NOTE: This chapter contains an excerpt from a book that is not mine. I do not own the words or the characters. The book is titled Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. The link for the book is Convenience-Store-Woman-Sayaka-Murata/dp/0802128254

Chapter 26

Uraraka stared intently at the small container of cayenne pepper in her hands, replaying the events of the last couple of weeks. She had run through every possible scenario she could think of and she had yet to find a clear answer over what to do.

Valentine's day was just around the corner, and with it came daunting expectations disguised as little chocolate treats. Thankfully, Momo-chan had suggested that all 2-A girls pitch in and make a huge batch of chocolates for the boys as a sort of class gift. The logic being that this way none of the boys would feel left out and none of the girls had to go through the embarrassment of publicly declaring their romantic interest in certain individuals.

No pressure.

This plan would have been great if Mina hadn't announced that she would still be making Kirishima a special batch of chocolates. It was like a domino effect. Hagakure had soon followed saying that she too would be making "a certain someone" their own chocolate treats. When the girls asked who, Hagakure responded she didn't want to jinx it but would tell them soon. Even Jiro, of all people, had hinted that she would also be making extra chocolates because "might as well."

Traitors. Uraraka scoffed, glaring at the seemingly innocuous spice in her hands.

Should she give a certain short-tempered classmate of theirs his very own Valentine's day chocolates? That was the million-dollar question. Uraraka had been going back and forth for the last two days. One minute she was looking up recipes and writing them down, the next she was tossing the paper in the trash. She had repeated this cycle so many times she could have made a cook-book with the number of recipes that overflowed from it.

Uraraka sighed in resignation.

At the end of the day, giving Bakugo hand-made chocolates on Valentine's day would probably send him running for the hills. She wasn't entirely sure how their, whatever-this-was-ship had evolved but everything about it still felt precarious. Uraraka reasoned it'd be best to err on the side of caution. If there was anything she had learned from observing the Baku-squad was that when it came to Lord Explosion Murder one had to work in tiny increments. Push too hard, ask for too much, and his walls would slam back up.

"Ochako-chan, are you ready?"

Uraraka jumped at the sound of her friend's voice suddenly behind her.

"I'm sorry, I thought you heard me." Momo apologized softly.

"Ah, it's okay. I was just…" Uraraka let the rest of the sentence hang between them as she moved to put the seasoning back on the shelf.

"Cayenne pepper?" Momo pointed at the container Uraraka had just placed down.

Embarrassed, Uraraka stared down at her feet. "It was just...uhm...I don't know...it's stupid, really." She mumbled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Well, I think it's a great idea,"

"Huh?" Uraraka responded, slightly confused.

"This," Momo handed the cayenne pepper back to Uraraka, "I think it's a great idea and I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Yea, but it's Bakugo." Uraraka voiced the insidious thought that had found a home in her brain for the last two days. The one that always came with feelings of uncertainty and doubt.

"True," her regal friend nodded in understanding, "but I think it'll be okay."

Uraraka looked back down at the seasoning once more in her hands. Momo was a perceptive, prudent, and dedicated hero-in-training, and most importantly, friend. Although at times she could be rather blunt, Uraraka valued her opinion and trusted her judgment. If Momo thought it would be okay, well then...maybe it would.

She nodded before tossing the final ingredient into her basket and strutting with determination towards the cash register.

Ingredients

24 ounces milk chocolate (finely chopped or milk chocolate candy coating)

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne powder

1 1/2 cups candied pecans (coarsely chopped)

Optional: crushed red peppers for decorating

Uraraka studied the crumbled paper where she had scratched down the recipe for making Spicy Chocolate Bark. She was no cook, in fact more often than not she was a menace in the kitchen, still, it seemed fairly easy.

Step 1: Cover a baking sheet with foil, parchment paper, or waxed paper, and set aside for now.

"What's this?" Hagakure's voice startled her as she searched for a clean baking sheet and wax paper in the kitchen pantry.

"Aahh," Uraraka squeaked dropping the baking sheets on the floor. Tsu, being the closest bent down to help her pick them up. It shouldn't have felt awkward, but it did. The whole evening felt like some type of cat-and-mouse game, Uraraka trying to get close to Tsu and Tsu determined in avoiding her.

"Oooooh sorry girl!" Hagakure ran to help as well. Uraraka thanked her friends once all the trays were placed on the counter but Tsu had already resumed her work at the chocolate-boxing station with Jiro.

Step 2: Temper the milk chocolate or melt the milk chocolate candy coating in the microwave until it is melted and fluid.

Ignoring the tightness inside her chest, Uraraka moved to grab a bowl and the bag of chocolate she would be tempering.

"Sooo, are you making a certain spiky headed gremlin a special batch of chocolates?" Hagakure teased lightly, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"What's happening?" Mina chimed in as she removed a tray of cooled chocolate from the fridge and placed it on the counter between Ururaka and Hagakure.

"Ochako is going to make Baku-hoe chocolate," Jiro responded lazily, eyes focused on the bow she was trying to hot glue onto the box in front of her. "Done!" She suddenly exclaimed, "Thirteen boxes of mini milk chocolate bars with almonds in them and one box of mini dark chocolate bars for our lactose-intolerant classmate."

The class 2-A girls beamed triumphantly at the mountain of beautifully decorated boxes. Aizawa-sensei had begrudgingly given the girls permission to use the school's cafeteria to make their valentine's day treats and they had taken advantage of all the extra space.

"Remind me again why we had to make some for Mineta." Mina rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Because he is an equal member of our class and it would be mean to exclude him," Momo said firmly.

"I guess," Hagakure drawled, popping a chocolate into her mouth.

"Stop eating Kiri's chocolates!" Mina trilled from behind them.

"Sowwie," their invisible friend said through a mouthful of chocolate, making her apology sound more comical than contrite. Mina huffed in annoyance, causing the girls to titter.

"Anyway," Mina said pointedly as she began cutting up the cooled chocolate, "I know no one asked me but I fully support you making Baku-bro chocolates for tomorrow."

Step 3: Add the cayenne powder and the coarsely chopped pecans, and stir until everything is well-mixed and the pecans are well-distributed.

Removing her melted chocolate from the microwave, Uraraka brought the bowl towards the counter and began mixing in the cayenne powder and nuts.

"Spicy Chocolate?" Tsu asked quietly, as she grabbed a clean tray and a bowl. Uraraka stood a bit dumbfounded, the whole day Tsu had been acting really distant, barely saying two words to her, and now she was starting a conversation? "I think he'll like them." She added, giving Uraraka a tight smile. Uraraka smiled back timidly, confusion etched on her face.

"Oooh, Tsu-chan. Are you making that for someone special?" Mina said playfully as she pointed to the bag of dark chocolate that Tsu was holding.

"Maybe," Tsu responded simply, but there was a finality in her tone. Uraraka tried to catch Tsu's eye again, to see if she could find some sort of answer in them, but once again Tsu avoided her gaze expertly. Ugh! I need to talk to her.

Step 4: Pour the chocolate out onto the prepared baking sheet, and smooth it into an even layer using a spatula or a knife.

Uraraka took a deep breath and let it out through her mouth as she followed the instructions on the page. Her first-year might have been plagued with more villain attacks and kidnappings than she could have ever anticipated but second-year was proving to bring its own set of obstacles into her life. What were the League of Villians compared to having to confront your best friend or learning how to be vulnerable in front of a crush.

Step 5: While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the top with a pinch of crushed red peppers as decoration (optional). You could also top the bark with more nuts if you'd like.

Now was not the time for anxious musings…Where's the crushed red pepper?

"Weren't you going to make Kaminari chocolates?" Mina asked as she started to decorate her own.

"Yea," Jiro said breezily as she stood up to get a bowl for her ingredients, "might as well."

"Don't sound too excited," Hagakure laughed.

Step 6: Allow the bark to set completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Once set, break it into small pieces by hand.

Uraraka knew the longer she put off talking to Tsu the more awkward it would be. As is, she had felt a strain on their friendship continue to grow as the days passed by. It hurt Uraraka but every time she'd decide to ask Tsu what was wrong, she chickened out. What if they got into a fight? What if it was something so bad that they stopped being friends? Uraraka preferred the way things were now, weird as they were then the potential of losing one of her best friends. A part of her knew she was being ridiculous, she had to talk to Tsu at some point, but another part of her kept saying the situation would fix itself.

With a sigh, Uraraka put her chocolates in the fridge to cool.

Valentine's Day, a day to celebrate friendship and love or a giant scam?

Uraraka was not sure what the correct answer was, all she knew was she was currently a giant mess of nerves and had absolutely no clue how to give explosion-boy the small box of chocolates she had been carrying with her all morning.

"This was a stupid idea." She lamented out loud as the girls slowly made their way from the girls' locker room towards ground gamma.

"Your making it a bigger deal than it is." Jiro twirled her ear-jack in her fingers.

"Yes girly, even Momo already gave Todoroki his chocolates." Hagakure chirped from behind them. Momo stopped dead in her tracks

"Woah!" Mina exclaimed as she almost walked into their suddenly frozen friend.

"What?" Hagakure shrugged, "I accidentally bumped into him on the way out of the cafeteria this morning and the box I saw you decorating last night fell out of his bag."

"I just…it was…I didn't…" Momo's face got redder with each stutter. Uraraka understood her desire for privacy. Crushes were hard enough already without the added pressure of prying eyes. If Bakugo seemed skittish with emotions, Todoroki was on a whole other level.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a secret." Although no one could see the expressions on Hagakure's face, her tone was sincere.

"It's not." Momo said quietly, "I just…come on, we're going to be late." She resumed walking again.

"Speaking of secrets," Mina drawled, turning to the invisible girl, "Did you give your secret someone their chocolates yet?"

"Yup!" Hagakure perked up.

"Aaand?" Mina poked.

"Oh, well he said thank you and I'd like to say he blushed a bit." Hagakure's voice drifted, "I guess we'll see what happens on White Day."

"That's not what I was asking and you know it."

"Mina, your meddling again." Jiro said through a yawn, "Point is," she turned back to Ururaka, "you're making it a bigger deal than it should be. Just give them to him during lunch."

Uraraka nibbled at her inner cheek. Lunch.

That sounded like a good idea.

She could do it at lunch.

She absolutely could not do it at lunch!

Uraraka sat in between Iida and Deku as she pushed around a piece of rice on her bowl. Fuck! Why was this so hard? She had entered ground gamma determined and then she saw him and all that sudden bravado dissipated.

He appeared to be extra annoyed today, snapping at anyone within arms distance from him like a Chihuahua. Uraraka had noticed that as the school day progressed the more irritable he was becoming. Even his group of friends were giving him space.

Bakugo was particularly vicious towards Deku. It all was eerily reminiscent of their first couple of weeks at U.A.

No, now was not a good time.

"Uraraka-san, are you okay?" Deku asked shyly. He followed her gaze until it landed on Bakugo, who sat silently fuming over his bento at a table near theirs, his group of friends sitting around him but otherwise ignoring him. Or maybe he was ignoring them?

They both saw Mina take out a small white box decorated with multi-colored hearts and a medium-sized red bow and place it in front of Kirishima.

"Oh!" Deku gasped, he pivoted back to Uraraka slightly confused but smiling. She couldn't help but smile back at him. Leave it to Deku to be the only one in their class to not pick up on that one.

They looked back in time to see Kirishima grab one of Mina's hands, bringing it to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Sero and Kaminari pretended to gag but the rest of the onlookers were smiling.

"Ohh," Deku sighed happily, "That's great. I'm so happy for them."

Uraraka nodded in agreement but she couldn't bring herself to say more. She was genuinely happy for her friends but it was hard to ignore the ever-growing ball of nervrs in her stomach.

She chanced a glance at Bakugo but he was already gone.

Kirishima and Mina entered the classroom hand-in-hand, trying desperately to hide their smiles in favor of looking sorry for being ten minutes late to class. Cementoss glared at them until they parted ways to take their seats.

Her pink friend was out of breath and a bit disheveled, her skirt slightly off-centered. Uraraka made quick eye contact with Mina, raising her eyebrows in a silent question. Mina winked at her and smirked before taking her seat.

"Mina, Kirishima, if you're both done wasting your classmate's time, please take out your books and read until I tell you to stop," Cementoss instructed.

Uraraka returned to her own tattered copy of "Convenience Store Woman," and continued reading.

My parents were at a loss of what to do about me, but they were affectionate to me as ever. I'd never meant to make them sad or have to keep apologizing for things I did, so I decided to keep my mouth shut as best I could outside home. I would no longer do anything of my own accord, and would either just mimic what everyone else was doing, or simply follow instructions.

Uraraka understood the reasoning behind Keiko Furukura's need to conform, to adjust to the expectations of others…to not cause trouble and follow. But it made her sad. She didn't want to just mimic what others did. Uraraka wanted to stand on her own two feet, a fearless and badass rescue hero that took care of her parents.

But how fearless and badass could she be when she couldn't find the guts to go up to her classmate of over a year and give him a simple box of chocolates. So what if she fantasized about him almost nightly or had found herself in this weird situation-ship with him, not quite friends but definitely no longer strangers. Or maybe they were friends? Did he think they were friends?

Dammit, Ochako! Frustrated at her inability to keep one train of thought she puffed out air causing Iida to turn to look at her from over his shoulder.

Sorry. She mouthed at him. He nodded and turned his attention back to the book on his desk.

Unfortunately, all trains of thought started and ended in the same place.

Uraraka quickly peeped at Bakugo from across the room. He was sitting as he usually did when he read, book in one hand, the other resting on his thigh. All would seem normal if it wasn't for the stiffness in his shoulder or the way he stared at the wall in front of him and not at his book. Bakugo was not one for daydreaming or distractions.

He must have felt her staring because she saw him begin to rotate his head towards her. She quickly dropped her eyes to her book, where they remained until Cementoss said it was time for small group discussions.

The girls had taken their time walking back to Heights Alliance.

It seemed the boys knew to anticipate this because not even Kirishima made an attempt to approach the girls once class was dismissed.

They took the long way to the dorms and let Mina recount her-not-so secret rendezvous in an empty classroom prior to the end of lunch. Uraraka found that small little twinge of jealousy hit her again. A small part of her, the one she had unknowingly awakened all those weeks ago in the middle of a bookstore, also wanted to have trysts in secluded areas of the school.

But how, when she couldn't even give a boy a stupid gift.

Rolling her eyes at herself she took the steps up to their home.

"Jiro, when are you going to give Kaminari his chocolates?" Hagakure asked after Mina finished her story.

Uraraka opened the front door and heard the loud sounds of conversations, cooking, and television. The common room must be packed.

The girls entered the space with friendly greetings. Uraraka couldn't help but look for him, when her eyes found him, he was already staring at her.

Do it now Ochako! Fully resolved, she swung her bag to her front with the intension of taking out the box of chocolates that had made their home amongst her notebooks and pencils all day. She was thankful it was still cold outside or else they might have melted.

"Actually, I'm gonna do it now," Jiro said from behind her. Uraraka felt Jiro try to nudge her way to the front, so she dropped her bag and shifted to the side to make space.

Jiro walked towards where Kaminari sat on the large table and sat down next to him. The common room quieted a bit, trying hard to not look interested so as to give them some privacy. Kaminari smiled timidly at her but remained uncharacteristically quiet. Jiro reached into her backpack, a small blush creeping up her neck and spreading to her cheeks, still, she pushed through it and placed the gift in front of him.

Kaminari broke out into a wolfish grin making Jiro roll her eyes and chuckle.

"Well open it. I want to try them." She said cooly, but the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her. Uraraka saw how Kaminari and Jiro fell back into their usual banter as they shared the chocolates she had made him.

And now I'm the only one who hasn't done it yet. Uraraka deflated. Maybe she should just give up on whatever this was. She could eat just go to her room and eat chocolate all by herself.

"Excuse me." A gruff voice startled her. Uraraka stepped to the side on instinct, just in time to see a flash of blonde fly past her. By the time she realized who had almost run her over, he was gone.

What is up with him today!

In the time it took her to walk to her room and strip out of her uniform, she had flip-flopped more than a hundred times.

Ashido Mina: Just do it already. He's been in a foul mood all day, this might lighten him up.

Jiro Kyoka: he's always pissy

Jiro Kyoka: that's not a good enough reason to do anything

Hagakure Toru: you worked so hard on them Chako-chan. You should totes give it to him already.

Yaoyorozu Momo: girls, leave her alone. If you've changed your mind it's okay. You don't owe anyone any explanations.

She thought texting the girls would help but she had been wrong. She was even more confused than before. Uraraka tossed on a cropped hoodie and some yoga pants and sat on her bed, the damned box of chocolates in front of her.

"Why is this so hard!" Frustrated and annoyed at herself she grabbed the box of chocolates and marched out of her room.

Enough. She was being ridiculous. Yes, being rejected fucking sucked but at least she could say she tried. Was she really the type of girl that quit before giving it her all? No…she was Uravity, future rescue hero, for goodness sake. She should start acting like it.

Uraraka rapped her knuckles on the door with more force than intended, still simmering from her pep-talk.

"Fuck off Shitty Hair, I'm not in the mood."

Uraraka almost turned on her heels at the sound of his less than enthused voice, but she had already made it this far.

"Uhmm, Bakugo…it's me. Uraraka." She tried to make her voice sound even but she could hear the slight tremor in them.

For a brief moment, all Uraraka could hear was a deafening silence. No audible sound came from inside the room. It was like if he had vanished. She started worrying. What if he jumped out the window?! Uraraka pressed her ear to the door and strained to listen for any noise to signal there was life on the other side.

The door suddenly jerked open and she almost fell face-first onto Bakugo's floor.

"Aaaahh!" She exclaimed as she tried to gain her footing.

"What are you doing here?" He said in a clipped tone.

Uraraka could feel her heart thundering in her chest, from the fact that she almost fell or over what she was about to do she wasn't entirely sure. Bakugo huffed and walked into his room, leaving the door open. Uraraka took this as an invitation to follow him inside, so she did, closing the door behind her.

If he questioned her sudden decision to close the door he didn't voice it, opting for narrowing his eyes at her.

Okay, Ochako. It's now or never.

Uraraka could feel the intensity swirling around them, tickling against her skin.

She licked her suddenly too dry lips and saw how his red eyes followed the trail her tongue took. A familiar jolt in the pit of her stomach brought her back to reality. Do it now. Speak woman!

"Uhm….I, well…so you see…cayenne pepper…wait no…okay the thing is…" Brilliant Ochako! Now he probably thinks you've short-circuited.

"Cheeks?"

Uraraka wanted to scream.

Bakugo valued honesty and bravery. So as long as she was honest and brave he would hopefully let her down easily.

Honest.

Brave.

I can do this.

"I made you chocolates." She handed extended the box out to him, "I don't know if they're good. I'm not much of a cook and I've never made spicy chocolates before..." Uraraka could feel herself ranting. "I wasn't even sure if you liked chocolates but I know you like spicy food but like I couldn't give you just like a pepper because that would be weird…." Her mouth went from not being able to piece together one sentence to a literal torrent of words. "So I tried to make spicy chocolate but I don't like spice much so I didn't really try it and I've never had it before so I don't know what it's supposed to taste like and…" She wanted to stop talking but apparently, once she got started she couldn't stop. "Mina and Hagakure both said they were good though but they're my friends so I'm not sure if they were just being nice…"

Bakugo had taken the box Uraraka had offered him at some point during her rant. He placed it on the desk behind him and still Uraraka continued her rambling. If Uraraka's brain had not been occupied presenting a dissertation on the various types of spicy chocolate recipes that existed in the world she might have noticed the peculiar look he gave her or how the ends of his lips trembled slightly in an ill-attempt to hide a smile.

"Uraraka."

With just one word he managed to shut her up. He took a step closer to her, eyes roaming her body before settling on her lips, "Can I…?"

Uraraka felt as if all the air had escaped her lungs, her body responded before her brain had a chance to catch up. She nodded, small and shy but quivering with anticipation.

Bakugo reached out towards her, his movements steady. She felt his fingers ghost up the fabric of her sweater and she took a step closer.

They looked into each other's eyes, a million thoughts melted together into one feeling. Bakugo leaned in slowly, seemingly giving her enough forewarning to renege if she so chose.

Uraraka's lungs screamed for air. Suddenly aware that she had been holding her breath, she inhaled deeply. His sugary aroma invaded her senses, intoxicating her with arousal. Having walked the edge between anticipation and release for three weeks now was proving too much for her. Not when he was so close. So warm. So…

Now. I need this now.

Uraraka grabbed onto his shirt desperately and dragged him down until his lips finally met hers.

AN: I SWEAR I DIDN'T DO THIS ON PURPOSE. please don't be mad at me :(

if it helps, I have a good chunk of the next chapter already written because it was technically going to go in this one but last minute I decided I wanted to give it its own special chapter where it can be the star. I didn't mean for this story to be a slow burn and I'm not trying to leave you all hanging on purpose. I promise! Let's say this is the end of the character building and starting with the next chapter we can start having some fun.

Again, I'm sorry T.T