A series of rhythmic and methodical thuds rang out through the otherwise silent weight room. The source, a punching bag, swayed back and forth in front of a spikey blond as his chest heaved with heavy breaths and sweat soaked his tank top. His gaze steeled and he quickly made another series of jabs, punches, kicks, elbow and knee throws; the final punch causing the stand to rock slightly and the chains to creak as the bag swung in larger arcs than before. He stood tense and prepared for the bag to strike back, though no such attack ever came. Sneering at the bag he relaxed and strode towards the side of the room where his water was and took a few large gulps before throwing it back down and moving on to a different piece of equipment.
The large sliding doors at the far end of the room whooshed open revealing a petite figure clutching onto a gym bag. He kept his gaze straight ahead and in the opposite direction of her. "Good morning! Didn't expect anyone else to be up this early but you beat me here!" Uraraka said with a chipper demeanor. He grit his teeth together and made no other motions acknowledging that he had even heard her. Light footsteps drew closer to him until they were right behind him and he felt a tap on his shoulder. Of course she would make things difficult; she couldn't just drop it like he told her to. Giving her a side glare with as much ice as he could he allowed himself to look her over. Her chocolate locks were pulled up into a little ponytail with her infamous face framing strands falling out; the urge to lift his hand up and gently tuck them behind her ear was overwhelming and his muscles tensed in the silent battle to stay in control of himself. She wore a simple plain black tank top and a pair of bubblegum pink shorts that showed off her long, creamy legs until they met the matching pink sneakers. Her eyes sparkled with a determined vigor and she had a small stupid smile painted on her face. "Spar with me Bakugo." She said.
Turning his gaze back forward and away from her he responded. "No."
He began to walk away from her but was stopped by her delicate hand grabbing his wrist. His head whipped around so fast he could have gotten whiplash, tongue poised as the ready to spit an angry comment in her direction, but she spoke first. "I wasn't asking. Come spar with me." She dropped his hand and walked towards the mats, tossing her bag to the side along the way before beginning to stretch. This forwardness was definitely a new side to her, but he shouldn't be so surprised, in all his years of knowing her she had never been one to shy away from getting what she wanted.
Standing frozen in place, he contemplated his options in his head. On one hand he could tell her to go to hell, probably piss her off and then she would come at him twice as hard about the request. He could just leave, but she would still follow him and be just as persistent. If he accepted then he would have to be close to her, touching her and breathing in her sweet scent. Just the thought of pinning her to the mat made his loins stir uncomfortably. 'Damned if I do and damned if I don't' he thought to himself.'
After deliberating it for a few more moments he decided it would just be better to give in to her request rather than have her yelling at him for backing down from a challenge. He stepped onto the mats and began stretching his own extremities even though he was already well warmed up. "Normal rules," he started reciting to her. "Best two out of three wins, pinned or pushed out of the ring is a loss. No cheap shots."
"Deal" she responded as she nodded towards him. She lowered herself into a fighting stance and put her hands up, ready to begin. Bakugo mirrored her stance and took in a deep breath, evaluating his opponent and preparing for her possible moves and his plan of attack and counter measures.
Without warning she darted towards him and make a sweep with her leg trying to take his out from under him. He leapt to the side avoiding her and reached out catching her arm and twisting her over trying to pin her on her stomach. Quickly bringing in her legs she was able to spring up off the floor breaking his grip on her. While she regained her balance he swung his famous right hook at her, to which she side-stepped and grabbed his arm while maneuvering her body into position to flip him onto his back. Replicating her earlier movement, he allowed himself to be hurled through the air and curled on himself to land on his feet in a crouched position and launched himself straight into her middle in a tackle that sent them both tumbling onto the ground. In the jumble of limbs, he managed to grab both her wrists and slam them down to the mat.
He was now straddling her and breathing heavily while only being inches away from her face. Her initial look of surprise changed into a pouty grimace that made her look even cuter. Little eyebrows scrunched together and he could swear she was almost sticking out her lip. A small smile crossed his own mouth for a second as she penetrated his walls once more. She had an incredible affinity for making him let his guard down. "That was a cheap tactic." She complained, breaking him out of the spell she held on him.
"I said no cheap shots, I never said that it was an exclusively formal fight." He responded while releasing her hands and shooting up off her. A Blush burned across his cheeks and the tops of his ears as he returned to his spot across from her on the mat leaving her to get herself up off the floor.
"Alright, you wanna fight dirty? I can fight dirty." She replied, pushing herself up and dusting off before settling into her stance again.
He didn't give her the opportunity to strike first again and took a swing at her, she blocked it with her arm and went to jab under his ribs with the opposite. Grabbing onto her forearm, he used her own momentum to try and pull her to the ground. She hit the ground with a solid thud but managed to wrench herself from his grasp and rolled right back on her feet. Launching herself back towards him, she aimed a punch at his gut to which he dodged. Bakugo attempted to bring his elbow down on the middle of her back, but she kept going through the punch and ended in a crouch next to him, swinging her arm around to connect with the backs of his knees and causing them to buckle. His face landed in the mat with a resounding thud and she scrambled on top of him, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him.
God, why did it turn him on so much for her to be on top of him like that? He didn't even care that he just lost a round to her, all he could think about was her silky thighs that were pressing in to either side of his hips and his arm was being gripped by her soft delicate fingertips, save for her pinkies that she always kept slightly up to avoid using her quirk, that held his hand right in between her supple breasts. Memories of their night together danced in his brain, reminiscence of how it felt to hold those fleshy mounds in the palm of his hand, the taste of her slightly sweaty skin, the tiny moans she made as he ran his hands and mouth all over her.
"Told you I could play dirty Bakugo." She gloated from on top of him, snapping him out of his daydream. His shorts growing uncomfortably tight. A burst of rage flowed through him at his own inability to keep his dick in check. She already told him she wasn't interested and he didn't mean shit to her, so why the fuck couldn't he keep her out of his god damn head? Ochaco released his hand and stood up before extending a hand to him to help him up. Looking away from her, he pushed himself up off the floor and settled in a fighting stance across from her again. Momentarily, she stood looking at him almost puppy like with her head tilted and a confused expression across her face.
"I don't get you Bakugo." She said while slowly settling into her stance and then darting towards him with a jab. He brushed it to the side and threw a few hits back which she easily blocked and dodged. "You've always been this moody bad boy, then all of a sudden you're soft, apologizing, then right back to asshole but times two now." She said between breaths as they exchanged more jabs, punches, blocks, and dodges.
"You don't need to get me, cheeks." He replied while jumping back from a wide kick of hers.
Her muscles relaxed slightly as she stared at him. "Is it because of the sex?" she asked bluntly. He took the opportunity to dash forward at her but her guard was back in an instant and they danced a deadly waltz around each other. "All this started after that night and you've been weird ever since."
"It's not about the sex." He growled, his movements filled with irritation.
"Then what is it about?" she said with exasperation while lowering her hands.
He grabbed the sides of his head and groaned in frustration. "You're the one who said you wanted to pretend it never happened! Why can't you just let it go?"
"Because obviously something is bothering you about it Bakugo, and I don't want this to ruin our friendship!" she slightly shouted.
His hands fell to his sides with a deep chuckle, "We are not friends cheeks, and we never will be." He could tell that he had gone a bit to far, her eyes were welling up slightly with tears, a cord had been struck. A gut-wrenching feeling punched him and he turned away to grab his things and leave, he had caused enough damage for one morning.
"Bakugo, wait…" she said softly as she reached out for his arm again. He jerked it out of her reach before she could barely graze his arm with a single finger. Stopping cold in his tracks he took a deep breath.
"You really want to know what my problem is?" he spoke in a low tone, voice threatening to crack with emotion. He stared at the floor in the opposite direction from her, he couldn't bear to see her face. A pause wound the tension in the room so tight it felt like it would crush them. Internally he debated on telling the truth or telling her a lie to get her to hate him. Neither was a good choice.
Kirishima's voice rang through his head, bringing him back to the conversation he had with his best friend.
Bakugo laid down on his bed with an arm strung over his eyes so he didn't have to see shitty hair's stupid smug face. He could hear him twisting around in the swiveling desk chair and humming to himself as he pondered how to respond. "Dude, I think you should just tell her. Worst case scenario she doesn't feel the same and then we graduate and move off to different agencies and you never really have to see her again. Best case, she likes you back and maybe then you can quit third wheeling with me and Mina." He said with a grin at the end. Bakugo glared at him and tossed his pillow at the crimson boy, which was received with a lighthearted chuckle. Kirishima pushed the pillow down onto his lap and leaned forward. "But seriously bro, you miss all the shots you don't take. You gotta man up, and just tell her. You know, be plus ultra." Another un-enthusiastic glare was sent towards him.
Be plus ultra. The words rang through his head. It was cheap of him to use the school motto in a pep talk, but he would be damned if it didn't work. Focus was brought back to his present situation and he let out his breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"My problem is you. That night wasn't an accident or a mistake because I've been wanting it for years now. You were always close enough to Deku that I could ignore it but when he started seeing the support girl, I thought that maybe I had a chance. It never seemed like a good enough time to tell you, but I guess it never will be." He paused for a moment, his throat burning from holding back tears. "I... like you Uraraka. A lot. We will never be friends, because I've never seen you that way."
Silently he grabbed his things and ran out the doors to leave her standing in the middle of the room.
"Bakugo..." she called out after him. He didn't respond. "Bakugo wait…" she tried again. "Katsuki..." she said as the doors slid shut, leaving her alone with nothing but the weight of his confession on her shoulders.