Chapter Text
It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. The sun was bright and blazing in the lightly cloudy sky above, but the sea breeze was just strong enough to drive off the heat. Palm trees swayed over white sand beaches, where waves of pure blue water crashed majestically. Seabirds drifted on warm currents of air, hungrily eyeing the scores of fish just below the surface of the water. In the opposite direction, the looming summit of Mauna Kea towered above the ocean, its presence like a guardian, watching over the inhabitants of its land.
Katsuki was already tired of Hawaii. And he wasn't even off the plane yet.
"I'll never get tired of coming here." His father sighed, leaning past his son to look out the window. "It's like paradise."
Katsuki scowled, feeling the plane bump along as it taxied down the tarmac. "If this is paradise to you, I'd hate to see what hell looks like."
"Just ignore him honey," his mom spoke up, sitting forward with a grin. "You know the brat's just irritated because he can't take off his mitts yet."
Katuski jerked in his seat, his hands tightening into fists within his suppressors. By law, he was required to wear these stupid mittens. Though he would never blow up a plane, every extra second he spent in the stuffy cabin made the idea seem more appealing. Katsuki huffed, irritated about how counter-intuitive the stupid suppressors were; they made his hands sweat even more than usual, and the velcro straps around his arms itched like the devil. The fact that the damn things looked like oven mitts only pissed him off even more.
The plane rolled to a stop and the seat belt light blinked off before Katsuki could shoot a response to his mother. The moment he heard that loud ding, Kastuki deftly undid his seat belt and jumped up with his napsack. Practically crawling over his parents' laps, their complaints and protests falling deaf upon his ears, Katsuki quickly snaked his way up the center aisle to the front. The door hadn't even been opened yet. The stewardess watched him in wary confusion as he tapped his foot impatiently, but said nothing. When the stairs had been rolled up to the hatch and the door finally opened, Katsuki emerged from the crowded plane and into the bright sunlight. The humidity hit him like a wet blanket, but he couldn't find it in himself to care as he double-jumped the stairs and quickly trudged his way into the air conditioned airport.
That was as far as he could go on his own. Next was immigration, and his father had his passport. But Katsuki knew that his parents would be right behind him. He turned just in time to see his folks running past the other passengers on the tarmac, his father apologizing profusely to them all. His mother, on the other hand was seething. She sure moved fast, Katsuki mused. For an old lady.
"Stop doing that!" Mitsuki shrieked, slapping her son upside the head so hard that he saw a flash of white. "You do that every time we land, and it pisses me off!"
"Then maybe you should stop dragging me along on all your lame-ass vacations! Ever think of that?" Katsuki snarled, rubbing the back of his head through his mitt.
"Like we could ever trust you to stay home alone," his mother grumbled, hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder as she spun to head towards immigration.
Katsuki heard his father sigh as the two of them fell in step behind her. Before they got in line, Masaru handed his son his passport. "I know you hate travelling, but try to have fun, okay?"
"You said that last year," Katsuki growled.
After immigration was baggage claim. His mother, much to his chagrin, had to help him wrestle his bag off of the moving carousel, since the suppressors on his hands were too thick to grab the small straps. Just like before, Katsuki zoomed ahead of his parents, making a direct course for the exit to the airport. As the sliding door opened and the humid island air wafted over him once more, Katsuki squinted into the bright sunlight. He would have put his sunglasses on, but they were clipped to his shirt collar and his mitts weren't dexterous enough to handle them. As soon as he was completely outside he let his suitcase fall gracelessly to the ground and immediately began brushing at the velcro of his suppressors.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Another smack across the head. "You know you can't take those off yet. Not till your at least half a mile away from the airport, you dumb kid!"
Katsuki screamed through gritted teeth. Stupid Americans and their stupid paranoia. Stupid mitts. Stupid vacation. Spinning on his parents, he felt his hands ignite within the suppressors.
"Then let's hurry up and get the damn rental car already!"
They couldn't hit the road fast enough. Katsuki hissed and spat in the back seat like a feral cat, but it felt like the velcro was beginning to rub away his skin. When his father finally gave him the okay, he tore at the mitts with his teeth. As soon as his hands were finally free, Katsuki sat back and gave a long sigh, the cool air tingling his arms. Sure enough, there were red rings around his arms where the velcro had chaffed him. Before he could throw the infernal suppressors out the car window, his mom snatched them away. Now that he wasn't slowly being driven insane, Katsuki looked out the window and truly took in the Hawaiian view.
When his parents had told him that they would be going to Hawaii at the beginning of summer break, he had been notably less than excited. Again? He had thought. His parents had a friend, who also happened to be wealthy client, that had connections in Hawaii, and could get them a good deal on a great hotel. Sure, it had been fun the first couple of times that they took advantage of that deal - but that was years ago, and Bakugo quickly found himself growing tired of the tropical, tourist-filled, dream destination. It wasn't that there was nothing to do - it was just that the illusion of paradise and escape had long since faded away. But his parents were still enchanted with the place, so they kept coming back. Of course, they couldn't leave their son at home alone for a week for some reason that was yet to be explained to him. They could have at least waited to come in March, Katsuki lamented. At least it wouldn't have been as crowded then, since all the American kids wouldn't be on their summer break as well. And July was the hottest damn month of the year, for fuck's sake.
There was one perk that Katsuki could think of this time around as he slipped his sunglasses on; he would finally get a break from school and all his ridiculous classmates. The possibility of running into any of those losers in Hawaii was beyond small.
As the hotel rolled into view, the young man tried to stifle his groan. The resort, misnamed The Sea Cliffs despite not being anywhere near a steep drop, was a nice place without a doubt. It was one of the hotels where lesser known celebrities might stay. But it was big, it was popular, and over-hyped, in Katsuki's honest opinion. They held a luau every week and offered up a good portion of beach privately to their guests. A beach that hosted most of their other activities for a price. It was the ideal place to stay when coming to Hawaii, and yet Katsuki had come to think of it as mediocre. As they pulled the car up to the valet stand, Katsuki could already tell that the resort was full to capacity. Perfect. Nothing said "Welcome to Hawaii" like a bunch of fat lards taking up all the space on the beach.
He stepped out of the car and into the valet circle, where a peppy fake hula girl greeted him cheerfully and placed a lei of white and yellow flowers over his head. Before he could rip it off, two more followed suit and smothered him with pink and purple leis that smelled like they had just been taken out of cold storage. His parents, equally assaulted with the flowers, smiled and laughed, thanking the girls as his dad handed the valet the keys to the car. They made their way through the welcome party far too slowly for Katsuki's taste and into the open lobby that lead straight to the beach. A small peek confirmed it was just as crowded as Katsuki expected it would be.
Yep, he decided. This vacation was going to suck.
While his parents checked in, he leaned sloppily against the counter and tried to get his phone to connect the the hotel's WiFi. The girl behind the desk - who, ironically, might have been an actual native - handed his parents the keys to their room. It seemed to take longer than it usually did, long enough for his parents to ask about it.
"Yes, I'm sorry." The girl replied. "We've been a little busy trying to rearrange rooms in order to make room for last minute guests that won some kind of contest. The hotel that was originally going to take them changed its mind for some reason."
Katsuki huffed a laugh. What poor idiots would join a contest just to go to Hawaii? If you couldn't afford to come here on your own, then just don't come.
"Oh, I think that's them, actually!" The receptionist pointed across the lobby.
Katsuki just barely looked up from his phone over his sunglasses to get a glance at the contest winners before returning his attention back to the screen in front of him. The WiFi had some serious lag issues-
With a shock, Katsuki's head snapped back up as he fully registered the fact that there was a familiar face across the lobby. He almost dropped his phone.
"Oh, fuck no."
Hawaii had to be the most beautiful place in the world, hands down.
Ochaco couldn't stop spinning around, taking in the sights with a silly wide-mouthed smile on her face. She had never been anywhere like it, it was so different from Japan in all the good ways. Palm trees with actual coconuts growing on them, blue crystal clear water, and an enormous volcano to top it all off. She never would have imagined that she would be visiting Hawaii with her parents while she was still young. When they had told her that they had won the all-expenses-paid trip, Ochaco had honestly been a little miffed, because there went one of her key motivations for becoming a pro. But that was extremely short-lived. She was going to Hawaii!
Maybe she could take them to Fiji.
"Aloha!" She said cheerfully as the hula girls laid more flower necklaces over her head. The wonderful greeting was now Ochaco's new favorite word.
She was exhausted, to be honest, since she was too excited to sleep during the eight hour flight like she was supposed to. It was weird to think that they had left home in the evening, and then arrived in Hawaii at an earlier time on the same day. But the exhilaration of traveling to a new place reinvigorated her as soon as the plane touched the ground. Someone had been waiting for them at the airport, holding up a sign with their names written on it. After exchanging greetings with the young man, whose name was Jason, they were quickly herded through the airport and out into a fancy Jeep that had already been loaded up with all of their baggage.
That was the first real look that Ochaco had gotten of Hawaii that wasn't from a plane window. The land around the airport had been terraformed to make room for runways and terminals, but in the distance she could see the line of trees and hear the faint noise of crashing waves. With her face pressed to the car window, Ochaco and her parents pointed out every new and bizzare thing they saw to each other - which was pretty much everything. And then they saw the hotel.
At first, Ochaco thought that it must have been a mall. Only a mall could possibly be that big. But then they pulled into the covered drop off area, and she realized with a gasp that they were going to be staying here. Beautiful girls wearing grass skirts and coconut bras had greeted them excitedly. The lobby of the hotel was so large, and Ochaco had been too in awe at everything she looked at that she almost missed all of what Jason had been telling them about the perks and pleasures of their stay. The boy, who might have only been a few years older than Ochaco and had tiger-like stripes on his tan skin, gave them all plastic cards that would get them into the breakfast buffet, dinner restaurants, and any beverage anywhere in the resort for free. Her parents got blue cards while she got green, to distinguish that she wasn't allowed to get hard liquor. All activities that they offered at the resort would also be discounted for them.
"And yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it!" Jason ended his speech with a smile as he turned to the Uraraka's. His Japanese wasn't bad, though he spoke with a heavy accent. "Do you guys have any questions so far?"
"I have one," her father said with a raised hand. "Where can I get one of those shirts?"
Jason was wearing a wildly colorful shirt. It was a bright orange button-up t-shirt with repeating patterns of palm trees and crashing waves. It seemed pretty obnoxious - but other hotel guests and staff seemed to be wearing a variety of the same thing, so it must have been a local thing. Jason laughed and rubbed a hand over the fabric of the shirt.
"Believe me, there'll be plenty of time for you guys to do some shopping. Then, you can pick out your own Hawaiian shirt."
Ochaco chuckled at the image of her father wearing such an outrageous shirt. As she looked around the extravagant lobby and out onto the white sand beach on the other side, she suddenly felt an odd, unexplainable chill down her spine.
"So let's go ahead and get you guys settled, and then for dinner we'll be-"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Ochaco snapped her head around at the outburst. Strange, she thought. That sounded a lot like-
"Hey! I'm talking to you, Pink Cheeks!"
Ochaco jerked, feeling the blood drain from her face. Scanning the lobby, Ochaco's gaze jumped over the faces of the crowd, hoping against hope that the owner of that voice was not who she thought it was. Her parents were oblivious to their daughter's rising alarm, listening intently as Jason laid out their itinerary. Squinting her eyes, Ochaco peered against the bright light of the sun. There was no way he could possibly be-
There, by the front desk. Ochaco stiffened, and barely managed to gulp past the cotton in her throat. In civilian clothes, Bakugo didn't seem quite as overbearing as usual. Though his eyes were hidden behind a pair of red-tinted aviators, she could still feel his gaze piercing through her.
"Honey," her father mumbled to her. "Do you know that boy?"
Ochaco and her parents watched as a women who couldn't have been anyone other than Bakugo's mother roughly grabbed his ear and started screaming at him. The man next to them, his father presumably, turned to stare back at the Uraraka's. With a nervous smile and a small wave of her hand, Ochaco gave a short laugh. To say that she was shocked to run into Bakugo in Hawaii would be an understatement, much less the same hotel on the same day. Those odds must have been impossible, and yet here they were.
"Hey Bakugo!" She called out to him. Bakugo struggled against his mom. "What a surprise! Who would have thought that we'd run into... each... other?"
Bakugo had broken out of his mother's grasp and was stomping his way across the lobby towards her. Ripping the sunglasses off of his face, Bakugo glared at Ochaco with so much fury that she couldn't help but scream out in terror as he towered over her.
There must be some force in the universe that really had it out for Katsuki. He didn't know if it was karma, God, or maybe that bastard Odin for all he knew, but they must have hated him for some reason, and it must have been a good one in order for them to mess with him like this. Why did it have to be her? In this hotel? On this island? As he surged his way across the lobby and stepped into her personal space, Uraraka squealed and brought her hands up to protect herself. But he stopped with his face inches from hers and his hands balled into fists at his side. He spoke lowly.
"I'm only going to ask this one more time," he growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
She blinked up at him, her voice sticking in her throat. The two adults with her, her parents he realized, could only stare in shock as their daughter was yelled at by a boy they had never met. Before she could spit out a coherent answer, some loser in a blinding Hawaiian shirt stepped forward with a serious look on his face. He spoke poor Japanese, and Katsuki was having none of that.
"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to please step away from-"
"Shut up, Hobbes!" Katsuki snapped, "We're classmates, alright? I'm not some random-"
His oncoming rant was cut short by his shirt collar suddenly rising up to close off his windpipe. Yanking her son away from the poor girl and her family with a powerful pull, Mitsuki held the boy aloft by the back of his shirt like he was a kitten.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She reprimanded, but Katsuki didn't take his eyes off of Uraraka, who's face suddenly turned red as she slapped a hand over her mouth. Was she laughing at him?
"I am so sorry about our son," Masaru was already bent over in a bow of apology. "He's just a little jet-lagged from the long-"
"Hey, wait a minute..." His mom blinked at Ochaco, recognition dawning over her features. "I know you. You're the girl that almost whooped our son's ass in the sports festival!"
"Mom!"
"Oh... oh, yes!" Mr. Uraraka suddenly perked up. "Yes, that's right. Our little Ochaco couldn't stop talking about you after that day.
"DAD!" Uraraka screamed.
Their parents chuckled. Red flags raised in Katsuki's head, but he wasn't sure why.
A conversation was struck up, with Hobbes slinking away to take care of matters for the Uraraka's. Katsuki sneered, uncomfortable with how chummy his folks were getting with Pink Cheek's parents - but with his mom's hand on the back of his neck, he remained silent. Said girl was staring at him, her big brown eyes wide and mouth hanging open like he was a monkey in a zoo, pissing him off even more. The leis of pink and purple flowers seemed to give her plump cheeks even more color than usual, but that could have also been the lighting in the lobby. Like everyone else, she was dressed lightly in a light blue spaghetti strap top and jean shorts with flip flops, revealing the creamy skin of her legs and shoulders. Katsuki couldn't help but scoff - she was gonna get so fucking sunburned.
"Nevertheless, Katuski needs to make up for his rude behavior." His mom's words cut through his thoughts. When he looked up at her, she had a twinkle in her eyes that sent a shiver down his spine as she smiled down at him. "Honey, why don't you show these nice people around tomorrow, since you're familiar with the resort? Take them to see all that there is to do, and work on your English while you're at it."
There was so much wrong with those sentences that Katsuki didn't even know where to begin. "My English is just fine, woman!"
"We would be delighted to join you." Uraraka's mom spoke up, giving Katsuki a bright smile that was the exact clone of her daughters. "And I'm sure Jason has other things he needs to be doing, since this place is so busy. But, of course, only if you're not doing anything."
Uraraka gaped at her mother. Mrs. Uraraka ignored her. For a beat too long, Katuski didn't say anything. The hand on the back of Katsuki's neck tightened.
"No, of course he's not busy!" Mitsuki blurted. "So it's settled. How about we meet up for breakfast?"
Plans were made over Katsuki's and Uraraka's heads, who were helpless to do anything but watch as their parents became fast friends. Groaning, Katsuki deflated as any potential for this vacation to not totally blow went straight down the drain. During this time, Hobbes came back and gave the Uraraka's the keys to their room - which just so happened to be one floor above their own. Perfect. Uraraka and Katsuki stared at each other in silence, neither of them sure what to make of this situation. With apprehensiveness, Uraraka smiled at him, the expression more apologetic than anything else. Huffing a sigh, Katsuki cast his eyes down and away from her, conceding to the fact that he was going to be stuck in Hawaii with Pink Cheeks to keep him company.
It could be worse, he tried to tell himself. At least it wasn't Deku.
They all managed to cram themselves and their luggage into the same golden elevator. Sandwiched between his father and his suitcase, Katsuki glared up at the floor display, which couldn't get to the 8th floor fast enough. His parents and hers were still talking, chatting about the luau that was going on in a couple of days. Plans were quickly made for the two families to go together. Katuski wanted to blow up his own head.
The elevator dinged for their floor and the doors opened. Spilling out, the Bakugo's and Uraraka's waved bye to each other. Locking eyes with the girl one last time, Katsuki tried to send her a silent message with his face; don't mess this up more than it already is. As the doors closed to take them one floor higher, Uraraka's eyes set into a hard, steely gaze. Caught off guard by her sudden fierceness, Katsuki quirked an eyebrow in surprise. Images of exploding fists and falling meteors flashed behind his eyes. His heartbeat quickened.
"Stop glaring at the elevator and let's go, Katsuki," his mom called, she and his dad were already halfway down the sand-colored halls.
Taking an extra moment to organize his thoughts, Katsuki spun and followed his parents to the room. Maybe there was still a way to salvage this doomed vacation. If he played all of his cards right.
Ochaco gasped at the size of their room. Her apartment could have easily fit in it at least two times. The two queen sized beds were fluffier than clouds when she flopped down on one, and the balcony out the window overlooked the sea. Beautiful painting of sunsets on beaches hung over the beds. The bathroom was large enough to have both a bath tub and a separate shower. They even got their own little kitchen area, complete with a sink and a set of pantries. The mini fridge was fully stocked and there was a basket of fruit waiting for them on the small dining table. If they never left this room during their entire stay, that would have been vacation enough.
"This is pretty neat," her father said as he came out of the bathroom. "Way beyond my expectations."
"It's easy to go beyond your expectation when you don't have any," her mom chuckled, already hanging up their clothes in the spacious closet. "Frankly, I'm just happy to be here!"
Ochaco looked up to her mother.
"Weird running into the Bakugos here," she mused.
"I'll say," her father chipped in. "They seem like an interesting bunch."
Ochaco's eyebrow twitched. "Interesting" was a nice way of putting it.
"They said they've been coming here for years." Her mom closed the closet. "They must be very well off if they can afford to do that."
"That boy of theirs was pretty eccentric." Mr. Uraraka looked to his daughter. "Is he like that during class?"
"It varies from day to day." Ochaco shrugged.
"Do you talk to him much? He seems like a nice kid." Mrs. Uraraka perused the fruit basket as she spoke.
Ochaco bit her lip. "Bakugo's not really much of a conversationalist."
"Well, this should be a good opportunity for the two of you to get to know each other better," her mom said, biting into a large green apple.
"Just don't get to 'know each other' too well, you hear me?" Her dad stated with a pointed finger.
"Ew, dad!" Ochaco's face crinkled at the implication. Bakugo was a lot of things, but boyfriend-material wasn't one of them - at least, not to her.
Standing from the bed, Ochaco stepped out on the balcony, taking in the breathtaking view. The sun was low in the sky. In a while, Jason was going to come along and take them to dinner. From this height, she could see all the way out to the horizon, where the ocean met the sky in two subtly different shades of blue. This was paradise, for sure. But... she had to admit, some of the appeal had been ruined for her, knowing she was going to have to share it with Bakugo.
Shaking her head, Ochaco dismissed the bitter thought. She should at least try to give Bakugo the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it wasn't like their parents could force them to hang out together if they didn't want to - and judging from the looks he kept giving her, he probably preferred it that way. In all honesty, that was perfectly fine with her.
Leaning against the railing, Ochaco took a deep breath of the salty sea air, feeling herself relax and her mind begin to settle into an exhausted numbness. What ever happened, there was no way she was going to let Katsuki Bakugo ruin her vacation.