Chapter Text
Kirishima looks at himself in the mirror, turning side to side in an attempt to see himself at all possible angles. The glasses on his face obstruct some of the mirror as he tries but he figures it wouldn’t look bad, plus he was able to catch some of the fly away hairs trying to escape their spikes, another perk to wearing his glasses.
His contacts wouldn’t be coming in for at least a week or two depending on when his parents decided to actually order them. He had called his mom the second night Bakugou helped him learn to put his contacts on, explaining how he had lost his last pair and needed some new ones. It had been a long night full of irate cursing and gentle touching, two things that any other person would find more than a little contradictory.
The red head had been positive that his best friend would have tried beating the contacts right into his retinas in the same way he had the tendency to beat information into his ‘thick skull full of hair’, instead Bakugou had sat him on the floor to lean against the bed, tucked between his legs and hands tilting his face back, thumbs running over his jawline and cheeks in a soothing pattern. The blonde had watched his movements from above, intense gaze burning through him enough to color his face red, critiquing in a way that admittedly wasn’t all that helpful. What was helpful was how easy Kirishima had found it to get lost in the others touches and stare enough to not be bothered by his own hand getting unnaturally close to his eyes.
He was pretty confident in his abilities now though, Bakugou hadn’t let him stop practicing until he was able to put them in and out three times in a row. It was a small victory but one he didn’t believe he ever would have even tried to accomplish had Bakugou not found out his secret and he was undeniably proud. If there was ever a day to celebrate and wear his glasses it would have to be today.
None of his classmates had ever seen him wear them and it was exciting to think about the potential reactions, Bakugou would be probably be proud of him too! He was the one that had encouraged him to embrace yet another part of himself after all.
It had been wrong of himself to think that something like a pair of glasses could affect his image negatively. Ilda wore glasses and he was definitely one of the manliest guys in class. No one would think less of him or see him as a lesser version of himself without glasses, he was just paranoid after years of doubting himself.
With a final round of finger guns and flexing he adjusts his uniform jacket and heads out the door, backpack slung over one shoulder.
Uraraka is the first person he sees on the elevator down, pink flip phone open as she rapidly clicks out a response. She doesn’t look up as he steps inside, the doors sliding shut softly behind him. He glances over to her phone noting the awkward way she had to hold her phone to avoid her quirk activating, it looked like an absolute pain and he flexes his fingers at the imagined cramping sneaking up on him.
The sharp clap of her phone closing makes him jump in surprise, his head snapping forward to avoid looking like he was spying on her. She lets out a happy sigh before turning to him properly, the greeting gets stuck in her throat when she catches sight of his secret.
He grins as bright as he can manage, her face is still a little caught off guard even as the door slides open again to the ground level of the dorms. It would be a lie if he said the obvious way her cheeks tinged pinker than usual didn’t boost his confidence just a bit. It was no secret that Uraraka was entirely infatuated with Midoriya at the moment, even as her interest slowly shifted to a certain frog girl, so getting that sort of reaction had to have been really good.
He laughs as he exits the elevator, “Good morning to you too!”
It’s tempting to look back and watch the doors close her into the elevator again but he powers through the urge and hurries to the kitchen. Checking the time, he realizes most of the class would be walking out by now, a quick breakfast would be more than enough though. The kitchen is blessedly empty, the red head would have wanted to start up a conversation or gotten distracted enough to forget about eating altogether if it wasn’t.
He tears into a protein bar, a banana tucked into his backpack to take out on the short walk to class.
The next person he runs into is Sero, the lanky teen is rushing out of the stairwell door, hands fumbling with the red uniform tie. His friend had a tendency to run a little later than usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of his yoga routines. Sero looks up briefly to come up beside him at the exit, eyes and mind still focused on tying the tie around his neck properly and buttoning his uniform jacket.
When he finishes, he pats Kirishima’s back, classic angular grin in place. The moment he processes the red frames on his friend’s face is obvious, the grin faltering a bit before coming back even brighter than before.
“You look good dude! Since when do you wear glasses?”
Kirishima smiles, suddenly sheepish at the direct question. It was relieving to get two good reactions in a row when he had been so self-conscious to even wear them in the dorm, it wasn’t surprising that no one would have assumed he needed them after such a long time living together.
“I got them when I was in middle school, I gotta wait for my new contacts to come in.”
Sero nods, “I’m surprised to be honest but like I said you look real good, the class is gonna love it.”
The red head laughs at that, “Uraraka saw me on the elevator, she was kinda speechless.”
They exit the building laughing, pushing and pulling each other jokingly. When three heads of familiar hair come into view ahead of them, they shove each other once more before running to catch up.
“Hey! Wait up!”
Their friends stop, Mina and Kaminari waving to them excitedly.
He doesn’t get the chance to greet either of them though, Bakugou grabs him in a headlock, dragging him back down the sidewalk to the dorms, the bakusquad yelling after them in surprise. The blonde doesn’t let go until they are a good distance away from everyone.
The crunch of his air gel is what really motivated the red head to push the blonde off, his hands coming up to run over the spikes.
“What the hell man you could have messed up my hair!”
“I don’t give a shit, now take those off right fucking now!”
“What, why?!”
“Because I fucking said so!”
Uraraka is running up the pathway now, a bit frazzled looking at the possibility of being late but she slows down enough to wave at him again, cheeks tinting red again. Before he can return her wave Bakugou is moving in front of him, blocking her from view, pushing on his shoulders to keep his face level with his chest and he has to slap the heated hands away before they scorched his jacket. He straightens back up with a huff, pulling at his sleeves and collar in an attempt to resituate his confidence and determination.
“Why can’t I wear my glasses? I thought you wanted me to start wearing my contacts and stuff.”
“Yeah, you’re fucking contacts shitty hair not the glasses! Now take them off.”
“No! I wanna wear them today, plus Sero said I looked good, I think Uraraka likes them too.”
Bakugou seethes in front of him, hands popping in irritation but Kirishima refuses to lose this fight.
“My glasses are coming in soon anyway; I’m only wearing these for a bit.”
“Just…! Just take them off, you’ll be fine not seeing anything for a few days, you’ve lasted all this time without them. Why now?”
Kirishima frowns, he thought Bakugou would be happy about the glasses, “What’s wrong with them? You said they looked good a few days ago, were you lying to me?”
It’s a heavy accusation, Bakugou despised liars, he shouted his hatred of dishonesty from the rooftops every chance he got and Kirishima had a suspicion that Midoriya had something to do with that sentiment somehow. The blonde is too prideful, he wouldn’t let Kirishima doubt his intentions if he came off as a liar.
The collar of his shirt is clutched in smoking hands before he can blink.
“I am not a fucking liar,” Kirishima places his own hands over the others, wary of a potential fight.
Bakugou had never been so confrontational with him before, Kirishima was usually able to get away with pushing the blonde’s boundaries and actively opposing him but something about this argument was different. He watches as his friend takes a deep breath in, nostrils flaring a bit as his grip loosens.
“I’m not a liar” he repeats, eyes stormy with an unresolved tension Kirishima is unsure how to interpret, “and that’s the problem.”
He completely pulls away when the words leave his mouth and Kirishima has to stop the urge to grab at the other knowing if he did the blonde would only get more defensive.
“You do look good, you look really good and I don’t like it. This was for us, not fucking everyone else, it was for me! I wanted to be the only one to see this okay!? I… I thought we… we… whatever!”
Kirishima watches as red spreads over the blonde’s face, as he turns in on himself, back curving forward with hunched shoulders. He doesn’t understand what’s happening, why Bakugou is so adamant about being the only one able to see him wear glasses. It was a secret that Bakugou had found out about and turned into something he felt confident enough to share now, hiding it felt like a cheap victory somehow.
“I don’t want to hide it anymore.”
Bakugou stares at him, mouth twisted into a scowl, “You don’t get it.”
He doesn’t get it, he’s completely lost, and he knows Bakugou is trying to tell him something important, he knows the blonde had been trying to explain himself before he got too flustered to continue but none of it made any real sense.
“Then tell me what you mean.”
“You look cute okay?! You’re already considered one of the most attractive guys in our fucking class! And you put on the fucking glasses and you look, you look even less shitty and people will start to, they’ll start fucking noticing you and… and fucking round face looks two seconds away from fucking dropping deku and frog face for you and you’re an oblivious fuck if you think other people aren’t gonna start getting all over you and then what? I have to watch? I have to make even more time for extras trying to get close to you? Fuck that shit!”
Bakugou is still ranting, hands gesticulating wildly as sparks jump from his palms erratically, whatever he is saying is going right over his head because realization has just hit him between the eyes. Bakugou, his best friend, his crush, thinks he is attractive and not just attractive, one of the most attractive people in class. Bakugou is jealous of people looking at him, Bakugou thinks he’s cute and doesn’t want other people to notice cause then… then he might start dating someone as if Bakugou wasn’t the only person he’s had his eyes on for months. It’s a lot to take in and even as he takes a deep breath to steady himself the blonde is still yelling about imaginary scenarios.
“I think you’re really cute.”
The yelling stops, the sudden quiet stillness is a little unnerving but Kirishima manages to smile through it, waiting for Bakugou to process what he has just said out loud. A minute passes then two and waiting is no longer an option because the warning bell has just sounded and if they don’t’ start running now they will definitely be getting detention today for being late. He grabs the others hand, interlocking their fingers.
“I think you’re cute and I want to be your boyfriend but we gotta go dude.”
He tugs the blonde forward as he runs to the building in a mad dash against time, Bakugou doesn’t resist and Kirishima has to look back a few times to triple check he was dragging the right person. They get to the class door with just enough time for Kirishima to say one last thing.
He takes off his glasses, puts them into his jacket pocket and smiles, “Only because I like you so much.”
He pushes open the door just as the bell rings.