Notes: I cut a lot out of this chapter and it shows. But it's really just some silliness and not a lot to do with the actual story progression except maybe at the very, very end.

Anyway, I haven't given enough thanks for all the love I'm getting for this story. So thanks to everyone who's stopping by and showing their appreciation. You're the best!

Secret Touch 14

Midoriya laughed uncomfortably and tugged at his own shirt. It was pretty obvious that Sero knew what was going on between him and Bakugou, but there was something he really needed to know.

"Hey, Sero. Um... Kaminari and Kirishima didn't seem to catch on to what was happening the other day like you did," the freckled teen said slowly. "Did you—"

"I didn't say anything. Those two still think you guys were fighting. As a matter of fact, they wanted to meet up with Bakugou before the party to set him straight."

A part of one phrase that Sero said played over and over in Midoriya's head over his mental loudspeaker: meet up with Bakugou before the party.

"Oh no! I promised Kacchan that we'd come to the party together!" Midoriya almost yelled.

Sero raised his eyebrows. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm sure those two will drag him here and he'll forget all about the fact that you two were supposed to come together."

"Deku! What the hell? I thought we were coming to this thing together. Instead you just show up here on your own ahead of me?" Bakugou growled.

"Sorry, Kacchan. I was recruited to help set up the food," Midoriya said quietly. "But...but we can still skate together."

The blond looked at him strangely. "Hah?" He narrowed his eyes at the shorter teen. "Who said anything about skating together? I didn't come here to skate. I came to eat and that's all." And with that he headed toward the food and stood studying it with Kirishima.

Midoriya sighed and stared at the floor. (Then why, Kacchan? Why bother inviting me here if you didn't want to skate with me?)

The little freckled teen wasn't sure why he'd agreed to join Iida and Uraraka anyway. He was never any good at skating. It just sounded like it would be fun to hang out with his friends. So, unlike Bakugou, he was going out there to enjoy his time with his friends regardless of his lack of skating skills.

As he was putting on his skates, he spotted his two buddies who were already out skating. Uraraka seemed to be having a hard time balancing, but Iida was close by, helping her along. He had one of his hands in hers and the other was around her waist.

(They've been hanging around each other a lot, so it's no surprise that they're close,) Midoriya said to himself.

And upon looking around the rink more, he started seeing a pattern forming. Asui was helping Kouda along, holding both of his hands all the while. Todoroki had skated over to a clumsy Yaoyorozu and was doing his best to help her. Kaminari kept falling and Jirou was helping him up and laughing the whole time. Ashido had stolen Kirishima from Bakugou and was now showing him how to skate. And Ojiro had found a lovely blouse and skirt to skate with that was no doubt Hagakure.

(Is this supposed to be some kind of couples' date?) Midoriya asked himself. He looked over to a clear area where Tokoyami, Satou and Sero were setting up for what looked like a race. And Aoyama didn't seem to care what was happening around him. He was too busy looking good and showing off his skating moves to no one at all.

Apparently, Present Mic thought that this was some sort of DJ gig instead of something he should be chaperoning, so he'd ended up bringing in some gear and was taking care of all their musical needs. Aizawa was spending more time keeping Mic out of trouble than he was looking after the students.

"Even the girls who can't skate look good doing it, right Midoriya?" Mineta asked, sitting on the sidelines and enjoying the view.

Midoriya laughed nervously. "Yeah. They're cute. Are you going out there too?" He carefully got to his feet and tried his best to balance himself with his arms straight out to the sides.

"Nah. I have the perfect seat right here," Mineta said, practically drooling.

And like a stone gargoyle, the little pervert would not be moved.

So, the freckled teen went about his business. He made an attempt to push off like he'd seen his friends do, but he just ended up flat on his back. And after lying there for a few minutes to catch his breath, he saw someone looming over him.

"Still can't do anything right, huh, Nerdface?" Bakugou said, offering a hand. "Get up. You're making a fool of yourself."

Midoriya took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Ah. I remember. Kacchan is good at skating. Are you going to race against Sero and the others?"

"If you know you can't skate, why bother coming at all?" the blond asked, still holding his hand and completely ignoring Midoriya's question.

"W-well, there are a lot of people here who agreed to come, but can't skate. I think everyone just wanted to spend time together." The green-haired teen looked down at their intertwined fingers and blushed.

And when Bakugou saw what he was looking at, he quickly let go of the shorter boy's hand. "Tch. Whatever. Just don't end up on your ass again. I can't keep saving you from yourself."

Midoriya watched Bakugou walk back to the food table. Their eyes met for only a split second before they both quickly looked away. (Kacchan was holding my hand. How did our fingers end up getting linked together like that? Did we do it unconsciously?) He felt himself blushing.

He also felt himself rolling. Now, how had that happened? He tried to stop himself like he'd seen his friends do, but he somehow ended up flat on his face.

"Sheesh, Midoriya. Are you okay?" Jirou asked.

When the freckled teen looked up, he noticed that Jirou's skating partner was also on the floor, face down.

"Yeah. Thanks for asking. Um... Is Kaminari okay?" Midoriya asked. "He's not moving."

"I'm fine. Just taking a little break," Kaminari's muffled voice spoke up.

Jirou helped Midoriya to his feet. "See? He's fine. Besides, I'm here to help him. Is someone with you? You really shouldn't skate alone if you don't know how."

Once Midoriya was upright again, he stared down at his skates. "No. No one's with me." He looked over his shoulder at Bakugou, who was just standing beside the food table with his arms folded. And he was staring right at Midoriya. For some reason, the freckled teen's heart skipped a beat when he met Bakugou's eyes again.

Thinking back, he'd never asked Bakugou to skate with him. He just kind of assumed that the blond would since he asked him to come with him. (If I ask Kacchan directly, will he skate with me?)

Jirou frowned. "You two aren't gonna fight, are you?"

(Is she referring to me and Kacchan?) Midoriya asked, turning back to her. "N-no. We're not gonna fight. But Kacchan's a good skater, so maybe he'd be willing to help me," he said, hoping that it didn't sound too weird.

"I don't know if it's worth the risk, Midoriya. I mean, Hagakure and Ojiro don't seem to be having trouble. Maybe you could join them," came Kaminari's muffled suggestion.

"Kaminari, at least lift your head when you're talking to someone," Jirou groaned.

"Only if you help me up," Kaminari said to her.

Midoriya could hear the grin in Kaminari's voice even though the electric teen's face was still buried in the floor. And even though Jirou sighed and rolled her eyes, she helped Kaminari to his feet as well.

(I really shouldn't interrupt these two much longer. They look like they're having fun,) he thought. He looked over his shoulder at Bakugou again and was surprised to see that his friend hadn't looked away this time. He was still looking at him. Midoriya couldn't hold his gaze, however, and quickly looked away again.

"Ojiro and Hagakure look like they're enjoying each other's company, so I don't want to intrude. And you two seem like you're having a good time together, so I'll just get out of your hair," Midoriya said.

Jirou blushed. "Wh-what?! You've gotta be kidding me! Like I'd have a good time with this guy."

" 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks', " Kaminari said with a grin. He was obviously quoting some line from some piece of literature.

The last things he heard as he tried his best to skate away were Jirou making some sort of disgusted sound and Kaminari undoubtedly falling to the floor again. Midoriya was sure that if he turned to look back at them, he too would end up on the floor.

He wasn't sure how he had managed to start rolling, but he seemed to be doing okay for the time being. As long as he didn't try to turn or stop, he would be fine. But he was heading back toward Bakugou yet again and this time when their eyes met, it was Bakugou who looked away. The blond was suddenly pretending to make a plate for himself.

Midoriya lightly bumped the table and grabbed it for support. He'd successfully made the trip from Kaminari and Jirou to the food table all by himself. "Hey again, Kacchan." He used the table to help pull himself closer to the taller teen. "Listen, this is a party. You really shouldn't spend all your time by yourself."

"Why not? The little gumball's doing the same thing," Bakugou murmured, gesturing toward Mineta.

The freckled teen chuckled. "Well, he has his thoughts to keep him company."

"Well, if you're so worried that I'm spending all of my time alone, then YOUR thoughts could keep me company," Bakugou mumbled, still concentrating on food that he wasn't even putting on his plate.

Midoriya couldn't help blushing. He knew exactly what the blond was getting at. Thankfully, his mind had been otherwise occupied all afternoon and he hadn't had any pervy thoughts. But now that Bakugou was bringing it up...

(No. I can't think about stuff like that here. It would be wrong... Unless Kacchan is saying that he WANTS me to use my qu— No! Not in public. No one would want something like that!)

Unfortunately, some background processes of his brain had started executing without his permission. He wanted to put his hands around Bakugou's waist from behind and kiss the side of his neck.

"I wasn't being fucking serious, you little shit," the blond sighed.

He'd said that, but Midoriya had to wonder if Bakugou's reactions were automatic. The taller teen had tilted his head to one side to give Midoriya's quirk easier access to his neck. Nevertheless, the freckled teen did his best to take control of all of his mental processes once again.

(Okay. It's now or never. I'll ask Kacchan to skate with me. I was just assuming that he'd come here to skate with me in the first place, but I never asked him myself. He wouldn't say no, right? I mean, what if he DID say no? I'd probably be a little bit devastated. But what if he says yes? The two of us skating together suddenly would be weird, right? Everyone here knows that we have a strained relationship and if we were to be seen skating together, they'd all wonder—) Midoriya began thinking.

"Hey, Nerdface."

The green-haired teen shook himself from his thoughts. "Y-yes?"

"Take off those damned skates and let's go watch those guys race," Bakugou said, putting his empty plate back on the stack with the other empty plates.

Midoriya watched Bakugou shove his hands into his pockets and start strolling toward the racers. He couldn't be sure if he was thinking out loud or if Bakugou had simply found a way to read his mind, but the taller teen's suggestion was much better than skating together. Midoriya quickly removed his skates and hurried after the blond.

The two sat side-by-side, but not too close together, and watched as Satou, Sero and Tokoyami raced against each other. Bakugou and Midoriya discussed each racer's quirk and strategies they could use in order to win. And surprisingly enough, others started to join them, some joined as contestants and some joined as spectators. Soon enough, no one was out skating on the floor anymore and they'd turned the whole rink into a space for their competition.

The party would've been a success if not for the very end when Todoroki tried to get in one last race against Iida and Sero and ended up nearly icing the whole place. Thankfully Aizawa had used his quirk to put a stop to it before things got too out of hand.

The food was fantastic and there were even enough leftovers for everyone to take some back to their dorm rooms.

And yes. Midoriya had decided that watching the races was much better than skating together with Bakugou. The two had chatted the whole time—something they never really did—and he was sure they were getting some weird looks from the people around them. But he didn't care. The blond didn't even seem irritated by his presence like he did any time they would spend too much time together.

He felt fully satisfied as he put his container of food on his desk and flopped down on his bed. (I'm a little sad that Shouji couldn't be there. Everyone seemed like they had so much fun.)

Well, now that the stress of this day was over, he could go back to his regularly scheduled life. Going to bed early was probably a good idea.

As soon as he changed into his pajamas and climbed under his covers his phone buzzed.

KACCHAN: Hey, Deku. When do you plan on asking me to help you control your quirk?

Notes: Welcome back to my nonsense. Like I said before, a lot was cut out of this chapter. It was just way too long and scattered to be manageable. Tbh, it still seems scattered and unmanageable. But I hope you liked it anyway. Sorry for the long wait!