05/17 B*stoke

This takes place after manga chapter 128 (or somewhere near there, doesn't matter), but there are only very minor spoilers.

As it happened frequently at U.A. training had gotten out of hand. A battle between Deku and Bakugou could never end well—and had sent both, as one might expect, directly to Recovery Girl.

"I hope Deku is fine", Uraraka worried as she and Iida entered the nurse's office. As soon as class was over the two had hurried to meet their friend. And it wasn't only them who worried, the others followed behind them, more cautiously as to not to disturb the resting patients.

"Today's battle was something else", Iida responded. "It was like they were going to kill each other for sure this time."

"Not to mention they destroyed the gym in the process", Kirishima interrupted.

Recovery Girl's realm was awfully quiet, only adding to their worries. Slowly, as not to disturb anybody, the group opened the door.

"Deku", Uraraka exclaimed relieved when she saw that the boy was alright and sitting on his bed. This time had been different from all the other times, and the gravity bender had seriously thought today things wouldn't end as well as they usually did. Even Deku, as amazing as he was, was just a human being after all.

The addressed boy smiled awkwardly. "I-I'm fine", he confirmed then. Uraraka being close to him and inspecting his wounds made him nervous. "Recovery Girl said I can go home", he added to make sure everyone stopped worrying. "Ka-chan is still unconscious though."

Everybody's attention fell onto the short-tempered teen in the bed next to Midoriya. Sleeping, he was barely recognisable as the aggressive hero-in-training he was, he could almost pass as an ordinary student.

"Knowing Bakugou he'll be fine", Kirishima replied glancing over to the spiky-haired boy.

"By tomorrow he'll be up and threatening to kill everyone again", Ashido smiled at Deku. "But we were all worried about you—Recovery Girl did a good job at fixing you up."

The black-haired teen wanted to say something but was swiftly interrupted by Iida. "I believe it is best you go back to the dorm and get a good rest. I shall escort you."

As the group was turning to leave, Uraraka looked back at the still unconscious Bakugou. Everybody assumed he was fine because he always was. However, wasn't it a bit harsh to jump to this conclusion? Somebody who was strong always had to be fine?

The only person to understand the gravity bender's feelings was Midoriya. "I was going to wait for Ka-chan to wake up. Recovery Girl went to tend to class B so I offered to watch him instead."

Uraraka was relieved. But on the other hand, she knew Bakugou wouldn't appreciate finding the black-haired boy next to him when he woke up. "Deku, I'm also worried about him!", she agreed. "But if you're here, he might want to fight you again. Right here."

"I agree that leaving Bakugou alone would be irresponsible", Iida joined in. "As the class president, it is my duty to stay—"

"I'm grateful Iida, but I think it should be Kirishima", Midoriya concluded. "They are friends so Bakugou should be fine with it."

Everybody looked at the red-haired boy who was visibly surprised. "Me? This isn't manly at all; I think it requires a girl for this job. Uraraka should do it."

Now it was the brunette's turn to be surprised. Why her out of everyone? She had barely spoken to Bakugou since the tournament.

But she immediately got the answer from Kirishima himself. "He is treating you differently from everyone. I think he might even like you." The calmness with which the red-haired boy dropped the bomb was impressive. "He won't make a fuss if it's you."

Uraraka blushed. There was no way someone like Bakugou would like her! "That can't be true, you must be wrong!" Trying to hide her redness, she covered her cheeks with her hands. Surely, somebody as tough as the ash-blonde teen would not fall for her, a girl with average strength and grades even below that.

"L-like … Ka-chan?", Deku stammered awkwardly, but nobody paid attention to him.

"If that's the case then you should indeed stay here, Uraraka", Iida agreed. "You should turn him down properly too. Leave Deku's escort to me."

Uraraka was surprised that Iida not even considered that she might have feelings for the explosive teen. Her crush on Deku must have been obvious to everyone. However, could she turn down Bakugou when it wasn't even clear whether he had feelings for her? More likely, Kirshima was just imagining things. Come to think of it, Kirishima had never striked her as being very perceptive. She was probably treated differently because she simply was the girl who annoyed him most. In any case, the safest option was to make sure Bakugou was aware that she had feelings for someone else. "Alright", the gravity bender finally concluded after what seemed to be an eternity. "Don't worry about Bakugou, Deku."

Everyone left and Uraraka sat on Deku's bed watching Bakugou. While asleep, the spiky-haired boy almost looked like a different person. His facial expression was relaxed, nothing like his usual out-of-control grin and eyes that shot daggers even at kittens.

The brunette hoped he would sleep forever because she had no idea how to talk about her feelings and also because the sleeping Bakugou was rather fascinating. For a while, Uraraka just watched his chest rhythmically raising and lowering. He was only partly covered by the duvet and she could clearly see all the bruises on his body. That guy was pushing himself too much….

"What are you staring at, bitch?!" His voice abruptly broke the peaceful silence. "Want me to fucking kill you?!"

"Ehm…." Uraraka was completely taken by surprised. She hadn't prepared what to say yet—it had only been two hours since the others had left. Judging from Bakugou's behaviour though, Kirishima must have been wrong. The explosive teen wasn't treating her any different at all! But more than everything, Uraraka felt relieved that Bakugou had woken up. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright", she smiled—immediately realising that she had chosen the wrong words.

The spiky-haired boy grunted. "Why the fuck wouldn't I?!"

Whether it was luck or not, before the situation could escalate anymore, Recovery Girl entered the room and abruptly ended their conversation.

xxx

"In the end, there was no point in worrying about talking about feelings", Uraraka thought the next day. The class was about to start their hero training and the gravity bender found herself looking towards Bakugou. He seemed completely fine, although he had been told to take it easy—not that this was a realistic advice.

"Hey, Uraraka", Deku interrupted her. "We were told to form pairs and start the training. Are you ok? You're so absent minded today."

They had all gathered outside a large forest and it was a nice sunny day. Focusing on the training shifted her attention—this seemed like an enjoyable exercise. Even more so as the gravity bender was about to pair up with Deku. Being alone in the forest with him almost counted as a date! "Date?", she thought blushing. Would they be able to hold hands? After an eternity, Uraraka realised that Deku was still waiting for an answer. "I'm fine", she replied smiling to mask her insecurity.

Bakugou watched the awkward behaviour of Uraraka and her crush from afar. For some reason, it really pissed him off. He remembered how Uraraka had been in the infirmary with him just yesterday. The smile of that bitch was so much more beautiful when it was directed at him, not good-for-nothing Deku.

"Ok, now please form pairs now taking into account your individual quirks", All Might announced. Choosing a partner with a complementary quirk was already the first part of the exercise.

"I take Uraraka!" Bakugou replied loudly before anyone else could even say anything. He didn't give a fuck that everyone was staring at him in disbelief. In his opinion, these fuckers were mere pebbles in his path anyway.

"Good choice, young Bakugou", All Might nodded. "You have grown so much! Whatever plan you have in mind, it is an important lesson to choose a partner based on your quirks."

Uraraka didn't know how to react. Had the short-tempered teen really chosen her because of her quirk? In any case, her "date" with Deku had turned into a "date" with Bakugou!