Chapter Text
Realizing his homosexuality hadn’t been a scary moment for Kirishima Eijirou; if anything it sort of explained a lot. He’d always cared for and respected the women in his life, for nothing was less manly than looking down on someone for something like race or sex. However he had never wanted anything more from them than friendship. This became more and more apparent the deeper he found himself in the sea of hormones currently drowning him and his classmates as they made their journey through their freshman year at UA High.
Eijirou wasn’t the only one making discoveries about himself. For example, about halfway through the year Mina had taken notice of her bisexuality and of course made a point of announcing it to the entire class. The thing that shook Eijirou wasn’t him realizing his sexual and romantic preferences. The thing that shook him was realizing, in the heat of the UA Sports Festival, that he had a crush.
“Kaminari! Babe! Just ask her out already!” Mina whined from where she sat across the table. The blonde and third of the five occupants of their regular lunch group ducked his head in a rare bashful display.
“I just… I dunno, okay! What if she says no?”
“That’s easy, Kami. You guys just stay friends.” Sero supplied with a flashy grin and a thumbs up. That was about when Eijirou zoned out. He had put in his two cents regarding the issue before, weeks ago, on the first of these daily talks. Mina and Sero were doing just fine encouraging their friend to take the leap without the redhead relentlessly piling on him too.
As his mind wandered so did his eyes, and he chewed idly on his sandwich all the while, not noticing the fact that his gaze landed on Bakugou, the last of their lunch quintette. Even when eating the blonde had a scowl on his face. Lines creased his brow as he stared daggers down at his food, nudging the pieces around with his chopsticks before choosing which one would next provide fuel for his fury. He even chewed angrily, but to Eijirou it didn’t come off as intimidating like it was surely supposed to; this was one of the few times any remnants of baby fat could be seen on the explosive blonde. The last reserves seemed to cling stubbornly to his cheeks, giving him the look of a pouting chipmunk when he ate. Whenever he witnessed this rare sight, Eijirou could only think one thing about it: Adorable.
Having lost track of how long he had been staring at Bakugou’s mouth, Eijirou didn’t notice he had finished his sandwich until he went for a bite of it and instead sank his sharp teeth into his own finger. Giving a yelp that startled the whole table, Eijirou quickly pulled his hand back from his face and checked for blood, relieved to find some scratches and spots that would probably become pinprick bruises, but no serious damage.However all eyes were on him now, three pairs holding a mixture of amusement and concern and one glittering with annoyance.
“The fuck were you staring at that was so interesting, dumbass?” Bakugou growled across the table at him. After meeting the blazing red eyes, Eijirou realized that not only had he been openly staring at his crush but he had been caught in the act by said explosive blonde. Thinking fast, he just laughed and waved his bitten hand.
“Nothing! Nothing at all, bro! I was zoned out is all, wasn’t staring on purpose.”
In response Bakugou rolled his eyes and stood, collecting his things and clicking his tongue in distaste. “Whatever,” he rumbled, “just keep that stupid as fuck grin off your face next time, hair for brains.” And then he was gone. Kaminari spoke up from Eijirou’s left,
“You have been zoning out a lot lately, dude. You feelin’ okay?”
I’ve been zoning out a lot? Eijirou wondered to himself as he sat back and scratched at the base of his skull. He put on his usual easygoing grin and shrugged,
“I dunno, man. I haven’t noticed. But I think I’m okay,” he flashed his friend a thumbs up, “I’ll try and pay better attention from now on.”
This seemed to appease the rest of the group, and they all rose to return to class.
After Aizawa announced the upcoming exams and reminded them all to study, everyone started forming study groups or otherwise discussing strategy. Eijirou couldn’t help but notice the large crowd starting to congregate around Yaoyorozu, planning for a study party at her house. Cheesy grin coming to his face, he turned and joked to a nearby Bakugou,
“Hey, Bakugou, maybe we should go study with those guys!”
“What, you think I won’t be a good enough teacher, shit hair?” The blonde growled back, his response catching Eijirou off guard. Since when was Bakugou tutoring him? The confusion passed in a split second as his stomach did a happy tumble and his grin returned.
“Chill, dude, I didn’t say any of that at all!” He laughed, though it sounded a little strained to his own ears. Maybe if his heart would calm down he would be doing a little better.
“Good. Fuckin’ square up, shark breath. You’re gonna pass that test if I have to beat the answers into you.”
A shiver raced down Eijirou’s spine as he met Bakugou’s sideways glare, and he felt nervous laughter threatening to rise in his chest. Bakugou was going to tutor him. Only him. And he was insanely smart! The redhead felt his face threatening to split with a grin; he would pass the exam for sure!
A split second after the warm feeling washed over him something in his brain clicked. Bakugou was going to tutor him. Only him. Just the two of them, probably alone more often than not. That was the moment Eijirou realized he was thoroughly fucked.