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Tenya thinks that Midoriya and Uraraka are amazing from the beginning, and always counts himself as lucky that the three of them hit it off from the beginning. Midoriya is an Evening, like Tenya, and Uraraka is a Morning, and so, the two of them center around her, and the three of them are an inseparable group.
Tenya falls for her so quickly, almost as quickly as Midoriya, and he admires the other boy so much, for his strength and intelligence and selflessness, that he’s glad to share this relationship with him. He admires him, but not too much , not more than what’s right, and he adores Uraraka and her bubbly disposition and optimism and strength , and everything feels so perfect.
Adding Bakugo to the equation is not something he counts on, but Uraraka brings it to his attention that there’s something between him and Midoriya.
“They’ve been together for so long, and, you know, Bakugo is a Morning, and all,” she says. “I’m pretty sure Deku likes him and is just afraid to say anything. What do you think?”
“What do I think ? About Bakugo ? Don’t you think he’s just a disaster waiting to happen?” asks Tenya. He doesn’t know the other boy very well, but what he does know makes him sure that he would never be able to fit in with their group, not without disrupting everything. If Midoriya is really interested in him...if they’re really going to get together...Tenya doesn’t know how he’s going to fit in with that.
“I know what you mean, but I just keep thinking that, if Deku likes him, then maybe there’s more to him than we realize,” she says. “It’s just something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and I think, you know, if we can actually get things to work out, it’d be nice.”
If it’s for Midoriya’s sake, Tenya knows that he’s more than willing to give it a try, but he also knows that Bakugo is difficult, and he knows that he’d have to fall for Bakugo and Bakugo would have to fall for him, and he can’t even imagine someone like Bakugo looking at someone like him like that. He tries not to think about the fact that he doesn’t consider falling for Bakugo entirely impossible on his end.
~X~
Uraraka wastes no time in trying to drag Bakugo into their group, as unenthusiastic as he may be about the idea, and while Midoriya grows more and more flustered, Tenya keeps to himself, for the most part. He doesn’t know if he’s supposed to try to get closer to Bakugo on his own, or if he should just wait and see what happens between him and Midoriya.
“I asked Bakugo if he likes you,” she tells him out of nowhere one day.
“You what?!”
“He got mad and yelled, but guess what? He knows your name.” She gives him a wink. “From anyone else that wouldn’t seem like much, but from him, I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
“You don’t have to try to play matchmaker for us,” Tenya mutters.
“And why not? If he and Deku really do have feelings for each other, don’t you want to see if it could work between the two of you?” A sad look crosses her face. “Because, if it doesn’t...well, then Deku has to choose.”
“Do you think…”
“I don’t know. And...and I’m not trying to guilt you with that, or pressure you. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, and there’s nothing we can do about it, and we have to respect whatever Deku wants to do. But I just get such a good feeling about it, and I think it really could work.”
“You’re not forcing me into anything,” Tenya confesses. “I don’t know why I do, there’s really...absolutely no reason for me to, but…”
Her eyes light up. “Do you like Bakugo?”
Blushing, he stammers, “I-I wouldn’t….I wouldn’t go so far as to say that , I just…”
“When did it start?”
“I don’t know. Even though he’s a jerk, and his behavior can be absolutely deplorable at times, I sometimes can’t help but admire...just how straightforward and ambitious he is. He always backs up everything he claims with effort, and he’s strong...in so many different ways.” It’s the first time Tenya’s tried to put it into words, and the first time he’s come out and admitted that he does like Bakugo, a lot more than he initially intended. Telling himself that this was for Midoriya’s sake was just an easy way to hide from his feelings.
Uraraka pulls him into a hug, and he tries not to flinch. He’s still getting used to the physical affection side of being in a relationship, though he can’t imagine Bakugo being affectionate like this, should they actually be able to bring him in. “Don’t worry,” she says, “I’m sure everything will work out just fine.”
~X~
Something changes, practically overnight, though Tenya can’t figure out what happened for the life of him. All he knows is that one day, Bakugo is still giving them sharp glares from a distance and brushing off Uraraka’s attempts at friendship, and the next, he’s hanging back just slightly behind Midoriya, not making eye contact with anyone, and even more agitated than usual.
“If it’s alright with you guys, Kacchan wants to hang out with us some,” Midoriya says, looking nervous.
“Don’t make me sound so fucking needy,” Bakugo snaps. “You’re the one who told me to hang out with you nerds.”
And just like that, he becomes a part of their group.
~X~
“Kacchan, you get to sit next to Tenya!” Uraraka says. They’ve been hanging out for about a week now, and have decided to go somewhere a little nicer for dinner, perhaps a sign that things are getting more serious.
“First of all, stop calling me that, and second of all, why the fuck do I have to sit with Glasses?!”
“What, do you really want to keep Deku all to yourself?” she teases.
“Wh- I never said that!”
“Then why don’t you want to sit with Tenya? I thought you liked him!”
“I never said that either!”
“U-uraraka!”
After much fuss from both parties, Bakugo does end up sitting next to Tenya, and the restaurant is busy so they got stuck in a small booth that leaves the two of them uncomfortably close. The whole night, every time they bump elbows, Tenya goes tense and glances out of the corner of his eye, and is usually met with a glare from Bakugo in response. All in all, not the most positive interaction in the world, and he isn’t sure why Uraraka is convinced that Bakugo likes him. He isn’t really sure why he likes Bakugo, come to think of it, but he still can’t shake those feelings.
When the check comes, there’s a lot of squabbling over who gets to pay- Midoriya insists on paying, Bakugo insists on paying for himself, Tenya tries to offer what he can, and Uraraka claims that she’s saved enough to be able to help more this time- before the check is finally sent back and they wait for their change.
“Can you get up?” asks Bakugo. “It’s so fucking cramped, I’m tired of sitting here.”
“You two can go on,” Uraraka says. “We can wait back here, and you guys can go outside and wait for us there.”
“Just don’t run off, Kacchan,” Midoriya adds, almost teasingly, and Bakugo looks like he’s just barely managing to hold himself back.
“Yeah, whatever,” he mutters, and nudges Tenya, who stands up quickly. The two walk outside together, standing in relative while they wait for the others. Tenya wonders if he should say something, when Bakugo breaks the silence.
“How long have you guys actually been...you know?”
Tenya has to think on that for a moment. It’s not really been all that long, but it feels like longer, because, from the beginning, the three of them had quite a lot of chemistry. Finally, he says, “Just a few months ago.”
“And after all that time, you wanna have someone new come in and fuck it up?”
“That’s not how it is at all!” he protests. “We always knew that if we stayed together, there would be a fourth person, and we did want to find someone who could fit in, so-”
“Well, you know that means there’s supposed to be something between us , don’t you?” Bakugo interrupts.
“I...o-of course I know that!”
“So? Do you want that?”
“Well, I, um...d-do you?”
“I asked you first, don’t fucking turn it around on me!” Bakugo snaps. “What’s taking them so long, anyway?!”
It’s at that moment that Iida gets a text from Uraraka that reads, We went out a different exit, have fun getting some alone time and don’t be mad!
Well.
This is certainly going to be an eventful evening.