Ochako panted. This was exhilarating. Hard? Yes. Tiring? Also yes.

But fighting Bakugou was so rewarding.

He never held back, only constricted by their training space. She used her Quirk only quickly, and so did he. They focused mostly on body-to-body combat, using their abilities only to surprise one another in close range. Hence, Bakugou couldn't wildly explode on her face, and Ochako couldn't float herself away from the fight.

She felt herself getting better, or at least progressing more with each day passing by than she was in her fool's mission to get Deku to like her.

The thought had her distracted and Bakugou was able to hit her shoulder. "You're far away, Pretty Face."

The nickname only pissed her off this time. "Thinking of where to go on our next date," she teased, aiming a good kick that he was able to divert, even though he had some trouble doing so.

"Tch," his eyes lit up, concentrated on the fight. "Don't pick anywhere expensive."

"Hah," Ochako breathed, blocking his next strike and successfully hitting his ankle with the help of her Quirk, which made her float quickly around him. "You're cheap."

They were mostly used to each other's strengths and weaknesses now, having trained for several consecutive days. Ochako broke a sweat more often, but it was so refreshing to have her partner not underestimate her because she was a girl. And the moves she learned with Bakugou were totally different than the ones from her internship, so she was constantly learning when training with him.

Bakugou used his ability to fire near her - his intention to distract her enough to push her to the ground - when his blast hit a pile of rocks nearby, constructed for training. The stones came tumbling down, unbeknownst to Ochako.

"Look out!" His eyes widened as he jumped on top of her. Everything happened so fast. Uraraka was just widening her eyes in surprise to his warning when he threw himself at her, knocking her to the ground and rolling over her with the strength of his push. Every rock from the pile fell over, most far from them as they got to safety. The handful of stones stopped falling off, but not before the last one hit Bakugou in the back.

He grunted, moving slightly as he rolled sideways one last time, ending up lying on his back. Ochako was on top of him and completely unharmed, his arms around her waist from the emergency maneuver.

"Bakugou..." she breathed out, panting a little as she looked down at him, both their chests heaving. She could barely understand what had been going on, their legs were still tangled up together from rolling over and her lashes had debris from the accident. Ochako's eyes wandered to the spot where she had been standing, three huge rocks occupying her former place. She directed big brown eyes to her companion, noticing the embarrassing position once she found herself chest to chest, inches away from Bakugou's nose.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said, slowly supporting her body weight on her arms and carefully getting off of him. "You just... you saved me."

"Of course," he grunted, clearly uncomfortable with his position lying down, but not necessarily looking pleased she pushed herself off him. "That's what boyfriends do."

Her features softened at his slip up. "I thought this was what heroes did," she reminded gently, holding his hand to help him sit up.

"Yeah, yeah," he accepted the help for once, only adding a slight grunt. "That too."

Ochako thought of saying that there was no one there to witness whether he was being boyfriend-like or not. He didn't need to pretend all the time, just in front of Deku-kun and the others, and even so it was more out of necessity so it wouldn't look weird to act as boyfriend and girlfriend only in front of Midoriya. But for some reason, she decided against speaking up on the matter. She liked considerate Bakugou. She could bear to spend more time with him like this.

"Oh, careful not to hold my hand with all fingertips," she warned, still not letting go of his hand even though he had sat up already. "Otherwise, you know. Quirk and... and all."

Bakugou looked down at their still joined hands. Then he raised his eyes to hers, a slight frown on his features. What was he thinking? Was he angry that she took the liberty? Annoyed that she still hadn't let go? Disgusted by her scratchy finger pads? It was so hard to tell.

Insecurity had her gulping down and snatching her hand away, nervously using it to tuck a brown strand of hair behind her ear.

"I could have just gone to Recovery Girl if anything happened," she dusted off her gym clothing, getting up slowly.

"Tch," Bakugou got up as well, looking like his usual self. Thank God he hadn't found it weird that she stayed a second too long with her hand on his. "You couldn't go if you died." So dramatic. "No use in you getting hurt just for helping me anyways."

"You're helping me too," she reminded gently, activating her Quirk to move the rocks back to place. As she was finishing up, she remembered his pained expression just before. "Are you hurt...?"

He ignored her question. "You're helping me more, Uraraka."

She knew he was serious when he called her by her name. She wondered if he would ever let her call him by his given name. Tease as she might, she simply adored the name Katsuki. It was funny how such a cute name ended up on such an explosive and difficult person.

Shaking her head, Ochako insisted on him visiting Recovery Girl or the infirmary, but Bakugou shrugged it off as a simple bruise. It was only when he started teasing her, saying that he'd tell everyone she hit him and that's why he was black and blue, that Ochako huffed and gave up on the matter.

But of course she got him to promise he'd put some ice and a soothing cream on later. Who did he think she was, an amateur at arguing?

They finished up their training session a little early because of the interruption, not racing back to the dorms like they did sometimes. Some days had them more tired than others, but this time around Ochako just wanted to make sure he didn't outdo himself. The last thing she needed was a guilty conscience.

They had been training for a couple of weeks now, and everyone in school already knew about their "relationship." Deku-kun was still aloof, although Ochako had asked Tsuyu-chan about Kirishima's party the week after, when they finally found some alone girlfriend time:

"Did you see his reaction?!" Uraraka pressed. "I mean, if he hadn't noticed so far, he must've heard people saying we should kiss because we were dating!"

"I don't think Midoriya seemed all that annoyed... kero. More like surprised. I don't know..."

"Tsuyu-chaaaan," Ochako groaned. "Are you sure he didn't walk away in a fit? Maybe frowned out of jealousy?!"

"I didn't notice much, I was watching you and Bakugou-kun like everyone else, kero."

Ochako blushed. She had almost forgotten about that. She had let the subject with Asui drop, but the fact that Midoriya hadn't reacted much made her feel like her plan was as useless as it was stupid.

But of course, all she could think about was the kiss she shared with Bakugou, of all people, in front of everyone. And of course that had to happen on their way back to the dorms, when he was just injured after protecting her. Just to make things even more confusing, if that was possible.

Just. Great.

Ochako sighed loudly. This was a nightmare. How come she started thinking about this now, all of a sudden? This was ridiculous. That had happened weeks ago. She shouldn't dwell on it!

She eyed Bakugou sideways, as to not draw too much attention to herself. He was tall. He was blond. He had an intense look and vibe around him. And he was strong. This was a combo most girls would easily fall for.

But not Ochako. She liked Deku-kun. And she liked him because he was sensitive and kind of a dork. He was nerdy and kind. He was nothing like Bakugou.

It was like the blond mess next to her was a bitter piece of candy, something citric and acid that made your face twist up and your stomach upset. And Deku-kun was sweet like milky chocolate, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.

Between bitter and the sweetness, of course she chose sweet. Deku-kun worried about other people before he was obsessed with becoming number one. Could she say the same about Bakugou?

And yet, hadn't Bakugou gotten hurt protecting her just minutes ago? He probably put people's safety in front of his ranking, right? Or maybe that was a test she didn't want the answer to?

Maybe he mistreated the victims in the exercise because he knew they were faking and it was all just a dumb test. She had just witnessed with her own two eyes what happened when someone's actual wellbeing was on the line. But would that ever be his priority?

"Bakugou..."

"What?" He looked at her with his usual frown as they walked back to their dorm, both of them with a thin layer of sweat from their exercise.

"Why don't you like rescuing?" She pressed. "You have one of the best grades in class, your Quirk is one of the strongest, and you train so hard... rescuing should be a vital part of your training and yet you completely ignored it up until now."

He huffed in annoyance. "Weak people need rescuing."

Ochako frowned. "That's not true."

"Yeah it is."

Uraraka suddenly remembered how Bakugou had been kidnapped by the League of Villains before the summer break, and how she told everyone he wouldn't want to be rescued. They figured out that Kirishima was the key to make Bakugou come along, but Ochako understood right then and there - rescue training made him feel weak. It reminded him of when he was trapped, helpless and dependent, and it must piss him off.

This was getting messy. Why did she care about all that, anyways? She had picked Bakugou for this fake boyfriend thing specifically because she didn't care about him or what he thought of her. All that training together, study sessions and normal classes in school hours were starting to give her weird thoughts. Ochako should probably stay away from him for a couple of days, to see if her head cleared a little.

...Or at least she thought that. But not an hour later, she was in the kitchen staring at Bakugou's naked back and with a muscular pain cream on her hands.

How had that happened again?

"Come on, Round Face," he croaked out, obviously annoyed. "I don't have all fucking day."

"O-Okay," Ochako was able to squeak out. "Sure."

After they had showered and dressed (separately! Ochako started blushing), she found Bakugou with his hand over his shirt, struggling to find the right spot to spread the cream. He said he hadn't been able to successfully reach it, so he hadn't iced the region yet. Also, they had to be in school after breakfast, so he unceremoniously stripped himself of his uniform shirt and handed her the cream.

"Here, you spread it. This weird angle is making my arm sore."

And before she could disagree or widen her eyes at the sight of his bare (and very defined) abdomen, he had turned around and she was suddenly transformed into a stuttering idiot.

Shaking her head slightly, she opened the cream and gulped down nervously. Putting some on her palm, she hesitantly raised it to the spot where Bakugou had been hurt. It was already turning an ugly and deep purple.

He smelled nice. An almond kind of scent, for some reason. It was pleasant.

But. Anyways. Onto the mission.

Carefully touching him with only four of her fingertips, she started spreading the cream on his skin. Bakugou hissed quietly.

Ochako tore her hand away. "Am I hurting you?"

"No," he sighed forcefully. "This fucking thing is cold and it surprised me, that's all." He would never admit that touching along his bruised skin had disturbed him slightly. Pain was for losers.

"Ok-kay then." Damn it. Why was her voice so shaky and stupid? Why was she blubbering around him? This was Bakugou, for goodness sakes! The former bully! The one who had to be tied down for the awarding ceremony earlier that year! Because he couldn't handle winning when Todoroki-kun didn't use his Fire Quirk!

That guy was freaking insane!

But he was also... inarguably hot. And Ochako didn't think she had ever seen a boy shirtless. Not on her own, anyways. Of course she had seen boys with bathing suits during swim meets and stuff like that, but never alone with a guy who stripped in front of her.

Focusing more and tightening her resolve to chase the thoughts away, she raised her thumb and used her four remaining fingers to spread a thin layer of the soothing cream on his bruise. When she was done, she lingered one second or two, feeling the smooth texture of his skin underneath her touch.

Bakugou shuddered involuntarily.

"All done," she squeaked, surprising herself with her ridiculous tone. Ochako huffed on her way to the sink to wash her hands, shaking her head in disappointment with herself. She was better than this.

Bakugou just grunted - really, was a "thank you" too much to ask? - in response and lowered his shirt.

Ochako paused when she saw the table. It was set for two, and had enough food for them both.

"Bakugou...?"

He followed her eyes to the food displayed, and shrugged. "I ended up making extra. If you don't eat it'll just go to the trash."

There was no way Katsuki had made a mistake on the quantity he prepared for himself every day. He saw Uraraka eat poorly after training, sometimes a fruit, some days a protein bar, others plain toast. If he didn't feed that girl properly, she'd just be weak and Katsuki would win by default. There was no fair game in that, was there?

"There's no way I'm letting food go to waste!" Ochako raised her voice slightly, offended. Sitting down at the table, she eyed the grilled fish, crunchy seaweed and hot white rice.

"This actually smells delicious..." she raised an eyebrow, looking Bakugou over when he joined her on the table. Serving herself, plate full, Ochako grabbed chopsticks and started eating. The salty flavor had her widening her eyes in astonishment and admiration. "This is so good! How?"

He clicked his tongue, indignant. "I cook the most nutritious meals, okay? I research and shit. I gotta keep in shape to be number one hero."

Oh, that same old story again. Didn't he think of anything else? Uraraka wondered. But anyways, this meal was way too good to warrant a response from her. Ochako kept happily humming every time she took a bite out of that delicious breakfast. If she hadn't witnessed herself Bakugou cooking everything for days now, she would have doubted that something so yummy had been prepared by such a hot head.

"The way you feed yourself so poorly, you should be taking some vitamins or supplements," he grunted, adding pure black coffee to his cup.

Ochako stopped chewing slowly, wondering why he was so worried about her eating habits. Also wondering who the heck didn't sweeten their coffee. "I should," she swallowed her bite, mulling it over. "But they're a little expensive, so they're just not worth it. I mean I could buy them for the month but then what? I couldn't make a habit out of it," she shrugged it off. "I try and mind my eating instead but... it's not the best," she admitted sheepishly.

Bakugou concentrated on his plate, frowning hard. "I have some vitamins at my house," he said in his usual loud and contemptuous manner. "I'll bring them next time."

Ochako blinked. Then a smirk came upon her. "Aww Bakugou!" She teased, scooting her chair closer to poke his cheek. "You're worried about me?"

"Shut up!" He slapped her teasing finger away with little force. "They'll expire and go to the trash unless someone takes them. I'm not doing you any favors."

"Oh yeah," Ochako teased, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "God forbid you do anyone a favor. Ever."

Katsuki glowered. "Liar. There's nothing but fucking kindness on my damn heart."

Ochako snorted, almost spilling milk over her nose, and the scene was so ridiculous that even Katsuki almost smiled for a second, even though Uraraka hadn't seen it. That girl was so pathetic.

Studying with her became a habit, and with their training and eating breakfast together, Katsuki realized she officially became the least annoying person in their class. Before, that post belonged to Kirishima, but Uraraka was a little bit nicer to be around. And way less loud than Kirishima.

Just before the sun could set that day, Ochako opened her bedroom door to step out and get a textbook borrowed, probably from Bakugou. It could give her an excuse to talk to Deku, but the nerdy boy was always scribbling down on his school materials, and she knew Bakugou was organized enough to not draw a single line down on the blank spaces of the schoolbook.

As she locked her door and turned around, her fake boyfriend was standing in her way.

"Bakugou!" She clutched her chest slightly in surprise. "I didn't see you there. I was just coming to meet you, actually –"

"Here," he offered without ceremony a plastic bag he held. "I found them."

"Oh," her eyes widened, taking what he extended her and eyeing it curiously. "What's that?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "You're such an airhead, Uraraka," he shook his head, but she was not offended in the least. In fact, it seemed more and more that they were becoming friendly with each other. "What did we talk about during breakfast?"

"That I was really surprised you could cook at all, 'cause it doesn't look like you have the patience to - 'ey!" She was interrupted by his hand squishing her cute cheeks together. "No fair," Uraraka whined, bringing her free hand up and slapping his away. "Jerk."

"Oh," his eyes sparkled with a new glare, but somehow Ochako could just tell he didn't mean it with anger. "The JERK here will not pass on his medicines to an ungrateful little shit like you anymore! Or rather, I'll let everything go bad and then feed it to you. How's that?"

Her face lit up, completely ignoring the empty threat. "You found the vitamins? Wow! I didn't think you'd go out of your way to go to your house today, you didn't have to!"

"Exactly. No one fucking tells me what to do. I -"

"So you must have reeeeally wanted to help me, huh?" Uraraka teased, standing on the tips of her toes to narrow her eyes at him on his eye level. She even leaned in for good measure, making Katsuki glare in response. Staring at her this close made him nervous for some reason. He felt like pushing her away. Far, far away. He didn't like the anxious feeling this proximity gave him.

"Tch." He looked away, stepping back from crazy, weird Uraraka. "Last fucking time I ever try to do anyone any favors."

"Hey," she grabbed his arm, halting his movement to walk away from the embarrassing conversation. "Thank you, Bakugou," Ochako smiled sincerely. "It really means a lot."

He looked at her intensely for one second before frowning and shrugging. "Whatever," he looked away as he walked off, Ochako knowing better than to tease him over his limit.

Once she went back in her room and looked at the contents of the plastic bag, she found full boxes of vitamins and supplements enough for her to take during six consecutive months. She could save up and buy one every other month now, minding her eating habits and being careful not to overexert herself, basically having supply for a year! Maybe she'd stop having nausea if she ate better, and that would mean bettering her Quirk and kicking butt on the next Sports Festival, getting more offers for internships and fastening her ascension to Pro Hero status!

One thing that caught her attention, though, was how the boxes were closed and sealed. Brand new. They had certainly never been opened and used, and the expiration date told her that it wasn't until the year after the next that they would go bad.

Ochako hummed thoughtfully, examining the plastic bag. It had the logo of a famous pharmacy network, which could mean that Bakugo had it lying around his home and got it just as a means to transport the medicine.

Or, the most likely scenario, he went out during the afternoon and purchased them himself, only taking out the receipt as to not make it too obvious.

Checking the fabrication date, Ochako could tell these vitamins were made the month before. There was no way these were just lying around Bakugou's house, unused and forgotten.

She smiled, feeling warm and tingly inside. She knew there was more to him than met the eye, but everyone who tried a relationship with Bakugou - be it friendship, companionship or, in their case, a fake romantic one - would have to be really patient. He was still really immature and one-track-minded, always going on and on about his obsession to be the best, the strongest, the number one hero. Bakugou was a simple person on the surface, but if one wanted to really get him, they'd have to look past the almost funny explosions in his mood and the shouting and cursing. He was more complex than that. He did give away signs that he cared, occasionally. One had to be attentive to those. And Ochako could certainly tell that their proximity had led to him caring about her - not in a girlfriend-boyfriend way like they were faking, of course, but as someone who he could consider a friend. Maybe even a close one. He would never go out of his way to buy her medicine she couldn't afford - to spend money on things that weren't for himself - if he didn't care about Uraraka. And that made her feel extremely special, because not many - if anyone at all - had the intimacy necessary to glimpse at this softer side of the guy.

Sure, he had a lot to work on - his angry explosions could happen a little less often, for instance - but Ochako knew that underneath that rocky exterior, he had a heart of gold. Unlike herself, always struggling to get people to like her - it came with wanting to be a Pro Hero, since it depended on her popularity and charisma - Bakugou didn't give a damn. It was almost liberating to watch. He inspired her to be more like herself around him, teasing and proud, feeling badass over a particular strike she was able to land or an unexpected use of her Quirk. And she hoped that she, in turn, inspired him to be a little more helpful and mature. She could already tell he was considerate when it really mattered - the vitamins were proof of it. She forgot all about the textbook for now, taking one of the pills with some water and writing down how much she had to save to be able to afford them the following six months.

Every day they spent hours on end together; at 6AM they went to Gym Gamma, practiced sparring and rescuing until 7:30, went back to the dorms together, showered and changed, and then had breakfast before class (always prepared by Bakugou). Then they joined their classmates, had school hours, lunch - that meal was shared again because their whole class practically sat together on the cafeteria - and more lessons in the afternoon. Then, on most days, they ended up in each other's bedrooms to study or complete an assignment together.

Of course, not all days were filled with absolute harmony between the two – sometimes Bakugou was simply insufferable. He refused to answer the simplest questions because he was in a mood, he took it out on fighting with every single person he interacted with, and he glared at everything and everyone. He barely grunted two words in her direction during those days.

Even so, with weeks in, almost every teacher – always the last to know – heard about their "relationship", and their colleagues whispered about how often they were alone in each other's rooms, much to Ochako's embarrassment. She corrected everyone when she could, saying they were just studying together and helping each other out, that she'd leave her door open if that would make everyone stop talking.

It didn't help one bit when Bakugou loudly stated that his door was going to remain closed because of the noise.

Needless to say, everyone thought it was about the supposed noise him or Ochako made. While doing. Stuff.

Uraraka was mortified. She turned such a deep red that she started stuttering and trying to say that it was about the outside noise, that Bakugou hated studying in the common room, but everyone was snickering and teasing before she could say much.

It wasn't long before they settled into a routine, and it was a regular Friday when Ochako noticed that she was doing absolutely nothing in order to get closer to Deku. She spent all of her free time - and busy too - with Bakugou. They had been fake-dating for almost a month, and she didn't even need to blackmail him into it anymore. They were - well, maybe not friends, or boyfriend and girlfriend, but... really close...people? Two individuals who cared about each other, even though neither would actually admit it?

Thinking about caring and love, her mind wandered to Deku-kun. How many consecutive days had it been since she had last thought of him? His goofy smile? The cute face he made when he was writing things down in his notebook like the nerd he was? It seemed they hung out less and less ever since she and Bakugou started "dating".

That chain of thought had Ochako not only confused, but also worried. She was only going through all of this – putting up with Bakugou's occasional rudeness and impoliteness – because she was in love with Deku-kun.

Wasn't she?

Slamming her hands down on her studying table, Ochako got up in a second.

"Jesus fuck!" Bakugou startled himself and clutched his chest. "What in all hell, Uraraka?"

"I... I need to do something," she explained lamely, going out of Bakugou's room and completely confused about her train of thought. She even left her studying material behind, so he figured she'd come right back.

Katsuki just shrugged. Girls. Even though Uraraka was not like most - meaning she wasn't giggly and superficial like he imagined all of them were - she wasn't immune to girly shit. Maybe she needed to pee and was just embarrassed to ask to use his bathroom. Or something equally cutesy.

Speaking of that, it always amazed Katsuki when he noticed the difference between Uraraka with him and with other people. When they were together, she was determined, sarcastic and frequently sweaty – she acted like she wasn't afraid of him. But what happened once people from their class were around? Fucking Miss Congeniality.

Uraraka was a badass who seemed scared to own it. She had everything it took to be a Pro Hero; she had a cool Quirk, she was pretty, her hair smelled nice, her cheeks were round and plump and her eyes were such a cute chocolate brown that Katsuki could already imagine little Uravity dolls being a huge hit.

Woah.

What the actual fuck.

Slamming his own hands down on his studying table, Katsuki got up in a fit, making his way to Kirishima's room. He needed manly company. He needed something to distract himself. Videogames or working out. Uraraka, pretty! This was fucking ridiculous. And thinking about the scent of her hair?

He had noticed she was cute before. He wasn't blind. He had even acknowledged it in thought during Kirishima's party. But actively thinking about it? Out of fucking nowhere? What was he, a ten-year-old brat with a crush?

"Bakubro!" Kirishima opened the door to his bedroom with his pointy teeth in a grin. "What gives me the absolute honor?"

"Uraraka!" He blurted, nervous as usual.

"Oh, a lover's quarrel I see! Well my dude, fear not. I have absolutely zero experience in relationships and approximately thirty-seven solid advices to pass on –"

"It's not that," he pushed past Kirishima and entered his friend's room. He figured if Uraraka could tell Frog Face, he could tell Shitty Hair. "Close the damn door."

"Oh, I heard that one before," Kirishima grinned as he obeyed Katsuki. "You were barking at everyone in the common room the other day about how you like them better closed because of all the noise..."

"Kirishima," Bakugou growled. "Hear me the fuck out, dumbass."

"You do curse a lot. Isn't your mom embarrassed?"

"Forget the old hag!" Bakugou gestured grandly. "I'm trying to fucking tell you something!"

"Okay, alright," Kirishima stopped smiling slightly. "Spit it out," he sat down by his armchair, gesturing for Katsuki to sit across from him.

"Fucking Uraraka, man!" Bakugou huffed out, sitting on the extra armchair. "Just... fuck!"

"Very elaborate," the redhead nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, she! Ugh! Stupid," he called himself, slapping his forehead. "She's like... she's... I can't! We're not... but I kind of... fucking hell!"

"Not that I'm not completely getting everything you're saying," Kirishima crossed his legs thoughtfully. "But could you please give the audience some context?" He pointed to himself. "'Cause the audience is, like, super confused at the moment."

"We're not really dating."

"You and me? I should hope not, man. You're handsome and all but I just don't swing that way, if you know what I mean."

"Me and Uraraka," Katsuki spat through gritted teeth, holding back his willingness to punch Kirishima in the fucking face.

"Woah," his friend uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "What do you mean? Did you guys break up or have a fight?"

"I mean we never started anything," Katsuki looked pointedly to the side. "She... She blackmailed me into faking being her boyfriend. So the guy she's really into will notice her."

Kirishima hissed. "Man, that's cold. I wouldn't peg Uraraka for the type."

"No one fucking would!" Bakugou exploded. "That's just the thing! She takes advantage of being cute and shit! She's a sneaky little devil! That's what she is! She's, she's! Fucking terrible!"

Kirishima caressed his chin thoughtfully. "So what I'm picking up here is kind of an I-think-she's-cute vibe."

"She's not - I don't fucking think that!"

"Well, you wouldn't be the first to think it," Kirishima shrugged. "I mean, I don't think she's ugly or anything but I don't see the big deal either. But I heard guys from our class and even spectators from the Sports Festival commenting on how cute or pretty Uraraka-san is."

"But she's my –" Katsuki stopped himself before he could say girlfriend. Was he really about to spit that out? He had just told Kirishima they weren't dating! "I don't think she's cute! She's fucking unnerving!"

Kirishima raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, then. What's the problem? If you don't think she's cute, and you're only fake dating, it's okay, right?"

"She - she took advantage of looking innocent to do that!" Bakugou frowned with a glare. How had he agreed to do something so stupid in the first place?

"I mean, yeah," Kirishima tapped his cheek in deep thought. "That was a genius move. No one but me and Kaminari would take your side. People would think you hurt her feelings and spread lies -"

"Exactly!" Katsuki nearly stood up in his chair, such was his agitation. "Fuck! She's manipulative! She's cold! She, she's –"

"Cute?"

"Yeah, fuck!" Katsuki unknowingly contradicted himself. "She's distracting! She keeps smiling and being nice like I don't know what's up! She's sabotaging me to be number one hero herself!"

"While I think that's maaaaybe going a little far," his friend leaned back in his chair. "What exactly is she threatening you with? Are you in any trouble? Did you get into a fistfight that could get you expelled or...?"

Katsuki deflated, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Nothing like that. She's just - really smart and sneaky. That little shit."

Kirishima's eyes dawned with understanding for the first time since that explosive conversation began.

"Man... do you like her?" He leaned forward with a slight frown. "Is that it? You're not really dating, but you wish you were?"

Katsuki closed his mouth, tight-lipped and glaring hard at his friend. No, there was no way this was it. He was just frustrated because he caught himself thinking she was pretty out of fucking nowhere. That was it.

"She's just annoying to be around," he lied. "I can't fucking wait for it to finally be over."

"Uhuh," Kirishima cocked his head to the side. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, I just had to tell someone or else I'd fucking explode. This is such a pain in my ass."

Knowing that Bakugou always said the exact opposite of what he meant, Kirishima hummed, choosing not to press him any further. "Okay, bro. Whatever you say."

"Uraraka-san?" Midoriya frowned when he opened his bedroom door and found the girl, looking nervous and awkward as she stood in front of him. A second passed and when Ochako couldn't get anything out, Izuku frowned at her.

"Something happened with Kacchan? You guys had a fight?"

Uraraka gulped. "Uh… may I come in? We should… we should talk."

"Okay," Midoriya stepped aside so she could walk in, closing the door behind Ochako.

After a little hesitating, Uraraka squirmed in her place and finally stuttered out her crush's name. "D-Deku-kun… I can't help but shake the feeling that we've been… kind of at odds with each other. Since Kirishima's party a month ago."

Maybe she had gone too far in suggesting that, but at least it got a reaction out of Midoriya, who widened his eyes and seemed to realize what he had been doing – unknowingly pushing away a dear friend because he was upset with something neither he nor she could control: other people's affections.

"I'm sorry, Uraraka-san," he said truthfully. "I have been… a little off lately. Lots of… training," he finished lamely, simply not being able to come clean with her. She could tell he was lying, but just nodded in response. She didn't like pushing Deku-kun. Ochako knew he had his own time in dealing with things. "But I have pushed you away a little. And I'm really sorry about that. I guess I just… got a little jealous of you and Kacchan."

Had he just said the magic word? "You were… jealous?" She repeated carefully.

"Y-Yeah," Midoriya admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I thought you guys being together wouldn't work…because Kacchan is always so rude, you know? He's my friend, but because of that I know him better than anyone. He can be so mean sometimes. And I guess I just think… you deserve someone better. Someone who treats you like you deserve to be treated."

Ochako's heart skipped a beat. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened. "I-I…"

"Don't get me wrong!" Midoriya gestured. "I'm not wishing you guys would break up or anything… I just… I thought you would struggle and instead you two seem to really be getting along."

Uraraka stayed silent. To her surprise, Deku continued:

"So it just reminds me now that I can't be with the one I like."

Her world seemed to slow to a stop. Deku-kun, in love?

Could it possibly be with her?

"D-Deku-kun, I… I…"

"Sorry," Midoriya shook his head. "I'm sorry, Uraraka-san. I shouldn't have said all that. I'm happy for you, really! So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Uraraka's eyes filled with tears. She wanted to say that she was in love with him. She wanted to shout, I love you, Midoriya Izuku. She wished she could get her feelings out. But she had a knot on her throat, and a heavy weight in her chest. It was like she was paralyzed. Something stopped her from saying everything she had nurtured for months for the boy standing in front of her.

Instead, she just sobbed and admitted, "Thank you… thank you for… for everything…"

If anything, Deku had been incredibly honest with her. He had been jealous of her with Bakugou. Her plan had worked. She even heard it from Deku himself that he had someone he liked and that he would want to be with her like that one day…

But she didn't know if it was her. What if it was someone else? The thought pierced through her and hurt more than she had anticipated. And if she was the one? Ochako had just architected a whole masterplan that ended up breaking Deku's heart. She felt even lower.

His confession had just taken everything to a whole other level of high stakes.

Midoriya knitted his eyebrows and felt sorry for his friend. Hugging Uraraka tight, he wished she would just stop crying. "It's okay," he repeated. "You don't need to worry about me." Every word unknowingly made Ochako feel worse about herself. Because of her selfishness, he felt in the wrong. If she had just been honest from the beginning and confessed to him, like any normal person would, she would have gotten her answer and be done with it. Instead, because she cherished him so much as a friend, she was in this mess.

"Let's go back to the way things were," Midoriya offered. He missed Uraraka. "I want to be friends again." He regretted pushing her away, and because of something so petty… he should have been happy for her from the start. She had no fault in his misery.

Uraraka nodded, sniffling into his chest. She felt terribly mean and egotistical and a coward, who couldn't even confess, if only to end someone's pain. Truth was, she was comfortable doing nothing about her situation, hanging out with Bakugou and postponing the real confrontation with Deku-kun. But she couldn't do that anymore.

Indecisiveness had her crying herself to sleep that night.