Chapter Text
Sidekick day…the worst day of the week.
Katsuki couldn’t stand when the agency stuck him with a sidekick; it happened every Monday. None of them liked him, and he was a hard ass for a reason. But no matter how harsh he was or how many he made cry, he kept getting saddled with the bastards.
Today was Bounce; yep, that was her hero name. Katsuki would have rather choked on vomit than take her of all the others. Why? She was a fucking newbie. She was too fucking excited about everything. She had legs and feet like a nimble, springy animal. Her body was covered in brown fur. She had a short ponytail and paws with opposable thumbs.
“I’m so ready to go!” she hopped next to Katsuki as he walked the sidewalk in a huff. He had a slouch to his posture and grit his teeth as she continued to rattle on. “And I get to work with you today! I’m more of a Shouto fan. He’s got the dreamiest looks and his soft voice…oh I love it. You’re okay, too, though. Bet you have a ton of women pining after you, huh? Am I right?”
“For the love of God, shut up,” he hissed.
“Yeah, sure. We gotta be diligent and look for villains. I knew I would definitely encounter a villain today with you. I’ll make you so proud. I know you don’t do clean-up work or any sort of civil stuff. Just catching villains, baby! Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually here with you. Like DynaMight and Bounce. Best combo ever. What do ya think? I mean, my quirk is fast, just like you.”
“SHUT UP!” he snapped.
She flinched, her long ears laying down. “So-sorry.”
“Now, be vigilant and aware,” he huffed. “This isn’t playtime, you damn idiot.”
They walked for a while, stood on buildings for a while. He let Bounce save some kids from crossing the street too soon.
Once they heard a loud boom and sirens, Katsuki told her to keep up and blasted his way towards the trouble. A building’s front doors were shattered through, and a dark, masked villain darted into the alleyway. Katsuki and Bounce headed him off every time, but he would dart away like a shadow.
“Listen up, sidekick!” Katsuki snapped as they ran. “there’s blood falling from this asshole, meaning he hurt someone. That’s too much red to be from his quick hide. Use it as motivation to cut him off!”
Bounce nodded and ricocheted off the walls of buildings to get ahead. She landed right in front of the villain, but he slipped away again and hurried into a business building.
“You’re such a fuck up. I’ll do it,” Katsuki groaned. He blasted to the building and went inside to go after him.
Bounce leapt ahead and hopped off the walls, “I’ll get him!”
“Stay back, you idiot!” Katsuki snapped.
Fire burned through the hallway, but Bounce kept going. Katsuki paid no mind to the fire and followed. The villain pulled out a mallet and swung it at them before darting into a break room.
Katsuki watched as the villain chased Bounce, swinging the mallet at her. She hopped near the counters, and the villain’s weapon hit the stove, cracking the surface and burners. His eyes widened as the villain blew fire at Bounce. “Shit! Sidekick, fall back!” He shouted. “Evacuate the building!”
“I know I can get him!” Bounce yelled as she stood in front of the stove.
Katsuki sprinted forward to reach for the villain, but the fire blew again, igniting the gas leak. Fire filled the room, and everything went black.
Sirens filled the smokey air. Katsuki sat up amongst the rubble, suit singed and boots melted. He felt his face hot and arms smoking. His quirk had saved him. Next to him was Bounce, who lay there unmoving. Most of her brown fur was singed off, burns littered her body, and her neck sliced open with a large shard of glass right through. She wasn’t breathing.
Rain pelted Ochako the entire time she pulled citizens from the rubble. Ochako was a pro at keeping her emotions bottled until the job was done. She focused solely on saving lives, and her mourning came later, usually alone at night.
Hours into the night pounded against her sanity. She had been at it for so long that they dismissed her. She wanted to continue, but her body ached and hurt. She saved as many as she could. She used her quirk until she was too sick to keep water down. It was time to rest and recover.
She staggered out of the emergency zone. Her tears began flowing as soon as she was away from the media and watchful eyes of other heroes.
The building blew up. Smoke and dust still hung in the air for miles around.
When she saw the big orange X in the street light, she became so angry, so unbelievably rage-filled. He was standing with his back against a wall, his head down with the back of his arm at his nose.
He was inside when the building exploded. His quirk was explosion.
She dragged her feet to him, glaring as the rain trickled down her face.
His lowered, tired eyes shifted to hers slowly. His nose bloody, he lowered his arm.
“How could you…” she whimpered.
He only stared at her.
She choked out a sob, “do you know how many bodies I had to pull out?!”
His eyes might have been glazed, but it was hard to tell due to the rain.
“You’re not a hero,” she hissed, staggering past him.
“Wasn’t me,” he said loud enough for her to hear. “Villain ignited a gas line…” He shuddered out a breath, staring forward, “It…wasn’t me.” He brought his arm up to his nose again.
She turned back to him, feeling guiltier than ever. She then noticed that there was a splatter of blood on the wall level with his face. His head was bleeding, too. He…hurt himself. He was hurting. Stumbling back to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into an embrace. “Sorry, Bakugou! I’m so sorry!”
He didn’t hug back, only whispered, “you’re only the hundredth person I’ve had to defend myself to. Doesn’t fucking matter.”
“If anyone could have done anything, it would have been you. I’m so sorry. I’m just so upset. I took it out on you,” she cried.
“It’s fine, Uraraka,” he murmured, finally hugging her back. “It’s okay.”
The two of them didn’t speak another word as they began walking away from the scene. They were closer to his home, so that’s where they went. She followed him, too tired to go home, too upset to be away from him, and too worried to leave him alone.
Once inside, he went to his room where he showered and sat on his bed.
She dug in his drawers to kind a pair of his boxers and a shirt she could borrow before taking a shower, too.
Returning from her shower, Ochako stared at Katsuki, who lay on his bed face down. He was horizontal with his lower legs hanging off the edge. She sat down next to him, unintentionally gazing at his messy, damp hair.
“I’m about to get up,” he murmured. “I just wanted to lie in my bed for a couple of min-”
“Stay,” she interrupted. “Don’t sleep on the couch.”
Silence.
“Scooch,” her voice was soft as she patted his shoulder.
He didn’t say a word, not even a flash of annoyance. He collapsed on the left side of the bed and sighed.
She lay down next to him, her eyes now focusing on the ceiling. “I don’t know how I’m going to sleep.”
He turned his head to look at her, “want a pill? I’m about to take one.”
“Sedative?” she asked.
He nodded.
“That would be good,” she sat up. “I have mine at home, and I don’t need them much. But… I can’t get the images out of my head tonight. It hurts to remember digging them out of the…”
Slowly he sat up, “cheeks…”
Tears filled her eyes, “and how you looked so defeated… And I accused you-”
“Don’t, don’t,” he cut in gently.
A chill ran down her spine as she saw such tired, distant, mourning red eyes staring back at her. Seeing Bakugou Katsuki anything other than confident and strong was like a hopeless situation. If he, of all people, couldn’t keep it together, there’s no way she could.
He looked in his drawer for the pills, “besides it was all my mistake. I was there to subdue the villain. The new sidekick was my responsibility.”
“Sidekick? Did you have someone with you??? I didn’t-” She shut her mouth when he pressed the back of his arm against his eyes. The…sidekick was hurt.
With a weak chuckle, he let his arm fall and huffed, “that’s the price of hero work.”
“Bakugou-”
“She wasn’t mine. I got stuck with her this week.” He gestured, “and I’ll never have to listen to that chattering little bitch again!”
She died…
“Bakugou…” she murmured.
He handed her a pill and sat down again.
She took it dry and reached for him, but he laid down again. She did the same. Both were lying on their sides, facing each other. She didn’t know what to say. Her soft eyes caressed his gaze; she focused on conveying she was there with just a look.
His voice became quieter, “sorry, Uraraka. I wasn’t fast enough. I deserved to die, not those people. It was my mistake.”
Her eyes widened just a bit as she touched his face, “don’t say that. Mistakes happen. The fact that you feel this way means you care about the casualties and injured.”
“I couldn’t save them, Uraraka.”
“I know. And I ran out of energy before I find them all…”
He hesitantly scooted closer.
That’s what she wanted. She knew he needed warning before being touched, but thankfully he made the first move to engage. She scooted the rest of the way.
They held each other.
“I got you, Bakugou.”
“I got you, too.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Katsuki.”
“Ochako.”
Ochako felt the pain of trauma again. She was very empathetic to everyone she encountered, even most villains. But she couldn’t forgive the most heinous crimes. Crimes she had to follow to pull citizens from the rubble. She could still see their lifeless faces, the wounded, the burns and gashes. Those people just wanted to live.
Crying on her bed, she felt so alone. She texted Katsuki.
Me: can you call?
Me: please
Me: Katsuki please
She renamed his contact Katsuki instead of Bakuloser.
It was her day off, so she had an itch to just go to his apartment, but…what if he was at work…or what if he wanted to be alone. She spent hours wallowing until she got the call.
She snatched her phone and answered, “hey-”
Deku was on the other end, “Ochako. I’m so sorry. I just heard about the villain attack.”
Oh…
“Thanks but…” She whimpered, “I’m…okay.”
“You don’t sound okay. You can cry, you know.”
She knew she could, but she didn’t want to cry with him. He would just cry, too. She needed someone to hold it together for her. “I’m okay,” she took a calming breath.
“I’ll be home in a week, okay?” he told her gently. “I’m so sorry you’re going through a bad month…”
“Yeah, it’s been pretty bad. When you come home, can we talk…like talk-talk? Please?”
“About what?”
“Important things. You and me…”
“Oh… Yeah, we can do that.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later,” she said.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he told her.
“Alright. Bye Deku,” she hung up and sighed.
There was a text:
Katsuki: *thumbs up*
What the hell did that mean?
She texted back.
Me: ?
Katsuki: yes
Me: are you drunk?
It was a joke, but she was starting to worry. At least she knew he had his phone in his hand. She dialed his number and waited.
“Hey, sheeks,” his voice was low and drunken.
“So you are drinking. Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah. ‘m okay.” The sound of him throwing up and flushing the toilet entered her ears.
She swallowed hard and gagged, “don’t! You’ll make me sick, too.”
He coughed and chuckled quietly, “come in here. ‘ll hold ya hair back.”
She sighed, “I’m not in your apartment, idiot. But can I come over? I still feel really shitty about what happened. Sounds like you do, too.”
“Kay,” he murmured. “’ll stay up for you.”
“I’ll be right there,” she said before hanging up. This might take her mind off of things. Taking care of him will be good for her.
When Ochako arrived, she rang the doorbell. Waiting for a few minutes, she knocked on the door. She turned the knob and saw that it was open. She went in, thinking he was still in the bathroom. Going to his room, she saw how messy it was. She had only seen it clean and spotless. Now it was littered with dirty clothes. Glasses filled his bedside table. He had a dirty plate on the floor, and his bed was a bundle of twisted blankets.
The smell of vomit came from the bathroom, and she entered it. Katsuki sat on the floor with a bottle of a third of scotch left. He waved the bottle at her, “heeeeeey.”
“Really, Katsuki?” she put her hands on her hips.
“What?” he huffed before he chugged from the bottle.
“You’re a damn mess,” she said cautiously. “Are you seriously day drinking yourself sick? And what’s with your room? What have you been-”
He cut her off, “I got it under control.”
She sighed, “you don’t. But I’ll help you clean and put you back together, okay?” She snatched the bottle from him, “starting with this.”
“How am I suppose ta spend my suspe-suspension?” he asked.
So that’s the issue? He was suspended from work. “Because of what happened.”
“I was suppose ta take care of tha sidekick,” he responded.
“Hey,” she knelt to his level, “I know…how hard it is to accept. I came here, because I’m feeling the same way. I thought we could hang out and help each other.”
He stared at her before standing up, “I don’ need help, but ’ll help you.”
Her eyes sparkled as she stared up at her.
Katsuki frowned, feeling horrible for acting this way, for letting everything go and drinking so much. He couldn’t let Ochako see that he blamed himself for the death of Bounce. “’m fine…enough.” He didn’t look or feel fine, and he was sure she could sense it.
He moved to the sink and brushed his teeth as she took the bottle away and began gathering the dishes. His heart ached as he thought about everything in his head—her, the sidekick, the casualties, his comfort drinking, the way Ochako had sympathy for him, the way Eijirou begged him to let him help. He wanted to just be okay and present himself as okay.
After brushing his teeth and taking a shower, he wobbled out with a towel around him. He went to his room, where Ochako was taking the dishes to the kitchen. She almost dropped a cup when she saw him. Her face turned red, which made him feel a bit better.
“Put some clothes on!” she snapped, hurrying out.
“Don’ like what ya see?” he laughed.
She put the dishes in the sink and fanned her face. She had to stop getting so flustered around him.
He walked out with a black shirt and satin workout shorts. His hair was a damp mess, but he looked ten times better. In his arms were all his dirty clothes. He had to shape up if he was going to be strong for her. She obviously felt saddened over what happened, and he hated that it was his fault. It was his fault.
She turned to look at him again but turned back to the dishes.
When he came back, he grabbed a dishtowel and began drying the dishes as she washed them.
Silence.
“I’m sorry for come over and demanding you get your ass up,” she said quietly. “I just wanted to help.”
“Hm,” he started, “you sure?”
“Of?”
“Maybe ya wanted me to get off m’ass for a different reason,” he smirked.
“You’re such a perv,” she sighed.
“No, not that,” he blushed a little. “I mean… You came here for…comfort.”
“You think I wanted you to get your shit together so you could comfort me?” she asked.
He nodded, still feeling the effects of drinking.
“I’m sorry, but it was also because I was worried,” she told him. “You sounded so drunk over the phone, and it’s only ten in the morning.”
He sighed, “yeah, but ‘m good.”
“You’re not, and that’s okay.”
Was it?
She smiled at him, “I don’t trust you around knives right now. So I’ll cook lunch for us. Early lunch.”
“Fine, I’ll start some laundry,” he said, walking away.
Once the food was done, they ate then washed dishes together again. Finally, he was sober enough to sit on the couch and talk to her. He eyed her as she sat next to him. He wanted to be closer, to smell her, touch her, feel her warmth. He tried not to think about how much she cared to come over and check on him; his ears felt hot just thinking about it. God, she was wonderful.
“Can I ask you to critique me? I need to talk to Deku when he comes home, and I want to make sure I’m clear and heard.”
He smirked, “I love critiquing others.”
“Okay, you be Deku,” she turned to face him. She took a breath and spoke, “Deku, we need to talk about us.”
“About what?” he asked.
“I don’t feel like this relationship is going in the right direction. I’ve felt that for a long time.”
“But all you wanted in high school was me.”
Her eyes widened slightly, wondering how he yanked that out of his pocket. “Um… I know, but things are different now. We’re drifting apart. We have to face what’s become of our relationship.”
“What are you saying?”
“I think we should go down our own paths.” She inhaled and blew out some air, “I need more than you can give, and you need to be free to do what you want. So I think-” She stopped when she saw Katsuki’s lip quivering with big sad eyes and his finger trailing down his face like a tear. “WOULD YOU BE SERIOUS?”
He snickered, “you know he’s going to get upset, right?”
“Honestly? I have no idea.”
He frowned, “of course, he will.”
She frowned, too, “he hasn’t been excited about our relationship in a long time.”
“What is it you want?” he asked firmly.
Pausing, she answered confidently, “I want to be free to find someone else.”
His heart began to beat faster. “Then say it.”
“Deku, I want to break up,” she said.
“Say it again.”
“Deku, I want to break up,” she repeated. She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
He stared at her, taking in her gorgeous features. “good. Just like that.”
She nodded, “yeah, easy enough. Though, if he makes those puppy eyes, I’m going to second guess myself.”
“You’re doing it for the both of you, so he can go fuck himself,” he muttered. “But let’s talk about what you said.”
“Hm?”
“Free to find someone else?” he hummed.
She blushed, feeling the heat seep out of her pores. What was he going to say? What was he thinking? Was he about to suggest himself??? She could feel her top steam as he flashed a smirk. No, please, don’t say it. She wouldn’t be able to handle it!
His voice came out demanding but quiet, “I thought you were going to give it up to me after the Deku dump.”
“I…” her face burned. “Hold on! I never said-”
“What was the kissing session then? And you were all over me-”
“SHUT UP!” she screeched. “I was NOT!”
He moved closer to her and caressed her blushing face, “I need you. I need you. I’ll give you anything you want if you let me fuck you after you’re done with him. I’ll buy you anything. Just name your price.”
Her body shivered and shook as she stared at him. “Katsuki…”
“Say yes,” he whispered into her ear.
Her hands pressed against him, but he was too strong to budge. That made her hot, too. The feeling of being overwhelmed by him, at his mercy.
He was beginning to get nervous; she wasn’t saying anything. She barely pushed against him but not enough to give him a message. He inched closer, and she gripped his shoulders. Did she want this? Was he scaring her? Did she feel helpless? He moved closer, and she didn’t push back. She only stared into his eyes. Her face was red; her body shaking. Was she anxious? “Relax,” he murmured in her ear.
She couldn’t take it anymore and wrapped her arms around his neck. He smelled so nice. His strong arms wrapped around her, and he rested his head on her shoulder. She whispered, “fine… I’ll let you have me.”
He bit his lip and thanked whatever God was responsible. “You won’t be sorry.”
“I better not be,” she hummed.
“I need you so much. You have no idea.”
“Katsuki…”
He didn’t mean to say that.
“Why me?” she asked. “I’m not the typical girl you go after.”
He paused before hugging her tighter. “I know. It’s because you…care about me.”
“Of course, I do,” she petted his hair.
“It’s important to me.”
“That makes sense…” she whispered.
“Want to go for a run?”
She giggled, “that sounds good.”