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The first time Bakugou notices it, is when Frog Face points it out in between classes. It wasn’t like it was anything important, but he tuned into the conversation anyway. Not like he had anything better to do. It was only the beginning of their second year and Bakugou had already got a headstart on everything else like the beast he is. Putting those spy lessons to practice wouldn’t hurt.
“Can I see your hands, Ochako-chan?”
“Eh? Mm, of course!”
A beat of silence later and an amused huff escaped them both. The huff then turned into barely contained giggles. How dare they have fun in his presence. What the fuck are those giddy fuckwits even doing? Chin resting in his palm, he kept himself facing the front of the class, but his eyes slid on over to see what those two were getting so worked up about.
Frog Face and Pink Cheeks were just… Sitting there. With their hands pressed together. Uraraka had kept her pinkies lifted just so, to keep Asui from floating away. But that’s all they were doing. What the hell? This is what’s got them all worked up?
This little episode of eavesdropping reconnaissance looked like it was all for nothing until his brain finally registered exactly what he was seeing- Uraraka’s giggles turned into a loud guffaw before shooting Asui a playful little smirk.
“You really never noticed my big, broad, workin’ hands, Tsuyu-chan?” Bean brows wiggling flirtatiously, she suddenly grabbed onto Asui’s hands and-
What the FUCK- Uraraka’s hands were big as HELL-
Okay, so they weren’t bigger than Asui’s. Everyone in 2A had to come to terms with Frog Face being able to dominate all their asses at thumb wars. Even Octofucker. But god damn, it looked like Uraraka could give her a run for her money. Huh.
Round Face decided to keep being ridiculous, holding onto Frogger and saying some shit about you know what they say about big hands. Bakugou snorted. He went back to tuning them out.
It was just another fact about Uraraka to store away in his brain. Round face, gutsy, not fragile, stubborn as hell, mochi freak, and big hands.
Got it.
Life goes on.
Next thing he knows, they’re halfway through their second year, and no one has caught on-Thank GOD- but Bakugou finds himself staring at Uraraka more than usual.
So he had a staring problem, what about it, they all fucking knew that by now.
But he just knew that if the self-proclaimed Bakusquad caught him looking he’d never hear the end of it. Kirishima, good friend that he was, got them all to drop the subject but Bakugou was plenty aware they all thought he had a thing for her since last year. Whatever.
It wasn’t his fault she was more than competent enough to grab his attention. Uraraka was a challenge. Game recognizes game and she was gunning for the top three. Not to mention, shared traumatic bonding is definitely a thing and it resulted in half their class getting together and falling apart several fucking times after the villain wars- so yeah, he was looking at her.
So what? Big deal.
That staring problem just landed his ass in hot water though.
Uraraka was one of the team captains for an exercise they were doing. His unwavering, intimidating eye contact with her had apparently sent the wrong signal because now he was in a team with her and Four Eyes. Godammit.
Thus comes the second time he notices her hands.
She’s using Iida and Bakugou like they’re her own personal ping pong balls of mass destruction, on top of all the other wreckage she sends skyward. Effortlessly turning her quirk on and off as she catches them on the downfall, she slings them back up to the flying terror that is Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Deku for a team.
That checklist of Things He Knows About Uraraka is floating around in his head again. Bakugou just keeps zeroing in on it every time he comes back down from aerial combat. He watched the way her broad hand encapsulated his own thick, gloved one. It’s truly a testament to the size of her hands when he can still see them plain as day in all the thick fabric.
Then, two seconds later, he’s on the upswing and on his way back to blasting IcyHot’s ass through the atmosphere. Iida breaks through their formation like a human AP shot, so Bakugou figures what better way to end them than with an oversized Cluster shot. Deku doesn’t recover fast enough after a roundhouse from Iida to counter Bakugou’s fire power.
The other group is sent rocketing out of bounds and Uraraka moon jumps to catch her teammates out of the air with a victory screech. She swung Iida around in some sort of mock square dance before she reached over and grabbed Bakugou’s bare shoulders.
He did not know it was scientifically possible for all his nerve endings to migrate to his shoulders but there he was.
Her grip is strong, and her finger pads- woah, they’re thick and they’re textured as they press into the muscle. They’re actually really warm and uh, kinda sweaty? Of course they are, she’s workin’ up a sweat you ass - she manages to shake him once, twice, before the battle hype kicks in again and he decides to shake her back, yelling. He goes so far as to throw her in the air before catching her again.
To mask this favoritism, he gives Four Eyes the scare of his life with the same treatment. The Bakusquad delightedly take notes on Bakugou and Uraraka screaming nonsense at each other with manic smiles as they rattle Iida around in his suit.
Bakugou adds a few more items to the list of things he knows. Uraraka has weirdly warm finger beans and she can scream as loud as he can.
Especially when it’s about kicking Deku and IcyHot’s ass. Sorry but not sorry, Tokoyami and Iida. Their time to shine will come soon or whatever.
Doesn’t matter.
Time goes by again.
They’re in their third year now. Who’d have guessed it, legendary class 1A goes through some bullshit wars, then they go through some more as 2A. So what the fuck is gonna be new as 3A? Shockingly, he really doesn’t want to find out. Friendships and relationships have been born anew. Again. It’s truly a wonder what shared traumatic bonding (and fuck loads of group therapy) does for a class.
They all have changed. Aizawa wound up losing his other leg. Aoyama was allowed to reintegrate into 3A. Hell, Mineta wound up having a crisis and going through his own redemption arc. Turns out the guy was tolerable after some self work. As for Bakugou? Well, he needs hearing aids now. Turns out, explosions aren’t good for your ears.
And all of them have gained a litany of scars.
It feels pointless to say it, but why not just hammer in the fact that it includes mental ones too? Every one of them is practically guaranteed a free therapist for life even if they decide to drop out of the hero industry. It’s not even just them. Class B is in the same situation, as are many of the surrounding youth and those that care for them.
It’s a new era.
Maybe that’s what finally pushes Bakugou to try and actually do something.
Because he has noticed Uraraka’s hands many times at this point in his life. He’s just noticed her, plain and simple. His relationship with everyone in the Bakusquad has vastly improved. Oddly enough, he’s found close friendship in the likes of Satou and Yaoyorozu.
There’s no explaining the unnatural bond he has with Deku, he won’t even try, but it is leagues better now and even that leads back to the pushy nature of one person.
Uraraka Ochako.
The list of Things He Knows About Uraraka has grown.
Uraraka has a round face, she’s gutsy, and she’s even more stubborn than Deku and him combined. Uraraka loves all mochi- no really, all - and she’s actually a pretty damn good cook. While she is anything but fragile, she is a sensitive and empathetic person. She is fiercely competitive, even against her best friends, and will break your ear drums with her war cries. Uraraka loves to push people past their limits, loves to indulge in physical affection, and has a new fear of large bodies of water.
This list could go on, and on, and on.
There’s a lot he doesn’t know, even after all this time. There is one thing he plans on finding out once and for all.
The opportunity presents itself one fateful night when he comes down for a snack at ass o’ clock in the morning because he can’t sleep thanks to Horrific Nightmare Version Five, where everyone but him dies. Easily a least favorite. Bakugou isn’t thinking about anything in particular when he stumbles upon Uraraka, already standing in the kitchen.
“Oh! Hey Bakugou-kun! What’re you doin’ up so late?” She says, pausing. When she fully turns around, he sees she’s whisking some eggs. He almost wants to laugh at the way her hand just- sorta palms the whole fucking bowl.
“Hm. Same thing you are…” Bakugou yawns, scratching the back of his shaved head before he lets his nails drag down his bare chest, idly passing over the huge puckered scar on his clavicle. “Whatcha makin’?”
“Potato croquettes! If you help me, you can have sooome~” She starts bouncing on her toes, the ears of the pink bunny slippers she’s wearing bounce in time with her movement.
How she manages to look cute and badass at the same time is beyond him, but she does. Her long hair is up in a sleep messed bun, a matching fuzzy pink headband pushing her bangs up. An oversized black shirt slides over her shoulder, and her sleep shorts look like they’re falling apart at the seams as they strain against the muscle of her thighs.
His nails continue to scratch their way down to the other large scar close to his hip and he stares, as he is prone to do. If he looked up, Bakugou might’ve caught her looking just as hard as he was.
There are thick stripes running down the outside of her right leg from metal shrapnel a year ago. A series of burns on the inner left. He has a matching set on his back somewhere. Letting his eyes trail up, the latest mark she has makes even him wince a little. A jagged cut that starts at the top of her forehead, down across her right eye. It’s still a harsh red, he notes. Is she even usin’ that fuckin’ cream Mina gave her? Probably not. She don’t really care about that sorta thing anyways.
Uraraka tiptoes over and bumps his hip with hers. Her cheeks, round as ever, are flushed. “You’re staring again,” she teases. “C’mon already!” She pushes a bowl of flour his way. “They just need to be dipped and fried and then we can eat!”
He grunts in affirmation. The whole affair is rather… domestic. A blissful moment of peace and quiet, even with the sizzle of the frying pan. Together, they sit on the couch and eat, not bothering to turn the TV on or anything. They mumble to each other about midterms coming up, or how Aizawa’s new prosthetic cat eye is both hilarious and scary.
It’s relaxing, and Bakugou thinks he is just about ready to call it quits and go back to his room when it happens. Out of nowhere her hand spasms, and she hisses, clamping down on her forearm.
“Cheeks? The fuck was that?”
“It’s- fuck, ow - It’s nothing, I’ll be fine.”
He frowns.
“Tch. The fuck you mean you’ll be fine? You sure as shit don’t sound fine to me.”
“Uhm. Well, you know that landslide simulation last week? I think I might’ve overused this arm or something? I don’t know, my hand just keeps cramping up out of nowhere-”
Bakugou didn’t exactly cut her off, but Uraraka knew what that blank stare and ten degree tilt to his eyebrows meant. She gulped, not ready for the lecture or the remedy. Preferably it’d be the lecture. His remedies were sometimes a little… Intense.
Unfortunately for her, it seemed it would be the remedy. Bakugou stood up, gathering their plates. “C’mon, I got somethin’ that’ll fix that shit.”
She whined. “Of course you do.”
“Your hands are important, shithead!” He huffed, another ten degree tilt to the eyebrows. Oof, she better quit while she’s ahead.
It took having Uraraka in his room, on his bed, waiting patiently as he sifted through the various hand creams and balms on his side table, for him to realize exactly what was going on here. Oh Fuck- It’s gonna fucking happen-
That thing that Bakugou wanted to know so badly?
He wanted to know what it was like to hold her hand.
If Uraraka noticed his brief pause, she didn’t say anything. She just waited expectantly, hands on her knees as she sat cross legged on the end of his bed. It wasn’t a weird thing to want, he thought. These past two years, he just couldn’t shake the bizarre need to have her hand in his and finally know what the hell did those finger beans really look like up close. How did they even feel?
Bakugou’s excuse for not asking outright was that he only recently got over his touch averse nature. It was easier to let people touch him. That first year dealing with Kirishima and the Idiot Squad had somehow broken that barrier down instead of worsening it. For that he was forever grateful.
It was hard to do the touching though. Uraraka and him had discussed it before, once or twice. About how their hands were their weapons. Lethal things, they were.
She had been very touch averse before high school, he found out. The only thing that helped her break the mindset was when she realized she already accounted for never touching household things with all five fingers on the regular. So why would it be any different with people?
He’s getting side tracked.
A hiss of pain from Uraraka spurred him on to fumble some more before he finally found the damn jar he was looking for. Why was he suddenly so nervous? Maybe this is fuckin’ weird. Shit.
No, no it wasn’t weird. She’s in pain and he’s helping her. Who cares that he’s half naked and she’s in short-shorts on his bed in the middle of the night? It’s fine, everything was fine and her careless ass was gonna be thanking him for days to come. Yeah.
Sitting across from her he mirrored her position, and proceeded to make grabby hands at her. Uraraka was trying to stifle a laugh as she watched his brows tilt yet another ten degrees. A perfectionist even with his eyebrows. Bakugou grunted and made grabby hands again. She giggled and finally gave in.
She really didn’t know what was going to happen. She was ready for him to pull some bone breaking chiropractic maneuvers that would make her howl. What she didn’t expect was to suddenly be transported to heaven.
Whatever the cream was, it was tingly and cooling, smelling like eucalyptus oil. That was plenty delightful, but goodness gracious it was the massage that did her in. His fingers were long, like a pianist, but they were thick and covered in a layer of callus from his quirk use. Where the cream was cooling, his touch was naturally warm.
His thumbs pressed into the center of her palm, rubbing small circles, gliding over each muscle in her hand before moving to her wrist. Another dollop of cream, and his touch spread even higher, stroking the muscles of her forearms. Uraraka no longer had bones, she decided, slumping over and closing her eyes in pure relaxation. Bakugou continued his ministrations up to her elbow before repeating them back down to her palm. Over and over again. Oh, she could get used to this.
Breaking his concentration, he was mildly surprised to look up and see Uraraka wasn’t even looking at him anymore. She was damn near asleep, it looked like. “Tch.”
“Oh whatever. Like you don’t know you’re good at this.” She opened one eye and his smirk was as smug as smug could be. Blowing a raspberry at him, she sat back up and took note of the cream he was using. Bakugou, meanwhile, dropped his eyes back down to his task.
It wasn’t groundbreaking, finally getting what he wanted. Nor was it shocking. Regardless, it was like he was in a trance.
Her fingers were actually a bit short in proportion and thicker than he realized. Her hands were more wide than anything. Her callus marks were mostly right at the base of her fingers from gripping things. Watching the tendons pop in her arm, feeling the muscle, her grip strength must’ve been phenomenal.
Some minutes had passed between them. It was easy to fall into comfortable silence with Uraraka and lose track of the ongoings around him.
No longer massaging her hand, Bakugou simply took to tracing the curves and lines. He started stroking from the base of her fingers all the way to the tips, passing over and into those devastating beans that sent his ass sky high on the regular. The sheer amount of damage that was caused with these…
The texture was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was strange, how it seemed to grab at him, but it wasn’t unnerving. They were also more firm than squishy, but still had some give.
Without thinking, he lifted her hand, and pressed it against his own.
Uraraka chuckled, her eyes still half lidded with sleepiness as she smiled. “Comparing hand sizes, eh? Y’know, Tsuyu-chan did the same thing outta nowhere last year.”
He remembered. But he wasn’t about to go saying that to her. Instead, he looked, really comparing. Her hands were broader than his, but his fingers were just a bit longer. They might be the same size, but he’d have to give it to Cheeks. She said it herself, they were some ‘big, broad, workin’ hands’ alright. His own smile turned again to a smirk as he laced their fingers together.
“Well Cheeks, you know what they say about big hands.”
“ Bakugou!” Her chuckle turned into that sudden, boisterous laugh he wanted to hear. “You can’t just say that! Ya big dork.”
He was gonna crack another joke. Maybe say something about how he remembered that day when Tsuyu finally pointed it out. Tell her sleepy ass to go to bed. What he said instead though was-
“Uraraka, can you stay?”
“I- What…?”
“I don’t want to go back to sleep… Normally, I don’t. But I feel like I could, if you were here.” Bakugou held onto her just a bit tighter, then let their hold loosen and fall to the mattress as his voice lowered.
“I don’t feel all fuckin’ wound up when you’re around.” His thumb stroked over her knuckles, back and forth. “I know that it’s probably some sorta stupid ass co-dependency thing… But I don’t feel anxious when you’re around… With you, I just… I’m here. In the present.”
Handholding was insanely fucking deceptive, he decided. Under no circumstances had he ever planned on saying some sappy shit like that to Uraraka. But holding her hand just now turned on some kind of faucet of feelings in him, and he wanted it so badly to overflow in him and run straight to her. Like somehow this link between them could make her understand that he-
He liked her.
Wow. Talk about dense. Bakugou liked Uraraka. Jesus. Was that what this had been all about? This whole obsessive thing with wanting to hold her hand? Why he was just so content with her being near? Doing shit like cooking together and training together and-
Bakugou wasn’t one to blush, but he could feel the back of his neck burning up, his ears were burning too. He must look ridiculous. All angry looking and blushing like some sort of besotted fool. That’s what he was though, a damn fool for not realizing sooner.
He didn’t even confess… Shit, he might as well have.
Very quickly, he resigned himself to a rejection. She wasn’t afraid to turn people down. Witnessing her unintentionally decimate Shinsou’s heart last year proved that. He’d expect nothing less from her. Squash this situation before it gets out of control. They’re heroes in training dammit, they don’t have time for this anyway. Get a grip, now isn’t the time to spiral. Alright, so this is another flaw of yours, get your shit together and take it to your therapist on Tuesday for fuck’s sake-
Without his knowing, she had broken their intimate little handhold. Those big paws of hers gently cupped either side of his face, the smell of eucalyptus flooding his senses. Tilting his face up, Bakugou saw she had risen up to her knees, a worried look washing out the sleepiness that had a hold on her not even a second ago.
Uraraka seemed poised and ready to say something- he was internally begging her to say anything- but her eyes just kept looking into his. Like she was looking for something. She must have found it, whatever it was.
“Y’know,” she started gently, quietly. Like speaking too loudly would break whatever spell she had on him. “I always pride myself on understanding Bakuspeak, but sometimes, I don’t really know what’s goin’ on in that big melon of yours.”
Bakugou didn’t know how to respond to that, nor did he think he was supposed to. He let himself be cradled by her touch, embracing the way her thumbs gently rubbed the apples of his cheeks.
“I wanna help you, Bakugou-kun. You’ve always been there for me… Even if I didn’t know that was what you were doing at the time.” A hint of humor was injected at the end there. Right away, Bakugou knew she meant the Gym Class Incident. Somehow, bringing that moment up didn’t downplay whatever the hell emotional leak was happening right now. It just broke him out of that mental spiral.
“I still stand by my method.”
“You literally could’ve just told me I bled through my pants- We’re eighteen, everyone knows periods are a thing-”
“But then I wouldn’t have had an excuse to blast Deku’s sorry ass-
“You then hung off of me like some sorta freakin’ spider monkey-”
“I was a fuckin’ jet pack, thank you very much- ” Emboldened by Uraraka’s poorly hidden giggles, Bakugou snatched her up by the waist, making her squeal before he made her topple over onto the bed with him.
Cue the most intense tickle fight as they struggled to stay quiet. She played dirty- stabbing her tricky little beans into that space where shoulder meets neck and making him ball up and collapse. Arms out in a victory pose, Uraraka declared herself the champion. His face was smooshed somewhere in her shoulder, grumbling, and he forced his arms back around her waist in a tight embrace.
“Best two out of three, Round Face.” She smacked him on the back.
“I think not- I am the winner! And that means I get to decide the prize.”
“ Tch- I ain’t givin’ you shit.” He burrowed down further, trapping her underneath him.
“Oho? So you won’t give me Baku-Cuddles? The ones that you are currently forcing on me as we speak?” Her arms loosely came up around his shoulders.
“Baku- what? You’re ruinin’ the fuckin’ moment, Cheeks. And I ain’t forcin’ shit, we both know you’d float my ass to space.” Looking up at her, he stuck his tongue out in defiance.
Uraraka snickered. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Under her breath she added. “Well, I mean, ya just might float off anyway, I don’t even have my sleep gloves-”
“Oi, I can hear you- I still have my aids in you little-”
Wait.
“-you’re staying…?”
“Uh, duh.” She slapped his back again, a little softer this time. “I already went pee too, so you better pull those covers up. I know you’re a space heater but I am so cold. Look, look feel-” She proceeded to rub her stubbly leg hair against him. He batted her leg away, unable to stop the ugly snort of laughter coming out of him.
“You fuckin’ weirdo. Can’t just assure me that you like me even a little bit, gotta be a fuckin’ funnyman-” Bakugou had already started pulling the covers over them, reaching over to turn out the light too while he was just teasing her.
In the safety of the dark, she waited for him to settle back into her arms. That comfortable silence back between the two of them. It was so easy now, to get through these sorts of talks with her. Back then, he’d just puff up while she’d poke and jab. Being able to joke around and just be… It was nice. Bakugou decided then, it didn’t really matter if his feelings were returned or not. He was just grateful to have her in his life.
Those hands of hers, all big and powerful, stroked over his back and through his short hair, bathing him in a soothing, gentle touch. The tension drained from his body, leaving him slack as they lay together.
He still wasn't able to fall asleep. Turns out, you need more than gentle touches and inside jokes to relax enough to process horrific nightmares and anxiety. But it was enough to relax and just breathe.
Uraraka must have thought he was asleep though. There was no way she meant for him to hear it otherwise. And he probably wouldn’t have, had he remembered to take out his aids before they turned the lights off.
“...I do like you, Katsuki… I like you so much it hurts sometimes.”
If he felt a gentle press of lips on his cheek? Well, that was just between him and the dark. And if she felt a kiss pressed into her shoulder…
There were many things Bakugou knew about Uraraka.
She had round, pink cheeks that always lit up with a smile, no matter how dire the situation. She was scared of the future, but promised each and every one of them she’d give them hell for that Number One spot. Uraraka was kind and thoughtful, and pushed everyone to succeed and be their best selves. She was gutsy and took what she wanted, it was all or nothing for her. Uraraka was stubborn as an ox, and would stand her ground, no matter if she was embarrassed or frightened.
He knew these things and more. So when he saw the light turn on behind closed eyes, he couldn’t help but let his heart soar.