Chapter 44 - Stickers & Self Care

"What the fuck is Worcestershire sauce?" Bakugou snapped. "I swear Iida is making this shit up." He crumbled up the shopping list and threw it at the back of Todoroki's head.

Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki, Kirishima and Y/N were assigned to go grocery shopping for that week (actually, Kirishima was, but he got carried away inviting people to come with). They'd been scouring the shelves looking for the different items that Iida had listed, but they seemed to be struggling.

"I believe it's similar to soy sauce. Let's check near there," Todoroki said, pointing towards a nearby isle. Him and Bakugou seemed to be the only ones actually trying to shop; Y/N and Kirishima were playing some game with finger guns and running around through the store. Bakugou was about ready to kill them.

"Oi! I'm not getting paid to babysit!" He barked, grabbing Kirishima by the shirt collar as he ran past. "Stop acting crazy or I'll rip your head off." Kirishima pouted at being ridiculed.

"I think I win then, right? You got apprehended," Y/N bragged, pretending to blow smoke away from her finger guns. Kirishima stuck his tongue out at her.

From then on, Bakugou snapped at them when they started goofing off, keeping them in line. Midoriya had gotten lost a few isles back and still hadn't been found.

"I wanna go check out their bike decals. I'll be back in a hot second," Y/N said. As she tried to scurry away, Bakugou snatched her sleeve, tsking at her.

"Stop slacking off. Help with the damn groceries or go home."

"Don't be a dick. It's not like we're crunched for time. Come with if you're so worried I'll take a while," she suggested, heading off down the isle without a second thought. Bakugou snarled in frustration. Why did she never listen?

He followed her anyway, muttering under his breath as he did so. 

Bakugou had to jog after her to keep up. He was angry that she hadn't waited for him, but that anger faded once he found her staring longingly up at a certain item on a shelf above her. He walked over to meet her, trying to pinpoint what she was staring at. 

"Look at those stickers!" She gushed. "How do I choose?"

Bakugou followed her gaze and landed on an abundance of motorcycle decals. There were hundreds of different stickers-- flowers, cats, countries, flags-- but what Y/N seemed to be looking at was the hero merch. 

"I should just get them all, right? I mean, I got my paycheck," she said. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself and Bakugou just happened to overhear the conversation. "I should support the homies."

Bakugou rolled his eyes at how cheesy she was being. "Do what you want, but hurry it up."

Y/N's eyes scanned the self intently. One of them seemed to catch her eye and she laughed. "Hey, check it out, Kat!" She held it in front of his face to show him. "What do you think? Should I get it?"

It was a sticker of Deku giving a big thumbs up, his name in a banner above his head. It was sickeningly wholesome. "Gross," Bakugou grumbled. He looked around for something better, and found the best option pretty quickly.

Katsuki found a sticker of his own. It had DYNAMIGHT in big orange letters over a black explosion. It did look pretty cool. "This one," he smirked. "Put this shit on your bike."

Y/N looked it over and pretended to think about it. "Hmm... shouldn't I get stickers of good heroes?"

Scorched.

"You brat," he seethed, snatching the Deku sticker from her hand. He was about to yell at her some more, stepping towards her menacingly, but she said something that made him stop.

"Calm down Kat, I'm teasing you. You know you're my favorite hero."

Bakugou had a hard time processing what she had said. He was her favorite hero? His muscles seemed to stop working where he was and he found himself staring at her, unable to understand. "Huh?"

"Don't act so shocked," she grumbled.

"Why the hell am I  your favorite hero?"

"Are you stupid?" She scoffed. "You literally got shot trying to take care of me."

Bakugou's heart swelled in his chest. There was a sense of pride, sure, but something else too... he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He kind of wanted to hold her hand, or run his fingers through her hair... or something else dumb like that. His face started turning pink, too.

Y/N took the Dynamight sticker from his hands and grabbed a few other eccentric looking designs from the shelf. "Alright, I've got my picks," she said excitedly. "Let's go meet up with the others."

~~~

It was 8:00 PM now; the sun had just set and Y/N had finished sprucing up her motorcycle with the new stickers. She loved them. She'd gotten some flower decals along with a few merch selections of friends of hers (she had a small section above her back wheel for those). 

She'd even finished a few tune ups; just some routine things, like brake and fluid checks. Her overalls smelled of oil and polish, but she liked the smell. It felt familiar and reminded her of home.

Y/N stood up and admired her handy work. The new polish looked nice too. Her bike was as beautiful as ever, though she likely had grease stains on her face now. She grabbed her grease rag and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand as she made her way back into the dorms. It was late enough in the evening that most of her friends were back in their rooms.

Her tool kit was getting heavier the more she worked. She'd acquired more and more tools as the semester progressed, finding new niches that needed to be filled from completing the uniform requests of her friends. Originally it hadn't been a problem, but her back was suffering the consequences now. She wished she had Bakugou's muscles.

After returning her tools and oils to her room, Y/N made her way to the shower to clean off. Mechanic work was messier than most people thought; she knew she smelled like a car shop and she didn't want that. Most people didn't find the scent as appealing as she did.

The hot water was a relief. Bakugou had not gone easy on her in training that morning. Muscles that she didn't even know she had were now aching from exhaustion... but she did really enjoy that time she had with him, as weird as their new dynamic was. Bakugou had never been an easy person to read, but recently he had been much more expressive around her. He'd even smiled a few times; a real, genuine smile that made her heart race.

Y/N decided to let herself indulge and she used her more expensive soap. It had been a gift from Mina a few weeks back. The scrub smelled of vanilla and coffee and left her feeling the smoothest she'd ever been. She even snuck a bit of Momo's facial cream.

For the first time since being in Japan, Y/N used her silk robe after drying off. It was unbelievably soft and filled her with happy memories of self-care days in the states. Part of her ached to be home again, but it was getting harder and harder to admit.

Y/N stepped out of the steam of the bathroom and made her way to her bedroom, squeezing the last bit of water from her hair as she walked down the hall. She hadn't felt this nice in a long time-- the onsen hadn't exactly been a relaxing experience.

It was hard to get that image Bakugou out of her head. He had been naked in front of her, gripping her and leaning in. It would have been so easy to close the gap, kiss him, maybe even go further than that... why was she so nervous? She'd never had problems with boys before; in fact, she was usually the one making moves and flirting. This whole situation felt so different than what she was used to.

She paused as she passed by his door. There was loud music blaring, though she didn't recognize the artist. What kind of music did Bakugou like? Maybe she should just ask. What was she so scared of?

She had to prove to herself that she wasn't a pussy. Y/N raised her hand to knock, but before she even got the chance, the door opened.

And Bakugou was shirtless behind it.

"Uh, hey, you need to turn down..." Y/N started, but she trailed off when she realized where Bakugou was staring. His eyes were staring straight down at her chest.

In her desire to see him again she'd forgotten that she was wearing a silk robe, and not a thick one. Her nipples were definitely visible under the fabric and there was more than a comfortable amount of cleavage showing. 

"Jesus, what are you trying to do to me?" Bakugou breathed, his eyes not parting from her boobs. His pupils were dark with that same look she'd seen before-- it was the same as the Onsen, the kiss, the pancake batter, the seven minutes in heaven, the rooftop. She wanted to see more of it.

Y/N wasn't sure what to do. She was frozen again. How did he always manage to make her feel like jelly?

Before she could even realize what was happening, Bakugou grabbed her forearm and yanked her into his room, slamming the door behind them and pushing her against it. 

There was barely an inch of space between them as she looked up at him. His breathing was heavy and his grip on her was unrelenting. She never wanted it to end. Chills ran up her spine at the words he whispered into her ear.

"If you want me to stop, tell me. Otherwise I'm not stopping until I'm finished with you, Tinkerbell."