Disclaimer: I do not own BNHA or any of its characters. Obviously.

Chapter Six: Punishment

[Day Ten]

[Uraraka]

She wasn't sure how it happened or why, but Uraraka's sudden outburst in the faculty office hadn't ended as poorly as she'd anticipated. Aizawa seemed to understand that the project partners were protecting each other from retribution and decided he would distribute the punishments evenly between the both of them. She hadn't been happy with that outcome until she'd been told what they were dishing out on Bakugou.

Confinement! Like he was a prisoner or something! For breaking school rules and sparring. Sure, it ended up in a hospital visit but Uraraka couldn't believe how hard they were dropping the hammer. And they'd basically put a restraining order on him. It was ridiculous.

Although… if she really thought about it, the school year had been full of danger and craziness. It made sense for them to try and control what they actually could. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

But, after her meltdown Aizawa decided to repeal the punishments he'd put in place earlier that day on Bakugou. And then dish out new ones for them both. Equal ones. For the next 20 days until the end of their hero-project, Bakugou and Uraraka would be responsible for cleaning the classroom every day after school, as well as the dorms every other day. They would also be responsible for waking up early each morning and preparing breakfast for their classmates. The two of them also wouldn't be permitted to leave campus.

Essentially, the staff at UA wanted to give them as little free time as possible to keep them from breaking the rules again.

"And since you're so keen on protecting one another, I'll assume you don't mind doing all of this together as well." Aizawa had said with his usual, pensive expression.

Uraraka yawned, briefly glancing at her alarm.

Ugh. 4:00am. Their additional duties would start today, which meant they'd both have to be up early to start making breakfast. But Uraraka had grown accustomed to doing some kind of physical activity in the mornings. If she couldn't fight Bakugou then she'd have to make do with a run. Which meant an even earlier start to the day.

She rolled out of bed and glanced out her window into the darkness. She could faintly see the tops of the trees rolling in the wind, signaling her to grab her jacket.

"I guess a brisk run will help me wake up…" She mumbled sleepily, pulling her door open and heading for the stairs. For a moment she wondered if she should invite Bakugou—but quickly decided against it. She hadn't really thought of what she'd say to him yet. She hadn't seen him since she'd passed out on their sparring mat and way too much had happened since. She couldn't think of a scenario that wouldn't be awkward so she'd avoid it until she absolutely couldn't anymore…

Which gives me a whole hour, she thought nervously. God, what am I supposed to say? Thanks for throwing yourself under the bus for me? Uraraka wondered if a bus was even the right analogy. Maybe a tank. Or a freight train.

Uraraka reached the bottom of the stairs and zipped her coat up to her neck before pushing herself into the brisk morning air.

[Bakugou]

I knew she was gonna fuck it up. Bakugou grumbled to himself, slowly buttoning up his uniform shirt. Now, because she was so righteous, they were sharing the burden for their "misdeeds".

He knew he'd be lying to himself to say he wasn't relieved—sure, he was still in trouble, but the punishment had been reduced to mind-numbing chores. And it wasn't even all bad. He was good at cooking and cleaning, and he had a feeling he'd be better at it than she was anyway. They might not be able to continue their secret sparring lessons, but he could still find a way to win and wipe the floor with her. And he was staying at UA in 1A. Most of his classmates were bumbling idiots but at least he wouldn't have to transfer into that class full of fucking extras.

Bakugou grabbed his blazer and threw it over his shoulder with his backpack and headed down to the kitchen, wondering if Uraraka had beaten him down there.

He kept walking despite the lump in his throat—he still had absolutely no idea what to say to her. Or anyone for that matter. He'd been lucky enough that Deku hadn't reported their scuffle in the hallway, and the few onlookers had only caught the tail end of his tantrum. But still… they'd heard him yelling about Uraraka and that would make for uncomfortable small talk…

He hated small talk.

Bakugou tossed his belongings on the table in the common room before making his way into the kitchen, where Uraraka was floating above the counter, digging through a high cupboard for spices.

"Hey, Round-face."

The floaty-girl's shoulders rolled back in surprise and she turned her head to look at him. She was quiet for a second, lips parted in surprise, but her expression melted into a small smile, "Hey, Bakugou." She pressed her fingertips together and landed softly on the linoleum with a click.

Bakugou's stomach fluttered as he remembered the nausea from the last time she'd used her quirk on him and approached her more timidly than he probably ever had, still unsure what to say, "How do you do that?" He asked, scanning over the ingredients she'd put out.

"Do what?"

Bakugou frowned and pressed his fingertips together, imitating the release to her quirk. Her grin widened as he spoke, "Deal with the nausea and shit. I thought I was going to hurl that one time in the gym—every time I see you use it, I feel it." He shivered and narrowed his eyes when he spotted the box of pancake batter on the counter.

"Uh, practice, I guess. That would be like me asking you how you manage to not blow your arms up whenever you use your quirk." She laughed and grabbed a mixing bowl, "Your body just acclimates to it over time, right? It has to."

Bakugou glanced at her profile, remembering when she'd constantly been wearing a stopwatch around her neck to improve the times she could stay afloat. "Right…" He murmured, wondering why he felt so content at this moment.

"Anyway! Um, I thought we could make pancakes! Unless you have a better idea." Her pink cheeks puffed up as she excitedly grabbed the box and shook it above her head.

"No way, Round-face." She quirked an eyebrow at him and his eyes narrowed at the box in her hands, "No fucking way are we using that box shit. I make real pancakes. Get the eggs." He pushed his sleeves up past his elbows and Uraraka ran to the fridge and pulled out the carton. "2 of those. And the milk."

Uraraka grabbed the ingredients and set them on the counter next to him while he mixed everything together, only to be distracted by a sudden burst of laughter. Bakugou blinked and turned his head to glare at his project partner. She held up her hands in mock-surrender, but the laughter didn't cease, in fact, the longer he stared at her, the harder she laughed, until tears were practically streaming down her face.

"What the hell is so funny?!" He finally snapped.

"You… you have…" She motioned to her forehead, gasping for breath between fits of giggles, "Stuff… on your face!"

"Fuck, where?!" He shouted, frantically wiping at his forehead, "Hey! Uraraka! Shut the fuck up and help me, would you?!" His frown deepened and his ears burned.

Her face was red, and her round eyes were scrunched closed so tight, Bakugou thought she might never be able to open them again. She kept slapping her knee with one hand and clasping her side with the other, like it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen and Bakugou wondered why that floating feeling in his stomach just wouldn't go away.

The sun was already setting when Bakugou put the last of the cleaning supplies back into the closet. He took back what he said about the cleaning that morning—just because he was good at it didn't mean he liked it. Their classmates were complete slobs—Bakugou swore the floor around Kirishima's desk was absolutely caked in filth. How in the hell did so few teenagers create such a mess in one day?

"Now we have to go back to the dorms and clean that…" Uraraka groaned from the other side of the classroom. She had slid herself into Bakugou's desk and had her head buried in her arms. Her body was totally deflated but her hair was sticking out every which way.

"You wouldn't have to do any of this if you'd just let me take the fall." Bakugou retorted with a sigh.

She stiffened immediately and raised her head to look at him, eyes dark and furious, "Yeah and then you'd be in 1B, dummy."

Bakugou shrugged, hoping he appeared indifferent.

She stood quickly, the chair scraping against the floor, "Or kicked out of UA!" She huffed, "Besides, what you told Aizawa-sensei was totally out of line, you know!" She took several long strides so that she was standing directly in front of him, "How are you gonna be the number one hero if you get kicked out of your first year of school?" She poked his chest with one padded finger and glared up at him.

He looked down at her finger and then back at her face, faintly remembering the feeling of her skin on his forehead when she'd lifted him from the nightmare, "They weren't gonna kick me out, dumbass." He rolled his eyes and gently pushed her hand away, moving toward the door. But she side-stepped to block his path.

"Why would you even risk that, huh? You're crazy!"

"You're crazy! You're the one who ended up in the hospital and then went and told them I was lying. I don't know why they even believed you." He growled, crossing his arms, "I hurt you… I… You got hurt, you shouldn't have to be doing all this bullshit." Bakugou swallowed hard, watching her expression morph from anger to guilt to sadness in rapid succession.

"Bakugou…"

"C'mon, we have to go clean the dorms." He finally tore himself from her chestnut gaze and pushed past her to the door.

[Uraraka]

He's not mad at me… Uraraka thought, tightness gripping her chest as she followed behind Bakugou Katsuki. I thought he'd be mad. But he's…

She shook her head, and let her eyes fall to the concrete as they walked. Ever fiber of her being had thought he'd just be really, really mad that she'd let herself get hurt. But that didn't seem like the case. He was blaming himself. That was why he told Aizawa he'd done all of those terrible things. Maybe he believed he deserved it, because he thought he was the one that hurt her. He was shouldering that guilt. But the shocking thing was that he was feeling that guilt at all…

Uraraka bit her lip, realizing she'd done it again. She kept thinking of Bakugou as something other than what he was, like he couldn't feel the same way everyone else did. He was still a kid, just like she was, and he was capable of feeling all the emotions she did. He was powerful and strong and so incredibly motivated but that didn't mean he was perfect or unbreakable.

She almost snorted. Perfect. She knew he wasn't perfect. They'd only been working together for a short while, but she'd been able to see so many more sides to him than she ever thought possible. She'd seen more sides than she knew existed within him. Even so, she'd failed to look at things from his perspective again. If their positions had been reversed and he'd passed out in the middle of their sparring session, she would be overcome with guilt. She'd feel like a monster. She'd forgotten, once again, that Bakugou could feel like that too.

"Bakugou, I'm sorry." Uraraka said suddenly, grabbing onto the sleeve of his blazer. He didn't turn to face her, but he stopped walking, so she continued, "I kept thinking you'd be disappointed if I went to see Recovery girl for my bruises… But that was so stupid! I wanted to… be like you, I guess? I thought I could push through it. I kept thinking it would make me stronger… I didn't realize how bad it was and… and I shouldn't have hidden it. I'm sorry I made you worry and… thank you for carrying me there…" Uraraka stumbled over her words. It didn't feel like enough. Her cheeks burned. And his silence was unbearable. "C-c'mon, Bakugou, are you just gonna ignore me or—"

"Uraraka."

She gulped, taken aback by the sternness in his voice and pulled her hand away from his blazer when he turned around. His eyes were dark, narrowed slits, and something about his expression crushed her.

"Don't blow this out of proportion." His voice was even and monotone, "I don't give a shit, alright? About your apology or this… assignment, or that you're my partner, or about Recovery Girl. You hear me? It just pissed me off that I had to carry you all the way over there when you passed out. Got it? We're not friends."

Uraraka frowned, "You shouldn't say things you don't mean."

This wasn't fair. Were things always going to be this way? Would they just keep getting closer and then falling back to square one? Would he just continue to shut her out whenever he felt any sort of vulnerability? She knew he was capable of more than this. He'd let her see the darkest part of himself, albeit unwillingly… he let her stay in his room and he'd made her tea. And he let her be there for him. He kept acting like he didn't want that, like they weren't friends. But he definitely wanted something. She did too. At first it had just been a competent project partner, so she didn't fail her assignment, but she felt connected to him now. She didn't even care about that now. She cared about him. She didn't want to see him suffer. She wanted to be a shoulder he could lean on or cry on or whatever.

Bakugou stared back at her for a moment before sighing and turning his gaze to the ground. And then, quietly, he mumbled, "You're right…"

She thought she'd imagined it.

There was no way, no way in hell, he'd just conceded. And with so little prodding.

This whole day has been a dream. Uraraka thought suddenly. I'm still passed out in the infirmary. Or dead.

He turned back to her quickly, ears turning a bright shade of red, brow furrowed in annoyance. Almost like he was angry that she hadn't responded in one way or the other. Another moment passed, and as he opened his mouth to speak once more, she was certain this was all a dream.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice." It was fast grumble, like he was trying to spit the words out as quickly as he could and just get it over with.

Uraraka forgot how to breathe.

Had… had Bakugou Katsuki, the Bakugou Katsuki, the guy who wanted to call himself Lord Explosion Murder, just… apologized?

It felt like someone had just reached into her abdomen and squeezed. She couldn't stop a huge, goofy smile from pulling at her cheeks. Never in a million years had she thought the two of them would have this dynamic. It was awkward half the time and super weird, but she absolutely loved it. The friendship that had started blooming wasn't just in her head—despite the brash way Bakugou went about things, he cared about her too, at least to some degree. Enough to agree to spar with her and carry her to the infirmary and try his hardest to make sure she wouldn't get punished for her own idea. He cared enough to feel guilty and lash out and apologize… Uraraka felt her cheeks grow warm in the evening breeze and shook her head, "It's okay, Bakugou. I'm sorry too."

"I know," He responded, a grin taking over his face, "You said that already, dumbass."

Uraraka rolled her eyes and began walking once more, this time keeping in step with the explosive boy.

"Don't get any bright ideas, Angel-face, we're still not friends."

"Hm, yes we are."

Angel-face… was that a new one?

"You're fucking high—"

"Nope! We are officially friends now, Bakugou Katsuki! I mean, sheesh, we just had a heart-to-heart in the middle of campus, friendship is required now." She grinned at him and laughed at his exasperated expression, "So you better get used to me! I'm not going anywhere!"