Katsuki Bakugo would never admit to missing someone.
Maybe Uraraka, but he had no plans of being apart from her long enough to miss her. His parents, well, he would never have time to miss his parents with his mom's incessant phone calls and his dad's constant text updates on his work and whatever news had been spread about UA this time. The school's reputation had apparently been growing beyond the norm with the focus blindingly on the new first year class of heroes Bakugo just had to have joined.
He wouldn't admit to enjoying the spotlight either.
Just like he would never admit the rush through his blood at being able to train with Kirishima again. He hadn't missed fucking Shitty Hair himself. He saw the guy at school plenty. It was the massive contrast in combat styles from his training with Uraraka - being able to let loose and go all out in every attempt to explode the rock of a comrade.
Yeah. That was it.
"We were thinking of going to the mall later," Shitty Hair said, pulling out his phone and tossing his bag over his shoulder. The warm, omnipotent sun was almost directly above them, hours past when Bakugo had woken Uraraka via five phone calls to train at dawn. "Mina and Kaminari want to get a few things for camp."
Bakugo wouldn't call him out on using Ashido's first name, but it wasn't the first time his so-called friend had let it slip.
"Why do I care?" he said. As he dug for his own phone, his stomach rumbled between steps on the paved walkway through campus. The grounds were still littered with students moving in, though to other dorms dotted through the crisp green grass separating the residencies from the distant academic building.
"Because you should come," Kirishima said, tapping at the glass screen of his phone, completely oblivious to where he was going. Shitty Hair and the others had seemed to file in to follow in Bakugo's lead from day one and honestly?
Bakugo didn't understand it.
At first, he'd felt like they were more of the extras from middle school who attempted to form an unspoken alliance with their submissive friendship - a poor tactic meant to shield them from his unleashable ire at anything in his way. But as the weeks had dragged on the self-proclaimed friends of his had endured his wrath and his neglect and still seemed to actually care.
It was fucking stupid of them.
Still, Bakugo had dimmed his desire to set them all on fire and began to tolerate their existences slowly intertwining with his.
"Fuck that," Bakugo answered.
Tolerate.
Not encourage.
Shitty Hair sighed as Bakugo checked the single notification on his phone.
Cheeks: I've been studying with some friends and we're gonna eat lunch afterwards if you want to join?
He stared at the text as a breeze brushed his cheek, rustling his hair.
"You can bring Uraraka."
Bakugo snapped a glare over to Kirishima who was surprisingly not wearing a shitty, teasing grin. Flitting his eyes to something over Bakugo's shoulder, Kirishima was completely expressionless aside from the typical calm, optimism that surrounded him. Their steps were even and slow, lazy for them after a longer training session than usual as they headed back to their dorms.
Maybe it was the hunger or the ache in his muscles, but Bakugo considered Shitty Hair's offer.
Uraraka would probably like going to the mall.
"Fine," he said through terse lips.
Kirishima raised his brows, but relaxed them within a breath. "We'll leave after lunch." He adjusted the fall of his white shirt with a shrug, the neck still damp with sweat. "They've already arranged an escort, which is weird."
Bakugo grunted, typing into his phone.
I'll go to lunch if you'll go to the mall with me and the dunce squad.
"I guess they're just tightening security," Kirishima said. "I knew we'd need permission to leave campus, but I didn't think we'd need a chaperone."
Uraraka was typing.
"Fucking nags," Bakugo said, tipping up his chin to scan the area. His sneakers were soft on the concrete and he itched for his boots, even if he was wearing low hung sweatpants. "Thinking they need to babysit us every goddamn second."
"I guess," Kirishima said, stepping around the hedges of the brick fencing that kept watch over Heights Alliance. "What do you wanna do for lunch?"
"I have plans," he grumbled back, dropping his gaze.
Cheeks: Deal. We're about to meet downstairs. Are you still training with Kirishima?
"You have plans?" Bakugo could hear the smile in Kirishima's voice as he kept his focus on his phone, typing a response.
We're back. Gonna shower and stuff and I'll be down.
"Lunch date?"
Bakugo rolled his neck, reining in his temper with an abrupt sigh. "Not a date."
Kirishima seemed to think about this, pausing before, "You really like her, don't you?"
"Doesn't fucking matter to you, Shitty Hair," he said, watching the rhythmic dots of Uraraka's typing.
Cheeks: Ok :)
Kirishima hummed in his chest. "I'm happy for you."
"For fuck's sake," he scoffed in return. They walked into the building, sounds of cupboards closing and dishes scraping against one another softly coming from the kitchen to the left as they made their way to the elevators.
"I'm just saying," Shitty Hair went on as they stepped through the silver metal doors, "that if someone has managed to actually get your attention and your respect that's really cool. Uraraka is great."
Kirishima was a moron but he was brave, Bakugo would give him that.
"Fuck off, Shitty Hair," Bakugo said, glaring at the digital numbers declaring their ascent. He crossed his bare arms, ignoring the bristling that the small space gave him - reminding him of the tight feeling of sludge closing in on him from every angle. "I can't wait to kick your ass at this stupid camp."
They parted ways at their rooms and Bakugo fought his desire to prolong his shower to avoid socializing and wanting to rush to satisfy his still-new desire to be around Uraraka as often as possible. In the end, he'd gone no faster or slower than normal and it was about half an hour later that he found himself stepping off the elevator to the sound of conversation around the corner.
"I'm sorry guys," Uraraka said, her voice a weak whisper he remembered from a time he didn't want her to repeat. "I've just been going through a lot lately."
"And you'd rather go through it with Bakugo than us?"
Frogger's words stopped him in his tracks. He could hear the lining of betrayal in them, the hurt there. Still, her friends had no idea what they were talking about - what Uraraka had been through.
Her eyes lost in the far away place came to mind, the way she'd clung to his hand after the first meeting with Principal Nezu. Like she'd drift away into the infinity she was capable of creating somewhere deep in the clouds.
"He's," Uraraka started, stuttering. "He was there when everything started. We just really hit it off."
"When it comes to Bakugo, hitting it off is exactly what we're worried about," Icyhot cut in.
Bakugo clenched his teeth, leaning his back against the long hall of the boys side of the elevators. Was this really the perception his class had of him? He had never given a fuck what others thought of him - how ruthless or volitile they expected him to be. But did they really think he would lay hands on Uraraka? On someone he actually cared about?
It was a startling notion.
"Judge Bakugo all you want," Uraraka's tone had flattened, a sound he was accustomed to now, though more so during their training than anything else. "But don't throw around accusations like you know him."
She was mad.
She was mad that they were talking down on him.
It was a foreign, fluttering observation.
But Deku spoke up, quelling the feeling in his chest. "I know Kacchan wouldn't hurt you, Uraraka. We're all just confused."
"I was confused at first too," Uraraka said. "I just… I was shutting down from everyone and everything around me and he was there. I couldn't bring myself to reach out to anyone. I couldn't ask for help. Bakugo was there anyway. I was never trying to hurt you guys, I was just trying to hold myself together and being with Bakugo helped me do that."
He'd never heard her express so much fondness for him before, even after all his declarations - even after she'd begun to reciprocate them.
"But Bakugo is terrible," Frogger croaked.
"Disrespectful," Engine added.
"A selfish bastard," Icyhot sneered.
Bakugo's upper lip twitched and he realized how long he'd been eavesdropping. A blush burned his ears and he turned toward the corner, ready to show Icyhot what a bastard he could really be.
"He is selfish," Uraraka said. Something started to burn in Bakugo's chest. "And his selfishness taught me to be selfish too when I needed to take care of myself the most."
Oh, this girl.
This girl really was going to ruin his life.
"But he's not incapable of being thoughtful and kind," she went on and Bakugo continued around the corner, finally laying eyes on the group gathered on the floor around a wide coffee table between the couches, food dispersed between them and half eaten. "He's just…"
"Cheeks," he said. "Enough already."
Their heads spun to him, the defensiveness in many of their eyes a familiar sight. Flaring his nostrils, his brow dropped until he saw Uraraka, her face alight as she watched him approach, a blush tinting her cheeks a soft pink. It was then that he saw the second plate of food beside her own, piled high with fixings. Waiting for him.
Fuck, this girl.
Deku seemed to notice too. "Oh, that was for Kacchan?"
Uraraka's blush intensified and she nodded. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Enough," he said, meeting Icyhot's glare as he rounded the couches, his socks brushing against the thin carpet. He sat between Uraraka and Deku, a stiff Engine on her other side, pushing up his glasses and looking anywhere but at Bakugo.
Deku raised his hands above the table. "We didn't mean anything by it, Kacchan. Honest."
"We just wanted Uraraka to know we care and are here for her through whatever it is that she's going through," Engine added.
"Tch," Bakugo said. "She knows, morons. Maybe if you lightened up the pressure of all your own feelings about her life then she'd feel like she could talk to you fuckers about it too."
Engine's mouth popped open and Deku's shoulders dropped, his eyes widening. Icyhot looked between Bakugo and Uraraka like he was studying a villain before battle and Frogger seemed to have retreated inward between him and Deku. Bakugo retrieved the plate from in front of Uraraka and took a bite, ready to get as much down before it grew any colder. She relaxed beside him, adjusting her crossed legs so that her knee overlapped with his.
He didn't mind.
"Is that true?" Frogger whispered.
Uraraka turned to her friend with a sadness in her eyes.
"I am deeply sorry if we made you feel obligated to share things you weren't ready to, Uraraka," Engine said. "I could see how our protectiveness could have made you uncomfortable."
"It's okay," Uraraka said, her eyes twitching over to Bakugo as he ate. "I think everything happened the way it was supposed to."
"So you're alright then?" Icyhot asked.
Uraraka swallowed, picking up her chopsticks and spinning them around each other in her fingers. "There's still a lot going on."
"Does this have anything to do with Midoriya's encounter the other day, kero?" Frogger asked, definitely not lightening up her fucking pressure, but Bakugo wouldn't be the one to point that out.
Deku shot the girl a glare, but Uraraka answered.
"Yeah, actually," she paused, turning to Bakugo and he stopped chewing to look back at her. "My parents went missing the night of the Sports Festival," she said to the group, her eyes never leaving Bakugo's. He put down his utensils. "They called me to Principal Nezu's office to tell me during the hero training the next day and I asked Bakugo to stay with me."
Bakugo prickled with their private moments being exposed, but he knew this was her story to share.
"Uraraka," Deku gasped, his brows knit and eyes downcast.
Frogger's hands rose to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry."
"Do you have any updates?" Engine asked.
Uraraka turned to face her friends and Bakugo found himself wanting to reach out and touch her. "The League of Villains kidnapped them. They don't have any leads on their whereabouts."
"So the guy who talked to Midoriya was with the League?" Icyhot asked.
Nodding, Uraraka looked at Bakugo again and he watched her fight the far away place in her eyes. "He's… I've never told anyone this," she admitted softly. "No one but Katsuki." The others' perked up at the use of his first name, but they said nothing as she continued. "That guy has been stalking me for a long time. He killed my best friend in front of me two years ago."
"Oh, Uraraka." This time Deku reached for her across the table in front of Bakugo, touching her on the shoulder just as Engine did the same. Bakugo winced and knocked his arm away for encroaching on his space.
"And now he has your parents," Frogger said and Bakugo looked at her directly for the first time, his lids lowered and a scowl on his face.
Stupid frog.
"I'm sure the police are investigating with full force," Engine said, recalling his hand from her.
Uraraka nodded again and Bakugo felt the stare of Icyhot on him like a fly he just couldn't swat away.
"Thank you for taking care of her, Kacchan," Deku said and a quiet fell over the table.
"Tch," he said. "Just wait 'til I ever come face to face with that son of a bitch."
Her friends seemed to absorb his words, looking between him and Uraraka. Finally, she held her chopsticks still from her nervous twiddling and started in on the last of her food leading the others to do the same. When conversation picked back up again, sliding a little short of grace toward schoolwork, Uraraka placed a hand on his leg below the table.
"I hope it never comes to that," she whispered, just to him.
. . .
Bakugo hated the mall.
There were too many people, too many things everywhere, and too much noise. And while he could appreciate the art of pulling a look together more than anyone expected him to, shopping was not an act he found enjoyable. He found the experience was even worse with these idiots.
"Let's go into this one!" Pinky nearly shouted, reaching out for Shitty Hair's sleeve and dragging him toward the mouth of a department store.
Dunce Face and Tape Arms laughed after them, but still followed close behind. Aizawa Sensei and Present Mic were stationed back a ways, keeping a so-called watchful eye, though it looked more like Present Mic was attempting to talk Aizawa to death. Bakugo couldn't figure out why the constantly exhausted teacher had even come if Present Mic had been willing to be their escort off campus.
Bakugo raised a hand. "Alright, Cheeks. What do you want to do?"
"Well, we're supposed to stay together," she said, taking his hand. The touch was still a new comfort, a new public affection that meant something different than it had all the times he'd grabbed her by the hand to hold her in place - to keep her from falling apart. "So we should probably go inside too."
"We can go wherever you want to fucking go," he snapped, rolling his eyes at the morons following Pinky toward the women's clothes. "Do you need anything for camp?"
She shrugged in her orange shirt that reminded him of his hero costume, the movement so slight it was almost nothing at all. "Nothing necessary."
Perfume permeated the crowded store, patrons littering the different stalls selling cosmetics and jewelry. They walked vaguely in the direction of the others, their steps unhurried even when Tape Arms turned to wave for them to catch up. Bakugo had only offered him a vulgar gesture in return.
"Uraraka!" Pinky called, holding up what looked like scraps of fabric on a hanger. "Let's try on swimsuits!"
Uraraka blushed beside him as they approached the waiting group. "Um," she mumbled.
"Whatcha doin' that for, Ashido?" Dunce Face asked, his voice lilting to probe. "Looking for someone to get a hint or something?"
Pinky smacked him with the hanger. "Shut up, Kaminari." She turned back to Uraraka. "What do you think? I could use a new suit for some river swimming. It is on the packing list."
"Well," Uraraka said, her blush remaining. "I don't have a swimsuit, but I was just planning to not swim."
"But what if it's for training purposes?" Tape Arms asked.
Dunce Face nodded along. "Yeah, you should probably try on a bunch of suits to see which will be the most dynamic in the water."
Bakugo narrowed his eyes. "I'll kill you, you know."
"Hey now," Kirishima said, raising his hands as if to placate them. "No one is going to look or anything, but you probably should have everything on the packing list."
Uraraka was practically floating away beside him, her blush deepening from pink to red. "I guess."
"Yay!" Pinky cheered, grabbing another suit from a nearby rack. "Try this one on!"
Bakugo let go of Uraraka's hand so she could fuss over options with Pinky until the two found their way toward the dressing room, leaving him outside to wait with the guys. She really did love to make him test his patience for her sake at every opportunity.
He hated that it worked every time.
He wandered idly, refusing to keep still as his annoyance grew with the passing time.
"I still can't believe you're actually dating," Dunce Face said, walking behind him through the weaving racks of bathing suits near the fitting rooms.
Tape Arms shoved him. "You saw them in his living room."
"Yeah, but I was mostly teasing then," he said. "I figured it really was a study session or something."
"No one ever said we were dating," Bakugo said, a color catching his eye. He stopped and thumbed through the choices of two pieces.
"Are you?" Dunce Face pressed.
Bakugo didn't answer. He found what he wanted and grabbed it off the metal bar holding a dozen others.
"Leave him alone," Shitty Hair said. "You're just jealous."
"And you're not?"
Tape Arms grinned. "No, he's got his own woman to worry about."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shitty Hair snapped, his voice cracking.
Dunce Face and Tape Arms shared a look.
"So oblivious," Tape Arms laughed.
Bakugo left them, stepping into the room lined with private changing areas he was probably not supposed to be in. "Oi," he said. "Cheeks."
"What are you doing in here?" her voice called out from behind one of the white slatted doors.
"Try this one," he said.
Nothing happened for a moment before one of the doors opened a crack, Uraraka's big brown eyes peeking through. "What?"
He extended the pink suit - the same color as her hero costume. She eyed it nervously, flitting her gaze back up to his.
"Thanks," she said, a slow smile drawing up on her face. She took the suit from him and shut the door again before he returned outside to the others.
"Guys," Shitty Hair was whining. "If someone likes me and you know it you should tell me," he said to a grinning Tape Arms and Dunce Face.
"Or you could grow a brain," Bakugo said.
Kirishima turned accusatory eyes on him, a look of betrayal stricken across his face. "Not you too!"
The girls emerged a few painful minutes later, each having left behind all their options but one.
Uraraka held the suit he'd picked out as she approached where he was leaning on a stand of one pieces and ignoring the other boys, a blush rising to her cheeks when he noticed her selection.
He held back a grin.
She'd liked it.
They moved to the check out together, Pinky sticking close to Hair for Brains' side and Bakugo rolled his eyes. Uraraka saw and turned to follow his line of sight, her brows raising.
"Oh wow," she said as they stepped into line. "He has no idea, does he?"
"Nope."
The cashier called them up and when he announced the total, Uraraka shuffled her bag around from her back.
"Put it on the Bakugo account," he said, interrupting her search for her wallet.
She turned angry eyes on him and he was starting to like that look as much as her blush.
The cashier scrutinized him for a moment.
"He's my father," Bakugo added.
"Do you know the account number?"
Bakugo nodded and told him, the cashier typing along.
"All done," they said, pulling out a receipt and bagging her purchase. "Tell Masaru hello for me."
Bakugo grunted and took the bag.
They left after Pinky paid for her own suit, the six of them filing out of the store in a wad.
"You're ridiculous," Uraraka said, her offense from earlier still a tension in her eyes. But she reached for his hand anyway.
He had been triumphant.
Aizawa and Present Mic were still near a kiosk selling bizarre robotic cat toys when they emerged, turning down the aisle to look for a new store. A pair of kids ran by the group, a man's voice howling after them to slow down and something caught Bakugo's eye. Further ahead a man stood across the massive aisle of shops, his hair an ordinary unkempt dirty blonde and a black mask pulled across his mouth and nose.
But his eyes were unflinching.
Bakugo kept up with the others as Pinky chatted about what store to hit next. Shitty Hair wanted to get some work out clothes and Tape Arms needed new shoes. Uraraka held his hand firmly, a contented smile rising from the corners of her lips.
And the man never moved.
Bakugo dared a glance back at Aizawa and Present Mic, the two having started to follow the small group of teenagers. When he turned back the man was moving, his eyes still trained on them.
On Uraraka, he realized.
A fire lit inside him.
Was this him?
Was this the villain who had stolen her parents? Her friend's life? Her sense of security?
He could feel the crackling need of his quirk ready to spill out from his palms. He could get them to go inside the nearest store and make an excuse to step outside alone. He could come face to face with the fucker. He could blast him point blank and rob him of everything he'd been trying to take from Uraraka.
He wanted to fight him.
Wanted to hurt that mother fucker worse than he'd ever hurt anyone else - see how he liked it.
The figure moved through the crowd, eyes still glued to her at his side.
Glued to him.
They stared at each other.
The others' voices faded into a distant sound roaring in the background of his mind like the rest of the people littering the mall. Families. There were families and children here.
And this asshole thought he could get away with stalking her here.
After everything he'd done.
"Katsuki?" Uraraka's voice broke through. "Are you okay?"
He tore his eyes away from the man approaching, still far away. He couldn't let her see him. And then the idea of what him confronting that guy here would do to her occurred to him for the first time. Bakugo would be taking away the good memories from the other store, the fun she was having with his friends.
Because in the end, they were his friends.
And if he picked a fight with a murderer in the middle of their trip to the mall, it would ruin not only the day but the entire camp would be cancelled. He'd be taking away their sense of safety - all of their fun.
He had to start thinking like a hero.
He was going to be number one.
Number one wouldn't pick a fight in the middle of the goddamn mall, putting countless civilians in harm's way.
"I'm fucking over this," he said, keeping watch of the guy's movements in his peripherals, not daring to let any of them follow his stare. "Let's go."
"Bakugo!" Pinky whined and Kirishima shot him a 'c'mon man' look.
But Bakugo locked eyes with Kirishima, leveling with him until his friend stiffened.
"No, I think he's right," Shitty Hair said, tearing his eyes away from Bakugo slowly. Bakugo checked on the blonde guy with a quick glance. He was still far enough away, but still moving toward them. "I still need to pack and the clothes I already have are fine."
Pinky turned to look up at Shitty Hair, but her diva act quieted. "Fine, I guess," she said, defeated.
They turned away together and for once Bakugo was glad to see Aizawa and Present Mic actually keeping a close watch on them. They caught up quickly, the teachers asking if they were ready to go to which Shitty Hair said yes.
Bakugo tightened his grip on Uraraka's hand as they left the larger hall, turning back down the way they'd entered as they made their way to the exit, casting one last glance over his shoulder before they stepped through the whirring automatic doors.
The man stood at the mouth of the smaller aisle.
His eyes still watching.