The alarm went off at 6am just like every morning, but Bakugo was frozen in place.
And it wasn't just because his brain was having a hard time computing what was going on this early in the morning- he was actually, physically stuck in bed. One arm was supporting Uraraka's head while the other was wound around her waist, pulling her much closer to his body than how they started out last night. She was snuggled in with her hands clutching his hair and shirt. Their legs were tangled together with the blankets twisting around their feet.
Bakugo body heat was typically higher than others, but today, he felt like he was on fire.
"Ughhh," Uraraka stirred, her hair tickling Bakugo's nose. "Turn that off." She mumbled with her eyes still closed and burrowed deeper into his embrace.
Bakugo slowly moved to detach himself and roll over to turn off the alarm, but she held tighter and let out a whiny "Noooooo. Stay in bed."
His throat went completely dry and it was hard to swallow. "One or the other, Cheeks. I can't really do both."
At the rumbling of his voice, Uraraka's eyes flew open and her body went completely still. As her whole body tensed, she accidentally laid all five fingers on Bakugo and activated her quirk, making him half float off the bed with only the blanket weighing him down. He flailed, still half asleep, to try and grab onto the banister of his bed to keep from making it all the way up to his ceiling.
"Ah! Sorry! Release!" He landed back on the mattress with the wind knocked out of him. Still wheezing, he could barely make out Uraraka's apologies as she frantically got out from under the sheets and ran into the bathroom with a nervous slam of the door.
That was one hell of a way to wake up.
Once he caught his breath, Bakugo finally rolled over in bed with a groan to turn the alarm off. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he pushed himself up to a sitting position at the edge of his mattress. It took a couple of shoulder rolls to work out the knot in his muscles, but if he were honest, he didn't mind the discomfort at all. If anything, he missed having her in his arms.
What?
God, he really needed to get this figured out.
Shaking the unwanted thought from his brain, Bakugo stood from his bed and took the gloves off. They were uncomfortable, but it was better than accidentally setting off explosions in his sleep. Although, his dreams last night were far from nightmares.
He eventually made his way over to the bathroom where he could hear Uraraka shuffling and muttering to herself.
"Oi! You almost done in there?"
After a moment of silence, the door clicked unlocked and opened to Uraraka back in her star-patterned clothes from last night, although damp from the overnight soak to get the vomit and blood out. She stood with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on her hips, a power stance. A patchwork of green and yellow and purple covered her arms and the cut along her leg had become crusted onto the bandage. Her hair was in a ponytail, highlighting the defiant look in her eyes.
"Uhhhh. Why are you glaring at me? I didn't do anything."
"You know, I just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to cover the swelling with my hair and what kind of makeup I'll need to cover all the bruises, but then I thought… Screw it! If those assholes think I'm gonna spend another second of effort on them, they're dead wrong!"
Pride swelled in his chest and spilled out before he could stop it. "That's my girl."
"What?" Thankfully, she was too caught up in her rant to quite hear what Bakugo unwillingly said.
"Nothing." He rushed out hastily. "You can grab whatever you want from the fridge while I get washed up. And after we redo your bandages, we can go to your place to figure out next steps and pack for the next week or two."
"Huh? Pack?"
"It'll take some time before they repair your apartment, right? Plus, they'll need to investigate what happened yesterday too. So until then, you're staying here. And since I don't have any clothes for someone as small as you, you'll need to go grab some."
"Wow. You really thought of everything, didn't you, Bakugo?"
"'S not my fault my brain works faster than yours."
"Rude."
"Have you even thought of letting Ryuku know about what happened to you last night?"
"Of course I did! I'll have to let her know I'm coming in late today."
"Mhmm. And how were you going to do that? You don't even have your phone, do you?"
He took her pout as confirmation and gave her one last smirk before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. "You can use my phone in a bit. And eat fast! We're leaving at 6:45! You hear me, round-face? 6:45!" He shouted through the wall between them.
"You're the one in there, not me!" He heard her muffled voice reply back.
He rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop the smiling from crawling onto his face. He found himself doing that a lot lately. There was a new, warm feeling in his chest that always threatened to squeeze his heart and catch his breath if he wasn't careful. And he could swear up and down that the red string was the one causing it, but there was also a part of him that knew he was wrapped around Uraraka's finger long before the old lady showed up.
She gained his respect a long time ago, a feat even some of his coworkers hadn't earned yet. Her sheer tenacity continued to surprise him and the way she was able to keep up with him was, dare he say it, admirable.
But who would've thought any of that would morph into… this? Look at him, he invited her to have breakfast in his kitchen at 6:18 in the morning while he's brushing his teeth and getting changed like some domestic routine a couple goes through after spending the night together. Even worse, he kinda liked it.
Bakugo walked out of the bathroom to see that the bed was made with the extra blanket folded on top. After changing into more suitable clothes for the day, he grabbed his phone off of the nightstand and made his way to join Uraraka for breakfast, who had already rewrapped her leg in a clean bandage and was finishing up the last of her plain rice. Really, she could've had anything in the kitchen, and she chose to eat the most unobtrusive thing in there?
"Here." He slid his phone over on the table, interrupting her mid-bite, and pulled the cabinets open to find something to eat relatively quickly.
"What name do you have Tsuyu as in your phone? I ca- oh, nevermind. Really, Bakugo? Frog?"
"That's what she is, isn't she?"
With an amused smile, she tapped on the contact and called her friend and colleague, not knowing Ryuku's personal number off the top of her head.
"Tsuyu! It's me, Ochako!" Bakugo had heard her first name before, of course, but it made his whole body flush involuntarily. Intrusive thoughts about calling each other so intimately flooded his mind.
"Yeah, I'm ok, really. I'll need to stay with Bakugo for a bit, though. Umm, did anyone contact my parents?" From the direction of the conversation, he deduced that the agency was already contacted about the state of her apartment and her disappearance last night. "Ok, good. I'll be sure to call them later just in case word gets over there somehow."
Finishing off the last bits of his protein bar, Bakugo caught Uraraka's eye and pointed to the clock which showed 6:34, nearing time to get going for the day. She nodded and got up from her seat, using her free hand to move her now empty bowl to the sink.
"Could you let Ryuku know I'll be a little late today? I can stay through the next shift to make up for it… Oh, ok. Please let her know thank you!" She looked up at Bakugo in surprise when he nudged her aside to clean the dishes she put down.
"Yep, I'll message you when I get my phone… Alright, see you tomorrow, Tsuyu! Bye!" Setting the phone down on the counter, she crossed her arms and turned her attention to the man placing the bowl and spoon on the drying rack. "You already saved my life yesterday. Lending me your clothes and washing the dishes… Keep this up, and I'll think you're really trying to convince me to marry you."
The blond-haired man turned bright red and nearly set off an explosion. "Like hell I am!"
She chuckled and patted his arm as a friendly gesture, but it only made his heart race faster. "In all seriousness, though. I don't plan on mooching off of you this week. I promise to take care of my own meals and stay out of your way as much as possible."
He wanted to insist that it wasn't necessary, that she could stay as close as she'd like, but only managed to nod and agree with her decision. "But could I borrow a jacket and socks for the walk over to my apartment?"
Bakugo's nose crinkled, thinking about the feeling and sound of soaking, squelching socks in the rain. Uraraka misinterpreted the look of disgust and hurriedly added "I'll wash them right afterwards!"
"Grab whatever jacket from my closet and I'll get you a pair of socks, but you aren't walking without shoes."
"Bakugo, your feet are, like, twice the size of mine. I'll end up twisting or snapping my ankles in your shoes." She trailed after him as they walked back into the room to grab the clothes.
"Which is why you won't be wearing my shoes either." He rummaged through his drawers for the fuzzy socks his mom gave him years ago. When she gifted them to him, half joking and half serious, he vowed to throw them away. Now, he was glad he held onto them. Finally digging it out, he turned around to be met with Uraraka drowning in his old UA sweatshirt.
He felt dizzy, watching her giggle and flap the long sleeves up and down. She did this ridiculous spin and said the obvious. "I can't believe you were this much bigger than me even in high school!"
"You just never grew." He tossed the bundled socks to her.
"So what do you mean I won't be walking with or without shoes?" She asked while rolling the blue socks up her calves. "There's no way I can keep myself afloat for the whole half hour back to my place and navigate without my boots."
"I'll, uhh…" Bakugo cleared his throat and mumbled out the rest of his sentence. "I'll carry you."
For once, Uraraka was the one left speechless. The absurdly long sleeves hung motionless at her sides while her mouth opened and closed in gaping surprise. Finally, she squeaked out, "Why would you do that?"
"Look, you're just gonna slow us down if you walk barefoot, even with socks on. And it'll only get worse if you overdo it with that cut on your leg. What if it opens up further and you need to get stitches? Right now, you don't need medical attention, but what if you do and your abductors are waiting for you there?" At that point, Bakugo wasn't sure who he was trying to convince.
But it seemed to win over Uraraka, and she mulled over the points he just brought up. "Ok. But what happens if they're still staking out my place and see you there with me? Then they'll know I'm staying with you."
"As dumb as they were to go after you, I doubt they're suicidal. They're not gonna come here. Not if they value their lives." His words said one thing, but Uraraka could swear that there was a look in his eyes that wanted the attackers to appear in front of him so that he could beat them to a pulp. Still, she had to concede the point that most people understood it would be foolish to attack Bakugo, especially when they themselves were injured.
"Will you be ok carrying me all the way to the subway? It's, like, 4 blocks away. And then another 6 to my place."
"Who do you take me for? I could carry you to Osaka if I wanted."
"Alright, alright." She rolled her eyes. "Let's go. I don't want to make you late for work."
Once they got to the ground floor of the apartment, Bakugo crouched down so she could hold onto his shoulders and drape her body over his back. She let out an involuntary squeak and squeezed her legs to clamp on as he stood up. "You sure you're ok?"
"Mhmm. Now quit asking me that." He said gruffly, but it wasn't just because he was annoyed at the question. He wasn't sure he could take another hit from her breathy words right by his ear without crumpling to the ground and breaking out in goosebumps. The feeling of her bare thighs pressed against his embarrassingly clammy hands was torture enough.
Thankfully, there weren't many others out at this time of day to make things worse, seeing as it was too early for most of the city to make their way to work for the day. Still, there were enough people on the subway to confirm that he and Uraraka were a strange scene.
Half of the passengers were looking at the two warily, like they weren't sure if they should report him for abusing the small, battered woman in mismatched clothes. The only thing keeping them from doing so was the obvious ease she had sitting next to him. She was chattering away about something useless again, at least in Bakugo's opinion. To be honest, he didn't care so much about the peering eyes of those people.
The ones that were bothering him were the people knowingly smiling at them, assuming they knew the nature of their relationship. They were the people who must've been aware of the gossip column and who Bakugo and Uraraka were in their hero costumes. With how smiley she was being this early in the morning, Bakugo was sure this would fuel the rumors for at least another week.
Still, there was no way he was letting her go back to her apartment alone. They arrived at her block and saw the mess that was left behind, which only affirmed his decision. Glass littered the sidewalk and a trail of blood led out and away from her apartment complex. The smears were being investigated by a police officer who hadn't yet noticed their presence.
"Officer Takahashi!" Uraraka called out and prompted Bakugo to walk towards the familiar officer.
"Oh, thank goodness!" He quickly muttered a message into his handheld scanner about having located Uraraka. "When we couldn't contact you, we thought you may have fallen victim to the latest attacks towards…" He trailed off as he noticed her physical state and the attention they were garnering from neighbors. "Let's go up so you can walk me through what happened last night."
They walked up the 4 flights of stairs, Uraraka walking on her own feet at her insistence, and were met with her splintered door, knocked down by the police when there was no response from her last night. The apartment was tagged with yellow evidence markers, but otherwise undisturbed. There were drag marks along the floor from the bed, which had droplets of blood sprayed across the surface. One wall had deep dents shaped suspiciously like the wooden stool laying nearby. The picture frames had been knocked down violently, scattered and cracked all along the floor. And the 3-person coach was overturned on top of the stove, which was now entirely crumpled in.
"Damn. You really did a number on them, round-face."
"Of course." She looked up at him with pride shining in her eyes, and he half hoped she could see it reflect in his.
"We bagged some physical evidence earlier, teeth and hair, but haven't been able to match them to anyone yet. Would you be able to provide us with a description of the attackers?" Officer Takahashi took out a notepad and followed Uraraka as she walked through last night's events.
Tuning her out, having already heard the rundown of events, Bakugo swiped a duffel bag from the closet and started to stuff it with clothes indiscriminately. Uraraka tended to buy clothes for utility and comfort over style anyway, so most of the pieces went together with ease. He tried to get as many of the warmer clothes as he could, seeing as it was late October, but by the time he got to the undergarments, he was shoving random pieces in like they were burning his hands. Not that he could even technically burn them.
"Thank you, Uravity. We will let you know when we have apprehended the suspects and when the apartment is ready for you to return. We estimate it will take about a week." Uraraka stubbornly chose not to acknowledge Bakugo's smirk at his accurate timeline of repairs. "Do you have a safe place you can stay in the meantime?"
"She'll be with me. If you need to contact her in person and need my address, go through Endeavor's agency. I'll give them your name so my people know you've been approved." The officer nodded and excused himself, leaving the two heroes in the decimated apartment.
"Thanks for grabbing my things. Is it just clothes in here?"
"And your glasses, phone, laptop, and chargers."
"Let me just grab a couple more things and then I'll be ready."
As she gathered up the rest of her things, Bakugo checked the time on his phone and realized he wouldn't make it to work on time if he went back to his apartment with her and the stuff. Maybe he should let Endeavor know he'd be late? He'd never done that before… "Damn."
"What is it?"
"I gotta get to work soon. I can take you to the subway, but you'll have to get back to the apartment on your own."
"Since when did you worry so much about me?" She teased. "It's fine, Bakugo. It's only a few blocks each way, and I have my shoes now."
Narrowing his eyes at her, he checked over her now more appropriately dressed body to check for any discomfort that might keep her from making it back to his place. She now had a long sleeve under his sweatshirt and fleece leggings that compressed her leg wound. Fluffy boots covered the equally fluffy socks.
Noticing his hesitation, she offered a solution. "How about this? One yank means I'm in trouble." She pulled on the red string with force as an example. "Two pulls means I made it back safely." With that, she wiggled her pinky twice. "And you do the same so I know you got my message."
He finally nodded in confirmation. "And you use your quirk on that bag so it doesn't weigh you down."
"Done."
And with that, Bakugo gave her his keys and they parted ways. He got to work a little earlier than usual, but he was in no mood to get started. If anyone were in the locker room with him, they would've thought he was dragging his feet, putting on his costume at a snail's pace. Not that they would dare point it out to him.
He checked over his pants and shirt, strapped and restrapped his boots, adjusted his gauntlets until they felt just right. Normally, he would be ready to go and chase after villains at a moment's notice. But this morning… he wasn't in the right mindset. He was about to redo his gloves again for the fourth time when he felt it. Two tiny tugs at his thumb.
Relief flooded his body and eased the tension he was holding in his limbs. With a deep breath, he tugged his thumb back twice, finally closed his locker, and went out to face the day's mission.
Now he was ready.