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Chapter Text

Chapter One

The Bad Idea

“Check it out!” Kirishima said, shoving his phone into Katsuki Bakugou’s face one night. The friends had known each other since college and now that Katsuki had finally barely managed to finish culinary school (they almost kicked him out for his very uh, temper), the two were working together to get a restaurant open.

“A place like that needs funds, dumbass,” Bakugou said, Kirishima working with a construction company when he came up with idea.

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I thought of this! We need money, this is the best way to do it!” Kirishima said, showing the phone.

“Sugar or Spice?”

“Yeah, it’s a cooking competition on TV. They pair random chefs together and they have to make amazing dishes each week. They are auditioning chefs for their third season. Your team wins, you each get $10,000 and a chance to work with a celebrity chef!”

Katsuki pushed the phone out of his face, working on dinner for the pair as they planned their restaurant.

“That sounds fucking stupid and a waste of my goddamn time, shithead,” he said, throwing together his meal and presenting it to Kirishima.

“I am telling you man, you would easily win something like this, I’m sure of it.”

Bakugou gritted his teeth.

“What do you mean ‘you’re sure’? Of course I would win something as stupid as a fucking lame cooking contest.”

“But this contest is for partners, I don’t really think you work well with others,” Krishima laughed and Katsuki picked up a knife, slamming it head down into his cutting board.

“I could fucking win a competition like that with my eyes closed! I am FUCKING DOING IT!”
----

Kirishima knew that it wasn’t exactly a good idea to provoke Katuski like that, but he knew that it would be the only way he could get the temperamental chef to do anything he wanted. Besides, a little bit of underhandiness got him what he wanted. And so the following weekend the pair went to the UA Studio where the filming for the competition would be taking place.

There was a line of chefs with their tools and chatting to each other outside of the studio, a young woman standing at the door and talking to people before they went inside.

“I’m going to find a place to watch, see you in there,” Kirishima said, leaving his seething friend to the back of the line.

Katsuki got through the line quickly and was handed a piece of paper.

“Good morning!” a pink haired girl said gleefully, handing him the paper. “Please fill out the form completely and to the best of your ability.”

“What the fuck is this for?” he demanded and waved the paper around. The woman made a face.

“Look Gordon Ramsay, swearing is not a great way to get the day started. Now, the paper is to assess your personality so we can make the pairings if you should go on to filming!”

“I am going to fucking win this shit,” he said, pushing past her and going inside.

The waiting room down the hall that he was guided to was filled with chefs of all kinds and were writing out their papers or turning them in to a man with glasses at the other end of the room. Katsuki read through the paper. It had the basics: name, birthday, special dishes, family background, personality traits. All stupid shit he didn’t care about. A true chef was never liked for his personality, he was liked for his ability to win in the kitchen and win on the plate.

He wrote down quick, harsh lettering and went to hand in his paper.

“Uh, e-excuse me,” a feeble voice said and Katsuki stopped, turning to find the source. He knew that voice. He found the small man talking with another chef nearby, “C-Can you uh-”

“DEKU!” Katsuki yelled, kicking the table he was standing near and knocking it over, making the entire room jump in surprise. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

Deku jumped out of his skin, staring at Katsuki and then smiling brightly.

“Kaachan!” he cried, hurrying over, “I am so surprised to see you here! I am here for the competition!”

“You damn nerd, you fucking think you can win against me?” Katsuki asked, kicking another table and getting the chefs all riled up.

“Uh, n-no of c-course not,” Deku said, trying to calm Katsuki down. The two of them had gone through culinary school together. Deku had been one of the weakest chefs in Katsuki’s year and had a hard time keeping up with the rest of the class. Bakugou had easily outclassed every single chef there and surpassed everyone he faced off against. Deku had always thought he was really cool and admired him greatly. Deku never actually thought that Bakugou would even participate in a cooking competition.

“Excuse me, Contestant!” the man with glasses said, coming up to them, “Please refrain from kicking the tables over!”

“You had better drop dead down, Deku, you’re never going to win against me,” Bakugou said, kicking another table just for the sake of the threat and Deku sighed, watching Bakugou walk away.

Whispers from the other chefs followed Bakugou into the hallway and towards the stage where everything was still being set up. There was a small stage with an array of cooking supplies and a large table and three chairs. There were people running around and getting everything ready. Just as Bakugou was thinking about just leaving because the entire competition wasn’t worth his time if Deku was going to be there, he caught a glimsp of his idol.

Toshinori Yagi- the greatest chef in all of the world! The number one himself! He was standing in a doorway, laughing and talking loudly. He was dubbed the “All Might” chef- the greatest of his generation. He was easily the most important and influential person in Bakugou’s entire life. He had picked up a knife at the tender age of five because of that man. He stared at his idol as the pink haired girl from before hurried up to him.

“Mr. All Might, sir, we’re about to start- if you could make your way to the judging table?”
Kirishima couldn’t have known that All Might would be there as a judge- he would have opened with that- Katsuki would have participated in the competition without another thought. He turned around and kicked a light stand before returning to the waiting room where the other chefs were being lined up to go in for their audition.
Bakugou saw Deku chatting with the man in glasses giving orders. He scoffed and fell back behind the crowd so he could go in last. He hated the thought of having to cook anywhere near Deku, but beating him in a cooking competition would be a literal piece of cake. He walked into a large room where everyone was assigned their own station to cook at. Each person was going to present one by one to the judges and the groups were to be widdled down to twelve pairs for the actual show’s competition. There were cameras for the audition process but Bakugou didn’t even notice them. All he could think of was getting the dish he could make out on the table. The initial audition was individual so he didn’t have to worry about an annoying sou chef.

The theme chosen for the audition was a beef dish of any kind. Katsuki got to work instantly. He was finished in only an hour and a half, finding that everyone else was far behind him in progress. He looked at the man in glasses overseeing the room.

“Hey, Four Eyes-” he yelled, making everyone stop what they were doing for a moment and look up. “I’m fucking finished.”

“Please, Contestant, do not swear!” the man said, coming over to his station. His meal was on a plate and ready to go. “How are you so prepared so quickly?” he asked, and Katsuki saw his nametag as “Iida.”

“Well, dipshit- it ain’t that fucking hard to make a fucking burger, so here it is,” he said, and lifted the plate, the cameraman hurrying over to show what he’d made. “Can I go in now so I can go the fuck home?”

Iida looked uncomfortable and a little unsure, but the rules said that once a contestant was finished they could present. A tray was given so the three plates could be taken to the next room and Bakugou looked back at Deku, now back to his work, and glared. He went into the audition room he’d seen earlier. There were more cameras set up and the judges at the tables.

It was All Might in the middle, a man dropping eye drops in his eyes and lazily sighing, and a woman wearing what could only be described as something a dominatrix would envy.
They turned their attention to arrival of Bakugou and looked at Iida.

“Katsuki Bakugou,” he read from the clipboard in hand, a stage hand setting out the plates for each of them. He inidicated with his hands for Bakugou to head to the front of the set, where a camera was trained on him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood there, glaring at the panel.

“So you made a simple burger, I see,” the man with the eye drops said. He faced the plate and Bakugou recognized him finally. He was Aizawa, a talented chef who had mostly been in a lot of small time kitchens. He’d lectured his class before at culinary school, and had been very much a fan of “trial by fire.”

The female judge was something to do with Midnight, Bakugou couldn’t remember, but she was a famous celebrity chef with her own chain of night clubs and had been an avid fan of pairing drinks with food.

“Simple my ass- that’s a fucking amazing burger you dumb bitch. Fucking eat it and see.”

They were surprised by his tone, but took a bite anyway. For the longest second, there was utter silence in the room as they chewed and then Midnight made a noise.

“Oh- ooohhh... ” she said, looking up and her face was turning red. “Exquisite!”

“A fantastic blend of beef and onion,” Aizawa said, looking at Bakugou. “You were finished with this pretty quick.”

“I ground the beef and made the stupid patties by hand, it’s faster than trying to cook it with the onions on the side- so I chopped them up and put them into the meat. Adding spices into a dish is my specialty and I added jalepeno, and green peppers for flare.”

“A simple technique but affective,” All Might said, laughing loudly and enjoying another bite. “And the bun?”

“Glazed with honey and peppered with paprika, adding some more texture to the French bread. The burger gets a fucking good bite from it. And the entire thing is covered in my own version of hot sauce.”

“The meat is incredible and the overall look is incredible. I am surprised that you finished so far ahead of everyone else,” Midnight said, looking at the plate. “Where do you currently work?”

“I don’t have a kitchen. I just got kicked out of the last three I was working in because everyone there were fucking idiots. Not a single brain cell between them.”

The three looked at each other.

“Meaning you don’t get along well with others,” Aizawa said, looking at the plate. “Why did you join this competition. It emphasizes partnership.”

“Ten grand, and the chance to meet All Might- pretty fucking good enough for me. I am going to open the best fucking restaurant in the world, so starting capital is necessary.”
Midnight smiled and looked at her fellow judges.

“Well, I am impressed and ready to say that you pass this challenge with flying colors, young Chef Bakugou.”

“Thanks for nothing, bitch,” he said, though there was no bite behind his words. The others agreed and Iida was asked to show Bakugou to the next room to wait for his paperwork. While they didn’t like his language and his attitude, the trio on the panel were incredibly impressed with how fast he’d worked and how efficient it had been.

“He didn’t waste a single second,” Midnight said, looking at the burger. “And he paid extra close to the details- even making sure that the French bread he chose for the bun was the freshest we had on hand. He may not be the nicest chef in the world, but he is incredibly talented.”

“Words don’t matter in a real competition,” Aizawa said, looking at the plate, his completely empty. “A true chef speaks through his food. The burger was harsh and spicy and difficult to handle, but worth the time and effort that was put into it. He finished fast by skipping unnecessary, flashy techniques. He is going to be one of the strongest competitors this year.”

“Pairing him up with someone is going to be difficult though,” All Might said, looking at the plate. “Iida informed me that he already knows a young chef here and was causing all of that ruckus earlier over it. Pairing him with the right chef to handle his personality is vital to making young Bakugou a true success on such a show as this.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Another Bad Idea

Two weeks after his audition and quitting his already shitty job at a small burger place near his apartment, Katsuki got a call from UA telling him to appear the following morning for his enter interview- a way to show the television audience who he is. He found the entire thing annoying but Kirishima was certain that this was a good way to get audience approval for their future establishment.

He was in front of the studio the next morning wearing a chef jacket- which he refused to close- a black Punisher shirt, and a serious attitude. Iida and the head stage manager, the pink haired lady from the auditions, her name tag saying “Mina” saw him coming and he could tell they were groaning at the sight of him.

“Chef Bakugou,” Iida said, and Katsuki looked at him. “Please follow me,” he said.

The same stage as before was set up- this time with the judges table gone and a single chair set up in front of a camera. There was a woman standing in front of the camera, giving orders.

“Alright, bring him in,” she said, waving them over, “Hi, Chef, I am Momo, I will be giving you directions. Just introduce yourself and tell the camera why you are here today.”

He looked at the chair and kicked it over, standing in its place. Mina looked at Momo and she just sighed and made a motion to get the camera going.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Bakugou put his hands in his pockets and stared at the camera, glaring.

“You fucking ready?” he demanded.

“Yes, go.”

“My name is Kastuki Bakugou and I came here today to fucking win. All of these loser chefs are going to wish they could even get to try my fucking awesome food. Y’all weak ass bitches are going down.”

Then he pulled up his hands and flipped off the cameras.

“CUT!”

Without another word, he walked out of the studio and Momo sighed into her microphone.

“He certainly has a flare for the dramatic,” the cameraman said, laughing.

Katsuki was heading towards the exit when he knocked shoulders with someone hurrying around the corner.

“Oh! I am so sorry,” she gasped, looking up and Katsuki glared at her.

“Watch where you’re walking, Round Face!” he yelled and she gasped.

“M-My name is Uraraka Ochako!” she said and he shrugged.

“Whatever. Idiot is a better name for you,” he said, shoving past her and heading out the front door. She stared after him in disbelief. “What a dick.”

“Uh, Miss Uraraka, you’re up next!”

She hurried into the room, finding the crew was putting out a new chair and she sat down.

“Alright, all you need to do is introduce yourself and tell us why you’re here for the competition.”

She nodded.

“Hi, my name is Uraraka Ochako, I am a professional chef from Southern California. My family owns a construction company and right now we aren’t doing so great. So I came here for this competition to win some money so that I can start my own series of food trucks. I want to be able to make enough money to give my family a comfortable life.”

“You were one of the last competitors to show your dish at the audition,” Momo’s voice came from past the camera.

“I think that I had a lot of nerves going into the competition, but I was able to overcome them with a little encouraging words from a friend,” she said, smiling brightly.

“Encouraging words?”

“A fellow competitor, Chef Deku. He was really nice to me and said that all I needed to do was prove to myself that I deserved a spot on the show- not the judges. I think that really helped me stay focused.”

“One more question- who do you think you’ll get paired up with in the competition?”

“Oh, I don’t know- anyone would be fine- oh- expect that mean chef with the blonde hair. He seems kind of mean.”

----

Filming for the competition was take place over the next twelve weeks. The show would appear on television six months after filming. The judges for the competition would include a five judge panel this time- Chef Aizawa, Midnight, All Might, and two new chefs to keep things interesting. Chef Todoroki, also known as “Endeavor” in the cooking world, was a super famous celebrity chef with several of his own reality shows on TV. He was incredibly talented, second only to All Might. He was also a completely asshole and Katsuki got a kick out of his show. And Chef Thirteen, a sweet chef who was famous for her work for disaster relief efforts- she worked closely with the government to get food to people in need and had her own series of restaurants that were non-profit.

The five judges were going to be choosing one team to go home every week after a single challenge. Each challenge would be themed and there was no way to be saved once eliminated. The pairs were going to be announced the first day of filming.

And much to Bakugou’s chagrin, when he arrived Monday morning- there was Deku standing among the competitors.

“So you managed to get into the stupid competition, you damn nerd,” he said, glaring at Deku.

“K-Kacchan! I knew you’d make it!” he said, smiling brightly and Katsuki looked annoyed.

“Don’t think I am going to take it easy on you because we went to the same school. This is a real competition, with real chefs. I am here to kick everyone’s ass, including yours.”
Deku made a face, nodding.

“I understand. I will work as hard as I can to beat you, Kaachan!”

Katsuki turned around and once against almost knocked over Uraraka coming up behind him.

“Bitch, do you know how to not be in the way?” he said, and she glared at him.

“Hey, how about you actually look before you get walking!”

He growled and once again bumped her shoulder as he passed her, heading to the other side of the waiting room where he could be alone.

“That guy is so rude,” Ochako sighed, looking at Bakugou standing alone, staring at the wall.

“Sorry about that, he’s really okay when he’s not worked up. Kaachan has always been like that, even when we were in school. He was always so competitive.”

“Still doesn’t give him the right to be mean. Was he being mean to you?” Ochako asked. She and Deku had met the first day of the audition and instantly hit it off. She was kind and cheerful and put him at ease. After running into Katuski there, he’d been on edge. And after finding out that All Might was a judge, he was really panicking. But Ochako seemed to calm him a little, and he was surprised to find she was just as nervous. But he used the advice his own mother had given him when he was young and facing hardships.
They chatted a little before Iida came in to announce that they were going to the set now. Katsuki waited until everyone was already out the door before he begrudgingly followed.
They were lined up in two long rows and introduced more formally to Momo, the director for the show.

“Welcome, contestants, chefs. This is season 3 of Sugar or Spice, a cooking competition that will air in six months. I am very excited about this year’s line-up, and in just a few minutes the judges will be here to announce the teams. Just wanted to put out a few rules and regulations and let everyone know the basics of how this works.”
Katsuki tuned her out, instead looking around at the set, and then the contestants. They were all pretty different. He spotted Deku nervously muttering to himself.

“Chef Bakugou,” a voice said and Katsuki realized he’d spaced out so long that they were already naming the teams. He stared straight ahead.

“Team 3, and your partner will be… Chef Uraraka!”

A loud gasp from near him had him looking over to see a terrified Uraraka, staring at the cameras. He made a face. At least it wasn’t fucking Deku, but he didn’t really like the chef. He turned and faced her.

“You’d better be fucking prepared to kill everyone here, Angel-face! I came here to fucking win and I ain’t going to let you fuck it up.”

She made a face and turned to him.

“I am here to win you- you… you meanie!” she said, and crossed her arms. He glared at her and the next team was announced.

Deku sensed that this was a terrible idea.

“Now that the teams have been announced, please get together with your partner and discuss your strengths and weaknesses, and we will film team interviews before we wrap it up for the day,” Momo said, and everyone broke. Katsuki turned and faced Ochako again, glaring down at her.

“So, what kind of shitty food do you cook?” he demanded.

“I prepare fantastic meals, thank you very much!”

“I meant what is your style of cooking, dumbass!” he barked and she was really feeling like she wanted to punch him in the face.

“Ochako is excellent at wholesome meals- family style dinning that is good for a small bed and breakfast or family resturaunt.”

The two of them looked at Deku. His partner was standing next to him, a guy with red hair and white hair. “She is excellent at making cakes as well, right?”

“Yeah, uh,” she said, looking surprised and then at Bakugou. “I am pretty good at sweets, I guess. What do you cook?”

“Why are you even talking to me you damn nerd?” Katsuki asked, turning and facing Deku.

“Uh! N-No, I didn’t mean to bother you, I just-”

“Midoryia was trying to be helpful,” his partner said in a monotone voice and Katuski looked at him.

“You’re Todoroki, aren’t you?” he asked, stepping forward and getting right into the chef’s face. He was infamous for being in direct confrontation in the media with his father. Todoroki Shoto was constantly in the news with some new fad he’d started to one-up his own father.

“You better focus on your own fucking team, dipshit- you’re partner there is a little bitch and my team is going to crush you.”

“That temper sure is cumbersome,” Todoroki said calmly, “I feel sorry for your partner that she has to work with such an annoying chef.”

Bakugou reached out and grabbed him by the collar, growling loudly.

“What the fuck did you say to me?” he yelled and everyone was looking at them now. Ochako moved up against Katuski, looking at Todoroki.

“Hey, why don’t you go worry about your own team and strategize over there, we’ll stay over here,” she said, and reached out, grabbing Katsuki by the arm and pulled him towards the other side of the room, though he was still mumbling curses at Todoroki as he went.

“You shouldn’t randomly start hurting people on the set,” Ochako said, looking up at Katsuki.

“Who cares? That guy is a jackass.”

“Yeah, well, pot meet kettle,” she muttered and he looked down at her.

“You gonna let go, or what?”

She gasped and let go of his arm and put them behind her back like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She stepped away from him and looked around the set.

“So, home-cooking. Southern style comfort food?” he asked, and she looked at him.

“Yeah, I guess. I want to open a series of food trucks with comfort food. What do you do?”

“Fire.”

She stared at him.

“Fire?”

“Anything you can grill- sauté- burn to a crisp, that’s me.”

“So like steak dinners and stuff like that?”

“Yeah, and spices, I like my customers to go home crying in pain from the taste of my spices.”

She stared at him. Was this guy really a chef? She couldn’t see it at all. But he had been chosen to come onto the show. So she was going to have to get over her reservations.

“Why do you think they paired us together?” she asked, looking at the other pairing. It seemed that they were all different styles of cooking and there wasn’t a real pattern to it.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” he said and they were called forward to do their interview.

“So, how do you feel about your cooking? Do you think your styles will work well together?” Momo asked.

“Fuck no. She’s terrible. She makes boring comfort food.”

“Hey!” she said, looking at Bakugou, “I can make other dishes.”

“But it’s okay, because I am the best there is and I am going to win this stupid competition, hands down,” he said, throwing up his middle fingers again and Ochako gasped and
looked at the camera.

“I am so sorry, he’s an idiot,” she said, waving her hands and shoving Bakugou. “Stop that!”

“What? I am just telling the fucking truth,” he said and she gave him another shove off camera.

“Please, don’t worry, we are going to win and that’s because I am the best chef in here, not because he’s an asshole, oh- can I say that on TV?”

“Who the FuCK ARE YOU CALLING AN AS-”

“CUT!!!!”

Chapter Text

“What in the hell was that? How dare you try to act all cool on camera!”

“Me? You’re the one who was being the asshole and flipping everyone off! I can’t believe this. I finally get a real chance to get noticed and you’re the person I am stuck with. I swear to God, if we lose this competition because of your arrogance-”

He leaned in so close that Ochako instantly stopped talking. After their intensely embarrassing interview, they were told they could leave early and that they should be back at seven in the morning for shooting for the first week’s challenge. They were both on their way to their perspective cars when finally Bakugou decided it was time to yell at her in the parking lot. They were right next to her car, Ochako’s back touching the warm VW Bug as Bakugou got so close to her that she thought he was going to fall into her.

“What’d you say? I can’t hear you over the loud bullshit your spewing. I am the best fucking chef there is and I am going to open my own fucking restaurant and I am going to be better than anyone else in the world. So- I suggest you get your fucking shit together and get ready to fucking murder these other losers with me. I ain’t picking up your slack in there, Pink Cheeks. You better be ready to fucking die!”

“D-Die?” she muttered, and he put his hands on either side of her, trapping her and she stared. They were dangerously close now.

“You understand me- right?” he asked in a such a serious tone that it almost made her faint.

“Y-Yeah,” she nodded weakly and he suddenly pushed himself back and started for his own car in one swift motion. Her knees went weak and she had to use to the car to right herself. Her hand was on her pounding chest and she was unsure if she was either scared or-

She slapped herself in the cheeks to get those unnecessary thoughts out of her head. She hurried to get into her car and get going home to work on recipes.
---
Ochako was completely flustered the rest of the day. All she could think about was her being paired up with Bakugou. How in the hell had that come to fruition? The judges had said that they chose the pairings based on personality, and cooking styles. She wondered if she was just at the bottom of the list and he was the last contenstant that didn’t have a partner. She had thought she was going to get the girl wearing the frog apron- she looked so nice and sweet. She ended up paired with the guy who kept talking about birds. What were their names? No, she needed to focus. She needed to think about the challenge ahead.

She was going to have to get over the major hurdle of being able to work with Bakugou. He was temperamental, and clearly had boundary issues, and they were going to have to figure out how to communicate in a kitchen.

She needed to see how he cooked. She looked at her phone. People like him had to have been on TV before or exposed in some kind of way. He was too flashy not to. And he was determined to become the best chef in the world. She looked through and found several videos of him at various cooking competitions, though it looked like they were small time- probably to pay for his culinary school expenses.

“Here’s one about BBQ,” she muttered, finding one.

“Holy crap- that dude’s fast! Look at him chopping!” the guy behind the camera yelled, and she could hear loud yelling as Bakugou prepared his meal. She remembered hearing him yelling in the audition when he was mincing the onions. He kept telling his food to “go to hell” and she tired her absolute best to ignore him.

Another video he was making seafood and told the fish to go fuck itself in the ocean where it belonged. Another had him yelling at a judge that she was “a stupid bitch who needs to just fucking eat the ice cream already, you fucking old fucker” and so on. Apparently, despite all of his yelling, threats and harsh language, the outcome was the same- he was crowned the winner. He was the winner of every competition he was in.

That was a huge advantage for her. She knew that she could rely on him to win. She shook her head. No, there was no way Ochako could do that. She had been relying on people too much. She had left her hometown to move to LA to get a fresh start and work in a good nice kitchen to start saving money. She had been a sou chef for almost a year and she could tell she wasn’t progressing at all. She was falling behind her peers. She had thought she wasn’t going to pass her audition because she had been so nervous about her food. Her beef stew had barely passed the grade- she could tell the judges were just being nice because she had tried some herself and could point out six flaws in the sauce.

She sighed. Maybe this was impossible. Maybe she was going to drag Bakugou down.

“AH!!! I need to stop thinking! I am going to run around in circles all night. I need to go for a run!”
---
“So, you got a cute girl to work with,” Kirishima said, looking at the picture of Uraraka he had managed to snag online. She had been in a few news articles from the restaurant she was at. Bakugou was standing in his kitchen, working on cleaning and sharpening his knives for the morning.

“She’s annoying but I know that I don’t have to worry about her.”

“What do you mean?”

“A bitch like that has balls if she thinks she can talk to me like she did back at the studio. She is going to have to step up her game though if we’re going to kill Deku and that half-and-half Prince Zuko wannabe.”

Kirishima looked at the picture of the smiling woman.

“Are you sure? She looks too nice to deal with you-”

“Why the fuck are you in my house, again?” he demanded, throwing down one of his knives.

“Ah, yeah, wanted to talk to you about the show- since you’re up against Midoryia, are you really going to be okay? You two never got along well in school,” Kirishima said. He had gone into restaurant management in school and had met Deku several times. Most of those times he had to rip Bakguou away from trying to murder Deku with a knife. Or if he was feeling particularly murder-y, a meat cleaver.

The two men had never seen eye-to-eye, despite Deku being a nice person who just wanted to be friendly. He thought he’d never see Midoryia after school but what were the odds he’d end up at the same competition? Slim to damn near none, he reckoned. But he knew that this would only motivate Bakugou further and he would win no matter what. That’s what a true chef did. That was his life motto.

But Kirishima was worried about Uraraka. She seemed like a sweet and innocent person and Bakugou was going to eat her alive.

“I am going to murder him. And the rest of the competition.”

“Whatever you say. But I say that you might want to find a new partner, leave this poor girl out of it.”

“Get out of my house, I am trying to work,” he said, kicking Kirishima towards the door.
---
The following morning Uraraka sat in her car, staring at her phone. She had arrived almost an hour early, tired and thinking about what might happen today. She was so nervous. She finally started to get out and saw another car coming to park next to hers. It was a red Mustang and Bakugou got out, glaring at her.

“The fuck you looking at?” he demanded and she made a face.

“I am not looking at anything,” she insisted and started walking toward UA.

“Hey! Where are you going?” he demanded. He followed her towards the door and she stopped, turning to face him.

“Please, behave yourself today! I don’t want to be embarrassed by your antics.”

He glared at her and she instantly regretted speaking. She had thought about what she wanted to say to him her entire run last night and now that it was out in the open Ochako really wished she had just stayed quiet. He leaned in and she found herself with her back against the door.

“My. Fucking. WHAT?” he demanded, again, slowly and she shivered.

“Uh…”

He jerked out his leg like he was going to kick her and she jumped but found that she was actually falling backwards. He had kicked the door open and she let out a little gasp and fell onto the floor.

“Ha, that’ll learn ya,” he said, stepping over her and heading onto the set. She glared at him and got up, following.

“That was a cheap trick!” she said, and he stopped, Ochako running right into his back. “W-What the-”

She looked over his shoulder and saw All Might standing there, wearing a suit and tie and looking very excited to be there.

“Ah, Chef Bakugou, and Chef Uraraka,” he greeted, waving at them both, “How lovely to see you two so eager to get to work! I look forward to your dishes!”

“T-Thank you,” Ochako squeaked in awe of him, and Katsuki looked at her over his shoulder.

“Speak up if you’re gonna. All Might, we’re not here to just make food, we’re here to fucking win and we are. So you better be ready to get your ass kicked!”

She sighed and shook her head. All Might just simply gave a thumbs up and Bakugou continued to walk to their assigned station #3, throwing his bag on the counter.

“Why were you talking to All Might like that? He’s the greatest chef in the world.”

“Because you don’t get to be number 1 in the world without stepping on a few necks,” he said, looking at her dead in the eye. “I am going to be the best chef in the entire world- All Might included. I think he’s the greatest, but that makes him my enemy. Just like you.”

“W-What?” she asked, blushing, “I-I’m on your team!”

“For this competition, maybe. But once it’s over, we’re back out there, battling it out like everyone else. You have a goal in mind right? A reason for being here? What happens if you don’t win? What will you do then? Keep winning in mind at all times and you don’t have to worry about anything else.”

She felt oddly inspired by his words. Deku had been very nice and soothing her worries. It seemed like Bakugou was one for just riding himself of the thought of ever losing. Maybe that was why he was so good?

“Now get your head out of your ass and help me start prepping!” he barked.
---
The host of the event was a famous chef and very loud TV personality- Present Mic, one of the best celebrity chefs in the world. He was going to be giving them their instructions and speak on behalf of the judges during the rounds.

“Alrighty- let’s get this thing going!” he yelled into his microphone, “Welcome to Season 3 of SUGAR OR SPICE! The most delicious cooking show on the planet! We have with us- 12 sets of contestants that will be battling it out for $10,000 and a chance to work with any chef of their choice!”

Bakugou stood completely still, his hands in his pockets and staring straight ahead. Ochako was nervous and bouncing a little, swaying side to side. She felt like she was going to throw up. It was one thing to say that she was ready for this- doing it was another. Standing at the station next to them was Deku and Todoroki, both looking pretty calm. She felt like she was the only nervous person there.

“Stop moving around, you’re a fucking distraction.”

She looked at Bakugou. He hadn’t moved from his position but was clearly irritated- his scowl worse than usual. She put her hands behind her back and twisted her fingers together nervously.

“Alright, let’s meet our contestants!” Present Mic yelled, and started down the stations, talking to each pair quickly. When they reached their table, Bakugou and Uraraka stared at a camera over his shoulder.

“And this is Katsuki Bakugou and Uraraka Ochako! How are you guys feeling about the competition?”

Before she could even stop him- the words were already coming out of his mouth.

“I am going to fucking murder everyone in here- including you.”

“Please don’t say things like that,” she muttered, even though it was already too late. Present Mic stared for a long second and looked at Ochako.

“I am rooting for you, sweetie, not for him.”

He moved on without missing a beat and Ochako sighed.

“Why do you have to provoke everyone?” she asked, looking at him.

“I refuse to let anyone look down on me- or think I’m weak. It’s the worst insult and I won’t stand for it.”

He looked so serious that she knew that he was telling the truth. She leaned in closed and knocked his shoulder with hers.

“You could always be nicer about it,” she muttered and he looked away, but she certain that his ears were turning a little pink. But then again it could be because it was so hot in the studio because her face was getting pretty warm and she couldn’t exactly explain why.
---
“Alright, for the first challenge of the week- each group is going to make a new dish together. Today’s challenge is- CHILI!”

The timer was set for three hours and they were sent off in a flurry. Ochako was surprised at how simple of a challenge it was, but by the look in Bakugou’s eye, he didn’t quite buy it.

“That’s too easy. There’s always a catch with these things,” he said, turning and looking at the ingredients provided. “Just as I thought. We don’t have anything to make the sauce with. We have to make everything by hand.”

“Really?” she asked, looking over his shoulder and sighing. “They never said it was going to be easy. What do you think we should do?”

“Fucking make chili.”

“Yeah, I know that, but what is the plan? Who makes the sauce and who makes the meat?” she asked and he stared at her.

“Duh, you make the bread- genius.”

She stared at him, crossing her arms.

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll make the fucking chili, you make the bread. Easy.”

“No, it’s not easy. I am not going to stand around waiting for the yeast to rise!”

Deku looked up from his pan and sighed. They were arguing really loudly now- the other competitiors were forming their plans but it seemed like Bakugou and Uraraka were just straight up yelling. And the camera loved it. They were trained on them the entire fight.

“Bread is essential to a chili dish- it’s the most important part!”

“You just want to make a chili that is impossible to eat-I bet that you were going to put really hot peppers in it and set the judges mouths on fire!”

“Hell yeah! Chili is supposed to set your body on fire! That’s what makes it fucking good!”

“Will you two please shut up- you’re distracting me!” a contestant yelled and they both yelled in his direction “You shut up!”

They stared at each other in surprise and finally Ochako spoke up.

“Fine, I’ll make the bread, but I am not going to wait around while you just make everything yourself.”

“Fine.”

Chapter Text

Despite their mutual dislike for the idea- Ochako and Bakugou got to work on their chili. It was a simple recipe but it was really all about the sauce. Chili-a dish mainly made up of meat and sauce- had to be thick, but not too thick and had to have enough meat in it that was tender and easy to put on a piece of bread to eat. Usually hard crackers were preferred to be crushed up and put directly into the soup- but Bakugou found that would only mellow his peppers and he didn’t want that. He wanted to judges screaming in agony from his dish.

“Those fuckers will be crying in their dishes!” he muttered excitedly.

So they decided that French bread with garlic and a hint of honey glaze would make a good pairing. Bakugou didn’t like the way Ochako had fought him on helping with the chili, but it was too late to turn back now. He got to work on the sauce first.

The bread was in the oven quickly and she got to work on the meat. Ochako found that ground beef was the best way to get the thickness they wanted and started to get work on it. They hardly had anything close to teamwork- constantly running into each other and knocking into each other, but the work between them was pretty solid. Each item was quickly checked off of the list and they came together to check on the sauce.

“How many peppers are you cutting up?”

“A fuckton,” he said proudly, and started working on dicing.

“You’re going to probably kill someone.”

“That’s the plan,” he said and she sighed, moving in close to check on the meat seething on the pan in front of him.

“Looks like everything is on schedule,” she said, checking the oven on the bread.

“Good. The bread is the best part.”

“Really? I thought that the chili would be,” she said, coming and looking over his shoulder. She was surprised to find that despite their initial distaste for each other’s company, they found it rather easy to work together. She was already looking around the room and seeing other chefs struggling, finding it hard to give up control in the kitchen. In fact, Ochako and Katuski were the only ones not arguing- besides it looked like Deku and Todoroki, whom were both working in complete silence.

“Hey, eyes on our own shit- don’t worry about anyone else,” he said, and she looked at him.

“I’m focused.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t. But it’s better to block out everything else. We wanna show everyone that we’re the best- we gotta keep our eyes on the prize.”
Insightful words that would have drawn real inspiration if he wasn’t holding a raw pepper and grinning like a maniac. Ochako returned to her work on the sauce, keeping an eye on the amount of peppers Bakugou was throwing into the pot and the meat bubbling in its pan.

They were reaching the half-way point and were told by Present Mic that things were getting heated- pun completely intended.

“Let’s go check in on our contestants!” he said into the camera and made the rounds as they went into the last hour. Ochako was just getting the bread out to cool when he came around to their station. Bakugou was sitting on a stool, staring at the boiling pot that contained their chili, keeping it on low as it simmered. He had shredded his chef’s jacket, preferring to be in his black wife-beater and dress pants for this portion of the cooking. He said “he liked getting close to the fire” and had accidentally set his sleeves on fire before in the past. Ochako was more than ready to believe that was true.

“So, how’s it going over here?” Present Mic asked, looking at Ochako and pretending Bakugou didn’t exist.

“Good, we’re just got our bread out and Bakugou is keeping an eye on the chili,” she said, standing up and showing for the camera. Uraraka was really good with showmanship, though a little nervous on camera. But she was just so cute, who wouldn’t love her on sight?

“Looks like you two are working well together at least. Most of the other chefs are struggling. Who’s in charge?”

“We’re partners,” Bakugou said without looking from his pot, “We share things equally. Even the crap jobs like waiting on a timer.”

She felt her face heat up. She had been the one to suggest that they take turns watching the pot in fifteen minute intervals. He had taken her suggestion so seriously that he’d been sitting like a statue in front of the pot ever since, the timer clicking down on his phone.

“Uh- yeah. Right now he’s watching the chili and I am preparing the bread. I am going to be cutting them into sweet little shapes for flare,” she said, going to her cutting board and pan of bread.

Present Mic left them without saying another word to Bakugou but reminding Uraraka that he was rooting for her and that she was adorable.

“Hurry up with the bread,” Bakugou snapped without looking at her. She nodded and got to work.

The hour was up and it was time to present their dishes. Katuski put the chili into the bowls and Ochako added the bread to each plate and they prepared to present- #3 in line.
The first group- Chef Sero and Chef Kamenari- presented a terrible dish, too runny had having too much going on. They were disappointed in their creation and were not surprised that the judges had been too. They had been fighting constantly throughout the entire process, talking over each other and getting in each other’s way.

The second group was Deku and Todoroki- their chili was extremely well-liked and complimented but didn’t have enough flare to really put them over the edge. They were passable- according to Chef Aizawa.

Katsuki and Ochako were up next and suddenly she felt her heart start to race. She had always gotten nervous when she presented dishes to her family members. But this felt different. Almost like her whole life depended on it. Katuski looked like he was ready to start a wrestling match with anyone who said anything bad about their dish.

“Calm down,” Katsuki said as the plates were presented and Ochako looked up at him. “We’re going to fucking kill them with our food.”

She didn’t understand where Bakugou got all of this incredible self-confidence from, but she really wished she’d had even a taste of it. He glared at the judges.

“Eat up, bitches,” he said, the judges looking at them now.

“What is your chili made of?” Aizawa asked, inspecting the dish.

“It’s a Southern Style chili, beef mixed with a little pork thrown in, set aside at a low heat. The sauce is the most important part of a good chili- so we added fresh tomatoes, paste, a lot of green and red salsa a bottle of wheat beer and warm water,” Ochako explained, looking at the bowl.

“To maintain thickness, we doubled the amount of paste we added in and gave it an extra kick with some chili peppers. Thrown in garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper- and several other kinds of peppers, including red, green, Infinity peppers and my personal favorite- the Naga Viper. But only a little bit- didn’t want you to die from our cooking just yet,” Katuski said, looking at the judges. “It’s fucking delicious and going to be the best thing you idiots have ever had.”

Ochako sighed and looked at him.

“You’re not supposed to call the judges idiots,” she said, and he looked at her.

“They are questioning our chili. It’s the best, they just need to fucking eat it.”

“Please, enjoy,” Ochako said, sighing a little.

They each took a bite of it and after only a few brief seconds, the coughing started from each of them. Bakugou was right- they were going to really be crying. They each had to indulge in water and bread to calm down the intense pepper and each were trying to talk but kept coughing.

“See, I told you that you added too much!” she said, reaching out and tugging on his arm.

“Please, I barely put anything on it. The Naga Viper isn’t even in like the Top 10 chili peppers right now. Or at least I don’t think it is,” he said and she tugged.

“That’s not the point. They’re not-”

“That’s one seriously good chili,” a voice said, and they saw All Might wiping his mouth, grinning widely. “It really packs a punch! I was not expecting that. I think I ate it a little too quickly!”

He let out a loud bellowing laugh and the others started to speak up.

“Excellent texture, especially with the meat- it was simmered to perfection,” Midnight said, smiling brightly. “Perfect use of paste and beer to give the soup a perfect thickness.”

“While the chili use was a little extreme,” Aizawa said, looking at the bowl, “The bread matches perfectly and almost helps heighten the taste. Gives the meal another level of texture with its warmth and softness.”

“I enjoyed the chili much better than the other two,” Endeavor said, looking at his son standing idle in the corner, “It’s always good to really pack in the flavor sometimes, give that extra kick the meal needs t be memorable.”

“You two did an excellent job with this dish,” Thirteen said, looking at the pair, “In observing you during the cooking, I was surprised by how well you worked together. There was a little yelling, but it seemed that it worked in your favor. There is nothing off about this dish, and everything is in harmony. You paid excellent attention to detail and it made for a quality dish. Excellent work.”

It was unanimous- they’d easily hurdled the first challenge. After their dish, no one else seemed to compare and the judges were able to announce at the end of the hour that it was going to be Chef Mineta and Chef Tsuyu’s chili was going to be going home. Though it looked like Tsuyu was relieved to know that she wasn’t going to be stuck with the short creepy man anymore.

So Bakugou and Ochako were going to be coming back the following week.
---
They were told to be back at the studio in the morning for follow up interviews and to give the recipe for the audience to try at home. Katuski walked ahead of Ochako, kicking open the door to go outside as they went to their cars.

“See you tomorrow,” Deku called from his car and waved, Ochako waving back.

“See you tomorrow!” she called.

“Don’t talk to that fucking loser,” Katuski barked and she made a face at him.

“I can talk to anyone I want to. Like you said, we’re partners, no one is in charge. So you can’t tell me what to do.”

“Yeah, well, don’t talk to him, he’s a loser and he’ll give you bad ideas. Look at his loser chili.”

“It was second to ours,” she said, and he shook his head.

“We won. They lost. So they suck.”

They were about to start another fight when the sound of a car horn had them moving off to the side to let someone pass through. There was a silence between them that felt heavier than normal. Finally Katsuki spoke.

“You did good today. We won and that’s the only thing that matters.”

She looked up at him, feeling her face flush and he looked annoyed.

“Is that really the only thing you care about?” she asked, though not with as much bite as she wished it.

“Winning is the only thing I care about. Being number one, becoming the best chef in the world- that’s all I want. And coming here, winning- in front of chefs like All Might and Endeavor- that’s the only way to prove that I am the best.”

She was almost in awe of him. If she only had an ounce of that drive, that intense need to be the best- she could only imagine what she could accomplish.

“What do you think the rest of the challenges are going to look like?” she asked, looking at the building.

“Probably something fucked up. My friend who recommended this how shitshow said that after the first episode- each week they take the contestants to different places and have them make a theme out of it.”

“Do you think that space would be a theme? I’d love to try to cook in zero gravity!”

She was laughed and smiled at him and Katuski stared at her. And felt, something, tugging at his chest. He gripped his jacket, as it he was going to crawl whatever that thing was right out of his own body.

“Just kidding. That’d be stupid huh?” she asked, laughing and suddenly feeling embarrassed. She started to turn away, feeling like she’d made a mistake even trying to joke with him.

“I’d still be the best chef- even in space.”

Ochako’s entire face felt hot suddenly and she was pretty sure she needed to hurry up and leave before she said anything else that might envoke a reaction out of Bakugou that she wasn’t ready to handle.

“W-Well, g-good-goodnight.”

She hurried to her car and wished to put her face in a bowl of ice because it felt like she’d been enjoying a few too many Naga Vipers.

Chapter Text

Katsuki was making stew for Kirishima the following weekend. He was able to say that he passed the first round without giving away details and Krishima was excited.

“And how is our lovely Miss Chef doing?”

“Uraraka?”

“Oh, so she has a name now,” he said, slyly.

“She always had a name,” Bakugou said, adding a few extra peppers into Kirishima’s stew because he was pissing him off.

“How’s she doing? Are the two of you able to work together or is it just a whole lot of fighting?”

“We work fine.”

“I bet she has a hard time keeping up with your crazy. Poor frail little girl,” Kirishima said, sighing and sitting back on Bakugou’s couch, turning on the television.

“The last thing I’d call that woman is frail…” Katuski muttered.

“What’d you say?”

“Nothing,” Katuski said, picking up a water bottle and throwing it at Kirishima’s head.
---
Ochako was in her kitchen, working on decorating cookies. She needed the practice and one of the girls at the food truck she worked on the weekends was having a birthday. She was thinking about the challenge and the things the judges had said about their dish. They had really praised it. She had been incredibly skeptical, honestly. She wondered if she really was not as experienced with this kind of cooking as she thought. Back home she had entered tons of prize-winning competitions and won but it felt like she was winning like a big fish in a little pond. She hadn’t even tried doing anything like that since she moved to LA.

But she needed to keep focused and keep working hard. Bakugou was only going to keep barking orders at her if she let him.

You did good today.

Among all of the fighting and everything he’d said- that one sentence kept echoing in her mind. It had been almost a compliment- probably? She couldn’t tell since he was constantly shouting. But now that she was thinking about it- it had to have been. He had been so sure that they were going to win- that this cooking show as in the bag. But Ochako could barely handle thinking about the next challenge. Maybe he had always been so confident in his cooking?

She remembered something. Deku had known Bakugou and called him Kaachan. Maybe they were friends? She wasn’t sure since it seemed that he really despised Deku.

She wondered if she should ask Deku about Bakugou but was unable to commit to the idea. She wasn’t a high school girl looking for a prom date, she was a professional chef! She needed to just ask him anything she wanted to know. She seriously doubted he was going to be doing his research about her.

Winning is the only thing I care about.

That drive. That ambition. She could almost feel the raw power of it coming off of him in the kitchen. Nothing took his focus away. Even when the others were being rude or slinging comments- even when Present Mic was talking about him right there on camera, Bakugou never lost focus on his goal. She envied that drive more than anything. She wondered what it would be like to be that dedicated to something. She had her own goals- sure- but could she really say she was as committed to making them a reality like Bakugou? She had been working on food trucks for two years now, trying to learn everything she could about them- picking up shifts at diners and working here and there. But that’s all she was really doing. It felt like it wasn’t going anywhere.

She wondered if this competition was really just a way for her to get her plan back on track. She had heard about it from one of the girls on the food truck she was currently working. She watched the show religiously and loved it. She had heard about auditions and told Ochako- knowing that she would want to participate for the chance at that kind of money. It would be enough to get her first truck and get off the ground.

But she’d almost chickened out at the audition. She’d almost walked away from everything. She wondered if she was going to really help Bakugou or be a hindrance. She shook her head. No. She needed to stay focused. She needed to fight each battle that was in front of her and not think about it too much. She was going to win this thing.

She finished her cookies and went to bed, hoping that she would dream of victory.
---
The chefs were lined up for the announcement of the next challenge. Only Present Mic was there for the announcement.

“Alright, kiddos! This week we are going to be heading out to the beach! We’re taking a trip to the beach and make ourselves a great seafood menu item! Each team is going to have two hours to prepare their own seafood themed meal. The catch of the day? Whatever you can get your hands on from our stock! And the big kicker? EVERYONE HAS TO WEAR SWIMSUITS!!!”

Ochako gasped and looked at Bakugou. The thought of trying to cook while wearing a bikini? She looked horrified. He looked unphased.

“ALRIGHT!!! SEE YOU KIDS TOMORROW MORNING ON PIER 13!!!”

They were handed a piece of paper that had a map at the filming location. Ochako asked Momo as she was passing by if they really had to wear swimsuits. Apparently it had been a studio decision and there was nothing she could do about it. It was probably to help bump ratings.

“Seafood,” Bakugou said as they headed out, falling behind the others. “Fucking easy.”

“What kind of a dish do you want to make?” Ochako asked, turning to look at him. He shrugged.

“Lobster, obviously.”

“Obviously,” she muttered sarcastically and he glared at her. “I mean- of course! So excited,” she said.

“We killed the judges in our first round, so we’re going to do it again.”

“You can’t add chili peppers this time.”

“W-What? Why the fuck not?” he demanded, following her out of the door. She sighed.

“Because you put too many peppers on everything. That chili tasted good but my tongue was on fire for three days,” she said, and just as she was about to reach out for the door to the parking lot, he pushed past her and kicked the door open, heading out first. “Don’t kick the door like that!”

“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled, “You’d better be ready to win tomorrow, Uraraka! We’re going to murder all of these idiots with our food so you’d better show the fuck up and kill it with me!”

She made a face.

“I am ready to win, Bakugou!” she announced loudly and he turned and looked at her. And then he did it. He smirked. And the intense tugging at Ochako’s chest in return made her gasp and grab her shirt.

“Good!”

He turned and walked to his car and Ochako felt her entire face light up.

“Oh… oh no…”
---
She couldn’t stop thinking about it. All night, she tossed and turned and tried to sleep but it wasn’t any good. She was thinking about the parking lot. About Bakguou. About…

She groaned in frustration into her pillow. She needed to bake something to get herself tired.

She went into her kitchen and found herself making more cookies. She was halfway through her first batch when she realized she had shaped them in a weird way. She looked at the cookies and noticed that they looked a little like grenades. She decided to actually make them look like that in the next batch and worked on the coloring and the icing and they were little tiny cookie grenades. And then she stopped.

“What am I doing?” she gasped. She had been thinking about Katsuki even when she was cooking that she accidentally made little grenades because they reminded her of him. Oh god- what was she going to do?

She looked at the time. It was three in the morning and she was more wide awake than ever. She needed to sleep. She needed to calm down. She hurried to change into running clothes and went outside.

The stars were bright and shining and it was more beautiful than ever. She ran for a mile but before she could even start thinking about sleep, she heard his voice in her head.

“A mile? You’re so fucking weak. I bet you couldn’t even run another mile, let alone another step. Fucking useless!”

“I-I’m not useless!” she muttered and turned around, running a mile the other direction.

She finally managed to make it back to her apartment and she was almost dead by the time she got there. She fell onto the floor of her apartment and opened her eyes to find her alarm going off in the other room. She’d only managed an hour’s worth of sleep and it was already time to get going. She gasped, hurrying to get ready.

“I am so tired,” she muttered, throwing water on her face. She looked like death. She hurried out of the apartment and towards the parking lot where her car was waiting for her and she found that she was thinking about the night before. Again. And her heart was not having it. She suddenly felt an intense ache in her chest and she was pretty sure she was dying because she needed to grip the car door to keep from falling over.

“You’re okay,” she muttered, heading into the driver’s seat.

“It’s going to be okay. You just need to get through today. Everything will be fine.”

She reached the beach and headed down towards the pier and stared at the water. And realized that everything was in fact, not going to be fine at all.

Chapter Text

Ochako didn’t know what she was expecting when she arrived at the beach the following day, but seeing Katsuki standing in a black swimsuit with flames on it, standing ankle-deep in the ocean and screaming at the rising sun certainly wasn’t it.

Not that she was surprised per se, but it certainly was unexpected.

He had arrived an hour earlier, the crew was setting up on the pier at the beach to get ready for the day’s challenge. In his need to let out anything that might hold him back from the competition, Katsuki swan around for a while and had returned to the beach just in time to see the sun rising in the distance and let out a loud yell to get out anything still lingering.

He turned and spotted Ochako standing a little further away.

“Bout time you got here,” he said and started towards her. Ochako stiffened as he came closer. His hair was wet and he was dripping everywhere and to say that he was ripped was putting it mildly. He was always looking good in his wife beaters, but damn. Ochako tried to look at anything else as he stopped in front of her.

“Ready to kick some ass again today?” he asked, crossing his arms and she coughed.

“Uh, I am ready to win, if that’s what you mean,” she said, and he nodded.

“Good.”

He took a good look at her and titled his head.

“Did you sleep?”

She looked away quickly. Did she really look that bad?

“Uh, I slept,” she said, and he wasn’t buying it.

“Barely. You look fucking terrible.”

“Thanks,” she replied flatly and he reached out, grabbing her by the jacket.

“This isn’t a joke. Did you get enough sleep last night? Can’t have you acting all weak in front of the other chefs.”

She made a face.

“I’m fine!” she insisted but then suddenly a wave of nausea came over her and she stumbled a little, trying to get out of his grip. She put her hands on her knees and tried not to heave.

“You haven’t eaten anything either,” he said, and scoffed. “You’re so useless.”

She would have yelled if she had the energy and he reached out, grabbing the back of her hoodie and pulled her towards the pier where they were still setting up.

“H-Hey,” she protested but he wasn’t letting her escape. He sat her down on a stool by their station that was already set up. Mina tried to ask him not to be on set before the others but one glare in her direction shut her up.

“Stay here,” he commanded and Ochako put her head down on the cool surface of the counter. She was feeling awful. She was so stupid. Not only did she run two hours for no reason, get no sleep and didn’t eat, she was looking like a weak and pathetic idiot in front of the only person who would call her out on it. She felt so stupid.

“Here,” a voice said and she slowly opened her eyes. Without realizing, she’d dozed off for almost an hour, finding that the sun was coming up higher in the sky and the other chefs were starting to arrive and Katuski was standing over her. He had gone and come back with what looked like a bag of breakfast burritos. He didn’t let her talk before he opened the bag, took one out of the wrapping and put it into her face.

“Eat it, dumbass.”

She found that she was too tired to protest. Without stopping she ate three of them and finally was full enough to slow down. Katsuki watched her eat everything he’d brought her, almost like a prison guard, not letting her move until he was satisfied.

“Why didn’t you get any sleep?” he demanded.

She shook her head. She knew the exact reason why she didn’t get any sleep and she wasn’t about to say anything.

“What a waste. Chefs are like anyone else, you gotta sleep. I go to bed at ten- no later. Pointless to make yourself tired when you know that you have to be ready the next day.”

She didn’t like him lecturing her. It felt weird. She glared up at him.

“Sorry that I inconvenienced you,” she muttered. He slammed his hands on the counter, making her jump.

“Bitch! You should be fucking thanking me for going through all of the trouble of getting you anything. Damn, you’re mother teach you any manners?”

“Thanking you? For what? Being a meanie-head?” she yelled, and he realized she was crying. He had sat her down, and made her go to sleep, and then brought her breakfast so she wouldn’t feel bad anymore. He was being nice and she didn’t know how to thank him for it when he was being such a dick about it.

“Ochako? Are you alright?” a concerned voice behind them asked and Deku was standing there, looking worried. Iida and Momo were talking a little bit further behind, pointing at the pair standing on set. Apparently they weren’t exactly sure what to make of the display.

“What the fuck do you want, dipshit?” Katsuki asked, turning around and crossing his arms. Ochako sat up a little straighter, realizing how embarrassing this entire situation was. And Katsuki was making everything worse. She stood up, feeling stronger now than before and went to grab his arm.

“Leave it alone,” she said, making him look at her. “Thanks for the worry Deku, but I’m fine and we need to get ready to cook,” she said, and pulling Katsuki away. Deku stepped aside as Ochako tugged on Katsuki and to her surprise, gave little resistance. He looked over his shoulder and flipped off Deku one last time as they went down to the beach where the others were gathering.

Ochako pulled her hood over her head and let Katsuki go, looking at the water. They were a little further away from the others and she knew that they were all talking about her. Katsuki turned and faced them.

“Mind your own fucking business, fuckers,” he shouted and turned away to look at the water. Ochako slowly got onto the ground and finished her crying that she had started up on the set. He didn’t speak and just watched the water.

A crowd was gathering now to see the set up of the camera crews and the judges were arriving about ten minutes later and Ochako was done with her fit. She slowly pulled back her hood and rubbed her eyes. Katsuki looked down on her.

“You done being a baby?”

“Go away.”

“Can’t. We’re about to make the best fucking lobster ever, you’re stuck with me, Pink Cheeks. By the way, they look worse now,” he said, and turning to face the camera crew coming to begin the filming. She hurried to stand and wipe the sand from her legs, rubbing the tears away and hoping that she didn’t look too terrible. She found herself standing next to Katsuki near the back and despite not wanting to be anywhere near him right now, she found herself touching her shoulder to his. He didn’t flinch away or make a noise like she thought he might. He just stood strong.

It was weird. That was the first time in a while she’d really cried. And it felt almost like a heavy weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She felt a lot better. But she still wasn’t going to thank Katuski because he was a pain.
---
“Alright chefs! Let’s get going! Today’s challenge is Seafood! Our contestants must create a seafood dish in two hours for our judges! And of course we asked our challengers to indulge us in wearing swimsuits while they cook!” Present Mic yelled into the camera and was going around and checking in with everyone. Katuski and Ochako were silently working at their station almost the entire three hours. He told her what they were going to make and she just agreed with nods. She didn’t feel like she had the energy after this morning to fight him. He didn’t like her lack of fighting spirit all of a sudden, and made sure that he banged the dishes around and chopped extra loud to remind her that he was pissed off.

She was going to apologize and thank him, but not until after the event. She was angry too. Maybe that was why she knocked into him and shoulder checked him a few times when she didn’t really have to. But they worked in silence and surprising enough, their dish was ready to present with little problems.

The table of judges had been watching in awe. The other groups were struggling hard with their dishes. Even Todoroki and Deku were having a hard time because Deku kept changing his mind about their approached to squid. Katsuki and Ochako were up first after they finished easily before the time limit.

“Alright, Katuski Bakugou and Ochako Uraraka, our first presenters today,” Present Mic said, showing off their dish to the camera.

“For our dish, a Fat Darrell, a lobster tail sandwich,” Katuski said, looking at the plate presented to the judges. “This fucking dish is passable at best at most restaurants due to the ingredients freshness provided, but this fucker in front of you is prime lobster tail. Ochako picked the little shitbag and so it’s obviously the best.”

She looked up at him. She hadn’t looked at him in the eye the entire time they had been on the beach. She stared at him. Did he just give her another compliment? This time on camera? She felt her face flush and she looked at the camera, clearly startled.

“It looks interesting,” Midnight said, looking over the sandwich. “This lobster tail was not just boiled and cut, but it looks like you mixed it with prime steak as well.”

“Seasoned with pepper, garlic clove, and a few other spices I threw into the mix, this little bastard is nothing but calories. Like our chili, we combined the seafood element with Ochako’s southern comfort food and I added a little extra spices for a kick,” Katsuki continued.

“You chose wisely for the time limit of the dish. Cooking steak while trying to boil lobster is tricky,” Aizawa said, looking at the dish, “Better to do it simultaneously and quickly. You finished prepping everything else first before starting the actual main pieces. Good use of time and kitchen management. You were clearly finished far before everyone else.”

“Wanted this bullshit over and done with quick,” Katuski said, looking bored.

They each took a bite and were thrilled with the result.

“Excellent use of spices, you mixed them in with the lobster tail. And its softer than expected, not as difficult to chew as it usually is. You grilled the steak to perfection,” Thirteen said, looking down at her plate. “Great dish today, guys.”

“We noticed that you weren’t feeling well before the challenge, Ochako,” All Might spoke up, looking at her. “I am glad to see that you were able to still completely the challenge anyway. A good chef knows that the customer doesn’t care about your personal problems, they only want their food on a plate. Sometimes we have to bury our feelings and give the person eating our food the attention they deserve and figure out the rest later.”

“I am not thrilled with the second dish being so spicy like the first,” Endeavor said, “But it is passable.”

“It’s the best, fucker,” Katsuki said, though he didn’t say as loudly as usual. He looked at Aizawa. Midnight and Thirteen had already given it their praise. He was the final one.

“I didn’t like this one, it felt like you could have done more. But you did hold back a little because of Ochako, didn’t you, Katuski?”

“I don’t hold back,” Katuski said, crossing his arms. “And Ochako isn’t so weak as to be deterred by a little illness. We already agreed on this dish before today.”

Another compliment. She felt her entire face turning red.

“You’re just a prick with a stick up his a-”

“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! KATUSKI BAKUGOU AND OCHAKO URARAKA MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ROUND!!!”

They were ushered off of the platform and to the side for the next group. The losers of the challenge were a guy named Denki and a girl name Jirou, failing to get their Surimi Crab sandwiches to really give the extra bite it needed to surpass their opponents.

The chefs were dismissed again and Katuski turned to Ochako.

“Where’s your fucking car?”

“Uh,” she said, looking towards the parking lot. He started for it, not waiting for her. He didn’t even look in the direction of the others and finally she realized that she was supposed to be following. She walked up the hill that led to the parking lot and left the ocean behind her.

They reached her car and he looked at her.

“Keys.”

“Keys?”

“There’s not fucking way you can drive. You’re still tired and you need to get home. Keys.”

When she didn’t respond he moved up to her, his chin almost knocking her nose as he reached into her hoodie and grabbed the keys to her car, making her seize up in surprise. He took the keys and opened the door, getting in without another word. She had no real choice now. She slowly go into the passenger side, and he drove her home without a word spoken between them, her GPS in the car leading the way.

Chapter Text

Katuski parked the car and turned off the engine.

“Which one of these dumps is yours?” he asked and looked at the buildings. She made a face.

“That one, thanks,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt and he nodded, getting out of the car. And he started walking towards her building. “Wait! Where are you going?”

She hurried out of the car after him.

“Which one is yours?” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Number 236, but-”

“Come on, then,” he said, finding the stairs and going up two at a time. She had to jog to catch up and found him looking around on the second floor before he found her apartment. He stood outside of the door. “Open up.”

She got out her key and opened the door. He pushed past her and went right into the apartment. Before she could say anything, Bakugou turned and faced her.

“Go to bed. You need sleep.”

She was about to protest and he decided that he didn’t have time for her arguing. With one swift motion, he was bending forward and throwing her entire body over his shoulder. Ochako let out a loud yelp of surprise and he didn’t listen as she attempted to protest. He kicked in her bedroom door, and turned on the light, and dumping her on to the bed. She yelped again, staring at the ceiling fan overhead and looking at him.

“What in the hell are you doing?” she demanded and he grabbed her blanket and threw it over her face.

“Go to sleep, you useless woman.”

She was about to protest again when he just turned around and turned off the light and closed the door, leaving her in the room. She was so angry, she knew there was no way she was going to go to sleep. But apparently her body didn’t know that because she stirred almost five hours later and realized it was almost seven at night and she had slept all of the rest of the day away. She didn’t even remember falling asleep. She looked around the room and heard the television going in the living room.

She stretched and walked out to find that the entire apartment was cleaned. Not like tidy, which was usually how she kept it, it was spotless. Someone had done her piled up laundry in the corner, there was not a speck of dust anywhere and she was pretty sure that there had once been a hole in the wall that was no longer there. She saw that there was the news on and Bakugou standing in her kitchen, cooking.

She stopped, her heart starting to race as she saw him there. He must have changed because he was wearing a black shirt with a flaming skull and a pair of cargo shorts. He looked up from whatever he was making to see her.

“Finally got your ass out of bed, I see. I told you to sleep.”

He looked smug, like he’d somehow made her give in somehow.

“I wasn’t tired,” she said, and yawned without wanting to and he looked at his work, clearly pleased with himself. She was not going to let him win. She didn’t know why, but Ochako had a feeling that Bakugou turned anything into a personal victory, no matter how small. She was not going to allow him this one.

“Why are you still here?”

“I left, and then I thought, wow, this place is the pit. And you don’t really have anything to clean with, so I stole money from your purse, bought a bunch of shit and cleaned everything. You’re welcome,” he said, and she made a face.

“You stole my money?”

“And you didn’t have anything to make a decent meal around here. The only reason why I didn’t just ditch you altogether is at least you manage to keep your kitchen clean,” he said, walking to the fridge. She wanted to scream but the smell of dinner made her stomach growl and it was so loud that he could easily hear it. Pretending to slowly make her way over to the bar counter, she sat down, looking anywhere but at the shit eating grin on his face.

He put a plate of ravioli on the counter and when she reached out for it, he pulled it away from her and put another plate in front of her, a bowl of oatmeal. She stared at it.

“You are tired, you need to sleep and eating a big meal before going to bed before you’ve got your strength back is a bad idea. Can’t have you pass out like you did today.”

“I didn’t pass out,” she protested. He looked serious.

“Ochako.”

She stopped trying to protest. That was the first time he’d ever called her by her name. She looked down at the bowl.

“Eat. Now.”

It wasn’t a suggestion. She didn’t like being commanded like that, but he wasn’t doing it to be mean. In fact, this was probably the nicest she had ever seen Bakugou. But she knew that it was all with some kind of motive. He needed her to continue to be his partner for the competition. Today had been almost a disaster and they were going to be at it again soon.

So she took her spoon and silently ate her food. After she took a few bites he grabbed his bowl and moved around the counter and sat down on the barstool next to her. They ate in silence, the news softly updating behind them.

“Why were you so tired?”

She almost choked on her spoonful of oatmeal. There was no in hell she could ever say that it was because of him. She turned red as a cherry and stared at her bowl, trying to think of something to say.

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. Just don’t let it happen again,” he muttered, looking back at his own bowl and finishing off the last of his ravioli.

“I was up… making cookies.”

It was stupid, but it was the truth, and as far from the real reason why she had been up all night. She looked at him and Bakugou made a face.

“Cookies?”

“I was freaking out over this week’s challenge and tried to clear my head and I ended up making cookies and then… they turned into a lot of cookies and then I was running and I ran a mile and decided to run another mile and-”

“Where are they?”

“Where’s what?” she asked and he stood up.

“The cookies. Are they any good?” he asked, and moved to the kitchen. She screamed internally. She didn’t need him see her bomb-shaped cookies! She tried to jump to her feet but she was still so tired that she wobbled and had to brace herself against the counter.

“N-No, d-don’t,” she tried to say but he found them instantly in the cupboard. She hadn’t iced them but instead of throwing them away she put them into a cloud shaped cookie jar and hid them away like some sort of weird secret. She was horrified when he grabbed the jar and opened the lid, looking inside.

“T-T-The-they’re f-f-for m-my coworker!” she stammered, feeling like her soul was going to exit her body and float away any moment as she stared at him. He pulled one out and examined it, titling his head a little.

“It’s…. a grenade?” he asked, looking at the cookie and then looking at her.

“H-Her husband is a marine!” she yelled, feeling super stupid. It was true, one of her coworker’s husband was a marine and his birthday was coming up, but she had already made him a cake and sent it off with her coworker, but the truth was easier than trying to lie.

He looked back at the cookie and nodded.

“Can I have one?”

She felt a shiver run up her spine. Her heart started to pound in her chest and she felt like she might die.

“Y-You YOU CAN HAVE THEM ALL IF YOU WANT!!”

She didn’t mean to shout and Bakugou looked surprised. She sounded so stupid. What was she? A high school girl with a crush?

“I-I mean I made too many and so-”

“Thanks,” he said, and took the entire jar with him to the couch in her living room.

“W-Wait-”

“If you’re done eating you need to go back to bed. You’ll be a hundred percent tomorrow.”

He didn’t seem to leave any room for argument. But he was right, she was still really tired. She put her bowl in the sink and went back to her room, stopping in the doorway.

“Uh… thanks for… cleaning up,” she muttered, “And for the food.”

“Go to sleep, Angel Face,” he said flatly and she sighed, going into her room and closing the door.
---
Bakugou didn’t know what to make of Ochako’s behavior that day.

As he stood in her apartment after making her go to bed, he spent the entire time cleaning- trying to clear his own head.

He had heard of chefs that worked too hard and made themselves sick- but he didn’t think that Ochako was that weak and useless. She was way too strong to be overtired because of a little extra work. Her cookies had come out fine, so she hadn’t stayed up that late. And why was she running around in the middle of the night so much? There was something else going on under the surface. But she didn’t want to tell him. He could tell that she had been embarrassed about the entire day. He only let it go because he was worried she would get defensive and not let it go- whatever it was- and it would only make things worse. So he dropped it.

He didn’t like it- but he was going to be okay with living with it. He’d rather have no information to work with than embarrass Ochako further and get her more upset. That wouldn’t be productive for either of them.

He found a Tupperware box and put the last of the cookies she’d given him inside and closed the lid, leaving her jar in the cupboard, washed the dishes and left a note, leaving about midnight.
---
Ochako jerked away, startled and sat up, breathing hard. She took a few moments to realize that it was almost five in the morning and she had been sleeping all night. She looked around the room, and then at the bed she was sleeping on. She remembered the incredibly vivid and interesting dream she’d had the night before. She didn’t know why but she had apparently decided that she wanted to see Bakugou in his swimsuit again and not in a very innocent way either... just thinking about it made her want to go and dunk her head into a tub of ice water.

She cautiously got out of bed and opened her door, finding that Katsuki had left. She sighed and went to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She found a note on the door of the fridge.

Hey, Dumbass,

Don’t forget that despite being sick and tired, you still kicked ass yesterday. Eat your fucking oatmeal and don’t go to work today. I’ll see you next week.

-Bakugou

She took the note and held it against her chest. She felt like she could float away on a cloud and was the happiest she had ever been in a long time eating her oatmeal and watching cartoons.

Chapter Text

Katsuki was very pleased to find that the following week he parked in front of Studio UA and found a very bright and happy, healthy Ochako ready to fight. She was standing at the front door, waiting for him and looked incredibly energetic.

“Bakugou!” she called, waving at him.

“You’re not dead yet, I see,” he said, walking up to meet her.

“Not dead yet,” she repeated and held out a small plastic bag. She had decided on her extra day off to make him fully cooked, perfectly iced, grenade cookies. She didn’t really know how else to thank him and she had a feeling that he wouldn’t accept money or any other kind of payment for his time wasted.

“Here. Since I assume you don’t do charity.”

He squinted at her and took the bag.

“They’re not poisoned, are they?” he asked, taking out a cookie and following her into the studio.

“Not poisoned,” she said, smiling at the ground. She felt so light these past few days. Getting that extra sleep and the chance to take off from work had done her very well.

They found the other chefs meeting up in the waiting room and Bakugou’s eyes instantly went to Deku and Todoroki standing near the back of the room.

“That punk bitch- thinks he’s so superior to us,” he muttered, taking another bite of his cookie.

“Leave it alone for today. We’re just here to find out the new challenge,” she said, knocking her shoulder against his, and he made a face, clearly not satisfied with her response.

“We’ll murder him in the next round,” Katuski said, turning and looking towards the opposite wall, eating the entire bag she’d given him before Mina came in to collect them.

They were down to twenty contestants today, the room clearly feeling a little smaller. Katuski looked around the room at the rest of the people he needed to defeat.

“Tch, losers.”

Ochako followed him into the room where Present Mic was waiting to introduce the new challenge.

“ALRIGHT KIDS!!! LET’S DO THIS! This week on Sugar or Spice, our contestants will have to create a very soft dish- a Parisian Dessert. Anything goes for this challenge. We are going to be holding it downtown a very famous pastry shop- Eiffel Love You. There each pair will present a very pretty dish for our judges. The catch this week? Everyone is going to dress like a maid or a butler! The contestants can decide which to choose and wear their costumes while they cook and present!”

The general tone was pure shock and Katsuki looked down at Ochako. She looked horrified. She was probably not the type to wear a dress if she could help it. He looked back at Present Mic and they were dismissed. The chefs filed out, talking quickly amongst themselves and Katsuki hung back with Ochako.

“What are we making?”

She looked at him in surprise.

“Huh?”

“What are we making for the challenge, Pink Cheeks?”

He had never asked her opinion before. On anything. He kind of just did whatever he wanted. He crossed his arms and stepped closer. She felt her heart pick up and she hoped her face wasn’t turning too red.

“You’re the one who does pastries, right? I am better with grilling and shit. So, this is your challenge. And it better kick ass. We have to kill Deku and Icy Hot this time.”

She snorted and laughed, turning away.

“What?” he demanded, glaring at her.

“No- nothing, I just… I just love that you’re trusting me to murder the competition with cake.”

She was smiling, and Katsuki nodded.

“Yes. Murder them with cake. So what’s it going to be?”

She thought about it. She wasn’t well-versed when it came to Parisian Desserts. They were always very light and fluffy and were mostly chocolate. But everyone was probably going to be doing that. Their dessert had to be something that would stand out. And she had to think of something that a compliment to both of their styles of cooking. She turned and started to walk out of the door.

“Well… I wonder if we could do a crepe, but that is a little too simple. These challenges are meant to be difficult. So maybe some a little more complicated.”
Katsuki walked past her as she went- kicking the door of the studio open and heading outside.

“Let’s go back to your apartment and work on it,” he said, and she nodded.

“Sure. Of course, see you there.”

He nodded and headed to his car and Ochako stared straight ahead. And then she let out a loud yelp of surprise. Oh god. Did she just-??
---
Ochako got a text from Katuski (he’d saved her number in his phone while she was sick) that he was going back to his apartment first to change clothes and get some cooking supplies. So she had enough time to get home and panic.

Sure, he’d been here already last week, but that had been completely different circumstances. He had been there because he was helping out. And now that she was up and ready to go- things felt way worse. She was running around the apartment, trying to find a way to distract herself until he was at her door, knocking.

Before she could say to come in, the door burst open and Katuski was walking in with a bag in hand and looked annoyed.

“You should lock your door,” he said and she glared at him.

“Don’t kick in people’s doors!” she said, checking to see that the door was okay and closed it.

“So, what’d you decide?”

“I am still thinking about it,” she said, Katsuki going into her kitchen and setting down his black bag.

“Then we experiment,” he said, looking at the bag and then at her.

She went into the kitchen, grabbing a few things as he started helping himself to her cupboards. She was surprised, honestly, to see that he was so quiet. He was usually taking complete control of everything. This really was her show this week. She felt her cheeks heat up as she thought about that.

“What are we making?”

“How about something with ice cream?” she suggested and he nodded, going into her freezer and they started to make some tarts. They worked in general silence, only saying a few words here and there to each other. It was like they were back on the show. She realized almost an hour into their work that they really hadn’t said anything to each other. It was comfortable silence, though.

“So, how is work going?” he asked, after a long silence. “You work on a food truck, right?”

“Yeah. I want to have my own chain of food trucks some day.”

He nodded.

“What would you serve?”

“Not sure yet. I’ve worked a few different trucks- Italian, Mexican, Vegan-”

“Vegan,” he repeated and she laughed.

“Yeah, didn’t last long there. They did not appreciate that the first day I brought a cake for everyone and had to be given the definition of vegan.”

She laughed and he looked over at her, currently trying to knead dough.

“They all sound like losers. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their kick ass chef.”

She stopped kneading and felt her entire face light up. She tried not to look anywhere but at her dough.

“T-Thank you… you don’t have to pity me.”

“I don’t pity anyone. Pity is for the weak. I am telling you the truth. You’re good at what you do when you stop thinking and just start doing.”

She stared at her dough and he continued his work on icing the strawberry tarts they had finished. Ochako felt like she might die right there. Katsuki was complimenting her cooking, in her kitchen, and looking very good in a black shirt and jeans. He was so close to her and yet she felt like they were miles apart. She wished she could manage to give him a compliment too- tell him that she admired his drive and energy and thought that he was by far one of the best chefs she’d ever seen.

But she was too embarrassed. There was no way she was going to be able to say something like that. And besides, Bakugou already thought he was the best, he didn’t have to be told that. But she wondered if he liked to hear it on occasion. She turned and looked at him, intense concentration on his face as he was icing his tart. They were little fire balls, exploding on the surface of the tart, and looked adorable.

“You’re really great at… icing.”

She closed her eyes and wished she’d not said anything. He made a noise.

“I am fucking amazing at icing, what the fuck did you think?” he demanded, as if she had insulted his cooking. She smiled and shook her head.

“Sorry- you’re right.”

She went back to her dough and the silence fell back over them.

They tried several recipes but nothing felt extraordinary. They were missing something. Ochako looked at the time and saw that it was almost nine thirty.

“You should get going to home,” she said, and he finished the cake he’d been decorating.

“Why?” he asked, looking annoyed.

“Because it’s almost ten and you need to get to sleep,” she said, and he looked at the time. “And since you sleep early, then I’ll sleep early too.”

He looked back at her.

“You’re going to bed?”

“Yeah- like you said- go to bed early. It’s the best way.”

He nodded, and set down his utensils. He collected everything he brought with him and helped her clean up the kitchen before heading for the door.

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, and she nodded.

“I will dream of pastries,” she said, smiling up at him and he smirked again. That same one that was starting to have a constant affect on her. The kind of smirk that made her go weak at the knees. She hated that he had such sway over her in only the short amount of time she’d known him.

“Go to bed, Angel Face,” he said, and started to turn away.

“Oh! Wait!” she said, and hurried back into the kitchen, finding a stray cupcake that she’d made earlier with a little cherry that looked like a bomb on top.

“This is for you, have a good night,” she said, handing him the cupcake and without even thinking about it, got onto her tip toes and kissed his cheek.
Bakugou froze and she smiled and closed the door.

And then gasped and put her hands over her mouth.

Chapter Text

Ochako screamed into her cupped hands, horrified by what she’d just done. She started running around in circles in her apartment and tried to figure out what she was going to do. Why had she done that? Why had she kissed him? Katsuki Bakugou? And what was his reaction? She had closed the door so fast she didn’t see it. She realized that she had just left him standing out there. She slowly made her way to the door, looking through the peephole and saw that he was gone.

And there was a wave of sadness that overcame her that he hadn’t stayed.

She sank down to the floor and wished she had never joined this stupid competition.
---
Katsuki pounded hard on the door several times.

“Kirishima!” he yelled, kicking the door a few times for good measure. The apartment was about a twenty minute drive from his own and he had gone right there almost immediately after the stolen moment with Ochako. He had been so blindsided, so confused, and downright surprised that he didn’t know what to say. He had stood outside of her door for a good twenty minutes before he took off running, unsure of what to do.

Kirishima was honestly the only person in the entire world he could consider even telling. So here he was, banging on the door.

“Dude, what is it?” Kirishima asked, after finally answering and looking tired. He had been working from home today, and had just gone to bed.

“Ochako Uraraka fucking kissed me.”

Kirishima stared at him and then opened the door, letting him inside.

“Okay… uh, let’s start from the beginning.”

Katsuki gave a fairly detailed account of what had transpired the past two weeks. Ochako getting sick, needing him to take care of her, getting the new challenge, going to her house to experiment, getting the cupcake and then the sweetest, most wonderful kiss on the cheek he had ever experienced in his entire life.

“What the fuck does it mean? Do friends do that to each other?” he asked, looking at Kirishima, who looked like he was going to bust out laughing. Katuski was so incredibly stupid sometimes. The man had never been great at feelings or relationships and he was usually pretty oblivious to when someone showed interest in him. Kirishima remembered many a young woman who was confused when they attempted to ask him out on a date and he’d ask “Why?” So it was not a very big leap to realize that this moron had no idea that the kiss was meant to be more romantic in nature. Circumstances were difficult to understand, however, since Kirishima honestly only knew Ochako through what Katuski had told him and he was going to need to gather more information.

“Look, I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but I have an idea. Why don’t I go with you tomorrow to the challenge and I’ll see if there is something going on?”
Katuski was not good at underhandiness, he would just go right up to Ochako and demand an explination, which would only embarrass her further. So Kirishima knew that it was better to be careful about how they proceeded. If it really was meant to be a little friendship peck, it was better to find out quickly instead of making things between the two more awkward than it was going to be. Kirishima let the tired and freaking out Bakugou sleep on his couch for the night as he formed a plan in his mind about what to do tomorrow.
---
Ochako didn’t know when she managed to somehow fall asleep, but she did and woke up to her alarm going off the next day. She gasped and hurried to get up. She hurried to get ready and was thinking about what they were going to be making today.

“Katuski is going to want to know by the time I get to the café I-”

The entire night’s series of events suddenly rushed back to her and she stopped, staring at herself in the mirror. Her entire face turned beat red and she shook her head. Had she really done that? She thought that maybe it had all been a horrible nightmare that had been forgotten. But no, as she went out into the kitchen, their work from the night before was wrapped up and sitting on her counter. She was horrified, thinking of how stupid she had been. And now she was going to be late if she didn’t hurry.

She thought about texting Katuski but she was too embarrassed. He hadn’t said anything the night before. She tried for a good hour to write a text message as an apology but she ended up just running around in circles and being flustered. There was no way he was just going to forget about it.

She drove to the café downtown where the latest episode was being filmed. There was a crew outside and there were already people milling about, wanting to see what was going on. Ochako felt like she might throw up again at the thought of facing the judges after what happened last week.

Get over it, dumbass. We’re here to win.

Oh no, Katsuki’s voice was getting into her head again. It was so annoying. She hurried and got out of the car, trying to think of what she was going to say when she had to face him again.

“Uraraka!”

She stopped, going completely stiff as she heard him scream her name across the parking lot. She didn’t know what to do or say or anything. He sounded so angry. She didn’t move even to look at him. Suddenly there was another man standing in front of her, grinning like an idiot.

“Well hello there!” he greeted, shoving a hand towards her. “I am Kirishima, I am Bakugou’s business partner!” he said, grinning ear to ear. Ochako didn’t know what to say and suddenly Katsuki was standing right next to Kirishima and looked furious. She squeaked a little as he glared at her. She knew it. He was angry. She had embarrassed him last night and he was upset. She had a feeling that she had crossed a line. Maybe she could play it off?

“Uh I-” she started and suddenly Kirishima threw his arm around Bakugou, pulling him towards the café where everyone was gathering.

“We’ll see you inside, Miss Chef- have fun prepping!”

Ochako felt an intense weight start to fall on her shoulders. She touched her chest and felt her heart but it didn’t feel right. Everything felt off. She didn’t know this Kirishima guy and in that moment, all she wanted to do was talk to Katsuki. Why had he brought someone else along? Was he really so mad at her for embarrassing him that he brought Kirishima to keep them from fighting? She felt miserable at the idea.

“Ochako?” Deku asked, coming up behind her. Todoroki was following close behind, looking at his phone. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought that the pair had come together.

“Deku,” she said, unable to muster up any sort of pleasant smile. She was feeling terrible.

“I am sorry about Kaacchan, he can be such a pain,” Deku sighed, and she made a face. “I know that he’s a great chef- in culinary school he was fantastic and I loved watching him work, but his temper always seems to really hold him back. When I found out that you were working together, I felt bad because he can be so good in the kitchen but being nice is not his strong suit.”

Hearing someone bad mouthing Katuski, though with Deku it was clearly unintentional, she felt a rush of annoyance. She made a face and looked at Todoroki.

“Well, I am sorry that you feel that way. I think that you’re right when you say that he is a brilliant chef, but I don’t agree that he is a terrible person. I like him, actually.”

She turned and marched towards the café with a new sense of urgency to find Bakugou and talk about the night before, leaving an incredibly dumbfounded Todoroki and Deku behind.
---
“Alright, please choose what outfit to wear for the challenge,” Momo said, showing a rack of clothing. It looked like there were all different kinds of maid and butler outfits. Uraraka forgot that part of the challenge. She looked over at Katsuki. During the short time they had been separated he seemed to have calmed down a little and was only slightly grunting curse words. She looked at the rack. There was no way in hell she was going to wear a maid outfit. She reached for a suit and he did the same. But then he stopped and looked at Uraraka. Then he pulled off the dress she had been looking at.

“W-What are y-you-“ she stuttered, looking at the outfit. Was he expecting her to wear that? He looked at the dress and then looked at her dead in the eye.

“Don’t get distracted while we’re cooking today, Angel Face.”

Her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her throat as he pushed past her and went to change. H-He was going to… She stared at the ceiling, her soul leaving the earthly plane and going to another dimension in space to scream.

“Please, get dressed, Chef, we are going to have everyone line up in fifteen minutes,” Mina’s voice pierced her inter-demensional screaming.

She moved without really thinking and went to change into the butler outfit she had chosen and felt like she was going to die in the middle of the kitchen today. They were going to be seen. On camera. Wearing these outfits. He was going to… She screamed again- her entire face turning red.

She came out after fighting with her vest for a few minutes, now trying to put on her tie and knocked right into someone. She looked up to see Katuski towering over her and she squeaked again. She was like a statue, staring at him. He looked so… GOOD???

He was wearing a knee-length black dress with puffy sleeves and a white frilly apron that came with a collar. His short blonde hair was messy and there was a pair of black cat ears on his head. Ochako was going to die today. This was it. This was how it was going to end.

“Did you decide what we’re making?” he barked, getting her to actually remember what she was doing. She was trying to tie the bowtie they’d given her but she was struggling. Katsuki sighed and turned to face her, grabbing the tie and working it without saying anything.

“C-Ch-Charlotte C-Cake,” she muttered, having thought of it only a few moments earlier. It was a cute little pastry that was perfect for them. It could be served hot or cold and she knew that Katsuki would like the challenge. She stared at him as he worked his fingers easily to make her tie. He finished and then looked at her face. And then her lips. She froze. Was he going to… She felt her heart pick up faster and he looked like he might lean in but instead he looked away.

“Charlotte Cake is a good idea, Pink Cheeks.”

She was sure she was going to fall over, her knees were going out from under her. She caught herself against the wall and Katsuki looked at her.

“You okay? Did you get enough sleep?” he demanded, and she nodded.

“Y-Yeah, I just… I am just nervous.”

“We’re going to fucking kill it. No reason to be nervous.”

“W-Why did you decide to wear that?” she asked, getting her footing and following him to join the others.

“Kirishima said that I should do something unexpected. Don’t know why. That shit-face hasn’t been wrong before, so I went along with it.”

She smiled, feeling the heat between the two of them. She wanted more than anything to reach out and touch his hand. Tell him that she liked the way he looked. That it suited him. God, what was she? His cooking partner or his girlfriend?

She almost fainted thinking that last one.

And the reaction from everyone when Katuski kicked in the door to the set was priceless. Krishima and few others at the café who were to be patrons for filming, looked over and Katuski glared at his friend as he burst out laughing and almost fell out of his chair.

“The fuck you dicks think you’re looking at? I get it- I am way better than all of you dumb bitches- no reason to fucking stare!” he yelled, and moved to their station set up. Deku looked like he might die of embarrassment and Todoroki said something to him that made Deku blush something fierce.
Without any other interruptions, they got started on their dishes.

Chapter Text

Ochako could not focus. At. All.

She kept staring at Bakguou. She couldn’t help it. He was adorable. And he looked so angry and focused as he worked on the cake. They were supposed to be working together, but mostly it was Katsuki catching Ochako staring at him, and he turning red and barking orders at her. She just couldn’t get it together. She kept blushing and fumbling around and was getting him angrier by the minute. But then he would look out her and the cat ears just made her want to laugh. He was just too damn cute.

She finally realized what she needed to do.

“Katsuki?”

She said it so quietly and it was probably the first time she had ever really used his name like that- he didn’t hear her at first as he was hitting a pan against the stove.

She reached out and pulling on his skirt, getting his attention. Before he could blow up at her, she looked at him and then the floor.

“Hey… Can I give you my jacket?” she asked, blushing and he stared at her.

“W-Why?”

“You’re distracting me. I can’t win like this,” she said, feeling like she was going to die. It was stupid, but at least it would be something. He looked at her jacket and reached out, pulling on the arm and getting it off of her shoulder. She was so surprised, and then shrugged the rest of it off, Katsuki putting it on and buttoning it up. He looked a lot better and she felt a little more at ease. She smiled at him and turned to get back to work.

Kirishima was having a blast sitting at his table and watching the show.

“I knew it. This is awesome.”
----
Ochako and Katsuki were one of the last groups to finish this time because of the constant distractions, mostly on Ochako’s side, but soon they were finished with a very pretty, hot Charlotte Cake.

Katsuki returned her jacket so they could be presented to the judges and Ochako thought that Endeavor was going to fall over dead and Midnight was whistling in approval. All Might looked nervous and Thirteen was trying her best not to laugh at them. Chef Aizawa was nothing but indifferent.

“Today’s challenge was Parisian Desserts, and what did you make for us?” he asked in a monotone voice.

“Like usual, we fucking killed it!” Bakugou said, showing the dessert, cat ears on point and Ochako trying her best not to explode from how amazingly fired up he was. He had managed to stay relatively calm through the rest of the baking process, only throwing around a few f-words and working hard. Now that he was back out in the open in his maid outfit, he looked more ready to fight someone instead of serve them. He took a large tray and slammed a plate each and Ochako felt like she could die happy knowing that she was able to witness it.

“W-We went with raspberry Charlotte Cake, today,” Ochako managed to spit out, “And traditionally the cake can be presented either hot or cold and we decided to-”

“SET THAT SHIT ON FIRE!” Bakugou yelled, pulling out his blow torch. The steaming cake stared up at them and Midnight was the first to attempt.

“Wow, this amazing, the cake falls apart so easily, but it melts so well. The outside of the cake is not as warm so it can maintain it’s shape. Excellent job.”

“Great use of both of your skills. We know from previously that Ochako is well-versed in pastries, so she used her skills with cakes and Bakugou’s love of fire to create a very delightful little treat,” Thirteen said, smiling brightly into her cake.

“We made the icing with raspberries, sugar and gelatin. The hardest part was warming it after it had been frozen. Bakugou was able to maintain the tempature perfectly,” Ochako said, feeling that she needed to speak up for his hard work. It sounded like they were mostly praising her.

“Why Charolette Cake for this dish?” Endeavor asked. “You could have done anything for the fire effect, like a dish with French Ice Cream.”

“The point of the stupid cake is that it looks cute,” Katsuki said, crossing his arms, Ochako trying not to look at him because he was the one who looked too cute. He glared at the judges. “Ochako wanted to do something that was cute and appealing. Dessert is an important dish because generally it’s something either eaten on its own or after a heavy meal- so deciding which one to go with is difficult. By making the pastry visually appealing and fucking delicious, it doesn’t matter when the person consumes it.”

“Good use of the raspberries,” Aizawa said, looking at the cake. “Frozen fruit is always a challenge and melting them down is difficult. Good use of your short time limit. Passable.”
All Might was the only one who had yet to speak. He looked Katuski up and down and then spoke to Ochako.

“You both showed excellent teamwork this week. I know that you were struggling earlier because of Katsuki’s uh… apparel, but you were able to compromise and make the cake with success. Excellent work.”

“Of course we fucking nailed it, we’re not losers,” Katsuki said, nodding his head and turning to leave. Ochako hurried after him. They were going to the next round.
Deku and Todoroki also passed and were waiting off set, and smiled as they approached.

“Congrats you guys, you’re cake was amazing!” Deku said, smiling at Ochako. She smiled back at him.

“Of course it was- we’re awesome, you dumb fuck. Move,” Katsuki said, shoving past Deku and moving towards the changing rooms where they could get back in their normal clothes.

“Thank you, Deku,” Ochako said, looking at Todoroki. “I liked your Paris-Brest,” she said. They looked pleased and they moved to change their clothes.

After the end of the show, the team leaving consisted of a very quiet young man and a tall chef who were unable to get their cake to set properly. So week four was concluded and the next week’s challenge would be told in a few more days.

Kirishima found Bakugou after changing and everyone was heading for their cars.

“Well, that was an interesting watch.”

“Why did you tell me to do that?” he asked, turning to look at Kirishima.

“I didn’t tell you to put on a dress man. I said do something unexpected.”

“Well, no one was expecting it. So I fucking did it. But why?”

“I needed to see how your cute little chef would react,” Kirishima laughed, and turned to see Ochako coming towards them. “I think that kiss on the cheek was not that of a friend.”

“So what was it?” Katsuki asked and Kirishima sighed and shook his head.

“Hey Ochako! Great job out there today!” Kirishima yelled, smiling at her. “I enjoyed your oufits.”

The way Ochako turned an entire different shade of red at the thought of Katuski in his maid outfit made Kirishima laugh out loud.

“I uh-” she tried to speak and Katuski glared at her.

“What are you trying to say, Pink Cheeks?” Katuski barked, and she looked like she was about to float away with how flustered she was.

“I think that she was going to compliment your dress, Katsuki. Very bold of you to go out there and subvert expectations. Not caring what people think.”

“I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks,” he said, looking at Kirishima, “I am amazing.”

“You are!” Ochako said, a little louder than she meant to and she looked surprised at her own outburst. Kirishima grinned and Katuski’s cheeks were red. “U-Uh I mean I didn’t uh-uh I just-”

“Well, I have to get going, so you two have some fun tonight, yeah? Go out and celebrate you’re awesome victory!” Kirishima said, laughing and hitting them both on the back and going to Katuski’s car. Getting in. And driving away. Katsuki stared for a long second and then went.

“Hey. WAIT A GODAMM-”
---
Ochako drove them both in silence but the tension in the air was thicker than a bowl of pudding. She was trying to think of something to say but found herself unable to. What was she supposed to do? Why was she so nervous? They hadn’t even talked about her kissing him on the cheek. She wondered if he was just pretending like it hadn’t happened.

“Hey.”

She gasped, and looked at him, stopping at a red light.

“Y-Yes?” she asked, gripping the steering wheel and feeling her heart picking up speed. Katsuki looked her dead in the eye.

“Did you kiss me because we’re friends?”

She stared at him.

He looked serious. He didn’t get a straight answer about what was going on with Ochako from Kirishima, so he decided the direct approach was better.

She looked and saw that the light had changed and she was driving again, taking him to his apartment.

“I… I…”

“I didn’t understand, that’s why I am fucking asking.”

She was quiet and he wondered if he had crossed a line. Maybe it had been an accident? Or a simple friendly gesture and she was embarrassed to admit it?

Honestly, Katuski had found that he actually really liked it. He had thought about it the entire night before and had wondered if she might want to… do it again. But he didn’t understand why she’d done it. If it was meant to be sweet and nice, nothing special, he couldn’t just tell her to do it again. But if it was supposed to be something else… Fucking Kirishima was supposed to be helping him with this shit! He was still so lost and confused.

And the tension in the car only got worse. Ochako continued to drive in total silence and he was feeling the weight coming down on them both.

She parked in front of his apartment and looked at him.

“I don’t know why I kissed you.”

Katuski was always so honest and forthcoming with her. She felt like she owed him the same. She didn’t know why she’d kissed him and she didn’t know why she had been so happy to see him dressed up and she didn’t know why she was starting to value his opinion above all others. This was new to her. And Katsuki looked slightly annoyed but satisfied with her answer.

“Okay. Thanks for the ride,” he said, and got out of the car. She wondered what that answer had meant. She looked at the steering wheel and sighed. A knock on her window made her jump a little.

“Yeah?” she asked, rolling down the window.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

Chapter Text

“Do you want to go out on a date with me?”

Ochako didn’t know how long she was silent for, but it seemed like too long since Katuski hit the roof of her car and made her jump.

“Don’t force yourself to answer if you don’t want to.”

“I do!” she yelled. Her entire face lit up and she waved her hands around. “I-I uh- I mean I d-do w-w-want to…”

Katskui’s ears were red and he nodded, “Okay. Meet me here on Friday, 7. Yeah?”

“O-Okay,” she said, gripping the steering wheel to keep her grounded. He nodded again and then walked into his building without another word. And Ochako drove all of the way back to her apartment floating on cloud 9.

That lasted all of twenty minutes before panic and realization hit her on what she was agreeing to. Katuski was a great chef and an excellent partner. Dating him was going to be completely different from cooking with him. And it wasn’t like she really dated much! She started to panic. She needed to ask someone for advice on what to do. And the only person she could think of was…

“Hey, uh, Deku? Can we meet for lunch tomorrow? I need some advice.”
---
Ochako went home and stared at her closet. There was not a single thing in there that she could wear on a date with Katuski. She had never really dressed up for dates before, even when she did have one. She was always spending her days in a food truck or in a chef outfit. She dressed for comfort and practicality. She looked through her wardrobe twice and found nothing to satisfy her. She had texted Deku about meeting up for lunch on her day off and thought that maybe she could do a little shopping while she was out. Maybe get his opinion on what she should wear? She didn’t really have a lot of friends she could ask about that stuff.

“Sounds great! I am working at the resturaunt Detroit Smash, come by after lunch rush!” Deku texted back.

She started to wonder what Bakugou had been like in culinary school. Hell, she was starting to wonder what he was like as a kid. Was he always this self-assured? This confident? It had to have taken a lot for him to ask her out and she knew that there was no way in hell she was ever going to be able to reach that level of self-confidence to just say how she felt. She wanted to know more about Katuski. She needed to know more.

She went into her kitchen and started to bake, thinking about what she was going to ask Deku and what she was going to want to buy for her date.
---
“You asked her out?” Kirishima asked, surprised.

“You wouldn’t help me. What was the fucking point of you coming to the taping if you weren’t going to be of any use to me,” Katuski asked, sharpening his knife set. Since she had dropped him off the day before, Katsuki couldn’t sit still. So he started to clean. And then he went for a run. And then he polished his knives. And cleaned some more. Now he was sharpening them because he needed to do something. Even going to sleep his mind had been buzzing with such excitement. He was almost counting the seconds to Friday.

“I wanted to confirm if she liked you or not. And clearly you figured that one out on your own,” he laughed, sitting at the table with the ravioli Katsuki had made for him.

“Well, thanks for nothing, dipshit. And she didn’t say that she liked me. She said she didn’t know why she kissed me either. I thought that this was the best way to find out what’s going on between us.”

Kirishima was impressed. Katsuki was being mature and actually thinking things through. And while he knew that Ochako clearly liked him, way more than she probably thought she did, it was nice to see Katuski not taking her non-answer without some serious consideration.

“So, it’s just a date between colleagues,” Kirishima prodded, knowing he was provoking Katsuki.

“It’s a date, shithead.”

“Yeah, I know that, but what if it turns out that you two just don’t get along like that? I mean, how are you going to be able to compete together?”
Kirishima knew that it was going to go well, but provoking Bakugou into thinking about things was one of his favorite pastimes.

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”
---
Detroit Smash was a pretty nice place, one of All Might’s resturaunts he’d built from the ground up. Deku was currently working at a sou chef there and had learned about the Sugar or Spice competition through his boss. He was excited to participate with All Might judging his food. He had been surprised to run into Katuski again after all of this time.
Culinary school seemed so long ago but apparently not long enough to make the grudge that Katsuki had against him lessen. Deku had always admired Katsuki’s tenacity in the kitchen and his firm belief in his abilities. He had learned everything he could from Katuski to make himself a better chef. Ochako becoming his partner during the competition had been an honest surprise. She had seemed nervous during the audition but was clearly a skilled chef. Her sweetness and mildness didn’t seem to fit well with Katsuki’s need to win.

But despite their opposite natures, Deku had observed these past four weeks that they cooked well together.

So when Ochako had out of the blue contacted him because she wanted to talk about Katsuki, he had been thrilled because he wondered if she was looking for advice for cooking. But when she sat him down at an ice cream parlor and told him that they were going on a date, Deku almost choked on his mint chocolate chip.

“Ah! Are you okay?” Ochako asked, watching Deku cough and hit his chest to try and calm down.

“I-I’m fine- I… I am just surprised…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean… Kaachan is an excellent chef but I don’t think… I don’t think in the entire time I’ve ever known him, has he ever been interested in dating at all.”
Ochako scoffed. How was that possible? He was handsome, adorable, excellent cook, and incredibly self-confident. He seemed like the perfect person a girl would want to date.

“Well, that’s why I am coming to you for advice. You know Katsuki better than I do. Can you help me out?”

“I don’t know exactly what I could tell you,” Deku replied honestly. “I mean, Kaachan is a great person, sure, but he is difficult at best. But clearly since he is the one who asked you out, then he must be serious. He has never been one to do things half-assed.”

“What about you and Todoroki, I thought that maybe you could give me some advice about dating your cooking partner.”

Now Deku was lying on the ground dead because that came out of nowhere and Ochako was sure she was going to need to call an ambulance.

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to embarrass you!” she said, and Deku laid his head on the table, face completely red.

“I-It’s okay… I was just surprised…”

“Aren’t you two dating? You seem so cutesy whenever you’re cooking.”

Deku let out a drawn sigh.

“I like Todoroki, he is such an amazing chef and he is such a great person… I just don’t have the same level of confidence that Kaachan has to be able to ask him out.”

He sighed and Ochako patted his head affectionately. “Well, maybe you need to do what a chef does. Speak through their cooking. Make him something that shows you care.”
Deku sat up straight.

“What a great idea! Ha ha, it looks like you’re the one who ended up giving the romantic advice,” he laughed and she smiled. It was nice to know that she wasn’t the only clueless chef in the world when it came to this kind of stuff. They parted so he could get back to work and Ochako could pick her outfit. She was filled with a sense of excitement about the date now- knowing that someone who knew Katuski so well knew that he was serious when he said that he wanted to go out with her. Even if it was just to see what the future might hold for their relationship. Deku was right, Katsuki never half-assed anything. This was just as important to him as it was to her.
---
Friday at 7 pm could not come soon enough.

Ochako looked at herself in the mirror and felt her pulse pick up. She had bought a knee length bright pink summer dress and was twirling in the mirror. She had put on a pair of leggings and boots, and was currently moving around because the excitement was too much. She had wanted to text Bakugou several times but found herself just staring at her phone in defeat.

All week she had been working and sweating in her food truck, thinking about everything that could go right and wrong on this date. But she was excited none the less. She wanted this more than anything, and it kind of scared her.

She looked at the time. It was only five and she was already dressed and pacing around her apartment. She needed to calm down. She was going to run herself ragged before the date even began.

She heard the ding of her timer and hurried into the kitchen. She had decided that she needed to make something to take with her. She wanted to ask several times what exactly they were supposed to be doing on this date, but she found that she wanted to see what Katsuki came up with instead. He seemed like he’d had sort of a plan when he asked her out.

She had worked all day on them, taking off early from her day job to get started as soon as she could. She had finally settled on Rasberry Powder Puffs, a simple pastry that was said to be a good pastry for a date. She wasn’t really sure, but she liked the way they had turned out so she was pleased. She had thought that adding anything else would be a little much.

Putting her powder puffs into a pink tin, she looked at the time and decided that she should head out. She didn’t want to be late and she didn’t know if she could keep running around the apartment in such a tizzy.
---
Meanwhile, Bakugou was staring at a man and looking like he was going to punch him in the face.

“You,” he said, and the man jumped a little.

“Y-Yes?”

“I need flowers for a first date- but not shitty ones- like stupid ones that people always get.”

“Uh- okay, so something different?” the florist offered, looking at the seething customer.

Katsuki had so much excitement built up that he was getting anxious as Friday approached. He had found himself setting different recipes that might necessarily need it on fire. He had even set an onion on fire at work because he was trying to find an outlet for his nervous energy and scared his coworkers more than usual.

He dressed in a casual deep red button up and black vest, and was only an hour away from the time he was supposed to meet Uraraka when suddenly Bakugou realized he hadn’t thought to get her anything. He didn’t know if he had time to make her anything to eat and he didn’t want to do leftovers. So instead he hurried down the street to the nearest flower shop and was currently harassing the florist in charge.

“Yeah, something that no one is expecting. Nothing bullshit.”

The florist hesitated and looked around, trying to think of something. “Did you want something big or small?”

“Small, Uraraka isn’t the kind of person who likes big. She’s a hometown southern girl, something like that,” Katsuki said, crossing his arms.

“Ah, I see. Have you known each other long?” the florist asked, walking around and looking at what he had, Katsuki standing at the counter like a statue.

“We met a few months ago,” he replied.

“And this is your first date?” the man asked, smiling a little and picking up a jar from the shelf.

“Yeah,” he replied and the man set down a small pink mason jar with soft white mini carnations and a few sticks coming from the opening.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking at it.

“Small town southern girl who has simple taste- perfect arrangement. The flowers are small enough that they aren’t too much and she can reuse the jar when she’s done with it.”
Katsuki stared at the flowers and then looked at the man with the most nightmarish grin the man had ever seen in his entire life.

“Fucking perfect.”
---
Ochako reached the apartment about thirty minutes early but was surprised to find that Katsuki was already waiting and looked as impatient and angry as ever. But he looked so handsome that her heart started to flutter at the sight of him. She smiled and parked.

“Hi,” she said, getting out of the car. He looked her over, admiring her dress. Then he spotted the tin in her hand.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking at it.

“Oh, uh… I felt weird coming empty handed so…” she said, and felt her face getting flush. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea. She opened the lid and he looked inside to see her powder puffs. He smiled and pulled out his flowers from behind his back and showed them to her.

“I thought the same thing,” he said and grinned. She smiled and they exchanged their gifts, Ochako enchanted by the flowers and thanking him. She felt almost spoiled. He had gotten her something and it was so great! She loved them. And it was amazing that already he knew her well enough to know what to get her. She had thought that most couples get each other large over the top things when they first date. But it felt completely normal that they were giving little things. Thoughtful gifts.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said, closing the lid on the tin after eating two powder puffs.

“Where are we going?” she asked, following him to her car.

“There is a small place I wanted to try, and I think you’ll like it,” he said and got into her car, giving her directions as they went.

Ochako talked the entire ride, Katuski barely getting a word in, though he didn’t seem to mind. She talked about her week, working on the truck, shopping for her dress, finding a brand new pair of boots to wear and getting a new skillet for her kitchen. She talked about the phone call she’d had with her parents earlier in the week, how everything was going with her plan, the cooking competition and her speculation on the next challenge. Katsuki listened in complete silence, but she never felt like he wasn’t listening and not focused on what she was saying.

They reached a small diner on the other side of town that was literally called Mom and Pop’s Diner. It was like an old style diner with a bar and booths and a juke box. It was amazing. She looked around in surprise.

“I have never seen this place before! How have I never heard of it?” she asked and smiled up at him. He was turning a little red with embarrassment. He’d hoped she’d like it, he didn’t expect her to be so cute about it.

“I read about it- they do the whole burgers and shakes thing,” he said and they went inside. It was packed for a Friday night and despite the fact that clearly they were both a little over-dressed for a place like this, it was amazing.

Ochako looked around, enjoying the décor and the ambiance, the kitchen and the food. It felt like a place she would have gone to when she was a kid with her parents. She looked at Katsuki. This wasn’t his kind of a place. He was more of a steak and grill kind of a place, a BBQ or maybe an outdoor eatery. He’d picked this place because he knew that she’d like it. That she’d want to come to a place like this.

Ochako had never understood before that moment why people stay in love and are married for so long. It was this. This quiet understanding of each other, knowing each other so well and devoting thought to their happiness. Katsuki had picked this place because he wanted her to be happy.

She was so overcome with emotion at the sight of his smug grin, a sure sign that he had claimed victory on this date in making it memorable and she had to look at the menu to keep from crying because it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.
---
The food was greasy and the conversation little as they enjoyed a nice meal and Katuski was glad to see that Ochako was really enjoying herself. He had been nervous all of the way up until he saw her and then he was just content and happy. He was glad to see her having fun and talking, her hands in constant motion as she went on and on about anything she could think of. And he was entranced by her. But Katuski was not one for making assumptions. They finished the meal and headed out, thanking the owner and going back to her car. Katuski looked at the time and saw that it was only nine now, he didn’t want to just go home.

“Want to just walk for a bit?” he asked and she smiled, blushing a little.

“Sure!”

They walked side by side, a little bit of distance between them as they headed down the path to a park that was fairly empty this late except for a few joggers and couples.

The moon was in full view and it seemed nice and quiet.

“Katsuki?” she asked, looking at him nervously.

“What’s up, Pink Cheeks?” he asked and looked down at her. Her hands were behind her back and she was looking at the ground.

“C-Can I…” she started and he stopped, looking down at her.

“Can you what?” he asked, and looked annoyed when she shook her head.

“Nevermind, I-”

“Spit it out, what do you want?” he demanded and she looked up at him, her face luminescent.

“C-Can I hold your hand?” blurted out.

Katuski’s face lit up like Christmas as he stuttered, unable to speak at first. Ochako gasped and turned even more red and felt like maybe her soul needed to exit her body again like the other day.

“H-H-H…”

“S-Sorry, that was stupid I shouldn’t have-”

“Hell yes!” he yelled and shoved his right hand out in front of him, looking angry. She felt like she might die because he was just too cute. It was like when a little kid is trying to ask you to hold their hand. She took his hand and it was warm and nice and she felt like this was the greatest night of her entire life.

They walked awkwardly at first, but then got into a rhythm and it was nice. Actually, for Ochako, it was perfect. She felt like she was just floating away. Nothing could ruin this moment.

“Thank you… for taking me out to dinner,” she said, feeling like this might be the only opportunity she was going to have to say something like that. He nodded, but didn’t speak. She wondered if he was annoyed, considering he looked like he was going to punch something and walked only facing forward. But his grip on her hand wasn’t stiff or angry. They reached the end of the park and were back at her car about thirty minutes later and there came the thought that they would have to stop holding hands so she could drive. Ochako was about to speak when he turned and looked at her.

“L-Let’s go around one more time,” he demanded.

She nodded. Yeah. She was really enjoying this date.
---
The following morning was to be the announcement of the next week’s challenge and the pair were forced to part too soon. But it was late and Kastsuki didn’t want their date affecting their work in the competition. Reluctantly she relented and they drove home, her hand touching his any moment she didn’t need it to drive.

They came to his apartment and he got out, her tin in hand as she stepped out to walk him to the front of the building.

“Thank you for the evening,” she said, smiling up at him. He nodded.

“Better have fucking enjoyed it,” he muttered, “That place was cool. We’ll have to go there again sometime.”

There was no way to respond to that statement that didn’t involve a high pitch squeak so she just nodded her head and turned to go. Katuski reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Oi,” he said, and she looked up at him. “Didn’t say goodnight.”

He pulled her towards him and she felt a wave of terror overcome her. Was he going to kiss her? She was unsure what to do. Her entire brain seemed to shut down and her heart was pounding in her ears. But he pulled her into a hug instead.

“K-Katsuki,” she managed to mutter into his shoulder, the man hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe.

“I had a good fucking time tonight,” he spat out and gave her one more squeeze before letting her go and shoving her a little. “Get some sleep and see you in the morning!” he yelled and turned, going into the building without looking back.

She stood there, listening to the passing cars and the distant sirens and crickets and stared into space.

“N-Night…”
---
Katuski and Ochako stood side by side the following morning and looked like neither of them had slept a wink. Deku looked over at them and gave Ochako a little thumbs up and she managed a weak smile. She had barely been able to fall asleep at all, thinking about the date the entire night and only getting a few hours. Katsuki was the same, but he wouldn’t admit it.

“Alright, kids! It’s time for this week’s challenge!” Present Mic yelled, Momo pointing cameras at them.

“This week’s challenge is going to be Italian Entrees. Contestants are going to be presenting a shared dish that is not going to be judged just by our fantastic celebrity judges, they are going to be presented to the hardest critics in the world-“

Everyone looked around as a large monitor showed a small room filled with tons of people. Ochako let out a loud gasp.

“That’s right! This week’s challenge, each dish prepared by our contestants will have to be presented to- THEIR PARENTS!”

Chapter Text

Parents. Parents. The next challenge was parents. Their parents.

“My mom is coming here?” Bakugou spat out like it was a curse.

She looked up at him and saw that instantly his aura was different. His sleepy gaze turned into a menacing one and he looked at a couple waving at the camera. Ochako saw her own parents were standing among the others, waving wildly and her father was wearing a shirt that said ‘My daughter is #1!” and she sighed. This was totally embarrassing.

“For this challenge, we are going to have each pair of chefs have a meeting with their family members together and discuss what they think should go into an Italian dish. Then we’ll have each chef present their meal and let their parents decide how it tastes!” Present Mic yelled, bringing everyone back to reality. Her parents had been hiding the fact that they were going to be in town. Her mom had just said that they were going to spend a quiet weekend in just the day before.

And that suddenly brought up something else that Ochako had not even thought about- her parents were going to be Katsuki!

She gasped and her entire face flushed as she thought about that. She remembered the first time she’d met him- it hadn’t been pleasant. And this kind of thing could easily get out of hand. That was probably why the showrunners came up with it. The embarrassment and insanity made good television.

“Now everyone will be introduced to their parents!”

There were several tables set up on the next set over and the walls opened to find that the parents were going to each table with their children’s numbers on it. She saw her mom waving and smiling, her dad yelling. Ochako thought she was going to die.

“Why in the hell did my mom agree to this bullshit?” Katuski muttered. He’d been just as blindsided and she could tell that he was struggling with what was going on.

‘’W-Well- l-let’s make the most of it?” she tried, though she didn’t sound sure of herself at all. He looked down at her.

“Are you embarrassed of me?” he demanded.

“Huh? What?”

“You don’t want to introduce me to your parents, do you?” he accused and she glared at him.

“I want you to meet them! Of course I do! I was just surprised! If anything I bet you don’t want to introduce me to your parents because you’re embarrassed.”

“Of course I’m not! You’re fucking amazing, they’re going to fucking love you! Probably more than they love me!” he yelled, kicking the closest chair. She turned and yelled at him.

“Don’t yell! And my parents are going to LOVE YOU MORE!” she yelled, and stomped her foot. They were doing this right in front of the camera. Present Mic was laughing hysterically in the background.

“Then come the fuck on!” he yelled, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the table where their parents were talking to each other and introducing themselves. Bakugou and Ochako came up to them, and he refused to let go of her hand.

“Mom, Dad, this is Ochako!” he yelled, and she looked bewildered. That was her introduction to his parents? Really? She looked horrified. He looked just like his mother, had the same hair and eyes. His father looked really nice.

“Hello, I am Mitsuki,” she said, and reached out to take Ochako’s hand to shake and noticed their hands were still intertwined.

“What the fuck are you doing here, you dumb bitch?” Bakguou asked, and Ochako gasped. His mother reached up with her extended hand and smacked him upside the back of his head. Her friendly demeanor instantly disappeared and she looked just like Bakugou as she yelled at him.

“The fuck did you just call me you little prick? I spent nine grueling months pregnant with your dumbass and you call me a dumb bitch? That should be my line! Your father and I don’t hear from you for fucking months and then we get a call to find out your on a cooking show? When were you going to tell us?”

She instantly switched tones and faces and gave a brilliant smile to Ochako.

“Sweetheart, hi, I am so sorry about my stupid, idiot son,” she said, extending her hand towards Ochako again. Bakugou let go of Ochako’s hand so she could properly say hello and she noticed that he looked like he wanted to beat someone to death. Well, now she knew why Katuski was the way he was.

“Don’t listen to her, Ochako, she’s got early onset dementia, the old witch,” he said, looking at his mother and his father gave a rather loud sigh as if this wasn’t the first or last time these two were seen fighting like this in public.

Her parents looked like they had never been so shocked in all of their lives.

“H-Hello, Katsuki,” her mother said, extending her hand to him and he glared at her. She hesitated, looking at Ochako as if she was unsure what to say. Bakugou rubbed his hands on his jeans and extended it, shaking her hand firmly and looking annoyed.

“I am Katuski Bakugou.”

Ochako was completely shocked. He almost sounded civil? And she felt her face flush and she smiled at him, which surprised everyone at the table.

“See, I told you that they’d like you,” she said, hitting his shoulder playfully as he looked at her.

“Whatever.”

“So, we’re really excited that you’re doing a cooking show,” her mother said, feeling a little relieved to see that the fighting seemed to be mostly over. “Why didn’t you tell us, sweetie? We are so proud of you!”

Katuski looked at Ochako.

“You didn’t tell your parents that you were on the show?” he asked. Didn’t she talk to them all of the time? She was just saying that the night before.

“Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to visit them in a few weeks so I was going to tell them then, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now,” she laughed but he could see that she was mostly faking. Why had she kept it a secret that she was on this show? Was she embarrassed? He was enraged to think for a single moment she had been embarrassed because of him. But then he thought about it. Ochako never really seemed sure of herself, even though she was such an amazing chef. He didn’t get it. He was the greatest and everyone knew it. Maybe his overconfidence and ability wasn’t exactly something that everyone had. Maybe she was worried she was somehow disappointing her parents. He doubted it- she’d never disappointed him the entire time he’d known her.

“Is there something wrong?” her father asked, noticing that the two of them seemed to be having a private moment.

“Naw, Ochako’s just embarrassed because you had to see these other losers here,” Bakugou said, looking at her dad and admiring his shirt. “These background characters aren’t even in the same league as us. We have won every challenge in the competition so far.”

“Everyone single one?” her mother asked, sounding surprised. Mistuki looked at her son, not surprised to see him boasting. He was always like that, even as a child. She did her best to get him to be humble but her efforts had been more than wasted. But she was surprised to see him talking up someone else.

“So, you two are doing well, then?” she interjected.

“Fuck yeah- of course!” he said, slamming his hand on the table for emphasis. Ochako looked at Bakguou as he spoke, “Ochako is the reason why we won our last challenge, she picked our dessert.”

“W-Well, you were the one who kept me from falling asleep at the seafood challenge,” she said, as if he was giving her too much credit. He looked annoyed.

“Ochako has been keeping up with me this entire competition- I don’t have to worry about her,” he said, and that was the highest praise he could manage. It was strange though, the way they were looking at each other it was almost as if they were having a compliment competition.

“Well, I wouldn’t have even finished my audition if Bakugou hadn’t been so confident in his dish.”

“Our chili only worked because the bread was good, and she made that,” he said, looking at her parents. The two were full on fighting now.

“Yeah, well, you were the one who helped me when I was sick- you made me food and made sure that no one talked down to me!”

“Well, anyone can do that- you were the one who was able to keep cooking even though you were sick and we were making seafood!”

Their fight was incredibly confusing. The parents looked at each other. They wanted to interject but the sound of the intercom did it for them.

“Alright, families! Now that we’re all introduced, let’s talk about our dishes!” Present Mic said and like a light switch, both Ochako and Katsuki instantly dropped their fight and turned to look at their parents, determination in their expressions.

“Italian cooking,” Katuski said, looking at his mother, “It’s all about family and family dining.”

“Since we’re going to have our parents here, we should probably do an entrée that they can all enjoy together,” Ochako said, looking at her mother.

“Do you think that you can come up with something like that, one that no one else is doing?” she asked and looked at Katsuki thoughtfully. He waved his hand thoughtlessly.

“Of course, the extras never make anything worth-while. But we need something that compliments both our cooking styles,” he said, leaning against the table and looked at Ochako. He’d noticed that her hair was a little out of place and as she started talking, he reached out and started to fix it.

“Entrees are always a little more difficult because you don’t want to do something that will be too filling. This is just the warm-up to the big meal,” she said, not even noticing that he was fixing her hair as she looked at her parents, as if explaining how cooking worked to a group of children. Bakugou tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and nodded.

“Yeah, we need something that is light and simple- the time limit is everything- don’t want to spend too much time trying to get out an entrée.”

“Exactly. What do you guys think?” she asked, looking between the four other adults present. Katsuki looked at his parents. They all looked incredibly astonished.

“A-Are you two-” his father started to say and Mitsuki suddenly jumped up and knocked into the table.

“You know what I love? Spareribs? Do Italians do spareribs?”

Katuski looked at Ochako. She had to think about it.

“What about Tuscan-Style Spareribs- but they are a little big,” she muttered, looking at Katuski.

“We can do something smaller, we can probably half the ingredients and get smaller portions,” he said, and his mother quickly sat back down. The other parents clearly knew why she’d interrupted and kept silent. Ochako started to get excited now, thinking about the recipe.

“That’s actually really good- I can pick the wine and balsamic glaze we’ll need and you grill the ribs,” she said and Katuski sat up a little more.

“Hell, yeah, I’ll murder that shit with fire!”

She laughed and gave his shoulder a little shove and smiled at him. In fact, she was beaming. And for the first time in a long time, Mitsuki was completely taken aback to see her son was genuinely smiling back at her. She looked at her husband and gave him a little shove in the arm.

“Ah, well, that sounds excellent,” he said, coughing a little clear his throat, trying not to look too astonished. “You two sound like you’re going to do well!”

“Of course,” Ochako said, smiling so brightly she was lighting the entire room, “Katuski is the best!”

With that settled, they were ready for the cooking portion to take place the next day. They were all let go for the afternoon of filming after a few interviews on camera and it was decided that they should go back to the hotel and have dinner together to enjoy some more time together and the interesting new relationship their children had neglected to tell them about.

Chapter Text

Bakugou was early to the meeting. The hotel was downtown and everyone was going to meet up at the front entrance before they went out. He had texted Ochako, telling her not to worry about giving him a ride. He wanted to be able to make an early escape if his mother pissed him off in any way.

He was standing in front of the hotel entrance, tugging a little on his jacket. He’d decided to dress up a little, which was really he just put a nice jacket over his Punisher shirt and jeans. He was wondering now if he should have tried a little harder, since he was meeting Ochako’s parents again. But they’d already met so he guessed that there was no real way he was going to impress them. Not that he was trying to- he didn’t need to impress anyone. He was awesome the way he was.

But he felt like maybe he should have put in more effort for Ochako than for anyone else. But as she came up the street, parking a little further away, he was a little relieved that she didn’t really dress up much either. She had changed in a pair of nice jeans and a nice gray shirt with the bottoms tied together. She looked like she had showered too, her hair was still damp.

“Hey,” she said and he straightened up.

“Hey,” he said shortly and looked her over. She felt like maybe she should have put more effort into her own outfit. “You look good.”
She felt her face turn red and she reached up to fix his lapel that’d gotten out of place. Her hand lingered as she looked up at him.

“You too.”

He nodded a little and reached up, taking her hand. She thought that he was going to move it, but instead he put his fingers between her own, taking her hand.

“Come on, Pink Cheeks, don’t want to keep them waiting,” he said, and pulled her along. She followed and was trying not to smile too much.

The others were in the lobby, talking to each other. Mitsuki didn’t miss the fact that Bakugou was dragging Ochako along with him.

“There they are,” he said, talking to Ochako, “Now where the fuck are we eating in this dump?” he demanded. He earned a smack upside the head from Mistuki for that one.

“Stop fucking cussing you little piece of shit, we’re in public,” she said and then instantly turned and smiled sweetly to Ochako, “Honey, you are just looking so cute this evening.”
Ochako blushed under the attention and Bakugou let go of her hand so her parents could give her a hug. They walked into the restuarunt in the hotel, a nice sit down place that looked pretty expensive. The hotel had been provided by the studio, so there was no way Ochako’s parents were ever going to be able to afford dinner in a place like this. Katuski noticed how quiet and uncomfortable she got as they sat down.

“Mom, since you invited everyone, you better fucking foot the bill,” he said and she glared at him.

“Fuck off you little dickhead, of course I was going to pay!” she said, giving him a good kick under the table. He glared back at her. Ochako looked at her parents, suddenly relieved that they were no longer obligated to worry. She looked at Katsuki, as if it was the first time she’d ever truly looked at him before.

This man was loud, obnoxious, and incredibly full of himself- but he was generous, kind in his own way, and by far the greatest chef she’d ever seen. And sitting there at that table, watching him looking at the menu and asking her mother how she liked her steak cooked, Ochako felt happier than she had ever been before in her life.

They ate dinner and talked and caught up on current events. Ochako’s family was still struggling with their construction business, but hoping to get some government contracts to help them out. Bakugou’s parents were fashion designers and were about to head to Paris in a few weeks for a fashion show.

“We don’t know where Katuski got his cooking skills from. I can barely handle a knife and my husband is a pretty fair cook. But Katuski was born with a knife in his hand, I think,” Mitsuki explained to Ochako’s mother. “He was always in the kitchen making something. I tried to get him to play with fake food or plastic toys, he just tossed them aside and wanted to cook meat or scale a fish.”

“Ochako was always baking. She had an Easy Bake Oven as a kid- she kept making things, even if she was out of mix she’d make creations out of Play Doh. She was always throwing tea parties or having dinner prepared for her dolls,” her mother said, laughing at the memory.

“Mom,” Ochako groaned, feeling embarrassed that apparently now their parents had moved on to bonding over their children. Katuski looked smug.

“Heh, I bet you always were making a mess,” he said and she glared at him.

“I did not!”

“Oh, sweetie, you’d destroy my poor kitchen every day. Finally we had to just give in and get her cooking lessons so she could actually do something instead of playing all of the time.”

“Katuski wouldn’t take lessons,” his father laughed, patting his son on the shoulder, “He kept setting things on fire and telling the chefs that he worked with that he could do it better than they could.”

“Because I could! Those idiots were shit at cooking!”

They continued on this way as dinner was served and things got quiet, and Mistuki finally asked what she’d been holding back all day.

She had agreed with the others that they would finally ask about the elephant in the room when the time came but no one seemed to know when that was. They had originally agreed just before they left after the taping of the next episode, but when she looked over and saw that Katuski was purposefully taking things off of his plate and putting them on Ochako’s because he didn’t think she’d had a big enough portion- she decided it was time to go ahead and blurt out what everyone was thinking.

“Are you two dating?”

Katuski’s father almost choked on his water and her parents dropped their silverware on the table, looking bewildered. Apparently bluntness was a family trait. Katuski stared at his mother and Ochako looked horrified.

“Yeah,” Katuski said simply and Ochako stared at him now.

“W-We are?” she stuttered as if this was news to her too. Katuski glared at her.

“Well, yeah, dumbass.”

“W-W-We n-ne-never really-” she tried to talk but was so flustered that she was not making any sense. Katuski stared at her.

“You don’t want to date me?”

“W-What? N-No! I mean- of course I do! I just…” she trailed off, not able to speak.

“Well there you fucking go. Yes, Mom, we’re dating. Y’all happy now?” he asked, looking around the table and then back to his dinner. No one moved. Apparently they weren’t sure if that was the end of the conversation or not.

“Hey, Round Face, tell your mom the idea about the food truck you want to make,” Katuski said, digging into his steak and Ochako looked at her mother.

“Food truck?” she repeated, looking confused. “Sweetie, I thought you said you were working in a restaurant.”

Katuski looked at Ochako, clearly surprised. “You didn’t tell your parents you were working in a food truck?”

She looked at her plate and suddenly stood up, heading out without another word. Katuski sighed and looked at the table.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, dropping his silverware and leaving without another word.
---
Ochako was walking towards the parking lot, trying to figure out where she was going. She’d left without her purse and had just taken off. She was too embarrassed to head back in and just kept going.

“Ochako!”

She stopped walking when she heard her name. Katuski reached her.

“Why did you lie to your parents?”

He was never one for beating around the bush.

“I didn’t lie… a food truck is like a restaurant.”

“Do your parents know what you want to do for a living? Your mother looked pretty surprised. Do they even know about your plan to have your own line of them?”

“Every time I mention it- they laugh. It's an embarrassment to be working in something like that when I am supposed to be a professional chef!”

He was always so honest and upfront, even when the truth was the worst thing imaginable. She needed to be the same way if they were going to go on. She turned and faced him and he could see that she was clearly embarrassed.

“Do you know how much it cost for my lessons?” she asked, now getting louder and more emotional. “I was good at cooking, sure, but I constantly needed help. I had to take so many extra classes and I spent all of my free time cooking and baking and failing. I wasted so much money on cooking supplies and making bad food and-”

When had she started to cry?

“Ochako…”

“And then cooking school cost so much! And I couldn’t find a job anywhere! I was trying so hard and it wasn’t enough! I had to start working in the food trucks because there wasn’t anything else for me!”

“Then why did you go into this competition? You knew it was hard, but you did it anyway!” he yelled back, not liking the way she was putting her own talent down.

“Because I needed money!”

“That wasn’t the only reason! You entered the competition for money, sure, but you also did it because you knew you’d be good enough to win! That’s all that matters!”

“To you!” she yelled, giving him a good shove. He stared at her but didn’t speak. “That’s all you ever care about- winning! And you’re such a great chef and I know that you’re going to always be a winner, but not everyone can think like that!”

He clenched his fists.

“You don’t think I work hard?” he asked in a dangerously low tone. She stared at him, realizing that she’d said something she shouldn’t have.

“T-That’s not-”

“You think that all of this is easy for me? That I just woke up one morning and was a great chef? I worked fucking hard! I spent hours and hours working on my cutting techniques! I sacrificed a fuckton to get where I am right now! I care about winning above all else but I put in the fucking work and I am proud of what I accomplish. And I can’t fucking believe you have the balls to tell me that it’s fucking easy. I wasn’t given anything- I took what I wanted!”

She stared at him.

Weren’t they just having a nice family dinner only ten minutes ago?

“You should never be ashamed of doing your best. So what if you work on a food truck? Who gives a fuck? As long as you’re out there doing the best you can- that’s what fucking matters. You have a fucking dream- maybe not the one you started out with-but one that you made on your own. So stop feeling sorry for yourself!”

She glared at him and gave him another shove. Things were spiraling out of control now.

“Shut up! You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know what it’s like to live in crippling debt or to worry that your parents are going to have to choose between you and their house mortgage or that you might not have enough money for rent next month! You have no fucking right to judge me!”

“I am not judging you, dammit!” he yelled, and she shoved him again. “I am telling you the fucking truth! You’re just acting like everything is about you! Don’t you think that you’re parents aren’t proud of you? Don’t you think that all of those sacrifices were worth it? Because I do! I think that they did everything they could to give you a better life but for some reason you don’t think you deserve it! You think that you have to do something, be something better, to somehow earn that. But last time I checked it’s called unconditional love, Ochako. It’s always like this with you- you think that everything has conditions and that if you don’t work harder than everyone else or try harder than everyone else, then you don’t deserve to be happy. I don’t fucking get it because I never asked you to do that, did I?”

“You are always asking that! You always want the best! You have to win- that’s all that matters to you and if I don’t win- then how am I supposed to prove that I am worth keeping around?!” she shouted, and gave him one final shove, pushing him so hard that he actually fell backwards on the sidewalk and hit the ground. She gasped, realizing what she’d done.

“Oh- Katuski!” she said, trying to reach out for him but he hit her hand away.

“Don’t.”

He slowly stood up and she stared at him, and he looked at her like he’d never had before. Like she was another one of his enemies he needed to defeat. He looked cold and calculating and she’d have given anything in that moment to make him smile at her. Just one. But he just looked away.

“We have to cook in the morning. Get some fucking sleep,” he said, and turned away from her, and walking towards the parking lot alone. Her knees gave out on her and she knew that she’d made an irrevocable mistake.

Chapter Text

Kirishima was awoken at three in the morning by a banging on his front door. He sighed after checking the time and wobbled his way through the dark and opened the door to find Katuski standing there. He didn’t speak. He just stared at the ground and Kirishima opened his mouth to speak but Katuski just shook his head.

“I need to sleep,” he muttered and moved around him, and threw himself on the couch in the living room. Kirishima didn’t speak and closed the door, standing in the dark for a minute and then going to his room and leaving the door open in case Katsuki changed his mind.

The only other time Katuski had ever acted like this had been in their first year at culinary school. Kirishima was attending the business classes and met Katsuki through their mutual cooking class. He had been doing well until Deku transferred into the class. Despite his best efforts, Katuski had lost to a cooking challenge provided by the teacher and Deku had excelled. That night, Kirishima found a tired and disoriented Katuski at his front door of his dorm. He slept on the floor without a single word and then the next day he was back in the kitchen and working through his problems the only way he knew how. By fighting through it.

Considering Kirishima was completely aware of Katuski’s evening plans, there were only two reasons he would look like he’d been hit by a bus right now- either he got into a fight with his parents over something, or he’d gotten into a fight with Ochako. And he doubted that a fight with his parents would leave Katuski looking so hollow.
So he nodded and left Katuski to sleep and deal with his problems. If he wanted to talk, he knew that Kirishima would always listen.
---

Ochako sat in her parents hotel room, staring at the television and looked at the clock. It was almost four in the morning. She’d tried calling and texting Katuski all night. She just wanted to know if he got home okay. He’d been walking. She was so angry, and worried and mortified with what had happened.

She needed to talk to him.

But she also needed to cry and according to her mother, give him some space. Mitsuki and the others had come out to find Ochako standing alone and crying on the sidewalk and had decided instantly that everything was Katsuki’s fault and his mother left him several angry voicemails that he didn’t reply to. He didn’t reply to any of their calls.
The only person Ochako could think to call to see where he was had been Kirishima but she couldn’t bring herself to text him. Maybe she needed to stop and think about she’d said too. Sometimes the best way to get through something is to reflect.

They had both said some serious things out there in the parking lot.

She hated to admit that Katsuki had been right and she had been the one in the wrong.

And it wasn’t the first time either.

He had been right- she had been embarrassed and ashamed of working in a food truck after two years of trying to get a job in a “real restaurant.” That she had not told her parents where she was really working this entire time. She had kept it a secret from them because she had really been terrified that if they knew the truth then they would feel like she was just playing around and not taking her career seriously. Or worse- they would be disappointed in her.

And because of that she’d disappointed Katuski. And that thought- that intensely gut-wrenching thought- that had been what kept her up most of the night.
Katuski Bakguou had been so certain she was worth his time and energy and worth being called a partner and now he was nothing but disappointed in her. She’d seen it in his eyes. There was no worse feeling in the entire world than the way he’d looked at her.

She laid down on the couch, hugging the pillow to her chest and closed her eyes.

This was only going to get worse if she didn’t talk to him soon.
---

She got only a half-hour nap in. Then she was up and taking a shower before heading to the taping. Her parents had offered to drive but she wanted to go find Katuski and talk to him alone.

She should have been thinking about meal they were supposed to be making. She had to stay focused on the task at hand, but it was hard. All she could think about was their fight.

She arrived at the studio and hurried inside, looking around for him.

But he wasn’t there.

He wasn’t anywhere. She asked Momo and Iida and the others but Katuski hadn’t come in yet. She checked her phone. They needed to prep ingredients and they needed to get ready. She started to pace. She needed to find him. She was about to go speak to Momo again when Deku came over to her.

“Hey, Ochako, is everything alright?”

The crew was setting up a studio for the parents and family members to sit down and watch the cooking. They were starting to file in and she spotted Mistuki among the crowd.

“Uh, yeah, just don’t know where Bakugou is,” she said, trying not to sound nervous. Or worse- terrified. It was a part of the show that she had to cook with a partner. She had looked around the set, getting frantic. This wasn’t the Katuski she knew. He wouldn’t just not show up. He would have called. Or texted.

She started to look like she might throw up.

“Hey, maybe you should sit down,” he offered.

“Worry about your own shit, Deku.”

Katuski’s rough voice sounded tired and angry and she looked behind her to see Katuski standing there. He was wearing the same thing he’d been wearing the night before. He hadn’t gone home. She worried that he might not have gotten any sleep from the way he looked.

“Oh, s-sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Deku said, apologetically.

“No, Deku, you’re fine, thank you for worrying about me,” Ochako said, touching his arm a little. She turned and looked at Katsuki.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said and turned and walked away. She didn’t know how she’d looked but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She needed to apologize, explain, talk to him. But he looked like he had lost what fire he’d had. It was like the time when she was sick.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly and he went to their station and started to take off his jacket. He didn’t respond as he started to sharpen his knives.

“I’ll prep, you get everything ready for the meal,” he said without looking at her.

She watched him pulling out ingredients, focusing on his work.

And she was defeated.

He’d won- again.

There was nothing she could say that could fix what happened the night before. She had ruined their chances together. He was probably avoiding the issue to get through the challenge today, but she had a feeling the moment it was over- he would tell her something she wasn’t ready to hear.

That he didn’t want to go out anymore.

She didn’t know why, but she felt the tears threaten and start to pour out of her eyes. She sniffed and it only got worse. She started to cry. Katuski stopped cutting and looked up, seeing her standing in the middle of the kitchen and was bawling her eyes out in front of everyone.

“O-Ochako!” Deku said, looking worried and Katsuki slammed his knife down.

“I said it was none of your fucking business, Deku!” he yelled, and reached out, grabbing Ochako by the arm and dragging her out of the building. She cried going into the parking lot, trying to get loose but his grip was firm. He stopped her outside of the front door.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded and she kept crying.

“I am crying you asshole, what does it look like?” she yelled, rubbing her eyes and making it worse.

“I can see that, dumbass,” he said, and he looked her over. He let out a loud sigh and reached out, pulling her into him, hugging her tightly. Ochako cried into his shoulder, gripping him hard like if he let go he’d never hug her again.

“Stop bawling, you’re messing up my shirt,” he muttered, holding onto her tighter than before. She cried until she was finished and whimpering a little and he leaned his cheek into the side of her head.

“Are you done?”

She nodded a little.

“We need to talk- but not right now. You need to get cooking.”

She nodded, and started to let him go.

“By the way, I am not helping you today.”

She looked up at him, surprise on her face.

“W-What?”

He looked annoyed.

“I didn’t fucking stutter. I am not going to help you cook today. I am taking the day off. I am going to sit on the counter and I am going to pretend like I don’t know a damn thing about cooking.”

What the hell? What did that mean?

“K-Katsuki- I-I don’t understand.”

“I think you can handle some spare ribs on your own,” he said simply and let her go, wiping her tears from her cheeks. “I bet that they’ll be good.”

With that he turned around and walked back inside.

“No- W-wait-!” she yelled, hurrying in after him. She wiped her face and hurried inside, finding that Present Mic was doing his introduction. She hurried behind him to the station and ignored all of the concerned looks. Katsuki moved to sit down on the counter where he’d started prepping his ingredients and started to toss his knife casually between one hand and the other.

“Alright, today’s challenge is Italian Entrees! Our contestants will be impressing the judges and their own family members. We will see who wins this round and who goes home!” Present Mic yelled and the timer started. Ochako looked at Katuski, he just kept tossing his knife up and down, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“K-Katsuki,” she said, walking up to him. “This isn’t funny- we need to get started!”

Italian spare ribs took more prep than anything else and you couldn’t spare a single minute. He just looked down at her shrugged.

“I am not doing anything. So if you want to win this challenge, I suggest you start working.”

He slammed his knife into the cutting board and the timer started, showing they had two and a half hours. She looked at the timer and the other chefs already hurrying and back at Bakugou, now leaning back on his hands, looking around with an amused expression on his face.

“Shit,” she muttered and knew he wasn’t going to move or do anything. No one told Katuski what to do. He wasn’t going to help her for god only knows what kind of reason and she needed to move. She tossed her jacket aside and started running to get her ingredients. She was already behind because Katuski hadn’t even started his prep properly. She ran around the kitchen like a crazy woman.

“What’s this?” Present Mic asked, coming to interview Bakugou. “Are you not helping with the challenge?”

“The rules state that there have to be two chefs present for the whole challenge, nowhere does it say that they both have to be cooking.”

“That’s…technically true…” Present Mic said, shrugging at the camera. “But you’re just going to sit here while she works?”

“Yes.”

“Oh… okay…”

He moved on to the next contestants and Katsuki looked over his shoulder.

“Looking good, Angel Face,” he said, and she glared at him. The complete abandonment to their task got her instantly riled up. She gritted her teeth and moved around the kitchen, slamming doors and throwing things around just to show how mad she was.

She started prepping her ribs and Katuski pulled out his phone and started to play a video game. The onlookers were watching in horror as he just casually sat there, letting Ochako do everything.

“That fucking child,” Mistuki muttered, her husband having to death grip her hand to keep her from shouting at her son on television.

“It’s okay, I am sure he knows what he’s doing.”

Ochako hurried to start putting her ingredients on her spare ribs, on a large metal bin in front of her. She needed to get started quickly, she had little time. She looked up and saw that Katuski was taking up room that she needed.

“Move your ass, you dick,” she said, giving him a shove and he popped off of the counter, looking up at her, but much to her surprise, he looked more amused than annoyed. She tried to not look flushed as she went to start putting together her ribs. Katsuki leaned on the counter, watching her work.

“Lookin’ good, chef,” he said and she knew he wasn’t talking about the food.

“Don’t speak to me,” she muttered, trying not to look flustered under his steady gaze. He frowned at her.

“You were the one who shoved me,” he said, and she kept working. If they were going to fight now, she hardly had the time to stop.

“That was an accident. If you hadn’t walked off I would have apologized, but you were being an asshole and didn’t answer your phone or texts all night.”

“Well, you were the one who tried to help me up!” he countered, and sat his phone down, leaning against the counter.

Did they ever remember that they were on television because apparently not since this entire conversation was currently being taped?

“Of course I tried to help you- I knocked you over!”

“I am not a child, I can stand up on my own!”

She looked up at him now.

“Is that why you’re mad?”

“Of course that’s why I am mad! We were in the middle of a serious argument and then you shoved me like a little kid on the playground and then when I am more than capable of standing up on my own, you try to help me!”

She scoffed, looking away.

“That’s why you refused to answer your phone?” she demanded and he shrugged.

“I had to think about some serious shit- which is what we were fighting about. Because I am going to be honest with you Ochako, I have never had a serious girlfriend before and I don’t know how to deal with heavy shit like what we were fighting about. So I started to walk. And I walked for a while, I got lost and didn’t know how to get back to my house so I used my GPS to get to Kirishima’s. I slept on his couch. My phone died and I had to let it charge for a while.”

She was quiet, working with her spices and finally she looked up. She looked like she might start crying.

“S-Sorry, I got lemon juice in my eye,” she muttered and he sighed, walking around the counter and grabbing a towel. She looked up, blinking the tears out as he gently put the towel against her cheek.

“Don’t touch your eyes when you’re cooking,” he muttered and moved her hair from her face. “You need to finish this, hurry up.”

She sniffed and went back to what she was doing and looked up at him.

“Why are you making me do this on my own?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you when you’re done,” he said and went back to looking at his phone.

She finished her preparation and put her ribs into the oven, checking her time. They were going to cut it close.

“Can you at least help me with the presentation?” she asked and he shook his head.

“Nope. You’ve got to do it.”

She was about to say something when there was a commotion at the station next to theirs. A very tall chef with a bandana always wrapped around his neck was trying to talk to the outraged chef next to him. Katuski muttered something like “stupid bird boy getting annoyed” and Ochako’s timers started to go off. She hurried around the kitchen, getting out plates and her sauce and waiting for the last timer to ring. She was so focused now on her task that she didn’t even notice that she was doing everything by herself without any problems.

She put out her ribs and sauce and prepared for the final look as the contestants were reaching the end of their time limit.

The loud buzzer sounded and she finished just in time.
---

“That was an interesting display, Young Bakugou,” All Might said, addressing the pair as they stood up, third in line to present their meals. Their parents were seated at an individual table, each with their own plate.

“I didn’t do shit,” Katsuki said, looking annoyed, “Uraraka was the one who did everything.”

“That’s what he meant,” Aizawa said, staring at the blonde chef. “Why did you spend the entire time standing around while your partner was working so hard?”

“Because I knew she could handle it,” he said, giving a simple shrug. Ochako looked up at him, and then remembered what she’d said the night before.

“If I don’t win- then how am I supposed to prove that I am worth keeping around?”

She looked at the floor.

“Ochako is the best chef in this place besides me, and I didn’t doubt that she wouldn’t give you assholes the best fucking meal of your life, so shut the fuck up and tell her how much you liked it.”

Not the way that Ochako would have phrased it, but it seemed to do the trick.

“I am not thrilled with your work today, Ochako,” Thirteen said, looking at the dish. “Usually you are so much more confident in the kitchen. You almost ran out of time and you were running around like a chicken with your head cut off. But your efforts were worth it. It might not have been graceful but the final product was excellent. I could really feel your southern style cooking coming through with the extra ingredients you added.”

“I added red pepper, spiced garlic and olive oil for texture,” she explained, looking between the judges.

“I think that it was a tough spot to put you in- your partner suddenly ditching you like that,” Midnight said, looking at her plate, “But you showed great strength to take control of the situation. Some days for chefs were are out there on our own and have to adapt. You did great work here today.”

“It’s passable,” Endeavor said, looking angrily at Bakugou.

“I didn’t like the way you went about it, but it was a good approach to Italian food. Pass,” Aizawa said, and All Might smiled at her.

“You did good work here today, Ochako. You pass this round.”

She let out a sigh of relief and almost started to cry again. Bakugou looked down at her.

“I never said that you had to win to be here, Ochako,” he said, and she stared up at him, lost in his eyes, “You belong here- You did this today. On your own.”

And she knew he wasn’t talking about the competition.

Chapter Text

“Excellent work today,” Present Mic said into the camera- “And usually we would wait to make this announcement until next week- but we love keeping our chefs on their toes here at Sugar or Spice! So- we’ll let our contestants know now- Next week’s challenge is going to be very different- a little SHAKE UP!”

He looked at the chefs gathered together, only twelve people left.

“This next week- our chefs are getting shuffled around and being given new partners!”

Katsuki stared at the piece of paper that he’d been handed by Mina.

“For this week only- each chef will be randomly paired with another chef from this competition. And that’s not all- each chef in the pairing will be in charge of a part of the overall dish- and if either person fails the test- the entire team that person belongs on is eliminated!”

Katuski looked down at Ochako’s paper. She was given the number 4 and he got 2.

“Now, let’s see who is with who?!”

Katsuki glared around the room. “Who the fuck’s got #2?” he yelled and Deku jumped, turning to look at Katsuki. “Fuck me…”

“K-Kacchan!” he said pleasantly, showing the number and coming over to him. “L-Looks l-like we’re together,” he said nervously. Katsuki looked like he was going to punch something. Ochako looked around the room, seeing someone holding up the number 4.

“Ah, I think that’s me,” she muttered, and looked at Katuski. “I’ll… uh…”

“You’re not going to lose this stupid challenge, so stop being a pain in the ass,” he said, and turned to yell loudly at Deku. She smiled, and hurried over to the redhead showing off her paper.

“Hi, I’m Kendo!” she said, and shook Ochako’s hand. “I guess we’re together on this one, huh?”

“Yeah- I am Ochako Uraraka,” she said and Kendo let out a loud laugh.

“Yeah, I know who you are. You and that little angry blonde are like the highlight of this entire event. I thought it was going to be boring, but you two manage to keep it interesting.”

“Alright! Now that the partners have been picked- let’s get to this week’s food item-“ Present Mic announced, getting a piece of paper. “This week’s challenge- breakfast buffet!!”
---
Katsuki was standing by Ochako’s car. He looked angrier than usual and she came up to him after the filming.

“Are you okay?” she asked, unsure exactly what he was mad about at the moment.

“Fan-Fucking-Tastic- I only have to work with that fucking loser Deku!” he yelled, kicking the ground and going over to her passenger seat. “My mom wants us to see them off at the airport,” he said.

She smiled and got into the car.

The drive was quiet and she knew that they hadn’t really talked about what had happened earlier. They needed to sit down and have a serious discussion with what they were going to say to each other. She needed to apologize, like really say that she was sorry for the way things had turned out.

“Don’t apologize.”

His voice broke through the mess of her loud thoughts. They were sitting at a red light and he was texting his mother on his phone. They were getting a cab to the airport after getting their things from the hotel and wanted to see the kids off before going into security.

“That’s what you’re thinking about, right? You look like you’re trying to make a chicken salad for a vegetarian,” he said, side-eyeing her.

“We had a really serious fight!” she protested and he nodded.

“Yeah, and you can apologize for it all you want to- but I told you don’t. You didn’t say anything you didn’t mean and I didn’t say anything I didn’t mean.”

“People should apologize after they fight. That’s how it works.”

“I am saying, sure, you can say that you’re sorry for the fight- fine- but don’t apologize and try to take back what you said.”

He could see through her. They drove a little longer in silence and he put his phone into his pocket and looked at her.

“I like you a lot.”

“W-What?” she asked, forced to keep her eyes on the road as he spoke.

“I said that I like you a lot. And I don’t want you to worry that you can’t say what you want to say to me. You were angry and you told me how you really felt. That means more to me than you know.”

They reached another light and she looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“People are always pretending to be something they’re not. They try to act like they are better or smarter, or whatever. I have never liked that. Just be what you are. That’s why I don’t like watching you say that you’re not a great chef. That’s why I made you do all of the work today. Because I’ve seen you in the kitchen, you are brilliant. And I don’t have to pretend to praise you or call you great. I will never lie to you, Ochako, never.”

She felt her face become warm.

“If you want to shout and scream and push me down because that’s the only way you can tell me how you feel, then that’s fine. Just don’t shove me on concrete next time, by ass hurt for like half an hour,” he said and she burst into laughter. He smiled as she coughed a little, trying to calm down.

“I don’t want you to ever think that I don’t like you, or care about you- because I do.”

They both knew that he wasn’t using the other “L” word but that didn’t matter at the moment. He was being straight forward about how he felt and she appreciated it.

“Fine… then I want to apologize, not for what I said, but for doing what I did in public and ruining dinner. And shoving you… that was mean and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Okay…”

He was quiet as they reached the entrance to the airport and found parking. They got out and he looked at her over the car.

“By the way, apologize not fucking accepted.”

She gasped, looking at him.

“W-What?”

“I am not taking that weak-ass apology, I didn’t even get anything,” he said, and started to walk away from the car.

“W-What?” she demanded, hurrying after him. “Get something?”

“Don’t people give each other something when they apologize. My dad always came home with chocolate for my mom when he did something stupid.”

“You want me to give you chocolate?” she asked, getting exhausted. He took so much work, but she was enjoying herself so damn much.

“Or flowers… or cookies…” he said, clearly teasing her and she hated it. She grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard and when he moved to take his hand back she refused to let go and intertwined their fingers, glaring at him.

“I am going to think of something, give me a minute,” she said, using her other free hand to grab his arm so he couldn’t even think about escaping.

He found himself smiling a little as they were to find their parents.

There were tears and apologies from Ochako as she embraced her parents and gave Mitsuki a hug and Katsuki sighed a lot, promising that the next time they were in town, dinner would probably go a little bit smoother.

“We promise to not set too many fires,” Katsuki said and Ochako stuck her tongue out at him. He was given hugs by her parents and a knock upside the head by his mother for ignoring all of his calls the night before. But generally it was a relief that the two had been able to get through their first fight without too much bloodshed. Their parents got on their respective planes and Ochako and Katuski were left to head back out, hand in hand.

“I am tired,” he yawned, barely able to sleep much the night before.

“Me too,” she said, and stretched a little.

“Let’s go back to your apartment, I want to get some sleep.”

“M-My apartment?” she stammered, looking at him.

“What? My place is too far, yours is closer.”

“You can’t sleep on my couch, you’re going to hurt your back!” she said, looking annoyed.

“Who said I was sleeping on the couch?”