November - Second Term - Third year
Uraraka is laughing with Asui, walking toward their lunch table, when a first year trips and knocks her over. Before she is able to activate her quirk on herself, she is caught by two unfamiliar hands on her waist.
She squeaks.
"Oh, it's you Monoma. Good catch." Asui remarks, over her tongue, which she had stretched out to save Uraraka's tray. Monoma helps Uraraka back upright but his hands linger on her waist. Looking back at him, she freezes seeing him staring at her intently.
"Uh, thanks Monoma. You can let go now." Uraraka smiles, weakly fighting the blush on her cheeks. His fingers tighten for a moment before releasing her. They share an awkward smile as she thanks Asui for saving her food. They turn to walk to their table when Asui bumps her shoulder.
Monoma is following them.
"Monoma? Did you need something?"
"Ya' know, out of everyone in the hero track, I think we're the most compatible. Don't you?" Uraraka almost trips again but fixes herself.
"But Monoma, don't you hate everything about Class A? I mean, I can't remember a time you weren't trying to make us fail," Asui wonders and Uraraka nods in agreement. Monoma had always been their most vocal hater at school. He waves his hand as if to wipe their memory clean.
"Just because I want to see most of your classmates fail miserably doesn't mean I hate them." Asui sits down but before Uraraka can join her, Monoma steps in front of her. "Besides, I'm interested in you, Uraraka. Just you."
Her eyes widen.
Uraraka's mind is blank as he continues, "One dinner, one stroll around the park, that's all I need. All I ask." He smirks when she blinks, processing the information. A date?
"Confident, aren't you?" she asks, as he sets both of their trays down on the table behind him.
"Of course I am." He shrugs. "I see the people that you hang out with, and who monopolizes your time." He glares behind her for a moment before looking back to her. Sighing, he says, "It's time someone treated you like the beautiful lady you are. They don't know what they're missing. But, their loss is my gain after all."
Where has this Monoma been hiding? He is charming, smooth with his words, and she has to admit that she is interested in seeing more of this side of him. "Oh? And what are they missing?" She smiles, amusement shining in her gaze. She doesn't need to ask who they were.
Monoma looks at her. "All I'm saying is I want a chance to make you smile without judging eyes." He brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, what do you say?" His eyebrow arches up.
"Call me a fool. You have one chance, on Friday."
"It's a date," he replies, leaning down to leave a chaste kiss on her cheek, then walking over to his usual seat.
As she sits in her seat, Uraraka tries to process the entire interaction, and a blush creeps onto her face.
Was she stupid or desperate? Why, oh why, had she said yes to Neito Monoma? Her fingers brush over the spot where he had kissed her. Although, being called beautiful so freely fills her with a familiar warm feeling that she can't place. She hears chairs scraping as she covers her cheeks, slinking down in her chair. Oh right, everyone had seen that awkward interaction.
"Oh my god! Ochako, you have a date!" Ashido cheers.
Tooru, Kyouka, and Ashido are now piling into the seats at her table, pushing the boys onto each other. Momo and Asui are beaming at her. Uraraka can't decide if the girls are most excited that shehas a date, that she has a date with Monoma of all people, or that they get to play dress-up.
"Girls' night needed ASAP!" Ashido reaches over to shake her shoulders and the rest of the girls nod their heads in solidarity.
Momo taps her chin with her forefinger as a thought comes over her mind. "Oh my goodness, we'll have to make sure we don't dawdle after class on Friday or we won't have time to get you ready!"
"What are you going to wear?" Tooru ponders, making Uraraka frown. She hadn't thought about all the details of the date when she agreed to it. Hell, she isn't sure she was thinking at all. Maybe she should cancel? It's not that late after all.
"Who knew you liked Monoma?" Kyoka muses, lips pulled in a smirk.
Uraraka chokes on her bite of rice and waves her arms in front of her. "Whoa, let's get one thing straight! I don't like Monoma."
"But Ochako, you're going on a date with him… Shouldn't you find him at least a bit appealing to want to spend extra time with him?" Asui questions, concern dotting her face.
Did Uraraka find him a bit appealing? Or appealing at all? The glimpses of Monoma not focused on taunting their class were few and far between, but they existed. During lunch, he would walk by with his friends and Uraraka would notice how nice his smile was when he acted carefree. Plus, the last few minutes had intrigued her. Maybe there was more to him than she originally thought? She chews on the end of her chopsticks as she thinks about it.
"I mean, he isn't ugly. But I don't really know him.'' Uraraka's eyes glint. "And he doesn't know me. So, I said yes. It's not that big of a deal." She notices Midoriya tilting his head out the corner of her eye, though he doesn't comment. "Right, Izuku? Back me up here."
"I don't think you have to validate yourself to us, but I definitely wouldn't call it 'not a big deal'." He pauses, seeming to want to say more, but shakes his head.
Uraraka immediately gets pulled back into the girl talk, and soon forgets to ask Midoriya what he wasn't saying aloud.
$%^$^#^%
"Bro, did you hear? Monoma has a date with Uraraka!"
"What? I didn't know she was available. I just assumed hero students never did normal shit like dating."
"Right? I only ever see them at the gym or in the hallways. They eat, sleep, and breathe hero stuff."
"But man, out of all of them, she would be the one to date. She's got a rocking body. And she's wicked smart. Like, it's a win-win."
"Earth to Bakubro! You look like you're about to explode." Pikachu's hand is waving in his face. Shit, he forgot he was in the middle of a set. Those class D fucks on the bench press had distracted him with their conversation. He was doing a great job ignoring them when he picked out Uraraka's name in the conversation. He picks up the weight, restarting his rep.
"Get out of my face. I'm fine." Kaminari rolls his eyes but continues his pacing.
"Yeah, whatever. As I was saying, you gotta introduce me to Camie when she comes to U.A. this Friday." No wonder he picked up on those extras' conversation since he had to ignore Pikachu. Kaminari had found out from Todoroki that some Shiketsu students were coming for joint training on Saturday. Camie would be coming in tow, although she was a sidekick now. Probably just to harass him.
"No," Bakugou grunts through the remaining rep. "I'm not your wingman. Do it yourself."
"Fine. Give me her number." Bakugou unlocks his phone and tosses it to Kaminari as he racks his weights. Kirishima and Sero are walking back over from the treadmills, probably bitching about being hungry.
"Yo, sup Camie. Oh no, we haven't met yet. My name is Denki Kaminari." Kaminari whips his head around to Bakugou with his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I'm one of Kit-Kat's best friends." Bakugou rolls his eyes as Kirishima and Sero snicker over their favorite nickname for him. He had tried and failed to get Camie to quit calling him that. It was either deal with it the few times she called or have her plaster it all over social media.
"So anyways, Friday when you're here, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner? Oh, yeah? Okay, cool. Yeah. Yep. Uh Huh. Alright cool, see you on Friday, Camie!" Kaminari hung up and immediately started crying. Sero grips his shoulders while sharing a look with Kirishima and Bakugou.
Bakugou scoffs, swiping his phone before it was waterlogged. "You dumbass. You got your date, right?"
"No! I somehow got YOU a date!"
"WHAT?"
Kirishima and Sero erupt in laughter, while Kaminari sits on the bench, crying harder and Bakugou stares at him, dumbfounded.
"Oh my god, this is amazing! Somehow Kami is so bad with the ladies, that when he tries to get a date, they assume it's for someone else." Sero is now hiccuping, and Kirishima has fallen over to the floor.
"Goddammit, Pikachu! I do not want to go on a date with Camie!" Bakugou pulls his hand down his face. Oh God, having dinner with Camie sounded like hell.
"Wait, what?" a voice cuts through the chaos. The boys freeze as Uraraka, Ashido, and Asui walk over, clearly having finished their workouts. Bakugou evens out his face as Uraraka stares at him. "You have a date? With that Camie girl? I guess I didn't realize y'all were close."
"Closer than you and that war criminal."
"Oh, come on. He isn't a war criminal!"
"Says the one going on a date with him. If you end up at The Hague, I'm finding a new sparring partner."
"Good luck finding someone to put up with you long enough to get anything done," chirps Ashido. "And no, you can't have Kiri, he's mine!" She links her arms with the redhead, who looks like he could float away.
Uraraka and Asui share a knowing look before going to tend to Kaminari, that was now balled up on the floor.
$%^$^#^%
Uraraka finally relaxes her shoulders, walking up the train station steps. The date with Monoma had been a disaster and it was all her fault. He had been the perfect gentleman by all accounts—holding doors open for her, offering his arm as they strolled the park, paying for dinner, and listening to her rant about everything under the sun. But Uraraka, for some strange reason, kept bringing up Bakugou in conversation during her date with Monoma.
When Monoma offered his arm the first time, she eyed him warily. "You're not going to flip me into a Nelson hold are you?" Because that was what Bakugou had done during Public Relations class last week.
When Monoma had opened the door, she joked, "I won't break a nail opening the door." Bakugou would've responded with a 'and yet you break a sweat running a mile.' But Monoma had apologized which in turn had her backtracking. "Ah! No, I am so sorry, Monoma. I just banter like that with Katsuki a lot and I guess it slipped out!"
"Katsuki? I didn't realize you two were close." Monoma's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. It made her fidget and backtrack again.
"Ah! We are sparring partners now and work together a lot. Him, Midoriya, Todoroki, and I are often called into missions together. So, what about you? How is your internship going?" Luckily for her, he took the out and began talking about his internship.
When Monoma asked her about what she liked to do in her spare time, he listened to her talk endlessly about constellations and stars. But when she asked for his opinion about combat moves or theory he merely shook his head and stated, "I'm afraid I don't have any opinions on any of that. You may want to ask Aizawa if you're having issues." Bakugou would have hashed out combat moves with her, refusing to ask for help until they were absolutely out of ideas.
Eventually, Uraraka felt so awkward about the whole evening that she had to lie to Monoma about having a weekend pass home just to avoid an awkward train ride back to U.A. She took the opposite train a few stops to make sure her path wouldn't accidentally cross with his.
Now, she walks toward the eastbound platform when she sees the exact boy she couldn't stop talking about tonight.
"Katsuki?" He doesn't hear her with his earbuds in, so she lightly pulls on his elbow. His calm expression doesn't hint at how his date went. He's alone. Her frown deepens."Wait, where is Camie? Why are you alone?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing. Did the criminal run away?"
"He isn't a criminal.'' She rolled her eyes. "And I asked you first. You didn't leave her alone somewhere, did you?"
They board the mostly empty train. It'd be close to an hour ride from here.
"What kind of guy do you take me for?" She turns her head, whistling before laughing at his glare. "Haha. Funny. Camie ran into some friends who were in town, so she went with them. Your turn."
"Well… I told Monoma I had a weekend pass to avoid going back to the dorms with him. So this," she flicks her fingers between them, "didn't happen. And if he asks you, I came home tomorrow afternoon."
"Why would he ask me?"
"I told him we were sparring partners, so he may ask you. Although, he may not care to ask about me after how tonight went."
Bakugou smirks at her and she braces herself for what's coming. He is probably going to ask about her date and if she tries to lie, he'd call her on it. But when he doesn't say anything, she looks at him and sees him scrolling on his phone.
She frowns slightly, pulling her own phone out, and trying to ignore the sadness that washed over her. Didn't he care how her date went? How did his date go? Is it rude to ask since he didn't ask about hers?
Glancing up through her bangs, Uraraka sneaks a look. He is slouched down in the train seat, with most of his face tucked inside his bright orange scarf. His green jacket contrasts the black of his sweater and dark jeans. She smiles back down at her own outfit—an off the shoulder pink sweater tucked into her ankle-length black skirt, a light blue jacket, and black flats. He is always more sensitive to the chill in the air.
They continue to sit in silence, playing on their phones, when she finally pockets hers. "How did it go? Your date, I mean." His eyes flicker to hers for a moment, seeming to search her for something before turning back to his phone. Maybe she shouldn't have asked?
"My date went fine." His voice is muffled by his scarf. He pulls it down, sitting up, typing on his phone. "Camie just talks way too much about stupid shit, so really all I had to do was sit and eat." Uraraka hums, looking out the window behind him. She can see him squirming in his seat from her peripheral vision. "How about yours?" Uraraka chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment.
"My date was awful. Like bad. Like really bad," she blurts out. Bakugou jerks back.
"Of course it was.'' He rolls his eyes. "You went out with Monoma."
"No, like he was great. Perfect even. I was just was so awkward and... uncomfortable." Uraraka leans and knocks her head on the glass behind her. "Like so awkward. I mean, seriously, it was bad and I kinda wanna cry 'bout it." She hears him shuffling and moves to look back to see him sitting beside her.
"Don't you dare cry over a date with a nobody. Besides I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
Uraraka wipes her eye with the heel of her hand.
"Katsuki, he asked me about the stars and then had to stop me, because my accent slipped out and he couldn't understand me." She looks down.
He flinches, cursing under his breath. They sit in silence for another stop. Then, Uraraka feels a tap on her knee. Looking down, she sees him holding out one of his earbuds to her. "I'd rather listen to your accent than Camie's valley garbage. I need a fucking translator to understand anything she's saying." Placing the earbud in her ear, Uraraka leans on his shoulder to look at his phone as he scrolls through his music.
"Anything you know?" He tips the screen toward her. He has a variety of music, although there's more rock, punk, and acoustic than anything else. She selects rock, and sees her favorite band with a few of their albums.
"Yeah, that one." He glances down at her with an amused smirk. "What?" she bristles. He couldn't make fun of her for picking something from his music.
"Nothing. You've got a way better taste in music than you do in guys, Ochako." He taps the rock band she's chosen, before handing his phone back to her. "You got the tunes, I'll make sure we make it to school."
$%^$^#^%
A couple of weeks go by as the word spreads through the school that the hero class was "now accepting dates", with Monoma, Bakugou and Uraraka both having gone on one.
"Oh man! Who knew we would be so popular? Bakugou, you should've gone on a date back in first year," Kaminari says, smiling at his phone. He's exhilarated, having just landed a date with a hot second year girl.
"Why? Cause it's the only way for the extras to be denied by everyone else and get stuck with you?"
"Now, that truly hurts me. Deeply." Kaminari puts his hand over his heart.
Bakugou pushes the dramatic electric hero over the back of the couch of the common area, who lands on the unsuspecting Kirishima. Kirishima yelps and kicks Ashido's back, who was sitting on the floor in front of him, causing her to bash her head into the coffee table. The coffee table is pushed forward, hitting Sero's knee on the opposite couch. It makes Sero jerk back, elbowing Bakugou in the stomach as he is sitting down beside him.
"Please, someone tell me we got that on camera." Todoroki chuckes. The self-dubbed Bakusquad look over to see most of the Dekusquad walking in. Midoriya and Todoroki are chuckling at the mess while Uraraka is laughing so hard tears are streaming down her face. She looks almost purple, breath seeming difficult.
"Come on, Uraraka. It wasn't that funny," Kirishima groans, trying to soothe Ashido, who is still yelling over the bump forming on her forehead. Uraraka stands, rubbing her stomach. She takes one look at Bakugou, sulking and rubbing his own stomach, and loses it all again.
Her laughter comes back full force.
"I just... Katsuki, your face!" She falls onto the floor. "Oh my god, I just can't get over his face!"
"Shove it, Cheeks." Bakugou growls, sinking further down into the couch. Somehow that sets her off again, as she floats to the ceiling. Todoroki tries to grab her foot to bring her back to Earth, but misses her slightly.
"Hey, Sero, can you get her off the ceiling before she gets stuck up there?" Midoriya smiles at Uraraka.
"Let her get stuck up there!'' Bakugou growls. "If the space cadet can't get herself down, then good riddance," he yells, dodging her shoe as it comes flying on him. "Ha! Missed!" They glare at each other for a moment as Sero sends his tape to encircle her waist. He yanks lightly and brings her down to him like a runaway balloon. Uraraka giggles the whole way down, not releasing her quirk until she is in Sero's arms.
"My hero!" She giggles as Sero lightly drops her to her feet but doesn't let go of her elbow, whispering something in her ear. "What? No, no, no!" Sero leans back to her ear, moving the hand down from her elbow to her hand.
Midoriya's voice is now in Bakugou's ear. "Whatever is happening, you need to not explode." Bakugou furrows his brows but decides to keep his mouth shut, choosing to watch one of his closest friends so close to Uraraka, whispering something into her ear and making her laugh. But it's just Ochako, his friend. It's not like they were dating. Although they were close enough to use given names, spending a lot of time together and hanging out with her wasn't awful, he doesn't have a claim on her.
Fuck it. He hates whatever is happening.
"Um, yes? Yes. Sure. Tonight?" Bakugou picks up her softer voice over the rowdy voices in front of him. He leans his head back to subtly look over to Sero smiling, waving Uraraka toward the elevators.
Then, Sero walks back but elects to sit in between Kirishima and Kaminari, instead of beside Bakugou and Midoriya.
"So?" Kaminari asks. Sero holds out a fist to him, which completely lights Kaminari's face up as they bump fists. "Yes! Kickass! Woo!"
"What happened? What did I miss?" Ashido leans her head on Kirishima's lap to look up at the duo. "Friends don't keep secrets from each other!"
"My leading man landed a date tonight!" Kaminari cheers.
Kirishima, Midoriya, and Todoroki all visibly tense up while Ashido celebrates with both Sero and Kaminari. Bakugou shoves his hands in his pockets, standing up abruptly. The chaos stops immediately as Bakugou and Sero glare at one another.
"I gotta take a leak."
"Something on your mind, Bakubro?" Ashido calls out after him, but he ignores her with all intent to go to the washroom.
However, Sero's voice halts him. "Remember that I asked her. She could've said no, but she didn't." Bakugou slowly turns around, a dark look taking over his face. He sees Kirishima moving toward him, but his lethal glare is still directed at his so-called friend.
"What did you say?" He clenches his teeth.
"You heard me. Before you go throwing a tantrum, remember that I asked her. And she said yes." Sero stands from the couch. "Next time, man up and make a move if you're going to be so pissy about it."
Bakugou starts running toward Sero but hits the wall of Kirishima.
"Dude, no! Come on. Let's go cool off!" Bakugou lets the redhead push him toward the door with little resistance.
Once the cool air hits his face, he lets out a frustrated scream.
"FUCK!" Fuck Hanta Sero. Fuck dating. Fuck feelings. Fuck Ochako Uraraka.
$%^$^#^%
"Tsu! Can I borrow your cute brown jumper?" Uraraka barrels through her friend's door without wasting much time after Asui lets her in. "I have a date tonight and my pink one is dirty." She pouts.
"Yes, but I think you need to wear pants! It's a little cold for a jumper, isn't it?" Tsu looks up from her book.
Uraraka waves her off and heads toward the closet.
"You sound just like Katsuki. He's sensitive to the cold like you are. I'll throw on some thermal leggings instead."
"Oh, so you're going out with Bakugou? I wondered how much longer you two were going to wait." Asui's finger goes to her chin.
Uraraka hovers over the jumper's hanger. Why was everyone bringing up Bakugou tonight? First, Sero had asked if she was seeing Bakugou outside of normal classes and stuff, which of course she had denied. They were just friends, and hanging out with friends was normal, ordinary stuff. But then he asked if Bakugou and her were planning on dating. She was honest, and had said, "Not that I know of." That must have been enough for him, because then Sero asked her to dinner that night. And she said yes.
Uraraka laughs weakly, pulling out the jumper. "Actually, I'm going out with Sero. Thanks for the jumper. I'll wash it tomorrow and give it back." She practically runs out of the door, before Asui can utter any response.
Uraraka enters her room and quickly begins getting ready as she muses over her date.
Hanta Sero has always been one of the good guys in class. He would go out of his way to make sure his classmates were doing okay, offer his help, and even crack jokes to cheer people up. He was pretty tall, opting to keep his sleeker physique instead of bulking up like Bakugou had. Although Sero wasn't the quickest on the field analytically, he worked hard during all his missions and was able to do a good job with anyone he was paired with.
Uraraka grabs her jacket and beanie, giving herself a wink in the mirror. Feeling impressed with how cute she looks, excitement settles deep in her gut. This will be fun!
She sends a quick text to Sero, letting him know to meet her by the front gate when a message pings in.
Izuku 3: Be safe! Have fun. Avoid Kacchan.
A frown appears in her face and she chooses not to respond. Again with Bakugou! Why was everyone bringing him up now? Her stomach flutters again, thinking about him.
She takes a deep breath. Sero had asked her out, not the other way around. It's not like she was dating anyone exclusively so this wasn't against any rules. Shaking her head, she walks out of the front doors. Uraraka convinces herself she was just overthinking.
And that's what she thought until she came face to face with a very blasted Kirishima and a wired Bakugou, whose eyes narrow at her before looking away.
He scoffs and Uraraka's brow furrows.
"Is everything okay?" Uraraka reaches out for Bakugou but Kirishima steps between them, blocking her hand.
"Yeah, Uraraka, we're good. Don't worry about it." Kirishima gives her a terse smile. Uraraka frowns, trying to get around Kirishima to see Bakugou but unfortunately the Unbreakable Wall is now a huge Unbreakable Wall. If Kirishima didn't want her to pass, not even a miracle would allow her to.
"Actually, Kirishima, can I talk to Katsuki?"
Kirishima pulls his lips into a thin line, shaking his head. "I don't think that's a good idea." He crosses his arms, which makes him look massive. Uraraka's eyes roll at the protectiveness he still had over the girls in the class.
"Oh, please, you know I can take him." She begins to laugh it off, but his eyes narrow to slits.
"I wasn't talking about you, Uraraka." His suddenly harsh voice sends chills down her spine. Uraraka flinches back as if he had slapped her. She knew he could be intimidating but she has never been on the receiving end of it before. What the hell was going on? She opens her mouth to respond when Bakugou's hand on Kirishima's shoulder has her pausing.
"Go on, Shitty hair. I got Floaty." Uraraka jerks again. Bakugou's voice sounds hoarse, like he had been screaming. Kirishima glances at both of them before nodding and heading inside, leaving the two on the porch. Bakugou sighs, throwing his hand into his pockets. "What do you want? Don't you have something stupid to go do?"
"What's your deal? I didn't think you were that mad over the laughing thing. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have laughed."
"Seriously? That's what you think…'' He shakes his head. "Nevermind."
"Well, what else would it be?" She racks her brain before she scoffs as she remembers her date. "Oh my God. You cannot be jealous. It's just a date, Katsuki!" His jaw clenches and she knows he is holding back. "Dates are normal and harmless. They're supposed to be a fun break from school."
"I didn't think you'd be worried about your pathetic social life. No wonder you're slacking in your training again." He sneers. "What about your goals of breaking the top ten?'' His eyes shine, mouth twitching. "No, instead you're looking for a distraction at the worst possible time!"
"Sorry I decided to try and be a normal teenager for once!'' She scoffs, moving closer to him. "Eventually we'll be thrown into the real world with other real people, you know?" She stretches her arms out. "I'll have to do normal things like go on dates and make friends!"
He stands at his full height. "Do it on your own time and with your own friends!"
"He is my friend too! And he asked me!" Uraraka feels hysterical as she screams at him. Why is this such a big deal?
He stalks over to her, looming above her. "How would you feel if I went in and took Jirou or Tsu on a date? And asked them out in front of you? With whispers and giggles?" His harsh voice matches his hardened eyes. She ignores the rush of nausea that sweeps through her at the thought of him laughing with one of her friends. Him whispering in their ears with the same teasing words he shared with her. Him giving them soft touches. Sharing him.
She swallows thickly. His eyes soften for a moment and come back to the same hard stance when she whispers, "I'd say go for it." She's lying, but he doesn't need to know that. But he does know that.
He scoffs at her, turning toward the door. "You're such a fucking dumbass. Match made in heaven for Tape Face."
"Katsuki—" She reaches for him but he rips his arm out of the way.
"Fuck off, Uraraka. Go cry to Sero."
As he stomps inside, she rubs her pinky as it begins to pulse. Uraraka is unable to tear her gaze away and she continues to watch him as he marches up to Sero, grabbing him by the collar and whispering something to him through clenched teeth. She is frozen. Then, she blinks back the tears as Bakugou releases Sero and walks to the elevator with Kirishima. Sero stalls for a moment but when he lifts his head, a wide smile is directed towards her.
Right. Uraraka has a date to go on. Smoothing out her skirt, she pushes down the sadness and the uneasiness she feels after their confrontation, the brokenness she feels.
"You ready?" Sero's hand is stretched toward her. She grips it tightly, ignoring how different it felt compared to Bakugou's. His is more narrow, softer where Bakugou's wider hands are rougher and fit between her small hands better.
Turning towards the gate, a fake smile grazes her features.
"Yep! Let's go!"
She wouldn't think about the explosion boy anymore. She is on a date. A date she was determined to enjoy.
$%^$^#^%
Uraraka and Sero's laughter ricochet off of the umbrella over their table. They had given up trying to shield their giggles when they first sat down at the restaurant. Uraraka is wiping her tears with her napkin, trying to calm her laughter while Sero grabs a drink.
"Oh my god, I remember that! Kaminari had detention for a month!"
"We have a running theory that Snipe is still holding a grudge. He keeps pairing Denki up with Bakugou… Ah…" The mirth in his voice dips for a moment as Uraraka reaches for her peach tea. She knows he can see the hurt flashing in her gaze when Bakugou's name is mentioned. It isn't the first time tonight but every time still feels like a sharp dagger in her gut.
"Don't worry! It's fine. It's hard to talk about Bakusquad shenanigans and not bring him up." She waves off Sero's look.
She is on a date with him. She should be enjoying herself, which she is. Except when the conversation drags. Or she gets distracted by the spiciest thing on the menu. Or the matcha mochi screaming at her from the dessert menu.
Uraraka looks up to the sky, appreciating the golds and pinks.
"So, what's up between you two? Because I was not threatened with the normal Bakurage," Sero asks gingerly.
She stifles a groan, electing to drop her chin into her hand. Guess it is time to talk about it. "Friends? Best friends? Mortal enemies? It changes on the day," Uraraka jokes but Sero shakes his head with a grim smile. "Look, I don't know. We're just Katsuki and Ochako. Always have been." Looking at the sky again, Uraraka huffs. "He lets me in, and then pushes me out. It's annoying, confusing and hard to keep up with. And now I don't even know how to talk to him when we get back." Her voice is significantly lower now.
"Well, the first thing you do is apologize," Sero offers.
"What?!" Her chin drops and her eyes fix on Sero. "What do I have to apologize for?" For hurting him, her mind supplies.
"Dunno. What do you have to apologize for?" The question hangs heavily in the air as tears suddenly start streaming down her face. Uraraka touches her cheeks, shocked by the physical reaction. She feels herself coming apart at the seams and all that she can think about is Bakugou's face. His eyes full of betrayal and hurt. Like she had slapped him, spit on him and told him he was nothing. She reaches for a napkin to try and save whatever makeup she had in its place when Sero grabs her hand.
Uraraka cries even harder, knowing it's not the hand she wants to be holding hers.
"I am so sorry, Sero. I don't know what's wrong with me." Pulling her hand back, she glares angrily at the napkin.
Sero sighs, scratching the back of his head. "I think I do. It's okay to have feelings for someone. And it's okay to not be able to define those feelings! But ignoring them will usually result in bawling your eyes out on a date with that someone's friend." He winks at her, and her cheeks turn pinkier as she processes his words. "Wow, no wonder he calls you Pink Cheeks. They get really pink, don't they?"
"Sero!" Uraraka swats at him.
"Call me Hanta, please! Look, the guy knows how to pick nicknames." He pales for a moment and adds, "Erm. Actually, maybe you're the only one with the good nicknames."
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"Thanks, Hanta. I'm sorry if tonight put you in a weird situation with your group of friends"
They have reached the front door of the dorms. The bus ride back had been quiet, Uraraka silently thinking about her feelings for Katsuki. Because Hanta was right—she did have some kind of feelings for Katsuki but unlike Midoriya's (that had been worn in her sleeve), she had been hiding them in a box.
"Nah, don't worry about it.'' Sero waves her off. "I think Kaminari will take it the hardest. He thought that if I got a date with you, he would be able to get one too." Hanta laughs at her blushing face. "But don't worry, I'll let him know you're off the market!"
"Er. Thanks?" He turns to head to the common area when she blurts out the question she has been dying to ask, "What did he tell you? Katsuki, I mean. What did he tell you before we left?"
"He said 'You fucking hurt her and I will end you. I don't give a fucking damn whatever your excuse is'. And the look in his eyes told me he really meant it." Sero shudders for a moment before smiling, "Lucky for me, I'll get to turn it around on him." He waves, and goes up the stairs on the boys' side of the dorm.
And with that, Uraraka is alone. She squares her shoulders and heads to Bakugou's room, her steps moving languidly through the corridors.
But she doesn't find him there. After knocking, pleading, begging, and yelling for him to open the door, Kirishima opens his own door down the hall, startling her.
"He isn't in there."
"Where is he? I need to talk to him." Uraraka steps toward Kirishima, hands folded in front of her chest. "Please, Kiri, I need to talk to him."
Kirishima sighs, looking back inside his room, then he smiles at her.
"He's on the roof. He said he wanted to watch the moon."
Uraraka leans and gives him a brief hug before running to the stairs. She doesn't stop until she bursts out onto the roof.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT," Bakugou shouts, startled by the sudden appearance
"Katsuki!" She runs towards him, eyes adjusting to the dark to find him laying back on his blanket. Has he been here the entire time she's been gone? Her stomach drops.
"Ugh, go away." He grunts.
She hesitates for a moment, but plops down beside him. "Nope." He grunts but otherwise, makes no move to kick her off. Uraraka pulls her knees to her chest and looks up to the sky.
They sit in silence, soaking in the little path of stars they can see scattered through the sky, and the crescent moon.
"My date went okay,'' she mumbles, "Better than the last one. Definitely less of a trainwreck." She peeks behind her to see his eye cracked open and fixed on her, but quickly turns back toward the sky. "Sero was so kind, letting me complain about all the stuff you make me do. Like who actually likes burpees?" His scoff gives her the confidence to keep talking. "We also talked about theories behind why Snipe keeps putting you and Kaminari together for sparring, and if Sato knows that Momo keeps replacing his sugar with Splenda."
"Oh my god, it's Ponytail? I thought it was grape juice."
Uraraka giggles, shaking her head. "She thinks that Splenda would be healthier for him than sugar. Todoroki keeps trying to explain that his quirk doesn't work with splenda but he confuses himself every time." Uraraka sighs and leans back to lay beside him, knocking his elbow down. "Sero also let me cry and told me he agreed with you that my cheeks are pink."
"No shit.'' He rolls his eyes, then frowns. "Why were you crying?" he murmurs.
"Because I was a fucking dumbass," she whispers and her gaze settles on him, gauging his reaction. His eyes are wide for a few moments, seeming to think about what just told him.
Then, suddenly, he turns to her with a smirk.
"Watch your language." Uraraka releases the breath she hadn't known she was holding, curling into his side. With a sigh, she nuzzles her cheek into his shoulder as he rubs her arm.
"I'll think about it. Doesn't change the way I acted." His hand freezes for a moment before continuing his caress. "I'm sorry, Katsuki."
He grunts in response. They lay there for a few minutes, their breathing coming in sync until Uraraka sees something going through the sky. And then another. And then a few more.
"It's a meteor shower! Oh my god, we have to make wishes!"
"How old are we?" he teases and Uraraka elbows him in the stomach.
"Quick, Katsuki! You do know how to wish on a star right?" His incredulous look has her sighing. "Fine, just repeat after me. But don't say your wish out loud or it won't come true!" she pauses a moment before poking him in the stomach. "And no top ten, number one hero stuff. Other thing!"
"Ha. You can't wish for something you're already gonna do, Floaty." He smirks at her.
"Whatever Blasty. Here we go." She rolls off of him, pulling him into a sitting position. "Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight," she whispers it like a prayer.
I wish for more time with him. I wish for more times like these.
She elbows him when he still hasn't repeated the words to make a wish. Bakugou rolls his eyes but repeats her words, pausing for a few seconds afterwards.
Squealing as he ruffles her hair, she allows herself to be pulled back down on his chest. They stay on the rooftop, embraced by each other until the wee hours bring a chill with them.
I wish for more of us.
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