#kacchako #kacchakothread

"I think Katsuki might be cheating on me."

For some strange reason, all sorts of gossip made its way towards Ashido Mina's direction. It wasn't even because she craved for it. Not anymore. Age and the alleged maturity that came with it will do that much change to a person.

As much as she wanted to change her public image, she couldn't help it when the gossip presented itself to her naturally.

That, and Uraraka Ochako was one of her best friends and they just happened to trust each other so much, most especially at times of dire need.

Still, Ochako suddenly blurting that specific statement out caused Mina to be both concerned and amused at the same time.

Mostly amused because there was a 99.99% chance that Bakugou Katsuki would always stay loyal to his girlfriend,

but she couldn't help but be concerned because of the remaining 0.01%.

Still, both Ochako and Katsuki were her friends, and she saw no reason not to give both the benefit of the doubt.

"What made you say that, babe?" She asked, eyeing Ochako.

"You know I'm taking new meds right now?" Ochako started, not wasting a single moment to even beat around the bush. "Well, I haven't been getting good sleep at night coz of it, and..."

Mina's eyes widened at the sight of Ochako's trembling lips and semi-glazed eyes. 𝑂ℎ 𝑛𝑜...

"What did he do?"

"On the first night, at around 3 in the morning. I woke up and he wasn't in bed with me." Ochako paused, obviously trying to keep her composure. "I assume he's in the toilet, but an hour later and he's still not back. Do you know what's worse?"

"Yeah?"

"He brought his phone with him."

Mina couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. So what if he had his phone while in the toilet? Even she can't go sit on the throne unless she had her trusty mobile phone with her.

Heck, she couldn't even begin with her showers if her phone wasn't in the bathroom, blaring some random pop song.

"That doesn't automatically mean he's cheating on you, hun."

"It might as well do because he never does that." Ochako muttered. Worry was already etched on her face.

Mina couldn't blame Ochako, who lived with her boyfriend for at least five years already.

As someone who spent most of their time in a day together as much as possible, one was bound to notice the subtle changes shown by the other.

Clueless on what to do, Mina quickly whipped out her own phone, quickly opening the browser,

and entered the search keywords she never thought she'd ever use: 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔.

Without much thinking, she clicked on the first result and scanned through the contents of the article.

"Alright. It says here that if you answer 𝑦𝑒𝑠 to most, if not all, of these questions, then Katsuki 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 be cheating on you." Mina explained curtly. "Ready?"

Ochako visibly gulped, before nodding.

"Let's start. Is your partner always trying to improve his appearance?"

"That's a bit tricky. Katsuki has always looked good." Ochako said. "I mean, he's a pro hero who's always under the spotlight. Isn't that a given?"

"Just yes or no, babe."

Ochako pursed her lips, unsure with her answer, but she couldn't possibly lie, right? "Yes..?"

"Is your partner secretive when it comes to phone or computer use?"

"We don't share passwords if that's what you're asking, but only because we respect each other's privacy and individuality."

That made sense, but for the question and answer portion's sake, Mina considered that as a yes.

"Are there any periods wherein your partner is unreachable without explanation?" Mina read the third question, but she already knew the answer.

"I guess this is also a yes since you know... confidential missions."

"The woes of pro heroes in a relationship, am I right?" Ochako chuckled but the mirth did not reach her eyes.

"Does your partner have a significantly different libido recently?"

"T-that's not part of the question list!" Ochako's face immediately turned to a color close to that of a tomato. When Mina showed Ochako her phone screen, she huffed in annoyance. "I'm not answering that."

"I get it. The sex has always been great." Mina grinned as she casually scrolled to the next question.

"Oh my god!" Now fully embarrassed, Ochako covered her face in an attempt to hide. "Next question, please!"

"Is your partner hostile towards you?"

"Never." Ochako answered immediately. Slowly, her insecurities were being replaced with a little bit of confidence.

"Does your partner often alter their schedule? Who came up with these questions? That's also already a given." Mina grumbled, suddenly unsure if it was the right choice to make use of what she now thought were stupid questions. "Any unexplained expenses?"

Ochako stayed silent for a moment, racking her brain with every bit of information she could remember. "I found a questionably expensive receipt from his jacket the other day. It was from a restaurant."

"Which restaurant?" Friggin hell, did Katsuki really take his alleged mistress on a date and didn't even bother hiding the evidence?

"I can't remember..." Ochako weakly. "I didn't recognize it, so it must be new.. Also it didn't have a Japanese or English name.."

Shit. What would they do if Katsuki was really cheating on Ochako, besides kicking his ass and making his life a living hell for even having the audacity to commit such a crime?

"Noticed any changes in emotional intimacy?"

"We haven't been able to talk intimately recently coz I'm either too groggy from my meds or he's too tired with his current mission..."

"But you still have time for sex." Mina said.

It was an unnecessary comment as Mina was already internally panicking, but it should put Ochako at ease for a bit.

Ochako, however, chose to ignore it. "How many questions left?"

"Just two." Mina showed up two fingers to make her point. "Do his friends seem uncomfortable around you?"

"The last one I saw beside you was Ei. Now that you've mentioned it, when he saw me with Katsuki, he..." Ochako trailed off.

"What did Ei do, Ochako?" Mina tensed. What would she do if she learned her very own boyfriend was an accomplice to this unforgivable crime?

"He seemed uneasy when he saw us... Then quickly left without even saying hello like he usually does."

Red flags. Red flags everywhere. It looked like they were going to have a serious talk tonight.

"Last one, hun." Mina said casually, her mind already boggled. "Does he deflect or avoid any topics related to cheating?"

Ochako breathed in, eyes closed in concentration. When she finally opened them, she spoke up.

"I guess I'll know the answer to that tonight."

*********

(That's all for now. Posting the next part in a few days. )

It was now or never.

"Katsuki." Ochako called on her boyfriend who was lying comfortably on his stomach on their bed. "Are you cheating on me?"

"Now why the fuck would I do that?" Katsuki grumbled, his voice muffled. He wasn't even looking up at her and that annoyed Ochako even more. This was a serious matter and from the looks of it, he couldn't be bothered to take it seriously.

That was it, right? It was the final confirmation. Katsuki was deflecting the allegation, which could only mean there was a high likelihood that he was 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑 cheating on her, based on that article Mina found earlier in the day.

What if he really was cheating on her? What would that mean?

Was it the end of their relationship? Should she kick him out of the apartment they share, or should she be the one who has to do the packing? Who'll get the plentiful stock of food they had?

Personally (and seriously) speaking, she abhorred cheating and she would drop her boyfriend in an instant if she found out that he was indeed doing the deed…

But can she, really? Did she even have the guts to do it?

"You tell me, mister. I've noticed all the signs of a cheater in you, and I'd appreciate a little bit of honesty." Her voice trembled, but she tried her best to not break down. "I think you owe me that much. I think I deserve that."

Finally, he looked up at her by lying on his side. "What the fuck are you seriously on about, Cheeks?"

"You think I don't know how you disappear to the toilet in the middle of the night, with your phone, for god knows how long?"

Her statement seemed to take its sweet time processing in Katsuki's head, but when it did, he burst out in laughter.

At this point, Ochako was fuming but when Katsuki motioned for her to sit beside him, she did without a moment's hesitation.

Slowly, he snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her in. His touch brought shivers down her spine, but she was still angry. To make her point, she crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant huff.

When Katsuki finally recovered from his raucous laughter, he spoke. "If by 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, you actually meant 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, then yes, sure. I’ve been having extra violent shits that I’m big on cheats and shits right now."

Wait... What?

"I'm not stupid, Katsuki." Her voice trembled. This guy really had the audacity to even think of making fun of her, when she was obviously in a nearly vulnerable state. “Don’t shit with me!”

The look on his face just annoyed her even more, as he tried to muster all of his strength to not laugh at what she just said.

"Who the hell said you were stupid? Let me face them so I can kick their ass." Katsuki clicked his tongue.

"Look, Shitty Hair practically begged that I treat him at this new but expensive as fuck Indian restaurant. The food was top tier but gave me probably the worst diarrhea of my life. I made him aware of my early morning suffering by spamming his phone during the whole... ordeal."

Oh, well that did explain a couple of things. The long hours in the toilet with his phone, the unexplained expenses at the restaurant she didn't recognize, and Ei's behavior...

But what if it was all a meticulously thought out excuse?

Katsuki was one of the most intelligent people she knew, and Ochako wouldn't be surprised if he was able to come up with an explanation that actually made sense on the spot.

"How do I know you're not lying?" For all she knew, he could’ve already planned ahead and covered his tracks.

Katsuki hummed in thought while Ochako watched him meticulously for any sort of body language that would scream "cheater",

even if she did not know what she was supposed to look for.

He reached for his phone and handed it to her. "Here, you can check my phone. The pin is 1227."

She didn’t know what made her blush: the fact that he easily revealed the pin for his phone without an ounce of hesitation, or the actual revelation itself. Still, it might be a tactic of some sort and she will not be distracted. Nope.

Still, Uraraka wouldn’t deny that she found it cute how he used her birthday for his pin, but he didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know how the small details made her want to jump his bones right this very instant.

That can wait, as soon as he’s proven his loyalty.

"You could've deleted all the evidence already."

"How about this, then? Either you come to the toilet with me tonight, coz I fucking swear I'm not done yet, or I take you to the restaurant tomorrow so you'll experience it firsthand." Katsuki said, nodding to himself. "Your choice, Cheeks."

Ochako thought both choices were just... equally bad. None was the lesser evil. Both were just plain evil that Ochako would not want to go through.

"But--"

"Just tell me how I can prove myself to you." Katsuki said, stroking her back with tiny, soothing circles. "Anything. You know I'd do anything for you coz I fucking love you, yeah?

I'm sorry if I made you question that, but I fucking swear there's nothing shitty going on except for my ass."

Well, that just made her feel bad.

"Oh my god!" For the second time that day, Ochako covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry!"

Katsuki merely chuckled but did not miss the chance of pulling her towards him so that she was now lying on top of him.

"Did Pinky put that idea in that head of yours?"

"I started it." Ochako confessed. "This is so embarrassing. Forgive me?"

"Sure..." Katsuki patted her head. "...if you come to the restaurant with me next week."

"No!"

"They gave me coupons."

Ochako groaned. That was the problem. He knew exactly what would get to her. Not only did he know how to make her feel good, he knew exactly what to say to make her excited.

She didn't want to subject herself to spicy food, but the idea of free food was too... enticing.

This was the last time she was accusing Katsuki of cheating on her.

𝐄 𝐍 𝐃

PS. So... remember this tweet? Yup. This is it LOL. https://twitter.com/sakuramochi2593/status/1347367419057233920?s=20