A/N: I "sketched" out the rest of this story. I may have overdone it, but I think I know how it will end - at least the first part. I wonder if you all would prefer 2 separate parts or one epic story. Probably the latter.

I don't know what subjects the teachers teach. I'm sorry. And, sorry, again for the major character name typo last chapter.

Synergy

Did the tension sincerely settle down when Eraserhead entered? Midoriya studied the classroom and could feel the still air of the room. Bakugou typically took a long time to cool down after his surges of anger. Then, after class, how would the situation pan out between everyone? Would the conflict continue or wither? Also, Uraraka - was she upset or saddened by the sudden dramatic commotion?

In that moment of conflict with Bakugou, her pensive stare and lack of a smile had shaken the class.

Bakugou's proposal was not simply some jibe. He meant every word he said, but why? Before yesterday, he never expressed any interest in Uraraka, and then, the innocuous revelation that she gifted Midoriya a stuffed animal nearly moved Bakugou to tears. To Midoriya, that meant that his old friend had his eyes, heart, and mind set on making Uraraka his wife or something like that. He couldn't understand the details of the situation.

For Midoriya, the confirmation for this theory came when Aizawa told them to pick sticks for a project. Matching colors decided the teams

Uraraka drew red.

Bakugou drew red as well.

The wide, fiery eyes and the giant grin that grew on Bakugou's face evoked Midoriya's memories of when the combustible kid got an All Might sticker from a Gotcha game when they were younger. The rare expression may have only lasted for a second before his typical prideful smirk returned.

That second was enough to raise Midoriya's suspicion of genuine joy in Bakugou's heart. The shift from distraught frustration to rage to sincere delight only confirmed Uraraka's yoke on him. Every minuscule movement of hers could jerk him for miles. Could Midoriya rest easily now that he sensed the sincerity in the situation? While Bakugou may have had selfish aims, there was something more to his intentions that had most likely gone undetected by him.

Uraraka tried to still her trembling frown as Bakugou marched up to her desk and slammed the matching stick onto her desk.

Midoriya failed to pay attention to who his partner was after intensely analyzing the circumstance between Bakugou and Uraraka.

Not far from his desk, Uraraka had to deal with her new partner. Maybe there was a way to get out of the situation. "H-Hey, Bakugou," she greeted him and hoped he didn't carry his grudge for that morning.

"Looks like we're partners, round-face," Bakugou taunted with his slanted, furrowed eyebrows. If this wasn't fate, then he didn't know what was. To him, this game of chance led to the confirmation of his insightful hunch. And, he relished the notion that fate worked in his favor. He savored the troubled frown that sank on her face and the raw fear that dilated her eyes.

Uraraka bit her lip and sighed. Being a hero required working in unfavorable positions, but she felt like she got paired with an undercover villain. How long was this project supposed to be anyway?

Sensitivity Training. She already knew they would probably fail based on such a premise. Bakugou had no sensitive bone in his body save for his fragile ego.

According to the board, they had to work with a kid on the other side of town and spend at least 2 hours a week with him for a month and write a reflection essay at the end. For their particular child, they had to tutor them. Activities would contribute to the rest of the necessary time.

Bakugou teased, "What? Are you scared? Better to be with the best than with some other loser." While he didn't explicitly point back at Midoriya, he enjoyed the fact that he won over him.

She held her tongue. Uraraka had to stifle any anger, but for how long? She didn't want to fight and risk their grade for the sake of her grudge against Bakugou Katsuki, so she gulped down every reservation and drop of animosity in her head and beamed a gentle smile up at him. "Let's work hard together, Bakugou," she chirped as her eyes connected with his.

Insolence! How could she be arrogant enough to smile in a detestable situation? He bore his teeth and hissed, "What was that?"

Uraraka repeated with a giggle, "I said, 'let's hard work together.'" Lemons to lemonade, right? Though, she couldn't quite determine the tang from such a standpoint. Maybe she enjoyed his intolerance of her resilience, and perhaps, she could play with the situation to her advantage. Hopefully, they could get a passing grade at least.

Bakugou's eyebrow twitched as he nearly broke his craft stick, yet he held back his anger and shoved it into his pocket along with both his hands. "We start tomorrow, and we're leaving at the bell, so you can't shit around with your nerdy friends." As much as he wanted to say that he had the advantage of their dynamic, he felt the power slip from his hands.

"'Kay, sounds great," she agreed with a thumbs-up an unyielding grin. This project would be a long one, but she could endure it. Her smile grew a little wider when she noticed her partner's eye twitch. Through the next arduous weeks, she absolutely could not lose sight of herself and allow Bakugou to dampen her enthusiasm and general optimism.

"Jeez," complained Kaminari the next morning in class. He approached Bakugou who sat at his respective desk and flipped through a book. The bright classroom lit by the morning sun had nearly just opened, and so the only students were the two of them plus Kirishima. "You're really putting the moves on Uraraka. Are you trying to ruin a happy home?" He poked fun at the idea, for he doubted that Bakugou would have any chance of interfering with the potential relationship of 1-A's sweethearts.

Slamming his book closed, Bakugou growled, "What did you fucking say to me? I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but it's probably a load of bullshit." His pride had split into two schools of thought. One-half disregarded anyone's perspective on his marital interest in Uraraka; the other half despised the possibility that anyone knew anything of the proposition. Situations like Kaminari's smug-ass question and Todoroki's high-and-mighty confrontation lent to his inclination to the latter logical thought.

The kids in his class just couldn't mind their own damn business, and if they interfered with his goals for the sake of their petty gossip, they'd have hell to pay.

Kaminari chuckled having had his fun and left to take his seat.

To attempt to remedy the situation, Kirishima approached Bakugou. With his tact and knowledge of Bakugou's tendencies, he knew that there was a specific way to approach him. He needed to translate his advice in a way that would motivate his friend. "Some people are better at talking to girls than others. Not everyone can be that manly, I guess," he suggested in the most roundabout way possible. "But, you can't force a girl to marry you."

"The hell I can't!" shouted Bakugou - probably alerting everyone on in the hallway of his presence.

Kirishima let out a quick sigh. He had to muster through the conversation. There was no way he could leave Bakugou to believe that he could force Uraraka into an impossible situation. "It's just no good if you don't tell her how you feel, though," he advised as he shooed the thought with his hand.

Tersely, Bakugou spat, "I don't feel a damn thing except rage that Round-Face thinks she can lead me around like a dog."

Knowing what he knew, Kirishima leaned over to remind Bakugou of what he told him in confidence. Maybe the brute didn't connect the dots all the way, but he probably wouldn't want other people to know. "Didn't you say that your hands have been sweatier than normal?" he whispered. Backing away, he continued at a normal volume, "Well, that's something, right?" He rooted for his friend to at least be honest with himself.

Love was pretty damn manly after all.

Bakugou glared at his wet hands when Uraraka entered the room with her crew. His bodily functions had betrayed his self-proclaimed stone facade. He lowered his voice more so than his last remark and muttered, "That's none of her business or your damn business for that fucking matter." Suddenly, he regretted spilling such a secret the night before and grimaced. His sweat fueled his quirk, and so, he should have been careful with sharing that information even if it was with someone he trusted.

"But," implored Kirishima with a bright grin, "maybe it'll be enough to tell her how you two as a pair can be more energetic or something."

Watching Uraraka take her seat a few desk behind him, Bakugou corrected, "Synergetic." Her skirt fluttered down on and around her chair like a billowing sunflower as she sat down, and her posture straightened as she bloomed a smile at the people around her. The sun that washed through the room somehow seemed to focus on her wherever she went. Such a realization might have amused most people, but the predicament made Bakugou gag.

Just how synergetic were they? In what way would she need him in a fight? Who was he kidding? Uraraka didn't need him in a fight. She was tough, witty, and formidable on her own, and if he were ever honest with himself, her autonomy appealed to him.

"Hurry up! Get your ass on the train!" shouted Bakugou from the middle of a crowded train car.

As much as Uraraka wanted to deny that she intentionally delayed getting onto the train, she couldn't. She loathed the idea of committing to him for such a long time and for an important assignment. Her racing thoughts kept her up the night before, and she had to force her foot across the metal bar that bordered the bottom of the train. With a gulp, she stepped forward and stood in the only empty spot available - centimeters away from her partner.

She exhaled hot air that bounced back off of Bakugou's school uniform. Looking up at him would have been a bad idea. Would it be better to turn away from him at least? There was hardly enough space to rotate, but she did it somehow.

Suddenly, Uraraka felt vulnerable to an attack from him. Again, she sighed, "You can do this, Ochako." Hopefully, no one could hear her quick pep talk.

Bakugou heard. His eyebrow twitched before he allowed words to slip from his mind as well. "I can't believe this shit. We have to go to the other side of town just to tutor some elementary school brat," he griped to no one in particular.

Why was he complaining? Uraraka had spotted the malicious smirk on his face the day before as he taunted her. He wanted this to happen with her. Something about his suddenly cynical and pessimistic attitude caused her hand to tighten around the strap that she clung to above her. She needed to calm down before she became too annoyed to relate to the kid that they had to watch.

Although Uraraka's motivations for becoming a hero primarily benefitted her family, she enjoyed being happy and wanted to be kind to others. While she wanted to understand Bakugou, after the past couple of days, she began to lose interest. And if he acted unruly towards the kid that they needed to protect and tutor, she would probably become genuinely upset - if she wasn't already.

To get through the day, she decided to pretend that Bakugou just really wanted to be her friend. Of course, that wasn't true, but maybe if she saw the situation like that, her pounding headache would disappear. She sighed again.

"Why are you sighing? Don't get a fucking attitude just because you're sad you didn't get paired with Deku."

Maybe that plan wouldn't work. Uraraka's mouth twitched at the corners. "I guess I'm just tired," she replied and then under her breath, she added with puffy cheeks, "of bein' around you." Why did she say that? There was no way that she could keep up the chore of being nice to him after the harassment from the past few days.

The audacity! He steamed from his ears and growled, "Fucker, don't talk shit to me. Like I said before, you're lucky to have me as your partner." They could volley hostility back and forth all day, and he didn't know what to do with his anger. At first, he reached out to attack her, but then he stopped himself. If this woman truly became his wife one day, he would want to avoid physically lashing out at her. Being entirely honest with himself, he could destroy her in more ways than one - mentally and physically.

None of the options that sparked through his thoughts included sexual destruction despite the connotations. If his mind ever matured to that point, then he would probably list that off as well.

Bakugou told himself that he wanted her to cower beneath his intimidating power, but he knew that she was too tough or stupid to respect his advantage. And as he wanted to deny before, her rare, tenacious glare drew him. When she darted her eyes back over her shoulders and up at him with genuine animosity, he grinned as he lifted an eyebrow, "What? Did I piss you off again?" His heart raced.

Right, she let her emotions get the best of her too often around him, and she tended to blurt out what she felt in the heat of the moment with him. Since that marriage proposal fiasco, her nerves had gotten more high-strung. "No," she said as the anger faded from her body. Midoriya wouldn't have lost his temper. She wouldn't ever want him to see this side of her again. "I'm excited."

No, excitement was what Bakugou was supposed to feel - the anticipation of her grief. She was supposed to be terrified and intimidated so that she learned her damn lesson.

Uraraka continued with that bright beam of a smile, "I can't wait to meet her. Oh! Looks like we just have a couple more stops." If she didn't hold onto hope that there was something deeper to Bakugou's intentions, then she'd lose sight of herself.

He could handle a glare, but not that stupid smile of hers.

"So you guys are heroes, right?" eagerly asked the child as she stood on the edges of her toes. Her wide, blue eyes stared up at her mentors through her dirty blond hair as her agape mouth widened into a smile. She had dreamed of the moment that she met her tutors all day.

Uraraka shook her head and politely corrected the kid, "We'll be pro heroes one day."

"I'm Kotone," she greeted as she bowed. Dirty described more than just her hair color. Smudges spotted her white blouse and black shoes. If it weren't for her skirt, they may have assumed that she was a boy. Maybe her short hair threw them off, but she was at least a tomboy.

Bakugou noted, "That's a girl's name."

"I am a girl!" Kotone argued.

Did he not notice the skirt?

In lieu of Bakugou's error, Uraraka apologized, "Sorry. He's weird. So what're your hobbies?" She would have to pick up his slack.

They began to walk in the direction of the kid's house. Uraraka made some idle small chat with her while Bakugou checked his phone every two minutes. Ten minutes had passed since they left the school, and he already loathed the pace of the day. Traveling nearly an hour across town to walk a kid that lived half an hour away was overboard for an assignment. On top of that, he had to teach her basic concepts that he learned a long time ago. How was he supposed to talk to a kid? "What kind of shit do you need to work on? We're just doing homework," he interrupted.

Snapping away from her pleasant conversation about UA with Kotone, Uraraka frowned, "Bakugou, you shouldn't use those kinda words right now." Was he ever going to turn down his rage in front of her?

Annoyed that he would ever have to censor himself, he barked, "I can do what I want. I don't give a damn what you think."

"I wanna hurry up so that we can play video games," cheered Kotone as she got out her portable Nintendo 3DS. "Can you help me beat my Kirby game, Bakugou? It's really hard. I can't beat any of my friends."

"You can't beat Kirby? That's for babies compared to real fighting games," he complained as he snatched the device from the kid's hands. "Lemme see that shit."

Well, at least they found something to do if she finished her homework early. Kotone lived in a massive estate that spanned at least an acre. Ornate decorations covered the yard. The bland, white house contrasted greatly. Her parents must have made a lot of money, so why did they decide not just to hire tutors as opposed to asking ordinary high school kids to do it for free?

Immediately, they got to work in the house's study. Uraraka could handle that level of work, but Bakugou wanted to rush the situation so that they could play video games afterward.

Was he a good teacher or did Kotone simply have an adequate gist of the material at hand? Either way, Uraraka felt the distance as she tried to look harder at Bakugou. He had not chided the girl since they arrived. His typical scowl had left his face as he softened his crimson eyes to examine the assignment in the warm light of the study. Uraraka smiled, and he caught her in the act.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"Nothing," replied Uraraka with a slight giggle. Only twenty minutes had passed, and they had a few more math problems to go, so they had 40 more minutes to spend with her. While she wasn't good at video games, she grew interested in seeing more of this softer side of Bakugou. For the time being, however, she felt useless. "Excuse me." She excused herself to leave for the bathroom.

After Kotone had finished the last question, she mischievously smiled, "Why do you say mean things to Uraraka when you like being around her?"

Bakugou raised his head, and he tightened his fist until he broke the mechanical pencil in his hands. "She bugs the hell out of me," he growled. For reasons unknown to him, he couldn't bring himself to say that he hated being around her. "She thinks she can change everything with her cheesy smile, and she hangs out with Deku just to piss me off," he listed out the reasons she annoyed him.

That was simple for him.

Kotone wasn't sure who Deku was, but she understood that something about the way Bakugou tried to portray his emotions was dishonest.

On a separate sheet of paper, Kotone recalled the events over the past afternoon. She sketched sound waves that looked like something seen on EKG heart monitor. The line peaked and rhythmically rose until she stopped her pencil and finished the drawing with a smiley face. Pointing to the high points of the graph, she explained, "This is you when you talk to her. You get the idea, right? You're really happy when you're around her."

"Shut the fuck up, brat," barked Bakugou as he slammed his hand to the desk and got to his feet.

"It's my quirk. I can hear people's heartbeats. I don't think you like-like her. You just like being around her. I'm sorry. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say that," apologized the girl as she bowed her head. Her parents told her how rude it was to read people's thoughts, but even at that moment, she wasn't afraid. She knew that Bakugou wouldn't hurt her - he was just embarrassed.

Bakugou sat back down in his chair and ground his teeth. Of course, he still didn't like that conclusion either. The entire analysis felt like she cut his insides open. A quirk like that would be nothing but trouble for him. "Your quirk?" he repeated almost like a question, but he didn't care for her to continue.

Uraraka had run towards the room after she heard the commotion. She immediately glared at her partner. "Bakugou, what did you do?"

While Kotone could hear the incongruency in Bakugou's heartbeat with his attitude, she could also sense Uraraka's growing resentment. If Bakugou didn't do anything about the way he acted around her, then he'd lose his chances of becoming her friend. "I'm fine, Uraraka," she smiled. "Do you want to play with us?"

"S-Sure," she replied after a deep breath.

Both Bakugou and Uraraka could sit on opposite sides of the empty train by the time they finished playing with Kotone. Uraraka had calmed down considerably and leaned forward in her seat as she allowed her cheeks to float into a smile.

That day, she saw a side of Bakugou that not many people had seen before. "You're not a bad person," she chirped before she bit her bottom lip. They played video games past the time that they were supposed to be there. He wouldn't have stayed if he didn't have fun. And, for the first time in a while, she could completely relax around him.

"What makes you think I give a fuck what you think about me?"

When she giggled, Bakugou noticed the sudden build up of sweat on the palms of his hands. He wiped them on his pants and groaned. Too many thoughts raced through his mind, and he hated that he suddenly became aware of idle bodily reactions like sweat.

That damn smile haunted him, and her giggle deafened his ears to the point that he could only see and hear her. He had tunnel vision in that train car but with tunnel hearing, too.

Why?

"You're really good at tellin' people how you really feel."

Bakugou rose his head to lock eyes with her plain, startling browns. That wasn't entirely true, but he was willing to listen to her absurd shpeal.

"You tell people when you're mad when you're actually feelin' all kinds of emotions, but I guess that's about it. And, I only tell people when I'm happy or confident when I'm feeling a storm of emotions, too! We're opposites, but at the same time, we're kinda the same. I bet we could help each other out lots, right? Like, sometimes you make me so angry that I can't contain it, so, now, I have to make you feel happy. That's kinda a good thing, right?"

Again, Bakugou had no comment. Rather, he suppressed any commentary he may have had. They would be back at the dorms within minutes. If he could simply silence his mind until then, he'd be okay.

"What's that word? We're synergetic!"

A/N: Nooo, these chapters are supposed to be shorter. I'm sorry. lol Thank you for reading.