Chapter 9

When Bakugou woke up the next morning, he was still in a foul mood from the day before. Watching Deku, of all people, to ask someone out was not really on the top ten list of things he wanted to witness before he died. The sour taste he got in his mouth as he saw that ridiculous blush on Deku's cheeks almost made him want to blast it off his face. The high note Uraraka's voice had when she answered him made it, if possible, even worse. It clenched in his heart in a way he didn't really understand, but he sure as hell knew that he didn't like the sensation.

None of them had even looked in his direction as he walked past them, too focused on each other and when he looked over his shoulder, the face Uraraka made at Deku made Bakugou clench his teeth so hard he might have worried that some of them would crack from the pure pressure. He shouldn't have looked back because what he saw was something he never knew he wished was directed at him. Her incredibly red face flushed all the way down to her neck, her wide eyes that almost had stars in them together with her plump lips that were slightly parted as she couldn't even look away from Deku. Her hands were clenched in front of her chest.

Bakugou threw his gym bag over his shoulder and put on his shoes, he needed to get out of his apartment. He needed to train, blow off some steam and clear his head. Anything would be better than to stay in his apartment all day.

Stomping down the hallway, he tried not to let go of his explosive quirk as he felt the uneasiness bottling up in his body. The vivid image of the scene from yesterday kept playing in his mind and he couldn't get out in the chilly morning air too soon. It felt refreshing on his warm skin as he let his temperature fall while he walked to the training hall. Always waking up early, Bakugou Katsuki was quite used to being the only one training in the morning for the first couple of hours before anyone in his class would wake up. And he more than enjoyed that time because he would be able to be alone, doing what he loved without any unnecessary noise interrupting him. So, when Bakugou walked in the training hall and heard the noises from someone else training, he could feel annoyance bubble up straight away. Who the hell dare to train this early, when it's my fucking time?

When Bakugou turned around the corner and was met with the sight of a certain brunette that had been on his mind far too often lately, hanging from the pull-up bar. It was almost visible that she had improved her upper strength if only by a little. Bakugou clicked his tongue with annoyance as he threw his bag on the floor in the direction of the nearest wall.

Oh fuck.

xXoOoXx

Uraraka stood in front of her closet, not really knowing what to wear, she woke up early despite it being a Saturday, but she wasn't able to sleep for longer, the nervousness and excitement for the date with Midoriya made her unable to relax completely.

As Uraraka looked through her clothes, she threw each item on the floor as she didn't deem it good enough. Not like she had a lot of clothes to begin with, which also made it quick for her to go through everything. She sighed heavily as she plopped down onto the floor. She had no clothes appropriate for dates.

She knew that Midoriya wouldn't mind her coming in her normal clothes and he did text her right before she went to bed that they would be doing something remotely active, but she still wanted to look cute. This was her first date after all.

She scrambled up on her feet again and grabbed her phone from the nightstand, she needed help and she knew perfectly well who she was going to ask.

"Mina, it's an emergency."

It didn't take long before there were three short knocks on Uraraka's door and she hurried to unlock and open the door to greet her friend.

Mina had a huge bag over her shoulder. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and a bright smile on her face. "Geez Ocha, I cannot believe you actually have a date! Let's get started," she gave Uraraka a quick embrace and walked through the door and into her apartment, letting the big bag fall over her shoulder and down onto the floor.

"I really appreciate you coming over," Uraraka looked at the bag though and her face whitened by the amount of clothes and beauty products Ashido had brought with her.

"Of course I would, don't be silly," Ashido waved her hand dismissively as she looked through her bag, "I brought a few things, just so we can try out some outfits."

"I would prefer it to be able to move in, and easy to take on. I have to go train before meeting up with him."

"Don't you worry about that, I have the perfect … Wait, what!?" Ashido was about to look for something in the bag until she froze up and then turned to face her friend. "You have to go train!? Don't we have to hurry then?"

"I mean, it is early but just a bit?" Uraraka looked at the clock, she was supposed to meet up with Midoriya in just a few hours.

Ashido was faster to do her magic than Uraraka expected, it only took a few tries with some different styles before they found the right outfit for her to wear. Uraraka was sure that if Ashido wasn't going to be a hero, she would have been a splendid stylist.

"This is so cute, thank you, Mina!" Uraraka looked at herself in the mirror as she turned around to look at the dress she wore. The black top fit snugly on her, strapless with two rows of buttons on her chest, down to the skirt. The skirt red and wild flowed down to around mid-thigh. Combined with a pair of long boots and a pair of pink fingerless gloves.

"This is so easy to move in too and I can quickly change my clothes as well," she punched the air with a smile before she wrapped her arms around her friend. "Thank you, Mina."

"Any time," she grinned and hugged her back before they let go of each other. "But, be sure to use just a little bit of make-up as you change, it will make the whole outfit complete," she winked at Uraraka playfully.

"I will," Uraraka smiled before she hurried to change into her usual training clothes and out of her other clothes into her bag together with the extra necessities. She was lucky there were showers by the gym, otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to do this.

"Well, good luck on your big date," Ashido waved with her mischievous grin before she left the apartment, her slightly lighter bag again on her shoulder.

With butterflies in her stomach, Uraraka left the apartment as well, heading to the gym, to begin with. Maybe it would help her relax and calm down before she had to meet up with Midoriya. She was more nervous than she had expected.

When Uraraka opened the door to the training area and she saw that nobody was there, she let out a sigh of relief. This would be good, to be able to be alone for her training.

Without hesitation she changed her shoes and began to run around to warm up, every now and again she would find something small to use her quirk on and let it float up in the air until she released all of it at once.

After some time, she was panting heavily, leaning forward, trying to catch her breath. She might have warmed up harder than she had intended to, although, by training, her nerves had disappeared for the time being.

Luckily with the extra training, she had been doing for the last couple of weeks, her breathing got even within short moments. Without thinking about it too much, Uraraka walked up to the bar. A few beats of her heart before she jumped up and grabbed the bar. Just for fun, she tried to pull herself up and when she was able to get halfway, she could barely keep the smile away from her lips. Slowly but surely.

Though right now she knew she had to focus on other things, like building up to a full pull-up. So when she fell down on the floor again, she waited for a short moment before she grabbed the bar again and lifted herself up, not all the way, and then she kept the position for as long as she could.

She was on her third round when she heard the sound of the door open and heavy steps, she could feel the presence from behind her and she flinched slightly when the sound of something hit the wall behind her. She wanted to turn around to confirm her suspicion of who it was, but she fought the urge to do so. She had a feeling she would find out soon enough anyway.

"Are you going to run away from me again?" the voice suddenly said from behind her and Uraraka's cheeks involuntarily heated up. She was glad he was behind her so he wouldn't be able to see, although she could make the excuse it's from her training.

Having to focus on keeping her body in position, Uraraka shook her head instead of answering.

Bakugou clicked his tongue as he stomped over to the bar next to where Uraraka was hanging. "So why the fuck are you doing this kind of training?" He grabbed the bar and made a couple of pull-ups effortlessly and when he jumped down to the floor again, so did Uraraka. She could hardly look him in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" She tried to focus on the wristband and tucked at it gently, doing her best not to look at him. His gaze was burning.

Bakugou let go of a heavy sigh as he stretched out his arms with the bar. "Why are you practicing this kind of exercise? Is it because of me?" Bakugou raised his eyebrow and his red eyes were almost piercing when they landed on Uraraka. She felt like he could see her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't really know what to say, how could she even admit the truth to him? She felt like she could crawl deep into a hole and never come up to the surface again.

"It's stupid for you to train this way anyway," Bakugou said, not really caring that Uraraka hadn't answered him.

"What?" Uraraka couldn't help but turn her head to face the blond, she did not expect this. Mostly she had expected Bakugou to grow a pair of horns and explode her face off when he finally got to confront her about everything.

"It makes sense for someone like me or Kirishima to train like this. Because of my quirk it's important to train my arms and shoulders," Bakugou pulled himself up a few times as he paused, "but you, you don't need it," he turned around to face Uraraka who hadn't moved an inch since she landed on the floor. "Because of the nature of your quirk, you should rather focus on improving your agility, speed, and close combat, besides your quirk usage."

Uraraka instinctively took a step back and tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry. What was up with this level of analysis of her training?

Bakugou clicked his tongue and turned away from her slightly, the face she made in front of Deku yesterday flashed in his mind as he looked at the expression she made now. "Just stick to a better training program, your quirk..." he took a breath, "it's amazing by itself."

When Bakugou heard a small giggle he turned to face Uraraka, the smiling face she had on her face almost made his heart pound in his chest.

"I would never have expected you to say those kinds of things, Bakugou," her smile was bright, "thank you." and the thought that she was smiling that smile just for him right now, made his lips turn up, just a little.

"Yeah yeah," Bakugou grabbed the bar and pulled himself up.

"Then, do you mind training with me?" Uraraka blurted out before she had the chance to stop her own thoughts.

Bakugou immediately fell to the floor as he lost his grip on the bar, luckily he landed on his feet. "Huh? And why would I do that?"

"Just some sparring! Just once in a while, if I want to improve, you might be my best bet," Uraraka couldn't believe what she was saying, even though it might be true, how could she go this far?

"Uraraka? Are you here?" Midoriya called out into the room as he entered the door and Uraraka flinched when she heard her name called out. "Oh, there you are. Are you ready?" Midoriya stood not too far away from the entrance, a big smile on his face along with a slight blush on his cheeks. He was wearing a green open buttoned-up shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. A pair of light brown jeans and his signature red sneakers. If you asked Uraraka, he looked great.

For a short moment, Uraraka just stood frozen and looked at the gleaming Midoriya who stood in front of her. That is until it dawned on her why he was here. She quickly looked at the big clock that hung on the wall and she almost cursed in surprise under her breath.

"It's already time for our..." she hesitated to say the last word as her eyes looked to the side, "our date," she wasn't able to see what kind of face Bakugou was making and that was when she came back to reality again.

"I'm sorry Deku, I lost track of time, just give me a minute and I'll go shower and change!" Uraraka hurried over to her bag and practically ran over to the changing room after grabbing it.

As soon as Uraraka was gone, the whole space around the two guys grew tense.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Midoriya walked closer to where Bakugou stood.

"That's none of your business, Deku, " Bakugou grabbed the bar and began to do some pull-ups again, he wasn't particularly very satisfied with having to be in the same space as Midoriya. Even less by the thought that this was where he and Uraraka were meeting for their date.

"Ah, I wasn't really trying to pry or anything," Midoriya held up his hands in surrender, "it's just that..." Midoriya paused as he looked at the closed door of the changing room, Uraraka went through not too long ago. He wasn't sure if he should press the issue any further, not here at least, and definitely not at this particular moment with her so close by.

Bakugou's fuse had always been short. Maybe too short, but when he was near that shitty nerd, it halved in length. Bakugou let go of the bar with ease and turned around to face Midoriya with an angry scowl on his face. He stomped closer to where he stood.

"What? What are you fucking insinuating? Huh?" He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his head was twisted to the side.

Midoriya swallowed hard as he tried to brace himself for a possible punch or explosion, he never really liked to confront people, least of all Bakugou, but he felt like he had to do this.

He took a deep breath, "I wanted to make sure-"

Bakugou growled, interrupting what Midoriya was about to say, "you wanted to know whether I was being a rude jerk to your little girlfriend," he almost spat the last words out of his mouth. He ignored the small stab at his heart as the words ran over his tongue.

"I'm not, I mean, I wasn't really ... And she isn't really," Midoriya started to blabber about, his hands never left their position in front of his body in defense.

"I'm treating her just fine, alright you dimpshit!?"

Midoriya's hands fell down to his side slowly as he looked at his childhood friend with confusion and relief at the same time.

"Fucking what?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow, his palms were starting to heat up, making him able to smell the very familiar smell of sweet caramel from his pockets.

"Kacchan, could it be that you-"

Just as Midoriya was about to ask the question, the door from the changing room opened and Uraraka came out, immediately cutting the tension with her mere presence.

"Sorry for the wait, Deku, I hurried all I could," Uraraka said with a bubbly smile. Her hair was still slightly damp from the shower and her cheeks were flustered from the heat of the water. She wore the dress and boots she borrowed from Ashido and her gym bag was placed over her shoulder.

Midoriya's face lit up instantly as his face began to flush as well, it was almost like he had forgotten about Bakugou completely, for the time being, "Uraraka, not at all," he said with a careful voice.

Uraraka walked up to where Bakugou and Midoriya stood and she could suddenly feel the tension between them. She nervously bounced on the balls of her feet. She started to fidget with her fingers as she suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"So," she started to try to feel less awkward, "let's go?" she swallowed hard when she could feel the gaze from Bakugou, it was like he would be burning her head off if he had a heat vision quirk.

"Y-yeah," Midoriya beamed at her and gestured with his hand to take her bag for her as they started to walk out from the gym. "You look," Midoria cleared his throat, "you look great today."

"Really?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"N-not because you don't usually look great! I just meant that today in particular!" Midoriya started to mumble and Uraraka started to giggle.

"Thank you."

"Oi! Round Face!" Bakuguou almost barked, as the two were about to exit the door and she turned around to see that he hadn't moved an inch from his spot at all.

Without thinking too much, his mouth had opened before he had thought about what he was going to say, "text me a day and we'll meet here so I can whip your butt," he almost growled the last words as he looked away to the side.

Uraraka smiled widely as she agreed and turned around with Midoriya towards their date.

When they had left the building and Bakugou was completely alone again, he clenched his jaw tight and his hands rose from his pockets before they started crackling explosions in fury. He let off an explosion as he fumed in rage and stomped over to some equipment he barely looked at before he destroyed it in a fit of rage. He let go of a couple of explosions in the ground before he stopped, breathing hard as he punched one of the concrete walls, making a dent.

"Fuck!"

A/N: Thank you all for reading this and I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am ^^

I was surprised by how fast I wrote the next chapters I have in advance, so I thought it would be good to post the next one.