Chapter Text
Kirishima felt like he was on cloud nine.
He had to focus in order to keep himself from sliding down his dorm door once he had closed it, legs practically jelly underneath him. He stared forward, mind so dazed he couldn’t process his punching bag looking back at him across the room. His thoughts drifted back to the events of the day, almost too happy to fully understand it all.
He had just gotten back from his first date… ever. But even better than that, it had been his first date with Bakugou.
Kirishima was still amazed that he had actually managed to confess, let alone gone out on a date. Even after his eye-opening conversation with Ashido a couple of weeks ago, he had gone back and forth about his feelings and the daunting task of asking out Bakugou for a solid week. He couldn’t count the number of times he had talked it all through with her again and again.
Most of the time he just needed someone to spill his heart out to, not really looking for answersーkind of like writing in a diaryーand every time he had, he realized more and more just how deeply his feelings ran. Ashido had been absolutely right: he was terminally in love with Bakugou.
And once everything had clicked, Kirishima couldn’t stop it. He would make Bakugou laugh and it felt like he couldn’t breathe. Bakugou’s head would be in his lap as they watched a movie, and Kirishima was certain that his heart would beat out of his chest. Suddenly, running his fingers through Bakugou’s hair as he always had felt like it might give his feelings away, but if he stopped he was sure Bakugou would notice that as well. Even in moments when Kirishima’s feelings weren’t at the forefront of his mindーlike when the two of them would train togetherーit always came rushing back in an instant.
One time, Bakugou had pinned him to the ground, twisting Kirishima’s arm as he let out a raspy, “Ha, I win…”. Hearing him breathing hard and feeling him completely pressed against Kirishima’s body, hands steaming after a hard won fight, Kirishima suddenly felt like he was going to pass out, because goddamn, he’s so manly…
Ashido was an absolute champion for listening to him go on and on for days on end. He must have gotten a little bit annoying, and Kirishima felt forever indebted to her for supporting him through every wistful sigh, every squeeze of his heart, and every excited scream and emotional punch into her hot-pink pillows.
Kirishima took out his phone, seeing all the missed texts he had from her, as well as Sero and Kaminari.
Once he had planned everything out with Ashido, Kirishima had finally told them about his feelings as well. Just like her, the two were not shocked whatsoever (apparently Kirishima really was the last person to figure this out), but they were no less enthusiastic about his plans to confess. And even though Kaminari had taken every opportunity presented to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively and tease Kirishima for his longing stares, both he and Sero made sure never to say anything in front of Bakugou.
If he could have, Kirishima would have told them all that the confession went well (even with that rocky patch in the middle), but the most he could do was flash them a quick thumbs up as he and Bakugou practically ran out of the dormitory doors.
He scrolled through Sero’s texts.
4:16 “You already got the guy holding your haaaaaaand. Wasting no time lmaoo”
4:17 “Anyway, good job! Tell us all the details when you can!”
6:39 “Y’all aren’t back yet?????”
6:41 “How long are you STAYING at that cafe???”
7:15 “Dude, the class is going out. Where ARE you guys?”
That confused Kirishima. He didn’t remember there being any plans for the class to do something togetherーhad he missed a message? Was he zoned out at the time? No, he would have heard about it. If something had been planned beforehand, people would have been talking about it for days leading up to it.
He looked at Kaminari’s texts.
4:16 “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
4:16 “WHAT HAPPENED WHAT HAPPENED WHAT HAPPENED!?!?!”
4:17 “You guys were ZOOMIN’. Bakugou looked like he was gonna jump your bones!”
5:08 “Kirishimaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……….”
5:43 “How are you not back yet????? Hello?????”
6:30 “Yo dude, some of us are gonna get dinner since we don’t have plansーif you guys haul ass you can probs make it before we head out.”
7:02 “I know you and mfing Kacchan are still out on the town and in love and stuff, but we’re going for Korean bbq.”
7:02 “No way you’re NOT coming back for an offer that good.”
7:12 “There’s no way you’re still at the cafe. You guys are getting busy out there, aren’t ya~? ;)))))”
7:26 “Okay, but seriously, I need to know what happened on your date before we leave for food. Please come back.”
The idea of Korean barbeque would usually have Kirishima frothing at the mouth. Luckily, he was already completely stuffed from getting dinner with Bakugou.
Dinner with Bakugou…
Well, it wasn’t so much a dinner as it was walking around to various street vendors to get a sickening amount of takoyaki and all the yakitori they could dream of. Added all together, it counted as a full meal, probably even more. Regardless, it had been great, and honestly? They could have eaten straight-up garbage and Kirishima probably would have praised it to the high Heavens.
Walking around and sharing food after their committed time at the arcade had been everything he could have hoped forーand that was already after the time they had spent at this little cafe, gorging themselves on the chocolate they had gotten each other.
How they had managed to do so much in a few hours, Kirishima wasn’t sure. The whole day had been a blur of soaring emotions. Between the rollercoaster of the initial confession, the spice-filled haze of alternating between chilli chocolates and bacon ones, the repeated rounds of that racing game that Bakugou had deduced gave the most prize tickets for the least amount of time, and the cold night-air that nipped at Kirishima’s nose but was unable to dampen the warmth of Bakugou’s hand in his, he could barely piece it all together.
Thinking about it made Kirishima squeeze the red, plush bear clutched to his chest by the hand unoccupied by his phone. He pressed his nose into its head, not to smell but just to be closer to it.
Bakugou had delivered on his promise to win enough tickets to buy a good prize, resulting in Kirishima being the proud owner of Crimson, the bear with slightly wonky eyes and overly-stuffed arms that made it look like the plushie never missed a workout.
Needless to say, he loved it with all his heart.
Just squeezing it made Kirishima’s heart fit to burst, overwhelmed by the thought of texting Bakugou about how happy it made him, but he thought better of it. They had been together up until, what? Just five minutes ago? Bakugou would need time to himself. Kirishima couldn’t text him so soon after their date.
Instead, Kirishima opened his missed messages from Ashido.
4:16 “You did it you did it youdidit!!!!”
4:16 “Look at you go, Mr. Manly! You got your maAaAaAan!!!”
4:17 “You have to tell me all about it ASAP! You promised!”
4:17 “It’ll be so fun when you get back! Have a good time!”
5:19 “The suspense is KILLING ME ahhhhhhh”
5:37 “Are you guys still out…….”
5:38 “I feel like I’ve been waiting foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”
6:09 “Kirishima I’m gonna cryyyyyyy”
6:09 “Why aren’t you h e r e ?”
6:31 “We’re going out for food in a bit, p lea s e”
6:32 “You gotta get here and give me a whole play-by-play QUICK.”
7:00 “Kirishima…”
7:15 “Kirishima please…”
7:30 “Babes, the way I am going to be calling you later tonight if you aren’t here in the next 5 minutes I-”
7:35 “I have been forsaken. Crying in the club rn”
Thinking about all the things he had to tell Ashido restarted the giddy rush of emotions in Kirishima that hadn’t even stopped. God, he couldn’t go two seconds without thinking about it! He felt like jumping up and down, or screaming into Crimson the bear. He could run a marathonーhe could collapse onto the floorーhe could work out like he’s never worked out in his life.
He should call Ashidoーhe should call Bakugou. But Bakugou was just next door, he could justー
No, right, they had been with each other not even five minutes ago. What Kirishima should do was leave him be. The date was over, he had to do… something else.
Come on, Kirishima. Get it together.
Glancing at the time, Kirishima figured the people who went out for food were probably still there, so even calling Ashido would have to wait. His classmates were out having a good time, and they deserved to enjoy it to the fullest.
Instead, Kirishima went to finally move away from his room door (had he really been leaning against it that whole time?), but he nearly tripped over a backpack on the floor.
Looking down, he quickly realized it wasn’t his. It was a brown canvas bag, well worn but plain. The only thing to differentiate it from any other bag like it was a little orange charm hanging off its side. On it, written in black lettering, was the nickname “Explosion Boy”.
Kirishima recognized it instantly, having been the one who had bought it. At the time, it had been a gag gift for Bakugou, whoーafter giving Kirishima an earfulーsurprisingly attached it to his backpack and never took it off.
And here it was in Kirishima’s room, because right, Bakugou hadn’t brought his bag with him when they went out since they hadn’t gone studying.
A split-second thought entered Kirishima’s mind to return it right now, once again scolding himself for it. Self-controlーhe had been able to calm his nerves and wait weeks to confess his feelings, he could go one evening without bothering Bakugou after spending literal hours with him. What would he even say, seeing him again so soon?
Kirishima walked around the backpack and dropped himself face-first onto his bed. Sighing into his pillow, he eventually rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.
In record time, he was back to wondering about what Bakugou was up to right now, in his own room. Was he lying down on his own bed? Was he using his laptop? His phone? Maybe he had left his room to go do something else, or maybe he was already getting ready for bed.
Maybe he was thinking about Kirishima, too…
Kirishima sighed again. He wished his friends were back from dinner already, noting the irony after having read their desperate texts for him to come back to the dorm earlier. He should probably at least text them that he had made it back alright, or give some sort of update about how his date went.
He unlocked his phone, aimlessly swiping through his various chat logs as he thought his options over.
Who should he text first? He should probably correct Kaminari on his assumptions before his imagination had any more time to run a little too wild. Or Sero. He was a bit of a gossip, but he would probably have the most relaxed response, especially since the class was out in public right nowーhe didn’t want anyone to freak out. But Ashido was probably tearing her hair out over the whole thing. She deserved to get an answer after everything she had done to helpーhe had promised her, and he should at least thank her again. Or he could text into their group chatーthat was a smarter choice. Why text them one at a time when he could kill three birds with one stone?
Kirishima’s finger hesitated, staring at his phone for a second.
He had clicked on his chat log with Bakugou instead of any other contact he had.
Kirishima put his phone screen-side down on his bed, rubbing his hands harshly over his face. He then picked up Crimson, holding the bear high above him, now locked in a sort of staring contest with its beady black eyes.
What was he supposed to do after a date? Was he supposed to just… do homework? Watch TV? Punch his punching bag? Listen to music? None of it sounded very appealing right now, and none of it sounded like it would distract him from the adrenaline humming in his ears.
He hugged Crimson tightly to his chest, taking a deep breath.
Should he just go to bed? It didn’t sound very possible with his heart beating enough to power an army. It might've been worth a shot to try though. Or maybe he could go down to the common room to wait for his friends to get back. At least then he would have to take the time to get downstairsーpass a nice, long minute with a goal in mind.
Damn… Kirishima was thankful no one could see him being this pathetic.
Just as he was running out of ideas, Kirishima’s phone vibrated next to him.
He thanked whatever God had taken pity on him, tucking Crimson under one arm so that he could grab his phone. There, lit up like a blessing from the universe, was a text notification. Hopefully it was one of his classmates telling him they were on their way back, or even just Ashido yelling at him for leaving her on read when he had so long to answer her.
Kirishima opened up the message and his heart jumped up in his throat.
It was a text from Bakugou.
“Wanna watch something while I study?”
He sat up so fast it nearly gave him whiplash, reinvigorated as if he had been raised from the dead. Kirishima’s heart had never been fuller. He felt like he might cry.
Without hesitation, he texted back.
“Of course, man!”
And that was desperate, wasn’t it? Replying that quickly made it seem like Kirishima had just been waiting for him to text. Of course, he kind of had been, but weren’t you not supposed to do that? Kaminari had told him something about that onceーthat you were supposed to reply to a text after five minutes or something, but still within the hour.
But a read receipt came up as fast as Kirishima had texted, and response just as quick:
“Cool.”
And all at once Kirishima didn’t care about any texting etiquette, because Bakugou was next door, looking at his phone just as he was, and maybe he had been just as excitedly desperate to see Kirishima again as Kirishima was to see him.
Kirishima was out of his bed in record time, phone slipped into his pocket and Bakugou’s bag thrown over his shoulder. All it took were ten big strides to get out of his dorm room and into Bakugou’s.
Bakugou looked as though he had been waiting, his fingers drumming against the laptop in his lap as he sat at the end of his bed. He jumped slightly as Kirishima threw the door open, and his look of surprise made Kirishima’s breath catch and turn into a nervous laugh.
“Hey!” Kirishima said, and he could hear the overwhelming excitement in his own voice, and it actually made him cringe because even he thought it was a little much.
Even so, he didn’t miss the way Bakugou sat up, or his brief smile, or that beautiful relief that passed through his eyes, or the fact that he didn’t cringe.
“That sure was fast,” he commented as Kirishima started making his way across his dorm room.
Kirishima tried to shrug it off. “Well, you’re just one door over, ya know?” he said, but it was a flimsy excuse, and they both knew it.
Bakugou’s eyes flitted downwards.
“And you brought Crimson?”
Kirishima blinked at that, stopping before he could sit down next to Bakugou. He was suddenly very aware of the soft, synthetic fur in his grip. He then looked down, and yupーin his desperation to get here, he hadn’t even bothered to leave the stuffed animal behind.
“Oh…” he said, and he laughed because honestly, this was all so absurd. “I, uh, figured he could watch the movie with us?” he tried, taking a seat next to Bakugou.
And Bakugou’s shit-eating grin had no business making Kirishima’s heart skip like that.
“Sure,” Bakugou said sarcastically, snickering.
Kirishima shoved him with his shoulder, but that just made him laugh louder and fuller. He even snorted, and Kirishima knew that Bakugou found that embarrassing, but it was his absolute favourite thing. Any time he had managed to coax it out of Bakugou, he felt like a winner.
“Whatever,” Kirishima complained, grinning. “You asked me to come over. Hmm? Miss me that much?” he teased.
Bakugou rolled his eyes, shoulders still shaking a little from laughing as he pulled Netflix up on his laptop.
“Obviously.”
And that was not what Kirishima had expected him to sayーespecially not in such a matter-of-fact tone. His stomach flipped, and his chest felt light and heavy all at once, and Kirishima was certain he was going into cardiac arrest.
“W-Wow,” he managed to get out before swallowing down nerves he was certain weren’t there five seconds ago.
Bakugou looked up from his laptop, and he had the audacity to look confused.
“What?” he asked, and Kirishima had no clue how to explain when it felt like his whole body was shaking.
“Just… didn’t expect you to say that,” he settled on saying, running his fingers over Crimson’s soft fur to keep it together. “It’s good,” he added quickly, “but, I mean… wow…”
Bakugou rolled his eyes again. “You’re the one who said no holding back,” he grumbled, voice gravelly but sweet to Kirishima’s ears. “And I’m not about to half-ass our relationshipーget used to it.”
He stared at Bakugou for a second, who had gone back to scrolling through movie options as if this was normalーas if he had ever freely admitted to missing Kirishima like that, especially within ten minutes of seeing each otherーas if he hadn’t just confirmed what Kirishima had been desperately hoping for. It amazed Kirishima that he felt comfortable saying stuff like that nowーthat he might have wanted to for a very long time, and that Bakugou was going to continue to say sweet things way more often.
He thought about the fact thatーone dayーgoing on a date was going to be as normal as any other time they hung out. Eventually, it wouldn’t be some momentous stepping stone in their relationship, just an integral part of it. Kirishima also realized that he was going to kiss Bakugou some day, and it would eventually be as natural as breathing.
It was both incredibly calming and nerve-racking, all in one powerful punch to his heart.
“Anyway, can you hand me my shit?” Bakugou asked. “I do have to study.”
Hearing his voice shook Kirishima from his thoughts, and it took him an embarrassingly long time to understand what he meant.
RightーKirishima was wearing his backpack.
He dropped it off the shoulder it was slung across. He tried slipping Crimson through the strap along with his arm, and if he hadn’t been so thrown off, Kirishima might have let go of his stuffed animal sooner instead of trying to fit the big, plush bear through the disproportionate gap for as long as he had.
Bakugou shook his head as Kirishima handed his bag over to him.
“You missed me too, huh?” he said, grinning smugly. Before Kirishima could answer, he added a teasing: “Fucking sap.”
Kirishima shoved him with his shoulder again, getting deja vu from the way it made Bakugou laugh just like last time.
“I could still leave,” Kirishima challenged, even if he knew it was an empty threat.
And dammit, Bakugou knew it, too.
“You could,” he replied, hair brushing Kirishima’s neck as he leaned his head on his shoulder. “But I don’t want you to.”
Kirishima felt heat rising all the way up to his hair, and Bakugou casually moved the laptop over to Kirishima's lap.
“Told you, Kirishima,” he hummed, pulling out a notebook from his bag. “I’m not fucking around. Just cause the date’s over doesn’t mean I’m not gonna say all my lovey-dovey shit, get it?”
For whatever reason, that made it fully click for Kirishima. Hearing that unabashed confidence made him want to step up to the challenge, because two could play at this gameーtwo were supposed to play at this game. No holding back? Alright then, fineーhe wasn’t going to. Kirishima could follow his own advice just as well as Bakugou could.
With that thought, he kissed the top of Bakugou’s head, taking a selfish second to smell that mixed scent of sweet caramel and firewood smoke in his hair. He had always wanted to do that, but he had been too worried that it would freak Bakugou out. He figured that it would have been weird, since they were just friends.
But they weren’t just friends now.
“Bring it on, Bakugou,” he said, hitting play on the movie that had been queued up.
And though Bakugou blushed from the intimate action, Kirishima could see that it made him smile, too. He sat closer, and nothing had ever been more normal.