Uraraka Ochako stares blankly at the board as Cementoss rattles on about the importance of Shakespeare in modern literature. She taps her pencil softly against the page of her notebook, chewing softly on her bottom lip as her eyes wander over her classmates. With her desk being located at the back of the classroom, she could easily see what everyone else was up to. There were still a few people taking notes, Midoriya and Iida among them, so she knew that she could also borrow the notes from them with some lame excuse of having missed something very important. Not a total lie and something that either one of them would buy. While Iida, Midoriya, and Yayorozu were taking notes studiously, there were several students who had zoned out just like Ochako. She has to stifle a giggle as she sees the drool on Mineta's chin, quickly covering her mouth so as not to give herself away. Satou next to her gives her a questioning look before returning to his doodle.
As usual, Ochako's eyes finally focus on one classmate in particular - Katsuki Bakugou. Resting her chin in her hand, she looks at her angsty classmate under the guise of looking past him and out the window. Sure, First Year Ochako would have done this with Midoriya, but with everything that had happened over the past three years, that crush had faded. With the defeat of Shigaraki last year, Midoriya had become more closed off than anyone had expected, not that anyone blamed him. Ochako still considered him to be one of her closest friends, but there was no longer any of the girly, warm fuzzy feelings that she used to have. Now those feelings were reserved for the blonde, explosion quirk user.
She isn't really sure when exactly it started; her best guess placed it after the final fight with the League of Villains. It was rough for everyone. Midoriya was in the hospital alongside several of their other classmates. Those that were able to were put to work alongside the rescue professionals. Uraraka's quirk especially came in handy during this as she was able to lift larger debris and it could then be moved to other areas. Body after body was found among the rubble. By the third day, Uraraka had found over one hundred and fifty with another fifty or so being injured. She was broken down and tired. As soon as her shift had ended, she'd floated herself to one of the higher structures that had survived and had broken down, sobbing into her hands until her tears ran out and she was left dryly sobbing, unable to catch her breath. A few pops had alerted her to Bakugo's presence. He didn't say anything, just sat next to her. Once she'd calmed down, he offered her a handkerchief and a bento box of food. The two of them had eaten in silence, not needing to say anything to each other as they watched the sun set over the ridge. Uraraka had glanced over at the usually scowling boy and thanked him. His response was short, but the look in his eyes had told her so much more. He didn't look at her as someone in need of rescue, but rather a friend that needed a comforting hand. Ever since that day, the two had worked together a few times, even doing an internship together at Hawk's agency this past summer. While he was still grumpy, Uraraka knew that there was more to him than met the eye. They'd even spent time developing combo moves which utilized each other's quirks and had talked about the future. It was safe to say that they were good friends at this point, casually meeting up to do homework or having a movie night with their whole friend group.
Uraraka is snapped out of her thoughts by the rest of her class packing up their belongings. Her face flushes a dark pink as she scrambles to pack up her items, shoving them all into her bag before throwing her bag over her shoulder and hurrying to catch up with Tsu, falling in step alongside the other girl. Looking back over her shoulder, Uraraka grins as she sees Bakugo grumbling as he's surrounded by Kaminari and Kirishima, both of the other boys chattering animatedly.
The rest of the day passes easily enough, their classes just filled with more of the same old stuff. After their combat training session for the day, Uraraka showers off and re-dresses in her uniform, waving to Tsu and Mina who were heading off campus for the weekend. Shouldering her bag, Uraraka takes her time walking back to their dorm, enjoying the afternoon sun. With it being early fall, it was very comfortable out, though the occasional wind came through and reminded them that winter was on its way. As she walks, she says hello to the other UA students she passes. Once she reaches the dorm, Uraraka decides she doesn't want to go in just yet, instead activating her quirk on herself and floating up to the top of the building, using the small grappling hook she kept on her to pull herself over to the roof. Taking off her bag, she takes a seat on the edge, kicking her feet over the side of the building. She takes a few deep breaths, feeling the tension leave her body as she focuses on the skyline of the city.
"Oi, Cheeks!" Uraraka screeches as she scrambles to turn, spying Bakugou leaning up against the door leading to the rest of the dorm, his signature smirk on his face. Her heart pounds in her chest as she scowls at him.
"What the hell Bakugou!"
"Ouch. Language, Cheeks. What would Deku think?" He pushes himself up from the door frame and walks over to sit next to her, grinning ever so slightly.
"What are you doing up here anyway? I thought you were going home this weekend."
Bakugo casually shrugs, "decided to piss off the old hag and not go visit until next weekend. They're preparing for some fashion show anyway."
"You really shouldn't call your mother that. It's rude."
"It's a term of endearment." He answers back, his red eyes boring into her. Uraraka can't help but bite her lip softly at the heat of his eyes, tearing herself away to look back at the horizon. "Sort of like when I call you round face." Uraraka rolls her eyes and reaches over, flicking him in the knee cap. He chuckles softly and shakes his head, leaning back on his hands. "You did good in combat today. Was that a move you and Hawks worked on?"
Uraraka nods, unable to help the pride she feels at his words. To get a compliment, even a small one, on her combat skills from Bakugo was a big deal. Half the time he didn't even tell Midoriya when he did well. "Yeah, he showed me a better way to combine what Gunhead taught me back in year one with my quirk. There's still some I need to work on with it, but I think I've come a long way so far. I've also been trying to work on something else."
"Oh?"
"Want to see?" Uraraka asks him, turning to look at him. At his nod, Uraraka jumps up and reaches into her bag, pulling out a small ball and handing it to him. "When I say to, throw this." She activates her quirk on it and takes a step back, planting herself in place. She takes a deep breath and gives him a nod. Bakugo shrugs and throws it off the roof, watching as it starts to go up at a slant. Uraraka reaches out her right hand, feeling her connection to the ball and imagining pulling it back in. Bakugo's eyes go wide and he sits up a bit straighter as the ball begins to get bigger, growing from a speck off in the distance to returning to Uraraka's outstretched hand. "Release." She takes a deep breath and looks at him, grinning from ear to ear. Bakugo stands up, truly smiling, and shakes his head. "Whatcha think?"
"What do I think? Uraraka…. That's fucking amazing!" Uraraka can't help but laugh, her heart light and giddy at his praise. "When did you start to work on that?"
Uraraka shrugs, setting the ball back in her bag. "Towards the end of last year. I worked on it over the summer too. It's harder to do with larger objects. I successfully did it with a pallet over soil at my parents' house a couple weekends ago, but I only let it go about five feet away before I pulled it back."
Bakugo unexpectedly grabs her backpack, throwing it over his shoulder. "Come on! We're going to the gym!" Without another word, Bakugo scoops her up and jumps off the building, using his quirk to safely land them on the ground. Uraraka shrieks and can't help but cling to him by his jacket, her eyes wide as she's placed on her feet. When she doesn't move, Bakugo gently grabs her hand, pulling her along. "Come on angel face!" Uraraka laughs but follows him, her heart racing as she glances down at their intertwined hands as he doesn't let go, even as the two of them fall in step, Uraraka having to take twice as many steps as Bakugo in order to keep up with his much longer gait. The two of them walk into the gym and immediately to one of the unoccupied rooms, Bakugo shedding her bag and pulling off his jacket. He rolls up his sleeve and Uraraka has to bite her lip not to drool as his forearms flex, showing off the solid muscles he'd built up over the past three years. He looks up at her and grins, "come on Cheeks!"
"What are we doing here Bakugou? Training is done for the day. I didn't mean for showing you to lead to another work out." She can't help but pout slightly, her body aching and reminding her of their class work out.
"Don't be a pussy! You're going to try it on me."
Her eyes widen as her mouth drops open. "You can't be serious!"
"I am. Come on! I trust you."
Uraraka suddenly feels shy under his intense, excited gaze, clasping her hands in front of herself, her pinkies sticking up. "I don't know Bakugou… This is risky with no teachers here."
Bakugo rolls his eyes and steps forward, closing the few feet between the two of them. He looks down at her, his features softening. This was her Bakugo from the rooftop last year. "I trust you angel face. You're not gonna hurt me. I just want you to try it once. Worst case, it doesn't work yet and I use my quirk to land safely. Even if I did fall, wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last I eat fucking pavement." Uraraka can't help the small giggle, feeling reassured, and nods. "That's the fucking spirit!" He gently takes her hand and spreads her fingers, pressing her fingers to his chest. As her quirk is activated on him, he uses a small, controlled blast to push himself a few feet away from him as he floats.
Uraraka plants her feet and takes a deep breath, focusing on the invisible tether between her own center of gravity and Bakugo's new center. Once she's found that, she stretches out her right hand, just like she had with the ball, and wills the tether closer. She grits her teeth as he doesn't move at first. Then, after about thirty seconds of Bakugo floating further and further away, he freezes mid-air, under no influence of anything else. She lets out a breath and focuses on pulling him closer to her. Bakugo whoops, a wild grin on his face, as he moves a foot closer to her. Slowly over the course of approximately three minutes, Bakugo ends up about a foot away from Uraraka and only floating about a foot off the ground. Uraraka mutters "release" and feels the tension leave her body as she collapses. With practiced ease, Bakugo easily catches her in his arms, falling to his knees and laying her across his lap, cradling her upper body in his arms.
"Uraraka? Uraraka are you ok? Fucking answer me!"
Uraraka swallows heavily and takes a breath, "I'm fine… Just… Wiped out now." She takes a deep breath, feeling the all too familiar nausea rear its ugly head. The two sit there, Bakugo holding most of her weight while she takes deep breaths until she can open her eyes. As her eyes flutter open, she finds Bakugo staring down at her intently, worrying furrowing his brow. She gently reaches up and lightly touches his cheek, "I'm okay. Stop looking at me like I'm about to.." She doesn't finish the sentence. With everything that their class had been through, dying wasn't something any of them took lightly. While they had entered UA knowing that heroes sometimes died, with everything that they had experienced and the amount of heroes that had been lost in the fight with the League of Villains, it was a more real possibility than any of them liked.
Bakugo nods and swallows heavily, tilting his head into her touch and taking his own deep breath. Uraraka takes the liberty to gently touch his hair, gasping softly at how soft the blonde tresses were underneath her finger pads. "What?" He asks, worry wrinkling his brow again.
"Your hair is so… soft and silky."
"The fuck Uraraka? Of course I'm not going to have rough ass hair like Shitty Hair." Uraraka breathlessly giggles at his genuinely offended look, her fingers still toying with his hair. "Did you hit your head or some shit?"
"No. I'm fine, Bakugo. How was it? I know it took me a while but… I'd never done anything like that with it before."
Bakugo's expression morphs into a grin, pride shining in his eyes. "It was fucking amazing Uraraka." He gently sits her up a little bit better, still holding her close to his chest. His hand comes up and touches her cheek, his thumb gingerly stroking her flushed skin. "You are fucking amazing." Uraraka's heart hammers in her chest and she can't help but try to look away, only stopped by Bakugo's hand. "Don't look away from me angel face."
"There are many more people in our class with better quirks than me."
"But how many of them can do what you just did? None of 'em. You're going to be an amazing rescue hero." The two of them had talked during their internship about how Uraraka wanted to go into rescue work more than combat. Not only is her quirk more suited to the rescue style, but she didn't want her parents to worry as much as they always did when she participated in combat. Obviously she still would if the situation called for it but their teachers supported her decision to focus on rescue.
Uraraka finds herself getting lost in Bakugo's eyes, her heart pounding in her chest. How one person could make her feel this secure and this… wild all at the same time, Uraraka doesn't understand. She glances down at his lips, flicking her eyes back up to his as she wets her lips slowly with her tongue, watching as Bakugo's eyes follow the movement. His expression darkens and his hand molds around Uraraka's cheek, holding her more securely, as if he was afraid she'd slip between his fingers and the moment would be lost. "Bakugo…"Uraraka breathes out, leaning up as he slowly, cautiously, leans down.
"Ochako.." Uraraka's heart skips a beat as Bakugo whispers her name, like a secret for only the two of them.
BAM!
Uraraka and Bakugo both scramble up, Uraraka crouching on to the floor while Bakugo jumps up, albeit a bit clumsily, and takes a fighting stance, miniature explosions already coming from his palms. Kirishima and Kaminari, the two who had just thrown open the gym door, screech and jump as well, throwing their hands up in a surrender motion, their bags dropped onto the floor. Uraraka's face flushes a dark red and she clutches her chest, her heartbeat drumming in her ears. Bakugo growls and hollers at the two boys, "Shitty Hair! Pikachu! What the fuck are you two doing in here!?"
"Sorry Baku-bro! I forgot my jacket earlier!" Kirishima says, sprinting over to the bleachers where his jacket was sitting, having fallen on the floor. "Sorry! Please don't kick my ass!"
"Don't tell me what to do asshole!" Bakugo screams, dangerous pops coming from his palms. "I'll kick your ass if I want to kick your ass!"
As Kirishima stutters out more apologizes, Kaminari's eyes scan the room and he frowns, raising an eyebrow in question. "Wait, what were you two doing in here?"
Uraraka's face flushes even more and she starts to stutter. Unsurprisingly, Bakugo comes to her rescue. "None of your fucking business! That's what! I'll kick your ass too!" He advances a few feet towards the other boys, causing them to shriek and run out the room, screaming their apologies behind them as Bakugo chases them for a second.
Unable to do anything else, Uraraka sits on the gym floor and watches before bursting out in a fit of giggles. As she takes a breath and starts to stand up, Uraraka shakes her head at their antics, especially Bakugo's. Some things never change. She bends down and picks up her backpack as well as Bakugo's jacket, tracing over the fabric with her fingertips, a smile on her face.
Bakugo saunters back into the room, his face quickly changing from a scowl into a soft smile, one that only seemed to be reserved for her. Uraraka freezes where she's walking, unsure of what to do. Without hesitation, Bakugo opens his hand in her direction, gently beckoning her forward. "You coming angel face?"