ii.
At the Point of Ignition
"Legends never die. Relentless, you survive."
Every step Ochako took squelched into a thick layer of muck beneath the shallow flowing water. It sucked at her boots, clinging to her short heels and it didn't take long for one boot to come completely off.
There was a part of her, the part that made sure her hair was trimmed evenly and flipped through magazines of summer dresses, that balked, hesitating for a split second in order to retrieve the article on reflex.
This facet of her personality was smothered by the rest of her a millisecond later, the part of her that was desperate to stay alive. The part of her that drove an armor-plated spike of continuous fear right between her eyes that screamed at her to keep moving.
It reminded her that Bakugo was bleeding out again, that there was some fucking thing stumbling after them in the dark and now was really, really not a good time.
She hopped for a couple of steps, her gait uneven from one flat foot and the other elevated from her blocky heel before she managed to shuck the other one off without the use of her hands.
The mud and filth beneath the water squelched between her toes and soaked through her knee-high socks immediately; but she didn't flinch or hesitate.
Ochako's nose wrinkled and she kept going, firmly entrenched in the head space required of her to survive, to get Bakugo out.
Her pinky finger curled in on her own palm, sandwiched between her's and Bakugo's as she held him fast between her digits. His skin was slick was the nitroglycerin his quirk produced, she could smell the fumes- a sweet and smoky undertone wafting between them, cutting through the aroma of stagnant sewage water.
Ochako's outstretched hand came into contact with a slick, algae-covered wall after a minute of moderately faced-paced walking, and she followed the surface around a corner. It was here she paused, listening as best as she could for the sound of their pursuer before coming to the conclusion that trusting her hearing right now woulds be suspect at best.
"Bakugo-kun," She hissed just loud enough to hear herself speak, and his fingers twitched between hers before he pulled himself towards her with the same limb. Weightless, he slipped into her personal space like it didn't even exist.
It really didn't at this point though.
"I think we're past the surname bullshit Ochako." He said flatly into her ear, his voice breathy and guttural. Her reaction was immediate and uncomfortable, a flush blooming across her cheeks and down her neck.
"Just tell me if you can hear anything." She deflected, turning her face away from where she could feel his breath coming from.
There was a long pause, Bakugo's free hand coming up to grip her shoulder in an effort to keep himself from floating upwards. She tried to mute her flinch when his grip tightened over her dislocated joint.
She wasn't sure if he noticed, it was too dark to tell but he didn't mention it.
He hadn't complained about her quirk yet, and she could only assume that meant he'd rather suffer through it rather than the alternative- which would be trying to manage his own weight by himself.
Ochako wondered if that was a bad sign, and considering everything they'd both been through she came to the resounding conclusion that yes. It probably was indicative of his current condition which by no stretch of her imagination did she need to realize how utterly horrifying all of this was for both of them.
It was a miracle they were even conscious- let alone alive.
"I don't hear anything." He told her finally, and Ochako wanted to relax but there was too much tension, too much pain to manage it.
"We need to put your shoulder back." Bakugo said on the tail end of his other statement, and her immediate thought was fuck he noticed.
And she knew he was right, she knew it, but that didn't make her eager to follow through, or balk any less at the idea of how the mechanics of that maneuver was going to work out with him weightless as he was.
"Your back is bleeding Katsuki." She tried to impress what was for her, the more important matter right now.
He grunted noncommittally at her, and she felt his chest rumble against hers with the sound. Ochako's head interrupted her thoughts, throbbing with a blistering headache on top of everything else.
"Return my gravity so I can fix this." He tapped her shoulder gently, and even that small touch had her skin tightening with discomfort.
Oh, this is really going to suck.
She did as he asked, and was entirely unsurprised when he stumbled into her and she ended up with her arms around his middle as he held his palms to the wall behind her.
He huffed into her neck, hot, moist air brushing her skin and she shivered again for an entirely different reason.
Without her boots Ochako found herself quite a bit shorter than Katsuki, but he didn't seem to care, and she very staunchly said nothing while he collected himself enough to do what needed to be done.
His hands moved, ghosting across her flesh in what she really wished was a different situation entirely.
He turned her around, and she went because her brain was a little too preoccupied with what was about to happen to really be able to enjoy his muscular physique pressed to hers. His leg slid between hers, pressing her core flat to the wall while his other arm came up underneath her armpit to curl over her damaged shoulder, baring across her front in a firm hold.
Her cheek squished into the moist wall, and she didn't miss the way his weight still pressed on her like he was having a difficult time holding himself up- but was of course too stubborn to say anything about it.
His other hand slipped from their mutual hold, leaving her fingers feeling cold and oddly empty until all thoughts were washed away when the hand was replaced firmly against the burned blisters of her upper arm.
She bit her tongue, a copper flavor erupting in her mouth with a muffled cry of distress.
Bakugo made his customary 'Tch' sound between clenched teeth, and the only reason she could hear it through her aching ears was because of how close he had himself pressed into her- like he was trying to occupy the exact spot in space-time that she was.
"Bear with it." He demanded like he trusted that she would, and Ochako only had a split second to brace herself before he twisted her arm up, over, and then in with a wet crunch. The snap of ligaments and the brittle pop of bone back into place was something she felt more than heard.
Her scream would have echoed if Bakugo hadn't slipped his hand over her mouth, and her teeth pierced into the flesh of his fingers without her even realizing.
"Fuck." She registered his voice dimly, her vision whiting out in the dark as fuzzy white dots crept from her peripheral to the pace of the blood pounding in her ears.
When she came back only moments had passed and she sucked in air around Katsuki's fingers when she realized she was holding her breath.
Her shoulder throbbed, but the pain was a dull ache compared to the sharp stabbing sensation it had been before.
"Thanks." She choked it out, more out of a sense of expectation than any actual need to express her gratitude. The word was like a muscle spasm; like Deku and his constant 'sorry'.
Ochako gave herself another moment to just breathe. A luxury she was loathe to allow herself, but considering what was coming next, and how she needed to broach the subject to begin with she figured she was due at least five fucking seconds to herself. Semi-to-herself. Whatever.
"Your back." She finally reminded him lowly, acknowledging the way he twitched against her at the mention of his own injury.
"What of it Round Face." It should have been demarcated as a question, but Bakugo broke all the rules- especially when he wasn't really asking.
"We have to stop the bleeding." She told him with as much patience as she could muster, which honestly wasn't a whole lot. She didn't know how much time they had before that thing caught up, and that was one introduction she didn't want to have. Ever.
It's voice hadn't even sounded human- more like so many voices piled on top of one another and distorted through an old speaker. Like something out of a horror movie.
No thank you.
"And how the fuck are you planning on doing that? Idiot." He declared rudely even as his weight pressed heavily into her back, pressed her into the slimy wet wall that scratched her cheek and stuck to her hair.
"How much control do you have over your quirk right now?" She knew it was the wrong way to ask the second it left her mouth, but she was in entirely too much pain and entirely too exhausted to muster up any regret over it.
"Bitch, the fuck kind of-" He snarled, and she swore she felt his teeth scrape against the sensitive skin of her neck.
"Just answer the damn question!" She interrupted with her own heat, and she ignored the way his palm smacked the bricks above her in frustration. She knew this situation was difficult for him- and not just in the obvious ones.
He struggled enough with admitting to his own weaknesses without having someone else bare witness to them.
"Fuck you Uraraka!" She definitely felt his teeth that time, and she found it difficult to focus on the stilted conversation with his mouth so god damn close.
"I'm trying to fucking help you Bakugo!" She snarled right back, the flush across her cheeks both anger and unwanted, inappropriate arousal.
The fingers of his left hand spasmed over the curve of her hip where it had come to rest, an involuntary reflex and she had to wonder if the answer to her question was not much when she could feel the excessive heat of his palm through the thin material of what was left of her hero costume.
"I told you not to call me that!" His voice was loud, even to her ears; reaching his usual pissed off pitch that she wouldn't have even blinked at if the situation wasn't so dire.
As it was, his usual lack of discretion could very well get them both killed- assuming the thing shambling after them had less-than-honest intentions. She wasn't really inclined to think it wanted tea and a nice chat.
Ochako burst, emotions overflowing in a sensation that was not unfamiliar anymore. Anger, frustration and arousal of all fucking things moving her body without her permission.
She flipped their positions, the change in leverage an old technique she'd added to her kit a long time ago during her training with Gunhead.
He grunted when his back hit the wall where she had just been, and despite their mismatched heights Ochako didn't hesitate for a second to get in his face.
"Katsuki- you are bleeding out- there is a fucking thing- chasing us! Do not argue with me right now!" She became of aware of the fact that her wet, sock-clad feet had left the ground, her quirk active on herself in her attempts to get face-level with the source of her frustrations.
He seemed to realize as well, hands striking out to grip either side of her hips to keep her from floating up into the darkness.
The heat of his palms did terrible things to her insides.
"Fuck." Ochako expressed herself, and now more than anything else they been through was the moment she really, really wished she could see his face; to read his features and try to tell what the hell he was thinking right now.
Instead of his expression she got his body language, or what of it she could feel. Which wasn't too terribly difficult when his hands were sliding over her hips to rest at the small of her back, tucking her weightless bulk into his chest so he could curl his chin over her shoulder in a loose embrace.
Her anger sputtered to an inauspicious halt.
Ochako was very suddenly reminded that Katsuki was also in a lot of pain- the heat of his chest a solid reminder of the fever he was no doubt still in the throws of. She needed to do her best to keep him calm- not escalate the situation by screaming back at him.
"What do you need me to do?" He murmured into her hair, tired and so out of character for him she didn't know how to respond for several seconds.
"We have to cauterize it."
The dark tunnel swallowed her declaration like a hungry beast.
AN: This chapter is super long compared to the others. Over 2k words, and it was originally a whole lot longer but I decided to cut some of it out cause it was getting a bit ridiculous. So I already have some of the next chapter written too!
The majority of this chapter was written to: "Legends Never Die (feat. Against The Current)" which is also the quote at the top. Good stuff! There is even a BNHA AMV for it. I recommend it to anyone who's interested.
As A Side Note: I am utter trash and I wrote a Soulmate AU for this ship which I will be posting for your reading pleasure. I know- I know, I already have a bajillion projects I'm working on but I'm a sucker for the Soulmate AU's and this ship doesn't have nearly enough of them so I made one. No Regrets.
Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter, we are getting close to the end now! Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!