From the Ground Up: Kacchako

Chapter 27: lets clear this up

(Try to stay with me)
Around 7 years post-graduation_a few months before Ochako's disappearance:

Ochako flinched as the door to the apartment slammed shut, the wood rattling on his hinges. Twisting the two rings on her finger, she bit her lip and stood up.
Better she face him head-on than cower.
She found him in the bathroom, viciously ripping off his shirt and throwing it to the ground. She took a deep breath to say something but he beat her to it.
"We had a deal!"

She looked up apologetically at Katsuki as he turned to her, a red flush of anger spreading across his cheeks.
"I'm my defence, it was only a low-level villain-"
"Don't give me that crap. You promised me, Ochako."
She stood her ground.
"You're not the only hero here, Katsuki. It's my life. You cant deny me my work. Besides, I didn't break anything, I was off duty-"
"You lied to me. To my face! You said you were going to help Mina with whatever it was, and the next thing I know I'm seeing 'Hero Uravity seen busting low villain in broad daylight' all over the damn news!"
"I didn't get hurt!"
"You could have! That's the whole point of this. We had a deal. You leave the hero work to me until-"
"I went to the same school you did. Went through the same training. I'm not stupid, or weak, I can continue hero work for however long I damn well please until I decide otherwise."
Her tone was so final that it shut him up, leaving him to shake his head and rip out the belt from his pants. Katsuki Bakugou wasn't a man easily calmed down. Winning an argument with him was like decoding the matrix. Luckily, Ochako was well trained.

She stepped closer, but he wouldn't look at her. He kept his eyes on the mirror and braced his hands on the bench.
"Katsuki it was one person...I know that I promised you I'd stay safe, but I had to help. I can't ignore it when someone gets hurt and I can do something to stop it"
He sighed in frustration.
"It's not your responsibility anymore. It's
Mine. And anyone else who happens to be on the job at the time. There are other heroes"
After a moment of silence she tapped her foot impatiently and turned around to lean back against the sink bench. Crossing her arms she wrinkled her nose.
"I don't like being the helpless civilian"
He chuckled and moved in front of her, lightly pressing against her.
"You're anything but helpless, round-face. I especially know that"
She smirked and pinched his arm.
"Come on, I go easy on you,"
"Debatable."
She burst out laughing, enjoying the pleased look on his face. She quieted down though as he placed his hands flat against her stomach, palms flat. A low sigh escaped him.
"I just- I need you to be safe. Now that you're-"
"Having a child growing inside of me doesn't change the fact that I can handle myself"
"Being- pregnant...changes everything. For us it does, anyway. Just please keep out of harms way when I'm not around"
"Oh? So as long as you're at my side I can jump in front of a moving car? Or maybe a bullet?"
He snorted.
"Do that, and I'll chain you to the bed for the next nine to eight months"
"Well then maybe I'll actually get some sleep in the night"
He pouted.
"Hey, it's not my fault all my shifts are during the day! I only see you at night now"
"Speaking of,"
She said, picking up his wrist to look at his watch.
"It's, like, 11:00pm, so I'm going to bed. You, on the other hand, need to take a shower. A day working in the sun has left a smell."

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her hand.
"Take a shower with me, I barely see you anymore"
She smiled and limply leant away from him, reaching her fee arm towards their bedroom.
"But I'm so tired!"
"And I'm so affection-deprived!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ochako couldn't run down the halls quick enough, passing rooms with patients who were moaning and sick and some dying. But those people weren't why she was here. No, she was here for someone considerably more idiotic.

She came to a skidding stop in a larger room, a private examination room for heroes exclusively. She was met with a groaning Katsuki, rudely shoving off a male nurse and sitting up in his bed. Ochako rushed to his side and pushed him back down, keeping a tight leash on her rising temper.
"You- you stupid, barbaric, insane, son of a-"
"You may be my wife, but insult my mother, and I won't be able to protect you from her."
She almost slapped him, but stopped herself. His ribs were bandaged, and bloodied scraps of material were discarded in a metal bowl beside his bed. Still, she fixed him with an incredibly cold stare.
He didn't get a chance to explain himself as she turned to the nurse, softening her expression for him.
"Tell me what happened, please"
The nurse took a weary glance at Katsuki before swallowing.
"He- got caught by surprise. No one-"
"Nurse, shut your mouth"
Katsuki said, but Ochako only smiled and urged him on.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from him. Now please continue"
"Um- I uh- I heard that the villain somehow snuck up behind Ground Zero with a knife. The report says that the blade slid in between his fifth and forth ribs, narrowly missing his heart-"
"Nurse! So help me I will tear out your tongue!"

Ochako took a deep breath and ushered the nurse out, slowly turning back to Katsuki. Her eyes went straight to the bandages around his chest. The amount of horror that flooded through her was incredible.
"You- you promised me! Promised us! Stay safe?! What a load of-"
She cut herself off and marched away, out of the room and down the hall. Ignoring his shouts for her was harder than she expected. She didn't care, barely noticed, the people gawking at her as she speed walked past, tears running down her face. She'd almost lost him. That day, because he'd been distracted, because of her, he'd almost died. Bled out on the pavement. She couldn't do it anymore, watch him risk his life and work overtime. She wouldn't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, it was past midnight when Ochako returned to his room. He was fast asleep, monitors blinking around his bed.

When she sat down beside him, and reached for his hand, a sharp ache began to spread through her chest. The sound of his heartbeat was a steady and constant rhythm. She'd almost began to nod off when she screaming sounded.
Shooting to her feet, she darted to the door and looked into the hallway. Nothing. No one.
Next was the window. Outside, a frantic patient was going crazy. She possessed a quirk.
Bad news. Ochako thought, some poor girl probably waking up not knowing where she was and going crazy. A few doctors and nurses lay on the ground, some bleeding. Badly. The hospital wasn't near the city.
Barely any heroes would be around. At least none with enough power or skill or strategy. Unless...
She looked over her shoulder at Katsuki, still passed out on the bed. The painkillers had done their job well. He was the only one here, and he couldn't even wake up right now if he tried.
People. Those were people down there. Bleeding out. Crying, getting their bones broken...

Her hand drifted to her stomach, to the life growing there. The dreams she and Katsuki had talked about, imagined and planned together.
Glancing at him one more time, she made for the door. Those dreams would come true, she decided. They would. But they could wait one more night. Just one more night, while she saved all the lives she could. Made sure innocent got the choice to live.
Leaving her bag on a chair and tying back the long strands of her hair, she raced down the stairs and made her way for the front entrance. To where the poor girl was unleashing herself on anything and everything she saw.
One night. Just once more. What could go wrong?