Being extremely poor taught Uraraka a lot of things; the true value of money, how to be a total cheapskate and how to be independent.

But there were things that even she couldn't do, despite her years of trials and tribulations on her own.

Problem Number One: She needed to get over a certain boy with broccoli hair and freckles.

Uraraka had started to get ever so distracted once Izuku announced that he and Melissa Shield had started dating a couple months ago. She had kind of suspected the mutual attraction during the island incident.

She hated to admit it but she felt an ever so little, tinge of jealousy when she had used her quirk to help the pair get up onto the roof.

"Midoriya, I heard Melissa is coming to UA next week to work in the support department." Iida said to the broccoli boy.

"Yeah, she's moving in with All Might. She sent me a text last week."

The last part echoed in Ochako's head for a bit and she was getting distracted. She had learned to quell her feelings for Midoriya during their provisional license exam, but the fact that he was taken stung quite a bit.

But Uraraka could bear no ill will against All Might's niece. She was a genuinely nice girl and there was no way she could bring herself to hate someone like that. And it was so much like Deku to get with a relative of his idol.

"It'll be fun having Melissa around again!" Mina squealed in delight as the girls were having idle chatter.

"Yeah." Uraraka nodded with as much fake enthusiasm as she could muster.

That night, Ochako started doing nightly runs. Probably something Iida would do, she laughed to herself. While it was mostly to try and get thoughts of Izuku out of her head, it did help her increase her stamina and speed, things essential for the battlefield.

After two weeks of long runs in the dark, Melissa finally arrived at UA. During lunch she came to visit their class.

"Deku! Ochako!" She greeted them with a friendly wave.

"Hey Melissa!" The mochi girl did her best to match the boy's enthusiasm. She didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.

"Are you all settled in?" Jirou asked.

"Yeah, Uncle Might was a big help! Actually Deku, he told me to ask you if you would meet up with him later in his office." Melissa turned to Midoriya.

"Oh, of course!"

It had never pained Uraraka to smile so much in her life. Then, the invisible girl walked over to her.

"Ochako, the girls are going shopping today after classes with Melissa! Wanna come?" Hagakure asked.

"Oh, thanks for the invite Toru, but you know how it is with the money..." This was the first time in her life she had lied using her financial situation to avoid something. It left a bitter sting in her mouth and she immediately wanted to take it back.

In addition to her runs, Uraraka began weight lifting (she somehow managed to borrow some from a certain redhead) but she couldn't shift her focus off of the new couple. Which led to her second problem:

Ochako Uraraka needed a sparring partner.

Ever since her internship with Gunhead, she'd been wanting to practice using her martial arts skills against an opponent, which she was given the change to use against Himiko Toga when the League of Villains attacked their camp. But that was unexpected, Ochako needed someone to constantly test out her skills on.

Unfortunately, she was having lots of trouble finding someone to fill that spot. For one, all of the other girls were long range fighters; meaning that Ochako couldn't really practice any of her moves against them.

And two, the members of the Dekusquad always went easy on her. While she was grateful since she knew how strong Deku's quirk was, but she was hoping Iida would've been a little more understanding.

And she's hesitant to ask Todoroki because she's never seen him in actual combat.

When she told Gunhead of her problem, he offered to allow her to attend his Saturday classes for free and find an opponent there.

But even her mentor's other students would go easy on her. Which irked her a bit, how could she get stronger if no one would take her seriously?

"Kaminari? If you're free later today," The brunette asked, sparking hope in the blonde boy's eyes, "Could you maybe spar with me for a little bit?"

Kaminari looked disappointed, he was probably hoping she was asking him out. "That's probably not the best idea. I don't do much hand to hand combat and you know how out of control my quirk can get."

With a long sigh, Uraraka left Class 1-A and headed to her dorm. The only benefit of its emptiness was she had plenty of space to practice her punches.

"Did she ask you too?" Kirishima walked up to the blonde.

"Yeah, but I can't. I don't wanna electrocute her by accident."

"Uraraka's looking for a sparring partner." Momo explained, overhearing the conversation. "However, none of us girls can provide her with a good enough challenge."

"Iida didn't you spar with her once?" Todoroki asked.

"Well, I have to say that it was hard for me not to go easy on her." The class rep answered with a hint of guilt in his voice followed by some less enthusiastic air chops.

One night, as Uraraka was about to leave for her nightly run, she bumped into a taller figure.

"Mind explaining yourself?" It demanded. Only one person in the dorm would speak to her like that. The infamous Lord Explosion Murder himself, Katsuki Bakugo.

"B-Bakugo?!" She stuttered. What was he doing up at this hour?

"Why are you doing something that should be four-eyes' thing?" He asked. "And he only ever does runs in the morning."

"I..." There wasn't any point of lying to him. "...need to clear my head."

"You've needed to clear your head for the past two weeks?" He asked.

"Y-You knew?!"

"Of course I knew, I can see you running from my dorm window."

"Well yeah, I've just been kinda stressed lately." She admitted.

"Well it's obvious that the running ain't working if you're still doing it." The blonde grunted.

"How come you didn't ask me or Icy-Hot to spar with you?" He then switched the subject. "You and I both know he's a tough opponent."

Ochako was taken aback by his directness. "W-Well, I've never actually seen Todoroki in hand to hand combat so I don't know about asking him but..."

"...I didn't think you would agree if I asked."

"And why the hell not?"

"Cause I'm probably no match for you."

"Isn't that why you interned with Gunhead?"

"Y-Yes." She nodded slowly. When did he start paying attention to her?

"You don't think I'm weak?"

"Hell no. In our first training exercise, you beat four-eyes didn't you?"

"It was mostly thanks to Deku's attack but yes-"

"Oh so this is about stupid Deku." Bakugo nodded. "Should've guessed."

"What?!"

"Man he's so dense."

"Okay maybe it is about Deku." She pouted, Bakugo knew her strangely well for someone she barely spoke to.

"I get what you're saying about Icy-Hot, he relies on his quirk so much I don't even know if he can actually throw a decent punch." Bakugo said seriously. "But I definitely wouldn't have turned down an offer to beat your ass if you asked." He added with a smirk.

"Really? You mean it?!" She beamed at him. Finally! Someone who said yes who she knew wasn't going to go easy on her.

"I mean, other than Kirishima, nobody else is interesting enough to go against. Not even Deku."

So for the first time in two weeks, Ochako got a full night's rest, but that didn't stop her from going on a nightly run every so often.

"You're still distracted." Bakugo said during one of their sessions, having flipped her on to her back.

"Well..." And here came problem number three. Ochako Uraraka was not the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Finals? They're like a month and a half away from now!" Bakugo commented.

"I know, but I'm not the smartest person okay!" She whined. It made her really jealous of her male classmates. Not only were they all smarter than she was, they all performed better during quirk tests and rescuing exercises. The top five spots had always belonged to Yaomomo, Todoroki, Iida, Bakugo and Deku.

"I guess Deku's off the table. Heard he and All Might's niece are going out a lot now."

Ochako gave him a quizzical look.

"It's not that I care about his relationship, Pikachu face won't stop blabbing about how jealous he is." Bakugo ranted but then stopped when he realized what he'd said.

"Sorry. You probably don't wanna hear about their lovey dovey stuff right now."

Uraraka laughed. "No, it's fine. It's better if I accept the reality than if I just try to pretend nothing's going on."

"Good."

Most of their sparring sessions ended with Ochako being the "loser" but she didn't mind, win or lose the whole point was for her to become a stronger fighter.

"Hey Iida, could you help me-" The brunette walked up to the glasses wearing boy until she noticed he was already tutoring Kaminari and Mineta. Then she headed up the stairs in search for a different smart person.

"Todoroki?" She knocked on the heterochromatic eyed boy's door.

"Oh, Uraraka. Did you need something?" He asked.

"Um," She noticed his clothing and she could tell he was going out. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm going to visit my mom at the hospital." He answered.

Oh.

"Then I'll let you go, I can ask you when you get back." She said cheerily trying to hide her inner disappointment as the taller boy walked off.

"So four eyes is dealing with the idiots and Icy Hot is too busy." Bakugo said as they took a water break. Exams were only two weeks away. "What about Ponytail?"

"Yaomomo is tutoring the other girls and some of the guys."

"Alright Round Face. I'll tutor you."

Surprisingly, Bakugo was patient with her. She could tell that the things she found difficult were definitely like child's play for him. But he never yelled at her.

Exam day came and Ochako had never felt more prepared. Bakugo even sent her a smirk of confidence right before they started writing.

When the day was over and all the tests were done, Uraraka caught wind of an event; The Valentine's day dance.

"Ochako, are you going?"

"I completely forgot about it!" She replied. She'd spent most of her time with Bakugo she hadn't even realized the event was approaching!

"Me and Ojiro are going together!" Toru squealed, enough to make the tail man blush from his nearby seat.

"Mina who are you going with?" Jirou asked the alien girl.

"I'm going with Eijiro. He and I've been friends since middle school."

"What about you Kyoka?" Tsuyu asked.

"I hate to say it...but Kaminari." She facepalmed.

"I think Kaminari is a great guy to go to the dance with." Momo said reassuringly.

"Easy for you to say Yaomomo, you're going with Todoroki!" Hagakure and Ashido said in unison.

"What about you Tsu?" Uraraka asked her best friend.

"Tokoyami and I are going. I'm sure you'll find a guy to go with Ochako." She smiled back at the brunette.

Even at lunch time the dance was the main conversation topic.

"I can't believe you're going with Yaoyorozu Todoroki!" Midoriya congratulated his friend.

"Well, she asked me out and it's not like anyone else asked." Todoroki answered bluntly. "It felt wrong to say no."

"So you're saying if anyone else asked you would've said yes?" Iida raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Maybe not anyone but if any of the other girls in class asked I probably would've said yes."

Uraraka choked on her food. That meant, if she had asked him to the dance he would've agreed?! Well it was too late now, besides, the only guy she was particularly interested in going with definitely had a date.

"Iida, who are you going with?" She asked, trying to regain her focus.

"I'm going with Hatsume from the support department. I assume Midoriya is going with Melissa?" He turned to Izuku.

"Yup. Uraraka, you don't have a date yet?" He asked. That one felt like a punch to the gut. Having heard it from his mouth, was rubbing salt on the large wound that had been slowly healing.

"No...not yet anyways. But I do want to go." She added. If there's anything being poor taught her, it was to never, EVER pass on free food. And this was Lunch Rush's food that was going to be at the dance.

"I'm almost one hundred percent certain that someone will ask you out Uraraka!" Iida said in his usual manner, followed by a signature air chop.

Even though she was pretty bummed about missing the free food, she didn't necessarily need to go to the dance. She did like a good party though. However, she thought her usual problem solver might be able to save the day.

"Hey, Bakugo?" Uraraka asked. Today she had actually beat him, leaving both of them shocked. "Are we friends?" She asked.

"I guess. You're definitely more fun to hang around with than Pikachu and Soy Sauce Face."

"Then, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

"Huh?"

"If you don't wanna go-"

"No I'll go, I'm just surprised you asked me of all people."

"And one other thing." She quickly added.

"What?"

"How can I repay you?"

"What the hell are you talking about pink cheeks?" Bakugo huffed as he drank some water.

"You've done so much for me in the past month I feel like I'm in your debt!" Ochako blushed madly. Being poor gave her the mindset that all debts needed to be repaid.

"I do have one thing then." He sighed as he put his bottle back on the bench. "Be my girlfriend." He said.

"HUH?!" Uraraka asked, as she fell over her feet. "Ow.."

She couldn't believe it. Katsuki Bakugo, of all people in the world, was asking her to be his girlfriend. "D-Did I mishear you or something?" She asked nervously. Despite her adorable looks, this was the first time anyone had ever asked her out.

"Nope. You heard me round face. Go out with me." He jerked his thumb to point at himself. Uraraka thought about it, Bakugo had been an amazing friend for the past month, and she couldn't help but feel like their relationship was special.

"When did you start taking interest in me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"The Sports Festival." Ochako's jaw dropped to the floor. That had been over half a year ago! Before she could ask, Bakugo explained himself.

"You definitely put up a good fight. If it had been any of the other girls, the fight would've been over in five minutes or less."

"You don't have to explain yourself fully, to be fair you kind of caught my attention after we fought too. Ever since I lost to you, I've been training and training so I could catch up to Deku and someday beat you." Uraraka confessed.

"Can I take that as a yes?"

"YES!" Ochako tackled him to the ground.

The next week, exam results had been announced and the whole class was shocked to see Ochako Uraraka in third place behind Bakugo himself, and beating out Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki for the third spot.

"Wow Uraraka! You must've studied hard." Deku congratulated her.

"Yes, very impressive Uraraka." Iida clapped.

"Oh that reminds me," Todoroki walked up to them. "What did you want to ask me about the other day?" He turned to the brunette.

The other day? That was a week ago...

"Oh, um." She rubbed her head sheepishly. "I was going to ask you to tutor me to study for exams. Since Yaomomo and Iida were already busy helping everyone else." She admitted. "But I also didn't want to stop you from visiting your mom so..."

"Uraraka, I definitely could've made more room for you during our study session." Momo said worriedly, overhearing their conversation.

"Ah, it's okay Yaomomo! I got Bakugo to tutor me."

"Huh?" The group asked, giving Uraraka expressions as if she just told them Bakugo liked the color pink.

"When did you and Kacchan become such good friends Uraraka?" Midoriya questioned. Bakugo wasn't the most approachable person in the world.

"Ever since we started sparring together..." The brunette answered.

"..." The class was speechless. Good thing Mr. Aizawa wasn't there, they wouldn't have heard what Ochako was going to say next.

"Oh and we're going to the Valentine's day dance together."

"What?!" The entire class (excluding the boy in question) was now inputting their thoughts.

"Wait, Bakugo actually helped you study?" Kaminari asked, he sounded hurt and jealous at the same time.

"And he agreed to go to the dance with you?!" Sero gaped.

"I'm surprised Bakugo is even interested in girls." Mineta said sourly.

"But good job Uraraka, you did really well on the finals, even if Bakugo was the one tutoring you." Iida said firmly.

"Shut up losers. That's my girlfriend you're talking to." Bakugo walked over, hands in his pockets as usual.

"WHAT?!"

"O-Ochako! You...and Bakugo?!" Toru questioned, while she was invisible, you could tell that she was glancing between the new couple vigorously.

"I'm happy for you Ochako. Ribbit." Tsuyu said as she hopped over from her seat.

"Kirishima!" Everyone turned to the redhead. "Did you know about this and not tell us?!" They demanded.

"I only knew that Baku-bro had feelings for Uraraka. I didn't know they were hanging out and all that stuff." He shrugged in response. "But good for you Baku-bro. I think you and Uraraka make a great couple." He sent his best friend a thumbs up.

"Yo, Round Face." Bakugo said after they finished training that day. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" She asked, walking over with her towel.

"Can you meet my parents?" Welcoming Bakugo's problem: He needs a girlfriend to show to his parents.

"Isn't that a little too fast?!"

"I know I know. A very small percent of why I asked you out was cause the old hag wouldn't stop bugging me about getting a girlfriend once she heard Deku was dating All Might's niece."

"Oh. Sometimes I forget that the two of you are childhood friends." She chuckled. "But is your mom going to be okay with me?"

"Pink cheeks, you're almost the exact opposite of me. She'll love you."

It was a Saturday and the dance was next week. The new couple walked towards the Bakugo residence.

"Oh, Katsuki!" Masaru greeted him.

"Hey old man. This is Uraraka, my girlfriend." Bakugo introduced the brunette to his father. "She and I are going to the UA dance next week."

"I see. Mitsuki! Katsuki's finally gotten himself a girlfriend." The father hollered.

"Oh, I recognize you. Weren't you the one that fought Katsuki at the sports festival?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ochako figured that their battle would've come up in conversation. "We've been sparring together and I'll keep working hard so I don't keep losing!" Man that sounded corny.

"Good! It'll do him some good to get his ass kicked a couple o' times!" Mitsuki slapped Uraraka heartily on the back.

"So Uraraka, do you have an idol in the superhero world that you look up to?" Masaru asked.

"Er, not really." Ochako sighed in defeat. She explained her financial situation to Bakugo's parents, going into small details of how she just wants the license to help her parents. "But, your son and my other classmates have definitely inspired me to be a hero." She added, leaving each member of the Bakugo family equally shocked.

"That's good to hear." Masaru smiled as he poured everyone some more tea.

"Katsuki you really found yourself a nice girlfriend." Mitsuki let out a sigh of relief.

"I know." The blonde boy grunted but Uraraka could tell he was proud.

As the day of the dance approached, everyone was getting excited. Yaomomo had more dresses to loan, Kaminari and Jirou were going to DJ, and all of the boys were discussing their hopes of getting chocolates.

"Are you going to give Bakugo some chocolates Ochako?" Tsuyu asked.

"I don't know..." Now, she knew Bakugo preferred savory foods, but even so. Ochako Uraraka is broke.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever you give him." Jirou said comfortingly.

Now Uraraka was faced with a fourth problem. But this was one she didn't need Katsuki to fix for her.

Everyone had gotten dressed up for the dance, and Lunch Rush's food was as delicious as usual. However, when Kaminari decided to turn on slow dance music, Ochako noticed her boyfriend slip out into the halls.

"Where you going?" She caught up to him.

"Anywhere but there. Slow dances like that make me wanna throw up."

"I didn't think you were the type for slow dances. It's been a while." She jerked her thumb in a familiar direction.

"Let's go Round Face." The two of them didn't bother changing out of their outfits, they took off their accessories and shoes and got straight to fighting.

As usual, Ochako threw the first punch. And as usual, Bakugo dodged. But this time, she managed to do a front flip while kicking him across the face.

"Learned some new tricks huh?" Bakugo smirked as he got back up.

"What are you two doing?!" Iida's distinctly recognizable voice called out to them.

"Oops." Uraraka stopped midair but still managed to knock Bakugo over and flip him.

"We got bored." Bakugo answered bluntly.

"Oh Todoroki! Would you mind sparring with me?" Ochako called out to the boy with red and white hair.

"Go get him pink cheeks." Bakugo whispered as he got out of the area so he could watch his girlfriend in action.

"You'd better not go easy on her Icy-Hot." He then said to Todoroki. The rest of class A had filed in as the match had just started. Ochako assumed he was going to wait for her to make the first move.

She rushed towards him and noticed he was going for a punch. Using her Gunhead martial arts, she sidestepped, grabbed his arm and flipped him over. Without using her quirk.

"WOAH!"

"Uraraka, did you use your quirk just now?" Midoriya asked, completely astonished.

"No... that was pure muscle!" She laughed sheepishly as she flexed a bicep.

"Bahahaha!" Bakugo cackled. "Man Icy Hot! That was the lamest punch I've ever seen!" Bakugo laughed.

"I suppose I should start training in hand to hand combat." The heterochromatic boy smiled at Ochako.

"So Bakugo turned about to be a pretty good boyfriend after all." The girls gushed to the brunette.

"He's not just my boyfriend." Uraraka giggled. "He's my problem solver."