To the surprise and joy of the others, Katsuki announced that he would prepare dinner that day, with the help of Tsuyu and Sato in the process. Once dinner was ready and served, he sat down in his usual spot in the corner of the sofa. After a while, Kaminari and Jirou also joined him on the couch, and to his luck, Momo sat next to her friend, that is, next to him, allowing them to hold a conversation without anything seeming out of place. Although in reality, all Katsuki wanted was for both of them to return to his room to continue discussing the project. If they exchanged a couple of kisses in the process, that would be a different story to tell.
Unfortunately, it couldn't be that way. Just as they were about to leave, Kaminari mentioned that he needed help with math, and Sero seconded him, and before Katsuki realized it, five other people joined in. Just when he was about to tell them with all his kindness to go to hell for being irresponsible, Momo agreed to help them and immediately apologized to him, promising to make up for the lost time later.
On the one hand, he felt bad and somehow betrayed, but on the other hand, he decided not to miss the opportunity and joined the study group to help everyone complete the assignment on time (so he could spend more time with her later). In the process, they had some disagreements in their teaching methods: he was the type to be direct with one or two swipes with newspapers, while she tended to be more patient and beat around the bush, but they managed it. Momo managed to help Kaminari solve some exercises on his own, while Katsuki got Kirishima to memorize some formulas with a newspaper in hand.
From time to time, Momo would look at him disapprovingly, but he would just shrug and wink at her in response. At some point, he passed her a note in which he wrote that she looked very cute when angry. She ignored him for the next five minutes as punishment, but it had been worth it for the blush he had caused her.
As they progressed, the room gradually emptied until only Kaminari, Mina, Momo, and he were left. Seeing that she had everything under control, he decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water and almost had a heart attack when he saw the mess it was, despite the fact that he had left it spotless when he finished cooking.
"I won't cook for them again for a month," he promised himself as he searched for his apron and tied it on. First, he took a photo of the mess they had made. Then, he played music on his phone and connected his headphones via Bluetooth. Since most people had already left, it wasn't worth causing a scene and making them clean up. However, once in his room, he would send that photo to the group and tell them that he wouldn't cook for them again if they continued to leave such a mess in his kitchen.
Katsuki was already halfway through the dishes and listening to the best part of the song 'Eye to Eye' when he felt arms wrap around him from behind and something soft caressing his cheek. He shivered and, without caring that he was wearing rubber gloves, he grabbed the intruder's wrists and pulled away.
"Oi, what the heck do you think you're doing, Spar...?" His anger dissipated in an instant when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you."
Momo nodded and smiled nervously. Katsuki then remembered that he still had her wrists in his grip and released her immediately, looking for some excuse for his rudeness.
"I... It's just reflexes," he apologized, quickly taking off his headphones to leave them next to his cell phone.
"It's okay, it's not a big deal. I'm the one who should apologize for appearing out of nowhere," she murmured, her gaze on the floor. "So, I apologize for my recklessness. It wasn't my intention to scare you."
"One, you didn't scare me, you surprised me," Katsuki replied. Momo rolled her eyes and smiled again at his response. "And two, as you said, it's no big deal," he added. After thinking for a moment, he gave her a kiss on the forehead before turning around to find something for her to dry her hands. When he found a towel, he turned back to her. "Here, use this to dry your hands."
"Thank you," she said, taking the towel and drying her hands. "Anyway, I'm really sorry for intruding. I just wanted to say hello, not make you feel uncomfortable."
"I know, but next time, start with a 'Hello, Bakugou-san.' I almost hit you with a ladle thinking you were Sparky," he replied with a wry smile.
"And why would you think I'm Kaminari-san?" she asked with a curious smile. Almost reflexively, Katsuki smiled back before speaking.
"Both him and Pinky have the bad habit of clinging to my back when I let my guard down, and it's horrible because they latch on like leeches, and I have to force them off me.
"That does sound like something they would do, yes," she laughed. "I'll keep that in mind the next time I want to say hi."
"Yeah, you should," he muttered in response, not knowing what else to say.
Both of them continued to look at each other in silence, with a faint smile on their lips, unsure of how to continue the conversation.
"So... What are you doing here?/Do you need help with that?" they said at the same time. They both looked away, embarrassed to have spoken at the same time.
"You go first," she offered.
"Alright. What are you doing here? Besides coming to say hello and all that." Before she could respond, Katsuki raised an eyebrow and smiled teasingly. "Don't tell me you came for a goodnight kiss, because that would be way too cliche, princess."
She raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Not exactly, but I wouldn't mind if that were the result of our conversation," she replied with a sly smile.
Katsuki felt his heart beat faster at her words. "This girl..." he thought with a smile, feeling the spark that had ignited that afternoon grow a little more in his chest.
Katsuki nodded in response and went back to washing the dishes. Without asking, she also grabbed an apron and a pair of gloves to help him. As has rarely happened, he didn't complain about the help.
"So, what does your highness want to talk to me about?" he asked as he handed her one of the plates to dry with the towel.
"I... I wanted to talk about us," she replied with shyness.
Katsuki froze for a moment. Just the thought of how badly the conversation could end wiped the smile off his face and made anxiety replace the happiness he felt a while ago. He tried to maintain a neutral expression and tone as he continued washing the rest of the dishes.
"Us?" he asked, in case he had misheard. She nodded again, looking more serious, which increased his anxiety.
"Yes. I wanted to know exactly how far we'll go with this fondling thing."
Katsuki almost dropped a plastic cup when he heard her. "Fondling? She can't be implying what I think she's implying, can she? Can she!?" He blushed at the mere possibility and looked at her in surprise.
"What are you trying to tell me by that, Princess?" he asked, hoping it was a misunderstanding.
She, unaware of his internal panic, put one of the plates away in the kitchen cabinet.
"Well, I want to know where we're going with all these kisses and hugs. If we'll keep it like this or if we'll try something more," she replied simply, storing some glasses.
"Do you want to... try to go further?"
"Yes. It would be ideal, wouldn't it?" she said casually, drying a spoon, oblivious to how red Katsuki was. "Wouldn't you like to do it?"
As he remained silent for a while, she looked at him and was surprised to see him staring at the dishes with a completely red face. Confused by his reaction, Momo mentally reviewed what she had said and instantly blushed, thinking about how her words might sound in a very, very different context from what she was trying to communicate.
"No... I don't know. Wouldn't that be skipping a lot of steps?" Katsuki finally replied. This time, since he was focused on the dishes, he was the one who ignored her internal panic. "I mean, at least, let's go for a coffee first, right?"
"Oh my goodness," she muttered, as red as a cherry. "I-I wasn't referring to that kind of thing, Bakugou-san!"
Katsuki shook his head.
"You don't have to try to deny it, it's okay," he continued, still not looking her in the eye out of embarrassment. "After all, we're young, and we have curiosity about some things..."
"Yes! I mean, no, that's not what I meant, really. I just expressed myself wrong," she explained again. Then Katsuki stopped pretending to wash an invisible spot on a plate and looked at her, his face as flushed as hers. "I... I meant if we would only behave like a couple with the kissing and hugging until.. a certain point, or if we'll try to be a real couple, do you understand?"
She left the door open for him to speak, but he did nothing more than nod, swallow hard, and continue washing the dishes. She followed his lead, but kept talking.
"I... I know I'm not anyone in your life to ask for something like this. After all, we've barely talked these years, and even though we've spent more time together recently, so I know that an evening with... spontaneous kisses between us doesn't mean anything," she explained, feeling more embarrassed as she spoke. "But I was thinking that maybe if we spend more time together, maybe..."
Although she started with a firm voice, it gradually turned into a mumble until she didn't know what else to say. The more she thought about what she was saying, the more foolish she felt. Maybe she had just made him uncomfortable again, and he was only listening to her out of politeness. Just thinking about it made a lump form in her throat. Maybe she should have stayed quiet and pretended that nothing had happened over the next few days instead of going and ruining everything so quickly.
"And maybe what?" Katsuki asked in a whisper, encouraging her to continue.
Momo was tempted to say it was nothing, just a silly idea, and then wish him goodnight to go to sleep, but then she looked into his eyes again. He seemed so genuinely interested in what she was saying that she couldn't bring herself to lie to him in the face like a coward.
"And maybe we'll end up liking each other beyond just attraction, I mean," she finally said, attentive to his reaction.
Katsuki blinked and nodded, assimilating the information. Then he looked away, and Momo felt hopeful as she saw him smile. It was a small smile, but it meant a lot coming from him.
"I really like the idea," he replied. Momo felt her heart beat faster when he looked at her with that look full of seriousness and affection. "I feel comfortable with you, but I also feel a kind of spark that I haven't felt before, and I'd like to find out what it's all about," he frowned upon hearing his own words. "I mean, I want to try getting to know each other better to confirm it, not that I want to use you as a test girlfriend or anything like that. I don't know if I'm making myself clear."
"If you put it that way, it does sound like we just want to experiment on each other," she said. This time, Momo frowned at her own words. "Although I don't see this as some kind of experiment either. It's just that... you could say that I also feel comfortable enough with you to give it a try."
"Really?" he asked. Once he handed her the last clean plate, he took another towel to dry the countertop.
"Yes. I feel that if we get to know each other more and get deeper into this feeling, it could work," Momo smiled excitedly as she took off her apron and gloves. "And who knows, maybe one day we'll discover it was 'love' that was inside us that made us take the first step."
"Or desperation and the heat of the moment," he joked as he removed his gloves and apron. She waved off the suggestion, not taking it too seriously. "And just so you know, I know exactly which song you're referring to. I was listening to it before you arrived."
"Aw. Maybe that means if we're meant for each other after all," she hummed, wrapping her arms around his neck with a flirty smile. "Wouldn't that be cute to think about?"
"It's cute, yes, but..." he muttered, wrapping his arms around her waist. He tried to say something flirty in response, but could only laugh and look away.
Momo looked at him suspiciously.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Sorry, it's nothing," he laughed, biting his inner cheek. "It's just that I still can't look you in the eyes after you suggested we become friends with benefits without realizing it. It's... just too much, you know?"
Momo blushed and hid her face in his shoulder, embarrassed.
"Please, don't mention it again. I want to throw myself out the window just thinking about it."
"You know, Princess, I don't think that's a way to ask me, because now I just want to tease you more," he murmured in her ear before kissing her on the cheek, enjoying how she blushed even more. He knew he probably didn't look much different from her, but he didn't care right now.
Then, she separated from him, crossed her arms and looked at him with her frown and that cute blush on her cheeks.
"In that case, if you mention it again, you won't get any kisses of any kind for a week," she declared seriously and Katsuki stopped smiling.
"You can't be serious, woman."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Do you want to test it?"
"If I've lived my whole life without kissing anyone, I can handle a week without your kisses, your highness," his challenging and impulsive side told him to respond with that, but his more rational side made him shut his mouth and shake his head. If they were going to start something, it would be best to do it peacefully. Once they had more trust, they could be as competitive with each other as they wanted. Although with his impulsivity and the hidden character of the vice-president, maybe they'll get there sooner than he thinks.
"You win, princess. I won't say anything," he finally said gently. He thought for a moment before stroking her left cheek. "So, don't be mad at me anymore, okay?"
Momo sighed, putting her hand over his.
"I'm not mad. It's just that I don't want to think about it. It's too embarrassing."
"And I won't remind you of it anymore, so you can relax," he whispered, hugging her again. She relaxed in his embrace, pressing her forehead against his. They shared a brief kiss before he continued speaking in a low voice. "Listen, I don't want to do or say anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, so I think it would be good to set some boundaries between us. Just in case."
"That sounds good," she murmured, giving him a kiss on the cheek before pulling away a bit. "Would you like some tea? We can go to the living room and have some while we talk."
Without separating from her, Katsuki checked the time on his forgotten cellphone on the other countertop.
"No, it's almost midnight, and I don't think we'll last that long," he explained, putting his phone in his pocket along with his headphones. "So here's what I propose: we'll take a couple of laps around the living room and talk about things that make us uncomfortable, or that make us really angry, especially. Then we'll go to the elevator, and each of us to our own bed, okay?"
At the mention of the bed, Momo yawned. And as she yawned, he yawned too.
"It's a good plan, but what if we leave it for tomorrow instead? I'm starting to get sleepy just thinking about my bed," she said.
Katsuki stroked her hair, enjoying how soft it felt between his fingers.
"Whatever your highness wants, then," in his arms, Momo laughed and raised her head to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"You really are charming when you set your mind to it, you know?"
Katsuki winked at her.
"That's the point of being the best at everything, isn't it?"
"Yes," she whispered, their noses brushing again. "I suppose it is."
Without saying anything else, they shared a couple of kisses before heading to the elevator in silence. When they reached the fourth floor, they gave each other a goodnight kiss and went to their respective beds. They were tired from staying up so late, but they both agreed that it had been worth it.
"Maybe we are meant for each other, after all..." was Katsuki's last thought before falling asleep. He knew it sounded too cheesy for him, but he genuinely had hopes that everything would turn out well.
And he would give his best to make it happen.
