If you haven't guessed by now, I genuinely love Deku. Bakugou and Uraraka are obviously my two favorite MHA characters (and Todoroki too), even outside of their ship, but so is Deku. He's such a good character and a good person, so genuine and honest and sincere. He is an amazing hero and cares about his friends more than anything in the world. My absolute least favorite Kacchako trope is when people make Deku into the bad guy somehow. Not like, Villain!Deku, but when they just decide to make him a bad boyfriend or a bad person. I never understand it. I'd honestly rather his and Urarakas implied canon relationship just not even be acknowledged. It almost makes me more upset than OOC Uraraka and Bakugou LOL
Anyways. This chapter is dedicated to Deku being a great friend. 3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextNo one is perfect. There isn't a person alive who is good at everything. Even those who excel in most situations inevitably find something they aren't good at the first time they try. So it stands within reason that even Bakugou Katsuki would be awkward and uncoordinated at some point in his life.
Not that Ochako had any experience with this particular skill either, but she was pretty sure their teeth weren't supposed to clash together like that. And was this type of thing supposed to be so… aggressive? Unlikely.
Why were Bakugou's teeth so close to hers anyway? And why was he so blurry? Why could she feel his breath on her face and her hand in his own and…?
The reality of it hit her like a Howitzer Impact straight to the chest.
Bakugou was kissing her.
He was kissing her.
What was she supposed to do? Should she kiss back? She should probably kiss back. That might eliminate the teeth issue.
But would that be okay? She certainly wanted to. She really wanted to. But how was she even supposed to do that? What if it was all an accident and he had just tripped in a really awkward and cartoon-like way and landed directly on her mouth in the world's most embarrassing physical comedy sketch? With the force at which his face collided with hers she honestly wouldn't even be surprised. But, knowing Bakugou, that didn't seem likely; he was way too coordinated to trip, even though he sometimes walked like an angry gorilla.
If this was kissing then it definitely wasn't supposed to be so aggressive. Probably. She'd never kissed anyone before, but it didn't look very difficult; she'd always imagined it being softer, more gentle, and more compassionate. Maybe wetter? It never looked like people kissed this hard in movies.
Barely half of a second had passed, but within Ochako's brain it felt like a century. So much was happening all at once - should she just go for it? He had just gone for it. She should just go for it. Right?
'I'm not fuckin' stupid, Round Face, I know you fuckin' like him!'
No.
'I'm better than he is! Anyone with a fuckin' brain can see that!'
No!
Why was she suddenly remembering his outburst? Of all the possible things her brain could pull up, why that? After everything that had happened since then? She hadn't thought of it once, hadn't worried or even considered it! She knew it wasn't like that! So why?
'Well you should pick me! You should fall for me instead of him!'
But what if it was like that? What if her brain was just trying to warn her? Bakugou wanted to - sometimes even needed to - be the best…
You're playing right into his hands, Ochako.
No! That was wrong. She wasn't - there were no tricks, no traps. She couldn't let herself do this again! She had ruined things once, she couldn't let herself ruin them again. This was exactly what she had wanted, and all week he had been showing her that he wanted it too! At least, she thought that's how things had been going. She'd even made sure to answer him honestly and clearly when he'd asked if she liked Deku! But sometimes - most times - Bakugou wasn't always honest and clear. He rarely said what he really felt and was always denying his feelings toward people. He never lied about things that were actually important, but maybe this wasn't important to him in the same way it was to her… maybe this time…
He's just trying to beat Deku.
He's not! Deku was his friend, and he would never do that to her. He had made the first move each time; he'd fixed things between them, he'd invited her to do things together more often, he'd held her hand… he was kissing her!
But what if…?
"NO!" she thought. It was too much to process all at once, and Ochako pulled away reflexively before she could stop herself, placing her hand on his chest. She had decided this wasn't going to happen again! She'd promised herself that if she started to spiral she would take a step back and clear her head to prevent another situation like after his birthday.
Despite feeling like an eternity in Ochako's mind, the kiss had lasted only a second, and even her own thoughts hadn't caught up with her in time. She just needed one moment to think, one moment to set her head straight and stop the spiral of doubt before she destroyed everything that they had built up together. One moment so that she could separate their teeth and kiss him back. One moment to reset herself so that she could convey her feelings to him properly, confirming that they felt the same way about each other.
She'd only realized her mistake when it was too late.
He stared at her, wide-eyed, as he flinched and took a step back at the outburst she hadn't even realized came out of her mouth. Oh no. She hadn't thought it to herself; she'd said it out loud. Yelled it out loud, actually.
What was she doing?
She reached out to him, trying to grab for his hand again. "Wait, Bakugou I-"
The pained expression on his face caused her to stop in her tracks. She had never once seen him so hurt, so shattered. It wasn't overwhelming anger like she'd seen so many times when things had gone wrong between him and Deku; it was simply pure, heart-wrenching sadness. Her own heart sunk down below her feet into the dirt - the only place it could possibly belong. She'd caused him to make that face.
But then his pain was gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by a fury she hadn't seen on him in a very long time. That, too, only lasted a second before there was nothing, his face completely neutral, devoid of any emotion at all.
"I just- I wasn't- Bakugou, I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't apologize." He said it with such cool force, such finality, that she couldn't argue.
"I didn't mean to-"
"Drop it, Uraraka."
But she had only hesitated for a second. She wanted to kiss him! Didn't he know that? Isn't that why he had held her hand the other day? Isn't that why he had kissed her in the first place? If he would just listen to her she could fix things. If she could just explain that she was only surprised and too many things were going on in her brain all at the same time then everything would be fine! They could go back to kissing and-
He turned around, walking back to their bags, his fists shoved deep in his pockets. He was leaving. Why was he leaving?
He couldn't leave! Not yet. She needed to talk to him and explain everything. She needed to make him stay. She needed to make him understand. She needed to kiss him back.
"Bakugou, please wait! It's not-"
"I FUCKIN' SAID DROP IT!" he yelled, setting off a small explosion directed at the ground, warning her not to come any closer.
He picked up his bag and left the field without another word, not even sparing one last glance in her direction.
She should go after him. She should run and make him listen, kiss him back like she wanted to, tell him that she had only hesitated because it caught her off guard and she didn't know what to do and her brain was just being stupid and she didn't want to spoil their first kiss because of an intrusive thought but that she genuinely felt the same way he did. She should run and tell him that she wanted to kiss him over and over until they both couldn't breathe anymore. That she liked him more than she had ever thought possible. That she had avoided him last week because her feelings were so strong that she had panicked. That she wanted to be with him!
But she knew, her vision blurry as heavy tears fell down her cheeks uncontrollably, that it was pointless.
His walls were up and she didn't know how to break them back down, because Bakugou didn't talk about his feelings. He didn't just share that kind of thing with people. Once he shut down there was no opening him back up.
He had told her not to pussy out, and that's exactly what she had done.
And now she'd ruined everything.
Ochako's face was tear-streaked, red, and puffy - she could feel it - but there was nothing she could do about it now. She'd basically spent the entire morning crying, only managing to calm down enough to wipe her face when she'd looked at the clock and realized she only had 10 minutes to get to class. She ran the entire way there, making it into the room at the very last second-
*ding dong ding dong*
"Uraraka, you're late. Please take your seat so that you don't disrupt homeroom any further."
She hung her head and sighed. "Yes. Sorry, Aizawa Sensei." Of course. As if she wasn't already making a scene just by looking the way she did.
Before she could turn around, he added, "Is everything okay?"
His voice was uncharacteristically full of concern which only served to embarrass her further. Being yelled at by Aizawa for being late was one thing, but hearing him so genuinely worried when she had caused this to happen to herself was absolutely mortifying.
She nodded quickly, not wanting to drag things out, and made her way to her seat, pointedly ignoring the questioning looks from her friends as she passed by. Mina, Tsu, Koda, Sato, and even Iida attempted to quietly get her attention as Aizawa turned his back, but she waved a hand to reassure them that everything was fine. She could tell that they didn't believe her.
She just wasn't ready to talk about this right now and didn't even have it in her to make up excuses. All she wanted was to finish class and go back to her room; she honestly didn't deserve anything else. Luckily, Aizawa started homeroom like normal and she allowed herself to get absorbed in their lessons and put everything that had happened that morning to the back of her mind.
But, no matter how hard she tried to focus on anything else, she couldn't ignore the fact that Bakugou hadn't looked at her even once.
During their break, much to Ochako's dismay, almost everyone in class crowded around her.
"Uraraka, are you okay?"
"Did someone say something mean to you?"
"You look awful."
It was too much all at once, and she didn't deserve it. She had messed up. She had hesitated and pulled away. She had made Bakugou make that face. They should be trying to comfort him, not her.
"Please stop," she said quietly, just barely above a whisper, because that's all she could manage.
They continued, clearly not having heard her.
"What happened, Ochako?"
"Why were you crying?"
"Who did this to you?"
"It's my own fault," she tried again, but was still unable to speak loudly enough for anyone to hear.
"We're here for you no matter what!"
"We will support you, Mon Cheri!"
"Who do we need to beat up?"
Through the voices she heard a chair scratch sharply against the floor, shortly followed by the classroom door slamming so hard it was a miracle it managed to stay on its hinges. Kirishima turned and broke away from the group, the door opening and shutting as he followed whoever it was that had left. But she knew there was only one person who would ever leave the class that aggressively.
He probably hated her.
She choked back a sob, covering her mouth with her hand as the tears started all over again. Her friends gathered even closer, doing anything they could to try and comfort her, completely unaware that every kind thing they said only made her feel worse. She had really messed up badly, and she couldn't do this.
"I c-can't-"
"Guys, I don't think she wants to talk about it right now, let's leave her alone."
Kyoka. Of course she had been able to hear Ochako over the others' loud fretting and doting. "Thank you…" she whispered, knowing the other girl would be the only one able to hear her.
"Midoriya, please take Uraraka somewhere to calm down," said Aizawa gently from his sleeping bag in the corner, only adding to her embarrassment again.
"Of course," Deku said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Please tell Cementoss Sensei that I'm taking her to Recovery Girl, so we might be a little late."
Aizawa nodded as everyone else dispersed, their expressions worried. Ochako let Deku help her up and lead her out of the classroom, not trusting herself to go on her own.
"Something happened with Kacchan," he said once they'd made it to the nurse's office. She didn't need to answer him; it wasn't a question.
He knocked and they only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened. Deku waved sheepishly as Recovery Girl tutted in disappointment from the other side, just out of Ochako's view. "Midoriya, if you are here again-"
"My friend isn't feeling too well," he said, his hands raised in front of him in defense. "Is it okay if I help her clean up a little bit?"
Recovery Girl peeked out of the door, looking around, and noticed Ochako standing there, her face covered in tears and snot and probably looking just about as awful as she felt.
"Oh yes, sweetie, of course," she said, nodding in a calm understanding obtained through decades of working with students from all generations. "You can use anything you need."
Recivery Girl made way to let them in, shut the door, and shuffled back into her office in the back. No one else was there, thankfully, so Deku led Ochako to a chair on the far side of the room. He made himself busy, gathering various supplies from different drawers and cupboards, a comfortable silence stretching between them. She realized he must know this place like the back of his hand by now and smiled for the first time since that morning. That already seemed like ages ago, and her smile faded as quickly as it had come.
Deku made his way back over to her, his arms full of various wipes and ice packs and other assorted things. He handed her a tissue, instructing, "Blow your nose," and she did as she was told. He then took a damp cloth and began to wipe her face gently. She was distantly aware of the fact her tears had finally stopped again, at least for now.
"Deku," she said as he wiped her nose again with a clean tissue, "I don't deserve all of this, you really don't have to…"
"Uraraka, you are my best friend," Deku said, a serious but kind expression on his face. "You don't have to tell me what happened and I won't press you, but I refuse to leave you alone like this. What kind of hero would I be if I just allowed you to cry by yourself?"
"But-"
"No buts. Here, hold these under your eyes, it will help the swelling," he said, handing her two small cold packs.
She followed his instructions again while he threw out her tissues and rinsed out the cloth he'd used, hanging it to dry. "You're really good at this," she said when he finally came back to get the cold packs from her.
"Did you forget that I'm a huge crybaby?" he asked, grinning. "Even All Might's yelled at me about it before. But my mom actually taught me all of this; she's the real master."
Ochako nodded, thinking of the few times she had met Inko-san and how kind and motherly she was. It would make sense that the Midoriyas were all pros at this type of thing.
"You feeling better?"
She shook her head but then shrugged. She didn't feel very much like anything right now.
"It's my fault," she said, her voice sounding foreign and hollow.
"It's okay, Uraraka, you don't have to explain anything to me," Deku said.
"He probably hates me now."
Deku sighed as he took the seat next to her. "I know Kacchan better than I know anyone. He gets upset easily and doesn't take things well when they don't go his way. He might not be a crybaby like me but he's definitely not the best at handling things either, especially when emotions are involved. I think he doesn't want to be perceived as weak for just… feeling something like a normal person. So any time something is too much he just reverts back to anger or shuts down. Whatever happened, it's definitely upset him."
She looked away, clutching her hand to her chest.
"But also he's got people that care about him. Kirishima followed him earlier. And there's you."
"He won't even talk to me," she choked out, the tears welling up again. "He probably won't talk to Kirishima, either."
"Maybe not now. But when he processes his own feelings then I know you two can sort through this. Whatever happened, was it an accident? Or maybe a misunderstanding?"
She was quiet for a minute before nodding and wiping her eyes. "I doubted things and hesitated. Bakugou has always told me not to give up, and I went and did exactly that. I wasn't trying to - I just wanted a second to think about things - but I shouldn't have let myself second-guess his intentions. You even told me not to. He's furious with me, I can tell. I hurt him so much, Deku."
"Then you just need to give him some time. That's what I've always done. And then once he's decided he's not mad at you anymore you can make him understand, I know you can. You're Uravity the rescue hero! You can fix things."
He reached out, offering her his fist, and she weakly bumped it back, not feeling good but maybe just a little bit less awful.
"You ready to go back to class?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
He got up and put away the rest of their unused supplies before stopping by Recovery Girl's door to thank her.
"Of course, you are welcome back any time, sweetie," she said, offering Ochako a piece of candy which she accepted even though she didn't feel at all like eating sweet things at the moment. "Please, just make sure that Midoriya only comes here whole and healthy."
Ochako nodded and bowed in thanks. She and Deku made their way back to the classroom in silence, her mind numb. When they made it back everyone else was already seated, their focus on the lesson. She and Deku apologized to Cementoss for being late and he waved them off, continuing as if there was no interruption. She made her way back to her seat and Deku to his. A single glance showed her that Bakugou had also returned, but he was staring out the window, his face blocked from her field of view.
She would feel better eventually. It would be hard but she would. And then she would fix things.
She had to.
The rest of the day went by in a haze. Ochako somehow managed to make it through hero course but couldn't tell you what she'd done even if you'd asked. She had a vague memory of Bakugou yelling at someone about something at some point but wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or not.
Everyone had been cautious around her for the rest of the day, unsure of what they should do or say. But she didn't mind; it was fewer people she had to explain things to.
She couldn't focus on any work, and the thought of eating made her more nauseous than overusing her quirk, so she decided to just go to bed.
She was asleep within seconds, drifting off into her dreams. Recently she had been having very pleasant dreams that had made her feel light and floaty and well-rested, but that night her subconscious had other plans.
Explosions. All over the city. Everything was being destroyed, the buildings crumbling around her. She was too late, every single person she saw already lost. What good was she as a rescue hero if she was too late to the scene to save anyone?
And why exactly was it that she was so late? Because she had hesitated. The memory was blurry and she couldn't think of exactly why she had hesitated, but all she knew was that it was costing her dearly.
Tears streamed down her face as she encountered faceless victim after faceless victim, all buried under rubble, already dead.
She continued her search for survivors, running through the chaos until a scream captured her attention. She ran towards it, coming to the center of the city where the largest explosion had just gone off. Buried beneath a collapsed building was someone, still alive and writhing in pain.
She rushed over, ready to do her job, but stopped dead in her tracks.
It was Bakugou.
She screamed, stumbling backward until she fell hard towards the pavement, but she never landed, falling infinitely through the ground until everything around her was pitch black.
She awoke on the ceiling, sweat and tears dripping onto the bed below her. Her door swung open as Mina ran in, her toothbrush still in hand and her face contorted in fear. "Ochako, are you okay?! You were screaming!"
"Y-yes," Ochako hiccupped, releasing her quirk and bouncing on her bed as she fell down unceremoniously. "Bad dream."
"Oh," Mina said, making her way over and cradling Ochako's head to her chest. "You've just been having an awful day, haven't you? Poor thing. Where are your mittens?"
Ochako glanced around, finding her sleep mittens on her bedside table where she usually left them. She must have been so tired she'd forgotten to put them on.
Mina picked them up and put them on her, encouraging her to lay back down as she covered Ochako with the blanket and tucked her in. "We'll talk tomorrow. You need to get some sleep after today. I'll be up for a while still so just come down to my room if you need anything, okay?" Ochako nodded, her head still spinning, and Mina left, leaving her alone in the dark. She appreciated Mina's concern but wasn't sure she wanted to talk about this in the morning at all.
She laid there, staring into the black sky out of her window, trying to relax her mind. Falling asleep again was much harder the second time.
Training. She hadn't even thought about training. But her alarm had gone off at its usual time of 4:00am, forcing her to acknowledge the fact that the world kept turning even when she didn't want it to.
He wouldn't go.
There was no way he'd go.
But she wouldn't give up. She couldn't.
So she forced herself to get up and get ready, her routine happening in what felt like slow motion. Maybe he would be there and they'd at least be able to talk. That thought was what was keeping her going.
But after a half hour of training alone she knew there was no chance he'd arrive. She was still struggling with her rocket boots, unable to focus at all, and decided that there was no point anymore.
She packed up her things and went back to her dorm, determined to make it on time for class today. If he wouldn't talk to her there was nothing she could do. Deku had said to give him time so she would just have to wait.
And wait she did. Things were the same for the rest of the day, and the next day, and most of Monday as well. She only saw him in classes and the entire time he refused to even look in her direction. He didn't show up for training and she hadn't seen him in the dorms even once. He was well and truly avoiding her.
It was awful.
She'd never felt more isolated or more alone. Even her other friends couldn't fill the void that his absence in her life created. And all that was compounded by the fact that she now felt even worse for having put Bakugou through this before. She couldn't blame him for being angry; this was the punishment she deserved for avoiding him in the past and doubting his feelings.
To add to the disaster she had already created between them, his attitude had somehow also gotten much, much worse. His outbursts were far more frequent and he was even getting short with teachers. It seemed like if anyone were to say anything to him at all he would fly off the handle, losing control at the drop of a hat. Even Aizawa wasn't able to rationalize with him. Things were bad and it was all her fault. But she still wasn't even completely sure why.
Sure, she had broken the kiss and he was mad at her for pussying out and not just going for it, but she would have kissed him again if he'd given her the chance. If he had just let her explain instead of getting mad at her she would have been able to get out of her own head, stop overthinking, and fix things before they even happened.
"Maybe you should just… try forcing him to talk to you," suggested Todoroki at lunch on Monday once he and Iida had both finally figured out that she and Bakugou had had some type of falling out.
"I think Todoroki is right," said Deku. "I know I said to give him space but it seems like he's been sulking for much longer than usual. I gave you the advice I would follow, but your relationship with Kacchan is so much different than mine. He respects you a lot, so maybe being direct with him will work out better."
"I wouldn't call this behavior just 'sulking'," Iida added, pausing to take a bite of his lunch. "He's acting very childish if you ask me. We as future heroes should talk out our differences, not simply ignore each other and bite the heads off of everyone else who isn't even involved. His behavior has become exceptionally inappropriate."
Ochako sighed as she rested her head in her hand, her mostly untouched lunch getting colder by the minute. "It's not that simple, Iida. It's my fault, so I should be the one taking responsibility."
"Ashido said you've been having nightmares," Todoroki said. "I overheard her telling Yaoyorozu. They're worried about you."
"Well they shouldn't be," she grumbled into her palm. "It was just one nightmare, anyway."
"You didn't tell me that," Deku said, concern on his face.
"Because it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that even if I want to fix things and explain myself to Bakugou he won't even give me the chance."
"So make him," said Todorok again, slurping his soba. "He's been even worse these past two days than he used to be with Midoriya at the beginning of last year. I'm sick of it."
Iida nodded, reluctantly. "Todoroki is right. I hate to believe that you could have done something so awful to cause Bakugou to act this way, Uraraka, but if you are that convinced it is your mistake then you need to apologize and make him listen to reason."
"I agree with Todoroki, too." A tray plopped down on the table next to her and Ochako looked up to see Mina and Kirishima taking seats opposite each other, both looking very serious. "We actually came to talk to you about the same thing," said Mina.
"You've gotta talk to him, Uraraka, he's gotten out of control," Kirishima said. "He won't talk to me, he won't go to the gym with us, and even I can't pretend that he's not being ruder than ever. He's either cursing everyone out or completely isolating himself. I didn't see him even once yesterday! It's like he's intentionally trying to push everyone away. I have no idea what happened but it's bad, man. I'm worried."
"I know you don't wanna talk about it but maybe we can help if we know what happened," Mina said.
"I just…" Ochako looked at Deku who smiled softly at her. She was embarrassed, but she wanted this to be over. "I hesitated. Just for a second. But I think he took that really badly, and I don't know why and he wouldn't even let me explain myself."
"Hesitated at what?" asked Todoroki, dense as ever.
"Uh, well… it was, um…" she didn't know what to say and instead scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. She didn't want people to know yet about her and Bakugou's private life, and she was sure he wouldn't want them to know either. It was supposed to be a secret between the two of them. She wanted it to be just for them, at least for now. She couldn't say it.
"Well that doesn't seem so crazy that he'd get this mad," Mina said, coming to her rescue and probably guessing more than she was letting on. "People hesitate for all kinds of reasons! It's not like you rejected him or something."
Huh? Rejected him? How could Ochako ever reject him? She wanted to be with him.
But he'd made the first move, put himself out there completely.
And she had pulled away.
There was no way he could know why, he had thought they'd completely made up. Which they had. So there was no reason for him to think anything differently. And then their relationship started to change; she had invited him to her room, held his hand, and literally hung all over him in training. He'd been flirting with her all week, and she'd been flirting back. She thought they were moving towards… more than friends. And he probably did too.
But then she didn't kiss him back.
Bakugou wasn't the type of person to do those things half-heartedly - she had guessed as much even before they had gotten so close. So to him, being that way with her was serious. For him to go so far as to try and kiss her, to try and make the first move, was a much bigger deal than she had realized. It wasn't just a misunderstanding. She had physically pushed him away and, even though it was just a second to her, to Bakugou it must have hurt worse than being punched in the face. She'd basically led him on and then when it came down to the most important moment she'd literally told him no. She had rejected him.
He wasn't mad because she'd given up; he was mad because he was hurt. Because he'd put everything on the line in a way that he'd probably never thought he would and she hadn't reciprocated.
"He thinks I rejected him," she breathed, suddenly very alert. "He thinks I didn't want to…"
The entire table went quiet, all eyes on her as she shot up, her chair clattering to the ground behind her.
"Kirishima, where is he right now?"
"I don't know, he disappeared as soon as lunch started."
"I have to talk to him."
"Please knock some sense back into my best bro, Uraraka," Kirishima yelled, cheering Ochako on as she ran out of the cafeteria, determination fueling her every move. Even if he didn't wanna listen, she would do everything she could to make it up to him.
Even though she'd searched most of the school building, Ochako hadn't managed to find Bakugou before the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. She had no choice but to return to class alone, not wanting to be late for the third time in less than a week. She ran down the hall, distracted with her thoughts, and turned the corner directly in front of class 2-A before slamming face-first into a broad, muscular chest.
"Ow! Oh gosh, I'm so sor-"
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FUCKIN' GOIN' YOU-"
They both stopped abruptly, realizing just who it was that they'd bumped into.
She looked up slowly to meet his eyes and was met with Bakugou's purest fury.
He hated her.
But in the split second before he looked away she saw something else; the same hurt she'd seen right before he'd shut her out.
It was gone in a flash, Bakugou not allowing himself to feel any weakness just like Deku had said. She knew he was burying his sadness with anger which would only make this harder, but she would not back down.
"Bakugou, I need to talk to you."
His sneer deepened, his teeth fully bared like some kind of rabid animal as he forced his way into the classroom and slammed the door on her with enough force to nearly shatter the glass panes.
She leaned her forehead against the wall and sighed; this was going to be difficult. But, he wouldn't be Bakugou Katsuki if he didn't make everything as challenging as possible - Ochako couldn't complain when she'd chosen him for that exact reason. She'd just have to be persistent.
A loud bang from within the classroom jolted her from her thoughts, and she entered just in time to bear witness to Bakugou's next temper tantrum.
"GET OUTTA MY SEAT YOU WORTHLESS FUCKIN' EXTRA, OR I'LL BLAST YOUR INVISIBLE ASS INTO NEXT WEEK!"
Toru sighed. She was also clearly over Bakugou's recent outbursts, having been the brunt of many due to the sheer misfortune of sitting directly in front of him. "This is my seat, Bakugou. You sit in that one," she said, her sleeve pointing in the direction of the desk right behind hers.
Bakugou looked back and forth between her and his own desk slightly confused before screaming again. "I FUCKIN' KNEW THAT, WHO FUCKIN' ASKED YOU?! MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!"
"Kacchan, don't yell at Hagakure just because you were distracted," Deku scolded from the next seat in their row.
"FUCK OFF YOU SHITTY NERD! FUCKIN' DIE! I'M SICK OF DEALIN' WITH ALL OF YOU LOSERS!"
Ochako sighed again as she made her way to her own seat in the back of the room.
Yeah. This was going to be extremely difficult.
The next two days were just as unsuccessful. Bakugou spent most of his time completely avoiding her - and everyone else - probably locked in his room doing who knows what. Every time she did see him and try to talk he would ignore her, storm off, and inevitably throw a fit with someone completely uninvolved.
She tried to find him again after hero course Monday afternoon but he wasn't around, Tokoyami saying he'd stomped off as soon as they were dismissed without even showering.
She waited around in the kitchen that night, knowing he'd have to eat dinner eventually, but he never showed up, instead forcing Kaminari to bring a spicy cup ramen up to his room.
She decided to try going to the gym Tuesday morning instead of the PE grounds but he wasn't there either, Kirishima confirming again that he hadn't seen him there any day that week.
He was in the kitchen getting breakfast when she got back, but the second he saw her he turned in the opposite direction, blasted Mineta's chair directly out from under him because it was 'IN THE DAMN WAY', and stomped off.
He spent most of their break that day yelling at Momoyao for 'BREATHING UP ALL THE AIR' with her 'GREEDY DAMN LUNGS', and cursed out poor Sato and Ojiro for 'ASKIN' DUMBASS OBVIOUS QUESTIONS' questions during their math lesson.
On Wednesday, he literally blasted to class using his quirk just to avoid having to walk at the same time as her and was scolded by three different teachers, all of which he gave attitude to. Aizawa must have warned them about his recent behavior because they didn't seem too surprised.
She thought she'd be able to trap him at lunch by waiting until he was eating but the second she reached his table he got up, threw away the brand new food he'd just bought, and spent the rest of their lunch break locked in a private study room in the library.
He called Shoji a 'SHITY OCTOFUCKER,' when he'd pinned Bakugou in their sparring matchup and barely avoided cursing out All Might himself when he was reprimanded. At one point, Sero had to tape his mouth shut just to get him to stop berating everyone.
It was safe to say that Ochako had absolutely had enough. Even if they couldn't make up, even if he hated her for the rest of their lives, she refused to let him keep acting this way. This had to end today.
Ochako waited until everyone was at dinner to make her move - a time when she knew for a fact that Bakugou would be locked in his room.
She made her way up to the 4th floor on the boys' side and walked down the hall until she reached the door she knew was his. Everything looked so familiar but just slightly off, mirroring her own floor exactly. As her nerves started to kick in she took a deep breath and smacked her cheeks a few times to stomp them down, preparing herself.
She could do this.
She knocked on his door three times and waited until she heard shuffling inside the room.
"What?!" Bakugou grunted when he swung the door open, a glare on his face. But the second he realized it was her who had knocked he slammed the door again, not even giving her the chance to say a word.
It wasn't totally surprising that that had been his reaction, but after everything that had been going on it only served to make her mad. She was sick of this new attitude and would not let him keep getting away with it.
She knocked again, slamming on the door with her whole fist. "Bakugou, open up! We have to talk!"
He ignored her which only added more fuel to the fire. She kept knocking, getting progressively more and more aggressive until she was banging on his door with both fists, screaming at the top of her lungs. "BAKUGOU KATSUKI, YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BREAK IT DOWN MYSELF!"
Whether he was finally giving in or was just sick of the noise she wasn't sure, but he finally wrenched the door open again. He looked ready to force her to be quiet but she was ready this time. She shoved her way in using her whole body weight as leverage against him and slammed her hand right into his chest, activating her quirk. "YOU ARE BEING SUCH A BRAT AND IT HAS TO STOP!"
"THE FUCK, URARAKA?! LET ME DOWN!"
"NO!"
"DROP ME AND GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY ROOM!" he yelled as he flailed around, completely unable to orient himself. If she wasn't so furious she might have even found it funny.
"Not until you agree to talk to me!" She slammed his door shut behind her, emphasizing her point.
"LET ME DOWN OR I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU!"
"You can be mad at me all you want, Bakugou, but I refuse to keep letting you treat our friends like this! If you don't stop taking things out on everyone and just talk to me then you can stay up there forever!"
"FUCK OFF, ROUND FACE, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Round Face. He hadn't called her a nickname in so long that she hadn't realized how much she genuinely missed them. They were annoying and sometimes rude, but they still showed he cared about her, at least a little. Yeah, he mostly used 'Round Face' when he was annoyed, but hearing him say it gave her the confidence she needed. This was working.
"No."
He continued to yell and curse, flipping all around like a child who didn't know how to swim. He yelled something about warning her not to use his full name but she chose to ignore it.
"Agree that we can talk and I'll release you."
"LIKE FUCK! LET ME DOWN OR I'LL BLAST YOU THROUGH THE DAMN DOOR!"
"FINE! DO IT THEN!"
It was a challenge and he knew it, but she knew just as well as he did that he would never, ever hurt her that way. It was clear she'd won when he didn't retaliate, glaring at her silently from the ceiling.
"If you don't want to talk, at least just listen to me! Please," she choked out, her emotions finally betraying her.
He looked away, his expression conflicted as she saw a glimpse of the hurt he'd been burying come to the surface again. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth.
She sighed in relief and finally released him, knowing that no matter what happened next she would fight to make him understand - and to win him back - with everything she had.
Notes: This chapter is one of the shorter ones, but I hope the content makes up for it.
:^)