Ten Days of Katsuki (Todobaku)

Day 7, Part 2

Once Eri finishes her ice cream, Aizawa retrieves her to bring her to the kids camp. Bakugou and I, now alone, stroll along the upper deck of the pool. My hand glides on the ship railing as we walk.

When we reach the life size chess set, Bakugou grins at me.

"Up for a game?" he says. "I'll go easy on you."

My lip curls upward. "Somehow I don't believe that."

He snorts. "Yeah, that's true. I don't care how cute you are, I'm still gonna kick your ass."

Shielding my hand over my eyes, I groan. "Stop saying things like that."

"Like what?"

I spread my fingers apart so I can see him out of my right eye. I suck in my lower lip. "I'm not used to you being so sweet all the time. I don't think I've stopped blushing since last night."

Chuckling, Bakugou removes my hand from my face and holds it in his. "But making you blush is too much fun."

Sporting a huge smile, he leans forward and presses his lips to mine. My feet feel weightless at his gentle touch. The juxtaposition of Bakugou's usual abrasive nature and the tender way he kisses will probably always make my head spin. When he pulls away, he then kisses the tip of my nose, turning me into even more of a blushing mess than I already was.

He bites his lip into a smile. "Sorry, but I've been waiting to do that all day."

I offer a shy smile. "How do I know you're not just trying to distract me before our chess match?"

"Because." He kisses me once more. "I don't have to rely on cheap tricks to beat you. It's not like you're any good."

Sadly, he's right.

Bakugou and I play three rounds of chess and, to no one's surprise, I lose every single one. To be fair, I don't mind. I like that Bakugou is so good at a lot of things. If I'm going to date anybody, I prefer it to be someone with lots of life experience and various talents so I feel proud when standing beside them.

Wait, are we dating? We never really discussed it. Oh well, I'm fine with going with the flow.

Bakugou runs to me after putting all the pieces in their original places. He throws his arms around my waist and lifts me in the air, tilting his head up for me to kiss him. I do, because I can't get enough of his lips, and then he spins me around before setting me back on the ground.

"You're getting better," he says. "At chess, I mean. Not kissing. You're already good at that."

I turn my head away from him, seeing as I can only handle so much embarrassment in one afternoon. Bakugou, hands still on my hips, takes it upon himself to pepper as many kisses as he can into my cheek that's closest to him. He only stops when my smile can't grow any wider. He hugs me close and lowers his voice to just above a whisper.

"You're so beautiful."

I snap my head back to face him, a newfound vulnerability seeping into my heart. I study his face for any trace of insincerity, but I know I won't find any. Still, his words are hard to digest.

"Do you really mean that?" I ask.

Bakugou gives a small smile as he fixates on my lips, his eyes slowly moving upward to meet my gaze. "More than anything."

"Well, this is an interesting development."

Eyes widening, Bakugou and I turn our heads to see Denki and Shinsou smirking at us. My knees buckle at the realization we've been caught. If it weren't for Bakugou's arms firmly wrapped around my waist, I'd probably faint.