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It all starts with the tapping of her fingers against his phone screen, the pads making gentle but strange pudgy little thud noises he can’t help but listen to. Katsuki’s not sure why it’s so entrancing, he’s felt the raw power behind Uraraka’s finger pads many times over the last few years but it’s somehow different to see them up close when there's no intention of launching him or his belongings into space. It’s almost relaxing listening to the way they squish against the glass, it’s cute even and that's the thought that riles him into his standard defensive scowl, lest she catch on to this new weak spot like the little round faced demon she was.
“Hurry up, Cheeks. I’ve got places to be.”
“The gym won’t miss you,“ she snarks with a faux innocence that almost pulls a smile from him, almost.
“I can’t believe you don’t already have our numbers!” she continues all sunshine, completely unphased by his usual sourness. He has no idea how people can’t see the steel of her when she's like this all the time with him.
“I live with you extras, shouldn’t need your fucking numbers too.” He groused particularly loudly to cover the fact it was untrue, he was after all here right now and in need of her number.
She must have realised his bluster because she was smiling up at him, just a slight pull at the corner of her lips that was more of an amused smirk. Innocent enough but the expression made his ears feel hot and his frown sink deeper.
“Well if we’re gonna intern together it just makes sense.” She hands the phone back with a flourish, her little pads dusting briefly across the device but never all five a habit carefully ingrained. “There. All done!”
“Just don’t be fucking late, Cheeks. Miruko won’t wait for your ass and neither will I.” it’s more bluster, Katsuki can admit that he might have mellowed over the years but he hasn’t changed that much.
What is strange though is the way he has to resist the urge to hold on to this conversation. He's less social than ever so this desire to stay makes no sense, even to him, and he’s certainly not willing to look deeper into it. Emotions were strange motivators and he preferred to stick firmly in the realm of ‘angry’ or ‘Cocky’. Consequently he’d gotten very good at pulling himself away from his more emotional classmates which included the strange contradiction that was Uraraka Ochako. So with a brisque nod and a trademark ‘tch’ he strode towards the dorms without glancing back, though the temptation was eating at him. He’d have to work on that.
“See you tomorrow then!” she called as he left, just as snarky as before and still completely unaffected by his attitude. He obviously needed to work on that too...
It wasn’t until hours later that Katsuki considered the fact that whilst she’d given him her number he hadn’t reciprocated, which meant he was going to have to reach out first to sort out their internship tomorrow. Well fuck. He wasn’t used to being the one to initiate text conversations, friendly or otherwise, and the idea of it made him uncomfortable. Not afraid, because Bakugou ‘Dynamight’ Katsuki did not fear anything, but he was well aware social graces were not something he possessed and that he lacked even further over text. He was working on it, like he worked at everything, diligently determined to be the best all around, but it was at the bottom of his list and he didn’t like to fail.
So, he avoided that social minefield with another half hour of math study before finally resigning himself to it and swiping open his phone, scrolling down his contacts for her name. Only it’s not there, not under Uraraka anyway. He scrolls quickly back up wondering if she’d been sassy enough to put herself in his phone under ‘Cheeks’ but the C’s were barren too. He catches himself frowning as he has to slowly scroll his, admittedly small, list of contacts one by one until he finds her; nestled in the O’s under Ochako.
His fingers press the message button automatically, his mind blank. A situation that was not at all helped by her first name appearing in the center of his phone, like a beacon, as their message history opened.
What did it mean? Why Ochako? They weren’t close enough for first name bases, fuck half of the nerd squad still only called her Chaks. Was it an invitation to use her first name? Or had she done it just to be a cheeky shit? Was she intentionally trying to drive him insane like the little menace she was? Or worse, had she done it accidentally and he was just obsessing over nothing?
This shit was exactly why he hated social expectations; his bunch of idiots were only tolerable because they said exactly what they were thinking at all times regardless of the audience. He didn’t have to worry about any of them meaning something else when they couldn't even shut their mouths long enough to save their damn lives most days.
Before he could obsess over it further his attention was captured by the tell tale “...” appearing on his screen on her end of the conversation. It was only then Katsuki realised she’d text herself a pink flower emote earlier, to gain his number. She was as clever as ever and hours ahead of him apparently. So a menace and a smart one, that girl was going to be trouble, he could tell.
He watched the dots stop and start, vanish and reappear over and over for what felt like an eternity. He could almost picture the little pads of her fingers tapping out a message on the bright pink smartphone the half and half bastard had gifted her last year. He watched the dots disappear yet again and with it the rest of his patience.
With all the calm of a raging bull began to type his own message, fingers angrily slamming keys, not willing to play this one sided waiting game any longer. He wanted to get their meeting time sorted and get to bed, he didn't have time to be obsessing and overthinking over Roundface like he was one of his band of idiots.
And then his phone chimed.
So wrapped up in his anger he nearly blasted the thing to smithereens on reflex, years worth of control being his only saviour as untensed his fingers to, finally, read her message.
“Evening!”
That was it. Just one word. He could even hear it in her obnoxiously chipper tone inside his head. He practically growled as he replied, deleting his first message and leaking his earlier frustrations into this new one message. She’d better be fucking thankful it wasn't all in caps.
“ 🌸- What is this shit?”
“Well I figured you wouldn't hand over your number otherwise.”
“Besides it's cute. 🌸 ”
“Fight me. 🌸🌸”
“Fuck off.”
“Do I look like an emote kind of guy?”
“The angry emote maybe. 😠😠😠 ”
“Fuck you, Roundface.”
“I’ve gotta better shit to do than deal with your annoying ass.”
“No wait! Sorry!
“You’re just fun to tease.”
“I’ll behave.”
“Promise!”
“Come back? 🌸 ”
He decides to choose the path of least annoyance and ignore the bloody sakura emote tacked on, she was a cheeky shit even by text but Katsuki appreciated it on some level. Whilst he could barely understand her some days she’d at least never been cowed by him, even though she left him rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand as he typed out his reply with the other.
“What the fuck did you want?”
“Yay Bakugou’s back! 🌸 ”
“So, when are we leaving tomorrow?”
“Car’s due at 5.30am,
“So you’d better get your lazy ass up early.”
“Ugh are you serious? That’s an ungodly hour!”
“WAIT!!”
“There won't be time for breakfast. 😭 ”
“Get the fuck up on time and I’ll feed you.”
“This once.”
“Omg thank you Bakugou, you’re my hero! 🥰 ”
He refuses to acknowledge the pure rush of satisfaction that gives him, a part of him knows she’s just being typical Uraraka but the petty competitive side of him likes the idea of being her personal hero, even if it is just over giving her breakfast. It would be the best breakfast she ever had. It wasn’t even like it was going to take him any extra effort to make a double portion. Which was obviously why it had been so instinctive to offer, or at least that's what he convinced himself of with a dismissive scoff. Refusing to admit how the idea of her sad little sleepy morning face wouldn't leave his mind and how he’d wanted to fix it pre-emptively.
He tapped out one last message, intending to end the conversation before he gave himself an existential crisis over his roundfaced demon classmate.
“Go to fucking sleep Cheeks.”
“Goodnight! 🌸 ”
“‘Night.”
Well, one extra ‘last message’ wouldn’t hurt...
Uraraka’s not downstairs by 5am and Katsuki is positive she’s probably still asleep. Whilst there's still time for her to not miss the car he's worried she will end up skipping breakfast, not that he was concerned obviously, he was just frustrated he went to the effort of making it for her to miss it. It’s not even his job to manage her time or to chase after her, he knows all this logically but he still finds himself digging his phone out of his pocket to text her, angrily taking out his sharp thoughts on his phone keys as he typed.
“Oi, you better be fucking awake.”
He’s just hit send when she stumbles around the corner, still half asleep, her hair pulled up in a messy knot. She’s wrapped in a giant oversized pink sweater and leggings, her hero suit in its case sadly bobbing weightlessly along behind her. She slumps into the chair at the breakfast bar, her forehead hitting the bar’s surface just as the hero case hits the floor, her quirk releasing with her complaining groan.
He can’t help the snort that escapes him, her dramatized appearance washing away his annoyance at her poor time keeping. Heavily rolling his eyes Katsuki begins plating up the eggs and sides he’d made her for breakfast whilst also soundlessly tucking two pre-prepared bento boxes into his own bag for later. He doesn’t question the impulse to feed them both lunch too but just follows his gut feeling, deciding that a hungry Ochako was not one he wanted to deal with, that was clearly all it was.
“Fucking hell it’s only morning.” he sounds rude but she doesn’t seem to flinch at this tone and he relaxes at a little, dropping the breakfast plate onto the table in front of her still collapsed form.
“You’re just a sadist who likes to see me suffer.” comes the muttered reply, her head still pressed firmly into the cold surface.
“Oi! Do you wanna fucking eat or not?” he reaches over and flicks the back of her messy bun in emphasis, his tone a warning of his thin patience.
“Food?!” The way she shoots up is comedic, there's a red mark on her forehead and her eyes are cloudy with sleep but she seems brighter than ever with a pleased thankful smile on her lips as she sings his praises. “Oh yes please! I’m sorry, oh great and wonderful Dynamight, please feed me!”
He can feel the tips of his ears burn again so he just ‘Tch’s at her, swallowing his own embarrassment and turning back to grab his own plate before joining her at the bar. He sits next to her automatically, close enough their elbows could accidentally bump if he wasn't so suddenly aware of them.
They eat quickly and in relative silence, though he can hear Uraraka hum happily as she munches, tapping her fork lightly on the edges of her plate between bites. He wants to find it annoying but her sleepiness seems to leave her with every bite and as she perks up he can’t help but feel a little proud instead.
At this point it’s automatic for him to look over when she hums yet again but this time her eyes catch his, a single brow rising in question to him. A challenge of sorts. Katsuki’s not sure why he does it, his fingers feel itchy and his palm is alarmingly sweaty but his hand is moving before he can think about it, reaching over to snatch the scrunchy from her hair. The brown locks scattering messily around her face, strands falling across her eyes as she huffs at him in annoyance.
“Rude!” she chirps shrilly, waving an egg covered fork at him before shaking her head to fluff her hair back and out of the way.
It's still a mess but he finds it strangely endearing and he finds himself dismissing that thought with a snort before flicking the scrunchy at her, causing her nose to wrinkle as it harmlessly bounced off her face and fell to the floor.
He’s apparently still possessed though because he can’t seem to help himself as he snatches his phone off the table and snaps a photo of her scrunched up face. It’s blurry, because she's already moving, but you can just about tell in the shot that her cheeks are puffed round and her nose is just a little button between them, with her messy birds nest hair completing the photo. It’s a disaster and it’s perfect.
He immediately sets it as her contact photo flipping his phone around to flash it at her with a somewhat feral smirk, he did like to win and this felt like a good win.
“I should change your name to Round-as-Fuck-Face.”
Her eyes register the photo, sliding into a cross little frown but Katsuki finally manages to tame his possessed hands as he resists the urge to poke the furrow forming there.
“What? No! You could at least let me take a cute one!” she protests quietly, probably in deference to the rest of their sleeping classmates. Not that he could care less.
He lets her flail but makes no effort to change the photo, locking and sliding his phone into his pocket with an intentional slowness, wondering if he could make her scream in annoyance and wake the whole building.
“You looked plenty cute - for a fucking squirrel.” he adds with glee, the same smirk still pulling at his face. He’s actually having fun teasing her and even his stubborn self denials can’t ignore that.
“You’re such a dick.” but she doesn’t sound mad, she sounds like she’s on the brink of laughter. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are bright and Katsuki thinks his own expression might even match a little.
And then a car horn beeps just once, startling them both into a rushed panic. Half eaten plates are tossed in the sink as they both grab their bags and dart for the door, eager not to be late on their first day of their new 3rd year internship.
Their good mood from breakfast carries over into their drive despite the rush and she’d even managed to get a somewhat unflattering photo of him growling for her own phone’s contact card. But now they're both in uniform, listening to some sidekick giving them a half hearted tour around the Miruko Agency and Bakugou can feel his good will draining away.
To be truthful he's barely taken in a word, once he realised they weren’t going to be meeting Miruko anytime soon he rapidly lost interest. It was always the same rubbish in these introductory tours and he was more than done with them. Katsuki was pretty sure he could work out where the bathrooms and training rooms were without a wasted day with some jackass. At least Uraraka’s rapt expression meant one of them knew the answers if, god forbid, it did turn out to be useful information.
He absently took to watching her rather than their tour guide as they walked, his eyes zoning in on the way she was tapping her fingers together, pressing one digit into her thumb before parting them and repeating with the next finger, back and forth across all four. It was a tiny movement, barely noticeable but it screamed nervousness and Katsuki frowned, his attention and irritation perked.
Despite being one of the most badass hand to hand fighters in their year, a title he’d watched her work hard for, she still seemed to have these periods of unease and he didn’t understand it. Miruko had sought her out for their internship, it was him that had to apply like a basic extra, but even now she seemed to be nervous about being here and he didn't think it was nervous excitement. This was a girl that could kick most of the classes asses quirkless, could manage crying civilians with ease and literally break the laws of physics but she was nervous; about fucking what?!
He’s not really thinking as he reaches out to tap the back of his hand against hers somewhat harshly, it’s a knock really, stopping her frantic fingers as he throws a challenging look at her, watching as the fire lights behind her eyes and she knocks his hand back in an accepting challenge.
It works exceptionally well and they’re both knocking and pushing each other's knuckles subtly back and forth for the rest of the tour. The nervous expression never crosses back over her features and it even drains his confused frustration. Her self assurance reappeared in her competitiveness and once again he feels that weird sensation of pride; he did that. Maybe he wasn’t so awful at this social shit after all.
Even when they finally meet Miruko a little later, Uraraka still seems bolstered and he feeds off of it. His own cocky nature pulling the front but not outshining hers, more like matching it. They make a good pair, confident and bold and Miruko likes them both immediately. So much so that they're the first of their year to be allowed out on solo patrol, after only half an induction day, clearly they’d made a big impression.
The next few days of their internship flow like clockwork, despite their schedule never changing, Uraraka still texts him every night checking on the morning plans and teasing him until, without fail, she somehow manages to con breakfast out of him for the next morning too. Katsuki doesn’t mind too much though because his payment seems to be in her thankful sunshiny smiles, the kind that makes his stomach feel warm and his quirk feel extra volatile in the good way. He feels like he can take on the world even more than usual and he wants to bottle the sensation for every patrol. Making her breakfast just seemed the simplest way to do so.
When their two weeks of living essentially attached at the hip as Miruko’s interns comes to an end Katsuki finds himself prematurely missing it. He’s not quite prepared to go back to their normal distance of classmates. He likes spending time with her enough that he actually considers asking Shitty-Hair for help; help trying to work out the why and what to do to keep her. The only thing stopping him was the knowledge the red head would force him to discuss ‘feelings’ which Katsuki was not okay with. There were no feelings, he just wanted to keep his new partner.
It turns out luck is on his side and Kirishima is a step ahead of him with a solution to a question Katsuki never actually asked. His friend bowed out of their normal training sessions due to an extended internship leaving Katsuki with this big empty time gap begging to be filed with Roundface and her tiny fists of fury.
Texting comes easier to him now, at least with her the only person he texts, the squirrel picture of her face showing in the corner as he types away.
“Oi, you busy?”
“Does pretending to study count?”
“Just study fucking properly, dumbass.”
“Yes Mum, will do. 🌸 ”
“Do you want a damn distraction or not?”
“Oh god please.”
“Training Room B, 5pm.”
“Are you asking me out or to kick your ass? 🤨 ”
“What the fuck do you think?”
“One ass kicking at 5pm, got it! 😘 ”
“Big talk for a failing dumbass.”
“Well good job you’ve got such a big head to target God Explosion Murder.”
The sparring goes exactly like he expected.
Without quirks she's faster and more professionally trained but with quirks he’s got the edge, his quirk control is as flawless and honed as ever. They work to the bone, battering each other about the specially designed room till both of them end up laid out flat on the mats panting and pained.
Uraraka’s uniform is singed in several places and he can smell the faint odour of burning polyester coming from her but it’s overpowered by the sheer wall of caramel scent he emits from his own quirk damp skin. It's not a pleasant mix and he rolls his nose in disgust just to end up wincing when he stretches the skin of the huge bruise she’s left across his jaw with a punch so hard Katsuki's sure his teeth are still ringing from the impact.
It’s a satisfying exhaustion that settles over him as he takes stock of his own various wounds. He wonders how his partner is holding up but before he can check verbally her arm is flopping backwards across his chest, knuckle tapping on his breast bone causing a hollow echoing noise that seems to make her giggle just a little. Her fingers repeat the gesture a few more times, each tap causing his already pounding heart to beat a little louder in his ears like the ticking down of a Bakugou shaped bomb.
“Oi!” he explodes finally, unable to help himself as she knocks her knuckles on him yet again.
“Just checking you were okay up there, ‘m not used to you being quiet. You’ve got such a big mouth after all.” she sounds exhausted but he can hear the teasing smile even if he can’t see it from his angle on the floor next to her.
“Do you wanna go again Cheeks?!”
“Fuck no, I’m exhausted!” Her reply is instantaneous and she sounds more like him then ever before. The thought stuns him so much that when the laugh escapes him it’s unexpected to them both and so boisterously loud.
It literally rumbles through his chest with such a barking echo it causes her to startle in concern, shifting to sit up and lean over him, hovering as if he was about to choke. The hand now pressed flat against his breast bone fluttering as if she wants to check for wounds even as it vibrates with his laughter.
Katsuki’s not able to reassure her, he's still cackling so deeply that it's tinged with an edge of exhausted delirium. He’s tired, bruised and worn the hell out but he’s never felt lighter in his life. Especially when she seems to slowly catch on to his mirth, his own laugh infecting her until Uraraka is also giggling wildly above him.
It's barely been seconds before they begin to calm in tandem, their aches settling back in as the adrenaline rush from fighting wares off fully. She's still smiling at him and Katsuki’s is surprised to find his own features relaxed for once, not quite smiling but pleasant. Soft.
Their breathing is the only thing to be heard in the comfortable silence, the room feeling much stiller without their overtired mirth and then he feels it. A tap against his chest, one of her fingers padding out an unknown rhythm against his shirt.
“Why do you do that?” he almost doesn't recognise his own voice, it’s quiet and curious and lacking all of it’s usual hostility.
“Humm?” She looks confused and distracted, her eyes are focused hazily on his face in a way that makes his heart want to burst from his chest without reason.
And then she taps her fingers against his chest again, just three of them, the fourth pointing in the air to keep him quirk free and on the ground.
“The tapping - Why do you tap?” He's not sure why but he feels like he can't fill his lungs fully with air and consequently his mouth seems to be working before his brain.
Thankfully his words seem to finally focus her attention on his chest, to the hand she had resting there, and the break in connection allows him to breathe easier. The relief in the tension is almost overwhelming to him but she doesn’t seem to notice.
“It’s a habit. The pads are soft so I always liked to touch everything I could as a kid, see if anything felt different with them.” She pulls away a little clumsily as she speaks, moving to sit crossed legged next to him rather than leaning over him, and he tries hard not to lament the new distance between them. Hadn’t he just been complaining he couldn't breathe?
A silence is beginning to settle again but this one feels stilted, even to him, so Katsuki shifts to sit up too mirroring her crossed legged position but facing her. He looks her in the eye for exactly one heartbeat before placing his arm out between them, palm up and demanding.
“Hand it over.” he demands, almost politely for him.
“My hand?”
“No dumbass your lunch money, yes your hand.”
“What for?” She seems confused and still hasn’t moved to follow his instructions so he wiggles his fingers, impatiently scoffing.
“I wanna feel ‘em."
“Fine but then I wanna feel your fingers too!” Her response seems to shock Uraraka almost as much as it does him. The two of them left blinking in silence again before he’s the one to break it with all the grace of a sledge hammer.
“I don't have paw pads, Cheeks.” he says deadpan, wondering if he’d hit her harder than he thought in their spar.
“Well your quirk is hand activated right? So I wanna see too - it’s only fair!” She protests with a hint of fire that's impressive considering how exhausted they both look.
“Whatever,” he agrees. Not thinking much of her request until her hand is resting in his clammy one and he realizes how awkwardly intimate this all is.
Katsuki’s never been one to back down though and he swallows around his suddenly dry mouth, cradling her hand in both of his as he presses his thumb and fingers into her pads, tracing the dips of her knuckles and the lines of her palm as he explores every inch of her offered skin. The pads feel rough to him but only in that they’re a different texture to the palm of her hand. They're slightly squishy too, like the inside of your cheek, and Katsuki finds himself prodding at them more than intended. Kneading at them between his thumb and finger until she finally reacts, a little cough breaking the silence as he finally releases her hand in response.
He can’t quite bring himself to meet her eyes but he can see the rosiness of her cheeks as he focuses on her nose, which is close enough to convince himself he wasn’t being a coward and that there was nothing to be awkward over.
“They’re soft.” he says finally, forcing himself to speak and break the weird mood.
“Yup.” she adds unhelpfully, letting the mood fester instead of helping.
So Katsuki tries again. “You can literally break the laws of fucking physics with them and they’re just soft.”
“I don’t make the rules, I just break ‘em and they're just soft.” she’s teasing him, he thinks belatedly. Her own hand still stuck out but now her fingers now being wriggled in a prompt for his. “My turn.”
He complies without protest, dumping his hand in hers with far less grace and a hint of embarrassed reluctance. Unlike him she doesn’t leave it between them, dragging it closer to her face to inspect his palm up close, turning it back and forth in front of her eyes even as her fingers explore across it; dancing across his palm and between his knuckles before trailing across his wrist, only to flip his hand and repeat in reverse. It’s almost like she’s looking for something and the embarrassment of her holding his hand is rapidly replaced with curiosity.
“What the fuck are you looking for?” he interrupts her, dragging her attention back to his face.
“I figured you’d be all calloused from your quirk but it’s so smooth - do you moisturize?” she blurts it out just as her fingers are rubbing at a clammy patch of skin under his thumb collecting the moisture there in interest and he snatches his hand back on reflex, growling.
“No I fucking don’t. It’s my quirk and that shit’s flammable so don’t do that!”
“Sorry!” she practically yelps whilst rubbing her hands clean on her pants, like she suddenly realised how weird it was to be examining her classmates flammable sweat and needed to get it off immediately to hide the evidence.
“Be more fucking careful next time,” he considers letting her worry as punishment but something in him doesn't want to, probably that same something that ignores the ‘next time’ he accidentally added on.
“You’ll be fine, dumbass. Needs a heat source to ignite it in small quantities. ‘s’not as volatile as real nitroglycerin.”
She seems to relax and he isn’t sure if it's the promise of his ‘next time’ or the explanation of how his quirk works but either way he can feel the silence coming back yet again though this one feels more comfortable it still makes him uneasy and that won't do...
“Otherwise I would have set all your fuckers on fire years ago.”
“Bakugou!” There, now equilibrium was restored he thought smugly as he fended off her swat to his head.
Their sparring sessions quickly become commonplace, even after Kirishima returns, they’re never routine or planned but instead they’re frequent random occurrences spurred by a text from either of them.
“Can’t sleep, wanna spar? 🌸 ”
“Oi Roundface! Stop being lazy and get your ass to the gym, right fucking now.”
“That left hook looked sloppy in class Dynamight, need some help to not suck?”
They turn up battered and bruised to more classes than probably strictly allowed but Aizawa doesn't seem to mind and even compliments their teamwork after a few group exercises so Katsuki sees no reason to stop. Even when the text’s start blurring the line between useful communication and genuine friendship he doesn’t freak out and push her away; it's been good for him and he can see the confidence in her shine in response.
So when she texts him out of the blue about being sad, it just makes sense to bring her Mochi in the morning. Or when she reminds him to take a break it’s just her way of making sure he’s rested for their next spar. It doesn’t have to be deeper than that, they’re just being good partners. Uraraka is one of the few people he could tolerate both on and off the field so Katsuki doesn’t see a problem in it. Really he doesn’t.
Until other people start to notice that is.
His idiot’s pick up on it first, the way he’s using his phone more than ever but doesn't seem to be answering any of their messages. The way he’s clearly cooking batches of food but there never seems to be any leftovers for them to steal from the fridge.
But mostly, mostly they notice the tapping.
They notice the way Uraraka will tap the legs of his chair with her feet when he sits in front of her in class and how he never seems to yell at her for it. Instead they’ll catch him cuffing the edge of her shoes with his as she walks by with a smirk only for her to flick at his ear or prod at his arm. They’re just little touches, more competitive than flirty but Bakugou doesn’t do touching and so the self dubbed Bakusquad can’t just let it go. None of them are quite sure when the change happened but when they catch sight of Uraraka’s squirrel face on the message app of his phone it seals the deal that they need to find out.
Raccoon Eyes is the mastermind behind the investigation of course, Katsuki realises it the moment he and Uraraka are picked last for the team exercise because Ashido is smiling about it. Neither of them have ever been picked last for anything and yet they had been left to the last two, meaning they were going to be paired against each other for the oncoming battle rather than with each other, as he preferred.
It only gets worse from there, during the group fight he notices anyone he tries to engage avoids him, even downright flees. They’re herding him towards a specific spot on the field and when a slab of concrete comes hurling out of the sky towards his head he finally understands why. They’re luring him to Uraraka. The idiots want to see them fight, want to judge them against each other rather than working together and apparently scammed the whole class to be in on it.
Well if they wanted a fight Katsuki was gonna give it to them, first he was gonna kick Uraraka’s ass and then he was gonna give the rest of the idiot squad their owed dues too. Fucking Morons.
“Oi! Roundface you fucking missed!” he taunts shouting upwards knowing she was hiding somewhere in the direction of her projectile and that she was better in the air than he was. The past few months of training with her warned him blasting fruitlessly up to find her would just put him at the disadvantage and he wanted to get this over with fast and professionally to prove those idiots wrong.
“I don’t know how when your ego’s so fucking big!”
Her response comes from up the nearest ‘cementoss special’ skyscraper, the pink of her suit glimpsing from behind it and giving away her position several floors up in the sky. He suspects the show of her location is intentional so Katsuki holds his ground, crackling his palms in a flashy spectacle intended to intimidate and distract whilst he fills his grenades with sweat for later use.
He can’t see any of the others lingering around or any other movement other than her, but he can feel eyes on him. The hair on the back of his neck standing up even as he showed off whilst biding his time.
“You gonna back up that bullshit or hover up there like a fucking coward?”
The shimmer of pink doesn’t move but there’s a shift in the air behind him and he drops to the floor just as her foot passes through the space his head just occupied. The sneaky demon had tricked him, leaving him a focus point whilst she snuck behind him silently through the air.
When he turns to catch sight of her she’s sans helmet and dusted in frost, clearly having been lured here herself, but it doesn't seem to hinder her as she remains airborne using her moment to hit the ground only briefly before shooting back up out of range, taunting him with a wave of her fingers.
“What’s wrong God Explosion Murder, don’t wanna risk fighting me in the air?” her words are petty and taunting but trash talk between them is as common as breathing and he’s not stupid enough to fall for it in a class exercise.
But Katsuki is clever enough to play on it, bracing both his hands behind him and shooting upwards faux angrily into the sky, rocketing himself towards her. The expression on her face seems pleased and he clocks the projectiles hovering just out of sight waiting for his dumb ass to rush her at the exact same time she seems to realises he’s playing her.
It ends up with them both twisting in the air to adjust their plans, his sudden change in direction colliding with her restoration of gravity as her and all her weapons drop from the air.
The both of them slam together with a shocking amount of force. There’s no chance to stop their opposing momentums, her front slamming into his even with a crack as he tries to brace them. They’re left clinging to each other unmoving as the rattling in their skulls echoes and the gravity of inertia takes over dragging them back towards the earth.
He recovers first, the ringing in his ears settling just enough to hear and feel the rush of air sailing past them alarmingly fast. They must have been at least 30 floors up and Uraraka is the one with her back to the earth as they fall, her eyes are shut in a pained wince and he can feel the air push her more firmly against him as it resists their fall.
“Oi!” he shouts only for the sound to be swallowed, so he’s shaking her a little instead, arms tensing around her back to move her without letting go. He could stop them but at this velocity the blast required would burn them both and probably blow his shoulders out of his sockets too so he’s relying on her. He’s not worried and he more than believes she can do it, if only she’d open her fucking eyes and respond!
They’re probably only ten floors from the hard unforgiving ground now and his chance to act is getting smaller but then he feels her fingers tap against his back, her other hand struggling to tap herself as she activates her quirk making them both weightless.
There’s a slight delay between her quirk taking effect and his momentum carries on just a moment longer than hers slamming their faces together as they come to a dead weightless stop in the air. Or more accurately slamming his lips into hers as he stops just a fraction of a second after she does.
They both tense and there's not a single thought going through his brain, the panic of the fall and rescue leaving him stunned and empty. Caught in a moment of time till an excited squeal from somewhere nearby pierces the fog in his brain and Katsuki furiously pushes himself away from Uraraka. His motion sends him back into the air and Ochako down the last few feet to the ground.
She lands crouched and drops her quirk without warning or looking up, letting him fall a few floors with his own quirk for support as she runs off the field without another word. She doesn’t glance back or even collect her helmet from the skyscraper, she’d hidden it on and Katsuki isn’t sure how he feels about that.
The accidental kiss is too much to digest on top of the thrill of a fight and the fear of the fall, so he deflects. Angrily. Rounding on the direction the squeal came from and harmlessly blasting at the building there.
“If I see any of you fuckers in the next 24hrs you’re all dead!” he all but screams, marching his own way off the battlefield with barely concealed rage.
It takes him a few hours to think it over, to cool down from the panic and adrenaline and work out what exactly bothered him about the whole situation. Being set up by their friends was a large part of it, the same friends who let them fall. Though Katsuki can silently admit they wouldn’t have let the two of them come to any real harm. But that still didn’t feel like the main issue.
Maybe it was the weird situation that had them both left footed from the start and even he could realise that neither of them had been on their A-game. Even though Aizawa did not comment or scold either of them, both had left class early and both had performed poorly. But no, that wasn’t what frustrated him either.
No what frustrated him was her. She hadn’t reacted, hadn’t spoken to him. Hadn’t even apologised in an attempt to brush it over. No Uraraka had dropped him on his ass and fled without looking back. She was his de facto patrol partner, they’d spent the past few months working together, growing together. Fuck he’d be considering suggesting they intern at the same agency again because they worked that well together. But one accidental kiss and she’s gone, forgotten him in his awkwardness.
And now she wasn’t answering his texts.
“Roundface?”
“Oi!”
“You’ll have to fucking talk to me at some point.”
“Fine, fuck you.”
Her silence ate at him in a way he couldn't even pretend to ignore, he was well practised in denial but this was different. He could admit now that they were close but she was the one denying it with her retreat and he finally realised how much it hurt.
It’s bordering on curfew when he finally caves, deciding he’s going to get his apology for her silence as well as give her his own. It’s time Katsuki admits that they’re friends. He hates the word, It doesn’t feel right, doesn't feel enough. Their partners and he willingly seeks her out, actually wanting her company, and friends doesn’t encompass that. But first he’s got to fix it and if the word ‘friends’ will do it, so be it.
Katsuki’s had enough time to play over what he wants to say in his head, he’s not that good with deep talks, or the limits of social niceties and he’s even worse with acknowledging his own emotions but this is a challenge he refuses to lose so he studies. Planning his exact speech and her perceived responses till he’s sure his plan is flawless.
Slipping across the fourth floor to the girls side is laughably easy though he finds tapping on her door is harder. He takes a steadying breath before knocking, waiting for only a moment till it peaks open to reveal a miserable looking Uraraka wrapped in the same pink sweater from several weeks ago, when this all started. He finds it fitting somehow as they face each other in silence for a moment until she caves first, her expression folding as she mumbles.
“I didn’t think you’d want to talk, I thought you’d be mad,” her voice is small and her cheeks are bright pink with embarrassment and nothing can stop him blurting out the first response in his suddenly empty head.
“I am.” he has to resist the urge to back peddle, trying to remember the right words he planned before she got the wrong idea but it’s too late.
“Oh,” she visibly winces back before taking a deep breath to steel herself against his perceived wrath, “Look I’m really sorry Bakugou it was an accident and I promise I won't invade your space like that again and I’ll even stop bothering you to hang out and spar-“ she’s spiralling in her panic, blurting out words even as she’s closing the door on him, trying to escape both him and her embarrassment.
But he’s not angry, not like that anyway. No, Katsuki suddenly realises he is angry for a very different reason. So he cuts her off, pushing the door open with his elbows and grabbing either side of her plump pink cheeks, his ears flushing scarlet as he prepares to open up in a way he wasn't used to, with words.
“I’m not mad at you Ochako, you’re my partner. I’m just mad I didn’t get to do it on purpose in our own time.” there's a few false starts, his mouth opening and closing as he tries to find the right words and then they’re out free to the world and blunt as ever.
He’s stuck watching her face for a reaction of some kind because she doesn't respond, no Ochako just blinks mouth open and eyes wide; startled, he thinks absently whilst his face slowly turns red.
He wonders if he’s pushed it too far. In all of his planning and thinking he hadn't considered this attraction between them was the base of the matter and that she might not be answering him because she didn't feel the same. It was probable she only saw them as friends and that he’d once again misunderstood a social que.
He’s about to pull his hands away from her face, can feel the back of his neck boiling and his palms getting clammy.
And then she’s kissing him.
He doesn’t expect it, even stumbles a little as she pushes out of his grasp on her face to get closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and ramming her lips against his in a manner no more delicate than their accidental bump of a kiss earlier. It doesn’t matter though, this is what he was waiting for and it takes him not even a second to respond.
One of his hands slides into her hair, anchoring her in place so he can deepen the kiss, whilst the other wraps around her back and pulls her flush against him. It’s a wonderful mockery of the way they collided just hours ago but Katsuki's not thinking about that as he swipes his tongue across the seam of her lips, her fingers scratching in the nape of his hair in response and causing a groan to vibrate through his chest.
It’s Ochako that pulls away first but only to pepper kisses across his jawline frantically, like she’s waiting for sense to kick in and for him to push her away. But Katsuki feels more sure now than he has for the past few weeks, it all suddenly falls into place as his denial is brushed away with her gentle kisses.
He pulls back just a fraction, just enough to place a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, before a quick peck to her lips. Ochako’s just leaning in to deepen it again when he tilts to the side, breaking contact to nip at the apple of her cheek playfully.
“You’re so fucking soft.” it’s a whisper of a tease but the genuine happiness in his voice is clear.
“Date me Katsuki?” she’s breathless and pink, eyes wide and shining, with her arms still wrapped around him and he thinks he won't see a more beautiful sight than her in this moment; flushed and asking for him by name.
A fact that doesn’t help his general lack of eloquence, “Eh?”
“Date me. I’ve been flirting with you for months and if you think I’m gonna settle for one proper kiss you’re a fucking idiot.” she’s radiating joy, her fingers are tapping against the skin of his neck in their happy little dance and he’s never been prouder of corrupting her language.
“I’m not good at this shit.” it’s not a no, he wouldn't dream of turning her down. No this was Katsuki’s normal brand of teasing, a grin pulling at the corner of his lips.
“Don’t care.” she chirps happily.
“I won’t be easy to get rid of,” he continues, grin getting wider.
“Really don’t mind.” She’s smirking now too, an eyebrow raised in challenge.
“You’ll be fucking stuck with me.” it’s clear he’s not really trying to win, he doesn't want to say no, not when his yes was already silently given the moment he kissed her back.
“I sure hope so!” and is just as readily accepted.
“Date me, Cheeks.” he cuts in but it’s a demand not a question, changing the dialogue to let him win whilst squeezing her closer.
“Fuck yes! But I still asked first.” and then Ochako is dragging him back down to her, silencing any more of his competitive replies by proceeding to kiss the hell out of him in the fourth floor corridor.