Hey guys! It's me, welcome to another chapter of Evanescent!! This chapter came later than what I wanted, but it's out now!! I made clear on my Twitter and AO3 that updates will be posted every other weekend!

I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!! You can follow me on Twitter under @/bakunita to keep track or with how the chapters are coming.

x-x-x

The second Ochako opened her eyes, a headache flooded her brain. Her head felt like it was on fire, and she winced in pain.

Migraine, she thought, drowsily. Great.

She didn't know why she had to be attacked by a migraine right when waking up. Her luck was awful, she even wished for a better day today, and so far, she wasn't doing so well. But it was only the start, maybe it would improve, it better improve, for the sole reason that she would be job searching. And again, she hoped this time, while wandering around, some old freak wouldn't come at her this time.

She was only lucky last night because of that man who was apparently patrolling. His name was Bakugou Katsuki, right? Her mind was newly awake, she was too tired to go and remember everything just like that.

But the more she recalled, the more suspicious it became. If he was some type of patrol officer, he sure didn't look it. He was all dressed in what seemed to be normal attire, as far as normal attire went. The leather jacket with the tons patches sewn onto it was her biggest question mark. He probably knew those guys outside the supermarket, as they all wore the same thing. Leather jackets that were patched.

Maybe, just maybe she'd run into them today.

(Ochako hoped otherwise, but if she was being honest with herself, she was curious.)

Sitting upwards made her migraine worse. She had some medication in one of her suitcases which usually helped. She could go get them. Ochako sighed, and stood up, setting a hand on the wall to steady herself. Once collected, she moved to do her daily tasks, and practically flung herself out the door. She was ready for anything, she told herself this repeatedly that morning. Nothing would stand in her way, not even some random dude, or that Bakugou from the night prior.

Ochako scoffed to herself. She wouldn't get put in any bad situation ever again. That was most likely not going to happen, but her hopes and dreams have to come to life eventually, right? If she just kept hoping, positivity would eventually burrow it's way into her life.

Just as she was about to step off her porch, the fact that her car broke down, and she'd have to walk all over town to find a job so she wouldn't be homeless anytime soon, killed the mood and confidence that she was slowly attempting to build up so far today.

(Why was she so unlucky? Maybe Bakugou was right, she was stupid to blindly move without researching where she was going to.)

Minutes of being locked in her head quickly dispersed, as the loud rumble of an engine echoed from across the street. Looking over, she saw someone who wasn't familiar get off a motorcycle. It seemed to be a male, but they were on the shorter side, and a big bush of dark green sat on their head. The familiar leather jacket sat on his body, too. Her theory on the people wearing them knew everyone else was apparently true.

Ochako watched as they made his way across her neighbor's lawn. He walked with a limp, but it was barely noticeable to her. The person knocked on the door that was presumably the Bakugou residence, and then entered. So they were close acquaintances.

Why was she watching so intently? It was none of her business. She shouldn't even be here right now, and she wouldn't be if she weren't acting like a complete stalker. She was supposed to be off trying to find a job.

But her thought on running into them today wasn't true, but it wasn't false either. She technically saw one.

(Why was she being so...curious towards them?)

Ochako quickly sprinted off her porch and driveway, and jogged down the sidewalk towards the square. She knew where the supermarket was, that was a job option, but it wasn't very reliable when trying to pay bills for a house she thought she could afford because of a discount. The grocery store would be a last resort if she wasn't successful.

So she started from there. She looked around at the buildings surrounding the supermarket. There were coffee shops, pet clinics, supply stores, corner stores, and a tattoo parlor. Around those areas, she would definitely not be fit for those. The tattoo parlor was a flat out no, because she never worked those machines, and she wasn't an artist by any means.

Maybe she could get a decent job at the hospital. She had the medical assisting certificate, maybe that can work. Jobs in hospitals tend to be better than working at a fast food restaurant or a grocery store, so that was her first option on her list.

The problem, was that she didn't know where the hospital was, and after a few hours of looking around for jobs, the thought of walking more didn't sound appealing to her whatsoever.

She thought that the hospital, or a clinic at least, would be in an obvious spot, or would be easily spotted. Apparently in Musutafu, it was the opposite.

"Stupid special snowflake town," She muttered under her breath. No matter how annoyed or antsy she was, she had to keep moving. Bad idea, her ass. She was going to have the time of her life here - nobody, nothing, not even a stupid job would ruin that. She would have the time of her life.

Much later on, when she finally found the hospital, a big weight on her shoulders dropped. Finally, she thought. Hopefully, she would get a job, and if they didn't accept her - then she was fucked.

(You better wish so hard, Ochako.)

Walking inside made her breathing more light and even. She sighed and basked in the cool air. Alike outside, it was fairly empty besides the woman on the front desk.

Ochako smiled, and walked up.

"How can I help you?" the woman asked politely, crossing her fingers on the reception desk. Ochako took a deep breath, and straightened her posture.

"Hi, I have a question...is this hospital offering any jobs right now?"

x-x-x

A hand hovered over his arm."You seem to know what you're doing," he said, lightly touching the bandage on his arm. His face had a few more scrapes and scratches, but they weren't too bad. They were as terrible as they could've been.

Ochako sighed, and crossed her arms. "I'd hope so. I work in the hospital, I should…" she trailed off, staring at the dark bruise on his cheek, and frowned.

"Nah, you're just talented."A smile overtook her lips as she giggled. "I just treated your wounds, they weren't too bad. Though, next time be more careful okay? I don't want to see you hurt like this anymore."

His eyes darkened, and a hint of mischief flashed in his eyes, but softened when seeing her own expression that had lost the humor."I'll try." he tried.

"Trying isn't good enough. You won't. Just be safe." She pushed.His arm lifted to scratch the back of his neck. "What I do for a living is just a for-sure thing that I'll get hurt, if not eventually. What I do isn't exactly safe, Ochako. It's inevitable that I won't stay out of harm's way."

She knew. She did know. She just needed the reassurance. He'd been coming back all scratched and bruised up almost every night for the past few weeks. She was worried. She was scared for him."Just say it, please." Ochako begged, big brown eyes pleading to his warm ones. "Make it inevitable for you to stay safe. For me."

His eyes closed as he took a long breath."I won't get hurt again."

His eyes were a traitor to his words.

x-x-x

Something she had noticed lately was that it was more lively. The grass looked greener, there were more cars parked around, and more people were present.

Ochako felt satisfied. Maybe living here wouldn't be so bad after all. The scenery was quite beautiful, especially when it was as crowded as it was now.

Leaving the hospital had taken that heavy weight that was set on her shoulders off. Yes, there was still more to worry about, but for now, she believed she was set. All she needed next was for her car to get somehow fixed, and maybe meet people.

Her parents, she thought, would they be proud?

"Come on!" a voice yelled faintly, breaking her out of her thoughts. Multiple voices, in fact. What was going on?

As she approached town square, what was going on occured to her - only lightly. There, right in front of the supermarket, was a crowd of people. They formed a circular shape, and they were all yelling. Mixes of encouragement and anger came from them - but Ochako kept on her thought of confusion. And for the tenth time in her head in the past few minutes, she asked herself, what the hell was going on?

Curiosity filled her being. Sprinting towards the crowd, grunting and groaning sounds became more apparent, as well as the sound of skin making contact with skin. Voices, also filled with menace and anger, bombarded her ears. Screams of curses being strung together and war cries were let out. One of them, felt somehow familiar to Ochako.

She pushed and shoved people out of the way up to the front row, and when she reached her destination, a gasp of surprise sounded from her throat.

There, in the center of all the attention along with another man who looked completely unrecognizable, was the one who had helped her the night before. Bakugou, his name was. The blonde hair and the thick build covered by the patched leather jacket was obvious and familiar to her, but seeing him wrapped up in beating the other into a bloody pulp scared her, it showed her that maybe he wasn't lying when he informed her of his malicious and hot-headed side. It had reminded her of his insult of her being an idiot for not researching where she moved to.

Her day was filled with walking nonstop for hours with the intent to hunt for a job, going to the hospital, then leaving in satisfaction only to stumble across a frightening and tensioned scene made by someone who had looked calm and rational when helping her beforehand.

He hadn't seen her, and if he did he obviously did not give a single care for it because of the want to look and spill blood. His red eyes were wide and almost popping out of his sockets in anger. Sweat lined his forehead and dripped down his face, and his movements of his body were violent, sharp, and in a way, calculated.

And to Ochako's horror, despite all this, despite witnessing his real, true colors, she found herself worrying over his bloody nose, bruised face, and split lip. She found herself observing and losing her mind over how his actions and attacks to the other party were way more sluggish and slow than they were moments ago. She noticed how he was the one who had been stringing curses together, and how every few words got cracked from his strained voice.

She was surprised that the words stop it was seconds away from tumbling from her lips. And thankfully, they never dropped because men pushed away more civilians in a hurry, to pull Bakugou off the other accomplice, and to restrain him. The boys who joined also wore patched leather jackets, and Ochako recognized them, too.

There was the spiky-haired redhead and the blonde man from yesterday outside the supermarket, but also one that was unfamiliar, who was a black headed male who looked way older than herself and the others. Eyebags and bloodshot eyes that was accompanied by a face left unshaven made her jump. Especially when he whipped out some kind of tape or cloth to restrain the unknown fighter.

"Stop struggling at once, or we'll make you." The tired man threatened.

Ochako never paid mind to the one Bakugou was beating up - and Ochako was glad she didn't because once her wide brown eyes landed, chills ran down her spine, and goosebumps appeared on her arms.

He looked ragged and crazy. Even as he stood still in the restraints, he still looked like an old feral and wild animal. His eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were small. His teeth were bared, and he looked worse off than Bakugou in terms of injuries.

"Struggle and you'll end up much more worse off than intended," The man threatened, and gestured to the other men. "Go check on Bakugou, and help the crowd disperse."

The men nodded, and went to work. "Yes, sir!" They said. Ochako watched their interaction, and how the ones clothed in patched leather handled the people away with care. The redhead approached her, and gave a uneasy smile - which surprised her because his teeth were sharp like ones of a shark.

"Sorry you had to see that, miss! I promise we have it all handled!" he scratched the back of his neck. "I haven't seen you 'round before. I heard a chick just moved here, I take it that's you?"

(Word traveled quickly, though it's not surprising seeing as the town's so small.)

Ochako nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's me," she said sheepishly, before introducing herself. "Uraraka Ochako."

"Kirishima Eijiro! Welcome to Musutafu, Uraraka, hopefully you won't see trouble like this for a while. We try to keep things as civil as we can." We try?

Ochako smiled. He seemed kind enough. Her eyes trailed away from his face, to behind him towards the others. Bakugou was the first thing she noticed - as well as the big red splotch on his cheek, a split lip, and a bit of blood running down his nose. His chest moved heavily, seemingly the adrenaline hadn't left yet, he had to be tired after that, right?

"Is he okay?" she asked the sharp-toothed boy. He looked confused for a second, and turned around.

"You mean Bakugou?" he asked, turning back to face her. She nodded in response. Kirishima's eyes widened, before looking back again. "He should be fine. He'll have to wait for it to heal, but he can handle all sorts of pain."

The older man from before called after Kirishima. "I have to go! They need me. Welcome again, miss! Have a great day!" He started to walk away, until Ochako's voice betrayed her and unwillingly spoke out.

"Do you mean he doesn't have anyone to treat his wounds? Not even go to a doctor?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Was that what he'd meant? If so, why was this something he couldn't go to the doctor for? He could have broken his nose.

Kirishima's face turned to stone so quickly it almost made Ochako jump. "That's for us to know. He can take it, anyway." His sunny expression returned in a flash, she almost forgot the blankness from before. Almost. "He's fine! Don't worry."

"I can treat him, if that'd be okay. I'm certified in that kind of area, so I can check up on him. I live right across the street from him anyway, so if that's okay?" She blurted out in one breath. Her eyes widened.

(They're weird. Why are you offering to spend more time with weird people?)

Kirishima's eyebrows raised. "I'll ask boss, this stuff's serious, so it could work out. If you don't mind of course, he's a handful." Oh, I know this by now.

"It's fine. He can consider it a payback, if he wants."

Kirishima nodded, and went off towards the other men. She now began to notice the predicament of exactly what was going on.

The older man still had Bakugou's attacker restrained in the bandage-like material, and he seemed to be talking seriously and giving orders. Was he an enemy, the attacker? The other blonde and Bakugou were listening, in which the latter didn't even look phased by his injuries.

Kirishima walked up to Bakugou, and touched his shoulder, continuing on to whispering, which she assumed the topic was about her offer. It further was proven after Bakugou's familiar red eyes linked with her worried brown ones, and it sent a weird warm feeling to surge through her belly. His gaze was intense - if only set on her for a second, they returned back to his companion.

Seconds later, Bakugou nodded to him and turned to the older man, and shared a glance before walked towards her. Ochako took a step back - not out of fear, but of how heavy his footsteps sounded and how ugly his injuries looked. The redness on his cheek slowly began to fade into a cooler color - and soon it'd be a full on purple bruise.

"Round-face," he said loudly, the nickname sarcastically falling from his lips. She yearned to correct him, but stopped when he crossed his arms, the squeak of the leather from his jacket making its presence known. "You now some hot-shot doctor, or what?"

Far from that, she wanted to reply.

"Just the basic necessities. And it's Uraraka. Not whatever crude name you just uttered." she said, standing up to him. She almost forgot everything she'd just witnessed of him, but for some weird and otherworldly reason, she didn't feel fear.

(He just beat up a man to a bloody pulp. How are you unafraid?)

"Okay, Uraraka." He replied smartly. "So your offer to fix my shit up was quite surprising, especially when the other fucker turned out to be just as worse." he said, rolling his eyes after mentioning the other man.

Ochako shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I only know you, and we live quite close. Plus, again, take this as a thank you from helping me yesterday."

Bakugou looked at her more intently. "Makes sense. Am I granted the permission to have you as my personal doctor? I'm a bad boy, so I tend to piss people off." he said, a joke edging at the end of his sentence. Ochako smiled a little at that.

"Only if you don't annoy me too much."

"Me? Annoying? I'd fuckin' never." He cursed, and uncrossed his arms. "You gonna fix me up here on the street, or are we going somewhere else?"

Ochako's eyes closed for a moment. "Ah." He wouldn't want to go to a hospital, for whatever reason he had for that objection anyway. Here, obviously, was a no-go. She had minimal medical supplies at her own place, but that should do. "You can schedule appointments at my place. I have a couple useful necessities for those ugly marks on you, so that works?" She asked, walking away from him only to turn back around.

"That can work, pink cheeks. Lead the way for the crippled." He joked, which kind of sent her on edge. He seemed to be the person, when you look at him first, as a person who'd hate jokes, yet he was somehow keeping the conversation light and playful.

She also wouldn't address the nickname usage anymore.

x-x-x

"Fuckin' ow?!" His voice exploded. "Why the fuck does that shit hurt more than the fucker's initial punch?!"

Her head started to hurt. They were here sitting in her house, on her air-mattress, with Uraraka only literally just spraying disinfectant on a cut on his forehead that had been hidden by his hair, and he was whining. Whining.

"Stop crying, it's not that bad. Aren't you supposed to be a bad boy that can handle pain?" She poked at him, spraying it again, him wincing in response.

"First off, moon-face, I am very bad. I can handle pain. But this shit was just made for torture," he grumbled, and rolled his eyes. "The fuck even is that?"

"Disinfectant. You were rolling around in the dirt while sweating, so that's why I cleaned your face up and sprayed this on you. It has alcohol in it, so it shouldn't get infected," she explained, slapping a band-aid on his forehead. "Your nose isn't broken either, so that's good. It'll just get a little bruised. Your lip will heal fine, and if you apply some ice to that cheek, you can down the swelling and bruising."

Bakugou's eyes darkened on her. "For someone who said they know the basics, you're quite knowledgeable."

"It is kind of basic. I'll take that as a compliment anyways," she said, and walked off towards the fridge, taking the ice tray out of the freezer, and a plastic bag out of a drawer. Preparing an old little ice pack was easy. "Switch between putting this on your nose bridge and cheek."

Pressing the homemade ice pack to his cheek, he grabbed it from her and put it back on. "How long do I keep it pressured?"

"Until the swelling goes down, at least." she answered, sitting back down next to him. "If you don't mind me asking, what even was that?"

Bakugou's body stiffened. He was silent for a few moments, until blandly answering, "It's kind of supposed to be classified," Classified? "I can't say anything to you because you're just a civilian, and you just moved here, but that guy wasn't from here, that's all I can say. I was just merely doing my job."

(What was his job exactly?)

"Your job? You mentioned patrol, but you don't look like an officer to me," she observed aloud. "I don't mean that in a rude way, it's just…"

"It's fine. Me and my family run this town to the best of our abilities. You can tell who's the real deal if they're wearing the same type of leather jacket as I am, though I'm a higher up. So if you ever see anyone wearing it, you're safe." he explained, patting his jacket. Now that they were closer, and in light, she could examine what exactly it was.

"May I see? If you don't mind." she asked, and he nodded in approval.

Her eyes examined his jacket. There were numerous patches sewn onto it, way more than the other guys. The patch that read "vice president in training" on the right shoulder interested her, as well as the giant design that read YUUEI HEROES on the back, the most.

"What do these mean?" she asked softly, fingers trailing over both patches. She felt him shift, and let out a deep breath.

"I'm currently getting groomed and trained to be vice president of our...family. Once it's done, that'll get removed and the vice president symbol will replace it. YUUEI HEROES is what we call ourselves."

(Family?)

"Oh," she muttered, and finally met his eyes. She hadn't realized how close they were, and noticing it now, how her face was extremely close to him, made her stomach drop, and immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was in your space…" she apologized frantically.

Bakugou shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said nonchalantly. A smirk twisted onto his features. "What? Are you that scared of me?"

"I am not afraid of you," she pouted, turning the opposite direction.

(Why was he still here again?)

A shift on the air mattress sounded in the room. "Not even after today?" His voice was small.

She shook her head, back still facing him. "No, I'm not. You were doing your job. Just because you got a little violent towards someone supposedly bad, isn't scary," she mumbled. A smile painted itself over her lips, and she turned around. "I guess now I can say you were right about the angry part of you."

Her smile was bright, and Ochako wanted it to be directed at him, and him only right now. The small question not even after today had sounded insecure and tiny to her. Did he always think like this, or was it just a one time thing?

She couldn't see his expression, his reaction, to her words because she had closed her eyes. She was curious what he thought of it, how he took her words, but deep down she was afraid, too.

But as a chuckle fell from his mouth, a sense of security filled every fibre of her being. Opening her eyes felt easy, and so did the smile on her face that quickly expanded.

To Ochako, his face was impossibly beautiful. Not in a romantic sense, but where he just looked like a piece of art from a high-class museum. Something you couldn't touch, or you'd smear your fingerprints on it, leaving a stained mark. That was how he was, how he seemed and looked.

His shoulders - his body was shaking. The expression he held entranced her. Every small crevice on him had been highlighted in that moment. He had dimples, and they were showing because of the wide grin spread across his face. His teeth were white, and his lips were stained a light pink color, and his skin was mostly smooth - only marked with eye bags, light freckles, and stressful age marks plus his injuries, but his shade was warm and healthy, and it translated to her heart. His nose, though a bit bruised, was crooked by how intensely he was smiling. But the most noticeable thing to Ochako were his eyes, which were painted a dark, velvet red. They held so much emotion in them, the relief, surprise, and maybe even slight happiness had proudly shown in the reflection.

"That's relieving," he breathed.

The view of him like this was much better than anything she'd seen in the past few days. The scenery, the feeling of getting a job at the hospital, the feeling as she laid eyes on the food from the supermarket, could not compare to the image being portrayed in front of her.

And it heavily inspired her.