Misunderstanding

As requested of Mina and Kirishima, Uraraka did in fact squeeze herself into a nice little outfit for their going-away party, and as she looked in the full-length mirror in her room, she sighed and considered taking off the outfit. Sure, she could put on a pale orange ruched two-piece skirt and cropped shirt set, and some white platform sneakers and look like a cuter version of a bombshell, but did she feel as such?

No, she did not feel as such, and she told herself that as she straightened her hair begrudgingly. She would have to see Bakugo tonight, and she couldn't like a complete mess, even though that's what she made of his heart. She pushed a pair of golden hoops through her ears, and swiped a line of lipgloss across her lips in time to hear a knock at her door. Bakugo had been cordial enough to send a very formal text telling her he'd pick her up to go to the party, they'd be seen together, and he would escort her home.

He told her that among other forms of PDA, they would not kiss or take any pictures that night.

She understood to an extent, but she was sure that the guests of the party would expect more of them, since their relationship was still a surprise to the hero world. Couples never lasted more than a few weeks, and they were never seen so publicly as Uraraka and Bakugo had unless they were extremely long-term, like Mina and Kirishima, or Denki and Jirou.

Couples like Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, who had announced their wedding in mid-December were even more of a rarity, and besides Uraraka and Bakugo being the tabloid's main focus for the moment, they were exclusive content, and the entire world was interested in the lives of the two higher-ranking heroes.

Uraraka didn't really get the hype sometimes, because she had known Todoroki and Momo since she was 15, and they always seemed like they just kind of worked. Their relationship wasn't a surprise, and Uraraka honestly had a moment where she thought if Todoroki didn't end up with Momo, he'd either remain single for the rest of his life, or pull a 180 and steal Midoriya from under her feet.

She was fine with that, relatively speaking. As she rushed to answer the door, she felt like she didn't deserve to be with anyone.

Of course when she answered the door, he was wearing orange as well, the large t-shirt just happened to be perfectly draped over his ripped, black skinny jeans. Uraraka kind of forgot Bakugo's parents were in the fashion industry and that outside of work, he had access to high-fashion clothing she could never afford or pull off, and in that moment she felt bad for wearing her fast-fashion two piece. He wore silver chains around his neck, and she noticed silver dangling from one of his ears, knowing that if she asked him when he ever had an ear piercing, he'd give her the cold shoulder.

"Hi," She said quietly, disappointed when he didn't answer. "Um, you can come in for a second, I just have to grab my-"

"Why the fuck weren't you ready when you answered. You're wasting time." He said rudely, not even stepping inside.

"I...uh, I'm sorry..." She said, mouth agape. She knew it'd be tense between them, but she hadn't expected him to just lash out at her, especially after he told her last night he just needed more time.

"Just go get your stupid things," He muttered. "I'll be waiting by the elevator."

She turned around quickly, running into her room and grabbing her purse, checking if she had all her necessities before she swiped her keys and phone off her bed. Bakugo walked swiftly down the hall, sighing when he reached the elevator. Of course they were matching, and of course she looked amazing with minimal effort. But even as she spoke like an angel, and her shy mannerisms were cuter than her normal ones, he couldn't give in to her yet, no matter how sorry she was. He knew this party was going to be a tough night for him, but only because he made it tough. He knew he wanted nothing more than for things to return to normal, but it had only been a week since the incident and he still felt hot inside when he looked at her. He knew she was being cautious around him, and it only angered him more, but not as much as knowing that if she did try to reach out, he'd believe it to be ingenuine.

The problem was, as much as he wanted this to be fixed, he really didn't want to be close to anyone else ever again, even if she never really meant to hurt him. He just couldn't make himself open up again, and he knew if this failed, it'd be a long while before anyone would ever get at him again. It reminded him of a situation about a year or so back, and knowing the type of person he was, the last thing he wanted his closed-off nature to do was push away yet another person he actually loved. He just couldn't help it however, and when he heard her locking her apartment door, his heart jumped a little.

It was a mental and emotional struggle he had not anticipated when he realized he had gotten close to her.

She showed up beside him quietly, and they waited for the elevator in near silence.

"You look nice," She tried, looking at him.

"Don't do this tonight, Ochako." He replied curtly, stepping onto the elevator. "I can't fucking take it anymore."

Mina and Kirishima's apartment was large compared to Uraraka's or Bakugo's. Originally a two-bedroom, the couple moved into the master bedroom together, using the other bedroom as a weird mix between a personal gym and dance studio, and it was strictly off limits to anyone during the party, the only people knowing where the key (secretly placed on top of the doorframe, courtesy of Kirishima's genius thinking) lay was limited to Mina, Kirishima, Bakugo, and Uraraka, of course. The rest of the apartment was pretty spaced out, and Uraraka figured a flat with such a large living space was ideal for the combined income of two pro-heroes.

When they arrived, music was heard thumping from the outside, and because Bakugo knew his friends better than anyone, he shoved Uraraka to the side and pushed the door open, the scene before them inviting them to a world they rarely experienced.

For starters, their apartment had a similar layout to Uraraka's or Bakugo's, and upon entering and stepping over Kirishima's very manly welcome mat, they were met with a short hallway that opened up into majority of the place, a huge living room off to the left, and moderately sized (larger than Uraraka's) kitchen off the right, a bar drawing the line between the rooms. A few heroes sat at the bar, mingling in the space behind it where the kitchen sink was, or walking up to the front of the bar from the living room. A large number of guests were in the living room, sitting on Mina's deeply colored furniture, the odd pieces were bold and saturated with deep reds, blues, and purples, and they didn't really match, but were bold enough to tie the heavily decorated room together. Kirishima's touch shone here and there, and the black wooden accent furniture such as side tables and a large coffee table gave the room a weirdly gaudy, yet masculine feel in a way that only those two could make work.

The troubled pair was welcomed in graciously, with pros from high school giving them compliments and congrats. The comments made Bakugo irritated beyond relief, and they made Uraraka's stomach churn as she forced a smile for both of them, accepting the nice gestures while the man beside her seethed with rage. The good part about Bakugo and Uraraka's dynamic was that everyone expected the blonde to act like an asshole, and they knew the brunette would overcompensate. Bakugo knew to an extent that Uraraka had this weird way of turning the worst possible situations into the best, it was something he disliked about her a lot, but one thing he couldn't understand was how good she was at being a literal ball of sunshine and the most blunt person he'd ever met.

"You guys have been seeing each other for like, a few weeks, right?" The blonde woman asked Uraraka. Having drinks pushed in their hands and being bumped around the apartment for a few minutes, Bakugo now sat on the couch in the living room, unhappy with Uraraka in his lap, because the rest of the couch was hogged up by some people he really didn't care to know. He still wrapped an arm around her waist however, and whenever someone got too close, he pulled her closer to him, even if the smell of her perfume made his heart feel like it was being pulled apart. Because she was nice enough to have some type of care for how she chose her words, Uraraka smiled brightly and blinked a few times before responding.

"I'm sorry...who are you?" Uraraka said, reaching out a hand. The blonde woman took it slowly, and had Uraraka not extended her hand in the first place, she would've taken her question as a sick joke. She was tall and skinny, blonde and pretty, and Uraraka honestly thought she was a model or something based off her build alone. Something about the woman was familiar however, because her presence alone made Bakugo visibly uncomfortable.

"Oh...haha, guess I wasn't really all that with you guys at UA. Bummer though, I bet we would've been besties. I'm Camie, by the way." She said, with a small smile on her face. Uraraka had no actual fucking clue who this woman was, and even when Todoroki walked by and said hello, nothing was coming to mind. But, she tilted her head to the side, and laughed.

"Oh! Oh my gosh, it's been like forever since high school, right? So many villains to fight, so many lives at stake, so much um...homework to..do?" Uraraka said nervously. The group around her laughed, and Bakugo wanted to absolutely blast himself in the head.

"Oh I was a total flunkie when it came to homework, never did any!" Camie laughed loudly, and Uraraka just stared at her.

Yeah, I can totally tell, She thought to herself. "Haha, same! But um, Katsuki and I? Yeah it's been a few weeks, still kind of...fresh."

"Yeah? Cool, cool." Camie replied, taking a sip of her drink. "I gotta say, it was kinda of a downer to hear Kats had been snatched up like that,"

Uraraka felt Bakugo tense at that moment, as if his body were telling her, Don't fucking ask. But, she fucking asked, and Bakugo sighed loudly.

"Why's that?" She hummed, taking a drink as well.

"Oh! No, I totally shouldn't say!" Camie giggled.

"Please do," Uraraka smiled, a smile that was a bit too bright for Mina's liking as she watched from a few feet away.

"Well I mean, you hear your ex-boyfriend of two years gets a new little boo after vowing to never fall in love again, I mean, it'd drive you a little crazy, y'know what I mean?"

Uraraka took a very long drink, long enough that she finished her cup and took Bakugo's, much to his dismay.

"Ex-boyfriend?" She asked sweetly.

"Mhmm!" Camie replied. "Of two years."

"I didn't know you two dated for so long, babe." Uraraka said, turning around to look at Bakugo. He looked back at her and shrugged, because he felt like if anything, she had no reason to be mad or jealous, considering she had led him on for over a month.

"I didn't know you were still such a fucking airhead, Camie." He said, looking the blonde in her eyes, ignoring Uraraka. Camie laughed, and took a very playful swat at Bakugo, leaning over Uraraka to do so.

"You're still so funny!" Camie laughed again, and Uraraka felt something in her spirit rise up, and she felt the need to excuse herself immediately.

"Where you going, Cheeks?" Bakugo smiled at her for the first time in a week, and it only deepened the sick feeling in her stomach.

As parties at one's house go, a houseparty, if you will, there is always someone who has the audacity and disrespect to get off in the bathroom of the host, so when she tried both bathrooms in the apartment and found them occupied, she went back down the hall. She stopped for a moment, thinking this was all stupid, and she had no actual reason to be jealous, so she made her way back to the living room. But she saw her boyfriend sitting next to his ex-girlfriend, taking a drink from her and actually speaking to her. The fact that he wasn't visibly annoyed with Camie made Uraraka sick, and she spun on her heel and went back into the hallway, not stopping until she reached a door.

"So you really like her, huh?" Camie asked Bakugo, after she had taken a seat next to him. "Hold my drink for a sec?" She thrust the cup into his hands.

"She's alright," Bakugo said, handing the cup back to her seconds later. "A pain in my fucking ass, if you ask me."

"Yeah but, so are you," Camie looked at him. "You're literally the human version of a total hothead, Kats."

"So what? If anyone has a problem with me, they can fuck off." He replied casually.

"That's like, the issue." She said after a moment.

"What?" He looked at her.

"You're so up your own ass, it kind of pushes anyone, well, no, literally everyone who wants to get close to ya." Camie said, taking Bakugo by surprise.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean? You haven't seen me or said shit to me in a fucking year." He said defensively.

"That's why we broke up, duh."

Bakugo looked at her once again, a dumb expression on her face, a hand on his arm in concern. It made him feel weird, like his stomach was slowly turning over at the mention of their relationship. It had really ended the same way everything with Uraraka blew up, except the idea he had of Camie cheating on him never happened, it was a stupid misunderstanding he took too far. Because he took it too far, the accusations, the silent treatment, the harsh mannerisms he directed at her, she simply was repelled by all of it. It wasn't even like she found her self-worth, she just simply didn't agree with how he handled it, and she left. To Bakugo, she had a kind of awareness that he didn't really expect, because he honestly considered her to be the definition of a bimbo. But she left, and he told himself he'd never fall in love again.

But here he was, getting relationship advice from his ex about a girl he wasn't even really dating.

Camie took his emotional indifference as a fear of dealing with emotions, and because she was somewhat of a bimbo, it wasn't exactly that she had a broader sense of awareness, she was just able to see things as they were, and though she felt bad for leaving him, she knew that she couldn't really rid him of that fear unless he wanted her to. And he really didn't want her too, judging by the ambiguity of their relationship's existence.

"She'll push through it," He said after a minute, looking straight ahead.

"Oh for sure, totally! Just don't give her hell for trying if things ever get rough," Camie told him, getting up from the couch. "You're kinda kissaphobic," She giggled.

"What the hell does that mean?" He snorted.

"It means, get your head out of your ass, and stop pushing away people who love you."

And with that, Camie went to flirt with some hero she was too pretty for, and Bakugo went to look for Uraraka.

Uraraka of course, was too busy crying in the personal gym/studio about the sheer thought of Bakugo entertaining Camie when she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, who the hell is in here? This room was off- Ochako?" Krishima asked, the not-so-discrete key to the room in his hand. He walked in the room slowly, leaving the door cracked by accident. "What's going on?" He asked her softly.

"He hates me! I just know he does, and the worst part is, no one told me about Camie!" She sniffed. "I really tried tonight Kiri, but everytime he looks at me, I can see it in his eyes."

"He just needs time, O, it's been a lot for him too." Kirishima said.

"I know, and I really want to give him that time...but I can't do this anymore." She said a bit loudly.

"Woah, woah, calm down a bit. Have you even tried talking to him?" He asked her.

"No, there's no way it would work. He's ignored everything I've tried to say for the past week." She said.

"Ocha, you have to tell him how you feel, or otherwise, this isn't really gonna work." Kirishima said softly, giving the small woman a hug. "I know it seems like he's not listening, but I've been around B long enough to know he's just trying to protect himself."

"He needs to be protected from me...?" Uraraka asked.

"What you did wasn't exactly...justifiable." Kirishima said slowly. "But I'm sure he knows you have a good heart, and he can only be sure of that if you tell him how you feel honestly."

"He can't know...I love him Kiri."

A shuffle from the other side of the door startled both adults, and it was Kirishima that had a strange feeling in his gut.

"...I can't do this anymore."

"No, there's no way it would work."

"He needs to be protected from me."

"He can't know..."

Bakugo was sure that was Ochako's voice. He'd know that stupid, shrill, annoying, and headache-inducing voice from anywhere. He didn't know who she was talking to, and he didn't really care, because he heard enough. He didn't bother walking the room, he was sure she was probably sucking face with Keigo or some other random guy, and he remembered seeing the pro disappear somewhere minutes ago. Furious and hating himself for believing Camie and believing Uraraka had changed enough to work things through, he went back into the living room as calmly as possible and sat back down, taking a drink from somebody he was sure to forget by the end of the night.

And so he drank.

And he drank, and he drank some more, and he drank more, until he saw her come back into the living room. His inebriated mind didn't even register Kirishima walking in after her, he just saw her, with her fake little pretentious smile, and her horrible, deceiving laugh. She had the audacity to sit in his lap as if he hadn't heard her plotting against him, and she even kissed him, took pictures with him, and drank with him as the night wore on.

Because he was so dedicated to his work, he kept the charade up, and he kissed her back, he grabbed on her, and he smiled for her stupid pictures. Every word she spoke, and every person she entertained was all a lie to him, and as the night progressed well into the wee hours, he grew more frustrated by the hour.

When she helped him stumble into the elevator back at their apartment, he pushed her away so hard she hit the wall when the doors closed. She flipped the hair that had fallen in her face back and looked at him in confusion. He didn't mean to push her that hard, but the action was done, and he wallowed in it as she looked at him with hurt in her eyes. They stayed at opposite ends of the elevator as they went up to his floor, and judging by the look on his face, she expected him to well at her. But she was slightly drunk too, and the more he looked at her, the more it bothered her until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Say something!" She yelled, catching him by surprise. He swayed from side to side for a second before answering.

"Why the fuck would I say something to you?" He asked her.

"Because you look like you wanna kill me!"

"Maybe I do!"

She tripped over air drunkenly when he said that.

"W-what...?"

"I heard what you said back there," He said lowly.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him, a bit scared.

"How this shit would never work, some shit I can't know, I need to be fucking protected, I dunno Cheeks, you fucking tell me." He said. The elevator stopped at his floor, and he swayed past her into the hallway. She followed after him, not trying to miss any opportunity to clear things up.

"No! Wait, you heard that wrong!" She called after him, grabbing his arm. He swung it forward, causing her to lurch forward and trip, hitting the ground. He froze after that, though his first instinct was to help her up. A few seconds later he actually tried, and she backed away from him as fast as her not-so-sober body would allow. "D-Did I hurt you that bad?" She asked.

"What?" He leaned back.

"Back at the party..I was talking to K-"

Hearing a 'K' syllable made him think of Keigo when she meant Kirishima, and the fading anger he held towards her resurfaced.

"I don't wanna fucking hear it, I know you were with that fucking bird-brain," He spat at her.

"What?! No I wasn't! And what about when I saw you talking to Camie! Nice ex by the way, she's pretty damn hot!" She yelled back at him.

"It wasn't your fucking business," He said.

"It is, so I don't slip up in front of people." She replied just as fast.

"Since we're doubling back, I guess it doesn't fucking matter anymore," He told her, turning away and walking to his apartment. She scrambled to her feet and ran after him, hating herself for wearing platforms of all shoes.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" She asked, barely catching up to him at his door.

"It means, never fucking talk to me again outside of this stupid mission."

He opened his door, and Uraraka felt her heart leap out of her chest.

"Katsuki wait, please!" She kicked a foot out to his door, hoping she wouldn't fall back on her ass.

"Please wait, I..."

"I really.."

"I just-"

The door slammed in her face and she fell backwards, hitting the ground her tears fell on.

"I love you, you big idiot..."