Thirty Days

A/N: So starts day one of thirty on this angsty journey.
Side question, what're your favorite ships in this anime/manga? My friends and I all have very conflicting opinions...

Disclaimer: I don't own BNHA or any of its characters.

Chapter Two: Challenger

[Day One]

[Bakugou]

There wasn't anything in the world that could scare Bakugou Katsuki away. He didn't shy away from conflict—in fact, he was the one who incited most of the conflict in his life… Even if he'd never admit to that. He preferred to meet everything head on and demolish those who defied him. That was how he functioned. It was how he thrived. It was how he would become the Number One Hero. He didn't have time for anything else.

So, when a wide-eyed Uraraka Ochaco approached him before class the day after he decided he was going to completely ignore her existence, he didn't bother hiding his annoyance. He made a point to make it known. "Get away from me, Round-face." He growled, hoping his glower might be enough to make her go away.

It didn't.

Actually, it didn't seem to have any effect on her at all.

"Good morning, Bakugou!" She beamed.

For a heartbeat, he could only stare back at her. There was something different about her cheery, early-morning enthusiasm. Typically, she would acknowledge anyone she made eye contact with, and she always made a point to greet her friends… But Bakugou didn't fall under either of those categories. So, there was something else going on. He almost opened his mouth to ask what she wanted but decided against it. I don't care. It almost certainly had to do with Deku or the ridiculous assignment that had been thrust upon them yesterday. Which meant it wasn't worth his time.

She acted as if the spiky blonde hadn't blatantly ignored her and continued as he bristled. "I came to ask you a favor…" Her smile never faltered. He was becoming more annoyed by the second. What right did she have to float around with that stupid look on her face, anyway?

He scoffed, "Fuck off." And turned his narrowed eyes towards the front of the classroom.

She slammed both her hands onto his desk with reckless abandon, much like she had the day before with All Might and leaned forward, close enough to make Bakugou inch backward an inch, "I won't!" She huffed. The optimism in her face melted into a fierce determination that —somehow—made him hold his tongue long enough for her to keep talking. In another overly dramatic gesture she stuck her pointed finger into his face, only centimeters from his nose, "I challenge you!" She announced, a grin filling her pink cheeks, "Spar with me, Bakugou Katsuki."

Everyone was staring. Waiting for him to explode, no doubt.

In one quick motion, he swatted the girl's hand away from his face with a loud slap that echoed throughout the silent classroom. He wanted to tell her to fuck off again. She had no right to challenge him. He'd already beaten her before, anyway.

But just now… she didn't shrink away when he hit her, she didn't even blink. She calmly placed her hand back on his desk and kept on staring him down. Something about her intense gaze made Bakugou squirm in his seat and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms defiantly. The look on her face alone made him want to accept. It vaguely reminded him of their battle at the sports festival.

His fingers twitched, in anticipation or annoyance, he couldn't tell.

He crossed his arms and replied, "I don't feel like kicking your ass again, Round-face. Get away from me."

She pursed her lips, obviously disappointed, but she didn't move.

For a moment Bakugou thought she'd stand there, defiant and determined, until the end of time. He didn't hate the thought of that.

With the shrill ring of the last bell and the appearance of Eraser Head at the door, he expected her to vanish back to her corner of the classroom.

Knitted chestnut brows and a taunting grin painted her face as she straightened, rolling her shoulders back confidently. "I thought you didn't back away from a challenge." And then she walked past him, quietly greeting Deku before returning to her seat.

She'd said it so quietly that Bakugou might have thought he'd imagined it if it weren't for that fucking look on her face.

What the hell? He blinked, barely hearing his homeroom teacher as he began lecturing them about something.

Seriously… what the fuck was that?!

Rage bubbled in his stomach, and he rubbed the sweat from his palms against his pants to avoid the temptation to blow his desk out the fucking window. Who did she think she was? Walking over to him like the weird, air-headed girl she was, challenging him, and then looking at him like that?

He was Bakugou Katsuki, he didn't run away.

What. The. Fuck?!

"Hey!" He shouted, nearly jumping to his feet and turning to face the anti-gravity girl behind him, "I don't know who you think you are, Uraraka! But I accept your stupid fucking challenge! I'll kill you!"

[Uraraka]

It had taken some thinking, but Uraraka had come up with a plan to get her partners attention. What better way to set him off than to openly challenge him in front of the class? He had too much pride to refuse, and she could only assume that he was especially volatile when it came to her after the announcement of their assignment.

However…

"I don't know who you think you are, Uraraka! But I accept your stupid fucking challenge, I'll kill you!"

She hadn't expected her plan to go quite so well. The scolding she'd surely get from Aizawa-sensei would be worth it.

She smiled to herself as the class continued, somewhat awkwardly, feeling pleased. Just yesterday, she'd been thinking about how quiet Bakugou had been these past few weeks, and although she barely wanted to admit it, it had made her somewhat worried. No matter how brash or downright mean he could be, she was going to have to work with him. And if he wasn't himself, that would make the assignment that much harder. Bakugou was difficult enough as he was, she was happy that some normalcy had emerged from her challenge.

Not to mention… He'd called her Uraraka. That was an unexpected development. It was always "round-face" or some other generic, obscene nickname. Had he ever called her by her name before…?

"Right… time to get serious then, Uraraka!"

"Oh…" She whispered to herself, tapping her pencil against her notebook. She gave a quick glance in his direction and found herself smiling again. That's right. During their battle at the sports festival, after he'd bested her trump card, he'd called her by her name before she passed out. At that time, it felt like she'd earned at least a shred of his respect. She supposed that was when he'd earned hers as well. He'd always been strong, and she'd respected his strength prior to their fight… but Bakugou had really given it his all. He didn't pull any punches because he knew he was stronger. He came at her with everything he had because he wanted to win. He hadn't seen her as some weak little girl. He was her opponent, and at least during that time, he'd seen her on an even playing field.

She pursed her lips, deep in thought.

That's what it felt like, anyway.

Uraraka wondered what would have happened if she'd been matched up against Ilda or Deku… or anyone else from their class, for that matter. Would they have given it all they had? Or would they have seen her as frail or fragile and acted accordingly? What would she have done?

Her chest tightened when she realized she couldn't be sure.

And even if Bakugou was heartless, she knew she could count on him to treat her as an equal on the field of battle.

Battle…

Right. She was going to have to spar him after this… She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. It was Bakugou, after all. He could be… overbearing. But excitement rose somewhere in her chest and buried her unease. She wanted to get stronger. This was a step in the right direction.

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom and Eraser Head headed for the door but stopped before he grabbed the handle, "I almost forget to tell you," He said in his typical monotone voice, "After lunch you'll be meeting in the gym with All Might for training."

Uraraka shuffled her feet, hoping to hide the embarrassment that rose to her cheeks as she stood across from her basic training sparring partner.

"Challenging Bakugou is reckless, Uraraka!" Ilda had said over lunch, "Surely you haven't forgotten the sports festival!"

"Kacchan won't go easy on you, you should be careful." Deku had added, shoveling a third bowl of rice into his mouth.

When she'd challenged him that morning, she hadn't thought they'd be split into groups for sparring practice after lunch… now she felt unbelievably silly as she stood across from Bakugou Katsuki. The look on his face said he didn't find it funny, though.

"Did you plan this, Round-face?" He grumbled from the other side of the mat.

"Of course not…" She mumbled, crossing her arms with a huff, "A-anyway! This doesn't count as my challenge, you got that?"

"Whatever." He responded, removing his hands from the pockets of his tracksuit, "I'll just kick your ass again later."

After lunch, class 1-A had filed into the gym and All Might had greeted them with his typical enthusiasm that still felt slightly out of place in his deflated form. He informed them that they'd be breaking into their Pro Hero/ Sidekick groups and sparring each other in order to get a feel for their partner's strength and tactics. Quirks weren't allowed in these matches, and every group had their own sparring mat sectioned off in different corners of the gym, so the other groups wouldn't be able to spectate. This had led Uraraka to think they may be fighting each other for this new assignment, but the final would be kept secret until the day came. They were also permitted to use this time to formulate strategies and combos they'd be utilizing at the end of the thirty days. Once their assignment ended, the Pro and the Sidekick would be thrust into an unknown conflict, where they'd have to work together while still falling into their assigned roles. Each student would receive two separate grades; one for their performance in their assigned role, and on their teamwork.

All Might blew his whistle and Bakugou fell into fighting stance immediately.

Uraraka gulped and steadied her feet as she stared back into his heavy, cardinal eyes.

[Bakugou]

Bakugou grunted and heaved himself up, eyeing the sweat that dripped from his brow onto the mat under their feet. It couldn't have been more than five minutes since they'd begun, but his breathing was already labored…

Round-face had refused to give him even a single fucking second to breathe; she just kept coming, like a stupid little demon. Even after he'd slammed his fist against her left cheek and knocked her clean off her feet, she'd only shook her head and rolled back into her stance, mumbling something about dodging to herself.

She had yet to land a solid hit on him though, but damn it, she was relentless.

At this rate, she'd wear herself out before she'd be able to back him into a corner.

"Tch." Bakugou shook his head, almost forgetting himself. Like she could. Like I'd let her. He stared back and found himself scolding her. Her feet were too far apart. Her hands were lower than they had been when they'd begun. She was letting her fatigue show—and her form was lacking because of it. Her defenses were practically nonexistent at this point. It pissed him off. "Idiot!" He shouted, taking advantage of her hesitation as she circled him, stalling to catch her breath.

Bakugou lunged low and tackled her legs, wrapping his arms around her thighs as she fell onto her back with a thud. She twisted away, trying to get her leverage back, but with one swift motion he grabbed one of her outstretched arms and locked his fingers around her wrist, twisting it sharply behind her back. "You're not fast enough, Round-face." He spat, digging his knee into the back of her own, "If you don't take this shit seriously, you're never gonna be a hero! This is pathetic! Don't fucking challenge someone if—"

He stopped when he felt her legs tremble under his weight, and he threw her arm away from him and stood.

"Just get up." He growled, "We're going again."

Uraraka got back to her feet slowly. When she turned to face him, her round face was contorted in tears. But it didn't look like she was in pain. She looked disappointed and frustrated, but most of all… fucking angry.

Good. He thought, a strange sense of unwarranted pride pulling a grin to his face.

She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and came to the ready once more with a nod, "Again!"

Bakugou felt his grin grow wider and he charged at her once more.

Ever since his fight with Deku, he tried to make a point to be more unpredictable with his first attack. He'd become too reliant on his heavy right-swing. If that damn nerd could exploit his moves, they weren't good enough. He saw Uraraka's eyes flicker to the right, anticipating his movement, so he pivoted and brought his clenched left fist straight into her abdomen.

She gasped and stumbled back, but as he advanced on her again, there was something fierce in her narrowed eyes; Uraraka ducked, effortlessly dodging his next swing, and brought her own quick right hook towards his jaw, missing just barely as Bakugou leaned forward and shoulder charged into her. He wrapped his arms around her torso and threw her backward over his shoulder.

Once again, she hit the mat with a huff. Bakugou thought he might have even heard her swear under her breath, but he couldn't be sure. That one had to have knocked the wind out of her.

"Oy!" He leaned over her as her chest heaved, "You're leaving your whole body wide-open every fucking time you swing! You're giving me every opening in the fucking book." Bakugou tried to keep his voice even so she wouldn't hear his own labored breathing. She'd been heavier than he'd expected, "Anticipating movements is one thing, but when you fucking ignore all the other shit and get flustered when something doesn't work out, you freeze. Cut it out!"

What the fuck am I doing?

It was like he was coaching her. That wasn't the point of this. He was supposed to beat her ass and make her sorry for thinking, even for a second, that she could challenge him.

But somehow, he knew she was better than the way she was performing now. He'd seen it at the sports festival, he'd seen her after her internship. He'd seen her running every night and sweating up a storm at the gym before class. That girl wasn't this one, and somehow that pissed him off more than anything had managed to in weeks.

Uraraka hauled herself back onto her feet, like his words had reinvigorated her, and jumped from one foot to the other, nodding the whole time. "Alright! Again!"

Her round, amber eyes were so wide with anticipation that Bakugou almost didn't notice the blood smeared in the corner of her mouth.

And so, it continued, one round after the other. Each time Bakugou would take her down, he'd scream about what she did wrong and they'd start again. But each time, she seemed to take his loud advice to heart because she never made the same mistake twice. By the bell, she'd managed to land a pretty decent punch to his face; he could already feel the fat lip forming under his skin. But she'd certainly taken much more of a beating—her left cheek was swollen, and he'd split the skin on that cheekbone, bruises were already showing on her exposed arms, and her hair was practically matted to her head with sweat.

Even so, she was still smiling. Like a fucking weirdo.

The class had been upon them in seconds once the bell rang, oh-so-fucking worried about their precious Uraraka.

Bakugou had to push through the crowd they formed around them, ignoring the horrified, wide-eyed stares and each, "Oh my gosh, Uraraka! Are you okay?!", "Geez, Bakugou just doesn't know how to hold back…", "You should go see Recovery Girl!". She'd ran right to that damn nerd, who looked the most worried of them all, all red-faced and cheery, like she didn't look like a fucking disaster. It took all the energy he had left to keep his mouth shut. They'd done this at the sports festival too. They'd doubted her and blamed him, like she was some fucking doll he was going to break.

Honestly, he couldn't wrap his head around it. They were all supposedly there to be heroes. Even the Pros got beat up, if you wanted to make it to the top you had to learn how to take a punch. It didn't matter who your opponent was—it was you or your enemy. It was about survival. That's all there was to it.

"W-wait! Sorry, Deku, one second—wait, Bakugou!"

"Fuck off, Round-face!" He called over his shoulder, pushing the doors to the gym open. His voice didn't sound as menacing as he'd meant it to, but he didn't have time turn around and add something else as someone reached out and slapped his back.

Bakugou's feet lifted from the floor and a pair of surprisingly rough hands twisted him around to face his attacker, her swollen face twisted into another one of those cheeky grins.

"Thanks for today." Uraraka said, her head tilting gently to the side as she held out a hand to him.

His stomach flipped—he didn't like this floating shit. "Real fucking funny," He growled, slapping her hand away, "Now put me down!"

"I mean it!" She huffed as he floated higher.

She reached out again but he could only stare back at her. He'd sooner float to the ceiling and stay there until he starved to death than shake her hand.

A wider, toothy smile filler her cheeks and she pressed her fingers together, returning him to the earth, "Thanks, Bakugou."

Another wave of nausea rolled through him and he turned on his heels toward the locker room.

He did not like that floating shit one bit