Work Text:
Katsuki sat in his office in the middle of December as snowflakes fell outside his window. He needed to finish up this report before the snow got too bad but the sounds of screaming, happy children kept distracting him.
His work phone rang and he scowled at the receiver. Without looking at the caller I.D, he picked it up, hating whoever was calling for adding to his lack of focus.
"What?" Katsuki snapped.
"Come outside with me," Uraraka said sweetly on the other end.
"Don't you have work to do?"
"I finished ages ago. I'm helping the sidekicks so they can leave early."
Katsuki rolled his eyes. When he took her on as a freelance hero at his agency due to her extensive traveling, he didn't expect her to be so helpful. Everyone was starting to like her more than him. Katsuki was slightly bitter. It was his agency after all.
"How come you never help me leave early?" Katsuki asked.
Uraraka laughed. "I used to offer help! You always said you didn't need or want it. I wasn't busy after work and it's snowing outside. People want to go home to their families."
Another twinge of bitterness stirred inside Katsuki. He didn't have anyone to go home to, unless you counted crashing at his parent's house for the holidays which he was decidedly against.
"How about I finish here, help you, then you come outside with me?" Uraraka bargained. "I want to show you something."
Katsuki hesitated. He really didn't want to get caught in a snowstorm but he also didn't want to owe her any more than he already did. After a unwilling 'tch', he sighed, knowing that it would be better to get out before the snowfall hindered him from flying. "Fine. Hurry up."
Within twenty minutes, Uraraka was sitting in a chair next to him, jotting down notes in the case file as Katsuki worked on the computer.
"I'm surprised you haven't put earplugs in," Uraraka said after a while. It was getting dark but they could still hear the kids playing outside. Katsuki shrugged. He wouldn't admit it to her but it had been easier to focus on work with Uraraka's assistance.
"I'm done with what you gave me. Are you close?" Uraraka asked, closing the file and setting her notes on top.
"Almost...thanks."
"Mhm. It was the snow, wasn't it?" Katsuki raised an eyebrow at her. "That lead you to accepting my help."
"I hate the stuff and don't want to deal with it at night."
"Oh," Uraraka said, standing up. "Yeah, that makes sense." Katsuki glanced at her and she shook her head. "I just had it in my head that you were like the sidekicks. Wanting to get home to the people you love or play in it."
"Play in it? I'm not a child."
Uraraka crossed her arms. "Every age can play in the snow," she said firmly, as if it were the most factual statement she'd ever uttered. Katsuki let out a single bark of laughter.
"I'm not gonna play in the fucking snow." Katsuki turned to face her and crossed his arms to match her. "Is that what you wanted to show me? How to make a snow angel or something? Well, I'm no angel, Cheeks."
Uraraka dropped her arms, unable to hide the slight hurt from her expression. "Just meet me outside," she said. "And bundle up. It's cold."
"Obviously," Katsuki muttered as she left his office. The door clicked shut and he held his head in his hands for a moment before he stood up and kicked his chair in frustration. "Why do you do that? No wonder you're fucking alone."
He changed out of his hero suit and met Uraraka in the lobby.
"This'll be quick," she said and led him outside. It was dark but the streetlights around them illuminated the snow on the ground and in the sky. It was a perfect winter scene. Uraraka smiled softly at the path of little footprints in the snow that covered the sidewalk and ground outside the agency. "This way. I noticed it when I got back from my patrol."
"Speaking of which, you should really get a new winter suit. It's below freezing out this time of year."
Uraraka rolled her eyes and kept walking. "I'm fine, thank you."
Katsuki shoved his hands in his pockets and chewed on his lip for a second as he thought of how to not be an asshole. "The agency could pay for it," Katsuki offered. Uraraka eyed him and smirked.
"Is that your way of apologizing?" she asked. "Bribery?"
"Your suit is shit in the cold. You're contracted under me. It'd look bad if you freezed to death."
"You do care," Uraraka said mockingly. She stopped and pointed to a snowman underneath a tree. "It reminds me of you."
The snowman in question was crossing its stick-arms and stones had been placed to make it look like it was frowning and angry.
"You're hilarious," Katsuki deadpanned. Uraraka grinned and let out a breathy laugh.
"Seems like you've made an impression on the local kids." Katsuki stared at the snowman, glanced at her, and crossed his arms. "The resemblance is uncanny," Uraraka told him. She shivered and rubbed her mittens together. "Anyway, I thought it was cute. I hope you have a good night." She started to walk away but Katsuki stopped her.
"Here," he said as he took off his scarf. "I know you walk home."
Uraraka's eyes widened in shock. She stepped back and shook her head. "That's okay. I wouldn't want you to be cold." Katsuki would have labeled her behavior 'flustered' if he didn't know her better. She didn't want to owe him anything.
"I'll be fine. Take it...please."
Uraraka hesitantly reached out for it and slowly wrapped it around her neck.
"It suits you better anyway," Katsuki said. Uraraka's face was pink but he attributed it to the cold.
"Thank you," she whispered shyly. "I better get going. Gotta make dinner. I'll bring it back once the weather lets up."
"Don't worry about it."
She gave him a quick, grateful wave before turning on her heel and walking down the same path the kids must have taken. Katsuki tapped his foot anxiously and grit his teeth.
"Let me buy you dinner," he shouted, running to close the distance between them. He clumsily slid in front of her and rushed an excuse for making a fool of himself. "You've done a lot for the agency and you put up with me."
Uraraka bit her lip, then moved the scarf over her mouth as she seemed to weigh her options. Katsuki internally grimaced at his own stupidity. Could he be any less smooth? If she declined, he wouldn't blame her. Even so, it did a number to Katsuki's confidence that it took a minute for her to decide.
Her eyes were wide with some emotion Katsuki couldn't place. That made him nervous. He really didn't want a talk from Human Resources for asking a co-worker out for dinner. It was just dinner. It should be allowed, right? Fuck, he should have thought this through.
"Okay but is that the real reason?" she asked, slowly moving the scarf back down to her neck. Katsuki swallowed the panic and kept his expression in check. Of course she had seen right through him; she always had since the first time they met.
"It's...a reason."
"You keep staying later and later at the agency."
"So?" Katsuki asked. He didn't know why she would bring that up again. Being in the top ten meant you couldn't slack off.
Uraraka closed the distance between them and he involuntary gulped. For someone so tiny, she sure made him feel small.
"Call me an idiot if you'd like but I actually care about you," she said in a soft voice. "I've known you for almost a decade and I can tell when you're not okay. If you want company, you only have to ask. I'm your friend."
How was Katsuki supposed to respond to that?
"Fuck, Uraraka, I just offered to buy you dinner," Katsuki said reflexively. Uraraka's brow furrowed and Katsuki wanted to punch himself. He definitely shouldn't have responded like that.
"Right," she said sarcastically. "You offer to buy all your employees dinner for a job well done." Katsuki scowled down at her and Uraraka snorted with laughter. "I'm sorry, it's kinda hard to take you seriously with your doppelganger next to you."
Katsuki bent down, formed a snowball in his gloves, and smashed it into her jacket, all the while keeping intense eye contact with her. Uraraka gasped in surprise.
"I thought you were a snow curmudgeon!"
"You were laughing at me," Katsuki said. Uraraka patted his arm and let out a whisper of a giggle.
"You're gonna have to get used to that," she said. Katsuki forced himself to focus on the snow falling on her face rather than the feeling of her touch. Her eyes flickered over his face and onto his newly exposed neck. He watched her breath slowly leave her lips and her hair fill with snowflakes. She looked like a cherub with her round, pink cheeks contrasting the snow behind her beautifully.
"Sometimes I think you're as cold as that snowman, Bakugou. What are you thinking?" she asked in a soft, pleading tone.
"I'm thinking about what I want to eat," he lied. Uraraka looked away and sighed.
"I'm not picky," she said, dropping her hand from him. "As long as it's warm."
Katsuki mentally cursed at himself. "I'm sorry," he blurted out. "That-that wasn't true."
Uraraka blinked a few times as she processed the sudden change in his behavior. Katsuki grimaced like the words had physically pained him.
"You lied to me. That wasn't nice," she said.
"I'm not nice. Cold as ice like you said."
"That rhymed," Uraraka said happily.
"Kind of." Katsuki closed his eyes and hesitated before saying his next words. Hopefully he picked the right ones. "I was thinking...of how...you looked like a snow angel."
Uraraka squeaked in shyness, then covered her face with her gloved hands but it couldn't hide the wide smile that slowly spread across her face.
"That was so cheesy," Uraraka said, then giggled as she dropped her hands. "But that was good."
"Yeah?" he asked nervously.
"I doubted if you'd say anything at all and that got me. I'm impressed." Katsuki's heart felt light for the first time in a while as Uraraka kept smiling at him. "Now, I love that you're warming up to me, but maybe we can continue this conversation over a nice, hot bowl of ramen? Indoors?"
Katsuki nodded. "Let's get out of this shitty weather."
They left the agency grounds close to each other, the sound of crunching snow underneath their shoes filling the new silence. He didn't mind it but he felt like he should be good company.
"I should bring out a spare mask and stick some of my old hair pieces in that thing," Katsuki thought out loud. "Make a kid's day when they come to make a ruckus outside my office again."
"That's a very good idea," Uraraka said. "Whoever says Dynamight doesn't care is an idiot. There's only one problem with it."
"What?"
"How will we be able to tell you apart?" Uraraka asked. "I could accidentally kiss a snowman if I'm not careful."
Katsuki's feet instantly froze to the ground. She wanted to kiss him?
Uraraka turned to give him a quizzical look after she moved forward alone a few steps.
"Wait, what?" Katsuki asked, unable to think of anything else to say. He had to make sure he hadn't misheard.
"I'm kidding," Uraraka said in faux defense, then kept walking. "The hair gives it away."
"I'm sure they can find a wig somewhere," Katsuki joked, his heard pounding in his chest. The very idea of Uraraka kissing him scared and excited him. She let out a short laugh and gestured at him to catch up. He jogged to her side and realized that no matter what happened after tonight's dinner, he wasn't as alone as he thought. Maybe there was something nice about snow after all.