Chapter Text
Eijirou stared blankly at the jacket at his doorstep. It was folded neatly, and the iPod was harmlessly resting on top. He stood over the jacket for what felt like an eternity. Then, slowly and silently, he stepped back into his room and closed his door.
After standing and staring in the center of his room for far too long, Eijirou swung his door open to snatch the jacket and iPod, then swiftly shut it once again.
‘There's no way he actually went through it, Eijirou,‘ He thought to himself, turning it on. His desperate reassurance was quickly debunked. Bakugou had definitely gone through the device, and to Kirishima’s terrible dread, he had also seen the playlist that Eijirou had secretly compiled. About him. The red head felt like he could drop dead.
‘Oh jeez, I fucked up…’ He thought. ‘I shouldn’t have made the playlist to begin with, I probably weirded him out. Our friendship is definitely over now. ’ Anxious thoughts continued to rush through Kirishima’s head, loud and panicked. It wasn’t until he heard an aggressive knock on his door that he snapped out of it.
“Kirishima!” Bakugou’s raspy voice spoke up from the other side of the door. It sounded somewhat muffled from what Eijirou heard. “Get a move on or you’ll be late, dumbass.”
“Y-yeah, I will!” He quickly called out in response. The sound of feet shuffling away could be heard, and Kirishima hurried to put his uniform on. He’d brush his teeth after. The playlist became a temporary afterthought for a while as he scattered around his dorm floor with chaos. It wasn’t until he went to grab his school bag and saw the jacket and dejected iPod next to it, carelessly thrown on the floor, that he was reminded of it. He had to wear the jacket anyway due to the cold weather. So he slung the sleeves over his shoulders, and as much as he didn’t want to, shoved the iPod in the jacket pocket once again.
Upon swinging his room door open, he saw Bakugou standing in front of it, waiting for him. His hands were shoved into his own jacket pockets, and his head turned to Kirishima when he opened the door.
“Finally,” the blonde huffed. “I didn’t think you’d ever open the door.” He started walking down the hall. Eijirou quickly stumbled behind him, confused. He wasn’t behaving like he had just seen the playlist? He was behaving pretty normally, actually. It made Eijirou wonder if he was waiting to blow up on him for it, or if he really didn’t see the playlist after all.
The two had made it outside of the dorm building, and started their walk to the school like usual. The silence was making Kirishima want to crumble. For every second they weren’t talking, he was stressing out over the outcome of last night.
“So!” Eijirou spoke up suddenly. “Are you working on any new special moves?” He looked at Katsuki, who was cozying up in his jacket, the same way he had done to Eijirou’s the night prior. He tried to fight the flush on his cheeks.
“Nah, not really. It’s too dry for me to develop anything new.” Bakugou responded. “I do have some ideas that I want to try when I can, though.”
“Oh, I see. Cool.”
It got quiet again. Painfully quiet for the red head. He bit the inside of his cheek, desperately trying to think of something to talk about, so he didn’t have to be alone with his thoughts. And then, breaking the silence, Eijirou heard humming.
From Bakugou. Quiet, casual humming. Like there was a song stuck in his head and he just started humming without thinking.
Which is normal, Kirishima has known Bakugou long enough that he’s caught him humming a song or two before. But what made his stomach turn was the fact that Katsuki was humming a song from his playlist. He had just proven to Kirishima that he did find it, without even saying a word. Kirishima’s face got stuck, staring at the other boy, mortified.
Perhaps Bakugou saw this in his peripheral vision, because he glanced at the red head and raised his eyebrow. “Hey, what gives? What’s with that look on your face.”
Kirishima couldn’t talk about this right now. They were on their way to school, for fuck’s sake. If they were going to talk about it, it couldn’t be now. He hasn’t figured out what to say yet, anyway.
“Nothing, just spaced out. Sorry dude.” He quickly turned to look straight ahead, and didn’t look away until they got to their classroom.
~~
It made Bakugou speculate. Eijirou was acting weird all day. He avoided Bakugou, stared blankly all day, and said next to nothing. The thing that caught Katsuki off guard the most, was the fact that Kirishima didn’t wait for him at the front of the school before walking back to the dorm building. He just. Left. In a hurry, alone. It pissed Katsuki off.
The blonde started back to the building on his own, walking with purpose, hoping to catch Eijirou outside. And luckily, he was able to.
“Kirishima!” He called out loudly. The redhead in front of him stopped dead in his tracks. He didn’t turn around, he just froze. “What’s wrong with you today?!” Shit. He’s not saying anything right. He isn’t angry with Kirishima. But he kind of is. It’s confusing, but he can’t stop his words from sounding angry anymore.
“Yesterday, you acted all sappy and shit, lending me the jacket. Taking a walk at night with me. Today, you completely ignore me, give me the cold shoulder, look at me like you’ve seen a ghost! What gives?!” Katsuki yelled. “If you’ve got something you wanna say, man up and say it already!”
The yelling had started quite the scene, grabbing the attention of other UA students making their ways back to their dorms. The feeling of eyes all around him terrified Kirishima. He turned around to make eye contact with Bakugou. His face twisted in a teary eyed, mortified expression. His eyes welled with tears as he pursed his lips. He couldn’t say a thing. His voice had caught in his throat.
The only thing he could do was run.
Eijirou broke his eye contact with Katsuki and ran inside, running to the elevator to quickly take him up to his dorm floor.
Bakugou huffed. “Shit.” And with that, he ran after Kirishima. Riding the elevator next to the one the other boy had used.
When the blonde caught up to him, he was in his dorm already, just seconds away from shutting the door. Katsuki shoved his arm in the way so that he couldn’t. He glared at Kirishima, this time not saying anything.
“I’m sorry.” Eijirou mustered. He had taken a few steps back. Bakugou stepped forward, leaving the hallway behind and joining Kirishima in his room. He shut the door behind him.
“I’m sorry about the jacket. I’m sorry about the iPod. I’m sorry about the playlist, I’m sorry about giving you the cold shoulder all day, I’m just--” His voice cracked. “I’m sorry about everything. I get if you think I’m weird now. I would too. So-- you can leave. I won’t get mad.”
The atmosphere was tense, at this point. It was quiet for a bit, neither one of them spoke.
“Are you an idiot?” Bakugou scoffed. It made Kirishima wince. “Why the hell are you sorry for anything?” He stepped closer. “I may not be half the amount of romantic that you are, but you don’t need a playlist from me to know how I feel about you. I could just tell you.”
“...So you did see it after all, huh?” Kirishima laughed weakly. It wasn’t genuine. More like he was pitying himself. His eyes were glued to the ground. He couldn’t bear to look at Katsuki.
“I like you too, you fucking idiot. I like everything about you.” Bakugou cringed saying it out loud, but he meant it. “So stop acting all emo, because a playlist isn’t the end of the world.”
The words rang out in Eijirou’s mind. The ones that he had only dreamt of hearing before. Katsuki likes him too. He finally managed to look at the other boy, completely shocked. “You like me too? Really?” He couldn’t believe it.
“Well, yeah.” Katsuki confirmed again. “I was struggling trying to figure out how I would tell you. But since I listened to the playlist, it seemed like a good way to tell you that I feel the same.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Some of those songs are really sad, man. Are you alright?”
Eijirou chuckled. “Heh, yeah. I’m alright. Just uh… y’know, having a crush on your best friend evokes some strong emotions…” He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
“Yeah. Tell me about it…” It got quiet between the two for a bit. Eijirou moved to sit on the edge of his bed, and invited Katsuki to sit next to him. He did.
“So, now what?” Kirishima questioned. “What do you want to do, Bakugou?” He heard a heavy sigh from the blonde.
“I… don’t know. I want to go out with you, but I just don’t know if I can be a good boyfriend.” He spoke quietly. He would never let anyone else hear these words but Kirishima, but it was still hard to say them out loud. “Would you still like me if I couldn’t be nice..?”
Those words broke Eijirou. He could see how much Katsuki was trying. Katsuki wasn’t the nicest person, everyone knew that. But the fact that he wants to be better, just for Kirishima, meant the world to him. “I already think you’re one of the nicest people I know. You just have your own way of showing it.” He smiled gently at Bakugou.
Bakugou smiled back a bit. “You’re an idiot.” He reached his hand out, cupping Kirishima’s cheek. Kirishima’s face burned red in response, and so did Bakugou’s. Still, despite the nerves that coursed through both boys, they mustered up the courage to lean into each other, sharing a kiss.
A kiss. Eijirou could just melt. The corners of his lips curled into a smile in the kiss, unable to hold back his happiness. He pulled away from Katsuki, laughing. “Sorry, sorry,” He giggled. “I’m just nervous. And happy. A mix of both.”
Katsuki laughed too. “Me too, If I’m being honest.”
They kissed again.