Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextDespite the massive amount of pain she was in, Ochako was more thrilled than she had been since their second-year classes had started earlier that week.
Bakugou had absolutely not gone easy on her, and she bet that he would have gone against Deku, Kirishima, or anyone else just as forcefully. Knowing that he was taking this just as seriously as she was made her want to keep going, keep fighting, keep trying. Even though he had basically just punched her around for two hours, she refused to give up, getting back up every time she was knocked down, throwing punch after punch despite none of them landing. The first time she was able to successfully block one of his blows the look on his face was one she'd never seen from him. If she didn't know any better, she'd say it was a mix of surprise, excitement, and pride.
She needed him to make that face again, and she was more encouraged than ever to go beyond.
When he'd called their sparring session she was disappointed; she didn't want it to end. She'd finally gotten to the point where she could predict some of his attacks and block them and she wanted to keep getting stronger. She almost asked him if they could train again in the future, but she'd chickened out. He had said once only and that was already more than she could have hoped for. And so she decided that she would just have to be happy that he had trained with her at all, because she was genuinely really pleased. She had resolved that she would just have to work hard at plan 'Befriend Bakugou Katsuki' in hopes that it might lead to more training together in the future.
But then he'd done something she never in a million years would have expected; he'd asked her to spar again tomorrow, and not even the pain she was in could tear the smile from her face.
As she was showering, Ochako finally realized how nasty most of her bruises were - they continued to get darker and uglier in color as time went on, and she was once again glad that her uniform would cover everything. No one in the hero course was a stranger to injuries, but it would be tough to explain how she had gotten so beat up so quickly. She knew she'd have to ice some of them before class, so she finished in the bathroom as quickly as she could while she was so sore and made her way upstairs.
She reached her room, fished her keys out of her bag, and unlocked her door, but before she could enter the door down the hall opened. Mina trudged out in her obnoxiously bright pajamas looking like she was still at least half asleep.
"Good morning, Mina," Ochako said cheerfully, her wide smile still plastered on her face.
"Morning, Ochako," Mina said, yawning wide and stretching her arms out as far as they would go. "You're too awake. Why are you so awake? Usually you're never up before me."
"Oh, uhh…" Ochako mumbled, slightly embarrassed. Bakugou had told her she couldn't tell anyone like Deku or Iida that they were training together, but did that include his friends as well? Probably. And she loved Mina, but out of all the girls in their class she was definitely the nosiest and most romance-obsessed. Ochako had learned that lesson back when she was crushing on Deku; Mina would for sure want to know why she was suddenly so interested in training with Bakugou and would most likely come up with some wild and completely incorrect conclusions, ignoring whatever Ochako said. Bakugou had actually asked her to train next time and she didn't want to do anything to mess that up. Plus, she really didn't need Mina spreading any rumors about feelings that weren't even a thing; there's no way she and Bakugou would ever even think about looking at each other that way! But some people would believe anything, no matter how silly.
She really didn't want to lie to her friends, but sometimes bending the truth a bit was a necessity. Gesturing to her gym bag, she said "I decided that this year I'm going to start working out in the mornings! To make more time for studying after classes." She rubbed the back of her head, hoping that her lie was believable, even if it wasn't totally a lie. It was morning and she had been working out, after all.
Mina walked up to her, an over-exaggerated look of despair on her face. "So you're leaving me to become a morning person? I can't believe you would do this to me!" She pretended to sob, embellishing her overacting by wrapping her arms around Ochako and burying her face in her friend's shoulder.
Ochako winced and stiffened, pain shooting through her arms and torso as Mina squeezed her. She silently begged that the other girl didn't notice and forced herself to laugh along with her friend's antics. "Haha, sorry?"
Thankfully, Mina let go quickly, either not noticing her change in demeanor or attributing it to something else. "R.I.P. Ochako. I guess you chose the path of the dark side after all," she said, pretending to wipe fake tears from her eyes. "Anyway, do you wanna come grab breakfast with me?"
"No thanks, I already ate earlier, but I'll see you later?"
"Alright, see you in class," Mina said, about twice as awake as she had been when Ochako saw her leave her room. She waved goodbye as she hopped onto the elevator and out of sight.
Ochako finally entered her room with a long sigh. She set down her bag, grabbed a few ice packs, and rifled through her first aid container to find her ibuprofen. Her pain was intense and she knew that if she was going to make it through the day she'd need as much help as she could get, so she took three pills and tossed the bottle into her school bag for later. Removing her hoodie was almost excruciating, but she was glad to finally get the ice packs on her ugly yellow-green-purple-ish bruises and sore muscles. She set an alarm for 20 minutes and relaxed on her bed, letting the ice do its work.
As she lay there, she thought about what questions she could ask Bakugou tomorrow. The ones she'd asked him today were kind of basic and his answers had been really predictable, but she wasn't really sure what else to ask. Normally when she made friends, talking with them was easy; she was really sociable and her bubbly personality and positive attitude usually helped others to feel at ease around her. But Bakugou was the exact opposite of that, and getting him to talk and not just scream and hurl insults around was… difficult.
But then she remembered that sometimes it wasn't. In the cave, yesterday evening, and even that morning, she found that he would talk when she was least expecting him to. And not his usual pissed-off yelling but actual, genuine conversation. His bad attitude would come and go, and she didn't know how or when his switch would flip - she really wasn't able to get a read on him at all and could never tell what he was thinking - but she had decided that they would be friends and she was not backing down from that challenge. Her mind was made up and that was that.
A loud beeping jolted her from her thoughts and she was forced to turn off her alarm and start getting ready for class, her pain having subsided moderately for the time being. There was one question that she wanted to ask, but he probably wouldn't be happy about it, so she'd just have to keep brainstorming questions while she worked up the courage.
Ochako made her way down to the common area, ready to meet up with Deku and walk to class. He was already there, chatting animatedly with Todoroki, and the three of them began the short trek to the main school building.
"So how did things go with Kacchan?" Deku asked, turning to smile at her, curiously.
"What?" She asked a little too quickly. Had he already figured out that they had trained together that morning? She knew he was observant but that was too fast! There's no way she'd already messed things up!
"Didn't you start your plan yesterday? You said you were going to try and talk to him some more, so I assumed you would during your supplemental training." She relaxed, letting go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. Of course that's what he meant. She had let her mind get ahead of her.
"Why do you need to talk to Bakugou?" Todoroki asked, a confused expression on his usually stoic face.
"Oh, you weren't there the other night at dinner, were you, Todoroki? Uraraka was saying she wants to try and become closer friends with Kacchan," Deku said. "I think it's a good idea. Ever since starting high school, he's really calmed down. I think being friends with someone so positive like Kirishima has helped him a lot, and if anyone can match Kirishima's bright attitude it's you, Uraraka."
"Thanks Deku," she said, smiling brightly, unintentionally proving his point. "I've noticed he's been changing recently, and he was weirdly nice to me when we were trapped in that cave, so I decided I wanted to try and talk with him more. It's going… okay? I'm not sure. It's still so hard to get a read on him. Sometimes I think he's going to yell and he doesn't. Or other times I think he won't get annoyed and he does. But then randomly he completely surprises me and initiates the conversation himself! So I don't really know what to think yet. But I'm determined!" She clenched her fist, a fiery expression taking over her face.
"Bakugou is… difficult," Todoroki said, "but he is a good person, even when he won't admit to it. It was because of his strategizing and analysis that we were able to pass our make-up provisional licensing exam. He has changed a lot since we first met." He looked at his hands, lost in thought. Ochako and Deku shared a look, knowing exactly what Todoroki was thinking about; he would certainly never hold back against Bakugou again.
"So, you did talk yesterday then?" Deku asked, refocusing his attention on her.
She was sort of hoping he wouldn't ask again; thinking about how she had acted during their supplemental lesson was embarrassing. But maybe Deku would be able to help her understand Bakugou a bit better if he knew more about their interactions. He knew Bakugou better than anyone, after all. "Well… yes," she said, rubbing the back of her head, a nervous laugh escaping her. "I actually sort of got angry during the training and took it out on him, even though it wasn't his fault."
"You did?!" Deku asked, clearly surprised.
"That's not like you," added Todoroki.
She felt her cheeks warm. Todoroki was right. She still had no idea what had come over her yesterday, but the past was the past, and she wanted to move forward. "I know. I don't know what happened, I was really frustrated at the time. We were attacked during the rescue and I was too slow so Bakugou helped me out and took care of the villains. I've just been trying so hard to get better and was disappointed in myself. He was just... there, and I guess I'm so used to him being a jerk to everyone that it all kinda… burst out. I yelled at him and said he was looking down on me, which wasn't true. He actually had my back and was just following along with our plan."
"If anything, Bakugou was the only one of us who didn't look down on you, even if it was unintentional," Todoroki said as Deku nodded along. "We were all pretty worried when you fought him last year, but he was the first one of us who really took you seriously as a hero."
"I'm sorry again that we underestimated you, Uraraka," Deku said, looking embarrassed himself.
"Me too," said Todoroki. "But I don't think any of us will make that mistake again."
"Aww, thanks guys." It warmed her heart to know that her friends saw how hard she was working and understood her potential, even if they hadn't at first. She still suspected that these two incredibly strong boys would subconsciously go easy on her if they were to ever face off against each other, but she would just have to prove to them that that was a big mistake if the time ever came.
She thought back to Bakugou's warning and, though fairly confident that no one would claim Bakugou was going too hard if she just explained that she had asked him to give it his all against her, something was still holding her back. She didn't want to tell the others. Why was that?
Why was the fact that she and Bakugou shared a secret something she cared about so deeply?
"If you yelled at Kacchan I doubt he took it well," Deku said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh yeah, he yelled back and we got into a fight. Aizawa Sensei even scolded me about it when we got our feedback," she said, hanging her head. "But I was able to apologize to Bakugou afterward. He took it well, I think! We talked a bit, and he even said that he didn't look down on me. He gave me constructive feedback on how to get better at combat, too." Deku smiled, eliminating any lingering worries she had about telling them. "And he told me his favorite food is spicy ramen!" They didn't need to know that he had told her that this morning after she had asked him, so she conveniently didn't mention it.
Deku laughed at this. "Yup, that's Kacchan. I don't think I've ever seen him eat a meal that would be safe for the average person to consume without their tongue melting off. But that's good, I'm glad you were able to talk more with him. It sounds like you had fun." Deku trailed off, thinking to himself before adding, "Kacchan can be one-note sometimes, but he's more than just the angry, arrogant jerk that people think he is. He's strong, dedicated, and determined to accomplish his goals no matter what it takes. Deep down he's a good person, just like you said, Todoroki. But I think that he respects you a lot, Uraraka. Otherwise, he would have just brushed you off."
Todoroki nodded in agreement, their conversation coming to an end as they reached the classroom. Bakugou was already in class, his feet resting on his desk as he leaned back in his chair, obviously ignoring Kaminari who was animatedly trying to talk to him and Kyoka about something. He turned to look at her, but the second their eyes met she turned away awkwardly.
The two boys went to their seats as Mina came up to show her and Koda a video of some breakdancing cats on her phone, but Ochako was only half paying attention to it. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Bakugou was still looking at her, his expression unreadable. Did he want to talk to her? She couldn't imagine why. And anyway, yesterday he had made a point to come over to her when he wanted to talk, so that couldn't be it.
She left Mina and went to her own seat, saying good morning to Tsu and the boys around her on the way. She glanced again at Bakugou and saw him quickly turn around just as they made eye contact one last time. Had he really been watching her since she got to class?
'I think that he respects you a lot, Uraraka.'
Bakugou wasn't the type to give out his respect easily. You had to earn it.
Ochako's cheeks suddenly felt extremely warm, but she wasn't quite sure why.
Today's hero course was about to start and Ochako was getting nervous. She hadn't thought about having to change in front of the girls and wasn't sure what to do. Aizawa Sensei had told them that today would be dedicated to quirk training, so she wouldn't have to worry about fighting against anyone, but how was she supposed to get her hero costume on without them all noticing?
As she tried to think of a solution, she pulled her painkillers and water out of her bag, hoping they would kick in by the time class started.
"Are you okay, Ochako?" Tsu asked, looking at her with concern.
Ochako immediately felt guilty having to lie to her friend but she also couldn't tell her the truth. "Yeah, I just have a bit of a headache," she said, hoping that Tsu wouldn't question it.
"Why don't you go see Recovery Girl? She can help faster than those pills."
Of course! Why hadn't Ochaco thought of that as an excuse before? She would end up being a little late to class, but no one would be in the locker rooms by the time she got there if she waited long enough. She hated lying like this, but it had to be done. She would just have to get better at blocking and dodging so that she wouldn't get so beat up in the future. That is, if she and Bakugou kept sparring, which she really hoped they would.
"That's a good idea, thanks, Tsu. Do you mind letting All Might know that I'll be a bit late?"
"Ribbit," Tsu nodded. "Feel better!"
Ochako waved at her friend as she turned in the direction of Recovery Girl's office, stopping in the stairwell when she was out of view of the others. She took her ibuprofen and waited what she felt was an appropriate amount of time before heading to the locker room. As she'd hoped, it was empty when she finally arrived and she was able to change without worry.
When she finally made it to Gym Gamma she ran over to apologize to All Might herself for being late, bowing her head, and he ushered her off to start her training. She thought she felt someone's eyes on her, but when she turned to look around everyone already seemed busy practicing enhancing their quirks or using a new ultimate move.
She waved to Tsu as she passed, letting her know she was alright, and got to work floating herself for as long as she could without throwing up. She was improving so much at this that it was even becoming easier for her to maneuver around in zero gravity instead of just floating away aimlessly. The wires she'd added to her costume last year definitely helped a lot, and she was able to travel around the gym in zero-g almost as quickly as her fastest classmates now. Well, nowhere near as quickly as Iida, but there's no way she would ever be that fast.
It was when she was making her third loop around the area that she finally noticed Bakugou training with Kirishima. He was shooting his Auto Cannon at his friend's hardened form, pushing Kirishima back a few yards but not doing much damage otherwise. The two of them really were a good match for this type of training.
Bakugou must have felt her watching because he glanced up and their eyes met like earlier in the classroom. She shot out her wire, continuing to move forward, but he didn't look away. Even though it was barely a few seconds it felt like time stopped as his piercing red gaze followed her with an intensity she couldn't interpret. Embarrassment took over her again, but neither of them broke eye contact.
That is, until Kirishima punched Bakugou square in the jaw, abusing the fact that he was momentarily distracted. Bakugou, suddenly enraged, began yelling immediately as Kirishima laughed proudly, and whatever moment had been happening between him and her was over just as quickly as it had started. She watched for just a second longer as Bakugou grabbed his friend's face, Kirishima hardening just in time as an explosion erupted from Bakugou's gloved hand. Ochako giggled to herself, getting the impression that this was a common occurrence between the two boys, and continued to maneuver through the gym.
It must have just been because of the adrenaline increase that came along with her heightened speed and temporary weightlessness, but she was vaguely aware of the way her heart was beating just a little bit faster than usual.
Ochako woke up still incredibly sore the next morning but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She iced her bruises again, just to be safe, and quickly changed into her gym uniform which she'd washed the night before. It was still a bit chilly and she was once again thankful for the excuse to wear long sleeves since her bruises were looking even worse now that they'd had a full day to develop.
Iida was sitting at one of the tables in the common area when she arrived, finishing up some homework they had been assigned the previous day. "Good morning, Iida! I knew you got up early but wow, you really are a morning person, huh?"
"Good Morning, Uraraka. Yes, I prefer to get an early start so that I can be completely ready for my day! But it's unusual to see you up at this hour. May I ask, what's the occasion?"
She laughed, showing off her gym bag. "I decided I'm going to start working out in the mornings so that I have more free time in the afternoons." If she was going to have to lie, at least she would do her best to keep her lies consistent.
"Excellent idea! I think Bakugou just left for the gym as well, so maybe you won't be alone. I know that you wanted to spend more time talking with him, so it could be a wonderful opportunity to bond over a common interest. Just be careful, I've seen him get angry and yell at other students in the gym before." He picked up his pencil, turning back to his work, just as studious as always. "Well then, I won't keep you. Enjoy your morning workout."
"Thanks, Iida. See you in class!"
Ochako left the building and started jogging in the direction of the P.E. grounds, hoping to catch up with Bakugou. She saw him a little ways ahead, drinking a protein shake and scrolling on his phone. It looked like he might be texting someone and she couldn't help but wonder who. It was hard to imagine what a message from Bakugou would even look like - probably bare bones and straight to the point. Her question idea from yesterday popped back into her head, but she pushed it aside for now; training came first.
She sped up enough to catch up to him before slowing to match his pace. "Good morning, Bakugou!" She could feel her cheeks spread in a wide, cheesy smile, but she was too excited to help herself.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, his brow furrowed. "You're too loud."
"Okay, you literally create explosions and scream at everyone all the time, but I'm the one who's too loud?"
"That's what I just said, ain't it?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he put his phone and empty bottle into his bag. He shoved his hands in his pockets, walking faster so she was forced to jog slightly to keep up.
She couldn't think of anything else to say, but they were almost to their destination so she just stayed quiet, hoping he would speak up again like last time.
They arrived at the spot they left their bags yesterday and began stretching in silence. After a few minutes, Bakugou looked at her, his expression just as unreadable as ever.
"You're fast with your gear, but you need to work on your speed when you can't rely on your quirk. We're gunna race."
So he was watching her yesterday. Or maybe he had even seen her in action before then, too. Either way, he had noticed and remembered.
'I think that he respects you a lot, Uraraka.'
Why did that memory keep popping into her head? She pushed it away for the time being. Whether or not Deku's words were true, Bakugou probably paid attention to everyone in their class more than he let on. Someone aiming to be the number one hero would definitely want to know his competition. Right?
But he didn't remember who Aoyama was the other day, just like he didn't remember my name before I proved myself at the sports festival, she reminded herself, though she chose to ignore that thought for now, too.
"Okay," she answered, finishing up her stretches. "What kind of race?"
"Around the track. First one to 10 laps is the winner."
"We both know you're gunna win." She rolled her eyes in mock irritation, but she couldn't stop smiling. Bakugou was actually training with her, and she couldn't be more excited if she tried. Sure, he probably ran by himself all the time, but he was still helping her when he had no particular reason to and nothing to gain. Though she still had no idea why, but she definitely wasn't going to question it.
"Then try to catch me," he smirked, walking over to the starting line painted on the track.
She joined him as he got into position and followed suit, ready to give this everything she had. He had said no quirks so she left the gravity on her clothes, not wanting to give herself any advantages. "On three," he said before counting down. "One, two,..."
They both took off the second his countdown ended. At first, it seemed like they were pretty evenly matched; she knew she had gotten a bit faster since their quirk apprehension tests last year but she hadn't actually timed herself again. It was amazing that she'd somehow caught up to his speed in only one year.
Or so she thought; Ochako should have realized that it was too good to be true. Bakugou had been pacing himself. In no time at all he'd not only charged ahead of her but he'd completely lapped her. She pushed through the last lap and a half as he waited by the finish line, his arms crossed, not even breathing heavily.
"That was weak."
She caught her breath, her hands on her knees. "I told you… that you… would win," she huffed out.
"You can do better." He eyed her up and down as she straightened up, the same piercing gaze he'd used on her yesterday giving her the feeling that she was being x-rayed. She felt the now familiar twinge of embarrassment again; it was like he was examining her, but for what she had no idea. "That was barely a workout. Let's go again. 20 laps this time." She was already tired, but not wanting to back down she agreed.
This time she didn't fare much better than before; he'd beaten her, again, by four whole laps. She started to slow down on her second-to-last lap, knowing that the race was lost anyway. If she wasn't so tired, maybe she'd have realized that that was a bad idea.
Saying Bakugou was pissed was an understatement. "Idiot, why are you slowing down?!"
"I'm tired, and you already won," she called back.
"That's bullshit! If you don't take this shit seriously I ain't wasting my fuckin' time with your weak ass! Get fuckin' better or go fuckin' home!"
Bakugou was right, and Ochako couldn't argue; she had asked him to train with her to push herself, so she couldn't be mad at him, and she couldn't blame him for being disappointed. Mentally scolding herself, she clenched her teeth and ran the rest of the last two laps as fast as she could. She crossed the finish line, getting ready to apologize and beg him to keep training with her, at least for today, but he stomped over and got into starting position just like earlier.
"Again! 30 Laps," he growled, glaring daggers at her. "Don't pussy out!"
He didn't even give her a chance to fully get into position before taking off at a full sprint, leaving her in the dust. His words rang in her ears as she took off too, giving everything she had into running, keeping him in her sights for as long as she could.
She would get better. She would make sure that he didn't regret agreeing to this.
Her legs ached, her feet were almost numb, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe, but she wouldn't give up again. Not anymore.
She lost again, of course, but only by three laps which was a significant improvement. She hadn't slowed down until she crossed the finish line and nearly collapsed on the floor. Finally, Bakugou allowed her to rest and they took a break to drink some water. He didn't say anything else to her, but he must have decided that they had done enough running for the day and got in place to spar again once they were both breathing normally.
Unlike yesterday she was a bit more used to his fighting style this time and was able to dodge a few blows and block a few more. She still didn't land any on him, and he still knocked her around for over an hour, but she actually felt really good afterward. Her improvement after only one day was clear and she couldn't help but be proud of herself.
She had hoped that Bakugou would give her the same look he had yesterday, the one where he had almost looked proud of her too, but he didn't.
When he'd decided they were done sparring they stretched in silence, taking a short rest before they had to head back to get ready for class. She wanted to ask him if they would be training together again, but he still hadn't said anything since yelling at her and she didn't wanna piss him off even more.
After a few minutes of silence he looked at her with that same unreadable expression he often wore. "Tomorrow. Same time."
Her mood brightened immediately and she couldn't hold back her smile. "Really? But tomorrow is Sunday."
"And?"
"Well I just wasn't sure if you would still want to train on our day off."
"Why wouldn't I? Not training every day would be wastin' my damn time. I'm not tryna be some B-grade loser, I'm gunna be number one," he said, his scowl returning. "But if you pull any more of that fuckin' crap like today I'm not gunna stick around."
"Okay, fair enough. It won't happen again." She finished her water, tossing her bottle back into her bag. "Thank you for doing this with me Bakugou. You really don't know how much it means to me that you're willing to help me out like this."
He glared at her. "I'm not doing this for you," he grumbled, turning away to gather his stuff.
"Then why are you doing it?" There wasn't any significant reason that she could think of that would explain why be would be doing this otherwise, and she could hear the confusion in her own voice as she grabbed her belongings. She'd chalked it up to the new-and-improved 'nice Bakugou,' but maybe that was a mistake.
He didn't answer, and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to say anything else either, so she didn't. They walked in silence for a few minutes, and as the time passed the tips of Bakugou's ears were slowly turning redder and redder. Not wanting to assume anything else incorrectly about her classmate, Ochako simply wrote it off as a result of their rigorous sparing.
Finally, after what seemed like a much longer time than it probably was, he spoke up again. "So are you gunna ask your damn questions or what?"
"Oh, yeah!" She hadn't expected that he would be the one to bring it up, but he had surprised her a lot these past few days. Clearly, her previous question had flipped some switch that he wasn't comfortable talking about for whatever reason, and she didn't wanna push, so she didn't repeat it. "Okay, first question. What kinds of movies do you like?"
"Action," he said without hesitation, "and sometimes horror if they're not stupid as fuck."
She nodded. "I expected that. Okay, question two. If you could only drink one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?"
"Water, obviously."
"Aww, that's boring," she said, pouting.
"Well it was a stupid question."
"I thought you were going to say something exciting like a triple chocolate milkshake or extra fizzy cola!"
He scoffed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "I like having teeth."
She ignored him. "I'd probably pick strawberry milk tea! With boba, if that still counts as a drink."
He didn't respond to that, but she got the feeling he wasn't surprised.
"Okay, last question." She paused, looking at him. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitated for just a second. He'd agreed to answer everything when she proposed this game, but she didn't want to overstep any boundaries.
'Don't pussy out!'
Right. She took a deep breath. "What's your phone number?"
"Hah?!"
"Well, we've never exchanged numbers before, and you're not part of the class group chat," she said, nervously, her hands gripping the strap of her gym bag. "What if one of us needs to cancel training for some reason? We should be able to contact each other. Especially since we can't tell anyone else about it."
His glare was back on her. It looked as if he was making a really difficult decision in his head, but finally he sighed, holding his hand out to her.
She excitedly pulled out her old, pink flip phone and placed it in his outstretched palm, her nervousness completely melting away - she had been right to follow her gut. Would Bakugou be proud of her? She wasn't sure, and she honestly didn't know why she even cared so much about his opinion recently.
He looked at her phone as if he wasn't sure what to do with something so ancient, but he opened it up to her contacts, added his number, and handed it back.
"Thanks! I'll text you later so you have mine."
"You better not message me stupid shit or I'll block your number," he grunted in response.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she laughed. "Okay, I promise I won't. It's your turn to ask me now."
They were getting closer to the dorms and she knew he wouldn't want to keep talking like this around whoever else had woken up by now, so she slowed her pace just a bit. Miraculously, whether intentional or not, he did too.
"What's your favorite kinda movie?"
"Hey, you can't copy my question! That's cheating!"
"That wasn't part of the rules, Pink Cheeks," he said, an ugly self-satisfied smirk on his face. "You have to answer."
"Fine," she grumbled even though she wasn't really mad. "I like comedy movies and anime, like Studio Ghibli. I don't like thinking too hard when I'm doing something that's supposed to be fun. I don't like anything scary, either."
He scoffed again. "Wimp. What, no chick flicks?"
"No, they can be really cheesy and I feel awkward watching them most of the time."
He grunted in agreement. "That's all Racoon Eyes ever fuckin' puts on. They're stupid as hell."
"I know what you mean," she laughed in response, well aware of her friend's obsession with all things 'romance'.
"Why are you so worried about your combat skills if you're already decent at rescue? Isn't that what you wanna do?"
That was two questions, but she wasn't going to point that out to him. "Well, I told you yesterday. You inspired me during our fight last year. I do want to do rescue work when we graduate, but I still want to be a powerful and well-rounded hero. I refuse to limit myself to one thing because I don't want to be caught in a situation where I can't save someone because I'm too weak. I want people to feel safe when I'm around; to make sure that everyone can have a smile on their face, even other heroes."
He didn't respond so she assumed he was satisfied with her answer.
"And I'm better than just 'decent' at rescue for your information," she huffed. "You have one more question."
"Fuckin', I don't know. This is stupid." He shoved his fists into his pockets and sped up again. They were almost back to the building and she didn't want to scare him away after they had made so much progress.
"Okay, you don't have to ask a third one if you can't think of anything."
"Like hell! I ain't gunna give up!" Just like every time someone accused him of being unable to do something, he was back to yelling. "Why's your phone so damn shitty?!"
"Phones are expensive," she shrugged.
He trudged on ahead, glaring at nothing in particular, his lower lip jutting out in a little pout as his shoulders met his ears. Was he… embarrassed? Did Bakugou get embarrassed?
She didn't have time to find out as he reached the door and kicked it open, not waiting for her to follow. She sighed, reaching the door a few seconds later. He wasn't anywhere to be seen so he must have already gone to shower.
She found her way to the girls bathroom, cleaned herself up, and took the elevator up to her room. Her bruises from yesterday weren't too painful, and she had fewer new ones today, but she still took the time to ice them before getting changed for class.
While she waited, she grabbed her phone and pulled up Bakugou's contact information. He'd entered it in as 'Bakugou', but that was too boring, so she edited it to add a little angry emoticon next to his name. Before putting it down, she sent him a quick text so that he would have her number, too, just like she'd told him she would.
He didn't respond.
Notes: Thank you all again for the nice comments and kudos 3 It really means a lot that you guys are reading this story and enjoying it!