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Ochako was the kind of girl who always knew exactly what she wanted.
She might hesitate, or make mistakes, and oftentimes she was afraid, but she never looked back and she never questioned her choices. As sure as a drill breaking new ground, it was the Uraraka way to push forward.
But that was why she knew she was in trouble.
Because what she wanted involved Bakugou Katsuki.
Her note, left on his desk, had been just as simple and straightforward. A place and a time. No name.
She’d distorted her handwriting to avoid suspicion; to draw his attention now would be catastrophic. When Bakugou’s eyes pierced the room with a mad curiosity, she controlled her breathing and turned slightly away, hoping her laughter at Kaminari’s latest antics was well-timed. Kirishima saunters over and the note disappears, along with his hands, into his pockets. A small part of Uraraka wants him to look straight at her, wants him to see everything she needs him to understand in a handful of seconds so she doesn’t have to go through with this.
She wonders when she started lying to herself.
---
Ochako was the kind of girl who always knew exactly what she wanted. Lately though, she found herself wanting a bit more.
Ever since their face-off during the sports festival, being near Bakugou made her feel like a tightly-coiled spring. Sometimes, when their eyes met for the briefest of moments, it was like he’d struck a match inside of her chest, like her own quirk had betrayed her and gravity was pressing down on her heart. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying.
And she didn’t understand it at all.
With Deku it was different. When he looked at her, she felt like she could float up and away, like she had the wings of a bird; her heart fluttered and sighed. Deku inspired her, he reminded her what being a hero was all about. She admired his ability to overcome all odds, she wanted to make the journey toward pro hero alongside him. Being alone with him was too much, she felt like a lead in a cheesy romance manga and she couldn’t handle the implications. She fled.
But Bakugou’s presence was the chaos that rooted her in place. His words cut through her, exposing parts and places she had forgotten within herself. He was the booming crack of lightning to Deku’s quiet thunder. In a single moment, he had pushed her in a way that triggered a chain reaction; emotions unfolded like ripples on water to bring her to this moment. To this choice.
The final bell rings and Ochako bids her farewells to Tsuyu, Iida, and Deku with a calm that she knows won’t last. The empty bathroom at the end of the hall serves as a temporary refuge, and the cool water from the sink is a welcome balm for her restlessness. The mirror taunts her, showing not her fear, not her insecurity, nor her panic, but instead reflecting flushed cheeks and bright eyes. Eagerness. Anticipation.
For the first time in a while, she likes what she sees.
---
Ochako was the kind of girl who always knew exactly what she wanted. She just didn’t always know how to go about getting it.
Her footsteps are sure and steady as they bring her closer to the TDL building (and her goal), but her mind is reeling.
Flashes of her fight with Bakugou appear in her mind’s eye and her adrenaline levels quickly rise to the occasion. There’s something about these moments that she cannot leave behind, something crucial. Sometimes she can still feel the radiating heat from his attacks prickling along her forearms, leaving goosebumps in their wake; sometimes she sees his fierce expression in her dreams, hears that roaring battlecry. He was so fired up, so expectant and thrilled and she found herself wanting to stoke the flames. She found herself wanting to burn right along with him. But he’s Deku-kun’s rival, not hers, and so these thoughts are a plague on her peace of mind. She needs to understand what they mean.
Ochako basks in the cool shade of the TDL building but it does nothing to soothe her nerves.
The heavy percussion of her heartbeat is incriminating.
So are the heavy footsteps behind her.
“ ‘I’ll give you the fight you’ve been waiting for. Meet me behind TDL after class’ huh? Ya know, I fuckin’ knew Deku didn’t have the balls to pull this kind of shit; he’s too busy hiding behind All Might’s ghost to call me out like this.”
She turns to find Bakugou leaning against the corner of the building, reading from the note she had written. He looks up and holds her in place with a hard stare that makes her muscles scream. “I didn’t have the slightest fuckin’ clue who this could be to tell ya the truth, but now that I think about it, nobody else makes more sense.” He lets go of the note and it floats away in the wind. There’s an urge to watch it flutter into the trees, but she’s unable to take her eyes off of him; an aura like Bakugou’s demanded complete attention.
“So you wanna tell me why you’re really calling me out here like a fucked up school love confession?”, he murmurs. He’s unusually quiet and for some reason that pleases her. Maybe he understands. Maybe he gets it. She sincerely hopes so, because then maybe he could explain it to her.
She wants to say many things. She wants to at least try to explain herself, but she knows Bakugou, and she knows that words won’t reach him. She also knows she doesn’t have the words anyway, that’s why she’s here in the first place. This is the only way she can think of.
“It wasn’t a joke. Fight me”, she says.
He raises a single brow and she fights the urge to break eye contact. “I’m challenging you, Bakugou-kun.”
A beat of silence. Then two. Then four.
Suddenly, a wicked grin splits his face. “Fuckin’ bring it then, sunshine,” he croons, arms apart. “Ain’t never too busy to scrap, but I got shit to do today, so let’s make this quick!” The muscles in Katsuki’s arms swell and tense and her chest heaves in panic but also relief. Here he comes!
—
Ochako was the kind of girl who always knew exactly what she wanted. And sometimes that involved a full-scale beatdown in the woods.
She ducks low under his guard when he lunges forward in a powerful show of force, not trying too hard to read his movements but instead opting to manipulate them to her liking. She needed to touch him, just once. If she could feint…
“You must really have a death wish if you’re trying to fuck with my head, Round-face!” She can hear the amusement in his voice and knows he’s way too close for comfort. Don’t think, just move! Her heart trips down a flight of stairs when she hears his triumphant bark of laughter. He thinks he has her. “Not exactly!”, she shouts and does a well-timed flip over his head, trying to grab his outstretched arm in the process.
“No fuckin’ way you’re gonna touch me, Uraraka! Still too slow!”, Bakugou roars, pivoting out of reach. Her eyes are focused on the ground where she plans to land but she can sense the kick coming for her gut. Her hands tap the soil for a moment before she uses the momentum to spring back upward in perfect reverse. His leg swipes at empty air. Tiny pebbles float around her and she almost snickers at her own cleverness. This time she’d be a bit more subtle. He can’t dodge what he can’t see.
Bakugou starts doing his quirk some justice and real fear rattles her ribcage. Immediately, a large blast tosses her backward. She uses her quirk to slow her momentum, but she can feel the tiny scratches on her skin as she rolls across the dirt. “C’mon Space Cadet, where’s the fight I’ve been waiting for huh?! I might as well take a fucking nap!” Bakugou’s arms are pinwheeling from the constant barrage of explosions as he taunts her. “Get up! Let’s go!”
She can hardly see and her nose is bleeding but she hasn’t felt this satisfied in weeks. Quickly recovering, Ochako unleashes her quirk. Tiny rocks and pebbles and pieces of gravel move at high speeds as they succumb to gravity and slash at Bakugou’s face and arms. The dust hasn’t settled yet, but his taunting and yelling easily betray his location. The low hissing and swearing she hears confirms that she has struck true. He emerges from the dust as it clears, a bit worse for the wear and looking mighty pissed, but grinning like a madman.
“So you learned some new tricks eh?”, he sniffs, licking a bit of blood off of his lip. “Guess I’ll have to test you out forreal then!” And so the bull charges once again, and Uraraka is happy to play the bullfighter. Yes. Look at me. I’m right here! Come at me! She catches a brief glimpse of him as they trade blows, and his pleased smirk unleashes a new wave of energy in her. He looks like a kid in a candy store and it thrills her to no end. Not just Deku or Todoroki. I’m here too! Watch me! Fight me! Her thoughts whirl in a mad frenzy.
They dance around each other, increasingly bloodied and no less thirsty for more. She uses her quirk in quick bursts with smaller objects to avoid fatigue. He’s so intrigued by her new fighting technique that he limits the use of his quirk at key moments, opting instead to parry her the old-fashioned way. Be it curiosity or pride, she isn’t sure, but she takes advantage. At one point she grazes him with her fingers and with a triumphant shout, tries to slam him down to the ground. He easily times a burst of flame to break his descent and turns to face her, eyes wild. He’s definitely not holding back anymore now, and almost levels the nearby grouping of trees with a single attack, rendering her quirk useless. She’s blasted back and tree bark tears into her shoulders, making her cry out. Her stomach churns in warning when she tries to go again. “Not yet!”, she wails, defiant. “Just a bit more!”
Ochako lifts herself up only to see Bakugou is there above her, readying a strike. Her hand-to-hand training serves her well, and she grabs his wrist while tucking herself away from his grab. He’s so fast! Quickly, he tries to sweep-kick the backs of her knees but she jumps and plants her feet into his chest. Gotta stay in control of the momentum! Gotta stay close! She forces him back and they go again. And again. And again. Bakugou’s booming laughter is infectious and encouraging and she finds herself laughing too. The air is hot and she can feel every drop of sweat and her clothes are sticky and gross but she never wants this to end.
“THAT ALL YOU GOT, URARAKA?!”, Katsuki taunts. And she thinks that it probably is, but she doesn’t care. She needed this. She still needs this. “What are you trying to prove huh? What do you fuckin’ want HUH? To win?!”, he roars. She doesn’t know if he’s talking about her or himself. She thinks it’s both.
Uravity has improved, and she lasts longer. But so has the Explodo-King, and she doesn’t get as far as she’d like before Bakugou has her pinned; one hand binds her wrists while the other rests lightly near her throat, quirk crackling in his palm. “My win”, he pants. They’re both gasping for breath and sweating bullets and the soil around them is singed and upturned. Her vision is swimming and she can hardly breathe and she feels a bit sick and it’s terrifying, it’s exhilarating. She wants to laugh again, she wants to cry, but she does neither. Instead she looks up at him.
On her back in the dirt, with aching muscles and what feels like a broken ankle, Ochako is finally close enough to watch him. His face is taught with adrenaline, a bit of pride, and an emotion she cannot name. Struck a bit dumb, she imagines how he’d look if those hard angles were to soften. And it is in this bizarre moment, that Uraraka Ochako considers Bakugou Katsuki’s smile. She then wonders what his laugh sounds like, wonders if there’s ever a look of peace on his sleeping face. Wonders about his hopes, his fears, his secrets. And the more she wonders about him, the more she wants to fight him. And the more she wants to fight him the more she wonders.
They simply stare at each other for a few more moments, or perhaps an eternity, she can’t be sure. It’s Bakugou who breaks the silence.
“Why?”, he asks, between breaths.
“I just wanted-“, she begins, but he isn’t finished.
“What the fuck Uraraka! You could’ve asked fuckin’ Deku or Four-Eyes or even Two-Face’s moody ass to spar with you! Just bat your little eyes for ‘em and they’d praise you and hold your fucking hand all the way to top hero, so why am I out here wasting my time with you?!” He lowers his head to glare at her and it brings him closer. Every cell in her body is on fire, every muscle is screaming, every nerve is like lightning coursing through her, but she can’t look away when his molten eyes burn into hers. “Why me?”
—
Ochako was always the kind of girl who knew exactly what she wanted. Except when she didn’t.
She can’t bring herself to speak, but she releases a shaky breath and her frustration is the single tear that trails a clear stripe down her cheek. It was too much, everything just came to the surface and she was here with him and he was here, he’d come here like she asked and they fought just like she asked, but instead of getting answers all she has is more questions! More stupid questions that didn’t even make sense! Why is she thinking about his smile at a time like this? What the hell?
Bakugou releases a puff of air from his nostrils and closes his eyes. “Fuck! This is fuckin’ nuts. I should’ve wanted just about anyone else to be waiting here for me; a real fight to the finish. You didn’t even cross my mind. So WHY? Why was I the fucking opposite of disappointed when I saw you! Why am I actually PISSED that it’s over already?!! Damn it!” His hands loosen their grip on her wrist as his thoughts retreat inward.
Her tongue feels like lead in her mouth and she seriously feel she’s going to throw up now, but Uraraka manages to speak.
“I….I…I don’t know!”, she almost sobs. “I don’t get it either! I just feel like…like I have to….I just want to know more! And the only way-”
Bakugou flinches backward. “HUH? What the hell does that even mean?! Know more what?!” His breath is hot and smells like smoke and she feels like the knight fighting the dragon to save the princess, but she’s also princess wanting to escape and she doesn’t know how the story goes. Her mind is spinning in circles and she barely knows what she’s saying. She’s probably delirious. She probably has a concussion but-
She winces. “M-More about…about myself? I think. About you? Both? Ugh, I don’t know, Bakugou-kun! I just know that when I fight you I feel…I feel-!” Chest heaving, her eyelids flutter as she fights more tears, trying find the answer somewhere out in the wasted field. Find them anywhere else but with him.
Bakugou’s eyes open slowly, and for a moment he’s not even looking at her, he’s somewhere else. “What else is there to it, gravity girl? You feel. What other fucking reason do you need?”
Oh? Oh. Oh.
Well that made sense, didn’t it?
She swallows hard and the motion grazes his hand; he refocuses on her and cancels his quirk. “Fighting you is…weird. Shit, I guess I get fuckin’ excited to see what you’ll do or whatever.” Bakugou releases her wrists and they both sit up, still reclining on the ground. He runs his hand through his hair roughly, eyes glassy.
“M’pretty damn sure in an all-out battle I could take you down easy if I really wanted to but, I…I guess I don’t fuckin’ want to.” His own words hit him like a swift hook and he goes quiet again.
He’s being surprisingly honest and Ochako tries and fails not to be extremely flattered by it. His words give her just enough courage to come clean. She clears her throat awkwardly. “When we fought at the sports festival and even now, I…I didn’t want it to end. You didn’t go easy on me and I feel like this whole time I’ve been undervaluing myself, that people have gone easy on me up until now. For the first time, I want to be stronger for myself, not just my parents, not just to showcase my skills, and also to…impress you, m-maybe? Whenever I’m stuck trying to learn a new move, or even when I feel like I’ve gotten a bit stronger I have this urge to…to fight you. Or talk to you. Or just show you. I want to know what you think. When I fight you or watch you fight, I seem to learn something about myself, and uhm…I learn a bit about you too, I think. It’s…nice.”
Katsuki looks up to the sky because he doesn’t even know himself in this moment and he doesn’t even know what the fuck he’s saying. “Ya know, I didn’t even think about fucking winning for once, back then and just now I just- I see that look on your face and I… .argh! Fuck! I don’t know!” He grabs at his hair and tugs and Uraraka is even more far gone than she was before.
“I know the feeling”, she murmurs, face reddening. They lock gazes again for a few moments.
“This is the dumbest shit.”, he groans after a while, eventually turning away from her.
He gets up and shoves his hands in his pockets, still hiding his expression. Her desire to see his face rears up so strongly in that moment, that she feels like a fool for not being able to identify these feelings sooner. Bakugou shrugs and sucks his teeth. “So…did you learn some shit then? About yourself?”, he grunts.
Ochako looks down at her hands, her bruised fingers twisting nervously as her mind finally unravels. “I did.”
“Hmph…what about me?”. His voice is a hoarse whisper.
Silence blankets the pair for a little over a minute before Bakugou kicks the rough dirt beneath his feet. “Forget I asked. Doesn’t mean jack shit to me. That’s your business. At least this wasn’t a total waste of ti-”
“I realized-! I realized that I’m very curious about you, Bakugou-kun. And that I like the way I am when I fight you.”
He turns to regard her over his shoulder with a glare, eyes bulging, and a small tinge of red in his cheeks. “Why in the deepest recesses of fuck would someone like you want to know more about me? Trying to find a weakness, Uraraka? Because if you’re pulling some recon shit for Deku I’ll-.”
“UM! ALSO YOUR SMILE IS NICE!”, she shouts, hands clasped near her chest, eyes completely shut.
“THE FUCK?!” Bakugou whirls around completely to face her, mouth agape.
Her face is so red and she wants to float up into the clouds and hide for a year. She still can’t open her eyes but she can’t stop talking now. It’s like the whole can of worms was opened and everything is flying out.
“W-When we fought! You were laughing I think. And smiling, sometimes. I…I like your smile! You should smile more…uh maybe?” Her eyes snap open when she realizes she’s said a bit too much. “I mean, only if you want! I’m not saying you have to smile just because of me and if you only smile when you fight I guess that’s fine too! I-I guess we could just fight some more then- UM! Not to mean that you’d even care about that or have the time or that I even care ehehehe, oh gosh um-! I’m just saying if you’re ever happy and you have the urge to smile a little that you shouldn’t hide it because it’s really ni-“
“OI URARAKA!”
“E-EH?”
“Give it fucking rest.”
“Right! Sorry, sorry! I ramble when I’m nervous.” She sighs. “Actually I usually run but I can't even feel my legs right now.”
A minute passes and Uraraka starts to panic. His silence in the wake of her confession has her mentally backpedaling. Just as she’s about to bow and beg for forgiveness for being a huge creep, Bakugou takes a deep breath and turns away from her once again, making her pause expectantly. It seemed to be his go-to method for speaking to her at this point, so she took it as a good sign.
Katsuki scratches the back of his neck, which feels warmer than usual. His leg bounces in irritation. “You’re usually wearing that goofy grin. Always cheering for that shitstain nerd Deku like he deserves it just for fucking breathing. Always trying to make friends like this is summer camp or some shit. I mean that’s fine or whatever but it’s…cool to see a look on your face that’s actually interesting for once.”
Huh. Ochako’s face scrunches in confusion. “So you…like it when I don’t smile?”
Bakugou reels and turns back toward her. “HUH?! When the hell did I say that I don’t-! Look…I don’t…hate it. Or anything. You’re always just trailing after Deku and Thunder Thighs with that puppy look and it’s…it’s stupid! Why even waste your time on those idiots. Focus on your own shit. Make everyone watch you instead.”
“Even you?” The words leave her mouth before she even registers them and she is definitely on board with sewing her mouth closed after this.
A few seconds go by before he snorts. “Ha! Keep dreamin’, Lightweight. Only thing I’m watching is the top.”
She sighs in relief, grinning. “But Bakugou-kun, that’s just how I am. I like making friends. Is it so bad?” He shrugs. “Ain't about liking it. Bet you’d be a bonafide threat if you stopped being so fucking peachy to everyone. Make people earn that shit is what I say!” He sticks his nose in the air proudly. “Always works for me!”
A wave of calm suddenly settles over her, and she feels a bit giddy. Uraraka smirks. “So you do like it when I smile then?”, she asks, remembering his earlier comment. She can almost see the countdown above his head as she watches him light up like a fuse.
“LISTEN HERE YOU-!”, he starts, but she’s already dissolved into a fit of laughter, waving her hands in front of her. Katsuki is struck speechless, which is a new experience for him.
“Bakugou-kun, I’m teasing. I couldn’t resist, sorry! Please don’t get mad!” She’s still chuckling when another question comes to mind. “Did you enjoy it at least?”
“Eh?” He’s currently rotating his shoulder and cracking his neck.
“You know, the fight!”, she clarifies, pursing her lips and punching the air in front of her.
Katsuki makes a face. “Pfft. Who cares? You want me to give you a fucking riveting review or something? I mean shit, you’ve got some moves Uraraka. And it did feel good to let off some steam! Everyone else I spar with is either boring, chickenshit, or super fuckin’ preachy so…congrats on not putting me to sleep I guess”, he scoffs.
She laughs. “Hey, Bakugou-kun?”
“What?”
“I had fun too.”
“Tch, whatever. If you want to get your ass kicked again just say so. None of that cryptic note shit.” He rolls his eyes.
“Gotcha. And Bakugou-kun?”
“What NOW?”
“Thanks. For before and this time too.”
“And heeeere we fuckin’ go with the puppy eyes. I’m out. Later.” He starts shuffling off toward the dorms with a casual wave.
“Bakugou-kun! Wait!”, she shouts, arm outstretched toward him.
He curses loudly. “I swear on All Might if you fucking call me again I’ll-“
“You see I uh, I think I sprained my ankle, hehe.” She scratches the back of her neck.
Bakugou stops mid-step and does a perfect pivot to face her. “For the love of SHIT! …Are you fucking serious?!” Uraraka nods mutely, embarrassed. He rubs his hand down his entire face. “Sonuvabitch…”
She hisses when she prods the swelling skin, bruises already turning unsightly colors. “Can you take me to Recovery Girl?”
He sighs loudly and walks back over to her prone form. Turning, he crouches and cups his hands behind his back. “Get on. Don’t fucking tell a soul or i’ll make your life hell.”
“O-Of course!”, Uraraka chirps; she thinks that her heart is going to call it quits at this rate. Today has been too much. She wraps her arms around Bakugou’s neck and starts lifting herself up. “Th-Thank you. Uhm...oh!”, she stammers as he leans forward and takes on her weight. Reflexively, her legs move up to wrap around his torso, and his hands just as reflexively find purchase underneath her thighs.
Both of them stop breathing.
Ohhh boy. She really didn’t think this through. Her face lights up like a firework and she buries her head in his shirt, sweat and all. She totally doesn’t notice he smells like cut wood and a bit of gasoline. She especially doesn’t notice that she kind of likes it. When he springs into a standing position her legs squeeze his waist and- ooooooooohkayshe really really really REALLY didn’t think this through!
“S-Sorry!”, she stutters. This is weird. This is so weird. Abort! Abort!
Ochako can feel Bakugou’s muscles (oh my god ) tense up and she has a perfect view of his neck and can see the flush of red creeping along his collar and up to his ears. He gnashes his teeth. “Can’t fuckin’ believe…LISTEN! You better not get me in trouble because of this. Tell that old hag you fell out a window.” He starts walking toward the school building.
“The girl with the gravity manipulation quirk fell out of a window?” She levels him with a flat look that he can’t see but certainly feels.
“Don’t start that shit with me! You were the one who wanted this, you figure it out! I’m not involved!” He shifts and hikes her higher up onto his back as he walks, which unleashes a new wave of awkwardness for them both as he repositions his hands. She tries and fails to preserve her dignity.
“So did we both fall out of a window because you look pretty beaten up too.”, she says, trying to keep her mind from imploding.
Bakugou would typically clench his fist in indignation in response to such a snarky remark, but since he’s gripping Uraraka’s legs when he does this, it manifests as a squeeze that has her swallowing a scream that would’ve lasted consecutive weeks. Amazingly, Bakugou is too engrossed in their banter to notice her demise.
“Tch! Oh fuck off, you barely scratched me! I’ll just say I caught your clumsy ass or something.”
The brave hero Uravity recovers with grace and poise. “Y-Y-Y-You caught me and yet my a-ankle still got sprained?” She hums in the back of he throat after a moment and Bakugou can hear the smile in her voice. “You know what? That’s actually pretty believable.”
Katuski stops walking as they reach UA’s doors. “How about I drop you right the fuck now and you can crawl to the nurse? That way the story makes perfect sense,” he growls, one eye twitching.
“Hehehehe, no need to be dramatic Bakugou-kun! I’m sure you’ll think of something brilliant”, she says, patting his shoulder.
“Yeah yeah, nice save Angel-face. I’ll just drop you outside the door and you can limp to Granny Kissing Booth. I’ve seen enough of her for a lifetime.”
Uraraka suddenly groans, leaning heavily over his shoulder.
“Hmmm, hey Bakugou-kun…I think I’m gonna be sick.” She makes a very worrying gurgle and Bakugou goes pale.
“OI! YOU BETTER NOT FUCKIN’ SPEW OR I’M DROPPING YOUR ASS URARAKA!” He frantically searches the hall for a trash bin.
“Mmmm I won’t. I promise I won’t if you promise me somethin’ “, she whispers, eyes drooping.
“Ain’t promising you shit but let’s hear it”, he hisses, listening for any signs to abandon ship.
“Would you…train with me? Sometime? Don’ have to be like, official or anythin’ I just….I think I really like…”
Bakugou waits a bit, wondering what the hell has gotten into her, and eventually turns to give her a peace of his mind when he hears a telltale snore and a puff of breath near his right ear. What the-oh. She's out cold! Who the fuck falls asleep mid-sentence like that?!
---
Ochako was always the kind of girl who knew exactly what she wanted. Apparently, she wanted a nap.
The sun is low in the sky as Katsuki trudges down the hall to the nurse’s office. Uraraka’s head bobs against his shoulder in a lulling rhythm and he admits, if only to himself (and barely even that), that he doesn’t particularly hate it. He even gets a strong urge to carry her like this for a bit longer, to stall for just a few more moments. He could take the long way, let her sleep a bit. I'd say she’s fuckin’ earned some Zs. He doesn’t have the slightest idea why he thinks this and squashes the feeling down with a furious quickness. He’s taking her ass straight to the nurse’s office and then he’s gone. Like the wind. He’s wasted enough time on this chick already.
Uraraka sighs in her sleep, murmuring. Her arms tighten around his neck before loosening again. If her mouth wasn’t right next to his ear he would’ve missed her words. Ochako’s eyes flutter, lost to dreams. “Smile…..Kacchan..”, she coos, then releases a loud snore.
He scoffs, adjusting her position on his back one more time as he nears the office door. Nobody is there to notice the small upward tilt to the corners of his mouth. He prefers it that way.
“Alright already, idiot.”
----