Kacchako: Tinder AU
Rating: M
Status: Ongoing
Summary: "We're not friends." He tells her, but he knows that he didn't just meet this stranger for nothing.
saw your tags and hope finals are going well for you!! 💖
awww you’re too sweet :’)
i honestly don’t know how i’ve been doing at all tbh, i’m doing what i can but also it’s hard because i’m just so dead at this point …….. it’s been a long year and i just don’t have that kind of energy anymore …….. i’m sure my grades will be fine though, i’m still scared to check my results when they come out ahhhhh
i’m just ……. hanging in there aha, not sure what’s keeping me going tbh, i think it’s just the fact that i can finally read all my books and write and do all the stuff i want ….. that’s what’s motivating me to push a little harder!! monday is my last exam so i gotta hustle for just a bit longer! 💪
She can’t remember why she’s this angry, but maybe it had to do with the buildup of emotions and stress throughout the week? Or maybe it was the failing grade she received on her paper, or maybe even the fact that she felt she wasn’t doing well enough in her hero courses? Regardless, Ochako finds herself sneaking out of her dorm room and tiptoeing down the hall and rushing through the stairwell.
She curses herself for not bringing a jacket with her, but by the time she arrives at her location, she feels warmth bubble in her chest. The smell isn’t always pleasant, but she loves coming to the gym to work her muscles until she feels like collapsing; it’s something she’s constantly being scolded for by her friends, but she’s not one to give up. Especially now in the midst of her anger, she finds what she’s looking for.
“Great,” she says to herself as she wraps her hands and knuckles in athletic tape. Even after interning under Gunhead, she still works in her off time in order to better her counter attacks. It makes her feel good about herself when she excels under his watchful eye, even when he cheers for her and pats her on the shoulder — it drives her to work harder.
After Uraraka tightens the laces on her shoes, she stands and finds the punching bag. Her hand comes to rest on the fabric; it’s cool yet exciting and as she stretches before she begins, a cool breeze blows through the room. Ochako turns to see if someone entered, but she’s all alone. Without another second wasted, she grabs her earbuds from the pocket of her shorts and starts up some music.
It’s loud and blaring in her ears, motivating her body to get to moving and by the time she feels sweat coating her forehead, she finds the punching bag once more. The brunette readies herself in front of it, crouching in a defensive stance before she begins to throw punches.
Her knuckles make contact with the bag and pain has never felt so good. She stretches one arm forward at a time while keeping the other fist up and close to her face; it’s a defensive tactic she’s learned while interning and it’s something she’s come to use when it comes to close combat training with her classmates.
Ochako throws each punch to the beat of her music, sometimes speeding things up and her heart rate increases. She pours her anger into her workout, letting it fuel her as she continues to throw her fists in the bag before her and before she knows it, she’s panting as sweat runs down her face. The brunette remembers to keep her core tight — remember to keep your posture, Gunhead’s voice rings out in her mind and she throws another punch.
She’s in the zone now as her music continues to blare in her ears and as she begins to throw another punch, she feels something tap her shoulder. Uraraka can hardly contain herself before she’s turning, her right fist swinging and moving with momentum as she makes contact with whatever touched her.
“What the fuck, pink cheeks!”
“Bakugou!” She shrieks before pulling her headphones from her ears. She tosses her phone and headphones to the side and covers her mouth with her hands. “What are you doing here?!”
“Better question,” he counters with a glare. “What are you doing here?”
Ochako meets his gaze, straightens her shoulders and finds that he’s still glaring at her. She can see the red mark left on his arm, her knuckles embedded into his skin and guilt flutters in her chest. As she opens her mouth to answer him, no words fall out and she’s left looking at the smirk that spreads across his face.
“Stupid girl,” he mutters and it only fuels Ochako’s anger.
“Stupid girl?!” She retorts and that’s when she takes a step closer towards him. “Maybe you should rethink tapping on someone’s shoulder when they’re clearly angry and throwing punches, eh?”
Bakugou rolls his eyes before crossing his arms over his chest. He stares at her, broad shoulders towering her small stature but Ochako doesn’t back down. Her eyes continues to glow with a fire burning inside of them and that’s when she feels him grab at her wrist.
“Your form wasn’t even good, this is how you do it,” he says before pulling her back to the punching bag.
Ochako watches as he rolls his head, stretching his neck out while his shoulders move in circles. Her ears are met with the sounds of his knuckles meeting the bag now and he’s hitting hard and throwing punches faster than she realizes. Once he’s done, she hears him chuckle while his scarlet eyes glance back at her.
It’s the middle of the night and the two of them are in the gym without authorization. Aizawa would surely reprimand them with some sort of awful punishment if he were to find out, but for now, it’s just the two of them and she feels her mood lighten in Bakugou’s presence. Uraraka’s shoulders relax and a smile pulls at her lips at his invite.
— huge thank you to @caffe-shoppe for helping me out ♥
He hates seeing that glowing smile, always so bright and so welcoming and so Ochako. It irks him to see that she’s constantly smiling, she’s always cheerful and encouraging and it pisses him off to see someone like her doing that sort of job when she could be bettering herself.
But no.
Katsuki always finds her cheering on that shitty nerd and encouraging him to do better, or even telling all of the girls that she hangs out with that they’re capable of more and she doesn’t even see the capability in herself.
It pisses him off to no extent and it’s something he’s asked himself a million times, why the fuck doesn’t she see it?
Even during their sessions in their heroics class, she’s always telling everyone that they can do better and that they can work harder; Uraraka never realizes how much potential she has as a hero and as much as he wants to yell at her and tell her otherwise, he locks away unspoken words and refuses to voice his opinion.
He doesn’t care, after all. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself, but it pisses him off to see that much raw potential wasted away on a girl that would rather encourage others and cheer everyone on but herself.
Katsuki tells himself that he won’t pay attention to her anymore, that he’ll focus more on himself because what kind of hypocrite would he be if he sat there and judged her and refused to work harder on himself? He chuckles before going back to his own training, ignoring the Infinity Girl and whatever stupid shit she wanted to tell others.
He’s seen the true fight in her eyes and the facade she chooses to present is nothing but a lie.
She’s too soft, a delicate flower hardly peeking out from the soil.
.
.
.
They’re now in their second year at Yuuei, growing more as each day passes and when he sees Ochako again, he notices how different she looks.
She’s grown her hair out, grown a little taller in height and her cheeks aren’t as round — although still stained pink. Katsuki notices that her muscles are more defined, that her eyes have changed and they’re not as soft anymore.
While she still smiles and talks with her classmates, she holds herself with a different demeanor and actually talks about herself a little more. She’s grown somewhat confident over their break and it makes him smirk at the fact that she’s changed that much in such a short amount of time.
“Hey, Bakugou.”
She’s now standing in front of him with a gentle smile lifting at the corners of her lips and he’s taken aback by her approach. It was out of nowhere and he’s caught staring at her caramel colored eyes and he hates the way she stands by him with ease.
“The fuck do you want?” He bites out and she laughs.
“I’m just saying hello,” she retorts before jabbing her elbow into his side slightly. “Don’t be so gruff, it’s our first day back.”
He swats at her hand as his brows pull together.
Maybe she’s had a major confidence boost in the time that they’ve been apart and he’s just now noticing how casual and relaxed she is around him. As much as he wants to tell her to get lost, there’s something holding him back from doing so.
He chooses to ignore her and after a moment of silence, they’re in their seats and facing forward as their class starts.
It’s not the same as their first year in this school. Not only had Ochako grown and matured, but the rest of their classmates did as well.
Katsuki doesn’t realize it, but he’s too drawn in by Ochako to even notice that their class is over and everyone is leaving. He sums it up to an annoying pain in his side, constantly biting and pinching away at his skin, but he can’t quite rid the feeling.
He chooses to ignore her positive and happy aura, discarding it with his own thoughts on wanting to improve but he doesn’t feel quite as angry towards Ochako anymore. There’s still an annoyance towards her that lurks under his skin, but he’s grown enough to tame his anger and his feelings.
He may be outspoken, but he’s grown smarter in the sense of speaking out and intentionally trying to hurt feelings anymore; Katsuki bites his tongue and continues throughout his day without trying to catch up with anyone or trying to notice Ochako and how she walks with ease and carries her head higher.
He smirks to himself, somewhat content with the fact that she’s not bending over backwards and being the stomp pad for everyone else.
She’s no longer sprouting, but absorbing, growing, budding as she gets stronger.
.
.
.
Their training has grown more intense and Uraraka is at the top of it all by the time they’re third years.
She’s improved on her quirk, honed it to make it her own and everyone else is struggling to keep up with her. She no longer struggles with fighting back the nauseous feeling whenever she activates her quirk; she uses it to her advantage and takes people off guard.
Bakugou notices this with ease and not only is he having to revert back into playing the defensive role, but he’s having a hard enough time finding an opening to get to Uraraka.
He remembers her wanting to be a rescue hero back when they were first years, but now she’s at the top of her game and doing a damn good job. When he does make his move to attack her, she’s quick to spot him and face him head on.
When they make contact with one another, the feeling of her quirk going through his body resembles the feeling of butterflies in one’s stomach — it was a weird and unnatural feeling, almost making him light-headed.
It even topped the feeling of the sludge villain from all those years ago.
“I’m not going down without a fight, Bakugou,” she teases with a smile and it riles him up.
He’s grinning at her before throwing both of their bodies through the air with his explosions and when he thinks she’s going to release her quirk, it’s only him that she drops.
“Dirty move, Roundface!” He hollers at her before propelling himself through the air.
She’s taken the opportunity to focus on what she wants to drop and what she wants to keep in midair and it’s a talent he never thought she could master. When he notices sweat glistening against her forehead, he takes that opportunity to attack once more.
When he grabs her in midair the next time, he doesn’t let go. Uraraka wraps her arms around him as they hurdle through the air, heading towards the wall and when he thinks they’re about to collide, that’s when they drop straight to the ground, Uraraka releasing her quirk with a smirk lining her lips.
Bakugou is the one to activate his quirk first, blasting them up and away from the ground and into some makeshift safety blanket and that’s when he realizes that every one of their classmates are now watching and they’ve performed something oddly beautiful.
When he gets up from the ground, he notices that she’s already brushing off the dirt and ignoring the scrapes and cuts that adorn her skin. She glances up at him and meets his gaze before smiling that big, goofy smile he’s seen so many times except there’s something in the way that she looks at him that he finally understands.
Uraraka was always known as this soft, petite little thing; full of smiles and always cheerful, but there’s a side to her that’s rough and raw and Bakugou finally caught a glimpse of it after all those years. He doesn’t bother smiling back as he’s too lost in the way she looks at him before walking away.
She’s a rose, blooming to her fullest and although pretty, she’s filled with thorns.
Why the fuck didn’t you see it? He’s caught asking himself as they make way to change and although it took him the past three years to notice it, Uraraka has always been a rose in bloom.
