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Two boys stare out a balcony door at the sheet of precipitation thrumming down onto their school grounds. A blond and a redhead who, up until that point, had been reviewing algebra, stand in complete stillness basking in the power generated from mere water. The blond turns to the redhead and hisses, “Hair-for-Brains, I'll give you ten more fucking minutes to stare at the rain. Then back to tutoring.” The redhead whines softly but knows his companion is right. If he wants to improve his test scores, he needs to focus. The only problem is the fluttering and tightness in his chest every time he is around the blond.
“This rain kind of reminds me of you, Bakugou,” the redhead says to the balcony door. The blond stiffens, pausing before giving an indignant grunt.
“Are you shitting me right now, Kirishima? What the fuck are you talking about. This type of weather is a fucking inconvenience,” Bakugou grouses. Kirishima chuckles at how offended he got. He playfully bumps Bakugou’s shoulder with his own, the contact lingering even after he retreats.
“C’mon, I'll show you what I mean,” Kirishima insists with a grin. He pads to the room entrance and opens the door to the hallway. Bakugou curses under his breath but trails behind Kirishima and waits in the doorway as the latter opens the door to his room. Kirishima disappears into his room and returns to the hallway with a bright red umbrella. Bakugou rolls his eyes at Kirishima’s seemingly obsessive attachment to the color red. He retreats into his own room wordlessly as Kirishima waits in the doorway with his red umbrella.
“Don't bring your own. I want you to hear the rain how I hear it,” Kirishima blurts out just as Bakugou spots his black umbrella. He stops his intended action and mutters a ‘fucking Christ’ before putting some shoes on and throwing a sweater over his black v-neck. Kirishima is surprised that Bakugou is actually listening to him without much resistance, though that could be attributed to the weather. After spending so much time in his company, Kirishima has taken note of Bakugou’s quirks as well as his Quirk. He can safely deduce that Bakugou is so mellow due to the humidity and how chilly it is. Bakugou shuts and locks his door before glaring at Kirishima with his orange-red eyes.
“Well? Let's get this fucking over with, Shitty Hair,” he growls. Kirishima smiles and they make their way to the front entrance of the dorms in silence except for the sound of shoes, in Bakugou’s case, and bare feet, in Kirishima’s case, on the floor. Once they arrive at the front doors to the building, the rain has quieted down to a decent shower with big, fat raindrops. Kirishima gazes at Bakugou for a moment, taking in the slight crease between his eyebrows he wishes he could smooth with the pad of his thumb. Not wasting another second, he steps out into the downpour and opens his red umbrella. It glows brightly in the grayness of the surrounding area. Kirishima wonders if the same effect applies to his hair and eyes. He hopes so. Bakugou quickly ducks under the umbrella with Kirishima and presses himself against the redhead like a cat that is afraid to get wet.
“We’re fucking outside now in this shitty weather now. Tell me why this reminds you of me?” Bakugou complains. Kirishima shushes him and closes his eyes and listens. The raindrops create a steady rhythm that pop and crackle against the umbrella's material. Overlaying the loud popping noises is a hiss from the rain hitting the thin layer of water on the pavement. Every now and then, larger raindrops would land on the umbrella and add a little surprise burst of noise. Kirishima inhales and takes in Bakugou’s scent and the scent of the wet concrete and longs for a candle that can smell just like this moment.
“Can you hear it? The rain on the umbrella and the rain around us?” Kirishima asks. Bakugou scowls before exhaling dramatically and rolling his eyes.
“Of course I can fucking hear it,” he says in exasperation.
“But are you listening? Listen to the rain above and around us. Please Bakugou.”
Bakugou growls a bit more before closing his eyes and listening. The thrumming of rain hitting the umbrella sounds monotonous and even; ever present. It is persistent and strong, a constant reminder that it is in fact cold and wet outside. But it’s comforting in a grounding way as if to remind him that he is still alive and feeling the cold work its way under his skin. Kirishima quickly notices that Bakugou is beginning to doze the moment his features relax a bit. He switches the umbrella to his other hand so that he can wrap his arm around Bakugou’s broad shoulders. Bakugou jolts awake at this and placidly rubs his eyes with his right hand. Kirishima’s heart swells until it presses against his ribs making his chest ache. He gently guides Bakugou back inside with small steps and subtle movements for fear he will wake from his adorable drowsiness. Once they are outside Bakugou’s dorm room, Kirishima can feel how numb his feet are from the cold. He doesn’t care much since the rest of his body feels pleasantly warm from how close he was to Bakugou. The blond slowly unlocks and opens his door, still under the spell of lethargy. Kirishima decides he had better wake him from his stupor so he won’t yell at him for slacking off with studying.
“What did you hear, Bakugou?” Kirishima asks gently. Bakugou pauses in the doorway, light shining into his dark room with his shadow stretching across it. The rain is steady outside his balcony door with their silhouettes reflected in the glass. Water drips from the bright red umbrella with delicate plops onto the floor. There is a soft inhale before he replies. Kirishima almost does not hear it.
“You.”