Tennis and an Interesting Conversation
Chapter Summary
There's lots of different ways to train for the skills you need. Sometimes you got to switch it up to figure out what is really holding these prospective heroes from growing individually and as partners.
"Hear anything from Bakugou?" Ashido asked as they left Lunch Rush after a post sleepover brunch, heading back to the dorms. The rest of the girls had gone ahead to enjoy their day off.
"No but I guess I'll ask him about it today," Ochako said quietly. She didn't want to tell her that he had sent the picture to Deku. Ashido would blow it way out of proportion and question Ochako endlessly.
"Good, it's weird that he didn't even respond! Ugh, who knows what goes through his head?" Ashido shook her head then got out her phone to text someone as they walked together.
Ochako wish she had an inkling on what went on in Bakugou's mind. It was one of the things she had struggled the most with during their first week of being training partners. She was getting faster and stronger but communicating with Bakugou needed a lot more practice.
"Hey, you wouldn't know anything about the training today would you?" Ashido asked Ochako as they entered the dorm room common area. A few people were sitting around relaxing, watching T.V., or doing homework.
"No? What training?"
"The one Kirishima and Bakugou are planning for today. The one we're meeting up at 2pm for?"
"Oh, Bakugou didn't tell me you were coming."
"Well, Kirishima got out of him what he was planning to do with you and then said that him and I were coming. I still don't know what it is, though." Ashido made a weird face as if she didn't like to not know what was going on.
"Yeah, sorry, I don't know anything. Anyway, I'm gonna start that essay for Cementoss. You coming up?" Ochako asked, motioning to the elevator.
"Nah, I'm going to go watch T.V. for a bit before I start homework," Ashido said as she went over to sit next to Sero. "See ya later!"
She jumped over the couch making Sero shriek as she plopped next to him.
Before Ochako knew it, it was almost time for the surprise training. Ochako headed to the common area for a pre-training snack then lounged at one of the tables until Bakugou and Kirishima came out of the elevator talking loudly.
"What?! Ashido was texting me non-stop about what we were doing today. I didn't think it would be wrong to tell her. You can't expect everyone to go along with your plans without asking questions," Kirishima explained to Bakugou, who was baring his teeth and shaking in anger.
"Yes I can! Uraraka didn't ask questions!" Bakugou yelled. Ochako looked up from her phone at the mention of her name.
"You don't really respond well to questions," Ochako said with a shrug. "I was saving myself from a screaming match since I'm so tired."
Bakugou twitched, fuming. Kirishima laughed.
"She's not wrong. Anyway, since he didn't tell you, we're playing tennis!" Kirishima grinned and gave a thumbs up.
"Tennis, huh?" Ochako asked. "That'll be good. Tennis is all about reaction times and it'll help with our teamwork."
"My thoughts exactly," Kirishima said. "Good thing Bakugou told me his plan so I could steal it. Ashido's reflexes are so good. I can definitely learn a thing or two from her today."
"It's all the dancing," Ashido said as she exited the elevator and did a turn in her best rendition of a tennis outfit. "Maybe that can be the next training session for us!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Kirishima mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck and smiling awkwardly.
"Can we get on with the training?" Bakugou asked with irritation. He didn't wait for an answer and left for the tennis courts without them.
"Ugh, he's so impatient," Ashido huffed as she and Kirishima jogged to catch up with him. Ochako gathered her stuff and did the same.
The tennis courts on campus were busy due to the nice day but Bakugou had somehow reserved a court for them. Ochako wondered how he accomplished that since he seemed to have planned it as a whim last night. Right?
Bakugou threw tennis rackets at Ashido and Kirishima from the checkout station. They went to the opposite side of the field as Bakugou aggressively handed Ochako a tennis racket before getting in position.
"Keep your eye on the ball," Bakugou said roughly, tensing his body for their first serve.
"I'm in it to win it," Ochako replied fiercely. Unbeknownst to her partner and competitors, she'd played a bit of tennis in junior high for fun. Bakugou couldn't help but grin a little at her comment.
"Good," he grunted, supressing his expression to revert back to his focused, unpleasant self.
Ashido served and the game began. It was immediately obvious there was a problem with Bakugou and Ochako's teamwork. Bakugou was determined to destroy the ball no matter if it was on his side or not. After about fifteen minutes of just standing there, Ochako called a time out.
"What!? We're winning!" Bakugou shouted.
"Just a second!" Ochako shouted at Ashido and Kirishima, who used the time for a quick water break. She walked over to Bakugou and crossed her arms.
"What!?" Bakugou repeated with exasperation.
"You're not letting me do anything," Ochako accused, glaring at him.
"I could get the ball," Bakugou said after a few seconds. "And Kirishima is wide open."
"Just because you can get it, doesn't mean you should. I'm your teammate. This is just like what you tried to pull in the sports festival."
Bakugou stood over her, scowling like the expression was etched in his face. Ochako rolled her eyes but didn't back down. Kirishima wasn't great at tennis but at least Ashido was letting him try.
"If you'd have taken over everything then, we might not have moved to the finals," Ochako said. Bakugou's eyes filled with rage at the thought that he wouldn't have won with his plan. "You're smart. I thought you'd learned that I was a valuable teammate back then. It was fun with my help, remember?"
Bakugou looked away. Ochako left that question in the air so she could get a drink of water. After a few quick drinks, she went back out into position. Bakugou followed suit.
"Ready!" Ochako announced with a wave toward Ashido and Kirishima. They waved back and prepped for the next game.
"By the way-," Ochako added, looking back at Bakugou, "you're using way more energy than you need doing everything yourself. It'll probably screw us over later."
"Speak for yourself," Bakugou spat back at her.
"Fine. Once you re-figure out that it'll be better to work together, let me know so we can both get something out of this training." Ochako readied herself to serve and they began playing once more.
Ashido hit Ochako's serve, aiming it directly for Ochako. She'd been doing this often to open up Bakugou's space for counter attacks. Bakugou had been constantly running back and forth to make sure he hit every ball. Ochako glanced to the side to see if Bakugou would try to get it after their talk. Bakugou, thankfully, kept to his own space.
Regaining her determined composure, Ochako hit the ball hard, sending it directly into Kirishima's zone. He missed and she scored.
Bakugou stared at the area that the ball had landed while Kirishima cursed at himself for missing the hit. Ashido ran to the net for a high five which Ochako accepted after a quick jump of joy.
"Nice one!" Ashido said loudly. "Damn, looks like Bakugou is finally going to let you play. Guess I can't exploit that anymore," Ashido teased, giving Bakugou a cheeky wave.
"You're gonna die!" Bakugou screamed at her.
"Bring it!" Ashido shouted back with a smile.
Bakugou eyed Ochako with an intensity she recognized well. She nodded once to let him know they were on the same page. Ashido and Kirishima were about to get murdered at tennis.
The game was faster and harder from that point on. Kirishima eventually found his rhythm in the game so he added some hard hitting balls into the mix every now and then. Ashido taunted Bakugou relentlessly. Ochako tried not to laugh at his antics and focused playing the game well. Towards the end, Bakugou was fuming and shouting curse words with every hit.
At 5:00pm, Bakugou and Ochako had won the most games from their three hour block. Bakugou threw his racket down in victory when the teacher came around to let them know that their court reservation had ended.
"Take that, bastards!" Bakugou shouted.
Ashido and Kirishima were breathing heavily after the last, difficult match. They congratulated each other with a high five before resting by their gear.
Bakugou wiped his brow and began to gather up his stuff. With a sigh, Ochako picked up his racket and offered to take Ashido's and Kirishima's back to the checkout station. When Ochako returned, Ashido and Kirishima on their way out of the court.
"Good game, Uraraka!" Kirishima offered her a high five. Ochako took it and grinned.
"Yeah, I didn't know you were so good at tennis," Ashido added, also giving Ochako a high five.
"I played a little in middle school," Ochako explained.
"Well, we should do that more often. Surprisingly good workout," Kirishima said.
"Good at teamwork too! I feel like we were really jamming together," Ashido praised, looking up at Kirishima with a smile.
"Definitely! Well, I got homework and I know you do too. See ya later!" Kirishima grabbed Ashido's arm and pulled her in the direction of the dorms. Ashido quickly waved back to Ochako.
"Bye! Talk to ya later!"
Ochako waved goodbye before heading back to the court to retrieve her stuff. She was surprised to see that Bakugou standing their, her bag packed and in his hands. She had kind of assumed he'd left without her since he had started packing his things when she left with the rackets.
"Here, since you took so long," Bakugou snapped and shoved her bag at her.
"Thanks," Ochako said, less than enthusiatic about his attitude. What was his problem? "I'm surprised you waited for me."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Just-you're not the most patient person I've worked with. I assumed you'd have places to be, things to do, people to yell at."
"Tch," he responded, paired with a dramatic eye roll. Bakugou left her without another word, heading to the path back to the dorms. Ochako caught up to him and they walked in silence.
"You were right," Bakugou finally said, though he obviously hated to admit it. "About everything you said. I was being a shitty teammate. Plus, you didn't suck so that helped your argument."
Ochako had never heard him speak like that about himself. Maybe the mandatory therapy he was still in was helping more than she thought.
"Well, thanks. Imagine if you'd utilized my mad tennis skills earlier. We would've crushed them."
Bakugou acknowledged her with a sharp exhale.
"Oh, I was meaning to ask you," Ochako remembered aloud. The tennis training had been so intense that she had forgotten until now. "Why did you send that picture to Deku?"
Bakugou's eyes widened momentarily before his gaze snapped down to her.
"You sent it to the wrong person! I didn't-," Bakugou hesitated then looked away from Ochako. "I didn't want you to get embarrassed so I just forwarded it on."
"What? It was meant for you!" Ochako said. "It was a stupid dare from a girls' night game. 'Send a selfie to the last person you texted'."
Bakugou stopped but Ochako didn't notice until after a few steps.
"What?" Ochako asked. They were near the dorms now. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it with the possibility of being heard.
"Nothing," Bakugou answered gruffly then continued walking.
"No, you were going to say something!" Ochako insisted.
"Leave it alone," Bakugou growled.
"No!" Ochako grabbed his arm to turn him around and he spun around to face her, forcefully removing his arm from her grasp.
"Fine! Fuck! I figured it was meant for Deku since it's obvious you-" Bakugou bared his teeth in disgust. "-feel something for him."
"What? No, I don't," Ochako chuckled awkwardly. It had been a true statement last year but it wasn't now. To be fair, she'd only been free of her crush on Deku for a couple months. During this past spring, she'd buried her feelings to focus on winning the war. Eventually that led to her coming to the conclusion that she more admired him and inspired to be like him rather than wanted to be with him.
"Psh, you fawn over that nerd all the time. Either, one: just fucking tell him. Spit it out already or two," Bakugou paused, realizing he didn't want to say the second thing out loud and turned away to enter the dorms.
"Hey, you can't leave me hanging like that!" Ochako ran after him . She tried to block him from entering but he stepped around her easily.
"I can do whatever I want." Bakugou opened the door to the common area and the conversation was over. At least, Bakugou thought it was. Ochako refused to end it there and grabbed his arm again.
"Err! Stop it!" Bakugou tore his arm away again but stayed where he was.
"What was the second thing?" Ochako frowned. Bakugou looked on the verge of screaming. Ochako, unafraid of his brash behavior at this point, stood her ground. Their standoff of wills ended when Bakugou sighed in defeat. Ochako was honestly shocked. Maybe Ashido was right and he did have a soft spot for her.
"Whatever. Only because I hate being grabbed like that. Two-" Bakugou held up two fingers as if nothing had happened between the initial sentence. "-realize you're too good for Deku and focus on being a better hero. Ya know, since that's the whole reason we're at this school." Bakugou left without another word to the elevators.
Ochako stood alone in the entrance way, stunned. There was a lot to unpack there. Her thoughts on the matter were put on hold as Tsu and Aoyama came up behind her.
"That throw in the air was magnifique!" Aoyama said with a twist and a pose.
"We might need to have specific areas of your costume that are tongue proof, though," Tsu grumbled, sticking out her bruised tongue.
"Oui! I will talk to support this week. Send me your best places for throwing a person," Aoyama told his partner as he walked past Ochako. Tsu noticed immediately that something was up with Ochako.
"What's the matter?" Tsu asked. She touched Ochako's shoulder, popping the bubble Ochako had been in.
"N-nothing. Sorry, spaced out," Ochako stuttered. She repositioned the gear she was carrying then hurried past Tsu to the elevators. Ochako was about to push the button when she overheard Deku and Iida speaking in hushed whispers together near the bathrooms.
"Even you have to admit it's weird that no one has seen Shigaraki in months. Across the world," Deku whispered intensely.
"Midoriya, I know it was a very traumatic year dealing with him but he's likely in hiding. Why would someone kidnap him?"
"I'm not saying that's what happened. Just--usually someone would have at least spotted him. He's the most wanted man in Asia right now."
"Maybe you should talk to your therapist about this anxiety regarding Shigaraki. I know mine has been very helpful dealing with the events of last year."
Deku walked out of the bathroom a couple seconds later, thinking so hard that he didn't notice Ochako obviously eavesdropping. She quickly pushed the button and acted like she hadn't heard anything.
"Oh, hey Uraraka," Deku greeted when he saw her. "How was training? I heard Ashido talking about some game?" Deku smiled but it didn't touch his eyes.
"Yeah, we went to the tennis courts. Teamwork and reflexes, ya know?" Ochako replied back with a smile.
"Oh, good thinking. Iida and I are going to get dinner soon. Do you want to join?"
Ochako hesitated. She didn't want to accidently telegraph that she'd heard anything.
"Actually, I'm surprisingly not hungry. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the night in my dorm. Never to early to get a headstart on the homework that's due later this week."
"No worries! See you tomorrow then!" Deku waved as Ochako entered the elevator. The doors closed and Ochako was alone with her thoughts, if only for a few seconds.
Shigaraki hadn't even been spotted since the last battle? All the members of the Paranormal Liberation Front had scattered when All For One had been recaptured. All of them had either died, been captured as well, or at least been spotted. Even if All For One was trustworthy enough to give real answers, Deku had severed the connection between All For One and Shigaraki. He'd have no clue if Shigaraki was truly missing.
Ochako headed straight to her room and threw her gear on the floor. She fell onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Three things weighed heavily on Ochako's mind.
First, was the Shigaraki news. She'd kept up on articles but hadn't noticed that he hadn't been spotted at all since the battle. Iida was probably right and he was just in hiding. Second, she actually needed to get going on the homework for later this week since this past week had shown her how time-consuming and utterly exhausting training with Bakugou would be. At least it was something she could deal with even if it sucked. Lastly, Bakugou words replayed over and over in her mind. He thought she was too good for Deku. Was that more of a jab at Deku or praise of her? Ochako frowned at the thought.
She had better things to do than think about that. Bakugou was right in at least one part of his statement. She needed to focus on being a better hero. Ochako started on her homework, ignoring the part of herself that wanted to keep replaying the interactions she'd had with Bakugou.
