How Can I Make it Okay? - A BakuDeku Story

Little Things

Bakugo watched from the kitchen as Todoroki and Midoriya caught up properly. He had some makeup work that Aizawa had made very clear he needed to turn in by the end of next week to stay on track, but it was hard to focus on it. It wasn't that Bakugo didn't trust Todoroki or Midoriya, it was that for the first time, he found himself wanting to be on the couch with them. It had taken Midoriya leaving for him to realize that he did have people that cared about him, that wanted to be friends with him. In his first year he had kept everyone at arm's length, afraid of making friends with people that could surpass him. It was what he had done with Midoriya from the beginning. He was terrified that the damn nerd was already better than him, that even without a quirk, he would surpass him, be better than him. And he was. All these years later and Midoriya was eons ahead of him. But it didn't bother Bakugo the way it would have years ago. Now, he just wanted to see his friends be the best versions of heroes that they could be. He wanted to be the best version of himself now.

"Kaski," Eri tried to pronounce his name again as she walked into the kitchen. She had been trying all weekend, but it always ended in her saying Kaski and he had accepted it. She was like Midoriya in that way, unable to say Katsuki. He chuckled, shifting his glasses onto the top of his head to look at her. "Can you help me with my math homework?"

He smiled, taking the paper from her, and pulling his glasses back down as she settled in the chair next to him. He looked across the math problems and chuckled, remembering when life was as easy as figuring out division and multiplication.

"What aren't you understanding?"

Eri looked up at him, wide eyed and he realized then that Eri was just trying to finesse her way out of doing her homework and he wasn't about to be played by anyone, not even a kid as adorable as Eri. He got up, grabbing a piece of mochi from the freezer and sat back down next to her, avoiding looking at her as he bit into it.

"Kaski, can I have mochi too?"

"Only people who do their homework can eat mochi?"

"Then you shouldn't be eating mochi either," Eri countered, holding up the empty pieces of paper he had sitting in front of him. The kid was good. But he wasn't a menace as a kid for nothing. He knew all the tricks. He created them.

"Alright then, since we both have lots of homework, how about this, how many pages of homework do you have?"

"Four."

"Okay, for every two pages, you can have a piece of mochi? And for every 10 pages I finish, I get a piece of mochi."

"You have that much homework?"

He nodded, holding up the stack of papers in front of him.

"Wow, okay deal," Eri smiled, grabbing the first page of homework from him and a pencil off the table and got to work. Bakugo did the same, using the motivation and the realization that he was now responsible for making sure Eri finished her homework tonight to keep him from leaving his work on the table and running into the living room. He was seven pages in when Eri dropped her pencil down and announced that she had finished two pages, pride clear on her face. He took the papers from her, checking them over before getting up to get her mochi.

"You're not going to eat mochi with me?"

"I'm not done yet, three more pages before I can eat mochi."

'Then I'll wait for you," she smiled, opening the coloring book that she was pressing on. "When you finish your ten pages then I'll eat my mochi."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm," she picked up a crayon and started coloring Mt. Lady a bright blue. Bakugo closed the freezer and went back to work, picking up the speed for Eri's sake. When he was done, he pulled four pieces of mochi out the fridge and placed two in front of Eri.