Notes: We are coming close to the end! I'm thinking two more chapters tops after this one. I know, I know. It's sad. But I'm really feeling like a conclusion is nigh and I've got about nine Kacchako fic requests sitting in my inbox. Also, Kaminari and Jirou are so much fun to write.
There was buying Uraraka food and then there was buying Uraraka dinner.
It was different than when she had bet him to buy Todoroki's lunch. At least with that he could buy it and then dash. All in all, it took maybe a minute and then it was done. All of the repercussions had happened afterwards. As excruciating as it had been, it hadn't taken long at all. Wait, buy, avoid eye contact with Todoroki, leave, and done. There had been much less decisions when it came to that bet than this one. No, this one was the biggest one so far and he'd lost it due to getting beat at his own game.
The first matter had been figuring out where to eat. There had been a few places to choose from, but Bakugou went with his gut and picked one of his favorite places. It was a nice place, but not fancy or anything like that. The best part about it was the food. It had some of the best spicy ramen out there. Bakugou had promised her that he was going to pick something spicy for them to eat and he was sticking to his guns. If he had to buy her dinner, then it was going to at least be food that he liked and wanted to eat.
With the where out of the way, the "when" had to be decided. He had to corner Uraraka to figure that one out since they needed a time that fit both their schedules. It made sense to do it on a weekend night since that would give the most leeway with time. They both had an influx of free time again since they weren't training with their teammate for the team battle royale, but since he had learned that he could've been using that time for more, he was eager to fill it up with something again.
He finally managed to catch her alone when everyone was leaving for lunch. She had to run back to the dorms real quick to get a few things for their afternoon classes before eating. He probably could've let her know that he was trying to get her attention before chasing after her and tapping her on the back, but he couldn't even be mad at the way she'd jumped and reacted by floating him into the sky. She'd blushed furiously as he'd laughed at her and floated upside down.
After sorting that out, they figured that they'd go on Saturday around six, but that had been a debacle in itself. She hadn't stopped blushing the entire time. He didn't know what her problem was. It was just food. If she was going to be weird about this, then she didn't have to go. The main issue would be keeping other people from finding out. They couldn't both just leave at the same time. Everyone would figure out that they were going somewhere together and then there would be a ton of questions lobbed at them from every side that Bakugou was not about to answer or deal with.
In the end, Bakugou came up with the excuse about visiting his parents. He did it every now and then. Plus, he could bring back a few more games for them to play that Kaminari didn't have. The restaurant was by his house. He'd just swing by afterwards and then no one would be able to question him. It was the perfect alibi. Uraraka's excuse was a little more difficult, but she'd told her friends that she had to go to the store. When Deku had offered to assist her, she had told him that she had to get feminine products and that had quieted any questions that Deku or Iida might have for her. It was really quite clever.
The last decision, which Bakugou hadn't even considered would be a problem, was what he was going to wear. It was an hour before he was supposed to leave - and somehow it was a big fucking problem.
Bakugou had never really cared about what he wore before. He wore what he wanted and that was that. His style had been the same for a while and probably wouldn't change until adulthood. If it was comfortable, black, and just loose enough, then he liked it. Maybe he had too many band t-shirts, but to be honest, so did most teenage boys. He didn't want to just wear a band or a skull t-shirt though. But he didn't want to seem like he was trying too hard either. It wasn't like they were eating at some fancy shmancy place.
After hem-hawing over the decision for an aggravating amount of time, he settled on jeans and a loose button up shirt that he left undone at the top. Whatever. That was fine. It was believable that he'd wear something different since his mom would get onto him about his clothes. Besides, he liked this shirt, even if he didn't wear it often.
"You leaving, man?" Kirishima asked from the couch in the common area.
"Yeah, that devil woman is expecting me before dinner," Bakugou replied gruffly as he slung his backpack over one shoulder.
Ashido sighed and rubbed her stomach as she sunk on the couch next to Kirishima. "A home-cooked meal sounds so good right now. Bring me some leftovers!"
"As if," Bakugou scoffed. His eyes swept the room and connected with Uraraka's. She was sitting at a table doing homework with Deku. As soon as he saw a little smile appear on her face, he jerked his gaze away and walked out.
Because he was so caught up in his own head, he didn't even notice Kaminari and Jirou in the corner of the room, Unlike everyone else who were dressed in comfortable clothes to stay in, both of them were suspiciously dressed to go out, although neither one of them had said anything to anyone. Deku and Kirishima might have missed the look and smile between Bakugou and Uraraka, but they hadn't and it set off all the warning whistles.
Bakugou was standing outside the restaurant, scrolling through the hero newsfeed, when he heard a laugh that sounded like Uraraka's. He glanced up and caught her walking in his direction, but instead of looking at him, she was on her phone. At this distance, he couldn't tell who she was talking to, but there was a content smile on her face and her eyes were bright. A second later, her eyes swung over to him and that smile broadened as she waved at him. He clenched his phone tighter and then slid it into his back pocket.
She was wearing high-waisted black shorts and a white button up shirt with combo boots. For once, she was the one wearing boots while he wore sneakers. Go figure. He'd seen her wear that outfit quite a few times, but it was only natural since they'd been living in the dorms for over a year. It must have been one of her favorites, probably because it looked good on her.
"Okay, love you too, bye!" Uraraka hung up and put her phone away. "My mom."
"You tell her what you were up to?" Bakugou questioned.
Uraraka grinned up at him. "Oh, that I was going out for dinner with the great Katsuki Bakugou?" He folded his arms across his chest and grunted. No way was he going to answer that. She rolled her eyes. "No, she just called to see how the match went yesterday. Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. No one knows you've lowered yourself to hang out with me."
Bakugou furrowed his brow. "I'm not lowering myself."
An entirely too pleased expression appeared on Uraraka's face. "I'm glad we agree, seeing as how Todoroki and I kicked yours and Sero's asses in that team match."
"You didn't kick our asses," Bakugou insisted irritably.
Uraraka actually giggled. He didn't remember her making that sound before all of this. She waved it away, pulling herself together, and then asked, "So where are we eating?"
"Here," Bakugou said, turning and walking inside.
"What?" Uraraka rushed in after him, suddenly much more demure. She'd gone from all confident to anxious in less than a second. It was a startling transition. "Are you joking?"
"No." Bakugou glanced back at her. "Why?"
"Why?" Uraraka shot back at him. "Because it's expensive."
Bakugou made his typical "tch" sound and turned to tell the host that he needed a table for two. He followed to host like nothing was strange while Uraraka followed him like security was going to pop up and kick her out. Even when they sat down at a table and ordered their drinks from an overly friendly server, Uraraka looked like she might jump out of her chair and bolt.
"What the hell is your problem?" Bakugou demanded as he looked at the menu. Seriously, it wasn't expensive. He and his parents had come here often. He could've taken her to his mother's favorite restaurant. Now that was one fancy as hell place. The woman would always make him dress up and attempt to calm his hair whenever they went there. It was a whole fiasco.
"When I made the bet, I didn't mean…" Uraraka fiddled with the ends of the tablecloth. Her cheeks were pinker than normal and she kept tugging on her hair. It was still bright teal. She was clearly feeling a lot more self-conscious about it now that they were out in public. A few other customers were giving her odd and even displeased looks, but he just glared at them until they looked away. Assholes. "I mean, I know I said that fast food wouldn't count, but this…"
"It's not a big deal," Bakugou told her. "I've been craving this anyways, so quit acting weird."
Uraraka bit her lip. "Are you sure?"
Bakugou took a quick glimpse of her and then looked back down at the menu. "Yeah, I'm sure. And remember, I'm ordering for us both, so you better get some extra water."
When the waiter came back with their drinks, Bakugou ordered two things of spicy ramen ("Don't skimp out on the spicy.") and then handed off the menus as he stared Uraraka down. She wore a determined yet nervous look on her face. He honestly couldn't tell if it was concerning the food he just ordered them or if it was the place itself. It really wasn't that fancy. He would've warned her ahead of time if they were going somewhere nice.
"Are you gonna be like this the whole time?" Bakugou asked.
"No." Uraraka sat up straight and smoothed out her expression. "I just feel kind of guilty, okay? I didn't realize you'd spend so much money on this bet."
"You earned it," Bakugou told her without thinking. Uraraka's eyes widened and he coughed. She had done a great job in the team fights. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget the way she had looked while her quirk had held up all that ice above their heads before raining a hailstorm down on their heads or the sight of her on top of that building holding one of his nitroglycerin-filled gauntlets or even how she'd grabbed him by the wrist to keep him from falling. But he couldn't say that. "Besides, you had to buy the stuff to dye your hair. Consider us even."
"I'm probably not gonna feel that way after we eat," Uraraka said. "How spicy is this stuff anyways?"
Bakugou smirked. "You'll see."
"Turning my own bet on me doesn't sound very fair," Uraraka pointed out.
You should've thought of that before you wore my shirt better than me. The thought popped into Bakugou's head unbidden and he almost choked on his water.
Out loud, he said, "I'm just trying to make the best of this."
"Nah, you're just a sore loser," Uraraka threw back at him cheekily as she leaned back in her seat. He narrowed his eyes at her. Oh, she was in a mood today. The spice level was going to knock that cockiness right out of her. She wouldn't be able to tease him then. "But hey, I can't pass up a free meal. And I worked hard to earn this."
"You pulled out all the stops. That was for sure." Bakugou felt himself simmering down even though he'd planned on being fired up this whole night.
Uraraka perked up. "You think so? I was worried that I'd get points docked for being too reckless or dangerous."
At that, Bakugou actually laughed. "Have you seen the way I fight?"
"Good point." She picked up her water and peered at him over the rim as she paused before taking a sip. "We knew that you'd get frustrated if Todoroki blocked you from us with an ice wall and I remembered the way you broke through his at our first Sports Festival."
"And that meteor trick you tried to use on me before," Bakugou added. "New and improved."
"It took much less effort on my part this time," Uraraka said, shrugging her shoulders. "You two did most of the work. I only had to hold it for a few seconds and I could stay still."
"It was very clever," Bakugou told her honestly.
She looked terribly happy at being told this, but it had been clever. Of course at the time he had been furious, but the after surviving it, he had been thrilled. He knew that people were already looking at him, Deku, and Todoroki as the top three of their class, but that wasn't it. Deku wasn't even in the top three academically. Uraraka was somewhere in the middle. But those moves the other day? Those had been brilliant. She and Todoroki had played them all like fiddles and he knew that Uraraka was the more clever and creative one of the two. Besides Todoroki, she had taken all the top students out.
"Thanks, Bakugou," Uraraka said, finally looking more at ease. "It means a lot to me. Your opinion really matters."
And damn her if that didn't make Bakugou feel a certain way. It wasn't pride or arrogance. It was...warmth. He didn't know what to do with him, so he grumbled in response and took a gulp of his water. She was far too good at throwing him off his game.
"This is a stupid idea," Jirou muttered under her breath.
"Then why did you agree to it?" Kaminari hissed back at her.
"Because it sounded like a good idea at the time!"
Said idea had been following Bakugou and Uraraka when both of them had suspiciously made last minute plans to go off campus on a Saturday night. Both of their excuses had been written off by Kaminari at first. Bakugou visited his parents every now and then and he had mentioned before that he had more games at home that they could play on Kaminari's gaming system. And he made it a point to never question a girl when she needed feminine products. It was something he didn't need to get into. However, Jirou had said that was a lie. He didn't know how she knew that Uraraka was lying and he didn't question that either. Some things were better left unknown.
Unlike Bakugou and Uraraka, who had left at different times, Kaminari and Jirou had gone off campus together. They'd told everyone that they were going to a concert. They'd gotten a few weird looks, but then, it seemed right up their alley. They should go to a concert for real. That would be fun. This was not the time to think of that though. Bakugou left first and, despite their impatience, they waited for Uraraka to leave and then left quickly after that. The two of them were obviously trying to hide that they were going to the same place.
What would it be though? That was the big question.
And they'd found it out. It was a restaurant. A fairly decent one too. It was the kind of place that Kaminari would think about taking a date to, but would then pick a place one step lower. He was a teenager, after all. The place wasn't super expensive, but it was enough to make him think twice.
Which was only half the reason why he and Jirou sitting at a table across the room from Bakugou and Uraraka made Kaminari squirm in his seat. The other half, the bigger one that was close to making him sweat, was that they were openly spying on Bakugou. If he saw them, there was a high chance that Bakugou would blow him sky high.
Who was he kidding? There wasn't a chance. It would happen.
"What are they doing?" Jirou asked him in a whisper.
"I don't know," Kaminari replied while looking over the menu. "I think I might just get an appetizer as a meal."
"Not that, you dolt!" Jirou hissed. "Bakugou and Uraraka!"
Oh, right, that made more sense. They were here for a reason, after all, and it wasn't to eat, despite being in a restaurant. That was just their cover. They had worn disguises to try to hide their identities. Kaminari wasn't sure how successful he was, but he never would've guessed that the girl in the bright, flowery dress dress was Jirou. She had tried to do something different with her hair and kept her earjacks short to hide them.
Then again, he kept looking over Uraraka due to her teal hair. When he'd seen her the other morning eating breakfast in the kitchen, he had nearly yelped in surprise. Out of all the things he had been anticipating that morning, seeing as how their team match ups were that day, Uraraka with bright teal hair had not been one of them. Midoriya had exclaimed in shock as well upon seeing her, but had then staggered through an apology littered with supportive compliments while Kaminari had just gawked.
"So this is a date, right?" Jirou asked.
Kaminari snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh?"
"Bakugou and Uraraka are on a date!" Jirou repeated. His heart slowed down. For a second, he had thought that she was saying that them spying on Bakugou and Uraraka was a date. Man, he really needed to get his head into this. He was too busy worrying over getting spotted and having his dreams of being a hero cut short. "That's what this has to be. He even ordered for them both, so he's probably paying. Uraraka would think this place was too fancy for her, even though it isn't."
After living with each other for a good while, they had all began to pick up on each other's habits, preferences, and insecurities. It made it much easier to read one another, but also didn't give them much in the way of privacy. That was why Kaminari knew Bakugou would be furious if he found out that they were spying on him. He was so very particular about his private life. Kaminari almost felt guilty, but he had to know what was going on.
No one knew. Bakugou and Uraraka had this secret part of their life happening right under everyone's noses. How had no one noticed it yet? Neither Kirishima nor Asui seemed to have noticed and those two were their closest friends. How long had this been going on anyways? There were so many questions and not enough answers.
"That's what it looks like to me," Kaminari said, a frown on his face.
They were too far to hear exactly what the two were talking about, but Bakugou must have said something clever or funny because Uraraka was laughing and there was a huge smirk on his face. Both of them were so at ease with one another. It was like they'd done this before a dozen times. Was this not the first date? They had held hands while walking to the movies, but Bakugou had seemed uncomfortable about it at first from the way he'd shoved his hand out to her.
That wasn't the most alarming thing though. No, what really caught Kaminari off guard was the almost soft look on Bakugou's face whenever Uraraka wasn't looking. She was clearly struggling with the spiciness of the ramen, but instead of laughing at her or smirking like an asshole, there was this look on Bakugou's face that looked like a mixture between fondness and pleased. Having been friends with him for a while, Kaminari knew that Bakugou wasn't always in Rage Mode and he had even seen some quieter moments from him, but this was different. The closest anyone got to this Bakugou was Kirishima.
"Hold on," Jirou said, "I'm going to the restroom."
"You can't!" Kaminari exclaimed in panic. "You'll have to walk close to their table!"
Jirou winked. "That's the point. Order something for me if the waiter comes back while I'm gone."
And then she was up and leaving him at their table floundering. He watched in horror as she made her way through the tables, passing Bakugou's with just one table in between them. Bakugou was saying something to their waiter, a barely contained grin on his face while a pink-faced Uraraka pouted. Jirou disappeared around the corner where the bathrooms were. The waiter did choose to come then and Kaminari picked a large appetizer that they could just split, his focus torn between his table and theirs.
When Jirou came back, Kaminari didn't even wait for her to completely sit down before asking, "What did you hear?"
"He asked for some more water," Jirou said excitedly. It didn't sound very exciting to Kaminari. "But get this! He told the water, 'My girl thought she could get on my level and misjudged.' He called her his girl!"
Kaminari gaped stupidly. "Oh my god."
"I know!" Jirou sat back in her seat, lounging in it triumphantly. "They're totally dating."
"A secret relationship!"
"Between two rival groups!"
That brought up another line of thinking and Kaminari stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Do you think Midoriya knows? Would he be upset about this?"
Jirou shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He and Bakugou are on better terms these days, aren't they?"
"Yeah, but I thought Uraraka had a crush on Midoriya."
"No way." Jirou shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, she did, but I think it faded a few months back." Well, at least he hadn't been entirely off the mark. Uraraka's crush on Midoriya had been obvious to everyone except the boy himself, but then he had always been so focused on his time at U.A. that he had tunnel vision and forgot about everything else. That was obvious too. "Besides, I think he has a crush on… Eh, I'm probably wrong about that. It doesn't matter. What matters is this."
Kaminari couldn't shake something though. Something was off and he didn't know what, but it was bothering him. It was why he had questioned whether or not Bakugou and Uraraka were dating in the first place. "What about all that stuff with Todoroki?"
The excited and proud expression fell from Jirou's face. "That...does complicate things. Maybe Bakugou was confused about who he liked?"
"Yeah, but Todoroki?" Kaminari stressed. The idea that Bakugou had had a crush on Todoroki was too much for his brain to handle. It made him feel like he might short circuit without using his quirk. "Plus, Todoroki picked Uraraka to be his partner when Bakugou wanted to." There was no way he could miss the way Bakugou had nearly snapped his pencil in half when Todoroki had said Uraraka's name or how Bakugou had glared daggers at the both of them. "Something doesn't add up."
"Ugh, I hate to admit it, but you're right." Jirou sighed. "What the hell is going on? It sure as hell looks like a date to me. Look at the way she's smiling!" They both looked in the direction of the other table, only to find it empty and both of them almost jumped. Where had they gone? "They were just there…"
"Jirou? Kaminari?"
To say that Kaminari almost had a heart attack would've been an understatement. His shocked himself with his quirk the second he heard Uraraka's voice next to them. Unfortunately, he'd been holding onto the table and Jirou had an elbow on it, so he'd managed to shock her too. It didn't hurt him, but it made her actually jump.
Jerking his head to the left, he found Uraraka and, much to his horror, Bakugou standing in front of their table. There was a surprised look on Uraraka's face, but she didn't look upset. Meanwhile, standing behind her with his arms folded across his chest, Bakugou wore a thunderous look with sharp red eyes that screamed murder. Every alarm was going off in Kaminari's head, to the point where he couldn't think, much less speak.
Shit shit shit. They'd been caught. Bakugou was going to kill him. Life was over. He was too young to die.
"Oh, hey, you guys!" Jirou exclaimed, sounding fake even to Kaminari's ears. She was in panic mode too. "What's up?"
"What are you two doing here?" Uraraka asked, all pleasant and sunshine. Her cheeks were still pinker than normal, like she was blushing, but it could've been from whatever spicy monstrosity Bakugou had ordered them to eat for dinner.
"Uh…" Kaminari was coming up with a blank.
Bakugou scowled. "Oi, did you use your quirk too much on yourself?"
At that exact moment, their server set the food they'd ordered down on the table in between him and Jirou and his brain leapt onto the first thing that popped into his head. "We're on a date!" Jirou shot him a warning look, but he just rolled with it. She might've been embarrassed, but it was the only thing he could think of. Maybe, if Bakugou and Uraraka thought that they were trying to go on a secret date, they wouldn't realize that Jirou and Kaminari had been spying on their secret date. He picked up a bit of the food with some chopsticks and held it out to her. "Here you go, open wide."
"Ugh, that's disgusting," Bakugou griped, turning away from them. "Leave your cheesy shit in silence."
"Aw, I think it's cute," Uraraka replied cheerfully. She nudged Bakugou in the side with her elbow, as if to tell him that she wanted him to be more affectionate like that. "Sorry to bother you! I almost didn't recognize you two with Jirou in that dress. Have fun!"
With that, she grabbed Bakugou by the elbow and dragged him out of the restaurant. As soon as they were gone, Jirou knocked Kaminari's chopsticks away with hers and snagged a piece of food herself. "A date, really?"
"I panicked! I didn't know what else to say! I saw my life flash before my eyes."
Jirou snorted. "I can't believe they fell for it."
"Bakugou might be suspicious, but cutesy romantic stuff makes him uncomfortable," Kaminari said as he began to eat. Damn, this was good. Maybe food tasted better after a near death experience.
"Huh." Jirou paused as she looked at him. "That was...really clever then."
Kaminari swallowed a large mouthful of food. "I'm an idiot, but I'm not stupid all the time." He used his chopsticks to point at her. "I figured out something was going on between them before anyone else." And he was rather proud of himself for doing that. No one else knew. Jirou even hadn't known until he'd clued her in. Something was going on between Bakugou and Uraraka, but he was beginning to wonder if even they knew that.