#ksv2018

Ochako slipped a freshly sharpened knife in her thigh holster. “Seriously, can this dress be any shorter Yao-Momo?” She was being zipped into a thight dark blue dress, covered in sparkling sequins. The dress barely grazed her knees.

“I think it looks amazing on you Ochako. Definitely not something you would wear but it still looks good.”

She was being zipped into a tight dark blue dress, covered in sparkling sequins. The dress barely grazed her knees

Mina swung her legs over the armrest of a brown leather chair and beamed. Ochako pulled at the bottom of the dress.

“Don’t tell me I’m supposed to carry just one knife?” she grumbled at Momo.

Momo took a seat on her desk and crossed her long, pale legs, which made Ochako even more uncomfortable. She wasn’t made for missions like this, missions that required a whole new wardrobe and a new personality. It made her extremely awkward. They didn’t start this group to play dress up.

“I understand you’re not particularly happy about this, but try to keep in mind what this is really all about.”

Ochako reluctantly put her earrings in, looking up as she did.

“But seriously. Only one knife?” Mina pointed a small dark blue clutch that matched the dress.

Ochako let out a sigh of relief and waddled over to the purse in her heels. “Small carry gun, pepper spray, tazer, another knife…Should be enough.”

Momo nodded at her. “I trust you to get this over with is no time.”

It started to sink in how important this mission actually was and what an honor for the head of the organization, a very skilled assassin and a truly admirable woman, to choose her for it. She was fully aware of how much talent was stacked in the organization. The Gods knew how much time and energy she put into trying to keep up and stand out.

Ochako had been gifted a beautiful opportunity to do good for fellow girls that had gone through things similar as she had gone through or even worse. There was no way she was going to disappoint the head and all the girls that have ever suffered something like this.

“It looks like she’s ready boss!” Mina tilted her head towards Momo.

“Almost!” Gracefully Momo came off the desk and went behind it, searching for something in a dark mahogany drawer.

Mina and Ochako gave each other a quick look of confusion.

“Here it is!” Momo pulled out a black, lace mask. The ends curled upwards and the mask itself was decorated with silver outlines of small stars connected by a thin line, The stars were part of a constellation.

She walked over to the mirror and waved Ochako to come stand with her. She tied the silk black ribbon into a bow and let the ends fall over Ochako’s neck and touching her shoulder.

The proud head of the organization smiled from ear to ear and cupped her own face.

“You look so stunning Ochako! Absolutely irresistible!” Mina excitedly put her fist up in the air. “Super irresistible!”

Ochako started to blush behind her mask. It had not been the first time her female teammates had showered her in compliments but it was the first time she kind of saw what they meant. It was hard to avoid the mirror because wow, she did look amazing! Before she could dwell too much, she shook her head.

“Very sweet but that’s enough guys, I don’t have too long. Is there anything else I need to know, you know, things regarding the mission?”

Momo pushed her glasses up in her hair.

“Nothing you don’t already know. I assume you’ve remembered the floor plan, so you know in what room Tastuo will be in.”

Ochako moved her eyes around as if she had the floorplan spread out in the whole entire room. “I’ve got it.”

Mina raised her hand in the air. “What if it goes completely wrong?”

“Then it’s your duty to help Ochako.”

Mina hung her head. “Seriously?” she spoke to the carpet. “I thought I was only here to see Ochako get dressed up, I didn’t remember signing up for more work!”

Ochako laughed and kneeled before her teammate. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can stay put tonight.”.

They heard honking from beneath the window. Headlights signaled a message for her to come downstairs.

“That’s my lift.” She slapped her hands on her thighs as she stood again.

Ochako would be lying if she told herself she wasn’t nervous. The fear of falling out of place and being caught on to very early on has always been a fear of hers. She hadn’t been to such a big event before. Sure, she had been studying up on events like these, behavioristics and topics that were relevant with the higher classes, but she knew for a fact that half of those people there were also faking it. How easy would it be for a phony to pick out another phony from the crowd?

“Ochako hurry, Midoriya is waiting on you.” Momo opened the door for her. With nerves taking over her body she asked remaining questions, some of which the answer she already knew. Mina and Momo worked together to push Ochako out the door. There was nothing to worry about and they knew she knew that as well.

As Ochako left the building and descended the stairs at the front of the headquarters a man in a tuxedo opened the door to a black vintage car.

“You look wonderful Uraraka. Although I bet you miss your usual attire.”

Heels clacking on the pavement she approached the car. “Thank you, but this isn’t actually the worst thing I could’ve been put in, so it’s alright.”

She stepped in the car and Midoriya closed the door for her. Ochako took off her heels and threw her feet on the backseat. She had only walked on heels three times; when she was five and liked to ravage in her mother’s closet, to her middle school winter dance and right now. Her feet were killing her already and she had barely moved yet.

She cringed when she thought of the possibility of fighting and running in them. She massaged her toes whilst Midoriya got in the car and drove off the terrain of the headquarters. Midoriya looked in the mirror trying to make eye contact with Ochako.

“Are you alright back there?”

Ochako pulled her skirt down that had been creeping up as she was massaging her own feet. “I’m starting to want to take back what I said about this not being the worst outfit imaginable for me.”

Midoriya chuckled.

Midoriya had certainly seen a lot since he started working for Yao-Momo. He was in charge or driving the ladies to their mission if they included fancy parties or any sort of gathering of the upper class, making sure their act was that much more believable.

The way this came to be had always been vague to everyone at the organization. There were a lot of rumors going around about Midoriya. The team knew he was an old friend of their leader but they didn’t knew a lot about his past.

Everyone wanted nothing more but to dig in deep into his past, but they realized that if he never mentioned it before they should probably let him be. Besides, he was so content with his job, driving the girls around that they would’ve felt bad if they would ask something that would upset him.

Yaoyoruzou hadn’t let anything go about Midoriya either. The only things she had mentioned was that sometimes she felt bad for giving him that position because she felt his talent is wasted doing something that seemed so trivial.

Ochako thought that over and over but looking at him she couldn’t figure out what her boss could’ve possible been on about. This plain looking man, wasting his talent with driving around? She actually disagreed. Midoriya was probably one of the most entertaining people she could ever sit in a car with. Being roughly the same age helped, but age aside, he was an all round decent guy. Everyone seemed to agree on that as well.

Ochako met his eyes in the rearview mirror and sighed.

“It’ll be over before you know it Uraraka. You know I have a lot of faith in you.”

Ochako instinctively looked away. The sincerity in his eyes sometimes made her heart flutter. Oh, did she hate the feeling.

The first thing Yao-Momo told her when she joined the organization is that too many attachments were dangerous. Especially attachments to men.

With her line of work it was obvious to have a distaste for men. Ochako was still determined to listen to every bit of advice her mentor gave her to stay a respectable assassin, so falling for someone was out of the question.

Ochako chose to avoid Midoriya’s look by gazing out the window.

To her surprise, they were close to merging into the line of cars going around the roundabout in front of the insanely huge mansion. She pressed her forehead and nose against the window trying to get a better look at the spectacle going on outside.

Women in enormous ball gowns being escorted by dapper men, most of them in top hats, each of them masked. As if she had been transported back in time, it was so surreal.

Ochako tried to take a good look at the mansion. She knew from the floorplan it was quite a building but seeing it with all the walls up made it seem that much bigger. Almost every light in the mansions was lit and behind every window you could see guests laughing, mingling and drinking.

“This is some event, isn’t it?” Midoriya said.

Ochako pushed herself from the glass and sat back in awe. “This is crazy! This is actually insane!” Midoriya honked at the cars in front of them, scolding them to drive further.

“This might be one of the biggest ones one of you ladies have ever attended!”

Ochako started to put on her heels and picked at every little detail of her dress. “You’re probably right, Midoriya. I’m kind of starting to brick it now.”

After some more beeping and honking it was their turn to drive up to the huge set of stairs at the front of the mansion. She shot her driver a look, thinking about inviting him with her. Midoriya didn’t take long to turn into a familiar friend to an actual driver and confidently stepped out the car.

‘Calm down. Try to calm down.’ She prepped herself. Midoriya opened the door and offered his hand. She looked up to him and saw the smile of a friend. That seemed to help.

Ochako took his hand and tried to get out the car as gracefully as she could. She was immediately blinded by flashes from journalists that wrote for tabloids that only seemed to report about these kind of events.

She forced a smile. This definitely was a whole different world she just stepped into.

Midoriya delivered her to the very front of the stairs before letting go of her hand. He came close and whispered something in her ear: “Come back in one piece.” She could barely make out from all the noise of coming from the mansion and the journalists. Ochako took a deep breath and then ascended the stairs whilst looking down, focusing hard on not tripping up and embarrassing herself before even entering the building.

“Good evening Madame, can I ask for your name and connection to Mr. Himura?”

She gathered her thoughts and immersed in the role she had made up for herself. “Good evening, my name is Nakano Emiko. I’m a future business partner of Tatsuo, he invited me to convince me of closing a deal. Oh dear, maybe I’ve said too much. I know that Tatsuo isn’t fond of sharing his business.” She put on a higher pitched voice and her physique had gotten more sway.

The large man guarding the door started blushing and fumbling with the guest list. “Don’t worry about it Madame. I see you’re on the guest list, and I won’t say a word to Mr. Himura.”

Ochako squealed. “Thank you so much, what a gentleman you are!” She patted the man’s shoulder as she entered the mansion.

The hallway was dressed with white marble tiles and many mirrors with sparkling gold frames. An enormous chandelier hanging in the middle of two stairs that curled up to the second floor.

She knew that party hadn’t been going on for too long but people already seemed intoxicated out their minds. What a lavish life. Almost every weekend they dress up nice, go to big events like this and get even richer whilst getting drunk.

Words slurred, people leaned. She could hardly believe this was supposed to be an event where businessfolk networked and new business partnerships were celebrated. Keeping the floorplan in mind Ochako strutted to the big ballroom where the center of the party was. Violins and flutes perfectly accompanied the chitter and the clinking of champagne glasses.

She stood on her toes trying to see the end of the crowd. The realization of the mass made her feel like there wasn’t enough air to breathe.

“They should really open up one of those massive windows.” She muttered to herself. Her lungs started to feel small and her breathing started speeding up. ‘Calm down Ochako! Calm down!’ She tried to backtrack out of the midst of the chaos, bumping into everyone she could possible bump into. A firm hand on her shoulder forced her to halt and turn around.

“Are you alright young lady?”

With panicked eyes she looked at the sharply dressed man wearing a simple grey mask.

“It’s a bit crowded isn’t it? I think it might be wise to stick to the sides.” He smiled at her with an endearingly.

Ochako’s lungs still felt small despite the kind and reassuring words. The mask, as simple as it was, seemed to cover not only a good part of his face but therefore also hid his true nature. But she had to stay in character. ‘Thank you so much for your concern, I’ll be alright. Thank you!

The man didn’t walk away, he stood still in his place and continued to smile at her.

“I said I’ll be alright, thank you.” She repeated thinking he didn’t hear her right.

The man leaned closer to her ear with his hands behind his back. “I’m sorry, I was just wondering how a pretty lady like you is all alone this evening.”

Ochako had to try her hardest not to scrunch her face in disgust. After hearing no response from her he continued. “Shame on your husband for leaving you alone like that. Closing a deal with pretentious folk shouldn’t have to be more important than looking after your lady aren’t I right? If it was really that important to him, he should’ve taken you along. I would’ve closed a deal with him in a second if that was the case.”

One more word and this man was getting a knife in his gut. The absolute nerve he had, to be talking nonsense. The last thing she was was a trophy wife and he was sure to let him know.

With her pinky finger she pushed down on the man’s chest and created some distance between them. “Husband? What husband?  Unlike you I don’t need anyone to compensate for the lack of knowledge you seem to have about the market. I’m a businesswoman that doesn’t belong to anyone.”

She lifted her pinky from his chest and walked deeper into the crowd. The built up anger made her forget about the lack of air she was getting. Ochako could’ve caused serious trouble, she was aware, but it would’ve brought the organization to shame if she didn’t stand up for herself in that moment.

“A very warm welcome to you all!”

That voice, a voice that sent shivers down her spine sounded from the front of the room. Tatsuo Himura stood alongside the orchestra in an extravagant maroon corduroy suit topped off with a black and purple tie and black top hat. He wore the biggest and most extravagant mask she had seen that night. Even if you didn’t know Tatsuo Himura, by that you knew he was the man behind the party.

“I’m glad that once again you could attend our special event Masquerade Midnight! I applaud you all for wearing your masks and looking so lovely and dashing.” The crowd applauded. “Drink, eat and network as much as you want ladies and gentlemen. But don’t forget to move those feet as well! This song was orchestrated by our talented musicians just for tonight!”

He bowed and soaked in the applause the crowd gave him. The first notes started and that initiated his exit. Proud, he marched towards a set of stairs that led to the second floor. Ochako turned around to see men asking women for a dance and some already twirling around like they were part of a fairytale.

“Crap!” she cursed. It may have actually been wise to be accompanied by someone. She looked extremely out of place, considering almost every woman here was a plus one.

Above the festive tunes she heard a loud groan. “No one said anything about dancin’! There’s no way I’m gonna dance.” Off to the side there was a waiter pointing his nose in the air, hands tightly gripping his tray.

There was a woman next to him, exhausted with either the work she had been doing all night or with the young man. “Katsuki, please cut me some slack. Mr. Himura would be very upset if you didn’t participate.”

“Last time I checked I was supposed to serve people fancy stuff that tastes like shit and hand out drinks. Not fucking dance!” The boy stuck his noise higher in the air.

“It can’t be helped.” Ochako told herself and she stepped towards the arguing pair of waiters. “Excuse m-.”

“—Perfect! Looking for a dance partner miss? Here’s a wonderful young man that would love to dance.” The waitress yanked the tray out of the man’s hand and pushed him forwards.

Ochako held her hands forward and to break the man’s fall. Ochako smiled at him when she looked up at his face. Ruby eyes glared back at her. The color of his irise stood out,  complimented with his black and orange mask. It wasn’t like any of the masks she had seen, with explosive like flares. She actually admired that one, he seemed like the only person who’s mask seemed to not hide his nature.

The man stared at her hands, still placed on his chest. Noticing the awkward silence she followed his eyes and realized what realized what caused it. Immediately she took a step back.

“Sorry about that. I, I would actually love to dance.”

The frustrated man hung his head backwards and looked back at the waitress who hid the tray behind her. “Fucking hell, alright! Al-right!” he yelled.

Ochako started to get impatient, the more they stood here yelling and not dancing, the more they stood out. The more she stood out. The idea made her gag but the only thing she could think of speeding up the happening was to be flirtatious.

Maybe deeper down he was like those other men in the mansion and he would just offer his hand with one bat with her eyelashes.

With a shaking hand she put a strand of hair behind her ear and came closer. He straightened himself and gave her a confused look.

“I must say, you look like you’d be a really good dancer.” She slowly batted her eyelashes at him. He took his time to let her sudden change of behavior sink in.

“Tch.”

Tch?

He rolled his eyes back so far he could probably see the back of his head. “Look lady, I just want to keep my job, so let’s not get like that okay?”He grabbed her hand and dragged her to an empty spot in the floor full of twirling and swaying people. Ochako stared with disbelief at him.

Just how much of a bad time was this guy having? She could kind of get where the guy was coming from, because the people here were truly despicable but come on, he could’ve at least tried to pretend to be delighted to dance with her!

But in the end she shouldn’t be that offended, it was just a sign she blended in with the crowd perfectly. After making the spot their own, he put a hand on her lower back and raised her hand. Unsure, Ochako put a hand on his shoulder.

Again, he rolled eyes. “God, you better know how to fucking dance, lady.” Ochako actually didn’t know how to dance. She had been practicing with Momo twice a week to get a simple waltz down but that was harder than actual combat training. All she had to do was follow Yao-Momo but that was more difficult than it sounded.

After three weeks of training Momo had plasters and blisters all over her feet and called it quits, suggesting Ochako avoid dancing.

So much for that.

“It’s a simple waltz. I got this.” She avoided his eyes.

The man that seemed to be completely over the entire evening let his face soften when watching the others move. Everyone was moving on a similar tempo and going the same direction. She could see him softly count to himself and nod along.

With no proper warning she started, his feet smoothly blending in with the rest. Ochako tried to concentrate on her feet, making sure hers wouldn’t even do as much as scuff his.

Occasionally she would take a look at him. His lips mouthed numbers, she noticed after looking up for the fourth time. The fifth time she couldn’t look back at her feet. Her eyes followed the small movement his lips made. His lips were small and pink. Almost a girly kind of pink. It was a nice contrast to his strong features like his chin and jawline.

“Fucking hell!” Before she could adjust Ochako felt her foot crushing his. She knew that was the beginning of the end. Every time she started messing up it would set her brain on overdrive, she would overthink every step she took.

“I’m so-“ Again she felt her foot crushing his. He yelped out in pain. She winced for him. She was really aware of how painful it was.

“A simple waltz huh? Lady, you should hire a better dance teacher because you’re, pardon my fucking French, utter shit.”

The nasty attitude formed by the pain that came from his feet made her break character. “I can say the same thing to you! You don’t know how to lead to save a life!”

The man’s right eye twitched. Before he could spit more insults at her he got tapped on the shoulder by a gentleman. “Switch partners.”

Ochako looked around and people were indeed switching partners. She pulled her hand away from his.

“Lucky me.” She let the gentleman put her into position and lead her away from the waiter. Her second partner was already a better lead, because she hasn’t messed up yet. Ochako had encountered a lot of assholes in her time but he definitely was one the assholiest assholes she had ever met. She told herself to take back everything remotely nice she thought about him.

“Are you okay miss?” The gentleman asked. Ochako realized her nose was scrunched up and her eyes were narrowed. She could only imagine the nasty look she had on her face.

She was interrupted before going off on a rant to a stranger that nothing to do with the matter. The gentleman’s partner offered the guy back to Ochako.

“Oh great.” They said at the same time. Both uneager to get close with each other again they got back into position.

The woman that tapped her out put her hand in front of her mouth and giggled. “Oh sweetheart, you might want to keep that forehead unwrinkled, might make your husband happier to see you.”

Ochako slowly turned around. “Excuse me?”.

The gentleman waved his hand. “Honey, I think it’s obvious that chap might be the reason the wrinkles are there in the first place.” How amused the pair was by the snarky comments made her blood boil.

Ochako’s partner pulled her hand along with his own towards the gentleman. He held a finger in front of the man, as if holding him at gunpoint.

‘I’m gonna kindly ask you to shut your damn mouth sir.’

The gentleman didn’t even seem slightly intimidated. “Or what, busboy?”

“I don’t think a black eye would look good on your handsome face sir. So I would kindly suggest you do what my partner says.” Ochako said. Her words made him swallow every insult he wanted to say. The wife gripped his arms and started tugging him away.

“Leave them be Kousuke, they’re just commoners who somehow made their way into this place.” The man gave them one last menacing look before leaving with his wife to find another spot.

Ochako’s partner looked at her and whistled. “You’ve got guts lady.”

“Uraraka.”

His eyes were somewhat gleeful. “Uraraka. Bakugou. You’ve got some serious guts Uraraka.”

Ochako cringed at herself. Not only had she just blurted out her real last name, she also completely fell out of character by threatening to kick those snobs asses. She just prayed he would forget her name at the end of the night, just forget about her as a whole.

When Ochako tried to avoid his eyes, he went on. “I mean it. You’re not scared to damage your rep are ya?”

The corners of Ochako’s mouth twitched. “Well, what can I say...” The question was really aimed at herself. Bakugou squeezed her hand which forced her to finally look back up at him.

“Something tells me you don’t really dig this shit crowd.” His eyes narrowed. “Am I wrong?”

The tunes of the trumpet, cello and piano started to fade. The piece was reaching its end, suggesting there was no reason for them to be up close and personal anymore.

She turned her head away and retracted her fingers that were intertwined with his. “You’re not wrong.”

Bakugou had only just noticed how intimate the situation had gotten. Everyone had started clapping for the orchestra and simultaneously went back to conversing and drinking.

Bakugou removed his hand from her lower back and took a step back. “My bad. But I didn’t think there was anyone out there that was actually honest with themselves.”  He put his hands in the pocket of his trousers. “I mean, I know they all secretly hate each other. But none of them have ever spoke up. Fucking phonies.”

Something about Bakugou started to intrigue Ochako. She might have deemed him to be one of the assholiest assholes she’s ever met, but when genuinely interested in her and not ticking like a timebomb, he seemed like just an asshole.

Ochako looked over his shoulder to the kitchen doors that started to let people in and out. “Shouldn’t you get back to work?”

Bakugou turned around and saw his colleague’s rushing in and out the kitchen. He shrugged and smirked at her. “They’ll survive without me. I deserve a break after getting my toes broken.”

“Hey!”

Bakugou couldn’t help but laugh. “Also, now that I’ve found someone that thinks like me, I can finally play this game I’ve been itching to play.”

The sudden change of attitude made Ochako feel iffy. He really did despise them. Bakugou grabbed her wrist and pulled her off to the side.

He leaned against a curtain and tried to blend in with it. “Play with me.”

Ochako would be lying if he hadn’t peaked her interest. “Sure.” She leaned back into the curtain as well and crossed her arms.

“It’s called ‘what’s their deal’ It’s real simple.”

Ochako nodded. “How do you play?”

“I’ll point at someone and you tell me what their deal might be. We take it in turns.” Bakugou pointed at a man standing at a table, clearly boasting himself to others. “So what’s his deal?”

Ochako put a finger on her chin, a habit she had taken over from one of her teammates. “He’s probably in crippling debt.”

Bakugou nodded, agreeing with her. “I can see that.”

Ochako took her time to pick out someone but then chose out another gentleman introducing himself and his wife to others. “What’s his deal?”

Bakugou snapped his fingers. “Easy, they’re in a middle of a divorce. And his wife has probably managed to take most of his earnings. Probably set a fucking couch on fire when she found out he was cheating on her, she seems like that big of a psycho hag. Got them crazy eyes on her you know?”

Ochako bursted out laughing.

He looked down at her with an eyebrow raised. “Don’t tell me you can’t see that.”

Ochako put a hand on her chest, trying to recollect herself. “No, I definitely can! Okay, my turn again.”

Bakugou pointed at an older lady standing by herself.

“Definitely killed her husband and got away with it.” She answered straight away.

Bakugou let out another whistle to show how impressed he was with her again. ‘Didn’t waste any time on that one.’

Ochako tilted her head towards him. “It’s obvious.”

“Maybe to you. Don’t really know what a murderer looks like.”

Quickly she tried to continue the game. It was getting too close to her actual self.

Besides that, she actually enjoyed the game. As silly as it was, it brought tears from laughter to her eyes. He was incredibly detailed in his descriptions and didn’t hold back at all. He seemed impressed by her sometimes morbid answers that he had to think over twice sometimes. Hearing him laugh was strange to hear but also made her heart jump. It was nice to see him so excited over something that seemed so trivial to her.

As they played, they started folding more and more. Grabbing onto each other’s shoulders and their own stomach. They had gone on for so long they might’ve almost had everyone that they could see from their spot. When they almost ran out of people Ochako lifted her finger to her chin again. Then she decided to point next to her.

Bakugou jerked and pointed at himself. “Me?”

Ochako smirked. “Yeah, what’s your deal?” She bumped her shoulder into his upper arm.

“My deal, huh?”

She nodded. “Your deal.”

This was the first time Bakugou had to think longer than a second before he answered. He kept looking at her as if the answer was written on her face. “Underpaid waiter with. Purple toes, thanks to you. Much more potential than anyone’s willing to see. Clearly extremely out of place here. Also part-time demolitionist who likes to go on runs and can make a mean fucking scrambled egg.”  

Ochako wasn’t sure what she expected to hear from him, but this wasn’t it. “Started to sound like a dating profile at the end. A mean fucking scrambled egg you said?” She chuckled. “Yeah right!”

Bakugou leaned in closer. “You’ll agree with me in the morning, when we’re having breakfast together.”

In a second Ochako’s cheeks turned bright red. She repeated what he said over and over in her mind, questioning if she actually heard that correctly. Questioning why it made her blush. Why it didn’t bother her, not in the way it was supposed to bother her.

Was it anyone else she would’ve fired back at them or considered punching them. But instead she was taken aback, like a little girl that got kissed on the cheek on the playground.

She actually tried to feel upset by it. That seemed appropriate to her. But she couldn’t help but feel like scrambled eggs sounded really, really good.

Ochako tried to find the right words to reply with, but she could only stutter and tumble over her words. Going off on his complacent expression that was exactly the reaction he hoped to get out of her.

“Heh, I was just fucking with ya.” Something tells her that wasn’t exactly true. Or was it that she kind of wanted that to not be the case. All she could think of in that moment was to remove herself from the situation.

Uraraka Ochako, member of Gynic, fifth member of the Delta squad, whose mission it was to take out Himura Tatsuo, should not get distracted by a handsome waiter. So, she stormed off, weaving in the crowd, aiming to get lost.

“Oi!” He yelled from behind her.

‘I’m sorry.’ She thought. Not rushing things was fine but the mission was her priority. If it was any of her other teammates they would’ve probably taken out Himura by now. That showed how much harder she actually had to work.

 Ochako managed to find her way back to the hallway and ascended the stairs avoiding the passed out bodies laying sprawled out on some of the steps. When she reached the top of the stairs she realized something. Her clutch. She had lost her clutch. Her hands were free when she was dancing with Bakugou, so she had probably dropped it before that. Trying to get through the mass.

Damn it! Now a knife was all she had. Could this mission go any worse?

Frustrated with herself, she walked over the catwalk, checking her surroundings. Himura’s office shouldn’t be a hard find, even though he had four office’s spread out in the entire building. The placement of this particular office Ochako had in mind stood out. It was placed in a wing with other rooms that didn’t have a lot of use. It had ‘suspicious’ written all over it. She reached the corner that would lead her to the good-for-nothing wing.

Ochako leaned against the cold wallpaper. The hallway was only lit by the luminous light of the moon shining through the windows and the small stripe of light coming from one of the doors.

A deal was definitely going down. The sick person that was closing the deal was going down with Himura, Ochako didn’t even have to question it twice. Her hand slid over the rough edges of the sequins of her dress to her holster.

“Oi!” she heard a loud voice behind her. She cursed under her breath and slowly turned around.

“Bakugou!” she whispered. He stomped towards her and loomed over her.

“What the fuck happened with you back there Uraraka? You just fucking took off!” he scolded her.

Ochako made herself small and shushed him. “Can you please be quiet?”

“What the fuck happened?” he repeated himself, this time in an angry whisper. “I couldn’t even ask you what your deal was.”

Ochako was boiling over, her frustration levels had gone through the roof.

Who was he to stand before her and scold her for leaving? He knew nothing about her. He should stop acting like they’re more than strangers and forget about her already, like everyone else in this Godforsaken place. “Look Bakugou. I don’t know you and you don’t know me, so-“

Bakugou interrupted her. “You wanted to get to know me a while ago so stop bullshitting yourself.” He got angrier with every word he spat out, balling his fists and leaning more and more over her. “So what’s your fucking deal?” Ochako wanted scream, desperately trying for him to get the hint. But footsteps added to the noise they were making.

‘Damn it!’ This had to be one of Himura’s underlings scouting out the place, making sure it was clear. If they get caught like this, they would definitely get sent back downstairs. It would only make it harder for her to come back. The footsteps came closer. There was only one thing that she could think of that actually might work. The plan she had made her mind busier than ever, filling up with thoughts she never thought would come to mind.

“Can I make out with you real quick?”

“Wait what?”

“Can I make out with you?”

“…Sure.”

“Cool.”

Ochako jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Bakugou caught her perfectly and held her up as if she didn’t weigh a thing.

She grabbed his face and pressed her lips on his. His hands went in her hair, in her neck and down her back. Ochako felt his tongue hesitantly touching hers. Even though he was kissing her like his life depended on it, he was still careful not overstep his boundaries.

She liked that. She liked his touch. More than she expected. Before she could stop herself her hands went to loosen up his bow tie and unbuttoned a few buttons of his blouse. She could feel herself getting hungrier, craving more of him. It was something she hadn’t ever experienced before. And he was hungry for her too.

Soft growls escaped his mouth and he couldn’t help biting her lip every now and then. Their breathing went more and more erratic, heavy sighs in between kisses, both trying to do something about the feeling that could be best described as starvation in that moment.

“Hey! You tw- Oh! Oh my-I’m sorry, please carry on, don’t mind me.”

The underling of Himura’s quickly turned around and went back into a room. Exactly what she hoped would happen. Who would have the guts to interrupt two people who were almost devouring each other? Thank God, he wouldn’t.

So, that was that. She could stop, it was over, done, the mission could continue. Boy, did she wish her body actually listened to what she was telling herself. Instead, she kept kissing him, harder. That sent something off in him. Bakugou turned her around and held her up against the wall. At that point she could devour him whole. His hands slid from her bottom to her legs, he kept rubbing his hand up and down her legs. He slowed down his pace gradually.

Ochako pulled back and opened her eyes. He was staring back at her with dilated pupils. His mask was pushed up into his hair and revealed his whole face. His face was flushed and his small lips were puffed. “A knife?”

“Knife?” Ochako repeated if she couldn’t possibly know what he was on about.

“You have a fucking knife under your fucking dress.”.

Her dress was shoved up and revealed the holster she strapped around her thigh. Bakugou put her down and she adjusted her dress, trying to pull it over her knees which she knew wasn’t possible.

“What the fuck is going on, Uraraka?”

Ochako wanted to sink into the floor. She knew she couldn’t possibly talk herself out of this. Everything she would tell him wouldn’t be received well. Everything that came out of her mouth he would label ‘a lie.’

“Answer me, damn it!”

Ochako raised her finger to her lips and cocked her head to the corner. Bakugou groaned but did lower his voice.

“Answer me!” He hissed.

If this was anyone else, Ochako would’ve taken him out. She would’ve knocked him out, tie him up and hide him somewhere. She possibly would’ve killed him, not thinking about it more than twice. But those thoughts didn’t even make it into her head. Ochako could only think of telling him the truth, essentially ruining the whole mission.

“Urara-“

“Give me some time to think!” she hissed back. Once again she was fed up with herself. But also fed up with him. Who was he to kiss her like that? Who was he to make her feel like that? Who was he to make her grow fond of him in a single night?

“Have you been lying to me this entire time huh? Are you like them?” His sharp eyes became narrow with anger. His fingers were curled and his hands were shaking.

“I’m not like them at all!”

“But you lied to me!”

“I haven’t! I ju-“

“I bet you’re name isn’t even Uraraka.”

“My name is Uraraka Ochako.”

“Give me a fucking break.”

The frustration brought tears to her eyes. She needed a break. Badly.

”I’m trying to be honest with you.” She forgot to whisper. “My name is Uraraka Ochako and I’m here to assassinate that piece of crap Himura for being involved with trafficking young girls.”

She heard a door open and loud voices trying to make out if anyone was there. It had reminded Ochako of he priorities again. She was sick of pretending, over the whole night.

“Now if you excuse me, I have a freaking job to do.”

She pulled the knife from her holster and wiped her eyes dry with her wrists. She strutted around the corner where Himura and another businessman stood surrounded by two underlings. All of them surprised by the female intruder. “Let’s get this over with.”

The underlings looked at each other and then back at Himura. “Don’t just stand there you idiots, get her!”

With that as their starting signal they charged at Ochako. She adjusted her stance and analyzed the men. They weren’t much taller than Bakugou but their height was still their advantage. Like expected, they weren’t fast at all. She doubted they were very skilled in knife and hand to hand combat. When the first underling came close she stepped aside, making him stumble. Behind him she kicked the back of his knee, whilst avoiding the swing of the other underling.

The other underling immediately went for another swing with his other arm. Ochako turned to the underling down on one knee, grabbed his neck and right arm and pushed down. With her knee she kicked his gut making him slide face down on the carpet.

Ochako got grabbed from behind and in a swift motion she rolled over his shoulder and landed on her heels. The last underling turned around, seemingly shook from her sudden switch of positions. She jumped and elbowed his neck, then kicked both of his sides. Ochako planted her heels on his upper leg, boosting herself up, swinging her leg around to his other shoulder. Leaning forward she made them roll onto the floor, the last underling lying in between her legs.

Ochako planted the knife in his shoulder and rolled off him. She took her time to retie her mask and yank the knife out of the shoulder of the wounded man. “That’s more like it.”

Himura and the business partners were stunned. Both of them with mouths agape and eyes wide from shock. Ochako wiped the blood off the knife on the jacket of the underling and started walking towards Himura, making him panic. He ran into the office and reached for a cellphone on the desk. With shaky fingers he dialed a number. “Send every big headed idiot to my conference office, someone is trying to kill me!” Himura slammed the horn back and raised his hands. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do lady but just know you’re making a mistake. I have done nothing wrong.”

Ochako rolled her eyes and continued approaching him.

When she reached the doorway the businessman raised his hands. “We’re just two businessmen, making a living for ourselves and our fam-“ Ochako cut him off by slicing both of his hands with her knife. The business screamed and slid down the door. “You bitch!”

“That’s not very nice.” Ochako frowned at him.

Himura looked down at his partner bending over forwards and screaming at his hands. He backed up into his large bookcase. “I have been nothing but great to this and many other countries. Without me people would’ve been knee deep in debt. Maybe that’s what you want. Money? I can give you a shitload of it. You won’t ever hear the word ‘debt’ again.”

Ochako reached his desk and pointed her knife at him. “Is that so?”

Himura hesitantly leaned closer. “Yes. Doesn’t matter how much, I can pay it.”

She hummed softly, pretending to think. “No thank you.”

She slit his throat. Himura reached for his neck and started gurgling. No matter how many times Ochako had done this before, she still couldn’t look her victims in the eye after taking their lives. It was what they deserved, but it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Who proudly takes someone life and can’t even face them in the end? Ochako put the bloody knife back in her holster and tossed off her heels. The mission wasn’t over. The backup had most likely gathered by now and is on their way upstairs.

“Down the hall!”

She was right. She walked out the office, gradually adding more pace until she was jogging, then running. There was a lot of them she heard. More than she could fight off on her own. At the end of the hallway she looked left, a large group of men was already approaching her. Quickly she turned and ran in the other direction. I

n the corner of her eye she saw Bakugou still standing where she left him. He ran along with her when he saw her.

“What are you still doing here?!” she yelled at him.

“I don’t know! We weren’t done talking!”

Ochako choked on her words.

They turned into another hallway, avoiding the stairs that had been taken over by Himura’s underlings.

“I saw what you did.”

Ochako, panting inspected the possible directions they could go in. Too many dead ends and only two stairs cases, but both of them heavily guarded.

“I figured.”

“You weren’t lying!”

“Shit!” She cursed.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”

She turned to him.  The situation they were in didn’t seem to faze him at all? What in God’s name is going on in this guy’s head? He must’ve been born without common sense and a dangerous amount of obliviousness.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Bakugou jerked his chin back.

Ochako asked him again. “What is wrong with you, do you have any idea in what kind of situation you’ve ended up in?”

“Sorta. I mean, it was about time someone took that piece of shit out. What he was doing was fucking disgusting. Me and his other relatives had agreed to do something about it, but we could only think of long term plans, like taking over his business and ending it all.”

A wave of underlings started flooding into the wing, getting closer and closer to the hallway they decided to stay put in. Ochako tried her best to wrap her head around what Bakugou had just told her and the underlings closing in on them.

“So if I understand you correctly you…Wait, did you say other relatives?”

Bakugou put his hand on his hip. “Yes, as in, I’m Himura’s cousin.”

Ochako huffed air out of her agape mouth. If only she knew that from the start, it would’ve probably saved her so much time and effort if she had a force from the inside who also wanted Himura gone.

The file on Himura was stuffed, but somehow there was no clue available to suggest an inside alliance was forming in the Himura family. Before she could ask for more details the underlings were starting to push in their direction.

Ochako turned to Bakugou and raised her finger. “We aren’t done talking.”

“That’s what I said pink, cheeks.”

“Please don’t call me that.” She blocked the first hit of an underling.

“Why not, pink cheeks?” Bakugou asked whilst elbowing another underling in the nose and then in his gut.

“They’re not pink, they’re just…a bit rosy alright?” She groaned whilst swinging a man into another man, slamming them both against the wall.

“Rosy cheeks it is.”

Bakugou grabbed a head and kneed the underling in the gut several times before they dropped to the floor. Slowly they were making their way through the end of the hallway.

Ochako expected to have been fighting her way through the mass herself, but Bakugou seemed to gladly fight alongside her. She could tell he wasn’t trained in hand to hand combat but he damn sure could throw a couple of punches. Made her wonder what he got up to outside what must be a luxurious life.

“These shitheads just keep on coming.”

Ochako checked for their options. There were none. Every possible exit was heavily guarded and there were too many to fight off, even if she had Bakugou’s help.

“We’re screwed.” She panted.

Bakugou seemed to be deep in thought, actually heavily debating with himself before he grabbed her wrist and said: “Fuck it.”

He dragged her to a back of hall and into a room. In a hurry he barricaded the door with a small couch and a drawer.

“Good thinking, we needed some more time to figure out what to do.”

Bakugou marched to the back of the room and opened the window, revealing the bright night sky. He opened the window and slammed both of the windows to the side.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Excuse me?” Ochako glanced to the door that was already being heavily banged and then walked to the window. She looked down into a gigantic pool, right beneath them. “No way.” She shook her head.

She had faced many fears in her lifetime, but heights definitely wasn’t one of them. She could hardly stand on a ladder and change her lightbulb without passing out from anxiety.

Bakugou climbed on the windowsill and crouched. “Do you know another fucking way out?!”

“I thought we came in here to think of that!”

“Well, I thought of this!”

Ochako crossed her arms and took another peek down. A wave of nausea hit her.

Bakugou nervously looked back at the door where the sofa and desk were getting pushed aside by the second.

“Bakugou, there must be something else, I mean, this could go so wrong.” She tried again.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. He climbed down and scooped Ochako off her feet. He threw her over his shoulder, again, as if she didn’t weigh a thing,

“Stop fucking whining.”

And he launched himself off the windowsill. Ochako closed her eyes and banged her fists on his back. She squeezed her fists tighter, waiting for the fall and the horrible sinking feeling that came with it. When she felt gravity pulling them both down she felt Bakugou gripping her tighter, trying to brace her and himself.

Before Ochako could open her eyes, they already hit the surface.

The pool swallowed her whole.

She felt her toes graze the bottom of the pool and she tried to open her eyes, to see if Bakugou was alive and well. He peeked through the long blond strands that were floating before his eyes and was already trying to swim to the surface.

‘Thank God.’ Even though he dragged her in something that could only be described as a suicide attempt, she would’ve never forgiven herself if something bad happened to him.

Ochako held her head up and let the water carry her to the surface.

Inhaling the cold air when she came up, she fully opened her eyes.

Bakugou had pushed back his hair, wearing a grin on his face. “We lived, pink cheeks.”

Ochako splashed water in his direction. “They’re rosy moron! And we easily could’ve died!” she continued splashing him. “That was reckless! Stupid! Dangerous beyond belief!”

Bakugou swam towards her, turning his face away from the splashes. Ochako suddenly felt his fingers on her lower back. The unexpected touch cut off her bombarding splashes. He turned his head to her and pulled her in close, resting his forehead on hers.

“We fucking lived still, and after this we need to keep moving.” He flashed the most sincere smile she had seen from him so far. All she could do was laugh.

What in the world had she gotten herself into? A situation unimaginable. With a man, ever so eccentric. A man, that starting kissing her like it was their very last.

Ochako couldn’t help but smile against his lips. Comfortably she threw her arms around his shoulders, as if they belonged there. He ran his fingers through her wet hair and let his other hand roam around on her back, as if they haven’t wandered there before.

This time, his kisses were softer, more gentle. He took his time with every single movement. The desire for more of him came over her again.

Ochako would’ve liked nothing more but to keep floating together and explore each other’s bodies some more. She wanted to hold on to that feeling, to be able to feel in a year from now. Scared she wouldn’t ever be able to feel this kind of sudden adoration she felt for him. Afraid that there was no one that could project such devotion for her in a short time.

The beep of car horn yanked her out of the moment. She opened her eyes and looked over Bakugou’s shoulder to see two headlights flashing a signal at her. That’s for her. Bakugou tilted his head, ready to ignore it, but Ochako carefully pushed him away.

“I need to go.” She swam out of his embrace and to the side of the pool. Confused Bakugou swam after her and lifted her out of the pool.

“Can I offer you a ride to anywhere?”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”

Ochako tilted her head. He looked down at her knees and Ochako looked back at the car standing behind the small hedge.

“Are you sure? Aren’t you going to get in trouble? I think Himura’s men have seen your face.” Bakugou scoffed. “I had an escape route planned for if, well, when we landed safely, so like I said; I’ll be fine. I might get in trouble with boss. I don’t think I’m gonna be helping out at any parties anytime soon.” Ochako giggled. Another set of beeps came from behind the hedge.

“See you.”

“See ya, rosy cheeks.”

Ochako stood up and walked through the well trimmed hedge. Dripping water and shuddering from the cold she walked to the car and opened the door. To her surprise Momo and Mina had accompanied him. Momo sat in the front seat and Mina in the back. She slid in the car and pulled off her mask. No one said a word. Midoriya just pulled out the backyard and drove away from the property. Ochako leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. The exhaustion was only now catching up with her.

“…He seems nice.”

“Shut up Mina.”

 EPILOGUE

Ochako thought it was noon. When she opened her eyes, her room was colored in a yellow tint caused by the rays of sunlight coming through her curtains. Checking her clock it was only 10:14 am. She wanted to sleep until noon. She wanted to sleep until the evening. She wanted to sleep for 24 hours straight. So she could let her body get the well deserved rest it needed and so she didn’t have to think about him. From the car ride home until her head hit her pillow Bakugou had occupied her thoughts. Wondering if he didn’t get into too much trouble, if he wouldn’t get a cold from being in that pool, if he got home alright. Momo had noticed that she wasn’t excited or relieved the mission was successful and had tried to talk to her about it when they went over the mission in her office like they always did. Ochako had tried her best to best to be strictly business when going over the night and had left out mentioning her partner in crime for the night when doing so. Yao-Momo had just nodded and complimented her throughout the timeline. The praise didn’t reach Ochako though. Her smiles weren’t quite as wide and her eyes had trouble meeting Yao-Momo’s. A simple “thank you” left her mouth every once in a while.

When the evaluation had come to an end Momo changed from being a superior to her friend. “Now that’s out of the way, should we talk about…you know?”

Ochako really didn’t want to. She expected a lecture. About not letting herself getting caught up in lust so easily, that she shouldn’t trust so easily, that getting distracted by some guy was something she didn’t expect from her. But instead of scolding her, he asked for his name.

“Bakugou.”

“First name?”

‘Heard it somewhere but can’t remember.’

“He really did seem nice.”

“Momo.”

“I can’t help it.”

Ochako tried to hide her blush, turning away from Momo. It made her laugh.

“Oh dear, it’s alright now! You’re allowed to feel! I trust your judgment Ochako. I believe you were careful, probably too careful.”

Ochako turned away even more.

“So was he nice?” Momo asked teasingly.

“He was the biggest asshole I’ve ever met. But then not so much. Then he was just an asshole. A nice asshole.”

Momo went to stand in front of her. “A nice asshole huh? How does that exactly work?” Yao-Momo’s smirk made her smile.

“It’s hard to describe. He makes it work.”

Ochako turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. That was probably the only reason she could fall asleep that night; her boss’ permission for her to feel.

What she felt wasn’t wrong, or not allowed, they were allowed to exist. But it was strange still and she didn’t know what to do with the unfamiliar emotions.

There wasn’t much she could do anyway.

Like she had hoped before he had probably been forgotten about Ochako by the break of dawn. By the end of the day she would have forgotten about him too. That’s what she promised herself. Complete erase him from her memory and her heart.

It was upsetting, but it couldn’t be helped. Ochako closed her eyes. Attempting to fall asleep again and wake up when it was noon.

She threw the covers over her head to avoid the rays she normally found so pleasant. She bundled herself up into a ball and buried her face into her pillow. Not a single position felt right and not for a single second her brain didn’t bring his face to mind. It was starting to become depressing. The feeling of not knowing what to do, exhaustion and ridiculously enough missing a stranger made her want to scream.

Instead, Ochako tried to cry. Hoping that everything that made her feel the way she did would leak out of her body that way. She forced herself to cry so hard it hurt.

Her ears started ringing and she could hear the thumping of her heart. An incredibly loud noise. So loud that she couldn’t hear a knock on her door. The knocks turned into hammering. That’s when the sound became evident to her. She sat up so fast her head spun.

“What?” she moaned. No answer from the other side of the door. “What?!” she yelled at the door. She swung her legs over her bedside and waited for the person to come in. The person didn’t reply and continued the hammering.

It couldn’t get any crazier these days. Ochako stomped towards her door and swung it open.

“Room service.”

Balancing a silver tray in his hand he stood in her doorway. Ruby irises staring right at her. He stood there, like it was normal. Like he was supposed to be there. Almost like she was the one that was out of place.

Ochako rubbed her eyes thoroughly and looked back at Bakugou. He was still there. Her eyes weren’t deceiving her. He was there, standing proud and looking well.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ochako stammered.

Bakugou looked at her funny. “Kinda a rude thing to say to someone who made you breakfast for fucks sake.”

She looked at the tray which contained a mug, silver cutlery, a plate filled with toast, bacon, tomatoes, a croissant and

Scrambled eggs.

When finally taking in what was on the tray the scent of the breakfast hit her. It smelled incredible. It smelled as incredible as it looked, if that made sense. Even though she knew already she couldn’t help but ask.

“Did you make this for me?”

“Oh fuck no, this is for me.” He said sarcastically and took a bite of one of the slices of toast. “Didn’t know you wanted any.” He spoke with a mouth full. She watched the crumbs fall on the wooden floor.

Ochako started to overthink Bakugou’s sarcasm and it took some time for her to reply. After noticeably long pause Bakugou sighed and walked into her room to her surprise.

“Wouldn’t have said ‘room service’ if it wasn’t for you would I? You big dummy.” Bakugou put the tray on her bedside table.

Ochako awkwardly walked to her bed and sat down.

“Seriously ‘big dummy’? I’m sorry but I expected better insults from you after hearing you go off during ‘what’s their deal?’”

Bakugou huffed and crossed his arms. He sat down on the opposite side of the bed and looked at his feet. “Shut up before I come up with something worse for ya’.”

After those words they both sat in silence, fully coming to realize how strange the situation was.

Bakugou still hadn’t explained how in the world he found her and why he made breakfast for her. It was obvious he was looking for the best way to say ‘Hi, you thought you’d never see me again, but yet here I am with a French breakfast I made myself just for you’.

Ochako kept looking from the boy to her breakfast. The rumble of her stomach broke the silence.

“You can eat you know? A lot of fucking effort went into that.” It sounded harsh but she knew he didn’t mean to sound like that.

She smiled at him and picked up the fork. Taking her time to dig into the scrambled eggs and put it in her mouth.

Bakugou turned to her, now actually being able to look at her now, he was that curious to see her reaction. The taste of the eggs made her all smiles.. Bakugou only watched her enjoy her meal. He had no particular expression on his face but somehow he radiated contentedness.

“So, why are you here?”

“Straight to the point huh?”

“Just like you prefer.”

The breakfast may have been incredible, but Ochako still wanted more details to how he was even able to prepare that at headquarters in the first place.

“Got a call from strange lady around ‘too fucking early am’ about me being a source of information on a case involving my uncle or something, and that I had to spill every bit of dirt I had on him. God knows how they got my number or how she even knew my name.”

Ochako’s brow furrowed of irritation. This was a set up. A scheme. The mission was finished, the file was closed, there was no need for Yao-Momo to get in touch with him. “What did she say?” she asked, trying not the grit her teeth.

“Well, when I told her everything I knew she told me I seemed nice.”

Ochako’s sighed. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

Bakugou started to scratch the back of his neck and tried to look for the right words again. “She told me you were was working on the case, and that I’ve been a big help to you. She told me you wanted to see me, thank me personally for helping.” A blush crept up on Bakugou’s cheeks, which made her own cheeks glow as well.

“What did you say?” Ochako asked softly, looking at her own pale crossed legs.

“That I wanted to see you too, of fucking course.”

It made her heart skip a beat. That the desire to see more of the other, not really wanting to forget about the other just yet; it was mutual feeling.

“I knew it was a fucking set-up by the way.” Bakugou said after a while.

Ochako groaned and threw her head back. “For crying out loud! This is so embarrassing.” Bakugou tried to hold back his laughter but he failed. He straight up laughed at her.

It should’ve amped the embarrassment but she felt relieved. She had held a bit of her hopes up even after promising herself to forget about him. She hoped that for some miraculous reason she would hear from him again or even better; see him again. The anxiety washed away from her when Ochako saw Bakugou shake from laughter. Feeling better she laughed along with him. Their laughter sounded good together. They were good together.

“So embarrassing set ups aside; how fucking good were those eggs?”

“That’s a mean fucking scrambled egg.”