Notes: Sorry it took so long for an update! My dumb ass got roped into writing another long fic. No regrets.
That Thursday night, Bakugou was sitting a table in the library, sketching out some quirk combination ideas with Sero, when Uraraka appeared from behind a bookcase like a ghost. It was almost time to the class's Mario Kart party shenanigans, but Bakugou wanted to get a few more ideas down before he took a break. If he was late to it, then so be it. Sero had already left, claiming that he had other homework to finish before the games began, which was fine by Bakugou. Sketching alone was when he got his best ideas.
He had not counted on Uraraka showing up. Although he wouldn't admit it, he had kind of been avoiding her since Todoroki had picked her as a partner. Not that it was her fault or anything that Todoroki had stolen his first choice right out from underneath his nose. He just felt irritable and awkward around her. He'd been so obvious about how angry he'd been at Todoroki's decision and Kirishima teasing him for it hadn't made him feel better.
But tonight was their night to hang out and he didn't care how embarrassed he'd been by the whole situation. He liked these nights too much to give them up. Besides, he needed to show her that he wasn't afraid of her - and he definitely wasn't afraid of Todoroki. They could put everything from school this week away and focus on the game. Their game nights were separate from everything else.
"Good, Sero said you were here," Uraraka said.
Bakugou glowered up at her. "Why were you asking him where I was?"
He had important work to do before he kicked her ass later tonight. Honestly, he probably wasn't going to make it back to the common area to play Mario Kart with everyone else, but he didn't really care about that. The only person he wanted to play with was Uraraka anyways. Everyone else could suck it.
Uraraka immediately became uncomfortable, which made Bakugou suspicious. "Oh, I, um…"
"Out with it, Round Face," Bakugou said, still sounding a lot more patient than he'd planned. It threw him off.
"I wanted to let you know that I can't play tonight," Uraraka told him.
Okay, the patience was gone, replaced with confusion. "What do you mean?" It was a stupid question, one that had slipped out without him thinking about it first, but he couldn't help himself. This was...their night. They'd been doing this for weeks now. He hadn't realized how much he used it to blow off steam and have a little fun until it was ripped away from him.
"It's just for tonight!" Uraraka insisted quickly. "Todoroki wants to go over some strategies for the match-up and-"
"You're ditching me for Icy Hot?" Bakugou couldn't believe it. He was livid. What else was that bastard going to take from him? His dignity?
Uraraka frowned up at him. "It's for school. I thought you'd understand."
That was what irritated the most. He did understand. Their time at U.A. was the most important thing in the world to him right now. It was why he'd dragged Sero into the library the past two days for hours on end before they could actually practice combining their quirks together. And he had done it right after classes were over today so that he would have some free time tonight still. It hadn't occurred to him that Uraraka might use what was their time to hang out for something else. This was their night. He'd worked around it so that they could still hang out. Why hadn't she?
On the other end, he knew that he was being stupid. None of this was set in stone. It could end at any given point. This whole thing had started out to help Uraraka get over her own motion sickness and tease her in the process, but they were past that. Maybe it was finally coming to an end. Maybe this was it. Bakugou didn't want to let it go though - except that meant he lashed out.
"No, I get it," Bakugou said. "That's far more important. I've got better things to do anyways."
Hurt flashed across Uraraka's face and he almost regretted his words. It was there and gone though before she put on one of those smiles she did to cover up her feelings. "We can still play on Monday, right?"
"Doubtful," Bakugou replied flatly. "I've got a lot going on next week."
The smile faltered on her face. "Oh, okay."
Her reaction twisted something in his gut and had him sighing irritably. Damn this girl. There was something about her that had him making some really dumb mistakes. Besides, he did want to play the game with her on Monday. He wanted to hang out tonight. But it was a good thing that she was taking his match up seriously since he and Sero were going to kick hers and Todoroki's asses.
Glancing to the right to avoid looking at her directly, Bakugou folded his arms across his chest. "I can probably move some stuff around though to make time."
Uraraka's face practically glowed when her smile returned, much more genuine this time. "Awesome! I'm looking forward to kicking your ass twice next week."
Bakugou smirked down at her. "Fat chance, Pink Cheeks."
She waved him off cheerily and bounded out of the library, looking like she was on cloud nine. He'd let her have it for now, but she wouldn't be so giddy next week. Bakugou was planning on wiping the floor with everyone. Sero better be thanking his lucky stars that they were on the same team.
As if the gods saw it fit to punish him further for whatever past behavior it had deemed bad, Bakugou's eyes seemed to always find Uraraka whenever she was with Todoroki. It was suddenly like the two of them were glued at the hip. He knew it was an exaggeration and only seemed like that because he was in a mood about Todoroki taking his time with Uraraka on Thursday night, but it still irritated the hell out of him.
They ate together, strategized in the common area together, did their homework together. What? Were they new best friends now? They didn't have to do all those things with one another.
There were also the times they were gone together practicing their quirk combinations. Each team had a slotted time to work on their fighting styles so that they'd be more prepared when the battle actually began and no one could watch in order to get an upper hand. Uraraka and Todoroki's was two teams after Bakugou and Sero's. They always came back sweaty and red-faced, Uraraka holding her stomach, but she was smiling and even Todoroki looked mildly content.
The only one that appeared to be as equally deflated about the whole thing was Deku, of all people. But then, Icy Hot and Round Face were two of his closest friends and they were basically excluding him. Deku couldn't hide the put out expression on his face when Todoroki and Uraraka looked like they were in a world of their own, although Ashido as his partner was the best possible distraction. With her loud and bright personality, not to mention her appearance, she could distract anyone.
Luckily, after throwing himself hard into working with Sero, by the time Monday came along, the two of them had some damn good moves they could use. Bakugou didn't want good though. He wanted great.
Thankfully, Sero didn't seem to mind the beating that was included when working with him, but he wasn't in the mood for more strategizing by the time they finished their allotted time. "Okay, I need to unwind before bed or I'll going to dream of you blasting me to the moon." He collapsed onto the couch. "Kaminari, can you bring out your gaming system? I just want to play some mindless video games before I pass out."
Kaminari's eyes flickered to Bakugou on the couch and then, inexplicably, to Uraraka, who was, of course, doing her lit homework with Todoroki. "No problem!" He would've bolted out of the room if not for Jirou, who snagged him by the elbow. "Oh, yeah, sure, I could use some help." The two of them left together, even though Kaminari had brought all his gaming stuff out on his own before. Maybe he was going to get a few different games.
To be honest, Bakugou could do with some mindless gaming as well, but he had homework that needed to be taken care of - unless Uraraka was planning on ditching him again and he could do it then. A part of him wanted to slack off now so that he'd have an excuse to turn her down should she want to play. Give her a taste of her own medicine and see how she liked being an afterthought.
And then he made the mistake of glancing in her direction and caught eyes with her. A bright smile appeared on her face and she gave him a subtle thumbs up that made his stomach twist. She didn't need to say anything for him to know what that meant.
It was game on then.
While Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima played video games, Bakugou went to his room to do his homework. It would be at least two hours before he and Uraraka could play anyways, seeing as how she still had her time to work with Todoroki and then they had to wait for everyone to go to bed. He supposed that the latter wasn't that big of a deal breaker, but he didn't want anyone else around. He wanted it to just be the two of them, especially after not being around her for almost a week.
Up until this whole team up thing, Bakugou hadn't realized how big of a fixture Uraraka had become in his life recently. When she was suddenly gone from it, back to how things had been before, he hadn't like it one bit. It felt like something was missing. At first, he'd thought it was Ashido's absence that was frustrating him - because she was always there and now she was with Deku - but then while she'd pop back in, the feeling was still there.
Besides, if he had to hear her talk about that nerd anymore, he'd lose his shit. It turned out that they were huge fans with the same show and Bakugou did not want to hear about how "secretly cool" Deku was. If he did his homework in his dorm, then he could avoid all discussions about anything.
A few hours later, after finishing up homework and taking a shower, Bakugou meandered back into the common area, toweling his hair dry. He caught the tail end of Uraraka and Todoroki saying goodnight to each other after coming back from their quirk work out and ducked into the kitchen before Todoroki could see him. Bakugou definitely didn't hide, but the fridge door did block him from sight.
By the time Bakugou walked back into the common area, Uraraka was plopped down longways on the couch, an arm thrown over her face and one leg stretched out while her other foot dangled to the floor. He sat down on the opposite end, scooting her foot to give himself some space but not shoving it off the couch entirely, and then tossed her a bottle of water. She just barely managed to catch it before it landed on her stomach.
"Oh, thanks," Uraraka sighed, pulling her foot away from him and sitting up straight.
"You look like shit," Bakugou pointed out.
"Hm." Uraraka unscrewed the cap and damn near gulped half of the water down in one go. "I feel like it too."
Bakugou eyed her sideways. "You sure you're up for this?"
"I mean, honestly, I'm probably going to puke, but…" Uraraka gave him a determined smile. "I can't just give up because I'm tired. What kind of hero does that?"
A little snort escaped Bakugou. "A shitty one."
She had already set up the game while he'd been in the kitchen and had then laid down waiting for him. He couldn't help but wonder if she had told Todoroki if she was staying up a bit longer or if she'd acted as if she was going to bed too. Not that it mattered. The fact that they'd been able to do this for so long without anyone finding out was nothing short of a miracle, but he wanted to keep it that way. No doubt his friends would give him hell if they ever found out. He wouldn't be embarrassed, but he liked having something private. Living in the dorms offered him very little of that.
"Besides, I want to play," Uraraka continued as she set up her race car.
Bakugou glanced over at what she'd chosen so far. "Sure you want to go with those wheels?"
Uraraka stuck her tongue out in response. "Bite me."
"Only if you make that your bet," Bakugou responded as he finished setting up his car. She made a little squeaking sound of surprise in response and a smirk slowly stretched across his face. It felt good being here right now, like nothing else mattered except them and this game. He'd missed teasing her. She was so easy to make blush. That was a game in itself.
Before starting the race, Uraraka glanced over at him, blush dusting her cheeks. "So, um, what's your bet?"
"Hm, maybe I'll go easy on you tonight since I'm going to wipe the floor with you and Icy Hot this week," Bakugou mused thoughtfully. She reached over to punch him in the shoulder. It didn't hurt at all and only made him cackle. She seemed to take personal offense to his response, but flopped back in her seat. "Let's see… Something absolutely ridiculous and dumb that I can take personal glee out of…"
"You don't have to sound so cruel," Uraraka grumbled under her breath. If she really wasn't enjoying this though, she wouldn't be here, ready to dish out just the same.
"Okay, if I win, you've gotta dye your hair," Bakugou said. "Blue!"
Uraraka pouted. "I'd look ridiculous!"
"It doesn't have to be the permanent kind," Bakugou replied as he reached over to tap her controller to start the race. He was getting antsy. If she couldn't talk and race at the same time, then she really needed to work harder at this. "You can get the stuff that lasts a week or whatever, the kind people use for cons." She looked doubtful. "It's not that difficult. I'd help you."
"You'd...help me?" Uraraka gawked at him instead of the television screen.
He gave her a flat look and pointed at it until she got the hint and jerked her head in that direction. "Well, it'd be a bonus seeing you go through the five stages of grieving over your hair."
She huffed. "That doesn't sound helpful at all." Right when the countdown hit one, she pressed the acceleration button - but then immediately rammed into him instead of trying to blow past him in the race, which meant that the both of them were in last place. He grunted irritably, taken aback by the tactic, which had her speeding off while his character still recovered. "If I win, you have to make me dinner - for three nights next week."
"Oh, that's a good one," Bakugou said, physically leaning to the left as his kart went around a sharp turn. "I'm an incredible cook."
"So humble," Uraraka responded dryly, only to mutter a particularly inventive swear under her breath when he knocked her kart out with a red shell.
Something warm burned in his chest and Bakugou couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "Oh, careful now, such a foul mouth for a supposedly sweet girl." She shot him a glare. "Better not let our class rep hear you talking like that." She was always so sweet and positive that her random foul mouth always took him by surprise. She would occasionally repeat any swears or insults that she found funny, much to the detriment of Iida and amusement of Bakugou.
"Are you kidding me!" Uraraka exclaimed, nearly jumping off the couch when she drove into the third banana peel in a row. He was dropping them right when she got close to him so that it was next to impossible for her to miss, causing her kart to spiral out of control and crash into a wall. "You're doing it on purpose!"
"Doing what?" Bakugou asked.
Uraraka fumed. "Letting me catch up to you so you can cause me to wreck!"
"I don't let people catch up to me," Bakugou told her.
"You do when you want to be a jackass," Uraraka grumbled.
Laughter burst out of Bakugou before he could even think about it, coming from him so naturally. At this point, if she kept swearing, people were going to know that they'd been hanging out. No one in her group of friends swore or at least they did so quietly. Deku never did. Iida would probably give himself detention if he uttered something even close to a swear. Todoroki would just look and sound awkward if he did. Asui didn't seem the type, unless those "ribbits" were actually curses.
When their races came to an end, two to three, Uraraka was left staring at the screen in utter shock. Bakugou was stretched out casually on the couch, feet on the coffee table and hands behind his head, radiating smugness as he smirked over at her. She had lost, which meant that she had to dye her hair blue.
Uraraka swallowed. "I can't believe…"
"Read it and weep it, Angel Face," Bakugou said.
"I'm going to look so dumb!"
"I'll be nice." Bakugou leaned over and gently tugged on one of the strands of hair that framed her face, bringing her gaze away from the screen and over to him. "You can pick whatever color you want."
Uraraka twisted her lips and gave him a pitiful look. "So it doesn't have to be neon blue?"
He leaned back into the couch. "Up to you."
Letting out a little displeased groan, Uraraka pressed her hands against her cheeks. "You're gonna make me do this before the team fights, aren't you?"
"Well, if you're too scared…" Bakugou shrugged his shoulders.
Whatever anxiousness that had been overwhelming Uraraka about her impending hair color change faded away as a fire overtook her eyes. Bakugou grinned at her, teeth and all. There it was, that fire that he'd seen in her when they had first fought against one another in the Sports Festival their first year. She hid it sometimes, although he wasn't sure why, not when it was one of the best things about her. That was the girl he liked, the one that wouldn't back down from anything.