UPROAR

Summary: Just because you're a Pro doesn't mean you're immune to the shit life throws your way. But that's part of the fun, right? Right…? Ugh, All Might made it all look so easy. Aged-up. Rated T for now. Connected drabble series.

A/N: Holy smokes, okay, so I missed March's update but needless to say shit really got real for everybody last month. I won't bore you with the details of my drama because while there are other people out there a bit better off than I am, there will always be others worse off. And you came here for a bit of a distraction from what's going on in the world, anyway, so I'm not going to drone on about real life bc frankly I'd like a break from it too! But I will mention that I hope wherever you are, you and your loved ones are safe :) So, without further ado, let's get on with it! This chapter's title is a throwback from The Thompson Twins. Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Hold Me Now

Thirteenth Day of I-Island Expo

The alarm went off and Ochako rolled over to hit snooze. Since the fire, her doctor had advised her to take it easy for the next few days while her body recovered. Deku had been sure to call every day to check on her and was always prompt in calling again at exactly 11 pm right before bed. He would regale her with everything he'd done that day, or who he'd met, and sometimes even what he'd eaten. Anything to take her mind off the stifling isolation she had been feeling cooped up in the apartment for so many days.

On her second day back from the hospital, Kirishima had visited to wish her well and bring her some takeout to break up the monotony. He'd been nice enough to stick around for a few hours to keep her company, but Ochako could tell something was off with him. Usually in good spirits and eager to please, much like herself, Kirishima had seemed hesitant and distant that day.

Eventually, he'd spilled the beans after they'd caught a flash of Ochako's now-infamous photo on TV while flipping through the channels for something to watch. She had covered her face in embarrassment and fought him for the remote to change the channel faster, but he'd insisted on hearing out the story. Someone had snapped a photo of an airborne Bakugo the night of the fire. Dressed in joggers and missing half his costume, with an unconscious Ochako on his back to boot, he looked every bit the resilient hero any publicist would sell a kidney to manage. Mercifully, he'd somehow managed to locate Uravity's soot-covered helmet below the building and had replaced it to its rightful place atop her head. And that meant her face had, mercifully, been shielded from the masses.

And while she'd never been the type of hero to keep her face hidden, that didn't necessarily mean she went around boasting about her identity either. Especially considering she couldn't imagine a more unflattering look to debut to the nation than the one of her unconscious face. So, to distract from her mortification, she'd elected to praise Bakugo and Kirishima for their help that night instead of stewing over her embarrassment. And that was when Kirishima's jovial grin had faded and his bright gaze turned somber. Bakugo, he'd explained, had been suspended for his unsanctioned involvement in the fire.

Ochako's alarm buzzed again and she peeked an eye out to shut it off for good. She opened her messaging app, which had been aflutter over the past few days with well wishes from friends, family, and of course her old classmates. But the one chat that remained eerily silent was the one she wanted to hear from the most.

She'd sent Bakugo a private message days ago at Kirishima's behest, but she had yet to hear back from him. The redhead had showed her how to tell when someone had read a message or not, and since then she'd been waiting for that very same sign to no avail.

There was a curious chirp that bounced around the tiles of her bathroom and the sudden appearance the long-haired calico brought a small smile to her face.

"G'morning, Aki."

The cat greeted her by nuzzling her chin with a strong purr and settling down on her chest to block her phone.

"Are you reading my messages?" Ochako teased, swatting his bushy tail out of her face. "Well, good luck. This one's gonna stay a one-way conversation for a while apparently."

With a heavy sigh, she spilled out of the bed and headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. Since she was no longer partaking in her morning run, she'd been able to eat a more substantial meal. Although, that usually just consisted of some kind of jam on toast, or a yogurt parfait with fruit if she was feeling fancy that morning.

She would take her breakfast into the living room since Deku wasn't around to eat with and finish it in front of the TV instead. Then, it was time for her nebulizer. The sound of the motor roaring would frighten Aki away, but he'd always find his way back in eventually.

" – ongoing protests across I-Island, bolstered by its annual Hero Convention – or I-Expo – appear to have become violent when a clash between civilians and local law enforcement ended with 3 civilians hospitalized. This comes following an attack at Shield Industries Tower, which authorities are currently investigating." Hinata Teodasu of Helping Hands with Hinata declared.

Ochako paused in loading the cartridge of medicine into the nebulizer in order to listen to the headline. Once she turned the machine on, she would have to turn on the closed captioning since the motor would be too loud to hear over.

"All victims are believed to be in stable condition, but the clash has caused mass outrage and seems to have rallied an even bigger crowd today. We go to our local reporter, Tamura-san, on the scene right now…"

"Good morning from the last day of the I-Island Expo, which has previously been a peaceful and eagerly anticipated event." Tamura-san announced, a safe distance from an expansive wave of people all clad in white lab coats. "But to look out at the crowds today, it is easy to tell that they have not assembled to join in on the last hours of festivities."

"Do we know what these protests are about?" Hinata questioned from her cushy armchair.

"Well, since there seems to be no definitive leader, it is difficult to say with certainty. But outrage generally seems to stem from the video that was released online several weeks ago, appearing to show the execution of a band of scientists from I-Island. Protestors here have since donned lab coats in solidarity of these workers, who happen to make up the majority of those employed on I-Island."

"Are these protests being linked to the attack on Shield Industries Tower?"

Tamura-san nodded with a grim expression. "I'm being told that is accurate information, Teodasu-san. The Tower was attacked late last night by a band of protestors who destroyed parts of an upper-level floor and stole multiple computers containing sensitive information. Local government is treating the attack as retaliation for the execution in the aforementioned online video."

Hinata peered off-camera as she briefly discussed with a producer in a hushed tone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am being told that we have that video in studio as we speak. However, I must warn you that there is highly disturbing content, and we therefore do not have permission to show it in its entirety."

Ochako breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yet I'm being told that we do have image-stills that we are permitted to use."

Her brown eyes reflexively flinched at the grainy screenshots, though they had been heavily edited to expunge any vulgar fixtures or identifying attributes. Basically, it had been reduced to a series of five or six people in white lab coats kneeling on the ground of what appeared to be a rooftop helipad, with a cruelly picturesque skyline around them. They'd been bound with zip-ties behind their backs and seemingly blindfolded, judging by the unnatural streak of color across their blurred-out faces. Both before and behind them stood men in expensive black suits, pointing a blurred-out object at their heads, and Ochako didn't need three guesses to solve the mystery of what they were.

"Can we assume that these people in the video were attempting to flee the island, which is not permitted due to the nature of I-Island's confidential research?"

"That's the leading theory, Teodasu-san." Tamura-san confirmed. "However, without a definitive leader here, it's difficult to discern the goals of the protestors. There happen to be similar demands that these groups of people seem to share, some of which include: company transparency, better working conditions, equal distribution of rights, and of course the ability to leave the island."

"I see." Hinata adjusted her severely square glasses. "And what is the response from the government and these companies?"

"Nothing as of yet." He replied. "It is our understanding that the details of those involved in the video have not been disclosed. No company or organization has taken credit, and it is likely that none intend to. However, the government has been trying to resolve the issue peacefully, but they are treating the attack on Shield Industries Tower as a so-called 'first strike' made by protesters."

"Given the presence of so many Pro Heroes over the course of the Expo, I'm sure tensions have been flying quite high." Hinata almost seemed to chuckle.

"That is putting it lightly, Teodasu-san."

"Well, I'm sure everyone is hoping for a peaceful resolution in this turbulent turn of events. Thank you, Tamura-san." Hinata gave a tense smile. "And now for a change of pace back home, we turn it over to –"

Ochako turned off the TV and secured the nebulizer over her mouth. She tried to recall what Deku had told her about the protests over the phone, but it was never very much. Either he was so absorbed in the Expo and helping with Melissa's experiments that he was clueless about them, or he was just skimming the waters in order to avoid causing Ochako worry. And considering Deku's notorious observational skills, she was willing to bet the reason for his tight-lipped answers was due to the former.

Breathing in deeply to get the most out of the treatment, Ochako lazily scrolled through her phone. She wasn't looking for anything specific, just something to help the 20-minute dose pass by faster. She saw that her and Bakugo's photo was still trending and quickly swiped to a more palatable story about a teacup pig in rainboots. But no amount of fluff pieces could distract her from that nagging feeling gnawing in the back of her mind. It was the last day of the I-Island Expo and the small protests that had been brushed aside as a mere eyesore had nearly quadrupled into a sizeable problem overnight.

She felt guilty for thinking it, but this vacation had gone by too smoothly that Ochako almost refused to believe Deku would make it back home without some sort of hiccup happening. His flight was tomorrow, but a lot could happen over the course of one day.

The nebulizer automatically shut off and she was startled that her 20 minutes had passed by so quickly. She disposed of the empty cartridge of medicine and headed back into the living room to change out of her pajamas in an attempt to dispel some of the stormy thoughts clouding her head.

Deku would be coming home tomorrow, and she needed to quit worrying about all the things that could go wrong between now and then, and start focusing on how nice it would be to have him back home again. She figured she'd start with making a nice dinner and potentially tidy the place up a bit. With nothing but time on her hands for now, she'd make sure to distract herself enough to make a thorough job of it. She dressed casually today since she was just headed to the food store and bid Aki farewell for a little while.

As she walked, she pondered which ingredients she would need to buy and which ones she already had. That probably would have been a good thing to write down before she left, but she'd been too distracted, so she'd just have to do her best to avoid buying something they already had at home.

Just before she entered the store, she felt her smartwatch begin to buzz and peered down to see why. Deku's name appeared on its tiny screen and she scrambled to fetch her phone from her purse. She leaned against the large sidewalk barriers to answer the call as out-of-the-way as she could. The last time she'd tried to sit on one of these things, she'd managed to fall backwards and into the street, so she was careful to avoid doing that again.

"Hello?" She plugged in her earbuds after realizing it was a video-call.

"Hi!" Deku greeted with a bright smile on his face. "How are you feeling?" He seemed to take in her surroundings and turned sheepish. "Oops! I didn't realize you weren't home! Should we switch to an audio call?"

"It's alright." She grinned, feeling her heart flutter at the idea of seeing him in less than 24 hours after 14 whole days apart. "I'm just going shopping. What would you say to katsudon for dinner tomorrow?"

"I'd say yes please!"

"Hi, Uraraka-san!" Melissa ducked her head into view and leaned her hands on Deku's shoulders to fit her face into the camera. "I hope you're feeling better! Deku told me what happened! That's so scary – I hope you're feeling better!"

Ochako's brown orbs darted between the hands on Deku's shoulders and couldn't help the way her eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Melissa's letting me take a few gadgets home." Deku continued, either too oblivious to notice or just choosing to ignore her territorialism. Besides, it wasn't the first time it'd happened, and it probably wouldn't be the last. "I'll have to show you how they work when I get home."

"Oh. How. Nice." Her response was mechanical and Deku tried not to laugh.

"Could you give us a minute?" He turned to beseech Melissa.

"Oh, sure." The bespectacled blonde nodded. "I'm glad you're safe, Uraraka-san!" She bid Ochako farewell and disappeared somewhere off-camera.

"Better?"

Ochako felt her face start to flush with embarrassment and she tried to shake it off. Unfortunately, she could only do so by bringing up the one thing she'd been trying to ignore all day.

"Deku-kun, I heard on the news this morning that the protests are getting worse."

His dark green eyes seemed to widen as he blinked in shock, taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation. "Oh…really?" He managed to nervously croak out. "I guess I hadn't noticed. I've been pretty busy otherwise – I barely leave the expo center…which is probably for the best if what you're saying is true."

Ochako didn't seem convinced. "Of course it is! Why would I lie?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" He shook his head and backtracked. "Look, I'm not in any danger here. Security has managed to keep the protestors corralled on the opposite side of the island. And even if they were able to breach the expo center, they've been peaceful this whole time, and this place is full of Pro Heroes, anyway."

"You sound like you're tempting fate." Ochako grumbled. "There's still one whole day left."

"Yeah, I know." He seemed to conceal a wry smile behind his words, though.

"I'm just worried." Ochako admitted. "There's a video online that shows some company executing their own scientists or something just to keep their secrets from getting out. It doesn't seem safe there anymore."

"Nowhere seems safe anymore…" It was his turn to catch her off-guard, but he quickly retraced his steps when he spotted the look on her face. "Ah, sorry. I'm just tired, don't mind my mood! Really! We've been working hard testing out all my new equipment and I guess I'm just eager to come home." He grinned widely. "So…you mentioned something about katsudon?" He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, excited at the thought of coming home to a hot, homecooked dinner after an international flight.

Ochako nodded, somehow less enthusiastic than she thought she would be after accepting his call. "What time will you be home again?"

He seemed to consider, doing some quick calculations in his head. "Hopefully no later than 7 o'clock. I'm taking the shuttle from the airport, and from there it'll just be a bunch of train transfers." He seemed to remember something. "I'm having my luggage delivered ahead of time, by the way, so it might arrive before me."

"I'll be home." She dismissed. "What would you like for dessert tomorrow? I was thinking about getting a roll cake."

"I'd be very surprised if we even made it to dessert."

She tilted her head in curiosity. Sure, her sweet tooth was bigger than his, but not by a far enough margin that he could credibly turn down an offer of dessert. But then she caught the lusty smirk on his face that he was desperately trying to keep secret from Melissa, who was most likely still lurking somewhere in the lab. And the sight of that look in his eye sent a delightful shiver up her spine that forced her off the guardrail she'd been leaning against.

"It's been a long two weeks, Uraraka."

"Ah! D-Deku!" She admonished, pretending to hate the way he breathed her name. Through the earbuds, it sounded like he was right there behind her. Some people passing by shot her an odd look, but she barely noticed.

"I can't wait to see you." He continued. "I'll have to show you how much I missed you."

Ochako could barely maintain eye contact through the screen anymore. Her cheeks were on fire and her skin was rife with goosebumps. In a flustered tizzy, she panicked and hit the end-call button, leaning back against the barrier to catch her breath. But then the phone buzzed again in her hand and she nearly threw it into traffic.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get you so riled up…" The message from Deku read, but he'd followed it up with several laughing emojis. "I'll call you again before bed. Have a good day today!"

Ochako glared at the words before typing and deleting several iterations of her response.

"I'll be sure to pay you back later!" She hoped to come off threatening.

"Looking forward to it…"

"Gah!" She flung the phone into her purse and stomped into the store, peering at her reflection in the window in an attempt to calm herself down.

He pounded on the door again, ignoring the old man who'd peeked his grumpy head out his front door to glare at him in disapproval. He'd been banging for a half hour now, but he wouldn't give up until the door opened.

"I know you're in there, goddammit! I'll sleep out here if I have to!" Kirishima barked. "This shit's getting old now!"

It had been four days since Bakugo had disappeared and each day he only grew more concerned for his oldest friend. His suspension had been the worst-kept secret around the office, but no amount of pleading from him had been able to sway the owner of the agency into reconsidering. As his direct superior, Mirko had been the one to deliver the sentence, whether she agreed with it or not. After the second day, she'd admitted to the pesky Kirishima that while she did agree that Bakugo needed a swift kick in the ass to straighten him out, she didn't agree with the indefinite nature of his punishment. In fact, she wanted her old sidekick back already. Patrols weren't the same without his foul mouth to pass the time and they'd all been forced to pick up the slack in his absence.

She'd told him that if Bakugo could prove that he'd learned his lesson, he'd have a better shot of being invited back to work. But the trouble then became how to go about such a feat – Bakugo wasn't answering anything on his phone or in real life.

"Just give up already." The old man to his side admonished. "And go home. It's late and I want to go to bed."

Kirishima kicked the door out of frustration. "Maybe I'll just break it down, then?!" He shouted, noting how new it looked and figuring it was worth a shot to threaten destroying it again. "Is that what you want?! Don't test me, man, I'll do it!"

"I'm calling the police."

Kirishima quickly retrieved his wallet to show him his license. "I'm a Pro Hero, sir. Please go back inside – this is official hero business."

The old man narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but relented and slowly returned to his apartment like a defeated troll skulking back into his cave.

Kirishima gave an impatient growl and pulled at his hair, smacking his head against Bakugo's front door and squinting through the peephole. "Come out and face me, you…you – YOU BIG PUSSY!"

And for the first time in days, he'd finally heard some semblance of life from behind the door. Unfortunately, it happened to be the crackling sound of liquid nitroglycerin igniting and the stomping footsteps that ensued warned him to brace for impact. The door swung open so fast it would have clipped a lesser man's nose, and the palm that came for his head was flexed like a claw, bearing down like a bomb.

Kirishima activated his quirk just in time to bear the brunt of the blast and recovered quickly enough tackle Bakugo back into his apartment lest he draw any more of his landlord's ire.

"Ya feel better now?!" He demanded the manic crimson gaze below him that was momentarily stunned after getting sacked in the gut by a human battering ram.

Bakugo said nothing, clad in a T-shirt and workout pants, and sporting a wicked 5-o'clock shadow. But in spite of his disheveled appearance, that piercing crimson gaze persisted, which told Kirishima he wasn't ready to give up yet, wind knocked out of him or not.

Bakugo thrusted his elbow into the floor and slammed down his fist, using another explosion to roll them both over and into his weight room. Kirishima slid across the floor and caught himself before crashing into the shelf of various dumbbells.

"Fine!" He leapt to his feet and ripped off his shirt – it was ruined by now, anyway. "If this is what it takes to snap you out of it, then let's go! This has been a long time coming!"

A/N: What did we ever do to deserve Kirishima? He's the manliest man friend you could ever hope for, IMO! Another quick dose of Kirishima, but fear not! Since I missed March's update, that means you get a two-for-one deal! Next chapter will pick up right where we left off in this one!