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Aizawa stared at the pair of heroes in training with wearied eyes.
“So—you’re telling me that that you engaged in combat without determining the assailant's quirk, tried to throw your classmate at the villain–”
“She asked me to!” Bakugou yelled.
“I thought–” Ochako protested, but Aizawa silenced them with a look.
“You’ve been in the hero course for over a year," he said. "Mistakes like this are unacceptable. I should have known it would be like this when Nedzu asked me to move up with your class.”
“He did?” Ochako asked.
Aizawa glared at her. “Something about making sure the class stuck together after all the horrible events of your first year.”
“We’re sticking together all right,” Bakugou muttered and held up the hand wrapped around hers, unable to let go.
“You’re lucky pros got to the scene before you ended up in a worse state,” Aizawa said and shuffled through some papers at his desk. “Villain said his quirk should wear off about twelve hours from application. Your parents have been notified. We’ve set up some sleeping bags in an empty office until you can separate again.”
“I can’t write or cook or eat!” Bakugou shouted. “I’m right-handed!”
“You’ll have to get someone to help you.”
“I don’t need anyone’s shitty help.”
“Right,” Aizawa deadpanned. “Figure out what you need to do. I’m tired. If anything changes for the worse, go see Recovery Girl.”
“Thank you,” Ochako said, then bowed.
“Thanks for nothing,” Bakugou said through gritted teeth. He yanked on Ochako’s arm and pulled her towards the door. “You. Rules. Now.”
Aizawa had already zipped up his sleeping bag, so there was no one to help her as Bakugou dragged her out of his office.
“Hey, you have longer legs! Please slow down!”
Bakugou turned around and pinned their glued hands to the wall. Ochako shrank into herself as his shadow engulfed her.
“What are the rules?” she asked in a small voice.
“Don’t make a big deal out of this, we have to agree on where we go and what we do, and only go to the bathroom if absolutely necessary.”
“I don’t tend to go to the bathroom for fun.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Also, it seems like you’re the one making a big deal out of this.”
Bakugou’s nostrils flared. “You’ve got a lot of sass for someone that has to spend a lot of extra time with me.”
“Figure that’s the only way to survive,” Ochako said, half-joking. Bakugou wasn’t amused. A nervous chuckle escaped her throat, but she forced herself to keep talking. “At least there’s one positive thing.”
“What the hell could be positive about this?”
“I’m right-handed too, so we’ve got one dominant hand between the two of us.”
Bakugou glanced down at her right hand and exhaled in frustration.
“Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered and pulled her off the wall.
They expected their entrance into the common area to spur many questions and had mentally prepared themselves for the worst, but they hadn’t expected the utter chaos that would ensue when they were seen holding hands.
“AHH!” Ashido screamed. She quickly pulled Hagakure into a hug and squealed as she jumped up and down, her giddiness infectious as Hagakure joined in her excitement.
“Finally,” Todoroki said as he sipped tea at one of the tables. Midoriya nudged him and smiled widely at the pair.
“So you ended up–” Kirishima started.
“STOP TALKING!” Bakugou shouted at the top of his lungs. Everyone who hadn’t been paying attention turned toward the outburst. The rest of the class joined in on dishing out encouragements and congratulations. Most were sincere, but some of Bakugou’s closest friends included jeers and wolf-whistles. “I SAID SHUT UP!”
Bakugou’s verbal explosions were nothing new to their classmates, but they lowered their voices anyway as they quietly chattered amongst themselves until Ochako spoke up. “Um, this’ll only last tonight, so don’t worry! He’s not holding me against my will or anything.”
She raised their clasped hands up and shook them slightly. The silence was instantaneous.
“Oh—it’s a quirk application?” Sero asked.
“Yep,” Ochako said, “and the villain was caught, so no one else will get stuck like us.”
“Stuck?” Yaomomo asked, her eyes wide with rare bewilderment.
“Oh,” Kirishima said, unable to mask his disappointment.
“That sucks. I can’t imagine going one night without jack–” Mineta’s voice cut off as Tsu slapped him with her tongue.
“Don’t be gross,” she said with a frown. Bakugou stood rigid next to Ochako, his face contorted with rage.
“So act like everything is normal. Please,” Ochako added, her face gradually warming as she realized everyone was staring at her or the hand that was connected to Bakugou.
“Everything is not normal,” Ashido said intensely, not bothering to mask her glee.
“Leave it alone, Raccoon-Eyes,” Bakugou snapped. “This’ll be over before you idiots know it.”
Kaminari groaned. “You can’t expect us to say nothing.”
“Oh, leave them alone," Jirou said. "It’s not like they want to be holding hands."
“You don’t, right?” Hagakure asked skeptically.
“No!” Ochako and Bakugou shouted simultaneously.
“I’m done here,” Bakugou declared. He headed toward the elevators, forcing Ochako to trail behind him.
“Okay, bye everyone!” Ochako said, waving until the doors closed, leaving them alone.
“That went worse than expected,” Bakugou muttered.
Ochako uttered an awkward laugh, scratching the back of her neck. “Haha, yeah, they were kind of relentless. I wonder what Todoroki meant.”
“Don’t listen to that idiot. He has this delusion that we should be better friends.”
“Why is that a delusion?” Ochako asked as the doors opened to Bakugou’s floor.
“Because it’s stupid. We’re already friends.”
“We are?” Her tone betrayed her surprise as he led her toward his room.
“Of course we are! Idiot,” Bakugou mumbled, then opened his door with his left hand.
“Oh, I just kinda figured we were, like, class acquaintances.”
Ochako's eyes widened upon seeing Bakugou’s room. She’d never seen it before. Part of her had expected a dungeon of skulls, fire, and grenades. The other part expected a training dojo with All-Might posters plastered to the walls.
Instead, it was normal. It could've been anyone's room. When she inspected the simple décor, she found only one skull and All-Might collectible in sight.
“I walked with you to go to that music store that Ears suggested,” Bakugou said.
“Yeah, but that was a coincidence.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes as he packed some essentials for sleeping downstairs. He paused right before shoving a black tank top inside his bag.
“Shit.”
“What's wrong?”
“We’re gonna have to sleep in our shirts. I’ll only pack sleep pants then.”
“Oh—OH!” Ochako froze and pulled Bakugou to a stop when he tried to move to his dresser. “Problem.”
“What now?”
“I will need help with something.” With every syllable, the heat in her cheeks burned with more fiery chagrin. She tapered off and averted her gaze to the floor.
When she didn’t elaborate, Bakugou exhaled a sharp sigh and tugged on their locked hands. “Spit it out.”
“My bra.”
Bakugou turned to look at her with an expression she’d never seen on him. Was he nervous? “Can’t you sleep in it?!”
“I mean, probably, but I’m wearing a wired one today.” Even now, Ochako could feel the way it dug into her chest. “They hurt after a while.”
“Why would you wear something that hurts?”
She shrugged. “It looks better.”
“You style your boobs?” Bakugou asked, perplexed.
“No! With different shirts and dresses you have to wear a wire.”
He stared at her in silence, baffled at the complexities of women’s fashion. After a moment, he shook his head. “Fine. We’ll deal with it later. Your room next.”
Bakugou struggled to zip his backpack and cursed. “Grab the backpack and hold it,” he instructed. “Move your hand next to mine so we can hold it still.”
Even with her help, it took a minute to get it fully zipped, struggling through the tangle of arms and fingers
“This is going to be a nightmare,” Bakugou said, exasperated.
After they went to Ochako’s room and packed her overnight bag, they tried to complete some homework in the common room.
It went badly as soon as they started. Ochako tried to stick to herself, so Bakugou wouldn't feel compelled to help her with the subject matter, but he couldn’t write any of his answers down.
“I don’t want to copy your work,” Ochako said.
“Uraraka,” Bakugou said in a hushed voice. He put his head in his free hand and puffed out an annoyed sigh. “It’s not copying if we work together.”
“I’m not gonna give any reason for Aizawa to mark us down.”
“Fine!” Bakugou angrily grabbed a pencil and tried his best to write with his left hand. He couldn’t contain his disdain towards his handwriting and muttered curses and insults at the penmanship until Ochako called it.
“This isn’t worth it,” Ochako said, pushing away her work and turning to him. Bakugou fumed next to her. “Let’s make dinner. I’m hungry.”
“Whatever.”
Bakugou got up and dragged Ochako to the kitchen, where they found Kaminari rummaging through the fridge.
“Whatcha gonna make?” Kaminari asked with his head propped in his hands, leaning his elbows on the counter.
“None of your business, Sparky,” Bakugou muttered, taciturn as ever.
“We’re cooking up some frozen prawns, and then grilling edamame,” Ochako told Kaminari. Bakugou glared at her. “Things we can eat with our fingers. Ooh, I wonder if we have any eggplant.”
“We do!” Kaminari said and grabbed some from the fridge for her. He glanced behind Ochako and scoffed at whatever expression Bakugou wore. “Calm down, Bakubro. I couldn’t steal your girl if I tried right now.” Kaminari winked, then danced out of reach and ran out of the room, cackling. Bakugou shouted in anger and started to chase after him until he remembered he was stuck with Ochako.
“Why is everyone teasing you about this?” Ochako peered over Bakugou’s shoulder and watched as Kaminari vanished.
“They always tease me about shit. It’s no different than usual,” Bakugou answered roughly and started dropping prawns into the wok.
Ochako wasn’t sure she believed him. They’d been training together for a few months now, and she knew how his friends usually acted around him. If Ochako was being honest with herself, she kind of hoped there was some truth to their teasing. After all, Bakugou was strong, determined, funny, tough, brave; those were traits she admired. Bakugou’s physical appearance was nice too.
The problem was that Ochako had no idea what Bakugou thought of her except that she was gutsy, which didn’t exactly scream attraction.
“Will you place your hand here so I can cut the eggplant?” Ochako asked him. They moved their hands together to get the job done. “So, it’s not because you like me or anything? Everyone was really excited when we walked in holding hands.”
Ochako looked up to see Bakugou wide-eyed and frozen in place. Whatever Bakugou was thinking was interrupted by Kaminari popping his head around the door.
“Holy shit, are you confessing? Is it happening? The moment we’ve all been waiting for?” he asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Shut your damn mouth, or I’ll blast you,” Bakugou threatened. Kaminari nodded quickly and ran away again.
Bakugou looked down at Ochako and frowned. Ochako grinned back at him, then bit her lip as she watched the tips of his ears turn pink. They were both painfully aware that literally all of their classmates in the common area were staring at them.
“Um, nevermind,” Ochako said and went back to cutting. “Forget I said anything.”
Cooking took a lot of effort on both their parts, but it was worth it for Bakugou to be able to feed himself without complaint.
“You’d think they’d get tired of looking at us,” Ochako whispered as she watched Sero and Kaminari hurriedly look away when she caught their eye.
Bakugou clicked his tongue. “Hurry up, so we can get out of here.”
“You don’t want to watch something?”
“I’d literally rather stare at a wall if it means getting away from these creeps.”
Ochako finished the remaining morsels on her plate. They tried to discreetly exit the dorms which was a pipe dream since they were the center of attention.
“Wrap it up!” Mineta shouted, leering as they headed out. Outcries of disgust and anger burst from their classmates.
“Have fun!” Ashido waved through the chaos as Iida lectured Mineta.
They were silent as they walked hand in hand to the school. The few times Ochako dared to look up at Bakugou, he kept his eyes facing forward. An unsettling feeling of awkwardness spread throughout Ochako’s body. It was beginning to dawn on her that she would be alone with Bakugou after everyone had teased them about getting together.
The school’s hallways were partially lit when Bakugou and Ochako entered. Aizawa waited for them near the locker rooms and yawned when they approached.
“Hurry up. I wanted to be asleep an hour ago,” he said.
Ochako pulled Bakugou towards the girls locker room out of habit, but he stood his ground.
“Why do we have to go in there?" Bakugou asked. "The boys one is fine!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Aizawa drawled. “Both are empty.”
“If you’d feel more comfortable in the boys locker room, we can go there,” Ochako said.
Bakugou looked between the two doors and led Ochako to the girls locker room. They set their bags on the bathroom counter, and Bakugou turned his head away from her. The tension between them was taut.
“So,” Bakugou said quietly.
“So,” Ochako mirrored.
“I need to change.”
“Oh, right. Yes. Go ahead.” Ochako closed her eyes and listened to Bakugou change out of his pants. After cursing a couple times, Bakugou shook their conjoined hands.
“I’m going to learn how to be ambidextrous after this,” Bakugou muttered as Ochako opened her eyes.
“You can do that?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to.”
Ochako gulped. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Bakugou wouldn’t meet her eye, and anxiety pulsed through her veins.
“Let’s brush our teeth,” Ochako suggested. Anything to keep herself busy and shift her focus off how Bakugou’s hand felt in hers.
“Aren’t you going to change?” Bakugou asked.
Ochako’s face felt hot. “Um–”
She could survive a night sleeping in her regular clothes. It wouldn’t kill her even if the bra was uncomfortable. She’d already made things awkward between them.
“I’ll be okay,” Ochako answered.
Bakugou finally made eye contact with her, and his brows furrowed. “If you need it off, I’ll do it,” he said.
“It’s only a night.”
“This is already shitty, Uraraka. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”
Ochako would sleep much better with it off. Bakugou wouldn’t see anything, and he was offering.
“Fine,” she finally said. She pulled on the collar of her shirt to expose her left shoulder. “You hold it down and I’ll unhook the strap.”
One strap down.
“Okay, next one.”
Both straps down.
“I’m gonna need you to unhook the back,” she whispered. “I can hold it in place.”
Ochako twisted her right arm back to find the hooks.
“Move your arm so I can get a better angle,” Bakugou said. Ochako moved her left arm so their hands laid on her shoulder. “There’s five? And they’re miniscule!”
“You know what, I could probably just wiggle out of it at this point,” Ochako rushed, tugging on Bakugou’s hand. Bakugou pulled back.
“It’s fine! Hold still.”
Bakugou touched her back, and Ochako flinched. “What did I say?” he scolded.
“I’m sorry! It was a reflex!”
“What? Are you touch-starved or something? You asked me to do this!”
“I said I’d be okay! You were the one who was pushy about it.” Ochako paused for a moment, debating if she should say what was on her mind. She’d dug herself this far into the hole of whatever was going on between her and Bakugou; she might as well finish the job. “If anyone’s touch-starved, it might be the person who hates to have anyone come close to them.”
“Tch, obviously not you.”
Ochako went numb. She felt one of her bra hooks snap apart.
“What?” Ochako squeaked.
“We’re holding hands right now,” Bakugou reminded her.
Ochako exhaled in relief but tensed as she felt two more hooks release. “That doesn’t count. This is forced.”
“If I had my right hand, I wouldn’t hate it,” Bakugou admitted. “Does that answer your question from earlier?”
Ochako felt weak. Her heart raced in her chest. She anxiously chuckled as Bakugou undid another hook.
“Maybe,” Ochako answered. “I’m not opposed to you elaborating.”
Bakugou pulled on their fused hands and spun Ochako so she fell against his torso. He finished taking her bra off without breaking eye contact and let it fall to the ground. It was a smooth move but Ochako knew he was nervous. He couldn’t wipe the sweat from his palm to hide it from her.
“I’m not much of a talker,” Bakugou said.
“We don’t have to talk.”
The blush from his ears spread to his face, and he looked away from her.
“I meant we can just be next to each other,” Ochako clarified. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” She tentatively placed her free hand on his chest and felt the shallowness of his breath. “Let’s finish this and go to bed, okay?”
They brushed their teeth, casting glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Ochako had an easier time washing her face than Bakugou, who cursed every time the water splashed onto the counter instead of his face. She debated helping him, but Bakugou would probably hate her for even suggesting it.
When Bakugou finished drying off his face, he looked toward the bathroom stalls.
“I don’t want to do this,” Ochako mumbled.
“We don’t exactly have a choice.”
“We could hold it until morning?”
Bakugou shook his head. Ochako whimpered in premature embarrassment.
It wasn’t that bad. They closed the stall door as much as they could and looked in the other direction as an extra precaution. Ochako added an extra step and actively thought of her favorite shojo manga to distract from the sounds.
They didn’t speak as Aizawa led them to the empty office they’d be sleeping in. After Aizawa left, Ochako had to break the silence or she’d go crazy. “Do you want to lie down?” she asked, and Bakugou nodded. Ochako led him to the lights and switched them off. “Will you put my mitten on me? I don’t think you want to wake up on the ceiling.”
Bakugou found her mitten in her bag and gently placed it on her right hand.
“It’s a good thing a couple of my pads didn’t touch you,” Ochako said. They both looked at their conjoined hands, and Bakugou exhaled.
“I was going to do it today,” he said quietly.
“Do what?” she asked.
“I was going to ask you out at the music store.”
“Really?” Ochako’s heart felt light. “Why there?”
“It seemed like as good a place as any and we’d be alone.”
“We’re alone right now.”
“I’m aware.”
Ochako squeezed Bakugou’s hand and he held her gaze for a moment before looking down at the ground. “I’m gonna mess this up,” he said.
“Why do you think that?” Ochako asked earnestly. Bakugou shook his head and glanced at their sleeping bags. At his hesitation, she dropped the subject. “That’s okay. Let’s go to bed.”
They unrolled their sleeping bags and laid on their affected sides, facing each other. The cold cement floor underneath them provided no comfort, and Ochako shifted in her bedding. “I don’t think I’m gonna sleep much.”
“Sleep on top of it,” Bakugou suggested. “More cushion.”
“I’ll get cold.”
Bakugou’s brow furrowed, and Ochako felt his palm sweat. He grimaced and tried to pull his hand away from her, but it stayed put. Ochako squeezed his hand, and Bakugou’s eyes snapped to her.
“I don’t mind it,” Ochako whispered. “As long as you don’t try to explode us apart.”
Bakugou relaxed and flipped to his back. “You could come over here,” he said.
Ochako pushed herself up. “Like snuggle?”
“Like snuggle,” Bakugou confirmed, though he didn’t sound pleased. Ochako hesitantly looked down at the space between them. “What?”
“We’re going to sleep next to each other,” Ochako realized.
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “We were already going to do that.” He held up their hands and waved them in her face.
“Sure but" —Ochako stopped and looked to the side— “I’m nervous.”
Bakugou sat up and, for a moment, Ochako would have described him as vulnerable. “So am I,” he said. “But I want to be closer than holding hands—if you want to.”
Ochako’s pulse pounded in her ears. She tentatively closed the distance between them, and Bakugou wrapped his right arm around her, forcing their hands in an awkward position against Ochako’s chest. It was still a little uncomfortable, but it was better than before.
“Is this okay?” Bakugou asked.
“Mhm,” Ochako hummed. Wrapped in his warmth, Ochako couldn’t help but breathe Bakugou in. He smelled like someone had mixed syrup with gasoline and then set it on fire. It reminded her of summers at work with her father where she’d eat treats and watch the equipment move around.
“I move a lot in my sleep,” Ochako blurted out, sparked by the memory.
“It doesn’t matter,” Bakugou said sleepily. “I sleep hard.”
“Really?”
“Except if I smell fire.”
Ochako giggled until she remembered how real of a possibility that was for him. She must have had a physical reaction to that thought because Bakugou hugged her tighter to his body.
“So, about what you were going to do at the music store,” Ochako prompted. Bakugou sighed. “I’m sorry. We’re both tired. I wasn't thinking. Goodnight.”
Ochako wished she could hide but she was stuck. Even if their hands weren’t fused together, Ochako didn’t know if she could escape from his embrace.
“First thing when we wake up," he promised after a long pause and a deep breath.
“Okay.”
“Night.”
She stayed awake for a while, listening to Bakugou’s breathing slow. The arm pinned to the floor began to tingle, and Ochako risked a wiggle to get comfortable. Her new angle provided the perfect view of his face.
Ochako liked Awake Bakugou but Asleep Bakugou bewitched her. The usual irritation and power that radiated off him had vanished. Ochako always pictured him scowling in his sleep, his hands tensed, ready to blast someone at a moment’s notice. In reality, his face was soft, and his body relaxed completely. She couldn’t stop staring at him. Bakugou was the last thing she saw before her eyelids grew too heavy.
The next morning, Ochako woke up lying on top of Bakugou. The side of her face squished into his chest, and both of her arms fell to his side. With every breath, Ochako groggily recalled more and more of what had transpired the night before.
“Awake yet?” Bakugou whispered in a low voice. Ochako lifted her head and gave him an awkward smile.
“Heh, sorry.” The moment Ochako tried to roll off, an arm she hadn’t realized was draped across her back held her tight to him.
“Don’t,” he said, stroking the left side of her face. This was a side of Bakugou that Ochako didn’t know existed. It was tender and hesitant. Ochako almost didn’t recognize him like this, calm and content. Ochako leaned into his palm, smiling sweetly at the affection until she realized what side of her face he cradled.
“We’re free!” Ochako exclaimed. She lifted her left hand and fluttered her fingers happily. “Look!”
Bakugou smirked and tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear. “Trust me,” he said, tilting his head as he gazed upon Ochako. “I’ve been looking.”
Ochako blushed and covered her face with her hands. “What time is it?” she asked, her voice muffled.
“We’ve got time,” he answered, gently tugging on her wrists, and Ochako pouted. “I want to see you when I ask you on a date.”
Ochako bit her lip and giggled nervously. “Even after the weirdness of last night?” she asked.
Bakugou nodded and intertwined his fingers through hers. “Proved that I can stand to be stuck with you.”
Ochako gulped and let out a shaky breath. This was really happening.
“Okay, ask me,” she said.
Bakugou grinned softly. “Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
“Tonight?” Ochako asked in surprise.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s just—it’s a school night.”
Bakugou raised his eyebrows at her.
“And that’s totally fine,” Ochako added, remembering who she was talking to. “Because you go to bed before anyone else.”
“Sleep is important. Is that a yes?”
“It’s a date,” Ochako confirmed with a smile. Bakugou grinned, rolled to his side, and hugged her tighter. “Oh, okay.”
Ochako could get used to this side of Bakugou.
Four rapid knocks rapped on the door, and Bakugou immediately let her go. He sat up and pushed their sleeping bags further apart. By the time Aizawa opened the door, Bakugou and Ochako had busied themselves with packing up their things.
“Good, the quirk dissipated,” Aizawa said. “Time to go. I want to catch a nap before school starts.”
They hurried out of the classroom, still dressed in their pajamas and fell in line behind Aizawa as he escorted them back to the dorms.
“I don’t care how you slept,” Aizawa continued. “I expect you both to show up in class as if nothing had happened.”
“Yes, sir,” Bakugou and Ochako answered simultaneously. In the next step, Bakugou casually reached over and grabbed the tips of a couple of her fingers. Ochako’s breath caught in surprise and Bakugou let go when Aizawa glanced back at her.
“Everything okay?” Aizawa asked with muted curiosity. Ochako nodded quickly, and Aizawa left it alone. She dared to glance in Bakugou's direction, but he didn't acknowledge her.
When they were greeted by the cool morning, Ochako tempted fate and cautiously reached for Bakugou’s fingers as they left the school. He kept his face expressionless and his eyes facing forward as she wrapped a couple of fingers around his pinky. Bakugou glanced at Aizawa before adding more of his fingers to her grasp. The tiniest of smiles tugged at one of the corners of his lips, and Ochako almost melted. Instead, she tried to contain her own smile that was threatening to break open.
They had a couple minutes of silence and secrecy left before they would need to part for the day. Ochako almost wondered if it would feel the same once they went back to reality. Bakugou gently tapped her fingers, and Ochako looked up at him.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Last chance to get rid of me. If we go on that date, I’m not gonna let go.”
Ochako grabbed the rest of his hand, and Bakugou quickly glanced at Aizawa who didn’t appear to notice or care about them.
“Promise?” Ochako whispered with a wink. Bakugou’s hold on her became a vice grip. He gave her a smug look and waved his right hand in front of them. Without words, it was clear. Now that he had his dominant hand back, there was no reason to let go.