Chapter 19
The boys were all getting ready to turn in, setting blankets and pillows in a disarray on Bakugo's bedroom floor.
Bakugo was in the living room picking up the used cups and plates when he felt his phone buzzing in his pockets.
The fuck? He thought as he turned towards the kitchen. He quickly glanced at the time on the microwave, 1:17 am. Who the fuck is calling this late?
Bakugo set down the cups and plates in the sink before reaching into his pocket. By the time he looked at his screen and saw the name that flashed before him, the call had ended.
He stood staring at his phone for a brief second before anger flared through him quicker than it had the whole day. So now she's calling him? What texting him as part of their stupid game wasn't enough now the girls wanted to make a fool out of him on the phone?
Bakugo slammed his phone into his pocket in a fury as he turned to wash the dishes quickly before heading off to bed. Fuming, he scrubbed at the plates harder than necessary.
"Uhm bro, you good?" Kirishima's voice startled Bakugo. He turned and saw the red-head leaning the Bakugo fridge.
"Why the fuck are you sneaking around?!" He snapped.
"I wasn't sneaking. I'm just trying to not wake up your parents. You know…being considerate and shit." Kirishima said, humor in his eyes, "You should try it sometime."
"The fuck you want Shitty Hair," Bakugo said gruffly, returning to the dishes. He scrubbed them just a little less intensely, not wanting to give Kirishima more fuel.
Kirishima chuckled.
"Nothing dude. I just wanted to check in on you. You seemed pissy after we said the girls were playing truth or dare." Kirishima straightened out to stand at his full height, "Well to be fair you're always pissy as fuck but you got extra pissy." He said flashing Bakugo a toothy smile and sticking his hands into his pockets.
"Stop fucking saying pissy," Bakugo said as he turned on the water to rinse the dishes.
"Well." Kirishima poked.
"I told you nothing is fucking wrong. Now can you let me finish cleaning up here in peace." He said through gritted teeth. Bakugo did not turn around but he could feel Kirishima's gaze on him. Deep fucking breaths. He kept repeating to himself so as not to blast his kitchen and Shitty Hair, to oblivion.
"Fine. I'll drop it." Kirishima said as he started heading out of the kitchen, "For now."
Bakugo could hear the soft thud of Kirishima's footsteps as he ascended the stairs towards Bakugo's room. He turned off the water and picked up the drying rag. He focused on his task and tried to tune out his fury of thoughts. Once more, Bakugo begrudgingly used techniques that Best Jeanist had taught him during his internship. What was that stupid shit called? Oh yea, grounding. He'd ground himself to the present in order to avoid this sickening feeling that was coursing through his body. What was it? He had never felt it before? Or had he?
Disappointment? Embarrassment? Stupid?
He'd felt all those things before but somehow this time they felt different.
Grounding. Back to Grounding. He scolded himself.
Five things he could see. Okay, the sink, the rest of the wet plates and cups, his hands, the plate in one, the drying rag in the other.
Four things he could touch. I'm already touching the plate and the drying rag. He let himself really feel the texture of the wet porcelain plate on his hand and the moistened drying rag. Focusing on every detail. When he finished drying it he opened the cabinet door to place it in. His other hand dropped the drying rag on the counter and he let his now free hand run over the cool marble. The cabinet door, the marble countertop.
Three things he could hear. Bakugo closed his eyes to focus. He could hear the faint murmur of voices traveling from his room down the stairs and into the kitchen. He could hear himself taking deep breaths. He could hear the sound of water droplets falling from the faucet into the sink. Bakugo focused on the sounds, letting them lull him into some semblance of calmness.
Two things he could smell. Bakugo took a deep breath trying to pick up any scents. He could smell the soap he had used to wash the dishes.
Bakugo took another deep breath. He could smell…chips. The chips he had been eating earlier still lingered in his breath.
Last one.
One thing he could taste. Bakugo opened his eyes. Taste?
His eyes dropped down to his shorts, he could see his phone outlined in his pockets.
He'd tell you what he tasted…he tasted the bitterness that being played with left in his mouth.
So much for grounding.
His fury came back full force.
Does she think she can play with him?! Ohh…he'll show her that Katsuki Bakugo is not someone to be played with. He'd fucking destroy her.
He picked up his phone and dialed her back.
With every ring, his heart thumped louder in anticipation. Faster.
Bakugo heard the faint click that the call had connected and his heart skipped a beat. The fuck was happening to him?
He heard quiet sniffling and then the sound of someone clearing their throat. "Hel...Hello?" Uraraka's quiet voice came through his receiver.
Was she…was she crying? Bakugo's brain exploded. He hated tears. Never knew what to do with them. He was shit at making people feel better, mostly because he didn't care too. Tears were for the weak and he wasn't weak nor did he associate with weak people. But she wasn't weak. At least, he didn't think so.
He was also still angry at her. Usually, Bakugo wouldn't care if the intended recipient of his wrath was crying or not. Extras didn't matter. But she wasn't an extra. When had that happened?
"Are you crying?" He growled. Frustrated at himself and his crazy thoughts.
"N-no. No." She stuttered, her voice cracking a bit with emotion.
"Uraraka you're crying. Why the fuck are you crying?" He said bluntly. Angered that she was lying.
"I said I'm not," Uraraka whined.
"Well can you stop not crying. I'm trying to be mad at you and yell but it's weird if you're crying." He said annoyed. He had expected to hear her laughing with the other girls. He had expected to hear the flock of them giggling like dumbasses. He had expected a lot of things when he called her back and he was ready to eviscerate her with his words. But he had never expected she'd be crying.
"Why are you mad at me?" Uraraka said through sniffles. Fuck. She sounds so cute. The traitorous thought was accompanied by a sudden urge to wipe away her tears and tell her everything is okay. The fuck! Why wouldn't his brain just fucking cooperate with him? He was angry. She played him. Yes, focus on that.
"Don't play dumb Uraraka." He whispered, his tone threatening.
"I'm not playing dumb." Uraraka's voice sounded more level.
"Then stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about" He gritted. His anger was starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach.
"I'm not pretending." She squeaked, "Ugh! this is making my head spin."
"Are you drunk?" He said, sounding frustrated
"Noo.." Uraraka elongated the last "o" sound a little longer than necessary.
"You're drunk." He stated as a fact.
"So what." She said defiantly.
"So. You're drunk. This is fucking pointless." For the first time in a long time, Bakugo sounded defeated.
"Will you tell me what the fuck I supposedly did that got you all mad." Uraraka snapped, her voice slurred a bit but he could still make out that she had an attitude, "I thought we were talking fine. I even tried to reread the messages to see why you just stopped replying but no they all seemed okay." She sounded exasperated.
"I'm sure the rest of the girls agreed." He spat at her.
"Why would the rest of the girls agree?" Uraraka sounded flabbergasted.
"Don't play dumb Uraraka." She's either a really good actress or she's too drunk to remember. Bakugo thought taking deep breaths to calm down a bit because he didn't want to risk yelling and waking up his parents.
"For the hundredth time," She started to raise her voice, "I'm not playing dumb. And you know what, now you're annoying me. Hah! How do you like that. Now I want to yell at you too because you're acting like a big ol' meanie for no reason." Her volume alternated between high and low. She was obviously drunk. "Just say what you need to say. The room is spinning and I need to figure out how to make it stop I don't have time to play your fucking games Ba-ku-go." She said, emphasizing every syllable of his name. For some reason, that drove him insane. He just wasn't sure in which way.
"Ohhh ho ho, that's fucking rich Uraraka. I'm the one playing games. Okay." He said in a mocking tone.
"Hold on." She said suddenly
"What do you mean…" He started to raise his tone when she shushed him. He was about to explode on her but then he heard quiet shuffling and the low murmur of her voice. He strained his ears to hear.
"I'm on the phone…Yea I'll head out in a bit give me like 5 minutes…I'm fine I promise…" Bakugo heard her make herself sound chipper on the last one. He heard shuffling again and then he could hear the sound of her breath clearly.
"Oh yes Uraraka please don't let me keep you from playing your fucking Truth or Dare game, I'm sure you all have plenty of other dumbasses that you have to tease." He said, anger dripping from every word.
Uraraka was quiet for a bit. He was about to hang up but then she started speaking again.
"You're mad that I'm playing Truth or Dare? Why?" She said in what sounded like genuine wonder.
"You're just upset you got caught." He said frustrated. He turned to lean his back on the countertop. He was tired of just standing there while the most unexpected of people tried to play him.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Caught doing what?" Uraraka exclaimed suddenly, "For being so hell-bent on not wasting time you sure do waste a shit ton of it." Her tone of voice echoed the exasperation that she felt.
"The texts Uraraka!" He shouted, his voice going up in volume despite his best efforts. Shit! He strained his ears to hear if anyone had shifted or shuffled upstairs in response to his sudden explosion. Nothing. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself and his voice, before continuing.
"The texts. How far do you want to get?" He said mimicking Uraraka's voice, "Come on."
"What about the texts?" Uraraka said, her voice sounding smaller all of a sudden.
"Stop fucking pretending. You got caught already." He said bitterly.
Uraraka growled. A guttural growl, animalistic. If he had been any other person, he might even say, frightening.
"I already told you I have no fucking clue what you are talking about," Uraraka said through gritted teeth. Almost as if she were holding back her full fury. That sounded damn sexy. Fuck, what?! No. Not sexy. Fuck. No matter how hard Bakugo tried, these stupid hormone-fueled thoughts would not disappear when it came to the small gravity-quirk user.
"You're really going to sit there and tell me that those flirty ass texts you sent weren't because you were dared." He said, holding his breath. Despite his anger and frustration, his heart clenched in anticipation of hearing what he knew to be the truth. Of course, Uraraka was dared. There was no way an angel like her could like someone as foul-mouthed and short-tempered as him. He prepared himself for rejection.
Uraraka was quiet. The soft sound of her breath was the only thing that let Bakugo know she was still there.
A minute passed by before he heard her take a deep breath.
"Bakugo," She started sounding determined, "I, um…" Here it comes. "I was not dared to send those texts." Her voice shook a bit.
I fucking knew it…WHAT?
"Huh?" Was all he managed to get out. Fucking pathetic.
"I said I didn't send those texts because I was dared." She said, her voice small, almost as if she were embarrassed, "I, uh, actually started texting you before we started playing."
No. Just no. Bakugo's heart was pounding so fast he was sure that it would wake up everyone upstairs.
"Stop fucking playing with me." He said sounding aggravated. It wasn't enough for her to toy with him like that now this…
"I'm not playing." She said sounding determined. "Tequila might have given me the balls to say it but it was still…" Her voice lost some volume, "It was still coming from me."
Bakugo blinked slowly. He was definitely not expecting this. He was ready to yell and cuss her out but…now what.
"So…" He started, his brain trying to formulate a coherent thought, "So you're saying that those texts…"
Uraraka took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking again.
"Yes, Bakugo. It was all me. I wasn't dared and the girls don't know"
Bakugo wasn't sure what to feel. So many conflicting emotions were coursing through him in such fast procession that his brain was beginning to short circuit.
"Well," She said, stretching out the word.
"Well, what?" He managed to say; his mind still processing the new bit of information.
"Well, the girls know I was texting you but not what." She admitted shyly.
Bakugo stayed quiet, still trying to process all this new information.
"They caught me...well…I was…smiling down at my phone a lot." She mumbled. "So yea…"
They both remained quiet on the phone for a beat.
Bakugo's brain finally caught up to everything that it had just been dealt and in a true whirlwind only one thing stuck out…
"You were smiling down at your phone?" He asked quietly, an emotion Uraraka couldn't pin down bubbling right beneath its surface.
"Ye-yes. Because well…because of our…texts." She managed to stumble through the words.
It's funny how hormones work. One minute Bakugo was ready to scream her head off for playing with him and trying to humiliate him (or so he thought) and now he was smirking like an idiot because the same girl just admitted she had been smiling down at her phone because of him. Hormones suck.
"You were smiling down at your phone because of me, Cheeks." He didn't ask anymore. His voice taking on a playful tone.
"Don't get a big head." Uraraka rolled her eyes. "Hey!" She exclaimed suddenly, "You're no longer mad at me! Yay!" She sounded genuinely happy. How could she flip flop through emotions so quickly?! Bakugo thought genuinely in awe. Must be the tequila.
"What makes you say that." He scoffed at her, but his tone was calm, gentle even.
"You called me Cheeks." She said in a practical tone, "You had been calling me Uraraka this whole time." She said sounding almost sad. Something about having her not like when he used her surname made his heart flutter in a weird way. He'd need to get that checked out. It was probably not healthy.
"I thought you didn't like Cheeks?" He said finally easing down into a post-anger high.
"I don't. But I liked it less when we were arguing." Uraraka stated bluntly.
Bakugo felt embarrassed. He started the whole thing. And she had been crying…
"Cheeks?" He asked tentatively. He was positive he was going to regret this.
"If you're no longer mad at me then please don't call me cheeks." She huffed. He chuckled. Yup, I'm going to regret this.
"Okay…Angel?" He tested the waters. Despite himself, a small flicker of hope burned slowly in the depths of his heart. He wasn't sure what was possessing him but it was making him feel and say things he'd rather not.
"What?" She said and he could practically see the pout. The imagery made him smile. She hadn't rejected his nickname. That was good, right?
"Why were you crying when I called you?" He tried to keep his voice calm. He was actively trying to control his tone so as to not scare her…and well…that scared him. Since when did he care how he came across to others. This was bad. He was already this far deep huh…
Uraraka stayed quiet.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want too." He said suddenly. He absolutely hated when people pried into his shit too, "Forget I said shit."
"No, its, well…I just…it sounds stupid now that I think back on it." She said sounding uncomfortable. Shit!
"Angel, forget I said anything." He said trying to calm her and himself down. It was impressive how easy this new nickname came to him. It was as second nature as calling Kirishima, Shitty Hair, or Sero, Soy Sauce Face.
"I really like it when you call me Angel." She said her voice getting small again. His heart skipped a beat.
"Well don't get too used to it Round face." He snapped defensively, he couldn't help himself. What was wrong with him.
Uraraka laughed, a deep, feel it in her bones, laugh.
"Way to ruin a moment." She said in between laughs.
"What moment?" Bakugo said genuinely confused, which made Uraraka laugh more.
"Nothing Bakugo." Her laughter had died down but the humor remained.
"Hold on." She said suddenly again. This time Bakugo remained quiet, he heard shuffling and the same low murmur of Uraraka's voice.
"Oh my, yes here…Hagakure you okay?" Uraraka's voice sounded super close all of a sudden.
Bakugo could hear the sound of someone throwing up in the background.
"She's fine, just needs to get it all out of her system." That was Pinky's voice he was sure of it.
"Mmm, okay, I'll go get her some water." Uraraka said sounding concerned, "Ow! shit!" She exclaimed suddenly.
"That's the door sweetie." He heard Pinky laugh as the sound of someone hurling continued.
Bakugo could hear Uraraka's giggles as he heard the faint sound of a door closing.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Hagakure drank a little too much and I slammed into the door on my way out." She whispered but he could still hear her giggling.
"Are you still drunk?" He said louder than intended. Uraraka giggled again.
"I think a little. But I feel so much better than before." She said through whispers. "At least the room stopped spinning." She giggled again. Fuck he could hear her giggle for hours. Here we go again with these ridiculous thoughts.
He heard the sound of glasses tinkling and then the sound of running water. He yawned and looked at the clock on the microwave again. It was a little past 2 am. No wonder he was tired.
"Hey." he said trying to bring her attention back to him.
"Mmmm." She said, the sound of a door opening could be heard again, "Here Mina."
"Thank you Chako-chan." Pinky's chipper voice came through as clear as day. He heard some soft murmuring and then he heard Uraraka's soft breath again. After a couple of minutes, she finally spoke again.
"Okay sorry about that." She said a little louder.
"It's okay." He said, and to his surprise, he wasn't lying. Usually, he would have been upset, annoyed, and/or irritated but not this time. Not with her. He was content with just listening to her breath. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. When had this gotten so bad?
"What were you going to say?" She said through a yawn. It made him chuckle again.
"That it's really late and we both should probably get to bed." He said as he headed out of the kitchen, turning off the light. He stood at the bottom of the staircase and let the darkness envelop him for a bit before he began heading up the stairs towards his bathroom.
"Oh wow, it's almost 2:30 in the morning!" She exclaimed, "I'm surprised you didn't just fall asleep on the spot. It's waaayyy past your bedtime." She teased.
"Put a sock in it Moonface." He chastised playfully. He turned on the light in his bathroom and closed the door softly. He heard Uraraka giggle again.
"Don't call me that!" She huffed, "But you're right."
"Damn right I am. I'm always right." He gloated.
"Sure, sure." She dismissed him with another yawn. Although this should have made him angry it made him chuckle instead. This whole situation was getting out of hand.
"Goodnight Cheeks." He said, a smile still plastered on his face. Like a dumbass.
"No," She whined, her voice sounded sleepy and distant, "Say it right."
His heart raced. Fuck, he was doomed. He couldn't help it though his smile deepened, "Goodnight Angel." He conceded but it didn't feel like a loss.
"Much better." She sighed contently, "Goodnight."
Bakugo heard the faint click of the line being disconnected but he still held the phone to his ear. He could feel the heat of the screen on his cheek, which was damp with a slight sheen of sweat. His heart was thundering away and he didn't even want to stop it. This feeling, whatever it was, it felt good. It was addictive even.
He finally set down his phone and turned to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste. As he looked at himself in the mirror while he brushed his teeth he noticed that he was still smiling.
Fuck.