Chapter Text
Ochako felt like she was in permanent high alert as she stormed around the office for the rest of the day. Her internal alarms kept ringing fight-or-flight as her peripheral vision pinged to Bakugou whenever they were in the same room. She couldn’t let him corner her.
Not that anything would come of it if he did! Better safe than sorry, she assured herself.
All this being as it was, it seemed extra ridiculous that Bakugou managed to sneak up on her in the break room while she was getting coffee.
“Hey Cheeks,” his low voice growled right into her ear as she popped open a vanilla creamer for her coffee. Ochako squealed, the creamer contents spraying everywhere as she flailed.
Her body whipped around to face her intruder, but Bakugou didn’t step back, reaching past her across the counter. Ochako was briefly enveloped in the total-heat experience of Bakugou’s body and scent surrounding her. Her heart raced like choo-choo train.
As he leaned back, Bakugou held up his hand. “Need another?” His grin was cocky, presenting her an unopened creamer. Ochako snatched it out of his hand and then tried to shove Bakugou a step back. He was a brick wall – unmoveable.
She growled. “Don’t make me use my quirk on you, mister!”
Bakugou took a step back, hands in the air, and leaned against the kitchen island. His smirk was playful, but his eyes had a weird intensity. “Relax, killer. I just want to set up our ground rules. For the bet.”
Ochako scrunched up her face. “What ground rules? It’s easy. You continue to be, well, you,” she gestured vaguely to his whole body, “and I continue not to hook up with you.” Ochako gave him a sugar sweet smile with a few bats of her eyelashes for extra cuteness. “Easy.”
Bakugou only seemed amused. “Mhmmm, I see.” He pushed back against the counter, glancing up at the ceiling in faux-thought. “But then what do I win, if we do hook up?”
Ochako narrowed her eyes at him, roughly ripping the creamer open. “That won’t happen.”
“Then what’s the harm in setting the terms?” His grin was sharp. “If there’s nothing to lose.”
An anger was starting to boil up in Ochako’s stomach. “Look Blasty, I find it a bit gross that all of a sudden, now that there’s little competition for you to win, you’re interested in hooking up with me.” The words had burst out of her, but she realized with a tight throat that they were true. She picked up her coffee, if only for the excuse to look away from Bakugou. “It’s fine if you’re not attracted to me. We don’t need to make a stupid game out of it.”
The breakroom was silent as she stared down at her coffee, waiting for Bakugou’s response. It hurt to admit, and Ochako had put on a strong front in the Classroom and at Todoroki’s party, but she really didn’t want to do…that with Bakugou if he wasn’t interested in her. They had worked together for a long time and genuinely did have a relationship she respected, even if he annoyed her at times. There had been times even, on the field or during late nights in the office, when he looked at her a certain way… but obviously she’d been wrong. And that’s fine. She’d get over it, even if it made her feel like she was fifteen again.
Bakugou still hadn’t answered. Ochako peeked up at him and was startled to find him glaring at her. He looked furious.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snarled. “Not attracted to you?”
Confusion washed over Ochako. “Uh, yes? You’ve literally never hit on me and apparently, you’re the horniest person alive so… I assume that’s the reason?”
Bakugou continued to glare holes into her. Ochako flapped her hands at him. “Which is fine! Of course! We all find different things, er, people, y’know… hot, or whatever.” She giggled nervously.
Bakugou’s mouth moved like he was chewing on a sour lemon, until finally he let out a growl of frustration. He stood up straighter, crossing his arms and looking down at Ochako with a stern face of determinism. Ochako flinched back, taking a sip of her coffee like the mug would be a defense shield against what she could only imagine was going to be a pure Baku-rage.
“Ochako,” Bakugou started slowly, enunciating his words like he was speaking to a child. Ochako almost choked on the coffee. Bakugou had used her first name maybe twice in her entire life – both times in moments of extreme, life-or-death danger. She looked up at him now, at attention. His gaze was laser-focused on her. “Of course I think you’re hot. You’ve got a waist-to-hip-to-tits ratio I thought only existed in fucking hentai, you could easily choke me with those thighs and I would die thanking you, you’re a badass hero who doesn’t take any shit from morons, we could fuck in antigravity, you’ve literally been deemed the Cutest Person in Japan – you’re basically a round, sexy, ass-kicking machine!” Bakugou drew in a breath, trying to ease back his volume, which had risen considerably in… anger? “Why the fuck would I not be attracted to you, idiot!”
There was a startled beat of silence. Ochako just stared at him, completely unable to process anything beyond Bakugou Katsuki calling her hot. The whole moment was so unreal she debated whether she had simply switched into an alternate reality. Objectively, she knew all these things about herself. Mina told her more or less the same things, practically daily. In fact, Mina texted all the 1A ladies (and Aoyoma) affirmations every morning. But to hear Bakugou Katsuki call her hot… anything in his little speech that came after couldn’t even be approached. She shoved the fluttering feeling in her heart down into some secret cavity.
Bakugou huffed in irritation. “You’re so thick sometimes.”
“Hey!” Ochako spluttered, clinging to her irritation as a desperate lifeboat to get her away from all these butterflies that had arisen in her stomach. “Alright Mr. Casanova, if I’m so hot how come you’ve never tried to flirt with me?” She crossed her arms and definitely didn’t pout. She schooled her face into a scowl instead. “I know what flirting is like, don’t tell me I just haven’t noticed. Apparently, everyone else has gotten the Flirty Bakugou treatment.”
If Ochako didn’t know him any better, she’d say Bakugou looked slightly embarrassed by her accusation. Or maybe even… bashful? She considered herself pretty good at reading through Bakugou’s obtuse facial expressions, but this one was new.
But then his face shifted back to his lemon-sucking scowl. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
What the hell?? Ochako resisted the urge to growl herself. This was exactly why working with Bakugou drove her up the wall. He was so stubborn.
“Of course you are free to not flirt with me, Bakugou,” she snapped, “That’s my whole point.” She rolled her eyes. Talking to him was like speaking to an emotionally constipated bull. “Not that I believe it would work anyways.”
Every conversation would always result in this: her getting a headache. Flirty Bakugou sounded…interesting, but unlike her horny coworkers, Ochako suspected she would always find Bakugou’s huge ego keeping a safe, room-for-Jesus distance between them and any potential amorous action.
“Hah?” Bakugou’s even gaze – a dangerous look, she reckoned even more dangerous than all of his loud blustering – narrowed on her. She could see him running calculations in his head, weighing something out. Ochako raised her eyebrows at him, waiting patiently for him to bring his thoughts together.
She could see the decision happen. The corner of his lips narrowed upwards and he slid to full height, looming over her with a sneer. Ochako didn’t budge, glowering back up at him.
“Tell you what,” he drawled out. “If you win the bet, I’ll tell you why I’ve never tried flirting with you before.”
Already prepared to snap back at him, Ochako paused. Huh. Interesting. Bakugou offering up personal information, even in the terms of competition, was something she’d never seen before. In every UA dorm rounds of Truth or Dare, he had only ever chosen Dare. If anything, getting Bakugou to freely admit non-angry feelings or thoughts on anything outside of hero work was more impossible than getting Aizawa to crack a smile. Or Deku to talk bad about All Might. Or…whatever, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity!
And maybe Ochako was still, selfishly, a little bit curious.
She swallowed hard, trying to keep an impassive face. “And what do you get if you win?”
Bakugou’s grin widened into something a wolf would flinch away from. “Besides that round, sexy ass?”
Ochako blushed from toe to tip, heart given one mighty thump in her chest. Hoo-boy, she was going to have to get that under control. Bakugou stepped fully into her space now, hands pressed on the counter behind her. The smile had vanished from his face.
“If I win,” he said to her, in a low voice, “You tell me why you’ve never flirted with me.”
This boy needed to come with some kind of safety warning, because everything out of his mouth was throwing Ochako into a blank wall of stupefaction. She gaped at him, starting to respond, then stopped. Telling him that it was his personality would be a bit cruel. And also…most of the time Ochako didn’t mind his blustering. Bakugou was pretty funny and loyal and honest, all qualities she admired. If she was being truthful, she never thought about him romantically because it seemed like an absurd thing to want. Wasn’t he out of her league?
Not that she could ever admit that to him. That would make his ego even more insufferable.
“Deal.” Ochako said instead, determinedly holding his gaze. Bakugou looked satisfied and pushed off the counter, finally backing off again. He turned away, opening up the cupboard next to her to grab a mug.
“Let’s draw up some terms,” Bakugou declared, all business as he roughly hip-checked her out of the way of the coffee machine. “The bet goes until the end of this month. I am allowed unrestricted flirting during that time.”
Ochako narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine. But touching has to remain flirt-appropriate.”
Bakugou’s face was calm, impassive. “Of course.”
“So, uh,” Ochako swirled the last dregs of her coffee in her mug, feeling her cheeks begin to heat up again. “What would constitute a, um, win for you?”
“I think we’ll know it when we see it,” Bakugou smirked. “But I’ll always leave the first move up to you, Cheeks.” He leaned forward, hot breath on her ear. Ochako shivered. “If you want something, you gotta take it.”
Then he swept his filled coffee mug out from the machine, marching past her out of the breakroom. “Later, loser.”
Ochako had a sinking feeling that she would regret this.
“Those are the lamest stakes for a sex bet I’ve ever heard,” Mina frowned, hours later, sprawled over the visitor’s couch in Ochako’s office. Todoroki, at the other end of the couch, nodded in agreement.
“I really thought these years of tension would lead up to something a bit more dramatic,” he said, calmly sipping some tea. Ochako frowned. Years of tension? More like years of bickering.
She had just finished telling Tsu, Mina, Todoroki, Shinsou and Deku about the events in the breakroom and the terms of her bet with Bakugou. Honestly, she didn’t know how they had all ended up in here – she had asked Tsu in for advice, but every time she started telling the story, another person popped into her office until she had gathered a veritable attack team to dissect the situation.
“I’m surprised Kacchan would even offer up an answer like that,” Deku tapped his chin, brow furrowed. He was sat between Mina and Todoroki; Tsu took up the spare chair and Shinsou lazed back on the carpet, hands behind his head as a pillow. “He obviously doesn’t want you to know and obviously there’s a chance, however small, that he could lose.”
“Small?” Ochako laughed. “What do you mean? I’m going to win the bet.”
Five dubious faces stared back at her. Ochako blinked back at them. Were they serious?
“All I have to do,” she said slowly, feeling a bit ridiculous even saying it out loud, “is not hook up with Bakugou. Which is what I’ve been doing for the last twelve years of my life, with 100% success rate.”
Mina pressed her hands together and blew out a calming breath before turning to face Ochako fully. “Honey, you are weak and unprepared,” Mina said solemnly, “for the force which is Flirty Bakugou. Jirou and Momo are hot lesbians who could crush any men beneath their hot lesbian boots. Bakugou has not only been a third in their relationship; he has slept with them both, separately. Every relationship in this building has an exception, and it’s a six-foot blond boy with anger management issues.”
Ochako scoffed, “That’s an exaggeration.” She looked pointedly at Deku and Todoroki. “C’mon guys, back me up.”
Todoroki blinked. “I hooked up with Bakugou at my birthday party on Saturday, actually.”
Ochako gasped, head spinning towards Deku to see his reaction to this betrayal– but Deku only laughed. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that! That was quite nice of you Shouto, to give Kacchan a blow job even though it was your birthday?”
“He asked, I didn’t want to be rude.” Todoroki just shrugged.
Ochako couldn’t believe her friends. “Deku, how are you just okay with that??”
Deku looked bashful, but not very put out. “Ochako-san, hooking up with Kacchan is just… like a little indulgence everyone gets! It doesn’t mean anything. We’ve all been there.”
Once again, there was a stab of bitterness in Ochako’s chest. An indulgence everyone gets. Except her. She hated the feeling of envy crawling up her throat. It was weird to feel jealous of everyone around her simply because they were all, apparently, having great sex. Ochako frowned to herself, thinking of Bakugou’s question earlier. That is why she was jealous, right? The sex she’d been missing out on?
Ochako didn’t consider herself the horniest person she knew (obviously that designation belonged to a certain blond crow) but she certainly enjoyed sex. Toru teasingly called her a “demi-sexual”, which Ochako didn’t necessarily agree with (anonymous drunken sex was pretty fun, occasionally) but could see the veracity in. She liked having a connection to her partners, liked indulging in her feelings towards them. Something about her jealousy towards Bakugou (or towards everyone who “indulged” in Bakugou?) seemed… weird.
“…at the beach house? Oh yeah, we ended up in the pool after strip poker,” Tsu was giggling as Ochako snapped back into reality. “Bakugou insisted it would be more comfortable for me, but I think it was just a checklist thing for him.”
They were just trading Bakugou stories now. Ochako scrunched her nose.
“Okay, this isn’t helping,” Ochako huffed, irritably. “Obviously you all aren’t the right people to strategize with, given that all of you have fallen prey to Bakugou’s horny schemes!”
Most of her Baku-specialists (as Ochako was now beginning to think of them) began to protest.
Shinsou pushed himself half-up, eyes suddenly sharp. “You’re not wrong,” he acknowledged, an Aizawa-learned authority to his voice that made the others stop trying to speak over themselves. Ochako turned her attention to him, arms folded on top her desk. Finally, someone who was taking this seriously!
“None of us have rejected Bakugou’s advances, but we’ve also never had the reason to.” Shinsou continued. “You actually do and, like I said at the party, I think if anyone could throw off Bakugou’s game it’s you, Ochako.” His eyes flashed darkly. “If you strategize, you might have a chance to win this thing.”
Deku nodded solemnly, hand on his chin now, mutter-mode triggered by Shinsou’s behest towards strategy. “But you’ll need to play smart. Kacchan’s coming into this competition with the upper hand.”
“He’s super attractive,” Mina piped in.
“And he has the home team advantage,” Deku’s fist came down in his own hand resolutely. “Everyone here has hooked up with Kacchan, meaning that you’ll be isolated while bombarded with suggestions of how good he is.”
“A tactic of weakening the spirit.” Todoroki nodded sharply. Ochako’s own fists tightened. They were right – she was up against a formidable opponent, tough odds, a doubtful crowd… Almost like…
Mina gasped. “Oh my god Ochako, this is just like the first Sports Festival!”
Deku’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. He looked fifteen again, softened the edges with boyish excitement. “You’re right! It’s just like that! It’s a…”
“Fated battle between rivals!” Deku, Mina and Ochako all declared at the same time, although Ochako’s was more of a groan.
“But Ochako lost the fight at the Sports Fesitval, kero,” Tsu pointed out bluntly, head cocked to the side.
“Exactly.” Ochako grumbled, head held in her hands. What had she been thinking, challenging Bakugou like that? He had slept with everyone they knew. He was a hot, determined, wall of muscles who was the best at everything he’d ever done. She didn’t stand a chance. She never did. He was always better than her. He would always win.
“Ochako, no!” Deku’s voice was fierce. She looked up, startled by the glint of determination in his eyes. “At the sports festival, you came up with a great strategy all on your own that nearly bested Kacchan! You’re stronger and more experienced now! You can do this!”
Tsu, Shinsou, Todoroki and Mina all nodded, fists pumped in agreement. Ochako took a deep breath, shoving her self-pitying feelings into a deep hole in her stomach. Deku was right. Ochako was no longer that desperate kid anymore; she’s now number 8 ranking hero Uravity, Japan’s goddamn sweetheart!
“Plus Ultra,” Ochako hissed to herself, then steeled her best rescue-hero-in-charge face towards her friends. They were all sitting up straight, focused and expectant.
“I’m going to win. I’m not going to fuck Bakugou,” she declared resolutely, although intense garnet eyes flashed in her memory. “But you’re right – I’ll need to be on my toes. He’s sneaky and he’s got the advantage. I need information.”
“Bakugou’s general mode of attack is during off-hours,” Todoroki hummed thoughtfully. “He relies on his targets being in a relaxed setting. If you limit your contact to the workplace, maybe it’ll throw off his game.”
Deku cringed and put a hand on Todoroki’s knee. “Shouto, I know we’ve just trying to help Ochako here, but maybe we don’t need to make it sound like Kacchan’s been… assaulting people.”
Todoroki stared quizzically back at Deku. “What? No, Bakugou’s always been perfectly polite when he approaches me about sex.”
“In fact, it might even be the only time Bakugou is polite.” Shinsou muttered, rolling his eyes.
Mina shook her head. “I don’t think work-place etiquette will stop Flirty Bakugou, especially if there’s a competition involved.”
Deku fingers were fidgeting in a way that made Ochako think he would kill for a notebook. “The problem is,” Deku said thoughfully, “Kacchan is incredibly adaptable to any situation. I don’t think our experiences with him will be good information for you Ochako, because Kacchan’s flirtations are always catered to his… target.” He cringed on the last word.
Ochako snorted. It seemed unbelievable to her that Bakugou of all people was socially aware enough to cater his seductions person-by-person, but she’d certainly heard more insane things in the past 24 hours. Although... that look he'd given her across the table in the Classroom was remarkably similar to his battlefield face. It was hard to realize sometimes, under all his bravado and crassness, but Bakugou had a remarkable head for strategy. Was he using that same skill for analysis in the bedroom? Ochako had a full body shiver, thinking about the intensity with which Bakugou fought, and shoved aside thoughts of how else that intensity could be used.
“You have to go on recon first,” Tsu declared. “Find out his methods so you can work against them!”
“Right,” Ochako nodded. She needed to think of this as like when the Golden Agency coordinated an attack on a villain headquarters; if she went in blind, she would be at a disadvantage. She would need to gather intel. “But I’ll need to approach Bakugou head on, scope out his moves.”
“That could be dangerous,” Shinsou said solemnly, “You’ll need an escape strategy.”
There was a sharp knock at her door. Everyone startled. Ochako had nearly forgotten that they were just lounging in her office in the middle of the work day. She suddenly felt a bit ridiculous. None of them were skirting active duty, but she was keeping five heroes away from important paper work just to gossip about her love life. They were speaking strategy about a sex bet of all things. God, this whole thing was making her looney. She quickly stood, flashing everyone a bright grin.
“We’re being silly,” Ochako laughed as she stood to go answer the door. “It’s just Bakugou trying to put the moves on me. I don’t need an escape strategy – I’ll test the waters a bit and figure out his angle. He just caught me off guard earlier. That won’t happen again.”
She ignored the uneasy faces on her couch, turning to swing the door open.
Bakugou stood there, leaning against the door jam, suddenly looming over her.
Ochako let out a started eep.
He smirked. “Are you going to screech every time we meet now?”
Before she could retort, his eyes slid past her to the group gathered in her office. “War council meeting, eh?”
“Good morning, Bakugou,” Todoroki greeted politely, waving from the couch. Bakugou just scowled at him before turning his attention back to Ochako.
“Well it’s good that you have all your advisors here, because I remembered an addendum that I want to add into the terms of the bet.” Bakugou declared, sliding his hand up the door frame so he could lean even more into her space.
“And what would that be?” Ochako asked, trying to step back. Her back hit the door, trapped by Bakugou’s raised arm. His eyes flashed down over her body. Ochako could feel her temperature rise.
Bakugou grinned, but it was sharp. One of his knuckles tipped up her chin, so she was no longer staring at his mouth (why was she staring at his mouth?) but up into his eyes as his face drew nearer to hers.
“No one else.” Bakugou growled softly. At least, that’s what Ochako thought she heard. Her blood was rushing quite loudly through her ears.
“Um– what?” she sputtered, unintelligibly.
“When I get you all hot and bothered,” Bakugou explained, sneaking a hand around the lowest part of her waist, jerking her forward suddenly to bring her hips almost flush to his. Ochako’s hands flew up to steady herself against his shoulders, head angled perfectly up to his. She could see the determined, predatory glint in his eyes. “I don’t want you relieving all that tension with some extra. It’s me or nobody, got it?”
In truth, Ochako hadn’t had sex in a while. Her last fling with Yo Shindo was nearly six months ago. Bakugou’s hand gripped at her waist felt divine, warm and slightly too tight to ignore.
“So, uh,” Ochako tried to get a grip on herself, blushing profusely under Bakugou’s razor-sharp gaze. “No sex with anyone else?”
Bakugou’s lips quirked up slightly, teasing. “Yeah. I don’t want anyone else getting the fruit,” his eyes slid down over her again, thumb rubbing affectionately into her hip, “of my labor.”
“And that applies to you, as well?” Shinsou’s voice snapped Ochako out of the reverie. She and Bakugou glanced over at the peanut gallery within her office. Tsu, Mina and Deku all looked panicked. Todoroki looked strangely pleased? Only Shinsou looked unimpressed, with his head leaned all the way back over his shoulders, looking at them upside down.
Bakugou glared at him. “Of course.” Immediately, his attention refocused on Ochako. “I keep a strict diet.” His hand lifted from her waist and pinched her cheek before she could swat it away. “Only mochi for me," he teased with a wink.
Ochako huffed. Why was he always so obsessed with her cheeks? All of his stupid nicknames for her revolved around them. Bakugou snickered at her, then leaned in right next to her ear.
“Can’t wait to get a taste,” he whispered, voice husky. Ochako went rigid, mind blank, her thighs immediately tightening – but Bakugou had already waltzed off, leaving her propped up against the door frame, mouth hanging open with no retort even close to ready.
There was a beat of silence in the room.
Ochako hung her head and groaned, “Okay, maybe an exit strategy isn’t a bad idea.”