Wednesday 9:27pm

Bakugo had just turned the light off and was about to climb into bed when he heard the shuffling outside of his door. It sounded like sock covered feet pacing, getting closer to his room, retreating, and then returning. Over and over and over.

Once the muttering started, he couldn't take it anymore. He swiped the blanket off and opened the door with a glare. "What do you want round-face?"

"Oh! Uhh, nothing! Good night!" She tried to scurry off, but he caught her by the arm.

"Not a chance. Try again."

"Umm..." She couldn't seem to quite look him in the eye. "Can I… Can I sleep in there with you again? I don't mind taking the floor. I just… Don't want to sleep alone yet."

Without a word, Bakugo let go of her arm and moved aside to let her in the room.

"Thank you." She whispered and tentatively stepped in with her blanket and pillow in hand. Luckily, the room was carpeted so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable to sleep on. It would be like it was back at her grandparents' place, who were traditional and still slept on heated floors.

But before she could start arranging the blanket and pillow on the ground like a sleeping bag, Bakugo grabbed them from her arms and dumped them on the bed. Still silent, he reopened his drawer to grab the gloves like the night before.

Not wanting to question his kindness, which might spur him on to take it back, Uraraka slid under the covers and tried to will herself to sleep when she felt the mattress dip to her right. And then came the warm feeling in her hand again when his fingers intertwined with hers. The warmth spread from her palm, up her arm, and throughout her whole body. She shivered from the sensation and squeezed her hand tight, in case he might pull away.

"Good night, Bakugo." She whispered in the darkness.

"Go to sleep."

Thursday 6:14pm

The jiggling of the doorknob was accompanied by a huff of frustration. Bakugo knew the string of creative curses wasn't because the key refused to cooperate, he and Uraraka already tested out the extra key the day before when he got back from work. No, there was something else on her mind.

"You would not believe the day I had!" The door finally gave way and Uraraka came in blazing. Bakugo was standing in the kitchen, scooping rice into two bowls for dinner. He had an idea of what set off her fury.

He was at the agency when he saw her appear on the tv with a news reporter. He was supposed to be interviewing her about the attackers, who had been confirmed to be a part of a newly rising group of villains who aimed to maim and disfigure heroes. However, the reporter seemed to be more focused on her appearance.

"It seems like they got a few hits on you, Uravity." He pointed out the obvious damage on her face. Her eye wasn't swollen shut anymore, but was ringed by a mosaic of mottled colors. There was also still a bruised outline of the blindfold and evidence of where her lip had split.

Uraraka smoothly used it as a segway to her point. "I think it's proof of why it's important to remember that these people should not be taken lightly. They are a real threat and we need the everyone to remain vigilant and-"

"Aren't you worried about it hurting your image as a public figure?" The reporter cut her off and surprised her enough to reel back physically. "This is your first day back and the injuries don't seem to reflect well on you. I mean, much of your success hinges upon your reputation as a beautiful woman."

"Excuse me?"

"Uravity, you have been climbing up the charts in popularity, and I think many would agree that they would prefer to be rescued by a more pleasant face like yours. There are many healers around, why don't you take advantage of them before easing back into the hero scene?" At that, Bakugo could see the glint of rage in her eyes fire up. It was at that point, he knew the reporter would have no chance against her. He smiled as he watched her rip the mic out of the reporter's hand.

"I, and all the other female heroes out there, are not here for your pleasure or amusement. We are here because we overcame presumptuous, misogynistic assholes like you and show up every day to do this extremely dangerous work." The reporter was starting to look scared and Bakugo's smile turned into a full-out grin.

"I am never going to hide the reality of this job, which includes getting hurt and coming back anyway. Our healers are doing important work treating people who are actually in need of care, including those who have been rescued from dangerous situations. And I assure you, they don't care about my face when they are being pulled out of rubble. So no, I will not hide my face with makeup or speed up the healing of superficial injuries."

She was obviously still riled up about the interview even though it was hours ago.

"Did you see the interview? Did you hear the things he was saying about me?"

"Yep."

"The nerve!" She paced around the living room and recapped the event like he didn't just say he saw it. "He said I'm successful because I'm pretty! Did he not realize I could throw him across the street?" The image made Bakugo laugh.

"What? You think it's funny? You don't think I could?"

"Everyone knows you could throw him out into space. Calm down and eat dinner. There's mochi for dessert too." With that, she visibly relaxed and begrudgingly sat down at the dinner table, where there sat a pot of soup along with the rice and sides.

"Thank you for the food. Although, I never would've thought you'd be the type to just have mochi on hand."

"I, uhh, picked some up on my way home. Figured you'd like some after that disastrous interview."

"Oh."

Friday 8:50pm

"Come on. Please?"

"No."

"Do you really have to sleep at 9:30 on a Friday night? We have tomorrow off, just watch the movie with me."

"I run at 6:30 Saturday mornings. I'm not giving up a quiet, peaceful run for Love in the Stars." He spit out the movie title like it was poison in his mouth.

"I'll run with you tomorrow!"

"Why would I want that?"

"You don't want to take advantage of an opportunity to prove you're still faster than me?"

"... Fine."

"Yay! I prepped some fruit earlier. Let me go get them and then we can start!" As she hurried over to the kitchen, Bakugo sat down on the couch with a huff, crossing his arms.

Uraraka thought it would be funny to make Bakugo sit through a cheesy romantic movie, but she soon found herself regretting it. It wasn't that he was apathetic to it and making it boring. He was too into it, interrupting the movie every few minutes to point out how ridiculous the premise was.

"If a real alien came to the Earth, why would they fall for a boring human like her? She's so weak!"

"If she likes him so much, why doesn't she just leave her fiance?

"That's awful CGI. Who would fall for that?"

After the first 15 minutes, she gave up and began to look forward to his commentary over the actual movie. Which was too bad, because Bakugo was actually enjoying ruining the movie for her. If he had to suffer through it, he would make sure she did too.

As it neared 10 at night, Uraraka found herself falling asleep. Maybe it was the exhaustion of returning to work without fully recovering or the last three nights of adhering to a 9:30 bedtime, but before she could finish the movie, she was out.

"Who came up with this idea? You better not be paying for this shi-" Bakugo's voice cut out when he felt Uraraka's head lean on his shoulder. She was slumped into him, breathing heavily as she fell deeper into the land of sleep.

He was convinced every nerve in his body was starting to seize when she continued to nuzzle further into him and snake her arms around him. Once she found a comfortable position, or as comfortable as one could get sitting up, it allowed his heartbeat to settle down.

At least he now had an explanation for how they always ended up cuddling in the morning.

But it was one thing to wake up in a compromising position like that. It would be a completely different matter for him to condone it and let himself fall asleep to it. He didn't even have his gloves on. What if he set the couch on fire in the middle of the night? Or worse, burned her?

Looking down at the woman sleeping on him, he couldn't deny the absolute trust she seemed to have in him. And if he dug deep, really deep down, he knew he didn't entirely hate this.

She was starting to mumble incoherently now, no doubt in the middle of a dream. In her vulnerable state, it made him want to squeeze her tighter to him. Knowing it would be uncomfortable to sleep through the night upright, he slowly lowered himself so that he was on his side, with Uraraka pinned between the back of the couch and his body. To prevent himself from falling off the edge, he did have to adjust her slightly on top of him. With trembling fingers, he swept the hair out of her face and tucked her head under his chin.

Even though Bakugo knew his neck would be sore in the morning and his arm completely numb, he found he didn't really care. And with the music of the end credits going in the background, he drifted off into sleep.

Saturday 7:43am

Damn it, she beat him.

He was still faster than her by a long shot, he reached the apartment complex a whole 7.4 seconds before her! She couldn't contest that, but she also definitely got to the apartment before him. How, you ask?

She used her damn quirk and got Mrs. Kobayashi to open her window so she could forgo all those stairs and enter directly on the 5th floor. Although, to be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if they had planned it all beforehand. Uraraka had only been at his place for 4 days, but she was already practically best friends with the next door neighbor.

Since she got into the apartment first, she would get to take a shower first, that was the deal. It sucked, being stuck in sweaty clothes, but what was he going to do? Barge in there and demand he go first? He was competitive, not stupid.

Waiting for his turn, Bakugo peeled off his sweat-soaked shirt and threw it into the laundry hamper. Then he grabbed a pitcher of cold water from the refrigerator and poured himself a glass to cool off. Closing the refrigerator door, that's what he heard the shower turn off. That was unusually fast.

"Umm… Bakugo?" He turned around mid-gulp and promptly choked at the scene before him.

Uraraka was peeking out from behind the corner with wet hair splayed around her bare shoulders. She was clutching the towel close to her chest, a towel Bakugo knew would cover even less than his shirt if she were to take another step forward. Her face was flushed- from the run? Or the hot water? Maybe from this situation? Who could say?

He was coughing, trying to recover from his untimely inhale of water, when she continued. "Your shampoo's empty and I couldn't find another bottle anywhere in the bathroom. Sorry for looking around."

"It's fine. There's a bottle in the hallway closet."

"Ok, thanks." She quickly turned around and Bakugo could hear the pattering of her feet when she called out with a giggle, "Nice birthmark!"

He looked down at the patch of darker skin on his left hip bone. It was mostly visible, since he was shirtless, but the bottom part disappeared into the waistband of his pants. Why was she looking there?

Damn.

The sound of the shower turning on did nothing to calm his nerves. And at this point, he didn't care if she used up all the hot water.

He was gonna need a cold shower.

Sunday 7:02pm

"Hello?" Uraraka put down the towel she was using to dry the dishes on the counter and leaned against the marbled surface as she answered the unfamiliar number. Bakugo continued to wash and set the plates down into the drying rack without her.

"Yes, this is she." Bakugo tried not to overhear, but it was hard when she was standing less than 5 feet away. "Oh, I-I thought it was supposed to take longer? … I see. Well, umm, thank you very much. Have a goodnight."

She set her phone down, but didn't make another move to indicate she would return to the sink. Just stood silently.

"Oi. What are you doing standing around? We're not done with the dishes yet."

She cleared her throat, and for good reason, her voice was wobbly when she finally got it to work. "They're done repairing my place." Bakugo dropped the spoons in his hand, wincing as they clattered into the sink.

"They worked all weekend to get it done faster. Really nice of them, actually."

No. They were supposed to have a few more days.

"I go back tomorrow."

But…

"I, uh, I guess I'll go pack my things."

Please don't.

Monday 5:56am

Bakugo prided himself in taking good care of himself. Healthy, nutrition-packed food for all three meals of the day, consistent physical upkeep, impeccable hygiene, and a solid sleep schedule. But this was the worst night of sleep he'd had in years.

They slipped into bed at 9:30 last night and he put out his hand for her to grab, like always. And she threaded their fingers together, like always. But instead of falling asleep relatively quickly, he laid there on his back, hoping to god that she couldn't hear his rapidly beating heart.

It would be so easy to say it. It should be easy. The four-letter, one-syllable word.

Stay.

But it didn't come out. He must've spent a solid 20 minutes opening and closing his mouth, trying to force the stupid word out of his mouth. But his voice refused to cooperate. And once he heard the telling slowing of her breathing, he knew she was asleep and it would be no use.

He finally fell asleep after she rolled over in her sleep and into his embrace. With her nestled into his body, he let sleep take over. But it only lasted a couple of hours, he kept waking up with panic jerking him awake. Over and over again, he checked the clock to make sure it wouldn't be time yet. After the first couple of nights, they switched spots on the bed so that he could reach the alarm without jostling her.

The last time he woke up, at 5:20, he knew his time was up. And in just a few minutes, he would have to let go. With his hand trembling, moving so slowly it was almost painful, he brushed the strands of hair away from her forehead. Who knew when he'd be able to do this again?

They never talked about what returning to normal would look like. And with the additional variable of the string connecting them, was this what normal was supposed to be for the two of them? But he had already dismissed it and the validity of the old lady's quirk in front of Uraraka, how could he take it back without admitting that it held weight?

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep

Without thinking, Bakugo pulled her closer, using his whole body to hold her as tightly as possible and block out the alarm. He could feel her stirring awake and was about to give in to reality when she squeezed him back. Her hands clawed at the back of his shirt to desperately cling on to the last bits of their time together.

Wordlessly, they held each other.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep

He was the first to let go.