Chapter Text
Bakugou was hunched over his laptop at his desk sorting through internship opportunities for next year.
“Bakubro!”
He watched Kirishima waltz into his room and plop down on his bed. Bakugou grunted as an invitation for him to continue.
“Are we still good for tomorrow night? You said you didn’t have work.”
He rolled his eyes at the interruption.
“I don’t. And fine, I guess we’re still on.”
Kirishima rolled onto his stomach and gave him a look that Bakugou was sure he didn’t like.
“Is he coming?”
Bakugou had now turned to face him completely. He tried to play it off as if his eyes hadn’t widened at the question.
“Who?” He said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Oh come on Bakugou, don’t be like that. Todoroki obviously!”
He huffed, and the frustration was present in his voice as he responded.
“Why would he be coming?!”
“Because… you know, I thought we could finally meet him!”
He could tell that Kirishima was not going to let this go. The redhead had been bugging him about meeting Todoroki non-stop since he first heard of the guy, and it was seriously starting to get on Bakugou’s nerves. He knew, however, that Kirishima along with the other members of his dysfunctional friend group, would not stop bothering him until he let them meet the red and white haired boy.
“I’ll ask.”
He knew how to pick his battles. Besides, Todoroki could also say no right? But he knew that wouldn’t happen.
That evening, while Bakugou was driving them back from work, the topic of friends had come up. It started off innocently enough, with Todoroki just asking about what they were like, and somehow it ended with Bakugou inviting him to the party. Thanks Kirishima.
It sort of just slipped out, and of course Todoroki said yes. Bakugou still wasn’t quite sure how they stood after the whole late-night-nightmare incident. The morning after felt… not awkward, but not...easy, like things normally were between them. Bakugou had simply grabbed his clothes after waking up to an empty bed, and said goodbye to a slightly-flustered Todoroki. Luckily, everything seemed to be normal at work, but Bakugou couldn’t help but overthink what had happened that night.
And that brings us right back to the present moment; 8:30pm on a Friday. Bakugou had changed his outfit a few times before settling on a pair of jeans and a black long sleeve-turtleneck. Good enough. It’s not that Bakugou was nervous, cause he never gets nervous, but it was a pretty big deal that his roommate and other ‘friends’ would be meeting his work friend.
Acquaintance.
Colleague?
No, friend.
Because that’s what they were. Just a couple of buddies.
Kirishima had planned this little get-together a few weeks back; it would be a movie night, sort of a small gathering with Sero, Ashido and Kaminari also thrown into the mix. Bakugou had made sure to tell Todoroki a bit about his friends beforehand, so he knew what to expect. They had been texting on and off leading up to the night, but Bakugou just hoped it wouldn’t be too much for the guy. He had expressed a few times before, his lack of experience with larger-friend groups and social conventions. The callbox buzzer went off, accompanied with a text from Todoroki.
I'm here.
Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari had arrived a few minutes before, in Kaminari’s beat up pickup truck that probably disturbed half of the neighborhood with it’s barely-legal exhaust. Bakugou let him up, and took a deep breath in before hearing a knock at the door a few moments later. He opened the door to reveal a smiling Todoroki wearing a warm, fuzzy looking knit sweater vest over of a white button up shirt. He looked… good. More than good, but Bakugou wasn’t quite ready to admit that. The others had been trying to be on their best behavior but ended up pushing their way to the front door to get a look at the new guest.
“Bakugou! You didn’t tell me he was hot !” Mina practically screamed while grabbing Todoroki to look him up and down. Bakugou felt a vein start to pop as he watched her manhandle Shouto. He tried to stay calm. Todoroki didn’t look that bothered, just a bit taken off guard. Next came Kaminari, asking a wildly inappropriate question;
“So is your hair like that everywhere ?”
Which made it very hard for Bakugou to maintain some dignity and not choke out his friend right then and there for asking such a stupid question. Again, Todoroki didn’t look to disturbed, but Bakugou could tell he was getting a little uncomfortable. Luckily, Kirishima and Sero greeted him rather normally, and soon Todoroki was able to take off his shoes and make himself comfortable in the house. After a quick apartment tour and some initial questions, which Todoroki had done his best to brush off, (Bakugou learned that Ashido was very nosy), they made their way to the couch where Kaminari offered Tordoroki a drink after Bakugou had already made it to his second. It’s not that it was going bad, in fact it was going just fine. They had all toned themselves down a bit after getting it out of their systems, and now they were simply chatting about somewhat normal topics. The issue however, was that Bakugou couldn’t stop himself from turning to look at Todoroki. He watched him take sips of his gin and tonic, and how he brushed his bangs back every so often, and the gentle smiles he offered to everyone else. Earlier Bakugou had been a bit worried it would all be too much after the initial excitement, as when they first left the entryway, he felt Todoroki grab his shirt and hold on through the first part of the tour. Shouto had reassured him then that he was fine, but Bakugou was glad to see that he was actually fine. The group was catching up, and Bakugou did his best to include him in the conversation and allow him to talk more about himself without it being too personal or interrogative. He told everyone about his Astrophysics major, and recounted a few silly work stories, some of which even Bakugou hadn’t heard yet, and all in all things were going well. The pizza arrived, and Bakugou decided to cut himself off at his third beer (even if he would be crashing there and therefore not need to be sober to drive), as he figured it would be better this way; the less alcohol in his system, the less likely he was to say something he would regret to his (very) hot coworker. Did I just think of Todoroki as hot? He didn’t have time to reflect on that, because Todoroki shifted in his already close position on the couch next to him, knocking their knees together and letting them stay like that. Suddenly Bakugou felt the need to turn on the air conditioning. The conversation went on, and Bakugou found himself staring increasingly more.
The group was now seated at the coffee table, board game out and ready to play.
The game in question was Five Second Rule, which has a fairly simple premise; each player takes turns drawing a card which requires them to name 3 (blank) in under five seconds. Each successful turn earns you the card, and the first to fifteen wins. Todoroki was seated to Bakugou’s left, and watched him as he named ‘3 Famous Adams’ with ease. (For anyone wondering he said Adam Sandler, Adam Levine and Adam Driver). It was now Todoroki’s turn, and he drew a card from the ‘Abstract’ category.
Name 3 Things that you find ‘Beautiful’
Kirishima started the timer, and Todoroki only hesitated for a moment.
“The sky, Bakugou, and Wisteria flowers.”
It came out rushed due to the nature of the game, but there was no mistaking that middle word.
Bakugou .
The whole group heard it, but tried not to pay it any reaction. Bakugou however, felt his heart start to speed up.
Did he really just say that??
Todoroki however, seemed unbothered. Oblivious to the effect it was having on the blond. Bakugou had never heard someone refer to him as beautiful. Especially so offhandedly, like he didn’t even have to think about it and it was just a natural response. His stomach was doing something weird, and he suddenly needed air. Fresh air. He excused himself (being somewhat flustered), on the pretence of needing another drink, and Kirishima proposed a five-minute break since everyone was needing a refill. Todoroki watched Bakugou get up and walk towards the balcony instead of the kitchen, leaving him a little perplexed.
He joined Bakugou out on the balcony, who had both hands holding on to the rail, seemingly looking up at the stars. He slotted himself in next to him feeling compelled to say something, anything, to fill the silence.
“I used to look up at the stars at night when I couldn’t sleep, or when the nightmares were too much. My dad didn’t let me have a phone or TV or anything like that, but I had this huge window in my room with an unobstructed view of the sky.”
Bakugou turned towards him slightly and gave a nod to indicate that he was listening. He didn’t make eye contact though. Todoroki continued.
“It was funny, when I was little I thought of the moon as a friend. Night after night it would be there, of course I didn’t know much about the lunar cycle yet, but it had this consistency that gave me comfort. Maybe that’s why I went into Astrophysics; as a way to thank it for being there for me.”
Bakugou suddenly turned to him, with what Todoroki thought he saw tears in his eyes.
“Hey what the fuck was that back there?” His words sounded choked, like he was holding something back. Todoroki recognized the cadence in his voice. He didn’t understand what he had said wrong though. Before he could get a chance to think, Bakugu continued almost frantically. His voice cracked as he asked,
“You really think I’m beautiful?”
This didn’t seem like something Bakugou would ask out loud, but maybe the three beers had something to do with it. Todoroki responded almost instantly, now understanding why he was acting weird.
“Yes.”
Bakugou was taken aback a bit, like he wasn’t expecting Todororki to just come right out and say it. But that’s who he was. Honest, and brazen, and Bakugou had come to really love that about him.
Love?!
Todoroki was still staring up at him with his big, round eyes. Bakugou cleared his throat and turned back to look forward.
“Well you’re, you know, too I guess.”
Todoroki turned to look forward as well, with an unreadable expression.
“Thank you. I think.”
Bakugou scoffed,
“C’mon, I think they’re starting a movie.”
On their way back inside he could feel Kaminari was about to make some comment about them being ‘lovebirds’ and shot him a glare that caused the yellow-head to clamp his mouth shut instantly. They returned to the couch, this time Todoroki let himself relax into Bakugou’s side, and drop his head to his shoulder.
Thank god the lights are off.
Bakugou really didn’t want to deal with any offhand remarks from his friends about this almost-cuddling that was going on. He let himself quiet his thoughts, and just… be there, in the moment. The warmth radiating from Todoroki, relaxed him, and he tried to focus on the movie while keeping his heart rate under control (in case the red and white haired boy could hear it racing).