The next day in their homeroom class, Bakugou was already sitting at his desk when Uraraka walked in with Deku and Asui at her sides. He had been listening to Kirishima talking about some new action movie coming out next week when he caught eyes with Uraraka and allowed a faint smirk to appear on his face. She jerked her eyes away from his, blush already appearing on her cheeks, and sat down quietly at her desk as Deku and Asui continued to talk, not noticing her sudden silence.

Oh, this was going to be good.

He wasn't certain when Uraraka would own up to the bet, but he had a feeling that it would either be soon or at the end of the day. She'd either want to get it out of the way or wait until they were in their last class so that she could avoid any awkward questions or confused looks. He really hoped her anxiety won out in the end so that the whole thing would hang over her head the rest of the day.

Any embarrassment would fuel her desire to beat him at Mario Kart and it would help spur her forward, so really, this was for her own good. Bakugou was being helpful.

Aizawa started the class shortly after, tearing Bakugou's attention away from her, but every now and then, it would slip in her direction. Uraraka was doing a good job listening to their teacher, but then he'd catch her touching the pads of her fingers together in some sort of musical pattern, careful not to touch them all at once lest she float herself in the middle of class. She was clearly nervous and probably questioning why she had allowed herself to make a bet with him in the first place. She'd known that she would lose in the beginning and yet she'd done it anyways.

Now it was time to pay the price.

Homeroom came to an end. Everyone was mentally switching to their next class, except for Uraraka, who had frozen in her seat as a determined expression came over her face. It felt as if Bakugou's chest was bursting with vicious glee as he watched Uraraka slowly stand up. This was it. This was the moment of truth. He had to clench his fists to keep himself from grinning already.

Uraraka closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and practically shouted, "Bakugou is the best and he's going to become the number one hero!" and then dropped back down in her seat.

The entire class went through a rollercoaster of reactions. First, utter silence and shock as they gawked at her turned to confused babbling and questions, then changed into sparks of irritation in some and wild accusations, and finally back to confusion again. Uraraka responded to absolutely no one, burying her lobster red face in her textbook and pretending as if she wasn't in the room and couldn't hear anyone.

Just as he'd expected, the only two people to not say anything out loud were Deku and Todoroki. The expression on Deku's face looked like a cross between genuinely hurt and utterly lost as he gaped at Uraraka. No doubt she would say something later to make him feel better, but her random outburst had definitely thrown him off and he appeared to be at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Todoroki never responded to such things out loud, but he was sharply tapping a pencil on his desk and eyeing Uraraka darkly. His mismatched gaze swung to Bakugou and he narrowed his eyes as smirk found its way onto Bakugou's face.

Did Todoroki suspect that Bakugou had put Uraraka up to it? Whatever, it didn't matter. Even if he did, Half and Half didn't know what for or how. None of them knew about him and Uraraka playing video games together after everyone went to bed. It was their thing and he wanted to keep it that way. Sure, doing things like this might jeopardize that since it was bleeding it into their daily life, but that danger was half the fun.

The smirk didn't leave Bakugou's face when Uraraka tilted her head to the side to glower at him. If anything, her almost murderous gaze made it broaden. You're going to pay for this, her eyes said and he couldn't wait. Bring it on.

It was raining, so Bakugou had decided to do his usual run in the gym. He wasn't a fan of treadmills, but it was either that or skip it and he didn't skip things just because of some rain. WIth his headphones in, he was totally in the zone, focused on his breathing and the raging music in his ears. Even though his eyes were open, he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him, so he was caught off guard by the sudden slap on his arm that sent him flying to the ceiling.

Or, well, floating.

"Uraraka, what the hell!" Bakugou's back hit the ceiling and he caught sight of that very girl standing underneath him, her hands now on her hips. He jerked his earbuds out of his ears. "Let me down!"

"That's for being an ass," Uraraka told him as she gazed up at him.

Bakugou glowered at her and folded his arms across his chest. "You're the one that agreed to the bet."

"I looked like a weirdo and an idiot!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"Then don't lose next time," Bakugou shot back. "Besides, you can't look like an idiot if it's true."

Uraraka's perpetually pink cheeks seemed to glow. Still, she didn't make a move to let him down, so as usual, he had to do things himself. Propping his feet on the ceiling, he kicked off so that he floated downwards, like he was in water, and grabbed onto the railing of the treadmill. He floated like a balloon with his feet hanging above him, but at least his face was level with Uraraka's now, only inches separating them.

"You done complaining now?" Bakugou asked.

She stared at him for a few more seconds and then huffed, lifting her hands from her hips so that she could press her fingers together and sigh, "Release."

His feet dropped down and he was careful to not land on the treadmill belt so that he wouldn't get jerked onto the ground since it was still running. He turned the machine off and then jumped down to her level, still tall enough to tower over her in what most considered a threatening manner. However, it didn't faze Uraraka in the slightest, who tilted her chin up and flexed her fingers as if she was considering sending him to the ceiling again.

"You're gonna regret it," Uraraka warned him.

Bakugou smiled, showing all his teeth, like some sort of predator. "I'd like to see you try."

The wait for next Thursday was too long for Bakugou's taste, but neither one of them could ask Kaminari if they could borrow his game without being obvious about it. Bakugou knew that he had to be clever about it, so he got Kirishima on the topic of a fighting game that he really liked but no one would play with him. After hearing that, Kaminari had been all too willing to leave the console out when he didn't want it for his own dorm room. Sure, it meant that Bakugou was forced to struggle through Mortal Kombat, which it turned out that Kirishima was really fucking good at, but hey, he could stand to improve as well.

That Monday night, while Uraraka was cleaning her dishes from dinner, Bakugou strode into the kitchen and began to root through the fridge for something to drink. After pulling a bottle of water out, he turned around to lean back against the counter and considered his words. He didn't want to sound like he was going out of his way to spend more time with her. He just wanted to keep this game going. What other embarrassing things could he make up as bets? She was so amusing when she was flustered.

"You willing to get your ass handed to you tonight?" Bakugou piped up.

Uraraka paused and turned to look back at him. "Oh no, tonight, I'm doing all the ass handing."

Bakugou snorted and shook his head, as Uraraka began to sputter incoherently over what she'd said. He walked out of the kitchen and left her to suffer, feeling quite pleased with himself. That spark in her was something very interesting. So many people saw her as this good, sweet girl, but she was feisty as hell and always ready to put up a fight. For however much she smiled, giggled, and blushed, she was equally willing to take someone down. She'd come a long way from their first year, but then again, a lot of them had. Even he could admit that.

This time, Bakugou stayed in the common area flipping through his homework from Present Mic while Uraraka retreated to the dorms with Asui and Yaoyorozu. He was so focused on his paper and textbooks that he didn't notice when she crept back to the room. Not until she leaped over the couch effortlessly and released her quirk so that she could plop down next to him did he realize she was back.

"You ready?" she asked brightly.

Setting his schoolwork aside, Bakugou got up and switched out the video games. "You have to ask?" As it started up, he picked up one controller and handed her the other and then sat down focusing on her. "So what's the bet this time?"

"I figured we could do some small ones and then a big one?" Uraraka suggested. It made sense. That way each round they had something on the line that they could follow through tonight and then a big one and the end that would really kick them into high gear. If there were stakes on everything, then they'd both go at it harder. He nodded his head in agreement. "My big one is the same as last night."

Buying Todoroki's lunch. Bakugou harrumphed. "Not letting that one go?" She beamed at him and shook her head. Little shit. She wasn't so innocent as she looked. "Okay, what about a small one then?"

Uraraka considered it for a moment, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You have to tell me an embarrassing story from your childhood."

Damn, she was really getting into this. Bakugou didn't like talking about his childhood with anyone, least of all embarrassing stories. As far as he was concerned, he'd never been embarrassed in his life, but then that wasn't exactly true. It wasn't like he'd had a bad childhood - on the contrary, he knew it had been a good one - but he just didn't do personal. He didn't talk about his past or his family or anything like that because it wasn't anyone's business. Only the future mattered.

However, if she really wanted to embarrass him, then she would've been wary about him doing the same thing. Already she had suffered once. He could see her bracing herself for the worst. He couldn't make a bet like hers since he knew that she'd divulge basically anything about her past. She was an open book. There were plenty of stories that she'd be willing to share with him, as she shared herself with anyone she remotely liked or respected.

No, if she was going to strike him where it hit him the most, he had to do the same thing, but there was only one thing he could think of and it came out before he could properly think it thorugh.

"If I win," Bakugou said, looking her in the eyes, "you've gotta take your shirt off."

Uraraka blushed so red that he thought she might actually explode. "Bakugou! I'm not doing that!"

"What?" Bakugou countered, but inside was panicking. Why had he said that? No, no, that was stupid. He shouldn't have said it. God, he sounded like such a creep. Still, he kept a straight face as much as he could. This would push her. She'd work harder. And if she really got upset, he wouldn't force her to do anything. He wasn't that cruel. "You're wearing a training bra from the gym. It's not like I've never seen a girl like that before. Besides, I've seen you in a swimsuit. What's the difference?"

He knew that Uraraka was shy, especially when it came to her body. He didn't know why, seeing as how even he could admit that she looked good in her tight hero costume. Sure, he might be totally focused on becoming a hero and had no interest in letting his hormones get the better of him like some of the guys, but he was still a teenage boy. He had eyes and half a brain. Maybe she wasn't skinny or had the perfect curves, but she wasn't ugly. The girl was just insecure.

Still, he probably should've thought this through.

"I...I don't…" Uraraka narrowed her eyes at him. "That sounds like something Mineta would bet."

"Hey, don't go comparing that little grape shit to me!" Bakugou barked. "It's not like I'm betting you to let me feel you up or some shit."

Biting her lip, Uraraka thought it over and then tersely nodding her head, though he noticed that she was refusing to meet his eyes. This must have been killing her. However, it did strengthen the fire in her and he knew that she was going to fight something fierce. "I'm using my big bet for the first round."

"Oh, so it's like that?"

"You're the one that had to go so low!"

"Scared?"

Uraraka didn't respond and he knew that she was. She anxiously picked at her t-shirt, as if she could convince it not to leave her, and turned her entire focus on the video game. Either the bet would help spur her forward to help her win or it would hinder her by causing a distraction. He didn't know what she was so worked up about. If the bet was the other way around, he'd take his shirt off without any complaints. He knew that he looked good. She just had to have that same confidence.

They started the first race and right away Bakugou noticed a change in Uraraka's intensity. She completely ignored the computer characters, gunning for him right off the bat. Any sort of advantage she got in one of the mystery boxes, she aimed it for him. It was frustrating as hell, seeing as how she sometimes even chose to just ram into him and sabotage them both if she got the chance, but she was relentless. It was great. The two of them got so into it that they both kept moving around on the couch in the direction of their characters, bumping shoulders half the time, not that either of them noticed.

When Uraraka came out as the victor with three wins against his two, she dropped the controller and jumped to her feet, doing some sort of weird victory dance. It was the dumbest thing that he had ever seen and he had seen Kaminari and Sero dancing and they were fucking awful. Still, it was hard to laugh at her when he realized that he'd lost her big bet. He groaned and fell back into the couch, already envisioning the humiliation that tomorrow would bring. Throwing the controller aside, he flexed his hands and let off a few tiny explosions as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse.

All he could think of though was how fucking terrible it was going to be when he was forced to buy Todoroki's lunch. How was he supposed to even go about that? God, if anyone said anything, he was going to blow them up. He could already picture Uraraka's uncontrollable laughter.

Indeed, the smug look on her face now was enough to send him into a fit of rage. He wanted to grab her and pin her down until it was wiped right off her face.

He couldn't do that though so he did the next best thing that he knew would fluster Uraraka and send her into another spiral of embarrassment. Snatching the hem of his black cut off shirt, he ripped it over his head and threw it at her. She let out a squeak and her eyes widened before it hit her in the face. When she pulled it away, her eyes landed on him and held up the shirt in front of her to hide her reaction.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Uraraka managed to stutter out.

Bakugou shrugged his shoulders. "Only fair."

It made little sense since he had been the one to bet her to take her shirt off should she lose, not the other way around, but he knew how much it would throw her off. If she was going to make him do shitty bets like buy Half and Half lunch for everyone to see, then he was going to play just as dirty. There was no way that she was going to be able to concentrate well enough to win now, not with the way she was fumbling now. He laughed to himself as she jerkily sat back down and tried to focus on the video game.

"So, um, have you, uh…?" Uraraka glanced at him quickly and then looked away again. Gods, she was such a mess. It was hilarious. He should've done this earlier if he'd known that it would throw her off her game so much. It wasn't like she'd never seen him shirtless before. They'd all gone to the U.A. pool as a class. "Have you come up with a big bet yet?"

He had to think of something that would maximize embarrassment, especially since he knew that he was going to suffer tomorrow. He didn't give a shit what people thought about him, but this one thing was going to cause a ripple effect for a while. He was tolerant of Todoroki when he had to be for school, but he was never nice on purpose. Buying Todoroki lunch was going to throw everyone for a loop and he would never hear the end of it. Kirishima wouldn't let him live it down. Either one of them was going to be on their deathbed and Kirishima would probably bring it up.

"You're going to the movies with everyone this week, right?" Bakugou said. That action movie was all Kirishima seemed capable of talking about outside of class - it was based off one of his favorite video games - and he'd managed to convince a group of people to go. He hadn't expected Uraraka to be one of them, but Ashido and Kaminari had cornered her and it had turned out it had one of her favorite actresses in it. Uraraka nodded, her brow knit thoughtfully. "If I win, you've gotta wear my shirt when we all go out."

A surprise expression appeared on Uraraka's face and the first thing she said was, "Can I at least wash it?" The response was so unexpected, for the both of them apparently, that Bakugou almost laughed. He waved a dismissive hand at her. She glanced down at the shirt. "You won't be...embarrassed? By me wearing it, I mean?"

"Why would I?" Bakugou asked. "You're gonna be the one who looks ridiculous."

Uraraka made a face that said she agreed with him. The shirt was too big for her. No doubt she would have wanted to dress up cute, but instead she would look like she was wearing a blanket. It would no doubt embarrass her, but she didn't seem to mind it as much as she had his other two bets. Still, he knew that it was because she wasn't thinking about it as much yet. This wasn't a bet that she could just get over with and be done. When it came to it, she'd buckle and start feeling self-conscious. She really needed to get over that.

When they started the next round, Bakugou saw the difference in Uraraka. She was distracted and kept messing up, even feeling nauseous every now and then as their characters went on windy roads and spun around after being hit by shells or bananas. He beat her almost effortlessly, a stark difference from their first round. By the time they finished, he'd won the first four games, the fifth one unnecessary to even play. She was clearly frustrated with herself, huffing in irritation and dropping the controller once she was finished with.

"You're an ass," Uraraka told him decisively.

Bakugou gave her his smuggest expression, which in reality was one of his more common looks. "You wouldn't want me any other way."

"I'm not so sure about that," Uraraka responded, eyeing him with a hint of irritation. Then she seemed to notice that she was staring at him while he was shirtless sitting next to her and she jerked away from him. "It's okay though! Because tomorrow will be hilarious."

"Who's the ass now?" Bakugou countered.

Uraraka did some sort of happy, little wiggle, which made him scoff and shake his head. It was so dumb. Why was she like that? Tomorrow was not going to be hilarious, but Friday would be fun at least. As long as he kept that in mind, he'd be okay.

(No, he wasn't. He was going to make a complete fool out of himself and Kirishima was going to drag his ass. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? He hadn't thought that she'd actually win tonight.)

By the time Kaminari had realized that he'd left his console out in the common area, it was almost midnight. He had been trying to finish one of his papers very last minute when he came to the conclusion that a break was very much needed if he was going to get it finished. Doing a paper all at once sounded like a terrible idea. He needed something to break it up or his brain would be as fried as if he'd let off his quirk all at once. No can do.

Except when he went to grab his controller, he realized that it wasn't in his room and, oh yeah, Kirishima had wanted to play Mortal Kombat with Bakugou earlier tonight. It had been all too entertaining to watch Bakugou actually get beat and nearly rage quit about five times. Some men just want to watch their friends get trounced for once, you know?

It was late, but no one would question him if they saw him out of his dorm, so he put on some slippers and started for the common area. He had not expected to hear the sounds of a video game being played, specifically Mario Kart. That game was reserved for Thursday nights. Besides, who was out there secretly playing Mario Kart in the middle of the night while everyone was in bed? No one had mentioned it to him.

Was it Sero trying to improve so that he'd eventually take first place? Maybe Midoriya, who tried to get better at everything? Hell, he'd even consider Todoroki, who tended to shy away from playing, possibly because he didn't seem to know how video games worked, as if he'd never played one in his life.

What Kaminari definitely hadn't been expecting to see playing Mario Kart were Bakugou and Uraraka, who he knew for a fact had not played with them once and chose to only watch. The race on the screen had just finished with apparently Uraraka as the winner as she jumped from the couch to do the most ridiculous and cutest dance Kaminari had ever seen while Bakugou sat glowering on the couch.

But what Kaminari really didn't expect to see was Bakugou ripping his shirt off and throwing it in Uraraka's face.

Kaminari's brain short-circuited. What the fuck was he seeing? What was going on? Were they playing some sort of strip Mario Kart while everyone was sleeping? Also, why were Bakugou and Uraraka hanging out? Did it have something to do with Uraraka's random outburst in class last week about Bakugou becoming the number one hero? But that had nothing to do with stripping.

Why was Bakugou just sitting there shirtless while playing Mario Kart with Uraraka in a dark room?

You know, on second thought, Kaminari didn't really need that break to finish his paper. He didn't really want to play video games anyways. He was just going to walk back to his room, sit down, finish those last few paragraphs, and go to bed for the night. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea.

Why?

Because he fucking valued his life.

Kaminari was a lot of things. He knew that he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed or the brightest bulb in the box, but he could be clever and also do simple addition. One thing he did know was that interrupting whatever the hell was going on right now would end in only pain. Bakugou had kind of chilled since they're first year, but when he did explode, it was bad. It hadn't happened in a while and Kaminari did not want to be the cause or focus. And while he didn't know what was happening with Uraraka, he did know that Bakugou would potentially explode him out the building for getting in the middle of it.

But he was curious.