Chapter 31

Uraraka gave Bakugo a quick peck goodbye and tip-toed out of his room as quietly as she could. The last thing she needed right now was to get caught sneaking around at the crack of dawn by Kirishima. It wasn't like he would tell the teachers about it but she seriously couldn't deal with any more badgering from the self-proclaimed Baku-squad about what she and their fearless leader were or were not doing.

Thankfully, she managed to make it past Kirishima and Shouji's rooms with no problems. Uraraka almost headed to her room but she remembered she had told Tsu she'd be back and late was better than never. She didn't want to risk Tsu being upset with her again. Dipping into the stairwell in the last second, Urarka ascended to the fifth floor and tried to push aside fluttering thoughts of Bakugo's warm body cuddled up next to her. She needed to focus if she wanted to make it back to Tsu's room undetected.

Uraraka exited the stairwell silently, peeping down both ways of the hallways to make sure it was empty before stepping into it and continuing on her trek. As she rounded the corned on the girls' side of the fifth floor, Uraraka found herself remembering the feel of Bakugo's fingers grasping at her hair as he held her in place and pounded into her mouth with reckless abandon. Still, instead of erupting into a mess of blushing hormones as she may have once back in the day, Uraraka smiled fondly at the memory. All those months dreaming and imagining how it would feel, what it would taste like…and it finally happened! And with Bakugo! And they were dating!

Creaakkkk.

Shit! Uraraka immediately stopped in her tracks. She had been to busy remembering her most recent encounter with Bakugo that she hadn't noticed a figure emerge from Momo-chan's bedroom. By the time she heard the creak of the door gently opening it was too late.

Where do I hide?! Uraraka took in her surroundings but the hallways were too bare, there was nowhere she could duck into, and sprinting the remaining distance to Tsu's room would make too much noise.

In her panic, Uraraka remained frozen in her spot until something hard and sturdy collided with her. Losing her footing, she felt herself falling backward before strong arms grasped her and pulled her back to an upright position. Disoriented and slightly out-of-breath, Uraraka looked up to see what, or better, who had run into her. Expecting to see her raven-eyed friend, Uraraka was shocked to find herself staring into a pair of mismatched eyes instead.

Todoroki?

Her usually composed friend looked every bit as surprised as she did. They stood there, both frozen in their spots, staring at each other for what seemed like hours but was probably only a couple of seconds. Todoroki was the first to move, closing the door behind him before returning to the silent stare-off both friends had entered into.

It's five in the morning…and he…he is tip-toeing out of…just like…me and…Uraraka subconsciously began connecting the dots until she reached the only obvious conclusion. Slowly, her startled expression softened to one of genuine wonder and also mischief.

Her and Todoroki were close enough but they never really spoke one-on-one much. It's not that they had personal issues with each other, it was more that he was still coming out of his shell and Uraraka thought that maybe her over-the-top bubbly personality was probably a little too much for him sometimes. She understood and tried her best to not overwhelm him. Still, now was the perfect opportunity to nudge him a little.

Who would've imagined that she and Todoroki would find themselves in the exact same situation nearly a year after meeting each other? Uraraka let out a small chuckle. Life is so unexpected sometimes.

"So…Momo-chan?" Uraraka teased softly, raising her eyebrows and holding back a smile.

Todoroki tensed slightly before taking a deep breath and relaxing. Uraraka almost took it back but he volleyed his own question at her, "So…Bakugo?" His gaze was steady but the tips of his mouth curved up just enough for Uraraka to make out his tentative smile.

Uraraka couldn't help the sudden heat of blood rushing to her cheeks at his implication. The usual imperturbable boy was teasing back! Although this was great in terms of their friendship having Todoroki say it out loud was just…

Todoroki may be socially awkward, but the boy was smart so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that he would pick up on what had or hadn't been going on between herself and Bakugo. Still, she wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. She still hadn't even properly processed the fact that he told her he liked her! Let alone everything else they have done with each other in the last twenty-four hours.

"Touché." Uraraka bowed graciously, before breaking out into another awkward smile, "This never happened." She signaled between them making sure to keep her voice to barely above a whisper. She didn't want to risk Momo opening the door. Plus, if they both were sneaking around at the ass crack of dawn it had to mean that he didn't want this to get out either.

"Agreed." He mirrored her bow. True to form Todoroki appeared unphased by the whole situation, still, Uraraka could have sworn she saw him smirk at her as they walked past each other.

Well, I guess if I had to run into anyone Todoroki would be my best bet. Uraraka sighed in relief now that she was alone in the hallway once more. She reached Tsu's room without any further hold-ups and tried her best to enter the room as quietly as possible. Naturally, this translated into her making as much noise as humanly possible and stumbling over her own book bag. Stupid!

"Ochako?" Tsu sat up from her bed, looking and sounding as groggy as Uraraka suddenly felt.

"Sorry, Tsu-chan." She said and tried to hurry towards the bed.

"What time is it?" Tsu yawned, looking towards the window where the faint light of morning was starting to leak into the room through.

"Aha..uhm..a little past five." Uraraka rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment and climbed into the bed next to Tsu.

"Mmmm…" Her perceptive friend nodded slowly before fixing Uraraka with a skeptical look, "Did you at least talk?" She teased, sliding to one side of the bed to make more room for Ochako. If Uraraka thought she had been blushing when she had run into Todoroki in the hallway, that was nothing compared to what was going on. She was honestly surprised she hadn't fainted from the sudden rush of blood.

"Tsu!"

"What? It's a fair question." Her green-haired friend said through another yawn which turned into a giggle. Uraraka still felt mortified but huffed and rolled her eyes.

"We talked." She said pointedly, "We actually agreed to start dating." Uraraka tried her best to keep her voice calm but something about saying it aloud made it feel way more real than she had been prepared for. Uraraka couldn't help the huge smile that erupted on her face.

They were dating! She was dating Bakugo!

How had this even happened?

"Congrats Ochako!" Tsu said sleepily but the sincerity in her voice was evident.

Uraraka managed to mumble thanks as she tried to get her excitement under wraps.

"Night." Tsu already sounded distant.

"Night." Uraraka let her sleepiness blanket her and guide her slowly into dreamland where she could spend the next couple of hours dreaming about just exactly would dating Bakugo Katsuki would actually be like.

The sound of Tsu's alarm came way too quick for her liking.

"Uhhhh!" Uraraka tried to burrow deeper into Tsu's pillow.

"Your closer to the alarm Chako," Tsu said sitting up to stretch. Uraraka groaned and whined but got out of Tsu's bed to turn off the alarm.

"You're not going to ask about last night?" Uraraka said as she sat back down in the bed and handed Tsu's phone to her.

"Do you want me too?"

Uraraka nibbled on her lower lip before nodding. She needed to talk about it before she exploded.

Now that both of them were a bit more awake, Uraraka began to tell Tsu everything that had occurred between her and Bakugo since leaving the room. Well,…almost everything. Per Tsu's prior instructions she refrained from describing in detail what had occurred behind closed doors, opting to hit major plot points instead.

For her part, Tsu listened diligently to Uraraka's story, taking everything in and letting Uraraka sort through a lot of her feelings out loud. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to listen without judgment. Skipping over the part of running into Todoroki, Uraraka finished her story with a sigh.

Tsu remained quiet for a bit before reaching out and squeezing Uraraka's hand gently. "Look, from what you told me and what I've seen I don't see a reason to doubt that Bakugo's intentions aren't what he says they are." Tsu smiled up at her, "Besides, Bakugo seems like too much of a straight arrow to beat around the bush with you."

Uraraka nodded. Tsu had a point about that. Had it not been Bakugo who sought her out whenever they had a misunderstanding? "You're right Tsu-chan. Thank you for listening to me talk your ear out this morning." Uraraka giggled.

"That's what friends are for, now let's go get breakfast." Tsu croaked, returning Uraraka's enthusiasm but something about the tightness in her eyes made Uraraka take pause. The whole time she had been talking Uraraka noticed that Tsu had been tense. It had looked like she wanted to ask or say something but didn't want to cut Uraraka off.

"Hey, Tsu," Uraraka said getting out of the bed and heading towards where her book bag was at by the door. She needed to act casual or else Tsu would try to play it off to avoid causing concern.

"Hmm?"

"Did you have anything you wanted to ask me?" Again, Uraraka kept her tone of voice serene. Like if she had asked her to hand her a pencil.

Tsu erupted in a blush but said nothing. Uraraka had an inkling of what her best friend might have been wanting to ask and smiled. It wasn't too long ago that she had been in the same position.

"It wasn't as gross or icky as you'd think it'd be." She answered the unvoiced question casually as she began to put her laptop in her schoolbag.

"I wasn't going to…" Tsu started objecting but Uraraka turned to look her in the eye, effectively cutting off whatever she was going to say. "Okay, fine." Tsu rolled her eyes slightly at being discovered causing Uraraka to chuckle.

Yup! Nailed it!

Uraraka remembered what it was like when sex was a topic that had her running for the hills. Even though it felt like forever ago when she had picked up her first erotic novel it really hadn't been that long. And yet, here she was about to echo Mina's speech to her to a friend who looked equally intrigued and embarrassed by the subject as she had.

"You know, it's okay to be curious." Uraraka began trying to remember how Mina had put it into words, "We're young and we're curious and it's harmless." Uraraka finished gathering her stuff and sat down on Tsu's bed once more. She let her friend sit and ruminate her words patiently. Tsu was an introverted thinker, choosing to play it out in her head before speaking. She'd get there eventually.

"What if I'm not ready?" Tsu whispered, "I mean I know you and Mina are sort of there already, and even Momo-chan…"

"Momo-chan?" Uraraka yelped. Wait! How does she know about Momo and Todoroki?! Uraraka was positive she hadn't mentioned anything about running into Todoroki while she told her story so…

"They were kind of loud last night," Tsu sighed in such a way that made Uraraka genuinely laugh.

"What?!" Uraraka couldn't help it. What was in the water last night that had everyone acting so…hormonal.

"To be completely honest, I genuinely have no idea what they were doing but I'm one hundred percent sure Momo-chan wasn't alone in her room last night," Tsu said flopping down on the bed. Uraraka knew this was a fact as well but she couldn't confirm or deny it. This was hers and Todoroki's secret after all. She couldn't betray his trust like that, however childish this seemed to be in the long run.

"Well...ahaha...wow...I mean...you don't think...hahha…" Uraraka could hear herself rambling again. She was so bad at keeping secrets from Tsu.

"I guess it doesn't really matter," Tsu cut Uraraka off, "I just…"

"Hey," Uraraka turned to Tsu and grabbed her hand. Both friends looked at each other for a while, Tsu communicating with her eyes what she couldn't verbalize.

"Look, a friend of ours once told me this," Uraraka smiled warmly remembering these next words as the exact moment when her outlook on the topic had begun shifting.

"Sex is natural and I know we are young but that doesn't mean we can't explore a bit...I'm not saying go have sex or do anything else if you don't feel ready, all I'm saying is it doesn't make us perverts. On the contrary," Uraraka got out of Tsu's bed and remembering how Mina had done it she planted both feet shoulder length apart and fisted both hands. She placed one on her left hip and extended the other, almost like she was ready to fly away. This position must be magical because she could see Tsu's tension and worry begin to dissipate leaving in its wake calm and laughter.

"I think it makes us fierce warriors taking control of our own bodies and desires." Her face was serious. And then, just like Mina all those months ago, she burst out laughing which made Tsu join in her mirth.

"I'm going to make a wild guess and say that came from Mina," Tsu said in between giggles, making her way off the bed.

Uraraka laughed and nodded. "Mhmm, but I mean she's not wrong. Do whatever feels right to you, don't do something you're not ready for just because everyone else seems to be doing it."

"I know you're right Chako-chan," Tsu said, sounding like her usual self again, "It's just nice to hear it sometimes, you know."

Uraraka nodded. She did know. Words were powerful and hearing an innermost thought being voiced aloud by someone else, especially by a friend, could be most reassuring.

Uraraka and Tsu entered the common room, which was already lively. The majority of their classmates already enjoying their meals by the time they arrived. Conversations about boys and sex were put on hold for more important topics, like internship picks.

They all had to submit their top three choices with the corresponding applications by the end of the week and Uraraka was nowhere near deciding on one, let alone three. Looking slightly distraught by this realization, Tsu and Uraraka sat down at the table which was already occupied by Mina and Kirishima.

"What's wrong Uraraka?" Kirishima looked at her with genuine worry.

"Oh nothing," She sighed dramatically laying her forehead on the table.

"She hasn't decided on an internship location yet," Tsu answered for her before taking a sip of her tea.

"Why not Miruko?" Mina chimed in, swallowing down a huge bite of natto. "That's where I'm thinking of applying."

"Miruko? The Rabbit hero? She's so manly! That's awesome babe!" Kirishima chimed in. His enthusiasm and generally overall pleasant disposition shaking some of Uraraka's stress away.

"She sure is." Mina smiled at the red-head as they high-fived.

Interesting. Uraraka found herself analyzing the exchange between her two friends. In fact, she had been subconsciously paying attention to them over the last two days. Nothing seemed overly different between them. They still spoke to each other like they did when they were just friends. In fact, aside from their late-night rendezvous and the occasional hand-holding, everything between the newly-formed couple seemed completely the same as before.

Is this how dating goes?

Uraraka had never dated before. Where Bakugo and her supposed to act how they always acted together? It was true that they had been spending a bit more time in each other's presence but Uraraka was always under the impression that once two people became a couple they...they what? Oh geez, I don't know the first thing about dating! What if I mess this up? She couldn't mess up.

Uraraka was two seconds from spiraling into full meltdown mode when a pair of pink arms began waving dangerously close to her face, "Hello! Earth to Chako-chip! You there?"

"Ahaha...yes uhm, what?" Uraraka tried to play off like she hadn't just spent the last couple of minutes psychoanalyzing her barely-beginning relationship. Wait, relationship? They were just dating! They weren't like boyfriend and girlfriend yet. Omg! Does he think we are…

"Ochako?" Tsu's worried voice came from next to her but before she could turn towards her Mina spoke again, commanding Uraraka's attention once more.

"So you'll do it?" Mina bounced up and down in her chair so much Uraraka was nervous the chair would topple backward.

"Yes." Yes what? Oh geez! Uraraka was trying to put together what the conversation had been about but it was hard with Mina's shrieking and jumping.

"Could you shut up." Bakugo's voice came crashing through her current conversation and causing Uraraka to freeze. When did he get here?

Uraraka turned just in time to see him dip into the fridge and begin rummaging through it.

"Why are you always so bitter Baku-bro." Mina stuck her tongue out at his back but nonetheless quieted. Still, her excitement had not subsided and she was looking at Uraraka with a devilish grin. What on earth did I agree too?

"Why are you always so loud." Bakugo quipped as he unpackaged his premade meal and stuck it in the microwave. Uraraka was starting to feel a gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach. He still hadn't acknowledged her presence. Not even a nod with his head for greeting.

"Hey, not cool dude." Kirishima defended his girlfriend but his words lacked any real anger.

"It's okay babe, not even stick-in-the-mud Bakuhoe can bring me down today because Chako-chan has agreed to apply to intern with Miruko with me!" Mina yelped again.

"I did?" Uraraka's question was once more drowned out by Mina's excited shrieking. I guess I did. Uraraka couldn't help but smile at Mina's enthusiasm. I suppose an internship with the number 5 hero wouldn't be so bad, and I'd get to do it with Mina.

"You're applying with Miruko?" Bakugo's monotonous, couldn't care less about this and you, tone of voice was like a slap across the face. The first words he speaks to her since last night and he might as well ignored her if he was going to talk to her like that. Slightly frustrated, Uraraka took a second to gather herself. She could feel his piercing gaze. Trying her best to channel the confident and sure Uraraka that she knew was somewhere inside of her, she turned to face her maybe-potentially-boyfriend, who hadn't even dignified her with a hello yet.

"Good morning to you too Bakugo." Uraraka heard her voice come out as a razor-sharp whip but she couldn't remember forming the words with her mouth. Where was all this sass when she actually needed it?! She was annoyed that Bakugo seemed to be the one person to get the not-so-bubbly side of her to rise to the surface.

"Damn, that's it. If Uraraka can do it then so can I." Kaminari said suddenly, standing up with a determined look on his face which caused everyone in the common room to turn their attention his way. His determined look didn't last long, quickly being wiped away by Jiro dragging him back down to the sofa where they had been sitting watching cartoons and eating their breakfast.

"Sit down. Only Ochako can get away with talking to him like that. He'll murder you." Jiro drawled as she took another spoonful of cereal, causing all the students in the common room to giggle.

"Aww! And you'd be sad if he killed me?" Kaminari flirted openly with the sound hero-to-be. Jiro's face flushed but she kept her voice cool, "Keep it up and I'll let him do it."

Uraraka was grateful for the break in tension but it didn't last long. Leave it to Bakugo to make even Sunday morning breakfast's intense.

"Yes or no, Cheeks." He said over the beeps of the microwave. Uraraka took a brief amount of time it took for Bakugo to turn around and remove his food to analyze the situation.

With Bakugo she learned it was all about picking your battles. And to be fair she wasn't entirely sure what was going on or why she was so upset to begin with. What had she expected from him? Her and Mina had been having a conversation, wouldn't it have been rude for him to just cut in to say hello? But Bakugo has never cared about proper decorum?

Bakugo finished preparing his meal and turned to look at Uraraka again. His eyes demanding an answer to his question.

Pick your battles.

Uraraka sighed and rolled her eyes before nodding, "Yeas, I'm applying with Mina."

Said pink friend began bouncing in her seat again, "We are going to have so much fun kicking ass together Chako-chan!"

"Ashido-san please refrain from using vulgar language." Iida's voice appeared suddenly at the entry of the common room.

"Sorry," Mina mumbled but winked at Uraraka.

"Oh! Did you finally decide on an internship Uraraka-san?" Deku popped up next to Iida, sounding genuinely happy. Both boys were in their workout attire and were dripping sweat but they made their way towards the table where Uraraka, Tsu, Mina, and Kirishima were finishing their breakfasts. Uraraka was grateful for the interruption and decided to focus on Deku and Iida instead of the surly blonde that was already cleaning up and preparing to head back out.

She thought she heard Bakugo grunt something that sounded vaguely similar to "fucking nerd" before grabbing his food and heading out with not so much as a second glance their way.

Although Deku and Iida didn't seem to notice the explosion-quirk users' sudden disappearance from the common room, the rest of the people at the table had and gave Uraraka a concerned look. Uraraka simply shrugged and tried to flash them the best most "I'm perfectly okay" smile she could muster.

What was she supposed to say anyhow?

After spending the majority of her Sunday discussing and then working on her application with Mina she decided she should probably do some laundry. Her mother always told her she should start the week as prepared as possible and that would make her days go smoother. She wasn't sure about all that but she was down to her last clean pair of underwear so either way, it was time.

Putting on her headphones, grabbing her dirty clothes and sheets, she headed into the girls' laundry room. Uraraka tried to dance away the ever-growing unease that had been lurking with her since her interaction with Bakugo that morning. No, she couldn't think about that. Letting her mind wander was too dangerous. All-day she continually found herself questioning everything about her previous interactions with Bakugo. Uraraka would begin dissecting every single second they spent together. Still, try as she might she had yet to figure out why he was ignoring her.

He had spent months consistently trying and then when they had…he just…

Uraraka felt a knot in her throat begin to form as she fought back tears. Stop it!

She attempted to focus on the menial task of separating her clothes until Uraraka had three piles of clothes laid out in front of her. She loaded her clothes in the washing machines and once again ignored the swirl of emotions thundering inside of her, focusing on the song blasting in her ears.

"Hey."

Uraraka jumped at the sudden loss of her headphones from her earbuds. Startled, she accidentally set off her quirk on herself and found herself almost bumping into the ceiling of the laundry room.

"Aahhh!"

"Get down here Cheeks!" Bakugo tugged at the headphones still in his hands, tethering Uraraka to him, as if he were holding onto an Uraraka shaped balloon.

Uraraka deactivated her quirk and hurled back down to the ground. Thankfully, the laundry room did not have tall ceilings and she managed to land on her own two feet. Somewhere in between realizing she was floating and deactivating her quirk Uraraka realized that the cause of the sudden disruption was the one person she had been trying to avoid. She could hear her heart beating rapidly but she wasn't sure if it was because of the shock or the fact that Bakugo was standing in front of her.

"I'd been calling you for the last minute."

Uraraka gave him a perplexed look. She checked her phone to see if she had any missed calls but there weren't any. Uraraka paused her music and set her phone and her headphones a top of one of the machines. "Huh?"

Bakugo raised one eyebrow at her before rolling his eyes, "Nothing." He grumbled, "You good?"

"What?" Uraraka was still trying to catch up to wherever Bakugo seemed to be at.

"Are you good? You sounded upset earlier today?" He took a step back from her.

"Bajugo, I uhm, yea, I'm fi –" She was about to say she was fine when Bakugo cut her off with a growl.

"You're not fine." He emphasized the final word.

"Excuse me?"

"If you were fine you'd still be calling me Katsuki." He stated simply. Uraraka remained quiet. All the emotions that she had tried to suppress all day came rushing towards her. It was like a faucet had been turned on inside of her and all these weird emotions that she couldn't make heads or tails from came tumbling out.

"Well, how would you feel if you had just been used and thrown away without a second thought." She felt the tears burn her eyes and blurring her vision.

"What?!" Bakugo invaded her space once more, grabbing her by the chin and tilting her head up until he could look her straight in the eyes. "What do you mean used and thrown away." The look on his face serious, his red eyes piercing so deep within that Uraraka was having a hard time holding his gaze.

"Bakugo, let go of me." Uraraka was about to cry but she'd be damned if she cried in front of him.

"No. Answer my question. What do you mean?" His tone was demanding. An involuntary shiver went down her spine, confusing her even more.

"Bakugo…"

He released her chin but didn't step back. His scent was intoxicating but she wasn't going to let that distract her. Not today.

"You completely ignored me." She tried mustering up any composure she still possessed.

"I...what?" Bakugo's fists were clenched by his side, his jaw was locked, and his whole body was on edge. Tense. Worse above all, on his face, was a look of confusion and disbelief. If Uraraka didn't know any better she'd say he looked like he had zero clues what she was getting at.

"You did. You walked into the common room and didn't say good morning or…" Uraraka stopped herself before she devolved into some whiney, needy girl. She wasn't like that and she wasn't about to start now.

"Look Bakugo, you say you like me and I believe it but…"

"But what?" Bakugo growled. "I thought we went through this already." He sounded exasperated.

"Can you blame me? You spent most of first-year yelling at all of us, including me, saying we weren't anything but a bunch of extras. I know you still think that about a lot of us and…"

Oh, there it is. Uraraka couldn't put into words what had been gnawing away at her all day. Something about the way he spoke to her this morning was so…it was just like before, and that didn't sit well with her.

"Not you though." His voice was quiet but Uraraka heard him. They stood in silence, unsure of what to say next. Afraid, that speaking aloud what was going through their heads would only make things worse.

"Not me?" Uraraka's voice was faint, barely audible over the whir of the washing machine.

"You're not an extra Round face," He sighed and took a step back again, "You should know that by now."

She should? Uraraka recalled what Tsu had said about Bakugo being too much of a straight-arrow. What reason would he have of playing with her? That didn't seem like the thing he would waste time in. Anything not helping him reach the number one spot was just standing in the way so surely toying with a classmate's emotions wasn't something he would do?

"It's just...don't ignore me." Uraraka finally managed to speak. It was the ignoring part that was really getting to her. He'd done it before. They'd gotten close and then he'd pulled away. He stopped doing that but…

"I wasn't trying to." He responded cracking his knuckles and looking down at Uraraka's feet. "I walked in and you were busy talking with Pinky and then that useless Nerd and Four-Eyes came in and started chewing your ear off about internships so I just left you with your friends."

"And after that? That was in the morning, it's almost six now." She huffed. Okay fine, she could see where maybe in the morning it could all just have been a misunderstanding but all the time from then to now? Goodness Ochako! What is going on with you!?

"Cheeks, just say what you're really getting at and be down with it."

Uraraka bristled but he was right. She had already danced around her biggest worry but refused to acknowledge it. Questioning something that was already so fragile and new seemed like a bad idea but not doing so was clearly not working out for them.

She needed to decide then and there if she was going to allow herself to be vulnerable. Was she going to lay it all out and trust him not to use it against her?

It wasn't that long ago when her train of thought when it came to the tall blonde in front of her was don't show any weakness or he'd pounce.

Now, look at them.

"I can practically see you thinking. Just spit it out." Bakugo huffed.

"What is our dating going to look like?" Uraraka rushed through the question before she could chicken out.

Bakugo was silent for a bit, seemingly pondering her question before turning back to the zero-gravity quirk user. "What do you mean?"

"Like with our friends and stuff. In the real world. How's that supposed to look like?" She asked again, leaning back into the washing machine and picking at her cuticles mindlessly.

Bakugo ran a hand through his hair, letting the motion calm him until his shoulders relaxed and his jaw unclenched. He walked towards where Uraraka was and leaned against the machine next to her before speaking, "I don't know. I've never dated before." He finally said.

They stayed quiet contemplating Bakugo's words. Neither of them had done this before. What if this didn't work out? What if this failed before it even started? What if…?

She felt something warm and surprisingly soft wrap around her hand. The feel of his skin on hers was surprising and welcomed. It reminded her that he was trying, that even though they both seemed to be walking with their heads cut off, at least they were doing so together.

Bakugo squeezed her hand gently, gentler than she ever thought him capable. They held hands until the washing machine beeped it was done. Uraraka began retracting her hand so that she could go remove her clothes and put them in the dryer but Bakugo had different plans. He held onto her hand tightly, dragging her back into him.

Bakugo hugged her and her body reacted before her mind could catch up to what was happening. She melted into his embrace and let herself breathe him in. Something about being in his arms was surprisingly calming.

"You're not going to give up before we even started are you?" His voice was low and dripping with emotion. Uraraka remained quiet, not entirely sure how to respond.

Bakugo pulled slightly away in order to look down at her once again. He seemed to be searching for something in her eyes, it was all she could do to keep herself planted on the ground when all she really wanted to do was get lost in his eyes. Damn…when did I fall so hard?

"Look, I didn't ignore you on purpose and it won't happen again." His tone was serious and sure. He meant it and she believed him.

Uraraka took a deep breath, letting the oxygen rush into her body until she felt lightheaded before exhaling. "Okay."

Her response seemed to be enough for Bakugo because she saw him relax. Uraraka smiled at him and finished pulling away completely. She went back to doing her laundry and tried to ignore the raging emotions swirling within her, pulling her every which way. Uraraka went through the motions of putting in the wet clothes in the drying machine and willed her brain to stop replaying their conversation. Everything between them was still shaky and it somehow still felt like the smallest misunderstanding could send them tumbling down. What they needed were some basic ground rules.

"You can't just ignore me all day." She said suddenly, "I'm not saying you have to spend every single second with me but…"

"I get it." Bakugo cut her off. She gave him a pointed stared for his rudeness and Bakugo at least had the decency of looking away sheepishly.

Seeing the Big, Bad Bakugo act this way in front of her never ceased to amaze her. In fact, it almost always made her giggle like a little girl. It astounded her how he seemed perfectly fine with letting her see a side of him that he tried desperately to keep locked away from the rest of the world.

"Okay." She smiled at him.

"Okay." He echoed, smiling back.

Uraraka finished loading her clothes in the dryer when she felt a familiar warmth wrap around her midriff and push her back into him. What the?

She felt his breath tickling at her neck as he burrowed himself into her and inhaled.

"Ba…"

"Shhh." He whispered into her skin before placing a wet kiss on her collarbone. Bakugo began to nibble his way back towards her neck, causing Uraraka to mewl and press back into him. She could feel his hardness starting to poke at her backside.

Uraraka managed to twist her way into facing him only to find herself being pinned down between Bakugo and the washing machine, which now was placed behind her. The look on his face was almost feral and it sent chills down Uraraka's back and straight down into her womanhood. He smirked at her before dipping down and devouring her like a starved man in front of a meal. His intensity washed away any lingering doubts, the feel of his lips on hers and the pressure of his fingers digging into her hips were all she could focus on. Uraraka kissed him back with equal fervor. They may not have the talking and feelings thing down yet, but physically they seemed to be like a well-oiled machine, completely in sync with the others' needs.

They parted for air but Bakugo didn't step away, his sugary aroma invading her senses and almost causing her to throw caution to the wind.

Almost.

Before she could get caught up by the raging tornado that was Bakugo she managed to dip out of his embrace and back away causing her maybe-boyfriend to growl which once again almost caused her resolve to falter.

Almost.

It was near impossible to resist him but she nonetheless found away.

"No, I can't reward you for bad behavior. It would set a bad example." She chided, but her tone and demeanor clearly indicated she was joking.

Bakugo rolled his eyes but played along, "I'm not a dog Moonface."

"If you really wanted to get in my pants you wouldn't be calling me Moonface." She stuck her tongue out at him and stamped her foot down like a child. He knew how much she hated that stupid nickname!

Her sudden change in attitude caused Bakugo to erupt into a deep, genuine, deep-in-your-bones laughter. "Who said I wanted to get in your pants, Sweet Cheeks." He smirked at her.

Uraraka mirrored his smirk and pointed at the tent in the front of his pants, "You sure?"

Bakugo immediately tried to cover his erection before snarling and hurling himself towards Uraraka. Uraraka shrieked with laughter as she tried evading him. Their actions devolved into a weird game of tag where Bakugo began chasing her around the laundry room and Uraraka kept jumping over machines and benches. Their laughter was loud and care-free but they couldn't find it in them to care if they got caught.

Was this what dating Bakugo was like?

If the answer was yes, then maybe this would actually work out.

AN: I wanted to apologize for the long break between updates. Life kind of just happened and next thing I know it's been almost three weeks since I've uploaded a chapter :( As always, thank you again for all your support 3 Your reviews make me happy to read (and I read them all...more than once lol). I post some updates about my writing on Twitter so feel free to follow me on there if you want.

Also, we got fanart! This from a scene in Chapter 6 - I can't link on FFnet BUT go to tumblr - fays-kacchako-corner - /post/620656748641042432/fanart-for-the-fanfic-firsts-by-highlyglamorous

It's so beautiful and just how I imagined it :)

Finally, someone asked for recommendations on other Kacchako fics so here I go! The majority are on Archive of our Own (AO3) but I know some of them cross-post on here (like I do). There's plenty more where this list came from but here are just a few for now

Don't Ask Don't Tell by Ms_Chunks (AO3), Clocks and Blades by Pomoon (AO3), Positive by Megwritesfanfiction (AO3), Seeing Double by KnifeKirby (AO3), All Grown Up by ionlycamefortacos (AO3 and FFnet)