Notes
Edit: Sorry if you got a notification for this chapter and it didn't work or if you got two emails for this! FFN was giving me problems and I'm not really sure why, but hopefully it's resolved now.
Hello, and welcome all to chapter two! Seriously, thank you all so much for the response to this fic - I seriously wasn't expecting this at all! I'm so happy people are enjoying it, so thank you to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed this! Now for the second chapter, I struggled with this prompt quite a bit - not because I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted to do, but mostly because I am not an action writer hahaha. I tried twice to write out a full battle, but it's just not my forte unfortunately. It's something I'd like to get better at in the future, but with my shoulder injury and how close I was cutting it to the deadline I decided to give up on that idea. Whoops!
Apologies for how short this chapter is, in any case. The final chapter will be much longer! Here's my fic for day three!
Chapter Two - Rematch
It was Uraraka Ochako's third Sports Festival at UA, and she wasn't nervous at all.
Truth be told, she had been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the year. Last year, she had done well, but not well enough for her liking, not even making the podium. Sure, she wasn't part of her year group's "Big Three", but she was confident in her own skills. Working with Nejire and Ryukyu for so long had really helped her grow into herself as a hero, and Ochako wanted to show off what she had learned badly.
This was the last year for her to do that, after all.
It was almost hard to believe that this was their last year in UA, after how long the past years had felt for their class. They had all been through so much together - looking back on their ridiculously intense first year was always a riot - and now…
Ochako shook her head. She wouldn't think about that right now. She had a Sports Festival to do better in, after all.
Luckily, she was no longer under the pressure of having to impress any agency. Every agency in the country knew about her class, and would stop at nothing to get at least someone. Besides, Ochako had already been with Ryukyu for a long time, despite her stepping down off the hero ranking boards. Nejire and Ryukyu both had been fantastic mentors to her these past three years. She wanted to show them what she could do.
She wanted to show her opponent, too.
His red eyes gleamed back at her, clearly excited for the match. It was their second round - she had already made it this far. Ochako wouldn't back down, even if it was her boyfriend she had to fight.
In fact, that just got her more excited.
There was nobody in the world whose quirk she knew better, besides her own, after all.
(She remembers so vividly the first time she ever won a spar against him. It was late, and they were on this awkward cusp on will-they-won't-they with their feelings.
She wasn't sure if that had anything to do with her lucky hit on his face, staggering him back a few inches, allowing her to follow up with a solid kick to the gut.
He ended up toppling over, grounding out words of defeat followed by a very reluctant thumbs up.
On the way to see Recovery Girl, she kissed him.)
Izuku and Iida watched in mild horror as their best friend got ready to face her boyfriend in the arena. Everyone who knew them knew that they often sparred together, but this was different. It was their last year, and Bakugou was not looking to end his winning streak anytime soon.
"I hope they don't take this too seriously," Izuku muttered out, his eyes trained on the field below them.
Iida nodded from beside him, sweat beading on his forehead. "Knowing Bakugou, though," he paused, "this won't end well."
"Don't worry," Todoroki said, sitting down besides Deku. "It'll be fine. I don't see the problem."
Iida looked at him confused, but Izuku began to nod frantically. "I mean, sure, but," he stammered, awaiting the bell impatiently, "I just don't want them feeling guilty afterwards." Izuku's voice was strained as he said it - understandably. His childhood best friend and one of his current closest friends had ended up in a relationship with each other, and now they were expected to fight under pressure, for all the world to see. It was hard not to be concerned for Izuku.
Todoroki shook his head. "They won't," he promised.
"You ready, Angel Face?" Katsuki asked her, smirk on his face. They were both pumped for this fight - they'd wanted this fight since their first fight all those years ago.
Ochako smiled back. "Don't be upset when I win this time!" Her win rate in their spars was actually fairly solid, and it was definitely better than almost anyone else could boast. She knew that didn't mean much, though; her boyfriend was always full of surprises. He would often pull out a move that she'd never seen before right out of thin air, winning the match in an instant when they sparred. A lot of her success was from knowing him so well, but she knew that wasn't all.
That confidence was partially thanks to him.
"I wouldn't be upset at all," he told her honestly, and despite the roughness to his voice, she found his words sweet. "After all, I can't be seen dating a weakling."
Biting back a laugh, Ochako widened her smile to a grin. "No, of course not."
(Katsuki watched as Deku and Ochako avoided each other coming into the classroom, meeting eyes and then quickly looking away. He knew he shouldn't care - and really, why should he concern himself with a loser and his potential girlfriend, ignoring the fact that said potential girlfriend somehow wormed her way into his own heart - but he watched anyway, silently judging.
He hated feeling entranced by everything that stupid girl did. He hated more how much his heart hoped beyond hope that the reason she and her best friend were avoiding each other this morning was because they had rejected each other.)
As soon as the horn blew, Ochako went low, running at him just as she did the very first time they faced off. She knew better than to think he'd fall for this trick again, but she had also learned a lot since that fight. Ochako was aware of her lower center of gravity, and was aware that he was less flexible than she. The best way to catch him off guard was to get him low and swipe him off balance. Once she did that, getting him to float out of the arena would be a piece of cake.
Izuku saw this immediately, commentating to whichever friends were around to listen. Todoroki nodded along, watching as she did just that; attempting to lunge for him but quickly pivoting away from his explosion, putting distance between them again to set up her next attack.
"Their relationship is much healthier than I thought it would be," he commented, enraptured by their fight.
The confession didn't surprise Izuku or Iida at all. Nobody had thought Bakugou would be okay in a relationship, and everyone had also been sure that Ochako and Izukuwould end up together. Granted, that had almost happened, but they both realized it was a mistake before it did. They were better as friends, Izuku thought, and he was honestly relieved when Ochako thought the same despite her feelings at the time.
Besides that, the only interactions that most people had ever seen from them for so long was sparring. Not exactly a romantic passtime, nor is it a good time to get to know someone emotionally. They had really surprised the rest of the class when Ochako had finally let their quasi secret relationship slip, albeit by accident.
"I think I would have a lot of difficulties with this, if I were in their position," Momo, who had come up behind her own boyfriend, stated. "I mean, for myself at least, fighting you would be difficult."
Todoroki nodded along, still staring with trained eyes at the battlefield, where it continued to be a stalemate for the time being. Momo, however, knew better than to take offense. "Sure, for us it would be difficult," Todoroki agreed, "but we're not them."
("Where were you last night, Ochako?" Tsuyu asked her friend as they entered the class room. "We missed you at Momo's."
"Oh, shoot!" Ochako exclaimed. "That was last night? I'm sorry, Tsu," she apologized honestly, hand coming up to rub the back of her head. "It totally slipped my mind. I don't know what's been up with me! Katsuki and I were having a study date. I feel so bad."
At her words, all of the class went silent. It wasn't that everyone had previously been paying attention, but hearing the words Katsuki and date in the same sentence instantly had the whole class curious.
"A date, ribbet?"
Ochako's face turned red fast, the blush spreading down her neck as well. "Er, uh, I mean-")
Kirishima watched with vigor as Ochako kept Bakugou on the ropes, moving wildly throughout the arena. He had watched them spar countless times - quirkless, with handicaps and no handicaps, with odd restrictions - but it was a rare treat to see them go head to head at full capacity against each other. He was sure for most people who knew of their relationship status, this was likely vaguely horrifying, but Kirishima knew better.
"Man, I can't believe he's going this hard," Kaminari confessed. "I mean, she's his girlfriend, right? He sure doesn't act like it most of the time."
Mina laughed from next to Kirishima, obviously also enjoying the fight. "That's because you're dumb," she said with a snort. "The reason they're going at each other so hard is because they care about each other."
Kirishima bobbed his head in agreement, but Kaminari still seemed confused. "How do you figure?"
"Easy," Mina waved a pink hand carelessly. "Neither wants to insult the other by holding back. That's, like, kinda how they got together? It was so romantic-"
"Yeah," Kirishima cut her off, grinning. He knew how carried away she could get when it came to romance. "Get with the program, Kaminari."
(Kirishima was the first to realize that Bakugou and Ochako had gotten together, and despite how obvious it seemed to him, nobody else seemed to pick up on it. Not even Midoriya, who had known Bakugou since they were children. He confronted Mina about it one day, asking her if she thought there was something up with Ochako lately.
He really shouldn't have been surprised at the knowing glint in Mina's eyes, honestly. She had always seemed to enjoy love stories and her friends' romances, in first year going as far as to interrogate all of the girls at their weekly get together in Momo's room.
"I think she's in love," Mina told him in a stage whisper, though there was nobody else around in the common room. "And it's definitely different than when she liked Midoriya. I think she's in love, and I think whoever it is makes her feel confident.")
Ochako stared at Katsuki wide eyed, breathing hard. Her boyfriend stared back with red eyes, a slow grin growing on his face.
"And the winner of this round is," Present Mic paused as his voice rang loud throughout the stadium. Ochako held her breath, not taking her eyes off of Katsuki. "Ochako Uraraka! Congratulations!"
The crowd erupted into cheers in a moment, some taking a few before joining, not quite believing what they had just seen.
Ochako fell to the ground, thoroughly exhausted, a giant smile wide on her face. "I won?" She looked up, back to Katsuki nodded wildly at her.
"You did," he confirmed. "I'm seriously pissed off that I lost, but you deserved it. You outplayed me hard." Compliments from him weren't so rare these days for her, but she still reveled in the praise, a bit shocked.
"I beat you fair and square," Ochako asked again to confirm, standing up on sore legs. She had beaten him many times in the years they'd been sparring against each other, but she had always assumed in a true battle, she would lose again.
Ochako spent much of her first year pining for a rematch against the blond, dying to prove herself to everyone. Dying to show off that she was, in fact, stronger than she was before. Not just some little girl. Once sparring became a regular thing for them, tough, and especially after the two of them had gotten together in second year, her desperation for an actual fight against him waned and waned until it was something she barely thought of.
Now that it had happened, however, Ochako was ecstatic.
"I don't say this kind of shit often, so listen up," Katsuki told her as they walked into the back hallways of the stadium, on their way to recovery girl. "I always knew you could kick my ass."
Two years ago, Ochako would've done a double take, shocked. Two years ago, maybe she would've pestered him to explain or tell him that he didn't have to lie to her, starting a fight. A year ago, she wouldn't have believed him, but would've accepted the compliment as a difference of opinion.
Today, Ochako beamed up at her boyfriend, chocolate eyes filled with warmth. "Thank you," she told him, hoping to convey the amount of emotion she felt in those two simple words. She knew saying things like that - admitting any kind of weakness - was difficult for Katsuki. The fact that he wanted her to know, that he went out of his way to tell her without being prompted…
"You've changed," she said slyly, nudging his side with her elbow, laughing when he flinched away.
"Cut that shit out!" Katsuki grumbled. "I have not!"
Ochako continued laughing merrily, despite how much her body ached. This wasn't where she had seen herself when she had started UA, or even at the end of her first year. She certainly never imagined being able to win against someone like Katsuki Bakugou, let alone be with him the way she was now.
I'm happy, she thought, and nodded to herself. And that's a good thing.
Notes
The ending of this really frustrated me, so I may come back and rework it later. I'll update the notes if I do. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! See you tomorrow for the final chapter of this mini fic!
