Katsuki was lost in thought as he stood under the hot water and washed off all the grime that had accumulated through the artificial rainy weather from their supplemental training.
He thought about the floaty, pink dream he'd had yesterday while unconscious. It wasn't a bad dream. In fact, he'd found himself missing it when he'd woken up which was unsettling to him. His life was full of explosions, yelling, and the complete opposite of peaceful, pink fluff. So why did he suddenly want to be back there?
He also missed the feeling of floating in zero gravity thanks to Uraraka's quirk - the odd sense of peace and weightlessness that it brought him. When she'd returned his gravity at the nurse's office he'd felt heavier than he'd remembered.
He'd never been so calm before and wanted to experience it again.
But he couldn't just ask Uraraka to use her quirk on him, could he? She'd definitely want to know why he was suddenly so interested, and there's no way he could ever explain it. Or that he would explain it, even if he could.
As his mind drifted back to Uraraka he thought about how angry she had gotten at him only 30 minutes prior. What the fuck was her problem anyway? He was trying to do the right thing and help out his teammate - play his role, just like Aizawa had said - so why did she flip out at him? And why would she think he was looking down on her? He hadn't looked down on her since she'd proven to him that she wasn't just the frail girl everyone thought she was. He was just stating facts; sure, she could have eventually handled things if she'd needed to, he was confident enough in her abilities to be sure of that, but the entire point of them working on a team was so that she wouldn't need to and could focus on the rescue. He'd swallowed his pride and let her take the lead - sort of - and she was somehow still pissed.
Her getting so bent out of shape was exactly the kind of annoying bullshit he hated and tried so hard to avoid.
But the longer he thought about it, the less pissed he was. In fact, watching her get so riled up over nothing was sort of amusing.
Seeing her normally happy expression morph into one of pure anger was hilarious. It didn't fit her chubby face. Her bright pink cheeks and furious glare gave him the impression of an angry cartoon mochi. A mochi who was determined to prove herself.
He'd seen it before, her look of determination, when they faced each other during the sports festival last year. She'd given it everything she had, unlike that Half n' Half bastard, and he wouldn't have had the chance to hold back even if he'd wanted to. He hadn't thought about that fight in a while but it had been exhilarating; it was weird that his most difficult match-up had been against such a bubbly, pink-cheeked person. But back then he hadn't thought too much about her angry mochi face.
So why couldn't he get it out of his head now?
Because this time there was something else about it, a look of defiance that drew him in. It was funny. It didn't fit her.
But as he considered everything she'd accomplished since they'd started at U.A. he realized that somehow it also did.
He wanted to see her make that face again.
But in the same way that you listen to a song when it's stuck in your head; to make you forget about it. Her angry mochi face and his pink fluffy dream. He wanted to see them both one last time so that he could forget about them.
That was the only reason.
He was torn from his thoughts when Aoyama started singing loudly in another shower stall and a strong, floral smell wafted through the air, and Katsuki knew he had been distracted for too long. He finished rinsing off, got changed, and left the locker room as quickly as he could to get away from whatever awful French atrocity was being sung out of tune before he wound up with a serious migraine.
Katsuki was halfway back to Heights Alliance when he heard someone shouting his name behind him. Absolutely not in the mood to deal with any more annoying extras, he ignored whoever it was and kept walking. At least, he ignored them until-
"Hey Bakugou! Wait up!"
Oh. It was her. What the hell did she want now?
He stopped and turned to face Uraraka, her face flushed and hair a mess as if she had hurried to finish in the locker rooms just to catch up with him. "What?"
She finally reached him, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "Sorry! I just… wanted to say… I'm sorry," she breathed out, finally taking a deep breath and standing tall. "I'm sorry for earlier. I was frustrated with myself and took it out on you, and that's not fair."
He'd be lying if he said he didn't understand; he'd taken out his anger on almost everyone he knew at one point or another, probably even her. But he wasn't about to admit that out loud. "Whatever. It was a team exercise. I wasn't gunna wait around for you to get your shit together."
"I know," she said. "Thank you for having my back."
"Tch." He turned to leave, not wanting to continue such a pointless conversation, but she started fucking following him. "What?!" he asked again, his annoyance returning.
"Well, we're going to the same place so I thought we could walk together."
"Hah?" He glared at her as she matched his pace next to him, but she wasn't wrong so he shoved his fists in his pockets, furrowed his brow, and trudged on. Even though she had to walk a little faster thanks to his longer strides, she annoyingly managed to keep up.
As they continued to get closer to their destination she remained quiet but he could tell she wanted to say something. Or she wanted him to say something. Fucking annoying.
He grit his teeth. He could easily just keep walking in silence - he normally would have if it were anyone else - but just like in that cave, silence with her was deafening, and some stupid part of his brain decided to open his damn idiot mouth before he could stop himself.
"I don't look down on you."
"Huh?" She stopped, looking up at him with a dumb, surprised expression, as if she didn't know he was capable of human speech.
He sneered at her. There was no point in wasting his own time if she was just gunna play dumb, so he kept walking and she had to jog to catch up again.
"I know you don't," she said when she finally reached him. "In fact, I think you're the first person in class who actually took me seriously as a hero. It's because of my fight with you last year that I even decided to train hand-to-hand combat in the first place. I'm sorry I said that, I was just frustrated that you still had to protect me. I thought I was improving but I guess not as much as I need to be."
Of course he took her seriously, everyone else was an idiot not to. Her quirk was strong as fuck, and it only took a few seconds in the ring to tell she was determined to give it her all and then some. He couldn't have let his guard down against her if he'd wanted to. It was everyone else's mistake to think she was some frail, little weakling.
But why did he feel… different when she said that he had inspired her to train combat? Why did that make him so happy?
And why the fuck did these extras keep apologizing to him?!
"You're strong. I know that you've been training combat skills. If you were alone you could have handled it eventually. You need to work on your reflexes and speed." She didn't need him to tell her this, she knew her own damn self-worth. So why was he encouraging her? His stupid mouth just kept moving ahead of his idiot brain and he couldn't stop it.
She was giving him another dumb look and he immediately regretted saying anything. This girl was really starting to get under his skin and he didn't like it. He scowled again and was just about ready to storm off when she finally spoke up.
"Then spar with me!"
"Hah!?"
"Spar with me. Please." Her voice was soft but she was starting to get that determined look in her eyes again. "I know you train with Kirishima and the others. If you help me train, I can get better!"
"Why the hell would I help you?"
"Because I can help you get better at rescue. And all that other stuff Aizawa Sensei mentioned. Demeanor around civilians and first aid and all that."
Training with her wouldn't be a total waste of time. She was decently strong, he already knew, and he knew she wouldn't take the easy way out. But he wasn't about to just give in to whatever Deku's fangirl wanted. And he didn't need any help. Though it was gutsy as hell of her to ask out of nowhere like she had, he'd give her that.
"No," he said.
"Why not? Please, Bakugou?"
"I don't need your help, Round Face. And I'm not gunna waste my time helping some extra."
She ran in front of him and stopped short, blocking his path as she crossed her arms. "Well I'm not an extra! I'm Uravity, the future number one pro rescue hero!"
There it was again, her look of defiance - she was standing her ground. He glared at her, channeling as much intimidation as he could muster (without exploding something) into one look, but no matter how long he stared at her she didn't falter. She wasn't breaking eye contact, completely matching his expression and not backing down.
Katsuki couldn't fucking believe it. He was having a fucking glaring contest with an angry mochi.
And he was actually enjoying it.
"Spar with me, Bakugou Katsuki!"
His heart skipped a beat. What the fuck was that about?
They continued to glare at each other for what felt like another whole hour, but was probably only a few seconds, before his brain damage kicked in. He clenched his jaw and finally caved. "Fuckin' fine! One sparring session!" He had no idea how she had gotten him to agree to this bullshit, but there was no backing out now. He always did the things he said he was going to do; once he'd agreed to something he would accept nothing less from himself than 100%.
Faster than he could even blink her expression morphed into a stupidly excited smile, and he once again found himself wondering how someone's mood could change so quickly.
"Meet me tomorrow at 5am at the P.E. grounds. If you're late, too bad. I ain't gunna waste my time waitin' for someone who's not taking shit seriously."
"Okay," she nodded, clenching her fists in front of her.
He started walking again and she matched his pace, the stupid grin still plastered on her cheeks. "If you tell anyone else about this I'll kill you," he said, shoving his hands back into his pockets to wipe off the sweat that had formed on his palms.
"Huh? Why can't I tell anyone? It's just training."
He huffed. Of course he would have to spell everything out for her. "I don't fuckin' need Izuku or Four Eyes or any of your other idiot friends gettin' on my case because I'm 'goin' too hard on you' or any of that other bullshit. You signed up for this. I don't wanna hear shit from them thinkin' you're weak and can't handle it."
She hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Yeah, okay, that makes sense. It's our little secret, then," she said, grinning up at him.
He felt his ears getting hot and chose to end the conversation there. They didn't speak for the rest of the walk back to the dorms, but Katsuki was hyper-aware of her next to him the entire time. He wasn't used to talking with one person for so long; usually Shitty Hair and the others just talked at him, and that was how he preferred it. He still wasn't sure how she had gotten him to agree to all of this in the first place, but as they reached the dorms and parted ways he found himself actually getting pumped up for the next morning. There was a small chance she would bail or show up late, but he secretly hoped she wouldn't.
He kept thinking of her defiant look, how her cheeks puffed out when she was angry, her stupid grin, and the way her brown eyes got all big and round when she was surprised. How could one person make so many ridiculous facial expressions?
He wanted to see her make those expressions more.
As he reached his room, he swore to himself.
He must definitely have actual fucking brain damage.
Katsuki woke up bright and early the next morning in order to prepare for his workout. Halfway through his routine, however, he remembered he wasn't going to the gym like he usually did; he was going to be sparing with Uraraka.
He didn't know how he felt about training with her. A part of him was dreading it, assuming she would mess up his flow and he would waste more time helping her than getting in a good workout himself. But another part of him was actually kind of excited for it. He'd learned last year that training with another person offered different benefits than training alone, and it was always smart to have experience fighting loads of different people with different quirks to be ready for any villain that might appear. Plus, the last time they fought he'd been pleasantly surprised with how challenging the match had been.
But, honestly, the likelihood that Uraraka would even be awake and show up at 5 in the morning was slim, so he wasn't going to hold his breath. He didn't really keep tabs on his classmate's sleeping patterns, but he had never once seen her walking around the dorms before 7:30am. Just like last night, he secretly hoped she would show, but he ignored that feeling and focused on getting ready.
He pulled on a hoodie, grabbed his workout bag, and made his way to the kitchen to make a quick protein shake. Uraraka was nowhere to be seen around the common areas of the dorms just as he predicted, but he refused to let himself get upset because of it.
Iida, another early riser, waved to him as he entered the kitchen. "Good morning, Bakugou! Don't you want a more substantial breakfast before you go to the gym? Protein is good but it's important to maintain a balanced diet full of all of the various nutritional food groups." God, he was annoying.
"No," was all Katsuki grunted out before leaving the building.
He drank his protein shake on the way, checking his phone as he walked. No new emails, one dumb as hell 'Have fun! Don't explode any more school property!' text from his mom that he had been ignoring since the first day of classes, and no missed calls. No big news alerts about the league or meta liberation fuckers either.
At around five minutes to 5:00 he reached the seemingly empty P.E. grounds and was about ready to start his workout alone when he heard someone quietly grunting just out of his field of vision. Following the noise around the P.E. building he found Uraraka, stretching her arms up above her head and then bending down to touch her toes. She was wearing the same gym uniform jacket that he'd washed for her yesterday, zippered all the way to the top, and her obnoxious bright pink sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a dumb little ponytail that made her cheeks look even puffier - how she got so little hair to stay up like that he would never understand. Her overall appearance really didn't give off the vibe of someone who was about to go hard in hand-to-hand sparring, but he knew better than to judge her based on how non-intimidating she looked.
"Aren't you hot?"
She straightened out from her stretch, reaching one arm back above her head while the other rested on her hip as she bent to the side. "Good Morning, Bakugou," she said, just as annoyingly bright and sunny as ever. "No, it's five in the morning in the middle of April, it's cold out."
"Whatever," he huffed as he put down his bag, took off his hoodie, and joined her in stretching. "Didn't think you'd show up."
"Of course I showed up, I was the one who asked you to do this. I'm excited to finally get to spar with you again!" She was way too cheerful and peppy for so early in the morning - or ever - and he was questioning again why exactly it was that he'd agreed to this. "And aren't you cold in just a tank top?"
He stretched his left arm around his torso, holding it in place with his right, and then repeated the stretch with his other arm. "No. It's April and I'm about to kick your ass for two straight hours."
"Hmm, fair point," she said. "Why didn't you think I would show up?"
"Because I never see you up this early, you're about to get your ass beat, and I wasn't completely sure you were serious." He finished his stretching and walked further into the field so there would be more space to move around. "Hurry up or I'm gunna train by myself."
She ran out to meet him, a small frown on her face that didn't really reach her eyes. "I was here before you, ya know!"
"Tch," was the only response Katsuki gave before throwing a right hook directly toward her.
She was able to dodge at the last second but was completely caught off guard and ended up tripping backward, landing on her ass. "Hey! You didn't say we were starting!"
"Well, you need to work on your reaction time, right? Get up." He made no move to help her, glaring down at her instead.
"Can we at least set some ground rules first?"
This girl would never cease to annoy him. How she had even been able to get him to agree to this in the first place was beyond him. They were wasting time; it was already probably close to 5:02 and he hadn't even started training yet. But, unfortunately, she was right. He didn't actually want either of them to get any serious injuries. So, ground rules.
"Fine. No quirks. We're training combat only - hand-to-hand sparing. Once someone is unable to fight back we end it. That's more for your benefit than mine." He crossed his arms, his glare fixated on her as she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her pants. "And no cheap shots. If you hit me in the junk I'm done training with you."
She immediately burst out laughing, even though she was doing an awful job of trying to hide it behind her hands, and he felt the tips of his ears start to get warm in embarrassment. He knew the rule was probably silly and childish to her, but frequent training with Kaminari had led him and Sero to need to set certain boundaries. They didn't have natural armor like Kirishima. "Listen, Round Face, if you're gunna make this into some joke then I'm out," he barked. "You asked for rules so I gave you rules!"
"I know! Sorry," she said, trying to calm her laughter. "It was just a little funny. You're so serious."
Her reaction was anything but 'little' and he was about ready to throw another punch when she spoke up again.
"How come only you get to add rules? I wanna add a rule too."
He scoffed. "What, my rules ain't good enough for ya?"
"I just have one more."
"Fuckin' fine. What?"
"Okay," she said, getting into a sparring stance that was somehow both really serious and really silly. He had to hold back a laugh as he imagined a baby trying to fist fight. Her form was good though; she had clearly learned a lot through her internship and work-study. "After we fight I get to ask you three questions, and you get to ask me three questions, and we both have to answer honestly."
"Hah?!"
Before he could say anything else she came at him with the same right hook he had just thrown at her, but she was too slow and he easily dodged, grabbing her wrist. He came back at her and landed a punch right to her gut, causing her to lurch forward, clutching her stomach.
"Fine. I'll answer your stupid questions. As long as you're still up for it."
She caught her breath and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with excitement as a wicked grin stretched across her face. "You're on, Bakugou Katsuki!"
He knew his expression matched hers as she ran at him with another punch and he felt the familiar sensation of adrenaline coursing through his veins.
"Use my full name one more time and you're dead, Uraraka!"
Their sparring session lasted two hours and mostly consisted of Katsuki dodging every punch Uraraka threw at him and landing almost all of the shots he took at her. He could tell she was in pain by only 20 minutes in, but she refused to give up, and he wasn't going to start going easy on her. She insisted on training with him and he was going to give her what she asked for.
Though her facial expression grew more into a grimace with each punch she took, her attitude was still cheerful to the point of being annoying. Nothing killed her spirit, that was for damn sure. Every time they stopped for a water break, she never wanted to rest for long, always ready to get back into it, and he found himself actually having a lot of fun training with her. He was able to go hard without holding back, just like when he trained with Kirishima, and he loved it.
The first time she blocked one of his punches he was decently impressed, given her exhaustion, and by the end of their session she was predicting more of his moves and blocking them fairly regularly.
He finally called it for the day when he could tell she physically didn't have the energy to even attempt to dodge anymore. She tried to keep going at first, but when she almost tripped over her own feet she finally gave in. He was relieved for that; he didn't need the added headache of having to take her to Recovery Girl, too. They walked back to their belongings to grab some water and rest for a few minutes before leaving to get ready for class.
"Your reaction time is getting better, but it still needs work. Your form is good. You have to practice more against strong opponents and push yourself," he said, stretching out his back.
"Okay! I'll keep that in mind and I'll work extra hard!" She glanced at him, and he could tell she wanted to ask him to spar with her again but she didn't so he kept his mouth shut. "You were right, it's too hot now," she said, taking off her gym jacket and wincing. Various different colored bruises were starting to appear all over her arms and likely under her shirt as well. "Good thing our uniform has long sleeves, huh?" She was grinning again.
"You're too damn excited for someone who just got their ass handed to them and has the damn bruises to prove it," he grunted, chugging the rest of his water. Sure, he had worked up a decent sweat and got in a great workout, but she hadn't managed to lay a hand on him.
"Well, yeah! I asked you to train with me because I knew you wouldn't go easy on me, and you didn't, so I'm happy," she said, smiling and grabbing her own water bottle. "Plus, now I get to ask you my three questions!" She held up three fingers, wiggling them at him as if that would help him to count how many there were.
Fuck. He was hoping she had forgotten. But never one to go back on his word he simply glared at her again as she put a finger up to her lips in thought.
"Hmm, what should I ask you? Okay, I got it!" She stood tall, her hands on her hips as if she had just thought of the world's most groundbreaking question. "What's your favorite color?"
"What the fuck?" was all he could say in response, completely stunned at how stupid of a question she'd chosen to ask.
"Your favorite color! What is it? Mine's pink."
"Well that's fuckin' obvious, Pink Cheeks," he said, crossing his arms. "Orange."
She giggled and he felt his ears growing hot again. "That's kinda obvious too, huh? Okay, second question; What's your favorite food?"
"Spicy food."
"Yeah, I could have guessed that as well. Just any spicy food or, like, something specific?"
He raised his voice again, slightly annoyed that she didn't just accept his answer. "I don't fuckin' know! Spicy food!" He forced himself to calm down before adding, "I like spicy ramen I guess."
"Oh yeah, ramen is better when it's got a little kick," she said, nodding along, undaunted by his attitude. "I love mochi! That's my favorite." He had to hold back a laugh again. Of fucking course her favorite food was mochi.
It fit her.
"Okay, my last question. What do you like to do in your spare time? Like a hobby."
"Train." Why was she asking him these stupid questions? What was the point in learning all this dumb information?
"Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for answering." She smiled at him.
He huffed in response, grabbing his stuff and turning to head back to the dorms, glad the questioning was done and over with. He heard her put her jacket back on and grab her things before she ran up to meet him again.
"What about your questions, Bakugou?" she asked once she had caught up to him.
"Hah?!"
"Your three questions! You have to ask me now."
"Why would I wanna do that?"
"Because you agreed to it. We each ask each other three questions. That's the game."
Confused, he thought back to the beginning of their training, trying to remember what she had said.
"After we fight I get to ask you three questions, and you get to ask me three questions, and we both have to answer honestly."
Dammit. He hadn't been paying enough attention to what she'd really meant by that. He'd agreed, so he had no choice but to go along with it; he wasn't some pussy that agreed to do something and then bailed. But he didn't have anything he really cared about asking. He didn't need to know stupid shit like her favorite color or food, he could easily figure that out on his own if he really wanted to. Which he didn't.
He must have been thinking to himself for too long because she added, "If you can't think of any questions, I could just tell you some random things-"
"Why are you making us ask each other stupid questions?"
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked caught off guard but answered him regardless. "Well, the truth is… I want us to become better friends! So I'm trying to get to know you better. But you're not really the type to have a casual, friendly conversation so I thought that some questions might be a good way to start off." She scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "It sounds pretty silly when I say it out loud, huh? Haha…"
"Why would you want to do that?"
She looked up at him, confusion in her voice as she asked, "Do what? Be friends with you and get to know you better?"
"Hn," he grunted in response.
"Well, because we're classmates. And I think that we should try to get along if we're going to be together for two more years. Sure, you're loud and aggressive and arrogant and rude, and you only do things the 'Bakugou' way." He scoffed at her, ready to shout at her for being the rude one, when she cut him off before he could even get a word out. "But you're a good person, and you're kinder than you used to be and super strong, and one day you're going to make an amazing pro hero. Why wouldn't I want to be friends with someone like that?"
He let her words sink in. Nothing she said was wrong, but she was so straightforward and honest that he had a funny feeling thinking about it. He almost felt embarrassed, but he wasn't sure why. "Damn right I'm gunna be an amazing pro," he mumbled. "Number fuckin' one."
"Okay, Bakugou, what's your last question?" she asked, either not having heard him or just choosing not to comment.
He glanced at her again, thinking.
"Why are you wearing your gym uniform?"
Hysterical giggles erupted out of her again and she had to clutch her sides to calm herself. "Jeez, for someone who doesn't like to talk much you sure ask some weird questions! Well, I don't have many training clothes, and most of my things are in the laundry right now. And, well, you washed this for me," she said, stretching out her arms to look at her jacket. "Why waste money on more workout gear when I have just what I need for now?"
He shrugged, realizing she made a good point, and they continued the rest of their walk in comfortable silence. Katsuki could tell she was happy, and, for some reason, he felt a little happy too, but he wouldn't let her know that.
"Tomorrow. Same time," he said as they approached the dorm.
"Huh?"
"Sparring. We can train again tomorrow."
"Yeah! For sure," she said, her eyes shining and her pink cheeks stretched out in a big, dumb smile. She could blind someone with that if she wasn't careful.
He wanted to think her obvious excitement was too bubbly and bright and annoying, but for some reason, Katsuki couldn't bring himself to be pissed about it.