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For as long as they've known each other, Eijirou has had a thing for Bakugou's hands.
Not that they're particularly attractive or even that they're normal. In fact, they're conventionally pretty gross, if he's honest. They're cracked and calloused, sometimes crusted with the slightest bit of blood. That's a side effect of his quirk, Eijirou is pretty sure; there's only so much he can blow up before it starts to take a toll.
But his interest in Bakugou’s hands only grows. The way they look when they're crackling with fire, when they're tapping a pencil against the desk, how they might feel if Bakugou wasn't so touch-averse that something as small as a high-five makes him flinch back. Not that there's any problem with that, of course; Eijirou is perfectly fine laying on the praise with words instead. Everyone has a thing, and personal space is a Big Thing.
Of course, the traitorous gay within him sees the way Bakugou sometimes leans into his touch when he falls asleep during movie night or when he's relaxing, and wonders what it would be like if Bakugou ran his hands through Eijirou's hair. But he respects that Bakugou is careful not to touch anyone if he can help it, outside of sparring matches.
Again, not something anyone would notice unless they were as stupidly in love as Eijirou is. All he wants is to understand Bakugou, and there's something in his aversion to touch that holds a secret.
Eijirou's thing for Bakugou's hands is more about what they're doing. Which is usually something just innocuous enough to pass under the radar but not quite enough to be normal.
Take now, for instance. It's game night, Eijrou is absolutely destroying Kaminari at Monopoly and Mina is destroying him, and Midoriya is destroying them both. They'd ordered something like twelve or thirteen pizzas for the class, but there Bakugou is on the floor, eating some of the leftovers from last night. He swears it's because he knows that "None of you fuckers are going to eat them and I don't want to clean mold out of the fridge," which is actually a pretty normal thing for him. Of their classmates, Bakugou is the one to eat the most leftovers by far, but Eijirou has the feeling that's more about how much effort goes into reheating leftovers as opposed to making any new food.
Which is what caught his attention tonight, because what's easier than pizza? No plates, no utensils, not even napkins if you're like Kaminari and your clothes will suffice. And Bakugou does seem to be glancing at it when he thinks no one is looking.
"Just grab a slice, man," Eijirou finally says. "No one cares if you eat more than usual."
It's almost unnoticeable the way his hands twitch toward the box for a nanosecond, but other than that Bakugou stays still. "Nah, fuck that. That shit's terrible for you."
It's a pretty obvious deflection, but Kaminari just landed on one of Eijirou's hotels and owes him 37000 yen, so there are more important things than ogling Bakugou's hands. At least for now.
That's the first time Eijirou really notices Bakugou's weird hand thing. Or at least, his thing with utensils. Eijirou never sees him eating finger food. Which, to be fair, isn't a very common thing to catch the heroics kids doing in the first place.
Can't become a hero if all you eat is prepackaged snack food, after all. That stuff has so much salt in it nowadays Eijirou can't even stomach more than two donuts in one sitting on a really good day.
But still, sometimes Satou will make taiyaki from scratch, or Mina will open a bag of chips and Eijirou will steal some, sue him. Even Midoriya, the health nut of the class, will occasionally have something unhealthy, if only to satisfy his sweet tooth. Bakugou isn't a sweets person, but he has to have something. How can he be human otherwise?
So Eijirou makes it his mission to find something that Bakugou considers getting his hands dirty for. It has to be a dirt thing of some kind; after all, it's only food and people that he seems to have an issue with.
Except the guy is neck deep in mud half the time from training, so it can't be a dirt thing. He does tend to wash his hands until they're almost glowing pink before he cooks too, and now that he thinks about it, Eijirou doesn't think he's ever seen the guy cook without gloves on.
"Yo Kirishima!" Mina is waving a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Kirishima Eijirou! You alive in there?"
Eijirou blinks and nods. "Sorry, what?"
She laughs. "I was asking if you took notes in chemistry, but I think I should have known better. You were too busy mooning after Blasty to actually pay attention, weren't you?"
"I was not ." It's a weak protest at best, especially when they both know it's a lie. Though he's not sure that what he's been thinking about qualifies as mooning. Actually... "Hey Mina, when's the last time you saw Bakugou eat like, a piece of pizza?"
She isn't taken off guard, probably because she's gotten weirder Bakugou-related questions from him before, but she does seem to be having trouble coming up with an answer.
"Taiyaki? A candy bar? Anything?" Eijirou presses. He can't be imagining it, it doesn't make sense.
Mina shakes her head. "Can't think of one. He has to have, right? When we weren't looking?"
That's the thing, Eijirou thinks. I'm always looking.
And he is, even if sometimes he's just daydreaming about a kiss that he doubts will ever happen. Which, again, is cool. Bakugou's a guy with limits, and Eijirou can respect that. He's also a guy who's pretty open about his feelings, which is how Eijirou knows he has no chance, and why he's accepted it.
It's not for several more weeks that he actually sees Bakugou eat something with his hands, and he almost misses it. It's a grueling day for training, and they're all dead on their feet. It's times like these that make Eijirou glad they live in dorms so he doesn't have to sit on a bus seat in his own sweat, but can collapse directly into bed.
In fact, it's because of that that he almost misses it. When they get inside, Bakugou heads straight for the kitchen and sticks his hand directly in the box of nasty grape nut cereal only he eats. It's nothing Eijirou hasn't seen before, so for a second it goes over his head. It's only when Bakugou shoves the handful of granola in his mouth that he realizes what he just saw.
Things get very strange in those next few seconds.
Bakugou grimaces in instant regret, looking about half a second from just spitting the cereal out into the sink. But he chews, swallows, and glares at the box for a second. Then, because there's no one around and he doesn't have to put on a show, he just lets out an irritated breath and glares at the box for a moment before throwing it in the trash.
"Fucking fantastic," he mutters, running a hand through his hair. He gets a glass of water and walks out of the kitchen, paying Eijirou no mind whatsoever.
His hands, Eijirou notices, are shaking. From what, he can't tell. But the guy already looks like hell from training, so it's probably just exhaustion.
It's actually exhausting even standing upright at the moment, though, so Eijirou files this away for later, when he's had a nap and a shower. They're supposed to meet up tonight anyway, to study for that chem test that’s going to completely own Eijirou’s ass without Bakugou’s help.
So he goes back to his dorm and collapses in bed and it's glorious being off his feet for the first time in hours. He passes out immediately, knowing that if he oversleeps, Bakugou is going to come barging in here like a force of nature anyway, ready to beat chemistry into Eijirou's skull by any means necessary.
Except that's not what happens, for the first time since they moved into the dorms. When Eijirou wakes up, it's dark out and his phone says it's almost eight at night. They were supposed to meet at six.
Eijirou rubs at his eyes and rolls out of bed. Bakugou is a person just like the rest of them, after all. He's allowed to oversleep once in a while, especially when he spent all day running himself ragged.
Besides, it's Eijirou's fault for not setting an alarm because he was too busy exhaustedly daydreaming about cracked and calloused hands running through his hair. So he shoves on a pair of socks and heads down the hall toward Bakugou's room.
"Bakugou?" There's no answer, even when Eijirou knocks on the door. He takes a chance and tries the knob. To his infinite surprise, it's unlocked. That's almost as unusual as the thing in the kitchen.
Bakugou isn't snoring when Eijirou comes in, which means he's awake. Even weirder, there's a vaguely human-shaped lump in the bed, wrapped in blankets. Bakugou is awake, but in bed, which is something that, though they haven't known each other very long, is something that Eijirou knows isn't normal. Bakugou is the worst night owl in the world, but he never stays in bed longer than he has to. He's not the type to waste time in bed when he could be doing something else.
Which means there's something wrong.
"Bakugou?" Eijirou asks again, slightly softer this time. Bakugou probably won't appreciate being handled with kid gloves, but that’s not exactly Eijirou’s biggest priority right now.
There's something resembling a grunt from the bed, so Eijirou takes that as a sign that he's allowed in. When he gets closer to the bed, he notices that Bakugou is shivering. The smell of gunpowder is strong, stronger as he gets closer and closer. It's Bakugou's quirk; Eijirou may not know much, but he does know that it's not just him waxing poetic when he says the boy smells like fire.
"Holy shit dude, are you ok?" He looks awful , pale to the point where his face and the sheets are nearly the same. "We need to get you to Recovery Girl."
"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou hisses, and it's not an insult but something close to a plea. That... doesn't make Eijirou any less worried.
Bakugou's hands are clenched tightly in the blankets, sharp with the smell of gunpowder. Eijirou reaches out to check for a fever, only to have his hand smacked away by one of Bakugou's blanket-clad ones.
He lets out an exasperated breath. "I know you have something against being touched, dude, but you gotta let me see if you're warm."
" 'm fine," Bakugou grumbles, quieter than usual.
"No, you're not ," Eijirou shoots back, reaching out. "Just let me--"
"Don't fucking touch me, Kirishima."
Kirishima. Not Shitty Hair, not Idiot, not Dumbass or any number of uncreative insults that have become closer to pet names over time.
It make him pause. Bakugou isn't exactly the most eloquent person in the world, and he's in pretty rough shape right now which won't help in the slightest.
"And why not?"
" 's dangerous," Bakugou mutters, somehow burrowing deeper under his blankets. "Nitro poisoning’s… shitty."
Ah. The pieces start to click together. "That's what this is? It's because of your quirk?"
Bakugou glares at him. If looks could kill, Eijirou would be dead several times over. "No shit. Now be quiet, will ya? Hell of a headache from this shit."
Eijirou lowers his voice. "Sorry."
Bakugou just rolls his eyes and rolls over shakily. His breaths are short and ragged in a way that's definitely worrying. But if this is from Bakugou's quirk and he's absolutely sure he doesn't need Recovery Girl... well, stubbornness aside, Bakugou isn't the type to sacrifice his health in the middle of a heavy training week.
That leaves Eijirou with one choice. He texts Midoriya.
>> hey dude wtf do i do baku's sick
<< !!! ohno, what happened, he never gets sick?
>> headache, shivering, sweating like crazy
<< hm, blue lips?
When he glances down at Bakugou’s face, Eijirou is beyond distressed to find that yeah, Bakugou’s lips are fucking blue.
>> ye
<< sweating like crazy?
>> ye
<< nitroglycerin exposure riiiip, he must have done smth dumb
<< weird he's usually p obsessive abt keeping his hands away from his mouth
>> u seem awful calm about the zombie in front of me
<< that's bc I'm not too worried!
<< xD he’ll be fine, might be a bit loopy. give him a trash can in case he has to puke but it’ll all only last a few hours. he can burn out excess nitro p quick thanks to his quirk, it takes a LOT of the stuff to bring him to this level but hes gonna be fine don’t worry!
<< as long as u stay away from his hands feel free to give him a cloth or smth to cool him off, it’s only the hands that are dangerous
>> good 2 know
<< dont!! try to wipe them off!! THAT could make thisa real problem jsyk, his body is acclimating
<< sudden exposure + being suddenly cut off = heart attack for most ppl but REALLY BAD chest pain 4 kacchan
<< other than that it looks worse than it is tho, he got sick at my place sometimes when we were kids. wasn’t fun but only lasted a few hours
There are several more texts that come in detailing the story of the first time it happened, but Eijirou doesn’t think he can be faulted for leaving them unread. He moves the trashcan to the side of the bed and heads to the bathroom to wet down a cloth.
He’s about to turn the water off when he hears quiet retching from the bedroom and winces. He’d been just in time then.
It was definitely the incident in the kitchen that brought this on, he thinks as he wrings the washcloth out and turns off the faucet. He also probably got some sweat in his mouth during training; it happens all the time to Eijirou. If this is what happens when Bakugou gets his own sweat in his mouth though, giving up pizza is a pretty small price to pay.
Eijirou knows he’s going to catch hell for this later, but there’s no way he’s letting Bakugou just ride this out on his own. So he resigns himself to whatever comes from this and lays the cloth over Bakugou’s forehead. He doubts it’ll bring the fever down, but it might help cool Bakugou off temporarily.
“Cold…” Bakugou leans into the touch unconsciously, still shaking like a leaf. His hands relax a fraction in their fabric cocoons. He must really be out of it, Eijirou realizes, cheeks burning.
“Kind of the point dude. What hurts? I wanna help.”
Bakugou scrunches up his nose in a way that definitely should not be cute, given that he looks like death warmed over, but still is because Eijirou didn’t even know he was capable of a face like that. “Head. Stomach. Chest, a bit.”
Eijirou hums in acknowledgment and gets up to fill the water glass Bakugou grabbed earlier but stops when something that’s almost a whine comes from the other boy.
“Stay…”
Eijirou gapes at him but settles in on top of the covers on the other side of the bed. Bakugou, blanket paws and all, curls into his side with a shudder. They stay that way for a long time, Eijirou looking through the chem powerpoint on his phone and Bakugou up against him making miserable, almost inaudible noises once in a while. Eijirou gives in to temptation and runs a hand through Bakugou's hair once, and the noise turn into a pleased hum. So he keeps doing it, since Bakugou has really soft hair and seems to enjoy it and Eijirou is really, really gay.
When Bakugou finally falls asleep, it looks like Midoriya was right; the color is returning to his face and he's breathing a little easier. Eijirou books it out of there pretty quick after that.
Yeah, assuming Bakugou remembers any of this tomorrow, Eijirou is in for the sparring match of his life. But he’s looking forward to it, somehow.