From the Ground Up: Kacchako

Chapter 22: yeah, right

It's rewind time y'all

Uraraka hurried to keep up as Bakugou chased Midoriya down the halls like a greyhound hunting down a rabbit.
"Deku get your scrawny ass back here!"
Uraraka huffed and puffed to get within earshot.
"Katsuki leave him alone! You already blew up the room! We're gonna get in trouble!"

He ran faster anyway, coming up hot on midoriya's tail.
"Screw that! He's gotta pay!"
Midoriya's head slight hung back as he ran, proof he was really pushing his legs hard to get away from Bakugou.
"But I didn't do anything!"
Uraraka took a chance and jumped, successfully wrapping her arms around Bakugou's torso and sending them both crashing to the floor just as Midoriya jumped flight of stairs.
He thrashed under her and got back to his feet, but was pinned in place as she trapped his leg in her grasp. Her legs and arms bound tightly around him. He gave her a look that said he'd drag her if he had to, and she glared back up at him.

One- maybe two- minutes later, Bakugou was downstairs, savagely pinning Midoriya to the ground while Uraraka yanked at him harshly. Aizawa sensei came running, looking tired and very, very angry.
"What's going on here?!"
He shouted, looking disapprovingly down at his former students.
"Get up, all of you"
He commanded, and like obedient soldiers they obeyed. Standing in a line. He ran his eyes over Bakugou and Midoriya first.
"I should have known, you two are barely graduated and can't even get along for a few nights! And you,"
He said, spinning to Uraraka. She almost shrank under his accusing gaze, but kept firm.
"I expected better behaviour- why are you bruised?"
He sniffed the air.
"And burnt?"
She looked down at herself, and she grimaced. When Deku had knocked on the door, Bakugou had been on a short temper. But when he came in, and saw Uraraka hastily get off Bakugou and blush, ashamed, he blew up. Literally. An explosion went off and sent them flying. Uraraka was closest to him when he blew a short fuse, and took the most of it.
Small burns malled her left side, on her bare hands, face, and pieces of her shirt were burnt off.

Aizawa scoffed and sighed like a busy mother hen, and sent her off to the nurse. Yes, they brought the poor old woman just in case something like this happened, sad but true. Aizawa grabbed a heavy book off a nearby table, and the boys eyed it carefully.
"Here's what's going to happen,"
The older hero said, weighing the book in his hands.
"You're going to stop blowing up every building that comes across your path, get back in line, and leave the poor girl alone. I don't care what pubescent crush you're both caught up in, it's not my problem. After 7:00pm the crap stops, got it? Take your pettiness elsewhere and let a hero sleep around here,"
They nodded quickly and turned around, only to find that Aizawa had been waiting for it, and wacked the book across the backs of their heads. They winced and rubbed their now sore heads, walking away. Aizawa dropped the book with a heavy thud and stomped back upstairs to sleep.

Later, in the hall, everyone was eating. Bakugou, weirdly, didn't opt to sit with Uraraka, instead he headed over to Kirishima and sat with him and Mina. A tight pang of guilt twisted inside his chest. Sure, Uraraka has taken worse damage and walked away, but that had been in other fights. He'd never meant to hurt her. She sat down slightly away from the others, feeling too tired to deal with constant conversation.
Dinner had been served ages ago, this meal was a series of late night snacks for the students. She quietly munched on peanuts covered in chocolate and marshmallows, focusing on not letting her head drop down onto the table.
She'd already been tired before, watching the movie, but after she saw the nurse and used what was left of her stamina to heal her burns her battery was in the negatives.
So much so that she barely noticed when Midoriya sat down next to her, coloured popcorn in a small bowel. After a few seconds of shared silence she began to find his presence comforting. He was still a solid wall of muscle, but he'd stretched out over the years. He was almost lanky now, but still shorter than Bakugou.
"I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to walk in on you guys..."

He said, and she looked up at him with sleepy eyes. He wouldn't look at her, keeping his eyes focused on his plate. It was as if he was almost angry, one hand gripping his leg so hard the material strained. She gently put her hand atop his, and his hand relaxed.
"It's okay, Izuku. Nothing really got too far, I don't know what I was thinking..."
She sighed and put her head in her hands, letting out a desperate breath. Hesitantly his hand came to rest on her back.
"Is something wrong?"
She whimpered quietly.
"I don't know what I'm doing, Midoriya. I really don't. First we're broken up, then we're not just because he apologises, then we're complicated, then I just don't know where to go from here"
A crease formed between his brows.
"You're talking about what's going on between you and Kacchan"
She nodded, lifting her head again. When she turned her head to look at him, he was watching her with a small worried smile. He'd always been sweet, caring, there for her. She sometimes wondered what would have happened if she hadn't met him at the entrance exam.
The thought unsettled her more than she liked to admit.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
It felt like an olive branch, something he was extending between them, some kind of bridge. But she didn't know why. There was nothing to fix between them. So why did it feel like he was offering her a second chance? After a moment or two she nodded, finishing up her little snack and walking with him outside.

It was cold and numbing outside the building, a light snow drifting down. She shivered a kept close to him, almost ducking into his side.
He shook off a hammock and laid down in it with a slight grunt, moving to the side to make room for her. After looking around she settled in beside him, stretching out her legs and laying her head on his arm. He left one leg down, using it to lightly swing them back and forth as they watched the sky. She felt immediately warmer laying next to him, and it wasn't awkward at all. It was- comfortable. They were already so close it wasn't bad.
"Izuku..."
She whispered, Knotting her fingers together on her stomach.
"Yes?"
He whispered back, still swinging them.
"Can I tell you something?"
"...always."
"Back at the final exams...me and Bakugou were late because...because- we were drugged and- and I don't know how it happened we just-"
"It's okay, I understand"
He tried to keep his voice even, but he almost sounded hurt. Her chest twisted painfully. He spoke again after a while.
"Is that why you got back together? Because of what happened?"
She shifted her head on his arm.
"...yes. I think so? I'm not sure...I guess it was just easy. We already knew so much about each other, we'd done it before, and there was no one else for me..."

She felt like she was making excuses, and she hated it. She didn't need an excuse to be with Katsuki, she was with him because that's what they both wanted. But there were times where she doubted, and that made her hate it even more.
You shouldn't be doubting anything,
She told her self, it's fine. But sometimes things were just unstable. She couldn't really explain it, it's just how she felt. If other people ever felt like this, she wished they'd talk about it, so she knew what to do. Even the slightest doubt made her wish she'd never done this in the first place, saving herself the confusion and trouble and mess.
"You've never been unwanted, Ochako..."
He whispered, so quiet she almost didn't hear him. Izuku had always been a steady, solid factor in her life, someone who was always there. An unmoving rock in a heavy stream, whereas Bakugou walked out of the stream altogether and swore at it. She sighed, thinking to herself.
If I'd dated Izuku instead of Katsuki, would I have been happier?..
No, she shut that thought away immediately, locking it tight in a box and burying it.
A patch opened up in the sky above them, parting the clouds to reveal a dark sky spotted with bright stars. He continued to rock them, and she slowly let her eyes close. A happy feeling flooded her chest, something content and sleepy and safe as she nudged her head closer to him. He leant his head against hers and wrapped the arm she was laying on around her, holding her close. She couldn't even remember when she fell asleep.