NsBAA Tooru

Just a note that while making this chapter I did not bother to make sure what I know about working out was correct. I was an athlete, but building up muscle was never a priority, just improving my skill at the sport was.

also holy shit, I wrote this like two months ago and assumed that I had posted it, turns out I didn't so whoops.

Tooru was working hard and exhaustively in the gym inside U.A. It was a rare time as the gym was empty except for floating clothes which were lying on one of the benches as she lifted one of the bars which only had some of the smaller weights on both sides.

It was embarrassing, as working out wasn't exactly something she knew much about except that you were so supposed to do the same thing a lot for eventual progress.

She probably should've asked one of her classmates for advice, but she wanted to suddenly surprise them with some increased strength during one of their Hero Classes. She'd actually applied to Gunhead for work studies and had been accepted, but from what Uraraka told her, she would need more stamina if she didn't want to just faint during her time there. She had some good stamina, she was still of the hero class after all, but it was always good to go beyond what might be necessary, especially since she wanted to make sure she impressed him.

She'd been in the gym for over an hour and only did a set of 10 twice. It was pathetic, but without knowing the safest way to work out she couldn't bring herself to push herself.

She took the weighted bar off the stand to start another set when-

"Is that seriously all you can lift?" She squealed and a hand grabbed the bar before it could fall and set it back safely allowing her to sit up to find out who walked into the gym.

It was thankfully not any of her close friends. That being said, it was also the person most likely to deride her and make her feel more ashamed at her lack of strength.

"Eheh...ehehehe. H-hey there Bakugo-kun. Didn't hear you come in."

She was a little surprised he even noticed her given his general lack of interest in his surrounding and even moreso that he walked up to her. She'd always assumed that with his uninterest in other people he hadn't even known she existed, though the only proof of otherwise was that Kaminari said that Bakugo thought she was flighty or something. And that his usual nickname for her was Uniform or Airspace.

He looked at her like she was stupid, which was either because of her words or because it was becoming his default expression with everyone in the class.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Working...out?" She tipped her unseen head to the side.

He rolled his eyes. "No shit. I mean why are you here alone. That amount of weight might be pathetic but lifting without a spotter is pretty stupid, especially for someone like you Uniform."

She ignored his nickname for her despite the fact she was actually wearing a tank top and workout shorts. "Um, well I kind of wanted to be able to show off my progress and surprise everyone..." She couldn't help but talk nervously. Bakugo was always pretty handsome, but his explosive personality and vulgar way of speaking sort of scared her without anyone else around. This was already the longest exchange of words she's had with him.

He sighed in aggravation. "It ain't smart or safe Airhead. If you want to work out alone, find some tiny-ass dumbbells or just do fucking push ups, not lift a barbell. If you want to lift, just ask fucking Tailboy for help. It's not like he'd fucking mind staring at your floating clothed ass."

She was pretty sure her blush was actually visible by this point. Being...scolded? By Bakugo was embarrassing, but thankfully he hadn't brought up her lack of strength as much as she feared. That being said, the Ojiro comment along with mentioning her ass was unappreciated and embarassing.

"But...aren't you alone?" She asked curiously.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not lifting weights. And I know my limits."

She coughed awkwardly. That made a lot of sense.

"So how long have you been here exactly?"

"Ehehe...um...about half an hour."

"And you've done how many exactly?" He said dryly.

She told him the amount and he could only close his eyes and sigh loudly in more frustration, which was odd as it wasn't as if her exercises concerned him. She felt embarrassed at his reaction, yet thankfully enough, not to the point where she wanted to cry, which is likely due to his subdued reaction(something that was not at all what she expected from him).

He walked behind the bar and pushed her so she was lying down.

"Ah! What was-"

"Next time ask fucking Tailboy or Kirishima to spot you. I ain't messing with my schedule a second time."

It was looking at his eyes which pointed at the general area of her own eyes that she realized why he sounded frustrated.

Not wanting to aggravate him and make him shout, she began her third repetition.

He huffed again in what felt like almost a growl. "For fucks sake. Fix your breathing. You barely started and you're already shaking. In while you lower, out while you lift. Don't hold your breath and don't breathe too loudly. If it gets too hard to put back I'll do it for you."

It didn't take long for her to realize that having someone around made her feel safer and surprisingly comfortable. Oddly enough Bakugo seemed to try refraining at insulting her, instead pushing her to lift properly in his gruff tone each time she did it wrong.

She'd lost count of the amount of repetitions she did under Bakugo's eye. Thankfully he seemed to be counting for her and stopped her accordingly. He handed her a spare water bottle which she promptly chugged down.

She felt bad at interrupting his own workout and drinking some of his water, and she wanted to offer to watch him like he did to her, just to be fair. She just wasn't sure how to offer in a way he would accept, or even if she would actually be of any help.

He narrowed his eyes at her which made her freeze. He scanned her clothes which made herself conscious and reached out to squeeze her wrists and arms.

She flinched but was too tiredly to stop him or even yell in surprise.

"B-Bakugo-kun stop that!" She couldn't rip her arms away and was surprised when he let go, nearly falling off the seat into the ground.

"You had too much trouble lifting for someone who isn't fucking skin and bones. Instead of sneaking off to exercise on your own find a fucking partner so you can stay consistent and build up some muscle. You've done enough for today, unless you want to do push-ups in your room or something. Fix your diet too."

"I'll...do that?"

He sneered, but didn't say anything out loud. He did mutter something about Air and something being Flighty, but she couldn't make it out as he walked over to the pull-up bars and started his exercises.

"Uuuu..." she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

She gathered all her stuff, but remained to watch Bakugo a little longer, even though she felt like running away after her poor showing.

She watched as he slowly and casually pulled himself up the bar, muttering numbers all the while. Unlike her, he didn't have any visible trouble, and it really seemed as if he could do it for an entire day.

"E-erm, Bakugo-kun?" He gave no indication he heard her, so she decided to just continue. "Uh, just wanted to say thanks for helping me, sorry I kept you up. Next time I'll ask Ojiro-kun, so don't worry!"

He still didn't change from his routine, leaving her to awkwardly cough out a breath of air into her hand.

She walked over to the door and looked back to Bakugo who, hearing the door open, looked over and nodded before looking straight and continuing.

Tooru jogged over to the dorms, noting to herself to just ask Uraraka or Ojiro to work out with her next time. If Bakugo of all people lectured her on needing a partner, then it might as well not be worth it to try to surprise anyone.