**I do not own these characters or the world, that belongs to our lovely author of MHA, Kohei Horikoshi. Also, cover art was a commission by me from the artist Krumbs. Follow them on if you'd like! They are extremely talented!

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I started this new job recently and the amount of paperwork associated with it is enough to choke a donkey. That and there's a bunch of weird due dates for that paperwork that seem to not have any real rhyme or reason to them, so I spent majority of yesterday getting gray hair dealing with that shit. So here's the delayed chapter. Enjoy! Thanks for any and all reviews, I do so appreciate them.

Twenty-Four
Bakugo Doesn't Play Well with Others

Uraraka sat uncomfortably at her desk. The entire room had been rearranged to accommodate this new assignment they'd been given. Everyone's desk had been moved so that it was positioned next to their randomly assigned partner. Honestly, she felt like she was back in elementary school when seat assignments were made and desks put in pods of four…except this was not elementary school.

Next to her sat the ashen haired blonde that she'd spent far too much time around recently. He was leaned back in his chair, his eyes downcast and an irritable wrinkle in his brow. His hands were thrust into his pockets and while they'd been assigned as partners, they had yet to exchange one word to each other.

Prior to this turn of events, the day had been relatively unremarkable. Uraraka had had a good night and had been excited and nervous to see Deku that morning. All she could think about was tomorrow when they'd watch the aurora borealis together. It was like a real date and that thought all by itself was extremely exciting.

She'd not had much of chance to talk much to him about anything other than coursework, but seeing him was enough for her. They shared gazes and rosy cheeks—all telltale signs of a crush on the precipice of becoming more than just openly liking each other.

When they'd moved into the last bit of the day—the dreaded continuation of their sexual education—she'd not felt that anxious about it. Sure, it was likely that they'd have some embarrassing guest speaker or something incredibly awkward and random pair ups for an impromptu assignment on different types of birth control, but all of that she had felt she could deal with. It meant she was one day closer to Wednesday. However, the wind had been swept from her sails the moment Recovery Girl had announced what they'd be doing.

Recovery Girl had informed them that they'd be randomly paired up and randomly assigned a piece of male and female anatomy that they were to present on together next week. They were supposed to create a roughly accurate diagram—by means of their choosing—of both the male and female reproductive system and where their assigned parts were. In addition to that, they were also supposed to write a paper together about the designated anatomy's role in sexual reproduction.

Today and then on Friday would be their assigned in class time to work together, which meant they needed to collaborate outside of class to complete the project. As if the entirety of this project wasn't uncomfortable enough, her randomly assigned partner had been Bakugo! Considering her most recent interactions with him were ones she wished she'd not had, well, she was dreading this project. Not to mention that Bakugo was seemingly naturally gifted in anything he did, which meant he probably had zero patience for someone unable to keep up with him.

As they sat there, painfully quiet, she imagined he'd already come up with whatever would work best for their diagram and had likely already composed most of a paper in his head.

Adding insult to injury, their assigned parts were the testis for the male and the uterus for the female. Not that that was the worst assignment by far—she was fairly certain that went to Momo and Todoroki with the glans penis and the clitoris—but it was something she really wasn't interested in doing with someone like Bakugo. Would this even be a group project? How could it even be counted as one if they didn't say a word to each other?

Bakugo moving at her side made her jump. He'd been eerily silent the entire time and aside from being rather vocal and irritable when learning the original pairing, he'd not had a thing to say. What was he up to now? Had he had enough of the silence? Uraraka felt sweat begin to pool between her breasts. Why did she have to be paired with Bakugo?

A notebook was suddenly thrust at her, making her flinch in response. She looked at the notebook as it landed on her desk. It was a plain notebook, not unlike the one's Deku took so many notes in, though this one was clearly not so well used or well loved. Gingerly, she reached out and pulled open the flap to see some notes written in Bakugo's small and surprisingly legible handwriting.

Notes? They were his notes? What?

"What, Bakugo, what's—"

"What's it look like? It's notes so you can get up to speed on this crap. Copy the notes on the balls and the baby factory so you know exactly what they do," he snapped at her impatiently.

Uraraka frowned and puffed out her cheeks in irritation. As if she didn't know what they did. She had a uterus after all, of course she knew what it did! "I know what they do! I'm not stupid."

Bakugo finally turned his irritable gaze toward her and narrowed his eyes and smirked viciously. "Oh really? That why you bonked your head and ears' after trying to execute the worst plan ever made? Because you're smart?"

Now Uraraka narrowed her eyes. She was quickly getting annoyed with him. This would not be a workable partnership if he was just going to insult her the entire time. He should be paired with someone like Kirishima or Kaminari, not her. They actually seemed to get along.

"Unlike you, I actually have a uterus so I know how that works at the very least," she shot back at him.

He snorted. "And small fry has balls but that doesn't mean he actually knows what they do, aside from the one's on his head."

Uraraka audibly scoffed at him and glared. How dare he compare her to Mineta of all people!

"Do you actually even know what a uterus does, apart from being a baby factory?" She snapped angrily. She quickly put her hand on the notebook he'd tossed at her to keep him from referencing his notes.

"It is one of the primary reproductive organs of a biologically born female. It houses the developing fetus as it grows during a pregnancy and when it's not undergoing a pregnancy, its lining thickens up every month in preparation for a pregnancy which it will shed should a pregnancy not occur in a cycle called menstruation. It is also where the placenta attaches to and grows from during a pregnancy," he rattled off without hesitation.

Uraraka could only stare. How did he remember all of that? It wasn't from interest alone. He clearly wasn't interested in anything involving their actual academic coursework, so why remember this? Was he really just that smart that he'd been taught it and had already committed it to memory?

"What? No quips or comebacks? Ha, like I said, just because you have the parts doesn't mean you know shit about them," he snapped and then inclined his head toward the notebook that her hand still rested on. "Copy my notes and learn them. On Friday we can do the essay together. It won't need to be long; balls and baby factory aren't that complicated at this level."

"What about the model?" Uraraka asked softly, unsure of how to even proceed after she had literally just been schooled in her own anatomy.

"What about it? That arts and crafts shit you can do. It better be good though! Don't go like blow up a balloon and write 'uterus' on it and expect that old bag to accept that," Bakguo grunted, his crimson gaze directed at Recovery Girl who sat at the front of the class.

"I'm not going to do it by myself! We can do it together on Friday as well as the essay," Uraraka protested with a frown. Why was she expected to do the model? Because it was arts and crafts? How sexist.

Bakugo let out an irritated sigh. "Fine, but we do it my way."

"Fine," Uraraka agreed sourly, though she quietly wondered what his way actually was.

A few desks behind Uraraka and Bakugo, Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki sat with their desks pushed together. The move had been easy for them since their desks were already across from one another. Yaoyorozu was looking through some of her notes while Todoroki sat quietly beside her, silently wondering how his other classmates faired with this particular assignment.

Most of his peers seemed to have taken to this assignment with varying mixtures of embarrassment and anxiety. He could understand that reaction; sexual reproduction could easily be a subject that was awkward, especially when being taught to hormonal and emotional teenagers. Insecurity was rampant in this age group so to be assigned at random a partner and reproductive organ, well that could easily make someone uncomfortable. Shoto wasn't uncomfortable though. Just as he'd approached every other class before this one, he wasn't flustered or feeling particularly awkward. Even with the assigned parts of clitoris and glans penis, he was unfazed. Why would simple anatomy be embarrassing?

Yaoyorozu had spoken very little to him since they'd moved their desks together. She'd been poured over her notes as if there was something in there that her life depended on her finding. It was fairly easy to deduce that she was feeling uneasy with their assignment. Yaoyorozu with her vast intelligence and powerful quirk, was flustered about having to do a group assignment on the penis and clitoris. It was a thought that he found both amusing and a little endearing.

"Yaoyorozu do you think we could use your quirk to create a diagram that represents the clitoris and the head of the penis? It would probably be the most efficient way to complete that portion of this assignment," Todoroki suggested. He watched with mild interest at the swiftly reddening cheeks of his partner. It was just anatomy, was it really that uncomfortable?

"Um, yes, I uh, yes, I think we could. I'll just need to look up what the normal models are made of so that I can accurately re-create one. Um, in terms of the paper, well, the glans penis is straight forward, but the uh, the," her voice wavered drawing Todoroki's gaze, "the clitoris, it, well it doesn't really serve a true role in sexual reproduction." Her cheeks were now a solid red and she wouldn't look at him at all.

Without really even thinking about it, he felt his right side grow colder and a small thick block of ice began to form in his hand. A moment later and he held a small almost perfectly shaped cube shaped block of ice that he wordlessly handed to Yaoyorozu. She kept her eyes downturned and hastily took it out of his hand and began pressing it to her cheeks.

"Thank you, Todoroki," she practically whispered.

"My pleasure," Todoroki replied, his voice relatively empty of emotion, just cool and calming tones. While that was what was projected, somewhere deep down a part of him felt a small thrill of happiness at her eagerly using the ice he'd made for her. It was a curious feeling but one so deep within him that he hardly acknowledged its presence let alone what that might mean.

"As I was saying though, it uh, it doesn't really serve a purpose. The glans penis obviously does, and while in the womb the, er, clitoris is what all babies have until it grows into a penis whilst still gestating, but for biological females it doesn't serve a role aside from, well, aside from, the uh, um, aside from sexual excitement," Yaoyorozu explained in such a small voice that it was almost hard to hear her.

"That is my understanding as well; its sole purpose is to allow a woman to experience sexual pleasure. It serves no purpose in terms of sexual reproduction and unlike the glans penis, it does not also house the urethra or produce semen," agreed Todoroki. He was vaguely aware of the persistent redness in his partners cheeks despite the ice he'd conjured for her.

"I guess it'll make for a short paper then," she murmured.

"I don't think there is an expectation for a long paper, Yaoyorozu. Most of these organs are fairly straight forward in their function in sexual reproduction. The clitoris is perhaps one of the easiest organs in that it serves only one straight forward purpose," Todoroki said thoughtfully.

"Yes, ah, yes, I think you are right," Yaoyorozu mumbled, her eyes on the far wall in the opposite direction of Todoroki.

For the first time, Todoroki shifted somewhat uncomfortably. The subject material didn't make him nervous but watching Yaoyorozu grow increasingly anxious was starting to make him share those sentiments, or perhaps seeing her in distress was unpleasant enough to him that he'd started to mirror her.

"I'm sorry if this topic makes you feel uncomfortable. I know it can be difficult to talk about things like this, especially to our age group. I think the teachers know that though so they aren't holding us to some outlandishly high standard, if that's any consolation," he paused briefly and considered his next words carefully. "I also understand if having to do this assignment with me is adding to your level of discomfort."

Yaoyorozu whipped her head back toward Todoroki and stared at him with wide, nervous eyes. Seeing her expression made his brows just barely start to knit together in a frown. Why was she looking at him like that? Had he said the wrong thing or implied something different with his words?

"What I mean is—"

"Why would working with you specifically make this worse for me?" She interrupted, her eyes still wide and anxious.

His mouth was beginning to join his eyebrows in frowning, though just barely. Emotion aside from determination or anger, were rare occurrences on his face. Todoroki by all accounts, was icy and could easily be seen as largely emotionless to most people.

"This particular subject is notorious for making individuals who might experience sexual attraction for one another uncomfortable. If your desired gender in a significant other is male, then this pairing of you and I could easily make you acutely aware of that and cause tension and anxiety," Shoto explained, his face taking on a fully developed frown at seeing the full face and neck blush that blossomed over Yaoyorozu's skin.

"What are you saying?" She asked, face red, eyes wide and voice tight.

"I am saying that I am a boy and that you are a girl and if you have heterosexual inclinations then simply because of our genders alone, you might feel more hyperaware of that. It would add to already uncomfortable subject material."

There was a pause before Yaoyorozu responded. She seemed to be thinking and Shoto was relieved to see that the blush was starting to fade. "So, you're saying that just because I'm a girl and you're a boy and there's the possibility of attraction between us—"

"Not us specifically, just the pairing of male and female in general," Shoto corrected. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to interrupt her to correct her. Why did it matter that it wasn't them specifically?

Suddenly a new thought dawned on him and he felt like wheels that had never turned before were beginning to turn in his head. He took in the blush in Yaoyorozu's cheeks now, the wide eyes, the event during the previous week, the gaze that often wouldn't meet his, and a whole new picture presented itself to him. She was reacting this way because it was him with her, not because they were just a boy and a girl and the material was awkward. She was reacting the exact way he'd expect someone to react when placed in a scenario with someone they had romantic interest in. She wasn't the put together, hugely talented girl that he knew her to be because right now, she was having to do a project on an embarrassing topic with a person she liked; a person who she'd also likely attempted to ask out.

As that thought hit, a wave of heat suddenly rose up over both his cheeks—a truly curious sensation since he'd never felt heat rise to his right cheek before. He sat there staring at her but not really seeing her, his cheeks burning hot for just an instant before his right side instinctually began generating a coolness which mercifully began to extinguish the blush he knew colored his cheeks.

His gaze focused then, focused on her and he felt something unfamiliar wash over him. Something cold and hot at the same time that he didn't understand since he'd never felt it before that moment. He took in her gray eyes, the raven hair, the fair and unblemished skin, her delicate brow and the red in her cheeks—he really saw her and at that moment he thought, she's really quite physically striking. What would it be like to run my right hand along her cheekbone? Would it be warmed by the heat of her skin or would my ice overpower even the heat in those cheeks? Wait…why am I having these thoughts? Do I perhaps have more than friendly feelings for her?

He realized he'd been staring and abruptly averted his gaze. He took a deep, body wide breath and closed his eyes. These are just observations. The fact that Yaoyorozu is beautiful isn't relevant to the present situation. What matters is what a person does and who they are. I don't understand these feelings but they feel inappropriate. She is my classmate and friend. I am above this.

Todoroki exhaled then and opened his eyes. Yaoyorozu was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. The blush had mostly faded from her cheeks. Apparently, his brief interlude into his inner thoughts had been enough of a distraction for her to regain some composure.

"Todoroki?" She questioned an edge of concern in her voice.

"Sorry. I was saying that it is natural for a boy and a girl, or anyone our age really, to feel embarrassed about this subject material. The fact that I'm a boy might make that worse if you have romantic interest in boys," he explained once again feeling in control and calm. "It is okay if it makes you uncomfortable. I think everyone feels that way. If I can do anything to make it easier for you, just let me know."

"Oh, okay. Thank you," she replied, her eyes and tone somewhat confused. "I think what will help is just getting through this stuff as quickly as we can."

He gave a slight smile. "I agree. What can I do to assist you with making a diagram?"

The blush had vanished from her cheeks and after a brief hesitation, Yaoyorozu began explaining what she needed from Todoroki. Todoroki listened carefully all the while in the back of his mind, he continued to notice little things about her face and mannerisms that he'd never paid much attention to before.

He may have consciously moved on from the realization that he might like Yaoyorozu a little more than as a friend, but unconsciously his mind had made no such effort; unconsciously, it memorized everything about the tall, raven haired, gray eyed girl beside him.

"We get the bladder and the urethra? Like seriously what is that? Neither part of those are any fun at all! Who cares about the bladder on a guy and like, the urethra on the female? Talk about no fair. Everybody else gets a good assignment and here I am with you, Midoriya, with the most boring parts on a guy and a girl," Mineta pouted.

During the entirety of their paired time together, Mineta had not shut up about how awful the pairing was let alone the organs they'd been assigned to. Deku was really starting to hate this pair up himself. How was he supposed to get anything done if all Mineta wanted to do was complain about how unfair things were?

"Mineta, can we just work on what we're actually going to do for the assignment? I want to pass the assignment," Midoriya said softly.

"No man. No. We got the shaft. Me more than you. See? I'm not even gonna laugh at using the word 'shaft'. Damn tragedy," Mineta huffed.

Why can't it be Valentines Day already? Deku thought to himself with a sigh.