It was an awkward evening for Uraraka. She had experienced a plethora of emotions that day and it was wearing her down. She was hurt, angry, sad, and disappointed all wrapped up into one roller coaster in her mind. When dinner finally rolled around, her friends could see that she was distracted.

"Hey Uraraka," Midoriya started, "Are you alright?"

Both he and Iida were slightly worried while they watched Uraraka pick at her food, a sour look on her face.

She looked up at her green-haired friend and tried to perk up, "Yeah I'm okay. I'm just sad that we're going home tomorrow, you know?"

Both Midoriya and Iida nodded a little at her response but they weren't sold on it. Iida decided to speak for the both of them, "Well we're here if you need us."

"For sure!" Midoriya tried to be uplifting

Uraraka broke out a weak smile but before she had time to respond, a commotion began on the other side of the mess hall.

"If you're lookin' to die today, I can make that happen!" Bakugo roared and rose up from the table. His wooden chair thudded on the ground behind him and everyone turned their attention to the boys' table.

Kirishima was holding his hands up defensively, a smile playing on his lips. "Did I hit a nerve?" The redhead pressed the blonde harder.

"Shut the hell up, Kirishima!" Bakugo growled, his hands clenching and unclenching with undisputed rage.

Kirishima rolled his eyes a little and leaned back in his chair with crossed arms, "Hey, I was only telling you the truth."

Bakugo clenched his jaw hard, "I don't need your advice, dipshit!"

Kirishima waved him off with a teasing smile, "Sure you don't."

"You better sleep with one eye open tonight, fuck-face," Bakugo warned maliciously before raging out of the mess hall, vowing to blow something up once he was outside.

Everyone else inside had watched the situation unfold and Bakugo's consequential exit. Everyone began muttering to themselves, speculating about Bakugo's anger. It wasn't unusual for him to explode on Kirishima and leave, but normally the blonde only appeared mildly annoyed when these things happened. This time however, he had seemed to be legitimately upset, so everyone was quick to wonder what had transpired in the moments before.

Iida and Midoriya had noticed Uraraka's unease during the debacle between Bakugo and Kirishima. Obviously, something had struck a nerve with her as the blonde shouted at his friend and both wondered what she was hiding.

When Bakugo finally exited the mess hall, Uraraka turned back to her two friends with clouded eyes. Iida could no longer hold his tongue, "What's going on, Uraraka?"

As if his question had broken her from a trance, she finally looked back to him. "It's nothing, really."

Iida gave Midoriya a sideways glance before Midoriya spoke up, "Uraraka, we're your friends. You can always talk to us."

She bit her lips softly and considered their offer, "It's stupid..."

Midoriya leaned over the table with a pleading look, "Just tell us. Maybe we can help!"

Uraraka didn't take the time to weigh the pros and cons of sharing her problem. Maybe they could help her with it. "I've just been having a hard time with Bakugo."

Midoriya nodded gently and urged her to continue, "Did he do something?"

She shook her head, "Nothing that isn't normal. But I did make a deal with him and it backfired pretty bad."

"A deal?" Iida asked, "What kind of deal?"

Uraraka looked back down at her food regretfully, "Basically, he and I bet on whoever would perform best in the rescue training from yesterday. If he won, I'd leave him alone and if I won, then he had to be my friend today." She picked at her rice some more, "I won, so I pretty much forced him to hang out with me."

"So how did it backfire?" Midoriya asked, his eyebrows pressed with concern. He had a feeling that he might know where this was going.

She shrugged with her response, "It was going just fine up until we started sparring. He's not so good at talking, so I suggested it. I thought I was doing really well, but then it just got… weird."

Both boys were silent in hopes that she would elaborate on her choice of words.

She met their confused gazes before sighing and continuing, "He knocked me down, so I kicked him in the legs and knocked him down too."

"And that's weird?" Iida wondered with freshly crossed arms. Clearly, he was struggling to follow what she was laying out for them.

"No," Uraraka responded, "It was weird when he fell on top of me."

Her two friends blinked at her with blank expressions. Midoriya was trying to work out her main point, "So he just fell on you and that was it?"

She groaned frustratedly, "Yeah, I know it doesn't sound bad but it was super awkward! After that, I just ran away and that made things a thousand times worse."

Midoriya twisted his mouth in thought and pondered her problem, "Did he say anything to you?"

She frowned, "I went to talk to him about it and he just blew me off, as usual. I guess I really was just wasting my time trying to make him into my friend." Her tone was deflated and she appeared genuinely bummed out by the situation.

Iida and Midoriya digested her words for a few moments, but eventually Midoriya decided to speak up. "Kacchan is not an easy guy to get along with. He's rude, harsh, and can be an all around jerk-"

"Not to mention prideful." Iida cut in.

"Yes, he is," Midoriya took back control of their conversation. "But he's got a good streak in him, too."

"I know that," Uraraka sputtered, "He just never uses it! It's so annoying. Why is he so hard to get along with? It's like he intentionally makes everything difficult."

Midoriya shrugged at her, "If you really want to be his friend, then you can't let him push you around anymore. He'll respect that and Kacchan only makes friends with people he respects. Kacchan only shows his real side when he's super mad."

Uraraka smiled half-heartedly at the all-for-one user. She wished she had brought this to him sooner than now. If there was anyone that could help her understand Bakugo, it was Midoriya and his advice was already helping her. "You're right," She replied with a new burst of hope. "Thank you, Deku! What would I do without you guys?"

Both boys laughed at her compliment and thanked her before they moved on from the subject and finished their dinner.

…

Their final day of camp was coming to a close and the sun was drifting downward, reflecting orange and red rays off the lake and coloring the camp in a warm hue. A certain brunette had just given herself the pep talk of a lifetime and was on the hunt for a grouchy teenage boy. 'Don't let him walk all over you, Ochaco! Give him a piece of your mind!'

After stomping around the camp for the better part of an hour, she saw him emerging from the bath house with his redheaded pal, Kirishima. She had heard their banter first and she began marching up to the both of them.

"Hey!" Uraraka touted as she came up to them, "We gotta talk!" She pointed an accusing finger at Bakugo.

"The day is over," Bakugo snarled and gestured to the lowering sun, "The bet's off."

She fumed and stuck out her bottom lip a little bit, "The bet is off when I say it is. Right now, I say it's still good. Now get off your high horse so we can talk." She was proud of herself now. A burst of courage coursed through her.

Bakugo frowned irritably, "Or what?!" He barked in reply.

"You don't want to know." She warned, her tone low and daring. "Now shut up and listen."

Bakugo was miffed by her newfound tenacity. The spunk that had been missing from her since this morning was now refreshed and back in full swing. He observed her as she planted her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed at him.

"I don't like to use foul language but," She tucked her chin higher into the air, "You've been an ass all day and you were supposed to be nice to me."

Kirishima glanced between the blonde and the brunette awkwardly, "Should I leave?"

"Shut it," Both Uraraka and Bakugo snapped at him, their angry eyes never leaving each other.

Kirishima clamped his mouth shut and tried to look anywhere else in an effort to give them some space but the air was suddenly rife with the aura of strong personalities.

"Not only were you a jerk about hanging out with me in the first place, but you were an even bigger jerk when I tried to talk to you about it!"

Bakugo tensed his shoulders and spat back proudly, "There was nothing to fuckin' talk about! You're the one who made it so damn weird! I have nothing to apologize for."

"That's rich coming from you," Uraraka folded her arms, "You didn't hold up your end of the deal and you don't want to be accountable for it."

Bakugo sneered at her, his eyes blazing with fury, "You think I'm full of it? You ran away and then came crawling back wanting to talk about it like we're some damn soft-ass girls. I'm not one of your stupid friends and I don't fuckin' 'talk' about shit. I'll say it one more damn time, so you'd better listen; I don't want to be your friend, so piss off!"

Uraraka felt the sting of his words, but forced herself to keep her momentum, "Well, I don't care what you want because I'm done letting you push me around. I'm not letting this go!"

Bakugo felt a surge of anger wash over him and he made a threatening step toward his brown-haired adversary. He held up an open palm at her, daring her to continue her lecture. "Fuck off unless you want to die."

She didn't even blink at his threat, still standing proudly with her chin up and her arms crossed. Her eyes burned with determination. It felt like the whole camp was holding it's breath while they glared at each other, daring the other to look away.

"Okay…" Kirishima interjected carefully, "I think you guys can safely call this one a draw."

Both Uraraka and Bakugo's eyes snapped over to the uneasy redhead. Their displeasure was now centered on him as he tried to dispel the animosity. "Why don't you guys take a beat and talk it out again later?" He looked back and forth between them, "Possibly once you're calmer?"

Uraraka sniffed at the pair of boys and turned on her heel to march away. She didn't look back as she warned the blonde, "Heed my words, Bakugo. I'm going to win this one."

He almost shouted a snide response, but Kirishima grabbed his shoulder to silence him, "Dude, just let it go for now."

He hadn't felt this fired up in a long time and Kirishima just wanted him to let it go? "Let me the fuck go!" Bakugo leaned away from Kirishima, gruffly moving the hand off his shoulder. "Who the fuck does she think she is? That stupid-"

"Alright," Kirishima interjected on the would-be rant, "I think that's enough for tonight. We all leave in the morning, so we should probably go and pack, right?"

Bakugo glared at his friend but listened to his reasoning. Before Kirishima had another chance to speak, Bakugo was already marching away, a scowl on his face and bitterly barking insults back at him.

Kirishima watched as Uraraka disappeared from their sight and briefly wondered what had changed within her. Earlier that day she had seemed downtrodden and distracted, but it was like a switch had flipped and she now had her confidence back. It took some guts to call out Bakugo on just about anything, so he admired her renewed tenacity. Maybe this would work out for her. God knew that Bakugo was in serious need of a more sensitive friend.

…

'I can't believe that worked!' Uraraka beamed to herself once she was out of the eyesight of Bakugo and Kirishima. After such an annoying day, who would have thought that all it took to deal with Bakugo was a little bit of courage and a hell of a pep talk?

"How'd it go?" Midoriya was perched on tree stump outside her cabin, worry written on his face.

Uraraka pumped her fist victoriously, "I think it worked! He got all mad but he actually told me what he thought. You were right Deku, it takes a whole lot of anger to get Bakugo to tell you how he really feels."

Midoriya chuckled at his friends cheerfulness, "Glad I could help."

She punched the air excitedly, adrenaline still pumping through her, "He even admitted that today was weird for him too! Of course, he gave me an earful about not wanting to be my friend, but that can always change."

Midoriya smiled softly, "I still don't understand why you picked to be friends with Kacchan of all people. Wouldn't it be easier to be friends with someone else?"

Uraraka giggled at his observation, "Silly Deku, it's not like that. It's about the challenge. A pro hero needs to be able to handle tough situations right?" She continued when she saw Midoriya nod in agreement, "That also includes difficult people. I don't know of anybody else more difficult than Bakugo, so I think it'll be fun to make him my friend. Besides, there isn't a greater challenge than trying to tame a lion."

Midoriya could help but laugh at her analogy, "That's a great way of putting it. Just keep in mind that Bakugo will go to great lengths to avoid you now."

Uraraka shrugged proudly and landed her excited hands on her hips, "You just wait and see, Deku. When the new school year starts, I'm going to be even stronger and I'm going to need a lot of strength to take that guy on."

Midoriya nodded in agreement, but he couldn't bottle his concern. While he admired Uraraka's courage and her drive to succeed, he couldn't help feeling like she was fighting a losing battle. He had known Bakugo since they were kids, and the guy has never changed. He was always quick to anger and even quicker to put down his opponents. Bakugo's bark wasn't any fiercer than his bite, they were equally fierce and both easily bring down anybody who threatens his status.

Bakugo was a guy who didn't fight for the sake of fighting, but instead fights for his own honor and pride. His only redeeming factor was his desire to be the top contender, but that came with the downside of stepping on whoever he needed to in order to get there. If someone isn't going to aid his ultimate goal? He throws them aside with little to no regard for their feelings. Midoriya was worried that Bakugo would eventually see Uraraka as one of those people and inevitably hurt her with his cruel resolve.

"I just want you to know that I still think this is a bad idea," Midoriya commented. "Kacchan is strong and determined. He wants to be number one, so he isn't going to want any distractions."

Uraraka dusted off his comment, "I know that. If he wants to get stronger, then we already have something in common. I'll help him get strong and he can help me."

Midoriya was mildly hurt by her reply. He'd always thought that he and Uraraka would get stronger together but lately, she had shown little interest in training with him. It was dawning on him now that she might be looking to train with someone new and that stung. "It's your decision, but I just wanted to warn you."

She beamed at him, "Thanks Deku! You are such an amazing friend, you know?"

Those words stung him even more.

Author's Note:

Hello guys! Sorry I didn't get an update out to you yesterday. I probably should have told you guys in my last update that Fridays are the only day that I'm too busy to write. So for future reference, I will not be able to post updates on Fridays.

Anyway, I hope this chapter clears up some stuff for you all. The next chapter will be the final one at the camp and then after that, things will really begin to pick up. I hope you are all still enjoying this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I really love hearing from all of you, so I'm getting quite excited for the chapters to come. Thank you for all your support!

I'll see you guys soon!

~NumberSixteen