Chapter Text
“What the hell is all this about?”
Kirishima immediately curls into himself at the condescending tone, hands flying up to wipe at his tears more aggressively than necessary. He had almost forgotten that he was in the middle of a public living space.
“Bakugou…” Mina’s voice sounds like a warning to the other as she stands up to put herself between him and the blonde guy he had only briefly seen earlier.
“Tch, he’s only been here for like an hour, why the fuck is he crying like a baby?”
The comment makes him grit his teeth, as he literally bites back a snarky reply. If he hadn’t been caught so off guard he would’ve jumped up to meet the other head on but instead he’s forced to settle on glaring down at his clenched fists instead. This guy was rude as hell but he didn’t want to make a scene, not when everything is still so new and he feels so out of place. Luckily, Kaminari is quick to respond.
“Seriously dude?! Have some decorum, we were having a moment!” it’s said with a laugh but Bakugou pays him no mind as he steps closer.
Kirishima wasn’t able to really look at the other very well before but sitting here with tear stained eyes lets him take in everything he needs to know. The blonde is standing over him with a relaxed posture and hands in his pockets, his head tilted up as he sneers down at him with eyes so intense he has to fight the urge to look away. He watches as the man shrugs off the hand Sero puts on his shoulder as another attempt to get his fiery attention away from him. Mina calls Bakugou’s name once again.
“Fuck off racoon eyes, I asked why the fuck is he crying.”
And yeah, he’s heard enough.
“He’s just-” Kirishima cuts Kaminari off, stepping between him and Bakugou to effectively meet the other head on.
“That's none of your business.”
And maybe he put too much bite into his words because Bakugou is quick to growl back, “the fuck did you just say?”
“I said it’s none of your business so leave.”
“HAH!” it’s a sharp crack in the air, “do you even know who the fuck you’re talking to right now?” the question is paired with a wicked smile that makes Kirishima unnervingly mad at the fact that it makes the other boy look pretty.
Kirishima bares his own fangs and imitates the other’s cocky grin, “I think I'm talking to a fucking bitch who doesn’t know when to stop barking.”
The sharp gasp of one of his friends punctuates the insult and a spark of satisfaction lights his chest. Bakugou’s smile barely falters as he leans in closer.
“I’d say you should watch your mouth,” Kirishima watches as the other eye’s him over, his gaze lingering over his hair with an unreadable expression, “shitty hair.”
—
It takes… a while for the blonde to compose himself. And it takes an even longer amount of time for him to process his thoughts enough to be able to pick himself up off of his dorm room floor.
Bakugou takes a deep breath as he takes off his school uniform, quickly folding it up neatly and putting it away for the next time he wears it. He changes into something comfortable, shaking his head when his mind makes him reconsider the red shirt he pulls from his closet.
He’s already mentally berating himself for not keeping his composure earlier in Kirishima’s wake, he doesn’t need to start questioning whether his subconscious desire for the red head is affecting his choice to wear one article of clothing over another now.
He knows his classmates are probably all trickling into the dorm now, one after another to come and meet the new kid down stairs. And that’s what that kid was, he was new… and not… and not Kirishima.
Bakugou had been temporarily blinded by the sight of a younger Kirishima, was enraptured by this elusive version of the other that had been quite painstakingly hidden away. Kirishima kept his past close to his chest, not willing to share more than necessary and Bakugou respected that boundary, knowing he himself had things from his own past that he wanted to hide.
The longer he had sat on the floor, sat against his door, the more his mind replayed the interaction he had with the other downstairs.
Yes, Bakugou had run away like a scared little bitch but…
Kirishima, his Kirishima, would not have been so… Passive? The Kirishima he knows would have waved a stranger down enthusiastically with a big grin and bright eyes, he would have chased him down for his nonresponse and insisted on having a proper greeting in a way that wasn’t unkind but also couldn’t be brushed off without a fight. The Kirishima he knew would have followed him into the elevator with a smile and a laugh, he would have invited himself into his dorm and then chattered at him as he put his book bag and hero gear away because he just knew him like that. He knew how to read Bakugou better than anyone else ever has.
And maybe it’s unfair to put those expectations on this version of the red head but he had thought that there would be just a bit more familiarity when he came face to face with someone he had considered his first real friend in a rather long time.
The Kirishima currently hanging out downstairs isn’t his, and it… scares him. The thought makes him cringe, it makes him feel weak and vulnerable and fucking dumb as hell.
“Fuck this,” he wasn’t some scared little bitch that couldn’t face his best friend.
The red head was always willing to meet him halfway, to wade through bullshit and stand beside him even when Bakugou raised hell. It was his turn to meet the other where he was.
He swipes his phone off his desk, before heading to the door.
—
Bakugou isn’t sure what he was expecting when he walked into the common room but it definitely wasn’t this.
It takes him a second to even recognize. At first he happens upon the sight of his idiot friends all huddled on the couch and assumes he’s walked in on some hug celebrating their beautiful heroic bonds or whatever the hell Mina would say. But he quickly realizes that assumption isn’t at all accurate when he sees Sero lean back with a worried frown.
And then, belatedly, does he realize that Kirishima is crying. His face is hidden in his hands and he’s curled up in a way that makes it look like he’s trying to hide his face.
Katsuki has seen Eijirou cry, the whole class probably has, but not like this. The loud mouth never tried to hide his face when crying, he said it was manly to show his emotions.
“What the hell is all this about?”
“Bakugou…” Mina stands up, sidestepping in a way that blocks Kirishima from his view. Her voice is a stern warning and he can’t help but glare at her. She’s acting like he’s some sort of threat and it pisses him off. She might have known Eijirou longer but Bakugou was his best friend and felt like if anyone needed to be treated like a threat, it was probably the ones that had made Kirishima cry in the first place.
“Tch, he’s only been here for like an hour, why the fuck is he crying like a baby?”
She gives him an exasperated look, obviously not willing to let him win this standoff. Before he can say anything else Kaminari steps forward beside them with an easy laugh, the type of laugh he always uses when he tries to diffuse high tension situations.
“Seriously dude?! Have some decorum, we were having a moment!”
And no, he doesn't have time to get pulled into these misdirects, not when Kirishima had clearly been distressed not even a minute prior. He’s able to sidestep them with ease so that he can see for himself what was going on.
The boy in front of him glares up at him through dark lashes, his eyes rimmed red. There’s still evidence of tears glistening off his skin and… Bakugou almost wants to turn away at the sight. He can’t remember ever being on the receiving end of a glare like this from Kirishima. He’s experienced the others gentle reprimands and even light scoldings but never anything this intense. It almost felt like too much. Something must show on his face because Sero steps in with a gentle hand to his shoulder, offering a light squeeze that Bakugou is quick to shrug off, embarrassed at how he keeps freezing up in front of this guy.
“Bakugou…” The tone of Mina's voice is softer this time, and he can't help but hate it. This wasn’t about him damn it, he wanted answers.
“Fuck off racoon eyes, I asked why the fuck is he crying?”
Kaminari attempts to ease the situation once again but is quickly cut off.
“That's none of your business.” The sound of his voice, the tone of it, sends a spark through Bakugou and before he can even process that, Kirishima has pushed himself in front of Kaminari to meet his gaze head on.
“the fuck did you just say?”
“I said it’s none of your business so leave.” He feels a familiar excitement sweep through him.
“HAH! Do you even know who the fuck you’re talking to right now?” Bakugou can’t help but grin, this, THIS is the Kirishima he knows. The air is tense around them and it feels good, it feels familiar and he isn't gonna let it slip by.
Time seems to slow down for a second as Kirishima sneers up at him, eyes fiery as a threatening set of teeth are displayed and yeah, Bakugou swears his heart skipped a beat, “I think I'm talking to a fucking bitch who doesn’t know when to stop barking.”
Somebody gasps from beside them and he has half a mind to turn around and throw sparks in all of their faces out of pure annoyance but the response was unnaturally harsh to have come out of Kirishima’s mouth. It makes him deflate just a bit, the unfamiliarity weakening this illusion of normalcy that he had so quickly built on this brief exchange of banter.
“I’d say you should watch your mouth,” Bakugou tilts his head back and sweeps over the others appearance again, the lanky frame, the uncertain stance, the innocence of the others eyes, the hair, the… the fucking hair. “Shitty hair.” the words slip out on their own volition and he hates that the words have never felt as true as they did just now.
A searing pain strikes across his face and before he can even process what's happening his right fist immediately swings out to make contact with Kirishima’s jaw, explosive sparks getting pressed into the other's skin. His left hand is quick to follow with an explosion to the other's gut, strong enough to knock the kid back into the couch.
The world goes off kilter and he can’t even move his arms to catch himself as he is pulled back onto his ass, tape circling him.
“Sero! You fucking-!”
The tape is given a hard tug that makes him nearly fall over on his side. Bakugou snaps his face up to face the other and let out another bout of curses but it dies in his throat when he sees the others expression. It’s a stern reprimanding expression so rare on Sero’s face that it shocks him out of his angry stupor.
His blood runs cold as his mind replays the past ten seconds, “Shit, I wasn’t… I didn’t mean to- fuck!” the words, ‘he’s always been able to block that!’ die in his throat. He needs to get out of here, he needs to get away, he can’t deal with any of this right now.
He has enough control of his arms to pull and explode at the tape restricting him. No one offers to help as he struggles to free himself, all of them crowding Kirishima to make sure he is ok.
Through the chaos he sees him. Their red eyes meet through the silhouettes of their friends and for the second time that day, time slows down, almost stills as he is captured in the snare of Kirishima’s attention. He’s looking at him with watery red eyes full of hate, there’s blood smeared across his chin and even more of it staining his lips and when he opens his mouth to growl out a “fuck you, Bakugou…” his teeth gleam with red too.