Chapter 98 - Helping Out

Y/N was finally getting her revenge for all of Bakugou's grueling workout sessions.

"I told you this would happen. You wanted to come to the States anyway. Quit your whining."

"I still can't get this shit off my hands. How the hell do I get it off?"

After Y/N had showered (a cold shower that made her consider wringing her boyfriend's neck), she'd roped Katsuki into her errands, most of them being helping her neighbors with odd repairs. It had been a full day of traveling around the few blocks of city answering the dozens of calls to her phone. Once she'd arrived in New York again, those who knew her were begging for her assistance; Y/N and Bakugou had tuned up cars, fixed heaters, even repaired garbage disposals.

With no pay, too.

Y/N tossed him an oil rag. "That'll get most of it off." She turned back to the little red car she was working on, crouching down near the gas tank for one final inspection. "It was just a loose fuel cap, Miss Yung. That should fix your problem. If not, I'll be in town for a few more days."

"Thank you, dear! I'm so glad you're back in town," The little old lady on the porch praised. "What a handsome young man. Is he your husband?"

It was the third time she'd asked that. Bakugou rolled his eyes and squeezed them shut, trying not to lose his shit as he leaned against the car. At least it wasn't raining.

"Nah, he's just my caddy boy! He is pretty cute though, isn't he?"

Bakugou shot Y/N a glare, but she ignored him and handed over her tools for him to slip back into the utility belt around his waist.

Y/N really was using him as a caddy boy. For the past several hours, he'd hauled around her tools and handed her what she needed as she bossed him around. It was slow work, and Katsuki hated slow work. This was so much worse than an awkward dinner, especially with the fucking grease that he fucking couldn't wipe off.

Miss Yung sighed. "So handsome. When are you going to settle down, Y/N? You'd make such a cute little housewife."

Bakugou barked out a laugh at the comment. "Ha! You would make a cute little housewife. Whaddya say, Y/N?" His grin made Y/N roll her eyes.

"I think he's flirting with you," Miss Yung said. "How sweet!"

"Tell him to stop," Y/N muttered. She closed the latch on the car and stood up to wipe her hands off. "That should do it. Anything else you need?"

Please say no, Bakugou thought.

"Well, my house has been a bit chilly lately... I'm not sure if my heater is working."

"Have you turned it on?"

"How do I do that?"

Katsuki wanted to scream.

How many stops had they done now? A million? It felt like a million.

~~~

"Calm down, this is the last one," Y/N teased. She could tell he was antsy; his leg had been bouncing impatiently for the last hour.

"Why the hell are you doing this? They're not even paying you."

"They can't afford it, Kat. New York is expensive. How do you think I learned tinkering in the first place?"

He hadn't ever questioned it, honestly. "Thought you went to some classes for it or some shit. Don't you have to go to trade school?"

"Trade school costs money. You've seen my parents' place, you think they've got money?... Watch out, imma come down now."

Bakugou backed up from the ladder he was stabilizing to make room for Y/N to hop down. This last errand was just a tune up of Leo's water pipes ("It sounds like a rat in the walls!" He had told Y/N). "Maybe you should've charged then."

"It's not all about the money. Sometimes people are just lookin' to help out," She said with a smile as she patted his shoulder. "Taking care of your neighbor is the backbone of lower class communities, my friend."

He didn't respond– how could he, when he didn't know what to say? This was Y/N's territory. It seemed to come so easily to her, helping people like this. Maybe that's why she had been such a great hero... and what made her an even better friend.

Y/N was just as vulgar and irritable as him, but when someone needed her, she didn't even question it. It was second nature for her to do the dirty work to help her loved ones. It made his chest feel like it was aching if he thought about it too much. How was she this... cool?

Bakugou's thoughts of Y/N were interrupted when she reached her arm around him. For a moment he thought she was leaning in for a kiss and his breath caught in his throat, but he felt a small tug from the back of his belt and Y/N pulled out one of her tools.

When she saw the disappointed look on her face, she cackled. "Hoping for somethin' else, huh?"

"Fuck off."

"Don't stress, you'll get compensation for helping me out later." She didn't look at him as she climbed back up the ladder, but Bakugou's cheeks flushed a deep pink.

Well now he was even more impatient. "How much longer?" He grunted.

"Gimme ten minutes and we'll be outta here, okay?"

Bakugou sighed. "Fine. The compensation better be worth it."

Y/N rolled her eyes at him but didn't say anything else.

He leaned against the wall again and crossed his arms, his mind drifting back to what she'd said before. "So you're self taught? In engineering, I mean."

"No no no. Well, not completely. My mom taught me the basics when I was a kid... used to tag along when she would do this. Her back's too fucked up now though, so I took over. Wrench, please... the blue one." She held her hand out expectantly, not looking away from her task inside the ceiling.

He passed her the tool. "How'd you learn to make gear then?"

"Reading, mostly. Didn't have money to buy all those fancy books, so my mom got me a library card for the New York Public Library."

She liked to read, too. Dammit. Everything he learned about this girl made him fall harder. After a moment she passed the wrench back to him.

"So... everything about quirk science and engineering, you learned from books?" He asked a bit skeptically.

Y/N shrugged. "Guess so. I mean... so much of making hero gear is based on each quirk, so a lot of research is done on a case-by-case basis. So your quirk, right? You make your explosions. I just had to make you gear that could handle the nitroglycerin reaction." She paused to drop a screw into his hand below. "Or Uraraka's gear. She can make herself light on her own–"

"So you gave her propulsions to move around," Bakugou finished. "That's... clever."

She turned to look down at him with a grin. "Was that a compliment? From Dynamight? You better ease up before people start thinking you're approachable."

"Yeah, don't get used to it," He grunted.

~~~

Once they'd returned to Y/N's apartment, Bakugou unbuckled the utility belt around his waist and tossed it onto the dining table. "You promised me compensation."

"Oh, yeah. Once we're not gross we're going out to dinner," She said.

Bakugou reached back over his shoulders to pull his shirt off and started walking towards the bathroom. When Y/N saw what he was doing she dropped her things and darted over to try and beat him, but he was too quick. He had already stepped inside and blocked the doorway with his tall frame.

"Where you headed, princess? This shower is occupied." He drew out the last word, leaning down over her with a condescending smirk.

Y/N glared up at him. "That's not fair, you got the hot water this morning."

"You're right, huh? Damn. Guess you're too slow," He teased, moving to close the door, but Y/N stuck her foot in the doorway to keep it open.

She shook her head defiantly with a scowl. "Nu-uh. It's my turn. This is my fucking apartment."

Bakugou was enjoying this way too much. He stretched one of his arms up by his head to lean against the doorway. "What are you gonna do about it, sweetheart?"

Y/N prayed that her cheeks weren't flushed at him using the word 'sweetheart' again. She never thought she'd hear it after that night in the jet. It made her heart jump out of her chest, and it was getting harder not to look down at his shirtless torso.

Much to her dismay, Katsuki noticed.

"You like that, don't you?" He took a step towards her, and despite her desire to stand up to him, she took a step backwards. How the hell was she supposed to respond?

"No," She lied.

"I think you do." He took two more steps. When she mirrored him, the backs of her legs hit the dining table. Cornered. "You liked it on the plane too."

Y/N lied again. "No I didn't."

As she leaned back, he leaned forward, resting his hands on the table either side of her. She was trapped, forced to look up at him, his eyes dark with that same expression he had on the plane. "You're a bad liar."

Y/N wanted to be upset. She wanted to protest and push him away to go to the shower, but her body wasn't listening. A small flame had lit in her chest, and god dammit, he was the only person who could fix it.

"Come shower with me then, sweetheart."