Notes: Thank you to WeirdKawaiiPig and greshysway for reviewing! You guys are awesome!


chapter iii - why can't you just stay away from me?


Finally, the awaited week of the festival arrived.

"Yayy!" Sero cheered. "We get to have fun all week!"

"Don't count on it," Kaminari sighed dejectedly. "Aizawa-sensei's giving us heaps of assignments."

"Awww…" Sero, Mineta, and Kirishima bowed their heads in depression.

"Better to finish them all by tonight if you lazy asses want to enjoy the entire week," Bakugou said flatly as he rose from his seat, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Oh, Bakugou!" Kirishima exclaimed, grinning as he put an arm around the former's shoulder. "Hey, man, you ready for your romantic play?"

"Ooooh~" Sero and Kaminari teased.

"Get your fucking arm off me," Bakugou growled, shrugging off the unwanted touch.

Kirishima, too used to this kind of attitude, continued to grin at him. "So, how's it going with you and Uraraka?"

"Don't curse at her too much!" Kaminari said. "She's a girl, you know."

"So what if she's a fucking girl?" Bakugou snapped. "She ain't someone who'd cry at that sort of thing, stupids."

Kaminari pouted. "But you never know~ she might be crying alone at night because of all the mean things you say to her."

Bakugou frowned at him, severely unimpressed. "Your imagination sucks," he said flatly, shoving him aside in the process with his shoulder as he walked past.

Meanwhile, Uraraka, on the other hand, was practicing the lines in her head as she arranged the things on her desk.

"Wanna go exploring with us, Ochako-chan?" Tsuyu asked.

Uraraka was snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah!" She gave a light laugh. "Sure, let's go!"

"You've been working hard," Tsuyu praised as they strolled down the halls. Mina was chatting about something with Hagakure and Yaoyorozu, too engaged in the conversation to interject. "How has it been, practicing with Bakugou?"

"He's a good partner!" Uraraka responded. "He has helped me out a lot, especially in the ballroom scene! He knows a lot about the waltz."

Tsuyu stared at her for a moment. "Then, you don't think he's a jerk?" she said bluntly.

"Huh?" Uraraka blinked. "Um, not really… Well, to be honest, he is a little coarse on the outside…"

Tsuyu listened to her patiently, noting the small glimmer in her friend's eyes.

"Once you really get to understand him," Uraraka continued on, the words just spilling out of her mouth on their own, "you discover that there are more sides to him than you'd expect."

Tsuyu blinked slowly, nodding her head. "Are you saying, Ochako-chan, that you understand him?"

"Hmm, kinda?" Uraraka looked thoughtful for a moment. "He's actually not so bad, you know. He can be nice in his own way, too!"

"I see… Ochako-chan." Tsuyu looked at her in the eyes. "If you go in too deep, you might realize and lose something at the same time," she advised. "I won't tell you to be careful, but…" She smiled, almost mysteriously. "I truly think that if you follow your heart, you'll be fine."

Uraraka's expression was painted with confusion. "Tsuyu-chan…?"

"Come on, Ochako-chan," Tsuyu said, holding her by the arm. "Mina-chan and the others are already ahead."

"O—Okay…" Uraraka followed after her friend, still confused.

What did Tsuyu's words mean?


• • •


Bakugou Katsuki could not believe his ears.

"You want me to fucking do what?!"

Uraraka grinned at him sunnily.

"Do the spicy noodle challenge with me!"

"Fuck NO!" Bakugou shouted, his cheeks turning a furious red against his will. "I ain't doing shit with you! Go bother someone else—"

Uraraka obviously took his blush for a mixture of embarrassment and suppressed excitement at the thought of something spicy. Without further ado, she grabbed his arm and started dragging him away.

Bakugou instinctively flinched at the contact and the audacious invasion of his personal space.

"Leggo of me!" he protested, trying to wriggle his arm away from her weakly. Oddly, he felt a little sluggish all of a sudden.

Fuck, this was so unlike him! She was definitely casting a spell on him. That damned witch...

Uraraka tightened her grip on him, still smiling enthusiastically. "Come on, Bakugou-kun! I know you love spicy things. Kirishima told me so!" She laughed in triumph, already envisioning her victory. "Now let's go and win those free packs of meat!"

"You shitty — wait, you fucking mean to say that we're doing this for meat?!"

"Not just meat! There's free cake, too!"

"What the fuck is with you and cakes?!"

"Hey, it's because it's my dad's birthday next week, okay?!"

"ARGH, FUCK MY LIFE—"

"Don't worry, Bakugou-kun. I'll give you a pack of meat so that you can get something good out of this!"

"I DON'T FUCKING WANT IT, YOU BITCH!"


• • •


In the end, Uraraka managed to coerce Bakugou into entering the noodle restaurant booth with her. He was a bit calmer now, but he kept on muttering creative curses under his breath and turning various shades of red.

He must be secretly so excited for this challenge, Uraraka thought to herself happily. Don't worry, Bakugou-kun. We'll win this!

(In truth, even though she wanted to win the prizes, her stomach couldn't handle spicy food, hence why she chose Bakugou.)

"We're here to do the spicy noodle challenge!" Uraraka told the girl behind the register.

"Okay," the woman said cheerfully. She was probably a senior. "Are you two a couple?"

Bakugou's head was about to explode from shock.

"Ah, yes~" Uraraka said jovially, unceremoniously wrapping her arms around Bakugou's, her mind focused solely on getting the meat and free cake. Besides, they were romantic partners in the play. There was no problem.

"What the f—" Bakugou was about to go into an angry outburst when Uraraka suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth, giving him a brief stare.

"# $ #%$^#$^?!" Bakugou's irate voice was comically muffled against her palm. ("The fuck is with you, woman?!")

He would, however, never admit how soft her skin felt against his face.

"Um, is something wrong?" the woman asked, puzzled over their strange behaviour.

"I—It's nothing!" Uraraka laughed nervously, wasting no time in removing her hand from Bakugou's mouth and then effortlessly clasping his hand instead. "My boyfriend is just very excited to do this challenge! Ahahaha…"

"Oh, I see!" the woman said, grinning widely in understanding. "You two are so cute. Come, let's go to that table over there and set you up."

Bakugou was about to protest once more when he suddenly caught sight of Uraraka's expression and stopped short.

She was smiling. Not that it was anything new since she was generally pretty easy to get along with in the first place, but the grin she currently had on seemed a lot different from her usual ones. This time, she looked so enthusiastic and happy that Bakugou had to blink his eyes multiple times in mild surprise.

Something light and soft rose in his chest. He knew what this feeling was, having felt it a few times before, but he still couldn't admit it to himself.

How could she keep on making him feel this way?

...Maybe it won't be so bad… Bakugou thought to himself almost absently as he turned his gaze away from her.

First, they had to wait for the noodles to be served. Bakugou slumped himself into the seat across from Uraraka. The lady looked at him in mild confusion.

"Um, sir," she spoke a little hesitantly, "you're supposed to sit next to your girlfriend since there's only one pair of chopsticks…"

Bakugou choked on his spit. "What did you just f—"

"AHAHAHA!" Uraraka suddenly exclaimed, swooshing into the seat next to Bakugou which was facing the window. She clamped a hand on his open mouth once again, still laughing nervously. "Please don't mind him! He's a little too grumpy today. I'm really sorry…"

When the girl left them alone (but not without casting them one last odd look), Uraraka whisked her head towards Bakugou.

"Bakugou-kun, don't blow our cover!" she whined. "I'm paying for all this, you know! If we just pretend to be a couple until the end, I can get a 50% discount!"

"But why the fuck a couple of all things—"

"If you can act like I'm the only girl you see back in our practices for the play, then you can act like I'm your girlfriend just for this moment," Uraraka hissed, her mind set on the cake she'd be getting once she won. Bakugou could win it for her, no problem. She'd get her father the strawberry cake she knew he loved so much.

Bakugou suddenly, unexpectedly turned his head away from her, his cheeks and ears flaming red. He was slowly mumbling something that she couldn't hear.

She leaned closer to him immediately, trying to catch his words.

"…wasn't acting…"

"Bakugou-kun?" she inquired, not understanding.

As if only realizing just now that she was so near him, he jolted in his seat, growling obscenities in his shock.

" #% $%! Get the fuck away from me!" he snapped, scooting away from her quickly.

"Hey, don't move away or they'll think we're not—" Uraraka suddenly stopped short.

Bakugou raised an eyebrow at her unusual action. Then, realizing that she was staring at something, he followed her gaze and gritted his teeth at what he saw.

Of course. Of course it had to be that damn bastard Deku.

Uraraka suddenly stood up from her seat, her expression taking on something akin to panic.

"U—Um… since the noodles might take a while…" she told him a little nervously and hastily. "I need to go to the restroom for a bit. Bye!"

And just like that, she left.

Bakugou frowned. She walked away so fast. Was she that embarrassed to be seen around with him? He directed a glare towards Midoriya who was checking out the restaurant from the window.

She should've just went here with him and not me.

With that, Bakugou stood up from his seat, placing his hands inside his pockets.


tbc


[X] Bakugou being flustered and sort-of submissive warms my heart. ^^