Thirty Days


A/N: Give me all the Kacchako! This fic takes place a few weeks after All Might's retirement. All canon story details after that are pretty much null here.
This would definitely be considered a slow-burn. Unlikely friendship turned romance. All that sappy shit.

Disclaimer: I do not own BNHA or any of its characters.


Chapter One: Unlucky.

[Uraraka]

It was still strange, looking at the all-powerful Symbol of Peace in his true, deflated form. So strange in fact, that Uraraka Ochaco found it difficult to focus on what he was saying as he stood in front of class 1-A. His hair was scraggily and flopped forward lifelessly. His clothes didn't fit him right, either. But the strangest part of all was the permanent, toothy frown that adorned his sunken face. It wasn't anything like the All Might she'd seen growing up, or the one who had taught her so many important lessons since she'd been accepted at UA.

Uraraka had never idolized All Might the way Deku had, though. She'd always admired him, of course. She had never met anyone who hadn't. There was no denying his strength and skill. She'd be lying if she said his role in the world of heroes hadn't urged her toward her current path at least a little. She wondered if seeing him this way had put any sort of damper on her friends' spirit…

She let her eyes wander from her teacher to the back of his head, at his puffy green hair, and felt a small smile lift her cheeks.

Right. She reminded herself. It didn't matter what All Might looked like now, he was Deku's hero, and hers, along with so many others, and it didn't diminish his past achievements or his unsurmountable enthusiasm. Suddenly, she felt a little guilty for letting herself get wrapped up in the media—All Might may look different, but he was the same hero he'd always been. Everyone had to retire at some point. And on top of everything, he'd managed to defeat All For One and accept his new role as a full-time teacher at UA with grace and dignity. That was an admirable way to go out as the Number One Hero.

Uraraka felt her eyes wander once more, this time to the figure slumped on his desk in front of Deku, and her smile faltered a bit.

Bakugou hadn't quite been the same since the new semester had started…

She didn't really know much about him other than he could be unforgivably, irrationally heartless—especially when it came to her Deku. But he hadn't had a single outburst since classes had resumed nearly three weeks ago. It was refreshing, but it also made her a little wary. Something was obviously eating at him.

She sighed and shook her head to herself.

There was no reason for her to particularly care. She should have been happy at his newfound silence. Everyone else seemed to be for the most part. They had chalked it up to sudden maturity, but Uraraka couldn't buy that. It felt insensitive to simply ignore it.

Bakugou would probably kill her if he could read her thoughts.

But he'd been abducted by villains! It was completely different from his encounter with that slime guy… it was scarier than when they'd been attacked at USJ. That had obviously had some sort of impact on him. They wanted to recruit him, they thought he was evil underneath that harsh, explosive exterior. She couldn't even begin to imagine how that must make him feel—

Suddenly, he turned his crimson eyes to face her and she nearly jumped at the suffocating rage that radiated from him. She swallowed hard, and realized, almost everyone in the class had turned to look at her as well.

Uraraka blinked and returned her attention to All Might, who was also staring her down, as if waiting for a response.

She felt the heat rise from her cheeks to her ears and realized that All Might had written multiple names on to board, one below the other in a line of ten. Above the names was a simple title that read: TEAMS, in all capital letters. The tenth name written at the end of the board was hers, and the one scribbled underneath it was…

"Oh." Uraraka said, meeting Bakugou's heavy glare once more.

She was so embarrassed that she thought she might burst into flames at any moment. She almost welcomed that. She'd completely spaced out.

"Uraraka!" All Might called from the front of the room, bursting into his large, familiar form and bowing before reverting to his skeleton figure in a puff of steam, "I leave young Bakugou in your hands!"

Despite her confusion and the eyes of her classmates weighing her down, she stood quickly, nearly knocking her chair over behind her, "O-of course!"

Whatever these teams were for, she'd accept her duty and her teammate with enthusiasm.


[Bakugou]

"Young heroes, working together is an essential part of your duties, for the tides of battle can be swayed in either opponents' direction by sheer team work!" All Might nearly shouted from the front of the room, "You all got a taste of this during your internships last semester, working with a Pro and acting as their sidekick. For this next step in your basic training, we'll dive even deeper into that facet of hero work!"

Bakugou grumbled to himself. He didn't want to relive a single memory from his internship with Best Jeanist… He practically shivered as he remembered how his hair kept that stupid fucking part for days after that guy had stopped combing it. Aside from that, he didn't like thinking about what would await him once he graduated. Everyone always talked about how they'd have to work as pathetic sidekicks before they could be counted as one of them, while the top heroes got all their glory.

He wasn't a sidekick. He would never be. He refused.

All Might continued on, "For the next month we'll be splitting into teams of two. One will play the role of a Pro while the other will act as their sidekick. Each of you will be paired with one of your classmates whose abilities we've determined will work well together, of course. But the goal here, young heroes, is for each of you to understand what it means to lead and what it means to follow!" He nodded enthusiastically, pressing both fists to his hips and then turned to the board and started scribbling names as he continued. "Everyone's goal should always be to strive for the top! But each of you will have to work as a sidekick in order to make it there."

Bakugou straightened in his seat. This seemed more up his alley—he'd get to play Pro and show everyone else he was more suited to be Number One than anyone else.

Especially that damn nerd…

He gritted his teeth together and waited impatiently for his teacher to finish writing the names.

"First, in group one, our Pro will be Yoayorozu Momo and her sidekick will be played by young Todoroki!" He announced.

All Might continued, but Bakugou stopped listening—he saw the way the names were arranged on the board and he felt his eye twitch as he realized his name was placed under someone else's. Which would make him a fucking sidekick…

"… And lastly, in group ten, our Pro will be played by Uraraka Ochaco which makes her sidekick, Bakugou Katsuki." All Might nodded again and again, like he was pleased with himself.

The class, who would typically have erupted in some sort of annoying cheer of excitement was uncharacteristically silent. Bakugou felt some eyes on him, but he ignored them as he turned his head just enough to glare back at the girl he'd fought at the sports festival.

It surprised him that she was looking at him too—not with a look of fear or disbelief. Her brow was furrowed in deep contemplation, and something in her eyes made Bakugou want to avert his gaze immediately. Her couldn't guess what she was thinking, but somehow, he knew it wasn't about their pairing. It made him overwhelmingly uncomfortable, like she was trying to peer into him…

It pissed him off.

But it pissed him off even more when he heard All Might shout, "Uraraka! I leave young Bakugou in your hands!"

He scoffed but instead of yelling he just buried his head back into his arms on his desk. It felt like a punishment.

Because you were weak. He told himself, letting his mind fall back to the short time he'd spent with the League of Villains.

You let yourself get caught by fucking scum.

It felt like every time he closed his eyes, he was back in that shitty bar with those assholes, reliving his failure. Reliving the moment when All For One fell, but All Might had fallen too. What kind of victory was that, anyway? If he'd been stronger—if he'd been able to escape, or kill them all where they stood, All Might would still be All Might, that stupid fucking nerd and all those damn extras wouldn't have felt like they had to save him…

I don't need saving! He roared in his head, digging his nails into his arm, hoping he could draw blood even through the fabric of his uniform.

The screech of a chair behind him broke Bakugou from his thoughts and he turned his head once more to look back at the round-faced girl as she stood and slammed her hands on her desk in a ridiculously overdramatic fashion.

"O-of course!" She replied with a furious nod.

Bakugou nearly groaned.

How unlucky did he have to be to get paired with Deku's stupid fangirl?


[Uraraka]

That night, once Uraraka made it back to her dorm room and changed out of her uniform, she made time to scold herself for her slipup during class. She didn't usually space out that badly, and she had been overwhelmingly embarrassed asking Ilda and Deku about the assignment after her declaration to All Might.

She needed to stay focused.

Uraraka sighed and fell back onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling.

This was going to be a tough assignment. The teachers had obviously made their decision on who would play the Pro's for this training by picking the weakest of the bunch to lead… Not necessarily the weakest physically, but the ones who typically played background roles. The natural leaders were stuck in the support role, that was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with, anyway. It was the only thing that could truly explain why Todoroki, Deku, Ilda, and Bakugou of all people got put into the sidekick roles.

She frowned. What did this say about her?

If they wanted her to play the Pro in this assignment, then she must not have been making enough of an effort to stand up and take the lead. Although, thinking back, that might be true... That realization stung a little. Maybe she'd been focusing too much on supporting those that were clearly above her. Maybe she'd unknowingly stunted her growth as a hero by relying too heavily on her classmates' skills…

Uraraka felt her frown deepen.

No, that couldn't be quite right… Ilda had said this was a test of teamwork. Relying on each other is what made them stronger as a group. And all heroes, even the Pro's, had to rely on their sidekicks and others to do what needed to be done. Which meant that this test was probably meant to just push each of them out of their comfort zones. After all, in a real fight, you never know what could happen. Anyone could be thrust great responsibility at any moment.

She needed to be ready.

With a huff, Uraraka pushed herself from her bed and slipped her feet into her running shoes with renewed vigor.

But her resolve couldn't quite push past one thing… Her partner was Bakugou Katsuki. He wasn't keen on team work or relying on others. He may be strong, but that was a major flaw that couldn't be overlooked. Raw power was all well and good but if you insisted on doing everything on your own, you'd never be able to reach your full potential.

Regardless, if she was going to be a Pro, she needed to be stronger.

She'd worry about Bakugou tomorrow once their training started.

She made her way through the dorm and filled her water bottle in the kitchen before heading back through the common area where Asui and Deku had situated themselves. They didn't seem to notice her as she passed by, they were too busy muttering to each other about different strategies and combos they could do with each of their quirks.

Right… Uraraka thought, recalling the names All Might had written on the board, they were partnered up for this too. She didn't think Froppy had much trouble taking the lead, she was levelheaded and analytical, much like Deku. So maybe they had been partnered up based on their quirks more than anything else.

A strange twist of her stomach forced her through the common room faster. There was something about seeing them so engrossed in one another that stung the tiniest bit, and she needed to get on with her training anyway.

Pushing herself into an eager jog, Uraraka rounded the corner and ran face-first into a wall that hadn't been there before.

Wait…

Uraraka rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and braced herself as she looked up at the crimson eyes of the wall that had blocked her path.

"Watch where you're going, fuck-face!" He shouted. She thought she could almost see the steam rise from his fuming expression.

Not a wall… She corrected herself. Just Bakugou.

"Learn how to fucking walk!" He shoved past her and headed for the stairs.

"Wait, Bakugou!" Uraraka followed closely on his heels, "We should talk about this assignment—"

"Don't bother," He practically hissed, "I'm not your sidekick, you got that? I don't give a shit what All Might said. I'm in charge and I don't need you to ace this. So, stop following me, damn it!" He started up the stairs, each step an exaggerated stomp.

She sighed and crossed her arms, watching her new partner's hands crackle with rage as he disappeared to the next floor. She hadn't expected him to be on board, but she had been hoping to at least get a word in. This assignment was going to be even more difficult than she'd previously thought. Especially if he wasn't even going to try and cooperate…

With less enthusiasm than before, she headed outside for an evening run, trying her hardest to think of anything but her temperamental "sidekick".

Suddenly, Uraraka felt extremely unlucky.