Chapter Text
By 12:46 AM, Garage Three should have been empty.
The telemetry reports were finished, the simulator data had been reviewed.
The setup recommendations for the weekend had already been submitted.
There was absolutely no reason for either of them to still be there.
Yet somehow, neither had left.
Rain drummed steadily against the roof overhead. Most of the garage lights had been switched off hours ago, leaving only the workbench lamps casting warm pools of light across the concrete floor. Outside, the academy track shimmered beneath the storm Shouto sat cross-legged on top of a toolbox, absently turning a pen between her fingers. Across from her, Bakugou leaned back against a workbench.
For several minutes, neither spoke, the silence wasn't awkward.
It never was.
That fact should probably have concerned them.
It didn't.
Eventually Shouto glanced toward the clock mounted above the garage doors, "It's almost one." "Yeah." Neither moved.
The realization hung there between them, they'd been done working for over an hour.
Still nobody left, rain filled the silence again, outside water ran down the garage windows in silver streams.
Inside the familiar comfort of Garage Three settled around them.
At some point, Shouto found herself thinking about the rumors again, which was unfortunate.
Because she had spent the entire week trying not to think about them "Do you think they'll ever stop?"
Bakugou groaned immediately "No."
"They seem committed." "They're idiots."
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Bakugou noticed.
Unfortunately.
"Don't." "What."
"That look." "What look."
"The one where you're about to say something annoying."
"I'm not." "You are."
"I wasn't." "You were."
The argument lasted less than thirty seconds before both abandoned it.
For a while they simply listened to the rain.
The academy beyond the garage had gone completely dark now. Most of the dormitory windows were black. Even the track lights had been dimmed.
Everybody else was asleep or should have been.
Then, before she could stop herself, Shouto asked "Would it bother you?"
Bakugou frowned "What." "The rumors."
The question settled between them.
Immediately, she regretted it.
Not because it was embarrassing, because suddenly it felt important for a moment Bakugou didn't answer.
His gaze drifted toward the rain-streaked windows, toward the empty circuit beyond them.
Anywhere except her.
Then:
"Not really."
The answer caught her off guard.
She blinked "Oh."
Brilliant. Truly.
Bakugou snorted. "What kind of response is that?"
"I don't know." apparently she didn't.
She had expected annoyance.
Definitely sarcasm, not honesty.
"Thought you'd hate it." "I hate them, that's different."
The conversation should have ended there.
Instead the silence that followed felt strangely aware.
Not uncomfortable, just different.
Like both of them suddenly knew they were standing somewhere neither had planned to reach.
Shouto focused on the pen in her hands.
Across from her, Bakugou appeared deeply interested in a socket wrench.
Neither was fooling anyone.
Then she remembered something, the Ferrari event.
The compliment.
The one sentence that had somehow lodged itself in her brain for weeks.
Before she could talk herself out of it:
"Can I ask something?" "Depends."
"The uniform."
Bakugou immediately looked annoyed.
Which meant he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"The Ferrari event." "Yeah."
Shouto looked down "Why did you say that?"
A pause.
"Say what?"
"That it looked good."
Bakugou stared at her actually stared.
Like he genuinely didn't understand the question "Because it did."
No hesitation. No teasing.
No embarrassment.
Just certainty.
As if there had never been another possible answer.
Shouto immediately wished she hadn't asked because somehow that answer was worse.
She looked away, fast.
Across from her, Bakugou suddenly became very interested in absolutely everything except eye contact.
Neither spoke for several moments.
Then, mercifully, the conversation drifted elsewhere.
Childhood races, Ferrari stories.
The time Kaminari accidentally locked himself in a maintenance closet, the time Kirishima broke a simulator chair.
Nothing important.
Yet, everything important.
The kind of conversation that wandered without direction.
Hours slipped by unnoticed.
At some point Shouto rested her head against the wall behind her.
The rain had already softened the garage remained warm.
Her eyes grew heavier.
Bakugou was talking about something. Tire degradation.
Maybe.
She wasn't entirely sure anymore.
His voice blended with the rain.
Comfortable. Familiar.
The last thing she remembered thinking was that she should probably go back to her dorm.
The next thing she knew, everything went quiet.
----
Bakugou stopped mid-sentence.
Shouto was asleep.
Still sitting on the toolbox, head tipped slightly to the side.
Arms folded loosely.
Completely unconscious.
For a moment he considered waking her, it was nearly three.
Common sense.
Instead, he stayed where he was.
Rain continued tapping softly against the roof the track glistened beyond the windows.
The garage felt smaller somehow.
Quieter.
Eventually he leaned his head back against the workbench.
Just for a minute.
The rain was still falling when his eyes finally closed.
Outside, the storm was slowly passing.
Inside Garage Three, neither noticed the night quietly slipping into morning.