Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.

As Uraraka took a shower Bakugou had started to clear off the coffee table where all the food had been from earlier. He started clearing up the sink and putting away dishes from before. He fucking hated messes, and always thought a clear work space translated to a clear mind- be at work or in the kitchen. By the time he was done he figured Uraraka would probably be done showering.

Katsuki Bakugou POV

Ochako Urararka. That's a name I haven't heard in quite a bit. Seeing her for the first time in years was…surprising. I hadn't made it a point to keep in contact with anyone from the days at UA. Kirishima was the only one I spoke to on a consistent basis, and it was mostly one sided. Well there was also Deku, but that's beside the point.

I mean so much has changed…

*Flashback*

By September of our first year at UA, Cheeks and I had been spending a lot of time together. It started out with just some extra training after the sports festival; Non quirk hand to hand combat. At first glance anyone could mistake her for a fragile girl who definitely would not be seen in one on one fight with a villain. But she surprised everyone, especially after voluntarily choosing Prohero Gunhead for her first internship. She surprised me.

God knows why she was interested in that, she was obviously better suited to rescue hero work. But after her internship you could see this drive in her. She wanted to excel in close combat tactics, so we started training, every god damn morning. At first she was complete shit, without her quirk it was just impossible to fight me. But after she came back from her internship, she was a completely new person- quick, fierce, agile. She definitely won my respect at the sports festival, but now seeing her have this determination that rivaled my own, I don't know what I felt…but I knew I was fucked.

Kirishima, the asshole he is, had called me out on several occasions saying he caught me staring at her or some shit. What does he know.

"SooOoo" Kirishima taunted as we walk out of class headed for the dorms

I would definitely not give him the satisfaction of a reply, because I knew where this was headed. So I just kept on walking.

"Ah come on man! You just gunna ignore your best friend like that" He pouted

"WHAT DO YOU WANT SHITTY HAIR" I barked at him. I can't stand when he pulls this crap, so he won the small victory of my attention.

"Dood come one, you know you've been crushing on Uraraka for months, I mean when ya gunna do something about it" he slung his arm over my shoulder with the biggest grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about" I shoved his arm off me.

"You know it'd be a lot less painful if you just asked her out" he said with his arms now crossed behind his head.

"…you're really starting to piss me off you know that" I say lowly.

"Seriously what's stopping ya" he asks as he turns to me

We are almost to the dorms.. I can't let him keep talking about THIS especially with people around, so I stop.

"You know damn well that she's the nerd Deku's…even IF…never mind. It's not gunna happen ok" I say

"But…He hasn't done anything. I say it's fair game. I mean we've been in school for what like six months now and if Midoriya hasn't.." he starts to go on

"Stop" I interrupt him "She's head over heels for that nerd…it's just embarrassing." "She'll realize it sooner or later.. and so will he" "so..Drop It." I glare at him, effectively ending this little conversation

"Fine ill drop it. Buuutt, I do think she'd be good for ya. And you've got it all wrong, I think you have just as much as a chance as Midoriya. I mean you spar with her every morning, if she'll willing to put up with ya voluntarily so much, I think she might have a thing for ya too" he cheekily grins and carries on walking toward the door.

Later that night, I lay in my dorm room going through our conversation, probably half a dozen times.

She might have a thing for ya too

"Fuck it.." I said before going to sleep

The next morning Cheeks and I found ourselves sparing again. She's getting a lot better…but I still beat her. But damn she's so fuckin cute when she tries her hardest. I notice all the little things; the way she rubs her thumb in her fist when she's strategizing in between hits, how she pokes her tongue just a little when she's about to strike, how she moves her pinkies out extra far when she squares out her stance.

She doesn't even realize she's already got me.

As we sit on the floor after our match I say "You gotta stop shutting your eyes when I hit. You already know you can block it, so keep them open to read your opponent's movements, kay."

"Ughhhh I know, I keep making that mistake" she wines adorably, puffing out her cheeks

"I'll get you next time" she turns to smile, her smile could light up anything

"You say that every time. Hasn't happened yet Roundface" I smirk at her

"It will! Don't you worry" she says as she gets up, probably heading to the showers

No wait

"Ughh hey roundface.." I say as she turns around

"I have tickets to this fight tonight. Kirishima bailed, gave me some lame excuse, and I just figured…"

Stop sounding like an idiot and get your sentence out

"You know, for training it'd be helpful if you observed other fighting styles"

Genius

She put her finger to her chin and tilted her head before saying "hmmm.. yeah I am free tonight! That sounds like a great idea Bakugou. Just let me know when to be ready by" as she smiled

"7:00" I said as I got up and left, couldn't risk her seeing my face..i probably looked like an idiot smiling.

Of course I had never really invited Kirishima in the first place, so I was glad he was also free that night to help cover for me from our nosey classmates. As much as I was stoked to be spending more time with Cheeks, I really didn't need anyone prying…especially if things didn't go as planned.

At 6:50 I texted her I was outside, as much as I wanted to get her from her dorm that would raise too many questions. So when she came out at 6:58, I was nervous. There's no way she sees this as a date, I don't really either.. but I'm just excited to be around her more time than normal.

We walk to the event, she babbles about a multitude of topics on route. I do mildly listen, but most of the time I'm just stealing glances at her excitement. She asks me a few questions on the way, but I keep my answers short. I'm not one for small talk, but I'm trying for her. I swear she's probably one of the most oblivious people I've ever met, she probably doesn't even realize how difficult this is for me.

We get there and she excuses herself to use the bathroom. So I go up to the concession stand and grab us some drinks and a pretzel. When I find her again I see her staring at the newly acquired snacks.

"Ahh, you didn't have to Bakugou.." She says while taking the pretzel

"It's fine, now we both don't have to wait in line" I say as a matter of fact.

"True" she smiles as she takes a bite. Cute

"Ice tea or water roundface?" I ask as I hold up both drinks

She bites her lips as I see her stare at the ice tea. Cute

I sigh audibly. "You know I'd prefer the water.."

"Yay! I really wanted the tea" she said as she took the tea

"Figured" I rolled my eyes and picked off a piece of the pretzel she was holding. Then started walking to our seats.

I was really surprised at how into it she was. I figured she'd like it, but she was reeaally into this MMA stuff. She'd jump up with the crowd and even yell at the fighters. Like her coaching would be heard through the loud audience hah. Cute. This was the Uraraka I liked, the fierce, determined, no nonsense girl that not most people had the pleasure to see.

I excuse myself to just walk around a bit, I need some air. Luckily, I don't think she has the slightest suspicious of how nervous I am. My stomachs been doing flips all night, I can only be around her for so long. The matches are almost over, but I'm debating on if she'd like something else to eat. I know I won't be able to get anything else down being this nervous. That's when I pass another of the many souvenir stands.

The match finishes and we start walking back to the campus. Cheeks is giving me the play by play as if I wasn't there with her. Cute

"So, you had a good time then" I say blankly interrupting her rant

"Oh yeah! It was completely awesome! Thanks..for inviting me" she says more shyly

"Oh here" I reach into my pocket and toss a shirt at her. She surprisingly grab it.

"Oh my god, Bakugou did you steal this?!" She stops walking

"What the fuck Cheeks, no I bought this…asshole." I glare at her

"…I'm sorry, just it was in your pocket and.." she stutters

"Yeah well you really liked the fight right?" I could feel myself get more aggravated, I wish we were closer to campus.. I started walking again

"Yeah..sorry again" she said. We kept silence for all of half a minute before she spoke again.

"Hey Bakugou..why don't you show anyone else how nice you are" she spoke quietly

"Huh?" I instantly look over at her

"I mean you helping me train that's really nice. I know you help Kirishima and the others study. And tonight... I get that some people think you're loud and angry but you're like one of the nicest people I've ever met and I dunno, how come you aren't like that to everyone" she said looking down at the t shirt from the match

You're special

"I dunno what you're going on about cheeks" I say turning my gaze to the route ahead as I grin to myself.

We fall into comfortable conversation and end up talking about our quirks.

"Yeah I mean when I was little I was constantly going to the doctors for burns, but now my hands are mostly callous where the impact usually starts" I was explaining as she was looking over to my raised hand

Suddenly she grabs my hand with both of hers and I feel my heart skip.

"Wow I thought for sure your whole hands would be rough or something. But your palms and fingers are really soft" she said as she's feeling around my hand.

I don't think I can breathe. I know I'm defiantly blushing at this point. I probably look like an idiot just staring at her as we walk too. She finally takes notice of my discomfort when she meets my eyes and jumps back apologizing.

"It's fine" I pull my face away.

"What about you. You have uh those pink pads on your fingertips right" I ask trying to divert the attention.

"Oh yeah! They activate the anti-gravity part of my quirk. They're only on the tips of my fingers, some people say they're soft" she smiles at me showing me both her hands

"Do..you mind if I.." I ask permission as I move my hand towards hers

"Oh for sure" she offers up her right hand

"Wow they really are soft" I state as I move my fingers over hers

"I'm surprised you have callouses too" I note

"Oh yeah haha, I started going to the gym more and haven't really worked with much bar stuff before. So they've been quickly forming as I try and build more strength" She says as she flexes with her left arm

"your hands are rougher than I thought" I said looking at our hands

She brushes her thumb over my hand "and yours are softer than I thought"

I go to squeeze her hand a little and she immediately makes eye contact. She's the one who is blushing now. We both face forward but our hand stay connected. I wish we weren't so close to campus now.

Eventually we reach the dorms and I stop, her hand leaves mine as she continues to walk before turning back with a puzzled look.

"I um..might stay out here a bit. I don't want those idiots to…draw the wrong conclusions" I said

Stupid Stupid Stupid, wrong wording!

"Oh….sure. I'll um just see you tomorrow I suppose." She looks at me a little defeated.

"Thanks for inviting me again" She looks back up to me, this time with a smile.

Before I have a chance to respond, she lunges at me with a hug. The embrace doesn't last more than a few seconds but I never wanted to let her go. She turns to enter the dorm and I just about fall over. Sitting on the ground I turn my gaze to the sky, I never had as much appreciation for the universe until this moment. A genuine smile forms on my face.

This was a good night

It doesn't last though. The next day she had her own date with Deku. And wouldn't you know it, he finally grew some balls and asked her out the day after that. Of fucking course she says yes. She's not an idiot. But I feel like one. I should have never let anything distract me from my real goals, number 1 hero. So things were weird for a few days, I made excuses to skip sparring. But I get my act together and we resume the following week.

Kirishima gives me a disheartened look for the next few days.

Last time I fuckin' listen to Shitty Hair

*End Flashback*

But now...

She looks good, the years have definitely done her favors. And I still know how to get under her skin. I wonder if she's single, or if she's shacked up by now. I really don't know much about her current life I realize. Whether or not that changes, it's still fun to tease her.

She leaves the bathroom and enters the living room in her pjs. I'm about finished in the kitchen as I make my way to the living room. Noticing her fiddling with the air mattress.

"What the hell are you doing?" I deadpan at her hunched over next to the couch

"oh I ..uhhh…thought I would be sleeping on it, no?" she looks a little flustered

"I told you. Kirishima was here earlier this week. That's why it's out." I waited for her reaction

"Ah, makes sense I guess haha" she does start to look visibly nervous. Did she seriously think I was gunna make her sleep on an air mattress

"Listen Cheeks, you can have the bed tonight. You have to be up early right. I'll take the couch. I didn't lose my manners over the years kay." I said as I pass her to take a shower of my own, pulling my shirt off on the way.

"Thanks! Umm if I wanna make a phone call... outside?" she asks still flusttered

"Just use the balcony, go through this room" I turn slightly from the hallway pointing to the room across the hallway from the bathroom as I leave her view.

A/N: hey everyone, i am sooooo sorry fir the late update. I've been crazy sick the past few weeks. The new year hasnt brought me much luck health wise haha. but finally healthy and back online, i actually had up to chapter 9 written before i posted the first chapter, so it's just a matter of loggin in. So apologies again! I was tossing around the idea of uploading a bunch for my absence, but bc work is gunna start getting hectic and i may take a hiatis i figured just one for now. comments/reviews are appreciated!