Aftermath

For all Bakugo knew, Ochako Uraraka did not exist until he clocked in and clocked out. He looked at the newspapers passed around Tuesday morning's debriefing, receiving congratulations on a photo of him with her on the beach.

He didn't recognize the woman beside him, smiling bright in her orange bikini. He didn't know the brunette that sat beside him in the meeting, and he wasn't too sure of the woman who's office was next to his.

She just didn't exist, and he didn't want her to.

He didn't want to know her because he didn't realize the kind of emotional baggage she brought along with her. While he couldn't say it was entirely her fault, he just couldn't look at her the same.

But he had to look at her Wednesday night on their scheduled date, and he had to hold her hand for their Thursday morning interview for a local talk show. He had to kiss her Friday afternoon on their assigned patrol after another successful take down, one where he did most of the work because he couldn't be bothered to actually team up with her. Every single time he did these things, it sucked away the little energy he had for putting into others, and by the end of the week, he was the cold, frigid, and reclusive asshole everyone knew him to be at 16.

All because she couldn't make up her mind.

He didn't feel bad when she looked away every 5 seconds on their date, and he didn't care when she stumbled over their rehearsed 'getting together' story during the interview. He pushed her away as quickly as he had pulled her in for that kiss, and he left her to deal with clean-up and paperwork by herself, passing by her office when he clocked out without so much as a single thought when he heard crying from the small space.

She knew what she did, and if she were going to make it up to him, she'd deal with her shit on her own and atone for her mistakes.

Because for all he knew, the only mistake he made was allowing himself to fall in love with her.

On the other hand, Keigo was absolutely wrecked, and seeing her equally as emotional only made it worse. He left her texts and voicemails, and he watched her every second of the day to make sure she was doing fine.

But she wasn't, and he hated to see that for her.

To be clear, Keigo knew he'd be over her in matter of weeks, 2 at the max, but knowing she left him and still wasn't happy made him feel a bit of sympathy for her. He couldn't entirely blame her for her mistakes, because he himself wasn't exactly clear on where they stood relationship-wise, and because he had been 22 once. But when he saw her from her living room window walk into her apartment crying on Wednesday night, and when he heard her putting herself down after the Thursday morning interview, it felt like his heart had been broken all over again. On Friday, he couldn't even criticize her sloppy teamwork during her assigned patrol, because when he saw how she looked at her explosive partner every time during that fight he knew.

He knew that she did love him, and that she was being punished for it.

But, he figured she must take accountability for her actions, and he too gave her the cold shoulder in public. He cut her off when she was speaking, and he chose the stairs when she took the elevator.

If he hadn't made those obviously painful choices, he would've been at her knees crying his eyes out.

Deep down he knew she didn't deserve this.

But neither did he, and neither did Bakugo, and she had to be able to know that from firsthand experience.

On that Friday when Uraraka bumped into one of their co-workers in the break room and began profusely crying about how sorry she was, Mina took her under her pink wing and calmly guided her to her office, where Kirishima had been waiting. The heartbroken woman stood in front of Mina's door, trying to wipe her eyes and go back to her office to wallow in her own pity by herself. But Mina, who was Ochako's primary best friend in Tsu's fresh absence would not allow that, and Kirishima, as her self-proclaimed 'bestie-in-law', wouldn't allow it either. They let her collect herself before inviting her to sit in front of Mina's desk, which she hesitantly did.

"Ochako, honey, I love you, but you have to get it together," Mina started calmly. She looked over at Kirishima to make sure she was saying the right thing before continuing. "I know it's kind of rough right now but-"

"Kind of?!" Uraraka screeched. "He hates me, and I can't do anything about it!" She cried.

"Who hates you, hon?" Mina asked. She wasn't too sure about the details, because she only knew what she had seen first-hand. "Hawks?"

"What?" Uraraka sniffed. "No, Bakugo does. I really messed up, Mina," She sniffed again.

"Well...What did you do?" Kirishima asked her. Uraraka looked at the couple before her and sighed.

"Promise you guys won't hate me too?"

They nodded slowly, very unsure of where this was going.

20 long and tearful minutes later, Uraraka sat back in Mina's office chair, completely out of breath and dehydrated from crying her soul out.

"So like...yeah I did a bad thing, but like, it was really all a mistake." She sighed, throwing her head back to the ceiling.

"So let's recap here Chaks," Mina said, having taken a seat at her desk 5 minutes into Uraraka's story. Kirishima, who had taken a seat on the desk 2 minutes in, cleared his throat.

"You were involved with Hawks, but not sexually," He said.

"But you had already slept with Bakugo on accident, once." Mina continued.

Uraraka nodded quickly.

"You didn't think it would go anywhere, so you stuck it out with Hawks for a few weeks," Kirishima picked back up.

"But then we got the mission assignment, and you started dating Bakugo," Mina added on.

"Here's where I'm confused," Kirishima said, clearly thinking hard. "Where did things get complicated with them? I mean, how did this all get so messy if you knew you were dating Hawks, and 'dating' Bakugo?"

Uraraka sat back in the chair for a moment, and really thought hard about what Kirishima asked her. Her initial response was to croak out a shrill 'I don't know!', but she supposed that wasn't a good answer, since it was the only one she had ever given since this entire problem started. So she thought way back a few weeks, even back to the housewarming party, and really contemplating when the hell she considered Bakugo the love of her life.

Was it the housewarming party? She didn't think so, she was honestly too drunk to have any sense of emotional attachment. She could have said it was the day they did their laundry, when Bakugo awkwardly gave her the panties she left in his bedroom after the previously-mentioned drunk sex. But that would have been a lie, even though she didn't totally hate him. Maybe it was the second time they slept together, after the mission was relayed to them, and they were assigned partners. She actually didn't know what that was, it really did just kind of happen. Their first date was nice, and it set the precedence for Uraraka to learn Bakugo was a big softie, and the one or 2 nights he came over was a fresh of breath air she needed from Keigo.

And that's when she paused.

Initially, she had come to the conclusion that she realized she had intense feelings for him the morning they went to the beach on the trip, because it made sense once she started to really acknowledge that Keigo felt more like a chore than a boyfriend, but then she replayed all those instances in her head. It dawned on her that when she felt happy with Bakugo, it was because Keigo wasn't around, and she felt no obligation or pressure to reciprocate his very straightforward feelings. Before she came to her conclusion, she chalked it up to her dramatic series of attempted confessions on and after the trip, but then she realized:

"I think...I think I've wanted him this entire time."

From his office a door down from Mina's, Bakugo sneezed loudly.

A quick pep talk and a few swipes on makeup later, Uraraka, Mina, and Kirishima walked out of Mina's office, satisfied with today's productivity and lifted spirits. Bakugo trailed behind them slowly, not really wanting to be roped up into the social scene.

"Oh hey, O, you're coming to our party tomorrow right?" Kirishima asked her as they gathered in the elevator.

"Um, yeah, I've gotta find something to wear though," She said, trailing off when she realized Bakugo was behind them.

"Just get that sweet ass of yours in anything, you're literally the cutest person on the planet," Mina said. "B, you're coming to our party right?" She asked the blonde that had reluctantly stepped on the elevator.

"Fuck no, why would I?" He spat out, looking straight ahead.

"Because it's our going away party bro, this was our last week before deployment, remember?" Kirishima nudged him, earning a rightful death glare.

"You have to come anyway, the entire office is mandated to come, which means-"

Bakugo cut Mina off in the middle of her sentence. "I have to show up with my fucking girlfriend, great."

Uraraka swallowed nervously, the elevator suddenly growing hot to her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. There's gonna be plenty of drinks, and even some old friends from highschool!" Mina said excitedly. "The whole point is to sell the idea that me and Kiri are transferring to a safer city, to hopefully raise a child one day," She went on.

"You two aren't even fucking married," Bakugo scoffed, and Kirishima looked around nervously.

"Does it fucking matter, Kats, sheesh!" Mina exclaimed. "I love him, he loves me, what more do we need?"

"A damn ring, you pink freak. You two have been together how long, and still haven't done shit about it?"

"Well, we-"

"And look at you, a single little sad sack, Katsuki." Mina cut Kirishima off.

"I don't have time for stupid little shit like relationships, I have actual priorities." He sneered at her. If anyone knew anything, virtually nothing made Mina upset, she was the physical embodiment of a pink energy drink. But anytime she felt as if her relationship or her man was directly challenged, she almost always took it personally, because when it came to her rock-hard boyfriend, her loyalty knew no bounds.

"How's that working out for you, Kats? Are you where you wanna be in life, or are you still chasing something you obviously haven't gotten."

"What the fuck is your problem?" Bakugo looked at her, and she could see he was hurt. But she didn't care, because she felt tried enough, and his broken heart wasn't hers to fix. But Bakugo took her hostility personally, because he actually hadn't been trying to insult her in the first place. If anything, Mina was one of the only 2 friends he had besides Kirishima, and he valued her opinions because for her to be a friend of his, meant she was essentially an extension of him, and what he represented. He could see in her face she didn't want to say those things, but he knew the price for attacking the one thing she held dear to her heart.

"What the fuck is your problem, B?" Mina asked him softly.

The elevator dinged quietly and opened, and three of the four adults got off, the last one standing in the elevator a bit longer before walking off.

He watched her walk down the street in front of him, those familiar nude heels clicking down the sidewalk with such loneliness even he could feel it. She held the door open for him without saying a word, and he followed her into the elevator of their apartment complex. He knew he couldn't be angry with her forever, but he just couldn't forgive her that easily, even if the past week killed him inside. He didn't like pretending he didn't know her, and he disliked the trouble it brought her, but he felt he had no choice, and he was a very stubborn individual.

She didn't want to show up to Mina and Kirishima's party with him, and she didn't want to fake date him anymore. She didn't want to force him to live the hurt she ultimately caused, and she felt horrible for watching him subject himself to an act he didn't really want to take part in anymore. She didn't know how long he was going to be angry with her, but she felt like she deserved it forever, by the way he just stood next to her in the elevator. She watched the floor switch to 11, and the elevator slowly stilled and dinged calmly before opening slowly. She wanted to grab his hand, pull him back him, and tell him she was sorry for an eternity for the problems she caused. But she heard him sigh and adjust his work bag on his shoulder, and she counted the three footsteps he took to get off the elevator. Three steps she let him go without her felt like 3000 miles, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. Her tears fell anyway when she heard him sigh loudly, and she watched him turn toward her from the middle of the elevator doors.

"I just need more time, Ochako."