Work Text:
Ochako stopped up for a quick moment in front of the grocery store she just walked out of, placing the bag of groceries in between her legs to make sure her things were secure from falling.
She lifted and bent her right foot so her pink heel could slip off slightly, and gently massaged the red area that had formed on the heel of her skin. “Damn it, these heels are a pain,” she mumbled. Sighing in slight annoyance as she put her foot back on the ground, shoving her heel back into her shoe.
A small groan brummed in her throat when she saw that the fold she had done to her leg sleeve had unfolded and the end of her pink top had slipped out of her high waisted white pants just a bit.
She pulled at the waist, shoving her top back into her pants with her hand, slitting her palm against her stomach.
She bent down and folded the edge so it mirrored her right leg. Good thing she spotted that or she would definitely make holes into the backside of them and probably tripped.
She nodded in satisfaction.
Taking a hold of her small brown purse hanging from her shoulder and zipped it open, fishing out her phone and earphones. It took her a minute to untangle the wired mess but mumbled a low ”yes!” In satisfaction when her earphones were free from any kind of knot.
She opened up her phone and connected her earphones to it and put them in her ears. Afterwards she went on Spotify and clicked on one of her playlists filled with songs she knew had slow and relaxing rhythms to them for a quiet walk home.
It had gotten quite late by the time she left her friend's apartment. Mina had told her she was fine with Ochako just crashing at her place for the night since they lived almost an hour away from each other, just like they, as well as the rest of the girls used to do at their old high school dorms back when they were still students at U.A High. As fun as that sounded and as much as Ochako just wanted to agree, she really couldn’t. She had school the day after tomorrow, an unfinished assignment back at her apartment chilling at her desk and an empty fridge she had to fill up enough to at least make herself some breakfast and lunch for tomorrow.
The story would have been a slight bit different if her homework was math or physics, because that kind of stuff she could wrap her brain around (and most likely would have finished it up by now), just not english. There she was a lost cause and have been since
high school.
Ochako was just satisfied enough that it was early August so even though the clock said 10:43 pm, the sky hadn’t yet gone dark. Instead it was a pretty dark orange and red color which faded into a darker blue, making the clouds a light pretty pink and purple shade as the sun slowly lowered behind the buildings.
She turned off her phone and placed it back into her purse, humming slightly to the music as it played in her ears. Afterwards she picked her bag of groceries back up from the ground and walked towards the direction of her apartment.
— - - - —
She had walked for a good fifteen minutes, faintly imagining her soft mattress, her hundreds of soft pillows and blankets the closer she got to her home. She really could not wait to get home and throw herself into the labyrinth of softness while watching a movie. Horror sounds kind of fun right now, she thought to herself. “It has been quite a while since the last time I watched one.” She mumbled under her breath, followed by a nod, as she came to a self agreement and a small smile.
She hummed slightly to the rhythm of the guitar as it neared the end of the song but paused when she heard a set of footsteps besides the sound of her own heels, which she hadn't noticed until the music had almost disappeared.
She stopped up and turned around to look over her shoulder to see who was walking behind her but instead felt a slight chill of goosebumps run along her spine when she didn’t see anyone, anyone other than a man who looked like he just got out of work. He was leaning up against a brick wall while looking down at his phone and with a black work bag in his other hand.
She clung a bit tighter to her own bag and turned back around, she could feel the beating of her heart fastening a hinge.
There’s no way…
She swallowed the lump of saliva that had formed in her throat.
She could see her apartment from here, it was so, so close, right there, right at the end of the street. She was so close to home.
She started walking again and took a low breath, in and out through her nose. If she thought what was happening was actually happening, then there was no way she could go home, willingly showing the guy where she lived. As she walked, she went back into her purse to get her phone so she could pause her music. A slight hinge of fear kicked in when she heard the footsteps again, so much clearer now when the music was gone.
She walked right past her apartment and turned right, walking further and further away. It took everything in her to not start running. She wanted to run for it, wanted to flee, to get away but she wasn’t a very fast runner…especially in heels.
Ochako knew she wouldn’t get far.
She walked a block, then another one and another. She felt her stomach drop to her toes to each and every one of them. 1 block, 3 blocks, 5… When she reached the seventh block and could still hear another set of footsteps from behind her, she felt like her heart was gonna burst out through her throat.
He wasn’t leaving.
No..no nono.. Ochako started to tremble and could feel the fast page of her heartbeat through her throat.
She was fucking terrerfied and to make everything just a bit worse, there was no longer any brighting in the sky, not even a hinge, it had gotten dark, way to very dark in the short matter of 30 minutes.
She had never in her life experienced anything like this before and she didn’t know what to do— she didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation, what were you supposed to do?
Her stomach turned and she felt like gagging. Maybe he would leave her alone if she just spilled her guts out right then and there on the sidewalk.
Or…
Or maybe not.
He might take advantage of it if she hurled, if she puked she would be in such a weak and open position for him to do whatever the hell he wanted to do to her.
She felt like passing out at the thought alone.
She swallowed another lumb of saliva, then bit her teeth down into her lower lip and clung to her phone like a lifeline, when a realization hit her.
She could call someone.
Bakugou.
That was the first name that came to mind. She didn’t really know why considering she had barely spoken to him since they graduated from U.A two years ago, but she found herself un-surprised. After all, she always did find him comfortable to be around and somewhat of a funny guy.
Trying to steady her shaky hands as best as she could when she plucked out her earphones and shoved them into her brown purse.
She turned on her phone and quickly found his name under the letter ‘B’ on her contacts and clicked, quickly moving her phone up to her ear.
“Please Bakugou, please please pick up…” she quietly mumbled under her breath.
It rang six times before he finally picked up and a big sense of relief rushed over her whole body when she finally heard his voice from the other end. “Hello?”
“Hey babe!” Ochako said in what she hoped sounded more like a happy chippy of a greeting and not at all like someone, who was currently very much aware that they were being followed.
The line went quiet for a second before a confused “The fuck.” came from the other side. She wasn’t at all surprised by the clear confusion and to be honest, if she wasn’t so completely terrified about everything that was happening at the moment, she would most likely have let out a laugh.
“Cheeks, it’s fucking Bakugou Katsuki, you got the wrong number you airhead.” The tone of his voice sounded annoyed, which didn’t surprise her much but he sounded a slight bit pissed and because of that, there might be a chance he would hang up. She couldn’t let him hang up on her, not now.
She needs him.
“Oh no!” She yelled a little too loudly, but covered it up with a slight laugh. “Don’t worry I didn’t buy the coke with no sugar in it! You told me that it was just as bad as the normal ones, since there’s a lot of other bad stuff in it!” She silently pleaded that he wouldn’t hang up for clearly not answering him. She really really hoped he understood that she needed his help.
She sucked in her bottom lip as she bit down on the skin.
A moment passed before he spoke.
“Uraraka.” Ochako felt a slight chill run down her spine by his sudden change of tone but bruised it off. He might have realized something wasn’t quite right.
“Did you...did you call me on purpose?”
She let out a small sigh of relief and quietly returned him with a response. “Yeah.”
“Are you being followed?”
“YES!” Shit, she practically yelled that. “Yes! Yes I mean, of course I know that babe! I’m not an idiot!” She really couldn’t contain the absolute relief that washed over her when he asked her that, she just hoped the guy behind her hadn't realized how panicked she actually was.
“Fuck, fuck.” The voice was faint; she could only barely make out his cursing, it somewhat sounded like he had moved his phone away from his ear.
“Alright, listen Uraraka, get into the nearest convenience store.” His voice was back as clear as day and whatever anger and annoyance that may have been there before was completely gone, his tone only completely earnest now.
“And as soon as you get there, send me your location and wait, I’ll come get you.” She barely noticed the weak sob she let out when he reassured her he would come to her.
She coughed in an attempt to get rid of the sobs and tears she knew might fall if she didn’t, so the creep behind her wouldn’t catch on.
She quickly walked over the street as the light turned green at the crosswalk and turned left when she spotted a convenience store further down, maybe around 90 meters on eye sight.
“Oki doki I’ll wait for you!” She said as she quickly flipped her hair over her shoulder with a quick head movement (since both of her hands were occupied at the moment) as a cover up to see how far behind the guy actually was.
He was still very much there but he seems to be further away than before. Ochako couldn’t really make out his face and what kind of expression he might have made but by the slight and short glimpse she got of him, what she could tell was his body posture. The way he looked around as one of his hands fumbled with his pants like he was removing sweat from his palm, while the other seemed to be fumbling with his bag. He was getting anxious and hopefully unsure.
“Do not fucking hang up until you’re safe in the damn store, you understand?”
“A-alright.” She took a deep breath in and exhaled through the nose, calming her nerves just a hinge.
“I’m almost there.” She whispered into her phone as she clenched onto her grocery bag, tight enough that when her fingernails dug deeper into the palm of her hand, she felt a slight itch of pain.
She didn’t receive a direct response but the sound of clothes and a door opening and closing as well as the sound of ruffling with keys, was an answer enough in itself.
It took everything in her to continue on with the same speed the closer she got to the store.
As soon as she walked in, she quickly greeted the cashier with what she meant to be a small smile, but came out more forced and awkward than anything.
She started walking around, mumbling a small ”I’m here” under her breath as she removed her phone from her ear. Ochako clicked on the google maps app, momentarily putting down her bag of groceries so she could take a screenshot of her location and send it to Bakugou.
And that was when she noticed the red in the top corner of her phone screen. Her phone battery was saying 2% and she doubted that she could continue to be on the phone with Bakugou, without her old phone dying before he could reach her.
She skimmed through the aisle, pretending like she was looking at the different items and moved her phone back up to her ear. “Bakugou-“
“I’m on my way Uraraka!” Bakugous voice was loud and Ochako could hear the sound of the hurling wind on his end and guessed that he was running.
“A-alright, listen I need to hang up—“
“Fucking why?!”
“My phone battery is low and I’m—“ She caught herself quavering at the end and inhaled through the nose so as to not cry. She wasn’t safe yet, so she wouldn’t let herself cry.
“I’m scared..” she mumbled into the phone.
“And I wanna be capable of calling you if— if anything…” she closed her eyes as she clenched her hand tightly around one of the shelves.
She heard him curse on his end as well as the sound of his loud breathing. “Alright, just hold on for another 10 minutes I’ll get you.”
She wanted to cry out in happiness as he reassured her yet again that he would come to her.
10 minutes, he’ll be here then.
_________________
Katsuki stood inside his bathroom brushing his teeth, a slightly damped gray towel hanging around his neck.
He bent down to spit out the toothpaste and turned on the sink to wash out his mouth, leaning his head back to swish the water in his mouth before spitting it back out into the sink.
Dipping his toothbrush under the tap water to get the remaining spit and toothpaste off, before turning the water off. He placed his toothbrush back into the plastic cup, at the left side of the sink.
He removed the towel off of his shoulders and shuffled it through his hair before placing it back at its hanger and walked out of the bathroom and towards his bedroom.
He had put a new pair of boxers on, as well as some gray sweatpants when his phone rang from inside the living room. He thought about ignoring it, but then remembered briefly after the first ring, that his therapist had said he would call him later today or early tomorrow.
That man was un-fucking-bearable.
He let out a small groan and left for the living room.
When he reached his phone placed at the bedside table, he unplugged it from the charger and wiggled his fingers to get a better grip on it. As soon as his finger hit the screen he froze on the spot when he saw the name placed at the top of the screen.
Angel face. It read.
Completely forgotten the fact that he had changed her name to that back when they still went to the same high school together, as well as the fact that he never bothered to change it back— he stared. He could feel the heating sensation in the back of his neck as well as his cheeks.
He couldn’t help but frown at the thought.
Even after all of this time gone by, without seeing her (even longer without speaking) she still had such an annoying affect on him.
He bit the inside of his cheek and felt as his whole face heated up.
She was calling for a reason.
Maybe...he thought.
“Better be a good fucking reason” he mumbled before he took the call and basically slammed the phone against the side of his very pink ear.
He coughed out a “hello?” and almost slapped himself at the sport. Great.
“Hi Babe!”
“The fuck.” He cursed out in confusion before it actually hit him what she just said.
Hi. Babe.
She thought she had called her fucking lover.
Not him.
The nervousness he felt only a second prior, clawing in his heart. The small hint of hope vanished in a blink of an eye, and was replaced with an angry kind of frustration as he ignored the way his stomach dropped.
All of that because of two very simple words.
Katsuki never thought the sound of her voice would ever feel like a knife through his chest, when it always seemed to only fill his stomach with those stupid ass butterflies.
But it seemed time proved him wrong, in the worst way possible.
He felt like a damn fool for getting his hopes up so quickly. They haven’t had an actual conversation with each other that lasted for more than, what— 5 minutes, since they graduated two years ago for crying out loud.
She doesn’t have and has never had those kinds of feelings for him like he still clearly had for her.
But of all the people she had to accidentally call, thinking it was her stupid ass boyfriend or girlfriend— it had to be him.
Just. His. Fucking. Luck.
“Cheeks, it’s fucking Bakugou Katsuki, ya got the wrong number you airhead.” He himself paused a little at the clear rudeness and annoyance placed in there, but made no attempt to fix it.
She knew he was rude, she’ll get over it.
A slight loud: “Oh no!” Rang through his end, slightly caughting him off guard for a second. It was quickly followed by a small laugh. He couldn’t help but notice that it sounded sort of awkward and a little bit forced.
He probably would have found it a bit odd if she would have allowed him to think about it more.
He did on the other hand find it extremely strange by the words that followed. “Don’t worry I didn’t buy the coke with no sugar in it! You told me that it was just as bad as the normal ones, since there’s a lot of other bad stuff in it!” That was true. He remembered he used to argue with her about that back in their second year, and how amusingly pleased he was with himself, when he had proved her wrong. He also remembered how adorable and round she would get, when she would pout, with her bottom lip sticking out as she gave him a petty glare.
He found it strange that she remembered it, but stranger by the way she sounded. Her voice sounded somewhat panicked, like she was trying to hide it. Katsuki was quiet for a second, quickly catching the sound of her heels clicking through the phone and her fast breathing.
“Did you… did you call me on purpose?”
He hoped he was wrong but by the sound of her unusual choice of words, and as well as the weird pinch in her voice— he knew he wasn’t.
“Yeah.” He heard her sigh of relief and he paled.
“Are you being followed?”
“YES!”
“Yes! Yes I mean, of course I know that babe! I’m not an idiot!” Her words as well as the painfully fake giggle made the hairs on the back of his neck stand.
He practically bolded back to his bedroom to throw a shirt on, throwing his phone on the bed. “Fuck fuck.” Katsuki cursed as he fought to get his left arm through the shirt’s sleeve. Daily fucking tasks always seemed to become ten fucking times more difficult under god damn stress— or anger for that matter.
He turned around to pick his phone back up as soon as the gray shirt was on his skin. “Alright, listen Uraraka, get into the nearest convenience store.” His voice was serious, whatever fucking emotion that had clouded his vision was thrown straight away, forgotten to a place where the sun don’t shine.
“And as soon as you get there, send me your location and wait, I’ll come get you.”
“Oki doki I’ll wait for you!” Her voice was loud and as cheery as she could get it in her situation. To her credit she would sound real damn convincing if you didn’t know better. But as soon as you knew, you could hear the uneasiness layered beneath the cherry act.
She didn’t speak after that, but he could hear breathing loudly against his ear as well as the clicking noise of her heels. It was too damn quiet for far too long, even if he could hear her breathing— he needed to hear her speak or he might actually lose the last bit of calmness that still remained within his body.
“Do not fucking hang up until you’re safe in the damn store, you understand?” Katsuki said.
He hated how quiet, how scared and small her voice sounded. “A-alright.” She took a deep breath in and exhaled through the nose.
He threw his phone on the shoe sideboard in his hallway, faintly hearing something along the lines of ”I’m almost there” from his phone’s speaker. He snatched a jacket and his keys and buried them in his pocket, threw on his running shoes and picked up his phone. He threw his front door open and slammed it shut after him, practically fucking flying down the six flight of stairs of his apartment to get the hell out.
As soon as he was outside his head snapped in both directions, he didn’t know which way to go yet damn it.
He closed his eyes tightly and pinched the bright between his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose and out through the mouth.
Calm. The fuck. Down, Katsuki.
He opened his eyes and immediately put his phone on speaker, turning the volume to max, as he stared at the screen of his phone, waiting for the notification.
He heard the slide of election doors as well as the ding you heard when you’ll walk into a store. Then he heard her whisper “I’m here.” That sent a small wave of relief through him. He waited for what felt like an hourly long minute before the notification came. Clicking on it before he even heard the damn ‘ding’ from the notification.
She sent him a screenshot, and he knew exactly where she was at.
Yes!
And he ran.
Katsuki placed his phone back to his ear, still on speaker so her voice wouldn’t fade out from the wind.
“Bakugou-“
“I’m on my way Uraraka!” He yelled into the phone.
“A-alright, listen I need to hang up—“ she needed to fucking what now?
“Fucking why?!” He chose to voice his concern, because absolutely not will he hang up without a good fucking reason.
“My phone battery is low and I’m—“ It didn't go unnoticed by the way she quivered and took a deep breath through her nose. He knew she was trying her best not to cry.
“I’m scared..” she mumbled into the phone. Fuck.
“And I wanna be capable of calling you if— if anything…” God fucking damn it, this put such an uneasiness and discomfort in his stomach.
“Fucking damn it.”
“Shit— shit.”
“Alright, just hold on for another 10 minutes I’ll get you.”
He heard her whimper out a weak sob, followed by a sniffle. Katsuki came to the very clear conclusion that he did not like that sound.
“Okay.” And the line went dead.
10 minutes. He’ll be with her then.
_________________
“Ma’am, can I help you with anything?” The cashier asked, leaning slightly over the table with one of her brows raised.
She flinched. “Ah-“ Ochako laughed, trying her best to not let her smile come out as wobbly, as she scratched the back of her head.
“N-no-“ it came out dry so she coughed and tried again.
“No, no I’m okay. I’m waiting for my uh— boyfriend, yes.” She spoke in a hurry as she fiddled with her hair. She tilted her head downward so the woman couldn’t see her from her spot behind the counter and sucked in her bottom lip, biting the skin to get her head to focus on the pain instead of her fear.
It would be a miracle if the woman hadn’t caught on to how she was acting— those she was not that lucky.
“Are you sure?” She pressed on, looking at Ochako with a hint of concern.
She looked up. “Yes! I’m sure!” She said, smiling brightly at the woman. “I’m just a bit nervous, the first time meeting my boyfriend’s family and all!” Ochako just seemed to continue building on lies to her story, but it was believable apparently. Because the woman’s eyes relaxed as she gave her a smile in return. It helped that she was a bit dressed up due to being at Mina’s place earlier.
She wished now more than anything, that she had agreed to stay at her place when she had offered. If she had, she wouldn’t be in this mess and she most definitely wouldn’t have dragged Bakugou into it as well.
“I see, sounds lovely!” She said, ”I’m sure it’ll all go well and good.” She said before she turned around and walked into the room placed a little to her left.
Ochako picked up her belongings and walked over to the refrigerator to pretend to look at the drinks labels.
She stood there for what felt like minutes but in reality hadn’t even been one, when a ding from the doors was heard. She flinched, she hoped it was Bakugou but she had a feeling she wasn’t quite right about that. She glanced over her shoulder and paled when she locked eyes with the man with the suitcase.
He looked— odd. His body language didn’t seem to be hesitant like it had been before. Didn’t seem like he was second guessing himself.
He looked…
He looked horrifying.
He stared into her eyes with a look that made her throat go dry and her eyes water. She broke eye contact and suddenly couldn’t move as she stared at her shaking hand holding the coca container.
She felt like throwing up again.
And then she heard footsteps, right behind her— getting closer. She couldn’t feel her legs, they felt so numb and her body felt so heavy stacked on top of them. She was a second away from crashing to the ground, practically seeing herself hit her head in the store's stiles as she passed out cold.
“Hey you.” Ochako clenched her eyes shut, her heart in her throat.
Please please Bakugou— someone!
He was so close, she could practically feel his presence as it neared her. It was too much, far too much. And what was that ringing? Why was it ringing so much? Why was it so nosy in her head?
“Hey girl—“
There was a breeze against her skin— on her eyes and sections of her cheeks. And then she smelled cinnamon, as well as soap.
“OI!”
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, which pulled her crashing into a hard chest. She sobbed out a gasp, opened her eyes that she hadn’t even realized she had closed, her vision blurry.
The first thing she saw was the upper part of someone’s forearm. A large lump of muscle, half covered by a gray sleeve as it held her smaller frame close. The refrigerators right behind, blurry and unfocused.
A moment passed by before the ringing in her ears faded away, a fast and heavy thumping replacing it.
And a voice. A rough, deep, out of breath voice.
Her head snapped to her right, towards the direction where the man had stood before and sighed out in relief that he was now gone. Oh thank god.
“hey cheeks.”
Ochako looked up and her hazel brown eyes locked gaze with a pair of deep red ones.
She had forgotten how intense his eyes were.
She had also forgotten how pretty she thought he was, with his pretty ruby eyes, his sharp jawline that could probably cut paper, and his smooth soft looking skin.
He looked exactly the same as he did back at UA.
“You alright?”
“B-bakugou…” Her voice was so very small when she spoke his name, letting out a weak sob as she folded her arms around his torso. She felt the way his own tightened around her shoulders.
Ochako nodded, but felt her eyes betray her as her vision blurred, bottom lip trembling. “S-sorry I—“ She didn’t get to finish what she knew would be a sobbing mess on an apology, for disputing him. But the way one of his hands curled into the back of her head and pulled her back into his chest, made the words die in her throat.
“I ain’t gonna hold it against you for crying.” He said as he lowered his chin on top of her head, his hand falling back around her frame.
She curled her fingers into the fabric of the backside of his hoodie, tears wetting the front.
She didn’t really know how long they stood there for, really. Ochako clinging to an old classmate she hadn’t really spoken to in years, and him just letting her as he held his arms around her.
If she wasn’t so busy crying her eyes out for a single second, she would have thought about how odd it looked. If anyone they knew (actually just anyone) walked through the doors of the store and saw this— she wouldn’t blame them for thinking; what on earth?
She let out a small sniffle and suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot when she realized the current position they were in.
She took a step back and both pairs of arms retrieved from the other, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed.
She gave Bakugou a small bow of gratitude. “Thank you so- so much Bakugou! I-I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn't picked up.” She sobbed.
“Stop with the bowing shit, Cheeks!” Bakugou snarled as he pushed her shoulder up, bringing her back to a straight standing position.
“Ah! S-sorry ’bout that.” She said, fiddling with the brown purse across her chest.
She suddenly realized that her groceries no longer were on the ground, so she looked up and scanned her surroundings
“Hey.”
Her eyes fell on Bakugou.
She hadn't even realized he had picked up her groceries until he had notched his head towards the exit.
“Ah, you don’t have to carry that-“ She tried to proteste by he seemed to have made up his mind when he interrupted her loudly: “Tch, no.”
“Come on Cheeks, I’ll follow ya home.”
She was about to protest but realized quickly that she really did not want to go home by herself on this particular night— for oblivion reasons.
She closed her mouth and nodded, following Bakugou as they walked out of the store together, the slight chilly night air hitting her in the face.
Ochako gulped, looking anxiously around her as she stepped closer to Bakugou as they walked. This whole experience was going to bother her for a long while. The man didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight and Bakugou was right here beside her, yet the goosebumps were still lingering around her neck and arms and the fear creeping up her spine just didn’t seem to fully dissolve.
An arm fell over her shoulders and Ochako breathed out a ‘huff’ sound when he pressed her side against his own. She felt the warmth closing in around her, his presence and his words, giving her a soothing sensation of ‘safety.’ “You’re okay, Angel face.” He looked down at her, keeping his eyes locked into hers when he spoke.
She sighed out in relief as she relaxed completely against him, swinging her arm around his back, just so she could hold a part of him close too.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” She smiled up at him as she led them both towards her place.
A good five minutes later, they arrived at her main street, not far from the exact spot she had realized she was being followed from. She ignored the uncomfortable feeling as she glanced towards Bakugou.
“My apartments right over there.” She lifted her arm to point towards the building complex. “How far away is your place Bakugou?” Breaking the comfortable silence that had been between them.
He lingered his eyes across her building as they made a stop on her front door, the warmth of his arm disappearing as he removed it from her shoulder.
She almost made a sound of disapproval when his warmth left her but cleared her throat with a cough before that happened.
A blush colored her already pink cheeks just a bit darker.
“Not that far from here actually. It’s on the other side of the train station.” He answered as soon his gaze fell back on her.
She smiled. She thought about how particular that sounded since her University was located on that side, and they still hadn’t run into one another by accident.
Ochako also thought about how nice that actually was, that he was close. That he had been that close for probably a long while.
“How odd we haven’t run into each other yet then! My University is located on that side of town.” Ochako laughed.
“Hm, that’so.” By the knowing look on his face, she speculated that he knew which one she was referring to.
Her gaze slightly fell past his as she glanced at the path walk on the other side. She knows she’s being paranoid, she was safe and right in front of her home— but she just couldn’t shake off the uneasiness by the thought of him leaving and being alone even in her own apartment.
But then a thought crossed her mind for a short second.
But it was enough to convince her— and try to convince him.
She cleared her throat, the warmth in her cheeks turned just a slight bit hotter as she locked eyes with his. “A-anyways…”
He raised a brow at the way her voices hinged.
What she was about to ask of him could really be taken the wrong way, especially because they weren’t actually friends but; “Listen, would you like to— come inside? I know you don’t life that far away—“ now at least “—and I’ve already bothered you enough but—“
“Are you asking ’cause you don’t wanna be alone, Cheeks?” She really couldn’t tell what he was thinking right now, his face seemed to have just gone blank. Very different from the face expressions she remembered from their time in high school.
Ochako nodded. “Yeah, I really, really wouldn’t mind the company…” she admits.
He simply stared at her for what felt like far too long to only have been 5 seconds, when he looked towards the direction of the train station. He looked like he was thinking about it, which —with the knowledge she had picked up, after knowing him for three years— was a good(ish) thing.
If he hadn’t then he would immediately have told her ‘no fucking way’, which was the nices way his rejection could go, most definitely.
The worst was definitely the laugh at your face.
Let’s just say Ochoko was very glad she had never been the one to receive the ‘as if’ laugh when she had asked him to help with homework or such when they went to school together. She had never thought about it, until she had witnessed it happen first hand to a girl who had confessed her love to him in their second year.
If it wasn’t for the light above the door, she probably wouldn’t have seen the way his Adam's Apple bopped when he turned back to face her. She chose to ignore what that particular act could mean.
He huffed at her. “Fine, but I’m hungry as hell after all the running, so you better have somethin’ I can eat.” There was zero bark in his voice when he raised it at her. It had her giggling slightly.
She smiled at him, fished out her house key and let both of them inside of her apartment.
“Okay!”