Chapter Text
It had been a while since Uraraka had been home. Quite a while, actually. Probably not since summer.
But, that was what winter break was for anyway. Going back home.
It wasn’t that Uraraka had been avoiding going home—she didn’t. She’d just been far too busy with her schoolwork, her work study, and her boyfriend.
All three could be extremely demanding.
But, in truth, she greatly appreciated all three. Loved them. For different reasons, obviously, but still. Ochako would’ve come home sooner if it hadn’t been for how important she saw those things. How vital she felt they were.
Still.
It was good to be home.
Even if her parents WEREN’T with her on Christmas Eve.
Admittedly, it was her own doing. She’d bought them the tickets—used the money she earned during her work study—to get them a small vacation to the USJ.
…the REAL one.
Considering the tickets were on sale (she would’ve bought them even if they weren’t, but, old habits are hard to kick, and it made her parents feel better about receiving the gift) they also had an expiration. A time limit. She’d had to give her parents the tickets as soon as break had started, or they wouldn’t have been able to use them. When they opened her Christmas card, they weren’t just happy.
They were ecstatic.
Thrilled.
As soon as they opened their gift, Ochako was gratified with their shock. Their joy. How overwhelmed they were by even the thought of such a luxury. And then, she was burdened with their uncertainty. Their desire not to abandon their daughter on Christmas.
Of course, she’d assured them she would be fine. That she was a big girl. She could handle having Christmas alone. Especially if it meant her parents were having a good time. She wanted to give back to them, even if it was just a little.
So, in the end, they’d left.
And Ochako was alone.
Completely alone.
Which, really, shouldn’t have been a big deal. She’d been alone before. Sure, it was Christmas, and, no matter what, being alone on Christmas was kind of lonely, but…
Something…
Something was making it so much worse.
Maybe it was all that snuggling she did with Katsuki. More than likely, she’d gotten so used to his presence from night to night that, when he wasn’t there, everything felt wrong. Off. Wonky. Made her so much lonelier than she used to be at night.
She was far enough along in their relationship that she wasn’t afraid to admit:
She missed him when he wasn’t around.
Very much.
Whether they were snuggling, or doing homework, or making out, it didn’t matter. She just enjoyed his presence. Knowing that he was there. It made her feel… sturdier. Stronger. Knowing that he was around, it made her feel more comfortable. Content.
She missed him.
Sitting in her bedroom, alone, she felt a cold settle on her. A clawing sensation in her chest as she sat at her desk. Thought about what it would be like to have Katsuki in her bedroom. Have him here, with her, on Christmas Eve. Wondered what he’d say about her room—more than likely, he’d say it lacked since it was sparsely decorated. The only things that were a constant were the white walls, and the pictures of her family and friends from U.A.
Now that she was looking, she realized that her photos rarely included Katsuki. Most of them were taken during their first or second year, long before she was dating Katsuki, before they were really even friends.
She wondered what he’d say about that. Wondered what he’d say about the size of her room. About the desk that had clearly been repaired numerous times. About the way the carpet was shaggy and rough.
She wondered a lot.
In fact, she was so lost in thought, that, when something hit her window, she jumped up. Completely startled.
Ready to fight.
Eyes scanning her surroundings, her brain tried to assess.
What was that sound?
The answer came in the next instant. In the form of another noise being made, another tiny clanging sound as something hit her window.
A… pebble?
Her brain went through scenarios, different possibilities. Hundreds of them, actually. In the end, it took her a few heartbeats to decide. And, in the end, she went with the obvious choice:
She decided to open the window.
Cautiously, of course.
Because she knew, from prior experiences, that anything could be a villain’s trap.
Anything.
Approaching slowly, she saw movement from the outside. Her heartrate skyrocketed as she looked on, trying to discern what it was. Something… yellow. And spikey. Something that lowered more and more alarms as it ascended. As it moved toward her window.
…oh.
OH.
Slamming the window up, opening it, she was greeted by a devilish grin.
“Katsuki! What the hell are you doing?” Ochako whisper-yelled.
“I’m sneaking in so I can spend Christmas Eve with my girlfriend. Now move over so I can crawl in. It’s freezing out here, and the snow’s coming in,” he said.
Ochako moved aside, did her best to help him. She was halfway successful, her boyfriend only stumbling minimally as he managed to drag himself through the tiny opening.
“You could’ve just used the front door. You KNOW I’m home alone,” she chastised, closing her window as he stood and dusted snow off himself.
“Like hell. That’d be too easy. Besides, the standard is already set. Sneaking around, climbing through your window—it’s my thing,” he stated, grinning like a maniac.
She did her best to be exasperated. Really, she did.
But.
She had to admit…
She kind of loved it.
Loved that he was here, that he’d done something so unnecessary to lift her spirits, that he was wearing that goofy grin that he showcased only when they were alone.
She loved it.
Rolling her eyes at him, she tried to keep the smile off her face as she said, “Are you gunna be like this when we get married, too? I mean, when does the climbing-through-my-window thing stop?”
“Never,” he vowed, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her in. Pressing her against his cold body, his smile turned toothy and he said, “I’ll be climbing through your window for as long as we both shall live.”
“That is the DUMBEST vow I’ve ever heard.”
“Yep. And it’s yours now.”
She sighed dramatically, to throw him off the scent of her joy.
“FINE. I guess I’ll take it.”
Lifting his hand to cup her cheek, he brought their lips together. She tasted the cold on his skin, and the heat on his tongue, while his thumb skimmed her cheek for a moment, working magic into her.
“You’re freezing,” she told him, breaking their kiss as concern seeped through.
“Mhmm,” he agreed, humming as he leaned in closer. “Warm me up then, Angel. Show me some of that heavenly fire.”
A tiny giggle burst inside her with sudden warmth, his words moving heat straight from her heart and into her stomach.
She shook her head. “When did you become so corny?”
“You must’ve rubbed off on me,” he remarked, emphasizing his statement by pressing his hips against her. “Not that I’m complaining.”
His lips came to rest at her pulse—one of his favorite spots for kisses. And, immediately, the cold didn’t exist. Couldn’t possibly. Not when everything was melting. Molding together with scorching heat. His lips whispering warmth into her bones as he kissed her, gently pressing in on her, his sudden heat overwhelming her, seizing her control. Pushing her back with his onslaught of searing kisses until, finally—
She fell backward.
Onto the bed.
“It smells like you in here,” he told her, shedding his coat while his eyes stayed locked on hers.
If she wasn’t already so heated, she would’ve been blushing. “Well, I would hope so. It is MY room, after all. If it doesn’t smell like me, that’d be a problem.”
“A big problem,” her boyfriend agreed, pouncing, devilish smile on his face as he brushed their lips together, teasingly. “You’re perfect Angel. The way you smell, the way you look, the way you taste—the way you ARE. Wouldn’t change any of it, Love.”
Oh.
That was a newer thing. Him referring to her as “love”. Recently, he’d been using it more and more—after they’d confirmed that they did, indeed, love each other. And, although he used it more often—so often that it was becoming one of his norms—it still had the same effect as the first time.
Ochako burst.
Fire compounding into her stomach, raging inside her skin, eating away all her veins, she burst. Heart fighting wildly inside her ribcage, trying to escape the fire, while her lungs took up the challenge of pumping air through her lungs as she drowned in the smoke of all the heat, Ochako felt like she was going to die. Going to explode. She felt like she was being swallowed in the blaze, and she felt—very strongly—that the only thing that could quench the fire, cool her down, was Katuski. His kisses and his touch and his rumbling voice. She felt, with certainty, that he was the only cure for this fire. The only way to douse the flames.
But that wasn’t right.
Not right at all.
Because, even as she thought it, and even as she felt it, she knew:
She was very, very wrong.
Because his hands trailed cinders in her bones. His breath on her collarbone was the envy of the sun. The way their bodies lined up was like a trail of kerosene, lending fury to the fire instead of breaking off the flame.
She knew it wasn’t the answer. Knew that his hands were sparks next to gasoline, a conduit for heat, not a destroyer of it.
But still.
…still.
Her body seemed to reject that logic. Screaming out that it WAS the answer, that only Katsuki could put out the flames. That the only way to fight this fire was with more fire. That his flames were the right answer.
She just needed more of him, that’s all.
That thought powering her body, Ochako couldn’t help herself.
Her hands began travelling, too. Searching for more.
Running up his stomach, pushing back the fabric that hid his hard-at-work chest, her hands began feeling. Trying to grab onto the heat he was giving off, trying to take hold of it somehow. Steer it to give her the “more” that she desired. Her wandering hands seemed to think the problem was that there was too much space between them. Too much cold air allowed to flow between their bodies.
And her hands wanted to fix it.
As Katsuki returned his mouth to hers, her hands wound up settling on his back. Digging into his muscles in an attempt to bring him down, destroy the space that existed between them.
When she did, she felt him stutter. His open mouth giving a grunt in the middle of trying to seduce her tongue, sending chills to her bones as his weight settled more firmly on her. As his body became more than a looming shape and, instead, overwhelmed her. His massive chest heaving directly against hers, his stomach panting. His hips jolting as her fingers pressed again, begging for even less space. Begging for more of his fire.
He growled.
A sound that thrilled her—injecting lightning into the flames. A sound that she hadn’t heard since before break. A sound that made her hips jerk and her longing increase tenfold.
She’d thought her need was urgent before, but that was nothing compared to this.
Her lips nearly captured by his lips, their breaths mingling in between, she exhaled his name. Needing him to know—to understand.
She needed more.
“Katsuki.”
It wasn’t more than an exhale. If their lips weren’t hovering so closely, he might not have noticed that she’d said anything at all.
But he did notice.
Oh.
He did.
Growl rising in his chest, he slammed his lips down onto hers. Made it clear to her that he was in need, too. That his own fire was growing. Hungrily tasting her as his legs deftly moved hers aside. As he shoved his way to sit up against her, rocking his hips into hers.
She gasped.
It was unexpected. Both the movement, the pressure, and her body’s reaction. How heat seemed to be radiating through her legs from her stomach. How pleasing she found the heat. How her instinct kicked in, understood immediately.
This was what “more” was about.
This is what “more” had always been about.
This was the answer, all long, for her desires. For her need to be devoured by his flame. This melting feeling, of becoming less in the wake of his devouring flame.
That was what she really wanted.
More and more, she’d wanted Katsuki. A slow build that had been accumulating. Since the first time she’d snuggled with him—no, further back than that. From the first time she’d fought him, probably, she’d wanted more from him. Without understanding, she’d waltzed into his room that night. Asked him for the impossible.
To cut off feeling from each other, but still be in each other’s arms?
What a stupid request.
How foolish.
She hadn’t even understood back then that she’d had the desire for more. The desire to learn him, to enjoy him, to love him. She had no idea, but she should have. Why had she never questioned how readily he agreed? Why hadn’t she questioned how easy it was for her to accept him? Why had she never thought about this before? This growing desire to be more and more in his arms?
She was a fool.
Not that she was really complaining. With Katsuki biting down her pulse and his hands a traveling storm against her skin and her love for him suffocating her, there was no way in hell she would complain. She just wished she’d figured it out sooner.
All along, she’d loved him.
All along, she’d wanted to be more for him.
And, above all else:
She wanted more from him, too.
“Katsuki,” she said, voice still ragged, but somehow managing to get the word out with emphasis this time. An almost reverent tone that felt out of place in this irreverent moment.
It caught his attention, too.
With that word, she summoned him back. He stopped nibbling at her running blood as it leapt through her veins. Stopped planting kiss after scorching kiss on her skin. Stopped jerking his hips, spurring on her heat by emphasizing his own.
He stopped.
And looked at her. Maroon eyes glassy, fogged up with his own desire. Seeing nothing, except her.
It was a look that she fell in love with instantly.
Careful to keep her pinky from his face, she laid her hand on his cheek. Capturing that look, that moment. Brushed her thumb over his features as she threw all of her feelings into the simplest words she could. As she explained, to the best of her abilities, what this meant to her. What he meant to her.
“Katsuki, I love you.”
And that was it.
That seemed to do it.
His glassy eyes sharpened, focused. Intensifying to the point of nearly glaring at her, as if he were in the middle of a fight. Staring with such ferocity, almost like he fully intended to break her to pieces.
And yet…
She wasn’t afraid.
That tingling sensation in her stomach, the one working its way through every muscle and every bone and every nerve… it wasn’t fear.
It was the opposite.
As the feeling built, Katsuki moved.
Just as he’d done so many times before, he turned his head. Pressed his lips into her palm to scorch affection into the skin there, as well. Closing his eyes as he did. She felt the way his chest rumbled as he gave a low, soft growl and locked their fingers together.
When he opened his eyes again, they were softer. Kinder. More like the Katsuki she woke up to.
“I love you, too, Ochako. Angel. Love. I love you, too,” he assured her, coming to rest his forehead against hers.
And she knew.
He meant it.
Knew that he saw her the same way she saw him. Knew that their mindsets were reflected in each other. Knew that he saw her in a golden light, just like she saw him.
And she also knew:
The fire was stopping.
She could feel it.
He was winding down, coming back to his senses. Realizing that they needed to take a step back. Needed to do this more thoughtfully, more carefully.
They were, after all, still in school. Still in a place where their future could be taken from them if they made the wrong move. If they took the wrong step.
That was always his argument.
Always why he stopped.
He’d told her once that, if it would affect just him, he’d do it. In a heartbeat, he would. But, following the logic she always used, it takes two to tango. There was no way she’d get out of something like that without consequences.
Besides, they were risking enough as it was, sneaking into each other’s rooms to sleep. Even outside of school, they could get in trouble for it. Probably, a whole heap of trouble.
And they were just snuggling.
…well…
Mostly, anyway.
If they were found out, they could both honestly declare that they weren’t doing anything dangerous. At this point, they could both claim innocence. This way, if the school did find out, they would let the couple off with a much easier punishment than expulsion.
That probably wouldn’t be the case if they were having sex.
So, as much as it pained her, she allowed Katsuki to calm down. Allowed herself to calm down. Took a few moments to breathe deeply, gain composure, and lose the haze of desire that ate its way into her nerves.
After a few minutes, Katsuki stood up. Still breathing heavily, but much more composed than before. Looking more alert, more aware.
He stood, adjusted his shirt so it sat on his frame properly—wow, Ochako had made it such a mess—and then said, with no preamble or explanation, “By the way, I brought a cake.”
Ochako blinked at him.
“…you… you what?”
“I brought a cake,” he affirmed.
“Then… where the hell is it?” she asked.
After that heavy make-out session they’d just had, she knew there was no way he was hiding a cake up his sleeve. She’d have felt it.
“Downstairs. I didn’t want it to get messed up when I climbed through your window, so I left it outside the front door,” he said factually.
As if that was a very normal thing to do.
When she realized he was being serious—and, honestly, when wasn’t he? The weird things he told her always turned out to be true—she jumped up, off her bed.
“KATSUKI! You can’t just leave a cake outside like that! What if an animal got into it?!”
“Hmm? Oh,” he made a face. “I didn’t really think about that. Well, I did, but I figured it’d be too cold for an animal to want it.”
“Katsuki. That’s the reason WHY an animal would want it: it’s winter. Food is scarce,” she lectured briefly.
And then began to run downstairs.
“Wait! Ochako! It’s cold out there,” her boyfriend protested, only a step and a half behind.
Smirking, she ran forward anyway.
“Well then, guess you’ll just have to warm me up then, won’t you?” she teased.
When she retrieved the cake, there was no more making out. Sure, there were tiny kisses here and there—sweet, affectionate pecks—but, this time, they warmed up a different way.
After she’d sliced a piece of cake for each of them, she returned to the place they’d chosen by the space heater. Curling up in his lap as he wrapped her up with him in a blanket. Snuggly, and warm.
In the end, she was glad. Really, really glad that she’d asked him to be her snuggle-friend. Really glad that she had been brave enough to take that first step.
Glad that they had become more than friends with snuggling benefits.
Much, much more.