AN: This chapter contains underage drinking.
Uraraka stared at herself in the mirror of the girl's bathroom with a small dose of admiration.
For the first time since her unfortunate realization that a certain loud-mouthed blonde was in possession of her smutty novel, her brain was actually focused on something other than her undying embarrassment.
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After realizing where her book was more likely at, or better, who was in its current possession, Uraraka hid in her room for the remainder of the night. She refused to go outside for fear of running into him. Or Kirishima, for that matter.
She texted the 'girls-only' group chat letting them know that she was more beat than she had originally thought and that she was going to call it in early but she'd meet them tomorrow at the girls' bathroom at the time they all had agreed on.
She awoke the morning of the dance feeling anxious, tired, and above all...hungry. She had spent most of the evening tossing and turning. Nightmares of her secret getting out and being labeled U.A's resident pervert and having to marry Mineta plagued her. Since she had decided to hole up in her room since Friday afternoon, her stomach grumbled at her, begging to be fed anything.
Uraraka turned to see the time. It was still fairly early, 6:30 in the morning. Surely most of Class 1-A would still be asleep. She could sneak into the kitchen and quickly pour herself a bowl of cereal or something and then sneak back into her room.
She had managed to get to her bedroom door when a mortifying thought entered her head.
Bakugo wakes up super early.
Uraraka's hand froze on the doorknob.
She could be wrong. It was the Saturday after final exams, the first day of vacation so maybe he decided to sleep in a little. That sounds plausible...right?
Uraraka retreated her hand from the doorknob and began worrying at her lower lip.
What should I do?
Her stomach growled audibly in response.
She took a deep breath and then quickly let herself out of the room, stopping in the hallway. Uraraka suddenly felt very exposed outside the safety of her own room.
Okay, Ochako, just be really fast and you'll be fine.
Hurriedly, she made her way to the elevator and pressed the ground floor.
She could hear her heart pounding in the silence of the elevator car.
Ding.
The doors opened slowly on the ground floor and a wave of relief overtook her as she took in the empty common room.
Feeling almost giddy, she walked much more confidently into the kitchen.
I should still hurry. She reminded herself, reaching for the cereal and grabbing a bowl from the cabinets.
Okay, almost done.
Uraraka was about to pour the milk when she heard voices coming from outside.
Her heart sank down to her stomach. Oh no.
Uraraka set the milk down and strained her ears trying to listen.
"Come on Baku-bro admit it!"
"FUCK OFF!"
Her throat went dry. Shit! Shit!
Uraraka quickly ran from the kitchen toward where the elevators were her only thought was to get out of there before having to face both Bakugo and Kirishima! She was halfway there when she heard the front door open.
Human instinct made her turn towards the sound.
Brown eyes locked with red ones.
Fuck!
In a split-second decision, Uraraka bolted towards the stairs and began taking them two by two until she made it to her floor, down the hallway, and inside her bedroom.
Once inside her whole body erupted into a deep red blush. Her breathing was ragged and her heart thundering against her ribcage.
Knock. Knock.
"AHHH!" The unexpected knocking made her scream involuntarily and accidentally triggered her quirk. After forcing herself to calm down she was finally able to orient herself and settle the unfortunate bout of vertigo that always came after using activating her zero gravity. Once composed, she released her quirk, landing with a small thud. Uraraka turned towards her door and looked at it cautiously before approaching it.
She tried to hear past the door and was grateful that there seem to be no noise coming from the hallway. Uraraka gently opened her door just enough to see outside.
Empty.
Confused but relieved, she opened her door a little more, turning from left to right to inspect the hallway but there was no one in sight.
Just as she was about to go back into her room, her peripheral vision caught onto something lying on the floor in front of her bedroom door.
It was her forgotten bowl of cereal. Someone had poured the milk and brought it to her.
Uraraka stood there dumbfounded but the hunger that she had been able to ignore up till then reappeared with a vengeance.
With one last glance into the hallway, Uraraka grabbed the bowl of cereal and retreated back into her room.
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And that's where she stayed until Mina, Tsu, and Momo came knocking at her door. After managing to finally eat for the first time in almost 24 hours and having a very nice and heartwarming conversation with her parents, she had somehow fallen into a dreamless sleep.
By the time the girls woke her up, it was almost 1 pm.
"Chako-chan have you been asleep this whole time!?" Mina asked incredulously.
"Are you feeling well?" Momo asked her, already placing the back of her hand on Uraraka's forehead.
"Huh?" Uraraka said, shaking off the last remnants of sleep.
"Well you said you were going to sleep yesterday a little before dinner, and it's almost 1 in the afternoon now," Momo said, retreating her hand but still looking concerned.
Uraraka let out a loud and long yawn, as she stretched. She turned to walk back towards her bed, leaving the door wide open so that her friends could follow her inside.
"Oh, that." She said through another yawn and gave them a lazy smile, "I'm fine."
"I woke up around 6 am and went back to sleep an hour or so ago, after hanging up with my parents."
Uraraka saw all three girls visibly relax. Their genuine concern was always so deeply reassuring. It made her feel like she had truly found a home away from home.
"So what's up? I thought we were supposed to meet closer to 3-ish?" She said stretching her arms behind her.
"We wanted to see if you needed any help picking shoes and accessories," Mina said already rummaging through Uraraka's scarce closet. Mina pulled out the dress Uraraka had chosen a couple of weeks back and took it out of the bag. She raised her arm up so that all four girls could examine it.
Uraraka shifted uncomfortably. She had been so busy with exams and being a closeted perv (her words not mine) that she had forgotten that she still needed to figure that part out.
Tsu sat down next to Uraraka and held her hand in a reassuring grasp.
"I have the perfect shoes that would go with it!" Momo beamed. Her eyes twinkled with excitement.
"Uhm...Momo-chan." Uraraka started to protest.
"What size are you?" She asked Uraraka, cutting her off. Mina was turning her dress this way and that, face in deep concentration.
"Mmm, Momo-chan, it's really not that big of a...I can...Uhm...I have shoes." Uraraka managed to stumble out.
Momo smiled at Uraraka. "You sure?"
Uraraka nodded as she shimmied down to the foot of her bed, kneeling and peeking under the cover. She dragged out a box of shoes. Her mom had purchased them for her over the summer. Uraraka had protested but her mom had insisted. They were nice and on "super sale" which made accepting the gift a little easier. She hadn't found an occasion to wear them yet and if she was being honest she sort of didn't want to. They were new and she felt bad dirtying them.
"See," Uraraka said as she pulled out one of the silver, ankle-strapped heels and lifted it to show her friends.
"Oh! They are really pretty Chako-chan!" Tsu complimented her. Uraraka smiled.
"Yes, they are much better than the ones I had in mind," Momo said sitting down at Uraraka's desk chair.
Mina walked over to Uraraka and extended her hand toward the shoe. Uraraka gave it to her and sat back up on the bed, bringing the box with the other heel with her.
"Ah-ha!" Mina exclaimed suddenly and she bolted out of Uraraka's room with the dress in one hand and shoe in the other.
The three girls gave each other confused looks, but before anyone could speak Mina had shuffled back into the room, a huge smile plastered on her face.
"I have the perfect earrings!" She said as a manner of explanation. She held up two small, diamond, studs.
"Mina…" Uraraka was starting to protest. They looked crazy expensive. Mina held up her hand.
"Stop." She said closing her eyes, "I won't take no for an answer. I'm not giving them to you, I'm letting you borrow them. I fully expect them to be returned at the end of the night." She opened her eyes, giving Uraraka a satisfied smile.
Uraraka looked at Momo and Tsu, both girls giving her encouraging smiles.
"Okay." She sighed in slight defeat. "Thank you."
Mina gave one curt nod to seal the deal.
"Now that that's settled, grab your stuff and meet us downstairs. We're taking a girls' lunch trip and then heading back to get dressed."
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Thankfully, the rest of the day had gone by without one sign of her explosive classmate. As the hours passed, she let the anxiety of having to eventually see him fall into the recesses of her mind.
Music blared from Jiro's speaker as the girls were in various stages of getting ready. Uraraka was just going to wear her short hair as she always did but Hagakure had insisted on doing everyone's hair. She had just purchased a new curling iron, which made no sense to the girls but no one protested.
Uraraka sat with her back towards the mirror as she could feel Hagakure doing this and that to her hair.
"More wine Chako?" Mina asked her.
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Mina had managed to sneak in two bottles of wine for their little girl's time. "Not enough to get drunk, but enough to loosen up a bit." She had said to the girls, mostly in Momo's direction.
Momo began protesting, "We are all underage Mina."
"Oh come on!" Mina whined, "Look we are all sixteen and most sixteen-year-olds in Europe are allowed to drink a glass or two with their dinner."
"We aren't in Europe." Tsu chimed in as she examined one of the wine bottles.
Momo chewed on her lip. It seemed to be a habit all the girls in 1-A had picked up.
"Well…" She started, making Mina and Hagakure start cheering immediately, "I mean…" Momo turned to Tsu and Uraraka who were both staring at her in disbelief. "My parents do allow me a cup of wine every now and then with dinner so...one cup can't hurt right?" She said raising her shoulders slightly.
"I'm okay," Tsu said handing the bottle back to Mina. "I tried it once with my parents and didn't like it." She said as she headed towards the showers.
"I'll take some." Jiro said, "I'll go get some glasses from the kitchen." She was already heading out when she turned back towards the girls, "How many?"
"One." She pointed at Mina who nodded enthusiastically.
"Two?" She said in Hagakure's direction. "Yes, please!" The invisible girl said as she emptied the contents of her bag on the countertop near the mirrors.
"Momo?" She turned to the girl who was starting to undo her trademark ponytail. "Uhm...yes, please." She said in a small voice, blushing slightly.
"Chako-chan?"
Uraraka had never drunk before. Well, she had a sip of a hot beer once when she was eleven. Her father had left it out and she had gotten curious. It tasted like crap. She had seen plenty of shows online where girls got together for "wine nights" and they seemed to have an amazing time.
The last two weeks had been brutal. And not just academically. Plus, she would have to face Bakugo soon. She knew he wasn't very social but she can't imagine him being able to stave off the full force of his Baku squad who had all been excited about this dance.
I could use a little liquid courage. She thought to herself as she lightly nodded her response to Jiro.
"Okay, 5 cups it is."
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"Uhm...sure. Why not?" Uraraka responded to Mina, as the acid-quirk user approached her and poured more wine into her cup. Despite only having one glass, Uraraka was already feeling the effects of the alcohol.
"Finished!" Hagakure said suddenly.
The girls all complimented Hagakure's handiwork on the anti-gravity quirk user. Uraraka wasn't sure if it was the wine, but she felt her face heat up. She turned to look at herself in the mirror and was a little taken aback by her reflection.
Hagakure had taken her two long strands of hair that typically framed her face, braided them, and clipped them behind her head. The rest of her hair fell in small waves. Uraraka loved her hair as it lay naturally, but…
This looks really good too. She thought, a small satisfied smile breaking on her face. It was different. A good, different.
"Thank you! I love it!" She beamed at her invisible friend through the mirror.
"Of course you do! I'm amazing." Uraraka felt the invisible girl pat her shoulders. "Now, off you go to make up with Mina. Tsu! Come over here!"
She heard Tsu protest as she walked in the direction of Mina and Momo. Jiro was next to them playing DJ on her phone.
"Aaaaaand Done!" Mina said as she sprayed setting mist on Momo's face. "Your turn!" She said looking at Uraraka.
"Okay...but Mina, please. Not too much." She said as she sat nervously on the chair.
"Relax, will you? I know how to please my clients." Mina said laughing in a way that did not settle Uraraka's nerves. Still, she settled into the chair and took another sip of her wine.
"We have about 30 minutes, girls." Momo said over the music, "Tsu, can you help me zip."
"We need to be a little late. You know, to make an entrance." Hagakure said as she bent down to tie her heel strap.
"Okay, then 35 minutes left. Thank you Tsu-chan!"
The girls giggled. They each had two glasses of wine in their system and they were feeling warm and bubbly.
Uraraka finished clipping Mina's earrings in and turned to see herself in the mirror.
What she saw reflected in it, was a beautiful and happy girl. Woman?
The dress she had found was a shimmering blue open-back dress, that flared out her waist. Although she would've preferred to pair it with her black leggings the girls had protested significantly. It seemed a little shorter now that she saw her bare legs, but it still looked good.
She looked good.
Uraraka glanced at her legs and felt a familiar warmth pool in her stomach. Flashbacks of the first time she had taken the time to admire her own body came to her full force.
"You look beautiful!" Mina beamed. "We all do!" She turned to the other girls. And they did. They all looked stunning.
"I propose a toast," Their pink friend said raising her almost empty wine glass. The rest of the girls did the same. Tsu grabbed Hagakure's hair spray bottle and raised it making the girls laugh.
"I am very happy that we got to know each other and become as close as we did this year. It was hard and scary at times," The girls' all sobered a little at the reminder of their crazy first year at U.A. They had more villain encounters than some pro-heroes had their whole careers! "But look at us. We got through it together. We are strong pro-heroes in the making, getting ready to welcome our second year." Mina smiled at each girl. "So before the craziness that I'm sure 2-A will be, let's enjoy this dance to the fullest!"
The girls erupted into cheers and then devolved into a fit of laughter.
They each downed the remnants of their drinks and headed towards the kitchen to rinse off their cups before heading to the school's auditorium which had been converted for the dance.
Uraraka was so warm from the wine and her friends' laughter, that for a brief moment, thoughts of villains or exams or smutty novels or loud-mouthed blondes (especially loud-mouth blondes having possession of said smutty novel and possibly, maybe, discovering that she is a pervert, again her words not mine), was the furthest thing from her mind.
She walked hand in hand with Tsu, talking and laughing freely. Feeling more her genuine, bubbly self than she had in a while.
The loud chatter of students talking and the music blaring became increasingly loud as they made their way to the auditorium.
As they entered the room, Uraraka took in everything, from the decorations to the people.
So pretty! She beamed, allowing herself to feel excited. Tonight was going to be fun! She deserved to have fun.
Her eyes scanned the room searching for her guy friends and landed on Deku first. He was drinking from a cup and standing next to him were Iida and Todoroki. She waved at the trio enthusiastically.
She saw Deku turn beet red for some reason but he waved back as she and Tsu began making their way toward them. Uraraka kept examining the auditorium, trying to take everything in.
A lightness she hadn't felt in a while took over her. Here they all were, doing something so normal. No evil organizations or kidnappings. Just teenagers being teenagers. Happy and carefree and a little shy. The sight warmed her heart and relaxed her mind.
That is until her eyes landed on a pair of piercing red eyes.
He stood across the auditorium and was staring in her direction.
No. He's staring at me.
Their eyes locked before she could look away and Uraraka felt a chill course through her body.
Shit.
She quickly turned away and once more tried to keep her face from erupting into a blush.
She tried to focus on saying hello to her friends.
But she could feel his eyes weighing heavy on her back.
Is he still staring?
Curiosity, like always, won her over.
She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder and found herself staring into his red eyes once more.
Before she could figure out how to feel about it, Uraraka saw him turn away, face as red as hers had been.
Was he blushing?!
