Chapter Text
(Ochako)
Ochako Uraraka has overcome many challenges on her road to becoming a pro-hero, and she has the literal scars to prove it. Her confidence has grown immeasurably since the entrance exam one year ago. Of course it has, she helped save the freaking world before the school year wrapped up! So she doesn’t feel cocky when she says that she feels like she can tackle just about any challenge now.
Any challenge except passing second-year high school chemistry.
“I expected better of you than this Uraraka. Power Loader can’t understand why you’re excelling in physics but getting results like this in chemistry. What do you have to say for yourself?” Ochako can make out the faint lines of a suppressed grimace on Aizawa’s face as he surveys her mid-term report card.
“Physics has a real-world application with my quirk, it’s much easier to absorb and understand when I can see it happening in real-time. I only chose chemistry because everyone told me it’d be easy if I was already good at physics.” These are lame excuses and she knows it. Still, she can’t help but pout a little when Aizawa rolls his eyes.
“Let that be a lesson to you to not make major decisions based solely on what other people have told you. You’ll need at least an 85 on your end-of-term final and consistent 80s on your assignments to pass the year. Anything less and you’ll be taking remedial chemistry over the Summer instead of attending training camp with your classmates. I suggest you find a tutor and start putting some serious work in if you want to enjoy your Summer and start your hero career prepared. That’s all Uraraka.”
Ochako slinks out of class 2-A and makes her way to the cafeteria, her mood considerably soured. How on earth was she supposed to afford a tutor? There was no way for her to get a part-time job alongside school, training, and her work-study (which she was still bitter about having to do unpaid). She was already skipping dinner on weekends to save money. It simply wasn’t in her budget. Ochako lets thoughts of money problems and summer school distract her all the way to the top of the cafeteria line, where she’s abruptly snapped out of her reverie.
“Oi! Round face! In a cafeteria, you have to choose the food yourself if you want to eat anything.”
The normally abrasive voice of Bakugo Katsuki is uncharacteristically soft as he waves a hand in front of her face, his tone bemused instead of the usual grumpy.
“Oh! Oh my god, I totally spaced out! Sorry, Bakugo!” Her voice squeaks a little as Ochako realises that she was almost next in line to pay without a single item on her tray yet. She quickly grabs some fruit, a katsu curry, takoyaki, mochi and juice. After a moment’s hesitation, she also grabs a chocolate bun in case she needs the pick me up later. The sugar should help with studying (plus the cafeteria is subsidised). Bakugo lets out a low chuckle as he watches her scramble to gather a mountain of food.
“Fuelling up for our spar later? You’ll need the edge if you want to keep up with me.”
“Keep up? I’m gonna absolutely murder you!” The increasing amount of time she’s spent with the foul-mouthed boy has started to impact Ochako’s vocabulary. She is determined, absolutely determined to obliterate him today. Bakugo has stayed stubbornly in the lead since they started weekly training together at the start of the year, but Ochako was slowly narrowing the gap and there was just a point between them now at a score tally of 48:49.
The almost feral look in Bakugo’s eyes as he acknowledges her challenge causes the hairs on Ochako’s arms to spike. His grin is menacing, almost scheming when he responds.
“Wanna bet on that, Cheeks?”
Ochako feels her aforementioned cheeks turn crimson at the nickname. Luckily, she’s saved from responding by Lunch Rush. Ochako fumbles with her coin purse for the exact change. She waits for Bakugo to follow, and they make their way across the cafeteria, steps falling in sync.
“Don’t think teasing me like that is going to fluster me! I’ll take that bet!” She straightens her spine and leans in, hoping he takes her body language as meaning business.
“You’re on! The first person to 50 wins. State your terms, Kirby.”
Bakugo leans forward like he’s calling her bluff, his face stopping centimetres from hers. At this distance, she can see the intricate pattern in the perfect ruby red of his irises. His gaze seems to flick down to her lips for just a moment and she mirrors him instinctively. He’s smirking! Smug asshole! She scrambles to think of what to ask for when she wins, but it’s impossible to think when he’s looking at her like she’s his lunch and not the extra spicy ramen on his tray.
“Winner gets owed one favour, any favour.”
The glint in Bakugo’s ruby eyes tells Ochako that she’s playing a dangerous game. They reach the Bakusquad table but hover beside it for a moment, neither quite willing to end the conversation yet. Ochako is dreading the inevitable interrogation she’ll get from Deku, whom she can see watching her with wide eyes across the cafeteria. Bakugo’s voice is low and playful when he speaks next.
“Surely you don’t mean any favour, round face? I hope you don’t promise that to just any extra.”
Ochako is fed-up with his teasing today. Her face has remained hot and vaguely flushed since the lunch queue. Her mind is now flooding with possible favours she might be compelled to fulfil and don’t even get her started on the pet names he keeps using. Shit. She needs to cut off this line of thinking asap or Bakugo really will win. The only course of action is to flirt aggressively back so he’ll know he doesn’t faze her!
“You must just be special Bakugo. I wouldn’t waste your time daydreaming about your prize though, because the winner of this bet is gonna be me!”
Watching the hint of a flush colour on his cheeks bring a Bakugo-like smirk to Ochako’s lips. She could dish out as good as she got! Ochako takes Bakugo’s momentary speechlessness as her opportunity to end the conversation on a high, sharply spinning before he can utter another word. She slides in next to Deku at the table and starts shovelling her curry down at speed.
“Ochako! What did Aizawa want earlier? Is everything ok? Your conversation with Kacchan seemed… heated, was he giving you a hard time? Need me to talk to him?”
The reminder of her chemistry dilemma brings her crashing back down to earth. Deku’s doe eyes are filled with concern. Beside him, Todoroki is looking at her with his head tilted to the side like a small curious bird. Ochako forces herself to smile.
“Bakugo and I were just getting hyped up for our sparring session later! No need to worry Izu.”
Deku relaxes somewhat, his stiff shoulders dropping by just a hair. Todoroki looks unconvinced but goes back to eating his soba. For the rest of lunch, Ochako is quiet, fighting the urge to look back at the Bakusquad table. She tries to be more productive and formulate a plan for sparring later. Her pride is on the line, and she can’t afford to lose this bet. Bakugo has come to respect her skill in hand-to-hand combat; she’s the only person other than Deku and Kirishima that he even bothers sparring. As difficult as it is to admit, she’s had a desperate need for his approval since he’d beat her at the sports festival that first year. She wanted to show that his acknowledgement of her abilities was well-placed and prove that she could take on any of the teacher’s favourites when it came to quirkless combat. The fact that it would make Bakugo proud of her and the way that made her feel was something she was trying not to dwell on.
-
(Katsuki)
Across the cafeteria, Bakugo Katsuki has not taken his eyes off Uraraka. She was so fired up when they made that bet that if he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was about to kick his ass. Katsuki didn’t know how he felt about that prospect. On one hand, Uraraka had come really far since their first year and he wanted to see her succeed. On the other hand, he wasn’t about to give her an easy win anytime soon. Uraraka gave her all and expected likewise from him, which was why she made for such a fun sparring partner in the first place. Plus there was the issue of owing her a favour. She’d probably just ask him to make mochi for her or something, but he didn’t like being in debt to anyone on principle. Katsuki refuses to imagine the other kinds of favours she could ask of him. She wasn’t the type to be interested in that anyway, or in him. It didn’t help that people who could wreck him were absolutely his type.
“Did people catch the sexual tension earlier? Bakugo’s been watching Uraraka like she’s a surveillance target for the last twenty minutes. Hey bro, did I hear Uraraka say she’d owe you anything if she loses your fight? How far do you think “anything” stretches, and would she make that same bet with me because I can think of a few favours she could do if you catch my dri- ahhhhh!!”
Kaminari’s perverted fantasies are cut off with a screech as Katsuki aims an explosion directly at his face.
“AS IF YOU’D WIN IN A SPAR AGAINST HER ANYWAY YOU PERVERTED LOSER! SHE’D CRUSH YOU! AND I WAS THINKING OF BATTLE STRATEGIES!” He’s shouting once again before he can stop himself. Katsuki had improved his anger management immeasurably over the years but Kami liked to remind him of the growth he still had to do in that area. He’s lucky that the cacophony of the noisy mess hall mostly drowns his yell, only startling a few girls from the general course a table over. His friends are used to his moods by now and the table just breaks out in laughter. Jirou gives a weeping Kami a glare that says he was lucky to get off lightly while Hanta claps him on the back to console him. Mina leans in to whisper something in Kiri’s ear. Kiri’s eyes flit to Bakugo cautiously. Katsuki thinks he whispers a warning to her, but she swats him away playfully. Mina cannot be stopped when the mood strikes her to get on his nerves.
“Kami is an idiot, but he might have a point, my dude. You’re very protective of Chacko-chip. Plus you were totally making eyes at her earlier! I don’t blame you 'cause the girl is smokin’. I mean have you seen her thighs lately? If Ei and I weren’t together I’d totally be asking her out myself! Something going on there you’d like to share with the group?” Mina’s voice comes out in a carefree sing-song and she’s wiggling her eyebrows comically, but Katsuki knows a trap when he sees one. Eijirou puts his face in his hands.
“Fuck off Pinky! I just think dick-for-brains needs to grow up! I’m not ‘making eyes’ at anyone cause we’re not fucking twelve. I’m finished here.”
He stands abruptly to avoid looking at her. If Mina sniffed a hint of weakness, he’d never be free from her claws. It wasn’t his fault Kami was a creepy pervert that deserved it. Mitsuki would ground him for a year if she heard him talk about a woman like that. Contrary to any rumours that may be going around among the extras, Katsuki was a feminist. Uraraka sparred with him because he didn’t treat her like some fragile weak-willed woman, and he sparred with Ochako because she was one of the best hand-to-hand combat experts in Mustuafu. Neither of them was there so he could ogle her.
He just couldn’t help himself sometimes.
Uraraka was fucking hot, and exactly his type.
Fuck, he was screwed.