Author's Note: This started out as a drabble after reading a fic that said Kirishima had a crush on Uraraka and...it took on a life of it's own. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I think they're cute af together and I love the "strong/bold Uraraka" idea, haha. Enjoy!

Kirishima tapped his pencil to his notes as he stared across the common room at the brunette gravity manipulator. She was laughing with Mina and Tsu about something, but he couldn't hear what…but he could hear her laugh as clear as day as it filled up the room. He put a hand over his face to hide his smile as he looked back to his notes.

When he first started noticing her in this way, he had been confused. This small, unassuming girl who he had barely registered when they first entered UA had somehow found residence in his thoughts. He could vaguely remember Kaminari saying she was cute and trying to ask her out their first few weeks, but he hadn't thought much about her then. He could remember seeing her with Midoriya and Iida a lot, but he hadn't thought much about her then, either. She had just been another classmate to him for such a long time, so recognizing her tenacity and her drive was normal. Being attracted to it, however….

He nodded to himself as he drew a few stray squiggles on his page. Being attracted to it didn't start until their first sports festival. He was unexpectedly early to the stage because, ironically, he thought he was late to his rematch with Tetsutetsu and was able to watch as she fought against Bakugo from the tunnel. He had never seen such fire in anyone's eyes except Bakugo's or Midoriya's up until that point. He could still remember watching her stand each time; legs shaking, chest heaving as she panted, her wrist wiping at her face before she'd take off after Bakugo again. He remembered the frown on her face as she would disappear and reappear into the smoke from Bakugo's explosions, aiming another blow to him before being shoved backwards. He still remembers the utter shock that coursed through him as he realized seconds before everyone else that debris was floating well above the stadium. He had been frozen stiff. Watching it all crashing to the ground as she ran towards Bakugo, only to be blown backwards by the blast he aimed upwards had sent electricity through Kirishima's entire body. Then she tried to get back up.

She was strong.

Even as she fell back to the ground, Kirishima felt his chest constrict with such admiration that he could barely breathe. Had he ever seen a woman who was so manly?

He chuckled at the thought. The idea that he had thought it was only admiration that day still astounds him. He spent months watching her train, watching her fight for whatever brought that fire to her eyes. He had been mesmerized. It hadn't helped that Bakugo held her in high regards since their Sports Festival fight, as well. Bakugo never let anyone bad mouth her or call her frail, which had only fueled Kirishima's interest.

Eventually he had asked her to train with him. Their quirks didn't work well together; all he could do was throw punches and harden his skin, all she could do was make things float. Yet, he still had found a way to convince her into it. He had said something stupid along the lines of helping her with hand-to-hand combat and weight training. What was it he had said? "I can teach you how to create openings to use your quirk during hand-to-hand fights, plus weight training will make you more manly!" It really was stupid, honestly. The fact she had even agreed without any hesitation still floors him almost a year later.

It was during all the training together that he realized it wasn't just admiration for a classmate's tenacity. He didn't notice it at first. He would feel his heart skip a beat when she'd get fired up, or his breath catch in his throat when she'd stand after he'd knocked her down multiple times, or his face felt like it would catch fire when she'd find a way to pin him. Each time, he found an excuse as to why he felt the way he did. The final straw was when she had mentioned inviting someone else to their sparring and he immediately shouted "No!" without thinking. He backtracked quickly, saying something about how adding more people made it messier…but he remembered how quiet she was while she processed it, how she chewed lightly on her bottom lip and her cheeks lit up even brighter than normal. She accepted it after a few seconds, her smile as bright as ever.

After that, their training sessions started to feel…charged. It was as if Kaminari stood in the room and filled with static. Nothing really changed, but there was definitely a difference. It's been a few weeks since that happened, though, and training was otherwise normal enough.

"Kirishiiimaaaa…."

Kirishima shot his head up to look at Uraraka, who was smiling while shaking her head. He glanced around the room to notice that everyone else was gone before looking back up into the large brown eyes that were watching him with amusement.

"Everyone left already." She giggled. "The girls all went shopping. Not sure where the guys went."

Kirishima watched her look around the room, a half-smile forming on his face. "Why didn't you go shopping, Uraraka?"

Uraraka shrugged before pointing to the clock. "It's six o'clock. Want to go train some while they're gone?"

His smile grew as he nodded and packed up his things. "Sure, let me go put all this in my room and I'll meet you in the training room!"

"Alright."

Uraraka turned and walked out of the room, Kirishima's eyes following her closely. He shook his head. That was a good way to lose while they trained. The walk to his dorm and to the gym was slower than he meant for it to be. By the time he walked in, Uraraka was doing sit-ups on a decline bench. He froze when he saw her. She had already changed into some shorts and a tank, there was already a light layer of sweat forming across her face and chest. He could feel his face starting to heat up as he watched her, however her eyes were fixated on the ceiling above her. She was so focused she hadn't even noticed he had finally shown up.

She was beautiful.

He coughed, breaking his thoughts and her focus. She beamed brightly as she completed one last rep and climbed from the bench, waving him over.

"Finally!" She teased. "I don't really want to do weights today, do you care if we just spar some?"

Kirishima shrugged. "Fine by me."

They made their way over to the other half of the gym, stretching along the way. Uraraka was making small talk about a test coming up next week, but Kirishima wasn't really paying attention. He was too engrossed by the light in her eyes and the energy in her step. They took places with about five feet between them before facing each other. Uraraka's face melted into determination, Kirishima grinned.

"Ready, Kirishima?"

"You know it, sweet stuff."

Uraraka rolled her eyes playfully. "You can't trip me up with pet names anymore."

Uraraka took off towards him, striking first with a roundhouse kick. Kirishima blocked her with both arms and threw her backwards, his grin still large and toothy and no trace of regret.

"Ah, my bad, my bad." He mused.

She landed and swung her leg around in an attempt to trip him, but he dodged by jumping backwards. At the same time she stood to take off towards him again, he ran towards her. She slid under his legs at the last second, activating her quirk and swinging around to jump onto his back. Kirishima grabbed her arm and flipped her over him, pinning her to the ground. He smiled down at her.

"Round one, I win."

Uraraka sighed and nodded in defeat. They took their places again, and this time it was Uraraka who gave a smile before they started. Kirishima raised a brow at her as he took in her confident stance.

"Got something planned, hot shot?"

"You'll just have to figure that out yourself." She teased before running towards him.

She activated her quirk and jumped as high as she could. Kirishima shook his head from where he stood on the floor. Any second she would drop from the ceiling and he'd just have to dodge her before pinning her, like always. He wasn't sure why she always insisted on using this tactic. Her giggled brought him back. He watched as she kicked off from the ceiling and descended down on him. However, this time she released her quirk, leaving him wide eyed as she landed hard on his chest, pinning him to the floor.

"That's new." He whimpered, shifting his upper body up to lean on his elbows as he let his skin returned to normal. "I'm surprised you've never done that before. Totally caught me off guard."

Uraraka grinned and stuck her tongue out. "Second round, I win."

She stood and offered a hand to the red head, helping him up. "I didn't hurt you, did I, Kirishima?"

"Nah," He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just got so used to you doing it the other way…."

A laugh escaped her, causing him to look her over. Sweat was beaded across her face, running down her neck and her chest. He felt his cheeks get warm as he watched a droplet continue down under the collar of her shirt. He swallowed hard and looked back up at her face as she stopped laughing. She was watching him now, brows furrowed together.

"You sure you're okay? Your face is all red."

"Y-Yeah…sorry. Just a little hot in here." He muttered, pulling his shirt over his head dramatically.

The feeling of the air turning to static surged through him as he looked back at the brunette in front of him after throwing his shirt across the room. She was still watching him closely. A small smile washed over her lips as she walked backwards to put distance between them.

"Hey, Kirishima."

"Yeah?"

"Want to make a bet?"

"…what?"

Her smile widened as he felt his face scrunch up in confusion. "A bet. Want to make one? We're currently one-to-one. Best of three. Whoever wins gets to choose the loser's consequence?"

Kirishima studied her face. Her smile was soft, but he could see the fire hidden in her eyes. She wanted something. She had always been surprisingly bold when they trained together. At first, he thought it was odd to see the shift between her daily bubbly, shy personality to her training personality. After a while he got used to it, though. He had realized at some point that the shift wasn't as big as he originally thought. She always had that motivation, she was always a spitfire. She just enjoyed helping others enough that it hid it well.

That's part of the reason he fell for her.

He grinned back at her. "Go for it. But I won't go easy on you."

And she took off towards him. It was more of a flurry of attacks than normal, but Kirishima still was able to block her and counter attack quickly. His heart swelled as he watched her expression shift into determination again. It was a look he'd never get tired of.

"Don't go soft on me!" She yelled, flipping over his shoulders and landing a kick square on his back.

Kirishima stumbled forward, spinning around to catch a second kick and throw her backwards. He grinned as he watched her flip backwards, landing hard on her feet and shifting her weight to take off towards him again. She never got involved with so much hand-to-hand, he had taught her to keep her distance for the most part to keep any damage she could receive to a minimum while saving up energy for her quirk. She normally followed that plan of attack. It was weird for her to stray from the norm.

For a very good reason, too.

It wasn't long before Kirishima had her pinned against wall by the straps of her tank. He smiled down at her, but the fire didn't leave her eyes this time. Her entire weight dropped from under her, leaving Kirishima to hold onto her shirt as she escaped his grasp. She slid under his legs and activated her quirk right before her hands hit the ground. She used the momentum of the drop to kick off from the floor while using her arms to support the motion while she wrapped her legs around his neck. She dispersed her quirk and pulled her entire weight to the floor, causing him to fall backwards. She let go before she could hit the floor and turned just in enough time to pin his shoulder with one of her elbows. Her weight shifted to her elbow and her body followed suit, causing her to land on his abdomen and straddle his waist.

He blinked, staring up at her. She had both his wrists pinned above his head, her face so close to his that he could feel her hot breath dancing across his lips as she panted. He was captivated by the look on her face. However, his eyes shot downward when he felt bare skin hit his stomach as she inhaled.

She was shirtless, too.

He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. She was still in a sports bra, but to have her skin on his...

He forced his eyes back up to her's. She still had that same look of determination on her face. He swallowed hard. This was bad. This is exactly the part of her he found too attractive. His lower stomach began to knot up and he could feel pressure forming between his legs.

She was sexy.

A smile tugged at her lips, catching his attention. He was suddenly staring straight into her chocolate eyes, wondering what in the world was so amusing about this situation to her. Just as he got the courage to ask, she leaned down next to his ear. Hot breath tickled his ear as she took a few breaths. He shuddered.

"I win." Her voice dripped like honey in his ear.

This was more than he could take.

She couldn't possibly get any sexier than this. Straddling his waist, shirtless, breathing hot air into his ear. He took a shaky breath.

"Y-Yeah, you did."

She giggled, raising up so their noses were inches from touching. Kirishima's eyes were wide as they stared at each other. He needed her to get up so that he could hide his…situation from her. But if he made her get up she might notice it in a more embarrassing way than just seeing it. He bit his tongue to keep her from being suspicious of his current state. How could he get her off him?

Her breathing slowed at the same time as his, until they were both just lying there with faces inches apart. Suddenly, her brows furrowed lightly and she bit her lip as she studied his expression. Kirishima shifted uncomfortably under her. This must be karma for thinking she couldn't possibly look any sexier.

"For your punishment," She started slowly as she studied his face intently, but she didn't finish.

Kirishima was silent as he laid there, frozen. How did such an innocent training exercise turn into this type of struggle? This was like a dream he'd had many times before.

He wasn't ready.

He wasn't ready to face her like this. Not when he was the only one who thought these things, the only one who played out these types of scenarios in his head at night.

Uraraka nodded to herself as she watched his face, seeming to come to a decision. "For your punishment…I want…you have to…." She paused and let out a breath that seemed to intoxicate Kirishima as it warmed his lips. "Eijirou, kiss me."

His lips met hers instantly. Her grip around his wrists loosened, and he used the opportunity to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer. One of her hands ran through his hair as the other cupped his cheek. He trailed one hand down her back, feeling goosebumps rise across her skin as she shivered. Their lips moved together as if they had done this thousands of times before this.

Kirishima flipped them over, breaking the kiss and trapping her below him with one elbow propping him up beside her waist and his other hand next to her face. She was red but she was smiling. He was sure he was too. His hips fell perfectly between her legs and he felt a surge of pleasure rush through him as he leaned into her, capturing her in another kiss. Uraraka wrapped her arms around his neck as if she could somehow pull him even closer.

Slowly, Kirishima ended the kiss, putting a few inches between their lips. Both of their faces were painted red as they caught their breath.

"That was my punishment?" His voice was low, almost cracking as he spoke.

Uraraka nodded. He leaned down to kiss her again, but this time it was short and sweet. He pulled back and stared at her. The fire in her eyes was still there, but it was different now. His heart was pounding. He wanted nothing more than for this to keep going…but he wasn't that type of man.

He sat up and pulled her up as well. Kirishima watched her for a moment as she fixed how she sat in front of him, taking in the sight of this woman that he'd been watching for two years, wondering if he ever had a chance with her.

A grin spread across his face as he rubbed the back of his head. "I always thought I'd be the first one to make a move."

Uraraka blinked, confused.

"Guess I'm not very manly, huh?"

"Kirishima…." Her voice was so soft now.

"Yeah?"

She fiddled with her fingers for a moment before her face was determined again. God, how he loved that face. Before she could speak, Kirishima pulled her to him and kissed her again. He held her close, as if she'd float away without his arms around her. When he finally pulled away, she smiled.

"I was nervous you would tell me no."

Kirishima laughed. "Nah, I've wanted to do that for years."

Uraraka's face lit up red as she looked to the floor. "Years?"

"Yeah. Sometime after our first sports festival when you fought Bakugo." He reminisced. "I didn't know it then, though. I just thought you were manly."

This time it was Uraraka laughed. Kirishima took in everything about her. She was still sweaty from their sparring, her cheeks were redder than normal, but her face was lit up as she laughed. And it was so pure that he couldn't stop from laughing with her.

"That is such a 'you' thing to say." She finally said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess so. But I know better now."

"Know better?"

Kirishima nodded, leaning closer to her face with a toothy grin on his face. "Now I know the difference between someone being manly and someone being womanly." He paused as his lips grazed hers, taking in how soft they were. "And you are most definitely one hell of a woman."

And he kissed her again.