Bakugo

Ochaco tried to smile. Really, she did. But she knew it wouldn't work, not now. And probably not until that day, and for some days after.

Deku would notice, she thought absentmindedly as she forced her lips upwards in the mirror. And so would Iida, and Tsu, and probably everyone. And they'd all treat her like she was fragile again. She felt a flash of annoyance, but it withered quickly as she glanced at the photo sitting on her nightstand.

"Grandpa, I wish I could talk to you now," she whispered. "You always knew what to say to make me feel better." Her vision blurred and her throat choked up. It had been so many years, but she still cried the same way at night.

It was morning though, and she was already late to breakfast.

She stared in the mirror and sighed. Ochaco didn't have the will to try and fix her hair, so she pulled it into a ponytail. She pulled out the dusty box of makeup she only used a few times a year and methodically began the process of covering the giant black circles under her eyes.

Three days. She just had to get through three more days, and then she could start to begin feeling normal again.

She looked at her phone and thought about calling her parents, but she couldn't take up their time at work. Maybe later.

Ochaco got her food and looked over to where she normally sat. Deku and Iida were laughing at something, and it looked like Tsu was there too, smiling and eating happily. They hadn't noticed her yet. Her stomach twisted. She didn't think she'd be able to eat even the little amount of food on her plate if she had to pretend to be happy around them, and she couldn't waste food.

So she looked for somewhere else.

There was one table far back in the corner of the nearest wall that only one person was sitting at. She recognized the ash blond hair and dark scowl immediately. Without really thinking, her feet started walking over to sit with none other than Lord Explosion Murder, who looked to be in a foul enough mood that not even Kirishima was by him today.

She set her food down with a clank, sat silently, and began shoveling food in her mouth. She couldn't taste anything.

Bakugo, for his part, scowled harder.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Eating," Ochaco replied. Her voice sounded blank, even to herself. She shoveled another pile of food into her mouth and tried not to think about the one time that her grandpa had floated a giant cake above her dad's head, just to drop it on him as a birthday surprise. She blinked away tears with the ease of practice.

Bakugo just stared. Most of the scowl was gone and replaced with something like shock, as if he was actually capable of being surprised by her. Ochaco doubted it.

"I can go somewhere else if you want," she said.

His face immediately twisted into defensive anger. "I don't give a damn about you being here. It's just weird you're not with Deku and the other extras," he snarled. "And you look weird with makeup on." His nose scrunched.

Ochaco blinked at him and tried to decide what to say. It didn't feel like it mattered. His eyes got a little wider, but she couldn't fathom why and somehow couldn't even care to try.

"It's exhausting trying to be happy this week. I don't have to pretend around you," she said simply.

"What the hell?" Bakugo leaned back.

She just shrugged. You don't treat me like I'm weak, she wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, she took another bite.

He stared for a little while longer, snorted in disgust, and went back to his food.

"This'll be a fun week," he muttered. "Bring homework or something next time so your excuse isn't so stupid."

Ochaco felt a tiny part of herself relax.

Class was a little easier, since she only had to smile and talk until sensei took over.

"Uraraka, I didn't see you at breakfast!" Iida proclaimed.

"Are y-you okay?" Deku stammered.

"Where were you?" Tsu asked.

Ochaco managed a smile and waved a hand at them in embarrassment. Bakugo had already given her the perfect excuse. "Ah, I've fallen really behind in my school work and need to study a lot this week and probably next week too, so I don't have a lot of free time."

The funny thing was, by the end of the next week and a half, she would probably be even more behind than ever. She always got less focused. Normally her parents could help her, but they were so far away right now.

Deku looked worried and Ochaco bit her lip. She knew what he would say, and it still made little butterflies in her stomach but they were much, much duller than before.

"Well, we can-"

Bakugo's hand chopped down on Deku's head, interrupting him. "You're in my way idiot," he seethed. Deku gulped and moved out of his way. Bakugo caught Ochaco's eyes for just a second, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Ochaco let out a sigh of relief as Aizawa-sensei walked in and began the lecture.

Ochaco sat at the same table as Bakugo for lunch, this time bringing her homework and stacking a large pile next to her plate. She didn't even glance at him as she pulled open the first textbook and one of her many notebooks.

Right now, she didn't hate math as much as she normally did. She couldn't think about anything else when focusing on it.

"You stilf havnd finishfed thaf?" Bakugo scoffed around a mouthful of sandwich. Ochaco glanced up at him and frowned.

"No, it's hard."

Bakugo rolled his eyes and bit off another giant mouthful of food. "You're jusf dumfb as shifd."

Ochaco snorted.

"You sound like you're dumb as shit," she replied. A corner of her mouth quirked upward. It felt wrong, and nearly immediately disappeared.

Bakugo smirked at her and swallowed the last of his food. "But everyone knows I'm gonna murder them in the next exams. Including you." He bared his teeth in a threatening smile. "Prepare to be crushed, Uraraka."

Ochaco glanced up at him and laughed quietly. It didn't feel as wrong this time. Grandpa always laughed.

Bakugo definitely didn't treat her like she was about to break. She'd already seen Iida, Tsu, and worst of all, Deku, look at her like she was made of cracked glass.

Bakugo knew he probably shouldn't taunt her, but he didn't care. It was her fault for sitting at his table anyway. She knew he didn't take shit and wasn't gonna walk on eggshells around her. If she wasn't strong enough to take it she wouldn't have been worth his time.

She looked dead. Emotionless. Sure she looked happy enough around the damn extras, but he'd bet that the makeup all over her face was to hide giant black puffy circles and how pale she really was. The red in her cheeks was fake today.

There was no stupid bubbly smile, all the obnoxious giggling was gone, and he could barely see the determination in her eyes that he'd always seen since they'd fought at the sports festival.

It was there, but it was tiny. And it pissed him off. She was fucking strong, so what the hell had made her act like this? It wasn't Deku, as much as Bakugo would like to blame him, or any of the other fuckfaces she called friends.

But she still took his bait and rose to the challenge, even when he could clearly see she felt terrible. And that determination got a little brighter.

"We need a rematch," he told her, crossing his arms. She looked up at him with giant, surprised eyes, and he felt satisfied. Finally, something real. "You've learned better combat skills at your internship and work study, and I just got a shit-for-brains hairdo and stupid remedial classes."

She snorted again, and it was almost a smile. "When?"

"Dinner. Tonight. When all your extras won't be able to barge in. At the stupid rescue gym, in PE clothes."

She finally grinned back at him, and he smirked. The determination and excitement in her eyes was completely back.

"Fine," she said, then she bent back over her homework. "Then I need to study even more if I'm not going to have time tonight."

Bakugo caught All Might's eye from across the room and snarled at him soundlessly, daring him to do anything. All Might just nodded back and walked off.

Wait.

Bakugo stared.

Did he just get permission to use the gym after-hours to fight Uraraka, from All Might himself?

He looked at the girl sitting across from him at his table. What the hell was going on with her that even the teachers knew about?

Bakugo didn't bother looking behind him to see if Uraraka followed him to the gym. He did, however, look over his shoulder to see All Might standing in the forest on the side of the path. Bakugo immediately changed direction and strode up to him.

"What's wrong with Uraraka?" he demanded.

All Might simply looked at him. "If she wants to tell you, that's her business, not mine."

"Then why are you here?"

All Might's eyes flashed bright blue. "Two reasons, young Bakugo. You're not a hero yet, you're a hero in training. I still need to oversee your rescue attempts, and I'd prefer you not to get in more trouble with the school than you already are. The other reason is to call Recovery Girl when your spar is over, if needed."

"Tch," Bakugo scoffed, turning back toward the gym. "It's not a fucking rescue, All Might. She can handle herself, even if she's all fucked up like this. She just needs to fight."

Everyone thought Uraraka was still going to end up a rescue hero, and they were all damned idiots. He knew better. When she'd faced him and let go of the fucking meteor shower of rocks over his head, her smirk had been exactly as bat-shit-crazy as his. When she talked about training with Gunhead in combat, her eyes lit up like it was fucking Christmas. Rescue Hero his ass. She was a damn Battle Hero, through and through.

When his emotions were a mess, punching and destroying stuff made everything okay. So he knew what to do.

He opened the doors of the rescue center and walked down to the center area, where he'd punched the one teleporting asshole villain who'd taken him. Bakugo clenched a fist. He would never have to be rescued again.

He heard the doors open and looked up at the stairway to see Uraraka walk towards him in the blue PE uniform. There was no happiness in her face but the determination was still there.

"Ready to die?" He snarled with a wild, crazy grin. Tiny sparks popped around his hands.

Uraraka scanned the building once, then looked back at him. "Rules?" she asked.

Bakugo scoffed. "Just fucking fight, Uraraka."

She looked at the tiny explosions around his hands. Should she try for the same tactic as in the festival?

Gunhead's advice echoed in her ear as Bakugo exploded off the ground and flew toward her.

Next time, use his momentum against him. He's smart enough that if you make him float, he could use his explosions to maneuver in the air. You need to trap him somehow, and disable his arms.

So how would you do that?

She crouched low, waiting until the last second to jump and propel herself into the air, making herself weightless a second afterwards. She flew over Bakugo, who slammed a fist into ground and threw himself into the air after her.

Then she landed running.

"RrraaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Bakugo yelled. She jumped again as a huge fiery blast landed where her feet had been a second before. The rocks exploded upward, and she managed to touch a few of the biggest ones.

Another explosion threw her forward into the lake, and she gasped as her back hit the water.

"Come on, Uraraka," Bakugo's face wore an insane smile. "Fucking fight already."

She grinned back. She touched her hands together, and the rocks above him began to fall.

"Dammit, again with the fucking huge meteor shower?" he yelled, blasting the rocks away.

It gave her time to make herself weightless, half-in and half-out of the water. Then she kicked a wave of water at him, and his explosions sputtered. He turned to face her again with a snarl.

One last, tiny rock fell on his head, and the dumbfounded look of surprise on his face made her laugh, really laugh. Which apparently was Bakugo's tipping point. He growled at her.

"Fucking bitch, I'll KILL YOU!" he screamed, and exploded himself towards her. Ochaco waited.

Watch him, and let him come to you.

Almost...

And then Bakugo swung his hands up to point directly at her chest as he barreled towards her. Ochaco pulled her hands out of the lake, which were now covered in giant globes of water, and kicked up and out of the water toward him.

His eyes grew wide as she grabbed his hands, covering them in water too and effectively making him weightless, hanging in the air with her above the lake.

"What the FUCK Uraraka!?" he shouted directly in her face, no longer grinning.

Ochaco, for her part, was smiling so widely it hurt, then laughed. She could feel his hands twitch where she held them, and was ready for the knee that came flying toward her chest. It hit the water, and drew more of it to Bakugo's body. The kick also made them spin slowly in the air, and Bakugo started to look a little seasick. His hands gripped hers tighter. Ochaco felt her stomach turn, but she had to hold onto him. Slowly, the water was creeping up both of their bodies.

"Fucking dammit," he snarled, a little weaker than before. He glared at her.

"What was that, Lord Explosion Murder?" she asked sweetly, with a grin she knew would piss him off even more. "Did I win?"

"AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH FUCK!" he yelled, struggling. He broke her hold on his hands, and she floated away, watching him rotate slowly, all while moving his arms and legs. The water around his hands splashed and bubbled, but there were no big explosions. She laughed again, then cancelled her quirk. She dropped gracefully to the ground, and he dropped headfirst into the water. He spluttered in indignation and began to swim to shore, cursing the entire time.

She sat down and laughed so hard she cried.

Bakugo walked up to her, dripping and scowling harder than she'd seen him do in a long time. "That," he growled at her. "Is never happening again."

It just made her laugh harder.

"Tch," he muttered. He laid down on the beach, crossing his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling that was turning orange from the sunset.

Ochaco wiped the tears from her face, and pulled her knees to her chest, looking at the lake. After a while, the tears came. She sniffed and buried her face in her hands. Her throat closed up and she started sobbing.

"Hey," Bakugo said finally, scowling at her. "What's with you?"

"M-my grandpa died a few years ago, this week." she said, when she could talk through the tears and hiccups. "I'm always a mess for days, but-" she hiccuped, "it's worse now that I'm not home." She thought of her parents, her dad especially, and cried harder.

"You look more like yourself now the fucking makeup washed off," he said. That made her laugh, just a little. Then it was quiet again, except for her hiccups.

Bakugo eventually got up. "Now we're even," he glared at her. "Quit pretending to be strong when you already are. It's dumb."

She looked at him and her mouth fell open. He scowled and the air around his fists crackled and sparked. "And I want a rematch! You'd better be ready. I'm not falling for that same stupid trick again." He stalked off toward the entrance.

A little flicker of excitement sparked in her heart, that had felt so full and flooded with nothing.

She blinked as two things flew and hit her in the head. "Owwww," she winced, then looked at them. An unopened water bottle and an energy bar were sitting next to her.

"Hurry up," he called over his shoulder.

She managed a small, watery smile as she grabbed them and ran to catch up with Bakugo.

They spent the rest of the night working on homework at a table in the common area of the dorms. When she asked him why he didn't work in his room like he normally did, he just snarled at her.

Eventually, the others trickled in. She managed to evade most of her friend's questions, and with Bakugo's glare the rest of their classmates left them alone.

After what felt like an eternity, everyone else had gone to bed besides her. Bakugo had been the last to leave, without saying a word. But there were two more energy bars by the wrapper of the one he'd given her on the table.

She felt so alone, but it was still better than going back to her room. She slowly ate the bars, staring at the wall in silence. She moved to sit in one of the couches, stacking her homework neatly beside her, and laid backward to stare at the ceiling.

She thought back to her fight with Bakugo. He was right, he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, so she had to come up with something else next time or he really would win.

Would her grandpa be proud of the hero she'd become?

A/N: I've had this story sitting around for forever, and figured I'd start uploading it. Hope you enjoy! (And if you like Naruto, too, you might check out my other, much longer story Hidden Inside.)