Catch-22 (ch4)

Okay so this is basically the same exact thing as the previous chapter, but just with their positions swapped. Ochako taking care of Bakugo! And I finally wrote in a few other characters too lol

I sort of am inconsistent with addressing characters by only first or last names... like I call Ochako and Bakugo by first names, but Kirishima is just... he's Kirishima, right? It's just more natural to think of him as that instead of Eijiro, in my opinion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia.

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															Chapter 4.

After another hectic day of unsupervised weekend training as per usual, most of Class A is ready to retire after an early supper.

Most of them. Meaning there are a few students who are still out training even after the sun has gone down.

Naturally, Ochako isn't all that surprised to find that Bakugo is one of the people who hasn't come back yet. Even from the common room, everyone can still hear him and Kirishima shouting and blasting each other. The other girls keep giving Ochako helpless looks.

"Must be tough," Tsuyu observes.

"Indeed," Momo agrees. "To have such a wily boyfriend."

Ochako still blushes when other people use that word. She chuckles sheepishly.

"Y-Yeah. He can be a handful sometimes..."

"I can imagine," Kyouka mutters.

"But he's a good guy!" Tooru chirps. "We've all seen it before, right? How he's always looking out for Ochako-chan-"

"A-All right, all right!" she squeaks. "Sh-Shouldn't you guys go to bed soon?"

"Hmm~?" Mina purrs. "And what about you? Gonna stay up and wait for your man, huh?"

"Don't tease her!" Momo intercepts, grabbing Mina by the scruff. "I think it's simply adorable how she-"

"Ahhh okay, okay!" Ochako pipes. "Just go, you guys!"

"Don't overheat," Tsuyu chuckles. "We'll go. Goodnight, Ochako-chan."

"Night you guys." Still blushing, Ochako waves them off, until she's the last one left in the common room. She leans back against the couch and waits, trying to pass the time.

Luckily, it isn't much longer before the muffled sounds of explosions and shouting finally come to a stop. She breathes a sigh of relief.

"It's curfew, so I bet Iida-kun went and got them..."

She assumes they go to eat something first, because it's about twenty minutes later when she hears voices and footsteps.

"Man," Kirishima sighs. "I almost had ya that one time."

"Ch. Like hell you did, asshole."

"Hey, you know I would've beaten you if Iida hadn't come to stop us."

"Hah! In your fuckin' dreams! You barely got off one hit on me!"

"Hey, I got in a bunch of good ones!"

"You're a fuckin' idiot."

As the two of them finally enter, Ochako gets to her feet. The boys are messy and unkempt from their skirmish, covered in minor scratches and bruises. They notice her right away.

"Yo, Uraraka-san," Kirishima grins. Bakugo just huffs and snorts. Kirishima jabs him in the gut. "Oy, idiot! She's your girlfriend! At least say hi to her!"

"Bastard, shut the hell up!"

Kirishima manages to wrestle his friend into a headlock for a second as he looks up at Ochako.

"Sorry about this moron, Uraraka-san. He still needs to learn his manners."

"I'll fuckin' kill you!"

"See what I mean?"

"Asshole!"

As the two of them start tussling again, Ochako scurries over to try and stop them.

"A-All right you two, I think you should stop before Iida-kun catches you fighting indoors."

By this point Bakugo has reversed the headlock situation, and Kirishima is calling for a truce.

"She's right- we should probably call it a draw."

"A what?"

"All right, all right! You win!"

"Damn right!" Bakugo releases him with a snort. When the two of them move back, Ochako notices the splash of red on her boyfriend's cheek right away.

"Ah! B-Baku-chan, you're bleeding!"

"Ch. Who gives a shit?"

"Ah, my bad," Kirishima frets. "I must've scraped him just now."

Bakugo just swipes his arm across his face, smearing more blood to make it look even worse. Ochako yelps.

"J-Just wait a second! I'll get some water!"

"I said you don't have to- khh!" Bakugo cuts off with a snarl as Kirishima punches his arm. "The fuck was that?!"

"Man, shut the hell up!" Kirishima scolds him. "I'd kill to have a girl who'd worry about me and patch me up, and you're not even a little happy about it!"

"Shut up! Die!"

"Baku-chan!" Both boys turn back to Ochako as she comes scurrying over with a damp hand-towel. Her eyes are wide with concern. "Lemme see your wound."

"Ch. You've gotta be kiddin' me..."

But then Ochako narrows her eyes, and her voice becomes stern.

"Bakugo-kun!"

That shuts both boys up. Since they'd started dating Ochako's only ever called Bakugo by the pet name. Using his full name means she's probably pissed.

Kirishima's jaw drops and he starts to back away.

"I'll uh... leave you guys to it, then." And with that he turns tail and hurries off.

Bakugo is left stunned and confused. But one look at his girlfriend's face is enough to tell him she isn't playing around. He has no choice but to relent.

"Fine. Do whatever the hell you want."

"I plan to. Now hold still."

He doesn't dare budge as she dabs the wet cloth across his cheek, wiping away the blood until she can see the scratch. She presses down gently for a moment until the bleeding stops altogether, then cleans off the blood on his arm.

"You're all dirty," she mumbles. "You'd better take a shower before you go to bed."

"I friggin' know that."

She gives him another glare that shuts up any rude comment he might've been considering. Normally she never gets offended, and knows better than to take it the wrong way. She knows it's just how he is, and sometimes he can't help it. But when she's serious like she is now, she wants him to be also.

When she's finished cleaning him up as best she can, she sends the dirty cloth floating over to the nearest sink and gives him a stern once-over. He does a really good job at hiding any signs of pain when the others are around, but she knows better. She can tell he's silently nursing a few sore spots and is generally exhausted overall. She shakes her head and sighs.

"Who am I kidding? You'll never even make it back to your room on your own."

"Like hell I can't-"

But another glare silences him.

She softens her expression after that, reaching out to tap his arm. She uses her Quirk to ease some of the weight he's feeling, not enough to make him float, but just enough to make it easier for him to move.

She takes his hand and leads him over to the couch. Once there, she sits down and releases her hold on him, and all the soreness comes rushing back. He flinches.

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

"I'm not." She pats the couch beside her expectantly. "Lie down."

She knows it's driving him mad, that he wants to storm off and deny he needs any recuperation. But she also knows he's actually in some pain, and that he can't refuse her in general. She hardly ever plays unfairly with him, but she's not above doing it when she really has to.

So with a hefty buffalo-like grunt, Bakugo throws himself down on the couch. Ochako pulls him closer, catching his head in her hands and resting it gently on her lap.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it, Baku-chan?"

"Just shut up, Uraraka."

He lies on his side facing her, keeping his injured cheek upturned and free of contact. He's glad she's gone back to using the pet name.

Ochako smiles fondly as she starts petting through his hair. He's already closed his eyes as an excuse not to look directly at her, because the last thing he needs right now is to start blushing on top of all this.

But when Ochako dips down to kiss his temple, he ends up turning red anyway.

She activates her Quirk like she did before, just a little bit, alleviating some of his weight to help him relax. He snorts out an exhale, and she knows it's his way of thanking her for the relief. Keeping one hand in his hair, she lets the other slip down to his face, caressing his cheek. He grunts again, letting her know he's grateful.

She continues, running her hand from his shoulder and down his arm to his side, leaving that pleasant feeling of weightlessness behind with every stroke. She's glad he's finally resting a bit, but she feels there's something she needs to say.

"Sorry."

He doesn't open his eyes, but she can almost feel him rolling them.

"The hell are you apologizing for."

She fidgets a little, fingers curling in his hair.

"Y'know... I guess sometimes I get too ahead of myself. I know I don't need to worry about you, but I just can't help it. I don't mean to embarrass you or anything like that..." She tapers off with a sigh, and when he says nothing back for a moment, she feels even guiltier.

But then he cracks an eye open and just stares up at her. Ochako blinks.

"Baku-chan-?"

"Sorry."

"...Eh?" She isn't sure if she's heard him correctly at first. She's never heard him apologize for anything before. She shakes her head, wondering if she's imagining things. "Wh-What are you saying, Baku-chan? Why are you apologizing...?"

He grunts out a deep breath before looking down, avoiding her eyes and instead looking at the material of her shirt.

"What that idiot Kirishima said... it does make me happy..."

Ochako is stunned for a moment as she thinks back to the earlier conversation. Kirishima had said something about Bakugo appreciating her more, and being happy to have her. She feels heat rushing to her cheeks, and her heart backflips.

Bakugo closes his eyes again with a shrug.

"Just figured I should start sayin' it more often."

Ochako's speechless. She can't think of anything to say right away, so she just leans forward again and rests her forehead against him, pulling him into as much of a hug as she can manage like this. He curls an arm around her waist too, pressing his face against her stomach.

"...Thanks, Ochako..."

She chokes on a tiny happy giggle, and a tear drips free.

"You're very welcome, Baku-chan."

Just minutes later he's fast asleep curled up in her lap. She leans back against the couch and closes her eyes as well.

Both of them sleep soundly and easily.

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A/N: Concepts I love include Ochako being a sweet cinnamon roll 95% of the time but the 5% she's Pissed Off she's absolutely terrifying, and also Bakugo calling her by her first name when they're alone and she just melts.

Possibly the last for this collection (it doesn't seem to be too popular anyway). But this pairing was definitely the most fun one I've written in recent months!