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Ochako was lying in the inner courtyard of Hights Alliance. She lay on a lounger, with a blanket over her, just in case a cloud blocked the sun and it would get too chilly. She usually went home over the weekends, but so far she enjoyed staying at the dorms. It almost felt like a mini vacation now that the dorms were less crowded. Of course, she should have expected that the peace would not last forever.
She heard someone shaking out laundry and looked up to see Bakugou hanging up some of his shirts. She watched him for a while, until their eyes met.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing."
"You've been staring."
"T-there's not much else to look at." Ochako stuttered out a little embarrassed, realizing that her staring could easily be interpreted in a wrong way.
"Why do you stay at the dorms so often over the weekend?" Ochaki asked, just to get some conversation going.
"My parents often travel for work. There's no point in going home when they are not there and I can train better here. I'll go home tomorrow though."
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense I guess." Ochako admitted.
"What are you doing here? You usually go home." Bakugou pointed out, once he hung up the last of his clothing.
"Well...my parents and I don't really spend too much time with each other when I'm home anyway. I thought I'd try out what it would be like to stay here." That answer was a little surprising as well as a little sad.
"You want to come to the gym with me?" Bakugou offered.
Ochako first though she misheard, but when Bakugou didn't move and looked at her expectantly she nodded. "Uh...sure." She said. Bakugou had a point. UA had great training facilities and she should make use of it.
"What do you want to train?" She asked getting up. She folded the blanket and grabbed her phone to take inside.
"We haven't fought in a while. We could just spar."
"You'd have me lying on my back within seconds." Ochako pointed out, not too enthusiastic at the idea. While she had gotten stronger and kept training up ever since her internship, Bakugou had a clear physical advantage over her. "Can I make you lighter?" She asked.
"How light?" Bakugou asked skeptically.
"About my weight."
Bakugou thought about it for a moment, before figuring this could be a pretty interesting new training method. They both changed into their training clothes and set out for the gym. It was less unusual for Bakugou than it was for Ochako. Bakugou had come into the habit of not only training with Kirishima, but also Aoyama and Ojiro as well as others if they happened to show up at the gyms, because he saw the advantage of training with different people.
Ochako couldn't help but feel a little awkward when she was alone with Bakugou, but she was willing to give him a chance.
"I think I should make you lighter now, so you can get used to it while we warm up." Ochako suggested.
Bakugou held out his hand, so she could tap it. Bakugou noticed the difference immediately. It was difficult to explain how he felt. Despite feeling a significant amount lighter, he still stood on earth. He clenched his fists and lifted his arms. Next he jumped a little up and down.
"Are you feeling alright?" Ochako asked.
"It's fine." Bakugou said thoughtfully before dropping to the ground to try out some sit ups and push ups. It was difficult to tell if the exercise felt easier than usual or if he felt weaker just from the few times he pushed himself up. "Let's warm up." He decided, so he could find out if he could get a clearer picture.
They stretched and ran a few laps before coming to a stand still on the training mats. Bakugou couldn't say he was nervous, but he also wasn't sure he would win. He didn't know how his weight matched Ochako's right now, or how their body build and technique would factor into things. There was no other way to find out than to try.
Ochako came at him from an easily avoidable angle. Bakugou sidestepped her, but when he grabbed her, she was far heavier than expected. He miscalculated how much effort he had to put into lifting her and Ochako quickly shrugged out of the hold. Having a slightly better feel for Ochako's weight compared to his he was sure he would do better when he got another chance.
It didn't come that far. Before he could grab Ochako again, she managed to flip Bakugou onto his back. All air left his lungs and Ochako smiled brightly.
"Should I make you a little heavier again?" Technically she changed someone's gravity, but saying she made something lighter was much easier.
"No way! Let's try again." Bakugou demanded.
They continued for a while and after landing on the ground two more times Bakugou got the hang of things. He had to adjust his technique a little, rather than relying on his strength but in the end he always did that when fighting against taller and heavier classmates. It was just unusual to have someone with Ochako's built feel heavier. Or perhaps she didn't feel heaver and he was just weaker? Deku would probably know how exactly her quirk worked.
Once Bakugou got used to his new state, Ochako had to fight harder herself. Bakugou was unrelenting, but he did give her some useful tips. By the end of their training they were fairly evenly matched.
"That was fun." Ochako smiled, trying to catch her breath.
"yea-" Bakugou felt Ochako change his weight - or gravity again and suddenly he felt a lot heavier. "Fuck. I feel like a ton of bricks is weighing me down." He muttered surprised.
"You'll get used to it fast." Ochako promised.
The training had been a success and it had been surprisingly more fun than lazing at the dorms. Or rather, now Ochako felt like she truly earned a break. Before she settled down in her room, she peeled off one of her balloon stickers from her set and stuck it to Bakugou's poster to reward and thank him for the training.
-----.....-----.....-----
Earning stickers by spending money on others was the easiest and also most pathetic approach in Bakugou's opinion. He tried to save his budget for something useful and something he knew his classmates wanted or needed. Buying guitar strings for Tokoyami had been a spur of the moment thing when he remembered the raven head recently tore a string. Getting the newest Shounen Jump issue for Sero also hadn't been a big deal.
Everyone in class 1A knew that Ochako was...the least well off in their class. It was an easy decision to spend most money for something she could use. Bakugou hoped he could get around spending money on her because it appeared far too predictable. He also could imagine that it felt a little patronizing to have so much money spend on oneself. In the end, Bakugou had to relent to the easy option though.
Somehow Kirishima managed to drag him to join in on going to Karaoke with some of their classmates and friends. Bakugou refused to call everyone his friend, though it was getting progressively harder. Bakugou would also like to say he didn't know how Kirishima managed to convince him, but the truth was it had been very easy. A puppy dog look coupled with a sharp toothed smile and a bit of tugging was all it needed for Bakugou to follow Kirishima.
Mina, Denki, Sero, Midoriya, Jirou, Ida and Tsuyu were with them. It was a weird mix of friend groups but they all ended up at the mall and someone- Bakugou was pretty sure it had been Jirou suggested going to a Karaoke place. When it was time for everyone to pay, Bakugou put his money down and gestured at Ochako behind him with his thumb.
"I'm paying for her." He explained.
"Aww. That's sweet of you." The cashier said.
"What? No. You don't have to!" Ochako protested.
"Your boyfriend wants to do you a favor." The cashier smiled at Ochako, trying to solve the situation fast. Poor lady had no idea that comment just made things worse.
"W-what?!" Ochako went bright red and her eyes flickered from Bakugou who had a light blush on his cheeks to Midoriya who was pretty red too and looked at her.
Mina was laughing shamelessly with Denki and Sero, while Kirishima looked a mixture of miserable and entertained. Jirou was chuckling behind a hand and Ida was the only one looking serious.
"I'm not dating round-face." Bakugou hissed at the poor cashier who backed off. Taken aback she stuttered out an apology and Ida quickly let her know that Bakugou always was like this.
"I don't know what's funnier. The idea of Bakugou ending up with Ochako or with a girl in general." Sero laughed.
"Shut up!" Bakugou yelled at him.
"I don't hear denial, Kacchan." Denki sing-songed.
Before Bakugou could explode the two in the middle of a Karaoke place Mina pushed the blonde forward into their assigned room. Kirishima caught Bakugou's glance, but they both quickly looked away. Their Karaoke time went by relatively peacefully after everyone settled down and Ochako decided the best thing was to not bring what happened up to Bakugou again. All she did to thank him for paying for her was to add a new balloon sticker of hers to Bakugou's poster.
-----.....-----.....-----
Ochako and Bakugou were sorted into one team during afternoon training. The rest of their group wandered off to talk to other people who weren't fighting. Ochako used that moment to settle down next to Bakugou. He immediately had a bad feeling about this.
"So..." Ochako started and Bakugou held his breath. "You and Deku have known each other for a long time, right?" He knew it.
He had feared this moment. He knew the risk was there and only got larger the more often they came into contact.
"What about it?" Bakugou asked, trying to stall.
"Well...umm...I was wondering...If...if maybe you knew what he liked."
Bakugou gave her a look that clearly said 'are you kidding'? "You know him better than I do."
"Ye- well...maybe. But you've known him longer."
"He likes heroes." Bakugo pointed out.
"That's not very helpful." Ochako bemoaned.
"Just take him out on a date to meet All Might."
Ochako turned her head to see Bakugou grinning. "Are- Did you just make a joke?!"
"I'm sure he'd love a training session. Just you, him and All Might. You can bring a picnic with All Might themed cups and All Might themed plates and an All Might-"
"Oh my god! Stop! Stop! Please!" She begged and leaned over to clasp her hands over his mouth to get him to stop talking.
Bakugou toppled over on the grass, laughing through the hands pressed against his mouth.
"What are you two doing?" Both Bakugou and Ochako could hear the raised eyebrow in Denki's voice.
Bakugou pushed Ochako off of him and noticed that Kaminari wasn't alone. It was good for Ochako the person she was most interested in was currently busy fighting.
"Round-face wants to go on a cringy date with All Might." Bakugou couldn't hold back.
"NO!" Ochako yelled immediately, while everyone else looked down at them in confusion.
"Umm...what?" Kaminari tilted his head.
"Yeah. Now we definitely need more information." Sero agreed.
"I don't want to go on a date with All Might!" Ochako said, bright red. "Never ask Bakugou for date ideas. He sucks."
"Jirou, Momo, Ojirou and Hagakure prove otherwise." Bakugou said, but no one listened as Sero spoke up.
"Wait. Is this about Midoriya?"
"Oh! Now I get it!" Kaminari laughed. "For once I have to say, I think Kacchan is spot on!"
"Told you!" Bakugou said smugly.
"You are all unhelpful." Ochako sighed.
"Just imagine what a date like that would look like." Sero chuckled. "You'd be trying to talk to Midoriya, while he'll just try to interview All Might."
Although Ochako was a little angry about getting made fun of, she had to admit the idea was so absurd that she had to laugh a little herself.
"I'll talk to him." Bakugou told Ochako in a moment no one else paid any attention to them again.
"Who?"
"All Might. What do you think? Deku of course."
"Really?"
"Do I look like I'm joking right now? I'll... I could give him a hint I guess."
"What? No, no, no!"
"Why not? It's not like he doesn't like you."
"Well Kirishima likes you too and I don't see you doing anything about that!" Ochako protested weekly.
"That's completely different." Bakugou claimed. "But if you don't want I won't say anything."
"Promise?"
"The less I have to talk to him the better."
"I mean... you could try to find out what he likes...or if there's a place he'd like to go..."
"I promise you it would be less weird if you asked him that." Bakugou said.
"You really think he likes me?" Ochako asked unsure.
"I can't say how much. But I'm pretty sure he likes you. Look...I think there's some kind of historic hero exhibition downtown next weekend where they have a bunch of costumes and the life stories of different heroes. Apparently it's supposed to have a good a good audio guide and films, so it won't just be like a boring art exhibition."
"That sounds interesting." Ochako admitted, immediately imagining going there with Midoriya.
"Great. I'll just let him know you told me you were interested in the thing too."
"T-that-"
"It won't sound weird. I'll ask if he heard about it and I'm sure he already has and then I'll mention you said you were interested in going too. I can make sure no one else has time that weekend."
"Wow. Thanks. You don't have to talk to him just because of me." Ochako let Bakugou know. The plan didn't sound half bad though she had to admit.
Bakugou grimaced. "I wanted to talk to him anyway..." He admitted.
"That's good." She encouraged. Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute..." She said with a subtle, teasing undertone. "You're just trying to gain more stickers, aren't you?" She challenged.
"The bastard should hand those stupid broccoli stickers over." Bakugou said, though if he was honest, he started to care less and less about the stickers. Despite this, seeing a new balloon sticker on his poster was nice. Nice and aggravating because he didn't feel like he had earned it yet, which meant he owed Ochako. Bakugou hated owing people something.