"This is complete bullshit." Bakugo forced out between clenched teeth as he continued to glare daggers at the people around them. When his PR told him that she'd get this matter resolved he had no idea what he had signed up for until five minutes before entering the studio.

"Yeah, well this would be a good way to filter out all that bad publicity as well as bump up your ratings." Shigeta his PR said standing next to him before resuming her conversation on her phone and moving further away.

"Doesn't mean I like it!" he snapped back before folding his arms over his broad chest and trying to take a deep calm breath.

"She may have a point here man." Kirishima mumbled between mouthfuls of donuts.

"I don't care because I don't see how being in this months of…" he ignored the protest of one of the workers as he angrily snatched up the magazine the guy had been reading as he walked by. "'Japans most eligible single bachelors' is going to help me!" Tossing it back at the startled worker he angrily began tapping his foot as the guys scurried away. If one good thing could come out of this was that he was at least given the option of wearing his own hero suit instead of the many other ridiculous getup's they had in the back.

"Come on Bakubro lighten up!" Kirishima grinned as he removed his gaze form the irritated blond to glance at the brunette timidly having her own photo shot. "Uraraka doesn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, but only because hers has to do with the Hawks Agency and the others too." When he saw the red head curiously turning to face him by the new information Bakugo simply rolled his eyes as he shrugged. "Or so I've heard."

"Hmm." Shooting his brows up Kirishima was rather surprised to hear Bakugo had actually paid attention to something that didn't directly involve him, or anything work related.

"Oi dumbass, you've got food on you're face." Bakugo frowned in disgust as Kirishima sheepishly grinned before grabbing a nearby napkin to wipe his cheeks.

"Did I get it?" Kirishima asked as Bakugo shot him a deadpanned expression.

Begrudgingly nodding Bakugo returned his attention to the session in front of them as he zeroed in on the smiling bubbly face of one Uravity as she continued to talk and follow the photographer's instruction. He slowly began narrowing his eyes when he saw her laughing at something the photographer had said as he took the picture. He had to agree that with the lighting, the background as well as the way her eyes shone with excitement as they slightly closed had her glowing like a sunrise, bringing hope with each dawn which he thought suited her just fine. "Tch."

"You say something?" Kirishima only halfway turned before resuming to watch what was going on in order to mentally prepare himself for his own session, wondering if they had one of those big fans nearby.

Tilting his head the ash blond impatiently began to look around before his eyes eventually made their way back to her, wondering what was taking so long. Didn't all these useless extras know they had to get back to work?

"Alright Uravity, we're almost done here." The photographer said which made Bakugos eyes drift back over to see her nervously locking eyes with his before she quickly looked away in favor of paying attention to the photographer. The fact that her pink cheeks began to darken made him stare at her a bit longer than was necessary, acknowledging that he couldn't deny that she was easy on the eyes. Convincing himself that the damn lightning was to blame for making him think that despite the small voice in the back of his head that kept reminding him that this wasn't the only time he had thought that about her. "You know I blame her for this."

"Who? Uraraka?" Kirishima smiled when she was finally done, seeing that she was hating this just as much as they were. "How do you figure that?"

"It was her fault for not letting me work the case." He stubbornly said. "So, I tried to do the nice thing and take them out to eat so that maybe she'd agree."

"Again, I ask how?" Kirishima tried to suppress his smile when his friend's eye began twitching.

"It just is alright!"

"Wow dude your logic sometimes floors me."

"You-" biting back his retort they both turned when their name was being called next.

"Look man just relax alright. Shigata may have the right idea here ok. You take a couple of pictures showing the world that THE Dynamight is still available and up for grabs, therefore allowing everyone to know that that picture wasn't anything but two friends grabbing a meal together. So just act cool."

"Shut up." he grumbled as they walked up to the set with Todoroki and Deku already there. "Oi what the hell?"

"Hey Kacchan?" Deku eagerly waved after greeting Uraraka who still had her back towards him.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Kirishima sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and mentally kicked himself for forgetting to let the explosive hero know. "They're going to be in the magazine too,"

"Just great. Now I gotta share this with you too?!" Bakugo barked back at a grinning Deku.

"Ok so where do you want us?" Happily clamping his hands together Kirishima saw the photographer momentarily distracted as he stared at Uraraka.

"Oi you damn extra with the camera he asked you a question?!"

"Y-yeah, it just came to me. How about we do a quick impromptu shot too!" The photographer exclaimed as he began dragging them over to the set. "We haven't had one like this in a while, especially with Japans sweetheart coming back."

"Huh?" Watching the man frantically move around while talking to himself had Uraraka wondering why she was still here. They told her just a few pictures before her interview in a couple of weeks and then she would be free to leave to enjoy what remained of her Sunday.

"If you guys don't mind? I would really love to take a few more pictures of the four of you together?"

"Tch, talk to my damn PR." Bakugo scoffed as he made to leave. No way was he sticking around for that.

"It's fine!" She waved off from her seat as she continued to talk on her phone.

"God damn it you useless-"

"Great!" The photographer shouted as he grabbed the attention of everyone around them. "Alright people let's make this quick!" smiling he returned his attention to the four heroes. "Thank you so much, it's really hard nowadays to get even just two of you in one picture let alone four of UA's famous class A."

"That's so exiting!" Deku eagerly fisted his hands as he smiled at both Todoroki and Uraraka.

"Happy to do it." Kirishima grinned before nudging the ash blond. "Right man?"

"Let's just get this over with."

Fifteen minutes and a few shots later he felt about ready to blow. They had them doing everything from standing on ridiculously high make shit buildings to using their quirks. He was just about to draw the line when the photographer asked for one last shot.

"Ok, now I need you all to look this way and smile! Smile BIG!" Looking into his camera his brows quickly began to scrunch together in a deep frown. "Um Dynamight you wanna give us a little smile?"

"I'm not smiling." He scowled back.

"Come on Kacchan it's for one picture." Deku said his smile now feeling rather strained the longer they continued arguing and feeling his cheeks begin to hurt.

"Bro, even Todoroki is smiling."

Huffing Bakugo turned to see Todoroki with the briefest of smiles. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. "That's not a damn smile!"

"Really? I've been told I have a nice smile." Todoroki confusingly frowned.

"You do." All three smiled right back at him.

"Fuck this." Shaking his head Bakugo was just about to tell the Photographer to show that camera so far up his-

"Ok how about we do this." The man quickly ushered Bakugo over to the other side where Uraraka was standing. "Maybe standing here will help."

'Oh dear lord…' Whipping her head away she stared directly at both Deku and Kirishima in horror.

"Um maybe it'll be better if I stood there?" Deku awkwardly offered.

"No, if it's alright with you Deku, I'd prefer you standing where you are." The photographer said as the One for All user continued to struggle with balancing on a barely steady boulder behind them. "Um if you insist."

"Yeah, maybe some of Uravity's sunshine will rub off on you dude." Kirishima playfully teased as Bakugo raised his middle finger towards him.

"Alright now if I could just have…." The man thoughtfully mumbles as he maneuvered Bakugo to stand closer to Uraraka so they would all be in the shot.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Um guys…"

"I swear on everything Deku if you don't stop talking, I will knock that boulder right from under you!"

"It's just…" Nervously eyeing the boulder Deku tried his best to not move a muscle. "Hurry!"

Urarakas heart rate began frantically picking up after every shove and shout form the blond which seemed to be trying to bury his feet deeper into the ground in order to avoid getting any closer to her than was necessary, which both she was grateful for and also a little hurt at the rejection.

He on the other hand didn't feel the need to get closer to her or anyone else if it wasn't at least arm's length, but this fucker surely didn't care two shits about his life. "I swear if you value your life, you'll knock it off before I make a new career out of whopping your ass!" He snarled dangerously which quickly made the other man back off.

"Sorry." He nervously gulped.

Glaring at the small distance that separated him and his old classmate made him grimace before moving as close as he allowed himself to be and determinedly stopping right behind her. "Just make this quick."

'Too close!' Was she panicking? Yes, yes she was, and she had to force her legs to remain in place-at least until the dang picture was taken.

"Guys could we hurry this up?" Deku's wobbly pose made the photographer quickly go for his camera.

"That's what I'm saying!" Bakugo shouted before frustratingly rubbing the top of his spiked hair until he heard her mumble to herself and straighten her spine. With this close proximity he could get a clear whiff of her sweet shampoo which only reminded him of the other night as well as something else that made him momentarily close his eyes. 'What the hell…?'

"Guys? Guys?!"

Snapping his eyes wide open he only had time to catch himself from leaning any closer to avoid crashing into her, which was of no use since at same time the unthinkable happened. "Oh shit!"

X

As Wednesday rolled around, she did her outmost best to continue and seem unaffected and casually strolled through the Todoroki agency as if Sunday didn't even happen. As if she didn't have her photo shot right before the rest of the guys came in, which she was unaware of until she caught sight of both Bakugo and Kirishima waltzing in.

And that wasn't the worst of it all.

You'd think that after all this time she'd be used to being close to Bakugo, but the more she was placed in these awkward situations with him the more she realized it was becoming harder and harder not to react in the way it affected her both emotionally as well as physically.

And it definitely had nothing to do with the history they had, nor the way she constantly felt her body and heart reacted anytime he was around. She did nothing but miss him and force herself to think about anything but him while away to the point she was sure that if the time ever came and she was forced to be near him again, that she would be ok-but that didn't necessarily mean she would allow it to happen in the first place.

So, when fate decide to step in once again in the form of Deku clumsily falling face first like he did on the first day of meeting her in UA, due to the unstable boulder he was standing on, everything around him came tumbling down like a stack of dominoes. Deku landing on Kirishima which made her stagger back in her high heeled boots in time to be caught around the waist from behind by a beet red faced Bakugo- which of course automatically had her flinch away but not before she threw out her hands accidentally activating her quirk on a startled Bakugo as she watched on in horror as he began to float high into the air.

The only one that seemed to be unfazed by the whole catastrophe of the would-be photo shot was Todoroki who still remained standing as he looked at the camera the ecstatic photographer still held.

Apparently, the photographer managed to catch a good angle of all five of them with most using their quirks.

After that Bakugo hadn't spoken two words to her - at least not since the night of his birthday party which in some part she was thankful for since that helped avoid having to run into him which she couldn't fault him for.

Now if only things could remain that way, she was sure she could make it through the next month or two or however long it would take them to allow her to move away without any other incident. Then everything would be fine.

"Uraraka?"

Another upside to all this was that at least this would provide her with another opportunity to keep her distance which would suit her just fine.

"Uraraka?" Too caught up in her own thoughts she was unaware of Hawks looming behind her until he playfully tapped her on the shoulder allowing her to shriek and jump a foot like a scared cat. "Sorry baby bird, didn't mean to scare you." He smirked as he placed both hands in his pocket before pivoting sideways to see what she had been looking at. "Surprised you didn't hear me."

"H-Hawks." Letting out a shaky breath it took her a moment before she calmed herself long enough to acknowledge the pro hero in front of her. "Sorry I'm fine…what is it?"

"Well…" awkwardly rubbing the back of his head he did a pretty good job averting his eyes as he gathered the courage to tell her the news. "There was something I wanted to run by you."

"Alright." She carefully said and patiently waited for him to explain. She found it oddly strange that Hawks seemed to mule over his words rather cautiously before opening then closing his mouth again. She was about to question him on it when the very person she had done a successful job at avoiding could be seen exiting his office.

Without a second thought she quickly grabbed Hawks by the shoulders and stepped behind him as Bakugo walked by.

"Erm, what are you-" Quirking an intrigued brow Hawks's eyes drifted over his shoulder before he turned to see Bakugo briefly pause in front of them before continuing down the hall.

Watching him disappear into the break room had her breathing a sigh of relief but it was only replaced by embarrassment. "That was close."

"What was?"

"EEP!" Jolting sideways and frantically waving her hands she had half a mind to ask why everyone was dead set on wanting to push for a heart attack today.

"Still jumpy huh?" Kirishima grinned right before taking another bite of his sandwich after following Bakugo out of his office.

"Oh yeah she is." Hawks chuckled as both men turned their heads in the direction Bakugo had disappeared off to.

"I'm not jumpy. I'm just overly cautions." She pouted, letting her shoulder deflate in defeat.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with that little thing that happened at the photo shot the other day now would it?" Kirishima's grin widened when he saw the answer clearly written on her face.

"Please don't remind me…."

"Relax Uraraka, that picture was only in a few-"

"Try a few hundred dozen!"

"Ok yeah maybe a few people saw it." He regretfully nodded, having picked up a few of the magazines himself with their pictures sprawled right on the front page too. But could you blame him? He had to agree with the guy that they rarely got to take front cover pictures together anymore since they were always busy. Any chance they had to hang out together would be on some kind of outing that didn't involve anyone from the press. And maybe-just maybe- he had it framed but there was no way he would mention it to either of them.

"It's really not that bad." Raising his shoulders he quickly disposed of his napkin in a nearby trash can before settling her with an honest look. "Everyone loves it. They even think we had it all planned that way! And Bakubro's solo photo shot went well too so you have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah? Tell that to him." She sharply nodded towards the break room. Although she had to admit Kirishima was right and things could've gone worse guessed.

"He's right baby bird. And if you ask me…it's not a bad picture." She frowned when she saw Hawks reading the very same magazine as if appearing from thin air.

"Hawks!"

"What?" He playfully grinned before she snatched it from his hands. "Ow so many paper cuts!"

"Give me that!" Puffing out her cheeks, she quickly turned on her heels to stomped down towards her own office.

"So, I guess we'll talk later then!" he waved back before grabbing another one of the same magazines from behind his back and watch Kirishima raise an amused brow "What?"

"Nothing, I just hope she's alright."

"She'll be fine." Hawks said as he continued reading before he carefully rolled it up to put in his pocket. "I'm more concerned about the meeting I have to have with her soon."

"Why?"

"Well, there's something I have to talk to her about…"

"Yeah…?"

"Yeah." He nodded as his eyes followed her until she disappeared from view.

"Anything that might upset her?"

"What? You mean more than she already is?" he asked Kirishima who nodded. "Oh yeah you have no idea. I'd be surprised if I live long enough to see the end of the week."

X

So, what had started out great the following day was quickly becoming grounds for violent action. Against whom you may ask? Uraraka had yet to decide, but she was fairly certain that someone was going to get hurt for this. And hurt bad.

It all started the moment she came into work but instead of starting her patrol with Jiro the way she usually would, she was left wondering if she had even came into work that day since she wasn't able to find her anywhere.

Using this time, she began typing away on her computer while keeping a close watch on the door in the event that an angry Bakugo finally decided to make his grand entrance. Hiding in the safe confinements of her office, she only stopped when she heard footsteps from outside nearing before walking past her door and she managed to breathe again. She did find it oddly strange that he hadn't made an effort to come looking for her or even glance her way.

It was unnerving really. The way you place a tea kettle on the stove expecting it to finally boil and whistle, yet you still get startled when it does. Maybe Kirishima was right, and he wasn't as upset as she had thought?

But she had to know that the quietness would never last this long especially when Hawks suddenly pushed the door open without a care in the world making her jolt in her seat.

"Hawks! Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"I did actually. Not very fond of it." He shrugged as he threw himself on the small couch. "Besides its more entertaining this way. Never know what people will try to hide."

Rolling her eyes she began typing away again with the sound of her keyboard being the only one in the room until she couldn't take the feeling anymore of being silently watched.

Whirling around in her seat she saw him quietly sitting up and thoughtfully placing his chin in his hand as he leaned forward. "Alright. What is it?"

"What's what?"

"You have that look in your eyes that tells me either you've done something you weren't supposed to, or you have something to tell me that I'm not going to like."

"What?" he nervously chuckled squinting his eyes shut as he began to rub the back of his head. "Where did you get a crazy idea like that?"

Slowly nodding she warily tilted her head back and could've sworn she heard him audibly gulp as a faint blush crawled its way to his cheeks.

"You know for having worked as a double agent you're not very good at keeping things from me."

"Ouch. Way to hit me where it hurts." He playfully clutched his chest. "But you're right-not about the whole double agent thing but you remember how I wanted to talk to you about something yesterday?"

"Mh-hmm."

"Well…you see the thing is..." Letting his eyes bounce around the room it took him a good minute to find the courage to say what he came here for. "We-"

KNOCK KNOCK

Poking her head in Jiro quickly caught their attention before opening the door wider and letting herself in. "Hey sorry I'm late, hope I'm not interrupting."

"Actually Hawks-"

"Nope! You're good!" Jumping to his feet Hawks quickly made a bee line towards the door before Uraraka could ask him anything else.

"But-"

"It's fine. We can talk later today baby bird!" He grinned before exiting out of the room knowing there was no way he could dodge this forever and had to talk to her about this eventually. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the little free time he had left before his inedible death in the hands of one of his employees.

"What was that about?"

"Beats me." Uraraka giggled walking towards her door.

"We've got one strange boss."

"Could you even call him that?" Uraraka curiously tilted her head.

"I heard that!" Hawks shouted down the hall after she locked it.

X

Shortly afterwards she found herself standing in Todoroki's office with all eyes on her as she stood there in stunt silence- which was when her whole day came crashing down and it had barely begun.

He had asked her yesterday to come by his office first thing in the morning when she was able to, which she didn't mind doing. But what she did mind was being center stage as the unexpected news was just suddenly dumped on her like a bucket of ice-cold water.

"Come again?" Profusely blinking hoping that it might help her hear better somehow, she expectantly kept her gaze focused on one Shoto Todoroki while everyone in the room remained silent. And by everyone she meant Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Bakugo who remained leaning against the wall closest to the door. His unmasked eyes remained fixated on the dual quirk wielder too, with his arms folded over his broad chest.

By the time she had finally arrived to Todoroki's office, she was surprised to see the explosive blond already there without her knowledge which made her nervously fidget and wonder what he was even doing here. But now that she heard, she regretted coming to this meeting.

"I don't think I heard you right." She said frowning at her friend.

Mumbling under his breath Bakugo quickly looked away feeling his temper flare. "Is that a fucking problem?" When he saw her purposely avoiding staring directly at him, he had to calmly breathe through his nose wondering what the hell her problem was now.

First, he tried to be nice to her in welcoming her back, which was only thrown back in his face repeatedly like the idiot he was. Then, he tried helping her with the Ipponmichi case to which she flat out refused to accept to the point where he decided it wasn't worth getting the backlash of her damn attitude. Then, as much as he hated to admit this, they did have a good time together after leaving his birthday party to the point where it became awkward after being too close to her-which he came to rationalize that it was all in his head.

Not to mention he had to get his damn picture taken but not before she fucked up the previous one and now everywhere he went people are mentioning how Uravity managed to float the great Dynamight and finding enjoyment at his expanse. And he even had the damn courtesy not to mention how furious that made him or seek her out-which she didn't even apologize for.

Exchanging puzzled looks with Yaoyorozu, Todoroki cleared his throat before reiterating his previous statement. "With Kaminari currently on leave due to his injury-"

"Damn idiot." Bakugo muttered receiving disapproving frowns from both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. "What? It was a damn spike!"

"Regardless…" Yaoyorozu returned her attention back to Uraraka who had a far away look on her face. "Since we have to move some people around in the meantime to cover all the shifts, we feel like the two you would make the perfect fit."

"No."

"Huh?" Turning all their attention to her, Uraraka pressed her lips together trying to keep it as steady as she could before speaking again. "I'm not doing it."

"Why not?" Yaoyorozu quizzically asked. She figured Uraraka would be one of the first ones to agree without any objections on being partnered up with someone else at least until Kaminari was cleared to come back to duty. So, she wasn't sure why all of a sudden she refused to work with someone other than Jiro. She knew the reason couldn't be Bakugo since she remembered that Uraraka was one of the few people that had no problem working with him and vice versa. Not to mention they worked really well together back in school, so logically speaking they were the best match, which is exactly what she said next.

"I don't care." Refusing to accept this Uraraka stubbornly shook her head as she moved towards Todoroki. "With all due respect Todoroki, I understand the position you're in. But can't I stay with Jiro or Mina or…"

"I'm afraid not. Jiro has already been assigned with Sero and Ashido with Kirishima for now." His forehead creased in confusion. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course. It's just that…" Parting her mouth she tried to search for a good enough reason to give him as she let her eyes roam around the pristine office. How was she supposed to tell them that being alone with Bakugo even for just a few seconds was too much. Finding out the hard way when they were alone during their small walk from the bar and how wonderful it felt to once again be in the company of the person you love more than anything, to talk and just be yourself around them again.

It was one thing, knowing she couldn't do anything about it, but it was a completely different thing to be around that person all day every day with the simple thought that you can't touch them, hold their hand and tell them how much you've missed them. That any wrong move could lead to all this falling apart. Everything she worked for this past year, everything she was fighting for coming thumbling down on her like it literally did the other day.

No, it was best to keep her distance as best as she could. That way she could prevent this.

"Uraraka?"

Unaware that they were still waiting for an explanation, she knew she couldn't say anything that would convince them otherwise. If she wasn't in this predicament and even if she didn't have that hidden history with Bakugo, she herself would have agreed that they did work well together there was no denying that.

"I'm sorry. But I can't."

"Why the hell not?" His gruff voice cut through the uncomfortable silence which he couldn't care less for, keeping his eyes solely focused on her. "Too good for me now, is that it?"

'I'm sorry Bakugo…I wish you knew.' She knew it was coming, she practically could feel the tears threatening to appear, but she couldn't do that. And as much as it pained her, she could feel his icy glare on the back of her head as she continued to ignore him. Momentarily closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before meeting Todoroki's eyes. "And there's no one else?"

"Not at this moment. I still have to meet with some of the others today."

"Ochaco are you sure you're ok?" Yaoyorozu comfortingly placed a hand on the smaller girl sensing something was off.

"Yeah, it's just Kiseki and daycare…"

"Oh, don't worry we'll make sure we'll work with your schedule." Todoroki confidently said. "So you don't have to worry about that. Leave it to us."

"Good, that way I can get on with this shit and finally start my damn patrol." Bakugo huffed as he turned to get the hell out of there. He was done with this. Done with all her shit. The faster he could find himself with a temporary partner that actually could do their job instead of bitching the whole time about being partnered up with him, the better it would be for all of them.

"Bakugo you can't just go off alone." Yaoyorozu exasperatedly said.

"Why not? She doesn't wanna partner up with me so guess what? Good riddance. Find me someone else while I do my job in the meantime."

"We've talked about this. You can't go out patrolling on your own."

"Yaoyorozu right Bakugo." Todoroki said once Bakugo's hand reached the doorknob.

"I'll be fine."

"Baku-"

"Listening you can tell her to sort her own shit out!" he snapped pointing an accusatory finger in her direction.

The disappointment in his eyes hit her more than she wanted to admit, so with a reluctant sigh she turned to the others. "Alright."

"So, you'll do it?" The grateful smile Yaoyorozu gave her made her feel less worried, at least for the time being. Bakugo on the other hand had the same displeased expression as before.

"Whatever."

"You sure you'll be alright?" Todoroki made sure to keep his voice low enough for only her to her.

"Yeah." She determinedly nodded shooting Bakugo the same glare right back. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Tch, you couldn't handle me Round-face even if you tried." He dangerously smirked in the way he normally would right before battle as the hint of a growing blush threatened to appear on her stern face.

'Why am I already regretting this?'