A lightning light up the sky and U.A.'s windows mirrored the flash. The rain poured on the pavement like a curtain, blurring everything in a ten meters radius from the entrance. Uraraka squinted but she still couldn't see the school gate. Thunder boomed over her like someone threw a wardrobe down the stairs and let it crumble in the process.
Why did I tell the boys to go home first? She mused, shivering from the rumble.
In her defense, Mr. Thirteen wanted to discuss her performance during the exam, so she knew this would take a while. She also knew the boys had to prepare their luggage for the Training Camp and that's why she insisted they go ahead. What she didn't know was that a thunderstorm would strike today, which just happened to be the day she wasn't carrying an umbrella.
Urakaka sighed defeated and rubbed her arms, as the heavy downpour continued. The school was so big and creepy when there weren't any students around to mute the loud echo of each thunderbolt in the hallways. This wasn't the only reason her heart seemed to have lodged in her throat. Mr. Thirteen didn't say she had failed per se. Her name wasn't with the rest who had to take remedial classes during the Camp after all. But he believed she could have done much better, because she had potential.
If someone had said that before the Sports Festival, Uraraka would have believed them without a second thought. Her teachers in middle school used to throw the word around a lot, but after entering U.A. she came to realize that everyone in the Hero Course had the same potential more or less. Of course those who were so far ahead, it felt like a pointless effort to chase after their backs, existed too.
The Festival made sure to remind her of this fact, exposing her limits to the world loud and clear.
At first she didn't have time to mull over it. The aftermath of Deku's fight and her parents' visit had managed to erase everything from her mind for a bit longer. But the feelings came back with a vengeance with the nominations. Uraraka had chosen Gunhead's office because the experience would make her stronger and for a while she thought it did.
Until the End of Term exam proved her wrong again.
Another lightning flashed, snapping her back to the present. Uraraka jolted and covered her ears from the booming thunder. When she opened her eyes, a person had materialized out of thin air on her left.
Lucky, Uraraka thought with triumphant smile. Maybe they'll be nice enough to-
Her brain froze midsentence when she realized who exactly was there. "W-what are you doing here?" she squeaked, setting some distance between herself and Bakugou.
He turned around confused and Uraraka had the chance to see an innocent face she never expected Bakugou was capable of making, before recognition sunk in.
"I go to school here," he said glaring at her.
"That's not what I asked…"
Bakugou ignored her, deciding to scan the courtyard instead of bothering to reply. The rain wasn't coming sideways like a dust cloud anymore, but it still poured down in buckets. There was no way Uraraka would reach the gate, more so the station, without an umbrella in these conditions.
On the other hand, waiting with Bakugou for the storm to pass was on the list of things she definitely wanted to avoid. She didn't mind his rowdiness, because it could be hilarious at times and the fact she was close friends with Deku wasn't the case either. What really worried her was the possibility of Bakugou remembering their argument after the practical exam, if they were forced to spend time alone together. Several weeks had passed since then, but he was known for keeping grudges.
After his initial reaction though, he was extremely quiet. Curiosity is a strange beast and seeing that only few got the chance to be this close to him, Uraraka grabbed it with both hands. Due to her height she had an odd angle of his head and couldn't study his expression, so she leaned forward a bit.
Bakugou noticed. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked.
"Nothing!" Uraraka said flinching and took a step back.
From the change of perspective, her eyes landed on the umbrella in his hands. The red color seemed to illuminate vibrant in this grey world the rain had created. Maybe her luck wasn't so bad after all.
"Um…" Uraraka brazed herself with a deep breath. "Are you going to the station?"
Bakugou blinked at her confused. "Yeah…"
"Can I tag along please? You see, I forgot my umbrella at home and I can't wait for the rain to stop because who knows how long it will take and-"
"Shaddup."
She did with a yelp. Even though the jab lacked Bakugou's usual nastiness and his eyebrows weren't exactly aiming for the ninety degree angle, his stare still send shivers up her arms like million ants crawling on her skin.
"Fine, you can come," he said. "But let's make something clear. I don't care for your reasons, so stop busting my balls. You're annoying."
Uraraka didn't know how she was supposed to respond to that, so she just nodded.
The raindrops were pounding on Uraraka's exposed shoulder like rocks, as she kept a reasonable distance from Bakugou despite the umbrella fitting them both. She was grateful he even considered her tagging along, so she didn't want to get on his bad side any further. At least her bag was safe under the umbrella, the synthetic surface already damp and cold against her hand. They walked in silence for a while. The awkward tension hanging over them was denser than the humidity in the air.
"You wanna get soaked?" Bakugou asked out of the blue.
"N-No," she said startled.
"Then get fucking closer."
Uraraka found no reason to argue and scurried to his side. Their backpacks clattered together, since Bakugou was trying to balance his bag with holding the umbrella at the same time. The smell of wet grass reached Uraraka with its sweetness as she glanced at her explosive classmate. He had talked first, so she obviously decided to run along. The situation was already nerve-racking, even without having a no-speaking agreement between them.
"So why did you stay behind?" she asked.
Bakugou rolled his shoulder again to adjust the strap of his bag. "The nurse wanted to do some last checkups and shit," he said.
"Oh, I heard you got pretty messed up during the exam."
"Deku told you that?"
Uraraka avoided his gaze with a whistle.
"That fucking nerd," was all Bakugou replied.
Overlapping rings of every size agitated the surface of the puddles they passed, as if the water was boiling from an unseen fire.
Does this mean Recovery Girl used her Quirk on him? Uraraka thought.
If her experience from the Sports Festival could serve as an example, the effects of the treatment were feeling like your whole body was made of cement. From what Deku had told her, this happened because it drained the person's stamina.
But Bakugou's very athletic. He can't have the same reaction... Maybe being quiet is what happens to him.
"Why did you stay behind?" Bakugou asked.
The question caught her of guard and the smile from solving this mystery faded as she looked up.
He squinted at her annoyed.
"I… um…" Uraraka stumbled over the words.
Having actual small talk with Bakugou was proving more awkward than she thought a natural thing should be.
"Mr. Thirteen wanted to talk about the exam," she said.
"You passed right?"
"By pure dumb luck."
Uraraka's entangled feelings resurfaced from the depths of her mind Bakugou's sudden appearance had banished them. The only reason she had cleared the practical test was because that weirdo Aoyama made her lose her cool, not because of her skills. A small part of her wondered if she had obtained enough in the first place.
"I feel like I didn't try hard enough." Her throat was as dry as if she had swallowed sandpaper. "The whole exam was a fluke to be honest."
Just as she finished saying that, Uraraka realized that she hadn't planned to tell her closest friends about this. It was one those things she kept to herself, except maybe from her parents, because she didn't want to dump her worries on people who were in the same boat as her.
So why am I tellin' Bakugou of all people? She thought, adding embarrassment to her already overflowing emotions. He's full of issues, but he takes his goals more seriously than anyone. Deku admires him for that! No way he'll understand…
"Same here," Bakugou said.
It was so faint, Uraraka thought she heard wrong. "What?"
"I'm not fucking saying this again!"
"B-but why? You finished second!"
Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Didn't Deku tell you?" he asked without meeting her eyes.
"Tell me what?" Uraraka searched her memories, but couldn't find anything that could make him react this way. He had been sulking after the exam for something though.
"The reason I passed the exam," Bakugou gritted his teeth before he continued, "was because in the end Deku grabbed my half-conscious ass and fled."
Droplets dripped from the edges of the umbrella, as they stopped in the middle of the path. Uraraka was speechless from the shock. He thinks he lost to Deku?
This didn't seem to be the case when Deku described how the exam went. While Uraraka had the suspicion he might have skipped some parts - because how on earth they agreed to work together when they were on such bad terms - Bakugou had sounded quite cool in the fight with All Might. Maybe having to be saved after all took a blow in his pride.
Her mind raced like a wild horse, trying to process this new information, when a thunder boomed right above their heads.
With a high-pitched scream, Uraraka wrapped her arm around his and huddled closer. Bakugou stiffened instantly. The part of her brain that wasn't freaking out, registered how warm he was despite the weather.
"Let go off me!" His hand was ready to pry her fingers open, but a sudden rush of wind had him clutching at her arm instead. "What the fuck Uraraka?"
Uraraka opened her eyes and noticed the absence of solid ground below their feet. Somehow she had made them both float in her fright.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" she said and deactivated her Quirk.
They landed smoothly in a deep puddle of water. Blood rushed to Uraraka's face along with the cold water between her toes. She had already stepped forward when Bakugou grabbed her bag and turned her around.
"It was an accident!" Uraraka said nervously. "I lose control of my Quirk when I'm scared or too excited. I'm truly sorry!"
Bakugou moved his hand up her bag's strap, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Then learn to control your goddamn emotions," he said serious.
For a moment Uraraka stared back without replying. Then her lips trembled, before she burst into laughter - a dangerous move when it came to Bakugou - but she couldn't help it. It was like a reflex to the absurdity of this situation.
"You're tellin' that to me? A day you aren't yellin' is a day wasted!" she said.
"Huh? I'm still fucking calm!" Bakugou snapped at her.
Uraraka stopped laughing, but didn't wipe the wide smile from her face. "My point exactly."
"That's my line."
"About what?"
"That you can control yourself if you want. You did it at the Sports Festival and you did it now."
It was the first time Uraraka heard him talking about their fight. Sure she had mentioned it a couple times, but always from her perspective. His side of things had never crossed her mind and she didn't have a reason in the first place.
She lost and he won.
This was supposed to be the only thing that mattered to Bakugou.
"I don't know," she said when she found her voice back. "At the Sports Festival I was pretty scared before going in the arena. After that… I guess I was too focused on beating you to feel anything else."
"And now?" Bakugou asked, sounding almost interested.
They were a breath apart, the umbrella casting a red shadow over them. Somehow Bakugou's eyes had a glow of their own, like coals fresh from the fire. It was a soothing sort of flame. Uraraka could count the times she had seen it in the fingers of her hand, but she was embarrassed to admit she had noticed it a long time ago. The space between them grew warmer by the minute.
"You sure you don't have a fever or something?" Uraraka raised her hand, attempting to check his temperature. "You're saying some very weird things today."
Bakugou pulled back slightly, his guarded expression making her realize there was something wrong with this picture.
What am I doing? She thought flustered. When he got so close? Why I noticed just now and why's that important anyway?
Either by divine interference or dumb luck, her bag started vibrating. Uraraka smacked her knuckles on Bakugou's forehead in her hurry to fish out her cellphone.
"For fuck's sake!"
As he doubled over, the metal bars in the umbrella's underside crashed on top of her head. Uraraka pushed them away with one hand, while rummaging through her bag with the other, until her fingers closed around the phone and she pulled it out triumphantly. Deku's name was flashing with white letters in the beat of her cheerful ringtone.
"Yes?" She answered the call, her hands shaking.
"Is everything alright Uraraka?" Deku said worried from the other side of the line. "You're kinda late. Should we come and get you now that the rain stopped?"
Indeed the clouds overhead were breaking apart already, revealing the bright blue sky underneath. Sun rays shined through them like spears, each of them bringing bit by bit the colors back in the courtyard.
"Are you still in school?" Deku asked.
Uraraka snapped back to reality, finally sensing the killing aura next to her. For a moment she wondered if asking the boys to come and save her was an option. On the other hand being alone with Bakugou would raise many unwanted questions that would make the situation even more awkward than it was already.
"You don't have to come. I'm on my way!" she said. "I'll meet you at the station."
"Oh, okay."
"See you in a minute!"
Before the call ended, she heard Iida asking what happened in the background and couldn't help a small smile. Both boys had waited for her despite all the fuss she did, which was really sweet of them. She made a mental note to thank them as long as she reached the station in one piece.
"Looks like the rain stopped," Bakugou grunted through his teeth.
Uraraka took one look at his face and backed away. "Yeah... I-I'll get going then, thank you!"
"Hey, Uraraka!"
"Yes?"
Some sort of battle was probably happening in his head, because Bakugou looked more confused than intimidating. "If you tell anyone about this, I'll fucking kill you."
Without his murderous aura though, the threat ringed hollow in Uraraka's ears. The sun emerged completely behind the clouds, making the damp concrete around them shine with a golden light like from a dream. Her freezing feet reminded her it was all too real.
"I survived your attacks once." she said. "I think I can handle them again,"
"Don't get cocky on me," he said with a grin.
"Or what?"
When Bakugou stepped forward, Uraraka didn't risk it and sprinted downhill as fast as she could.
The slope got steeper in the next few feet though and she slowed down.
Her heart kept hammering inside her chest throughout the rest of the way to the station, while she tried to wrap her head around the whole scene. Bakugou letting her tag along was only the tip of the iceberg. He had done everything in his power to avoid her since the exam, so having a kind of normal conversation was odd in the first place. But even his confession about the results wasn't as strange as what he said about their fight in the Festival. Uraraka had expected all sorts of things except getting what she could only define as a compliment.
He was just tired and didn't know what he was saying. But it didn't feel like that... She remembered the glow in his eyes as they stood face to face under the red umbrella. No! I definitely imagined it! Yeah, it's totally not like that!
"Your face is so red Uraraka-kun. Are you alright?" Iida asked.
"Did you catch a cold?" Deku said. "You're drenched."
"N-No, I'm fine!" she said.
Between trying to keep a straight face and thinking how explosive boys can make her life a mess, Uraraka forgot the results of the exam for a bit longer.
A/N:
*poses dramatically*
Lookie who posted something! *crickets chirping*
Ehem...
I actually wrote this during some extremely dry summer days (not weather relevant AT ALL XD) and here we're three months, three drafts and two pages extra later. I've been writing for years, but this is the first time I sat down to edit something in depth. So that's the reason I'm posting a kacchako fic in the midst of canon izuocha vibes. Maybe I'll get faster with experience haha ^v^"
Shoutout to my RL friend Chriss for beta reading this and for listening to me bitching about it all these months. You're the best! ^w^
For the argument mentioned in the fic, I'll refer you to this post: (msleilei) . (tumblr) . (c.o.m.) / post / 149236126154 / databook-omake
(Just remove all the brackets and extra dots in com. Jeez, I forgot how much of a pain is FF with outside links)
To be honest, I've been waving this omake like a flag ever since I found about it because: 1) Uraraka is more observant than she looks and 2) Uraraka can and will call Bakugou on his bs at this point. My queen is growing... *sniffs*
Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this fic and see you in the next one~
*backflips from stage*
P.S. I can't really backflip, but it'd be cool if I could XD