Chapter Text
Three hours. She had gotten three hours of sleep.
Ochako was a ghost as she drifted into class the next morning. Her collar was buttoned up tight in an attempt to hide the hickeys and she had to spend an extra few minutes having to fish out her extra-opaque tights.
Her joints creaked like she was a senior citizen. Her back ached. The only thing keeping her from calling it a day was knowing that she had rode Bakugou just as hard.
She winced at her own innuendo. Ugh.
Ochako paused for a moment outside the class door to yawn.
"'Chako-chip!"
Ochako turned to see Mina bounding towards her. "Oh, good morning."
She frowned. Her friend's eyes were red-rimmed and she had a distinct wobble to her mouth. "Mina, what's happened? What's wrong?"
"I want to apologize." Mina took her hands in hers.
"I couldn't sleep at all last night, all I could think about was how hurt you looked and that it was my fault and like, of course you'd be hurt i was such a bitch to say that and I thought it was a compliment, which is even worse— "
Ochako blinked. Oh my god, that was yesterday.
"Mina." She cut her friend off. "It's okay, really."
Mina sniffled. "But it's not, though, right? I literally othered you. Me . The pink bitch with horns and black eyes. I deal with that kind of stuff all the time and then I just turned around and did it to you. I'm a hypocrite."
Ochako pulled her friend into a hug. If Ochako was a cranky-tired person, Mina was a weepy-tired type. "Why don't we talk about it later?" she suggested. "Because I forgive you, and I love you, and I want to hear about what you have to say, but" she stifled another yawn, "later."
Mina gave her a tearful grin before wiping her nose. "That sounds lovely."
Now that she had calmed, her eyes narrowed as she scanned Ochako’s face. "Hey, did anything else happen yesterday? You look kinda different. I can't explain it."
"I knew it," Ochako breathed. "I was right."
"What?"
"Nothing." She tried stretching again before wincing mid-arm reach. "God, this is gonna be a long day."
Mina looped her arm around hers and gave her a nudge. "If anyone tries to bother you, I'll kick their asses."
Ochako grinned. "My hero."
They entered the classroom. Deku immediately sprung up from his seat to greet her. "Morning!" he said brightly. "How'd you sleep?"
One quick scan of her general appearance answered that for him. He grimaced, sympathetic. "We've all been there."
Have you Deku? she thought wryly. Have you really ?
The class was doing a spectacular job of not giving her any unwanted attention. Something in the gleam in Deku's eyes told her he'd succeeded in honoring her wish from yesterday.
Ochako finally sucked it up and looked at the part of the room she'd been avoiding. If Bakugou had been feeling any after-effects from the night before, he sure didn't show it. It sparked an irrational flare of annoyance in her tired brain.
He was in the midst of a heated conversation with Kirishima, who was leaned over his desk, gesticulating wildly. He seemed to be demanding something that Bakugou was not giving him. Not even two seconds later, he punched the redhead's shoulder, causing him to pull back with an offended scoff.
Bakugou was scowling until he inevitably looked up and locked stares with Ochako. He stiffened.
Cool. She was so cool. Ochako was a cool girl, and cool girls didn't float themselves to the ceiling after seeing the boy they lost their virginity to only hours earlier in person out in public.
The one she high-fived afterwards, Jesus Christ —
Kirishima was frowning down at Bakugou, confused at the sudden shift. He then followed his friend's stare and landed on Ochako. He blinked, looked back at Bakugou, and then her again.
She saw the moment his face lit up .
His jaw dropped before splitting into the biggest grin. "Dudeeeee!"
Bakugou yanked him down by his neck-tie and then began to spit/hiss something right in Kirishima's face. He kept shaking his head, still with that disbelieving grin on his face.
He apparently said the right thing because he was eventually released from his grip. Before taking his seat, Kirishima turned towards Ochako, and winked .
Only the sweet release of death would save her now.
Bakugou's face was buried in smoking hands. Deku made the mistake of asking him what was wrong and the only thing that saved him was Aizawa entering.
Ochako took it as her own cue to rush to her seat and pretend not to exist for the next few hours. Kirishima had the sense not to interact as she passed his desk. He just kept leaning back in his chair, grinning like a proud father and laughing to himself.
Yeah. She wanted to die
This was why they wanted to keep things private. She was pretty sure Kirishima wouldn't blab, but still. Someone else knew now.
Ochako sat down a little too hard and bit back a cry. "Are you kidding me?" she hissed to herself. No one had warned her how sore you’d be after! It felt illegal.
Bakugou hadn't looked back at her this entire time. Granted, seeing as he was in the front of the class and she was located in the back, it would probably look obvious, and he was still very much in the throes of preventing mass destruction, but still.
She sunk further into her seat. Still, what? He didn't owe her anything. She picked at her finger pad.
Casual.
What an annoying word.
There was someone who kept stealing glances towards her during class, though. Kaminari had been bouncing his leg, nervous but determined. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her desk. Well, whatever he had to say to her was at least going to be entertaining.
She didn't have to wait long.
It took Ochako a little longer to get out of her seat for lunch break. She guessed that's just what happened when your hips were pissed at you for allowing them to be jack-hammered into. It was just cleared out enough for him to be able to approach her without an audience.
She braced herself as he scooted to sit on her desk. He clasped his hands together and lowered them into his lap. "Uraraka, it has come to my attention that I acted Very Not Cool yesterday."
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did it?"
He winced, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeahhh."
He sighed. "Okay, but I feel genuinely bad. After Jirou drowned me she and Momo made me come with them and we watched a bunch of video-essays and this one documentary talking about women in media and just, wow," he poked at his temple, "my eyes have been opened , Uraraka."
Ochako motioned for him to continue. She had to admit, Jirou's video-essays she found were very convincing. Most of the class were Socialists now.
Kaminari's shoulders slumped. "Sorry. I really am. I need to start valuing you by your opinions and not by your ass."
She shut her eyes and took a breath. "Kaminari, can we do this later? I'm a little tired right now."
He straightened up. "Oh, yeah, of course! I just," he shrugged, "I really actually like you? As a person? And I don't want you to hate me. You're really cool, and yeah."
He gave her a small bow. "My bad.”
Well, he had the spirit. "Sure, Kaminari."
He looked giddy. "Oh, hell yeah. Because I have the perfect thing planned for just the two of us—"
Wait, what?
"—and it's gonna be so much fun and I know you're gonna love it—"
"Kaminari, what are you talking about?"
"You're a queen." He said this as a fact, one he believed in with all his heart. "And I'm gonna take you on a date."
She threw her head back. "Oh, my God—"
"A friend date! A friend date!" He held up his hands. "Honest. All I wanted to do yesterday was raise your self esteem—"
Ochako was aging in that chair by the second. "Oh, really?"
"—because Uraraka you're cool and you're pretty and that's just a rare combo—but let's focus here." He turned serious. "I value your brain."
"You really don't have to," she mumbled.
"We can go to the planetarium!"
Well, that got her attention. Kaminari grinned. "Yeah, I know you like space and shit! But it's so expensive!"
He was right. It was expensive. She crossed her arms. "Keep talking."
He threw his arms out as he gestured excitedly. "I'll pay for it, yeah? We can go this Saturday or whatever. You can teach me about the moon—"
He looked up over her shoulder and brightened. "Oh hey Kacchan! Uraraka and I are gonna go to—"
"She's busy."
Ochako's eyes widened as a shadow fell on her. She turned her head to find Bakugou standing right beside her and very much in Kaminari's face. His face was devoid of all emotion and yet he was terrifying .
Kaminari raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Oh. Bummer, we'll just have to reschedule—"
"She'll be busy then too."
Ochako turned in her desk chair, chin tilted. "Oh, will I?"
She could see the barely contained homicide simmering under his skin. When he redirected his gaze at her, she was struck with how irrationally possessive it was. "Yeah."
"Oh. Cool."
She didn't think that was casual. Kaminari glanced between the two, frowning. "I...am missing something here."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Bakugou snorted.
Ochako mirrored Kaminari's confused face. "No, I think I'm missing something too."
Bakugou glared at her. She shrugged helplessly. Bakugou pressed his lips into a thin line before barking out, "Oi, Pikachu, where were you planning on going?"
Kaminari started. "Oh, right, so the planetarium—"
"I'm taking you there," Bakugou said to her. "We're going."
She was looking at him with wide eyes. "Really?"
He flexed his hands and wiped them on the sides of his pants. He grimaced but eventually forced out a nod. "Yeah. Fuck it, why not?"
Ochako felt a smile bloom on her face. "Okay. Let's do it."
He grinned back. Kaminari frowned. "Dude, no, plan out your own friend dates—"
"This isn't a friend date, you dumbass," he snapped. "It's a real one."
Kaminari's mouth dropped slightly. "Wait." He looked at Ochako and then back at Bakugou. "Wait, what just happened?"
"A display of aggressive masculinity that we will be addressing later," Ochako said, biting back a smile at how red Bakugou's face got.
Good. That was ridiculous. But kind of hot. Maybe she should address that too.
Kaminari sighed. "Okay, whatever. I'm going to eat." He saluted Ochako. "We'll have our friend date later."
"Oi," Bakugou growled.
"Hey. Men. Don't. Own. Women." Kaminari pointed his finger. "They are free agents of their own will and we need to respect that—"
"Kaminari had a feminist awakening last night," Ochako explained.
Bakugou made an unimpressed face. "Let's see how long that lasts." He nudged her shoulder. "Let's eat."
He cast a glare towards Kaminari. "Don't walk with us."
Ochako made some attempt at a goodbye before following Bakugou out of the room. She turned her head to catch the glimpse of Kaminari whipping out his phone and texting furiously. Well. So much for being discreet.
She squeaked as Bakugou snaked his hand around her waist as they walked down the hall. He pressed her against him and Ochako scoffed in disbelief. "Whatever happened to being casual?"
"Here's the thing." He directed them towards the lunchroom. "I had a realization while seeing you talk to that fuckhead."
"Yeah?"
"I've never been casual a day in my goddamn life."
She bit back another smile. "So...is this you telling me that you like me?"
Bakugou huffed and jerked his chin down. "I hate answering stupid questions."
Ochako rolled her eyes. Right.
But he spoke up a few seconds later with a soft, "Of course I like you."
Her heart leapt out of its chest and she allowed her smile to split across her face. "Good."
They walked for a few seconds longer before he nudged her. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Do you like me back?" His jaw tightened. "Because if you don't, I look like a psychopath now."
"You already are a psychopath."
" Oi ."
Ochako leaned her head into his shoulder. "Yeah." She bit her lip. "I do. I really do."
He let out a massive breath of relief. "Thank fucking god."
Her soul almost left her body as he turned to kiss her temple. "You're sleeping over tonight," he whispered into her ear.
She made a face. "Absolutely not. There's no way you've washed your sheets yet and the fact that Kirishima heard us makes me want to set myself on fire."
"If it makes you feel any better, he didn't hear everything.”
"Then what did he hear?"
Bakugou was suddenly very interested in the design of the floor tiles. "The..finishing..."
Ochako was never going to be able to look Kirishima in the eye again. "We're sleeping in my room tonight. But no...stuff, I'm really sore."
He grinned. "Oh, yeah?"
She smacked his shoulder. "Yeah, you animal."
He didn't look the least bit sorry. "Fine, fine."
Ochako couldn't help but think back at how different things were at this time the day before. It felt like a different person living another life. She took a deep breath.
She loved her body, she always would. There would be days like yesterday all the time. She would just need reminders of what's truly important to bring her back down to earth. Her biggest reminder was currently yelling at a jeering Monoma down the hall.
"Wow," she said, eyebrows raised. "I actually think you won that one. Impressive."
"I'm a very impressive person, Ochako."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever."
"I dunno," he mused. "I think I deserve a high five for that one."
She ended up floating them both to the ceiling.