Ochako sat in Deku's room in the chair at his desk, watching her hands clench and unclench the fabric of her pajama pants.
Deku sat on his bed and watched her hands as well.
Neither spoke nor had spoken since she'd knocked on his door 15 minutes earlier and asked to come inside after dinner had finished.
Ochako chanced a glimpse at Deku's face.
When he'd first gotten up after the fight, his skin had been pink and slightly glossy on one side of his face from the explosion Katsuki had set off. The other side had been battered and bloody. He'd looked pretty rough.
Now all that was left were a few yellowing bruises after being almost completely healed by Recovery Girl.
She found him deep in thought, his hands curled into fists. Something in his gaze reminded her of the horrified expression he'd had on his face when she'd broken him and Katsuki up on move-in day.
He looked up at her as well when he noticed her eyes on him.
She knew the question before he even asked it.
"Ochako-chan, what's really going on between you and Kacchan?"
Ice water poured slowly down her spine, spreading into each limb as it went. It wasn't her place to tell Deku about Katsuki's feelings. But she knew he already suspected something. He had seen how Katsuki had looked at her.
She clenched the fabric in her hands again before responding.
"Nothing, Deku," she answered truthfully, "Nothing is going on between us."
"But…" Deku said slowly, piecing things together in his mind, "Kacchan still wants there to be. He doesn't want you to be with me."
Ochako squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will away the tears she could feel threatening at the corners of her eyes.
"We argued about it on New Year's and I ran off and now," she felt the tears stinging her eyes now. Come on. Please just suck it up, she willed herself to behave. "He hates me. He won't talk to me really. He doesn't want to work with me. Because I hurt him."
Her voice cracked on the last sentence and her tears started trickling down her cheeks in earnest.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Deku, but I wasn't sure how he was going to act and only yesterday I found out he'd gone to another work study without me and I've just been trying to make things okay because I just want us to be okay again!" she blubbered letting just how truly aggrieved she was right now wash through her.
She hadn't let herself feel how raw she still was because she felt like she didn't deserve it. She was the one who had rejected him. She still got to be happy with a boyfriend. She had no right to be so anguished over this.
"Hey, hey, Ochako-chan. It's alright," Deku's gentle voice soothed.
"Come here," he beckoned her to sit with him on his bed, patting the blanket beside him.
Ochako got up and took the few steps over to his bed to sit next to him.
Deku encircled her in his warm embrace, his fingers brushing through her ponytail.
"Of course you want things to be okay again, Ochako," he gently said in a low tone, rubbing large circles on her back, "You can't stand there being tension between you and someone else. You want to make it right, even if they don't."
He pulled back from her then to look her in the eye with those deep emerald orbs. "Kacchan doesn't like being told no. You probably hurt his pride more than his feelings."
That's not true, she thought, recalling the pain Katsuki had let show through when she'd pulled away from him. Deku had seen how he'd been looking at her. Was he trying to convince himself that he hadn't?
"He'll come around eventually, Ochako-chan. Don't worry," he said soothingly.
Ochako wiped at her eyes, trying to regain her composure.
"Thank you, Deku," she sniffled, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I just… didn't know how. I don't want you to hate him again. I can't stand that I've come between you guys like this."
"He has made you come between us, Ochako. It's not your fault."
Ochako bit her lip. It felt like it was her fault…
He held her to his chest a few minutes longer until her breathing slowed and her tears had dried.
"I want to be with you, Deku," she whispered.
"I know, Ochako," he whispered back, "I'm not worried."
Ochako loosed a sigh of relief and nuzzled into his neck, breathing in a clean, soapy scent from him.
Deku pulled back from her again and looked into her eyes, his emerald ones shining.
Her breath went shallow as she gazed up at him and her heart warmed. She smiled shyly.
A look of determination came over his features then.
"Ochako, I-"
But she didn't wait to hear what he had to say. She kissed him. Softly at first, and when he responded after his initial shock, she deepened it.
She licked at the seam of his lips to ask for entry and he obliged, sucking in a deep breath when her tongue met his for the first time.
Ochako tangled her hands in his messy hair as he held her close to him, hands caressing her back.
Gently, she pushed him back on his bed and finally broke her kiss with him, pulling back to look at him, laying on her side next to him as he laid on his back.
Deku smiled up at her as her face hovered over his, "Wow, Ochako."
She grinned down at him and kissed him lightly again.
Bringing a hand to her hip, he gripped it. Not hard, but possessively. She sighed, feeling a stirring within her and licked her lips.
Ochako drew the tip of her finger in a line starting at his lips to his chest and he shuddered.
"Ochako," he breathed, sounding out of it.
The animal within her liked the sound of that and brought her lips to his again, this time more urgent, devouring.
He could sense the shift in her demeanor and pulled her slightly closer, his hold on her hip tightening.
Ochako let out a tiny moan and Deku froze, then relaxed and gripped her again.
Beginning to feel impatient with his touches, she pushed the hand at her hip down to cup her ass and he gasped, breaking the kiss again.
"Ochako," he breathed huskily, shocked.
Her hand still on his, she made him squeeze her ass cheek and he let out a grunt of excitement.
Taking his mouth with hers again, she rolled herself onto her back, pulling him on top of her, one of his legs resting between hers.
She dragged her nails down his clothed back and Deku made a deep growling sound, involuntarily bucking his hips.
She felt something hard press into her thigh and she moaned into his mouth with desire.
He did it again.
Then he was ripping himself away from her, jumping back up off the bed completely.
He brought a shaking hand to his face, his breathing erratic as he backed up from her.
"Ochako," he said, still trying to catch his breath.
"Deku?" she asked, pushing herself up on her arms as worry for him and hurt at his withdrawal warred in her mind, "What's wrong?"
Finally catching his breath, he took one deep breath in and blew it out, bending over with his hands to his knees.
"Ochako I- really care about you and I liked that. But," he stood up straighter again, still needing to lean on the desk, "I'm not ready for… whatever this was. I want to go a little slower."
Ochako felt confusion and then intense shame, her cheeks burning hot with it.
"Oh," she said, lowering her eyes to the floor.
She pushed herself all the way up to a sitting position and just stared at the carpet for a second, feeling a little bit hurt but, more than that, feeling embarrassed at how she'd behaved.
He's a good-natured, gentle person. Of course he's not going to want to move that quickly, she scolded herself.
Swiftly, she stood and tried to smooth her pajamas. What an idiot she was. He had to be thinking the absolute worst of her now.
"I'm sorry," he said placatingly.
"No!" she replied hurriedly, "I'm sorry, Deku. I shouldn't have- I should go."
He didn't argue with her as she went for the door.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said quietly as she pulled open the door and walked out.
"Yeah," he said in response. Then she closed it behind her.
Ochako leaned herself back against his door, trying to calm herself and make sense of her chaotic thoughts and feelings.
She breathed deeply in and out for another minute, then deemed herself presentable enough to head back to her room.
She pushed the button for the elevator and was relieved when she heard it immediately start moving up.
It reached the 5th floor finally and she stepped toward it to enter when the door opened after the ding.
But she went utterly still when crimson eyes met hers as the doors slid back to reveal Bakugo Katsuki.
Initial surprise was replaced by his usual bored expression as his eyes fixed on her from just inside the elevator.
The doors tried to slide back closed on him but he put a hand out, opening them back up and allowing him to exit.
Ochako backed up a couple paces when he stepped out and she just stared up at him, her heart beating wildly as he took her in. First, her flushed face, then her swollen, kiss-bruised lips, then her mussed hair and rumpled clothing.
Finally, his eyes flitted to Deku's door for just a second, then came back to her, taking it all in again.
He blinked slowly, then swallowed, never losing the stoic expression on his face.
Then, without a word, he turned away from her and began to walk toward his room.
Her heart immediately dropped to her stomach, knowing exactly what he was thinking, and she hated it.
Before she could stop herself, she grabbed for his hand.
"I didn't… We didn't…" she blurted.
Then she caught herself and covered her mouth before she could babble more, dropping his hand a second after that.
What are you doing? she screamed at herself, It's not his business! You can do what you want with your own boyfriend!
He looked back at her, a crease in his brow, his molten eyes wild now. With rage? Hatred? Jealousy?
Suddenly, Katsuki turned back and advanced on her, grabbing her neck none too softly, pushing her back against the wall with a soft thud.
His burned matches scent invaded her nose as he drew close, hand still holding her by the neck, his face set in a snarl.
He was breathing so heavily that he was nearly panting, blowing hot breath into her face, only inches away.
Ochako's own breathing went shallow and her chest compressed in an excruciating way.
Her heart was hammering against her rib cage as his gaze kept shifting from her eyes to her lips.
"Of course he wouldn't," he growled low, his eyes finally settling on hers, burning a hole into her soul.
Her whole body shivered from her head to her toe.
"Bakugo," she whispered, placing her hands on his arm. He wasn't hurting her nor was he scaring her, despite her heart feeling like it was going to jump out of her chest any second, but she knew this wasn't a good position for anyone to find them in.
The flame roaring in his eyes died and he ripped his hand away from her like she'd suddenly burned him.
He swiftly turned his back to her again and made his way to his room.
She didn't try to stop him.
A few more weeks went by and Katsuki still remained mostly cold toward her.
Ochako had to admit that it wasn't quite as terrible as when he'd ignored her in first term. But she didn't give up trying to show him she still wanted to be around him and treating him with kindness.
She would greet him warmly in the morning, offer him a spot to sit with her and Deku at the lunch table, ask him for help or to take a peek at his notes if she struggled to understand something, on and on. She didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She wanted to see him smile at her again or pull her hair when she irritated him. She refused to let him just withdraw from her.
But he still remained distant, just barely acknowledging her enough to refuse anything she offered or asked.
Sometimes she would catch Deku looking at him too, his expression hostile. She couldn't blame him for it. Things had happened between her and Katsuki that were difficult for a new boyfriend to accept. On top of all that was the fact that they had never been the best of friends. They were rivals at the best of times, bitter enemies at the worst.
She'd yet to visit Deku's room again, nor he hers. Part of her was pretty hurt that he'd pulled away before, the other part felt incredibly embarrassed that she'd behaved that way, forcing him to have to tell her how uncomfortable he was with the whole thing.
She didn't want that to happen again. She didn't even want to be in a situation where he might get the idea it might happen again and preemptively reject her or run away.
The most they had shared since then had been chaste kisses when no one else was around. And even then, he would pull away a little too quickly, like she might ravage him again if he kissed her for too long.
"It's probably because he liked it so much, you scared him, girly," Nate told her over the phone when she called to update him on her situation one evening near the beginning of February, "You gave him some kind of sexual awakening."
Ochako chuckled, her cheeks going red, "He did say he liked it…"
"See?" Nate laughed, "Just bide your time. You'll starve him out, eventually."
"Nate!" she shrieked, her face getting hotter and hotter. She heard him howling with laughter on the other end.
She was standing on her balcony in the hopes of not disturbing Mina but also because she enjoyed the fresh air out here sometimes.
As she looked out over the campus, she spotted a familiar spiky head walking toward the dorms.
Katsuki had been out, probably picking up groceries again.
"Nate, I think I see Bakugo, if you want to say hi," she spoke into the receiver.
Before he was able to answer, she shouted down to Katsuki, waving excitedly, "Bakugoooooo!"
The blonde boy lifted his head slightly at her call but said and did nothing in return. He was nothing if not a creature of habit.
Jumping from her balcony, she landed lightly on the ground as he came nearer.
"Bakugo," she greeted, bouncing slightly, "Guess who I have on the phone!"
He looked at her with his usual bored expression, blinking.
"Not my mom, hopefully," he replied.
Ochako snorted, delightfully surprised he'd made a joke. Although, from looking at his face, one wouldn't think he'd made one at all.
"It's Nate," she finally answered herself, "Do you want to say hi?"
Kastuki lifted a single brow.
"I'll take that as a yes. Here," she said, shoving her phone into his hands.
He looked at her phone, with its pink case and glittery dangle charm, for a couple seconds, then put it up to his ear.
"Nate," he said simply.
She heard Nate talking on the other end but she couldn't make out any of what he was saying.
"Okay, I guess," Katsuki responded to something Nate had said.
"Yeah," he said without conviction.
He regarded her with a cool look the whole time he spoke with Nate. Nate being the one who actually did most of the speaking. Katsuki only giving one or two word answers.
His eyes took in her pajamas, mint colored with candies all over, then moved on to her face which was watching intently, pleased to have been able to get them to talk again. Katsuki oddly put up with a lot of things from Nate that he would've normally immediately started raging over from most other people. She doubted it was because he was a prince either. She supposed maybe he had a weakness for the guy who was so open and honest about his feelings all the time. Or just didn't want to hurt the feelings of the one person who actually had a crush on him.
"I know," Katsuki said for the second time in the conversation.
Then more talking from Nate.
He rolled his eyes, "I'll try."
Nate said a few more words.
"Okay," he said finally, "I will. Bye."
And he hung up the phone.
Handing it back to her he said, "He said to tell you he had to go and that he says bye."
She grinned at him, "You had a nice talk there. Anything you care to share?"
"No," he answered without hesitation.
"Okay, well... I hope it was a good talk at least," she said, still trying to maintain her cheery disposition despite his still consistently cold and aloof attitude.
"Are you studying with the guys again tonight?" she asked, eyeing the grocery bag he was carrying filled with various snacks.
"Yeah," he responded curtly.
"Can I sit in? I know it's not always the most productive atmosphere but it's fun and Deku is training or something right now, so…."
He narrowed his eyes at her, "What do you think?"
She felt her smile falter, "I guess you don't want me to, like usual. But I'll even be quiet and keep to myself."
He groaned with exasperation, rubbing at his neck with his free hand.
"I don't think it's a good idea."
Her smile completely melted away then, replaced by a tight-lipped expression of sadness and frustration.
"It's not fair that all of your other friends get to still hang out with you but I'm just like…. nothing now," she complained quietly.
"Well, we were never friends, so-"
"We were friends!" she snapped at him, clutching her phone tightly in her fist, "You didn't want to be but we were! And we were close friends and partners! You can't fault me for being sad that that's gone!"
He didn't respond, just shook his head. And they stood still for a minute or two, listening to the wind rustle the trees. Her staring at him. Him looking anywhere but at her face.
"Why can't you just fucking leave me alone?" he ground out through clenched teeth.
Surprised- and a little hurt- by his question, she was momentarily silent, watching as her feet shifted on the ground now.
"I just… want you to stop hating me," she finally answered, her mouth drawing down into a pained frown.
He unclenched his jaw and sighed, a resigned look coming over his features.
"You know I can't hate you, pink cheeks."
Ochako's face warmed, not having heard any of his pet-names for her in weeks. She gazed up at him but he was still looking away.
"So... you're not angry at me?"
"Fuck! Stop!" he growled, hands raking through his spiky blonde hair "I just don't want to see you. You have to leave me alone!"
"And I just want us to be friends and partners again! I want to train with you again! I want us to just be okay!"
"We're not ever just gonna be okay, floaty," he said soberly.
"Why not? I understand how you feel about me, Ka- Bakugo," she said, twisting her hands together, "I still want to hang out with you if you're okay hanging out with me. I'm not scared. It doesn't bother me! I just want… how we used to be back."
He sighed again and rubbed his forehead with his fingers.
"I know I don't have the right to ask you to just put your feelings aside for us to be friends again so you're allowed to just say no but… just so you know, I miss it. A lot" she murmured, picking at the sleeve of her pajamas now as she watched his face.
His expression went stony when he gave his response, "You're right. You don't have a right to ask me that shit. But you did. And I'd say 'yes' if it was just me. I could handle my own feelings- For fuck's sake, I've been doing it for years."
He paused here, looking away toward the ground and she saw his jaw flex as he mulled over his next words
"But I can't be near you, knowing that you want me too and just pretending like it's not true."
Ochako flinched back like he'd slapped her, feeling like ice water was being poured down her spine.
"Bakugo… I-"
"Don't fucking bother, floaty," he cut her off finally meeting her eyes with a look of utter ferocity, "I know what you're gonna say so just pretend like you've already said it and I've told you you're an idiot and we've moved on."
He shifted, swapping the shopping bag from one hand to the other.
"More shit will just happen with us and as much as I can't stand that goddamn loser, I'm not gonna put you in a situation to do something you'll regret."
Her chest tightened, a weight beginning to settle there. She didn't know how to respond to this. She didn't want to have to reject him again. Why was he so certain that she loved him? Why couldn't he accept that their friendship was what mattered most to her?
She did her best to perk up, not wanting to keep seeming sad any time she was alone with him. That wasn't the case, even when he was acting so jerky.
She gave him the best smile she could muster and shrugged, "I had to try. And I'll keep trying until you stop being such an ass."
Katsuki snorted, twisting his neck in irritation, "Floaty…"
Activating her quirk on herself, Ochako slowly floated into the air, back toward her balcony, using the side of the building to guide her.
Katsuki just went back to his business, carrying his groceries inside.
The next day, Ochako went about her usual routine. Getting up, showering, stretching, breakfast and walking to class with Deku, and sitting down at her desk, giving a courteous greeting to Iida who returned it with his usual polite "Good morning, Uraraka-kun!".
Then she gave a brief and overly formal, "Good morning, Bakugo-kun." to Katsuki and went to sit at her desk.
"Morning, floaty," he said mildly, not looking her way, his chin resting in his palm.
Ochako halted, a spike of excitement rushing through her.
Don't say anything! Don't say anything! Don't you grin at him! STOP! she tried to talk herself down but she had a hard time of it.
She clamped her lips shut and got out her notebook, finding the notes in her notebook far more interesting than anything else going on around her.
From her peripheral vision, she noticed Deku twisted back a little in his seat, not quite far enough to be looking at her and she glanced up at him.
He was eyeing Katsuki with suspicion, not doing much to hide it, while Katsuki blatantly ignored him.
Before she was able to say anything, though, Aizawa-sensei came through the door, already talking about what they'd be doing today.
By the time she got back from her work study that evening, she forgot all about the weird expression on Deku's face, especially when he welcomed her back with a sweet kiss, more passionate than usual.
Katsuki was kind of warmer to her from then on. Nothing like he had been before. He still refused to be around her for more than a handful of seconds if he could help it. But he spoke words to her, greeted her every day, even threw a blast her way during a training exercise that made her shriek in surprise, then float a huge boulder and kick it his way, causing multiple people to scatter and glare at her while she apologized profusely.
Deku was more affectionate in the week leading up to Valentine's Day, kissing her for longer, brushing a hand across hers when they sat together to study, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Ochako was starting to think he might've finally stopped being afraid of her after their disaster of an encounter in his bedroom weeks back. Maybe Nate had been right. Go slow, starve him out. It seemed to be working.
The last boyfriend she'd had was in elementary school and, obviously, it was just more of her saying "I like you" to her classmate and her classmate saying "I like you too" and them holding hands until he tried to use her paints for an art project and she floated him to the ceiling until he cried.
This was her first real relationship and she didn't know exactly what she was doing. All she had to go on was the few near sexual encounters she'd had with Katsuki to tell her how she was supposed to be intimate with Deku but then he'd said that was way too fast for him.
It hadn't felt too fast for her. She liked expressing her desires outright. So holding back, trying not to scare him again, had been something she was slowly figuring out. And now her patience seemed to be paying off.
"Ok ladies," Mina said one night while all the girls were sitting around the common area drinking tea Momo had made for them, "Valentine's Day is coming up. We need to talk about what we're gonna do for the boys."
Jiro squinted at her like she was speaking another language she couldn't understand, "What do you mean 'do for the boys'?"
"It's our last year here!" Mina explained, "Then we're all gonna go off and be doing different things. We might never see each other again! So I thought maybe we, as the girls of the class, should make chocolate for all of the boys in the class. You know, to make them feel appreciated."
"You're saying I have to help make chocolate for Mineta?" Momo said with a look of mild disgust.
Mina sighed, "Yes, Mineta too, unfortunately. But let's make his small."
The other girls nodded in agreement.
"What about Ochako-chan?" Tsuyu asked, bringing all their attention to her.
Ochako started, "M-me?"
"Yeah," Mina agreed, "Ochako-chan, you should make something special for Midoriya-kun. You two are the only ones in class who are a couple."
Ochako had hardly even considered Valentine's Day. She'd been so busy with studying and working at Hawks' agency three days a week that it had slipped her mind.
"I'll figure something out for him," she assured them.
They accepted this response and made plans on who should get what so they would be able to make chocolates the following day, as Valentine's Day was only the day after tomorrow.
So the next day, the girls made the chocolates, making Mineta's extra small special for him. (They had to draw straws on who would be giving it to him and, thankfully, Ochako did not get saddled with that job. Although, she did feel bad for Momo.)
Ochako decided to make lunch for him in order to change things up a little bit. She knew he liked pork cutlet bowls so she did her best to make him a bento he would enjoy.
And then it was Valentine's Day.
Ochako met up with Deku in the morning as usual and handed him the bento she'd spent an hour working on the night before.
"I know you like pork cutlet bowls," she said, her cheeks heating with the way his eyes lit up, "So I did my best with this."
Deku took it with excitement on every plane of his boyish face, "It's awesome, Ochako-chan. I'm sure it's delicious."
He gave her a quick peck on the lips, then they walked to class hand in hand and discussed what hijinks people might get up to that day.
As the female class rep, Ochako was the one who had to head to the front of class that day and explain to everyone (her cheeks flaming) what the girls had done for the rest of the boys and that they were going to pass chocolate out to all of them.
All the boys looked surprised and excited, especially Mineta and Kaminari who cheered and made these gross faces like they were fantasizing something she never wanted to consider in her entire life. Poor Momo.
Ochako returned to her seat to pass out the chocolates she'd agreed to.
As the other girls moved around the classroom, she handed the few she had to the people around her.
She handed a box to Deku who gave her a wide smile and accepted it gratefully.
She handed one to Iida who gave an extremely formal thanks.
She placed one on Katsuki's desk and rummaged around in her bag for more, knowing she still had a couple for Koda (who sat behind her) and Kaminari, who sat behind Katsuki.
Finally finding the two boxes and twisting in her seat to give them to each of the boys, them thanking her in turn, she turned back to start getting out her notebooks for class and nearly jumped out of her skin when she caught a glimpse of Katsuki leering at her, a dark expression on his face.
Even when she fully faced him, giving him a look of wary confusion, he still kept his eyes on her, pinning her down with his stare.
"What, is something wrong?" she asked quietly behind her hand as Aizawa-sensei entered the room and demanded they all settle down.
Katsuki lifted his brows minutely and shifted his gaze to the box sitting on his desk. The chocolate.
He looked back at her, his eyes smoldering from under his lashes, jaw tightening.
I don't recall him hating chocolate, she considered to herself, Maybe he feels uncomfortable with it coming from me…
She frowned at him, still feeling deeply confused.
Then it hit her like a freight train and her eyes widened, her face going completely red.
"If you give me chocolate for Valentine's Day, I'll give you the gift of letting you watch me and not just listen at the door…"
Ochako's heart went into overdrive as she unknowingly squeezed her thighs together under her desk. But that had been before…
She glared over at him. He was still watching her. Seeing that she got it now, he tilted his head at her as though he were a predator sizing up prey.
She knew the furious blush across her cheeks undermined her but she shook her head at him as discreetly as she could, trying to keep Aizawa-sensei from noticing.
His expression didn't change as he gave her a once-over, his eyes glowing a little brighter.
She shook her head again and her eyes lit on the box once more, giving her an idea.
Trying to make it seem like she'd shifted her attention back to Aizawa, Ochako slowly moved her hand toward the edge of her desk.
When Aizawa turned his back for just a moment, she reached out to grab at the box, still sitting untouched on Katsuki's desk.
But he took it first!
He palmed it and shoved it in his jacket pocket then glanced back at her giving her a look as if to say, "Really? You thought I was serious?"
Realizing that she had been a complete idiot to think he was seriously going to try anything with her after how he'd been acting for the past month and a half, she sent him a withering look and tried to sooth her nerves.
She hadn't realized it but she'd been shaking, and she was just now noticing how her pen trembled in her hand as she picked it up to start taking notes.
Her heart was still hammering in her chest and she felt hot all over. Katsuki still had that effect on her and she hated it. She was only supposed to see Deku like that now! Why didn't her body get the message?!
Biting her lip, she chanced another glimpse over at Katsuki but he was facing away from her now, paying attention to whatever it was Aizawa-sensei was saying (she had absolutely no clue), and eating the chocolate they'd made.
He broke off a small piece and placed it lightly on his tongue, then pulled it back into his mouth and chewed on it. Then he did the same with the next piece.
Ochako quickly looked away again, her cheeks still hot. She didn't even allow her brain to think whatever it was trying to think.
But, soon enough, White Day came around one month later.
Time was passing so quickly in her final term and Ochako couldn't figure out how to stop it. Final exams, the pro-hero exams, and graduation were coming up faster and faster.
Aizawa-sensei and All Might were pushing them harder than ever, their classes becoming rigorous day in and day out. They practiced drills, fighting, negotiating, teamwork, ultimate abilities. Everything they learned over the course of their years at UA.
Ochako had finally needed to inform Hawks that her work study was coming to an end and she would be an actual pro-hero soon. He'd been pleased to hear it, though and preemptively offered her a job to come work for him whenever she wanted. She'd thanked him for all of his tutelage and mentorship. In the end, it turned out that she'd come to enjoy working at his agency just as much as Mt. Lady's.
Her friendship with Katsuki only got minimally better. For one, he looked at her now, sometimes even when he was talking to her. There were even times he didn't look like he was tired of her existence when he brought his eyes to hers. He called her floaty and pink-cheeks every so often but she never heard angel-face again. She assumed that had meant something special to him.
Overall he'd warmed up to her somewhat and she felt optimistic that they might be able to repair the hurt that had come between them. Possibly be real friends again. Although she doubted their Grav Burst would ever see the light of day again.
She didn't know how or why he had started shifting toward being more comfortable around her finally. Something about her talk with him the night she'd offered the phone to him must have changed his mind about it. She couldn't figure out what it might've been, though.
Nothing had really changed with her and Deku. They were still doing the same things. Holding hands, occasionally kissing, walking to class together. Sometimes he'd even walk her to the train station when she was headed out to her work study.
He had invited her to his room again at one point, but they had sat on opposite sides of the room from each other and it had been so painfully awkward that she wasn't sure she ever wanted to see the inside of his room again.
So on White Day, Ochako felt a certain amount of shock when Deku had asked her to come to his room after dinner. During lunch, he'd given her another charm for the bracelet he'd gotten for her birthday and had told her then.
Ochako had agreed and was now riding up the elevator, right after dinner, to see what this big surprise was. She felt nervous, almost scared. Being in his room had not gone well practically any time she ever went up there and now she was going to try it again? Her stomach turned, feeling worse now that she'd just eaten.
She approached his door and was about to knock when a large, rough hand gripped her wrist, pulling her away and down the hall.
Startled and somewhat flustered, Ochako glanced up to find Katsuki with his hand wrapped around her wrist, dragging her toward his room at the other end of the hall.
With her free hand, she gripped his arm, trying to wrench his hand away as he dragged her step by step.
"Bakugo, what are you doing?" she hissed at him as quietly as she could, her heart rate picking up with each step she took closer to the door at the end of the hall.
Her pulls on his arm did nothing to slow him and she gave up halfway, letting him throw her into his room, shutting the door soundly behind him.
She stood in the middle of the floor, trying not to touch anything, and looked around.
His room was dark, the curtains drawn and only his desk lamp lighting the space. It was oddly subdued with minimal decoration, kinda like her own. She'd expected wall to wall death metal posters or something of the sort. Instead, he hung his costume up over near his bed and there was a calendar near his door and that was about it.
And it was clean. No clothing or papers scattered on the floor, his bed was made, his shoes lined up. The messiest part of the whole room was his desk which looked like he'd been studying or working on a paper.
"You ready?" a deep sultry voice rumbled, still near the door.
Ochako whirled around to see Katsuki's gaze focused solely on her, his ruby eyes ignited with mischief.
A wave of heat rushed through her body, starting from her sternum, fanning out through her limbs and up her neck.
He took a step toward her and she took one back.
He frowned at her action, "You're actually backing down from me?"
Ochako refused to answer, knowing that her voice would betray how much her body was trembling right now
He stepped toward her again and she took another step back.
They did this a couple more times, his blazing eyes never leaving hers for a second, until she hit the sliding door onto the balcony, covered by curtains.
With nowhere else to go, Ochako gripped the curtains in both fists behind her, trying to still the shaking in her hands.
He still advanced on her.
"Bakugo, I said n-no!" she finally blurted out. She'd been right, it had come out weak and shaky. "You don't have to keep your promise about the… you know… gift for White Day."
He still advanced on her, those molten irises burning into her, never allowing her even a second to breathe.
"S-stop!" she said shrilly, pressing her back as firmly as she could against the curtains.
Who was this person? Where had the cold, distant, barely-warming-up-to-her Katsuki gone? What had gotten into him?
Was he really going to keep the promise he'd made to her on her birthday all over some obligatory chocolate?
Was he really going to… touch... himself? Right in front of her?
She swallowed hard as he came to a stop a couple feet away from her. He seemed so much taller right now, his frame looming over her, staring intently at her as she trembled under the pressure of his gaze.
She couldn't help it, she couldn't stop herself. Her eyes darted to his groin for just a fraction of a second, before looking up at him again, her lips parting as her breath became more labored.
Katsuki's eyes flared and looked ravenous before he backed up, shaking his head.
"I'm fucking with you, floaty," he teased with a smirk, "You should see your face, though."
Ochako blinked twice then flushed a deep shade of red, sending him a scathing look.
He walked to his desk and pulled a box out of a drawer, handing it to her and she turned it around to look at the label. It was mochi, her favorite snack.
"That's the kind you like," he said matter-of-factly like there was no question.
He was right, though, it was the kind she liked. One simple sweet gift for another. He was just returning the favor of the gift she'd given him Valentine's day.
A jumble of emotions churned inside of her. She was pissed he'd just played a joke on her like that. And part of the reason she was pissed was because the tiniest tiniest tiniest part of her had been anticipating it from the moment she'd felt his hand around her wrist.
Yet another part of her was touched that he'd gotten her something and remembered all of the times she'd picked up snacks like this from convenience stores.
Lastly, she was happy. He'd done something just now that old Katsuki would do. The one that wouldn't push her away. The one that wasn't afraid to touch her or tease her. It gave her hope that one day soon, they would be that way again.
"You… are an asshole," she sassed him, still blushing profusely but clearly faking a pout on her face.
"Yeah," he said with complete indifference to the fact, "but you like it."
"No!" she argued, "I don't! You could've just given these to me at school! Instead you just wanted to see how much you could make me blush!"
Quirking an eyebrow at her, he fixed her with a stare, "You think I don't already know how much I can make you blush, pink-cheeks?"
Ochako swallowed again and chewed at her lip. She was still pressed as far as she could up against the glass door, unsure of how to go about moving away. Unsure if it would even be wise to move toward him at this moment. And he was between her and the door.
He moved toward her again, slowly, hesitant.
"I would've, you know," he said, his voice low and velvety, "Kept my promise."
"I-I know," she replied, feeling breathless. The way he was talking to her felt so familiar. The boy she missed. Not afraid to just say whatever he was thinking, even if it was lewd or embarrassing for her.
His eyes travelled down to the dress she'd changed into after school, fixating on the hem almost as if he was remembering, as she was now, what it had been like to run his fingers under that skirt and slide them up her thighs.
Suddenly she realized just how alone they were. There were no distractions, no parents or bosses, nothing to stop them this time. And when his heated eyes came up to meet hers again, she thought she might be swept away in the intensity of them.
She had to remember to breathe. Inhale, Ochako. Exhale.
Then she jolted, remembering what she had been up here for in the first place.
"I have to go," she breathed, still trying to inhale and exhale properly, "Deku's waiting for me."
And just like that, the spell was broken. Katsuki pulled back and moved from in front of her, saying nothing but motioning his head to tell her she was free to go.
Ochako raced for the door, not looking back at him, feeling a certain amount of emptiness as she passed through the doorway and into the hall again, shutting the door behind her.
Fuckfuckfuck, her mind said to her, still reeling from whatever had just happened in there.
She walked back to Deku's door and just as she was about to knock again, the door in front of her opened.
"Oh Ochako-chan!" he said, looking surprised, "I was about to come get you. I thought you might've forgotten or something."
Ochako heaved a sigh of relief. If she'd been just a little further down the hall or if he'd come out and not been able to find her…
"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the box of mochi in her hands.
"O-Oh, it's not much, I just like mochi so I thought…"
"Yeah, it's your favorite snack isn't it? Did you bring some to share?" he asked kindly.
"Sure," she said, giving him a warm smile and walking into his room after he moved to let her in.
Entering his room, it didn't look any different from how it had the last time she'd been in it. Nothing had changed and nothing was noticeably sitting out to catch her eye. Maybe he had a gift for her that was small? More jewelry perhaps? It seemed weird that he'd think jewelry was the best gift for a hero, though, even if she was a girl.
"So what's the big surprise?" she looked at him quizzically, a hopeful smile on her mouth.
He put a warm palm on her cheek and gazed lovingly into her eyes with those verdant green irises.
"This," he said before kissing her passionately, vigorously.
Ochako barely had a chance to react before he was driving his tongue into her mouth hungrily and it was all she could do to keep up with how hasty his actions were.
He broke the kiss for just a moment and took the box from her, setting it on his desk. Then he stepped toward her again, determination in his eyes, and her breath caught as he took her in his arms again and resumed kissing her with urgency, his mouth devouring her own. She had to admit, for a boy who'd never kissed anyone before, Deku was a good kisser.
They fell back on his bed and he settled on top of her, his weight gently pushing her into the mattress.
The way his hands kept caressing her hip gave her butterflies in her stomach.
Deku's gift to her was being more intimate for once. They were finally progressing! Maybe the curse of this damnable bedroom was finally over!
Deku's hand dragged lower toward her hip. Then lower still, until he was, quite boldly, lifting her skirt and putting a hand on her thigh, caressing ever upwards.
Ochako jumped suddenly, breaking the kiss and pushing his hand away as though it had stung her. She sucked in a ragged breath and looked around for a moment like she might be able to find something, or someone, else in the room.
"Ochako-chan?" Deku asked, concern in his eyes.
When Deku's hand had slid up her thigh, all she had been able to feel was Katsuki's hand slowly inching its way up under her skirt.
"I knew what I wanted to do the moment I saw you in this skirt," his voice had sounded in her head.
She felt sick to her stomach.
Shaking violently, Ochako pulled away from Deku, sliding out from under him.
"I'm so sorry, Deku," she said, her voice quaking as she spoke, "I'm all of a sudden feeling really sick and I don't know if it's a good idea if we do this tonight. Thank you so much for doing this for me, though. It means a lot. I'm just… not feeling well. I should go. Bye."
And she grabbed the box from his desk and zipped out the door before he even had time to respond.
The next day was Saturday but Aizawa-sensei called them out to Ground Gamma in their gym suits to do a training exercise anyway.
"You all need to get as much training in as you can. This is your last week here. You've got final academic exams Monday through Wednesday and your pro-hero license exams are going to be Thursday and Friday. This is essentially the last training session you're going to get in under my instruction so you better do the best you possibly can. I don't want to see anyone taking short measures," he said, looking each student in the face.
Ochako listened to him explain the parameters of the race they would be running today ("winner gets nothing but everyone's admiration") and thought back on how embarrassing every moment of the previous night had been. The curse of that room was definitely not broken.
She'd been so embarrassed that she'd done her best to hide from Deku all morning, hoping to not have to explain herself or have him ask if she was okay.
Uuuugh! What was wrong with her?! Probably her last chance in a while to be intimate with Deku and she messed it all up with her wacky feelings! It was probably partially Katsuki's fault having dragged her into his room right before.
She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed at them with her fists, trying to cleanse her brain of the utter humiliation of it all.
"Alright class, you know what to do. Get to your rescue dummy by any means necessary. They're all in the same place so just grab one. You don't get extra points for more dummies. First person to bring one back here unscathed wins."
Ochako was feeling confident about this. She probably even had an advantage, considering her quirk was practically made for a challenge like this.
"Floaty," she heard Katsuki's rough voice say as he strode up to stand beside her at the starting line, "You ready to race?"
Ochako looked up at him, her heart warming that he was acting… like him today.
She gave him a smirk.
"I am. Sorry, I can't help you today by reducing your weight. I assume that's why you came here? You'll have to use your own abilities to try and win today. Cuz I'll be in front of you no matter what."
He nudged her as she stretched out one of her leg muscles, sending her stumbling a couple paces into Tsuyu next to her.
After apologizing profusely, she shot him a glare, which he responded to with lifted brows, his head tilted, challenging her to do something back.
Nah, she thought, I'll just beat your ass.
The class was ready.
"Start," Aizawa-sensei announced and Ochako didn't even look around, just shot forward like a jet, jumping from pipe to pipe as she reached them.
They hadn't been told ahead of time where the dummies were, but had been given a sensor that would begin to vibrate faster as they got closer to them.
She raced forward, forward, forward, hearing the rocket-like blast of Katuski's explosions as he was none too far behind her.
At some point she left those blasts behind or he had gone in another direction.
As she entered the center of Ground Gamma, under the huge tower she'd begun last term's exam with Katuski on, she felt a pulse at her hip, where she'd stored the sensor.
She halted, looking around.
The pulse was still weak, coming very far apart, but this was the first time she'd felt it at all.
Scanning the area, she chose to go in the direction of a grouping of warehouses. It made the most sense. 20 dummies gotta fit somewhere.
But as she neared them, the pulses stopped and there was no longer any vibration at her hip.
She circled back, trying another direction, toward some construction sites.
It stopped near there as well.
Coming back, once again, to the center of Ground Gamma, she looked around, wondering where these dummies could be hidden.
Then she looked up.
For crying out loud, she was a complete idiot.
There was an easy way for her to test if they were up in the tower. She zeroed out her weight and pushed off the ground, flying into the sky and catching a beam.
The vibration increased.
Yes, she thought to herself, excited to have been one of the first to figure it out, seeing as how no one else was around.
Ochako, floated herself up and up and up until the sensor at her hip was vibrating almost continually. She was at the top, where she'd jumped off with Katsuki before. It was an observation deck.
There sat the dummies, all lined up in a row. And there was Katsuki, grabbing the first of them and hoisting it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Ochako glared at him as he looked up at her, coming over the railing and releasing her weight.
"Running late, floaty," he said with a tone of superiority, giving her a sadistic smirk.
"Oh?" she asked as she bent, pretending to take one, then quickly turned and pushed him as she floated both him and his dummy.
He growled in irritation as she tied her jacket like a papoose around her back for her dummy, "You little- You think this is gonna work on me?"
He set off a blast upward, to navigate toward her.
"I've been doing this weightless for months, pink-cheeks."
As he was about to reach her, she released his weight, sending him crashing into the floor. He glared up at her as she floated her dummy and jumped off the side of the tower, dropping hundreds and hundreds of feet down and lightening her own weight all the while so she landed very softly and gracefully on the ground.
By this time, more of her classmates had realized the dummies were in the tower and some were crowding the elevators, while others attempted to scale the building.
They all stopped to watch as she landed, then raced toward the exit, closely followed by Katuski, far less graceful, and far more pissed.
Ochako dashed toward the finish like it would save her life.
She heard the blasts of Katsuki, close behind her and she pushed further, harder, racing faster than she ever thought possible.
She hardly even registered tubes and buildings streaking past her.
Then she was out of Ground Gamma, Aizawa-sensei, right in front of her only yards away.
She felt something brush her ponytail, but she put it out of her mind and pushed forward, finally releasing her weight and her dummy's as she slid to a stop in front of her teacher.
His eyebrows lifted.
"Looks like you're first, Uraraka," then he shifted his bloodshot eyes behind her, "It was pretty close, Bakugo."
Ochako spun to see Katsuki standing just behind her, dropping his dummy on the ground none too gently.
She was about to scold him that these dummies were supposed to symbolize real people, when more of her classmates began to show up.
First Deku, then Iida, slid to a stop in front of her. Then, Todoroki, closely followed by Mina and Sero.
Within another 10 minutes, the whole class had reassembled and turned their dummies back in.
"Took everyone less than an hour," Aizawa announced, "Not too bad. I suppose you won't completely humiliate the school at your hero license exam. Take the rest of the weekend off. Study. Ace. Your. Exams."
Then, he went to walk away.
"Sensei, who won?" Toru asked, seeming to be lifting her hand.
"Oh? That really mattered to you? Okay then, Uraraka did. Congrats, have a good weekend."
And with that, he took off.
The whole class turned to look at Ochako, then burst out in cheers and pats on the back.
"You've become like… a total badass this year, Ochako-chan," Mina said with awe.
"Yeah! I'm really impressed by all the amazing things I've seen you do. It's crazy," Toru, exclaimed as both girls hugged her tightly
"Thanks guys," she said with immense gratitude as she pulled back and looked around at the people milling about as the two girls went off to talk with a couple of the other girls, leaving her to her own devices.
Ochako's eyes went from person to person in the small crowd, searching.
Finally, she alighted on a pair of glowing scarlet eyes that seemed to capture her in their warmth and a small jolt of electricity zipped through her.
She grinned widely at him, wanting him to be proud of her, excited for her, something.
His eyes, still locked on her from a few yards away, sparked to life and the corner of each side of his mouth curled up, making her chest ache.
He was genuinely smiling at her again. Finally.
And then her heart stopped. She froze where she stood and stared into those eyes, warming for her, seeing her.
Her grin fell away from her face and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as her chest compressed and still she couldn't break from that searing gaze.
His smile faded away too as he saw the realization forming in her eyes and those glowing orbs softened toward her.
He nodded at her just once, his face becoming less guarded by the second.
"Oh god," Ochako breathed quietly as her heart continued to be squeezed until it was physically painful.
I'm in love with Bakugo Katsuki, she finally admitted to herself.
She knew he could already see her realization as well.
What do I do? she asked inwardly. But, for once, her mind quieted and had nothing more to say.
A/N: SO MANY NOTES ON THIS CHAPTER!
#1: Can you tell I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter? This was about to be two chapters but yall need your dramaz and some content to tide you over as I might take a little longer to come out with the chapter after next cuz I'm starting a new job and I have orders from my Etsy shop I gotta catch up on and I'm moving across the country in less than a month so shit is WILD and I've just been existing with 4 hours of sleep every night making this fic happen.
#2: I'm sorry if what happened between Ochako and Deku was upsetting for anyone, since we're all Kacchako fans here. BUT, this story was never made for you to hate Deku. He's adrift on the river of his feels as well. Her indecision between Deku and Bakugo is meant to be something you also feel, even while rooting for Kacchako endgame. She has real feelings for Deku, even while she has far more intense and overwhelming ones for Bakugo. She's also just a dirty girl and I wanted to write a scene where she completely overpowers his ass.
#3: I kinda made it seem like Deku being all uncomfortable and almost prudish was like.. a bad thing? But that's not at all what I'm trying to say! BE SEXUAL AS MUCH OR AS LITTLE AS YOU WANT! But two people not being sexually compatible can also be a really huge strain on a relationship and that's more what I'm getting at here.