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It's a rare weekend for Bakugo. He's done his workout, he's caught up on homework; and the best part, he didn't lose his temper this week. So that means no detention, house arrest, or stupid 'apology' letters.
As a reward, his idiots decided to have a gaming tournament. They were supposed to be playing in Shitty Hairs room, but the losers got distracted while making snacks, and decided to hold it in the common lounge instead.
Despite being a Saturday, there's actually not a whole lot of extras. Ponytail, Glasses, and Half n Half are sitting at a table, studying or planning. Tape Face, Dunce Face, and Shitty Hair are sitting in front of him, on the floor.
Uraraka and Pink Freak come and sit on the couch with Bakugo. The idiots had offered to for the girls to join in on the game (despite the growl from him) but both declined and instead kept chatting quietly.
It's about to be his turn, when the entrance doors open. Aizawa Sensei enters the lounge and looks around.
"I need two volunteers." He announces in a bored tone.
"For what?" Him and Uraraka ask in unison.
She side-eyes him and giggles.
"Thank you Bakugo and Uraraka for volunteering to watch Eri-chan."
Her face morphs into shock, while he leaps to his feet, nearly tripping on Shitty Hair.
"HOLD THE FUCK UP! I DIDN'T VOLUNTEER FOR SHIT!"
"Sensei!" She starts but it cut off.
"I AINT WATCHING SOME FUCKING BRAT! IVE GOT BETTER SHIT TO DO!"
"I wouldn't have to do this, if not for the fact that someone-" He glares in Dunce Faces direction. "-used their quirk on a toaster to cook their bagel faster."
Oh is that why everybody was outside last night? During his evening workout, he'd noticed that a lot of people were sitting on the grass outside the dorm. But by the time he was done; everyone else was heading inside too. And he didn't care enough to ask.
"SO MAKE HIM BABYSIT!!" He argues.
"Ah but you and Uraraka were the ones to volunteer." He gives them a wide, dangerous smile.
Teacher and student hold a silent standoff. Bakugo is about to argue about how unfair this is, when he slides his gaze over to Uraraka. She seems neutral about the whole thing.
He let's out a big huff. Fuck it. With how much shit he puts the teachers through, it might be a good idea to earn some brownie points.
"You're dead fuckin meat when I get back." He threatens Dunce Face quietly.
"Dude! I didn't think it'd explode! I'm sorry!" Dunce Face throws up his hands in defeat.
"Let's go." Aizawa drawls.
Inwardly, he begins to panic.
It could've been anybody. Anybody but her. Fuck. He would've teamed up with IcyHot or even the grape pervert. He shoves his hands deep into his pockets.
"I don't think think we've ever hung out before Bakugou-kun!" Uraraka comments.
"Yeah." He responds.
"I'm actually a little excited! You're always so cool!!" She beams up at him with those big, beautiful brown eyes of hers. He's so close that he can see the light brown ring around her pupil, and the outside is darker brown.
His stupid heart is beating in his stupid throat. Say something. Say fuckin anything that's a little positive.
Yeah you're not bad yourself Round Face. You're too cool to hang out with that fuckin Nerd. We should spend more time together.
"Shut the fuck up."
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
He mentally kicks himself in the balls as her posture deflates.
By now they've reached the teachers dorm and lounge. There's only one door that's decorated with hearts, unicorns and rainbows, and that can only mean one thing.
Aizawa Sensei opens the door, and the small figure seated at the table looks up at them and let's out a pleased gasp.
"Ocha-chan!!" She squeals.
Bakugo snorts.
"Don't even think about it... Kacchan." Uraraka grits through her teeth.
Ah but it's so tempting to add it to her list of nicknames. Round face. Pink Cheeks. Cheeks. Space Cadet. Moon Face. Angel Face. Ocha-chan?
But too many people already call him Kacchan. Ugh.
Eri-chan sprints as fast as her little legs can take her and straight into Urarakas arms. The older girl lifts her up, and the younger girl wraps her arms around her neck, burying her face into Urarakas hair.
They wander to the bed, where Round Face just let's her hold onto her like a baby monkey. He looks around the room, it's got a bed, a dresser, a nightstand and a tiny table with tiny chairs. He could sit on the floor or he could sit on the bed.
He decides to sit on the bed with them. Uraraka has started speaking in a soft voice. She's just chatting about nothing and everything. She explains what she did in quirk training this week. Then she talks about what she struggled with in class.
It's such a sweet and tender moment. He selfishly fantasizes about Uraraka doing this with their child. Maybe they'd have brown hair and red eyes. Or maybe blond with brown eyes. His mothers genes are strong though, maybe they'd look exactly him.
"What about...him?" Eri-chan not so discreetly whispers, while peeking at him from behind Urarakas hair.
"Him? Oh he's one of the strongest people in our class! He's got an amazing quirk, very smart, and super brave! His name is Bakugo Katsuki. Future Number One Hero!" Uraraka answers.
A blast of heat similar to his own quirk hits him straight in the chest. The residual heat creeps up his neck and to his ears.
"So he'd be a good emperor..?" Eri-chan asks quietly.
"Sure!"
Damn right he would be.
"Okay! Let's play Emperor and Empress!" The girl announces.
Then she hops off Urarakas lap and runs to her toy chest. All sorts of animals and dolls are flung onto the ground.
"These are your loyal s-s-sub..sub..Ocha-chan whats the word again?"
"Subjects."
"Oh yeah! These are your loyal subdjects!"
"Eh close enough." Uraraka shrugs.
The little girl arranges the toys into neat lines, like trained soldiers. She hums a nursery rhyme while Uraraka watches with a small smile on her face.
After she's happy with her lines, she turns and faces the two. She puts her hands on her hips and huffs.
"You two are supposed to be hold hands!!"
Both teens blush red as tomatoes and look away from each other.
"Oh Bakugou-kun doesn't like to be touched!!" Uraraka squeaks.
She's mostly right. He does like his space and will brush off any attempts of closeness.
But.
He wants her. He wants her more than anything. Sometimes he thinks he wants her more than he wants to beat Deku and be Number One Hero. He knows she'll never pick him though. And this is the only chance he'll get to hold her hand, so like hell is he gonna pass this up.
"Its fine." He murmurs. And places one of his hands, palm side up, on his knee.
If it's possible, her face goes even more red. But she shyly places one of her hands on top of his, the other is pressed against her mouth.
His whole body feels on fire. Her hand is so small compared to the fuckin hams his hands are. Her hand is also cool to the touch, but its grounding when the rest of body feels so hot. He can feel the soft pads of her quirk.
Gently, he holds her hand a little tighter. His hand is squeezed in response. And a million fuckin butterflies erupt in his stomach.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Shit.
He prays to every God there is that his sweat doesn't gross her out too much. Cheeks takes over on the game, directing which toys should be farmers, warriors and sellers. He's too busy trying not to panic to pay attention to the game.
After a few minutes, he grows a fuckin pair of balls and slowly moves his thumb to feel her pads. Starting with her index finger, and slowly working his way down to her pinky. Her whole body had stiffened in response, and he's sure that she's holding her breath. It's just as well, since he's holding his too. Fuckin hell.
"Your hand is so warm." She whispers.
"Quirk." He chokes out. He stops feeling her soft pads, and instead starts to mindless thumb over her knuckles.
I'll warm your hands whenever you want. I'll warm your whole body whenever you want. Just ask.
"Hey! Wanna see what I drew!?" Eri asks.
Uraraka confirms that she does, but it doesn't matter. It was more of a rhetorical question.
"See! See! It's a fwower!" And it sure is. It's a giant flower with a face in the center.
"So pretty!" Uraraka praises.
"Now let's color!!"
Reluctantly he let's go of her hand, but not before giving it a good squeeze. Savoring that last bit of affection he'll ever get from her.
As they get up to the table, Bakugo gestures to it and says:
"You got one of these in your room too Cheeks?"
She turns and smacks him on his shoulder "NO! I'm not that short you jerk!"
"Only the Frog is shorter than you." He smirks. He remembers when Ears had gotten a growth spurt, and passed Uraraka in height.
He'd gotten a growth spurt as well, and soon he's sure he'll be taller than both of his parents. He sits down, and his knees nearly kick his own chest.
"Fuckin Hell." He grumbles.
Another smack.
"Language Bakugou-kun!!"
"Yeah yeah. Alright." He rolls his eyes. "You ain't gotta fffff-fluffin hit me!"
Raising her chin she says "An Emperor should know better."
He slides his arm across the back of her tiny chair and leans to whisper in her ear "Ah good thing I've got the best Empress to keep me in check."
She turns her head and gives him a shy smile. "Its just in front of Eri-chan, after we leave, you can go back your usual foul mouthed self."
"Hmm." All he can think about is how close she is. How soft her lips look. How good she smells. How good her neck would look with some of his bites on it.
A blank paper and handful of broken crayons are shoved in his direction. He colors some modification to his Hero Suit as he day dreams about kissing her. Her in his lap. Cheeks underneath him, squirming as he finds her tickle spots.
The brat makes them draw all kinds of animals, like dogs, cats and frogs. Then she judges whose is better!
"WHAT! My frog is wayyyy better!" He argues.
"Don't worry Bakugou-kun! A 'frog' is my best friend. Of course mine is better."
"Like hellllllicopter it is! This is clearly favoritism!!"
"Ah don't be a sore loser!"
"Hmmph." He sits back down on the chair. "You're lucky you're fff-udging cute."
"EEP!"
He looks to see Uraraka slowly floating to the ceiling, curled up in a ball with her red face hidden behind her hands.
"OI GET THE FFFF BACK DOWN!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" She floats back into her seat, her fists clenched except her pinky.
"Hah? Nobody ever called you cute before?" He prods.
"NO! No? Not from a boy. My friends call me cute."
"Hmm. Just figured you had lots of chocolate and confessions on White Day or whatever." He growls out. Jealously sharp and bitter sits on his tongue.
"No you're thinking of pretty girls like Momo-Chan or Kendo-san." Uraraka mumbles.
She doesn't think she's pretty? What the hell?
He turns, nearly knocking over the whole table. He grabs her chin and tilts it up to look at him.
"No. I wasn't thinking of those extras. I don't even know who you're talking about. I was thinking of you." He states firmly.
She tries to squirm out of his grasp, but he's not having it. He knows he can't have her, but he sure as hell can build up that piss poor self confidence.
"But I'm not..."
"If you finish that sentence, I swear to God I'm gonna beat your...behind."
She's quiet for a moment, then her gaze softens "You really think so?"
He rubs her soft, round cheeks, something he's wanted to do since he first saw them, and holds her gaze.
"Yeah. I do." He affirms.
Then, baffling, she begins to cry.
"OI DONT CRY!!"
Eri-chan then leaves her chair to give Uraraka a hug.
"Its okay! Big feelings are okay!" The little girl tries to soothe Uraraka.
Did he fuck up? How did he fuck up? He thought girls liked being called pretty? Why did she cry at the compliment but didn't cry when he told her to shut the fuck up?!?
"Oi I-I-I- I didn't mean to upset ya!" He splutters.
"I'm not upset." She corrects too quickly.
"YOURE EFFING CRYING!"
"I KNOW!"
"WHY THE EFFF ARE YOU CRYING!?!"
"BECAUSE! I don't know...I'm not sure.."
She wipes the tears and snot off her face.
"Can we just drop it...please?"
For now. "Yeah. Whatever."
"I have some gummy bears. Those always make me feel better. Do you want one?" Eri-chan is still trying to comfort Uraraka.
She let's out a watery laugh. "Yes please."
"What about you? Sorry what's your name again?" Eri-chan asks him.
"Bakugo Katsuki." He replies. "And sure."
"Okay Ocha-chan and Katsuki-kun!"
Uraraka gives him a mischievous look, eyes extra bright from the tears.
"Don't even think about it... Ocha-chan." He mimicks from her earlier.
"I'll allow Ocha-chan if I can call you Katsuki-kun." Cheeks negotiates.
It's a fair deal. He knows it. But he can't appear too eager. So he pretends to think about.
"Whatever. I don't give a shiii..ship."
Eri gives them their snack, and by the time they're done, Sensei arrives. He surveys the room and they seem to pass inspection.
"Well nothing is on fire or floating. So, good job you two. You're dismissed."
The walk back to the dorms is tight with tension. Awkward. He hates it.
"Look. If I crossed a line earlier-" He can't have her upset with him. They're not close by any means, but things need to be right between them "-I didn't mean to."
"You didn't cross a line!" She reassures. "I just...I just didn't think someone like you...would..notice someone like me.."
"Tch. I don't know why you have such low confidence."
"Um.."
"You're not bad. You're way too fuckin cool to hang out with that fuckin Nerd all day."
"Hey!"
"AND!" He continues to talk over her because this shit is important. "You're pretty."
She gapes up at him.
"Like really fuckin pretty."
She stopped walking, staring at her shoes, flustered.
"And...we should hang out more." He concludes.
Slowly, so fucking slowly, she reaches out and holds his hand. He intertwines their fingers. Joy, and every synonym with joy spreads everywhere.
"I'd like that...Katsuki-kun."