Chapter Text
Katsuki first saw her in the emergency room after a major villain attack, she rushed out of one trauma room and right into a room down the hall. He could tell just by looking at her shaking hands she was frustrated, and ignoring the nagging voice in his head telling him to stay put and get his head looked at he followed her. He was about to knock when he heard a muffled scream and, worried for the woman, he opened the door.
He froze at what he saw, she was standing in the middle of the room, a pillow grasped in her shaking hands. Her hair was a cascade of cinnamon colored curls down her back. He froze at the sight of tears in her golden eyes.
“You okay?” Those two words changed his life forever.
Katsuki didn't see her again until weeks later. It was snowing as he pulled the coffee shop door open, the warmth and the smell of coffee and pastries greeted him. There was someone getting what looked like a dozen drinks made, and standing behind them was her, he was sure of it. The light of the shop caught the red highlights in her brown curls. Curls he had been thinking about for weeks.
They had only talked while she stitched his head up, but it was long enough for her to get stuck in his head. He still never got her name.
As if she could feel his eyes on her, her face turned and he was lost in her golden gaze once again.
“Oh, it's you!” Her voice was bright and cheerful as she smiled brightly at him. He found himself smiling back.
“Yeah, it's me.” He found himself looking away, somehow it was harder to talk to her like this, as a civilian, instead of a pro hero.
“How's the head?” She asked as she turned to him.
“Doing just fine,” Katsuki answered as he looked at the menu overhead. Oh how he hates small talk. He was saved from more awkward small talk as the person in front of them got their last drink.
“Hey!” The barista smiled in greeting to her. “The usual?”
“Mmmm, add one of those chocolate croissants, they look good today.” Before she could pay for her order Katsuki spoke up.
“I'll pay for it.” He already had his card in hand as golden eyes looked at him in surprise.
“Y-you don't have to.” She tried to wave him away, but he quickly scanned his card.
“Add on a Hojicha latte,” the barista grinned as they added his drink.
“You didn't have to do that,” she pouted, and he smiled a bit when he saw the blush go across her nose. The closer he looked at her the more he noticed; she had freckles going across her nose and the top of her head barely came to his shoulders. He had grown since he graduated school, he was about one hundred and eighty-five centimeters, she had to be around one hundred and forty.
“I know that, but I wanted to.” Too soon for his liking her drink was done, some creation with whipped cream and some type of syrup drizzled on top. Probably too sweet for him. She was headed to the door when he called out. “Hey, what’s your name?”
She turned her blinding smile on him again. “Aria. Aria Chinen.”
It soon became habit for Katsuki to stop at the coffee shop daily, either during his lunch break of after his shift, and pick up coffee for Aria, as she liked to be called. He soon found out that her usual was never the same. She always asked whoever was working that day what sounded good, and that soon became her usual order whenever she went in. He stuck to his Hojicha latte.
The other nurses at the hospital smirked whenever he showed up with coffee, no doubt they talked about him.
“Hey, Aria! Your hot latte is here! He brought your drink as well!” The nurse at the station called out, there was a burst of giggles from behind her from one of the on call rooms. Muffled words before a small figure was shoved out. Aria's hair was a disaster and her eyes widened as she saw him standing there, coffee in hand.
Katsuki looked her over, setting her drink on the counter. “You've got a bit of drool.” Smirked as she turned tomato red as she looked for somewhere to run and hide. She tried to run past him but he reached out and grabbed her arm, spun her to face him before throwing her over his shoulder. He grabbed her coffee in his free hand and winked at the nurse running the station, who just shook her head at their antics and pointed to an empty room.
“Bakugo, you put me down this instant!” She screamed as she pounded her fists on his back, but he just laughed as he entered the empty room, kicking the door closed behind him. He set her drink down before dropping her onto the bed.
“Don’t glare, I brought you coffee." Quicker than he could see she had her coffee and was happily drinking it. “How can you drink that and glare at the same time?”
“Talent,” she gasped as she came up for air. “Are you going to explain why you dragged me off like a caveman?”
Katsuki looked at her, he had only known her for a month and already he would do anything for her. Her curls were a tangled mess, her eyes had a sleepy look to them, her pale blue scrubs were wrinkled from sleep, and she only had one sock on. She hummed happily, waiting for him to answer her.
“So, there's this event coming up next week, and I was wondering if….” His voice trailed off as his nerves took over.
“Are you asking me on a date?” She smiled from over her cup.
“Yeah,” he grinned. “I guess I am.”
“Then I accept! What’s the event?”
“The annual Pro Hero Gala.” He heard her choking on her drink, and looked over as she finally stopped.
“The what!?”
Aria was uncomfortable as she waited in the coffee shop for some friend of Bakugo's to pick her up. She had asked who to look for and all he said was pink. Did he mean pink hair? Clothes? Eyes? She was about to call him when she heard laughter and a group of women her age walked in. No way any of those women were friends with him, he gave off an I only have powerful friends vibe.
But then, in the crowd of natural colors, she saw it. Pink. A young woman with short pink hair, yellow horns, and pink skin. She made eye contact with yellow eyes, and the grin she received made her rethink her life choices. The pink woman said something to the group, and as one they all looked over at her. She was about to walk out of the shop and never look back when the pink woman approached her.
“Are you Aria Chinen?” The woman towered over her, she was almost as tall as Bakugo.
“Y-yeah,” she glanced at the exit, debating if she should run.
“I was right, girls! Let’s go!” The woman laughed as she looked Aria up and down, and she squealed as she was, yet again, thrown over a shoulder. “Bakugo didn't mention how tiny you were, this is gonna be fun!”
That is how Aria found herself dress shopping with almost a third of the top twenty pro heroes. The one who grabbed her was Mina Ashido, the hero Pinky. The others were Creati, Uravity, Earphone Jack, Red Riot, Chargebolt, and Mind Blank; or as they introduced themselves to her, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Jiro, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Shinso. She had never paid much attention to heroes, but now she wish she did. Maybe then she would know more than just their hero names.
They had already been to several shops, and still haven't found the one as Ashido put it. The one that would make Bakugo's heart stop. She didn't think they would find it, she always had trouble dress shopping, they never had the right size for her. No matter the dress she was always swimming in them.
She came out in the latest one she was made to try on, it was covered in so many sequins she looked like a disco ball.
“I'm blind!” Kaminari wailed dramatically as he slid onto the floor, covering his eyes.
“You're the one who picked it out!” Ashido snapped as she pushed Aria back into the dressing room. “Why did we bring him along?” She muttered as she looked through the stack of dresses again.
“I don't even know him and I can tell his fashion sense is terrible,” she said as she struggled to get out of the tight, stretchy dress. She had the dress stuck over her head when there was a knock on their door, and she squeaked when she heard a man's voice saying he found a dress as Ashido opened the door.
“Its perfect!!” She squealed, oblivious to Aria’s current situation.
“Shit! Mina you didn't tell me she was half naked!” She heard the door slam, then felt hands help get the dress off. When her head was finally free she met Ashido's excited eyes.
“Lookie, look, look! Kiri found the perfect one!!” She held up said dress and Aria knew this was the one. The pink woman's excitement was infectious as she grinned back. The cream colored silk glittered with tiny crystals sewn onto the dress. Gold embroidery ran along the bodice and the sides.
“Bakugo is gonna lose his damn mind!” Ashido squealed as she shoved the dress at her. As she was helped into it she couldn’t look away from the mirror. It had the shape of a modern cheongsam she had seen in magazines, but that’s where the similarities ended. It was backless, the only thing holding it up was the high neck and a few delicate gold chains crisscrossing her back. It clung to her curves then flared out mid thigh in layers of pale gold tulle that floated around her legs.
She reached out and with shaking fingertips she traced her figure in the mirror. “I can’t get this,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone, not expecting Ashido's reply.
“And why not? That dress was practically made for you!” She saw the pink woman cross her arms behind her in the mirror.
“Isn't the whole focus supposed to be on the heroes? I don't really want to draw any attention to myself.” She was rewarded with a disbelieving stare, which went on for an uncomfortable amount of time.
“You've got to be kidding me! Did he really not tell you?” Ashido asked as she began to help Aria out of the dress.
“Tell me what?”
“Hun, do you know who Bakugo is?” Now that she thought about it, she didn't know his hero name, just that he was one.
“Not really,” came her muffled reply as she put her shirt back on.
“Hun, Bakugo is Ground Zero.” The name sounded familiar, but she didn't keep up with heroes as much as she should, especially in her line of work. “The current number two hero.”
“You're lying,” Aria muttered as she buttoned her pants, he would have told her. The pink woman gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before she walked out of the dressing room with the cream dress, leaving her to put on her shoes. She heard voices and after a moment the start of a one sided conversation, but instead of putting on her shoes she just sat on the stool.
She should have know better, but if she was honest with herself it just never came up. They never talked about his work, and she had just assumed he was either a sidekick or a low ranking pro. She would never had guessed he was in the top ten, never number two, not with his attitude. If she had known she would have avoided him, because once he found out about her he would never look at her again.
Putting on a fake smile she left the dressing room, just in time to hear Ashido call someone an asshole over her phone before hanging up. “Sorry about that, someone needed a talking to real quick.” She flashed her a smile before grabbing her arm and dragging her deeper into the store. “Let's find you some shoes, and quickly, so we can go!” Ashido gave her another grin, she was starting to not trust that grin.
“Why the rush?”
“Because I booked us a room for karaoke!” The pink woman squealed, her enthusiasm contagious, and together they quickly looked for a pair of shoes.