Untethered: Bakugou x OC x Todoroki

Chapter 9: Stakeout

Bakugou's car skidded to a halt in front of Kaida's apartment and he swiftly exited the vehicle to begin gathering the bags from the trunk. Kaida watched as he maneuvered to try to pick up as many bags as humanly possible, doing everything he could to make it so she wouldn't have to carry anything. She giggled to herself silently, remembering his previous statement about not being her maid, before placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from looping yet another bag over his arm.

"Just, trust me real quick, 'kay?" She urged as she helped him confusedly slide his arms out of the bags' handles.

Kaida placed her hands out to loop her fingers through all of the gathered plastic bag handles before instantaneously activating her quirk and disappearing with the groceries completely. Bakugou glanced around himself shocked as his mind attempted to catch up with the events that were happening. A slight moment of panic overtook him as he realized Kaida was now alone before he quickly slammed his trunk shut and began speed-walking toward the front door of the building. Kaida suddenly rematerialized after a few short moments just in front of the ash-blonde, causing him to collide with her body, nearly knocking her clean off her feet before he swiftly wrapped his arms around her and shuffled forward to regain his balance to prevent them from falling.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Bakugou yelled, panting loudly as he straightened his shoulders and scowled down at the giggling female before him. "What the fuck? You dumbass, don't do that shit!" He seethed as he released her somewhat forcefully and pushed her away from him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry," she laughed again as she stumbled backward, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Tch, you didn't!" He brushed her off and huffed angrily. "But you know you're supposed to let me check your place first! That was stupid of you," he scolded, his fists clenched at his sides and the veins in his arms raised on his flexing muscles.

"Oh, lighten up, I'm fine, right? I came right back and everything. And now you don't have to carry all the bags," she placed her hands on her hips defensively. "Now let's go, I'm starving." She deftly turned on her heel to head into the apartment building, brushing off his anger nonchalantly.

He seethed toward Kaida's back and his breath hissed between his clenched teeth while she sauntered into the building. He growled to himself and reluctantly relaxed his muscles slightly, as he stomped after her, especially annoyed at her flippant demeanor toward something he took quite seriously. She could feel the aura of his attitude hovering around them as they silently went up to her apartment. Once they walked through the door, Bakugou did a full sweep of all the rooms before aggressively setting himself in the center of the couch to ignore her. Kaida didn't mind the silence and quickly began putting groceries away to set up for dinner.

After a little over a half hour's worth of not a single noise from the ash-blonde and constant bustling around a hot stove from Kaida, she stepped around the couch and set two bowls of curry onto the coffee table. Bakugou scooted himself over to make room for her on the couch and she planted herself next to him before pulling her feet beside her between their bodies to rest her bowl on her thighs.

The crimson-eyed hero leaned his elbows onto his knees and brought his bowl up to his face to inhale the aroma before tasting it. The waft of steam from the bowl comforted his senses, the evocative scent triggering a nostalgia from his earlier years, reminding him of some of his favorite home-cooked meals. Bakugou raised an eyebrow before tentatively tasting the delicious smelling food. Kaida watched his profile through side glancing from under her lashes to judge his reaction. Before he could say anything, she spoke around a piece of chicken stuffed in her cheek.

"Spicy enough?" She innocently questioned, her voice flat as to not give away her hopefulness that he would like what she made.

"It'll do," he spoke between mouthfuls as he ate rather quickly.