Bakugo Katsuki

Her legs were wrapped around his waist, hands gripping his shoulders, breathing heavily, excitedly in his ear. He loved when she did that. He loved it when she laughed or when she cried out in ecstasy as well.

Unfortunately, she only did these things while riding his back for their Grav Burst at the moment. But he didn't mind. Feeling her body pressed so close to his was both heavenly and torturous beyond belief.

A week ago she had suggested trying this move after thinking about how well they'd worked together to save Nate.

Nate, the poor bastard, who had been obviously smitten with him since day one.

But he couldn't bring himself to hold contempt for the man no matter how idiotic and naive he was. Guarding him had given Katsuki a second chance with her. A chance to do things differently if he could just make her see that he wasn't a complete piece of shit.

Too bad you are a complete piece of shit, his mind supplied.

But he wouldn't be, he kept telling himself. He wouldn't be to her.

He had hardly been able to believe his fortune when she'd walked into that office behind Mt. Lady. And again, when she'd asked him- as if it weren't he who needed to be begging- if he could go back to picking on her rather than ignoring her. She didn't even realize that she knew exactly how to make him feel like the worst kind of asshole.

She grunted softly as she shifted her hips to a more comfortable position and his mind was thrown back to that night. That night she'd practically attacked him. The night she'd put his hands on her body and told him to do dirty things to her, things that made him feel like he was burning alive with desire.

That was twice now she'd kissed him. Those kisses told him more than she ever let her words say, although she had said quite a lot that night. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He saw it in her eyes every time they argued, every time she bit her lip as she watched a bead of sweat roll down his neck.

And if all he'd wanted was her gorgeous body, he would've had it by now. He still didn't know how he'd managed to tell her no when she'd demanded, not once but twice, to fuck her senseless. He had to have been in some kind of ultimate zen state because god knew if she even said it now, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

But more than that, more than wanting her to roll her hips against his and cry out in pleasure, he wanted her heart.

He wanted to see her light up when she saw his face. He wanted her to interlace her fingers with his and hug his arm to her chest. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and feel her whole body melt into his.

"Bakugo!" Uraraka yelled at him and he came suddenly back to his senses.

He hadn't quite gotten the hang of course correction yet and his lack of attention had caused them to veer off course. He overcorrected and they did something like a barrel roll and broke apart.

Fortunately Uraraka's quirk still affected them so they didn't immediately crash to the ground, but without a means of propulsion to stop her, she went flying and didn't stop until she hit a tree, releasing her quirk and dropping them both to the ground then.

He rushed to her limp form and kneeled next to her, lightly touching her back.

In his mind he panicked, worried she might have even hit her head or broken a bone. He wanted to pick her up, check her for injuries, make her swear to never try this stupid idea again.

But, instead, all he did was keep his hand at her back and said, "Get up, floaty. We're not done."

She stirred under his touch and lifted her head, not appearing to be injured aside from scrapes and probably a massive bruise on her back later.

"Ugh, what happened?" she asked, shooting him an accusing glare.

"What do you mean what happened?" he shot back, acting affronted, "You shifted your body and we toppled."

Was he really blaming her for his own fuck up? Yep.

Sure, she'd shifted her hips, but he'd lost his concentration because of it. He wasn't going to admit to that, though.

She scowled at him, "That's going to happen. I can't just stay still as a statue. You have to figure out a way to adjust for these things."

He gritted his teeth, "I'm working on it, floaty."

"I'm not saying you aren't," she defended herself, "I'm just saying you can't blame me. We just have to keep working."

I don't blame you, he thought.

"Let's go again," she said, pushing herself up off the ground and dusting herself off as best she could.

He didn't want to. He wanted her to relax for the rest of the day. This had been their worst "crash" yet. They'd been at this for hours.

What he allowed himself to say was, "We can stop if you need a break." as he rose to his feet as well. But, of course, it came out like a taunt. He didn't know if he was even capable of sounding sympathetic at this point.

She didn't look offended, though. She smirked at him like she took it as a challenge.

"Thanks, Bakugo, but we've still got a lot to do," she said as she moved around to his back and put her hands on his shoulders to activate her quirk.

He let her touch affect him for half a second, then went back to work.

"Kacchan."

Ugh, Deku… Great…

Katsuki turned back on his walk from class to see his former friend, his rival in herowork and for Ochako's affections it would seem.

It had been almost two weeks since his completely idiotic and humiliating confession to her in which he had not only let slip that he loved her, but for how long he'd been obsessing over her. He'd foolishly insisted that she loved him back. He knew she did. He'd seen it. He'd felt it. He knew. But she wasn't ready to face that yet and he'd pushed it on her. Then, to finish it all off he'd yelled at her. Scared her for the first time since the beginning of the school year.

Just thinking back on that moment now made him want to punch himself in the face. What a goddamn dumbass.

And now every moment she'd talked to him since then, he'd been a complete asshole to her.

Today was a work study day for her. Not so for him or Deku, who were now both working at the same hero agency, albeit most assuredly not together. At least Endeavor got when rivals didn't want to be near each other.

Having to deal with his whiny ass was enough to make him regret having quit Hawks' agency. But being alone with her right now was not a good idea.

"What do you want, loser?" he grumbled, smirking inwardly that Deku was, in fact, the loser after yesterday.

Deku frowned at him.

Hm. This was serious.

"Ochako told me what happened with you and her on New Year's last night," he said slowly, carefully.

Ah yes, last night, when she'd nearly walked right into him at the elevator, with her face all flushed and her lips swollen like she'd just gotten done with a pretty intense make-out session. Seeing her that way, looking up at him with those shocked and apprehensive doe eyes had immediately pulled at his loins and he'd struggled to remain in control. He'd wished with all of his heart, he could've taken her right there.

She had clearly just emerged from Deku's room and she hadn't really told him what had happened. But she had told him what hadn't happened and he'd put enough pieces together to get that Deku had been too much of a pussy to try anything with her.

More's the better for him, though. Katsuki knew she liked the intensity and passion of being sexually aggressive. Deku didn't have it in him.

"What about it?" he asked nonchalantly, "I told you before, I want her. I never stopped trying to get her. She wants me too, ya know. You're just confusing her, getting in the way like I told you not to do."

Deku's eyes blazed with outrage.

"She's not your toy Kacchan. You can't just take her from me. And she's my girlfriend now. I know she told you that we were together and you fought with her about it because you didn't want your little occasional trysts to end."

Well, I guess she really didn't tell you everything about New Year's after all, Katsuki thought. He was actually grateful for that, though. The last thing he needed was for Deku to not only have the girl he wanted, but to look at him pityingly while he did.

Deku had also just confirmed that she had, in fact, told him about the few times she had let her desire for him come out.

She was brave, he had to admit. She was trying at this fluke of a relationship. But choosing Deku had still been the dumb choice.

It killed him to see her right now. Not just because she had rejected him but because she was so goddamn heartbroken over it too. Every time she swung those chestnut eyes his way, he could see how sad she really was. It made him so irrationally furious that he tried most days to do his best to keep from having to meet eyes with her while also not completely ignoring her since he knew how much it had hurt her for him to do it before.

And when she talked about it, she would just say it was because she missed his friendship. She missed being partners.

Why couldn't she see that her feelings for him weren't just friendly? Why couldn't she just figure out that she was feeling so down because she wanted him?

He scowled at the green-haired boy facing him now, "You're one to talk, Deku. You waited all this time to make a move because you were scared she might not want you anymore."

"I always wanted her!" Deku snapped back at him, "I just thought it would be a bad idea at school! We have to focus on studying and being heroes that take other people's lives into their own hands every single day! I had farther to go than most of you! I have farther to go still!"

Katsuki watched him, eyes unsympathetic."If that's the case, why are you with her now?"

"Because I'm not going to just let you use her and hurt her! I love her for crying out loud, Kacchan," Deku proclaimed, his eyes beginning to glow with a green light, indicating One for All was running through his veins.

Katsuki's eyes narrowed at him, unbothered, "She's a big girl, Deku. She doesn't need you to watch over her. I think what you're really afraid of is if I don't hurt her. If I make her happy, she won't want you anymore."

He leaned in closer to Deku to speak lower, "That's why it messed you up so bad that she went out of her way to keep working with me. She had so much fun over the summer, that she wanted to keep having fun when we went back to school. It really did surprise you that we were actually a good team, didn't it? I wonder if that fucked you up more or if you really meant it that you wanted to be friends again."

Katsuki knew he was being antagonistic. He didn't care. He had to watch her fawning over Deku a hundred times more than ever now. Deku was lucky he wasn't trying to blast his face off at this very moment. Fortunately for him, beating his ass at the fight yesterday while simultaneously showing Ochako how dumb Deku acted when he got upset over her had been extremely cathartic for him.

He saw Deku's tether to his patience snap and the usually mild-mannered boy lunged for him.

Katsuki's palm crackled with explosive sparks as he brought it up to meet Deku's attack with his own.

But his palm only met stony flesh as Kirishima stepped in between them, his Unbreakable form mostly protecting him from their initial blows, though he did stumble slightly.

Katsuki backed up a couple steps, as did Deku, his anger slightly more under control now.

"What the hell, guys?" Kirishima turned to each of them, a chastising look in his eyes, "It's like you want to be expelled."

They both looked slightly abashed but still held contempt on their faces as they stared each other down.

"She's trying to be nice to you to patch things up between you and her again," Deku snarled at Katsuki, sounding wholly unlike his usual self, "but stay away from her anyway. Don't touch her. Don't even look at her. She's-"

He bit off the last sentence he was going to say, because he was just too damn nice for his own good.

But Katsuki knew what it was already. "She's too good for you." He already knew that, though. Hell, his mom even said it, although she'd still told him to go on New Year's despite that.

"I already am, don't fucking act like you're threatening me, Deku," he said through clenched teeth.

"Are you guys seriously fighting over a girl?" Kirishima asked with a look of absolute bafflement, "What ever happened to 'bros before hoes'? Why would you let Uraraka come between-"

Katsuki saw red as he gripped the front of the shitty-hair's uniform.

"Because she fucking matters," he barked out, shoving him into Deku and spinning to resume his trek back to the dorms.

It was still pretty chilly outside the night Katsuki had been traveling back from the convenience store with snacks and Ochako had yelled down at him then jumped in front of his face, smiling her cute little "I'm not up to anything" smile as she asked him to guess who she was on the phone with.

"Not my mom, hopefully," he said, immediately going to the worst case scenario in his head. He could already see his mom smacking him over the head and demanding he do anything to "get that sweet, beautiful girl back." It would just figure that she fell just as in love with Ochako for her son as he had for the girl. He didn't want to have to face his mom ranting at him about it.

But she snorted like he'd told a joke and told him, "It's Nate. Do you want to say hi?"

Nate… What could Nate have to say to him? He lifted an eyebrow in question.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said shoving her phone into his hands, "Here."

Katsuki stared down at it for a second, taking note of her little glittery kitten charm dangling from the bottom.

"You can win her over. She's interested. Just give her whatever she asks for. She's not the type who asks for things that don't matter to her," had been the man's last words to him, whispered in his ear as he'd forced a hug on him. He'd believed that he'd always had a crush on him. And he probably had. But maybe his close observation of Katsuki had been the reason he'd noticed that he, nor anyone else, even had a chance at catching his eye over the sweet little brunette who seemed like his opposite in every way.

That advice had worked for him up until Ochako had idiotically agreed to start dating Deku before she'd been able to figure out her feelings for him. Now he wondered if she ever would.

He couldn't give her anything she asked for now because she was always asking for him to just be her friend again. But he'd never really been a friend to her. Friends didn't think half of the things he did when she was with him.

She didn't understand that if she and he threw away every romantic emotion they had toward each other, their "friendship" would look very different.

"Nate," he said into the receiver, letting the other end know he was on the phone.

"Bakugo! Uh, hi! Uravity just kinda thrust me at you. I hope that's okay. How are you?"

"Okay, I guess," he answered. As if he'd get into the particulars of everything with this guy right now…

"I guess things haven't been going well for you lately?"

"Yeah," that was the understatement of the century.

He looked up at the entire reason things "hadn't been going well." She was wearing her pajamas for the night. Why were cute little child-like pajamas so hot on her? Maybe everything was hot on her… Her face wore a hopefulness that cut him, reminding him that he shouldn't be out here alone with her.

"Uravity told me what all has been happening with you two. I hope that doesn't bother you. It sounded like she had no one else to talk to," Nate notified him.

"It's fine," he replied. So none of the other girls knew, thank god. Her mom might know some of it. For fucks sake, her mom was who had told his mom that Ochako might want to see him on New Year's. She'd caught him watching Ochako more often than the movie when he'd visited on her birthday and he'd been mortified but she had actually warmed to him after that. It was still a mystery how he'd managed to win her over and gain her support.

"You know she's completely devastated about this turn of events, right?"

"I know," he answered. It was pretty obvious, even if not to her.

"She's really confused and doesn't even get why she's sad while dating Deku. Apparently she's liked him for a long time but I don't even know if being with him is what she wants. She keeps wanting to treat him like how I imagine she would treat you and doesn't like that he doesn't respond the same way. It's messing her up and probably pretty unfair to him too."

He had nothing to say to that. He had no interest in trying to be empathic toward that scum.

"I take it you're not a big fan of Deku's," Nate asked with a chuckle.

"No shit."

"It sounds like he's pretty jealous of you too and won't admit it, if it makes you feel any better."

It didn't. He still got her after all.

"Well, you already know this, from what she's told me, but I can confirm, she's blind as hell about being in love with you. I don't know how she doesn't see it. This thing with Deku is really eclipsing her ability to think straight."

"I know."

"I assume you took my advice last time so take my advice this time. She's been missing you long enough. Let her back in. I know that it's hard seeing her with someone else but she's not going to get that she wants you if you don't show her why she fell in the first place."

Katsuki rolled his eyes toward the heavens. It was so much more complicated than that. She wanted things to be how they had been before. But how they'd been before was a hair's breadth away from just being together. All that it would've taken was her to say they were. In fact, before she'd gone and said yes to Deku, he was sure they'd been right there. If he'd just been even a few hours earlier...

He couldn't let himself spiral down that rabbit hole again.

"I'll try," was all he could give him.

"You have to fight for her now if you want her, buddy. Hey, I have to go now. It was… nice? to talk to you again. Tell Uravity I said bye."

"Okay," he said with finality, "I will. Bye."

He ended the call and handed her back her phone.

"He said to tell you he had to go and that he says bye."

His nerves were already beginning to rattle now that there wasn't a buffer between them. He needed to find a way out of here.

"You had a nice talk there," she grinned at him. Fuck.

"Anything you care to share?"

"No," he replied a little too hastily. That was the last thing he cared to do.

"Okay, well... I hope it was a good talk at least," she said, keeping that smile plastered on her face like he couldn't see right through it. Goddammit, this was why he didn't want to see her!

She kept trying to make conversation.

Looking at the bag he was carrying, she asked, "Are you studying with the guys again tonight?"

"Yeah," Katsuki answered shortly, hoping that telling her that would make her let him get on his way.

He should've known better.

"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…."

Why did she have to ask him this? Why did she keep pushing at him? The first week back to school, he thought he might be able to make it. He thought he could deal with seeing her walking around with that idiot if she just kept her distance like she had. But then, all of a sudden, she started trying to act like everything was okay with them again. She was nice to him even when he was nothing but cold. Nothing put her off. That was when his real hell had begun.

Deku had said she was trying to "patch things up." But he'd also made it pretty clear he didn't want that happening, although Katsuki was starting to suspect he hadn't told her that….

He narrowed his eyes at her. Why did she always ask him things she knew he would have to refuse her?

"What do you think?"

That fake smile she tried to make him swallow every day cracked, "I guess you don't want me to, like usual. But I'll even be quiet and keep to myself."

He groaned, rubbing at his neck. Did she know just how much he wanted to say yes?

"I don't think it's a good idea," he bit out, doing his best to keep his resolve.

Then she gave up the smile- finally- taking on a much more somber look that he suspected was really what she felt all the time around him.

"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 spoke quietly.

His jaw tightened, "Well, we were never friends, so-"

"We were friends!" Ochako snapped at him impatiently, looking like she might snap that phone in half, "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!"

Katsuki shook his head, feeling exhausted. He didn't fault her. He just didn't believe that was why she was sad. Sure, some small part might be mourning their team but she never would've stayed with him after graduation anyway. Their professional split was going to happen sooner or later. Why not now when everything else was raw as well? Get it all over with at the same time.

He couldn't even look at her when he said, "Why can't you just fucking leave me alone?"

And now he hated himself more as her prolonged silence told him he'd struck a nerve.

"I just… want you to stop hating me," she murmured weakly.

There she went again, knowing exactly what to say to remind him what a humongous asshole he was.

Sighing, he said something he knew he shouldn't.

"You know I can't hate you, pink cheeks."

He chanced a glimpse at her and found her cheeks prettily deepening in their pink shade. Just that had made her feel better. How could she not see?

He looked away again before he did something stupid with a look like that on her face.

"So... you're not angry at me?"

Seriously? Before he could hold himself back he burst out, "Fuck! Stop!"

He mussed his hair, trying to dislodge this awful feeling inside of him, "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!" she cried out, "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, it being all he could do to not clutch at his chest where she was burrowing in deep.

"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."

I know, angel-face, he thought, that's the whole problem.

Sighing again, Katsuki tried to sooth his impending headache by rubbing at his forehead. He still had to study after this. How the fuck was he going to do that?

"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."

He didn't know how much longer she could push at him like this before he gave in and damned all the consequences. That's what Nate had told him to do anyway. But he didn't understand the dangers of just letting her back in like that.

Steeling himself, Katsuki tried to explain.

"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, thinking hard about the way he would word what he wanted to say next as to not force her to shut down.

"But I can't be near you," he ground out, hating the way his voice strained, "knowing that you want me too and just pretending like it's not true."

His attempt at being gentle about it didn't work. She flinched back with a shocked expression.

"Bakugo… I-"

Before she could say some shit that would really flay him, he cut her off, "Don't fucking bother, floaty. 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."

She relaxed a bit, her expression coming back to that pained look he always assumed she was actually feeling.

"More shit will just happen with us," he continued, "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."

If he were as shitty as Deku believed he was, he would've jumped at the million opportunities she'd practically thrown at him to be around her again, to be alone with her again. And he could've kissed her again by now. He could've touched her again and made her give him everything he ever wanted. But she would've hated herself for it. She was not the type to go easy on herself for cheating. And she would've resented him for it too.

He already had come so close when she'd grabbed his hand to tell him she hadn't fucked Deku. It had made him nearly lose it and he'd been so fucking close to doing it himself.

And she wanted him to! She was waiting for him to! How could he keep control over himself if she kept looking at him like she hoped he would lose it?

He was walking on a knife's edge just being here with her now! She had to stay away!

After they stood in silence a moment longer she plastered on that horrific smile again. God, he hated that fucking smile.

She shrugged, ""I had to try. And I'll keep trying until you stop being such an ass."

Katsuki closed his eyes, feeling just that tiniest of sparks of annoyance that made him crazy for her sometimes and he twisted his neck in response to it.

"Floaty…" he growled. But she was already floating up and away from him, back to her room.

No matter how much he wanted to, he didn't call her back.

But as he watched her go, something in him began to break. He was losing the battle. He was going to let her back in soon and he hoped that he would have the control to keep his hands off of her when he did.

A/N: Sorry it wasn't a continuation of the story but I'm sure you're pleased to hear what's been going on in that hot-headed skull of his. ANGST THAT'S WHAT

Now the next chapter will take a little longer probably. Be patient with me please!