Hi, everyone! I'm so SO sorry about the long, unexpected haitus. I'm currently finishing up my last semester of x-ray school and things got super hectic starting back in February and if I wasn't sleeping, my nose was in a book. Still kind of like that, honestly. I'm still not sure how I was able to knock this chapter out. I just...needed to breathe before getting back to studying, I guess. Thank you for ALL of your support, and thank you to everyone who is still following this story. I have about two weeks left of school, so consistent updates won't start back until after May 18th. I just figured that since I finished a chapter, I should post it for you guys. I hope you guys continue to stick around, I have so much planned for this story! I appreciate you guys so much. I hope you enjoy the direction this is going!

Chapter Three

Uraraka had never been so glad to have her alarm startle her from her sleep. She groaned as she flipped over and shoved her face into her pillow. Of course she would have a dream about the devastated looks that Deku had given her the day before. It was only natural, right? To have guilt eat at her for lying to her friends? To lie to the boy she had been in love with for years now?

Her phone buzzing on her bedside table brought her from the thought. She sighed and reached for it, rolling onto her side and opening the notification. A small smile found its way onto her lips as she rolled her eyes.

Explosion King
7:18 am Not walking your ass to class btw

Uraraka Ochako
7:19 am Yes sir! :P
7:19 am We sitting together at lunch again?

Explosion King
7:19 am Yes

Uraraka Ochako
7:20 am Are we walking together to lunch again, too?

After a few minutes passed with no response, she sighed and stretched before finally getting up to get ready for the day. No point in worrying about what he was planning to do. They had a few hours before it even became an issue, anyways. Plus, Bakugou had proven himself pretty reliable with the situation already. Even if they didn't talk again until lunch time, she was sure he'd pull another stunt like he did yesterday by just slinging his arm over her shoulder.

She glanced towards her phone when it buzzed as she was changing but continued getting ready. It wasn't until it buzzed again after a lengthy pause that she walked over to see what was going on.

Explosion King
7:27 am Too early for this many fucking questions
7:29 am Yes

Uraraka couldn't stop herself from giggling; he would act like answering a simple question was a hassle. But at least he still answered her. She shook her head to herself as she shoved her phone in her bag and headed towards the common room.

She had actually been really surprised when he responded to her so quickly last night. It was almost midnight when she remembered she never told him the details of how they supposedly started dating over the winter break. After she had hummed and hawed about if he would even still be awake, she finally sent him a simple text saying that she forgot to tell him some things. Less than two minutes later he had responded. It had thrown her off-guard since he was known for going to bed early.

Their conversation lasted longer than she thought it would, too. Honestly, she figured he'd just want the details and then he'd quit texting her…especially when his first response was "why the hell are you remembering it at fucking midnight". But after she had sent back that she was the one who initiated everything, the conversation just kind of…flowed.

Like he said, all she had really told her friends was the she had sat down with him at a café and he told her to "go the fuck away". There was a lot they could do with that, he had said. There were a few scenarios they had bounced around; she had asked if they could say that after the café meeting if they had just happened to run into each other again and hung out, but he said that would never happen. He said the only good excuse would be for training, but she felt like that wouldn't make sense either; Bakugou had always refused to train with anyone except Kirishima, why would he randomly train with her?

"Why the fuck would I agree to fake date you with that logic" was his response to that. She had frowned when she read it; his reasoning for agreeing to fake date her wasn't really that solid, so she wasn't quite sure what his point was. She had actually been so focused on that thought that it took him sending her another text – one that said "don't fall asleep before we get this shit figured out" – before she realized it had been a few minutes since she responded.

They had ultimately agreed on saying that during the café incident that she had asked him if she could run with him in the mornings, as she'd seen him running in the parks while she drank her StarZen coffee before heading into the part time job she had landed for the duration of the break. Bakugou had said her endurance had always "been shit" and they'd actually have to start running together for real, though. That had stung more than she wanted it to. Her endurance had gotten so much better since their first year. He really didn't care to hurt her feelings.

But he was dedicated to making the story work, so there was that.

By the time they had decided on their story, and decided that she was going to start running with him in a few days, two hours had passed. It had been surreal to think that she had spent two hours texting the Bakugou Katsuki. She couldn't help but wonder if he ever talked to Kirishima that long. The idea of Bakugou spending that much time to talk to anyone was just…a really foreign concept to her. He never cared to let his ego do the talking for him in person, but she had learned over the years that he was actually really reserved.

When the elevator opened on the floor to the common room, everything seemed to slow down as she looked into the common room. She reminded herself to breathe as her chest tightened. Deku was leaned against one of the sofas with his backpack slung over his shoulder, a hand covering his mouth while he frowned at the floor and muttered to himself. Suddenly her dream from last night rushed back to her. The image of Deku's lips pressed hard together, almost disappearing under the pressure. His eyes darting back and forth between her and Bakugou, his brows furrowed. He had looked so miserable.

She wasn't ready to face him. She had made a beeline from class yesterday straight to her room, specifically so she would not have to face him. They normally waited until they got to class before they even talked, and he was normally already there in his seat. What is he still doing here when class starts soon? She shook her head at the thought.

She knew exactly why.

She took a deep breath before walking up to him, grinning widely. "Good morning, Deku!"

Deku slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, and she could see the realization in his eyes as he processed who was standing in front of him. His cheeks turned a light shade of red as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Good morning, Uraraka." He shifted, taking his weight off of the sofa and standing up straight. "Want to walk to class together today?"

Uraraka felt her mouth go dry, as if cotton balls had been stuffed in there for safe keeping. Nausea bubbled at the back of her throat. He was definitely going to ask her about Bakugou; she could feel it.

But this is why they talked last night. So they could be prepared for situations like this.

She fought to keep her smile as she nodded. "Of course!"

It was silent between them as they walked. The whole time Uraraka could feel her heart beating all the way down into her finger tips, her breathing seemed to echo off the walls around them. She clasped her hands behind her back, wringing her fingers together in an attempt to calm herself down. Nervousness wasn't a new feeling to her, but she hadn't felt like this since their first year at UA. It probably hadn't helped that she had been so focused on her conversation with Bakugou when she saw Deku; it made seeing him standing there almost embarrassing.

She could see the classroom door when she caught sight of Deku rubbing the back of his neck out of the corner of her eye.

"So, uh…" He paused then nodded to himself. "So, you and Kaachan?"

Uraraka muttered a quiet "mhm" as she focused on her feet, her cheeks burning. It was silent for a moment before Deku cleared his throat. Her chest ached at the sound of him fumbling for words. The fact this bothered him so much made her heart unsure if it needed to beat faster or skip a few beats. This is not how she wanted to start her morning. She wasn't ready for this conversation at all.

"How long have you, uh…how long has that been a thing?"

"It started over the winter break."

The footsteps beside her stopped, causing her stop as well and look over at him. His lips were pressed into that same hard line from yesterday as he switched between looking at his feet and the classroom door. She chewed her lip slightly before mustering a smile at him.

"He said it would cause too much of a fuss if we said anything, so we agreed to not bother anyone with it." The feeling of cotton sitting in her mouth was back and as the lie rolled off her tongue.

Deku nodded but remained still. Right as the thought that she might need to ask if he was okay, he looked up at her and closed the distance between them. Her heart pounded against her chest as she backed up into the wall, waving her hands nervously. As her back hit the wall, she pushed her hands outward to keep his chest from touching hers. His brows were furrowed as he looked back and forth between her eyes.

"D-Deku!" She squeaked, covering her burning cheeks with her hands and closing her eyes.

When he didn't say anything, she slowly reopened her eyes only to come face-to-face with his own bright green orbs.

"Uraraka, are you sure about this?" His voice was low, eyes still darting between hers for any sign of hesitation.

She nodded as she kept his gaze, unsure if she could trust her voice.

"I've known Kaachan my whole life." He murmured. "I don't know how he treats someone he's in a relationship with, but I know all about his temper." He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair as he finally looked away from Uraraka and took a step backwards. "I just…you two don't really mix."

Uraraka frowned. While Bakugou wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, he wasn't hard to be around either. Yeah, she had been worried about him focusing his anger on her during their first year…but once she had figured out that his mom was equally as loud and foul-mouthed during their second year, it had suddenly made sense to her that it was just how he shows any sort of feelings about things. Knowing that he didn't mean anything by it helped her handle their interactions a lot better. She knew to just take it with a grain of salt. And Deku should know all of this – like he said, he had known Bakugou his entire life.

"We're really not that different, Deku." She mumbled, gripping the strap of her bag while looking to the ground. "We may express ourselves differently, but we are more similar than you seem to think."

Uraraka bit her lip, praying that he didn't ask how. She didn't really know of any similarities offhand other than the fact they were both competitive and stubborn. Deku nodded, but as he went to open his mouth to speak again someone cleared their throat nearby, startling both of them.

Her heart sank when her eyes met red ones accompanied by a raised brow and crossed arms. "Cheeks, c'mere."

She nodded at him before turning back to look at Deku. "I'll talk to you later, Deku."

The sound of her feet hitting the floor shouldn't have been as loud as it was. It echoed everywhere around her as she left one of her best friends – the person she had so many feelings for – to walk towards someone she couldn't even muster an ounce of romantic feelings for but was pretending to date. The tension was almost too much to bear.

Bakugou's arm was warm as it wrapped around her shoulders and he led her into the classroom. He walked her to her seat, letting her sit her stuff down before he glared at her. She could feel her brows furrowing as she sat down, staring back at him.

"I don't understa—"

He cut her off by leaning down closer to her face, one hand on her desk and the other on the back of her chair. His breath tickled her chin as they both stared at each other; his eyes full of frustration while she was sure her own were somewhere between confusion and defiance. Finally, Bakugou moved. He leaned closer, his cheek barely brushing hers and his breath warming the skin of her ear.

"What did I fucking tell you about drooling over him like a damn dog." The statement was just barely a whisper, which was a feat for someone who sounded so angry.

Uraraka chewed on her lip before taking in a breath to calm herself down before she raised her voice at him. "I didn't."

Bakugou leaned back, his hands still on her desk and chair, and he raised a brow at her.

"I didn't." She reiterated boldly, before lowering her voice. "He cornered me."

"Tch."

She frowned at him as she studied his eyes. "We can talk about it at lunch."

With that, he stood and walked back to his desk without another word. Kaminari all but shouted, asking if there was "trouble in paradise" already between her and Bakugou as he passed him. A small explosion next to his face forced him to scoot back in his seat, but that didn't deter him from his teasing.

A sigh left Uraraka's mouth as she laid her head down on her desk. She had really thought this was going to be easier after all the talking she had done with Bakugou last night. Why did Deku even care so much? He never seemed to care about what she did before now. Was it just because it was Bakugou? Or was it because she had never showed interest in anyone else before? Maybe he thought she would just puppy-dog after him forever? Did he even realize that she wanted to be with him? Why was Bakugou so angry about it? It's not really like it affected him, right?

She twisted her thumbs around each other as the questions ran through her mind. Honestly, she was probably less distracted yesterday during class, which really says a lot. Not a single note was written in her notebook when it was time for lunch, though it was full of random shapes and scribbles. She excused herself from Iida and walked over to Bakugou, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him from the room. He grunted at the sudden contact but followed her obediently. It wasn't until they sat down with their trays that Uraraka looked him in the face, leaning across the table towards him.

"You can't talk to me like that."

Bakugou scoffed. "Don't act like a dumbass then."

"Me? I'm not the one who threw a fit first thing in the morning." She snapped.

"You said you wanted my help." His voice was low, almost like a growl.

She inhaled deeply as she studied him. His eyes were sparkling in a way that screamed 'danger', but she was just as frustrated with him as he was her. This wasn't going to work if they couldn't find a way to communicate better.

"I did. I still do." She paused as she leaned back into her seat. "But it's not as black and white as you seem to think it is."

Bakugou snorted, crossing his arms. "You like dumb fuck over there, he barely knows you exist, you want to make him jealous by using me. Seems pretty fucking black and white to me."

Her cheeks burned as she started pressing her fingers together in an attempt to keep herself calm. "He does so know that I exist."

"Whatever."

Bakugou dug into his food, effectively ignoring her as she watched him. She glanced down at her own food as she tapped her thumbs together. This had gone wrong way too quickly for her taste. It had barely been a full day since he agreed to this and they were already at each other's throats. The thought unexpectedly brought a smile to her face and she couldn't help but giggle. Bakugou raised a brow at her but stayed silent as she started eating her lunch. It was quiet between them for a moment before Bakugou finally spoke.

"Spit it out."

She shrugged, still smiling to herself. "Deku told me this morning that we don't mix."

Bakugou put his utensils down as he looked at her almost quizzically, but he mostly looked annoyed. She swallowed the giggle that threatened to come out as she folded her hands together and laid her chin on them.

"And we really don't."

He snorted. "No shit. Not funny though."

"It kind of is. He said it thinking that we're different. Before now, I would've agreed with him." She paused, studying his face for any sort of reaction. "I think we're more alike than he believes."

He cocked a brow at her but didn't respond. She chewed lightly on her bottom lip as she watched him go back to eating his lunch.

Just yesterday, she had been adamant that they had nothing in common other than being competitive. But now she wasn't so sure. She was fairly headstrong in general, and she wasn't scared to stand up against even Bakugou when he was frustrated at her. That was something she hadn't thought of before now. Who knows what else she had overlooked.

"Believe whatever the hell you want. But you can't drool after another guy when you're fake dating me."

Her heart faltered as she blinked at the boy sitting opposite to her. "What do you mean?"

"If we were really dating, do you really think you'd be looking at fucking Deku the way you do?"

"I, uh…I'm not really following you."

Bakugou rolled his eyes, sighing. "Fucking dense as hell."

She could feel her face fall flat as she pursed her lips. "Insults aren't gonna explain it to me."

Red eyes glared at her, she shrugged.

"I really wasn't doing anything with him this morning, though." She muttered. "He cornered me to ask about me and you."

"Tch."

"He asked if I was sure about dating you."

"And you fucking told him yes." It was equally annoying and fascinating how he made questions into statements.

"In a way, yeah." She shrugged, not sure what else to say. "Anyways, when am I going to start running with you again?"

"Tomorrow morning."

She groaned. "That's really soon. Can't it be next week?"

"No."

She frowned at him before sighing in defeat. "You're gonna be the death of me."

He ignored her as he started piling up his utensils. She followed suit, following behind him as they disposed of their trays and headed back towards the classroom.

What had she gotten herself into? And how many more times was she going to have to ask herself what she got herself into by spouting off Bakugou's name the other night? This was only day two of the whole ordeal.

At least it couldn't get any worse.