Chapter Text
Breaking news! This just in: Bakugou and Kirishima are cuddling on the couch.
No, this is not a drill.
Kaminari and I were listening to music, (semi-)quietly sitting in the kitchen, and attempting to do homework when we noticed. The clock on the microwave reads 20:41. Rain pours down outside, like it has the whole day. And Aizawa made us train our asses off anyway.
Kirishima is holding Bakugou, basically. He has his usually spiky hair down after a long day, his eyes heavy-lidded with exhaustion. He’s gently rubbing Bakugou’s arm with his left hand, and his fluffy blonde hair with his right. Bakugou’s all cozied up, leaning into Kirishima, nearly sitting on his lap. His eyes are closed, and he doesn’t seem angry, so maybe he’s asleep.
“What are they doing-? Why-?” Kaminari ekes out, trying to keep quiet.
“Maybe I can go ask Kirishima,” I murmur, still keeping an eye on them.
"No, Sero, that's dangerous!" Kaminari cringes. "You don't want Blasty to kill you, do you?"
I smile a little. “That’s not my goal. Plus, he's sleeping."
"I mean, you can risk it if you want, man," he speaks, glancing away. “But I’m not part of this!” He focuses back on our geometry project.
I sigh, getting up from my chair, and gingerly walking over to Kirishima on the couch. My friend seems pretty out of it, yawning as I approach him.
“Hey, man,” I say, putting on my trademark grin, “can I ask you a personal question? You can say no.”
Kirishima looks up at me, blinking. “Hmmm? Uh. Yeah, sure, I guess.”
“Are you and Bakugou- what are you- are you guys-”
“We’ve been dating for six fucking months, dumbass,” Bakugou mutters, his eyes still closed, but his brow furrowed now. “You didn’t know?”
Kirishima smiles weakly. “Don’t get mad at him, okay? I’m sure he meant well. We made a point not to tell anyone, but then you told Midoriya anyway...” He yawns. “It’s no big deal. But yeah.”
I smile genuinely at them. “That’s awesome, guys. I’m happy for you.” And I mean it. Both of them deserve each other. I’ve seen how Bakugou respects Kirishima, and I highly doubt that he’d treat him like shit. And Kirishima might be the positive influence Bakugou needs.
“Thanks. Now, time to sleep.” And Kirishima cuddles a little closer to his frien- boyfriend, and closes his eyes.
I walk back to Kaminari. “Bro, don’t tell anyone, but they said they were dating.”
He giggles in response, to my confusion. Seeing my expression, he elaborates. “You didn’t know? Man, I thought everyone knew. I was just wondering why they would do PDA. I wouldn’t imagine Bakugou to be that kinda guy.”
I laugh, though on the inside., I’m a little upset that I didn’t figure it out. There were a lot of signs, after all.
To calm myself, I grab a bag of Chex Mix from the pantry, opening the snack and munching on the different pieces in there, picking out my favorite bits and feeling the textures on my fingers. I take a deep breath, grounding myself. It’s no big deal, just like Kirishima said.
Kaminari’s fidgeting with his pencil, trying to figure out the answer to whatever model he’s working on. The happy couple are snoozing peacefully on the couch. Time seems frozen. I’m a fly in amber.
Everything’s still.
And then I see a figure, running down the stairs, red-and-white hair moving with it.
Todoroki.
He pushes the doors to Heights Alliance open, not even pausing before running outside.
I frown, wondering what’s going on.
But it’s none of my business,
right?
I worry. Maybe I should help him.
But we’re not really close.
I glance back to Kaminari, wondering if he saw it, too. But he’s too engrossed in trying to finish his homework. He may not seem like it, but when Kaminari really tries, he can focus pretty well. Plus, the incentive of getting to video games as fast as possible probably helps as well.
“Hey, dude,” I whisper. When he doesn’t look up, I repeat myself, but louder. “Dude!”
Finally, my friend looks up. “What?” he says softly.
“Did you see Todoroki running out of here just now?”
He shakes his head.
“Do you think I should go after him?”
Kaminari lets out an exhale. He looks back at the table. “I don’t know, man. He’s your friend, not mine. You know him better than me. Heck, you probably know him better than most of our class, except for maybe Midoriya or Iida.”
I let that sink in.
Todoroki’s not close with many people in our class. In fact, the only people he seems to talk to regularly are Yaomomo, Bakugou, Iida, Midoriya, and myself. And none of the rest are around (or awake) to help him right now.
Maybe I’m not the best person for this, but I’m the only person who’s here.
I dash towards the Heights Alliance entryway, shoving the doors out of my way.
Rain comes pouring down on my head the second I exit, the wind relentlessly pushing it in my face. It’s frigid, and it stings every time it contacts my skin. But I keep running.
“Todoroki!” I call out, looking around, until I see a figure, small flames running up half their body, quickly being extinguished by the rain. “Todoroki...”
He turns towards me, raindrops flattening his hair. I can’t tell if he was crying or not, but his expression is sad.
“Man, what happened?” I ask, still running towards him. The little fires still burning on his body go away. “Are you okay?”
He seems unsure how to respond, so he just keeps opening and closing his mouth, not saying anything.
I walk forward, closing the distance between us. After a second, I wrap my arms around him.
A raindrop falls down my cheek like a tear.
He tenses up at first, but after a few seconds, he melts into the contact.
“I...” he starts. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I murmur. “I got you.”
“I just-” he clenches his fist, and they shake with tension before he releases them to hug me back. “I don’t really know how to explain this. I guess... I guess I’m lonely.”
“Aw, man...” I pull him in a little closer. “You know you can always come to me, okay?”
“That’s the thing. I thought I couldn’t.” He pulls away a little, looking up at me. “I didn’t know what to do, after... after what happened that night.”
Immediately I know exactly what he’s talking about. Our almost-kiss. “That’s okay. I honestly don’t know what to do either. I’m new to this, too.” But this feels like it’s not adding up.
“Why did you run out here, though?”
“I...” He looks away for a moment. “I felt trapped. I can’t really explain it, but I’ve... I feel like my whole life is controlled by someone else. And I wanted to do something else.” He scowls. “I was talking with my dad on the phone. He... he’s not the best. He expects a lot. I wanted to do something different. Unexpected.”
“That’s okay,” I answer with a smile. “I don’t really get it, but it’s okay. It’s just us out here. You can scream, you can run, you can just sit in the rain if you want. I don’t know. I don’t care.” I hug him tightly for a second, then let go. “It’s okay.”
And, to my shock, he smiles back at me. “Thank you.” He inhales, and I wonder if he’s going to yell something. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah,” I say. His smile fades, but not into anything negative. He looks open.
Just like that night.
I feel myself mirroring that expression. Then, Todoroki speaks.
“You know how I felt? About that movie?”
“Yeah?”
His voice softens. “Can we… Can we do that now?”
I grin, before walking to him, tilting his chin up with my hand.
I don’t hesitate to kiss him, and he doesn’t hesitate to kiss me back.
It’s like flying, like it’s really only us. Sure, I still feel the rain, but I also feel him .
Too soon, I smile into it, overcome with elation. And it ends.
He gazes into my eyes. “That was... a lot.”
I chuckle a little. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just didn’t know that I could have feelings like this. I still don’t really understand it.” He looks away.
“Hey, that’s okay! I don’t really know a lot about it, but Bakugou knows a lot of labels and things like that. He might not act like it, but I’m sure he would help you.” Todoroki frowns a little. “Hey. Look at me.”
And he does.
“Are you happy?”
He nods, and his smile returns. I feel myself melt.
We stand there, soaking in the rain for a little bit longer. But it’s okay. Because we’re holding each other. We have each other. Maybe we’re friends, maybe we’re more. It doesn’t matter.
I think of one of Kaminari’s stupid western songs he was playing earlier. He said the title of it was “All The Small Things”. The song itself was annoying, but the title was good. Because it is true.
It’s all the small things that matter most, at least right now.