-half.” He grumbled. 

Todoroki sighed. “Look, don’t act as if I’m stupid and just tell me exactly what your plan is so I can go along with it. That’s what you want, right?”

Bakugou’s eye twitched. He reminded himself again that he was only asking for Todoroki’s help with this because he lacked the proper social skills to convince Aizawa on his own. When it came to Bakugou, Aizawa treated him like a screaming infant who happened to have necessary powers for hero work, so he was probably not batting successfully on his own. Todoroki may have been a damn weirdo, but he tended to be good at unnecessary shit, like communicating.

“Fine.” He spat. “Here’s what I need you to do.”

With a plan in mind, Bakugou and Todoroki approached Aizawa after class. Uraraka had given Bakugou a curious glance when he wasn’t rushing to her side, but he just shrugged at her and rolled his eyes, towards Todoroki, laying the blame on him. She nodded and went off with Tsu.

Aizawa glared at the two of them in term, suspicion evident in his eyes. Bakugou gave his best scowl back, while Todoroki maintained a cool and collected mask. If Bakugou didn’t spend so much time in battles with him, he would think that his face never changed.

“What?” Aizawa asked flatly. They didn’t have patrol for several more hours, and he had made it clear that he didn’t want to see their faces for any longer than strictly necessary, so just the fact that they were there, cutting into his nap time, was suspect.

Todoroki spoke first, politely. “We were hoping that you would consider taking on a few day-time patrols.”

Aizawa regarded Todoroki for a brief moment, and then turned to Bakugou, narrowing his eyes even more. “Why?”

Bakugou was prepared for this. Whenever he sensed some kind of scheme, he always assumed Bakugou was at the forefront. It was bullshit. He arranged one damn illegal battle amongst two hero schools and now he’s got constant eyes on him. Todoroki and Kirishima didn’t get that same treatment and they helped. Mina did, but she always did.  “Because getting up in the middle of the night fucking sucks, why do you think?” He barked. If he acted like his normal self when discussing this, Aizawa was less likely to overanalyze it and search for ulterior motives.

“I work at night. If you want a nice nine-to-five job, you should pursue another career.” Aizawa said coldly. “Perhaps you could be a secretary.” He said this directly to Bakugou, and Todoroki failed at hiding his smirk. Aizawa continued “If you still want to be a hero, then I’ll see you at midnight.”

“Sensei,” Todoroki collected himself and wiped the smile from his face. His voice was soft-spoken and dripping with authoritative respect. It made Bakugou itch. His damn gentle manner in which he addressed adults was grating. Bakugou knew Endeavor was the cause, and something about the thought filled him with extreme irritation. He would have to introduce him to his mother; she’d fix that. “Bakugou and I were just speaking about the fact that it’s important to have different experiences in hero training – what if there was a large-scale villain attack during the day and we only had experience in fighting during the night?”

Aizawa’s face revealed easily that he thought Todoroki’s words were bullshit, but instead of saying so, he sighed. “Are you orchestrating a large-scale villain attack that I should be concerned about?”

“The fuck? No.” Bakugou snapped. “That’s the conclusion you jump to?”

“Can never know with you. Or you two. Or any of you, really.” Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s exactly what Todo – like the half-and-half said. We gotta be prepared. We’ll have our licenses after this next class, how are we supposed to be heroes if only know how to fight at night? Our powers aren’t any good for stealth”

“Our precinct already has day heroes.” Aizawa reminded them, and Bakugou held back his smirk. Aizawa had played right into his next point.

“I bet another precinct could use some help.” He said casually, and Aizawa smiled.

“Interesting.” He said, and that wasn’t what Bakugou had entirely expected. Had they been too obvious? Todoroki gave Bakugou a quick glance, and then both of them looked dumbly back at Aizawa’s unsettling grin. “Very interesting.” Their teacher continued. “I’ll think about it. As for now – see you at midnight.”

-x-

Bakugou and Todoroki were both acting suspect, and last time that had happened, they had all ended up almost dead at the hand of Aizawa. The two of them were spending more time together than usual – and they already spent a ton of time together at work, despite Bakugou’s continual protests that they were not and never would be friends. Willingly eating lunch together sure seemed like a friendly thing to do, but Uraraka kept her lips sealed and only smiled to herself whenever she heard Bakugou call Todoroki by his name.

When she brought up this questionable behavior to Bakugou, he said that she was too tired from her patrols and thus, crazy. He insisted he was spending no more time with Todoroki than he had to, and that maybe she should sleep more if she was hallucinating like this.

That was something she couldn’t argue with. Uraraka was more tired than she had ever been in her entire life, and that was not an exaggeration. She yearned for days where Bakugou would drag her out of bed at the crack of dawn for intense two-hour long training sessions – he was nothing in comparison to the absolute force that was Ms. Joke.

As it turns out, training with Ms. Joke was in fact, not a joke at all. With Camie out for the count (although that certainly did not mean she wasn’t around – she accompanied them on all patrols, for “moral support” and to engage in “brain training”) all of her mentor’s energy was focused on Uraraka. She was in charge of all coordinating and planning, speaking with officials, monitoring their precinct and keeping her body in top shape so that she was prepared to handle every kind of villain. 

The workout regime Ms. Joke was putting her through was beyond anything she could’ve expected. Quirk be damned – by the time she was done with this internship, she’d be able to take down a villain through brute strength and willpower alone. She explained to Uraraka that while her quirk was useful for battle, it wasn’t enough to defeat villains like some of the other heroes, so she had to rely on other skills to climb the ranks. Her mentor was all fluff and humor on the outside, but inside was a warrior. No wonder Aizawa was infatuated with her – Uraraka had a crush. 

Then, of course, there was the paperwork. While Camie helped her out with the logistics, there was only so much she could do before she started to get debilitating headaches. Uraraka thought a head injury would be convenient when it came to the mountains of paperwork they had to fill out at the end of each patrol – she would take a little memory loss if it got her out of writing reports. She did enough of that in school.

The first few days after Camie’s accident, Uraraka had walked on pins and needles, worrying that at any moment she would remember how she knew Uraraka, and try to apologize all over again. It never came, though, and Camie busied herself with asking questions regarding other aspects of her own life.

There was guilt there – it sat heavy in her stomach, and she asked herself frequently why she continued to lie to Camie. The older girl had apologized, hadn’t she? She was trying to grow as a person, and Uraraka shouldn’t shy away from something like that. It was petty and very immature of her to hold a grudge, but she was too much of a coward to speak up. It would just cause awkwardness, and for the first time that Camie had walked back into Uraraka’s life, everything was…comfortable.

Uraraka could almost say she liked Camie (not that she would ever dare breathe that aloud to Bakugou – not yet, at least) and looked forward to spending time with her. She was funny – she said exactly what was on her mind, no matter how ridiculous it came out sounding. She was bold, standing up to bullies, shit-talking villains, and reminding Uraraka that she was fierce whenever she got down on herself. Uraraka wasn’t sure if this was the real Camie – if it was, then why had she been so cruel before? Had Shindo really manipulated her? Had it just been jealousy over Bakugou? Uraraka couldn’t say, but this Camie was not the same as the Camie who had caused her so much distress. This Camie seemed to care for her.

Of course, she did think that they were some type of good friends, and Uraraka had yet to correct her.

When Camie wasn’t piecing together her own memories (“Did I have a bad experience with soba? I feel like I did.” She had asked as they sat down in a restaurant after patrol, as if Uraraka was supposed to know) she had taken to asking Uraraka about herself, as well.

After one patrol, where Camie had observed from a distance as Uraraka and Ms. Joke put the beat down on a low-tier villain, they were alone filling out dreaded paperwork. Camie was spinning in her office chair, which couldn’t be good for someone who’s brain was already rattled, when she turned to Uraraka and asked bluntly: “How did you and Baku meet?”

“I told you, we’re in the same class at UA.” She said off-handedly, breaking up a run-on sentence about a villain with a duplication quirk. Dealing with so many clones of the same rather obnoxious man had given Uraraka a headache, and she was eager to finish her paperwork and get back to the dorms, where she could collapse onto her bed and sleep for twelve hours.

“Yeah, I know.” Camie insisted. “I probably have short term memory too.” Uraraka rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling at the excuse. Camie continued, encouraged. “I just meant…you’re super sweet, and Baku is…well...” She didn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t have to.

Uraraka snorted. “Opposites attract, I guess.” She said. “He’s probably a lot nicer now than you remember.”

“Probably.” Camie agreed. She stopped spinning, and leaned into Uraraka’s space. “I bet it’s a fun story. Did he sweep you off your feet?”

 “Something like that.” Uraraka concluded her report and leaned back in her chair, relieved. She turned to Camie, who was looking at her expectantly with those wide, curious puppy eyes and she sighed. Well, in some instances, the truth couldn’t hurt. “We were friends with benefits for a while, then realized we liked each other.” 

Camie gasped, then dissolved into giggles. “You seem like such an innocent baby!”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Uraraka grumbled, feeling her face grow red, keeping quiet the fact that she was rather innocent before she met Bakugou. Camie didn’t need to know that. 

“That was how we started up too, you know.” Camie said thoughtfully. “I think, at least. Details are fuzzy, but I experienced a lot of, like, feelings when I saw him the other day.” She shrugged. 

Uraraka gave her a strange look and Camie’s cheeks pinkened. “Ahh, that sounded bad! Sorry, sorry!” She floundered. “It’s just weird with all these memories banging around in the noggin.” She knocked on her head for emphasis and Uraraka huffed out a sigh.

 “I’m not worried about it.” She assured her, because she wasn’t. “Bakugou and I have been through a lot, I don’t think he’s running off anytime soon.” But as she said the words, a small pang of insecurity hit her. Being in Camie’s presence so often just drove home the point that Camie was in an entirely different league in terms of beauty and skill than Uraraka was. She shoved the feeling away – Bakugou wouldn’t.

And now, sitting here with her, Uraraka didn’t think Camie would either.

The blonde smiled and confirmed that thought. “I wouldn’t try to steal him. But I think I do miss him as a friend. We could all be buds!”

Uraraka didn’t say that Bakugou would probably have Todoroki set him on fire than be friends with Camie. Instead, she just nodded half-heartedly. 

“Hey, we met at this internship, right? I just…I have a weird feeling that I’ve known you for longer.” She was blinking heavily, as if trying to conjure up the memory on demand. Uraraka’s throat went dry. 

“Y-yeah. We met here.” She forced out. 

“Hmm. Cool.” Camie accepted the fact. “I guess we just have a bond then.” She grinned, and Uraraka pushed the guilt to the same dark crevice of her brain where the jealousy had just been banished. She only had to keep this charade up until the end of the semester – as horrible as it was, she hoped Camie’s brain didn’t heal before then.

“Yeah, guess so.”

After several checkups, brain scans and constant prodding, begging and whining, Camie was cleared by her doctor to partake in patrols again. Ms. Joke and Uraraka sat in the doctor’s office, listening to the repeated assurances that she would be fine, that her memories would continue to trickle back in, and to just keep her away from overly-strenuous activity. Ms. Joke and Uraraka had become Camie’s pseudo-adoptive parents, since her actual ones seemed to be entirely unbothered by their daughter contracting sudden amnesia from a traumatic injury, and Uraraka listened with rapt attention to the medical advice they were being given. She jotted down notes on medicines and at-home treatments while Ms. Joke looked on in amusement.

“Any rough estimate on the whole memories thing?” Ms. Joke asked casually, casting her gaze on Uraraka. 

“Long-term memories tend to be recovered more slowly – they’re often triggered by events that relate to the memory. If you want her to remember something particular, try to dredge up the memory by using stimulus that could be related.”

Ms. Joke nodded sagely and Uraraka fiddled with her notebook. The doctor gave a few more things to Ms. Joke for Camie’s recovery and then they were leaving. They walked for a few moments in contented silence, then Ms. Joke began to whistle offhandedly.

Uraraka sighed. She had spent enough time with the woman to know how she operated. “What?”

“You’re just very transparent, but I find it adorable.” Her mentor said. “You don’t want Camie to get her memories back – because you like Camie as she is now.”

“I –” Uraraka held up a finger, then put it down and pursed her lips. Well, she was found out. “I don’t not want her to get her memories back…”

Ms. Joke hummed thoughtfully. “You know, Uravity, the Camie you’re interacting with now – that’s the real Camie. Whoever she was to you, she was lost. She was wrong. But I think you know that, because even before this whole amnesia fiasco, she told me she apologized to you and that she was trying to make up for it. So, what’s the difference if she remembers what she did or not? Either way, this is who she is.”

 “This…” Uraraka paused. “I don’t know. It feels more sincere. It doesn’t feel like she’s just….”

“Kissing ass?” Ms. Joke offered, and Uraraka nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, I get it. I think Camie is nothing if she’s not sincere these days, though. Listen, we all do things that we regret.” Uraraka could vouch for that – she had done plenty of things she regretted. “I trust her. I think you do too – but you should trust her with or without her memories. She’s sorry, kid, even if she no longer remembers she is.” She glanced down at the pill bottle in her hand. “I’ve gotta try to reach her parents again. It’s like they’re dodging my calls.” She muttered this part under her breath and Uraraka felt a twinge of sympathy for Camie again. If she sustained brain damage, her parents would refuse to leave her side. “Go ahead home. I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

-x-

Bakugou was by all means and purposes, a morning person. He was more productive when the rest of his classmates were asleep – he couldn’t get nearly as much of his workout done with Kaminari or Sero badgering him at every step of the way, and Mina always interrupted him in the middle of things to cook her breakfast (which he only did because he liked to show off his superior cooking skills). However, since he had been thrust into the nightlife courtesy of Aizawa, Bakugou had begun to cherish the few days a week he could actually sleep in. Last night, he had gotten home from patrol at 3:47 AM, and he had gone immediately to his own room to pass out. On Saturdays, Uraraka had her own internship early in the morning, so Bakugou knew if he wanted uninterrupted sleep, he’d be sleeping alone.

And yet.

Someone was pounding on his fucking door.

Last time someone had dared to knock on his door, he had gotten a girlfriend out of it, but Uraraka knew she could let herself in whenever. No, had to be someone much less pleasant than Uraraka. Someone he could easily blast a hole through the dorms with.

At first, he ignored it, because if he opened the door and goddamn Kirishima was banging away with that stupid grin on his face, Bakugou knew he would have no choice but to deal with whatever nonsense he was getting into. If it was Kaminari, Sero or Mina, he would probably set their hair on fire. When the noise didn’t stop at Bakugou’s indifference, he screamed, “Oi, whatever fuckface is at my door, you have five seconds to leave before I blow your face off!”

Whoever it was had to be unbelievably brave or incredibly stupid because they simply increased the tempo of their knocking. He groaned loud enough so that the idiot could hear him and then stomped out of bed, yanking open the door. “I told you to fuck off, you – ”

Bakugou stopped mid-sentence and blinked.

“Is this how you greet all your guests?” Aizawa was standing before him, a dry expression on his face. Next to him was a very clearly sleep-addled Todoroki, the red side of his hair sticking up.

“Um.” Bakugou offered. Aizawa sighed.

“Get dressed. We’re going on patrol.”

“What – ”

Aizawa silenced him with a well-aimed glare. “You said you wanted daytime patrols, did you not? Well, it’s daytime.”

Todoroki gave Bakugou the most long-suffering look he could manage – it held more emotion than Bakugou usually saw from him. He knew he was blaming Bakugou for this whiplash change in their sleep schedules, and he also knew that this was Aizawa punishing them for requesting the change. He rolled his eyes and slammed the door in their faces, emerging again a moment later dressed for patrol.

It didn’t matter how damn early it was – this was a good thing. Things were  right on track.

It took all of thirty seconds into their patrol for Bakugou to wake up – Saturday mornings were for the villains. These assholes really couldn’t give anyone a day off. Two hours in and Bakugou and Todoroki had managed to stop a purse snatcher, freeze a vandal in his tracks, and help a small girl find her mother in the market (while Bakugou had grumbled about that one, he couldn’t pretend he didn’t feel the swell of satisfaction in his chest when the girl’s face lit up after they approached her and told they’d help). By lunch time, Bakugou had all but stopped worrying about whatever it was Camie was up to. Uraraka was a capable hero, why should he worry about her? He was too busy kicking ass to stress about small shit, like vixens he formerly knew.

“Oi, Bakugou, Todoroki – there’s a call for back up in the shopping district.” Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly longing for his more peaceful, stealthy night patrols. “Some group of villains attacked a blow out sale.”

Bakugou snorted. “Assholes.”

Aizawa nodded in agreement, then flagged down a taxi to take them there. Bakugou thought it would be faster to shoot himself there with his explosions, but apparently there were rules against that shit. Rules he didn’t understand, but whatever.

When the three heroes had arrived, the scene had already digressed into complete chaos. Young women screamed as they clutched their shopping bags – some of them even attempting to beat the villains with them, while others cried out about their purchases. Children were scooped into their parents’ arms while they wailed about new toys they had been promised. Alarms blared from several storefronts and frazzled employees hid behind countertops.

 Bakugou hated these types of villains – the bored, attention-seeking type who had nothing better to do than ruin someone’s Saturday shopping trip. Too weak to cause any real damage, so they had to settle for being fucking obnoxious. He would enjoy destroying them.

Aizawa slapped his goggles over his eyes and ran off. Todoroki followed closely behind, but Bakugou had already zeroed in on his first target. The villain was a loser – lanky and greasy and looked like he was hardly older than Bakugou. He was tormenting a group of tween girls over their choice in music, teasing them over their glittery K-Pop posters.

Bakugou narrowed his eyes. What a low-life. He prepared to charge, calculating the exact trajectory that he would have to hit the guy in order to avoid harming the girls. He squared off, palms crackling, when suddenly the villain’s attention was demanded from behind him.

“Hey, dickwad! Look over here!”

Bakugou and the villain turned to the voice at the same time, and Bakugou’s eyes widened when he saw Camie in her hero outfit, taunting the man. “What’s the matter, lame-ass? Picking on some little girls because you can’t get a girl your own age?”

The villain snarled at her, and Bakugou prepared to intervene, but the moment he started to move, the villain was slammed down to the ground in a blur of pink and black.

“Illusion!” Uraraka yelled once she had gotten back up from crushing a man right in front of Bakugou’s eyes. “Secure this one, I’m going back in!”

“Got it, Uravity!”

And Bakugou watched bemused, as Uraraka pushed her fingers together then shot up into the sky, the jetpack on her back breaking through the cacophony of noises that surrounded them. Bakugou found himself mesmerized – he had seen Uraraka in action plenty of times during school exercises, and then during their Battle Royale against Ketsubutsu, but he had never seen her during an actual villain attack. She was a badass, and her and Camie were operating as a team. Here. In the same place Bakugou was.

Well, it wasn’t fucking intentional but he guessed his plan had ultimately been successful.

“Yo, Bakugou!” Todoroki whizzed past him, lobbing ice at another piece of shit villain. “Pay attention!”

“I am paying attention, bastard!” Bakugou shouted back, and then forced himself to refocus. Uraraka was gone somewhere in the crowd, handling her shit, and Bakugou knew there were other civilians who needed rescuing, but Bakugou turned instead to Camie, who was restraining the lame villain.

He scoffed. Apparently, her brain was fixed enough to fight, but he noticed she struggled with the villain. Whatever his quirk was, it seemed to be disarming her. He watched as the villain pushed back at her, causing her to stumble slightly.

He shouldn’t.

He didn’t care.

Honestly, she deserved to be knocked around by a villain.

Bakugou went to find another target, to leave Camie and all thoughts of her behind, but then he heard her yelp, and goddamnit, fine.

“Why you out here fighting if your head is busted?” He shouted as he blasted the villain out of the way. The idiot crumpled to the ground, whimpering and Bakugou snarled at him. Clearly, he was out of his damn league here.

“Doctor cleared me!” Camie yelled back. “Thanks!” She grabbed cuffs out of her back pocket and tossed them to Bakugou, who slapped them on the villain more aggressively than was probably necessary. “I would’ve been fine, dude, but I can’t escape villains with confusion quirks, apparently.”

“Should sit this one out.” Bakugou grumbled to her, annoyed that he was having a conversation with Camie in the first place.

“In your dreams.” She smirked. “I’m more experienced than you. I bet I taught you everything you know.” 

Bakugou scowled, and shot an explosion at another oncoming villain, who fell immediately. Another hero – some extra – dove onto them and restrained them. “Still playing fuckin’ dumb?”

“I’m not playing, Baku!” She rolled her eyes, and grabbed a stray child, shielding him with her body. The small boy looked up at Camie’s chest with stars in his eyes. “I really don’t remember.”

“What the fuck ever.”

He didn’t have time for bullshit, so he stopped talking, but he stayed in the same vicinity as Camie, falling into a sort of rhythm – him doing the heavy lifting, knocking out assholes, and her doing the capture work. He just didn’t want to be responsible if she got her ass handed to her – he was the bigger hero here, after all.

Gross. When did you start caring about shit like that?

It didn’t take long for all of the villains to be rounded up. They were a pretty damn pathetic group of wannabes, and a small pile of them sat in the center of the shopping district, surrounded by police officers. Bakugou wiped the sweat off his brow and casually watched as Camie calmed down a group of young girls, turning her face into various caricatures with her quirk and making them giggle.

Bakugou tore is eyes away, and spotted Aizawa, looking harassed as he spoke to a police officer, and when he caught Bakugou staring at him, his mentor beckoned him over.

 Camie followed behind him, and Bakugou snapped at her. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to fucking be?”

“Uh, yeah.” She said, giving Bakugou a look like he was the dumb one. “Ms. Joke is right over there.”

Bakugou glared in the direction of Aizawa to prove her wrong and saw – oh, fuck. Ms. Joke was standing right next to him, talking his ear off with that goofy grin on her face. He chose to ignore Camie as to not give her the satisfaction of him being wrong. He could practically hear her smirk.

Todoroki and Uraraka walked up to their mentors at the same time Bakugou and Camie did and Uraraka shot Bakugou a glower that could have melted through pure steel. Hands on her hips, annoyance radiated off of her so heavily that it choked him. Fuck, she was going to yell at him for following her here – even though he technically hadn’t.

“Hi kids!” Ms. Joke waved cheerfully. “Camie, you’re in extreme amounts of trouble because I do believe I told you not even an hour ago that you needed to stay behind.”  

“It was a large-scale attack! I had to do something, Jokey, I’m a hero!” Camie wailed and Bakugou scoffed. Cleared by the doctors, my ass.

“You’re going to be the absolute death of me.” Ms. Joke groaned. Aizawa turned to Todoroki, whose uniform was half-burnt off, and Bakugou, who was sure he looked manic, and nodded.

“I know what you mean.” He sighed. Uraraka looked smug at being the only one who hadn’t been referred to. Bakugou couldn’t even be mad. He was damn proud of her, and would show her so later.

“Fancy running into you here though.” Ms. Joke winked. “When you told me you were going to be taking on some day shifts, I didn’t think it would be in my precinct.” 

“Strange coincidence.” Aizawa said dryly. “I didn’t know either.”

“Our kids worked together well, though!” Ms. Joke cheered. “Uraraka, Todoroki – that was some fantastic teamwork.” 

Bakugou rolled his eyes. He hadn’t seen this supposed teamwork, but he was sure he would’ve done a better job. “Bakugou, you and Camie were fantastic as well. Thank you for watching over her.”

“What the fuck? I wasn’t.” Bakugou mumbled, feeling his face heat up. “She was just in my way.”

Camie smiled good-naturedly. “I think we’ve always been a good team!”

“Ah, what do you say, Eraser? We should take them out to lunch.” Ms. Joke grinned. “I think they’ve earned it.”

“Ooh!” Camie jumped up and down. “I’m starving!” 

Bakugou would rather not, but it wasn’t like he had a damn choice. 

They ended up at a nearby soba shop that Todoroki strong-armed them into choosing – and by that, Bakugou meant that he quietly and calmly suggested it every twelve seconds until Aizawa agreed. Bakugou barked his and Uraraka’s order at Todoroki (he knew hers by heart now – hot soba with tempura) and pulled her into the seat next to him

“Listen, angel face –”

“Are you stalking me?” She blurted.

“Why would you think that?” Bakugou snapped, lying out of his ass.  “I didn’t even know you’d be here.” At least that much was the truth. He hadn’t known specifically where Uraraka patrolled; his plan had been to drag Aizawa and Todoroki to a different one every patrol until he found her. This had worked out better.

“You didn’t tell me you were patrolling during the day now.” She narrowed her eyes, interrogation-mode fully activated. 

“Didn’t know I actually would be.” He huffed. “It was just a suggestion. Didn’t think Aizawa would take it.” He leveled her with his own glare, but hers out-did his by several degrees of heat.

“This has nothing to do with Camie and I?” She asked slowly.

“No.” Bakugou spat, feeling his ears heat up.

Camie slipped in across from Bakugou, Todoroki falling in next to her, presenting Bakugou and Uraraka with their noodles. When Uraraka reached into her wallet to present him with the money she owed, he held up a shiny credit card.

“It’s on my dad.”

Bakugou snorted into his food and Uraraka grinned.

“Were you two talking about me?” Camie asked, digging in. “I heard my name – whatcha talking about?” She fired off questions like an over-excited three-year-old hyped up on sugar pills.

“Nothing.” Bakugou grunted. “Shut up.”

Todoroki hid his smirk by shoving noodles into his mouth. Bakugou resented him sometimes. 

Ms. Joke and Aizawa sat together like teenagers on a mall date – Joke gazing into his eyes in a disgustingly loving way while Aizawa picked food absentmindedly off of her plate. They spoke in low voices, and every so often, broke away from each other for long enough to glance over at their interns.

Bakugou’s eyes fell back to Todoroki, who was slurping his soba – probably pleased, but who could fucking tell with him? Camie talked his ear off, blabbering on about memory she had just regained that involved a very enthusiastic Inasa and a school exercise involving rounding up loose chickens. 

“How was that supposed to help you with your quirk?” Uraraka crinkled her nose. “Speed training?”

Camie shrugged. “I’m sure someone’s got a quirk that gives them chicken abilities, man. Imagine – that bird boy from your class, but instead of a crow, he’s got a chicken head.” She giggled into her hand, and a laugh escaped Bakugou’s lips before he could stop it. Camie looked at him curiously, and the smallest hint of a smile tugged at her lips. 

Bakugou resumed scowling into his bowl.

Uraraka and Camie spoke to each other like best friends, which unsettled Bakugou and also confused the fuck out of him. It hadn’t been that long since they started interning together – how had they gotten so damn close? He gave Uraraka several pointed kicks under the table, demanding her attention, but she ignored each and every one of them.  

At the end of lunch, Ms. Joke and Aizawa approached their table, Ms. Joke practically radiating sunshine and bouncing on the soles of her feet. No wonder Uraraka liked her  – they had the whole pure soul thing going on; Aizawa, he didn’t understand.

His teacher sighed, then latched onto Bakugou with a glare. “Since you were so intent on day time patrols, and you both seem to have done…acceptably, Ms. Joke and I were discussing a future team-up effort.”

“You guys just kicked so much butt together!” She cried. “Whaddya say?”

Camie gasped. “That would be so fun! We could all be best friends! Right Todo-bro-ki?”

Todoroki shrugged. “Does this mean we won’t have midnight patrols anymore?” 

“Sure.” Aizawa answered.

“I’m in then.” 

Bakugou chewed over this in his head – he had wanted to get closer to Uraraka to make sure Camie wasn’t filling her head with toxicity. This was the perfect way to do that, even if he wasn’t sure it was necessary anymore. “Whatever.”

“That’s what I thought.” Aizawa was satisfied, and it was settled. After they left the restaurant, Ms. Joke gave Uraraka permission to go back to campus with Aizawa on the basis that Camie do all the paperwork herself as punishment for participating today when she wasn’t supposed to.

“Jokester, what the hell?!” Camie bemoaned. “You’re going to get some shitty reports. Remember, I’m non-functional.” 

Bakugou snorted, and Ms. Joke grinned. “Seemed pretty functional back at the in the shopping district, princess.” 

They said their goodbyes and Uraraka slipped her hand into Bakugou’s, humming contentedly. She seemed to have forgotten all of her suspicion of Bakugou, and was being even more affectionate than usual. It was strange.

“Working together will be fun.” She said casually, checking over her shoulder to see if Todoroki was listening. He wasn’t. He was talking to Aizawa about something, completely immersed in the conversation. Bakugou caught the words Yaoyorozu and leadership. Bakugou could’ve vomited.

“It will.” Bakugou said lightly, waiting for Uraraka to say something incriminating because she was clearly up to something.

“You and Todoroki already make such a good team, and Camie and I…” She trailed off, and there it was. Uraraka was trying to lure Bakugou into Camie’s trap that she herself had clearly fallen for.

“You two are sure buddy-buddy.” He commented, and that was all Uraraka needed to go on the attack.

 “Give her a chance, okay?” Uraraka tugged on his arm softly, and looked up at him with that face – the face she knew he could never say no to. She was really playing dirty. “Memory loss or not – I think this is who she is. I don’t think she’s ever been a bad person. I think she’s just made bad decisions.” 

Bakugou scoffed, but he took her words in anyways. He thought about the Camie he knew – the one who he had spent endless hours with, talking with, laughing with, learning with. They had used to get into all kinds of dumb shit together, and the memories were fond.

At least, until she had tainted them all when she turned into an evil bitch.

Uraraka was reading his mind again – he could tell by the analytical look she was burning him with, and she added, “We’ve all done stuff we regret, right?”

And fuck, she had him there. He was the poster child for doing shit he regretted. Uraraka had forgiven him from something huge that he regretted, and now she was imploring him to forgive Camie in the same vein.

She had ripped his heart out, chewed on it and then spit it out again, but, she had been young and stupid, just like him. Maybe, in a new light, he could remember how they used to be – minus some particular aspects, of course – and he could give her a chance again. If Uraraka trusted her enough to suggest this, then there must be a reason behind it.

He had to fucking work with her anyway. Might as well try not to hate it.

“Yeah, alright, fine, angel face. I’ll give her a chance.”

-x-

Bakugou was a goddamn beast on patrol. He knew it, Todoroki knew it, Aizawa knew it, Ms. Joke knew it, Uraraka knew it, and Camie knew it.

Camie was the only one who couldn’t seem to get over it. Every time he took down a villain, wrangled a thief, knocked down a thug – she was always there, backing him up, encouraging him, or simply watching him in awe.

At first, he had told her to fuck off, and go be useless somewhere else, but then he remembered Uraraka’s request (or rather, Uraraka bluntly reminded him of her request) and so he dealt with it. Eventually, he began to expect Camie’s presence in his fights, and recently, they had begun to work together well.

After every patrol, the team would gather to do paperwork, and Bakugou had to admit, it was more entertaining to handle reports with someone other than the boring-ass Todoroki to entertain him. Camie cracked stupid jokes, did impressions of their classmates and her own, and told larger-than-life, ridiculous stories that Bakugou couldn’t tell were straight up lies or things that she had gotten fucked up in her memories. As much as Bakugou tried to bite his tongue, to hold back commentary and more importantly, laughter, he couldn’t help it. She was fucking obscene sometimes – just like he remembered her.

The whole situation was fucking weird, but Bakugou found himself easily falling back into a friendship with Camie. The strangest thing about the whole thing was Uraraka’s behavior – there was no trace of jealousy, no worry. She seemed downright thrilled that Bakugou was being accepting of Camie, and her own relationship with her was growing more and more every day.

They had fucking inside jokes now.

Weeks ago, the thought would’ve filled him with rage – to think that Camie was putting her manicured claws all over Uraraka, getting into her head and manipulating her, but now? Fuck, now he didn’t think any of that was actually true. The claws turned out to be just regular damn nails, and the only thing she seemed to be filling Uraraka’s brain with was bad puns and memes. Either Camie deserved an award for her acting skills, or she was being genuine. She seemed to actually want to be their friend.

And Bakugou just didn’t have it in him to keep up his suspicion. It was too much damn effort when all she did was smile and joke and be fucking nice to him.

The more time they all spent on patrol together, the more Bakugou found herself being drawn to her. They worked well together – and it wasn’t that he didn’t work well with Todoroki, and of course he worked great with Uraraka, but Camie just listened to him the best. She was one step ahead of his thought process, and plus she was a massive shit-talker to the villains, which Bakugou could appreciate.

When they weren’t on patrol, Bakugou was anticipating it. He would jump out of bed on Saturday mornings, dress quickly, and practically run out the door, sometimes leaving even Todoroki and Uraraka behind. He chalked it up to being relieved that he was finally off the fucking night shift, and he got to unapologetically kick villain ass all day, but he also knew that he was excited to see what bullshit Camie would get into to make him laugh.

The weeks went by and the weather warmed up. Bakugou shed his winter costume for his signature tank top and his palms grew less dry, and more powerful again. He was high off the adrenaline of the raw energy that possessed him, and he was talking more shit than usual, running his mouth off to his teammates with reckless abandon.

Uraraka was used to it, so she ignored it, rolling her eyes. Camie, however, dished it out right back to him. Every insult he fired off, she hit him back tenfold. She called him every name in the book – doofus, dweeb, moron, and some more creative ones, like dicknozzle. They fought back in forth, but it was never aggressive – it was just like summer camp, when they would tease each other incessantly, and then end up –

Bakugou kept having to push these goddamn intrusive thoughts back into the depths of his brain. They came up out of nowhere, triggered by random things Camie did, said, or even just the way she looked on a certain day. Bakugou didn’t want to have them. They were obnoxious. He wanted to tolerate Camie, like Uraraka said, and damn, he even wanted to get along with her, but not at this cost.

"So,” Uraraka said one night, while they laid in bed together, dozing off after a long patrol in which they had to deal with a villain that rivaled Mic’s level of headache-inducing screaming. “You and Camie have been making a lot of progress.”

“Ah,” Bakugou raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, we fucking work together.” He didn’t know why he felt defensive suddenly – he wasn’t doing anything wrong. So what if he didn’t hate Camie’s entire existence anymore, and who cared if sometimes he offered to stay late and help her finish her paperwork (with Uraraka there, though)? It didn’t mean anything.

“I’m glad.” Uraraka said, but she sounded unsure. “I told you she’s different now.”

“Yeah, I know, angel.” He snaked his arms around her waist and squeezed her, nuzzling into her neck. He had a feeling that was somewhat reminiscent of guilt, but he had no fucking reason to be guilty. “I’m just being nice to her for you, remember, but I guess she’s not all bad anymore.”

"Mhm.” Uraraka said. She had relaxed into him, and seemed less anxious now that Bakugou’s warmth was encompassing her.

“You worried, angel face?” He whispered into her ear. “Want me to show you how much I love you?”

“I’m not worried.” She snapped, then softer, said, “I know, you would never. I’m sorry. I’m not worried at all.” She pressed back against him. “But yeah, you can show me.”

-x-

“Bakugou, now!” Todoroki shouted, and Bakugou lit up the late-afternoon sky with a special fireworks explosion for the villains to admire. The main asshole – a woman who seemed to only know how to speak in fucking theatrics – shrieked when his attack hit, and collapsed right into Uraraka and Camie’s waiting trap.

Another successful mission. It was almost too damn easy. He strolled leisurely over to where the rest of his group waited. Camie was high-fiving them each in turn, and when Bakugou reached them, she held her hand up, looking like a puppy waiting to be pat.

Bakugou high-fived her anyway, but he made sure it was unenthusiastic. He had a reputation to uphold.

“Bakugou,” Aizawa said. “I need you deliver this to the police chief – the office is right down the street.” He handed him an envelope containing a weapon that the villain had been using, and Bakugou snatched it away. “Uraraka, with me. They want interviews. Better you than me.”

Uraraka huffed, but Bakugou caught her adjusting her hair and smiling to herself.

Bakugou started off towards the police department, eager to hand off this shit and get out – he hated dealing with authority – but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He swung around, palms raised in attack, but came face-to-face with a grinning Camie.

“Relax, Baku! I decided to come with you. I wanna talk to Police Pup too.” She fell into step next to him, and Bakugou gave her a sideways glance, but allowed it.

“Don’t think the fuckin’ police chief would appreciate being called that.” Bakugou snorted. Camie just shrugged.

“He’s just so cute, man.”

Bakugou said nothing, but he could sense Camie bursting with something to say. He was always good at reading her. “Spit it out.” He prompted her.

“I’m really glad we’re friends again!” She blurted. She stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his arm and Bakugou recoiled as if she had burned him. He heaved out a deep breath to control himself from freaking out on her in the middle of the street – but when she touched him, it reminded him so much of how things had once been. He could see the images in his head, hear her voice and all of the things she had said to him, the promises she had made all summer…

Camie cocked her head to the side. She had thankfully removed her hand. “You okay, Baku? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfy.”

“I’m fine.” Bakugou grunted. “Just don’t…don’t fucking touch me, okay?”

“Okay.” Camie agreed. “Can do, dude. I just want things to be cool. I don’t…I don’t know what happened between us, but I liked you so much, ya know? I’m sure I fucked it up, because, like, I do that, and I’m happy you’re with ‘Chako now, but I’m just trying to fix whatever I did.” She paused, waiting for Bakugou to respond. He didn’t. He couldn’t open his mouth because he might scream at her, or do something even stupider, like tell her he was sorry he wasn’t good enough.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

“Did I hurt you?” Camie asked, and Bakugou swallowed the lump in his throat. He kept walking, leaving her in the dust. From where she trailed behind him, he heard a very soft, uncharacteristic, “I’m sorry.”

Bakugou gave the evidence to the police chief and passed Camie on his way out, not looking up at her, because he knew if she asked him to wait, he would.

-x-

Bakugou loved Uraraka. He fucking loved her. She was the best thing that ever happened to her. She was a goddamn treasure.

This was the mantra he repeated to himself as he threw punches into the bag. Kirishima watched him with mild concern, pausing his own workout to stare at Bakugou attempting to destroy the equipment.

"You, uh, got something on your mind, bro?” He asked tentatively.

“Yeah, how much I want you to fuck off.” Bakugou spat back at him.

He loved Uraraka. He did. He had worked fucking hard for her.

He punctuated each thought with a harder punch than the previous.

“Well, that’s a lie.” Kirishima said, walking over and steadying the bag so it stopped swinging so furiously. Bakugou glared at him with as much venom as he could muster, but it came up short. He shook his head, and sighed.

“You ever, like, think about girls other than the alien freak?” He mumbled out, so ashamed of himself. He didn’t want to meet Kirishima’s eyes – didn’t want to see the judgement that he was sure would be on his face, but when he looked up, he saw Kirishima was smiling.

“I mean, yeah, dude. We all do. Thoughts aren’t inherently wrong.” He said slowly, thoughtfully. “It’s acting on them that’s bad.”

“I’m not acting on shit!” Bakugou shouted. Kirishima threw his hands up.

“Whoa, I didn’t say you were.” He said. “Guilty conscious?”

“No.” He spat. He crossed his arms and stared Kirishima down, daring him to say something else – something to give him a reason to punch him in the face, but Kirishima, damn him, knew him too well. He waited him out, keeping uncomfortable eye contact until Bakugou broke. “You know how I’ve been working with Camie.” He muttered, halfway hoping Kirishima wouldn’t hear it.

He did, of course. “Yeah.” He said, keeping his face smooth.

“She…Uraraka told me to give her a chance, to try to be fuckin’ friends with her or whatever, and now I can’t stop thinking about her. Remembering shit.”

Kirishima paused, observing Bakugou and looking thoughtful. “You know, I’ve never loved anyone but Mina, so I may not be the best person to give you advice, but Mina’s loved guys before me.” He began. “She had it so bad for Sero, and now they’re friends! I’m sure she thinks about it sometimes – how things used to be.” He smiled sadly. “But I can’t get mad at her if she does, because they’re just thoughts, and I know she loves me now. Just like you love Uraraka.”

“I don’t want to fucking think about her.” Bakugou said. “What the fuck do I do? We fuckin’ intern together now in this damn group and I can’t get away from her. Uraraka thinks the sun shines out of her ass and even the half-and-half likes her. The more time I spend with her the more shit I remember. I want it to stop.”

Kirishima was such a damn sympathetic person that Bakugou swore he was about to start crying, and then Bakugou really would have to punch him because he couldn’t deal with that shit. “Hey, you know what might work? You and Camie never really had closure, right? Maybe you should talk to her about…about everything that happened, and then you can be at peace with it all.”

Bakugou considered this. In terms of ideas, it wasn’t the worst. Kirishima had gotten pretty resourceful these days when it came to advice, even Bakugou could admit. If he just told Camie exactly what shit she had put him through, and told her – fucking Christ – how it made him feel, then maybe the thoughts of that summer would stop plaguing him.

Fuck, he had gotten so soft.

He took a quick step back and slammed his fist into Kirishima’s chest before the other boy had a chance to harden himself. Kirishima grunted in pain and cried out indignantly. “What was that for?”

There. Now he felt better. “Thanks, Shitty Hair.”

-x-

Bakugou didn’t need to talk himself up to shit. His motto was: act first, think later. He could only remember a handful of times he had gotten nervous in his life, the most recent having to do with Uraraka. He hated the feeling of anxiety – it was disgusting, and yet here he fucking was, rocking on his heels like some kind of middle school girl.

Despite the closeness he had developed with Camie over the past several weeks of working together – the clumsily stitched together relationship that had been built from goddamn amnesia – he still couldn’t quite stomach the idea of facing her.

They were on a boring patrol that day. Nothing was going on, and for once, Bakugou was glad for it. He needed to rehearse what the fuck he was going to say to Camie to get her out of his brain. Uraraka lingered near him, throwing him cautious glances and tugging at his arm occasionally. “You okay?” She asked softly, and Bakugou just nodded tersely.

This was the fucking worst part of all of it – Uraraka didn’t deserve someone who thought about other girls. He had to stop it, for her. He loved her. He fucking loved her. He was a shitty person, but he was going to make this right.

“I’m fine.” He said back, too harsh, but that was the only way his words would come out. They were waiting for Aizawa and Ms. Joke to dismiss them – they were promised no paperwork today, and so they could go straight home. Bakugou had spoken to Todoroki before their patrol, swallowing the lump that was his pride and asking for help one more goddamn time. He told him he needed to distract Uraraka, just for a few minutes, so he could take care of something. He didn’t elaborate, and Todoroki was finally fucking useful, and just agreed without requiring explanation. Although he did keep giving Bakugou curious looks, like he was trying to figure him out. Bakugou turned up his chin and scowled.

“Katsuki, you’re sure?” Uraraka prodded him. Her voice was pressing, worried. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

"I’m tired.” He lied gruffly. “I want Aizawa to hurry the fuck up so we can get home.”

“Okay.” Uraraka accepted his answer, but she did not do so sincerely. Bakugou could see the arch in her eyebrows, the darker flush in her cheeks.

"You’re good to go.” Aizawa came then. “Good work today.”

“Completely awesome!” Ms. Joke offered. Bakugou’s heart stuttered in his chest – it was now or fucking never. He looked at Todoroki pointedly.

“Uraraka,” Todoroki cleared his throat. “Would you accompany me to go grab food for everyone? I lost a bet to Bakugou and my punishment is to pay.”

 “Oh!” Uraraka glanced back and forth between Bakugou and Todoroki. “Uh, sure!”

"Where ya going? I want something heavy. Today was a day.” Camie whined. “Something…greasy.”

“Greasy is great.” Bakugou said impatiently. “We’ll wait here for you.” His words were too clipped, too urgent. Uraraka’s concern grew in her face, but she turned to Todoroki instead – she was too kind to stay behind, too polite to say no. Bakugou watched as she walked away from him, chatting amicably to Todoroki as she walked.

Once they were a safe distance away, and Aizawa and Ms. Joke had left to go wherever it was they went, Bakugou rounded on Camie. He felt like he was going to puke. He hated this goddamn feeling. He needed to get it over with. “Need to talk to you.” He muttered.

Camie’s eyes widened to almost perfect circles. “About what?” She asked, stunned.

“Not here.” He inclined his chin to an alleyway, somewhere out of the public. He didn’t need anyone interrupting them, or any noisy hero news getting any ideas. Camie frowned, but then nodded, and let him lead the way.

Once they were in the alleyway, and Bakugou had triple-checked that nobody could overhear them, he began speaking before he could lose his nerve. “Listen, I know you lost your memories and shit, and that really fucking sucks, and I know you’re trying to be a better person or whatever, but I need to tell you what you did to me.”

“What I did to you?” Camie’s face fell. “I’ve been thinking about it, Baku. Really hard. Brain blasting and stuff. I remember bits and pieces. I know I hurt your feelings, and I – ”

“No, no, listen to me.”  Bakugou would lose his damn nerve if she interrupted. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that shit, Camie. I fucking…I loved you, okay? I loved you, and you just fucking used me. You fucked me up so bad, and you laughed at me, and you just left. And you never answered my fucking texts. And then.” He was breathing heavily now, his heartbeat accelerating. He wasn’t sure if the words he was saying were making any sort of coherent sense, but he couldn’t stop them from leaving his mouth. “You show up out of fucking nowhere and you torment Uraraka with that Shindo fuck – if you wanted me so bad, Camie, why not then? Why did you fucking break my heart back then, and decide you wanted me later?”

Camie’s eyes were glassy. “Bakugou…”

“You were goddamn everything to me! And you just…you fucking…I told you that I’d wait for you and you laughed in my face!”

"I’m so sorry.” She whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…I don’t know why I did it. I think…I think I must’ve been scared. I’m remembering now.”

“I’m fucking glad you did it.” He said flatly. “I love Uraraka. I love her. But I haven’t been able to get all of our shit out of my head. I had to say it so that maybe I can have some goddamn peace.”

“Bakugou, I loved you. I’m sorry, dude. I’m fucked up like you are. I’ve never been good at that stuff, man. I couldn’t be what you wanted me to be back then. I’m sorry. I want to make it up to you.” She grabbed his wrist and moved her hand down to his, intertwining their fingers. “I want to be a real friend. For you and Uraraka. I don’t remember what I did to her, but I want to fix it.”

“You gotta get your fucking memories back if you want to really fix it.” Bakugou spat. “You were awful to her. And…and to me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Tears flowed down her cheeks now. She still held onto Bakugou’s hand. “I…want to be a better person. I’ve got a lot of things that made me messed up, Baku, but I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“You’re the reason I’m so fucked in the head with relationships – why it took me so long to be good to Uraraka, and why I still can’t be enough for her. I’m here talking to you now so that I’ll stop thinking about you because it’s so goddamn unfair to her.”

“These past few weeks, being friends….it’s all I wanted.” Camie said. “You’re, like, the coolest friend. I just want that. I don’t want to be cruel to anyone. I don’t want to take you from Uraraka. I just…wanted…to start over. I remember.” She gasped. “I remember…Uraraka. Shindo. What I did. Oh my God.” She sobbed. “I’m so sorry. Fuck. I didn’t – ”

“Alright, it’s okay.” Bakugou rasped. He had said everything that he needed to say, and it was so cathartic, so goddamn relieving to finally tell her what she was responsible for, that he had begun to calm down. “Fuck, Camie. Let’s just put this shit behind us so I can move on with my damn life. Apologize to Uraraka later. You already did, but she deserves more than one.”

Camie just shook her head, tears flowing. “I’m a mad idiot, man.”

Bakugou squeezed her hand, once, before releasing it. “Yeah, sometimes.”

“Can this be the beginning of us being, like, real friends? Not whatever this has been where we’re like, fake friends with issues. I’ll apologize to Uraraka again. I’ll be good. I want to be a hero. A good person.” She moved a step closer into Bakugou’s space. He lost his breath.

"We can be friends. Distant friends though. There’s a lot of baggage with this shit.”

Camie nodded, understanding, then held out her arms. “Friendly hug, though? A bro hug.” She smiled a watery smile through the tears.

“What the fuck ever.” Bakugou rolled his eyes, but when Camie jumped into his arms, he tightened his arms around her back. It was a goodbye – goodbye to the memories, good and bad, goodbye to the Camie he knew, and to everything that she had caused for him. It was a new beginning.

“Katsuki.”

Bakugou pushed Camie away on instinct and his eyes snapped up. In the entrance of the alley stood Uraraka, holding a brown paper bag of food in her hand, looking absolutely betrayed. “You’re both liars.” She whispered.

“Ochako, no!” Bakugou choked out. “It’s not!” His words died in his throat.

"What it looks like?” She asked quietly, her voice robotic. “I knew you were acting weird, just didn’t know this is why. I guess it’s been going on a long time, huh?”

Camie shook her head helplessly, mouthing no but seemingly unable to speak.

“I shouldn’t have ever trusted you.” Uraraka spat at Camie. To Bakugou, she said nothing, but she twisted the ring he had given her off of her finger, and threw it on the floor. As it bounced once then spun to a stop on the disgusting ground, Bakugou felt his chest constrict. 

“Angel, wait —“

She turned on her heel and then she was gone.

Chapter Text

Uraraka ran. Blinded by tears and deafened by a pounding in her ears, she ran. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going, she just knew she had to get away from where she was, from what she had just walked in on.

You’re an idiot, she told herself. You knew this would happen.

Uraraka bumped into a woman with a stroller and stammered out a rapid apology before continuing to run, putting as much distance as she could between herself and Bakugou.

She made it to the train station, and bounced on the soles of her feet erratically, picking at the pads of her fingers and looking over her shoulder every four seconds to ensure Bakugou or Camie hadn’t followed her. The train seemed to be taking longer than usual, and Uraraka felt the distinct signs of nausea building in her stomach now that she had stopped running. The adrenaline was fading, and she was left with a building panic.

“Hey.” She felt a hand on her shoulder and practically jumped out of her skin, but the voice and the hand were both too gentle to be Bakugou, and when she spun around to face it, she felt her shoulders relax. It was Todoroki, and when he saw her face, his eyes widened. “Whoa. Are you okay? Where are Bakugou and Camie?”

At mention of their names, Uraraka let out a heavy sob, unable to hold back anymore and Todoroki’s expression got noticeably more perturbed.

He patted her awkwardly, looking lost and slightly terrified.

“It’s okay!” She wailed. “I know you aren’t good at physical affection, It’s okay!” Her words were barely coherent through her grief. “I just – I don’t want to see them right now. They – the two of them, they –”

Todoroki’s features hardened, and he gave Uraraka a single curt nod before throwing one arm around her. He didn’t ask her to continue her statement, but spoke lowly instead. “Duck your head down – they probably won’t be far behind us, but I can get us an alternate route back to campus.”

Uraraka blinked at him through the tears, bemused by his sudden seriousness. “You can?”

Todoroki smiled grimly. “There are a few perks of being the son of Endeavor. Come on. Let’s go.”

She followed Todoroki, keeping her head down like he had said and weaving in and out through the crowd, keeping her eyes peeled for the two, traitorous blondes. A terrible, sinking thought took root in Uraraka’s head: what if he didn’t follow her at all? What if he didn’t care?

Todoroki led her to a conspicuous, almost flashy car with a shiny red exterior and darkened windows. He mumbled an apology to her about how showy it was, claiming he hadn’t inherited his dad’s obsession with cars as toys. A driver clad in a black suit opened the doors for them, inclining his head respectfully to Todoroki, and when they slid into the backseat, a portioned closed them off from him.

Todoroki cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Uraraka felt her lip began to tremble again. She knew she owed Todoroki an explanation, but she also knew that if she tried to talk about what she had just witnessed, she would break down again. “I don’t want to see Bakugou, okay?” She said instead. “When we get back to the dorms…I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just want to go to my room. Do you think you can help?”

“Of course.” He bowed his head. “Whatever you need, but…Uraraka, are you sure you don’t want to talk about what happened?”

She shook her head, already feeling the tears well up again. “Not right now.”

“Okay.” He answered. “Understood.”

Instead of talking, Todoroki showed Uraraka the meme collection on his phone, citing Kaminari as the one who had introduced him to everything the internet had to offer. His favorites involved cats, although he was also thrilled by the prospect of Vines, showing Uraraka endless six-second videos and laughing quietly to himself. He was so earnest, truly trying his hardest to make Uraraka smile, that it took her mind off things, if only for a moment.  

They made it back to campus in record time, and Uraraka was glad that Endeavor had been good for something. It was still early enough in the day that most of class A was probably still out and about – those who didn’t partake in Saturday internships often went on excursions during the weekends. The common room was generally empty around this time, which is exactly what Uraraka needed.

Todoroki walked her all the way to her dorm, and when she opened the door, he coughed once more. “Uh, if you need anything…you have my number.”

Each act of kindness that Todoroki had shown her that afternoon was enough to break Uraraka open once more, and she dissolved into a blubbering mess, new tear tracks replacing the streaks that had dried on her cheeks. Todoroki – bless him – looked so painfully uncomfortable that Uraraka just dismissed him with a wave of her hand, choking out that she would let him know if she needed anything. He nodded once then, and she entered her room, slamming the door behind her.

Now alone, Uraraka had no barrier between herself and what had just happened. She wasn’t sure if she had processed it yet. Her mind had worked through it so quickly – the pain, the betrayal, the heartbreak. She couldn’t get the image of it out of her head – Bakugou with his arms wrapped around Camie, secluded away in an alleyway, for God’s sake. There was just no misinterpreting that.

How could Uraraka have been so stupid? Her gut had been telling her for weeks that Bakugou was acting differently – from the moment he found out she was interning with Camie, he had been strange. It had started with keeping secrets. Bakugou was good at everything, except lying. He was a dreadful liar, and to make up for that, when he was hiding something, he would just stop talking altogether. Uraraka had ignored that, assuming that he was just unsettled by the news of his current girlfriend and ex-girlfriend working together. Anyone would be, right?

Once Bakugou and Todoroki were granted permission to work the same precinct as them, Uraraka had been thrilled. Camie had been undoubtedly been growing on her, had been proving herself as, honestly, not a terrible person. At first, Uraraka had fought against it, not wanting to accept the girl, not wanting to believe that she would ever be someone Uraraka could actually like. Camie, despite all of her past flaws, was an extremely likable person, and Uraraka had always been weak to friendship, so when Bakugou ended up on their team, she decided that she would find a way for he and Camie to become friends again. It would be perfect – they could all be a tight-knit group; Uraraka could be the cool ex-girlfriend who was not at all jealous, not at all worried. She would say goodbye to the churning in her stomach that kept trying to convince her that something was wrong.

At first, it had been great. They were all working together so well – there was no tension, and Uraraka was happy to forget the past, to move on and turn over a new leaf with Camie, even if she did someday recover all of her memories. She had apologized before she had forgotten, so really, what difference should it make?

But then, that creeping doubt had grown. She started to notice how naturally Bakugou and Camie fell into a rhythm, from their joking insults to their fighting styles –  there was just something there that fit. Uraraka imagined that it was how things must have been with them when they were together – easy, fun. Camie was so goofy – she must’ve made Bakugou laugh all the time back then, not caused so much stress like Uraraka had.

There was something there that Uraraka must have not had with Bakugou.

To some extent, she knew she couldn’t put all of the blame on Bakugou. She had pushed him to it – she had made the mistake of thinking that they could all be friends, like some silly, school-girl fantasy. She had wanted to forgive Camie, to see her as how she was now, not realizing that by doing so, she was offering up her boyfriend to her.

And Camie. Had it all been an act? Had Uraraka fallen for it, yet again?

Forget being a hero. Uraraka was too damn stupid to be anything worthwhile.

Her self-pity was interrupted by several aggressive knocks on the door. Well, she knew it was coming eventually. She closed her eyes, not at all prepared for what was to come. “Angel face. I know you’re in there. You ran away without letting me fucking explain. You’ve got the wrong idea.” The knocking increased in frequency. “C’mon, Ochako! Don’t be like this!”

Uraraka curled in on herself, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to drown out the pounding. She didn’t know how she would have the wrong idea – she had seen it. She had seen Camie draped in Bakugou’s arms, so natural, like they had been together forever. How could she have misinterpreted that? If Bakugou hadn’t been doing something shady – something unfaithful – why would he feel the need to hide off in an alleyway? Why wouldn’t he tell her about anything innocent that he needed to talk to Camie about? She would’ve understood – she always understood.

“Ochako!” The pounding increased in frequency. “Fuckin’ please!”

She stayed put, biting her lip to keep from screaming back at him. He was incessant, but the assault on her door finally stopped and she heard instead a venomous growl. “What the fuck do you want, half-and-half? This is none of your business.”

“She doesn’t want to speak to you.” Todoroki said firmly. “Leave her alone.”

“You don’t know anything!”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll be forced to remove you.”

“I’d like to see you fuckin’ try!”

“You really don’t want to see me try.” Todoroki’s voice was dangerous, and even though it was muffled by her door, Uraraka could hear the implication in it. “Back off now, or we’ll both get in a lot of trouble.”

Bakugou said nothing in response, but a moment later she heard him choke out. “She’s fuckin’ confused. It wasn’t like that.”

“All you ever give are excuses.” Todoroki said. “I can’t believe you forced me to take part in something that hurt Uraraka. I thought you had changed, but you’re still the same selfish, hot-headed asshole that you’ve been since you started UA. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, and I was right when I said that Uraraka was too good for you. Stay away from her. I mean it.” There was a pause. “And don’t try to blow up your dorm again – you did this to yourself, and this time I will have no sympathy.”

Incredibly, Bakugou was quiet. She thought he had left, but then something slid under her door. Uraraka crawled from her spot on the floor over to it, picking up the flash of silver that she recognized as her ring and turning it over in her fingers, a fresh batch of tears forming. She pushed it right back out, and this time, she knew the footsteps that she heard were him leaving.

She let out another strangled, broken sob, hugging her knees. She would cry until there was nothing left, until she was dehydrated and exhausted and empty, and then she would pick herself up, and she would begin to fix herself.

“You okay?” Todoroki asked against her door, voice dripping with worry.

She hadn’t realized he was still there. “I’m fine.”

“Ashido is home, would you like me to send her up? Or Midoriya?”

Sending Mina would be a terrible idea – the girl would go on a rampage and probably melt Bakugou’s face off. Deku would just cry with her, and that would make things worse. “No, thank you.” She said politely. Todoroki didn’t respond, then she heard him leave as well, and again, Uraraka was alone.

She soaked her pillow, waiting for the moment that tears would no longer come. 

-x-

Bakugou wanted to scream, but fuck, he wasn’t going to make another scene. Uraraka didn’t deserve the backlash from that and he sure as hell wasn’t going to give Todoroki the satisfaction. He clenched the returned ring in his fist, hating the feel of the metal against his skin. He barely made it to his door before he let out a strangled shout, punching into the floor. He breathed, and he breathed, and he kept fucking breathing because that was the only thing he could do – the only thing he currently had control over. Tears glistened in his eyes and he couldn’t even care how weak that made him – he had just ruined everything that mattered anyway.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated and he practically ripped it out, fumbling it in his hands before groaning and throwing it across the room with so much anger that it cracked against the wall. It had not been Uraraka, like he hoped – it was Camie, apologizing yet again, and begging for an update.

Camie had immediately started crying after Uraraka took off, but Bakugou couldn’t wait around and comfort her. He had been desperate, hell-bent on catching Uraraka, but when he had made it to the train station, she was already gone.

Now, she wanted nothing to do with him.  

He needed to punch something, but he knew if he went downstairs, he risked running into one of his nosy, busy-body classmates who would certainly be determined to make his life even more miserable than it already currently was.

The first knock came after an hour of wallowing and breathing and setting old notes on fire – Bakugou didn’t have the energy to scream at whoever it was. It was a strange feeling. He wasn’t angry like he usually was – he was mad, sure, but this was a different kind of fury. It was empty, crushing, like all of his emotions had been sucked out of him the moment. Blind anger, Bakugou could handle – he could force explosions out of his hands until they bled, he could shout at anyone in his path, he could punch and kick and thrash until he passed out, and he would come out alright afterwards. But this? This was an inescapable kind of pain that no amount of physical attacks could diminish.

Uraraka had thrown the ring he gave her on the ground. It was a fuckin’ promise ring. He still held onto it now – twisting it over in his fingers, torn between wanting to char it to a crisp and to go throw himself at Uraraka’s knees and beg her to take it back, to take him back.

He really was so fucking pathetic.

Another knock came and Bakugou glared in the general direction of the noise. He didn’t want to deal with anyone – especially not at nearly ten PM. His sleep schedule was fucked enough, but the knocking persisted. His heartrate spiked at the thought that it could be Uraraka – but then his stomach fell. Uraraka would never knock. She knew the door was always open to her.

Groaning, he swung his legs over the bed and trudged over to the door, swinging it open with less vigor than he would normally have for a late-night intruder. He expected Kirishima, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was someone even more annoying, like Deku, trying to talk him through his issues like he was his therapist, or Iida telling him to stop stomping so loudly.  

What he didn’t expect was the flash of pink that descended on him the moment he stepped into the hallway.

“Ow, what the hell, alien freak?!”

Mina had smacked him across the face, and fuck, she hit harder than Kirishima in his hardened state.

“You absolute moron, Katsuki Bakugou!” She shrieked, glaring with so much intensity that he thought she might start shooting acid out of her eyes. She didn’t wait for an answer, but pushed past him into his room and situated herself in his desk chair, looking at him expectantly with her arms set across her chest. Bakugou refused to be intimidated by someone who was 5”3 and pink, so he glared right back, and then rolled his eyes at her.

“Didn’t say you could come in, alien.” He said, but he closed the door anyway.

“Don’t give me that shit. Stop acting like we aren’t friends, it’s not cute and I’m over it. My name is Mina. You better have an explanation for your actions.”

Bakugou gaped at her. It hadn’t even been an hour since he got back to the dorms, and it had already spread? If Mina knew, everybody knew. Great. All he needed were rumors to start swirling around and find their way to Uraraka’s ears.

“Well?” Mina prompted, rolling the chair over to his bed so she could rest her legs on his pillow, like she owned the place. He couldn’t even process the language he needed to tell her off, so he ignored it, but damn, was she exhausting. Less than five minutes in her presence and she had done about thirty things to annoy him – he really didn’t know how Kirishima did it. But she was here, and she wasn’t going to leave until Bakugou gave her some sort of story, so he sighed, cracked his neck, and rounded on her.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, and left it at that.

Mina barked out a laugh. “Extremely debatable. You hurt Ochako’s feelings!”

“You don’t even know the whole story! Don’t accuse me of shit you know nothing about.” Bakugou snarled, wishing he could blast Mina out of his room but not wanting to blow up his own furniture which she had monopolized.

“That’s where you’re wrong – Kirishima told me everything.”

“What the fuck? Then you should be on my side!”

“Nope.” Mina twirled in the chair, crossing her legs in front of her and fixing Bakugou with a steely glare. “You’re an idiot. You handled that in the worst possible way. You should’ve come to me!”

“Oh, like you’re a master of relationship advice?” He grumbled, sick of getting yelled at and blamed for shit he didn’t even do. This whole situation was ridiculous. It was the world’s dumbest misunderstanding, and if Uraraka would just listen to him, it would be fine.

“Who do you think got you and Ochako together, you dummy?!” Mina snapped at him, then rubbed her forehead like Bakugou was giving her a headache. “Sweet Jesus, you’re annoying. Thank God I didn’t sleep with you.”

Bakugou opened and closed his mouth in quick succession, unable to process the nerve of her. When he finally picked up his jaw, he growled out at her the honest to God truth – that this whole thing had been blown entirely out of proportion.

Mina challenged him with a quick laugh. “So, you’re telling me if the roles were reversed, you wouldn’t absolutely lose your mind?”

“That doesn’t matter, what the f –”

“You’re saying that if you walked in on Ochako and say, Midoriya, in an alley, hugging, you wouldn’t promptly blow up the entire city?”

Bakugou’s words died in his throat. He knew he couldn’t deny that.

“Exactly. Even if it wasn’t intentionally shady, it really looks that way, honey.” She softened slightly, like she decided she had yelled at Bakugou enough for one sitting.

“I’d explain everything to her if she’d just talk to me! She’s got the half-and-half guarding her room like a damn pit-bull and she was ignoring all of my texts. She probably still is but I broke my phone so even if she did try to talk to me, I wouldn’t know.”

“You broke your phone.” Mina stared blankly.

“Don’t wanna hear it.”

“Well, anyway.” Mina said, waving away the potentially broken phone that lay in the corner of the room “Did you really try to talk to her, or did you pout outside of her room for five minutes before giving up and coming back here to blow things up?”

“I didn’t blow anything up.” Bakugou protested. His room was still very much intact, and he deserved some damn recognition for it.

“Very good.” Mina said with a high-pitched lilt to her voice, like he was a puppy being housetrained. “But my earlier question stands – did you really try to talk to her, or did you want her to come to you?”

“I –” Bakugou stopped. He did try, but he did want Uraraka to come to him, for her to seek him out, for her not to think that he would ever do something like that to her, and to know that there must be some other explanation. He wanted her to believe that – but instead, she was locked away in her room, thinking that Bakugou was the type of boyfriend who would treat her in such a blatantly disrespectful way. It made him sick. Why would she ever think that?

“Yeah, thought so.” Mina smirked, and Bakugou really wanted to punch her – she could take it, but Kirishima would be mad and Bakugou didn’t want to sit through a lecture from him. “Bakugou, she’s devastated. Think about it. She has it in her head that you’ve been doing this with Camie for weeks – she thinks you guys have been together behind her back. She already had bad self-esteem when it came to Camie, but she’s been really trying to work on it and be a partner and a friend to her. You kinda just came in and broke that.”

“But why would she think that? We weren’t doing anything, I was just – “

“I know what you were doing.” Mina held up one hand now, her eyes serious. “Ochako doesn’t.”

“I’m trying to tell her, but – “

“Try harder.” Mina cut him off once again. “You’re Bakugou. You have never known what it means to give up, even in circumstances where you really should have. I get this is a misunderstanding, dude, but you’ve gotta see things from her perspective.” She popped up from the chair. “I’m gonna check on her, and after that, I’ll take care of Todoroki.” She sighed, then, “Do you need anything? I can send Kiri up with food if you don’t wanna leave your room…”

“I’m fine,” Bakugou mumbled. Mina nodded, then went to leave, but he stopped her at the door. “Thanks…Mina. For the advice, or whatever.”

Mina beamed. “You’re welcome. Always here to offer my services for my sons.” She bowed, and then she was gone.

-x-

As it turns out, Bakugou’s phone still worked, which he discovered when he peeled himself from his bed an hour after Mina left. He could barely read anything through the spider-web crack he had given it, but it was functional enough to receive texts. He had several unread ones – from Kirishima, from Kaminari, Sero, Camie, his mother, even Deku. He ignored them all; they weren’t from the person he wanted to talk to.

As much as it pained him to admit it, he knew Mina was right. He needed to try harder to get Uraraka to understand that she had things completely mixed up. He had sent her several texts, but he chanced one more: Just give me five minutes.

It took him more than that to even type the message, but once it was sent, he held his breath, waiting for any sort of response.

Bakugou felt the increasingly familiar feeling of nerves bundling in his stomach. He would be happy if he never had to experience this ever again in his life – why couldn’t everything just be like hero work? No worries, no anxiety, just a blind dive into the unknown that he knew he would be able to come out from relatively unscathed.

This was different – he didn’t know if Uraraka would believe him. What if she didn’t? What the fuck was he supposed to do then? Even worse, what if she believed him, but she was still mad? It would be unreasonable, but stranger things had fucking happened. There were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong, but Bakugou knew nothing would get better if he kept hiding in his room waiting for Uraraka to come to him. Mina was right – cowardice wasn’t like him. He was trying to surpass All Might, he couldn’t be acting like such a bitch. It was Uraraka, not the damn League of Villains.

Somehow, that just scared him more.

His phone pinged weakly, like he had even crushed the speaker, and he lunged for it.

Ok.

One word, but seeing the contact name was enough to send his heart skyrocketing out of his chest at a hundred miles per hour.

It was eleven-thirty PM, but Bakugou had a feeling it was a now-or-never situation. Uraraka was awake, and she was giving him five minutes. He had to make them count. He squared his shoulders, fixed himself in the mirror (he hadn’t been able to sleep since he decided he needed to talk to Camie, and it fucking showed – he was gross) and then marched out of his room before he could wimp out.

Mercifully, Uraraka’s room wasn’t being flanked by a particularly bitchy guard. Todoroki was off-duty, and the hallway was silent. He assumed most of his classmates were sleeping peacefully, worn out from their internships. Bakugou knew the feeling too well. Must’ve been nice not to have a care in the world.  

He knocked tentatively on the door, hating how his hand shook. He needed to get a grip. He was going to fix this. “Ochako. It’s me.” He said.

Calling her by her name wasn’t right. He wanted to call her angel, or cheeks, or even Round Face, and watch her blush and roll her eyes before she buried herself in his arms and let herself be covered with kisses. It had just been a few hours since everything had gone to shit, but Bakugou felt like he had been absent from much longer.

This time, Uraraka opened the door. She stood in front of him, wearing pajama shorts and an oversized, ratty t-shirt that she so often wore when she was lazing around. Her hair was a mess, thrown into a bun that strands were falling out of. Her eyes were puffy and red and her face was gaunt, like she had just spent several hours crying. Bakugou wanted to shield her from everything that hurt her, to smooth down her hair and kiss the tear streaks away from her face – all he had to do was get her to listen, and he would be able to do that.  

“Hi.” Uraraka greeted him, and her voice was hoarse.

“Hey.” His heart stuttered.

Both of them stayed quiet for a moment – Bakugou tried to maintain eye contact, but Uraraka refused to look up and instead busied herself with touching the pads of her fingers together. After twenty-three agonizing seconds, Uraraka took a deep and shaky breath. “What can I do for you?”

“I need to talk to you – I need to explain. What happened earlier – ”

“You don’t need to.” Uraraka said. She was so calm, so expressionless. It was a jarring juxtaposition from her usual pink-cheeks and smiling face. Even when Uraraka was angry, she was so expressive – Bakugou loved her pout, loved the way her eyebrows drew together. Now, though, she was blank-faced and it reminded Bakugou of how Shinso’s brainwash victims looked. “Mina told me everything.”

“What the f – ”

“I made her tell me.” She continued on as if he hadn’t spoken. “You don’t have to explain anything.”

Bakugou stared, confused. There was no way that this could be so easy. He was missing something, but he tested his luck. “So…you’re not mad at me?”

Uraraka smiled, but it was not her usual smile – it lacked the light, the joy that spread throughout her entire face and drew Bakugou in. This smile was sad – sympathetic, almost. “I’m not mad at you, Bakugou.”

Bakugou felt like he had been punched in the gut, and all the breath left him. “You always call me Katsuki.” He mumbled, feeling heat explode over his face, feeling like a child being shamed for breaking the rules.

Uraraka blinked a few tears back, but she plowed on. She was strong like that. She was strong in a way Bakugou never would be. “I’m not mad at you, but I think…I think we should take some time.”

“No.” Bakugou choked it out, the words catching in his throat and snagging against his tongue – they hurt. “No – what? We don’t need time. Why would we need time? This was a fuckin’ misunderstanding and it’s been cleared up. You know that nothing happened, so why the fuck would we need time?”

“Baku –”

“Stop calling me that!” Bakugou’s voice rose in volume and cracked. He would wake up the whole dorm if he didn’t get himself under control, but he found that he couldn’t concentrate on breathing – it felt like his windpipe was being crushed by Uraraka’s words. “I didn’t do anything! You don’t understand that? I would never! I was just – trying to – I was trying to get fuckin’ closure or whatever!”

“Please quiet down.” Uraraka begged, her lips trembling. “You need to accept this is the best thing for us right now –”

“No, I won’t fuckin’ accept that! Why would it be?! You know the truth. Why are you doing this?” He demanded, reaching out to grab her hand, but missing and landing on her wrist. She recoiled, yanking it back. Her eyes filled with fire.

“Because!” Uraraka screamed, and Bakugou cringed automatically. Down the hall, several doors that had been cracked fully opened and Bakugou heard the tell-tale shuffling of feet entering the hallway, but Bakugou wouldn’t tear his eyes away from Uraraka. The color had all come back into her cheeks, and they were a bright red as she got on his level, shouting back at him, silencing all of his protests. “Because the thoughts weren’t a misunderstanding, Bakugou! You were thinking about her for weeks! Weeks! Or longer, how am I supposed to even know?! You’ve been thinking about how things used to be, about how much you used to love her! Do you how that feels? Why couldn’t you just leave it alone?” Uraraka was sobbing now, her chest heaving, her entire body trembling and Bakugou broke.

“Angel –”

“Don’t.” Her voice was molten. “Why wouldn’t you talk to me? I at least deserved that.”

Bakugou was keenly aware of Jirou coming out of the room next door. Down the hall was Deku, giving him that damn concerned, wide-eyed doe look. He took a shaking breath, trying to get a handle on his emotions. “I didn’t – ”

Uraraka was on a roll, and she cut him off once more. “Closure is fine. I’m not unreasonable – I understand needing closure, but you sat on those feelings for weeks, you – you spent time alone with her. Do you know how stupid I feel? I wanted you two to be friends, but the whole time you were just fostering these…feelings. You could’ve told me.” Her voice broke. “You could’ve –” She shook her head and cried, no longer able to say the words she needed to say to him.

“Uraraka?” Jirou spoke now and Bakugou snapped his head to her, just to see that more of his damn class had gathered to watch the show. Kaminari was half-hidden behind Jirou’s door, and Tsu had crept out from her room, eyes blinking sleep away, following Bakugou’s every moment – waiting. “Do you need – ?” 

“I need him to leave.” Uraraka managed, refusing to look at Bakugou. 

“Okay.” Jirou said softly, and she placed one gentle hand on Bakugou. Bakugou liked Jirou, respected her, but right now, she was in his way. His palms crackled, and she jumped away before he could detonate.

“Don’t touch me!” He screamed. “None of you touch me! Ochako, I’m not done talking to you! You’re acting ridiculous!”

“Bakugou, you need to leave her alone.” Tsu said. “We can figure this out in the morning when everyone is less emotional.”

“I’m not fucking emotional – she’s just not thinking!” He stepped closer to Uraraka and he didn’t miss the way she took a full step back, shrinking into her room. Bakugou froze – he knew that look well. He had seen it on several of his classmates, both from middle school and the beginning of high school. It was fear. Uraraka had never been afraid of him – not once, not since the moment they met. She was the only one who had continuously stood up to him, taken no shit, held her own. He remembered the night in the infirmary, and the way she dove head-first into what Bakugou proposed for them. Uraraka was fearless. 

He backed up. He was disgusted with himself. 

“Kacchan, hey, come here.” Deku stood behind him now, coaxing him away from Uraraka’s door. Bakugou moved without thinking, giving Uraraka a wide-enough berth to shut the door on him. If she did that, then he would know the conversation was over. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. “This is something I need.” 

Bakugou found himself nodding, like a puppet whose strings were being tugged. Jirou and Tsu slunk past him then and into her room. Both of them gave him apologetic looks, but they didn’t mean them, because they slammed the door behind them. 

“Fuck!” He shouted. “What the fuck did I do?” 

“Kacchan, please calm down.” Deku implored, his voice so soft that it was grating. “What can I do?”

“You can get the fuck away from me, Deku!” Bakugou snarled, palms crackling.

“If you need to get your anger out, then fine. Take it out on me.” 

Bakugou stared at him, stunned by his response. The nerd had never willingly asked for Bakugou’s aggression. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying if you have emotions you need to get out, then I’ll help. I’ll fight you, so that you feel better.” 

“I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.” Bakugou advanced on him. 

“I do.” 

Bakugou frowned, and then lit his hands up. Deku squeaked, and threw his own up in protest. “Kacchan, maybe in the hallway wouldn’t be the best idea, I mean there are people sleeping and teachers and we could do a lot of property damage here, I really think it would be best to – “ 

Deku stopped talking, and his face went extraordinarily white. He whimpered, and stared at a spot behind Bakugou’s head. He turned, and came face-to-face with a red-eyed Aizawa.

“Bakugou.” He said, irritation apparent on his face. “Why are you and Midoriya causing a scene in the hallway? I don’t like to be woken up.”

Bakugou knew for a damn fact that Aizawa never went to bed before one AM, and that was an early night for him. 

“No fuckin’ reason. I was just leaving.” Bakugou glared at Deku, daring him to tell Aizawa anything other than what Bakugou had just declared. He just stared back at him, uncomfortable and probably about to burst with the effort of not being truthful. Bakugou couldn’t be bothered with it – he began to walk away, ready to bury his face in his pillow and not sleep for the next eight hours. 

Aizawa, however, had other plans. He was a coward of a hero – attacking Bakugou while his back was turned. The binding cloth had shot out from nowhere, wrapping around him and rendering him useless.

“What the fuck? Do you sleep with this thing?” He thrashed against the prison, but gave up after a moment. It wasn’t worth it.

“I put it on when I heard you shouting. Figured I might need it.” He said. “Midoriya, where do you think you’re going?”

Deku froze where he had been trying to make a stealthy escape. “Ah, I was just –”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before the cloth wrapped itself around his legs. There was a muffled laugh from a cracked-open door, and Aizawa set his glare to it. 

“Kaminari, if I were you, I would shut your door and your mouth and I’ll pretend to not notice that you’re in a room that is not your own.”

The door slammed and Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Midoriya, tell me what’s going on here.”

Ah, shit – he was going to squeal like a rat. 

“I’m sorry for the disturbance, Sensei! It was my fault – I wanted to fight Kacchan.” 

Bakugou couldn’t move much in his prison, but he managed to throw his head back and glare at Deku. He wasn’t letting the nerd take the fall for this – no way. “He’s lying. He had nothing to fuckin’ do with it. I was just trying to…talk…to someone, and got carried away.” He hated the not-quite-lie. 

Aizawa appraised both of them, and then released Deku. He tripped over his now free legs and hit the floor. He scrambled up, and gave Aizawa a trademark puppy-dog look. “Sensei, it was really no big deal, it was just –”

“Midoriya, stop talking and go to bed or I’ll have to have a talk with Nighteye.” 

“Ah, yes, Sensei!” Deku said. “Sorry, Kacchan.” He mumbled, and then his feet could be heard scurrying away.  

Aizawa turned his attention back to Bakugou. “Are you going to walk with me, or do I need to carry you?”

“Shut up, I can walk.” Bakugou hated being treated like a baby. Aizawa knew that. He drew the cloth back, letting Bakugou fall unceremoniously to the floor. He stood, gave one more extra hateful glare to Aizawa, and then followed him like an obedient puppy. They walked in silence to his office, and when Bakugou sunk into the chair across from him, Aizawa waited for him to speak.

And waited. And waited.

He probably would’ve waited all night – God knew he didn’t have sleep that he needed to attend to. Bakugou, however, wasn’t too keen on sitting in a drab office being scrutinized for the next several hours. He needed to get back to his room and regroup – he just needed to figure out a better game-plan to change Uraraka’s mind. She wasn’t thinking straight. He would convince her, but in order to do that, he had to get Aizawa off his back. 

“So, what, house arrest again?” Bakugou spat out, breaking the silence. He didn’t particularly like that option, but he was sure to get some kind of punishment. “How long?”

“Bakugou.” Aizawa narrowed his eyes at him in that judgmental-but-also-concerned look he was always giving him. 

“What? I don’t have shit to say. Just punish me so I can go.”

“You and I both know that isn’t what needs to happen here.”

Bakugou let out a string of profanities under his breath. Aizawa regarded him with his usual red-rimmed eyes, but they were not unkind, which was somehow worse. He was looking at Bakugou like he was a psych ward patient and Bakugou did not need therapy, especially not from him. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Then let’s see what I can infer. Uraraka begins to intern with Utsushimi. Directly after, you ask me to switch your patrols to the day time switch, which conveniently coincides with the two aforementioned. You start spending more time around Utsushimi, and now Uraraka’s feelings are hurt. Right?”

Bakugou really hated how observant his teacher was. It was annoying, and creepy. He didn’t have his title as top stealth hero for nothing – Aizawa noticed everything. “Close enough, yeah.”

“In my time teaching, I’ve dealt with a lot of drama.” He said, and Bakugou groaned, ready for a lecture. “Teenagers are full of it – it’s understandable, with all of these emotions floating around. This year, though, your class probably has more drama than any of my past classes combined, and I used to expel students on a regular basis. Still could.” He added, and Bakugou rolled his eyes. The old man couldn’t fool Bakugou – he knew damn well he wasn’t expelling anyone. “Vlad King tells me that I got all the problem children this time around, and he’s absolutely right. All he has is Monoma, I have every one of you.”

“Are you just going to bitch about us, or are you going to get to the point?”

“There wasn’t a point, really, I was just pointing out how ridiculous you all are.” Aizawa deadpanned, and Bakugou gave him no response except for a drawn out, long-suffering sigh. Aizawa took a sip of a thermos next to him – probably an energy drink, the freak. 

He was waiting for Aizawa to berate him, to tell him he was an idiot, like apparently everyone else thought. Instead, the man offered up something that resembled a smile. “Women are complicated.”

What the fuck?

“Emi and I have had a lot of fights.” He continued. “She gets mad about my attitude often.”

“Can’t imagine why.” Bakugou said, stone-faced.

Aizawa ignored him, but that was expected. “Not the point. The point is, couples fight. You and Uraraka are two extremely volatile personalities together. You’re both stubborn, both extremely driven. Two people like that together are bound to clash.”

“This isn’t a clash.” Bakugou snapped. He didn’t want to talk about it, but Aizawa was going to get it wrong, and that fact was irritating. “There’s no reason for this to even be happening. Ochako just thinks she saw something she didn’t.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“Obviously. She said that it didn’t matter – she said some bullshit about feelings and how I should’ve talked to her.”

“That right there is the answer. You need to communicate. You’re terrible at it.”

“She won’t listen.”

“You should have before this whole altercation.” Aizawa went on. “Now it’s too late to talk, and you have to start doing.”

“Start doing what?”

“You need to show her that you’re sorry. Women like that.”

“How do I do that?” Bakugou groaned. Why couldn’t anything be easy? He showed Uraraka how much he cared about her all the damn time – he paid for her lunch, he bought her gifts, he let her use his lap as a foot rest, he watched bad dramas with her, he even ate her cooking. He did everything for her, and she was still convinced that he was someone terrible – someone who didn’t love her. 

Aizawa shrugged. “You know Uraraka more than anyone. You should know what she responds to.”

“Nothing right now.” Bakugou growled. “That’s what I’m saying – she’ll hardly look at me. She fucking blew up on me in the middle of the hallway just now.” 

“Then give it time. Let her cool down. Do subtle things to show her that you didn’t mean what you did. I know you handle most things by yelling, but not everything has to be a grand gesture – not everything has to be immediate. Yelling at her door in the middle of the night is not the way you’re going to get her to move past this.” 

Bakugou said nothing. He stared into his lap. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted a quick solution, and no one wanted to give it to him. 

“You know, we’re going to continue with our internship schedule. It’s been good for both you and Todoroki.” 

“What the fuck? Now you want to work during the day? You hate day time!” Bakugou could handle a lot of things, but the awkwardness that was sure to arise from having to spend several hours a day with three people who were all varying degrees of upset with him was sure to be brutal.

“Can’t run away from your problems.” Aizawa said simply. “Heroes don’t get to do that.”

“Who’s running away?” Bakugou snapped. “I’ll do whatever stupid patrol you want to do.” 

Bakugou wasn’t the type of person to run away from a damn challenge, no matter how awkward or terrible. He had to remember who the fuck he was. At least if they were working together, Uraraka wouldn’t be able to completely ignore him. He would just avoid the other two, and he would focus all his energy on showing Uraraka that he was a good fucking boyfriend, and that he regretted ever even looking in Camie’s direction. 

“Go to bed, Bakugou.” Aizawa sighed. “This will all blow over.”

“Yeah.” Bakugou grunted, and moved to stand. 

“You can skip the house arrest this time, but no causing scenes.” He said. Bakugou nodded idly. “You’ve come a long way in terms of your responses to things like this. If this had happened several months ago, I’d probably be having to tell Nezu that we need a new building.”

Bakugou huffed out a sigh, and didn’t turn around when he spoke. “I’m just breathing and shit.” 

He couldn’t see him, but he could practically feel the real smile on the man’s face. 

-x-

Incredibly, Bakugou managed to get some sleep. His head had begun to pound so hard from the stress of everything, that he had shoved his pillow over his face and forced himself to close his eyes. He would never admit it out loud, but Aizawa’s advice had actually calmed him down considerably. He was right. He just needed to give Uraraka more reasons to love him – he had to be the best goddamn boyfriend in the world. With that thought in mind, he had fallen into a relatively solid sleep, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up to the sound of his door opening.

“Uraraka?” He sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. 

“Ah, sorry to disappoint, man.” It was not Uraraka at all, and he laid back down, defeated for the moment.

“What do you want?”

Kirishima moved to the side of his bed and ripped the pillow away from his face. Bakugou growled at him, but Kirishima smiled good-naturedly. He held a bowl of something steaming in his hands. “Heard you had a rough night, and I figured you had to be hungry.”

“Fuck.” Bakugou was an asshole. He sat up. “Yeah, I’m hungry.” He accepted the bowl gratefully from Kirishima and started shoveling it into his mouth.

“So, you feeling better this morning?” Kirishima asked tentatively, situating himself in his desk chair. 

Bakugou considered the question. Kirishima was one of the few who Bakugou didn’t care saw him in this state. Kirishima never judged him, never saw him as weak, and he also never believed a single lie Bakugou tried to get away with, so it was better not to bother.

Besides, he was feeling a little better, because last night, he had decided he was stopping at nothing to get Uraraka back in his arms. Soon, this whole thing would be behind him. He would follow the old man’s advice, and he would show Uraraka he was sorry.

Fuck the waiting part though. He didn’t have the patience for that. 

“Yeah.” He said. “I do feel better. Let’s go to the gym.” He had finished scarfing down his breakfast (or lunch, Bakugou didn’t even know what time it was) and set the bowl aside. “Can’t let you get soft.”

“Me? I went twice yesterday after my internship.” Kirishima protested, but Bakugou waved his words away, a sort of manic energy overtaking him. 

Kirishima gave him one concerned look, but then shrugged. “Sure, buddy. Let me just get my stuff.” He said. “After that, will you come hang out in the land of the living? Mina seems to think you’re going to fuse with your bed.”

“Sure.”

-x-

“Bakugou lives!” Kaminari cheered when he and Kirishima ambled into the common room, still high on adrenaline and endorphins.

“Shut it, Pikachu.” Bakugou held his palm up and let it crackle threateningly. Kaminari whimpered and scrambled to hide behind Sero, who rolled his eyes.

“Bakugou. Remember what we talked about?” Kirishima said warningly, and Bakugou grumbled. Bakugou might have let it slip to Kirishima that he had a grand plan of winning Uraraka back, and he might’ve mentioned that he would be willing to listen to any advice. Bakugou was a good boyfriend all on his fucking own, but maybe the morons would pull some helpful knowledge from their asses. Kirishima had insisted that they would only help him if he was nice to them.

“Alright, listen up, idiots.” Bakugou said, because he couldn’t change who he was – he couldn’t start calling them pet names or some shit. “I’m gonna get Ochako back, and to do that, I need to do some cute shit that she’ll appreciate.”

“Oh my God.” Mina gasped. “You’re asking us for help.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“He totally is.” Sero grinned. “That’s so sweet, man, I’d be happy to help teach you how to be a boyfriend.”

“You don’t even have a girlfriend, Soy Sauce Face.” Bakugou snapped at him.  

“I could if I wanted to.” Sero huffed, and Mina patted his head sympathetically. “Besides, you don’t have one right now either.”

Fuck. Bakugou felt that in his chest like he had been stabbed. He shot Sero a hateful glare, but he knew that he had a point. He was effectively useless in this whole damn situation unless he could get Uraraka to understand him, and he had never been good at talking about shit.

“You need all the help you can get, dude. You’ve got the sex appeal thing down, but you have the personality of a sewer rat that’s carrying the plague.” Kaminari said seriously.

“What the fuck does that even mean?”

Mina cackled. “You’re just a little prickly, honey. You could stand to be a bit gentler in…every aspect of life.”

“Look, Baku.” Kirishima sighed. He was probably tired of giving Bakugou these types of talks by now, but he continued to fulfil his duty as best bro. “They’re right. You’ve come a long way in terms of, like, being a person, and we’re proud of you, but you still can be a little…rough.” 

Bakugou grumbled under his breath, but he didn’t argue. Kirishima continued. “Uraraka has a lot of patience, and she definitely loves you for who you are, so you shouldn’t change your personality or anything, but there are some things that could be…improved.” 

“Yeah, like the fact that instead of talking to your girlfriend about something minor, you pulled your ex-girlfriend into an alley.” Mina yanked at her hair. “I would’ve one thousand percent advised against that.”

“I’m sorry.” Kirishima grimaced. “When I gave you the advice, I thought you would, like, text her or something.” 

“Bakugou can’t do things the easy way.” Kaminari said sagely. Bakugou snarled at him. 

“Can we not focus on what has been done and focus on fixing it?” He gritted his teeth. “I’m sick of talking about that shit.”

“You tried talking to her?” Sero asked. 

“Genius idea. Didn’t think about that at all.” Bakugou composed himself. If these idiots needed nice, then they could find another friend, but he could be tolerable. He had gotten a good hold on his temper, and retained at least some of his lessons from Momo. “I tried. Kaminari can tell you how well it went.”

“Not well.” Kaminari said.

“So, if she doesn’t want to talk to you, how do you propose you’re going to win her back?” Sero wanted to know.

“I’m gonna make it so she can’t ignore me. I’m gonna be so fucking good that she’ll have to forgive me.” Bakugou said.

“That’s where we come in!” Kaminari clapped his hands. “We’re gonna teach Bakugou how to be a better boyfriend!”

“I’ve been goddamn perfect up until now.” Bakugou mumbled, annoyed about this idea more and more by the second. He shouldn’t have asked these morons for help. They were going to give him the worst advice.

“Perfect is pushing it.” Mina frowned. “You’re not the worst, but you need a crash course in communication skills.”

“Like a boot camp.” Kirishima laughed. “Boyfriend boot camp. I’ll be your drill sergeant.”

“So, it’s settled then.” Mina said. “I’ll work on Ochako, while you three put Bakugou through a boyfriend boot camp. I expect results.”

“Work on Ochako?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow, and Mina shrugged.

“You need all the help you can get, babe, and Ochako needs a friend.”

“Alright, Bakugou, training starts now. How long do you think this will take? A week? Six months?” Sero ticked off the months on his fingers.

“End of the day today.” Bakugou said.

“Man, this is gonna be a big job.” Kaminari whistled. “Well, let’s get to work.”

-x-

By the end of the day, Bakugou had a headache, a hoarse voice from yelling (mostly at Kaminari) and a bruised ego. He had been a little reluctant to accept the advice of certified dumbasses, but surprisingly, they had proved to be very useful.

Kirishima had started them off, coaching Bakugou on the art of communication. Apparently, he was a fucking master of it. He told him how to listen to listen, instead of waiting to speak. They reenacted the scenario where Bakugou had tried to explain things to Uraraka, with Kaminari playing the part of Uraraka. He exaggerated all of his movements and giggled after every sentence and Bakugou found himself concentrating more on not knocking him out rather than what he was supposed to say. After a few stern looks from Kirishima, Kaminari relaxed, and Bakugou was able to focus on his lesson. Kirishima coached him on how to take Uraraka’s words seriously, to respect them and really hear them. He whacked him on the head whenever he rose his voice too much, and helped him replace his choice curse words with “softer vocabulary”. It was exhausting, but after the better half of two hours, Bakugou could certifiably communicate like a normal human being.

Kaminari taught him how to be in tune with Uraraka’s emotions – he told him that with Jirou, he focused on what she liked, how she was feeling, what had her down, and he adjusted his attitude to match that. He surprised her with gifts often, but especially when she was upset about something, and he sent her personalized playlists every day. It was nauseating to admit, but Kaminari made a good boyfriend. Bakugou knew what Uraraka liked, and what she would appreciate, and he made a note to shower her with gifts as soon as he was done with this boot camp shit.

Sero, to his credit, wasn’t completely useless. He told Bakugou how to push his pride to the side, in arguments and in life in general. He insisted that this whole thing could have been avoided if Bakugou had just swallowed his pride and admitted to Uraraka that he was struggling being around Camie. He talked him through how he would go about revealing that sort of information, and gave him various responses to potential questions.

"It’s hard to admit shit like that.” Bakugou grunted.

"Remember when she admitted it to you? With Shindo?” Kirishima prompted, and Bakugou sighed, listening as Sero continued.

He was worn out, but he was ready. He was ready to get Uraraka back. After a quick trip off campus to a convenience store where he purchased all of Uraraka’s favorite foods and sweets, as well as a bouquet of flowers for good measure, Bakugou was ready to convince Uraraka that they didn’t have to take this break, for real this time.

The nerves were still there, but they had settled considerably. This would be fine. He was Katsuki Bakugou. He never lost shit. He wouldn’t lose his girl.

Uraraka had come out of her room a few times throughout that day, but she was always flanked by at least one bodyguard. Todoroki and Momo took shifts, each one ensuring that no one got near her without getting an earful of attitude. Bakugou wasn’t worried about it. He knew that by the time he was finished with his training, Uraraka would have no need for the nerd squad to follow her around anymore. Now, it was getting late, and he knew that she would be back in her room.

He practically ran up the stairs, excitement coursing through his veins. Maybe once they cleared everything up, he would spend the night in her room. He clutched the flowers in one hand, bag of food in the other, and kicked the door three times.

“Angel face, open up! I’ve got something for you.”

The door cracked, and Uraraka peeked out. “Bakugou?”

“Hey.” He grinned. “For you.” He held up the flowers. Uraraka made no move to take them, she just stared.

“Why did you get me these?” She blinked up at him, still half-hidden behind her door.

“They’re your favorite color. You love pink.” He pushed them further towards her – if she would just take them and open the door, he would be able to give her the rest of the gifts, and then he would be able to really talk to her.

“Bakugou…” Uraraka sighed. “I really appreciate it, but I can’t take these.”

“Why not? They’re a gift, I fu – I bought them for you.” He frowned now. Why was she making this so difficult? She couldn’t still be so against talking to him. He had worked so hard.

“I told you that I needed some space, Bakugou.” Uraraka sounded uncomfortable, and Bakugou hated it. “I meant that. You’ve gotta respect that.”

“But…you really…I’m better. I’m gonna be better. I’ve been learning how to be a good boyfriend and all this shit.”

“Bakugou.” Uraraka closed her eyes. “You were a good boyfriend. That’s not what this is about. I just think that we both need some time to think about things and to mature as people. Maybe we focus on being heroes, yeah? Don’t you wanna be number one?”

Bakugou dropped his bag to the floor. Uraraka had thrown his own words back at him – the same ones that he shouted at her when she had first admitted her feelings. It stung. It fucking burned.

“I love you.” He said. “Please let me fucking show you.” She had to give him a chance. She had to let him show her how good he could be.

Uraraka shook her head. “I just need time to myself right now.” Her tone was final. She no longer trembled, no longer cried; she stood strong and put-together in front of him, and she was telling him no.

For the first time that he could remember, Bakugou had truly fucking lost.

Chapter Text

If Uraraka wanted to lay in bed and wallow all day, then she shouldn’t have befriended a girl like Mina Ashido.

This was a quote from Mina herself – shouted, quite aggressively, through Uraraka’s dorm room door at 10:30 AM sharp. Apparently, four hours of fitful sleep was all Uraraka was allowed to have and any longer was “excessive moping” and “would not be tolerated”. Uraraka grunted back at her from under her covers that she was not planning to cry in her room all day, because she wasn’t – she was planning to panic and agonize for the next twelve or so hours about what she had done and all of the consequences that would come with it, including her internship starting up again tomorrow; her internship that she shared with Camie, and more recently, Bakugou.

She shouldn’t have tried to intern with Ms. Joke – she should’ve stuck with someone safe, like Thirteen, or maybe Recovery Girl. Uraraka wanted to be a hero who was able to handle anything, but handling the awkwardness of working with her currently ex-boyfriend (that wasn’t her favorite way of referring to him at all), his ex-girlfriend (and her kind-of friend), and Todoroki (who didn’t always pick up on social cues, bless him) might be her undoing. Being a rescue hero couldn’t be so bad, could it? Or – she could do one better than that and she could take a leaf out of Aizawa’s book and work only at night, isolated from everybody else forever.

“Ochako, I will stand out here and yell for the entire day if you don’t open up this door!”

Uraraka groaned. She thought about just enduring Mina’s wrath – eventually Kirishima would drag her away (kicking and screaming, surely), but she knew that she was just trying to help, and Uraraka loved her and appreciated her for it. In fact, just that Mina was at her door shrieking like a banshee and definitely waking up Uraraka’s entire floor brought a fresh batch of tears to her eyes, because she didn’t deserve a friend like her.

She was so emotional it was disgusting. She didn’t know how she had managed to keep up a strong appearance in front of Bakugou last night – maybe she should be an actress.

“Ochakoooooo!”

Uraraka rolled herself out of bed and opened the door. Mina froze, her mouth open in her next amplified shout. “Oh, you actually opened the door. That wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.”

Uraraka sighed, but then hugged Mina, burying her head in her shoulder and letting out another pathetic sob like she had been doing all night. The moment Bakugou had walked away from her door, she had turned into a sniveling, snotty wreck. This was her karma, she thought, for teasing Deku a few times when they had first started UA and he had been in that crying phase. It had been all in good spirits, but now, here she was, a human fountain.

She hadn’t stopped crying since Bakugou dropped the bag of gifts at her door and walked away. She held it in until she heard his footsteps recede down the hallway, then she picked up the flowers, which were slightly crumpled after falling, and the bag of sweets, and the dam had broken. She couldn’t believe what she had done. She knew she had to do it – she had made her decision, and she had to stick to it, but it felt terrible.

It all felt terrible – her mind wouldn’t give her more than fifteen seconds of peace at a time, constantly reminding her of everything that had gone down in the past two days and giving special attention to the fact that Bakugou hadn’t loved her enough to not have feelings for another girl. Unhelpfully, her brain prompted her to think about what could have been going through his head the past several weeks, remembering every moment that Bakugou and Camie were near each other, the times they spent alone, or the work they did together. It was like a movie that she couldn’t turn off and it really, really sucked.

What was worse was her own guilt, which had been slowly gnawing at her since she walked into the alley and saw the two of them together. She felt guilty because this was not just Bakugou’s fault – it was hers too. She had pushed Bakugou to Camie, selfishly, because she had wanted them all to be friends. What kind of idiot tried to make their boyfriend reconnect with his ex? She wished she could’ve just blamed this whole thing on Camie, but she was a better person than that, and she knew it. Camie had done nothing wrong in this situation, and Uraraka wouldn’t pretend she did. Even before she had lost her memory, she had started out with an apology, she had defended Uraraka, she had tirelessly tried to make up for her past mistakes, and she deserved better than to be dragged through the mud with this whole mess. She deserved better than Uraraka lying to her for weeks too, pretending that they had been friends from the start.

She had never meant to hurt so many people. 

“Baby, stop crying.” Uraraka could hear the frown in Mina’s voice. “You’re going to have a good day today. You’re going to shower, you’re going to eat, and you’re going to spend the day in the company of the most wonderful woman I know.”

“I’m not seeing Ms. Joke until tomorrow,” Uraraka said through tears, and Mina smacked her lightly on the back of the head.

“I meant me, you absolute goon.”

Uraraka smiled, a real one, despite the continued crying. Then she sighed. “Am I an idiot?”

“Sure,” Mina said sweetly, “But for a wide variety of reasons, not because you decided you want to take a break from Bakugou. I need a break from Bakugou at least four times a week – no one blames you.”

“I didn’t want a break,” Uraraka blurted before she could really consider her words. “I just…I don’t…I don’t know what’s going on.” That was the absolute truth – Uraraka was just confused. She couldn’t run back to Bakugou like nothing was wrong, like nothing had happened. She needed to figure things out. She needed to clear things up in her own head before she could even think about talking to Bakugou about everything.

“You don’t have to know what you want to do right now, babe. I have a whole lot of other things planned for the day that don’t include talking. Now, come on, shower, then we’ll go get some gourmet dining to rival even Lunch Rush, and I will show you a beautiful day.”

“Thanks, Mina.” When Uraraka was a rich and famous hero, she would buy Mina whatever she wanted – maybe a beach house, or a private concert with her favorite boy band.  

“Before we go,” Mina began, and she picked at her fingernails, “I wanted to say something.”

Uraraka could feel the nervous energy radiating off of her, and she blinked, not sure what she could possibly have to say to get her so worked up, but she nodded at her to continue.

“I completely understand why you think that this is necessary, and I believe that your decision needs to be made entirely on your own, so I won’t try to sway you in any direction. That being said, I love you and I love Bakugou. He’s one of my boys, and I will be there for both of you. You two are my friends and nothing will change that, okay? That goes for everyone – Kiri, Kami, Sero, they all love you. This is kinda like our parents fighting, but we can do the joint custody thing,” She huffed out an exaggerated breath. “Phew, I rehearsed that with Toru, like, four times but still went completely off-script. Was that alright?”

Uraraka laughed. It broke out of her, unexpected, but lightening her mood. “Of course. I didn’t expect you to stop being his friend.” Relief washed over her – a small part of her had thought that Mina and the others would hate her for choosing this, had thought that this decision would be the end of the friendships she had grown so attached to, but she should’ve had more faith in her friends. They wouldn’t abandon her – that wasn’t the type of people they were.

“Alright, enough of this emotional shit,” Mina said. “Let’s have a girl’s day.”

After she was deemed acceptable for the public, Uraraka followed Mina down to the common room, which had been transformed. A mountainous pile of pillows surrounded the couch, almost burying those who sat around it – Tsu, Jirou, Momo, Kendo, Tokage and Hagakure were all lounging on blankets or hugging pillows, laughing loudly at something Hagakure had said. Someone had strung blankets around the area, hung up by clips and thumbtacks and other things that Uraraka suspected Momo had created for the occasion, covering the girls in a makeshift, cozy fort. In the kitchen, Pony was telling Yui in halted Japanese how to make a snack from her hometown – deep fried funnel cake, while Kinoko poked around, helping where she could. Ibara and Reiko argued while they worked to set up a projector – Reiko was insistent that Ibara was going to scratch the screen with her vines.

“Ochako-chan!” Tsu cried, “What kind of pizza do you like? I’m about to order it.” She clicked away on her laptop as the other girls shouted out their recommendations – Hagakure screamed for pineapple while Mina demanded at least three separate types of meat toppings. Kinoko shyly suggested mushrooms.

“Uh, just cheese is okay – hey, what’s all this?” She stared at the scene in front of her. The girls of UA had completely taken over the class A common room, turning it into a stereotypical sleepover scene. It was just past 11:30 in the morning, but that didn’t seem to be stopping anyone from walking around in their pajamas, discussing movie ideas, and fighting over pizza options.

“Girl’s day,” Momo answered with a smile, “It’ll be the end of the semester soon, and Kendo and I decided that our classes haven’t bonded enough.”

“Yeah,” Kendo agreed, “We need a break from internships and school work and end of the year stress, so we thought this would be a great idea!”

“Right,” Uraraka nodded automatically, then, to Mina, she whispered, “This has nothing to do with me, right?”

“Jeeze, Ochako,” Mina replied with a sly smile and a mischievous glint in her eye, “Not everything is about you.”

Uraraka blushed, but quieted herself – right now, her mouth was occupied with smiling. A girl’s day is exactly what she needed. She squeezed herself right in between Tsu and Jirou, and when the pizza arrived, she found that she finally had an appetite again, and she stuffed her face. They put on a movie, and they gossiped and giggled, just like normal teenage girls did. Uraraka hadn’t realized how much she just needed some normalcy. 

Sunday morning bled into night, and the two classes of girls separated, waving and promising to do it all again soon. Before she left, Kendo pulled Uraraka into a tight hug. Despite the fact that Uraraka had almost broken all of her bones during a class exercise, the two had grown very fond of each other.

“Hey, you know we’re all here for you, right?” She said. “We’ve got your back.”

“Yeah, Uraraka,” Tokage added, punching her in the arm in a way that Uraraka suspected was supposed to be playful, but would probably leave a bruise. “I’m itching for an excuse to rough Bakugou up.”

“Setsuna,” Kendo scolded, giving her a pointed look, but the other girl just shrugged, a twinkle in her eye.

“Just being a supportive school-mate, Itsuka.” She stuck her tongue out. Uraraka smiled and thanked them both for their concern, but assured them that nobody needed to rough Bakugou up for her – if she wanted to, she would do it herself, but she didn’t. She couldn’t make herself want to hurt him if she tried.

Except, you already did, the voice inside of her head reminded her unhelpfully. She had seen the hurt on his face when she told him no, when she had rejected him. The pain had been evident on his face, shattering all of his confidence, breaking him. She hated herself for it – had she really done the right thing at all? Her thoughts were so jumbled – back and forth between blaming Bakugou, blaming herself, blaming no one at all.

“Oi, oi,” Tokage’s aggressive voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “Stop brooding, I can see it on your face.”

Kendo frowned at her, but Tokage bulldozed on. “Listen, we all go through shit, and we all get stronger from it. That’s what’s gonna happen here, got it?”

She was so much like Bakugou that it was mildly terrifying, but her words did send Uraraka back into the real world. She was the one who had asked for more time, so she needed to stand by that. She was the one who wanted to figure things out, to learn who she was and what she wanted. These were her decisions, and she had to own them.

Uraraka thought that maybe, just maybe, she would be okay in the end.

-x-

Uraraka was absolutely, under no circumstances, okay.

The thing about distractions were that they eventually had to end, and Uraraka was once again left to deal with the mountain of problems she had created for herself. Mina had offered to sleep in her bed with her that night, but Uraraka had declined, knowing that her friend had done enough for her already. She wouldn’t further disrupt her life.

The boys came back not long after class B had taken their leave, and with them was Bakugou, trapped in between Kaminari and Sero, who were dragging him along and talking his ear off. He scowled at the ground, ignoring them but walking all the same. As corny as it sounded – Uraraka felt like time slowed down when she saw him, and she couldn’t stop herself from looking. He glanced quickly in her direction, and she caught the glimpse of the frustration behind his eyes, then he was gone, following the others back towards their rooms.

She saw Kirishima stop by Mina and wrap her into a hug – something casual, but she didn’t miss the way he whispered in her ear and then followed up with a concerned look in her direction. She pretended she didn’t see it.

Uraraka went to bed that night with a crushing sense of panic and misery resting on her chest.  

In the morning, she woke up and immediately considered all of her options for getting out of going to her internship that afternoon. She could call in sick, fake her death, run away to start a new life in a faraway country – none of them seemed brave at all. She knew she wouldn’t be able to spend the rest of her life hiding from this. She needed to be a hero.

Get it together, Ochako, she told herself as she brushed her teeth, fierce determination in her eyes. You can do this.

She made it through class with little to no fanfare, although she did notice that Bakugou pointedly avoided her, and everyone else in the class. Aizawa called on him with a question, and he kicked Deku’s seat in between every word of his answer. When Kaminari made the grave mistake of teasing him, Bakugou threatened to decorate the ceiling with his intestines. After that, everyone backed off. When they were released for the day, he stormed out of the classroom so fast that papers blew off Mina’s desk, but her protests didn’t reach him. He was gone before she could finish her sentence. Kirishima sighed and ran right after him, calling his name in an exasperated fashion.

“We’re all suffering for this,” Mina murmured under her breath. She gave Uraraka a sympathetic smile. “Dinner after our internships? I can probably afford some gas station sushi.”

Uraraka nodded. She waited or everyone to leave before she began to gather her things. She wanted to ensure there was as much distance between her and Bakugou as possible. Usually, on internship days, Bakugou would linger by Uraraka’s desk, twirling her hair between his fingers or poking her side impatiently until she was ready to go. Today, she packed up alone.

“Hey.” Uraraka startled. She looked up and saw Todoroki in front of her, staring. Generally, Todoroki always left with Momo, but today she was nowhere to be found. She must’ve gone ahead with Jirou. Todoroki was looking at her expectantly. “Do you want to walk to the train station together?”

Uraraka blinked at him. “You don’t have to do that.”

Todoroki mirrored her blank look, then raised one eyebrow. “It’s not like it’s a punishment. We are friends, aren’t we?”

They were – Todoroki was one of her best friends at UA, and he had always cared for her and been kind to her. It was his kindness that got her through seeing Bakugou and Camie – he kept her from having a full-on breakdown. She appreciated it so much, but right then, she thought that she had been shown plenty of kindness over the past few days. Her friends had done everything in their power to make sure that she didn’t feel alone, that she was distracted, that she was loved. Bakugou, on the other hand, seemed to be doing his absolute best to push everyone away, and she knew that wouldn’t be good for him.

She knew she shouldn’t care. She was trying to distance her thoughts from him, but she couldn’t help it.

“You should catch up with Bakugou,” She found herself saying, and Todoroki looked at her like she had sprouted flowers out of her head.

“I was hoping for a pleasant walk to work, actually,” He deadpanned.

Uraraka grimaced. Bakugou was sure to be extra unpleasant, especially to Todoroki. After a moment, however, he sighed, and said, “If that’s what you want, then I suppose I can deal with him. I’ve become somewhat good at handling his moods – not that I’m thrilled about that.”

Uraraka smirked in spite of herself. She knew the feeling. “I just think – I think he could use somebody, now. Kirishima can only do so much.”

“You still care,” Todoroki said softly, casually, like he was commenting on the weather. “I hope that everyone can come out of this better than before.” He gave Uraraka one of his famous thoughtful, searching looks – one that made her feel like she was under the world’s largest microscope. “I’ll go walk with him, but if he annoys me too much I can’t promise that I won’t freeze him and leave him in the middle of the city for Aizawa to deal with.”  

“Understandable,” Uraraka nodded and Todoroki gave a rare smile.

“See you on the field, Uraraka.”

Then he was gone, and Uraraka was left alone in the quiet classroom, with her thoughts once more. The anxiety dissipated when she was busy, but it crashed back into her like a tsunami the moment she was alone, filling her body with dread and raw hurt. It was a constant stomachache, but she had to fight through it. She had to keep going.

She rode the train to Ketsubutsu by herself. She replayed all of her favorite moments with Bakugou, on torturous repeat, from study sessions where he would pepper her face in kisses every time she got a question right, to dinner dates in the city after their house arrested ended – they took turns picking the restaurants, and Bakugou had been shocked when Uraraka had managed to eat him under the table at one of his favorite specialty spicy shops. She remembered how much her parents had ended up liking him and how they asked for him to come back soon – she and his mom had already planned their own bonding day together, something that had both excited Uraraka and terrified her. When she went to twist the ring that no longer rested on her finger, a fresh wave of sadness hit her, but she knew that this would all be temporary. Right? Time healed everything – at least, that was what they said.

Did she really want to just move on? Was that the right thing? She didn’t know where she was supposed to get these answers.

She reflected on it for the rest of the train ride, keeping her face down low so that she wouldn’t have to see any of the smiling faces that surrounded her. She didn’t know what was in the air, but there were way more couples than usual, and they were flaunting their love – holding hands or sitting in laps, rubbing their happiness in her face.

When she finally got to campus, it was packed. Students were enjoying the lovely day, lounging in the grass and exercising outside. Several of the girls were playing volleyball, while others lay on blankets with their heads buried in books. She started on her way, prepared for a quiet walk without Camie. Uraraka was sure she would take a different route to Ms. Joke’s office today. Usually they met up on campus and would walk together. Camie would link her arm to Uraraka’s with a cry of “Chako-chip!” and then would proceed to talk her ear off, going through more conversation topics that should be possible in a three-minute walk. She hadn’t realized how much she had grown to enjoy their walks. Without Camie at her side, Uraraka felt lonely. 

“Hey – hey, Uraraka!”

Uraraka froze. Sure, she was on Ketsubutsu’s campus, so she could, realistically, have heard the voice that she thought she had heard – but, no, there was no way. Her ears had to be clogged.

“Hey.”

She turned, and realized that, yeah, she was definitely hearing things correctly. Shindo stood in front of her, smiling sheepishly. He looked different than the last time she had seen him. He was no longer wearing a permanent scowl and his face had more color in it. His hair was cut shorter, and he had the general demeanor of someone who had changed – his whole aura was new. When she had first met him, she noticed immediately that he was brimming with confidence, like he could take on anything in the world. Now, he stood in front of her, almost meek, and his eyes were apologetic.

She found that her fight or flight response was not being triggered – instead, she choose to simply look up at him, waiting for him to explain why he had approached her when it seemed like just yesterday he had met her in this courtyard with Camie, calling her out with venom in his voice. She hadn’t been afraid of him since that day. 

“Uh,” He rubbed the back of his neck. It was so uncharacteristic of Shindo that Uraraka rose her eyebrow without meaning to.

“What do you want?” She asked. She was still on her guard with him, but she couldn’t find it in her to be harsh with her words. They came out as a sigh, like she was just tired, and she was. She felt like she had aged so much in one year – everything that had happened with Shindo seemed like years ago. 

“I wanted to apologize to you,” He blurted out. “For. For everything. I know that’s not really good enough, and I’ll never be able to make up for it, but I had to say it.”

“You’re…apologizing?” Uraraka was dumbfounded. Even after everything had happened with the UA verses Ketsubutsu battle, even after Shinso had made him confess and he had been punished, she had not seen Shindo show an ounce of honest remorse – just hatred. She narrowed her eyes, distrusting, and Shindo released a long sigh.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I wouldn’t believe me either, but listen. Ms. Joke put me in therapy and ethics lessons, and they really forced me to look at myself as a person and…I was really bad. I got so obsessed with winning, with being the best that I wanted to do it in any way possible. When I did those things to you, I felt like I was winning over Bakugou – it was really fucked up.” He was rambling, tripping over his words and actually blushing, which Uraraka was also not used to from the cool and collected and generally diabolical man. “I just hated anyone who was stronger than me, or who had it better than me, and instead of working harder, I just acted like an asshole.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Uraraka muttered, and Shindo frowned.

“Yeah, there’s not really a word for how fucked up I was. I’m just – I’m really sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I just had to tell you.”

“Wow,” Uraraka couldn’t form any other words besides a short expression of wonder.

"I don’t want to be the type of person who did those things to you. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I want to be a hero.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I’m surprised Camie’s not with you – she’s kinda the one who brought a lot of this on. I owe her an apology too.”

“Camie?” Uraraka asked. Camie had put him in his place the last time they had met – she had defended Uraraka like a guard dog. It was the moment that she started changing her opinion on her.

"Yeah,” Shindo said. “She called me on my bullshit, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Camie was a stone-cold bitch and then she just decided…not to be. I don’t know. I was kinda shocked. I didn’t think people could change, but then Camie did. If I’m gonna be a hero – someday – then I want to do it the right way. I want to be a good person, not just a strong person. I wanna change. I won’t bother you again and I mean that, but thanks for hearing me out.”

Uraraka felt like she was in a fever dream. “Um, you’re welcome.”

“Maybe one day I’ll see you around, on the hero field. If you’re interning under Em, you’re gonna be a badass hero.” He shot her one of his gleaming smiles, but instead of it blinding her with charm like it had that first night she met him, she found this one to be more genuine. There was real kindness behind it, and something a bit like hope. "And, uh, tell Bakugou I'm sorry. He probably has a lot to say to me, but..."

“Thank you,” Uraraka said, still slightly dazed. “And, uh, see you around.”

He nodded, and then turned to run back to the direction he came from, where Tatami was waiting for him. She gave Uraraka a shy wave, then quickly averted her eyes to the floor. When Shindo reached her, he planted a kiss on her cheek and then intertwined their fingers together, pulling her away into one of the buildings.

Uraraka allowed herself just a moment to collect herself after one of the top five strangest moments of her life to date before picking her feet up and following the well-walked path to Ms. Joke’s office. She replayed Shindo’s words inside her of her head, wondering how true it was – how much people really could change. She thought of Bakugou – about how the first few weeks of school, he screamed his lungs out at anyone who stood in his path, tormented Deku, picked at Todoroki, and didn’t even bother to remember anybody’s name. Bakugou, who had screamed at Uraraka the night after they went to the mall, who blew up his dorm – that was not the same Bakugou who carried her to her hotel room bed and tucked her in, was not the same Bakugou who practiced etiquette to meet her parents, who stood in front of her door, begging for her to talk to him…

People could certainly change. Uraraka should know that more than anyone. Who was she, in comparison to who she was when she first started the year? Was she the same girl who stood against Bakugou in the Sports Festival? Had she grown?

Uraraka opened the door to Ms. Joke’s office, expecting to see Camie already seated. However, both seats were empty, and Ms. Joke had her nose buried in a stack of paper. She pushed her glasses up when Uraraka arrived and gave her a warm smile.

“Hey, Uravity,” Her eyes were filled with their usual cheer and Uraraka felt her shoulders relax. She had rehearsed this conversation in her head for hours last night, preparing answers for Ms. Joke’s inevitable questions, but it seemed that she thought nothing was out of the ordinary. She shouldn’t have worried – it’s not like Aizawa was that involved in his student’s lives. How could he be, when he spent a good chunk of their class time in a sleeping bag on the floor?

“Where’s Camie?” Uraraka asked after greeting her and sinking into her seat. It was the look that Ms. Joke gave her after that – that’s when she saw it. She knew. She absolutely knew. It was probably the way her voice cracked a little on Camie’s name, or the fact that she couldn’t stop pressing the pads of her fingers together, but Ms. Joke knew something was up.

“Princess isn’t feeling so well,” She said casually. “How are you feeling?”

“Great, I mean, why wouldn’t I be?” This wasn’t at all her plan, but when in doubt, deny, deny, deny. “I’m great. Ready to go?”

Ms. Joke rolled her eyes, and Uraraka sighed. They would not be starting patrol any time soon.

They looked at each other for a beat, waiting for the other to speak. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” Uraraka said.

“That’s not gonna fly, girly,” Ms. Joke quipped, and she clicked her tongue. “If there’s a drama love-triangle going on with two of my interns and one of quasi-interns, I need to know the details about it. Really, the real victim here is Endeavor’s kid – talk about awkward.”

"Todoroki doesn’t always pick up on awkwardness,” Uraraka said, “And there’s no love triangle. Bakugou and I broke up. So it’s like, a love…whatever shape has two sides.”

“Ooh, listen more in geometry,” Ms. Joke said and Uraraka scoffed, used to Ms. Joke roasting her on a daily basis. It actually lightened the mood considerably.

“Who told you?” Uraraka asked.

“Aizawa gossips like a school girl.”

Uraraka should’ve known. He probably wasn’t really sleeping when he crawled into his sleeping bag, but listening. There was no telling how much knowledge he had. 

Ms. Joke continued on. “Listen up, girl. I’ve stood idly by throughout this whole ordeal with you and Camie, and I shouldn’t have. I wanted to let you handle things, but I should’ve been there for guidance, and that’s my bad. Camie, for all her flaws – and she has a lot of flaws – really wanted to make things up to you. She tried really hard, and then she lost her memory and forgot all of that progress she made. I think she deserved to know the truth, and I think you should’ve been the one to tell her.”

“I – I don’t know how I’d tell her, I – ”

“She already knows,” Ms. Joke interrupted her. “Bakugou told her. He told her a lot of things, but I think you should talk to her about all of that. Just know that all she’s ever wanted to do is make things up to you. She’s just wanted to be your friend.”

"Katsuki – I mean, Bakugou, he – he loved her so much, and he hung onto those feelings…for who knows how long. Did he ever love me, or was I just the replacement?” She whispered the last words, almost ashamed to speak them out loud and admit all the insecurities that had been plaguing her. “How can I ever compete with someone like Camie? At least when she was a bad person, it was easy to be jealous of her – now she’s kind and sweet and she probably deserves Bakugou, and, and…” She trailed off, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She stared down, unable to look Ms. Joke in the eyes when she was falling apart like this. It was embarrassing. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw that Ms. Joke had moved from her seat over to her. She smiled down softly, and brushed Uraraka’s bangs out of her face.

“You know, Ochako, self-doubt is a funny thing. I usually like funny things, but I’ve struggled a lot with this particular one. Growing up, I was never the most feminine of all the girls. I preferred playing pranks to playing dress up, and I spent more time roughing around boys than flirting with them. I started to get jealous when I was a teenager, and boy, was it toxic. I would compare myself constantly to the girls around me – they were prettier, had better quirks. Sometimes, I would think that I wasn’t even funny, that I was just trying too hard. I doubted the hell out of myself.”

“I think you’re funny,” Uraraka offered.

“Thanks, sweet pea. I think you’re funny too. I think you’re a lot like me, and that’s why it hurts so much to see you doubt your worth like this. You’re not only an incredible hero – and you are, incredible, by the way, I brag about you to all of my friends – but also a kind-hearted, loving, sweet girl. You care for others more than you care for yourself, and yet you’re here worrying about your worth? Stop it! Look in a mirror, Uravity, and see how amazing you are. You’re not perfect. None of us are. You’ve made mistakes, but instead of sitting here and letting yourself suffer, why not just fix them? That is possible, you know? To fix mistakes. I’ve gotten pretty good at that.”

Uraraka didn’t respond, but the tears fell harder, spurred on by Ms. Joke’s words. Her mentor pulled her up into a standing position and wrapped her in a bear-hug, practically crushing the life out of her. “It’s so easy to believe you’re not good enough, but listen to the people who love you when they tell you something, okay?”

“Okay,” Uraraka mumbled. She remembered Bakugou’s pleas for her to listen to him, his proclamations of love, his determination as he stood in front of her door and waited for him to hear him out – and she had still refused.

She frowned.

“Just food for thought, cutie,” She released her and ruffled her hair. 

“Do you know how long Camie is going to be out?” Uraraka asked suddenly. There were a lot of things that she didn’t know yet how to handle, but there was one thing that she knew she could do. 

“She sounded pretty bad on the phone,” Ms. Joke hummed. “I’m sure she’d be up for some company though – I think she gets lonely in that big house of hers. Now, come on, we have patrolling to do.” 

-x-

Bakugou had experienced a lot of things in life that fucking sucked. In fact, life was shitting on him pretty consistently these days and he was really beginning to believe in the idea of karma and all of that other astrological bullshit. He was trying to be a good person – he was honestly, actually trying. He didn’t shove Deku into lockers anymore, or burn his notebooks, or call him a stupid nerd (to his face) and that was hard. He even refrained from calling people by insulting nicknames, for the most part – did the universe not realize how difficult it was to call that smug bastard Todoroki? He was practically on the path to sainthood, and yet, still, he was getting curb-stomped into the ground by the world.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He had fucked up plenty, particularly as of late, but he had been doing what he thought was right with Camie. He was seeking out that closure that everyone talked about, hoping that it would make everything better and less confusing.

That had all worked out fucking wonderfully. Now, in another turn of shitty events courtesy of some higher power, Bakugou found himself walking faster to try and get away from the aforementioned Todoroki, after realizing that shooting a string of profanities his way did not discourage him from sticking to his side like he was gum on the bottom of Bakugou’s shoe.

“I’m not going to have a fucking therapy session with you,” Bakugou snapped, “So don’t bother.”

“I wasn’t going to bother,” Todoroki answered dryly, which only made Bakugou scowl harder. “I’m only walking with you because we intern together.”

“You could walk a little farther back,” Bakugou suggested, pointedly elbowing him. Todoroki just shrugged him off. They walked together in silence, and Bakugou was hoping that he would actually get some damn peace in which he could continue to agonize about his thoughts – especially the ones about Uraraka (which, if he was being truthful, were all of them). He had been able to avoid her for the entirety of yesterday, but today he would be forced to not only see her, but to work with her. There was also the added stress of seeing Camie, who had finally stopped trying to text him when he ignored her for two days straight. The whole thing just made him angry – he hadn’t so much hatred in a long time, not since Uraraka. It was all directed at himself. 

He had decided (or, rather, had been coerced after a long and painful lecture from Kirishima that had consisted of way too many metaphors and allusions to manliness) to listen to what Uraraka was saying and give her space, but shit, it was hard. He hadn’t realized just how natural things had become with Uraraka – he was just so used to being near her, touching her, talking to her. He hadn’t even gotten to phase himself out slowly; she had just been ripped away from him and he hadn’t been able to acclimate. He felt like some kind of fucking addict, sneaking looks at Uraraka when her head was turned, cooking her favorite foods and then eating them himself, even listening to her damn music (which he didn’t like, but at least it was her). He didn’t know how long he could last with this space thing – if two days were this bad, how the fuck was he supposed to give her more time? It was devastating. 

He looked up and saw Todoroki studying him like a goddamn research project. “What?”

“How…how are you?” His face twitched like he did not at all want to be asking Bakugou that question and Bakugou’s eyebrow shot up in response.

"What the fuck kind of question is that?”

"I just want to make sure your work won’t be affected,” He said coolly.

"What does it fucking matter to you?” Bakugou wasn’t in the mood to deal with Todoroki or his cryptic behavior. If he had something to say, he wished he would just get on with it.  

“We work best together as a team when you’re…unbothered,” He explained. “Uraraka seems to be worried about you as well, and we do all three have to work together.”

Bakugou paused at that. “You been talking to Ochako?”

“She is my friend, so yes.”

Smug bastard, flaunting the fact that he was allowed to talk to Uraraka. “What did she say?”

“I’m not playing messenger,” He said. Bakugou huffed, but he would not beg Todoroki for information on Uraraka like some desperate, pining school-boy – even if that’s exactly what he wanted to do. “I wanted to also…apologize, for losing my temper on you the other night.” 

“Yeah,” Bakugou grunted. He didn’t let his surprise at the apology show. Truthfully, he hadn’t been expecting one. Todoroki was obnoxious, sure, but he had dragged Bakugou out of some truly shitty situations, so he could begrudgingly appreciate that, or whatever. “That was fuckin’ unnecessary.” 

“You do realize that you’re not blameless here though, right? I don’t think you understand that.” 

Bakugou wanted to punch Todoroki the majority of the time, but he was really pushing him today. Normally the desire to injure him stayed in the lower range, like a slug to the arm or just a casual uppercut, but today he wanted to hit him with an explosion to the face. “I know, idiot. You’re only the tenth goddamn person to tell me that. That doesn’t change that a whole break up over a misunderstanding still seems a little bit of a fuckin’ overreaction. I gave her time.” 

“You gave her less than a day,” Todoroki said. “She blames herself as well; you know.” 

“She tell you that?” An uncomfortable feeling settled into Bakugou’s chest. Sure, he wasn’t a fan of how Uraraka had handled the situation – he would’ve preferred it to not fucking happen at all, but that didn’t meant it was at all her fault. She didn’t do anything.

“No, Ashido told Momo, who told me,” He replied. “She thinks she pushed you to Camie, or something.”

“That’s stupid,” Bakugou grumbled. 

"You’re both stupid,” said Todoroki. “Neither of you have any clue how to communicate.”

"Yeah, heard that too. Get some new material,” Bakugou was sick of everyone telling him the same shit that didn’t change anything. He learned how to communicate, and look where it had gotten him. Also, who the fuck did Todoroki think he was, some communication guru?  “I don’t know why you think you can talk. Don’t you have a limit to how many actual sentences you can form a day?” 

Todoroki rolled his eyes, “I just don’t see the point in speaking unnecessarily, but communicating with your girlfriend isn’t unnecessary. Whenever I have a problem with Momo –”

“Am I supposed to believe that the fucking royal family of UA actually has problems?” Bakugou interrupted him, because it was hard to believe that two people who were so prim and proper had actual things to fight about other than what outfits they would wear for the day and what fancy dish they would have for dinner.

Todoroki glared at him. “Do you want my advice or not?”

“I don’t remember asking for it.”

He went on as if Bakugou hadn’t spoken. “Whenever I have a problem with Momo, we talk about it – we don’t sleep until we figure things out. I make sure to listen to what she’s actually saying.”

"Why does everyone think I don’t fucking listen?”

Todoroki just stared at him, as if waiting for him to come to his own conclusion. Bakugou kicked a rock. 

“Okay, fuckin’ fine, but I can’t listen to anything if Uraraka refuses to talk to me. Guarantee she’s gonna spend the entirety of today thinking of ways to avoid me. She’ll probably float herself to a whole different precinct.” He laughed at the thought, and it made his heart ache. Her tendency to accidentally activate her quirk when she was flustered was one of his favorite things about her – he loved being the reason for it, loved pulling her back down from the air and into his arms so that she would stay tethered to the ground, to him. 

Fuck, this sucked.

“Yeah, Uraraka is almost as stubborn as you,” Todoroki said and he pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. Bakugou couldn’t understand why people were always doing that around him. “Look, I’m trying to help you, but you have to accept that from me.”  

Bakugou raised an eyebrow – what could Todoroki possibly gain from trying to fix Bakugou’s problem? It wasn’t too long ago that he was telling Bakugou to leave Uraraka alone for the rest of their lives. He had an easy time ignoring that order, and the thought that it might be something he’s forced to do was not something he could stomach. “Why do you even care?” 

Todoroki kept his mouth in a tight line and looked thoughtful before answering. “Remember when I told you that you weren’t good enough for Uraraka?”

“Yeah, you said it, like, yesterday.”

“Well, I still think so,” He deadpanned, and Bakugou grimaced, but Todoroki didn’t give him a chance to interrupt. “You’re impulsive and violent and for someone so book smart, you’re a pretty big idiot. It’s infuriating to be behind you in grades.”

“Are you going somewhere with this, or?” 

“Getting to it,” Todoroki insisted. “Despite the fact that I think Uraraka is leagues above you, I have also noticed how much you work to make her happy. Just because you’re an idiot, doesn’t mean you don’t try.”

“Yeah, fuckin’ thanks,” Bakugou muttered, feeling like Todoroki was just using this unsolicited advice session as an excuse to freely insult him. 

“I think you’d be much less tolerable without Uraraka, and I don’t have the patience for that, so that’s why I’m helping you. It’s not because I care, because I don’t.”

“Right, it would be fucking weird if you did,” Bakugou grumbled.

“Right,” Todoroki agreed. 

They were quiet the rest of the way, but Bakugou chewed on Todoroki’s words – he did work hard for Uraraka. He worked hard for everything. 

So, why was he sitting back now? Since when did Bakugou give up? He could practically hear Kirishima’s voice in his head, spewing about manliness and virtue, but he wasn’t planning on completely going back on his plan to give Uraraka space. He wouldn’t do that – but that didn’t mean he had to give up. For all of his larger-than-life tendencies, Bakugou did have the ability to be subtle. 

I’m not giving up on you, angel face. Bakugou had learned to take his losses and turn them into opportunities for growth – to come back and be better than before. He would do that now. He would keep fighting for Uraraka. 

“What are you smiling about?” Todoroki asked. 

“Nothing. Thanks for the advice, bastard.” 

“You’re…welcome?” Todoroki gave him a stunned look, but Bakugou paid it no mind. 

Generally, Bakugou and Todoroki were always early to work, getting to their pre-arranged meeting spot way before Aizawa did in order to scope things out. It was very clear that Aizawa was not a day person, as he often showed up fifteen minutes late, usually with sunglasses on and a travel mug of pure caffeine in his hand. Today, however, Bakugou was surprised to see that he was already there, speaking lowly to Ms. Joke and Uraraka. 

When he and Todoroki approached, Uraraka jumped out of her skin, a blush creeping into her cheeks. Bakugou resisted the urge to go pinch them, or kiss them. He just wanted to be close to her, but he held back, lingering next to Todoroki, thinking of all the ways he could subtly show her that he loved her. 

"Ah, nice of you to join us,” Aizawa said and Bakugou almost opened his mouth to protest that he had a lot of damn nerve, but it wasn’t worth the breath he would waste on it. “Camie is out sick today, so we’re ready to go. Since our numbers are off, we’ll be operating in a group today. Bakugou, Todoroki, Uraraka, take leadership. Ms. Joke and I will be available for back up.” 

"Kiddie work,” Bakugou muttered, but he was grateful for the chance to work with Uraraka. He had been worried she wouldn’t show up, but he shouldn’t have been – that wasn’t at all who Uraraka was. She didn’t give up, no matter what the circumstances of a situation were; he knew he wouldn’t be the one to change that. 

Without Aizawa and Ms. Joke, they were able to move more inconspicuously – but even just three heroes in a busy city could never just get away with moving under the radar. Though they were just students, Bakugou and Todoroki attracted a lot of whispering and sneaky picture snapping. A few girls would even approach them, giggling and asking for selfies, which always got on Bakugou’s nerves. Thinking back, he wondered if it had upset Uraraka – he hadn’t paid much attention to her feelings on the matter because she always seemed cool with whatever, but maybe that contributed to her being upset.

He vowed that next time he was bothered by a gaggle of teenage fangirls-in-training, he would make sure they knew he was taken. 

Which, technically he wasn’t, but he was trying to be fucking optimistic. 

Uraraka walked ahead of them, acting as the leader. She kept her voice cheerful and casual as she spoke to them both, but Bakugou could hear the undertone of nerves in her voice. Her anxiety was practically visible, and Bakugou hated being the cause of it. He watched her as she walked, taking in everything that he had managed to lose. Before, Bakugou would’ve been lamenting the most over her body – and he was, he definitely fucking was – but there was more to it now. While he did want more than anything to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her flush against him, cover her neck in purple marks, and kiss her until she couldn’t think straight, that wasn’t his priority. He more desperately just wanted to talk to her – really talk to her, not this watered down, polite bullshit that they were doing now. He wanted the real Uraraka, the one who would admit to him without shame that she had once fantasized about using Kaminari as an electricity conductor, and shocking Mineta when he wouldn’t stop harassing her. He wanted to hang out in her room, with her in a giant t-shirt and sweats, and he wanted to tickle her until she screamed and shoved her hand against his chest, floating him to the ceiling. The first time she’d done that, he couldn’t even find it in him to be annoyed, because her laughter was so damn contagious. He wanted to lay his head in her lap, and listen to her muse about the future, and what kind of heroes they would be. 

“Number one,” she had told Bakugou, “That’ll be you.”

Bakugou would’ve given up the number one spot a hundred times over if it meant he could have those moments with Uraraka back. 

If he ever had any doubt in his mind that he hadn’t been in love before – this blew it all away. He had never felt this way about anyone before. He didn’t feel whole without Uraraka. 

“Uh, Bakugou,” Todoroki called, “Where are you going?” 

Bakugou stopped, and realized he had wandered away from the group, almost walking directly into two mothers with strollers who were gaping at him. “Shit,” he muttered and turned on his heel, ignoring the slightly scandalized and awed cries of the women behind him. Thoughts of Uraraka always sent his head straight to the clouds. 

The patrol was mostly uneventful, which was annoying, because Bakugou was itching to knock a villain around. The weather was pleasant, so there were plenty of civilians outside enjoying it, lounging in parks and partaking in early evening activities. 

Bakugou spied something out of the ordinary on his second scan of the surroundings. There was some kind of exercise class going on, packed with old ladies who were doing some kind of martial arts. At first glance, it was nothing unusual, but when he looked again, he noticed someone behind the trees, doing something with his hands.

His eyes narrowed at the creep. At closer inspection, the guy was clearly using a quirk, because every so often, one of the elderly ladies would fall down seemingly out of nowhere, startling the rest of the group. 

What a stupid fucking quirk. It was useless enough to not get this loser anywhere in life, but just enough to pick on old ladies. Bakugou was sick of seeing people his age act like a bunch of assholes. 

He stomped over to the class without preamble, ignoring Uraraka’s squeak of protest and Todoroki’s general confusion. The old ladies all stopped to stare at him, but he just pushed through their class, walking right up to the tree.

“Oi, moron,” He said, tapping the young man on the shoulder. He looked up, wide-eyed, but Bakugou didn’t give him enough to process who exactly he had pissed off – he slammed his fist into the side of his face, knocking him unconscious. 

Too easy. Weak villains were never satisfying. 

Bakugou turned to go back to his group, but found himself at a roadblock consisting of at least fifteen ogling old women, grinning and cooing over him. 

“Sweet young man!” 

“Thank you so much for your help!”

“Please, let me make you some sweets.” 

Bakugou grumbled and brushed them off. He didn’t need to be fussed over by a bunch of grannies – it was bad enough dealing with his own. He made it back over to Todoroki and Bakugou. Todoroki’s head was ducked and he was hiding a smirk, but Uraraka was full-on grinning. 

"That was nice of you, Bakugou,” she said. Six simple words and Bakugou felt his heart soaring.  

Suddenly, he was feeling even more heroic than usual. 

-x-

Uraraka had thought going to Bakugou’s house for the first time had been shocking – with its freshly mowed grass and modern, sleek architecture, it was the pinnacle of what upper class looked like to her. It was more luxurious of a home than she had ever imagined for herself, and she had brushed Bakugou off when he had told her that it wasn’t a big deal, and that he wasn’t rich or anything like that.

She hadn’t believed him then, but she had reason to believe him now. Standing in front of Camie’s house, Uraraka felt she had been transported back in time, to a world of kings and queens and peasants (which Uraraka absolutely was, in this fantasy scenario) – Camie’s house was enormous, practically a mansion. It had more windows than a house could ever possibly need, a garage that Uraraka could probably fit her entire house in, and a garden where flowers of varying sizes and colors bloomed everywhere, all perfectly trimmed and preened. It sat on a sprawling field, and when Uraraka peaked around the back (because she was too nervous to actually knock and she was curiously awe-struck) she saw a fenced-in pool, surrounded by lounge chairs and complimented with a fire pit.

Was Uraraka the only poor hero-in-training? Sometimes, it really felt like it. She couldn’t believe people lived like this.

The house was distracting enough that Uraraka almost forgot the purpose of her being there – almost. She rocked on her heels, her finger hovering just above the doorbell, building up her nerve. There were a lot of things that Uraraka didn’t want to do in life – homework, go to the dentist, clean – but number one on the list right now was this.

She had to remind herself that sometimes in life, you did things you didn’t exactly want to do in order to be a better person. She was doing a lot of that lately.

Some of those decisions she was surer of than others.

This one, in particular, she was sure about. 

The bell’s chime echoed all around the house and Uraraka lost her breath – she had done it. There was no going back now. The door swung open, and in front of it stood a young woman in an all-black uniform. She wore a ponytail and carried a cleaning rag. She gave Uraraka a surprised look but then it melted into a kind smile. “Hi there. Friend of Camie’s?” 

“Uh, yeah, hi. Sorry for dropping by unannounced, I just – ”

“No, no, you’re good,” She grinned. “Camie doesn’t get a lot of visitors. Just that loud boy, occasionally. She’s been feeling so down over the last few days, so I’m glad she’s got a friend who cares enough to stop by.”

Uraraka frowned at that, hot guilt washing over her and sending a flush into her cheeks.

“She’s in her room – I’ll show you where that is, don’t worry. I’ve worked for the family forever now, but I still get lost sometimes,” She chuckled and led Uraraka up an ornate set of stairs. Really, it was like she had stepped into a period-piece movie. “It’s that one, right there.”

Uraraka probably could’ve found Camie’s room by herself – the entire door was covered in brightly colored posters – boy bands, actors, memes that she could just see Camie giggling at while she printed them and pasted them up. It was such a Camie thing to do that Uraraka smiled in spite of herself, and then she realized that somewhere along the way, she had really become her friend.

“Cammers – friend for ya!” Called the woman.

Uraraka could hear a muffled response from Camie’s door, but couldn’t make out what was being said.

“It’s not the loud boy this time – this one is much smaller and quieter,” She smiled at Uraraka and the door opened. Camie stood in front of them looking less put-together than Uraraka had ever seen her. Her usual shiny hair was flat and ruffled, and her face was gaunt without makeup. She wore a pajama tank and sweatpants and when she saw Uraraka, her mouth opened into a small ‘o’.

“Chako-chip,” she said softly. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to check on you,” Uraraka mumbled.

“You guys need anything?” The young woman asked sweetly. “Drinks? Snacks?”

“Nah, I’m okay, Haru, thank you,” Camie gave a grateful, albeit a little dazed, smile.

“Cool, back to cleaning this beast,” Haru bowed. “Nice meeting you!” She called over her shoulder to Uraraka.

“You have a maid?” Uraraka whispered once she had gone, and Camie snorted.

“Haru isn’t a maid – I mean, like, technically, but she’s too cool to be referred to as that. She takes care of me,” Camie twisted the string on her sweatpants self-consciously. “So, like, what’s up? Wait, how do you know where I live?”

Uraraka’s cheeks burned. “Ms. Joke – ”

“Oh, did Em send you to check on me?” Camie looked almost disappointed. “I just have a headache that’s all. Been going through my memories like I’m streaming videos – figuring out what happened when and stuff, ya know.”

“Ms. Joke didn’t send me,” Uraraka blurted. “I, uh, I came on my own.” 

“Oh,” Camie blinked at her. “Okay, cool. Do you wanna come in? Gotta warn ya, though, a tornado flew around my room before you came.”

“Yeah,” Uraraka laughed – it had been a few days without outdated meme references. Camie gave her a tentative smile then opened the door further. Camie’s room was both exactly what she expected and not at all –- based on the structure of her house, she expected something regal, which in some ways, it was. Her bed could rival even Momo’s and she had a vanity brimming with hair and makeup products, but that was where the similarities ended. Everything else was covered head-to-toe with Camie’s personality – posters, action figures, scattered fashion magazines and clothes looked like they had been vomited onto every surface of the room with no real rhyme or reason. A pop song played faintly from her computer, and a cat lounged lazily on one of her pillows, regarding Uraraka with curious eyes.

“This is Neko,” She said.

“You named your cat, cat?” Uraraka raised an eyebrow. Camie shrugged.

“I’m not becoming a hero for my creativity skills,” She said, then she fell backwards onto her bed, startling Neko and causing him to scramble away. “So, I guess you’re here to talk about it. I got all my memories back, and I think I remember you saying you don’t want me to apologize anymore, but –”

“You already apologized for what matters,” Uraraka took a deep breath. “And I forgave you. You have nothing else to apologize for.”

Camie sat up suddenly, tears brimming in her eyes. “Aw, man, I was trying not to cry. I’m so puffy – I never wanted any of this to happen, dude. I wanted to be your friend – want to be your friend – so badly. You’re cool and funny and sweet and I was such a bad person, like, who was I? With Baku – I just wanted to tell him I was sorry too, then things got weird. I don’t know. I guess you can’t be friends with your ex without causing trouble, but, Chako, he loves you so much – he was telling me in the alley! He was just, like, trying to get his feelings out in that Baku way of his.”

“So in the worst way possible,” Uraraka hummed.

“Yeah, he’s terrible at that stuff, you know that,” She sighed. “I really don’t think he was like, caught up in me. Memories are really weird, and they can screw with you – trust me, I figured that out the past few weeks. Baku wasn’t having amnesia or anything, but he was getting all twisted up in stuff. I think I really fucked him up back then, and he was just trying to…move on from it. I’ve screwed a lot of people up in the past for dumb reasons. Even when I try to make up for it, I screw things up.” 

“Why?” Uraraka had been wondering this since she had started working with Camie, but she could never find a good time to ask it. She wanted to know why Camie had done the things she had done – what she had gained from them. Knowing her now, she just didn’t seem like the type of girl who was simply mean to be mean. 

“Why did I screw people up?” Camie repeated the question and then she rubbed the tears out of her eyes. “Because I wanted attention. I’ve always just wanted attention, like, somebody to notice me.” 

“People…don’t…notice you?” Uraraka couldn’t really come to terms with that revelation. Camie was nothing if not completely noticeable. If they weren’t looking at her for her body (which they definitely were) then they were noticing her for her beautiful face, long lashes, silky hair. No one in her class had been able to take their eyes off of her that first time they saw her at the Provisional License Exam. 

“Not the people I want to notice me,” she murmured. “I don’t know – I, like, learned really early on that acting out was the only way I could get attention. My parents are super busy and don’t bother with me much – unless I’m getting in trouble. Haru started working here when I was just a kid, so she’s kinda raised me,” She smiled fondly.

“Uh, how old is Haru?”

“I dunno, like thirty-something. Think she looks younger? She’ll be your best friend if you tell her that. We’ve been doing skin care together,” she laughed. “She’s been good to me, even when I’ve been horrible. I think she’s the one person who never gave up on me. My parents got really tired of my attitude – that’s why they sent me to the summer camp I met Baku at. It was supposed to be for kids with, uh, issues. They sent me there to be a counselor so it wouldn't look bad on my record.”

Uraraka blinked. Bakugou hadn’t told her that, but, yeah, it made sense. 

Camie kept going. “They said I better come back with a new attitude, but I was all, fuck that. I just kept acting the way I always had there – like a brat, for attention. Baku was such a jerk, but I could tell it was all an act. He was like me, and so I wanted to be his friend. Things got out of hand, and I didn’t know any better than to just…just ruin it. I was good at ruining stuff, so I acted like I didn’t care about him. Every so often, after everything that happened, I would miss being his friend and I would try to text him, but he never answered. When I saw you two at the Provisional License Exam…I was jealous that he was giving someone else attention. I wanted that attention. So I acted horrible to try and get it. I didn’t even want him, I just – I just wanted the attention. I’m so sorry – and I’m sorry for saying sorry again. Sorry.” 

Uraraka surprised even herself when she sat down next to Camie on the bed and wrapped her arms around her middle. 

“Wha -- ?” 

“I’m sorry too. I lied to you when I should’ve just told you about what we had gone through. It was unfair. We could’ve moved on from this so much earlier, and then – then maybe none of it would’ve happened. You’re not a bad person, Camie.” She wholeheartedly believed that. Uraraka knew Camie could never take back what she had done, but she was doing what she could do – apologizing, and trying to change.

Just like Bakugou.

“I did, like, a wide variety of bad things…” Camie said, looking ashamed.

“You said it yourself – people can change. What was it you told Shindo? Watch me?” 

Camie laughed through her tears. “I’ve been a pretty lame example.” 

“Yeah?” Uraraka smiled. Things were beginning to clear up in her head and in her heart. “I don’t think so – I think you’ve inspired some people. I think…I think we can’t forget the past, and some feelings will stay with us forever, but maybe that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” 

“Yeah,” Camie said, and she hugged Uraraka back. “Sorry, I’m a snotty mess right now. You’re making me emotion A-F.”

“Get out of here, you’ve done nothing but make me emotional for like, four months,” Uraraka snapped back, but she was teasing, and Camie knew it. A huge grin broke out onto her face. 

“I’m sure you’ll hold it against me for like, the rest of our lives, but I’m gonna start making up for it now. Ooh – do you want a makeover? You think you could fit into my clothes? You’re like a foot shorter than me, but okay, okay, we can make it work. You want some lunch? Haru makes the most bomb grilled cheese – it’s seriously to die for, don’t knock it. Okay, go sit down in front of the mirror, I’ll get Haru, and then we’ll start the makeover.”

Uraraka hadn’t gotten the chance to answer even one of Camie’s questions, before she was grabbing her by the arm and giving her a searching look. “Hey, Chako-chip. I know Baku, and I’ve never seen him so in love before. I know we’ve all been major dumbasses in this situation, but you know, maybe, like, give him another chance. I don’t think he’ll screw up again.” 

Uraraka knew that wasn’t true – a world in which Bakugou, or Uraraka for that matter, never screwed up just wasn’t possible. They would always make mistakes. Sometimes they would say the wrong things, they would hurt each other’s feelings, they would fall down, but the important thing was that they could grow through it. They could work together, to be better people, to change. People could do that, Uraraka realized – they could change together.

She just had needed a little help to figure that out. 

-x-

When Uraraka got home that evening (just before curfew, as Aizawa helpfully reminded her when she tried to sneak inconspicuously into the dorms) she was struck with the tragic realization that she was an idiot. She had known, of course, because Mina had confirmed it for her, but she really felt it now. She wanted to talk to Bakugou – she really, really wanted to talk to Bakugou, but she had no idea how to approach him. After she had told him that she needed time – she had a lot of nerve – Bakugou might not even want to talk to her. During their patrol, he had been cordial enough – which, for him, meant grunts and nods of acknowledgment, but he hadn’t seen overly interested in talking to her. 

She could’ve been imagining the flush to his cheek, or the eye-contact they made, or the fact that he seemed to gravitate towards her.

She could’ve been – but what if she wasn’t?

If she thought she had been confused before, she had really done it now. She knew what she wanted to do; she just didn’t know how to do it. 

She needed to consult Mina before she made any major decisions for the rest of her life – she couldn’t be allowed to act alone. 

Tomorrow, she decided, because it was past Bakugou’s bedtime now. Tomorrow, she would talk to him. She would take responsibility for the drama she had caused. She would fix this.

She had to fix this.

For the first time in several days, Uraraka fell immediately asleep.

She woke up to sunlight streaming into her room, and her phone vibrating by her ear. She rubbed the crust out of her eyes and stretched her arms, wondering who would be texting her so early on a Saturday. Her internship shouldn’t start for a few more hours – unless she had tragically overslept. She fumbled around in the blankets blindly until she felt the cool metal of her cellphone, and she lifted it to her face. There was a missed call and a text from Ms. Joke.

Uravity. Come to office ASAP. Big job.

Uraraka hopped out of bed with enough bounce to rival Tsu and ran to brush her teeth. A big job – she hadn’t had one of those yet, and it was what she had been waiting for. Her hero costume was in a heap on the floor – she had planned to do laundry and panic about how she would talk to Bakugou for at least a few more hours before her internship, but it looked like that wasn’t happening anymore. Her hair was a lost cause, but that was the beauty of a costume with a helmet. Once she had gotten herself together and dressed, she ran down the stairs, mind racing over what type of job Ms. Joke could possibly have for her that required her coming into the office – she checked her phone again – three hours early. 

Well, talking to Bakugou would have to wait. At least this gave her more time to psyche herself up.

Uraraka arrived to Ms. Joke’s office at the same time as Camie. She was transformed – back to her usual self as if the Camie Uraraka had seen yesterday had just been an illusion. She smiled brightly when she saw her, and it lit up her eyes.

“Glad you’re feeling better, Princess,” Ms. Joke quipped at her. “Girls – we have a bit of an emergency today,” Her tone changed to urgency, and the smiles dropped from their faces. “We need to get downtown immediately, there’s a collective group of villains causing absolute chaos at a spring festival. We need all the manpower we can get. Some of the other interns are already on the way.” 

“Aizawa’s interns too?” Uraraka asked, almost without thinking. Bakugou was never far from her mind, but today in particular, it was like he was weighing on it, interrupting her every thought.  

“Way ahead of us,” Ms. Joke teased with a twinkle in her eye. “You know how they get.” 

“Yeah, we better hurry, or they won’t be any fight left by the time we get there.” Camie rolled her eyes, but she bounced on the soles of her feet, pumped up. 

“I called us a cab, so ready when you are,” Ms. Joke said, “It’ll take us as close to the festival as it can, then we’ll run the rest of the way.”

They both nodded, and then the plan moved into motion.

The car ride passed in a blur, and before she knew it, they had come upon a disturbing scene – far too chaotic for a Saturday morning. It was total pandemonium – people were screaming and fleeing from a large, scattered group of villains. There didn’t seem to be any organization to their terrorizing – they were just causing problems to cause problems, with no ulterior motive. Uraraka watched as civilians tripped over themselves, trying to escape before they were victimized; she saw others fighting back. An old woman whacked a female villain with her purse, and the woman hissed at her.

These were the worst kind of criminals.

“You see her?” Camie asked.

“Yep.”

“Let’s go!”

If Uraraka thought that she and Camie worked well as a team before, it was nothing compared to now. Before, the trust had been frayed, halting, and Uraraka was working with Camie begrudgingly, fighting her own emotions. Now, there was nothing holding her back, and she and Camie worked together as one entity. They ran at the villain – a pink haired woman with purple-smudged makeup all over her face, trying to yank the purse away from her elderly assailant.

“Picking on grannies isn’t cool, yo!” Camie shouted, and she kneed the woman in the chest. She grunted and shrieked profanities at Camie, but she went down easily when she saw she was outnumbered. “Having giraffe legs comes in handy, huh?”

Uraraka smirked. “She looks like she’s kinda your style.”

“I think so too,” Camie grinned, and then she transformed, her features shifting into a much harsher visage, the spitting image of the bound criminal on the ground.

“Ay, you can’t do that!” The villain screeched, but Uraraka silenced her by tightening the quirk-suppressing cuffs they had been given for the job around her wrists.

“Uh, totally can, babe,” Camie blew her a kiss. “You got this, Uravity?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Catch ya later!” She skipped off to the next villain, a large man who she draped her arms around and kissed on the cheek, throwing him completely off of his task of trying to terrify a group of teenagers.

 “Diiie!”

 Uraraka’s heart hammered in her chest at the sound of a familiar exclamation. Bakugou flew by above her, sending heat and a rush of wind in his wake. He was a human missile, seeking out the biggest target he could find. A moment later, the air chilled, and Todoroki skated by. 

“Keep up, Uraraka!” He called behind him, and Uraraka narrowed her eyes, determination and adrenaline coursing together in her body.

Uraraka grinned. She handed the pink-haired villain over to a police officer and took off once more, this time heading for a man who was holding up a trading card threateningly in front of a group of petrified children.

“Want to see a magic trick, kiddies?” He guffawed, wagging the card. 

“I do,” Uraraka cried, and the villain turned towards her just in time for her hand to connect with his chest. He shouted in shock and then flailed as he floated into the air. Uraraka jumped up and grabbed his ankle. “Actually, I think balloons are more fun than magic tricks, don’t you think?” She asked the kids kindly. One nodded through tears and Uraraka smiled. “I’ll make sure you get a balloon once I clean this up, okay?”

“Thank you, miss,” Piped up one of the girls. She had long blonde hair and was holding a candy apple. “You’re a cool hero!”

The villain thrashed in Uraraka’s grip, spewing enough profanity to put Bakugou to shame. “Don’t repeat any of that,” Uraraka told the kids, and then she yanked the villain away. Adrenaline spiked through her body as she worked – it was an incredible rush. Still, she found her eyes searching for Bakugou through the mess, watching him to make sure he didn’t overdo it like he tended to do. He was back-to-back with Todoroki, them against a group of four. She had a feeling they would be okay.

“Ochako-chan!” Uraraka whipped around, bringing the villain with her. He whined. She came face-to-face with Tsu. “Need some help?”

“Sure!” Uraraka released the villain and gave him his gravity back – she may have let him fall for just a moment for good measure, trusting Tsu to catch him with her tongue.

“Hey, look, the band is back together!” Mina zoomed by, sliding on her acid. “This is great!” She swung around and kicked a bony woman in the stomach.

“Last time we all fought together, we were grounded for a month,” Lamented Sero, as he ran up to the scene flanked by Kaminari and Kirishima.

“Dude, that was illegal though. We’re certifiably allowed to kick ass in this scenario,” Kaminari insisted. 

“What are you doing standing around?” Kirishima shouted. “Go find a villain!” 

“It’s like a melee!” Kaminari cheered.

“Bet I can take down more than you, Riot!” Sero teased.

“You’re on!” 

They were gone so fast it made Uraraka’s head spin. Tsu had taken over her villain and was now working with Hagakure to tie him down, so she knew it was time to move on. 

“Uravity!” Camie touched down next to her, landing gracefully on her toes after a dramatic-and-probably-unnecessary backflip. “Your whole class is here – pretty lit to see UA in action again.” 

“We’ve improved a bit since you last saw us,” Uraraka grinned. “Had a bit more practice.”

“Yeah, all that underground ass-kicking,” she giggled, then her eyes widened at something behind Uraraka’s back. “Whoa, who’s that?” 

She turned, and saw Iida and Deku sprinting up, both in full-costume and looking ready to take on the entire hoard of villains themselves. “Uh, the green one or the one with the legs?”

“The one with the legs,” She replied dreamily. “He’s hot.”

Uraraka stared at her. Someone who had liked Bakugou was into…Iida? Well, she was sure they would have to unpack that one together later, but as an explosion rocked the sky, Uraraka thought that they had much more important things to attend to at that moment. “We’ll discuss that later!” 

Uraraka powered on the jetpack that Aizawa had given her – it had gotten incredible amounts of usage since she picked it out from under the tree and unwrapped it. The few times she had caught Aizawa’s eye while she was in the air, Uraraka had been able to make out the pride on her teacher’s face – she couldn’t thank him enough for making her mobile. She took to the sky, scoping out the scene below her to see who needed back up and where. 

It really was almost the entirety of her class there – she spied Momo, creating smoke bombs and tossing them out at unsuspecting villains, leaving openings for Jirou to creep in and wrap her jacks around them. She saw Ojiro balance on his tail and kick a bulky villain in the face, knocking him into his partner behind him and knocking them both out. Someone screamed in fear, and Uraraka saw Dark Shadow descend upon a villain. In the distance, Uraraka heard Mina’s distinct, high-pitched laughter, and couldn’t imagine the pain that she was bringing. 

“Oi, assholes!” Bakugou boomed from the ground. He was caged in by two vicious-looking, giant villains, and Todoroki had disappeared elsewhere. They were almost All-Might size, and they were grinning at Bakugou like he was a snack. Worry washed over Uraraka’s body.

“Saw you during the Sports Festival,” One of the villains grunted. “Someone needs to knock you down a peg.”

“Someone beat you to it,” Bakugou spat back, “But I’m on the rise again, fucker, and I’ll use you two as stepping stones!” 

“You talk so much shit for such a little boy,” The other taunted. “I don’t like rude children!”

Uraraka saw the explosion coming before it actually happened, but she was frozen in fear, watching Bakugou. When the colors hit her eyes, she was thrown back higher into the sky, flipping and twisting and losing control of her jetpack. She spiraled through the air; the nausea so severe that she thought she might puke right there in the sky.

That would be embarrassing. Also, she had to set herself straight, she had to get to him – to Bakugou.

She finally stopped spinning, but the world around her was still a blur of shapes and colors – she didn’t have time to touch down and refocus, so she simply forced herself forward in the direction that the heat was coming from, where Bakugou would be. She pressed the acceleration on her pack, and ran directly into what felt like a solid brick wall – head first. A pair of arms wrapped around her then and a gruff voice spoke, waking her completely from her daze.

“Oi, Round Face! You have a hard head!” 

Uraraka blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening. She was in mid-air, hugging something very firm, and very familiar. She would know this body anywhere. “K – Katsuki?”

Bakugou was floating directly in front of her, both arms gripping to her for dear life. “I still hate when you use your quirk on me.” 

“Why are you floating?” Uraraka asked dumbly, and Bakugou clicked his tongue at her.

“Just told you, you used your quirk on me – ran your hands right into me. You okay? That shit give you brain damage?” 

That was a possibility, and that would truly be some poetic karma, but everything in her brain seemed to be in-tact. “But – you were in the air?”

“Yeah, you were about to fall out of the sky, so I was gonna come get you, but you had other ideas. Can we get down before I fucking throw up on someone’s head?”

Uraraka couldn’t help but giggle, her own nausea subsiding now that she was being held still. “Usually you do okay with our partner work.”

“Usually I didn’t blow two villains to hell right before it.” 

That was fair enough. Uraraka turned off her jetpack and let Bakugou hang on tight to her while she lowered them down. The feel of his arms around her was hot and dizzying, but she had missed it. She had missed it so much. 

When they hit the ground, Bakugou grunted and rolled over onto his back. “Thanks for trying to rescue me, angel face,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, you too,” Uraraka said back, and then she realized that she was still light-headed, still seeing the world through a blurry lens. “Hey, Katsuki, I wanted to – ”

Then she passed out.

-x-

Uraraka woke up to quiet – peaceful, perfect, quiet. She was warm and comfortable, covered in white sheets, and the fogginess in her head was fading. It took her a moment to realize where she was, but when she did, she groaned.

“Why do I always end up here?” She asked herself, shoving her head back into the pillow.

"Damn, you really always talk to yourself when you’re in here. I thought it might’ve been a one-time thing, but it’s been consistent.”

Uraraka sat up, her eyes wide. She turned to the bed next to her, and saw Bakugou lying there, his hands covered in bandages and his face scratched up. His expression softened when she looked at him. “Hey, cheeks.”

“Hey,” She responded, bemused. The memories from earlier were coming trickling back into her head – the explosion, falling back, trying to get to Bakugou. All she had wanted to do was save Bakugou.

“We always end up here,” Bakugou scoffed. “In this fucking infirmary.”

“We should just have our own private room at this point,” Uraraka said, awareness coming fully back to her.

Bakugou snorted, “Probably.”

They were silent for a few moments after that, both of them contemplating their next words.

“Ochako, I – ”

“Katsuki – ”

They both stared at each other. “You first,” Bakugou insisted.

"Ah, I hate going first. You said my name first,” Uraraka challenged.

“Yeah, but I’m more interested in what you have to say,” Bakugou assessed her with serious eyes. There was once a point where those eyes made Uraraka feel small, had made her feel weak when they lit up with victorious laughter after he had beaten her in the Sports Festival, but now she knew everything that Bakugou hid behind them. They no longer made her feel small – they made her feel important.

“You tried to save me,” Uraraka said, because it seemed like the obvious thing.

"Well, no shit,” Bakugou said, “What? You think you dump me and all the sudden I’m gonna let you fall out of the damn sky?”

“When you put it that way…” She pressed the pads of her fingers together.

“I told you, I love you. If you don’t like that, tough shit, but I’m not gonna stop giving a shit about you just because – ”

“I love you too,” Uraraka said, all in one rushed breath, and Bakugou froze, his mouth open. “I’m sorry that I wouldn’t listen to you – I should’ve believed you in the first place when you told me the truth. I was jealous, and self-conscious, and afraid that you were only using me as a rebound from Camie – that you were just with me because she didn’t want you.”

Bakugou actually rolled his eyes. It was such a Bakugou thing to do that Uraraka wasn’t even shocked. “That’s fuckin’ stupid. You think I’d choose Camie over you? I don’t know how else I need to show you that I would never choose fucking anyone over you.”

“I just…you didn’t…you didn’t talk to me about it,” she said in a small voice. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, I was an idiot, I fucking know. I should’ve told you immediately what was going on in my head, but let me tell you now, loud and clear. Camie was a big part of my life, but that shit was forever ago. I never got proper…closure, or whatever, and I needed that, okay? I just needed to tell her all the shit that she made me go through so I would stop thinking about it. I never once thought about leaving you for her, or some shit. That would make me a bigger moron than Pikachu.” He huffed out a breath. “When you turned me away at the door, my fucking world ended right in front of me. I don’t care how dramatic it sounds, it’s true – you’re the whole damn world to me. You make me better. All I want to do is be better, but without you, what’s the damn point?”

“Katsuki,” she whispered, and there were the tears again. “Why did we do this?”

“Well, as Todoroki – and Mina, and Kirishima, and everyone else in the goddamn school says, we’re idiots,” Bakugou said. “With shitty communication skills,” he added as an afterthought.

“Next time you have a problem like this, you tell me, okay?” Uraraka said, “And I’ll do the same. We talk to each other before anything else.”

“Next time?” Bakugou sat up.

“Couples fight, so I’m sure there’s gonna be a next time,” She said. “Nobody’s perfect.”

“No, I mean – you want me back?” He was looking at her with more emotion than she had ever seen in his eyes, more rawness than she had ever experienced. If Uraraka had paid better attention and hadn’t been looking at him through a cloud of her own insecurity, maybe she would’ve noticed it all along.

“If you want to – then yes, I want to get back together,” she said, and a part of her was still afraid, afraid that he might reject her, that he didn’t want to try again, that he didn’t want to deal with her.

But Bakugou was never the type of person to like the word ‘no’.

“Fuck, thank God, I wasn’t going to be able to hold out for much longer,” He threw off his covers and stood up from his bed, then walked over to Uraraka’s. “I would’ve gotten desperate and asked fucking Deku for advice if I had to wait much longer – don’t ever repeat that.”

“When I tell Deku you said that, he’s gonna cry,” Uraraka said, and Bakugou’s answering grimace was enough to send her into a fit of laughter. Then she couldn’t stop – she laughed because she felt light, because she felt right. There was never going to be a world for Uraraka where she would be better without Bakugou, just like there wasn’t a world for him where she wasn’t good enough. Sure, they would have their problems, but they would take them on together. Anything Uraraka couldn’t do alone, she knew she could do with Bakugou.

He crawled into her bed, and despite her injuries, she curled into him.

“So fuckin’ nostalgic,” Bakugou murmured against her. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Uraraka whispered back. “Nostalgic, but pretty different from our first night together here.”

Bakugou groaned, but then wrapped his arms tighter around Uraraka. “This is better. This feels better than anything.”

Uraraka had to agree. That first night with Bakugou was supposed to be a one-time thing, a stress reliever, something insane that Uraraka would never do again, and now, here she was, thinking about the rest of her life, and how she knew it would include Bakugou. She never could’ve known what would come of that night, and how it would change her forever, but she was grateful for her loss in the Sports Festival.

“You know, Mina is gonna lose her absolute shit when she finds out about this,” Uraraka said lightly. “She might throw us a ‘getting back together party’.”

“Ah, fuck, Kirishima is gonna be so annoying,” Bakugou grumbled.

"We could try to keep it a secret for awhile,” Uraraka suggested, her mouth turning up into a small smile.

"We could...but we've never been good at keeping secrets, angel face.”

Chapter Text

Bakugou made eye-contact with Kirishima in the mirror and did not miss the way he bit his lip, that damn concerned look on his face. He sighed, knowing that it was too late to pretend he hadn’t seen him. “What now?”

“I just wanna fix this one more time,” Kirishima was quick to run to his side and descend upon him, fussing over his bow tie for the twelfth time that afternoon. He moved it slightly to the left, shifted it back to the center, a little to the right and then back to exactly where it had been before he pulled back, satisfied. “There,” he smiled. Bakugou, over the past few months, had learned to bite his tongue and just let Kirishima do his thing – if readjusting Bakugou’s suit every twenty minutes soothed his nerves, then he would allow it. He was pretty sure Kirishima was more nervous than he was.

He couldn’t let him completely get away with it, though. That wouldn’t be consistent with his character. “You’re acting like my mom, Shitty Hair, cool it.” He rolled his eyes for good measure, but judging by Kirishima’s smile, he didn’t buy it.

“He’s just making sure Ochako doesn’t kill you,” Sero said, pushing through the both of them so he could monopolize the mirror. He ran a comb through his short hair, resetting the gel.

“Or kill him,” Quipped Kaminari. He was sunken into a squishy arm-chair, snapping endless selfies with a phone that looked suspiciously like Bakugou’s own. He looked exactly the damn same as he looked in high school, down to black streak in his hair, and was just as stupid. He had grown on Bakugou though. Against his will, they had all grown on him. “He’s best man – if he shows up a mess, that’s on you. Should’ve made me best man, Kat, I would’ve made you look way more fly.”

Sometimes, though, they still made his eye twitch. “I look plenty good, idiot. Don’t make me regret including you in this at all,” He checked his watch. “Where the fuck are the others?” 

“Haven’t seen them,” Sero said coolly, but Kirishima looked like he had just been told that the apocalypse was eminent. His eyes widened and he frantically patted his pockets several times before he began pacing the room.

“Oh my God – they’re not here! We’ve gotta go soon! I didn’t realize they weren’t here; I’ve been so caught up – where’s my phone? Denki, find my phone.”

“Dude, how am I supposed to know where it is?” Kaminari paused from his selfie barrage just long enough to look annoyed.

“Use your electricity senses!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, it doesn’t work like – ”

Just then, the door opened, interrupting Kaminari before he could launch into a heavy explanation on the logistics of his quirk, and Kirishima let out a monumental sigh of relief.

“Thank God,” he said, at the same time Bakugou grumbled, “took you long enough.”

The two stragglers had finally graced the room with their presence, twenty minutes before they were due at the chapel. At least they were both dressed, but for fuck’s sake, Deku couldn’t even manage to put a bow tie on correctly. Bakugou had specifically picked them out so that he would be able to handle it and yet it still sat crooked on his chest.

“We were taking care of the dog,” Todoroki said simply. “Ochako asked us to.” 

“Todoroki likes Danny,” Deku explained.

“Don’t call my dog Danny – her name is Queen Danger. Come here, Deku, let me fix that damn monstrosity of a bow tie. You can’t embarrass me today.” Bakugou aggressively yanked at Deku’s bow tie while Kirishima looked on in horror, begging him to let him handle it. 

“Can’t believe you can’t even manage a bow tie, Deku, how are you so hopeless?” 

“That’s why I have you,” Deku beamed, and Bakugou swore he saw tears gathering in his eyes. He was absolutely not dealing with that shit. He had come a long way, but emotions were never his strong suit.

“Get it together, nerd,” he mumbled. Deku just sniffled. 

Life was funny. Ten years ago, when Bakugou had first walked through the doors of UA, he had been set in his resolve that he would not waste his time on friendships. He would study, sleep and train his way to the top – to the number one position, and he would destroy anyone in his way. 

Now, here he was, straightening the bow tie of the man who had stolen that spot from him, and truly, Bakugou couldn’t have given less of a shit.

It didn’t matter if he was the number two hero – hell, it didn’t matter if he was the number ten hero. All that mattered was today, and every day that would come after.

Today was the day that he was marrying Uraraka. 

“We all look incredible,” insisted Kaminari, “So can we get going? I wanna see the girls.”

“You won’t see them until the ceremony starts anyways,” Sero said, “unless you plan to sneak into their dressing room.”

“Who do you take me for, Mineta?” Kaminari wailed. “I would never do such a thing. I’m a married man.” 

“Somehow,” Bakugou muttered. 

“I resent that,” Kaminari replied. “I got married before all of you losers.”

“In Vegas,” Kirishima reminded him helpfully.

“Drunk,” added Todoroki. 

“And here we are, five years later and never happier,” the other man huffed. “None of you understand love except for Katsuki Bakugou and that’s shameful.” 

“I understand love,” Deku frowned.

“Yeah, I have a girlfriend, as well,” said Todoroki.

“When I see rings on all of your fingers, we can talk,” Kaminari said with a smug smile on his face.

Kirishima bit his lip again, and a slight flush crept into his cheeks. Bakugou considered fucking up his bow tie again, just to give him something to do so he wouldn’t have to partake in this conversation that he could no longer relate to since Mina dumped him, but before Bakugou could react, Kirishima had put on a brave face. “Just give us some time, Denki. We’ll catch up to you – but we should get going, guys. Is everyone ready?”

Bakugou suddenly felt like his heart might leap out of his chest. He hadn’t been this nervous in years – and the last time had to do with Uraraka too. He wasn’t stressed because he was marrying Uraraka, no, he would’ve done that shit the moment they graduated high school if she had let him, but because she deserved a perfect day. He owed ten years’ worth of happiness to this woman, and damn if he wasn’t going to give her the wedding of her dreams.

He needed everything to go impeccably, but when he made eye contact with Kirishima, he felt himself relax.

Of course everything would be fucking great. Everyone in the room had made sure of it.

“I’m good,” Bakugou said.  

“Good,” Todoroki appeared next to him – he still managed to move like a goddamn shadow, and still had about as much expression as one, but the bastard had wormed his way into Bakugou’s life over the years – so much so that before Bakugou could see it coming, they had become a kind of makeshift team when doing hero work, even after their internships ended. They were the number two and three heroes, respectively – when they worked with Deku, the gossip magazines went fucking insane. “Hey,” he lowered his voice. “Remember when I told you that you weren’t good enough for Ochako?”

“How could I ever forget?” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

A small smile played across Todoroki’s lips. “I just wanted to tell you that you proved me wrong.” 

Bakugou snorted. “That’s what I do, bastard. I prove people wrong.” 

“Okay, time to go!” Kirishima cried, and it was now or never. It was time to fucking do this.

-x-

Bakugou stared straight ahead, all the way to the back of the chapel, watching the door. He knew that any moment, the music would begin to play and those doors would open, and there Uraraka would be.

She would be beautiful – radiant, he was sure of it. Uraraka was the type of person who looked good in anything, even when she hadn’t washed her hair in days, or she had a runny nose, or she was covered in dog hair after cuddling with Queen Danger. Uraraka truly lived up to the nickname that Bakugou had given her all those years ago – the one that was just for him.

Today, though, he knew she would be on a new level, and he knew she would blow him away, just like she had the first time he met her.

In the first row, his parents sat with the Urarakas – they had become fast friends, bonded by their love of making fun of their children. He remembered the first time his mother had met Uraraka’s father – Jesus Christ, it had given him a headache at the time, so much shit-talking, so much sass. His own father taught Uraraka’s how to cook, though, and that had been fucking necessary.

At first, Bakugou’s anxiety that stemmed from being near his mother lingered, but with gentle encouragement from Uraraka, and baby steps, their relationship had grown into something Bakugou had always wanted – one of equality, one of love. He had begun to understand that some people just showed love differently.

He couldn’t look at his parents now – his dad was already crying, and his mom had been shrieking to anyone who listened how proud she was of her son for finding such a wonderful woman to marry. It was too damn much – no matter how much they grew, he would never stop thinking the old hag was embarrassing.

In the row behind his parents sat Aizawa, with Ms. Joke bouncing in her seat next to him, blowing kisses whenever Bakugou or Todoroki caught her eye. After their internship had ended, Ms. Joke and Aizawa had given them a proposition, to stay on, to work together in their group of four for the remainder of their high school years. Bakugou thought back to himself when he first started UA – how much Todoroki had gotten on his goddamn nerves, how the memories of his and Camie’s summer still haunted him, how he was in quiet awe of a girl named Uraraka. He had laughed. It was an easy decision.   

Neither of his mentors had changed much in ten years. Ms. Joke tried out a few different hair colors, but always went back to her signature green. She still dressed like a fashion disaster, despite Bakugou and Todoroki’s attempts to get her to upgrade her wardrobe. Unfortunately, a year into their internship, she met Kirishima, and once he presented her with her first pair of crocs, it was all over. Aizawa looked the same. Bakugou was convinced his brain was unable to process the concept of getting a haircut – it was still long and lanky, but now tinged with gray. His eyes were as red-rimmed as always, but Bakugou noticed he smiled a lot more these days.

Iida ushered people into their rows, fretting over All Might, who had yet to sit down and was instead taking selfies with some of Bakugou’s star-struck cousins, his booming laughter echoing through the church. He could maintain his form for about a solid five minutes nowadays, but that didn’t stop him from hamming it up with fans whenever he could. He heard Hagakure before he saw her, her dress squished in between Tokage and Kendo, her voice carrying all the way to the altar. Shinso sat to Tokage’s left, eyes closed, probably trying to take a micro-nap before the ceremony started. The rest of the former classes A and B mingled with each other, hanging over rows, shouting across the aisle, causing the noise level to rise to a breaking point. He caught Tetsutetsu mouthing encouragement at Kirishima, saw Pony casually petting Dark Shadow, a dreamy smile on her face, while Tokoyami was engaged in conversation with Shoji, saw Aoyama flaunting his glittering outfit to Ojiro, who looked politely interested.  

It was a certain brand of chaos that Bakugou had grown accustomed to – the kind that followed the UA family wherever they went, no matter how old they became, no matter what path they took in life. The chaos always found them, brought them together; they had made a home within it. All of those that Bakugou had once called extras were now here – his damn family. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

He was such a sap these days. Growing up really was a fucking trip, but he had started it early on.

“You excited, man?” Kirishima asked from his left side.

"Understatement of the damn year, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou mumbled back. From his right side, Todoroki let out a small huff of laughter.

“Here they come,” he whispered, and music began to engulf the chapel. The last of the stragglers took their seats, All Might transformed back into his slight form, the voices dropped dramatically to silence, and the ornate doors were thrown open.

Tsu came first, with her hair tied back in bows. She wore a light pink dress that Bakugou and Deku had helped Uraraka pick out one day after a patrol, and she smiled nervously while she walked. Bakugou snuck a glance at Deku, who was already fucking crying.

Following her was Jirou – her hair had been cropped short into a badass pixie cut a little after graduation, and she had never gone back. Today, she had pushed her bangs out of her face with a series of silver clips and she smiled serenely as she walked, more confident now than she had been when they were teenagers. Kaminari grinned– his body angled towards her in a way that it looked like he might abandon his spot in the lineup to go be by her side. Bakugou knew the feeling well – a magnetic attraction that pulled at his insides to be near the one he loved. He remembered experiencing it for the first time, a few weeks before he and Uraraka had gone on their first date to the mall.

Momo appeared in the doorway next, elegant as she had always been, causing the crowd to collectively swoon. Bakugou had rolled his eyes when Uraraka had fretted over Momo upstaging her. Momo was pretty, but Uraraka’s beauty was in a class all of her own. Todoroki’s eyes never left his girlfriend as she made her way down the aisle, and Bakugou knew that there was a ring at his home, burning a hole in his bedside drawer.

Then there was Camie – practically skipping down the aisle. Ten years could do a lot for a person’s maturity, but Camie had always been selective about in which ways she would grow up. She had become an incredible hero, and a friend to both Uraraka and Bakugou. She was at their damn apartment more than Bakugou was sometimes – lounging on the couch with the dog in her lap, eating their food. He had been hesitant at first – when Uraraka had explained everything in the days after they broke up and got back together for the last time, but Camie was like a weed. She grew on him, and once again, he began to trust her.

Besides, it wasn’t like he had a fucking choice. Once she had gotten Iida of all people in her grasp, there was no getting rid of her. Bakugou glanced over to the four-eyed former-class president now and saw him blush wildly as Camie passed by, throwing him a wink. He snorted under his breath.

The last to arrive was Mina, and she always had to make an entrance – she waved to the church crowd like she was at the royal wedding, and her skin sparkled with glitter. Her once short curls now cascaded down her back. Bakugou saw Mina less these days – she could be aloof, disappearing for days at a time into her work. He would never admit this unless he was severely intoxicated, but sometimes he missed hearing her loud mouth every day. He knew Uraraka missed her the most. While she walked, her eyes never made their way towards the front, and when she arrived at the altar, she did not let them wander.

Kirishima squared his shoulders and stared straight ahead – unbreakable, always.

“Here she comes,” Deku’s hiss was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire church, but Bakugou was long-past being annoyed by petty things.

Then there Uraraka was – heart-stopping, breath-taking, fucking beautiful. Uraraka was an angel in plain form, simply missing her own set of wings, and she was gliding towards Bakugou with a smile that was just for him.

Bakugou couldn’t have given less of a fuck about anyone else at that moment – they had all melted away the moment she stepped through those doors. She was the only one in the world, the only visual his eyes could focus on. It was as if all the music stopped playing, all of the people in the aisles disappeared, and it was only them there. Fucking cliché – but the damn truth. She wore a goddamn stunning white dress, and the way she wore it could’ve put the world’s top model to shame. It fit her body perfectly, flowing out behind her like she was walking through water. It was simple, but Uraraka had always been one who could make simplicity fucking brilliant – from sweatpants to school uniforms to a white dress, she was always blinding. The dress was strapless, and normally Bakugou wouldn’t notice shit like that, but he loved the way the light shone on her skin, causing it to glow in an ethereal way.

She walked slowly, and he smirked to himself, knowing that she hated walking in heels, knowing that she would be worrying over each step, thinking she might fall. Her clumsiness hadn’t decreased over the years, but she was doing great. He noted the pinkness in her cheeks, knowing it was natural, and that no amount of blush could recreate the look. It was unique; it was Uraraka.

She hid her face under a veil, giving the chapel just a hint of how gorgeous she truly could be. Bakugou would be the one to lift it off of her; he was the one who got to wake up to the face underneath the veil every day.

“Dude, she’s something else,” Kirishima said under his breath and Bakugou found himself nodding subconsciously. Yeah, damn right she was something else – and she was his.

Fuck, he was not going to cry in front of an entire church full of people. He could think of at least six people in the crowd and two of his groomsmen who would never let him live it down. He ducked his head, and when Uraraka approached the altar, he looked only to her.

If he was being honest, he could barely remember the vows. He heard the officiant’s words, but he didn’t really register them. All he could see was Uraraka, her smile, her tears, the love in her eyes. He tuned back in for the last few words, the words he had been waiting so goddamn long to hear.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

-x-

Weddings were exhausting, Ochako realized. All of the planning all of the dreaming, and everything moved as if it were a blur. The moment Bakugou had kissed her, the moment he had whispered into her ear that he loved her, and the crowd had cheered, it was like someone had hit fast-forward. Ochako was being passed around from well-wisher to well-wisher, to various family members, to friends. It was all so much that she couldn’t help herself from continuously tearing up, something that made Mina groan every time she saw her and was forced to pull the backup makeup from her purse. She was so overcome with emotion, so filled with love and happiness – she wished she could stop the clock, and keep this moment frozen in time forever.

“Need a minute?” She heard a voice from behind her, and she smiled. “Want to dance?”

“With my husband? Absolutely,” Ochako took Bakugou’s hand, and let him pull her onto the dance floor. She had never thought he would be much of a dancer, but she should’ve known him better than that – he wanted to be the best at everything, so of course he would be the person who got lessons in secret for weeks leading up to the wedding. She had been so shocked during their first dance that she couldn’t help bursting out into laughter. 

Ochako settled her head on Bakugou’s chest now, letting herself take all of him in. “It’s perfect,” she mumbled.

“I told you it would be,” he replied, swaying her gently. “No explosions, no fights, no last-minute fuck-ups.” 

“It was really all I could ask for to have no explosions,” She teased, and Bakugou tightened his hold on her waist. 

“Can’t believe how far we’ve come – fucking unbelievable,” He said, his lips brushing the top of her head. 

“Seems like just yesterday you were asking me to fuck you in the infirmary,” Ochako said lightly. Bakugou snorted.

“Don’t tempt me with old memories – I’m sure there’s a closet I could pull you into,” He warned.

“Probably, but good luck getting me out of this dress.”

“I’ll get it off of you tonight,” he promised and Ochako giggled. They continued to dance, twirling around the room, mixing in with their friends and family. Ochako saw Kaminari and Jirou, twisting their bodies off-beat to a song inside of their heads, saw Tetsutetsu dip Kendo down, and noticed even Aizawa had ventured onto the dance floor, although what he was doing could hardly be called dancing. Ms. Joke was working with what she had, bless her, and trying to lead. 

Ochako watched as her parents snapped pictures of her and Bakugou, and she stuck her tongue out in one of them. There would be plenty of professional pictures for her to choose from – her parents should have some that captured her every mood. Right now, it was joy – pure, unadulterated joy, like the kind that made her want to act silly, to let laughter bubble out of her lips, that made her want to dance. 

The next song sped things up, and Bakugou guided Ochako to a faster beat. He spun her and sang the lyrics in her ear, whirling her around until the room spun around her.

When she settled back against him, her eyes focused on something behind his back. 

“Katsuki,” Ochako hissed urgently. “Look at that.” 

“Look at what?”

“Turn around.”

Bakugou lifted Ochako slightly from the ground, causing her to yelp, but he simply set her feet on top of his and walked them in a circle, so that he could look where she had been looking. He laughed.

“Thank fucking God,” he said. In the corner of the hall, away from everyone else, Mina swayed slowly in Kirishima’s arms, ignoring completely the quick beat of the song that played over the speakers. They gripped onto each other tightly, with Mina’s head rested against Kirishima’s chest, and Kirishima’s head resting on her hair. 

Bakugou’s face split into a smile, and Ochako let out a sigh of relief. Gone were the long nights of Kirishima in their apartment, cuddled in between them while they watched sad movies (on his recommendations) and accompanied him while he drowned his sorrows in alcohol and food (courtesy of Bakugou, as he would most likely remind Kirishima for days to come). Neither of them ever complained, because they loved Kirishima, and he had done his fair share of mending things between them. Ochako was happy that two of her best friends would once again be back to normal. 

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes again. She hadn’t cried so much in years – not since her UA days, but these tears were different from those back then.

“Ah, cheeks, don’t start,” Bakugou implored her, “not again. You’re gonna fuck up your makeup and Mina is gonna bitch about it.”

“I can’t help it,” Ochako whimpered. “Everyone is so happy – I’m so happy.”

Bakugou kissed the top of her head, “happiest day of my damn life, angel.”

“And when we wake up in the morning tomorrow, it’ll be the start of the new happiest day of our lives,” Ochako said softly, threading her fingers together with his. “And then every day after that until we die.”

Bakugou snorted. “You’re the worst with words.”

“That’s truly incredible coming from you,” she rolled her eyes, and Bakugou smirked. He ducked down to kiss her on the lips, lingering for just a moment. This kiss wasn’t for the congregation or for the cameras – it was just for her.

“Love you, angel face,” he mumbled. “Get ready, more fuckin’ people are coming.”

“Make sure you smile,” she responded, plastering a bright one onto her face.

“Couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”

The night stretched on. Ochako’s jaw hurt from smiling, but her laughter was genuine. Her joy was unmistakable. It carried her throughout the night on a cloud. She was grabbed by more hands than she could keep track of, pulled into pictures and dragged into hugs. It was overwhelming, but she was bursting with love.

“How ya holding out, dude?” The hands that grabbed her now were familiar, belonging to Camie.  “Need anything? I have emergency snacks in my bra.”

“In your bra? Why not bring a bag?” Ochako raised an eyebrow. Camie shrugged.

“If they’re in my bag, can they really count as emergency? Think about it, babe.” She put a hand on her hip. “You still look like a goddess, which is crazy. Who did that?”

“You,” Ochako rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t keep up her act for long. “Thank you for that.”

“Psh,” Camie waved her gratitude away. “You know I love to do it.”

“Where’s Iida?” Ochako wasn’t used to seeing one without the other. She had to admit, it had been strange when those two had gotten together, and Uraraka still wasn’t quite sure she understood it, but they had worked magic on each other. Where Iida was too rigid, too by-the-book, Camie calmed him down, helped him see the fun in life. Where Camie was a little too goofy and lacked the occasional social skill, Iida taught her how to behave. Uraraka thought her and Bakugou were a true case of opposites attract, but Camie and Iida had them beat.

“I wish you hadn’t asked,” Camie grimaced, and then nodded towards the dance floor. Tsu, Deku and Iida were all dancing together in a circle of absolutely zero-rhythm. Tsu and Deku were bouncing around, while Iida did the robot. “He tried to get me in on that, but I couldn’t do it. It’s mad cute though, I respect his dance grind.”

Ochako giggled. “When’s your wedding?” 

“When I’m old and gray, at this rate,” Camie teased. “Tenya wants to ask my parents for my hand, like the medieval ages, so that’s gonna take a hot minute. Why, you tryna scheme your way into the bridal party?”

“Wow, I have to scheme?” Ochako asked, indignant.

“No,” Camie smiled. “I owe you a bunch, Chako-Chip. You can be my maid-of-honor any day – but just know you’re gonna have to plan a bachelorette party with lots of strippers. I will accept amateur strippers, such as Kirishima and Kaminari.” 

Ochako groaned. “Kaminari would enjoy that too much.” 

“Ah, never mind that,” Camie said, “We can talk about other weddings later, now we’re at yours. Come on, babe. Let’s go find Mina and party!”

Introducing Camie to Mina had been what Ochako imagined it must’ve been like when Ash Ketchum met Pikachu – Mina had taken to her immediately, almost tackling her with just enough aggression to show that she had once been an enemy, but enough love to show that she would now be accepted as a friend. They had stuck together like glue, and really, Ochako shouldn’t have been at all surprised. They were the same person in different bodies, and the three became an inseparable trio in a matter of weeks. Camie would often wander into the UA dorms, and after a while, Aizawa grew tired of kicking her out and just let it happen. 

“I think Mina’s a little busy,” Ochako protested.

“No one is ever too busy for the bride, Ochako!” 

As it turns out, Mina had already been looking for her, and she screamed when she saw them coming her way, turning to barrel into them, enveloping them both in a group hug. She was a little drunk – maybe a lot, but Ochako couldn’t blame her. Being the maid-of-honor wasn’t an easy job; she deserved this. They had an open bar for a reason.

“Ochako,” she whispered into her ear, still holding her and Camie in a death-grip. “Remember when you and Bakugou used to be stupid?”

“Yes,” Uraraka answered patiently.

“Kirishima and I were stupid – just like you two! Don’t let us be stupid again, okay?” Her eyes were shining.

“Count on it,” Ochako said, and Mina, overcome with emotion, started sobbing.

“I just, I love you all so much, holy shit. You two? Wonderful. Angels. Everyone in this room? My best friend. Every last one of them.”

“Dude, even Aizawa?” Camie teased. 

“Especially Aizawa!” Mina declared. “Where is that incredible man? I need to give him a hug. I owe him one for the three years that he put up with my shit.” 

Ochako should’ve stopped her – Mina was drunk, and she really shouldn’t have been allowed to be released onto the world in that state, but Ochako needed to see Mina try to hug the world’s grouchiest man. It would be the cherry on top of a perfect night.

When she ran over to him, Aizawa grunted in discomfort and his eyes turned red immediately. His hair rose at the threat of human contact. “What are you doing, Ashido?”

The reaction was exactly as she had hoped for. 

-x-

Ochako’s path was illuminated by a tiny explosions – enhanced sparklers, courtesy of Hatsume Mei, created just for Bakugou. They were a little risky, a slight fire hazard, but they lit up the sky in a fantastic, miniature fireworks show, and they saw Ochako out of her wedding, ending the greatest night of her life.

There had been a lot of great nights throughout her life, but this one would be hard to beat. She would keep the memories of shoving cake into Bakugou’s mouth, dancing with Deku and Iida to the Cha Cha Slide, watching Mina try to take a body shot off of Hagakure, and of course, walking down the aisle to her husband, for the rest of her life. She could fill a novel-length book with all of the memories she had made in one night. 

Yet, she was anxious to get to the rest of her life as Ochako Bakugou. 

She smiled to herself. She felt like a middle-school girl writing her crush’s name in a spiral notebook and outlining it with a heart. Ochako Bakugou. It had a wonderful ring to it. 

Bakugou pulled Ochako against his chest in the back of their car, running his fingers through her hair. She closed his eyes, totally relaxed, here in the presence of the one who she loved the most, who made her feel the most comfortable, the safest. 

“I love you,” he said softly. She could hear the exhaustion behind his words. 

“I love you too,” she rubbed her head against him. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For existing,” Ochako replied, feeling slightly dreamy about the whole thing. She was never much of a dreamer when it came to weddings – her dreams focused more on being a rich and successful hero, but when she met Bakugou, the fantasies began to appear in her head, daydreamed up during class, during work, lying next to him in bed at night. “For being you. For working hard. For loving me. I don’t know. For everything.” 

“You drink too much?” Bakugou asked.

“Not enough, probably.”

He laughed. “Don’t thank me. Everything I am – every fucking thing – is because of you. I was a goddamn terror and you made me want to be a good person.”

“You’re still a goddamn terror a lot of the time, like when you’re hangry, or when Deku beats you in Mario Kart, or when –”

“I could list of all the times you’re a terror too, wife. Want me to?” Bakugou ruffled her hair and Ochako cried out in protest.

“You’re gonna mess it up!”

“I’m gonna mess it up anyways,” he spoke lowly into her ear and she shivered. It didn’t matter how many years they had been together – it could be fifty years, and Bakugou would still be able to turn her into a puddle with just the inflection of his voice. His words held years of heated memories and promises of many, many more.

“Good luck – there’s like, one hundred bobby pins in there,” Ochako challenged.

“Tch. Not a fuckin’ issue, I’ll take them all out.”

“That’s gonna take forever – usually you’re so impatient,” Ochako intertwined their fingers and kissed each of his knuckles. He placed his lips on top of her head.

“Usually,” he agreed, “but now I’ve got all the time in the fucking world. You’re mine forever.”

“Yeah,” Ochako sighed. “Yours forever.”