Work Text:
Katsuki was having a perfectly fine day. He had successfully kicked ass at his work-study, enough to even get a nod of approval from Miruko, which always made his inner fanboy thrill with a particular kind of delight. And the cherry on top was the five-day weekend he was walking toward as he approached the bus stop.
In the past, he had rarely found himself looking forward to breaks of any kind –– breaks were for those who didn't have aspirations to be number one. But, by his third year, he had come to appreciate them. After all, breaks would be few and far between in just a few short months. As a sidekick, he would be working all the crummy shifts and holidays; and, by the time he was number one, he would be far too busy for much else…so, he supposed he should enjoy this while he could
That was until his phone dinged in his pocket.
That was until he saw the message from Eijiro that made him suddenly wish he was not on the verge of a five-day winter break.
"Hey man, can you pick up hot chocolate for the party tonight?"
Typically, he would respond with a curt no and maybe a reminder that the party planning committee's poor time management did not constitute an emergency for him.
But the last three words made him curse the tinsel and the lights and all the Christmas-flavored fucking cheer.
For the party tonight… The memory of which had been shoved into the back of his brain to make room for all of his ass-kicking awesomeness over the past few weeks. And not only was it a Christmas party (bad enough in Katsuki's opinion), it was Secret Santa — the word kind of gathering Katsuki could imagine (and yes, he ranked his own damn funeral above that).
He couldn't remember the series of events that led him to reach into the Santa hat that Eijiro had shoved under his nose, but he had done it. He had drawn Uraraka's name but had yet to get Uraraka a present.
For the party…later that day.
"Fuck," he muttered, quickly typing out a response that made him look far more magnanimous than he actually was as he beelined into the nearest store. It was a nice enough shop with some upscale groceries and some far-too-expensive hot chocolate. But as he walked the aisles, he was having a hard time finding a gift that wouldn't have everyone looking at Uraraka in pity and at him with pointed rage.
There was a tower of plushies, but he actually had no idea if Uraraka liked this shit. She was soft, and her cheeks looked plenty squishy, so he very much doubted that she would need more. He happened upon a random assortment of mugs- all boring. And despite not being into this whole thing, he sure as fuck wasn't gonna have the lamest present there. Though, as he perused the options, it seemed that was becoming a much more likely possibility.
"Don't overthink it," he told himself. It was just a stupid gift.
And his phone was pinging over and over again, likely with more requests.
Nope.
He was not a delivery boy.
He headed to the aisle with cakes, cookies, and pastries. If there was one thing he knew about Uraraka, she liked sweet things. He grabbed one of the more Christmasy boxes and hurried to the register.
It wasn’t until after he checked out and saw the surprisingly high price of what he had assumed had been festive cookies that he realized what it was…
And he was quite certain that he would, in fact, have the worst gift there. Because not a damn human in the world actually liked fruitcake.
###
Dread, like so many things, can descend slowly, creeping up on a hero until suddenly it was right on top of them.
Katsuki was currently experiencing such dread.
At first, he didn't think anything of it. Deku had given his gift to Frog Girl and said, “I got you a Swiss army knife because that’s what you are! You are good at everything and so reliable, and you have so many amazing applications for your quirk, and you’re always good in an emergency.”
Katsuki had thought that was Deku just being Deku, annoying and saccharine for the sake of it. But then Tokoyami gave Koda a soft stuffed rabbit that could be turned inside out to either be happy or angry and talked some shit about being in touch with one's negative and positive emotions or some shit.
That was when the dread started to become more potent.
And by the time Tape Face gave Mind Fuck a cat-covered onesie pajama set that the sleep-deprived hero immediately changed into, the other “fun” little part of this hellish little game dawned on him…they were supposed to pick something that specifically reminded them of their giftee- something meaningful and thoughtful.
His panicked thoughts went again of the fruitcake in the Christmas bag with Uraraka’s name written on it, racing for an explanation that was meaningful and thoughtful for the worst gift in the world. He wasn’t a total asshole, and he didn’t want Uraraka to be the only one who didn’t get a thoughtful explanation (again, not his fault! He would blame Eijiro and Mina for this for the rest of his days).
Katsuki didn’t even hear a word of Earjacks’ explanation about why she got him a particular manga…something about one of the protagonists looking exactly like him or some shit like that…all he could think about was that it meant that he was next.
He had to pull something out of his ass…and quick.
Uraraka opened the package and stared down at the fruitcake. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the disappointment he was sure would be there, but when he cracked them open and peaked at her, she was still staring at the fruitcake, head cocked to the side. She looked intrigued, curious, if a little confused as she looked up at him, awaiting his explanation, looking certain that he would have one.
Well, there were a few people in the world that he truly didn’t want to disappoint for some reason, and it turned out that Uraraka was one of them. He exhaled and looked at her, stirring up his much-praised heroism.
“It’s uh…a fruitcake.” Pikachu snickered beside her, but Uraraka shushed him with an elbow to the side before refocusing her attention on Katsuki, nodding encouragingly.
“Well,” he continued. “You know, fruitcake is small, but it's dense and packs a punch, kinda like you.” To his surprise, the corner of her lip quirked up into a smile. He almost couldn’t believe he was pulling it off. He continued more confidently. “And you know, fruitcake lasts a long time,” he said with a nod, like he wouldn’t hear any argument on the matter. “So you can make it stretch out for a long ass time, you know? And you like to get your money's worth out of your food, right?” Her smile grew even wider, and she looked down once more at the cake consideringly. “And uh…fruitcake has a lot of sugar,” he threw out, apparently on a role now. “And it’s round, and you’re…you’re pretty sweet!” He didn’t realize how aggressively he said that last bit until it was out of his mouth. “And you’re round…” she blushed furiously, and he realized maybe he was getting a little too cocky if the tittering laughter of his peers was any indicator. “I mean, you, you like sweet things.” He amended. “And your face is round, you know, I don’t call you round face of nothin'! And that’s why I got you the fruitcake!” He crossed his arms and sat back in his seat with a sigh of relief, pointedly avoiding her or anyone else's gaze.
She was still blushing, but she looked pleased, and it didn’t seem at all fake. Uraraka wasn’t very good at faking much of anything. She was easy to read for anyone who cared, too. “Thank you, Bakugo,” she said, holding the treat in her lap. “I really love it.” He nodded but didn’t have anything else to say…not right now, at least.
Uraraka cleared her throat before turning her attention to Todoroki and his gift. And during that time, Katsukied only looked at her a few times, wondering how long the blush would linger.
###
Katsuki wasn’t sure how to read this new development, but after he returned from the winter break, he was sure that Uraraka was acting different…like she wanted to be his friend.
She seemed to be seeking him out.
Her workouts suddenly seemed to be coinciding with his.
“Hey, Bakugo, will you spot me?”
Sure.
“Hey, can you tell me how my form is for this squat?”
Fucking immaculate.
Out of nowhere, she was making conversation with him, and, yeah, they’ve always gotten on well enough, but they were hardly friendly, and they didn’t really chit-chat. But now, they were.
“I watched your fight on the news, Bakugo! Your moves were so cool! Can you teach me that?”
He didn’t know why he said yes to that…why the hell would he be giving out his secrets to his competition (not that he saw her or anyone else as competition – but he only got to that position by not giving out his secrets willy-nilly). But, soon, he found himself training with her…even looking forward to it.
Even texting her once or twice to let her know if his schedule got interrupted and he had to adjust his usual training regimen.
“Hey, Bakugo, do you want to study for 13’s exam together?”
He had said yes to that but told himself it was a tactical move…Uraraka had the best grade in that class, having just surpassed Ponytail on the last quiz. He wasn’t above taking whatever advantage he could get.
And also, sitting shoulder to shoulder with her wasn’t so bad; listening to the soft, thoughtful hums as she pondered a particularly tricky question wasn’t near as annoying as he would have guessed; and sometimes, when she figured something out, she would grasp his arm and jostle him about. And other times, she would tie her hair back into a ponytail, and it took everything in him to not swat at it to see if it bounced back into place at the crown of her head.
The truth was…he really liked being around her. And he hadn’t seen that coming. They were in their third year, after all, and he assumed getting to know anyone else more than he did, starting to like anyone more than he already did, would be a waste of time.
And yet, here he was doing just that.
And it was terribly inconvenient at times.
Like when it led him to worryingly check his phone because it was 45 minutes past when they were supposed to meet for their workout. He may not know her well, but he knew her well enough that she was generally on time and courteous enough to let someone know when she wouldn’t be.
He made it about an hour into his workout before calling it quits…because he hadn’t heard from her, distracting his focus for some reason.
While he was cooking dinner, Deku and Four-Eyes came through the front door of the dorms, looking ragged. “How is she? Did you get to see her?” asked Mina, hurrying across the room to meet them.
Katsuki shut off the running water so he could hear who they were talking about, though he was pretty sure he could guess. “Yeah,” answered Izuku. “We got to see her for a little bit. But she was really out of it, so she probably didn’t even know we were there. But she’s okay.” Pinky let out a sigh of relief at the answer. “Surgery ended up being pretty minor. They just want to keep her a few more…”
“Surgery!? Katsuki turned off the stove and stomped over to them. “Why the hell does Cheeks need surgery?”
Izuku’s brows furrowed, and Iida looked equally confused at the question…or at the fact that Katsuki was asking it. “Well, she — she got hurt doing patrol for her work-study. She got separated from the sidekick who was supposed to be with her, so she was outnumbered. Apparently, she bagged about four villains before one called Battering Ram took her out.”
Katsuki winced — the name alone conjuring up unpleasant images.
“She had some internal bleeding,” said Izuku. “But they said there shouldn’t be any permanent damage and that she can probably come home in a few days.”
Katsuki was relieved to hear that.
And also didn’t know what to do with the uneasiness at having just now found out about it. It made sense, he supposed. He wasn’t best friends with her, and she had been thick as thieves with those two nerds since day one. No one had thought to call him or text him, and he hadn’t given anyone a reason to think they should.
“So she can see visitors?” he asked suddenly, trying not to overcompensate for the vulnerability he felt in even asking.
Izuku nodded. “Yeah?” he cocked his head to the side. “Did- did you want to come with us, Kacchan?”
He scoffed and turned to stomp away, hoping to hide any sign of a blush. “If I wanna go see her, I don’t need you two losers tagging alone.”
“Okay,” called Izuku. “She’s in room 504 if you do end up going.”
And he did go, with a chocolate bun in hand and preemptively raised defenses, ready to offer some explanation for why he was there —currently, “you missed our workout!” was at the top of the list, so things were not going well.
But none of that was necessary because the minute she saw him, she smiled like he had come in holding the fucking moon for her and not a 500 yen pastry. “Bakugo!” She sat up slightly against the pillows propped her. “You’re here!”
“I am,” he said, awkwardly standing by her bed, not ready to commit to the chair.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
He scowled. “Why the hell wouldn’t you?”
About a million reasons. But she should know better. It was fine if Izuku and Iida didn’t know they were friends, but at the very least, Uraraka should know.
And despite the annoyance in his voice, she looked like he couldn’t have given her a better answer than that.
###
The day he graduated from UA was one of the weirdest days of his life. For so long, it was all he could think about, and now, despite how eager he was to start this new chapter in his life, his chest was aching, the back of his eyes burned, and he felt like something was caught in his throat all day.
The day he graduated from UA, Ochako came running up to him, round cheeks flushed the brightest pink, eyes shining with laughter, joy, and tears she hadn’t been shy about shedding. And suddenly, the tightness became unbearable.
“I got it, Bakugo!” she exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrists and jumping up and down in front of him. “I got it! I got it! I just checked my messages, and Miruko wants me to come work with her as a sidekick!” She pumped her fists into the air like a dork. But it was almost instantaneously that the crushing weight on his chest gave way, just a little.
“You’re — you’re taking it?” he asked, voice not as steady as he wanted it to be. “Thought you were going to take the offer in Ananuru City.” On the other side of the country. The hero who she had been talking to hadn’t broken the top 20 yet but was well on her way. She had her pick of options; her combat and rescue expertise made her an incredible asset to any agency.
“Well,” she said. “I mean, it’s a great place, but I think working with Miruko will help me hone my combat skills more. I just never thought she’d want me!”
It had taken all of Katsuki’s self-control not to march into her office every day and demand that she accept Uraraka’s application. He knew Uraraka deserved it, and she deserved better than him interfering where she didn’t ask.
“Of course she wanted you,” he said.
Who the hell wouldn’t?
“Plus, that means I get to stick around!”
That made his insides feel a little less squished. He felt like he had some space again. Though, his stomach did do something weird when she threw her arms around his neck and leaned in close, holding out her phone for a selfie.
“Take a picture with me, Bakugo!”
He was about to shrug her off or at least go through the pretense of being upset about it. But before he could even conjure up a protest, she shut him down with the lightest, most playful press of her soft, round, sweet lips to his cheek.
The day he graduated UA was the first time that Uraraka kissed him.
###
Katsuki wasn’t entirely sure, but he was beginning to think that maybe he wanted to be a bit more than friends with Uraraka.
His first clue was when she pulled a ratty, too-big shirt over her head after their workout. He was pretty used to seeing her in various states of dress and undress at this point, that didn’t really give him pause anymore than his very impressive shirtless torso gave her… what did give him pause was that it was a man’s shirt.
“Where the fuck did you get that?”
Uraraka looked at him, brows furrowed in annoying confusion. “What?” He gestured non-committedly toward the shirt, the ugly purple shirt hanging off her shoulder with a faded sleepy cat on the front of it. “Oh,” she said, flicking her hand dismissively and shouldering her bag. “It’s Shinso’s!” she said it like it didn’t matter in the least. It probably shouldn’t matter, but for some reason it did. “Now, come on!” she said. “I’m starving!”
It was weird that he cared. It was weird that it was hard to concentrate on anything other than that ugly shirt and the sleepy cat that was just smirking at him like an asshole.
He didn’t know peace for 16 hours.,
Until he was able to confirm with Mina that there was no way that Uraraka was dating him.
“I asked her too!” she said. “They have a sleepover once a month where they watch scary movies.” Katsuki didn’t like the sound of that. “But she was pretty insistent that they were just friends…and trust me, I’ve seen her lie about people she was “just friends” with. This was not that.”
That made him feel a little better. If there was gossip to know, Mina would know about it. As to why it made him feel better, he convinced himself that it was because he was jealous of his friends, and he knew the day Uraraka started dating someone, she wouldn’t have as much time for him.
Was that pathetic? Yes.
Was it less pathetic than secretly crushing on one of his friends? Well, that remained to be seen.
Like so many things with Uraraka, he didn’t really feel like he had the upper hand here. He couldn’t strategize because he could never predict what she would do or say or how it would make him feel. All he knew was he was always looking for her when she was nearby, like he didn’t know how to situate himself in the room until he knew. All he knew was sometimes she put her hand on his arm and leaned into his space like she had a standing invitation. All he knew was sometimes, she would come over to his place after a hard day, looking ragged and exhausted and like he was her last chance at breathing that day, and all he wanted to do was make sure that she knew she could always come to him. All he knew was he felt just a little weak every time she smiled at him. All he knew was that he had to tell himself that her hand wasn’t his to hold and the stray hair falling into her face didn’t need him to tuck it back. All he knew was that anytime she went somewhere, some part of him wanted to follow her.
Which was problematic at this given moment.
“How long?” he asked, handing her a beer as she flopped back onto his couch.
“Two months…” she sighed, looking up at him with a mix of exaggerated forlornness and something else far more sincere. “Means I’m gonna miss Christmas and my birthday!”
“Yeah,” he said, sitting beside her, closer than necessary, close enough that just a slight shift would press his thigh to hers, and the thought of it, for some reason, made his palms sweat and his heart rate spike. “But it sounds like they really need you over there. And you’ll be working with some pretty high-profile rescue heroes, so you’ll learn a shitton.”
She nodded.” Yeah,” she said. “I was able to get a quick briefing before I left the agency. My quick will be really useful, but still…” she pressed her thumb into the lip of the beer bottle anxiously. ”Two months is a long time.”
He agreed with that. But he also wanted her to be excited about this chance. She was hand-picked for this job. She was going to go save lives and help rebuild entire cities. It was what she was literally born to do. “It’ll go by fast,” he assured her.
She didn’t respond, not right away, but she did look at him and then back down at her drink and then back to him, like she was trying to pluck up the courage to say something ot him but couldn’t seem to get it out.
He knew the feeling.
But he could see the moment she decided not to say it; there was a slight shake of her head and a small smile before she looked at him again. “You ain’t gonna replace me while I’m gone, are you, Dynamight?”
He scoffed, rolled his eyes, and dropped his arm over the back of the sofa, opening himself up for her to move closer. “Whatever, dumbass.”
As if he would ever want to. As if he ever could. As if the thought of being away from her for two months wasn’t absurdly upsetting. As if he wasn’t going to spend the whole two months wondering what she was going to tell him.
###
Katsuki was having a perfectly fine day. A good day, in fact. He had proven for not the first time in the past few weeks why he was one of the most sought-after sidekicks upon graduation. And apparently, his punishment for being so good at his job was that the villains decided to give him a very boring Christmas Eve.
It wasn’t like he wanted a string of murders or anything…but a bank robbery would at least get his blood pumping…which he really needed on cold days like this. But, alas, he dragged his ass home early and thoroughly unwarmed.
But still…it was a perfectly fine day. It wasn’t like he had been distracting himself from the fact that he hadn’t gotten a call, or text, or email from Ochako in two weeks. It wasn’t like he was busy trying not to think of her because this was her favorite time of year, and he wondered what she would think about the decorations and the lights and all of the Christmas-themed treats in the windows of every shop he passed.
So it wasn’t like he was in a bad mood when someone knocked on his door. He just didn’t want to be bothered by Kirishima or anyone else who would want to drag his ass out for holiday festivities.
But whatever yell was on its way out of his mouth stuttered into one word…”Uraraka?”
She was here, somehow. Standing right in front of him. She looked a little worse for the wear, worn down and exhausted, but it was her.
“Hi.” The word was punctuated with puffs of cold air.
“Uh…hi…?” Her eyes narrowed, and she huffed at his response.
“Is that all you have to say to me, Katsuki Bakugo?!”
His face scrunched in confusion. “Well? What else am I supposed to…”
For the second time in as many minutes, Uraraka cut him off, this time with arms flung around his shoulder, body thrown at him recklessly as both legs kicked up behind her, and the press of her lips to his. He stumbled slightly back into his apartment, taking Uraraka with him.
But before he could even properly kiss her like he wanted to, her arms loosened from around his neck as she slid back to the ground, looking at him with that same huffy frustration.
Katsuki inhaled, trying to make sense of her words, given that her kiss had just rattled her brain so thoroughly. Also, trying to make sense of how she was here. She was gone…just a few seconds ago, she was on the other side of the world.
“When did you get back?””
“I literally just landed!” She closed the door behind her, rightly assuming that she was welcome out of the cold and into his home. “I ran home to drop off my stuff and then came here because I really missed you on the trip, and then I got impatient because I’ve been waiting for you to get off your ass for a long time now. So if I smell like 18 hours of travel, that’s your fault!” She poked him in the chest. “So you better…”
“Wait –– wait –– wait ––.” He still wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. Surely, he was. “How long?” He wasn’t sure why, but somehow, that felt important.
“Ever since the Secret Santa!” she said. “Ever since the fruitcake!”
…that was why it felt important, he supposed, and his heart immediately dropped. He didn’t want to ruin this. He wanted to have the chance to kiss her again…and again…and again. But, he had never been a good liar. Especially with her.
“Look, Ochako,” he started. “I…here’s the thing about that…” The shameful confession poured at him–– that he had been talking out of his ass –– that the fruitcake was not the thoughtful, sweet gift that she had thought it was. He really was, at the end of the day, an inconsiderate asshole.
Something it was good she knew now.
It would be less painful for both of them, he decided; no matter how much he wanted to kiss her again, it would be better for them both now to know that his kindest, most thoughtful, most romantic moment with her had been because he forgot about the party.
“It’s better you know now, Ochako,” he said, averting his eyes from her. “So I don’t…let you down later.”
He didn’t know what he expected her reaction to be, but it certainly wasn’t the gleeful laugh and the clasp of her palms on his cheeks as she drew his face down to her and kissed him again. “Oh, Katsuki,” she said like he was absolutely helpless without her. And, well, if the last two months proved anything…he was. “You don’t think I knew that?” She hugged him tight around his shoulders; in that way that he liked more than he would ever tell her that.
“You’re not mad?” he asked, only slightly muffled by her hair in his mouth. She pulled away enough to look at him but still close enough that it would require just a slight incline to kiss her again.
“Katsuki,” she whispered, and he could feel the brush of her words on his skin. “You saw all of that without even trying. That’s why I couldn’t wait to get back to you.” She kissed him again, a third time, not that he was counting. “I want someone that never had to try to see me.”
He supposed he had never thought of it that way.
She was just…impossible to miss.
And he supposed that meant that he could kiss her whenever he wanted now. And he planned to do just that when she pulled away suddenly. “Wait!” she said. “I brought us something!” She reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic-wrapped half of fruitcake.
“Oh fucking hell, Cheeks,” he said rearing back. “No fucking way that thing is still good!”
“It is!” she insisted. “I ate half and then put the rest of it in the freezer!”
His nose scrunched as he looked down at the fruitcake. “What the hell were you saving it for?”
She grinned at him, coy and triumphant, shaking it at him. “I was saving half of it for after I bagged Katsuki Bakugo!” She skipped past him and toward his kitchen. And he couldn't bring himself to be even a little upset about it. “I just didn’t think it would take a whole year!”
And just like that, just like it had almost a year ago when he had bought the damn fruitcake, a perfectly fine day became one of the most important days of his life.
So maybe Secret Santa wasn’t so bad. Maybe Christmas wasn’t either. And maybe he was even coming around on fruitcake.