The next morning was uneventful to Modoriya. After managing to drag his drunk partner all the way back to this woman's home and put up with his loud obnoxious nonsense until midnight, he finally was able to pass out and try to reset his weary body. He ended up sleeping on the ground as predicted from the start and Bakugou got the bed, but he didn't care. He didn't exactly want to be near him right now. Not after all that he was saying. Sure he blamed the alcohol and all, but that didn't mean he wasn't weary over his words. It still made him feel funny inside and not know whether he was telling the truth or not. That's why when morning came he didn't even bother to wake him up. He just grabbed his things and went and got ready for the day by himself again, though when he walked back in the room and saw Bakugou was still asleep he couldn't help but sigh.
Midoriya didn't know much about getting drunk or how people were afterwards, but he hoped that this was normal. He didn't want anything bad to happen to him just because he drank to make sure he didn't have to. It'd make him feel awful since he just sat there and watched him do it, but it was yet again another one of his dumb decisions. He didn't have to if he didn't want to, though maybe he should start thanking him for these careless acts. Even if they were reckless and overall stupidly done out of impulse, he was still doing it for him when he didn't have to.
The thought made him bite his lip lightly as the freckled boy slowly walked over to where he slept sprawled our over the bed with his face tucked into his arm. He couldn't see that expression that always managed to amuse him being it was like his polar opposite came out when he was asleep, but he knew it was there and couldn't help but smile as he crouched down and poked him in the side. He didn't get a response, though he honestly hadn't expected to. It was just weird how heavily he slept compared to all the times in high school, but people changed. He probably liked sleeping so much it somehow altered his alertness. He shouldn't mind that. After all, It meant he was able to get away with things he normally couldn't when he was awake, but he didn't really want to do anything that'd make him mad the second he opened his eyes.
"Why do you always do this? Sitting here is so boring..." Midoriya eventually mumbled to the other male as he moved to grip his arm, but when silence came as his only answer, he frowned and put his free hand to his back. He didn't want to shake him awake anymore knowing he'd probably get irritated, but if he was doing that sleep quirking thing again he sorta had an excuse to get him up.
All Midoriya could do was simply stare at him a little longer before slowly allowing his hand to slide down to meet Bakugous palm. It was faintly warm like the last time he'd done this, but he honestly sorta liked the feeling. It wasn't overbearingly hot like when he first grabbed onto him, but as much as he liked it he knew it was still a problem. He just never worked up the courage to ask what was going on with his body. He doubted he even knew. It worried him, but he didn't want to spark any unwanted irritation from his partner over him asking if he was okay or not. It was just best if he stayed silent, so he simply decided to let go of his hand in attempt to just forget about it. If he payed no mind and treated it like it was nothing then it wouldn't be such a big deal. He seemed fine when he woke up anyways.
"Why are you so complicated?" He murmured under his breath, though when he heard the room door suddenly creak open his attention was snatched off the sleeping blonde. It was that woman, but she seemed kinda uncertain of her decision to just walk in. He knew she still wasn't really comfortable with them being here and after thinking they were together she probably felt even more awkward coming into a room that they were both staying in after seeing them kissing, but midoriya just smiled to let her know it was ok. He just had to keep up his friendly act.
"Is he still..." She started only trail off when she looked at Bakugou herself, but Midoriya answered anyways.
"Yeah. I'm sure he's fine. He sleeps in sometimes so it's not really a big deal, plus he probably wasted a lot of energy trying to get himself to me then all the way back here on a bad leg. It'd be weirder if he wasn't tired." He somewhat whispered before fiddling his fingers awkwardly as if he were trying to think of something to say next knowing it was bound to be quiet, but all he could eventually come up with was a sheepish, "oh, and sorry about your groceries. I can pay you back for all of that stuff..."
He didn't want her to think all he had done was take her money just to go out and blow it or put it in his pocket since he left with it then came back with nothing and couldn't even tell her the real story of what happened. He had to lie to keep the whole Mission a secret and just say someone tried to jump him and Bakugou came along in time to make the situation die down before it got bad. Maybe it wasn't that believable with his explosive nature, but she seemed to buy it and didn't ask anymore questions. That was probably just due to her feeling bad though. She'd told him before he left that she'd feel guilty if something happened to him, but it was just the way this job worked. It wasn't like they were supposed to go into safe situations.
"No, no...that's fine. It's just, I wanted to apologize as well. I knew how this place was but I let you go out on our own. I should've stopped you." She told him, causing Midoriya to frown slightly before standing up. It really wasn't her fault. He was the one who went into that bar and caused trouble, but he just smiled and nodded.
He knew how these sorts of people worked. If he argued and blamed himself it'd just be a repeating cycle of them both claiming it was because of them that this happened, but he didn't want to get trapped into that conversation. He just wanted to move on because it was over with. He couldn't live in the past, if he did then he'd still be the same timid little boy from all those years ago, and he'd hate his partner for all he'd ever done to him and for killing that man when he said no. Sure it still bothered him and he wasn't sure how much he could truly trust him anymore, but he put a lot of his faith in the blonde. Right now he was the only person he was really comfortable around and he couldn't afford any shady feelings between each other.
"It's not a big deal. It's not the first time something like that's ever happened so don't worry...do you at least need anything this morning?" The freckled male mumbled before letting out a restless sigh. Once he was awake it was hard to get tired again, and with Bakugou still passed out he was getting kinda bored. At least this time she could tell versus trying wave him off. She still seemed like she didn't want to accept his kindness though.
"Mm, well...if you want you can help me set up for breakfast if you two are gonna be hungry. I still have enough to make meals with so I can worry about the groceries and all later..." She told him, and of course he just nodded. Even if he didn't really want to eat anything this woman made because he didn't want to take advantage of her, he knew if she already made food for them it'd be kinda rude to reject it. Besides, he was really hungry. He and his partner didn't really eat much because they were so focused on traveling and getting to their destinations. Things like that just weren't on their mind all that much.
Midoriya waited until the woman finally left before looking back to the sleeping male as he shut the door. He honestly wanted him to wake up, but if sleep was helping him feel better then he didn't want to be the one to end it. Besides, by helping this woman he was occupying his boredom somewhat, so it was nice to go out of his way and try and converse with her when he finally got all the dishes and set the table, though It took a little blabber mouthing on his end to finally get the ball rolling. Still, he didn't mind because he was actually starting to enjoy himself and know more about this person, though it eventually all came to a an end once she remembered he was a stranger and she didn't want to tell him much about her personal life. It was understandable though, because he couldn't say a ton either. Just Incase...
It got quiet after that, and they mostly just focused on what they were doing rather than each other. He had finished fairly quickly, but he pretended he still had things to do just so he could avoid the awkwardness of sitting there with nothing to do but stare at a wall. She'd probably think he was weird and not like him even more, but thankfully the tenseness didn't last that long.
The woman eventually claimed there was more for her to do outside and that she wanted to go work on some chores rather than make him do them knowing he was bound to ask. She just wanted him to watch after the food so nothing burned or caught fire and he simply agreed to do so even though it was a pretty boring job. He was never super into cooking, but after a few long minutes passed he eventually heard movement behind him. It was a familiar unnatural pace, and right away he knew it was Bakugou who'd woken up and was trying to walk on his leg. He probably thought he'd run off again since he wasn't in the room, but he just turned to look at him with a confused stare to show him he was there as he finally met his slightly pained expression.
"Kacchan...what are you doing on your-"
"We need to talk." The blonde cut him off and left him to simply open his mouth a bit as if he wanted to object, though he just shut it in the end. He probably seriously meant that rather than out of anger like usual. If he said no it'd seem like he wasn't taking their situation seriously.
"O-Okay...What about? If it has to do with yesterday I can explain everything...I-I just didn't want to get you involved because you're hurt and...a-and I..." The smaller male tried, but all he could manage to do was trail off. He didn't know what to say that'd appeal to him. He was usually so angry all the time to the point that anything set him off unless his explanation was well thought out. It was better if he just said nothing and let him talk.
"You didn't want me involved? Look, I don't care if I'm hurt or anything along the lines of that. We're partners for a reason y'know..." Bakugou muttered, but his words just made the freckled boy feel kinda guilty. He was right. They were partners. He didn't know why he was running off to do things all on his own even if they did have good intentions. He just went in there with no plan.
Midoriya chose not to say anything back. He didn't know if sorry was good enough of even what he wanted to hear. He'd just been so stupid and careless. He could've gotten himself into trouble or worse. What if he ended up screwing up the whole mission over something so small? It was obvious he was starting to beat himself up over all of this, but it seemed the blonde didn't want him to. Usually he'd say things to purposely get in his head, but this time it was different.
"Stop being like that nerd...everything worked out didn't it? Wipe that stupid look off your face because it's pointless to get upset over something that never even happened. I just want you to know that we can't do things without each other so don't pull another stunt like that again..." Bakugous voice lowered to a growl, though it wasn't threatening to Midoriya anymore. He knew it was just him not wanting to talk like that because he was admitting he couldn't do this mission on his own. If anything he should be happy he said that, but it was hard to feel like he wasn't being scolded.
"I know, I know...just, leave it at that okay. If it's not a big deal I mean..." Midoriya mumbled lowly almost like he didn't want his partner to hear him after fixing his gaze to the ground, but the blonde just frowned a little before placing his hand under his chin to turn his face back to him. It made the freckled male look to him in confusion, but he kept quiet. He figured it was the blonde just wanting all his attention on him while he was speaking.
"Don't tell me what to do. I'm the one who's supposed to be bossing you around, remember." Bakugou growled, though he still just kept quiet and felt his eyebrows furrow. This was starting to feel weird and degrading again, but he refused to let him force him to feel this way and slapped his hand off of his chin. He didnt have to listen to him if they weren't around people. He was allowed to do his own thing.
Midoriya simply turned away with a faint huff once Bakugou didn't make another move. By now he figured he got the message, but when he felt him roughly grab his arm he almost groaned in annoyance. Why did he have to be like this? It caused the smaller male to turn to face him as he tried to yank free of his arm, though Bakugou was obviously determined to not let him go and it turned into somewhat of a tug of war game over his limb and he definitely wanted to win. It was his arm after all.
The freckled boy eventually forced his body back in attempt to throw the blonde off balance. He couldn't use his leg so that meant he'd have to let go, but surprisingly he just let his body follow him and ended up falling against his smaller frame. It caused him to stumble back and grab onto his partners clothes as if it'd help keep him upright, but it was no use when he was falling with him. He couldn't keep his balance, and it hurt when he felt his back slam against the floor beneath the weight of Bakugou, though he was too irritated with the boy to even be worrying over his physical pain.
"Ow, What the-" Midoriya started to complain, but he cut off when he realized Bakugou was on top of of him and he couldn't sit up. He knew he was okay because it'd been him and not his partner who'd taken all of the impact, so It made him uncomfortable that he was just laying there, but it wasn't like the other male could really move into certain positions quickly thanks to his injury. That's the only reason he chose not to yell at him to get off.
"K-Kacchan?"
The blonde didn't say anything in response to his words. He just kept quiet until a minute passed and he finally decided to push himself up a bit to hover over his partners smaller frame. It was honestly kinda awkward because he was taking his time and now just staring down at him, but all Midoriya could really do was look up to the male wide eyed as he fought the urge to squirm out from under him and scoot away. This was getting way too uncomfortable.
The freckled boy assumed eventually he'd get bored of just looking at him like that, but it seemed Bakugou never did and it caused his face to redden. He didn't get why he did these sorts of intimidating actions, though this moment made his mind go back to last night. When the older male said he liked him he didn't really take it all that seriously, but it was hard to believe he was lying in this sort of situation when his mind was flooding with all his feelings for this guy. It was really annoying and was slowly starting to make his face turn redder and redder, but he was the type of guy who wasn't sure how to deal with any sort of "romantic" setting, even if this was kinda far from it. All he did was just lay there until his partner finally made a move that caused him to tense up.
Apparently Bakugou really was getting bored with just staring, but not bored with what was suddenly happening between them. It was like he was rather taking advantage of the situation in a weird way when Midoriya realized he was suddenly starting to lean down to him and it made him internally panic. Was this another lesson? No, he would've told him if that was the case right? Did that mean he was going to kiss him because he wanted to? It seemed highly unlikely, but then again maybe it wasn't even a kiss. He was probably just tired and slowly passing out. He didn't need to overreact.
"Kacchan, just go back to bed. I don't wanna, mm-" Midoriyas words muffled out the moment the blonde finally closed the distance between their faces as his lips pressed against his partners. It honestly surprised the smaller male a bit, but he saw it coming. He just didn't think Bakugou was going to go through with it. Still, it didn't mean he didn't like it.
For some odd reason every time Bakugou kissed him or did something somewhat nice he felt butterflies, and right now his heart was exploding with them. He wanted more of this feeling, but unlike the last first kiss they had this one didn't last long and didn't really get sexual at all. The blonde just ended up pulling away before he could even get into it, and it caused a frown to quickly come to his face.
"W-Why did you just...you kissed me?" Midoriya stuttered in attempt to try and make sense of this all, though he really wanted to question why he stopped. He just didn't have the guts to get into that without getting super embarrassed at the fact that it'd seem like he was desperate again.
"I-I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see how you'd react." The other male mumbled as his gaze fixed back down onto the flustered boy's face, but when it was obvious Midoriya wasn't really buying it, he rolled his eyes. "Fine...so what if I wanted to kiss you. I don't know why I did it alright. I'm just tired and my head hurts and you...your stupid face just-"
It was obvious Bakugou was struggling for words based on the way he kept trialing off, but Midoriya couldn't help but smile. He was getting cute to him again whenever he got like this. It was hard to fight the urge to pull him back down to his lips.
"I guess I'm not that bad of a kisser after all, am I Kacchan?" He mumbled playfully before sitting up enough to prop his body against his arms. "Does that mean I get to advance onto the next part of my lessons or is there more I need to know first?"
The blonde stared at him for a moment, but he eventually just tried to avoid answering the question he just asked altogether by changing the subject. He didn't completely know why, but it appeared to bother him based off the way his expression changed briefly. Maybe asking that was going a bit far, but he was just kidding around. He wasn't really sure how they could even advance past kissing on a friendly level anyways.
"Deku, I wanna leave by tonight. We've already had two delays on this mission. We don't need to be behind another day just because. Yeah, my leg still hurts, but I can use it well enough to travel. Besides, if I can't take pain then I shouldn't even consider being a pro-"
Midoriya quickly shut him up before he could finish by leaning forward to press his lips to his, but it only lasted a few seconds more than a peck. He just wanted him to stop talking and saying how he didn't deserve this job over something irrelevant. Sure, there were moments when they got hurt and had to take it like an adult, but he needed to understand that they were still human. Sometimes there are certain levels of pain that can be crippling. He needed to know when to stop.
"You're so stubborn, I hate it..." Midoriya laughed lightly, but he stopped when he heard the door leading outside open up and turned his head to see the woman cane back. She looked shocked and somewhat embarrassed to see them together, though after remembering her admitting she saw them kissing "naked" and assumed they were boyfriends, he knew why. He didn't want her to think anything was going on though even if it sorta was this time. It'd seem like they were too rude to control whatever urges they had in someone's home.
The two quickly parted from each other after they exchanged a look and silently got up not knowing what to say. If either one of them started off with, "it's not what you think" he doubted she'd believe them or really care to hear an explanation. The best thing to do was just stay silent and only interact with this woman when she needed help, though sadly the awkward tension ended up lasting for hours after the cause of it all happened. First breakfast was quiet and had an odd atmosphere, then the two boys skipped lunch just to avoid that same unease from that morning, but around dinner time they grew hungry again and took up the woman on her offer to include them in the meal. It felt strange, but luckily they could eat really fast when they wanted to and asked to help out with something around the house to avoid having to ask if they could be excused and come off as rude. In the end they got away with it though, and Bakugou stayed inside to help clean up dishes while Midoriya went outside to clean up any sticks that had fallen from the trees around the house and put them all in a burn pile.
It was just as boring as the laundry task, but he actually was determined on finishing this up, plus when Bakugou got through with the chore he was given, he came out to try to help fully clothed this time rather than being naked and trying to distract him. It was nice, but of course Midoriya said no. He wanted him off his leg, especially if he planned on traveling, though by now the sky was starting to get a bit dark as if the sun was going to set soon and he still wanted to ask that woman if her daughter could try one more round on his leg. He knew he'd get super exhausted and he wanted him to try to save up his energy as much as possible so he could do this all on his own. After he came out he only had a little bit left anyways, and once a few more minutes passed of him feeling the blondes gaze on him and it urging his body to speed up, he was finished and able to light the fire.
"Its funny for someone so scared of people breaking in she uses this method to clean out her yard. Anyone could see smoke from a mile away, but if everyone's this stupid then they might just think it's some forest fire that doesn't ever spread like dumbasses." Bakugou growled slightly as his eyes finally averted from the boy to look at the reddish flames dancing around in front of him, though they eventually went back to the freckled male once he returned the eye contact.
Midoriya wanted to agree with him, but doing so felt sorta negative so he chose not to. He just didn't want to worry about any predators or bad things like that when they didn't have to at the moment, and just sighed as he walked over to sit next to him. Maybe this just meant it was his turn to change the subject, but he couldn't help but somewhat focus on the negative side of things from the start and ended up looking down to his injured leg. The cuts on his shoulder and cheek were still a bit slow as far as healing up, but he was less concerned about those considering they didn't hinder his walking capability and slow him down. He knew it must be really frustrating.
"I never asked, but why did you unwrap the splint I did? It'd help stabilize your leg so it'll heal correctly..." Midoriya mumbled quietly, but when the blonde gave him a look that clearly screamed, "shut the hell up", he knew he shouldn't press this conversation. He didn't like having faults in his actions pointed out, so he just decided to move on knowing it was pointless to continue unless he chose to cooperate with him for once. "Mm...okay then...why don't we just go over what we're gonna do when we get to this dealer guy then? I'm assuming we're going to go talk to him to try to figure out more info on this man we're after, correct? If that's the case then we kinda need to figure something out fast. We can't just go at it like we did the the bar. It was all over the place, but I'll at least admit that the whole situation was sorta my fault."
Bakugou made another face when he said that as if he was sarcastically saying, "no duh." But the younger male was thankful he didn't verbally say so. He hated when he pointed out the obvious or tried to make him feel stupid, but that behavior died down a bit since they had gotten stuck together and it made it easier to talk to him. So regardless of what expression he gave, he knew he was at least trying to hold his tongue and it made him less worried about him snapping so quickly.
"Oh...And I never said thanks for coming to help me out, or save me...whatever you consider all that was. I just sorta panicked and-"
"Yeah, well didn't I tell you that you need to be more confident in yourself? I wanna make a plan too, but based off how you acted last night I don't really think you can do what's in my mind effectively because you could barely even talk to that man. When you opened your mouth a lot of pointless shit came out, then once you closed it you avoided speaking as much as possible and just sat all tensed up. I know you can do your job well and all, but if you don't have the balls to prove it then what's the point of making plans rather than me just going in and talking to the guy while you wait outside?" Bakugou stopped him and Midoriya couldn't help but look away. Of course he remembered what he told him, and he knew what happened in the bar was far from being confident, but he wasn't thinking straight. He forgot about the purpose of why they were here. Maybe he should've drank whatever was in that cup to make himself bold because apparently it worked if it got his partner to way weird things he did or didn't mean. He didn't really want to get intoxicated though. He just simply wanted to prove he could be confident to Bakugou and wasn't totally sure how, but if what he said last night was confidence then maybe it meant he just needed to speak what was on his mind that he wanted to keep a secret. It was dumb logic, but at the same time not totally stupid.
"No, you can't do this mission without me. I screwed up, but I promise I'll be different now. I'm not letting you go on your own and we're making plans together. If you end up leaving me behind I wouldn't be doing what I tagged along to do, and besides...I-if you leave me I'll just be worried about you, because I-I think...I l-like-"
"Okay. Well if you say you're different I guess I'll believe it, but if you crash and burn a second time then something's gotta change." The older male cut him off and he felt his heart sink a little. Was that on purpose? Did Bakugou know what he was going to say? Oh no, that meant he really didn't like him. Then why did they kiss? Why did he keep toying with him like this? It made him want to storm off and go be upset by himself, but he didn't want to seem like the same old crybaby from the past and simply pretended he hadn't been planning on saying something else. His heart hurt though and it quickly grew silent between them.
Midoriya had nothing more to say to this boy now. If he didn't have feelings for him he was tired of getting lead on. It didn't matter if he didn't make a commitment or anything, but whenever he acted like he cared it sparked something inside that made him really happy, yet then he just turns around and does things like this and expected him to be totally okay with it. Well, he wasn't. He refused to be like any of the people in the past that he got involved with in this way, because right now he felt as if Bakugou was only seeing him in the same way he saw Uraraka. Just another play thing to entertain him while he was forced to be stuck in the same area for extended periods of time.
It was so obvious now. Midoriya finally caught on. All Bakugou does is act as if he's against doing anything to take whatever innocent part of him that he had away just so he'd fall into his trap and make it seem like he wasn't the one who really wanted to act foolish. He didn't really care how he felt or even worried about whether he'd have regrets later on or not, though he was right. He did regret his first kiss now. He regretted everything. This guy broke his heart and they weren't even in a relationship. It was his fault for thinking Bakugou would ever change as far as being sweet to him or not. He'd always find a way to be a jerk and make his life miserable. It'd always been like that from the start, why would that ever end?
Midoriya couldn't help but feel a lump slowly start to rise in his throat, but he dreaded what he knew was about to happen. He was going to cry if he didn't pull it together, but unfortunately it ended up being too late when he felt a warm trail of wetness slowly glide down his cheeks. Tears were slipping out and he hadn't even allowed them to yet. It was humiliating, but he quickly tried to cover his face before the blonde could notice. He wasn't giving him the satisfaction of knowing he hurt him and he didn't want to seem weak because of this.
"Deku? What are you..." He heard Bakugou start, though his voice made him flinch. Why did he have to interact with him when he was like this? He didn't want him to see his face, but the temperamental boy just yanked his hands away from where they were covering his eyes to finally reveal what he was doing. It just made him more upset, though he tried to hide it by looking down.
"Why are you crying? Do you feel sick? Why didn't you tell me before if it was this bad?"
Midoriya couldn't find the words to say to that. He knew if he spoke whatever he said would be drowned out in uncontrollable sobs. He felt far too angry with himself for falling into his trap and sad at the assumption that he played him this whole time. This was why he couldn't fall in love and why he'd always been too afraid to go after anyone he ever liked. He didn't want to feel this way.
"Deku...come on. What's wrong with you?" Bakugous tone softened, but it gave him worse vibes. He didn't know if he was still trying to drag him in after he'd already been caught up in his game, though he had no other choice than to admit to himself that he liked it when he spoke to him this way. It made him feel cared for. He hated that it was the male speaking.
"Kacchan, I like you okay. That's what I was trying to tell you so you'd know I can be confident, but all you're doing is screwing with me aren't you? When you told me you liked me and when you kissed me, just everything you've ever said. It all was fake. Those feelings behind them, they weren't real. I can't do this. I don't wanna. Just stop messing with my head and we can both move on together, so quit being an asshole to me..." Midoriya managed to cry out to him, though a confused expression crossed the blondes face when his partner said all of that. He didn't understand what he was going on about and his words were causing him to get somewhat uncomfortable and amused at the same time, though he didn't laugh for obvious reasons.
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down. When did I say I liked you and how am I screwing with you? If you didn't want me to kiss you then you could've said no, but you were the one who wanted to kiss in the first place." Bakugou mumbled and left the boy to shyly look up to him. He forgot when people were drunk everything they said could sometimes fly over their own heads. He shouldn't have said any of that, especially since Bakugou was right about the whole kiss thing. He was just overreacting, but It was hard to help that considering he wanted his love so badly for some reason, yet all he could do was mutter, "sorry..." rather than admit to him right then and there how bad his want was. He felt too uneasy with doing that, though he had no idea how he was about to cope with the fact that he just admitted his crush to him yet couldn't act out how he wanted to because Bakugou didn't claim to share the same feelings despite what he said last night. It just wasn't fair and he wished he wouldn't have chosen the same method of boldness Bakugou had used to prove his confidence if it would've just resulted to this.