Bakugou liked to think of himself as an observant person. He could just look at someone and find their weaknesses, their strengths, how powerful they were, what they were feeling; not that he ever used this ability for anything other than battle, but nonetheless it was still a good skill to have.

So when Kou had started acting uncharacteristically cold towards him, he inevitably traced it back to the last person he saw her with- Shitty Hair.

"I promise, man! I didn't say anything bad, we just talked!" Kirishima defended himself when the blond had angrily stomped into his room demanding answers.

Not satisfied, Bakugou grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah! I mean, I might've mentioned something about you guys being cute together-"

"WHAT?" He yells, flustered and turning a light pink. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SAY THAT?"

"Because it's true?" He smiles nervously, and Bakugou's glare hardens.

"What else did your dumb ass tell her?" he presses on, knowing that his idiotic friend must've slipped up somehow.

"I didn't say anything about what you told m-"

"SHUT UP!" Bakugou interrupts, blush deepening, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE!"

"But I was just say-"

"WHATEVER!" he huffs in annoyance, dropping his hold on the redhead's shirt. "Fine, I believe you. But I'll fucking kill you if I find out you were lying!"

The angry blond turns to leave the room, opening the door and pausing when Kirishima calls out to him one last time. "Look Baku-bro, why don't you guys just-"

Bakugou's hand clenched on the wood of the door as he propped it open. "Don't stick your nose in my business, Shitty Hair. I don't need your advice."

Without another word he exits the room, leaving Kirishima alone to wonder why his friends were complicating something so simple.

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Kou was exhausted.

She'd decided to take more shifts at work-confusing her boss yet again with her inconsistent scheduling requests-and spent as much time at home as possible in an attempt to hide from her problems. Namely, a certain Bakugou Katsuki.

She'd been avoiding him like the plague: she slept in her own room when she was at the dorms, she ate lunch alone, she didn't show up to breakfast anymore, she'd train with Midoriya- and if he even tried coming close to her she'd make a run for it.

Of course people had noticed her sudden shift in mood- but that didn't deter her. She wasn't going to be stupid enough to open up about her problems to anyone anymore. She brushed off any concerned questions from her friends, refusing to tell them what was wrong. Eventually, they'd just stopped asking.

Bakugou had tried talking to her. He hadn't given up, either. He was constantly texting her, even if she didn't respond. He didn't try so much in person since he wasn't one for public humiliation, but she was getting impatient with his patience.

Why couldn't he just give up? She'd made it perfectly clear she didn't want to talk to him, but he was still always there, waiting for her to suddenly change her mind and come crawling back to him.

But that wouldn't happen- she wouldn't let it.

It was close to midnight now; she'd just gotten back from her home- it wasn't a good night. Katsuro had gotten mad at Machi for making a mess on the carpet during dinner, she'd stepped in to try and defend her, Hiro had tried to stop the fighting that ensued; it didn't end well for the siblings. Kou had managed to take the brunt of Katsuro's anger, but Hiro wasn't looking too good either.

Luckily she only got off with a couple bruises and a nasty cut on her cheek (from one of his prized rings)- something she'd definitely have trouble explaining in the morning. Whatever, she was too tired to worry about that now.

Climbing up the steps to Heights Alliance and unlocking the door, she sighed in relief when she saw nobody around the dark corridors. Everyone was probably asleep at this point, thank go-

"Why the fuck are you back so late?" Kou turned on the light and jumped in surprise when she realized the blond she'd been trying to avoid was sitting on the couch a couple metres away.

You have got to be fucking kidding me , she thinks to herself. He was literally the last person she needed to see right now.

She frantically pulls her hood further down in an attempt to conceal her face, not bothering to respond to him as she walks away.

"Hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He yells, standing up off the couch to walk towards her, "And why are you hiding your face-"

He tries to grab onto her hood and pull it off but she's too quick. "Don't touch me!"

"W-what the fuck? Stop!" The two play an impromptu game of tag around the couch, Bakugou eventually yanking her back and spinning her around.

His fists clench around the fabric of the hoodie when he sees the cut on her cheek. She's still struggling to get out of his grip but he's unrelenting. "Who did this to you?" he grounds out, almost shaking with anger.

"Who the fuck do you think?" she spits out, turning her face away from him. He grabs her chin and turns her back towards him.

His fingers lightly touch her cheek, and Kou hisses at the pain. "Stop it."

"Are you hurt anywhere else? He ignores her pleas, trying to look around and see any other injuries.

"No, so can you please-" Kou yelps when he suddenly picks her up, barely giving her enough time to wrap her legs around his waist as he walks her to the kitchen. "I can walk perfectly fine myself, you asshole! Put me down!"

He eventually sets her down on the kitchen counter, ignoring her curses and threats as he opens a random cupboard to get the class medical kit. He fishes through the supplies and pulls out some disinfectant and a gauze to wipe away the blood.

"What are you doing?" Kou backs up but is greeted with the wood of the cupboard behind her hitting her head, "Stop-"

Bakugou groans, "Would you shut the fuck up and stop being difficult? I'm trying to help you!"

"I don't need your help!" she yells, trying to slap his hand away as he tries to clean her cut. "Go away!"

He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her closer so that he's in between her legs, using his free hand to finally press the wipe to her cheek. She hisses in pain, but stops fighting.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" He muttered under his breath, and Kou growls at that.

"Shut the fuck up." She hisses, just wanting to get this over with.

Kou grabs onto the sleeve of the arm that's tending to her wound, feeling herself giving in despite her determination not to. Bakugou is none the wiser to her internal dilemma, only focusing on disinfecting her cut.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, gaze shifting to her eyes. She looks away.

"Katsuro got mad again. Nothing new." She gruffs out, and he presses a little too hard on her cheek accidentally. "OUCH!"

"Sorry," he muttered, discarding the bloody gauze and getting a new one. "Are your brother and sister fine?"

She's taken aback by his curiosity for her siblings. Kou tries to ignore the swell in her heart at his concern for Hiro and Machi, putting on an indifferent face. "Machi's fine, Hiro...he's not as bad as me but he's not okay either."

She needed to leave. The longer she stayed here, the more likely she was to give in. Kou was supposed to be stronger than this.

"I fucking hate your stepdad," he growls, and Kou chuckles wryly. "I'm being serious, one day I'm gonna kill the guy."

"And risk your hero licence?" she says dryly, and Bakugou flicks her forehead.

"Scum like that should just die." he growls, and takes one last look at her cheek to make sure he'd properly taken care of it.

"It's not your problem, Katsuki." she says weakly, resisting the urge to lean into him. "Don't waste your time on someone like me."

"Don't tell me what to do." he gripes back, eyebrows furrowing.

Kou swallows slightly, words coming out of her mouth despite her promise not to talk to him more than necessary. "I'm not weak. I don't need your help."

"I know." he pulls her closer to him, his face almost at her chest. "I never said you were. You don't need to be so tough all the time, idiot." he chastises, "No one's going to think you're weak just because you need help sometimes."

"I never said I needed-" he shuts her up by kissing her cheek softly, right over the bandaid he'd just placed.

"Shut up," he kisses her again and Kou shivers, "Just let me be there for you, Kou-mi."

"There's nothing you can do," she whispers, "You can't just expect things to turn out okay because you interfere."

"I know."

"I- you can't fix everything." Kou continues, voice barely above a whisper, "There's no point."

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Bakugou narrows his gaze on the girl, who looks like she's on the verge of tears.

"Just stop trying to help me!" She snaps, "I don't need it! I don't-"

"I'm not trying to fucking do anything, idiot. I'm just cleaning you up."

She grips onto his forearm, not able to control the tears streaming down her cheek. Why the fuck was she crying over this? "Why are you so nice to me?"

"I already told you," he whispers softly into her ear, "I care about you, you dumb ass."

"I don't deserve it," she says into his shoulder, finally giving up. "It's- I don't understand why-"

Bakugou moves impossibly closer, their chests pressed up against each other. Her arms are around his shoulders, his wrapped around her waist. "Why are you such an idiot? How many reasons do you need to want to fucking help a friend?"

Why did he always know exactly what to say to break down her walls? What did she do to deserve his kindness? She'd been nothing but a total dick to him these past couple weeks- yet he was still willing to help her with no complaints. How was she supposed to say no? Kou felt so weak, but she couldn't help but give into him.

"I don't want you to leave," she finally admits in a broken whisper, her tears falling down on his face as she looks down at him. He kisses her chin, nuzzling into her jaw and making her tighten her grip on his shoulders.

"I'm not going anywhere." He promises, and Kou doesn't even realize how close their faces had gotten until she feels her nose brush against his. She must've been leaning in unconsciously, too overcome with her need for Katsuki to hold back. She's cupping his face in her hands, stroking his cheek softly and tilting his chin up towards her.

The blond doesn't hesitate to return the action, leaning in more until their lips touch. Just as she closes her eyes and is about to pull him closer andfinally kiss, they were interrupted by the sound of a scream and something falling to the ground.

The two immediately pushed away from each other, Kou frantically wiping her tear-stained cheeks and Bakugou breathing heavily on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Oh god!" Midoriya is blushing furiously, hands over his mouth and ignoring the fallen water bottle on the ground, "I am so, so sorry Kou-chan- Kacchan! W-what, I- shit, I-"

"FUCKING HELL, DEKU!" Bakugou yells, his ears turning bright red, "FOR FUCK'S SAKE, WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS FUCKING RUINING- FUCK!"

Bakugou storms off in embarrassment, leaving a flustered Kou and an even more flustered Midoriya alone in the kitchen. This was now the second time he'd interrupted the couple, and Kou was trying her best to hide her disappointment. Wait, wasn't she supposed to be avoiding the blond? What the hell was she doing almost kissing him in the middle of the fucking kitchen?

He fumbled around his words nervously for a couple seconds, looking between the girl and the spot where his childhood friend had just been frantically.

"Are you guys-" Midoriya begins questioning, only to be immediately shut down.

"No."

"But you-"

"I don't know." Kou sighs tiredly, leaning her head against the cupboard behind her. "I'm just as fucking confused as you, Deku."

Midoriya frowns, not knowing how to console his friend since he had such little experience in the romantic field. "W-well, uh, you know, I- uh..."

"Just spit it out!" Kou snaps, not wanting to listen to his ramblings right now.

"Have you guys tried talking, maybe?" Midoriya suggested meekly, and Kou's eye twitched slightly.

"No." she huffs out, arms crossing over her chest as she looks away from the green-haired hero.

"Oh," he says dumbly, "Why not?"

"Because I don't know what to say!" she explains frustratedly, "I don't even know where to fucking begin!"

Midoriya approaches the girl slowly, as if any sudden movements would scare her off. "What's so hard about it, Kou-chan? You guys make each other happy."

Kou knocks her head into the cupboard, closing her eyes. " Happy? I haven't done anything for him, Midoriya. All I do is take."

She looks down at her hands, which are trembling slightly with how much emotion she was feeling. "I feel so fucking selfish sometimes. Like I'm taking more than what I deserve. And then it scares the fuck out of me because I don't know what I'll do when one day it goes away."

Midoriya looks at his friend with empathetic eyes. He didn't know much about Kou's life or background, but he knew it wasn't easy from the brief glimpses he'd had. He puts a hand on her knee, causing her to look up at him. "Kou-chan, it's not selfish to let someone care for you. You deserve it, you know? We all deserve someone that cares about us a lot. It's not...wrong to want that. You're not a bad person- you're just a human being."

He smiles up at her with kindness, and Kou searches his eyes for any signs of deceit but finds none. "But-"

"No 'buts'. You deserve someone who...loves you, okay?" Kou blushes at his word choice, but Midoriya continues on, "And you're not just taking! You've done more for Kacchan- you've changed him more than you'd ever know. He used to be...just mean. He was cruel, and he didn't care about anybody, and he was always so angry- and you changed him, for the better. I didn't think anyone could ever do it, but you did . You give him as much as he gives you; you're not just taking."

Kou swallows, her hands trembling more. Her quirk is going off slightly, a white buzz surrounding her. "I-I don't know what to do."

Midoriya grabs Kou's hands, clutching them tightly to let her know he was there for her. "You don't have to know right now. It's fine if you need to take some time to figure things out. Just don't push people away because you're scared. There's no rush, Kou-chan. I'm sure Kacchan cares enough about you to understand. I know for a fact he'd never leave you; he's not that kind of guy. Just...try talking to him eventually, okay?"

She felt a weight come off her shoulders at his words. Even though she wasn't fully convinced, having someone tell her that she deserved to be happy, to be taken care of- she hadn't heard those words in such a long time. She'd been certain of the fact she was just supposed to navigate life on her own from now on, that accepting help from other people meant she was weak, or selfish, or useless. But Midoriya's sincerity had a way of piercing through her heart, flooding it with a hope that wouldn't have been there otherwise. He was a bumbling idiot, and a nervous wreck- but he was kind. Kou was proud to call him a friend; she was thankful to have someone like him in her life.

Kou lets out a shaky breath, squeezing her green-haired friend's hand slightly before letting go and dropping off the counter. "Thank you, Midoriya. Thanks for listening to me, and for saying such kind things. You're...a good friend."

"H-huh?" he suddenly realizes how brazen he'd been, turning bright red and going back to his usual flustered self. "I-it was nothing! I'm sorry for being so forward!"

She chuckles at his nervousness, ruffling his hair affectionately and smiling at him. "You're fine, Izuku." The girl turns on her heels to exit the kitchen, and Midoriya only realizes what she'd said a couple minutes after he calmed down.

" I-I-I-IZUKU?!?!?!??!?! "

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A/N: ik yall were expecting Kou to avoid Bakugou for like another couple chapters but let's be real here...how long could you resist someone like him 😩🤚🏻

if anyone has gotten this far someone tell me how tagging works on this app like how do you even search for stories man HOW WILL ANYONE FIND THIS