Chapter Text
The third year class of 1-A stood in absolute at the beta ground screen. It was a record time for completing an exam this way. Here lies the amazing Todoroki on the ground completely wrapped in capture tape. About a foot away Yamomo was completely immobilized and covered in ash. Aizawa himself had few words to spare. They were within the rules yes, but it was such a devastating coordinated attack that he wasn’t sure that was completely true. Above the two ‘Heros’ in this scenario, the villains prevailed. Uraraka and Bakugou stood with menacing grins from ear to ear, waiting to hear how they had passed with flying colors. It was obvious but also so wild. What a horrible way to end exams. Eventually Aizawa did choke out their perfect score and a little advice about morals. Todoroki was obviously still in shock as well as his female partner. Uraraka was kind enough to at least help the two out of their respective traps. The class eventually settled down to their normal plus-ultra mood. Bakugou was back to his grumpy and coky self while Uraraka repeatedly apologized for her behavior. The duo, code name “Jet Pack” looked at each other one more time before dismissing each other again.
At night in the girls dorm, space, a group of them sat together in their on pj’s. They gossiped about everything from new quirk discoveries to new school couples. Ashido laughed at the mention of some class 1-B couples, it was never who you expected. “It’s so boring we haven’t a single match-up in our class..” Mina sighed. “Alright fess up, girls! Who do you have a crush on?!”
“W-what?! You can’t do that!” Jirou blushed heavily and threw a pillow her friends way. Few others in the group were also slowly turning pink.
“We need this! This is our last year of school here. Although I’m like 90% sure I’m gonna see you guys after, we can’t guarantee that for the boys! We have to make this the year of pursuit! Pursuit of love-” A batch of pillows soared through the air and pummeled Ashido.
Although she wasn’t wrong. It was the last time they could guarantee seeing the boys. If there was any time to move, now was the time. Tsu raised her hand shyly with her face bright red “I-I’ll go first..”
“What really?!” Ashido stood up smiling wide.
“Y-yeah..I think it would probably be better if we could all get this off our chest. S-so I’ll be first.” The frog swallowed hard, knowing all her peers were leaning in “Tokyomi..”
The group went into uproar. Some knew it, some wouldn’t have guessed. Uraraka gave her companion a pat on the back in an attempt to comfort her. Ashido went on about how she had to chase him. Jirou, was next in rotation “Ahh..I guess Kaminari was always..you know..” She blushed laughing.
“Seriously? The stupid one?” Mina laughed. Before Jirou could again attack her with pillows, The alien went ahead herself “I really really like Kirishima! Isn’t he like, totally hot?”
The group turned into a giggling embarrassed mess as they went around the circle. Yamomo was head over heels for Todoroki. Hagakure claimed to have a small “interest” in Ojiro. Finally, Uraraka sat still staring up at the ceiling. Being practical, she used to admire Deku like nothing else, but that was years ago. Now it was like a strange emptiness where that crush used to be “Sorry, I don’t think i have one right now!”
“EHHH?! The group leaned in disappointed. Mina especially so “Come on, there gotta be one of them! Not Deku? Not Sero or Iida?”
“No, not them..” Uraraka sort of wished for one so she could interact better with the group. However,
“Bakugou?” Momo sat up a bit straighter remembering her devastating defeat. Yet he harbored no resentment and looked towards her floaty friend. “I mean, I’ve never seen you connect with anyone like you did with him earlier.”
“Connect?”
“Yes she’s totally got it!” the Alien was once again bright eyed. “Didn’t you feel it too? It was like you were two halves of an unstoppable force! It looked just like the power of true love!”
The girls laughed between each other at Mina’s exaggeration. Over the years, Uraraka and Bakugou had a positive relationship. It was more built on respect and the ability to rival each other than anything. In truth, she was one of the few that could go toe-to-toe with him in a boxing match. The only other being Kirishima. Ochako supposed he wasn’t exactly bad looking either. Like, not bad looking. But that temper..
“I don’t know..Bakugou is so, you know, Bakugou.”
The group sighed in unison but not the ring leader, Mina sat up and nodded “Well, what if he had a crush on you? Would you take him?”
“I-i-I” Uraraka’s face glew bright red at the suggestion. She could barely imagine Bakugou being sweet enough to confess shyly. Perhaps he would be far more aggressive and embarrassingly yell it. The lack of response earned a series of giggles and pokes from the group. “I-i promise you he would never! And he doesn’t have a crush on me!”
“Oh are ya sure? He seemed oftly handsy during the exam. You didn’t need to have that many moved with him grabbing you or tossing you.” Uraraka wanted to strangle Ashido.
“As a matter of fact,” Tsu interjected being not helpful “ I’ve never seen him as happy as he is when he works with you.”
“Y-you traitor!” Ochako sat back away from Tsu, who laughed in her wake. Finally having enough, the floating girl stood up and marched to the exit “You’re crazy! I’ll go prove right now he doesn’t! I’ll ask! You’ll all be sorry!”
Jirou raised her earphone jack’s and grinned “Remember I’ll totally be able to hear you if you lie.”Uraraka swallowed hard but stormed out. She would prove it, prove that they’re all ridiculous!
____________
Now standing at Bakugou’s door, the confidence that was awash in a pool of nervousness now. She set herself up to ask Bakugou of all people about a crush. His head was so filled with being number one, was it even possible for him to consider a crush? The worst he could do was say no, but for some reason it felt like that would hurt. Why would it hurt? Sure, Ochako thought highly of him as a comrade but surely a relationship with him was impossible. Wasn’t it?
There was only one way to find out.
Before she could even knock the door opened. There stood Katsuki in his favorite sweats looking slightly downward at Ochako. It was hard to remember how muscular he was in his uniform, but this completely revealed him. With a tired growl, he addressed her “The fuck do you want?”
“Good evening to you too...” She looked off to the side “Did you know I was out here?”
“Of course I did. I could smell that fucking anxiety a mile away and it woke me up. Now what do you want?”
“Can we talk, in there?” She pointed shyly in his room. Katsuki hesitated but let her in nonetheless. It was easier in a place where she knew no one could overhear and get the wrong idea. It was extra shielding from Jirou.
“Now what the fuck do you want?” His abrasiveness gave her slightly more confidence. It was easier to answer him with his own attitude since being afraid got them nowhere. It was easier to feel brave when he did.
Uraraka stood up straighter, still embarrassed but ready to answer “Well, all the girls down there re being absolutely crazy. They’re pretty convinced you have a crush on me.”
“Are they?”
“Yeah, I know. I tried to tell them they were crazy but they were not having it.” She rolled her eyes, unable to look dead at him “So I told them I’d come ask you myself because there’s no way they could actually be right.”
There was an oddly thick silence before an answer in his voice. “Why couldn’t they be right?”
“E-excuse me?” Her confident demeanor shattered under her. Her heavy blush returned to her while staring at him “They can’t be.. I-I know you!”
“What the hell could you possibly know?” His grin was completely without shadow. It was hard to tell if he was just challenging her or if he actually meant it. “I bet you’re just too scared because you know you couldn’t handle me. Why don’t you go cry to fucking Deku?”
That hit a nerve. She might’ve been backed against the wall, but he hit a nerve “I am NOT afraid of you Katsuki! I work with you all the time, I bet handling you would be easy.” Somehow she mustered a grin “ I bet you’re the scared one. I bet it’s actually because you can’t handle me!”
Challenging him was always such a mistake. She was completely absorbed in his shadow unable to escape. He was closer than she expected but it’s not like she could back out. “Do you even hear yourself?”
“I do! I said what I said!”
“You’re a fucking mess, you can’t even look at me.”
“Katsuki-” The moment she looked up, their bluff dissolved. Unable to speak, they stared wide eyed and embarrassed not moving. For this moment, they stayed connected.
Connected in a way only a kiss would let them.