Chapter Text
A blonde-haired boy was furiously spinning a pencil between his fingers, staring at a blank page. For nine days, he had been making a list of reasons why he hated Ochako Uraraka. But over time, that list of hatred had turned into one of admiration, affection and love.
On the tenth day, Bakugou planned to write something special, but he had so many ideas in his mind that he couldn't find the right words. A knock on his door interrupted him. He put the page in a drawer and got up, thinking it was his best friend, Kirishima.
"What do you want, Spiky Hair...?" He stopped when he saw that it wasn’t Kirishima waiting for him but Uraraka instead.
“Round Face?” the boy asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”
Ochako smiled and held up what she had in her hands—a notebook.
"I need someone to explain English to me," the girl said. "With Yaomomo out of the country, I don’t think I’ll be able to pass the exams."
"Why me?" Bakugou grumbled.
"Because you’re incredibly smart!" Ochako exclaimed. "Will you do it?"
Bakugou sighed, exasperated. Inside, he was dying to say yes, but he, being himself, had to keep up appearances.
"Fine..." he muttered, looking away to hide his slight blush. Ochako thought he was angry, but she said nothing.
"Really?" she exclaimed, surprised. She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. "Thank you, Bakugou-kun!"
"Whatever..." Katsuki said as he moved aside to let her in.
Katsuki sat on the floor, Ochako sat next to him, and opened her notebook.
"This is what I don’t understand..." the girl murmured, pointing to a lesson they had received the day before.
The boy leaned closer to see the topic she was pointing at. Their shoulders brushed, and the girl blushed, looking away.
"This?" Bakugou asked. "Are you dumb?"
Ochako lowered her gaze. She had never been the best in class... but dumb?
Seeing her reaction and how much his comment had affected her, Bakugou felt uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel bad.
"I mean... erm... I struggled with this topic too once..." Katsuki said, looking away.
The girl, realizing he was trying to make her feel better, smiled and looked at her notebook.
"Pay attention, Round Face," the blond said as he took a sheet of paper and a pencil. "This is not a complex topic, but you still need to understand it if you want to master it."
So the hours of studying passed, with Katsuki explaining the topic and her paying close attention. Both felt comfortable in each other’s company, and although Bakugou would deny it, he was enjoying himself.
The girl was surprised to see that Katsuki wasn’t shouting at her but explaining things very well.
"I-I think I get it now!" Ochako exclaimed with a smile. "Thank you, Bakugou-kun!"
"Tsk... Whatever..."
"Is there any way I can repay you?" Ochako asked, looking at him with her big round eyes.
Bakugou didn’t say anything. A thousand things came to mind, but his pride wouldn’t let him say any of them.
"I’ve got it!" Ochako said after thinking for a while. "How about I invite you to dinner?"
"Dinner?" Bakugou asked, surprised. Was she asking him out on a date?
The girl nodded, smiling. "You haven’t eaten yet, right?"
"No, but..."
"Then let’s go!" Ochako jumped up and waited for Bakugou to do the same. The blond sighed and got up. To be honest, a date with Uraraka didn’t sound that bad...
They left the residence and headed to the mall. Ochako chatted animatedly with Bakugou, who just replied with short answers like "yes" or "no."
"Where would you like to eat?" Ochako asked.
"Wherever you want," Katsuki replied, shrugging.
"Hmm... How about burgers?" Uraraka asked.
"If you’re up for it..."
The brunette grabbed the boy by the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him toward a small burger place. They entered and sat across from each other.
"Welcome, what would you like?" the waitress asked as she approached their table.
"I would like a classic burger with extra fries," Katsuki said.
"I'll want the same as him" Uraraka ordered.
"You're the guys from U.A, right? You're such a cute couple!" The waitress chuckled a bit. She said, smiling. "I’ll bring your burgers shortly."
The waitress left, leaving both in shock. Did they look like a couple?
"Tsk..." Bakugou said with a sideways smile. He really was on a date with Round Face.
Neither knew what to say, and there was an awkward silence. Although the silence gave Bakugou some time to think, why had Round Face invited him to dinner? Was she using him? That toxic thought ruined his happiness and made him growl involuntarily.
"Well... um... H-How have you been?" Ochako asked awkwardly, trying to sound friendly.
"Hm... Whatever..." Katsuki responded without looking at her. "What do you want from me?"
"Huh?" the brunette asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"You never approach me, let alone ask me for help with anything," Katsuki said seriously. "Are you using me for something?"
"Of course not!" Ochako exclaimed. She just wanted to spend more time with Katsuki. "I really needed help with English..."
"I'M NOT AN IDIOT!" Katsuki yelled, looking away.
"Baku..."
"Here are your burgers!" the waitress interrupted.
"Thank you," the girl said.
The waitress left, and the two were alone again. Katsuki ate his burger quickly, almost finishing it by the time Ochako was still halfway through hers.
"You don’t really think I’m using you, right?" Ochako said, looking at him.
The boy fell silent and looked away, embarrassed. He always saw things from a pessimistic angle, and that bad habit was affecting him in his daily life.
"When will you understand, Bakugou-kun?" Ochako continued. "Almost no one wishes you harm... In fact, there are people who would love to get to know you better."
The boy’s gaze met hers. Ochako, intimidated, looked away.
"And you?" Bakugou asked, surprising the girl. She had expected him to start yelling at her for being an idiot or something.
"Wh-What about me?"
"Would you like to get to know me better?" he asked, looking at her intensely.
The girl blushed from head to toe. She had expected him to say anything... but not that.
"I-I suppose I would... if you’d let me, of course..."
He could've smiled. Almost.
"What if I want to get to know you better, Round Face?"
"I-I suppose we could get to know each other better," the girl stammered.
"You suppose?" the boy said, annoyed. "Do you have anything to do later?"
The girl, unable to respond, slowly shook her head.
"I’ll invite you to the movies," the boy said. "And I don’t accept a ‘No’ for an answer. Got it?"
The girl nodded slowly and couldn’t help but laugh.
"What’s so funny? Are you mocking me?"
"What? Of course not!" she said.
"Hurry up and eat, Round Face! Or I won’t take you anywhere!"
"Okay, okay..." the girl said, raising her hands in surrender.
Bakugou looked away, feeling Ochako’s gaze on him. His ears turned crimson. The girl finished eating, and after he paid (Bakugou had to struggle with Uraraka for that one), they left the place and, walking side by side, headed to the cinema.
"What do you want to see?" Katsuki asked, looking at the movie listings. None particularly interested him.
"Hmm... How about that one?" Ochako suggested, pointing to a movie that seemed to be about assassins.
"You want to see a movie about assassins?" Bakugou asked.
"What’s wrong with that?"
"Nothing... just surprised."
Ochako shrugged, trying to downplay it. She was trying to seem tough in front of the boy, hoping to gain some of his respect. Besides, it couldn’t be that bad, right? Katsuki bought the tickets, and they went into the theater.
Neither wanted popcorn; after all, they had just had dinner. They sat in their assigned seats and waited for the movie to start.
"Hasn’t it ever seemed silly to you that they play ads for other movies before the movie starts?" Ochako asked, breaking the silence.
"No, not really," Bakugou said, not looking at her. "It makes sense; it gets you interested in another movie so you spend more money coming to see it."
"I’d never thought of it that way!" Ochako exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise.
To both their surprise, Bakugou laughed a little. Ochako was mesmerized by the sound of his laughter; it was, as Kirishima would say, very manly.
"You should laugh more!" Ochako said without thinking.
"Huh?" Bakugou said, stopping his laughter. "What do you mean, Round Face?"
“No, nothing!” Ochako hurried to say. “It’s just that your laugh is really cute…”
“CUTE!?” Katsuki exclaimed too loudly, drawing the attention of several people around them. “ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?”
“N-No, not at all!” Ochako said, raising her hands. “I just like how it sounds.” Katsuki’s ears turned red; he hadn’t been expecting a compliment, especially from the brown-haired girl.
“Damn it Round Face…” Bakugou muttered, looking away. Ochako stayed silent until the movie started, not wanting Bakugou to get more upset with her. Less than twenty minutes had passed, and Uraraka was already sure that the movie would give her nightmares. She didn’t expect it to be so bloody; though it seemed that Bakugou didn’t care about the amount of blood on screen.
At one point, the brown-haired girl hid her face in her sweater, not wanting to watch anymore. Bakugou noticed this and leaned his face close to hers without her noticing. “Do you want to leave the theater, Round Face?” he asked gently. Uraraka jumped at hearing his voice so close but shook her head slowly.
“I’m fine,” she said, lifting her head slightly to face him. She blushed completely and pulled away in one swift movement.
“Are you sure?” The boy seemed genuinely concerned for her. Who would have thought that he would care about his classmate’s feelings?
The girl forced a smile; she didn’t want to ruin her date with Bakugou just because she couldn’t stand the movie she had chosen. Unfortunately, Katsuki noticed her small fake smile and, taking her hand, pulled her toward the exit of the theater. Ochako followed him in silence through the mall corridors with her head down, embarrassed by how he had pulled her out of the theater.
“What do you want to do, Round Face?” Katsuki asked without letting go of her hand.
“Whatever you want…” Ochako murmured. The crimson-eyed boy didn’t like that answer. Did she already want to go back to the dorm? Had he already bored her with their date?
“Do you want to go back to the dorm, Round Face?” Katsuki asked, frustrated with the girl’s indifference.
“What? No, of course not!” Ochako said.
“THEN TRY TO ACT MORE INTERESTED!” Bakugou shouted, drawing attention from everyone once again.
“Calm down, Bakugou-kun!”
“WOULD YOU PREFER TO BE WITH THAT DAMN NERD DEKU RIGHT NOW?!” the blonde shouted without thinking. The girl was startled to hear that. Was Katsuki Bakugou jealous of his friend?
“What? Of course not,” the girl replied. During her first year at UA, she had had a brief crush on Midoriya, but soon realized that this supposed love was just admiration, and maybe she felt that way about someone else now.
“Where do you get that from? I invited you because I wanted to be on a date with you!” Both were startled by this comment. The boy didn’t expect to hear it, and the girl didn’t expect to say it out loud. The girl blushed deeply, and Bakugou’s cheeks turned slightly red.
“I don't like you at all…” Ochako murmured.
“The feeling is mutual,” Bakugou replied. They continued walking in silence until they reached the dormitory. Just before entering, Bakugou grabbed Ochako by the sleeve and pulled her towards him. Uraraka’s breath caught at seeing Bakugou’s face so close. His hands were on the sides of the girl, and hers were resting on the blonde’s chest. She could feel his warm breath on her nose, which smelled like mint.
“How does he smell so good if we just—?” The girl didn’t finish her thought because she felt Bakugou’s lips meet hers in a warm kiss. Uraraka quickly returned the kiss and felt Bakugou’s arms wrap around her. The kiss was tender but firm; Bakugou wasn’t sure if he was doing it right, but he enjoyed kissing her. She felt like she was in heaven, butterflies fluttering inside her.
After a few seconds, they pulled away due to lack of air. Katsuki continued to hold Ochako and looked at her intensely. “Now you have to pretend that you like me…” Bakugou said with a smirk.
“Oh, really?” the girl replied. “That goes for both of us, right?”
“Maybe…” the boy answered. The girl smiled; she was truly happy. Moving closer again, Bakugou sealed the deal with another kiss.
Reason 10:
I like you a lot, Round Face.