Coming of Age
University wasn't necessary for them. It was a weird thing, honestly, in this day and age in Japan. With heroes and Quirks rampant and in abundance, a lot of schools that offered hero tracks still recommended a university education immediately following.
But not UA students. The best of the best. Almost always guaranteed internships with hero agencies, the likelihood going up if they did well in the sports festivals throughout the years, and the provisional licensing exams.
Lucky for Bakugou Katsuki, he did well at everything. And now that the legal age in Japan was eighteen, and he was literally days away from turning said age, he was…
He'd never admit he was unsure about what was coming next. He already had internships lined up—maybe not as many as Deku or Icyhot—so it wasn't like he was worried about his opportunities. He wasn't thinking he was making the wrong choice not going to university. He was a hero. He was going to be a hero. He was going to beat everyone and be the number one hero if it killed him—or someone else.
But besides the hardheaded idiot that hadn't stopped following him around since first year, and his old hag mom who for whatever reason always had his back, Bakugou felt….alone.
He tried not to let it bother him, and he was sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that Deku always got everything.
And this wasn't about internships or All Might's damn powers.
Well.
Not anymore.
No, it was about….her.
/
The alarm rang in his bedroom. Graduation was done. Bakugou was back home until his internship began and he was boarded by the company who had chosen him. They were willing to work with his wildness, and three years of Aizawa-sensei giving him dorm-cleaning duty for each ridiculously outrageous bout of angry fighting had mellowed him. Some.
But Bakugou didn't want to get up today. He didn't want to be eighteen. He had been preparing for this his whole life. He was intelligent, and sincerely wanted to be a hero. He was ready for the responsibility of it. But the anger and insecurity still burned deep inside him.
He never thought he'd add loneliness to that list.
"Kuso," he growled to himself as he turned off the alarm and picked up his phone. His damn stupid, sentimental classmates were already sending him birthday texts. Kirishima, Kaminari, even Icyhot had managed a cultured, stoic many happy returns.
Pretentious hot-cold asshole. "Just say happy birthday, teme," he grumbled at his phone and then slammed it down.
Nothing from her yet. But she was probably being paraded around by Deku like some trophy china doll. Being showered with his stupid, overthought gifts and blabbed at about all of his ridiculous hero analyses and theories.
He groaned and massaged his face, roughly, his hands falling back down to his sides, his palms making irritated little sparks as he thought about her stupid, ridiculous, annoyingly pretty round face stretched in a moronically romanced smile at Deku's lame attempt at existence.
All Might's power, Bakugou's dream school of UA, more internships than him even though he won the sports festivals almost ever year. And now her.
Deku really did get everything.
Squeezing his hands into fists to stop the sparks, Bakugou climbed out of bed and got into the shower, ignoring his mother yelling down the hall that she was making him a special birthday breakfast whether he liked it or not.
In all honesty, he had started liking her first year, though he'd all but denied it then. She was strong—she put up a fight when no one else had. She had a reason to fight, a purpose. She wasn't just a frail girl.
He'd pushed those feelings down at first, swallowed them, pretty much assuming by the fact that she was attached to Deku's hip that she'd just end up his girl. And honestly, Bakugou had no time for any of that if he was going to be the best.
But as the years at UA had trekked on, he found himself paired off with her a lot more than he'd anticipated. In fact, if she wasn't with Deku, she was with him. And when she was with Deku, she was usually also with Four Eyes, too. The truth was, she chose to be alone with Bakugou more than ever with the other two, doing tasks around the dorms together, sparring together, doing projects together (if and when Deku or Four Eyes couldn't.)
And she had the stupidly annoying habit of constantly talking to him about Deku, or asking his advice about being a hero, or talking about her parents. And she had the damned nerve to ask the same of him, as if she actually cared as her stupid, annoying, adorable round cheeks stretched into a curious smile, and all while becoming Deku's girl?!
Bakugou punched the bathroom tile and flipped the shower off with a harsh creak as he stepped out and threw a towel around his waist with a growl and a curse. It wasn't fair. He just wanted to graduate and become the best. He didn't need any emotions getting in the way—even if she was his perfect girl (both his equal and his opposite in all the best ways).
He didn't need to go into eighteen feeling both accomplished and lonely as hell.
He was snapped from his thoughts when he heard someone knock on the bathroom door. He whipped the door open, expecting his mom trying to force her rubbery eggs on him (which wasn't at all true; she was a wonderful cook and she'd taught him.)
Instead, he found a stupidly, annoyingly, irritatingly beautiful round face staring back at him, framed perfectly by the swoop of her dumb brown hair that somehow managed to make her look even more incredibly pretty and always smelled like fruit.
It was her.
"Marui kao," he breathed in surprise—'round face'.
Uraraka Ochako smiled back at him, her hands clasped behind her back, her round, pink cheeks flushing an even darker shade. "Konnichiwa, Bakugou-kun…um, you're…in a towel…"
Bakugou, who couldn't stop his guard from dropping around her, also blushed and scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You're the dumbass who knocked on my bathroom door. Chotto matte." He stepped down the hall, and into his bedroom, emerging ten minutes later in a pair of jeans and a black v-neck, his biceps pushing on the seam of the tee's sleeves. "What are you doing here, kao?"
"I have an internship interview today but I wanted to give you this in person. It's important," she said, and her hands finally came from behind her and held up a black gift bag, a red card barely peeking over the top edge. "Happy birthday."
Bakugou's eyes widened, and he froze for a moment, trying to register that not only has she bought him a birthday gift but she had gone out of her way to deliver it in person. "I—"
He never finished the half-formed thought when Uraraka checked her watch and looked up at him, "I have to go. I hope you like it. See you soon." She smiled and turned, rushing back down the hall the way she came. He watched her back, heard her compliment the scent of his mom's cooking, and then finally the sound of the door closing behind her.
Sitting down at the table, he cursed at his mother when she shoved a plate of breakfast in front of him. He ignored the food and pulled out the card from the bag, opening it and pulling out the note.
Katsuki,
It's not how you think it is with Deku-kun.
Please come meet me tonight.
Happy birthday.
-Ochako
Bakugou pulled his gift out of his bag, and despite his usual steely, aggressive behavior, his face stretched into its usual grin—if not a little warmer—and he dug into his mother's eggs, unsurprised when they were, in fact, delicious.
/
The UA stadium was quiet at night, and technically Uraraka wasn't supposed to be there, as she was no longer a student, or competing in a festival.
She heard the heavy footfalls coming up the pathway into the seats behind her, and she would've been worried, except she was Uravity and the steps were familiar.
"You found me," she said as she smiled at Bakugou when he approached her, sitting down in a seat next to her.
Bakugou scoffed, and then smirked. "This is the first place we ever fought. Figured if you have something important to tell me, it'd be here." His red eyes turned and looked at her, a fang-like tooth visible in his grin—a little cocky, a little friendly and warm. "You're mushy like that, kao."
"And how do you know I'm going to say something mushy, hm?" She asked with a smirk of her own, still looking out at the dark stadium, remembering their first fight fondly.
He held up the note, and his birthday present—a small vile on a piece of twine with little gray rocks in it. "You know, I know everyone expects me to be a dumbass, but symbolism isn't lost on me. I just ain't IcyHot or Deku, where I outwardly analyze that shit every second of my life."
"They aren't the rocks you blasted away during our fight, but I was hoping you'd get the gist," she said, her brown eyes sliding and meeting his. "Thought you could use some good luck before you started your internship. A reminder of how strong you are and have become. And a reminder I could still surpass you."
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Sure. Is that all you wanted to sa—"
He was cut off when she grabbed him by the edges of his jacket and pulled him in, their lips meeting heatedly, battling, moving together, learning each other, before she released him with a small sigh, and looked away.
Bakugou was quiet, speechless, and then he cleared his throat. "Your note."
She nodded. "Deku-kun is my best friend. But he isn't my boyfriend. Those are rumors started by tabloids because Deku-kun being All Night's actual successor is such a big story right now. Him getting scouted and offered internships is big news and we're always together but I didn't want you to think that because the truth is, even though I liked Deku-kun in first year, the more you and I were together, the more i—"
She was cut off by him, suddenly, her small, powerful body being pulled roughly into his lap, and his lips finding hers again, the battle commending for several moments before his mouth released hers and his lips tugged upward in a triumphant smirk. "So you're telling me I best that damn bastard Deku?"
Uraraka rolled her eyes. "If you say it like that, I'm dumping you on the spot."
Bakugou laughed outright and pressed a warm, sweet kiss to her shoulder through her shirt. "Fine. But I still won." He tightened his muscled arms around her and mumbled something.
"What was that?"
Bakugou rested his cheek against hers. "Said I think this is a better win than any top internship," he repeated, and smiled against her skin, "but that never leaves this stadium, marui kao. Never."
Uraraka's face brightened affectionately, and damn, if she didn't look pretty. Stupidly, annoyingly pretty. She touched his spiky hair, lifted his chin with her gentle, powerful fingers, and pecked his lips—a silent thank you for the compliment of being that important to him. She kissed him again, and again, and again, each peck a thank you for the years of friendship and putting up with her. A promise that his soft side would stay between them.
And then, with her stupidly pretty smile, and her annoyingly pretty round cheeks, and her amazingly, incredibly prettt voice, she leaned in, hugged his shoulders tightly, and whispered,
"Happt birthday, Katsuki."