Chapter Text
Bakugou stretched and flexed in the gym mirror, looking at himself long and hard to check how his traps were coming in. He needed them to be even, not because anyone else cared, but because he wanted to make sure he had as much power in his right hook as his left.
Kirishima had been working on a training programme that was absolutely ruining him day after day, working him to failure and then pushing him beyond. He was going that extra rep, that extra set, every single day and he loved it, but he was also glad to be nearly done with the session. Just one more set of dumbbell press and he would be done, heading into deload then a rest period before his next fight. The fight that was going to make or break his whole career, at least if he believed his manager. All he had to do was win and he would be moving on up away from the stupid little town that he had been fighting in, and into the big leagues.
He lifted the dumbbells to his chest, settling on the edge of a bench and taking a long breath.
One more set.
Twenty more reps.
He could do this.
All he had to do was lay back and press.
***
Uraraka gulped down a shuddering breath, looking down at the dumbbells set at her feet. She just had one more set, and then she was done. Another workout finished, another day almost over with.
She’d been spending more time at the gym lately, if you believed her mother more time than was healthy. But it was the only real escape she had. By day she worked a job that she hated, scraping in what little money they thought that she was worth to pay her bills and send anything leftover to her parents. She spent day after day after day being spoken to like a piece of crap by the people who thought she was only there to be talked down to, who thought that she was in a podunk coffee shop making macchiatos that every single fucking customer was going to stir into a latte – who would chew her out for just making them a latte in the first place – for fun.
Everyone thought that customer service jobs were easy, but they were anything but.
So she went to the gym. Unwinding as much as she could after every single shift by pumping weights, pushing her body as hard as she could so that her mind had nothing else to focus on. If she went hard enough there wasn’t space for anything other than the grind, the desire to push out one more rep, one more lap, until her muscles were screaming and her heart racing. Only when she felt like she couldn’t move, her legs and arms shaking like jelly when she made her way out to the showers was she satisfied.
There was only one thing left. Seated shoulder press. Her most and least favourite of her sets for the day. Having defined strong arms was something she loved, the work it took to get there often wasn’t. Still, she was going to treat herself to some ice cream mochi on the way home if she could push out three more than her last session, and that had to be worth something.
With a long sigh she hauled up the dumbbells, took a step back, and sat down on the end of the bench.
Or at least, what should have been the end of the bench.
Instead she found her ass meeting something soft, and strangely shaped, a tiny ‘oof’ sound from somewhere behind or below her.
She leapt up almost immediately, dropping her own dumbbells and turning around just in time to see a slightly baffled but very handsome blonde looking back at her. Piercing crimson eyes, hair pulled back away from his face into a messy knot, dropping his own weights and sitting up to stare at her.
He was blushing, the tips of his ears burning red as he opened and closed his mouth, and she felt her own face heat up in response.
“I am so sorry,” she said immediately, backing away from the bench with a horrified gasp.
“No it’s-”
“I. Oh god I’m so sorry.”
Before he could say another word she was turning and half walking half running to the door, her face beet red, her heart hammering in her chest so hard she was sure that half the gym could hear it.
***
Bakugou sat on the end of the bench for a long time, watching the gorgeous blushing woman running away from him, unable to form a single thought in his mind that wasn’t ass . She had just sat straight down onto his face, and though he was ashamed to admit it he was already at half mast at even the fragment of the memory of her being there.
“Bro, you feeling okay?”
“Huh?”
Kirishima punched him gently on the arm, laughing at his semi comatose state.
“Man, the last person who dared to touch a piece of kit you were working on was so thoroughly chewed out that he didn’t come back here for a week. But I’m pretty sure that you were about to apologise to her.”
“I mean, she looked so…” He couldn’t even form a coherent sentence, staring at the space that she had vacated with five words ringing around his mind.
Sit on my face again.
“Hey, Bakubro,” Kirishima clicked thick fingers in front of his face, calling his attention back to the real world. “You’ve got a set to finish. Lift now, daydream after. Otherwise your rest break will be way too long.”
Bakugou laid back, letting his friend hand him his dumbbells with a determined huff. He had to get his head back in the game, lifting without focus was a recipe for injury. But as soon as he was finished, returning the fist bump from his training partner and walking to the showers, she was back on his mind.
And he had a feeling that it would be a long time before he could get her out of it.
***
Uraraka spent far too long in the shower, banging her head gently against the cubicle wall. She’d managed to become a regular fixture in a gym, had gotten to a point where she didn’t even feel uncomfortable walking into the weights area and doing what she wanted to do. She shared nods and waves with the people that she saw regularly, gave smiles to the older ladies on the recliner bikes and sometimes helped out the other women who were trying to navigate the strange world of weights section.
There was a chance that she had ruined it all, just because she hadn’t looked where she was sitting.
As soon as she was back out on the street heading for her apartment she pulled out her phone, dialling the number for her roommate.
“Chako? What’s up?”
“Oh my gods Tsu, you will not believe what just happened at the gym. Are you at home?”
“I’m doing the food shop because I didn’t want to have another night of toast and mochi. Want to talk about it?”
Uraraka groaned, feeling all of the embarrassment come flooding back. “I sat on some random guy’s face.”
“You…what?”
“I was setting up for shoulder press, and I sat down and there was a guy. Under my ass.”
“Well that’s a very forward way of meeting someone,” Tsu said, barely containing the laugh that was threatening to break through.
“I can’t believe you’re mocking me in my time of need.” Uraraka grumbled, switching the phone to the other ear. “I was mortified.”
“Did he look mad?”
“I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.”
“Maybe you should have. He might have asked you to sit back down.”
“Tsuyu Asui!”
Her friend really broke into a laugh then, which just made the sinking in her stomach even harder to ignore.
“Okay okay I’m sorry. Look, if you apologised and he wasn’t mad I think you’ll be okay, Chako. Maybe it’s the start of something beautiful.”
Uraraka wasn’t convinced. “I think I have to change gyms.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“What if I get thrown out?”
“For making a mistake? You really are overreacting now, Chako. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now. What did he look like, your new seat?”
Uraraka groaned again, rolling her eyes even though she knew that her friend couldn't see the action. “I mean he was…” gorgeous. “ Just another gym guy. I guess. Blonde, muscular, bright eyes.”
“Sounds like more than just another gym guy to me.”
“I guess he was attractive,” Uraraka huffed. “I was more focused on running away.”
“Well, I’m sure you made his day either way. I’m heading to the checkout now, see you at home, and you can obsess about it more then.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks Tsu.”
She hung up and stuffed her phone with her hands deep into her pockets. She hoped that Tsu was right and that she hadn’t made an enemy forever out of the crimson eyed man whose day she was sure that she had ruined. Maybe if she saw him at the gym again she could apologise a few more times.
Maybe he would be nice enough to forgive her.
***
“I think you should ask her name,” Kirishima grinned, holding up a wide pad for Bakugou to deliver kicks into that would send almost anyone else down onto their ass. “She was pretty cute.”
Bakugou made sure that the next hit landed harder, enough to wind his smirking friend and remind him that they were supposed to be training, not gossiping like a pair of teenagers.
“Wow you really do want to talk to her,” Kirishima grinned, not at all dissuaded by the huge hit.
“Why are you so fucking caught up on this,” Bakugou growled, taking a few quick jabs at the hand pads before delivering another crippling kick.
“I’ve been training with you since we were five years old bouncing around the park pretending we were superheroes. I have seen you work through almost every gym in this town looking for a place that you liked, leaving more than one because you were sick of being spoken to by bimboes because of your arms. You’ve never, ever, in all of that time, looked at someone the way you looked at her today.”
Bakugo stopped moving.
“She threw me off. Not every day you’re expected to focus when someone sits on your damn face.”
“I’ve seen you shove a literally topless woman aside because she was in the way of your set, bro. There’s more to this.”
“I’m done, hitting the showers,” he took his gloves off. “See you tomorrow Ei.”
“Bakubro wait-”
He raised his hand by way of a goodbye, picked up his bag and stomped out of the room. The first part was true enough, he thought, standing under the shower and letting the steam wash away the sweat and grime from the day. Bakugou had never really paid attention to anything other than the sport. He wanted to be the best, and that meant that there wasn’t space in his life for anything else.
Friends were a distraction.
Women were a liability.
But the second part…
It was true that he was struggling to put the brunette out of his mind. Her eyes had been so wide, such a deep rich brown that he found himself not wanting to look away. She was built like he was, thick arms and strong shoulders, a waist that was cut but still with a little skin for squeezing over the top.
And her hips . Wide and thick leading to an ass that – he knew – was soft and round and fantastic.
She wasn’t just a good looking gym girl. She was the good looking gym girl. He could appreciate someone who had put as much work in as he had to be as strong as they were. That kind of dedication was admirable.
But he wouldn’t say that he ‘looked at her the way he had never looked at anyone else’ or whatever romantic fucking bullshit it was that Kirishima had gotten into his thick skull. He had definitely looked. And sure maybe he had appreciated.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Maybe he would see her again. Maybe he would talk to her. If he did, it would be because he respected her drive. Nothing more.
As he turned off the shower and grabbed his towel he wasn’t sure that he had even managed to convince himself.
***
Uraraka was more than a little nervous to go back to the gym the day after The Incident . She didn’t want to miss a day of her workouts, especially not leg and glute day, but the idea that she might see him again was twisting her into knots.
Was she supposed to say something? Was she supposed to look through him and pretend he didn’t exist?
“You’re being insane, Ochako,” she said to herself, looking hard in the mirror. “He’s probably already forgotten about it.”
With a nod she grabbed her gym bag and made for the door, doing her best to walk quickly so that she could be out of the apartment before she changed her mind.
The gym was quiet when she arrived, a blessing really. It meant that she could get in, get through her sets and get out again, Maybe even before the blonde arrived. Not that she knew when he arrived. The music in her ears was enough to start getting her pumped, the spring coming back to her step as she made it past the treadmills, waving to one of her neighbours as she passed, and headed into the weights area.
Her smile fell a little when she saw him.
Leaning against a cable machine with his phone in his hand, triceps pumped from what had to be an intense workout. A sheen of sweat on his shoulders that had her stomach tying itself in knots all over again.
She tried not to look at him, tried to just make her way to the bench that she needed to start warming up her glutes without making eye contact. But when she glanced back he was looking up at her. Their eyes met, stares held for just a moment before he gave her a nod. Despite the blush rising on her cheeks she nodded back. He looked back at his phone, the moment broke, and she was finally able to start her workout.
Maybe she wouldn't have to find a new gym after all.
Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay.
***
Fuck.
Kirishima might have been right. The mystery woman had walked right back into the gym and despite his best efforts Bakugou couldn't stop looking at her.
She was sinking low into bulgarian squats, one leg back up on the bench, warming herself up for a workout that he knew was going to make his heart race just as hard as hers.
What the hell was happening to him?
He was glad his phone was in his hand.
[Bakugou]: She’s back.
[Kiri]: So go talk to her
[Bakugou]: Why the fuck would I do that?
[Kiri]: If you don’t want to talk to her, why are you texting me? Get back to working out!
[Bakugou]: What would I even say?
[Kiri]: So you do want to talk to her
[Bakugou]: Oh fuck off
He pushed his phone back into his pocket and turned back to the machine, setting up for another set. The mirrors in front of the machine gave him a perfect angle to glance at her from – not that he was watching her, that would be creepy – and he found his movements falling in time with hers, one pull after another syncing up so well that someone might have assumed that they were training together.
His phone buzzed.
[Kiri]: What do you think you should say to her?
He didn’t know how to answer, because the only thing in his head was the feel of her, ass spreading for those few seconds over the bridge of his nose, suffocating him in a sweet musk that he would happily drown in.
[Bakugou]: I have no fucking idea.
She was looking up at him, and he did his best to smile before looking away. Was she blushing more than before? Was that just the heat from the workout? Shit had she noticed him looking?
Maybe he should change gyms.
There were others, he knew. Ones where he could train without being plagued by a brunette beauty whose ass was apparently a feature in both his waking and sleeping dreams.
***
“Well I went back to the gym,” Uraraka said, pulling on her apron and hurrying to stand beside Tsu, waiting for the first of their customers for the day to come in. “And he was there again.”
“And?”
“And I didn’t make a total ass of myself this time, so that’s something.”
“Why do I get the impression that there’s more to this than you’re telling me, Chako?”
“Well…” She smiled in greeting as the first of their many patrons came through the door, taking their order with practised ease, making small talk as though she hadn’t been in the middle of a conversation, only turning back to Tsu when she was standing at the espresso machine waiting for beans to grind through. “I couldn’t stop looking at him.”
“You did say that he was handsome.”
“I mean sure,” she said, not realising that she had admitted something that she had previously denied until it was too late, “but he’s clearly been training there a while and I’ve never noticed him before this.”
Tsu shrugged, serving another customer, chewing on her lip the way that she often did when she was thinking.
“Perhaps,” she said eventually, “it’s because now you have a reason to notice him?”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Before yesterday he was just another gym guy,” Tsu went on. “Now he’s a gym guy that you’ve made this connection with-”
“I would hardly call it a connection.”
“Your ass connected with his face, you can’t ignore that,” Tsu whispered, giving her a wink. “It’s no surprise that you notice him now, since you’ve already taken notice.”
Uraraka rolled her eyes, focusing on the steaming milk and pointedly ignoring whatever it was Tsu was implying.
“I think you should talk to him.”
“I will not be talking to him.”
“Why not?”
“Because – extra hot triple shot for Izuku – I think that’s a terrible idea.”
“You know that you both train hard, that’s more than you have in common with most men who try to ask you out here. Could be worth a go.”
“Tsu I’m not-”
“Yes you are. We all are. Being alone forever is no fun, Chako. So I think you should talk to him, even if it goes nowhere.”
The rest of the shift was busy, which though usually unpleasant was a kind of blessing when it came to Tsu and her teasing. Uraraka hadn’t ever really shown interest in anyone, she knew that much, so it was to be expected that her housemate and friend was like a dog with a bone when it came to a mysterious handsome man that she was showing at least a passing interest in.
She didn’t even mind the teasing, really.
Or rather, she wouldn't, if it didn’t make her feel so strange and twisted up in her stomach. Wa s there something to what Tsu was saying? Did she want to talk to the blonde man and see where it went?
For someone who was used to knowing what she wanted, it was unsettling to have absolutely no idea.
***
A few days and some shifts that were longer than she would have liked left Uraraka tired and run down and cranky. She had missed two of her regularly scheduled gym sessions and she was damned if she was going to miss a third, so despite the fact that she was running on two hours sleep and a lousy breakfast of a half eaten granola bar, she got herself up and made for the gym.
It was squat day, which was usually her favourite. A day when she felt so strong no matter how the rest of her life was going. After all, how can you feel weak when you’re standing up with a whole other you resting on your shoulders? It was the remedy she needed after a shitty week, and she was relieved to find that the rack she liked the best was free when she made it into the quiet little gym.
Familiar faces smiled at her, nodding as she passed. All there for their own reasons, not caring about hers. It was just another thing that she liked about the place.
She scanned the weights area for blonde hair, crimson eyes that she would have sworn she wasn’t looking for. He wasn’t there, though, and she tried to work out why she was disappointed about that whilst she racked up her starting weight.
Pyramid sets. Starting light and getting heavier and heavier whilst the reps came down. Working up to two solid heavy reps right at the top before she came back down the other side. It was the hardest routine she did, the one that made her feel both incredible and awful all at once when she pushed out those two insanely heavy reps.
The rest of the world fell away. There was nothing but her, her playlist, and the weights. Pushing harder and harder. Fuck the job, fuck the long shifts. Fuck the customers. Fuck all of it. All she had to do was lift. Over and over until she felt better.
Top weight. She stepped out and repped the first without too much struggle. But the second.
Damn that second rep.
Her knees were caving at the bottom, her body screaming at her that it was enough, that she needed to stop. She wasn’t going to make it back to standing.
“Don’t panic Cheeks, I got you.” A smooth deep voice, chest against her back, hands lining up with hers. “Drive it up.”
With his support on the bar – not lifting, just enough to take the pressure off and let her settle her knees – she was able to push through and rack the weights, doing her best not to pant whilst she turned to confirm what she already knew.
“Thanks, uh-.”
“Bakugou.” He was looking at her like she was a puzzle that he wanted to work out, the smallest hint of a smirking smile at the corner of his lips.
“Really saved my ass there.”
“Can’t let an ass that fine get injured,” he shrugged, the grin finally splitting his face. “You want a spot for the rest?”
Uraraka could feel that she was flushed from head to toe, the words that had been forming in her mouth entirely vanishing in the wake of his confident flirting. “Don’t,” she said finally. “Don’t you have your own sets?”
“Well sure, but nothing says you can’t spot me on the odd bench set. You look plenty strong enough, Cheeks.”
“Uraraka,” she said, still trying to figure out what was happening. “And sure, why not.”
“Great. You deloading now?”
“Yeah, pyramid down.”
“Awesome. You’ve got great form, this’ll be a damn breeze.”
“You’ve got,” she started, no idea where the words were going to end. “Arms.”
If she could have willed the ground to swallow her, she would have. But it seemed that as much as she was making an ass of herself, Bakugou was enjoying it. And blessedy, he gave her a way out of her blunder.
“Ten sets of ten bench today, mid weight. You’re not wimping out on me now are you?”
“No,” she said, shaking herself. “No, that’s good. I’ve only got five left so you’ll have to work fast.”
“Deal.”
It was…interesting, lifting with Bakugou. He was right on her every moment, not letting her slack off, not letting her do anything other than push herself to her absolute limits every set. She’d never liked training with someone else, never liked the tendency to fall into idle chatter, to lose time that she could be training with listening to gossip that she wasn’t even interested in.
But Bakugou didn’t seem to want to talk to her at all unless it was coaching her through a hard rep, or calling her over to the bench to provide a spot that it was clear that he didn't need. There were no moments wasted, rest periods were timed, and outside of that he was entirely focussed on the work. Nothing else.
For the first time she thought she might actually want to train with someone again.
When they were done, and her legs were shaking more than they had in some time, she pulled her bag onto her shoulder.
“That’s me done, unless you want me to spot the rest of your sets?”
“Nah, I’m good Cheeks. Thanks, though.”
“Anytime.”
She was turning to walk away before his voice caught her attention again. “You back tomorrow?” There was a light blush tinting the tips of his ears when she looked back over her shoulder. A crack in that overly confident mask that he’d worn for so much of their session.
“Every day but Sunday.”
“See you then.”
***
It took three sessions in almost total silence for the conversation that Uraraka usually hated to start. A joke here, a small quip there, more of his outrageous overconfident flirting,
She didn’t hate it as much as usual.
“Come on, push it up, Cheeks. What’s all that ass for if you can’t push out one more rep?”
“You try standing up with my weight around your shoulders and see how you like it!”
His lips were suddenly closer, breath brushing her ears. “Any time you like.”
The rush of adrenaline was enough for her to push to standing, her knees locking with a huff that caught in her chest when she turned around to see his cocky smile much closer than she expected.
“What?”
He shrugged. “Knew you had it in you.”
“Don’t you have a bicep to curl?”
“Me? Nah not today. Got a fight coming up so I can’t train this week. I’m just here for you, Cheeks.”
That made her heart thump even harder, looking at him, his arms folded over his chest, the obvious swagger that should have turned her right off making her want to look even harder. There was something about him that she couldn't put her finger on, but she liked it.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Ready for the next set?” He pulled his t-shirt off over his head, revealing a tight black tank that did absolutely nothing to hide his muscles. “Or are you just going to keep checking me out a bit longer?”
She was glad that she could see the smallest blush on his neck, mirroring the flood of heat to her own face.
“Like I’m the only one looking,” she managed to huff, before turning around and making a show of leaning forward to adjust her laces, enjoying the hitch in his breath that told her his eyes were resting on the cheeks that he seemed to enjoy. She was used to people gawking, gym bros and frat boys alike stopping to stare at her when she walked into a room, seeing arms that were more muscular than theirs, legs that could have crushed them to death.
But when Bakugou looked at her, a person as strong and as dedicated as she was, who appreciated all the work that had gone into making her what she was…it didn’t feel so bad.
Quite the opposite, really.
She pushed out the rest of her sets, laughing when she stood up the final rep and turning to give him a celebratory high five.
“That,” she said, grabbing a notebook, “was a new record.”
“And you had one more in you, no fucking problem.”
“Next time.”
“Yeah. Hey, Cheeks?”
She looked up, caught by the change in his tone when he said her name. Softer, less certain.
“‘Sup?”
“Want to come see me fight tomorrow night?”
“To the boxing match?”
“Yeah.”
She hesitated. There was never much left after her bills and gym membership. No matter how much she might like to see him in his element…“How much are tickets?”
“If you’re my personal guest? Nothing.”
Her own nerves spiked. That almost sounded like a date. Something bigger than just time spent together in the gym with a man she hardly knew. “You…you sure you want me there?”
“Pretty sure.”
“Then sure. Just, here, give me your phone.” She took it, putting in her number, saving it under ‘Cheeks’ even though he’d long since known her name. “Tell me where and when, I’ll try to get it off work.”
He nodded, smiling when he took his phone and adding something to her contact name that she couldn’t see. “Great. See you tomorrow, then.”
“It’s a date.”
***
“I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot.”
“I barely know him! And now I’m going to some midnight boxing match as his date. I said the word date, oh god he must think I’m insane.”
“He probably thinks that he’s lucky that you’re going,” Tsu sighed, grabbing Uraraka by the shoulders and shaking her a little to knock her out of her spiral. “But you can’t go unless you’re dressed.”
That was another point of spiralling. “What do I even wear?”
It took two hours more than normal to get ready, panic, stop panicking, panic a little more, put on her makeup and pull her hair into a messy half up knot that wouldn’t be too ruined by her crash helmet.
“Don’t…” she said to Tsu, turning to look at the door. “Don’t wait up?”
“Keep your location on, I’m going to be checking in.”
“I won’t.”
“And text me when you know where you’re sleeping.”
“I will.”
“The address , Chako!”
“And make sure I leave some hair there and get some of his skin under my nails if we get handsy, I remember the drill, Tsu.”
“Good. Have fun!”
Before she could talk herself out of it again she was running down to the garage, her bike engine roaring to life as she threw her leg over it and pulled her helmet on. No turning back.
The boxing ring was packed . Almost every seat was filled and most of the standing room was taken up as well. It turned out that Bakugou was a bigger deal than she had given him credit for. There were people holding banners, posters, wearing shirts with his face on them. She wondered what they would think if they knew that he’d invited her there, and not any of them.
“There’s the lady we’ve been waiting for!” A familiar voice cut through the babble, and Uraraka turned to see a man that she’d seen but never spoken to striding towards her. A mane of flaming red hair, sharp smile lighting up the world around him. “You must be Uraraka. My name’s Kirishima, I’m Bakugou’s coach…and best friend.”
“Hi,” she nodded, tucking her helmet under her arm and starting to follow him back through the throng. “Am I late?”
“He’s already gone into the back so you’re too late to wish him luck, but I think being here will be enough. He’ll see you, we’ll be sat right at the front.”
“Okay.”
“Hey,” he turned, smiling again, one huge hand coming to rest on her shoulder. “You don’t gotta be worried. Bakubro never loses, and he’s gonna be stoked that you’re here, alright?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, trying to swallow away some of the dryness in her mouth. Why the hell was she so nervous?
The anxiety knotting her stomach wasn’t relieved when they took their seats. Ringside, an area reserved for Bakugou’s friends and family. There was just her and Kirishima there, and all eyes suddenly felt as though they were on her, the mystery woman in motorcycle leathers who she was sure looked more out of place than she felt.
“You know anything about boxing?” Kirishima asked, handing her a drink and flopping into a seat next to her as though it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Should I admit that I don’t?”
Kirishima’s laugh was bright and warm, putting her at ease despite herself. “Maybe not to just anyone here, but your secret is safe with me, and I bet Bakugou will love telling you all about the sport in his own…unique way. I’ll talk you through things as they happen, but the important thing to know is that there are three rounds. Best of three, winner determined by who knocks the other down first each round, or if they both stay standing there’s a points system.”
“Sounds simple.”
“It is and it isn’t. You’ll pick it up.”
She didn’t have long to wonder if Kirishima was right, seconds after the words came out of his mouth the referee was stepping into the ring, an announcer with a microphone behind him introducing the fight and its competitors.
There was no time left for turning back.
***
Uraraka had expected boxing to be violent. She hadn’t expected it to be so brutal. Bakugou had stepped into the ring with his familiar cocky grin on his face, had glanced at her and winked almost immediately, and then his focus shifted to the fight and nothing else seemed to matter.
She didn’t know Bakugou well enough to consider him a friend, but she didn’t want to see him get hurt, either. Didn’t relish seeing blood flying from a broken lip, his eye starting to bruise and swell from taking one huge hit after another. But he never backed down, never showed a single sign of giving up. He gave as good as he got and better, and by the end of the first round whilst he was still standing his challenger was struggling to stay on his feet.
“This is where he shines,” Kirishima whispered, leaning into her chair. “He’s taken a lot of hits – this guy is really good – but his stamina is out of this world. He’s kept his energy back for the second round so that he’s got enough left in the tank to finish the guy.”
“Smart,” Uraraka said, smiling when Bakugou turned to meet her eyes again, swigging from a water bottle, keeping his gaze fixed on her whilst his throat bobbed.
Her heart was thumping, trying to beat straight out of her chest again when he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, put his gum shield back in, winked, and turned to prepare for round two.
The second round was much shorter than the first. Kirishima was right that Baugou had a lot more energy than his huge opponent. He was moving faster, ducking and dodging almost more efficiently than he’d been in the first round. He landed hits fast and hard, not giving the man across from him a second to recover until finally, with a stagger and a groan, he hit the mat.
“We have a winner!”
Bakugou didn’t wait for his win to be announced, stepping through the ropes and hopping down into the crowd, pulling off his gloves so that he could rest his arm on the back of Uraraka’s chair.
“Glad you made it,” he whispered, tipping her chin and grinning like a maniac. Enjoy the show?”
“Yeah,” it was more breath than word.
“Great. Let me take you for dinner?”
She nodded, swallowing hard, not sure what had come over her.
“Be right back.” He leaned forwards, pressing a kiss to her cheek, lingering just a second longer to whisper in her ear, so low that only she could hear it. “And maybe if that goes well, I can persuade you to sit on my face again.”